Home of the Week

Busy day on Thursday as I cleaned out the fridge and freezer in the kitchen.

Before:

After:

This is what I had the throw out:

Made an inventory of what was in the freezer and sorted out what was in the fridge.  So a good job, jobbed!

Now this photo is for my own amusement.  For the first time in flipping ages, this was what was on our kitchen table............nothing other than the table runner and fruit bowl.  It's a very rare occasion when that is all that's sitting there, as if in doubt put it on the kitchen table until it gets put away.

This week's "Home of the Week," is not totally unpleasant, it's just not really my cup of tea.  I don't know that area at all but $2.4 million seems very pricey to me?  Also I don't like the look of the house from the outside.  From the front photo you're not sure what the other houses are like in the street, but the last photo confirms it's a modern house plopped into a road of traditional houses, I don't like that at all.  In it's favour the light coming into the house is lovely making it light and airy, but I do think I'll pass on this one.

I'm not really sure what to say about the "Condo of the Week?"  For $2 million, I would have thought there would have been a better view?  The building's amenities seem great but the condo itself left me wanting something more?I do love the floors and the kitchen, but the whole place lacked personality and warmth I think?  What do you think?

We have had some flipping cold weather, so thought this was appropriate!

This week's challenges..........

Financial: Whatever your budget is for the week, cut it. Can you cut it down 10%, 25%, maybe even in half for the week? Figure out a realistic cut, then put the extra towards debt or a savings goal!

Not sure if I can do this as the money I take out weekly is stretched to the limit.  I'll try my best though; what with putting money away for the 52 week challenge, the sealed pot challenge, money in my other pot, my birthday pot and my Christmas pot, there's not a lot left over.

 Decluttering: It's time to organize our food stash! Your pantry, cupboards you keep food in, fridge, freezer, etc... take inventory of what you have, organize it, toss any old, expired foods, make a menu plan using up any items that are nearing their "best before" day, donate foods you won't eat, etc... Don't forget to snap before & after photos!! If you've already done this over the month, well, you're off the hook!! ;)

This is a job that I have wanted to do for a while, so should be easy to do.

Freezing flipping cold around here.   Still hibernating.  Do have to leave the house though today, will have photos to show you tomorrow........

Catching up with a couple of things.

I went grocery shopping on Friday and spent exactly $73.00, not often that happens, an exact dollar amount.  Had $11.89 in coupons savings.  Went to No Frills and stocked up on their 15 bottle packs of water for 88 cents, plus they had an in store special on Folgers ground coffee for $5.88 for the 900 gram container, plus I had $1 off coupons.

This week we had to clean out a closet as part of the decluttering challenge.  I cleaned out the spare bedroom closet last week.  I may try and get something else cleaned out today if I have chance.

For the financial challenge we had to donate some money.  I decided to "give" in the form of a $5 Tim Hortons gift card to a mentally challenged individual that I know goes into a Tim Hortons location all the time.  I left the card with the manager who promised to pass it onto this guy.  The card will pay for three cups of coffee for him.

I must admit I found that part of the challenge hard as I haven't been anywhere where I could do something like this, this week.  Plus it's been a tight week this week, so didn't have too much in the way of extra money.  I would have loved to see his face though when they give him the card.

We're in for some bitter cold weather in the minus 20's so it's time for soups and stews.  Made broccoli soup using this recipe and am looking for a good green bean and ham soup recipe as I pulled out some ham from the freezer.

Thought this was amusing....

For those of you who are not Canadian,  its a total white out, and we still think Spring is coming....

Got a couple of things completed for this weeks challenges

I got the two drawers cleaned out like I wanted to:

Bill/junk drawer before:

After:

Then I have a "junk drawer" that I use exclusively.

Before:

After:

I have also made a start on the trying to bring more money in the house.  I put an ad on Kijiji to try and sell these lights:

I have advertised them as Fairy Lights that are ideal to use at a wedding.  I know they are Christmas lights, but as they are white and as they can be used both indoor and outdoor I figured I would give it a try and get $15.00 for all three boxes. Will say I was surprised at the response and I have sold them tentatively; I am  meeting up with a lady next Wednesday who wants them and is willing to pay the $15  and have another couple of people lined up if she falls through.

Another thing I am taking part in is Cindy's 52 Week Challenge.

 
 
It's pretty self explanatory, but one tip I have is to print out the form and cross off each week when you put it in your jar/pot.  I am trying to get ahead of the game as I have a feeling when it gets to $30+ a week it will be harder to come up with the money.  I am on week nine.  I love this idea and thinking I will have saved up $1,378.00 by the end of the year excites me. 

If you click on the link above the form you will find more details over at Cindy's.

I am still keeping up with the sealed pot challenge as well, just need to remind dh to put money in there!!!

My latest "treasure,"

I picked up my latest silent auction win on Sunday.  What do you think it is, it is made by Fenton?  I'll tell you the answer at the end of the post:

Carla's challenge for us this week is:

Finance: Can you bring some extra money into your household this week somehow? Here are a few ideas:

• Pick up extra hours at work
• Sell items around the house you no longer need or use
• Offer a service or talent
• Come in "under" budget and add that to your weekly savings

Decluttering: Junk Drawer. We all have one, don't pretend you don't, cause I won't believe you. ;) lol! Declutter your junk drawer and post before & after photos!!

Of the two things the decluttering will be easy as I need to sort out the drawer where all the paid bills are and had been planning on doing that anyway.

The finance one will be a little more difficult.  However I was thinking of putting some Christmas Tree LED lights that we no longer use on Kijiji and advertise them as fairy lights perfect for a wedding?

So what is my vase/bowl?  It's actually a candle holder, a 6" Fenton Hobnail Milk Glass Candle Holder like this one  I paid $15 for it which seems to be the going rate.  I don't have any bids in for the next couple of weeks.

Follow up on last week's challenges:

Financial Goal Week One: Instead of buying something you need this week, find a way to "make do". Do you grab a coffee each day on the way to work? can you brew at home & use a travel mug? Run out of an ingredient for a recipe? Can you find a substitution? There are many ways to "make do" each & every day... track how much you would have spent.

For this I am going to skip grocery shopping for a week. There is plenty in the house to eat and we'll make do with what we have on hand.

I did end up buying some ground beef and three cans of tuna which cost $13.  I normally spend $75+ so I am going to say I succeeded here.

Decluttering Goal Week One: What "thing" clutters up your home the most? Is it clothes? Toys? Books/magazines? Kitchen Stuff? Knick-Knacks? Find a way to get rid of some of these items! Be sure to snap a pic of your declutter!

Here I am going to clean out the Christmas Decoration Boxes. We have enough decorations to sink a ship. The only down side of this, is I will be packing them away to either sell or donate later in the year, as no one wants to either buy or accept Christmas Decorations this time of the year. They will be boxed up though ready to go in November of 2013.

Now with this there was a slight change of plan.  It has to do with my hands, which I'll explain more about tomorrow.  So my challenge was changed to sorting out the Christmas cards.

From the pile above I am left with this below, which are the letters, notes and photos.

I input all the info into an Excel spreadsheet, so I can see who sent me what for next year.

Will say after the letter I sent everyone, I did receive more letters and emails than the year before.  I am still going to prune more down though.

Finally I would like to thank Freya101 for signing up under me at Swagbucks.  No idea who you are, but if you have any questions, please let me know?

Carla's Challenge and some more treasures.

This week's challenge is this:

Financial Goal Week One: Instead of buying something you need this week, find a way to "make do". Do you grab a coffee each day on the way to work? can you brew at home & use a travel mug? Run out of an ingredient for a recipe? Can you find a substitution? There are many ways to "make do" each & every day... track how much you would have spent.

For this I am going to skip grocery shopping for a week. There is plenty in the house to eat and we'll make do with what we have on hand.

Decluttering Goal Week One: What "thing" clutters up your home the most? Is it clothes? Toys? Books/magazines? Kitchen Stuff? Knick-Knacks? Find a way to get rid of some of these items! Be sure to snap a pic of your declutter!

Here I am going to clean out the Christmas Decoration Boxes. We have enough decorations to sink a ship. The only down side of this, is I will be packing them away to either sell or donate later in the year, as no one wants to either buy or accept Christmas Decorations this time of the year. They will be boxed up though ready to go in November of 2013.

On Monday afternoon dh drove me up to the charity shop to pick up my "win's" from the weekend's silent auction.  I got this matching pair of Carnival Sunflower Pickle or Relish Dishes.

Also was this FENTON CARNIVAL GLASS Marigold Holly 8" Bowl

It's an older piece as it has the straw marks in the bottom, but it does have a couple of scratches on it that does reduce it's value.   I paid $35 for all three pieces.

I also got this Alfred Meakin Tintern Jug which if from the 1930's.  It unfortunately has a couple of chips on the lip, but it is so pretty.

I do have a couple bids in for this coming Saturday.  A Shelley Cup and Saucer and a Fenton Hobnail Vase.  I am hopeful for the vase, but I think someone else will outbid me on the cup and saucer and you know what, that's fine.

January No/Low Spend and Decluttering Challenge

I know it's not January but Carla is inviting us all to participate in the January No/Low Spend and Decluttering challenge.  You can sign up here  I am determined to sort out our old basement once and for all, so will be doing that in January, and our savings has taken a hit over the past couple of months, so need to put money in there.  I'll aim for $200, but would really like $400 to go in there......we'll see though.

I have never heard this version of today's Christmas Song, very pretty:

Letter writing, grocery shopping and a recipe.

First let me thank dd for re-designing my blog.  After telling me my blog was ugly and pointing out other problems with it, I gave dd the passwords and told her to get on with it.  Any issues please complain to her!!!  I am actually very pleased with how it looks now.  She does this type of thing for her job, so it's easy peasy for her.  So thank you dd, I owe you one, or do I?

This week's mini challenge over at Carla's was to write a letter to someone.  I have to say this was a simple challenge for me, as I had to send a birthday card to a friend in England and was going to enclose a letter, so I have managed to complete another challenge.  I do type my letters on the computer, but always sign them in pen.

On Friday I went grocery shopping at No Frills, as I had errands to run in "S" town.  So armed with a list and flyers to price match with I got what is below.  If you remember I mentioned last week I went over my $75 weekly budget, so wanted to only spend $65 this week.  Below is what I got and I paid..........

$55.90 or 35 pounds and 49p or $56.17 USD  I used $9.79 in coupons and I think my best deal was the 8 packs of Activia yogurt.  They were on for $3.99 and I had $2 off coupons, so only paid $1.99 each.  Also the milk (4 litres or 1 gallon) was only $3.99 as I price matched with Zehrs.

As always it's not a nutritionally balanced shop as I have things in the house from prior weeks shopping that I will use to make meals.

Dh was told by the doctor to have more fibre in his diet along with vegetables, so that's my goal this week.  Also I am lacking in iron so I made a new to me recipe on Friday night that covers both these issues.

Mixed Bean Stew with Cottage Dumplings.

Cottage Dumplings:

1 cup shredded, reduced fat cheese (4 ounces)

2/3 cup cooked, fresh, frozen (thawed) or canned (drained) corn

1/2 cup all-purpose/plain flour

1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese

1/3 cup bread crumbs, either white or whole grain

1/3 cup cornmeal

2 egg white.

Mix all the ingredients together.

Mixed Bean Stew:

2 cups cooked great northern beans or 1 can (around 15 ounces) great northern, cannellini or navy beans, rinsed and drained.

2 cups or 1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained.

1 cup chopped red bell pepper, around 1 medium

2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil

1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 can (around 15 ounces) tomato sauce

Heat the above ingredients to boiling in a saucepan; reduce heat.  Shape dumpling mixture into 12 balls and carefully slide balls onto beans in simmering stew (do not drop directly into liquid.)

Cook uncovered for 10 minutes.  Cover and cook for a further 10 minutes longer or until dumplings are firm.

Serves 6

Sorry about the photo, it's not the best.  I will say however this recipe is a keeper.  I don't think it will feed 6, 4 is more realistic.  Even dh enjoyed it, although I cooked a couple of sausages with his.  I also didn't have cornmeal so I used couscous instead and that seemed to work.

Week Two of the decluttering challenge and a Book Review

At least I think it's the second week, I actually don't know when the week actually starts, I must ask Carla???  Anyhow I made a start on the living room and I didn't take an actual "before" photo, this is a sort of throw everything around so you can see what's what photo:

I spent a considerable time in the morning posting 7 items on Kijiji in the hopes of selling them.  All the software on the rocking chair has been destroyed and the boxes put in the recycling.  There are two big boxes now next to where dh sits in the family room for him to go through on a night when he's watching tv, as if it were up to me I would throw the whole lot out, but it's apparently not all garbage????

The green boxes behind the sofa are wedding presents of dd and there are more under the table to the right of the photo, so the sooner dd and hubby get a house the better, but they could be here for another year yet!!

I have two boxes behind the door still to unpack from when we moved.  I have excuses as to why I haven't unpacked them, but they are pretty lame.  The bed frame behind the sofa is there because  (feel free to fill in what you want on the lined area) ______________

The main thing in this room is that I have made a start.  I have thrown some things out and I have a pile to go to the electronics recycling and have put some stuff on Kijiji to sell.

Oh and I had a couple of no spend days, both Sunday and Monday...........

Also we have not done a thing in the living room other than change the light fixture, so it is more or less as it was when we moved into the house.

"Words Spoken True," by Ann H. Gabhart

Adriane Darcy was practically raised in her father's newspaper offices. She can't imagine life without the clatter of the press and the push to be first to write the news that matters. Their Tribune is the leading paper in Louisville in 1855. Then Blake Garrett, a brash young editor from the North with a controversial new style of reporting, takes over failing competitor the Herald, and the battle for readers gets fierce.


When Adriane and Blake meet at a benefit tea, their surprising mutual attraction is hard to ignore. Still, Blake is the enemy, and Adriane is engaged to the son of a powerful businessman who holds the keys to the Tribune's future. Blake will stop at almost nothing to get the story--and the girl. Can he do both before it's too late?

I am not a huge fan of this author, but I thought I'd give her another try and I am pleased that I did.  This was a book of romance and mystery with a bit of history and murder mixed in with it, so will appeal to a wide range of readers.  I will say it took me a number of chapters before the story had me hooked.  However once that happened I needed to know what would happen next.

The romance side of the story was pretty predictable, and the murder mystery side was easily figured out, but overall it was an entertaining book.

Stars out of 5 : 3 the start of the story was long winded and boring, but once you get into the story it will have you hooked.  So well worth persevering through those first chapters, also you will learn a bit about the social unrest back in the mid 1800's in Louisville.

"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.


Available at your favourite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group".

Okay whose bright idea was if for me to join this

de-cluttering challenge????  I am knackered/tired/pooped/ whatever word you want to call it. It's bloody hard work all this cleaning.  Guess it wouldn't be so hard if I didn't have that much clutter in the first place right?

Anyhow as mentioned in this post my "project" for this week is our bedroom drawers and closet.  So I tackled the drawers yesterday and today's project was the closet.

Our closet is the length of the end of our room so a decent size, probably around 10+ feet I think.   We installed that a couple of years ago as we had no closet in the room.

Now as it has sliding doors it is hard to take the photos of inside, but here goes.

and here:

Again it is hard to see the difference in the after photos.  My side:

Dh's side:

Now to prove that I did take some a lot of things out of there here is a photo of all the empty coat hangers on our bed.  Each one had an item of clothing on it.

The pile of clothes on there, along with the two handbags are things I am donating.  I had the same pile again of things that I hope will fit in another couple of months, that I am storing in a drawer in the spare bedroom.  Also on the bed in the spare bedroom is a pile of dh's clothes that I would like him to go through before I donate.

I also gave the bedroom a good clean when I finished that and moved all the furniture, including the bed as we have wooden floors so it is dust bunny central.  I also took the two ceiling light fixtures apart and washed them, along with the bathroom light fixture.

Add that to putting the garbage out, picking up poop, bringing in the logs, ironing, taking the ashes to the fire pit  and what ever else.  I think I have done more than my fair share for the day, don't you?

My challenge for next week is the living room.  However I am making a start on that this weekend, as it's a nightmare at the moment, you'll see what I mean when you see the photos.

Oh and by the way, there will be three garbage bags of clothing that will be donated due to this exercise.........

And the proof is in the photos!!

I posted here I was taking part in Carla's de-cluttering challenge, and for the first week I picked our closets and drawers in our bedroom.  I had planned on being away from home all day Wednesday, but due to an issue with my car that got cancelled, so with that extra time on my hands I decided to make a start on our bedroom by cleaning out our drawers.

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

This is our underwear drawers, you are just going to have to believe me when I say I cleaned them all out, as I don't feel I should inflict an image of my underwear on any of you!!!

This is the pile of clothes that will be going to Goodwill or where ever.

Also Carla's mini challenge this week was to donate an item to the Food bank.  As you can see I will be donating personal items as well as food.  Dh has gone of Gillette deodorant and won't use it, so this way it will be put to good use, and I know food banks are always needing personal items.

I will tackle the closet in our bedroom on Thursday as that will take all morning to go through that.  Must say this is the kick up the butt I need!!

I also sorted out a bag of paperwork pertaining to the Church Recipe book I put together in 2010.  I am dropping off all the paperwork at the Vicarage next time I go past which will be later on in the week.

So at this point I have also completed my getting rid of 29 things this month!!!  Mind you I am not stopping as I know I probably have another 229 things that could be tossed!!