Scarp'ng 4 Eggs

K, ignore the date stamp on the pic it's off by a few weeks.
2nd, there was suppose to be a follow up pic of quiche that I made using these eggs,
cheese from the great buy out, and home canned Swiss Chard along with other veggies from our garden. Problem was family ate the pie before I had a chance to photograph it.

These lovely eggs were purchased from Harper Hill Farm with money earned from selling our tin cans & scrap metal to a metal salvage yard. After collecting cans & a few metal what nots totaling 4 huge trash bags full this is how the stats played out Gross - 215, Tare - 140, Net - 75, Price - 8, = $6.
Yes, u read right six clams, six marigolds, six greenbacks, one fin & a Washington.
I had expected more. Not a whole lot more but more.
Since we were in the same county as our friend and we needed eggs I decided to blow my whole wad of dough on her wonderful multi-colored eggs.
Well that and I wanted visit with her kids. K, I'm throwing farm terms around. By kids I mean baby goats. Who much like lost puppies will snuggle up against you when you hold them and let out a cry that sounds like a baby. Did I mention that new baby scent that all new babies have even goats.

So the great tin can scraping exercise is wasn't a complete waste but I think that I'll stick with soda & beer bottles. There's a redemption center on almost every block.


~~ pelenaka ~~

Full Disclosure

The following is a guest post by my husbands Woodsrunner.



OK, I suppose I should reveal the expenses I pay out of pocket.

To start health and dental insurance set us back around $390 a month.

Another $12 a paycheck goes into a legal fund in case we ever need legal assistance.

I get paid every two weeks. On pay week I put between $35 and $40 worth of gas in the car, on the off week I add another $25-$30.

$15 a paycheck goes into a savings account to cover car repairs and emergency expenses.

$26 a paycheck goes into a checking account at a separate bank, most of this goes to cover prescription co pays that I am required to purchase mail order. This account also pays my Dr visit co pays which recently were increased As pelenaka wrote our ER co pay is now $750, our routine office visit is $55 up from $35.

$10 a payday goes into our land fund account.

3% of my gross pay goes into my 401k, that's the amount my employer will match.

I do give myself $75-$90 a week walking around money. Some weeks $30 of that buys the family a pizza or Chinese takeout for a treat. I buy my morning coffee,bread and cold cuts for lunch, lunch out once a week and a daily diet soda.

The pocket money also covers the occasional misc grocery expense or repair materials for the house which will now be paid with the Lowes gift card.

The $38 a month basic cable and Internet bill also comes from this money.

I do have one credit card. It's balance has never exceeded $350 (our utility trailer). Current balance is a whopping $28 and will be paid off next paycheck.

I empty my change into a jar at the end of each day. Saturday mornings I put the jars contents into my "hobby" account. this week it was $9 worth of change, some weeks it has been as much as $20. Any bonuses that work pays out goes into this fund along with payouts for unused vacation time, etc. This money buys my collector guns, pays our $135 a year club membership, along with hunting & fishing licenses and stuff like that.

Personally I think we do really well managing our money.

Woods



Few points that I'd like to make -

Gas allotment - it's been a colder winter than normal so we all don't walk as much as we could. Coupled with extra trips to pick up daughter from work & nightly med runs for my mother (I'm everyone's medical officer). I'm just not comfortable with either of us walking at night. Bike weather soon. Woods also drives into Rochester a twice a month to visit with his grandmother. He has also attended a few of my daughter's track meets @ RIT. There is also the occasional event (gun show) that he goes to.
Take out food, I got nothing, it's wrong. More so if I write that I all most always have the ingredients to make pizza or stir fry. Eggs rolls not happening.After months of searching for the best deal we could get on wifi the basic cable package +internet was it.


Utility trailer - the most outstanding benefit is that we can haul firewood without scheduling around a friend's truck not to mention the gas money or obligatory thank you pie. There are also the times that opportunity meet chance. Driving along and oh there's a down tree and it's Oak ... We have also hauled away building debris instead of renting a dumpster. Trailer is a much cheaper alternative to purchasing a truck. The credit card was a no interest for a year deal not sure though if he has paid it off in the year time frame but he's close. It is also his one credit card.
Club membership is a Gun & Rod club where we target range, hike, hunt, and take advantage of sportsman classes and events. Cheaper than a closed gun range not to mention it's family time. It's also where Woods goes to get away from city sidewalks.


~~ pelenaka ~~

Just the facts ...

Thought I share with everyone our financial stats for the past year as it was pretty sobering to say the least. Flip side is that although we are below the poverty level we do lead a somewhat middle class life. What & where all those dead presidents have been spent on since February.

Reportable income a.k.a. husband's paycheck - $21,507.
My quiet money - $2,300.

Federal refund - $7,890.
State - $2,410.

1st, state refund belongs to hubby. It goes into the land fund. Portions have however gone to buy investments (guns). Once I realized that he has never lost money on his "hobby" my objections disappeared. $400 & something went for car repairs - wheel bearing, oil change, NYS inspection.



Federal belongs to me or the household. My first thought was to buy a new roof or a good portion of. Then I realized there was a few other things that needed to be taken care of.

Yearly Car Insurance - $368 for 2 drivers. Someone not me has a few tickets so this cost will decrease next year.

$1000 gift card (home repairs & improvements), Lowes was running a promotion where they would add 10% to the card.

Dental co-pays - ranging from $30 to the whopping $1,013 for my dental surgery & 4 courses of antibiotic therapy. One daughter needed two cavities filled $113.60. Apparently the coating that was applied over 7 years ago doesn't last forever. I need to babysit her oral hygiene routine. Mid month there will be another $300 for her work up from the orthodontist. Quote was $4,000 to $4,500. 10% down (me & hopefully the ex) & monthly payments (daughter). There is also an upcoming wisdom tooth extraction for her.

Clothing - bought 2 winter parkas for myself & 16 y.o. daughter. Along with Woods belated Christmas gift and long underwear $120.93. Scored free shipping, $10 gift card & upromise money.

Preparedness Supplies - bought $327 worth of mylar bags, O2 absorbers, Red Wheat berries & Oats #10 cans from LDS website. Also bought medical preparedness supplies last weekend spent $43.

I have also been paying the usual monthly bills such as mortgage out of the refund money as well as coupon shopping.
I also want to purchase a few more items that would fall under the preparedness category.
Still need to bulk buy beef, chicken, and pork.
Researched having daughter's orthodontic work preformed at a dental college in our city but her teeth aren't drastic enough so she'd be low on the waiting list. Then there is the transportation & scheduling factor. The dentist we are going with is within walking distance of her high school and they offer before school appointments.

Woods gives me $400 for household expenses.
The ex sends $100 to cover the costs of daughter's health insurance. While NYS does offer an alternative health insurance we prefer not to have the state in our business.


~~ pelenaka ~~

Date Day

Woodsrunner & I spent Saturday @ the gun show in Rochester. Normally he attends with his friends or in the past he has taken one of the children. This time I had a list of specific items that I wanted to buy and spending a day out of the hood sans teenagers was appealing. Yes, I know sounds like a lead up to a "you know your a red neck if " joke but when your man is a country boy sometimes all a girl from the block can do is follow. 

Interesting and extremely crowded. There was the usual gun toting ZZ Top crew along with a large percentage of Yul Gibbons grandfathers clogging the isles. But occasionally I'd see a more ethnic enthusiast and even a few fellow Puerto Ricans.

I was fascinated that grown men walked around with signs taped to their backs advertising their firearm for sale the majority being rifles. There was even a father son who looked like extras from the Shore, lugging a golf bag filled with rifles and swords to sell.
Visited with the county clerks who were taking a break from registration duties. And the Cowboy action shooters. Picked up a brochure on aftermarket laser sights. Crimson Trace rep was patronizing but the product pretty much sold itself when I could see the red dot 40 feet away without my glasses on.

I know that it seems pretty popular and to some almost mainstream now to talk about survival & medical gear but I had been meaning to do a blog post about our efforts.

In the past I've always kept a medical kit which was a re purposed plastic tool box that contained bandages, ointments, OTC meds like cough syrup and analgesics. A few months ago all that personally changed when our health insurance co-pays especially for an ER visit hit the $750 mark. That's just for walking into the ER. Having an MD touch us is a separate bill as is lab.

So I needed to step up my game as our family's medical & co financial officer.

One way is to provide more of a buffer between when an event happens such as a laceration and automatically utilizing an ER when an urgent care or even our doctor's office will do. Even though I'm a nurse, I can say that I to have to fight the urge to scoop & run to the closest emergency room at the sight of blood coming from a family member. So I'm not talking so much about preforming brain surgery as I am about stabilizing and then obtaining a less expensive medical treatment alternative.

Unless I am that good @ brain surgery and or our co-pay increases.

Survival/Medical Gear

Collapsible canteen - $6, army green, rolls up nicely. Pocket for iodine tablets & rehydration salts.

Emergency blankets - $2 each, provide warmth, shelter, prevent shock & emergency signal.

Hemostats curved - $2.50 each, like having an extra hand.

Dental picks - 4/$5, besides dental applications bullet removal. Or sliver.

Inspection Mirror - part of the 4/$5 deal, paired with temporary dental filling kit when a crown breaks

Disposable Scapel - 3/$1, industrial. Foil packs are all sealed scalpels aren't to be considered sterile.

Parachute Cord - 50' pkg./$2 each. Used to make a splint, elevate a limb or restrain.

P 38 - 2 can openers freebie by the guy who sold me the canteen because in his words "they go together".

I was really hoping to locate gamma lids but none were to be had.

Equally surprising was that only 2 out of 11 vendors I spoke with knew what a gamma lid was.

3 asked me if I was a prepper. Of those 3 one said he was because his wife was from China.

5 vendors on hearing the word gamma tryed to sell me military surplus radiation clothing none of which was complete.

1 pointed out that he had two Geiger Counters for sale unsure if they worked.

He did however hum a few bars of She's got Legs and She knows how to use them ... 

~~ pelenaka ~~
who now has the song Sharp Dressed Man stuck in her head

Clean Out The Chimney

Apparently in New Zealand the phrase," Clean out the Chimney" refers to meth. 
Here that phrase means that we clean out the pipe much more frequently then the average wood burner due to our burning of less than perfect firewood.
This will make the 3rd chimney cleaning of the Winter heating season.
Hubby refuses to talk cockney to me or wear a top hat made of black construction paper.

If the Ladies Auxiliary of the VLCA stopped in to pay a fine afternoon visit I would certainly be embarrassed by the state of my hearth. Nor would I be able to serve a decent tea. I'd be the subject of neighborhood gossip for weeks. K, not like that's sumting new.

But this is the reality of wood heat. When it's an unusually warm afternoon and all hands are on deck this is what you do before the house chills down below 50.

Stove diff needs a good buffing of stove black. A task better left for another warm afternoon.

~~ pelenaka ~~

Positive Reinforment

One method to keep me/us plugging along on my fugal lifestyle is to have frequent positive reinforcement. Sometimes it's as simple as writing on the lid of a can. Or box or bag.
This is a good method to also encourage family members to lend their hand @ pantry shopping. While my middle daughter would rather do the dishes for me so I have time to clip coupons or make a barter good, my last baby enjoys the actual shopping. It's nice to have that second person to cart watch or crawl around on the supermarket floor checking expiration dates.
Canned Tuna fish was a bonus buck buy (also on sale) @ CVS months ago.

Working on more long term food shortage goals past the normal 3 years that home canned food can be stored. In that category my main concern is meat. Hence the 38 cans of Tuna accumulated in the cellar.
Hope to catch a great deal on SPAM before my coupons expire. Who would have thought that something like canned potted meat would become soo expensive.

Woods was making me lunch, something soft that I could manage since I recently had dental surgery for the 2nd time.
I'm stalked by a dead beat Tooth Fairy.


~~ pelenaka ~~