8-4-11

12:40pm

Still feeling a little down and out

with hardly any energy.

Kids don't understand when you don't feel

good.  And of course all the kids

in the neighborhood seems to be flocking

to our house once again.

 20 more days til school starts.

Not that I'm counting or anything like that, LOL!

We've finally hit just under the 3 week mark,

woo hoo.  

When kids go back to school-

the utilities will go down,

the food bill won't be as much &

my house won't look like a war zone!!

I can get some much needed rest

with my naps and some of my sanity back,

I can grocery shop with coupons

without kids throwing everything in the cart

and saying, "I want, I want".

At the moment I'm trying to figure out

something for supper.

I think we're going to have stroganoff.

I will make up two of the boxes of

stroganoff and throw the pasta from

a lasagna mix in there also.

We don't like the lasagna seasoning in those

mixes so this is how I will use that box up

without letting it go to waste.

I will also use a pound of ground turkey

from Aldi.

No this isn't part of the recalled turkey!

That turkey is from the maker

Cargill and was distributed to stores

like Kroger and Giant Eagle and comes

in the styrofoam packaging with the

plastic on top.

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When neighborhood children come

to my house they are always asking for

a drink of water.  I give it to them and

so do my kids which results in

every glass in the house dirty

and a dishwasher rack full of nothing but cups!

So I've come up with this idea of saving

plastic bottles.  I actually have a friend

of mine saving all hers as well.

Bottles from 20 ounce pops,

gatorade/sports drinks and actual water bottles.

I plan to fill them with water and store

them in the fridge in one of the crisper bins.

When they ask for water I'll give them

a bottle that they can throw away instead

of me running up my electric bill by

running the dishwasher constantly.

And if they want more water the same

day they can give me the same bottle 

back that I gave them to have refilled

or else go home to get water.

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1:30pm


Today's haul from the garden.

Then add in the bowl of
tomatoes I already had.
Time for more salsa!

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3:25pm

Tony has to work late again tonight.
This will be the fourth day this week.


I colored my hair using
the ultra light blonde Dream Blonde.
Don't know what it is about my
hair but it doesn't seem to want to
go much lighter.  I can't see where
it made a big difference.
Before & After

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6:30pm


I saw this idea for a coupon binder tote.
It looks like a fabric book cover
with velcro sides and handles built in.
I think I might try and make one
in my spare time, ha ha.  It would
make it much easier to tote around
my very large coupon binder to the store.
If you are not handy at making things
like this they sell the Coupon Clutch 
for $29.99.  I'll stick with being frugal
and try to make my own.
I've made my own coupon binder,
I've made totes and years ago I used
to make the fabric covered photo albums.
I don't think it would be too hard to
figure how to make something like this.
I mean the whole idea to having a
coupon binder is to save money right.
So why spend $30 on this coupon tote
if you can make it yourself.


---------------------------------------

6:15pm

Made up a batch of salsa
with the tomatoes from the garden.

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Extreme Makeover is in Columbus, Ohio
this week and next!
They will be tearing down and rebuilding
a home at-
1507 Dewey Rd. which is located
off Joyce Ave. 
Only 5.3 miles from where we live!


Watch a live video stream HERE
of them working on the home!

This show will be a Christmas special
so look for it to air sometime in December.


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8-3-11

12:15pm

Can you believe it's 75 degrees outside?

We're supposed to have a high

of mid to upper 80's today.

I'm enjoying it at the moment.

My morning glories were still open at noon.

Last night I started draining our pool.

There's only about 3 weeks left til

school and we've been going to

my hubby's work to go swimming.

It's slowly draining through an opening

on the side of the pool about the size

of a garden hose.  Which is all good

so it doesn't flood the yard all at once.

The yard is sloped so it's all heading towards

the fence instead of sitting in one place.

I was going to work more on 

the basement today but decided

to finish a couple more loads of 

laundry instead.

---------------------------------

1:45pm

Today I started going through all the coupons
I had and cut out some.
I'm starting to get my coupon binder
back in order and ready for when back
to school starts.  During the Summer
I use some coupons but nothing major.
So when the kids go back to school
is when I'll start back up with using
much more coupons to get things
to stock my pantry with.  Right now
my pantry is looking depleted.
What I had in there lasted me a couple years
though.  


-----------------------------


Got a letter in the mail today
from the Dwight D. Eisenhowerbuilding in Washington.
It's inviting my son(s) 
to spend the Summer of 2012 to study in Australia.
Here's just a portion of the letter.

We've jokingly told the kids we were
going to send them to Summer camp.
They didn't like that too well.
Now you ought to see how fast stuff
gets done when I show them this
letter saying I could send them
to Australia next Summer, LOL.


------------------------------------


I've told y'all that my pantry was
dwindling.  Here's my pantry at the moment.

Out of the 7 Hamburger Helpers left,
we don't like 4 of them.
I haven't quite figured out a way
to use them up.


So I have been brainstorming as to 
what to make around here for supper.
Here's things I pulled from the pantry
and what I made today.
(minus the can of carrots)

 Most of the time I don't use recipes
because I have to use what I have on hand
and get creative.

I saw I had about a
quarter of a bag of flour left
and decided to make homemade noodles.
Nothing fancy, nothing rolled out,
no pasta maker used.


I made two batches of noodles.
To make one batch you need
1 cup flour,
1 egg,
teaspoon salt
and a couple tablespoons water.
I also added in some garlic powder.

Then instead of rolling out I would
pinch of a piece of dough about the size
of a large marble, squish it flat with my fingers,
then cut off little strips with scissors.

Next boil up a large pot of water
with a little salt and olive oil
and add your noodles.
I drained them just before they were done.
The reason was because they were going
to be added to soup and were going
to soak up some of the soup base
and I didn't want them to end up mushy.

While those were boiling I got out
another large pot and made up 1
packet of Liption soup secrets.
I used this mainly for the flavor 
because it had chicken broth in it
and I don't have any chicken bullion.
Once done I stirred in a can of
cream of celery soup and cut up the carrots
into smaller pieces that were in the can.


I then drained my noodles and
added it into the soups and stirred 
until coated and added a little milk
to water it down so the sauce
wasn't so thick.


I then cut up a chicken breast into
small pieces and fried up in a
little olive oil, added salt, pepper
and Mrs. Dash seasoning
and stirred it into the soup.

And here was the end result.

You wouldn't think something like
this would come out good for being
thrown together like it was.
The kids were requesting seconds!
AND a neighborhood teenager
that was over saw the pot of it on the
stove and could smell it outside.
He kept begging me for a bowl, lol.
I gave him one.  He told me he didn't like
carrots but that didn't seem to stop him
from polishing off that bowl! 
Then for dessert
we had some homemade fruit roll ups
which they loved.
The teenager said,
" You are always making something
homemade "
I got the impression his parents
didn't make meals from scratch like this.
Other teenagers were over and I shared
the homemade fruit pleather with them.
They thought that was better than
any store bought ones!
They kept asking how it was made
and I wouldn't tell them, lol.
If they had known I took canned pears
mixed with a little jello they probably would
have had a second opinion.
What they don't know won't hurt them
as long as they like it.
They all made my day :0)


-----------------------------------


8-9:00pm


Took the kids swimming this
evening at my hubby's work.
I was also able to dump a load
of stuff I had in the truck from
the basement clean out.

I've told y'all that their pool grows
vegetables around it in containers.
I was able to get this zucchini
that was hidden under some other plants.
Tony had asked me the other day
when I went to Meijer if I got him
a zucchini and I didn't.
So I picked this and said,
here's your zucchini you wanted, lol.
I see some breaded and fried
zucchini in the near future.

----------------------------------------

8-2-11

11:40am

Just returned from Meijers.

I haven't shopped there in quite awhile.

I spent $44.24

and saved $41.93

The sock deal I knew wasn't going to

be fun.  For starters it would be nice

if there was a bigger selection of sizes!!

None of the $3.99 sized socks would

fit the boys so I got-

2- 11 pair pkgs socks for 

$7.49 each x's 2 is $15.98

Then I got a 6 pair pkg for $4.99.

Total for socks $20.97

minus 10% discount of $2.12

minus the $10 off deal

minus 3- $1.00 coupons found on packages

 Made it $5.85 for 28 pairs of socks

or .20 cents a pair.

Other deals I got-

Large bottle of Pantene

Was- $6.09

on sale for $4.99

with my coupon made it FREE

Fruit tray with grapes,

strawberries, canteloupe & watermelon

Was $4.78

Marked down to $2.87

When I bought 2 Eggo products

I got $1.50 off fresh fruit

so it made the fruit tray $1.37

Gallon of Meijer Milk

Was $2.79

sale $2.50

Had a coupon that if I bought 2 

Kellogg cereals I got $2.00 off any milk.

I paid .50 cents for a gallon of milk.

In order to

get $10 off the socks you

had to buy $10 worth of Kelloggs products

so here is what I got for $10.

2 Eggo Waffles- $2.23 x's 2 is $4.46.

2 boxes Apple Jacks cereal $1.99 x's 2 is $3.98

1 box Fruit Loops cereal $1.99

total- $10.43

Skippy peanut butter

Was $2.59

sale $1.67

I had $1.50 coupon

made it .17 cents

Ocean Spray 64 ounce juice

$2.89

I had coupon for a FREE bottle.

Green Bell Peppers .99 cents a pound

I got 3 small ones for $1.04

non sales price would have been $1.79

Cabbage .39 cents a pound.

I got 2.03 pounds head of cabbage for .79 cents

Wishbone Italian dressing

was $2.16

sale $1.50

I had $1.00 coupon

made it .50 cents

I got a couple other oddball things like bread, chips, water, pizza rolls, pool shock and freon.

We needed one more small can of freon

for the truck's air conditioner.

Advance Auto sells the small cans

for $15.

I found the same small cans at Meijer

for $9.27.

So I saved $5.73 by getting it at Meijer.

-------------------------------

8:45pm


I haven't felt the greatest today so haven't
done much.  I have a headache, diarrhea,
stomach gurgles, stomach pains,
and no energy.


For supper we had BTS's.
Bologna, Tomato & Swiss on Toast
with mac and cheese.
Something simple and easy.

The kids have been wanting
me to make some beef jerky.
I told them if I could find a cheap
cut of meat I would make some.
Well I found a .67 pound 
beef round top thin round steak for $2.47.
I cut it into strips and pounded each one out
with a meat tenderizer hammer between
two sheets of wax paper.
Then I coated in bbq sauce and seasoned.

A 6.2 ounce package of beef jerky
runs almost $9.00 at Walmart.
Or $5 to $12 for 3.25 ounces at Walgreens.
So for only $2.43 to make 2 trays
of beef jerky is cheap!

Tonight Tony changed the oil in
the Suburban.  
Cost of oil $18.  We already had the filter.

We save so much money doing car maintenance
and repairs ourselves.
While it was free to fix our own air conditioner
on the truck it still cost money
to buy the freon.
Freon cost $30 for a large can with gauges
and $15 a small can.
(this was before I found that the freon
was cheaper at Meijer)
I bought another small can for $9.00
but it didn't seem to need it.
So that will be put up for later use.
To recharge and fix the ac ourselves
cost $45.  

Goodyear would have
charged you about $80 just to walk
through their door and diagnose the problem!!
Then more than likely would have said
we needed another air conditioner.


The only other maintenance we've done
on the truck was to put 4 used tires on it.
That ran about $150
and should last for quite awhile,
not something that needs to be replaced yearly.
A set of new truck tires from a tire store
would run you at least $800+ installation,
balancing and disposal fees.

The next thing we want to do is
get a can of engine restore for $11
and put in it to keep it from smoking
since it has over 200,000 miles.
That will have to wait til this weekend
which is payday.
Sea Foam is something else
we use for high mileage vehicles.
I think it runs about $7- $8 a can.

 

-------------------------------------

8-1-11

7:50am

Looking to pick up some back to school

school supplies while on sale now

and hoping to beat the rush at the last moment?

I found a supply list for most

of Ohio schools.

I say most because I found our elementary

school but did not see our middle school.

Scroll down the list HERE to find your school

and supplies needed by grade.

---------------------------------

8:00am

I kept hear a thump, thump, thump.
I thought someone was outside bouncing
a basketball.  I discovered my neighbor
across the street is getting a new roof.
Could you imagine being a roofer
on a 90+ degree day?
I can climb onto our roof
but it is nowhere pitched like my
neighbor's roof.  I give these men
a lot of credit for not being afraid of
heights and working out in this heat.

------------------------------------------


10:00am


Got all my bills done.
Got all little doctor bills paid off.
At least I hope I don't get anymore
at the moment since I should be all caught up.
I hope come payday, which is Friday,
bonus day, 16 hours overtime and a vehicle gas check day,
I can have the large hospital bill paid off
and be free and clear of any and all doctor bills!!
Still was able to stay on track.  Paid $150 extra
on the house payment and a little
extra on the credit card.
In 3 years time I've managed to apply
$8200 towards paying off the house.
That doesn't include the interest, 
home insurance, mortgage insurance, 
taxes and so on.  That is the amount
actually applied towards the home.
I try to make 15 house payments
a year as opposed to 12 to shorten the loan
from 30 years to about 16-17 years.


------------------------------


I think for supper I'm going to make
turkey sloppy joes in the crock pot.


1 pound ground turkey
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped bell pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon yellow mustard
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup bbq sauce
salt & pepper to taste


In a medium skillet over medium heat,
brown the ground turkey, onions & peppers, drain.
Put into crock on low and
stir in the garlic powder, mustard, ketchup,
bbq sauce.

Makes about 6 servings.


-------------------------------------------


11:00am


Heading our way back down to
the basement to clean more
and work on laundry.


--------------------------


5:10pm


Been working in the basement most
of the day.  

Jonathan sold another bicycle of his on Craigslist.
He bought it for $40, had it listed for $55
and the guy he sold it to gave him $60!
A profit of $20!
Another time he had bought a bike at
the flea market for $5 and sold it
for $40 a profit of $35!


Teach 'em while they are young
to look out for a good deal!

Hey I never thought he would sell
the bike for $55, showed me huh.
Now teaching them to save money
is a whole other ordeal.


-------------------------------------------


6:00pm


How cute is this?
This is one of my neighbor's children
pushing their dog in a stroller.

And here's our squirrels in the back
yard this evening acting stupid again, lol.

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