The "New" Plan

As some of you may know, Hubs and I are going on a road trip this month, with the destination point being the town where my daughter now lives.
I haven't seen her since she moved there last May, so it's been almost a year since she's been gone and we've seen her.

I miss her.
I can bet you that after 2 days being around her, I'll take that statement back. lol

Anyway, we are looking forward to visiting her and seeing a part of the country that, at least my Hubs, has never been to before.

The daughter's living situation is tenuous at this point.  She's been living with her boyfriend and his parents since May.
That situation has been "going downhill" for months now.  Nothing dangerous or bad but she and the BF want to move out as soon as they are able.  They are in their 20's now and want to get out on their own.

So here comes another one of my hair brained ideas....uh oh.....!LOLZ

Hubs and I are still up in the air in terms of what part of the country we are going to retire to, but he IS retiring in 4 years and Hubs wants to move away from the "snow belt" and I want to be near wherever my kids end up living, so we have come up with an idea.

I have contacted a realtor and while we are down in Louisiana we are going to be looking at property there.

The plan now is to find something inexpensive, a foreclosure, etc., we can buy soon,  that the daughter and BF can live in for the next few years, until Hubs retires.  At that point they can make arrangements to buy the house from us or they can move out and we'll move in and renovate or have a new home built on the property.

The housing market down there is still quite depressed and there are many many foreclosures and folks desperate to sell.
I want to find something we can pay cash for(since we won't be selling our house up in PA yet)and the kids can do any fix-up work to get it livable(on our dime).  In exchange for free rent, they take care of the place.  They will be responsible for the taxes and utilities.

We are thinking about properties with at least 2 acres outside of the cities there.  Most of these would be mobile home situations.  As long as the trailer is in good enough condition, these would be the cheapest option and the most attractive for our needs.
Once Hubs retires and we move down there, we'd move the trailer(or haul it off depending on condition)and have a new house built on the property for us(after selling the house in PA since we'd use those funds to pay for the new house).

I figure, Hubs will enjoy the weather there(thank goodness for A/C for me!lol), we will enjoy the laidback lifestyle down there, plus we'll be close by to where my daughter lives.  She plans on having kids so this is important that we be close by.  My oldest is also planning on relocating to the South at some point so we'll also be closer to him and his GF.  It's too soon to guess where #2 Son will end up as an adult so we can't even make a plan taking him into consideration.

So we'll see what develops from this trip.

Sluggy

Food & Toiletries Spending.....March Update

 Onward to March's food spending report.......

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for MARCH 2014.

I have posted March's totals on the Total Grocery Savings for 2014 Page located HERE and have updated the Yearly Totals there.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in March.  If you aren't interested in that much detail, just skip to the bottom for the Totals Summary.

My spending includes Food, Toiletries/HBA, Pet Supplies, Cleaning Products, Paper Goods & tax where applicable. We are a family of 4(3 at home this month)& 1 dog. No kids under 18.
******************

BAKERY OUTLET
OOP  $6.00
Value  $11.97
Savings   49.9%

DOLLAR STORE
OOP  $13.00
Value  $37.65
Savings    65.47%
 

RITE-AID
OOP  $11.53
Qs/Ads/+Ups  $158.16
Value  $169.69
Savings  93.2%
 

SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP  $26.29

Qs/Ads  $10.97

Value  $37.26

Savings  29.44%

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $81.96

Qs/Ads  $40.27

Value  $122.23

Savings  32.95%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 93.2%,  the Dollar Store at 65.47% and the Bakery Outlet at 49.9%.  My WORST savings rate was Shursave Market at 29.44%.
I shopped at 5 different stores this past month.

TOTAL Out of Pocket........$344.86

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$380.76

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$725.62

TOTAL Savings of...................................51.80%

Even without counting the Rite-Aid shopping, my savings rate was 38.94%.

This closes out the March food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....

I went into March wanting to keep my food/toiletries budget at $300, but I went over by $44.86.
It sure beats spending $400 though.  ;-)
Over a 50% savings rate for March was only possible because of my Rite-Aid deals last week.  The "normal" rate I like to try for is 40%.

I tallied up our Eating Out spending for March and it came in at $155.11(including tips).
$96.31 of that was #2 Son's Birthday dinner and the other $58.80 was meals out on my trip to Delaware.
This spending doesn't come out of our food/toiletries budget however.


LOOKING AHEAD TO APRIL......

I am not even going to attempt to predict what April's food/toiletries spending will look like.  I have a road trip coming up this month (!!!)so I'll be buying convenience foods this month for those staying home.  These typically cost more anyway so we'll see where we stand on the spending come May 1.

 

If you have other ideas or guidelines you follow please leave a comment and share yours with us all.

Total spend on food/toiletries so far this year.....$1,040.66

The average monthly food/toiletries spending this year so far is $346.89.

 

How much did you spend on food/toiletries in March?
Do you track your yearly food spending?
 

Sluggy

Rite-Aid-The Perfect Deodorant Storm

First let me say that last week I got a little ahead of myself.  The plan for this week I had to get a bunch of stuff for $2+ is actually the plan for NEXT week.  This week is/was a bit bare in the deal department. 8-(

I did a quick small transaction up at Rite-Aid on Sunday.

It was one of those days where the planets all align and I got paid to buy something.

I had a rain check from a few months back for Mitchum Deodorant for $2.99(reg.$4.99).
I also had a manufacturer's coupon for $2/1 that expired on Sunday.
AND Rite-Aid has a RA coupon in the sales flyer for $1 off Mitchum Deodorant.

$2.99 price-$2 MANQ-$1 RAQ= -.01¢.
Of course Rite-Aid won't pay me .01¢ to buy their stuff, so I bought something else to cover that penny, and it was stuff I was going to buy anyway.....

1 x Mitchum rain check=$2.99
3 x Dawn dish detergent on sale $1=$3.00
SubTotal.....$5.99

Coupons Used
1 x $2/1 ManuQ Mitchum=$2.00
1 x $1/1 RA Mitchum Q=$1.00
1 x .50/2 Dawn IPQ=$.50
1 x .25/1 Dawn IPQ=$.25
Coupon Total....$3.75

$5.99=$3.75=$2.24- $2 +Up Reward=.24¢ + .02¢ tax=.26¢ OOP

All this for .26¢.

This is probably all I'll buy at Rite-Aid this week....unless I pick up some restaurant gift cards(they are giving $10 +Ups when you buy $25 gift cards.  I may have need for a couple of these soon.

Sluggy
 

It's SPRING! Who's Ready for a Giveaway?

Ok, we went from this Sunday night....

 

to 4 more inches of "that stuff that shall not be named" the next morning......

But then the sun came out it hit 52 degrees F and it melted......

and I seem to have a spurt of energy today!

It finally feels like SPRING here.....

So let's have one of my Sluggy's Boring Blog Box Giveaways, ok?

Instead of dragging this out for 4 weeks, cuz really!?, hasn't Winter been dragging out enough without any help from me, let's just post it all today.

So on with the Giveaway!

Here's the deal--
I fill a box with goodies.
Usually stuff I've gotten for free or cheap at the drug store(God bless Rite-Aid!).

If you want to win the box of stuff, just leave comments on this blog post.
At the appointed date I draw a name from a hat or some other container that I find laying around my house.
If I draw your name, you win, and I mail this box of stuff to you!

Easy Peasy....

So let's look at what I put into the box......

An Air Wick Freshener(the plastic came unglued from the cardboard backing but it's new in the package), a bottle of Crest Rinse, a bottle of Dry Idea roll-on deodorant/anti-perspirant, GasX Prevention pills(for gas), Tag men's deodorant....

a tube of Colgate and a tube of Crest toothpastes, a Crest toothbrush, a bag of Ricola cough drops, a tube of Aveeno lotion, a bar of Dove beauty soap......

a bag of Ghirardelli Dark Mint Chocolates!!!, one of the Bloggerpalooza II goody bags I gave out and a small jelly jar of homemade "No Rubbish Relish".

So how about it?
Who wants to win??!

I'll leave this giveaway open until April 27th at 11:59pm.  The next day I'll put all the valid entries into a container and draw out a name and that person wins.

Disclaimer--This giveaway is open to those with mailing addresses within the US or Canada only.
If you are in Canada, you will receive a smaller box of goodies, as the shipping rates internationally are ridiculous and I am not taking out a mortgage on my house to pay to ship this stuff.  ;-)
**
If you need this shipped to Canada, I'll have to change the box and it's contents a bit.  I can ship a plain box weighing up to 4lbs. via 1st class mail, which, while more than the flat rate Priority to US addys, is still affordable.  These prize boxes usually weigh 7 or more lbs. when full, so if the winner is in Canada, I'll let them pick and choose which of the items they prefer sent in their box, until the box weighs 4lbs.  I hate to have to do this(not ship ALL prizes to them)but I would hate it even more to exclude them totally from entering the giveaway.

There is a limit of ONE ENTRY per Day by leaving a comment on this blog post.
IF you post about my Giveaway on your own Blog or on Facebook with a link to this post, this will earn you 2 additional entries for each action.  Please leave additional comments on this blog post for each additional entry.

So let's get this started!

Sluggy

 

Saturday at the Bloggerpalooza II....Hijinxs in Lewes & Beyond--Part II

After getting all the goody bags finished and a quick shower and lay down on the motel bed to re-energize, Mark was banging on the door, ready to leave for Lewes and that evening's festivities.

One of the finished bags all decked out with curled ribbons.

 A goody bag with Thyme seeds in it.  The tag ready, "Hope you had a good "thyme".  Your friend, Sluggy.

 

 

The back view of a bag....peppermint patties and a "rainbow" candy stick.

I also brought a shopping bag filled with tubes of toothpaste, all obtained for free at Rite-Aid.
Anyone who wanted some was free to go shopping in that bag.
Once I held it up and told people to "come get it", I never saw that bag again. lolz

I also brought some homemade relish.....

 I dubbed this "No Rubbish Relish" after Dr. Spo's favorite saying.  Of course, I presented him with a jar and shared more jars with anyone else who wanted to try it.

I didn't forget the ladies at the gathering either.
Java and anne marie got their own bag of goodies......assorted CHOCOLATE(of course!) and they had to duke it out to see who took home which yumminess......

Of course I don't have a photo of them pawing through that bag since I was standing there handing it out.

I also brought a giftie for Jay.  I remembered that he collected "rainbow" Santa ornaments for his tree.
And since he did me a BIG favor, which I'll talk about after Saturday, I thought it only fitting that I make him something.....a ceramic Christmas ornament.

Again, I don't have a photo of me giving him his present so I lifted these photos Jay posted of it on his blog.....

I use to paint and sell ceramics professionally so I dragged out my paint boxes and brushes and plucked this Santa ornie from the piles of ceramic bisque still in my basement and painted him up specially for Jay.
I am a bit rusty after all these years but I think it came out respectably.  8-)

And then for my buddy Mark, of late from the blog "Our Simple Lives", I just had to bring him a present too.

I found these Adult Juice Boxes aka miniature containers of boxed wine, the size of a kid's juice box, and it just screamed his name.

Here he is posing with it......

I gave him two.
I wonder if he shared them with Fred and how long they lasted.....not very, I am thinking.....hehehehe

So we arrived at the Bloggerpalooza II Dinner.
We were greeted by anne marie aka THE Warrior Gate Keeper.

Only those who paid their admission fee were allowed to pass.....

 

We sat in the outer room, chatted and consumed cocktails.

 

And Ron handed out goody bags with noisemakers and bubble stuff.
Many bubbles were blown in short order.

Then it was time to go into dinner.

 

             Smile big now Fred!

 

       
Hey, what's going on over at THAT table?!

 

 
Maybe we sat at the wrong table....Dr. Spo is here so this must be the "B Table".

 

Is it time to eat yet?

 

After eating our table got up a rousing game of "bat the balloons around"......

Everyone had a good time!

 

 I do want to lodge a complaint though.
Seriously, Jay looked much better in a tiara than moi!!!
WTF?!?

Then the A Table, not to be outdone, started Bubble Blowing......

After dinner there was the giving out of prizes.
Dr. Spo and Ron were the presenters.....

The emcee must wear a fashionable red sequined bowtie.....

Many prizes were given out, most of them silly.....

First up was a pair of red glitter cha-cha heels for Randy....

I don't think you're in Nebraska anymore Randy! lolz

Lar snagged the other prized heels.  I wonder if he has anything in his closet that will go with them, hmmm?

A coloring book for Jay....

Hey Fred!  Who do you think you are, Emeril? lol

Mark and his "take no hostages" shirt....

Doug's prize shirt....ready for Key West baby!!

Todd inspecting his light-up drumsticks or batons. 

And anne marie got a cute little dolly.

 There were also hula hoops at the dinner and I caught Mark giving it a try......

Here's the bling I came home with.....

a feather boa and Viking helmet(more my style than a tiara), Mardi Gras beads, a spikey ball that changes colors.....

And in my goody bag was a noisemaker, a flute, bubbles, balloons and candy......

And Pat brought everyone maple syrup from Canada.
Pat gave me a second bottle for Hubs who couldn't come to the shindig......

 

Thanks Pat!

 

 

After all the prizes were given out, it was time for the entertainment.  Ron had engaged a local Stage Hypnotist for the evening, Marshall Manlove.

He called for volunteers and about 7 suckers people who were game got up on "stage".
I was one of the volunteers.
And we were the evening's entertainment. lol

Ron filmed and posted the hypnosis session on YouTube.
You can go watch Part 1 HERE and Part 2 HERE .

I have never been hypmotized before.
Let me just say it was an experience.  8-P

After the show we repaired to the Hospitality Suite one last time for a couple more drinks and conversation.

 I love this shot of Mark........I think he is partied out!  That's what happens when you have kids and get old, right Mark? lolz

 Cubby, Randy, Dr. Spo, Fred and anne marie

 Tim, Java, Mark(a little perkier now) and Cubby

Then Dr. Spo(lovely chapeau by the way) and Fred played a little trick via text message on one of Dr. Spo's friends in Canada, Laurent.  He had Fred(who is from France)text Laurent en francais pretending to be Dr. Spo.  It didn't take long for the friend to realize that Dr. Spo's French was not actually Dr. Spo's and that he had been HAD. ;-)

And all too soon it was time to head back to the motel and my evening came to an end.

I had a fabulous time but I think I slept for 3 days after I got home to PA.
Partying just wears this old gal out, ya know?

Thanks  to Ron for putting this all together and thanks to everyone for making me feel so welcomed.

Ron put together a nice movie HERE with all the photos that Mark took of the 2 days of events.
It's worth watching when you get the time to see it all(it's about 27 minutes long).

I'll leave you with the group photo that was taken of all the attendees.....

back-Jay, Ron, Java, Lar, Tim, Cubby, Pat, David, Jay, Fred

front-Todd, anne marie, Sluggy, Randy, Doug, Dr. Spo, Mark

It was a great experience which I will treasure the rest of my days! 8-))

Sluggy