Last Week of the Month...Hoppin' to it...

Hi everyone. I had to run Mom1 to her Gen Practice Physician to reveiw some lab results - she's been a bad girl sneaking food she shouldn't have and her potassium and phosphate readings are on the bad side. But as soon as he said atrial fib and heart attack that really squinched her hard headed ass. At least I can stop nagging her about putting down those kettle chips.

If the current conditions of things don't make you want to put up a get lost bag and first aid kit I dunno what's wrong with you: floods through the heartland, chicken farms lost, cattle ranches lost, hundreds of thousands of acres of crops lost, catfish and southern shrimping lost, lives lost, more lives lost, Minneapolis, Kansas and Oklahoma busted with tornadoes, even more lives lost on top of lives unaccounted for, Iceland volcano blowing again and possibly 10-100x more than 2 years ago, floods and landslides in Malaysia, super typhoons and persistent groupings of earthquakes in the Asian ring of fire...do you want me to go on? I can. It doesn't make me scared or sad - what it does make me is more motivated to insulate myself.

Please people - do something, do anything, don't just lay there and take it.

Last night I finished JD's quick and easy first aid kit and gave it to him with specific instructions of 4 more things he needed to buy and it would be complete.










Yesterday was the first day of the Walgreen's ad. If you didn't know their ads start on Sundays. What you see here is Cantu hair products. This stuff is exceptionally good for Mr. Man's hair, it has also almost doubled in price - it ranges from 3.99 to 5.99 around town if they even have it at all. Well I noticed the ad said 4.99 with a $4 in store rebate. So at first the girl was acting crazy and said 1 purchase per person per day - yeah right. I told her to call her manager coz he knew me and she said oh that's fine.

The girl stuff was only 99cents on sale.

The Altoids were only $1 a tin with coupon and I know sometimes they are cheaper but we want to make a bunch of mini EDC things for us and our friends so we need those tins - we might even make a couple baby rocket stoves.

The plastic cutlery is on clearance at 25 cents a packet from the regular 99 cents.






The straws were also 25 cents down from a buck...


















I also picked up some spoons at the same price of 25 cents each.












Right before we headed home I decided to stop at Dollar General for some Excedrin and at 99 cent only to pick up some spinach and whatnot. Turns out they had some super good deals: DG had 100% apple cider vinegar for $1 and Louisiana hot sauce for 67 cents, droppers for $1 and temp tooth filling (for 8 teeth) @ $2. The 99C only had salmon, organic beans and turkey all at 99 cents.

Yeah you heard me.




Another lady said OMG 1 lb turkey for less than a dollar - i said it expires next month - she said Freeze it honey - and handed me 5 lol. Fortunately for me everyone here loves Turkey breast and I have to admit Oscar Meyer does make good sandwich slices - not great but definitely good.







This was my best buy of the day 14.75oz sockeye red salmon. 99 cents each. yeah you heard me. The expiration is 12/2014. I was just going to get 5 or so and Mom1 said take them all - that's alaskan sockeye red. She tried one as soon as we got home and she gave it a thumbs up - tastes much better than the chicken of the sea one and less salty.

20 cans today - and tomorrow we will look for 20 more. I think I created a closet prepper.



So after I got Mom to the lab and back and dropped a few bags of stuff to the donation place (woo hoo tax deduction)...

I picked up more Cantu stuff and for some reason 1 of my $4 buck rebate coupons didn't come out - well the girl called the manager and she did some goofy thing and was supposed to give me back a coupon and she rang it and I owed her $1.28 and then she handed me the receipt and the rebate - then as i was grabbing my bag she put another receipt in the bag. When I got home it was another $4 rebate.

Just in case anyone thinks I'm bullshitting here's the receipts and rebates before I go spend them. Those hair products ended up being 33 cents each instead of the 99 cent sale price or the 4.99 regular price. How you like that?

The raisins were 1.99 a lb and the girl stuff was again 99 cents.






Here is a closer shot of the Dentek and droppers, I've also started picking up L'oreal HIP products for $1 when I can in neutral colors as I may have to trade them later - mind you the value on these is like 8 bucks a piece. Afro came home from the dentist yesterday with a freebie toothpaste and dental floss to throw in the it - and We needed some dice($1) to play Yahtzee in case SHTF. My hack optometrist told me i might need bifocals with my contacts since my eyes are strained from school. I picked up some just in case the hack might be right.

At the suggestion of my chat room guru I picked up a pair of moisture meters for the raised beds so I can stop guessing. They ended up only being 3.99 a piece at this store called Tuesday Morning next to Jo-Ann's.



While at Tuesday Morning I saw this toy on clearance for $1.19 actually - just a little something for Mr. mans Desk - now I just have to find Abe Lincoln figurine and it's a deal. It's the little things and the big things that are the sum of all things - so get your asses out there and do something you will feel better I promise.

Haulin' It, week 3 may.

Goodness Gracious I'm burnt OUT! Truth be told I've been buying a little less food preps this time around and taking care of non food preps. In uploading the pics this time I noticed that I've been lagging on taking pics of the preps...we've been making moves in terms of gardening stuff, light bulbs, ammo, toiletries and that sort of thing.

Only you can gauge what you need. Never think that I'm not making food preps in one way or another even if it means buying stuff to make food. It's like there's a weird lull right now where meat and such seems affordable and that makes me nervous because that means that the price is bound to go up. Until that happens I'm going to keep going...

Everything on this pic was 99cents. The tang is pineapple flavor 10 packs which will flavor 10 quarts - with no high fructose corn crap. 9 pkgs of beef sausage, jumbo popsicle sticks for the garden, California condensed milk, German mustard, 5 boxes of 100 bag green tea, 2 ea Aim toothpaste and mouthwash (no fluoride), tanimura and antle 3 head romaine lettuce - the total including tax about $27.50



I ran by biglots to get some of their Australian breakfast blend coffee (3.50 for a pound and a half) - it is not the gourmet crap i drink - but it's good enough for everyday and i alternate between that and the good stuff Mom2 raised. I happen to chance on these del monte cling peaches in water - 80 cents each. so 3 lbs coffee and 1 doz canned peaches: $16.90





While there I also picked up 2 pkgs of "hamburger helper"(50c ea) and 3 large bottles of chili powder (1.50 ea),both expire 2016...all that was $5.50










I found a 10 gallon bucket for $6 , a tomato planter (for August) at $4 and 10 bottles of Fuze for $5. I will be using the blue half barrel strictly for ginger, and I save the bottles from the Fuze drinks because they are very clear and hard in case we have to UV sanitize our water. - so all that for a whopping $15.






Lucky me, Braeburn apples were 3lbs for $1 again....I picked up another 13lbs and made 10 pints of cinnamon apples.

13lbs of apples: $2.28









So in walking around the most huge Food City I've ever seen I found a "new" product. Soupless Ramen...5 for $1. I will just test these out and see if they are any good. If they have a good texture and flavor I'll pick up another 15 or so.














A couple days ago I had to take Mom2 to the Filipino Market and right next to it was a Big Lots...so me and the 2 moms went in there. Turns out I had a 20% off coupon attached to my membership card with fake name and address.

The crab meat was only $1.22 a can - this would be okay to make crab cakes if i cut it with white beans or garbanzos and make it semi vegetarian.










The deni bags are similar to the vac seal bags for the food saver - 3 rolls for $4 and the zip ties ended up being $4 after discount.










I am building our friend a miniature first aid kit - so I ended up getting the clear box underneath for only 2 bucks and the rest of the stuff was only $1. Everything was about $7.









Mr. Man and I stopped to get something at Walgreen's on the way home and I spied these on clearance for 12.99. But they rang up at 35.80 and I said no they are on clearance for 12.99 well I dunno if it's because those 2 guys are always making jokes with Mr. Man or what but they only charged us $12.

And don't start talking shit about how the one with the ventilator thing is better and blah blah. Look it's on sale and it's the backup. If you are so flush then send me a case of your shit.

Safeway had a sale on the beef. $1.67/lb and very little waste. I picked up 10 1/2 lbs. That made 10 pints canned. The canned ham was only 1.99 each and the ground chili flakes were only .62cents. Yeah you heard me.

I also picked up 15 light bulbs (75 watt) for $3.75. 4 sharpening stones for $1

Total $28.07

I think I will pick up another 20 or 30 lbs of beef tomorrow and have them grind half of it so I will have something to can.





90 beef sausages = 6 pints canned
10.5 lbs beef = 10 pints canned












Per usual, I take off the lids, wash them thoroughly in soapy water and dry. Then i take the non scratch Mr. clean scrubber and wash the edge of the lids to get rid of deterioration and sanitize it. Then I dry everything put the lid back and put it away.

I do this everytime- I just wanna be clear this time. I do not like yuckies and I'm pretty anal retentive about stuff - and I've heard people tell their horror stories so I've been keeping it clean from the beginning.



I don't really have a use for this stuff - but it was 2.50 for 6 feet of blackout shades. Used to be 18 bucks. I figure it wouldn't hurt to have it.







I picked up another 4 cases of pint jars. And as the other day I already ripped through half of them. Unbelievable. You notice I have mostly Kerr Jars - it doesn't matter. Some people say oh Kerr doesn't seal as well as Ball and all this bullshit - hey guess what, I did my homework - Ball acquired Kerr and the production is the same glass. LOL - their cheaper line is called something else. Welcome to the new school.



Even the boxes look the same just different name and liner color.

Puhhleeeeze.

So this is what we have so far 11 cases of assorted goodness. 6 cases of pints and 5 cases of quarts. That is only since March 20th. For those who are just learning to can - don't be scared...it is just a little tiring to line everything up but while the canner is hissing it leaves you a bit of time to relax or do more stuff while you wait. Do what you like just do SOMETHING.