Frugal In Florida

I stopped at Publix last night to get more cheese before the sale ended and picked up a gallon of milk. 8 oz cheese $1.25 after coupons. Gallon of milk? $3.75. Ummm, this is like 25 cents more than a week ago!! Not even a week ago. Wow. Checked out gas prices this morning while waiting at a stop light. Regular, unleaded? $3.67. Premium on one corner was $3.87 and the other corner, $3.99. Thankful that I don't use the higher grade, although Hubby and Sonny Boy do. Picked up 4 yoplait yogurts at Publix for $1 total after sale and coupon (almost made the milk purchase ok) Picked up kitty treats for free with sale and coupons (party mix folks!) Gold closed up $8.90 cents today. Geesh. Oil closed up $2.38. Even bigger geesh. Taking Sonny Boy out to dinner tonight and a show. Wicked. I'm so stinkin excited .... 19th row back, aisle seat .... sweeeeeetttttt.. :) And I can't believe he said he would go with me ... gave the Princess first dibs (she has to work) then h...

This has been a somewhat sobering week for me. My mother in law goes in for surgery this morning (hopefully she's being prepped as I type) for year long foot infection/contamination, etc. She has 3 choices: continue like this and likely die in 6 months, amputate her foot and leg below the knee, or opt for this surgery and see how it goes. She opted for the surgery but geesh, she's 73 years old and stubborn as a mule ... as Hubby is in Detroit Monday thru Thursday, he will fly in to Chicago in the afternoon and stay through the weekend. Had planned this all along before the big decision was made rather suddenly (uh, one week ago) for her to undergo the surgery.  And for those who really want to know just what is being done, go to that link above and look at the picture on the right. She will be wearing that for 16 weeks at least. But they say she can walk with it ... I don't know. My neighbor, who I love dearly but have not seen much of lately (shame on me for not makin...

This is a repost from a while back because I need to remember to DO THIS this weekend (oh  how I wish I still had my Monday Morning To Do List linkup!) Of course, linking up with Works For Me Wednesday ... hop on over! Because I don't wash my hair daily, but do insist on showering daily :) I get really irritated at that stray stream of water that shoots out sideways from the showerhead. A Martha tip ... Fill a sandwich baggie with white vinegar (not full but just enough that the bottom of the head will be in the vinegar). Take a rubberband and fit it around the shower head, securely. Let it sit overnight or all the livelong day. Before showering, REMEMBER to remove the bag (dump the vinegar down the drain) and use an old toothbrush to scrub a little if desired, just be careful not to get in your face/eyes, ok?  Turn on the shower and let the shower run a little before hopping under the water. And if you are like me, you will be amazed and in awe that a ...

Here in South Florida, we really don't have the four seasons, for the most part. BUT don't assume that doesn't mean we don't celebrate them! It does get chilly in the winter, especially the past two years (ummm, there's been mornings were it's in the upper 30's at 5am on the coast, that's COLD for Florida!) but it seems that this year, our cold snaps just went up in smoke and in came the heat (89 degrees the past few days!) So, with the rest of the nation welcoming spring with open arms (someone please tell the Midwest that Spring is here ... snow flurries anyone?) ... I give you: Sangria ... or also known as: another way to use up that red wine... 1 bottle of dry red wine 1 cup oj 1/4 cup lime juice 1/4 cup sugar slices of orange and lime, lemons. Pour all into large glass or plastic pitcher and stir til sugar dissolves. Chill up to 24 hours. Serve over ice in tumblers with garnishes of orange and lime slices Add retro swizzle sticks for...

Hubby is traveling this week and will not be back until Sunday evening so the week could be easy for me since it will be just me and Sonny Boy as I believe Princess is working every night. Not a single link or recipe posted. I could almost do this with my eyes closed! Monday - Tacos. Taco meat from freezer and the fixings are all in the fridge and pantry! Tuesday - Mac and cheese. This is the last of the freezer stash great sale I had picked up a while ago. I like it because I can nuke it for 15 minutes and dinner is served. I will have the leftover burgers and hot dogs if we so choose, but this is not a nutritional contest this week! Wednesday - SURVIVOR NIGHT BLT - sandwiches ... along with some veggie fries (or just plain carrot sticks if the fries are gone by then) Thursday the last day of March (OH MAN!) - I may be going to see Wicked (yeah!) courtesy of my boss (Thank you Thomas!) and it so, I will use my gift card for Cheesecake Factory ($50) that I've been carr...

I'm still not quite sure what we were "celebrating" but I had a house full of teens Saturday with a little advance notice (thankfully!) The Rock Stars did a photo shoot at noon and were to be back in a few hours. Umm, teenspeak means we don't know how long that really is. Regardless, I headed to Aldis early and wanted to stop at Walmart and GFS too ... but midway into the trip at Aldis, Hubby called that he needed me to stop at the auto store on the way home. Crumb. That meant he was at a standstill doing work on my truck. So I didn't do Walmart (jalapeno plant shopping, that's all, honestly) and rushed the Aldi trip (forgot coffee and a few other things, oh well). Stopped at auto store and picked up what he needed and rushed through GFS and got 2 bags of precooked and seasoned buffalo chicken wings ($9.99 each, which think about it, cooked weight is 5 lbs for $2 a pound?!) and a 5 lb bag of oranges for $5.99. Came home, gave Hubby his part to finish h...

Ummm. Yeah. We all DO know that, right? Uh huh. Stopped to pick up some ink for the wireless printer. Out of black. Like, blank pages print, that's how out of black I was :) So imagine my squeak when I saw that they had the had the ink for $13.89 AND if I bought TWO I would get a $5 gift card. SWEET MOMMA! I bought 4. Then I also bought a LARGE curling iron (new haircut is just so hard to deal with) AND a set of LARGE regular rollers ... and (of course there's more!) a hand rake and hand shovel for gardening. Ummm...total? Oh, about $80. Good lord. Focus Focus F. O. C. U. S. *Had I been smarter, I would have done 2 orders and used the $10 gc towards the hair stuff, you know??