Tip for Saving Money on Your Grocery Bill

Screen shot of Pantry program

Last year I downloaded a recipe program (Living Recipe 2011) that had an added feature, in that it kept track of everything I had in my cupboard.  Being a bit "Type A", I thought this was pretty cool.  When I went Mac, that program no longer worked and I found this program...Pantry. 

I make no claims that this program is any better than any other.  My claim is that any program like this is well worth the cost (this one was free) and the initial investment of time to catalog your cupboards, refrigerator and freezer.  This program, if you are a Mac user, does offer an application that is pretty cheap and allows everyone in the family to see what is on the shopping list.

I was getting tired of going to the grocery store and thinking that I needed cereal, only to get home and already have three boxes of Froot Loops!  With this program, I am able to know exactly what I need, when I need it.  It does require you to keep track of what you use at each meal, but that is so easy.
It is also helpful to make a menu of what you will make for the next week or so, keeping you from randomly purchasing food.  You make the menu, check to see if you have what you need, and buy ONLY what you don't already have in stock.  Since doing this, I have gone from an average grocery visit of just under $200 to between $100-$125. (I shop every two weeks and this amount includes some non-food items)  I am able to also keep track of personal care items, cleaning supplies and other things.

If you want to save some money...put a little bit of work in and this easy to use program, or one like it, will save you a ton!!!

Facebook's Purpose?

The past couple of days have presented me with a difficult situation to tackle in regards to my postings on Facebook.  Truthfully, the situation has always been there, but I have never been called on it by someone to this degree.

So, what exactly should people be putting on their statuses or in their posts on Facebook?  What is its purpose?  Some will say it is a "social networking" site, so you go there to keep in touch with people.  Agreed.  Others have fan pages and pages for causes, so it is there to provide a platform for people to get their messages out.  Agreed again.  But what about those of us who like to combine those two together and along with all our flowery "staying-in-touch" postings like to make our statements about society at large?  And should our friends have anthing to say about what we put on our pages?

I tend to be a very opinionated person and am not afraid to let folks know what I think.  Do I ruffle feathers sometimes?  You bet I do, occassionally in a way that forces me to apologize.  I use my Facebook page in the manner that I see fit.  I put out my flowery stuff, but I also use it as a platform to be a voice for the unborn, who have no voice.  I also use it to defend my Church, and especially the priesthood when I find it being unfairly attacked.

It is my right to post on my Facebook page whatever I want to.  That being said, I do follow some personal standards.  Quite simply, if I wouldn't want my mother to read it, I don't write it.

The problem I have been faced with is that one of my Facebook friends has threatened to defriend me because they are tired of seeing my anti-abortion and religious posts come across their newsfeed.  My first thought was...don't read them then?  After their explanation of why they said that, I had a bit better understanding of their position.  After thinking about it over night...I have decided that they have no right to make that demand.

Each person's Facebook page is a personal expression of themself.  Some people post all fluff, their kids, their travels, sports, politics...all sorts of variety.  I read some, I ignore most.  The point is, if I don't want to read what they have to say, I don't!  However, I do give validity to things that people put on their page.  As foolish and mundane as I may find some postings, to that person, at that time, it was important.  Therefore, I am selective in what I read.

Bottom line...if a friend does not want to read my rants and raves about politics, religion, and a myriad of other topics and finds it too tedius to ignore them and read something else, then defriend me, but you may miss some of that fluff you were wanting as well.  As long as we can still talk and email and the friendship itself is still good, then go ahead, I will not be offended. 

To date, with all my anti-abortion posts, religous postings, and arguments on topics, I have never been defriended.  We usually agree to disagree and appreciate the debate.

To that Facebook friend out there, I hope you do not defriend me, but I cannot be silent.  I will understand if you do and will not be upset.  I would rather you just ignored those postings that you don't want to read. 

VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!

Tomorrow is election day.  As an American, you are blessed with the opportunity to choose freely, those who would lead our country.  Please take advantage of that right which so many of our forefathers fought and died for.  No matter your political affiliation, your leaning left or right, make your voice heard.  Don't let this be another election where our percent of registered voters actually voting is below 50%.  Get out and vote!!

Remember That You are an American!

This little piece of pride was sent to me by a friend.  I think it pretty much says everything on this American's mind!!!

I Am the Democratic Liberal-Progressive's Worst Nightmare.
I am an White, Conservative, Tax-Paying, American Veteran, Biker.
I am a Master leatherworker. I work hard and long hours with my hands to earn a living.

I believe in God and the freedom of religion, but I don't push it on others.
I ride Harley Davidson Motorcycles, and drive American-made cars, and I believe in American products and buy them whenever I can.

I believe the money I make belongs to me and not some liberal governmental functionary, Democratic or Republican, that wants to share it with others who don't work!

I'm in touch with my feelings and I like it that way!

I think owning a gun doesn't make you a killer; it makes you a smart American.

I think being a minority does not make you noble or victimized, and does not entitle you to anything. Get over it!

I believe that if you are selling me a Big Mac or any other item, you should do it in English. I believe there should be no other language option.

I believe everyone has a right to pray to his or her God if, when and where they want to.

My heroes are Malcolm Forbes, Bill Gates, John Wayne, Babe Ruth, Roy Rogers, and Willie G. Davidson, who makes the awesome Harley Davidson Motorcycles.

I don't hate the rich. I don't pity the poor.

I know wrestling is fake and I don't waste my time watching or arguing about it.

I've never owned a slave, nor was a slave. I haven't burned any witches or been persecuted by the Turks, and neither have you!

I believe if you don't like the way things are here, go back to where you came from and change your own country!

This is AMERICA ...We like it the way it is and more so the way it was ...so stop trying to change it to look like Russia or China, or other socialist countries!

If you were born here and don't like it... you are free to move to any Socialist country that will have you.  (And take Barack Hussein Obama and his group with you.)   Massachusetts started the ball rolling.  Keep it going.

I believe it is time to really clean house, starting with the White House, the seat of our biggest problems.

I want to know which church is it, exactly, where the Reverend Jesse Jackson preaches, where he gets his money, and why he is always part of the problem and not the solution.

Can I get an AMEN on that one?

I also think the cops have the right to pull you over if you're breaking the law, regardless of what color you are, but not just because you happen to ride a bike.

And, no, I don't mind having my face shown on my driver's license.

I think it's good....  And I'm proud that 'God' is written on my money..
I think if you are too stupid to know how a ballot works, I don't want you deciding who should be running the most powerful nation in the world for the next four years.

I dislike those people standing in the intersections trying to sell me stuff or trying to guilt me into making 'donations' to their cause....  Get a job and do your part to support yourself and your family!

I believe that it doesn't take a village to raise a child, it takes two parents....

I believe 'illegal' is illegal no matter what the lawyers think!

I believe the American flag should be the only one allowed in AMERICA !

If this makes me a BAD American, then yes, I'm a BAD American.

We want our country back!   My Country.....

I hope this offends all illegal aliens.

My great, great, great, great grandfather watched and bled as his friends died in the Revolution & the War of 1812.  
My great, great, great grandfather watched as his friends died in the Mexican American War,
My great, great grandfather watched as his friends & brothers died in the Civil War,
My great grandfather watched as his friends died in the Spanish-American War,
My grandfather watched as his friends died in WW I,
My father watched as his friends died in WW II,

I watched as my friends died in  Vietnam, Panama & Desert Storm.

My son watched & bled as his friends  have died in Afghanistan and Iraq .
None of them died for the Mexican Flag. Everyone died for the American flag.

Texas high school students raised a Mexican flag on a school flag pole, other students took it down. Guess who was expelled...the students who took it down.

California  high school students were sent home on Cinco de Mayo, because they wore T-shirts with the American flag printed on them.

Enough is enough

This message needs to be viewed by every American; and every American needs to stand up for America .

We've bent over to appease the America-haters long enough. I'm taking a stand.

I'm standing up because the hundreds of thousands who died fighting in wars for this country, and for the American flag.

If you agree, stand up with me. If you disagree, please let me know.  I will gladly remove you from my e-mail list/blog/Facebook.

And shame on anyone who tries to make this a racist message.

AMERICANS, stop giving away Your RIGHTS !

Let me make this clear! THIS IS MY COUNTRY !

This statement DOES NOT mean I'm against immigration !

YOU ARE WELCOME HERE, IN MY COUNTRY, welcome to come legally:

1. Get  a sponsor !

2. Learn the LANGUAGE, as immigrants have in the past !

3. Live by OUR rules !

4. Get a job !

5. Pay YOUR Taxes !

6. No Social Security until you have earned it and Paid for it !

7. NOW find a place to lay your head !

If you don't want to forward this for fear of offending someone, then YOU'RE  PART OF THE PROBLEM !

We've gone so far the other way . . .  bent over backwards not to offend anyone.
I don't care if you are offended.
Why doesn't anyone care if I am offended?

WAKE UP America ! ! !

Made in the U S A & VERY, VERY PROUD OF IT!!!!!

Can I get a HUGE AMEN!?!?!?!?!?!

The Beginning of the War on Terror

The 3rd man from the left is believed
 to be the current Iranian president.

Bill O'Reilly made a comment on "The View" the other day that angered Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar enough to cause them to walk off the set.  He stated that "Muslims killed us on 9/11" which they did not like because they said it was a generalization.  Though that is true, let us look real quick at why it is possible that many Americans are afraid of Muslims...in general:

America's war on terrorism did not begin in September 2001. It began in November 1979.

That was shortly after Ayatollah Khomeini had seized power in Iran, riding the slogan "Death to America" - and sure enough, the attacks on Americans soon began. In November 1979, a militant Islamic mob took over the U.S. embassy in Tehran, the Iranian capital, and held 52 Americans hostage for the next 444 days. The rescue team sent to free those hostages in April 1980 suffered eight fatalities, making them the first of militant Islam's many American casualties.

Others included:
April 1983: 17 dead at the U.S. embassy in Beirut.
October 1983: 241 dead at the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut.
December 1983: five dead at the U.S. embassy in Kuwait.
January 1984: the president of the American University of Beirut killed.
April 1984: 18 dead near a U.S. airbase in Spain.
September 1984: 16 dead at the U.S. embassy in Beirut (again).
December 1984: Two dead on a plane hijacked to Tehran.
June 1985: One dead on a plane hijacked to Beirut.

After a let-up, the attacks then restarted: Five and 19 dead in Saudi Arabia in 1995 and 1996, 224 dead at the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in August 1998 and 17 dead on the USS Cole in Yemen in October 2000.

Simultaneously, the murderous assault of militant Islam also took place on U.S. soil:
July 1980: an Iranian dissident killed in the Washington, D.C. area.
August 1983: a leader of the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam killed in Canton, Mich.
August 1984: three Indians killed in a suburb of Tacoma, Wash.
September 1986: a doctor killed in Augusta, Ga.
January 1990: an Egyptian freethinker killed in Tucson, Ariz.
November 1990: a Jewish leader killed in New York.
February 1991: an Egyptian Islamist killed in New York.
January 1993: two CIA staff killed outside agency headquarters in Langley, Va.
February 1993: Six people killed at the World Trade Center.
March 1994: an Orthodox Jewish boy killed on the Brooklyn Bridge.
February 1997: a Danish tourist killed on the Empire State building.
October 1999: 217 passengers killed on an EgyptAir flight near New York City.

In all, 800 persons lost their lives in the course of attacks by militant Islam on Americans before September 2001 - more than killed by any other enemy since the Vietnam War.
And yet, these murders hardly registered. Only with the events of  9/11 did Americans finally realize that "Death to America" truly is the battle cry of this era's most dangerous foe, militant Islam.

Many of these events were met with NO ramifications or actions by the U.S. Government.   When we did, we lobbed a couple of cruise missiles into Yemen and took the verbal beating around the world as we were criticised for hitting what "appeared" to be a formula factory.  The Embassy guards in Iran were not allowed to fight, so the War on Terror began without the U.S. even putting up a fight. 

For those of you who claim Islam is a peaceful religion...prove it.  Show ME pictures of Islamic Americans speaking out in protest against their militant Islamic brothers.  I can show you pictures of Muslims around the world dancing in the streets when America was attacked.  If you are proud to be an Islamic American...then show me, so I know that my service to my country is appreciated by you as well as my fellow non-Islamic Americans.

Who Should Pay?

While listening to talk radio the other day coming home from work, one of the DJs was discussing his dating.  The discussion of who should pay for things on a date came up.  Now the subject stated that he was "a man" and always paid.  One of the others said he would split with his date and the female in the group said that she often paid her own way.

While I was in high school, I often asked the girl to go dutch.  I had a job but did not make much money.  Once in a while I would pay for both, but sometimes it just wasn't possible.  I too, was of the thinking that the guy should pay for it all, but had to allow her to pay too sometimes out of necessity.

As time wore on, it became more of me paying than not.  Of course, with marriage it all combined anyway.

After my divorce and back into dating again, I paid for most things but allowed the woman to purchase a drink or two if she wanted without letting my ego get bruised.  As I began dating my fiance', I would pay for most things but often she would pitch in to help out.  Now, we often split the cost.  If we go to a movie, one will pay for the movie, the other the snacks.  Splitting the costs of dating or trips seems to take the financial pressure off of each other and allows us a better chance at doing some very awesome things.

As the guy on the radio was talking, I began to disagree with his "I'm a man" theory about having to pay for everything;.  I think a relationship that is going to be equally based should be financially as well. 

What do you think?  Dutch or guy paying it all?  See the poss on this page.

When DO You Deserve a Second Chance?

On Sunday a friend of mine on Facebook posted "Go Redskins" as they were playing the Eagles.  With her being a huge animal lover, I knew she did not want Michael Vick to do well.  Now, she and I poke at each other a lot and have very differing opinions on many things.  So...being who I am, I poked the bear and commented on her post..."Go Vick!" expecting her to respond.  She...did NOT, but a friend of hers did.

Instead, another friend of hers responded with a series of comments wishing bodily harm on Vick.  Now, let me be perfectly clear.  I do not condone what Michael Vick did with his dog fighting.  However, I also am smart enough to see that he did 18 months in prison and has tried to make some sort of amends within the animal lovers community whether it be financially or with volunteer efforts.  I can understand wanting him to fail in his bid to revive his career, or hoping he does poorly.  But to wish another human bodily harm and I quote, "I hope someone breaks Vick's backbone in three places!", is just a little bit more than disturbing.   When will he have done enough to make amends?  Who is to say?  At what point has he repaid that debt and can he be allowed to move on.

The biggest shock I had from this person's posting was that there was so much hatred for the man and such an unwillingness to allow him to have a second chance.  Apparently, no matter what he does, Vick should never, ever be allowed to make a living doing anything, let alone play football.  And cheering after he got hurt reminds me of the Muslims around the world cheering on 9-11 because some of their fellows had attacked the Great Satan.  At some point, he must be allowed to make a living again and provide for his family.

The most disturbing part of this is the misplacement on value of life.  I do not fault this gal's very passionate love of animals, but to put the value of an animal's life above that of a human being just doesn't make sense.  Because he harmed and even killed dogs, he deserves to be hurt.  Or, if I understand this girl's comment correctly, his backbone broken in three places, which would either kill him or paralyze him for life. 

This gal has a zero tolerance policy for an athlete that makes a mistake.  When I asked her why an athlete who gets stopped for DWI, who is accused/convicted of sexual assault, etc. is OK in her books to go ahead and play without her wishing him harm, she told me she didn't care what the other guys did, she was talking about Vick.  But the others matter, because she states that if you do a crime, you should be gone...never to play again.  Zero tolerance, no chance to make amends, no second chance.  In her form of justice, it would seem that an eye for an eye is totally acceptable.  Steal and lose your hand.

To my friend who had the joy of hosting this post...I am sorry that my attempt to get your goat a little bit brought this upon your page.  I was just trying to give you a good-natured poke. You commented later on that Vick is a thug and had weapons charges and gambling issues.  I am not sure of those, you may be right.  But if they are true, should we still wish him bodily harm.  Our love for our pets and other animals aside, should we really put the value of an animal above the value of a human?  If that were true, no woman could ever wear makeup, for it was the unfortunate suffering of a rabbit that allows you to now put eyeliner and other makeup near your eyes and on your face.

The mistreatment of animals is not to be condoned, but neither should be, the desire for harm upon a person.