March Frugalistas 2021

[mommyoffive]

Good deal on a vacuum if anyone needs one

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[mommyoffive]

On 3/23/2021 at 9:39 AM, hjffkj said:

Reach my goal of netting $1000 on ebay.  Overall net is at roughly $1400 because of the facebook sales

You are doing so awesome!!  Congrats.   Do the kids get to keep all the money or how are you handling that? 

[hjffkj]

1 hour ago, mommyoffive said:

You are doing so awesome!!  Congrats.   Do the kids get to keep all the money or how are you handling that? 

No, they don't get to keep it all.  We have not figured out percentages but with the quarter ending we have to sit down and figure it out.  I think at this point I am going to suggest after setting a reserve amount that always stays in our account that we pay ourselves quarterly.  This way they are less likely to spend the small amounts coming in on impulse buys and I'll help them plan where the larger amount will go. Whether is it saved or not is their decision. I'm thinking 20% for the 2 kids who are helping with it.  And I'll just sock the 80% away for future family vacations or something where we all benefit but it isn't directly theirs since I do still do a majority of the work as they learn the ins and outs. 

But we'll all be sitting down at the end of this month and they will have a voice in the decision making.

[historically accurate]

yDD has her braces on. We chose the 25% down and 0% payments for 27 months rather than pay the whole thing up front for a 3% discount. The 25% down came out of the FSA. We'll probably make it to about June or July, barring no medical emergencies, before I have to cover payments out of pocket. 

oDD had an annual subscription hit an account that she used when she was a senior in high school. Unfortunately, the account had no money in it, so they "helpfully" set us up an overdraft loan to cover it. So, I have to run $ to cover that account now - it'll come out of oDD's money, but I have to take care of doing it. 

DH's car was towed away yesterday. They gave us about $400 for it, which considering it cost about that five years ago, isn't bad. We got the car from a family member that needed to keep an elderly family member from driving, so they basically gave it to us to get it out of the garage.

I emailed and got a partial refund from mDD's German class. The computer didn't give me the "early registration" discount when I purchased. I worked a little more on my Ancient History/Literature plan for next year - I'm trying to use only what I can find at the library and what I have here. It's a lot more work than I want, but I wasn't finding anything that worked for what I wanted and was in my budget.

oDD is planning on taking a couple of classes over the summer since they are still online until fall. She can save $ on dorm, and knock out a couple of classes, so why not? 

This week, DH is researching subscriptions for TV. Our Comcast is set to go up in April or May, and he wants to see what we can save (we currently have internet and some cable TV through them). Unfortunately, he hasn't found any options for internet at the speed he needs for work other than Comcast, so it's likely to be cheaper to continue our current package than go internet only. Hopefully, he'll be able to talk them down - he's so much better at that than I am!

Allergies have set in (spring is a-comin'!), so I'm fighting a headache today, and I don't want to do my errands even though I should.

 

[saraha]

On 3/23/2021 at 10:39 AM, hjffkj said:

Reach my goal of netting $1000 on ebay.  Overall net is at roughly $1400 because of the facebook sales

Wow!

[historically accurate]

My library posted a part time bookkeeping position today. I'm going to apply. It's in the building 2-3 times per week while training, but probably remote following that. 

I was an accountant in my past life - I got my CPA and made it 2/3 of the way through an MBA, but then I quit because I got pregnant with #2 and I never returned to work or school. Hopefully, they won't bin my resume for being overqualified LOL.

I figure the job will tell me if I want to go back into accounting once kids are grown. And they'll pay me while I figure it out which is the best part!

[mommyoffive]

1 minute ago, historically accurate said:

My library posted a part time bookkeeping position today. I'm going to apply. It's in the building 2-3 times per week while training, but probably remote following that. 

I was an accountant in my past life - I got my CPA and made it 2/3 of the way through an MBA, but then I quit because I got pregnant with #2 and I never returned to work or school. Hopefully, they won't bin my resume for being overqualified LOL.

I figure the job will tell me if I want to go back into accounting once kids are grown. And they'll pay me while I figure it out which is the best part!

Fingers crossed!  

[cjzimmer1]

@Carrie12345 Did you ever get the piece of land?  I remember seeing the first piece that you called about fell through but that the second one sounded like it was a go but never saw that it actually happened.

I'm feeling very frustrated today.  I suspect it's partly because of the cloudy dreary day and I'm so tired of cold weather.  We were hoping to put an addition on the house instead of just replacing the deck (which we have never used for anything other than growing plants) because it seemed like a much better use of the space for us.  However, because I live in the north, it's very cold and having an addition that is just hanging out in space (it will be exposed on 5 sides), requires some extra thought as to how to heat it without costing a fortune.  I've had 2 different contractors give me bids and each recommends a very different solution to the dilemma but I have reason to believe that each of them is simply proposing their option because that's what they always do without considering if it's the best option for "my" space.  But since I don't really understand it well, I have no idea how to go about finding a contractor who will take "my" needs into consideration instead of the cookie cutter approach.

Then we wanted to widen our driveway and create a parking pad,  we've got 4 vehicles and DD will be learning to drive (and I expect purchasing a vehicle) which means come winter, we will have 5 vehicles to play shuffle with when the the winter parking restrictions go back into effect.  However, it sounds like city restrictions will only allow us to widen it if the new space goes somewhere (meaning we have to add a 3rd garage stall or pour a cement slab next to the existing garage).  To accomplish that means, I have to wipe out a flower bed, move (or kill) two established clematis, cut down 2 honeyberry bushes, possible cut down a narrow pine/spruce type tree and then have a ridiculously narrow little path between the cement by the garage and the rock wall (that needs replacing but just not want to deal with if we are doing the addition instead of a deck)  Plus fencing would become a problem and I would have to figure out how to keep the dog contained when we let him out.

After all that DH suggested we move instead of making all those changes.  Except I spent the last 2 years fixing up the house from all the problems we had and we are just now getting to the point where I can enjoy it.  Ignoring all the difficulty all of you have been reporting it is to even find a place to buy,  I can't even muster enough energy to think about moving all that stuff again.  Forget even trying to show the house while 8 people live here.

Really I'd like to just go bury my head in the sand and say forget it all, we've lived here for 23 years and it's been fine not perfect but fine and just not do anything, however, the rails are falling off the deck and it's not safe so I have to do something with that as a minimum.

Blah!  And of course none of these project are frugal so trying to figure out what is the best use of the funds is challenging.

[Carrie12345]

32 minutes ago, cjzimmer1 said:

Did you ever get the piece of land?  I remember seeing the first piece that you called about fell through but that the second one sounded like it was a go but never saw that it actually happened.

We did! Well, we got a sale agreement and put down the deposit. I probably won’t feel official until closing day (land and house). There’s no reason to expect it all won’t go fine, but I have trust issues, lol. Currently scheduled for May 7th.

The phone calls, emails, paperwork, etc. are flying around like crazy, which is A LOT after spending more than a year with absolutely zero obligations on my plate, so I’m kind of overwhelmed. But grateful for the reason!

[cjzimmer1]

1 hour ago, Carrie12345 said:

We did! Well, we got a sale agreement and put down the deposit. I probably won’t feel official until closing day (land and house). There’s no reason to expect it all won’t go fine, but I have trust issues, lol. Currently scheduled for May 7th.

The phone calls, emails, paperwork, etc. are flying around like crazy, which is A LOT after spending more than a year with absolutely zero obligations on my plate, so I’m kind of overwhelmed. But grateful for the reason!

Congratulations!  That is super exciting!

I'm sure the paperwork is a lot right now and makes for a busy time and then suddenly you will be at the build stage and that feels like it takes forever (at least for me it did). But then you get to move in and it's exciting again.

[mommyoffive]

1 hour ago, cjzimmer1 said:

@Carrie12345 Did you ever get the piece of land?  I remember seeing the first piece that you called about fell through but that the second one sounded like it was a go but never saw that it actually happened.

I'm feeling very frustrated today.  I suspect it's partly because of the cloudy dreary day and I'm so tired of cold weather.  We were hoping to put an addition on the house instead of just replacing the deck (which we have never used for anything other than growing plants) because it seemed like a much better use of the space for us.  However, because I live in the north, it's very cold and having an addition that is just hanging out in space (it will be exposed on 5 sides), requires some extra thought as to how to heat it without costing a fortune.  I've had 2 different contractors give me bids and each recommends a very different solution to the dilemma but I have reason to believe that each of them is simply proposing their option because that's what they always do without considering if it's the best option for "my" space.  But since I don't really understand it well, I have no idea how to go about finding a contractor who will take "my" needs into consideration instead of the cookie cutter approach.

Then we wanted to widen our driveway and create a parking pad,  we've got 4 vehicles and DD will be learning to drive (and I expect purchasing a vehicle) which means come winter, we will have 5 vehicles to play shuffle with when the the winter parking restrictions go back into effect.  However, it sounds like city restrictions will only allow us to widen it if the new space goes somewhere (meaning we have to add a 3rd garage stall or pour a cement slab next to the existing garage).  To accomplish that means, I have to wipe out a flower bed, move (or kill) two established clematis, cut down 2 honeyberry bushes, possible cut down a narrow pine/spruce type tree and then have a ridiculously narrow little path between the cement by the garage and the rock wall (that needs replacing but just not want to deal with if we are doing the addition instead of a deck)  Plus fencing would become a problem and I would have to figure out how to keep the dog contained when we let him out.

After all that DH suggested we move instead of making all those changes.  Except I spent the last 2 years fixing up the house from all the problems we had and we are just now getting to the point where I can enjoy it.  Ignoring all the difficulty all of you have been reporting it is to even find a place to buy,  I can't even muster enough energy to think about moving all that stuff again.  Forget even trying to show the house while 8 people live here.

Really I'd like to just go bury my head in the sand and say forget it all, we've lived here for 23 years and it's been fine not perfect but fine and just not do anything, however, the rails are falling off the deck and it's not safe so I have to do something with that as a minimum.

Blah!  And of course none of these project are frugal so trying to figure out what is the best use of the funds is challenging.

Oh man.  I am sorry you are in the spot right now where you have to make a choice.  I feel like I am in the same one.  Our house is fine.  It doesn't fit us or work for us anymore, but it is fine.  We can live here.  Not super very comfy, but we can.  We could add a bedroom to the basement to make it a tiny bit better.  But we don't like living in our neighborhood and crave more land and privacy.  So spend the money to move or spend the money to be more comfy?   it is nice to have our low mortgage as we bought when dh was making 1/3 of what he is now. 

I bet you could leave for the day or weekend and your house would have an offer on it.  Finding something else to buy is the bigger problem.  At least for us.

[cjzimmer1]

2 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

I bet you could leave for the day or weekend and your house would have an offer on it.  Finding something else to buy is the bigger problem.  At least for us.

I'm sure I could, I'm in the city but barely so we don't have the traffic issues of some places but are still close to everything (well I suppose that matters more when things are happening), but I will still have to clean and declutter and yeah I'm just not feeling it.  And like you, finding a bigger home, I don't even want to imagine.  5+ bedrooms aren't exactly common around here.  We could build again but I'm just not drawn to moving right now.  

 

I did present DH with yet another option I thought of  just flat out expanding the garage to 3 stalls and building a room or two on top of them.  Having the garage would still allow me to attach a fence for keeping puppy safe, city would approve the driveway extension so alleviate the lack of parking during winter restrictions, the addition would now be southern exposure so should be easier to claim a few windows for growing plants in the winter.  Gives us some more space.  I was thinking another bedroom and then my plant room, DH was immediately, I could put my office there (he has an office, he just doesn't like it, I on the other hand have no plant space and kids are doubled up in ways we are not thrilled with but don't have any other options and of course DH's current space is not suitable for either of the other two options should we move him).  This would all still leave my deck in terrible shape but assuming there are materials available this year (last year there was none to be found of what we needed), that would be an "easy" project. But as usual I have no idea of what a project would cost so I have to go through all the hoops of having people come up and give me bids that may end up being nothing more than, this project costs more than I can afford.  I hate not having enough knowledge that I can't even take a guess at costs.  

But the kids are super excited at the prospect of extra space.  I told them we have to save money if we want this to happen and that means continuing to eat the school lunches that have definitely lost their appeal to them.  It has helped tame some of the complaints over things like grilled cheese sandwiches and turkey corndogs that were in this weeks boxes and definitely among their least favorites.

I cleaned the freezers just before I picked up my beef.  I put all the old meat in one freezer and the new stuff in the other so I'm making it a priority to find ways of using up the old cuts as well as the other things I uncovered.  So I've been able to keep grocery shopping to around $50-60 a week which is extremely low for us.  

[mommyoffive]

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[cjzimmer1]

So I was scrolling through the Facebook Marketplace and found a listing for the Farm to Families boxes.  There is a pickup tomorrow and another one in April about 15 minutes from us.   I'm going to try it out and see what they have.  I'm all for lowering my grocery bill even more.

For those who've had them, what did you get in your box?  Just trying to guess if the picture they showed was a good representation or not.

[mommyoffive]

5 minutes ago, cjzimmer1 said:

So I was scrolling through the Facebook Marketplace and found a listing for the Farm to Families boxes.  There is a pickup tomorrow and another one in April about 15 minutes from us.   I'm going to try it out and see what they have.  I'm all for lowering my grocery bill even more.

For those who've had them, what did you get in your box?  Just trying to guess if the picture they showed was a good representation or not.

Saraha listed what she got in her last box on page 5 of this thread.

 

I have gone 2 or 3 times.  They were different each time.

Last time I think it was packages of hot dogs, milk, huge thing of carrots, 5lbs of potatoes, 3 or 5 lbs of onions, 3 or 5lbs of apples, a huge thing of meatballs 3-7lbs, yogurt, maybe cheese?  There might of been a few other things.  Sometimes the stuff is great.  We did have a time where the frozen chicken fingers were so gross.  But the dogs were fine with them.  

[cjzimmer1]

15 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Saraha listed what she got in her last box on page 5 of this thread.

 

I have gone 2 or 3 times.  They were different each time.

Last time I think it was packages of hot dogs, milk, huge thing of carrots, 5lbs of potatoes, 3 or 5 lbs of onions, 3 or 5lbs of apples, a huge thing of meatballs 3-7lbs, yogurt, maybe cheese?  There might of been a few other things.  Sometimes the stuff is great.  We did have a time where the frozen chicken fingers were so gross.  But the dogs were fine with them.  

I'll go back and look what she wrote.  I knew at least a couple people had them on this thread but really couldn't remember who or when they were last discussed.

What you listed is pretty much what was shown in the picture.  I just wasn't sure if that was a stock picture or an actual representation of what we might get.

We won't eat the hot dogs but the rest would get used.  One of my DD's hates the milk that comes in the school boxes (she thinks the box alters the taste) so she was happy to see milk in a jug.  And honestly, jugs take a whole lot less space than the oodles of little boxes that the school hands out so I'm ok if we end up with jugs instead. 

[mommyoffive]

2 minutes ago, cjzimmer1 said:

I'll go back and look what she wrote.  I knew at least a couple people had them on this thread but really couldn't remember who or when they were last discussed.

What you listed is pretty much what was shown in the picture.  I just wasn't sure if that was a stock picture or an actual representation of what we might get.

We won't eat the hot dogs but the rest would get used.  One of my DD's hates the milk that comes in the school boxes (she thinks the box alters the taste) so she was happy to see milk in a jug.  And honestly, jugs take a whole lot less space than the oodles of little boxes that the school hands out so I'm ok if we end up with jugs instead. 

So true.

The few times we have gotten it they have given extra boxes.  The last time I went they wanted everyone to take as much as they could.  They filled up my minivan(the whole thing) with boxes.  So I gave them out to my neighbors.  

I do remember each time we got a huge block of really good cheese.  And one time there was a huge block of cream cheese.  I think the first time we got a huge thing of butter too. 

[historically accurate]

45 minutes ago, cjzimmer1 said:

So I was scrolling through the Facebook Marketplace and found a listing for the Farm to Families boxes.  There is a pickup tomorrow and another one in April about 15 minutes from us.   I'm going to try it out and see what they have.  I'm all for lowering my grocery bill even more.

For those who've had them, what did you get in your box?  Just trying to guess if the picture they showed was a good representation or not.

I've gotten them a few times. Beyond what mommyoffive posted above, I've received breakfast sausage links, shredded mozzarella, a box of wheat thins cereal, a bell pepper or two, sour cream, cottage cheese, scrambled eggs you cook in the microwave, a bag of taco meat (like gallon ziploc sized), and a bag of BBQ shredded pork.  Not all in the same box obviously. I've gotten anywhere from 1 box - 6 boxes depending on the demand (and the time I arrived - I got the 6 boxes because they just wanted to be done). I share with my brother and two neighbors. If I still have too much, I throw it on a local freebie FB site. 

Edit: oh, and I got a whole turkey because it was the week before Thanksgiving. But I think that was added by the church who was hosting. 

Edited March 26, 2021 by historically accurate

[historically accurate]

I finished out my month's budget today. Not too shabby if I do say so myself. Biggest things: Received tax refund & purchased car. Received covid $ and increased savings, sinking funds, and paid down debts, as well as purchased a few needed items. yDD had wisdom teeth removed and braces put on.

I have applied for the bookkeeping position at the library. I received an email back saying they had received it and they'll be in touch. Fingers crossed!

Next week is spring break for the schools, so school lunches will be done through the YMCA. I plan to pick those up on Monday. I may go and get the Farmer to Family box next Thursday (we have a set weekly location here in town) as my freezer is starting to look a little bare again. 

oDD did an internship with NASA a couple of years ago. From that, she was invited to attend a launch in FL in the fall (I think October?), so we'll have to start planning for travel funds for her to do so. I'll need to get more info from her - she called quickly to get approval to say yes, but she was on her way to the cafeteria, so I didn't get a chance to press her for details. 

[Carrie12345]

We did our taxes yesterday so... it’s a good thing I’ve been scrimping and saving!!!

[mommyoffive]

On 3/22/2021 at 8:53 AM, historically accurate said:

Your wording is a little off. It's $250 per month for each child 6-17 and $300 per month for 5 and under. Also $500 (not paid monthly, only as tax season refund) for adult dependents. Yes, you should receive monthly or at least quarterly payments for these amounts. I believe the final wording of the law was "periodic payments", but the intent was monthly. 

Income limits: Single/Head of Household filing income limit is $75,000. Married filing joint: $150,000. Phase out period (meaning amount gets smaller as income rises) til $95,000 and $170,000 respectively. Above those amoounts the $2000 child tax credit is available until $200K for single and $400K for MFJ. I don't know if the $2000 CTC is available for 17 year olds, or if it reverts to the under 17 age from previous years. 

Another difference from previous years is these new amounts are fully refundable, not only partially refundable, meaning you'll still get them even if your tax due is not up to the amount of the credit. 

Are the income limits gross income?

[historically accurate]

27 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Are the income limits gross income?

I think they're Adjusted Gross Income - that is what the old Child Tax Credit used. I am not seeing that term used yet though, just "income".

https://marketrealist.com/p/child-tax-credit-income-limit/

[cjzimmer1]

Picked up our Food to Families box.  I went pretty early on because I wasn't sure how much demand there would be and didn't want them to run out.  It was surprisingly empty.  Only about 5 cars were there and they easily had 50 volunteers.

But my box had 1 gallon 2% milk

2 quarts of vanilla yogurt

1 pound of smoked cheddar cheese (although it looked more like processed cheese but I haven't opened it yet)

3 lbs onions

5 lbs yellow potatoes

3 lbs red delicious apples

1 lb baby carrots

1 lb chicken hot dogs

4 lbs chicken meatballs

Then they had an Easter kit for the under 12 crowd (book, plastic eggs, bag of candy, paper based game) and gave me another small bag of candy. 

Super fast and efficient so I'll definitely go back in April when they have it again.

[mommyoffive]

35 minutes ago, cjzimmer1 said:

Picked up our Food to Families box.  I went pretty early on because I wasn't sure how much demand there would be and didn't want them to run out.  It was surprisingly empty.  Only about 5 cars were there and they easily had 50 volunteers.

But my box had 1 gallon 2% milk

2 quarts of vanilla yogurt

1 pound of smoked cheddar cheese (although it looked more like processed cheese but I haven't opened it yet)

3 lbs onions

5 lbs yellow potatoes

3 lbs red delicious apples

1 lb baby carrots

1 lb chicken hot dogs

4 lbs chicken meatballs

Then they had an Easter kit for the under 12 crowd (book, plastic eggs, bag of candy, paper based game) and gave me another small bag of candy. 

Super fast and efficient so I'll definitely go back in April when they have it again.

That sounds the exact same as the last one I got.  Glad you checked it out and can do it again.   Sure helps the grocery budget. 

[saraha]

On 3/26/2021 at 4:51 PM, cjzimmer1 said:

So I was scrolling through the Facebook Marketplace and found a listing for the Farm to Families boxes.  There is a pickup tomorrow and another one in April about 15 minutes from us.   I'm going to try it out and see what they have.  I'm all for lowering my grocery bill even more.

For those who've had them, what did you get in your box?  Just trying to guess if the picture they showed was a good representation or not.

Yay! I will say, we were not crazy about the chicken meatballs the first time I served them, the second time, we made sure to cook them in spaghetti sauce and serve with lots of sauce 🙂

[cjzimmer1]

13 minutes ago, saraha said:

Yay! I will say, we were not crazy about the chicken meatballs the first time I served them, the second time, we made sure to cook them in spaghetti sauce and serve with lots of sauce 🙂

Good to know!  I was planning to make spaghetti tomorrow with them but I will make sure to plan some time to doctor the sauce so it's especially tasty.

[hjffkj]

I still have not found one of those farm to family boxes.  Groceries have gotten so expensive this year I wish I could supplement some how.  The school lunches have also become impossible to get unless I want to go daily, which I don't.

[hjffkj]

Found two more of the Dr Seuss books at Goodwill today for 99 cents each.  One is listed for $100 and the other for $50.  Have gotten a ridiculous amount of lowball offers from other resellers.  I would happily take $100 for both, which would leave them room to make some nice money but no bites on that offer.

[saraha]

1 minute ago, hjffkj said:

I still have not found one of those farm to family boxes.  Groceries have gotten so expensive this year I wish I could supplement some how.  The school lunches have also become impossible to get unless I want to go daily, which I don't.

Our county's "community action organization" is in charge of our distribution. They have a facebook page and they announce them there. I have a friend who works there who turned me on to the program. Does your county have something like it? They are the umbrella organization for our county's WIC, family planning, senior services, etc. You might be able to call your WIC office

[hjffkj]

5 minutes ago, saraha said:

Our county's "community action organization" is in charge of our distribution. They have a facebook page and they announce them there. I have a friend who works there who turned me on to the program. Does your county have something like it? They are the umbrella organization for our county's WIC, family planning, senior services, etc. You might be able to call your WIC office

i will have to check

[saraha]

39 minutes ago, cjzimmer1 said:

Good to know!  I was planning to make spaghetti tomorrow with them but I will make sure to plan some time to doctor the sauce so it's especially tasty.

Since they are precooked, I just added them frozen to the sauce and brought it up to a boil. Much better that time

The precooked chicken patties kind of tasted like sausage and were sausage patty sized, so I made slider sandwiches with those. Our next box is Wednesday, I wonder if we are getting chicken meatballs like you did, or something else.

Edited March 27, 2021 by saraha

[historically accurate]

18 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

I still have not found one of those farm to family boxes.  Groceries have gotten so expensive this year I wish I could supplement some how.  The school lunches have also become impossible to get unless I want to go daily, which I don't.

Do you have a local FB freebie site - ours here is called Love is All You Need or something like that. They often have the postings of food pantries and the boxes. We have a church here in town that gets a supply weekly, so I always know that I can go there on Thursday. The other distribution sites are sporadic.

[cjzimmer1]

39 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

I still have not found one of those farm to family boxes.  Groceries have gotten so expensive this year I wish I could supplement some how.  The school lunches have also become impossible to get unless I want to go daily, which I don't.

I was just scrolling through random facebook marketplace listings and saw this free box of food.  It wasn't till I clicked it open and saw it was the farm to families boxes.  They were distributed from a church and when I went to the church's page saw they have been doing it for a few months but it's not like it was advertised well.  Still haven't found any resources online for looking them up either.  I think the program is a great idea but they are doing a pretty lousy job communicating with people who would benefit from it.

[saraha]

21 minutes ago, cjzimmer1 said:

I was just scrolling through random facebook marketplace listings and saw this free box of food.  It wasn't till I clicked it open and saw it was the farm to families boxes.  They were distributed from a church and when I went to the church's page saw they have been doing it for a few months but it's not like it was advertised well.  Still haven't found any resources online for looking them up either.  I think the program is a great idea but they are doing a pretty lousy job communicating with people who would benefit from it.

I agree, my friend that works with the program was like, well we put it on Facebook... I said well you know it is every two weeks, why not put it in our local paper? A lot of people out here do not have reliable internet or do not “do” internet but might see it in the paper that comes out once a week. Especially old people.

[hjffkj]

Sold the $100 seuss book!

[mommyoffive]

1 hour ago, hjffkj said:

I still have not found one of those farm to family boxes.  Groceries have gotten so expensive this year I wish I could supplement some how.  The school lunches have also become impossible to get unless I want to go daily, which I don't.

That really stinks.  The lunches here I could go everyday to get that day's menu.  But you can also do a bulk pick up any day  you want and just get multiple servings of that day's meals.  They have a site that is 2 minutes from my house, but the kids at that school don't mask when I see them outside, so I go to the furthest one from my house because everyone is good with masks there.  I only go 3 days a week.

But yeah the Farm to Family boxes are hard to locate.  They shouldn't be like that.  I was frustrated with that too.

[mommyoffive]

2 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

Sold the $100 seuss book!

Awesome!  You are finding such great flips!!! 

[mommyoffive]

Our library is now starting a tween and teen monthly subscription kit.  So cool and free

It is going to have a free book and tons of goodies in it.  I love the library!

Singed up for a free meals for the week.  They didn't have them last week and we blew through food.  

[historically accurate]

DH needed new wiper blades for his car. I dug through my unused gift cards and came up with 2 Autozone cards - a total of $35. So, free blades!

We moved MIL's furniture around yesterday in her house. She had a mirror she didn't want anymore, so I measured it and brought it home. We removed a medicine cabinet a while ago because it was hung too high and it was butt-ugly. But it damaged the wall behind it in the removal (it wasn't even sunk into the wall; they just glued it to the wallboard). This mirror covers the damage and hangs down far enough that yDD can see in it. Freebie! DH will have to put new hanging wire on it as MIL had it horizontal, and I need it vertical, but the mirror has hooks for both ways. 

Kids have been doing a WWII study, and the IL Holocaust Museum is free for students until mid-April. I'm trying to decide if we should do it now with the Covid risk or wait it out. 

[mommyoffive]

1 hour ago, historically accurate said:

DH needed new wiper blades for his car. I dug through my unused gift cards and came up with 2 Autozone cards - a total of $35. So, free blades!

We moved MIL's furniture around yesterday in her house. She had a mirror she didn't want anymore, so I measured it and brought it home. We removed a medicine cabinet a while ago because it was hung too high and it was butt-ugly. But it damaged the wall behind it in the removal (it wasn't even sunk into the wall; they just glued it to the wallboard). This mirror covers the damage and hangs down far enough that yDD can see in it. Freebie! DH will have to put new hanging wire on it as MIL had it horizontal, and I need it vertical, but the mirror has hooks for both ways. 

Kids have been doing a WWII study, and the IL Holocaust Museum is free for students until mid-April. I'm trying to decide if we should do it now with the Covid risk or wait it out. 

I didn't know IL had a Holocaust Museum.  Isn't IL having a surge?  We are not having one but all the states around us are so I bet it will  happen.   I don't see why not other than vaccines and I don't think that we are so ahead of the rest of the Midwest.  And everyone and their mom is traveling to the Dells and FL for spring break so. 

Score on the free stuff. 

[mommyoffive]

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Crayola is Giving Away One Million FREE Crayons Starting March 31st - Hip2Save

 

Samsung Chromebook 4 32GB Only $125.99 Shipped w/ Education Discount Program - Hip2Save

 

Some good deals and freebies.

[historically accurate]

5 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

I didn't know IL had a Holocaust Museum.  Isn't IL having a surge?  We are not having one but all the states around us are so I bet it will  happen.   I don't see why not other than vaccines and I don't think that we are so ahead of the rest of the Midwest.  And everyone and their mom is traveling to the Dells and FL for spring break so. 

Score on the free stuff. 

The museum is in Skokie. https://www.ilholocaustmuseum.org/ Skokie had a large influx of Jewish immigrants following WWII, and has a legacy of Nazi activity due to the sizable Jewish population.     https://abcnews.go.com/US/skokie-legacy-nazi-march-town-holocaust-survivors/story?id=56026742

I'll most likely wait until summer when oDD is home as she may want to go too. And I'm within 6 weeks of being fully vaccinated, so probably not a good idea to do museums at this point. It's just I want to go to a museums (you can picture me stamping my foot and whining here) - that's how I like to teach - this past year has been tough.

[mommyoffive]

3 minutes ago, historically accurate said:

The museum is in Skokie. https://www.ilholocaustmuseum.org/ Skokie had a large influx of Jewish immigrants following WWII, and has a legacy of Nazi activity due to the sizable Jewish population.     https://abcnews.go.com/US/skokie-legacy-nazi-march-town-holocaust-survivors/story?id=56026742

I'll most likely wait until summer when oDD is home as she may want to go too. And I'm within 6 weeks of being fully vaccinated, so probably not a good idea to do museums at this point. It's just I want to go to a museums (you can picture me stamping my foot and whining here) - that's how I like to teach - this past year has been tough.

Oh cool.  Maybe some day I can get there.  

I feel you it has been such a hard year not to be able to go on all the cool field trips.  😞

[mommyoffive]

Still haven't gotten our tax refund back.  Hoping bonus will pay out this pay check. 

Rare Target Toy Coupon - Exclusive Savings | Hip2Save

[WildflowerMom]

Y’all are so inspiring!   
 

we have a big insurance payment coming up in April, so we’re trying not to spend right now.   Today $50 for lunch for dh & I and ds & his gf since they’re coming over.   But we shouldn’t have to spend any more money this week. 🙌🏽

[mommyoffive]

FREE $10 Target Gift Card w/ $50 LEGO Purchase | Friends, Super Mario, Marvel & More! - Hip2Save

 

Up to 50% Off Movies on Target.com | Family Faves from $6.50 - Hip2Save

[mommyoffive]

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Went to look at some lots today and really liked them.  We are going to call the agent on Monday. 

Ordered free meals for the week. 

Dropped off a ton of stuff at donations. 

Edited March 29, 2021 by mommyoffive

[mommyoffive]

Put in a Costco order.

Ordered flea/tick/ and heartworm for the year for the dogs.

[mommyoffive]

PSA

Target is selling Thinx period underwear for $17

I also saw that Victoria's Secret sells period underwear too.  They are only $16.50.   Has anyone tried those? 

 

Bought a book set and birthday balloons for the next birthday.  I need to plan Easter food today.

 

 

Edited March 29, 2021 by mommyoffive

[mommyoffive]

Today only, Walgreens is offering 25 4 x 6 photo prints for only $0.25 when you enter the promo code 4X6PENNIES at checkout!

Choose free in-store pickup to avoid shipping costs.

Valid today only, March 29, 2021.

 

Today only, Old Navy has Girl’s Active Compression Leggings for just $10 and Women’s Active Compression Leggings for just $12!

There are several colors to choose from.

Choose free in-store pickup to avoid shipping costs.

Valid today only, March 29, 2021.

 

From Moneysavingmom.com