Be Careful What You Wish, er....Vote For!

Before I go off today to participate in the local political process I want to tell you this.....
I have a dilemma of sorts.

Our little township(which is 1/5th of the legal entities that comprise my "town")is run by an elected Board of 3 Supervisors. Other elected officials are 1 Zoning Officer, a Tax Collector and 2 Tax Auditors. Other employees of the township are the Township Secretary and a Police Force of 2.
Nice and small limited government.
Just the way I like it except for when it doesn't work right.

Ya see, our Board of Supervisors use to be the "old boys club".  The same group of people ran and were voted in year after year.  And they hired their friends and nothing much got done or changed for the better around here.
Except we had an awesome Secretary.  She did a lot, picking up the slack for the BofS members who did nothing of note to better our community.  She also was an experienced Grant Writer who was able to snag Federal funds for our township.

Well 2 years ago, things changed around here.
New people ran against 2 of the 3 supervisors who were up for reelection.  People who actually called out the old BofS members and detailed what was being done wrong and/or inefficiently with the finances.  They actually cared about spending taxpayer money when it went to no good purpose or was wasted due to oversight or redundancies.
Somebody who said they cared about how our money was spent.....gee, that spoke to me!

So Sluggy voted for these 2 new people who weren't part of the OBC(old boys club)that ran things.
And they won.
And the way money was handled by our township government around here got better.
As a result, taxes didn't go up and services didn't go down.  What is not to love about that?lol


Then these new Supervisors decided to fire the 20 year veteran Secretary who basically ran things here for 20 years when the "old boys" weren't minding the store but still collecting their paychecks and hanging out at their hunting cabins or down at the bar.
They trumped up charges to get rid of her.  Maybe because they considered her part of the old regime, or because she stepped on their toes when they tried to make her do things their way.

It soon became clear they fired her without just cause because they wanted their crony to have the job.
And then they appointed another crony to take over the Zoning Officer job when the old officer quit during his elected term.
Soon after 2 more cronies were put into Tax Auditor positions mid-term when the old ones resigned.

A change in leadership is good.
Except when the 2 new Supervisors install their friends and then proceed to abuse their power.
Monthly Board Meetings have become reminiscent of Nazi Germany around here.

If you have a gripe with how things are run around here, you go to the meeting and air your grievance or ask qustions.
Good for the political process, right?

Not anymore.
Seems people who go and complain or question this Board end up having problems.

They become targets.
They get surprise visits from the Zoning Officer who proceed to fine said property owners for any violations the can trump up.  Even when nobody has called the Township to complain about anything this owner did or is doing.
These people also get visits from the Police Force and get pulled over while driving township roads, just to be harassed and intimidated.
Their bags of leaves get conveniently forgotten when the municipal truck goes around to collect them in the Fall.
The roads near their homes get plowed last in the winter and not kept up and repaired in a timely manner.

So I got what I asked for(the finances to be right), but I also got mini Muammar Gaddafis in the process.

Luckily some people who see what is going on and care to be part of the Board have stepped up despite the wrath of the current BofS and are running for one of the 3 seats, the Zoning Officer position and for the Tax Auditor positions.

And what is driving these 2 Board Nazis crazy is that the former Secretary is running for a seat on the Board.  No, she is not taking this lying down!

There is also an initiative on the Ballot to enlarge the Board from 3 to 5 members.
While this will cost us more(more members=more tax $ for salaries) and goes against my Limited Government ilk, in the long run, it may keep anybody else who wants to be a Board Dictator from being one, or at least slow them down in their campaign for Ultimate power.
Because it is harder to get 2 other Board members in your pocket than just 1.

So I have to make some hard choices.......voting against what the current Board wants is the easy thing!
The hard part comes with the Ballot Initiative.
Larger government=less likely to have a mini Nazi-ish leadership.
Smaller government=less taxpayer money spent.

Wish me luck that I don't get more than what I want!

In other news, we get to vote for new County Judges too.
Oh, how I could go on and on on this subject!
We are, after all, the  Seat of Corruption in this country(outside of D.C. that is!), here in Northeastern PA.
Home of the recent KIDS FOR CASH Government Scandal.
Move over Washington....here comes Luzerne County PA!

Make your voice heard.....go vote today!

Sluggy

November Food Spending Week 1, Meal Plan Week 2

Last week's meal plan is in the books.  Here is what actually happened....

SUNDAY--Chicken & Dumplings
MONDAY--Sloppy Joe on Rolls, Cauliflower
TUESDAY--Ravioli, Salad
WEDNESDAY--Sausage Sandwiches on rolls, Corn
THURSDAY--Chinese Take-Out
FRIDAY--leftovers & Crab Soup
SATURDAY--leftovers again

*The Crab Soup was a surprise treat Hubs brought home for me from a local Seafood Restaurant.  It is to die for!

Basically the meal plan was adhered to, except for the Pork Chops I had planned, which were put on this week's menu.

I spent...$56.79 at the grocery stores last week.

Since Weis wimped out of the $5 Cat Promotion that would give you FREE PUFFS(Hey Weis! YOU SUCK!!lol) after your initial $5 purchase I talked about HERE, I ended up rolling my $5 Cat Q with this on Saturday before the sales week ended....

4 x Bounty napkins on sale $2.50=$10.00 * we were out of napkins.
1 x Herbal Essence Conditioner on sale=$2.99 *for my man child son with the flowing locks of hair
SubTotal....$12.99


Coupons Used
2 x $1/2 Bounty ManuQ=$2.00
1 x $1/1 Herbal Essence item ManuQ=$1.00
1 x $5 OYNO Cat Q=$5.00
Coupon Total.....$8.00


$12.99-$8.00=$4.99+$.78tax=$5.77 OOP
And I received another $5 Cat Q for purchasing 5 qualifying P&G items


This week Weis Markets has a Campbell's/Swanson/Pepperidge Farms $5 OYNO Cat Deal when you purchase $15 of qualifying products.  Remember that the $15 is based on regular shelf price, not sales prices so between Qs and sale prices you don't actually have to purchase $15.
I'll probably buy some PF cornbread stuffing & chicken broth to use in my Turkey Day meal later this month and roll my Cat.

I also spent $10.27 on almost 3lbs. 93% ground beef that was marked down to $2.99lb. at Weis last week and some chicken meatballs that were on clearance.  The lean ground beef is up to $4.99lb. around here!
Ack!


My other food spending last week was at the local ShurSave affiliate grocer to up my total for that gift certificate deal.  Mostly it was some non-perishable goods, dairy, fresh produce, bottled water(a necessity around here in the winter)and a bit of frozen veggies.  This week is the last week of the program and I need to spend another $100 to qualify.  This store also have a special this week for .49¢ lb. turkeys when you spend $35.  So my $35 and the price of a 24lb or so turkey will get me almost $50 toward that $100 mark to also get my gift certificate.  Walnuts are on sale this week so I'll probably stock up on those as part of my other $50 that I need to spend.

I need to spend .18¢ more on selected baking items and I'll get a $10 gift certificate to spend at this store as well.  I just need to make room in the freezer first for the turkey before I go shopping there.

My savings percentage was only 42% last week, as the reg. retail was $97.88 on the groceries I brought home. 

This week's menu.....
SUNDAY--Pork Chops, Cabbage, Sweet Potato Fries
MONDAY--Cheeseburgers, Green Beans
TUESDAY--Teriyaki Salmon w/ Veggie Fried Rice
WEDNESDAY--Noodle Casserole, some kind of veggie dish TBD
THURSDAY--Lasagna, Salad *Lasagna is in the freezer leftover from previous meal
FRIDAY--Chicken Quesadillas, Corn
SATURDAY--Leftovers

Items needed for this menu.....Salad Greens and the weekly ubiquitous milk purchase.  I'll probably go to the Bakery Outlet this week too as we are low on bread  products, as my last trip was 10/14.

At present, my November food spending stands at $56.79.  I plan on spending between $100-$150 this week.

How about you?  Any MUST HAVE deals where you are?

And do you see any good Turkey Deals?  There are no Free Turkey Deals to be had in this part of PA and we haven't had one in more than 3 years.....sigh

Sluggy

Dolls Equal Sadness...or the Story of Wasted Opportunity

This is Sluggy's Cautionary Tale.

 

I got the remaining load of dolls uncrated, cleaned up their boxes(if needed), photographed and put up on the local Yahoo Tag Sale site the other day.
14 assorted dolls and 6 boxed outfits for 1 of the dolls.
This is the last of the dolls that had belonged to my mother.
And I am feeling sad.

Sad, not because they remind me of my mother and she has been gone now 11 years.
Sad because of what they represent......all that wasted money and the opportunity to use that cash for a better purpose.

You see, my mother never actually enjoyed these dolls.
At some point after her divorce from my rat bastard father(don't judge me), after she had been getting her alimony for awhile and felt financially secure(though she really wasn't), she began to buy these dolls.

Basically I can see now why she was spending all this money on something she stuck in the dark recesses of her closet as soon as she bought it.
She was buying her childhood....or rather, the childhood she wish she had had.

My mother was an only child, born in the midst of the Great Depression.  Her early years were spent growing up in the hills of Virginia(think "The Waltons").  Her parents were young and seeing as her father didn't work much due to the double whammy of no jobs and he drank, they had nothing.  Though they lived in the midst of a very large family in the immediate area with some wealth and influence, this little family unit was dirt poor.  They lived without electricity, running water, flush toilets in a log cabin that I suspect my Grandfather had built.
Not a Log Home, a one roomed log cabin on a little patch of land my Grandmother's parents had given her.

Eventually they moved away from the hills down to the coast and the big city, where there were economic opportunities.  This little family went on to prosper but my mother's early childhood, while filled with a large loving extended family, was void of "things".

So when she felt she had money to "play around with", she started buying the things of her childhood days that she was deprived of in her youth.  A few times, when she would show me or talk about something she bought, she'd tell me it was an "investment", because these were collectibles, limited edition or special items.   I am sure I was rolling my eyes at her in response.lol

No one knew the extent of this "rebuying your childhood" spending until after she passed away.
That's when my brother went into her closet and found the hoard of dolls.
Barbie Holiday dolls, replica dolls, Danbury Mint dolls, porcelain dolls.
Her three most favorites to buy were Shirley Temple dolls, Gibson Girl dolls and Christmas Barbie dolls.
I can see why she collected these three types.....
*Shirley was a BIG star as a kid and the same age as my mom.
*Gibson girls were from a more romantic era(mom was a romantic at heart) and represented her mother's generation
*My mother was a HUGE FAN of Christmas.

And she left every blessed single doll to my Daughter, her only Granddaughter.
My tomboy daughter, who stripped nekkid her 1st Barbie doll and left in a corner so she could put the outfit on her miniature stuffed animal.lol  Daughter was never a fan of dolls.  She didn't want them, I didn't buy them.

So my mother never actually gave Daughter any of these dolls, when mom was alive and my daughter was young and could enjoy them.
Mother also never displayed or enjoyed her dolls in her own home.

About 10 years ago, after my mother passed and her estate was cleared, I was given possession of all these dolls.  This was not even a year after we moved to this house.  Between the day-to-day of raising 3 kids, settling into this home and dealing with my own depression and shopaholic tendencies, I was overwhelmed.

As there were so many taking over the house and our lives, I decided to sell them a few years after bringing them to PA....or at least the ones I could find at that point.


I was able to sell off via eBay about half of the number we had.  That was 6 or so years ago when going prices were higher on the auction market.  I tucked that money away for Daughter's college fund.
Let's just say, even in a better economic climate, I recouped pennies to the dollar of what my mother spent to purchase these dolls at retail.


About half of these dolls got packed away and mixed in with my own hoard of stuff and I didn't see them again until recently, a decade later
Now that I've uncovered the rest of the dolls, I am hesitant to put them on eBay.  After the fees and the hassle of packing and shipping these things, it is not worth my time for the tiny bit of money they would bring.
Daughter still has no use for them as a 19 year old.  We are planning on moving in 7 years and we don't have room to cart them around until she is on her own and out of the house for good, when she could do with them what she wants.  I suspect at that time, she'd either put a sign that read "FREE" and put them on the curb or use them to build an awesome bonfire. ;-)

So I have made the executive decision and put them on the local selling site and am hoping I can sell at least half of these.  The ones I can't unload I'll have to cart off to Salvation Army and at least get a little tax write-off.

I pulled out the paperwork I have that's associated with these dolls.  Yes, my mother took photos and kept everything for insurance purposes.lol
I got exceedingly sad seeing in black and white on those invoices, all the money she spent on this crap.

All that money that, if she had just stuck into a savings bond or a bank account, could have paid for 4 years of tuition at a good school for her darling Granddaughter.
Wasted on a U-haul truck load of worthless dolls that nobody got to enjoy.

So I am doing the best I can with this situation and trying to turn it into a blessing.....when I'm not looking upward and asking my mom, "What the HELL were you thinking!?!?". ;-)
Maybe I'll feel better when the dolls are out of my life, since they represent waste and sadness to me.

Just take my advice.....If a doll is refered to as a "collector's edition" or a collectible investment, please do yourself a favor and RUN, don't walk! away from it as fast as you can! 8-(


Sluggy

$32K Savings Challenge......OCTOBER 2011 Results

Ok, here is my Savings Challenge Update post.
This post is NOT about bragging or showing off.
And I am still loving this photo from previous month's Savings Challenge posts.
Like everyone, I LOVE a special on crap.....but how do you ascertain if crap is fresh?
Does fresh crap smell.....fresh?

The theme this month is when it finally looks like you can save a boatload of money,  Lightning strikes....literally!, and costs you some of your traction.

On to the October report.....

I have posted my OCTOBER End of Month $32K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I have 2 goals each month.....
The 1st is to actually finish each month in the black and not the red.
The 2nd is to hit the targeted savings amount of $2,666.67.

I have to report that we finished up October in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of October with?.......$2,882.92!

Income
We had $2788.98 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
Add in $3.00 in Rebates(LOL) applied against the food expenses, $1.94 in Interest on the Checking Account toward the Savings Challenge & the $89 I made selling some dolls, you get a total of $2882.92.

Our monthly target is an average of $2,666.67 to reach our Year End Goal.
We finally had a month where we matched or surpassed that goal!

Outgo
As for the expenses in October......

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

* The electric bill went down $40.

* The water bill went down $20.
* There were no car repair bills or taxes due this month...finally!!
* I sold some dolls laying around the house....booyah!

HERE are the BAD THINGS

* The credit card bill was over $1500 again!
* The food spending was over $600.  It's usually around $250 a month.
* The WAM & cash withdrawals were very high. Hubs did agree to save his receipts so once I get those I can analyze where some of his money went.  Stay tuned.....

* The lightning strike the end of Sept. took out the following: my computer, my printer, #2 son's tv, the garage door opener, the router, the modem and at least 1 electrical outlet upstairs.  So far we've spent $1433.66 on replacing/repairing items.  After our policy deductible of $500, the insurance company refuses to pay an additional $328.44 on the $1433.66 we've had to spend, so we are out of pocket $828.44 for this event.  Some of this spending went on the credit card and will show up on next month's bill.

The insurance goons have been real buttholes.

This is the first claim we have EVER made on our homeowner's policy which we have had with this same company since 1986.  

1 claim in 25 years.

Wanna bet our rates go up next year?

The Food Budget costs for October are in another post, which is located HERE. Once I applied my rebate check total of $3.00, I was still over $600 in food spending for the month.  I sucked at being frugal on food this month.  But I still have over a 79% savings rate on food for the year so I only suck a little.lol

What's ahead for November.......
* There are the usual suspects: electricity, water, phone, cable, credit card bill, food cash, etc.

*Though the big Thanksgiving meal is coming up I still plan to stay on budget with food for November.
* The credit card is hovering at just under $1K yet again, with 9 more days until the billing cycle closes.  We just can't seem to get it down under $500 per month, can we?
* Hubs commuting car needs a tune-up and oil change.  Every time we take it in, this always costs more than just those things so I am steeling for a car repair bill.

YEAR-TO-DATE TOTAL.....
With 10 months behind us, our Savings total to-date for 2011 is $26,419.29.
We are $247.31 off in our monthly average to reaching our final goal at this point in the year. We should have $26,666.66 heading into November so we are just a little behind and the goal is still within reach!

So how are your savings growing so far this year?
Do you have an emergency fund of 6-8 months worth of expenses!  You really should, you know.
With the current financial climate in this country, you should try to put away into savings as much as you can each month or be throwing savings at your debt if you have some.

So come along and Challenge Yourself to Save Money each Month Toward a Realistic for YOU Savings Goal!

Not everyone can shoot for $32K, I fully get that!
But everyone can shoot for some number, right!?

Find a money goal that works for you and put that number out there for everyone to see.  Put it into paying down your debt, put it into savings, invest it or put it toward the principle in your home mortgage....just get busy and do this!

It will help keep you accountable to your goal if other eyes are on you.
Ooo, that sounded kind of creepy didn't it? ;-)

So how was your October financially?
Did you spend less than you made?
Did you stay within your budget or not?

Leave a comment and share with us what you did with your money, both the good and not-so good.   Do you have any tricks or tips that help you to end your month before the money runs out?    Let us know!
If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out too!

Sluggy

Ushering November In with Decluttering P*rn!

Now that everyone is full of candy, bring on the decluttering p*rn!
This all left the building yesterday.......

 6 sets of Star Trek micro machines vehicles.....try not to weep SonyaAnn!

1 spare Keyboard
1 Precious Moments Jennifer figurine
1 Grateful Dead magnetic clock

1 Halloween wig
8 assorted ceramic Halloween figurines (courtesy of the auction I went to in Oct.)
1 glass Punch Bowl with ladle and Cups (courtesy of the auction I went to in Oct.)
Sometimes at that auction, if no one bids(like on the stuff above), they add it to something else that folks DO want to bid on.  I "won" this stuff when I won something else I really DID want, so off to Salvation Army it goes! ;-)

1 Star Trek Barbie and Ken Doll Set
1 Power Rangers Fanny pack
1 complete Inspector Gadget toy
1 Rolling Stones magnetic Clock
2 Power Rangers movie figures
3 rolls of Manatee Wallpaper Board
1 Energizer Bunny doll
1 miniature Racing car replica
1 cassette tape of Toy Story music
1 set Power Rangers fake fingernails LOL
1 F-P  truck
1 silk scarf from Aruba

2 Star Trek Bird of Prey Vehicles
2 THE TICK Action Figures
1 set of Pokemon color your own Tattoos

Dr. Bobblehead from The Nightmare B4 Xmas
2 Star Wars 12" Action Figures
1 Yoda Star Wars Complete Galaxy Figure Set


Sluggy