Where Am I??

So you click on your Favorites or whatever to go to www.simpleslugblogspot.com and see what wonderous things Sluggy is posting about today.

But what is this??
Where am I?
It says, Don't Read This; It's Boring!....
But.....but.....the template is different!
And the colors?!?!
No dull dark blue and cream......
Bright GREEN and Purple Accents!

It's like Dorothy after she landed the house on the Wicked Witch of the East and stepped out into the Colorful Land of Oz.
No, you are not in Kansas anymore....but you ARE on the right Blog! ;-))

I am just trying on some new clothes on the blog.
Dressing a bit snazzier as it were.
"There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture....."(if you know where that catchphrase came from, you are OLD like me!)hehehe

Let me know what you think about the new paint colors in the blog house.

Sluggy

Meal Plan Monday.....September 7th Edition Week #2 Eating from the Freezer/Stockpile

Last Week's Menu Post Mortum......

Most everything was served as planned.
Saturday night Hubby & I had a date and spent $22 on Chinese food.  The kids fended for themselves at home.
We cooked out on Sunday instead of Monday so the BBQ Chicken legs will be moved to this week.  The Clam Chowder was great!  Could have used some more 'clam' flavor(ie-more clams!lol)but it was yummy anyway and so easy to make.
Between the meal out, the grocery spending($15ish)& the $15OOP at KMart last week, my last week's total spending was around $53.  Strictly weekly food budget spending was $15ish.
We will still be eating from what is in the house for the upcoming week/menu, except for Tuesday. 

Here's what I will be serving our family of 4 this Week...

MONDAY--BBQ Chicken Legs(freezer), Potato Salad(pantry/stockpile), Grilled Summer Squash & Onions(garden)
TUESDAY--Grilled Reuben Sandwiches(will have to buy bread/meats/cheese/kraut-have dressing)
WEDNESDAY--Lasagna(fridge/stockpile), Tossed Salad w/cucumbers(garden-can you believe I STILL have salad greens growing!)
THURSDAY--Fried Fish(freezer), French Fries(pantry), Green Beans(freezer)
FRIDAY--Ham Slices(freezer), Mac & Cheese(stockpile/freezer), Swiss Chard(garden)
SATURDAY--Marinated Italian Chicken(freezer/marinade in stockpile), Rice(stockpile), Veggie Melange(freezer)
SUNDAY--homemade Chili(freezer/stockpile), Cornbread(pantry)
Dessert--Zucchini Brownies, Seasonal Fresh Fruit


My shopping list for last week was approx. $15(bread, milk, bag of potatoes, local corn, rolls).  I didn't get to the bread baking as planned.  **This $15 doesn't count the stocking I did last week at KMart during double coupons.  I spent $37.65 OOP there for the week($14.86 after the rebates come in).**

This week's shopping list is light again....bread, milk and some fresh fruit.  I do need most of the ingredients for Tuesday's meal.  Local store has lunchmeat/sliced cheeses on sale this week, so I'll pick up large packages(2 week's worth) of same and use for Tues. night's meal plus for the kid's lunchmaking for school and #2 son's grilled cheese addiction(his alternative when he doesn't like what I serve and his weekend "go-to" lunch).

Food Waste Report....we officially as of this writing have NO leftovers in the fridge!  That will all change by tomorrow however.lol  The doggies helped polish off the last of the stuffed squash on Sunday.....and they were most happy to do that!lol

Cooking for only 4 now was difficult last week.  Stopping myself and NOT making as much for a meal is something I have to be cognizant of while in the act of cooking.  Instead of cooking large batches so there are leftovers for snacking/alternatives/etc. I'm going to purposely pared down how much I make for a meal.  Striving for NO leftovers right now is the plan.
This will continue to be my challenge for now.

Check out Organizing Junkie's Website Here to see what other Home Cooks are serving this week!

Rite-Aid Overload & a Freebie with Coupon good until Sept. 30th

I am waiting for the phone to ring any minute.
Why?
Because I haven't been into my local Rite-Aid all week!

I am sure after the number of trips into Rite-Aid I made in August, they believe I have moved away from this town or have fallen deathly ill, since they haven't seen my face since the morning of August 28th, 7 whole days ago!
And they need to know that I am ok, so they will be calling me any minute.

I do enjoy a good healthy Single Check Rebate check, especially when it means that I've gotten all those items I bought at Rite-Aid for FREE once the check comes in.

But last month.....
Last month I went a tad overboard, let's say.
I say this because I am waiting on a Single Check Rebate of.....ahem......$184.66 & a $10 Gift Card & a $5 off Coupon for Kelloggs.
Oh yes, and the Summer Care Tote Bag of goodies too.

I plead that it wasn't all MY fault that I will end up having spent actual money when the check comes in later this month.  I ended up purchasing some unplanned items there.  Items needed at the last minute for #1 son to take to college and some actual items that we needed(of a medical nature)that I didn't have coupons for &/or were not on sale.

The horror!!!

Usually I get it where all the items I buy at Rite-Aid cost under or as much as the Rebate check I get back.  This time once the Rebate check comes in, I will have gone over it by $34.73(I don't count the gift card/coupons I get back as cash).
So in the end, my $745.14 worth of stuff I bought at Rite-Aid will have cost me out of pocket, including tax, $34.73 of my cash.

Not exactly free but still.....a tremendous value as it's all stuff we can use or we need.
Except the Renu Contact Solution that was free after rebate.  I don't know WHAT I was thinking on that one!lolol

Now to make reading this post profitable to all of you readers, there is a coupon available for a new herbal/homeopathic item HERE.  It's called CANKERMELTS.  It's a treatment for Canker Sores of the mouth.
The link is a PDF so just print it out, cut the coupon and take it to either Rite-Aid or Walgreen's by September 30th and get a free box. 

The stuff retails for $7.99 for a small box of 12 so go get some to try if you are bothered by canker sores. 
And let me know if it works for you.


Sluggy

Help me Win $500 & Everyone have a Great Holiday Weekend!

Ok, don't make me beg.
Click on this LINK and help me win $500!
Pretty Please?

Why should you do this for me?
Well, if I win it, I can offer some Giveaways on my site, because if I win I'll then have $$ to obtain Gift Cards and stuff to giveaway.
So it's in your best interest to help me win.lol

I thought by now I'd have had some company offer me Giveaway fodder in exchange for a review or the advertising their product would receive from my Massive Blog Audience **cough, cough**.....but no.
I guess companies think my audience is too too frugal to buy their products so they don't want to advertise here.

Or it might be that I don't provide unblemished glowing reviews of products, unless the product really REALLY deserves it.
And few products do....

So click on the link and make me happy, k?
'Cause when Momma ain't happy, ain't NOBODY happy!! ;-))

Happy Labor Day Weekend All!  Make sure you do some relaxing this weekend. 8-))

Sluggy

$60K Savings Challenge AUGUST Totals.....Expensive Month but at least it's not Negative

I have posted my AUGUST End of Month 60K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I am once again able to say that we finished up August barely in THE BLACK.
The amount put into Savings for August was $789.25.

The MasterCard bill(which is paid off each month-NO BALANCE EVER!)was just under $2K this month. We had some big unusual purchases like a new stove, hotel bills again, gas purchases for trips and other costs associated with summer fun.

We had a bit of rolled coins as usual, but I am still sitting out on eBay.  I miss the cash coming in from that source but I dread jumping back in and dealing with all the problems selling there brings.

On the recurring utilities front, we saw an increase of $2.46 in the electric bill from July. A negligible amount as we haven't run the A/C hardly at all in August, just like we didn't run it in July.

The water bill saw a dramatic decrease! We went from $97.24 in July to $38.87 in August!  I guess patching that hole in the pool and not having to run water constantly into the pool was the reason.  I hope hubby can resolve future pool issues quickly next year so we don't WASTE all that money on unnecessary water.  It's just so wrong.....

The Food Budget costs for August are in another post, which is located Here.  Food/Toiletries spending in August was my lowest monthly total for the year.  I'm hoping to stay out of the stores more this month and have set a September Food Budget of $250.

With #1 son going off to college(college textbooks & a laptop computer), more summer fun expenses(like entrance fees to various experiences), replacing a vehicle's windshield, other school(graphing calculator for daughter, back-to-school clothing expenses for 2 kids) & marching band expenses, August turned into an expensive month.  I was hoping for at least a $1K savings for the month.
Didn't quite happen.

But considering that we just paid over $6 THOUSAND DOLLARS in CASH for #1 son's 1st Semester of College, I don't feel so bad about only saving $789.25.

Let me repeat that.....
We paid for #1 son's 1st Semester of College in CASH.
Yes, I AM boasting here!  8-))
Hubby & I have worked darn hard to save all that money and have gotten to a place in our financial lives where we can pay CASH for college.
No payment plans.
No loans.
C-A-S-H.

We started our married lives with me as a waitress heading back to graduate school and him in his 2nd yr. studying for his Masters.
We were pretty broke like most regular people who are just starting off in life.
On our 1st Anniversary, with his degree in hand, we embarked on life with no jobs and about 15 thousand in Student Loan debt.  That was 1983.  15 Thousand in Student Loans was ALOT in 1983 dollars.

Yes, we did live with family briefly at two points in our marriage when we were just starting out but we bought our first house WITHOUT large sums of money given to us from family.  We were very proud that we waited until we could afford the home to buy it.  We did have a mortgage however.
After buying that house, we made paying off the student loans the priority and paid them in full in 2 years.
14 years after buying our 1st home, we bought our 2nd home.  At that point we were able to put a rather large down payment on that home and carried TWO Mortgages for almost a year until the 1st home sold.  I don't recommend buying another house BEFORE you sell the old one.lol  The point is, because of buying a modest house the 1st time and living frugally, we were financially able to put a large downpayment on house #2 AND carry that extra mortgage WITHOUT too much difficulty.
Then we paid off the 2nd house fully in 6 years and have remainded Totally Debt-Free since 2006.

We celebrated our 27th wedding Anniversary last week.  We have worked 27 yrs. living frugally to get to the level of financial freedom where we are now.
The moral of my story is if we can do it, you can to!
It takes time but you have to just keep going.....even when you stumble and don't keep with your budget one month, just pick yourself up and try again next month.


We are Eight Months into this $AVING$ Challenge, and we have a Savings Total of $15,635.41 for the year.


What's ahead for September....
Less food spending.
Trying to track small outlays of cash better.  These add up to big outlays over time.
No travel this month so no unusual hotels, gas, food expenses.
No big ticket purchases foreseen this month and no items to buy for the kids.

I'd love to stash away $2K this month.  It should be do-able unless something comes up.

Be sure and check out how others are doing with their finances this month at MONEY SAVING MOM.

Sluggy