10-31-11

10:15am

Just returned home from going to Meijers with mom.
This turned out to be a really good shopping
trip for me and I'm glad I decided to
go shopping with mom!!!

I spent $18.10

I saved with sales, coupons, mark downs & employee discount
a total of $76.82.

But wait there's more I can add to that savings!
I found the boxes of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda
with the free magazine subscription worth $22 each!
I got 4 boxes so 2 magazine subscriptions worth $44!!!!

So in the end add that to my savings above
for a total of, drum roll please........

$120.82 WOWZER!!!!!!!

I'll break down my shopping list for ya
and it includes 8 Christmas presents
for 4 people!

My receipt showing my savings-


Below are things I found on clearance that
I'm putting up for Christmas gifts.
Here is the part of the receipt to show
my discounts on these items below.


My bestest deal was for Tech Deck skateboard
toys which my son loves and we were already
planning on getting him some for Christmas.

I found 2 packages with 2 skateboards in each pack
along with a DVD!! These lil skateboard things
aren't cheap! I know, we bought some last year
as that was on my son's Christmas list and had
to hunt around for the best deal.
Each package was regularly $14.99.
They were each marked down in the clearance section
to $1.50 each which is a steal. I saw on my receipt
that Meijers took another 50% off each one
to make them .75 cents each. Then take off
my Meijers employees discount of .07 cents
for a grand total of .68 cents each for a $15 toy!!!!!
At normal price it would have cost $30 for 2 packs.
I paid $1.36 for both packages!!!! I saved $28.64.
I am so doing a happy dance over just these two things.


This Christmas gift is for both the boys.
It is a badminton set with poles, net,
shuttle cocks and 4 rackets.
It was regularly price at $19.00.
On clearance for $4.75
minus my employee discount of .47 cents
made it $4.28!!!
I saved $14.72.


Some stocking stuffers for Tony-

Tomato Slicer
regular $5.99
clearance .60 cents
with my discount .54 cents

2 pack of Snack Clips
regular $2.49
clearance .25 cents
with my discount .23 cents

Buzz Lightyear key chain flashlight with battery
regular $2.89
clearance .58 cents
with my discount .53 cents


With coupons and sales I got
4 FREE packages of Carefree Pantiliners
Regular .94 cents each times 4 is $3.76 saved!
AND
2 FREE International Delight coffee creamers
Regular $2.19 each times 2 is $5.38 saved!


2 Country Crock butter
regular $2.19 each
I paid .70 cents each

1/2 head of cabbage
.42 cents

16 slice Kraft cheese
regular $4.39 each
I paid $1.00 each

2 Smucker's Grape Jelly
was $1.97 each
I paid .47 cents each


2 bottles of Windex
regular $2.99 each
I paid $1.00 each

1 loaf of Meijer bread
$1.19


4 boxes of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda
regular .70 cents each
I paid .65 cents each
PLUS get 2 FREE subscriptions to
Better Homes & Gardens magazine.
2 FREE Christmas gifts!!


So all in all I got 8 Christmas gifts
today with a value of $104.35
for only $$6.94!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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


11:20am

Boys (and men) I swear. Why do they somehow
manage to get mom involved with some of their
doings? Tony just called and asked if I had
checked the live squirrel trap out back today.
I said, no, didn't know I was supposed to
and I didn't really know it was set up.
So I check it and sure enough there's a damn
squirrel in it bouncing around like it had
springs on it's legs. I'm the only one
here to try and figure out how to open
up this cage and let it go. I finally figured
the cage out to let him go. Then I growled
at Tony, I think I've had enough of the boys
catching squirrels now that I had to get
involved! Time to take the cage back to work.
What will they think to do next???


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


1:45pm

MAIL CALL

Lot's of freebies found in the mailbox today!

Free Where's the Beef Wendy's shirt
(Christmas gift for one of the boys)


Free stain resistant makeup? bag from Crypton carpets.

2 free samples of toothpaste
(will make great stocking stuffers for the kids)



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


I am wanting to go to Kroger tomorrow morning
to check out any marked down Halloween items
and get some Campbell's soup.

I know today Meijer had their costumes marked 50% off.

Sometimes I can find Halloween items that are cheap
that can be used for Christmas presents like skull
stuff for teenage or older boys on the Christmas list.
Oh and boys love those fake tattoos and tattoo sleeves!

At Kroger they have Campbell's
cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup
for .49 cents when you buy 10.
Go HERE to print off 2 coupons for $1.00 off 5!
10 times .49 cents each is $4.90
minus two $1.00 off 5 coupons
makes it $2.90 for 10 cans or .29 cents each!!
GREAT PRICE so stock up!!!
Cream soups are always a staple in my pantry.

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

Like Duracel Trusted Treats no Tricks on Facebook
and be able to enter to win
a digital camera, $50 gift card or batteries.
Enter as many times as you would like!
A winner is chosen every hour today
from 9am to midnight. Winners will be notified tomorrow.

I keep entering as many times as I can.
I would really like to win a new digital camera!

Well I think I've literally entered 100 times now.


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


Was browsing through some coupons mom gave me
from this past Sunday's paper.
I found my Downy that I won from
the Downy Scent contest.
Here is what the bottle looks like and
you can find .50 cent coupons in the Sunday paper.
This to me looks like $2,000, lol,
as that's what I won by creating this scent.
I was actually smelling it today while in Meijers
and it smelled pretty good.



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


HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Maintenance Mama LMAO!!

I did this up without the kids seeing
and scared the crap out of them while
they were watching tv!!

The funny part is-
I get to walk around with Tony
holding his hand and giving him kisses
along our trick-or-treat route.
Think about that one!









7:20pm

Back home from trick or treating.
Somewhere along the way we managed to pick
up two extra kids. I'm too pooped to pop!
Kids all have their candy sprawled out all
over the living room floor trading with one another.




So I have 4 kids wound up on sugar.
And I might add in a cat acting stupid.
I caught the cat today drinking
Citrus Drop pop out of one of the kids glasses.
What cat drinks pop??????


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

10-30-11

1:00pm

Another day another couple of dollars saved.
We went to Walmart and I got some yogurt
and bananas. While there I picked up another
present of Extreme Trucking for the PC
for Christopher. It goes for $19.82
on Walmart's website. I found it in the store
for $9.99. BUT I got it for 1/2 off at only $5.00!!
I didn't use a sale and I didn't use coupons.
So how did I manage to get another $5.00 off?
Here's a trick you may be able to do to get more
money off an item at the store-

It was the only game left and it had a tore
paper on the front and it was opened. I could
have easily just took it to the front register and paid
$9.99 for it. Instead I took it over to the camera
counter department of the store and inquired
that since it was opened and had a tore front packaging
could I get a discount on it. The guy at the counter
at first wasn't going to sell it to me because it was open and was going to
call other Walmarts to see if they had them in stock. I begged him
to see if there was something he could do. I told him
I was buying it as a birthday gift and
I had a birthday party to go to and I didn't really
want to hop from store to store looking for one because of the time.
Ok so I made this story up but I was buying it as a gift. The guy running
this department called in a manager. At first she (manager) was only
going to give me 10% off but then I reminded her
that it was an open package and with open packages
of software that they cannot be returned to the store so
it was as an as is sale.
She quickly went from 10% off to 50% off!
I was so proud of myself to have remembered to try
and ask for a discount for damaged or opened packages.
It really works. I got $5.00 off which to me is
a lot of money saved on an item.
Now I'm not saying this will work at all stores
as I tried this at Meijers. I was wanting a
gift package of men's cologne that was in the clearance
section and it appeared that one of the bottles was
missing unlike some of the other gift sets.
They wouldn't discount it nor would they even
sell it to me because of the missing item.
So I'm pretty sure they ended up throwing away
this item which sucked because they could have sold
it to me. So don't get your hopes up thinking something
will be marked down because it doesn't work all of the time
but it doesn't hurt to ask or try. When you are financially
strapped like I am you are willing to try anything
to get a discount.



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


Tomorrow is the last day to print coupons
before they reset on Tuesday.
By printing off any coupons now from places
like Coupons.com, Redplum.com and Smartsource.com
you can get more coupons that way. Once they
reset you can then print off 2 more of each
one. Plus look for newer coupons on there.


Look for stores to start marking down
their Halloween items on Halloween and
the day after. Check places like Walmart,
Target, Walgreens, CVS, Kroger, Giant Eagle,
Meijers. I love clearance sales like these
where I can stock up on candy & baking items
like sprinkles and cupcake papers. Look for
costumes to be marked down that your kids can
use next year! Sales should be around 50%
up to 90% off on Halloween items to make
way for Christmas items. You gotta act fast
though since stores are wanting that space
for Christmas stuff and things will sell quickly.


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


3:30pm

We taught the kids today how to humanely
catch and release a wild animal.
Jonathan caught his first squirrel within
an hour or less of setting the trap in the backyard.



The release.




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


Today I've started my laundry which isn't too bad
compared to the past couple of weeks. With it
being cooler out now and kids are staying indoors
more, I am now hanging their school clothes back
up in the closets once they get home from school.
This saves on time and money to do laundry.

While doing laundry in the basement I had to
clear off a tall bookshelf to be able to store
pantry items that won't fit upstairs due
to running out of space. Items like about
21+ two liter bottles of pop that I've
been getting for .01 cents or .50 cents a bottle.
I stock up while the sales are going on and while
I have coupons to go with those sales.

Started working on gifts in a jars for Christmas.
I got as far as getting out a couple canning
jars and grinding up some graham crackers in the
food processor.
I am making S'Mores Gifts In A Jar

I have a few tweaks I am making to this.
For starters I'm not using Peeps marshmallows.
Last year I bought about 10 bags of Kraft
Christmas marshmallows on clearance at kroger after Christmas
for only .25 cents a bag. I will use those instead
of Peeps.

I will also be using chocolate chips instead
of M&M candies.
And it is cheaper to buy Aldi's brand of graham crackers
than to get them from other grocery stores.


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


5:25pm


I was working on making some Lattice Cookies from pie crust.
I got all the dough woven and couldn't bring myself
to cut cookies out of it after all that work.
So maybe tomorrow I will work on putting together
an apple pie for Thanksgiving with a
lattice top and put it in the freezer.
I'll glaze the top with a mixture of
powdered sugar and milk once out of the oven
and top with crushed up walnuts.
Trying to stay one step ahead this year with holidays
and this will help out a lot of I can make things
ahead of time.
To make a cheap apple with canned pie filling
I suggest you head to Dollar Tree and get some
canned pie fillings there for a buck a piece!
If not, plan on spending about $3.00 or more
for some at Meijer or Kroger.


I also got one S'Mores in a Jar done.
Can only make one at the moment because
I only had one sleeve of graham crackers
to work with. Still have to cut out some
fabric to decorate the lid with and maybe
attach some curling ribbon to it.
Then add a wooden spoon. And I'll add to
this gift a homemade apron.


5:45pm

For supper I am making Chicken Parmesan.

5 breaded chicken patties $2.00
1 jar of spaghetti sauce .50 cents
2 boxes of butter & garlic angel hair Pasta Roni $1.18
1/2 cup parmesan cheese .50 cents
bread & butter .25 cents

Total cost to make- $4.43
serves 5 at .88 cents a serving


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


I got my door sales ads this evening.

Aldi's Deals to stock up on for holiday meals.

Stuffing mix .89 cents

Cream of mushroom or chicken soups .69 cents

French fried onions $1.99

10 pound bag Russet potatoes $1.99

Happy Farms cream cheese .89 cents

Countryside Butter $1.99

Crescent Rolls .99 cents

Goldhen dozen eggs .99 cents


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


Mom called about 7:15pm saying she was going to
Meijers tomorrow morning and wanted to know
if I wanted to tag along. I told her I'd go
if I found some cheap or free items to get.
So here's my little list for Meijers.

2 Kraft cheese singles
$2.00
- $1.00 blinkie coupon
makes them $1.00 each
(Kroger wants $2.99 for Kroger cheese slices)

4 Tic Tacs
around $1.00 each pack
I have coupons for $1.10 off each pack
(these were a printable coupon no longer available)
makes them FREE
I can get these for stocking stuffers.
I also have a bunch of Starburst candies
I got free that I can use for stocking stuffers also.

2 International Delight 16 ounce creamer
.99 cents
.55 cents printable coupon ($1.10 doubled)
Makes them FREE

2 15 ounce Country Crock spread
$1.50
minus .80 cents printable coupon (doubled)
makes them .70 cents each

2 Windex Glass or Multi-Surface Cleaner, 26 oz
$2.50
minus $1.50 printable coupons (doubled)
makes them $1.00 each
(I use this to spritz on my laminate floor and clean
with a swiffer mop)

I will be price checking these items below
that I have coupons for-
$1.40 off Welch's spread
$1.50 off Smucker's spread


Total price of 12 items without the price
check items is $4.40.


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



Fill out a complete profile and receive a FREE
2012 BNSF Railroad calender. Hoping to get
this by Christmas to give to Christopher!


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

10-29-11

4:20pm

Just returned home from Kroger doing our
weekly shopping trip. With coupons and sale items
I saved $30 some dollars. I went over my grocery
budget because I bought an $8 - $9.00 turkey.
I didn't get it for Thanksgiving because I already
have one in the freezer. This one I'm going
to make this week for meals. So when you look at
it this way, $8-$9.00 for 5 or more meals, that ain't too shabby.

I now qualify for a $20 free gift certificate
to Kroger Marketplace. I still have a month
to go to qualify for even more. This will help
out so much when Christmas shopping for the kids.
All free money to spend! Remember for every $100
you spend at Kroger you get $10 to spend at Kroger
Marketplace in the beginning of December.

And I also have enough points now to get .30 cents
off a gallon of gas at Turkey Hill. So that will
also help out some.

Here are some of the markdown deals I found
today at Kroger-

2 Oscar Mayer bacon
was $5.32 each
I paid $1.69 each


1 pound Kroger cole slaw
I paid $1.39

What's the chances of me finding a reusable
coffee filter for the coffee pot I bought Tony?
Was $4.99
I paid $2.99

And if you bought $50 worth of stuff
you got a free pink breast cancer awareness
flourescent light bulb.



I stocked up on a bunch of 2 liters of
7UP, Sunkist and Citrus Drop, all diet.
With coupons and a sale I paid .50 cents a bottle.
I had 4 coupons so I put a bar up for the last
coupon and 2 bottles of pop. As far as I knew
you could only use 3 like coupons. But our favorite
cashier at Kroger told us they now allow 5 like coupons.
Wish they would make up their mind!!
This cashier is so nice to us and we try to
get in her lane whenever she's there.
She even noticed and commented on my haircut!

On our way home from Kroger we cut through a few backstreets
and headed over to Tony's work to check the bulk
area for any headboards. While cruising down any
side streets I keep my eye out for things people
set at the curb in hopes of finding a headboard.
Well I spotted things at a curb. No headboards
but we found a huge area rug that we are going
to put on the concrete floor in the basement.
Anyone ever price area rugs, especially how much
a large one might cost. We did when we were looking
for something to put on our floors. The could
easily start at $100 for a smaller one and go
up to over $1000 for larger ones. So free is good!


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


I won Jonathan another pair of shoes on Ebay.
They were $2.25 plus shipping.
Jonathan is a shoe fanatic. Sounds weird for
a 10 year old boy but he's into shoes.
So I now have gotten him two pairs of
shoes from Ebay for Christmas. One pair
of Vans and one pair of DC's.
And hey when a kid requests something practical,
and it doesn't involve toys, then I'm all for it.


I now have a little over $8 left in Paypal from
doing surveys. I might use that and apply it
to a cigarette maker. A new one costs about $40 plus tax
from a store.
Anything to cut the costs of buying one of those.

So here is one scenario for getting the cost down
to one of those cigarette machines that I'm wanting-

I found one on Ebay for $24.99 or best offer.
Shipping is $12.94 so a total of $37.93 without an offer.

I am offering $20 but have to wait up to 48 hours for a response.
If they say yes to the offer then the total would
be $32.94. I would apply my paypal balance (free money)
of $8.22 to it to get the balance down to $24.72 that
I would have to pay out of pocket.

I would save almost $18 from having to buy a new one
from a store if I can get this to go through!!!
That to me is a lot. If there's a will there's a way
to save on even things you wouldn't think you could
even save on!! OK, now I'm going to hope this all works out!
Save $18 on the machine then save $4.05 on each
pack of cigarettes I'd be making!! That to me is
savings that will start adding up very quickly.
Not something in the long run but right away!!
So yes it is so worth getting this now and not waiting.


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


I've been wanting to make these
Pie Crust Lattice Cookies. I got some refrigerated Kroger
ready made pie crust today when at Kroger.
I can give it a trial run before making any
for Thanksgiving or Christmas.
And since this is a trial run is why I opted
for the ready made crust. If all goes well
then I'll make my own pie crust dough
for the holidays for much cheaper.
I might try the cream cheese pie crust found HERE.
I have a box of Irish cream cappuccino and
gingerbread dry coffee creamer that I could
add to the dough to give it a little something as well.
Dust the tops with cinnamon sugar or powdered sugar.


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


8:35pm

Woo Hoo! My offer for the cigarette machine
was accepted!! I'm so happy. I paid out of
pocket a total of $24.72 for the good, metal,
Top-O-Matic machine. You don't want the plastic
ones which can break over time. Boy that
sure beats about $43 for a new one with tax!!!


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


9:50pm

Well all I am heading to bed soon. For the past couple
of days I've been having back spasms in my lower back.
And accompanying those symptoms is the diarrhea which
is trying to make it's appearance again. I don't know
what to do other than to take my Pentasa medicine.
I can't afford visits to the doctor who wants to
send me to get a colonoscopy and see a gastrenologist
on the other side of town at inconvenient hours.
I'm going to have to force myself to eat bananas
somehow which is loaded with potassium which seems
to drop when I have these diarrhea bouts.
So I need to find recipes with bananas in them
that I can tolerate such as smoothies with bananas
and yogurt which is another good thing for the
intestines.

Makes 2
You’ll need two frozen bananas (more about that later), ten ounces of milk (try almond milk) and two tablespoons peanut butter. Toss everything in the blender, process and you’re done. Add a little honey, perhaps and you’ve whipped up a peanut-butter-and banana smoothies recipe for two. Children love the taste, the texture and they can eat them on the run.

Bananas form part of the BRAT Diet – recommended for kids recovering from gastro-intestinal problems, especially diarrhea. BRAT is the acronym for the elements of the diet; the first one being Bananas, followed by Rice Cereal, Applesauce and Toast. These are “binding” foods which solidify the stool and halt the diarrhea.


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

10-28-11

6:40am

BRRR! Fog and frost this morning. Windows need scraped.
Temperature gauge in the truck said it was 34 degrees out.


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


Hair cut appointment today at 10:30am. Can't remember
the last time I got it cut/thinned out. Last night
I took a bath and washed my hair. I spent about 30+
minutes in the bath trying to get all the tangles and knots
out of my hair. I still woke up to knotted hair at
the back of my head. Usually I put hair gel on my hair
after washing it to tame down the frizzies
and I didn't last night. Got it all
brushed out this morning and I look like a big poof head.

Don't look my best at 7:35am, lol, but here are
my before pics. I'd like to get it trimmed
to about armpit length and get the pointed
area in the back cut off. Then later on I'll
color it myself. Would be nice to find
a hair color that colors any and all gray.





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

3:00pm

My haircut after. Ahhh, just to be able to run
my fingers through it without tangles says a lot.
I have not done anything to my hair as in the
way of styling it. This is how I looked walking
out of the salon and after waking up from a nap.
I have a headache from hell at the moment
so will style it later on.
Cost of haircut $10 + $2 tip.
Mom paid for my hair cut for my upcoming birthday.




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


4:30pm

Headache has subsided so I decided to work on
my hair before we go out to eat tonight at
Taco Bell, something cheap.
I think it's a big transformation from
earlier this morning, lol!





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


Me and mom's dinner for the next 6 or so months :0)
One down one to go. Hoping and praying.
This is a video of my brother and nephew who's 11 years old.
My nephew shot the deer with a bow. The deer came within
about 5 or so feet of them!!!! I don't think you
can get any luckier than that!



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


Oh decisions, decisions. Money's tight at the moment
and it seems like every time we buy something we
have to think about if we really need it or not.
Gotta get through these next three months.
Still got Thanksgiving, Christmas and renewed
vehicle tags to take care of which are all
extra expenses. I hope I got pretty much the big
stuff for Christmas presents and can now work
on the smaller, cheaper items.

I now need a couple items that I don't think
can wait for another 3 months. I've weighed
the pros and cons of each one to see if buying
it now would save money in the long run and it does.

I need some colored printer ink. Sounds like a
splurge that I could go without but when it's
needed to print coupons to save money and to
make some Christmas gifts I think it's a necessity.

I have also been thinking about going to
a smoke shop this weekend to see about getting
a cigarette maker. The good ones run about $35 to $40
and this is a one time cost.

Here is the breakdown I came up with making
your own cigarettes. This is a rough guess
from checking out prices on the internet.

16 ounce bag tobacco $16 (makes 2.5 cartons)
2.5 boxes 200 count tubes $3 x's 2.5 is $7.50
Total cost to make 2.5 cartons $23.50
.94 cents a pack (20 cigarettes) to make.

Now compare that to the cost of cigarettes
you buy from the store.
1 pack of Dorals cost $5.05 with tax
times 10 packs in a carton.
$50.50 cents a carton!!!

To make my own costs $9.40 cents a carton,
a savings of $41.10!!!

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


Merry Christmas to me, look what my honey found me today-
a Eureka Pet Pal Vacuum with all sorts of attachments.
I've been needing a vacuum for awhile now. I've had
one that isn't the greatest that I've been getting by with.
I knew it would be a matter of time before my honey
found one.





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

10-27-11

Going to start working on making an apron today.
Why is it that a simple apron can have about
6 or so pattern pieces to it? I'm going to
work on a full bibbed apron for my first one
then I might see about making half ones with
no bib. What a pain in the rear it is to have
one pattern piece that works for about 5 different
aprons that each have different cuts. If you make
one you have to cut off one section and to make
another you have to add that section back on
and cut off another part. I could always use
a big piece of newspaper and trace and cut out
each pattern piece so I don't have to go through
this to make different aprons.


9:25am

CAT + SEWING PATTERNS = CAT WITH 8 LIVES LEFT!!




Good thing he didn't get hold of the main body
part of the apron pattern. I can just wing it
with doing the ties on the apron. That's the only
thing I have left to do.




I also would like to make matching pot holders
to go with the aprons. Here is a very quick and easy
pot holder tutorial!



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


For supper tonight-

Teriyaki veggies with Italian sausage over rice.

1/2 pkg veggie mix with sauce (from Aldis) $1.75
1 pkg Extra Value Kroger Italian sausage,
sliced $1.80 (it went up .40 cents! Used to be $1.40, grrr)
Instant rice- FREE

Total cost- $3.45

Should make at least 5 servings @ .69 cents a serving.

Boil rice with water and add in some soy sauce.

In a skillet fry up sausage. Stir in teriyaki sauce.

In another skillet cook up veggies with a little
water to steam them.

Top plate with rice, then veggies and lastly sausage.



I've also been having a sweet tooth.
I have some apples that need used up soon so
have been thinking about making this recipe
for Southern Apple Crumble.
I don't have any oatmeal cookie mix that I can find
so I'll be using either snickerdoodle or sugar cookie mix
and will toss in a cup of oatmeal and a teaspoon of
apple pie spice. I don't have any pecans.
I'll probably double the recipe considering I have
6 apples and the recipe calls for 3. I can make one
for now and make one for the freezer for Thanksgiving.
Hey, I'm all about getting a head start for the holidays :0)


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


4:20pm

Got done with the full apron.
This will be my apron I'll use for holiday baking.
I'm considering the half aprons as gifts
because they will be easier and go faster!
It will look just like the one below
minus the bib and will just tie around the waist.




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


MAIL CALL

Free 5 Hour Energy Drink

Free Downy Unstoppables
I plan to put these in a mesh bag
or a piece of panty hose and put them
in the truck under the seat as an
air freshener.

Free blank Birthday card from CardsDirect.com

And I got my electric bill which is slowly
coming down each month. It is $20 less
than last month.


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


Mom called not long ago and was telling me
my nephew got a deer already this year hunting.
Really got my fingers crossed that my brother
gets two of them, one for mom and one for us this
year. Deer is much cheaper than even ground turkey
so I would love to stock my freezer with it
considering our financial status at the moment.


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

6:20pm

Blogger is currently not letting me upload photos.
Once they get this problem fixed I'll be sure
to post them.

I made up the apple crumble. I just went ahead
and put it all in one big dish.
Here were the changes I made with the recipe-

I used 5 apples,
2.5 teaspoons - 1 Tablespoon apple pie spice instead of cinnamon,
1 cup old fashioned oats,
Snickerdoodle cookie mix,
which came with a package of cinnamon sugar
that I sprinkled on top of everything before
putting in the oven.
And I extended the cooking time by about 15 minutes.



I had a large canister of old fashioned oatmeal
that was a .99 cents manager special because it didn't
have it's plastic lid. It still had the sealed
plastic top though. So once I opened it I put
the remaining oatmeal into spaghetti or canning jars.
I cut the top off a bottle of a 2 liter pop
to use as a funnel. Tony thinks I'm nuts for
saving all these jars but they sure are coming
in handy for dry goods like this!