How We Have Lowered Our Cable, Telephone and Internet Bills!

I am sure that many of you go without these things. Telephone, I believe is a necessity. The internet and cable TV, I believe are luxuries.  If anyone was having any kind of money issues or lost a job, these would be two areas that  I would look at cutting. In this day and  age, you do need internet for job searching, however, you can find internet access at many places.  Libraries are one that easily comes to mind. If you truly feel you need internet access for that job search, find the cheapest plan that you can.

That being said, DH and I enjoy these luxuries but try to keep the cost as low as we can. We subscribe to all three. For cable TV, we just pay for digital cable which gives us over 200 channels. We do not subscribe to any of the extra premium channels like HBO, Showtime, etc. We have high speed internet and telephone. Our telephone is unlimited local and long distance within the U.S.A., Canada and  Puerto Rico. It includes all of the extras like Caller, ID,  Call  Forwarding, Voice Mail, etc.

Moving from Arizona, we had no idea what all of this would cost us.  We paid  $ 133.50 a month for just digital cable and high speed internet there. Telephone cost us another $ 38.00 a month, and we did not have unlimited long  distance, for a total of  $ 171.50 a month. Add to that another $49.00 for cellphone service and that is  a pretty hefty bill ( $ 220.50) every month  for those items. So we were determined to  lower this cost when we moved to New York if at all possible.

So while we were living in the apartment, we had  plenty of time to research our options. We decided to keep the cellphones. DH has a plan with one cellphone company that gives him 300 minutes a month for $ 29.00. He barely uses the minutes. I have a cellphone with another company on my son's cell plan.  That costs us $10.00 a month. We use this one a little more often. We are going to consider getting rid of DH's when the contract is up. Some months he never uses 1 minute. I believe that  we can go back to one cellphone just for emergencies. 

Next we looked at our options for TV. We looked at the cost of digital cable, Direct TV,  etc. We decided we wanted to go with digital cable. Verizon only had Direct TV which we did not want. So we knew that the cable company is who we would use for that.

Verizon for just telephone service was outrageously expensive starting at $40. per month. if purchased without a bundled plan with all 3 services. Since we didn't want  Direct TV service, they  were not in the running for our business.  

We finally settled on a bundled plan from the cable company. We get all three of the services for just $ 99.85 a month plus tax which makes the bill about $116. a month. We had to take a one year contract however. I am sure that the cable company will try to raise the cost on us at  the end of the year. However, we are in a very competitive environment here, so we will again look at our options when the year is up. 

So in Arizona, we were paying $ 171.50 a month  for these 3 services and now we are paying $ 116. a month for much more service. I will be glad to invest that  extra $ 666.60 a year that we are saving.

Exercise Room

So this is where DH and I sweat it out everyday! :-) We are so happy to have a room just for this. Since we had so many valued possessions from our time in Arizona, we decided to make this our Arizona room. This room has  a Catherdral ceiling, so it feels much bigger than it is! It's just perfect!

The landscapers are back so  I  will be spending most of my time with them today. Have a great weekend!

Picture Time!

I promised so many of you that I would post pictures of the house. Since the kitchen is just about done, I will show you that today. The only thing that I have left to do in the kitchen is find a large 4x 6 Oriental rug to angle in front of the sink and a matching one for in front of the refrigerator. I am having a very hard time finding what we like. But eventually we will find it. We love our kitchen. It is very big so lots of space for DH and I to make meals without tripping over each other! We have cherry cupboards and beautiful hardwood floors that continue into  the morning room and all of the hallways. I am not a great picture taker so if you want to see them up close, double click on the pictures.  

DH is feeling better. He actually worked on a project in the garage today. He also installed our new  ceiling fan and light in the exercise room so that room is done now. I will take pictures of that room tomorrow.

I am off to pour a glass of red wine and sit outside with DH.

How We Lower Our Monthly Power Bills! ( Continued)

Now that I have my treadmill time done for the day, I have time to work on continuing this post.

We purchased both an energy efficient gas range and really energy efficient Bosch dishwasher. We chose  the gas range over an electric range because gas is cheaper to use and I find it cooks more evenly. Our oven also is a convection oven which I use more often than not when I am cooking roasts. The convection not only makes the meat juicier but it also cuts down on the cooktime by about 1/3 which saves on how much gas you use.

It is not unusual for me  to cook two or three roasts at the same time in the oven. Then I will make up some meals with the leftovers for  the freezer. I may cook a turkey breast for dinners and  another one to slice up into cold cuts for sandwiches. I have been using the oven less often while the A/C is on though. The hot days when I have to run that, I try to use my small appliances either in the garage or out on the front porch so as to not heat the cooled  house up. I will not have a patio until next spring so I have to make do with where I can cook them. When I do turn on the oven, I make sure that it is getting fully used by using all the space for roasts, baked potatoes, roasted veggies, muffins, etc. I want to get my money's worth everytime I turn it on.

When I cook on top of the range, I make sure to cover pots especially when I am bringing things to a boil. I also always turn off the burners and the oven a number of minutes before things are done because the heat will continue to cook them perfectly. When I cook pasta, I bring the water to a boil, put in the pasta, cover the pot and turn off the heat. The pasta is perfect in about 15-20 minutes just sitting in the water.   

Any meal that I can cook in the microwave instead of on the stove or in the oven, I will.  I also use  my crockpot for a lot of meat meals. It uses very little energy even using it 8 hours a day. Matter of fact, any time I can use an energy efficient small appliance instead of the range, I will. We should be purchasing our outdoor gas grill this next week. As soon as I have that, most of my cooking will be  done outdoors.   

My Bosch dishwasher only gets run with full loads on the most energy efficient cycle. I  don't use the heat to dry. I let the dishes air dry.

We do lots of other things too. I won't repeat them but here is a prior post that I wrote when I lived in AZ  where you can see them:

Energy Savings

We have a home that has well over 2000 sq. ft. of living space plus a garage and the same 2000+ sq. ft. in the basement which does have heat and A/C if we want to use it there. However, until such time as we finish that space, I wouldn't think to use the heat or A/C down there. All of our living space rooms have either 10 ft. ceilings or 12-13  ft. Cathedral ceilings. We also have a lot of windows in the house 95% of which are 72 inches long. That is a lot of  window space to be conscious of when drawing shades and blinds.  I tell you this so you can get an idea of how much we have to heat or air condition. Last week on July 23rd, we got our gas and electric bill for the prior  29 days. It was an actual read bill because I read it on the off months from when NYSEG reads it so that I  don't have an estimated bill. The bill prior to this one was $108.34. 

This past 29 days we used 655 KWH of electric and  4 CCF's of gas. The electric bill was $79.37 and the gas bill was $19.13 for a total bill of $ 98.50.  I felt good that our bill was less than last month since we have had our A/C on the entire 29 days. So considering the size of our home, I feel we are doing well with the power bills. I am hoping to lower the bill even more this next month.  

Please feel  free comment and share with us what you do to save on energy bills.

Healthy Shopping Day!

I was up  and out early this morning to the new Top's I found last week.  I decided to shop there this week because they had the scallops that are normally $12.99 - $14.99 a lb. on sale for  $ 9.99 a lb. DH loves these so I have them once a week. I planned on stocking up on 3 months worth for the  freezer. But alas, they didn't have them and didn't know when they would. So I got a raincheck for as many lbs. as I want to get. I will go next week when they aren't on sale anymore because they will have plenty. The fish market lady told me none of the stores have any. She says Tops Corporate has only been giving a box to each store sporadically. I am sure that is because they are on sale.

So this is $ 118.95 worth of healthy food  after coupons.  Ignore the partially opened Coke bottle  and water bottle on the right. I did not get those today. The only real deals I got were:

2 Pkgs. of Fresh Whitefish at $ 4.99 a lb.
2 Kraft FF Salad Dressing at $ 2.00 each- used $1./1 Mfrs. Cpns = $ 1.00 each
1 Pkg. of Gianelli Fresh Turkey Italian Sausage - $ 3.69 a lb.
Fresh Green Beans - $ .99 a lb.
I used 2 Super Coupons with a $20. Minimum Purchase for the Dannon Yogurt(  $ .39) and the White Rain Conditioner( $ .69)
2 Nature's Pride Whole Grain Breads - on sale B1G1F
Fresh Express bagged Salad Blend- $  2.50
1  lb. of Sara Lee Deli Turkey Breast - $ 5.99 a lb. - Used $ 1.00/1 Mfrs. Cpn
1 Heluva Good Cheddar Cheese - $ 2.49 - Used Free Mfrs. Cpn

Everything else was pretty much full price but I have time constraints this week and when that happens I can only shop one store.
   

How We Lower Our Monthly Power Bills!

Now that DH and I have finished organizing the pile that was on our basement floor onto the shelves, I have time to talk about how we lower our monthly power bills.

We use a combination of gas and electric monthly. Our heat, kitchen stove and oven, and our hot water is gas. Everything else like A/C, washer and dryer, dishwasher, microwave, refrigerator, freezer, sump  pump, etc. is run by electricity.

In the first picture is our HE washer and dryer. We got a great deal from a relative buying these used. I absolutely love them because they use so much less electricity than our 10 year old ones did. I  try to use the Express Wash and cold water wash and rinse in the washing machine on almost every load. I find since DH and I don't get our clothes really dirty that this works well. As a side note, I  only use  1 Tbsp. of detergent per load which saves me a lot of money per year on laundry detergent.

When we lived in New York before, we had both an outdoor and indoor clothesline. I used the outdoor in the nice weather and the indoor in the winter. I discussed with DH just this morning, that now that the basement is all neat, I would like him to put up a retractable clothesline down there for  me, especially for drying bedspreads, sheets, jeans and other heavy clothing. He will do that for me so  I will go out this week and buy one. That will save me on using the dryer as often. I don't want to  put up an outdoor one here because they will be building here the next 3-5 years and the dirt just flies.  

DH and I are really good about wearing old stained clothes when we are doing any kind of outside  work or dirty work. So our everyday clothes stay relatively clean so we can wear them more than once...epecially jeans and shorts. Hence, now that I am not washing every piece of clothing from storage, I only have two loads of laundry per week - one dark and one white. Since I have 8 sets of sheets for our bed and 2 closets full of towels, I only have to do  a load of them every couple of weeks.

The second picture shows our Rinnai Tankless hot water which uses gas. The way this works is there is no tank of water that you have to keep heating and  reheating.  This gives us hot water on demand.  It only heats up what you need when you use it. As you can see if you double click on the picture, we keep the temperature at 120  degrees. Most things do not need a water temperature higher than this.  We love it and I am sure it  is saving us a fortune a month. Especially since hot water is normally one of the biggest costs on your utility bill. All of you, I am sure by now, are well aware that I do not take long showers either. I like my navy showers. I also do not just let the hot water run down the drain when I am using it at the kitchen sink. I will fill up a sink partially full with hot water to do pots and pans.We also only use the Jacuzzi tub as a special treat on a day that we need a nice long relaxing bath. It is not  an everyday ritual since we love our quick showers in the morning.

I did not take  a picture of our furnace because I am sure that everyone knows what a furnace looks like. When we contracted for the house, we talked to the heating contractor and upgraded to the most energy efficient gas furnace that we could. We will recoup the extra cost over the next 1-2 years, and it will save us a lot of money over it's lifetime. We are not used to the cold yet, so we set the thermostat at 72 during the day and 68 at night, when it was on in March, April and part of May. I am hoping this coming winter, since we have had a humidifier installed on our furnace that we can lower it a degree or two to knock even more cost off our bill. Humidified air feels warmer.  The A/C is set at 74 in the daytime and 72 at night. When we lived in Arizona, we kept the A/C  at 81 but Arizona had dry air. Here the humidity is horrid and we are not used to it yet. Hopefully as our bodies adjust to the humidity, we can up the A/C a degree or two. DH is also about to buy a dehumidifier for the basement which will help. We are very conscious of how long we have doors open when these appliances are on. If a neighbor comes to our door, we invite them in so as not to stand there and heat or cool the outdoors. We purchased shades for most of our windows that are so energy efficient that they qualify for the tax credit this year. While the A/C  is on I am religious about keeping the shades down on the sunny side of the house. As the sun moves during the day, I change what window's  shades are down or up.  If we need to do paperwork or read, we move to the rooms with the shades up during the daytime.  We have made sure that no furniture is blocking the registers in the house. We also had landscaping put in that will shade the A/C unit outside.   This house is an Energy Star home so it is very well insulated and sealed as tightly as it should be without making the air unhealthy.

This is getting very long, so I will continue this post tomorrow.  See you then!

  

Been Very Busy This Weekend!

My son took DH to the Value Center here to get three sets of really sturdy shelves for the basement that were on sale for $89. each.  It was the last day of  the sale so I had my fingers crossed that they would have them. They did!  DH found the corner that he wanted to put them in, put them together and arranged some things on them from the pile I showed you the other day. I will finish sorting the  rest of that pile tomorrow. 

I quickly ran to Rite Aid yesterday because I realized that I had a $2.00 UP Reward expiring. Since I didn't need anything  HBA wise, I picked up 2 bottles of Diet Coke and after my Wellness discount and the UP Reward I only owed tax and bottle deposits. On the way home, I stopped at McDonalds and cashed in my Free Coupon for a Very Berry Smoothie. It was good but not as yummy as Sonic's. I miss Sonic! 

The rest of the day was spent on cooking, laundry, reading and some paperwork.

This morning I quickly looked over the sale  flyers.  I saw no TV that I was looking for on sale. I had researched Consumer Reports and decided which  LCD 1080p 120Hz. 40 inch Flat Screen that I wanted for the bedroom and decided on a Samsung. I printed my $ 40.00 Rewards coupon for Best Buy and DH and I went shopping. We found the one we were looking for. It was not on sale but the $40.00 helped and we also earned more rewards. Last December we bought a flat screen for the exercise room and we have been using that in the master bedroom. So this new one will go in our bedroom and the other one will go in  the exercise room.

We also stopped at Lowe's and finally found a ceiling fan, we liked, with lights that are bright enough so that DH can read if he is exercising at night. This was the last fan that we needed to get. I used a 10% off moving coupon and the $10.00 Giftcard that I won to defray the cost. So DH is putting that together now.

We have a 46 inch Samsung Big Screen TV that only needs a color wheel.  However, you have to take almost the entire TV apart to replace it. We decided we did not want to bother.  My son will be coming over later to take that one to fix. So then we can move the one from the bedroom to the exercise room and  install the new one in the bedroom. I will be so happy to finally have my TV in the exercise room. It gets pretty boring when you are on the treadmill and there is no TV to watch. Watching TV, I can go for an hour or longer. So when the exercise room( it's our AZ room) is done, I will take pictures. 

Besides doing all of these things today, I will be roasting a cranberry and apple pork tenderloin in the oven with pan roasted baby potatoes and steamed broccoli for dinner.

I am also working on a series of posts that I will be starting next week on how I lower my recurring monthly bills. 

That's it for today. I  hope everyone is having a great weekend!

It Was a Great Day To Stay Home!

It has been raining here since last night. Most of the day it has poured. It's so dark and dreary that there was no way that I was even going outside. Although I did go to the mailbox to get the mail. It's so humid that you can barely get a breath of air without a mouthful of water. YUCK!   

So after sleeping in and making breakfast, I decided to straighten up the last closet in the house that needed it. The guest linen closet was a mess from just having the  towels put in there in a hurry. Now as you can see in the pictures, the closet is nice and neat like the rest of the house.

Then this afternoon, I wrapped the rest of the Christmas gifts that I have already purchased and updated my Christmas Book with the inventory. I store them in a closed box to keep them as neat as when I wrap them.

The mail today brought a couple of nice surprises. I got 2 Rite Aid Giftcards: a $ 25. one for the Skincare Rebate and  the $ 5.00 Bonus One.  I also got the $ 10.00 Lowes Giftcard that I won from the Huggies Enjoy the Ride Rewards Program.  The Rite Aid will help pay some prescription co-pays and the Lowes will go toward something we need for the house.

Since it is so dreary I  decided we needed something comforting for dinner. I have been following Robin Miller who has a show on the  Food Network called Quick Fix Meals. She has a recipe  for Chicken Parmesan Casserole that I made for dinner tonight.  I love her show and her recipes because they are mostly really healthy ones. She also went to college for nutrition. Her cooking is just what I need right now to help me fix nutritious, healthy, portion controlled meals for us. It is pictured and was so good and so easy to prepare. 

You just spray a casserole dish with Pam. Then put in a layer of grilled chicken strips. You can buy the Tyson ones already cooked or grill them yourself which is what I did. Then you add a layer of spaghetti sauce. You can use jarred or make your own which is what I did. There is too much sodium and sugar in most sauces for DH's diet. Then you sprinkle low fat shredded mozzarella cheese on the top. Lastly you sprinkle a topping of bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. Then you bake it in a 375 degree oven for 20 minutes or so.  We served it on a portion of whole grain spaghetti. I made a tossed salad and we had a delicious, healthy, nutritious meal.        

Hit the Jackpot of Marked Down Meat Today!

I  had to take DH back to the dentist today so rather than sit around the waiting room for an hour and 1/2, I decided to go down the road a mile to Dollar Tree. Right next door is a Top's that I had never been in. After I got the things I needed at DT, I decided to go into Tops just to see if they had  any marked down meat. They had lots so I picked up a few packages and came home and repackaged it with the Tilia Foodsaver, for the freezer. Fortunately I always leave a cooler in the car for stops like this. It is a habit that I got into in Arizona. So this is what I bought today:

Dollar Tree:

1 Handsoap Refill  - $ 1.00
1 Pair of Reader Sunglasses - $ 1.00
1- 25 ct.  Box of Zipper Freezer and Storage Bags - $ 1.00
1 Sunlight Dish Liquid - $ 1.00

Tops:

3 Pkgs. of  Reduced Price Tenderette Steaks- $ 2.02 each  = $ 6.06
2 Pkgs. of Reduced Price Chicken Drumsticks - $ 1.94  and  $ 1.72  = $ 3.66
1 Pint of  Blueberries - $ 1.50
1 Strawberries  - $ 1.50

Total OOP  was $ 12.72

I love finding the bargains on meat. These did not expire until tomorrow so I felt very safe in freezing them. 

This took up most of our morning. This afternoon I took DH to the PO so that he could mail a letter to Sweden. We weren't sure what the postage would be. We also were tied up with the engineers who were resurveying our property. 

Tonight I will be  babysitting my grandson while my son and DIL go out for the evening.  I always enjoy doing that!   

Money Saving Challenge - July 21st

This is one of those days where a few money saving things got done.

- Ran all of my errands while I was down in Williamsville. I try to only make this trip once every 7-10 days to save on gasoline. Sometimes the best laid plans don't make this happen because of returns to be done.

- Filled the van up with gas at $2.759 per gallon at the cheapest cash only gas station in my area.

- Went to Toy's R Us and used the Free Coupon that I posted yesterday to pick up a bag of Snikiddy Snacks for our neighbors across the street who have little ones.

- Stopped at Kohl's and returned the oriental rugs to get my $214.+ including tax back.

- Went to Michael's and picked up 2 bundles of sticks that I wanted for my vase. I used a 40% off coupon to defray the cost.

- Shopped at Wegmans for fresh cherries, milk, chicken cutlets, baked snacks and Smart Ones side dishes for my lazy days. Those Smart Ones coupons( came in the mail)  for $ .55/2 doubled came in handy.

- Our lawn is not coming in as well as DH thought it should. We have a number of large areas where there is no grass at all. So DH called the company owner to come out and take  a look. He agreed it is not what it should be and it certainly isn't for lack of water since we faithfully water with the sprinkler system. They are going to redo the entire lawn next week. This puts us weeks behind where we wanted to be but it is what it is. Hopefully it will get done properly this time. 

- Made all of our meals today: red and green pepper, and onion omelets for breakfast with a couple of pieces of turkey bacon. Lunch was a tossed salad. Dinner is going to be apricot chicken and steamed broccoli. 

- I have been so tired the past few weeks that I finally gave in and took a long nap this afternoon. Priceless!

- The hook on one of my bras broke. Rather than throw the bra out, I sewed a new hook onto it today. I will spend a few pennies anyday rather than $20.-30. for a new bra.  

- DH finally finished the claim for all of the things that were damaged on the move here from Arizona. We will get that mailed in tomorrow.

- Our automatic shower spray refill was empty. I refilled it with my homemade recipe. 


Please feel free to leave a comment and share with all of us what you did to save money today. 

Clutter and Money!

While DH is out hugging( Men and their toys!) his new John Deere riding lawnmower, I have some time to post. 

Pictured is the only pile of clutter in my house. It is all the stuff leftover from our move that we have no place for but the basement. You can best believe that as soon as DH is able to help me put shelves down there, that this will get cleaned up asap. I am not really sure what is in most of the boxes and I am sure there are things that I am missing and can't find. So rather than go out and buy what I am looking for, I will get this unpacked within a week's time. Fortunately this only takes up about 1/8th of the basement floor. Every time I go down to the freezer or my stockpile shelves, I can't stand looking at it.  Yes I am OCD about clutter! 

I watch my beautiful grandaughter line up all her trains and cars in a row very neatly and I think, that's me. I can't stand it when anything is out of  place. But I think that has served me well all these years.

I believe that I have saved so much money over the years because I am basically clutter free. I don't normally lose or misplace things and have to buy another. Except with this move, somehow I have misplaced one of the beaters to my Kitchen Aid mixer and my DIL has had to stand for a long time to make whipped cream at my house using one beater. Sorry Katie! Hopefully, it will turn up.

By having a place for everything and everything in it's place, I don't need to run out and buy a 2nd corkscrew or cheese knife ( put almost anything in this sentence) because I can't find them. I know where they are. When I need a greeting card, I know what drawer the box of them is in. My wrapping paper is always in it's holder in the closet in the guest room.

How many of you have found change all over the house or lost a $20. bill for years in a coat you only use occasionally? How many of you have no idea, this very moment, how much cash is in your wallet? Straighten out your money every night and always keep it in your wallet and you will always know what you have. For those of you like me who don't like carrying change, put a piggybank someplace where you will use it.  Don't tuck your change or bills in a pocket where it will end up in the laundry or the back of a closet. Respect your money like you would respect another person and it will serve you well. This also means keeping your financial records in order at all times. By taking the little bit of time once a week to do this, you will always know what receipts are where and where the tax receipts are this coming January.  By keeping on top of your investments, you always know that you are doing the right thing and what your net worth is. By doing a bi monthly budget check, you know that you are on the right track.

The reason I mention the money things is because when those things get cluttered, your money plan gets off track. I have been around for many years and made lots of observations of friends and family. Most of our friends who kept very cluttered houses had no money but plenty of debt. They disrespected their money the way they direspected their surroundings and their things . Most of our friends who kept neat homes, are retired early and flush with money for their retirement years. So that is an example of clutter and the lack of money going hand in hand. Our friends who were so stressed out by having so many things and clutter around them, never felt they had time to make or keep a budget. I often thought to myself that they would have tons of time if they didn't spend it looking for hours for things they couldn't find because of their clutter.

This stress because of the  clutter consumes all of your energy which gives you less time to be really productive. If I had a lot of stress in my life due to clutter, I would not have the energy to shop the deals, clip and pull my coupons, cook from scratch, keep track of our budget and net worth and do all of the other things that keep our home ( business) running. Yes, I do think of our home as a business so that I will be just as cautious with our money as any business would be.  I want to always keep a large profit(net worth).

Do you have to pay late fees on bills because they were buried in a pile on your desk and you found them too late to pay them on time? Do you have to pay late fees on library books and movie rentals because you misplace them? This is your clutter making you spend unneccesary money.

Sometimes I think I am too rigid about these things but then I look at our net worth and think no, I am doing the right thing! This post is not meant to chastise anyone. It is just my $ .02 on how the lack of money and clutter go hand in hand!  Just some food for thought!

I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic. Please feel free to leave a comment and share with all of us!   

Tops Supermarket Deals This Week!

Strawberries - $ 1.50

Blueberries - $ 1.50

X14 Toilet Bowl Cleaner $ 1.00 - Use $  1./1 Mfrs. Cpn = Free

Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts - $ 1.99 a lb.

Tops 20 oz. loaf of White Bread - $ .88

Ocar Mayer Meat Wieners on sale B1G1F - Use your B1G1F Mfrs. Cpn to get Both Free

Spend $ 20.00 and use all of  the Super Coupon to make a Mexican Meal!

Today's Freebies

Sign up for a coupon for a Free Snikiddy Product here:  Snikiddy These are sold at Toys R us and Babies R Us.

Free Special K Protein Bar here: Special K

Free pedometer from Natures Bounty here: Natures Bounty

Free Purex 3 in 1 Laundry Sheets here: Purex

Free Wordlock Luggage Lock when you like us on Facebook here: Luggage Lock

Free Sample of Better Than Ears Dog Treats from Walmart here: Dog Treats

Money Saving Challenge - July 19th

Tomorrow, I will be working some magic with the philodendrons that you see pictured. They were purchased today at Michael's with a 40% off IP coupon.

Today was the first day that I felt like I could leave DH on his own  for a couple of hours. So I was out the door at 8:30 AM knowing that  I had to be back at 1:00 PM because my custom made valances in the great room were to be installed then.

I went to the bank and deposited $ 250.+ in various checks into our investment account. Watching our net worth grow always feels good. Then I was off to Petsmart to get cat food and treats for our
cat. I used a Petco 10% off coupon to defray the cost along with manufacturers coupons.

Next was Michaels where I bought the phildendrons and looked at their selection of sticks. I found two bundles that I loved but I wanted to check at Pier One also, so I didn't buy them. I should have because now I have to go back for them. I didn't get back there because I ran out of time.  Pier One had nothing that I liked.

Premier Wine and Liquors was my next stop. I purchased two bottles of red wine and one white wine. Two of them had rebates which I have all ready to mail. I found the Foxy Lady there!  Of course I used my discount card which saved me $ 2.00.

Target was next where I looked for pillows for my green leather chairs but nothing that I  loved.  I did pick up a 3 Way Light bulb that we needed. By then I was really thirsty( it's very hot and humid today), so I picked up a 20 oz Diet Coke with a Free Coupon from Coke Rewards.

Then to Kohl's where I found the 18 x 18 pillows for the  chairs. The pillows were on sale. I also  found $220. worth of oriental rugs(2) for my kitchen. I wasn't sure they would  fit but got them anyways because they were the last two that matched. I got them home and one of them doesn't fit properly so they will both be  returned on my way to Michael's on Wednesday. I will continue to look  for the perfect rugs. 

After a trip to Pier One that was disappointing, I made my last stop at Wegmans to pick up fresh veggies and fruit, fresh fish, and DH's flavored waters. I  spent $32.18 there. 

I got home just in time for the  window design installer to come and put in the valances. They are gorgeous. DH and I are so pleased with  the work.   

I threw a load of wash in the HE washer with 1 tbsp. of  detergent.  I believe all of these energy saving appliances are saving me a fortune. I read the meters an hour ago so that I could submit them to the utility company. We used less electricity this past month than the prior month and we have had the A/C on the entire time. We used about 650 KWH for the month and only 4 cubic ft. of gas.The gas is 8 cu. ft. less than last month. So unless the rates are up, I expect the bill to be less than last month.  Not bad for this hot, humid weather!  I don't think I want to see the water bill though with putting this new lawn in. 

We got a telephone call this afternoon from our son in Albany, who was fighting a warehouse fire in the Albany area early this morning and ended up being taken by ambulance to the hospital. He is fine but I am sure it scared the living daylights out of my DIL who got a knock at her door with another fire fighter there telling her the news. I feel bad that I wasn't there to go to the hospital with you,  Michelle.  I told my son that I can only handle one invalid at a time so not to scare all of us again. We are so happy that he is okay; firefighting is dangerous! I wish he wouldn't do it but he has been a volunteer since he was 18.   I think it is in his DNA. 

The mail today brought my free Money and Kiplinger magazines and some Kotex free samples. All of the pre- hospital test bills are starting to come in for DH. So far, we have only had to pay $ 80. out of pocket. 

I spent some time the past few weeks researching dentists in the area. I wanted a general dentist who was close to our home, was taking new patients and who wouldn't charge us an arm and a leg. We have no dental insurance so we pay cash. I found one who has great reviews who is reasonably priced.  Yes, I actually do call each one and ask their prices for cleanings, exams, X-rays, etc.  Well, it is a good thing that I did. DH informs me today that he thinks he has an abcessed tooth. So he has an appointment tomorrow and we will see if we like this new dentist.

Using the  leftover turkey breast, I made homemade turkey soup  for our lunches this week.

Dinner tonight  was the leftovers from our dinner last night: steak, salad and strawberries and cream.

DH  and I will play Skipbo tonight  for cheap entertainment. We are both  highly competitive so  it  is fun!

I purchased two Christmas gifts online from LL Bean that were on sale at 77% off and by  going through Ebates earned another 2% . I also had a free shipping code.

Please feel free to leave a comment  and share with  us what you did today to save money.   

What a Special Belated Anniversary Dinner We Had!

Do you remember how we spent our 43rd Anniversary in the hospital? It was not our choice to spend that day that way but it couldn't be helped. Well, my son and DIL wanted us to have a terrific anniversary dinner since we didn't have one that day!

They and our grandson, West appeared on our doorstep late this afternoon. Actually my son drove and we soon saw my DIL and West round the corner of our street. My DIL ran from the their home to here pushing my grandson in his jogging stroller.  They brought their outdoor grill and all of the fixings for a delicious steak dinner.   They cooked it, served it and did all of the dishes!

My son grilled rib eye and strip steaks outdoors on the grill along with potato and onion packets that my DIL made.  While he was doing that my DIL made sauteed fresh summer squash. My son also made a huge salad with romaine, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and onions. They brought one of the best wines that I think I have ever had called Foxy Lady which is made in the Niagara region. And to finish off this scrumptious dinner, my DIL sliced strawberries, added wild blackberries that they picked yesterday, and made real whipped cream for dessert. It was all so delicious and we have leftovers for tomorrow. Yeah! 

DH and I enjoyed every minute of dinner and every minute that we got to play with our handsome grandson.  He is getting so big and  I expect will that he will be crawling very soon. 

I want to give a Great Big Thank You to them for making such a wonderful belated anniversary dinner for us!  We have the best family in the world!

What a Difference a Few Hours Makes!

Remember that sofa table picture from this morning. Well, take a look at it now! I meant to tell you to ignore the home theater stuff on the television console table. That is being tucked away. DH just didn't have time to finish it before he went in the hospital. It will be gone from there soon.

The decorator, DH and I did lots more today. But I will leave those for a surprise when it is all done. We have some more painting too. We have a vestibule hall off the entryway that you enter three rooms from. We did not have it done when the main hallway, morning room, kitchen, great room, master bedroom, and study were professionally painted. We all decided today that it would look great painted in a pumpkin color. So when DH feels better he will do that and paint our two bathrooms in other colors we picked out. 

Sneak Peek!

My interior decorator is coming this afternoon. The pictures are of our greatroom which is open  to our kitchen and the morning room.  DH  and I still have artwork( that is being reframed) to hang. The statue you see near the sofa table needs to be moved to another room. However, DH can't lift it right now and I am not strong enough to lift it. So that will have to wait until my son visits on Sunday. The repaired shade still is not here for over the green leather chairs nor have the valances been hung. I expect that won't be done till next week now.  I think the decorator is going to have me move the chess set to the bottom shelf of the sofa table. Plus she will help me arrange other accessories that I have for the room. There is a beautiful reddish- orange vase on the floor behind the game table.  It is in the corner. I need to get down to Pier One next week to pick up sticks or something for it that will stand 6 ft. up the wall between the  two windows. We have 10 ft. ceilings in this room.  

For those of you who have asked, I promised I would take pictures as we decorate. This is just the beginning.      

Money Saving Challenge - July 13th

I have done a few money saving things today. Here they are:

- I went to Rite Aid to pick up a prescription and another med for DH. I paid with a Gift Certificate that I received from an SCR. ( no money OOP)  

- Since I had to pick up the meds, I also went to Aldi's,  which is on my route,  for a red onion and some tomatoes. They had the red onion in an assortment pack with a white onion and a yellow onion. That cost me less than I would  have paid for the red onion at my regular market - $ 1.89. I also got 4 vine ripened tomatoes for $ 2.29. Plus their strawberries were on  special for $ 1.49 and they were so fresh  that I couldn't pass them up. Since I usually only get a few things  at Aldi's that I can carry, I never get a cart. However when I parked, there was a cart right in front of me that someone did not return. Yup, I returned that cart and got the $.25. I figure that made the cost of the produce less.(Shopping  at the  cheapest store and making money with the cart return)

- I filled up our van with gasoline at the cheap cash only gas station for $ 2.75 a gallon.( Saving on  the cost of gasoline)

- I cleaned out the van really well, put the seats down and put our moving blankets in the back.  The  special order sofa table and end table that I ordered in mid- June have arrived to the store.  Rather than pay $ 79. for delivery, we are picking them up. Since my son works in that city, he will drive our van to work and pick them up and use his Easy Pass,  so no tolls for me.( Saving  the cost of tolls and our time)    


- My mail brought $ 57.97 in rebates. That will go into our savings.  I also received the  cute Pampers sample from Vocalpoint and  have given  it  to my son and DIL.  My  BzzzAgent  Kit  with the Covergirl LashBlastFusion Mascara came  along with a bunch of $ 2.00/1 coupons for any Covergirl product.( Cash and free products) 

- I had a problem with one  of the Hunter Douglas shades so Creative Window Designs paid to return it for me and it has come back in the shop. I was going to go down and pick it up but it seems that my custom made valances will be ready on Thursday so they will come up and install them this week and bring the shade at the same time.  This saves me a 23 mile round trip. ( Saving on mailing and on gasoline)

- We haven't had to water the lawn for three days because it rained. That saved me on my water bill.  I just turned the sprinkler system back to automatic this afternoon.( Water savings)

- The interior designer will  be back  on Friday. She  did some shopping for things for me in downtown Buffalo. That saved me the trip! ( Gasoline savings)

- Our lawn is coming in nicely. Every day it is exciting to see more and more green.  We bought a John Deere Riding Lawn Mower at the John Deere store over a month ago.  They have been holding that and the cart for it at their warehouse. DH called them  yesterday to arrange delivery to us. We also decided we want a Stihl Weedwacker so they  are throwing one on the truck with it.  That saves us a trip there! ( Gasoline savings)   

- Dinner is chef salads made with  FF ham and turkey; dressed with  olive  oil and balsamic vinegar. Lots of fresh veggies going in those salads. ( Saving on our health)

- We are almost done with all  of the expensive spending for things for the house for this year.  We just have to order the backup system for the sump pump to be installed and buy our gas grill for outdoor cooking.  I am also going to purchase an LED big screen TV for the exercise room. I will  be so glad when we are saving more money than is going out. There shouldn't be any other large purchases until next spring when we have the stone patio and fireplace put in.( Seeing the end of large spending) 

That is all for today.  I have been busy seeing to it that DH has everything he needs to be comfortable so not a lot getting done.

Please feel free to leave a comment and share with all of us what  you did today to save money.    

Groupon in Buffalo

Groupon in Buffalo is now up and  running. Every day there is a different deal where you can save up to  90% off. Today's  deal  is: Get $50.00 worth of food and  drinks at Trattoria Aroma for $25.00. There are some conditions that apply so always make sure to read the fine print before you make a purchase.    

I have been waiting months for Groupon to arrive here and every day I can't wait to see what deal is out there! So my Buffalo area friends, head on over and join Groupon .

I Think She Wants a Bath!

I am trying to catch up some  things today in between taking care of DH. I had just put some laundry in the HE washer and left for a minute to get a few more things. I came back to  find my cat in the washing machine. Perhaps she wants a bath! :-)  When it started to spin around because of her weight in it, she  quickly decided to leave.

This Is What DH's Healthy Diet Cost Me Today!

Most of the really bad food in this house is being taken to the local food pantry. If it isn't in  the house, he can't eat it!  I managed to buy about $25.00 worth of produce at the produce market yesterday. Today I went to Wegmans. Everything I bought is pictured  except for 4 more bottles of flavored carbonated waters that DH needs to put one of his meds in. The Samuel Adams is for me  so that I have the strength to listen to DH moan and grown about the veggies I am feeding him. He hates most vegetables but I told him too bad. He is not making me a widow in my early 60's. 

 As you can see by the receipt in the picture this healthy food cost me $ 169.43. I had no time to pull coupons today. Hopefully, now that I have some food back in the house, I can start looking for deals  on healthy items. Fortunately, I have a stocked freezer with turkeys, chicken and other lean meats. The freezer wrapped items are seafood and haddock. The cold cuts that DH loves for lunch are fat free. He can have them in a salad or in a whole wheat wrap or pita.  

Anyhow, I am off to  make him chicken, salad, and steamed fresh broccoli for dinner!  The cardiologist told him to eat broccoli and put Frank's Red Hot Sauce on it to make it palatable. 

Any tips you can leave to help me cut the cost of our healthy diet would be most appreciated. Please feel free to leave a comment!    

Christmas in July!

I know it is only July but I like to have a plan for Christmas gifts so that I am not last minute. How many of you have procrastinated until November and December and then had to spend a mega fortune to buy gifts? I am sure that sometime in our lives we have all done that. But 90% of the time I can do Christmas very frugally. 

The picture shows just some of the gifts that I have collected over the past months for family, friends and Toys For Tots. I actually have 4 cardboard boxes full of gifts but I can't put most of them out because family reads this blog.  The largest gift in this picture came just yesterday. If you look hard enough you will see it. It is buried. It was originally $65.00 and I purchased it with free shipping for  $29.00 plus tax. However I paid for it with gift certificates that were free- so no cost to me.  It is now $ 46.45 plus tax on the company's site. That is a lesson to move quickly on deals when you see them!   

The Monopoly games were $2.00 each a while ago at Target after coupons. The Things Remembered items were clearanced for just a couple of dollars. The No Sew Fleece Blanket Kits were clearanced for $4.00 each. The backpack I got for free. The toys and gift sets were clearanced. The kits to make gingerbread aprons for Grandma, DIL, and Grandaughter were clearanced. You get the idea. I did not pay a lot for any of these things. 

Today, since I have some wrapping paper, bows and tags that I got for pennies after Christmas the last couple of years, I am going to start wrapping them. I have a Christmas inventory book where I can keep track of what I have already wrapped and for whom.  By keeping track in my book, it shows me what I still have to shop for and for whom.

By checking it all out now, I know what gifts I need to make and I can get started  on them so that I  am not frantically rushing in December to get them finished on time.

I can start gathering all of the things that I have purchased for free or for pennies to make gift baskets. I can decide what containers I have to put them in or look for cheap baskets at garage sales. The pictured back pack would make a great container for  personal items for a college student. Many times I can just decorate containers that I have gotten free that held other items and reuse them rather than send them to the landfill. The recent container that held the Crystal Light samples is a good example.

By keeping your eyes open for clearanced items or rock bottom sales, you can easily pay cash for nice presents for everyone and not have to use your credit card. I earmark about $35.00 ( mostly saved from rebates) a month to be able to pick up deals every month rather than trying to come up with a fortune in November or December.  

I know that some of you are having a very hard time economically through no fault of your own. The last thing you want to be doing is spending a fortune on Christmas. Pick up some items at rock bottom during the year for your children and they will have a nice Christmas. Buy some cookie fixings when the ingredients are so cheap before Thanksgiving and bake a nice container of cookies for your extended family for Christmas this year instead  of spending money you really can't afford to spend. Reuse an oatmeal container wrapped in aluminum foil with a bow to put them in. I do this for neighbors each Christmas.  Gifts DO NOT have to be expensive to be appreciated! If you really can't afford to buy anything for anyone but your own children, let your relatives know in advance that you will not be  exchanging gifts this year. It is your money and you should be deciding how you spend it; not feel obligated to buy a gift for a family member or even worse, a co-worker, that you really can't afford. Do what is right for your circumstances; not what you think is expected. I can't stress that enough! I have seen so many people over the years lavish expensive gifts on other people that they really couldn't afford. I just don't get that kind of stupid spending! Why would anyone  want to pay for a gift for months or even years and pay horrendous interest on it?  If you can't pay cash  for something as  a gift, just don't buy it. I want all of you to have a fun, stress free, DEBT FREE Christmas! 

Feel free to leave a comment and share with us what you are doing right now to  get ready for a DEBT FREE Christmas this year!
      

Not The Way We Envisioned Spending Our Wedding Anniversary!

Since so many of you have sent e-mails to us along with your prayers, I have time to write a note and update you all.

The way we spent our 43rd wedding anniversary today was not the way DH and I envisioned spending it. DH is in the cardiac unit at a hospital in Buffalo. He was scheduled for an angiogram today because of the results of his nuclear stress test last week. His cardiologist  wanted it scheduled asap; hence it was today. They wanted  to get in there and take a look around, especially since it looked like at least one of the bypasses that DH had 7 years ago had failed. There were a # of things that could have happened as a result- the worst being that DH would need another bypass surgery or a stent. As it turned out, DH did not need a stent. And if he watches his diet,gets his exercise, loses a little weight and takes his medicine, he can hopefully prevent bypass surgery in the future. 

He did give us a scare today when his blood pressure crashed as a result of bleeding under the seal that they close the incision with. The nurses and doctor came in to the room ready to give the atropine if needed. Fortunately, they brought the blood pressure back up by tipping him and the bed head first and applying a lot of pressure to his leg where the incision was.  A vascular doctor was assigned to his case to take care of his incision. He is going to be hurting tomorrow from the hematomas and will be black and blue right down to his ankle.   

Since he had the bleeding they would not let him come home tonight as previously scheduled. So he will be spending the night and I hope to go and bring him home tomorrow. I hope he gets some much needed sleep tonight. He was doing fine when my son and I left to come home.

I have to thank my son for taking the day off from work and taking us to the hospital and staying with us all day. It was very comforting to have him there especially while DH  was having the angiogram and I was awaiting the results. Also, we are dealing with strange doctors and a strange hospital in a city that is pretty much foreign to us. He brought me home and hopefully I will find my way there tomorrow to pick up DH without ending up in Ohio. I do have to admit that my son kicked my butt playing SkipBo while DH was having the procedure. 

My son also grilled outside at our house tonight so that I had a nice filet mignon, zucchini and mushroom dinner.  My DIL made the best strawberries and real whipped cream for dessert.  Thanks to my DIL for coming here after work with my grandson who I absolutely adore. His smile just melts my heart.

My love to my other son, DIL and grandaughter who were in touch a few times today so worried  about their dad and grandpa. I know it was hard on you not being here.

I have the best family in the entire world and for that I am very grateful! DH and I love you all so much!

Thanks to all of you who prayed  for us. I believe it made a  big difference in the results today. 

Now I am off to bed since it has been a very stressful, long day and I am very tired. Hopefully, DH will come home tomorrow and in a week or so things should get back to normal. So until then, stay frugal.   

We Have a Serious Family Emergency!

We got some bad news this morning that stunned us. Needless to say DH and I are pretty upset. So I will be absent for a while from this blog.  We need all of your prayers over the next couple of weeks while we deal with a serious medical issue.

I will be back when I can and hopefully have good news at that time. In the meantime, I  will see that  someone takes care of randomly picking a winner on the giveaway tomorrow and that your giftcard is mailed to you.