Frugal In Florida

So, really, I wake up at 5:30am. During the school year, I do this to make sure Sonny Boy gets up, eats breakfast and gets to school on time (he leaves at 6:30am). During the summertime, I used to sleep in til 6 or 6:30. But this summer, I still get up. To let the cat out. To browse the net. To update my blogs (ummm, I know, still sorely lacking!) To W.O.R.K.O.U.T. Ummm. Yeah. Exercise.  Happens sporadically. Really, it's a little pathetic. But I continue to wake up at 5:30. Make my coffee, fire up the laptop, let the cat out, etc. And maybe, if I feel like I have the energy to do so, work out. Seems lately though, I have none. Whats up with that? Today was one of them mornings. And my list of things to do is getting longer and longer (without the workout actually written on the list to do). This morning, I took 15 minutes to  ... Iron. Yes. I ironed for 15 minutes at 6am. And you know what? I got a lot done.  4 skirts. 5 blouses. 2 pairs of pants. A...

My girlfriend met me at the mall the other morning. She brought a bag of clothes, thinking some of it might be good for Princess and a few things possibly for me, even though I am "larger" than her :) Well, Princess ended up taking most of the items, surprisingly enough. The few items she left for me to try made me very skeptical. A size 4 dress? Come on girly. You know that I'm pushing on a size 10, hence the diet and halfassed exercise program. Well, I tried on the dress. Spetacular!  Sure, if I could lose them little bulges on the outside of the thigh it would look better, but even so, nice! So the frugal wear was this: MaggyL dress - free Naturalizer black heels - $5.99 Earrings (part of matching necklace set, not worn) - $1.00 Bracelet - $1.00 Total outfit $7.99 ... not bad for an OFFICE outfit!  I suppose I should try to get a picture in the future? After all, I do have the new toy !

Princess and I have had such an odd time of her growing up. As a baby, she was great. Started the day I gave birth to her, two weeks early and QUICK. As in "Dude you better hurry or you are going to miss the arrival!" to hubby as he walks down the hall.  Happy go lucky. Never cried for any unknown reason. Slept through the night 85% of the time. Ate veggies (broccoli was her first veggie, and she still loves it the most!) and was always by my side. Then she went to elementary school. She was always the one bringing home the troubled kids. Ok, not troubled like that, but ones who didn’t have a stable home environment. Like a mother hen. And she didn’t understand why they just couldn’t move in with us? Then middle school came along. The comment about being poor which really hurt her feelings, and I think, catapulted her instant gratification “I can buy it if I want it” attitude. Funny enough, try as I did to explain the fine art of living frugally yet well was lost on her ...

So, I've tried various ways to track my spending and announce it to the world without much success. Then I came across this site called Give Me Back My Five Bucks and really liked the way she does her weekly tallies. So guess what? I'm hopping on board! Monday $15.50 Library fees (yikes!) $16.61 GFS (snacks, hoagie rolls and a 3.79 lb buffalo wing chicken breast lunch meat thingy) Tuesday $4.23 Burger King (I was hungry!) $2.70 Walgreens (toothpaste) Good news though, I got back $3.50 in a reward for next purchase! Wednesday $7.75 for lunch @ Mr. Nicks $40.00 gas for the SUV Thursday $66.45 Winn Dixie. Somehow this came to more than I anticipated. This is also the last time I used my debit card and KNOW I dropped it in the parking lot. No, the store does not have it. Friday $140.38 weekly pay $ No Spend Day (at last!) Saturday $86.35 victoria secret $5.38 food court with girlfriend, a soda and a life water $79.64 Publix. Again, more than I want...

I've tried various ways to track and announce it to the world without much success. Then I came across a sight called Give Me Back My Five Bucks and really like the way she does her weekly tallies! So guess what? I'm on board! Monday $10.00 Walgreens for Sonny Boy prescription Tuesday $4.49 Publix (not bad when you consider 2 bags of coffee, pack of gum, 1 lonely banana and 1 cup yogurt) Wednesday $No Spend Day Thursday $8.94 Publix (needed milk and I picked up a dinner size mac & cheese for freezer) $1081.57 bi-weekly paycheck Friday $140.38 paycheck $No Spend Day Saturday $524.38 Costco. See HERE for the details on this trip! Sunday $No Spend Day Totals for the week: $1,221.95 in. Would like to hopefully deposit $125 in to my WAMU savings account. Will have to wait and see what the rest of the bills look like that I haven't set up for payment yet. $547.81 out! NOTES: The family left on Thursday morning which means I can NOW get ba...

I needed to go. There were things that I needed to get from there. There were COUPONS to be used! And I also took the newest member of our family, Brutis.  Keep an eye out for THAT post. So. Costco cost me about $200 more than I anticpated. AND I did not get everything on the list. Some things seemed to be a little more expensive than I remembered. Paper Towel $14.79 Spinach $3.99 Mini Peppers (sweet) $3.99 Sam-E vitamins 90 ct $38.89 x 2 less $8 x 2 long hot dog buns $1.79 Motts apple juice 2/128 oz $6.45 cottonelle wet wipes $14.99 less $3 large can of tomatoe sauce $2.45 coffeemate powder $5.49 garbage bags (200 count) $11.99 Nuts & Honey granola bars (kids love) $11.49 30 ct foil pans $6.99 170 plastic cups $7.49 water (.5l bottles) $3.45 softsoap refill 2/80 oz $7.99 less $2 dish soap $7.99 less $2 celsius drinks (15 pks) $16.99 x 3 less $4 x 3 (I know, this stuff is expensive, but better than redbull & gets my soda fix 80% of the time) r...

so, the other evening, on my way home from work, I had to stop at Goodwill to drop off a bunch of stuff that I had planned on selling at a yard sale, but time got away from me. I dropped the stuff off, got my receipt, parked my car and decided to run in and gave myself exactly 10 minutes to browse. That's what I found. A pair of almost new running shoes. In MY size!!! wowee. Swiss K ... googled them, retail for $75.00 new. Ok, not that BIG of a deal, but to me it is. I've got the $100 pair of Sketcher ShapeUps but they have been causing a few issues with the one foot lately (I still need to post my review of these things soon). $7.00. Then I spotted a brand new (no box) foot spa/pedicure/massager thingy by Homedics. Woohoo! I've been wanting one of them for quite a while but just could NOT justifiy the cost. $7.00 Washed the shoes. Removed the inserts and put in my gel ones that I got in my old shoes. Washed the foot spa/pedicure/massager thingy and put it in the clo...

So, I've tried various ways to track my spending and announce it to the world without much success. Then I came across this site called Give Me Back My Five Bucks and really liked the way she does her weekly tallies. So guess what? I'm hopping on board! Monday No Spend Day Tuesday +$40.00 (for notary services) to No-Touch Savings +$50.80 (reimbursement from company) to No-Touch Savings $50.86 Bed Bath & Beyond Wednesday $27.23 Publix $88.52 Publix $14.84 Goodwill (almost new sneakers priced at $75.00 (you can read all about it here ) and a foot massager thing, new) Thursday $20.00 to Sonny Boy for drumsticks. $20.00 gas in the little car $5.00 to Princess for spending money Friday $140.38 (weekly check) 25 cents parking at recorders office $35.00 pizza (ok, really, $75.00 but BIL pitched in $40.00-lots of pizza but fed 8 and enough leftovers for all for lunch) Saturday $48.93 Publix $24.82 Winn Dixie $30.00 to Sonny Boy for trip to Miami (just in ca...

So here we are, July. Wow. The year is half over already. I've been doing well with the low carb stuff, and actually was thrilled to have lost more weight than anticipated for June, which is motivation to keep going forward AND to maybe motivate me to exercise a 'bit' more :) we all know how that goes, right? Anyways, July brings a few new exciting things: 4th of July, the boat goes back in the water (at last!), the waverunner will be in the water (finally!) the boys will be playing more frequently, which means more practices here at the house, which means, much more food consumed, princess starts another job, AND my BIL and his 2 boys (13 and 15) arrive at the end of the week for a vacation. All that means, S.T.R.E.S.S. as far as feeding the masses goes. Not to worry, a menu plan for the month saves the day! So, in no particular order, here we go (oh, did I mention, the car insurance bill is due this month too, which is about $1500 more than I anticipated? Which means t...