A quiet day

Finally got a quiet day today.  One child still suspended and the other skiped.  Ok I never said that the 2 from 34 were right to begin with.  The whole happy meal short includeing the bag with those 2.  Anyway at least it was very quiet today so I could think about cutting more corners here in the can.  The temps are droping on top of it around here in NY also.  SO that means I get to move the bird away from the doorway for the winter so I have to rearange the liveingroom again.  This should be fun to say the least around here.  I have the recliners in the love seat and sofa.  Makes my back hurt thinking about it all now.  To plan all this out in the room and in my head becuase I am only moveing this all once without help.  Oh and with the pre paid cell NEVER go with tracfone at all.  Now they want to put min on the phone when its way to late.  The company does not want to credit my account for the money that was spent.  After I fought with tracfone for 20 min then the Hippy faught with them for another 20 min also.  And that is what they all came up with from the office floor.  We will se waht corprate says on the matter.  So with that being said I will be back.  Have fun and play even harder.

Starting in on cleaning

I have started the washer already.  Partial cup of laundery deturgant and fabric softener.  The Aldi red bottle deturgant has went really runny of course so I have to use a little more than what I am use to.  When the next 2 and a half bottles are done I am going back to Purex.  I am thinking that Aldi has caught on to what I have been doing with the laundery deturgant.  Normally the red bottle from there lasts for about 3 to 4 months in my place.  Not any more.  So now I have used Purex before and I am going back to it.  I am still wishing that I can find Fresh Start again.  It worked well and dident adjatate my skin.  Oh well at least in that since I am streeching out the dollars in the place.  Now yesterday I found the baged bird seed is cheaper than the one in the canister.  So I will start buying the 10 pound bag and useing part of my storage bowls for the seed.  I wont have to worry about pet food for awhile after yesterday.  I ended up with 30 dollars for the dog, cat, and bird.  That's includeing the food, litter, and the scratch paper.  So that turned out well on my part anyway.  So now I dont have to worry as much about that.  I haven't started cleaning the bathroom yet and stressing yet.  I am thinking on it for the moment.  With the washer being in the bathroom it makes it hard to do more than one thing in there.  And yes I did make my list out last night and I am still adding things to it this morning also.  Even though I am not that far behind in the house work any more it is knowing the fact that I have to do it anyway in time.  If I dont get to all of the list I don't freek out over it nor do I go into hastarics.  I just leave it for the next day and try to do it all then in what I dident get done the day before.  The list that I make up are used on the paper that I have cut the coupons out on that I have printed.  Sometimes there is only one or two that print on the page.  That leaves me enough room to make a double sided list out becuase I do use both sides of the paper.  Some people do not like it and in how I say they don't live here nor pay my bills in the place.  So I do what I can and go from there.  It does get pretty funny around here at times.  Becuase some people say well I use paper plates and I can not live without them.  Paper plates are a habbit and a bad one at that.  As far as I am concerned they are a waste of money.  Along with wipeing your hands on paper towels all of the time.  I have a ton of hand towels for that.  Other wise I would be going thru at least 8 rolls if not more in a month instead of the 1 and a half rolls.  So there is alot of things that I just can not force myself to waste money on like some people do.  It is just not worth it at all.  So now I can say it is a fine line of being cheap and frugal and a bit of being tight with my money.  If you can leave out paper napkins at all cost also along with the paper plates.  You have to do dishes anyway and laundery so a few more items will not hurt at all.  You use the same amount of water if you wash 3 dishes as you would a whole sink worth.  Along with the dish soap.  Just like laundery get a full load at all times if not set the water settings on the washer.  That's why there's a large, medium, and a small load setting on there along with the cold, warm, and hot knob also.  Now the yellow sticker on the washer when you first get it is a guide line.  I have seen this work also.  It may take a few months to see if your bills go down if any at all.  Now I had seen a dramatic fall in my power bill with my washer.  The extended spin works wanders.  The power bill has kept dropping also.  I have a gas hot water tank.  I really havent seen much of a drop in that, it goes along with the gas oven also.  If you first move into a new place make yourself a pest at the power company.  They base your useage off of the last person(s) there before you when the guesstamate the bill.  So every month call them and get a true reading or get the reading yourself and give it to them.  And tell them this is what I used and get someone out here.  The power company readers all know me by first name around here.  And yes I put up a stink with the head office also.  My power bills went down by 75 dollars if not more a month when I started hollaring.  I dident have a fridge nor a dryer at the time.  And the guys took note of that right away and put it in the computer in the car also.  Then also I had an old window unit for cold air.  I found out When I blocked the hallway up along with the windows and the front room that the bill with that was only maybe 150 a month.  Now when I say old window unit it was mostly made by Harison Radiador and Fridgidaire also.  So it went back some years.  It kept the place cool in 2 rooms let me tell you after blocking up the windows and a few other things.  Still to this day I have windows blocked off and rooms blocked with vents covered with foil to save on the A/C and keeping the place cool.  All you do with the foil is get a piece big enough for the vent/grate and cover the bottom of the grate.  Then stick it back in the floor or cieling and what a differance it makes.  And use fans also to help move the air around.  You knotice a cold spot get a floor fan and point it in the direction you want the air to go to.  Ok folks have fun and play hard.

One nice thing about being home

I finally relized I don't mind being home all of the time. I can look up free stuff come up with new recipies and look for coupons. And find ways to be cheaper than dirt about things here in the house. It is bad when I can find ways to save money on groceries, the power bill, and everything else in the place. And i just hollared at a friend to turn off the light above the sink also today. Even though it is pennies still the same rather have them pennies in my pocket. Most of the place is on power strips so I can automaticly turn off alot of stuff at one time. It pays to be cheaper than snot in my household. I can go out to my yard now and more than likely can pick up 20 cents worth of cans and or bottles. Most times thats how i pay for groceries along with coupons. It is wierd but it is true. And I use paper towles for cleaning only in my household also. I have hand towles all over the place for wipeing of the hands. It is a cardnal sin to use a paper towel to wipe your hands after you wash them on those. You wont find paper plates nor the plastic cups nor the plastic forks knives or spoons. They are a waste of money in my eyes. I have cut ans slashed everything in half like the dish soap and laundery deturgant. As they told us growing up a little goes along way. And they were not kidding niether with that saying. As I say the bargin racks are our best friends at all the stores. When I can find a pair of pants or jeans for 3 dollars when they were 15 normally. That is how i have dressed most of the household or thru yard sales. And alot of people will shake thier heads at me. It dosen't bother me anymore when they do that. Or when I am at the check out lanes with a fist/paw full of coupons I have heard people start hollering about it till they see the finall bill at the end of the coupons and for the can return. I sent a 45 dollar bill down to $4.95 at walmart one day and one of the elders was impressed with me. That's when I first got Oliver and alot of it was for him. So there are ways to cut the bill down for Walmart and other places. Some that come over to my place are amazed in what i can do for the month in only shopping once a month shopping trips that I do make. I alos plan out everything as much as I can for meals and other things. Once I got use to the fact to planning out and getting organized enough it made it easier on myself. Alot of folks don't understand that you dont need to go to the store once a week. There is alot of farmers markets and road side stands at this time of the year. Pluss with one of the buttons that I have added with the vegies in season so you can tell what is and isent in season at the times of the year. You can catch sales on alot of things and some things are seasonal cheap. Just like football season tater chips as I call them are cheaper along with beer and dips. Even though it is still cheaper to make your own at most times of the year. Ok folks I will have more later on play safe.

Back to looking again

I'm always looking for samples and free stuff out there along with good deals on and off the net. As I say if they dident want you to have samples and coupons the manufacturers wouldent put it out there for people at all. Some people laugh at me about what I have got thru the mail already. Pluss the free stuff i have got with being out and about also. Down to free tee shirts to bags to rolls of T.P. There are several ways to get them from signing up in sweeps to just asking for them also. I rememmber one time I was out with friends and i had a certian beer in my hand and I ended up with a free shirt out of the deal. The couple that I went out with were in shock. Well all I can do is laugh sometimes about it. And it pays to get the free stuff sometimes becuase they all do send coupons also with the sample or freebie. Then there's free stuff if you ask for it also in the resturants. Anywhere from a free kids night out to free sandwiches to free drinks. Some you have to go really looking for and others you do not have to. Or you can make a few phone calls and ask what promotions they have for that day week or month. Or of they have coupons to dine at that piticular place also. I know it sounds like some of us are begging for free food and it's not like that at all. Saveing money when you can is always a good thing. Just like I got a box of goodies for my dog thru UPS when we first got her. Ever since then the dog has liked the UPS guys and the mail men. Pick a treat that they like and go to thier web site and see if they have coupons and or treats under thier promotions. Works like a charm. Even if you go to a web site and ask if they have coupons that they can give you. The worst they can tell you is No. I have also got cat samples. And yes for the most part everyone gets along. It's like haveing 3 2 year olds in the house at times but it is well worth the fun times in the house hold. OK folks have a good one and I will be back.

Being cheap as always

Dinner tonight out of the blue is homemade mac and cheese. All of the stuff to make it up was off brand which my partner and I don't mind as always. I just dont like running the big oven on really hot and muggy days but it couldent have been avoided today. The convection oven is a great invention to save on heating up the house when its to bad outside. It doesent blast heat like the other oven does. Pluss it saves on the a/c from running constantly also while I'm bakeing. Anyway now lets see how cheap I can really get for this up coming month on everything from groceries power and other things in the house.

As I have the house open

Well I had to turn off the a/c unit today all the stale got to me. Pluss all the kids in the neighborhood were flocking to my house also with the windows open and myself bakeing as normal today. Anyway at least all the bakeing was on the cheap side as always and dinner under a dollar for the both of us again. Aldi has great flour for bakeing and other homemade goodies that I do make. The waffels that i made were not bad from www.hillbillyhousewife.com i could have made more the froze what we all diden't eat for dinner. Oh well next time I will do that just to save my sanity for another dinner. Pluss today i went thru some of the frugal sites that I have collected to see if I missed anything to try to get my household even cheaper than what I have it at this point in time. Tomarrow starts out another day also on cutting the tv out and a few other things during the day.