A Story of Courage, Strength and Inspiration, just in time for Christmas!

On Tuesday, December 22nd, my daughters and I made cookies and memories at my Aunt Mary's house!  Her house is always alive with people and activity.  It is a warm and inviting place and I have loved spending time with her and my cousins for as long as I can remember.  Last Christmas was a different story.  My Aunt was dying.  We all knew it and it was hard to come to grips with.  She had been diagnosed with a tumor in her left arm.  For months she felt something was wrong.  She complained of pain and numbness in her fingers of her left hand.  She, is not and never was a complainer.  She didn't have time for negativity and complaints.  She raised five children by herself and one of them was inflicted with polio.  So you see, she had to be strong and positive all her life.  

She had some testing done on her left arm and nothing was found.  It took months before that tumor made itself known and by then it was bad.  She had been advised at one point to have her arm removed.  This was frightening because it was a major surgery and she was an 80 year old woman.  But the tumor continued to grow and cause her pain and suffering.  Her arm became an entity unto itself.  The left arm and hand became swollen and discolored.  It made her whole body sick.  She wasn't her happy self.  She was in constant pain.  She loved to dress up and go out to dinner and on the town.  But, her arm made things difficult for her like traveling in the car.  Her family took her to Chicago, for a second opinion.  It is there, that they were told the truth about the beast that had taken over her arm and her life.  The tumor had invaded the bone in her left arm.  The arm had to come off.  

She was expecting her first great grand baby in April of that year, as this is now January.  She made the courageous decision to have her arm removed at the age of almost 81.   

Today, she is her happy self again.  The cancerous poison that inflicted her arm and her body and her life had been removed.  She had to learn how to do many things with only one arm.  She insisted on doing things by herself, as much as she could, she did not want to be babied or coddled.   She can put on her own clothes and care for herself independently.  She can even do things she enjoys like gardening some and baking.  ( with only a small amount of assistance)  She is back!  She is a treasure to me and my family and mostly, she gets to enjoy her family and her life again!

Many people we love are suffering because of cancer.  They have altered their bodies to remove that poison that is in them.  By having mastectomies, colostomies, limbs amputated.  These brave people that fight for life, they are heroes and jedi warriors and they are setting examples for all of us!  

For me, I am grateful that this incredible lady chose to fight!  I am grateful to have another Christmas with her, the way I want to remember her!  Happy and strong!   Love you Aunt Mary!

Top 10 things I learned from the zero spend challenge

The zero spend challenge is over.  We survived!  Although, if you think you saw me at Kroger's on Wednesday, you are correct.  We needed a few things, because we had used so much of our resources that we had nothing to make a complete meal with.  I also took advantage of the fact that Kroger's had a pretty decent sale Wednesday to Saturday.  I am happy that I only spent about $50.00.   Our overall spending for the month of October fell just over $3000.00  I was hoping it would be less, but we had a tax bill in there and an additional car insurance that came rather unexpectedly.  We also took a nice weekend trip and had some educational expenses.  We spent $196.56 on groceries.  I am very pleased with this as we typically spend between $600 to $800 per month.  ( I include everything we buy at the store in this category, like personal care items, medicines like tylenol and cleaning products like laundry detergent as well as paper products).  

My top ten is this:
1)  October is a terrible month for a zero spend challenge. 
      (this is because we do a lot with my daughters band and school stuff as well as taxes are due)  My husband and I have decided to do two spending less challenges per year.  One in January and the second in June.
2)  Having kids is expensive.  ( I already knew this, a huge percentage of our spending is related to our kids needs.)
3) Our number 1 necessity/expense was our utilities.  (I have already cut them as far as possible, but I think I am going to call the phone company to see why I am paying so much for a home phone we never use and for SLow internet, which is called "zoomtown" but it is anything but!)
4) We spent $40 just to park our car in the month of October.  (Yes $40!  I had to look at it twice, to be sure there wasn't an error. We paid $15 to park our car at the Saint Louis Zoo, we paid another $10 to park at the Bands of America event.  And, I paid $9 to park at the University of Cincinnati while Madisyn was at her lesson for over an hour.  ( That is outrageous, by the way), and I parked for the Alzheimer's walk in Newport, to save a few bucks, but it was $3.  And, we paid a few meters for other stuff, like at the post office in Covington.)  I think I will buy a parking lot and just charge people to park in it,  what a market!
5) It is possible, to save a large chunk of money, buy using up what you already have.  We saved close to $800.00 this month as we spent a lot less on eating out and a ton less on groceries.  We spent only $139.76 on dining out.  (This a great for us, it's usually around $400 per month)
6) It is possible to stay at home, and have guests as well as visit others in their homes without spending one cent.  ( this is also fun too!)
7)  Cars are expensive.   In addition to paying to park, we spend a lot of money on gas for our cars.  We spent $ 252.00 for the month of October to fill the tank alone.  And gas is cheap right now.  I know in the past when gas was at its most expensive, I would spend almost $70 to fill my tank and that was about once every 5 days.  Car repairs and maintenance are not cheap either.  Luckily, we no longer have any car payments, but our cars are also older.  (Time to start putting something away for a new one.)
8) My dad is the inventor of reduce, reuse and recycle. ( I already new this, but I have been spending more time with him lately and he is so smart!  If he can't find a way to recycle, reuse or compost it, he will save it until he can.  He is looking into having some electric work done at his house and because he already has a  lot of the supplies, it is going to save him some cash.)
9)  My family members are good sports!  They really got on board with the program.  Yeah, I mean I heard some complaints and sure, they think I am crazy, but they really did their best to follow along.
 ( and we all know I'm crazy!)
10) My friends and family are awesome!  ( I also already knew this, but I am so grateful for the support and all the encouragement during this challenge.  I really have a blessed life!)

Rounding third!

We are so close now to the end of the challenge. It's getting harder because our food storage is shrinking. Our small freezer in the basement is empty. And there is very little food in our fridge.

 I saw a video of some kids who were opening shoe boxes filled with toys and they were so happy, they were screaming and smiling!  It really does make one appreciate all they have. One of my best friends posted earlier last week about having a great husband and kids.  She said she is blessed!  She is so right. I know I am blessed. I am grateful for all the wonderful blessings in my life. A great husband, great kids , great friends and family and I am blessed to have a great job too and home that isn't really anything special, but it's a roof and a warm bed! 

 This challenge has challenged us to use what we have!  It has taught us to be resourceful and creative. I have practically stopped drinking soft drinks. No snacking and no getting into the pantry when I'm hungry, just wait until tomorrow and the next meal. I have not used my badge to buy food at work either. Yeah that's a thing. You can buy food and use your badge and they deduct it from your check. 

I got to spend some quality time with a lot of different friends last week. I had lunch with Aunt BJ.  My friend Jennifer also invited me to lunch and I have not seen her in a long time.  I really enjoyed her company and catching up.  Also, from an earlier post my friend Lori has resigned from her job here in the Natti and she is moving to Denver to be near her kids. I helped her pack up a U Haul Saturday along with some of my old co workers. It was bitter sweet. I know she will be happy there but I will surely miss my good friend.  

Guess this means I will be going to Denver in the future.  

The month of October is ending as quickly as it got here.  Boy time sure does fly.  It marks the end of marching band for the season and the beginning of orchestra.  As the month ends the fall colors in this area are as sharp and as beautiful as ever.  Driving to Saint Louis inspired me to write the following:
                                                  Autumn colors all around;
              Red, yellow, orange and brown.
                                      Wind blows hard the golden grain;
             Red paints the tips of wheat with hot flame.
                                       Dust blows then lays upon the ground,
             like silver paint.
                                      Pale blue sky battles to stay!
             Defeated she bleeds, pink, purple, orange and grey!
                                      Black!  Night seizes the day;
             A gold bold moon stands alone!
                                     the undisputed king!
I am not much of a poet.  But I do appreciate the fantastic colors of fall.  The colors of the leaves and the sky.  This next week also marks, daylight savings.  Meaning we turn our clocks back one hour to extend day light.  That means next week it will be dark by 6pm.  It really feels like the day will be shorter, not longer.  In the weeks ahead, Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here too.  I think we will be giving each other a lot less knowing that the important part of the Holidays, is time spent with family.     Next time I post, I will be sharing how much money we saved in the last month.  I told the kids the other day, that I will probably do this again in the summer.  Possibly the month of June.  They're thrilled!

Breakfast at BJ's

 Today I had breakfast with my Aunt BJ.  I have been excited for this since she invited me!  I love her.  She is this amazingly brilliant person who is just ALIVE!  She has this unique eclectic style and she is a true artist in every form.  She can sing with a beautiful voice and she is a brilliant song writer!  She also has such a great ability to write about her past and her experiences that make you feel as if you lived it yourself.  Today she read to me a story she wrote about the American Bandstand when she was a kid.  Her ability to bring the written word to life is not something that can be taught, its something one feels.  She is also talented in the art of wall hanging, painting, decorating, sewing and crafts!  She has retired from her "day"job, but she hasn't stopped living.  In fact, I think she is an inspiration as she chooses to do everything she ever dreamed she wanted to do and maybe didn't always believe she could.  Now, she is just doing it and I love that! She does Burlesque and she has tried pole dancing, she is singing, re-modeling and writing and so so much more!  I think we should all embrace the things we think we want to do and who we want to be and just do it.  We may not be great at it at first, but we should just try and learn and grow as people.  BJ is also an amazing cook!  She made the best breakfast.  Homemade goetta, eggs and a raspberry sauce!

 It was a great breakfast,  the food was delicious, and the conversation was stimulating.  When I told her I was heading to my dads to whip something up in the crock pot for his dinner, she generously gave me a jar of home grown green beans from her garden.  I made a pork roast with the beans and some potatoes for my dad.  (Thanks BJ)  I included some photos from my breakfast of her kitchen and the meal.  It is an adorable, cozy space that I wanted to share, so cute!

The challenge is continuing.  On our way home from our trip to Saint Louis, we skipped lunch but hit the Kroger's to buy some produce and some meat to cook with.  We didn't spend a ton of money maybe $20, but we got some potatoes, apples, watermelon, and broccoli.  While looking at these things my husband and I were sort of checking out the other goodies at the store.  I saw what was happening and I looked at him and said, "hey buddy, we got to reel it in and finish this challenge strong!"  So we hustled out of there with the fresh goods and that night my husband grilled chicken on the grill and we had baked potatoes and broccoli.  It was delicious and we had plenty of left overs for lunches.  We have only 11 more days to go in our "zero" spend challenge.  (We have changed it to our "spending much less" challenge.)  I feel confident that we won't be going to the store again for anything until November.

Weekend Get-a-Way

We had a nice little get away to Saint Louis.  We have never been and we went because my daughter's Marching Band competed in a Super Regional Bands of America competition. They competed against 63 other bands from all over including Mississippi, Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Texas and Indiana.  The best band there was from Broken Arrow Oklahoma.   Check them out on you tube.  Hard to believe they are only high schoolers.
It was a six hour drive and it was a pleasant six hours because of the changing leaves.  There were a lot of dead trees which did affect the look of the fall colors though.  We arrived at Saint Louis and checked into our hotel.  The entire band stayed at the LaQuinta Inn.  This is not where we normally stay, but they had a continental breakfast that included eggs, sausage, bagels, waffles, fresh fruit etc., it was a nice deal.  We got a discounted rate because of the large group we were with.  We saw pilots and stewardesses staying there as well, so I think its a pretty good hotel.  It was reasonably clean and the staff were nice.

 We went to a place called Ted Drewes and tried the local favorite called "concrete."  This is really frozen custard.  It is on route 66 apparently and it was very popular and crowded.  We tried the pumpkin pie and it was really delicious.  We then made our way over to the Anheiser Busch tour site.  We tried some new beer, we took the free tour, which included free samples of beer and we got to see inside the factory as well as the famous clydesdales.   It was a nice tour and lasted one hour.
When we finished there, we drove to the city to Pappy's Smokehouse.  This was on "Man vs. Food"  We were also told by a friend to try it.  We got there and waited in line about a half hour.  It's a true dive, but the music was great if you like Blues and the BBQ was amazing.  When we got there, they had already run out of ribs and beef brisket.  We settled on the pulled pork.  We read bad reviews about the sides for the meal, so we each ordered different things and tried four.  My husband ordered the fried corn on the cob and the potato salad.  He said the corn was hard and the potato salad bland.  I had the cole slaw and the steak fries.  Steak fries weren't on the menu, but I saw someone eating them, and they looked good so I asked.  My sides were good.  We read the slaw had too much vinegar, but it wasn't bad.

By then it was about 9 pm our time and we were tired from the drive, so we headed back to the hotel and called it a night.  Next morning we decided we needed to get some exercise.  Actually, my husband has one of those "fit bit" type things and his told him the day before to "get moving!"  So we headed over to the Saint Louis Zoo.  The nice thing about the Saint Louis Zoo is, it's free!  Yup, Free!  We paid 15$ to park and we got there early, so it wasn't crowded.  We had a nice walk and the grounds are really pretty.   It's a nice zoo, but not as nice as our Cincinnati Zoo.  Some of the animals weren't out yet and apparently there was a scandal that had occurred with the gorillas, because the zoo keeper and the security were there and we overheard them say, "we will have to watch the security tapes to see what happened!"  Later, they had two of the male gorillas out, but that is all.  They do have a really nice Sea Lion exhibit, that should not be missed if you go.

 Finally, around noon we headed out to find something for lunch.  We had a Chipotle gift card so we found one of those and had some lunch.  We drove to the city to see the Arch and Edward Jones stadium is right there.  That is where the band competition was.  It was the most expensive part of our trip.  We paid $10 to park and $40 to get in, no readmission and the finals were an additional cost.  We did not pay for finals, as our kids did not make it to the finals, although they did awesome and its a great experience to perform in a professional arena like the home of the Saint Louis Rams!  We were glad we decided to eat at Chipotle, because food inside was expensive and they did not allow you to leave and come back.  "NO RE ENTRY"  One woman had this huge slice of pizza and we asked, "how much is the pizza?"  She told us it was $9!  And her little girl had a small cup of water, and she said she had to beg for the water.  Ridiculous!   We hung out there til awards were over then we headed back to Ted Drewes for another taste of that "concrete"  This time I had mocha and my husband had carmel twist. (It had pretzels and caramel in it).  We both agreed that the pumpkin pie was better.  We headed back to the hotel and called it a night.  We headed out early on Sunday, making it home before 3pm.  We ate at the hotel and did not stop for lunch.  We decided to make a nice meal at home on the grill. (Thanks Honey!)  All told we spent under $500.  That included hotel, gas, Band of America and food.   We did a lot in a short couple of days and we really enjoyed it!  

Bye Bye Birdie and other stuff

Tonight I used up the last of the Turkey and made turkey pot pie.  I used cream of potato soup with turkey, frozen carrots and crescent rolls.  I could have used peas and corn too.  But I don't like peas and I don't really care for corn either.  The meal turned out delicious and we will have left overs for the weekend.  You may be wondering what I am doing to keep myself busy and entertained instead of spending money and shopping while completing this challenge.  Well, today I worked on a scrap book for my youngest daughter.   I only did a few pages, but it took some time and I enjoy it.  I also have been completing CEU's online.  They are free through a site one of my co workers introduced me to.  I have a certification so I need 125 CEU's per five year period.  It can be expensive, so imagine my surprise when I was able to complete around 20 hours of free in services.  

 Another hobby of mine is photography.  I really love to take pictures and I would love to own a really nice camera some day.  For now I usually use my phone and frankly, it takes pretty nice pictures.  Here are two from the evening sky as I sat and listened to the Marching Band practice.  (Also free entertainment).  Another hobby of mine is coin collecting.  I have been doing this since I was a little girl with my dad.  I can remember sitting on the floor in the living room and sorting through a ton of pennies looking at dates and mint letters.  Someone who collects coins is called a numismatist.  That, is a horrible name!  I came across this info the other day about some coins and the value and I decided that I would look through mine.  Unfortunately, I didn't find any half dollars with Ben Franklin on them, nor did I find a Kansas quarter that says "In God we Rust."  Apparently, they are both pretty valuable.  I also read in the past two days about saving habits of people in the United States versus those in other countries.  Did you know that the average person in the United States has less than $1000 in savings?  Also, that in the US the savings rate is 4.5% of take home pay.  So if you bring home $1000, you only save $45.  Ok, it is something, which is better than nothing.  But let's compare that to Japan, they save on average 30% of take home and the Chinese, a whopping 38%.  That's $380 per pay check.  If you take home $1000 bi-weekly, that adds up to $9880. per year.  In ten years, you would have $98,800.00.  WOW

Today in the mail I got this free Campbell's soup for the Kuerig.  I don't own one, but I wonder, do they know about the challenge??  I started looking through our spending this morning and I was thinking we are doing pretty good.  It looked as though we may get through the month spending less than 2K and that included utilities.  Then the mail came.  We have an insurance bill and we also still have to pay our city taxes.  Oh Well.  We have spent a whole lot less on groceries and eating out.  We are under $60 for groceries for the month and our eating out it down under 10$ so far.  Those are two things we can control and I am pretty proud of that.  This is the half way point and I am confident our spending will be much less and I am happy to say, I am learning a lot and I will share all of it when I am done with the challenge.  Looking forward to Tuesday, where I will be eating a delicious home cooked meal with my Aunt BJ and her home made goetta.  

Mad cat and retirement

 Sunday my dad came for a turkey dinner.  I also made pumpkin muffins, because he loves them!  This really has been an expensive week.  I paid for the dress for CSYO  it was $55.  I also had to take my dog to the vet and it was $105.  I can't understand how a dog that weighs 4.2pounds can cost so much.  I also had to go with my daughter to send off for her passport as she will be traveling extensively in Europe next summer.  Apparently a passport has to be good for six months before you can be allowed to use it to come into the United States.  Yeah, we all joked that we should wait a couple of months and she wouldn't be allowed back in the country.  She did not think we were cute or funny.  A passport costs $150. My youngest daughter will be going on a trip with the marching band soon and that cost us another $40.  This has been the most expensive week so far.



 Today was another beautiful fall day.  I love this time of year.  Mums are my favorite flower and I love the fall colors.  In another week those trees will be stunning.  Today I went to a retirement seminar.  I found out what it takes to retire.  First, you should write down what you want in retirement.  If you don't have a plan in mind then you won't know where you are going or how to get there.

Second, how much will you need in retirement?  They suggested that you need 80% of your income in todays dollars.  Then, we talked about inflation.  For example, to buy a car today can cost around 30K.  In thirty years it will cost about 55K.  Crazy right.
Lastly,  you have to figure out how much you will receive from social security and subtract that amount from the amount you need and that is the income gap.  That is how much money you have to come up with on your own.  You can find your social security info. at SSA.gov.
It's important to be familiar with the best way to take your social security benefit, because if you make a mistake it can cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars.   I recommend when that time comes, you talk with your advisor.  Also, if you think an annuity is right for you, the number one thing it needs to have is liquidity.  Can you make it liquid?  Something to keep in mind as you get older.  My financial advisor stopped me as I was leaving and told me, he was going to make me work til I was 70.  I said "Hell no, my everything hurts."

My little dog has two ear infections.  She got some medicine and one shot.  I am happy to report that we survived the visit to the vet.  Although I am not sure about the man that came in with the big old tom cat.  We heard that big old cat hissing and screaming in there and the man screaming, "no, no, no and Oh God and oh my God and then $%&* and people went running. I looked at the other woman waiting and she said, "do we need to call 911?"  Yikes.  One lady came out and said, "he is going to be hurting tomorrow!"  That cat was terrified.  

Coupons, Gift cards and Underwear!

 Friday was cleaning day!  I know this sounds crazy, but I love it when my house is clean.  I like to have candles burning and soft music and I love to read when the house is clean.  It somehow gives me a sense of calm and it relaxes me.  I cleaned and counted up all our loose change it came to almost $100.  We put all our change in a beer mug and a frog bank.  A couple of times a year we roll it up and put it in our savings. I went out shopping on Saturday.  I know, how can you shop when you are on a zero spend challenge.  Truth is, I hate to shop.  My husband needed a few things and went to Kohl's near the end of September.  He "earned" $20 in Kohl's cash and, if you used it this weekend, you could also get another 20% off.  So, I bought underwear.  Yup!  Underwear!  I couldn't  pass up the opportunity to purchase it for around $1.00 per pair, when ladies, we all know it is usually 5-8 bucks a pair.  I got my car washed and waxed.  It didn't cost me anything to do that and my car was dirty.  My husband gets me a gift card to the car wash place for Christmas.  Sounds lame, but I love it.  So I used a coupon and my gift card, got my car washed and waxed and it looks great!  I also took my good friend Lori to lunch.  She called me a couple of days ago to let me know some great news for her.  I can't share the news here, because she hasn't told anyone yet.  But,  I want to spend some time with her and I swear I will spill whats up on here as soon as she has spilled the beans herself.  I called her and she knows about the challenge.  I said,  we can go but we have to go to Burger King, because I have a coupon and a gift card.  We got two Jr. Whoppers and small fries for $3.99.  It was great spending time with her and we always have a few laughs whenever we get together.

Lastly, My husband and I spent the evening at our friends Kim and Jim's house.  With their other friends and family, we witnessed their marriage.  It was a beautiful fall evening and a beautiful ceremony lead by the amazing BJ Stahl.  What a great weekend! This morning to cap it off, my husband looked at me and said, "I think we are doing pretty good with this spending zero challenge."  We aren't really spending zero, but we are spending a lot less.  I love how great we are together.  When our family is together, there is no stopping us!

Turkey Tuesday…& Wednesday, oh what the heck, Turkey until it's gone and a chocolate chip cookie!

 The turkey turned out great!  the nice thing about turkey is, you can make a ton of left over meals with it, like turkey tetrazini and turkey pot pie.  I have had turkey for dinner and lunch the last couple of days.  Last night we made a box pizza.  While at lunch the other day, my friend Susan was eating one of the cafeteria's chocolate chip cookies.  Anyway, they are amazing.  I told her the first thing I am buying after the challenge is one of those cookies.  So she gave me a piece.  Thanks Susan!!

Our spending so far goes like this:
$10.71- medicine
$43.00 hair cut ( I postponed from Sept to Oct because of my neighborhood garage sale. and my hair dresser only works on Saturdays)
$41.35 auto fuel ( I expect this will be higher because my oldest hasn't recorded hers yet and my car and the youngest's car both need to be filled soon)
$ 9.80 stamps
$ 2.58 bread ( before he bought bread, they ate all the bread with the sandwich meat and whatever including, hot dog and hamburger buns. )
$ 20.17 school book
$ 20.00 dent school house. (my youngest went with her squad from the band.  They don't get a lot of free time to do these things and she paid with her own money.)
The largest expense is $ 109.00, and this is for a clarinet lesson for my youngest with the principal player of the CSO.  My daughter was selected to the CSYO and has a very large solo for E Flat clarinet.  E flat is a bit tricky and she did not own one, she borrowed one for the audition.  Much to our great surprise, she was selected and now she needs some lessons to help her with the part.  She worked with the CSO clarinetist.  He is probably the "best E Flat clarinetist around"  Her part is Shostakovich symphony number 5.  If you listen to it on you tube its almost an hour long.  Check out the second movement.  Expensive, but necessary to her success.  All this for a total of $256.61.  Hopefully, the next weeks won't be so expensive.  We did just get an email from the CSYO saying that the girls had to get concert dresses.  That's $55.00.  I will be paying for that on Sunday.

Monday October 5th, & THE DUMBEST IDEA EVER!!!

 I had a great weekend!  I spent some quality time with my dad and got to enjoy a wonderful symphony Saturday night.  It was called "Silly Symphonies."  This was a tribute to Disney cartoons.  My dad took me to dinner at the Green Derby in Newport Kentucky.  It was delicious and you got a ton of food.  His friends Paul and LaVerne came with us.  They are the hippist old folks I know.  Paul is just so chill and he loves craft beers.  They both like to take the train on trips and its interesting to hear them talk about the train.  LaVern was talking about her love for the opera and how she first became introduced to the opera as an usher when the opera was at the zoo.  Coincidently, my dad was first introduced to the opera when he worked at the zoo in a janitorial type role!  Small world!   It was exciting to hear them talk about this and discover that they had a similar past experience.

Sunday, I went to church.  I go where my dad goes and I am now part of the health ministry at church.  I take blood pressures the first Sunday of the month.  This Sunday, they also had welcome cafe.  This is a small breakfast and gathering of church members.  People can bring food or make donations.  I made pumpkin muffins.  My kids were disappointed that I took 2 dozen of the 32 that I made to share. (Truth is, they are worried because of the challenge and that we will run out of food by the end of the month) The muffins are super easy to make and they are pretty tasty.  1- small can of pumpkin and 1 box of spice cake mix.  Yup!  Thats all!  Mix and bake. 350' for about 15 mins.  I use the mini muffin pan and it yields 32 mini muffins.  Those muffins were a hit with the church folks.  Especially my dad!  He even put one in his pocket for later.  (yes he wrapped it in cling wrap first.)  But, some woman came into the blood pressure room to report to me that he was hogging the muffins and not sharing with everyone else.  I will have to make them again next month.

In this post I included some pictures of my kids.  My youngest daughter is in the band and my oldest in a sorority.  For the record,  my kids think this challenge is the dumbest idea ever.  I am pretty sure they have uttered these words about a dozen times.  I hope by the end of the month they remember that I love them and I hope that they still love me!

I have found that by being transparent about this challenge to everyone I know, many people are willing to invite us for dinner.  My youngest is doing some volunteer work tomorrow at my cousins school for National Honor Society.  My cousin has invited us for supper.  Yes please and Thank-you!

 This is a picture from my walk on Saturday and I also included one of my little dog in her sweater.  I am happy to report that I removed the sweater yesterday, as it was a lot warmer.  See, she is frowning in that picture.  I guess she thinks that was the dumbest idea ever!

Alzheimer's and Rain

Today I walked in the Alzheimer's walk.  I registered for the walk in September.  At work we have a clinical ladder program.  It encourages the nurses and some other groups to be involved in the community efforts like walks and other programs that raise awareness for diseases like Alzheimer's as well as arthritis, cancer, diabetes, etc.  The clinical ladder is a project that awards points for certain mini projects that you choose to do.  It encourages learning and education, community involvement and professionalism.  It is a great opportunity to grow in the profession and it rewards anyone who chooses to do the program with a bonus of a certain percentage of your gross yearly salary.  It goes from 0.04% of your base pay up to I think 0.08%.  Its great!   I think walking to end Alzheimer's is a good cause.  As a nurse I have seen and cared for many people and families of people suffering with Alzheimer's.  I hesitated to go this morning because of the cold and rain.  I am glad I sucked it up and went because people are always so nice at these walks and the exercise was invigorating.  Some of my co-workers went too.  The flower is blue and that color represents someone who is suffering from Alzheimer's.  I will give the flower to my Dad.  He likes those spinny things and he is very forgetful at times and shows some early signs of dementia.  

I will post some pictures on here from the walk, to show just how beautiful the city of Cincy is even in the cold and rain.  

I spent a little over 10$ this morning at Walgreens buying medicine for my youngest daughter.  She is feeling pretty bad today and she is at a marching band competition.  She is the drum major so she really needs to be there.  She is on break this coming week so hopefully she can rest and take care to get better.  

It is a whopping 63 degrees in my house today.  We are all wearing sweaters, including my little dog.  She really hates the sweater, but she doesn't have much hair and she gets cold easily.  I hate to turn the furnace on this early in the year, but I think it can't be avoided, not with my youngest already feeling so bad.

Tonight I will be going to the Kentucky Symphony with my dad.  He had an extra ticket so he invited me to go.  I love the symphony.  He also asked if I wanted to go to dinner.  I told him I could go, but I could not pay.  LOL  He knows all about the challenge!  I told him I would make it up to him with a home cooked turkey dinner.  

Challenge…Two Days Later?

Yesterday we had a delicious pork roast dinner.  I made it the day before in the crock pot and stored it in the fridge.  I knew I would be at work late and normally we might settle on pizza or some other take out, but the challenge doesn't allow for that.  This is a simple recipe that is inexpensive and delicious.  I bought a pork tenderloin, it was pre sliced at Kroger for less that 5$.  One can of Campbell's golden mushroom soup and frozen carrots.  I season with a little Mrs. Dash.

I am doing pretty well in the challenge.  I packed my lunch both days.  And tonight I met my friend at my dad's house to see about doing some electrical work and my dad invited me to stay for dinner.  It was really nice!  My kids have been packing and so has my husband.   We ran into a little glitch yesterday when my oldest daughter needed to order a book online from Amazon for school.  So that was a completely unexpected expense, but it was only about 20$, that is cheap for a college book.
Where I work we have vendors come in all the time with items for sale.  This week it was the 6$ place.  Many of the items cost 6$.  This is nice for people who want to get a jump on Christmas shopping.  Sometimes Dillard's comes in there too.  They have shoes, purses, clothing, make up and perfume.  Expensive stuff.  People love it because you can use a payroll deduction.  So you can buy a 200$ purse and take it out of 6 paychecks or whatever and "you never even miss it."  I have not used this service.  I mean it's really tempting.  I have browsed more than once and tried on shoes.  It is a nice service.  But it can really get you into trouble if your not careful.

I am really glad that I am doing this challenge.  I am also grateful that my family is on board.   I think it is a learning experience and I think it will make us more aware of how we waste money.  I read an article from crown ministries yesterday.  It warned of an impending recession.  It said that there is a 55% chance of a moderate recession and it can last a moderate amount of time.  The author of the article stated that after spending an extensive amount of time in China and Asia he feels like there is an even greater chance that it will happen!  "China is definitely slowing down."  You can read the article at http://blog.crown.org/handwrtingonthewall/stock-market?  

By the way,  my youngest daughter is getting sick.  Probably a nasty cold.  I had one that lasted almost a month.  I even had to break down and use the "Little Clinic" because it wasn't getting better.   I will probably be buying some over the counter remedies, and I certainly pray she gets well without a visit to the "Little Clinic"  I hope you all stay healthy.  And I hope this rain ends by tomorrow because I signed up to do the Alzheimer's walk.  

 THIS PICTURE IS FROM THE 6$ SALE AT WORK

Day 1, ZERO spend challenge.

Here it is, October 1st!  Two days ago, my youngest daughter tells me they need conditioner.  I am like, seriously??  She said they would not make it to the end of October with what was in the bottle.  So it gave me an excuse to go,  once again to the grocery.   (I was contemplating it anyway)  I bought some more chicken and veggies and I feel more ready.   I guess it doesn't really matter because we are here.  It is the moment of truth.  Do we have what it takes to make it through this month spending zero dollars?

Some things we already do that will seriously help out with this challenge.  We don't buy or drink soda.  I mean, if we go to a restaurant, we may have one, but we don't have it in the house.  Its a big budget buster.  A 2-liter can cost 1.99$  and if you drink one a day, thats 726$ per year!  We don't smoke.  Did you know that a pack of cigarettes in NewYork can cost 14$!  A carton of Basic cigarettes is 52.99$  if you buy one a month thats 624$ a year!!  Thankfully, non of us smoke and we don't consume a lot of alcohol either.  We all pack our lunches everyday, so that is a habit that will help with this challenge.

I am including a couple of pictures of my pantry and fridge, they're stocked!  I will take another at the completion of the challenge.  (Might be a good time to clean the fridge). I am sure I will find things in there that I haven't used and it may come down to me trying something new.  I do have a turkey in the freezer.  I am going to cook it at the beginning of the month because I know I can use it for a lot of things like turkey pot pie and turkey tetrazzini.  I can also make sandwiches and salads with the meat.   I will probably also invite my dad for dinner, because he likes turkey and I'm positive everyone will get sick of it.

Some other things I did before the end of September.  I got my oil changed and had them check and top off fluids as well as the air pressure in my tires.  I am hoping this helps my car run more efficiently.   I can get my tires rotated for free, so that won't be a problem.  I did my grocery shopping at Kroger's so the fuel points are saved for later in the month when I need to get gas.  I mean, I have to get to work.  Or,  do you think they'd buy the excuse that I'm taking a challenge??  Nope, me either.  I am on vacation during the month, so that will decrease the amount of miles I put on my car.

We are off to a pretty good start.  We are prepared and we are excited.  Scratch that!  I am excited to give this a good effort.  I will continue to keep you all posted and would love to hear any advice or ideas you have.

My October Challenge

 This is my first blog.  I wanted to blog and share my October challenge.  The challenge that I signed up for is a zero spending challenge. (I signed up with LivingWellSpendingLess.com) This means, that in the month of October, I can't spend any money.  I know it is still September, but with the month of October looming, I am getting nervous about this commitment.  I have discussed this with my family, they have been warned!  I have two teenage daughters and my husband. After reminding them yesterday, I received a lengthy list of items they wanted me to buy from the grocery before the month of October arrives.  I have been to the grocery, twice in the last week.  I do not consider this cheating.  I think of it as planning.  Fail to plan, plan to fail.  I am still thinking that I should head to the grocery once more before Thursday.  

To be honest.  I have several things planned in the month of October that were already in place before i decided to sign on for this challenge.  My best friend is getting married and I can't miss it.  And I have to take my little dog to the vet.  (this appointment was scheduled in September, but I cancelled it so that I could go to work for the Magnet visit.)  ( love Magnet, love my job!)   I also am going out of town with my husband to a Marching Band competition in Saint Louis.  (We already had the hotel booked and those are always a ton of fun.)

So how will I get through the month without spending money?  Not going to happen.  I have planned for my friends wedding by getting the card and setting aside a gift already.  I also had a huge garage sale and made a little money to use for the vet bill. (we usually make more money at the garage sales, but it rained all day).  We already booked a free tour of the Anheuser Busch factory in Saint Louis.  Saturday we will be watching bands from all over and that is a lot of fun and great entertainment.

Why on earth would anyone sign up to spend zero money?  Well I was really hoping to accomplish a couple of things.  I hoped to save a little money in the month of October.  I also hoped to spend a lot less.  I want to find new ways to be creative in using the food that is already in the pantry as well as finding free and fun things to do in the Cincinnati area where I live.  Cincinnati is a great and beautiful city with tons of great things to do.

So it is my plan to blog this challenge and share the ideas, frustrations and all the exciting things I learn and do as I accept this challenge.  Please feel free to share any great and easy recipes that may help me out as well as any free things to do that you know about and I will share them here as well as try them out myself.
   Speaking of free.  These pictures are some that I took at Spring Grove cemetery.  It is beautiful and in the fall I image, it will be stunning.  I may just check it out.  If I do, I will share some more pictures with you here.