Stress

Apparently stress is the number one people killer. This I can attest to. Even though I'm back at work I'm barely making enough to cover my bills. I had to go to a conference this weekend and I had to charge the gas to my credit card so I could get to the conference. How sad is that? My mon is really supportive with reminding me that this is just a temporary situation and I will be able to overcome eventually. But it's hard to remember that at 4 a.m. When you're laying in bed wiiiide awake.

Back To Work

I GOT A JOB :)

Yeah, back to work, part time, but hopefully working towards full time.  Which explains why I haven't posted lately.  I have been listening to a lot of NPR in my office while I work which keeps me informed but also makes me ragey because I listen to the political goings on and the news articles. 

I heard a news story the other day that said Americans throw out almost 40% of the food we buy.  The article said this was because food is so cheap and accessible to us.  I want to do a study in my own home to see just how much food I throw out. I went to the grocery store a few days ago and spent around $80 on groceries this should last us around 2 weeks of meal options.  I will see what gets pitched.  Cooking for two is hard and often times I make extra and my husband complains of having to eat the same meal all week because I made so much, So my grocery inventory is beginning. I hope to not throw out anything. I just have to be more ambitious with my cooking endeavours.

Having A Yard Sale

Considering having a yard sale next weekend because it is our communities "festival" and I think there will be  a bit of foot traffic.  However, it is a HUGE job, I don't even have that much stuff and already I'm thinking OY, also it's hard to let something go you know you paid quite a bit for. 

There's the ever present tug of war 'do i want to go through the hassle to try to sell this on Ebay?' or... 'should I just throw 25 cents on this at a yard sale to get rid of it and save myself the hassle? Decisions, Decisions.

On the up side, I have been have a good time redesigning spaces, both at my mothers and my grandmothers homes.  Both have a lot of miscellanious stuff around and can benefit from some reorganization. I should have taken a 'before'  and 'after picture' but I didn't really think that through.  Here's an after of my mom's living room I think it looks great.  We found that factory cart for SUPER cheap when compared with the ones on restoration hardware's website.... ($1,200) and up  All of these things she had laying around her house but not displayed and/or displayed poorly. Now we are making strides in the right direction.  As an aside, in the future, I will do before/after pictures... much better I promise.

Also I finished my table I posted about before, I will take pictures and share that soon :)

The little things.

This is what unemployment does to you.  Not only have I become obsessed with dance shows such as Breaking Pointe, Bunheads, and So You Think You Can Dance, but I found myself looking forward to Tuesday nights because my favorite shows, What Not To Wear, and now Teen Mom is on.  It was a little sad, MTV has been advertising Teen Mom for a few weeks and I though 'Oh, goody I have something to do, something to look forward to." Yikes Right?

Well As Promised Here's a cheap and easy Cabbage roll recipe

Stuffed Cabbage

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour, 25 minutes

Yield: 4 to 5 servings

Serving Size: 2 cabbage rolls

• 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 cup chopped yellow onion
• 1 medium head (about 2 pounds) green cabbage
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 cup cooked rice (white or brown)
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 can (16 ounces) tomato sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13- by 9-inch pan with cooking spray or oil.

In a medium skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.

In a mixing bowl, combine the beef, cooled onion, rice,  and salt. With the stem side of the cabbage leaf facing you, place a scant 1/3 cup of the beef mixture in the center of each cabbage leaf. Fold the bottom edge over the mixture and then fold the sides over and roll into a tidy packet. Place the cabbage rolls, seam side down, in the prepared baking dish.

In a bowl, mix together the tomato sauce, broth, and paprika. Pour evenly over the cabbage rolls. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour.

This is the table I got for 15 Dollars at our local Habitat for Humanity Restore, I'm going to refinish this table and make it Fantastic :) I can't wait, plus it will give me something to do on my time off.

I have been working hard at finding a job, got one rejection today but also applied to 6 jobs 4 at a temp agency and the other two at various local places.  Hopefully one will call me. 

I will post a new recipe tomorrow I'm going to try to make cabbage rolls for the first time. Hopefully my first foray goes well... :)

I encourage you to see if you have a local Restore location. I wish I would have known about all this when I first started working on our home. There are so many neat things to get and to refinish from there.  Especially if you need anything such as Tile for any pinterest projects. :)

Keeping the bugs away on the cheap and safely

Nothing is worse than settling down on the couch and noticing a big, fat, black, slow fly circling your room.  Occasionally alighting on your feet and generally annoying the crap out of you.  I stumbled across this handy dandy tip online and it really works.  This keeps Flies away from your doors and your porch. 

Here's what you'll need. 

What you will need:
A clear plastic sandwich bag
2 1/2 cups of water.
A bottle of lime juice.
2 teaspoons of salt.
Two or three paper clips
And some shiny pennies.

You will also need a bowl and a spoon which is are not in the picture.

I have tried this without the salt and the lime juice, just the pennies and water and it seems to work as well.  However, the original recipe calls for lime and salt





Mix all your ingredients together in the bag and use the paper clips as your hanger.  It really worked for me, kept most of the flies away from our stinky garbage can as well :)

Also with using only the water and the pennies it only cost me around .10 Cents :)

Memorial Day Cookout $

Entertaining is expensive.

I shopped at Aldis for all our staples as they seem to provide the cheapest grocery options within a reasonable driving distance.  I got enough stuff for ten people for $50 which would only be five dollars per person for food and no one is going to need to bring anything.  This is actually pretty great :) There was some hamburger meat on sale that was a better quality and marked down so we don't have to eat pre fabricated burgers *(blech) and chips, fruit, corn on the cob, and some no bake boxed cheesecake and toppings for those. i could have saved more if I would have noticed that the crust was contained in the cheesecake box... but I didn't :( Oh well, with everyone bringing the drinks I am going to have a pretty good cookout for our frinesd. I'm excited that I could get the food for it without breaking the bank. It isn't going to be fancy, but I don't think anyone that will be in attendance will really care. 

This weekend I visited a really cool store in the town over from me. It's called the Flying Pig and everything in it is used/new but donated for charity.  It is a charity shop, all the proceeds go to help children in families with terminal illnesses.  So the things are very nice and very reasonably priced.  There are also two great antique shops that have some reasonable prices that you can ask if they can 'do a little better' on the price for you.  I shopped there and my local goodwill on Friday, not amazing finds, but It is cool that I found some new stores that have affordable, 'green' alternatives to typical retail therapy. 

Frustrating

I keep hearing in our local newspaper how things are 'Turning Around' for the unemployment numbers in local counties, but I received another 'Thanks but No-Thanks' letter in the mail today from a 2 hour interview I had over three weeks ago.  How frustrating is that? I often wonder what employers are looking for. You sit with someone for over two hours, answer all their questions, make little jokes, be charming, and have a good time, then you hear nothing untill you get the 'You're great, but there's someone who more closely meets our needs.'  Siiiiiiigh it's just frustrating.  Any of you who are also searching for jobs have to feel the same way.  These mailed rejections are hard to take first thing in the morning. 

But we have to stay positive.  Being unemployed is giving me a chance to go through all the stuff I need to get rid of in a garage sale, which could potentially bring in some extra money.  There are lots of Tchotchkeys around this small house that could potentially be offloaded to some other unsuspecting hunter. 

I have been walking and biking around alot which has also given me the opportunity to find nice little finds in people's refuse, including a Schwinn bike that only needs a new tube and some grease on the gears, and a 1940's wooden laundry table.  I will post pictures tomorrow so you can see me little jackpot finds. However, TGIM (that guy I married) says he hates me being unemployed because then I bring more stuff into our house... 

Rummage finds

I found this glass chip and dip bowl, a cute owl hot pot stand, and a basket for my bike, all for $2.00. The bike basket alone would be over $25 in the store. I just have to raid my husbands random nail and screw collection and I have a great bike basket for my items.

Forced Frugality

Nothing requires you to re-evaluate your spending and the expense of even simple things as much as a lay-off.  Many of us are finding ourselves having to cut back on everything from coffee to vacations. 

I am beginning this blog to share my ideas and my thoughts for living frugally.  Which is not as easy as one might think. 

I become sick of hearing about $5 meals which require you to have a plethora of items already stocked in your cabinet that if you were to purchase individually would cost you well over $100.  I am also not the craftiest person in the world so having my reconstruct my own bathroom wall, create a rug out of plastic bags, and start distilling my own wine is a little out of the question. 

This is an account of a real girl who has to live in the real world, when a layoff happens, and your income stops, unemployment hasn't started, and you have no money to speak of.  We are all struggling in one way or another and if  I can help or give you a new idea, I have done my job.  I will do my best to be honest about all the prices and the practicality of completing projects.    

Tomorrow T.G.I.M. (That Guy I Married) and I are going to a local church rummage sale to see what they have.  I don't need anything in particular. But I might.  I have spent the majority of my week off so far, biking everywhere that I can to avoid paying $3.72 per gallon or around $66 for a full tank in my car.  This week I have so far spent $38.12 on plants for my small garden.

I will report on the findings or lack thereof of fodder found at the first rummage sale of the season tomorrow.