Making Cents Of It All

The year seems to be flying by so fast. We are already at March. My anniversary is this month as well as my son's 20th birthday. How is my little boy turning 20 already? I need to start all of my seeds indoor so they will be ready to plant in May. Lots to do in March.  Financial - Put 15% into retirement.  - Grocery Budget of $400 average for the year.  - List 50 new items on eBay and Craigslist.   - Make $150 side hustle - Go over our budget with Hubby   - Go over the kid's budgets with each of them.   - YD apply for scholarships.  Family - Celebrate Hubby and my anniversary - Celebrate my son's 20th birthday - Go on a date with Hubby - Talk with OD at least 5 times a week. - Take Oreo for recheck - Send nephew birthday present - Help at church event.  - Go to Accepted Student day at college - YD dentist Personal - Work out 15 minutes every other day. - Go for walk on any nice day - Rea...

Youngest daughter was off from school all week for winter break. It has been some crazy weather this week. It was in the 20's and snowing one day and the next day was 50's and beautiful.The snow was gone when I woke up. No shoveling required. That is my kind of snow. Pretty to look at but no work required. Then the wind came. It has been so windy for days. Lip and Oreo do not like it.  I have been decluttering all week. I have been going through bins in the basement. I have been listing items as I come across them. I already sold a few. All items were shipped in old envelopes or boxes. While I was decluttering, I came across a box of decorative duct tape. The kids used to love them. I used them to seal the packages. I will be using them before I buy more tape.  Hubby brought 3 boxes of items to his job for the free area. We brought 4 more boxes of stuff to the church. OD has a growing pile of items she wanted. I have a pile of items that I am giving to my cousin f...

I am so excited. I won Don't read this; It's boring blog's Februaury contest. Thank you Sluggy. You made my day. If you have never visited her site, you should. She is really funny and honest. She tells you how it really is. Her husband just retired last year and she lets you follow along financially with  the journey.  She has the cutest little pup named Chester. She is a coupon Goddess. You should definitely go check out her blog. She is one of the reason's I started blogging myself. http://simpleslug.blogspot.com/

Youngest daughter and I went to a free Bob Ross painting class at the library. We got to paint happy trees. It was a lot of fun doing it together. YD's masterpiece is on the top. Mine is below.  While we were at the library, we borrowed some movies. FYI Kidnap freaked me out. I am glad I was home with Hubby. I am glad my kids are older. Do not watch this movie if you have young kids, or are a wimp like me.  Got 2 free magazines this week.  My sister came over to drop Lip off. She dropped some open food off too.  I got a check for $56.80 from a class action settlement I didn't even know about.  Hubby and I went to BJ's for a few things. There were several vendors giving out samples. We had a few different types of healthy smoothies. I liked one kind and Hubby like a different kind. We bought both. The lady gave us a free shaker bottle and a $2 off coupon for buying 2.   I sent in 2 Bic Rebate offers. ...

I often wonder what it would have been like to live in other time periods. As a mom of 2 teens and a twenty something, I have seen how much technology has changed since I was a kid. It isn't always for the better. But some of it makes my life so much easier. So today I want to send out a thank you to the people that invented some of my favorite gadgets. Without them, I would have a lot less time to spend with Hubby and the kids and do the things I enjoy.   My washing machine. I think it is one of the best household inventions. It saves me so much time and energy. Plus if I had to do all of our laundry by hand, my eczema would be really bad on my hands. Then I think back to my grandma. She never had a washing machine. My parents offered to buy her one, but where would she put it. She didn't need one. It is definitely a want. I am grateful for it every day.  My crock pots. I love, love, love, my crock pots. I can set dinner up in the morning in it...

Hubby and I cleaned out our eve this week. We moved into our house 19 years ago and it got filled through the years. We had no idea what was even back there. Tons of baby clothes, and lots of other useless stuff. I spent hours going through everything. Hubby took a truck load of baby/kids stuff to the church. I kept a few special items but otherwise it was time to get rid of it. Someone else can use the items more then I need them in storage. I made the small side all wrapping items. Everything is neat and sorted with the help of my YD. The luggage is also back there. We gave away a garment bag and throw away a large suitcase that the wheels were broken. Now there is a lot more room on that side.  Hubby started going through some crates in the basement. Our basement is unfinished. He keeps his work benches and drums down there. We also keep our food storage down there. We do not have an attic or garage so everything ends up in the basement for storage. We are hopin...

I went food shopping for a few items. I always look in the meat department for marked down meat. I hit it big with chicken this week.  Chicken breasts on the bone ended up being $1.09 a pound which is a great price. Because I got 4 whole chickens too, I wanted some cutlets, so I did them my self. I cut as much meat off the bone as I could do. I am not a butcher by any means.  I ended up packing them into baggies for future use. I ended up with 6 bags which is more then enough for a meal each with leftovers. We love  leftovers.  I took all of the bones and put them into a big pot with water. I let it simmer for several hours. I strained it and let it cool down.  It made 3 containers of chicken broth for the freezer.  I also let the meat cool down. I sorted out the meat. I put the good meat into a container for us and the skin, fat and grizzle in a bowl for Oreo's food.  ...

I got my coupon for a bag of free dog food . My sister gave me her coupon too. I opted to get the larger bag. I could have gotten a 4 pound bag for free or an 8 pound bag for $1.99 each. I went for the larger bags. Sears sent me another $10 free. I bought 2 packs of underwear. I was free, one was almost free.  Kmart sent me a coupon too. I got throat lozenges. They were 32¢ with tax. Stop & Shop's freebie was yogurt so I grabbed that. I printed up 2 coupons for a new product from Money Saving Mom's blog . Stop & Shop only had the cheese flavor. They are GF so YD can have them.  YD bought herself some clothes with money she got for Christmas. The store had a big wheel to spin and win. YD won a coupon for a free makeup item with any purchase. She got a lip pencil.  Hubby's boss gave him this almond butter to try. It is really good.  My sister dropped off some goodies for the kids. She is cleaning out...