11-26-11

I got my electric bill yesterday.
It had been running high for some unknown reason
and I have been trying like heck to unplug things
and turn things off that we don't use.
I've been unplugging microwaves, coffee pots,
turning off lights/tvs in rooms we weren't in and so on.

Kids especially have a bad habit of leaving
their rooms and leaving everything on.
I told them, unless you want an electric bill as a
Christmas gift, you better start turning
things off when leaving your rooms!

In September it ran about $112 & October $92.
And now November's bill is right about where
it normally is at $76.00.

So even though everyone looks at me like
a nagger about turning everything off
it finally is paying off a little.
I managed to shave $36 off the electric bill.


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


1:00pm

I am getting an early start on laundry.
I have decided that I will hang whatever wet laundry I can
on the clothes bar I have in my laundry room
and run a fan to dry them.

Still digging some Christmas stuff out,
not too much though. Still hanging lights
on the gutters, bushes and fence.
This year we decided not to put out the
blow up decorations and any other light
up decorations like candy canes or
trains in the front yard. Something
is better than nothing and it will help
the electric bill not to rise as much
with all the extra decorations.


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


3:30pm

Got all the lights hung outside then worked on
cleaning the carport area up. It such
a nice day outside for November!

Getting ready to make a run to Tony's work
to throw out a bunch of stuff in the big dumpsters.


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


Stopped by Tony's work. Tony was telling me about
a glider rocker someone threw away yesterday
and he asked if I wanted to check it out. He said there
was a glider foot stool but someone must of took it.
because we couldn't find it.
I loaded up the glider in the back of the truck.
It looked like solid oak and needed a few screws
adjusted. Still had the pads with it.
Tomorrow I'll give it a wipe down and steam
the pads. It looks similar to this below but
has floral pads with it.

While at his work I was able to check out a bicycle
one of the residents left behind when they moved out.
Tony has been keeping the bike in the shop.
We plan to give it to Jonathan for Christmas.
Looks like this one below.

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


9:45pm

Well all it's about my bedtime. I had a hard time
getting to sleep last night. My brain just wouldn't
shut down thinking about things. I'm pretty sure
it was after 2am that I got to sleep.
I'm stressed, tired and my body hurts all over.
Going to pop a few ibuprofen. I need to get some
sleep tonight minus a few body aches and stomach pains.



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

8-16-11

I had to move my blog so be sure to head on over to
Frugal Columbus Mom and bookmark it!

http://frugalcolumbusmom.blogspot.com/

8-15-11

9:50am

Blogger is not being nice again as you can tell.
I have no options as to how to post other than what
you see. It won't even let me post any pictures.
If it does not fix itself then I'll just go on to
create yet another blog.

I got 5 trays of beef jerky in the dehydrator.
Two are teriyaki flavor and the other three are
hickory barbecue flavor. I still have enough meat
left over to do another batch after this one.
It seems like it only takes a couple of hours to make
since I pound the meat out thin.

I'm still having stomach problems. I am trying to eat a yogurt
each day. If I have loose bowels then I take an
over the counter diarrhea medicine which stops me up for
about 1 1/2 days of nothing then back to normal for a day
then back to the same ole same ole.
I know this discussion sounds gross but it's something
I've been going through on and off since last year.
Between the emergency room and several visits to a doctor's
office you would have thought they would have figured
the problem out. The doctor thinks it something I am eating
and to figure out which one is a long and tedious process.
I would have to take away one thing I eat for about a week
at a time to see if my diarrhea clears up. So let's say
for week one I take away milk, week two take away flour products,
week three artificial sugar, week four sugared foods, and so on.

I've been having upper stomach cramps. Some that will stop you
in your tracks and make you light headed. It makes it difficult
to get stuff done around here. I wash my hands to the point
they look shriveled up, lol.

I need to work on laundry today since I didn't get it done yesterday.
And I have to make another batch of beef jerky because
the meat needs to be used up today! I'd like to work more
on cleaning the house because school starts in 9 days.
I don't know if I mentioned this or not but after looking through
some paperwork about the kids bus schedules is when I realized
Christopher won't even be going to the school we thought.
That threw us a little curve ball but after talking to other
neighborhood children we realized we weren't the only ones
getting put into another school. I got to thinking about the crazy
bus stop they want to put Christopher at that is a main intersection,
at a traffic light and no place for parents to park a car should
they want to take their kids to the bus stop when it's raining or
snowing out. Due to the timing of when school starts for junior high
students, I think Tony could drive him to school and drop him off
then go to work from there. I could somehow pick him up from one of
the side streets in the afternoon. Junior high school hours are from
7:30am to 2:30pm. Then my other child gets on the bus in front of
our house around 8:25am and will get home about 3:45pm. This will
be a fun year with the split schedules for two different schools.

Oh well, we'll somehow get through this. About like the time I had
both kids going to one elementary school and that school decided
that my one child should go to another school that had better classes
for him. Now that school year was a headache! I don't know how
they expected me to be in two places at one time trying to send
off two kids to different elementary schools by myself. One rode a bus
while the other one I walked or drove to school and they both ran
on the same time schedule. So having these
two different schedules this year can't be as bad as that! At least
there are two different time frames this time around.

Well I need to pop a couple ibuprofen and try to get some laundry done.

And hey Kendra, if you read this, if you would like a china hutch you can
have the one we found but it would need picked up asap since we are wanting
to take it back and drop it off in bulk at Tony's work maybe some time this week
since he is on call with the pager til Friday. Saturday and Sunday Tony
is going to Michigan to the NASCAR truck race.
We decided we just don't have the room for the cabinet, it's bigger than
we thought it was and would make the living room feel too stuffy.


2:00pm

Got laundry going, got a batch of beef jerky made, steamed cleaned
my couch and chair.

I got to reading an article about frugal fatigue. What do us frugal people
do that we get burnt out on a lot. Hmmm, that got me thinking.

-Coupon clipping and matching coupons to sales seems to take forever to
do just to save money.

-Cooking from scratch. It's ok and keeps me busy but there are
times that I just want a break from making three meals a day times
365 days a year is 1095 meals in a year's time. I like to go out to
eat even if it is fast food or take out pizza. There are dollar menus
out there and coupons to eat out.

-Clothes shopping at the thrift store or yard sales. Too many clothes to
go through to find the right price and the right size. Yard sales never
seem to have boys clothes so it would be so
nice to be able to go to the store and pull stuff off the rack and be
able to buy.

-hanging clothes on the clothes line. I did it last year to shave some
of my electric bill but this year decided I didn't have the back, time or
energy for it.

8-14-11

4:10pm

Just been hanging out at home today.

Still tired from last night.

We went out to Heath, OH to see

the Mopar Nationals super cruise.

I was very impressed with what I saw

out there that we may just skip going

out to Brice Rd. in Reynoldsburg from

now on.  You wanna see some Mopars

and a whole buncha burn outs- Heath

is the place to be during Mopar Nationals!!

Yes cops are patrolling everywhere

for everyone's safety, on foot, bike, four-wheeler,

trucks and cars.  They were allowing burn outs

to take place as long as they did not get

out of control.  If you thought there

was a huge turn out for Brice Rd. you

need to see route 79 in Heath! 

All kinds of cars can be seen there.

 

 Chevelle burn out.

 

Found this video on You Tube so you

can an idea of what takes place

out in Heath during the Mopar Nationals

Super Cruise.

8-13-11

2:30pm

Went to a couple yard sales this morning.

One was an outdoor church sale.

This sale was different from other church

sales I've been to because each table

had a different seller.

I found this bracelet on the left for .50 cents.

The other bracelet on the right I got yesterday for .50 cents also.

Then as I'm walking around I spy

this mop leaning up against one of the tables.

I swooped in to take a look see and sure

enough it was a steam mop.  No price on it

so I asked some ladies how much.  They

all got in a huddle literally because they had no idea

what to price it at.  One lady said it was

hers and she only used it once.

I hear a price of $20 and the other ladies

said no that's too high for a yard sale price.

Then another said what about $5 or $10.

I jumped in and said I'll give you $5!

And that's what I paid for it.

It sells for about $75 at Walmart!! 

I got mom a used one at a thrift store

last Christmas for $8!

Now I won't have to borrow hers, lol,

since I have my own now.

I'll have to make my own pads

which won't be a problem.

Yard sales were pretty crappy today

so we headed over to the University apartments.

They are starting to move out

which means all kind of free goodies!!

I figure by next weekend the move outs

will be in full force.

Jonathan found me these lotions-

Guess what else Jonathan found for me

of all things after buying a steam mop,

a Conair garment steamer!

These go for $40 at Walmart.

Then Jonathan found a Holmes electric 

tower heater.

These for for $45 at Home Depot.

It has an eco setting on it to save energy

and utility costs.  It uses convection heat

and has automatic shut off and tip over

safety switch.

 I found a pretty comforter and matching
pillow. I might just keep this set
instead of donating it.  I like all the
scroll work on it.
Believe me I already have a bunch
of blankets to donate to the church's blanket drive.

Stopped in the Kroger on Olentangy.

Not liking their new idea of having

nothing but 12 U Scan checkouts.

There are no regular checkouts there!

Anyways we needed some more pop

and goodies for our trip out to either

Heath or Newark tonight to see the Mopars.

Found milk marked down to $2.00 a gallon,

loaves of italian bread for .69 cents,

 cole slaw mix with shredded cabbage for $1.19

and 4 fresh hamburger patties for $4.

Looks like we are having cheeseburgers

with corn on the cob and green bean casserole

for supper.

At this Kroger you can find mark downs

throughout the dairy section as well

unlike other Krogers.

I saw chip dip, Country crock butter,

pudding, biscuits, cinnamon rolls in a can

and so on all marked down.

You just have to look for things like

this mixed in with the regular items

since they don't have one section

for dairy product mark downs.

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

8-12-11

12:00pm

Went to a couple yard sales this morning.

I didn't get much.

I bought mom a new hot water tank

insulated wrap.  I paid $1.00.

They go for about $20 to $25 new.

I already have one for ourselves that I found at

a church sale brand new for a buck also.

Bracelet- .50 cents

Mary Kay hydrating gel & 

moisturizing cream-

found both in a freebie box.

A tube of concrete crack sealant .50 cents.

I got this for my birdbath.

And lastly I got the boys

this whole lot of hand held games

and accessories for $10.
I priced something like this on Ebay
and saw it would go for $75 to over $100!!

Had to stop in Kroger on Sunbury Rd.

to get some canned pop and chips for

our picnic type supper tonight.

We're heading to Reynoldsburg once

Tony gets off work to check out the Mopars.

I splurged and got this package

of Beef Choice Round Tip bulk package

of meat. 

Was- $13.75

I paid- $8.66

a savings of $5.09

I can make 15-20 beef jerky strips

out of each piece of meat.

(105 to 140 pieces of jerky

made for .06 to .08 cents each piece)

Everyone's been wanting my homemade jerky.

I let the neighbor and some teeny

boppers in the neighborhood try

some last night and they loved it.

I have bought single packages of

beef jerky in convenience stores

that tasted like shoe leather,

so tough and flavorless! 
Single beef jerkys go for about $2 - $3 a piece.

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

1:45pm


I worked a little on my bicycle some.
Remember the handle bars were
all rusted and yucky looking
from being left to sit outdoors.

I used some fine grit sandpaper
with some elbow grease
and the rust came off!
I was going to paint them white
but don't need to after this.
I still need to paint the fender brackets though.

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


Headed out to Reynoldsburg this evening
to see the Mopars cruising Brice Rd.

Stopped in a McDonalds in Gahanna
before going to Reynoldsburg.
I think this was the 
worst looking McDonalds I have ever been in!
Of course I had my camera with me
and just had to show you how bad it was.
Wallpaper peeling off walls and the bench
looked like someone wasn't happy with
their happy meal and took a bite out of it!!!

There is good news.  As we headed down
Hamilton Rd by Kroger Market Place,
we saw that they are building a brand
new McDonalds near Burger King.
It's a good thing because I don't think
I would be going back to this one!


Got to Reynoldsburg around 8:00pm.
Compared to the last couple of
years we went there to watch the cars, 
this year really sucked.
Rumor has it that most of the cars
went to cruise Newark.
So weather permitting tomorrow
we might cruise to Newark.

There was a full moon out tonight.


We left the Brice Rd area and headed
over to Waggoner Rd to meet up with
a friend from Tony's work who was
at a VFW having supper.
Jonathan got to see a tank up close.

So as we are all standing around talking
I glanced to the left and caught a glimpse
of a cemetery up on a hill.
I couldn't resist with camera in hand,
to run up that hill, in the dark and in 
a treed area with Jonathan right behind me, lol.
Did I mention that it was a full moon tonight
as well, lol!  Creepy!

This was the first time I had
walked through a cemetery at night!
From what I saw, as I quickly walked
around, in what is called an abandoned cemetery,
I noticed that the headstones were very old
and unreadable.  Some were broke and
others were propped up by trees.
In the middle of the cemetery at the top of
the hill was an area that was marked off
with an old iron fence.  Behind it was
one or two headstones that I could see.

Nothing showed up in the pictures
that I could see, not even a bug.

I didn't stick around too long to
take but only a couple of photos.
I should of did a video now that I think of it.  
But it was a spur of the moment thing.

Jonathan tripped over something
and in the dark it looked like a bone.
I took a quick picture and that's about
the time we headed back down the hill
and back to the truck, lol.
I see now after reviewing the pictures 
that it was a part of a
tree or a stick, lol.  Let me tell ya,
in the dark, by the moonlight, it sure
looked like a bone!

A quick picture of the sign before leaving.

I found more information about the
Methodist Hill Cemetery HERE.
I think the earliest headstone recorded there
was 1839, 172 years old!
Anyway you can check out the cemetery
and photos of all the headstones found
there at that website.
It seems like a lot of children
are in that cemetery!
HERE is more information
and photos from that cemetery 
on another web site I found.
Pretty interesting.
Maybe I'll go back sometime to check
it out in the daylight, lol.

8-11-11

7:45am

Woo Hoo!

After many times of playing the 

Dominos pizza game on Facebook,

I finally won a FREE pizza!!

You have to win first place in the

game in order to get the free pizza.

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

This video was on the news this morning-
Ducks being blown away by wind.

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

 If I feel well enough today
I plan on making up a couple
of green bean casseroles.
I have about 5 cans of green beans
that's been hanging out in my pantry
that needs used up. 
This is my recipe I tweaked some
compared to the original.


2 T. butter
2 T. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp sugar
1 cup french onion dip
(or 1 cup sour cream and 
1/4 cup onion diced)
3 cans French style green beans, drained
(I used regular and French style)
1/2 pkg bacon, fried & crumbled
(or can use bacon bits)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup crumbled buttery round crackers
1 T. butter melted


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.


Melt 2 T. butter in large skillet over medium heat.
Stir in flour til smooth, and cook for 1 minute.
Stir in salt, sugar and french onion dip.
Add green beans and stir til coated.


Pour into a 2 1/2 quart casserole dish.
Spread shredded cheese over top.
In a small bowl toss together cracker crumbs
and remaining butter.  Sprinkle over the cheese.
Bake for 30 minutes til top is golden 
and cheese is bubbly.


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


At 9:30am this morning I already had
a kid coming to our door wanting
the kids to play.  Had to put my foot down
and say they weren't allowed out.
I feel like crap and don't feel like
dealing with other people's children
at our house today.  


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


10:30 - 11:00am


I got two green bean casseroles made.
I only had 5 cans of beans so divided
it up among two dishes.
I'll put these in the freezer to bake
another day.

I was channel surfing for a few this morning.
I saw that they think America will
go into a recession again due to the
decline in the stock market.
Unemployment
and foreclosures has gone back up some.
During a recession your retirement/401K
could take a loss along with your home value.

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

12:30 - 2:00pm


Got some pizza dough going in
the bread machine.  I'm going to make
a couple BBQ chicken & Italian smoked 
sausage pizzas tonight for supper. 
My favorite bread machine
pizza dough recipe can be found HERE.

I had 14 ripened tomatoes from the garden
and made tomato/pasta sauce from them.
I used this RECIPE but doubled it. 


I peeled all the tomatoes.

Here are the ingredients.
I am sauteing the garlic in the 
pan with some olive oil.

Next cut all tomatoes into quarters
and put into a food processor.
Add a teaspoon each of seasoning
for one batch.  I also added some
Splenda which the recipe didn't call for.
Puree.

 Add tomato sauce to pot with
garlic and oil. Cook for about an hour.

I plan to allow it to cool once done
then will put into plastic peanut butter
jars I've been saving, then put into freezer.


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


2:00 - 4:00pm


I've been trying to keep myself busy
today instead of laying around even
though I don't feel the greatest.
It seems the more I lay around
the worse I feel.


I got a batch of beef jerky in
the dehydrator.
I used a third pound package
of beef chuck shoulder blade thin sliced
for $1.57 to make it.
I cut into slices and pounded with a mallot
then coated in bbq sauce.

Got the pizzas in the oven at 4:00pm.


I spread bbq sauce over the dough the cut
up a small chicken breast and fried
it in a skillet.

Next I fried up the Italian sausage.

 And lastly sauteed up some
diced up onions and green bell peppers.

Here they are before adding the cheese.
Only one pizza got the veggies.

And here is the end result,
fresh baked, out of the oven.

I got 2 containers of homemade
tomato sauce from the batch I made today.

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


8:00pm


Went cruising over to the college apartments
area to see if any move outs have started.
Still is all quiet.  Will check back this weekend.
I know it's a matter of time though.


Stopped by Tony's work because he
said he had a couple bikes for us
that a resident left behind when they moved out.
I gotta "new" bike now!
I let the kids ride my old bike a year or
so ago and it ended up getting stolen
and I've been without a bike since.
So here she is- all pretty in pink.
Found at Kmart for $179!

It had been left outside so we had
to oil the chain and fill the tires back up.
Tomorrow I'll sand down the handlebars 
and a couple braces on the fenders
that are rusted and paint them white.
It's one of the newer bikes Schwinn
made that looks like an old one.
Kind of reminds me of the one I had
when little but it was blue.
 


We also got another bike from the
same place which Jonathan claimed.
It's a mountain bike.

Found at Walmart for $96


So $275 worth of bicycles for free!


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


Finally got the cabinet out of the Suburban
tonight.  Our neighbor helped Tony get it
out since it was heavy.  It made it to the carport
area and that's as far as it's gotten for now, lol.  
So now I have
an actual picture of it to show you.
Found- Free.