CVS Deals and Scenario: The Leaving Excess Way

CVS the Leaving Excess way - one simple transaction. The key to making it one transaction is to only buy what you really need and will use - not just getting whatever is free and letting it clutter up your house and your life. Not to mention the clutter of multiple trips and/or transactions on your mind, time and energy.

Here are the deals I see this week:

Spend $10 on Hershey's Candy (see p3 of ad) and get $5 ECB.
Here are some that you can match with coupons:

Ice Breakers Ice Cubes, $1 each; manufacturer coupon for $1/2

Hershey's Milk, Special Dark or Milk w. Almonds, 2/$1, manufacturer coupon for buy 1, get 1 Special Dark for free.

After that, I would buy what you like (unless you have other coupons) to the $10, and get $5 ECB, plus save whatever you have in coupons.

Final price: Half price, less any coupons. See my scenario below for how I decided to work this deal.

Blood Glucose Monitoring Systems (see pages 18 & 19 of the ad):

November is National Diabetes Month, and if you need monitors or if you know of somewhere you can donate them, many are free or almost free.

Crest Pro-Health Whitening Toothpaste 4.2 oz
CVS deal: Buy four for $3.49, get $3.49 ECBs, limit 1.
Final price: FREE (or if you still have valid coupons, you could earn money on this one)

Pampers Diapers or Easy Ups Jumbo Pk

CVS deal: Buy two for $20, get $5.00 ECBs, limit of 1.

Use: Manufacturer coupons; I have one for $1.50 off one pack of Jumbo or larger
Final price: MAKE $13.50 for 2 packs.

Probably not the most amazing deal, but decent if you need diapers (and if you have more than one coupon).

My one simple transaction:

4 packages Ice Cubes gum, $1 each
2 Hershey candy bars - milk, special dark or milk with almonds, $.50 each
2 Hershy Special Dark candy bars, $.50 each
Various other candy to make up $4 more (a total of $10 in candy),$4
2 Pampers Jumbo diapers, $20

I will use these coupons:
$1/2 Ice Cubes manufacturer coupon (2 coupons)
Buy one, get one free ($.50 value) Hershey's Special Dark bar (2 coupons)
$1.50/1 Pampers coupon

I will pay the total of $25.50 with $18.00 ECBs and $7.5 in cash (plus any
tax).

I will get back $10 in ECBs.

So, I will get everything listed in this transaction for free after ECBs (although I will be using more of my ECBs than I am earning back - this ebbs and flows from time to time) in one transaction this week. The best part is that I am using everything: diapers are very useful, my kids love the gum (stocking stuffers) and the chocolate I will use in my holiday baking (or use as stocking stuffers).

For other CVS Scenarios, check out Money Saving Mom and The"Cent"sible Sawyer!

Also, Megan at Saving Our Cents has a cool challenge going where she started with just $5 and is rolling it to see how far it can go - how fun!

Win Some, Lose Some

photo by jay

This Sunday I sat down with the paper and sorted through the ads. Cub had russet potatoes on sale, buy a 5 pound bag, get another 5 pound bag free. The price of the first bag was $3.49, so you would get 10 pounds for $3.49 after using the coupon.

I asked Steve if he thought we could eat 20 pounds of potatoes before they went bad (the same deal was at another store, too). He asked, "Is that deal better that what Aldi charges?". Hmm. Why, no, I believe Aldi has a better deal.

I stopped at Aldi, and sure enough - a 10 pound bag of russet potatoes was $2.49 - $1.00 cheaper than the other stores' sales prices.

Lest you think I am perfect, onions were also buy one, get one free at Cub. The price at Cub for one two pound bag was $1.99, so you would get 4 pounds for $1.99. Not being able to remember what onions were at Aldi, I bought mine at Cub.

Wouldn't you know? Onions at Aldi were $.79 for two pounds and the onions at Aldi looked MUCH better. Had I bought my four pounds of onions at Aldi, I would have saved $.49.

Oh, well. At least I am ahead in total....

Slashing the Christmas Budget in Half

I *heart* JCPenny. Not only was my grandfather a store manager for JCPenny way back when (and throughout his whole career), but JCPenny just helped me in my quest to cut my holiday budget by half.

On Sunday, I went to JCPenny to take advantage of their Friends & Family discount for fire fighters and their families/friends. In the past, this has been a great deal - the sales are usually really good to start with and the added discount just makes things that much more sweet. Just to get me in the holiday spirit, it snowed while I was out shopping. You've gotta love Minnesota.

When I left the store, I was indeed feeling merry! I was able to walk out of JCPenny with $1,041.95 worth of stuff for just $325.54!!! (That is before tax, tax was $7.14). Yippee! That is 69%!!!!!

Some people really like to see the gory details because it helps them to see the possibilities. So if that sort of thing interests you, read this whole post. If you just want the final summary, see the last paragraph of this post.

For the details on what my $1,330 holiday budget looks like here. Keep in mind that this was not an inflated budget, so that I pretend to be excited when it is cut - that is REALLY what we spend each year, often even more. I realize that not everyone has this large of a budget, so don't be a hater - just understand that we all have to start somewhere and this is my somewhere, for better or worse. It is what it is.

It is scary, people. But, if you have kids (count 'em - four) and honor the Santa tradition and have larger extended families and like to share the joy with teachers, coaches, mail carriers and the like, you may know that of what I speak! None of it seems like too much alone, but add it all together and faster than you can say "Paying off credit cards into next year", you are in over your head.

Look for an update as to how we are doing so far on holiday spending on Monday. (Sneak peak: We are looking to be at least $600 under budget and it has all been paid for with cold, hard cash!! (although some of it is still sitting in savings - read the italics below).

ANYWAY, back to JCPenny.

So I was looking to find some deals. I was on the hunt for my father-in-law, my mother-in-law, my husband, my niece and myself. For Steve and I, I was looking for things we need right now anyway, and I know what I like and I have the coupons and the frugal nature, so I just pick out what I need and he wraps it up. Not the most fairy-tale way to go, but he already does tons of stuff to make my day easier - like dumping the compost bucket, building a shelter for our wood, putting the kids to bed, filling my gas tank and so on and so forth, that I don't really feel the need to be pampered by gifts hand picked by him.

Basically, everything I purchased was on sale for 50% off, either outright 50% off or buy one, get one free or almost free (effectively 50% off each item). I did not even look at anything that was not on sale for 40% or more off. I scored another 20% off using the Friends & Family discount coupon that Steve gave me. When I checked out - the total was $518 before any coupons. The cashier offered to open a JCPenny card for me and if I did that I would save another 20% off that day. At first I said no, since I am just against using credit cards, but my accountant side of me spoke up and pointed out that the savings would be another $80+. I decided to sign up for the card.

(One note here - if you are planning to buy a house or are going to need to rely on your credit rating anytime soon, but sure to think very carefully before opening a charge card at a store. Having any open credit cards changes your credit score. Also, if you have had problems in the past disciplining yourself to payoff these kinds of credit cards right away - do not do it. The interest rates on store credit cards is notoriously high and you can quickly erase any savings by paying interest on the balance.

When I got home, I transferred the ENTIRE balance of what I purchased over to our savings account IMMEDIATELY and it will sit there until the bill arrives. That way I am sure to pay it off right away, no questions asked. If I could not have afforded to pay cash for the transaction, I would not have purchased all these items. I will most likely close the account once it is paid off, as well. The only store card I carry is Kohl's because they offer discounts to car holders 12 times a year and that helps when you have to make an unexpected purchase.)

Here is what I bought (as promised, the gory details):

Quilted suede vest: $54, I paid $20.74

Dress shirt: $30, I paid $9.59

Polo shirt: $26, I paid $3.18 (apparently, it was clearanced - oh, yeah, baby!)

Men's Henley shirt (two of these): $36 each, I paid $9.59 each

Women's ribbed cardigan: $44, I paid $14.07

Infant girls' outfit (pants and a hoodie): $19.98, I paid $5.74

Men's long sleeve polo shirt: $36, I paid $9.59

Two pairs of workout-type pants for me: $44 each, I paid $15.99 each

Women's fleece zipper sweatshirt: $36, I paid $11.51

Quilted suede vest: $58, I paid $22.27

Satin top: $44, I paid $8.31

Long sleeve double t-shirts (2): $26 each, I paid $8.31 each

Belts for my oldest (2 of them): $12 each, I paid $5.76 each

Contour pillows (recommended by my chiropractor): $59 each, I paid $19.19 each

Women's watch: $30, I paid $14.40

Men's dress socks, packs of 3 (2 packs): $18, I paid $7.03 each

Women's slippers (2 pair): $22 each, I paid $8.21 each

Suede/Sherpa blanket (helps when keeping the furnace off): $39.99, I paid $12.79

Gold earrings (3 pair, one was larger): $44 and $34 each, I paid $11.26 and $8.70 each)

Since it so fun to say, I will repeat the final result: I paid $325.54 (before tax) for $1,041.95 worth of merchandise, saving 69%!!!!!! All by shopping a sale, stacking it with a great coupon and opening a store charge card. If I had not opened the store card (see the italic section above on when that is not a good idea), then I would still have saved 61%!!

When Christmas gets here, I really will be able to rock around the Christmas tree!

WFMW: Recycling Paper for Scratch Paper

Sometimes I feel like I am not making enough progress in my journey to be frugal. Then I will find myself doing something so frugal, even I cannot believe it.



Take scratch paper, for example. I have gone from loving those adorably cute scratch paper pads that have margaritas, flowers or catchy sayings on them to using this:



That's right - remnants of papers my kids bring home for school or from fliers in the mail; anything with a clean backside.

It started with the paper leftover from printing off Internet coupons. The coupon would print, but 2/3 of the paper would be unused. After I cut out the coupon, I would cut up the extra to use as scratch paper.

Then my husband started using the backs of fliers the kids brought home in their backpacks. There are tons of those! Then we just all sort of got into it.

Now, it works for us.

To see what works for all sorts of families, visit Works For Me Wednesday at Rocks in My Dryer.

Worth Reading, "Is It All Just A Fad?"

Heather at Simple - Green - Frugal has a great post today about the current state of things. She cites the troubled economy and how people seem to be cutting back on consumption. She wonders if it is just a fad:

What I'm really wondering here is if people are simply reacting to a decrease in available funds or really grasping the magnitude of the stress we've put on ourselves, our economy, and our planet. Do the majority of people simply see this as a blip in the road or an impetus to change our greedy, materialistic demand for a steady stream of more stuff?

I wish with all my heart that this wake-up call was a true step towards mindfulness about how we spend, how we consume, and how we relate to the world around us. Something tells me it's not.

Of course, I had a few thoughts on the issue (see the comments section of Heather's post for my ridiculously long comment).

I wanted to share this (not because I relish sharing personal details, but because our situation is one that reflects a lot of what is going on today and it helps to put things in real terms):

Steve worked an insane amount of hours last week. His typical job is about 11 hours a day - office job helping to run a concrete and masonry company. He has a typical white collar job - daytime hours during the week. Last week, he had a job that just hit a terrible time crunch and ended up going out to work it himself to help get it done. In addition to his 50-55 hour work week, he worked until midnight on Friday night, a good 12 hours on Saturday, went back from 10 PM - 2 AM on Sunday night to clean the job up and meet the 3 AM Monday deadline. Then back to work on Monday. He is salaried - no time and a half for overtime; actually - no pay at all for overtime.

That is fine - you do what you have to, right? Well, here is the kicker. He rolls in with his weekly check and it is $14 LESS than what we normally get. Why was his check less? Because our health care has increased in cost. So we will now be making $728 a year less. On top of taking a $20,000 paycut in January and seeing a $5,000 decrease in our income due to the effective cost of rising healthcare last year.

So just to sum it all up, Steve is making $25,728 less this year than he has made for the past 8 years. I am back to work 2 days a week, which puts us actually better off in total than we were before (slightly), but now we are juggling me having to work on top of him consistently working more hours for far less pay. I know that I don't have to tell you about the increase in costs in food, energy and the like - our natural gas bill alone has gone up $684 this year. And we have added daycare costs to the mix.

And you know what we say to each other at the end of each day? "At least we are still employed." Others are not as lucky, especially in the construction industry.

This is a tough, tough time. According to CNN, the recession has not even hit Minnesota yet and it already looks tough. I am bracing for what is coming next.

Back to Heather's post - I hope and pray that people's change in lifestyle is not just a passing fad. I know that I will not forget this lesson in life. My changes are here to stay and I am making more and more. But, I know that life is overwhelming sometimes - kids in sports and activities, email, voicemail, snail mail, commercials, and on and on. It can be hard to stay the course.

The fact is we have to. This current situation is a huge result of excess - too much credit, too much consumption, more than we can handle. I am as guilty as the next person, or at least I used to be. This is a painful lesson, indeed, but we need to learn it. And I hope that we do. For good.

So, Federal Government, please stop trying to push more credit and issue stimulus checks - enough already. What we are doing is not working - so why do more of the same? Let's just take our medicine and make a permanent change to a more sustainable life.

And, people of America, be sure to share what you do have with others less fortunate - let's help each other get through this time and if we are careful to learn the valuable lesson in all of this, then life will be better in the end.

The Political Rally

photo by freemediagoo

I have never been very political. I have never been to a political rally, never volunteered for a campaign, never even had a lawn sign.

When I see news reports of those rallies, I reflect on how I have just never been THAT riled up to participate in a political rally of any sort. Who are those people - that motivated to hold signs, yell, protest and so on? Really?

To me, elections tend to wind up with me trying to figure out who the best of the worst are and voting for whomever I think will do the least damage. Cynical, but honest. I have always voted and I am a firm believer that you cannot complain about the state of things if you never voiced your opinion in the first place. I just have never seen anyone I believed to be completely truthful and trustworthy.

I have never been involved in city elections on any level, either. And I am embarrassed to say that researching down to that level has felt like more than I could handle, so my vote on city leaders has not been well researched until recent years.

Enter my husband. He generally agrees with me on that political craziness, but he is also on the local fire department, so he sees the inner workings of our city - good and bad. When our (now) Mayor was running for office, Steve got to know him and his ideas and supported him. When the city council failed to support a change Steve was rooting for, he got mad and wrote an editorial to our local paper. Some of the leaders of our community have sought him out and thanked him for voicing his opinion (which they share). Steve has made a place for himself in our city's next generation of active citizens.

Now I seem to find myself in the mist of political happenings. Recently we attended a rally for two men running for city council that we both support. Steve has been more and more involved, meeting and talking with various community leaders. Since he is on the fire department, he cannot serve on the city council (thank you!), as that would be a conflict of interest and he loves being on the fire department. I am thankful for that much. (We are insanely busy with four kids, two jobs and one volunteer fire fighter position. I don't think I can handle any more!)

I am not sure I want to admit this (especially to my husband), but I actually enjoyed the rally. It was a lovely day at our local park, and it was really nice to see familiar faces and to meet some new (to me) people in our community. Great people who have lived here a long time and helped to shape our city.

We now have two lawn signs. And my husband will be door knocking on behalf of one of the candidates. The mayor knows me by name and my kids think going to a political rally is something people just do.

I am not completely sure how I found myself in this situation, but I am slowly realizing that government is just made up of people. And while we do seem far removed at times, it really is up to us to be involved and active in voicing our opinions. On a national level, this still feels really overwhelming to me and I just am not sure who I can trust nationally. Even at the state level I feel cynical. But, locally, in our city, I can shake hands with the candidates, get to know their kids and families, and understand their views at a basic and more simplified level.

City politics don't seem too far gone to save. Other areas of government seem like such a lost cause - you wonder how any real change will ever be made! But, maybe being involved on a city level will show me the way to being involved on a grander scale.

Who knows? Maybe I will get more and more comfortable and move up in the world of political support. Maybe I will even find myself at a convention someday. Of course, I would have to commit to one party in that case...

I don't want to get too wild. I think, at least for now, I will have to take baby steps into the world of political involvement.

Chugging Along...

photo by jay

A while back I posted about how things were breaking down around us and we were doing well to fix things ourselves; read about it here.

Well, one of those things was our computer. The iMac we have is about 3 years old and seemed to stop working due to a lack of available memory. I purchased a larger hard drive and installed it - no dice.

A good friend of our offered to help us with the computer. He looked at it, tried somethings, thought that maybe this or that was wrong. It seemed to work in safe mode. We took it to the Apple store. Turns out it was our logic board.

As disgusting as it seems, the logic board costs more than the whole computer does. So, of course, as seems to be the case with everything these days, the Apple folks told us that it was not worth fixing the old computer and we should just buy a new computer.

Ugh.

Can I just say how sick I am of hearing that? Nearly anything that has a problem today, from our stove to our washing machine to our refrigerator is deemed 'disposable' - not worth fixing, cheaper to buy a new one and toss that one out.

Really?

How is it that my grandfather still has the pink oven from the 1960's working in his kitchen?

Thinking I was going to outsmart the system, we brought the computer back home and decided to live with it in safe mode. The only thing that seemed to be affected was the sound. Super - we are so clever!

Within twelve hours it had died. Dead. As in: Will. Not. Start. At all. Dead.
Rats!

So, we need a new computer.

Steve is resisting getting another iMac - this is the second one that we have had that had the logic board fail. I certainly see his point, but we have slowly saved and invested in Apple products that run our lives now - we have an AppleTV, I have an iPhone for work, we have an iPod, iPod Nano and an iPod Shuffle between me and the kids. All of our photos are on iPhoto and our whole life is tracked on iCal (calendar). *sigh*

So, here we sit, just chugging along using our laptop, which is really just bare bones and not set up to do all the things that we do in our home and life. It was really just meant to be used by the kids to type a school paper or for Steve or I to go online when the main computer was busy. So far we are about 8 weeks and counting without the main computer.

But, we are making do. Right now we have other expenses that are more urgent, including paying cash for Christmas. Hopefully by mid-November we will be able to put aside the money for the computer, but having charged things too often before, only to have something pop up and take our money away before we can pay off the charge, we are not buying the computer until our other obligations are met and we have all the cash ready and available to make the purchase. On our debit card.

Chugga - chugga - chugga - chug.

Wellness Journal Entry 10.26.08

Continuing to focus on the positive, I have been able to move down to one chiropractor appointment a week (it was two) and still feel very relaxed and tension-free in my neck and shoulder (Thank you, Dr. Carrie!).

This past week was a very crazy week, with all four kids sick and rendering both Steve and I both juggling work and sick kids at various points in the week. Poor Steve, though, still managed to get in over 60 hours at work this week. I did not fare as well, not even getting my 16 hours in. Never before has he made so little working so much - this economy is tough. But, given the news of layoffs and hard times, we are grateful to still be gainfully employed and are trying to focus on that positive fact.

Even though it was crazy, I found myself taking it in stride and just putting one foot in front of the other to get through each day. Despite the chaos, Steve and I managed to find some peaceful moments to connect, which made all the difference - it is lovely to have that feeling that you are not in it alone.

I have completely enjoyed immersing myself in all sorts of fun adventures, like making my own beef stock, planning for the holidays, seeing how long we can go without turning on the furnace, stocking up on meat for less, making my own baking mixes and (sneak peak:) learning to go without shampoo (more later...).

I also have managed to really take in the beautiful weather and changing leaves. This is my favorite time of year!

Free Insulated Grocery Tote - MN and WI Only

If you live in Minnesota or Wisconsin, go here to see how easy it is to find a Fairview Clinic in your area and register for a free insulated grocery tote.

We are Fairview clients and we are very happy with our clinic.

The tote looks very nice - I am excited to get it so that my eggs from Aldi can stay cold while I shop at Cub Foods, too.

Free Tote From Target

Trendy and good for the environment - a match made in heaven!

Read about how you can get your own Target tote for free at Norther Cheapskate.

Super Savings Saturday

Welcome to Super Savings Saturday the Leaving Excess Way!

My philosophy: keep it simple, make it quick and limit the trips necessary. If I am using my time, gas and energy to hunt down every deal, I wind up tired and leaving too much undone at home.

This week I carried on with my meat stockpiling and I went to Costco, CVS, Cub and Aldi.

CVS:

I bought $16.03 for $.09 and rolled my ECBs. See my scenario here.

Cub Foods:

More meat - a turkey and a ham; four pounds of bacon. Using my Grocery Game list, I bought $104.50 for $171.01 worth of food, saving $66.51, $32.85 was due to coupons, the rest due to shopping sale prices. Total savings was 39%.

Aldi:

Whole chickens were on sale at Aldi this week for $.79/lb, which beat Cub Food's
advertised price of $.88/lb, so I bought mine at Aldi. I picked up four
chickens, 3 dozen eggs, apples, chips, salad dressing and some snacks for
$32.69.

Costco:

It has been a long time since I went to Costco, mostly because it costs so much by the time you are done, even if the deals are good. Of course, I spent a lot, $149.28 to be exact.

I used some Costco coupons, saving $31.49 and stocked up on crackers, baking soda, chocolate chips, fish, chicken breasts, dog treats (buy one, get one free), milk, butter, frozen vegetables and some treats for the kids. I was able to buy a package of 30 candy bars at $.24 each - it is so much better to have a couple of those in the car, rather than getting stuck paying $.60 or more when we are running around.

Total spending for household goods and groceries (I am finished meat stockpiling) was $286.56 - wow - I have not spend that much in one week in a while! At least it was for over $400 worth of food and household supplies.

To learn more about using The Grocery Game, read here.

For more on how to save using coupons, read here.

For information on how to organize your coupons, read here.

Free Tacos at Taco Bell

Thanks to Becky for sending me an email about free tacos at Taco Bell!

Read about it here.

CVS Deals and Scenario: The Leaving Excess Way

CVS the Leaving Excess way - one simple transaction. The key to making it one transaction is to only buy what you really need and will use - not just getting whatever is free and letting it clutter up your house and your life. Not to mention the clutter of multiple trips and/or transactions on your mind, time and energy.

Here are the deals I see this week:

Spend $20 on items (medicine) on pages 12, 13, 14 or 15 and get $10 ECB.
The sale items are in these categories: immune support, cough/sore throat, nasal relief, complementary care, allergy relief, cold/congestion, flu relief, nasal care, solutions for kids, alternative solutions.

Prices vary - there are coupons out for Dimetapp for kids, Tylenol kids, Sudafed, and Airborne.

Final price: $10, less any coupons. See my scenario below for how I decided to work this deal.

Blood Glucose Monitoring Systems (see pages 16 & 17 of the ad):

November is National Diabetes Month, and if you need monitors, you can get 5 (count 'em, 5!!) for free using the Extra Care program, mail in rebates or both -see the ad for all the details
Final price: FREE (up to five)

SoyJoy
CVS deal: Buy four for $4, get $4 ECBs, limit 1.
Final price: FREE (or if you still have valid coupons, you could earn money on this one)

Bic Comfort3 Advance 4 pk.

CVS deal: Buy one at $4.99, get $4.00 ECBs, limit of 4.

Use: Manufacturer coupon for $2/1
Final price: MAKE $1.00.

My one simple transaction:

2 Bic comfort3 4-pk razors, $4.99 each
1 Airborne 10 pk., $7
1 NeilMed Neti Pot (I am so excited to get one of these!), $11
1 package Ricola lozenges, $2
I will use these coupons:
$2/1 Bic Comfort3 (2 coupons)
$2/1 Airborne

I will pay the total of $23.96 with $13.26 ECBs and $10.70 in change (plus any
tax).

I will get back $18 in ECBs.

So, I will get everything listed in this transaction for $5.96 in one transaction this week. Normally, that would be more than I want to pay, but I was planning to buy a neti-pot this season anyway, so I am getting 8 free razors, 1 free Airborne, 1 free bag of cough drops and the neti-pot for just $5.96. That works for me!

Looking for Input....

Hi there, Leaving Excess readers!

I have a quick question for you.

When I started blogging, I participated in Super Savings Saturdays at Money Saving Mom and CVS Superstars at The"Cents"ible Sawyer as a way to track my savings and review my week. It was helpful for me to see how I did and review my transactions for any errors or mistakes, so that I could learn how to do better next time.

Now that I have been doing the coupon/CVS/bargain hunting for a while, I don't feel the need to cover my week in such detail (for myself).

So, here is the question part:

Would you like to see the Super Savings Saturday/CVS Scenarios STAY or
GO?

What I am looking for is whether you find those posts helpful to your strategy planning or if you would rather see more of the usual content on reducing clutter, conserving energy, etc.

Thank you in advance for your input!

Reducing Clutter: Nasty People in Your Life

Last year I read an interesting book by Sylvia Brown, called Phenomenon. It explains her understanding of all things supernatural. I found it to be uplifting and spiritual, if not completely in line with my Catholic upbringing.

One belief that she shared was that our souls carefully plan out our journey here on Earth to help us learn new things and to advance our experiences and knowledge on the other side. Her belief is that your soul chose to have the challenges that it has here in order to learn something.

If that is case, my soul decided to learn from some challenging, hurtful relationships. Ones where I have had to draw a line in the sand and move one to avoid repeated nasty and disrespectful behavior.

These relationships have been in my family and in my friendships. Never in my work relationships, though - I have had amazingly meaningful relationships at work. And not with my husband (thank goodness!) - we surely have our points of contention, but at the core of our relationship we love and respect each other and make a point to share that daily. And, I would like to add that I do have some wonderful family relationships and friendships - not all have been nasty, of course. Just a couple - but those were tough to work through and it has occurred to me that maybe some of my experiences could help someone else out there struggling with the same issues.

I would also like to add that none of the hypothetical relationships I am about to highlight are representative of actual relationships in my life - in other words, I have changed the names (and relationships and gender - I will switch between he and she) in this post to protect, well, me and my family from stirring up any new gunk from the bottom of the pot. Plus, that it is not the goal of this blog to put out negativity, but positive, helpful posts. So here goes...

One of the most important lessons I feel I have learned so far is that when a person chooses to be nasty, it is really about her and her own insecurities. A lot of times a person looks on as you might be working hard to better yourself or your situation. Maybe you refuse to give up, challenge yourself to grow or take full responsibility for your life and your actions. It seems like very often, a person lashing out is doing so because he is not happy with where he is in life or what he is doing to change it. Maybe he feels helpless or confused about where to start. And truthfully, if he is spending his time comparing himself to others, then he is really in an excerise in futility - no wonder he feels inadequate and frustrated. But, in the end, it is his journey to figure out his life - you have been charged with figuring out yours. So leave that nastiness to him and continue to concetrate on the things that make you feel happy and fulfilled.

Another thing that has really helped me is to find like-minded people. I love reading blogs about other people who are trying to live with less, save money and pay off or avoid debt. I also like to read blogs about cooking, as it is something that I enjoy. It keeps me on target for my goals and sparks solid ideas for me to try to follow on my path. These daily affirmations in what I am doing help me stay the course when nastiness rears its ugly head. And, when I am challenging myself and growing, I feel truly happy and fulfilled, so I know I am on my right path.

I have found that I have less patience for unhealthy friendships than unhealthy familial relationships. I am somewhat stuck with family - I have to see them at least some of the time, for the most part. And, I want my children to be a part of the bigger family, so some keeping of the peace is in order. Don't get me wrong - I am not a doormat, but to get outraged about issues that really don't have anything to do with you (see the second paragraph up) is a waste of time and energy and there really is no solution - you can't make a person like that happy. Because I have a few of those family relationships, I am all spent when it comes to 'friends' that do not have my best interest at heart. It is good to know, because I can stop it right away and look for friends that do make a difference for me and me for them.

I had an outstanding teacher for a college course in Organizational Communication. She once explained that each relationship is like a bank account. The more good transactions that pass between you, the higher the balance is. Then, when someone makes a mistake and does something nasty or not nice (even if it was unintentional), there is a withdrawal. Some accounts get overdrawn - and you no longer are willing to carry on the relationship. If you just meet someone and see them being unkind - there is no account balance there - you are unlikely to cut them slack and instead will not build a relationship. On the other hand, if your brother does something underhanded, you may have more of an account to draw from - it may be noticable and painful, but you can weather the storm in that case. This analogy has really helped me to know when it is time to move on.

Know yourself. Sometimes I can feel myself assuming that things are intended one way, when that may just be my own interpretation due to my own insecurities or my own past experiences with a person. A lot of times, I ask myself if I really care what this person thinks. Most often, the answer is no. If it is someone that I love and trust deeply, whose actions and opinions I respect, then I will stop myself from feeling bitter and have an honest conversation with that person. I know that I am not perfect (that really stinks, by the way) and those who really do love me and want the best for me have information that can help me on my journey of self discovery and self improvement. I try to be open to that sort of thing - although it can be hard. And I never, ever, try to be open to someone that I even have the slightest feeling has unkind intentions. I have always been sorry when I allowed my guard to be down even though that sixth sense was saying "Nooooo, don't do it". I have learned to trust my intuition.

Try to avoid the situation as best you can. As I mentioned before, I have a couple of these situations within my family circles. I just try to focus on why I am at these events - ususally to celebrate a child's birthday, holiday or baptism. I try to spend time with the kids and time with family members whose company I enjoy. Because of these situations, my husband and I choose to make an appearance, but always keep our stay short - it just is not worth it for us to linger in an uncomfortable situation. We don't like it, but it is out of our control at this point.

When you are a person that believes in making the world a more positive place, it can be very hard to encounter people that seem to enjoy stinking things up. That negative attitude can be contagious. I encourage you to take the steps necessary to kill the germs and then avoid reinfection. You may try to have a conversation - just promise me that you will keep in mind that anyone who cannot honestly communicate with you and make an effort to come to a solution is either unwilling or unable to move beyond themselves. There is only so much you can do. Don't let the nasty disease creep into your life, too.

This posts participates in Living Simply Saturdays.

Frugal Experiment: Can I Use Up Beef Soup Bones?

photo by karen78130

I have baked multilayer cakes and frosted them from scratch.

I have made vanilla custard from scratch. Using real vanilla beans.

I have made homemade breads, Viennese Linzer Torte, Peppermint Ice Cream Torte and hosted a bridal shower with gourmet hors d'vores from a Martha Stewart cookbook.

I have even made chicken broth from scratch.

And yet, I was afraid of the humble beef soup bones that accompanied my side of beef in the freezer.

The first time I got them, I gave them to my mom, who was amazingly frugal in the kitchen while I was growing up and had used them before. As she says, "I was hungry, they were free, so I figured, I can make soup!" Go figure. The second time I got them, I gave them to my mom. The third time I was determined to use them. Someday. Everytime I went through the freezer - there they were. Lurking on the bottom, reminding me of my challenge.

I am proud to announce that I have conquered the mystery and successfully used up the soup bones. Holy cow, was I missing out on a great frugal deal!!

Of course, it was embarassingly easy. I used this recipe from AllRecipes.com.

Basically, I roasted the bones with some carrots and onions by simply placing them into a roasting pan and putting them in the oven for 60 minutes (mine were frozen, so I roasted them twice as long as the recipe called for). It smelled fantastic!

I followed the rest of the recipe (minus the tomato and parsley, as I did not have either on hand), simmering the broth for 6 hours. It smelled great and warmed the whole house all day long. (Victory! One more day without using the furnance.)

It was finished at 9 PM, so after catching Grey's Anatomy, I used a slotted spoon to remove the veggies, meat and bones. I had no idea that there was so much meat on those bones! I would guess that it was about four pounds of meat. Of course, the meat was very tender and fell right away from the bones. I just used two forks to shred the meat and remove the fat bits (ish, but I am saving money, right?).

Here is what I was able to yeild from one batch of beef stock:

I am very happy! I put the roasted veggies into two containers for my husband's lunches for work. I don't like my veggies that mushy, but Steve thinks it is great, so good for us! I left some of the meat in chunks and stored it with the vegetables. I ended up with enough for two hearty meals. I also had enough beef to make at least two pots of vegetable beef soup or to add to a casserole and a huge bowl of beef broth (the whole point of this experiment). Quick tip on the broth - let it sit in a bowl uncovered overnight in the refrigerator. The fat will solidify on the top and in the morning you can scoop off the fat and store the broth in the refrigerator (if you are using it soon) or the freezer (be sure to label).

All that from basically free (and otherwise unused) soup bones. Most excellent.

My conclusion: Making beef stock from soup bones is easy, tasty and very frugal! If your family eats meat, then I highly recommend it!

If you do not buy beef in bulk, you could ask a friend who does if they use their soup bones or check with a local butcher - I am guessing they would be inexpensive. If you try it, please let me know how it goes for you.

WFMW: Stair Baskets

This week, I have decided to participate in Rocks in My Dryer's Works For me Wednesday (WFMW) post.

This is what works for me: stair baskets.

Man, do I love these! Instead of running up and down the stairs all day long (although that would be good for my thighs), I can pile up things that need to go upstairs or down to the basement in the stair basket. When I am ready to empty them, I can carry them to the level I needed and put everything away at once.

Better yet, I can have one of my kids do it for me - THAT really works for me!

I found these by searching "stair baskets" online, and I think I settled on Amish made baskets. I was looking for durability. My baskets are over 3 years old and still look great.

To see what works for hundreds of other bloggers, check out Works for Me Wednesday at Rocks in My Dryer.

Get 20 Omaha Steaks for just $1.98!

UPDATE: The site has been changed so that the $25 code only works on orders over $100. So, it is probably only worth it if you already order from them anyway.

OK - this is a good deal! I am excited to try the burgers, too - I have never ordered from Omaha Steaks.

Here is the scoop:

Go to My Good Cents for the full details on how to get this deal. You need to register for Geigo deals (you do not need to be insured by Geigo) and you will be emailed a $25 certificate code (see the My Good Cents site for troubleshooting on getting your code; you need to be logged into the Geigo account you set up to get the proper code).

Once you have the code, you have two options:

1. Go through the Ebates site (find Omaha Steaks and click on see coupons for the 3 free gifts offer) and get 8 (5 oz.) burgers, a cutlery set and a cutting board for $1.98 (the cutlery and board are free when you sign up with Ebates - if you are not a member, click here and you will get $5 for signing up and so will I. If you order through Ebates, you will receive 6% cash back to your ebates account.

2. Go through the Share Omaha Steaks referral and get 8 (5 oz.) burgers and get 12 (4 oz.) burgers for $1.98 (the 12 burgers are free) through this link: click here (this is a referral site, basically you are invited to share in Omaha steaks and enjoy 12 burgers for free with any order).

The choice is yours - the reason the deal is based on the 8 (5 oz) burgers is because those are the least expensive item on the site, so you can try this deal out and the meat out with minimal out of pocket.

You can pick any item, but shipping is not cheap (shipping for me was about $13), and the $25 certificate goes towards both the meat and the shipping, that is how the total ends up being so low. If you buy something more expensive, then your cost out of pocket will be more (but still a good deal).

I chose option 2 and paid $1.98 total.

Enjoy!

A big THANKS to Frugal Dr. Mom for sharing this deal!

If you have any issues, leave a comment for help.

The Beauty of the Blog Roll

I just love blogs. I had never even read one until my friend, Michelle started her blog, Mom Is Broke in March, but now I am hooked. I love sharing my point of view, meeting up with like minded people and most of all, learning about such great topics from those who are farther along on certain paths than I am. If not for blogging, I would never know that you don't need shampoo, about the Diva cup (still not brave enough for that one) and that so many others across our nation (and the whole world) are also pressing on to live more simply and frugally.

You may have noticed my blog roll on the right side of my blog. It is a list of the blogs that I read, and as a new post is added, that blog moves to the top of the list along with the title of the latest post.

You may think I am posting these for you, and while I certainly do hope you enjoy these blogs as much as I do, it is actually for me.

I was spending so much time checking up on my blogs daily. I was disappointed when I missed a post or when I would check in and there would not be a new post. I tried subscribing via email, but there is a significant delay and I am a need-to-know-right-now kind of girl, especially for sites that have up to date money saving tips, freebies or offers - these go quickly. I have noticed a delay on the blog roll, but it is much shorter.

Another problem with email is that each time the author edits her post, you get a new email of it - even if it was just a spelling or spacing correction. I am working on limiting how much I do that, but sometimes you just don't notice an error until the post "airs". My apologies if you recieve multiple emails on my posts.

With the blog roll, when I check on my blog, I can see what is new and head over for a read - I love it! It saves me time, helps me stay informed and I can appreciate my bloggy friends when they have time to write and I have time to read. I can stay up on topics I am currently interested in and I can delete a blog when I have moved on from a given subject.

If you use Blogger and do not want a blog roll on your site, you can choose to be a Follower to your favorite blogs, finding the updates on your Blogger Dashboard. Look on the main dashboard page for the Follower information - just click the button to add a blog.

Another handy tip for staying in touch with your favorite blogs is in the comments section. If you want to follow the comments on a particular post - say if you asked a question or if people are posting their tips - you can subscribe to that feed via email and the comments will be sent to your email. I love using this - and you can easily unsubscribe to that post when you get the information you need, etc.

Happy reading and learning!

Library Organization

I have blogged about how great the public library is before, read it here. I love how you can get access to tons of stuff for free - it is a great resource!

However, after this overdue fee (yikes!):

I decided I needed to revamp our system for getting libary books back to the library on time.

Here is what I am doing. I use this bag:

We put the books, tapes, movies and magazines in the bag as we finish with them. I also keep the print out of what we checked out in the front zipper pocket of the bag, so that I can check to make sure that I have everything accounted for. I am also keeping my library card in that same front pocket, so that it is handy when I am at the library.

Our library offers an email service that will let you know when your books are within three days of being due and we can renew them online. I can also see what I have checked out, put new items on hold and search for books, CDs, DVDs and videos all online. I love using that because I find it difficult to search for items for me while also keeping track of the kids. Plus - everything I want is ready and waiting for me when I get there!

If your library does not offer an email reminder service, you can use LibraryElf - check it out, it is free.

Planning for Holiday Expenses

photo by lids14

With the chill in the air and discussions about dropping retail numbers hitting the financial news, I have started planning for our holiday spending.

I am paying all cash for the holidays, so that is why I am budgeting now, so that I can save what I need right away and be ready to go when I find some good deals. It is easy to just toss the purchases on a credit card, planning to pay it off in January, but life happens, something else comes up and next thing you know you are carrying a balance. So I am not leaving it to chance. Nothing is going onto the credit card this year. We are focused on paying off all our debt.

In my Leaving Excess way, I want to keep things simplified. I want to show genuine appreciation for all those great folks who make our everyday lives richer and I want to meet our family obligations (already agreed upon) for gift giving among our relatives.

I also aim to be done early in December, so that I can relax and enjoy the holidays - my favorite time of year!

Here is my plan:

:: For teachers, instructors, leaders, bus drivers, mail carriers, trash collection workers and far away relatives that usual send us a holiday gift, we are making some tasty holiday treats and packaging them in attractive containers that we already have (I will post my holiday baking list in the coming week or two, once I have it all nailed down). Also a possibility will be some bath salts (read how to do that here) or bath fizzy tablets (post coming soon).

I know some people argue that these little gifts we give to all sorts of people are out of hand, adding to all that holiday stress and expense. I firmly believe that the holidays are about sharing joy and good will, and making holiday treats with my kids is a great time for us to reflect on how blessed we are to have these people in our lives and to spend time together. These gifts do not have to be expensive or large, but I want to teach my kids about giving from the heart and how important it is to show your appreciation. These will be smaller sized, but hopefully each will know that we send them good cheer for the New Year.

Cost: $30 for shipping out of town, the rest will be worked into our grocery budget and the goods are made from scratch. I will cut back on adding to the stockpile if I am needing to buy a lot of ingredients for cooking the treats. We have about 25 of these people to give gifts to (we start early on the baking and freeze items until needed - look for the upcoming post on my holiday baking list).

:: For our extended family, we will be sticking to the budget that we all have always agreed upon. Name exchange on my husband's side: $220. Our agreed upon amounts from are at $50 per adult and $30 per child; we have two adults and four kids. We will try to be creative in gift giving with our parents, in an effort to keep the cost down, but they are generous with the gifts, so that is sometimes hard for us to feel like we are really reciprocating. My goal on this one is about $100 per parent. FYI - we have had a hard time sticking to that one in the past, so that will be a challenge this year.

On my side, we do not exchange gifts among the adults and the only kids are mine, so I feel better about the exchange if the kids give each couple a gift (two couples on my side, one on Steve's side that does not have kids) in return. This year, there will likely be some baking mixes, breads and cookies along with a thoughtful, useful purchased gift and possibly some bath treats. Budget for these gifts, $40 each.

Total cost: $540.

:: Christmas greetings and gift wrap. This year I received a gift of being able to send out cards through Send Out Cards; I will pay for postage, but I think it will work out to be affordable. I am budgeting $40 for holiday greetings. I have already purchased our holiday wrap as part of my daughter's school fundraiser and in shopping after the holidays at clearance sales, so no need to spend any more on that.

:: Gifts for our immediate family. Uggh. This is one where I say I am going to spend only $X and then it never looks like enough and either I or Steve panic and buy more at the last minute. To try and avoid that, I am going to stock up regularly on items they need and want and be adventurous in finding good deals. We'll see if it helps! Total budget for the six of us, plus gifts from Santa and in the stocking: $700. I feel it is a bit high, so I am hoping to come in under budget on this one, but I want to be prepared with the cash just in case!

:: Holiday decorations. We are pretty well stocked from years past. We have two artificial trees, and we usually buy one real tree, too. We will see if we can save elsewhere and still buy the real tree, but for now, my plan is to just use the two trees and keep it simple. Inside, I have a lot of decorations already, so we will just use what we have.

I also like to cut some evergreen from our bushes out side and put them into vases in the house - it helps get that Christmas tree smell in the house without the actual tree! We already purchased two wreaths for fundraisers, so that is taken care of. I think we need some lights for the outside, so let's say $20 for lights.

Total holiday budget: $1,330. No matter what I do, it seems to be sooo high!

Steve thinks this is doing well, and I agree that I have done about as well as I can, but if anyone has any other great ideas for keeping holiday costs low, please feel free to share with us! I would also love to hear what others have budgeted - please leave a comment about your spending plan.

Frugal Experiment: How Long Can We Go Without Turning On The Furnace?

photo by freemediagoo

Updated Note: I have signed on for Crunchy Chicken's Freezer Yer Buns Off Challenge - check it out!

I love a challenge. When I started my career, I was on the same audit each fall. All of us on the audit had a contest to see who could wait the longest before wearing a coat to work. Thanksgiving was the goal. I don't remember who won, but I do remember that it was fun and team building to try to make it in without a coat - sort of a rite of passage.

Just to put it into perspective - I live in Minnesota. The day I wrote this post it was 36 degrees at 7 AM. Brrr. But, we Minnesotans are nothing if not hearty, so we take pride in toughing it out during the winter.

Anyway, I am sort of too proud and stubborn to turn on the furnace. I have not done it yet this year, but many around me have. Although, last week my mother-in-law turned on the air conditioner (talk about a hearty Minnesotan!)... but I digress...

My theory with the furnace is that once it goes on, it stays on. It is just easier to leave it on then to worry about turning it off, then back on, etc. So, I figure that the longer I can avoid turning it on, then the more money I can save.

We opt for the budget plan, where we pay the same amount each month all year long for our natural gas. Last year it was $114. This year, in anticipation of higher gas prices, our budget has been raised to $171 a month. That is $684 more a year! That is A LOT of money. You better bet my goal is to reduce that amount. Last year I was able to lower it from $140 a month to $114 a month by reducing our usage. Let's see if I can do it again.

Here are some things I am doing to help keep the heat in and the cold out:

:: I am closing the blinds as soon as the sun starts to set. I believe that it helps keep the heat in, my husband thinks it is only psychological - whatever, it works for me.

:: On the flip side, I make sure to open up the blinds as soon as the sun is up, especially on the south side of the house - that sun really warms things up.

:: I am baking and cooking a lot, to eat at home instead of out, to stock up on baked goods and to benefit from the stove's warmth while it does it job.

:: If I have the windows open at all during the warmer days, I am careful to close them before it cools down. If I am leaving the house, then I close things up before leaving home. With the weather growing colder, it is easy to cool down a too warm house, but difficult to warm up a too cool house without the furnace.

:: When I close the windows, I am lock them in order to make certain that they are closed all the way and keeping the cool air out.

:: We have turned on our gas fireplace to warm things up a bit here and there. When we are home for longer periods, we have started a fire in our wood burning fireplace. We have a fan in the heat vent system that pulls the warm air from the fireplace and into the heat ducts, so we turn that on to help distribute the heat. We have not tried to heat the house with it for any longer amount of time, but I think we may try that as winter sets in.

:: We picked up an inexpensive (yet safe) electric heater at a garage sale - a friend's sale where we sold some things we did not need and used that money to buy the heater, in fact. We have not used it yet, but we can wheel it out to use in the cooler basement when we need to.

:: We all have warm pjs, blankets and bedding, so we can cuddle in at night. Even little Will wears warm socks and pajamas, in case he wiggles out from his blanket. Once he is in a bed and covered up each night, I will be able to turn the heat back even more at night.

:: We have our furnace and duct work cleaned and serviced each fall, to ensure that we are operating efficiently.

:: When we do laundry, we do the loads back to back so that the dryer can use the heat that has built up from load to load. I try to do the laundry during the day to help warm things up, just like I try to avoid using it during the heat of the day in the summer to prevent it from warming up the house even more.

:: When we are chilly, I encourage everyone to wear some slippers, put on a sweatshirt or come cuddle on the couch with a blanket and some popcorn.

:: I light candles. I have them anyway - who doesn't? Might as well use them! It helps the house smell good and feel warm and cozy.

My goal is to create the same fun 'game' that I experienced on that audit over 15 years ago. The kids are in on the challenge, asking each day when they get up in the morning if we made it another day without turning on the heat. Plus, they are excited to build fires and spend family time cuddled together.

This may be the least painful frugal experiment ever :>)

Super Savings Saturday

Welcome to Super Savings Saturday the Leaving Excess Way!

My philosophy: keep it simple, make it quick and limit the trips necessary. If I am using my time, gas and energy to hunt down every deal, I wind up tired and leaving too much undone at home.

Last week I took inventory of my freezer and noticed that it was nearly empty. I have been feeling the need to stockpile, and our side of beef order will be delayed until December. Last week I did not find great deals on meat, but this week I had a lot of success, scoring enough meat for 21-27 meals (depending on how the sausage ends up being used) for just $58.65 - that is $2.17 - $2.79 per meal for the meat - not too bad for a family of six!

I did not go to CVS again this week, as I did not see any worth while deals. I am hoping for a good fix this coming week...

Cub Foods:

Lots of meat this week! We are waiting on our 1/2 cow (coming in December), so we needed to stock up on some meat to tide us over until then. It is hard to see in the picture, but I bought 1.5 lb of steak, four packs of pork chops, four whole cut up chickens and 6 pounds of ground pork sausage.

There is enough meat here for 18 - 24 meals (depending on if I use 1 lb or 1/2 lb sausage at a time); I also bought a ham at Aldi (see below). Plus, some good old fashioned stockpile deals! The sausage and tomato paste will work well with the tomatoes I stockpiled last week, see here. We are still using up the remains in our freezer, so this meat is all for future weeks.

I also stocked up on some incredible shrinking ice cream, which was 25% off of it's usual $6.99. These are not in the photo, but I bought 4 gallons (yeah, do the math - $21!) I need to wean the family from ice cream...

On the bright side - 5 tubes of toothpaste FREE! Sweet - now we have 21 tubes of toothpaste. I am not kidding. All free. It is seriously time to plan some donations.

I spent $96.25 for $205.00 worth of food, saving $108.75, $71.00 was due
to coupons, the rest due to shopping sale prices. Total savings was 53%. Even the cashier said, "Do you know how much you saved?!" I love that! You know times are tough when even the cashier is excited to see how much you save...

AND, I remembered my reusable bags and received a coupon for $.17 off per gallon of gas at Holiday Station Stores! Yay - last week I saved $4.84 on 12 gallons of gas by using those coupons.

Aldi:

I stopped at Aldi before Cub, checking to see if better deals were to be had there on certain items and stocking up on my usual eggs, produce and dairy. I found that the canned mushrooms and jarred spaghetti sauce were less than the best deals at Cub, so I bought them at Aldi instead. I also bought a ham for $.99/lb. Steve has been craving some ham and scalloped potoates. I even had enough left over to indulge in Halloween sprinkles and cherries for the (shrinking) ice cream we bought at Cub.

Total spent at Aldi: $48.06.

Total spending for household goods and groceries (plus lots of meat stockpiling!) was $144.31.

To learn more about using The Grocery Game, read here.

For more on how to save using coupons, read here.

For information on how to organize your coupons, read here.

CVS Deals and Scenario: The Leaving Excess Way

I am back in the saddle with CVS. Here are the deals I see:

Brach's Candy: Pumpkins, Autumn Mix, Indian or Candy Corn, 10 oz.
CVS deal: Buy one at $1.29, get $1.29 back in ECBs, limit of 2, Sunday and Monday ONLY
Final price: FREE

Funlight, 6" smart light
CVS deal: Buy one at $.99, get $.99 ECBs, limit of 2, Sunday and Monday ONLY
Final price: FREE

Just for Men Touch of Gray
CVS deal: Buy one at $7.99, get $7.99 ECBs
Final price: FREE

Butler Toothbrush 2 pk.

CVS deal: Buy one at $3.99, get $3.99 ECBs

Use: Manufacturer coupon for $.75/1
Final price: MAKE $.75.

Listerine Agent Cool Blue Rinse, 500 ml.

CVS deal: Buy one at $4.49, get $3.00 ECB, limit 5.

Use manufacturer coupon for $.50/1.

Final price: $.99. (My oldest loves this - it will go in his stocking!)

Powerade 32 oz. selected varieties

CVS deal: Buy one at $1.69, get $1.69 ECBs, limit 1.

Final price: FREE

My one simple transaction:

2 packages Brach's candy
2 Funlights
1 Butler 2pk Toothbrushes
1 Listerine Agent Cool Blue
1 Powerade
I will use these coupons:
$.75/1 Butler toothbrushes (GUM)
$.50/1 Listerine Agent Cool Blue

I will pay the total of $13.48 with $13 ECBs and $.48 in change (plus any
tax).

I will get back $13.24 in ECBs.

So, I will get everything listed in this transaction for far less than $1.00 in one transaction this week!

A Timely Reminder

I read this quote in a magazine and thought it was a good point to remember.

Nature does not hurry, yet everything gets accomplished. - Lao Tzu

Hmmm. My heart wants to embrace it, but (of course) my mind is fighting it.

Here's hoping you have better luck with it :>)

Make It Yourself: Baking Mixes

Making brownies, cakes, cookies and breads from scratch is less expensive than using a mix, tastes better, and leaves out all those nasty preservatives and additives. You can even sneak in some wheat germ or flax (don’t tell my family).
However, there is one thing a mix has over baking from scratch - convenience. Using a mix is quicker and can be less intimidating if you are new to or uncomfortable with baking.

I like to make my own baking mixes, which are really just the dry ingredients of a recipe pre-mixed and stored until I am ready to be mix in the wet ingredients. You know how most recipes say, “Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl”? Well, do that and then just put the mixture into a container and store until you are ready to make the rest of the recipe.

Here is what I did a couple of weekends ago. Frustrated that I just could not seem to keep up with the baking needs of our family, but really wanting to make things from scratch and not spend money on convenience items, I decided to prep the dry part of my most made recipes.

I was in Costco, so I checked out the plastic containers. I found a set that I thought would work well for my purpose. I bought two sets for just under $50 total. Each set was about 36 pieces, including lids.

I was just beginning to hear news about BPA, so I tried to find ones that were labeled as BPA-free, but no dice there. Deciding that I really needed to move forward and did not have time for a lot of research (and clearly was only in Stage 1 of this Change), I remembered hearing that storing liquids in these containers was worse than storing dry ingredients (more of the chemical is released into liquids) and called it good for now. I washed the containers in warm, soapy water by hand and set them out to dry.

I started with the thing I make the most, our standard bread recipe, find it here. I mixed in all the dry ingredients except the yeast and put it into the container and labeled it. I stored the labeled containers in my cupboard. I repeated the process with my Cocoa Brownies, Zucchini Bread and Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins. I was able to make three batches of each.

During the past weeks, when I need to make more bread or use up the last of the garden zucchini, I have a head start on my to do list. I just mix up the wet ingredients, toss in the dry and stir. It has worked beautifully!

I recently read a tip in a friend’s cookbook, where the author (I think it was Robin Miller) said she spends an hour or two on the weekend mixing up dry ingredients and wet ingredients, storing them separately until needed later in the week and then mixing them together when she is ready to make the recipe. You probably would not want to do it more than 5 days or so in advance for the wet ingredients, but what a great idea for busy weekdays! I love to bake something at night or in the morning and I would be much more likely to do so during the week if I just had to dump two containers together.

Too Close for Comfort

On Sunday my husband pushed me out the door to go on that walk I am always complaining I never get to. It was a lovely day, unusually warm and a little breezy.

As I started walking down my street, I relaxed and listened to the music.

I did not get very far when I reached the house at the end of our street.

There it sat, a house once full of life and activity, dogs barking, teenager's cars parked in the driveway, the owner putting on his homemade golf green in the yard - now totally empty.

These people were like me and my family - they built the house ten years ago, lovingly cared for it; landscaping on their own - hours and hours planting, digging, hauling rocks. I have been in the house - it is beautifully decorated, painted in rich colors, elegant and comfortable at the same time. It is a nice house, but by no means extravagant.

Now it is empty.

About a month ago it was for sale for a couple of weeks and then they moved out - the sign gone. I had the sinking feeling that they lost the house, but that was not confirmed until a neighbor sadly told me that she had seen the house on a foreclosure listing.

He was a realtor and she had been at home, trying to start a business of her own. Obviously, they had been suffering the effects of the economy for a long time.

But, you see these people nearly every day, they wave when they drive by, you sort of assume things are OK.

I had no idea that while they were smiling and waving, they were probably living in fear and torment, knowing that they were losing their house. I feel so awful for them.

I will be the first to admit that I lean more right than left. I think you need to be responsible, pay off debt, work hard, etc.

But, it just does not make sense to me - here sits their beautiful home. Empty. They are off somewhere else, likely paying rent. And the bank has this empty house just sitting in a market that is not moving (except down).

Why couldn't they stay and pay "rent" towards the mortgage for now? Why should that house sit empty and face the potential of being run down with no one to care for it? At least if they were allowed to pay their rent towards the house instead of somewhere else, the bank would get something and when the market improves, maybe they would be in a position to renegotiate the mortgage and stay in their home. Maybe not, but at least there would be hope.

It just drives home (far too close to home, actually) the fact that not everyone losing their homes are doing so because they way over extended living a lavish lifestyle. Our neighbors did not have shiny new cars, a boat, a cabin or even a house worth millions. Their oldest son served in Iraq; when he came home he was different - they were working on helping adjust back to "normal" life. Many people facing foreclosure are decent, hard working Americans who have fallen on tough times.

I fear that while we sit and dole out $85 billion here, $32 billion there, $700 billion here and on and on, allowing executives from these companies spend $500k on spa weekends and keep their multi-million dollar salaries, we are selling out our humanity. We are missing the real people that need assistance and we are not being flexible enough to allow them the slack to work through the tough times.

Although I do understand that a tight credit market will eventually affect the lives of all of us, I fail to see how extending even more credit and debt will improve our current situation over the long haul. It just feels like more of the same. I don't see it providing a real, long term change to the way our society operates. It seems an easy way out. A quick fix. For right now.

With the house down the street empty, I can no longer drive home to the sweet haven of our neighborhood and forget about the outside world and its problems.

Things have gotten too close for comfort.

Alas, No Chickens for Us

It is so sad. Steve was checking out the city code for having chickens and it turns out that we don't qualify.

We have 2 acres, not the required 3. Bummer.

I just love the thought of cute chickens hanging out in our back yard, gathering and cleaning eggs with the kids, and well, lots of almost free eggs! I am sure I am romanticising this a bit, but I was excited about it just the same.

Oh, well. I guess we can cross find chicken coop, buy chickens, chicken feed and fence in an area for the chickens off our list of things to do.

Good thing eggs are just $.99 a dozen at Aldi!

Somehow it is just not the same...

Comfy At Home

Today was a rainy, rainy day. And after some unusually warm MN fall weather, it is growing colder. It was a long day, with work, auditors (well, just one), conferences and racing about.

As I cleaned up the house and prepared a snack for the kids after bath time this evening, I could not resist lighting some candles, closing the blinds and snuggling in with my family for the evening.

I love this time of year. Truly being a homebody, I love the feeling that we are in our cozy home, warm and safe and together as a family.

I hope this inspires you to light a candle and snuggle with the kids, pets or loved one (or all of them!).

If you are far from a loved one, I wish for you to feel their love and for you to see them soon.

This post participates in Living Simply Saturday.

Do It Yourself: Groom the Dog

Before I had a dog, I would have imagined that a lab or lab-mix dog would not shed much due to the short hair. Ha! As usual, I have learned that I was wrong. Big Time!

That pesky dog (in addition to pooping in our house at night on occassion) sheds like mad. It is this crazy, coarse hair that weaves its way into everything and just does not come out! "Oh, well at least you don't have that fluffy hair that floats endlessly", you say? Nope - got that covered with the cat. But thanks.

Anyway, back to my point. I love getting the dog groomed (washed, dryed, nails clipped), but do not love paying $44 (including tip) every month. Plus, the timing is always crazy with Will napping and kids needing to get to things, and now with me working, too. Dropping the dog off, picking him up or both seem to be just another headache in that given day.

My answer? Groom him myself! Now that I have been at it a few months, I think I have it pretty well down. And it just takes about 30 minutes once every 4-6 weeks for the main event - about as long as it used to take to drop him off and pick him back up again. But, I get to pick the time to get it done that works for me.

Here is what I use to groom our dog, Jake:

-a nail clipper for dogs

- the FURminator grooming comb

- shampoo (lucky us, our dog has sensitve skin)

- the leash and choke chain

- the garden hose

- a towel

- clotting powder (good to have if you cut the nail too short and it bleeds).

- one extremely reluctant dog (and husband)

This day was a nice, warm day - possibly the last of the season (which is what I say every warm day after Setpebmer 30th), so I decided to groom him outside. In the winter, I either use the garage (which has hot and cold water and can be heated) or the bathroom tub. The bathroom tub is messier, and since I have the luxury of the garage situation, that is usually what I use. But I would use the tub if I had to, I would just clean it afterwards.

First, I brush him with the FURminator. This thing is awesome! It is about $30 for a medium, but it really gets that undercoat off the dog (and cat) and it does have a money back guarantee (I think 30 days). I use it about once every two weeks, but I also do it before I wash the dog and after he dries off, when he is still really fluffy.

You do need to be careful not to remove too much of their fur - it can mess with their heating/cooling system and their protection from the sun. I usually just do it until I can tell that most of the loose stuff is off and his coat is smooth and shiny again. It takes about 5 minutes once you are on a regular schedule.

I have noticed that it can hurt the dog if you hit a joint or part of the body that sticks up or if you comb too hard. I try to use firm, smooth strokes in a straight line. I tend to focus on his back and his thighs, as this is where his thickest coat is. Here is just some of the hair (about half) that I got off our dog, Jake in about 5 minutes):

Next, my husband and I lay the dog on the ground and I put him and try to keep him calm and not moving around too much while Steve clips his nails. Steve hates this part of the job, but sometimes you just have to do what you have to do, right? Anyway, we start with the front paws and clip the nails (see a good, detailed explanation of how to do it here). If you cut too short, the nail will bleed. To stop the bleeding, use a clotting powder (we bought ours at the pet store for under $10) like this one (note - that is just an example - get it anywhere you want!). You just dip the dog's nail into the powder like this:

As you can imagine, a little goes a long way, so you do not need much unless you are aiming to become a professional groomer.

Finally, we move on to Jake's favorite part (not!), the bath. Jake loves when I use the hose, because our well is about 250 feet deep and after a while that water is COLD. How do I know? Well, I usually end up quite wet from the bath. My advice: dress for the occasion!

I put on his collar, attach his leash, give him room to stand comfortably, but not enough to get out of my reach and I step on the leash to keep it in place. He is completely comfortable, but stuck by me so that I can get the job done. Be sure your dog is comfortable enough to breath and stand up straight if you do this.

I rinse him off with the hose to get him wet. I apply the shampoo (it goes on easier and spreads better if I mix a bit of water into the bottle). I scrub him well, making sure to get his underbelly and his legs, all of which get dirty when he lays outside. I wash his tail (he is super freaky about anyone touching his tail - nut case!) and then I rinse him off. It helps if I run my hand over his body to sort of push the water and soap off, that way he does not have to be wet as long and the job goes more quickly.

Once we are all done and Jake has shaken off the water ten zillion times and we are both soaked, then I use an old towel to dry him off and get most of the water off his body. He seems to like this part. Then I take off the collar and he races around like a maniac. Then he finds a sunny place in the grass to lay down and dry off. Slightly tramatic for a while, but he gets over it.

By that night, he is dry, fluffy and smells great! If he is still shedding a lot, then I brush him again that night.

I also make sure to wash his dog beds, so that those are clean and free of the hair, too and he does not pick up all that dirt and hair again.

So, there you have it - dog grooming 101. I do not have a dog that needs to be trimmed, but I am willing to bet that you could figure this out with a bit of practice - and a doggy outfit to cover up your early efforts :>)