Ocean City Fall Vacation 2013.....Part 4

Wednesday, Day Four in Ocean City Maryland was our last full day on this vacation.

I went out onto the balcony in the morning and did a little seagull watching.......

Dark clouds started rolling in early that day so we started making plans for an indoor activity for Wednesday.

Hubs made breakfast for us in the room.......a sausage and egg on a whack biscuit.

Then we got ready to head out to "do" something.   By the time we passed a chicken processing plant along the way it was raining.

We decided to head up to Millsboro, Delaware to the Nanticoke Native American Museum.

 

This was a very nice little museum about the Nanticoke tribes that lived in the Delaware and Eastern shore of Maryland.  The first contact of the Nanticoke with European settlers was Capt. John Smith in 1608, shortly after the founding of Jamestown in 1607.

Though the Nanticoke are not an officially recognized tribe by the Federal Government(and they do not have their own reservation and tribal government), they do have an unofficial "tribe" and land that serves the peoples cultural needs.  They are however a state recognized tribe in Delaware.  This is the only Native American museum in Delaware and it is housed in a former Nanticoke schoolhouse.

Handicrafts made by present day Nanticoke tribe members as well as ancestors.......

The caretakers had no problem with us snapping photos of most everything in the exhibits.  The only exception were the preserved/taxidermy eagles.  Eagles are so sacred to these people that they don't allow them to be photographed. 

They had an accessible ramp in that back of the building so I had no problem getting the wheelchair inside.

Of course wheeling around the exhibits without crashing into them was another story....I was NOT a good driver having so little experience. lol
But I succeeded in NOT damaging anything......

An old dugout canoe which had been handed down through the generations.....

There were books on native history in the second room with the canoe tableau and it was set up to accommodate groups of school children as a teaching classroom.

There was pottery and many artifacts both ancient and old,  as well as some nice written history on the First Peoples who inhabited the Delaware Valley region of the country.....

I loved this old crab trap......much harder to use than the type of crab pots I used in my youth to go crabbing.

This was a recreation of a Nanticoke tribal village the local youth had made....

They had a small gift shop with actual crafts made by tribe members.  Hubs bought this matted photograph of Nanticoke dancers at a Pow-Pow gathering.  The woman manning the museum that day, Assistant Director, was the dancer in the photo so Hubs asked for her to pose with the photo. for a memento.  She seemed quite thrilled and pleased to do so.  Thanks June Morning Star Robinson!

I found this article from Delaware Online after our visit that featured the Nanticoke tribal chief and June too.  There should be a short film at the top of that page as well with them in it.


I also bought a Christmas ornament for our tree of a replica of the Nanticoke tribal emblem.....

After we finished our museum visit it was still raining.  I spied this field of crops on our way back to Ocean City......

If you can't make it out, that "line" over the field is an irrigation pipe system and it is spraying water on the field.....while it's raining! lol

We were famished as we stayed at the museum quite awhile so we stopped at Arby's along the way back to OC.  This nasty sandwich was a special in the Fall of 2013 at Arby's....a smokehouse barbecued something or other.  It was so SALTY I could barely eat it!!!

So after that we had to make another stop at the Burley Oak Brewery taphouse....you know, just to wipe the taste of that salt lick out of my mouth.  ;-)

I think we just stayed in that last evening and ate whatever we still had hanging out in the fridge there.
I had bought this Ginger Beer on the way down.  I must say it was not my favorite thing to drink but drink it I must. lolz

Hubs was up before dawn again on the morning we left for home.  He snapped another awesome sunrise before heading out.

We made another stop at Total Wine & More on the way home.  Hubs wanted to pick up a few more things he didn't get on the way down to the shore.
It was barely 11am when we got to the store and I snapped this photo on the way into the parking lot....

It was an old wino holding up a sign asking for money so he could buy a drink.....

No better place than to panhandle for money for a drink than outside a massive liquor store, right?

And with that ends our 2013 Fall Trip to Ocean City Maryland.



Sluggy

I am Done!

The two last Cheese Deal transactions at Weis.....

8 more bags or blocks of cheese..  Though I am tempted to run this deal 2 more times today I won't.

28 packages of cheese.
$56.74 of sale priced cheese for $21.74 spent OOP.
Reg. retail value of $111.12

The cheese drawer overfloweth......lolz

On the right are the older cheeses, about 8 bags/blocks and 2 cream cheese logs(plus another bag of shreds that I can't fit in there)and then all 28 of the new bags/blocks bought this week.

If anyone sees me buy Cheddar or Swiss cheese again anytime soon just stop me, ok? ;-)

Sluggy
 

Ask the Sluggy.....Answers Part 2

Meg B. asked....."What started you on your frugal road, and when? Have you always been primarily a SAHM,- maven -of -frugality?If so, as a college-educated woman, did you ever get grief for that choice? "

Lots of good questions so I'll dive right in.

I guess I have always been frugal, even as a teen.  Due to my home life as a teen money and food were a constant worry.
Then when I left home for school, after I moved out of the dorms my sophomore year again, money and food were a constant worry.  My father paid for my schooling yet gave me no money and I had to provide myself with a place to live and food to eat.

When Hubs and I married and struck out on our own money was tight.....very tight.  We had to watch every nickel and make choices between wants and needs. 
Then came kids and our money had to stretch even further to meet our needs. 
About 2002 we got comfortable with our income.  That was when Hubs finally got a promotion and his salary went high enough to let us relax a bit with tracking expenses.  We had also been carrying two mortgages from 2000 to 2001 which strained our financial limits a bit more but once the old house sold we were doing aok.
We experienced some lifestyle inflation at that point....nothing crazy--eating out more, buying more "stuff", etc.,  but we didn't worry about the money and spent a bit more freely.  I didn't watch my grocery spending and we started taking vacations that didn't involve staying with family and/or friends. 8-)

Then, as kids going to college(and paying for said kids)loomed on the horizon I got frugal again around late 2008.  I joined an online group called The Compact which was all about limiting consumer spending and going without shopping as an activity/hobby.  I went full-on compact and basically didn't buy anything that wasn't a consumable need for a whole year.  It turned my thinking around about the accumulation of 'stuff".

2008 was also when the economy imploded here in the US so it was good timing.  I started also couponing heavily in early 2009.  With the Recession companies were offering great deals on food and toiletries and HBA products, both rebates and high value coupons.  I got some amazing buys in 2009/2010 for little money, before companies started pulling back on the deals and the whole extreme couponing crowd took over.

As for letting my college education go to waste--I ended up getting a degree in a field that I decided for many reasons was not how I wanted to spend my life.  Yes, it's possible I could have become famous(lolz)and had great wealth if I had stuck with that career field but I would have lost much more and more important things in the end.  I probably wouldn't have had a great partner in life like the one I have and I most definitely wouldn't have had kids(unless I had become wealthy).

I have worked over the years at many jobs as the need arose for income.  My primary job however has been the care and feeding of my kids.  As Hubs income rose we were lucky to be able to have me pursuit those goals rather than being a 2 income family.  Yes, there were times when money was tight because of that choice but we both felt it was the best one for our family.  If I don't say so myself, my kids are turning out to be awesome people that I am glad to know.

If I could go back to those college years I may have taken a different major....maybe not.  Having a more marketable skill might have helped us out financially more but we did ok and I can't complain.
Even though I never really "used" my education, having it has broadened me, my world view and added to the person that I am today.



SAM from the blog, A New Frame of Reference, asked......."Here's one for you Sluggy. As an older mom myself, how do you navigate "mom" groups at school, sports, clubs, when they feel like they are sometimes a generation younger than me? I hear so many things that just make me feel dated and irrelevant so joining the conversations are sometimes awkward. I smile and nod a lot."

I had my first child at 32, my last one at 37.  Back then I didn't consider myself an "older mom" as my group of friends were having babies in their 30's when I had #1 son.  By the time my youngest was ready for school-real school, not Pre-K(and we have moved to a different area)I was 42.   I became a room parent for my Kindergartener and was by far the oldest mom of the group.  Other than having a kid the same age, I had nothing in common with these other women.  Not really because of the age different but more because of my lifestyle and outlook in life. 

Before we moved here I lived in a rural, fairly isolated community populated by people who had fled big cities in NJ and NY and/or retired older people who wanted to live in a quiet rustic setting far from popular culture.  Between 1986 and 1993 we had no tv reception(except for a few fuzzy channels over regular broadcast channels).  I limited my exposure to society(it is easy when you stay home and don't have cable and there was no internet yet there).  I turned my focus inward and enjoyed living a simpler life of gardening, cooking, making a home and tending to my kids and husband.  I had hobbies like canning, painting and sewing. 

The women that populated(and still do populate to an extent)our new hometown are like foreigners to me.  I remember when we moved in to this house a woman came to my door a few days after the move and invited me over to her home for lunch.  The lunch turned out to be a "buy Mary Kay products from me" demonstration.....so disappointing.  Let me say that I mostly never talked to that woman again as she really wasn't interesting in being friends, she just wanted me to be a client.  8-(

Part of my not fitting in too may be because I am not a "joiner".  I guess I am like Grouch Marx who once said that he would never want to be a member of a club that would have him. lolz

I have NEVER been one to be part of a crowd or enjoy that crowd mentality.  I do my own thing and enjoy most people for one reason or another.  I don't run with a pack of women like many of my sex prefer to do.  I have never gone to the bathroom because my group of gals was going, I've never gone out with the girls to party(ok, maybe once) and I've never had shopping/lunch dates with girlfriends and gossiped about whomever was not in attendance.  It's just not something I enjoy.

I don't like to belong to organizations of any kind.  These always come with strings attached and brings out the "mean girl herd mentality" in some women.  I found this especially in the PTA here at the elementary school my kids went to.
I did 2 years in our school's vicious club and my time in that was one of the most depressing episodes of my life(really!).  I began to question my own self-worth and just felt so awful having to participate in any activity through it.  The people who controlled it only wanted folks there to do their bidding and have no say in what/how things were done. 

But enough of my PTA PTSD.....when forced to be around people I don't enjoy or have much in common with, if I can find common ground I'll try to feature that in conversation but if no one is interested having meaningful conversations I just smile and nod a lot SAM. 8-)

Sorry to be so wordy and going off on tangents but you folks asked for it......lolz

Sluggy
 

What I Stockpile

Somebody inquired, since I stockpile when I find a great sale, what exactly do I stockpile.

So here are the specific items I'll buy in quantity when it goes to a rock bottom price.  Basically it includes the items which are staples for us.

Foods

*  Olive Oil
*  Canned tomato products(tomato paste, crushed/diced/pureed tomatoes)
*  Canned Green Chiles
*  Single serve fruits(for Hubs lunches)
*  Cheese
*  Meats(all kinds except sliced deli meats)
*  Fish
*  Butter
*  Pie Crust mix
*  Oatmeal
*  Coffee(whole bean)
*  Tea Bags
*  Chicken or Veg. Stock
*  Panko
*  Flour
*  Sugar
*  Pasta
*  Canned Chili
*  Reduced Fat Mayo/Mustard/Ketchup

Non-Foods

*  Toilet Paper
*  Baby Wipes
*  Facial Tissues
*  Garbage Bags
*  Dish Soap
*  Laundry Detergent
*  Dishwasher Detergent
*  Shampoo
*  Deodorant
*  Toothpaste
*  Toothbrushes
*  Q-Tips
*  Razors
*  Cough Drops
*  Pain Relievers

This all doesn't include any canning or freezing of fresh produce/fruit I do every late Summer/early Fall.  I like to can my pepper relish and tomatoes.  I don't can jellies or jams basically because we just don't eat much of that sort of thing(we prefer to just eat fruits in season).  I like to freeze/preserve green beans/yellow wax beans and sometimes corn on the cob, red and yellow bell pepper strips and puree pumpkin(if I can get those items very cheaply and locally). 

While I do buy things like spices, spaghetti sauce, rice, dressings, peanut butter and raisins in quantities, when it goes on sale I don't really stockpile these things.  Like the salad dressing this week.....it was an awesome price ($1 for a 16 oz. bottle)but I don't need 12 bottles, 3 was enough.  Same with jarred spaghetti sauce-I like to have some on hand for those nights I can't get it together to make my own sauce so I have 3-4 jars in stock.  And spices lose their potency if kept too long so those I don't overbuy when RBP.  I keep a supply of these other items but we just don't go through it fast enough to warrant using up my limited stockpile space on them.

So do you stockpile?
What are the specific items you tend to stockpile?

Sluggy


 

Winter is Coming & the 88¢ Sale at Weis

Another trip to Weis(PMITA)Markets on Thursday for cheese.
I was going to do 2 transactions at the Self-Checkout registers(2 x the chees goodness!)but I stumbled upon more meat Instant Discount Sticker Deals....woohoo!.....so I had to use a cashier.

I also decided to do two rounds of the Customer AppreciEIGHTion Sale.  Stupid name, right?  -)
Bunches of items are on sale for .88¢ each this week if bought in groups of 8.  Otherwise, these items are "only" on sale for $1.00 each.

The 7 boxes of facial tissue(getting stocked for Winter colds!), 3 packages of tortillas(smaller size but that's ok), 4 large cans of tomato paste(savings of .31¢ per can) and 2 boxes of Uncle Ben's rice sides were all part of the .88¢ sale.  I also used a $1/2 Uncle Ben's IPQ so the rice was only .38¢ a box.

I did 1 cheese deal(.74¢ a block cheese). 

There are .50¢/1 IPQs for OEP refried beans(I had just used our last can 2 weeks ago).  Weis had the beans for $1.25 a can on sale this week and when the Q doubles to $1 it makes these .25¢ OOP each.

Keebler select cookies are on sale $1.87 a bag this week too.  I had a $1/2 Keebler IPQ making these $1.37 a bag for College Boy's stash.

I found 3 packages of gourmet hamburgers with discount stickers and sale price $10.51 for 5.03 lbs. or $2.09 lb.
I found 2 packages of sirloin steak with discount stickers and sale price $4.63 for 1.88 lbs. or $2.46 lb.
I won't have to buy any more hamburgers now until the end of grilling season. 8-)

I also bought a 500 ct. pack of napkins for $2.99.  I was going to get the 120 ct. packs that were part of the .88¢ Sale but this higher count pack was a better buy per piece.

The last item was a Larabar(sitting on one of the tissue boxes in the photo), on sale fo $1.00.  I had a .40¢/1 IPQ which doubled to .80¢ off, so I spent .20¢ on it.
I also added a .40¢ off Q to my Saving Star account so I'll get .40¢ cash back later, making my Larabar   -.20¢(or they paid me .20¢ to buy it).  8-)

$38.46 spent on $92.39 reg. retail with a savings rate of 58% and I got another 10 gas points.

I am off to clean out and organize the cheese drawer in the fridge to see if I can shove anymore cheese in there.   I've got 19 blocks(and 1 bag of shredded)so far and I've blown the food budget for June outta the water! 

Can you see how little I care about that? lolzYes it looks really bad but the money I won't spend on cheese for the rest of the year will more than make up for this indulgence.

Sluggy