Month: October 2013

Appealing Property Taxes Part 2

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You can read up on part 1 here.

Today we got a letter from the Board of Review stating the proposed new assessment for our property.  Before I get to the juicy bit, here is a short refresher.

Our property was assessed at $184,605 and if we took no action our tax bill would have been $4,368.  We argued that the value should have been $156,261 for a final tax bill of $3,625.

Without any further ado the new proposed value is $158,000.  That number might sound familiar if you read part 1.  It was how much the house was appraised for.  Our tax bill will be $3,671.  We could argue that and try for an even better valuation, but by my calculations there is only another $40 or so in realistic tax savings to be had per year.  That amount hardly seems to be worth the work and risk of a secondary appeal.

In conclusion, by appealing our property taxes and not accepting the status quo we have saved over $600 a year.  For a weekend’s worth of sweat equity, that is a pretty good payoff in my opinion.

Halloween Trick or Treating Candy

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In case you haven’t heard, Halloween is in two days.  For us, that means we will have our first year of handing out candy to trick or treaters.  Our old neighborhood was kind of sketchy and no one ever came to our door even though we had the light on.

This year, we aren’t quite sure what to expect but we’re bound to have at least a few neighborhood kids stop by.  Shae is super excited because she grew up in the country and has never experienced the joys (or annoyance) of kids, tweens, and teenagers stopping by in cute, pop culture, questionable costumes (it seems to correlate to the ages pretty well).  Anyway, back to the point, we needed to stock up on some candy!

I noticed at my home away from home, Menards, that they were running their 11% rebate sale.  Menards also had big mixed bags of candy on sale.  While I looked at parts for a plumbing project Shae did some price comparison and found a 250 count bag of mixed chocolate (103 oz) for $17.  Apply the 11% rebate and you end up with about 14.5¢/oz for snickers, peanut butter snickers, 3 musketeers, starburst, and skittles.

Now, I know what my parents are thinking.  I broke the Golden Rule of candy buying.  Never spend more than 10¢/oz.  Well Parental Units, in the interest of not getting between a pregnant woman and chocolate, as well as not getting our house egged for not handing out candy, I bit the bullet and spent the extra ¢4.5/oz.

The truly fantastic part for you ultra frugal, candy loving, Menards shoppers is that the rebate goes to Nov 2.  That’s right, on November 1st you can do battle with other DIYers over the leftover discounted Halloween candy.  I would suggest arming yourself at the lawn and garden section before heading over.

How many trick or treaters are you expecting?  What kind of treats do you hand out?  Let me know in the comments down below.

What’s For Dinner? 10/27/2013

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Every week I will share our meal plan for the coming week.  Making your own food is a great way to save money, explore new cuisine, and eat healthy (if you choose to make healthy foods).  A good meal helps bring people together and as you improve your cooking skills you will impress more and more people!   I generally use recipes as a starting off point and then experiment with different proportions or ingredients.  Leftovers make great lunches for the 9-5 crowd who might otherwise have to decide between a sandwich or a pricey cafeteria.

This Week For Dinner…

Baked Tortellini (Ravioli) with Spinach

This is another recipe that comes from Shae’s side.  I don’t know the exact recipe but I do know some things.

  1. It involves cheese tortellini
  2. It includes both Alfredo and tomato sauces
  3. Spinach is mixed into the casserole
  4. Italian sausage and pepperoni slices seem to find their way into the pan
  5. Cheese is a must
  6. It is positively delicious
Brats w/ Potato or Macaroni Salad

Whether you are tailgating or just want a quick meal, brats really hit the spot.

Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

It has been unseasonably cold this past week.  That has me craving two things.  A hot, hearty soup, and a slow cooker recipe to help warm up the house.  We still have a package of authentic corn tortillas to use for this recipe.  Yum yum!

Caramel Chicken Stir Fry

Are you looking for a new stir fry recipe?  Then look no further.  This recipe by Chef John is delectable.  There is even a video on AllRecipes that shows you how to make it.

Snack Food…

Trail Mix & Spooky Candy

We’ve made up another big batch of trail mix.  Cashew halves and pieces were on sale so they made it into the mix.  Also this week is Halloween.  We’ll be handing out treats to the little gremlins and goblins that pay us a visit.  Of course some of those treats might not make it out of the house!

What’s For Dinner? 10/20/2013

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Every week I will share our meal plan for the coming week.  Making your own food is a great way to save money, explore new cuisine, and eat healthy (if you choose to make healthy foods).  A good meal helps bring people together and as you improve your cooking skills you will impress more and more people!   I generally use recipes as a starting off point and then experiment with different proportions or ingredients.  Leftovers make great lunches for the 9-5 crowd who might otherwise have to decide between a sandwich or a pricey cafeteria.

This Week For Dinner…

Meatloaf, French Green Beans, & Mac ‘n Cheese

Meatloaf

 

This is the meal that Shae prepared for us tonight.  The weather was beautiful this weekend so I started a new outdoor home improvement project.  She wanted to treat me to some comfort food as a thank you.  Thanks sweetie!

Baked Burritos

I was first introduced to this recipe back when I was courting Shae.  She made it and called it enchiladas but I think of it more as a burrito recipe.  It is a pretty simple recipe but tastes oh so good.  Brown 1.5 pounds of ground beef, mix in a can of refried beans (or make your own refried beans), add some cumin, chili powder, and red pepper flakes (if you want some spice).  Grease a 13×9 pan and fill tortilla shells with your beef/bean mixture.  Spread some salsa over the burritos and then sprinkle some cheese on and bake until the cheese melts.  Serve with sour cream and sweet corn!

Grilled Salmon

We’ve had a two week break from seafood so it’s high time to get back to the bounty of the sea (or in our case more likely the local fish farms).  I was browsing AllRecipes.com and this particular recipe looked enticing.  Okay, I’ll admit, the picture sold me on it.  If you don’t want to grill or you don’t have a grill (that’s us!) then you can use your ovens broiler to get a similar result.  This lighter meal would go great with a salad and maybe a nice loaf of bread.

Snack Food…

Apples, Chocolate Pudding, Cottage Cheese

Part of living with a woman means that there is always a stash of chocolate somewhere in the house.  If you can’t beat ’em join ’em!

Consider Buying Used Clothing

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Last weekend we visited family in Indianapolis and took advantage of the larger metropolitan area to visit some specialty shops.  One of those shops was Once Upon A Child, a consignment store for kids clothes.  I have yet to meet an infant that cares what brand his/her onesie is or if it has a small stain on it.  Given the fact that children, especially babies, grow so quickly, it hardly makes sense to buy brand new clothing at retail prices.

We found a great deal on some really cute onesies.  $1/pc.  I did a little price shopping after the fact and it looked like Diapers.com was offering plain white ones for $3.80/pc and Wally World was offering plain white for $2.16/pc.

Below are our finds.  🙂  Click on any one of them to see a larger picture.

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