Stuck in the Past

I've always thought I had a good dose of OCD in my genetic makeup.
Why?  Because I can't become mildly interested in anything.
If I take up with an interest or a hobby or a job, I am ALL IN!
It's all I want to do and if left to my own devices, it IS all I do.
All day.
Every day.
24/7.....well except for that sleeping, eating, bathing stuff too. ;-)

Do you obsess over something or things?
I bet you do.

The thing that has me held captive lately is "armchair genealogy".
Not that I am searching for the history of armchairs but rather searching online records for family genealogy.  Having the internet and so many records being online, I can lose days sitting here just poking around in the past.....and I have!

Records that use to take genealogists months and years to search out via mail and on site location searches can be had in hours or mere minutes within a day now.
Of course you can't get everything online but for casual researchers like me and for digging into the top layers of history, the internet is 'da bomb!

Not that I am good at it yet, but I am getting better at putting 2 and 2 together.
It's like a giant time jigsaw puzzle.  And along the way I get history lessons too.  A win-win proposition in my book!

I work on one line and just keep going back until I hit those inevitable brick walls.
Then I go work on another branch.
And when I get bored with my family, I go work on the family of someone else.

I am so possessed that I've done a few people's trees and I don't even know them!
Someone posted a long gone family member on their blog and I went and built a family tree.  I'd love to share it with her but I'm scared to tell her......she might think I am creepy, ya know?
Someone else wrote a book about their great aunt's teenage journal and I traced her family tree back.

My daughter brought home a boyfriend and I started working on HIS family tree.....yah, but he was jazzed about it and WANTED to know.  It's too bad my daughter no longer dates him now.  But I did had a genealogy buddy for a short time......

I've just started Hub's oldest brother's wife's families and my brother's wife's families, though both of those have been difficult to get very far with.  Both have lines in North Carolina and for some reason, NC has some bad or non-existent records.

I have added every person who was ever connected to my family that I can find.....except for the family of the Sis-IL's ex hubby....and her new boyfriend....ooo!.....2 more families I can work on....yay!!

You should see my massive family tree now!   If I had to print this all out, I'd kill a rainforest in Central America.
Seriously.
My tree has 3572 peeps in it. 
I obviously come from some fertile clans....

My hub's tree has 312 peeps.
Hey, he's not interested in any of this stuff so I don't feel as motivated to do his side.....plus his father's side didn't come here until around 1900 and I don't read Italian or have access to records in Sicily which cuts into what I can do for free online.

And I have just started my oldest's longtime girlfriend's families.  Her grandmother seemed interested and gave oldest some basic info(name and birthdate) and I had this within minutes and sent this to oldest.

It's girlfriend's grandmother's  high school Senior photo.  So styling in those cat's eye glasses.....
Of course I can't get much more than this since she was born after the 1940 census year and I don't have her parents info yet.


So, does anybody out there want me rooting around in their family's past?
Want to know who you are named for or why you live where you do or how you got here and where your people came from?
If you have family info. for people born BEFORE 1940, email me and I'll see what I can find for you.
And I promise not to post your grandmother's high school yearbook photo on my blog.....unless you want me to. 8-)

Yes, I have a Ancestry dotcom membership and I know how to use it! ;-)

Sluggy

Food Spending September Week 1 & Meal Planning Week 2

 

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And here is the "meal plan" that actually happened last week.....

Sunday--Burgers, Dogs, Potato Salad, COC

Monday--Lime Chicken Fajitas

Tuesday--Stuffed Green Peppers with Rice

Wednesday--Roast Chicken, Stuffing, Cranberry Glop, Green Beans

Thursday--Alfredo Primavera, Caesar Salad

Friday--Leftovers

Saturday--Chinese take-out

 

The weekly food spending was $79.90. Actually $36.01 of that was receipts/trips from the previous week I forgot, which just means I spend even MORE($121 more) over my August budget on food.lol  $43.89 is still quite a bit for this past week, considering I didn't have a car to use until Saturday.  $15.12 of this is from Hubs picking up a couple things on his way home from work...aka "not getting the best price".  I did $28.77 worth of damage on Saturday....but I did get some clearanced "we ain't stocking this anymore" corned beef hash for 50% off for #2 Son.

Going into this week I have a largish portion of roasted chicken, some carrots, Fajita filling, Potato Salad and rice from the stuffed peppers.

Hubs has eaten the rest of the leftover stuffed peppers and the alfredo primavera over the weekend.

I think I get Bonus Points because I used a double leftover Sunday night.  The Fajita filling had used leftover chicken in it and I used it as a base for making Chicken Enchiladas last night.  Now we have 1 enchilada left and Daughter will be scarfing that leftover down tonight after work. ;-)

Tonight is Steak tips in gravy over rice, which uses the leftover rice, plus I'll add the leftover carrots into the sauce.

I'm having the P. salad with my lunch, so all that is left now is the chicken.  If I don't make chicken salad for lunch or find a way to work it into this week's menu, I'll freeze it for later use.

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This week's menu.....

Sunday--Chicken Enchiladas, Caesar Salad

Monday--Steak Tips in Gravy over Brown Rice, Green Beans

Tuesday--Fish(not sure which kind yet/in freezer), Sweet Potato French Fries, Beets

Wednesday--Tacos

Thursday--Stuffed Shells(homemade in freezer), Tossed Salad or more Green Beans

Friday--Steak, Grilled Asparagus

Saturday--French Onion Soup w/Cheese, Caesar or Spinach Salad

We still have some zucchini bread left but I might also make some cookies this week.....lemon oatmeal and m&m types.

 

What I need to buy this week to serve this menu?.....Tortillas, Salad Greens/Romaine/Spinach, Asparagus.  Also need milk, fruit, lunchmeat for Hubs, little everyday stuff like condiments, sour cream, eggs, flour, etc. this week and I'm stocking up on tomato sauce this week.  I'm figuring $50 or less this week.

So what are you cooking at your house this week?

Sluggy

Car and Rite-Aid Disgust

It's been a heck of a week here at Chez Sluggy.
On Tuesday Daughter's car broke down on her way home from college at 9 pm.
So she's been driving Hubs car to work/school and Hubs has been driving my car to work all week.

Daughter is fine and the car repair is small.  A couple of bolts need to be replaced and we are STILL waiting for them to come in.  It's been 3 business days and a weekend so far.

This means I haven't been anywhere this past week.
I did get out Saturday afternoon for a quick trip to the grocery store and to Rite-Aid.

I picked up 2 bottles of Infusium23 Shampoo at Rite-Aid.
And when I tried to "opt out" of having my +Up Rewards loaded onto my Wellness card I was thwarted.
Ugh!
Some new not-fully-trained kid was clerking.  Can you guess that he was clueless about how to opt me out at the register?!
And the asst. manager on duty was some new woman who transferred in so it was no use appealing to her.
So my +Ups didn't print out but loaded onto my card.
Ugh again!

Guess who I'll be calling on Monday?
If you said Rite-Aid Customer Service to bitch you would be correct.
Why do they put a not fully trained clerk on the register alone and put a new transferred in manager not familiar with procedures or this store on at the same time?
I think they do it just to piss me off, don't you?lol

2 x Infusium 'Poo on sale $4.99=$9.98

Used 2 x $2/1 AdPerks Infusium Qs=$4.00

$9.98-$4.00=$5.98
I used $6 in +Up Rewards to pay(adjusted down 2 cents-boy was THAT an ordeal!) so Zero OOP.
$6 in +Up Rewards(2 x $3-1 for each bottle) loaded onto my Wellness card....gggrrrrrrr

September Grand Totals so far.....

Out Of Pocket....$.00  cash
Value of items bought....$16.58
Savings Rate of  100%
Single Check Rebate due....$0.00
After SCR applied, Out of Pocket.... $.00
Savings Rate  100%

+Ups at beginning of month...$18+
+Ups used....$6+
+Ups received...$6+
+Ups currently...$18+ ($6 on my card, $12 on paper)


Hopefully I'll get my car back in time to get some trash bags at Rite-Aid this week and do some grocery shopping for some basics we are low or out of.

Of course, I usually don't go much of anywhere in the car anymore but don't you know it.....as soon as the car is NOT available, I need it! lol

Sluggy

The Boring Blog Box GIVEAWAY....Come Enter Again!

Time for another......

Sluggy's BORING BLOG BOX GIVEAWAY!

Here's how it works.....

I put things in the box(mostly what I have gotten for free or almost free)each week and when the box is filled we draw a winner from all the entries received.

Week 2 and here is what went into the Box today.....

1.  1 tube of Colgate Toothpaste

2.  1 Air Wick air freshener
3.  1 Halloween miniature stuffed M&M plush

4.  3 sample sized products--Colgate wisps, Eucerin lotion, Pledge wipe

If this is your first time, please go read all the rules for these Giveaways HERE.  *As always, if you are located outside the US, you CAN enter and win but weight restrictions/shipping costs may mean your prize box will contain less items.*

***Time to enter.....You can enter on this Giveaway post until I close this post to entries.

1 entry per person per day on THIS POST.
Leave your name/email addy and a COMMENT on this post.  

This week I want to hear about what you did on the long Labor Day Weekend.

Did you have a cook-out or other gathering?  Did you shop?  Did you sleep in?  Did you do anything interesting or just recharge for the work week ahead?

 

You can come directly to this blog post or find it through the link on the right side bar to leave 1 comment per day.  The current Giveaway Post will be linked right at the top of the side bar.

Please NOTE--You MUST be a follower to enter the Giveaway.  If you aren't one, just click on the "Follow" button on the right hand side of my blog to become a follower.

There are 2 ways to get 2 EXTRA entries on this and each new Giveaway Post.......

1. Put my blog on your blog's Blogroll.  Leave an extra comment for this entry on THIS POST with the URL of your blog so I can go check it out. **If I'm already on your Blogroll, say so in an extra entry comment once each week of this giveaway.

2.  Blog about this Giveaway on your blog with a link to this post.  Leave an extra comment for this entry on THIS POST with a link to your blog post so I can go view it.  You can do this extra entry once each week of this giveaway.


Any questions?  Just email me.

Happy Entering!! 

Sluggy

$20K Savings Challenge....AUGUST Update

Ok, here is my AUGUST Savings Challenge Update post for 2012.

This post is NOT about bragging or showing off.  It's just what we are able to save given our income and being able to hang tough against "unconscious" spending.

Just to update, My Savings Goal for the Year in 2012 is $20,000.  It's well below what I've saved in previous years I know.  But we also have a goal of paying for 4 home improvement projects at Chez Sluggy this year.  We plan on cash-flowing these projects with the additional money we save and/or our income tax refund.
Our background info--We are a family of 5(kids are 21-16)with one living away from home.  We have 2 dogs. We own 4 cars at present and live in/own free & clear a 4 bedroom house in a small town.

On to the August report.....

I have posted my AUGUST End of Month $20K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I have 2 goals 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 $1,666.67.

I have to report that we finished up August in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of August with?.......$756.06.
So much for making our targeted amount this month. 8-(

Income
We had $753.77 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
Add in $2.29 in interest income(Are you serious?  Really!) and  you get a total of $756.06.

Outgo
The usual along with 1 large irregular bill which was expected and planned for.

As for the expenses this August......

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

* The water bill decreased by $30+.

* The electric bill decreased by $21+.

* The credit card bill decreased by $702.
* The cash withdrawals went down $1170.....even with that they were high!

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  Semi-Annual Car Insurance was due at a cost of $1590.11.

*  Lots of little medical co-pays and prescription co-pays that added up to real money!
*  Lots of cash withdrawals(always a bad thing cuz Hubs doesn't track where this money goes). the cash taken was LESS than last month but it was still waaaay too much money so it goes under Bad Things.lol
*  Extra gas expenditures due to cross state pick-ups from camp.
*  Marching Band is back, which means $20 here, $30 there on a consistent basis. Also going hand in hand is....
*  Private music lessons cranking up again for #2 Son.  $120 a month.

The Food Budget costs for AUGUST are in another post, which is located HERE.

YEAR-TO-DATE GRAND TOTAL.....
With 8 month behind us, our Savings Grand Total for 2012 is at  $16,369.29.

We missed our monthly goal in August by $910.61.
Luckily due to having a few months where we saved more than the average, this month, where we didn't even save HALF of what we need to this month,  won't put us behind.

With 8 months done, we should be at $13,333.36  saved for the year, so we are $3K+ a little bit ahead for the year as of now!

In the next month we have another large irregular expense coming due.
September is school taxes at a yearly outlay of  $1950.

They are irregular because they don't come every month....like the water or electric bill.

But we know they are out there....lurking and ready to topple your budget.  So we calculate what 1/12th is for that bill and then every month set that amount aside and "hide it from the budget".  When the bill comes due in a year, the money is there to pay it.  It wasn't left in the general money fund(checking account)to mingle with the dollars that aren't earmarked for a specific purpose. 
Bill money has a funny way of doing that.......pretending it's really Not-Bill money or even Fun money and hiding in plain sight with the non-committed dollars in your account.

If you don't separate that irregular bill money, it's sooo easy to spend it on something else, possibly a non-necessity like eating out or a fancy coffee drink or going bowling on the weekend because you "deserve" some fun, or another shirt your kid really doesn't need because they have 38 more in their closet.
Even if you have to put that irregular bill money as a wad of singles into a coffee can and hide it in your shed or put it into a Tupperware into your deep freezer to keep from spending it on crap, DO IT!  You'll be glad you did when that irregular bill payment rolls around again....
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At this point, I need to come up with $3,630.71 for the rest of the year to make my $20K goal.  This breaks down to $907.68  per month for the next 4 months.  Unless something untoward happens we should be able to meet this goal.

As for a look ahead at SEPTEMBER.......

*  There is that School Taxes Bill. (Another irregular bill I've been saving every month for.) 

So how was your August financially?
Did you spend less than you made?
Did you stay within your budget or not?
How much did you save in August?  Did you use it to pay down debt or build your Emergency Fund?

Even if what you are able to save each month doesn't look like a lot of money, figure out what percentage of your income you saved.  You might feel that it's a more substantial amount in those terms!

We saved 12.71% of our take home income in August.  My goal is to shoot for 50% each month.
Our heavy expenses in August had us fall short of my goal.

Leave a comment and share with us what you did with your money, both the good and not-so good.
Did you have debt you were able to pay on?
Did you pay off a car, a house or a credit card?
Did something financial blow up on you last month?
What are you doing financially to change your life?

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