Frugal In Florida

I really am not much of a Kmart fan. I suppose it goes back to the store being OLD and in a not so great area of town here in Lauderdale. Oh, and the employees. Not quite sure where they train them, but clearly, customer service is not stressed enough. BUT then Sears came in the picture. AND now, well, the store is clean. Open. Bright. Clean. The employees, well, they are still there. I’ll leave it at that. THEN – they announce in the Sunday paper, that they will be DOUBLING coupons! Woohoo!!!!! I think (need to check) that this is for a week or so only. Guess what else they are doing now (again, need to double check) … LAYAWAYS!! So, if we can get SEARS quality stuff (not THE best but acceptable by most standards) at Kmart on layaway with double coupons. Well. Need I say more?

Woohoo! It was 54 degrees at 5am this morning at my house! Felt so good to NOT hear the ac's pluggin away! The Fort Lauderdale Boat Show is this weekend (starts tomorrow & runs through Monday). I scored 4 free tickets. I've given to hubby to see if any of his friends want to go. I don't think any of our friends are looking for a new boat at the moment (actually, I don't really think ANYONE is buying a new boat right now). Had told hubby that we should go over to the convention center & check out all the goodies there (remember, I have a $98 gift card!!!) but he doesn't really want to go. Would be nice if it could stay cooler like this but I think it goes back to 80's on Friday. Bummer. The sky is just that crystal clear blue that comes when it gets cold out. I so miss the cooler weather! Of course, I'm freezing, my toes & fingers are numb and feel like ice, but yes, I would love to move back north (Indiana, Michigan, Illinois) ... but I don...

Took out the rest of the ground turkey yesterday so I could make the chili for today since it’s our first official cold front!! Woohoo!! Hey folks, it was 58 degrees this morning at A1A and Sunrise Blvd. It don’t get that cold normally oceanside! Brrrr…. So this morning at 6:30am, after the kids left, chopped the onion & garlic, tossed in skillet with ground turkey & cooked. Opened up 3 cans of spicy chili and one can of northern beans (why you ask? Because I can) 2 cans of tomato sauce and 1 can of chicken broth Toss in some chili powder, cumin, oregano, pepper & salt … and I think there may have been something else there but not sure (hey, it was still dark outside!)drained turkey (with onions & garlic) and added to crock Stirred it up. Put lid on. Plugged in and pressed the button 3 times for 8 hours of cooking time on low. Washed skillet, knife and cutting board. Put in dish strainer. Set oven to come on at 6:45pm at 400 degrees. Placed large cookie sheet on cou...

Had to run into Publix after the gym (remember the post about my grocery list?), and of course, made the mistake of calling the kids to let them know that I was stopping & was there anything they needed? Ice Cream Gatorade or some other juicy juice stuff Ok. Mental note to add that to my short list. Edys ice cream, b1g1f HOT DOG! $5.15 Grape jelly $1.79 Kens dressing $3.29 … hmmm. That has gotten more expensive (b1g1f, got 4) Gallon milk $3.59 8 pk powerade $5.79 (gatorade was $7.09. What an odd price) 2 bags of hearts of romaine lettuce $3.09 Lucky charms, b1g1f $3.95 NOT on my list but heck, couldn’t pass up. Suppose I should have held out Trash bags (15) $1.79 Sunlight dishsoap 99 cents Bananas $1.87 (69 cents lb!!!) NOT on my list but have been craving them. Bread $1.29 So, I had one measly coupon, $1 off powerade. My freaking total was $35.40. Of course, “ohhh look, you saved $20.17 today!” YEAH but I had to spend $35.40 to get there! Oh well. I have $4 and change left ...

So I get these little perks from the office, $98 visa gift cards. I always intend for it to be something special, for the family or what not. I mean, I bought the ice cream maker. I bought a cool mixer. Same with the blender. Oh yeah, I got the iron & ironing board too. Hmm. I guess maybe it really goes to the household. Regardless. I have another one, just came in today. Should have another one in a week or so. I’m torn as to what to do. a. Go to Kmart, put the Xbox on layaway with $98 down. b. Go to grocery store & stock up well on stuff for the kitchen c. Go buy some new clothes d. go buy turkeys, lots of them e. save and give one to each kid for Christmas (problem with this is that you have to remember how much $ you have left, otherwise rejects if over the limit or you remember to tell the cashier you want to put $X on the card & pay the rest with cash or whatnot) f. go hunt for one of the big heavy pan that the pioneer woman keeps giving away & I keep missing!! ...

Was absolutely terrific. The weather wasn ’t the best, but at least it didn ’t rain rain. Just a sprinkle. The doo ran great. The drive was good, truck was good. 2 hours & 100 miles even from our house to the inn. Wow. We had decided beforehand to pack breakfast & lunch foods and only go out for dinner to cut costs. So I took cheereos ( dh fav at the time), yogurt , and milk. I also brought bread, mayo & dijon mustard, cheese and turkey for sandwiches. Tossed in those little lunch bag size fritos & cheetos that the kids won’t eat and the cheese & crackers (same deal). AND brought along 2 shrimp cocktail rings, cracker spread & these awesome whole grain crackers. Of course, sodas, beer, water, pina colada mix, vodka & jack. So we were set. Woohoo . Walk in to our room and the first thing I see is the 2 burner stove & fridge! WOOHOO !! Told dh , drats , wish I had known. Would have brought a skillet & some real food to cook! As it was,...

I’m looking at a grocery list that I made last night when we got back from our trip: Garbage bags – there is 2 left in the box Milk – ½ gallon left Bread – ½ loaf or less Kens salad dressing x 4 (b1g1f) Dish soap (bottle was empty??) Lettuce or salads (b1g1f) – on quest to be healthier Grape jelly – someone, not sure WHO, has been eating & almost empty I’ve given myself $40 in my wallet and NO American Express or debit card. This is going to be my new MO. So why do I make a big deal about this? BECAUSE!!! All of the websites & blogs that I visit are talking about the economic downturn, the fear of recession/depression AND dh & I have just agreed, last week, to start being a little more conservative than we already are. Of course, this did NOT affect our weekend trip. Well. Sorta. We did eat IN for breakfast & lunch and went out for dinner (read other post on this deal). So of course, when you start to cut back on spending, the first thing to get slashed is the fo...