Frugal In Florida

I hate plastic wrap. It's a pain in the neck, you know? I was using Stretch Tight which is the BEST one I've used ever, but still, annoying to deal with and never even 80% cooperative. Then you can buy them little bowl covers at the dollar store, and others too. But those need to be cleaned, and really, do you know what they remind me of? Glorified shower caps. Yeah. Shower Caps. And THAT, my friends, is exactly WHAT I use to cover my large bowls and any other containers, plates, pans, trays, you name it. Hubby travels frequently and I always have him bring home the shower caps (and lotion, those get tossed in my purse and desk at work) ... Did you know that only about 60% of the hotels he's stayed at have shower caps? You can buy an 8 pack of cheap plastic shower caps at the dollar store for, oh, ONE DOLLAR. I've had a hard time finding them so I think maybe, just maybe, I'm not the only one who uses them for this purpose... On a side note: I've tri...

*This is a reprint of a post I did a few months ago and just a friendly reminder that YES YOU CAN save on ink ... I'm fortunate in that one of the attorney's in my office has asked if I'd like to do a little side work for him at home. Sure! It's the Holidays approaching, Sonny Boy is in school, extra rent being paid for him, plus his ordinary living expenses (trust me, he's NOT living high on the hog by any means!), real estate taxes coming due and so on. So I am getting about $400.00 extra a month at the moment doing searches and reports for him. Of course, it's a LOT of printing so I'm thinking I should look into a new printer. He's offered to buy me a new printer, which I just sort of looked at him like, "Huh? Why would you do that??" Really, that's too generous and I will not allow that. Sorry, my friend. Then I started to notice these "XL" ink cartridges first. You know, the ones that say "Up to 3 X More Pages...

To your money. I'm talking about them greenbacks you have floating around there, in your purse. Or maybe in the center counsel of your car. And the little coins? Those too. See, Hubby drives me NUTS when he gets cash at the bank. There is a good 5 minutes put into the bills all facing the same way, all wrinkles and folds are smoothed out (the corners, OH the corners!) and THEN the money goes in his wallet, Just SO. Arrrg. It's annoying as all get out. Only because he's so 'extreme' on odd things like that. However, don't assume that means I think it's ok for you to toss the money in your purse, or wad it up in your front pocket (or, heaven forbid the BACK pocket). Lets show a little respect that we work so very hard for. 1. Always, always put your bills in one place, be it a wallet, zipper compartment, whatever, neatly. Keep the bills in order. That makes it much easier to keep TRACK of what you have. I fail at this from time to time, just drop...

Ok, before you get all excited, this is NOT a post to show you ALL the available free books for a Kindle. Just so you know. Hubby finally listened to me when I told him what I wanted for Christmas. I wanted a Kindle or a new iPod (my current one is stuck on a high volume and I can't turn it down)...he got me the Kindle Fire . I love it so far. I've read one book in the past week and am currently reading my second one.  This will so help me get back in to reading ... I love to read but there are just so many issues to be had (my eyes get tired and difficult to focus after a long day on the computer at work, can't read in dim light, etc.) Can I just tell you ... I can sit in a dark room and read comfortably! The back light on the screen is adjustable and so great to have. Anyways. On to the purpose of this post! I fired the new toy up immediately and started browsing titles and authors that I KNEW I wanted to read. Imagine my surprise and disappointment to find ...

This is Hubby's favorite salad that he will almost be guaranteed to order if we meet for lunch during the week for about the price of oh ... say, $8.99 plus tax and tip (and the ice tea)  ... so I need to make it more often at home for a fraction of the price! It's pretty easy to do too, just a little bit of chopping and lining up and you are D. O. N. E. Head of romaine lettuce, chopped 2 hard boiled eggs, chopped Cooked chicken, turkey or ham, chopped bacon bits cheddar cheese, shredded olives, chopped (for Hubby's) Additional items that you like (avocado, onion, etc., just chop) Lay lettuce out in the bottom of a shallow, smaller dish. Then simply make a row down the middle with the meat, then cheese on one side and eggs on the other. Then bacon bits on one side and olives on the other side. Serve with either ranch or honey mustard dressing and be happy! Linking up to Frugal Fridays  and GCC and wishing we were going to have leftover t...

Isn't it amazing how many bills are really generated a month for household expenses? First off, we do have cable, satellite radio, internet, landline, cell phones, exterminators (it's south Florida, folks), pool service and lawn service and the list goes on. And I know, all these items right there do NOT need to be part of the household budget, but here, they are. Some bills stay the same, like the exterminator, pool and lawn guy. Others fluctuate, like the electric. Which, thankfully, is finally $270 for the month (after peaking out at $450 a few months ago), and the land line, which really, should stay the same, but once in a while someone (ahem) calls their mommy on that instead of the cellphone on a Saturday morning (which by the way, the cell is FREE long distance AND FREE time, especially on a Saturday morning). The cable bill SHOULD be the same each month too. Except when you change your service, like we just did. AND that is when you need to scrutinize it. Ver...

It seems to be hard to catch up. At least harder than I remember it. Money wise, that is. Yeah, chore wise too. I'm not sure how THAT happened. Back to the subject at hand. It's Friday, two days after Wednesday, which means I've missed the WFMW linkup and it's time to link up with Frugal Friday ... I've missed a few of them lately just because TIME seems to be getting out of hand lately too ... Wow, no wonder I've felt slightly off ... Money, chores, time, work, kids, animals, and oh, the Hubby. What about me?? Ahem. You probably already know about my love of lists . For everything. From chores, to bill paying, to errands, to suggest MEALS! As I was waiting for Sonny Boy's bus to arrive (yes, he took a Greyhound on a Thursday for $37 from Orlando to Fort Lauderdale, said it was way better than the student bus program), I grabbed my handy dandy little book and pen and started to write out a list of meal ideas based on what I have in house ...

We all know the saying "Nothing is free in life" ... and for the most part, it is true. Everything has some form of payment to be made. However, the "free" things listed below, are things that you help pay for with others, and should reap the benefits of whenever you have a chance: 1. Library. I had to dig out my library card as it was tucked away in a drawer. I work downtown and the Fort Lauderdale main library is just several blocks away from my office. I need to get there. I am in dire need of some new reading material. But then I tell myself, rather than get lost in the BIG library, to just go to the little reading room located about 8 blocks from home. The reading room location is SMALL but has GREAT reading material. 2. Beach. Ok, I know, not everyone has access to a beach . But how about a lake, river, any body of water? I live 2 blocks from the ocean and also live off the waterway. I shock myself when I say I haven't felt sand on my toes in x amo...

I LOVE my morning cup of Joe ... and really, it's not a good day if I don't start out with the coffee in the  morning. But have you seen the price of it lately? OMG! I don't drink Folgers/Maxwell House ... but I also do NOT demand Starbucks either. I prefer Dunkin Donuts. Which you may as well put in the category of Starbucks when it comes to buying the beans. So, I settle. For Seattle Best. Or Eight O'Clock (which is pretty good) ... And a small 10 oz bag cost something like $7.99 now. Holy Smokes Batman! Coupons have been a little hard to come by, or then the sales are hard to come by. The never seem to coinside any longer. So, I've had to make some modifications to my morning routine. Instead of using 5 1/2 scoops to make an '8' cup pot, I use 4 scoops to make a '6' cup pot. And actually, it's working out better in the end. See, the 8 cup would always leave a little leftover at the end of the morning. And since this household a...

There is a time and a place for everything in life. And today, I speak of frozen convenience foods. No, I'm not necessarily talking about frozen pizzas or bagel bites because {sob} we've sort of moved on from that kind of stuff for now. I am however, talking about GROWN UP convenience foods. With a little bit better quality and taste than the above mentioned stuff :) Saturday night, we got home from delivering Sonny Boy to college. I was SICK, getting ready to speed downhill in to a full fledged sinus infection.  I was also being hormonal, and the fact that I just threw my baby boy to the wolves, well, I was a mess. Hubby took charge. He dug around in the freezers (which, look, they are getting emptier!) and came up with this: And 45 minutes later, we were eating a fairly decent meal all things considering. Princess came home and wanted to eat too, as those chicken things are like her all time favorite (and I'm shocked that there were 2 boxes left as she will...

I apologize well in advance if this post is scattered. See, I am fighting a cold (nerves? stress?), new medication (taken at night and puts me in a haze for a bit in morning) and the fact that today is  ... Well, today is THE day. Sonny Boy heads off for his next Big Adventure. College. Whew. How did I get here? I can only imagine what he's thinking too! I'm excited yet so very nervous. I'm trying NOT to be a mother hen. I realize he needs to step up and out and just do it. Which is not the subject of today's post, by the way! Today's post is about Decluttering/Dejunking and Frugal Friday ! Also known as Shopping At Home. Wow, so many topics fall into one single heading! Yes. Now that Sonny Boy has moved 90% of his personal belongings to the back of the Tahoe (thankfully he's riding with a friend up because there is no room left for him in the back) I can take inventory of what is left and what is really still needed. No. I'm not getting ri...

Hmmm...I think I use this title quite frequently, don't I? Well, it's FRIDAY (everyone sing THE SONG but don't yell at me!) and that means two things right off the top of my head: 1. Last Friday of the Summertime Pantry Challenge (which I'm continuing on into August because we apparently have way more food than I thought) and ... 2. Jessica over at Life as Mom has her Frugal Friday link up happening! So. Let's see.  What have we been making do with? Alot actually. But the one thing that I'm most thrilled with is fries. French fries. Uh huh.I admit it. We buy the frozen SEASONED fries. The ones that sent my BIL through the roof because he HATES them and everyone knows that. Well, apparently we DO now :) Did you know that they are basically battered? Ummm...yeah. And then we fry them? Uh huh. Any hooo..... I've seen lots of links lately for grilled fries. And golly gee, I've got a ton of taters that are just waiting patiently to be noticed an...

I've no idea where I got this from (if it's yours, please let me know!) I am thinking that these might be an excellent quick snack to eat before the gym for that extra energy boost instead of those protein bars with a gazillion ingredients listed. That's the problem with going after work, been at least 3 hours since a meal and tired from the 8 hours of work. I figure that since I have everything in house (stockpiled too with the great deals on peanut butter and Cheerios) it would just be a heck of a lot cheaper than buying the Pure Protein bars from Costco (at Hubby's request recently) ... plus I'm a little happier with the fact that it only has 6 ingredients (well, except the extra stuff in powdered milk and cheerios) ... so it's got to be healthier! 1/2 cup honey 1/2 cup peanut butter 1/3 cup dry milk (oy, another recipe to use up this dry milk I have!) 1 tsp lemon juice 1 1/2 cup Cheerios 2/3 cup sunflower seeds Mix all everything except the Cheerio...

We are Frugal, for the most part. Of course, I confessed over here how easy it is to fall off the wagon and have spent the better part of the week beating myself up over it. Seriously. But it is time to move on ... I mentioned that some things I do, others would think were frivolous. And I also mentioned that each family and budget are completely different. We have cable. Just basic cable, none of those movie channels that will bring your bill almost as high as your mortgage payment if you aren't careful. We also have Netflix. Yes, Netflix. I get the DVD's in the mail AND can watch on the computer AND we also hook through the Xbox and/or Wii. It cost me $16 (give or take a few pennies) a month. And I say it's well worth it. The kids and friends will plop down in the Florida Room and watch movies all night long. Some are funny (to me) and others are, well, ::shudder:: freaky. But hey, they are all grown kids now and if they want to sleep fitfully because of that...

I'm not so much of a drive thru kind of gal AFTER work, but rather, BEFORE work. Yes, I LOVE my BK breakfast croissant with the hashbrowns and coke. Make me scream with happiness! However, the fat content is really out of control (I know that) and the quality really isn't always that great (cold, soggy, chewy) ... and well, it's also $4.45! Knowing that this my downfall, I've devised ways to offset the urge to whip the steering wheel to the right, cutting off the car in the outside lane to make a spontaneous stop at the drive thru. Ummm, are they ever really planned? :) For about $1.05 and roughly 5 minutes of my time, I can have this: and to really make me happy, I use my favorite snapware: Sure, it's not as healthy as the oatmeal, but definately takes care of the drive thru urge! And then everything is just DUCKY Linking up with Life As Mom Frugal Fridays ... this is my FAVORITE link parade ... so come on over and check out all the others! FYI...

It's been a busy week and I'm so thankful that I made it to the weekend at last!  But of course, the weekend means work too, just a different sort. With Hubby doing stuff outside (building a new pool pump, redoing the sprinklers, etc.) and Sonny Boy and the group having a gig and ME cleaning and doing laundry and all the usual weekend chores, I figured this would be the time to pull out the sandwich bar set up. As summer approaches and through summer, this will be a common scene on the countertop in the kitchen during the week and weekends. There is cheddar cheese slices, provolone cheese slices, smoked turkey breast, sliced pepperoni, shredded lettuce, sliced red onions, bacon bits, sliced pepperoncinis, and sliced sweet peppers. If I have them on hand and/or feel like it, I'll toss out some olives, pickles, tomatoes and more ... but today I was in a bit of a rush. I also make a  concoction of olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, crushed dried oregano and a spri...

Remember, I never really listed any of my goals ... but there are a few obvious things, such as save 20% of my income, pantry/freezer challenge and of course, be a little healthier. Yeah, I'm doing somewhat ok...for the most part. Pantry Challenge ... staying focused by posting an update every three days. That does keep me accountable and I definitely keep checking over at Good Cheap Eats to see how they are doing (better than me, that's for sure!) ... I did have a moment (or two) shopping and well, believe I may just extend this right into February. How bad can it possibly be?? The freezers were looking better until that Monday. 20% of income saved . I should note, this is 20% of MY income. Hubby already contributes his max to the 401 and that is fine by me. I am the one that can spend all my dollars without even batting an eyelash (there, I SAID it. I'm a spendthrift at heart) so for me to commit to 20% to savings and STICK with it is stellar.  Of course, during ...

We make a lot of food for Thanksgiving. Seriously. 2 10.5 lb turkeys 3 5 lb turkey breasts 10 lbs of mashed taters 2 tins of stuffing 1 dozen eggs, deviled tin of three corn casserole and then the rest of the snacky things. ALL of this was transported to our friends who live up the road about 8 blocks. Unloaded. Reheated. Reloaded at the end of the night. Ok, not ALL of it, but a lot :) Well, all 5 turkeys came home with us because they also fried 4 ... we love our turkeys! So. I forgot to take the eggs. In all the hassle excitement of loading the truck, someone forgot to open the fridge and grab the eggs last. Oh well. Could have come back home and picked them up but we had so much food already. Kathy had a ham, stuffing, 1 roasted turkey and one fried turkey, sweet taters, cranberry sauce (and this jar of stuff from IKEA!), cheese ball and crackers, green bean casserole and ohhhh so much more. So we have A LOT of food to eat. And I figured I may as ...

So far, this SRS stuff hasn't been too bad ...except Hubby took my SUV today to have a tire looked at (it's wobbly) and they all determined that it was perfectly round and needed to be replaced (as it's not a radial tire, it's not like a belt is slipping but the same concept) ... so we can't buy just one tire BECAUSE we have to be special people and have special order tires on all vehicles. So now Hubby is driving to SOUTH Miami (um, sorry, but it's like another country) and he's buying a set of 4 new to me tires that came off a 2010 SUV. Guy did the same thing we did and upgraded his tires, only he's smart in selling the other ones for $500. Hopefully, Hubby can sell mine, with custom rims for about $400 and then I only spend $100 for new tires. Yeah, they won't look as nice, but at least I won't have a wobbly steering wheel when I go over 30 miles per hour. So ... again, other than that, its not been a big deal. Here's some of my f...