Finally Got to the Food Bank

The sun came out yesterday and I was up early enough to take my food bank donation in finally.  Here is what left my house........

4 x Star-Kist Tuna pouches
7 x Horizon Mac and Cheese boxes
6 x Purex Laundry Detergent jugs
4 x Dinty Moore Stew cans
5 x Hellman's Mayo jars
3 x French's Mustard bottles
2 x French's Ketchup bottles
4 x Hormel Chili cans
9 x Barilla Pasta boxes
8 x Finesse Shampoo bottles
4 x Assorted Deodorants
8 x Oral-B Toothbrushes
8 x Colgate Toothpaste tubes
9 x Feminine Pads boxes
2 x J&J Baby Wash
4 x Vaseline/Keri/Jergens Lotion

It took up the whole backseat of my Sonic.

And afterwards I realized that I had forgotten to take the Progresso Soups too. sigh.

All this cost me about $37 out of pocket between deals/sales/coupons and mostly free toiltries.
A nice little donation for just a little extra work and pocket change really.
The money spent really doesn't impact our budget but it helps my community at large.

And I don't do this for the tax write-off either anymore.  Seeing as we haven't had a mortgage deduction for the last 8 years(seeing as the house is paid off)we just don't have enough other deductions to itemize them so we just get to take the standard deduction on our taxes.  This means any charity we give either in cash or "things" we see no side benefit....other than feeling good knowing we are helping someone out there, get through another day.

Feeling good about ourselves is our selfish pleasure in all this.  8-)

To find a food pantry in your area go HERE.
Most can use volunteers.
If you don't have enough time in your schedule to volunteer or your local food bank doesn't need volunteers like mine doesn't(we have a small army of elderly women running ours), I am sure they would accept cash and/or donations of food and personal healthcare items/toiletries/tp/etc.

Sluggy

Money Pouring Out for Medical Stuff & Weis Trip

The beginning of a new healthcare year and the high deductibles are yanking money out of my wallet like a creek on flash flood steroids.

This is why I keep a piece(about half)of what I save in my yearly Savings Challenge in the month of December and don't put it into the Savings Challenge totals for that year.
I saved $3323.77 last December from our various incomes that month but only put $1548.21 toward the Savings Challenge, reserving $1775.56 of what we didn't spend in December to put toward medical bill deductibles in 2016.

We got to February 9th and we have already racked up over $3K medical charges for 2016.
And for once it is NOT all me! lolz
Hubs has an issue and the dr. ordered a whole battery of bloodwork tests for some pretty pricey and offbeat issues it might be, just to narrow down some causes.
8 tests that cost $2,761.
EEK!
Our insurance got a discount so we only owe $1,510.27 of that.
Gee, I feel soooo much better now! haha!!
And of course those tests didn't turn anything up which makes me even happier to shell out that kind of cash. not. (Though I am happy Hubs doesn't have any of these medical problems.)

So that $1775.56 will cover these medical tests plus a little leftover to cover what the February regular income won't.
I know we have plenty of cash in the bank/invested to cover the $3K in deductibles we wouldn't be able to cash flow with regular monthly income.  But being as these medical bills all came in the first 5 weeks of the year there is more medical bills than money that has come in in the first 5 weeks of 2016.
Add in that in March I have real estate taxes due as well. 8-(

Not having that $1775.56 set aside would have severely bolloxed up our cash flow for February, March and April, making me have negative cash flow and I would have had to have pulled money out of the Savings Challenge rather than put money into it, until sometime in March or April.
I just hate my cash flowing being screwed with, that's all.  ;-)

And on the lighter side of things I ran into Weis(PMITA)Markets yesterday afternoon and did a Deal twice.........

The last 2 weeks they had a deal when you buy 3 Gorton's fish products you get an instant $2 off, plus all the Gorton's has been 50% off reg. retail price.
There are/were assorted $1/1 Gorton's IPQs on coupons dotcom so I printed 6 out and got 6 items, these 3 x 2.
They all totaled $59.94 and 50% off brought them down to $29.97.
$6 off in Qs and $4 off in Instant Discounts got all 6 down to $19.97(which is 2/3rds off) or $3.32 for each package.  Not bad for shrimp that is reg. $10.99 a box!
That fish is sold at Walmart for $5.08 locally so that price was jacked up at $7.99 but with the deal and Qs it was still $1.76 less with this Weis Deal.

So I've spent $19.97 so far this week on groceries, taking my February spending to $269.25 so I am over my $250 target and have passed into the "I can spend an extra $50 this month if there are good deals" territory.  I'd call 6 boxes/bags of fish deal worthy.  I've got $30.75 left to spend on food this month and about 11 days left.
Gonna be tight but do-able.

Sluggy

To Garden or Not To Garden? Thoughts

While I do love to have a veggie garden each year(since it makes me exercise and gets me outside on a regular basis besides gives us fresh vegetables)I have come to the conclusion that gardening here is just not working any longer.

By not working, I mean that we have critters(critters=rabbits, raccoon, chipmunks, squirrels, deer and an occasional bear)living in the yard and nearby now that we can't keep from getting at the veggies before they are ready to be picked and consumed by the humans growing them.  We have had to replace seedlings multiple times in a season and then if the weather doesn't spoil our harvest the nibbling critters make swift work of the goodies before things are ready to be picked.
It wouldn't be so bad if I had the room to plant larger amounts to allow for a percentage to be eaten by the local wildlife, but I don't have that kind of space.
I guess our dogs use to keep the wildlife on their toes more and they were more reticent to move in so close to the house to nibble at the garden goodies.
sigh.
It's frustrating and I just hate throwing all this money into gardening and getting nothing for the effort and expense.

Now if we were to make a proper garden area with real fences to keep out the critters it would be worth going through this exercise.
But that would mean a LOT of money spend on real fencing at the least and seeing as we are only planning on living here another 1.5 years I don't see the point dropping that kind of cash into this.

It would have to be a high fence(to keep the deer at bay)and I think only a wooden variety would be allowed here.  Since Hubs can't do it himself we'd have to pay through the nose to have someone else build it.

We do have seasonal access to fresh veggies via farm stands and a farm in the area but at a cost....although it is usually cheaper than buying at the local grocery store.  They still aren't veggies we hand raise at home.

So the only way I see putting in yet another garden is if I can come up with something that will keep the critters at bay without shelling out for a proper fence.

I'll be thinking on this issue in the coming weeks.


Sluggy

Rite-Aid for Valentine's Day

I meant to go to Rite-Aid Monday but the weather forecast meant I went out in the cold on Sunday night.
I bought this stuff on my card..........

6 x Tresemme Poo and Conditioner on sale $4ea.=$24.00

Coupons Used
I used a $3/15 wyb $15 in any hair care Q that was generated on my receipt earlier in the month=$3.00
And 3 x $3/2 Tresemme ManuQs from that Unilever book I got in VA at Walmart=$9.00
Coupon Total........$12.00

$24.00-$12.00=$12.00+.72¢tax=$12.72.
I used $12.72 in Plenti Points to pay.
I earned $30 in new Plenti Points(2 x $5 wyb3 Tresemme, $20 BPE wyb $100 tracking) so even though I "spent down" $2.72 in Points on the purchase(after I received $10 in Plenti points for buying the Tresemme)that $20 BPE Bonus Points made it ultimately into a $17.28 moneymaker.

I probably won't be doing anymore purchases during the BPE as there is little I see that I can buy that will get me to $150 in BPE tracking that will be nearly free or at least won't cost more than $15 in Points($15 in Points is the next Bonus Level).
There is nothing I NEED to buy there anyway as my toiltries supply is packed at the moment, even after culling out items to add to the Food Bank Donation I have going on at the moment.

Getting free toiletries is great but not if they exceed your storage space. ;-)
In Winter, when I don't travel anywhere and/or have anyone travel to see me here, it's difficult getting rid of some of this stuff, as I have a decade long supply of shampoo at the moment.
The stockpile of this will start to thin out as we get into "Traveling Season" and I get to share my good fortune with family and friends again.  8-)

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

It's the "Can It Get Any Colder??" Edition--

I don't have a photo but idiot that I am, I went to Rite-Aid after dark last night.  I had planned on going Monday afternoon but they are predicting snow here for then so I ran out in the monstrously cold night.  Luckily I have a remote start feature on my Sonic so I didn't have to sit in the car waiting for the heat to kick in....but even so, it was beastly cold for here.  My car dashboard read 3F degrees...eek!  It was even colder Friday/Saturday night at negative something or other.  At that temp I didn't even want to look so I'm not sure how frigid it did get then. 8-o

Onward to the meal planning!

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

1. Sunday--Frozen Pizza, Salad
2. Monday--Barbecue Pork(leftover)on Rolls w/Cole Slaw
3. Tuesday--Sloppy Joes(using taco meat leftover)on Onion Rolls, Sugar Snap Peas
4. Wednesday--Bourbon Salmon fillets, Cole Slaw, Veggie TBD
5. Thursday--Beef Enchiladas(leftover)
6. Friday--Broccoli/Cauliflower Cheddar Soup, French Bread
7. Saturday--Leftover of some kind

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Frozen Pizza, Salad
2. Monday--Barbecue Pork(leftover)on Rolls w/Cole Slaw, Sugar Snap Peas
3. Tuesday--Chinese Take-Out(I was feeling sick so didn't cook)
4. Wednesday--Sloppy Joes(using taco meat leftover)on Onion Rolls, Leftover Sugar Snap Peas
5. Thursday--Leftover Beef Enchiladas, Corn
6. Friday--Broccoli/Cauliflower Cheddar Soup, Biscuits
7. Saturday--Subway Sandwiches

Being sick and getting Take-Out meant the Salmon got moved to this week but otherwise mostly the plan was stuck to.

I took the leftover taco meat and made it into Sloppy Joes, finishing off that leftover.

5 meals cooked at home(3 new meals-if you count frozen pizza as a new meal-and 2 using up leftovers) and 2 take-out meals.

As for my grocery spending so far for February.....Hubs made a stop at the store for me and spent $7 and that was everything for last week.
Added to the $242.28 spent in Week #1 that makes a running total of $249.28 spent in February and we have 15 days left in the month.

Leftovers going into this week......ravioli in sauce, pork bbq, Cole Slaw, Broccoli Cheddar Soup.  I will freeze the rest of the bbq this week as we have had it for dinner once and lunch twice last week.  I will eat on the soup for lunches for myself this week.

Here is this week's "food plan"--

1. Sunday--Bourbon Salmon, Mixed Veggies, Mac and Cheese
2. Monday--Chicken Parm, Veggies(Spaghetti for Hubs)
3. Tuesday--Chicken Fajitas
4. Wednesday--Bacon Mushroom Quiche(or another frozen pizza augmented with goodies)
5. Thursday--Shrimp, Cole Slaw, TBA?
6. Friday--Leftovers
7. Saturday--Leftovers

This week will see 5 new meals cooked and 2 meals of leftovers(re-purposed into new dishes or not).

What I need to buy for this menu?  Trying to keep spending down again this week so I concocted meals out of ingredients already in hand here.  I hope to stay out of the grocery stores again this week unless a great "deal" turns up.

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 last week?

Any great deals on food at your stores this week?

Sluggy