7-31-11

1:25pm

Worked out in the front yard today.

Trimmed the grass along the sidewalks

and weed whipped other areas.

It sure was hot out even though

we got an early start.

Got the bushes trimmed up.

The yard mowed.

 Daylilies went bye bye.

 The easiest way to cut them down

is to run them over with a mulching mower.

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

Wanted to show you the fruit pleather

that I made yesterday.

Here's today's haul from the garden.

I think next year I would like to

get 12 more large tomato plants

for a total of 24 tomato plants.

I have 12 now.

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

Later on today we want to go to
Big Lots to see if they have the freon
for the truck's ac and look to see if
they have the pool shock for the pool water.


These two items would be considered
Summer or seasonal items so we
will be watching to see if they
start marking them down to make
way for Fall items.  That's the
time to stock up on things for the 
next year and pay only a fraction of the price!

At the moment according to their website
they have- 

pool & accessories marked
30% off.

Select Summer toys 25% to 60% off.

Select Spring & Summer apparel 50% off. 

Summer merchandise like outdoor furniture,
gazebos, benches, tikis, fountains, birdbaths,
cushions, etc. marked 50% off.


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


Was browsing The Bag ads that come
to your doorstep.


Here's some deals I saw-


Save-A-Lot

Green bell peppers or 
super select cucumbers 3 for $1.00


Aldis


Strawberries 16 oz $1.29
Blueberries pint $1.69
Canteloupe $1.29
Bananas .44 cents pound
4 pound bad chicken wings $6.79

Meijer

Cabbage .39 cents a pound
Skippy peanut butter $1.67


Buy $10 or more in any combination
of Kelloggs products including
Keebler, Sunshine and Eggo,
Get $10 off any 3 packages of
Fruit of the Loom basics for the family
instantly. Limit 1 offer per transaction.


Fruit of the Loom-
$4.99 Women's 8 pair socks
regular or extended sizes.
$3.99 boys or girls 8 pair crew socks.
$5.99 boys 6 pair boxers or 7 crew t-shirts.
$5.99 girls 10 pair underwear


So here's a scenario
when you buy the Kelloggs products.
Buy 3 pkgs of the $3.99 8 pair crew socks
for $11.97 minus $10 savings
makes 3 packs $1.97.


I got lucky last year with this
sale because I found coupons
on packages of socks!
So the kids got a year's supply of socks for FREE!


I'm sure there are coupons for the
Kelloggs products as well.
Kelloggs 
Save $1.00 off 3 boxes of cereal.


I get a 10% discount so the socks would
be $1.78 for me.


Kelloggs products on sale-


Cheez-Its $2.00
Kelloggs Cereal $1.99

At Kroger I found a coupon booklet
for Kelloggs near their seasonal isle where they
are starting to put out school supplies.  
It says Happy New School Year
on the front along with 
over $18 of coupons inside
on the front of the booklet.
Remember when purchasing $10 worth of
Kelloggs products that should mean the
price you spend BEFORE any coupons!!
Some of the coupons in the booklet
which you could use towards your
$10 purchase-


Save $2.00 off one gallon of milk
when you purchase 2 pkgs of Keebler cookies.


Save $1.50 on store brand bread when
you purchase 2 pkgs Kelloggs fruit 
snacks.


Save $2.00 off one gallon of milk
when you purchase 2 Kelloggs Eggo products.


Save $1.50 off fresh fruit when you purchase
2 Kelloggs cereals.


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


In today's paper check out
the USA Weekend part.
There is an article in there called
How you can become a Coupon Queen!


I think when the kids go back to 
school I'll start working on 
getting my coupons more organized
and use them much more to
stock up my pantry.



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


Took the kids swimming this evening
at Tony's work.  I hope by taking them
swimming from 5-7pm that it wears
them out for bedtime!  Lol.

Also took along a bunch of yard waste like
branches and got rid of them out of our yard.
We stopped by Big Lots and 
they told us that the freon was sold out
at all stores.  Also they didn't seem to
have any pool shock for the pool which
sucked.  I did get a box of Loreal Paris
Dream Blonde hair coloring for $4.
I'm sure this probably runs about $10
at Kroger.


Well all it's almost 10pm and I'm wore out
and about ready for bed.
I didn't go swimming this evening.  Instead
I just soaked up some sun. I did wear
SPF 30 so I didn't get burnt.


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

7-30-11

12:50pm

Got up around 9am and we headed

out looking for yard sales which sucked.

I got 2 things-

scented candle .75 cents

Digital Talking Thermometer .50 cents.

We can use this to monitor the

air condition temps coming out of the vents,

test the temperature of the pool or

heck even do some ghost hunting, lol.

We never made it down to Grove Port's

U Wrench it junk yard to get a car battery.

We did a little research and found

a battery place called Foster's Batteries

@ 965 Shrock Rd across from

the Busch factory.

The sell used car batteries with

a 1 year warranty for $32 and

that included tax!

You do need a core battery though

to turn in.

We asked the guy if he worked on cars

and had him take a look at our

air conditioner to see what might

be wrong with it.  He told us a

way to check to see if the clutch is still

good.  You take off the wire connectors

on the top of the clutch thingy and put

two wires in it to see if it will kick start

it to come on.  If it comes on the clutch

is still good. 

All I know is that this morning to noon

we drove around in a hot ass truck

and I was so glad to be back home

in the air condition!!

In the mail today I got a free coupon

for a FREE Pantene shampoo or conditioner

up to $4.99.

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

1:15pm

Had a guy stop by to check out

the Trans Am and Charger for sale.

I don't get any hopes up til cash is in hand.

We still need to put the battery

in the car that we just got and the

guy said to call him later on after

we put it in so he could hear it run.

Like I said I ain't getting hopes up

on this sale as the guy pulled up

in a full sized older van and had to 

climb in through the back doors

of the van to get to the driver's seat, lol.

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

Here was a question I was asked
the other day-
What store do I think is the cheapest
to shop at?
They all have their pros and cons.


For starters I will say that I don't like
to shop for groceries at Walmart.
The reason is because they don't offer
double coupons and I think their
grocery prices are like anywhere else.


So it came down to Kroger and Meijers.


I like Krogers because of their markdowns
aka manager specials.  I can get the best
prices on meats, breads, some produce
and dairy items when marked down.
I don't care for Krogers sales of
buy 10 of certain items and get
them for a sales price when you do.
I think they carry the better store
brand of pop when compared to
Meijers or Walmart and cheaper too.
At Kroger you can use your
Kroger Plus Card to earn points
to use for discounted gas so that's a plus.
Kroger also sends you coupons via
snail mail and has electronic coupons
that you can load to your Kroger Plus Card.


Now for Meijers.
They don't require that you have
one of those plastic cards to get
discounted sales prices!
I personally get a 10% employee family
discount on non-grocery items so
that's a plus for myself.
Meijers has a bigger sales ad which
I like compared to Kroger.
I like to shop Meijers for pantry items
which are cheap or either free with
sales combined with coupons.
While I get great deals there I usually
have to visit customer service before
leaving the store to get something corrected
because of an overcharge or them
not taking off coupons.
Meijers usually has a good selection
of mark downs after the holidays
that I stock up on.
Meijers employees seem more friendly
and acknowledge you as you walk
through the store unlike Kroger.
You can find some mark downs at Meijer
if you look really hard.  If their produce
is marked down it's usually not worth
buying and looks like it should have
been thrown away!




The cheapest place to go without
worrying about coupons or sales
is Aldis!  I make special visits
there just to get fresh fruit or veggies
which are much cheaper than the other
stores and taste just as good!
Yeah you have to buy or bring your own bags
and bag your own groceries but it is
so worth it to save so much money.


Walgreens is another store where
you can find good deals if you watch
their flyer.  You can use manufacture
coupons stacked with store coupons
for even better deals.  They also have
what is called register rewards where
you buy certain items and they give
you printed coupons at the register
for money off your next visit to their store.
The only problem I run into with
Walgreens is that they don't stock their
shelves and will be out of sale items
the first day of the sale!
I have gotten rain checks which are nice
but when I go back to get certain
items, I find that they no longer
carry it anymore.


So like I said, I can't pick just one store.
I usually shop all four stores mentioned
above to get the best savings overall.


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

7-29-11

1:35pm

Got a big pot of potatoes boiling on the stove,

about 2/3rds of a 10 pound bag.

Had to use them or lose them due

to them starting to become soft.

I'm going to make them up into mashed

potatoes, use some for supper, and then

the rest will be put in the freezer.

You can freeze potatoes just

as long as they have been cooked 

ahead of time.

------

Mailman just came.

The good-

I got a free coupon for

an Herbal Essence product up to $3.99.

The bad-

The electric bill, ahhhh.

$222.41

And this did cover the day where

our ac went on the blitz and kept

running constantly even though 

it wasn't cooling too well.

Last month was $146.27

with running the air condition.

So a difference of $76.14 with the heat wave.

Last year's KWH for the month was

1618

This year's KWH for the month is

1691

A normal, no air condition, electric bill

for us runs between $70-$80.

We are not on the budget since 

the electric goes up in the Summer

while the gas goes down to around $30.

And in the Winter the gas goes up

and the electric goes down.

So to me it evens out.

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

I'd jump on this next deal if

you have an old refrigerator(s)

that you are no longer using.

They were originally offering $50

but it had gone down to $35.

But with my current electric bill

I see it went back up to $50.

There is a limit of 2 fridges so

a total of $100 can be made!!

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

I am hoping that God has answered our

prayers as to how to pay this

$1200 bill along with a few other

smaller doctor bills.

Payday isn't until next week but I have

heard that hubby has about 11 hours

overtime on that check.  I also

heard that there could be a big bonus on it also.

Let me tell ya that would be the miracle

we would need at the moment to

pay these doctor bills off and not

be hurting financially!!

I ain't holding my breath though

until I actually see it in the checking account!!

NEVER plan for something that 

is not a for sure thing.

If you think you are getting a bonus

or extra money don't go out

and spend money now only to

realize you may not get it!!!

I don't care if someone guarantees you

money, unless it's actually in your hand

is the only time you can spend it wisely!!

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

Tonight we are taking the kids

 to hubby's work place

to go swimming.  Hubby has a side job

tonight at work of replacing someone's

brakes.  So there'll be a couple more bucks

in the pocket.

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

4:00pm


6 people are over at our home
and that does not include my two
kids or myself!
2 friends in the living room play
video games with my kids.

And 3 kids and their dad
(not pictured)
out back in the pool.

CALGON TAKE ME AWAY!
LOL.


No rest for any moms that have kids, lol.


In the meantime I got supper going.
Got some mashed potatoes made up
then threw a salisbury steak family
entree in the microwave.


I also have some fruit pleather,
aka fruit roll ups, in the dehydrator.
I told y'all I've been trying to use
stuff up out of my pantry.
So today I used up a large can
of pears (minus juice) and threw them in the
food processor with about a 
tablespoon of raspberry jello.

Then spread out on a sheet
on the dehydrator tray.

 -------------------------------

8:30pm

Just returned not long ago from
Tony's work.  We were able to swim
and Tony was able to work on the
lady's car before it stormed.
Ugly storm clouds were all around
making grumbling noises but we
didn't get any sprinkles til about 8pm.
The pool felt like bath water it was
that warm!

My glitter toe polish, lol.

Jonathan went over to the tennis courts
which is right next door to the pool
looking for tennis balls.  He found a ton
of them in the trash can including a 
canister that had never been opened!

I found this at the pool-
a free admission to Zoombezi Bay.
Too bad I didn't find 3 more.
Anyone need a coupon?
This one won't do me any good.

This bunny came out the last couple
of times we went to the pool in the evening.

Tony changed the front rotors and front brakes
on this lady's car and she gave him $100 for 
2 hours worth of work.
$50 an hour, hell yeah!
It saved this lady lots of money
compared to taking it to a repair shop to have done.
 So they both won either way!

My favorite picture I took today.

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


8:30pm


Good news, Jonathan's wart seems
to be going away and it was a big
one on the palm of his hand between
the pointer finger and thumb.
We've been putting the Kroger wart
remover on it a couple times a day
for 4 days now.
Tonight I took clippers to any dead skin
around it.  It looks so much better but
not 100% gone.  We are still putting
more wart remover on it with a bandaid
over it.  I'm so glad because this
thing would have grossed you out
if I had posted a before picture!
This liquid salicylic acid stuff works compared
to trying the freeze off stuff which
did absolutely nothing!!
I also tried it on a bump that I've had
on my palm for 14 years.
I tried cutting it off many times
only to have it grow back every time.
So we'll see if this did the trick.

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


Mmmm, loookie, a homemade recipe
for Nutella!
Not sure how much hazelnuts are
but a jar of Nuttella is $3.00 to $4.00.
If I remember, I'll price them the
next time I'm at Kroger.