Retire@50

Carpet guys showed up yesterday morning and wanted me to look at the carpet before they installed it. It's the right color, but not the right pattern. I ordered a carpet with a diamond pattern and this carpet has a cross-hatch pattern. So while they waited outside my house I drove over to Home Depot and talked to customer service. Turns out the carpet I ordered comes in two patterns and the lady who did the order in the computer put in the second pattern. I can't imagine why you could design carpet that way, where it could so easily be wrong. Anyways, since the carpet was already there, the installers were already there and I had already tore my upstairs apart, I told them I would take the carpet if they gave me a 15% discount. So they said ok. That's only a discount on the carpet, but it will come to over $500 by the time I finish the downstairs too. They promised they would give me the 15% off when I order the downstairs carpet. So I took it, not exactly what I wanted, but I can live with it, it's just carpet after all.

The installers did a really good job. I don't have to do any touchups on the baseboards or walls. Now I have to put everything back upstairs and start tearing up the downstairs. That will be a much bigger job. I have about 1500 books down there, that will have to be carried up here. Tired just thinking about it

I finished reading the library book Twilight's Dawn by Anne Bishop. Sci/Fi - excellent. I love her books, I liked this one so much I'm reading it again today.

I ran accross this recipe for goldfish crackers in a low-carb cookbook and it was so cool sounding I had to try it last night. The first time they were too salty for my taste, so the second time I didn't add any salt and they were much better.

Basically take a slice of American cheese and cut into about 16 squares. Combine 1/4 tsp garlic and chili powder and salt if you want. Put cheese squares in spice mixture and coat lightly. Place far apart on baking sheet, (use a silicone baking mat if you have one, or parchment paper). Bake at 400 degrees for 6 - 7 minutes. Let stand a min or two and eat.

My carpet will be installed tomorrow. I plan to take down the computer as soon as I'm done messing around on the internet today and then I'm ready for them.

Not sure when I'll get back on here, Wednesday at the earliest.

I finished reading the library book Citadel by John Ringo. Sci/Fi - pretty good.

Coupon total ytd = 218.63
RX total = 109.45
Discounted Gift Cards = 97.91
Total = 425.99

Did a couple of quick errands this morning before meeting sister, neices and parents at Mimi's Cafe in town for a mother's day lunch. Spent $11 at Mimi's.

At Safeway used my $10 on next order q and got $10 of sliced turkey breast on sale for $5/lb and then spent $1.14 on celery and green onions.

At Walmart I used $5.50 in coupons. I got 2 12 packs of Scick disposable razors for free, which will be donated. My cashier was making comments about all of my purchases. I hate that. Oh, these are nice bras. Oh what's this - an egg poacher? How much is that? - yech. I spent $77.02 there.

Stopped at Albertson's for 3 rolls of free paper towels. Spent .22 on taxes.

I brought 2 bags of groceries to give to oldest neice to take back up to college with her, mostly pasta, but she lives on that. She had her finals last week and is now half way thru.

My youngest neice died her hair again. This time a strawberry blond and then she crimped it. I didn't even recognize her when she came to the door. She looks gorgeous.

I finished reading the library book Lover Unleashed by J.R. Ward. Paranormal - excellent. If you like Laurell Hamilton or Sherrilyn Kenyon you will like this series.

mom and I went in town yesterday to shop. She wanted to do some shopping for herself and my major goal was to get some stuff for niece's bday next month. My niece sent me a list of books and dvds she wants. I got several of the things listed.

Coupon total ytd = 200.13
RX total = 109.45
Discounted Gift Cards = 97.91
Total = 407.49

At Bed, Bath and Beyond I got a silicone baking mat for me. $15 - $5 coupon. Used the last of my discounted gift card and paid cash for the rest. Bought another $25 discounted gift card today from Plastic Jungle to replace the used up one. Got a 10% discount.

At Target I got some ham for me and several DVDs for her. Step up 2 and 3, Burlesque, and Benny and Joon. Benny and Joon was on sale for $5 and I had a $3 coupon, so I got that one for $2. It wasn't on her list, but she likes Johnny Depp and I think that's a cute movie.

At Border's they didn't have any of the books she wanted so I got one book for me and used a coupon to save $2.64. I did get the Shutter Island DVD for her and used a 33% off coupon on it. Saved $6.60.

This morning I went online to Borders and ordered the 3 books on her list and another DVD - Fight Club. Saved $5.94 on the DVD. I used a discounted gift card to pay. That leaves me with enough money to get one more DVD. I'm going to see if Walmart has any of the others on her list and then the list goes to mom, to see if she can get some for her.

My sister had a contract on her house and if it goes thru will need to move out by June 10. We are going to look at houses this afternoon.

I finished reading my book WitchFire by James Clemens. Sci/Fi - very good.

Lots of good deals today and several items for the food pantry. First stop was Safeway. They have a deal for Mother's day. Buy a $50 gift card and get a coupon for $10 on your next order. The cards are Pennys, Kohls, Barnes and Noble, Nordstrom and a couple others. I bought a Penny's card that I will give to my mom for xmas or her bday and have $10 to spend on groceries sometime this week.

King Soopers has a similar deal on different gift cards and you get 4x gas points.

Next was Walgreens where I did the same thing as Monday but added 2 cans of Almonds to get my total over $20. Used mom's AARP card and wyb $20 get a coupon for $5 off next order.

10.00 - 2 12-pack Cottonelle
7.00 - 2 Oscar Meyer bacon
3.59 - 2 Almonds bogo
.69
-----
22.28
-1.00 - 2 .50 cottonelle q's
-2.00 - WAG q for $1 on Cottonelle
- .60 - .60/2 Blue Diamond almonds
-----
17.68 - got back $1 RR for bacon, $3 RR for cottonelle and $5 RR for AARP card. Paid $10 with gift card and the rest in cash.

King Soopers is having a another mega sale. They have a new way of doing it which makes it hard to see if the numbers are right. Previously wyb 10 items they take off $5 at the end. Now they take off .50/item. They missed 7 of my items so now I have to go back and get $3.50 back.

I got a prescription filled for .80. It was a transfer so I got $25 put on my card. They sent me a letter asking why I transfered and gave me another $5 for bringing it back. So I had $30 in prescription coupons on my card to use towards my groceries. Also Safeway had a $10/$50 coupon and they take competitors coupons and let me use that. So that was $40 off the top. I used $34.32 in manufacture coupons and did 3 mega deals which deducted another $15 off - the $3.50 they didn't give me. Plus I got a coupon for $2 OYNO for buying $10 in Dole salads.

Bottom line I saved 90%. Bought $145 in groceries for $15. But I got the $2 OYNO coupon and the store owes me $3.50 so it was really $9.50. This included 15 lbs of boneless/skinless chicken breast at $1.99/lb and 5 bags of Dole salads 2 spinach and 3 mixed.

I got the following for free. FP = items I will donate to the food pantry.

3 boxes Quick Cook pasta - FP
2 tubes Poligrip - FP
6 boxes Ronzoni Smart Taste pasta - FP
2 bottles Ivory body wash - FP
1 3 pack Ivory soap - FP
2 bags Boulder canyon potato chips - FP
6 boxes Ronzoni Healthy Harvest pasta - FP
4 bottles Propel water
2 bags Mahatma saffron rice - FP
2 Think Thin bars - FP
2 Uncle Ben ready to eat rice - FP
1 Mentos gum - niece

I have more pasta q's, so at least one more trip before the sale is over.

I finished reading my book The Quick Red Fox by John D. MacDonald. Mystery - pretty good.

I had an interesting snail mail day.

$10,000 check from selling stocks last week
coupon for free ready made rice from Uncle Ben's
Safeway coupons including $10/$50
Letter from King Soopers offering to give me $5 for filling out survey on why I transferred my prescription.
Property tax assessment showing my property is worth 12K less than 2 years ago. This should mean my property tax will go down next year. And since I don't plan to sell anytime soon, the loss in equity has no meaning right now.

Walgreens has a deal if you use your AARP card this week and buy $20 worth of stuff they will give you a coupons for $5 OYNO. My mom isn't using hers so she's giving it to me to use. I'll see what there is tomorrow.

I gave my grandma two $20 phone cards for xmas. Since she still had them in the card I gave her with my name on them, they came back to me when the aunts were cleaning out the house. I don't need them so have decided to donate them to Operation Shoebox.

I finished reading the library book Eternal Prey by Nina Bangs. Sci/Fi - pretty good.

Coupon total ytd = 128.26
RX total = 79.45
Discounted Gift Cards = 95.41
Total = 303.12

Went to Walgreens yesterday and did 2 transactions. First one was 2 packages Oscar Meyer bacon on sale for $7/2 plus get $1 RR back. Paid cash.

Second transaction was 2 12 pack rolls of Cottonelle toilet tissue for $10 - 2 .50 q's and a Walgreen q for $1 off each. Paid $7 after q's and got a RR for $3 back. Bottom line is $2 per 12 pack or .17/roll. Used gift card purchased with RRs to pay. Also got a mother's day card for .99 and used a $1 RR from a couple weeks ago to pay.

I finished reading the library book The Queen of Winter. Sci/fi short stories - very good. Sharon Shinn and Lynn Kurland are 2 of my favorite sci/fi writers.

I've been moving stuff out of the upstairs rooms in preparation for the new carpet. It looks naked up there. I had to take out the rugs and take down all the pictures on the wall. I have moved several of the smaller pieces of furniture into another room. Very bare - reminds me of moving. It looks forlorn instead of warm

Parents and I went to Rosie's last night. Dad loves their prime rib special on Fridays. However last night it wasn't very good. The meat was raw, he asked for medium rare. He took half home to cook and eat today. My meal wasn't that good either. I only ate a couple bites of the potatoes - they had a weird taste. And the chicken tenders weren't very tender. Oh well, usually they are so good. Maybe they got a new cook or something. Spent $10.15

Between the carpet and property taxes last month I spent 3 times what I normally do in a month. Over $5K. $3900 was carpet and taxes. I generally spent $1200 - 1500 a month. I only ate out 5 times, which is pretty low for me, my groceries went up because of that and the costly salmon purchase.

I finished reading the library book Too Hot to Hold by Stephanie Tyler. Romance - pretty good.

I purchased $500+ more in Home Depot gift cards from Gift Card Rescue today. They were discounted 8%. I still have to pay for the downstairs carpet, which will be another $2500 in a month or so, so I'm trying to get a couple thousand more in cards. They go pretty fast.

I also got a $50 Home Depot card for Mother's Day. Every year mom wants bedding plants for Mother's day, but it's too early to plant them here. So if I buy them for her and she has to keep them in her garage for 2 or 3 weeks. Last year I started buying her gift cards so she can buy them herself when she's ready to plant them. She gets $50 worth of plants and I only paid $46, enough left to buy the card

I was looking at cards at Walmart yesterday - so ridiculous. The average card was over $5 and I didn't see any under $3. I'll look at Walgreens or one of the grocery stores before deciding.

I went to Safeway today and picked up 2 bottles of Kraft salad dressing for .98 after coupon.

Coupon total ytd = 113.51
RX total = 79.45
Discounted Gift Cards = 95.41
Total = 288.37

I got a 3 free Atkins bars in the mail as samples this week. I tried the chocolate, caramel, peanut nugaunt (sp) one and it was surprisingly good. I'll have to see what the others are like.

I also got a rebate check for $4.31 in the mail.

I finished reading the library book Loose Ends by Tara Janzen. Mystery/Romance - very good.

I got gas today, filled up my car with 10+ gal and 2 5 gal cans. I had a .60/gal discount from King Soopers so the cost after discount was $2.99/gal - spent $62.43. My dad filled up to with the discount too, don't know how many gallons he got. I wonder when I will be spending a $100 for a fillup. I was shocked at $50 and now it just seems inevitable that it will be a ridiculous amount every time.

I went to Home Depot and ordered the carpet for the upstairs. Spent $2487.42. I paid a $1000 of it in gift cards that I got discounted at 8%, saving me $80. The rest went on a credit card that pays 5% back on Home Improvement items for this quarter. Now I have to start moving as much stuff out of those rooms as possible.

I fixed my expensive salmon last night and it was delicious, but still not worth $6 for the small portion. I have leftovers for lunch today with a good salad.

I got a rebate check for $4.31 in the mail.

I finished reading my book Dark Slayer by Christine Feehan. Paranormal - very good.

I went to King Soopers yesterday for groceries and made a very bad mistake. It was late, I was hungry and I just screwed up. I wanted some salmon and they had it on sale for $6.99/lb. I saw some in the display case that said 5.99 and they looked good, so I asked the meat guy for 6 pieces. I was going to make 2 this week and freeze the rest. Well I got several other things and I knew my bill would be higher than usual, so after the coupons and RX discount I still owed $19.55. When I got home I looked at the receipt more closely and saw that they charged me $35.94 for the salmon. I almost had a heart attack. Turns out it was 5.99 per 5 oz portion. Well I didn't feel right taking it back, since it was my mistake and the store can't resell it, so I guess I will be eating some really expensive salmon. I used up $45.46 of my RX coupons.

I did get a couple of good deals. 2 doz eggs for .50/each and large Jello for .50 each and 2 free 2 liter bottles of Big Red, which goes to the food pantry.

I had to stop at Walmart on the way home to get bagged salad. They had their brand for $1.50/bag and it was over $3 at King Soopers. I also got 2 40 oz bottles of Heinz ketchup for free, which will go to the food pantry. The ketchup is on sale for $1.98 and I had 2 $2 coupons. So I actually made .04 cents that I used on the salad.

Coupon total ytd = 112.01
RX total = 79.45
Discounted Gift Cards = 52.47
Total = 243.93

Stocks are doing well right now and I reached my sell point for the year so I sold $10,000 worth of stocks today.

I finished reading Matters of the Blood by Maria Lima. Paranormal - pretty good.

That's how I feel about the deals lately - eh. There hasn't been anything very good and I feel the loss of the hunt I hope they pick up soon. I haven't bought hardly anything for the food pantry this month.

Mom and her sisters are still cleaning out grandma's house. They are giving back the stuff to people who gave it to grandma and grandpa. I told mom if that's the criteria I'm only giving them gift cards or things I know they will use up from now on They gave back 2 christmas stockings that I gave them from at least 6 or 7 years ago. They will go in the goodwill/garage sale pile.

I finished my first miniature room in a couple of years. I just haven't been in the mood. It was a back yard barbeque scene. It's been sitting on my craft table for at least 2 years and only needed to be finished. It took around 3 hours to finish up.

I finished reading the library book The Mirror Prince by Violette Malan. Sci/Fi - very good.

It is cloudy and gray with wind gusts of 40 mph. However, since my mom went down to my grandma's to clean out more of her house, I decided not to walk today. Because I'm not going outside walking I decided to sleep in late and not take a shower or get dressed. I'm lounging around in sweats. I started a really good book and plan to spend most of the day reading. Lunch and dinner are already cooked and just needs to be heated up, so a lovely day.

Last night I made my roast chicken with bacon, which is wonderful. Basically olive oil, salt and pepper chicken strips. Add a piece of bacon on top and roast for 15 min in oven at 450 degrees. I had it with green beans and tomatoes. For lunch today I will have leftovers of the chicken and a large salad, with the veggies already prepared. The bacon really keeps the chicken moist, even when reheated.

For dinner I have a piece of leftover steak, which I will have with grilled onions, green beans and tomatoes.

I spent $50 at Home Depot yesterday to have someone come and measure my house for carpet next Tuesday. They will reimburse the amount when I get the carpet installed. It's going to cost approx $5000 to get the Martha Stewart Living carpet I want. It has a diamond pattern in it. The color is called carton. I originally wanted stainmaster carpet, but it's $2500 more. This has a better warranty and is comparable for stains. The cost includes extra fees for removing and taking away the old carpet, moving furniture and installing on stairs. I plan to stay here for another 10 years, otherwise I would have gone with a cheaper carpet.

Mom told me yesterday she is almost out of her discounted J.C. Penny cards, so I ordered $200 worth yesterday from Gift Card Rescue and got them at 15% off.

I finished reading my book Dress Her in Indigo by John D. MacDonald. Mystery - pretty good.

Coupon total ytd = 96.44
RX total = 33.99
Discounted Gift Cards = 52.47
Total = 182.90

If you want to lose weight, 'They' say you should drink 9 glasses of water + 1 for every 25 lbs you are overweight. 'They' say you should get a good nights sleep, if you want to lose weight. Well if I drink 10 glasses of water, I'm not going to get a good nights sleep. I'll be up all night peeing

I filled another prescription at King Soopers and spent $5.80. They sent me a survey asking why I transfered a prescription and they added another $5 to my card for turning the survey in.

I also got 2 bunches of radishes and 2 doz eggs. The eggs were .50/each. On sale for $1 and I had a coupon for .55/2, which was doubled. Paid for everything with prescription coupons.

I paid a dr bill of $36.85 also.

I plan to buy some Martha Stewart Living carpet at Home Depot soon, so I'm buying discounted gift cards at 8% off. Yesterday I bought $400+ from Card Pool.

I finished reading the library book Primal. Paranormal short stories, including one by Lora Leigh. Very good.

my sister's divorce was final yesterday. She did much better than she expected to. Her and my mom have been worrying about 'what if scenarios' for weeks and driving me crazy with it. I kept saying it will turn out ok, the courts aren't out to get you. They see tons of these things and they can tell a lot when someone is BS-ing. Plus you have everything in black and white, receipts, pictures etc.

He was trying to claim he was disabled and needed her to support him even though he works construction and makes almost 60K/year. She has fibermyalgia (sp?) and is on several meds, so they said she was just as disabled as he is. He said he was 50 and could lose his job, well she is 48 and could lose hers just as easy. He also claimed she wouldn't be making the money she is, if it wasn't for him. According to him, he took care of the kids 24/7 while she went to college. She went 1 night a week and his mom took care of the kids. But even so, if it wasn't for him, she wouldn't have the kids and she had other family here, my mom or I would have babysat as needed. He was gone almost every weekend hunting or working side jobs for which he kept all the money, while all her bonuses were spent on the family.

He ends up having to pay only $50 a month child support, which is ridiculous, but it's only for 2 more years for the youngest. He gets half her 401K, minus what was in it when they got married. And he gets half the equity in the house when they sell it, minus what she's paying in mortgage payment from the time he moved out till the time she sells it. They both keep their personal stuff. All in all pretty good. She was afraid she'd have to pay maintenance and lose her stock options and lose half the kids college money.

I finished reading the library book Dragonsblood by Todd McCaffrey. Sci/Fi - very good.

Since I've turned 50 I think I've gotten marketing from AARP in the mail every week. I've resisted joining since I didn't see anything in their material that made me think it was a good deal for $17/year. I have seen Walgreens give $5 RRs for buying $20 in the past and I noticed a sign today saying if you use your AARP card every time you get offers from them, but still not sold. Does anyone have good reasons to join this? Or bad ones to not join?

Coupon total ytd = 95.44
RX total = 32.01
Discounted Gift Cards = 18.00
Total = 145.45

I got some groceries this morning. Went to Safeway, Walgreens and King Soopers.

At Safeway I got $6 in produce and paid $5 after a $1 coupon.

At Walgreens I got 2 packages of Oscar Meyer bacon and 4 bags of David's sunflower seeds. The bacon was on sale for $6 after $1 RR. The sunflower seeds were on sale for $1/each. Used $11 in RRs from last week and .29 on a gift card bought with RRs. No out of pocket. I wanted some of the Green Giant green beans for .24 but they were sold out. I got a raincheck.

At King Soopers I picked up a prescription, paid $2.22 and they added another $25 to my card for groceries. I spent .98 using my RX coupon for 2 large boxes sugar free cherry Jello. I had a coupon for .55/2 that doubled. They were on sale for .99/each.

My oldest niece called last night and talked for an hour or so. She got her hair cut. I know she will look beautiful, but can't imagine what it looks like from the description. It was down past her hips before she cut it. She said one side is shaved now and the other is like a pixie cut. Ooookay. She said she walked in a Salon and asked the guy to go crazy.

She was explaining how much she wants to travel and learn about other cultures and her other grandma asked her why she wanted to do that and she said it was because she hates America. I asked her to explain that and she said we're so materialistic and care about looks so much and we're obese etc. I really hate the indoctrination they get in college about how bad America is and not how good we are. We are a great nation and we have done great things in the world. I wish it wasn't so one-sided in the schools.

The other countries are better because they don't waste and they live communally helping each other etc. Hmmm, hopefully one day she'll grow up a little and see both sides. Anytime a culture has a lot of something they waste it. Communal living means a few people do most of the work and some people do none. People are people and they will always have disagreements living together - it's not one big happy family.

I think most of the people in tribes and poor cultures would jump at the chance to have electricity and be warm or cool as needed. To have hot and cold running water that is safe to drink. To be clean and healty and have enough to eat with a variety of choices. To be educated and given opportunities.

Just because we live in a materialistic world doesn't mean we have to be materialistic. We don't have to buy in to the appearances lifestyle. We don't have to be obese and eat junk food. It's not really a choice when you don't get to choose if you want to live in poverty, but it's imposed on you by local conditions.

I finished reading my book Styx's Storm by Lora Leigh. Paranormal - very good.

Safeway has their Fresh Express bagged salads on sale for $1/bag. I normally buy lettuce and chop it myself, however when the price is $1/bag I'll buy it. I got 2 bags mixed lettuce, and 1 bag spinach for $1/each. I'll mix these all together. I also got a bag of shredded cabbage for $1.59 and a bunch of radishes for .99. Since the produce was over $5 I was able to use a $1 off produce coupon, making one of my bags free. I'll have a couple large salads today and tomorrow and get some more on Tuesday, when the sale ends.

I also got 2 doz medium eggs for .99. They were priced .99/each and I had a coupon for .55 of 2 doz eggs which doubled to .99. The large eggs were $1.79 which is really high.

Coupon total ytd = 82.21
RX total = 31.03
Discounted Gift Cards = 18.00
Total = 128.94

HBO is free this weekend with DirectTV and I've watched a couple more movies. Terminator Salvation and Clash of the Titans and It's Complicated. Today I see Jonah Hex, and Sherlock Holmes is on. I'll try to catch them. It's free thru tomorrow.

I finished reading my book Dragon Blood by Patricia Briggs. Sci/Fi - very good.

Well we didn't make it to Cheddars. When we got there it was an hour wait so we went to Chili's instead.

Today a friend of mine came over and we watched movies and had a Papa Murphey pizza. I paid $7 for the pizza. We watched Aliens vs Predators 2 which I got from Netflix. Not that good. We also watched the Dark Knight, which I got from the library - very good. I hadn't seen it before.

It was a fun day.

I finished reading the library book The Soldier King by Violette Malan. Sci/Fi - very good.

My dad's bday is today. Sister, youngest niece, mom and I are taking him to Cheddars. It's a new restaraunt that just opened in the next town over. None of us have been there before. Hope it's good.

Afterwards we will go back to moms to open presents and have dessert. Lemon pie from Schwan's - yummy!

I got dad a gift card to Elephant Bar at 15% discount and 2 bags of black jelly beans, his favorite.

I fixed scrimp scampi last night in a butter and garlic sauce with green beans and tomatoes on the side. It was really good. I'll do it again next week since I still have half the shrimp left.

I had to turn the furnace back up. I had left it at 58 for about 2 weeks, but it's been below freezing here for a couple days so I upped it to 62. Supposed to snow next week. We haven't gotten our big snow storm yet this year and we usually get one in April so maybe... We did get some rain the other day which will help with moisture. We are 70% below normal for the year.

I finished reading my book Dragon Bones by Patricia Briggs. Sci/Fi - very good.

Coupon total ytd = 80.21
RX total = 31.03
Discounted Gift Cards = 18.00
Total = 128.94

I had a kidney dr appt yesterday so went in town. The medicine has taken care of my calcium problem and now my kidneys have normal amounts of calcium in them. The Dr said if I continue this way I only have a 5% chance of getting another kidney stone - good news. I just have to continue to take the medicine the rest of my life

I stopped at Border's and got 2 books. I had coupons to save $3.18/each and paid with my reward card from Discover.

My oldest niece sent me a list of books and movies she wants for her dbay in June. I ordered a discounted gift card to Borders from Plastic Jungle to help pay for some of it. I got a $50 card for $42.50 saving 15%. Unfortunately when I looked yesterday Border's didn't have any of the books in stock. I may need to order them online.

Along with coupons and RX savings I'm going to start tracking discounted gift cards too.

Today I picked up a prescription from King Soopers for .57 and the added $10 to my card for groceries because I had a $10 Target prescription coupon. I got a free Luna bar and paid .99 for 2 large boxes of Jello.

I finished reading the library book Treachery in Death by J.D. Robb. Mystery - excellent.

I paid my property taxes today - $1,306.72. It went up $40 from last year, but the state government swears taxes didn't increase. Oh, but the mill levy increased, which increases your taxes, but taxes themselves didn't increase. Just like the taxes on car licenses didn't increase, but the fees went up $30/vehicle. They all think we're stupid.

Last night when I took my trash out for pickup I saw the neighbor lady lying on the sidewalk across the street. I asked if she was hurt and she said she wasn't sure. She's a small lady and she wanted me to help her stand to see if she could. I got behind her and picked her up, but she couldn't stand. I told her I has a roller chair I could get and we could roll her into her house and she said ok. When I came back, she thought she was pretty hurt, so I asked if she wanted me to call someone. She said her grandson lived in the unit on the corner, so I went and got him. He put her in the chair and took her inside her house. I figured I was just in the way at that point and went back to my house, telling him he could bring the chair back when they were thru with it.

I hear the ambulance show up in about 5 minutes, very fast. After awhile it left and he brought the chair back. He said they thought she dislocated her hip and they were taking her to the hospital for surgery. She's probably in her 70's.

Today while mom and I were walking I saw the grandson's wife talking to some people and stopped to ask her how the lady was. Turns out she broke her hip and is having surgery today. That's not good when you're that old.

An awful lot of people are falling down right now. I had my fall about a month ago and yesterday mom tried to fall twice on our walk. Mom said some lady came into curves with one whole side of her face black and blue from a fall on concrete. It's weird how once you hear about something it seems to happen more frequently.

I finished reading my book Wolfsbane by Patricia Briggs. Sci/Fi - very good.

My mom and her sisters decided to tell everyone to donate to the charity of their choice for my grandma instead of selecting one. So I donated $100 to the food pantry that I often donate food to. Mom wasn't happy with the decision since she thinks they won't know who donated to what and won't be able to thank them.

They got an offer on her house while they were cleaning it out Friday. She lives in a very small town, less than a hundred people. The neighbors offered $35,000 which is a little low, but it means it is done with and no one has to make a 2 hour drive during the summer to water the lawn, etc. It's extremely hot down there in the summer time. They might be able to get $50K, but maybe not and it might take forever. None of them needs the money and I think it would be better to get rid of it now, but not my decision, thank goodness

Coupon total ytd = 72.09
RX total = 31.03

I finished reading the library book A Hard Day's Knight by Simon R. Green. Sci/Fi - excellent.

I made this a couple days ago and have been eating it for lunch with a hearty grain roll and an apple. It was pretty good. Some soups don't make it so well on day 2 or 3, but this one was still good. It's pretty simple.

1 small onion diced
2 large carrots small diced
2 stalks celery small diced
3 cloves garlic - garlic press
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
1 15 oz can white beans
1 10 oz can chicken broth
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon dried thyme
Olive oil

Directions:

1. Saute the vegetables in the olive oil until soft. Season w/salt and pepper while sautéing
2. Add all ingredients to large pot and bring to boil
3. Reduce to simmer for at least 1 hour.

I finished reading 2 more of my Patricia Briggs books Steal the Dragon and Masques. Sci/Fi - pretty good. These are some of her early attempts and while good, not as good as her later stories.

Even though I went shopping and got things at both King Soopers and Walgreens today, it was technically a no spend day since it was all free after using my pharmacy coupons and Walgreens gift cards purchased with RRs.

At Walgreens they paid me to buy more toothpaste. The food pantry is getting a lot of that lately from me.

2.99 - 6 oz Colgate Max Fresh
.24
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3.23
-1.00 coupon
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2.23 - received an RR for $3, made .77. Did this twice

5.00 - 6 rolls Scott paper towels
.40 - taxes
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5.40
-1.50 - q
-1.00 - WAG q
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2.90 or .48/each - did this twice

14.99 - Accu Check Aviva diabetes monitor
-10.00 - q
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4.99 - got back a $5 RR. There is a $15 rebate in the box - so $15 moneymaker. Will donate this

21.98 - 2 90 ct bottles Nature Made multivitamins
.88 - taxes
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22.86
-10.99 - Walgreens BOGO sale
-7.00 - Nature Made q from wellness points
-1.00 - q
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3.87 - added 190 points to Nature Made wellness reward program

I also put a $10 RR on another Walgreens gift card and have $11 in RRs from today.

At King Soopers I had a coupon for .40 off coleslaw and a free 1 lb. bag of mini carrots. So I got those with bananas, celery and milk. Used 44.68 of my pharmacy rewards to pay for it.

Coupon total ytd = 68.34
RX total = 15.46

I finished reading my book When Demons Walk by Patricia Briggs. Sci/Fi - very good.

While walking yesterday my mom and I were talking about my grandma. I said, you know how things are supposed to progress, your grandparents die, then your parents and then you. With my last grandparent dead it feels like a layer between me and death is gone. I know I could die at anytime, but if I were to die naturally, then that little barrier is gone.

My mom said she feels like a layer of protection is gone from her because my grandma prayed for everyone in the family by name everyday. She feels that there is no one above her now praying for her every day. And of course my grandma had a direct line to god

The funeral is Friday and visiting is tomorrow. Then comes the effort of cleaning out her stuff and trying to deal with the aftermath.

I finished reading the library book Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning. Sci/Fi - very good.

She was 92. She was on the phone talking to my aunt. She had been sick all night. All the sudden my aunt couldn't hear her anymore. She called another aunt and she went over and found her.

I want to feel sad about this, but I can't feel as sad as I should. Not that I'm happy about it, but she has been in so much pain for years. She has wanted to die since my grandfather died more than 4 years ago. I've got mixed emotions, but I think the primary one is happy that her ordeal is over. Very sad for my mom, she was very close to my grandma.

My parents were on their way to Kansas to buy a new car when she heard. They decided to go on since they were already halfway there. I never know what to say, sorry seems so useless.

I finished reading my book Pale Gray for Guilt by John D. MacDonald. Mystery - very good.

Coupon total ytd = 12.86
RX total = 10.78

I made this recipe a couple days ago and since it had shrimp in it, I didn't think the leftovers would be that good. But I thought it was good when I warmed it up for the second day so it's a keeper. I only made half the recipe and I didn't use the red peppers or heavy cream. There wasn't near enough liquid for a soup so I added 2 cups water. I think next time I might make it with polish keilbasa though. That sounds better than the shrimp to me and I could probably freeze it.

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=di...

I went to Rosie's last night with parents so dad could get his prime rib special. At xmas I bought 10 $10 coupons for $8 each. So everytime I use one I save $2. Rosie's punches a card every time you eat there and when you get 10 you get a free meal. Dad keeps all the cards and last night we split the free meal, he gave me $2.50. So I saved another $4.50 towards coupon total. I spent $7

I went into Barnes and Noble and used the last of the gift card I got for xmas on another Patricia Briggs book. I ended up owing $2.50 cash. I went to Border's after that, they are right across the street from each other. I got 2 more Patricia Briggs books and used a 33% off coupon on each one and paid with my reward gift cards from Discover, so no out of pocket money. $8.36 more in coupon savings.

I finished reading my book The Next Ex by Linda L. Richards. Mystery - pretty good. A new author for me.

I've decided to keep track of how much I save using coupons for the next year. As a sub-category of that I will also track how much of that is from RX coupons. It's not a real accurate picture of savings because a lot of stuff, (especially for the food pantry) is stuff I wouldn't buy without the coupons, but I'm just curious.

Coupon total ytd = 2.00
RX total = 10.78

I ordered the Entertainment book a couple weeks ago and it came in the mail today. So there's a whole new stash of coupons to use It was $17 and free shipping plus I got 1700 points from MyPoints.

After I got home from Walgreens yesterday I was reading my usual blogs and saw a $3 coupon on Energizer hearing aid batteries. My dad and grandma both need these and are always complaining about how expensive they are. They have to change them every 2 - 3 days. Anyways Walgreens had them on sale an 8 pack for $5. I printed out 4 coupons, (2 per computer) and called my dad. I told him the sale was only good yesterday with the 15% off and the coupons. So he came over and got the coupons and was able to find 4 packages for $1.25 each after discount and with coupons. He got 4 packages for the price of one, he was happy. It's too bad I didn't know about the coupons earlier though when mom and I went to Walgreens.

I finished reading the library book Dark Prince by Christine Feehan. Paranormal - very good.

When reading some blogs yesterday I saw there was a 15% off at Walgreens coupon good for today only. I sent it to my mom and today we went there after walking. I got an diabestes A1c self test for 19.99 - $3 for 15% = 16.99 + I got a $10 RR. It does 2 tests.

I also found a $4 DVD of Hairspray. The original with Devine, Sonny Bono, Blondie and Rick Lake. I like that version better than the remake with John Travolta although I did like him in the remake. I don't have a VHS anymore and I am only replacing a few of the movies I had before - mostly musicals.

I did my quarterly financial review today and I've made $17K the first quarter, almost enought to last the whole year. A good start.

I finished reading my book Burn by Linda Howard. Romance - very good.

I had to get a blood test today and afterwards went to King Soopers to pick up another prescription. It was a transferred one, so I got another $25 put on my KS card. The prescription was $1.60. You get 50 gas points for each prescription and I saw I was only $13 away from .60/gal. So I wandered thru the store to see what I could find for $13.

I got 4 Snickers easter candy eggs for free. They were $1 each and I had 2 $2/2 coupons. I got 3 bottles of Joint Juice for free using 3 $1 coupons that was over half right there. I got a big bag of dried white beans and found some hearty grain rolls in the day old section.

As I was wandering I saw a bin of small bags of Pop Chips. They looked pretty good. I decided to try them since they put me over my $13. They were really good. They had good crunch and good flavor. Only 100 calories vs 160 for 1 serving of potato chips and only 25 calories from fat vs 90 for potato chips. I'll have to start looking for coupons for them.

My latest $5 Amazon gift card came thru from Swagbucks and I ordered 3 more free books from Amazon with it and the 5 others I already had.

I finished reading the library book River Marked by Patricia Briggs. Paranormal - excellent.