About Those Stimulus Checks

As the Government Stimulus Checks start hitting people's accounts it's important to do the right things with this money.
The "right thing" though will be very personal and vary from person to person, depending on your life circumstances.

Remember if you have family members(adult kids, extended relatives)who will have issues with paying their bills due to losing work and will ask you for money, you need to make sure YOU are ok first before extending help to them.  And if you do loan money to anyone, remember to, at least in your own mind, think of it as a gift rather than as a loan you will expect to be repaid, because in all probability they won't repay it.  Don't let money come between you and your loved ones.

I made this simple little flowchart that may help folks see how they may want to handle their Stimulus Check.
I don't play a financial planner on the internet or in real life.  This is just something to get y'all to do some critical thinking.

As for anyone who lost their job--
If you qualify for unemployment please apply for it as soon as you can.  I know each state is different on how much/how long they will take so do that as soon as possible.

And in the mean time if you can reduce any expenses do so...
* Ask your landlord if you rent or your lender if you have a mortgage, your car lender, your credit card provider/lender about any forebearances they can provide you on your debts.
* Some car insurance companies are issuing partial refunds or adjustments on your premiums. Pick up the phone as ask them for a reduction if you are no longer commuting to work in your car.
* Ditto for your utility companies.  I know they can't shut your heat off during this pandemic but find out about any programs they have that might help you and see if they will reduce or forgive any interest on late payments you will have due to this crisis.
* Go to a food bank even if you don't think you need to.  The less you spend on things you can get help with means your money will go further to keep your head above water.

Does anyone have any other thoughts on how to get through this financial crises if you are experiencing a job loss?
If you are lucky and don't rely on a job for your financial well being, what will you do with your stimulus check if you are due one?

Sluggy

Still Looking for The Giveaway Winner!

I still need Little Penpen to contact me with her full mailing address.
Time is running out!

Please don't make me pick another name.
You have until 11:12 am ET tomorrow morning to get in touch with me.

Thanks,

Sluggy

To-Do List.....March Update

Let's see how March's To-Do List turned out.........

* Pay Bills  DONE  Everything paid early or on time and money leftover this month. yay

* Read 1,2,3,4 Books  DONE  Even before we got the stay home order in PA I was on fire reading.  Ok, one of the books was a lightweight but still....

I read this one...

"Loving Frank" by Nancy Horan
This is a novel, a partially historical novel about Mamah Bosworth Cheney, the mistress of Frank Loyd Wright and their life together.  It was well done and reminded me of "Twain's End" and "Hanging Mary", two other historical fiction books I've read.  5 thumbs up.

Then I read this.....

"It's All Relative:Adventures Up and Down the World's Family Tree" by A.J. Jacobs
This is a genealogy related book so someone into this subject will find some of it interesting.
I found it a very quick read and a little too lightweight and full of general knowledge with a humorous tone.  2 thumbs up.

Third was this one......

"Papillon" by Henri Charrière
This is the autobiography book from 1969, that was made into a major film in 1973 with Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman and was remade in 2017 starring Rami Malek and Charlie Hunnam.
It's about a safe cracker from Paris who was wrongly convicted of killing a pimp in 1931 and sentenced to life in the French Guiana penal colony (called "Devil's Island" in English)through 1945 and his numerous attempts to escape.
It's an amazing book, especially since the writer was not a writer per se.  It will keep you interested and you won't be able to put it down, especially if you haven't seen either movie.
I now need to see these movies to see if they live up to this man's book.  5 thumbs up!!!

Fourth was this.......

"The Birth of Loud:Leo Fender, Les Paul and the Guitar Pioneering Rivalry That Shaped Rock N' Roll" by Ian S. Port

I picked this up on a whim at Ollie's(Good Stuff Cheap!)and thought at least Ex-College Boy being the family musician may enjoy it but I gave it a read first.  I was never a guitar gal but I did grow up during the revolutionary period of 1960's rock n' roll so it intrigued me.  It filled in some history about this era in music and I learned a lot about Leo Fender and Les Paul(and Mary Ford too).  4 thumbs up.


* Manage Money (CD)  DONE  We had a CD mature the beginning of March.  If we left it at the financial institution it was with they had a 13 month CD that gave an extra .05% in interest(not that the current rates are anywhere what they were when we set this CD up in 2019).  Plus if we kept the money with this bank we got an extra .05% in interest at maturity making the bonus .10% extra. whoopee 

* Hold Giveaway  DONE

* Mail Giveaway  DONE  and received.

* Make Face Masks  DONE 
I made myself a mask and one each for my 2 sons.

I also made this one with some "Night of the Walking Dead" fabric I had bought to make shorts to match a t-shirt I bought Ex-College Boy(but he isn't into NOTWD anymore).....

* Bathe Dogs  DONE  Both pups got bathes in March(Dixie got more than one as she is stinkier).lolz

* Take Load to Food Bank  PASS  Ok, I didn't get the food to the Food Bank in March.  I called twice and left messages and they never got back to me in March.  I am not sure if they are accepting food donations with the pandemic or just money.

* List Items on eBay  FAIL  Thought I did sell 1 item in early March I just haven't been motivated to list anything else.  Now with money being tight with so many losing jobs temporarily I just don't feel right selling non-essentials even if someone is nuts enough to buy them.  I don't make my living off of eBay so I'd rather not put anything for sale on there now.  I can wait.  ;-)

* Cash Savings Bond  DONE  I had Hubs cash the bond before our bank closed it's lobby for the duration(now it's only drive-thru tellers).  I've added the proceeds to all the other cashed/matured Savings Bonds.  We really need to dump this stash into a CD or something but with rates in the toilet right now, we'll wait a bit longer.  It's not life-changing to not have this $$ invested right now.

* Hem Hubs' Shirts  PASS  I did work on this sewing project but I didn't have Hubs full cooperation in March so nothing much gone accomplished.  I needed him to try every. last. shirt. on. to mark them all. ugh

* Plan/Goals for 2020  FAIL  A big Fat Fail on planning anything for 2020.  I had some ideas but everything/all the world is on hold right now so we are at a standstill on plans for 2020.
I'll mention what I need to do once it's safe to resume life as normal......
*Go to VA to work on legal stuff with brother(and visit eldest son too)
*Go somewhere on vacation(it's looking like Fall now)
*Get painting in house done(have to wait to hire someone)

So that's where we are at going into April.
How was your March?
Did you get anything accomplished?

Sluggy

Stay At Home Giveaway Winner

There were 44 valid entries on this Giveaway.

I had to disqualify 3 this time...."vossta, Gigi and Unknown" as there accounts were either private(so I can't see their email)or had no email attached to their Google accounts.  Please email me privately your email addys if you want to participate next time! thanks.

Back to picking our winner for the Giveaway.

The winner if Little Penpen!

Little PenpenApril 10, 2020 at 9:30 AM

Perfect give away goodies! I’m a homebody, so the quarantine isn’t bothering me too much. I keep a hand sewing project going and I’m watching a lot of tv!

Congratulations Little Penpen!!

Please email me your full mailing address so I can get this box of goodies out to you asap.

You have the next 48 hours from when this post goes live to contact me(my email is on the side bar under "About Me").  If you don't contact me with your information I'll have to pick another winner.

Thanks to everyone who played along on this brief giveaway.

I'll have another one, the "real" April giveaway coming up this weekend so stay tuned.

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The "Swamp Soup Anyone?" Edition................

I found the recipe for that Swamp Soup we had at that restaurant in Alabama in January.  I hope you can embiggen this image enough to read it.

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning-

This is what was planned for last week.......

1. Sunday--Baked Ham, Deviled Eggs, Corn Casserole, Green Beans
2. Monday--Leftover Beef Stroganoff, Rice and Green Beans
3. Tuesday--Risotto with Asparagus and Mushrooms, Salad

4. Wednesday--Fajitas

5. Thursday--Burgers, side dishes TBD

6. Friday--Tuna Noodle Casserole
7. Saturday--Pork Teriyaki Stir-Fry w/Veggies

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Baked Ham, Deviled Eggs, Corn Casserole, Green Beans
2. Monday--Leftover Beef Stroganoff, Rice and Green Beans
3. Tuesday--Risotto with Asparagus and Mushrooms, Salad

4. Wednesday--Take-out Lunch from Applebee's, dinner was FFY

5. Thursday--Chicken Marsala, Mashed Potatoes, Mixed Veggies

6. Friday--Leftovers
7. Saturday--Pork Teriyaki Stir-Fry w/Veggies

Last week saw 4 nights of home cooked dinners, 3 nights of leftovers/FFY, and 0 night of Take-Out(for dinner, 1 Take-Out for lunch).

I used the leftover asparagus from last week and put it into the Risotto.
The Teriyaki was a disaster.  I made it a couple of weeks ago and it was marvelous but I added too much teriyaki sauce this time and it was so salty I couldn't eat it(and didn't want to eat it).  I've just become so sensitive to salt in the last 8 years.  There are things I just can't eat anymore(mostly fast food and junk foods)due to the sodium/salt taste that is overpowering.  

What got put into the freezer last week....
* 1/2 the leftover ham from Sunday
*  a free boneless ham
* 3 bags of frozen veggies
* 2 small boxes of frozen veggies
* 2 frozen manicotti meals

What got taken out of the freezer and used.....
* 4 pork chops
* 1 boneless ham(1/2 got used)

1 trip to Weis(PMITA)Markets by Hubs this past week & a run into Malacari's for produce and lunch meat brought spending to $65.34 and brings my April Total spending on food so far to $88.00.
The spending would have been less but I had Hubs pie a $7 Key Lime Pie for Easter dessert(but he's the only one who ate any).

I've earned $6.20 in Ibotta rebates in April so far(mostly at Rite-Aid on allergy meds).

My savings percentage last week was 40.5%(without Rite-Aid trips)and April's monthly savings total comes in at 33.71% so far(w/out R-A).  Getting a free ham at Weis with my points and a few items were on sale so that helped bring the savings rate out of the 0% toilet it was in during Week 1.

I have 17 more food shopping/spending days in April.

Leftovers going into this week.....Rice, 2 large Turkey Enchiladas, Pork Teriyaki Stir-Fry, Green Beans, 1 helping of Corn Casserole, Chicken Marsala(2 helpings), Mashed Potatoes.

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

1. Sunday--Cheese Lasagna, Salad, Garlic Bread
2. Monday--single serve Devour frozen dinners or Potatoes au Gratin and Roasted Carrots
3. Tuesday--Cheeseburgers on buns, sweet potato fries

4. Wednesday--Sweet and Sour Chicken w/Broccoli

5. Thursday--Leftovers or FFY

6. Friday--Fajitas
7. Saturday--Leftovers or FFY

What needs buying for this menu?
Some milk and OJ are needed this week, not necessarily for dinners.  And I want strawberries but Weis was out when I sent Hubs there.  Weis now has sales ads again and they were BOGO there but they either hadn't arrived yet on the truck or were cleaned out of them already. boohoo
I'll go into the restaurant supply store this Wednesday when I drive Hubs to his eye doc appointment since I can't go into the doc's office and it's nearby.  I'll see what veg/etc. is a good deal there.

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