Making Cents Of It All

Summer is here! I cannot believe that we are in June already. I am trying to stay more focused so I am putting my goals out there. The late Zig Zigler used to say, " If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time ."    Financial - Put 15% into retirement - Put $1000 into the college fund - Put $500 into the project fund - Grocery Budget of $400 - List 25 new items on eBay and Craigslist - Work extra shifts when available Health - Go for a walk 3 times a week - Workout for 15 minutes 3 times a week - Lose 8 pounds - Get cracked filling fixed Garden - Finish planting small garden - Plant more lettuce seeds  - Put poles in garden for tomato  plants - Weed 3 times a week - Finish digging out tree stump Family -  Go on a date with Hubby - Celebrate OD birthday - Celebrate Father's Day  - YD finish out junior year of High School - Visit 3 colleges with YD Personal -Facetime with OD every week -Read 2 books -Make someone a meal ...

It was my birthday this week. I am 44 years old. My sister came over to celebrate and brought lobsters and steaks. She is always very generous and she brought way too much. Hubby cooked and it was delicious. There was leftover lobster that I happily ate the next day. We put the extra pack of steaks in the freezer for another night. My sister brought lemons for the lobsters and the kale drinks that my daughter loves.  She gave me lots of snacks and Ziploc baggies for my birthday. I love that she knows I don't need more stuff.  The chocolate covered pretzels are so good.  YD gave me my favorite cookies for my birthday. These will not last long. I have no control when it comes to these.  My son brought home lots of bagels, cookies and pastries. The chocolate pastries are my favorite.   I did do some shopping this week. Hubby and I went to Stop & Shop. They had corn on sale 10 for $2 which is the best I can ge...

It is BBQ season and I have an easy, delicious side dish that will be a hit at any summer event. - 3 cans of chick peas drained and washed - 4 Tablespoons of fresh lemon juice - 3 Tablespoons of olive oil - 1 Tablespoons of apple cider vinegar - 2 teaspoons of oregano - 2 teaspoons parsley - 1/2 teaspoon black pepper - 1/2 a red onion minced - 1/2 teaspoon salt Mix it together well. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. I like to let it sit overnight in the fridge so the flavors really mix together. All of these items I keep in my pantry so if I need something the day of, this is it.  Enjoy!

Happy Memorial Day! Thank you to all of the men and women that serve our country. Thank you to all of the women and men that have given up everything so that I can safely sit in my house and write this. Thank you to all of your family and friends. We as Americans take for granted most of our freedoms. Today we should remember all of the women and men that gave up their lives so that we get to have our freedom. While I am with my friends and family, eating a nice BBQ I will remember the mother that no longer has her daughter, the father that no longer has his son, the wife that now is a widow, the child that no longer has a parent. Thank you is all I can say.  God Bless America! 

Thanks to Deadpool 2 and Solo I worked 6 days straight. I usually work 2-3 days a week so this was a lot for me. I will be very happy when my check comes. I planned ahead for the week and had some  quick dinners  planned to make my life easier and to avoid takeout. There is no point in working all of these extra hours to then go blow my paycheck on eating out. The crock pot is one of my favorite tools so I used it. I also pulled out cooked items from the freezer. We had BBQ pulled pork sandwiches, pasta with meatballs, quesadillas, omelets, grilled chicken, and Hubby smoked chicken and ribs on Saturday. We ate very well. I brought lunch, snacks and reusable water cup with me everyday. I had PB&J, hard boiled eggs, fruit, veggies, nuts and cheese. I need items that I could pick on though out the day.  Breakfasts were bagels, souffles, pancakes, eggs and steal cut oats. My main goal this week other then working lots was to get the big garden in. Thank...

My son is keeping us well supplied with bread and treats. I haven't used my bread machine in months. I will be sad when he leaves this job. Hubby also brought home a few bagels that were leftover from work but I forgot to take a picture.  Our neighbor's house is for sale and keeps offering us items. They will not have a garage with their condo in Florida. Hubby happily took some more items.  Stopped by my son's job to drop him dinner and YD and I each got a free drink. I shared mine with Hubby since they are such big cups.   I received a birthday card from a coworker with 2 scratch off tickets. I won $5! I will cash it out. I also received a very generous check from my parents since I won't see them for my birthday. I don't know what I will buy yet.  I picked up the last 2 Friday Freebies from Stop & Shop. They didn't have anything good on clearance so this is all I got.  What Freebies did you get this week?

This week has been crazy with the new Solo movie coming out. I am grateful for the extra hours but it does make getting dinner on the table a little harder. When Hubby and I were first married and we only had OD I thought I had to cook every night a full meal. That is what my Mom did. There had to be a meat, veggie and starch. I'm Irish so we ate a lot of potatoes. Then I had my son who was very active at a very young age. You had to watch him 24/7 or he would climb everything and jump. We ended up at the ER once from it. Some how he survived. When he was one I started watching a friend's newborn daughter and right after that I found out I was pregnant again with YD. I had 2 kids under 2, pregnant and a 7 year old. I learned then that dinner needed to be food, not gourmet food. Sometimes a PB&J sandwich counts as dinner. So here is my list of quick easy dinners so that you can get food on the table and not have to grab takeout. *Cheese quesadillas, these take 5 mi...

Dave Ramsey ! I listen to his podcast every day while I cook. I wish I had found out about him and his plan when I was in my 20's. He has really changed Hubby and my future. My son gave me a book of his for Mother's Day. I am loving it. Thanks Dave! Homemade mac n cheese! Quick and easy to make and so yummy. After work and then running around with YD I needed something easy so I made some for dinner. The great thing about it was I kept some pasta on the side for Hubby and put his non dairy cheese on his so he was happy too. Comfort food, you are wonderful. Star Wars! The new Solo movie is coming out tomorrow and I can't wait (Yes I'm a geek). Work is going to be crazy busy because of it but I don't care. Star Wars is worth it.  My son! He emptied the dishwasher and washed all the dishes. He is such a good person. He didn't have work today so he cleaned up around the house for me since I am working 6 days straight. I love the man he is bec...

I went to a different Stop & Shop since I was at the dentist's office. When I went to the meat department, the meat manager was marking chicken cutlets down. The next day was their sell by date. They were $1.29 a pound. I cannot tell you the last time I saw chicken cutlets at that price. So I grabbed 4 packs. They are the family packs so each pack was about 4-5 pounds. When I went home I cut  them up and divided them into meal size baggies. Next was the clearance racks.  Lots of goodies. The hot rolls were marked down to 59¢ each. The hot sauces were 57¢ each. The nuts were $1.49. The yogurt was free . The onion had a 25¢ rebate from  Ibotta . The strawberries were on sale for $1.99 with a 25¢ rebate from Ibotta. The eggs were marked down to $1.49 and only 1 was cracked. The bag of apples were $1.35.  And then there was clearance chocolate. My favorite! They had Green & Blacks which Hubby can eat. It has no dairy in it. They are norm...