Got my uber cheap Victoria's Secret slippers today

wooooo! they are awesome! I am glad I decided to keep a pair for myself this time. With this purchase we have nearly completed the birthday/Christmas/Mothers' & Fathers' day gifts for the entire year! How is that for awesome?!? We have to buy a couple things yet:
Christmas for our nephew
Christmas for FIL
Father's Day for FIL
This is the first year I am done so early. I do enjoy being done with shopping for the entire year already but I know as the year goes on I will see something someone will just love. Oh well, if I don't, I don't have to worry as the gifts are already bought.
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As I contemplate our finances and how the rest of the year might play out, I tend to worry but today I had no worries. The sun was shining, we went for a drive to Walmart, we enjoyed each others company...all 4 of us....and I realized, even though I already know this it was realized once again today, as long as my two little girls are happy, healthy and have a place to call home, I have no worries. R and I will always make sure the girls have a place to call home, even if it is not an ideal situation. We will do our best to keep the kids happy and healthy and that is all we can really hope for. Economists are predicting the recession will get worse before it gets better. I think, how much worse can it get? I know it is not as bad as it could be but what will worse look like? Widespread hunger? homelessness? unemployment? Thankfully the kids are oblivious (or are they?) to the current situation. R tries to not read the news all that much and me? well, I don't share it with R much. We don't talk much about it. He says...."things always work out for us" and they do BUT that is because I really work at it. I try to find a way to make things work out for us. I don't know if he really realizes that.
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Rumor has it that the Walgreens ESC and rebate program will be ending after April. I don't know any more than that. Some say they will have a loyalty card. So I don't know what will happen with all of that but I hoping something because not having the easy saver program and the deals I am currently getting will make me not shop at Walgreens. I rarely if ever went to Walgreens before I discovered coupons and the ESC and rebates and I probably won't go again if there is no incentive to shop there. I bet there are a lot of people like me that will take their business elsewhere. I will update as I learn more.

BIG Plans for tommorrow

yep..we have big plans. A TOTAL house cleaning, cabinets, floors, toy boxes, drawers, dressers, EVERYTHING! It was R's idea. It started tonight when I decided to mop the floor in the toyroom and it progressed into a full blown spring cleaning. So R decided he has a couple things he wants to tackle and we will somehow try to keep the kids occupied while we clean.

Photo Giveaway

My friend Jenera is giving away one of her fabulous prints on her blog. check it out here

It's jerky time

at this house. Deer hunting brings a special time for the menfolk (LOL) but for the womenfolk of this family, the time proceeding deer season brings work, lots of work. Mainly for this woman. Every year after the holidays are over, FIL hands over 50ish lbs of vension to me for processing. He gets the venison ground and it is my job to turn the mound of ground bambi into a mound of beef/venison jerky. We use a 1/2 to 1 mix of ground beef to venison. Even the tiny womenfolk in this house love jerky. K loves to eat it and "help" me form it into strips for drying. This will be O's first year helping with the jerky tradition.

The jerky making starts tonight, with the marinating of the meat and continues for the next 2 days with dehydrators running around the clock dehydrating the gigantic mound of prepared meat. Fun, right?

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BOOO!
no Walgreens gift card for transferring a Rx for O. Our insurance does not require a co-pay for O's Rx so Walgreens would not give me a gift card. Boo! oh well, I can't be too mad at them because I did not have to pay for the Rx so I have nothing to complain about. I had a really great idea though. I was going to see how long I could make that gift card last and see how much I could get with it.
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Walmart
R, the kids and I went to Walmart to try to find some cure for the above mentioned jerky but the store didn't carry it so we bought the other stuff we needed.
I got
1 bag cat litter $1.97-$1/1 coupon
1 bag puppy chow $4.72-$1/1 coupon
2 cans of friskies cat food $0.76 each-B1G1F coupon
1 can Alpo $1.46 -Free to try coupon
1 bottle of vinegar $0.68-no coupon

I paid $6.50 not bad...not bad at all
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SALES!!

AYE! the sales this week at my local stores. WOW! Hamburger helper $1/box, Betty crocker potatoes $1/box, Pizza Rolls $1/box, sirloin steaks $2.99/lb. K and I took a trip to the store this evening. We got 4 boxes of pizza rolls 57 cents/box after coupons, 4 hamburger helper-no coupons :( but with me working until 5 it is really easy for R to make one of these for dinner, and 1 package of 3 sirloin steaks for $4.60. We skipped the betty crocker potatoes because we have sooo many of them.

Tommorrow I need to hit our local Pamida for double coupon week and check on the price of tidy cat litter. I bought (yeah but I am still saving $17 bucks (maybe more if I can get them doubled)by buying 20 coupons so it is worth it on cat litter) some coupons for the cat litter and if I can get them doubled that would be sweet, but I need to check the price there because it might be cheaper just to get it at Walmart, not doubled. We'll see.

Also tommorrow I need to go transfer a prescription to Walgreens and get my $25 gift card. I have heard reports that they are now giving checks instead of a giftcard. Damn. I really wanted a gift card so I HOPE they are still doing the gift card at my store. I don't think I can possibly spend $25 in one trip to Walgreens and spend it wisely. Well, next week I could stock up on diapers but we are to the point where I don't want to buy many more (we have 13 packs now plus I am using the cloth again) because O is starting to show interest in the potty. At least if I do buy more, my niece that is on the way can use them eventually.

I really really really need to buckle down again and start pouring out the money to my car. My next full payment is due in July, only 4 1/2 months from now. I really need to get that paid further ahead so I need to buckle down and get cracking on that. Our hours got cut once again at work and IDK when it will pick back up so I am going to budget my unemployment better and get cracking. I am fully prepared to cut out almost all spending and work diligently on my car.

We are sick!

all of us are not feeling well. I think I am the worst. I went to Walgreens to get another Razor and some Powerade (I had coupons for the powerade too...LOL). I spent $8.63 and saved $5 and got another $6 in RR. So I was telling R this is how it works..

I spent $14.11 OOP but I got back $12 in RR. So really if he looks at it his way, I spent $2.11 and got 2 bottles of powerade and 2 $10 razors.

The cashier said whoa! on my trip tonight. She stopped talking a minute, looked like she was thinking it through, and said we just PAID you to take that razor. I laughed. She said was that coupon in todays paper? I said yes. She said Awesome! LOL I love when a cashier is as excited about the deals as I am.

Getting paid to shop

It is not much but...I got paid today to "buy" a razor from Walgreens.

The math:
$8.99 gillette fusion gamer razor
-4.00 coupon in today's paper
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$4.99
0.49 tax
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$5.48 OOP
got $6 back in RR
So I got paid 52 cents to buy this razor. Sweet, huh!?!?! Especially since it is a nice razor that R can use or give as a gift.

I love when it works out that way...
As of today I have spent $210.94 at Walgreens and saved $423.06
If I add those 2 numbers together (what I would have spent for all this stuff), and divide by what I saved my savings percent is almost 67%. Not bad. It will be higher once I get back my rebates and use the RR.

Since we have so much stuff in our HBA stockpile, I am limiting myself to only getting free stuff lately. Like FAR or Free after RR/coupons stuff.

Coupon Preview

check them out here

DUH! not thinking

So I am not sure if I posted about the FAR contact solution or not but they are actually PAYING me to take it. Yep, it's true. Here is how it works:

$1.99 Contact solution
$0.11 tax
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$2.10 OOP
-1.99 rebate
-0.20 extra 10% for putting rebate on a walgreens gift card
(.09)...they are paying me 9 cents to take this off their shelves. It is something I need anyway so HOORAY!

Quality time ...... with my bro!

My brother and I took a little trip to the bent and dent today. R stayed home, the kids went to Grandma's. I got another $5 package of roast beef, thin sliced. Perfect for sandwiches. I also got the kids each a cute stuffed weiner dog for 25 cents each for Valentines' day and I got 2 boxes of tampons. Then Josh and I went to Walmart where I got 3 ring bolognas clearanced out for $1.60 each, 2 Disney Princess play cameras for $3 each (I have been waiting for them to mark them down from $5, which is what they were when I got one for our niece. They were originally $10 each), cat litter, cat food, dog food, 2 sponges that I have a coupon for and a battery pack thing for the Xbox for R. The Xbox thing was almost half of what I spent at Walmart...UGH! but they way the controller eats through batteries it was worth it. We are having steaks and cheddarwurst on the grill for dinner. My parents are coming over to eat with us.

No flaming allowed and random thoughts

Just wanted to preface this post by saying this is in no way, shape, or form derogatory toward anyone. This is based solely on my views from what I see in my neck of the woods and is probably not applicable to everyone else.

In this area recently, there have been numerous layoffs, plant closing, hours being cut, etc. So I was thinking about that today and I got to thinking....who is more prepared for an economic downturn? The poor because they already live poor? The rich because they have reserves? The middle class? The upper middle class? The lower middle class? Where do you think you fall on that ladder?

I think of my family (R, myself and the kids) as lower middle class, although by our current income level we are poor. I think we are more prepared for an economic downturn because we are in a really good position financially. We have been preparing for "the bad" for a long time. Something in my head told me to prepare and I did and I am ever so grateful that I listened to that. Do I consider myself poor? No. We have what we need and we can buy what we want. True, our wants have changed to come more inline with what our needs are. It wasn't always like this. Our wants were extravagant, our needs are basic. Now our wants and our needs are both basic. We still have a few luxuries but I wait to get those luxuries until we can afford them (or I have a good coupon...LOL).
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There was a recent poll on a forum I frequently asking why do you stockpile... I have touched on this in the past so I will not go back over it again here. But it was interesting to see why others stockpile. Many do it for the same reasons I do, others do it because they live so far from a city, others do it differently than I do, some do it the same. I do have to say I get a special kind of feeling when I go to my stockpile and get something out. A feeling of pride, accomplishment, happiness, etc. The same feeling that I used to get from a job well done at my old job. Now I get that feeling from saving money and getting a really good discount on something that I know we will use or someone in my family will use and love.
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It is so wierd to hear some of the women I work with talk about how much they spend on groceries each week. A WEEK?!? wow! I haven't gone shopping for groceries in months...I go all the time but my idea of grocery shopping is different....you have a list, you get your meals for the week that one day, that is my old way of shopping and I think that is how most of the U.S. does their grocery shopping. ME? well you all know how I shop. And it is odd to hear others talk about spending whatever they spent that week. When I think...hmmmm I only spent $20 this week on groceries, but then other weeks I spent a bunch more refilling the holes. IDK...it is just wierd to me. I know not everyone has the luxury I do of stockpiling and I usually don't talk much at work about my shopping habits because many just don't understand it and I don't want to get into it and be known as " that crazy girl at work that buys so much food". I have brought it up to a select few though and they were pretty intrigued by my grocery shopping habits.
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My MIL told me about a new Bent and Dent in her town that I want to check out. I told Mom and Dad too and as soon as I get a Saturday off, we are going to go. I am pretty unimpressed with working 6 days a week right now. I cannot complain because we need the money and it is only 5 hour shifts but it just doesn't feel right to work 6 days a week and not get anything extra out of it, like overtime. What really sucks is that working 6 5-hour shifts only gives me 30 hours of pay a week. That bites! It is nice to only work 5 hours but seriously 6 days a week is not fun. I just get up with the kids in the morning, do a little housework, make lunch and then off to work. I come home, make dinner, give the kids a bath, and then it is bedtime for them. Then I do what I need to on the computer, finish up whatever housework R didn't get done and then bedtime for me. I like having a day off to do my shopping, run to the bent and dent, etc. Of course it is not open on Sunday, my 1 day off. But all in all, I can't complain too much because I do need the money!
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Everytime I make payment to my car, I breath a little sigh of relief...just that much closer to debt free...then what will I blog about? I will come up with something for sure :)

$21

That is what I have spent this week. Two days to go in my spending freeze. I am doing pretty good.

My walgreens plan for 2/15-2/21

Diapers could be a good deal! $3 off coupon...

Also the B1G1F drain cleaner at $1.99 for 2 would be a pretty good deal if you need it.

I am going to get the grape jelly. I wrote to the company and got some coupons from them so I will be able to get them super cheap.

The bent and dent owners should give me a referral discount

HA! I wonder if that would work. But seriously, Today at work a couple ladies and I were talking about groceries and how even Aldi's is getting pricey on some things and I told them about the bent and dent...my favorite one. They were unfamiliar with the area it is in so I promised to do up a nice map and email it to them so they could go.

I was telling R about it tonight and saying they should give me a bunch of premade maps with a referral number on it and I should get a couple bucks off for every person I refer that stops in and buys something. Wouldn't that be great? Great for me, because I get a discount and great for them because they get more business. WIN WIN! hmmmm maybe I should approach them about that when I take MIL there later this week?!?

WWYD?

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/GM-Chrysler-offer-workers-rb-14230220.html

Read the article first.


My first thoughts are WHOA! $75K to leave the company and $25K voucher for a new vehicle. hmmmm that would be something to consider. $75K would more than pay off our mortgage. Then our bills would only be about $300/month. Nice huh? and we would have a new vehicle to boot. That would be a pretty dang good offer. But then I got to thinking and to not have the health care benefit when it is most needed would be terrible but also what would you do for a job?

Living on foodstamps blog

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/01/30/am.callebs.foodstamps.blog/index.html

seems interesting but I bet I could do something like that even better. LOL $176 for a single person. I could do $200 for a family of 4. Maybe that should be my next project. LOL

unclog a stopped up drain

pour some baking soda down the drain and then add vinegar. We tried it just today on our terribly clogged bathroom sink drain and it worked great!

I posted a couple articles yesterday

The one about more Americans saving money is great. I hope they are. I know R and I are really working on keeping our debt in check. We are not able to actually physically SAVE more money but we are spending less and paying down debt, which according to the article, is like saving. IDK but I do know that we are being very vigilant in watching what do buy, making do with what we have vs. buying because we want it. There have been a couple exceptions to that but for the most part we are taking great care to time our spending so we do not have to use our credit cards for anything. When we each had better jobs, we were lazy with our money. We had so much more of it that we spent more but we also spend foolishly, using our credit cards whenever. At one point I had almost $4000 on my card and R had $2000. OUCH! I know many Americans have/had much more than that but still that was a lot for us. We worked and budgeted to get that paid off. Currently, I have $40 on my credit card and R has about $200. That is new balance stuff...not left over from the previous high balances. I use my card once a month to make sure the account stays open as I have had problems in the past with a different card company. R has one thing that is a monthly charge that goes to his card and it is less than $10 but we pay that monthly. His current balance comes from a little splurge, he made less than 1 month ago. We filed our taxes yesterday and that will get paid off as soon as we get our refund. Mine will be paid off as soon as I get paid from work. Then we will be credit card debt free once again.

Welcome to Monday

I woke up to a very crabby K, I had her go back to bed, wait 15 minutes and then we "started the day over". I told her to think about why she was so crabby and then forget about it and we would restart our day. So far so good! She is in a much better mood. I hate when she wakes up whiny. O starts every day happy. She is just a happy girl.

I sent more money to my car today. I am getting very close to having it paid off. A little breakdown:

9 more months at the regular monthly payment-but I have been sending more so
just over 7 more months at what I am currently sending or if I can send just a little more, just under 6 months. At any rate 2009 is the year my car will be paid off! I could potentially have my car paid off by the end of summer. How exciting. I cannot wait until my car is paid off. The money I currently send to my car is going to a seperate savings account to save for a down payment on a new (to us) vehicle when the time comes or for emergencies. R's jeep has just under 60,000 miles and my car has just under 49,000, my thoughts are that by the time either of us needs a different vehicle, we will have enough saved to pay for it in full or only have to finance a small portion. I would like to not have to finance at all but we'll see how that plays out. Even if we do have to finance, we will be in a much better position because we have never been able to put more than $1000 down on a vehicle, not including a trade-in and we have always owed on our trade ins anyway. This time we will not owe on a trade in but because we plan to keep our current vehicles until they cost more to fix than they are worth we probably would not get much if anything for a trade in. I don't foresee us buying a different vehicle for at least 3 years, hopefully longer, so chances are good we will have quite a bit in savings when that time comes.

I did restart my spending freeze on Saturday. So far I have spent $2. I did not restart the ticker. It is Monday. Saturday I worked, Sunday I did not even leave the house and today I have a dentist appointment and some errands to run. I will probably send a little money today but I am going to try to keep it under $20. I have to work the rest of the week including Saturday so I doubt much money will get spent this week.

something to ponder...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090201/ap_on_bi_ge/savings_frugal_society

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123319605956027285.html