This Year's Garden...1st Update

I know I haven't blogged much(if any!)about our garden this year.
I don't know....I guess I am just not much 'into' the garden this year.

Here's a shot of the side bed from April 30th when we were just getting to cleaning out the beds and prepping the soil....

Usually we have nothing to harvest until mid July at the earliest because of our climate/zone.
Well, the 2 weeks of unseasonably HOT weather in early June sped up the rate of germination and growth a LOT!
We've been picking radishes for weeks!

I've got them coming out of my ears at this point.lol

And here is a shot of the same side bed taken two weeks ago....

A few tomato plants, some squashy/cuke type plants(I don't even remember what kinds....see what I mean about I'm not into it this year!lol) and a few bean plants.

We are having a devil of a time getting the bean plants to grow.  We've planted different kinds(bush and vine type)in all the different bed locations with little success.  Hubs sewed some into the wooden barrels also and those were doing great!
Until a critter found them and had a munchfest. bleh

 Hubs thinks one of the resident bunnies is decimating the bean plants since we know that the bunnies have jumped INTO the wooden barrels in the past.  But if the bunnies are doing this, explain why just the tops of the bean plants are being eaten, like someone taking a weedwacker to the plants and leaving the lower/bottom foliage and plant intact?  I think it's a taller animal, like a deer, walking through the yard and eating the tops of the bean plants.
Either way, our bean plants are not going to produce any beans this year.  *sigh*

Doesn't this shot look very lush and promising?
It is.
But it's all WEEDS not veggies!lol

And we got our first blossom on the eggplant plants 2 weeks ago.  See the lavender flower on the left in the photo?  I don't know if it will produce a fruit however since I haven't see any bees around yet to pollinate stuff.  The tomato plants in the backyard bed have golf ball sized tomatoes as of this week so I know the bees are around.
I hope I don't have to resort to playing bee and go from bloom to bloom with a paintbrush on the eggplant and squash blossoms. ;-)

Here's something I do that you might find unusual.
Lettuces are an early Spring crop.  You are suppose to plant it early and it dies back by mid summer usually.
Since we can't plant an early crop of lettuces/greens while the weather is still coolish here due to our climate, I sew the lettuce seeds among the cuke and squash plant seeds at the same time I sew the cuke/squash seeds.
This way, by the time the weather gets too warm for the lettuces(the hot weather that makes your lettuce wilt, dry up and die), the squash leaves have grown large enough to shield the lettuce from full sun.  The lettuce continues to grow well into August.

Here's my squash type plants....

 But move the leaves back and look closer....

 See my salad greens!

That's my diversity garden bed. 8-)

How is your garden doing?

Sluggy

Guess What?......

It's Baaaaaaaaaack!

If you are lost and have no clue what I'm talking about, go read THIS or THIS.

It reappeared late Friday.  But I did get "the story" from Hubs.  He talked to The Hermit on his way back from walking the beagle, as The Hermit was out fussing with the Behemoth RV at that time.

Seems they now store The Behemoth somewhere during the off season. 
Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hermit says he had it brought here to 'work on stuff'.  I guess they'll be taking it out on vacation in the coming weeks.
Gee, at least they get to go somewhere this Summer......sniff, sniff.....

Anyway, it left last October mid month, so it was gone 8.5+ months!
I'm just hoping the Behemoth disappears again come October, or sooner!
This would make me very happy......yes, I am easy to please.  ;-)

Ok, I am off to go smoke some ribs now!

Sluggy-living in the trailer park again 8-)

July Food Spending Week 1....Keeping on Budget Finally!

I am going to update each week in July on my food spending. After the last 2 months of going over, maybe this will help me stay on track more if all of y'all are watching me.....watching me in a good way, not the bad, creepy way. ;-)

In the 1st 7 days of July I made 10 transactions at the grocery stores.
Actually, I made all 10 transactions/8 trips in TWO DAYS and I haven't been to the store since last Saturday(except for my trip to Rite-Aid on Sunday).
Ok, so 4 of those 10 were at Price Chopper(Northeast)doing the Unilever Catalina Deal(plus 1 more to PC where I didn't buy any Unilever stuff because they were out and I got other things).

I went to Dollar General last Saturday because they had that 1 day Q for $5 off $25 purchase. I bought ALOT of packs of soda and some Flavor-aid packets. I had $1/3 Coke Qs to use along with the $5/$25 Q and was all set for a total of around $18 + tax, HOWEVER, I forgot that these $5/$25 $General Qs are ALWAYS on $25 of items AFTER ALL OTHER QS ARE APPLIED!
Still got a good deal but Argh!
I hate when I forget stuff like that.....and I hate their policy too.
So my Cokes and Flavor-Aid came to $21.51 w/tax.

Add in a trip to Weis, a trip to the Bakery Outlet and 2 small trips to the local ShurSave affiliated market and I spent $66.72 in the 1st week of July.

No trips to the store yet since last Saturday and we've been eating from the stockpile.

SUNDAY--Leftovers
MONDAY--Hot Dogs, Green Beans, Watermelon
TUESDAY--Beef Enchiladas, Corn
WEDNESDAY--Chinese take-out
THURSDAY--Spaghetti w/Meat Sauce, Salad, Watermelon
FRIDAY--Leftovers again, Homemade Pickles
SATURDAY--Homemade Pizza, Salad

I will be going to Weis tomorrow to spend a $10 Catalina Q. I'll probably buy some ribs on sale to cook in the smoker on Sunday and hopefully won't spend any money. 8-)

I'm off now to go figure out a partial menu for next week that let's us eat mainly from the stockpile again.

How about you?  Are you eating from your pantry/stockpile next week?

Sluggy

$32K Savings Challenge for 2011.....June Totals or the Treading Water Edition

I have posted my JUNE End of Month $32K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I have 2 goals really each month.....
The 1st is to actually finish each month in the black and not the red.
The 2nd is to hit the targeted savings amount of $2,666.67.

I have to report that we finished up June in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of June with.......$316.92.

Income
We had $267.96 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
Add in $48.96 of Rebates applied against the food expenses and you have a deposit of $316.92  toward the Savings Challenge!

Our monthly target is an average of $2,666.67 to reach our Year End Goal.  Do I have to even say we came in well under that amount for June?lol
As I look back over the past 2 years of doing Savings Challenges, I see that June is typically a very expensive month for us.  In 2010 we only saved $547.73 in June.  So our pitiful savings this month are nothing out of the ordinary for us.

Outgo
As for the expenses in June....

HERE are the GOOD THINGS
* We paid the Sewage bill for the year, so no quarterly payment this month.
* The electric and credit card bills were not higher than last month.

HERE are the BAD THINGS
* The water bill was doubled from last month(we opened the pool).
* We paid cash for camp.
* The WAM money was much higher than usual.
* We had a kennel bill for boarding the dogs.
* We had an electrician bill for running a line to the pool.
* We had a washing machine repair bill.


The Food Budget costs for June are in another post, which is located HERE.  The actual Food/Toiletries spending in June was more than $147 over budget or $98 when you take off my rebate check total which I use toward the food bill.

What's ahead for July.......
There are the usual suspects: electricity, water, phone, cable, credit card bill, food cash, etc.

No non-monthly bills this month.
Plus this month will see 3 paychecks....yay! 8-)
So If I can keep the food spending on budget, we should be able to put away a good sized amount into savings this month and make up for June's lackluster showing.

YEAR-TO-DATE TOTAL.....
With 6 months behind us, our Savings total to-date for 2011 is $15,250.91.


And if you need to start putting money into savings......What's that you say?  You don't have an emergency fund of 6-8 months worth of expenses!!??....consider playing along in 2011 with me and Challenging Yourself to Save Money each Month Toward a Realistic for YOU Savings Goal!
Not everyone can shoot for $32K, I fully get that!
But everyone can shoot for some number, right!?

Find a money goal that works for you and put that number out there for everyone to see.  It will help keep you accountable to your goal if other eyes are on you.
Ooo, that sounded kind of creepy didn't it? ;-)

So how was your June financially?
Did you spend less than you made?
Did you stay within your budget or not?

Leave a comment and share with us what you did with your money, both the good and not-so good.   Do you have any tricks or tips that help you to end your month before the money runs out?    Let us know!
If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out too!

Sluggy

Don't Look Behind You.....It's Retirement Sneaking UP!

Last year, when I began researching the cost/probability of replacing our heating system with a geothermal system, I realized that it made little sense to spend the money to do this since we wouldn't be living here long enough to recoup the expense of said system.


Yes, it was at that moment that I realized that we only have to live in this school district, as of now, for 3 more years!
And going further, I realized that we only have to live in this area near Hubs job for another 7 years because Hubs has decided that he wants to retire early at 60.

All I can keep thinking is, "How did being near retirement age sneak up on me"!?!?

One day I am dealing with a Husband, 3 kids, 4 dogs and life as a suburban Homemaker and I turn around and I'm 52 years old with only 1 kid left at home fulltime, 2 dogs and a husband who is planning on retiring in 7 years.
Wow!

Other than throwing money into retirement/investment accounts before I get the Hubs paycheck every other week(for the last umpteen years), and glancing at the statements that come in the mail quarterly, we haven't sat down and actually crushed any numbers or figured out how much we will have or need to live in retirement.

Hubs use to tell me offhandedly that he wanted to retire at 55.  He comes at that age due to his father, who was a laborer, who worked until he became physically disabled in his 50s.  He was forced to retire in ill health/pain and never got to enjoy his old age fully.
Hubs wants to leave the rat race while he still has his health and wits about him.
And I so get that.

But I didn't pay him much heed when he started spouting off about retiring, because well, geez, 55 is a long way off, right?
But it's here now, knocking on the door and I am not wanting to open that door and let Mr. 55 in!

Then after the last few years of Recession/Foreclosures/Bank Bailouts/Stock Market Dives, Hubs stopped throwing around that 55 number.....especially after our investments took a nose dive in 2008/2009.
Last year he started making noises about retiring at 60 instead.  He said he ran some numbers and with the hit we took in our savings(even with the rebounds lately), he feels secure about making age 60 his new retirement number.

Besides figuring out the savings balance, I am more comfortable with 60 than I was with 55.  Mainly because at 55 we would still have a child in high school and one in college.  So the kids would still be dependent on us for financial support.  Kids + No income=Bad Planning  8-(

So I want to ask all of you dear readers.....
1.  How many years from now do you or does your significant other(if that applies)plan on retiring?   Is it a 'historically normal' retirement age or do you plan to retire early?  Or is retirement going to happen the day you can no longer physically work or drop dead?

2.  And when you retire, do you mean stop working fully?.....Or getting different job--one that is parttime and/or pays less but keeps you active?....or a job that you love?

3.  Besides Social Security benefits, are you putting any money away for your retirement?

4.  If you were to retire, in today's dollars equivalent, how much money do you think you would need to live on for 1 year? (Don't include the cost for major medical care(other than prescription meds and normal preventative care)in this, just the amount you would need to cover your normal living expenses in retirement with no one to support other than yourself and your spouse, if you will have one.)

5.  If you will have savings/cash to live off of in retirement other than SS, do you think you will have enough to support yourself until you die(given no catastrophic medical bills that would bankrupt you)?
How many years do you think you will live until your savings run out?

6.  Where will you 'park' your savings?  Invest it?  Bank it?  CD it?  Bury it in the backyard?  An Annuity?  Do you have a Pension?

Yeah, I know this post is pretty much a downer with all this death and running out of money talk?lol
But I am very curious to see how other people are planning for retirement and what they think about entering this stage of their lives.

Sluggy