Retire@50

We got 8 or more inches of snow yesterday and it's still snowing today. Even though I already don't do anything special most days on snow days I slow down even further. Just the knowledge that you couldn't go anywhere even if you wanted seems to make the day more relaxed.

I woke up later than usual since the light is different when it snows, makes it seem earlier than it is. Then I've just been mosying around the house. I worked on my jigsaw puzzle for a while. I got the frame finished. I see that there are labels for the wildflower pictures, so that's cool. They are too small to see on the picture. I'm going to need my glasse to read them when it's done

I watched a cooking show on TV. Now I'll play on the computer for awhile and then maybe take a nap this afternoon. And finally a book. But since I read books everyday that's no different. But I usually walk once or twice a day and sometimes shop and do a few chores, but since my house is clean I don't feel like I need to do anything. Just a slow, relaxed day.

Finished reading my book Dreams of Stardust by Lynn Kurland. Romance - very good. I love her books they are so sweet and lovely. My favorite is This is all I ask.

As I wrote earlier I got a cleaner again after I retired. I asked myself if I had tons of money what would I change about my life, and the only thing I could come up with was to get my house cleaned once a month. My upstairs is about 600 square feet. 2 bedrooms, a bath and a 10 x 10 storage room that I turned into my craft room. The 2nd bedroom and bath are only used once a year or so. My craft room is too messy to have anyone in there and my office has things piled around that I'd just as soon not have people look at, so I only have the cleaners clean the stairs and landing. The downstairs is around a 1000 square feet. Living room/dining room, kitchen/laundry, a half bath, master bedroom and master bath. I have the cleaners do all the downstairs, around a 1000 square feet total.

Two cleaners come and they finish in about an hour and 15 minutes. They charge $25 an hour, so $62.50. I feel that this is a huge bargain. I hate house cleaning and having my whole house clean at once is wonderful. It's also a luxury since I could do this myself, I just don't want to.

After the cleaners leave I usually start a new jigsaw puzzle on my dining room table. This gives me plenty of time to complete it before they come back. Last month though I had a 1000 piece puzzle that I got from the trift store and it was missing 2 pieces. It was only 1.99 and provided many hours of entertainement, but it was disappointing to have the missing pieces. I often buy jigsaws from the thrift store and garage sales and this is only the second time that I've had missing pieces.

The new puzzle is 1000 pieces and called Wildflowers. A bunch of individual boxes with a different type of wildflower in each box. It would have been a lot more interesting if they had labeled each box. It was a gift from someone and looks fairly simple. I like really difficult puzzles that are least a 1000 pieces. I figure if I'm going to start a puzzle I want a challenge that will take me some time and make my brain work

I finished reading my book Moon Called by Patricia Briggs. Supernatural - very good. This is a really good series.

This is a TV show that plays on CNBC on Saturday nights, but I just got around to watching it last night. I don't know why I watch this show, I think it's like watching a car accident. Couples who have serious money problems are counseled by a financial adviser and shown how to get their act together. I don't really care how people spend their money. I don't make any moral judgements as long as they have the money and it doesn't hurt anyone else. But there's a kind of shock and awe seeing what people spend their money on when they are deep in debt.

One woman lost her job and went out and bought a $1500 puppy. Really? That's what you think is important when you have no money coming in? How are you going to feed that puppy? One guy bought 5 sets of golf clubs. Just totally clueless.

Anyways by the end of the half hour show and about a month of their lives, the couples have seen the light and are on the straight and narrow to get out of debt. I wonder. I'd like to see them go back in a year and see how those couples are doing. People who are used to indulging themselves with whatever they want whenever they want don't usually change overnight.

I finished reading the library book Hidden Empire by Orson Scott Card. Sci/Fi - very good. I really like how he writes characters, especially children and I really like the dialoges he has between and with the children.

Went to King Soopers today and bought some more groceries. The receipt says I saved 78%. I spent 19.21 total, 3.25 for food pantry items. I haven't even spent $5 of the $20 I have budgeted for this category this month, even though I've bought lots of groceries for them, I'll have to catch up.

Free items

q = coupon
wyb = When you buy
OYNO = On your next order
BOGO = buy one get one

8 packages Bumbleebee tuna .49 cents wyb 8 - 3/.55 cents q's doubled and 1 $1/5 q

6 Snickers candy bars .50 cents and I had 3 .50 cent q's that doubled

2 boxes Ronzoni Penne pasta 1.00 wyb 8 - 2/.75 cent q's that doubled

1 box Ronzoni spagetti 1.00 wyb 8 - .75 q that doubled

1 Betty Crocker warm delight 1.50 - .50 q that doubled - .50 ecoupon from shortcuts

1 bag Chex Mix 1.50 - .50 q that doubled - .50 ecoupon from shortcuts

2 jars Plantars Dry Roasted peanuts 1.99 wyb 8 - 2/$1.50 q's and then there was a q on the jars for $1/2 that the cashier rang in while ringing the order. I told her I didn't want to use that one since I had better q's but she said I could use both, so it made them free.

Cheap

2 packages Oscar Meyer bacon 3.00 - 2/$1.50 q's and I got a $1 OYNO q when I checked out. These were beautiful, so often the bacon looks like you're just buying fat, these had a ton of meat and looked wonderful

4 packages Land O Frost turkey and ham 3.49 - 2/$1 q's and 2 BOGO q's. I see a lot of soup and sandwiches in the next week.

1 box Advil PM 20 ct 4.00 wyb 8 - $2 q

2 Ore Ida hash browns 2.29 wyb 8 - $1.50 q

5 boxes Kraft Mac n chees - .85 - $1/5 q

Not on sale but needed

Denver Post
4 bananas
1 rib celery
3 brussel sprouts - I'm going to try roasting these since several people recommended them but in case I don't like them I just got a few. I love that the grocery store sells small portions of veggies now. I used to waste so much which was another reason I didn't like to buy veggies. How long are brussel sprouts good for?

I'm over 500 on my gas points, (400 from buying gift cards) so .50 cents off a gallon next month - I don't know if I'll make it to 600 points

The following items will go to the food pantry

8 packages Tuna
3 packages Pasta
1 Betty Crocker Warm Delights
1 bag Chex Mix
5 boxes Mac n Cheese

I have a batch of beans going in the crock pot for dinner today to which I'll add the left over sausage from earlier in the week. I've gotten a ton of free or really cheap (.25 cents) Mission tortillas in the last 3 months. I have 2 in the freezer and 1 in the refrigerator, I've used one and given away 9. I've been making various versions of tortilla chips with them. Tonight to go with the beans I'll make garlic chips.

Preheat oven to 350

Put tortilla(s) on cookie sheet and spray with cooking spray. Cut into 8ths using a pizza cutter. Sprinkle garlic salt and pepper. Cook 8 - 10 minutes. These are very good and you can store them in a baggie and microwave for 30 seconds at your next meal.

I've tried several variations on this in the last month and this one is my favorite, but I like using Red Robin seasoning or Cinnamon sugar also.

I finished reading my book The Magical Christmas Cat - Romantic short stories. Very good.

One of the great things about budget billing for your utility bills is you can really see what difference certain actions make to the bottom line.

When I worked I worked from my home most of the time, so I had my work laptop, monitor, printer, stereo, lights in my office and ceiling fan going 8 - 10 hours a day or more and 5 or more days a week. When I quit working I only use that room 1 - 2 hours a day for my personal computer. I retired in August 2008 right after my yearly electric bill adjustment. The next year I had almost a $200 surplus and they modified my electric bill from $48 a month to $29 - almost
$20 a month. So that one change saved me more than $200 in a year. There was a substantial rate hike that year too, so it was probably much more in saved electricity and money.

I finished reading my book Pegasus in Flight by Anne McCaffrey. Sci/Fi - ok

I live in a small town about 20 miles outside of a big town. Right next to me are two other small towns, thus the name tri-lakes for our 3 towns. Each town has approximately 8000 people. When I first moved here in 2001 we had a branch library and a King Soopers and Safeway for groceries. For fast food we had Arby's, McDonalds, Taco Bell, Subway and Burger King. The Burger King has since closed. For chain restaraunts there was Rosie's Diner and Village Inn. There was one pizza place and 2 liquor stores and about 10 banks.

Since then we've had an explosion of building. Three or four years ago we got a Chili's. That was a big deal because now there was a new place to go out to eat. Then we got a Super Walmart. That was terrific since it meant we didn't have to drive all the way in town to purchase small household items.

After that we quickly got a Kohl's, Staples, PetSmart and a Texas RoadHouse. Our favorite restaraunt. And finally about 2 years ago we got a Walgreens and my bank opened a branch here. Finally everything I needed and no need to go in town. Everything is within 5 miles of each other.

However now it's getting ridiculous. For some reason Walgreens decided to open another store 4 miles from the first one. How ridiculous. Today is their grand opening and it's snowing. We're supposed to get 15 inches by tomorrow.

Now we have 2 McDonalds, 3 Subways, 2 Walgreens, 4 liquor stores, 4 pizza places, and at least 20 banks. Why do we need so many of the same things so close together? We also have had multiple restaraunts open and close in the last 3 years. There's not enough population to sustain that much eating out. It must be the same people who keep building the new houses behind me when there are already almost 20 for sale and have been for over a year.

Ah well, maybe the Walgreens will have some good grand opening sales.

I finished reading the library book The Scarpetta Factor by Patricia Cornwell. Mystery - very good.

Dictionary meaning:

1. Chiefly Southern Louisiana and Southeast Texas. a small gift given with a purchase to a customer, by way of compliment or for good measure; bonus.

2. a gratuity or tip.

3. an unexpected or indirect benefit.

I'm always trying to get a little extra with everything I buy and stretch that buck just that l-i-t-t-l-e bit farther.

This month Discover is paying 5% back on groceries - up to $200 worth. It would take me 3 months to spend $200 on groceries. I could buy grocery gift cards and make it last longer that way. Instead I bought $200 in gift cards to Target, Subway, McDonalds, Chilis and Red Lobster from King Soopers. This way I not only make the $10 bonus for the 5% cashback, but since King Soopers doubles gift card purchases on their gas points I got 400 in gas points or .40 cents a gallon.

My car takes between 10 and 11 gallons to fill up so that is at least 4 more dollars. But I will also fill up 2 five gallon cans giving me $8 more than the original $10 I would have gotten back.

Then when I get $20 in rewards at Discover I will cash that out for a $25 gift card to Borders stretching that a little more. At Borders I will use the gift card with coupons for 20 - 40% off books getting more free books.

About a third of the gift cards I got at the grocery store will be used for gifts and the others will be used with coupons and early bird specials to stretch them a little more.

And since I will pay the credit card off with money from my checking account that earns a tiny bit of interest I will make a few more cents on that money before sendinig it in.

Paying online saves another 44 cents.

That's what I call lagniappe

I finished reading my book Born of Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon. Supernatural/Romance - very good.

Ihate mornings. I always have. When I used to work I would always chant the "I hate mornings" mantra in the shower I rarely do that anymore since I wake up when I want to. However I'm still not prepared to do any thinking first thing in the morning. So breakfast is always something very simple, usually cheerios and a piece of fruit. Sometimes celery and peanut butter and fruit, assuming the celery has already been cut up for another meal. Or sometimes I fix a batch of oatmeal for 6 meals and nuke it - this is always good.

Anyways in my quest for eating more veggies I came up with the following recipe which I really like. Tastes great nuked. It's a combination of two other recipes I saw online.

Pumpkin Spiced Oatmeal

Serves 6

Ingredients:

4 cups cooked oatmeal
1 16 oz can pumpkin
6 individual packages of Splenda
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350

Cook the oatmeal as the package directs.

Add the pumpkin and spices to the oatmeal and stir together.

Pour into baking dish

Top with chopped walnuts

Bake for 30 min

If you are reheating this I put it in the microwave for 3 min and add milk.

The only problem is I want to make some more when this batch is done and I used my last can of pumpkin from before xmas. I have been looking for canned pumpkin for awhile and Walmart hasn't had any for 3 months. I checked King Soopers yesterday and they didn't have any either. Next time I go to Safeway I will have to check there.

I got several samples in the mail today from P&G sampling. 3 diapers (which will go to the food pantry), a sample of Tide with Febreeze and 2 samples of Metamucil.

My brother lives in a more rural area than I do and took some food to the food pantry down there. The guy inside told him, "See all those cars lined up outside, those are people who just sit there waiting for someone to come in and leave anything. They will take anything you bring in." That's so sad, that people are in that situation. I know when I go in to ours on Monday it's a zoo, people lined up for food and I live in a small town.

I finished reading my book Seven Deadly Wonders by Matthew Reilly. Action/Adventure - very good.

I've printed off several frittata recipes and that will be my next experiments in adding veggies to breakfast

I went shopping this morning and got several items.

Walgreens moneymakers

I did 4 seperate transactions using a gift card that I had purchased from previous register reward deals.

4 5.8 oz tubes of Colgate Total toothpaste # 3.99 = 15.96 + 1.28 taxes = 17.24 - 4.00 coupons = 13.24 and I got four $4.00 register rewards back giving me a profit of $2.76

I will put the $16 on another gift card and use it for the next round of deals at Walgreens

Safeway moneymakers

I went to Safeway and purchased 4 bottles of Marie's dressing which was .99 when you buy 5 of participating items. I bought a bag of salad as the 5th item. I used four $1 coupons so I made .04 cents

They had a sale buy one get one free on Reeses peanut butter cups @ .99 cents each. There was a coupon for .55 cents off in Sundays paper. The coupon doubled to $1.00. I had 2 coupons so I got 4 Reeses peanut butter cups for free and made .02 cents.

Safeway Free stuff

At Safeway I also got a dozen eggs for free $1.39. I had a coupon for these.

Free except for taxes

At Safeway I also got 3 trial size boxes of Tide at .99 cents each. I used 3 $1.00 coupons so got these free except I paid .21 cents in taxes.

At King Soopers Reach dental floss was $1.00 and I used a $1.00 coupon to get this for .08 cents taxes

Cheap

King Soopers also had 12 ct Mission Tortillas on sale for 1.25 I got 2 and used 2 .75 cent coupons that doubled so I paid .50 cents for the 2 packages.

Not free or cheap but necessary

1 gal milk
1 large potato

The following will go to the food pantry

4 tubes toothpaste
1 package dental floss
4 bottles salad dressing
2 packages Mission tortillas

Spent $4.49 total on all groceries
.53 cents of that was used for the items that go to the food pantry.

I think I'll have a baked potato and large salad for dinner tonight.

Finished reading the library book The Spellsong War. Sci/fi - pretty good. One of the things I find interesting about this series is the main character is a Singer on earth who feels she is overweight. She is a size 12 which is pretty average I think. Anyways she gets tranfered to another world where singing is magic. And when you do magic it takes energy so she finds she has to eat constantly to keep alive since she uses so much energy/magic to survive the world she is in. She complains about how stuffed she always feels and how it upsets her digestion to eat all that food. She talks about being sick of food. Interesting turn around on the normal problem of always wanting to eat more vs gaining weight.

This is another question I get on early retirement. Especially since I retired in the middle of what some have called the Great Recession.

I was fortunate that my retirement was planned so I had sufficient cash set aside and was not forced to sell assets at a loss. Also, I had lived thru several other recessions, and while not happy about the losses, I wasn't panicked. My attitude was all losses were merely paper until I cashed in the assets and locked in the losses. I knew that if I just waited most, if not all, of those losses would be recouped. Since that time I have regained half of my losses and expect to regain the rest in two or three years.

While not excessively worried about my losses I wanted to track what I was spending and make sure my money would last as long as I projected. I didn't want to have to go back to work at some point in the future. In 2009 I tracked every dollar I spent. I used broad categories that worked to tell me what I wanted to know about my spending. To my surprise I spent much less than I had expected, but I was completely satisfied with the results. I spent money on the things I wanted. I don't feel that I deprived myself of anything I would have spent money on if I wasn't tracking it.

In fact in September I asked myself the question, "If I had unlimited money, what would I change about my life?" and the only thing I could come up with was to get my house cleaned once a month. So I hired a house cleaner. I also started tracking charity late in the year. My charity consists of buying as many groceries as I can for around $20 a month and donating them to the local food pantry. Using sales and coupons, I averaged over 100 items a month to the pantry with that $20. Previous to tracking the amount I was spending on this category separately it was tracked with my grocery spending.

My total spending for 2009 was $14,326.32. My house was paid off so I didn't have a mortgage payment. I was still on COBRA, which was much cheaper than a personal health insurance plan will be in 2010 and I didn't pay my property taxes in 2009. I had paid them in 2008 to take the deduction for the previous year when I was still earning a salary and instead of paying them early like I did when working I will now pay them in the year they are due. So 2010 will not be as inexpensive as 2009 was, however I expect to keep expenses well below $20,000.

The following is a list of the categories and totals I spent in 2009. I have a huge miscellaneous category since everything in miscellaneous is stuff I need or want. Things like plumbers, movies, new frying pan, clothes, taking nieces out to eat, new tires etc. Everything not in another category. I don't really care how much I spend on clothes or entertainment etc, just as long as it's resonable and Ijust want to track the overall amounts.

Food $ 592.25
Eat Out $ 1,120.71
Utilities $ 2,077.08
Gas for the car $ 387.95
HOA $ 1,980.00
Xmas $ 531.81
Gifts $ 823.98
Miscellaneous - everything else $ 2,745.59
Insurance (car, house)$ 782.80
Health $ 3,175.82
Charity $ 108.33

Total $ 14,326.32

I finished reading my book Soul Deep by Lora Leigh. Supernatural/Romance very good.

yes, yes, yes, yes - I can't tell you how much I love being retired. I haven't blogged in a long time now, but I plan to start up again. I retired August 2008. The other day I met an old office friend in the grocery store and she asked me if I was still happy with my decision. Absolutely, love it, love it, love it.

However, if you asked me what I'm doing it would be lame stuff like reading, jigsaw puzzles, walking, cooking, shopping for bargains. I can't really understand where all the time goes. It doesn't fell like I have tons of time to do nothing. There is always something, but the great part is you rarely have to do anything right this minute. There seems to be enough time to do everything and if you don't get something done today - eh there's always tomorrow. Most of the really important things are automated like paying bills.

Occassionally things come up that have to be worked on, like taxes or I recently had to find replacement health care when my COBRA coverage ended. And while there is some stress involved, mostly it's worked on a little at a time until it's done.

I've spent a lot of time in the last couple of months testing recipes that have more vegetables in them. I'm trying to find good tasting, easy recipes so I will eat more veggies. I've found I really like the taste of roasted veggies. I've tried several that I never had before like parsnips, turnips, fennel, butternut squash and zuchini. I really like the parsnips and can live with the others.

Last night I made Roasted vegetables and sausage with a mustard sauce. So good. I got the recipe from a magazine but don't remember which one. You can use a variety of veggies for this, I've done it with parsnips and fennel and last night I added zucchini since I had some left over.

Ingredients:

1 med onion
3 med Yukon gold potatoes
3 large carrots
2 large ribs celery
½ lb beef sausage or polish kielbasa

Sauce:

2 tblsp lemon juice
¼ cup olive oil
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp minced garlic
½ tsp thyme
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

Cut vegetables and meat into 1 inch chunks

Put carrots and potatoes on one baking pan.

Cover with olive oil, salt and pepper and mix.

Put in oven for 15 minutes

In a big bowl make the sauce

Put onions and celery in sauce and coat.

Use a slotted spoon and put onions and celery on separate baking pan.

After the carrots and potatoes have cooked for 15 minutes add the sausage to their baking pan.

Put both baking pans back in the oven for another 15 minutes.

Put all the vegetables and meat in the bowl with the leftover sauce and mix thoroughly.

This makes 2 big meals for me.

I made some cornbread to go with it and since I had some leftover grated Gruyere cheese I sprinkled it on top. This turned out really well. I think I might try it with a Mexican blend next time, since I have some in the freezer.

I finished reading the library book The Soprano Sorceress by L. E. Modesitt Jr. Sci/Fi - pretty good.

Mom and I went to Old Colorado City yesterday to look around. We went to Fargo's for lunch - Victorian style pizza parlor. We split a small pizza and both had salads. $7.00 each.

I didn't buy anything in Old Colorado, just looked. I did get 2 books for my niece at Border's both 20% off. Spent $16.30 and at Bed, Bath and Beyond I spent $20 on an Entertainment book. Had a coupons for $10 off a $30 purchase. The book has 4 $5 off $50 Safeway coupons that I can use at King Soopers so anything else I use from the book is profit.

Went to Walgreens and spent $1 on groceries today.

1.99 - 1/2 gal milk
4.00 - 2 bags Lays potato chips
----
5.99
-5.00 RR from St Ives deal
----
.99 told them to keep the penny

For the month of October I spent $1,162.15. My monthly retirement budget is $1,500.00 I put aside about $200.00 a month for insurance and property taxes. So I'm under budget by almost $150 this month. I expect I'll go over in some other month.

Here are my totals

Groceries - 138.90
Eat-out - 120.00
Household - 70.24
Books - 61.87
Utilities - 159.77
Gas - 25.00
HOA - 165.00
Xmas - 158.06
Misc - 51.57
Health - 211.74

Eat-out includes the $60 I bought in Gift cards for Texas Road House. So those are meals that won't count in future months.

I also have a bunch of rebates coming which will lower groceries/household in the coming months.

I track all that comes out of pocket during the month.

Finished reading my book Island by Richard Laymon. Mystery. OK kind of wierd.

Started out at Safeway today and got the following.

FREE - 2 Tide trial size .89 cents each had 2 $1.00 coupons but cashier adjusted them to .89
5 cans Progresso soup - Buy 2 get 3 free. They really jacked the prices of these up $3.29/can. But I had 2 $1.10 coupons so my cost was 4.38 for 5 cans plus I have a rebate for a free can which will give me $3.29 back. Final price will be 5 cans for 1.09 or .22 cents /can
-----
4.50 oop with 3.29 coming from rebate

Walmart was next

2.24 - All You magazine - lots of good coupons in this magazine

.50 - 2 10 ct boxes Nestle hot chocolate. Cost was $1.00/box and I had 2 .75 cent coupons. Goes to my brother for xmas

.50 - 2 SeaPak Shrimp Poppers. Cost was $1.25/box and I had 2 $1.00 coupons

FREE - 2 packages Green Giant Steamers $1.00 each - 2 $1.00 coupons

2.74 - Arm and Hammer essentials. Had a 1.00 coupon and a free after purchase rebate so will get 2.74 back. Goes to brother for xmas

2.39 - Walmart brand antacid
-----
8.37 oop with 2.74 coming from rebate

Last stop was King Soopers

FREE - Cottonelle TP 4 pack .99 cents - .25 coupon doubled plus shortcuts e-coupon for .50

FREE - Green Giant veggies 1.00 - .25 coupon doubled plus shortcuts e-coupon for .50

1.99 - 1/2 gal milk

4.67 - 6 pack Ensure - 3.00 coupon this has a rebate so will get 7.67 back. I use this in place of milk on my oatmeal when it's free

1.50 - 6 cans Hunts tomato paste. .75 each minus $3 in coupons = .25 cents each

1.23 - 7 bananas

.60 - taxes
------
9.99 oop plus will get 7.64 back in rebates

Total spent 22.86
Total back in rebates - 13.70
Total after rebates - 11.16

I sent off for 69.54 in rebates today

50.57 Walgreens October rebates
5.27 Lawry's
3.29 Progresso soup
2.74 Arm and Hammer Essentials
7.67 Ensure
-----
69.54

I still have $8 in Catalina coupons to use at King Soopers and $13 in RRs to use at Walgreens, but since I don't need much this week and I didn't see any great deals at Walgreens I decided to save them till next week.

Finished reading the library book A Hymn Before Battle by John Ringo. Sci/Fi. OK

I have been waiting all month for Staples to come out with their customer appreciation coupon so I could buy some printer ink and I almost missed it. I saw it yesterday and it expired yesterday. 10$ off your purchase. They usually have one of these about every 3 months, but they used to be for 12% off the purchase. Got all 4 ink colors for $59.36 - 10% - 10.20 from reward rebate from last time I bought ink. Total 46.57 plus 10% back from reward program towards next purchase.

Since my food plan is basically to stock up whenever I get good prices and then fill in with fresh stuff as needed I mostly eat out of my pantry/freezer. I don't really plan meals for the week, just for a day or two ahead of time.

This is what I had last week. Right now I have a lot of cheap cereal .50/1.50 box so breakfast is cereal, milk and fruit

Lunch is either a hot dog or a peanut butter sandwich, with raw veggies and a piece of fruit.

Sunday - pasta and garlic bread. I made a big pot of my chunky spagetti sauce and took some to my mom's to have with rigatoni pasta. Froze about 9 more meals worth of sauce. The stuff I took to mom's made enough for the 3 of us, plus enough for all 3 to eat another day. Mom also supplied garlic bread with pasta.

Monday - baked potato with light honey mustard salad dressing. green beans with garlic and walnuts sauteed in butter.

Tuesday - leftover pasta and garlic bread

Wednesday - roasted chicken breast, Uncle Ben's wild rice with celery and carrots chopped up into it, steamed frozen veggies marinated in a light honey mustard salad dressing. Veggies were green beans, cauliflower, carrots and zucchini.

Thursday - ham and beans - leftover from the freezer and leftover rice from Wednesday

Friday - Village Inn breakfast, eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, pancakes.

Saturday - chicken salad and bread. I had fixed two roast chicken breasts on Wednesday and I made the salad then, Chicken, celery, grapes, and walnuts in mayonaise. The cold chicken 3 days later was better than the warm chicken on the day it was cooked.

Finished reading my book Wild Card by Lora Leigh. Romance. Very good.

Walgreens had their $5/$20 coupons out again this week. I used 2 today

First transaction

Free - I picked up the L'oreal eye cream I had a raincheck for from Wednesday.
19.99 - L'oreal Age Perfect moisturizer
6.49 - Bendryl - 48 ct
1.00 - 2 cans mushrooms
5.00 - 2 boxes Kellogs cereal
1.70 - taxes
-----
34.18
-5.00 RR from last week
-5.00 Walgreens 5/20 coupon
-2.00 L'oreal manufacture coupon
-1.00 Benedryl coupon
-2.00 Kellogs coupon
-----
19.18 out of pocket

I get 21.99 back in Walgreens Nov rebates on the L'oreal moisturizer, so profit of $2.81

Transaction #2

1.99 - 1/2 gal milk
5.99 - Excedrin 100 ct
5.99 - Excedrin 100 ct
5.99 - Excedrin 100 ct
6.99 - Almay mascara
5.00 - 2 boxes Kellogs cereal
1.58 - taxes
-----
33.53
-3.00 - RR from last week
-5.00 - 5/20 Walgreens coupon
-2.00 - Almay coupon
-2.00 - Kellogs coupons
-6.00 - Excedrin coupons
-----
15.53

I got $8 in RRs at the register for the Excedrin and will get $7.69 back for the Walgreens Nov rebates on the mascara. (the mascara goes to my neice for xmas)

Total get back 15.69 giving me a profit of .16 cents

Next stop King Soopers.

1.99 - 18 eggs
1.59 - Generic egg noodles
1.00 - Green Giant frozen corn
1.00 - Green Giant frozen corn
.49 - day old french bread
4.99 - Glade warmer
4.99 - Glade warmer
.79 - taxes
------
16.84
-4.99 - BOGO Glade coupon
-1.00 - .50/doubled Green Giant - FREE
-1.00 - .50/doubled Green Giant - FREE
-8.00 - 2/4.00 Catalinas for buying the Glade last week
-----
1.85 oop

I got another $8 in catalina coupons to use next week. Profit $6.15

Total spent today $36.56
Total get back $45.68
Total profit $9.12

Finished reading the library book Heat Lightening by John Sandford. Mystery. Very good.

I went to the Drs this morning and blood pressure is still up 160/96 better than yesterday but not good. Will get checked again tomorrow.

We got our first snow storm yesterday - about 2 inches

Went to Walgreens where I purchased the following for $2.84

Loreal Revitalift Wrinkle cream 16.49 - $1.00 coupon. If you ask at the beauty counter there is a full rebate on this item this month. So I will get $16.49 back in rebates. Plus when you buy this product you get a free Loreal eye cream product worth $16.49. They didn't have this in stock so I got a rain check for that

4 full size bottles of Pert Shampoo. On sale for $3.49. Used one Walgreens coupon which deducted $2.50 each and used 4 $2.00 manufactur's coupons which made them free and gave me $1.01 overage for each bottle.

Bought one bottle of St Ives Elements on sale for $4.99. Used a $2.00 coupon and got a $5.00 RR on the purchase to use next time I go in.

2 4 oz can's mushrooms. Used WAGS coupon making them .50 cents each.

I recieved a $5.00 RR and will get $16.49 back in rebates. I used $15 in RRs from purchases made last week and $11.00 in manufacturer coupons.

Next stop was King Soopers where I spent $7.11 for the following

7 bananas
6 apples
2 potatoes
1 bunch of garlic
3 carrots
1 bunch celery
1 bunch green onions
2 Glade scented oil - I had a BOGO coupon and these produce $4.00 catalina coupons. Price was $4.99 each so made $3+
1 bottle Lawry's marinade - FAR plus I had a $1.00 coupon so made money here too.

I used $12 in catalina coupons from last week for the Glade products
I had $5.99 in manufacturer's coupons

I got $8 back in catalina coupons to use on my next order and I will get #3.29 back from the Lawry's rebate.

Last stop was Walmart where I spent $13.73

I got a book for $6
4 boxes Uncle Ben's long grain rice - $2 off in coupons plus a BOGO coupon.
3 packages Grean Giant Steamers. $1.27 each - 3 $1.00 coupons making them .27 each.
1 bottle Lawry's Garlic pepper - 1.98 this will be FAR
1 package Star Kist Tuna Lemon Pepper. $1.74 - $1 coupon = .74

I used 7.92 in coupons and will get $1.98 back in rebates

Total spent was $23.68
I got $5 RR back from Walgreens
I got $8 Catalina's back from King Soopers
I will get $16.49 back from Walgreens rebates
I will get $5.27 back from Lawry's rebates

Total back = $34.76 or a profit of $11.08 plus all the stuff.

I also got a $10 rebate check in the mail today and a free sample of Tide Total Care and Always Affinity.

I found a new blog I like about someone uses coupons very well - Super Coupon Girl

One of my goals for when I retired was to improve my health. I went to the Dr today and had good news/bad news. The good news is my cholesterol is 108 and my triglycerides are 129. Perfect! I was able to get off one of my medicines saving me $20/month.

I've lost 10 lbs since I retired and while my diabetes is still not completely controlled it's the best it's ever been and is obviously improving. I hope to lose about 5 lbs a month and eventually have this area under control.

The bad news is my blood pressure was sky-high, in fact the Dr wouldn't let me leave until we brought it down. I have no idea why it was so high. 190/120 I've been so relaxed since I quit working. I have to go in tomorrow and get it rechecked. She may need to increase the medication. We'll see. One of my main goals is to get off all the medications - hopefully by the end of next year.

It's a good thing I don't have to take one of the medications any more because I got a notice that my COBRA premium is going up in January by 20% - $30/month. Boo hiss....

Finished reading my book Dark Light by Jayne Castle. Sci/Fi Romance. Very good.

Walgreens has a $5 off $25 purchase coupon out that's good for today and tomorrow. Went to Walgreens and spent $24.89 oop. I got $13 in register rewards back. I will get $1 back from Walgreens rebates and I will get $9.49 back from a rebate on Centrum Cardio vitamins. Total will get back is $23.49 which means I only spent $1.40 for $42.27 worth of stuff.

Just noticed they charged me twice for the milk so I need to take my receipt back and get 1.99 back. Meaning I made a profit of .59 cents on the order

I bought the following items

Scrubbing Bubbles foam cleaner $2.50 - $2.00 coupon = .50 - $1.00 rebate from Walgreens = .50 profit
4 Hersheys candy bars @.39 each. Had 2 BOGO coupons so .78 after coupons
80 Walgreens paper plates sale .99
3 Bounty paper towels on sale .89 each - 3 .25 cent coupons = 1.92 - .64 each
2 Reeses PB cup candy bars @.39 each = .78
1/2 gal milk 1.99
3 packages Kotex 3/$9 - 3 $1 coupons - $3 Register Reward = $3.00 for 3 packages
2 Dimetapp cough syrups @3.99 each = 7.98 - $4.00 coupons = $3.98
Centrum Cardio vitamins 9.49 - 3.00 coupons = 6.49
The Centrum vitamins plus the Dimetapp give a $10 register reward so .47 after the reward but I have a rebate on the vitamins for the full price so made $9
1 bag Lays potato chips $2.29

I saved $3.85 in Walgreens coupons
1 saved $5.47 in sales
I saved $13.53 in manufacture coupons

I stopped at Walmart on the way home and purchased 3 bags of the Green Giant Steamers @1.27 each. I had 3 $1 coupons so .81 cents total. The cashier said that makes them almost free, that's ridiculous. I said no that's nice

Finished reading the library book Duchess by Night by Eloisa James. Romance Very good.

I went to Texas Road House with my parents for dinner. I usually order the 6 oz sirloin for dinner. They have a new early bird special if you order two of these dinners you get a dollar off each. So mom and I both ordered that saving $2. They also have a deal right now if you buy a $30 GC you get a $5 gift certificate. I bought 4 of them. I will give 2 to my dad for xmas. I put it on my Discover card where I am getting 5% back on groceries and restaurants this quarter making another $6. We eat at Texas Road House 2 or 3 times a month so since I would spend the money anyways I might as well get a little extra.

I finished reading my book Noah by Jacquelyn Frank, Supernatural Romance. Excellent.

Went to Walmart today. Last time I went they said they weren't taking internet coupons so I had to take several items off my order. I researched and their corporate policy says they do take internet coupons so when I went in today I asked the CSR before I started shopping and he said yes they do take them. So I got all the things on my list and get to the register where the cashier says they don't take them. Sigh!!!! So I had him call over the rep and he said yes we do. Bottom line I got to use my coupons I spent 14.89 and saved $14.89 exactly 50%. My best deal was on Uncle Ben's wild rice. I had 2 coupons for $1.00 off 1 box and 2 BOGO coupons. They were 1.92 each so 2 boxes for .92 cents or .46 each. I got 4 boxes. for less than the price of 1 box.

Next stop was Walgreens. I had a $10 register reward coupon left from Sunday's trip. This can be used like cash. I purchased 9 jars of the Skippy peanut butter on sale 3/$5. Total $15 - $4.80 in coupons = $10.20 I added a .39 cent candy bar since you can't have the same number of coupons if you want to use your register reward coupon. Total 10.59 for the 9 jars of PB and candy bar. After the $10 register reward I spent .59 cents out of pocket plus because I bought $15 worth of the Unilever product I got another $5 register reward to use on my next order.

I did another transaction at Walgreens for 3 bottles of Robitussin cough medicine. Same deal as Sunday. I added another .39 cent candy bar so I could use the $5 register reward coupon from the previous transaction.

11.97 cough medicine
.39 candy bar
.95 tax
-------
13.31
-6.00 coupons
-5.00 register reward
------
2.31 oop and I got another $10 register reward to use on my next transaction

Last stop was King Soopers

Currently Glade has a promotion if you buy a Glade scented oil warmer you get a $4.00 catalina coupon to use as cash on your next grocery order. The Glade warmers are $4.99 but I have BOGO coupons meaning I spend 4.99 x 2 = 9.98 + .79 taxes for a total of 10.77 - 4.99 for the BOGO coupon = 5.78 and I get back 2 $4.00 coupons to use on my next order. I make $2.22. I had 4 of these from last week.

I bought 6 bananas, a potato, Sure Max deodorant and 2 more of the Glade warmers.

I used one BOGO coupon on the Glade and a $2.50 coupon on the Sure deodorant. I used 3 of the $4.00 Glade catalina coupons from last week. Total oop = .15 cents. Plus I got 2 more $4.00 coupons and There is a rebate for the Sure Deodorant so I will get another $5.99 back from that.

Overall I spent $17.94 cash today. I got 16 food items at Walmart. 11 food items at Walgreens. 2 at King Soopers. 3 bottles of cough syrup, 2 glade warmers and the Sure deodorant for that. Plus I have a $10 register reward to use at Walgreens. I have $8 catalina coupons to use at King Soopers and I will get $5.99 back in a rebate. I spent $17.94 and have $23.99 to use for other purchases.

Finished reading my book Turbulent Seas by Christine Feehan. Romance. Excellent

This is a great article from the Centisable Saving blog

Went to Walgreens this morning and made a profit of $3.08 to use on my next trip

Here's how

buy 3 Dimetapp cough medicine $3.99 each
3.99 x 3 = 11.97
+ .95 tax
----------
12.92
- 6.00 manufacture coupons
------
6.92
get $10 Register Reward for next purchase
--------
$3.08 profit

$2.00 coupons off the Dimetapp are here:

https://j.ovm1.net/wch1/universalreg/Registration.aspx?reg=true&product=di&c=1490&s=01&p=DIM06002

after you register you can print the coupons. I plan to go again later this week and get more. I haven't had a cold in years but will give the supplies to my sister/brother or donate them to a charity. I will use the overage to fund other purchases of things I want/need.

Finished reading my book The Third Magic by Molly Cochran. Sci/Fi King Arthur. Very good.

I haven't blogged in awhile since I don't feel I'm doing anything that interesting. Since I retired I spend a lot of time reading, gardening, cooking, excercizing, cleaning, doing jigsaw puzzles, meeting friends. While I enjoy it it's nothing that exciting. I am spending more time reading blogs and shopping. I'm not spending more money, in fact I'm spending less, but the shopping for deals takes more time. I'm not sure sharing my shopping experiences once or twice a week is all that interesting, but I'm going to do it anyways

Yesterday I went to an estate sale and hit the jackpot of minature doll furniture. That's my hobby. I got a beautiful handmade dresser for $2.50, original price $40. I got a bed for $2, original price $20. I had just put wallets on my list of things to start looking for since mine was in danger of falling apart. I found a brand new one for .50 cents. Score

I went to Walgreens and got the following deals:

2 bars Lindt chocolate - 2.29 each

2.29 @ 2 = 4.58
- .75 manufacture coupon
- 2.00 Walgreen coupon
- 2.29 BOGO manufacture coupon
-------
.46 cents overage. This gave me .46 cents to use towards my other purchases plus the 2 candy bars free, which will go to my nieces for xmas.

Scrubbing bubbles automatic shower cleaner - 19.99
2 bottles Windex 2/$5
1 bottle Scrubbing bubbles foam cleaner -2.50
1 bottle fantastik cleaner - 2.50

29.99 - Total cleaners
+ 2.37 taxes
-------
32.36
- 10.00 coupon for automatic cleaner
- 4.00 2/$2 coupons on windex
- 2.00 coupon for scrubbing bubbles
- 1.50 coupon for fantastik
-.46 overage from candy bars
-------
$14.90 oop (out of pocket)

However Walgreens has rebates on all the cleaning stuff

$10 Automatic cleaner
$4 on the other cleaning supplies $1 each
------
$14.00
+ 1.40 - 10% bonus for putting the rebates on the Walgreens gift card
--------
$15.40 returned in rebates so I get all the cleaning stuff plus the 2 candy bars plus 50 cents to use on something else.

Finished reading my book Edge of Desire by Stephanie Laurens. Romance. Excellent.

I was eating my lunch today and realized it only cost me 7 1/2 cents. I had sliced tomatoes from my garden - free. Carrot sticks - free after coupon.
A banana - free after coupon
A Oscar Meyer all beef hot dog - free after coupon
Ketchup - free after rebate
A hot dog bun - 8 ct pkg half price at .59 cents or 7 1/2 cents each

Pretty good :0

Thursday I met a friend for breakfast at the Egg and I. I haven't seen her in a year, but I have a lot of friends like that. Especially when I was working it was hard to find time to get together. Now that I'm retired it should be easier.

Friday mom and I went to a craft show. It was raining and very muddy, but I got a very pretty white tin angel for mom's b-day.

Went to Walgreens and tried to use the $10/$40 coupon they had for this week, but since they didn't have many of their sale or rebate items stocked I wasn't able to get to $40. Walgreens frustrates me so much. They have really good deals on paper, but I can hardly ever complete them since they are always out. I told the manager I was just going to give up and stop going there if the situation didn't improve. It's a waste of my time, they just keep telling you to check back in a couple of days but that's a waste of time and gas and I'm not going to do that.

We went to Michaels because they had a coupon for 25% off the entire order and it included sales items. That's a very good coupon. I got 2 memory boxes that I will use to create miniature rooms. They were 30% off and then I got 25% off the top of that. I spent about $12

Zios for lunch. Very good large salad and spaghetti for under $7.

Finished reading the library book Into the Brink by Suzanne Brockmann. Romance. Excellent. She's such a good writer.

Finished reading my book Omega Games by S. L. Viehl. Sci/Fi Very good.

is dealing with the stuff when you get home. I have several gifts occassions in September. Youngest nieces b-day, best friends daughter's b-day and parent's anniversary.

Last Wednesday I took both nieces to see the Mummy 3. 20.25 for tickets. 14.50 for junk and 10 for food court dinner. We went shopping for youndest nieces b-day. The mall had a promotion for every $100 you put on your Discover card you get a $10 Discover gift card. I spent $115 on her presents, dinner and a book for a xmas present. I had a 20% coupon and a $5 off coupon on the books.

Thursday my mom and I went to the mall. She doesn't have a Discover card so she put her purchases on my card and paid me the cash later. She spent $180 and I spent another $42 on books for me. I had another 20% off coupon plus I got a free book for buying 4 books. When we were done I went to customer service and got 3 $10 Gift cards. We had spent $337 and the lady wanted to know if I wanted to do more shopping to get another card. You could get up to 5 cards. I told her I wasn't going to spend another $60+ to get a $10 gift card. Every thing I bought I would have bought anyways. I gave one of the gift cards to mom, she should have got half of the second one put it's hard to cut a gift card in half and she told me to keep it. Thanks mom

We went to Bed Bath and Beyond and I got a gift for their anniversary and a small gift for best friends daughter's b-day. Had a $10 off $30 purchase so gift for b-day was free.

Went to Hobby Lobby and got colored pencils with a 40% off coupon also for friends daughter's b-day. Cost $1.89

Friday I went to WalMart to get the rest of friend's daughter's present. Barbie stuff and do this week's price matching. I got two 4 pack of Scott TP for free after coupons and used another 6 $1 coupons on the Muir Glen organic tomatoes.

I just got all the presents wrapped and everything put away this morning.

There are some very good coupons in the paper this week. A good week to buy extra copies of the paper.

Finished reading my book Warriors by Angela Knight. Supernatural romance. good

Finished reading the library book Deamons are Forever by Simon Green. Sci/Fi Very good

Finished reading the library book Lover Enshrined by J.R. Ward. Supernatural Romance. Excellent

Went to WalMart and saved 80% on my grocery bill. Cost before coupons was $38.64 and cost after was $7.46. I got the following items for free

3 10 ct packages Oscar Meyer beef franks - $2.50 each
3 10 ct packages Kraft Velveeta cheese slices - $3.98 each
3 16 oz bottles Kraft Ranch dressing - $1.98 each

I also got 6 more cans of the Muir Glen organic tomatoes for .44 cents each after $1 coupons and a box of Ronzoni Rigatoni pasta for .50 cents.

If you are looking for good coupons you should pick up the All You magazine at WalMart. Most months have high value coupons. The magazine costs $1.97 and usually has at least one rebate or coupon for a free item as well as several $1 or more coupons. To see what coupons they have in the September issue you can go here:

http://pennypinchingdiva.blogspot.com/2008/08/walmart-has-one-of-best-magazines-in.html

I guess Kmart is doubling coupons up to $2 this week in some areas of the country. I haven't gotten the ads yet so don't know if it's true in my area. If so I will probably make a trip there later this week.

Finished reading my book Damien by Jacqueline Frank. Supernatural. Very Good

Finished reading the library book Tribute by Nora Roberts. Mystery/Romance. Excellent. I just love her books, characters and dialog.

I'm following a blog of a woman who feeds 4 people on $800 a year. Amazing and very inspirational.

http://jane4girls800dollarannualbudget.blogspot.com/

I don't do near as well as she does but I did get some good deals this week. Went to King Soopers Wednesday and saved 64%. Spent $23.01 and saved $39.17

I got the following for free

10 oz grape tomatoes
1 lb carrots
1 package Fresh Express shredded cabbage
2 potatoes
1 onion
1 ear of corn
6 bananas
1 package ready to eat Uncle Ben's Cajun Style rice
3 16 oz cans of Planters cocktail peanuts
1 bottle French's mustard
2 boxes Rice a Roni Natures Way wild rice
1 4 pack Cottonelle TP

I had a coupon from Safeway for $10 off a $50 purchase which King Soopers took. It was pretty hard to get to $50 since I refuse to buy stuff when WalMart has it much cheaper. For example Ronzoni pasta is $1.50 at WalMart and #2.58 at King Soopers 42% difference. I have a $1 coupon so will get if from WalMart next week for .50 cents. I eventually got a large package of generic brand TP to make it to $50.

Went in town on Thursday and met a friend for lunch. Stopped at Target first and got $28 worth of stuff for less than $3 after a $10 rebate I will send in.

Target had Pop-Tarts on sale for $1.75 and had coupons for .50 cents each. So I printed 10 coupons and used 1 manufacture coupons for $1. Total cost before coupons $17.50 - $5 in Target coupons - $1 in other coupons = $11.50. And there is a Kelloggs rebate when you buy 10 items for $10 back so final price 10 boxes for $1.50 or .15 cents each.

I also picked up 5 trial size All laundry soap free after $1.00 coupons and 2 25 ct packs of Ziploc bags .50 cents each after coupons.

Went to Panera Bread for lunch. I'd never been there before. The sandwich was pretty good.

Went to the dollar movie and saw Kung Fu Panda for $1.50. It was cute. We wanted to see Mamma Mia but it wasn't playing at the regular theater and hadn't hit the dollar theater yet. Maybe next time.

Hit the used bookstore on the way home and traded for 6 books. No out of pocket.

Finished reading the library book Silent thunder by Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen. Mystery/Romance. Good

Finished reading the library book The lost duke of Wyndham by Julia Quinn. Romance. Very good.

For the first three weeks of my retirement I haven't done hardly anything. I feel like I've been on an extended vacation. I've mostly read, slept, cooked and watched TV. But that's ok. I really think I needed that time to de-stress. I'm feeling very relaxed now and my blood checks for the diabetes are the best they've been in a decade. I can't believe how much the lack of stress has helped lower those numbers. In fact they were so low one day I had to eat something to bring them up. That never happens. One of my main goals is too get of the medication this next year and this should certainly help.

I'm starting to wake up though from my vacation time and get energized to start doing something. Anything I doubled the amount of walking I do each day from 40 min to 80 min. I've been walking with my mom for 40 min a day for years now, but I'm adding two more 20 min sessions after meals. This will also help with the blood control and maybe help me lose some weight which will also help with the blood.

I'm slowly getting my house really clean and will be working on decluttering also. I need to determine all the stuff to give to Goodwill before the end of the year since this is probably the last year I will have itemized deductions on my tax form.

I've started to do lists for each day and am getting most of the items done. Fall has always been an energizing time of year for me. It's my favorite with cooler days and nights.

I have a big pot of beans cooking today. Plan to have beans and rice for dinner.

I think most people would have to agree that Amy Dacyczyn is the queen of frugal. When I read books/articles or blogs about saving money I get really tired of reading the back-handed slams at her. How many times have you read people saying they are frugal but wouldn't think of washing plastic bags or reusing dryer lint. That's fine, no one said you had to, but there's no need to slam the ideas as kooky or going too far or just plain cheap. She was making a point and her brand of frugality made most people think about what they were or weren't willing to do to save money. She never said you had to do everything she wrote about, so quit acting like your brand of frugality is so much better. Everyone has areas they will or won't go to for saving money. The point is to save money and live within your means and that's different for everyone. So if you don't care for an idea don't do it, but don't put down everyone else who does.

This is not aimed at anyone on this site, I've just read three different blogs and 2 books and they all made the same types of comments and it ticked me off.

I finished reading the library book Vulcan's Forge by Jack Du Brul. Adventure. OK

I finished reading the library book Jhegaala by Steven Brust. Sci/Fi Good.

I have a ton of coupons for $1 off the Muir Glen organic products. I've been buying them in 4 to 6 can lots all summer from WalMart. I was there Tuesday and paid $1.34 per can for the canned tomatoes with Basil and Garlic. This was an increase from $1.24 earlier in the year. I went again today with my mom and the price is now $1.98 WOW! I must have missed some important news about a tomato disaster. That's an increase of 32%. The plain canned tomatoes increased to $1.44. But with the $1 coupon they were only .44 cents so still a good buy an I bought 6 of the plain tomatoes. I use canned tomatoes a lot in soups, chili's, spagetti sauce, pasta dishes etc.

I bought some pasta on Tuesday also for 1.20 and now it's 1.28. But eggs have gone down almost 50 cents a dozen. So back to eating eggs more often and looking for sales on pasta. My overall spending on groceries has remained the same for several years now. I just look for bargains more, stock up or don't buy something that's gotten too expensive until it becomes more reasonable again.

Finished reading the library book Cheap eating : how to feed your family well and spend less by Pat Edwards. This was pretty good. A lot of good ideas on saving money on food.

Finished reading the library book Your Scandalous Ways by Loretta Chase. Romance. Very good. Funny and witty and smart.

Finished reading my book The Dragon Queen by Alice Borchardt. King Arthur. I have always enjoyed reading the King Arthur books. I must have read 40 versions of the story. This is a completly new take and it's excellent. It's supposed to be a trilogy and this first book concentrates on Guineviere's childhood. A second book is out and I've put a hold on it at the library. While searching for the third book in the trilogy though I found out the author died and so no ending. Big Bummer! For her and me. She's the sister of Anne Rice. I don't care for Anne Rice's books since I don't care for horror, but she is a good writer. It's interesting that the family produced two really good writers in such different categories.

I've been looking for some blogs of people who have retired early. They are surprisingly hard to find. Most of the ones I do find are from people who want to retire early but haven't done so or from people who could retire early but again haven't done so.

I did find one I like at http://retiredsyd.typepad.com/retirement_a_fulltime_job/. I only have one issue with her. She is very concerned with how people will percieve her now that she is retired. Frankly I think retiring early is something to be proud of, not something to be be afraid to tell others because they might think you are lazy or boring. As far as I'm concerned if someone has a problem with my not working at this age - it's their problem not mine.

I used the $10 GC I got in the mail for Kohl's today and got 3 pair of gold toe crew socks. On sale from $12 for $9. $0 out of pocket.

The new Walgreens opened in my small town last week, but they don't have any of thier sale items so I wasn't very happy with them when I went there. They keep telling you to come back or get a rain check. I don't care to make multiple trips and the rain checks don't generate the Register Rewards so what good is that? Irritating

Went to MacDonald's on the way home and got a free Southern Chicken sandwich with purchase of med drink. $1.61 The sandwich is ok, nothing special in my opinion. Chicken and pickles and bun.

My company finally mailed me the paperwork to get COBRA health coverage. I will fill it out and send it in tomorrow.

Finished reading the library book The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston. True crime. OK

Finished reading my book High Noon by Nora Roberts. Romance/Mystery Very good