9-29-12

10:40am

Did our grocery shopping this morning

for the week and spent $38.00. (no coupons).

Have a REALLY tight budget at the moment!!

No eating out.  Meals have to be

homemade or made from scratch. 

Trying to remember how I used to stretch out pop.

It was about 15-20 years ago and I think

I used to mix pop with a pitcher of kool aid to double

up on the amount of pop we had.

I don't like giving the kids kool-aid with 

all the sugar but for times like these you 

do what ya gotta do. The pop is diet.

It's gonna be some rough sledding

til Tony's bonus sometime in November.

And even still have to watch our pennies

til tax time.  It'll be a lot of work to save money.

To save money you need to make & fix

lots of stuff yourself and not rely on things that

are convenient.

I have a doctor's appointment Tuesday and lucky

for me I won't have to pay a copay during

the time of my visit.  It will be billed to me

later on thank goodness.  

I do need to make Tony a doctor's appointment

which will cost $25 for copay.

He still has not received his blood pressure

or cholesterol prescription medicines

so needs to see the doctor about getting them ASAP.

Don't get me started about our doctor

denying them when our mail order prescription

company called to confirm his prescriptions.

He's been having constant headaches and at

times his blood pressure is higher than it should be.

Today I did get him some more baby aspirin

that he ran out of and he takes fish oil

with omega 3's.  So I'm hoping those help

him some since he doesn't have his other meds. 

Tomorrow I have to sit down and do bills.

This won't be easy.  I'm really considering

only sending half the amount owed on my

electric bill just to have a little extra money.

I have not paid only a portion of any

bills in about 7-8 years, have always paid

them in full.  I'm telling ya that between

vehicle repairs and doctor bills in the last

couple of years it has really hurt us where it counts.

Still need to figure out how to pay for prescriptions.

General idea for a menu for this week.

Will probably swap around between days.

Drinks

-juice made from frozen concentrate

-milk

-pop

-kool aid

-coffee

-hot chocolate 

Snacks

-celery & peanut butter

-whatever I make from

from my pantry or from scratch

like cakes or cookies.

Sunday

Lunch

-Egg & cheese sandwiches

Supper 

-Lasagna roll ups

Monday

Breakfast

-Pancakes

Supper

- Pork chops, homemade mashed potatoes,

stuffing with apple pie filling

Tuesday

Breakfast

-Egg sandwich

Supper

-Cheeseburger mac made with deer burger

Wednesday

Breakfast 

-Pancakes

Supper

-Meatloaf made from deer burger,

mashed potatoes & macaroni & cheese.

Thursday

Breakfast

-Egg sandwich

Supper

-Potato soup with crackers

Friday

Breakfast

-Pancakes

Supper

-Chicken alfredo with homemade pasta,

bread & butter 

Saturday

Breakfast

-Egg sandwiches

Lunch

-Hamburgers 

Supper

-Fried cabbage, bacon, onions & potatoes

Sunday

Breakfast

-Pancakes

Lunch

-leftover chicken sandwiches

Supper

-Broccoli, chicken flavored rice & Italian sausage

Plus I still have these other menu ideas-

-grilled cheese & tomato soup

-lettuce roll ups with deer burger & rice.

-Cabbage roll soup

-hot dogs

1:45pm

Sitting down chilling for a moment.

Got laundry started and a couple blankets

hung on the line.  I then started tearing my

garden apart for the Winter.

Got all the wooden beds picked up

and moved and all the tomato plants

pulled out.  Now all I need to do is

run the lawn mower over everything.

(minus the tomato plants.  Those got

put in another pile.)

I did leave up the white trellis

as it still has blooming Flying Saucer Morning Glories on it.

I still plan to remove the wood from the

tomato plant stringer.  Have to hunt

down my drill first.

 Here's the rest of the tomatoes

and peppers I was able to get out of the garden.

I don't know if I want to do a veggie garden next year.

I think I want to work on a getting a nice

flower garden going.

Now I will still be growing grapes and pears though.

Well time to get back to doing laundry, ugggghh!

6:50pm

Just returned from a couple nature walks

at Hoover Dam.  This is the perfect time

of year during the Fall to take pictures.

Found a couple lures.

Don't know what this area above is called.

It's Sunbury Road before you cross the bridge.

Crossing over the Sunbury Rd. bridge heading to Twin Bridges.

Twin Bridges.

We saw this little bad boy sitting in Menards parking lot.

Once home Jonathan and dad finished making

the drift trike.  Turned out pretty good considering

this was made from three different bikes.

And all the neighborhood kids came outta the woodwork

to check it out, lol.

8:15pm


Just finishing supper then need to work
on a couple more loads of laundry,
throw the kids in the shower
and lay out clothes for everyone for tomorrow.
Oh yeah, and also make up a bunch of
pancakes for this weeks' breakfasts.
It's much easier to make them ahead
of time and that way all you have to do 
is warm them up in the microwave in the mornings.

9-29-12

11:15am

Yesterday I was able to find a marked down

bag of charcoal at Kroger.

I've been seeing charcoal marked down but

it was for the ones that had lighter fluid on them

which I did not need.

I rounded up 5 old, plastic,

ice cream buckets and filled them with

the charcoal and placed them around the house.

I put two buckets in the room with the

litter boxes.  I'm hoping that the charcoal

will absorb any odors in the house

especially from the cat boxes.

Time will tell and I'll let you know if it works.

4:45pm


Took Tony to K-Mart to get a new pair of shoes.
He has been needing new shoes for a long long time!!
He's been putting it off every time I ask him to get some
so when he asked today for some new shoes, I was ready,
willing and able to take him to get some right now
before he changed his mind.
He has diabetic, nerve damaged, flat feet with heel spurs
so it was of high importance to me that he has a good
pair of shoes.
I really had to splurge on them because of
our money being REALLY tight at the moment.
There's a difference between the
"I wants" and the "I need"
and this fell into the "I need" category.
I still managed to get money off those shoes though.
I had accumulated $6.30 in rewards on 
my Sears and K-Mart cards.  So that was a plus
to get any money off his $30 shoes.
In know I could gets shoes for about $10 to $15
at Walmart for him but they would only
last about a month literally.  We've gone that route before
and I've learned my lesson the hard way.
Don't buy the cheap "made in China" shoes
where the glue and threads come apart
the first time they get wet walking in the rain
or the seams and bottoms come apart just by walking in them.
Spend $10 a month at a rate of $120 each year
per person or spend a little bit more
for better shoes that will last about 6 months or more
and pay half that amount.

It sucks being broke.
I had to put my blinders on in K-Mart
because they had so much stuff marked
down like clothes for $2.99.  Sigh.

We had to drive to the other side of
town to the only K-Mart open that I know of in Reynoldsburg.
They closed down the Bethel and Hamilton Rds
K-Marts.  Not sure if there is still one in Grove City. 

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

My son has been back on a kick of building
bicycles again.  This time around he's been
wanting a drift trike.  Well the adult size drift
bikes can run about $250!
My son is just like me, if you can't afford to buy
one figure out how to make your own for free
with the parts you do have.
So far he's used a Mongoose bike for the frame
and with help from dad has cut pieces and parts off it.
And he is also using two other trikes
(looks like Big Wheels to me, LOL)
that was donated to him.
Him and dad has been working on this
project for the past week.

Dad helping to cut the fork off the Mongoose bike
using a Dremel.

Pieces and parts of assorted bikes
sitting under the carport for me
to fall and break my neck on!
This shows where he bolted a seat to
the old Mongoose frame.

 Jonathan giving me an idea of how
he's putting it all together.
Good luck with that because I have no clue, lol.

And y'all was probably wondering why
I bought him the $10 Craftsman tool set
from a yard sale for Christmas.
These pictures should speak for themselves. 

While these drift trikes look like an adult version
of a Big Wheel I think I should have 911 on
speed dial after watching a few You Tube videos
of what these things can do, AHHHH!
What's wrong with wanting to just
ride a regular two wheeled bicycle anymore.
Now you've got trick bikes, trikes,
2 wheeled skateboards, scooters, pooters, and who knows what else
for kids to injure themselves on.

Do I blame myself for sharing the creativity gene
or blame dad who loves racing things with wheels?
 I think it's way past my nap time!
So gonna sleep on that note.


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


DO NOT FALL VICTIM TO SCAMS LIKE THESE!!!!!


This one was sent to my mom via snail mail.
Included with this letter was a check for
over $4,000.  The check looked legit but
the red warning flags start going up.
If it sounds too good to be true it probably is!!

 
When the letter states to send money for
processing fees this should be a red alert.
If you won any actual prize you should NOT
be required to pay any such fees.
Do NOT send any money via Western Union
MoneyGrams to people you do NOT know!!!
You would remember what contests you've entered.
If it doesn't look or sound familiar to you
then toss it, it's a SCAM!!
I researched the phone number and it's
not even in the US.  It's in Westminister British Columbia.
Do you really think that if someone won
$150,000 that they would just send one simple
paper for you to fill out with your name and address.
It does NOT work that way!!!

I have won a few contests and know the proceedures
you need to go through.  Legit ones usually send you
official paperwork overnight by way of FedEx or
such companies and you know to look for them to arrive ahead of time because they have contacted you on the phone first.
Then legit contests asks for you
to have paperwork notarized to confirm it is you
and your address.  Then they ask you to fax
the paperwork directly to them in a certain time frame.
There are also affidavits that you have to sign
concerning the taxes you will be responsible
for with your prize winnings.
And I did remember entering the contests
I was the winner of. 
They don't just up and send a check
out of the blue without first comfirming
who you are and going through some of
the procedures I had to go through.

After lots of Google searches I happened
across THIS SCAM which is exactly like
the scam mom was sent!
 

9-28-12

12:45pm

Well I spent $19 of the $20 I had at

a one yard sale today!

 Most of it will be put back for Christmas gifts.

Plastic train layout with HO track.  $4.00

(Christopher)

Wooden OSU yard sign .25 cents

(grandpa)

38 tubs of never been opened playdough .50 cents for all.

(Christopher & Jonathan)

2 soft sided Hummer lunch boxes .25 cents each

brand new, was still wrapped in plastic that I removed.

I got the lunch boxes above to put the playdough in

for gift giving for the boys.

3 pairs of brand new reading glasses

with price tags of $7.86 still on them ($23.58 value)

.25 cents each pair.

(Tony)

3 new bottles of Turtle Wax,

2 swivel sockets and another tool.

Don't remember the name of it but I know

we used something like it when removing

the fuel pump on the truck, wasn't cheap

and was made of plastic and ended up returning to the store.

.25 cents each.

(Tony)

2 Halloween masks (yes the other eye glows on the skull mask it just didn't show up in the photo), glow in the dark wig

and a bag of 250 water balloons.  .25 cents each.

I got the water balloons for the Winter season

to make frozen colored water glass to decorate

the yard with.  Check out how to make them >HERE< .

Dracula cape .25 cents.

Dress up clothes in box $2.00

(friend's grandchild)

This was the only item purchased at another yard sale.

Mini cooler .50 cents.

I got this specifically to put our fishing bait in.

And lastly I found this COMPLETE Oster kitchen set for mom. 

$7.50 for ALL!  

I have this set and love it!!  The only thing I don't

have is the extra pasta accessory set which

must of been sold separately from the main kitchen center set.

Might keep that for myself because mom

doesn't make homemade pasta. 

I like that it is an all in one base with motor

with different attachments.  No need to

buy different appliances!

I have yet to find this complete set with a box

even on Ebay!

The complete set without the pasta maker

will run you $100 to $200 on Ebay.

The past maker attachment with accessories runs

$20 to $40 on Ebay. 

It's a 

-Blender

-Mixer

-Dough Maker

-Grinder

-Food Processor

-Pasta Maker 

-also has small and large glass bowls.
The lady told me she got this set when she got married years ago
and has since replaced it with newer appliances.
I told her I tried that route with newer appliances
and they broke soon after purchasing. 
I believe some things made now a days
are made so cheaply compared to 25-30+ years ago
when they were made to last.

While out this morning me and mom stopped in

Allen Jewelers.  I have a ring that lost a garnet in it

and I wanted to see how much to get repaired.

Actually mom was going to have it repaired

as one of my Christmas gifts because 

she wanted to buy me jewelry and I told

her I didn't want any. 

Anyways here is the supposed to be 3 heart garnet, 

16 diamond and gold

ring I bought off Ebay years ago for about $60.

(Just found another ring similar to this on

Ebay for $239!!)

The one heart garnet under the shoulder

on the right fell out and went missing.

They want about $60+ to fix 3 prongs and replace garnet.

(at $10 a prong plus the cost of the heart garnet)

Well I had to say no to getting it fixed at that price.

I still left the ring with them (jeweler was not 

in when we visited).  I wanted to know what

size or carat the missing garnet was.

I can find a cheap one on Ebay and try to

jimmy rig it in their myself.

They offered to buy my gold ring for scrap

and I got to keep the stones for $86.

Would have been a $26 profit but I opted to 

keep my ring.

Instead of getting this garnet ring fixed

mom is getting my wedding ring repaired.

Last year I took it to Allens to get resized down

because it was loose fitting.

Well a couple days later after picking it

up I lost a small diamond.  I think it was

because the band was reshaped and streched

and that's why it fell out.

So my Christmas gift from mom

is getting the stone replaced and repaired for $20. 

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

Earlier I was talking about how sometimes I like
buying the older things instead of newer because of
their quality.  I'd like to give another example of it.
A couple years ago we purchased an Expedition.
Sure it was pretty to look at and that was about it.
It started having numerous problems and that's
when we discovered that even a backyard mechanic
could not work on these vehicles. 
We could not even change the spark plugs ourself
and it cost over $100 to have a garage do it for us.
The motor was too complicated to work on.
That's when I decided I would like a similar and simpler truck
but one with a 350 in it.  Those I know how to work on!
It would be cheaper to be able to work on our
own vehicles rather than sending it to a shop
to be repaired.  So away went the Expedition
and along came the Suburban.  It may not be the prettiest
and has scuffs, scrapes and dents which I don't mind at all.
My saying is that those imperfections add character
to the vehicle and it has a story to tell
just like a person with scars.
I don't make memories with scrapbooks
I make them with my vehicle.
The dents in my hood and fender came from the last
owner hitting a deer.  The dent and scrape in my door
was from where a snow plow hit it with it's blade.
The little pings on top of the vehicle came from the night
Tony was on call at work and we had a major hail storm.
The scrape down the side was from the 
bow echo storm that blew through leaving us without
power for several days and trying to drive around fallen
trees in the roadway.  The scuff marks on the side and
hood are from kids playing on bikes and with basketballs.
The little gash around the stereo was where 
a bad man stole the stereo out of it.
The stains on the carpet are from all the times
we felt as though we lived out of our truck
with food, drinks, dirt, rain and everything
we've ever hauled in it.  The tore seats are from
us sitting on them more than we sit on the 
furniture in our home.    
Sure it has over 200,000 miles but you can only
imagine what that truck has seen or been through.
We have the memories of the gatherings with family,
friends and neighbors around the truck and sharing stories while working on it or just hanging out.
It's considered another family member.
Even though it cannot talk it can still share
the memories.  It's like a book
but with no words, only pictures to tell it's story.
So don't ever judge a book by it's cover.
Because even if it's ugly on the outside
it sure has one heck of a story to tell on the inside.
My truck is my scrapbook that hold lots of memories
with all it's flaws, my home away from home.