9-16-10

7:00-7:30AM

Got 3 lunches packed up, breakfast made
and Tony off to work, back home again because
he forgot the pager, then off to work again, lol.

What to do?
Ever have one of those mornings?
That's this morning!
It's been trying to rain outside,
I can only find one umbrella,
the truck's on empty to drive to bus stop
and Christopher's shoe has a blow
out on the bottom. Hasn't even had these
new shoes a month!!
I don't even
think I could repair it with hot glue.
He refuses to wear his sandals to school
which is the only other pair of shoes
at the moment.
AHHHHH!

I think this morning me and mom will
head to Meijer then I will see if she
will take me to Wally World to
try and find another pair of shoes
for Christopher.
Then maybe to Big Lots
to see if they still have their pool covers
on sale for about $2.50.

Well I am off here. It's 8:00AM.
Got Christopher to wear sandals today,
WHEW!

8:10AM

Gets to grandma's house, which is right
by the bus stop. We go in grandmas
and Jonathan is tinkering with his book bag
making sure he has his homework
and stuff.
He did have his homework
and was putting it into some kind
of folder. He was holding it up
when I realized there was a backside
to the homework that didn't
get done. We didn't know last
night it continued on the back.
So minutes before the bus shows
up he's rushing to get the rest
of his homework done!

---------------------------------

12:00pm

Went to Meijer.
I got 6 boxes of Helper &
a box of Marshmallow Pebbles Cereal,
went through
checkout and out to car.
Got my $3.00 Catalina coupon.
Paid $3.73

Mom got a few groceries
and another 6 boxes of Helper.
I had her go in front of me at the checkout.
She passed back the $3.00 coupon she got.
Total for Helpers $2.94

I was up next checking out again.
I put up 6 boxes of Helper
then a divider bar
then 3 family packs of chicken.
The cashier rang up my Helpers
and I got my third $3.00 coupon
for meat.
Paid $2.94

Then she rang up my 3 packages of
chicken (14.29 pounds worth)
I handed the cashier three of the
$3.00 catalinas and another
$1.00 off $10 of meat catalina.
It all came to $11.29
then minus my 4 coupons
made 3 family packs of chicken $1.29!!
If you average that out it is only .09 cents a pound!!

TOTAL VALUE OF EVERYTHING I GOT
TODAY:
18 Helpers $2.00 x's 18 is $36.00
Post cereal: $2.29
3 family packs of chicken quarters $11.29
TOTAL: $49.58

I PAID: 18 Helpers $8.82
Post Cereal .74 cents
3 family packs of chicken quarters $1.29
TOTAL: $10.85

I SAVED: $38.73

And here is one receipt to show
you I did get the chicken for ONLY $1.29!!
.Here's everything I got for $10.85

..This shows the size of chicken
packages in my fridge.
Almost the width of my fridge shelf.
....And I ain't done shopping for the week!
Still have 42 more boxes of Helper to get!
Along with those purchases I should get
$21.00 towards FREE meat
that I will use next week.

My total so far for groceries this week:
$17.04
plus I plan to spend $20.58
in another 42 Helpers
and another $2.00 for a gallon of milk
A total of $39.62
$5.38 UNDER my budget of $45 a week!

______________________

1:00PM

Almost nap time and I so deserve it today!
Want to know about other mishaps that happened this morning?
And why my legs are hurting like crazy?
Well let's see...
During one of my checkouts with Helpers
I realized I picked up 8 instead of 6
so had to give the extra 2 to the cashier
and tell her I didn't want them.
Another checkout incident I realized
I picked up a package of chicken thighs
instead of quarters, which are .10 cents
cheaper per pound. Made a run from
the checkout to the back of the store
to get the correct package and back
to the checkout again.

Went to Walmart this morning to
see about getting Christopher
another pair of shoes.
Their boys tennis shoe selection sucked,
worse than sucked as they really didn't have
any at all. I thought it would be a wasted
trip but decided to head over to the computer
area to check out printers.
I found a printer for $29!
I can't wait for the staple rewards thing
to happen to be able to get free printer ink
because I need coupons NOW to save money with!
Anyway printer ink would have cost
$35 for color and black
while the whole darn printer WITH ink
cost $29!!

Ok carrying on...
Stopped in Big Lots to see if they
had pool covers.
Remember mom bought
a $100 pool for the kids for Christmas
for $25.
Well Big Lots has the pool covers
marked down 75% off.
We get to the checkout and I thought
the price of the cover was $10
before mark down.
It rang up as $18 before mark down.
So I go sprinting once again to
the back of the store to double
check the price.
By now my legs are on fire
from all the running I have done today!!
The $10 price was for a smaller cover.
So it was $18 marked down to $4.50.
These covers are like a rubberized
material and will help to keep
bugs, leaves and whatever out of the pool.

Ok from Big Lots we pick up my step-dad
to go out to lunch at Popeyes.
I see the Popeyes sign out front
and pull in and we all get out
and go inside.
That's when we realized we
were in Tim Hortons!
LMAO!
So back into the car and go
next door to Popeyes for lunch.
I ate only one piece of chicken
and saved a chicken breast
to put in one of Tony's lunches
for another day.

From Popeyes I want to stop
in the thrift store right behind there.
I say I will only be a minute to run inside.
I've been going to this thrift store 20+ years
and I walk in today and they COMPLETELY
rearranged the store. I was walking blind
through that store trying to find the shoes.
I didn't find a pair of shoes for Christopher.

Back out to the car. Mom suggests
I go to the other thrift store across the street.
The place is packed.
I find a pair of 6.5 sized shoes
then drop my wallet and of course
had change and dollar bills going all
over the floor. Scooped all that up
as quickly as possible.
It was embarrassing!

From there we head to my house
to unload groceries.
Mom & step-dad went home.

I get the groceries put away
and then take out those shoes
I got for Christopher.
His shoe now says size 6
and this pair I got today says 6.5.
I compared them side by side,
sole to sole and see that these
shoes look much smaller
than the ones he has!
I know they are not going to fit
him even though they say a half size bigger!
GRRRRR.

Tony calls and I tell him of the
great deals I got today.
Then was telling him about
that chicken breast I saved for him.
That's when I realized I forgot to get
the chicken out of Don's car.

So I quickly called mom to tell her
to get my chicken out of the car.
Too late!
Don had left to go visit his dad
in Marengo, Ohio.
Won't be back for another 4-5 hours.
So much for saving that chicken!!
It's now tagging along with Don
to Marengo!

Then I find out yesterday my Uncle
was out walking their little dog
when a Pitbull tried to attack them!
Then today I learned that my brother's
doberman was attacked by their
neighbor's Mastiff and tore
a chunk out of his side
and had to had staples put in.

And that is how my day has gone so
far and it's only half over with!!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

______________________

4:00PM

Got boys off the bus.
Everything seems to be going smoothly, lol.

I got to thinking about wanting
to hang all my extra clothes
on bars in the basement.
Now I REALLY will need a dehumidifier!
So if anyone sees a good deal on
one out there anywhere like a yard sale
or something let me know!
A good deal to me is like $5-$15
An ok deal is $16 to $20.

Tonight's supper:

6 Breaded Pork Chops- $2.12
Bread Crumbs-Free
Honey Glazed Carrots .60 cents
Seasoned Hash Browns- .50 cents
3 slices cheese for tops of potatoes- .15 cents
TOTAL: $3.37

Serves 6 @ .56 cents a serving
Will make up Tony 2 lunches,
one for tomorrow and one to put back in freezer
for another day.
..
____________________________

Oh yeah the day hasn't gotten any better!
..

5:30PM

The storm has passed and it
has beautiful sunny and partly cloudy blue skies!
It hardly hit here!
Once a storm passes and gets sunny
out I always tell the kids to watch
the backside of the storm clouds
for a rainbow.
Sure enough there was one
that we saw just seconds after the
sun came back out but
only lasted just seconds though.
By the time I told mom it was gone.
.

_________________________________________



I DON'T FEEL LIKE TALKING AT THE MOMENT!

9-15-10

9-10:00AM

Tagged along with mom to Meijers.
I only got a handful of things
because I am slowly awaiting
my coupons to arrive in the mail
to make a few more trips.

Here's the things I got
with sales and coupon match ups:
TOTAL BEFORE: $21.89
I PAID: $6.19
I SAVED $15.79

4 boxes Totino pizza rolls
reg. $1.67 each x's 4 is $6.68
I paid $1.96/4 or .49 cents each
Saved $4.72

2 Betty Crocker Hash Brown Boxed Potatoes
reg. $1.74 x's 2 is $3.48
I paid .98/2 or .49 cents each
Saved $2.50

3 Green Giant Honey Glazed Carrots in Box
reg. $1.39 x's 3 is $4.17
I paid $1.77/3 or .59 cents each
I saved $2.40

2 Franks Red Hot Sauce
reg. .99 cents x's 2 is $1.98
I paid FREE
saved $1.98

2 Fruity Pebbles Marshmallow Cereal
reg. $2.29 each x's 2 is $5.58
I paid $1.48 for 2 or .74 cents each
I saved $4.10

I also received the following Catalina coupons today:

$2.00 off next shopping trip to Meijer
20% off pet food
Can use this for more dog food.
$7.99- $1.00 coupon-20% off = $5.60

40% off non food item pet supplies
.While in Meijers today killing time,,
and waiting on mom, I decided
to write down all the Betty Crocker Helpers
they had, lol. This way I can make a list
and know which ones I am wanting
ahead of time.
Ya know, one could start getting confused
with buying 60 boxes of them!

Oh yeah and I also went over to the meat
department to price chicken and hamburger
to get a game plan there also
with all my freebie money off coupons
I will be getting.

I like planning ahead!

Cheapest hamburger is $2.29 a pound

To get a 5 pound roll it's $2.19 a pound.

Split chicken breast is .99 cents a pound.

Chicken legs are .89 cents a pound

Family pack of chicken thighs are .89 cents a pound
cheaper with a family pack!
Over $1.00 a pound if not a family pack!

Will try to get the best price per pound
with the most meat and less bones or fat!
But that's this week's prices.
Next week could be different.
_________________

Getting excited about next week's shopping trip!
$31.00 free meat
(might do $10 in free meat this week,
we'll see how it goes)
plus $16 off whatever coupons
Plus FREE:
box of instant potatoes,
M&Ms &
Cereal

Should make for a good shopping trip.
Praying for some good sales
to do some coupon match ups
for even more money off!
_________________

I just signed up for another
survey site.
It's called
Synovate Global Opinion Panels
for anyone interested.

You make $5 for every 5,000 points made.
Not a whole lot, but it all adds up with
other survey sites.
Plus for each survey you
do you are entered into their
monthly contests for cash & prizes.
Today alone I did four 500 point surveys
for a total of 1,500 points.

_____________________

How bad have you got it to save money?
People look to me each day to see
to see what I will do to cut back
any way I can.
So here's today's cutback:
I was given a bunch of undies from
a family member that were too big for me to wear.
Didn't want to pitch them and thought, hey
I can make them fit.
I had to make them 1-2 sizes smaller
and here's how I did it.
I cut the underwear that was given to me apart at the seams
then cut off the waist band elastic.
I took a pair of my undies and cut
them down the sides to make
somewhat of a pattern.
I traced my undies onto the larger
undies the best I could and cut them out.
Then I reattached the elastic waist band
and sewed up the sides.
While I made them a couple sizes
smaller I also made them from
briefs into hipsters.
They fit perfect now!!
No, I'm not modeling them for you!!
..
Before & After
..WHAT WILL I THINK OF NEXT?
Stay tuned to find out, LOL!

Like I say, reuse what you've got
before buying new!

Sometimes before throwing out clothes,
that aren't even good enough for the donation
drop box, I will cut off buttons, elastic
and whatever pieces and parts I could
use for another clothing project
or repair.
Why not, it's free and doesn't
cost you anything.
Now compare that to going
to Joanns or Michaels and
buying elastic and buttons
that you have to take time out of your
day to go get, get in your car
and waste gas, then fight traffic
and other shoppers, wait in line...
You get the idea.

__________________

1:00PM

WOO HOO my coupons finally came
today. Might make a trip to Meijers
tonight and then another one tomorrow.
..
Let's get ready to rumble!
Well not right now,
I'm going to take a nap, lol.
ZZZZZzzzzzz.

Ohhh, what's this tucked up under the computer,
another cereal coupon, yeah!
Only I could get excited over coupons huh?
Will get another box of Fruity Pebbles
tonight for .74 cents.
___________________

Sitting here thinking about where
to find cheap printer ink.
I priced it on Ebay
and checked 2 different stores.
Staples
$19.99 color
$14.99 black
Microcenter
$19.99 color
$15.99 black

I really need to be able to print coupons
but am so stubborn to pay this much.

I checked to see if Staples
is still doing the ink Recycling thing and they
are. BUT now instead of $3 for each ink container
they are giving you $2.
You bring in a limit of 10 ink containers a month
per address and get $2 per container,
so up to $20 a month.
You have to use those rewards in their store.
So if mom signs up that doubles the deal.
$40 a month.
Guess what that would equal to?
FREE INK!!
I don't know how soon you could use those
rewards though.

If there is a will there is a way!
I've never done it before so we'll see how it goes.
When DDn I see many printers.
But I don't need printers so I remove
the ink cartridges out of them
and have been saving them for a couple
years.

___________________

Supper tonight

Oncor Family sized Lasagna $2.00
1/2 bag salad mix .50 cents
remaining Kabob veggies $1.00
salad dressing .10 cents
1/4 cup leftover shredded cheese .25 cents

TOTAL COST FOR SUPPER:
$3.85
Serves 5 @ .77 cents a serving

_________________

Then after supper heading to Tony's
work to dump this crap I have
in the back of the Suburban
then hopefully off to Meijers
on Sawmill Rd.
If he gets paged out then we will
be in the vicinity of his work.

________________

Kendra called today and said she might
have a couple iron rods I could have
to hang in my basement for clothes.
I really, really need them!
When it gets in between seasons
and we have out cold and hot
clothing like shorts and pants,
then I run out of room to hang things.
So am hoping to find a place in the basement
to hang these rods for more clothes storage
and make it easier for me to get to
and put away.

Next problem:
I need plastic hangers, lots of them!!

_______________

5:55PM

Just got done eating supper.
Tony's working over.
Had a fridge go out and a water tank
busted. Sounds like fun.
Luckily for him he has a coworker
that stayed over to help him out.
So depending upon the time
he gets home and how tired
he is, we'll see if we go anywhere tonight.

___________________

I found some cute thrifty comics and wanted
to share them with you!
....
___________________

7:30PM

Tony's still at work.
Quitting time was at 4:30
so anything after is overtime.

I've had a headache all day.
Wonder if it's from that darn
Pepsi Max I've been drinking the last
couple of days. I told myself I wouldn't
drink it today because I didn't like
the way it made me feel.
So wonder if the headache is like
a withdrawal symptom or something.
I can't explain it.

Well the kids got their homework done.
Now if the little magical fairies would appear
and clean my house I'd be all set.

Doesn't look like I'm going to Meijers tonight
so hopefully I'll get to go tomorrow a couple times.

Well I'm gonna pop a few Ibuprofen
and kick back and watch my Ghost Hunters.

9-14-10

Coupons didn't come today :-(
Got finger crossed for tomorrow!
I found another catalina coupon
good for $1.00 off with $10 meat purchase.
(expires the 16th so am hoping for those coupons to come)
So if I can round up 3 of those $3.00 off meat Catalinas
from Hamburger Helper
and use that other $1.00 Catalina,
I can get $10 worth of meat for FREE!!

I did get a coupon for FREE M&M's
and got a gas bill that I don't owe anything on again!
WOO HOO!
I still have a gas credit of $38.54.
This month's bill was only $25
so I forsee another bill next month
I won't have to pay!!
That will be 3 months of not having to
pay a gas bill!!

..
_________________

11:00AM

Got my running done for this morning.
I did go to the thrift store
and found a $1.99 sheet for the kids bed
and $1.99 dust ruffle
to make a bassinet ruffle with.
I also found a small blanket for .99 cents
that I thought would go with it also.

Found Christopher a pair of pants.
Was $1.99 marked down to .99 cents
..
And I found Jonathan a Mountain Bike
for ONLY $4.94!!!!
I told the kids I wasn't buying any more
bikes til this fence was complete.
Now that it's done I have started
keeping an eye out.
Jonathan's been wanting me to buy
the neighbor kids bike for $20!
I told him I didn't have $20 for a bike.
We've had bicycles stolen and the
kids have been sharing 1 bike.
I wasn't investing a whole lot into
another bicycle so when I saw this one
for $4.94 I jumped on it!!

Mountain bikes new go for $90+.
So I saved at least $85 with that purchase!!
..
Oh yeah, I did get that Barnyard Buster this morning!
That really hit the spot!
Don't ya hate when you get certain cravings?
Me and mom split one
and it was just the right amount to fill you up!

____________________

11:40-12:00PM

Cut the ruffle off the dust ruffle.
I went around and hemmed up the edges.
The middle piece of the dust ruffle
will get used for the inside of the
bassinet.
I don't know how to attach it
to the bassinet other than hot
gluing it on so that's the route I'm going.
...

1:00PM

Here's how far I have gotten with the bassinet.
It's not done!
I still want to add some satin ribbon and lace.
Satin ribbon around the handles
and around the top edge of bassinet.
Maybe ribbon around the sides.
I don't know at the moment.
Will have to study some pictures
first of other bassinets.
But at least I got it started :0)
..
___________________

4:20PM

Jonathan loves his bicycle!
He couldn't believe it when
he saw the price of $4.94 on it.
I didn't tell him about it til we got home.
He kept asking if we could buy his friends
bike all the way home, lol.
I said no, you need to get your hiney
home and you have a job to do that involves
cleaning. He was like WHAT!
But soon discovered I meant cleaning
up his new bicycle.
.

______________________

4:30PM

Here is Christopher curb crawling on our street.
We had a neighbor a couple houses down
put a bunch of stuff out to the curb.
I told him to go down and see
if they had a chair to replace his desk
chair that broke yesterday.
..And here is the chair he found.
The fabric is can easily be replaced/recovered.
Can also use this as an extra chair around
our dining table if need be since it is very
similar and of the same color wood.

Now he is telling me there are a couple
more of the same chairs.
Hmmm, LOL.
I've got my kids and a neighbor kid
going down to haul any more home.
I can store these in my basement
and use them for Thanksgiving
and Christmas dinners
when I need more chairs.
I now have a dining room table
with 2 extensions and it has
6 chairs.
It could easily fit 8 chairs
so that's the reason for getting a
few extras.

The kids brought me home
2 more chairs, so now
I can have a total of 8 people around
my table during the holidays
without the kids
having to sit at the coffee table to eat!
Here's the other 2 chairs.
Just needs wiped down
and the fabric recovered.
.Here's something Jonathan
curb crawled the other day
and drug home, a 42" LCD TV.
I knew if he found it in this neighborhood
the chances were it didn't work.
Today another kid brought us
a cord to test it out.
It comes on but the liquid crystal screen
has blotches on it.
So I told the 14 year old boy
that's over here he can have it
and haul it outta here for free, lol.
Also told him he could have a box
of VCRs, remotes and phones
that Jonathan also curb crawled from
another house on our street,
AHHHHHHH!!
..
Never a dull moment around here!
Now I wish I could find some
bars to hang up in the basement
to hang clothes on.
That wouldn't be too much
to ask for I wouldn't think.
Hell kids are finding cherry chairs
and lcd tvs.

__________________

Don't ya just love when neighbors,
ok it's the truck driver neighbor,
doesn't teach his kids to knock
on doors first.
Instead I'm sitting here,
while the kids are out back,
and they come over and open
up the front door and start to walk in!
That's how they got in our house
the other day running around
when we were all out back.
Dad's a dip... well you know.

This morning their dad says to
me at the bus stop,
"this sucks having to get up early every morning."
Awww poor freaking baby!!
Has to take the kids to the bus stop
on his days off instead of pawning
it off on someone else!

__________________

5:15PM

Well I need to head into the kitchen
and start working on supper.
Doing sausages on grilled buns
with sauted red onions, mushrooms.
banana peppers & green peppers.
along with a little shredded colby on top.
Will use the remaining vegetables,
zucchini & cherry tomatoes,
in a salad another day.
Also got a tray of fries in the oven.
Coat them with non-stick
spray then topped with
a little chili powder and paprika.
Will serve with colby cheese on top.

________________

5:35PM

Still have yet to even start supper.
Truck driver neighbor wanted
to know why my boys
wouldn't allow his kids
in the yard to play.
(In all reality I have enough
crap to do and don't feel like playing
babysitter at the moment, but that's
just me thinking out loud).
Why do I have to explain things to him?
Just leave me be!
I told him the boys were grounded
to being in just their yard for a week.
They are only allowed to have 1 friend
in the yard at a time to play with them
and they already had a friend over.
The reason being is I'm tired of neighbor
kids coming over and not cleaning up
after themselves. I've had to clean up
the yard and carport area about 3 times
in the past week and I'm getting
really tired of it.

Now go home and mow your yard or
do something with your kids as a father!
I thought that but didn't say it!

AHHHH!

Now going to attempt to make
supper for the second time.
Front door is now shut and locked!

Tony's working late tonight :0(.

____________________

6:40PM

I am whipped.
Still awaiting for fries to get done
in oven before serving supper.
Gosh I look around the house
and it is wiped out!
I can NEVER keep it cleaned
for longer than a day
no matter how hard I try.

I got the back end of the Suburban
loaded up with trash and crap
to go out.
If Tony gets called out to work
tonight then we can take
and dump it at his work dumpsters.

____________

7:05PM

Supper's finally done!
..

1 pkg smoked cheddar sausage $1.00
1/2 pkg colby cheese .50 cents
1 pkg hot dog buns .69 cents
French Fries- FREE
1/2 pkg Kabob vegetables $1.00
1/2 can diced tomatoes
w/ basil & garlic- FREE
paprika & chili powder- FREE

TOTAL COST $3.19
serves 8 @ .39 cents a serving
(cut each sausage in half,
then in half again to make 8 half
pieces for each sandwich)

I did open faced grilled buns and topped
with the sausages, cheese & veggies.
Sloppy like fair food and needs
eaten with a fork.

______________________

7:30PM

I feel like a chicken with it's head cut off
bouncing around here in hyper mode.
Maybe I need to lay off the Pepsi Max, lol.

Tony went out to cut the grass.
I'm gonna work on getting the dishwasher loaded
and start making lunches for everyone for tomorrow.
Still have homework for one kid
and then will get them their showers
& teeth brushed
here in the next half hour 45 minutes.

Today at the thrift store mom bought
a book called The Stay At Home Mom-
for women at home and those who want to be
for .90 cents.
She read the book already and passed it
onto me this afternoon.
HA HA, now she gives me a guide!
I think it's 11 years too late!
But I'll check it out to see if I might
have missed doing something over
the years.
I swear I need to write a book
to make millions!
HA HA again.
What woman, who is a stay at home mom,
has the time to write grocery list
let a lone a book???
I don't even get a moments
rest while I sleep as hubby
tells me all the time I am talking
and laughing in my sleep.

__________________

8:17PM

Kitchen's cleaned up, wiped down,
dishes put away from dishwasher,
dirty dishes loaded in and washing.
1 kid's shower taken & teeth brushed.

9:00PM

All homework done, kids bathed, teeth brushed
and kids settling into bed.
Deep breath, ahhhh!

_______________

Had a question come across Facebook
from Vocalpoint.
Here is the question:

Vocalpoint Melissa G., Vocalpoint member, has a question for our thrifty ladies. “I want to save more money at the store but am not sure where to start. What techniques have you used to get the best deals?” Thanks for helping her out! ~Mary Lynn

And here was my answer for people who don't have time
to shop with coupons:

Shop the perimeter of the store. This is where perishables can be found and some stores will discount them when they near their expiration date..

Go HERE to see others comments
on how to save money at the store.

_________________

OK tomorrow NO Pepsi Max for me!
If you drink a 20 ounce every now and
then it has no effect BUT if you drink
3-4 glasses a day for a couple days
that's when it really kicks in.
Feel like I am plugged into a light socket
at the moment, buzz buzz buzzz.

9-13-10

It's been another one of those days
where the internet and phone have been out
since this morning, GRRRR!!

9:00-9:30AM

..
Started giving the dog a hair cut.
This will be a couple day process
for me. She will only sit still
for so long. Today I got her face,
chest, some back, neck and one
leg. Looks like I sheared a sheep
but I ain't even half way done with her.
Then once done, I will give her
a bath and blow dry.
Then will spritz with a mixture
of Avon's skin so soft and water
to help repel fleas and ticks.
Plus it softens her skin where
shampoo takes away the oils
when washing. It also makes
the coat shiny.

10:30AM

Went in and started stripping the
beds down to wash the bedding.

I don't know why, but this week I
only had 2 loads of laundry compared
to last weeks 4-5 loads. So I am
going to make up for that with the
bedding.

Bed pillows can be costly to replace
especially when you have 4 people
using at least 2 pillows each.
It starts to add up. So if one good
pillow costs $5-$10 that could
cost a family $40 to $80!!

For years, and even mom didn't
know you could do this, I have
thrown my bed pillows in the
washer. I do about 2 pillows
at a time to even out the load.
You may have to spin the
water out a second time before
putting into dryer.
It makes them all clean, fresh,
sterilized and fluffy again!
Especially with cold and flu
season lurking around the corner
you may want to get those
pillows washed more often in
hot water and maybe a little
bleach to kill germs that we
are breathing into those pillows.
I wash pillow cases more often
come cold weather and even
use a spray like Lysol spray
on the mattress to help disinfect
them.
___________________________

I planned on coming home from the bus
stop and starting to work on making
Boo Boo Bunnies this morning.
But the directions were on the internet
which I did not have earlier.

So just before going to get the kids
off the bus the internet came on
and I rushed to start one of the bunnies.
I didn't like the faces I bought
at a yard sale and might go with
google eyes instead
and the pink pom pom nose.

Around the package of wash cloths
was a white ribbon that I am reusing
around the necks of the bunnies
for bows.

I have bars of Ivory soap I am
putting inside the tan ones
while the white ones I can put a blue Easter egg
in them and they can be filled
with an ice cube or two
and then used on any boo boo's.

I chose tan and white wash cloths
because they seemed to go with
the colors of the receiving blanket
and hat I had already gotten.______________________

My honey has the pager this week.
While it sucks it means more money
in the pocket with overtime.

He called earlier and told me he found
some goodies.
I'll have to get photos of them later
on but can tell you he found
some DVD movies, possibly a house
charger for my phone and an Ipod.
I wasn't even sure what an Ipod was
and had to look one up online, lol.
Looks like an MP3 player to me.

______________________

Tomorrow I might see about stopping in
a thrift store to look for a bed dust ruffle
to start making a cover for the bassinet.
So many projects to do, ahhh!
But at least I am ahead of schedule with some.
______________________

I got notice this morning around
7AM that my coupons I won on Ebay
had been shipped out.
So I really hope they get here
tomorrow. They are coming
from Michigan.

I've been sitting here thinking
of all the ways I could use these
Betty Crocker Helpers.
To use as a side dish I only
use one box. But to use as
a meal I need 2 boxes.

I can put whatever meat I have in them
and not just what the box says.
I could also add a variety of vegetables.
They have pastas, rice and potato varieties.
To me they are pretty much
a starter kit to making meals
so here are some ideas I came up with:

HERE's a list of all the Helpers
available but does not mean they
are all found at your grocery store.

Chicken Noodle Soup
Lasagna
Breakfast Casserole
Stir Fry
Cabbage Roll Soup
Sausage, onion, green pepper, tomatoes over rice
Goulash
Tuna & Noodle Casserole
Chicken & Rice Burritos
Pasta Salad
Chicken, Carrots, Pasta & dumplings
Sweet & Sour Chicken with Rice
Tilapia, fried rice & veggies
______________

5:00PM

I always tell mom to check with me
before purchasing some items.
So she calls today because their
cordless phone battery died.
So now I'm looking to see if
it is cheaper to either get another
battery compatible with her
phone or find a cheap phone.

I can tell you that I am seeing that
Micro Center has the cheapest batteries
and that's compared to a Walmart.
They run from $3 to $10.
Radio Shack wants about $17.

Trying to find a cheap cordless phone
in the store is impossible it seems.
Either they are out of stock or you have
to order online and wait several days
to a week and have it delivered to their
store for pickup.

So my challenge for tonight
is to stop by Walmart and price phones
then Micro Center to look at their
batteries. I will be taking
their phone with me so I know
whatever battery I look at will be compatible.

___________________

8:00PM

Back from Walmart & Kroger.
Had to get Tony's prescriptions.
Found a cordless phone at
Walmart for $14.88 so we
decided against getting
the batteries for the phone.

While in Kroger waiting for the prescription
I scoured the store for mark downs.
This is what I found:
:
..
1.62 pounds pork chops $2.12

Kabob vegetables $1.99
After going to swap meets and festivals
and seeing all the fair type food I told Tony
I would try and recreate some at home.
So this week I plan to make some sausages
on grilled buns topped with green peppers,
banana peppers, onions and mushrooms.
I originally just needed some mushrooms.
Mushrooms marked down were $1.69
and after seeing this package of veggies for
$1.99 I went with those instead because
they had the ingredients I needed.

2 almost 2 pound cans of tomatoes .49 cents each

Potato hot dog buns .69 cents

3 pack microwave popcorn .99 cents
___________________________________

Here are the pictures of the stuff Tony found today.
...Gave the beaded basket and the one
beaded necklace on table to mom.
Other items included bead necklaces,
ear plugs, mechanical pencils and pens
and, not show, 3 bottles of fingernail polish.
One polish was black and I told Tony
to use it for touch up paint for the Suburban.
Nail polish is cheaper than actual touch
up paint and I have used it
in the past for such touch ups.

DVDs include:

Win a Date 2004
What Women Want 2006
Chasing Liberty 2004
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days 2007
Forces of Nature 2007
A Walk to Remember 2002
Just Like Heaven 2007
House MD Season 3

________________

Well I goofed. That's what I get staying
up late and thinking.
Yesterday I mentioned about the Hamburger
Helper. You CANNOT do the plan B.
You can still do the first plan though
BUT your $3.00 off coupons are not
off just any grocery purchase, they are
off the purchase of hamburger,
chicken or tuna.
Still good though as it's all free
during your next shopping trip.
Maybe I'll use it towards stocking
up on some free hamburger
since hamburger is something
we cannot afford and is a luxury item.
Too bad it's not off pork as I am stocked
with chicken and tuna.

So for $30 you get
60 Betty Crocker Helpers
and $30 worth of meat.

The Helpers are valued
at regular price of at least
$2.00 each x's 60 is $120
plus the $30 meat
is a total of $150 worth of
groceries for $30.
That's still a savings of $120!!

____________________

Woo Hoo now up to $26.70
made in a little over a month
on just one survey site!
Sometimes it gets frustrating because
you could get half way through a survey
then it tells you you don't qualify
or they have reached a certain number
of responses. Gotta stick with
it no matter how frustrating it can be
to make any money!

___________________

FREE
COTTONELLE FRESH WIPES

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*Get a coupon redeemable for a free tub of Cottonelle Fresh® Flushable Moist Wipes. Limit one tub while supplies last per valid e-mail address and home address. The Cottonelle EasyReach™ hanger is only available for a limited time in specially marked packages. Please allow 3-4 weeks for delivery.

_______________

FREE SAMPLE
QUAKER LIFE SOFT BAKED BARS

_______________

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Vitamin D & Calcium

________________

Ya know what sounds really
good right now?
A Barnyard Buster.
The news channel was broadcasting
from Tee-Jays the other
morning and it looked sooo good on tv.
Might have to talk mom into it
tomorrow morning!
Do you know that they have a
Half Yard?
That is a smaller portion
of the Barnyard Buster

If you get 1 Barnyard Buster
and ask for another plate
to share it with a friend
then it is much cheaper
than buying 2 Half Yards
and is the same amount
as 2 Half Yards!
So go in half of only $2.47 each
for a really yummy breakfast!

IS IT 9AM YET, LOL!!

THE BARNYARD BUSTER®
Two biscuits, two eggs, country fries, all on one plate covered with country sausage gravy.
$4.95

Half Yard

1 egg, 1 biscuit, country fries covered
with sausage gravy..................................$3.95

9-12-10

This morning for breakfast I am going to fry up some potatoes and eggs. I have 5 pounds of potatoes that need used up. They are not as firm as they used to be and some have eyes which I just picked off.
Hash browns .75 cents,
4 eggs .32 cents,
4 cheese slices .24 cents
TOTAL for 4 servings: $1.31 or .32 cents a serving.

As soon as breakfast was made and served
I took the leftover remaining hasbrowns
and put them in the crock pot with the
following ingredients:

Potatoes .75 cents
1/2 container leftover frozen onion gravy- FREE
frozen celery from freezer already diced up- .10 cents
1 can cream of mushroom soup- FREE
1 cup of milk- .12 cents
about 1/3 cup plain yogurt- FREE (mom gave me)
1 pkg diced ham .89 cents
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese for top- .50 cents
sour cream & onion ruffled chips- FREE
(leftover from yesterday's trip. Will crush &
put on top of soup)

TOTAL COST FOR SUPPER: $2.36
serves 5 @ .47 cents a serving

If I used leftovers from other meals
then I consider it free. Those costs
were already added into those other
meals so leftovers are a freebie!

_____________________________________

Here are the wheels we got yesterday to put
on our fence. Hoping to get this done today.
We will be outside tinkering around cleaning
and me getting laundry washed and hung up.

4:00pm

This afternoon we spent cleaning up the yard
and carport area.
We also took down both gates
and installed the wheels on them.
Works really good.
The only problem now is the gap
between the gates where Dewaine
notched out a section of wood.
I guess we could leave it as is for now
or buy 1 more fence board to replace it.
For now I'm leaving it alone because
I'm too tired and have too much to do.
Started working on getting the Trans Am waxed up
for the Winter. I put on a coat of wax, wipe off
then top off with my secret ingredient of baby oil.
In the past when I didn't have time to wax
a car or didn't have any wax I got out a bottle
of baby oil, put a little on a rag and wiped the car
with it for a quick glossy clean.
You can see below the before and

after on the oxidized paint.Got the charger tucked in bed for the Winter.
Put the car cover over it to protect it
from the elements.
Also ran a hose from the water barrels along
the fence line out to the alley way
and have them draining.
Will keep the faucet turned on
so if any water tries to collect in there
it will run out through the hose.
Gotta make sure to drain water barrels
before Winter. If you don't you risk the chance
of the water freezing inside and them cracking.

__________________________

8:20PM

Got the kids each a shower,
packed up all their lunches,
Got clothes laid out for the next 7 days.
(socks, undies, shorts, top & shoes
for Tony and 2 boys.)

I did finally get my sales ads today
late afternoon.
Not going to do a big shopping list week.
Only going to get a few Hamburger Helpers
HAHAHAHAHAHAH .

Since I don't have a printer
I won some coupons off Ebay
for the Hamburger Helpers.
Should ship fast due to having
a balance in my paypal account.
Won't have to wait for anything to
clear from a bank, thank goodness.

This is my first time purchasing coupons
on Ebay!
I will be getting 20 coupons for
.75 cents ($1.50 doubled) on 3 Hamburger Helpers.

I know you are probably wondering
what's my urgency to get this many coupons at once.
Well let me tell ya the deal this week!

Hamburger Helper .99 cents
x's 3 is $2.97
minus $1.50 on 3 coupon
makes it $1.47 for 3 or .49 cents

Sound good so far???

For every 5 boxes I buy
I get a $3.00 Catalina coupon
good on my next shopping trip.
So it's like getting them all for FREE!!

use 2 of the $1.50 off 3 coupons
and buy 6 boxes
to get your catalina coupon.

You will probably have to go through
the checkout or visit the store several times
this week.
Because I'm sure it will only give
you one of those Catalina coupons
per transaction.

So I would have to do this
10 times with 20 coupons! 5 times
if I bring mom along.
And you thought couponing was easy.

So the end result would be this:
a total of 60 boxes of Hamburger Helper.
Pay $30
get back $30 in Catalina coupons
to use on next weeks shopping trip!
So in all reality 60 boxes for FREE!
I pay $30 now and turn around
and get $30 worth of food next
week for FREE!!

But oh no, let's sweeten this deal
even more!
I am hoping for some really good sales
next week since this week looks crappy
with other items on sale.

So here is how it will look for next week's
shopping trip:

10 Catalina coupons for $3.oo each= $30.00

Catalina coupon good for $4.00 off $40

Catalina coupon good for $5.00 off

2 Catalina coupons for $2.00 off= $4.00

THAT'S A TOTAL OF $43 off any of my groceries!!
And that doesn't include any manufacture coupons
I might have!

There's a possibility of not having to pay
for any of my groceries next week!!

But before doing anything
I will go straight to the service desk
before purchasing anything
and double check to see if I can
use as many of these Catalina
coupons.
When in doubt always get it ok'd
before jumping in head first.
Tony doesn't think this is possible.
But does anyone remember
back around Easter when we had
a bet about how much I could
get for $5.00???
Guess who won that bet???

OOH OOH got a plan B to this deal.
But like I said always check with the service
desk to see if it will work first!

I'm still thinking about this one because
there is a little flaw that I will point out.

Buy 6 Hamburger Helpers $5.94
give them two $1.50 coupons
makes it $2.94
Get a $3.00 catalina

Now I could turn around and
get 6 more Hamburger Helper
for $2.94 but I need something
to make up that .06 cents
to bring me up to $3.00
to use that $3.00 off coupon
to make everything almost FREE.
No tax on food so that wouldn't help.
Think, Think

OK what is the cheapest thing
you can buy at the store???
Ramen Noodles run about .15 -.18 cents each
is Kool-Aid still .10 cents each. Really wish it was!!
What else is there????

But anyway the reason I say check with the service desk
is because I remember when buying let's say Tylenol
at Walgreens and getting a Catalina coupon
I could not use that specific coupon towards another
purchase of Tylenol because it was Tylenol
that offered the coupon in the first place.

So will have to do this as a trial an error.

So 60 boxes would cost me:
(break down)

$2.94 for first 6
Need to pay this to get the first Catalina.
If Kool Aid is still on sale for .10 cents each
then an additional 9 more times through
the checkout with 6 boxes & a pack of Kool Aid
each time would be
$2.94 ( 6Hamb. Help with manf. coups) + .10 cents (Kool Aid)=
$3.06 - $3.00 catalina coupon.
.06 cents x 9 trips through checkout is .54 cents

You should get a $3.00 Catalina coupon
each time you buy 6 Hamb. Helpers.


Then add in the cost I paid
for all the coupons from Ebay
for a grand total of
$4.98 for 60 boxes!!

That's .08 cents a box.

Hamburger Helper is regularly
around $2.00 a box
x's 60 is $120
minus $4.98 what I should pay
I would save $115.02!!!!!

Here are some coupons on
Ebay for
Hamburger Helper
You need the ones that
are .75 cents off 3.

I won mine yesterday and
will get shipped Monday.
I looked for a person
that was closest to Ohio
to possibly get shorter
shipping time.

HAVE I LOST ANYONE YET???
LMAO!!

Told ya I got my thinking cap on tonight!!
Well brain is fried, lol.
Time for bed.
All that matters is that I know
what I am talking about huh,
LMAO!

9-11-10

4:30PM

Just returned home from the Springfield Swap Meet.
The Suburban does really good on long road trips.
You wouldn't think it would being so big, so heavy
and having a v8 motor in it. We were down to 1/8th
tank of gas so put $15 gas
in it at $1.85 a gallon (ouch-only 8 gallons of gas) before leaving and made it to Springfield
and back and that was with a large cooler and picnic
stuff loaded up in the back end.
Round trip to Springfield and back is 111.06 miles.
I still have 1/8th tank left.


We found a couple things we were looking for
there.

2 swivel wheels for gate $1.50 each
compared to $10.00 each at lowes.

Socket for Tony that he's been needing
for work $3.00.
Don't know what these go for.

1974 Dodge Chassis Service Manual $20.00
These go for $70 to $100+ on Ebay!!

Kenowa Jump Starter with light,
air compressor, cord to recharge,
also has adapter for car $5.00.
The guy had $10 on it and went to $5.00.
This goes for $50 to $90!!
I know I bought my step-dad one
a couple years ago.

Other pictures from swap meet/car show

___________________________________

Well I am bummed. I haven't received my sales
ads yet. Was hoping to get home and find
them hanging on the door.
Soo, time for me and Tony to go get the kitchen
cleaned up. Yippee!

_________________________

Jonathan came up with a great
way to have our back screen door close behind us.
He put a bungee cord on it.
So many times the kids forget to shut
this storm door and it will bang and
clang outside driving me nuts.
If you enlarge it you will see several
holes in the door where the door closure
used to be but we removed it because
it didn't work too well.
This was from the last owner of the house.
We were going to try to put in
another one but are unsure with
all those stripped out holes
of where to even screw a new
one in.
So good job Jonathan with
fixing it with the bungee.
Considering he is usually the one who
forgets to close the door!
See they are learning.
If ya can't afford to fix something
with new, then Macgyver it!


8:00pm

Well y'all it's been fun for today.
Think I'm gonna head to the bedroom to watch some tv and pass out!
I think Tony's trying to kill me with all these plans on the weekends! I've had my fair share of exercise for today with
all the walking we did!
I told him he's long overdue for a quilt show
or some girlie thing! LOL!
Ahhh, then laundry day is tomorrow!
Oh yeah, I suddenly got even more tired.
Nighty Night!