Gramma Ray's Blog

DD1 cut my hair today. She has no training at this, but she did a pretty good job! She even cut in her own style of layers!! I then colored my hair with one of my nearly free boxes in my stockpile. Now, I wont need to do either again for about 2 months.

'Anna', our 2 yo yellow lab is pregnant and due in about 4 weeks. She is progressing as expected. I cant wait to see what colors we get. The papa of the pups is our chocolate lab 'Bear'. We have 3 pups already spoken for....how many more to go...only time will tell!

During the camping trip, I came up with a few more items that I wont be buying for the rest of the year.

Soda for mefrom the store. If we eat out, I might splurge, but I am not buying soda for me for the rest of the year. I will be drinking water. (DH and DD3 would never buy into this, so I will continue to buy theirs...but less often... ("What, no soda??? Darn, I KNEW I was forgetting something...")

Wine. I enjoy an evening glass of wine, but I have decided I can do without for the remainder of the year. My only exceptions are Holidays.

These two will help the new tighter budget...and will also help my health...who knows, I may just unform a couple of old habits!!

2 rebates totalling $6.50...which will bring my challenge account to $585.20!!

I also got a coupon for free make-up up to $13 value...which will be a nice stocking stuffer!

I am planing to start running cans to the recycle center again...and I will put that money into the challenge while my stair challenge is on hold for the winter. (Ill keep doing the stairs, but after September, my pay gets cut back and I wont have the $14 per week to contribute to my challenge)

I used samples of laundry soap today for free laundry...and clothes air out on the line.

I also used the free pouch of chicken from Tyson to make a yummy pasta salad. Enough for at least 3-4 days lunches.

I also used some of my free sample shampoo, conditioner for my shower...

So, this was a pretty frugal day.

We are back home from camping. Had a really nice time. I spent a good deal of time just thinking about better frugal tactics...and how to stretch our dollars as far as possible. I am anxious to get started on many of them.

Left behind a passel of happy chipmunks...they stored enough nuts this week that they will get through myuch of the winter well fed Im sure.

There was a fatal accident about 3 miles from the campground on the 15th. The lady was about my age- it sure made me stop and think about whats important in life.

On Saturday, we went to a country jamboree- it is an annual thing and is based around logging. All the contests were related to chainsaws, hatchets, logs, water, etc...complete with a grease pole climbing contest and a train for kids to ride. We had a great time, but taking two teenagers (DD3 and her friend) turned it into an almost $50 day...and I didnt spend a penny! The girls had fun and really enjoyed themselves. Then we headed back to camp and the guys fished, DD3 and her friend went swimming...ok the water was MAYBE 45 ?!???! and finally enjoyed some yummy bbq chicken, baked beans and corn.

My new business cards came for the puppy business! Really happy with them and they were FREE +300 my points!!! (my points+ Vistaprint +Insiders club= GREAT DEAL)

I am looking forward to catching up on all of your blogs and seeing how you've been!

No matter how much fun you have, its always so nice to be home.

Hi All-

My weekend camp trip got extended a little. We had a lovely weekend and as we were getting ready to come home Sunday nite, we decided to take advantage of a vacant gorgeous campsite for this whole week!! I am home for a nite to wash some clothes and restock on some resonably priced groceries...then back up tomorrow until Sunday!!! (See Ray smile with delight) DH is commuting up. It is 50 miles each way, but we dont do big fancy vacations...and this is a real treat for us! so we are splurging on some gas to get DH to the site so we can sit by the fire and watch the river each night.

During the day I am all alone in a beautiful site with great places to walk, a lovely view, some very friendly chipmunks and a bag of unsalted peanuts to feed them...and plenty of RnR time.

We are cooking all our food there...except for last night. We went to the local diner and had a wonderful dinner, and splurged on homemade, fresh blackberry pie ala mode....ummm, can you say YUM!

The coupon train got mailed off again yesterday and is on its way, priority mail, to the next on the list.

I am using my free time up there to re-read the tightwad gazzette. The book 'Not Buying It' that I had reserved was here at the library today, so I will take that back up with me too.

Ive been walking each day and drinking lots of water...

This truly was a very unexpected, yet welcome surprise. Hope all of you are having a nice week as well!

Today is DH and my 16th wedding anniversary!

16 years ago today we made a quick b-line back to So. California from Oregon because Iraq had invaded Kuwait and as a marine, my DHs leave was immediately cancelled and he was due back at base within 24 hours.

We got married at about 10pm and by the next afternoon, DH was out of the country for the next 7 months.

We are celebrating our anniversary this year by going camping for a few days...tonight he offered to take me out to dinner, but I made taco's instead...and he just got called back into work for the night...

sigh...I am sure looking forward to tomorrow afternoon when we will be out of the phone service area...and we can relax for the weekend.

I used the link on My Points for 250 free business cards from Vista Print which I had imprited for my upcomeing and future lab puppies.

The business cards were free + $5.95 shipping, and I will get the $5.95 back from Insiders Club...PLUS I will get an extra 300 points in my MyPoints account!!!

I think VistaPrint has their logo on the back of the cards (to have blamnk backs would have cost me)...but for this, I felt the small logo was no problem.

So, free business cards coming soon!!

I received what I think is a sample from St. Ives- boy was it a nice one. I received a nice little zippered pouch with 4-travel sized samples of Apricot Scrub, 24 Hour Moisture, Apricot Radiance Deep Cleaning Cream and Whipped Silk Body Wash. Definately one of the best samples Ive received!!

I also received Tide Vanilla Lavendar laundry soap and Sunsilk Hair shampoo/conditioner/creme!

I sure enjoy all the sample tips Ive gotten off this site!! Makes for such fun mail!

I received a check for $8.47 from Insiders Club for shipping refund. I am rounding it up and xferring $8.50 into my challenge account.

new total: $551.70

I have continued to add $14 each week for my stair challenge...but I am going to have to table that deposit for the winter when my paycut goes into effect- which will start in October..

So I am thinking about other ways to keep adding to my challenge...hmm, time to get creative!

DD1 brought both grandbabies out today...so it was a baby kinda day.

I put GS down for his nap- one of my favorite jobs in the whole world...I have a king sized bed, the room is air conditioned, nice and dark...perfect for naps. He didnt want to nap.

So, we talked while he jumped.(to a 2 yo, a king sized bed is so much better than a trampoline, especially if your doing everything possible to avoid a nap!!)..and he fussed and rubbed his eyes and jumped...this went on for about 10 minutes and I started quietly telling the story of the 3 bears...to which he came over and sat listening intently...and then he laid down and listened...and finally drifted off to nappyland.

Hanging the laundry out.
..and i need to make a run to the library.
Dinner at home tonight- taco's.

Nothing special, just an ordinary kinda day.

Tomorrow will be a spend day as I need to get the food/supplies ready for this weekends camping trip.

Every once in a while, mother nature just tosses us a freebie to enjoy. A beautiful sunset, thunderstorm, a cool breeze on a hot day...

This morning, this is what I enjoyed as I was drinking coffee and looking out my window...it was a first:


This lil guy just slowly walked around my yard and then ventured off down the road...What a great start to the day!

Is my own mind.

I recently bought a dear friend a beautiful teacup and saucer for her birthday this month. I found them at a garage sale for $8, much less than the 25+ that I normally spend.

The garage sale set is every bit as lovely as I would have bought in any store and i am excited to give it to her.

So, yesterday--my mom and I were garage selling and I found another pretty tea cup set, this one was $7..."oh, wouldnt my friend love it...and I would still spend less than normal by buying it..at $15 for both Im still within budget....." my budget busting mind was hard at work--spend more, spend more...

ummm...Do any of you suffer from this mentality? ...if I find a good sale on a Christmas gift, it just means I can buy more gifts 'cause I still have money left in the budget...not so frugal when you think about it..

But back to the second tea cup....I picked it up and thought...ok, if I dont want to give two for the sake of spending all the money in the budget this year, I could always save it for my friends birthday next year...(but what about all the other teacups Im sure to stumble across between now and then?)
Or I could find another friend to give it to....(most likely some poor friend who didnt want to start a gift exchange to begin with)...
and on and on...and i finally set the teacup and saucer back down...and walked away.

I am going to start rethinking my good finds and gifts. Perhaps considering the gift rather than the budget...sounds like a no-brainer...but when youre used to a budget and SPENDING up to the budget...coming in under is just not a natural behavior.

Does anyone else struggle with this?

DH is off to the woods this morning getting more wood. Our yard is sure filling up from all of these trips. He got a new, large dump trailer last week, which will be used to haul and deliver the wood. This will save about 30-40 minutes for each cord (not to mention the strain on a few backs)

DD3 has a car wash today. The kids are raising money for their color guard uniforms. While she is scrubbing away, Nana and I are going to tooley around and find a couple of yard sales.

Tonight DD3 is sitting for GD as DD1 and her DH are doing a DJ gig at a wedding. Their little DJ business is sure picking up.

Tomorrow we are taking DD3s buddy home- she has been with us for 3 weeks...and the girls have had a blast.

And tomorrow GS comes home from a week with his dad/dads family. I have missed my little buddy and am anxious to see him!

A busy weekend for sure.. Next weekend, CAMPING for 4 days...cant wait!

I have had many payday personalities over the years.

I can remember my very first paycheck and the excitement that came with all that money. (I made $1.65 an hour and worked part-time, but it still seemed like I was rich.) Paychecks meant shopping for whatever I wanted after I paid my car payment and insurance.

Then, paydays mutated into a very worrisome event after I got married...I hoped that I could beat the outstanding checks Id written to the bank. I had carefully timed end of the payperiod purchases or mailed bills so that I could do just that...every once in a while I missed and I would get a fee and a bounced check (ouch)

Eventually, payday became a less stressful time. I had a nice line of credit that would cover those pre-payday checks...but I was spending as much as I made and so payday was still a pretty big deal.

Funny, but now that I am home and making less than we have in many, many years, payday has become almost a non-event. I mail 'my' little paycheck to bank A and that money goes towards food and allowance at the end of the week. DHs paycheck sometimes makes it to bank B on Friday (payday) and sometimes early the following week as it just gets deposited and bills are paid the following month.

Don't get me wrong, we still enjoy payday and the independence it brings.

But thankfully, there is no urgency connected to payday anymore- which is a very nice feeling indeed.

As planned, I stayed home yesterday and played catch up on some much needed housework.

Finished all laundry and hung it all outside to dry...even did all of my bedding, right down to the shams!

Grilled some yummy bbq ribs for all of us + DD2 and her SO. Have enough left over for another meal today.

Today I will work on those coupons...that train should be making a pitstop in my mailbox soon and I want to be ready when it does!

Planning a no-spender again today.

Laundry- hang all out to dry
Crockpot Dinner
Go through coupons- out with the old, in with the new
Resume decluttering/cleaning
Go nowhere
Spend nothing
Miss my Friend

Back into the groove.

Feels good.

My friend and her DH are heading north tomorrow. They were in town for TWO weddings...if you can believe it...two sisters one last weekend, and one this coming weekend...at opposite ends of the state...(those poor parents) But the girls planned the weddings this close so that the family coming from England/Spain would only have to travel once.

So, off they all will go tomorrow to caravan up to daughter #2 's wedding.

Today my friend is spending time with her dad...and I hope to get in one last visit this afternoon or tonight. I wont see her again for about a year.

So, what does this have to do with money?

This week has been a costly one...I seem to derail and all too easily slide right out of my frugal shoes when it comes to entertaining my out of town friend. Altho, I did pretty well with spending on our shopping day...only buying little christmas gifts. I bought a couple bottles of nice wine on our excursion- and nice wine is definately NOT in my budget.

I guess I am just eager to put the frugal shoes back on and get back on track.

But sad at the same time to see my buddy off for another year.

Who knew we had all these great wineries right here in So. Oregon.

Today was my friends birthday and she wanted to go wine tasting. She is in town for a cousins wedding, so our mix of companions for the day included the new bride, brides mother, an aunt from England that now lives in Spain, another aunt from England, Aunt 'Rosie" (83) and a couple of others...9 of us in all. Since Linda and I have been friends since we were kids, I am sortof like family and knew most everyone already.

My first mistake...not eating breakfast.

We visited 4 wineries...let's see, thats about 24 tastes (3-4 glasses of wine in about 5-6 hours)...all on a pretty empty tummy...

Got home at 6:30, had a quick bite...and proceeded to crash....slept for 4 hours and now it is 11pm an Im wide awake.

It was a great day with my friend and her relatives. Such a festive group. (Designated driver was my friends poor DH who got to spend his day with all the tipsy female in-laws)

On the drive to the first winery, my friend was commenting how much she loved the city and how I was now such a country girl...she said she could never live somewhere like this....too boring....

all while passing mountains filled with pine trees, pear orchards, homes that were built at the end of the Oregon trail...lakes, rivers....

Well, we dont have Disneyland, competing theatres, famous dinner houses, Orange County or 90210....but we have large doses of unpopulated land between towns and no traffic jams on our one little freeway.

The country mouse is perfectly happy in her fairly routine, simple, calm, quiet little neck of the woods...Ill leave the city for the city mices...for I fear I would never be bored there...and oh, what joys I would miss in that.

I have decided to make a list of things that I am not going to buy for myself for the rest of 2006. Here goes:

clothes (excluding 1 pkg undies and socks)
make-up
haircuts
shoes
craft supplies (except yarn for GDs xmas blanket- need 4-5 more scans)
nice bath soap (will use existing supply)
books
magazines
perfume
purses


I will add to the list as I go...I am going to make do with what I have or do without.

They actually grew up in the city near each other. Enjoying life together...having so much carefree fun.

When their young married lives started, the city mouse was poor as could be...and the country mouse would bring groceries whenever she could.

Throughout, they remained the best of friends...

City mouse eventually inherited quite a bit of money...and moved into a mini mansion...gorgeous home, pool, great neighborhood...not too far from a freeway that could take them to any entertainment establishment around (and there are many, many of these places around)....the freeways are often clogged to a standstill with all the people trying to get to them.

Country mouse moved to the country. It took her a few years to figure out that she wasnt a city mouse anymore...and that she didnt need to run off to a job in the city everyday to have a fulfilling life.

Country mouse made alot of changes to become the country mouse that she always wanted to be...she stopped buying alot of clothes (she only owns one pair of shorts, two pairs of pants and a few summer and winter tops)
No designer anything...nothing fancy...just the basics needed to get through a country day. She hangs her clothes, cooks from scratch, uses coupons, loves freebies, splits wood in her backyard, raises dogs, and cares for parents and grandbabies.

City mouse calls herself a 'clothes diva'. She shops bargains and gets clothes pretty darn cheap....but country mouse sees no need...and as she recently read in another blog...she saves 100% by just not buying any.

City mouse and her DH take a nice vacation each year...photo albums fill her shelves with memories of cruises, exotic beaches and elegant dresses and suits.

Country mouse and her DH camp by a nearby river or lake. Pictures of fireside visits with family and friends. Coutry mouse dreams of one day taking a short cruise..but is content with her vacations as they are...as they are an extension of the country life she loves.

City mouse and country mouse love each other dearly...but they look at each others life now with a slight head-scratching. City mouse is clearly mystified by the changes in country mouse. Country mouse didnt realize there was so much "you do what" in her daily routines.

City mouse and country mouse love to visit each other...to laugh like teenagers again and enjoy the solidness of a long time friendship...but neither would change lives with the other. City mouse would be bored to tears...and country mouse detests the crowds and costs of city life. And that's ok...they both are content with the way things are.

I received my first rebate check from Insiders Club. It was for shipping fees and a $10 bonus rebate= $14.47

This brought my challenge account to $513.52!!!

Poor DD1 and her DH.

Their DD (10 mos) hs had a high fever and cranky all week...turned out to be roseola. Thankfully, she's now on the mend.

Then, SILs GF passed away two days ago.

. ..and this afternoon, SIL fell ill with appendicitis and will be having surgery tonight to take it out. (He was in a little pain this morning, but they didnt think it was anything serious until later in the day when he started feeling really ill)

DD1 just started a pt job at B-buster a week ago...and she is already having to call in...

**DD1 called as Im typing this and SIL is already in surgery.

Poor kids...they are having a week of it.

My spider post about he being a she was being hit by a bunch of trackback responses (about 25-30 so far) from some very undesirable porn posts.

So, I went ahead and deleted the entire post.

Not sure what caused that to happen...but did not want to have that content connected to my post.

So...Ms. G's 'she' story is history.

College ruled notebooks 20 x .10 ea = $2
Wide Ruled 36x .10 ea= 3.60
Pens 4 pks x .88 =3.52
loose paper 5 x .15ea = .75
glue sticks 2packs x .50 1.00
not bad for under $12.

I got her binder/notebook for $11 at Costco a few days ago.

And she bought a backpack at the beginning of summer that might still work by school time...

So we are off to a running start.

Most of her school clothes are bought.

registration, locker, yearbook, book fees will run about $75.

And then there's that color guard uniform...and PE clothes...

And, and, and....Yes, we eventually quite paying daycare...but before you know it...then comes High School...

My mom ended up picking up my prescription yesterday and I will pay her back tomorrow after my bank run to deposit DHs paycheck.

Which means that Ive had 4 no spend days in a row here. A nice reprieve from all the shopping over the weekend. (groceries, xmas, birthdays, etc.)

I am still well stocked for meals for next week...with the exception of milk. I think I have most everything else.

With my friend Linda in town, I am sure we will have some spend days that include a trip to a little bagel/coffee shop in Jacksonville:

I tried the 3 at a time, free for a month trial at B-buster.

I found it to be an easy, fun offer...and we got to watch about 15 movies this month for FREE.
(9 mail, 5 weekly in store and 1 other freebie)

Setting up the account was easy, receiving and sending back the movies was easy...the biggest challenge was keeping our 'que' stocked with a wish list. But that was made so much simpler by the customer rating system for each movie.

But today was the cancel by date...so I just cancelled...however, B-buster let me know that I can continue to rent free until August1- and that all movies must be back by the 10th.I think I can squeeze in one last in mail and one in store before then.

To top it all off, cancelling was a simple click of a button on the site.



All things considered, I won't miss not having this service as we usually dont watch this many movies in a year...and the library has a ton of movies that i can watch for free too!

Would I recommend the trial? Yes!! Two thumbs up on this one!

A show aired a clip on the fact that Oprah is not gay last night...and I am writing about it only because Oprah stated that "women who have a best friend know the bond that Gayle and I share"

Yep...and for me, that friend is Linda.

Linda and I have known each other since we were 12....so 33 years now.

We dreamed together, dealt with teenage-parent problems together, planned our lives together, got married, raised kids, and are now enjoying this almost-empty nest phase of life~ together.

Only problem, Linda stayed in California and I moved to Oregon...so there is this 'blasted' 15 hour drive between us.

As luck would have it...I moved to the same area as Linda's dad, stepmom and stepmoms entire family...and so once each year, Linda makes the trip north to spend with...well, her dad---but it ends up more me... (sorry dad)

I love Linda- she is truly the sister I never had.
And she will be here in 3 days!!!!

She will be here for a week, but it is to attend two weddings...so I have to do a little more sharing than usual with her family...but I am still giddy...cant wait!!

Do you have such a friend?

I just checked the weather for the rest of the week and the temps have dropped to the high 90's....a small drop, but a drop I will take!

Hope it continues to cool a bit. It has been too darn hot this summer!

Ok- DS had was done early today (we have been scheduling his last job around 1pm so he doesnt have to work in this outrageous heat since he does not have AC in the work truck.

So, he stopped by and DH asked him to spray the dog pen...

Which led to 3 grown, energized labs bounding in my house for about 30 minutes....

which was a whole lot of doggy breath and knocked over things...

But DH loved it...

However, tonight- I am watching some TV when I reach down, not paying attention and remove something stuck between my toes.... a TICK YUCK!!!!!

I tossed it before I even realized what I was doing....so I quickly grabbed the vaccuum and frantically vaccuumed the whole house...eeebie-jeeebies...shudder...


Hopefully, the spray will help with the pests in the pen...but I think the 3 labs are in for a bath this weekend!!

I have poured rubbing alcohol and peroxide on my toes... ugh...

I know all you females will understand when i say its been a UTI kinda day.

Luckily, I have a very empathetic doctor who calls in a script whenever this happens...so i dont have a dr visit. I love my Dr. She is one of those who knows you, knows your family details, and remembers...she also allows time for whatever might come up during the visits.(She always asks...Is there anything else on your mind today?)Love her!

Otherwise, we continue to stay busy on the phones. The kids have made more this year as of today, than they did all of last year. So, I think they are headed in the right direction!!!

Today would have been a no-spender, except I will need to pick up the meds...but that is money WELL SPENT.

Still warm, but I think it was 'only' 101 today...umm, still hot.