I was at Wal-Mart today & noticed something interesting. There were tote bags clearance priced at $7 and on each one there was a postcard to mail in for a free one year subscription to Rolling Stone magazine. The tote bags were copies of different Rolling Stone covers including Garth Brooks, Justin Timberlake, Michael Jackson & AC/DC to name a few. 
$7 for a tote bag & a year of Rolling Stone!
Kroger mega event…over budget again :(
Have you ever had the shopping trip that just did not work out like planed? well this was it. No Catalina for the crescent rolls, no Catalina for the Old El Paso, no Cellfire upon on the Tidy cat’s….everything went wrong and I went over budget. Total cost $19.37 puting me at $25.52 for the week. I guess I will make up for it next week, there must be consequences for these things…so next week’s budget is $14.48. On a good note, i got my husband 32 cans of chili, he could live on chili if I let him (he’s from Cincinnati).
Oh Meijer, how do I love thee, let me count the cheese.
Last Sunday I became aware of the Meijer cheese deal, so out into the cold, at 10 PM I went. Wow I am glad I did. I got 15 lbs od cheese, salsa, Ragu, Tyson, sausage,and Queso sauce! all for $6.15 total.
Shopping, sorry no pictures.
I am slacking this week. I did not take any pictures of my shopping. I shopped at Meijer, Giant Eagle & Kroger this week. I got lots of cheap (fat-free) sour cream at Giant Eagle, Breakstone’s is on sale for $1.25 or 15¢ each after the 55¢ coupon was doubled. I also got a couple free boxes of tissues with the free Small steps coupon and 4 cans of Libby’s corn. Total spent $4.55. At Meijer I got 6 boxes of Kool-Aid Jammers for the Kraft/Nabisco $20 rebate, they cost $4 and I used the coupon for free chocolate mil when you buy 2 gallons of white milk, plus I used the 75¢/2 Ortega coupon for some cheap black beans.At Meijer I spent$8.14. At Kroger I spent $26.52. I got 10 boxes of crackers, 5 cups easy mac (both for the rebate), 4 Philly cream cheese, a 10# bag Tidy Cats litter, 3 cartons Edy’s ice cream, 6 packages ICBINB, 2 boxes Velveeta shells & cheese, 1 Pack Keebler cookies, 3 cans Rotel tomatoes, 2 cans Hormel chili, and some Sargento cheese slices. In total I spent $39.21 and came in under my $40 budget….did I get everything i wanted? no but when I ran out of money I stopped spending. For me this is progress and I am happy with my shopping:)
Wow! I didn’t know the mommybloggers were the morals police!
Today I ran across this, and just had to say something. I left a comment but I am sure it will not get past moderation. I just cringe at what these women call pornography. Since when is the human body “disgusting”? Look I know I am a little bit of a hippy but really, come on now, there is a big difference between Penthouse & Michelangelo. Classical art is full of nudes, is it porn? I am a Christian, I believe God made all of us, and I can not be convinced that there is anything wrong with his creation. We are all born naked ladies, get over it. I guarantee these same women have tons of “naked baby pictures” of their kids. Even my dear sweet mother had several (that she brought to show my not-yet-husband Ben the first time she met him). I am not asking anyone to “expose” their children to anything they feel unfit but please don’t badmouth a restaurant just because it has art on its walls. If they want to say there were nudie pics on the walls, thats fine but don’t mis-label nudity as porn. No wonder there are so many body issues today, when we teach our children that their bodies are “disgusting” what do we expect.
The Week I Didn’t Shop…in a store.
No photos of my shopping this week, because I just didn’t! We have plenty of milk & bread, produce & juice and all kinds of stuff in the pantry & freezer that need used so I didn’t shop. Ok that is not all together true. I used some money I had received for X-mas and shopped online for some things I just couldn’t find reasonably in the stores around here. I was looking for more vegetarian products, namely soup base & TVP. Harmony House has a wide selection of flavored TVP, along with all kinds of dried veggies & soup mixes! I ordered the TVP pantry stuffer which has chickenish bits & chunks, beefish bits & chunks, hamish bits & taco bits. Next I found both”beef” and “chicken” vegetarian base at Bulk Foods so I ordered a pound of each! I am trying to cook more vegetarian meals without starving my omnivore husband.To be honest I miss chicken & dumplings and meaty soups, and sesame chicken stir fry. Hopefully these additions to our pantry will help me make some of our favorite foods vegetarian. I will be sure to review all the products when I get them but if you don’t want to wait Harmony House currently is having an anniversary sale. You will receive 20% off your order when you use the code HAPPY at checkout. Next week looks like a great shopping week. Kroger is having their Daytona 500 sale again, and as always it looks like a good one! I have ordered extra coupons from The Coupon Clippers and hope to stock up un chili & cheese. It also looks like a good week to buy the stuff for the $20 Kraft/Nabisco rebate. The Nabisco crackers & easy mac cups are both included in Kroger sale. Meijer has Kool Aid Jammers on sale 3/$5 + get $3 off when you buy 3. I am planning on using the money I didn’t spend this week when I shop next week to take advantage of these sales & the Kraft rebate. We still need lunch meat, so next week I will let you in on my secret for cheap lunch meat! (this is good, doesn’t need coupons, and can be done at just about any Wal-Mart!) Good luck and God bless to all. May peace find us all this week.
How I pay for Christmas
Everyone has their own method of financing Christmas. Some people charge it, others save up for it, some people even shop all year. Me, I save change. You see I deliver pizza & wait tables so I have lots of extra change. Every night when I come home from work I empty my pockets into my change jar. By the end of the year I have several hundred dollars.
I also save all the gift certificates I earn from Mypoints & Swagbucks, and from my credit cards. Discover has a good rewards program. I also buy things throughout the year when I find a really good deal. By the time Christmas comes I have some of the smaller gifts bought, several gift cards, and a good amount of money for the things on everyone’s wish lists! Though these preparations don’t take all of the stress out of Christmas they do take a lot of the financial strain out of the holiday.
Sunday shopping
Sunday shopping, total spent $12.16 but $3.96 of that was at Aldi where I got a loaf of 12 grain bread, mushrooms, grape tomatoes, and green peppers. I also spent $5.96 at , Meijer but $4.79 of that was spent on veggie base. I also got a loaf of bread & two containers of Quaker quick oats. I had a $1 register reward that I had to use so I got a Valentine’s day card & a raspberry chocolate bar. At CVS I did great! I got 3 boxes of Soyjoy bars, two Oust, three bags Stacy’s pita chips, 7 bottles Sobe, and a container of Queso. I spent $3 at CVS but I gained $3 in ECB’s. I am happy to be done with shopping for the week, now I can concentrate on other prodjects….like tie dyeing!
Swagbucks!
If you have not heard about Swagbucks, what rock are you living under? Swagbucks is a points program where you earn points (or swagbucks) just for searching the web. They even have a toolbar you can download. Point can be traded for gift certificates to all sorts of places but Amazon.com is my favorite! I am saving mine to use towards Christmas 
Check it out!
