April Frugalistas 2021

[cjzimmer1]

37 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Well that is good that insurance will cover it when you meet the deductible.  That will be a relief.  

We only have a choice of 2 plans and we picked the higher monthly one because it does cover presriptions.  There were a few other reasons we picked this plan besides that.  The other one sounds like the one you are on where they won't cover it until the deductible is met.  We don't even have any prescriptions, but just incase we were to have them.   

I honestly hate picking insurance.  It is such a crap shoot of looking into a crystal ball.  We always end up going for the most expensive one and probably it doesn't pay off for us, but we are just to big of worry warts to not have it.  

I'm with you on that.  I never know what to pick either.  We've always picked the low deductible plan in the past but this year they drastically cut the amount we had to pay for the high deductible plan.  When I did the math, the cost of the low deductible with the amount we put in FSA was within $10 of the price of the high deductible plus maxing out the HSA.  Since the FSA we lose the money if we don't use it all and the HSA rolls over, we decided to take the gamble this year with a high deductible.  No idea how it will work out in the end but we're trying it.

[hjffkj]

56 minutes ago, cjzimmer1 said:

It's great that he is still in the running but it's got to be frustrating to not know just how many steps are involved.  Hope the next well goes well too.  Any ideas when it will be?

Oh it is certainly great.  I wouldn't say frustrating but more just anxiety inducing. Last night he finally slept soundly because he thought the process was over and he mainly thought that because during an interview the big boss said they're hoping to have a decision by the end of this week, so he just assumed. Now he likely won't sleep well again until after this interview.  We'll see. the email said it'll be scheduled within the next 48 hours.

[saraha]

We were able to get the Farmers to Families box this time, yay! I made sure I went earlier this time.

• package of five face masks 
• 1 gallon milk
• 3 lb bag of onions
• 5 lb bag of potatoes
• 3 lb bag of apples
• 1 lb bologna
• 1 lb smoky cheddar cheese
• 16 ounces of sour cream
• 4 lb bag of chicken patties
•  2- 24 ounce cartons of vanilla yogurt

[mommyoffive]

1 hour ago, saraha said:

We were able to get the Farmers to Families box this time, yay! I made sure I went earlier this time.

• package of five face masks 
• 1 gallon milk
• 3 lb bag of onions
• 5 lb bag of potatoes
• 3 lb bag of apples
• 1 lb bologna
• 1 lb smoky cheddar cheese
• 16 ounces of sour cream
• 4 lb bag of chicken patties
•  2- 24 ounce cartons of vanilla yogurt

Yay glad you got one this time.  Nice box.  I am going tomorrow and want to see if I get the same thing as you.

Cjzimmer1, you are going this week too right?   Let us know if you get the same box.

Edited April 14, 2021 by mommyoffive

[mommyoffive]

1 hour ago, hjffkj said:

He has ANOTHER interview!! 

AHHHHH.  Another one.  Ugh, I thought that was the last thing?   Anyway awesome sign!!!  Sending some more good luck.

[saraha]

2 hours ago, hjffkj said:

He has ANOTHER interview!! 

Aaaahhhh! Well, glad he made it to the next round!

[saraha]

1 hour ago, mommyoffive said:

Yay glad you got one this time.  Nice box.  I am going tomorrow and want to see if I get the same thing as you.

Do they offer it weekly? Ours is every two weeks. I am curious to see if you get the same thing too. Ours had Kroger brand sour cream in it this time, usually there are no branded items so I thought that was curious.

[mommyoffive]

Just now, saraha said:

Do they offer it weekly? Ours is every two weeks. I am curious to see if you get the same thing too. Ours had Kroger brand sour cream in it this time, usually there are no branded items so I thought that was curious.

No they don't offer it weekly or every two weeks in my city.  I think the last time I picked it up was a month or so ago.  So it seems random.  There were 2 in the fall back to back and then nothing for awhile.    I let you know what I get. 

[saraha]

@Soror I’m sorry about the cost of your ds prescription and am in awe of your persistence with insurance!

Edited April 14, 2021 by saraha

[hjffkj]

And now dh has been informed that his team manager is going to be out for the next few week (not sure why.)  And the department head contacted him asking him to step in with a few manager specific tasks to cover for his tm.  So, clearly they think he's capable of doing the job.  

[cjzimmer1]

1 hour ago, mommyoffive said:

Yay glad you got one this time.  Nice box.  I am going tomorrow and want to see if I get the same thing as you.

Cjzimmer1, you are going this week too right?   Let us know if you get the same box.

Yeah, mine is on Friday and I'm very curious too to see if they are the same.  Although I kind of expect you and I will have the same but will be interested in seeing if it matches saraha.  Even when I've read about the program it seems so helter skelter that I'm surprised when there is any kind of consistency.

[cjzimmer1]

Just now, hjffkj said:

And now dh has been informed that his team manager is going to be out for the next few week (not sure why.)  And the department head contacted him asking him to step in with a few manager specific tasks to cover for his tm.  So, clearly they think he's capable of doing the job.  

That's awesome that they trust him to step up.  Is the team manager involved in the interviewing process at all?  After coming this far and being told they hope to decide by the end of the week, it would suck to have it stalled if they have to wait for that person to return.

[hjffkj]

7 minutes ago, cjzimmer1 said:

That's awesome that they trust him to step up.  Is the team manager involved in the interviewing process at all?  After coming this far and being told they hope to decide by the end of the week, it would suck to have it stalled if they have to wait for that person to return.

I know he's done some of the first round interviewing for the position, although he didn't interview dh. But he isn't a decision maker for the position so they likely got his input and are good moving forward without him

[saraha]

My ds10 got chosen to be a part of a Seed trial and at the end will get $100 gift certificate to the seed company, which I’ll buy off him. He is over the moon! He has been in charge of our seedlings this year and really enjoying it.

[hjffkj]

Here's a random finance question for you all.  How much cash do you leave available as an emergency fund?  I have always had this number in mind that I'd keep in a high yield savings account for easy to access cash just in case.  

But now that I have that money there I am having a hard time with keeping it all there.  The idea that money is just sitting around gaining almost nothing interest wise is hard for me to just be ok with.

So, I was just wondering what other people do or would like to do once your done playing catch up

[cjzimmer1]

3 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

Here's a random finance question for you all.  How much cash do you leave available as an emergency fund?  I have always had this number in mind that I'd keep in a high yield savings account for easy to access cash just in case.  

But now that I have that money there I am having a hard time with keeping it all there.  The idea that money is just sitting around gaining almost nothing interest wise is hard for me to just be ok with.

So, I was just wondering what other people do or would like to do once your done playing catch up

I know all the advice books recommend 3-6 months of expense for emergency fund.  But I've never even tried for that.  Here's why:

Long before I started budgeting, we had 2 seasons where DH was unemployed for a lengthy period (one was 8 months one was 10 months) and what I discovered was that our expenses during that period were much lower than our expenses when he worked.  Part of it was because we were eligible for aid (WIC, food stamps, health insurance, heating assistance etc), part of it was because we were naturally ultra careful with our expenses.  And every time we were able to get some income (retail job, consulting, unemployment, severance pay type of things). 

So when I think emergency fund, I no longer think 3-6 months of CURRENT expenses.  I do make sure I have enough to cover a largish vehicle repair, and a largish home expense but otherwise, don't really have much set aside because I know in a true emergency, I could shift things, and cut expenses and we could pull through.  I know this doesn't account for medical emergencies where you not be eligible for any aid but the reality is, our budget doesn't have enough extra leeway to build up huge buffers for just in case without sacrificing every chance we have to do anything special now.  I'm not willing to give up everything just to prepare for the future. So I think it's careful balance and you have to make decisions based on what path gives you the most peace.

[hjffkj]

@cjzimmer1 we just experienced job loss in 2019 and everything you say is so true.  With all the aid available expenses really were minimal.  We got a 0% credit card to cover what little money we were bringing in wouldn't cover.  We paid the minimum on it and we decided we'd try not to touch the savings we had.  If unemployment kept on going we would stop using the card and switch to savings, investments, etc.  But we never needed to and the cc never got to a point where it wouldn't be paid off with 2 paychecks once dh was working.  It worked out that time.

With major medical expenses that might arise I just don't think that an emergency fund would cover the crazy bills that could happen with a long term issue or something beyond one emergency room trip.

I guess I should think about what 3-6 months of expenses were when dh was out of work, that seems like a good number to aim for.  I'd rather have my money earning more interest than a savings account can do right now

[mommyoffive]

2 hours ago, hjffkj said:

Here's a random finance question for you all.  How much cash do you leave available as an emergency fund?  I have always had this number in mind that I'd keep in a high yield savings account for easy to access cash just in case.  

But now that I have that money there I am having a hard time with keeping it all there.  The idea that money is just sitting around gaining almost nothing interest wise is hard for me to just be ok with.

So, I was just wondering what other people do or would like to do once your done playing catch up

Kind of like the credit card thing you did, I have heard of people who use other things for their e-funds.  Like their Roth IRAs since you can take out your investments at anytime.  

We have kept a very large e-fund outside of all our investments for years.   But even when we were just getting started we went with 6 months because we are single income family.  Anyway as dh has gone up in salary we keep it even larger because he has seen coworkers that are his level and higher have very long unemployments.   It is often easier to get the entry level or mid level jobs, but when you are upper management it can be harder to land a job at your salary level. 

[hjffkj]

52 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Kind of like the credit card thing you did, I have heard of people who use other things for their e-funds.  Like their Roth IRAs since you can take out your investments at anytime.  

We have kept a very large e-fund outside of all our investments for years.   But even when we were just getting started we went with 6 months because we are single income family.  Anyway as dh has gone up in salary we keep it even larger because he has seen coworkers that are his level and higher have very long unemployments.   It is often easier to get the entry level or mid level jobs, but when you are upper management it can be harder to land a job at your salary level. 

where do you keep your e-fund?  If it is earning low interest does that bother you at all? Just curious.  I keep waffling back and forth about where to keep the larger e-fund.  I don't want it to be in our Roth because I don't want to make it an option to dip into our retirement funds, those are for our future. 

I think I'm leaning on a smaller efund in a high yield savings account but then allocating a larger chunk into a post tax investment account so the money can grow a bit more while we don't need it. For us, I don't see long term unemployment being an issue since the amount we live off of right now can be replaced with an entry level income, although that isn't what we make.  We just live far below our income right now.

Medical emergencies are the kicker for me

[mommyoffive]

Through April 17th, Walgreens is offering a FREE 8×10 Photo Enlargement when you use promo code APRIL8X10 at checkout – limit one per account.

[historically accurate]

Today was payday, so all bills paid. 

Picked up school lunches this morning. They were out of white milk, so they gave us 4 cartons of chocolate per kid - I'm swimming in chocolate milk here. While I was out, I picked up some seeds at the library (cilantro, rosemary, and butterfly weed) and the latest grab and go kit (a succulent planter). I scoped out the library dress code while I was there - pretty much business casual. 

I am going to pick up the farmers to family box this week - distribution is in about an hour. 

I found a purple shirt at Amazon for my work wardrobe. I had a VISA cash card that had an expiration date of May that completely covered it. I had been saving it in my gift fund stash, but I won't be buying any gifts in the next month or so. My mom offered to buy me some shirts, so I purchased a nicer white shirt from Lane Bryant. We do have a size 14+ (I wear a 16ish) consignment shop in the next town over, so I'll be checking there periodically to add to my wardrobe. I also ordered some big barrettes to pull back my very thick, unruly pandemic hair. If these two shirts work, I should be able to get by. I currently have 2 pair black pants, a floral skirt, and a black and white skirt. For tops I have a denim blazer, a purple cardigan, a plain white tee to go under those, and a black and white top. 

 

[mommyoffive]

3 minutes ago, historically accurate said:

Today was payday, so all bills paid. 

Picked up school lunches this morning. They were out of white milk, so they gave us 4 cartons of chocolate per kid - I'm swimming in chocolate milk here. While I was out, I picked up some seeds at the library (cilantro, rosemary, and butterfly weed) and the latest grab and go kit (a succulent planter). I scoped out the library dress code while I was there - pretty much business casual. 

I am going to pick up the farmers to family box this week - distribution is in about an hour. 

I found a purple shirt at Amazon for my work wardrobe. I had a VISA cash card that had an expiration date of May that completely covered it. I had been saving it in my gift fund stash, but I won't be buying any gifts in the next month or so. My mom offered to buy me some shirts, so I purchased a nicer white shirt from Lane Bryant. We do have a size 14+ (I wear a 16ish) consignment shop in the next town over, so I'll be checking there periodically to add to my wardrobe. I also ordered some big barrettes to pull back my very thick, unruly pandemic hair. If these two shirts work, I should be able to get by. I currently have 2 pair black pants, a floral skirt, and a black and white skirt. For tops I have a denim blazer, a purple cardigan, a plain white tee to go under those, and a black and white top. 

 

Yay for all the freebies today.  Do your kids like chocolate milk?  

Report back on the farmers to family box and what you get.  I think it would be interesting to see if they are the same everywhere. 

[historically accurate]

23 hours ago, saraha said:

We were able to get the Farmers to Families box this time, yay! I made sure I went earlier this time.

• package of five face masks 
• 1 gallon milk
• 3 lb bag of onions
• 5 lb bag of potatoes
• 3 lb bag of apples
• 1 lb bologna
• 1 lb smoky cheddar cheese
• 16 ounces of sour cream
• 4 lb bag of chicken patties
•  2- 24 ounce cartons of vanilla yogurt

 

1 hour ago, mommyoffive said:

Yay for all the freebies today.  Do your kids like chocolate milk?  

Report back on the farmers to family box and what you get.  I think it would be interesting to see if they are the same everywhere. 

 

I got in the box:

• 1 gallon milk
• 3 lb bag of onions
• 5 lb bag of potatoes
• 3 lb bag of apples
• 1 lb bag of baby carrots
• 1 pack hot dogs
• 1 lb horseradish chive cheese (it's unique - neither good nor bad - just unique. DH wanted to try it as soon as he saw it)
• 2 24 oz cartons of plain yogurt
• 1 bag italian meatballs
• 1 bag chicken/beef meatballs

The church who distributed the boxes added a bag of items. They would've provided a pack of diapers if requested as well. I got in the bag:

• 1 roll toilet paper
• 1 container (actually rather large) of hand sanitizer
• 1 loaf white bread
• 1 box fruit by the foot
• 1 box fiber one brownie bars
• 1 box gluten free cookies - ladyfingers
• 1 box cookies - funfetti
• 2 6 oz bags penne pasta

 

One of my kids likes chocolate milk, but she's a little chocolate milked out at the moment. DH likes it a lot, so he's going to drink it during his afternoon snack break. My oldest is a chocolate milk fiend, so once she's home, we won't have to worry about making sure it gets used up. 

[mommyoffive]

Ok just got back from my Farmers to Families pick up. 

There was a 10 box limit per car.  They were really pushing you to take lots of boxes.  If you told them 2 they pushed and pushed for you to take 6 or more.  They really wanted you to take the full 10.   So I did get more than one box.  

There were a lot of cars there this time.  Last time there were only 3 when I went.  Last time there was no limit of boxes but again really wanted you to take more than what you said. 

 

1 gallon white milk

3lbs fugi apples

5 lbs potatoes

16 oz of American Sliced cheese

16 oz baby carrots

3lbs of onions

16 oz hot dogs

4lbs of fully cooked rotisserie seasoned chicken

2 32 oz plain yogurt

[mommyoffive]

I am surprised none of us got the same box.   

[saraha]

Seems like we all got milk, potatoes, onions, apples and yogurt but the meats and cheeses were all different! Wow, 10 boxes! We get two because we are a family of 8. Maybe there is more demand in my area?

[historically accurate]

13 minutes ago, saraha said:

Seems like we all got milk, potatoes, onions, apples and yogurt but the meats and cheeses were all different! Wow, 10 boxes! We get two because we are a family of 8. Maybe there is more demand in my area?

Here it is one box per 6 person household. So a family of 8 like yours would get 2, a family of 5 like mine gets one. I can't imagine 10 boxes - we got 5 or 6 one time since they just wanted to close for the day and they had a pallet left, but wow, that's a lot of food.

[mommyoffive]

1 hour ago, saraha said:

Seems like we all got milk, potatoes, onions, apples and yogurt but the meats and cheeses were all different! Wow, 10 boxes! We get two because we are a family of 8. Maybe there is more demand in my area?

Probably.  We are a small town. I know you can come from anywhere to get it though, you don't have to live in our town.   So maybe unless they give away a lot to each car they don't empty the truck???   I am just guessing.   How often does yours come?   Maybe also it is because it doesn't come often so stock your fridge and freezer.  

[Soror]

Those are some great boxes. I hope that we have those these summer again here. That's a big help to the grocery budget.

Had to take dd3 to clinic ($5) for terrible poison ivy, her eye is starting to swell shut. Steriod pills were free at the pharmacy. Some things that are considered preventative are free. I don't know what qualifies as that but considering how much I just spent at the pharmacy I was glad.

Dh gets paid tomorrow and it is a nice big check. Thank goodness. I was able to finish the budget for May with the extra budgeted for ds' pricey prescription and all the dr's/counselors visits too and had some extra to put into some different sinking funds.

 

[mommyoffive]

4 minutes ago, Soror said:

Those are some great boxes. I hope that we have those these summer again here. That's a big help to the grocery budget.

Had to take dd3 to clinic ($5) for terrible poison ivy, her eye is starting to swell shut. Steriod pills were free at the pharmacy. Some things that are considered preventative are free. I don't know what qualifies as that but considering how much I just spent at the pharmacy I was glad.

Dh gets paid tomorrow and it is a nice big check. Thank goodness. I was able to finish the budget for May with the extra budgeted for ds' pricey prescription and all the dr's/counselors visits too and had some extra to put into some different sinking funds.

 

Oh your poor dd.  She has poison ivy on her eye?  I hope the pills bring her some relief.  

[historically accurate]

4 minutes ago, Soror said:

Those are some great boxes. I hope that we have those these summer again here. That's a big help to the grocery budget.

Had to take dd3 to clinic ($5) for terrible poison ivy, her eye is starting to swell shut. Steriod pills were free at the pharmacy. Some things that are considered preventative are free. I don't know what qualifies as that but considering how much I just spent at the pharmacy I was glad.

Dh gets paid tomorrow and it is a nice big check. Thank goodness. I was able to finish the budget for May with the extra budgeted for ds' pricey prescription and all the dr's/counselors visits too and had some extra to put into some different sinking funds.

 

Aw, I'm sorry about your dd3 - poison ivy is awful. 

Yay for big checks and extra to put into sinking funds!

[mommyoffive]

Dance order just came in.  Everything fits.  That is nuts.  I was ordering shoes for people too and just was guessing on sizes as these are not their normal shoes.  Was getting some different dance style shoes for their intensives.   A lot of winners in all the leos they got.  

But then 2 days after I put in this big order my two oldest tell me they have holes in their ballet flats.  Are you kidding me?  They saw me doing the order.  ARGHHHH.  So guess I will be doing another order.  They go through so many pairs of shoes with the amount of hours they are dancing.  Which is not even as much as if they were in person in normal times.   

DD's pointe shoes say they shipped so I hope that works out.

With all the food from the F2F program and the free lunches we are skipping grocery shopping this week.   That is nice.  We have not spent much on groceries this month so far.  Even with all the Costco stocking up I did.  

 

[Soror]

22 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Oh your poor dd.  She has poison ivy on her eye?  I hope the pills bring her some relief.  

It is not in her eye yet but was getting close. It started on her check and has spread exponentially. Her check is a entire mass of red and so swollen. 

[saraha]

3 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

Probably.  We are a small town. I know you can come from anywhere to get it though, you don't have to live in our town.   So maybe unless they give away a lot to each car they don't empty the truck???   I am just guessing.   How often does yours come?   Maybe also it is because it doesn't come often so stock your fridge and freezer.  

Ours is every two weeks. We are in a small town in Appalachia 

[mommyoffive]

1 hour ago, saraha said:

Ours is every two weeks. We are in a small town in Appalachia 

Oh I didn't know you lived there.  So pretty.  I for some reason thought you were IL. 

[saraha]

15 hours ago, Soror said:

It is not in her eye yet but was getting close. It started on her check and has spread exponentially. Her check is a entire mass of red and so swollen. 

I wish I could figure out how to post an old picture, one summer, three of my girls pulled these big leaves growing off the side of a tree trunk and used them as money while they played store, you guessed it, poison ivy! They looked like they had been stung by bees their faces welled so much!

Your poor girl

[Soror]

1 hour ago, saraha said:

I wish I could figure out how to post an old picture, one summer, three of my girls pulled these big leaves growing off the side of a tree trunk and used them as money while they played store, you guessed it, poison ivy! They looked like they had been stung by bees their faces welled so much!

Your poor girl

Eek! that is what dd looks like. She only occasionally complains about the itching, so that is good. 

_____________

re: savings account.

Here is a list of some different accounts-

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/high-interest-savings-to-get/

We have 2 local accounts that get us 2% up to the max and .5% after. We're currently over the max but when concrete guy does his work will be under again. It used to be 5% but when interest rates dropped so did it. I could find accounts that offer a bit more but it is not worth the hassle for me to switch things around and I like having a local bank.

For an efund I want money that I have quick access to and not have a penalty to use it.

I don't have just one efund it is divided in my budget into:

(1) 1 month buffer I fund next month's bills with this month's paychecks

(2) True expenses- separate funds for medical, house(1-2% value of house), and vehicle expenses- because sometimes these happen all at once . 

(3) Salary replacement- in case of job loss- not at the same level as salary because part of the salary is put towards savings but enough to live on. I've heard too many stories of unemployment delayed or denied and the same with government assistance that I don't trust that I could count on it. 

I have these divided separately because sometimes things happen all at once and it was hard for me to quantify what all I might need with just one pile of money. Now,I only have 2 accounts but have it divided in my budget (YNAB makes this very easy). When I made the budget first we put in fixed expenses (ultities etc), then variable expenses- gas, groceries, cleaning, kid's activities etc, then yearly expenses- insurance, Christmas, taxes, plates, birthdays. And then whatever was left was divided into the categories of medical, home, vehicle, electronics replacements/upgrades. Sometimes dh has extra pay from OT but if we happen to have extra past medical expenses it will just be going towards the shop fund. 

We are 1 month ahead but I don't have the other funds filled as much as I'd like. We'd have it if we weren't doing this big building project but that's life. The past few years have been years of reduced income due to uncertainty at dh's work so we did not get much ahead then. The money only goes so far.

We could use my check to finish off some funds but travel is a priority so my check goes towards travel while we chip away at the other funds with dh's income. If we ever get our stimulus we'll top off some of these funds. I have a 2 yr plan of having all these filled to where I want. I don't know if we'll make it but you don't get anywhere if you don't try. 

[hjffkj]

@Soror Thanks for sharing what you do in regards to savings. I actually spent an hour yesterday at the park yesterday talking about it and he was very much in favor of holding less in a low earning savings account.  He actually recently took a portion of what they had been holding as liquid assets and put it in after tax investments.  I am heavily leaning this way as well.  I just hate watching my money not growing.  It is certainly riskier but I think I've come to terms with that.

[Soror]

38 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

@Soror Thanks for sharing what you do in regards to savings. I actually spent an hour yesterday at the park yesterday talking about it and he was very much in favor of holding less in a low earning savings account.  He actually recently took a portion of what they had been holding as liquid assets and put it in after tax investments.  I am heavily leaning this way as well.  I just hate watching my money not growing.  It is certainly riskier but I think I've come to terms with that.

That is good that you talked it out. It really helps to be on the same page. We all have different comfort levels. I'm risk averse and have told dh for my own peace of mind I wanted to be more aggressive in building our short term savings (as we could afford it). 

 I'm sure you know this but just in case-- make sure you know the withdrawal penalties and how long it will take to get the money if you plan on using investment accounts for your emergency funds.

In case it helps anyone I seen this posted in a financial group and thought it was pretty good (maybe I posted it before)- 

 

[hjffkj]

It is yard sale season!! I'm in heaven. Spent roughly $40 today on $400 to $500 worth of inventory. Not exactly positive yet because I got a box full of horror vhs movies that I've priced out some but not all.

[cjzimmer1]

On 4/15/2021 at 1:38 PM, mommyoffive said:

Ok just got back from my Farmers to Families pick up. 

There was a 10 box limit per car.  They were really pushing you to take lots of boxes.  If you told them 2 they pushed and pushed for you to take 6 or more.  They really wanted you to take the full 10.   So I did get more than one box.  

There were a lot of cars there this time.  Last time there were only 3 when I went.  Last time there was no limit of boxes but again really wanted you to take more than what you said. 

 

1 gallon white milk

3lbs fugi apples

5 lbs potatoes

16 oz of American Sliced cheese

16 oz baby carrots

3lbs of onions

16 oz hot dogs

4lbs of fully cooked rotisserie seasoned chicken

2 32 oz plain yogurt

I got mine Friday.  Last time I went they asked how many families you were picking up for so I only got one box.  This time they asked me how many boxes I wanted so I said 2.  I had thought about 3 but wasn't sure I had the fridge space so stuck with less rather than not getting it all in. As I thought our boxes were nearly identical.  The only difference is that we got vanilla yogurt instead of plain yogurt.  My kids groaned at the American cheese and informed me our dog was going to get fat because the school lunches already give us so much american cheese that they feed to him.  I told them that those slices work pretty good on hamburgers (and they agreed that was true but since I almost never make hamburgers it wasn't something any of them thought of) so we will have to try to make hamburgers soon and attempt to use some of it up.  I'll have to think what else I can do with processed cheese.  I still have the 1 pound block from last month as that was the only item I couldn't figure out how to repurpose.

[mommyoffive]

45 minutes ago, cjzimmer1 said:

I got mine Friday.  Last time I went they asked how many families you were picking up for so I only got one box.  This time they asked me how many boxes I wanted so I said 2.  I had thought about 3 but wasn't sure I had the fridge space so stuck with less rather than not getting it all in. As I thought our boxes were nearly identical.  The only difference is that we got vanilla yogurt instead of plain yogurt.  My kids groaned at the American cheese and informed me our dog was going to get fat because the school lunches already give us so much american cheese that they feed to him.  I told them that those slices work pretty good on hamburgers (and they agreed that was true but since I almost never make hamburgers it wasn't something any of them thought of) so we will have to try to make hamburgers soon and attempt to use some of it up.  I'll have to think what else I can do with processed cheese.  I still have the 1 pound block from last month as that was the only item I couldn't figure out how to repurpose.

Oh fun that ours were so much the same.  I was planning on meals from the other boxes thinking mine would be the same.  Oh well.   We have had stuff for each of the last 2 nights.  I threw the chicken in the crockpot with potatoes and carrots.  Then last night we did the hot dogs and some kids wrapped them in the cheese. But they just eat cheese on plain, on sandwich, and on bagels.  

The kids have gone through tons of the  yogurt.  We had gotten a ton of granola from Costco and then they add frozen fruit too.  

How often does yours come? 

 

 

 

 

Got dh's new paycheck so I know what we are working with.  Yay. 

Put in a new dance order.  Holy Moly.   Got the kids new flat shoes too.  Hopefully that works out. 

Got dd's pointe shoes!!  They are perfect and were 50% off.  In the land of pointe shoes that is so exciting.  They are normally $100 a pair and she goes through them fast even though they are not dancing as much as she was in 2019.  She is still dancing 5 days a week now.  

Got our caterpillars in the mail.  Yay.  So fun.  We haven't done that in a long time. 

We are redoing the house with new furniture.  Got stuff for the mudroom first.  But I need to do so much more.  I hope it works out. 

DD might be selling some more chickens.  

Spent sometime  yesterday redoing one of the kid bedrooms.

Looked at houses the last few days.  Found some where I like things about each one, but not one that I like everything about. 

Ordered free meals for the week. 

[cjzimmer1]

1 hour ago, mommyoffive said:

Oh fun that ours were so much the same.  I was planning on meals from the other boxes thinking mine would be the same.  Oh well.   We have had stuff for each of the last 2 nights.  I threw the chicken in the crockpot with potatoes and carrots.  Then last night we did the hot dogs and some kids wrapped them in the cheese. But they just eat cheese on plain, on sandwich, and on bagels.  

The kids have gone through tons of the  yogurt.  We had gotten a ton of granola from Costco and then they add frozen fruit too.  

How often does yours come? 

 

 

 

 

Got dh's new paycheck so I know what we are working with.  Yay. 

Put in a new dance order.  Holy Moly.   Got the kids new flat shoes too.  Hopefully that works out. 

Got dd's pointe shoes!!  They are perfect and were 50% off.  In the land of pointe shoes that is so exciting.  They are normally $100 a pair and she goes through them fast even though they are not dancing as much as she was in 2019.  She is still dancing 5 days a week now.  

Got our caterpillars in the mail.  Yay.  So fun.  We haven't done that in a long time. 

We are redoing the house with new furniture.  Got stuff for the mudroom first.  But I need to do so much more.  I hope it works out. 

DD might be selling some more chickens.  

Spent sometime  yesterday redoing one of the kid bedrooms.

Looked at houses the last few days.  Found some where I like things about each one, but not one that I like everything about. 

Ordered free meals for the week. 

 I've only gotten the boxes twice but the church that hosted it had it posted on their facebook page.  Going through that it looks like it's been every 2-3 weeks since February. But it doesn't like there will be many more.  Sounds like the program will be ending in May

USDA cancels Farmers to Families Food Box Program | Agriculture | capitalpress.com 

Did your chicken have sauce on it? I was running around yesterday so DD unpacked the boxes and put stuff away.  I had her put the chicken in the freezer since I knew I wouldn't be able to do anything with it for a few days at least and our fridge was pretty stuffed.  Anyways, it looked like it had a sauce but it was partially frozen at that point so I really couldn't tell. 

 

Yeah to new paycheck and cheaper shoes.  At that price are you able to purchase ahead on the shoes?  I know when I find a good deal on things like that, I'll buy the next size or two up knowing that if they are a little big they can still wear them.  Or are dance shoes something that has to be perfectly fitted?

 

Good luck on the house hunting.  Hope you can find something/  Based on how hard it has been to get meetings with builders, I can only imagine how hard it is to get a house right now.

[mommyoffive]

1 hour ago, cjzimmer1 said:

 I've only gotten the boxes twice but the church that hosted it had it posted on their facebook page.  Going through that it looks like it's been every 2-3 weeks since February. But it doesn't like there will be many more.  Sounds like the program will be ending in May

USDA cancels Farmers to Families Food Box Program | Agriculture | capitalpress.com 

Did your chicken have sauce on it? I was running around yesterday so DD unpacked the boxes and put stuff away.  I had her put the chicken in the freezer since I knew I wouldn't be able to do anything with it for a few days at least and our fridge was pretty stuffed.  Anyways, it looked like it had a sauce but it was partially frozen at that point so I really couldn't tell. 

 

Yeah to new paycheck and cheaper shoes.  At that price are you able to purchase ahead on the shoes?  I know when I find a good deal on things like that, I'll buy the next size or two up knowing that if they are a little big they can still wear them.  Or are dance shoes something that has to be perfectly fitted?

 

Good luck on the house hunting.  Hope you can find something/  Based on how hard it has been to get meetings with builders, I can only imagine how hard it is to get a house right now.

I think the chicken package said it had seasoning on it.  I didn't put anything on it and the kids liked it.  I could have probably made 2 for all of us, but we had other side veggies, baked potatoes, cooked carrots, and a salad. 

Oh that is a bummer the program is ending.  Maybe that is why everyone was stocking up?   Time flies.  I think it was posted on here that it was ending by Historical and now it is already that time.

I really only know about ballet shoes.  I don't have a huge experience with other styles, although my kids did do jazz, tap, hip hop, and modern.    Dance shoes do really have to fit your foot correctly.  They have to fit just right and not be to big or little.  But pointe shoes are even more specific than flat ballet shoes.  So once you get older and stuff I think you can stock up more.  But my oldest has been on pointe since 2 years or so and her foot has grown, gotten stronger, and is different than when she started so she has gone through lots of different kind of pointe shoes.  Different makers, and strengths.   Even teachers only want a certain kind of pointe shoe and don't like other ones.  And you have to have them approved by the teacher at first.  Ballet is so beyond me that I really don't know all about pointe shoes.  I ask the questions, go to the store and have her professionally fitted, and then listed to dd about when her shoes are dead and she needs new ones.  As you get stronger you need a different pointe shoe.  

Anyway  had I known what ballet costs going in, I would not have wanted my kids to go into it.  Or stay at a rec studio where at least the classes are not so expensive. But when you are on pointe and the shoes cost $100 a pair it gets spendy fast.  Pros go through a pair during a show.  DD's friend last year was going through a pair a week last year at the level dd is now.  In the start you don't go through as many because you are not spending as much time dancing pointe.  I would love to stock up on stuff, but this was just something I got off Ebay.  The best sales I have seen on pointe shoes is 20% off a pair.  So still expensive.

Yeah I don't really think we will find a house, but I look just incase.  Dream is we would like land and be closer to dance. 

Edited April 18, 2021 by mommyoffive

[Soror]

Took dd out clothes shopping for her bday(she got money from both grandparents) and got food out for her and friends. We had already went in with her on a phone but I put some extra money aside for the food. Frequently her friend's parents will get her food out as they eat out all the time but I never do this- nearly always buy frozen pizza at Aldi's so it was a big splurge. It was nice to be able to do it as last year we were in lockdown for her 13th and it was a rough time all around. 

I bought some clothes for myself too as I've not hardly done that for a year and a half. At this point I hate everything in my closet (nearly). I had some of my personal spending money left. I have some to return since I couldn't try on anything. I'd still like another pair of shorts and a couple of basic tanks. 

Reconciled the budget this am.

Had internet issues yesterday am and missed my first class teaching which means I don't get paid and get docked $10, ugh. So annoying. That is the first time that has happened in over 2.5 yrs. I finally went down to MIL's house for the rest of my classes. I just hope it doesn't effect my bookings. I'm really hoping to finish out the month with enough to get to 70% vaca + July's taxes.

Edited April 18, 2021 by Soror

[Soror]

Also- paid April quarterly taxes.

Mailed rebate for Menard's (only $5). Paid invoice for tool repair- $61 (shipping was $10 more than expected).

Looked up health insurance and I noticed our pharmacy hasn't sent prescriptions claims all year. I need those to count towards deductible so I'll be calling on Monday (fun!). 

Looked up amount left on PayFlex which was $50 less than I thought. Not sure how I messed that up. 

We finish homeschool this week and I plan on FINALLY going through the younger 2 girl's clothes and inventory what they need for the season.

[mommyoffive]

5 minutes ago, Soror said:

Also- paid April quarterly taxes.

Mailed rebate for Menard's (only $5). Paid invoice for tool repair- $61 (shipping was $10 more than expected).

Looked up health insurance and I noticed our pharmacy hasn't sent prescriptions claims all year. I need those to count towards deductible so I'll be calling on Monday (fun!). 

Looked up amount left on PayFlex which was $50 less than I thought. Not sure how I messed that up. 

We finish homeschool this week and I plan on FINALLY going through the younger 2 girl's clothes and inventory what they need for the season.

Yay for finishing school so early!!  What are your girls doing on their long summer break?  Do you wait until August or Sept to start back? 

That is crazy!  I have no idea if that is normal or not, but that seems nuts on their end.  

 

[mommyoffive]

2 hours ago, Soror said:

Took dd out clothes shopping for her bday(she got money from both grandparents) and got food out for her and friends. We had already went in with her on a phone but I put some extra money aside for the food. Frequently her friend's parents will get her food out as they eat out all the time but I never do this- nearly always buy frozen pizza at Aldi's so it was a big splurge. It was nice to be able to do it as last year we were in lockdown for her 13th and it was a rough time all around. 

I bought some clothes for myself too as I've not hardly done that for a year and a half. At this point I hate everything in my closet (nearly). I had some of my personal spending money left. I have some to return since I couldn't try on anything. I'd still like another pair of shorts and a couple of basic tanks. 

Reconciled the budget this am.

Had internet issues yesterday am and missed my first class teaching which means I don't get paid and get docked $10, ugh. So annoying. That is the first time that has happened in over 2.5 yrs. I finally went down to MIL's house for the rest of my classes. I just hope it doesn't effect my bookings. I'm really hoping to finish out the month with enough to get to 70% vaca + July's taxes.

That really stinks that they dock you for having internet issues.  I get it to the person who doesn't get their lesson, but still seems unfair to dock you for something that is not in your control.   Glad it doesn't happen often to you.  

[mommyoffive]

Saraha are your dh and ds still going on that Utah camping trip?  

[saraha]

34 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Saraha are your dh and ds still going on that Utah camping trip?  

Actually, its dh and dd17 for her 18th birthday, but yes they are! She is super excited. Just this morning dh and I were talking about whether he thought it would be worth the risk to take our 8 passenger van that they could sleep in if they need to, or to rent something small. The van would definitely need to be checked out by mechanic before even considering it since it is 20 years old and 150,000 miles!