Last Groceries For The Year.

Well, this week we did our last shopping for the year. For a change, I was able to go with Hubby who usually does it by himself after work. Shopping is just another chore for him but because I only go while I'm on holiday I always look forward to it. I love to go and read all the labels and squeeze all the fruit; Hubby just fumes and tries to get it over with as quick as possible!

"Grocery" shopping at Shopper's Drug Mart

This week Shopper's Drug Mart had great sales on coffee, peanut butter, paper towels and toilet paper. I saved $56.90 on just 14 items! As an added bonus they were having one of their 20X Optimum point promotions and now I am only a few points shy of saving another $60.00. It still feels weird though to be doing this kind of shopping in a drug store.

Shopper's bill

We were shopping in the Big City this week, and because it is cold outside, we were able to get to our favourite fish mart. They close so early on the weekend that we are usually not finished with our day by that timeand you really don't want to have a bag of fish sitting in a hot car for hours so we come home fishless. This week Hubby bought six pieces of salmon side fillet (enough for three meals) for about $24.00. I'm looking forward to a salmon dinner later in the week.

Yummy, yummy salmon fillets!

The rest of the shopping.

The rest of the shopping was done at the regular old grocery store and while the bill was over $108.00 it did include some expensive items like freezer bags, parchment paper, cocoa powder and corn flake crumbs. Nothing much was really on sale except for the cheese slices and the steak (4 striploins for $11.50). I'm all set now for a good start going into January. It's time to use up the freezer stuff. You know the items bought weeks ago that have migrated really far down to the bottom of the freezer. Yeah,  those items. Time for them to come to the top and get ready for menu planning. I'm not going to buy any meat for at least two weeks.

Superstore grocery bill.

I don't know about you but I  haven’t made any resolutions for 2013 because I really don’t stick to whatever plan I come up with. That in itself can feel disappointing. Lead a good life, appreciate what I have and love the people around me, that's essentially what I try to do every day anyway. So I'm going to go with that. What about you, dear reader? Have you made any resolutions, or any that you think you will be able to keep?

One thing that I am going to do next year is to try some new recipes. This week I am going to make a dish from the Pioneer Woman's site for "Zannie's Black-Eyed Pea Dip". It looks delicious and a good way to start the New Year off with some good luck from eating the black-eyed peas.

So, New Year's Eve is tonight and usually I would maybe have a visit from Granny New Years but, honestly, I have it all and don’t need anything else but love, good health and great friendships and the odd funny joke and a game to be played. C'mon Granny, bring me all that you can of that! Life is good.

Happy New Year!!!

Welcome to 2011!

This is the first time my Christmas amarylis has produced 5 blooms!

Granny New Years has come again in a small and quiet way. What you don’t remember "Granny"? Check her out in last year’s post here.

Granny New Year Present

A new puzzle book, thanks Granny!

Hubby had a visit from Granny, too. Well, sort of. He finally bought himself a new table saw with the extra cash he received in December. It will replace the $50 Black and Decker saw he has been using for the last 25(!) years. The poor old thing (the saw, not Hubby) fell off the tool trailer one evening during the gazebo build this summer and broke the table top. The stubborn old bugger (Hubby, not the saw) would still be using it if not for that. The saw got great reviews and the price actually went down $1oo from the time he first started drooling on it in the store. Granny works in mysterious ways!

A life-time warranty and great reviews, oh yeah!

Hubby’s new saw over by the stack of the gazebo’s cedar deck boards.

We had a fantastic year with lots of fun, laughter, great food, good weather, late night fire pit parties and just a deep down happy feeling in my stomach. LIFE IS GOOD!! I really don’t see how things can get any better but I’m going to give it a huge try. So I looked back over some of the goals I wanted to accomplish for 2010 and it seems like I have met the challenge head one.

I wanted to have more “No Spend Days” and I managed to keep from spending anything on 106 days for an average of about 2 per week. The same went for “No Drive Days” and while we had a bunch we didn’t record the number anywhere. It’s a little tricky anyway because I car pool and pay on Friday so really I’m not driving.

The meal planning was a great habit to pick up and we still do this daily because when we don’t it really screws things up. We end up running into the store to buy something on the way home from work. So there are lots of positive reasons to continue with this goal.

We bought a new BBQ for all our outdoor cooking needs. I love it; it’s much better looking than the old hunk of junk. Hubby is still getting used to the smaller BTU’s and slower cooking times but he gets the food cooked.

Losing weight has become an up and down cycle with me. I want to lose 10 pounds and will continue on this goal. My new job involves a lot of sitting on my ass and I’m not used to this. I plan on requesting a new work table so I can stand more during the day. I need to spend less time at the computer at home, too.

So now we are at the nitty-gritty of this year’s new resolutions. I honestly don’t have many.

I will continue with the old goals because they work.

I want to set up a daily savings plan with a charitable organization. I have a few I’m checking out.

I want to take up running; VERY, VERY slowly at first till maybe I have enough stamina to run a small 5 km race. We have a company challenge coming up and I would love to be able to participate without me looking like a complete running moron.

I want to have more dinner parties with friends.

I want to cook a new meal or baked item every month and share it with you all.

I want to save more money in my Goofy account so one day we can visit Disney World and go first class all the way.

I want to watch more football games so when the Super Bowl rolls around I’ll have a team to cheer for because honestly the Oakland Raiders just aren’t going to the Big Game again this year.

Happy News Years everyone, may the best be awaiting you in 2011.

Happy New Year Everyone

What a year it has been! No regrets, I'm just hoping 2010 is as good to us. We have our health, each other, family, friends, and good jobs. Life doesn't get much better than this.

Thanks to all you blog followers for all the lovely and kind words thoughout the year and I look forward to reading all your fine blogs in 2010. I'm joining the daily savings club which is a great idea from Gill "That British Woman". Check out her site if you are interested in joining too.

Actually I might be doing a lot of challenges this year. Meal planning, No Drive Days and No Spend Days (ala "Saving4Later") and maybe some exercising to try to lose a few pounds would also be nice. Hopefully I'm up for all these challenges. I'm going to start focusing more on savings so we can both retire sooner. And I'm really going to start saving for one mean looking BBQ this spring. Wish me luck! Now I just have to start working on getting that raise this year.

Cheer's to you all and I hope everyone rings in the New Year safely. I'll be waiting for Granny New Years to stop by sometime during the night. It's a Scottish tradition and I'll leave you in suspense till tomorrow to explain.

Update To My Goals For This Year

I thought that this would would be a good time to udate my resolution list for the year. I'm actually making pretty good progress for seven weeks! What do you think? How are you doing with your list?

1. Continue paying down that mortgage as fast as possible.
   We have decreased the tax portion of our bi-weekly payment by about $40 while increasing the total we are paying by $30 which means that we are paying about $150 extra per month on our principal.



2. Buy skates and use them.
   I bought a used pair from the old guy at the skate shop. I felt very sorry for him as it seems that he is not very well-off. I think that I will buy him a meal sometime as it looks like he may need it. As for the skates, now that I have them I'm afraid to use them in case I fall and break something.



3. Buy a Kayak and try and get over my fear of the water with a life jacket of course.
   No kayak yet and that water still looks scary.



4. Learn to play poker and get a good poker face.
   No poker yet either and I guess I'm sticking with the face I've got.



5. Smile more often (maybe that will be my poker face).
   I haven't been laughing too much lately because they have been "5 S"ing my shop at work. You'll know what I mean when the program comes your way.



6. Drink more water at work and home.
   This one has been easy and I'm loving it, even though I gurgle now when I walk.



7. Try new recipes.
   We have tried a few but no real winners yet.



8. Exercise more often, and use my hand weights.
   I am still just doing the walking thing, a couple of kilometers per day.



9. Lose 10 pounds (I have to weight myself first, so I may need to buy a scale).
   I haven't gotten around to getting the scale yet so I well on my way to achieving this goal (go ahead, prove me wrong!).



10. Open a TFSA account and try to max it out if the rates are worthwhile without those darling bank fees attached.
    I'm proud to say that I opened my TFSA two weeks ago and maxxed it out for the year. This will be our emergency fund for now.



11. Take a real vacation somewhere in the Maritimes.
    Vacation is still a long way away but it will happen.



12. Try to let go off the past and learn to live in the moment.
    This one is not so easy but I'm trying.



13. Make more time for myself.
    This one ain't easy either, always too much housework.



14. Read more books.
    I'm on my third book now.



15. Have more dinner parties and play some game boards.
    Not yet.



16. Get a complete physical.
    Coming soon to an examination room near me.



17. Learn more about my computer and what it can do for me besides surfing the internet.
    I'm sure it can do lots but right now it's too easy to ask Hubby.



18. Continue to declutter.
    This will be an on-going process.



19. Continue to work on our basement renovations.
    These are on hold for now, there's just too many other ways to spend the money,



20. Paint our t.v room and maybe buy some new furniture for it.
    The painting will happen soon and the search for new furniture continues.



21. Tweak the budget throughout the year.
    We have done some tweaking already and we will continue to maximize our savings where possible.

Only Four Days 'til the NEW YEAR!

The New year is always about hope and promises , BUT WHAT ABOUT GOALS????

Resolutions, just forget it, everyone breaks them and then feels guilty and stressed. Goals are easier. If you don't achieve them, well, there is always the next day, week, or month.

The stress we put upon ourselves is just that. These are our goals and maybe they can't be achieved when we expect them to be. Just keep a positive attitude and move ahead every day.

I have lots of goals to post and I can hardly wait to unveil them, but right now they are all on paper and in my head so you will have to wait.