heartlikealion Posted October 17, 2022 Share Posted October 17, 2022 7 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said: One of our instant pots died this last week (after 7 years of being used several times a week) and I need a new one. I had hoped to get in on the Target daily deal sale yesterday but they were out of stock when I went to buy one. If y’all see a 5-7 qt instant pot with the yogurt button for under $99 anywhere, can you please let me know? Thanks! Consider Kohl's. You can't use a coupon but you can earn Kohl's cash if that helps at all?? And free shipping. https://www.kohls.com/product/prd-4921012/instant-pot-duo-plus-6-qt-9-in-1-multi-use-pressure-cooker.jsp?prdPV=4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartlikealion Posted October 17, 2022 Share Posted October 17, 2022 @prairiewindmommadid you already look at the Target one? it's right at $99 but maybe you have a Target redcard to bump it down a bit? https://www.target.com/p/instant-pot-6qt-duo-pressure-cooker/-/A-83414555#lnk=sametab 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoffive Posted October 17, 2022 Author Share Posted October 17, 2022 13 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said: One of our instant pots died this last week (after 7 years of being used several times a week) and I need a new one. I had hoped to get in on the Target daily deal sale yesterday but they were out of stock when I went to buy one. If y’all see a 5-7 qt instant pot with the yogurt button for under $99 anywhere, can you please let me know? Thanks! I saw this one today. I don't know if it has all the stuff you want. Crock-Pot Express Oval Pressure Cooker Only $39.99 Shipped on BestBuy.com (Reg. $120) | Slow Cook, Sauté & More (hip2save.com) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted October 17, 2022 Share Posted October 17, 2022 2 hours ago, mommyoffive said: I saw this one today. I don't know if it has all the stuff you want. Crock-Pot Express Oval Pressure Cooker Only $39.99 Shipped on BestBuy.com (Reg. $120) | Slow Cook, Sauté & More (hip2save.com) Thanks, but I think I really am set on an instant pot because it has the plain (not nonstick) stainless steel insert, and I already have the glass lid, silicon storage lid, and other accessories that match it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted October 17, 2022 Share Posted October 17, 2022 2 hours ago, heartlikealion said: @prairiewindmommadid you already look at the Target one? it's right at $99 but maybe you have a Target redcard to bump it down a bit? https://www.target.com/p/instant-pot-6qt-duo-pressure-cooker/-/A-83414555#lnk=sametab That's the one that was $59.99 yesterday that I tried to get in on. Fingers crossed I'll see it again on another holiday sale. I can pay retail if I have to, but am hoping for a good sale. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustEm Posted October 17, 2022 Share Posted October 17, 2022 I really want an 8qt instant pot. I use my 6 qt regularly but our family is so big that I can't make full meals in it with a bit of leftovers. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted October 17, 2022 Share Posted October 17, 2022 1 minute ago, hjffkj said: I really want an 8qt instant pot. I use my 6 qt regularly but our family is so big that I can't make full meals in it with a bit of leftovers. That's how we ended up with two!! Or, it's nice to do rice or beans in one, and chicken thighs or some other protein in the other. I seriously get such good use out of my instant pot(s). In fact, I need to go start some black beans in my remaining one now so I can reheat them for later since I'm going to have to stagger my meal prep. Best wishes to you in your 8 qt dream! 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustEm Posted October 17, 2022 Share Posted October 17, 2022 i made chicken and dumplings in the instant pot for our big lunch today and man if I had the 8 qt I could have even for everyone to have it one more time. My kids had never had chicken and dumplings before and have asked me to make it weekly since trying it today. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted October 17, 2022 Share Posted October 17, 2022 Gas is down quite a bit here. $4.60 at Costco, $5.10-5.15 at most grocery stores, and $5.45-5.50 at the independent gas stations. Food, however, is up markedly again this week. It's really hard to budget when prices are increasing every.single.week. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoffive Posted October 17, 2022 Author Share Posted October 17, 2022 Just now, prairiewindmomma said: Gas is down quite a bit here. $4.60 at Costco, $5.10-5.15 at most grocery stores, and $5.45-5.50 at the independent gas stations. Food, however, is up markedly again this week. It's really hard to budget when prices are increasing every.single.week. I am glad gas is down. But I hear you on the grocery prices. I feel like it is a game to me at this point. Like oh I wonder how much this will be this week. Because I know it won't be the same as last week. All the instant pot love, I never have tried one. I am honestly just loving the crockpot and can't see how I would use it. Also I am I am scared I would blow something up with an instant pot. I have had a few kitchen accidents in my time. 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted October 17, 2022 Share Posted October 17, 2022 Just now, mommyoffive said: All the instant pot love, I never have tried one. I am honestly just loving the crockpot and can't see how I would use it. Also I am I am scared I would blow something up with an instant pot. I have had a few kitchen accidents in my time. 🙂 I went through a series of crockpots during our first 15 or so years of marriage. It seemed like every few years the ceramic insert would crack and die. I was scared of the instant pot blowing up when i first got it, but it really is not like a traditional pressure cooker. I'm totally comfortable letting my elementary aged kids use it. For me, the key trade offs of instant pot > crockpot are: 1. chicken from frozen to ready to eat in 35 minutes---it's so easy to dump frozen breasts or thighs, a jar of sauce, and walk away and come back to food 2. good rice, without a separate rice maker 3. beans from dried cooked to the perfect tenderness in 30 minutes of cook time. It's again a rinse the beans, add water, push a button and put the lid on the pot properly and walk away thing. I felt like beans never came to the proper texture in a crockpot. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustEm Posted October 17, 2022 Share Posted October 17, 2022 13 minutes ago, mommyoffive said: All the instant pot love, I never have tried one. I am honestly just loving the crockpot and can't see how I would use it. Also I am I am scared I would blow something up with an instant pot. I have had a few kitchen accidents in my time. 🙂 I never liked the crockpot. When I had one I only used it, maybe once a week and I never really loved a dish that came from it. Plus, the convenience of a crockpot is the long cooking time and I just never really need that, I'm home all the time. The instant pot can make one pot dishes that have so much more flavor than I could ever get from a crockpot meal. and if I don't one a one pot meal it can make components of a meal while I'm working on the rest of it pretty easily. I haven't made rice in it though but that is because my mom would never give up her rice maker, which I'm fine with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoffive Posted October 17, 2022 Author Share Posted October 17, 2022 17 minutes ago, hjffkj said: I never liked the crockpot. When I had one I only used it, maybe once a week and I never really loved a dish that came from it. Plus, the convenience of a crockpot is the long cooking time and I just never really need that, I'm home all the time. The instant pot can make one pot dishes that have so much more flavor than I could ever get from a crockpot meal. and if I don't one a one pot meal it can make components of a meal while I'm working on the rest of it pretty easily. I haven't made rice in it though but that is because my mom would never give up her rice maker, which I'm fine with. That is why I love the crockpot. I am SAHM, but honestly I am gone so much. I love that I can have something ready when I am back running the kids everywhere. Or that everyone that who is coming and going at different times can just grab a meal warm and ready from the crockpot when they can eat. We love tons of dishes that I make in there. I have also never had my insert in the crockpt die. We are still on our one that we got from our wedding so 18 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustEm Posted October 17, 2022 Share Posted October 17, 2022 1 minute ago, mommyoffive said: That is why I love the crockpot. I am SAHM, but honestly I am gone so much. I love that I can have something ready when I am back running the kids everywhere. Or that everyone that who is coming and going at different times can just grab a meal warm and ready from the crockpot when they can eat. We love tons of dishes that I make in there. I have also never had my insert in the crockpt die. We are still on our one that we got from our wedding so 18 years. impressive. every crockpot i've ever owned cracked within 2 years of owning it. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoffive Posted October 17, 2022 Author Share Posted October 17, 2022 9 minutes ago, hjffkj said: impressive. every crockpot i've ever owned cracked within 2 years of owning it. Nuts. I bet if that happened to me I would give it up too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted October 17, 2022 Share Posted October 17, 2022 4 minutes ago, mommyoffive said: Nuts. I bet if that happened to me I would give it up too. Yeah, I'm thinking you need to go pet and whisper sweet things to your insert. Seriously, you have had astoundingly good luck with it. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjzimmer1 Posted October 17, 2022 Share Posted October 17, 2022 1 hour ago, mommyoffive said: I am glad gas is down. But I hear you on the grocery prices. I feel like it is a game to me at this point. Like oh I wonder how much this will be this week. Because I know it won't be the same as last week. All the instant pot love, I never have tried one. I am honestly just loving the crockpot and can't see how I would use it. Also I am I am scared I would blow something up with an instant pot. I have had a few kitchen accidents in my time. 🙂 Everyone is different but I use to use my crockpot several times a week. I bought an instant pot 3-4 years ago. I haven't used the crockpot even one time since getting the instant pot. But I never made full meals in the crockpot because it was never big enough to do the full meal for my group so I was just doing big hunks of meat while I was gone. And for me, big hunks of meat turn out so much better in the instant pot than the crockpot. And it's so easy to use and there's plenty of safety features built in that you won't blow anything up. It's so easy to use! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustEm Posted October 17, 2022 Share Posted October 17, 2022 In regards to groceries. Prices are getting so ridiculous that I am shopping at multiple stores again per week. I haven't had to do that in years. So, this week I did a grocery pick up at Food Lion where half the things I needed were marked down. And today I ran into Shoprite because they had some amazing prices on produce. Spent $15, got 10 pounds of carrots, 12 pounds of apples, and i can't remember how many pounds of oranges. If I could find a cart I would have gotten squash, which was a stock up price. But all the other regular produce we eat was cheaper at Food Lion. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted October 17, 2022 Share Posted October 17, 2022 36 minutes ago, hjffkj said: In regards to groceries. Prices are getting so ridiculous that I am shopping at multiple stores again per week. I haven't had to do that in years. So, this week I did a grocery pick up at Food Lion where half the things I needed were marked down. And today I ran into Shoprite because they had some amazing prices on produce. Spent $15, got 10 pounds of carrots, 12 pounds of apples, and i can't remember how many pounds of oranges. If I could find a cart I would have gotten squash, which was a stock up price. But all the other regular produce we eat was cheaper at Food Lion. Those are some amazing produce prices! It's such a hassle to hit multiple stores, but I'm glad you're finding good deals! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted October 17, 2022 Share Posted October 17, 2022 We tried an independent produce shop here, which sells things leftover from localish farms, and it was a complete dud in terms of price savings. The best deal I've found so far is buying 55# boxes of "cider grade quality" fuji apples. I can get a box of those for $30. I think I'm going to pass on apple processing this year. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
historically accurate Posted October 17, 2022 Share Posted October 17, 2022 7 hours ago, mommyoffive said: 3 of the kids needed new winter boots. Found out that vision, medical, and dental are not going up for next year!!!!!!!!! I can't even believe that. Our vision isn't going up, but our medical and dental sure are! It sucks. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustEm Posted October 18, 2022 Share Posted October 18, 2022 2 hours ago, prairiewindmomma said: Those are some amazing produce prices! It's such a hassle to hit multiple stores, but I'm glad you're finding good deals! yeah, I don't like doing it but the Food Lion online pick up has the same prices as in the stores so I'll let someone else do the bulk of my shopping since they haven't been inconsistent like Walmart has been. Then I just hit up one or two other stores while already out for dance drop off. So, no added trips just adding 10 minutes to one I already have to do 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoffive Posted October 18, 2022 Author Share Posted October 18, 2022 3 hours ago, hjffkj said: In regards to groceries. Prices are getting so ridiculous that I am shopping at multiple stores again per week. I haven't had to do that in years. So, this week I did a grocery pick up at Food Lion where half the things I needed were marked down. And today I ran into Shoprite because they had some amazing prices on produce. Spent $15, got 10 pounds of carrots, 12 pounds of apples, and i can't remember how many pounds of oranges. If I could find a cart I would have gotten squash, which was a stock up price. But all the other regular produce we eat was cheaper at Food Lion. Wow, awesome prices!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoffive Posted October 18, 2022 Author Share Posted October 18, 2022 2 hours ago, historically accurate said: Our vision isn't going up, but our medical and dental sure are! It sucks. I am sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartlikealion Posted October 18, 2022 Share Posted October 18, 2022 13 hours ago, mommyoffive said: 3 of the kids needed new winter boots. Found out that vision, medical, and dental are not going up for next year!!!!!!!!! I can't even believe that. I misread this the day I reacted. I didn't see "not" going up. I'm no longer covered on xh's dental and I can't get it through my own job because we don't have a big enough staff of FT employees. So today when I went to the dentist I signed up for their ins. plan. Today's visit I had to pay $69 for cleaning and xrays. Then I'll be charged $25/month which covers xrays, cleanings, one emergency visit and discounts on other services needed. I think it's about the same as paying per cleaning but with a little extra peace of mind. I went to Kroger and did find the butter sale but get this... one location ONLY had salted butter and the other location ONLY had unsalted LOL. Maybe it was greedy but I ended up just buying 3 at each store so I could get a variety and because I bake a lot. This current price is what I paid for the same butter last year, it's just a deal because of inflation. Ugh. No pun intended with the "LOL." I was laughing but the butter is Land O Lakes. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted October 18, 2022 Share Posted October 18, 2022 We got official word that none of our health/vision premiums are going up. We don't use the company's dental as we find the plan by our dentist to be better and for less money. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted October 18, 2022 Share Posted October 18, 2022 13 hours ago, heartlikealion said: I went to Kroger and did find the butter sale but get this... one location ONLY had salted butter and the other location ONLY had unsalted LOL. Maybe it was greedy but I ended up just buying 3 at each store so I could get a variety and because I bake a lot. This current price is what I paid for the same butter last year, it's just a deal because of inflation. Ugh. No pun intended with the "LOL." I was laughing but the butter is Land O Lakes. I'm totally curious what your sale prices for Land o Lakes butter is. Walmart carries it cheapest here, at $5.68/lb. Tillamook butter is cheaper here (because local), and it's $5.28/lb. We've cut out a lot of baking due to butter prices. We could regularly find it at $1.99/lb pre-covid. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted October 18, 2022 Share Posted October 18, 2022 It's that time of year when we re-price all of our Rx medications. If you haven't done it, a few tips: 1. GoodRx offers coupons you take to retailers. Those are great, but sometimes the pricing isn't accurate. GoodRx was advertising that the price at Costco was x, but when I checked directly against Costco's pharmacy page this morning, the price was always y and not x. IME, retailers honor the GoodRx coupons.....but today a lot of the Costco prices were lower than the GoodRx Costco pricing. 2. Mark Cuban's costplusdrugs.com website offered really competitive pricing. They only have generic drugs, and a fairly limited list, but on about half of the pricing, it was cheaper to pay cash to them than to run it through my insurance. (The flip side of this is if you have a max rx cap per year and your drug prices are high enough that you hit this---factor this into your calculations.) 3. Re-price your meds at least twice a year. There have been a LOT of changes in drug prices this year especially, and not a few rx meds have moved to OTC. We save $$$$ a year doing this. (And I realize there are some families where people take no regular medications, but for medically complex families, medical is a huge % of the budget.) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartlikealion Posted October 18, 2022 Share Posted October 18, 2022 23 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said: I'm totally curious what your sale prices for Land o Lakes butter is. Walmart carries it cheapest here, at $5.68/lb. Tillamook butter is cheaper here (because local), and it's $5.28/lb. We've cut out a lot of baking due to butter prices. We could regularly find it at $1.99/lb pre-covid. The Kroger sale covers several cities/different states. One person in the baking group said hers was $3/lb after sale but the others said 3.49/lb with sale. Mine rang up 3.49 after sale. Their regular price is apparently $6 marked down to 5.49 then the $2 off sale when buying 3 or more. I wouldn’t pay $6 for a lb since I usually buy it at Walmart. It’s $5.48/lb at my Walmart and was $3.98/lb in 2019 according to my Walmart history. Kroger sale ends today. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plansrme Posted October 18, 2022 Share Posted October 18, 2022 This is so dumb because I know it's not something many people can do, but my office (I have a small law firm) just moved, and our new building has a free gym on the premises. I've been going 4 times/week before work and doing a 12-3-30 workout on the treadmill. Of course I shower at the gym before going upstairs to my office, and my water and gas bills are down. I can't believe **my** 4 showers/week are affecting our water and gas usage. I do not take long showers, and I do a lot of laundry--you would think my 4 would be proverbial drops in the bucket! Both went down when my son left for college (hh went from 5 to 4), but even cutting my showers/week in half is saving about $12/month. When my office moved, I was able to drop a few little subscriptions and such that I had to pay when I shared space with a different firm, which saved me about $100/month. And my new office is exactly half the distance (and probably a third of the drive time) from my old one, so I feel like I never fill up my car any more. Speaking of, gas was 3.04 at Sam's Saturday. It is 3.25 at the closest QT. (Atlanta suburb.) Prices inside Sam's, however, were not great. There are not nearly as many bargains as there used to be. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted October 18, 2022 Share Posted October 18, 2022 1 hour ago, plansrme said: This is so dumb because I know it's not something many people can do, but my office (I have a small law firm) just moved, and our new building has a free gym on the premises. I've been going 4 times/week before work and doing a 12-3-30 workout on the treadmill. Of course I shower at the gym before going upstairs to my office, and my water and gas bills are down. I can't believe **my** 4 showers/week are affecting our water and gas usage. I do not take long showers, and I do a lot of laundry--you would think my 4 would be proverbial drops in the bucket! Both went down when my son left for college (hh went from 5 to 4), but even cutting my showers/week in half is saving about $12/month. That's not dumb at all! Congrats on getting to the gym! Do you think your lower water and gas bills are because you drop down a usage pricing tier, or is this just straight savings? Either way, congrats!! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoffive Posted October 18, 2022 Author Share Posted October 18, 2022 1 hour ago, plansrme said: This is so dumb because I know it's not something many people can do, but my office (I have a small law firm) just moved, and our new building has a free gym on the premises. I've been going 4 times/week before work and doing a 12-3-30 workout on the treadmill. Of course I shower at the gym before going upstairs to my office, and my water and gas bills are down. I can't believe **my** 4 showers/week are affecting our water and gas usage. I do not take long showers, and I do a lot of laundry--you would think my 4 would be proverbial drops in the bucket! Both went down when my son left for college (hh went from 5 to 4), but even cutting my showers/week in half is saving about $12/month. When my office moved, I was able to drop a few little subscriptions and such that I had to pay when I shared space with a different firm, which saved me about $100/month. And my new office is exactly half the distance (and probably a third of the drive time) from my old one, so I feel like I never fill up my car any more. Speaking of, gas was 3.04 at Sam's Saturday. It is 3.25 at the closest QT. (Atlanta suburb.) Prices inside Sam's, however, were not great. There are not nearly as many bargains as there used to be. I loved when my kids were on swim team. They never showered at the house. Go to practice, shower, and come home for dinner and bed. Loved it. It does save money. I filled up for 3.54 last night. I want 3.04! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted October 18, 2022 Share Posted October 18, 2022 We are finally done with our solar install! We had to wait forever---it took about 6 months from contract signing. Design, engineering inspection, permitting, install, city inspection, and electric meter swap phases all had their own wait times. Our electric company worker said that he used to do 1-2 installs a week for our large service area, and now he is doing 6-7 a day, every day. Since he has other work he also has to do, the appointment time took a while. That's pretty much how the whole process went.....delays, and more delays. FWIW, the solar company told us it would take about 6 weeks....so a huge mismatch from what the sales guy said to what actually happened. The company that made the inverters also is the company that has the software that shows us our usage amounts. One of the interesting tidbits is that we can see our usage (& generation) in quarter hour increments. It had been hard to figure out how much energy our dishwasher or other big appliances used because the plugs are hard to access (and so we skipped that process with the kill-a-watt meter). We've been going through and using those big appliances like the dishwasher one at a time and the surprise has been that our usage most clearly jumps when our hot tub heater kicks on. It's by far our biggest electricity user, aside from our air conditioning. The water cycle pump on the hot tub doesn't do much at all. We see blips with the dishwasher or the washing machine, but those are energy star certified, so are not huge demands. We have a thick insulating cover and a new heating element and motor on the hot tub, so we've made it as efficient as we can....it's just not efficient at all. If electric prices really jump, it's info that will make me feel better about draining it and letting it sit empty for a while. With the way that our net metering works, when we use energy doesn't matter for pricing purposes, but we're starting to figure out more what we would want on our critical loads panel if we ever decide to do battery backups. We're also working towards energy independence, and so we're getting good info there as well....trying to figure out how we're "spending" our electricity.... 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoffive Posted October 19, 2022 Author Share Posted October 19, 2022 The typical U.S. household is spending $445 more a month due to inflation. Here's how to reduce the bite (msn.com) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartlikealion Posted October 19, 2022 Share Posted October 19, 2022 8 minutes ago, mommyoffive said: The typical U.S. household is spending $445 more a month due to inflation. Here's how to reduce the bite (msn.com) I don’t buy eggs very often. That was high on the list. Last time I did buy better quality eggs because of health but I can easily swap back. Next time I’ll probably buy eggs at Sam’s Club. ——- I’m working on fall fest booth prep still and the event is tomorrow. I found a door snake I made that I never used (intended to sell last year but didn’t finish in time). I’ll add that to my sale items. If it wasn’t for my plantar fasciitis I would look into a local side job. I just cannot be on my feet more than about an hour at a time. Still no job interviews but I don’t think the positions I applied to have been filled yet (indeed shows the status on some. Others say less because you apply directly on the company site). If Hulu offers the 99¢/mo Black Friday deal I’ll sign up this year. I’m on a nanny/babysitter agency site and haven’t had a job I could take in weeks. The daytime crew gets most of them. And for the last min jobs they often don’t disclose all the info. I don’t want to have to ask every time “what age?” I don’t want to watch babies/toddlers and they know it. I rarely ever see parents of school age children ask for sitters. Why not?? They aren’t old enough to stay home alone. Guess the parents have family to help or never go out. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoffive Posted October 20, 2022 Author Share Posted October 20, 2022 A cooler than normal winter is forecast for a dozen states amid rising energy costs (msn.com) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartlikealion Posted October 20, 2022 Share Posted October 20, 2022 (edited) At this event — $25 vendor booth fee. Had to bring dd because it’s my day — she wanted to do bounce house etc which required a $15 wrist band 😩 Just met xh’s fiancée and her son. He enrolled at the kids’ school and started this week apparently. As I was typing this a woman that bought a bunch of boot shapers last year came by and said she loves them but kept them all instead of gifting 🤣 so she wants to order more. I said depends if I have time and can get all the supplies. I didn’t make any for today. She still has my number so I may do custom order. Edited October 20, 2022 by heartlikealion 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartlikealion Posted October 21, 2022 Share Posted October 21, 2022 By end of night I earned back booth fee but I also bought dd a school uniform jacket at uniform booth and got us fast food on way home since it was so late. So definitely in the hole but I’m ok. Gave out business card to a couple people in case they want custom orders. Got a babysitter app notification that they need someone Halloween weekend for ~5 hours. I took the gig. I have babysat for the family before and actually ran into them recently while working at a church fest. If the parents want me to take kids trick or treating or something I’m fine with that. By default babysitting app wants you to earn $18/hr. After cost of gas I’ll still make some profit. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shoeless Posted October 21, 2022 Share Posted October 21, 2022 7 hours ago, heartlikealion said: At this event — $25 vendor booth fee. Had to bring dd because it’s my day — she wanted to do bounce house etc which required a $15 wrist band 😩 Just met xh’s fiancée and her son. He enrolled at the kids’ school and started this week apparently. As I was typing this a woman that bought a bunch of boot shapers last year came by and said she loves them but kept them all instead of gifting 🤣 so she wants to order more. I said depends if I have time and can get all the supplies. I didn’t make any for today. She still has my number so I may do custom order. Those cookies look good! and I love the Snoopy stickers ❤️ 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shoeless Posted October 21, 2022 Share Posted October 21, 2022 DS14 and I got our flu shots today, ($0 cost). We got Covid boosters a few weeks ago, (also $0). I realized that DS14 and I both need new coats this year. He was able to squeak by in a kids 10/12 last winter, but now needs a men's Small. My old coat is now too big, which is a shame because it's in great shape and I really liked it! I got lucky and found a Land's End jacket at Goodwill for $10 and a set of the Joy Hakim science books for $6. I'm going to flip the books on eBay to pay for the jacket. I still need heavier/warmer coats for both of us. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plansrme Posted October 21, 2022 Share Posted October 21, 2022 On 10/18/2022 at 4:20 PM, prairiewindmomma said: That's not dumb at all! Congrats on getting to the gym! Do you think your lower water and gas bills are because you drop down a usage pricing tier, or is this just straight savings? Either way, congrats!! Good question, and I don't know. It might be that we were on the edge of a tier. Hmmm. I do know that the potential savings is one of the things that gets me out of bed in the mornings! Not THE thing, you know, but ONE of the things I think about as the bed tries to pull me back into it. My goal is to lose 10 pounds by Christmas. I think I'm on pace. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoffive Posted October 21, 2022 Author Share Posted October 21, 2022 Target 25% off one toy or book good through November 12th. Available in target circle. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoffive Posted October 21, 2022 Author Share Posted October 21, 2022 The IRS said Friday that the maximum contribution that an individual can make in 2023 to a 401(k), 403(b) and most 457 plans will be $22,500. That's up from $20,500 this year. People aged 50 and over, which have the option to make additional “catch-up” contributions to 401(k) and similar plans, will be able to contribute up to $7,500 next year, up from $6,500 this year. That's means a 401(k) saver who is 50 or older can contribute a maximum of $30,000 to their retirement plan in 2023. The IRS also raised the 2023 annual contribution limits on individual retirement arrangements, or IRAs, to $6,500, up from $6,000 this year. The IRA “catch-up” contribution limit remains at $1,000, as it's not subject to an annual cost of living adjustment, the IRS said. IRS raises contribution limits for retirement savings plans (msn.com) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoffive Posted October 21, 2022 Author Share Posted October 21, 2022 The IRS just changed its tax brackets. Here's the impact on your taxes. - CBS News Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartlikealion Posted October 21, 2022 Share Posted October 21, 2022 Ordered a puzzle mat, but it doesn't stay flat so I sent it back today. I chose refund, but for some reason it says they are sending a replacement so I sent a message to the seller to try to correct that. I looked at some membership options for the children's museum because dd gets in with her membership, but I don't have one. I called xh to ask if he would mind if I paid the difference to add a member to the account, but I didn't want to assume because he might want to add future step son and/or fianceé. Well it turns out there's an option for 6 members and that's what he's upgrading to when current membership expires (Nov) so he said he planned to make me member #6 on the acct. I offered to contribute, but he said no need. I looked up the plans again and there's an option for 3, 4, 6, and 9 people per membership. So I guess I just lucked out (he couldn't choose 5 lol). Not that we will go all the time, but it will be nice. Right now if I take dd, I have to fork over $10 to get in so I haven't been taking her. We are going to library event tomorrow and I will pick up a couple items at the store while we're out. There's some pillsbury coupon so if I remember I'll look at the dough this weekend. One of these days we are going to try to do the homemade Little Caesar crazy bread with a recipe I saw online. https://thekrazycouponlady.com/2022/10/20/pillsbury-crescent-rolls-only-0-92-at-kroger I think one posting combined ibotta and Fetch. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted October 21, 2022 Share Posted October 21, 2022 On 10/20/2022 at 11:56 AM, mommyoffive said: A cooler than normal winter is forecast for a dozen states amid rising energy costs (msn.com) The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) just updated their forecast on natural gas outlooks....thought you might want to take a gander: https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/steo/report/natgas.php regional price outlook: https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/steo/pdf/wf01.pdf winter fuels outlook (oil, natural gas, electricity, propane): https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/steo/special/winter/2022_winter_fuels.pdf So, for me, based on the above data, as a natural gas heat family, and if we get that 10% cooler projected because of La Nina conditions, they project +51% from last winter's costs. Fun times. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoffive Posted October 21, 2022 Author Share Posted October 21, 2022 Just now, prairiewindmomma said: The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) just updated their forecast on natural gas outlooks....thought you might want to take a gander: https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/steo/report/natgas.php regional price outlook: https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/steo/pdf/wf01.pdf winter fuels outlook (oil, natural gas, electricity, propane): https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/steo/special/winter/2022_winter_fuels.pdf So, for me, based on the above data, as a natural gas heat family, and if we get that 10% cooler projected because of La Nina conditions, they project +51% from last winter's costs. Fun times. OH my!!! I can't even look. I know that we are supposed to be colder this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Condessa Posted October 21, 2022 Share Posted October 21, 2022 A while ago my go-to store for eggs was still 8.49 for 5 dozen medium eggs way lower than anywhere else around, and I bought two. Then it went up to 14.95, and I went through all we had and was just doing without for about a week before they dropped back down to 9.79 last week. I bought a pack, and now wish I had gotten two again, because they are now 12.98. If eggs are still nuts like this next spring, I will try to buy chickens from the hatchery. I have heard that they sell off many of their layers for a good price after the big chick season in the spring. I expect that demand might make them hard to get, though. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Condessa Posted October 21, 2022 Share Posted October 21, 2022 On 10/20/2022 at 12:56 PM, mommyoffive said: A cooler than normal winter is forecast for a dozen states amid rising energy costs (msn.com) I guess we need to make use of the fireplaces and wood heat this winter. It’s kind of a pain, but lucky for us we have the option. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoffive Posted October 23, 2022 Author Share Posted October 23, 2022 Grocery order in for the week. Of course things jumped up in price. Some more than $2. :( 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.