We got a call on Saturday from Daughter who is finishing up her training week at summer camp.  She was suppose to come home with DH on Sunday, when he went to drop off #2 son for his 2 weeks of camp.  Then she was suppose to go back to camp when we went to pick up #2 son and start her weeks of work there.
I guess she impressed the 'high mucky mucks' running the joint and/or some teens didn't show up for their designated weeks to work, as she was asked to work 2 extra week long sessions--the first week in the kitchen and the second with the 'special needs' campers.  So Daughter got 2 extra weeks of employment and is quite happy at the moment not to have to come home to the 'Boring House'.  Yes, not only is my blog boring but it seems everything I touch is boring....

As Daughter didn't pack but enough 'stuff' for 1 week of training I had to spend Saturday packing all the things she says she "desperately needs!" for the next 7 weeks of her life.  I about got writer's cramp taking notes over the phone, making the gargantuan list of items to take to her!  Then I got to spend a few hours hunting down and gathering all of those things in her rat's nest of a room!
Ugh.
So much for my Saturday....
Here are a couple of photos from the website from last week.

#1 son is standing on the far left.  And again, a fine looking group of teens & 20-somethings....

Yes, these are some of the future leaders of our nation...

 

And though my Daughter is very good at avoiding peoples with cameras I did find this lone shot w/her in it...on the left in turquoise with a sign on her chest.  Looks like some king of team building/role playing activity.  Oh, I KNOW she was enjoying that *voiced with a heavy dose of sarcasm*.....LOLOL

DH delivered #2 son & his 'stuff', along with daughters 'stuff' to the camp on Sunday and I got to sit home and babysit the dogs...ah!, the story of my life.....

That massive thundering noise you heard this afternoon was me turning cartwheels at the though of being CHILD-FREE for 2. Whole. Weeks!  8-))
Now if I could just afford to send the dogs to camp too....

I spent most of the day Sunday inside as it was beastly hot here.
Did I fall into a coma and it's really August now and not June because baby, it sure FEELS like August!?
I went online and checked out the weekly grocery/drug store sales flyers and took notes on what looked like a good deal this week.

I saw that Price Chopper(NE) has a teeny tiny Unilever product Catalina Deal this week.  There are ten, count 'em ten items that qualify and you have to buy $25(that's reg. shelf price, not sale price)to get a $7 OYNO Catalina.
The problem is that all the Qs that are out for the products(most had valid Qs available)expire on SUNDAY-June 20th-so you had to do the Catalina deal that day!!lol

I had 3 Unilever product inserts from May so I sat down and figured out I could do 3 transactions, spend $30.46 Out of Pocket and end up with $74.89 of groceries + a $7 OYNO Catalina to roll in the next couple of weeks.
It would have given me....
9 Ragu Sauce
6 Wishbone Dressing
11 Knorr Rice/Pasta pouches
4 Lipton Teabag boxes
3 Ice Cream containers

But in the end, I didn't even go to the store and do the deal.  I am lousy with sauce, dressing, rice/pasta and even teabags at this point and I really don't need anymore.
Yes, I really just said I don't need anymore.
The savings even with rolling the deal didn't give me enough savings to make it worth my while.
Am I loosing my killer coupon edge?

Maybe....
But I did hike up to Rite-Aid(where else would I go?!lol)and got some fun stuff.
More on that tomorrow....

Sluggy

JUNE Food Stamp Challenge....Days Eighteen & Nineteen

Well the last 2 days of the Food Stamp Challenge were pretty quiet.
Sorry for the lack of photos but my camera is having issues.  It shut down on me again while taking shots of the garden progress on Friday, telling me to change the batteries.  I just changed the batteries last week!!  I think it's on it's last legs.....sigh
 
We did a quick run to the store for hot dog rolls=$1.00.  That was all the shopping that was done on those 2 days.

On Day 18-Friday-I fed #2 son and his friend pigs in a blanket in the afternoon.  Costs for items I already had going into June....$.95(5 dogs), $.50(roll of whack dough), $.05(mustard), $1.00(can of chili)=$2.50

We deviated from the meal plan this week and cooked dogs out on the grill also that evening.  Hebrew Nationals on rolls with fresh cut-up Cantaloupe.  As it was too hot to cook inside and a big heavy meal was out of the question, this hit the spot.  Cost of things already bought before June...$1.13(6 more dogs), $.25(condiments).  Total spent for Friday=$4.88

**In case anyone is wondering how come my Hebrew Nationals only cost me .189¢ ea.....I stock up on them in the spring when they go on sale seasonally.  With the sale and the coupons I usually get them for $1.50 a package(sometimes lower).  8 dogs in a pack=$.189 ea.  I usually buy enough to last us until the next Spring and then stock up again.  We usually go through 16-20 packages a yr.
Since I have various neighborhood teens eating through the house in the summer I do buy 'lesser quality' dogs too for that purpose.  I don't buy the really low quality kind but I can usually find 'good' quality dogs in the markdown case for around $1.00 a package.**

We had additional food expenses later that evening when 3 teens decided they needed feeding after some time in the pool.  I served them hot cocoa(made with milk) and a small cake(used a cake mix to make 2 small cakes, 1 went into the freezer for later).  I couldn't believe that they fit 1/2 the bag of marshmallows into their mugs with the cocoa!lol
Costs--$.50(marshmallows), $.00(milk already accounted for this month), $.25(4 envelopes cocoa mix), $.50(cake mix), $.75(frosting)=$2.00
Friday's costs...$7.88

On Day 19-Saturday-we had homemade Chinese Food.  My version of Sesame Chicken.  Besides the chicken I also sauteed a bag of frozen "Stir-Fry Assortment of Veggies" with some sesame and olive oil.  Steamed up some white rice and then put it all together with a generous handful of cashew pieces on top.
Good eats at a homemade price(chicken $.99 for a lb., bag of veggies $1.00, rice $.75, nuts .50¢, ingredients for sauce and oils $1.00)=$4.24 to feed 3 people.
Saturday's costs....$4.24

Both Days combined costs....$12.12 


Spent to Date....$167.33
June Food Budget Left....$243.39
Days of Challenge Left....11



Sluggy

If You Bought Rembrandt Toothpaste at Rite-Aid....Read This!

Remember last week when I when to Rite-Aid and bought Rembrandt Toothpaste on June 8th & June 12th?  The deal was....the toothpaste was $6.63 at my store after my 20% Wellness discount and when you paired that price with the $3 Manu. or IP Rembrandt coupons AND the $3/1 AdPerks/Video Value IPQ, you paid $.63 for the toothpaste.
$6.63-$3-$3=$.63.
Well this deal just got immensely better!

If you bought any Rembrandt product between May 21st & June 17th(also any Listerine Whitening product), you may possibly qualify for a $10 Prepaid Debit Card Rebate!
And you do NOT need a form to submit for it.

Here are the details as they appeared in People Style Watch magazine....

Purchase ANY Listerine Whitening or Rembrandt product and receive a free $10 prepaid debit card to put toward your favorite white must have item for summer. Mail your original receipt, dated between 5/21 – 6/17/10 with the Listerine Whitening or Rembrandt product and proof of purchase circled along with your name and address to: Dare to Wear Gift / PO Box 4938 / NY NY 10185. Please allow 4-6 weeks for shipping. Offer good while supplies last. Limit one per household.” Must be received by 7/1/10.

So get those receipts and UPCSs out and get your submission in the mail soon!
I've already mailed mine in and BIL will get his out on Monday.
It says while supplies last but it's still worth a shot, right? ;-)

Add these into my Rite-Aid total for the month....
Total Spent....$43.48--all put on free Gift Cards/Certificates so ZERO  OOP
SCR qualified for....$41.98 in cash and $35 in Gift Cards
Other Cash....$15 MIR from Neutrogena
Additional Rewards....$5.00 Gift Card from Gillette(for survey)& $20 in Prepaid Debit Cards=$25.00



Total Spent.......$0.00
Total Gained....$56.98 CASH/$60.00 Gift Cards


And just in case you didn't notice I did NOT go to Rite-Aid this past week!
I know, I know.......I didn't go to Rite-Aid....the Earth must have tilted off it's axis and we'll all be burned to a crisp as we drift ever closer to the Sun.
At least I have plenty of gift cards left to get FREE Sun Screen.....


Sluggy

JUNE Food Stamp Challenge....Day Sixteen & Seventeen--Cramping My Style!

This post is part of the June Food Stamp Challenge located HERE.

We have been cruising along on this food budget challenge for a couple of weeks now and it's been going well, except for 1 dining out roadblock on Day Thirteen I talked about HERE.

The last 2 days, the whole premise of only purchasing foods from stores that accept EBT and cooking every meal really began to cramp my style!

Wednesday I was feeling quite ill....nothing life threatening but sick enough that I wasn't able to throw together a made-from-scratch or even a semi-homemade dinner.  Yes, we had plenty of ingredients for making a meal in the house.
But that would require some one else here to go into the kitchen and cook. 
The teen doesn't cook.  He can make grilled cheese and reheat stuff in the microwave and have I mentioned that he hates leftovers?
The DH 'can' cook....a bit.....but he chooses not to, given an opportunity(like this one)to go into the kitchen and whip up dinner.  And he won't settle for a bowl of cold cereal or a peanut butter sandwich for dinner.

So we failed the challenge on Wednesday when DH hiked up to Subway and bought subs after I took to my bed.

In the past year, I have gone from a freezer packed with tv dinners and other preprocessed/packaged 'food' to a freezer packed with meats and veggies in their natural/raw state which I use to make the dinner magic.  There is not alot of foods here anymore that are shortcuts to making a meal(outside of dehydrated milk or potatoes, canned soup, boxed mac & cheese and some Jello).

In a situation like this one above, having a couple of tv dinners or a frozen pizza would have saved us from resorting to Subway.  The processed frozen food would have taken a bigger bite out of the food stamp budget for the month compared to only buying 'real' food with the food stamps, but in the end if a dinner emergency happened we could have eaten w/out resorting to less desirable fare if we had no cash available to spend on pre-made, hot, ready-to-eat food that is not covered by EBT/food stamps.

Seems to me that if you are on food stamps and you are the lone cook in your home, it might be wise to keep a couple of spare pre-made dinners in your freezer.  Even better though, would be to make ahead a double batch when you cook/make a meal and freeze half.  This way, if you are 'indisposed' and you have someone there who can at least turn on/turn off an oven or microwave, you can have them pop that homemade 'convenience food' meal and avoid spending your precious cash on fast food.  I usually have something I pre-made in the freezer to heat and eat but I got caught without one this time.

So on Wednesday we struck out to the tune of $15.75.  I need to think about how I am going to handle this in regards to my budget.  Perhaps I need to add the cost of this fail to my donation check to the food bank.
I figure I need to have a penalty here....

Which brings us to Thursday, which was a much better day for the Food Stamp Challenge at our house.
Dinner consisted of pulled pork sandwiches on rolls and coleslaw.
I had leftover boneless pork ribs, from the cookout when the relatives were visiting, that I had cooked as  'just in case we need more food for teens that dropped in at dinnertime' food.  We hadn't eaten them, so I shredded the meat, made up a small pot of our secret family North Carolina style barbecue sauce, threw in the meat and heated thoroughly.  Spooned the 'cue out onto the leftover crustini rolls I bought last week and topped each one with the pre-made coleslaw from the grocery store that DH picked up on the way home from work.

Ok, so this isn't the actual photo of my food, but it looked pretty close to this(sans the chips and pickle).

Food budget spending for this meal....coleslaw $1.69 , rolls already figured in last week $0, meat $2.38(bought last month on sale),  ingredients to make the sauce from the pantry $.40=$4.47.

On Thursday #2 son and I also ran some errands on the way to his guitar lesson.  I had wanted to hit up the Bakery Outlet but they don't take EBT, so I had to pay almost retail for some bread and bagels.  I found a BOGO sale on both at the local market so I have 2 bags of bagels and bread to the tune of $7.98.  
This just about killed me since I could have possibly gotten all this at the bread outlet for $4.00...if I wasn't limited to only stores that accept food stamps!

We also stopped by my favorite local discount/close-outs store that carries food items.  I had found this great little product there last month & picked up 1 bottle then......

It's a cold press EVOO that's grown, harvested, pressed and bottled in the USA(California)in a GLASS BOTTLE! and at the low price of $1.99 a bottle!
Ok, it might not be the best quality of Olive Oil but PA does not have much olive growing and olive pressing going on so this is a good deal here.
I had wanted to get a quantity of these for my stockpile after trying the 1 bottle I bought.....but I can't.
Because this close-out store does NOT accept EBT....so I have not been able to buy any food items there in June!

I am hoping there are some bottles left in the store come July.
If not, I've missed out on a food opportunity, just like anyone who lives around here and has to use EBT all the time to eat would have.
I tell ya, that sucks!
And it's starting to annoy the beejeezus outta me!!

 'Spending' for Day Sixteen and Seventeen...$12.45   * +penalty of $15.75 for the Subs*

Spent to Date....$155.21
June Food Budget Left....$255.51
Days of Challenge Left....13


Sluggy

Free TEA Samples...Limited Time Offer so don't Delay!

The TEASTA Tea Company is giving out Free loose leaf tea samples.  You chose 2 different samples from their offerings, enter the Discount Code provided and they'll even ship it FREE.  How awesome is that?!
I haven't tried this brand before so I can't wait to get mine.

Go HERE to get your free samples.
This offer is for a limited time so don't delay!

P.S.
LisaPie, you are NOT allowed to send for this....lol

Sluggy

June Donation #1......Starting off the Month Late Again

June is halfway over and I am just getting my 'donation act' together for this month.
Ugh.
Life happens.....need I say more?lol

Here is what is leaving my house this week.....

1 AnnaLee Rabbit Doll(vintage/used)
1 Set of Mad Magazine miniature cars
1 set of 6 Boxes of Star Trek Trading Cards
12 packages of Power Rangers Jewelry
2 bottles of Star Trek Bubble Bath
1 Weebo Toy from Flubber-the Movie
1 box of McDonald's play food....plastic chicken nuggets anyone?lol
1 Boyd's Bears Bearstone Resin Figure
1 cassette tape of Toy Story music
1 Polly Pocket doll set
1 David Winter's Cottages book(used)

And this stuff....

1 Nightmare Before Christmas Cookie Jar
1 Snowman Stocking Hanger
1 Collectible Matchbox NY Mets Truck
1 Santa Ornament
1 Set of Lighthouse Shower Curtain Hooks
7 pairs of men's Jeans(used)
2 women's short sets(used)
2 women's swimsuits(used)
2 women's polo shirts(used)
1 women's l/s shirt(nwt)
2 pair of women's shorts(nwt)
1 womens' t-shirt(nwt)

Total Items for this Donation....45

April Total....96
May Total....72
June Total....45
Yearly Total to Date....213 Items.

Yearly Food Bank Donation Total....78

Yearly Total for all Donations so far.....291

In other news......I think all my eBay listings expired this past week so I need to decide if I take off from selling there for the summer & close my store since it's slow time or if I ramp the listings back up and keep the store open.  I hate to just put the store on vacation settings for 2 months and still have to pay that monthly fee.
Anybody out there have an eBay store?  How do you handle summers in regards to eBay??


Sluggy

Cleaning Digital House

Ok...I admit it.
I am a digital hoarder!
What can I say?

I have a hard time sending old emails to the virtual recycle bin.  The current Inbox count is over 1400 emails...no wonder I lose stuff!lol  And that's not counting all the emails in my various folders.

Speaking of emails, I am signed up to way too many website/company email alerts.

Last year, when I began the Year of Living Extreme Couponing, I subscribed to every big and alot of not-so-big Couponing/Deal Blogs.  Now I don't chase some many deals, but I am still getting all those email alerts and my inbox is like Grand Central Station during rush hour!
And you know what?.....most of those Deal Websites spew out the same deals over and over and over again, so I am hearing about a particular *HOT* deal something like 30 times a day.

Seriously, who needs that?

I have found that I rarely check on the Deal Blogs anymore.  Since I don't have a national chain grocery store here I find very few cover the stores I need information on. 

Over the past year I have found that I tend to gravitate to 'frugal' blogs....you know, the small personal blogs of people sharing their real life struggles with money(or the lack thereof), family and life in general.  That's the key.....they may talk about the Deals too but it's the SHARING of themselves that interests me more.
And having a sense of humor is a BIG Plus!!lol

My computer's Favorites list has also grown too cumbersome.
I scroll down it forever to find a web page I want to view.  I just went and clicked on a few and some of the blogs aren't even around anymore.

Plus I really need to backup some files on a flash drive since my machine is by techno-geek standards a 'dinosaur' and due for a complete meltdown any month now....ugh!
I also really need to export my blog content to a flash drive as well.



It's all become Digital Clutter in my life.

And as in the words of that great philosopher Popeye the Sailor Man,  I've gotten to the "it's all I can stands, I can't stands no more!" stage.

So this afternoon is all about cleaning my digital house and getting it organized and ship shape.  Something tells me this might be a 2 day job though.lol

So...do you subscribe to any "Deal Blogs"?  How many do you find is enough to get the information you need?  And which ones do you prefer?

And which blogs are in your favorites?  Share some of your favs and I'll share some of mine next time too.

Sluggy

JUNE Food Stamp Challenge....Days Fourteen & Fifteen=Half Way!

This post is part of the June Food Stamp Challenge located HERE.

Monday was Day 14 of the June Food Stamp Challenge.
Monday was also the day 2 of the mouths I feed left home--one will be back in a week, one is gone for the summer.
So I am down to 3 people in the home this week.
And the rate at which the food gets eaten up here will slow waaaay down.

Or will it?

Though I only have 3 people to feed this week, yesterday was the last day of school for #2 son.
That means my food bill will increase because a couple of the neighborhood kids hang out here during summer recess.

We have a pool and a mom(me) who will feed whatever stray teen shows up.
While the JFSC doesn't allow me extra in my food budget, I will go through extra food rations for the remainder of this month.

If someone is living off of EBT alone, having extra hungry teens eating through your kitchen cabinets and fridge could mean running out of food before the month is out. You want to be welcoming to your kids friends but it could be very stressful to your budget to have them around.

You could try to stretch the food budget by buying cheaper foods. This might work as teens love all that processed junkie food, but it would also mean pouring empty unhealthy calories into their growing bodies(which is bad) plus your family's food choices would also suffer as you'd either have to buy less of the healthy food or buy lesser quality of foods for your own use as well to stay on budget.

I am NOT buying soda but the teens require a teeny bit of sugary beverages along with the water I make them drink, so I'll make them homemade lemonade(at least they will get real citrus fruit along with the sugar in the deal).  As a cheaper alternative to soda we'll break out the Kool-aid on occasion...the packet ones where you add your own sugar as that is less costly than the premade canister stuff(and more eco-friendly since you only have a small paper packet to compost and not a big plastic container to recycle). 
For snacks I'll do some crudites(raw veggies)and dip, homemade hummus and crackers, sliced apples and peanut butter, and homemade pizza(offering some veggie options to go under the pepperoni slices), and make stir-frys with frozen veggies and the ramen noodles they always eat.  Once the garden starts producing tomatoes(crossing fingers!), I'll offer BLTs and Fried Zuchinni slices.

How would you handle this dilemna?
And please share any low cost/healthy-ish foods I can offer the gang of teens this summer.  (Nothing with margarine or artificial sweeteners however.)  I'd love to hear any ideas!


Back to our Eating for the last 2 days.....

Monday was leftover Turkey with Dehydrated Mashed Potatoes, homemade gravy using the leftover pan drippings from when I roasted the Turkey last week, and peas to round out the meal. Cost of food...turkey-free, potatoes-free, peas-.30¢, gravy-.10¢ for the flour/butter/spices=.40¢

Tuesday was Beef Enchiladas with Corn.  I added the leftover chili from last week to the beef filling and made my homemade Enchilada Sauce. 

Cost of food here(not bought during June)that was used includes sauce ingredients-.80¢, corn-.30¢, tortillas-.60¢=$1.70

Since I did no grocery shopping the last 2 days, my only 'spending' was for the food used that was bought before June.


We are halfway through June and our food budget is looking good!   Sticking to the budget on the back end of the month will be vital to staying on task.

 'Spending' for Day Fourteen and Fifteen...$2.10

Spent to Date....$142.76
June Food Budget Left....$267.96
Days of Challenge Left....15


Sluggy

Meal Plan Monday.....June 14th TUESDAY Edition Incorporating Leftovers

**This post is part of the June Food Stamp Challenge located over HERE.**

Planning your meals ahead but using the sale ads and incorporating any leftovers from the previous week's meals is a great way to save money and avoid food waste.  These are the main ideas I keep in mind when planning our menu.  While I won't be shopping much this week I do have alot of leftovers to use up.

Last Week's Menu Postmortem...

Most of the meals were served but not on the days I had planned.  That's ok in my book!
The chicken thighs didn't happen as we had a celebratory dinner out for #1 son since he will be away from home on his actual birthday.

Here's what I will be serving our family of 3 this Week.....our household presently consists of 2 adults and 1 teen at home this week. No children under 14.

MONDAY--Turkey(leftover)*, Mashed Potatoes, homemade Gravy, Peas
TUESDAY--Beef Enchiladas(using leftover chili)*, Salad
WEDNESDAY--Pulled Pork(leftover)*, Coleslaw, Broccoli
THURSDAY--Dinner Out using Gift Certificate
FRIDAY--Something Turkey(leftover)*, Veggies to be announced later
SATURDAY--Homemade Clam Chowder(using leftover corn)*, Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Brussel Sprouts
SUNDAY--Leftovers

Here are the cost breakdowns...

Turkey Dinner--Turkey* free, Mashed Potatoes* free, homemade Gravy .10, Peas .30=$.40


Enchiladas--Beef $1.69, Sauce .79, Cheese $2.00, Tortillas $1.00, Rice .60, Sour Cream .50, Salad* free, Dressing .75=$7.33  This will make a double batch and I'll freeze half for another meal.


Pork--Pulled Pork* free, Sauce .50, Rolls .50, Coleslaw $1.25, Broccoli .83=$3.08


Dinner Out--Free with Gift Certificate


Turkey Meal--Turkey* free, Veggies to be announced later=$? but since the meat is free(leftovers) the cost will be low for the other ingredients

Chowder and Sandwiches w/Veggie--Clams $2.00, Corn* free, Bacon .50, Milk $1.59, Onions .25, Celery .25, Potatoes .50/ Bread .50, Cheese $1.63, Brussel Sprouts .83=$8.05


SUNDAY--Leftovers

Adding up what has already been spent and what I need to spend for this week's menu, I can serve this menu of 6 meals to a family of 3 adults/teens for a total of $20.86(figuring $2 max for the carbs/veggies to round out the unspecified turkey meal on Friday).  This cost also gives me a second Enchilada meal for another week.

Leftover nights have no cost as they were already figured in when the meal was served the first time. If you divide the meals' cost by 6 nights, you get an average cost per night of $3.48. That's $1.16 per person per night. And this is mostly a cooking from scratch menu. The only 'processed foods' are the salad dressing and the rolls/bread.
The items marked with the asteriks are free as they are leftovers and the cost was already paid.
Looking over this menu I've got leftovers going every night of the week that I am cooking!lolol

How am I being frugal with this menu?
*The Turkey meals are using the leftover roasted turkey from last week.  Between snacking on turkey last weekend(sandwiches)and the 2 meals this week, we should polish off all the turkey.*The Beef Enchiladas...No leftover Sloppy Joes this week but I have leftover Chili I can add to the filling to spice it up.
*The Pulled Pork is leftover boneless ribs I cooked when we grilled out the Friday before last.  I made them in case we ran out of food that night with the extra mouths here to feed.  Since we didn't need them, I'll make them into bbq this week.  By using sauce I can revive them even though they are a bit dry, being this old.  No one will know the difference....lol
*I also had leftover ears of roasted corn from that cookout.  I cut the kernels off the cobs and froze it.  That corn will be a nice addition to my clam chowder.

LAST WEEK'S FOOD SPENDING

I spent $37.76 at the store last week on groceries.
I 'spent' $8.60 in food items already in my pantry/freezer for a Food Stamp Challenge weekly total of $46.36. 
My total FSC spending for June is at $140.66.
I have an allotment of $410.72 to spend in June on food due to my participation in the June Food Stamp Challenge.
I have $270.06 remaining.

The only NEEDS for this week's menu are rolls, bread, cabbage, carrots, fruit and milk. Since I can't get the baked goods at the bakery outlet(they don't take EBT) I'll have to find a sale on bread/rolls at the reg. grocery store which will make those items cost me more.  I'm hoping to keep this list under $20 in price.
I don't see much in the stores this week that I want to stock-up on so I should be able to keep the food spending low this week.

FOOD WASTE REPORT

We had a waste casualty this week.  A bowl of something brown(most likely in the meat family)got pushed to the back and forgotten.  It was more mold than meat when found so we lost a tad more than 1 cup of food last week.
Food Waste sucks.....

Check out Organizing Junkie to see what other Home Cooks are serving this week.

Sluggy

Is it Tuesday Already? What I've Been Up To....

Ok....so it's Tuesday already!
I think I lost a day somewhere between Friday and now.
The weekend was  nuts with teens going here and teens going there and teens packing to leave for summer jobs, and school ending and on & on & on.
DH got the fencing up late Saturday around the garden beds much to the consternation of the resident rabbit.

Sunday DH and I had a date of sorts.  There is something around these parts called a "Chinese Auction"(not a very PC name for it however).  It also goes by the names Tricky Tray, or Basket Auction or Penny Social depending on the types of prizes.  It's gambling.  Not Bingo, Bunco or Poker but it's still a game of chance.....and some people find it highly addictive anyway.

The good thing about these auctions is that these are held as fundraisers for local non-profit organizations.  The group will get members and/or local businesses to donate prizes.  The prizes can be new items, they can be used items, or they can be a whole basket of prizes depending on the set-up.  The prizes can also be food or services as well(these are the kind I like).
 
Basically you buy sheets of little tickets with numbers on them.  Each sheet has 25 tickets or so plus a larger ticket that you hold onto.  All of the tickets have the same number on them and that number is unique from every other sheet of numbers.
The prizes are set out where the auction is being held, with bags or coffee cans next to each prize.  If you see a prize you want to win, you take as many of your tickets as you want & put them into the corresponding bag or can for that prize.  After about 2 hrs. of folks putting tickets in the cans/bags, the folks running the auction draw a numbered ticket out of the can/bag and whoever is holding that number wins the prize!
DH & I go to this particular Auction every year when they hold it in June.  All monies raised go to support a local fire company.

DH use to never win anything when we went but I guess my know-how or dumb luck has finally rubbed off on him.
Here is what we hauled home this year.....

Oops....forgot this item in the shot....

DH won 5 times and I won 12 times.  Well actually, we have a dispute on the ratio of mine/his winnings since one of the things I won for him but he says if I hadn't put tickets in for that item, he would have won it himself anyway.....so it's him 6/me 11 or him 5/me 12 wins. lolol

Sometimes it gets nuts at these auctions with all the people crammed in and the yelling and jostling about.  More often than naught I find myself winning something I don't even remember putting a ticket in for....like that Getty 2001 Fire Engine. Doh!

DH won a dress shirt(in his size) and a set of thermal underwear in #1 son's size which he'll be needing this winter back at school near Lake Erie.   DH also won a nice set of suede leather work gloves, some candles, a set of earphones and a jar of a locally-made specialty called Hot Sauce(it's more like Skyline Chili Sauce).
I always focus on the restaurant and services prizes....those are all those envelopes over on the left in the photo.  This year I won some free pizzas, a custom printed t-shirt, credit at a book store(for DH), $30 in hair services so I can get my hair cut, a sports shop gift card(for #2 son), gift cards to 3 other restaurants, free bowling passes & tickets for a Childrens Museum.  I've won gas station gift cards, theatre tickets, tickets to a concert, horseback riding and on and on in the past.  You just never know what goodies they will have each year.
When you add up the value of all we win, we always win at least double what we spend on the tickets.  We budget for the spending on this event every year so it's a planned expense(in case we don't win anything).  It usually costs us the equivalent of a nice restaurant meal.  We always make out like bandits in the prize dept. and the group raises cash for their cause, plus we have a good time! 

Monday rolled around and it was finally time for 2 of the teens to leave for their summer job training.  I don't know if I was happier to see them leave or they were happier to leave.lol
Of course, neither of them called me when they got there safely!!  We had to call them  & got through 11 hours after they left here!  The excuse why they didn't call?......they had no minutes left on their phones.  Right.....they were too busy using those minutes up with their friends and that's why we couldn't get through and our calls went to voice mail....if they would have been here I would have STRANGLED them!!!   (And no, they don't talk and drive.  They took turns driving so they could each blab on their phones in the passenger seat when not driving.)

The Good News is....I am down to 1 teen for the next week. 8-))
The Bad News is....Of course there is #2 son's buddy down the street who practically lives here during the summer and that kid's step brother from TX who spends a large chunk of the summer here too, so really, I still have 3 teens to deal with. 8-((

In 1 week #2 son will be going to attend camp for 2 weeks and daughter will be coming home from training for 2 weeks, until her employment time starts up.  I have a chart on the fridge to keep straight which teens are here which weeks for the summer to keep from overtaxing my brain.  I check the chart each morning to figure out which teen(s) are home and oversleeping before I start hollering names.

I spent most of Monday doing all the dirty laundry & dishes they left for me and forming a plan of attack for cleaning up things here.  I need to find my Summer Groove, ya know?

I also need to get some photos of the garden beds.  It rained bucket loads here on Sunday and lots of stuff shot up.  The weeds seem to have grown at twice the rate of the plants I WANT to grow however.
Ugh.

I still don't have a meal plan for this week.  The last 5 weeks having #1 son home put a big dent into my freezer stockpile.  I am considering eating it down so I can fit everything into the freezer compartment on the refrigerator and defrosting the freezer in the garage.  It's due and now that the turkey is out of there I might be able to empty it fully.
Speaking of turkey.....can I talk turkey with you now?lol, I need to figure out some way to serve the leftover turkey meat.  I am NOT a big fan of leftover turkey.....call me weird if you must!  It has a smell I don't like.  I guess I can hold my nose to eat it.  I have an old recipe called "Chicken & Stuffing Casserole".  DH likes it(heck, he likes everything!lol)so maybe I'll make a Turkey variations with the leftovers.  Or I could do a Turkey a la King.    Or Turkey and Dumplings.....oh, I'll come up with something.
Anyone have any suggestions besides Tetrazzini?(not a fan of that one).....

Sluggy

JUNE Food Stamp Challenge....Day Twelve & Thirteen

This post is part of the June Food Stamp Challenge located over HERE.

As Saturday was the last day for the Sales Ads and we were out of fruit & onions(can't cook ANYTHING without onions!lol) and there were some things I wanted to stock up on, I headed to the grocery store.

1 x Cantaloupe on sale=$3.00
1 x 2lbs. Strawberries on sale=$4.99
1 x 2lbs. Onions on sale=$1.29
2 x Easy Mac on sale $.75=$1.50
8 x Hormel Chili on sale $1.00=$8.00
2 x Hanover Veggies on sale $1.67=$3.33
4 x Hanover canned Beans on sale $.80=$3.20
2 x Coffee-Mate on sale $1.50=$3.00
SubTotal.....$28.31

Coupons Used
1 x BOGO Hanover Frozen Veggies ManuQ=$1.67
1 $1/4 Hanover canned Beans ManuQ=$1.00
1 x $1/2 Coffee-Mate ManuQ=$1.00
Coupon Total....$3.67

$28.31-$3.67=$24.64 out of pocket*


*This total doesn't sound quite right to me(checking it against my receipt book) but I have to get the copy of my receipt out later from upstairs to check, as the actual receipt was sent in for a rebate.  I'll correct this later if it's wrong.

The Easy Mac was bought for a rebate that needs mailing out this month.  I've been waiting for it to go on sale somewhere to buy it cheaply.  I needed beans and chili  as I am low.  #2 son eats chili with his burritos during the summer  The Coffee-Mate was a treat for daughter.  Everything bought was on sale and 3 items I had coupons for.

Saturday was Leftover's Day so assorted leftovers were eaten as part of the meal plan.

Sunday was #1 son's last day before leaving for the summer to go work on the opposite side of the state.
I was overruled on staying home and making my Enchiladas for dinner because DH felt we needed to go out to eat.  #1 son is also never home anymore for his birthday in July so this was his Birthday Meal Out that we always do for each person in the family.

I am aware that food stamps does not cover hot food eaten out at a restaurant.  And some people on food stamps can't afford to spend actual cash money on going out to eat, no matter if it's a fancy pants, family, diner, buffet, cafe or fast food type restaurant.
So I am undecided on what I should do here with my food budget for the challenge.  Eating out generally goes under the "Entertainment" budget with us.  Should I deduct the cost of this meal out from the food stamp budgeted amount?  Or do I get a 'pass' here?  Or should I deduct the cost of the food if I have bought it and cooked it at home instead of having eaten the food out from my food stamp budget?
Any thoughts here?.....anyone?

Having cash enough to go out, to spend it on a nice meal out, is a luxury that food stamp recipients probably almost never have.  Yes, having money gives you more choices in your life.  Having been poor(meaning lacking money, not the other kinds of poor) at times in my life, I am painfully aware of that fact.

 Spending for Day Twelve & Thirteen...$24.64

Spent to Date....$140.66
June Food Budget Left....$270.06
Days of Challenge Left....17 

Sluggy

Satuday at Rite-Aid x 3

Made 3 trips to Rite-Aid on Saturday to finish some SCRebates......

 Transaction #1

3x Old Spice Dedorant or Body Spray on sale $3.50=$10.50
1 x Rembrandt Toothpaste reg. $8.29, w/Wellness 20% discount=$6.63
1 x Pantene Shampoo on sale=$3.50
4 x Ramen Noodles on clearance $.12ea.=$.48
SubTotal....$21.11

Coupons Used
1 x $5/$20 Purchase AdPerks/VV IPQ=$5.00
1 x B2G1 Old Spice=$3.50
1 x $1/2 Old Spice=$1.00
1 x $3/1 Rembrandt ManuQ=$3.00
1 x $3/1 Rembrandt AdPerks/VV IPQ=$3.00
1 x $1.50/1 Pantene Home Mailer Q(Vocalpt.)=$1.50
1 x $4 +Up Reward /Wellness CRT Q=$4.00
Coupon Total....$21.00

$21.11-$21.00=$.11 OOP--put on Free Rite-Aid Gift Card=ZERO out of pocket
SCR qualifed for....$3(Pantene)** & $5 Gift Card(P&G items)

The $3 Pantene SCR is a "special rebate" I received notice of in an email from Rite-Aid.  I do believe it's not so special really since everyone who is signed up for the Wellness Program got this notice.lol

And I have a big bone to pick with Rite-Aid due to this transaction.
When I bought the 3 Old Spice items I was SUPPOSE to receive a $4 +Up Rewards that prints on the end of the receipt(like a CVS Extra Care Buck).....but it didn't print!
The cashier(who is the front end manager btw)warned me that the last person who bought the Old Spice items and used Old Spice ManuQs in her payment also did NOT get the +Up Reward.  I told the cashier that I had bought the same items earlier in the week, using those same Qs and the +Up Reward did print......and now, while the offer was still valid and the tags were on the shelf and said NOTHING about not getting the Reward if you used coupons, the Reward didn't print!!
What's up with this Rite-Aid?
I am NOT happy with you!!!
Has anyone else had this problem with their +Up Reward NOT PRINTING?!?  Let us know, willya?!

So I went to finish off my SCR#555(Skin Care) and now did NOT have that $4 +Up Reward to bring down my OOP total.  I did however, have my $20 Allergy Rewards Certificate that came in the mail last week.

Transaction #2

1 x Sea Breeze Cleaner $5.29 w/Welllness 20% discount=$4.23
1 x Neutrogena Clinical Treatment $39.99 w/Wellness 20% discount=$31.99
SubTotal....$36.22

Coupons Used
1 x $5/$20 Purchase AdPerks/VV IPQ=$5.00
1 x $5/1 Neutrogena Clinical IPQ=$5.00
1 x $5/1 Neutrogena Clinical In-Ad Q=$5.00
1 x $1/$10 any Skin Care Purchase Wellness IPQ=$1.00
Coupon Total....$16.00

$36.22-$16.00=$20.22
Used 1 x $20/1 Allergy Rewards Certificate=$20.00 to pay.

$20.22-$20.00=$.22+ $.02 tax=$.24 OOP--put on Free Rite-Aid Gift Card so ZERO Out of Pocket

SCR qualifed for....$3(Sea Breeze) & the Neutrogena purchase took me over the $50 Skin Care items mark so I also qualify for the $25 Gift Card now + the Bonus $5 Gift Card for completing SCR#555.
In additional there is a $15 Mail-In Rebate(MIR)for this Neutrogena Clinical product.

1 more transaction to finish out the week, this time for my BIL's account....

1 x Gillette ProGlide Razor on sale but 20% Wellness discount better=$8.79
1 x Blink Tears on sale=$7.99
1 x Reeses Pieces bag $3.99 w/Wellness 20% discount=$3.19
SubTotal.....$19.97

Coupons Used
1 x $5/$20 Purchase AdPerks/VV IPQ=$5.00
1 x $4/1 Gillette Razor ManuQ=$4.00
1 x $2/1 Blink Tears ManuQ=$2.00
1 x FREE ITEM Reese's Pieces(home mailer)=$3.19
Coupons Total....$14.19

$19.97-$14.19=$5.78 OOP--put on Free Rite-Aid Gift Card so ZERO Out of Pocket
SRC qualified for....$5(Razor),$7.99(Blink Tears)=$12.99

Here again, I didn't figure the lower price on the Razor as it was on sale, so my total was just under $20.  They took the $5 off $20 Q anyway again.
I found another razor with the $5 Survey inside.  Tried to use it for BIL and was told "thanks but we have enough responses." Dangit....

Value of Items today....$100.88
Out of Pocket....$6.13 put on gift cards
SCRs earned....$18.99 cash and $35 in Gift Cards

My Rite-Aid Totals so far this month......
Number of Transactions.....7
Total Spent....$43.48--all put on free Gift Cards/Certificates so ZERO  OOP
Total Value of Items Purchased....$228.54
SCR qualified for....$41.98 in cash and $35 in Gift Cards
Other Cash....$15 MIR from Neutrogena
+Up Rewards Earned....$8.00(it spends like a CVS ECB)--they owe me $4 on this!
Additional Rewards....$5.00 Gift Card from Gillette(for survey)

My actual overage is $41.98 after gift cards.
Add in the other $20 cash(MIR and Survey) and I'm up to $61.98 in cash rebates/overage.


Sluggy

JUNE Food Stamp Challenge....Using Coupons with EBT/Snap

This post is part of the June Food Stamp Challenge located over HERE.

One way to make your EBT/SNAP/Food Stamps stretch further is to utilize store and/or manufacturers coupons.  Every dollar you use in coupons is one more dollar that isn't used of your food stamps allotment.
Pretty basic concept,huh?
But I've read where many people who receive governmental food benefits don't realize they can combine their food stamps with coupons.
I am sure as well that there are people who use food stamps who just don't care or want to take the time to clip coupons just like in the non-food stamp using population.
But we need to get the word out to people who just don't know that you CAN use coupons with your food stamp benefits.


If you live in a state that taxes food purchases, if you pay with food stamps, you are not taxed.  For example, if your state taxes food and you buy $50 of groceries and pay with cash or with a debit/credit card, you would be charged $50 + whatever the sales tax rate for your state is on that $50 purchase.
If you buy the same $50 in groceries and pay with EBT/Snap benefits, you would not be charged tax on the purchase.

However, if you use manufacturer's coupons along with your EBT/Snap benefits to pay for your groceries, you will owe CASH on the face value of the coupons at whatever the sales tax rate is for your state.
Store issued coupons on the other hand are NOT taxable.
Both types of coupons are solely an adjustment of the sales price of items and outside of the food stamp sales tax exemption.


Here's an example using my state of PA(sales tax rate of 6%)....
You buy $11 worth of eligible food.
You pay for your $11 of groceries with your EBT/Snap.
You are out of pocket no actual cash and $11 in EBT/Snap benefits for the month.
But--
You buy $11 worth of eligible food, using $1 worth of manufacturer’s discount coupons, and $10 in
food stamps.
Since the sales tax is imposed on the dollar amount of the coupon, the recipient
would pay $10.06 and would therefore have to supplement the $10 in food stamps with 6¢ in cash.
If the $1 coupon is a store issued coupon/discount it's not taxed, and the recipient pays $10.

While the coupons save you some EBT/Snap credit, you do have to pay out actual cash.
If you are in a situation where you can not afford using any of your cash to cover the tax on the coupons, you may not want to use manufacturers coupons.

Personally, I don't quite understand the reasoning of how this works.   You would think the government would encourage people to combine coupon use with EBT/Snap benefits so they could stretch their food credits further or be able to buy a higher quality/price of food.

Dinging someone with such low cash resources who wants to utilize coupons makes little sense to me.  You would think the government would do everything in it's power to encourage thrift among it's recipients!
Perhaps we need to get the rules changed and make manufacturer's coupons exempt from sales tax when used on food stamp eligible purchases.

Sluggy

JUNE Food Stamp Challenge....Day Ten & Eleven

This post is part of the June Food Stamp Challenge located over HERE.

On Day Ten of the June Food Stamp Challenge I was finally able to cook the Turkey.  I had planned on serving Sweet Potatoes with this meal so while #1 son & I were over in the neighboring town I stopped in for some inexpensive taters and to use a coupon on a special on bagged salad at a small market there.

5 x Sweet Potatoes--1.98lbs. @.69lb.=$1.37
3 x FE bagged Salad on sale B1G2=$2.97
3 x Friendly's Ice Cream on sale B1G2=$5.99 **Not Pictured**
SubTotal....$10.33

Coupons Used
1 x FREE Fresh Express Salad(won in giveaway)=$2.97
Coupon Total....$2.97

$10.33-$2.97=$7.36 Out of Pocket
 Regular Retail of Items purchased...$28.31


While the ice cream was not a need(I'm still stocking up on some items) everything else was bought to be used this month during the Challenge.

I served turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes and home-grown beans on Day Ten.
Cost breakdown on the items I already had on hand....turkey(free last fall for buying $x amount during a promotional period), stuffing($2.00), cranberry sauce(.80), beans(free from our garden last summer-the last of them)=$2.80.

Since I had ground beef thawed in the fridge I still needed to make and serve Sloppy Joes this week and I was still out of rolls and bread.  Another bad day for baking on Day Ten so I planned on going to the Entenmman's Outlet in the big city for inexpensive bakery products as usual.

But you know what?.....They don't take EBT at the Bakery Outlet.  So someone on Food Stamps is out of luck procuring day old bread there and I don't feel right while on this Challenge shopping there.
So the Entenmman's Outlet was out.

Luckily, I remembered a Stroehman's affiliated Outlet near the little grocery we shopped at in the neighboring town.  So we checked them out and they DO take EBT....yay!

I found a loaf w/out HFCS for .99 but all the rolls had HFCS in them so I picked the least expensive ones.

1 x Bread=$.99
2 x Rolls(2/$1)=$1.00
Total....$1.99

I am working on tonight's dinner(Day Eleven)now.  We will have the Sloppy Joes and I have made no trip to the grocery store today.  Items used from the stockpile for today's meal amount to $1.00(Sloppy Sauce).

Spending for Day Ten & Eleven...$13.15


Spent to Date....$116.02
June Food Budget Left....$294.70
Days of Challenge Left....19 

Sluggy

JUNE Food Stamp Challenge....Days Eight & Nine

 This post is part of the June Food Stamp Challenge located over HERE.


Again I am having to show ya'll a photo of leftovers.....sigh.....get it together Sluggy for pete's sake!lol

This was dinner on Tuesday...Day Eight.  The only reason we had leftovers is because #2 son had an Orthodontist appointment that afternoon and his teeth didn't feel like eating that evening so he had soup and applesauce instead.

If you guessed that this is Spaghetti and Meatballs you are only partially correct.  It's actually faux meatballs or meatless balls.  They sure look like meatballs and with the sauce on them they sure taste like meatballs(albeit less dense than my homemade meatballs).....but they have no meat.
They do have dairy in them however.....alot of dairy!
(cheese, egg and a dash of milk)
The recipe is posted on my bloggy friend Annie Jones's blog HERE.
I can attest that these are VERY GOOD.  The teens didn't know they were meatless until I told them.  I did double the batch and making my usual sized meatballs, the mixture made 20 meatballs total.  Everyone got a serving of 4 meatless balls with their pasta and sauce.
I think next time I'll tweak this recipe by chopping or grinding up some rolled oats and adding that to the mix as well as coating them with the rolled oats.

Making the traditional Spaghetti and Meatballs sans meat is one way to bring the cost down when you serve this meal.  Meat products are by far as a group the most expensive items in a food budget.  If you are living on Food Stamps you need to be frugal with your purchases if your EBT is going to last the entire month.
The cost of this meal for the ingredients I haven't bought during my June food shopping came to $4.00(counting #2 son's food).
(I served a salad along with the Pasta just so you know we did have veggies too.)

Wednesday's dinner plan was a disaster.
I had planned on serving the Turkey that night....but the Turkey had other plans of it's own.
I still wasn't thawed. ugh
So I went to the next night's plan which was Sloppy Joes and pulled a package of Ground Beef out of the freezer.
And that refused to thaw in time.
Plus I had planned on making rolls today for tomorrow's Sloppy Joes but the rainy humid day was NOT conducive for baking today.

So 2 hours before dinner I pulled out a tupperware container of leftover BBQ Pulled Pork, popped it into a glass bowl and set it on defrost in the microwave since I didn't have much time left.
After 2 rounds of nuking, I discovered that my BBQ Pork was NOT BBQ Pork.....it was leftover homemade Chili!!
Hey, frozen into a solid block they looked the same, ok?lol

So we changed the plan again.  Now we were having chili and burritos with a side of corn.
But I had no burritos.
This meant a quickly thrown together plan for a trip to the grocery store.
There were some things I wanted to pick up at Weis this week on sale that I had coupons for, so that's where I went....

1 x 1/2 Gallon Skim Milk=$1.59--we were almost out of milk
4 x Sargento Shredded Cheese on sale $2=$8.00
2 x Hanover frozen Broccoli on sale $1.69=$3.38
1 x frozen Burritos=$3.99
SubTotal....$16.96

Coupons Used
4 x $.75/1 Sargento Reduced Sodium Cheese ManuQ(doubled to $1)=$4.00
1 x BOGO Hanover Vegetables=$2.19**
1 x $7 OYNO Catalina from last week's shopping=$7.00
Coupon Total....$13.19

**The Veggie coupon when scanned took off the maximum value allowed on the item($2.19) even though the item was only $1.69.  The cashier asked the front end manager if that was ok and he said yes, so I received an extra .50¢ discount on my order I wasn't expecting.

$16.96-$13.19=$3.77 Spent Out of Pocket
A savings of 84% over regular retail.

Other items on hand not bought in June we used on the Burrito Meal came to $.80.
Total of additional spending on food in June for the last 2 days....$8.57

Spent to Date....$102.87
June Food Budget Left....$307.85

Sluggy

Rite-Aid Trip on 6/9/10......Survey Says....

Made a quick trip to Rite-Aid Wednesday looking for a ProGlide Razor with a survey inside.....

2 x Old Spice Red Zone Deodorant on sale $3.50=$7.00
1 x Old Spice Red Zone Spray on sale=$3.50
1 x Lubriderm Lotion $4.29 w/Wellness 20% discount=$3.43
1 x ProGlide Razor on sale=$9.99
SubTotal...$23.92

Coupons Used
1 x $5/$20 Purchase AdPerks/VV IPQ=$5.00
1 x B2 Red Zone Deo./G1 Red Zone Body Spray ManuQ=$3.50
1 x $1/2 Red Zone Old Spice Items ManuQ=$1.00
1 x $2/1 Lubriderm IPQ=$2.00
1 x $3/1 Lubriderm In-Ad Store Q=$3.00
1 x $4/1 ProGlide Razor ManuQ=$4.00
Coupon Total.....$18.50

$23.92-$18.50=$5.42+$.33 tax=$5.75 OOP put on free Rite-Aid Gift Card--ZERO OOP
Value of Items....$31.65
Qualified for SCR#102=$5(Gillette Razor)
Received $4.00 +Up Reward

Since I bought a razor I obviously found one with the Survey inside.  It's a folded up piece of white paper behind the razor.  You can see it from the side of the package.

And here it is unfolded.  The survey takes about 5 minutes and the $5 Gift Card is suppose to arrive in 3-4 weeks.


My Rite-Aid Totals so far this month......
Number of Transactions.....4
Total Spent....$17.35--all put on free Gift Cards so ZERO  OOP
Total Value of Items Purchased....$127.66
SCR qualified for....$22.99 (working on #555 & #101 also for gift cards, not cash)
+Up Rewards Earned....$8.00(it spends like a CVS ECB)
Additional Rewards....$5.00 Gift Card from Gillette
 
Even without the gift cards to put my OOP on, I'd have $5.64 in cash overage, plus $13.00 in merchandise rewards to spend.

I have $18.50 toward the $25 needed for SCR#101 Gift Card and still at $19.51 toward the $50 needed for SCR#555 Gift Card.

Sluggy

Garden June 6th Update.....10 Days

Because of our location, we are not able to have a longer growing season or even garden year round like other parts of the country.  Man, if I lived someplace that was warm year round I'd be a growing fool...instead of just a plain fool!lol

The best way to live frugally foodwise, if you have the climate and a little land is to keep a garden.  I don't care if you think you have a black thumb, anyone can grow something!  I truly believe that.
You may not be P. Allen Smith or the world's most knowledgeable horticulturist but everyone can find something they can grow and eat.

Some seeds are pretty forgiving and fool-proof....just throw em down and even if you ignore them(and the skies provide rain when you forget to water them) and the bugs don't chew their way through everything, you'll end up with something to eat.  Imagine if you make any kind of effort to fend off the bugs, water and nurture these little seeds, what you could accomplish! ;-)

I am a lackluster gardener.  I like to garden but my old decrepit body does not, so I like my gardening simple and I don't put a big effort into it.
We don't have acreage here, we have about 1/3 of an acre lot.  We've got a deck over part of the land, drainage ditches & underground buried power lines in other parts of the land and an above ground pool taking up more valuable real estate.  Take away the areas with large shade trees and there isn't much ground for gardening but we use what we have.

Seriously, if you don't garden but you have a little plot of land or even a pot of soil, get a packet of seeds and try growing something this summer. ;-)


Here are some piccies I snapped last weekend(June 6th) of the garden.  10 days out so it's still early here and not much to see....lol
The butternut, peppers and marigolds in the front....still no sign from the sunflower seeds.

Here's the side bed on June 6th....

Peppers doing ok.  The tomato plants have blooms already!   Here's what the tomoatoes looked like on May 26th....

You can tell by comparison the pepper plants have done squat.....lol

More tomatoes and marigolds.  This end of the bed has worse soil and less sun.  I've manured and I'll give them 'fish tea' so we'll see how they do...
DH sewed zuke, squash and bush bean seeds in the middle 3rd of this bed Sunday so nothing to see there yet.

Now to the back bed.....

Tomatoes grew some....

And the Cauliflower on the right has started growing.  DH planted the eggplant on the right in the photo and they are holding their own.  Here's what the cauliflower looked like on May 26th...

Marked improvement with the cauliflower.

And I'm glad to see that the salad greens #1 son and I sewed are starting to pop up!  It was only a matter of 4 days or so for them to germinate and break the surface.....we'll have salad in a few weeks...yay!!

Here's what our salad greens part of the bed looked like last summer at it's peak in mid-July....the greens sort of took over due to the wet and cool summer we had last year and just wouldn't die!lol

Last but not least, here is a planter with some leftovers that didn't fit into the beds(peppers, a butternut and a yellow squash?).  Not much growth yet but they aren't dead so I am happy with that.lol

Looks like it's time to get the fencing up though.  Our resident rabbit(who lives under the shed)has been eye-ing the plants..... 8-(

Sluggy

Sunday & Tuesday at Rite-Aid.....Building my Rebate Totals

Well I screwed this trip up!lol

I went Sunday because I knew the Pampers wipes would be GONE very quickly due to the $2/1 Q in the inserts that day plus I wanted to pick up a couple of extra papers so why not buy enough to use a $5/$20 Q on my order and that papers would help me get to $20.  I was hopefully that I'd get there early enough to find some Blink Drops still on the shelf(to get the full price SCRebate).
I also wanted to use a BOGO Old Spice Q from the last P&G insert, since the Old Spice and Gillette Qs in that one don't expire until 6/30 and Old Spice products are on sale this week at Rite-Aid.
What I wanted to do was get some Old Spice Body Wash that was on sale along with the Deodorants for 2 for $7.00.  These qualify for the $4 UP+ reward(it prints on your receipt and is like a CVS Extra Care Buck) and I "thought" both the Wash and Deodorant would qualify for SCR #101(Spend $25 on P&G/Get $5 Gift Card).
Let's see the trip first and then I'll finish the story, shall we?

3x Pampers Wipes on sale $2.49=$7.47
2 x Newspapers $1.50 w/Wellness 20% discount $1.20=$2.40     *Not Pictured*
2 x Old Spice Body Wash on sale $3.50=$7.00
1 x Aveeno Lotion $3.69--w/Wellness 20% discount=$2.95
SubTotal....$19.82***

Coupons Used
1 x $5/$20 Rite-Aid AdPerks/VV IPQ=$5.00
3 x $2/1 Pampers Wipes ManuQ=$6.00
1 x BOGO Old Spice Red Zone Body Wash or Deo ManuQ=$3.50
1 x $3/1 Aveeno Lotion RA In-Ad Q=$3.00
Coupon Total.....$17.50

$19.82-$17.50=$2.32 OOP put on Free Rite-Aid Gift Card so ZERO Out of Pocket in the end
And I received a $4 +Up Reward(for the Old Spice)
The $2.95 Aveeno purchase counts toward my $50 needed for SCR#555(total so far is $19.51/$50.00).

First off they were out of Blink, so I DID need those newspapers to get to a $20 purchase.  YET....I didn't think I'd get the 20% discount off the papers, nor did I plan for that.....thus I was short at the register.  Neither the cashier or myself noticed the shortfall and he took the $5/$20 Q anyway.  You KNOW I would have grabbed something small to get over the $20 mark if I had been aware that was happening at that time. ;-)
My other goof-up I didn't notice until Tuesday when I was working up my next trip and going through the coupons here.  That's also when I noticed that the Body Wash doesn't qualify for the SCR#101(P&G products), just the Old Spice Deodorants do!
Ugh!!
The Old Spice BOGO Q I had used on Sunday was NOT BOGO Red Zone Body Wash or Deodorant.  Nope....if you actually READ IT, it says Buy any TWO Body Wash or RED ZONE Deodorant Get ONE BODY SPRAY FREE.
So....you have to buy THREE items and you get the 3rd Free.  I only bought TWO and neither of them were a Body Spray.
Ugh!!
The thing is.....the coupon went through(otherwise the cashier and I would have noticed the problem then)....it didn't come up "item not found" or whatever the register displays when you try to use a coupon and don't buy the right item.  They were the right type/brand of product(Red Zone)and the register took the coupon when I bought 2 items & not 3.
Oh well.....

So after realizing what I actually have to buy to use the Old Spice Qs, I went back to Rite-Aid on Tuesday....

2 x Old Spice FRESH COLLECTION Deodorant on sale $4=$8.00
1 x Blink Tears on sale=$7.99  Yay!...they restocked!!
1 x Reach 2 pack of Toothbrushes on sale=$3.99
1 x Rembrandt Toothpaste $8.29! w/Wellness 20% discount=$6.63
SubTotal....$26.61

Coupons Used
1 x $5/$20 Rite-Aid AdPerks/VV IPQ=$5.00
1 x BOGO Old Spice Fresh Coll. Deodorant ManuQ=$4.00  Yes, I READ this one!lol
1 x $1/2 any Old Spice Product ManuQ=$1.00
1 x $2/1 Blink Tears IPQ=$2.00
1 x $1/1 2pack Reach Toothbrush ManuQ=$1.00
1 x $3/1 Rembrandt Product ManuQ=$3.00
1 x $3/1 Rembrandt Product AdPerk/VV IPQ=$3.00
1 x $1/$10 Oral Care Purchase Wellness IPQ=$1.00
Coupon Total....$20.00

$26.61-$20.00=$6.61 OOP put on free Rite-Aid Gift Card so ZERO Out of Pocket
Qualified for SCR #81(2 Old Spice Fresh Collection Deos)$2 & #89(1 Reach 2pack Toothbrushes)$3 & #1(Blink Tears )$7.99=$12.99

While the Old Spice Fresh Collection Deodorants qualify for SCR #81 AND they should qualify for #101(spend $25 on P&G includes Old Spice Deos.), they do NOT give you the $4 +Up Reward....just the Red Zone in the Deos. give you that.(The Red Zones DO qualify for SCR#101, but do NOT qualify for SCR#81.)
Are you confused yet?lol

I want to finish off my SCR#555(Skin Care-Buy $50/Get $25 Gift Card) by buying a pricey Neutrogena Clinical item.  It's $39.99(IF I can find a store that has it!lol)and with the 20% Wellness Disc. my price will be $31.99, which is enough to get me over $50 in purchases.  I have $16 in Qs to use toward that $31.99($5 in-Ad Q, $5 off on $20 purchase AdPerks/VV Q, $5/1 Neutrogena Clinical IPQ & $1/$10 Skin Care Wellness IPQ=$16). 
So my $31.99 purchase will be $15.99.  To bring it down further I have the $4 +Up Reward to use as well, making the total spent $11.99.
And there is a Mail-In Rebate on the Neutrogena Clinical for $15.00 making this purchase FREE(with $3.01 in overage) after rebate plus I get the $25 Gift Card from Rite-Aid.
Nice!

The Rembrandt is a good deal as well all this month IF you qualify for a Wellness discount.  There is a AdPerks/VV Q for $3/1 Rembrandt you can pair with either the old ManuQ still valid out there(use by 6/30/10) for $3/1 OR the $3/1 Rembrandt IPQ from the Rembrandt website.  With no Wellness discount, on the toothpaste you'll pay $2.29(at my store's price anyway), with a 10% discount you'll pay $1.46 but with the 20% discount you'll only pay $.63!  If you buy 2 in the same transaction be sure to use the $1/$10 Oral Care Wellness IPQ for another dollar off.  Buy 2 with the 5 Qs you can use(2 x AdPerks/2 x Manu or IPQ/1 x Wellness IPQ=$13 off)and with the 20% discount level you'll pay .26¢ for TWO TUBES! (2 x $6.63=$13.26-$13 in Qs=$.26)


My Rite-Aid Totals so far this month......
Number of Transactions.....3
Total Spent....$11.60--all put on free Gift Cards so ZERO  OOP
Total Value of Items Purchased....$96.01
SCR qualified for....$17.99 (working on #555 & #101 also for gift cards, not cash)

Even without my gift cards to pay, I have $6.39 in overage so far this month.


Sluggy

JUNE Food Stamp Challenge....Day Six & Seven

This post is part of the June Food Stamp Challenge over HERE.

I had wanted to show a photo of our yummy meals the last two days but with the general craziness here I haven't gotten a photo taken before we ate so you get to look at the yummy leftovers.

Day Six on Sunday I took 3 bags of Noodles in Alfredo/Broccoli Sauce from the stockpile and used that as the base for dinner.  I added leftover from last week 2 pan sauteed in EVOO chicken breasts, cut up, as well as that package of precooked chicken I bought at Weis on Saturday....together it was about 1lb. of chicken.  Then I added a whole 1lb. bag of mixed veggies from the freezer.  We served this casserole-y dish with leftover salad from Friday.  We have 1 helping left from this meal.  We even had an extra mouth to feed that meal(a teen friend of one of our teens-who ate 2 helpings!) so this 1lb. of chicken sure stretched a long way.
**The cost of the items from the stockpile--3 bags of noodle side dish & frozen vegetables--was $1.75.

Then on Day Seven(Monday)I made Beef Stew in the crockpot.  I had a veggie stock in the freezer which was free from a pan of roasted veggies last fall & the leftover London Broil pieces.  I put in onions & carrots(had those), 4 potatoes(had to buy Monday morning)and added a can of green beans at the end.  Served this with whack crescent rolls, also already here in the fridge.  There are 2 large helpings of Stew left(no rolls however).

My grocery purchase for this meal was $1.99 for the bag of potatoes.
**The cost of the items I had already--carrots, onions, green beans, rolls--was $2.65.

"Spending" for the last 2 Days....$1.75+$1.99+$2.65=$6.39.

Spent to Date....$94.30
June Food Budget Left....$316.42

Sluggy

Rite-Aid Trip on 6/5/10.....Nothing Spent, $5 Rebate Gained

Did a quick trip to Rite-Aid on Saturday......

2 x Nivea for Men Body Wash $5.99 w/Wellness 20% Discount $4.79=$9.58
2 x Nivea for Men Face Wash $6.49 on sale $3.49=$6.98
2 x Sure Deodorant BOGO sale=$3.29
1 x Butterfinger Candy Bar $.88 w/Wellness 20% Discount=$.70
SubTotal....$20.55

Coupons Used
1 x $5/$20 Purchase AdPerks VV IPQ=$5.00
2 x $3/1 Nivea for Men Body Wash ManuQ=$6.00
2 x $2/1 Nivea for Men Face Product ManuQ=$4.00
2 x $1/1 Sure Deodorant ManuQ(home mailer)=$2.00
1 x FREE Item Butterfinger(up to .89¢) home mailer from Facebook=$.88**
Coupon Total....$17.88

$20.55-$17.88=$2.67 +.18¢ tax=$2.85 Out of Pocket--put on Free Gift Card so ZERO OOP
SCR qualified for this purchase....$5 for $15 Nivea purchase(#100)

**The cashier rang up the Free Item Candy bar for the regular price of .88, even though I paid .70 with my wellness discount so I got an extra .18 off my order.

The Nivea purchase also qualifies for SCR #555(Skin & Sun Rebate-Spend $25/Get $10 Gift Card or Spend $50/Get $25 Gift Card).  I just need another $8.44 for the $25 GC or $33.44 for the $50 GC.

Sluggy