The wind when we got up this morning seemed a little stronger than normal. I left for the dentist at 9:40 AM to get a root canal and filling done. By the time I got out of the dentist to come home, the winds had climbed to 83 mph - hurricane force. All of the traffic lights were out which made it difficult to get around. I got home to find out that we had no power. It had gone out shortly after I left. We were out of power for a little over 4 hours. I wasn't worried about the food in my freezers but I was worried about our sump. The pump needs electricity to work. So I kept checking the basement to make sure we weren't flooding. We didn't. We have fantastic caring kids. Our son, Sean called to make sure we were okay and our DIL in the Albany area called also. DH and I really appreciated your calls.
DH told me our storage chest in the yard had broken apart. He asked me to go out and help him put it back together. As we were doing that we realized that one of our custom made chair pads for some custom outdoor furniture that we bought in Arizona had blown away. DH and I started scouring the neighborhood. We couldn't find it anywhere. One of our neighbors on another street came out to chat with us. We told him we were looking for the cushion. He said, I think it is in the ravine next to my house. Sure enough, it was. It hadn't sunk and was floating on the water. He retrieved it for us. I think I can clean it. I was so grateful to get it back. We are very fortunate that we have no storm damage on the house. A lot of our neighbors have shingles off or coming off and some have had siding come off. I feel bad for them all.
In the middle of all of this, Henry Services worked all day outside on the patio. They finished the steps and put up the wall around the patio. It is gorgeous. Tomorrow, they will compact the little pile of compactible dirt and stone and then bring in the sand and they can start laying the patio. I am getting excited! And DH has already put the word out in the neighborhood that we christen it next week with some beers.
I didn't sleep well last night so I was up wandering the house at 4AM. So it has been a lazy day just watching the back steps get built with doing a couple of loads of laundry in between. Henry Services which is located in Sanborn, NY is building our patio. I have to tell you that DH and I are very fussy customers. We know what we want and we research over and over again. After 6 estimates and tons of research on the companies, we believe we hired the best. One of the owners, Ryan, has been working here and he is meticulous about his work. My DH was always meticulous on anything he did, so he is really thrilled with this company.
Today Ryan built the majority of our steps that we will step down onto from our back door which is in our morning room. He just has to fill in the spaces with pavers. DH and I are delighted. He also compacted the soil and stone they brought in for the main portion of the patio. The outside edges of the steps will hold our many pots which we will plant our herb garden in. The steps take a long time to build because it is really fussy work with a lot of cutting and measuring. The patio should go faster.
Notice that when Ryan from Henry Services took off the wooden bars( to the left in the second picture) that Ryan Homes had put on our back door so that no one could fall out of it, the morons that contracted with Ryan Homes put the bars up and then painted the back door. UGH. Fortunately, we have the paint and will fill the holes and paint it ourselves. That way we know it is done right.
I can't wait to sit with DH on our patio and watch the sunset.
It was a good mail day. I received my Bzzzz Agent Cover Girl Kit and I can't wait to try the foundation and lipstick. I also got 2 Coke Coupons from Coke Rewards, $ 32. worth of coupons from P&G, and my free Forbes magazine subscription.
But DH and and I got the biggest surprise of all. All of the paving stone for our patio arrived and they started it today. This is one week early that they are starting. At this point they are just digging down to where they can compact the dirt that is there and then bring in compactible dirt. So the picture doesn't tell you much except that the patio is going to be huge. I can't wait to be able to eat at our table and chairs out there and sit in the seating area in front of our fireplace in our glider or chairs. But the best part is that we won't have to grill in the driveway anymore. Yeah!
DH and I have been watching the Buffalo Sabres game. They are in the playoffs for the Stanley Cup. They are in the fight of their lives. It just went into overtime tied 4-4. They are up 1 game on the Flyers. I would really like them to win at home tonight rather than in Philly next week. Because of that I wanted something easy that I didn't have to fuss with for dinner. Since we are going to have our leg of lamb dinner next week, I decided I would make Crispy Rosemary Chicken and Fries for tonight.
I had a huge package of 10 thighs that I bought quite a while ago for $ .88 a lb. So I added a few more potatoes. I didn't like the looks of the red skin on the potatoes so I peeled mine. I adjusted the spices accordingly. This was absolutley delicious. So we had some for dinner along with broccoli spears and a glass of wine. Later we will have a piece of carrot cake.
Anyhow, you can see the two huge pans of food just after they came out of the oven. I am happy that I now have a few meals prepared since we have a busy week with lots of doctor's appts. and a dental appt. I will reheat some for tomorrow night and then morph the chicken into a couple of other meals this week, like chicken salad or fajitas.
I hope you all had a wonderful Easter with your families.
Oh no, we just lost! So I guess we will have to win in Philly next week!
It's a quiet day here even though it is Easter. So I decided to go to Top's and Walgreens for a stockpile trip. I wanted a couple of things from Aldi's too but they were closed for the holiday. I will stop there on the way to the orthopaedist this week. So this is what I purchased:
Top's:
2 Ronzoni Penne Rigate - $ 1.00 each - Used $ 1./2 Mfrs. Cpn = $ .50 each
5 - 2ltr. Diet Pepsi - $ 1.00 each = $ 5.00
6 - Propel Zero - $ 1.00 each - Used (3) $ 1./2 Mfrs. Cpns = $ .50 each
2 Scotties Facial Tissue - $ 1.00 each - Used (2) $ .50/1 Mfrs. Cpns Dbled = Both Free
2 DelMonte Fruit Naturals - $ 1.00 each - Used $ 1./2 Mfrs. Cpn = $ .50 each
1 Hunts Ketchup - $ 1.00
6 - 40 ct. Arm and Hammer Dryer Sheets - $ 1.00 each - Used (3) $ 1./2 Mfrs. Cpns = $ .50 each
6 cans Campbells Pork and Beans - on sale for 3/$1. = $ 2.00
2 jars Top's Jalapeno Slices - $ 1.79 each = $ 3.58
12 jars of Top's Sweet Relish - on sale 4/$5. = $ 15.00 ( This and the jalapenos qualified for a deal where I got a $ 3.00 Catalina Coupon good on my next shopping order.
1 Kraft 2% Cheese Singles - $ 3.00 - Used $ .75/1 Mfrs. Cpn Dbled & a Tops $ .25 Cpn = $ 1.25
2 Bertolli Sauce - $ 2.00 each - Used $ 1.50/2 Mfrs. Cpn = $ 1.25 each
2 Newmans Sauce - $ 2.39 each - Used $ 1./2 Mfrs. Cpn = $ 1.89 each
The Propel, Pepsi, Ronzoni, Scotties, DelMonte, Hunts and Arm and Hammer Products were all part of a deal where if you bought 10 products the 11th was free. Since I didn't buy 10 of any one kind of products the money came off each product. All I can tell you is they took did take a total of $ 2.00 off for the two free products. So I only paid a total of $ 12.00 for all of those products.
Total OOP including tax was $ 41.23 and I have the $ 3.00 Catalina to spend on my next shopping order.
Walgreens:
Order # 1:
2 - 3.8 oz Splenda - $ 2.99 each - Used a $ 3.00 and a $2.00 Mfrs. Cpn = Total OOP was $ .98 and I received a $ 3.00 Catalina Cpn good my next order.
Order # 2:
1 - 6 Double Roll Charmin - $ 2.99 with in Ad Walgreens Cpn - Used $ 1.00 Mfrs. Cpns = Made $1.99
1 - 200 ct. Kleenex - $ 1.09 with In Ad Walgreens Cpn
1 - Mike and Ike Candy -$ 1.00
Used $ 3.00 Catalina Cpn from last order
Total OOP was $ 1.49
Analysis: The pasta rounds out my stockpile for a year's worth. DH and I no longer drink soda nor do we drink Propel. But we are having company come to visit with us for a few days in May so I stocked for their visit. We used so much of my facial tissue stockpile when we were sick this winter that I need to rebuild it as cheaply as possible. The fruit naturals will be used for breakfast this week. I just put my last bottle of ketchup in the fridge so it was time to get another. The dryer sheets round out my stockpile for 2 years worth since they are non- perishable. The pork and beans, jalapeno slices and pickle relish will keep on the shelf. One of the only sweet things that DH can have is pickle relish and believe me when I say he puts it on everything so I got dated way out jars for the stockpile. He also goes through a lot of jalapeno slices. I would have preferred to have stocked on more of those instead of the relish but I got the last 2 jars. The cheese freezes and I decided to get the sauces for days when I am out of homemade and I don't have time to make it. The sauces are within the guidelines that our cardiologist gave us for fat and cholestorol.
We use a lot of Splenda so I love when I can get it cheap. My toilet paper stockpile is down to two packages. So when I can get one free with coupons and catalinas I will. The Mike and Ike is put away for a gift. I would not have gotten the candy but I was afraid my coupons would beep if I didn't have the same # of products as coupons.
Now I am off to make dinner which I will post about later. GO BUFFALO SABRES!
This morning we went to my son and DIL's home for an early Easter breakfast. My son made the most delicious French toast using whole wheat bread and a recipe from the America's Test Kitchen
Cookbook. Combined with bacon with no nitrates and 100% pure maple syrup, it was a wonderful meal. They sent us home with enough for breakfast tomorrow. Since they have other plans tomorrow, we enjoyed giving West his Easter Basket and playing with him for a few hours. He got a see and say farm toy and a Curdoroy Book also. But he spent all of this morning playing with the plastic eggs in his basket and the stickers that were in them. We had also given him a plastic Easter cup and he thought it was so much fun to put those eggs in the cup and shake them.
So since DH and I will be celebrating Easter alone tomorrow, I decided to make us a nice dessert for a change. We don't usually have dessert around here. So I made this scrumptious carrot cake that I found here: Carrot Cake. The Prudent Homemaker site is one that I frequent especially to find recipes. Her story should be an inspiration to all of us. Browse around her site and I think you will like it as much as I do.
I made her recipe and I had most of the things in my stockpile. The only thing I didn't add was the pecans since I had none and they are so expensive right now. But I did add the pineapple. It adds a nice taste to the cake. I did substitute Splenda for the sugar in the cake though. After I took the picture, DH and I each had a piece with dinner tonight. So we can attest to the fact that this cake is so good that we will be making it again in the future. Thanks so much for the recipe, Prudent Homemaker.
In the mail today I got this sample showcase that I signed up for a few weeks ago. It had Wisk HE liquid detergent, Nonni's Biscotti, Secret Clinical deodorant, Gum Soft Picks, a couple of samples of Coffemate French Vanilla powder and these coupons.
I also received this week, 10 Free Magazine subscriptions ( ex. Fortune, Money, Better Homes and Gardens, Glamour), cat food, and hair shampoo and conditioner samples. So keep your eyes open because these are free which is the best price!
I have been watching the price on this Nine West handbag at Bon Ton for ages. I refused to pay the original price of $ 79. for an everyday beat around bag. It was marked down a few days ago to $58.99 clearanced which was still too high for me to pay. Today, they had a sale where I could get this handbag at another 50% off the clearanced price. I was hoping all the way to the store that they still had one. Well, I lucked out! They had one left! So I paid $ 29.49+ tax.
I also needed an 8x10 picture frame. It was originally priced at $32.00 but today it was on sale for 60% off so I paid $ 12.80. Since I have been wanting a wallet because mine won't close anymore, I found this Nine West one that pretty well matches the handbag. The original price was $40.00. Today it was on sale at 40% off and I had a $ 10. off $25. coupon that I was able to use on the wallet because I spent a total of $ 25.00 on these two purchases. So the wallet ended up costing me $ 14.00.
Being that I hate paying full price for anything especially clothing and accessories, I am pretty happy with my purchases today. I came home and told DH that he purchased me an Early Mother's Day gift. He was very happy that I bought myself something for a change and happy that he doesn't have to shop for Mother's Day.
I have been looking for the perfect organizers for my laundry room shelf since we moved here over one year ago. Needing something that was both able to contain what I had on my shelf and be washable was not an easy task. Every time I would go to any kind of store, whether it be BonTon, Target, Walmart, etc. I would look. I struck out until today.
These containers that I found at Big Lots this morning are just perfect for me. They containerized what I had on the shelf and now it is neat and I can find what I need in there easily. They have handles to make it easy to lift them off the shelf. My very favorite thing about them is that I can use my chalk marker to write the contents on the front. If I ever change what is in them, I can just erase it and write a new label. Double click on the picture and you can see them up close.
Since I have pedestal drawers in both my washer and dryer to house all of my laundry products, I just needed something like these for carpet cleaners, etc. I am so happy with this purchase and now I am off to continue my spring cleaning.
Sorry I have been among the missing the past few days. I have been busy going to doctor and dentist appointments, doing some interior decorating, and Easter shopping. Last weekend was my DIL, Katie's birthday, so I babysat while she and my son went out to celebrate her birthday. Then on Sunday she and I went out to lunch and to the Niagara Falls Outlets to stock up on spring clothes and sneakers for my grandson and grandaughter. Yesterday, I finally got Easter boxes shipped out to my grandaughter. The rest of the time has been spent exercising, getting spring cleaning done, and watching some movies with DH. I have done very little grocery shopping since I spent a fortune on two legs of lamb last week. As you can see in the picture above, I spent $ 55.+ for each of them. This is a splurge but DH loves leg of lamb and is is hard to find it the rest of the year. So I spent my budget on the lamb.
Right now you can get a $ 10.00 gift certificate for $ 5.00 for Sweet Melody's in Clarence from Groupon Buffalo.
They have the best gelato in the entire world with so many flavors to choose from. So if you Buffalonians haven't signed up for Groupon, this is the time to do it. DH and I are watching our diet but we did our once a month treat at Sweet Melody's on Saturday night.
A lot of you saw the new show "Extreme Couponing" last week or at least the first show. Do you think this show boarders on hoarding? Or do the show's producer's push these people to get as much as they can for the show?
I don't know the answers. Sure I can put in my $ .02 worth. And I am sure that all of you have an opinion also.
All I can tell you is the way I figure out what I need to stockpile. I have to figure out how much DH and I actually use of a product per month and then decide how much I need to buy for 6 months to a year at rock bottom prices.Then I set out to buy those items at the best prices I can get.
Obviously, HBA, paper and cleaning products keep better than perishable food. If I have the space in my freezers, I will keep meat, poultry, frozen veggies and fruit, and cheese up to a year. Canned foods will also keep a year to two if you pay attention to expiration dates when you are purchasing. Flour, I will keep up to a year, only after it has been frozen and then I keep it in a bug free environment. The same with pasta. So seal these things in air tight containers after you freeze them for a few days to kill whatever might be in them. You don't want to open a bag of flour or pasta and find bugs in it. That defeats the purpose of buying at rock bottom prices if you have to toss bad products.
So here are some examples of what I would stockpile at rock bottom prices. Remember there is just two of us.
Toilet Paper - 2 rolls per week for our bathroom and 1 roll per month for the guest bathroom. So I try to keep 116 single rolls or 58 double rolls in my stockpile. I am well below that quantity right now so I am always looking for a good deal.
Laundry Detergent - I figure I do 3 loads a week plus maybe an extra 10 a year when I am spring and fall cleaning. So that means I need to stockpile 166 loads. Remember that is loads not bottles. Since each detergent is for a different # of loads, you really have to figure out what you need depending on what you use.
Whole Wheat Pasta - DH and I use about 1/3 of a box so if I serve it once a week, we would need about 18 boxes. We have our years worth at the moment.
Soap - I use bar soap and DH uses body wash. I only need 12 bars and 12 bottles per year.
Toothpaste - We use a tube a month and I like to keep 2 tubes for the guest bathroom so 14 tubes will last us a year. I have my stockpile of this so I don't need to buy toothpaste any time soon.
Mouthwash - We use two bottles a month so 24 is all I need.
Shampoo - We use 1 bottle a month and I keep 2 for the guest bathroom so 14 is all we need. I also don't have to buy this for a long time.
Dry Cat Food - I use 12 - 3.5 lb bags a year for the cat along with wet food that I supplement each day with. I stockpile it in an air tight container.
It is pretty easy to figure out what you use so that you don't overstockpile and end up throwing it out. Right now I am keeping track of how much meat, poultry and fish DH and I eat per year so that next year, I will know exactly how much to freeze for the year.
Don't just buy because it is on sale or free and end up with products that will go to waste. It is pretty easy to track it and know that you have just about the right amount.
Do you do this? Or do you do it differently? I would love your opinions!
It's hard work pushing that BIG ball. West came to visit us this morning. The first thing he did when he came in the door was hug me. My heart melted! I LOVE surprise visits from my family.
This is the only shopping I have done this week with the exception of cat food and litter at Petsmart. They were things that were desperately needed and a stock up on Fancy Feast.
22 cans of Fancy Feast - on sale for $ .60 a can - Used $ 1./18 Mfrs. Cpn and B3G! Free Cpn = $11.60 ( Since my cat only eats 1/2 can a day, I am stocked for a while)
Tomatoes ( Reduced for Quick Sale) - $ .95
Bananas ( Reduced for Quick Sale) - $ .45
Smart Balance Milk - $ 4.19 - Used $ 2./1 Mfrs. Cpn = $ 2.19
Simply Orange Juice -$ 3.49 - Used $ 1./1 Mfrs. Cpn = $ 2.49
2 Friendship Light Sour Cream - $ 1.50 each - $ .55/1 IP Cpns ( Thanks Amanda) = $ .40 each or $ .80
Total with tax was $ 19.41.
These are things we have done the last few days to save us some money:
- Ran errands all at once yesterday on the way home from my cardiology appointment. Since I had to make that trip, I might as well make good use of that gasoline.
- Cashed $ 154. in rebate checks at the bank. Instead of taking $300. out of my checking account for groceries and miscellaneous for the month which I usually do, I only had to take $ 146. out.
- Received the free Ziplocs in the picture in the mail yesterday.
- I picked up the free box of Royal Canin Cat Food ( 3 bags of different flavors of cat food to sample) at Petsmart yesterday when I stopped to buy my cat's dry food and litter for the month. It was a printable coupon that I found online in my Pet Perks account.
- On the upper left hand corner of the Royal Canin box, you will see a coupon I used when I took our last bag of deposit bottles back. We no longer drink soda so will only occasionally have bottles to bring back when we have company. This is a new place where you just bring the bottles in and they unbag them, count them and give you your money. It took all of 3 minutes- fast and easy! Since it is new they had a coupon to get $ .06 a bottle instead of the $ .05 that you usually get. Since I had 59 bottles, I made an extra $ .59 with the coupon.
- Last year when we moved here, we had to buy snow tires. We pay to have them put on the car in the fall and off the car in the spring. This year we needed 4 new all season tires which ended up costing us $ 674. DH always buys Michelins. They had a $ 70. rebate for buying 4 tires so I filled out the rebate and we will at least get that back. They included taking the snows off and putting the new tires on in the new tire purchase.
- I did my grocery shopping at Tops this week and got some good buys. I will blog about that tomorrow or Saturday.
- Chatted with my sister long distance last night. Since I have free long distance on my home phone, it didn't matter how long we talked. Bonus!
- Did 2 loads of laundry in the HE's using a small amount of detergent and as short a cycle as I could which is Express on mine. I hung the sheets and blankets to dry.
- DH's hearing aid broke. Since the closest Zounds is in Philadelphia, we decided to mail it back to the Zounds store in AZ where we bought it. It came back today. Not only did they repair it but they replaced the 2 year battery and sent some other accessories at no charge. The turn around time was just one week which was a bonus because I don't think DH has heard a thing I have said for a week.
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I am cooking homemade spaghetti sauce in the slow cooker today to use for dinner. Of course, I made enough to freeze a few batches.
- We are still having problems with our cable TV. We now have the manager of the engineering or underground dept. working on it. But because we have had so many problems they credited us $118.
- All of the flower bulbs that my SIL brought us from her garden last fall are all coming up. I can't wait to see the colors.
Please feel free to leave a comment and share with all of us what you have done the past few days to save money.
I am still getting used to the way things are done here. The people who installed our heating and air conditioning systems sent us a contract for both systems to have their yearly checkup in order to maintain their respective warranties. So we signed it and mailed it back with the payment of $ 185.+. They scheduled us for an appointment this morning.
The service tech comes this morning and tells me he is here to check our heating system. DH asks him if he wants us to take the cover off our central A/C unit outside for when he checks that. The service tech says I only am here today to do the heating system. I have to come back for the air conditioning. Now mind you we paid for both systems to be checked over 2 months ago. They scheduled one appointment and never were we told in the contract or on the phone that this would involve two appts.
The tech tells DH, this is the way it is always done. This is the standard. My question to you, is this the norm here? Is this the way most companies do it?
I called the company and he WILL be doing both today since we have been paid for months and I am not going to be tied up 2 days for this. But since he was adamant that they never do both at once, I was wondering if my most companies do it this way.
Please leave a comment and let me know your experiences.
We have gotten to the point where the freezer is full. So it is time to eat from the stockpile for a while. There is no sense in buying all of this wonderful food at rock bottom prices and then letting it sit. You don't want to forget about it and let it get freezer burn or get more than a year old.
So having checked my inventory lists, I have made my menu for the week. The deals at the supermarkets this week are severely lacking. The prices, especially at Top's have really escalated over the past two months. There are a couple of things that I will be picking up later in the week at Aldi's since it is on the way home from my cardiologist. However, I believe it is time to reassess what can be purchased and what I can make.
Back in the 1970's when we saw unchecked inflation which is what we are just starting to see now in our food prices, I had to revamp my food budget or we would have starved. I will be using up what I have, buying at rock bottom prices, purchasing ONLY in season produce, making more items from scratch rather than purchasing them, and having a meatless meal at least once a week.
So here is my first menu under this plan:
Monday: Broiled Sea Scallops with Cocktail Sauce , Spinach, and Tossed Salad
Tuesday: Homemade Chicken Soup (from a prior meal where I froze the broth and bits of chicken)
Wednesday: Leftover Chicken Soup, Salad
Thursday: Whole Wheat Angel Hair Spaghetti with Homemade Sauce
Friday: Turkey Burgers with Melted Provolone, Lettuce, and Onion, SF Jello and FF Whipped Cream
Saturday: Beef Stew in the Crockpot - made from a sirloin roast that I will cube up and whatever veggies we have in the fridge.
Sunday: Leftover Beef Stew
As you can see, it is simple and easy. I try to make at least two meals worth of food a couple of times a week. It saves me energy and it saves me energy on my utility bill.
Changing the subject.....DH and I have been busy the past week or so doing some spring cleaning. One of the projects we worked on was sealing all of the grout in our master bathroom. The builder does not do this. One of my phobias is dirty grout. I decided I wanted to prevent that from happening. In my Arizona house, we had many square feet of tile so we paid a company to come in and do it. Here we just have tile in our bathrooms so I felt we could do this ourselves and save a fortune by not paying someone else to do it. So I got the floor all vaccuumed. Then DH used grout cleaner and a stiff brush to make sure that the grout was all nice and clean. Then he steam cleaned it. By the time we got done, it was immaculate.
Since it was a relatively warm day, compared to what it has been, we were able to open the window in that room, shut the room off from the rest of the house and turn off our heat for three hours. Working with that sealer, you need a well ventilated room. I did not want DH to be overcome with fumes. The floor came out beautiful. We can't get any water on it for 48 hours but since we have another full bathroom that is not a problem. All it cost was our labor and about $12.00 for the spray sealer. We already had the grout cleaner.
I have been neatening drawers and closets and washing woodwork and windows. Since it is raining and dreary today, I will be doing laundry in the HE's and working on putting all of our loose photos in albums.
So please feel free to leave a comment and share with us what you have been doing to save money recently.
I made this recipe for dinner tonight. Alane and some other people asked me what recipe I use. The recipe is here: Crispy Oven Fried Fish
It is easy and delicious. But, I usually make changes to suit our diet which I did with this recipe.
Instead of the panko bread crumbs, I used regular bread crumbs because that is what I had in my pantry. I also used reduced fat parmesan cheese and plain nonfat yogurt. Anytime I can trim the fat, I will.
This recipe makes enough for 2-3 people. We have leftovers for fish tacos for lunch tomorrow. So if your family is larger, you would have to double or triple this recipe.
We had fresh sugar snap peas mixed with sauteed, sliced portabella mushrooms( leftovers from a filet mignon dinner we grilled outside last night) and a salad for side dishes.
