CHRISTMAS SHOPPING

It's late and I'm sitting here debating about a possible Christmas gift for Christopher.
Tony didn't think Christopher would like it as a Christmas present but I found a round about way to ask him to see what he thought. He liked the idea.
Christopher has been complaining to me that his bed is uncomfortable. Today at the thrift store I saw a really nice bed with a really nice pillow top mattress. I think it was oak and 3 large drawers that went underneath the bed ( I hope they were drawers and not a trundle bed as I did not look closely at it) and seemed really sturdy. While I don't really need the bed I probably couldn't afford a nice mattress like that if I bought it new. It was $89 for the complete set, bed/frame/drawers and mattress. I'm hoping to go back to the thrift store tomorrow and see if it's still there. Don't ask how I would get it into mom's truck but if there's a will there's a way. It'll be a lot of work to get it but it's something needed. Hauling it out of the store, out of the truck to mom's basement, hauling back out of basement and into truck Christmas eve and into the house for Christmas morning. Whew! I'm tired just thinking about it. But it is practical and something needed and should last a long time!
Their beds now I got 10 years ago from the Salvation Army Thrift store for $50 for the complete set, mattresses, bunk boards, frame, ladder and headboard/foot board.
I have already replaced Jonathan's mattress with a nice one from Freecycle. And I think I replaced Christopher's with another one but it wasn't as durable as Jonathan's.
So I'm gonna sleep on it and see what tomorrow has in store for me. Right now I am fighting a cold. Mom's don't get days off so I try to keep going even when sick! I just hope I make the right decision on the bed since $90 is a lot of money to me! We have only purchased 2 pieces of new furniture in our house in the last 10 years! A kitchen table and chairs and a bed frame for our bed with head and foot board. No mattresses as that was given to us by my brother who invested about $1200 in it and decided he wanted a sleep number bed. Must be nice! Some of it don't have it that easy! He buys his kid a $500 or so firetruck bed and doesn't bat an eyelash. And I will be up worrying all night over a $90 bed.

WEDNESDAY SHOPPING AT THE THRIFT STORE

The first thing I take note of when walking in the thrift store is to see what items are on sale. They usually have two colored tags that are 50% & 75% off. Most of the clothes bought were these colored tags!

I spent $29 at the thrift store.
I probably wouldn't have gotten out of Kohls without spending that much on ONE pair of jeans! So I did good with everything I got!

I got the boys:

6 pairs of pants/jeans
-Old Navy pants .99 cents
-Chef Wear pants .99 cents
-Chef Wear pants .99 cents
-Jeans .99 cents
-Jeans $1.00
-pants $.99 cents

7 long sleeve shirts
-Hanes sweatshirt .49 cents
-Eddie Bauer thermal shirt .49 cents
-Old Navy Athletics shirt .99 cents
-Xtreme Gear shirt $1.00
-Faded Glory thermal shirt .99 cents
-Land's End thermal shirt $1.99
-Reebok shirt .99 cents

-Big Chill Winter Coat $1.99

I also got:

Cars (the movie) battery operated race track. Batteries were included!
You use regular Matchbox cars and battery operated wheels spin the
cars around the track.
(already bought Matchbox type cars at Walgreens when they were .50 cents each!)

A new in package window decal of a baseball looking like it smashed through a window. Jonathan will like this since he's into baseball. .90 cents

A Hot Wheels back seat organizer for the car. .50 cents

A nice larger riding scooter with inflatable tires and handle bar brakes. $3.93

a 4 pack of new sponges .99 cents

And another new in the box gift that I won't mention on here and spoil
it for Christmas for them, lol. $3.99

I'll get more pics of everything tomorrow since I left some stuff at moms.

WEDNESDAY SHOPPING KOHLS & CATHERINES

Mom wanted to go shopping today. She received a $10 off $10 or more coupon for Kohls. She found a necklace to give as a gift that was originally $20 marked down to $13 then used her $10 off making it $3.
No photo to go with this.

Next we went to Catherine's store. Mom had another coupon for $15 off a $25 purchase. She would not get something for herself and made me pick out something for myself. I hate being put in that situation. I
like to buy for others not others buying for me especially new stuff!! So I shop around the store looking for the best deal and something practical. I find a jacket that's practical and can be worn days on end unlike a shirt or pants. Yeah it's 1X and I wear about a medium but it's comfy. Catherine's is a store for plus sized women. It's $46.00 see photo above. Then they had a 50% off sale making it $23.00 still not enough to use the $15 off $25 coupon. So we look around for something cheap and found a pair of earrings. They were normally $12.00 marked down to $8.99 then marked down again to $3.99. So the total is now $26.99 minus $15 coupon made it $11.99 for $58 worth of stuff!!
I still cringe that a jacket and earrings were bought for $12 but what can you do when mom's paying and using coupons, sales and markdowns? She still did really good on new items!

My head was spinning shopping in these stores and seeing prices that were ridiculous! So after mom got done with her shopping spree I wanted to head to the thrift store so I could feel better, lol. No actually I needed to get the kids some more Winter clothes not that it is getting colder out. People are crazy to buy kids clothes new when they outgrow them sooo fast and when you have boys they are so rough on their clothes with stains and tears! I mend and hem the clothes until there is no more life left in them.

BETTY CROCKER COOKIE CONTEST

The Mix It Up With Betty cookie mix contest will be starting later this year. Normally it starts in November but this time will start JANUARY 4, 2010. I don't have any other details at this time so be sure to start watching BettyCrocker.com for further information. In the past the prizes ranged from $500 to $5000 so round up some unique and creative cookie recipes used from their cookie mixes to enter!

B1G1 EGGS

In honor of their Good Egg Project, America’s Egg Farmers will be offering a B1G1 eggs coupons to the first 10,000 people that pledge to “Eat Good” starting tomorrow 12/2 at 9:00am CT.

MEIJER PURINA ONE COUPONS

This is the last month to use the printable coupons from Meijers website
for $5.00 off a 3.3 pound bag or larger bag of Purina One dry dog or cat food.
They expire at the end of this month so stock up now.
Only one coupon can be used per transaction so bring a friend to help you
stock up!

http://www.meijer.com/content/content.jsp?pageName=meijer_deals

SUPPER 12-1-09

Tonight's supper will be Sloppy Joe Pasta
with a side dish of corn and dinner rolls.
Dessert will be Candy Apple Pie with whipped
topping.

I always try to stretch meals into the next day so hubby and I can have lunch with the leftovers. He takes his lunch to work with him so there's no added expense of eating out. If I have a box of Hamburger Helper I add to it to make more. I use it as a starter mix. Like tonight I will add another box of spiral pasta and a can of Manwich to the Sloppy Joe Hamburger Helper.

Most everything I make has coupons or is a manager special.

Now going to break down the cost of this supper meal:

1# Hamburger (free)
Sloppy Joe Hamburger Helper (.50 cents)
Barilla Pasta Spirals (.50 cents)
can of Manwich (.30 cents)
12 Dinner Rolls (.50 cents)
Frozen Corn (free)
1 Pie Crust (.25 cents)
2 bags of frozen Candy Apple Pie Filling homemade (free apples from orchard)
Whipped Topping (.50 cents)

This made roughly 10 servings: $2.05
or .21 cents a serving

Any leftovers go in the freezer for a quick and easy lunch another day.