Here's a picture of our beautiful kitchen. I wasn't able to fit the refrigerator and dishwasher in the picture.
Saturday, December 30, 2017
Kitchen picture
Here's a picture of our beautiful kitchen. I wasn't able to fit the refrigerator and dishwasher in the picture.
Blinds and new bed
I went to Lowe's last night with my husband to get some information regarding measurements of windows. The Lowe's folks were very helpful and set this up for us. They are going to send out someone to measure all the windows for 35 dollars total. The measurements will be sent to Lowe's and once they receive the measurements we are going to be able to call them to set up a time to order blinds. My mother in law ordered blinds through J C Penny and we had to return them as they were too big for the windows. JC Penny put the return costs back on my mother in law's credit card. JC Penny is funny. They wanted to give us a gift certificate to ensure that we spent money in their store and we stood our ground and asked that the cash be returned to the credit card twice.
I went to Big Lots last night in search of thermal curtains for each of the kids rooms. I found three pairs of the same color and curtain rods to go with them. The curtains were 24 dollars a pair and I paid for these in cash with some of the money I had left over from the paycheck.
We also bought a new bed last night. My husband and I have been talking about a new bed for months now and now that we are finally in our forever retirement home it was more than time. I took the money out of my savings to purchase the bed (which included the mattress, box spring, frame, head board, and foot board) and the total cost was about 1,000 dollars including delivery fees.
We still need curtains for the living room, dining room, the glass sliding door, and our room. The curtains will have to wait until maybe the end of January until we see how the cash flow is going to work out.
I had a gift card for Lowe's and a 10 percent off coupon. The gift card was for 22 dollars. I bought two large buckets of HE laundry soap and dryer sheets. The cost was 17 dollars. This price combined with the 35 dollar fee for the measurements of the windows was not very high. The 10 percent coupon was used and the gift card was used. I ended up paying 34 dollars total.
I went to Big Lots last night in search of thermal curtains for each of the kids rooms. I found three pairs of the same color and curtain rods to go with them. The curtains were 24 dollars a pair and I paid for these in cash with some of the money I had left over from the paycheck.
We also bought a new bed last night. My husband and I have been talking about a new bed for months now and now that we are finally in our forever retirement home it was more than time. I took the money out of my savings to purchase the bed (which included the mattress, box spring, frame, head board, and foot board) and the total cost was about 1,000 dollars including delivery fees.
We still need curtains for the living room, dining room, the glass sliding door, and our room. The curtains will have to wait until maybe the end of January until we see how the cash flow is going to work out.
I had a gift card for Lowe's and a 10 percent off coupon. The gift card was for 22 dollars. I bought two large buckets of HE laundry soap and dryer sheets. The cost was 17 dollars. This price combined with the 35 dollar fee for the measurements of the windows was not very high. The 10 percent coupon was used and the gift card was used. I ended up paying 34 dollars total.
Using our pantry
I was looking through the pantry, fridge, and freezer this morning and we are starting to have several holes since we have been eating more from the pantry and doing less grocery shopping. I had to take my middle DD to work this morning at Dollar General. I ended up buying a gallon of milk while I was there since we needed it and paid cash.
3.75 a gallon.
So, since we have several holes in the pantry and the recycling was picked up yesterday by the city, our recycling was very full and almost overflowing. I found a recipe online for a crock pot scalloped potato recipe. We have a lot of ham left over from our Thanksgiving meal and was in the freezer. I used some of the odd pieces and cut them up to use with the scalloped potatoes. I am saving the nicer slices for sandwiches and such.
We only had 8 potatoes and I used all of them. The recipe is below. We will more than likely have some green beans as our veggies this evening. I can easily warm the frozen ones up in the microwave to keep costs down.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/47860/slow-cooker-scalloped-potatoes-with-ham/
3.75 a gallon.
So, since we have several holes in the pantry and the recycling was picked up yesterday by the city, our recycling was very full and almost overflowing. I found a recipe online for a crock pot scalloped potato recipe. We have a lot of ham left over from our Thanksgiving meal and was in the freezer. I used some of the odd pieces and cut them up to use with the scalloped potatoes. I am saving the nicer slices for sandwiches and such.
We only had 8 potatoes and I used all of them. The recipe is below. We will more than likely have some green beans as our veggies this evening. I can easily warm the frozen ones up in the microwave to keep costs down.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/47860/slow-cooker-scalloped-potatoes-with-ham/
January Goals
Since moving into our new home and experiencing the move twice in a year has been a bit overwhelming. The first move was from Virginia to Florida and that including selling our house and renting while our forever home was being built. The second move was from the rental to the forever home. Moving is very expensive regardless of distance.
Some of the January goals I have include the following:
~transfer retirement from old employer to new employer plan
~maintain 75 dollars every two weeks as a direct deposit from my pay into the savings
~cancel CVS prescription coverage for my husband once all his meds are processed through the 90 day mail order
~order new blinds for 8 windows and one large sliding door
~buy curtains for my bedroom
~buy curtains for the living room window and two windows in the dining room
~maintain the current standard of living and keep any cash flow that is left over from each pay period to put an additional deposit into the savings.
~continue using our pantry as wisely as possible as funds are tight and remain so until we are financially settled into our new home.
~Bed delivery
~measuring windows for blinds installation
Some of the January goals I have include the following:
~transfer retirement from old employer to new employer plan
~maintain 75 dollars every two weeks as a direct deposit from my pay into the savings
~cancel CVS prescription coverage for my husband once all his meds are processed through the 90 day mail order
~order new blinds for 8 windows and one large sliding door
~buy curtains for my bedroom
~buy curtains for the living room window and two windows in the dining room
~maintain the current standard of living and keep any cash flow that is left over from each pay period to put an additional deposit into the savings.
~continue using our pantry as wisely as possible as funds are tight and remain so until we are financially settled into our new home.
~Bed delivery
~measuring windows for blinds installation
Friday, December 29, 2017
Dinner tonight
I am learning how to add pictures to my blog. I made a from scratch pizza for the troops for dinner tonight. I have a great recipe from all recipies.com for an amazing garlic Parmesan crust that can be made in the bread machine.
I had half a bag of mozzarella in the fridge that needed to be used. I opened a small can of no salt tomato sauce and added some garlic, onion, and Italian seasoning to it. I took out a storage bag of ham that was in the freezer from our Thanksgiving dinner. I cut up a small portion of the ham into tiny pieces and added it to the pizza. I added fresh garlic to the pizza.
It turned out amazing and we cut thin slices for the five of us and we were able to have two slices each. The kids ended up having some canned soup with their pizza. It helps to keep the budget intact not ordering out and cost effective.
403B and Savings
I was able to contact the new retirement plan as I had a question regarding an account number. I have been trying to transfer my old 403B into my new retirement plan but did not have an account number. I was told that it was the social security was the account number. I will print out the paperwork at work tomorrow night and get it sent to my old 403 B plan in order to get the funds transferred over to the new plan.
I have adjusted my direct deposit at work. I requested that 75 dollars every two weeks are placed in my savings account. This was the first week that it went through and I am hoping not to feel it in the budget. I want to continue to have funds placed in the account to keep the balance at an amount that would be appropriate for an emergency.
We received our full security deposit back from the rental house. 1500 dollars went right into the savings. my savings account has 9700 in it right now and I am very proud to have the amount in there for emergencies. The account is in my name only since my husband has a spending issue.
The money in the savings is considered "our money" however he does not have access to it.
75 dollars every two weeks will equal 1950 in a year for the savings. I have 65 T in my retirement from my old 403B which I was contributing 10 percent. I am currently contributing 4 percent to my new plan with an employer contribution of 4 percent.
Every little bit that can be put towards retirement and savings is a blessing.
I have adjusted my direct deposit at work. I requested that 75 dollars every two weeks are placed in my savings account. This was the first week that it went through and I am hoping not to feel it in the budget. I want to continue to have funds placed in the account to keep the balance at an amount that would be appropriate for an emergency.
We received our full security deposit back from the rental house. 1500 dollars went right into the savings. my savings account has 9700 in it right now and I am very proud to have the amount in there for emergencies. The account is in my name only since my husband has a spending issue.
The money in the savings is considered "our money" however he does not have access to it.
75 dollars every two weeks will equal 1950 in a year for the savings. I have 65 T in my retirement from my old 403B which I was contributing 10 percent. I am currently contributing 4 percent to my new plan with an employer contribution of 4 percent.
Every little bit that can be put towards retirement and savings is a blessing.
Keeping an eye on the budget
Keeping en eye on the budget means that I have to be very careful with the income, bills, and costs that can disrupt the budget.
I have received four notices in the mail regarding the new homeowner insurance coverage for our new house. This was paid for the year when I closed on December 8th. I called the company three times and stated that the cost for the first year was paid in full at the time of closing and I had the paperwork from closing in front of me that showed exactly how the closing costs were distributed to the various folks.
After I received the fourth notice I called the company again for the fourth time and requested a receipt from them to be emailed to me stating that they did indeed receive and credit the payment to my account. This has finally been sent to me along with a letter stating that they did receive the payment and that this has been cleared up on their end.
If I didn't question the bill and the costs I would of paid 350 dollars to the insurance company. We are currently looking into changing homeowner insurance back to State Farm who we had while owning in Virginia. We have an appointment with them on January 9th.
Our mental health doc sent everyone's prescriptions to the 90 day mail order. I was hesitant to do this with my husband since he also has medicare and presciption coverage through CVS. I was paying 20 dollars a month for each of his prescriptions through CVS. My mail order came through and was delivered today for my husband's lithium prescription. He got a 90 day supply (450 tablets) for 10 dollars. I couldn't believe it. I am going to cancel his prescription coverage through CVS. His prescription coverage through CVS cost 34 dollars a month not including the 20 dollar co pay for each medication. He takes five maintenance meds for his schizophrenia. I am waiting to see how much the rest of his medications are going to cost through the mail order.
I am not sure how much money this will save us. I am hoping to have an amount after I get his prescriptions delivered and look over the receipts.
Yesterday we received the final cable bill from our rental. We had cable and internet through Comcast. We disconnected the cable on December 8th when we closed for the rental. I got a bill in the mail for mid December to mid January for the rental. I had my husband call the cable company last night because the bill was for 160 dollars. We transferred our contract to the new house and only opted to get the internet since we do not watch much television. The internet bill is about 50 dollars a month. Comcast told my husband last night that the person who placed the order in the computer at Comcast did not place the order correctly and added us as a new customer instead of transferring the contract to our new house. I was going to be charged 200 dollars for breaking the contract in addition to a years worth of cable bills.
The comcast folks were very helpful last night on the phone. The order was adjusted and edited stating that we transferred the contract and service to our new home. The bill for 160 dollars and the 200 hundred dollar fee has been waived and I am no longer responsible for the bill. I paid the last bill for the internet and cable at the rental a few weeks ago. Our new bill for internet only is going to be about 54 dollars a month.
I am very thankful that I am questioning unusual bills that we have received in the past few weeks.
I have received four notices in the mail regarding the new homeowner insurance coverage for our new house. This was paid for the year when I closed on December 8th. I called the company three times and stated that the cost for the first year was paid in full at the time of closing and I had the paperwork from closing in front of me that showed exactly how the closing costs were distributed to the various folks.
After I received the fourth notice I called the company again for the fourth time and requested a receipt from them to be emailed to me stating that they did indeed receive and credit the payment to my account. This has finally been sent to me along with a letter stating that they did receive the payment and that this has been cleared up on their end.
If I didn't question the bill and the costs I would of paid 350 dollars to the insurance company. We are currently looking into changing homeowner insurance back to State Farm who we had while owning in Virginia. We have an appointment with them on January 9th.
Our mental health doc sent everyone's prescriptions to the 90 day mail order. I was hesitant to do this with my husband since he also has medicare and presciption coverage through CVS. I was paying 20 dollars a month for each of his prescriptions through CVS. My mail order came through and was delivered today for my husband's lithium prescription. He got a 90 day supply (450 tablets) for 10 dollars. I couldn't believe it. I am going to cancel his prescription coverage through CVS. His prescription coverage through CVS cost 34 dollars a month not including the 20 dollar co pay for each medication. He takes five maintenance meds for his schizophrenia. I am waiting to see how much the rest of his medications are going to cost through the mail order.
I am not sure how much money this will save us. I am hoping to have an amount after I get his prescriptions delivered and look over the receipts.
Yesterday we received the final cable bill from our rental. We had cable and internet through Comcast. We disconnected the cable on December 8th when we closed for the rental. I got a bill in the mail for mid December to mid January for the rental. I had my husband call the cable company last night because the bill was for 160 dollars. We transferred our contract to the new house and only opted to get the internet since we do not watch much television. The internet bill is about 50 dollars a month. Comcast told my husband last night that the person who placed the order in the computer at Comcast did not place the order correctly and added us as a new customer instead of transferring the contract to our new house. I was going to be charged 200 dollars for breaking the contract in addition to a years worth of cable bills.
The comcast folks were very helpful last night on the phone. The order was adjusted and edited stating that we transferred the contract and service to our new home. The bill for 160 dollars and the 200 hundred dollar fee has been waived and I am no longer responsible for the bill. I paid the last bill for the internet and cable at the rental a few weeks ago. Our new bill for internet only is going to be about 54 dollars a month.
I am very thankful that I am questioning unusual bills that we have received in the past few weeks.
Tuesday, December 26, 2017
Nothing going to waste.
I put our turkey in the oven yesterday morning at nine after I made our stuffing (I didn't put any in the turkey but usually I do) and went for a walk around the development. It was very pleasant to get outside and enjoy some alone time.
We had our Christmas lunch/dinner at 2 pm and enjoyed turkey, gravy (all though very thin), mashed potatoes, corn (I forgot the green veggies), some carrots I cooked with the turkey, and our sausage/apple/sage stuffing. There were five of us to feed and I thought the turkey was 21 pounds. My mistake since it was only 11 pounds.
Yesterday afternoon when our Christmas Day lunch/dinner was over my husband and I went for a walk around the new development. All the house are being built or recently finished being built. A portion of the homes are occupied and some (not ours) have lights and decorations in the yard for Christmas. We were walking our dog and enjoying the cool weather. When we were finished with our walk I was able to get all the skin, bones, and frame into the crock pot to make turkey broth. I didn't add any spices to this because I had spiced the turkey prior to baking.
Later yesterday evening my husband made a few turkey sandwiches, my oldest had some turkey and mashed potatoes, and my middle daughter had some stuffing and gravy for dinner. My son opted for a peanut butter sandwich and half a banana. I didn't eat because I wasn't hungry after our late lunch. I made a cup of decaf tea to enjoy with them while they ate.
My husband and I went for another walk at the local park. The Tavares park was light up for Christmas and it is really strange to see palm trees with Christmas lights. There was some music playing from one of the local restaurants that were open at the park (it's a bar and grill type place and they always have the best music). We walked together along the lake, the bridge, the park, and met some folks with their furry companions. I was dressed in my long pants and a t shirt with a sweater that zipped up. My husband was in his shorts, a tee shirt, and flip flops. He mentioned after about 30 minutes that he forgot how chilly the park and lake are once the sun goes down in the "winter months". We left after his statement because he is worried about getting a cold or a virus from the cooler weather. I was pretty comfortable in my pants and zippered sweater with my hat.
I ended up going to bed before 9 pm. The turkey bones, skin, and frame were still in the crock pot. When I got up this morning I checked the crock pot and we had beautiful turkey stock. I strained everything and put the turkey stock in two 45 ounce butter containers. The two containers are about 2/3 full and cooling in the fridge. They eventually will be going into the freezer for soup. This is the best resource when funds are tight and very cost effective when getting the most out of a bird such as the turkey. We do this with all the chicken bones and skin also. We haven't baked any chicken in a while though.
We still have a lot of Christmas dinner left. We will have turkey sandwiches today. If the potatoes and corn do not get eaten today they will make their way into a Shepard's pie this week. I am pretty sure the stuffing and gravy will be gone first since everyone really enjoyed that.
I have to take my middle daughter to work soon. I am sitting here typing, drinking a cup of decaf tea and enjoying a banana. She made herself two scrambled eggs for breakfast.
We had our Christmas lunch/dinner at 2 pm and enjoyed turkey, gravy (all though very thin), mashed potatoes, corn (I forgot the green veggies), some carrots I cooked with the turkey, and our sausage/apple/sage stuffing. There were five of us to feed and I thought the turkey was 21 pounds. My mistake since it was only 11 pounds.
Yesterday afternoon when our Christmas Day lunch/dinner was over my husband and I went for a walk around the new development. All the house are being built or recently finished being built. A portion of the homes are occupied and some (not ours) have lights and decorations in the yard for Christmas. We were walking our dog and enjoying the cool weather. When we were finished with our walk I was able to get all the skin, bones, and frame into the crock pot to make turkey broth. I didn't add any spices to this because I had spiced the turkey prior to baking.
Later yesterday evening my husband made a few turkey sandwiches, my oldest had some turkey and mashed potatoes, and my middle daughter had some stuffing and gravy for dinner. My son opted for a peanut butter sandwich and half a banana. I didn't eat because I wasn't hungry after our late lunch. I made a cup of decaf tea to enjoy with them while they ate.
My husband and I went for another walk at the local park. The Tavares park was light up for Christmas and it is really strange to see palm trees with Christmas lights. There was some music playing from one of the local restaurants that were open at the park (it's a bar and grill type place and they always have the best music). We walked together along the lake, the bridge, the park, and met some folks with their furry companions. I was dressed in my long pants and a t shirt with a sweater that zipped up. My husband was in his shorts, a tee shirt, and flip flops. He mentioned after about 30 minutes that he forgot how chilly the park and lake are once the sun goes down in the "winter months". We left after his statement because he is worried about getting a cold or a virus from the cooler weather. I was pretty comfortable in my pants and zippered sweater with my hat.
I ended up going to bed before 9 pm. The turkey bones, skin, and frame were still in the crock pot. When I got up this morning I checked the crock pot and we had beautiful turkey stock. I strained everything and put the turkey stock in two 45 ounce butter containers. The two containers are about 2/3 full and cooling in the fridge. They eventually will be going into the freezer for soup. This is the best resource when funds are tight and very cost effective when getting the most out of a bird such as the turkey. We do this with all the chicken bones and skin also. We haven't baked any chicken in a while though.
We still have a lot of Christmas dinner left. We will have turkey sandwiches today. If the potatoes and corn do not get eaten today they will make their way into a Shepard's pie this week. I am pretty sure the stuffing and gravy will be gone first since everyone really enjoyed that.
I have to take my middle daughter to work soon. I am sitting here typing, drinking a cup of decaf tea and enjoying a banana. She made herself two scrambled eggs for breakfast.
Monday, December 25, 2017
Using what we have
I baked the chicken wings that my cousin brought over yesterday for our Christmas Eve celebration at their house. They bought the wings from Publix (expensive store) and I cut them into separate sections (wings and drumsticks). There was the tiny piece at each end and I saved these to make chicken stock.
We are not wasting or throwing out any food. Food is expensive and we are doing our best to use our resources wisely. I took the tiny pieces that were left and put them in a sauce pan. I added some spices and a bit of water. I let this simmer for about two hours in low. We ended up with a cup of beautiful chicken stock which I put into our apple/sausage stuffing this morning.
I had some turkey stock in the fridge that needed to go. I added some of this in the stuffing to keep it moist while baking in the oven. The turkey stock was in the freezer from our Thanksgiving and we are trying to use this up.
The turkey is in the oven. The stuffing is made. We are going to have some mashed potatoes, gravy (I am going to attempt from scratch gravy), I put some carrots in the turkey bag, and we will have some broccoli with our dinner.
We had our doc appointments this week and our copay was 40 dollars per person. I paid 120 dollars and we were able to get prescriptions sent to our mail order pharmacy for our maintenance medications. They should be coming in a week or so and we have to have the money aside for this expense.
Our mortgage payment is due February first. I have the money in my checking account and am waiting for the first statement to arrive. I would like to stay a month ahead on the mortgage or pay every two weeks in order to cut down on the interest.
We do not have the heat on. The weather is about 60 degrees outside and I ended up opening a few windows as it was about 76 degrees in the house. We are not running the air conditioning since we are working to keep the electric bill within a reasonable amount.
I was looking over the HOA regulations that were given to me when I closed on our home. I asked my husband how he would feel about a clothes line. The regulations state that a clothes line is not an option unless you have a 6 foot fenced (either pvc or wooden fence) yard and the clothes line could not be seen. I can not justify going into additional debt to put up a fence for a clothes line. We will have to get some drying racks to put on our covered porch.
Sunday, December 24, 2017
Christmas Blessings
I was reading online yesterday about a family in this area that was having hard times. The post stated that they were having financial problems before Hurricaine Irma (in September) and this continued for the next few months. They stated that the daughter was recently found to be pregnant and the only income was from the elderly grandmother (which I guess would be either social security or some kind of pension). They stated that they were not able to have Christmas dinner due to limited resources.
Well, I talked to my husband yesterday and we decided to give this family a Christmas blessing. I packed up a few bags of groceries from the kitchen. I gave them a dozen eggs, one whole chicken, a large pork roast, a loaf of bread, a unopened jar of peanut butter, several cans of tuna fish, several cans of various soups (chicken noodle and tomato), some boxed crackers, one pound bag of rice, one large onion, three bags of frozen vegetables, and several large potatoes (maybe three pounds I guess). We asked them for an address and rode about 30 minutes to their house and dropped off the groceries.
I didn't ask them any questions about their situation because honestly it is not any of my business. I felt that we are blessed to be in our home, after deciding to move and sell our house, starting a new job, and having an intact savings account. I felt that it would be nice to help another family who is struggling to have several meals for the next week or two. If they can stretch the whole chicken and the pork roast for several meals they may have enough to get by and ease some hardship for a week or maybe two.
My husband didn't say much about what I was giving them. He did ask me why I wanted to do it. I told him that we are blessed to be in a good area and have a better life than years ago. I told him that Christmas was about helping others in their time of need. He drove with me and my son helped me unload the groceries and deliver them. It was a great adventure yesterday afternoon.
I took the delivered groceries out of our kitchen pantry and didn't think twice about donating them to the family in need.
Well, I talked to my husband yesterday and we decided to give this family a Christmas blessing. I packed up a few bags of groceries from the kitchen. I gave them a dozen eggs, one whole chicken, a large pork roast, a loaf of bread, a unopened jar of peanut butter, several cans of tuna fish, several cans of various soups (chicken noodle and tomato), some boxed crackers, one pound bag of rice, one large onion, three bags of frozen vegetables, and several large potatoes (maybe three pounds I guess). We asked them for an address and rode about 30 minutes to their house and dropped off the groceries.
I didn't ask them any questions about their situation because honestly it is not any of my business. I felt that we are blessed to be in our home, after deciding to move and sell our house, starting a new job, and having an intact savings account. I felt that it would be nice to help another family who is struggling to have several meals for the next week or two. If they can stretch the whole chicken and the pork roast for several meals they may have enough to get by and ease some hardship for a week or maybe two.
My husband didn't say much about what I was giving them. He did ask me why I wanted to do it. I told him that we are blessed to be in a good area and have a better life than years ago. I told him that Christmas was about helping others in their time of need. He drove with me and my son helped me unload the groceries and deliver them. It was a great adventure yesterday afternoon.
I took the delivered groceries out of our kitchen pantry and didn't think twice about donating them to the family in need.
Christmas plans
We are supposed to go to our cousin's house for Christmas Eve and apparently for Christmas Day. I miss understood and thought we are only going to go for Christmas Eve. Well, when my husband's cousin contacted me yesterday she mentioned that she was going to cook a full Christmas dinner. I reminder her that it was supposed to be Christmas Eve for appetizers and exchanging secret Santa stockings. I was wrong. It is for both days.
I talked to my husband about the mistake. I asked him if he would be upset if we choose to stay home on Christmas. He agreed that we could stay home since I was off work and my daughters were off work. I mentioned this to our cousin and she was a bit taken back but stated that her husband would be thrilled to watch football and yell at the telelvision all afternoon. I invited them over for Christmas dinner. I honestly did not want to go both eve and day to spend hours over there.
Christmas Eve appetizers: The cousins dropped off a package of chicken wings and asked me to cook them. I offered to help prepare some snacks and they accepted my offer. They even bought the chicken wings (I didn't ask them too). They are going to make several dips, have veggies, fruit, and fudge. I am going to cook the wings, bring chips, a few bottles of soda, and make some lemon bars from a mix I have in the pantry. There are going to be nine of us total.
Christmas Day: I have a turkey thawed in the fridge for Christmas dinner. It is about 20 pounds. We will have turkey coming out of our ears by the time we are done with it. I am going to bake it in the oven. We will have sausage, sage, apple stuffing (I make my own with bread cubes, chicken stock, onion, celery, some spices, garlic, Italian sausage and two chopped up apples). We are also going to have some mashed potatoes, green beans, and maybe some broccoli. We do not have any dessert unless our secret santa stockings have chocolate in them.
After our turkey dinner, the turkey will be sliced and cut for future dinners. We will have enough turkey for sandwiches (my husband loves left over turkey sandwiches), future meals, and we will put the frame and bones in the crock pot for soup stock.
I talked to my husband about the mistake. I asked him if he would be upset if we choose to stay home on Christmas. He agreed that we could stay home since I was off work and my daughters were off work. I mentioned this to our cousin and she was a bit taken back but stated that her husband would be thrilled to watch football and yell at the telelvision all afternoon. I invited them over for Christmas dinner. I honestly did not want to go both eve and day to spend hours over there.
Christmas Eve appetizers: The cousins dropped off a package of chicken wings and asked me to cook them. I offered to help prepare some snacks and they accepted my offer. They even bought the chicken wings (I didn't ask them too). They are going to make several dips, have veggies, fruit, and fudge. I am going to cook the wings, bring chips, a few bottles of soda, and make some lemon bars from a mix I have in the pantry. There are going to be nine of us total.
Christmas Day: I have a turkey thawed in the fridge for Christmas dinner. It is about 20 pounds. We will have turkey coming out of our ears by the time we are done with it. I am going to bake it in the oven. We will have sausage, sage, apple stuffing (I make my own with bread cubes, chicken stock, onion, celery, some spices, garlic, Italian sausage and two chopped up apples). We are also going to have some mashed potatoes, green beans, and maybe some broccoli. We do not have any dessert unless our secret santa stockings have chocolate in them.
After our turkey dinner, the turkey will be sliced and cut for future dinners. We will have enough turkey for sandwiches (my husband loves left over turkey sandwiches), future meals, and we will put the frame and bones in the crock pot for soup stock.
Christmas
We found a Christmas tree at Big lots on clearance and this came with two sets of lights. I added another package of lights and we put the thing together. We have our Christmas ornaments that the kids made many years ago and put those on the tree. The Christmas tree is about 4 feet high and sits in the dining room window.
Our house is beginning to look like a house now and not a storage company. We have many of our boxes unpacked. The kids are responsible for unpacking their own rooms. My son is finished with his room and he did not have the amount of boxes that my girls so. Holy crap. The girls need a set of book shelves for their rooms. My husband needs one or two book shelves also.
The rest of the house is unpacked. We love the new appliances, the house, the garage, and just everything that has come with this move. We are blessed that we have a home, running hot water, and are able to support ourselves even in the harder times. I have a job that was waiting almost 60 days for me to arrive and begin. I graduated with my MSN in August which was why I arrived 60 days later to begin my job from the date of my interview.
Our Christmas is very small this year. Our kids have a few gifts under the tree. I bought each kid two gift cards in addition to the few presents. My husband is an avid comic book reader and I was able to get his books from the store that he enjoys along with a gift card.
My husband gave me a gift early. I am very cold natured (even living in Florida) and the hospital I work in is always feeling like the frozen abyss. We are required to wear navy blue scrubs and not allowed to vary from that color. My husband bought me a zip up sweater in navy blue and gave it to me last week. I am cherishing it because I can be warm at my job while working night shift. I was so happy to receive the sweater. He was smiling when I tried it on and wore it to work.
Our house is beginning to look like a house now and not a storage company. We have many of our boxes unpacked. The kids are responsible for unpacking their own rooms. My son is finished with his room and he did not have the amount of boxes that my girls so. Holy crap. The girls need a set of book shelves for their rooms. My husband needs one or two book shelves also.
The rest of the house is unpacked. We love the new appliances, the house, the garage, and just everything that has come with this move. We are blessed that we have a home, running hot water, and are able to support ourselves even in the harder times. I have a job that was waiting almost 60 days for me to arrive and begin. I graduated with my MSN in August which was why I arrived 60 days later to begin my job from the date of my interview.
Our Christmas is very small this year. Our kids have a few gifts under the tree. I bought each kid two gift cards in addition to the few presents. My husband is an avid comic book reader and I was able to get his books from the store that he enjoys along with a gift card.
My husband gave me a gift early. I am very cold natured (even living in Florida) and the hospital I work in is always feeling like the frozen abyss. We are required to wear navy blue scrubs and not allowed to vary from that color. My husband bought me a zip up sweater in navy blue and gave it to me last week. I am cherishing it because I can be warm at my job while working night shift. I was so happy to receive the sweater. He was smiling when I tried it on and wore it to work.
Thursday, December 21, 2017
Finally moved in!
We are finally moved into our retirement home! We are in the middle of unpacking and have limited furniture so we still have boxes in most of the rooms. The living room is finished and most of the kitchen is done unpacking.
We are finished with the rental home and are expecting a full security deposit to be mailed to us per the property manager text message last night. I am blessed to be able to get this money back and put it into the savings account. We have spent a lot of the savings at closing and then the penalty fee for breaking the lease. We had 31 thousand in the savings and closing was almost 21 thousand. It left us with 11 thousand and now eight and a half due to the penalty fee taken out as a bank check yesterday. I will be happy to have the additional 1,500 to put back into the account.
We are using this money as an emergency fund. It is in my name only as my husband as a spending issue (we have separate accounts and have for years). This will prevent any issues with spending as I don't take money to careless spend on impulse buys.
I went online at work and requested that 75.00 dollars of my pay each pay period go into the savings. I get paid every other week and this will help build up the savings in addition to promote an increase, even if it is a slow increase, in the balance every month.
I have been contributing to the retirement plan at work now. It is a 403 B and I put in 4 percent with a matching 4 percent from my employer. I still have my retirement funds at my old employer which I have to get put into my new retirement plan.
So far, we are doing well and hope to have a new budget in place for January once the finances settle from the closing. Our first mortgage payment is not due until February and I will be staying one month ahead at all times. I would like to break the payment into every two weeks instead of monthly depending on how the budget works out.
We are finished with the rental home and are expecting a full security deposit to be mailed to us per the property manager text message last night. I am blessed to be able to get this money back and put it into the savings account. We have spent a lot of the savings at closing and then the penalty fee for breaking the lease. We had 31 thousand in the savings and closing was almost 21 thousand. It left us with 11 thousand and now eight and a half due to the penalty fee taken out as a bank check yesterday. I will be happy to have the additional 1,500 to put back into the account.
We are using this money as an emergency fund. It is in my name only as my husband as a spending issue (we have separate accounts and have for years). This will prevent any issues with spending as I don't take money to careless spend on impulse buys.
I went online at work and requested that 75.00 dollars of my pay each pay period go into the savings. I get paid every other week and this will help build up the savings in addition to promote an increase, even if it is a slow increase, in the balance every month.
I have been contributing to the retirement plan at work now. It is a 403 B and I put in 4 percent with a matching 4 percent from my employer. I still have my retirement funds at my old employer which I have to get put into my new retirement plan.
So far, we are doing well and hope to have a new budget in place for January once the finances settle from the closing. Our first mortgage payment is not due until February and I will be staying one month ahead at all times. I would like to break the payment into every two weeks instead of monthly depending on how the budget works out.
Monday, December 18, 2017
Our retirement home~
We have finally closed on our retirement home (I call it this because we are in our mid 40's and this is actually the home we will continue the rest of our lives in) on December 8th. I gave the title company almost 21,000 dollars at closing. We have been packing, moving, unpacking, and cleaning the rental. We have been living in our new home for almost a week now. It is a blessing to have a new build with out any major issues that need to be addressed on a regular basis.
We cleaned the rental. We have the carpets being professionally cleaned tomorrow. We have four cats and a small dog, so this is a requirement as part of our lease. This will cost 0.25 cents a square foot.
We broke the lease. There is a penalty fee of 3,000 dollars. I will have this to give to the property manager on Wednesday morning during the final walk through of the rental house.
I will turn the water and electric off after the walk through with the property manager on Wednesday since it states in my lease that this will be done after the walk through.
We have the water and electric on at our new house. We have groceries. We started with a pest control service since this is Florida and we do not have a hard freeze or a traditional winter. They came this morning and treated the kitchen, both bathrooms, the in the wall tubing system, and the outside. They will come every 90 days to perform this service. I paid 112 dollars for today as an initial treatment. The quarterly cost will be 94 dollars and my own peace of mind is worth every penny.
We had the internet installed finally this morning. We are an internet family and were starting to go through withdrawal. The monthly cost for internet service is 54 dollars a month. We opted not to get cable since we are not really television watchers.
We have a new security system. In the area we moved to (on the other side of town) has a lot of construction workers, people walking around in the evenings, numerous realtors, folks that are window shopping for homes, and we felt that having a new security system would help us feel more comfortable until the homes in this area are bought and there is less people traffic. There has been an issue in the city with break ins and this way we will have peace of mind. The cost for the ADT system is about 90 dollars a month. I paid for the installation and January's payment yesterday.
I have been working a lot. I did some overtime last week and it showed in my paycheck. I have not touched my savings other than the closing money. We had blinds delivered through my mother in law from J C Penny. They are too big and we have to return them. J C Penny stated that since the measurements were incorrect that they would send someone out to remeasure them and get some new ones installed. We will be returning the blinds on Wednesday.
We have a new washer and dryer. The washer is a top loader and requires HE detergent. We had to buy some and this was a challenge as the grocery store only had Tide or Gain in HE. We bought a package of Tide HE pods and there was 32 pods in the package for almost ten dollars. So far, since we wash clothes in the cold cycle the pods really haven't given us any trouble. I would really like to find a cheaper price for HE detergent. We are so used to using dollar tree liquid detergent as we have never had a HE washer before.
Dinners this past week have been an adventure. We had burgers and fries one night. Another night we had pasta, italian sausage with peppers and onions, with some spaghetti sauce. One night we had a pot roast in the crock pot with veggies and gravy. There were a couple of nights with left overs. One night we ordered pizza since we were exhausted from moving.
I am working tonight. I had to take my middle DD to the urologist this morning. She has another kidney stone and we have to get another CT scan on Thursday when she is off work. The cost for this office visit was 25 dollars and we were given samples of rapaflow to use instead of flomax. IT is a seven day course of meds.
I went to the doctor today as a follow up from the swallow study I had last week. He has decided to send me to the GI specialist and get evaluated for esophageal spasms. He has also continued the nexium which I feel has not make any difference since he thinks I have reflux disease.
Tonight's dinner is hot dogs and baked beans. I have to work soon and needed an easy dinner to feed everyone. It prevents me from having to get take out (which I really can't afford) and continues to use what we have in the pantry, fridge, and freezer.
We cleaned the rental. We have the carpets being professionally cleaned tomorrow. We have four cats and a small dog, so this is a requirement as part of our lease. This will cost 0.25 cents a square foot.
We broke the lease. There is a penalty fee of 3,000 dollars. I will have this to give to the property manager on Wednesday morning during the final walk through of the rental house.
I will turn the water and electric off after the walk through with the property manager on Wednesday since it states in my lease that this will be done after the walk through.
We have the water and electric on at our new house. We have groceries. We started with a pest control service since this is Florida and we do not have a hard freeze or a traditional winter. They came this morning and treated the kitchen, both bathrooms, the in the wall tubing system, and the outside. They will come every 90 days to perform this service. I paid 112 dollars for today as an initial treatment. The quarterly cost will be 94 dollars and my own peace of mind is worth every penny.
We had the internet installed finally this morning. We are an internet family and were starting to go through withdrawal. The monthly cost for internet service is 54 dollars a month. We opted not to get cable since we are not really television watchers.
We have a new security system. In the area we moved to (on the other side of town) has a lot of construction workers, people walking around in the evenings, numerous realtors, folks that are window shopping for homes, and we felt that having a new security system would help us feel more comfortable until the homes in this area are bought and there is less people traffic. There has been an issue in the city with break ins and this way we will have peace of mind. The cost for the ADT system is about 90 dollars a month. I paid for the installation and January's payment yesterday.
I have been working a lot. I did some overtime last week and it showed in my paycheck. I have not touched my savings other than the closing money. We had blinds delivered through my mother in law from J C Penny. They are too big and we have to return them. J C Penny stated that since the measurements were incorrect that they would send someone out to remeasure them and get some new ones installed. We will be returning the blinds on Wednesday.
We have a new washer and dryer. The washer is a top loader and requires HE detergent. We had to buy some and this was a challenge as the grocery store only had Tide or Gain in HE. We bought a package of Tide HE pods and there was 32 pods in the package for almost ten dollars. So far, since we wash clothes in the cold cycle the pods really haven't given us any trouble. I would really like to find a cheaper price for HE detergent. We are so used to using dollar tree liquid detergent as we have never had a HE washer before.
Dinners this past week have been an adventure. We had burgers and fries one night. Another night we had pasta, italian sausage with peppers and onions, with some spaghetti sauce. One night we had a pot roast in the crock pot with veggies and gravy. There were a couple of nights with left overs. One night we ordered pizza since we were exhausted from moving.
I am working tonight. I had to take my middle DD to the urologist this morning. She has another kidney stone and we have to get another CT scan on Thursday when she is off work. The cost for this office visit was 25 dollars and we were given samples of rapaflow to use instead of flomax. IT is a seven day course of meds.
I went to the doctor today as a follow up from the swallow study I had last week. He has decided to send me to the GI specialist and get evaluated for esophageal spasms. He has also continued the nexium which I feel has not make any difference since he thinks I have reflux disease.
Tonight's dinner is hot dogs and baked beans. I have to work soon and needed an easy dinner to feed everyone. It prevents me from having to get take out (which I really can't afford) and continues to use what we have in the pantry, fridge, and freezer.
Monday, December 11, 2017
House closed on Friday
Our new home closed on Friday. I worked a lot of overtime last week. We have been moving since Friday evening. Most of the furniture that would fit into my husband's truck is at the new house. The kids bedrooms are at the new house. Most of the dining room is at the new house. We still have about 1/4 of the house to get packed up and moved.
There are boxes everywhere at the new house. I have been packing up the old rental and moving stuff in my car while my husband and the adult kids have been packing and moving stuff in his truck.
It has been very busy. We would like to be fully moved in (not unpacked) by Wednesday evening. I would like to get the carpets professionally cleaned at the rental and spot clean the areas that are in need. I would like to be done with the rental and have the walk through with the property manager on Sunday.
We have to get the utilities in our name at the new house by Wednesday. I will plan on doing this hopefully today or tomorrow. I can't turn off the utilities at the rental until after the walk through is complete per my lease requirements.
There are boxes everywhere at the new house. I have been packing up the old rental and moving stuff in my car while my husband and the adult kids have been packing and moving stuff in his truck.
It has been very busy. We would like to be fully moved in (not unpacked) by Wednesday evening. I would like to get the carpets professionally cleaned at the rental and spot clean the areas that are in need. I would like to be done with the rental and have the walk through with the property manager on Sunday.
We have to get the utilities in our name at the new house by Wednesday. I will plan on doing this hopefully today or tomorrow. I can't turn off the utilities at the rental until after the walk through is complete per my lease requirements.
Wednesday, December 6, 2017
Medical Coverage and Overtime
I was receiving texts all weekend about being short staffed and very busy at work. I had been spending time with my family so I did not accept the offer for the overtime. I did receive a text message about the short staffing on Monday and offered to accept the overtime shift. I worked Monday night and will make straight time for 4 hours of the shift and will get 8 hours of overtime for the rest of the shift. My manager also put in for a one time 100 dollar shift bonus for coming in.
My manager was very thankful that I accepted the offer to work Monday. She even offered to split the shift with me as the primary bedside nurse in CVICU and I was so surprised. She said that if I didn't want the full shift she would cover the rest. I worked the full shift since we need the additional income to help with moving expenses and the rental fee that we will pay once we break this lease.
We had a lot of health related issues these past few weeks. My daughter was in the ER for those kidney stones. I wrote a post about that. I did not see a bill come in the mail for the balance due since we just got our health insurance coverage and have not meet the deductible. We did have a co payment for the ER which does not get included into the deductible. I found out after looking at the online EOB paperwork that the visits were covered 100 percent after I paid the co payment.
Our doctor visits are apparently the same. I pay 40 dollars a doc visit and my insurance covers the rest of the costs. I had to see an ENT this Monday for persistent issues with coughing since May and I found that the procedure that they performed will be covered 100 percent after the 40 dollar co payment. I am being sent to the speech pathologist next Monday for a video guided swallow study. There is no cost to me according to the diagnostic center because of my insurance coverage.
I am trying to understand this new insurance. At my former position if you did not meet the deductible when you went to any health provider you were responsible for the total costs until you meet the dollar limit.
My new insurance has a individual deductible and a family deductible. I know that co payments and medication costs are not included in the deductible. My insurance demands that we use a mail order service for all medications for chronic conditions. My husband gets his medications filled at CVS due to his prescription coverage through Silver Script in addition to my coverage for him. He is the exception to this, but I am trying to work with my prescription plan to see which would provide the best financial option for us.
We have been to a new mental health doc to obtain our maintenance meds for various chronic conditions. I am so thankful to be able to afford this service as many are not able to and as a result end up dealing with some major concerns with not having their medications. We are blessed in that respect to be able to have access to health care.
My manager was very thankful that I accepted the offer to work Monday. She even offered to split the shift with me as the primary bedside nurse in CVICU and I was so surprised. She said that if I didn't want the full shift she would cover the rest. I worked the full shift since we need the additional income to help with moving expenses and the rental fee that we will pay once we break this lease.
We had a lot of health related issues these past few weeks. My daughter was in the ER for those kidney stones. I wrote a post about that. I did not see a bill come in the mail for the balance due since we just got our health insurance coverage and have not meet the deductible. We did have a co payment for the ER which does not get included into the deductible. I found out after looking at the online EOB paperwork that the visits were covered 100 percent after I paid the co payment.
Our doctor visits are apparently the same. I pay 40 dollars a doc visit and my insurance covers the rest of the costs. I had to see an ENT this Monday for persistent issues with coughing since May and I found that the procedure that they performed will be covered 100 percent after the 40 dollar co payment. I am being sent to the speech pathologist next Monday for a video guided swallow study. There is no cost to me according to the diagnostic center because of my insurance coverage.
I am trying to understand this new insurance. At my former position if you did not meet the deductible when you went to any health provider you were responsible for the total costs until you meet the dollar limit.
My new insurance has a individual deductible and a family deductible. I know that co payments and medication costs are not included in the deductible. My insurance demands that we use a mail order service for all medications for chronic conditions. My husband gets his medications filled at CVS due to his prescription coverage through Silver Script in addition to my coverage for him. He is the exception to this, but I am trying to work with my prescription plan to see which would provide the best financial option for us.
We have been to a new mental health doc to obtain our maintenance meds for various chronic conditions. I am so thankful to be able to afford this service as many are not able to and as a result end up dealing with some major concerns with not having their medications. We are blessed in that respect to be able to have access to health care.
Sunday, December 3, 2017
Sunday
We are going to our cousin's home this afternoon for dinner. She sent me a text message yesterday after noon asking if it was ok to have a lasagna for dinner. I told her that it would be great and there are quite a few frozen ones that I saw at the store a couple of weeks ago. She said that she doesn't eat the frozen lasagna and that she would be making it at home.
So, I asked her what we could bring over for dinner. She said "we don't have any soda and I know that your family likes it to drink so they could bring that". I am OK with this because I don't expect their family to supply specific drinks for my family. We have different generic kinds that my husband bought yesterday and everyone can pick and choose which ones to bring with us. The cousin's kids drink soda so this will be a welcome thing I hope (unless their kids do not drink generic soda).
I wanted to make some Bisquick rolls to bring with us to dinner tonight. We have a box of Bisquick and I also have a small amount of fresh garlic and real Parmesan cheese from Aldi in the fridge. There are very well liked at my house and I hope some fresh garlic Parmesan rolls would go well with the lasagna. Yes, there will be a lot of carbs with the rolls and lasagna, but I know for a fact that the cousin's kids are carb lovers. If there are any rolls left over I can always bring them home for lunches this week.
We have green beans and brussel sprouts in the freezer. I will not be bringing those with us for dinner as they will only be eaten by the five of us. I don't want to waste veggies on folks that will not eat them.
My oldest daughter is going to work soon. I offered to make her some breakfast and she opted for scrambled eggs. I made three scrambled eggs and split them between the two of us. She has a glass of milk with hers and I have a cup of decaf tea with mine.
So, I asked her what we could bring over for dinner. She said "we don't have any soda and I know that your family likes it to drink so they could bring that". I am OK with this because I don't expect their family to supply specific drinks for my family. We have different generic kinds that my husband bought yesterday and everyone can pick and choose which ones to bring with us. The cousin's kids drink soda so this will be a welcome thing I hope (unless their kids do not drink generic soda).
I wanted to make some Bisquick rolls to bring with us to dinner tonight. We have a box of Bisquick and I also have a small amount of fresh garlic and real Parmesan cheese from Aldi in the fridge. There are very well liked at my house and I hope some fresh garlic Parmesan rolls would go well with the lasagna. Yes, there will be a lot of carbs with the rolls and lasagna, but I know for a fact that the cousin's kids are carb lovers. If there are any rolls left over I can always bring them home for lunches this week.
We have green beans and brussel sprouts in the freezer. I will not be bringing those with us for dinner as they will only be eaten by the five of us. I don't want to waste veggies on folks that will not eat them.
My oldest daughter is going to work soon. I offered to make her some breakfast and she opted for scrambled eggs. I made three scrambled eggs and split them between the two of us. She has a glass of milk with hers and I have a cup of decaf tea with mine.
Saturday
Yesterday my husband went to get some Christmas stocking stuffers for the kids and their cousins. There are a total of five "adult children" and four "adults" for a total of nine people for the secret Santa stockings we are participating in with our cousins. He went to the Dollar Tree and found some very nice selections and also put in gift cards to the local movies for our kids stockings that they will be given on Christmas Eve.
My husband also did some grocery shopping and brought the groceries home. The kids absolutely love when he goes shopping because my husband is a snack shopper. He spent his money (we have separate checking accounts and savings) that was left after he paid his bills (he gives me 300 a month towards the household budget). My oldest daughter put her 10 percent of rent money that she pays into the gas tank. My middle daughter bought a large bag of cat food and some cat litter with her 10 percent. I don't care whether they give me their rent money or if they choose to spend it on household needs as long as they are able to contribute. It gives them a sense of ownership, accountability, and responsibility.
My husband bought a gallon of milk, some soda (just to be clear, he went from drinking Coke Cola for years to generic soda which is a bit cheaper, and he does drink water, but he is not going to stop drinking soda so he buys it himself and I don't have to), he bought two bags of potato chips, a package of cookies, two large boxes of cereal, and a couple frozen pizzas. Like I said he is a huge snack shopper and he spends his own money and I don't have to take it from the house budget. He did put gas into one of the vehicles too (which I really appreciate since gas prices are a bit higher in Florida verses Virginia).
I put a eye of round beef roast in the crock pot yesterday. It is a small roast. I put in three large carrots, half a thin sliced onion, a few cut up potatoes, two cloves of garlic, and the last packet of "brown gravy mix" I had. I added a small amount of water. I let this cook all day and we ate a late dinner at 8 pm since my husband and I were out last night in Orlando walking in Disney Springs (which is free and doesn't charge for parking).
I am not fond of eye of round beef cuts of meat. We really enjoy the chuck roast cuts. The eye of round was tough and I felt it was a bit dry. My mother in law bought it when she was here to visit a few weeks ago and she enjoys this cut of meat. I didn't think to call her and ask about cooking times since I have never really had a meal that I didn't like from the crock pot. I am pretty sure if I have this type of cut again to serve the family (I won't buy it as a usual grocery purchase, but I do occasionally buy chuck roast if the price is within my budget) I will have to give her a call. My husband really enjoyed dinner. My kids ate a small portion of the beef and had a bunch of the veggies.
I was thinking that it would be nice to have a beef veggie soup again for lunch this week. There is a small portion of last night's left and I might just give it to my husband for his late breakfast early lunch and get it finished.
My husband also did some grocery shopping and brought the groceries home. The kids absolutely love when he goes shopping because my husband is a snack shopper. He spent his money (we have separate checking accounts and savings) that was left after he paid his bills (he gives me 300 a month towards the household budget). My oldest daughter put her 10 percent of rent money that she pays into the gas tank. My middle daughter bought a large bag of cat food and some cat litter with her 10 percent. I don't care whether they give me their rent money or if they choose to spend it on household needs as long as they are able to contribute. It gives them a sense of ownership, accountability, and responsibility.
My husband bought a gallon of milk, some soda (just to be clear, he went from drinking Coke Cola for years to generic soda which is a bit cheaper, and he does drink water, but he is not going to stop drinking soda so he buys it himself and I don't have to), he bought two bags of potato chips, a package of cookies, two large boxes of cereal, and a couple frozen pizzas. Like I said he is a huge snack shopper and he spends his own money and I don't have to take it from the house budget. He did put gas into one of the vehicles too (which I really appreciate since gas prices are a bit higher in Florida verses Virginia).
I put a eye of round beef roast in the crock pot yesterday. It is a small roast. I put in three large carrots, half a thin sliced onion, a few cut up potatoes, two cloves of garlic, and the last packet of "brown gravy mix" I had. I added a small amount of water. I let this cook all day and we ate a late dinner at 8 pm since my husband and I were out last night in Orlando walking in Disney Springs (which is free and doesn't charge for parking).
I am not fond of eye of round beef cuts of meat. We really enjoy the chuck roast cuts. The eye of round was tough and I felt it was a bit dry. My mother in law bought it when she was here to visit a few weeks ago and she enjoys this cut of meat. I didn't think to call her and ask about cooking times since I have never really had a meal that I didn't like from the crock pot. I am pretty sure if I have this type of cut again to serve the family (I won't buy it as a usual grocery purchase, but I do occasionally buy chuck roast if the price is within my budget) I will have to give her a call. My husband really enjoyed dinner. My kids ate a small portion of the beef and had a bunch of the veggies.
I was thinking that it would be nice to have a beef veggie soup again for lunch this week. There is a small portion of last night's left and I might just give it to my husband for his late breakfast early lunch and get it finished.
Friday, December 1, 2017
Christmas
When we decided to move from Virginia to Florida it was a huge decision for the five of us. I was working a full time job (as an intensive care nurse), a part time job (adjunct nursing faculty at a private university), and a prn position ( as needed nursing supervisor). I was able to afford a bit more than we ever had and was "always working". We were able to move to a rental home in this area in July (my husband and kids) and I arrived in August.
I had a full time position waiting for me in the new city. I secured employment in June of this year but had ti stay behind to finish my master's degree in nursing first. My new employer was aware of that and she agreed to wait for my arrival. I was truly blessed in this because I was offered relocation bonus and a sign on bonus for two years.
My mother in law helped us with the moving truck and I used my relocation bonus to pay her back in full when she was visiting us a few weeks ago. I handed her 3,000 dollars cash and let me say that it felt very good to be able to give her the money back. I was very proud to be able to do that for her.
I took a four dollar pay cut to accept this job, but the shift differentials work out to be the same as my past full time job that I left. I worked all the time and am trying to get used to having only one job and right now there is no overtime available.
We sold our house in Virginia and it had a contract within two days of putting it on the market. It finally closed in August and we have that money in the savings since we close on our new house December 8th.
The new home is our family Christmas gift to each other. We have worked hard to get to Florida and I told my kids that their gift (my girls have always shared a room) was that they will have their own bedrooms. My son is thrilled to be in Florida because "Mom I can wear my shorts and flip flops in the winter and it is not cold". I love how simple things please my "adult children".
My work is going to have a christmas exchange. I was very hesistent to participate, but was asked to put my name in the drawing for secret santa. I put my name in and was able to select nurse to be a secret santa for. She likes the color green, dark chocolate, coffee, books, and Chipolte. She wrote on the slip that she does not like bath and body works. I am thinking that I can work with what she likes to have a small but nice gift for her.
My kids are getting stockings and we do this every year. They are getting one or two gifts each from myself. They understand that I am not working more than one job and that money is always a bit tight each pay period. They are very understandable and I am so proud of them. They do not need anything really and if they do my girls can get it with their own income from their part time jobs. My son doesn't need anything either and we are in the process of working with social security for him.
I wanted to get my husband a small gift. He is very easy to shop for and will tell me exactly what he would like. He understands that funds are limited and would be pleased with just about anything.
My cousins: We choose names for secret stockings. There is supposed to be an ugly sock party. The secret stockings are not be over ten dollars. This I can work with. The ugly sock party I can participate in as there are really fun socks at Dollar General where my girls work. The part that I am having problems with is a gift for the secret stocking that has to be a 50 dollar limit. There is also a family gift.
I love my husband's family and enjoy the times we are together. They are very different from us. There house is full of beautiful stuff. There is a lot of beautiful things there. We got rid of 90 percent of our "Stuff" when moving.
My kids have a dresser, a bed, and a desk in their rooms. They have all of their clothes. I didn't know how much clothing until we started packing. Jeesh!
My husband and I are sleeping on high quality air mattresses. We have to eventually get a new bed. We each have a dresser and there's one desk in our room.
Our living room has a entertainment center. We have the sofa and one side table.
Our dining room has a beautiful ottoman and a straight back chair that was given to us by our cousins. We have our old fashioned dining room table that has been in my husband's family for a long time. We were given this about 20 years ago and love it. It has two leaflets in the table and we can sit up to six people. We have a hutch, a book shelf, and another old dry sink.
Our kitchen in the rental came with a stove, fridge, and microwave. The dishwasher, clothes washer, and dryer came with the rental. The rest of the kitchen stuff is ours.
Like I said we don't have much in the way of stuff. I guess Christmas is not going to be a "stuff Christmas" for my family. We are going to be in our new house. We are going to be unpacking. We are going to be able to live in a wonderful place with a brand new home. It will be finished building next week. The house will come with brand new appliances in the kitchen.
My mother in law ordered us a washer and dryer with the 3,000 dollars I gave her in cash a few weeks ago. The washer and dryer will be delivered on December 11th at our new home.
Christmas is going to be wonderful for my family this year.
I had a full time position waiting for me in the new city. I secured employment in June of this year but had ti stay behind to finish my master's degree in nursing first. My new employer was aware of that and she agreed to wait for my arrival. I was truly blessed in this because I was offered relocation bonus and a sign on bonus for two years.
My mother in law helped us with the moving truck and I used my relocation bonus to pay her back in full when she was visiting us a few weeks ago. I handed her 3,000 dollars cash and let me say that it felt very good to be able to give her the money back. I was very proud to be able to do that for her.
I took a four dollar pay cut to accept this job, but the shift differentials work out to be the same as my past full time job that I left. I worked all the time and am trying to get used to having only one job and right now there is no overtime available.
We sold our house in Virginia and it had a contract within two days of putting it on the market. It finally closed in August and we have that money in the savings since we close on our new house December 8th.
The new home is our family Christmas gift to each other. We have worked hard to get to Florida and I told my kids that their gift (my girls have always shared a room) was that they will have their own bedrooms. My son is thrilled to be in Florida because "Mom I can wear my shorts and flip flops in the winter and it is not cold". I love how simple things please my "adult children".
My work is going to have a christmas exchange. I was very hesistent to participate, but was asked to put my name in the drawing for secret santa. I put my name in and was able to select nurse to be a secret santa for. She likes the color green, dark chocolate, coffee, books, and Chipolte. She wrote on the slip that she does not like bath and body works. I am thinking that I can work with what she likes to have a small but nice gift for her.
My kids are getting stockings and we do this every year. They are getting one or two gifts each from myself. They understand that I am not working more than one job and that money is always a bit tight each pay period. They are very understandable and I am so proud of them. They do not need anything really and if they do my girls can get it with their own income from their part time jobs. My son doesn't need anything either and we are in the process of working with social security for him.
I wanted to get my husband a small gift. He is very easy to shop for and will tell me exactly what he would like. He understands that funds are limited and would be pleased with just about anything.
My cousins: We choose names for secret stockings. There is supposed to be an ugly sock party. The secret stockings are not be over ten dollars. This I can work with. The ugly sock party I can participate in as there are really fun socks at Dollar General where my girls work. The part that I am having problems with is a gift for the secret stocking that has to be a 50 dollar limit. There is also a family gift.
I love my husband's family and enjoy the times we are together. They are very different from us. There house is full of beautiful stuff. There is a lot of beautiful things there. We got rid of 90 percent of our "Stuff" when moving.
My kids have a dresser, a bed, and a desk in their rooms. They have all of their clothes. I didn't know how much clothing until we started packing. Jeesh!
My husband and I are sleeping on high quality air mattresses. We have to eventually get a new bed. We each have a dresser and there's one desk in our room.
Our living room has a entertainment center. We have the sofa and one side table.
Our dining room has a beautiful ottoman and a straight back chair that was given to us by our cousins. We have our old fashioned dining room table that has been in my husband's family for a long time. We were given this about 20 years ago and love it. It has two leaflets in the table and we can sit up to six people. We have a hutch, a book shelf, and another old dry sink.
Our kitchen in the rental came with a stove, fridge, and microwave. The dishwasher, clothes washer, and dryer came with the rental. The rest of the kitchen stuff is ours.
Like I said we don't have much in the way of stuff. I guess Christmas is not going to be a "stuff Christmas" for my family. We are going to be in our new house. We are going to be unpacking. We are going to be able to live in a wonderful place with a brand new home. It will be finished building next week. The house will come with brand new appliances in the kitchen.
My mother in law ordered us a washer and dryer with the 3,000 dollars I gave her in cash a few weeks ago. The washer and dryer will be delivered on December 11th at our new home.
Christmas is going to be wonderful for my family this year.
Been working!
I worked Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday night. I do have 12 hour shifts with less than a ten minute ride home.
Monday's dinner was the last of the freezer turkey from Thanksgiving with my mother in law. I took the turkey and put it in a casserole dish covered with some gravy and green beans. It was just "ok" and we did finish the last of the bird. I took the rest of this to work Monday night.
Tuesday dinner: I woke up Tuesday afternoon and found that there was no plan for dinner. I asked my husband what he was going to make and he said that he didn't know. Well, I usually get up about 2:30 since I don't sleep well during the day time. We had a "loud discussion" about dinner not being planned. I put some ground beef patties in the oven and served cheese burgers and fried potatoes for dinner before I went to work. I took half a cheese burger to work and a small portion of the left over potatoes with me.
Wednesday dinner: I slept until 4:30 in the afternoon! I was so tired and my husband actually woke me up and told me that dinner was ready. My daughters bought KFC and took it home for the five of us. They had a coupon for a 12 dollar meal bucket. It served all five of us with a couple small things left over. The chicken was a welcome distraction from my own cooking and honestly it was pretty good. I took what was left to work for my lunch.
Thursday dinner: When I got home from work yesterday morning, I put a very small beef roast (It was 1 and a half pounds) in the crock pot. I put in the last can of cream of mushroom soup and an onion soup packet. The onion soup packet was the last one too. I added three cut up carrots, five small potatoes, half an onion, and two cloves of garlic. I added some basil and black pepper. I let this cook all day and we served dinner at 4 since my daughters had to be at work for 5 pm. There was nothing left of this meal. Everyone raved about how nice the roast was and the gravy it made.
It's Friday and I am off work until next Thursday which is really nice. We are scheduled to close on our new house December 8th and we have some packing to get done over the next few days.
Friday dinner: Honestly, I am leaning towards pancakes and scrambled eggs. We have a box of Bisquick and a bit of milk that needs to be used up. We all like breakfast for dinner and would probably enjoy the easy meal with little clean up.
Monday's dinner was the last of the freezer turkey from Thanksgiving with my mother in law. I took the turkey and put it in a casserole dish covered with some gravy and green beans. It was just "ok" and we did finish the last of the bird. I took the rest of this to work Monday night.
Tuesday dinner: I woke up Tuesday afternoon and found that there was no plan for dinner. I asked my husband what he was going to make and he said that he didn't know. Well, I usually get up about 2:30 since I don't sleep well during the day time. We had a "loud discussion" about dinner not being planned. I put some ground beef patties in the oven and served cheese burgers and fried potatoes for dinner before I went to work. I took half a cheese burger to work and a small portion of the left over potatoes with me.
Wednesday dinner: I slept until 4:30 in the afternoon! I was so tired and my husband actually woke me up and told me that dinner was ready. My daughters bought KFC and took it home for the five of us. They had a coupon for a 12 dollar meal bucket. It served all five of us with a couple small things left over. The chicken was a welcome distraction from my own cooking and honestly it was pretty good. I took what was left to work for my lunch.
Thursday dinner: When I got home from work yesterday morning, I put a very small beef roast (It was 1 and a half pounds) in the crock pot. I put in the last can of cream of mushroom soup and an onion soup packet. The onion soup packet was the last one too. I added three cut up carrots, five small potatoes, half an onion, and two cloves of garlic. I added some basil and black pepper. I let this cook all day and we served dinner at 4 since my daughters had to be at work for 5 pm. There was nothing left of this meal. Everyone raved about how nice the roast was and the gravy it made.
It's Friday and I am off work until next Thursday which is really nice. We are scheduled to close on our new house December 8th and we have some packing to get done over the next few days.
Friday dinner: Honestly, I am leaning towards pancakes and scrambled eggs. We have a box of Bisquick and a bit of milk that needs to be used up. We all like breakfast for dinner and would probably enjoy the easy meal with little clean up.
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