It's Done!

May I introduce Mr. & Mrs. Kruithof.

More sometime next week when we get home.
Tomorrow we head back to Alabama.

Sluggy

We Interrupt The Regularly Scheduled Posting....

I'll be taking a short blogging break for my Daughter's wedding until next week.

I'm just a bit too busy to post until then.  I'll be drinking, dancing,crying and celebrating in the meantime.

Carry on until I return.

Sluggy

2019 4th Quarter Review..........Small Finances Year End Totals

The fourth quarter of 2019 is in the books now.
Let's see where some of my small pots of savings look like for the Year End.
These stats are all effective as of December 31st, 2019.


*  Rolled coins--$14.00.  Two rolls of dimes, a roll of nickels and three rolls of pennies.  Rolled coins have taken a big hit since Hubs stopped working for a living. lolz

*  Found Change--$48.03  Finding money is the best!  Nobody can argue with that, right? 8-))

*  Refunds & "Post Coupons"--$206.96 Mostly Weis(PMITA)Markets and Rite-Aid.

*  Cash Rebates--
   * Ibotta--$349.98
   * SavingStar--$86.25
   * Checkout51--$40.75
   * ShopAtHome--$9.63(I think I need $20 to cash out of this.)

Total.........$745.77 (not counting ShopAtHome) to put toward the grocery spending in December.

My OOP spending on groceries came to $4,660.39 for 2019.
Add in that $745.77 toward the grocery spending and the food spending drops to a Grand Total Spent of $3,914.62 for 2019.

Do you stash non-income money aside to put toward a goal?
Tell us about it and what strategies work for you in savings money!


Sluggy

Christmas Time......Part 2

Hubs and I went out a few days before Christmas to use $15 in Kohl's Cash before it expired.  He needed new sweaters as his were getting very ratty so I told him I'd get him sweaters for Xmas...hohoho!

I found this ugly pug sweater but he wouldn't get it.....I wonder why not?!? lolz

Nor did this ugly T-rex sweater tempt him.  Our Daughter has the BEST T-REX Ugly Sweater anyway so no dice on this one either.

We found 3 sweaters that looked nice on Hubs so I bought them and brought them home to wrap up.  The only thing that tempted me at Kohl's was the sign above. hehehe

We hit a beer store last week too for some browsing.  I got Ex-CB I 6 pack of something he'll enjoy.
I saw this series from Epic Brewing called "Bg Bad Baptist".  Obviously they don't mean "Southern Baptists"! (PS-the Southern variety don't drink.)

Our local ABC tv affiliate station, Channel 16 news, has a segment every newscast called "TalkBack", wherein local viewers are encouraged to call into the tv station to air their grievances about just about any topic(sort of a 'Festivus for the Rest of Us' but 365 Days a Year).

Here are a classic few........




And of course this is the same tv station that was on the John Oliver Show about their little backyard train outside where the weathermen/women do the weather segment....

 

Anyway, there is a newish craft brewery over by Lake Wallenpaupack called(wait for it!)Wallenpaupack Brewing Company that is canning some of their beers.

They paid homage to Talk Back with this Saison variety. lolz  I should buy it all, cornering the market and wait for HBO to feature it, so that everyone in the country wants it too. lololz

But the BEST BEER we found there was this one........

Yes if you remember these commercials for Carvel cakes........




That is THAT Fudgie!  And it's endorsed by Carvel!!lolz

Some other things we saw while Xmas shopping..........

Kim needs this for her Birthday!  It's at Ollie's should anyone want to go pick it up. lolz

And these were another Ollie's sighting...........

Chicken rain boots.
So cute!

At my Rite-Aid this appeared there a few weeks ago.....

Yes a black Santa.  My teeny tiny town "may" have 3 Black people living in it(and they are all in the same family).  Why would R-A ship him to my town's store and not down the mountain where there is a large black community?
  It's a head scratcher.  The person in charge of distribution at the R-A warehouse needs some pointers that's for sure.

Me and one of the employees at R-A sort of adopted black Santa as our mascot.  Every time I go to R-A I find where they've moved him and check-up on him.  As of Sunday he is 75% off and still there.  I told the manager they should keep him as their goodwill ambassador year round. ;-)

We were able to put our big Xmas tree up this year since Daughter's hanging torture rack left with her.  It lived in the living room taking up space where we put our tree so we've been using our little 3 foot tree for a few years.
It was nice to see my white tree again.
Here are some of the ornies we put on her this year.........

Three from recent trips--

The Angel Oak on St John's Island in SC we visited.

 One from Fort Sumter we also visited this past March.

And this purple glass one from Beauvoir in Biloxi, MS in May of 2016 which had yet to make it onto the Xmas tree until this year.  Has it been 3+ years since that trip??

Hub's buffalo ornie from the Badlands of South Dakota(from Wall Drug actually lol)

And the 'gator ornie from the Alligator Park in LA we visited in May of 2016 too.

One of the many ornaments my mom made when I was little.

A Snoopy ornie I made back in the 1980's.

And a set of Wiseman and his Camel I also made back then.  These were modeled on the sets my mom made to sell at our elementary school's fundraiser when I young.

And this is one of the wooden DYI ornies from a kit we made back in the 1960's.  Note the neon colors....lolz

A Xmas Furby from the 1990's as well as a Powr Ranger ornie from when my kids were little.

And the tree isn't complete without a leg lamp from "A Christmas Story".


Speaking of which, eldest son and his GF arrived Christmas morning.  After the extended family left we sat down to watch a Xmas movie.  Watching  "A Christmas Story" is a must in this house.  The GF has NEVER seen that movie!!  Is that unbelievable or what?  And no, she wasn't raised in a cabin in the woods away from civilization. lolz
So I rented it from Amazon(since we don't have cable and I suppose they still run it for 24 hours on a continuous loop at Xmas on TBS).  I guess she liked it.
And then Eldest and I made her watch "Bad Santa" too which of course she had never seen that either.  I don't think she enjoyed that one as much. hehehehe

The GF spent a lot of time that day snuggling Dixie, at Dixie's insistence. lol

Eldest son played Santa and handed out the gifts.

The GF laughing so hard when she opened a gift from me, two boxes of tampons.  Only "I" would give someone tampons for Christmas and now she knows that.  In between the boxes was a coupon to redeem for a free shopping trip in my toiletries stockpile.

The mysterious Ex-College Boy giving Dixie attention too.

And Chester got some cuddle time too.  So cut wearing a bow on his head(which he detested).lolz

A line-up of the motley crew at our house for Christmas.
I hope everyone got their wishes granted and had a good day as we did here!



Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The "Fa-La-La-La-La" Edition................

My plate at the Chinese Buffet where we took eldest son and GF the day after Christmas for lunch when they drug me out for after Xmas shopping on Thursday.
I know that the pickled ginger is suppose to be used as a palate cleanser but I LOVE it and put it on all my sushi rolls and sashimi items so I suppose no matter what I am eating it all tastes of pickled ginger. lolz

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned--

1. Sunday--Broiled Salmon, Yellow Squash and Onions
2. Monday--Ravioli, Salad, Garlic Bread
3. Tuesday--Leftovers or Fend for Yourself

4. Wednesday--Eye Round Roast, Roasted Carrots, Baked Potatoes, Lasagna, Corn Casserole

5. Thursday--Chicken Enchiladas, Beans, Rice

6. Friday--?
7. Saturday--Leftovers

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Broiled Salmon, Yellow Squash and Onions
2. Monday--Ravioli, Salad
3. Tuesday--Leftovers or Fend for Yourself

4. Wednesday--Eye Round Roast, Roasted Carrots, Baked Potatoe/Sweet Potatoes, Lasagna, Corn Casserole

5. Thursday--Fend For Yourself

6. Friday--Chicken Enchiladas, Beans, Rice
7. Saturday--Leftovers

Last week saw 4 nights of home cooked dinners, 3 nights of leftovers/ffy, and 0 nights of Eating Out/Take-Out(but a lunch out).  Mostly the menu happened just not necessarily on the chosen days.

What got put into the freezer last week.....

* 1 Boneless Ham(once I make room for it)

What got taken out of the freezer and used.....
* 1 pack of BSCB
* 1 hunk of Salmon
* 2 bags of Ravioli
* 1 big Eye Round Roast

3 small trips to Weis and a trip to Malacari's produce market brought the weekly spending to $75.36 and my December spending on food to $364.76 and as Porky Pig says, "Th-Th-That's all Folks!" for the month.
Anything I bought after last Friday(a few things)will be added into January's tally.

My savings percentage last week was 56.32%(without Rite-Aid trips)and December's monthly savings total comes in at 57.06%(w/out R-A).  

I have 0 more food shopping/spending days in December.

Leftovers going into this week.....some chili, lasagna, beef roast, corn casserole, rolls, refried beans.

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

1. Sunday--Leftovers
2. Monday--Leftovers
3. Tuesday--?

4. Wednesday--Lasagna(I'm not making it tho)

5. Thursday--?

6. Friday--?
7. Saturday--Wedding Food

What needs buying for this menu?  Nothing.  I'll leave Ex-College Boy some cash if he needs to buy any groceries while we are gone.

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