Sluggy's Boring Blog Giveaway Box......Enter Now!

Here's a NEW POST for Sluggy's Boring Blog Giveaway Box......Enter Now!

Sluggy's BORING BLOG BOX GIVEAWAY is Ready!

Just to recap, 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.

There are only 11 entries so far on last week's Giveaway post.  Now I KNOW more folks than that read what I babble on about!  

Geez, I can't even lure lurkers out of lurkdom with a giveaway?   ;-)

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

1. Airwick compact Air Freshener(lavender fragrance)
2.  Colgate Toothpaste(to go with last week's toothbrush)
3. Avon Leg Cream(shorts season is coming!)
4. Visine  Eye Drops(hayfever season is coming!)


If this is your first time, please go read all the rules for these Giveaways HERE.

Time to enter.....You can enter on this Giveaway post until I post another set of items for the Giveaway--which is usually about a week.

1 entry per person per day on THIS POST.  Leave your name/email addy and a COMMENT on any topic you wishe for a valid entry on THIS POST.  When I post again about this BORING BLOG BOX GIVEAWAY entries on this Post will be CLOSED and you must post on the New Giveaway Post to enter.  I hope this isn't too confusing. ;-)  There will be a link on the top of the side bar to the current Giveaway Post.

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.

There are 2 ways to get extra entries....

1. Put my blog on your blog's Blogroll.  Leave an extra comment for this entry on THIS POST with the URL of your blog so I can make go check it out. If I'm already on your Blogroll, say so in this extra comment/entry.
2.  Blog about this Giveaway on your blog or on a Message Board.  Leave an extra comment for this entry on THIS POST with a link to your blog post or the message on the board.

Again, you can enter on this post until I put another Giveaway Post up and then you need to enter on the NEWER Post.

Any questions?  Just email me.

Happy Entering!! 

Sluggy

February/March Food Spending Week 4 &1, Meal Plan March Week 1

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-1970's or earlier.
This week I give you the "kitchen of tomorrow" from 1945......

This post-war kitchen of the future was thunk up by the Western Pines Co of Oregon.  If you can't make out the copy of the ad, they refer to this as a "Living Center", not a kitchen.  They predict that the mechanical innovations that would free women up from the drudgery of kitchen work would be air conditioning, a quick freeze unit and no splash sink with sliding grill.  They referred to the desk and hutch as a "dish secretary and food budgeteer".  And get a load of the flat screen TV! mounted above the combination "fireplace incinerator heating unit".  Take note of the Venetian blind type separator curtain/blind over the peninsula.  They say this will be "electrically operated" and when closed will separate the cooking area from the dining area.  What crazy thinking for the 1940's!lol

Up til this point, natural wood finishes were not what was done in a kitchen.  Wooden cabinets(more in freestanding furniture or furniture cabinet forms like Hoosier cabinets)were standard, but mostly this furniture sported painted finishes.  
Before the metal built-in cabinetry that was "modern" in the 1930's, wood in the kitchen was standard, but this wood concept and finish, while a return to the previous era was also new in it's form and treatments.
This ad didn't actually show the kitchen prep areas so I don't know how I feel about this kitchen.  I do think all that Ponderosa pine reminds me of wood paneling from my childhood that everyone had in their finished basements.  This ad also reminds me of old camper photos. 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--Hubs/#2 Son had Burger King, I had a big salad with nuts and fruit
MONDAY--Ravioli, Salad
TUESDAY--Pecan Chicken, Sweet Potatoes, Cauliflower/Carrot blend
WEDNESDAY--Meatloaf, Green Beans, Smashed Potatoes
THURSDAY--Fish, Rice, Teriyaki Veggie Melange
FRIDAY--homemade Pizza, Salad
SATURDAY--Leftovers

Everything was served as planned.  Since I had a whole chicken to roast, instead of doing my traditional preparation for the Pecan Chicken, I roasted the bird, then sliced off the breast meat and prepared the sauce and put those slices under the broiler with the sauce and nuts for those who wanted their bird sauced.  Me?....I had my bird roasted and plain and Hubs ate the dark meat parts.  #2 Son is the only one who wanted the sauced version so this worked out for everyone.

The weekly food spending was $159.20.  I already speechified about spending $121.53 in ONE shopping trip HERE.  The next day, Saturday, Hubs and I went to the other local grocery store and dropped another $37.67.  That trip was to pick up tomato products, 2 lbs. of fish fillets, OJ, 1/2lb of deli meats and 6 bags of salad greens.  This was the shopping trip I had planned to make last week.

It's the 5th day of the month and I've already spent more than HALF my food budget for the month!  I have $140.80 left from my original $300 kitty for food.  I do have $176.80 leftover from Jan. and Feb.'s kitties which I will dip into if I need it, but I'll try my hardest to avoid spending that.


Going into March Week 1+ I have a few leftovers.  Mostly it's just one helping of something and not enough for an entire meal.  We ate some leftovers on Sunday so there is little left now.  The only exception is leftover chicken from the roasted bird.  I am planning to use that in a casserole type dish this week.

This week's menu.....

SUNDAY--Leftovers
MONDAY--Tacos or Taco Salad, Corn
TUESDAY--Veal Parmesan, Pasta, Salad
WEDNESDAY--Birthday Meal out
THURSDAY--Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole
FRIDAY--Chinese take-out
SATURDAY--Breakfast for Dinner

This menu gives us 4 new meals, 1 eating out, 1 take-out(at Daughter's request) and 1 night of leftovers.The veal is Hubs request, the tacos are #2 son's request and I need something easy to fix on Sat.

Items needed to buy for this menu are...veal patties. I've got everything else here already in the freezer or the pantry.  The tacos, parmesan and chicken casserole will use the last of the shredded cheeses.  The tacos will also use up the last of my ground beef stash.
We'll be buying milk as usual.

So what is everyone else eating this week?

Sluggy

Chit-Chat....Sunday Night Edition

It's the Sunday Night Chit-Chat!

Here's my favorite blog photo from last week......

There is nothing better than a hot guy.....well, maybe one that can make you laugh too!


What are you........
Reading?

 Still got this baby on tap from 2 weeks ago.  I confess I haven't cracked it open since then.  Just not feeling a good read lately...plus no time with all the decluttering I was doing in February.
This week perhaps....

Watching?
At 9pm there is a new episode of Hoarders on TLC...aka the Car Wreck Station because whatever is on is weird/sad/terrible/freakish but you just can't look away.
I guarantee that at some point this coming week I'll be decluttering again, due mostly to having watched this car wreck show.

Listening to?
A little swing and ska music.
Currently liking and tapping my toes to this....



In a lot of ways I feel I was born in the wrong time.

Cooking/Baking?
No baking here.  I cooked 5 meals last week.  We had leftovers one night and the guys had fast food the other night. Nothing I haven't made before.  I haven't felt like making new stuff, because, well.....it takes effort.

Happy you accomplished this week?
The Week #4 Decluttering Challenge.  'Nuff said.

Looking forward to next week?
The Daughter is coming home for Spring break.   Hopefully we'll be able to spend some quality time together.  We need to have a long talk at least.

Thankful for today?
*My kids.  They they are the source of much grief and worry in my life, they are a great joy to me.
*That my investment college fund actually went up and stayed up last week.  It tanked right before we sent #1 Son away to college(in 2008) for the first time and I've been waiting until it recovered to take the money out to use it for school.  Thankfully only a small piece of his college $ was in there and we didn't have to rely on it while it was down the toilet.
*That the taxes are done and submitted.  That's a load off my shoulders.

Go see Carla HERE to link up and play along.


Sluggy

A Snappy Tune and A Cultured Lesson to Start Your Week

I have mentioned from time to time on the blog that I studied voice while in college.
During this time I worked my chops on anything from musical theater tunes to light operetta to classic opera, as well as lieder(art songs of the 19th century).

This vocal training required me to sing in foreign languages, as most lieder and opera were not written in English.  Though there are translations of most every song into English, when you study singing, you sing in other languages. That's just a given if you are serious about it.

 While I can't necessarily speak or understand these tongues, I did pick up a smattering of French, Italian and German. Singing in a foreign language is different than learning to speak that language.  While you need to be clear enough in pronunciation to be understood in that tongue, you also have to often change or adjust pronunciation to make the notes you produce more pleasing to the ear.
Ok, so I am babbling at this point.

I just wanted to share an aria(this means a song in operatic terms)with you all, that I always enjoyed performing.  It is a typical operatic brindisi.  Brindisi simply means " a drinking song".  Many Italian operas included them.  It was, as it were, one of the parts of the standard "let's write an opera" formula employed by composers/lyricists back in the heyday of opera writing.
A Brindisi was most always a merry upbeat tune.
This example is pretty much the most well-known brindisi.....as sung by the incomparable Joan Sutherland and Luciano Pavarotti....



I am sure you are familiar with that merry tune.  It's from the equally famous opera La Traviata by Guiseppe Verdi.  My one sentence synopsis of this opera.......It's about a French Courtesan(prostitute)who dies of consumption(TB)after she finds her true love(sort of).

I have always found that song to be amusing since this tune is sung at a party to celebrate Violetta's(the hooker)recovery from an illness.....only she really hasn't recovered, has she?lol

On to my favorite Brindisi....
It's from the opera Lucrezia Borgia by Gaetano Donizetti.
It's based on the legend of that wickedest of them all Borgia's, Lucretia.
Before Italy was known for the Cosa Nostra(the Mafia), they had the Borgia family.  Look them up sometime....
A funner bunch of people you'd be hard pressed to find! ;-)

Here is a painting that was thought to be a portraiture of Lucretia, done in 1515 by Veneto...

Anyway the one sentence plot of Lucrezia Borgia is something like this.....Though warned about staying away from Ms. Borgia by a soothsayer, 2 friends end up getting caught up in her world, get poisoned and die, right after she reveals that she is the mother of one of the two friends.

The friend of the guy who is revealed to be Borgia's son is called Orsino.  The singing part was written for a contralto voice.  Men are not naturally able to sing in this higher register and are either bass, baritone or tenor register singers.

Back in the 1800's  in Europe, in the operatic world, men were castrated before puberty hit in order to turn them into contralto singers.  This was a common practice in this field of work.....giving up your gonads and being able to father children in order to enjoy the accolades of being a successful and adored opera star.....a eunuch but an opera star nevertheless.
This practice of castrato was not outlawed in Italy until the 1870's.  A whole segment of teenage boys breathed a sigh of relief in Italy at that time I am sure. ;-)

On a side note, when I googled castrati this is one of the photos that came up....

So this particular brindisi since that time has been sung by a woman, because contralto is the lower regsiter in a woman's vocal range.  So that is why you have woman commonly playing man's parts in opera today.
Now you can go work that nugget of knowledge into your next cocktail party conversation.

The brindisi is called "Il segreto per esser felici".   In English it is "The Secret of Being Happy".
Yes, sing about happiness as you are being poisoned by the wine you are drinking.
You just have to love those crazy opera composers and their sense of humor!

Without further delay and babbling, here is Daniela Barcellona in an actual performance a few years back of Lucrezia Borgia, singing this brindisi......Godetevi questa! <---that means "Enjoy This".......




Sluggy

What Happens.....Things I Can't Believe!

.....when you bring a 16 year old boy grocery shopping with you?
You over spend and buy crap, that's what!

Though #2 Son had his birthday over a week ago, we still hadn't had his birthday cake.
He couldn't make up his mind between a cheesecake or an ice cream cake.
Well he finally decided on the ice cream cake so I took him with me to Weis "Pound me in the ass" Markets on Friday to get it.....amidst much eye rolling.  While we were there, I wanted to see about using some IPQs I had that were expiring that day.....cue MORE eye rolling when I told him this.

The ice cream cake was $17.99.

Walking over there we go past a display of Pepsico/Frito-Lay snacks, as Weis is having a "Spend $25/Get $5 off your order instantly" Deal.  The only snack we had left in the house was popcorn, so #2 Son talked me into buying Cheetos, Fritos, Doritos and 3 boxes of Capn Crunch cereal.  After sale prices, Qs and $5 discount that came to $13.50
Then he wanted JD breakfast biscuits.
Next he saw the White Castle sliders.....they must have jumped into the cart while my back was turned.
Then he asked me to get him some deviled crab cakes for $3.87.  At least this was 'food' and I said yes.
2 containers of muffins from the 50% rack was next to fall into the cart.
And then there was that Marie Callendar pie on sale for $5.99.
Unplanned kid suggested spending was $38.62...plus the ice cream cake....sigh.....
Maybe I should have sent him to wait in the car after getting the cake.

I did get some things I wanted and had come there for....salmon, boxed GG veggies, whipped cream in a can, Greek yogurt, a block of Cheddar cheese.

And I used my expiring Mighty Dog Q on 12 cans of dog food for $4.60 after sales/Q, 2 bottles of Welch's 100% juice for $2 each after Qs and my Hormel chili Qs for 4 cans of chili at $1.17 can.

I did have a Happy Accident--I spied a whole rack of Hormel pepperoni that had $2 store discount stickers on them as they were close to the sell by date.  Weis was hiding the pepperoni from me.  We found a rack of some off brands and of course, there was NO pepperoni by the deli meat/hot dog/bacon case OR down by the pizza supplies. Weis hates me and likes to hide shit from me, but I outsmarted them and found a rack of Hormel in the middle of the frozen food aisle....now that's logical.....WTF!?!.....

They were regular price of $3.99 so were 50% off with the $2 discount Q....plus I had Qs that took an additional .50¢ off each package, making each one $1.49.  I got 6 packages to put in the freezer.  The good thing about sliced pepperoni is you can freeze it for years and when you need some you don't have to thaw the whole package, just pull out what you need.  Since it's sliced it's easy to just pull off a handful or so.

And the bacon you see in the photo is an expensive brand from Lancaster PA that goes for $4.99 reg. retail.  It was on sale this week for $4 a package this week and I found 3 packs with $2 store discount Qs on them, so $2.00 each for these 3 packages.  Score!

I left the store $121.53 poorer.
I saved $69.93 or about 36%.
And I got 30¢ off a tank of gas.  I NEVER spend enough in one transaction to qualify for gas points....well, until now! lol

I can't remember the last time I spend into the 3 digits at one time at the store.  And I went and checked my records and I can't find a record of spending $100 or more in one transaction since I started this blog and started keeping track of my spending in March of 2009.  I haven't done that in at least 2 freaking years!!
And yes, I am that nerd that has a record of all her grocery and drug store receipts since March of 2009.


Go on!
Give me a date and I'll tell you where I shopped and how much I spent.

I.
Am.
Seriously.
Pathetic.

And I STILL can't believe I spent $121+ at ONE TIME in the grocery store!!

Sluggy

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

Ok, here is my February 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 "unconscious" 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 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 February report.....

I have posted my FEBRUARY 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 February in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of February with?.......$1,889.15!

Income
We had $1,867.30 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
Add in $21.49 in Rebates applied against the food expenses & .36¢ in interest and  you get a total of $1,867.30.

Outgo
Traditionally February has been a very tight month for the money.  Besides the usual expenses we have  semi-annual car insurance payment in Feb.  Add in that February is usually the highest electric bill of the year and this makes for heavier expenses.  Most years if we do not go into the negative in February I am happy.  Having leftover cash this year is thrilling! 8-)

As for the expenses this February......

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  While the electric bill was high(as our heat is electric and it IS Winter!), the mild temperatures in Jan./Feb. kept our bill over $100! lower than the previous year's bill.

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

*  The credit card bill(which is paid in full each billing cycle)was under $700 this month.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

* Car insurance premium.  #2 Son just turned 16 in Feb.  I am dreading how much it goes up once he goes to get his Learner's Permit....bleh.

* I wrote a check for our state taxes as we always end up owing a bit on the state form.

The Food Budget costs for February are in another post, which is located HERE.  I underspent my food budget by about $93, as we ate down supplies from the freezer/stockpile last month and I stayed out of the grocery store for the most part.

YEAR-TO-DATE GRAND TOTAL.....
With 2 month behind us, our Savings Grand Total for 2012 is $2,993.91.

We surpassed our monthly goal in Feb. so now we are only $339.43 behind for the year.

So how much did YOU save in February?  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 February 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

A Piece of My Youth Fades Away....

Well us Boomers that grew up in the late 1960's got a kick in the head yesterday, when news came that Davy Jones, late of the musical group, The Monkees, died at age 66.
Suddenly a whole lot of us are feeling quite old and vulnerable.

I was a big Fan.  I had much older brothers so in our house, The Beatles reigned supreme but with my little 7 yr old teeny bopper self, I was all about The Monkees, The Jackson 5, The Partridge Family and Bobbie Sherman.
This is the only album I could find yesterday when I dug out my vinyls....

I believe at one time I had all their albums....I wore out a copy of "Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd." and I broke my "The Monkees Headquarters" album. I could only play the songs closer to the center of the disc, after I broke a piece off of the record.lol

Here's one of my favorite songs from THE MONKEES album. I tended to gravitate to the funny songs.....

Though they had many detracters, there was talent in that group.
Watch this funny clip and listen closely....



Now listen to it again, done by the artist who made it famous....



Yep, a Monkee wrote that.

Here he is singing it, back in the 1990's.



My Fav. of the 4 was Mickey.
But here is one of my favorite songs that Davy had the lead vocals on...



He played a mean tamborine, didn't he? ;-)

And to put a personal spin on this, Davy Jones has a home about 1.5 hours from where I live in PA. He kept and raced horses there and enjoyed blending into the community there. People left him alone and he would spent time there out of the spotlight.

And for Bonus points tell me what was the Hit A Side to this B Side tune on one of their 45rpm record Singles?

 R.I.P. Davy Jones.  You helped a generation of youth sing.

I'm off to watch this video below and go work on my Monkees Walk.......



Sluggy