Last minute Jan. 31st deal.

Was sorting through the coupons and came across a rebate that ends TODAY.  It was a Nabisco offer, buy ten Crackers, Easy Cheese and/or Planters nuts, get $10 back.  Kroger is having a buy ten items get $5 off that includes the crackers, and I had 3 $1 off of 2 and 2 $2 off of 2 coupons, some that expire today!  So I went.  I bought 10 boxes of Triscuits, different flavors.  I use them with tuna salad, like chips and dip.  I paid $10.17 after coupons, and will get the $10 back.  After the cost of a stamp, the 10 boxes of triscuits cost me .60 total.  Definitely worth the extra trip to me!  I can go through 1.5 boxes a week when I am on a Tuna Salad kick!
Yes, I did check the best by date on the boxes and have till May to eat them.  I did notice this evening that I am down to my last 25 double rolls of TP.  I haven't spent money on TP in over two years.  Or dish soap.  Or toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, deoderant, paper towels, razors, bath wash, laundry soap,  cleaners, sponges......

I love coupons and CVS and Walgreens and Krogers.

More deals at Money Saving Mom!

Money logging blogging for February.

I want to curtail spending again this month, so I am going to attempt to log it all here.  I have the $18 Register Rewards from Walgreens, and $30.98 ECB from CVS.  My main problem is eating out, and books.  I have been getting a lot listed and out of the house, and not near as much coming back in.  I am sending a box of books off to Brian tomorrow.  I will still be spending money shipping out books from bookmooch and ebay but plan to stay on top of that also.  We will see how this goes.  I know I am a dollar dribbler, big time.

End of the month shopping $35.20

I did a total of 3 transactions at Walgreens, starting with a $10 and $2 Register reward. Joint Juice is on sale for 10 w/10RR so free. The Blink eye drops are 7.99 w/8 RR and there was a $2 coupon in todays paper.  The tuna was .89 each and the jello 5/1.00 so I spent a total of $8.56 and ended up with a $10 and $8 RR- so 8.56-6 = 2.56 for all pictured, including the paper, with more coupons! 5 jello, 2- 30 ct. Joint Juice, 2-Blink Gel Tears, 3 Chunk white tuna, 1 box mixed dried fruit and the Sunday paper.  According to the receipts, I saved  $68.32

 Then I went to Aldi's and bought Brocolli crowns, baby carrots, spinach, baked beans, and frozen puff pastry.  I am going to try the spinach in place of frozen and see how it works.  Lots of the  recipes I have been exploring for the last month have used puff pastry, so I am going to give it a try.

Total spent at Aldi's was $5.30.  Not bad at all.

Then I went to CVS, starting with 3 $10 ECBS.  I had two $1.25 coupons for the Dove's Men stuff, which was $5.49 and giving $5.49 ECB.  The febreeze had a B1G1 coupon and both it and the Fuze go towards the buy $25 get 10 ECB deal with the PG products this week.  I also had a 4/20 coupon.  I spent $1.49 and a 10 ECB and got a 10.98 ECB back.  I also have 9.98 towards the $25 for the PG ecb.  According to the receipt I saved 26.08 on this trip.

At Kroger I took advantage of their buy 10 get $5 off deal to work towards a $20 Nabisco rebate.

The 5 Easy Mac's are part of the rebate, and will be donated.  They and the Hunts and Rotel were part of the B10G5 deal.  I had coupons for the salad and yeast and decided to get another paper for more coupons this week.  I spent $6.46 and got a couple of Catalina coupons for future deals.  SALAD for lunch today!

My last stop was at Walmart, where I used some expiring coupons. I spent $13.41, mostly on the Sun Crystals which are Stevia based.  Matt has almost convinced me that HFCS is poison, but I still bought the Marshmellows to make ambrosia. That is what the sour cream is for also.  I am looking for more ways to incorporate beans into my diet, sloooooowly, and bought red and black beans. 

In conclusion, I spent $35.20 and ended up with $6 more in RR and .98 more in ECBS and partially fulfilled a $10 ECB and $20 Rebate deal. 

So it is the end of January

and I think I did pretty well, still have lots of food to plow through.  No more frozen chicken, but I have several large cans for Chicken Salad.  Still lots of tuna and some frozen and canned salmon left.  I am thawing out some sirloin steaks today.  I bought some milk and some ground chuck yesterday.  What can I say, I had a red meat craving.  I am plowing through the cereal.  Matthew sent me a link about the poison that white sugar and HFCS are.  Sigh.  I am making spaghetti sauce today, with the rest of the ground chuck.  Spinach salad for lunch.  We had about 2 inches of snow, and I am going to just sit here and make some plans.  Or take a nap.  Hmmm.

Sassy

There is enough room for me.  See?

They like their Balogh!

My 13 Balogh auctions ended this afternoon averaging $12.50 each.  Not too shabby.  This one went for over $27.

I had tuna salad on a whole grain thin and a banana for lunch, and I think I will finish off the rice krispies for dinner.  I am taking my last mini meatloaf and a spinach salad to work for lunch tomorrow.  I did buy some packaged Laura's lean hamburger today as it was marked down.  It went in the freezer.  Glad I had room to store it now!  I bought banana's also.  A week to go and I am still under my $50 budget.  There is still a heck of a lot of food around here.  I may be doing this next month also.

Book sale

the Paducah Friends of the Library book sale was a little disappointing.  It was $2 for a brown paper bag full of books, and I did almost fill a bag, but I probably should have driven down yesterday after work.  Not a whole lot left.  I went to the Goodwill down there and found 3 more books.  This is me being picky for a change.  Photographed some more books when I got home and got the pictures uploaded, so just listing to do tomorrow.  The Balogh books end tomorrow, it will be interesting to see what they end up with.

Cereal for dinner

Had to buy some more milk today, and some sandwich thins.  I had cereal for dinner.  Just Because.  I am going to bed early, because I am driving to Paducah for a Library book sale tomorrow, early.  I will be very picky about what I buy!

Snackin'

I basically just snacked all day on leftovers.  Got lots of books sorted, photographed and boxed.  Lots of action on my Balogh auctions.  Lots of kittified help, which is actually a hindrance, but don't tell them I said so.  I didn't get around to making the apple dumplings, but sometime this week I will!  The freezer door now closes comfortably.  I am making headway here.

Sunday Listings

I bookmooched a bunch of Mary Balogh Signet regencies on Bookmooch a couple of weeks ago, and went through my own collection today and exchanged my worn copies for the nicer ones, and then listed the rest on EBay.  Her newer books don't go for much, but these little old Signets can go for $20-$40 sometimes.  I put 13 of them up and a box of her newer stuff.

I ate my chicken salad and chopped up some hotdogs to throw in barbecue sauce, just to use them up.  I will pretend like they are little smokies.  I believe I am going to make this tomorrow

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/02/apple_dumplings/

and take them to work for breakfast the rest of the week.  They make my mouth water, and I have everything to make them with.

confessions

I have to confess that while I was dealing with my electrical problems, I ate out twice.  Once at Wendy's and once at Taco Bell.  I bought some more spinach yesterday, and finished off the tuna casserole.  I made a chicken salad to eat with the spinach.  I need to sit down and figure out the next weeks meals tomorrow, see if that will help me use up stuff in the freezer.  I did unpack the freezer and repack it, so I know I have some sirloin steaks from OMAHA and some ham and chicken left in there.  Oh, and a pack of bacon.  Have to make something with bacon!

I have the Power!

And the house is slowly warming back up.  Sassy has come out of hiding.  Now I can think about what I want for dinner!

Electrical Problems

I am sitting at home, waiting for the electrician to show up.  My master circuit breaker started getting hot and tripping yesterday, and after setting it and then having it trip a couple of hours later I left it off and spent the night in Carbondale.  I called this morning, and they said afternoon.  When I got back to the house it was 41 degrees inside.  I reset the breaker, and since it was cold to start with it may last till he gets here.  I did some research online and then called brother Jeff.  I am pretty sure it just needs to be replaced.  If there was a short somewhere it would be one of the individual breakers tripping.  Fun stuff, owning your own home.  I will update later.

Later---oh, boy.   Looks like I need a new box both inside and outside, and time to upgrade to 200 amp service, since I will be getting the place ready to either sell or rent next year.  Close to $3,800.  Fun.  I really thought I might get to do something fun with my savings.  Looks like I really need to get busy on EBAY.  I am staying the next two nights at Karen's because they can't get here till Thursday to do the change out.

Tuna on Toast

I made some tuna in a white sauce and ate it on toast.  I then boiled some macaroni and added peas for a casserole to take to work for lunch tomorrow.  As I was eating my tuna on toast, I was thinking that there are a lot of people in this world who would not find it appealing at all!  For me it is a comfort food, a throw back to my childhood, along with the casserole.  My Mom doesn't like celery.  As kids, we were not exposed to celery.  Other people had celery in everything.  Same with squash.  As we get older and try new things our palate will embrace other tastes.  I don't ever get tired of the old family favorites though. Well, those that were my favorites, anyhow.  Never did like fishsticks.  Ever.  Bought my Sunday paper and a canteloupe and 3 bananas.  Spent another $3.50 for a new total of $22.40 for the month. 

Freezer door

I have a refrigerator with the freezer on the bottom.  I just noticed that the door keeps popping open a bit, so I really need to get in there and rearrange some things.  I had a sloppy joe for lunch, and am using up the last of the spinach, with some separated clementines and crasins and walnuts for dinner.  Yum.  Had too many Mt. Dews today, I am going to try and have just one a day this week-end.  Took two more boxes of books to the post office today.  I need to get another load of recycling out of here.  I am clearing things out, slowly but surely!

Getting colder and windier

We are dropping to the single digits again tonight, and the dry snow is expected to blow all over the place.  At least I only had to brush it off the car this morning, no scraping involved.  I had my last salmon patty for lunch, and some potato soup.  Snacked on two clementines. Came home starving and made a sloppy joe with the hamburger I had browned and frozen.  I bought a box of clementines and milk and eggs yesterday, for a total of  $12.26.  Will boil 8 eggs tonight and make some tuna on toast.   Left over tuna and white sauce will be combined with macaroni and peas for my old standby tuna casserole.  I'm thinking I may be able to do this for 2 months.  We will see how it goes, but there is no end of the food in sight.

Total spent in January on food= $18.90

Cold and Dry

It is still very cold outside, and very dry.  I have to goop my hair up good to keep it from standing on end and waving in the breeze.  I shock the kitties everytime I touch them.  We are practicing avoidance right now.  I had oatmeal for breakfast and the rest of my sweet and sour chicken for lunch.  I just got home and made a big spinach salad with a few bites of left over salmon, mandarin oranges, craisens and almonds.  Yum.  The spinach is in better shape than I thought, so will probably take it to work tomorrow for lunch, with some of the mashed potato soup.  Tonight I am going to thaw out some frozen goulash for dinner. 

I dropped another three packages off at the post office this afternoon.  Now I need to get the trash together for tomorrows pick-up.  Did I mention that it is COLD outside?

Back to work.

Hmmmm.  Back to the alarm clock driven world.  8 more months of this.  I had left over sweet and sour chicken for lunch, and there is enough for tomorrow's lunch still in the refrigerator at work.  I had oatmeal for breakfast, and will for the rest of the week. I thawed out a salmon filet from my last Omaha Beef order and that will be dinner, with a spinach salad.  Have to use up the spinach, because it is getting to "that" stage.  It is still Very, Very cold outside.  I don't like it.  Took a couple of bags of books to mail after work, and have a box to go in tomorrows mail.  May get Brians box ready to go too.  Two people from last nights auctions haven't paid yet, makes me nervous because they bid at the last minute, so they were right there on the computer and it would have been easiest to pay RIGHT then.  Right?

Oh good, one of them just paid.  Off to print a shipping label!

First Groceries trip

 I go out Sunday mornings to get my local paper for the coupons, sales ads, and maybe some news.  I get the St. Louis Post Dispatch delivered on Sundays, but the local paper doesn't have a Sunday only delivery.  I bought some Broccoli, green onions and celery for today's soup.  I spent $6.64.  Jean-Claude is checking out the green stuff.  Sorry guy, it's not catnip.  The soup is smelling soooo good.  As you can see, I substituted the broccoli for the cauliflower. I have never been much of a cauliflower fan.  This is a big pot.  I may take some in to work in a crockpot.  I will freeze several extra servings for me.  This and some garlic Texas Toast from the freezer will be a great dinner for me!

ps....oh my goodness, this is some rich stuff.  I could barely eat my cup full.  This will be many, many servings!

Wanchai Ferry Sweet and Sour chicken

I have several of these Wanchai Ferry kits.  You add your own chicken, and I really like the sauce, but I add more Water Chestnuts and pineapple.  Of course I do.  I had some for dinner and packaged the rest to take to work on Monday.  It should feed me through Tuesday or Wednesday for lunch.  I bought them with coupons on a mega saver sale at Kroger for about $1.52 each.  They feed four.


I have some left over mashed potatoes, and am thinking about making this tomorrow.  I copied it off someone else's blog that is also participating in the pantry challenge.   I don't have celery and cauliflower, but I have everything else.  May throw in some celery seed and call it good.  It has been so cold here that I am in a soup mood.

Leftover Mashed Potato Soup:p
3 cups(ish) mashed potatoes
1/2 white or yellow onion
2 carrots chopped
2 sticks celery chopped
1 cup cauliflower cut into pieces
2 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup milk (I used 2%)
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, cut into chunks, room temperature
salt and pepper to taste

Pour the finely minced vegetable mixture into a large pot. Add chicken broth, milk and seasonings. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer. Slowly add the cheeses and the mashed potatoes, stirring frequently.
Simmer for approximately 10 more minutes, stirring frequently.
Serve with some warm bread. Ladel into bowls and garnish with more cheese or green onions.

Cats and Computers

It often becomes difficult for me to work on the computer because something keeps getting in the way of the screen.  The word NO doesn't mean anything to him in this context.  Neither does MOVE.

Many boxes of books later....

Wow.  This has been a very interesting week.  I have mostly sat in my living room going through boxes of books, sorting for EBAY, bookmooch and yardsale.  A few, sad to say, have gone on to be recycled, because they were in just that bad of shape.  Since last Friday I have mailed 41 books out via Bookmooch and have 19 at this moment to send on Monday.  I have a box of books to go to Brian.  I have about 6 smaller sets to list on EBAY on Sunday evening.  I have about 8 boxes in the foyer for spring yardsale, and I still have about 8 boxes left to list on one loveseat in the living room.  I do have a loveseat and ottoman that I can actually sit on and use the way it was meant to be used.  Me, my feet up, good light over my shoulder, a book in hand and a cat or two draped over me.  Whew!

I had a shake for breakfast, an egg and string cheese for lunch, and I am getting ready to have a grilled cheese sandwich and soup for dinner.  Didn't leave the house today, except to take a load of trash out.  I'm off to pick which book to read!