Making Cents Of It All

We have been picking strawberries everyday. They have been used in milkshakes, steel cut oats, on pancakes and eaten fresh. We love having them. Hubby and I think we found an are to plant more.  I received lots of wonderful gifts for my birthday. Everyone was very generous. OD sent me a box of cookies since I didn't get to see her. They are so good. I also got a dehydrator(I have been wanting one for a while), a book, chocolate, nuts, malt mix and gift cards.  One of my sisters came over on my birthday and treated us all to lunch. We had a great time. We brought all of the leftovers home of course and enjoyed them later. My sister recently moved. She has always used my BJ's card. There isn't a BJ's near where she lives so she got a Costco card. You can get a second card so she asked me if I wanted it. We went with YD after lunch to get it.  All I needed was milk. This is what we brought home. My sister insisted on paying. She kept asking YD d...

It was my birthday this week. I love freebies(who doesn't)so I thought I would tell you about all of the freebies I was sent. All of these are free to sign up so if you are in the USA you can get them all. You do have to put in your birthday to get them. I was emailed all of the freebies. IHOP  you get a free stack of pancakes. Dunkin Donuts  you get any size free drink. Panera  you get a free pastry Carvel  you get a free small cone Baskin Robbins  you get a free cup or cone. Starbucks  you get a free drink Sephora  you have a choice of a sampler set Tanger Outlets  I received 2 $10 off coupons to select stores I know a lot of restaurants will give you a free desert on your birthday when you buy an entree. You just need to show your ID. I will be picking up all of my freebies this week since they all have a quick expiration date.  Do you know of any other birthday freebies that I could sign up for? 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend  We were crazy busy around here. We celebrated my BIL's 50th on Saturday. We went to a friend's BBQ on Sunday. On the actual holiday, we stayed home and did lots of yard work. We were all home as school was closed and none of us had to go to work. We don't seem to get many of those kinds of days anymore where we all get off all day.  Hubby grilled some burgers and I made everyone milkshakes.   I had chocolate, the kids had coffee. I picked fresh strawberries from the garden for Hubby's. He had dairy free strawberry and loved it. It was a great snack since it was hot out. Youngest Daughter and I were determined to have a fire this weekend. So we scrubbed the patio, pulled out all of the furniture for it, washed them all and set it all up. We got it all done with help from my son and Hubby. After a long weekend we got to relax by a fire and roast marshmallows. We of course ma...

Youngest Daughter had her Senior Banquet this week. She got a free ticket since she is a class officer($90). She also got to bring home a centerpiece. Isn't it pretty. She had a great time and wore a dress and shoes that she already owned. She looked beautiful. Carvel sent me a coupon for a free cone for my birthday. Free ice cream is my favorite. I also received a gift card from for sister and a check from my parents. Now to decide what I am using them for. I have several other free coupons to use this week.  I started picking strawberries from the garden.  Over the weekend we went to my sister's new house in Connecticut. Look at that view. Hubby BBQ for us and we had a great time.  My sister sent us home with some leftover cookies and half a watermelon. She also sent us home with some other goodies that she had.  I went to Stop & Shop. I used more of the gift cards that I won a few weeks ago. I bought a bunch...

Ruby has her very own Instagram account. Follow along as she has lots of fun and trains OD and her fiance. She is such a sweetie.  Ruby  has come so far in the few short months that she has been adopted. She is such a happy girl even if she sometimes gets into trouble. She makes us smile everyday.  https://www.instagram.com/ruby_ruby_roo_/  

The college that we live near is ending this week. The kids are all moving out for the summer. Most of the kids that dorm there do not live near by. They can only fit so much in their cars. Many take buses, trains and even planes to get home which makes what they can bring home even less. It is the perfect time for Hubby and me to go garbage picking.  Hubby and I will not go into the dumpsters. We are not in our 20's and have no interest in doing that(unless I see a pile of money and then all bets are off). We also won't fight for stuff. If other people are going through stuff, we move on. We wear work gloves because lets be honest, some of the stuff is gross. We are not interested in items missing pieces or broken. We are looking for things that we can have a quick turnover with and make some quick money. We go in Hubby's truck because it is easy to grab and throw stuff into the bed. If it gets dirty we don't care, we can wash it easily.  So lets see what we g...

I started a new part time job today. I will be working 2 days a week a few hours each day. Possibly more in the future. I am helping an elderly gentlemen. He is widowed and lives alone. I have known his daughter for about 15 years. His granddaughter and my oldest daughter went to school together. I am so excited about it. He was very sweet today. He took me out to lunch at the local diner.  I then took him food shopping. His daughter (my friend) works full time and doesn't like that he is alone so much. I will be taking him out doing whatever he will enjoy. I was told already that we will be eating out often because he enjoys it. He will also pick up the bill. I can handle that. I will also be doing lite cleaning. Today I went through his kitchen. I cleaned out the fridge and got rid of old food. I cleaned out several drawers in his kitchen. I mailed bills for him. I know I am going to love doing this. I have several things planned that are free to do. He doesn't have a lib...

This morning I went out to my garden to weed. Hubby is going to till it this week and I try to get the big weeds ahead of time. I noticed that not everything was weeds. Mixed in were tons of baby dill plants. I always plant my dill in pots so I am assuming either the soil from the pot got dumped into the compost bin and ended up here or birds and bunnies moved the seeds for me. Either way I was happy to have them. I dug up a bunch of babies and put them into pots.  I ended up doing 3 pots. All of my pots are either hand me downs, garbage picked or yard sales. I have several dozen and use them all.  I had so many baby plants left that I put them into seed containers. I texted several friends to see if anyone wanted them. One friend said she would take some. The rest are going to go to work with Hubby. I know his coworkers will take them.  I love that I can grow stuff even when I'm not trying. Plants that reseed are amazing. I really need to get...

Sorry this is so late. I didn't have internet for several days. Verizon came and replaced the old equipment and now it is working great. Lets get onto what I got free this week.  Hubby and I helped at a  fundraiser  for  his work. We won several baskets, a door prize and we were given leftovers. Hubby was also comped a ticket since he volunteered. I don't work for the company so I had to pay. Even though I bought the raffle tickets, I look at them as a donation. It doesn't guarantee me that I will leave with anything. That is why I consider the baskets free. I won a Stop & Shop gift card basket and a basket from Target. We returned the stuff to Target and bought some items that we could use.  Hubby got some pants for work that he has been needing.  And we got groceries. I still have lots left on the gift card.  They were also giving out lots of samples. I did go back later in the week. We needed more milk an...