Retire@50

I went to Safeway this morning and got an 8 lb bag of potatoes for $4. $5 - $1 produce coupon. I also got 8 Marie Callander single serve potpies for .61/each. 4 Turkey and 4 Chicken

15.92 - 8 potpies @ 1.99/each
-5.00 - $5/$15 Safeway coupon
-6.00 - 4 $1.50 off any Marie Callander pie
-----
4.92

When we were little and mom was a single mother to 2 girls we lived on potpies. You could get 10 for a $1. I still like them but rarely buy them because they have gotten very expensive.

Next I went to Walgreens and got paid a little bit to buy 2 tubes of Colgate toothpaste. I put $20 in RRs from last week on a Walgreens gift card and paid with a different gift card from earlier RRs so no money out of pocket.

6.00 - 2 4oz tubes Colgate toothpaste
.28 - taxes
-----
6.28
-3.00 - 2 $1.50 q's
-----
3.28 - got back a $4 RR so made .72. These will be donated to the food pantry.

2.03 - 7 Snickers eggs
.07 - taxes
-----
2.10
-2.00 - $2/2 q
-----
.10

I finished reading my book Cinnamon Skin by John D. MacDonald. Mystery - pretty good.

This book is written by Rachel Singer Gordon who hosts the blog mashupmom. It's basically an overview on using coupons, saving money and making money on the internet. It has some good suggestions and points you to several legitimate websites. I think this would be a good book to give to a friend of mine for xmas. She's a stay at home mom who is always looking for ways to make a little money and stay at home longer. I'll see if I can find it at Border's the next time I have a 40% off coupon. I got it from the library.

There hasn't been very many good deals lately that I've wanted and I haven't been inspired to blog. I found $2 off folger's coupons today online and printed them out to give to my dad. That's his favorite brand.

Walked at Walmart and picked up a Subway for lunch. Spent < $4 and used a discounted gift card to pay.

I finished reading the library book The Jungle by Clive Cussler and Jack Du Brul. Adventure - very good.

I had to go in town yesterday to get an xray on my left kidney to see if I am developing any more kidney stones. Won't know the result until the dr appt next month. Mom went with me and we did some shopping while we were in there. We went to SmashBurger for lunch - mom paid, not sure why, but she insisted.

We went to Bed, Bath and Beyond and I got this cool salad spinner that I've been wanting. I saw it in January at Crate and Barrel. I had a 20% off coupon and paid with a discounted gift card. It was around $22 with taxes.

At Target I got 3 more bottles of vitamin D and Fish oil. On sale for $5/each plus I had a $4 and 2 $1 coupons and a $5/3 Target coupon making them $4 for the 3 bottles. I added my points to the Nature Made wellness program - another 240 points.

Today I went to Staples and got a cartridge of blue ink - paid $4.71 using my reward checks and a discounted gift card.

I went to King Soopers and got another prescription refilled - spent $7.32 and used a $10 Target prescription coupon to get $10 more in groceries added to my KS card.

I got 8 more boxes of Ronzoni pasta for free, 2 pouches of bumblebee tuna, a Zone bar and some milk. All of it was free after using the RX coupons. 4 boxes of the pasta, 2 tuna and 1 Zone bar go to the food pantry.

I also went to Safeway for produce I bought grapes at .99/lb, 1 potato, 1 banana and 3 stalks of celery for $5.06. I used a $1 off $5 coupon and a $2 OYNO coupon and paid using a discounted gift card.

I finished reading the library book In Too Deep by Jayne Ann Krentz. Romance - very good. I've quit reading 2 books about a 100 pages into them in the last couple of days. One was just boring and the other was a dumb woman book, which I hate. Books about women who will do anything for a guy because he's sexy are ridiculous. Oh, so he's a serial killer, but he's so cute! BAH! Makes me want to gag

My sister, youngest niece and I drove up to Denver yesterday to go to the Natural History museum. My niece has been wanting to go and I invited her because it was spring break. Turns out her mom took the week off and wanted to go too, so we all went. Since she drove I bought lunch for all of us at Subway on the way there. Spent $14+.

The museum was very expensive and not that good. They have a special Pirates exhibit right now and of course that was extra and the planetarium was also extra. $12 entrance fee, $8 Pirates, $5 planetarium. $25 total. Niece got a student discount so hers was about $7 cheaper.

The place was packed, which surprised me, but I guess some of the Denver schools are still in session and there was several school groups and tons of people. I hate crowds. The best thing was the Russian gem carvings - very cool. The dinosaurs are always neat, the mummies were so-so. The animals were interesting. The Pirate exhibit was geared towards 10 year olds and ok. The planetarium was good, but only 25 minutes long. It was narrated by Whoopi Goldberg. Over all too much money for not enough bang

Sister and niece had to have a snack and drink halfway thru. $2 for a candy bar. What a rip-off.

But it was still a good outing, got to spend time with niece. We stopped at Black-eyed pea on the way home for dinner. Spent $12.71 and brought half of my chicken and a roll home for tonight's supper.

My niece got her tonsils out this morning, hope she starts feeling better soon. She's been feeling sick since Oct last year. She's had several colds and mono, plus strep throat. This should help.

I got my oil changed in my car today, car wash and air filter. Spent $55 for everything after coupon. They were very fast - it's a local shop.

I went to Walgreens and got 24 ct Theraflu for $4.99. Used a $2 coupon and got $1 back in RR. I have a rebate on this so I will make about $3 on the purchase.

I finished reading my book Renegade by Lora Leigh. Romance - very good.

I dropped off another 6 bags of groceries at the Food pantry today. I finally had a month where I donated more than a 100 items again. It's been awhile since I was able to do that, when I first started in 2008 and 2009 it was easy and I rarely had less than a 100 items in a month, now I rarely reach that amount. I went to Walgreens and King Soopers to get some items to donate before going to the pantry.

At Walgreens I made money on Reach toothbrushes and got free Snickers easter candy. The candy was 2/$1 and I had 3 $1/2 coupons, so 6 free eggs.

The toothbrushes were on sale for .99/each when you used the Walgreens in-ad coupons. I had 2 coupons for $2/2. So I made a penny each before taxes, but I also got a $4 RR for buying the 4 brushes.

King Soopers is having another one of their mega sales where you get $5 when you buy 10 items in the sale. The total was:

$38.27
-10.00 - mega sale I bought 20 sale items
-19.28 - coupons
- 9.04 - last of my RX coupons
------
FREE groceries + made .05 cents, wish I had remembered to bring my reusable bags and made another .15 cents. I remember about every 3rd time even though I keep them in the car.

The food pantry gets

3 Zone bars - FREE
9 boxes Ronzoni pasta - FREE - made .01 on each one
2 bottles Franks Red Hot Sauce - FREE - made .50/each
1 box Oat revolutions oatmeal - .29
3 pouches Bumbleebee tuna - .49/each no coupons but good pantry donation item and I needed 3 more things to get the $5 off.
4 Reach toothbrushes from Walgreens

For me I got bananas, 3 tubs country crock butter, 3 Ronzoni pastas, and 1 store brand pepper grinder.

I also transfered a prescription from Target and got another $25 off groceries put on my card. I spent $5.80 for the prescription.

I got a $100 Subway card for $90 at Plastic Jungle. I eat there a lot, especially in the winter since there is one in the Walmart where we walk.

I got enough swagbucks to order another $25 Amazon gift card. I have over $25 in credit now, so can place an order when the card processes.

I finished reading In the Dark of Dreams by Marjorie M. Liu. Paranormal - pretty good.

My oldest niece came down from college for her dad's 50th bday party yesterday, so today I met her, my sister, other niece and parents at Chili for lunch. All the time I will have to see her this trip, but every little bit is precious I had the California club without the avocado and spent $10.

She has really long hair and got it braided and some added in. It took 10 hours. She is beautiful, but I don't know how her neck can hold all that hair.

Before meeting them I went to Walgreens and got 2 packs of Tena security pads and made $1.82 on each one. On sale for 9.99 with a $10 RR. I had 2 $2.50 coupons so after taxes I made a profit. Will donate these. Put a $10 RR from last week on a Walgreens gift card.

I finished reading my book The Dreadful Lemon Sky by John D. MacDonald. Mystery - very good.

I made a master list of menu options for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and veggie sides today and printed it out. I've done this before and I find that it really helps me in planning menus and grocery shopping. Ever since my surgeries last year I haven't been eating that well. It's mostly hit or miss and a lot of junk and too many restaraunt meals. I need to get back on track and I think this will help. I know just listing the options makes me want to start making them. They all sound so good to me right now.

Now I just need to buy the groceries and follow thru. I also plan to start tracking what I eat again. Last summer when I was doing the $25 challenge and tracked everything I did really well and even lost 5 pounds. I'd like to get back to that way of eating.

I finished reading the library book Hidden Empire by Orson Scott Card. Sci/Fi - very good.

We had an unexpected snow storm last night - only an inch or so, but it was in the high 60's yesterday. The moisture is good.

I went to the library, bank and Walmart this morning. At Walmart I got a couple t-shirts and 2 boxes of oatmeal. The oatmeal was only .25/each after coupons and will go to the food pantry.

I finished reading my book A Kiss at Midnight by Eloisa James. Romance - very good.

I met a friend for lunch yesterday at SmashBurger. So good - spent $7.50. Afterwards we went to Lowe's and Home Depot to look at carpet. I found several I was interested in and checked out one of the sample boards at Lowe's for $25. Refundable when returned. I'd like to get Stainmaster carpet, but I'm still debating.

We went to Target where I got another prescription transfered and got a $10 Target gift card. The prescription cost .80.

I got 3 bottles of Nature Made vitamin C at Target. 90 ct. $5.04 each - 3 $1 manufacture coupons + 1 $5 Target coupon wyb 3. I put the points in the Nature Made wellness program and I got enough to order a $7 coupon.

I got 2 loaves of Oroweat whole wheat bread for .95/each. $1.50 on sale - .55 coupons. I hadn't read the grocery ads when I bought these or I might have waited. Safeway has the Oroweat jewish rye bread on sale for $2.79 yesterday and today only. That's a very good price for rye bread. I put the two loaves I bought yesterday in the freezer and figured I could get 3 more in, so I bought 3 of the jewish rye bread loaves today.

I also got 24 cans of Green Giant veggies for .24/each at Safeway. 12 green beans and 12 corn that I will donate to the food pantry. I dropped off 6 bags at the food pantry today. When I did my totals I noticed I've donated a lot of stuff this month, but I haven't spent hardly anything. I have room in my budget to buy some more stuff to donate. I'll have to figure out what's the best bang for the buck.

I finished reading the library book Dragon's Fire by Anne McCaffrey and Todd McCaffrey. Sci/Fi - very good.

I ran my errands late yesterday since mom wanted to walk in the afternoon. It was really nice walking outside. First time this year at her house. There isn't a hint of green yet though. We are 44% below where we should be on moisture this winter. All our snow went elsewhere, which is nice, but we need some rain or something to make up for it.

I went to Walgreens and got 8 Right Guard deodorants for free, except for taxes. They were on sale buy 1 get 1 and I had 4 BOGO coupons. I spent $1.34 on taxes.

At King Soopers I picked up 2 prescriptions for $2.81 and 3 Yakisoba mac and cheese for free. On sale for .99 and I have coupons for .50 that doubled. I need to go back this afternoon and get 3 more of these.

All the deodorants and yakisoba's get donated to the food pantry.

At Safeway I got 3 more of the jello temptations. I spent .97 and got a $2 OYNO coupon back.

I finished reading my book Named of the Dragon by Susanna Kearsley. Romance - pretty good. New author for me.

So since I did my bottom line yesterday, of course I got more insurance forms in the mail yesterday. It never fails These were from August of last year when I was in the coma. They were lab/path services. Another $1500 in costs which were all discounted. So now the total is $208,500. I don't understand why it takes so long for hospitals/doctors to do the paperwork on medical costs. That's more than 6 months ago. I was still getting bills for my real father's illness 2 years later.

I bought a $50 Elephant Bar gift card from Plastic Jungle yesterday for 15% off. This is for my dad's bday next month. Poor guy has his bday on April 15th - he hates it. I also got a $50 McDonald's gift card at 15% off from Gift Card Rescue. Saved $15 total.

I finished reading the library book Legacies by Mercedes Lackey and Rosemary Edghill. Sci/Fi. - pretty good. Kind of an American version of Harry Potter. Not quite as imaginative, but still good. It's for young teens, which I didn't know when I got it. I like Mercedes Lackey and just got it for that reason.

I haven't gotten any new bills for my 3 surgeries last year in a month or so, so maybe they've all come in now. If I didn't have any insurance I would have been charged $207,025.00 - I would have had to go back to work for 10 years to repay that.

Because I have insurance they deducted $100,508.00 from the bills. The insurance company paid $105,558.00. I paid $4,500.00. I know the numbers don't add up, but I have prescriptions in there too.

It is insane what medical care costs when you aren't insured and even when you are. But it's almost twice when you aren't.

I finished reading my book The Empty Copper Sea by John D. MacDonald. Mystery - very good.

That's how I feel today. So sore. I didn't sleep well, since I normally sleep on my right side and it hurt to do that. This morning everything was achy and stiff. I went ahead and walked outside again and ran some errands. I think I'll try to take a nap this afternoon.

I mostly needed produce so I went to Safeway. I got 3 lbs onions, 2 large potatoes and 5 bananas. I had a $1 of $5 produce coupon. I got 2 half gallons of Welches grape juice for .77/each and my best deal was 3 packages of 3 Jell-O temptations.

5.97 - 3 packages Jell-O 1.99/each
-3.00 - 3 $1 q's
-----
2.97 - I got back a $2 OYNO coupon. These are delicious. I got the lemon pie ones. Yum, yum, yum. The packages have .75 coupons inside so I think I'll do this deal one more time.

I also went to Walmart. They have a new coupon policy that I really like. Now when you have coupons that are for more than the price of the item, Walmart lets you use the overage on other items. It used to be, they wouldn't let you use them at all. I had enough overage today to pay for a book I bought and all the taxes.

5.61 - 3 40 ct sheets of Gain dryer sheets
.44 - taxes
-----
6.05
-9.00 - 3 $3 coupons
-----
2.95 - profit

1.94 - 2 2 load packages Purex 3-in-1
.15 - taxes
-----
2.09
-6.00 - 3 $3 coupons
-----
3.91 - profit

I finished reading my book A Tapestry of Spells by Lynn Kurland. Sci/Fi - very good.

Mom and I were able to walk outside for the first time in a long time today. Somehow I tripped on a curb and fell hard on the sidewalk. I scraped both the heel of my right hand and the back of it. I must have bounced. I hit my right shoulder pretty hard and also hit my head. My knee is scraped slightly and the worst part was breaking two fingernails way below the quick - OW! My shoulder is really stiff right now and my head hurts. I took two pain pills I had left from my kidney surgery. The fall happened at the beginning of the walk, but since it was really just scrapes and bruises I finished the walk.

You always seem to feel it more later that day or the next day.

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

Well it looks like mjrube94 was right about the Staples rewards and I made a mistake last month using the previous reward to buy the 'free' pens and pencils. I didn't get a reward from them this month. I saved the ad and it does say the reward is after all discounts and rewards applied. So I goofed. Well live and learn. I already donated the pens and pencils, so can't return them. That's ok, the kids needed the supplies and it was less than $10.

I got a whole bunch of cheap candy from Walgreens this morning for .62. I used one $3 RR and got

4 king size bars of Hershey's w/almonds
4 packages Reese's mini cups - king size free w/each King size bar
1 8 ct pack of Reese's peanut butter cups - free wyb 4 king size bars.

Most of this will go to the nieces.

I also got 2 cans of mushrooms for .50/each. I love sauted mushrooms and onions and add them to lots of meals to get my veggie quota in.

I finished reading the library book Play of Passion by Nalini Singh. Paranormal - very good.

Well I finally finished my taxes. I do my own, but this year I had some new forms to figure out, because of the amount of charity contributions I made. On the form it talks about the government reduce paperwork act, what a joke! I have 8 pages of forms to fill out and I only owe $164 in taxes for the whole year. That's how much of the 10% penalty on the $10,000 I withdrew on my IRA that I have to pay.

Because I used most of the money I withdrew to pay for medical costs I don't have to pay the 10% on that portion of the withdrawl. I guessed pretty close and am happy with that amount. I had an income of 13K+ and deductions of 15K+.

I got a check for $12 from buying the Swiffer duster last month. I only spent $8.97 so that was nice. It paid for the part of the refills that wasn't completely paid for by the coupon I had.

I finished reading my book The Sleeping God by Violette Malan. Sci/Fi - sword and scorcery type. Very good, this was a new author and I'm happy to see she has more in this series. I've put the next one on hold at the library.

I got a haircut at Great Clips today after walking w/mom at Walmart. I had a coupon for 6.99 saving half of the regular price.

I ordered 2 more $5 Amazon gift cards from Swagbucks. I was down to 8 points last night after ordering them and I already have 57 this morning. Some coupons must have come thru.

Does anyone know anything about Sparkspeople? What do you think?

I logged into Cellfire today and got a .50 on anything e-coupon added to my King Soopers card.

I sent my sister an email about the Melting Pot giving away free cheese fondue in April. That's her favorite place to eat.

http://www.411iscoming.com/

I finished reading the library book Dragon's Kin by Anne McCaffrey and Todd McCaffrey. Sci/Fi - very good.

I don't usually buy a lot of junk food (unless it's free , but today I was just in that kind of mood. I didn't pay anything out of pocket, since I used my Walgreens gift card and my RX rewards at King Soopers to pay for everything.

Went to Walgreens again to see if they had finally got more of the Motrin PM in stock - nope. I got a raincheck on the Motrin. It won't be as good a deal without the RR, but still free w/coupon.

I got another Colgate toothpaste that they paid me .74 to buy. I had a $1.00 q.

I saw they had the Ponds cleaning cloths that I like with a bonus 5 pack, so I got 4 more of those. With the other 2 I got earlier this week I have a 6 month supply now. After coupons and BOGO sale they were $1.50/each. I used two $3 RRs I got from buying toothpaste and I needed fillers to use the RRs, so I got 2 boxes of Russel Stover valentine candy on sale for 75% off. .37/each. There was 3 pieces in each box. I ended up paying $1.37 with my Walgreens card. I have 3 of the $3 RRs left. I'll see what's on sale next week.

Then I went to King Soopers were the junk food called my name, grabbed me by the ear and forced me to put it in my cart I used $18.24 of my RX money to pay. I did save almost $8 in coupons and got some really cheap toilet paper and bread.

5.99 - 12 double rolls Charmin toilet paper
-3.00 - King Soopers e-coupon
- .50 - .25 q doubled
-----
2.49 - .21/roll - very cheap

4.00 - 4 totinos rolls
-.40 - e-coupon cellfire
-.40 - e-coupon shortcuts
-1.60 - 2 .40 q's doubled
-----
1.60 - .40/each - very cheap although I remember when I used to get these free all the time, but it's been a couple of years.

3.99 - Sea Pak shrimp scampi
-1.00 - q
-----
2.99

.89 - Mentos fruit mints
-.89 - .50 q doubled
-----
FREE

2.49 - magazine
2.25 - 8 bananas
2.99 - Lays potato chips
1.79 - garlic bread
.98 - 5 whole wheat hamburger rolls - day old
-----
10.50

So I got 2 small boxes of valentine candy, 1 mentos mints, 1 package Lays and 4 pizza rolls today - lots of junk food.

I finished reading my book The Turquoise Lament by John D. MacDonald. Mystery - very good.

I told my dad about a deal at Walgreens for hearing aid batteries, but he gets confused with all the coupons and wanted me to go with him, so we went this morning. The deal was buy 1 get 1 free and I gave him 2 $1.50 coupons. Plus wyb $20 and show your AARP card you get a coupon for $5 off your next order. Mom went too and they bought almost $70 worth of stuff, so they were way over the $20 limit. Anyways, the deal worked perfectly, they got thier $5 coupon, and were able to use both coupons I gave them.

I got paid to buy 2 more tubes of Colgate toothpaste, plus I got some other stuff on sale.

1.39 - 1 can Chef Boyardee
-1.39 - free item coupon
-.40 - Walgreens in-ad coupon
-----
.40 profit

5.98 - 2 boxes Splenda w/fiber - 80 ct
-4.00 - 2 $2 q's
-----
1.98

21.98 - 2 90 ct bottles of Nature Made vitamin D
-10.99 - bogo sale
-6.00 - 2 $3 q's
------
4.99 - entered the codes in the Nature Made wellness plan and got 160 points towards a $7 q.

The chef boyardee and toothpaste go to the food pantry. Paid with a free gift card so no OOP.

I paid my car insurance today. $289.48/6 months.

I have my taxes organized, now I just need to do the paperwork. Should finish this week.

I finished reading my book Fantasy in Death by J.D. Robb. Mystery - excellent.

I got a $50 Barnes and Noble gift card for my birthday. I went to Barnes and Noble thru MyPoints and bought 5 books yesterday. I get 10 points/dollar thru MyPoints. I got 4 of the Ilona Andrews books that I've been wanting and 1 J.D. Robb book. I got free shipping and before checking out I found a promotion code on RetailMeNot for 10% off the whole order. I paid $43.92 off my $50 gift card.

I also ordered $75 in rebate checks from my credit card rewards.

I'm trying to keep the heat turned off today for the first time. It's a little chilly in here in my office, but I'm almost done and can go sit in my recliner with a blanket on my lap soon.

I've been working on going thru all drawers, closets and cabinets to organize and get rid of stuff. I'm in a get rid of it mood, so lots of things are going in the garage sale/donation pile. I've finished my office, 2nd bedroom and upstairs bath now. I'm working on my craft room which will take lots of time. I have a ton of Miniature magazines that I'm going back thru to see if I want to keep or not. So far about 90% are going in the donate pile. I probably have 500 magazines, so that will take a while.

I finished reading the library book Secrets to the Grave by Tami Hoag. Mystery - very good.

and March is national frozen food month, so there will be really good deals on frozen stuff. I need to start eating out of the freezer to make some room.

Yesterday Safeway had a really good deal on frozen food. I spent $1.39 for $17 worth of food. I saved 94%
Stacking the deals is what really makes the price go down.

First layer is the sale. Stouffers and Lean Cuisine are on sale for $2/each

Next Layer is the store deal. Buy 5 Stouffer's or Lean Cuisines and get 2 Dreyers smoothies for free.

Next Layer is the store coupon. Buy $15 in frozen foods and get $5 off. The free Dreyers count towards the $15.

Next Layer is manufacture's coupons. 4 $1 off Stouffer's and 1 $1.10 on 2 Lean Cuisines

Last Layer is the e-coupons. Some stores take both e-coupons and paper coupons. Your stores may have different rules. $1 on 2 Lean Cuisines e-coupon.

8.00 - 4 Stouffers individual meals
4.00 - 2 Lean Cuisine
3.00 - 2 Dryers smoothies
-----
15.00
-3.00 - 2 free dryers wyb 5 Stouffers or lean cuisine
-5.00 - Safeway q wyb $15 in frozen foods
-4.00 - 4 $1 stouffer's q's
-1.10 - wyb 2 lean cuisine
-1.00 - e coupon on lean cuisine
-----
.90 for 8 items, less than .12 apiece.

Plus I paid using a 5% discounted gift card and I will get 50 points for printing the coupons from Swagbucks, and I get points toward .10 off per gallon of gas.

2.00 - 1 jar Skippy peanut butter
-.51 - Safeway q
-1.00 - q
-----
.49 - goes to food pantry

I also went to Walgreens where I got paid to buy toothpaste and got some cheap Pond's facial cleanser cloths.

2.99 - 1 4 oz Colgate toothpaste
.24
-----
3.23
-.75 - q
----
2.48 - got back a RR for $3. I did this deal twice and made .52 for each tube of toothpaste. These will be donated to the food pantry.

11.98 - 2 30 ct Ponds facial wipes
.40 - taxes
-----
12.38
-5.99 - bogo sale
-3.00 - 2 $1.50 q's WAGs usually lets you use 2 q's on BOGO sales
------
3.39 - 1.70/each

I paid using a Walgreens gift card bought with other RRs - so no OOP.

I finished reading the library book Dragon Harper by Anne McCaffrey and Todd McCaffrey. Sci/Fi - very good.

My sister works in marketing for a big software company. She puts on shows and recently did a survey at one. She needed the information in the survey input into a spreadsheet. She asked my niece if she wanted to do it, but no, that would be like working. So she asked me if I wanted it for a $25 AMEX card. I said sure.

It took about an hour and a half. She wanted to give me another $25 AMEX card, but I told her that was decent pay for an hour and a half of data-entry work. Especially since no SS or taxes.

I don't get my niece, when I was 16 I worked at whatever I could to make money. I hated baby-sitting, but still took baby-sitting jobs when they were available. I worked all the hours I could get when I got my first job. But she's super spoiled, basically gets whatever she wants.

Recently she broke her cellphone on purpose because she wanted a new, more expensive, one. So far my sister has held firm and not gotten her the more expensive one. She can get her phone replaced with the same model she has now. She's always done that though, even as a little kid. If she wanted new jeans or a coat, she would rip whatever she had so she could get a new one. My sister never believed she was doing that, even though my niece told me that's what she did.

It's a bad precedent to set and will definitly not help her in her adulthood.

I got free sample of San Francisco coffee in the mail today. This will go to the food pantry.

DirecTV has free Starz this weekend, so I plan to watch some movies on TV later today - maybe with some kettle corn

I finished reading my book The Last Prophecy by Jon Land. Adventure - ok.

I've never tried this before but I saw a recipe on one of the blogs I read so decided to try a microwave version. It was delicious.

1 tbs oil
1 tsp splenda
salt
1/4 cup popcorn kernals

mix in microwave popcorn bowl
microwave 2 min

yum, yum, yum

I had a really good mail day too. I got a bunch of samples

6 Always pads/liners + coupons
3 tampons
2 prilosec samples
1 travel size Secret deodorant
head and shoulders shampoo and conditioner
4 hearing aid batteries
coupon for free can Chef Boyardee

Hearing aid batteries go to dad, secret deodorant and head and shoulders go to food pantry.

I also got the first season of the Amazing Race from Netflix and my credit card bill. The credit card bill isn't so wonderful, but it showed I have $80 in rewards I can cash in.

I finished reading the library book Carousel Tides by Sharon Lee. Sci/Fi - very good.

I got a notice I had 10 Border's Bucks that expired Monday and they are calling for snow this weekend so I decided to go in town and use them today. They don't give you much time to use these, 1 week. I got 2 books and after border's bucks and a 33% off coupon it was $3.23, which I paid using a free gift card. Rewards from Discover credit card.

Since I was in town I stopped at Albertson's to see if there were any deals to scoop up. Albertson's doesn't double coupons so I kept seeing what I thought were really good deals, but after translating to non-double coupon, they weren't so good I did however get 4 boxes of Hamburger Helper for .50/each. These will go to the food pantry.

I also got a roll of Marcel paper towels for .25 and my best find was 24 ct Excedrin PM on sale for $2.50 and I had coupons for $2.50. Free except for taxes. I got 4 of these. I only use them a few times a month, so this is alot. I may give a couple boxes to my parents.

I stopped at King Soopers on the way home to pick up another prescription. Spent $7.32. They gave me another $25 off groceries. On the way out I saw Star Kist tuna for $1.00 and I had 2 .50 coupons which doubled. So I got 2 free pouches of tuna, which will also go to the food pantry.

My change oil light came on as I was leaving King Soopers, so I need to find a coupon for that soon. I usually go to Jiffy Lube.

I finished reading my book The Scarlet Ruse by John D. MacDonald. Mystery - very good.

Yesterday I entered a simple recipe in the Pillsbury bake-off contest and they put $5 on my King Soopers loyalty card.

http://katycouponers.blogspot.com/2011/02/pillsbury-bake-off...

I also had a $3 OYNO coupon and some of my RX coupon left. I only needed a few basics today so I got

1.29 - 1 quart milk
1.39 - 1 lb dried black-eyed peas
1.59 - 1 lb dried great northern beans
1.82 - 2 large potatoes
.99 - 1 loaf rye bread - day old
1.87 - 8 bananas
.84 - 3 onions
5.67 - 3 small pre-packaged Millstone coffee $1.89/ea
-----
15.46
-5.00 - pillsbury bake off
-3.00 - OYNO q
-6.00 - 3 $2 Millstone coffee q's - made .11/each
-----
1.46 - used my RX coupon to pay $0

The coffee goes to the food pantry.

I finished reading my book An Original Sin by Nina Bangs. Romance - ok.

Went to Walgreens this morning and got 3 free Dove Deodorants.

3 x 3.49 = 10.47
- 3 $2 coupons = 4.47
- Walgreen's in-ad coupon making them $1.99/each took off $4.50 = .03 profit before taxes. Taxes was .41 so technically they weren't 'free'. I paid .38 in taxes. I also had to buy a filler to soak up the overage of .03 cents. I got a Valentines Reese's heart and used my Walgreen gift card to pay. The Walgreens gift card was purchased with RRs - so free. These will all be donated to the food pantry since I already have 4 deodorants. Deodorant is free pretty often.

I went to Safeway to get free Nature Sweet cocktail tomatoes, but they didn't have any. They had an ad in Sunday's paper for 3 days only on sale .99 and I have coupons to make them free. The store never had them, but said they might get them tomorrow. What a rip-off. Safeway is really bad for doing things like that. My least favorite store to shop at, but they do have good deals at times, so I continue trying. I may go back tomorrow. It's only a mile out of the way.

Talked to my oldest niece for awhile yesterday. Her and a friend drove up to Vail for snowboarding and almost had a serious accident sliding on the ice in the car. Fortunately they didn't hit anything, but got stuck on an ice bump. Someone pulled them out. But it scared them good. It's tricky driving in the mountains here with the ice. The friend is from Hawaii and doesn't have good snow driving skills.

I finished reading the library book A Gift of Dragons by Anne McCaffrey. Sci/Fi - very good.

I went house hunting with my sister and her friend who's a realtor. We saw 5 places, 4 of them contender's. I think it's very premature to start looking for houses now, since they aren't selling very well here and her house will be hard to sell because of where it's located. It's basically on the prairie and a horse property with a huge barn. 1/2 drive from anywhere. You have to have the right person to buy.

But she can't stand to sit still and has to go out looking, even though everything she's liked so far has sold already. She hasn't gotten a serious offer on her place and it's been on the market for 5 months. But I like looking at houses so no biggie for me. The stuff she's looking at is a lot smaller than what she has and stuff under $300K is selling.

We went to Arby's for lunch and I spent $3.30. Then my parents came home from a trip upto Cripple Creek and Victor and mom wanted to walk. So I did that and then they wanted to go out to eat and to the grocery store afterwards. It started pouring rain, which is extremely rare in February here. This whole year has been weird weather wise.

We went to Chili's and I spent $10.29 and brought half my California Club sandwich home for tonight. Paid with one of my discounted gift cards.

At King Soopers I got paid $3 to buy $17+ worth of groceries.

17.67
-13.47 - coupons
-3.00 - Daytona sale wyb 10
-1.20 - Pharmacy RX
------
FREE + I got a coupon for $3 OYNO

I did the Daytona 500 sale where if you buy 10 items you get $3 off at the cash register and a $3 coupon off on your next order.

2.99 - Reese's Puffs cereal
-2.99 - free item from playing the King Soopers Daytona game
-.55 - ecoupon from cellfire
-.30 - Daytona wyb 10 sale
-----
(.85) - moneymaker - I was surprised the cellfire coupon came off as well as the free item coupon. This will go to the food pantry

2.58 - 2 Totinos pizza rolls
-.80 - .40/2 q doubled
-.40 - ecoupon from cellfire
-.60 - Daytona wyb 10 sale
-----
.78 or .39/each

6.36 - 4 cans Campbell's chunky soup
-1.20 - Daytona wyb 10 sale
-2.00 - 2 $1/2 q's
-----
3.16 or .79/each

2.97 - 3 cans Chef boyardee
-.90 - Daytona wyb 10 sale
-.70 - .35/3 q doubled
-----
1.37 - .46/each - goes to food pantry

1.79 - 1 can whole wheat Chef boyardee
-1.50 - free wyb 3 chef boyardee q - up to $1.50
-----
.29 - goes to food pantry

.98 - 1 large tube Colgate toothpaste
.08 - taxes
----
1.06
-.98 - .50 q doubled
----
.08 - goes to food pantry

I also used a .55 cellfire q that I had to use on anything and a $3 OYNO q from the last Daytona deal I did. And I finished paying with $1.20 of my Pharmacy redemption reward of $1.20. No money out of pocket and another coupon for $3 OYNO.

I finished reading the library book The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook. Sci/Fi - excellent. She is so imaginative, her books are great. If you like Patricia Briggs or Laurel K. Hamilton or J. R. Ward, you will like her books.

On the way to walking at Walmart I stopped at Safeway and got one of my prescriptions - $2.74. I also got another package of 80% hamburger for .22. This is the 6th pound of hamburger I got for less than .50/lb. That's it for me for now, it's about 6 months worth. I also picked up 4 16 ct packages of 2% Kraft cheese slices for .49 each. I will freeze these. They are on sale for $1.49 and I had .55 coupons that doubled to $1.

I also got 2 more popcorn shrimp for .64/each at Walmart.

I finished reading my book The Da Vinci Legacy by Lewis Perdue. Mystery - very boring and cliched. I felt like I'd already read it in several versions.

I went to King Soopers today and as I was walking in I saw a bunch of change in the parking lot. Mostly pennies. Someone must have dropped their whole coin purse. I stopped and picked it all up. I felt weird standing there with my big butt in the air for quite some time since there was 50 pennies and 2 nickels, so it took awhile It almost paid for my prescription which was .80.

I spent 0 again on groceries because I used my prescription rewards and I got a coupon for $3 on your next order at the end.

Before coupons I spent 19.91
- 3.00 - Daytona buy 10 get $3
- 9.34 - coupons
- 7.57 - RX redemption
------
FREE + $3 OYNO

2.94 - 3 6.4 oz tubes Colgate toothpaste
.22 - taxes
-----
3.16
-2.94 - 3 .50 q's doubled
-----
.22 - food pantry item

6.00 - 6 cans Chef boyardee
-1.80 - Daytona deal wyb 10
-1.40 - 2 .35/3 q's doubled
-----
2.80 - 1/2 to my niece and 1/2 to the food pantry

3.58 - 2 Whole wheat chef boyardee
-3.00 - 2 free item wyb 3 Chef boyardee up to $1.50/ea
-----
.58 - food pantry

6.36 - 4 cans Chunky soup
-1.20 - Daytona deal wyb 10
-2.00 - 2 $1/2 q's
-----
3.16 or .79/each

1.09 - Bananas

I finished reading the library book Last Night's Scandal by Loretta Chase. Romance - very good.

I had .60 off per gallon of gas from King Soopers today. I got 21 gallons and paid $50 - $2.36/gal. I filled up 2 5 gallon cans and my car. I used a gift card I got 5% back on to pay.

My grocery category is going to be pretty high this month. I got 2 1 year Sunday only Subscriptions to the Denver Post for $56.70/each - $113.40. I used Discounted Newspapers website to purchase them and I went thru My Points so I should get 5 points/dollar. I track newpaper subscriptions in the grocery category because the only reason I buy them is for coupons. The subscription went up $20 from last year.

Inflation is really starting to hitting everything. I still have 8 boxes of the Cheerios I got last year for free to .50/box. I haven't seen a good sale since and now I haven't seen less than $2.50/box on sale and it's $4 for a regular box which is insane. Lot's of other groceries are up too. Clothes are supposed to go up 10% this year. The gas would have been 2.99/gal if I hadn't had the discount - up 17% in just a couple months.

It was warm today, but we had to walk at Walmarts anyways because the wind was blowing very hard. It's given me a major headache. I got 3 more small boxes of the SeaPak popcorn shrimp. $1.64 each and I had 3 $1 coupons. When I got home I saw the cashier put in 4 coupons so I paid .92 for all 3 boxes. I used a Walmart gift card that I got 3% back on to pay.

I finished reading my book Hadrian's Wall by William Dietrich. Historical - pretty good.