9:45am
I made up a bunch of
Belgian waffles this morning
to put in the freezer.
I like to give the kids something
warm for breakfast when I can
when it's cold outside.
2 cups pancake mix- .10 cents
1 1/2 cups milk- .16 cents
2 eggs- .30 cents
1/4 cup chocolate drink mix- free
Total cost: .56 cents
for 12 waffles @ .04 cents a waffle!!
Compare that to a box of frozen
waffles in the stores
and see how much you save!
I used a powdered chocolate breakfast drink
mix that had 17 vitamins and minerals
in it to make chocolate waffles.
Now all I have to do is put the waffles
in zip bags and put in the freezer.
Then for breakfasts I can take them
out and pop them in the toaster.
I got Kroger sugar free syrup to put on them.
I skip putting butter on them.
-------------------------------------
Later this year mom's church is
having a blanket drive.
Most blankets I find this year will
go towards that before people start
asking for them.
I am trying to get our income tax
bracket down this year by donating
things to charities, churches
and thrift stores.
It's amazing that to make $2,150
more than last year will be
$1,400 less in your refund!!
You can claim some donations made
to your church on your taxes,
from offerings, donations and
even fund raiser dinner tickets.
It cannot exceed more than 50%
of your annual income.
You have to keep track of everything
you donate along with a receipt
from the charity and what things
are worth.
Here is a value guide from Salvation Army.
Just to give you an idea,
you can write down blankets
and comforters, depending on
the quality and condition
for $3.00 up to $28.80 each.
I would say an average of about
$4.00 each so as to not go overboard
with it.
------------------------
When dieting, soups are great
for eating. There are many that
offer low calories and fat.
Here's an example of a soup I have.
Campbell's Select Harvest Light
Maryland-Style Crab soup:
1/2 of a can
-0.5 grams of fat
-80 calories
-no added MSG, a food additive to
enhance the flavors, artificial flavoring.
You could even eat the whole can
if you wanted for 1 gram fat and
160 calories.
I could burn that off with jogging
less than a half mile.
Always check your labels on foods.
Just because something says
light or fat free it could be higher
in carbs or sugars!
------------------------------------
10:25am
Well here we go, the credit card
company called for the first time today.
Will be keeping track of all the calls.
I don't answer because I know
they won't deal with me.
Called again at 1:15pm.
Called again at 4:35pm.
-----------------------------------
Gas prices suck! Now up to about $3.29
a gallon. They say we could see around
$4.00 a gallon this Summer!
This will put a damper in a lot
of Summer traveling that's for sure.
You know what really sucks
is the last company that owned
the property my honey works at,
gave them a mileage money
for using your vehicle at work
everyday.
The newer company will only
give you $20 for the week you
are on call. With $20 we're lucky
to get a quarter tank of gas!!
Can't wait for this Winter weather
to go bye bye so we can put the
Suburban up for only weekend driving
and use the Lexus instead for work
and evening drives.
We haven't been able to put regular
tires on it at the moment because
it needs lug nuts for the other tires.
The ones from the 20's won't work.
In a parts store it would run
well over $100 to purchase them
so we are looking into ones from Ebay.
And it could stand to use
some newer used tires.
Not in the budget at the moment.
---------------------------------------
I really need some more counter
and storage space in the kitchen.
I saw this ideas for making a
kitchen island from a dresser
that I thought looked nice.
Might have to keep my eye
out for a free dresser.
I could paint it the creamy
white and I still have some
leftover oak contact paper
to make everything match
in the kitchen.
So just for kicks I browsed
dressers on Craigslist.
I found a genitally used one, LMAO!
It literally says it in the ad.
Any dresser used for genitals,
ahh I'll have to pass, LOL!
People y'all need to learn to spell correctly,
it's spelled gently!!
--------------------------
7:00pm
Had to go to Kroger tonight
to get prescriptions.
While there I found mom a Kroger bakery
birthday cake for $$3.99 marked down.
I think they run about $8-$10 normally,
maybe more depending upon size.
Mom's birthday is tomorrow but we
will be celebrating it with our family
next Tuesday due to Tony being on call.
We were gonna splurge and take them
and us to Hometown Buffet but
are reconsidering that due to price.
It could cost $60-$70 for 4 adults and 2 kids.
Don't think we can afford that at the moment!!
So do I spend money to eat out
or try to make something homemade for
a lot less??? Tony suggested going to GFS
and getting a large family entree.
I know that would cost and arm and a leg
also at about $15 for one and that's a guess.
It really sucks cutting waaay back!!
So I think I have decided what to do.
Since tomorrow I would like to make
some homemade raviolis, why not
make some homemade lasagna noodles
as well since I'll have all the ingredients
out. I can make a
lasagnas for her birthday dinner.
So let's do a break down all
the ingredients to see if it would be cheaper.
Lasagna noodles:
2 cups flour- .30 cents
2 eggs- .24 cents
1 teaspoon salt
3-4 Tablespoons water
Sauce:
1 can spaghetti sauce- .69 cents
2 containers of cottage cheese- $4.00
2 pkg shredded mozarella cheese- $3.40
Meat filling:
using bread crumbs to stretch it out further.
Make it up like meatloaf
and crumble the meat mixture
to use in between layers.
1 pound sausage- $2.29
bread crumbs- free
1 egg- .12 cents
Total cost to make lasagna:
$8.99
plus a bakery cake for $3.99
for a grand total of $14.98
Going out to eat & cake $69
Getting 2 pizzas & cake $24
So I would be saving
$10-$45
and would have enough cake and lasagna
left over for another meal.
I know I am rambling and my mind is working
over time at the moment.
You gotta be able to figure things
out to see where you stand with money.
I made up a bunch of
Belgian waffles this morning
to put in the freezer.
I like to give the kids something
warm for breakfast when I can
when it's cold outside.
2 cups pancake mix- .10 cents
1 1/2 cups milk- .16 cents
2 eggs- .30 cents
1/4 cup chocolate drink mix- free
Total cost: .56 cents
for 12 waffles @ .04 cents a waffle!!
Compare that to a box of frozen
waffles in the stores
and see how much you save!
I used a powdered chocolate breakfast drink
mix that had 17 vitamins and minerals
in it to make chocolate waffles.
Now all I have to do is put the waffles
in zip bags and put in the freezer.
Then for breakfasts I can take them
out and pop them in the toaster.
I got Kroger sugar free syrup to put on them.
I skip putting butter on them.
-------------------------------------Later this year mom's church is
having a blanket drive.
Most blankets I find this year will
go towards that before people start
asking for them.
I am trying to get our income tax
bracket down this year by donating
things to charities, churches
and thrift stores.
It's amazing that to make $2,150
more than last year will be
$1,400 less in your refund!!
You can claim some donations made
to your church on your taxes,
from offerings, donations and
even fund raiser dinner tickets.
It cannot exceed more than 50%
of your annual income.
You have to keep track of everything
you donate along with a receipt
from the charity and what things
are worth.
Here is a value guide from Salvation Army.
Just to give you an idea,
you can write down blankets
and comforters, depending on
the quality and condition
for $3.00 up to $28.80 each.
I would say an average of about
$4.00 each so as to not go overboard
with it.
------------------------
When dieting, soups are great
for eating. There are many that
offer low calories and fat.
Here's an example of a soup I have.
Campbell's Select Harvest Light
Maryland-Style Crab soup:
1/2 of a can
-0.5 grams of fat
-80 calories
-no added MSG, a food additive to
enhance the flavors, artificial flavoring.
You could even eat the whole can
if you wanted for 1 gram fat and
160 calories.
I could burn that off with jogging
less than a half mile.
Always check your labels on foods.
Just because something says
light or fat free it could be higher
in carbs or sugars!
------------------------------------
10:25am
Well here we go, the credit card
company called for the first time today.
Will be keeping track of all the calls.
I don't answer because I know
they won't deal with me.
Called again at 1:15pm.
Called again at 4:35pm.
-----------------------------------
Gas prices suck! Now up to about $3.29
a gallon. They say we could see around
$4.00 a gallon this Summer!
This will put a damper in a lot
of Summer traveling that's for sure.
You know what really sucks
is the last company that owned
the property my honey works at,
gave them a mileage money
for using your vehicle at work
everyday.
The newer company will only
give you $20 for the week you
are on call. With $20 we're lucky
to get a quarter tank of gas!!
Can't wait for this Winter weather
to go bye bye so we can put the
Suburban up for only weekend driving
and use the Lexus instead for work
and evening drives.
We haven't been able to put regular
tires on it at the moment because
it needs lug nuts for the other tires.
The ones from the 20's won't work.
In a parts store it would run
well over $100 to purchase them
so we are looking into ones from Ebay.
And it could stand to use
some newer used tires.
Not in the budget at the moment.
---------------------------------------
I really need some more counter
and storage space in the kitchen.
I saw this ideas for making a
kitchen island from a dresser
that I thought looked nice.
Might have to keep my eye
out for a free dresser.
I could paint it the creamy
white and I still have some
leftover oak contact paper
to make everything match
in the kitchen.
So just for kicks I browsed
dressers on Craigslist.
I found a genitally used one, LMAO!
It literally says it in the ad.
Any dresser used for genitals,
ahh I'll have to pass, LOL!
People y'all need to learn to spell correctly,
it's spelled gently!!
--------------------------
7:00pm
Had to go to Kroger tonight
to get prescriptions.
While there I found mom a Kroger bakery
birthday cake for $$3.99 marked down.
I think they run about $8-$10 normally,
maybe more depending upon size.
Mom's birthday is tomorrow but we
will be celebrating it with our family
next Tuesday due to Tony being on call.
We were gonna splurge and take them
and us to Hometown Buffet but
are reconsidering that due to price.
It could cost $60-$70 for 4 adults and 2 kids.
Don't think we can afford that at the moment!!
So do I spend money to eat out
or try to make something homemade for
a lot less??? Tony suggested going to GFS
and getting a large family entree.
I know that would cost and arm and a leg
also at about $15 for one and that's a guess.
It really sucks cutting waaay back!!
So I think I have decided what to do.
Since tomorrow I would like to make
some homemade raviolis, why not
make some homemade lasagna noodles
as well since I'll have all the ingredients
out. I can make a
lasagnas for her birthday dinner.
So let's do a break down all
the ingredients to see if it would be cheaper.
Lasagna noodles:
2 cups flour- .30 cents
2 eggs- .24 cents
1 teaspoon salt
3-4 Tablespoons water
Sauce:
1 can spaghetti sauce- .69 cents
2 containers of cottage cheese- $4.00
2 pkg shredded mozarella cheese- $3.40
Meat filling:
using bread crumbs to stretch it out further.
Make it up like meatloaf
and crumble the meat mixture
to use in between layers.
1 pound sausage- $2.29
bread crumbs- free
1 egg- .12 cents
Total cost to make lasagna:
$8.99
plus a bakery cake for $3.99
for a grand total of $14.98
Going out to eat & cake $69
Getting 2 pizzas & cake $24
So I would be saving
$10-$45
and would have enough cake and lasagna
left over for another meal.
I know I am rambling and my mind is working
over time at the moment.
You gotta be able to figure things
out to see where you stand with money.
