Free Laundry Soap?

It may be possible to get a free bottle of WISK HE by leaving a comment here I know for sure you can print a coupon for 1.00 off here I already printed mine.

So give it a try you may have a free bottle of soap.

A treat for me at Work!

I stopped buying these since they are $1.99 each before my discount. Now today I can enjoy 2 of them for dirt cheap! 12 cents for my two drinks! SWEET!!

Till Saturday single bottles of Starbucks Frappuccinos are on sale for $1.25 with the in-ad coupon. Print coupons here (or here) and they will cost 25 cents each.

Picture from Money Saving Mom

Paid on Medical Bills

On my last two medical bills. I decided I am going to make sure I make some type of payment every time I get paid. I do not care if the payment is $5.00. I have to pay something on them. Granted at $5.00 the bills will last forever. In a way I am hoping that I am covering my butt. Meaning that while I can't pay more till I find out what is happening with the court case. If they should decide to pull me into court, I can show that even when I had no extra money. I did pay them something.

I am also making sure I keep perfect records. Since I do think the dentist lost a $20.00 payment. I believe my balance was $20.oo lower but I can't find proof.

So in 2 weeks I will make another payment to the medical bills. I did pay $10.00 on each bill. That is all I have this paycheck.

Thank You Dogatemyfinances

DogAtemyFinances was kind enough to point me towards a program that may help me. I signed up requesting help with my eye exam. I realize that I could ask for help with some of those medical bills. I choose not to since something small like my eye exam would be a huge help. Now I need to send in some paperwork and wait to see if it gets funded.

The program is called ModestNeeds I had never heard of it but was shocked at how many people out there are hurting for help. I know I should not be surprised but seeing it in print and reading the stories is heartbreaking. Now I know when I am able I will be helping out this organization. Paying it Forward.

Thank you again. I will keep you updated.

Frugal Thursday

As I mentioned before I got up this morning and wrote. I have two more articles submitted and two that I am working on. Including the one from yesterday that is 5 to be finished by tomorrow. That should net me 10.00 or more. I figure about $2.00 an article even though I usually get paid more.

I made dinner for me and B. Which was some mock chicken legs, fried potatoes and green beans. I wrapped them up in the fridge. B will eat his later and I will be taking mine to work. Since I used up all of the potatoes I had left. There was plenty there. I made B a ham and cheese omelet and gave him some of the fried potates for his "brunch". I made a grilled ham and cheese sandwich for me.

Got all the dishes done, next stop the shower so I can run to the bank before I head to work. Tonight there is no spending at work. I will pick up foil that is on sale but nothing else. I have one bottle of soda with me and will bring my dinner and water bottle.

Plan for tomorrow before work is to finish the 2 articles I am working on and possibly write one or two more. I am putting a notebook in my bag so I can either work on articles or write down ideas as they come to me. Stop and pay another bill on my way to work and pick up next weeks bus pass.

Tomorrow my bag on Ebay closes. I have 3 watchers so I hope that it sells. My other item did not sell but I have someone on Craigs interested in it. So let's hope it sells soon.

A morning of writing!

I wrote an article yesterday for AC and when I came home from work last night there was an offer in my email box. That was quick, I don't remember ever writing an article and receiving an offer in the same day.

This morning I decided to spend a few hours just writing articles. I have one done and two more topics in my head to write about. Each of these should pay me at least $3.00. I figure if I can write 6 of these it will cover my bus pass for next week. I do have the money put aside for bus passes for the next two weeks. If I can make it writing then I can use the money for something else.

On Aug. 1 till Aug. 31 the goal is to write enough to make $60.00. That is enough to cover my bus pass for a whole month. This would really free up some money. I am making that a monthly goal to write enough to cover my transportation costs.

B and my friend also use my pass when I am not using it. Sometimes my friend will come up to work and get my pass. She uses it to run to the store, library or other errands she needs to do. She can not afford a pass and only buys tickets. By using my pass she is saving her tickets for when she really needs them. There is no law against using the pass. It is not limited to just the person who purchases it. So this adds up to a big savings.

Here is the plan on the debt I owe.

24 hours later and I am done freaking out about the summons. What is going to happen is going to happen. I can not change it now, but I can make sure it does not happen in the future.

My goal is to work on the dentist and 2 other medical bills. I have been reading and even if they will not work with you on a payment plan. Pay them what YOU can afford every month. Do not let them bully you into paying what you can not afford. IF they end up taking you to court. You will be able to show the judge that you are paying faithfully. Then hope the Judge gives them the riot act for wasting his time, since you are paying.

Rough breakdown of my debt without student loans is $6,000. So now I need to work on a plan to paying it off.

Working on currently:
Dentist - $233 to go (although not sure if that is right - need to look over the bill)
Med #1 - $677.50 (making $10.00 payments per check till find out what happens with summons)
Med #2 -372.60 (making payments of $25.00 till find out what happens with summons)

$1283.10 is the total of these three bills.

I have found all the bills I have that I know of. I am going to be organizing, making folders in a binder, and a schedule of payment. The most important thing is to stay organized, have documentation of all payments. Just in case I have to prove anything.

Next up is to figure out what my checks will be after garnishment. Make a budget from there and work with it.

I know it is going to be tough for a bit, but I also know that it will not last forever. I also know that I can make it through this.

So the billination begins!

Leftover Chicken - Never lasts here

Early this morning - I baked some chicken for dinner. I have been trying to cook early so that it does not heat up the house and everyone has something for lunch or dinner. I did a leg, wing, thigh and breast. Remember I get the meat deal and have them wrap the chicken in 2 packages.



I had some leftover spaghetti for dinner, B had some chicken. Well about an hour later he is hungry again. Go figure. So I say there is chicken left. Nope I don't like breast meat. So of course I know just how to get him to eat the left over chicken. Make chicken salad.

I love this! It is the Quick Chef by Tupperware. This has to be the best item of tupperware I own. I just add the onion, greenpepper, chicken and turn it a few times. Next comes the mayo and pepper. All finished! I just place in a bowl and we have fresh chicken salad. My son ate the bowl tonight.

Maybe I won't answer the door anymore

Since I was just served with papers. Yes I am getting sued over $493.18 in old medical bills. So some how I need to come up with the money by Aug. 13 and get them paid. If I can pay them by that date then I won't have to go to court.

I am glad I had made the decision to sell off all my bags. Now I just have to pray that they sell. One bag will take care of 1/2 of that bill. I now have a splitting headache. I know I owe the money and yes I plan to pay the money. But on 9.00 an hour and also trying to take care of the other things. It is hard to get things paid off.

I also have another bill out there that I need to start paying on ASAP cause they will send it to the lawyer next and then I will be going through this again.

So now back to my regularly scheduled program and trying to get these bags and other stuff sold ASAP!

Please pray I can come up with this money.

The learning curve

My son is going to be 18 in two weeks from today!! Well for his whole life we have had a washer and dryer in the building that we lived. Now that we are at Mom's we don't have one anymore. Both were old and broke and are not being replaced. So we have to go to the laundry mat. Since I have no car and he is 6 feet 3 imagine how big and heavy his clothes are?

So one dumb comment by him and he is now going to have to wash is own clothes. Today was the beginning of the learning curve. I nicely typed out instructions such as which washers to use, temp to wash on. Where to put the soap, how many quarters to use to dry. I also told him to bring home the clothes if they are damp and we can hang them out.

A bit of grumbling of how boring it is to sit there and wait for your clothes. Personally I see it as a mini vacation in the land of quietness. But that is just me.

So now he is off and it will be interesting to see what happens when he gets back. Oh wait till he finds out cleaning 101 and cooking 101 are next. LOL The joys of motherhood.

Frugal Cooking

I am sure this has happened to someone besides me. I am cooking something and realize I don't have something I need.

Today at work - I knew I was making meatloaf for dinner. I am one of those who uses oatmeal in her meatloaf. But I did not have any at home - well I had the maple and brown sugar single serve packets, but not plain old oats.

So I decided I was going to figure out how to use those maple ones. After all I only need 1 cup of oats. So when I got home and took out a packet. I was so hoping that the maple brown sugar part was in a clump in the package. Sure enough...when I opened up the package I could see the clump of Maple. So I took that out and just used the oatmeal. It took 3 of these to get my one cup of oats. But I did not spend money I don't have on oats. These worked perfect and used up the oatmeal. No one is going to think of oatmeal till maybe Nov. around here.

I used up what I had and spent no money at all.

Grocery Spending

Okay it is official -- I have so gone OVER my goal for July. Yes that means I have spent more than $150.00 on food. Granted $79.00 of that was in food stamps.

I am not even sure if $150.00 is a reasonable goal for us. See here is my issue....the kid is 6 feet 3 inches and about 212 pounds. But he works out 6 to 7 days a week. He is involved in training for boxing. So when he is hungry..get the hell out of his way.

I had to get more meat. But I also need to sit and plan meals.

Things I know make my grocery bill smaller:

1. Cook all meals
2. Don't buy processed food
3. Watch sales
4. Use coupons
5. Don't waste food - use it all up

So in the coming week I am going to be sitting down making a meal plan. Once I know the August meat deal, I might be able to do the whole 30 days.

The next few days:

Sunday (Today) meatloaf - mashed potatoes
Monday - Spaghetti
Tuesday - Chicken

Wednesday - Use up leftovers if possible (meaning are there any left) or Sloppy Joes

Any other tips you have for me??

Free Chocolate Friday

It ends at 12 noon EST! But it happens every Friday.

Chocolate

I love me some Twix bars - although my hips might say NO NO and PLEASE NO!

Seriously What the Hell is wrong with People!

Here is my vent for the day. I hope this is my only vent, cause 24 hours later I can't believe this happened to my friend.

Background: Friend is in her 40's. She has a thyroid problem is on meds. Works two days a week (12 hours) on unemployment, food stamps, and special insurance through a local hospital. Lives alone, is looking for a job all the time. Just got another part-time job may someday turn to full time. Most months only eats once a day so she has enough food for a month.

She goes to the doctor with a paper to have the doctor sign so that possibly the drug company will give her free meds. Which she needs for her body to function properly.

Are you ready for this............DOCTOR REFUSES TO FILL OUT! Yes that is correct, her doctor said no. She said you can go to Wal Mart and get a month of meds for $10.00. That is great that Wal Mart does this but hello this woman may not have the 10.00 some months. It is not like the Doctor is losing money. She is suppose to be here to help people, not tell them no I won't help you. I am still in AWE that this happened. I have always had doctors who would give me samples or the cheapest meds when I had no drug coverage. Meds. are so expensive and right now $10.00 could mean extra food to this person. I am so outraged.

All I can say is this Doctor is so lucky I was not the patient. I would have let everyone in that waiting room now that I can't afford my meds, and this office would not help me by filling out a paper. Crazy!

I told my friend, that if she can't afford the meds some months. To let me know and I will buy them. That they will be my gift to her. I may not have a lot of extra money but I am not going to watch my friend get sick because some QUACK would not help her. I so wish all the drug companies that offer this would look into making sure Doctors are trying to help those who need their meds.

George needs a BIKE!

I read this about George and had to donate. I just can't imagine being his age and having to deal with this recession by collecting cans. I really hate how are military and elderly are treated by this country. Seems like we can give hand outs to every other country but can't help those in our country that really need them.

Eye Exam needed ASAP

I do not have vision insurance and I am in desperate need of new glasses and contacts. Under my health insurance they have a discounted vision plan. I called around to a few eye doctors. Most of them say yes they offer it but do not charge what the discount plan says they do.

I called my eye doctor and he also accepts this discount plan. So for $80 I can get my eyes checked and contacts fitted for $80.00. I have an appointment next week. I will get a trial pair of contacts and then start checking around to where I can get my contacts the cheapest.

Wearing contacts will be less expensive than getting a new pair of glasses. Since I can wear the old glasses at home when I am not wearing the contacts. I remember reading online somewhere that I can get glasses for $29.00.

I am also going to have them price out for me what it would cost to get my new lenses in my old frames. I have to repair the frames at $45.00 but it might still be cheaper than buying a whole new frame.

Rising Prices

Every time I seem to turn around I am noticing how things are going up. The other day at work a bottle (small one too) of hand lotion I buy has risen 40 cents. I noticed that Bush beans usually on sale with coupon for 99 cents is now 1.19. I just don't know how companies think we are going to continue to buy their products if prices keep rising.

I have now basically entered unless I have no other choice. I will not be buying something unless it is on sale and I have a coupon. I need more foot lotion. I always buy Gold Bond. I think it is one of the best ones out there. Since I have really dry feet it works for me. It is expensive and lasts me about a month or so. That is even with me cutting open the bottle at the end and scrapping out whatever is left. It runs about $7.99 at work. Right now I have a $1.00 off coupon and with my discount it would be about $5.79 but I am not buying it untill it goes on sale. I can get it with my discount, sale and coupon for about $4.00. I want to save that $1.79.

I don't know how big families are making it. One me and the kid and things are tight. Granted I don't have a high paying income but I also don't have a car, daycare, high rent either. If I had those expenses I would not be able to do it at all.

So I guess it is coupons, sales and frugality for me.

July Update 2

I am making some monthly goals for July:

Keep track of grocery bills - Doing -Still going strong!

Write 20 articles - Need to get Cracking -2 done

Apply for and FOLLOW up with 15 jobs - DITTO - NEED TO GET MOVING!!!

Earn at least $50.00 extra a month. ( working extra, selling stuff etc) - DONE!!! $85.50 new total 167.50

Teach the KID - 3 meals - HA! - YEAH THAT AGAIN

Organize my boxes downstairs - DONE!!!

I want to get all these goals done in July.

Say it with me BYE BYE!!! BYE BYE!!! OH YEAH IT IS GONE GONE GONE!!! I Sold it for $75.00. I would have like a $100 but figured taking $75.00 and paying the Dentist was better than it sitting here and getting $0!!!

So now I owe the dentist $138.00! I will be gone with this bill by the end of AUGUST.

t

Hoping Hoping for a Sale

I got 2 hits on a bag I am trying to sell. If I can sell if for the 75.00 plus the 6.95 I just made writing two more articles. I will be $40 away from getting that 122.00 I need for the rest of the dentist bill.

It is amazing to me that I can be so close to paying off this bill. I love the fact that it is getting taken care of. Does not matter how slow, all that matters to me is I set my mind to it and I am almost there.

I am going to work on getting B's football cleats out on craigs and sales and barter. I figure I can get a good $15-$20 for them. He won't be wearing them and they are in AWESOME shape so let me save someone some money and let me make a few bucks in the process.

Off to clean them up take a few pictures and list away.

Here is what I ended up with at WAG

Okay the 5 off 25 coupon was used.

Here is what I got:

2 boxes of tampons

2 boxes of Pads

3 bags of coconut m&m's (kid grabbed one before pic was taken)

2 boxes of Honey Nut Cherrios

2 cans of Almonds

4 bars of dove soap

1 speed stick

1 sure

2 clearanced t-shirts

hand lotion

total came to: $21.93

got 2.00 in register rewards

Saved: 31.16 (coupons and WAG sales)

Saved: 6.07 with discount

Total: 37.23

Found a over charge. one shirt should have been 84 cents. They charged me 3.39 will be getting my $2.55 back tomorrow. Also shorted a deoderant. Will get that tomorrow too.

I need $122.00 by Aug. 31

That is the amount I need to get the dentist paid off. I am not counting the change jar (16.21) in there. Saving till Aug. 31 and whatever is in there goes to the dentist. Not counting the $75.00 I will have from my paychecks ($25.00) a check.

I have stuff to sell and writing more so I can get the 122.00. I really want to make my goal of paying off the dentist by Aug. 31. It is doable with a little effort and hard work.

So time to brainstorm. Have some things listed to sell and once those are sold all money goes to the Dentist. Then I will go on to hit the next 2 more bills on the list.

Tracking Savings

As of today I am going to track all my savings from coupons, sales, rebates etc. Anything I use at a store to save me money I am going to track.

So keep an eye on the side bar.

Free Walmart Samples

Here are some samples from Walmart to send for. These are my favorite because they always show up!

VIVA papertowel

Nivea body wash for men

Sun Crystal - natural sugar

Goodnites - by Huggies

Not free but a good coupon for Quiznos

5 off 25 at Walgreens

Walgreens is offering the 5 off 25 today and tomorrow. So there are deals to be had and money to be saved.

I need tampons, almonds, deoderant and some other things. Plus I have some awesome coupons to go with the 5 off 25. So I will be doing a little shopping today at work.

Here is my deal:

4 packs of tampons $20.40
2 cans almonds $3.13 for both
2 boxes of Honey Nut Cherrios -$3.38 for both
Lorel Face wash - $5.10
Deoderant - $2.12

Have man. coupons totaling = $5.00

Total after coupons and $5.00 off = $24.13 -- will get back 6.00 in RR

17.13 is my final cost.



Remember I also get at 15% discount for working at WAG!

Pay Day Again!

My favorite Wed. of the month. PAY DAY!! So I was up early got my check and cashed it. Stopped at Walmart and got B some new underwear and t-shirts. Since he lost all that weight, nothing he owns fits. I have only bought new under clothes. Once I am sure all the weight is going to stay off then I will buy other things. But not sure yet if he is going to gain it back.

Have a money order for the dentist. WOO HOO my bill is now $213.00. Hoping to write enought to make $14.00 to get it under $200 by next payday. That would only leave me with 4 payments. I am still going to try to get it paid off by the end of Aug.

Purchased a bus pass for next week and some bus tickets. I give the tickets to the kid if we both have to be gone. It is cheaper than giving him cash each time. I actually save 40 cents per trip this way. I do try and give him my pass whenever possible.

Mailed in those student loan papers. So that should be taken care of soon.

Just have to pay rent from this check: $20 since I borrowed my mom almost $80 in the last 2 weeks. So she took that off the rent I owe her.

Student Loan Debt - My reasons why

I have a lot of student loan debt. My degree is a BA in Communications. Nothing fancy, not a doctor, lawyer or and Indian Cheif (although I have some Indian running through these veins). From my other post I said I would be 67 when it would be wiped out through the new government plan. I don't believe in 25 years I can get it all paid off either. So I am sure there are some of you wondering why did she borrow that much money for that type of degree. Well a lot of it is interest. 14,000 to be exact. Okay now that you have gotten back on the chair I just made you fall off of. Let me explain a bit.....

I went back to school at 26 years old. I had a 3 year old and an ex husband. Who we can all call DEADBEAT! He did not pay any child support for years...oh wait he barely pays now. So I had to borrow money for school, living and for daycare. Even though I was on welfare collecting $440.00 a month, had cheap rent $49.00 a month. I still had to pay for everything else. See when I was in school ( a 4 year school) Good old Tommy Thompson who at the time was the Gov. of Wisconsin changed our welfare program to W2. Which meant once your child was 6 weeks old you had to work or go to school. The catch was you could not go to a 4 year school. You were only allowed to go to a 2 year school. They would not help me with food, medical (well the kid got medical) nor daycare. So I was a single parent who had to pay for it all by herself. So I did take extra money to cover things that I could not cover with $440 a month. I did for awhile work a few days a week too, but did not make much. I did not and still do not own a car, nor did I live in expensive housing.

However had I been taught better or learned on my own the frugal lifestyle I may not owe as much as I do now. I grew up not understanding that you can shop at Target and Walmart for things cheaper. I never really knew how well you can use coupons to save money. Hanging laundry...that was not even talked about in my house. Not that I blame anyone but I think had I been taught more, even knew what frugal meant the loan might not be so big.

Crockpot Chicken

Made a recipe for Oven Fried Chicken in the Crockpot. Personally I like it but not hot. I put it in the fridge and tried a piece cold. It was so much better cold than hot. B said it was okay, have a feeling he is going to like it cold too.

Found the recipe and a lot more at 365 Days of Crockpot Cooking It is a great blog for lots of different crockpot recipes. Gets you out of the rut of cooking the same old things every day.

Student Loan Debt

Do you have student loan debt? If you are like me and do not pay enough to pay that debt off or if you have a huge amount of debt. Take a look at a new program that started in 2009.

IBR Income Based Repayment Plan.

I just printed out the paperwork to send in. Even though my payments will be $0. I will not have any more interested added to my loan. The government pays the interest for the first 3 years you are on the program. As soon as I can get some other bills paid, I am going to start paying on this loan. But in 25 years whatever is left will be wiped out. I will be 67 then and hope I am still living but hey I really want to start making some headway on this giant amount.

These babies can cost a small fortune. If you print a lot they cost a bigger fortune. $21.99 is roughly what I would pay for a brand new cartridge. By going to Walgreens and doing the ink refill ($12.99) I save a ton. I paid $8.44 for a refill. I had a $3.00 off coupon and then my discount.

On the box with my refilled cartridge was a 50% off coupon. So next time it will cost me $5.20 for a refill. Hard to beat that deal.

If you have not tried Walgreen refill give it a chance. You can get your money back if you take it home and it does not work for you.

Scallop Potatoes and Ham - Crockpot style

I decided I wanted to make scallop potatoes an ham. Good meal - cheap too. But heating up the kitchen was not an option. So I decided to do it in the crockpot.

Ingredients:

2 pounds of potatoes - peeled and sliced

Med. ham steak - cubed

1/4 cup of onion

salt and pepper to taste

1 can of evaporated milk

Layer potaoes and ham in crockpot

Pour in milk
add onion

Salt and pepper

Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.

If this is to "Soupy" for you. Add a few teaspoons of flour at the end to thicken up.

Saving Money - a Penny at a Time

I have decided I have to get some money in the bank. Even though I don't have much disposable income. It has to be done....one penny at a time. So this morning when the month $25.00 transfer went into my savings. I did not transer it back and I AM NOT GOING TOO!

I also started this change bucket. I took all my singles in my wallet and threw them in the jar. It is hidden well and I only go to my hiding place when I am alone. So no one will know it is here. I know my mom would not go in it. But come on I can see the kid wanting a few bucks and "borrowing" from the jar.

Goal is to do this till Dec. cash in change and singles and deposit in bank. I should have $150 in the bank by then too.

In these trying times are you able to get money saved? How do you do it?

Grocery Spending Update

Okay went to the store this morning. Spent $11.16 - will get back $2.00 (picked up bagels for a friend.)



New total: 116.16 For July! $33.84 left for the month of July. With 22 days to go. I think I can do this.

The 2.00 my friend pays me will go in my change jar.

Tortillas

2 doughnuts

3 velvetta cheese cups - had coupon buy 2 get 1

2 packs String cheese

Sour cream

bagels

guacamole

taco seasoning



today is taco day. I had the ground beef and some onion. So I cooked up the meat, shredded the lettuce, and we had cheese and a tomato. I did me a little guamole for them (38 cents worth). Now B has dinner or lunch (heck he has food) and I have some to take to work for me.

Our Cat is a nut!

This is Harmony! She gets into everything she possibly can. When she was younger she would try and knock off the picture hanging over the couch. She does not like anything on the table she will knock it off.

At night when she is hungry and we are sleeping..meaning 2 AM she hits the garbage can. Well so we thought. Tonight she must of forgotten I was in the room. She actually takes her paw and pushes on the foot pedal to make the lid go up and down. She does this over and over until you either feed her or put the garbage can out in the hallway.

Review of July Goals

I am making some monthly goals for July:
Keep track of grocery bills - Doing
Write 20 articles - Need to get Cracking
Apply for and FOLLOW up with 15 jobs - DITTO
Earn at least $50.00 extra a month. ( working extra, selling stuff etc) - DONE!!! $85.50
Teach the KID - 3 meals - HA!
Organize my boxes downstairs - HA mom will kill me if not done
I want to get all these goals done in July.

Grocery Spending for July

Here is what I have spent in July.

Feeding:
18 year old Son
41 year old Mom


Walmart: 27.81
Bunzels: 26.25 (all meat)
Pick N Save: 42.94
Pick N Save: 8.00

Total: 105.00

I would like to keep my monthly spending at 150.00 or less. 3 1/2 weeks to go.

Food Stamps

Now that the kid is home, my food stamps should be going up. Well they are going up to $79.00 a month for August. I am not sure why they did not go up for July. As he has been home since June 23, so I am on hold waiting for an answer. YEAH I am getting the $79.00 for July. It paid for me to stay on hold for 15 min. to get the answer I need. Less money out of the paycheck for food and more to paying off bills.

Here is my article on saving money when shopping with Food Stamps. Here

That will be a huge help in feeding him every month. To many that does not seem like a lot of money but for us Frugal People we can easily figure out how to make the most of that $79.00. And believe me it won't be with packaged, process foods at all.

One thing I am really working on is using up all the food I have here and not throwing out food at all. We also don't go out to eat so that is a huge savings.

Grocery Spending update Tuesday

I need to post what I have spent so far in July on food. I will post this on Tuesday.

Cooking in the Summer

Let's face it - we have to eat when it is hot out who wants to cook. This is where money can get sucked out of the budget so fast. Going out to eat on a hot summer day. There are ways to combat that issue. It is all about owning a few appliances that cook but don't heat up the house.

Tonight for dinner I made Mock Chicken Legs and Potatoes. I did this without heating up the kitchen. I baked the mock chicken legs in the Toaster Oven and the potatoes steamed in a special microwave bag.



Having a toaster oven, microwave and crockpot all keep me cooking all summer long. This keeps us from running to McDonalds or the place across the street.

How to you keep your cooking area cool in the summer?

Wanna win some ICE CREAM

UPDATE: 9:05 PM I WON!!!!

Just refresh the page and keep refreshing.



Wanna win some ice cream from Starbucks??? Come on now....I need a few addicts like myself.

Go here at the top of the hour and you could win. Just remember to send the coupon to yourself -- unless you wanna really send it to a friend--- THEN PICK ME!!!

You need to log into facebook to play!

From July 6 to July 19, participants can visit Apps.facebook.com/starbucksicecream. At the top of every hour, they will have a chance to give a pint of Starbucks ice cream to a friend or family member. Each hour, 800 pints will be given away, with a total of 280,000 for the duration of the promotion. While the promotion encourages participants to send the treat to friends, less generous users also have the option of simply sending the coupon to themselves.

Ice Cream Coupons to Print!

Save $1.00 off Two of Klondike or Breyers ice cream. I am sure there is a sale somewhere for these.

Ice Cream Coupon

Ice Cream deal at Walgreens!!!

This week at Walgreens - Starbucks ice cream in on sale B1G1 -- The retail price is $4.79. So I have been wanting to try this but at $4.79 I was not going to be paying full price. I had a $2.00 off coupon and even though may sites tell you to use a coupon for each product. Walgreens coupon policy does not allow you to do that. Since you are only paying for one. However it is up to the cashier to enforce the rule. Since that would be cheating my employer I am following the rules and only using one coupon.

So I got 2 of these for 2.79! It is awesome and I got to of them for about $1.40 each.

You can get a $1.00 off Coupon here

So go and try the ice cream it is Yummy!

Happy 4th of July!

The Art Museum and Discovery World on the lake front.

Yes it is the 5th but I hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th! Thanks to all the troops and their families who because of their hard work and dedication let us celebrate FREEDOM!!!!

The War Memorial - We sat close to here.

I had to work on the 4th but on the 3rd -- We hit the lakefront for the fireworks. My son and friend and I packed up a blanket, snacks, a deck of cards. We grabbed some sandwiches and picked out a AWESOME spot by 5pm. Met some great people next to us. In fact we all ended up playing spades to pass the time. Enjoyed the fireworks, exchanged emails address and are talking about meeting up for another summer parade.

The kid and my friend watching the fireworks. All in all it was a blast and cheap! I spent 13.00 on food and bus fare -- Not bad. I hope yours was too!

One goal almost completed for July

I have already picked up extra hours at work. Before taxes this is $45.00. But after is about 36.00.


Since I had to do this today:








My cute little pick phone. Since my old one was having issues. I needed a new one. It was one of the cheaper ones out there. Also they told me I am able to upgrade my service if I sign another 2 years. Which is only one since I already have a year on my contract.

New contract would be:
1000 NATIONAL min.
Free nights and weekends
Free mobile to mobile (which is a 6.00 a month charge on the plan I have now)

For $49.99

Contract I have:
1000 min. widearea (which means I roam when out of town sometimes)
Free nights and weekend

$49.99

Same price for new plan. Getting free a $6.00 a month service. Also if I go out of town (where is my broke ass going) I would not have to worry about roaming.

Have not decided what I am going to do yet, but thinking of moving. I like US Cellular and do not plan on leaving in a year.

Birthday Freebies

Today is my mom's birthday! Happy Birthday Mom!

So I found her some freebies to celebrate her day.

She got a free drink from Caribou Coffee. Any size Any drink
She got a free Single Scoop Sundae from Culver's.

I bought her dinner and gave her a giftcard for the movies. So she can go visit Johnny Depp!!

I think she had a great birthday. I know for everything she has done for me she deserves one.

Free Gift From Coach

I got my Coach fix for free.

12 pencils in a cute little box.

July Goals

I am making some monthly goals for July:

1. Keep track of grocery bills
2. Write 20 articles
3. Apply for and FOLLOW up with 15 jobs
4. Earn at least $50.00 extra a month. ( working extra, selling stuff etc)
5. Teach the KID - 3 meals
6. Organize my boxes downstairs

I want to get all these goals done in July.

Happy Canada Day

To all my neighbors in Canada! Happy Canada Day! I hope it is a safe and happy one. Enjoy your fun.

Mason Safe Jars

These are so cute. I am going to have to make each of my sisters one of these for Christmas.

Mason Safe Jars