Frugal In Florida

Ha. If any one looks above at the header and read what it says, you should get a good laugh :)

Ok, so I've decided to go along with the Eat from the Pantry challenge that thesegals have set up.

Here's some of my thoughts/ideas/plans:

Inventory freezers (all 3)

Inventory pantry and cupboards (both kitchens)

Menu plan for the complete month. Leave one day a week open for leftovers, unexpected outings (hey, these things happen and I know if I don't factor a night out once in awhile, bad things will happen)

Get recipes together after menu plan and stick all together for easier organization (is there really such a thing??)

I've decided, rather than give myself x amount of dollars for the month, I will use my 3 $10 gift cards and my $50 gift card FIRST ... the $10 are Publix and the $50 is an AE so that will take me wherever I want to go. If an awesome meat deal comes up though, I'm buying, even though there is still NO room in the freezers.

I have to admit, I'm …

Have I mentioned how excited I am for the new year to start?

It's almost a relief to think that you can start all over on the goals you've set (and failed at) the previous year

a. I am going to attempt (yet again) to do a Pantry Challenge

b. Be a little more consistent in blogging. In other words, make more time for myself and the things I enjoy

c. Get the recipes fully up and running at the other site I've been gradually working on here

d. Get the clutter gone. Once and for all. Honestly, I do NOT have a packrat mentality, but lately it seems there are little piles of papers (coupons) here and there, a few piles of clothes (keep or donate?) etc. I need to get back into the mode of dealing with immediately instead of adding to the stack to deal with tomorrow

e. Continue cleaning out the closet and drawers of clothes that I have not worn, will not wear, and just CAN NOT wear

f. Put more effort in to thrift shopping for items needed, primarily NEW clothes. For this I…

Oh boy, this thing could become addicting in all aspects!

Last night, Sonny Boy said he couldn't find any of the games on the Wii Fit Plus ... so I showed him what I had seen before.

Then I had the snowball fight. Got blasted but oops. Goes to show that I do not have grace or coordination!

Off to the skateboard thing. Good lord my calves and thighs were burning after about 10 minutes of that. Folks, I am NOT out of shape that much but geesh, just using muscles that I don't use consistenly I suppose?

Sonny Boy took over on the skateboard game. Scolded him that he should NOT be jumping on the balance board. Said that was the only way he could do tricks. Alrighty then.

Hubby wants to play tennis? Huh? Dude. You are NOT a tennis kind of guy.

Ahh...it's going to be a nice, peaceful week at the office. I'm so looking forward to it!

Today is the cool little hurley skirt that I scored for $1 from Out of the Closet. Along with the Old Navy brown tshirt that I tossed in the shopping cart online for $5 to offset the $7.95 shipping fee they were trying to nail me for. Shoes. Well. Shoes. See, I've tossed one pair of sandles this past weekend. And I'm ready to toss another pair shortly. And, well, I stopped at Target on my way to work this morning. Picked up a pair of leather slip on sneakers for $24.99. Gasp. But they are really comfortable. And well, I DO need a new pair. I don't know ...

So, what are YOU wearing today?

That title sort of sounds omnious but it's not meant to be!

We are grateful to have Princess in for Christmas, along with her boyfriend. As it is the season of kindness, love and sharing, we agreed to let him stay here for most of the visit. Honestly, had I said no, we probably would not have had that much time with Princess. Breaks my heart, but I suppose this is what happens as the children grow into young adults .

Because we spent over $800 on her plane ticket to come home (thanks for the military discount Southwest NOT!) we kept gift giving a little on the low side.

I, however, did by myself a Wii along with the balance board and the Wii Active game.

Played the Wii balance board stuff on Christmas day. Woke up on Saturday with a very very sore shoulder and back area. Whew. Thinking I slept wrong. Popped to Aleve and moved on throughout my morning.

Decided to get out the Active game and see what its all about. Oh cool! It has boxing and heavy bag stuff. Woohoo. This is my kind …

Really fluffy, not dense like some. And can be made lighter, as I did, with reduced fat items. I have NOT tried with splenda in place of sugar yet but will.

1 8oz cream cheese, 1/3 less fat (I use the tub, not the block), room temp
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream, 50% less fat
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups of cool whip or store brand non dairy topping, thawed
1 prepared graham cracker crust (or make your own by crushing 1 1/2 cups worth of graham crackers, mix 1/3 cup sugar and 6 tbs melted butter and press into bottom and up sides pie pan.

Beat cream cheese til fluffy. Add sugar, sour cream and vanilla, beat til combined. Fold in the cool whip. Spread evenly into pie crust. Chill for several hours before serving.

*this can be changed up in so many ways to suit your personal taste, such as changing vanilla to lemon or almond, you can pick a flavored whip topping, like strawberry or chocolate.

I am giving this, along with cinnamon rolls, to my neighbors for Christmas today.

A while ago, well gee, almost a year ago, I wrote this post regarding my personal vitamin usage and theories.

A year later, I still stand, for the most part, with the theory. However, a few things have changed.

a. Sonny boy does take a multi vitamin daily along with his 2 carnation breakfast drinks. This is only because he KNOWS that he is not a good eater due to food likes/dislikes and just general attitude about food in all.

b. I have sort of, kind of stopped taking my 2 vitamins consistently. I guess when the doctor finally started me on my happy pill experiment a while ago, I felt that I didn't need to worry about all the other things in addition to my personal issue with attitude :)

BUT now, well, now, I am trying something new, again. See, the happy pills, yes, they do work. But since I have some other 'unbloggable' issues going on (not me personally but a very very close family member), not to mention an extreme increase in the amount of times I feel quezy and si…

Pretty much empties the bank, even WITH a list. Oh well, we always have the best intentions.

1. We had record rain on Thursday and Friday. Parking lots all over the place, along with neighborhoods and streets, were still flooded as of Saturday. Therefore, I took the big boy truck.

2. Shopping at Costco on a Saturday AFTERNOON is never a good idea. Make that the LAST Saturday before Christmas and the issue becomes huge.

3. Realize that everyone else around you is just as aggravated and has their own personal issues to. Which, for me, makes me turn into a super nice, considerate individual. Odd. Times of crisis bring out the best in me.

4. Remember to take the list OUT of bag BEFORE you are half way through store. This really helps you alot. Especially if you had no need whatsoever to browse the home goods aisle in hopes of snagging: a flexible light thingy for hubby for Christams, an awesome Kitchenaid dish strainer to replace the flimsy wire thing currently in place, a 9 pk of ru…

Ahhh...another year has gone by, and with that is the final party of the year at our home, the Boat Parade.

This year, hubby and I decided that perhaps we didn't want to have a big party this year. Matter of fact, lets keep it real simple and just invite 2 other couples. Then it came to our attention that it was our good friends birthday that day. And that another friend was going to be in town.

In the end, we had about 20 people over. Much more than the 4 we were looking at. But that's the way life goes sometimes. Yes, we did make a ton of food. And I guess we made too much as I'm dealing with macaroni and cheese, lasagna, spicy meatballs, an awesome bean dip that a friend brought over, chips and dip, cookies and leftover cake. Ugggg.

It rained on and off all day long. To the point where we were thinking/hoping that maybe some people would back out and not want to come (this is suppose to be an outdoor party afterall!) but all still arrived. Then it stopped raining AFTER…

Ahhh...another day of FrugalWear!

Hurley skirt, cream with these cute little beige & teal apples in the insets, $1 at Out of the Closet thrift store, about 1 year ago.

Cream cotton tshirt, Steinmart, $2.60, about a year ago.

Of course, just the sandles from Target for $14 ... have had them since last summer, 18 months or so ago?

Because we have a $2M purchase closing today, I need to dress a little more than usual:

Today's Frugal Wear consist of:

The Loft dress, purchased at Goodwill for $10 a few weeks back. Stunning coral color, sleeveless.
Strappy sandels with medium heel, purchased at Steinmart for $8 two years ago. I absolutley love these shoes and whenever I put them on, I'm always asking myself why I don't wear them more!

So what are YOU wearing today?

If you live near a Publix, you really really need to head over to I Heart Publix and check out the deals that she puts up. Seriously. I can't tell you how many times I've written down the website for customers behind me in line and the cashiers. Check it out, its well worth the time. AND, I honestly think its 100 times better than the grocery game site :)

Another great site to check out (which I recently just discovered) is Totally Target. Again, wow. She's got a great system set up for the gift card deals of the week. This is great as we all know how generous Target is with gift cards at this time of year. PS - I've also got this little card in the mail that gives me a $10 GC when I spend $100. You think I can do that at Target??

Michelle is back at Leaving Excess. For a little while there, she took a break. Now she's back. Its always nice to pop in there and see whats doing in her area (chilly Minnesota!), and she's got these great quick links on the side …

Today's FrugalWear consist of:

mid calf white linen skirt with gorgeous detailing from TJMaxx clearance @ $10
black 3/4 sleeve cotton tee from Casual Corner clearance (when store was closing) for $8
black leather sandels, Target $14

The tee I've had for oh, 4 years? The skirt, 1 year. The shoes? 3 months.

So what are YOU wearing today?