More Than a Little

I sort of took a vacation last week. I didn’t feel much like doing anything, frugal or otherwise. I did a little shopping but my heart wasn’t in it. I also didn’t much feel like cooking, so we ate a little less well than usual.  So, as always, some of my meals are getting “recycled” until I actually get around to making them.

Monday Meal Plan
Monday: asparagus, fried potatoes and bearnaise sauce. yum! turns out that asparagus doesn’t like sitting in the crisper for a week and a half (darned lazy streak!) but it tasted fine anyway
Tuesday: ziti with roasted vegetables — this is (inexplicably) probably Evelyn’s favorite food.
Wednesday: macaroni and cheese, veggies
Thursday: Quizno’s – free sub!
Friday: fettucini alfredo with broccoli

Want to get a free sub from Quizno’s, too? Get your own here while supplies last. My husband and I both signed up, so it should be a cheap dinner. The coupon says that a photo ID is required, so you probably want to use your real name! I have only been there once before and honestly, neither of us were terribly impressed, but I’m willing to give them another try for the price. I still kind of hate them because of the creepy commercials they used to air, the ones with the singing rodent.

I decided to go out to Kroger and Rite Aid and to get a few Sunday papers this afternoon, by myself. I think it’s so much fun to get out by myself good for M and Evelyn to have quality time together sometimes, and M does not care for drugstore shopping in the least. So, I went out, but the gas station was out of papers so I decided to go to Kroger first (planning on using coupons from the paper at Rite Aid.) I ended up spending the entire time I was gone at Kroger because I stood in line for so long I was beginning to worry that my food would be bad by the time I got it to the car. Seriously, upwards of half an hour. I had my first ever raincheck and it was a giant pain. It was from the mega sale, buy 10 items and get $5 off your bill or 20 items and get $10 off–I bought 20.

The rain check was written out for Green Giant steamers, $1.59, but with a big “LOOK–>”" pointing to the back to instruct the cashier to take off $5 or $10 if I purchased 10 or 20 items. After trying to figure out how to process the thing to begin with, they insisted that the mega promotional pricing was part of the $1.59 and therefore, wouldn’t take the extra money off. I argued the matter, the lead cashier (who has been subjected to my annoying behavior in the past, sadly–it’s weird, but I refuse to give them more money than I owe them) came over, and finally offered to call over a manager. We took everything to the customer service desk and waited, and waited, and waited. I would have been really aggravated if Evie had been with me because she’d have been fussing loudly at sitting there doing nothing for half an hour, but since she was at home with Daddy, it wasn’t too terrible (except I was beginning to feel guilty for being gone longer than I had meant to.)  The manager finally arrived, looked at the issue, and then agreed with me. I was so happy and relieved! Not least of all, I did not look like an idiot who just didn’t understand sales in front of the guy I had been arguing with all that time.  Soo… I got twenty bags of frozen vegetables for $.09 each plus $3 (the cost of the coupons I ordered for said promotion.)  That works out to $.24 a bag.

The husband, who is in charge of stocking the basement freezer, has mandated that there will be no more vegetables purchased until we have eaten the ones we have.  I may have bought twenty more bags a couple of months ago (though many of them are gone already.)

It was sort of funny, too, because as he was scanning my coupons, he stopped to tell me that my free box of macaroni and cheese (sent to me by Kraft for getting a faulty box) was only valid up to $1.20 and so it would cost me nine cents.  I told him that it was $1.19 on the shelf…. but added that I wouldn’t quibble about nine cents at this point.  I mean, we’d already been standing there for so ages over the raincheck issue.   He just looked confused and said he’d just give it to me anyway, so the receipt has a random .09 deduction on the bottom. Just out of curiousity, I checked the price of the mac and cheese when I got home.  It was listed at $1.29, with the next line showing my card discount of .10.  Poor guy! I had him so flustered that he forgot how to read receipts! :)  And hey, yay for ten cents of overage!  That’s half a banana right there… ha. ;)

By the time I got out of there, I had lost my desire to go to Rite Aid and the vegetables really needed to be in the freezer by that point.  I spent $15.55 and saved $32.52 for a total of 67%.. according to the receipt.  My math makes it 61% but I like theirs better so I’ll go with it.  ;)

Walgreens (oh, how I do love Walgreens) is offering 20 free 4×6 photos, today only.  Simply upload your twenty prints and use the code ONEDAY at checkout.  Then, choose in-store pickup to avoid shipping fees.  I have been pleased with their photo quality and service in the past.  During the last free 8×10 promotion, my two photos had a line down the middle, and the lady was deeply apologetic, explained why it happened and printed them again for me. I even got to keep the two misprints, neither of which were so bad that they were unusable.

Order today, pick up when you have time, but move fast, because this code only works today.

Do you like romance novels?  I do.  I know it’s not cool but I love reading books with guaranteed happy endings.

Tell Harlequin is a site that I’ve been a member of for a few years. Ever so often, they mail two books to you for free. The only catch is that after you read them, you have to fill out a brief survey about them. They’re looking for your opinions on the characters and plot and writing, even if those opinions are negative. I have generally enjoyed most of the ones I’ve received except for the last batch. I have two more on my desk right now that I need to read. (Too bad I am currently engrossed in The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb–I am loath to read anything else right now!)

So, go sign up.  Free books! Fun mail delivered at random! You can’t lose.

Most of the people I talk to about my shopping hobby are completely shocked (and confused) at the type and quantity of stuff I buy. They look at my storage closet and think that I have lost my mind. Everyone wants to know what I do with all of the stuff I buy. I think the implied question is really not so much what I do with everything, but why I am buying mountains of STUFF. It’s hard to explain how some of these deals work to a layperson. I see eyes glaze over when I start trying to explain coupon overages and how you have to buy things you don’t want in order to afford the things you do. I can understand that. I mean, it wasn’t so long ago that I was the same way!

After they ask what I do with the stuff, they usually want to know how I do it. Most of the time, I can’t really explain how someone might duplicate any given deal because the deal is expired. Usually, the person doesn’t really want to know how to buy sixteen bottles of Robitussin, anyway. They specifically want to buy one bottle, or how to get a free bottle of Diet Dr. Pepper or how to get a $5 coupon to JC Penney or Kohl’s (hint: you can use multiple email addresses for this!) or things like that–they want to hear about the best deals that are available right now for them.

The thing is, this sort of deal-watching takes time and effort, and generally, most people just aren’t interested in doing that much research. By starting this blog, my hope is that I can sort through the tedious or mediocre deals to find the easiest, best deals for regular, non-coupon-obsessed people. Couponing for real people, in other words.  I get to help people, and you get to save money. We both win!  I can’t actually go shopping for someone else most of the time, but I can try to make it easy enough for everyone to get in on the occasional great deal, and these days, every little bit helps.

Also, on a pure geekery level, I finally have a place where I can write about the nerdy details of my shopping exploits. :)

But it’s not all about spending or saving money!  It’s about the things that spending less allows you to do–living better.  I like to cook and take care of my house (I draw the line at saying I like to clean, but there are other house-related tasks that I like, like organizing and decorating and home improvement…. well, I like it when my husband likes that one, but still.)  I enjoy crafts and I I love being home with my baby girl.  All of those things will make an appearance here.  I will probably also post occasionally about my husband (henceforth referred to as M, because that is what I call him half the time) and daughter, Evelyn. Basically, anything is fair game, but most of what you’ll find has to do with frugality and domesticity.

Anyway, thanks for stopping by, and I hope to see you again soon. :)

I make pizza from scratch pretty often, because it’s dirt cheap, healthier and my husband and I both prefer my pizza to delivery. However, sometimes you want to just throw something from the freezer into the oven, and we always have a few frozen pizzas in our basement freezer.  I have discovered that no matter what kind you get, they always need a little “dressing up” to taste their best. I think everyone puts some extra mozzarella cheese on frozen pizzas, but I have also found that sprinkling a few chopped onions and green peppers on top, and adding quality pepperoni instead of the frozen lumps of meat product they put on them, makes a huge difference in the taste.  I actually go so far as to remove the pepperoni that comes on it and throw it away, although that is not terribly frugal of me to admit. My husband made fun of me at first for doing it (he is a huge meat fan, but not terribly picky about it, either) but even he admitted that it vastly improved the whole pizza.

(Wait. Isn’t this post supposed to be about green peppers?)

The thing is, I don’t usually have green peppers in my crisper. I buy them for specific recipes, and honestly, I try to avoid buying them most of the time because they cost too much.  That means, I rarely have any sitting around that I don’t have earmarked for something else.  Last summer, I started chopping up the leftover bits–you know, that wonky piece around the stem, or any of the pepper that would just go to waste, and some of the ones given to me from my mom’s garden and throwing them in a baggie in the freezer. Ta da! Now I pull the baggie directly out of the freezer, sprinkle a few frozen pieces on top of the pizza, and put the bag back.  Instant fresh pepper goodness, directly from your freezer.

In the winter, green peppers are pretty expensive, so when my last batch of diced peppers ran out, I bought a bag of pre-chopped frozen peppers on sale. Luxury convenience food, cheaper than the alternatives of dicing it myself.  They work just as well and you don’t have to clean up pepper seeds.

This trick also works in many other green pepper applications, but I mainly use it for pizza, both frozen and homemade.  You can also do it for onions, but I always have an onion in the fridge, so I don’t use frozen onions as much. (If chopping onions really hurts your eyes, though, it may be a wise investment for you. I am the designated onion chopper in this household, and although it does make me cry, it doesn’t usually bother me too much. My husband would enjoy having some in the freezer, though, so perhaps I should make him a batch for his special meals.. but his cooking projects really deserve their own post. Let’s just say that there’s a reason I do most of the cooking!)

I meant to post this yesterday, but I had a serious case of the lazies. I sat down in the afternoon and flipped through a  magazine, of all things. (It was my first issue of my All You subscription, so I was thinking of coupons anyway, but still!)  I momentarily felt guilty until I remembered that I don’t actually have to DO something all the time.  I know! Even moms get to relax a little sometimes!

Meal Plan
Monday: Quesadilla for me, an omelet for the husband and pasta for the baby
Tuesday: something in the crockpot involving chicken, salsa, corn and cheese.. whatever it turns out to be
Wednesday: grilled cheese and tomato soup
Thursday: Dinner at Longhorn!
Friday: macaroni and cheese, unknown vegetable

I signed up recently to do mystery shopping for Longhorn.  They reimburse up to $30, plus payment of $10.  I have to order a beverage, appetizer, entree and dessert. Longhorn is pretty expensive so I’m guessing we’ll end up just getting a free/cheap meal out of the whole thing but that is more than enough for me! I love it and we almost never go there because of the cost.  It’s even conveniently located near Valentine’s Day so we can tack it on as a bonus celebration. :)  If you’d like to do some mystery dining at Longhorn, you can sign up at Focus on Service. I had this job scheduled within hours of signing up. You can go up to two times per year.. can’t beat that. :)

The baby and I headed out on Monday for a round of shopping at CVS and Walgreens.  I considered myself extremely extravagant to buy two packages of Pampers and one bottle of Dawn at near retail prices (only using a $1.50 coupon for each of the diapers and no coupon at all for the Dawn! argh!) in order to buy Madagascar 2 for $2 after coupon.  Funny how perspectives change.

Sadly, no picture available.

Walgreens ($43.96)
Ensure, $6.99
Fructis styling product, $3.99
6 Progresso Soups, $1.25 with ad coupon
2 Gilette Fusion Gamer razors, $8.99
2 Scrubbing Bubbles wipes, $2.50
Drano, $3.50
Windex, $1.50

Coupons Used ($24.60)
Gilette Fusion, $4
Scrubbing Bubbles, $3/2
Drano, $1.50
Windex, $1.50
Progresso, $1.10
Fructis, $1
Ensure, $3

Easy Saver Rebates ($7.99 + 10% = $8.79)
SC Johnson products, $4
Fructis, $3.99

Register Rewards ($12)
2 Gilette Fusion, $6/ea

Other Rebates ($6.99)
Ensure Rebate, $6.99

Total Profit: $8.42

CVS ($45.85)
2 Pampers Cruisers, $9.99
Madagascar 2, $4.99 (after $15 savings for purchasing $20)
Dawn Ultra, $.99
CVS Chewable aspirin, $1.99
Gilette Fusion Gamer, $7.99
8 CVS Cotton Makeup Remover pads, 25 count, $.99
1 CVS Ibuprofin, 10 count

Coupons Used ($13.99)
2 Pampers, $1.50
Madagascar, $3 printable
Gilette Fusion, $4 (really, I should have saved this one and used it at Walgreen’s in a third transaction)
Free CVS 10 count Ibuprofin coupon
$2/$10 CVS brand purchases

Extra Care Bucks Received ($13.99)
CVS Chewable Aspirin, $1.99
CVS makeup remover, $8
Gilette Fusion, $4

Total Cost: $17.87

That leaves me with a total cost of $9.45 for the day.  It’s not as good as I’d have liked but it’s certainly not bad, considering!

What do you do with this stuff?
Madagascar 2 will be a Valentine’s Day present for my baby, and the diapers will be applied to her posterior. (Elmo! Diaper! She’s a big fan.)  The aspirin I gave to my mom. I shall endeavor to clean my house and keep my pipes clean with the Walgreens cleaners, and I also plan on taking a can of the Scrubbing Bubbles wipes to my grandfather’s house. The soup will get eaten, the ibuprofin is already in my purse. (That coupon came from the  magic scanner–love that thing!) My husband was thrilled with the makeup remover pads and promptly stole them for use in his woodworking–he’s going to use them to apply stain to the mandolins he builds, if they aren’t too linty.  Everything else will go into the stockpile and either be given away or put in the yard sale.

The weather was so wonderful on Sunday that my husband and I decided to go get a little ice cream and do a little shopping. (It is not so helpful for the frugalista that Baskin Robbins is just next to Rite Aid…) Rite Aid is my least favorite of the drugstores, partially because my particular RA is kind of cramped and not very friendly, and partially because their sales are not as good as Walgreens or CVS, in my opinion, and they’re usually out of stock anyway. Plus, I shop with a toddler and the whole experience is just not as positive for me as the others–they’re now done to one buggy that actually has the child safety strap still on, which bugs me. There’s a RA on the other side of town that is spacious and clean, though it seems the sales items are out of stock even more often than “my” Rite Aid. Still, I’m thinking about starting to incorporate the other store into my CVS run once a week and limiting how often I have to deal with the people in this store. CVS is also on the other side of town for me.

Anyway, this particular store gives me a really hard time about using my $5/$25 coupon on purchases that involve diabetes testing kits. I see people do it online all the time. I’ve done it at their store in the past, and I’ve done it at other stores without a problem, but apparently, they think that because I am getting something for free, I am doing something fraudulent. Hello, they still get paid for the monitor. Anyway, I tried it again on Sunday but it failed, so I should have made another $5 profit. Oh well.

Purchased
1 OneTouch UltraMini monitor, $19.99
1 Garnier Fructis hairspray, $2.99
3 Bayer aspirin, $1.99
1 Durex condom, $6.00
1 Finesse shampoo, $2.99

Coupons Used
1 OneTouch monitor, $20 (which of course they adjusted to $19.99)
3 Bayer, $1
1 Finesse, $0.75
1 Durex, $2

Single Check Rebates
Bayer SCR, $10 gift card
Fructis, $2.99
Finesse, $1.99
Durex, $6.00

Total SCR: $20.98
Total Out of Pocket: $13.28 after tax

Total Profit: $7.70.

What do you do with this stuff?
As a bonus, I gave the Bayer to my parents, who both need it. The condoms will probably go to a younger cousin and the rest will be either used by me or put in the yard sale stash.

I bought four packages of Kroger diapers (Comforts for Baby) tonight for $2.99 each! That’s a pretty good price for diapers, I think. (Not as good as free, which is my favorite price, but it’s good nonetheless!)

They’re on sale for $5.99. There’s a $3 printable coupon to use with it.

I printed two more coupons from my husband’s computer, and I might print a couple more from my mom’s house this weekend. We’re going to be leaving Evelyn with them so we can go on a Valentine’s Day date. Don’t you think it will be ever-so-romantic to pop into Kroger to buy diapers for Valentine’s Day? Yeah, I thought so. We are SO old and married.

I just hope that they work for us. At that price, though, I’m pretty sure I can stick them in the yard sale and make my money back, so I’m not too worried about it.

Thanks to Southern Savers for the link!