Stocking Up!

Those apples were so good we got some more.... sixty three pounds more. In case you were thinking about adding it all up, that would be 150 pounds total. The sale ends today!

We probably only have about 50lbs (of the 87lbs) left from the first apple run. We also started with quite a few (20ish pounds) already in our fridge and those are gone as well! Believe it or not, we'll fairly easily go through every single pound! Go ahead; feed 6-7 starving kids (who love apples) after school and see how fast you go through them. :)

When discussing menu items for Thanksgiving we suggested that folks didn't need to bring apples or items with apples. We've pretty much got that covered!

Canned veggies were also on a huge sale... 39¢ a can for Green Giant! Thank you Thanksgiving! We eat a lot of fresh and frozen veggies. But if we can't get them fresh, we prefer green beans and corn from a can. I think we ended up with 8 flats (96 cans) of green beans and like 4 flats (48 cans) of corn. We should be set for the winter and quite possibly longer. But don’t worry; we'll use every single can! They've also been handy to have for donating to programs at school and church!

And... we've been stocking up on Christmas gifts. Those packages are now wrapped and labeled. Wrapping packages this early is a first for us! But why move the packages, take inventory, re-stack them, etc... without wrapping them? We are probably 90% done with our shopping and everything we have in our possession is wrapped. WOOHOO!

Teacher shopping is done. Friend shopping is done. All the shopping we do for the grandparents/great grandparents (for our kids) is done. All of the shopping for our immediate family is done except one last thing for Abby & Ellie... and we have an option on hand. Though, I can’t vouch for the shopping Carie has to do solo. ;) All of our Santa shopping is done... all of it... including stockings! Oh, though Santa shopping isn't wrapped yet. Mommy & Momma want to have fun before we wrap it all up!

The tricky thing is going to be that we'll soon get hit up for Christmas lists for our kids and we'll have to step back and figure that out. We've thought about their Christmas wishes, made our decisions for us and the great grandparents, and have moved on. We should step back a few steps and think of other ideas to share. Spencer is easy. Take him down an aisle, any aisle, and he thinks he wants one of everything! If only we could get more ideas out of Abby & Ellie!

All we have left is my Grandparents (we pretty much know what we are getting them), one niece (we'll get her wish list), one set of parents (still debating options), one thing each for Abby & Ellie (waiting for that to shake out), and the kids name exchange for the big family celebration (the names haven't been drawn yet).

Oh, and the kids have done almost all of their shopping as well. We just need to take Abby & Ellie out separate to choose something for each other. They are thinking about what they'd like to get each other.

Gotta Like Them Apples

I went to a store yesterday with the intent of looking for a few specific items. I found some of the items and got what I went for. This is good for me! I'm not very good at "sticking to the list" when it comes to shopping.

As the family ahead of me was checking out I discovered that apples were on sale. Like, by a lot. My attention wouldn't have been drawn to her given the measly (for us!) 3 bags she was preparing to purchase. But then the woman and the checker commented on the great price. I didn't ponder that too long before I had grabbed my little basket and headed to the produce section. There were several varieties to choose from, a couple being some of our favorites. So I grabbed a couple bags of Gala's, a couple bags of Braeburns, and then picked up a bag of the "sour apples" that Ellie had just told us that she liked. With my basket now being significantly heavier, I made my way back through the check out. I checked out and headed back to work.

Then I got to thinking... 15lbs of apples for $4.95. Did I get "enough"? I mean sure, 15lbs is a lot. But at 33¢ a pound, should I have gotten more? I chat with Carie and we agree that I should return to get more. They'll make great snacks for school... for 2 classrooms. They'll be great eating apples, and all of our kids and the daycare kids love them. They'll be great for making applesauce, fried apples (Abby's favorite), apple cake, and apple pie. We easily go through apples in a flash, even without all the baking.

So, I after work I return to the store. I grabbed a full size cart and went to town. I never really added it all up until I was leaving the store and looked at the receipt.

But we ended up with 87lbs of apples! EIGHY SEVEN POUNDS of apples. Okay, so maybe I went a little crazy!?!? The cashier was a young boy and the look on his face was priceless. That was really worth it!

And, I "saved" $72.00 on that one trip and $87 overall just on apples. HA! The thing is I would not have bought 87 pounds of apples if they weren't on this kick ass sale. We didn't "need" apples, but we'll sure find a way to use them now!

And, ummm... it isn't like our apple drawer at home was empty.

Apples were sent to school today for snacks. That takes care of about 12 pounds, just 75 more to go!

They Kept Falling

Posted price: $1.999
Cash Price: $1.969
After 20¢ coupon: $1.769

When was the last time we could fill up for that? Far too long ago.

Over the past month I've found myself questioning what was up with the falling fuel prices. They just keep falling and falling and falling.

It is so nice to be able to fill up a tank of gas for a whole lot less than we were mere months ago. But seriously, the prices have dropped significantly since the last time I thought they had dropped to such amazing lows... just 28 short days ago.

I still have more questions than answers, though I've not taken any time to really search out the answers. For now, I just reap the benefits.

I'm no expert on markets or Wall Street. I'd have to guess that our "recently discovered" (ha!) economic crisis might have something to do with it. Though I don't know how. Much more so I've personally pondered potential political involvement. Just one of those gut feelings kinda things.

And either people are making a rush to the pumps because it has dropped below $2 or I'm not the only one with those thoughts. It will be fascinating to see what happens to these prices after we hear the outcome of today's election results.

Falling Prices

I'm not really sure what is going on, but every day our gas prices continue to drop. I'm totally not complaining!

Just a couple days ago the super unleaded price was at $2.99 and we thought that was low.

Every morning (this week) they seem to be lower than the night before.

Every afternoon they seem to be lower than the morning prices.

We keep wondering... where is it going to bottom out? What's the catch?

We also gotta love that we can get 3 cents off per gallon at the station we frequent just by paying cash. As a bonus, we have coupons from them that can get us an additional 5 cents off per gallon (with no strings attached) or 20 cents off per gallon with a car wash. And she got a 12 cent off per gallon coupon... just for going bankrupt at the grocery store this morning. Woohoo!

Carie had gotten into a routine of filling up the van mid-week, every week. The prices always seemed to jump around the weekend and then taper off about mid week. So whether we needed gas or not, she'd fill up just so we would have a full tank come the weekend in case we ended up going out of town. But now we are puzzled, happily so.

Now... if food prices could head in the same direction that would be really nice. Carie was at the store this morning and was telling me about the prices of some items. The price was easily double what we've paid in the past. I'm like, we can totally skip buying green beans (a favorite veggie in our house) until they go on sale! We'll eat different veggies for now, thanks!

Everything Happens For A Reason

In the recent months we (Carie and I) have been talking about things... big adult... life... responsibility... priority... financial types of things.

We've discussed options, we've talked about what if's, and we’ve talked about goals and plans. It feels really good to have these conversations. I've been feeling so stalled out for a while now and this feels like it is moving us to a new place. Still in a not an ideal position... but in a not so ideal position with a plan.

Things are already starting to fall into place. I'm not ready to count the chickens before they hatch, but it should mostly fall into place from here. There's only one piece of the current plan with a big question mark on it. Mostly just because I'm being cautious. There are a couple more steps to our master plan and it will take about 8 months to pull it all off. I can only hope those steps are able to be executed successfully.

It just feels like things are falling into place at the right times and that feels really dang good.

I have hope once again! Hope is a good feeling!

Economic Stimulus Package

So... the congress has passed it and we should see some bonus money in the months ahead. Even more incentive to get on the ball with our taxes I suppose.

What really irks me is their negotiations over "disabled veterans, the elderly and other low-income people". We are in a war and we hear how we are supposed to support our men and women in service. Yet the veterans don't count here? What about the elderly who are on fixed incomes? And low income people don't need help like everyone else? It will be interesting to see if Carie falls into the low income category. Yeah I get that individuals in these categories may get tax relief or govt support in other ways, but don't we all need a little bonus money?

We've been talking about finances a lot lately, or the lack of available finances and the crunch we are feeling. What always seems to amaze me is the correlation between our credit scores and our feelings of having no wiggle room with our backs against the wall. Just when you feel squeezed dry the offers seem to increase. On the upside I guess, we did get a chance to check out our current credit rating. Somehow we are doing something right, even though it doesn't feel like it.

So while I think about the bonus money that I'm sure congress hopes will stimulate the economy, I'm not sure they can count on us. Oh how I could easily think of a hand full of things that I'd love to indulge myself with, don't get me wrong. But we just can't. Wahhhh!