Whatever You Do Unto One of the Least...

I am not a traditionally religious person.
I was raised Catholic.
Because of some experiences in that faith, & then in a Protestant faith, I have serious personal issues with organized religion.

This does NOT make me a bad person or a non-spiritual person.
I have as many morals or ethics as the next person, in some cases I'd dare to say I have more?
I just don't spend my time studying or professing my spirituality in a church or temple.
There are many paths to god, or enlightenment, or whatever you wish to call it. Everyone needs to find their own way.
And other people need to respect every one else's beliefs and pathways.

At the root of all religion(or should be) is the directive to love one another. To put it in the current vernacular, People trump things.
I think anyone would agree with that.
That's a basic tenets no matter your religion.

Things are not inherently bad or good.
The way in which we use things give those things either label.
We should use things to HELP people or any of
God's creatures.


Which brings me to Stockpiling.

Getting things we need in our lives for free through legitimate channels(like rebating/couponing) is good.

We save money on the things and can use that money for other meaningful purposes in our lives.

Acquiring A LOT of things....like more tubes of toothpaste than we will ever use in a lifetime, or so many boxes of cereal that we can't eat them all before the expiration date....that kind of acquiring is not so good.

That is putting things first.
Not people.

So what should we do when the Stockpile gets unwieldy?


We sell stuff. If your family needs cash to pay bills and you have an excess of food &/or toiletries in your stockpile, have a yard sale or put items on eBay/Craigslist/local trading post.


We donate stuff. If you know a family who is struggling, load up a bag of goodies. If you have a local food bank, load up a bag of food for it. If you have a local medical clinic, load up all those free glucose meters for it. If you have a local women's shelter/homeless shelter/senior community center, load up a bag of toiletries & snacks for them.


This post was inspired by someone I know on my yahoo newsgroup called The COMPACT. Most of us started over on The Compact group not buying new for a year with varying degrees of success, in an effort to re-examine our shopping lives. Those who choose to stay past that 1st year have modified their pledge a bit but in general choose to not buy new when avoidable and are much more conscious consumers with a heavy dose of being truly green and protecting our environment.


Anyway, this friend has been spending this Lenten time trying to do RAOK(Random Acts of Kindness)via Feeding Hungry People.

I think it's a noble cause!

I look up to this person for her efforts in this, especially given the load of responsibilities she bears in her daily life besides this Feeding People Cause.



A recent post about her FTH Challenge got me thinking about my stockpile of stuff & how I should help too. Then I read an article in our local newspaper about a local animal shelter that gave direction to my plan.

The economy has been very bad for not only people but for Pets too. People can't seem to find the money now to feed or otherwise take care of their pets. They also can't afford the Surrender Fees that most shelter's charge to give up a pet.

The article said that the personnel at this shelter arrive every morning to find dogs tied up to their chainlink fence and cats inside the 10 ft. high fence. (There is no exterior door in this fence. People are literally throwing their cats over this fence into the shelter's outdoor enclosure.)


As I have undertaken a 60K Savings Challenge this year, I don't have much left in the budget $ to give to the shelter.

But I do have a way to make my small sum of cash go much further.

Yep.

Coupons.



Over the last 10 days, while shopping for my family's needs, I incorporated some pet food shopping with high value dog & cat food coupons I had.

I was able to stretch my $20 cash into $68 worth of dog/cat food using coupons. Both sons assisted me with some of this shopping.

On Saturday we were able to take 12 bags of food up to the shelter.





#2 Son with the Pet Food for the Shelter.
I know it's only a drop in the bucket but it's a start.

Doing Unto the Least of God's Creatures.
Feeding the Hungry Animals.
We will continue to keep this as our Pledge.


Sluggy

Organics Have Left the Building

Last Week a terrible thing happened in my Teeny Tiny Town. I was in the big chain Grocery Store and noticed it.

At the end of the Produce Dept. in the store, they had a small Organic Foods section. It was about 3 short sections of shelving set up at the end of the produce counters, across from the Bakery Dept. with stuff like Annie's and DeBoles Pasta, Glen Muir Tomatoes, Hodgson's Mill grains, Various Soy and Rice Milks, & other boxed/canned/jarred Organic foods.

As I headed over to the Organic Aisles I saw that the shelves were EMPTY and there were 4 Grocery Carts parked next to the shelves half filled with all the Organic products. All of it was marked to clearance for $1 each.

I guess when money gets tight for consumers, the higher priced organic version of foods don't sell. And Grocery Stores need to maximize profits and only carry was sells, right? At least that is how it is in my Teeny Tiny Town.

It made me sad to see the Organics leave my store. But I too am guilty of not choosing the organic products sometimes when given a choice. Since I am saving money in other areas of my life, perhaps I should consciously choose to earmark a percentage of my food spending toward organic? It's something I'm going to mull over.

I do buy from local farmer's or grow my own veggies organically in season & freeze it for use in the winter, but I do confess I have a problem spending $2.50 on a box of organic packaged pasta when I can get a reg. version for $1.

I guess we have to pick and choose our battles. Prioritize which foods are most important to have the Organic versions of and try to work those into the food budget.

Here's a list I found online at CNN MONEY of fruits & veggies where it's recommended to buy organic rather than conventional....

apples, bell peppers, celery, cherries, spinach and strawberries, imported grapes, nectarines, peaches, pears, potatoes, and red raspberries.

Likewise, if you buy boxed/jarred/canned items containing these foods, instead of fresh produce, make sure they are the organic versions as well.

Sluggy

Meal Plan Monday March 23rd Edition

Last week's meal went as planned except for Friday. We ended up not having the Fish & Coconut Rice. And Sat.'s leftovers plan was thwarted as we barely had any leftovers last week! The eating machines, er....teens ate nearly EVERY SCRAP OF FOOD I cooked! That's gratifying, except when you plan on having leftovers for 1 night's meal.

Here's what is on the Menu at Sluggy's house this week.

MONDAY-Chicken, Rice & Broccoli Casserole

TUESDAY-Pretzel Dogs, Corn-On-The-Cob, Potato Salad

WEDNESDAY-Lasagna, Salad

THURSDAY-Pork Chops, Mixed Beans, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Applesauce

FRIDAY-Pizza

SATURDAY-Leftovers or Club Sandwiches

SUNDAY-Crabcakes, Harvard Beets, Leftover Potato Salad

Desserts for the Week-Grapes, Cantaloupe, Carrot Cake

My shopping list for this week's menu(besides milk & bread)is 3 items long.....salad greens & ricotta cheese(for Wed. meal) & 1 tomato(for the club sandwiches). Everything else is on hand.

I'll be posting a recipe for my Chicken, Rice & Broccoli Casserole, later today or Tuesday, so check back. This dish is a homemade cheaper version of a Schwan's Readymade Dinner-Chicken & Broccoli with Cheesy Rice Meal Kit. I use to buy this, back when I wasn't as careful with my money. My family loved it! 1 bag of it wasn't enough for our 5 mouths, so I had to buy 2 bags at a time, at a cost of $10.50 a bag, so $21 for 1 meal! (This same item is now up to $11.49 a bag!) My cost analysis for the homemade version(using my actual costs for the ingredients that go into this batch of the recipe) is $10.08 for 8 generous servings or $1.26 a serving. That's less than 1/2 what the Schwan's item cost, is very easy to make AND it tastes just as good, if not better!

Organizing Junkie is the home to Menu Plan Monday. Go see what's on her and many other Home Cooks' Menus for the week at Organizing Junkie's website.

Sluggy

Make Your Own Virtual Movie Theater

Returning Merchandise leads to Saving More Money!

So I was out & about on Thursday, and needed to pop into WAGS to return some Body Wash I had purchased on Monday. Hubby doesn't like that kind so back it had to go!

After getting my refund, I just HAD to check the clearance section.....I found some bags of Lifesavers marked down to $1.00. Then I remembered I had a couple of Hershey BOGO Qs in the envelope in my purse and WAGS had that Wag Q for 49¢ candy bars that I could stack on it, so I had to grab those. While in the candy aisle, I saw that 1 flavor of 5 Gum was marked down to 75¢ so I picked up some for my #2 son's Easter basket as it's his favorite kind of gum(sshhhh, don't tell him!).

Once I looked in my envie for the Hershey's Q, I found the Glucerna Q(wasn't Glucerna producing a RR this week?), then the Reach/Listerine Qs.....Colgate Qs.......at that point we were off to the races again, on a full fledged Hound!lolol


Here's what I picked up......just a quickie!


I have put in RED next to the item what it actually cost me out of pocket after coupons. And as always, it's all consumable goods(except the toothbrushes which fall under buying new for sanitary health reasons)so I am keeping to my COMPACT pledge.

TRANSACTION #1

3 x Duncan Hines Brownie Mix @$1=$3.00 $2/3 or .66¢ ea.
4 x 5 Gum @ .75¢ ea.=$3.00 $3 no Q just clearance
2 x Lifesavers @ $1.00=$2.00 $2 no Q just clearance
1 Glucerna Cereal @ $4.99=$4.99 FREE
1 Glucerna Bars @ $5.49=$5.49 .48¢
2 Hershey's @ .79¢ ea.=$1.58 FREE
2 Hershey's @ .80¢ ea.=$1.60 .98¢
2 Listerine @ $3.00 ea.=$6.00 $3.34 before RRs/Made .66¢ after RRs
1 Reach Toothbrushes @ $3.00=$3.00 $1.67 before RRs/Made .34¢ after RRs
2 x Colgate Total Toothpaste @ $3.49 ea.=$6.98 FREE
1 Axe Shampoo @ $5.99=$5.99 FREE after ESR rebate
SUBTOTAL.....$43.63

Coupons Used
$1/3 Duncan Hines Mixes MQ=$1
$10/2 Glucerna Products IP Q=$10
2 x BOGO Hershey's Candy Bars .49¢/2 MQ=.98¢
4 x .49¢ Hershey's Bars WAG Q(stacked with previous MQ)=$1.22
$3/2 Listerine/Reach Products MQ=$3
$1/1 Listerine/Reach Product MQ=$1
2 x $1/1 Colgate MQ=$2
2 x $2.50/1 WAG Q from ESR book(stacked with previous MQ)=$5
SUBTOTAL....-$24.20

WAGS RR Used
$10 from Dove Deal
$5 don't remember what this one was from
$2 from Vaseline a couple of weeks ago
Total.....$17.00

$43.63-$24.20-$17.00+$.72tax=$3.15 OOP
Earned $8.50 in RRs($2.50 Glucerna & $6 Reach/Listerine)

TRANSACTION #2

Samy Conditioner $5.99 FREE after SAMY Rebate
Samy Treatment $1.99 clearanced FREE after SAMY Rebate
SUBTOTAL $8.46 w/tax

Used $6RR from Reach/Listerine deal earlier in the week
$7.98+.46tax-$6=$2.46 OOP

I found the Conditioning Treatment on the clearance endcap. I can send for a full refund/rebate on both, so I'm out of pocket just the tax on this. The rebate is why I had to do this in a separate transaction. I need the other receipt to send away for the rebate on the Glucerna to the Caregivers Marketplace.

GRAND TOTAL NUMBERS....
$64.53 Savings (coupons, rrs, sales)
$5.61 OOP
$8.50 RR earned for Glucerna(2.50)& Reach/Listerine(6)
$15.97 Cash refunded for Glucerna(2 at Caregivers Mrktpl.), Axe(5.99 in ESR) & Samy Products(7.98)

After I send for & receive the Rebates, I am OOP MINUS $18.86!
Can you say MONEYMAKER!?!? 8-)

Don't you love going into a store & walking out with FREE stuff and having them send you money for taking the stuff?

Basically this store said, "Give us $3 now and take all this stuff home and then we & our products' manufacturers will send you a total of about $19 cash in about 6 weeks".

Sluggy