Friday, January 31, 2014

1-31-14

1:00pm


I just looked at how much hubby's paycheck was
and how much bills we have.
Oh yeah, this really sucks that the bonus was not
on their checks this week.
I know I should never depend upon bonus or extra
money til it is in our hand or bank account.
I don't know when we will get the bonus or
when we will get our tax refund so have to plan
it out like I don't have either in the near future.
I'm sitting here trying to figure out a menu for our
meals for the next 2 weeks trying to use mostly what
I have on hand with very limited items from the grocery store.
This is what I have so far.  

BREAKFASTS

1.  Muffins
2.  Egg sandwiches
3.  Cake mix waffles
4.  Pancakes
5.  Cinnamon raisin french toast
6.  Cereal
7.  English muffins with butter and jelly


WEEKEND LUNCHES

1.  Grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup
2.  Hot dogs
3.  Ramen noodles with tuna fish
4.  Freezer meal

SUPPERS

1.  Meatloaf with tater tots and corn
2.  Breaded pork chops with garlic fries and green beans
3.  Homemade pepperoni pizzas
4.  Breakfast casserole
5.  Spaghetti pizza casserole
7.  Baked bean chili and corn bread
8.  Macaroni & ham casserole
9.  Tuna helper with ham
10.  Scalloped ham & potatoes
11.  The remaining meals will have to be freezer meals I have.
12.
13.
14.
15.

SNACKS / DESSERTS

1.  Pumpkin pie
2.  Cake mix cake with frosting
3.  Cookie mix cookies
4.  Imitation crab dip on crackers


We'll make it somehow.  
I've lived frugally all my life to know
how to do it and hopefully my kids learn from
us to be able to use it when they are grown.

Today I started laundry.
I do not have much laundry soap left,
maybe 4-5 loads in my powdered laundry soap bucket.
I buy the FMV Kroger brand bucket of soap
for $9.99 and it will last me awhile.
Well that awhile is almost up and I have
2 more weeks to go before the next paycheck.
I cannot afford to buy laundry soap so what
do I do?  Well for starters I would usually make
my own but do not have all those ingredients so
that won't be possible.
For today's first load of laundry I went through
about 3-4 empty liquid detergent bottles
(I save the bottles for when I make my own detergent)
and filled them each with about 1/3 water from
the washer while filling, put the lid on and swished it all around
to get any remaining soap out of the bottles.
Next I went around and found any and all samples
of laundry detergent I either got in the mail
or hubby brought home from work.
I should have enough now to get by for another two weeks.
I can also hang up school clothes to be worn
another time before laundering again.
It's not like this time of year the kids are
playing outside getting dirty or sweaty.
Give them a mist of some fabric refresher like Febreez and hang
back up in the closet unless they are really soiled
or have food or stains on them.


3:55pm


I got supper in the oven.
I'm making meatloaf with a side of 
tater tots and corn.

Meatloaf-
3 hamburger patties- free
1 pound sausage- $1.79
1 egg- .15 cents
oatmeal- free
salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder- free
1/2 cup ketchup- .25 cents
bacon- free
tater tots- $2.00
corn- free

TOTAL COST $4.19


4:30pm


I know I shouldn't be talking about spending
money when I don't have any to spend at the moment
and having so many doctor bills.
Which by the way I knew the hospital would not
accept only our tax refund papers even after they 
said they would and would
want paycheck stubs as more proof of our income.
I'm working on it.  Hoping that a written statement
from hubby's employer will work.
Any help with the hospital bills will be a blessing!!
Anyways talking about spending money.
We are worried about hubby's car.
Sure it seems to run good and goes back
and forth to work and wherever without problems.
It's been a real trooper starting up without problems
and going out in the snow and extreme temperatures.
BUT it has started smoking out the tailpipe sometimes
and has a burning oil smell then.  We have to put
a quart of oil in it about
every other week.  I do not know how much
life it has even though it is still going strong
minus the couple of flaws which may or may not
be an indicator of it going downhill at any given moment.
Soooo, we have been keeping an eye out for a another 
cheap vehicle, possibly a truck or SUV.
Something we might be able to purchase with a little
bit of our tax refund.  A contractor at hubby's work
has had a truck for sale for awhile now and the
price seems to keep dropping on it as the weeks
go by.  At the moment it's down to $600
for a Ford F150.  I don't know the year or problems
with it.  Maybe he'd even be willing to go lower who knows.
I'm sure it's something we would be able to work
on as long as it's nothing major like a blown motor
or transmission.
We're supposed to go look at it Sunday afternoon.
It's clear out in Plain City.
I don't know.  There's always something to worry about.
Do you sit on the fence and just hope the car keeps
going or do you one day wake up and have no
running vehicle at all and wonder how you're getting to work???


9:25pm


I just got done making 2 pillow cases for our body pillows.
When I bought them they didn't come with cases.
I used a .99 cent flat sheet from the thrift store.
There's probably enough fabric leftover from the sheet
to make 2 standard size pillow cases.









Thursday, January 30, 2014

1-30-14

12:35pm


Hubby called earlier and told me that his
bonus isn't on this paycheck tomorrow.
No one knows why because the big bosses
are away on a trip in North Carolina at the
corporate office for a big meeting.
This sucks because all employees have been told
for at least a couple of month now that it would be 
tomorrow that they would get bonuses on their checks.
So it looks like we're going to hobble on a little longer.

Oh and it gets better.  I've been following the weather
and see we have potential for a big Winter storm
next Tuesday and Wednesday.
We will see "warmer" temperatures meaning
it won't be as cold as it had been.
But this next Winter storm could either bring
a significant amount of snow or
freezing rain depending upon its path.
If I had a choice I would want snow.
I do NOT like ice storms!!


2:10pm


I've been working  on my quilt when I get a moment.  
So far I have 49 squares sewed together
by hand.  At the moment it is 39" x 39".



3:15pm


Hubby called.  Looks like we're going to his work
tonight to cut up some scrap metal.
Should be a decent haul considering the 
cold temperatures we've been having and
all the water line freeze ups and burst pipes
they've had to replace.
Heck any free money is good money.
Still have to work some for it with all the cutting of it.

1-29-14

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY HUBBY!!!


2:30pm


I asked hubby earlier what his favorite kind of cake
and was thinking I'd just whip up an easy cake mix.
His response was a cheesecake!
Soooo I am attempting for the first time
to make a baked cheesecake in a spring form pan.
Can't wait to see how this turns out, lol.

We went out running around earlier
to the bank, grocery store and thrift store.
I found this paint kit at the thrift store for $4.99.
I've been wanting one of these.
It has dual paint rollers and pan
that makes faux painted walls.

I'm not sure if I could accomplish this technique
but I would love to have faux suede painted walls.
Here's what suede looks like...

This is the color I have to work with...

And this is what a faux suede painted wall would look like.



Here is how my baked cheesecake turned out.
It's topped with a chocolate cream cheese frosting,
shredded white chocolate, caramel and toffee bits.



Tuesday, January 28, 2014

1-28-14

7:15am


It's -9 degrees outside.  That is NOT the wind chill!
They said Anchorage, Alaska is warmer than us
with temps in the 30's!

New weather words I have learned this month
that I have never heard before...

-Polar Vortex
-Frost Quakes
-Snow Rollers
-Ice Pillars


8:10am


Well here's a first, our insurance company rewarded
us with a $50 gift card of choice
because hubby got his yearly screening and
testing done for his diabetes which is
something he does already each year.
It was weird because he had just gone to see the
doctor about getting his prescriptions refilled
and get a check up for his diabetes and then
a notice came in the mail a couple days later from our insurance
saying if you go in to have your diabetes checkup
we'll give you a $50 gift card.
I thought that was perfect timing.
This was back in November.  It's taken 2 months to get it.
Usually we don't get rewarded to go to the doctor
so that's why I find this unusual.
I wish the insurance would have covered
more with those blood tests he had done.
It seems like the higher the insurance gets
the lower your benefits get.



Oh and taking of doctors and prescriptions,
it's been 3 weeks and 1 day that I have been without
my Crohn's medicine!!  In the past 3 weeks 
I have made 4-5 phone calls talking to the doctor's office 
plus I went in for a check up and asked them in person, 
my personal health insurance nurse has called them 
and my mom has called them.
How many more attempts is needed to get
my freaking prescription refilled???!!!
And I thought our family doctor was bad at
getting hubby's prescriptions refilled.
This doctor has that doctor beat!
And to think back when I first visited
my GI's office and questioned them about
getting prescriptions and was promised
I wouldn't have any problems with them.
LOL that was a joke.


8:35pm


Nothing says lovin' like hot cinnamon rolls
from the oven on a cold day like today.


9:25am


Well I got 12 more squares, 2 more rows,
sewed onto my sweater quilt.
I sew when I get a moment or til my hands go numb.
This morning I'm trying to get the feeling
back into my right hand.


9:35am


My GI nurse called and FINALLY called in
my prescription so she says.
We'll see if we get a phone call from our
mail order pharmacy to confirm it.


10:30am


Got supper in the crock.
I'm making "Buffalo" Chicken Mac.



Add these to the crock pot-
-couple of chicken breasts $2.59
-1/2 cup spicy Tex Mex chip dip (leftover and needed used up)
-1 can cream of mushroom soup .50 cents
-garlic powder
-onion powder

Cook on low for about 6 hours.

-Elbow macaroni .79 cents
-Chicken broth was free

In a saucepan boil elbow macaroni in some
water and chicken broth, drain.

Remove chicken breasts from crock and
cut into pieces, return to crock.

Stir cooked macaroni in with the chicken
and mushroom soup mix.

Serve with bread crumbs mixed with a little
butter on top.
Bread crumb packet was leftover from
a tuna helper mix I had and didn't use the bread crumbs.

TOTAL COST TO MAKE $3.88


2:45pm


Today for a cheap snack I made snow ice cream.
It turned out pretty tasty!

9 cups fresh snow (free)
1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk (.50 cents)
1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract (free)

Dump everything over the snow and stir.
Doesn't get easier than that.



5:00pm


No Columbus City School tomorrow due to
extreme temperatures and wind chill.


5:25pm


So my mail order pharmacy called to say my bank
card had been declined for payment.
I'm freaking out.  They guy tells me the last 4-5 digits
of my card they had on file and at first I couldn't understand
why they didn't match what was on my bank card.
Then I check hubby's bank card and it still did not match up.
What the heck?!
Ahhhh, then it dawns on me.
Remember when my wallet was stolen?
Well I had to get another bank card which
has different numbers.
The mail order pharmacy still had my other
bank card on file and didn't have my new card number.
Whew I'm glad I figured all that out while I was
on the phone with this guy.

Ok just got done eating supper and it was de-licious.
Now time to head to the carry out.
We got a door cut down, fitted and hung up for them yesterday
and now today we need to mud and sand it because
it's not the greatest used replacement door they had.


7:45pm


Here is the replacement door we were told to put
on this bathroom door.  Not the greatest looking.
The other door we removed had some pretty big holes
in it so when comparing the two this one didn't look
so bad, lol.  This "new" door had to be trimmed off
the top a couple of inches because it was too tall.
Then we had to mud the gouges/scrapes in it,
sand then paint it.  This office/restroom room hardly
had any heat in it and we used a heat gun
to dry the mud before painting.

BEFORE

The gouges were pretty deep.
I'm not sure where they got this replacement
door or what truck it looked like it fell off of
and drug down the street, it didn't look the greatest.
We had to make do with what was given
to us by the carry out owner.


AFTER


Well it looks like I'm going to have a full house Wednesday.
The kids don't have school and hubby took his
birthday off so everyone will be home tomorrow.
Wooo Hooo, LOL.

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Monday, January 27, 2014

1-27-14

5:50am


Columbus has school today.
Wind chills are supposed to start dipping
to extreme minus temps starting at noon.
Right now it's 18 with a wind chill of 1 degree.

Oh my goodness.  I hope we don't have to shovel
snow anytime soon.  Yesterday me and hubby
shoveled out the driveways and I am feeling it
in my upper body today.  It was a light and fluffy snow at that.
My shoulders are so sore!
Thankfully a neighbor across the street came
over and used their snow blower on our sidewalks.
I don't think we would have had the energy to shovel them.


7:10am


I went around and opened cabinet doors that house
any plumbing and have the faucets at a slight drip
due to the extreme wind chills we're supposed to have.
You don't have to have a full stream of water
coming out your faucets.  Just have it slightly drip
to keep water moving through the pipes
so that they hopefully don't freeze.
Even if you have bathrooms or kitchens in the
central part of your home that is not located
on an outside wall you will still want
to drip your faucets.
We don't have much heat in our basement, only
two vents for an area that is 932 square feet.
Luckily one of those vents are located in the 
furnace/laundry room.  I open them up when it
gets really cold out.  Other times I keep them closed
to force more heat to the upper part of the house.
It still gets quite chilly down there.
I have a water heater blanket and about 99%
of our pipes are insulated.


9:10am


I've spent some of this morning working on sewing
quilt squares together.
I'm sewing them by hand with yarn.
Nothing fancy or perfect.  Just warm and practical.



1:00pm


Well after my nap I sewed a couple more rows
together.  I can only do so much of hand sewing
at a time because I have carpal tunnel
which makes my fingers go numb.




3:15pm


Columbus City Schools CLOSED Tuesday 1-28!!
This is due to the extreme wind chills.

I made some rice krispie treats for an after school
snack today.  I had some leftover bags of
marshmallows that needed used up and
a couple boxes of rice cereal that was given to me
so it made for a cheap and yummy snack.
Then I had sprinkles that came on top of tubs of frosting
that I never used but saved and put that on top
to give it a more colorful look.


Tonight me and hubby are going to the
carry out to do a little bit more work.


---

Sunday, January 26, 2014

1-26-14

9:30am


We are under a Level 1 Snow Emergency.
Many churches today have closed if that
says anything about the weather conditions.
If you were outside yesterday you would have
seen that it should have been a snow emergency
as well with all the white out snow, slippery roads
and blowing snow.  When you have to crawl along
doing 20-25 in a 45 mph zone and see on the news
all the crashes, road closures and police telling everyone
that they are only responding to injury accidents
it should have been issued then.
Starting to get cabin fever.
Want to go outside and do something.
(other than shovel snow)


9:50am


Alrighty then.  We usually go out on the weekend
to pick up a couple of things for meals for the week.
Don't know if we'll do that today or not 
but will plan a menu with things I already have.

1.  Creamy wild rice & potato soup with smoked sausage.

2.  Asian noodles with stir fry vegetable and 
breaded chicken nuggets sauted in teriyaki sauce.

3.  Breaded pork chops with stuffing and corn.

4.  Homemade pepperoni pizzas.

in mushroom sauce.

6.  One meal we plan to go out to eat for
a combination of hubby and son's birthday this month.
Mom's taking us out on Wednesday.

7.  Spaghetti with cut up smoked sausage rounds.


Breakfast

Cereal, muffins, egg sandwiches,
maybe cake mix waffles.



11:35am


We are now under a Level 2 Snow Emergency.

I have been working on supper
of Creamy Wild Rice & Potato Soup with 
smoked sausage.
The wild rice soup packet I got at the thrift store for .90 cents.
I've seen these soup packets at grocery stores
and have always wanted to try one out.

Next I made up some waffles for a couple of the
kid's breakfasts.  I used a banana quick bread mix
I found in a vacated apartment.
So far I'm on a roll with making some pretty cheap meals.


We found this shelf rack in a vacated apartment
and hubby wanted to put it on the back of the toilet.
It was too big and I hated to throw it away so came
up with this idea of using it as a drying rack for
boots, gloves and hats when they get wet.
Set it over the register to dry your items.
I have it sitting over a return air vent for the picture
just so you get the idea
but you'd want to put it over a vent that blows out  hot air.



  And I have gotten more laundry going all the while
doing everything else.


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Saturday, January 25, 2014

1-25-14

12:05pm


It's been a busy morning for me.
For starters I woke up to everyone complaining
about not having cable or internet.
I have tried to stretch the bills as far as I can
trying to see if I could make it to the end of this month
when I knew I'd have a little extra money to pay them.
Well the WOW bill didn't make it that far and got
shut off.  I called in and paid a double bill and
it got turned back on immediately.

Then I went through all my doctor 
and prescription bills for the past year.
H&R Block wants them  
to add to our itemized deductions on our taxes.
We'll have to add an addendum and have til
April to do it.  Our other taxes have already been filed. 
Mr. tax doer seems to think it will help to
get a little more money back.

Next me and hubby worked on getting dishes done,
cleaned up the kitchen and living/dining room
and I got laundry started.
I just now got some stuff in the crock pot for supper.
I'm making chili mac.  It just sounds good
on a snowy, cold and windy day like today.
1 pound hamburger
red, yellow and green bell peppers,
onions,
1 can red kidney beans,
chili powder,
1 can diced tomatoes with liquid,
1 can tomato paste,
1 1/2 tablespoon Splenda,
onion powder & garlic powder.
Celery was also in the recipe but I didn't have any.
Let it cook in your slow cooker til done.
In a saucepan make up a box of 
macaroni & cheese then stir it into the hamburger chili
after it's been cooked in the slow cooker.

Hubby's got his own crock pot going also
of some chicken gizzards, water and chicken boullion.



2:30pm


White out snow.


3:30pm Westerville





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Friday, January 24, 2014

1-24-14

4:30pm


I called my GI doctor's office about 45 minutes ago
wanting to know if they even sent in my prescription
to be refilled.  I hear the lady rustling through paperwork
obviously not seeing where she sent it in.
She tells me that she's been going through a bunch
of people's refills yesterday and today.
Helloooo... I called January 6th about getting refills
and even went in for an appointment on January 16th
asking about my refills.  It's now almost 3 weeks
later and I have yet to get my medicine!!
This is the 4th time I have contacted them in 
3 weeks asking about getting my medicine.
The nurse asks for my number and says she
will have to go through my file and check to see
if they were sent in to be refilled and would call me back.
Well now the office is closed as of 4:00pm
and she has yet to call me back.
This is just downright ridiculous!!!
I can't be the only one in Columbus that uses
mail order pharmacies for it to be this big of a problem
getting refills!!!
It's not by choice believe me.  Our insurance requires
that if you have to take medicine for long periods of time
or for the rest of your life you have to use 
the mail order pharmacy to get your prescriptions.
It sucks royally!
It would be so much easier to get a written prescription
and take it to a local pharmacy.


10:00pm


Oh...My...Gosh....
It is so freaking cold outside!!!
We went and had our taxes done tonight.



Thursday, January 23, 2014

7-23-14

7:20am


It's 7 degrees outside with a -12 wind chill.
There was still school today.  BRRR!

Well I had my first fall in the last couple of years today.
I went out to start my truck to warm it up.
As I was getting out I stepped on the running
board which was slippery and I fell out of the truck
and onto the ground.  Somewhere along the way I hit the middle
of the left side of my back on something on the way down.
I don't know if it was the door jamb or running board
it was all a blur.
Be careful out there!  Warm shoes/boots on snow or ice
creates slippery surfaces!!

Me and mom are going to the thrift store this morning.
I want to look for some polo shirts for hubby
for his birthday.  Plus I want to look for material
to do some sewing projects.  It's that time of year
I start to get in a sewing mood.


1:50pm


I've been cutting up fabric.
At the thrift store I bought 7 cable knit sweaters
that had the design on the front and back.
I already had 3 sweaters.
So now I have a total of 10 sweaters for my project.

I have already cut one sweater apart so that all
the fabric will lay flat.
I bought a brass square plate for .90 cents
to use as my template for the squares I cut.
Hey I can always scrap that plate later
on at $1.20 a pound times about 2 pounds
and make money off it lol!

Whelp back to cutting more sweaters and squares.


4:15pm


Well I got 5 sweaters cut up so far.
Time to give my fingers a break before I get blisters.
The colors are light pink, cream, light gray, cranberry and sage.
I still have these sweater colors to do-
medium pink, white and dark gray.

Besides getting sweaters today at the thrift store
to make a quilt I also got a tan flat sheet to make
pillow cases for our body pillows.
Maybe make a couple regular pillow cases with
the leftover fabric.
I also got a cookbook called Electric Bread
with recipes for a bread machine.
And lastly I thought this shell wind chime thingy was neat.
Of course there was no price on it and usually they
won't sell things with no price.
We asked if they would put a price on it and they did.
I thought for sure it would go for something stupid
but maybe they didn't know exactly what it was
considering it was all mushed together in a bag.
They put a price of $3.99 on it.  Sold!  LOL.
I just like things that are a little different
that you don't find everyday.
I hung it up in my living room window.
It's about a foot across and 4-5 feet tall.
You think that's quirky?
Last year I almost bought a rain lamp lol.



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