Thursday, April 14, 2016

This Week's Shopping Trips

This has been a week.  My husband has been having problems with his sinuses the last couple of weeks, which led me to being paranoid and asking him repeatedly if he was sure it wasn't his teeth.  He kept assuring me that his last six teeth that haven't been capped yet were fine.  Well, unfortunately, the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach ended up being right.  We ended up at the dentist on Tuesday, which thank goodness my husband followed his instincts because his tooth wasn't hurting very bad, so he kept thinking maybe it was just a pinched nerve in his back or something.  Nope.  Turned out he needed a root canal by the X-rays, but they were hopeful they could save the tooth (which is good since he's already missing a couple of molars on that side).  They went in only to find that the tooth was infected, so they had to pack it full of antibiotics and my husband goes back next week to see if they can save the tooth by the root canal or if it is too far gone and have to extract it.  I'm praying, even though it will cost a lot more, that they can save the tooth at this point for the sake of my husband's bite, but it's up to God at this point.

So started the week.  We had to run around to find pain killers for him as a couple of pharmacies were out of stock.  We finally found one, but we had to drop the prescription off and wait for it, so we ended up eating out that night so the kids didn't have a meltdown.  And we had to eat out for lunch the day my husband went to the dentist because he was so tense his muscles started to spasm and the dentist was worried low blood sugar might have been part of the problem. 

And this is going to be a low paycheck this week.  My son outgrew all socks and underwear in a couple of days, so we had to go on a sudden excursion to get those.   My son was sick today from school because he just wasn't acting like he was feeling well.  And something happened to my husband's foot where he woke up with it so sore he can barely put weight on it and the muscle is just stiff as a board in his foot, so he's been hobbling around this week trying to work on paperwork or anything he can to get some much needed hours in, but there just isn't a lot of work to be had right now.

So, in short, my appetite has been kind of shot this week.  I'm exhausted already because my son hasn't been liking sleep much, but then the worry for my husband with his tooth and foot, the worry over if my son is coming down with something again and just general worries over money and trying to figure out how to make the rest of this year not turn out as badly as last year monetarily and paying bills with no money in savings...it's just making me feel more tired which I didn't have any energy to begin with due to lack of sleep and the darned cough (allergies are making it flair with me) that is still making me miserable. 

So, really, I had to send up a big "thank you" to the Lord above for making me be with it enough to go through the ads today, figure out grocery shopping and hit two stores within an hour while my son was at therapy (when we picked him up is when he really started looking like he wasn't feeling good).  And hey, I did good overall!

The photos are going to seem odd as I conglomerated both shopping trips into the photos, but they are still split up into two photos.  This is because I didn't feel like hauling Coke bottles upstairs that would go back downstairs into the pantry, the same with the cereal and the other stuff on the stairs.  So, yeah, sorry if it gets confusing here.

I went to Fred Meyer and Carrs today.  At Fred Meyer I got Doritos (3.50 per bag on sale), Goldfish whole grain crackers (my son's newest obsession, which is definitely preferable to Cheetos), wet cat food, limes (.33 a piece on sale right now), celery (because I needed it and it was cheaper per lb than Carrs) and cabbage (for a corned beef dinner next week as it was a nice GREEN looking cabbage, which was a great change of pace :).  My friend gave me a couple of her Friday freebies, so I picked those up while I was there (thanks for the freebies, Stephanie!).  I missed the Tum-E Yummy freebie last Friday, which was okay with me as I knew my kids wouldn't drink it, but after looking at the color and everything I'm thinking it might work well to flavor some snow cones this summer as a treat for the daughter.  The Doritos mix I'm going to try at therapy on my son (we tried a previous flavor that went over so-so with him) to see if I can get him engrossed with new shapes of chip, thus hopefully leading to things like eating home made crackers with cheddar powder on them or something.  I also picked up cat litter (seen in the photo below) as there was a 2.00/1 peelie on it and after I checked out I realized I had a 2.00/1 E-Coupon loaded as well so I got the container for 6.99.  I really like this brand of cat litter (and I've tried many through the years), so I was happy to get it cheap.  And I bought a container of Seventh Generation laundry soap as it does seem to be helping my son's skin (in combination with other things I'm sure) and doesn't make him itch when it's on his blankets.  It was on sale and I was running low, so I grabbed it.  I also grabbed a gallon of milk as it was cheaper than regular price at Carrs (seems weird that I got milk at two different stores?  Read on).
I then ran to Carrs and got Coke for my son for the week (1.49 per 2 liter bottle when you buy 5 this week) and cereal (buy 4 for 12.00 and you get a free gallon of milk).  Cinnamon Toast Crunch is the ONLY flavor of cereal he'll eat to date, so I'm really working on getting him to eat it so hopefully we can get him to eat more things (like apple slices) with cinnamon sugar on them.  I would normally have bought the big family sized boxes of Cinnamon Toast Crunch and just bought the milk separate, but they raised the price of the family sized boxes by 3.00, so it was more cost effective to buy the cereal and get the milk for free this time around.

So, all totaled for the week after coupons (I had a 1.50/3 coupon for the cereal and things) I spent a total of 63.40.  I went over by a few dollars, but I stocked up on Coke (we really didn't need it yet, but the price was right), so I'm not complaining.

How did you do this week?  Find any good deals?

22 comments:

  1. One store around here had a deal where you bought 4 boxes of cereal for $10 and then got 2 gallons of milk or 2 cartons of eggs, or mix and match, for free. I did it twice. My nephew, who is quite picky, was off his meds while he was here, so was starving. He ate most of a box of the Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal during the 2 days. It's something I don't usually buy, so I was very glad I had it. Because he is so small for 8 years old, we try to get him to eat when we can.

    It sounds like you've had a rough week. Hopefully, it will cheer up. It's hard when everything comes at once.

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    1. Wow! I can see why you did that deal twice! I would have done it too. That is an amazing sale!

      I understand about feeding the small child anything they'll eat. My son used to be so thin that he looked like he'd blow away at a moment's notice, so we were kind of thrilled when he got a little bit of "normal fat" on him. We joke that he's getting pudgy, because for him he is even though he's solidly in average for weight (95th percentile for height though). I'm always amazed he grows so huge in height and everything with how crappy his diet is.

      My daughter I tend to coddle a bit because her stomach condition hit her hardest in 1st grade in the middle of a growth spurt for her so I think it stunted her growth a little bit. Now a days she's one of the shortest kids in her class and it bothers her and she's tiny all the way around. So, if there's something she likes I try to get it for her within reason (like she loves chocolate pudding, so that gets put into her school lunches almost every day).

      I'm glad you had the cereal for your nephew. Sometimes getting kids to eat will give you ulcers, so having things that he'd actually eat must have been a huge relief :).

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  2. I am so sorry that your family has been dealing with so much. I'll be praying for your hubby with his teeth and with that foot that is giving him problems. My foot did that a couple of times and I just had to let it work itself out. This might sound strange but once I started eating a banana a day, I have not had that same problem. I wonder if it has something to do with having low potassium levels and the banana took care of that?

    This has not been a grocery shopping week for me as such. We have much in the house already but I did pick up a few random things at the Grocery Outlet store over the weekend. I used my "fun money" so it did not come out of the grocery budget. My biggest purchase there was a big bag of rice since we are almost out.

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    1. Thanks for the tip on the bananas. I'll pass that along to my husband. If nothing else at least it's something cheap to try :).

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    2. Strawberries also have potassium in them. I know you bought them not that long ago for your daughter. If the prices are good, it's another option.

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    3. Yeah, they weren't on sale this week, so I didn't buy them, but I'll definitely keep my eye out for that. Thanks for the tip!

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  3. Erika, you AMAZE me
    I really enjoy reading your blog. Is your husband in construction? He's lucky to have such a budget conscious wife.

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    1. Yeah, my husband is an electrical contractor. He works for a family owned business owned by his dad, so it lends another layer of complexity to the matter *laugh*.

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  4. Great shopping, Erika! At least you were able to buy a few stock up items while they were on sale. Also, you have a nicely stocked freezer of meat. It all might help you in the near future if you need to cut the food budget for a week or two to catch up with low paychecks. I'm sure it will all work out, so don't get too stressed over everything. Where there's a will, there's a way!

    My shopping this week has focused around buying appliances. Nothing grocery wise to report yet for us. Now that my husband is back to work (he's a cook and eats at work for free), we have one less person to feed which will make a huge difference. We're well stocked at the moment, though I always shop the sales to keep us well stocked.

    Try to get some sleep as best you can, Erika. Remember the panic and worry is most likely a secondary symptom of sleep deprivation. You'll think better and come up with a plan once you're more rested.

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    1. I'm sure sleep deprivation isn't helping. Unfortunately today I have two kids home sick...son with a snotty nose and obviously sore throat and a daughter with her stomach issues kicking into high gear. So, no rest for the wicked. No wait...no rest for the weary. Yeah, that's what I was looking for *laugh*.

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  5. Between no sleep, your husband's teeth and foot no wonder you are stressed. Hopefully things will start to settle down and you get some sleep. I know your costs on most food is higher but this week our store had general mills cereal or nature valley granola bars 4 packs of bars or boxes of cereal for $8.00 with a savings for $2.00. I also had $2.00 in coupons that lowered the cost to only $6.00 for four. Cheryl

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    1. Wow! There's some great sales going on around this week! 6.00 for 4 boxes is a great deal! Good work on that!

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  6. I'm a rather new reader of your blog(3 weeks maybe) and have never commented before. Your posts are very encouraging to read...you have such strength of heart and an incredible attitude and it's warming to my heart! It's been a tough year for us with a diagnosis of early onset Parkinson's for my husband. God is amazing that he is still working and the disease seems to be slowly progressing. We have five children and shop thrift stores for everything! I am so grateful God has placed us in a vicinity close to many food (dent and bent) type good stores as well. Wow! This got long! Sorry! Just wanted to say how much your happy heart boosts MY heart.

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    1. Thanks for the kind words :). I'm so sorry about your husband's diagnosis. That's a hard one to deal with and I pray that the disease goes REALLY slowly for him. Thank goodness that modern medicine has come a long way to help with it along the way, anyway.

      God is indeed amazing and He impresses me more and more everyday :). I'm glad that you are living in a vicinity where you have access to so many different stores to help you out in the saving money department. That's got to be a comfort.

      And as for long...bwahahahahaha! You should talk to some of my friends. I believe "long winded" is the most common way they describe me, so feel free to go off on any tangent you want. I love to read :).

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  7. I think everyone is having a rough week. Sounds like it anyway. My aunt passed away yesterday afternoon. I realized in less than 3 years my uncle has lost his dad, his mom and now his wife. There stress from it has been almost crippling for me since Feb, trying to act like no big deal and sheild stuff for my kids while being normal. The oddly enough, the first night in a week that my itchy little boy was actually snoozing, and id started to sleep, my phone went off at 130am a neighbor insisting someone was prowling around her house, and her husband didnt care. So my husband looked, ithink texted her it was all in the clear...abd find out she was drunk, and didnt remember a thing. But that was enough to wake up my little man who scratched himself bloody on his tush and thighs and kept us both awake. Theres been all kinds of other stuff, but a few days ago my husband started getting worried about our vans transmission, so how thats going to work is beyond me. I got a Saturday work offer for tomorrow though, so splitting the money between a hospital bill (still not gotten it yet from our frantic easter ER visit with my son, but ive one from rockey mtn spotted fever ive been paying off) future car repairs and emergency savings.

    I did my shopping today too. Nothing too great of a deal, but I decided darn it, its been a rough few weeks and we are going to watch a family movie (Honey I Shrunk the Kids) (im the only one whose seen it!!) And so i bought stuff to make sliders, and potato salad, and found a small 50% off cake in the deli so we are going to have a great night.

    I did have a bright spot today, sold some old clothes and books to the once upon a child and they actually gave me $63.55. I nearly fell over in surprise. Putting anything from that, and the yard sale we are planning for family summer fun.

    I hope things get better for you. These are the times that try mens souls. Lol. My favorite quote for these times.

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    1. I'm so sorry for the losses in your family. I feel for you as I lost my dad, my grandfather and my husband had a really scary near death incident all in the span of one year. I was super close with my dad and my grandfather and I had grown close over the years, so it was really hard having that much loss in a year.

      Luckily my kids were little at the time, so the various crying spells and emotional break downs I went through during that year they don't remember much of.

      I hate to say it but I would have flipped out on my neighbor if they had done that...I don't take drunken calls very well. I remember getting a call at 4:00 am the morning after being in the ER with my daughter till about 2:00 am and the woman being super nasty that I'd called her home phone at 11:00 the night before. I was nearly drunk with exhaustion and kept telling the lady that I hadn't called her and she kept insisting that I did until I blew up at her, said some choice words and I snarled that I'd been in the ER with my daughter till two am so how could I have called her home phone and caller ID isn't always right you know. Not my proudest moment, but the woman gave a stumbling apology and finally hung up the phone. Why is it that calls always come in like that when the last thing you want to do is deal with them? I'm sorry your husband had to go over and check out something like that for no reason at all :(. And your poor kiddo...I so totally know how that went down as I've dealt with that scenario my son's entire life. Sorry that had to happen the one time the kiddo was actually trying to sleep.

      Good for you for doing the movie night...sometimes you just need to blow off some steam and just have some fun. I have both of my kids home today (daughter had stomach episode this morning and son having sinus issues) and I decided that after this week I'm making cake for dessert...one for the kids with chocolate frosting and a lemon cake for me with cream cheese frosting. Yup, it'll be a lot of cake and I might end up freezing some and I don't care *laugh*.

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  8. I wish I could give you a hug. I really feel for what you're going through. I am cranky when I don't sleep well so your family should count their blessings that they have someone like you not someone like me. 😀

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    1. *Laugh* ooohhhh I've been cranky, I'm not gonna lie. I've definitely been getting frustrated easier than normal, which I know from experience is the lack of sleep, but I just tell my kids that they are going to have to deal with mom being a bit cranky until she can clock in at least six hours of straight sleep and just apologize for it. Sometimes you just have to realize that yup, you're cranky, and give yourself a break as there really isn't a lot you can do about it :).

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  9. hi you sound like you are handling all the problems very well. mothers tend to worry about everyone except themselves. If you aren't ok it usually means the family aren;t, so try and relax. just wondering if your son drinking coke has something to do with the itching/ allergies. not trying to be negative but soda has lots of stuff that is bad for us. ann

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    1. I don't think that the Coke is doing it to him, although I totally get that concern. For about a year his skin was pretty much clear, but something happened that made his eczema flair and rinse lather repeat when it comes to eczema.

      I'm actually rather pleased right now. We've had him off the Zyrtec for about four days now and his mood is improved over what it has been. I've also started giving him epson salt baths as I was reading up on magnesium deficiency and figured that putting epson salts in the bath couldn't hurt. And it really does seem to be helping and he's enjoying bath time a lot more. I'm kind of hopeful that we can get his skin cleared up here soon if I can keep up the epson salts.

      If the Coke is helping to make him flair, which I'm not going to discount that idea at all, there really isn't much we can do about it at this point until we can work him into drinking something else that is a bit healthier, so we are just going to have to put up with it for now. Not ideal by any means, but it is what it is.

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  10. Hi. sorry I hope you didn't think I was criticising. My daughter had excema as a baby for a few years. she had lots of allergies to food and had to wear natural fibres, also washing powder was a problem. so no scented powders or softeners. I washed clothes with sunlight soap. eventually she outgrew it. hopefully that will happen with your son. keep up the good work. Ann

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    1. No, no, I hope you don't think I was being nasty. Sometimes I come across as confrontational when someone gives advice and I don't mean to...it's instinctive as a special needs parent :).

      I totally get where you are coming from. We've had a bunch of allergies over the years. My son's list was peanuts and garlic (life threatening on both of those), oats, coconut and coconut oil derivatives, lanolin and some others I'm not thinking of right now *laugh*, but yeah I was down to making home made soap without coconut oil in it for him to bath him with and wash his hair. I found that Seventh Generation free and clear laundry soap and dish soap were the only two things that wouldn't make his eczema worse, so I used those for pretty much anything household related. My daughter also had a corn allergy, so I had to use apple cider vinegar to clean with instead of white vinegar. And that wasn't even on the eating front...I made everything and I mean everything. People have no idea how much stuff garlic is in until you have to cut it out of your diet. I was so happy when we lost the bad ones to deal with (corn and garlic). The peanut is worrisome for sure, but is at least declared on packages, so I don't have to track down what is in a particular company's cheese powder or something :).

      We still don't use fabric softeners or anything. Ha. I just realized it has been nearly a decade since we had laundry soap with scent in it or fabric softener. Kids. What can you do :).

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