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Archive for October, 2010

free stuff this week

October 31st, 2010 at 09:11 pm

I got the following stuff for free this past week:

4 cans Bumbleebee tuna
1 tube Colgate Sensitive toothpaste
2 Yakisoba
2 Muir Glen tomato paste
6 Mahatma Saffron rice
3 Nivea Lip Care
2 boxes Contact cold medicine
4 boxes cereal

I read the Simple Dollar blog periodically and really liked this post on making choices in life.

Text is http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2010/10/31/choosing-what-to-have-and-what-not-to-have/ and Link is
http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2010/10/31/choosing-what-to-h...

I finished reading the library book By Heresies Distressed by David Weber. Sci/Fi - very good.

good visit

October 29th, 2010 at 09:44 pm

Yesterday my parents and I took the 2 hour drive to visit my neice in collage. I took her 3 large bags of groceries of things I have gotten free or very cheap. That was a big hit with her and her roomates.

We had dinner at Red Lobster, (her favorite and mine - popcorn shrimp). I spent $13. The discussion came up on when she might be able to come down for xmas. It looks like she will only be home on xmas day because of her work schedule. She asked for Target gift cards from me, since she works at Target and is always shopping there using her discount. That's fine with me and easy to do. But she wanted clothes from mom. So we ended up going to an outdoor mall around 6 pm last night. It was cold. But she got most of her xmas stuff from mom and now that's done. Poor dad he mostly sat in the car. He doesn't walk that well anymore and he didn't bring a coat either.

We stopped at the Container Store on the way up and I got some spice labels. Spent $4.24

This morning dad and I went and got gas. I had a .70/gal discount at King Soopers and he wanted in on the savings. I paid 1.99/gal for my gas. I got 17 gallons and he got the rest of the 35 gallons they allow.

I went to the grocery store afterwards and when I was done I had 499 points for gas for October so I went back in and bought 2 Milky Way Simply Caramel candy bars for $1 to make it 500 or .50/gal. I won't need gas next month so I will give all of that to dad to use.

At King Soopers I got the following good deals

3.56 - 4 Mahatma saffron rice packages
-4.00 - 4 .50 q's doubled
-----
.44 profit - 2 go to my neice and 2 to food pantry

11.96 - 2 boxes Cheerios and 2 Cinnamon Toast Crunch
-6.00 - wyb 4 sale
-2.20 - ecoupons 2 Cheerios and 2 Cinnamon
-4.00 - 4 .55 q's doubled
-----
.24 profit - I get the Cheerios, neice gets the Cinnamon Toast Crunch

7.96 - 4 packages 4 double rolls Quilted Northern TP
-4.00 - 4 .50 q's doubled
------
3.96 - real good price for TP

2.00 - 4 hot wheels cars
.16 - taxes
-----
2.16 - goes to Toys for Tots, these are such cool toys for boys and you can't beat .50 cents apiece.

Went to Walgreens and used my raincheck on the Nivea lip care to get 3 chapsticks for free. 1 went to neice. This is a necessity in Colorado. I also got 2 packages of Contact cold meds and made 1.59 on each one. I goes to my neice, 1 goes to me and gave another $2 q to my dad so he can do the deal too.

6.00 - Contact
.41 - taxes
-----
6.41
-2.00 - q
-----
4.41 - got $6 RR back

I finished reading my book Wild Fire by Christine Feehan. Paranormal - pretty good.

keeping it fresh

October 27th, 2010 at 08:08 pm

Sometimes it seems like I just don't have anything new or interesting to blog about regarding finances. I've been frugal for so long most of what I do seems normal (uninteresting) to me. I've been blogging for a few years and after awhile it seems like I say the same things over and over and I wonder if I'm boring. Then you miss a day or two of blogging and it seems harder to start up again and that's when you drop out for a year or more Smile

Mostly I blog for myself. I like to track the bargains and things I do that make a couple extra bucks. I like posting my thoughts on different areas, it helps clarify them. But I also like to help others and hope some of what I blog about allows others to duplicate what I do. I appreciate all the feedback I've gotten over the years from readers who have liked one of my posts and I don't plan to stop posting, but they may be fewer since I don't feel inspired right now about anything financial. That may change. I frequently start a post thinking I have nothing to say and end up with a page of stuff Smile

I finished reading the library book Ghosts and Echoes by Lyn Benedict. Paranormal - ok

less expensive heat

October 25th, 2010 at 09:20 pm

I got my heating bill this month and it will go down $5 a month for the next year since I have $60+ in credit. I will pay $43/month. I really like budget billing since once a year you can figure out how much you've saved in a year when they readjust your bill. I haven't had to turn the heat on yet this year, although a couple of days have been pretty cold. I'm getting by using electric throws. I'd like to keep it off till Nov 1, but may have to turn it on before then since they are calling for snow.

Several coupons came out in the last few days and since I wanted to drop my food off at the food pantry today I went to several stores to pick up the bargains first.

Safeway

1.98 - 2 Yakisoba
-1.98 - 2 .50 q's doubled
-----
FREE - food pantry items

King Soopers

2.00 - 4 cans Bumbleebee tuna
-2.00 - 2 $1/2 q's from Recyclebank
-----
FREE - food pantry items

1.78 - 2 cans Muir Glen tomato paste
-1.78 - 2 .50 q's doubled
-----
FREE - food pantry items

1.78 - 2 Mahatma saffron rice
-1.78 - 2 .50 q's doubled
------
FREE - food pantry items

Walgreens

3.49 - 6.0 Colgate sensitive teeth toothpaste
.28 - taxes
-----
3.77
-1.00 - q
-----
2.77 - got a $3.50 RR profit of .83 cents. This goes to food pantry

4.50 - 3 jars Skippy peanut butter
-1.80 - 3 .60 q's
-----
2.70 - .90/each 1 goes to my neice the other 2 I'll keep

I dropped off 4 bags of groceries at the pantry. I've pretty much given up my goal of giving 100 items a month. The sales just aren't as good as last year. But I am still donating well over 50 items each month.

I finished reading the library book Saltation by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. Sci/Fi - very good

homestead mentality

October 24th, 2010 at 08:59 pm

I got several things for free this last week - not as much as the previous week, but still really good.

Subway footlong sandwich
2 Mars simply caramel candy bars using BOGO q's
Cottonelle fresh wipes
12 cans Bumblebee tuna
2 tubes Crest toothpaste
Dove shampoo and conditioner sample
Jergens lotion sample - 2 kinds
2 Nivea chapstick
1 Yakisoba
Vaseline lotion sample

I finished reading my book Dragonsdawn by Anne McCaffrey. Sci/Fi - very good. I've alway liked books that have a homestead mentality. Starting over with very little and using your ingenuity to overcome obstacles. Books like Little House on the Prairie, Swiss Family Robinson, and sci/fi books like going to colonize other planets or end of the world starting over books. For a long time I thought I wanted to Homestead. I collected the first 120+ issues of The Mother Earth News and have probably read each one 10 times or more in the last 30 years. I eventually realized I just liked to read about it and don't actually want to live it Smile But it's fun daydreaming about what you would do. I used to daydream about how I would pack a wagon if I was an actual pioneer. What is really necessary and what isn't? How would you contrive if everything were taken away except what you could carry? Very fun to think about and illuminating. Coincedentally I was reading the Dollar Stretcher and found an article that addresses this mentality that I enjoyed very much.

Text is http://www.stretcher.com/stories/08/08oct20c.cfm and Link is
http://www.stretcher.com/stories/08/08oct20c.cfm

Gobbledygook

October 23rd, 2010 at 09:22 pm

Warning! Heavy sarcasm coming up Smile

Gobbledygook or gobbledegook (sometimes gobbledegoo) is any text containing jargon or especially convoluted English that results in it being excessively hard to understand or even incomprehensible.

The Plain English Campaign FAQ includes the following explanation:

"What's wrong with gobbledygook? We can't put it any better than a nurse who wrote about a baffling memo. She said that 'receiving information in this form makes us feel hoodwinked, inferior, definitely frustrated and angry, and it causes a divide between us and the writer.'"

I'm pretty sure that I've mentioned I'm a news junkie, particularly financial news. Anyways they keep talking about extending the Bush tax cuts. They claim that if they extend them it is a tax cut. Bah Humbug! If they extend them you don't pay less in taxes, you pay the same as you paid this year and last year and the year before etc. Therefore, it is not a cut, it is the same. However because the governement believes that all the money you earn is there and because they were planning to keep more of it and now may not, that is a tax cut. Why not give us an even bigger tax cut by planning to keep 90% of our money and then deciding to only keep 50%? That would be a huge tax cut and make everyone feel wonderful, wonderful.

Now on the other hand if they don't extend the tax cuts it is not a tax increase, because all your money is theirs to start with and the fact that they have graciously allowed you to keep more of it for the last 8 years doesn't mean you should be allowed to continue that. Therefore since they had always planned to keep more of your money in the year 2011 and the fact that you will be paying more of your money in taxes in 2011 and beyond, that's not really a tax increase. What? Paying more money to taxes is not a tax increase and paying the same amount of taxes as you pay now is a tax cut. Ok-a-a-a-y, can you say goobbledygook? Smile

I finished reading the library book Fledgling by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. Sci/Fi - very good.

whitefence

October 22nd, 2010 at 08:26 pm

Mom and I walked at WalMart this morning since it was raining. We really need the rain so that is good. While I was out I went to Safeway and King Soopers.

At Safeway I got 8 cans of Chef Boyardee ravioli for $4.24. These go to the food pantry. I also got a free deal of Yakisoba noodles after coupons - also going to the food pantry. I got 2 free Nivea chapsticks after coupons - I'm keeping these.

At King Soopers I got 6 more cans of Bumblebee tuna for free - going to food pantry. They have the large Symphony milk chocolate bars on sale 5 for $5. I love these and so does everyone else in the family. You can never find the milk chocolate in the single size here, only the dark chocolate. 1 each will go to my neices for xmas, 1 to my brother, 1 to my mother and 1 to me.

I got the latest edition of the All You magazine in the mail yesterday. I was doing their $25 a week food challenge back in June/July. They announced the winner in this episode, but they didn't give very many details.

They had a little article on how to save money on utilities. Go to whitefence.com to search out the best deals on home services in your area, such as phone, internet, television, gas and electricity. I live in a small town and in Colorado. There's only one choice for electric or gas so basically no choice. But it might be better for someone else.

I finished reading my book Master of Fire by Angela Night. Paranormal - Ok. Many of her other books are better.

copper theft

October 21st, 2010 at 04:37 am

My mom told me someone stole all the copper out of their churches sprinkler system. Someone has been stealing the copper from the street lights in the next town over too. Is copper really that easy to get from things and is it worth that much, to take the risk?

I got some groceries today, just over $17 which were free using coupons and my pharmacy rewards. With the coupons I got 6 free cans of Bumbleebee tuna and 2 tubes of Crest toothpaste. 1 of the toothpastes goes to the food pantry and one goes to my neice. I got the coupons from RecycleBank and still have 5 more, they are $1/2 and King Soopers has the tuna on sale for .50 cents each.

I got a Dove shampoo and conditioner sample and two Jergens lotions samples in the mail today. Both will go to neice.

I finished reading the library book Luck in the Shadows by Lynn Flewelling. Sci/Fi - pretty good.

voted

October 19th, 2010 at 08:36 pm

I filled out my voting ballot this morning. I really like early voting it's so much more convenient to sit down in your home with the ballot, the book explaining the amendments and take your time to fill it all out. The only thing I don't like is that in Colorado you have to declare yourself either a Republican or a Democrat to be able to do early voting, if you say you are independent you have to go to the voting place. If you declare one party or the other, then you get tons of robo-calls telling you how horrible the other person is and lots of junk mail asking for donations to the party - yech.

I consider myself a libertarian. Government shouldn't tell people how to live their lives, people should take responsibility for their own choices. Government should be smaller and more efficient and not waste so much money. And then you get to the details ....

I finished reading my book The Sword of Fire and Shadow by Diana L. Paxson and Adrienne Martine-Barnes. Sci/Fi - ok.

virus protection update

October 18th, 2010 at 08:41 pm

I got a notice from my computer that my virus software expires soon. I hate spending money no this type of product, but consider it a necessity since I do a lot of banking and investing on my computer. I went to Staples and got a product that works on 3 PCs for 1 year. I have 2 PCs. It was originally 79.99. I used an Office Depot coupon for $10 off $20 and a Staples reward for recycling ink of $8 and one of the discounted gift cards I got to save $4 more. Total spent was $66.89.

Mom and I walked at Walmart this morning since it was too cold to walk outside. We walked outside last night and it was gorgeous. The fall colors are late this year, but so pretty. At Walmart I got 3 small SeaPak shrimp poppers @1.64/each - $1 coupons each or .64 cents. I got a free box of Cottonelle fresh wipes and 2 free Mars simply caramel candy bars using BOGO coupons. I also got a free foot long Turkey sandwich on a 9-grain roll at Subway using a gift card I got for xmas.

I cashed in $5000 in stocks this morning. I think the market will go up a little more this year, but who knows. I decided to cash in some profits while I had them Smile

I finished reading the library book Midnight's Daughter by Karen Chance. Paranormal - pretty good.

free things this week

October 17th, 2010 at 09:37 pm

I had a really good week for free things this last week.

$100 in free groceries from King Soopers for refilling 4 prescriptions
$25 Walmart Gift Card from My Points
Free Angus Beef burger from playing McDonald's Monopoly game and on the fries was a monopoly piece for a free $5 Walmart gift card
Free sample of Bio True contact lens solution from Costco in the mail
2 free cans Muir Glen tomato sauce - after coupons
3 Bliss candy bars - after coupons
4 Mentos gum - after coupons
1 Mars simply caramel bar - after BOGO coupon
$20 Walgreens phone card - BOGO

I got all the gift cards I ordered from Card Pool and Plastic Jungle in yesterday's mail too.

I finished reading my book Balance of Trade by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. Sci/Fi - very good.

another xmas gift off the list

October 16th, 2010 at 08:51 pm

Walgreens has phone cards this week BOGO free. I got 2 350 minute cards for $20. These and a book of stamps will go to my grandma for xmas, and probably some free stuff I'll get like soap, shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste etc. The stamps were 5% off since I got them at Walgreens last time my credit card had 5%.

I was watching Your Money on CNN today and they said 85% of college students are moving back in with their parents. That's a huge number. The parents are saying it's their fault since they told their kids go to college, get student loans, study what ever you want (regardless if it pays anything or you can get a job in the field), there's a big world out there and you'll get a job. I really think a lot of people get took by the promise of a college degree. I know the stats say people with college degrees earn more than those without, but I'm wondering if that will still be true for the next generation. I know of so many people who got degrees and have huge loans, but don't make that much. Is the cost worth it for most people? So many people don't even get jobs in the field they got their degree in. I wonder what the stats on earnings would be for people who got jobs in their degree fields vs people who have degrees but don't work in that field.

I finished reading the library book Blood Cross by Faith Hunter. Paranormal - pretty good.

$75 more in free groceries

October 15th, 2010 at 09:52 pm

I went to King Soopers this morning and picked up 3 more prescriptions. I paid $7.05 and got $75 back on my card. $25 for each prescription. Unreal. I got my groceries and spent almost $21 using the prescription bonus from last week. I also got 200 gas points for the 4 prescriptions or .20/gal.

My dad got the tree planted yesterday, he's one of those people who can't stand to leave something undone, has to do it immediately. Nice for my mom, means that things always get done quickly around the house.

I got a local coupon book in the mail yesterday and I see they are starting the restaurant bonuses early at Texas Roadhouse this year. Buy $30 and get a $5 bonus card. I'll have to get some of these for dad for xmas and some for me too.

Yesterday when we went to the outlet mall I got paring knife for .99 cents. How in the world can they did the metal, transport it, smelt it, make it into a knife and sell it for less that a $1. Amazing.

I finished reading my book The Tomorrow Log by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. Sci/Fi - excellent.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

October 15th, 2010 at 04:07 am

My mom's bday is in December. I recently asked her if she knew of anything she wanted for her bday and/or xmas. She said she wanted a tree that had orange leaves in the fall, but the only way to know that would be to go looking now and see what color the leaves were. I told her if she found what she wanted I would buy it for her now. She had up to $150 to spend on it. $50 for her bday and $100 for xmas.

So today we went to a nearby town that has a big outlet mall and a nursery. We shopped at the mall first, went to lunch and then went to the nursery. She found a tree that had exactly the color leaves she wanted. It's a box elder which is a type of maple I guess. It was $220, but we got it at 40% off. So I spent $142. I hope her and dad were able to get it out of the back of the pickup when they got home. It weighed about a 100 lbs. It will eventually grow to 35' high and about that wide. So dad gets the privilege of planting it, I'm sure that makes him happy, but I know she is happy with her early Christmas tree.

I finished reading the library book No Mercy by Sherrilyn Kenyon. Paranormal - excellent.

unusual way to make money

October 13th, 2010 at 08:21 pm

I was reading an article on ways to save money. One of them was to rent an extra room or space in your garage or basement. There are 2 websites you can go to and list the space and price you want.

Text is sparefoot.com and Link is
sparefoot.com and [storeatmyhouse.com[/url]

I finished reading my book Scout's Progress by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. Sci/Fi - excellent.

xmas planning

October 12th, 2010 at 08:45 pm

It's not too early to start planning for xmas shopping. November and December are some of the best bargain shopping months of the year, but in order to take advantage of those bargains you need to have cash put aside. Here's some of the bargains that have happened in past years and that I hope to happen again.

Swagbucks - they usually have a sale on their rewards. I'm saving up my rewards until then. Last year they had their Amazon gift cards on sale for 400 points vs the normal 450 and I was able to get 2. I'm hoping for 3 this year.

Restaurants - several restaurants offer $5 bonus gift cards when you buy $25 gift cards. This is a $20 savings. Last year I know of the following restaurants that did this - Chili's, Texas Roadhouse, Applebee's, Red Robin, Elephant Bar, and Ruby Tuesday's. You usually have to use the $5 bonus by Feb/Mar of the next year, but you can also give them as gifts. I buy the gift cards with credit cards giving 5% back on restaurant purchases saving even more.

Coinstar - If you cash in $40 worth of coins at a Coinstar machine and opt for a gift card you can get an extra $10 gift card for that same store. You don't get the $10 bonus until Jan, but still it's free money. I got 2 from Amazon last year. They have iTunes and Lowes and other options. I save my coins all year in a jar. If you don't have coins saved go to the bank and get $40 in quarters.

Of course the best way to save money is not to spend it in the first place, but if you are going to spend on something, get the best value you can for your money and getting something you need/want for free is the very best way to save money.

Excellent article on the effect of higher taxes on earnings

Text is http://finance.yahoo.com/news/I-Can-Afford-Higher-Taxes-But-nytimes-1335412413.html?x=0 and Link is
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/I-Can-Afford-Higher-Taxes-But-...

I finished reading the library book Dawn on a Distant Shore by Sara Donati. Historical fiction - excellent

free groceries

October 12th, 2010 at 01:21 am

I met with my kidney surgery dr today in town. My surgery is set up for Nov 10. My poor mom, it seems like all my dr things are really messing with her schedule. She had to give up several things she wanted to do now to go with me or be there when I was in the hospital. For the dr visits, I don't care if she goes or not, it makes her feel better so I let her come into the appts with me. I feel kind of funny though - an almost 50 year old woman who has her mom with her in the dr's office Smile. Anyways, mom was supposed to have company on the 9th and 10th. I told her it was ok with me if she doesn't make it to the hospital until late on the 10th, but she wants to be there. I guess I'll just leave it up to her to decide what her priorities are after letting her know I won't be offended if she's not there.

I got a prescription filled at King Soopers today. It cost .80 for the month and I had a coupon to get $25 in free groceries if I got my prescription filled at King Soopers. So lots of free groceries coming up. I have one more of those coupons to use up before the end of the month.

Since I was in town again stopped at Borders and got 2 books for my neice and a $10 gift card for the daughter of a friend of mine for xmas. I used a 40% of coupon plus 5 Border's bucks. A lot of my xmas this year is going to be gift cards. My neice wants Target gift cards since she works there and is always buying stuff. She gets 10% off as an employee. Since I get 5% off on grocery stores with one of my credit cards I will buy them from King Soopers in December and save $5 and get double gas points or .20 off per gallon.

I also went to Alberstons again and got 2 bags of No Yolks noodles for .59 each. 3 free Bliss candy bars. 4 free Mentos gums. 2 Mars simply caramel bars - BOGO. The gum goes to neices.

I sent a list of discounted gift cards to my dad last night to see if he wanted any of them. I went to Card Pool and purchased Chili's and Elephant Bar gift cards at 11% discount for him. I went to Plastic Jungle and got JC Penny cards at 14% off for him and I got a Staples gift card at 8% off for me. This is just like buying money at a discount plus I save another 1% putting them on my credit card.

I read another book in my sci/fi series - Local Custom by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller - excellent.

worry syndrome

October 10th, 2010 at 08:46 pm

I had a really good talk with my oldest neice on the phone last night. She's a psychology major at college in her second year. We discussed a lot of things, religion, multi-culturalism, what she wants out of life. I always ask her what's she learning right now. She started telling me that she thinks grandma, (my mom) has a worry disorder. She had a fancy name for it, but that's basically what it is. She says she can't help her behavior and that it's genetic. I found that really funny that she starts telling me this out of the blue, when I've been discussing that here. My neice has been having panic attacks because she stresses out too much over school and work. She's worried she caught the worried disorder from my grandma and my mom. She plans to take a class at school that's supposed to help her control her panic attacks.

Mostly she needs to realize it's not the end of the world even when something does go wrong. Most everything can be fixed and other people rarely put as much emphasis on the things that you worry about as you think they do. Most people are pretty self-absorbed and don't even see the things in your house, meal, performance that you think they do and even when they do see those things, they don't put value judgements on them. If I go to someone else's house, even if I do see dust or something, I don't really think about it, it's like noticing the couch is brown. It's just a fleeting thought and I don't think she must be a slob or something like that.

I got several samples in the mail yesterday. 2 Wisk, 1 Life energy bar and Cascade. The Cascade had 4 tablets, which is nice. Both Wisk's and the energy bar will go to my neice.

Still reading my series. Finished Agent of Change and I Dare by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. Sci/Fi - excellent.

energy savings

October 9th, 2010 at 09:06 pm

This is an interesting article called "The Short List: The Most Effective Actions U.S. Households Can Take to Curb Climate Change". I don't necessarily believe in climate change, but I do believe in saving energy thru small changes. I especially liked the tables in this article that show in black and white how much you can save for individual changes.

Text is http://www.environmentmagazine.org/Archives/Back%20Issues/September-October%202008/gardner-stern-full.html and Link is
http://www.environmentmagazine.org/Archives/Back%20Issues/Se...

I signed up for a couple more birthday freebies today.

Get $5 at Jason's deli on your bday when you sign up for their email list

Text is http://www.jasonsdeli.com/subscription and Link is
http://www.jasonsdeli.com/subscription

Get $10 gift card to a mall near you on your bday if you sign up for newsletter

Text is http://www.ggp.com/GiftCards/CIMLocations.aspx and Link is
http://www.ggp.com/GiftCards/CIMLocations.aspx

I finished another one of my books in the series I'm rereading - Plan B by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. Sci/Fi - excellent.

errands in town

October 8th, 2010 at 09:13 pm

I went to the kidney dr yesterday as a follow up on my kidney stone removal. He said the kidney stone was calcium based and I need to restrict my calcium to no more than 1000 mg a day or approx. 2 glass of milk. I had read that calcium was good for diabetes control and that dairy was good for weight loss, so in June I started drinking 2 glasses of milk a day, plus taking 1000 mg of calcium supplements. I was taking twice as much calcium a day as I should have been.

I have several bottles of calcium supplements that I got for free or cheap. I'll see if my mom or sister wants them and if not will donate to the food pantry. They still have the original packaging so they should be able to take them.

I need to go back Monday to the surgery dr to sign the consent forms. They are looking at Nov 3 or 4 for the surgery.

Since I was in town, I ran errands. I got one free book at Borders using my reward cards and a 40% off coupon.

I went to Albertson's since I was a couple miles away. I almost never shop there since it is too far from where I live. The had the large containers of Quacker oats on sale for $2.00 and I had 5 $1 coupons, so I got 5 boxes. These will go to the food pantry. I also got 3 6 packs of Hansen soda for $1.50 each after 3 .50 coupons that doubled.

I went to Target and got 4 apples at $1.19 and 1 loaf of french bread. I had 2 $1.00 off produce coupons and 1 $1.00 of a bakery item. The bread was .50 after coupons and the apples were .64.

I stopped at King Soopers on the way home and got several free items. I picked up a prescription and while I was back there I saw they had the brand of ear plugs I use on closeout. 10 pairs for $1.24 - normally almost $4. I got 6 packages.

I got a free 20 oz Coke Zero for playing the Kroger sweepstakes game.

I got 2 free cookie dough Luna Bars $1.00 - .50 coupons doubled. Goes to my neice.

I got 1 free Joint Juice - goes to my grandma

I got 2 cans Progresso soup for .25 each.

I got a bag of Snickers candy bars for $2.00 to give my neice. I'm supposed to go visit her next week and I have 2 bags of groceries so far. We'll see what else goes on sale before then.

I finished reading my book Carpe Diem by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. Sci/Fi - excellent. Since reading the latest book in this series the other day, I've been rereading all of them. I love when I get inspired by a series and then can sit down and reread the whole thing from book one.

haircut

October 7th, 2010 at 12:26 am

I got a haircut today at Great Clips and I paid full price for the first time in what feels like forever. I kept putting it off hoping they would send out a coupon, but it's been driving me crazy so I got it done this morning. It feels so much better. Spent $14 with tip.

Went to Kohl's with mom, but didn't find anything I wanted to use my $10 off $20 card on. She got several things so I gave it to her to use, but since you had to use your Discover card to get the deal I paid for it and then she gave me the cash back.

I keep getting my neighbors mail. Today I got 2 things from different banks and 1 from Anthem. Since it happens so often anymore I've started looking at the address before opening things. It's scary how often this happens. I wonder if any of my investment/bank stuff is going to my neighbors. I'm old fashioned and still like get hard copies in the mail on a lot of things. I just hand their mail to them, but they never give me anything so I don't know if they get mail for me or not.

I finished reading the library book The Last Twilight by Marjorie M. Liu. Paranormal - ok

super rich part 2

October 5th, 2010 at 10:28 pm

Awile back I wrote about a guy who blogged about how he wasn't really rich even though he earned more than $250K/year. I was fasinated by the comments more than the article. The Wall Street Journal has put out another article discussing this guy, which is also interesting and is more geared to the psychology of feeling rich or poor.

Text is http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/110876/why-the-rich-dont-feel-rich and Link is
http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/110876/why-the-...

Even though the article is pretty good I don't care for the ending:

"But frankly, that discussion is offensive, particularly in this economy, when for millions of people the choice is not travel or private school versus real estate, but utilities versus food, or rent versus car payments."

Why is it, that so many people think that if you have money you don't have other problems? Or that it's wrong for you to enjoy what you have earned as long as there is someone else in the world who has less than you do - for whatever reason? There will always be people who have more money than others in society. Are they less because of that? Should they mourn the good things in their life because someone else somewhere does not have those things? Should they not want more for themselves and their family? It's not like they are taking food away from someone else when they work and then spend what they've earned on their families. In fact this particular man employs 2 other people to help with his family life, so he is providing food to others and he can do that because he makes good money.

I guess what others want is instead of him employing these 2 people, he should instead send that money to Washington in the form of higher taxes and then after they waste 5 - 10% of it off the top and another % for administration, tax preparers etc, they can return it to the people he previously employeed in the form of unemployment checks, food stamps, etc. Which they can then spend hours standing in line for and filling out forms.

I finished reading the library book Mouse and Dragon by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. Sci/Fi - excellent. I love this Liaden universe series. I like space opera anyways and they are one of the best.

good produce buys.

October 4th, 2010 at 09:31 pm

I did a big grocery run today and spent over $25, which is a lot for me, but I haven't been eating much recently and finally got to the point where I needed to restock and get back into eating good meals.

I got a lot of basics like milk, eggs, bread, apples, bananas, lettuce, celery, tomatoes and potatoes. I went to both King Soopers and Safeway. I went back to Safeway to stock up on the apples. They had the Gala apples for .77/lb and I got some Saturday to try out. They are really good, sweet and small, just the right size. So I got 30 more today. I also got 7 baking potatoes at .79/lb and 5 tomatoes at 1.28/lb.

At King Soopers the Eggsland Best extra large eggs were .40 cents cheaper/doz than the large eggs, so I got a doz after coupon for 1.19. I got one free Star Kist tuna pouch, 2 free chocolate cherry Luna bars and 3 free Joint Juice. The Luna bars go to my niece and the Joint Juice goes to my grandma.

I finished reading my book Dragondrums by Anne McCaffrey. Sci/Fi - very good.

business closings

October 2nd, 2010 at 09:24 pm

As I ran errands this morning I noticed several small businesses are closed or are closing around here. The Carl's Junior, Cold Stone, another ice cream place, a sandwich place, and 2 Curves are combining into one, so technically one of them is closed. After 2 years I guess they couldn't hold out any longer hoping for better times.

I went to the library, Safeway and Subway this morning. Safeway had Gala apples for .77/lb. I got a few and if I like them, I will go back on Monday and stock up. Apples last for months in the refrigerator, but some of them have a strange mouth feel, so I want to taste before stocking up.

For xmas last year I got 2 $25 Subway gift cards. I used the last of the first one today and started on the second. So lunch and dinner are free today since I got a foot long turkey sub on their new 9-grain bread. I haven't tried the bread yet, hope it's good and not grainy like some.

I got a free sample of Wisk in the mail today. Love samples. I also got the bill from the gall bladder dr - $812.40. I also got a $10 off $20 coupon for Kohl's from my Discover card. I'll probably give it to my mom since I'm not a big Kohl's shopper.

I finished reading the library book Love in the Time of Dragons by Katie Macalister. Paranormal - cute and funny, but it's part of a new series and the story left off in the middle, which I don't like.

covering expenses

October 1st, 2010 at 07:58 pm

I did my quarterly networth last night and so far this year I've made $8,000 more than I've spent. I expect I'll need another $10 - $12K before the end of the year for xmas and medical bills and general living expenses. I've spent just over $14k so far this year. The lowest level of expectation is to meet my expenses each year. The hoped for is to meet expenses and earn 3 - 4% or inflation on my investments. And the optimimum is to make double my expenses. This year I think I'll meet my expenses but don't know how much more.

Paid both credit cards, home insurance and the cleaners today - big chunk of change gone Smile Discover is giving 5% back on restaurants and fashion for the next quarter and MC is giving 5% on groceries, department stores and movies.

I finished reading the library book Mission of Honor by David Weber. Sci/Fi - very good.