Happy 239th Birthday!

I suspect that if Mr. Jefferson, et all where to return to present day America they would hardly recognize it nor believe what it has become, both good and bad.

That being said, let's hoist a cold one(beverage of your choice)to the people who make this crazy nation go round--you, me and our fellow citizenry.

My house is situation on a hill above the town park, less than a mile away, where they shoot off fireworks every July 4th weekend.
Enjoy this brief snip of what transpired last night in my neck of the woods!



Here's to the freedoms we still enjoy in America!
Now go wave a flag, shoot off bootleg fireworks(and hopefully not your fingers) and drink your neighbor under the table.

Sluggy

June Goal List Results

Here's a run down on how I did on the June Goals--

JUNE

* Clean Living/Dining Room  DONE
Got 'em both cleaned.  Still have a tub of Daughter's stuff to load and relocate but nowhere to put it yet.  bleh.

* Clean upstairs Hallway  DONE
Got everything put away and the rug vacuumed and the floor swept.  Trying to keep the laundry basket empty(clean clothes put away)and in the laundry room instead of the hallway.  I moved some tubs of stuff into the spare bedroom closet so they are out of the hallway now.

* Tidy up Garage  DONE
Got it straightened up.  It's still a mess though because there is too much stuff out there!  Once we get the spare fridge emptied out that is going bye bye.  Still have some stuff to take to Salvation Army out there as well as too much booze. lol  Ok, there is no such thing as too much booze.....what was I thinking!?! ;-)

* Bike 50 miles  DONE

I blasted my 50 mile goal and did 76 miles in June.
Woohoo!


* Weed/Fix up front flower bed  DONE
Planted, weeded and edged for now....of course the weeding and edged is continuous.....bleh.  I go out when it's cool in the morning and weed a bit at a time.  I need College Boy to go edge on his day off(as long as I stand around and nag him all day about it to get it actually done).  We still need to lay the mulch down....that might happen on Sunday if it doesn't rain some more. ugh.

*  Plant rest of garden   DONE
We had to replant the collards and the green beans since the rabbits took those out before we got the fencing up.  The second batch of plants seems to be holding their own against the chipmunks who can still get through the fencing.
We just need it to STOP RAINING for more than a few hours!  Seriously nothing is growing much yet.  I worry that the tomatoes will get blossom end rot again this year. Send the sun please.

* Use Hand Weights 10 days  FAIL
Didn't even try this month.  Will attempt to work those into my routine in July but don't hold your breath. lolz

* Pay the Bills   DONE
Everything paid on time.  Even that monstrously huge credit card bill was Paid in Full because there is no way in hell I am paying interest on any cc debt!

* Gather donation/declutter  DONE
Of course de-cluttering is an ongoing project so it never seems to leave my list. lolz

* Take donation to SA  FAIL
The donation stuff is still sitting in the living room.  I'll get it moved into Hubs car tomorrow morning or tonight and he can drop it off sometime in the coming week after work.

* Cut out 2 Tops and Sew Them  FAIL
Didn't do a lick of sewing in June.  No mojo......

* Write a letter  FAIL
I am always sending out emails on this machine.....does that count? lol

* Apply for Passport  FAIL
At this point it looks like I won't be taking a trip this Summer and won't need a passport anytime soon, so this goal is going away for now.

Do you make monthly goals?
How did you do on them in June?


Sluggy

Giveaway Update....PLEASE READ!

Ok, I love having people enter these giveaways(that's why I hold them, right? )

One tiny requirement is that when you enter I have a way to contact you if you win.

I see a lot of you entering but don't either.....
A-put your email into your comment
OR
B-email me your email privately
OR
C-have your email addy available on your Blogger member page that is linked to your comment.
OR
D-if you have a blog on a platform other than Blogger and you don't have your email addy listed on that blog.

If you don't have a Blogger account and your entry name hyperlink takes me to your Google circles page please be aware that I can't see your email on your Google page.
Please check to see if your comment either has an email addy or takes me somewhere I can find your email.
If it doesn't, you can't win.

I am NOT spending my time trying to hunt the winner down.
Make sure I can email you because if I can't, I'll pick another name.

Sluggy

July Food Spending

After the trips to Target and the Bakery Outlet on Monday I finally set my menu for the cook-out on the 4th--

burgers(have)
hot dogs(have)
rolls(have)
leftover smoked bbq chicken(have)
smoke bbq ribs(have)
pasta salad(need stuff)
chips and dips(need stuff)
roasted corn on the cob(need)
cherry cheesecake pie(need stuff)
zucchini bread(have)
soda(have)
tea(have)
lemonade(have)
seltzer(need)
condiments(have)

With that in mind I hit the food stores yesterday......

A quickie at Dollar Tree(nothing for the picnic but stuff we need/use)

2 x Pot Stickers=$2.00
2 x taco shells=$2.00
2 x salad dressing=$2.00
2 x Fudgsicles=$2.00
2 x Hormel pepperoni packs=$2.00
1 x Palmolive dish soap=$1.00
SubTotal....$11.06(tax on the dish soap)

I used--
1 x .75/2 Kraft dressing ManuQ=.75¢
1 x .25¢/1 Palmolive IPQ=.25¢
1 x $1/2 Hormel pepperoni IPQ=$1.00
Coupon Total.....$2.00

$11.06-$2=$9.06 OOP

I also had a $1/2 Ortega taco shells IPQ but it beeped so the cashier wouldn't take it.  I might have waited on the taco shell purchase but they were still a good deal at $1 a box rather than .50¢ a box.

I also hit a low priced produce market on the way home that I don't go to often.  It is always so busy and you usually can't get a parking space, but on Wednesday I did.....

2 x 3lbs. Onions $1.49 ea.=$2.98
1 x Celery bunch=.99¢
Total....$3.97 OOP

I was down to my last 2 onions and needed more.
The celery will go into my macaroni salad for the cookout on the 4th.

Then it was off to Weis(PMITA)Markets for other needs for my cookout menu.
I won't bore you with photos and the long laundry list but everything I bought was on sale or a loss leader this week.

For the cookout I bought 2 chips($1.77), 2 cukes($1), 3 peppers($1), 2 cool whip($1) and 2 graham cracker pie crusts($1).  I have the other ingredients to make 2 cherry cheesecake pies for the picnic.
The soda was 5 for $12 at Weis so even though I bought soda at Target earlier this week, I bought 5 more 12 packs.  Included in the soda was Polar brand seltzer so I got 2 of those amongst the 5 packs.  Plus II had a $1/2 Polar packs ManuQ so my 5 packs came to $11 instead.

Non-cookout needs I also picked up......1 sirloin steak sticker discounted to $3.33(almost a full lb. of meat), 2 bags of fresh veggies 50% off(for tonight's dinner), a jar of Vlasic pickles ($1 after Q), 2 bags of Croutons(.75¢ ea. after Q), 2 gallon jugs of zero peach Arizona tea(my favorite)for $1.77 ea.(I may go back for more of those as it NEVER goes this low!).

Rounding out the bill was 1 bottle of Sparkling Ice brand soda(on sale for $1 and I'll get that back as it's the full refund item on Saving Star this week)and 4 bananas(with will get me 20% of that purchase back at Saving Star this week as well).
Spend $41.91(.72¢ tax)and saved $42.53 with sales/Qs so just over a 50% savings rate.

Except for more tea and the corn I need to pick up on Friday or Saturday morning I am done shopping for the week.  I am up to $62 + change spent for July at this point($25 of which was purely for the cookout).

I got a bag of these chips at Weis for when eldest son gets here.....

They are made with hot sauce made with beer.....two of his favorite things! lolz
I need to hide them for another week+ as he is suppose to be here next Friday.

Next week I have my eye surgery and then eldest son arrives that weekend so I won't be food shopping much at all next week.  I foresee a few nights of take-out while I am out of commission if no one else steps up and cooks.

How is your shopping going this week?
How much do you spend on July 4th picnics?
Do you buy ahead on sale for some of your picnic needs?

Sluggy


 

July 1 Net Worth Update

We are $8,020.85 up from last month's net worth(only cash/investments, as I don't count housing or car values).
We are also $116,641.04 up from July 1st of 2014 net worth.

Yeah, I especially like that latter one.  ;-)
Love me some good ol' compounding interest on large sums of money, ya know? lolz

Sluggy