Frugal In Florida

My girlfriend celebrated her 49th birthday in February ... we had a girls night for her and took her to a place in Boca called Rocco Taco's.  Unfortunately, it was the same weekend as Valentine's Day so the place was mobbed, we stayed out too late, and drank too much.  Oh. We ate too, but not as much (or early) as we should have ... The most memorable thing about the place (besides the WHITE PLATFORM shoes that Rocco puts on for the Tequila song??) ... the mermaids.  Look at them. They are just plain freaky.   The margaritas were good. We ordered by the pitcher. Lots of ice but nice and cold and went down pretty easily. Key thing was that it was way cheaper this way than individual drinks.  The food was good. Not expensive at all as what you would expect. The guacamole is made tableside and really neat to watch (not to mention delicious ... wish I hadn't had so much to drink before that time, I really wanted to measure!)   I would...

Has arrived. Its' dark and rainy. Thunder. Lightning. Tornado warnings and watches. What fun. That must mean summer is soon to be here! Oh wait. We need spring first :) Princess made it home. Well, to her g/f at least Sunday morning around 2am. Then got home (here) Sunday morning. Its bittersweet yet again. I so hate that word now that I know the true feelings it generates. I've got so much stuff I wanted to do over the weekend, primarily on Sunday, but got waysided and sidetracked. Did make the quesidillas for dinner along with fresh salsa, yellow rice and the layered bean dip. Almost everything I used was a clearance item so it was a delicious, yet frugal meal. I so need to get focused on the exercise plan. Now that Princess is back, for however long, the bowflex is in that bedroom. I asked Hubby if he would consider moving it to the Florida Room. He said not just yet. I can understand his resistance to do so immediately. So apparently, princess and friend had a disagr...

It's that time of the year for the majority, whereas, our gardening season is pretty much coming to an end here soon ... but I still want to share this yet again, as I've slacked off and had to purchase green onions recently, for 59 cents EACH! Holy cow! Cut off the white end with the roots still intact. Stick in a small pot with soil. It will grow tall again and just cut off the top green section as you need green onions ... it will keep growing until you decide it's too oniony and pull out. I've had them for months and months and finally just take them out. They do get stronger as they grow longer so just keep that in mind! Happy Gardening!

early evening, not quite 6pm yet. I've been to the grocery store. I've vacummed the whole entire house (all 3000 square feet of it) I've been to the grocery store where I probably made another cashier enemy with all my coupons (over 50), spent $80, saved $190. Eh, not as good as I'd like but at least I have 5 turkey roast in the freezer (crammed in, I might add!) for $3.50 each! Did 2 loads of laundry. Put same laundry in each respective room, but not to its final home. Cleaned out fridge, a little. Packed cooler, snacks for boat ride. Went for 4 hour boat ride with hubby & sonny boy. Washed the comforter on Princess's bed. Got call from princess as we were heading out hillsboro inlet wanting to know if I was busy today. Odd question, its SATURDAY!!!! Ummm. Hmmm...."I'm coming home". And then her tears started. Ex-boyfriend said he would come get her & stuff but couldn't leave for at least 2 hours. Then called me. Realized I'm...

Another weekend has come and gone. It's raining outside. We finally got out on the boat Saturday. Went to Hillsboro Inlet and anchored. Have not done that in years. Sonny Boy netted a mano' war (not cool) in his attempt to catch the tiny fish that was being sheltered by the mano' war tentacles. Yeah, it was exciting for a few minutes. We all got sunburned, even with sunscreen. Oh wait. Apply. Reapply. We always miss the reapply part. I have 1 1/2 of the 3 freezers inventoried. Wow. I have a LOT of food. I need to just say NO to the grocery store for the rest of the month. Yeah. Right. I cooked up 6 large chicken breast and 4 pounds of pork loin that I had sliced into pork chops on the grill last night. We will be eating pork and chicken all week long. At least that will take the pressure off for the dinner time plans. Of course, Sonny Boy hates pork and chicken. Sorry Kiddo, suck it up and eat. It's raining. Rather fitting after a perfect weekend. The cat brought...

I believe I've made my dislike of Winn Dixie perfectly clear by now, haven't I? So IF I told you that YES, I had to make a quick emergency run to the little beach store on Saturday evening to pick up "fat" boneless skinless chicken breast for dinner, you'd believe me, right? Now mind you, I have plenty of boneless skinless chicken breast in the freezer. And I even had some defrosted for dinner. But Hubby, a/k/a the King, was wanting FAT ones to stuff with spinach and blue cheese. Oh. Ok. Well, can't you just use these that I already have, roll them up instead of stuffing AND use mozzarella or even parmesan? Oh. No? Fine. Alright. I don't know why I have to run to the store to pick up the same exact stuff we already have in house just because it's not EXACTLY how you want it. Yeah. I was crabby. Patty. Very much so. But I went. Because I love him (and I was excited about the prospect of what he was cooking!). Got to the store. Hmmm. No boneless, ski...

Here we are, another week gone by. I'm so glad the time has finally changed, it was 8pm before the sky was dark ... woohoo!! Stuck on what's for dinner? Hop on over to the Queen of Organizing and see what others are planning! Of course, menu is subject to change AND it is St. Patty's Day this week ... however, I refer to the 17th of March as the Celebration of Life since that was the big day of Hubby's major motorcycle accident. Sunday - pizza, wings, and salad (really should have made this a weeknight dinner as it was all pre-made and easy) Monday - Super Dawgs ... Costco dinner franks, and thinking of serving with corn to keep Sonny Boy happier (and to empty out the freezer some) Tuesday - chicken and broccoli with rice (again, moving more veggies out of the freezer and trying out the latest gadget) Wednesday - Black beans & chicken wraps Thursday - leftovers OR sandwiches and salad (survivor night!) Friday - burgers on the grill Saturday - would really like...

I wake up this morning at 5am to get in the workout (Abripemup and Shred) and turn on the news like I do every morning while the coffee is brewing. ohhhh.... "keep your eyes on the mailbox" ... ohhhhh I'm confused. REALLY confused. I "thought" I already did this a few months ago. But then getting a little panicky, I researched, and realized that I did ANOTHER (gasp) government form called the American Community Survey. Doesn't that just sound all folksy like? I had filled out the 20 page survey months ago. Sat on it (folks, it's lengthy) for a few days. Filled it out. Sent it back in the big envelope. (FYI, did you know that it's illegal to toss it out?) A few weeks later I get ANOTHER one in the mail. Nice. What a complete waste of money. Threw that one away. If they want to come and arrest me, so be it. I figured filling it out again would be fraud as I've already done it (you know, if I can't vote twice for a new president, why would I...

Ok. Well maybe not news to YOU but it certainly is to me! 1. They have officially cancelled the Air Show scheduled for the end of April. Bummer. I've so missed it. Used to be on my birthday weekend every stinkin year. Then they stopped (you know, money woes). Then another person (yeah, really, a PERSON) tried to pull it together and just made the announcement it's a no go for this year. Bummer. 2. Costco is still booming, recession or not. I tried my best to get out of the house EARLY with Sonny Boy in tow to tame me in the store but nope, we parked at 11:45. You know what that means on a Saturday? Free lunch for a lot of the older folks. And friends, when I say "older folks" I mean, oh my god, these people can barely steer an empty cart and they are parked out in the PARKING LOT??? Gasp. Had a list. Had my coupons. Still spent $380. 3. The weather is FINALLY normal. Sunny. Warm (almost 80 I believe). A little breezy. Gorgeous. Why am I sitting on the computer?...

right? Uh Huh. It sure does! But of course, you CAN do one or the other. And actually, I would probably recommend you try one or the other if you haven't been doing either! But sometimes, people (ahem) think that because they are exercising, they can eat MORE than they used to. Or some people (ahem) think that because they are reducing their calorie intake, they don't need to exercise. I've fallen in to both categories. And honestly, I personally do NOT see anything wrong with either one ... EXCEPT ... It's not a commited lifetime change. You know what I mean? So ... in my daily quest to continue with my March goals, I've browsed. I've exercised (haven't been updating, but I can tell you the AbRipper is waiting in the DVD for 6:35am to start). I've eaten healthier. I've NOT drank more water. Which I know is my number one issue. I just don't think to drink at work. It's a bad thing. And yet, when I get home at 6pm, I grab a glass and I ju...

I do not like to shop at Winn Dixie. The stores are dirty. The employees are below par, in my opinion (I'm sorry, but if I could find ONE that cared about their job) and it's just one of those things for me to shop there. I only go for super great deals OR if I really need to stick with a budget as I do not browse these stores. I wanted to get: bags of salad (they mark down & I had coupons), a little meat (same as salad, and I had coupons), and to see if I could score any coupons from the aisles (I did). Oh, yeah, hoagie rolls too as they were buy one get one free for $2.99 AND I have $1 off bread coupons (wine tags). So I was doing GREAT, and picked up a 2 packs of corn tortillas for 50 cents each, 16 oz of sour cream for 59 cents, lettuce heads for b1g1f, hoagies. Was pulling out my bread coupons to head to the checkout lane, and I man bumps his cart into mine. I look up. And GUESS who it is? Hubby. Groan. Crumb. Hi Honey, what are you doing here? Oh just looking f...

Yeah! Its a new month and I have SO many goals and expectations for the month. Exercise 6 days a week. Eat healthier. Save more cash (in other words, stick to the plan!) Here's what I have planned for the week: Baked taters and canned chili (I know, I know, but it was cheap and hubby wanted more than just baked taters!) Chicken leg quarters, honey glazed carrots (from my awesome deal Friday) Soup and salad (thinking panera bread baked tater soup) Chicken and rice bake Leftovers, salad, sandwiches, fend for yourself Burgers on the grill with deck FINALLY finished! Chicken thighs, hubby gets to decide how to cook. I had these coupons for $5 off meat when you purchased a certain wine. The wine was on sale for $7 a bottle. Bought 4 bottles, got my additional 20% off the 4 bottles and then bought $20 worth of meat, which was free after the coupons. This was combined with 20 bags of green giant frozen veggies for 80 cents each and then $5 off that. AND then $5 off the total bill. I...

Todays outfit is $15 or $19 if I wear the jacket: black dress slacks, $6 from BJ's (clearance) baby blue tank, free (thanks Cathy!) Long sleeve black lace tshirt, $1 Black leather sling backs, $8 Black jacket (if it's cool) $4 Not bad for a day in the office.

Hmmm. One dvd from the P90x. This will take about an hour. I will randomly pick one (the 12 cds are in a book like format) ... oh man. Picked legs and back. I KNOW this one hurts. Ok dokey.

No Wii. No kickboxing. BUT I did do the shred, level 2 which I like much much better than level 1. Abs are sore from Sunday's mere 10 minutes of AbRipper. Ahhh...

Goal: 30 minute of kickboxing (bring out the Wii!) AbRipperX (a mere 16 minutes!)