Bloggy Buddie Award!

I got got this cute award from McVal at Sew Not My Day! Thanks, Val!


Ok - I'm supposed to give this to my top 12 most frequent commentors on my blog. Is this award the CUTEST! It's like virtual hug to all my bloggy friends. I am only going to list 10 of my most frequent commenters, since I am supposed to be working, but the hug is for everyone!!

SonyaAnn at A Mom, Money, And More
McVal at Sew Not My Day
Pam at Mom's Mutterings
Marilyn at Marilyn's Money
Annie Jones at Real Life Living
Ace at If You Think Round is Funny
Kelly L at I’ve Become My Mother
Debbie at Suburb Sanity
Queenie Jeannie at Jeannie's Happy World
Jules at Lovely Las Vegas

Thanks for coming to see me! I love having visitors!

"I live on a fixed income."

What does that mean??? Aren't most of us on a fixed income? I read a lot of message boards and websites on frugal living and finances. Just trying to learn something new, or remember something old.

I come across articles all the time and read about people who are "living on a fixed income" and every time I wonder what that really means.

My income is the same, ever week, every month. Okay, once a year, I get a raise. (Well, so far, anyway.) But my income is not constantly increasing. Or decreasing, thank God. So, does the fact I may get a raise mean that my income is not fixed? It feels fixed to me.

I know that there are people that work on commission and their incomes would fluctuate, but aren't the majority of us "living on a fixed income"?

(For SonyAnn, who needed for me to write something. LOL!)

"It was on sale for only $500."

How many times have you said THAT?

Me, I have said it NO times.

Here is the story.....Yesterday, after work, Hubby picked me up and we went to visit our daughter, Meredith, and grandsons, Theo and Wyatt, for the evening. We stopped at our other daughter, Samantha's, and picked her and her boyfriend up to join in the fun.

We got to Meredith's and she lives in a beautiful townhome, right in the middle of the Galleria area. For those not familiar with Houston....the Galleria area, while not the priciest part of town, is not cheap. Her rent is $885/month for a 2 bedroom TH, so not as bad as I expected. And the street is really nice.

The first thing you see when you walk in the door is this:

Not this one, of course, but a HUGE flatscreen tv. Okay, maybe is is not really huge. She says is is 40", but it looks HUGE. I calmly said, "Oh, Meredith, you got a new tv." She said, "I got a great deal. It was on sale for only $500."

I just smiled. But inside, I was in SHOCK. This is the daughter that everyone has been telling us off about. This is the one that my MIL is worrying herself sick about. And this is the one that my MIL is sending money to help pay for daycare.

And Meredith bought a $500 TELEVISION!!! Oh, yeah, and of course she had to have cable. Well, not cable. She opted for the fiber optic service. $67/month. I don't even have that service, as I don't want to pay that much money to watch TV.

Last night, Meredith was talking about MIL sending her money, and she said that while she appreciates the money, she certainly is not going to be dependent on it. I know that our son-in-law will be getting his military money soon and will be sending Mere money, but in the meantime, I thought she was on a tight budget.

$500 TVs don't have any place in a tight budget in my opinion.

I keep praying my MIL doesn't call me. I'm afraid I would be telling her to quit sending Meredith money.

On the positive side, we had a nice dinner. I ended up paying. UGH! But at least, I can AFFORD it without someone else's money. I won't worry about the expense too much, since Hubby and I have not been able to go out to eat much lately.

Oh, yeah, and we got our tax refund last week and I am getting my annual bonus next week, so I am feeling in the black. LOL1

"If you spend $100 a week...."

Is it just me, or does anyone else cringe when they hear this on the WalMart commercials? I know a lot of people do spend that much a week at the grocery store, but I would have a heart attack if my final bill was that high. If it were every week, well, I just wouldn't be here. My heart couldn't take it.

I guess I have been using coupons matched with sales for so long, that spending that kind of money on groceries is a foreign concept to me. Now, I am far from a super couponer and never get those huge carts of groceries for $2.50, but we manage to live quite well on $50 - $60 a week for groceries, household items, pet stuff and HBA. Even when the kids all lived at home, I rarely spent more than $75 a week.

I just don't think I could do it! (I am in no way judging anyone that does spent that at the grocery store. I just can't imagine us doing it.)

My hubby is so sweet!

Hubby went camping about a month ago, in between surgeries. LOL! While he was camping he lost his cellphone. (That is not the sweet part.) We have Tracfones, since we are not big cell users and he has had his for 3 or 4 or maybe more years. Oh, and it was free, so it is not like he lost an expensive phone. I don't think we can recover the minutes, since he doesn't remember how many he had on it, but we don't keep a ton of minutes on either phone. And we can recover the number. He said he doesn't care if he gets the same number, but I told him it would be easier for his mom. And I don't want to learn a new one, either. LOL!

So, Tracfone had a great deal last week. A Samsung T301G - it has a camera and web browser (refurbished, but looks brand new), double-minutes for life to double the minutes we add, a 60 minute card and free shipping for $18.XX (I had a coupon code.) It was a great deal!
So the phone arrives and it is REALLY cool. I kinda want it, but don't say anything. I show it to Hubby and tell him I will get it activated and transfer his number to it, then I will enter all the numbers he wants to put in it. Hubby likes a phone that you just pick up and use. None of this programming stuff.

I told him I thought it was pretty cool and he said, "Do you want to trade?" Huh? I like my phone, it is a little Motorola and kinda cool, but nowhere near this one. But I just got it a year ago, so don't plan to replace it soon. I told him no, that I got the new phone for him. And I did NOT say it in a whiney-I-wish-I-had-the-new-one way. LOL!

Then he said, "No, really, I like yours better. Can't we just trade?" I told him we could think about it. I could have my number transferred to the new one, then his number transferred to my old one, but I just feel kinda mean making him have an old phone and me get a new one when I just got a new one a year ago. He really doesn't use his a lot. I don't use mine much more, but I do always have it one, so people that have the number can always reach me.

So, I have to figure out is Hubby just being sweet letting me have the new cool toy, or does he really not care one way or the other. Either way, he is a sweety-pie.

Happy weekend to all my bloggy friends!

McVal is 300 today!!!

No, no, that's not it.



McVal posted her 300th post today!




Congrats to Val at Sew Not My Day! In celebration she is having a giveway! So, go on over and sign up and maybe you will win!

Pillsbury Orange Sweet Rolls Giveaway! Winner!

McVal is the winner of my Pillsbury and MyBlogSpark giveaway! Congrats, McVal!

I sent you an email!