Paying Your Life Away.......A Rant

I was working on the last installment of my Summer Road Trip Saga the other day.  I was going to include this little bit in that post but it really deserves a post of it's own.

This Summer we saw a lot of these signs while in the South.....these particular ones were seen in Virginia on our ride home......

close up of the previous shot....notice the little white/red signs on that building.....

Rent to Own sheds......and No Credit Check!

I don't see this sort of thing up here where we live, but then again, I don't get out much here, outside of my teeny tiny town or the big city in the valley below.  Let me know if this kind of thing-the Rent To Own concept-is prevalent in other parts of the country, besides the South, willya?


Seriously?
If you can't afford to pay cash for a shed, maybe you really don't need one now?

I think this is a sad, sad commentary on the state of our society.  Sheds are not like buying a house.
People really can't delay that gratification long enough to save up a couple thousand dollars and just go pay cash for a shed?
Really?!?

I rented a storage unit for many many years so this issue speaks to me.
Granted my storage unit was a business expense for most of the years I rented it, but I did store personal items in it too before I decided to let them go.

The storage industry is HUGE in this country now!
Facilities large and small to hold your goods temporarily when you don't have a place for them and more and more frequently, a place to store all your old junk and clutter that you don't need but can't emotionally let go of.
This idea started out as a good thing but it seems to have devolved into an industry that just is a languishing ground for our cast off junk.

Then those "pod" companies spun-off of the storage idea, so you could have your "stuff" on your own property(or picked up and stored in the pod at a facility if you didn't need access to it)but still be renting the container and not having to own a building.  While it's a good idea in the temporarily, I have seen people who have had these things parked next to their homes for YEARS now.  Temporarily went by the wayside long ago for some of the users of this business.

Plus there is this shed option, which has been around for ages--owning your own storage container/building on your own land in which to store your "junk".

Owning a storage shed use to be pretty straightforward.  Only folks who had property enough to put one up and lived in a place that allowed them on your property AND who could afford to pay for one owned storage sheds.
Lots of people have bought these buildings since before I was a small child.
But paying cash for a shed I guess made the potential customer base too small.
The people in the shed making/building business jumped onto the credit bandwagon at some point when I wasn't looking and now you can buy a storage shed on credit with rent to own terms.
Sigh.

Does this mean that sheds have gotten too expensive in the great scheme of things, if people can't afford to buy them outright?
Does this mean the economy has tanked so badly that no one has the funds to afford many things they use to buy handily with cash?
Does this mean Americans have gotten to the point that they can't delay gratification for ANYTHING anymore?

I just don't think buying a shed on "rent to own" terms is a very good idea.
And what happens when you don't make your shed payment?  They come put it on a trailer and cart it off with all your crap inside?
Uh oh!  Gotta watch out for that Shed Repo Man now.....lol

Making payments on houses, making payments on cars, making payments on furniture, making payments on riding lawn mowers, making payments on student loans, making payments on HELOCs.....When will the madness end????

Does anybody in this country wait until they can AFFORD something to buy it anymore?!

What is next?.....rent to own toasters?!?
Seriously, I can see this all coming to that.

Did anyone ever stop to think that all this buying stuff on credit, before you have the cash to actually pay for it will never lead us to a good place economically and culturally?!?

I just want them all to STOP IT.....STOP IT NOW!!!

I bet we would all be better off if we just turned off our televisions for good.
No more marketing in our face in our homes 24/7!
No more pressure on our kids to buy/own/wear/adore certain "celebrities"......you know, those people your young people look up to, who have accomplished NOTHING of historical significance.
Unless you call twerking, marrying another celebrity, or walking up and down a runway an accomplishment for the ages.

Sluggy-who feels the pressure to become a hermit & excuse herself from the culture she lives among more and more each day

 

Rite-Aid Spending Spree.....Weeeee!

With all the nice +Up Rewards Deals this week, I broke down and went back to Rite-Aid.
That and I miss seeing my buddies who work there.

In order to NOT go over my January food budget, I withdrew my February food budget $ a few days early, so this is all being put on February's tab.

If I had had any +Ups left to roll, I could have gotten out of there with very little OOP.
But that not being the case, combined with the fact that some of the items I wanted to buy for some deals were out of stock, here is the best I could do......

2 x Tostitos on sale $3=$6.00
3 x DiGiorno Pizza on sale 2/$11=$16.50
2 x Simple Cleansers on sale $5=$10.00
1 x Simple Cleaning Wipes on sale=$5.00
1 x Clear Shampoo on sale=$5.00
2 x Tresemme Shampoo/Treatment on sale $5=$10.00
SubTotal.....$52.50

Coupons Used
2 x $1/1 Tostitos VideoValues Q=$2.00
1 x B2G1Free DiGiorno IPQ=$5.50
2 x $3/1 Simple Cleansers VideoValues Q=$6.00
1 x $2/1 Simple Cleansers Load2Card Q=$2.00
1 x B1CleanserG1FreeWipes ManuQ=$5.00
1 x $1/1 Simple Wipes VideoValues Q=$1.00
1 x $2.50/1 Clear Shampoo ManuQ=$2.50
1 x $1/1 Clear Shampoo VideoValues Q=$1.00
1 x $2/1 Tresemme Load2Card Q=$2.00
1 x $2/1 Tresemme ManuQ=$2.00
2 x $2/1 Tresemme VideoValues Q=$4.00*
Coupon Total.....$33.00

$52.50-$33.00=$19.50 + .51¢tax=$20.01 OOP

And I received $15 back in +Up Rewards(2 x $5 wyb $15 of Unilever hair/face products, $5 wyb $15 select food products-pizzas).
So after counting for what I got back in Rite-Aid script, my haul cost me $5.01.

Here is what each item cost after Qs--
2 Tostitos=$2 a bag
3 DiGiorno Pizza=$3.67 a pie
2 Simple Cleansers=$1 a bottle
1 Simple Cleaning Wipes= negative $1 a pack
1 Clear Shampoo=$1.50 a bottle
2 Tresemme Shampoo/Treatment=$1 a bottle


*Those Tresemme VV Qs....I wasn't sure if they'd take them since the wording didn't match ANY of the Tresemme products in the store.  But they did take them, no problem.

Now I can take that $15 in +Ups and go back tomorrow and buy 5 bottles of Tide and 1 bottle of Dawn......
5 x $5.94=$29.70
1 x Dawn=$1.39(sale price if you don't buy 4)
Subtotal....$31.09

Use the $6 in assorted Tide and Dawn Qs I have.....
$31.09-$6=$25.09

And pay with the $15 +Ups......
$25.09-$15=$10.09(plus tax) OOP

I'll get 5 Tide, 1 Dawn for $10.09 and receive $10 in +Ups back.....making my effective cost $.09.
8-)))

Then I can buy another $15 in select food(crap food for sure!lol), use Qs to bring it down to $11, pay with that $10 +Ups and spend $1 OOP on that lot, and get another $5 +Ups for buying the select food.

Hey, Pantene is 2/$7 this week, so I "could" use that last $5+Ups and a L2C Q for Pantene $3/2 and buy ZERO for 2 bottles of that and then have no +Ups to roll in future weeks.

Oh, decisions, decisions.......lolz

Sorry if nobody can follow this but I just ramble on in my head to work out these deals sometimes.
Lucky you who get to read it.....not! ;-)

That's the fun I had today.
Sad isn't it?

What has everyone else gotten at Rite-Aid this week?

Sluggy

The Great Summer Road Trip of 2013......Day Eight

Day Eight of the Great Summer Road Trip of 2013 dawned early.

I guess we rose so early because we were so hungry, not having eaten a "proper" dinner the night before.
We performed our morning ablutions and decided to by-pass the meager dining options available in the lobby at this motel, and just check-out and head into the day.  We had a lot we wanted to get done today, which started with this.....

We could see that sign way up yonder from the motel so we got our keesters down the road for breakfast, were I ordered up this.....

A lovely salty country ham slice....almost as good as having Bacon but more filling!

It came with 2 eggs, a biscuit and a big pile of grits.  We don't see grits much around where I live in Yankeeland so I got them and fixed them so any Southerner worth their "salt" could eat them.......

"Proper Grits"....mashed up with fried eggs and pieces of salty ham.
Mmmmmmmm! 8-)

After that plate of YUM, we headed north to the first stop of the day.......

The Wolf Creek Indian Village and Museum in Bastian, VA.
This place hasn't been around long and is well off the beaten path to ANYWHERE!
In 1970, the archaeological remains of a long gone Native American village were uncovered and by 1996 the recreated village was opened to the public, with the Museum following in 1998.  Revitalization began in 2009 on the village structures to what you see today.

Experts have yet to identify which tribe this band of 1st Peoples were part of, other than to say that they were Eastern Woodlands Indians and the village is approx. 500 years old, so early 1500's/late 1400's, and predating any European contact.

You can visit their website HERE.

I didn't get any shots inside the museum, as they don't allow cameras but I did shoot our guided Village Tour.
All 9 episodes of it.
You might want to bookmark these videos and come back to them later at your leisure to watch them all at one time if you are interested in history and the ways of ancient peoples.

The first video was on the ride down to the Village.  It's right by the Wolf Creek so quite the hike down a ridge where the museum and parking lot were, to the village.  Since I could have walked down there but probably not have been able to walk back UP, we took the golf cart ride down and back.  Mr. John was our driver and he handed us off to Mr. Glen who conducted the tour for us.
John was a real character and I would have LOVED to have spent more time with him.  I didn't get one story on film he told us, about his days in the army during Vietnam and how he got the best of all those city slicker recruits which was hysterical.  I just got this little bit of him on that first video.  I am sure he would be Awesome to hang out with!

Mr. Glen did a good job with his tour and we enjoyed it.
I hope you do too.








Mr. John makes a cameo appearance in this video.....


And this last part is a view down by the creek before we headed back up to the parking lot.


After spending quite some time on the village tour and in the museum, we hit the road south.

Next stop, the Big Walker Mountain Lookout.
You will notice in this short clip how my accent has rather thickened after spending a few hours with Mr. John and Mr. Glen. lol
 

 

 Big Walker Lookout Pass is the starting point for the Civil War Heritage Trail concerning the Battle of "Wytheville".  The federal troops under John Toland came to this area to destroy the railroad tracks around Wytheville, plus tear down telegraph lines and capture nearby lead and salt mines.  A local named Molly Tynes used the views from this mountain pass to warn the town of the advance of the Yankee troops.

 

You will notice on the close-up of the map that Wytheville is not too far from Saltville, VA....about 44 miles.  If you've been reading my blog for a few years, you may recall that my 3 x Great Uncle was captured at the Battle of Saltville in Oct. of 1864 and later died of gangrene as a POW at Camp Chase in Columbus, OH.
I talk about him HERE in 2012.

 Here are a couple of shots I took from the ground into the valley below......

And then I gave the camera to Hubs and he climbed the tower and took these beautiful shots of God's Country.......

And then Hubs took a shot of yours truly from high above......

We went into the store and I bought of few of the "what nots" Mr. John talked about and yes, the place was full of touristy "what nots". lol

I got to talking with the elderly lady manning the store(this place has been run continuously since 1947, at least the tower has, by the Kime family)and I mentioned an ancestor had been captured at the Battle of Saltville, which led us into chatting about our respective Southern ancestors. 
Seem she had done some digging into her genealogy/family roots at one point and had found out that her ancestor had been labeled a Confederate deserter during the Civil War.  She was quite upset by that blackmark on the family honor, even now.  But then she got some additional information from a WBTS's buff that often when Southern soldiers were wounded, there was no field medic to treat them and/or no hospital to send them to for recovery and rehabilitation, so usually the wounded, who could get home, would go home to recover and return when they were fit for service again.  And many records show soldiers as deserting when in fact, they were just going home to recover from their injuries and be nursed to health by their families.  I can guess there were some who didn't return but she believed her ancestor had done the gentlemanly thing.

We bid adieu to the Big Walker Lookout and headed South down into Wytheville.

Our next stop was right in downtown Wytheville, Virginia......

 

...for a visit to the Edith Bolling Wilson Museum.
After all, she is family.
Yes, here I go again with the genealogy stuff.  8-))

My 7 x Great Grandmother, Mary Hunt married Field Jefferson(2nd marriage for both), which made her the Aunt of Thomas Jefferson(yes, THAT one!)and his sister, Mary Martha Jefferson.

Mary J. married a fellow named John Blair Bolling and their great grandson was named William Holcombe Bolling.  William Bolling was a lawyer and eventually a Judge.  He married Sarah "Sallie" Spiers White in 1860.  They had eleven children, nine of whom lived to adulthood.  Their 7th child born was Edith White Bolling, making her my 7th Great Grandmother's 3rd Niece.
Edith went on to marry a successful Washington D.C. jewelry store owner named Norman Galt, and after being widowed in 1908, she continued to run the store and made it an even more successful enterprise.  In 1915, she caught the eye of the recently widowed Woodrow Wilson, the then current President of the USA and wed him.
And the rest, as they say, is history.

This 7th Great Grandmother of mine also links me by marriage to another pair of famous Bolling Family members.  Edith's 8 x Great Grandparents are John and Rebecca Rolfe....or as she is better known, Pocahontas. (Though much oral history among the 1st Peoples of Virginia says that their son, Thomas, was NOT in fact John Rolfe's issue.....Thomas' actual father may have been  in reality another European in the VA colony or Pocahontas' native husband.  Native histories and stores have long been ignored by those in positions of power. But that's fodder for another time.)

 

Which makes the Rolfes the 3 x Great Grandparents of the husband of the niece of my 7th Great Grandmother(through marriage).
Got that? lolz

Anyway since we share a tenuous familial bond, it would have been rude not to stop in Wytheville and say "hey y'all" to Edith's home.
I even paid the extra to tour the upstairs of the building which was the family's living quarters from 1866-1899, when the family moved away after the death of Judge Bolling. Judge Bolling has lost the family plantation after the war and his father, Dr. Archibald Bolling had bought this building for the family to move to.  Edith was born in this home and lived there with her parents, her 8 siblings, her grandmother(who considered Edith her favorite), along with 26 canaries(her grandmother's passion)and other assorted pets.

Here's a photo of some of the Bolling children, probably taken about 1874 or so....

My guess from birth order l to r....Annie, Edith, Gertrude. In back....Rolfe.  In front....William.

The upstairs has NOT been renovated and it was interesting to tour the home in it's "raw" state.  Some details remain from the Bolling family's time there but much work needs to be done to keep this treasure from the ravages of time and decay.
Of course, we made a donation to the cause and became a sponsor of the Foundation.
I also bought my daughter a t-shirt.....

The museum did not allow any pictures to be taken or film to be shot but I did get a photo of myself
with Edith's sign.....

I found this video last week.  Some filmmaker from South Africa had his own Summer Road Trip last Summer and we went to some of the same places.
He put some videos on YouTube and while he was in Wytheville he got the person who founded the Foundation/Museum, Farin Smith to let him film inside.
The segment concerned starts at 2:48......




After bidding goodbye to Edith and Mrs. Smith, we went down the street to the end of the building for lunch......

 

To  the E. N. Umberger Store......otherwise known to the world as Skeeter's!

I don't think the décor has changed much in here since the 1960's.  It's been in operation since 1925, selling hot dogs and such.  I think items have been added to the décor since that time but nobody has ever thrown anything away. lolz

Here is Hubs digging into his dog.....

 And here's another short film.....



Sometimes a cold drink and a lowly tube steak just hits the spot, does it not?

Here's the lovely lady who waited on us.  She even let me take her picture but I can't for the life of me remember her name now..........Catherine I think?.....

 So after slaking off our hunger and thirst, we went next door.....

Actually Hubs had been cooling his heels in there while I was doing the tour upstairs at Edith's place.
So Hubs took me into Carter's Beverage Company to check out some interesting brews he had found.

I found that South African guy has also done a short film with Carter, the owner......




Hubs and I talked for a bit with Mr. Pennington.  He had just opened this business earlier last year.  I told him about that hard Root Beer stuff I had become addicted to from Sonya Ann's liquor store and brought him in a bottle so he could check it out and see about trying to get it to carry there since he is all about the unusual but good brews.
Carter is good people and I wish him the best of luck with his shop!

It was getting on to about 4 o clock by now and we needed to head out to our next motel stop.
But before we left Wytheville, I had Hubs stop HERE.
Tucked into this tiny town in the backroads of western Virginia is quite the fabric store.....especially if you quilt or like batiks.
They have a large internet business selling all over the world.
Fabric stores, really GOOD fabric stores intoxicate me.
A hit of fabric is better than booze in my book.

I'll just say, Hubs was tapping his foot impatiently so I showed remarkable restraint by only staying an hour and only buying 3 lengths of rayon batik fabric......rayon batiks are Very expensive in this country......

You do NOT want to know how much this stuff cost.....trust me! lolz
Let's just say I blew my souvenir budget in that store. ;-)

By 5pm, when they roll the sidewalks up in Wytheville by the way, we hit the interstate heading to Alta Vista, VA, our next stop.
Rolled into that town around dusk(8ish), trudged out things into the room and then back out to find something for dinner.  We found a Chinese buffet nearby in a shopping mall so we gorged on Quasi-Asian foods and went back to the motel to pop open some wine and relax for the evening.

Day 8 was quite the adventure but we were worn down to a nub and ready for some down time.

Sluggy

This Week on The Dining Table

The "Boo Hoo, my Birthday is Over" Edition.....

Here are the flowers Hubs gave me last week, along with 3 cards I received--

 

The card in the center, except for this photo and when I initially opened it has been living with it's BACK facing me.....

This was Hubs idea of a "great" birthday card for someone turning my age.
Here's the inside......

 

Oh, he knows me TOO TOO WELL! lolz
 

On to the Meal Planning.

Here is what was planned last week--

Sunday--Meatloaf(leftover), Collards and/or Kraut(leftover)
Monday--Roasted Turkey(have), Stuffing(have), Roasted Sweet Potatoes(have), Cranberry glop(have)
Tuesday--Clam/Corn Chowder, Roasted Cauliflower(have), Potato crusted Fish(have)
Wednesday--Meal out-free birthday meal for me, Hubs meal comes out of Entertaining Budget
Thursday--Leftover turkey slices, assorted Leftover veggies(or frozen veggies if not enough)
Friday--Quiche(in freezer), Asparagus
Saturday--Turkey Casserole(leftover turkey), Green Beans(have in freezer)

 And here is what actually happened--

 

Sunday--Meatloaf(leftover), Collards and/or Kraut(leftover)
Monday--Roasted Turkey(have), Stuffing(have), Roasted Sweet Potatoes(have), Cranberry glop(have)
Tuesday--Assorted Leftovers
Wednesday--Meal out-free birthday appetizer, meal comes out of Entertainment Budget **
Thursday--Hubs had leftovers, I had a Turkey Sandwich and Collards
Friday--Clam/Corn Chowder, Roasted Coleslaw, Fried Oysters
Saturday--Turkey leftovers

Some meals moved around and the quiche got bumped to next week. The fish didn't happen with the clam chowder because I hit on a 50% sale on fresh oysters on Wednesday so we had fried oysters.
We spent a lot of nights eating up the leftovers.

**On Wednesday we ended up NOT spending a dime out of the Entertainment Budget after all, except for a tip.
We went to Lone Star for a steak dinner and the evening was a disaster!  More on that another time but they comped our entire meal.  Woot!
  

As for the food spending last week....
There were 2 trips to the grocery store and I spent a grand total of $99.69 on $180.59 worth of groceries at 2 stores. 
I am trying to achieve another $300 or less grocery month for January and I have $2.63 left in the food budget for the rest of this month. 

Leftovers going into this week--1 helping each of sweet potatoes and reg. potatoes and onions, Kraut(2 helpings), turkey casserole(2 helpings), coleslaw(4 helpings), clam chowder(2 helpings) cornbread(1/2 a pan).  I have a head of cauliflower and bunch of asparagus that need using.

Here is this week's meal plan---

Sunday--Breaded fish fillets(have), Roasted Cauliflower(have), Coleslaw(have)
Monday--Free Birthday Burger at Red Robin, #2 Son's burger out of Entertaining Budget, Hubs has leftovers
Tuesday--Chicken and Mushroom Parm(have), Pasta, Green Salad(have) with Feta Cheese(have)
Wednesday--Roasted Chicken(have), Assorted leftover side dishes(have)
Thursday--Leftovers
Friday--Quiche(in freezer), Asparagus(have)
Saturday--Leftovers

That makes 3 new meals, 3 leftover or planned over meals and 1 meal out.

What I need to purchase for this menu?.......not a blessed thing! 8-)
Cross your fingers we can get through the month now without any more food budget spending!

Other items on sale that I want to pick up this week?......chicken roasters on sale .99¢ lb., boned/skinned chicken breasts at $1.88 lb. and mayo at $1.49 jar that I'll pick up on Saturday when the new month's budget kicks in.

 What is getting fixed and served at your house this week?

Sluggy

The Yearly PITA

I've spent the last 2 days in the grips of the Yearly Paperwork Monster........

The W-2s came in late last week so I sat down on Friday and I did the PA state taxes.
Compared to the Federal taxes, PA's are easy-peasy.
Here's basically how it goes....

1. Write down all your income.
2. Write down the total of all your taxable interest and dividends from investments.
3. Add those 2 numbers.
4.  Multiply the number in #3 by 3.07%.
5.  If your employer didn't take out 3.07% and give it to us already, do some subtraction and write down what you still owe us for doing NOTHING for you.
6.  Write us a check for the number in #5 and mail it.
7.  Consider yourself lucky we don't take more.

See?!  Easy peasy.....

PA has no exemptions and deductions(except for a very few rare ones that we don't qualify for).
There are no tax brackets and graduated scales either.
Tell us what you made, send us 3.07%.
Done.

And you don't even have to snail mail or electronically file in most cases.
You simply call them on the phone and file that way.....of course, you DO have to mail them a check or give them your credit card number eventually.

So PA is ready to be filed and we owe them another $51 besides what they took out already during the year.

Saturday I sat down and  did all the calculations to figure the charitable contributions, local/state/real estate taxes paid for 2013.  If it's more than the Standard Deduction of $12,200 for our married/filing jointly status, we itemize, but if it's less than $12,200, you are better off just taking the SD and saving yourself some aggravation and wear and tear on your sanity.
Unfortunately(or should that be fortunately?), I get to challenge my sanity this year.

So this week I get to write up all the final paperwork for the Schedule A & B.   Fun! lol

I also sat down on Friday and figured out my final Net income from my gross Blog Revenue, eBay, Etsy and Amazon sales in 2013.
You are now reading a blog written by a "hundredaire".....you know, like a millionaire but a lot poorer.  ;-)

I started filling in the 1040 and am now on page 2(home stretch!) and awaiting the 1098-T forms from 3 colleges(Daughter attended 2 different ones in 2013)so I can see if we get the 2 educational credits and/or offsets from Form 8863 the year and how much they will be.

I went ahead and figured the rest of the numbers without the Tuition/Educational credits/offsets and we will be getting a refund hovering in the $1K neighborhood at least.  Could rise to almost $2K depending on how the 1098-Ts affect the calculations.
Rah......

So until those 1098-Ts come in I'll keep myself busy by doing the.....yes, I am going to say it!......the FAFSA.

I don't have to do one for #1 Son this year since he graduated in 2013(hoorah!)but instead, I get to do one for #2 Son(boo hiss!)who will be starting college in 2014.

It's all just a big game of chicken for us really, since we are so RICH(have retirement $), the FAFSA always tells us we are required to pay the entire college bill the child might have....and usually it tells us we are required to pay even MORE than their anticipated bill!  How is that possible?LOLOL

So we fill it out and wait for them to tell us our kids qualify for nothing.....except loans, EVERYONE qualifies for those evidently.  8-(
So I dutifully fill it out even though it's pointless.

The Daughter has dropped out of college(temporarily)this semester and has no clue whether she will return for the 2014-2015 year so I guess I need to fill one out for her this year, just in case she does drop back in, in the Fall.
But where they want to know what school to send the information to, what the hell do I put? lolz

Possibly 3 more years of this FAFSA crap and then I am done forever.
Whatever.....it really doesn't matter.

Maybe today I'll do something FUN like......figuring out a menu for this coming week and scrubbing a few toilets........or having a couple of drinks.

Guess which one will win out?  ;-)

Sluggy