Friday, April 17, 2020

Frugal Friday......the April 17th Edition

Still no Friday freebies at Weis or Fantastic Friday Deals there but let's still see what frugal wins we can pull out of our asses hats from this past week.

* On Sunday I was making lasagna for Easter but was low on mozzarella cheese.  Going through my meat/cheese drawer in the fridge I found these.......

String cheese sticks I had gotten in Feb. 50% off on clearance AND an Ibotta cash rebate on.  Since they were mozzarella I cut them into small coins and mixed with my reg. shredded cheese to put into the lasagna.  Win/win!

*  I had Hubs pick up my Easter freebie last Friday with my Weis points.  I had him get one of these boneless dinner hams.

I had used the one from the freezer for his birthday dinner(instead of Easter)and Ex-College Boy really liked it so we got another to put into the freezer for future dinners.

*  I found money!


I had to drive Hubs to his eye shot appointment on Wednesday but they wouldn't let any one in besides the patients so it was either sit in the car for up to an hour or go to Maines restaurant supply nearby.  I found this penny walking up to the door to Maines.

* And speaking of Maines.......I got a few good deals in there though most were in restaurant quantities.


10 lbs. of flour wasn't a "great" buy but still less for Gold Medal at Weis(PMITA)Markets.
If you can't find baking supplies try your local restaurant supply store if they let the public in.  With many restaurants closed or doing less business since they are restricted to take-out/carry out meals the restaurant supply stores should be stocked with anything you need.


I also got these cans of pineapple juice there for .99¢ each with use by dates to the end of 2022.  Theses run $2.50 or more at the grocery stores around here.  I now make my own Sweet and Sour Sauce and this is an ingredient.  And if not for that, for Summer cocktails(Pina Coladas anyone?).

While we were out on this side of town I hit up P and R Discount Outlet while Hubs went to Lowe's and found Ex-College Boy's favorite coffee for cheap.  They also had a new flavor called "Florida" which is a caramel flan so I picked one of those up.


Then the other day I realized we were on our last bottle of yellow mustard when I made deviled eggs so I picked up  another bottle for cheap there as well.


*  By the time we were done with Hubs' eye doc and the my food errands it was lunch time so we used a discount code Hubs got on his account and got lunch here...


Primo Hoagies are a Philly based business but we have a couple of franchises here so we did our part to help a small business by getting lunch to take home.

*  I had Hubs call our car insurance provider since I heard many were giving discounts/reductions/credits on future bills due to the pandemic and folks just aren't driving or driving as much.
State Farm is giving a 25% discount from mid-March to the end of May on your car insurance bill.
Of course we received our renewal bill that day so we won't actually see a discount until the bill that comes in November. lolz


But that $109.45 discount will be welcomed when it does arrive.

*  We decided to put Chester and Dixie on the dog food Chester and Cinnamon use to eat when the grand dog lived here.  The best deal on this variety is the 41 lb. bag.  For some reason the Chewy site kept crashing so I bought it on Amazon.  I also put it on Subscribe and Save so saved 5% this order.


I also ordered 4 types of dog treats too(the ones in the blue bag are Chester's absolute favorite and I can't find large bags of them here anymore).  All these qualify for the Subscribe and Save program on Amazon so we'll get various % off every order.


The best part is I used credit card points to pay for it all so nothing OOP. yay

And that's about all I have that's frugal this week.


Be safe, stay home if you can and tell us about your frugal wins lately.

Sluggy

Thursday, April 16, 2020

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


Wednesday, April 15, 2020

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

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

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!

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