The Great Summer Road Trip of 2013.....Day One

The time finally arrived for the big adventure of 2013 to take place--our Summer Road Trip.

Hubs sister was finally remarrying in August so since none of the rest of her siblings/family were going to go to Illinois to see her tie the knot(again), we decided we would go.
And since we were going all the way across a third of the US for this grand event, we figured Hubs might as well take some of all that vacation time he has saved up for the year, and make this a vacation.

I put out a call to friends and family, letting them know where we were headed and said we'd like to see/visit with anyone who could stand to have us around if we could work it in.  Nothing was planned ahead at this point, except for being at the wedding, so we just let the adventure grow organically from there.

By the week before we left, all the plans/stops were firmed up.
We headed out the morning of August 13th.
It was a Tuesday.

We rented a car for this trip.  Since we were traveling so many miles and my minivan is elderly(getting where it needs work and doesn't get the greatest gas mileage), it made sense not to pile those miles up on the Mango-mobile(named after my dead Chihuahua), but to spend the cash and let Enterprise's car take the hit.
We got this mid-sized beauty for the ride.
Here is Hubs posing during our first rest stop with the Adventure-mobile.....

Another shot of Hubs at the rest stop area......

It was roomy enough for us plus had quite a bit of trunk and backseat room(which we tried out best to fill up with crap by the time we left to return home).
It even had XM Radio which was great and meant we didn't have to keep finding local station signals every hundred miles or so, amidst the static.

We were cruising along that first day, west on I-80 making our escape from Pennsyltucky, when we came upon a State Police detour.  Seems a massive accident on 80 had closed down a stretch of it totally, shortly before we got to that point, so we had to detour through beautiful downtown Brockway....population about 2,000.

You may have seen the little video I posted back during the trip when we were stuck in the traffic jam leading into Brockway.  It's a tiny little one stop light town(not even a town, a borough)with a single 2 lane main street.

 

Once we got to the main street, we hung a left onto Rte. 28 and headed through beautiful downtown Brockway.  About a 1/4 mile past the BI-LO grocery store and the middle of town I spotted this beauty of a house for sale.  It would make a sweet place to retire to, don't you think?

I looked it up online once we got to the hotel that night and I believe it was listed for under $100K.
You could walk or bike from there to the grocery store, the Dollar General or even Mickey D's for that matter.

Once we got out of Brockway, it was a hilly windy ride on country roads back to the Interstate.
I noticed some old farm houses we passed and from the clothes hung on the clotheslines and the lack of power lines around,  I could tell there was a community of Amish or Old Order Mennonite in this area.
And then we passed a gravel lane and I got off this shot.....

Yep, an Amish community of some size is located here.

Then we saw this......

and I started asking Hubs to stop so I could do a little tombstone picture taking for F.A.G.
But we had already lost so much time on the detour and it was the first day so Hubs didn't stop.

Then we hit this.....

Ah yes, the joys of road construction in PA.
It never ends.....but luckily this patch was not so large and didn't hold us up much.
And you will notice that we are STILL behind that 18 wheeler truck for the entirety of this detour.

Finally back to I-80.
Then a stop for a late-ish lunch at Pizza Hut outside the town were Daughter went to college her first year, Clarion.

Then back on I-80 into Ohio and finally we arrived at our hotel for the night, in Milan, OH.
Milan OH....birthplace of Thomas Edison.
Bet you didn't know that!
And neither did I until we arrived there and I saw directional signs to his birthplace, though we didn't have time to visit it.

Here's what we found in our room.....

A ginormous whirlpool tub IN the bedroom.
They gave us an extra large room(which we hadn't asked for)but didn't charge us extra since the whirlpool was broken.
It would have made a very nice ice bucket IF we were throwing a party in there(and believe me, there was enough space in this room to throw one!).

Then I opened the curtains and looked out our bedroom window at the view.........

Oh goody....a corn field.  How exciting!
 I guess it beats looking out onto a parking lot though, right?

After resting a bit we headed out to find something for dinner.  We drove down the highway south into Norwalk, OH.  After driving into the center of downtown, we headed back north a bit and stopped at the Fortune Buffet.
The food was pretty good except for a few items that were super spicy, which usually aren't so hot at most Chinese restaurants.
They should bottle and sell their Hot and Sour Soup as a sinus treatment.  One sip of it and my sinuses were cleared right out!!!




After dinner I had to get my photo taken to immortalize the stop.
I hope the Chinese gods don't take offense at me making bunny ears on that lion....

After dinner, we stopped along the way back to the hotel at a local K-Mart.  Partly to get some exercise and walk off dinner and partly because we needed to buy a "Church key" because we forgot to bring one from home.
And because we are who we are, we walked and shopped that store, buying various and sundry items and got into the car and realized we forgot the one thing we went in there to buy.
Doh.

While in K-Mart, I went over to the drink aisle to see if they carried any Vernor's Ginger-Ale.
Sister in-laws old boyfriend was from OH and since he has lived in Weehawken, NJ for many years now since she moved to IL, she was always stopping in OH to buy and bring him some Vernor's Ginger-Ale when she came out East, because it's just "Deliciously Different".

                  Image from groceries-express.com

And as I took the Ginger-Ale off the shelf, I turned to face the opposite shelves and saw this.....

Here's a close up since looking at adult beverages is always interesting....

The skies opened up and angels descended from the heavens.......they sell BOOZE in K-Mart in Ohio!!!
Except on Sundays because you just can't have people getting liquored up on the Lord's Day evidently.....

So needless to say, we left with some adult beverages(Great Lakes Burning River beer and Mike's hard lemonade) to enjoy back at the hotel and to cart with us to our next stop in IL.

Thus ended Day One of the Great Road Trip of Summer 2013.
We started with the Amish and ended with booze.....nice combo, huh?

Stay tuned for Day Two coming soon.

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The "Thank Goodness Marching Band Season is Over" Edition.......

 

 

 

 

#2 Son is happy that his last season of Marching Band finished up on Sunday.  Now he just has 2 Concert Band concerts, 2 Jazz Band concerts and Pitt Orchestra for the School Musical and ALL the rehearsals for each to go before he graduates in the Spring.
The photo is of some of the band kids after a meet performance back in October that our group hosted.  #2 Son is standing on the track(behind the fence)right above the drum in this shot.

Here are the meals that were planned last week--
 

Sunday--Chinese Take-Out  Treating ourselves tonight
Monday--Mushroom Alfredo shells with leftover London Broil, Spinach Salad(Hubs is craving pasta)
Tuesday--Baked Fish(in freezer) and crab cakes(freezer), coleslaw, some veggie(freezer)
Wednesday--Lasagna(leftover-then the rest gets put into the freezer for later)
Thursday--Chicken Pot Pie(using leftover chicken, carrots, potatoes + fresh broccoli)
Friday--maybe Domino's pizza using one of my free coupons + a big salad for me
Saturday--leftovers or something scrounged around the house

Everything eaten as planned except Friday's dinner was Saturday's and vice versa.
I used the leftover Broccoli Soup from weeks ago in my pot pie instead of making a sauce/cream from scratch or opening a can of soup to use.  I am so proud of me......!

And I ended up eating too much pizza.  I hadn't had any in so long and it was so good that I just couldn't eat one slice. lol

As for food spending last week....you might want to look away as it's going to be bad(spendy).  There were 6 trips to the store and I spent $287.01 on $554.87 worth of groceries at 5 different stores.  I've spent $385.79 of my $400 November food budget so far and there are 17 days left for this month. 
bleh.
Hubs made a stop after work at a store we don't often go to.  There was the monthly trip to the Bakery/Bread Outlet and I had a 15% off discount card for Ollie's(Good Stuff Cheap!)I had to use or lose and they had some good food buys, even before that discount.  So we blew through a bit of money on foodstuffs last week.

Not to worry though as we have extra funds each month plus I am stockpiling last week and this week so we spend enough to get our Thanksgiving gift certificate at one of my stores.  Might as well buy the items that will keep now and they count toward our spending rather than buying them next month and not having them count, right?  I am hoping that my December spending will reflect these buying ahead deals and be lower than my usual.
We shall see.....

Leftovers going into this week--1/2 a large family-sized chicken pot pie and a whole pizza(but that will most likely be scarfed down between meals or as lunches).

Here's this week's meal plan---

Sunday--Burgers on Rolls, Collard Greens
Monday--Mushroom Parmesan, Salad
Tuesday--Roasted Chicken, Carrots, Stuffing
Wednesday--leftover Chicken Pot Pie
Thursday--Steak, Roasted Asparagus & Potatoes
Friday--Baked Fish, Coleslaw, Green Beans
Saturday--Chicken & Dumplings

What I need to purchase for this menu?......
I still need to spend about $55 this week to get to our Turkey Day gift certificate.
I'm going to try to keep the spending to $55 but even so, that will put us over budget in November by $40+ and that's not counting buying a turkey.
bleh again.
Oh what the hell......I am going to fly the white flag this month.
I give up. ;-)

What got fixed and served at your house this week?

Sluggy

This is a Joke, Right? lol

Broken heating system, lows in the 20's last night and I wake up to this!?!

Ugh and double Ugh.

It would be prettier if the house was warmer. lol

I woke up yesterday feeling depressed.....I hate that!
I am just feeling overwhelmed with what I want to get done and feeling like I have nothing to look forward to lately.
No fun trips ahead, nobody coming to visit me to distract me.  No kids coming home for Thanksgiving or Christmas yet from where they are, they do reach out to share their troubles with me, so I get all the bad/stressful things about being a parent but none of the joys.

And I just have a body that won't do what I want to do so I can get things done.
Getting old sucks.

And I don't seem to have an blogging mojo either lately.
Somebody please send me a big box of that willya? ;-)

Oh, and somebody inquired about whether we have any heat on my last post.....we have a combined ceramic storage heating system with a plain old baseboard electric system that came with the house.  5 rooms have the storage heat and the other bedrooms,  baths and downstairs hallway have the baseboard.  As the ceramic units have died through the years we have replaced them with electric baseboard(though the kitchen and living room units have died we haven't replace them yet).  So the mini-split HVAC system is an additional heating source for us, not the only source.  A mini-split can't be used as a primary source in this part of the country as it's too cold, maybe down South it would be enough on the heating end of things.  We figured when we went to put this system in for a/c that we might as well get the heat too(since it cost almost the same price for either just a/c or both a/c and heat), plus it would add value to the house having an auxiliary heating source.


Off to feed the doggies and then get ready to hobble off to the Podiatrist....IF I can find their office.

Sluggy

And It Just NEVER Stops Sometimes....

Well, the verdict on the new heating/cooling system is that the compressor is defective.
Leave it to us to get one built on a Monday(the day most defective things are made).

So now we are in Waiting Mode.....waiting to see if they can find another of this compressor in a warehouse somewhere(that would be good!)or if they have to wait for one to be shipped from the Far East(that would be very bad).
No clue when we will hear about an arrival date for the part and an even bigger no clue on when we will have a functioning heating/cooling system.

And it's suppose to get down to 22 degrees tonight, plus we had SNOW and HAIL last Friday.
Nice. 8-(

#2 Son's Marching Band season officially came to an end Sunday when they competed in the Championships.  They placed 6th in a field of 16.
Go Comets!

One of my eBay auctions ended and something sold for a lot less than I hoped it would go for.
bleh.
And I am still waiting for her to pay me for it.
Double bleh.

I have my podiatrist appointment tomorrow and hopefully he has some ideas to get my feet shipshape.  So think good thoughts on that!

And about half an hour ago, look at what came out of my mouth.....

A crown on my back molar.
Fun.

My dentist doesn't reopen until Wednesday but luckily she is meeting me at her office this evening to put this thing back where it belongs.
Counting the hours until the throbbing pain will go away and I can eat & drink again.

On second thought, if she doesn't fix this, I am guaranteed to lose weight without the hassle of dieting or expense of bariatric surgery!
Hmmmmm.......

Yep, it's always something around here.

Sluggy
 

In Memory of Those Who Served....Thank a Vet!

Today is Veteran's Day so pray for, be respectful of, and honor the military veterans in your lives today.

Here at Chez Sluggy we have a few family and ancestor vets we think about and honor today......

My Hubs' side of the family there is--
His older brother Tony, who served in the Navy during the Vietnam War.
He is our family's only living veteran.


Those who have gone from us on Hub's side are his Uncle Charles, who served in the Navy during World War II.
The only photo I have of him is this one.....he is the small boy on the right in the front.....

And then there is Hub's dad Steve, who served in the Army Air Corp during World War II.

Those are the only veterans of military service I've uncovered so far on Hub's side of the family.

On my side, I have many many military veterans.
First off, there is my grandfather Frank, who served as a Master Sargent during World War II.  He is the handsomely rakish guy in the front center of this photo.....

He survived the war and went on to make the military his career until his retirement in the 1960's.

Then there are my Great Uncles....

US Navy Seaman 2nd Class Tucker Harper, who was wounded in action but survived World War II.

And Great Uncle "Mack" who enlisted in Sept. of 1942 and served in the Army during World War II.
He was disabled on the battlefield in Europe and ended up stateside in Hospital and never fully recovered.  His battlefield experiences had lasting terrible effects upon him the rest of his life.

His wife Edith, also served in the Cadet Nursing Corp during World War II.  That is how they met.

And if we go back beyond the 20th century, there are many veterans on my mother's side of the family from the Civil War.

Among them are two brothers, my Great Uncles, John & Joseph Harper....

The husband of my 2 x Great Aunt, George Washington Barksdale served as a mechanic in the CSA.

And all my Holt relations-6 brothers who each served in the Confederacy....

From Marcellus who survived the war.....

To John Lee Holt who was KIA at Gettysburg.....

And my 3x Great Uncle William Foster, who served in the Army during the War Between the State. William was actually the last surviving member of his regiment, the 23rd Virginia, dying in October of 1931 at the age of 71+ years old.....

And there is Joseph Hamilton, who served in the CSA VA Reserves and died in a POW camp in Ohio....

 

And going back even further in our country's history, I can count my 7 x Great Grandfather Thomas Foster.  Though advanced in age at the time of the American Revolution he served as a Wagoneer, driving & also furnishing supplies for the Continental Army until his death in 1786 in Virginia.

At least 3 of his son's also served as soldiers in the American Revolution--

Thomas Foster who served 3 years as a private.
William "Billy" Foster who served as a 1st Lieutenant in the 3rd VA Army.  He enlisted 10 May 1777 and by the time the war was over, he was a Major.  He took part in the Battle of Stono Ferry where the patriots held off the British forces trying to capture Charleston, SC.

And brother Robert Foster, my 6 x Great Grandfather, who was an Ensign in the Army(today that rank is only used in the US Navy). 

All three, Thomas the father, sons William and Robert were here during the Winter of 1777-1778.....

 All 3 Foster men survived the Valley Forge Encampment and the Revolution but countless other's did not.

I give thanks to them and all my ancestors who came after them who also answered the call to arms to defend our Freedoms.

Sluggy

Last Week to Enter Sluggy's BORING BLOG BOX GIVEAWAY.....Hurry!

This is the last week of the Giveaway.....Hurry and enter it now!
         *****************************
Well it's time for another BORING BLOG BOX GIVEAWAY!!

Here's how it works if you are new here.......

 

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

Here is what went into the Box today......

 

 

1. A full size tube of Aquafresh Toothpaste

2. A full size bottle of Blink Eye Drops

3. A Reach Dental Flosser with pre-measured refills

4. A travel size of Colgate Toothpaste
5. A sample size of Crest Toothpaste
6. A sample size of Bodycology Body Wash
7. A travel size of Gillette Body Wash
8. A travel size of Gillette Thermal Face Scrub
9. A travel size of Gillette Intense Cooling Lotion

 

This week's prizes have a value of about $16.
 

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

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

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

This week I want to hear about your favorite Thanksgiving and Christmas/Hanukkah/Winter Solstice pie/cake flavor and your favorite Christmas/Hanukkah/Winter Solstice cookie recipe.  We "heart" pumpkin pie on Turkey day and Pecan Pie & Fruitcake at Christmas/Winter Solstice.  My favorite cookie recipe a Coconut Macaroon but I just found a Salty/Sweet Butterscotch Cookie recipe I am dying to try this year. Mmmmm
 

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

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

**This is the final week to enter this Giveaway.  I will close entries to this post on Friday, November 15th, at 11:59pm.  On Saturday I will draw the winner and post the name.

Any questions?  Just email me.

Happy Entering!! 

Sluggy

From the Sublime to the Ridiculous Day

I am so cultured today.
First we had precious stones, now it's onto fine art!

I found this on a friend's Facebook today and just had to share.
It's a slew of great works of art which have been "animated".
It's from an Australian tv comedy series.
Be sure your bladder is empty and you are not drinking anything when you watch this.
And a warning to my more sensitive viewers or kids.....bad words and some raunchy stuff in here......

 

Then when you are done viewing that, go HERE to see the "29 Whitest Family Photos of All Time".
I must warn you that some of these are down right disturbing(or should I say disturbed?), but many are funny.
I am partial to #s 8 and 21 myself.  And #26 gives me the creeps for some reason....lolz


Sluggy

Shiny Objects

Just a little nothing post today.....I am so bored.

I had to go up to the local jeweler's this afternoon to get a ring appraised for someone in the family.
That's all I can say about that here since someone with big ears(or should that be big eyes?!) might be reading this.


While I was there, I took up another ring I own to get it appraised since when it was inherited by me, I was not given a written valuation of it.

My mother left me this shiny object when she died......

It's a diamond cocktail ring from the early 1970's in a 10K white gold setting.

The jewelry store gal said it was 1 carat total wt. but that was a quick evaluation....she didn't measure all the stones, just the big one.
She gave me a ballpark current retail value on this baby of $4500.

My mom was big time into shiny objects like this.
Me?...not so much.
But I can't bring myself to sell it since it's now a family heirloom.
Plus my mother would come back to haunt me if I did. lolz

 

 

I guess it will give my kids something to fight over when I die.


Sluggy

Rite-Aid Pillaging....And 54% Savings at the Grocery Store

I shouldn't call my Rite-Aid excursions pillaging anymore should I?
Since they tightened up the deals and the coupon policy and the coupons just aren't as good this year, I don't get much for FREE.

Anyway, let's get to the details, shall we?

As of last week I had $5 in +Ups expiring on 11/6, which is today.
So last week I bought this.....

2 x Dawn dish liquid on sale for .97¢ each=$1.94
I used--
1 x .20¢/1 Dawn ManuQ
$1.94-.20=$1.74

I used $1 +Ups to pay
$1.74-$1+Up=$.74+.04¢tax=$.78 OOP

Then today I bought this......

1 x St. Joseph's Aspirin on sale=$4.99
2 x Purex Ultra Packs detergent on sale BOGO=$6.49
Subtotal......$11.48

I used--
1 x $1/1 St. Joseph's 120 ct. CatalinaQ(this spit out last month at Rite-Aid)=$1.00
1 x FREE ITEM Q Purex Ultra Packs detergent(up to $6)=$6.00 *Won from Frances' blog thanks Frances! ;-)
Total Coupons.....$7.00

$11.48-$7=$4.48

I used my $4 in +Ups I had left to pay....
$4.48-$4.00=$.48+.03¢tax=$.51

I paid .51¢ OOP and received a $4 +Ups for buying the St. Joseph's Aspirin.

Then I made an impulse buy.....uh oh......

2 x Axe Body Spray/Deodorant(this scent was on clearance 50% off so $2.99 ea.=$5.98

I paid .36¢tax so a total of $6.34 OOP.
Axe sprays/deos are Buy2/Get $3 +Ups this week on Select Unilever items, so I got back $3 +Ups AND another $2 +Ups for the purchase of Body Sprays, for a total of $5 in +Ups back.

Spend $6.34, get $5 back.
Wish I had had a couple of coupons to use too..... 8-)

Let's recap--
I got

2 dish liquids-who doesn't need this?
1 bottle baby aspirin-I use this.
2 packs of laundry detergent-who doesn't need this?
2 body sprays/deos-both son's use this.

I spent $7.63 OOP
And I have $9 in +Up Rewards to spend during the next 2 weeks.

Even if I don't get things for free paying $7.63 instead of the reg. shelf price of $36.13 and getting $9 to spend on more stuff isn't half bad, is it? ;-)

Then I went to the grocery store and did just as well!
I got $189.25 worth of groceries for $86.92.
That's a savings rate of 54.08%.

I hit the marked down meat-2 steaks for $2 lb., kielbasa for less than $2 lb., $2 off 4 packages of bacon which goes for $4.49 so $2.29 for each bacon, 85% angus burgers for $3 lb., some produce & fresh bakery muffins(for #2 Son)for 50% off, a rotisserie chicken for $3.99 to use for lunchmeat, fish fillets and grape tomatoes for BOGO, tuna fish for .74¢ a can and a can of crushed tomatoes for .50¢ after Q.
They have a deal this week if you buy $15 in Swanson/Campbell's/Pepperidge Farm items you get an instant $5 discount, so I bought 16 cans of soup on sale for $1, used $3 in Qs and after the $5 discount, paid $8 for 16 cans, so .50¢ a can.  I can use these in cooking.

Plus there was another deal-Buy 7 select Smuckers/Hungry Jack/Crisco items and get an instant $3 discount.  One of the items was 48 oz. bottles of Crisco oil on sale half off($2.14 instead of the reg. $4.29 price).  That's a great price for oil so I stocked up(#2 Son can go through some oil between making French fries and frying burritos).
So I got 6 oils and 1 pancake mix(for $2 on sale).  Total should have come to $11.48 after sale prices and $3 discount, but for some reason the register only took the $2.15 discount off of 2 bottles,  not all 6.
So since the register/computer rang the price wrong, I got 1 for free! 8-)

I also had a subtotal over $125.00 so I could use a $12 off your order coupon Weis sent me in the mail.
So my $189.25 in groceries, which should have come to $89.06 after all my discounts/coupons ended up costing me $86.92 (with an additional $2.14 subtracted for the free bottle of oil).
I am now over what I wanted to spend on food this week but I hadn't planned on such good meat deals and stocking up on oil, soup and tuna.
It's all good though since I have plenty of cash left for the month in the budget. 8-)


Sluggy

What's Going on Here Lately Besides No Heat.....

Yesterday, I went through some boxes of old ornaments I had bought years ago to sell on eBay and sorted them into keep and donate piles.   One pile of ornies is for the kids to go through and take whatever they want, as 2 of them no longer live here, so they may want tree decorations of their own.
When they get to a point where they aren't moving constantly and settle down I'll give them each the family ornaments that were bought for them while growing up.  Man, once I do that, our tree here will be practically bare! lol

So far I have 2 full cardboard boxes of ornies heading out the door.  It's a shame that Hallmark ornaments, except for a few special ones, aren't selling on eBay at ALL mostly, and the few that do sell are going for about $1 each.
sigh
So that, with a box of Ty brand stuffed animals and a box of used housewares and a swing arm wall lamp, gives me almost another full load to send off to Salvation Army in a couple of days.

Then I got up this morning and saw this report on Yahoo about Goodwill HERE.
YIKES!

Please be careful with your personal information when donating goods to any charity!
And it boggles my mind how any store manager would have let a customer buy personal documents like that......

Still no action on eBay but I am selling a couple of lengths of fabric on average each day over on Etsy.  At this rate I'll run out of excess fabric by.....oh..........2016! lolz
Still loving the ease of packing and shipping fabric. 8-))

I am now down just shy of 54 lbs.  I got past the plateau I hit back in May/June and am starting to see results.  Not being able to exercise much because of my feet is not helping the cause but I have weights to use to work my arms.  I know I'd lose faster if I gave up drinking(bad, bad carbs!)but at this point I don't want to give up the 3 or 4 drinks I have a week.  There is something to be said for keeping your sanity.....

As for what I am eating.......I haven't changed content much since earlier this year after the heart problem episode, except for having to be careful I don't eat too much green leafy veggies now while I am on this Coumadin drug.
It's been 7 months now since we basically changed our diet so I think we have made it a permanent lifestyle change.  I find I no longer crave junk food or sweets most days.

I eat a lot less at a meal(portion control)and try to stay away from carbs at meals.  I don't fix a meat, carb and veg. for dinner.  Usually I'll just fix a meat and veg(or 2 vegs. sometimes if one is a carby veg.).   Sometimes I do a sauce on the meat or veg. so I am getting some carbs anyway.  I also always have a sandwich at lunch, so I get plenty of good carbs with my bread and occasionally I'll have carbs with my breakfast-either a bowl of cereal or a mini bagel with my yogurt.

The big thing is I have cut down on cheese intake drastically.  No cheese on burgers or sandwiches EVER!  And we eat/fix cheesy dishes very rarely now.  We use to throw cheese on most anything we ate here, but no more. 

I plan on losing another 6 lbs. by the end of November, even with Thanksgiving, so wish me luck!
Right now I have 46 lbs. to go to get to the weight I was at 32, BEFORE I had children.  It won't even come close to what I should weigh, but that would be awesome if I could get there without any bariatric surgery.


I am off to get blood work done, then to Rite-Aid to use my expiring +Up Rewards and then maybe to the grocery store if the feet hold out.

Sluggy

Just Some Music for a Tuesday

Just a scene from one of my favorite Musicals and one of my favorite Broadway performers, Mandy Patinkin.

 

Incidentally, the guy who played Juan Peron in the original production is Bob Gunton.  You may recognize him as the evil prison warden from the film, "The Shawshank Redemption".

Sluggy

WTF AGAIN?!

Remember just yesterday when I said the Good News is that the new heating system is working again and we now have heat?
Well, guess what wouldn't turn back on yesterday evening after I turned it off 4 hours earlier?
Yup.....the heaters.

So we are back to having expensive white boxes hanging on our walls that do NOTHING.
And for a bonus, we get to call SEARS......yet again.......

I am just so tired of this......

Sluggy

The Good, The Bad & The Sluggy

The Good News is--
I have sold 10 pieces of fabric in the last week.
The stuff isn't flying off my shelves as fast as I want it to but at least it IS selling so I can recoup some of the cash that is tied up with it.
The shipping costs are hurting sales I just know it.  It's not me asking too much as I am much lower than any fabric store with my prices.  It's good fabric it's just stuff I can't/won't use at this point in my life.

I have decided that packing/shipping fabric is WAY EASIER than the toys/collectibles New in the Box I use to sell.  Just shove that fabric into a shopping bag and then into a padded mailer and it's done.  No bubble wrap and extra padding so the boxes the stuff comes in doesn't get denting/crushed with collectible toys.  Geesh!

And speaking of toys/collectibles.......

The Bad News is--
I started putting old/unsold stuff back up on eBay for the Holiday selling/buying rush.
I've got 11 or so items up so far and all I want to know is....WHERE ARE THE BUYERS!?!?!
Seriously I have NEVER seen it so dead on eBay since I started on there in 1998.
The lack of interest on there is making the decision to take all this to the Salvation Army instead very attractive.

The Good News is--that by listing items directly on eBay I can get 50 listings for free.  I usually list through InkFrog, the auction service I have used for years now. 

The Bad News is--that I have to cut & paste all the listing photos and html codes from InkFrog into the eBay forms so listing this stuff which use to take me a few seconds in Inkfrog is taking me many many minutes.  Just getting the 11 items I got listed on Sat/Sun finished ate up half my day.
Ugh.

The Good News is--
We still had 3 apples left after I made an apple pie last week so I made Apple Dumplings Sunday night.  It was a riff on a new recipe.  I reduced the amount of sugar a bit but otherwise it was NOT low cal....lol.....

Not the traditional dumplings I make because you pour a sauce over the whole shebang before baking so it's like a wet bottom dessert(think shoo-fly pie)but really good otherwise.
It's heavy on the cinnamon(4 teaspoons!)which I really like.

If anyone would like a tutorial just say so and the next time I make it I'll take pictures and stuff.


And the Bad News is--
Our brand new HVAC mini split system is NOT heating.  We already had them out here in September because the a/c went after 2 months.  Hubs called SEARS for a solid week with no response.  I'd get a lawyer and sue their asses if I had half a mind.....

And the Good News is--
Our new a/c and heating system is FINALLY heating.
After over a week of daily phone calls to Sears, someone got their butt into gear and called the HVAC contractor to come make a service call.
It's UNREAL that a brand new, many thousands of dollars system is NOT working but even more UNREAL that the company we paid all that money to waited A WEEK to contact the service/repair guy to come out and fix it!!!
Thank goodness we also have some baseboard heating in the house or we could have frozen to death before they got around to getting someone out here.
Yah, it was in the 30's a few nights last week.
Totally unbe-freaking-lievable.......

Needless to say SEARS is on my shit list currently and they won't be redoing our kitchen or anything else here.  Too bad they ignored us for a week because they just blew selling us some other home improvement services.
Do you hear that SEARS?!?

So what's the Good/Bad News in your world?

Sluggy

 

This Week on the Dining Table

The "Tired of Coming Up with Meals this Week" Edition.......

 

 

I had to get out of the house this weekend as I was going stir crazy.  Hubs and I went to Ollies(Good Stuff Cheap!)and looked at all their Holiday stuff as I haven't been in Ollie's since the Summer.  I bought this Holiday CD for $4.99....I don't usually spend that much on them but what can I say?.... I love me some Harry Connick, Jr.
It's not even December but I did play it already.
Good stuff! 8-))

Here are the meals that were planned last week--
 

Sunday--Clam Chowder
Monday--Tacos(I'll probably have a chicken sandwich and a part of a bag of frozen veggies.)
Tuesday--leftovers
Wednesday--Lasagna, Salad
Thursday--leftovers
Friday--London Broil, Asparagus
Saturday--leftovers

Everything was eaten as planned except the London Broil was served with a Tossed Salad(didn't get to the store with the sale on asparagus)and Brussel Sprouts were served with the Lasagna.  

As for food spending last week.....there were 4 trips to the store and I spent $98.78 on $162.58 worth of groceries at 3 stores.
I have $301.22 left in my November food budget.

Leftovers going into this week--1 bratwurst(I put it into the freezer for later), leftover chicken pieces, carrots and potatoes, taco fixings, lasagna and London broil.  So many leftovers that I shouldn't have to cook but 3 days this week.
Go me! lol
I am not planning a meal around the leftover taco stuff since #2 Son will probably end up devouring that over the next few days. ;-)

Here's this week's meal plan---

Sunday--Chinese Take-Out  Treating ourselves tonight
Monday--Mushroom Alfredo shells with leftover London Broil, Spinach Salad(Hubs is craving pasta)
Tuesday--Baked Fish(in freezer) and crab cakes(freezer), coleslaw, some veggie(freezer)
Wednesday--Lasagna(leftover-then the rest gets put into the freezer for later)
Thursday--Chicken Pot Pie(using leftover chicken, carrots, potatoes + fresh broccoli)
Friday--maybe Domino's pizza using one of my free coupons + a big salad for me
Saturday--leftovers or something scrounged around the house

What I need to purchase for this menu?......cabbage for slaw, some milk and fruit.  I'm going to buy a rotisserie chicken at Weis(on special $3.99 this week)and slice that up for my lunch sandwiches.  I bought mushrooms and spinach salad last week.
I still need to spend about $125 in the next 2 weeks to get a Thanksgiving gift certificate at the Shursave market.   So I might buy some things ahead this coming week(baking goods mostly and some to use the next week plus fresh produce that will not go bad in the few 2 weeks).
I'm going to try to keep the spending to $80 this week.

What got fixed and served at your house this week?

Sluggy

October $20K Savings Challenge Update

In our family we save money. It is important to us to put money aside for "rainy days".  You know.....those unexpected days when things happen in your life that you can't plan on, but that DO happen and they cost you money you didn't know you'd need to pay out.

Our income is mainly the salary my Hubs draws from his job.  We have money taken off each paycheck from the top to put into savings, before we even get our hands on it.  This money that's taken goes into various pots....life insurance, health insurance premiums, long term care insurance premiums, investments and retirement savings.  It's automatic so we are never tempted to NOT put it into savings.
Once the automatic savings, plus taxes and medical/dental/vision payments are taken out, it leaves what we get to "live on".  From this amount we budget for bills, both monthly and irregular bills(semi-annual, etc.) and our variable bills(like food, eating out, etc.)  Anything left over once our monthly expenses are paid, I put aside into a Savings Challenge. 

For 2013 I am continuing my Yearly Savings Challenge.  I am going to keep the Goal amount at $20,000 again this year.

On to the October report.....

I have posted my October End of Month $20K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the Savings Challenge page tab at the top of the blog 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 October with a really big number!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of October with?.......$4,623.32.

Income
We had $4,417.91 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
 

Other monies received in October totaled $205.41.  This brought us to our gain of $4,623.32 for October.

 

Outgo

As for the expenses this October, here are the good and the bad side of things....

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

 

*  Evidently I overpaid(again!)the long distance phone last month so our bill was only .65¢ in Oct.

*  The electric bill was about $1 LESS than September's bill.  October's bill has ALWAYS been at least $50 more than September's bill before this year(due to the heat getting turned on).
*  The credit card bill was about half of what it was in September.

* And the BEST Good Thing.....October was a third paycheck month!, so we socked that away into the Savings Challenge.

 

HERE are the BAD THINGS

 

*  I overspent on the food budget by $19.

*  Spending on prescriptions increased due to the blood clot issue.

*  We had pet related spending of $237(kennel and vet bills)because of trips.
*  Cash withdrawals were about double September's amount but some of this was due to trips taken.

 

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

The 2013 TOTAL so far.....
With 10 months behind us, our Savings Grand Total for 2013 stands at $20,926.27. 
 

We surpassed our goal by almost $1000 AND we still have 2 months left in the year to save some more money!
 

Looking ahead for November......
 

*  No special Holiday spending this month.  We aren't traveling for Thanksgiving and the meal will be modest because it's just Hubs and I this year.  And if I can scare up a Turkey Day invite from someone, then we won't need to buy/cook anything special that day. lolz

*  No big annual or semi-annual bills come due in November(the next one is in February)but I do plan on buying some furniture this month as the living room is bare except for a rug.

 

*  We put the bulk of the Ocean City trip from October on the credit card so that will have to be paid off in full from November's paychecks.

Between paying for the October trip and purchasing furniture for the living room I don't think we'll have much leftover during November to throw into the Savings Challenge.  I'll keep the Challenge up until the end of 2013 just in case we have some spare funds the next 2 months.

 

So how was your October financially?
  

Did you spend less than the income you had in October?
Did you stay within your budget or not?
Did you pay off any debts or put extra toward your mortgage principle?

If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out your progress too and celebrate with you!

Sluggy

Obamascare or the Affordable Candy Act

You have to go HERE and see this.
I don't care your political views, this is F'ing FUNNY!!!

Sluggy

Sluggy's Boring Blog Box Giveaway....Week Three!

What time is it?!

            The very rare pumpkinpillar.

 

Well it's time for another BORING BLOG BOX GIVEAWAY!!

Here's how it works if you are new here.......

 

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

Here is what went into the Box today......

 

A selection of items I bought back from western Virginia to share.

1. A small box of Apple Candy bought in Wythe County, Va.

2. A Can of Boiled Peanuts bought in AltaVista, Va.

3. A Postcard from Big Walker Lookout in Wythe County, Va.

4. A bag of Horehound Drops bought in Alta Vista, Va.

 

This week's prizes have a value of about $10.
 

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

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

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

This week I want to hear about your Christmas spending.  Do you budget how much you spend at Christmas or do you just "wing it" and not worry about the money?  What sort of things do you spend on at Christmas?  How much do you plan on spending this year?  Are you spending more, less or about the same this Christmas as in years past?
 

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

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

Any questions?  Just email me.

Happy Entering!! 

Sluggy

Happy Halloween!

Are ready for it?

 

I'll be hiding in the house this year.  I didn't buy any candy(the first time since 1989!)and this is the second year I have no kids to dress up and send out foraging for treats.
I'll be trying to list some things on eBay tonight and let me just say, that THAT will be scary enough for me!lol

Have a happy one!

Sluggy

October 2013 Budget Results.....Food & Toiletries Spending

It's not the end of October yet but I am posting my month end totals since I am finished grocery shopping for this month.

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for OCTOBER 2013.

I have posted October's totals on the Total Grocery Savings for 2013 Page located HERE and have updated the Yearly Totals there.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in October.  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 at home this month)& 2 dogs. No kids under 17.
******************

FOOD LION
OOP  $40.17
Qs/Ads  $13.26
Value  $53.43
Savings  24.82%
 

SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP  $203.89

Qs/Ads  $106.04

Value  $309.93

Savings  34.21%

PRICE CHOPPER
OOP  $25.04
Qs/Ads  $25.09
Value  $50.13
Savings  50%

RITE-AID
OOP  $7.97
Qs/Ads/+Ups  $49.61
Value  $57.58
Savings  86.16%

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $142.57

Qs/Ads  $80.04

Value  $222.61

Savings  36%

I am no longer adding my rebates received into my food budget directly. I will use them on food on occasion and will note that when used.  I will keep track of rebates/gift cards/certs received here as before however.

REBATE CHECKS RECEIVED IN October.....$8.00

GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES....$0

TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received...$8.00

COUPONS and FREEBIES

Zero

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 86.16%, Price Chopper at 50% and Weis at 36 %.  I shopped at 5 different stores this past month.

TOTAL Out of Pocket........$419.64

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$274.04

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$693.68

TOTAL Savings of...................................39.50%

This closes out the October food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....

I went into October with my usual $400 budgeted for food/toiletries purchases.
I went over by $19.64. 
Not too bad really and I'm not upset over it.  If I hadn't hurt my foot(and didn't have to send family to the store who don't worry about getting the best deal), who knows if I would have been able to stay under $400.
I did restart the Rite-Aid shopping this month and that spending is included in my totals.  I'll probably spend a bit more at Rite-Aid as we get closer to Christmas.
 

Looking ahead to November---Other than Thanksgiving, there are no special occasions coming up that require extra food spending this month for us.  Not sure about Thanksgiving at this point as #2 Son will be working that day(a restaurant), so it will just be me and Hubs at home.  Our Thanksgiving meal might be a tad unusual and it will definitely be a lot smaller than the norm for us.
As I buckle down and follow the pre-surgery eating plan this month, we may have less food spending.  But I'll keep the food budget for November at $400.

 

And here is the run down of my Food & Toiletries Spending for 2013 so far this year--
 

2013 Total Saved $2,523.40

2013 Yearly Total Value of Items  $6,216.33

2013 Yearly Total Spent $3,692.93

2013 Yearly Savings Total of  40.60%

 

In October, total savings percentage for the year has gone DOWN .13% over September's year-to-date total of 40.73%, to 40.60%. 
But we are holding steady in the 40%s.
I'd love to get to the end of the year with a 40% savings percentage for all of 2013.
We shall see if it happens. ;-)
The average monthly food/toiletries spending so far this year stands at $369.30.

 

How much did you spend on food in October?
 

Sluggy

Go Win!

Sonya Ann is having a giveaway.  Not sure how long it's running....until she gets back from Vegas maybe?

Go enter it HERE.

And tell her I sent ya!


Sluggy

Oh Goody! Problems Already....LOL

It never fails.
I try to sell somewhere and the "problem folks" find me immediately.

I was/am a magnet for crazy buyers and scammers on eBay so why did I think Etsy would be any different? lolz

The first email I get a few hours after opening my store yesterday was someone wanting my phone number and mailing address so she could buy something over the phone or by mail from me.

I take Paypal, Etsy gift cards, Debit and Credi cards.
Sorry, no personal checks/mail orders and I can't take/process credit cards directly over the phone, just through Etsy.

Ugh.

Second up is a potential buyer in Japan who wants a shipping quote.
Though I DO ship most anywhere in the world, I doubt she is going to actually buy a $4 piece of fabric that costs $23.95 to ship to Japan.
It isn't spun gold or anything.....


Sluggy

This Week on The Dining Table

The "Back Home Now & It's Cold as Heck Here!" Edition.......

 

 

This is a Caprese Salad I made a couple of weeks before we went to Ocean City, when we still had fresh tomatoes from our garden.
I can honestly say now.....I am not a fan.  Don't know what all the fuss over it is about.
Do you like this dish?

Here are the meals that were planned last week--sort of--
 

Sunday--pizza out
Monday--steak, fries out
Tuesday--1/2 fish sandwich, 1/2 sweet potato fries, cup of crab soup out
Wednesday--other half of Tuesday's dinner ate in the room
Thursday--turkey sandwich at home
Friday--bratwurst on roll, strawberries at home
Saturday--whatever I can find at the house if Judy doesn't come over, otherwise a roast chicken or eating out

Everything was eaten as planned except Friday I had leftover Broccoli Soup and Strawberries and Saturday was Roast Chicken, Carrots and Potatoes.

As for food spending last week.....there was one trip to the store on Saturday, I spent $48.41 on $65.39 worth of groceries at 1 store.
I had $36.74 left in the food budget so I went over by a bit this month.

I didn't include the little out of pocket spent this month at Rite-Aid yet for October and that will add another $7.97 spent out of the food/toiletries budget.

No food waste while we were gone.

Leftovers going into this week--1 bratwurst, leftover roast chicken with carrots and potatoes.

Here's this week's meal plan---

Sunday--Clam Chowder
Monday--Tacos(I'll probably have a chicken sandwich and a part of a bag of frozen veggies.)
Tuesday--leftovers
Wednesday--Lasagna, Salad
Thursday--leftovers
Friday--London Broil, Asparagus
Saturday--leftovers or something scrounged around the house


I'll be posting my final October food spending post in the next day or two since I won't be going grocery shopping again this month.

What got fixed and served at your house this week?

Sluggy

I Finally Did It!

I got my Etsy store opened today.
Go.
Me.

If you are in need of fabric, go take a look HERE.
I can do combined shipping to save some on mailing costs so just email me for a shipping quote.

Now to get the eBay stuff up and running.

Sluggy
 

My Danged Feet or How I Spent My Weekend

We had a real nice time on our mini vacation last week.
Sadly, we had to return Thursday night.
I did well walking a bit on the vacation but on Tuesday I did a no-no while at the beach.
I couldn't get over the sand dune to get to the beach or even SEE the beach on Tuesday's outing so I walked with my cane up a sand dune to view the ocean.

Well what seemed like a good idea at the time ended up notsomuch by the next morning.
I awoke with new pain in my right foot and was confined to the wheelchair all day except for getting in and out of the car.
Yuck.
All the activities on Wednesday were done from the confines of a wheelchair for me.
And then on Thursday on the trip home when Hubs stopped 2 places I stayed in the car. 
That night when we got home I was hurting so bad I couldn't climb the stairs to bed so the sofa bed was unfurled for me for the evening.
Oh goody. lol
By Friday evening I was able to get up the stairs but that's about all the walking I have been doing this weekend.....up and down the stairs to and from bed.

I'm able to put weight on it again but have been taking it easy over the weekend since I have 3 appointments on Monday.....1 to have blood drawn up the road, to check my INR levels for the anti-coagulant, 1 with the Pulmonary Doc(I can imagine the conversation now.....doc, "How is your breathing?"--me, "It's fine since I can't hardly walk at all so I can't exert myself." lolz), and last 1 to have a CAT scan of my lung to make sure the teeny tiny spot hasn't grown in the last 6 months since it was discovered.
If not for medical personnel, I'd have NO social life!

I will be taking the wheelchair with me to the last 2 appointments as I doubt I can make it from the car to doc #1 to the CAT scan machine at the other end of the hospital and back to the car.

I also missed #2 Son's Senior Night on Friday because of the cold, rain and not being able to walk.  Before the last football game of the year, they honor the seniors among the football jocks, the cheerleader bitches and the marching band nerds by parading them in front of the stands and announcing their names. sigh.

The only good thing to come out of the last few days is that I am getting good at controlling a wheelchair and have stopped bashing into doors, doorways, cabinets and furniture.  I could use a pair of those fingerless leather palmed gloves though for my poor hands.  They sure take a beating!

Hubs helped me go through my closet this morning and we got the Summer clothes change out for the Winter stuff so that I can reach it all with my current limited mobility.
He's helped me make dinner this weekend(getting stuff I can't reach mostly and fetching things from the garage)and did some grocery shopping Saturday so we have adequate food in the house.
My big accomplishment was getting 100 Etsy listings completed and ready to launch this evening while he watched the World Series.
Go.
Me.

Now I just need Hubs to help me get the shipping boxes and packing materials(bubble wrap, tape, scale, scissors, etc.)out of the garage and into the dining room so once I open the Etsy store and hopefully SELL something, I can then pack and ship it out without any help.

If he can also get the eBay tubs out of the garage for me I can also get that stuff listed in time for Holiday sales.
He's a great Hubs......

We decided on the medical plan for next year this past week and enrolled.  In between going to my appointments Monday, I need to find a podiatrist Monday with my referral, that is convenient who takes our current insurance AND takes the plan we signed up for in 2014.  It's such a bitch because if I can't find one who participates in both plans, I have to start with one and then changed on Jan. 1 to another doc, OR just wait until Jan. 1 and then find a doc-which means I will basically be wheelchair/house bound until Jan.  Not liking that reality much.

I also saw a nutritionist on Friday.  It was suppose to be one from their "pre gastric surgery" department but they sent me to a reg. nutritionist so THAT was a colossal waste of time because I now have to wait until the 3rd week in November to get into see the correct type of nutritionist to start the surgery process going.  I've been down this part of the process before(that last dr. decided to no longer perform the surgery on anyone, even his patients who were in process like me so all those appts. and money paid OOP were for naught), so I am hoping I can "fast track" ahead to the psychological examination part of the process this time.  I know the ropes in this phase of things and have restarted the eating routine already.
And then in Jan. I have to hope that the new insurance covers enough of this procedure/process to make this doable for our budget.

That's about it for me this weekend.  It's gotten danged cold here suddenly and I have lots to do but not able physically to get to some things right now.
Trying to be patient.....but patience is NOT my middle name! ;-)


Sluggy

Go Enter this Giveaway!

Run over to The Dollar Hollering Homemaker's Blog to sign up for her Green Giant Giveaway.
The link is HERE.

Sluggy
 

On The Dining Table This Week

The "Sluggy was Away all Week & Just Got to This" Edition.......

 

Here are the meals that were planned last week--
 

Sunday--Broccoli Soup, Hubs had some meatloaf too
Monday--freezer leftover chicken and stuffing, baked Butternut Squash
Tuesday--Lobster Rolls and/or leftovers, Beets
Wednesday--Shrimp in Garlic Sauce, Coconut Rice, Mixed Veggies
Thursday--leftover Meat loaf, Roasted Taters, Brussel Sprouts
Friday--London Broil, Baked Potatoes w/Broccoli Soup
Saturday--Leftovers

And here's what actually got eaten--

Sunday--Broccoli Soup, Hubs had some meatloaf too
Monday--freezer leftover chicken and stuffing, baked Butternut Squash
Tuesday--Lobster Rolls, Beets & leftover Squash
Wednesday--Shrimp in Garlic Sauce, Coconut Rice, Mixed Veggies
Thursday--leftover Meat loaf, Roasted Taters, Brussel Sprouts
Friday--leftover Shrimp in Garlic Sauce, Coconut Rice, Mixed Veggies, leftover Beets
Saturday--leftover Cheddar Broccoli Soup

Everything as planned except leftovers on Friday instead of London Broil and Baked Taters with the leftover soup.

As for food spending last week.....between 10/14 and 10/21, I spent $97.63 on $157.53 worth of groceries at 3 stores in 4 trips.
I have $36.74 left of my $400 food budget, and as of today, 6 days left in my month.

As for food waste, we used it all up except for a cup of leftover stuffing.  Too much for the amount of chicken we had to use up.

Leftovers going into this week--not a thing.

Here's this week's meal plan---it's in hindsight since today is Friday.lol

Sunday--pizza out
Monday--steak, fries out
Tuesday--1/2 fish sandwich, 1/2 sweet potato fries, cup of crab soup out
Wednesday--other half of Tuesday's dinner ate in the room
Thursday--turkey sandwich at home
Friday--bratwurst on roll, strawberries at home
Saturday--whatever I can find at the house if Judy doesn't come over, otherwise a roast chicken or eating out

We hit the Food Lion this week while on vacation for foods for breakfast and for dinner the night before we came home, plus some fruit and milk.  We tried to eat at local places and avoid fast food.
We did have an Arby's sandwich for lunch on Wed. and KFC chicken yesterday during the trip home for Lunch.  All other meals were eaten/prepared in the hotel room or local restaurants to keep costs down and to stay away from processed foods.  We brought home some of the Food Lion groceries and will eat those the next 2 days, then hit the grocery store for a few things and spend the rest of my Oct. food budget.


 What got fixed and served at your house this week?

Sluggy

Sluggy's Boring Blog Box Giveaway....Week Two!

What time is it?!

Well it's time for another BORING BLOG BOX GIVEAWAY!!

Here's how it works if you are new here.......

 

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

Here is what went into the Box today......

1. 1 Airwick Room Refreshener

2. 1 bottle of NYC Makeup Foundation

3. 1 tube of Sarah Michaels Bath Gel

4. 2 tubes of glitter Eye Liner
5.  1 tube of Nivea Lip Balm
6.  1 Purina Dog Frisbee

 

 

This week's prizes have a value of about $20.
 

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

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

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

This week I want to hear about how you celebrate Thanksgiving.  Do you host a big gathering and is it family only or do you gather with friends as well?  Do you cook anything and if so, what?  Do you have a traditional item you make each year other than turkey and pumpkin pie?
 

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

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

Any questions?  Just email me.

Happy Entering!! 

Sluggy