Fab Arms Friday!

Ok to be completely honest my favorite part on a guy is his arms. Vascular forearms really do it for me. Now if only his shirt was off, we would all be happy.
Again I gave you TMI,
SonyaAnn

This and That

The best use ever for a shovel, a rug dryer. I have to laugh because everyone around here still has their shovels by the door. Because everyone knows if you put the shovels away, it will snow.

 My little garden is growing all by itself. This is probably not a good thing. One good frost and we are back to square one.

I'm just shocked that this is the end of March and my lettuce is coming up. I bet this is going to be one crazy hot summer. I say bring it!
Have a great day,
SonyaAnn

Wicked Wednesday!

Someone needs a little manscaping!
Have a great Wednesday,
SonyaAnn

Big Bells!

I've got a bit more money, a whopping $3 from Pinecone. Oh well free money is free money!

So the new numbers are-
Pinecone $18
Toluna $80
BP $100
For a grand total of------$198
The bad news is gas prices are ready to hit $5 a gallon in the suck state of Illinois. It's fucking criminal what they are doing. Den and I have a theory on why they push the prices so high all at once. Your tolerance is being reset.  We used to think that $4 a gallon was a sin but if they push it to $5 a gallon and hold it there for a while, you aren't going to complain when you have to pay $4 again. Bastards. I'm trying to look at the bright side of it all and I should get more money from BP for Christmas. The bright side looks a bit dingy.
Thanks for coming to see me,
SonyaAnn

Simple Sonya

Did you ever stop to think that you were the simplest person of them all? I have this thought about others a lot but most of the time I think that I am the queen simpleton.
Like I have said over and over-I'M SICK ALL OF THE TIME! It is terrible and I can't get any help from my less than bright doctor. I don't blame him for my illness but I do blame him for not listening.
My healing all started when the sexy and well hung Donna Freedman sent me a nasal water pik. I felt so much better. I wasn't cured but I was able to turn my head without wanting to fall over. I was always nauseous and it was terrible.
Next came the air purifier and things picked up even more. I could get a deep breath. I had gotten two huge gifts of relief, in my opinion. I lost 6n lbs right away. Hmmm, I think I may have stumbled upon a weight loss secret for all of us.
It wasn't hard for even the simplest of Sonyas to put it together that I probably had an allergy. I found this article and it all came together. I had soooooo many of the symptoms. I had a few of the odd symptoms but none the less a bit of checking from a good doctor and this would have been figured out YEARS ago.
My guess was that I had environmental allergies. I started taking allergy pills for seasonal allergies and it helped but it didn't alleviate the problems completely. I then started to eliminate different foods. Guess what I'm allergic to? Dairy! I was poisoning myself every day with a few cups of coffee with a savory splash of milk. I can't even tell you how much better I feel. My strength is back and my energy. So to recap-I spent all of my 20's and 30's sick as a dog because no one saw fit to listen to what I was saying. But the good news is I spent a TON of money being ignored by doctors. Wait, that isn't good news. The good news is I'm better. And that is a gift from the Heavens. I feel like I have a new life.
I did test to see if it was really dairy and had a slice of cheese. The sneezing fit and feeling as if I had rolled in fiberglass was all the proof I needed. The instant headache drove the point home.
Everyone feels sorry for me for having to give up dairy but I can't even find the words to tell them what I have gained by giving this up.
Happy and healthy,
SonyaAnn

Fab Abs Friday!

So dreamy!
Have a great weekend or just sit here and stare for a while,
SonyaAnn

Nada!

Yeah, I got nothing! I plan on spending my day poking around at Mashup Mom or at Hip2Save. You deserve better so hop over there. I should be writing but meh, I haven't been in the mood. And I'm sure in the near future I will tell you that I'm out of sorts and depressed. Just refer my simple ass back to this post.
I love you more than you know,
SonyaAnn

Wicked Wednesday!

Holy Hell our sweet and innocent Mark sent this one to me. I think he is trying to tell me something.
I was shocked!
Thank you Mark!
Blame him,
SonyaAnn

So Boring That I'll Just Say Sorry Now

Did you ever bore yourself to tears? This post may make us all cry. Honestly, Anna was home last week so I'm a bit out of sorts. And the good news is DJ is off next week, wait that isn't good news.
Here's a funny thing that happened, Anna came home and Den and I left to go to the Dells to gamble. Hey, you can't say anything cuz we left with $200 and came back with $165. We had a blast and drank and ate on that $35. So we were probably ahead a bit but who is counting? Well, sluggy is probably counting.
So Den and I pulled into the driveway after our little escape. Den had been expecting the house to be on fire. It wasn't but he the first thing he said was, "Just great, they left the garage door open." Then I said, "That wouldn't be my concern, your car is gone." I laughed really hard. He did not. It ended up that Anna babysat for Dalten and the car seat didn't fit well in her car. His car had the buckles for actual car seats so she took his car. I'm still laughing about this one.
Back to the regularly scheduled post!
I got $3 from pinecone and $20 from Toluna!

So the new numbers are-
Pinecone $15
Toluna $80
BP $100
For a grand total of------$195And that's all I got for you!
 Dude where's my car,
SonyaAnn

My Torrid Bedroom Stories

Some people look to the Heavens for a miracle, not me. My gift from above came through the Amazon portal.That bad boy is a Honeywell air purifier. I know that it looks like an old time radio but alas, it is not. Even the doily under it couldn't detract from the new age glimmer.
My asthma was out of control. I never stopped wheezing-ever. Life is so exhausting when you can't get one full breath. Since I have very poor insurance and it is VERY hard to get treatment(my MIL spent HOURS trying to find anyone around here that would take our insurance and nada) I accepted the fact that this is my life. So my $50 fake radio gave me back some lung capacity.
Now here is the odd thing-it may have saved my marriage. And how can an air purifier save a marriage, you ask? Den snores TERRIBLE! He says that I snore too but he is lying and I can prove it. I would need to be asleep in order to snore and when I sleep with him-I don't sleep. I'm like Mark and can argue with the best of Them.
My pretty little Honeywell is a tad bit loud but it is quite soothing too. It's about as loud as the fan on an older computer. It's a white noise and perfectly drowns out Den. The funny thing is I'm not as mad at him in the morning either. I may have been a wee bit cranky from lack of sleep.
And you thought this post was about sex,
SonyaAnn

Fab Abs Friday!

Smiling,
SonyaAnn

The Pits

I'm back to my love/hate relationship with couponing. What it all boils down to is a low stash? It's easy to say that I'm not going to coupon for a while and just be a purest and only buy something if we need it. I can save the environment and money. You know, rub baking soda paste on the boy's arm pits and all that.
Then it happens, we run out of everything and I have to pay almost full price. If I paid full price-nothing would be standing around here. I don't DO FULL PRICE!
So I'm back to trying to run a deal here and there. I think that I need to try and buy at least 4-6 months worth of a supply not a month or two. Maybe that would help. I just need a bit more storage. Anna's coming home in a few months so her room is out. I have to say though that her room is a nice drying rack/area for Dalten/hiding place for me. Don't tell her but sometimes I miss her and sit on her bed and eat jelly beans. I think about when she was little. Seems like a lifetime ago.
Don't tell them where I'm hiding,
SonyaAnn

Wicked Wednesday!

I think that it is just English men that say things like that.
Have a wicked Wednesday,
SonyaAnn
PS-Doesn't the guy look like Steff from Pretty in Pink? His other name might be James Spader.

Poking

All this poking around with the unemployment budgets got me thinking about our monthly budget. Maybe its like Spring cleaning for the wallet or something.
The first time that I wrote out our budget and put it online was Jan. 5 2009. I'm so glad that a lot has changed.
1296.00 House payment(bi-weekly) so we save $324 a week
122.00 Car Insurance
183.00 Nicor and Comed
25.00 Home phone
135.00 2nd mortgage with a little extra
280.00 gas for all three cars
38.00 satelite
480.00 groceries for the month 120.00 a week
75.00 Den smokes
70.00 garbage and water
24.00 synthroid and iron pills for me
2728.00 total 

And the new and pretty budget is


1244 house payment
 190 car insurance
 175 electric and gas
 95 garbage and water
 141 cell 
  30 gym
 400 food
 400 gas for cars
2675 total 
We have gotten rid of the satellite, the second mortgage, and the home phone. Unfortunately, other bills have gone up. Den is still smoking. He quit and then went back to it. We almost got a divorce over it-literally. I let it go and plan to fart in his oxygen tube when he gets older and can't breath. I'm not dragging his sorry ass around and he knows it. His cigerettes come out of his allowance. That helped end the fighting. Well for now. 
I do feel better though about our budget overall. We have more wiggle room and we only owe on the house. I'm proud of that. We also can save a small amount every week. Well we can save a small amount if any problems don't arise. More problems arise than I like to talk about. 
 Smile,
SonyaAnn

Just my worthless thoughts

Yahoo has a new series out about "Remaking America." I like it. I think that it offers hope and is giving people useful tools to find a job. It's much better than some of the other crap that they write-like this credit card ad meant to be informative.
I have a terrible point to make about the couple on the first episode, John and Michelle. Please forgive me.  They are stewing in their own shit, as my lovely grandmother would have said. Their house was terribly cluttered-TERRIBLY CLUTTERED. If you missed it, shame on you. How can you have your financial house in order if you can't get your real house in order? If we don't take care of our surrounding and don't care about how we live, why would we want to save it when times are tough? Do you have the urge to paint/pull weeds/clean something?
Don't get me wrong, I think that it is incredibly brave for them to put themselves out there and ask for help. Trust me I know how had it can be to put your finances out into cyber-space(mine is on a small scale, I know, but it is still hard). 
All of this got me thinking about what we would do if Den was unemployed(again). We are still very blessed that his company is strong but you never know. So I thought that I would revisit our unemployment budget. I wrote the original post on Feb. 9, 2009. Seems like forever ago.
Here is the original budget......


1190.00 House payment (stop all extra payments)
115.00 Car insurance(raise deductibles)
125.00 Nicor and Comed (line dry and freeze)
0.00 phone (drop it)
100.00 2nd mortgage(no extra$)
80.00 gas for car
0.00 satelite(drop it)
350.00 groceries
75.00 Den smokes (you tell him to quit)
60.00 garbage and water (bathe less and stink)
12.00 synthroid and iron pills (generic)
2107.00 total
I think that our unemployment budget would look something like this now.....................
1244 house payment
 190 car insurance(The kids would still pay their own)
 160 gas and electric
  80  garbage and water
 141 cell phone
  350 food
  100 gas for car
2265 total
The maximum Den would get is $531 because I am a dependent spouse and we have kids. If you feel like being bored to tears-here is the IL chart for unemployment rates. Den would get $2124 a month(The site says that he would get $531 a week but the unemployment sheet from 2011 that they are linked to says that he would get $552/wk. I'm going with the smaller number. Leave it to the state not to know). So I would be $141 a month short-odd that is the same amount as the cell phone bill. I wouldn't get rid of it though. I NEED to keep track of Anna. I would just see if I couldn't shave a little bit off off the car insurance(up the deductible), work on getting the gas and electric lower. I would even apply for food stamps. I think I could close it without much trouble.  
I guess that I just over-plan for everything, it makes me feel safe.
Still needing a life since 09,
SonyaAnn

Fab Abs Friday!

You can choose which one does it for you. I just want to keep everyone happy.
Smile it's Friday,
SonyaAnn

Kinky Coupons-Maybe

I just wanted to let you in on some of the most important information that you are going to get all day. Did you know that you can make money using coupons? Someone please pick sluggy up off of the floor. So  Send Earnings will pay you $.10 for every coupon that you use. And Swag Bucks gives you 10 points for every coupon that you use. I just thought that this was VERY important information to get out. And might I suggest that if there is a coupon that you aren't going to use that you have printed-leave it at a store with the product and if someone uses it, you still get the money/points.
Feel enlightened,
SonyaAnn

Wicked Wednesday!

I dedicate this to all the parents who had kids that wouldn't go to bed!!!
Every Wednesday is getting worse,
SonyaAnn

A Little Something Like This

That looks really real, doesn't it? And it is distracting too. It's alright if you don't get to read the rest of this post. I really didn't want to type it.
Ahhhhhh, the insurance company added DJ to our policy. He doesn't have his license but they saw fit to add him. Bless their hearts. DJ decided that he would get his license instead of me fighting with them to take him off. Our monthly insurance bill was $186.50. And now it is $269.39. Oh joy. We decided that Anna and DJ will split the difference. Den's dad is thinking about selling us his Kia Amanti. Den would get his dad's car. Anna would get Den's car(that is a lot safer for the long drive she has to get home) and DJ would get Anna's car. I would keep the van. I'm the only one that thinks the van is cool.
Den's parents sell us the cars for next to nothing-at least half off if not more. We are very blessed that they are that good to us. But I don't want to see what the insurance bill is if we get another car. We have been very lucky/blessed that our cars are holding out as well as they are. My van is just under 100k, Den's car has 105k, and Anna's has 140k. They aren't spring chickens anymore.  But a new to us car is still a far away thought, thank goodness. I can only handle one bill change at a time.
Have an exploding head-free day,
SonyaAnn

Money, Money, Money!!!

I have another $28 to throw in the pot. I got $3 from Pinecone and $25 from BP. BP is definitely the winner and if you don't have a card that is paying you 5% back on all gas purchases-YOU SHOULD! You are letting free money pass by you.
So the new numbers are-
Pinecone $12
Toluna $60
BP $100
For a grand total of------$172!

I got another $10 Boston Market card for $5
So my gifts go a little something like this............

2 $10 Boston Market Gift card for $10
2 $10 Chili's gift cards(free?)
3 felt hats  at $1.93 each.  $5.79 for all(50% off)
2 Christmas bells at $4 each. $8 for all(50% off)
1 tabletop ping pong for free(was $10 marked down to $5 used my CVS bucks to pay for it)
6 spatulas for1.92 each. $11.52 for all(70% off)
9 plates for 1.92 each. $17.28 for all(70% off)
11 cookies jars at 6.39 each. $70.29 for all(70% off)

 I've spent $122.88. If I had paid full price, it would have been $407.88. I'm at 68.4% savings rate.
I'm happy,
SonyaAnn

Fab Abs Friday!

Yummy, yummy, yummy!
Have a great weekend,
SonyaAnn

Who To Blame?

Maybe it's me or maybe it's Den. I think Den. You would think after 17 years of marriage I would know how "to work him" to get him to do something. One of us is slow.
We have an extreme amount of DVDs and VHS tapes in this house. I don't like an extreme amount of anything in this house but money and cleanliness. But I have let this go because if I complain too much, I get "well if SOMEONE hadn't shut off the satellite we wouldn't be having this problem."
I like everything to have a place in this house. I'm borderline OCD about cleanliness and tidiness. I have been begging Den to go through the movies and donate the ones that he doesn't want. If it were up to me I would donate almost everything in this house. I HATE STUFF! That mentality scares everyone here. Cuz I will pitch any shit that isn't put away. I'm classy.
Begging Den to go through and pick the movies he doesn't want wasn't working. The he came up with selling them at the porn pawn shop. I would agree with anything just to get him to get rid of stuff. Then the light bulb came on, instead of nagging him to "declutter" how about getting him to sell stuff at the pawn shop. And we could use the money for Vegas. I may get my wish and he will get rid of all of our crap. I just need to find a way to word it so he takes the Christmas lights off of the house. How about, if you take the lights off of the house it will sell faster and we can use that money for Vegas?
We may end up panhandling. We decided that we both want to be professional gamblers when we grow up, we just need to win.
So after 17 years of marriage, I now know Den's language. It's slot machine lingo.
And on a good note, I booked our flights to Vegas in June. It was free. The car and the room has been paid for with winnings. Now we just need gambling money and food money. Selling the stuff in DJ's room should cover it. OK, OK I'm just kidding. Den on the other hand.....
Do not follow my lead,
SonyaAnn