Stuff Going on Here Lately

*  Well the son taking a teaching job plan has changed a bit.

He got another job offer, this one in Northern Virginia.  To start the salary is $9K higher than the offer from the North Carolina school(partly because it's a wealthier district and partly because he has special ed experience).

While the money is better the cost of living is higher in No. VA comparatively to rural NC.  There is MORE housing to choose from but there is also more competition.

This area in VA will provide more opportunities for his GF to get the medical field job she is training for.  Of course, she won't be able to jump right into a medical position until she takes and passes her board certification which can take up to 6 months.

But they have a Plan B where she can get a transfer at her part time gig in Pittsburgh to one of this company's stores in No. VA and work there while studying for the boards.
So money will be tight at first but it's highly doable.  Eldest and I will be going down to VA this weekend to secure an apartment.

The problem is that this school district doesn't start classes until after labor Day(Sept.)whereas the NC school started midway into August.  Eldest will be leaving his job tomorrow so by August there will be no paychecks coming in.

The VA school district pays at the end of the month, so he will have almost a 2 month gap between pays.
Ouch.

Between moving expenses, security deposits, setting up the apartment and monthly rent/food/utilities/gas/clothing that needs to be bought they might not be able to cover that 2 month gap financially.

So this is where "the Bank of Mom & Dad" comes into play.  Eldest is very uncomfortable accepting a loan from us to tide them over and I am glad to hear that at his age!(I would be worried if he wasn't uncomfortable. lolz)  But we are darn lucky to be in a financial position to float  them some cash until things loosen up with the pay.....no, make this HE is darn lucky to have financial responsible parents.
Yah, that's it

When does this having to bail out your grown kids stop anyway? ;-)

Well I am off now to get my other eyeball sliced open this afternoon.
I'll be starved by the time it's over with(no food since dinner last night)so I am sure a run through a fast food drive-thru for a small burger will be a part of this plan too.  lolz

This has been the longest 2 months of my life waiting between surgeries and I can't wait to be able to have matching eyes again and not have to worry about tripping when I walk.

Perhaps by Friday I'll be able to SEE again...in BOTH EYES!  8-)))
Now wouldn't THAT be nice??

Sluggy


 

Tracking Food Spending Ramble

A few days ago I went back through the blog posts and added my yearly food spending for 2009 and 2010 to my Food Tracking Page located HERE.

I don't know why I hadn't put that out there on the page yet.

I first started tracking all the food/toiletries spending in April of 2009 and posting it on the blog, so 2009 only has 3/4 of the year tracked.
Extrapolate the $444.43 monthly average for those 9 months out to a full year and I get an annual food spending of $5333.16 for 2009.

Here are each year's figures--

2009(April-December)9 Months

2009 Yearly Total Spent after Rebates $3999.85

Average spending per month  $444.43

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2010

2010 Yearly Total Spent after Rebates $1539.99
Average spending per month $128.33

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2011

2011 Yearly Total Spent $3,080.59
Average spending per month $256.72

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2012
  
2012 Yearly Total Spent $4196.36

Average spending per month $349.70

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2013
  
2013 Yearly Total Spent $4,560.82

Average spending per month $380.07

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2014

 

2014 Yearly Total Spent  $4,989.49
Average spending per month $415.79

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2015(6 months in)

 

2015 Yearly Total Spent  $2,351.66

Average spending per month  $391.94

 

If you look back at 2009 and 2010, I was heavily into rebating as there were a lot of deals/offers in the stores those years.  Right after the recession hit in 2008 stores were aggressively offering rebates on products to get people to spend as the economy was shrinking.

2010 was especially a FABULOUS year for my food spending.  I spent $3453.13 that year on groceries but had $1913.14 in refunds/rebates/a stockpile sale of toiletries and food that I applied toward the food bill, which made my OOP in 2010 an astonishing low $1,539.99 for the entire year.
That came out to an average of $128.33 per month spent on food/toiletries.

Gee, I sure wish I could have another food spending year like that one! 8-)))

By the end of 2010 I had completely transformed the way I shop.  Unfortunately rebating severely dropped off and couponing got worse too(less good coupons on products we used/lower value/less stores pairing deals with in-date coupons)after that year.

I have refined my methods since 2011 and the size of the family I was buying for has fluxuated from 5 to 2 people to "somewhere in between" during the last 4.5 years.

Inflation("Yah, what inflation?", the government says!?)figures taken from a website I found, has driven prices up every single year(the highest was in 2012 at a 4.5% increase, 1.75% increase in 2013, just over 1% increase in 2014 and almost 3.5% increase so far in 2015).

From 2011 to 2014 my monthly food spending has risen a total of $159.07, from $256.72 to $415.79.
So far in 2015 we are on track to bring that monthly average down to $391.94 which is a good trend.

Where am I going with this ramble?

I don't know. 

It just seems that even though my methods have been refined year after year on how I acquire our foodstuffs/toiletries and we are buying smarter and healthier goods overall, the changes the stores and manufacturers have made to "the shopping game" as well as inflation on food product prices(and the shrinkage)has negated and thwarted my efforts.

It's hard work to find the best prices on the items your family needs to live.  The effort and time required to hunt down deals is significant and don't let anyone tell you that feeding your family and keeping to a budget is easy. 
Yes, maybe it you have unlimited dollars to spend but nowadays who has that luxury?

What I think I truly need to lower my food spending significantly is for the US economy to take another nose-dive and the food companies/stores to again offer liberal incentives to get shoppers to buy their products.  Of course this would only work a bit for me anymore as many of those foods I use to stockpile back in 2009-2011 we don't consume anymore.
Please the economy tanking again wouldn't be good for most other people or anyone with a job so I won't really wish this to occur.  ;-)

All I'll say is that keeping an eye on what you spend on food(which is by far the largest variable bill people have and is a true need-everyone has to eat, right?)is very important in order to reach your financial goals in life.
You can succeed with a budget in every other area of your life but being out of control on your food spending can sink your overall plan pretty fast!

A good place to start on figuring out if you spend too little or too much on food per month is the USDA reports on the Cost of Food charts.

Every month the government releases the data for the average cost of food per family/person that is spend in the US.  Their data is broken down into 4 levels of spending on food-Thrifty, Low Cost, Moderate and Liberal.
The report for May 2015 is located HERE. This is the most recent set of figures I could find.

According to the chart, a family of 3(like us)averaged $546.70 spending at the thrifty level, $716.60 at the low cost level, $995.70 at the moderate level and $1,087.80 at the liberal level.
I actually spent $515.77 on food in May 2015 so we were under the Thrifty level average compared to other US families.

Of course, the cost of food in your area(as well as what you buy and how you shop)will also weigh into this equation and affect your actual spending.
But putting your food spending up against the average reported in the whole country is a good way to gauge where you are falling in the spending spectrum.

Personally I'd strive to keep my family food spending somewhere between the thrifty and low-cost levels.
It goes without saying that if you find yourself maxing out your food spending in the liberal range you may want to reign in what you are buying.
Unless of course you can afford to light your stove with $100 bills........

Just imagine if you spent at the liberal levels and you cut your food budget just $300 a month(effectively going from a liberal level to somewhere between the thrifty and low cost levels).

After doing this for a year, this one action would give you an additional $3,600 to apply to other areas of your life.

You could pay off a chunk of debt if you have some.
You could pay off a chunk of your mortgage if you have one.
You could throw a chunk of money into an emergency fund/savings.
You could throw a chunk of money into an account for your retirement years.
You could put this hunk of money into a Car Replacement account and when the time came to replace your vehicle you could NOT be that much more in debt on a car purchase.

Given enough time just changing what you spend on food every single month could change your life!
It has mine.....how about you?


Sluggy

 

This Week on the Dining Table

It's the "Crazy Neighbors" Edition-- 

The scene of the "crime".

 

I think next year I am going to get my doc to prescribe me some anti-anxiety drugs before the 4th of July rolls around again.
First off we had 4 SOLID DAYS AND NIGHTS of fireworks.  They ranged from 1 professional display down the road that I can see from my front porch, to everybody and their brother buying between exploding caps to full fledged "take your arm off if you don't do it right M-80's etc." craziness.  The noise started 9 am on Thursday and didn't fully end until 11pm on Sunday.  I was on my last nerve by Friday.

The thought of how much $$ was spent by all my neighbors on this loud crap boggles my mind!  I am betting whole paychecks were sacrificed at the altar of "let's blow shit up".
Leave this sort of thing to the professionals people!

Secondly our next door neighbor went bat shit crazy on Saturday night.  Quite a few years ago some hooligan kid threw a rock through his car's back windshield.  Since we had 3 teens living home at the time and we live next door AND we park our spare car on the road in front of the house right next to his car parked on the road, he just assumed it was one of our kids who did this dastardly thing.
First off, if you wanted to make mischief, would you do it to a person living right next to your house?
No.....you'd go to someone else's street or neighborhood and chuck that rock.
He asked our kids at the time and we asked them and they all denied doing this thing.
Personally I think it was the Russian guy's kid(who was the area drug dealer).....they live in the next development and that kid and his gang of "friends" use to cut through the end of our cul de-sac to this development to sell their wares here.  The were always leaving garbage down our road and yelling obscenities.

Well CB, his friend and friend's GF went outside on the road in front of our house on Saturday night( 9ish) and shot off a couple fireworks(really lame ones because after all, they are broke).  One of them shot over neighbor's car parked on the road.  Next thing I know he's tearing out of his front door screaming at the kids that they have damaged his car, specifically they have busted out his front headlight.
First off, the firework shot OVER the car, from the back end of it to the front end.  In order to bust our a headlight, it would have had to have stopped mid air and made a 180 degree turn and gone down into his headlight.
Personally I think this guy and his wife(she was out there screaming too)have aged into Dementia Land.
CB tried to go over there and apologize for upsetting them after the crazy ass neighbor moved his car but they just kept screaming over him so he gave up and came home.  They kept screaming about the broken windshield from years before too and newly accused CB of doing it.
I was sitting on the front porch and heard all of it.

We looked at the car in the morning when you could actually see and the headlight as well as the rest of the car is not damaged.
The Crazy Town has come to my street and truly should have drank more this past weekend.  8-(

 

Onward to the meal planning!

 

Here's what was planned last week.......

1. Sunday--Beef Enchiladas(leftover sauce), Corn Casserole
2. Monday--Salmon, Potato Salad(leftover), Cauliflower(freezer)
3. Tuesday--Burgers and/or Dogs on Rolls, Zucchini, homemade Pickles
4. Wednesday--Leftovers
5. Thursday--FFY(Fend For Yourself) or BFD(Breakfast for Dinner)
6. Friday--Leftovers
7. Saturday--July 4th Cook-out

 

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Rigatoni with Mushroom Sauce, leftover mixed veggies
2. Monday--Beef Enchiladas(leftover sauce), Corn Casserole
3. Tuesday--Burgers and/or Dogs on Rolls, Zucchini, homemade Pickles
4. Wednesday--Leftovers
5. Thursday--Salmon, Potato Salad(leftover), Broccoli/Carrot Stir-fry
6. Friday--Leftovers(I had Stroganoff, Hubs had Enchiladas)
7. Saturday--July 4th Cook-out(the usual suspects...lol)

Everything as planned except no Breakfast for Dinner(pasta instead).

As for my grocery spending last week.....
I spent $98.55 on $264.87 of reg. retail food.

The food spending is up to $98.55 for the month of July and we are a mere 6 days in. bleh.

Leftovers going into this week--enchiladas, salmon, stir-fry broc./carrots, rigatoni in sauce, all the cook-out food(burgers, hot dogs, ribs, macaroni salad, baked beans, corn on the cob, chips, dip). I planned for a much bigger crowd but some of College Boy's friend never showed up so we have lots of leftovers.
 

Here is this week's food plan--

1. Sunday--Picnic leftovers
2. Monday--leftover Salmon, stir-fry veggies
3. Tuesday--picnic leftovers
4. Wednesday--maybe Subway sammiches
5. Thursday--more picnic leftovers
6. Friday--smoked bbq chicken legs(in freezer), picnic sides
7. Saturday--either take-out or eating out(eldest comes home)

This week I planned for "easy peasy".  My eye surgery is Wednesday so we'll attack the leftovers this week with a treat of Subway the evening of the surgery(since I won't even want to heat up leftovers).
Friday my eldest son comes for a visit so I'll haul that bbq chicken leftover out of the freezer(along with the pecan pie I made him for Christmas but forgot to take to Pittsburgh in December)for dinner that night and we'll either go out or get take-out on Saturday for his Birthday depending on how I feel.

What I need to buy for this menu?.....nothing at all.  And it's a good thing because the grocery ads are miserable, as they usually are after a big holiday weekend.

I may actually NOT step foot into a grocery store this week.
 

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

Was last week's plan successful, did you go off plan or did you not even plan what was going to be eaten that week?

Any great deals on food at your stores this week? 

Sluggy

Ocean City October 2014 Vacation.....Part 2

On Tuesday we headed out to see a historic site-the Old St. Martin's Church.  This was on Hubs to-do list.
The church is 2 miles north of Berlin at the junction of two limited access highways.
Well we drove right by it once and then couldn't really get to it going back the opposite way.  It is REALLY at the junction of the roads but tucked back into the woods and it's not clearly marked how to access the site from the limited access highways.

Eventually we figured it out and arrived at our destination.

It was a chapel of the Snow Hill MD parish established circa 1692.  Eventually it was designated as the principal church of Worcester parish.

The original frame building was replaced by the still standing Georgian brick church in 1764.

Unfortunately we found out it is only open for tours on Mondays so we missed being able to wander around inside by a day. bleh.

So after walking around outside(not very exciting)we drove back to Berlin and checked out a thrift store across the street from the Sav-A-Lot market.

I found this coffee table book my sister in-law might have liked.  (She's a BIG Princess D fan.)

Another picture book about the Metropolitan Opera.  I had one of those years ago with all kinds of old hokey photos of rotund opera singers.

Hubs found this shirt.....

Turned it to the front and saw it was a restaurant shirt for the place recently departed blogger The Cajun use to work.......

TI bought a couple of books and then it was off to lunch.  We bought a Restaurant dotcom certificate before leaving home for this newish place that had opened up on the road to the casino in West Ocean City called Abi's Diner.
We didn't know what to expect but we are up for new eating adventures on vacation.

Hubs got a massive plate of shrimp stir-fry.  It was ok but a bit heavy on the soy sauce(salty).

I got a plate of crab cakes.  They weren't top notch(lots of filler/breading in the cakes)but for $8 what do you expect? lol
They were tasty and the meal came with a salad too.
It was cheapish(especially with the gift cert.), filling and the prices were very good compared to everything in Ocean City.  We will definitely go back there next trip to OC.

Then we went back to OC and took a walk along the boardwalk as it was a beautiful day.

This is the sign at the pool bar at our hotel.  
"Overpriced Drinks & Lousy Service"
Yep, that about sums it up(along with rude and noisy customers)....lolz

A strange looking seabird flew over head.......*snort*

Hubs had to pose with this bar advertisement for National Bohemian Bear.  When we were in college in Baltimore, all the broke college students drank this swill.
I guess life has come full circle because Natty Boh is the drink of choice among young hipsters in OC.....well the ones who can't afford craft/micro brews......

Some of the benches on the boardwalk have memorial plaques on them(paid for by folks who donated $ to the bench purchases)
Evidently the people who sponsored this bench add floral arrangements according to the season.

Nice big waves on an incoming tide....

After the walkabout Hubs got me a Slurpee(This is one of our rituals when at the shore.)and we had cocktails on the balcony.

Some one enjoying the beach even if it was chilly and they needed to bundle up.

The interesting saying on the bottle cap of my latest drink.....

A peanut butter porter.  Sounds interesting and yummy(if you like this sort of thing)but please just don't buy it.  It's not worth the price and was disappointing........

That evening we drove into Salisbury MD for dinner at Evolution Brewing Public House.
Hubs is a fan of their beer and we hadn't been to their restaurant yet.

I don't recall that I drank anything other than water that evening though they had a large selection on the board to choose from.

I was there to visit with Tanner!  Yep, we met up Tuesday night after she got off work at Evolution.  We had the darndest time finding the place without a GPS.  It was dark by the time we got to Salisbury and the building is an old factory type buiding right next to an active train track and has very bad nighttime signage.  We must have driven past it 4 times before we figured out this "be the place". lolz

Hubs took our photo for me and then we settled down for dinner and a visit.

 

I even splurged and got dessert....doesn't this look fancy?

Tanner downed about half of this bottle of Patron tequila!

Ok, not really.  I told her I was going to say that and call her a lush because she doesn't drink. lol
The restaurant uses old Patron bottles to serve their water in.

 I had to tinker around with this photo to get it light enough so you could see the signage.  Excuse the very pale white, too sharply focused lady under it.
You see what I mean about bad nighttime signage?  The inside of the building was almost as dark as the sign on the outside.

After goodbye hugs we headed back to OC to our nice comfy bed with the sound of ocean waves putting us to sleep.

Sluggy

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