Catching Up Update - Up Up I say!

Sunday was a no spend day. FREE breakfast in Sunday School class. Somebody brought Braum's sausage biscuits which were really good. I had never eaten one before. There were other things such as FREE muffins, FREE coffeecake, and FREE coffee. Hallelujah!

Monday was also a no-cash spend day for me. The Hubster did however make the downpayment on the windows which we'll be paying cash for! No payments, yeah!!

Over the weekend FrugalSon had to make a big car repair expense to his lil' truck, a whopping $2.17 for new fuses so his horn could beep once again.

Yesterday morning The Hubster was looking for his snackcakes (his one big requirement for a happy worklife) and so we trotted down to the basement to the freezer only to find that everything in there was thawing out! Glad we made the visit.

When I returned from my morning errand CashHappySon and I worked on throwing out what needed tossing ($$'s down the drain) and getting the rest into the cooler. Then upstairs to shuffle the refrigerator's freezer to fit in as much as we could.

Ended up cooking some of the meat in the crockpot for the dogs. Nice treats! ...and cooked about three packages of sausage links for the boys.

Those wouldn't fit into the upstairs freezer. They had a nice breakfast and lunch on them and still have some leftover. SIGH! Bad freezer!! We checked and no the breaker hadn't switched off or anything. Boo!

Later The Hubster calls and has me plug it into another socket. Ta-da it works! It is an older freezer that I got from my Mom when she replaced hers.

I'm thinking at this moment in time I'm just going to leave it empty and unplugged unless someone wants to gift me with a side of beef or a hog or something! Saving on electricity.

I just don't think I utilize it as much anymore w/just the four of us at home right now along w/the inconvenient trek to the basement to stock it or retrieve something. If it were upstairs maybe! It's TOO TOO TOO Ugly for upstairs though.

Along with that is the car maintenance that The Hubster had done yesterday. I sent him in to get his scheduled oil change only to discover that it is time to do the 30,000 mile maintenance in order to keep his warranty in place.

This little bit of sunshine cost us $534.00 on the CC!! Jeepers! November is looking slimmer and slimmer as we also had his $626 crown thingy earlier this month that went on the CC!

The E.F. is definitely taking a hit, as there is no way I can cover all that out of current income and still be able to eat and have utilities, much less have gasoline for work commute!!



Okay Lord, I need a lot less money going down the drain and much more money coming up out of the drains! Up Up I say! And again I say UP!!

I Also Agree With Tina



Right Tina, you should blog about Starbucks more often!

hahahaahhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaa!!! Let us see where this takes us!

Starting hits 14,262

I am decidely not a coffee snob. I paid $1.00 a brick for the last coffee I bought and I bought all the scratch n' dent store had on hand that day! Hot and brown and I'm okay as long as there's loads of sugar & creamer on hand to dull it.

Holy Taco Mole!!!

Found a steal yesterday afternoon. Before the movie CashHappySon and I were out and about letting him put his application in some places. He's ready to move on from burgercentral - he's stayed the year his Dad & I required from him. He's a bit of a flutter-bye and we're trying to discourage that in the job market.

We went out to the big salvage barn near here - they sell gas, groceries and hardware...it's about 20 minutes from nowhere. It's a kind of scratch and dent store. I shop there frequently and CashHappy knows the owner/manager from the drive-thru lane and our visits to shop. The guy wasn't there but we brought home the application to fill out. Anyway, while there I spent big money yesterday. A whole .26 cents!! Wee-ha!

They have those neat little taco bowls in a large sleeve with 15 of the corn taco shell bowls in it for 25 cents each sleeve. With tax that is .0173333 cents each folks! Bet you can't guess what we're having for dinner tonight????



If they aren't stale I will go back and get some more and put them in the freezer!! This is how I feed my family cheaply. I look for deeeeeeeeep discounts and then when the item tastes good I heaviliy stock up.

Holy Taco Mole - Think I may have a SCORE!!!!

Also yesterday I spent even more money - GASP! Got two new stained glass candle stands for 50 cents each and a box of 4 blown glass ornaments for 12.5 cents each. These are all for Christmas giving. I'll add some candles from the dollar store to the holders.

For myself I bought a green blown glass money frog. I'm fung shuei-ing my money sector! (Wooo-ooooooo did you feel a newage breeze just then???) Really just a cute little frog that is going to sit on my entryway table. I paid 25 cents for him.

I Have Been Influenced and Gone To Pot!

I've gone to pot! I've been listening to all this soup talk and when the temperature dropped this morning about 15 degrees in 5 minutes I knew it was time.

Time to drag out the soup pot.

Because some of the girls were looking for soup recipes, I decided I'd post this one that I made up as I went as it turned out really tasty. A well-stocked freezer and pantry is a wonderful thing!



Gone To Pot Soup
by LuxLiving Frugalis

1 lb. Owens Regular Sausage .99
1 small onion chopped .25
2 T. chopped garlic .10
1 can whole peeled tomatoes chopped .28
1 can chicken broth .50
1 can spinach .28
2 cans yellow squash .28 x 2 = .56
1 tsp. garlic salt .05
1 tsp. Season All .05
----
$3.06 plus tax

Brown the onions, garlic and the sausage. Once the onions are translucent add the remaining ingredients. Simmer on low heat for at least 10 minutes.

Yummy!

Double Fudge Chocolate Chip Toffee Almond Cookies

Good, good, good.

Trying to be frugal and use up some things that have been hanging around the pantry. Don't ask for a recipe, because I don't have one. I just tossed dry ingredients, additions, margarine, vanilla and water. Baked at 350 degrees for 13 minutes.

YUMMY lovin' from the oven!!

Saturday Luncheon Score



Forgot to record that I scored big the other day on Corned Beef at a discount store (I may want more so I'm not giving up my source just yet! ) it was 1.30 a can.

The last time I had bought some was at Save-A-Lot for $1.79 a can. I can normally find it around 1.89-2.29 in the normal grocery stores around here. So, I'm going with the 1.89 as the more 'normal' amount and say I saved 7.08 by buying by the case of 12 with a .59 cent a can savings.

12 x 1.89 = 22.68
12 x 1.30 = 15.60
_________________
savings 7.08 per case!

What do I use Corned Beef for? With two teen boys here the usual Saturday lunch is BBQ Sandwiches. I'll add 1/2 bottle of the Kraft BBQ sauce I got in June for .67 a bottle (pre July Fourth sale). So lunch w/a bag of .99 chips and pickles .50.

1.49 chips/pickles
1.30 meat
.69 HB buns
.33 sauce
.34 porkn'beans
_______________
4.15 quick lunch for four + tax

Some time I might add the 7.08 per case to a challenge or something but this time I'm leaving it in the grocery budget for next month because it is still a bit too tight for my tastes.

Try this BBQ sometime. It's not for everybody, BUT, it's what Hillbilly Brand BBQ sauce used to sell in the grocery stores when I was a kid. Mom would buy these great sandwiches and bring them home...we all thought it a treat.

Now it's just the normal out of the pantry Saturday lunch here.

All I have to do is remember to buy the HB buns & chips and we're usually good to go by picking the canned goods off the pantry shelves.

Come October 1st with the new grocery budget allocation I'm going back in for probably 2 more cases! Just LOVE a good food score, don't you????

SCRATCH & DENT

Went on a scratch and dent grocery shop today. Paid 16.63.

Purchased:

6 pkgs. Lil' Debbie snack cakes - regular size packages at 50 cents apiece (now in the freezer)

2 LARGE pkgs. Lil' Debbie snack cakes at .99 each (now in the freezer)

4 pkgs. of granola bars at 50 cents each w/discount 1.78

4 pkgs. of spaghetti seasoning mix
4/$1.00 w/ discount .26

2 extra long rolls Owens sausage @ 2.50 each

4 bottles of shampoo/conditioner combo @ .50 each

2 large bottles of mouthwash @.89 each

tax .83
--------
16.63 LOVE MY SCRATCH & DENT stores! This is one of two close enough to my house to visit rather regularly!

This was budgeted grocery money, so I do consider this an unofficial no-spend day as I spent no other money besides my budgeted funds.

I never know what the discounted items will be. Sometimes when I get to the car I'll send the boys back in for more, but today I didn't have time.

The boys were supposed to go to a company party/seminar/pep rally type deally-who this afternoon and I took them and no sooner got home than they called for me to pick them back up as it had been postponed. Uaghhhh!!!

I hung up and headed towards the door and then decided why not give a shot at getting a freebie out of this deal? I hit redial and told CashHappySon to get me an ice-cream out of the deal since they had failed to call and let them know not to show up today on their normal day off.

When I got there...free ice-cream!! Ta-da!! I made a vow when I started blogging here not to BUY any ice-cream until 2007, but I never said I wouldn't eat any of the free stuff!

Hiddy Ho There Neighbor

A big Hiddy Ho There Neighbor to My Corporate Sponsors Proctor & Gamble because in today's mail came $37 worth of their coupons for such items as Swiffers, Febreeze, Cascade, Mr. Clean, Dawn, and etc.! Thank you. Thank You!!! This will get my couponing back up and running. Don't know who turned me on to it, but thanks!!

Here's a link to P&G:
http://www.homemadesimple.com/common/languagejump.jsp

Earlier today went to the clothes resale shop with the dudes. I bought them their pick of clothes for Christmas - to put away till then - 3 pairs of jeans each, 2 shirts apiece, and each a pair of dress shoes.

So for six jeans, four shirts and 2 pairs of shoes I paid 90.87 total or 7.57 per item average. Not bad.

They will be styling come the New Year and will have forgotten by Christmas what we bought! NICE to have that out of the way.

This was budgeted gift money we spent, so nothing to wank the budget out of alignment! YEAH!!

Only thing left to buy for them is to fill their stocking...which usually has candy, batteries, shaving cream, shaving lotion, music CD, paperback and cologne in it...most of which can be taken care of inexpensively w/clearance, coupons, sales, or BOGOs!

This was definitely a spending day...

Just home from the Walmart where Frugal Son added $3.00 to his $25.00 Employee of The Month gift card he got from work and was able to get himself a new pocket watch, a pair of jeans and some new black socks. He did okay! The socks were already budgeted for in his Clothes Escrow.

CashHappySon bought himself some new black socks as well (they need them for the job) and it was his turn to buy the dog-food and I had a $1.00 off coupon. He also had budgeted back for Clothes and Dog Food so all on an even keel here.

Of course this is the child (I mean young man) that saw 3400 gazillion other things that he now HAS TO HAVE Moooommmmmmmmm! Right kid. No problem but sorry Charlie...save up your money because it isn't in your budget today, but you can allow for it on your next paycheck if there's enough left over after you pay your bills.

I'm such a killjoy!


(photo credit: F. Pancake)

All this black sock talk reminds me of that childhood song we used to sing "Black socks they never get dirty, the longer you wear them the blacker they get!" Does anyone know if there are any additional verses? Those are the only ones I ever learned.

I bought file folders and paper for the printer which had gone up in price .62 cents since my last purchase. Uhhhh, price check on aisle 11, I think somebody forgot to roll back these prices!! These two items were already in the Office Supply Escrow budget so everybody got out under budget! YEAH US!!

CashHappySon went by work to see if the boy was there who was going to buy his guitar amplifier. No go on that deal, but both of them got offered some extra hours so home we ran to get their uniforms and now the house is all quiet again. Ahhhhhhhhhhh!! Silence - how I love ya, how I love ya silence!!

GRACIAS DOUGHBOY!!



Yesterday's coupon savings added to $20 Challenge in Piggy.

$20 Challenge

11.60 balance forward
11.50 coupon savings
_____
23.10 September MTD

A Big Shout Out to My Corporate Sponsors Pillsbury and Old El Paso (among others I can't recall for the life of me at the moment) for the coupons! Gracias Doughboy!!!

And thanks to all you SavingAdvice.com forumites and blogmasters for inspiring me to get back in the coupon game. Me and my checkbook thank you too!

"Nanny Nanny Boo Boo!"

Another NO SPEND Day!! YEAH!!!


We had a delish lunch of BBQ ribs that came out of the crockpot fork tender - ya gotta love what a crock can do to cheap meat!! The ribs were on sale earlier this weekend and I got about 15 lbs. for 10 smackos (that's .67 a pound folks) and we'll be eating pretty for the next week on these.

Ribs, potato salad, corn on the cob, pickles, chips and bread and butter, with - you guessed it - the THANK GOD last of the left over birthday cakes!

YUMMERS!!

Jumbo Jumbo aka The Bologna Wars

Okay who ate the last of the bologna and bread and didn't bother to tell me???? GRRRRRRRRRRR!!! Nor did you write it on the list???

Nothing like a hardworking husband trying to pack a lunch with no bread and no bologna at 6:30 a.m. saying sweetly, "Honey is there any bologna anywhere?".

Of course I was just at the grocery store yesterday picking up stuff for the last of the August birthday dinners and could have picked it up -- so back I trudge.

$.79 Loaf of bread
$.75 bologna on sale
____
1.54
.12 tax
____
1.66

Rounding up the total and writing a check for $2.00, leaving .34 to add to my $20 Challenge and try to catch up with Ima? PRICELESS!

I mean I MUST MUST MUST be compensated for feeling like a goof-ball writing a $2.00 check, can you imagine my chagrin if I'd of had to write one for 1.66. Couldn't be done!

$20 CHALLENGE
20.71 balance
+ .34 spoils of war
_____
21.05 balance forward

And yes, we managed to pack his lunch. Thank the Frugalista blood that runs thru my veins, you'll remember that poor hamsteak that I'd made into portions for 5 meals. Guess who got nice little ham steaks for lunch. Bread? We used the Hamburger Buns that were in the cabinet. Battle won. Now to the wars.

Can you people not see the grocery list on the refrigerator? Is it too much to ask that you PLEAAAAAAAAAAASE write down when you use the last of something?

!!!!!!!PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!

It's supper time and I'm not especialy hungry for anything here and there's nobody home but me. The pizza delivery number was looking interesting but all ya'll tough nuts were peeping over my shoulder so I went on a pantry dive.

What to fix cheap for myself and The Hubster when he gets home???

I wanted to make pancakes and have link sausage, but the pancakes always make my smoke alarm go off. So no, to that. I think okay I'll make muffins then. So I go to my pantry to see what kind of muffin mixes are in there. There are three kinds that I can see.




One uses Milk and Eggs, one uses just Milk and one just uses water. I opted for the water as being the least expensive to prepare.

Note each was inexpensive to begin with. I thought The Hubster would prefer a glass of milk to go with instead of hidden inside the muffins.

And the winners were:



Cinnamon Biscuit Mix .59 (I used a tablespoon more water than called for and baked it in the mini-muffin tin.

Owens link sausage .50

1 cup milk each .40 (milk was on sale this week

mandarin oranges .13

powdered sugar icing .10
_______
Total 1.72 + tax

Eating 1 adult male + 1 adult female

Leftovers 4 mini-muffins and 1 serving of mandarin oranges (can was .25 on sale)

Yo Quiero Tostadas $2.18 plus tax

Tostada Shells .25
Refried Beans - canned .33
Meat - .00 -free from Dad
spices - .05
tomato - .50
onion - .30
sour cream - .35
cheese - .40
salsa - .00 -free from takeout leftovers


No lettuce - we were out of it and an unexpected appointment kept me from hitting the grocery as planned. Iced tea. Leftover birthday cake.

Eating - 3 males age 17+above, 1 female

Here in Kitchen Dough I plan to discourse on the high price of food and the adventures of feeding a family on a squeakers budget!!