Week 4 of the Boring Blog Box Giveaway.....LAST WEEK!

It's time for another of Sluggy's BORING BLOG BOX GIVEAWAY!

 

Here's how it works if you are new here.......

 

I put things in the box(mostly what I have gotten for free or almost free)each week and when the box is filled we draw a winner from all the entries received.

 

This time the Box of Goodies is ALL ABOUT THE LADIES with things for your Girly side.

No shaving cream or manly stuff in this box folks!

Here is what went into the Box today......

 

 

 

1. 3 Magnetix Nail Polishes

2. 5 Cover Girl Eye Shadows

I know it doesn't look like much, but this shit's expensive! lolz

 

 

If this is your first time, please go read all the rules for these Giveaways HERE.  *As always, if you are located outside the US, you CAN enter and win but weight restrictions/shipping costs may mean your prize box will contain less items.*

***Time to enter.....You can enter on this Giveaway post until I close this post to entries.

1 entry per person per day on THIS POST.
Leave your name/email address and a COMMENT on this post.  

This week I want to hear about if you are a Girly Girl or not?
What makes you a Girly Girl?
Is it what you wear or using makeup or what?
Have you always been a Girly Girl?

 

You can come directly to this blog post or find it through the link on the right side bar to leave 1 comment per day.  The current Giveaway Post will be linked right at the top of the side bar.

Please NOTE--You MUST be a follower to enter the Giveaway.  If you aren't one, just click on the "Follow" button on the right hand side of my blog to become a follower.

There are 2 ways to get 2 EXTRA entries on this and each new Giveaway Post.......

1. Put my blog on your blog's Blogroll.  Leave an extra comment for this entry on THIS POST with the URL of your blog so I can go check it out. **If I'm already on your Blogroll, say so in an extra entry comment once each week of this giveaway.

2.  Blog about this Giveaway on your blog with a link to this post.  Leave an extra comment for this entry on THIS POST with a link to your blog post so I can go view it.  You can do this extra entry once each week of this giveaway.

 

This is the last posting/week you can enter this Giveaway.  This is the LAST WEEK to enter!

On Monday, August 12th at 11:59pm I'l close the giveaway to new entries and pull the winner's name of this box of goodies from all valid entries received by the deadline day/time.

To recap, here is everything that is in the box.....

 Any questions?  Just email me.

Happy Entering!! 

Sluggy

This Week on The Dining Table

This is the "Everything is set until company gets here" Week.

 

Here's what was planned last week--

Sunday--Leftovers or Whatever you can Find in the Fridge
Monday--Leftover Lasagna for me, Sausage Sammies for Hubs
Tuesday--Chicken & Dumplings
Wednesday--Pork Chops, Green Beans, Roasted Potatoes
Thursday--Fend for Yourself night, I can't eat. eek!
Friday--Probably Chinese Take-Out as I won't feel like cooking but will be ravenous lol
Saturday--No Clue yet....maybe that grilled Pizza I never made ?

 

We were good with this plan until Tuesday.
Wednesday we had leftovers again since there were still leftovers.  Friday Hubs took me to a Chinese buffet after we got out of the colonoscopy so we had an early dinner/late lunch.  I think I had some pickles and melon that night when I got hungry again.
Saturday Hubs wanted to eat out since we were running errands(mostly looking at travel trailers)so we went to TGI Friday's.  I had a free appetizer coupon so I got that and a salad, which made that early dinner $8 less than it would have been.
All this early dinner stuff lately makes me think we are turning into one of those old Early Bird Special couples who eat dinner at 2 in the afternoon.  Geez, I didn't think we were THAT old yet. lolz
 

Last week,  I spent  $85.90 on  $121.97 worth of groceries at 3 stores.  I ended up not doing the Catalina Deals at Weis(PMITA)Markets.  This spending includes $11.55 on colonoscopy prep supplies and $16.18 on junk foods for #2 Son for the month and $12.62 for "we're having company" type foods.  So $40.35 of my $85.90 in spending wasn't for regular meal foods.

 

No food waste last week...woohoo!

  

Leftovers, that are still aok, going into this week's plan......1 helping of Chicken & Dumplings.  If I don't eat this for lunch one day, it can be fed to the dogs, with their undying thanks. lol

Company is arriving in time for dinner on Wednesday so I've got a plan in place through Wednesday.
As for Thursday, Friday and Saturday?.....no clue.  We will be winging it.

Here's this week's meal plan--such that it is--
 

Sunday--Subway sandwiches
Monday--Chicken and Broccoli(from the garden)in Garlic Sauce, Coconut Rice
Tuesday--Pork Chops, Green Beans, Roasted Taters(trying again to get this cooked!)
Wednesday--Barbecue Ribs & Pulled Pork Sandwiches, Coleslaw, Collards
Thursday--?  Will play it by ear
Friday--?  Will play it by ear
Saturday--Probably bunches of leftovers

On the shopping list for these meals--turkey deli meat(for my lunches), more foods to have here for company like baked goods, chicken for Monday's dinner, collards and ?

 

 

I'm figuring about $50 for the above.

That's what's appearing on the kitchen table this week here at Chez Sluggy.  Half the week's meals are up in the air still but it will all work out for the best. 8-)

 What's getting fixed and served at your house this week?

Sluggy

Rambles about Gardening, Shopping, Company & Fabric

Last weekend we spent some time at Lowe's......yeah, I am just getting around to talking about that......

We picked up some stones to remake the fire pit in the backyard......we have all those tree limbs now to burn so why not have some fun and sit around a fire at night, right?

I also picked up 2 Hostas to replace the ones Hubs dug up and threw out, thinking they were weeds....grrrrrr.

Because we had a gift card we only spent $8 on everything above.  NC Chic loves gift card shopping too. ;-)

Then I bought that HUGE 12 pack of Coleus plants you see.
If you are Sluggy, you don't go to the garden center in the Spring and pay $2 a pop for a tiny little plant.
You wait until halfway through the growing season, when the garden centers put everything on clearance before all the plants die, and you buy them fully grown at a price of $5 for a 12 pack.
At least that's the Sluggy way.....

Then you put them in your flower beds just in time for company to come visit.......

so they can marvel at what a GREEN THUMB you have! ;-)

Looking around the garden last week we saw.......

 2 Heads of Broccoli coming along......

Our first and biggest cuke......all 4 inches of it........

And this is the second eggplant we had to pick.......

And when I turn it around you can see why we had to pick it......

Some critter got ahold of it and ate a big hunk out of it near the stem.
Figures......
Hubs decides we need to put a fence around the eggplant plants to keep the plethora of rabbits living around our yard away from them and the next 2 days the largest and second largest eggplants are attacked.
They weren't messed with before fence.......sigh

But with a goodly amount of rain last week and then sunny skies the broccolis were approaching picking size.  One of them looked like it was going to head to "flowering" so Hubs picked it on Sunday.....

Last time we attempted broccoli in the garden, we ended up with "special" broccoli....you know, misformed  and tiny heads that bolted to flowers before we could pick some of them.
This year's did much better and will be part of a chicken and broccoli in garlic sauce for Monday's dinner.
Yumo!

I hope Tanner likes broccoli because the other head will be ready for eatin' soon too.

Sunday was spent cleaning.
Yes, one of my most favorite things to do in the world!!! ha

But it was time to do it and of course, we couldn't have Tanner arriving and thinking Sluggy is an awful host and housekeeper(well, one out of two ain't bad....).
We will continue on with the making the house presentable for company on Monday.  I may have to break out the bio-hazard suit when I get to the main bathroom since #2 Son is the sole user of said bathroom.
This won't be pretty and I'll spare y'all the Before pictures of it....lolz

In other news, sort of, I have filled 4 shelves with piece goods from my fabric stash.
It has been photographed, catalogued, measured and folded neatly, all in prep for selling it all on Etsy.
Here's the spare room as I was in process and about halfway to filling the white shelves in the back of the room.....

And here is the room at the moment.....

Shelves filled with 4 more tubs of fabric to sell in front of it, still to be gone through.
And there is more fabric in tubs in the garage.....Eeek!

The bed has been striped and aired out and awaits fresh linens.  A little dusting, run the vacuum over the carpet again and run the air filter/cleaner thingy for a couple of days and this room will be ready for company.....or as ready as it's gonna git.....

I also went through my walk-in closet in the bedroom today.  It's August and I still hadn't unpacked my Summer clothes.
Where does the time go? 8-)

I found a brand new swimsuit in there I had forgotten I had bought on clearance at the end of last Summer's season.  It's a good thing I didn't buy it again last month, because I almost did....the same exact suit.
I wonder about me sometimes.......

I spent 2 solid hours going through clothes and trying things on since my weight has changed and has "moved" so some things fit differently.  When I finished I had a small pile to send to Salvation Army(including a dress I bought at Fashion Bug years ago that is HIDEOUS!  What was I thinking? lol), plus a small pile for the rag bag.

Speaking of clothes, since my summer wardrobe was getting rather thin, I bought 3 dresses and a nightshirt online at Woman Within.  I found 2 coupon codes I could use together to get a great deal.
The regular retail on the 4 items was $204 and change.
With sale prices it all came to $124 and change(with $12 shipping), then my coupon codes took another $44 off, so I ended up paying $80 and change for all.
Not bad.

Between the swimsuit I forgot about and these dresses added to my wardrobe, I am all set for clothes for the road trip.
Packing commences later this week.

What exciting things have been going on at your house lately?

Sluggy

$20K Savings Challenge.....July Update

In our family we save money. It is important to us to put money aside for "rainy days".  You know.....those unexpected days when things happen in your life that you can't plan on, but that DO happen and they cost you money you didn't know you'd need to pay out.

Our income is mainly the salary my Hubs draws from his job.  We have money taken off each paycheck from the top to put into savings, before we even get our hands on it.  This money that's taken goes into various pots....life insurance, investments and retirement savings.  It's automatic so we are never tempted to NOT put it into savings.
Once the automatic savings, plus taxes and medical/dental/vision payments are taken out, it leaves what we get to "live on".  From this amount we budget for bills, both monthly and irregular bills(semi-annual, etc.) and our variable bills(like food, eating out, etc.)  Anything left over once our monthly expenses are paid, I put aside into a Savings Challenge. 

For 2013 I am continuing my Yearly Savings Challenge.  I am going to keep the Goal amount at $20,000 again this year.

 
On to the July report.....

I have posted my July 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?.......$3427.59

Income
We had $3242.23 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
 

Add in a per diem expense reimbursement check, a check from Savings Star(for my coupon savings through them for 2012)and a rebate from the power company for recycling our old freezer and we have another $185.36 not spent this month.  This brought our gain to $3427.59 for July.

 

Outgo

As for the expenses this June, here are the good and the bad side of things....

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

 

*  Music lesson bill was $30 less due to paying a week ahead last month.

*  The food/toiletries bill was approx. $42 less than my budgeted $400 each month.

*  With the credit for the return of the new freezer, the credit card bill was only $200.70 in July.

*  Cash withdrawals were $660 less than last month.

*  No doctor co-pays this month....woohoo!

HERE are the BAD THINGS

 

*  The electric bill was $2 higher than last month.
*  An additional $225 camp bill balance was paid in July.

*  The water bill was $27 higher due to more pool leakage.

*  I paid the 3rd quarter garbage bill early this quarter.
*  Annual homeowner's insurance was due and paid in July.

Overall, the Good outweighed the Bad in July.

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

We came in under budget by $42.14 last month.

The 2013 TOTAL so far.....
With 7 months behind us, half the year, our Savings Grand Total for 2013 stands at $15,999.22.  Only $4,000.78 left to save and 5 months left to accomplish this.

That comes out to $800.16 per month for the next 5 months to reach the goal.
 

Looking ahead for August......
 

*  #2 Son is having 3 wisdom teeth pulled, so we have a co-pay of $411+ this month.
 

*  The credit card bill will be large again, due to the $500 car repair Hubs put on it and my "hobby" spending for dna tests.  This is in addition to the regular things we put on it, like gas and spending for the house.

*  The semi-annual car insurance is due in August so that's about $1,500.00.

These items combined may make it difficult for us to have $800.16 leftover when August ends.  But we'll see what we can do. ;-)
  

So how was your July financially?  It was a good month for us with the money.
 

Did you put ordinary living expenses on a credit card last month and not pay it off in full when due?
Did you spend less than the income you had in July?
Did you received any "extra" or unexpected money in July like a tax refund, a dividend or bonus at work, and what did you do with those funds?
Did you stay within your budget or not?
Did you pay off any debts or put extra toward your mortgage principle?

If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out your progress too and celebrate with you!

Sluggy

It's Happening!

Well we received the wedding invitation from Hub's sister....

 

So this thing is happening....
Eeeek!

The next 3 weeks are going to be jammed packed with excitement for moi.

At the moment I am desperately trying to get the house in some kind of order because.......

I am having company next week!

After I get home from taking #2 son to have 3 Wisdom teeth out(ouch!) on Wednesday, the one and only Tanner from Working for a Goal is coming to stay at my house for a few days.
Instead of going to Chicagoland, she is going to hang out here in Sluggy's Boring Land.
Gee, I hope we don't disappoint...... ;-)

And if the planets all align correctly on that Friday, Judy from That's Udy with a J will be joining us.

I wonder how much trouble us 3 Musketeers can get into in 24 hours?
Wanna lay some bets?  8-P

Then a couple days after they all leave, Hubs and I are setting off on our Summer Road Trip of 2013.

During the course of the trip we are going to stop outside of Chicago to visit with a friend I've never met in person.  We are/were on a private email list of beanie collectors formed 15 years ago, back in 1998.  She use to live in Southern California but moved back to the Chicago area about 6 years ago.

Then it's onward to visit with Sonya Ann over at A Mom, Money, and More.
Nelly bar the door.....
I am going to Sonya Ann's prepared for anything.
Yes, bail money will be packed.....

Then it's down to the Sister in-law's wedding, but on the way we'll be stopping to visit and have lunch with 2 other online friends I've never met.  These two are sisters and are from another collector's email list from the late 1990's I was on.  This email list was a spin-off list from a Ty brand Attic Treasures collectors list....it was another toy line the beanie baby folks put out but was discontinued years ago. 

After that, we proceed to another location in Illinois and the wedding festivities....

If anyone has ever seen "Trick My Truck" on the CMT cable channel, you may have seen this wedding company's mobile Wedding Chapel, which was created on an episode of that show.

Sis in-laws wedding will be at the big brick church, not the truck church.....
Then it's reception time and back to our motel, before we hit the road again.

Then it's off to visit a gal I grew up with in South Norfolk, Virginia.  South Norfolk no longer exists by the way....it's now part of Chesapeake, Virginia.
Anyway, we were both born when our parents lived in the Portlock section of that city, in houses right next door to each other.
We've known each other since birth basically, but we went our separate ways in our teens and then the years rolled by, though our mother's remained in touch all those years.
We recently got back in touch so we are detouring down to Tennessee to pay a visit.  I haven't seen her or her sisters since my mother's funeral in August of 2000.  It will be nice to get reacquainted.

Then it's off to South Central Virginia to do some in person genealogical research at a couple of counties' historical societies, visit some cemeteries where some of my maternal ancestors are buried and maybe hit a few museums and/or tourist attractions down that way. 

Then it's back to Pennsyltucky and home.
And any burglars out there, don't even think of robbing our house.  There are vicious dogs and extended family living here while we are gone.
Do you seriously think I'd leave a 17 year old teen home alone? lol

Plus I don't own anything worth stealing that's kept here.
No ginormous tvs or electronics(hey! I use a flip phone...lol) and the laptop is coming with me. 8-)

So excuse me while I go try to pack up some more dishes because when we get back the handyman is coming to start work and I need to clear out the dining room before we leave too.

I haven't even packed and I am tired just thinking about it all.....

Sluggy