How We Celebrated the 4th

Here are some photos from our 4th of July. I spent a good piece of the day looking out from the front porch.....

It was beastly hot but a clear sunny day with a slight breeze.  As long as you were in the shade you could deal with the day.

We didn't have anyone over, nor did anyone invite us to their cook out.  We had a quite(except for the pyromaniacs in the neighborhood) day, just the two of us and the dogs.

And here is why I spent so much time on the front porch....

Just me and my little smoker.
This is the first time I've used it this Summer.
The problem is, in order to make it worth the effort/time, you need to load it up with meats.
And that's great if you have a lot of people around to eat what you smoke.

But this Summer, it is basically just Hubs and I here.  The sons are off working at summer camp and while the daughter is home, she is either working when I serve meals or off with her friends on her day off.  And she doesn't seem interested in eating leftovers, even awesome leftovers.lol

And here is what I cooked in the smoker......

About 8 lbs. of pork ribs.  What do you think of that bark?  This is apres sauce.

On the rack underneath is a whole large roasting chicken.  I figured I would cook it all up and we could eat on this goodness for most of the rest of the week.  No running the oven this week, just reheating in the microwave or on the grill outside.  Cook once and eat 5 times?  I'll take it!

And here is another thing I made from scratch in the crockpot.....

Boston Baked Beans made with Yellow Eye Beans from my last trip to Maine.
I made these on Tuesday and we just reheated them on Wednesday.

While the ribs and chicken smoked I made a big batch of macaroni salad.
I put the sauce on the ribs and then it all came together.....

A truly home cooked and awesome meal for the 4th.

After licking my plate clean(ok, maybe not "clean"), it was a long swim in the pool and then a nap next to the a/c window unit.

After cleaning the smoker out that evening, my day ended as it began, sitting on the front porch, watching the town's fireworks over the tree tops from my hillside home.
No pics of the pyrotechnics though, due to my camera's delay feature and my lack of timing.lol  I do have about 8 totally black/dark photos I could share.....

The good thing about smoking a lot of meat at once and only 2 people eating?
We are still working on that chicken and those ribs from Wednesday and there is plenty left to go!

Sluggy

Now That's HOT!

And you thought it was HOT where YOU live?!
Check out the forecast for next week where I grew up.

I am sure glad Hubs and I don't live in Charlottesville anymore....lol



Sluggy

Just for Laughs

I couldn't think of anything more FUN to share on a Friday after the July 4th holiday.
Enjoy! ;-)



Patriot Sluggy

$20K Savings Challenge Report for JUNE 2012

Ok, here is my JUNE Savings Challenge Update post for 2012.
This post is NOT about bragging or showing off.  It's just what we are able to save given our income and being able to hang tough against "unconscious" spending.

Just to update, My Savings Goal for the Year in 2012 is $20,000.  It's well below what I've saved in previous years I know.  But we also have a goal of paying for 4 home improvement projects at Chez Sluggy this year.  We plan on cash-flowing these projects with the additional money we save and/or our income tax refund.

On to the June report.....

I have posted my JUNE End of Month $20K $AVING$ 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 $1,666.67.

I have to report that we finished up June in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of June with?.......$4548.57!

Income
We had $4534.74 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
Add in $11.97 in Dividend revenue & $1.86 in interest(HAHAHAHAHA!) and  you get a total of $4548.57.

Outgo
Traditionally June has been a fairly normal month as far as spending goes.  No big tax bills or lump payments.  Just a higher water bill(due to opening the pool)and some costs associated with getting the kids off to summer camp.

As for the expenses this June......

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

* A third paycheck this month!

* The electric stayed about the same as May's bill.  It's still too high for me....

*  No car maintenance/repairs bills TO PAY this month.....we've got a whopper coming up in July however. 8-(

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The quarterly garbage bill was due....due but not expected.

*  Credit card bill was fairly high at $1300+.

*  The beagle needed surgery to remove a toe with a tumor.  It was not cancer(thankfully)but was cutting off blood flow to part of the foot, so had to be removed.  $400 of unexpected spending.

*  Cash spending(my food money and Hub's WAM money)was WAY HIGH again this month.  We need to sit down and talk about why this continues to be a problem.

The Food Budget costs for JUNE are in another post, which is located HERE.

I know I said in May that the 3rd paycheck would NOT go into the Savings Challenge pot, but would instead go toward the home improvement projects this year.  But we have an unexpected $1500+ car repair bill(which will be due in July) and our mini-vacation expenses(which was suppose to go onto the credit card-to be paid off in July) were paid for in cash instead in June, so we will put the extra check into the savings and then pull out of last year's Savings Challenge amount, the actual costs of the mini-vacation.  We also kept our income tax refund separate from the savings challenge monies, so we still have that to tap into for the home improvement projects.

Basically, it's all from the same big pile of money in the end so not a big deal.  This way, we put more into savings than we use from the old savings.  I know this makes no sense but trust me.....lol

YEAR-TO-DATE GRAND TOTAL.....
With 6 month behind us, our Savings Grand Total for 2012 is $13,971.40.

We hit our monthly goal in June and then some.  After falling behind what our monthly amount needed to be during the first 5 months of the year, now we are ahead of where we need to be.

With 6 months done, we should be at $10,000  saved for the year, so $3,971.40 ahead for the year!


I am so glad that June was a 3 paycheck month and we could put extra into the Savings Challenge and get a little ahead of my goal.  This extra paycheck in the cycle is the ONLY REASON we were able to put that much aside in June.....well "that" and we didn't go out and splurge on crap when we saw how much we had leftover at the end of June. ;-)

It's good because in the next 3 months we have largish irregular expenses coming due.
July is a car repair and homeowner's insurance.
August is semi-annual car insurance.
September is school taxes.

They are irregular because they don't come every month....like the water or electric bill.  But two things about irregular bills--
1.They are usually for large amounts(due to the fact that they don't come round every month).
2. You KNOW THEY ARE COMING!  Yep, every year....so don't stick your head in the sand and ignore them.  Plan for them.

Here is my plan for handling these 3 bills in the next few months.....

While the car repair bills in July, combined with the homeowner's insurance will top $2K, I will be able to pay them out of the reg. paycheck income.  The 2 variables in our budget, the food spending and the credit card bill will be less than anticipated/planned for in July, which will allow me to pay these irregular bills and the regular bills AND still have money to put into the Savings Challenge.

We get another extra paycheck month in August, so I'll split that check between paying the car insurance in August and the school taxes in September, leaving the regular paychecks those two months to pay regular bills and enough left over to put toward the Savings Challenge.

At this point, I only need to come up with $6028.60 for the rest of the year to make my $20K goal.  This breaks down to $1004.77 per month for the next 6 months.  I am confident I can find $1005 per month to set aside for savings.....barring some untoward event.


As for a look ahead at JULY.....
* Big car repair due.
* House insurance due.
* No trips planned other than maybe going to get #2 Son from camp this month.
* No celebrations here, no parties, just Boring McBorington at Chez Sluggy.

So how was your June financially?
Did you spend less than you made?
Did you stay within your budget or not?
How much did you save in June? 

 Even if it doesn't look like a lot of money, figure out what percentage of your income you saved.  You might feel that it's a more substantial amount in those terms!

We saved 47% of our take home income in June.  My goal is to shoot for 50% each month.  Even with that extra paycheck last month however, I couldn't make 50%, as our expenses were just too high.

Leave a comment and share with us what you did with your money, both the good and not-so good.
Did you have debt you were able to pay on?
Did you pay off a car, a house or a credit card?
Did something financial blow up on you last month?
What are you doing financially to change your life?

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

The Birth of a New Republic

While you indulge in grilled foods and summer fruits among good company, remember what this day is really about.

Courageous people....some ordinary men, some who risked everything to come to a new land to make a life for themselves that was better than anything they could hope for in their old world.   People who stood up to a tyrannt despite the real threat of being arrested and hanged for their disobedience.  People who put their lives on the line to fight for their new nation.

Here's one who did just that....

Robert Foster.
A 4th Generation born American. His Great Grandfather came here in 1635, at the age of 16.
He is my 6 x Great Grandfather.
One of my own Revolutionary War Ancestors.
The VA 15th Regiment he was part of saw action at the Battle of Brandywine, the Battle of Germantown, the Battle of Monmouth and the Siege of Charleston. After the Germantown engagement in October 1777, they spent the winter with Commander Geo. Washington in Valley Forge.
Robert Foster died in Spartanburg County SC, at the age of 64, and is buried in Robebuck SC.
I hope to visit his resting place some day.

Go back in your mind and try to see and feel what it might have been like to be alive in 1776 and to be standing on your town square hearing what many call one of the Greatest Documents ever written, being read aloud.....




Happy 4th!

Sluggy