Happy Father's Day

Father's Day is bittersweet for me.  My dad passed away on July 9, 2000.  Sometimes, it feels like it was just yesterday that I lost him.  My dad always said that there wasn't anything that a walk or a peppermint candy couldn't make better.  I can remember him giving me a peppermint candy right before he walked me down the aisle on my wedding day.  I remember going up to New York for his memorial service.  His car was parked out front of my sister's house.  In the driver's seat was the vest and the hat that my dad wore wherever he went; when I saw them, I knew that he really was gone.  Every once in a while, I go and bury my face in his vest and remember how much I love and miss him.

I got a text message from my son today; it read "Happy father's day mom.  This day is for you too.  You played both rolls and did a damn good job.  Thanks mom."  Later on, my daughter came up to me and gave me a hug and wished me a happy father's day.  It made me feel so special.  So, if you have a dad, you're lucky, and if you are a single mom, happy father's day - you're the best.

My Stockpile

I don't believe in fairy tales.  I don't believe in happily ever after; I do believe in being happy forever - there's a difference.  I don't live in Never-Never Land (it's never going to happen to me, my family, my country, etc.).  Do you watch the news, listen to the radio, or read the newspaper?  Do you have friends or family?  Things are tough and I mean tough ALL over.

It hurts to go to the grocery store; gosh, it hurts to go to Walmart these days!  I've been trying for a while to stockpile food.  I don't do this only for myself.  I have two kids and when they come home, I let them go "shopping" in my pantry.  I have friends at church who've lost their jobs and are having a really hard time just getting by.  At this point in my life, I'm making a solid five figure income in the low 30's, and my credit card debt is less than $1,000.  I'm blessed - God is taking good care of me.

I used to keep my stockpile here and there and it's been hard to keep up with.  This week I decided to centralize my food stockpile.  I set it up in a spare bedroom.  It's all organized and everything is dated and I can finally see what I have on hand and what I need to think about purchasing.  It's a start.

How to get a free microwave - here it is

Back in April, I was talking about how I was going to get a free microwave; well, here's a picture of it.

It's nice, isn't it?  It's a 1.6 cf, 1,250 watt Panasonic microwave.  It was on sale at Walmart for $129.95.  Using two $50.00 Walmart gift cards that I got through www.mypoints.com and a $50.00 gift card that I received as a reward for using my bank's credit card, I was able to "purchase" my microwave and still have money left over.  The most important feature of my new microwave? popcorn, of course!

Tracking My Spending

I'm intrigued by the idea of extreme couponing.  I live in an area where the stores do not double the face value of the coupons, so it's a little harder to be an uber couponer.  I've decided to keep track of my spending this month using my coupons to see if I save a significant amount of money.  I've already gone shopping at Walgreens and Publix.  When I came home, I set up a spread sheet.  I'm not sure this is really necessary because my receipts show all my savings, but I want to break it down by item.  I have my coupon binder set up and it really helps me to keep track of my coupons and the expiration dates.  I usually just spend a couple of hours a week cutting and sorting coupons and coming up with my shopping list for the week.  Another advantage is that most of the stores where I shop are clustered together, so I won't spend a lot of time or gas going from store to store.  You probably won't ever see me on an episode of "Extreme Couponing", but, who knows, maybe I'll make the local paper.