Category Archives: Shopping

Random Thursday Post-6/02/2016

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  • imageOur first official harvest from this morning. We have been collecting and freezing  basil for the past few weeks and have used a couple of squash, but this is the beginning of what I hope to be a very productive season for us.
  • Our new freezer arrived today, which gave me a chance to do some arranging and make a list of all the meat that we currently have on hand. I am excited and pleased to report we have meat for 75 meals in our freezers.
  • The bad news is that we also have a delivery of 120# of chicken breast coming a week from Tuesday. I need to get a plan in place of how I want to prepare and use this.
  • Given the above information, I am setting the grocery budget at $150 for the month of June.  I will need to make some purchased to help prepare the chicken but otherwise I am going to stick to Aldi each week for $10 worth of extra health options!
  • All three kids are going to participate in swim team this summer which is my favorite activity to watch. The only down side to this is that I have to find Zach some trunks that he can wear.
  • I will receive my extra paycheck the first of July, our initial intention was to make an extra payment on both the house and van with this check however given our current situation, we will be using this money to help keep things on an even playing field for the summer.
  • The kids have one more week of school left, I think we are all excited to have some extra time.

 

Gift Cards- Spending Money The Fun Way!

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I had some extra time on my hands as I waited in a doctor’s office today so I decided to clean out my purse.  I was so excited to find a five dollar bill and a Walmart gift card that I had totally forgotten about.  I knew we needed a bag of frozen veggies to go in the chicken pie I was planning for Friday night, so after the appointment I headed to Walmart. I was able to grab 2 bags of frozen vegetables, a bag of Twizzlers for Matt and a pack of Kool-Aid drinks for the kids.  I still have 57 cent left on my gift card.

My other use of gift cards today is a little bit confusing but even more exciting. During the past month I have been using an app called “Swagbucks”  I can be use for shopping but I am using it to watch videos, random and not so random search of the internet and answering survey questions. So far in two months I have gained enough point and cashed in for 2-$25 gift cards to Target.  This afternoon, I decided to place an order at Target. I had already linked by Red Debit card to my account. This gives me 5% off and free shipping. I placed in my cart a $50 Disney card and a box of baking soda. Total cost was $49.43 which I enter both gift cards as payment. I have 53 cent left on one.

Total spent today ZERO and I was able to grab a couple of grocery items we are out of. I call that success!

Grocery Shopping- My Way

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I have been getting a couple of questions about the way I shop, so I am going to try and explain it along with the example of my shopping today.

Meat- My first choice is Zaycon food. Typically we buy chicken breast once every six months and other items usually about once a year. We currently have pork roast and pork chops in the freezer. The purchases of the other foods depend heavily on our need and ability to pick up when things are offered.  My second choice which is also more convenient is the “meat store” which is in the next town. Over the past three years we typically go and purchase meat about once every 5-6 months. We always buy ground beef in bulk and process by making several items but a lot of packages of pre-cooked meat. Other meat is typically purchased at Costco on an as needed bases.  Today I purchased 5 bags of shrimp at Harris Teeter, this should last a minimum of 6 months if not longer.

Health and Beauty Items, including toilet paper, I purchase on sale cycles at CVS or Harris Teeter. CVS is my only “weekly” trip because it is in town. I try and spent $1 or less on most items.  Toothpaste is always free and I currently have around 20 tubes in the stockpile. I always watch sales and try to keep things pretty well stocked up. For the first couple month of the year, we were able to reduce spending significantly and just use what we had. My goal is to try this again this summer.

Drinks- I am addicted to Diet Coke and I fully admit it. I usually purchase most of my drinks both can and bottles at CVS.  I try always to combine an ECB deal with free 12 pack coupons from Coke. Today however was the exception, we purchased 10 cases of soda at Harris Teeter on a Buy 2 Get 3 free sale. I also currently have 3 rain checks for cokes. Typically price for 2L is less than $1 and cans- 25cent each or less.

I purchase the majority of the rest of my groceries at Costco. Just like regular grocery stores they run sales and I tended to stock up on good deals. Today we purchased 3 boxes of Cheez-its and 2 boxes of gummies. These should last through the summer. I do also keep a watch on sales. I typically go to Harris Teeter every other month depending on when Super Doubles or great sales occur like today.  Food Lion is the only grocery store beside Walmart in my town so I will shop there for great deals and for their annual sale which is typically an additional 25 cent off house brand purchases. Aldi is also local and we grab our vegetables, canned foods and snack items there. I usually go to Aldi every two weeks.

Our Costco trip today ended up totaling close to $500 but this was a stock up trip because I honestly don’t plan or want to go back till at least the first of August if not the week before the kids return to school.  I enjoying shopping at Costco but tend to spend more than I should. Today’s trip included 8 gallons of milk, 7 dozen eggs and 4 packs of shells.

How different are your shopping trips than mine?

Thursday Thoughts- Cheer Vacation 04/14/2016

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For the last several years, we have taken a “Spring Beach ” trip in addition to our annual Summer trip. The reason for this trip is to attend a cheer competition. The competition is usually on Saturday and Sunday, we arrived on Thursday to have a couple of days to enjoy. Because the weather is usually chilly , this trip gives us a chance to enjoy all the other attractions at Myrtle Beach besides the beach.  This trip is probably the coolest so far that I remember being here, the odd thing is that we are here in late spring when typically the weather is warm enough to at least enjoy the outside pool.

We did enjoy shopping almost the whole day and found several great bargains that I am going to share.

  • Nike Factory Outlet- Found Haley and Kendall shoes for $10 each. Zach got a new pair for $20.
  • Stretchers – Matt found a cool pair of sneakers that are more dressy and they  ended up costing $35.
  • Crazy 8-  The entire store was 40% off. Lily found a new outfit, Kendall a new shirt and a pair of shoes, Zach ended up with 8 long sleeve shirts for next year, a vest and 4 summer dress shirts. I ended up spending around $130 for all.
  • Old Navy Outlet- I am so excited because of these items are actually mine. I found a one piece swim suit and another suit that was separates, 2 pair of shorts and a pair of sunglasses. Matt found a pair of sun glass and each of the kids got a new shirt for $125!
  • The Disney Outlet- 2 nightgowns for me and a shirt for each of the kids for $48.

As you can tell we ended up spending a long time shopping but it was fun and we are all excited to have new clothes and shoes.

Saving on Saturday-04/09/2016

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Today has definitely been a day about saving, really more about saving time than money but they both are pretty important around here. First a little of the background, one of the ways that I have been trying to control our budget and spending this year is with grocery purchases.  We have only spent $1250 for the first three months of the year,   I focused on using the items that we had on hand and we were able to clean out and reorganize a lot of our freezer space.  In March, we used up all of our ground beef, so we need to start replenishing our supplies. On Thursday, Matt and I managed to make a huge grocery trip which included our local “meat market”.  Now back to today, we need to “process” the thirty pounds of ground beef we have purchased. I decided that since the weather outside was cold and windy, I would prefer to spend the day in the kitchen. I am very pleased with the results. Total time spent was approximately 7 hours, but this includes lunch and snacks for the kids as well as clean up and a couple of breaks. We were able to make the following:

3- cheeseburger pies (This are a quick and easy dinner to reheat)
4- Baked Ziti- We are sharing one with our friends for lunch tomorrow and another is already on our summer beach list. The other two will be easy Sunday lunches for this summer.
4 sets of Salisbury steaks- (a little bit more work than the cheeseburger pies but can turn out a dinner in 30 minutes).
20 one pound bags of pre-cooked ground beef. This is one of the easy ways to plan ahead and can be used in everything from spaghetti to Hamburger Helper.
Breakfast casserole for Sunday morning
Mexican rice and sausage dip for snacks and dinner today.

We will need to purchase chicken for delivery in June but otherwise we should be stocked up for the summer.

Did you save today?

5 Things Friday-3/18/2016

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  1. Amanda purchased a new to her car yesterday, so we should be able to stick to our gas budget for the next several months. Which means paying off the tires on my van and for the last couple repairs on her car that finally died.
  2. I splurged today and got a new color and haircut. I can’t post a picture because my allergies are going haywire and my eyes are swollen.
  3. Matt has made some progress on the kitchen this week, hopefully he will be able to finish up plumbing and we will have our new dishwasher next Friday. My plan is to wait and post pictures once the dishwasher is completely in place. I am also optimistic that with the purchase of the dishwasher and new upper cabinets, we will stop spending for the summer.
  4. I will be travelling to Raleigh tomorrow alone for a workshop on correct documentation. I am sad to be missing Zach’s soccer game but not sad to miss sitting in the rain to watch it.
  5. We will be starting gardening in the next couple of weeks. I have been growing lettuce from scraps and plan to start sweet potatoes from our leftovers on Sunday.

Kitchen Project Update

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Matt has continued to work on the kitchen this past week and I managed to help a couple of times. One of the huge visible changes this week was us re-framing the window.

Before

Before

During

During

Finished.... which I LOVE!

Finished…. which I LOVE!

Matt also painted all the walls in the current kitchen white. We were given antique white but after looking at it, we decided it was not bright and clean looking enough so we decided on “high vee white” I actually like it. Matt also added trim around the top of the ceiling to replace the crown molding.

Today was a huge day for us. We decided to make it a shopping day. I wanted to check out several different stores to see if we could find/decided on cabinets and countertops. Our overall decision is to go with a “farm/ simple” kitchen feel.  My one standing rule was that it either had to be on an awesome sale or both of us had to agree this is what we wanted.

Our first stop was Home Depot. They did have a sale but we could not get things to work out. I did make a list of the items we found and prices so we would be able to compare with the other stores.

Next kitchen stop was IKEA. I did a little research last night but was not anticipating the additional choices offered in the store. Our first decision was that we definitely would not be purchasing cabinet from here as they only have “plastic” cabinets. Yes, the have a wood grain appearance but still are plastic.  We did find the “perfect” sink and pick out a counter top for the new sink area that we both agreed on. Of course, we picked up several other items that will be used in the kitchen but the kids and Matt are most excited that we purchased reading lights for each of the kids and one for Matt’s art desk.

Our final physical stop was the local Lowes store. We found our great sale here. Cabinets were an additional 20% off after purchasing $400. I was also able to find a “drawer” cabinet that I really wanted. So we ended up purchasing new bottom cabinets including ones for the new sink area. We also purchased a new faucet that fit both of our “wants”. I am still not certain if it is the right one but it at least is a place holder until I find a better one. I was disappointed when we discovered that the tile, I had chosen several weeks ago was no longer available in our local store.  So after arrive home, Matt went on-line and order us enough tile for the back splash as I am afraid this is being discontinued.

I joked and posted on Facebook that we had enough supplies to keep us busy several week but in actually I think these purchases today will keep us busy a month or more.

Goals for the week are :
1. Patch and paint the walls in the new dining/ play room.
2. Build 2 shelves one is for the microwave and the second for Keurig. I want a third for holding bottles but this is low on the list so I may save for another week.
3. Finish staining and hang up remaining trim around door and window in the kitchen.

Items we have supplies to work on
1. new sink cabinet- assembled, painted and new plumbing ran. When this is complete we will need to purchase the new dishwasher.
2. installing of new dishwasher along with moving of instant hot
3. Cutting countertop and cabinets and installing stove in it’s permanent home.
4. Removing old cabinets, painting and installing new cabinets.
5. Stripping and repainting old top cabinets
6. Installing new tile backsplash.

 

I know progress is slow but it is progress and we should not need to spend a great deal in the next month except for purchasing the new dishwasher.

Snow Sunday Savings!

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The sun came out today which began the melting process for us! Matt has worked most of the afternoon clearing our driveway so I can head to work tomorrow.  After he finished he asked if we wanted to venture out to CVS and Walmart.  Considering that I had already opened my last 2L of Diet Coke, I agreed. This was another excellent week at CVS.  I completed 3 transactions spending $1.92 and saving $27.16 or 93% I grabbed 8 bottles of Diet Coke and 3 tubes of free toothpaste. I should have grabbed another Diet Coke but my calculations were off.  Next stop was Walmart to grab a couple of items that we will run out of prior to the end of the month, I was able to use a calculate and list and stay on track spending $30.73 which puts me at $199.83 for the month.

Since we all have been at home since Thursday and the kids really have been at home for a week, we used some of the time to clean and re-organize. I was seriously thinking about needing to push some more storage containers on Thursday but instead, found and repurposed things we already had. We are in the process of reducing the playroom and I took the shelf from it and moved it to Zach room.

image

The best part of this shelf is that it originally was a kitchen cabinet/bar in a house that my brother and sister in law purchased when they were first married. I was helping with some of the work and originally place this shelf in my  building. As you can tell it has been moved and reused but still is a large steady piece of furniture. I also reconfigured my closet and was able to place this smaller shelf in the playroom.

image

Total spend on this project which ended up taking a full day Zero.

A final way we have saved money this weekend is cooking at home and using items that we already have. I am hoping to stick to a lower budget for at least February and most likely even March. I am realizing that we have a lot of food that I have purchased and by keeping a rolling stockpile, I should be able keep at least that line item lower for several month this year, therefore reducing our total expenses significantly even with resuming the $700 a month budget in April or May.

CVS Savings 01/17/2015

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I explain the saving in just a second but first my newspaper drama that continues to make life interesting. I live in a rural area, this is no secret. In fact the “local” newspaper does not offer a Sunday edition. Coupon inserts are with the Saturday paper and they do not offer a “Saturday” only subscription.  The bright side is that I do have the option of two different city newspapers that both are delivered. I have been attempting to get regular deliver of at least one of these papers for several years.  It is usually a 75% chance that I get the paper at all. I have spoken to both of the paper on many occasions and currently am boycotting the Greensboro News and Record due to the fact that after paying for 6 months I received a paper 1 out of 8 weeks.   The other paper is supposed to arrive prior to 8am on Sunday morning. I spoke with someone about 3 weeks ago on a Monday after not receiving a paper, I was promised that if I would contact on Sunday prior to noon they would make the carrier bring a paper. The problem I usually have is that we go to church around 8:30 and don’t get home before noon. Today, was different since we are taking a skip day. I called the paper office about 9:30 and did the usually leave a message. I had already talked about ‘needing” several coupons from this weeks insert for my CVS trip, so Matt volunteer to go purchase a paper. After returning home around 11am we noticed the paper person in our driveway. I am not sure why but instead of one paper they left 2. I was super excited because this allowed me to stock up on deodorant for Matt!  So I was able to use coupons for all three of the insert this week.

I am still participating in the January Money Diet, one of the major things I am realizing is that I often buy food for the sake of convenience or because I know we will need it before long instead of waiting til I can find it on sale or we actually need it. One of the things I have been doing this month is making a list of items that we are low on as well as things we are in need to purchase. Matt is down to one stick of deodorant and one bottle of body wash so I placed these on the list and decide unless he ran out, I was going to wait for a sale. The sale happened this week!

It was Kendall’s turn to help me shop this week. I ended up completing 3 transactions, one on my card and two on Matt’s card. Total spent $12.52, total saved $41.70 or 77%.

Transaction #1- Matt’s card
2 bottle of Pantene shampoo  2 for $8.00
Coupon from 12/27 $3 off 2
5 ECB from last week
Paid $.56 ( tax) and received 4 ECB

Transaction #2- Matt’s Card
2 bottles of Irish spring body wash 2 for $7.00
2 coupons from today’s insert $1.00
2 sticks of Right Gear deodorant 2 for $7
BOGO coupon from today (subtracted 3.50)
4 ECB from first transaction and $.75 ECB from last week
Paid $4.73 and received 6 ECB

Transaction #3- My card
4 sticks of Right Gear Deodorant 2 for $7
2 BOGO coupons from today’s insert
$0.75 ECB from last week
Paid $7.23 and received 6 ECB

 

I count it a success any time I leave with more ECB than actual money I spent!

Extreme Couponing

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I was really surprised to discover that I had not been to CVS since before Christmas, in fact, my ECBs expire this week. The reason behind my long absence has been simple, no really deals that I wanted/needed to grab.  This week was a huge change. I started the trip with 2 $0.89 ECB. I also received $2 ECB for winter spending on Matt’s card.

Here is a breakdown by the numbers
5 total transactions,( one of my card and four on Matt’s).
$7.88 total spent
$84.72 total saved of 91% with taxes included and 95% taking out the $3.68 of sales tax
$6.50 in ECB left.

I purchased:
6 12 pack of Coke (Used 6 free 12 pack coupons from my Coke rewards)
4 packs of M&M ( used 2 Buy One Get One Free coupons)
2 2L Liters (used a 0.24 coupon that printed from red machine)
4 Bottles so L’Oreal Shampoo ( used 2- $4/2 from 01/03)
2  Packages of Crest Sensi strips.

 

This is one for the record books!  My total grocery spending is less than $12 for the month so far!  I did make a trip to the building today to check out what we have in the freezers and did a little bit of organizing so we can get our pork order from Zaycon tomorrow. We have enough of a variety with the pork order that I am going to say we are going to plan on coming in under goal for this month of $200 and reduce the grocery spending in February to $500. That will get us totally on the right foot with groceries and may in fact help to control/reduce grocery spending for the year!