Well, at least a bit of good news, money-wise

After spending almost $30 yesterday, I still got home with no milk! I was looking over my receipt and found that I had been overcharged for 3 lemons. They are regularly 2/$1 but were on special for .37 ea. I bought 3 and found that I was charged full price. When I went back to get my milk this morning, I talked to the girl at the service desk. She refunded me the full price I paid for 3 lemons, $1.62 including tax. That was unexpected. I also received a $1.98 rebate today. So, if you add those together, I was only out of pocket .91 for my milk. I flipped when I saw how much the milk cost; $4.51 including tax for a 1/2 gallon of Lactaid. Our food tax is set to reduce by another 0.25 the first of the year, so, in my city, it will be 7.5%. There is a base state tax, then, local areas can put another amount on top of that. It's capped, I'm not sure the amount, but, I know that one city has 10.25% on non-food compared to 9.25% here. As I understand it, at some point in the far future, we will not be paying sales tax on food at all. If they are only reducing it a quarter of a percent each year, I may not live long enough to see it! For those of you in states with no sales tax at all, I must tell you that we do not have a state income tax nor an ad valorem tax on vehicles. I personally think that our property tax here in Chattanooga is a modest amount. I'm not sure what the rate is and the kicker is, if you live within the city limits, you pay both city and county taxes. A lot of people through the years have chosen to live in the unincorporated areas of the county to avoid the city tax. Problem is, the city keeps annexing more and more of the unincorporated areas. Add to that the gas those folks have to burn to get to work or shopping, I think being in-town and paying city and county tax is a good trade-off.

I suspect that many of you, being frugal shoppers, may never check out the produce section where pre-cut fruits and veggies are packaged. The cost is frightfully high for letting someone else do the peeling and chopping for you. I have found on several occasions, though, that a 3 lb. bowl of mixed fruit is marked down to .99 when it is about to expire. I have purchased these on several occasions and I've never been disappointed with the quality. So, the next time you are in the produce department, check it out. You may find a great bargain. The cut raw veggies, if marked down, can be a great way to have the ingredients for a stew or stir-fry for singles or couples and not have a lot of veggie left over to go bad before you get a chance to use the rest of it. I have always haunted the meat department for marked down meat cuts; I have only recently found the jewels of the produce department.

I blew it!

I blew it this month. I just spent $29.67 today, for a monthly total of $104.25. On the positive side, I used $67.37 in Qs today. That's a total of $107.98 in Qs this month. As for the purchases, I was looking forward to my needs in December. I bought some frozen shrimp that I will put on the Christmas buffet. It was 1/2 price + a $1 Q. I also bought some condiments that I will need for the buffet. I'm going to brag a bit on what I bought; the Veg-All Steamers were $2.19 and BOGOF, making them $1.09 each and I had a .55 Q which doubles to $1.10. I had 5, so, 5 free bags of frozen veggies. I know, that doesn't make up for blowing my budget.

Had dinner with the parents yesterday. I made 2 "dump" cakes to use up the blueberry and cherry pie filling I had left over from making the mini cheesecakes. They seemed to go over well.

My doctor has put me on a megadose of vitamin D that I take once weekly for 6 months. It seems I scored poorly on some lab tests. And I was always so good in school in taking tests!

I don't think I've been eating well lately.

The doctor has put me on a megadose of Vitamin D for the next 6 months. Apparently, I've been eating so poorly most of the time that my vitamin levels have bottomed out. To be perfectly honest with you, I just can't get excited about food. The upside of that is that I don't go to the grocery store for entertainment! I don't spend any grocery money when I'm not eating. O.K. I tried to make a joke out of it and it fell flat.

I did get around to making the mini cheesecakes Sunday. I made a bit more than 2 dozen and carried them around to my law firm clients until they were all gone. Then it hit me; I didn't even keep one for myself! What a doofus! I used 2 boxes of cheesecake mix out of stockpile and a can of apple pie filling. I did have to buy a can of blueberry filling and one of cherry, but, they were greatly reduced, something like $2 ea. I still have a lot of it left, but, of course, not enough for a full pie. Anybody have any ideas what to do with the blueberry, cherry, and apple pie filling?

A personal note

I told you a couple of weeks ago that the doctor found a lump in my breast. It was really big. He had me feel it and it felt like one of those great big marbles. I had a mammogram a week later and there was NOTHING there. Absolutely nothing. Thanks to everyone who kept me in your thoughts and prayers.

O.K. Gotta start my holiday baking today. I want to have a dozen mini cheesecakes to take to one law firm tomorrow. They're my favorite kids (the lawyers are even kids to me!).

I've just been eating leftovers and breakfast cereal lately. I did go all out and fix breakfast a day or two ago; bacon, eggs, toast, and orange marmalade. That's very unusual for me. Some time back, my store had Hormel bacon B1G1F and I had double Qs. I bought as many as I had Qs for and put them in the freezer. I also did the same with roll sausage. Pretty much the same deal with GG frozen boxed veggies; low, low price, double Qs.

In the past week, I have scored $60 in Rite Aid GC and $25 in CVS GC for prescriptions. I may try to go through January with no oop. I know I can't do it in December. Too much holiday baking and a party. Well, not much of a party. My best friend and her husband come over on Christmas night or the day after and I serve substantial snacks; meat and cheese, crackers, olives, raw veggies and dip. Oh, yeah, the best part; champagne. I already have that so no big expense for the drinks.

Single serve entree, no; cooking, yes

I was going to be lazy last night and just pop something in the microwave. I had a little burst of energy, so, I made some mac&cheese (I think I have 10-15 boxes still), opened a can of pinto beans (I've tried to cook my own beans a few times; I'll take canned ones any day), and made some cornbread. I love Miracle Maize Sweet Cornbread Mix. It's made by Little Crow Foods. If you write or email them, they will send high value Qs that expire 2 years from now. I'm having a bit of a problem with the Miracle Maize, though. In my city, the only store carrying this item is Wal-Mart and I have sworn off WM for life. I think I said that even if they were handing out $100 bills to walk in, I would not go. I guess I will have to sneak into WM to buy Miracle Maize and throw away the logo'd bag! Better yet, take my own Publix bag. That ought to gig them a little. Needless to say, I didn't take anything next door. Oh, yeah, almost forgot the best part; I had some leftover grilled salmon from a lunch outing a couple of days ago.

I'm hoping to feel energetic enough on Sunday to make some mini cheesecakes for my law firms. I have several no bake cheesecake mixes (it was at a really great price, believe me) and I have blueberry, cherry, and apple pie filling to put on top of the minis.

Well, I've let it get into cold weather and I have not painted my baskets for Christmas. I guess the next really sunny day, no matter how cold, I am going to have to drag them all out of the basement and get busy. I make little baskets for all my "people" every year. I put the small packages of coffee, single serve hot chocolate envelopes, Christmas wrapped candies in it and decorate with colored paper, Christmas themed "picks," (you know, a lttle plastic bouquet of Christmas looking flowers or something that you stick in styrofoam), and sprinkle with silver icicles and little metallic candy cane shaped confetti. I think I have enough Christmas candy to finish all of them. Last week, or maybe 2 weeks ago, CVS had it on sale and if you bought $20 worth, you got a $10 ECB. I got $20 exactly, used $18.49 in ECB, used my GC for the $1.65 I owed, and got $10 back. I do not count that in groceries; those things go in office expenses since they are gifts for my clients.

I'm going to have to stop taking food to my neighbor.

I made the chicken breast/instant brown rice/broccoli/cream of chicken recipe yesterday. Took some next door. My neighbor is at least 85 years old and has a grand total of 2 teeth in his whole mouth. When I handed him the container, he grabbed me and tried to kiss me. I turned my head and he caught my cheek. He told me he has feelings for me. I do not know how a man of such advanced years could mistake neighborlyness with romance. I'm not going back over there. About 15 years ago, he suggested something very vulgar and an exchange of money for it. I called a police friend of mine to go over there and talk to him. We didn't speak for almost 10 years. He came over one day and apologized for what he had suggested. I told him that we should put it behind us. I can't believe he's skating on that ice again.

Well, the chicken dish turned out pretty well. Everything that went into it was stockpile items. I did not buy anything to fill in any gaps. I just used what I had.

Since I don't have any meat thawing for tonight, I guess I will just have a frozen single serve entree. I am guilty of stockpiling them since I started the challenge last summer; however, they were such a fantastic buy that I could not pass it up. I was able to purchase a dozen or more of Michael Angelo's at about $1 ea. They are usually $3.75 + tax.

I think I have enough cat food to last at least a couple more weeks (I can only hope!). There's nothing that I need right now. I just found a $2 Food Lion Q on a Fresh Express Salad Blend or Kit. They don't cost much more than $2, do they?

Oops! I got caught stockpiling!

I received a rebate form, buy $5 of Barilla pasta or sauce, get $2 back. This week, my store had the Barilla jars for $2 ea. and the pasta for $1 per box. So, 2 jars and 1 pasta was exactly $5 (plus the dreaded tax) and I had (2) .75 Qs on the Barilla sauce. Now I get $2 for my trouble. Sweet!

Last night's chicken and rice dinner that I planned had to be put on hold. I had to visit the ER for several hours yesterday. Just some unresolved stomach problems. So, maybe tomorrow night I will get to it.

I transfered 2 prescriptions to Rite Aid and scored $60 in GC! And, the best part, my 2 meds were much cheaper there than what I had been paying. In fact, one of them was 50% less and the other about 30% less.

Had to buy cat food AGAIN

If I didn't include cat food in my grocery budget, I could live on nothing. These cats are eating me out of house and home. There are several strays that have figured out when to come by at feeding time. I really don't mind the extra mouths to feed. I feel sorry for the little fur balls that don't have a home or anyone to care for them.

In addition to the cat food, there were just some necessities to buy; milk, bread, fresh fruit, and a few fill-in items for my holiday baking.

I started the month with a budget of $75. I have received $5 in pp fees for trading some Qs and I've received $1.98 in rebates. So, out of $81.98, I have spent $70.69 so far this month. That includes 3 18lb bags of cat food. I have used $39.11 in Qs this month. I still have about $16 on a CVS GC and also received a $10 CVS GC in a trade. I have nothing on my Walgreens GC right now and my Rite Aid GC only has about $2.20 on it.

Here's one idea I've had for holiday baking. At some point, the Jell-O no bake cheesecake mix must have been an awfully good deal because I have 4 of them. I was thinking of making mini-cheesecakes in muffin tins and top them with canned pie filling, perhaps apple, cherry, and blueberry. I have a couple of cans of that in the pantry and I might buy one or two other flavors to make a variety of these. The kids at the law firms for whom I work are not picky; they just want me to bring them something from my kitchen. I guess I don't need to tell them it's a no bake cheesecake. I'll just accept their compliments and smile. Now, I've let the cat out of the bag because there is one secretary for whom I work who is following my blog. To you: girl, can you keep a secret?

I'm back home and cooking!

I had to spend $6.67 to purchase some ingredients for a chicken pot pie. My friend, Andra, gave me a killer recipe. It was great! There's a downside to it, though. The recipe made (2) 8" pie plates. I took one to my neighbor and cooked one for myself. My dad came by and helped me eat it, but, I've still got 1/2 of a pie pan left in the fridge. I guess everyone knows what I'm having for supper tonight.

I am woefully behind in filing Qs from last Sunday. I just got them all clipped today. Now, the fun part; sorting, putting in the Q database on HCW, and filing them all. I only had 4 papers, but, this stack of Qs looks like I had 10 papers! I also need to see just what I have in order to make a shopping list this week. I will be doing some holiday baking, so, there's some extra things I'll need that I don't have on hand.

On a more personal note, the doctor discovered a lump today. I might not be posting as often for a while. I have a lot on my mind. I will still be living frugally, though. That, you can always count on.

I'm staying on course

I've been on the road for the past 3 days. The first night, I ordered room service (on someone else's dime, of course!). For last night and tonight, I have a micro and fridge, so, I have popped into grocery stores to pick up something for dinner. Yesterday, I spent .07 and a Q for $3.49. Today, I had no Q for a frozen dinner and paid $2.99 for my groceries to eat tonight. When I get home, I'm going to have to do some grocery shopping. I'm out of milk and I need a couple of items for a recipe I want to try on Monday. So far, I'm doing pretty good. Also, I received $5 h/f from a trade and I add that to any money I have budgeted for the month. Additionally, I received a $1.98 rebate a couple of days ago. I've spent $26.18 and have used $21.06 in Qs through today. Not bad, so far.

I haven't abandoned my challenge

You haven't heard from me in a few days, but, I haven't spent any money, so, there was not much to report. My esophageal spasms have been worse, so, I've mainly been eating breakfast cereal. That goes down pretty easily. In addition, I think I told you I had kitchen problems. Over a period of 4 days, the plumber fixed several leaks under the sink and had to dig into the ground out back to expose the pipe, cut into it, find the clog (don't even think about what it looked like!), and get me up and running again. I didn't do any cooking during this time because I didn't want to carry all the dirty dishes to the bathroom and wash them in the bathtub. Man, did those single serve entrees come in handy!

I do plan to make a purchase at CVS today. They have coke fridge packs 4/$12 and I have 2 $1 Qs to use. I will receive $4 in ECB. I'm also going to get the Crest toothpaste that gives purchase price of $3.39 back in ECB. I have a .75 Q to use on that. I will pay with ECB and take a bit off of my GC, so, I will not be spending any money for these things. I need more toothpaste like I need more cats, but, they are paying me to take it home. I don't see anything else in the CVS flyer that moves me. Quite frankly, I haven't even looked closely at the Walgreens and Rite Aid flyers from last Sunday. I did go out and pick up the rebate books from each but I haven't followed up with any purchase plans.

I will be out of town Thurs-Sun, so, there will be no cooking or meal planning until next week. I don't want to cook tonight because it will create leftovers and keeping them until next week is just too risky.

New month, new challenge.

The first thing I had to do this morning was to buy cat food. I spent $23.12 for 2 bags. I'm hoping it will last all month, but, as cooler weather comes, I have more stray cats in the basement.

Seeing as how I've already spent this much and the month isn't even 12 hours old, I'm going to shoot for staying under $75 for November. The only GC I have right now is about $21 on a CVS GC. I think I will be able to get $60 in GC from Rite Aid this month, although I'm not quite sure if I will qualify for the transfer requirement. I have had these meds filled at Rite Aid before, then transfered them somewhere else to get a GC. One of the meds is actually on a new prescription of something I take all the time, first filled last month, so if they are going by the fact that it's actually a different prescription than the last one I filled there, I will get a $30 GC. The other one is even more "iffy" than that, but, I'm going to try.

I haven't had any MIR lately that I could send in, so, I don't have any anticipation of rebate money coming in any time soon.

Andra from HCW gave me a very good recipe for a chicken pot pie. It looks like it will turn out much better than that crap I made last week that was supposed to be a chicken pot pie! I will have to buy pie crusts, but, I have everything else on hand. It's a big recipe, so, I can make 2 and give one to my neighbor.

You know, I've noticed that I have my needs met even though I give a lot away to my neighbor. Somehow, the stockpile doesn't seem to run dry. I believe there is a life lesson in that observation.

I had 2 trick-or-treaters yesterday, my great-nieces. They are about 3 and 2. I guess my dad gets the rest of the candy!