Battled a headache all day today. The weather here has been wacky so I think it was due to that.

Probably didn't help that I spent my day at work analyzing some numbers that just didn't want to work. I did them right, they are just being ornery. So I'll look at them again tomorrow hopefully without a headache.

Had my breakfast at home as planned. Only unplanned eating spending was one coffee this afternoon. Was worth it for the pick me up. We do have free "coffee" available it tastes like the coffee is half made up of old cigarette butts *shudder*

Got my old set of dishes and some other decluttering stuff to the Sally Ann. Do they ever make it hard to give them stuff. Go to front door. Person doesn't want to take it there. They want me to go the unmarked hidden side door. Okay. But then the promised manager sort isn't there. Took a bit and finally got them the stuff. They are a good charity but will find another location when I next have stuff to give away.

Did some good shopping tonight. Between a special and coupons got 4 boxes of 100 splenda packets for $11.96. That will hold me a while

Time for sleep.

I have the coffee maker ready to go and figured out that I can use the oatmeal setting on the microwave to make hot three grain cereal.

Tried it this morning and it worked very nicely. Have the cereal measured out in a bowl and water in a measuring cup. Amazing how something so simple has alluded me for so long.

Hopefully turning on the coffee maker and pouring the water into cereal and nuking is within my capabilities in the morning.

Saving the cost of breakfast at Tim Hortons. That costs $2.64. Even if making my breakfast costs 64cents (and I doubt it costs that much) I'm saving at least $2 a day.

Today was another quiet day.

Even with the time change I managed to sleep in. Had a lot of trouble sleeping last night *sigh*. I just hope I manage to sleep tonight.

Didn't do any unplanned spending today
I have some stuff to get at the drugstore but as I'm not planning on spending $50 (They have a buy $50 get a $10 gift card promotion going on yesterday and today only) so that can wait til tomorrow - needs to be bought tomorrow, unless I decide I want to get out for a bit later this evening.

I did get out the sewing machine though to work on a a quilt. Been months since I did any quilting so it took a while for me to get into the swing of it. Went well once I got going. Did learn a lesson about using a not so sharp blade in my rotary cutter when cutting flannel - don't. I wasted some material but luckily still had enough to finish the project. So in the future I'll not be penny wise and pound foolish by trying to use the blade past it's prime.

I've had a quiet Saturday.



That was what my desk looked like when I started. Or at least what I felt it looked like.
Got my Canadian coupons all filed - that is if I don't find anymore where they aren't supposed to be. The US coupons are in a gift bag. At least they are now all in the same place.

Done some decluttering too. I have a spare bedroom that I'd like to get looking decent. A small stack of books and a pile of magazines are now heading to charity. I have to get all the stuff I've picked up out of the car - cause it is full of stuff go go. I get it to the car then it sits there. LOL.

I agree with Tina and Lux.

We went there for coffee a couple of weeks ago. I wanted my cheap gas station coffee but starbucks is on the way. Yuck. The stuff tastes bad.



I can't say much about their business practises. What I can say is when we go get a coffee at work there is a starbucks about the same distance from the office as the Second Cup and Timmies. We each have our favourite between those two but no one ever even suggests going to Starbucks.

Strangely I don't know anyone who is a big starbucks fan. Maybe folks go there in secret?

This is a different approach to retirement planning. I don't think too many of us have this as part of our retirement planning but. unfortunately I think it is pretty typical of how many plan.

I can't get interested in investing. Nope not at all. I just can't get up any interest in it. To my brain it is just borrrrrrrrrring. Totally, completely and utterly. This is pretty bad when one is blogging on a site called savings advice.

This doesn't mean I don't invest. I do. I might find it all boring but I do have some common cents err sense. But interested in it nope. Thank goodness for AFT transfers that automate the entire savings process.

Education and reading about it isn't going to help. Done the first. I know what to ask and look for and question and I get how it works. The thought of taking a securities course and becoming licensed is right up there with oh... going to work naked. Not likely to happen. And the second, my eyes glaze over and a Harlequin novel begins to look like a book of deep well written fiction worthy of being on the New York Times Bestseller list from now til Easter.

A few years ago I realised that on my own that I'd not do what I needed to do with my investments to be able to retire comfortably (the significant funds in a money market account that I'd been meaning to do something with for 5 years were proof postive of that)and I needed someone to help me get everything in one place and to ensure it was monitored and returns satisfied my risk tolerance and investment goals. I outsourced and found an investment advisor. It is one of the best financial decisions I have made.

I can't change who I am but I can enlist the help I need to get where I want to.

I'm frustrated today.

First pair of pantihose (actually tights) developed a run when I put them on. These cost about $12 a pair so I'm looking at having that expense this weekend. Second pair went on okay but didn't feel comfie. Third time was a charm though.

I'm up 20lbs from last winter. So I hate my wardrobe and nothing fits right. Been trying clothes on but basically doing a great imitation of a goodyear blimp. So haven't been buying much. But I need clothes - and shoes too for the winter now I think about it. My last shoe spree was on open toed shoes and sandals. Not an option in Canada in the winter.

I've been thinking I really need a new look and to learn how to find things that flatter me. I found this website http://www.MissusSmartyPants.com and I'm tempted to join to see if I can pick up any pointers - but that costs money. But buying stuff that turns into "closet clutter" costs money too. I've never been a fashion bug but I want to move from frumpy to "nicely put together". It would be nice to be fashionable too, but really I'm trying to avoid the middle aged dowdy look.

You know the ones. You get them all the time. From the son of someone who just died. Lots of money in the estate but they handpicked YOU, a total stranger (abet a frugal and honest lookng one) to help them get the money out of the country. And as a small token of their thanks they'll let you keep a million or two.

Yeah I get them all too frequently too.

Someone must get them more than me as they created this:

I made both my breakfast and coffee at home rather than buy it

Here is a picture of my new pretty fiesta dishes bought at the factory tent sale a few weeks ago.

Aren't they pretty?

First day back at work since my Mom died. I had scheduled vacation last week so I took that too and ended up being off nearly two weeks rather than 1. A really really dull day here - poured rain all day.

Silly spending - breakfast lunch and supper eaten out. *sigh*. About $15 in total.

Weird purchase pedialyte. My cat spent the last week at the kennel as I was out of the country. The girl who runs the kennel suggested adding a bit of pedialyte to his wet food to up his liquids even more. So I bought that. We'll see if it meets the "kitty approval test".

We went to a favourite regional chain on friday for dinner with a friend from out of state. We ended up at a location that we have had issues with in the past. We should have known better...

A very nice hostess seated us. Then we sat and sat and sat. As our guest from out of town stated she had time to read the menu seven times before a waiter showed up at the table. He finally showed, said he was "busy" and took our orders. Along with our orders we requested the number for corporate head office.

This, not surprisingly, brought Larry the manager to your table. Larry did his thing, apologized profusely etc. He was pretty good, though he'd have been better had he not told me that I said one of the orders was take out when I had told him that it wasn't - we did get that did get straightened out to our satisfaction. There were other things - like the two staff members that spent the entire time we were there "hanging out" with friends or family at some tables our lines of sight,and the staff's inability to clear our dishes in a decent time (2 of us had their salad bar)

We were never angry or upset, although we were clearly not happy and communicated that. We eat at this chain frequently (we had been at another location the night before). Therefore when Larry offered to buy us dinner we accepted.

When we left we walked out past the cash register and sat in the car getting ready to leave he parking lot. The best moment of the night came then as the security guard knocked on the window of the car and asked to see our receipt. Larry, bless his heart, bought our dinner, but forgot to tell the security guard we weren't going to be paying. We got that straightened out without having to go back inside but, what an ending to our visit.

The Dishes I got are Fiesta. I'm so happy with them and can't wait to get home and replace my old chipped set with these nice new ones. I'm even more excited that these dishes are "open stock" as I didn't get suckered into any of the discontinued colours (at least so far).

My last 2 sets were not open stock. It will be nice to be able to replace only what I need in the future and not have to start from scratch with new dishes.

I purchased 4 full place settings (as well as some serving dishes) and the majority of two more - my goal is to have between 6 and 8 full place settings. But I didn't need to do that all at once. I had hit my limit on what I wanted to spend in this go around.

This will function as both every day and "good china" given the china I got from my mother is definitely in the "too good to use category".

In the next few days calculate the retail value of what I bought (and probably take pictures too). We are estimating that I paid like 25% of what I would spend if I bought this at a department store.

Was this a need or a want? My set of 8 is currently actually a set of four. All my bowls are chipped, and most of the plates.

A need in was I eating off the floor - no. So technically the new dishware is a want.

Lets just say I went crazy today. We got there at 7am and were finished all our shopping around 4. It was a very long day but I'm happy with what I got.

I'm too tired to type more tonight! G'night all!

A friend is a major collector of Fiesta dishes. She's visiting here and tomorrow we are heading to the Homer Laughlin Outlet Sale.

I need new dishes. This could be a very expensive opportunity for me. A fun one. But an expensive one.

http://www.homerlaughlin.com/Outlet/home.asp

I've heard this is quite the sale. The rules on the right hand side of the page make me think that its going to be a zoo.

Oh and we are following this with a trip to a quilt store.

I wonder if Lux Living has a picture of money flying away. I think some of mine might be back in circulation tomorrow "helping" the economy.

I am trying to oven baked fries (the kind from real potatoes with olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic) on a cookie sheet. We don't have any parchment paper.

I thought using parchment paper was a luxury item, but frankly for this it makes the job so much easier that it is almost into the "necessity" category.

Add to shopping list: parchment paper.

I drove down here to the US with my boyfriend - well actually he drove down and I came along with him. Strangely enough no problems at the border (they didn't even look at my id, just wanted to know when I'd be returning to Canada). This balances out some of the times that they've looked through my bags when I've crossed.

Anyways, now I'm down here I have to get home. We looked at flights on the weekend and two stops from PIT to YYZ would run about $220, one way. Lets not even go into how that would route me via miami or orlando. Flights as of yesterday, one way, were $320 and involved a full day and creative routing. A straight "normal" non stop is running over $400 one way - OUCH.

Needless to say flying is out of the question with that sort of pricing.

So we went and looked into rental cars. I can get a rental car for well under $200 (including gas and insurance) and be home in less time than it takes to fly .. YEAH! The driving doesn't thrill me but dang it, I do it all the time.

Oh and I called my insurance company to see if I needed to purchase the car rental insurance or if my coverage covered that. It doesn't but they are going to add it and that will cause my insurance to reduce by $12 this year. Yes I typed that right. Something about a package? I'm pleased but a bit miffed they never told me that before. First time I've ever had my insurance go down because I added a service enhancement.

The past few days have not been easy. Shopping and good deals have been far from my mind.

Ended up with a couple of nice deals by accident. The hair place I walked into to get a cut and colour before the service was having a 20% off sale. The cardigan/jacket was on sale for $10 off. Sheer luck.

By the way, what is it with camisole tops these days. Could find lots that said "skanky" and/or "I raided my underwear drawer and am going to wear this as outerwear". It was harder than I thought it would be to find a nice one that was conservative and not cheap looking.

The service went well though I did my share of crying.

I'm in PA now for a week. Managed to scoop three inserts for the paper. So hoping I managed to get some good'uns. Will be fun to scoop some good deals down here in the US. I'm way more in tune with the coupon game at home than I am here. I'll be off to read flash's site tomorrow for tips *grins*.

On one of the board's I'm on someone was looking for a copy of a magazine. For some reason the publisher decided to send me two copies of issue of that magazine. Of course I still had both copies when I saw the post. So when she was looking for the issue, it felt right to offer to mail one of my copies to her.

I did, and was offered reimbursement of the mailing expenses- as I expected to be.

Right now I really don't care about getting postage repaid or more coupons. I did expect the offer however deciding to take her up on it is another thing altogether. So I sent her a note telling her to consider herself the victim of a RAOK.

Damn that feels good. To help someone out. Sure it isn't the most frugal thing it the world to do but what is frugal for my pocketbook isn't good for my spirit. Spirits need to give in order to experience the joy of helping others.

My spirit feels good right now. This makes me feel closer to my mother, as her spirit was one that valued giving rather than getting.

After a busy day dealing with tons of paperwork and stuff, I ordered a pizza and some wings tonight. My bother and my father decided to get a bite at the bar where they were watching hockey. I wasn't in the mood where I could deal with a bar night.

Well the pizza and wings was was a waste of $15. Blech. I don't mind spending money on food out (or ordered out) but dang it, I want more than poor or mediocre when I do.

Today wasn't an easy day, as my Mum passed away around 6am this morning. Her heart gave out.

She has been suffering with Alzheimers and a hip that never healed correctly after surgery earlier this year. I'm glad her suffering is over and that she is at peace. In many ways the mother I had growing up has been gone for a while. Alzheimers is a disease that robs you of people even while they are alive. Mum was 80 this past July.

Both my bother and I travelled up to my fathers (a 6 or 7 hour drive) I'm writing this from my fathers north of the northern shore of Lake Huron. A gorgeous drive with beautiful fall colours even though this morning around dawn there where thunderstorms. Mom loved this drive and today it was truly gorgeous

The silliest stress today .. being at a 1/4 tank of gas, deciding to go on to the next gas station and then finding it closed and being 50-70 miles from the town you are heading to (which may or may not have a gas station open). I lucked out and about 20 miles along did find a gas station open. Easier to think about stupid stuff than the grief.

We did some great decision making tonight. Mom is going to be cremated. We are having a service for her in Toronto, which my Sister in law is organizing. Tomorrow is bank/insurance/cremation/lawyer day. YUCK. And we have to get her stuff out of the Long Term Care Facility she was living in.

Tomorrow isn't going to be fun either with all the details. I'm glad we are here to help my Dad with the details.

Those were my two expenses "du jour".

One of my extravagances is that I pay someone to clean my house. Yes I could do it myself but I choose not to. Being careful with money allows me this luxury. Today I spent for 2 cleaning sessions - this one and the one in two weeks.

I also loaded up on paper towel. The drug store was having a one day sale of 8 rolls for $1.99 - maximum 4 packages (32 rolls). Even though this is the cheap stuff the price is amazing and its worth using two sheets of this to one of the premium brand sheets. I'd have gone back for more but its bulky stuff to store and I'm in an apartment.

Oh and the cat is doing well. He's eating up a storm. He loves the new food. Still having problems with him not using the litter box but hopefully as the meds kick in and he gets stronger that will settle down.

Well okay for a 23 year old cat. He passed on his tests other than UREA - which he has way too much of. Oh and he's also got arthritis (though he called it something else) in his spine. So he's on prescription food (anyone know of a cheap way to get Hills KD prescription cat food?), some vitamins, and 2 types of tablets and he goes back to the vets in 3 weeks.

The food and meds and a couple of the tests all ran to another $150. Having pets is EXPENSIVE.

He's back home. He adores the food and is eating up a storm. Now to get him to poop in the litter box. I might have to buy something with shallower sides that he can get into easier. I'm going to check at the dollar store The original use doesn't need to be for pets.

My wallet is way lighter but I'm blessed by having my finances in order such that I can do this without credit or anything like that.

I'm off to snuggle with Mao )

Found a vet to bring Mao to this morning.

He is still having intermittent trouble walking but is happy and eating well. I have seen him drinking both last night and today.

The vet found him to be dehydrated, have a low body temperature and there same sore spots on his tummy. Mao actually yipped and growled when a couple of spots were prodded and pressed.

I left him at the hospital. They are doing a full blood work up, a full urine analysis and full xrays to determine exactly the state of his health and what the next steps should be. The vet is saying that I should get full information to base my decision on - there may be things I can do to keep him comfortable or it may be time to make a full decision.

The vet isn't suggesting that I do anything radical to keep him alive just that I base my decision knowledge. I liked the vets attitude and demeanor. And I do like this approach. If I can keep Mao going through reasonable measures I am happy to do that. Heck, I'd be more than estatic to do that

Unfortunately knowledge is expensive - the bill will be (unless something is added) $574. This makes me very greatful that I am careful with my money so that I have it at a time like this.

I pick him up this afternoon and get the xray results then. Blood work and urine tests should be available tomorrow.

My cat is very old. I've had him since 1989 or 1990 - and when I got him I was told that he was 7 or 8 years old then. So he's now very very old. Even if he wasn't that old then he was definitely not a kitten. Now he's blind and deaf. But he's a purr monster and has a good appetite, and loves to be snuggled and cuddled.

Today I came home and found him lying on the floor someplace I never normally find him. That alarmed me. I picked him up and he purred and seemed happy to see me. Must have left him on the bed when I went to get changed (he likes to be carried). Well came back later and he was still there - that is unusual. He peed on the bed. *sigh*. I don't think it really got through to the mattress so the mess is "cleanupable".

But then I realised just how bad his leg is. He's having trouble walking Yesterday I spent some money buying a couple of baby litter boxes - he's had a few accidents lately.

My vet has said the last few years to enjoy every moment with him. The vet isn't in this weekend and I'm scheduled to go to my parents - 6 hours away. He is an excellent traveller and could come with me - I normally don't take him for quick jaunts but with his mobility he'll hardly be more cooped up than when he is in the car. I'm also considering kenneling him for the weekend.

I'm not really sure what to do. My BF just reminded me that this has happened with him before - him having trouble walking.

Sorry not a very on topic blog. Family crisis tend to do that to me. The only bit of this that has to do with frugality is that I am wondering (second guessing and beating myself also work in place of wondering) if it is my being frugal that isn't pushing me to the vet with him or the reality that he is a cat over the age of 20.

After this mornings incident (my last blog entry) I came home to a kitchen that smelled quite ripe. Note to self. Tossing meat waste itno garbage means that you should be taking aout the garbage within the next hour... And yes, *sigh* I did spray some oust. I seem to be able to
tolerate a bit of that - bought to cover up smoke smells from when my mom visits.
While I hate her smoking she's 80, has a bad hip, and has alzheimers. Of the people I lecture about smoking or wish they'd quit I can't bring myself to even suggest she should.

On a good note. The store had $1 off coupons on the brand of milk I like and I needed milk.

Don't buy air fresheners.

Okay, so I'm not fond of the scent of fresh spring meodows wafting out from the latest product from ______ (insert name of manufacturer who makes stinky products here).

Okay not fond is a bit mild. Air fresheners, especially the plug in ones cause me a migraine. I had to go to a meeting on another floor of my building today. Instant migraine (complete with unhappy stomach) thanks to the odor.

When the meeting was done, I went to my boss and he took me to HR with him to lodge an official complaint about scents in the workplace. I've lost time and the company has had to pay me sick pay due to this in the past - twice actually). HR is not willing to go into the "don't wear perfume" discussion but they are willing to send something out regarding being considerate of your fellow employees and overly scented items like air freshener.

Today isn't going down as one of the best days I've had. If it can go wrong it will Work was beyond nuts though I'm now done last Wednesday's task that was absolutely due then. I didn't make much traction other than that. While I did stay late I ended up having to go home as today was the day they decided to shampoo the carpets - and the cleaning solution they use is noxious.

I did get my pension plan paperwork in to work so they can "cost" adding back service into the plan. She estimates a couple of weeks which is only to be expected. Someone has to do some crunching. Once I get it back I can evaluate what I want to do then.

The weirdest thing I got to deal with was my father got an offer on his house. Well its really my mom's house as it is in her name. But she isn't in a state where she can make financial decisions so I got to deal with the lawyer as I'm her POA. For some reason dad is buying the new house a week after he is selling other other house. I caught that and refused to agree to the offer. A formal rental agreement for the week or closing the same day he is buying is much more appropriate.

I opened a bag of milk and went to make a cup of tea tonight. But, somewhat not suprisingly the milk was off - and it curdled as it went into the cup. So I am doing what any sensible person would. Having a Light Mike's Hard Lemonade.

I hate when I write something and then manage to touch the keyboard in a way that's not quite right and manage to lose it.

It wasn't that witty, inspirational or useful, but dang it, it was my blog entry. And its now off dancing in cyberspace.