February 2011 Controlled/No Spend Thread

[reeneejune]

SES - You can absolutely can any kind of tomato sauce that you want! We've done ketchup, generic marinara good for spaghetti and pizza sauce, salsa, enchilada sauce, just about anything you can think up! My mom does a sauce called "whatever" sauce, the idea was that it was a generic base that you could then spice to whatever you needed when you opened the jar... good idea, poor execution: it was super sweet every time she made it which is not so yummy on pasta. It's like eating sugar on your noodles. No good.

Random note that isn't directly about money: so I've struggled with customer service at my "real" job at the store since I started. I'm a very "black and white" person when it comes to rules: it's either ok or it's not and I don't do well when I'm forced to make judgment calls on shades of gray. So I've been on notice since October because of several customer complaints in situations where I should have bent the rules rather than sticking to the letter of the law. This evening I had a situation that I can't help but feel good about. A customer came in asking one of our cashiers to break one of the coupon rules because another store told her it was ok. She stuck to the rules, then called me for back up. I was able to stick to the "no we're not going to break the rules" line, calm her down, and turn the situation around from her being irate to spending a good deal of money in the store and completing the transaction she wanted us to break the rules for. She left happy. I had two customers ask me about comment cards so that they could leave notes about how well I handled the situation, and three others went out of their way to tell me that they thought I had done a very good job with her. I'm not very comfortable with boasting about myself at work, but at close I took the time to email our district manager and let him know what had happened because I know that my store manager wouldn't have said anything.

And you know, I probably wouldn't have said anything myself, but there's going to be a position opening up this spring/early summer that is a perfect fit for my skills, experience, and temperament. It's an education coordinator at a new store they're opening nearby. I really want to be considered for the position, but I need to convince the district manager that I'm worth investing the training in, even though it's technically a demotion from my current position. But it's where my passion is.

[mizbear]

renee- They need to remember that the customer isn't always right. I like a deal too- but if the rules say... I never want my store or cashiers to get in trouble- which they eventually will for bending the rules.
Feel good for standing your ground.

[constanz22]

Update 3 NS, 2 CS
Well, I just picked up a couple of easy NS's. I didn't leave the house all weekend. I felt like I was coming down with a cold most of the weekend. I thought I might run to the grocery store today for a few things, but, after the ice storm we got yesterday, my 75 ft. driveway and road are like a skating rink. I used all of the ice melt I had and it didn't touch it. Getting out of my driveway to go to work tomorrow should be REAL interesting...my driveway is fairly steep and the road is SOLID ice. Can't wait...

[moneysquirrel]

Update: 5 NS days & 1 CS days = 6 NS/CS days

I also had two easy NS days as I either spent time with friends and/or corrected papers. Neither one required me to use money.

I have been checking out flights to the Black Hills. It is amazing how much ticket prices change from one day to another.

[cheerleadingmama7]

I am sucking at NSDs this month and it is truely frustrating me! It is February 6th - there are only 28 days in this month and my goal was 20 NSDs....that means I can only have 2 more spend days this month. well I know they are going to be grocery shopping days, but how am I going to keep my husband in line? UGH!!!

Here's hoping I can make something of this month!

On a brighter note - I finished my taxes and I am getting a refund that will go directly into my EF

[mizbear]

Cheerleadingmama- Refunds are always good!

[muttleynfelix]

Rene - Good Job!! It always feels good to know you did something good.

[sheilaincali]

Update: 4/20 NSD, 4/25 NEO

Saturday was a spend day. Picked up DH's bday present (racquetball club and balls) and DS' valentine's day present (Alton brown dvd- he loves that show). Took our favorite little miss out to lunch. Her parents treated us all to dinner for DH's bday. Other than that it was a pretty quiet weekend.

Not much on the schedule for this week. Need to pay for DS' "youth yoga" classes at the gym ($11) and drive BFF to the airport on Thursday. Tomorrow is hair night but that is budgeted in so it's a controlled spend.

Bitter cold here again- highs in the single digits. I am so sick of winter and ready for it to be spring already!

[redwagon]

Sheila - blue's cousin is a retired cop (at age 40!) and does eBay on the side, in addition to being a SAHD. He mainly deals with cards: pokemon and whatever else the latest fad is. When new game systems come out he buys a few and sells them for profit (usually he does this around Christmas when people are desperate). He doesn't NEED the extra money, but they certainly do enjoy it! That's great you're finding success as well!

reenee- great job! And way to be proactive and tell your manager!

Yesterday was a spend day (Stop & Shop was a MADHOUSE jeez!). Trying to remember Saturday... don't think I spent...

So we're having more fun with our cars. My car has a flat tire that blue is trying to remedy today, and he has a headlight out in our new CRV, which is proving impossible to replace (or very difficult at least) because there is so much other stuff in the way, very hard to unscrew the bulb. Blah. Hoping he fixes both issues today. He has this week off, between jobs.

It was funny - we went out with his coworkers (now former coworkers) Friday night and got nice and tipsy, and on the way home he put up on FB "Woohoo unemployed!" and people panicked and were like "So sorry" etc etc. He really hadn't told many people at all about him switching jobs so I wasn't surprised, and nice to see their concern. I made sure he explained himself in the morning when he was sober hehe. But Friday was fun, and very low-spend, since his coworkers kept buying him (and me) drinks and even bought dinner. And we went up to the top of the Empire State Building (his office was there) and saw amazing views. Never been up there at night. And it was free since they have passes!

[dakota4600]

Friday and Saturday were spends. But Sunday was a hang at home day. Saturday I spent a lot more than I thought I would. I stocked up on nice strip steaks for "date" nights at home. Then at Target they had a bunch a clearance, so I ended up getting mini-D some clothes for the boys section (not toddlers ) for next winter. Then there were some really nice picture frames from $2-3 each, so Mother's Day shopping is done. I also picked up valentine's for my godchildren, grandparents and DH. I had to replace some pillows on our bed as well, since 2 of them were splitting at the seams. (Yes, I probably could have stitched them up, but it would have been more trouble than it was worth. I'm thinking of restuffing the dog beds with the filling, the cover zips open, so they wouldn't be able to get at.

I did make enchiladas over the weekend and banana peanut butter granola bars. For those who bake a lot, can/should you try to rehydrate dried banana chips? The bars taste okay, but the banana chips are a little crunchy which I don't like.

reenee- Sometimes you have to toot your own horn to get what you want. I had to go around my boss at my old job once. I asked him to recommend me for a newly created position and he said he would, but I was pretty sure he'd conveniently forget. So a couple days later I sent an e-mail to the person who posted the job, saying that I was interested and hopefully my boss had let her know as he was supportive of the move. I was right, he hadn't contacted her, but did give me a good endorsement, when she contacted him. I ended up getting the job.

Ses- That sounds like a good recipe for the chicken nuggets. Have you frozen them? I've tried a couple recipes and they all came out mushy if they were reheated in the microwave.

Shelia- Wow that is impressive on the ebay sales.

Red- DH had to take the battery out of my car to replace one of my headlights. Hope blue gets it done.

[shanendoah]

Update: 2 of 11 NSD, 0 of 8 MOAN
Yesterday ended up being an NSD because I felt so miserable that we cancelled our SuperBowl plans. Instead we stayed home and watched the game, though DH still made me the savory cheesecake, so I got yummy junk food, and we have left overs, so that's lunch today as well.

red_wagon: I know it seems silly when you're used to replacing the headlights yourself, but try taking it by the dealership's service station. We were having a terrible time replacing a headlight in our car, finally went to the dealership, service guy came out and showed us the trick, no charge. There was an access point we weren't aware of.
As for tires, if you have a Les Schwab near by, they generally fix flat tires for free. I've never had a bad customer service experience with them.

renee: Good for you for being proactive!

valentine's: I told DH all I wanted was chocolate, soft chocolate that I could eat. He's decided that he's going to make me truffles!

[sheilaincali]

Red/Dakota- Thanks. It's been interesting seeing how much stuff we had that we could sell and not miss for a single second. Our total sold so far stands now at $1161 Not including any small profit we made off of the shipping/handling charges. ($1 here and there).

Plus it keeps DH busy while he is laid off and has more than supplemented the lost income (between my budgeted amount and the UE amount). About half way to having our taxes paid without having to dip into savings or scrimp for the next couple of months.

[startsmart]

interesting weekend for startsmart. Friday we decided the core team needed to have a Saturday meeting and spent 4 hours on a webinar planning out our revenue streams and calendar. Exhausting. Plus it threw off my entire Saturday. But it was amazing to see in action and I'm learning so much to apply to my business.

I trained minion #3 this weekend and she's coming along fabulously.

Sunday was more relaxing, did work for 10 hours but I also went for a drive, did some light trespassing, took pictures and watched the start of a new series I bought. And had tacos.

This week's goal isn't no-spend related (my focus is really not there and it sounds/feels terrible) but that I need to get my work hours under control. I worked 24 hours on Saturday/Sunday. Plus with 2 people working for me they probably billed another 8 combined.

It means good money and that's nice but it also means I have no time, can't get errands done and never get enough sleep.

[redwagon]

thanks guys. We followed the directions in the manual, but the fuse box is refusing to budge out of the way even though we unclipped it. If he can't get it today we'll drive it by the Honda dealership. Thanks for the tip!!

[mizbear]

Yesterday was a spend for me. My nieces were here and sick, so I spent he cash I had been paid back for doing things for other people to get them lunch. I did the dollar menu- only I should have skipped it- I am the only person I know who can eat 6 plates at the chinese buffet and not gain a pound but eat off the dollar menu at arby's (a jr roast beef, value fry and jamocha shake) and gain 1.6 pounds of bloat. I had already planned to use a couple of qs I had at the grocery store before they expired, but wasn't planning on eating out. On the other hand- I didn't feel good either ad didn't have to cook.

[dakota4600]

Enchilada Sauce- My recipe is really close to SES's except it doesn't call for green pepper. I too prefer a smoother sauce and use the stick blender on it.

[gldnluvly]

YAY, Reenee!!!!!!! If there is anyone out there who deserves to toot her own horn from time to time, it is you!!!

Startsmart-Let me know when you need an EC minion!!

It was a spendy weekend in Gldn's household. Wait for it!! After two years plus, we are getting a new dishwasher!!! In hindsight, I should have bought it in MD b/c they are doing the rebate thing now. DH got some new clothes as he lost nearly 15 lbs. in Dec. due to illness. He got probably $500 worth of clothes for $55 due to a gift card and 20% off b/c I was wearing red at Macy's. I was rather pleased w/my bargain shopping abilities. In other news, two of my credit accounts are paid off and another is over halfway there.

Sheila-Post pics of those vintage jars please.

[Deleted]

Feb 5, 2011 23:22:10 GMT -5 ses said:

MK this is a recipe I used to make a bunch of sauce with a friend for her sons to use at a church camp, maybe Boy Scouts?. We increased it a bunch and I seem to remember she put it in quart jars for transport. I'm sure you could use something like the 4 cup ziplock screw top jars. Leave some head room for freezing. If you have a canning pot or a pressure canner I don't know why you couldn't can it in ball jars and save your freezer space, like you would regular tomato sauce? Making your own in bulk would be really economical--especially during tomato season.

This is a recipe I got from from Allrecipes, I think. Since I like a smoother sauce I used a stick blender at the end. And I have a note on my copy of the recipe to add more tomato sauce to thin it. How much more I didn’t write down. Duh

Enchilada Sauce
Original Recipe Yield 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients
• 2 (6.5 ounce) cans tomato sauce
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 1/3 cup chili powder
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 onion, minced
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
Directions
1. In a medium saucepan combine tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, chili powder, oregano, paprika, cumin, pepper, salt and garlic. Cover and cook over medium heat.
2. Meanwhile, melt butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Saute onion for about 4 minutes; stir into sauce. Cook sauce for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in bell pepper and cook 10 more minutes.

SES, have I told you I love you? LOL, I have been looking for a homemade enchilada sauce for about six months and could not find one that did not include the can of enchilada sauce at the store. THANK YOU

[Deleted]

I am at 2/5CSD, 4/21NSD and 0/8 MOANs.
I really have to work on those MOANs, plan to have one today!

[mizbear]

ses- Enchilada sauce sounds yummy!
gldnluvly- Take me clothes shopping pleez!

[Honeylioness]

Hey everyone .... just a quick drive by .....

Ines had her 18th birthday on Friday. And poor thing, she and I spent most of the day in the doctor's office. She has been grinding her teeth at night and now she is having issues where her jaw "clicks" when she chews sometimes ... Friday it completely locked up and really scared her while at school.

We are going to try the simple route for a couple of weeks: No gum, prescription Motrin for the muscle inflammation and a night guard to stop the teeth grinding. Had a video conference with her mother who really made my day when she not only told me she trusted me to keep an eye on the situation and make the decision I felt best (which means not running to an ENT just right now) - but then she thanked me for being so calm and non-reactionary and for taking such good care of her baby girl. Man, that felt great.

Oh - and the kids really "hated" (yeah right) the Mocha Velvet cake I made for her birthday dinner.


Budget - I am still trying to crack down and re-work some numbers so this month is not the train wreck I felt last month was. Especially when it comes to groceries. I have pulled out all the supermarket receipts from the last six weeks and am taking a look at just where the high cost is coming from.

One sad trend I have noticed so far is in the produce area. I don't buy canned vegetables and haven't for years. I do keep some frozen on hand to add to soups and stews - but we primarily buy fresh produce each week. I could probably save $40 a week by switching to canned instead ... but I would like your opinions.

Would YOU be willing to pay the extra money for fresh produce as opposed to processed? I don't really want to give this up but I am also not sure if I am just being too stubborn.

I also did some price comparisons ... how sad is it that if I had bought all frozen dinners/meals for the week I would have spent about HALF of what we did buying fresh meat, veggies and fruit for the same time period?

Super Bowl - Not a football fan and rarely watch even for the commercials. However in a rash and weak moment last week I plunked down $10 for two boxes on my company's betting pool. And wonder of wonders ... I WON!!! ... not the whole thing but second quarter for the tidy sum of $125.00 !!!

Smoking - I must confess I am getting more than a little nervous about my upcoming "Quit Day" and starting to doubt my ability to do this :-(

Tying into that subject is my great dis-satisfaction with how I look currently. I saw a picture one of the girls took over the weekend of me and I wanted to curl up in a corner and cry I am so unhappy with my weight. Perhaps I should try and loose some of the weight BEFORE I stop smoking? That is one of my biggest fears ... that I will pack on MORE weight without the cigarettes.

[ses]

I guess it is time for me to 'fess up. when I make enchilada sauce from scratch I tend to NOT include the onions and green peppers. Maybe some dried onion powder. I then add them in when prepping the dish. No particular reason, except one of my friends can't (won't) eat green peppers.

I have been busy in the kitchen today. I have a container of cheese spread for sandwiches. When I cleaned and froze the chicken a few days ago I froze the breasts individually and divided the rest of the meat into two containers (and stashed the skin and bones in a freezer bag for egg drop soup later this month. Yum) One of those containers is in the crock pot for a bunch of chicken salad. Last night I moved the two ginormous breasts from the freezer to the fridge so they would partially thaw and this morning I cut one into strips for fajitas and the other into slices for chicken stirfry. Then packaged the mostly still frozen chicken for four meals this month. I put the stirfry meat and fajita meat into plastic sandwich baggies then in a freezer baggie. I added a little fajita marinade to the strips. Four meals that will only take a handful of veggies tossed on top of the already prepped chicken. Not to mention enough chicken to make chicken salad for a couple of weeks!

Now I need to clean up the bedroom where Calleigh just sent a pile of books I had sorted to give away tumbling into all four corners. Anything that is four inches or higher off the floor she views as a launching pad to jump even higher!

[ses]

Honey--I used to have the same quandary about fresh vs frozen vs canned. I have made my peace with the issue after reading several university studies. Todays processing plants are so efficient and so close to the source of the ripe vegetables that frozen is possibly more nutritious than fresh because it is processed within 24 hours of picking. Most fresh produce spends much longer than that being shipped. I prefer frozen over canned unless I can get low or no sodium cans. I couldn't eat the fresh produce quickly enough to get the benefits of fresh over frozen or canned to justify the expense.

[reeneejune]

Honey - since we're going into spring, you might want to look into Community Supported Agriculture or CSA. If you've never heard of it, it's a way of running small (usually organic) farms to ensure that the farmer has enough of a market to grow his/her crops. Customers buy a full or half share either in a lump sum payment once a year, several smaller payments through the year, or monthly. The Customer then receives a portion of the farmer's crop through the entire season. I babysat for a family that ran their farm this way, and their customers received produce starting in March (kale, lettuce, assorted greens and veggies that will grow in coldish weather or year round) and continued through the end of October. There is a small amount of risk involved in that if weather conditions prevent part or all of the crop from producing, you're still committed to paying. So if there's a cool, wet summer, you might not get very many (or any) tomatoes, but you might get tons of greens. Another benefit is that CSA shares are divvied up before the farmer harvests for Farmer's Market so you're getting the best variety and best quality that the farm has to offer. It's a great way to learn to eat more seasonally and the value you get for your money is amazing!

I'm thinking that a spend today to get out of the house and away from the relative that I find absolutely repulsive would be completely justified. This guy literally makes my skin crawl. I'm not even comfortable safely ensconced in my own room with the door closed and locked.

And my final thought for the morning is that when I move in 2 months, I really must get an apartment that allows pets. A nearby humane society has the most adorable beagle up for adoption, purebreed, but she's 8 years old so she's been there for a while. I've really been longing for a furbaby lately.

[startsmart]

Very. frustrated.

for one of my clients we're (and I say *we* loosely) rebuilding the entire team. again. and in doing so eliminates all of my work with them. which is fine except the people who are now taking over have been less than reliable in their job in the past. which is why I've had to do so much and scramble to keep up and get the work done. So while I don't care if they're eliminating the need for me I'm highly skeptical.

[pointy]

Update: 5/21 NS and 6/25 No QVC...I've spent three of the last five days (Wed, Thurs, and Sun) plowing snow, so I haven't had time to spend I also haven't had much time to write, other than Saturday, and I have to say it's making me crazy! I'm hoping for a quiet week on the snow front!

[Honeylioness]

Evening Ladies...... Now for something not money related.


My Chinese student's parents are related to a man who runs an underwear factory. We just got a HUGE box of underwear and bras ... a total of 84 pieces!!!

In a variety of sizes ... which is the reason for this post. There are eight bras not in my size. If you know of anyone who would like these .... size 42D ... please e-mail me off board at quiltinglioness at juno dot com and I would be happy to mail them to you.

I may never need to purchase panties again... though after I try on some of the other sizes I will let you know if I have those as well that will need a good home.

[cheerleadingmama7]

Oh my goodness - I FINALLY had a NSD in February!!! I am SO excited!!!

1/20 Woo Hoo!!

[muttleynfelix]

Honey - Big hugs to you on the smoking. My advice as the wife of a smoker who keeps putting off quitting (first I wouldn't date him until he quit smoking, which lasted all of a week, then it was ok you can smoke until we have kids ... yeah DS is 12 months and counting) stick to your quit date. You will always find a reason to push it back. You can do this. We believe in you. Think of all the money you will be saving. I know it is hard, but that just means conquerring it is going to be so much sweeter. We believe in you and are here to cheer you on. LOL on the underwear and bras. You don't have any 34 Ds do you? I have 1 non-nursing bra that fits which I am finally getting to wear to work since I quit pumping last month, but I don't want to buy any more non-nursingbras until DS weans which may be next month or it may be next year.

[mizbear]

Honey- I don't particularly care for canned veggies myself. I do buy canned pickled beets, mushrooms and mandarin oranges- but everything else is frozen- if I can get pickled beets from the amish market or have a friend who is canning them (my grandmother no longer does and I am terrified of pressure cookers) I try to get fresh. Same with mushrooms. I agree with reneejune- CSAs are wonderful! One of my friends is a member and often brings things from her basket when we have our lunch dates because she is a veg and I have veg cookbooks.
Please try to quit smoking. I lost my grandfather - who was more of my dad really to lung cancer. He smoked for 30 years+, quit when he had a stroke he year before I was born and then died of lung cancer 2 1/2 years ago. A year ago this month, I also lost a close friend to smoking related lung cancer. My estranged father also is a smoker and has lung cancer that he refuses to have treated. I will now get off my soapbox.