Week #1 Decluttering & Low Spend Challenges Done with Photos

First the Low Spend Challenge.
Week #1 I spent only on food.....$91.17 through today, Tuesday.
We had take-out once....Subway sammies on Sunday.

Because my mini vacuum broke while cleaning my room as part of the Decluttering Challenge we went out to window shop for a new one on Monday.
I thought I'd blow Low-Spend next week because of having to buy a new vacuum. 8-(

But before I had Hubs take the old one out to the trash can last night I told him to plug it in and give it a try One. More. Time.
And it WORKED!lol  A miraculous healing.  Am I the Ernest Angley of the Vacuum Cleaner World?

Oreck Pro Mini Vac.....you are HEALED!!!
Praise the gods of suck......

Or I am now the Vacuum Whisperer.....

Think like a vacuum.  Understand the signals your vacuum is sending out.  Speak the vacuum's non-verbal  language.  Use your body to show dominance over your vacuum.  Be the leader of your vacuum pack.

Whatever!
At least now I don't have to shell out major $$$s to replace my "precious" mini vac.

Onward to the Decluttering Challenge Results.
I'm reposting the BEFORE photos along with the AFTER photos.
And away we go.....


Shot 1 BEFORE

 Shot 1 AFTER

Things have been moved and the sewing projects thrown in the corner between the sewing machines have been purges and what is left has been folded and put into the blue tub of projects.  The current projects are on the back of my sewing chair.  The box under the ironing board will stay there, as it has a twofold purpose.....holding gifts/Xmas presents and it keeps whatever I am ironing/working on from dragging on the floor.

Shot 2 BEFORE

 Shot 2 AFTER

You will notice the cedar chest is CLEARED OFF...yay!  I also weeded through the sewing projects(in the blue tub)and said tub is tucked at the foot of the bed now.  The 12-packs of soda will leave as soon as #2 son comes home and can move them for me to the garage(except for the 2 I will hide in the closet).  My rocking chair aka Hubs clothes rack is HUB'S to deal with, not mine. lol  And I made my bed.....!


Shot 3 BEFORE

 Shot 3 AFTER

My dresser and nightstand are cleaned off and items put away in the correct places.  Papers and photos are filed away.  I can actually get into those little drawers on top without an avalanche of stuff falling on the floor. lol

Shot 4 BEFORE

 Shot 4 AFTER

  The boxes against the wall are sewing notions, patterns.  There is a box of dolls I have kept from my youth that are important to me.  There is a Yellow Submarine Lava Lamp.  I am still undecided on what to do with it.  On top of the white drawers is my stack of uncut fabric for projects.  I've draped a Spongebob towel over the lot to keep what is under it from getting dusty.  This way the fabric doesn't get dusty and I can shake out or wash the towel on a regular basis.

Shot 5 BEFORE

 Shot 5 AFTER

 My challenge here was not about getting rid of clothing, since I do that twice a year when I change out clothes for the seasons.  I got everything off the floor so you can walk around in there without tripping.  I also straightened the shelves and organized it a bit.  I ran out of time to take it all down and reorganize but things are with "like things" now and easier to find.


 And here is everything that left the room.....

The Holiday decorations that never got put away.

Bags of Rite-Aid pillaged booty that were hiding in my cedar chest, can now be put away with all my excess toiletries in the "toiletries dresser" in Daughter's old room.

Box full of children's keepsakes can be put into their respective boxes for each child, which are stored in closet in Daughter's old room.

Books I've read can be put away on bookshelf elsewhere in house(2 of them)or given away(1 of them).

Food and other things that need to live in the kitchen.

More foodstuffs for kitchen pantry or stockpile in garage.

 2 large plastic zippered cases(from comforter purchases).  To be repurposed to hold out of season bedding or thrown away.

 A bag of new/unused cosmetics I am not going to use to put with the toiletries stash or with Giveaway loot.

3 bags of items to take to Salvation Army or give away or sell.

 Bags of trash.  There was another full bag that Hubs put out last night for pick-up before I took these shots.

 Empty shopping bags for the bag stash in the garage for reuse.

 A box of beanie babies to sell or donate.

A stack of 2 year old magazines.  I'll skim them for recipes and then out in the garbage they go too!

The box lid and box on the bottom are sell or donate items.  The white box is old letters I need to go through and sort.  I'm hoping to get that pile condensed and filed away with my other old letters.

So I have many items leaving the house from that room.  Hubs just got home and came downstairs after changing his work clothes and remarked on how empty the bedroom is.  8-))
I still need to get in there and use the mini vac some more.

As for the small mini-challenge of a food bank donation......
I like to make large food bank donations so instead I made up a small bag of items for my BIL-who lives on the edge of "having enough" in this world.  It's some food items, paper goods and toiletries I pulled from my stockpile for him.

3 tubes of toothpaste
2 bottles of shampoo
2 packs of tp
2 boxes of spaghetti
1 big bottle of ketchup
1 packet of taco seasoning

Not much actual food because they don't eat a wide variety of foods.  None of the canned veggies or rice or dried beans or flour or stock or marinades or peanut butter or canned tomatoes or spices I have are things they will eat.  They only eat convenience foods or raw foods as they don't "cook".

So that's the Results of my Week of Challenges.

How did everyone else do?

Sluggy

February Food Spending Week 1, Meal Plan February Week 2

*I am taking part in Precious' MONEY SAVING CHALLENGE again for 2012.  You can find her blog FRUGAL MAKES CENTS and a list of other participants and their blogs  HERE.

Check it out.  You might find some new ideas for incorporating frugality into your life there!*


I love searching around for old photos and advertisements featuring kitchens from years gone by.  These are mostly the kitchens from my youth in the 1960's or earlier. 

This week I have NO vintage Kitchen pictures.  Working on my Decluttering project has left me no time to search around the Interweb for more kitchen fodder for these posts.

Oh well.  Maybe next week.

Enough of that, onward to the Meals and Food Spending. 8-)


Last week's meal plan is in the books.  Here is what actually happened....

SUNDAY--Italian Sausage Sandwiches, Cauliflower

MONDAY--Taco Bell(I'm having leftover Chicken & Dumplings)

TUESDAY--Homemade Pizza, Salad w/Fruit

WEDNESDAY--Tacos, Corn

THURSDAY--Tilapia, Sweet Potato fries, Brussel Sprouts

FRIDAY--Leftovers or Burritos
SATURDAY--Homemade Pizza(Hubs out of town)

Pretty much had what was planned, except the Lasagna, which moves to this week.  I had Hubs pick up 6 fresh pizza dough blobs at Price Chopper(as it was Buy 1/Get 2 free)and we used 3 over the course of the week and put 3 in the freezer for later.  The local grocer has Fresh Express Salad Kits for $1.99 ea. last week.  I bought 8.  I had 1 for lunch every other day.  I rather enjoy them, plus it's a healthier option for me for lunch and at $2 a pop, a good deal, so I pick those up when they are that low.

I also had a chicken breast(leftover from when I made Chicken & Dumplings)still, so I bought some grapes last week and made chicken salad.  I got 4 sandwiches from that(3 lunches for me and Hubs took a sammie to work one day).

For the week's menu I picked up salad greens and salad kits, grapes, pizza dough and milk.  As for other shopping...

*I hit the bread store, as we hadn't been since December and were out of everything bread related.

*I hit the local grocery for lots of salad greens and frozen veggies early in the week and then on Sat. for more greens(for This week) as well as a slew of Mexican type items like tortillas, taco shells and enchilada sauce, canned chili(for the menfolk to have with their burritos), whack biscuits, celery, sliced deli cheese and sour cream.

The weekly spending was $84.37(including the Rite-Aid OOP).  Pretty high week for me, huh?

1 Week in and I've spent $84.37 of my $300 February food budget.  $215.63 left for the month plus $92.32 leftover from January that didn't get spent.

Going into February Week 2, we have a little homemade pizza leftover but that's it.  All the other leftovers got eaten for lunches last weekend or on Leftover Night.

This week's menu.....

SUNDAY--Subway Sandwiches(Hubs Super Bowl request)

MONDAY--leftover pizza or grilled cheese and soup

TUESDAY--Lasagna(with some shredded veg), Tossed Salad

WEDNESDAY--homemade Boston Baked Beans, Cornbread, Green Beans

THURSDAY--Enchiladas, Mexican Rice w/peppers

FRIDAY--Hot Dogs on rolls, Potato Salad, Carrots and Cauliflower
SATURDAY--Leftovers

This menu gives us I night of take-out, 2 night of leftovers and 4 home cooked meals this week, of which 2 are meatless.....well the beans are meatless except for the bacon in the dish.lol

Items needed for this menu are...maybe a red bell pepper as I haven't check if I have any left in the freezer yet.

I have spent $6.80 on Sunday already.  I also plan on buying on sale this week....corned beef hash(#2 son's request), apple juice, a bag of oranges and croutons(I have Qs for them).  If I get up to Price Chopper this week, I'll be doing the Full Circle Catalina Deal.  Plus milk as #2 son sucks it down during the course of the week.  I'm figuring on $40 or so for this week's goodies including what I've spent already this week.

So what is everyone else eating this week?  

Sluggy

Working on Week #1 Decluttering Challenge is Nostalgic & Costly

I spent a good piece of the weekend(when I wasn't at Rite-Aid or the local grocery store)working on decluttering  my "Personal Space" for Carla's Challenge.

At some point on Sunday I found these among the piles of stuff in my bedroom.......ok, not the actual teenager but what he is holding.....

It's a pair of Osh Kosh overalls he use to fit into.
Pictoral proof that yes, he has grown a wee bit since he was born almost 16 years ago...birthday coming later this month.

And after moving many boxes and bags of stuff around and/or out of the room, this gave up the ghost.....

That's my beloved Oreck mini vacuum.  With all the hardwood floors in the house now, I can't imagine living here without one of these to get all the crud/dog hair/crap that piles up in the corners/crevices/edges of the floor.
We just wore the poor thing out so now I have to replace it.
Anybody have any recommendations on what they use/like for sucking edge cleaning?

This is one of the few times when I want an appliance that really SUCKS, if you know what I mean.lol

Doing my whole bedroom is looking like I bit off more than I can chew within 1 week at this point.
It's kicking my butt......

Sluggy

Saturday Shopping...Junk AND Real Food

Yes, sit down for this.....I actually spent actual money at Rite-Aid on Saturday!
I went in to use my expiring $6 in +Ups and then a new cashier happened to me.
I wanted to do the double dip--the Buy $15 in Game Day Snacks/Get $5 in +Ups and the Pepsi/7-Up soda deal(Buy 3 12-packs for $9.99/Get $2 in +Ups)that also qualifies toward the $15 purchase.
3 12-packs of soda, 2 bags of chips and a can of "Pringles wannabe chip like substance" gets my total to $15.28.
Sadly, no coupons were used as there are none for these items currently available.

I used my expiring $6 +Ups, so my total was then $9.28.....but new cashier said my total was $12.28.
I was fiddling with the stash of +Ups to dig out enough to pay so I didn't catch that he either didn't scan one of the $3 +Ups I had already given him OR the register scanned both but didn't subtract one of the $3 +Ups.  I used more +Ups to pay and put the .28¢ on my gift card.

After I got to the car I saw that only 6 of the 7 +Ups I gave him showed on my receipt so it was back into the store.  The only solution we(cashier, me and manager)could come up with was for me to spend $3 more(since we couldn't know which $3 +Ups scanned and which didn't and if I just took one of them back it could be the "dead" one and when I went to use it next time, it wouldn't work).
So even though I didn't plan on it, I did the Game Day Snack deal AGAIN......
This time I subbed a box of Cheez-its(I had originally planned to buy those but the store had hidden them in a different part of the store and I didn't see them until I went back into the store)for the "Pringles wannabes", so it was 3 12-packs, 2 bags of chips and a box of Cheez-its.
I rolled the $7 in +Ups I had just gotten, used the $3 +Ups plus another $1 +Up.  My only +Ups left is a $20 one from the Resolution Reward, too large to use, so I paid $4.77 OOP.  I could have put this on my gift card, but I chose not to.
Though I hated actually spending money at Rite-Aid, 6 12-packs(for #2 son, the soda addict), 4 bags of chips, a container of chip like substance and a box of Cheez-Its, all for less than $5 isn't bad.

Oh, and the BEST THING about these purchases?
Rite-Aid turned on the tracking/qualifying for the new Winter Resolution +Up Reward Deal early and everything qualified toward the Deal, which starts 2/5.  I have $31 toward the $100 in purchases I need.


Then it was over to the small independent grocer for REAL FOOD.lol

I dropped $48.69 there.

1 bunch celery on sale=$.99
6 bags of salad greens at $1.99 ea.=$11.94
3 bags of flour tortillas at $1.66 ea.(have to buy 3 to get price)=$5.00
4 cans of enchilada sauce at $1.00 ea.=$4.00
5 cans of chili at $1.00 ea.(have to buy 5 to get price)=$5.00
2 boxes taco shells at $1.25 ea.=$2.50
2 packs of pepperoni at $2.99=$5.98
2 packs of rolls at BOGO=$3.18
1+ lb. Cooper cheese at deli on sale $5.49lb.=$5.60
1 container sour cream on sale=$1.50
3 whack biscuit rolls at $1.50=$4.50
1 gallon milk=$3.50
SubTotal....$53.69

Coupons Used(They don't take IPQs so everything is a ManuQ here.)
2 x .50/1 Chi Chi's tortillas(doubled)=$2.00
1 x $1/2 Hormel pepperoni=$1.00
1 x $1/3 Grands biscuits=$1.00
1 x $1/1lb. Cooper deli cheese=$1.00(the deli girl gave me this vendor Q)
Coupon Total....$5.00

$53.69-$5.00=$48.69 OOP

Regular retail was $85.10
Savings rate of 42.79%.

Total spending for February to this point is $53.46.

Sluggy

If You Are Looking for Judy......

Go HERE.
She is back but with a new Blog Title "Finally Frugal and Happy" and URL.

Go welcome her back!

Just Something Fun on Friday

I am dedicating this to my bloggy friend SonyaAnn.  Her Fab Abs Friday is getting her down lately so I am upping things a notch!  I know she'll be dancing around and singing along with this video.

It's just something fun and funny to kicked off the weekend.  Get it?...."kick".....Super Bowl....lol

If you are easily offended by sex stuff, don't click on the video.
You have been warned.....

Hopefully I don't lose any new followers because of this, but c'mon!....it's funny!lol

Sluggy

"My Personal Space" Decluttering Challenge....The BEFORE

I'm taking part in Carla's February Challenges which you can find HERE.

Week 1 in the Decluttering Challenge is about cleaning up a "Personal Space".
I chose my Bedroom as that space.
Though it grieves me to do this, here are the BEFORE Photos I snapped.
It is NOT pretty, so don't view them on an empty stomach......

Here's from the right at the door.  This is my sewing area with my machines and ironing board.  Hubs dresser is on the right of the shot.  You can see a hint of all the crap on his dresser.  Next to the overlock machine is a tub of sewing projects, an air cleaner and a humidifier on the floor along with a bolt of fabric.  You can't see the large box of merchandise under the ironing board or the child's rocking chair and sewing projects piled onto it in the corner of the room, behind the sewing machine....

Here's from the right at the door looking further toward the back of the room.  My rocking chair which Hubs has filled with clothes at all times! Argh  Notice the romantic ambience of the 12 packs of soda(keeping them in here so they are out of the reach of #2 son).lol  The pile of stuff at the foot of the bed is hiding a cedar chest/bench.
And no, I didn't even make the bed!

Here's moving left over on the other side of the bed on the back wall of the room.  That's my nightstand, my dresser on the left(piled with crap).  I have a set of plastic storage bins that are all nice and organized, holding important photos and papers and stuff but piled onto and next to them are fabric lengths, plunder from Rite-Aid that never got put "away", a box of beanie babies and stacks of Christmas stuff and extra gifts that didn't get "given" this past Holiday.  Doesn't everyone's nightstand hold a rack of sewing patterns, an Alice Cooper car toy, a stack of books, extra Christmas cards, an extra wallet, a very tall lamp and nose spray?

And here's the same shot but standing back to the door....
You can see all the crap on my dresser clearly now!  A craftsman vase we bought 20 years ago at an art festival which is jammed full of plastic shopping bags(mostly from Rite-Aid), packages of unopened cosmetics and lip gloss(more Rite-Aid plunder), fabric scraps from 2 different sewing projects(1 I finished 2 years ago, 1 still undone), a bag of combs, a Pfaltzgraf serving bowl I won at a Chinese Auction about 10 years ago(it was previously in the hall linen closet and got moved when I cleaned that out the end of last year), 2 bamboo cutting boards(Hubs and I bought 2+ years ago for Xmas presents when we were in Rehobeth DE on one of our mini vacations, but we haven't figured out WHO to give them to!lol), my jewelry boxes, a Tom Clark gnome that was my brother's but it was dropped and the head came off so it needs to be repaired,  a set of Presidential Election Pins(from 1996)from the Hard Rock Cafe in Philly, 2 Fenton bowls I call "crap catchers" because anything bowl shaped around here ends up with crap tossed into it, a Brita pitcher still in the shopping bag sitting randomly on the floor, papers that need to be filed in the other room.......and on and on.

That was sort of a 360 view thing if you missed it. ;-)

And here is the closet.....

The clothes(to either side) in here are fairly organized and purged already.  The shelving unit in the center(on the back wall of the closet)needs some work.  It holds all my family's photo albums plus all the scrapbook type photo albums I inherited from my mother(I am the family records keeper it seems.). My gift stash was/is also on the shelves, as are my tubs of sewing supplies(threads, buttons, notions).  I need to rework this space....

You may have noticed I don't have things hanging on my walls and bunches of tchotchkes(knickknacks, geegaws, etc.) sitting around to decorate.
I used to but not since I developed some bad allergies which left me with sinus infections that necessitated seeing an ENT doctor for my sinus problems after #2 son was born.
He convinced me that the best way to conquer the problem was to remove allergen holding items from the bedroom, as this is the easiest room to control and the one place where you spent the most time per day/night.
So carpeting was banned(well, I do have a small rug under the rocker now so the bamboo floor doesn't get ruined), curtains also(I do have a valance now) and bedding is enclosed in allergen barrier cases.  Blinds are easier to keep allergen-free because you just have to wipe them down.  We also run a cool mist humidifier which not only helps with the dryness in Winter when the heat is on, but also knocks down any dust floating around the room so it's less likely to be inhaled. We also have an air cleaner.  I don't decorate since pictures needs to be dusted and is just more places dust can hide/cling.  We did have a set of original artwork on the walls but after we painted, they don't go with the new room color.  I may end up putting something on the walls again, but it will have to be cleaned every week. 
Or maybe I won't since I'm too lazy to keep after the dust like I'd have to. ;-)
These steps can't make your bedroom allergen-free but it sure helps. 

So having piles of clothes, fabric and general crap laying around the room is NOT good for my health!  I really need to get this room ship-shape again.
Bring on the challenge!!

I'll be back early next week with photos of the result.
Stay tuned......

Sluggy

$20K Savings Challenge.....JANUARY Results for 2012

Ok, here is my first Savings Challenge Update post for 2012.
This post is NOT about bragging or showing off.  It's just what we are able to save given our income and being able to hang tough against so much spending.

Just to update, My Savings Goal for the Year in 2012 is $20,000.  It's well below what I've saved in previous years I know.  But we also have a goal this year of paying for 4 home improvement projects at Chez Sluggy this year.  We plan on cash-flowing these projects with the additional money we save.

On to the January report.....

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

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

I have to report that we finished up January in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of January with?.......$1,104.76!

Income
We had $1,095.76 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
Add in $9.00 in Rebates applied against the food expenses & you get a total of $1104.76.

Outgo
As for the expenses in December......

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  While the electric bill was high(as our heat is electric and it IS Winter!), the mild temperatures in Dec./Jan. kept our bill lower than previous year's bills.  The Dec. bill was about $100 LOWER than the Nov. bill!  The electric bill was also $100+ lower than LAST January's bill!

*  The cash withdrawals were relatively low and I way underspent on the food budget in January.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  We had an unexpected $707.75 car repair bill for Hubs commuting car.

*  The credit card bill was still a bit high.  With retrieving kids from college(and I back again), there was more gasoline bought on the c/c in Dec.   Seeing as Christmas happens that month also, I don't think it was "that" bad a bill though.  ;-)

*  There was an unexpected doctor bill from this past summer.  One of the kids had to see a doctor while working at the summer camp and our medical plan refused to pay their part.  So we had to break down and cover an additional $111 in medical bills.

*  I had a Kohl's bill this month due to buying clothing & bedding for the kids in December.

The Food Budget costs for January are in another post, which is located HERE.  I underspent my food budget by about $100, as we were sick(and didn't eat)and we ate down supplies from the freezer/stockpile last month.

YEAR-TO-DATE GRAND TOTAL.....
With 1 month behind us, our Savings Grand Total for 2012 is $1,104.76.

We missed our monthly goal by $561.91 in January.

Adding that amount to next month makes our February goal $2,228.58.  I don't foresee saving that much this month, so we'll save what we can and see where we stand at the end of February, and go from there.

So how much did YOU save in January?  Did you spent all your income or did you put something aside?

Do you have an emergency fund of 6-8 months worth of expenses?
Do you have debt?

Start living below your means NOW and put some money away for emergencies and/or start paying down your debt.
And once you get debt-free, continue to throw that debt repayment money into savings.  You won't believe how fast you can accumulate wealth once you have no debt!

It is NEVER too early or too late to SAVE SOMETHING.
And the amount you save is NEVER too small!
Anything you can spare will go a long way to make you more financially secure in this crazy unstable world we live in.

So come along and Challenge Yourself to Save Money each Month Toward a Realistic for YOU Savings Goal or Debt Goal!

Not everyone can shoot for $20K, I fully get that!
But everyone can shoot for some number, right!?

Find a money goal that works for you and put that number out there for everyone to see.  Put it into paying down your debt, put it into savings, invest it or put it toward the principle in your home mortgage....just get busy and do this!

It will help keep you accountable to your goal if other eyes are on you.
Put it out there online and let us all stalk your money too. ;-)

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

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

Sluggy

Art or Fashion? Edward Scissorhands Meets the Country Club

I wanted to share something with you all today.

Now I have an art background.
And I have a rollicking sense of humor....or at least, I've been told I do. ;-)
But this made even me say WTF?!?

Here is a video of a recent Fashion Show by a well known American Designer.
This is his Fall 2012 Menswear Collection.

I want you to watch this, watch it CLOSELY and then tell me if this is big elaborate and very expensive joke or does he consider this a serious collection that buyers will want to purchase for their stores?

Or is what he is doing art with little regard for the profitability of his line of clothing?
And if you are a guy.....tell me if there is anything you see here that you would buy(if money was no object)and you would subsequently wear?

I'd like to hear your impressions or thoughts on this video as well.

 You can also go HERE for a slideshow and/or collection of photos of the fashion show.

Sluggy

We May Be Poor, But We Are Happy was hacked!!

Judy wanted me to post that her blog got hacked into today.  She says she'll be up and run as soon as she get things fixed.  Right now if you go to her blog, it's showing no blog exists by that name/url.

I'm sure everyone joins me in saying Good Luck Judy!

Sluggy

**UPDATE**
Judy has a new blog!  
You can find it over HERE.

January 2012 Budget Results.......Food and Toiletries Spending

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for JANUARY 2012.

I have posted January's totals on the right side bar under Total Grocery Savings for 2012 and updated the Yearly Totals.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in January.  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 5(3-4 at home this month)& 2 dogs. No kids under 15.
******************

BIG LOTS
OOP  $22.67

Value  $42.91

Savings  47.17%

CVS

OOP  $19.15

Qs/Ads  $77.74

Value  $96.89

Savings   80.24%  *Not counting the $11.77 in CVS gift cards I have left.

OLLIE'S

OOP  $43.01

Value  $71.08

Savings  39.50%

PRICE CHOPPER

OOP  $2.89

Qs/Ads  $0

Value  $2.80

Savings  0%

RITE-AID DRUG STORE
OOP  $10.58(put on my free Rite-Aid gift card), so ZERO cash spent
Qs/Ads/+Ups  $431.88

Value  $442.46

Savings  97.60% before gift cards OR 100% after gift cards

SAVE-A-LOT

OOP  $55.40

Value  $75.86

Savings   27% *And that's basically all on meats.

SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP  $43.85

Qs/Ads  $19.14

Value  $62.99

Savings  30.39%

WEIS (local chain Grocery store in my town/doubles up to $1 total)
OOP  $20.71

Qs/Ads  $3.28

Value  $23.99

Savings  13.68% 

I don't track Rite-Aid's +Ups here, nor CVS's ECBs & Walgreen's RRs. They will be included when used on purchases under "Coupons".   I'll keep track of what rebates are received monthly.  Rebate money/gift cards will be considered 'income' & will go into the Food/Toiletries budget, offsetting the Out of Pocket. Cash will go immediately into the Budget kitty, while Gift Cards will be calculated in when spent.

REBATE CHECKS RECEIVED IN JANUARY
Pinecone...$9.00
Subtotal........$9.00

GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES
Nothing

TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received...$9.00

COUPONS and FREEBIES

Progresso.....free can of soup

Pinecone....product to test

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, CVS at 80.24% and Big Lots at 47.17%.

Hmmm, not a single grocery store in the lot. lol
I shopped at 8 different stores in January.


TOTAL Out of Pocket........$207.68

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$611.39

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$819.07

TOTAL Savings of...................................74.64%


TOTAL of CASH Rebates........................$9.00
TOTAL Out of Pocket After Rebates........$198.68
TOTAL Savings including Rebates...........$615.72
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$819.07
TOTAL Savings After Rebates...................75.74%

This closes out the January spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
Even though I only spent 2/3 of my food budget money for January, we still ate well.  We ate down a large piece on what was in the freezer and stockpile.  Plus there were leftovers from December still for part of the month.  Having assorted members of the family sick for part of the month lowered the grocery spending as well since nobody wants to eat when they are sick. ;-)

LOOKING AHEAD TO FEBRUARY.....

I plan on eating down the freezer again this month.  I need to defrost it so we need to empty it.  I hope to get into meal planning again after letting it lag in January(due partly to illness around here).  I don't plan any stock-ups in the coming month, but I do plan on purchasing more fresh produce and greens so I'll keep the budget at $300 for the month.

How did you do in January with your Food Budget? 


Please leave a comment or link to your post and let us hear about your progress!  By sharing our struggles and efforts we can help each other stick to our budgets and learn to be better guardians of our resources.

Sluggy

January Food Spending Week 4, Meal Plan February Week 1

*I am taking part in Precious' MONEY SAVING CHALLENGE again for 2012.  You can find her blog FRUGAL MAKES CENTS and a list of other participants and their blogs  HERE.

Check it out.  You might find some new ideas for incorporating frugality into your life there!*


I love searching around for old photos and advertisements featuring kitchens from years gone by.  These are mostly the kitchens from my youth in the 1960's or earlier.  

Today's kitchen......

This is from a 1953 KitchenAid magazine ad.  While it's before "my" time, my brothers were around during that year.  I seriously doubt this was anything like the kitchen in my parent's house at that time, seeing as my parents were very poor when my siblings were born and they didn't own a house until shortly before I made my appearance into the world.

 

But for 1953, this was cutting edge in kitchen technology--metal cabinets, a stove in the center of the room with a recessed range hood, a breakfast bar with stools, a stylish linoleum floor with a yellow accent stripe(which matched the formica countertops!).  The laundry room was right in the kitchen too, with built in ironing and drying racks.  And did you notice the little rolling dirty laundry hamper/bin with the yellow counter top on it, in front of the iron board?

Now the oven position & style is a little odd, the fridge is pretty ordinary for the era, but the television set sitting in the kitchen in 1953!?  This family was upper middle class for sure to even own a tv in 1953!lol

Enough of that, onward to the Meals and Food Spending. 8-)


Last week's meal plan is in the books.  Here is what actually happened....
SUNDAY--homemade Pizza, carrot & celery sticks w/dressing

MONDAY--Leftover Chili or Burritos or both

TUESDAY--Denny's for Birthday Grand Slam

WEDNESDAY--Soup and Sandwich or leftover Sloppy Joe

THURSDAY--Chicken & Dumplings with carrots

FRIDAY--Chinese take-out
SATURDAY---Red Robin for Birthday Burger

I used up the last of the frozen pizza dough.  I had some odd pieces of chicken getting old in the freezer so I made Chicken and Dumplings out of it.  I tried a different dumpling recipe(the one in the Joy of Cooking with calls for egg as an ingredient), which gave a lighter/airy dumpling.  I didn't care for it much, preferring my old recipe which makes a heavier/gummier dumpling.  

There wasn't much other cooking last week, just more using up leftovers, heating up canned soup, opening canned/jarred fruits and more Birthday eating out.

I also didn't step foot into a grocery store all week...AGAIN!.  Hubs picked up milk one evening and #2 and I went to the Ollie's closeout store and bought some foodstuffs on another night.   The weekly spending was $46.75.

4 Weeks in and I spent $207.68 of my $300 January food budget.  $92.32 leftover for the month. I'll roll this amount into February's food budget, giving me $392.32 for this month.

I don't plan on spending it all in February, the extra will cover if I go over my usual $300 in the coming month.  Any leftover amount at the end of February will get thrown into my Savings Challenge fund and I'll start at $300 going into March.

For February....

Going into February Week 1, we have a little bit of Chili leftover and a couple of helpings of Chicken & Dumplings from Week 4.

This week's menu.....

SUNDAY--Italian Sausage Sandwiches, Cauliflower

MONDAY--Taco Bell(I'm having leftover Chicken & Dumplings)

TUESDAY--Homemade Pizza, Fruit Salad

WEDNESDAY--Tacos, Corn

THURSDAY--Tilapia, Rice, Brussel Sprouts

FRIDAY--Lasagna, Tossed Salad
SATURDAY--Leftovers

This menu gives us I night of take-out(except for my dinner), 1 night of leftovers and 5 home cooked meals this week.

Items needed for this menu are...pizza dough(getting from Price Chopper tonight), fruit and salad greens. I've got all the proteins I'm serving and all the dairy and noodles for the Lasagna here already. 

I'll pick up extra salad greens this week, some fresh produce and fruit as well as any good deals I find this week.  I haven't checked the sales ads yet so I don't know what I'll be picking up, if anything in the way of good deals.

Before good deals, I'm figuring on $30 spending this week for immediate menu food 'needs'.

 

With my leftover cash, I'm starting February with $392.32 in the food budget.

So what is everyone else eating this week?  

Sluggy

Hopes/Goals for 2012

Since it's still January....ok, just BARELY.....I can still post my Goals for 2012.

Since I didn't achieve all my Goals for 2011 IN 2011, I'm building my Goals for 2012 from where 2011 left off.

Sluggy's Personal List of Goals for 2012

1.  Get all the tax and college Paperwork completed and filed by the end of February.
2.  Convert all my vinyl LPs to CDs and purge the LPs from my life.
3.  Continue to Declutter everywhere.  Finish the garage and move what's in the living room into the garage so that the house is 100% done by April.  Be out of the storage unit by December.
4.  Complete 4 house projects in 2012. 2 inside/2 outside
5.  Read 20 books this year.
6.  Rework the stockpile.  Make it healthier and more compact.
7.  Finish up the eBay sales by May.
8.  Get the sewing going again.  Go through projects in-progress and alterations pile and get rid of stuff.  Sew clothes for myself for a change!
9.  Get the Etsy Store up and running.
10.  Spend more time with family, especially Hubs.
11.  Lose 40 lbs...there, I said it!  Now I have to do it!!
12.  Continue the Savings Challenge with a goal of $20K for 2012.
13.  Continue to be Frugal whenever possible and live well below our means!
14.  Take at least 1 REAL vacation and ENJOY IT!
15.  Just in case I think of something else later, I'm leaving #15 empty.


So tell us dear readers, what areas of your life are you going to be concentrating on making better in 2011?
We need to know!

Sluggy

Doing the Double Challenge Month over at Carla's Blog

CARLA over at "My 1/2 Dozen Daily" is hosting a “Double Challenge Month” for February!! After holding a January Low Spend Challenge, she's doing another “Low (no) Spend Challenge”, and a “Decluttering Challenge”! You can join in both challenges, or just the one you’re most interested in!
Go check it out HERE .



Here’s how the Low (no) Spend Challenge will work:

1. Choose a financial goal for the month!
 
Other than food/HBA spending, some eating out, and bills, I just don't spend money each month! So if bills & food shopping aren't 'spending' then I just have no demons to tame here.
I don't shop for fun, heck I don't even go to the mall!lol  My money isn't running out a faucet like some people's seem to do, as I have a tight grip on that spigot after the years I spent in my youth wasting money on junk!
I spend so little on wants these days that a "Low(no) Spend Challenge isn't a challenge to me. ;-)  Since I give myself practically no discretionary spending anyway, my goal setting will work differently than most.....see below.


2. How will you achieve your goal this month?

But I still want a financial savings goal this month so here's my approach to this....

I went through the usual February bills we seem to always have(using last year's bills as a guide)and when I take those away from our projected February income it leaves about $1,600 in 'unspoken for' income.  I'm giving myself $200+/- for unforeseen bills and another $200 for #2 son's birthday which leaves $1,200 for a financial goal to put toward my 2012 Savings Challenge.
So my target to save is $1,200 in February.  This $1,200 will go into my Savings Challenge ING Account that was set up 3 years ago to hold these funds.

If I see ways to cut back on the February bills I will put this money in with the $1,200 I am targeting.

**And before you hate on me for having such a big target, remember that I have no debt at all....no credit cards, no student loans and my house has been paid off for almost 5 years.  Once you get into this position, you too can save money at an amazing rate no matter your income as long as you have discipline and don't blow large wads of cash on crap. ;-)

3. How will you allot your spending this month?

We are paid every 2 weeks.  After payment comes in, I pay bills as they come in and/or until I run out of the current payment.  In which case, I wait for the next income check to hit the bank and continue to pay the bills.  Bills are paid via check or directly online to the company from our bank account. Eating out and gasoline purchases are put on the credit card.  Any unexpected purchases are also put on the credit card.  Most importantly the credit card is paid off EACH MONTH no matter the amount.
As for food/HBA purchases, I take cash from the bank and all food/HBA purchases are covered with this.  Hubs also takes cash each month to cover his incidental purchases like lunch, coffee, picking up milk on the way home, paying for son's music lessons, etc.

4. Track your purchases!

I track all my spending anyway.  Every receipt goes into my notebook and each transaction gets listed and posted on my blog at the end of each month.
I try to get Hubs to save his receipts so I can see where his cash withdrawals go but it doesn't happen on a regular basis.  He resents being held accountable...... 8-(

5. Are there any “exemptions” for the month?

The only unusual purchase will be #2 son's Birthday cash and meal out, which I have accounted for in my Financial Goal above.

Here’s how the Decluttering challenge will work:
1. There will be 4 main challenges for the month. I pick the theme, you pick the challenge!

Since I am still in Decluttering Mode this year,  after the Great Purge of 2011, I am all in on this Challenge too!

Week One: Personal Space Challenge--This week will be all about my bedroom.
Week Two: Family Space Challenge--This week will be all about the den.
Week Three: Productivity Challenge--This week will be all about the living room/dining room.
Week Four: The “Dreaded” Challenge--This week will be all about the garage.

The Tossing/Selling/Donating 29 items part?
Oh, I have this down in SPADES!lolol
I'll probably toss/sell/donate that many items A DAY!

I'll be documenting all via photos.....both befores and afters.  Good times!

So go see Carla and sign up for one or both of these Challanges!

Sluggy

What I Bought at Rite-Aid Last Week & What's Ahead for This Week

After Hubs and I had my free Birthday meal at Red Robin on Saturday afternoon, I bopped into Rite-Aid on the way home and bought this.....

2 x Mentos UP2U Gum on sale=$2.00
1 x mentos Pure Gum on sale=$1.00
SubTotal....$3.00

Coupons Used
2 x $1/1 UP2U Gum ManQ=$2.00
1 x .55¢/1 Mentos Gum ManQ=$.55¢
Coupon Total....$2.55

$3.00-$2.55=.45¢ OOP
I put that on my free Rite-Aid gift card and received $1 in +Up Rewards for buying 3 packs of qualifying gum.

So .15¢ per pack of gum and $1 more in Rite-Aid Conscript.
And nothing out of pocket. ;-)

This week I have $6 in +Ups expiring on Saturday 2/4 so I'm looking at what to get.
As there is nothing we 'need' in food or HBA that's a deal this week, I am looking at getting stuff we can use that will rolling these +Ups.  I don't see any rolling opportunities so far.

I have a $2/1 Tide ManuQ and Tide is $5.99 this week at R-A so that would make free Tide with a couple of $s left to use up.
I already did the Colgate toothbrushes Spend $30/Get $10 +Ups Deal so that's out.

There is a +Ups Deal double dip....the Snack Foods/Soda Spend $15/Get $5 +Ups also includes a Pepsi buy 3 12-packs/Get $2 +Ups Deal, so if you buy the Pepsi 12 packs as part of the $15/Get $5 +Ups, you'll get $7 +Ups instead, meaning you get almost half back in +Ups on what you spend OOP.

Hmmm, I'm going to marinate in this one a bit before deciding what to do this week.

Anybody out there have any Rite-Aid plans/deals they are doing this week?

Sluggy

Is eBay Selling Worth Your Time Anymore?

While I wait on tax documents to get here so I can power through the taxes, and the much dreaded FAFSA(yes, I said that word!), I've been going through and calculating my eBay numbers.

Yes, if you sell stuff on eBay it's income and you had better report it.
I'm just sayin'.....

Even with just selling stuff for 2 months last year, the amount of paperwork and numbers I have to wade through is mind numbing.  It took me three solid HOURS to get through it tonight!
Ugh.

After deducting all the fees, supplies and the costs of the goods I sold, I netted a whopping.....you'd better sit down for this!......$1710.10.

And that's not deducting for the portion of the storage unit fees I incurred to store the things I sold.  I "could" deduct that IF I could come up with an acceptable formula to divide the storage unit fees between the square footage the eBay stuff occupied and the square footage where all the non-eBayed stuff sat.  I could also try deducting lots of other things too....like part of my internet connection cost, part of the cost of my computer/printer/paper/ink/etc.  But all that takes documentation and effort and sends up audit flags.   I'll just take that hit and not even bother.  I am beyond caring to go there.lol

So in the end all the fees I paid to sell this stuff?
It almost cost me as much as I netted!

I will not depress myself by figuring what my hourly wage was to make that $1710.10.
But I suspect I'd be better off wearing a paper hat and asking if you want fries with that! lol

This all just confirms my belief that selling on eBay as an income stream is so not worth it.  Might have been years ago but now?.....nah!

It's a great way to get rid of things you have laying around the house and such.  Or selling off things you don't want anymore.
But as a sustainable fulltime job?  Not so much.

I'll stick to Focus Groups and some Survey work.....though my patience for that stuff is wearing thin too lately.  ;-)

I need to find someone who wants to pay me to sit around and drink adult beverages!
Yah, now THAT'S the kind of work I could so get into!!  8-)

Sluggy

What I've Done....Er, Mostly Avoided This Week

On Tuesday I dragged my self out of bed long enough to take #2 son to the eye doctor.  He had failed the vision test at school...uh oh.....

At the doc's office, #2 son learned he has joined the family "bad vision" club on Tuesday, as he is now nearsighted.
Plus got the astigmatism from dear old mom's genes.
Double bonus!

I had my vision checked as well since it was time and yes, the doddering old mom's eyes have gotten worse in the last 2 years.  Pretty soon they'll be fitting me for a white red tipped cane and/or a big guide dog in a harness to haul my carcass around.

I don't mind eye exams.
It's the picking out new frames I can't stand.
Why must they change all the styles every 2 years?!?  I find a style that doesn't make people turn away in disgust at my face and then the next time I need a new frame, the style is gone and I have to ferret out another style that works with the few good points on my visage.
It's so totally unfair I tell ya!

After the psyche scarring episode over at Pearle Vision Center, #2 son and I went down the strip mall to Ollie's.
Ollie's is the local discount/closeouts store, much like a Job-Lot, Odd-Lot, or the now defunct Value City.  I am a card carrying member of Ollie's and they had mailed me a 15% off Coupon to use before Valentine's Day.

Since I've spent so little from the food budget this month, we stocked #2 son up on vital junk food and I got a few deals as well......

I got 5 boxes of kitchen bags-45 count for $4.24 after 15% discount.  A real good price!  Between this lot and what I already have in the stockpile that I got for no OOP at Rite-Aid over the course of last year, we should be set for garbage bags at least until the Fall.
4 bottles of 100% juice for $1.69 each.
3 jars of mandarin oranges for $1.35 each(ignore that 1 is already empty!lol)

Then for #2 son's dining pleasure....
4 boxes of Mac and Cheese "crack" for .76¢ each.(close-out because it's jack-o-lantern shaped)
2 packages of cookies for .76¢ and $1.69.
1 package of kettle popcorn for $1.27.
And a huge 2 foot tall container of pretzel logs for $4.24. *Not pictured as it's already disappeared into the depth's of his room.*

I spent $43.01 with tax.

Afterwards we met Hubs and went over to Denny's so I could cash in my Free Birthday Grand Slam Meal Coupon.   Mmmmm.....French Toast, a couple of eggs and assorted breakfast meats made my tummy happy.  #2 son got a Grand Slam and Hubs got a Chicken Sandwich.  We dropped a $20(including a righteous tip) and headed home.

And other than chauffeuring duties, I haven't left the house since then.
I wander around the house and think about cleaning and decluttering or doing laundry and then I go lay down and rest instead.
Or I go read emails/blogs until the feeling passes and then I go lay down instead.

I can't seem to shake this thing.  Being sick on your birthday blows, ya know?
Plus I've been in a major funk.  Having relationship issues with the daughter lately doesn't help.

Don't mind me.  I'll just be over here in the corner wallowing in self-pity for a bit longer.

Sluggy

January Food Spending Week 3, Meal Plan January Week 4

*I am taking part in Precious' MONEY SAVING CHALLENGE again for 2012.  You can find her blog FRUGAL MAKES CENTS and a list of other participants and their blogs  HERE.

Check it out.  You might find some new ideas for incorporating frugality into your life there!*


I love searching around for old photos and advertisements featuring kitchens from years gone by.  These are mostly the kitchens from my youth in the 1960's or earlier.  

Today's kitchen......

Here's a 1960's beauty!  The rustic country americana kitchen look.  Wooden cabinets with those black iron handles that allude to a barn door and the requisite RED wallpaper.  I'm surprised there is no chicken motif going on as well!
While the '60s saw the end of metal cabinetry in the American kitchen in favor of wood, the colorific appliances were still  hanging on.
And those lovely yellow appliances....just makes your mouth water, or would that be your EYES WATER?!?lol

Enough of that, onward to the Meals and Food Spending. 8-)


Last week's meal plan is in the books.  Here is what actually happened....

SUNDAY--Chinese Take-out *I wasn't feeling too well

MONDAY--Sloppy Joes(with ground turkey or chicken), Rolls, Green Beans

TUESDAY--homemade Chili, Cornbread

WEDNESDAY--?

THURSDAY-- ?

FRIDAY-- ?
SATURDAY--homemade Chicken Pot Pie-Daughter made this and it was good!

Yes, those are question marks for 4 days of my menu.  I was sick all week with sinus problems.  I hung in there for 2 days and made a couple of crockpot meals(just throw the main components all in the pot and make the rest of the family sort it all out)but I didn't eat any of it.  I had soup and applesauce and bagels or Hubs got me some Egg Drop Wonton Soup at the Chinese place.  The family fended for themselves with leftovers and whatever they wanted to fix the rest of the week.

I was beyond caring what they ate by Tuesday. lol

Since I wasn't on top of my food waste game last week(and no one else here seems capable of dealing with this issue), we lost some items while I was indisposed.

I also didn't step foot into a grocery store all week.  Hubs and daughter picked up some rolls, milk and eggs along the way as needed and threw the receipts on my desk.....how thoughtful.  The weekly spending was $8.31.

3 Weeks in and I've spent $160.93 of my January food budget.  $139.07 left for the month.  There isn't much in the sales ads that is thrilling me, so I may not be venturing into the stores again this week.  You'll see better why I don't need to shop below.

Going into Week 4, we have Sloppy Joes and Chili leftover from Week 3.

This week's menu.....

SUNDAY--homemade Pizza, carrot & celery sticks w/dressing

MONDAY--Leftovers or Burritos

TUESDAY--Denny's for Birthday Grand Slam

WEDNESDAY--Red Robin for Birthday Burger

THURSDAY--Baked Potatoes with Toppings, Mixed Veg.

FRIDAY--Lone Star for Birthday meal
SATURDAY--Chicken & Dumplings with carrots

Items needed for this menu are nothing.  2 of the meals planned but not fixed last week are here and a whole bunch of free birthday meals so not much cooking this week.  The only new item this week is chicken & dumplings
While my meals will be FREE, the Hubs and son's meals will come out of the Entertainment funds for the month, not the grocery funds.

So what is everyone else eating this week?  

Sluggy

Songs for a Grey Day..... & A Secret Revealed

Go HERE for a snappy song to lift your spirits.
And Big Kenny.....that would be the tall one of the two......I wouldn't throw him out of bed for eating crackers in it.

And here's my country music street cred.
This guy is a distant cousin.  You may have heard of him before?

And for a laugh, did you know he was a Champion on Star Search in the '80s?
Love the mullet.....lol





Sluggy

Is it Really Monday AGAIN?!?!

* Being sick on your birthday sucks.  Ok, so this isn't startling news to anyone.  As of this morning, I do feel like I have turned the corner on this thing however.  I am drained of energy still but I am on the mend.

* Being sick for a week turns your Meal Plan into a Meal Disaster.  I made a few things this past week but lots of other things didn't get eaten, still other things didn't get put into the freezer in time(which makes me sick again to thing about the waste) and the fridge needs a good clean out.  The freezer, pantry and stockpile as well could use a good clean out also.  Having the offspring home and pawing through the freezer, pantry and stockpile means nothing is in it's place.  Daughter hauled back 2 bags of foodstuffs to college(which I didn't inspect or "ok" before it left the premises)so if anything comes up missing, I KNOW where it is.lol

* Being sick while trying to show your 19 year old daughter how to do her taxes is NOT found under "Fun" in the dictionary.   Come to think of it, neither is doing your own taxes and TWO, COUNT 'EM TWO FAFSAs......

* Being sick is not conducive to figuring out ones Goals for the new year.  I know everyone is probably bored to tears with my Monthly Food Budget spending reports and my Monthly Savings Challenge reports and my Weekly Meal plans and the little bit of Shopping I do each week(IF I do any).

So what say you dear readers?.....should I continue with these reports and plans? 
How about I bring back the Sluggy's Boring Box Giveaway?

Bueller?......Bueller??.......

I will have my List of Goals for 2012 later this week.
Hey, at least I'm getting them done before January is over!...maybe......lol

Sluggy

More Rite-Aid Fun!

So we had BIL's Wellness card at $82 toward the Resolution Reward.
I went back to Rite-Aid late yesterday before the snow hit and bought this.....

Basically it's the Theraflu deal again with a pack of lighbulbs thrown in.

3 x Theraflu on sale $5(must buy 3)=$15.00
1 x Lightbulbs on sale=$2.99
1 x had the cashier ring up .01 manually=$.01 *--watch the magic!
SubTotal.....$18.00

Coupons Used
1 x $3/2 Theraflu IPQ=$3.00
1 x $2/1 Theraflu IPQ=$2.00
1 x $3/2 Theraflu PeelieQ on package=$3.00
1 x $2 In-Ad Lightbulb Sales flyer Q=$2.00
Coupon Total....$10.00

$18.00-$10.00=$8.00 OOP
I used $8 in +Up Rewards to pay.
I received $5 back in +Up Rewards(for the Theraflu).

$17.99 toward the Resolution Reward total brought BIL's card to $99.99 which triggered the $20 +Up Reward to print.....yay!

Total +Ups earned this trip....$25.00

*-This Rite-Aid will add a penny or two to your total manually if you are that close to being able to use an +Up Reward.  I found that out last month when I was a penny below the amount needed to use an +Up Reward, and the Asst. Manager said they would/could do this.  Who am I to argue, right?lol

I went back in to shop to get a Tom's Deodorant on my card......

1 x Tom's of Maine Deodorant on sale=$3.99
1 x Lightbulbs on sale=$2.99
1 x Cella cherry w/wellness discount=$.26
SubTotal....$7.24

Coupons Used
1 x $2/1 Lightbulbs In-Ad Sales flyer Q=$2.00
Coupon Total....$2.00

$7.24-$2.00=$5.24 OOP
I used the $5 +Up BIL got for the Theraflu purchase and put the .24¢ on my Rite-Aid gift card.
I earned $3 +Up Reward for the Deodorant.

I could have had the cashier manually up my subtotal to $7.00 and not bought the cherry, using just the $5 +Ups and no OOP to pay.  But she had such problems doing it the first time, I just 'ate' the cherry.....er, the overage and the cherry.  ;-)

So we are finished with the Resolution Reward a week before the deadline of Jan. 28th to earn it.
Some of our +Ups expire on 2/4/12 so we don't need to go back to Rite-Aid for 2 more weeks, unless a great deal happens.....a great deal that we need!

Sluggy

Time for Another Brain Dump....Birthday Edition

*  Lately I have been feeling like the giant hand of the Universe has got me by the leg and has been twirling me in the air, at a high rate of speed and then letting me go.  At this point the laws of matter have stopped applying to me and all the molecules that make up my body fly off like a billion tiny little ball bearings into space.
Ok....that's just my crazy way of saying I feel bad physically and mentally I've lost my center.

I'm so unfocused mentally and I can't do beyond basic functioning.  My thoughts are scattered, my energies are scattered.  I have so many 'things' to see to, but I can't seem to settle my brain enough to concentrate on a consistent thought long enough to accomplish any thing.

My eBay store is sitting empty.  I have tax papers all over the dining room table.  Bags of Sallie's donations sit in the garage.  I still don't have my Goals for 2012 worked out yet. And I can't even find the energy to pick up after myself or clean the house.  There is no forward movement on anything around here!
If I had some energy at all, my current state would drive me nuts.
ugh.

*  After posting last week about Mark and his family's plight I noticed I lost a few followers.
Now the timing may just be coincidence......or not.  And I didn't even think that my dwindling numbers of fans was because of my supporting of a 'gay' issue until Mark mentioned that taking a 'pro gay rights' stand on an issue might cause this kind of backlash with some folks. I didn't see it that way, because frankly I don't see his case as a gay rights issue but rather as a human rights issue.  If what someone does is not hurting you or someone else, why the fleck should you care what they do in the privacy of their own lives?  Do I have to give my "fill in the topic is like a penis" speech again?!?
Let's be loving on each other, not hating.

*  My long anticipated Couponing Seminar....ok, it was really more like a Talk than a Seminar....happened yesterday.  I couldn't sleep the night before, due to nerves and the fact that I was fighting off a sinus infection.  I was scared I would lose my voice halfway through it because of the throat issues I was having.
Even with my before mentioned scattering energies issue above, I was able to cobble something together at that last minute, that sounded halfway coherent and rational.
And I want to thank each one of you who offered thoughts and advice last week on how to approach this thing. I appreciate and took under advisement everything you all said! 8-)

Of course since it's a subject I intimately know and it is well known that given the opportunity I will talk until given "The Hook" and yanked offstage, I did babble on a very long time.  And yet, I still didn't cover everything that was pinging off the walls inside my head.
The best thing was that most of the crowd(and the gal in charge did say it was a rather large crowd, so they must have been interested in the subject matter)enjoyed it and I feel got something out of what I droned on and on about.  This certainly must has turned some off of the idea of couponing and living frugally within a budget but I'm hoping it might have sparked at least a few to explore the subject matter and take steps to change how & how much they spend at the stores.

Since we didn't get around to the nitty and the gritty of matching up sales to Qs and planning a shopping trip I offered to work one-on-one with anybody who wanted more assistance and shared my email addy.  I don't need to do this to make an income, so I can afford to be altruistic with it.  If I can help people save money and time then I am happy to help.

*  My Birthday is tomorrow.  It sucks because I am feeling physically sick(along with that mental exhaustion thing I have going on).  I thought it was the flu, as Hubs was down with a bad cold/flu bug last week.  I think mine is more of a sinus infection though.  #2 Son stayed home from school yesterday as he was feeling ragged and slept all day long.  We told him to stay home tomorrow(which would be today)as well and take the weekend to get better.  3 hours later, as I was typing some of this missive late last night, he came downstairs and promptly threw up all over the downstairs bathroom.
Charming.

So feeling sickly, cleaning up puke and having a Birthday got me into a morose mood and all I can think about now is.....

How the hell did I get this old?
Can somebody tell me please!
I'm watching videos of songs from my youth and I feel like that 16 year old teenager inside, who heard these songs the first time, but the face looking back at me in the mirror is some alien I don't recognize.
Whoever stole my youth, I would appreciate it's return, pronto!
No charges will be pressed and there might be a small reward in it for you. ;-)

*  SonyaAnn got me thinking with her "Bullets Post" of a couple of days ago.  She shared some personal stuff about herself, as well as some wacky anecdotes regarding her life.
I think I want to try something like that on this old blog too.

I started drafting a list of "Things You Don't Know About Me" back in September and I've been adding to it over the months now, when I get inspired.  I am thinking about making it a regular feature with it's own page.  When I add an item on my list,  I'll post and talk about that item.
I must warn you that most of the stuff is silly and weird, but some of the stuff is really really personal.  It may be uncomfortable to read since some of it's not "happy stuff" and I'm not totally sure I want to share those things with every heavy breather weirdo with internet access across the global.
But on the other hand, I'm an old lady and I've got nobody to impress any more, no career to protect and I'm at the age where I can't give a crap what anybody thinks of me or knows about me(mostly), so I may just let this rip.  Any thoughts from anyone on doing this?  Would you?

* The blog stats this week haven't changed much.  I will tell you that if you want search hits, mention Mormons on your blog.  Mormons are "hot".
I am still getting many many hits from "cat hoarding" and "cat hoarders".  Why specifically cat hoarding??  Why not dog hoarding.....or teapot hoarding......or money hoarding.  You would think that if I mentioned Mormon Hoarding I would rake in the blog hits, huh?
Another top search word this week has been Joe Btfsplk.  Who knew so many people search this name/word online??lol
And another strange current stat I found......the country with my second highest hits are located in.....Slovenia.  I'm far from the world's answer to Sherlock Holmes but putting two and two together..... it just occurred to me that maybe there are a lot of folks named Btfsplk in Slovenia? ;-)

Of course, NOW I've offended the country of Slovenia.
There go my page views!......


I think it would be fun to post once a week on the blog some random topic, just to see what kind of keyword page hits it would generate, wouldn't you?

* And I leave you with an awesome site to check out.  Most of the online planet has heard of "etsy".  You know it....that eBay-esque site for selling handcrafted and vintage items.
Well let me introduce you to Regretsy.
This is the dregs and "bottom of the weird barrel" from etsy and other online sales sites, or as the site's owners describe it, "Where DIY meets WTF".
It's a great time waster and good for adding a few chuckles to your day.  I especially liked their Christmas Advent Calendar last month, where they daily added a horrible "why would anyone buy that as a gift for someone else?!?!" handmade Christmas gift that was for sale somewhere in cyberspace.
Hys-pee your pants funny-terical!

I bet when folks from Slovenia aren't googling Joe Btfsplk, they are buying and selling Regretsy-worthy crafts.

Heading back to bed now.  Don't make me have to come back on here and yell at any of you crazy kids!
There!!.....NOW I sound like my age.

Sluggy

2012 Decluttering P*rn & Other Stuff

Yes, I am back at the decluttering again.  Once the weather improves a bit this is all leaving the garage and heading into Hub's car trunk....well, the stuff that isn't already in there....then off to Salvation Army. ;-)

Matchbox Beetle Car 1:32 scale
Small Soldiers Slot Car Racing Set
Small Soldiers Board Game
4 Racing Champions 1:64 scale Rockin' Steel Cars
7 Johnny Lightning .Com Racers 1:64 scale
6 Matchbox Airplanes
1 Johnny Lightning Wacky Racers car
1 Miniature Drag Racing car
1 Star Wars Yoda figure

3 Micro Machines Miniature Star Trek vehicles Sets
3 Micro Machines Double Playsets
1 Hallmark Floyd the Dog Mug
1 Johnny Lightning .Com Racers
1 Batman Playset miniature
1 Godzilla Playset minaiture
1 Lunchbox Keychain set
1 Set of 101 Dalmatians Playing cards in collectible tin
1 101 Dalmatians Pen in collectible tin
2 101 Dalmatians Christmas ornaments
2 sets of Christmas cards
1 set of Barbie Paper Dolls-1976
3 Women's blouses(used)
5 Happy Holisters books(used/vintage)
1 Silver Plate Tea Service with Tray

2 Wooden Shelves
1 Rock Tumbler
2 Sets of rocks & findings for Rock Tumbler

Load #1 for 2012.
Go me!lol

I got Daughter to go through all her crap I boxed up when she left in August for college.  Her room was a disaster!  It looked like a Stuff Bomb blew up in there.lol  So everything got boxed and shoved into the closet.  She finally went through the boxes last week.  She threw out 3 garbage bags of rags, worn out shoes, paper and junk.  I have 2 boxes in the living room ready to go into my next Sallie's donation.
She threw out 2 perfectly good cell phones which I found in the garbage pile.  I've tucked those away in case somebody's cell phone dies.  It may not be "in" anymore but it will work fine for me.
Anyway, after she got rid of all that crap, there is now room in the large closet in her room to put away ALL the Christmas stuff.
Finally!  Boxes of Christmas stuff don't have to be in the garage or sitting out in the living room all. year. long.
Can you tell I am pleased?

I'm fighting some illness at the moment....sinuses.....flu.....I don't know what it's turning into.
Hubs had been sick all week and has graciously shared whatever he had with me.  I love him anyway.....

I've got a dentist appointment in a half hour and that Women's Club talk on Thursday so falling apart is NOT an option right now.

My eBay store is empty and once I feel better I'll have to fill that up again as part of the Big Purge.

Off to brush my teeth again and get through the day.

Sluggy