(NEW) SMART SPENDING CHAT THREAD

[mrsdutt]

MOLLY: When you said DH was decompressing it suddenly hit me. SIL1 is an officer. He works in an inner city and there is an extremely high crime rate there. The location was his choice. He's aware of the problems officers have with the job interfering with family life. So he decompresses one day a week.( 4 on, 3 off) Everyone just knows he needs it, we just didn't know what it was called. HGTV seems to be the best program for any DH to decompress.

I read an article that was trying to convince us that Crowe could (surprisingly) sing. LOL I think they are stretching it a bit.

To each of my Smart Spending Chat pals: I wish you a great Christmas (insert the appropriate holiday here, please). May this season be filled with true joy and blessings for all.

[motherto2]

Merry Christmas Eve! We are back from our trip to the big city ;D. We did the Shrek ice show up at National Harbor. We went to the Gaylord Hotel, which is by far the fanciest hotel I've ever stepped foot in. They have an inner court that looks like a small town village. It was just beautiful. We got to eat at the sports bar and watch the Redskins (didn't get to finish the game because we had tickets at 3:30 for Shrek). So, DS was watching highlights and updates on his phone, with about a dozen or so other men . We literally got to where they hand out parkas and the skins won the game! I was so worried that they would lose with about 10 seconds to go, and it would spoil our Shrek experience. Nope! The ice sculptures were just amazing. Then we had dinner in a really fancy restuarant there. And saw an amazing light show later inside the village area, complete with indoor snow! Great times. But I had asked both kids not to pull their cell phones out while we were at dinner. I think they were starting to get grumpy towards the end.

We saw snow and sleet on the way home this morning. It's just raining here, but it is cold.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday (can we say Christmas?). Can't wait to hear who was good this year and what Santa brought!

[Sharon]

Mother what a wonderful trip you had. DD and I went to an ice sculpture show in Fairbanks Alaska. It is absolutely amazing what they can do with the ice. They had lights and everything. It was the most amazing sight.

I have been doing holiday cooking all day and enjoying every minute of it. The dinner rolls are on their first rising. I am really ahead of the game this year as far as getting everything ready and organized. It should make for a stress free day tomorrow.

Everyone have a wonderful Christmas and holiday season.

[Deleted]

I know that the "smartest" thing for us would be to celebrate Christmas in Jan after the sales, but why cannot i not coordinate that? Currently DD is the youngest at 11 and she still wants the thrill of Christmas morning, my teen sons don't care about that anymore, they just want the goods and they understand that better sales means more goods. So, maybe next year.

[mrsdutt]

Sometimes SHOOB we frugals just have to bite the bullet for a while and enjoy life without a sale. Difficult, I know. But so dang much fun. Merry Christmas to you and your family.

[TheOtherMe]

I will be heading out shortly for Christmas Eve with my DS & BIL, DN & hubby and their 2 little ones and two Dnephews. Same crowd will be gathering at 9 AM on Christmas Day. Santa visits the little ones at their house, but every thing else happens at Grandma's house.

It's snowed lightly all day here, so I hope the roads aren't slick. Coming home from town, I saw a pick up in the median and he'd just went in.

I have my light for Newtown lit and it will be on until I go to bed.

Merry Christmas!

[Deleted]

Dec 24, 2012 17:58:54 GMT -5 mrsdutt said:

Sometimes SHOOB we frugals just have to bite the bullet for a while and enjoy life without a sale. Difficult, I know. But so dang much fun. Merry Christmas to you and your family.

Yup. I agree. I know that is it is much more important for my dd to see "things" under the tree for her Christmas day than try to explain sales and so forth. Lots of time for that but not now.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

^^^ That was the colorful, whimsical, festive, holiday part of my post! (grin) ;D

I stayed up way too late last night, because our cat rescue (The Cat House on the Kings) has just started a one-week "thing" with a local TV station, running from 12:01am December 24 through 11:59pm December 31. For every new LIKE that the ABC30 Action News Facebook page gets, they are donating 50 cents to us! So ... as of last night at midnight, I was posting on Facebook and encouraging Facebookers to LIKE their page AND to share it on their wall, explaining the fundraising deal for our rescue. The result? In the first 17 hours, they've gotten 2,000 new LIKES and we've earned $1,000! Wooo HOOO! Anyway, if any of you are ON Facebook, please LIKE the ABC30 Action News Facebook page, pretty please: www.facebook.com/abc30

Today was nice and sunny, but cool. We actually sat out in the sunshine some this afternoon, after filling bird feeders. Chirp Chirp Chirp. We ran to the local grocery store this afternoon and picked up some things, then home where I've been fundraising on Facebook most of the day, LOL. Oh well, at least you know what I'm doing for the next 6 days, right? Hey, money for the kitties = Good!

Despite my protestations that my nifty new brick mailbox was our holiday present for the year, my wonderful DH mentioned in passing today that he'd ordered me a few suprises from Amazon which will arrive "eventually." He did say that one of the things is the DVD of the 25th Anniversay Les Miserables concert I'd wanted. All he said about the other item was that it was lime green. (I love lime green, and have a lot of lime green in the house.)

Otherwise, our plan is for a quiet evening, a quiet tomorrow, and (of course) lots of time with our kitties.

Peace, Joy, Love, Laughter and Light to you all during this wonderful Season ... Celebrate and Enjoy!

[Deleted]

I cannot look at Snoopy and ever be unhappy!

[marvholly]

Shooby
Since I am Jewish I LOVE it when our holiday is after Christmas. Didn’t work this year (12/8-16) and will NOT again next year as it starts on Thanksgiving. Won’t even be too much advertised before then. I did manage to pick up a couple deals to hold for the 2 granddaughter’s bdays.

Had a bit of snow flurries on Mon but nothing stuck. Supposed to have more today and Wed.

Molly
Will do your Facebook like as soon as I am done here.

I had planned a bit of cooking for today and to give myself a mani/pedi. I have already done my roasted veg and started the stuffing; only the sweet potatoes & turkey breast to go. Then a friend called Mon afternoon. She is going on vacation soon & I collect her mail, flush her thrones and am the contact person for her alarm. I have to over learn her new alarm either at 10 am or after 3 pm.

[Sharon]

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

A Facebook friend of mine from Dallas has been posting snow pictures all day ... including a snow-covered cactus in her backyard, lol! Weather fun on the holidays.

Holly, thanks for the Like on Facebook for the kitties!

Sharon, that's very beautiful ... thank you!

We're pretty non-traditional here, so looks like we'll be eating tacos and egg rolls and quiche today, lol! (Yes, a rather eclectic group of yumminess!) Breakfast was my usual Fiber One/banana/almond milk, but I had some smoked salmon on the side. My wonderful DH was seen eating leftover pizza.

We've been cold grey and foggy all day ... no sunshine. Tonight and tomorrow have rain forecast!

[Sharon]

Dinner turned out very good and I am pooped. There is lots of turkey left over. Tomorrow or Thursday the carcus will get cooked up into some turkey noodle soup.

[TheOtherMe]

One of my Beatles friends from Australia married a woman from New Orleans. They are here in the US for Christmas, presently in Arkansas. He's never seen snow before and is busy posting pictures of snow. They were supposed to visit her family in Little Rock today but didn't dare drive when they woke up to snow. It's fun seeing his pictures and the wonder in his words.

I see snow as a pain in the you know what.

As usual, my DS way over does Christmas. Too much money is spent by her and I can't afford to participate in the excess so I stick to my budget. She still does Santa for her adult children. The oldest is 33. Her grandkids probably got $1000 worth of presents from Grandma and Grandpa each. I don't get it and I never will.

I had finally had it by 4:30 and there was no mention of eating. I came on home and fed myself and put out the trash. Lucy is curled in my lap and my simple Christmas at home this evening is very lovely. I realized today as I was driving there that Lucy is the cat with the most personality of any cat I've been owned by since my very first cat. They'd would have been pure trouble together.

DNiece was complaining about her MIL and how cheap she is to her kids and grandkids. I have a feeling she is living within her means, although I do get that she doesn't have time in her life for her grandkids except when it's convenient for her. These two kids don't understand that she is their grandma and that is sad. Great nephew calls her "Hayden's grandma who is my grandma too" but doesn't consider her a grandma. She pays no attention to them.

I'm exhausted so I think Lucy and I will go to bed. Have lots to do tomorrow.

[marvholly]

We did get a bit of snow on Christmas day – just enough to make it a white Christmas around me, about ½ inch.

Did get my cooking done and lesson on friend’s alarm system but not my nails or toes. Maybe today. Do need to do a BUNCH of paperwork today so I can pay for things this year and have a planned budget that (hopefully) will work in 2013. Also need to run my dishwasher & finish slicing my turkey roast from Tue and freeze all but 1 more serving.

I figure the stores will be a ZOO the rest of the week w/ returns & holiday sales so not hitting after holiday sales. Don’t need much. Can wait until early new year for my wants.

Theotherme
Agree about snow being a pain in the posterior (grandchild friendly version). I gave up adult gifts (beyond stocking stuffer stuff) about 2008 and I budget WAAAY less on the kids gifts than your DS.

[TheOtherMe]

My mom has talked to her about the way she overspends on Christmas. I spoke with someone on the phone and told her I wish she could see that helping those in need would be more useful than spending that kind of money on those grandkids and adult kids. I don't have a ton of money to donate, so I donate time and I get to see the happiness from my one client. She gave me a Christmas present. The others have no funds, but their thank yous are quite sufficient. This feels so much better to me than spending that kind of money on kids who have a basement full of toys they don't play with and who get easily bored. I think they are easily bored because they jump from one toy to the next and don't know how to sit and play like we did.

I do know that we grew up without a lot, but this is just crazy. Mom and dad did the best they could at Christmas. Maybe she felt more neglected than I ever did.

Her stocking stuffer gifts to her adult children cost a good $250. It's nuts over there and I don't know a good way out of it. I moved here to spend more time with family. I had no idea of what they were doing. At least the adult children are now getting their Aunt a present.

My DN has a bit of her mothers attitude. I know I shouldn't compare, but I take care of her kids one afternoon a week, saving her day care, and it costs me gas money to get there. I bought four presents for them and they gave me a gift card for $25. Going to have to re-think some things I do believe.

The vacuum sweeper that I bought myself with the money from my parents was truly appreciated. I did confess that I had used it already and it picked up an incredible amount of cat hair that the old one wasn't getting and never did get and my DS wasn't happy with me. I wasn't supposed to use it until after Christmas. What was the point when the place needed to be vacuumed and it was pointless to vacuum with the old one?

[mrsdutt]

Well, Christmas day is over. I slept 14 hours last night. But did I ever have fun. I made the ham and everyone else cooked everything else. The kiddos had to be reminded to 'slow down' only a few times. SIL1 was so happy he got enough money for his gun. Then looked on line and prices increased since the recent event in Connecticut. So he will have to save a bit more. Officers should have 2 guns on them at all times when working. This was going to be his second one. We want him to be safe when working.

DD3 had a black mug made for me with all of the grands pictures on it. DD1 is an author (among other things) and had the draft of the story of DH printed up for me and her siblings. Talk about tears. (It's not ready for publication yet.) DS found a book of nursery rhymes from 1944 in great condition for me. DD2 sent me things to remind me of 'home'. She doesn't know I know but my other gift will be a picture and story book of all the grands up until now. She only told me the gift will be late. Those are the main gifts, the others are purchased.
SIL2 nearly hit the ceiling with excitement when he opened his gift. Everyone was happy with their gifts. GS1 was excited with the book I gave him, too. (The life of Lincoln) Yes, we're all nerds! The rest I can't remember, but everyone was happy. Marley was patient, but when the house was quiet again, I could hear a sigh of relief from her.

I took some time to be thankful for everything in my life. There was no pain this year with Bob not being here. i was just happy that he left such a great legacy. If anyone was wondering what that continuous smile was for, there's the answer.

Another thing I noticed. They say that when a loved one has passed that they are able to hug and hold and meet a new baby before we can. I get the feeling every time I hold the new baby that Bob told her about me. She hears my voice and without hesitation, looks for me. She smiles and 'talks' up a storm when I hold her. I 'feel' Bob's presence when I hold her. I was a bit taken back until I read that. I don't even know if it's true, but it sure is comforting. Since I'm a senior, I can go with it and no one will question it! LOL

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

[marvholly]

Went over only 1 shelf in my upstairs freezer on Wed. Made a list of what is there. Sure thing I will NOT be cooking any poultry in the near future (month?). I have 6 servings of turkey and 7 servings of cooked chicken (several different recipes). If I eat poultry 3x/week I am covered for Jan. I also have 4 servings of assorted meat entrees. At 1x/week that also covers Jan. I really should evaluate & list the other shelves. Looks like, aside from fish, I could pretty much NOT cook the entire month of Jan; but I KNOW I am likely to cook at least 1x/week – need some meatloaf, meatballs & lasagna in the freezer.

Theotherme
I KNOW I spent <$25 TOTAL on stocking stuffers for 4 grands + 4 adults 9samples collected all year, $1 store, Dollar spot…..). Your DS seems to have WAAAY too much of a my way or the highway attitude. Considering gifts for DN’s kids you might want to go my route (suggested by DD2). I give magazine subscriptions. Paid $110 this year but oldest grand is covered for THREE years (buy 2 get 1 more FREE).

[motherto2]

Good morning all! WEll, it's over . We had a great Christmas, but as usual, it's over too quickly. I will be off for another week (have to go back on Jan 2) which will be tough. My kids had a woman on Etsy custom make a necklace for me. It's a dragonfly (which I love!) and the body of it is made of 3 caged pearls - 2 I received from the kids a couple of years ago in those canned oysters and one that DD got when she was stationed in Hawaii. I love it, but it's on the larger side so it won't be an everyday necklace. The lady had made two others before she got it the way she wanted, so she sent the other two also. Now I have a couple of dragonfly's to use on other things!

I had to purchase a new dishwasher yesterday. It should be here sometime tomorrow. DS is going to help me disconnect and move out the old one and help me install and hook up the new one. He needs to start learning how to do these types of things! I'm about 98% sure that mine is hardwired, but I helped the gentleman install my current one, so I think we'll be fine. The old one just is not cleaning things very well, and I worry about someone getting sick. Plus it's gross having grit stuck to the glasses. Yuck!

I'm also thinking of getting rid of all the exercise equipment I have - eliptical, treadmill, weight bench with tons of weights, punching bag. I'd like to get a really nice treadmill (mine is about 14 years old) and be done with it. So I'm thinking about seeing what kind of trade in I can get at a store called Play it again sports. I've tried to sell it in the past and had no takers. So a little bit is better than nothing.

We had snow overnight on Christmas night. Then it rained yesterday like the dickens. It's sunny but cold out right now. Trying to get the house back in order today.

[mrsdutt]

MOTHER: The necklace sounds wonderful! It sounds like most of us had a great Christmas day. (And MARV had a nice Hanuka.) Have agreat day to all and stay safe.

[Sharon]

Yesterday I ordered a steam mop using the gift card I received at work. I had gone out to the Sears website and found just what I wanted. DD and I went to Sears yesterday and found out the online price is not honored in their stores, so we came home and ordered it online. This saved around 20 dollars. I also ordered it using eBates so I will also get $9.57 added to my ebates account. I can wait a week for it to be delivered, shipping was free. We did pick DD up an iron while in the store so it wasn't a complete wasted trip.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

I am sending my wonderful DH off to do errands this afternoon, because having him underfoot all of the time, while wonderful, may result in my pelting him with apples soon! (grin) So off he goes to a plastics place waaaaay on the other side of town to have two pieces of square plexiglas cut so we can put them on top of our two new wood nightstands to protect them from water rings and scratches caused by cats jumping off. (Apparently my promise to faithfully use a coaster hasn't convinced him, LOL!) Afterward, he is getting his hair cut. YAY! I expect to have three hours of peace and quiet without him asking me what my plans are for the day, lol. (My answer is inevitably "posting on Facebook and working on Cat House emails and kitten descriptions," and he's already bored with that.... but not bored enough to want to wash windows or organize the garage or do some filing .... three things I suggested as possible chores, hahahah.) I think part of the problem is that he's not really a TV watcher, and is slowly learning to relax and just enjoy some "down time."

We're busy doing end-of-the-year fundraising for the Cat House ... just four days after today to try to raise funds for this year. Things are humming along, but it's always stressful for nonprofits, fingers crossed that much-needed funds come in. In a way, I'm glad I've got this project to see me through the new year! We're also hoping for a busy adoption day on Saturday at Petco, too.

Chinese food for dinner tonight, yum ... though it did just take us 20 minutes to decide (now) what we're ordering (To Go) 5 hours from now, LOL. The silly thing? We're ordering what I suggested in the first place! (grin)

Weather's still the same here ... low 50s and grey. Sometimes rainy grey, sometimes cloudy grey, sometimes foggy grey. 35 overnight.

[TheOtherMe]

I worked at the church today--twice. It is so disorganized. They received a grant to build a greenhouse to grow food to donate to food pantries. Sounds wonderful. In May, we received $2K worth of gift cards and receipts had to be postmarked by December 31. When was the shopping done? Today. I had to go back to the church this evening to copy the receipts and mail them in. Why did they wait from May 12 until December 27 to spend the gift certificates? Will the greenhouse actually get built and then used the way it was intended? They have great ideas, but poor follow up.

I'm going to totally re-think Christmas. The Pastor left me what he had referred to as "a little something". It was a gift certificate to a local winery. I don't drink. I won't be using it. I don't know what to do. I'm going to call the winery tomorrow to see if I can give it back and get the money. If not, I guess I will try to sell it on Craig's List.

DS and I did have lunch. She thinks Christmas went great. I didn't comment. She wanted to know how we get mom and dad to move up here. I talked to mom last night and she told me that she thought she was having a heart attack yesterday. She really needs to stop seeing the ER as her doctor. She has a doctor. By evening, she had no pain. She decided it was hunger? Makes no sense to me. I told her she needs to see her doctor and have her heart checked.

[TheOtherMe]

Dec 27, 2012 5:34:40 GMT -5 marvholly said:

eatballs & lasagna in the freezer.

Theotherme
I KNOW I spent <$25 TOTAL on stocking stuffers for 4 grands + 4 adults 9samples collected all year, $1 store, Dollar spot…..). Your DS seems to have WAAAY too much of a my way or the highway attitude. Considering gifts for DN’s kids you might want to go my route (suggested by DD2). I give magazine subscriptions. Paid $110 this year but oldest grand is covered for THREE years (buy 2 get 1 more FREE).

I have my Christmas budget and I stuck to it. I think my DS has totally forgotten the meaning of Christmas. It isn't about this kind of excess or spending. It isn't about kids expecting so many presents when they already have too many. They will be in the basement along with the other forgotten toys before long. I'd like to see the unused toys that are in decent shape donated.

My money was used on clothes, but they have too many clothes also. I have a lot of thinking to do on this whole Christmas thing as this was an extremely disappointing one for me.

I had actually thought about making donations in their names but figured they wouldn't get the point. I just may go that route in the future. They need to learn about those with less.

I do love my vacuum sweeper and my mom is very happy I used her gift of money to buy it.

[marvholly]

We got hit w/a REAL snow overnight. Looks like we got 1-2 inches. Have to go looking for my snow shovel. Saw it 2 months ago, moved it and do NOT remember where.

My 'chore' for today is to finish the paperwork I put on my to do list last sunday (move $ to Ally, renew passport)so it can all be mailed out to hit between 12/31 and 1/2. Meals are simple & all planned: cottage cheese, lentil stew (already defrosted) and BLT plus fruit, veggies & a salad.

[mrsdutt]

DDs and I are going to the big mall in Norfolk today. I don't think any of our hearts are really into it this year. But DD1 has never been and would like to see it. None of us need anything. I think we think it's mandatory so we can get paper and bows and tags half price. But there is the dollar store in lots of locations this year. So I detect a change in our routine after this year.

Stay safe and enjoy the day.

[Sharon]

Today is hopefully a quiet day. I will go into work and pick up my paycheck and do a bank run but that is about it. Yes I am old fashioned but I like get an actual check instead of a direct deposit into my account.

Yesterday ended up being rather crazy but I did say a huge amount on wedding items. DD wants these certain candle holders on top of silver chargers with some fru fru stuff around them as center pieces for her wedding. Michaels craft store has the chargers for $4.99 a piece. I went to the Michaels closest to our house and they had 12 of these chargers, so I bought all of them. The clerk recommended that I go to a Michaels that was about 30-40 minute drive away to get the rest that I wanted. I drove up there and they had the exact same charger for 70% off so $1.49 a piece. They also had 26 of them so I bought them out. I am not sure what we will do with all of them but I wanted to be able to get them while they are available. I them came home and returned the original 12 that I bought and got my money back. That was a total savings of $90.74. We may use the extra chargers under some of the serving dishes.

[mrsdutt]

I'd say you had a productive day, SHARON.