...
You may live to eat your words.
No sooner did I post & rejoice in my January $aving$ Total then some unexpected/large/forgotten BILLS started popping up in February's budget.
***Sigh***
On Monday, I remembered that I have a large CREDIT CARD bill coming due at the end of February. Yes, we have a credit card. No, we do not run a balance on it, it is paid off each month. It's used mainly as a tool to keep a record of expenses and the Gift Card Rewards we earn are an extra bonus. I had forgotten that along with the usual expenses we put on it each month, we ordered new KITCHEN COUNTER TOPS and the store charged us for them a couple of weeks ago. Yuck!
On Tuesday, the CAR INSURANCE bill arrived.
On Wednesday, we picked up my car from the AUTO REPAIR Shop, along with a bill for a tune up/oil & fluids change AND an unexpected repair that totaled almost $800.
On Thursday, the LOCAL & COUNTY TAX bill for 2009 arrived. Ok, that's not due until April 1 but psychologically, getting it when I did, it was disheartening.
I am dreading going to the mailbox today!
A quick calculation of this month's expenses and estimating expenses not billed/paid yet for Feb. and we are going to be SHORT about $250 on February's income.
BUT....
I did just sell a bunch of old toys to a guy over in Europe, so after eBay/Paypal fees, that eat it from the ass in, that will be another $175 toward the shortfall. Between the rolled change I can scrounge around the house and coming up with a little bit more eBay cash before the 28th, I will probably be able to just squeak February out without having to dip into the January $aving$!
So the February $aving$ Total may be a big 'ol $0.00.
But ya know what? I am NOT stressing out over the extra money spent this month because I HAVE that nice lump of CASH saved from January that I can dip into if I have to.
Having a cushion of Money in the Bank makes for a Serene Slug.
sluggy
The Hershey's Corporation does NOT buy peanuts from the Peanut Corporation of America, the company that caused all the salmonella deaths in the US lately. From what I have seen and read, the president of the Peanut Corporation of America, Stewart Parnell, is quite unethical and in very deep legal trouble for running his business as he did. Not only has he caused the deaths of now 9 people, he has sicked many more consumers, as well as caused economic loss for a lot of other businesses that used his products in their products. It's so bad that companies that NEVER used products from PCA in their foods are suffering huge losses in their sales....upward of 25% for the entire industry.
I saw a news segment last night about the LANCE company....you know, the company that makes those ubiquitous neon orange cracker sandwiches with peanut butter filling. Lance's founder claims to have invented the Cheese/Peanut Butter Sandwich Cracker in 1916, and the Lance Co. has practiced impeccable quality control since their founding. LANCE is losing about 1 million dollars a month in sales and have had to spend TONS of money on marketing ads to get the word out that Lance Crackers are okay to eat and NOT affected by the peanut butter recall.
VIDEO
Like dropping a stone in a pond & the ever expanding rings it makes, your one small action or decision can affect so many more people into infinity, in either a good way or a bad way.
I hope there is a Special Tainted Peanut Covered Circle of Hell just for Stewart Parnell.
sluggy
You are getting hungry, VERY HUNGRY......
Yep! That's what's in that picture. It should be 80 Candy Bars but first things first.
I went out to run errands yesterday.....drug store, grocery store, post office, the usual stuff. I had 40 coupons for those new Reese's Candy Bars called WHIPPS. It's like a MILKY WAY Bar but with a layer of peanut butter on the top, instead of caramel. The coupons are $1 off of 2 bars. RITE AID has Hershey bars on sale this week, 2 for $1. So my mind began to plot....
I planned my errands around every Rite Aid store I could think of in the area. I hit 5 Rite Aids that way and basically wiped out their stock of 2/$1 Whipps Bars within a 10 mile radius of my house. Except for the Rite Aid located in my town, which had NO WHIPPS! Hmmph
It was so annoying buying them though, as the manager had to be called to override the register at each store. Seems the registers just don't like giving stuff away for FREE! teehee
I have since learned a local grocery chain has Hershey Bars 2/$1 this week so I'll keep the 7 remaining coupons in my purse, just in case we happen to drive by there.lol
sluggy
I've been busy around the house today, cleaning up from having the whole gang home all weekend and enjoying the peace & quiet. Well, if you can call listening to 3 dogs quiet.lol
I'm going to try to do a Weekly Dinner Menu each Monday. I am a kind of the 'spur of the moment, wing it by the seat of my pants' kind of gal when it comes to putting a dinner together and then actually cooking it, but I am sooo tired of the hubby & kids pestering me as soon as they get home from work & school with, "What's for dinner?", over & over again.
So Sunday, I posted a Menu for the week on the fridge.
Monday-Boston Baked Beans, Cornbread
Tuesday-Chinese Takeout
Wednesday-Homemade Mac & Cheese, Vegetable Melange, Harvard Beets
Thursday-Spareribs, Southern Potato Salad, Leftover BBBs
Friday-Broiled Salmon, Tuscan Vegetables, Leftover Mac/Cheese or Potato Salad
Saturday-Gourmet Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Tomato Soup
Sunday-Vegetable packed Meatloaf, Roasted Potatoes w/Onions, Leftover Veggies from Wed.
So far it has cut down on the nagging. I can just cut them off, mid-sentence, and point to the list on the fridge.lol Now I'm getting the, "Ewww, I don't like that!" comments.
*Sigh* Ya just can't win.....
Instead of navy beans I am using Maine Yellow Eye Beans in the Baked Beans. I carted a couple of bags of these home, I bought at a farm stand on our trip to Maine last summer. These are native Maine beans. They may look small but they bulk up in water quite a bit! A Maine Lumberjack Breakfast often included Baked Beans using this or another Maine variety of bean. I hope they taste as yummy in my recipe as in the one we tasted while on vacation.
The only dishes I am not making from scratch are the Tuscan Veggies, the Tomato Soup and the bread for the Grilled Cheese Sandwiches....and the Chinese Takeout, of course.
I am feeling ambitious this week. We'll see how much ambition I still have left come Saturday!lol
Sluggy
On Feb. 15th, BEST BUY stores located in the US will be starting a fulltime Electronics Recycling Program. Before now, only select stores held these Recycling Events and only for a day at a time.There will be a $10 recycling fee per unit, to participate and a limit of 2 Units per Day per household. Participants will instantly receive a $10 Best Buy gift card. So if you buy things at Best Buy anyway, you can consider the e-cycling a freebie!Not all electronics are eligible for this program however. They will not take any appliance with freon(fridges,freezers, a/c units), microwave ovens and televisions over 32". But it seems like it would be a great way to dispose safely of old computers and peripherals. I know I have an old dead computer stowed away in my garage....how about you?
Be sure to ERASE all that data from your hard drive before you turn in the old laptop or desktop computer to the junk heap. You never know who might gain access to all those family photos, passwords or 'questionable content' sites you may have peeked at, that your old machine still has a record of deep in it's electronic bowels. WIPE IT CLEAN before you ditch the machine!
As a Frugalista with a green side, I think it would be nice to know exactly how they will be disposing of all the electronic components they will be collecting. I can't seem to find the details on that point just yet. I do hope they do the responsible thing and not just dump it all in a generic landfill. I bet there are parts that can be repurposed or melted down to create something useful. Call me skeptical, but I tend to believe that no mass retailer does anything without an ulterior motive.
Check the Best Buy website for more details on this program as we get closer to the Feb. 15th starting date.
Sluggy
