Friday, October 14, 2016

Frugal Friday: Money Saving Weekly Recap

Sorry about the combining the shopping and Frugal Friday posts, but I did go shopping today, so it kind of makes sense.

This has been kind of an off week.  My son had kind of a rough week at school, which led me to basically sit on pins and needles waiting for calls from school about how he was doing this week.  Why he was in a bad mood?  I'm not really sure.  I suspect because he got picked up early a couple of days last week between flu shots and his sister's stomach acting up, but this week he didn't get picked up early at all and I wonder if the longness of the week started to wear on him?  Bright side is that there have been a couple of days this week where he has actually verbalized a LOT more than before in the way of words.  He called me "mom" three times in one evening (normally as close as he gets is "mama") , tried as hard as he could to say "Coke" when I kept telling him no on the talker about wanting soda too late at night and he even said "night, night" while shaking his head and grinning like he was getting away with something.  It was an upper to hear for sure, but with the way his school days were it didn't lead to a lot getting done around the house.

I went and got my blood drawn at the health fair one day (which luckily my son didn't melt down until the afternoon that day and his teachers were able to handle it) this week and had an experience.  The gal who was taking my blood pressure after the blood draw proceeded to crush my left arm three times with one of those automatic blood pressure cuffs that always feel like they are trying to take your arm off (you know the ones).  This was after I asked her (nearly begged her) to not take it on my left arm due to my arm issues and the fact I'd just had my blood drawn from that arm as that was the only spot the nurse was able to find a good vein to draw from, but she had refused saying she couldn't get a good blood pressure from your right arm.  Then she took a manual blood pressure.  She then proceeded to lecture me that my blood pressure was high and that I was obviously not exercising enough and my diet was obviously bad and I was in per-hypertension.  Honestly, after waiting in line for two hours to get my blood drawn, getting a decent amount of blood drawn too boot, and fasting for 18 hours all I wanted was something to eat and some pain killers for my now TERRIBLY throbbing arm, so I asked her what my blood pressure had been expecting it to be terribly "panic inducing" type of high and worrying I'd have to go and get in to see my doctor quicker than I thought (which I've never been that high blood-pressure-wise in my life, but there's a first time for everything). 

No joke my blood pressure was 121/83. 

When she wanted to take my blood pressure again I told her nicely that if she put that cuff on me again I wasn't going to be responsible for my actions as the agony was starting to set in and at that point I was just done with the entire process.  So she then started to lecture me about health changes I needed to make to get my blood pressure down...note...this did not help my blood pressure.  I finally stopped her mid-sentence, told her I'd had my blood pressure checked twice in the last month and it had been fine both those times, due to the amount of pain I'm in my doctor explained to me my blood pressure might be higher than normal and to be prepared for it, and told her I would be seeing my doctor with the results and if someone was going to lecture me I'd prefer it be MY doctor, thanks.  She shot me some severely dirty looks, but I walked away without her having any bodily harm done to her, so I felt pretty good about that (as my arm was throbbing in time with my heartbeat and I could barely move it at that point).

Anyway as a result of that abuse my arm has been killing me since then, so I have been forcing myself to do a load of laundry and a load of dishes every day and finally forced myself to vacuum the upstairs yesterday despite the pain just to keep my shoulder moving so the frozen shoulder doesn't get worse (bicep tendonitis OR the frozen shoulder clearing up would be great, really).   I can barely lift plates up to put them into the cabinet, let alone getting things like sewing and things that would require me to lift my arm for any length of time, done.  Annoying to say the least.

But anyway, the blood work for a full female health screen blood panel was 150.00 at the health fair where if I'd gone to a cheap lab it would have cost me at least 300.00, so hey, at least I saved 150.00 *laugh*.

So onto other money saving things!

1.  While at the health fair I hit some other exhibits after getting my blood drawn, most notably was the pain ease outfit that was right outside the blood draw room and was giving away bottles of water and protein bars.  I, and others, drank bottles of water while waiting in line and I pocketed the protein bar, which I dug into as soon as I was done with the blood draw stuff.  Some other finds was a pamphlet from the Autism Resource Center that has a library you can borrow from that they run, which might very well come in handy, some free pens and a couple more free granola bars and a free thing of fruit leather.  It helped to tide me over until I could get something more substantial to eat.

I also walked away from the loads of free pens people had up for offer as I already have a ton around the house and didn't need anymore.

2.  Shopping trip recap (part of which is seen above...the other picture didn't turn out as I think I turned off the camera too soon after taking it).

I spent a total of 72.00 on groceries this week.  This was over what I wanted to spend, BUT the reasons were this (read:  Darn I overspent, but I got such good deals I'm sorry, I'm not sorry).  I found that my daughter's flavored water was on sale, unadvertised that I could see, for 2.00 a package, so I picked up 4 (that's nearly 1/2 the normal price) as that will last us quite a while in school lunches.  The other find was our local bulk store Three Bears, when I stopped in looking to see how much milk cost (I ended up going into town when I saw what they wanted for a gallon of milk) I was walking by the meat section and saw an end cap with HUGE logs of frozen hamburger in them.  10 lb logs to be exact.  The hamburger was 73/27 quality, but the logs were only 16.00 and some change for the ENTIRE log!  1.60 per pound for hamburger???  I was SO there.  If I'd had more room in the freezer and more money I would have bought more.  My plan is to mix the high fat hamburger in with ground turkey or pork (you know, lean meats) and using it that way.  Either way, I'm THRILLED to have found a deal like that on beef!

So when it came to the rest of the shopping I went to Fred Meyer and Carrs this week.  I FINALLY found the "Hummus Made Easy" kits at Fred Meyer so I got that.  My friend gave me her freebies, so I got those too while I was there (the Airheads, double Belvita Bars and the other Hummus Made Easy kit).  I'm kind of looking forward to trying the Belvita Bars and the Hummus Made Easy kits as they look interesting and would normally be outside of my price range to try.

I was going to go to the European Market to get yeast today, but I found carts full of discount bread items at Fred Meyer and just got a loaf of bread there instead as I just finally admitted that making bread was going to hurt to do with my arm so bad (even kneading it to put it into bread pans didn't appeal at ALL right now) and I didn't want to do it if I could get out of it.  For the like .83 the bread cost it was worth it.

The hard rolls were on clearance as well for 1.79.  These are going to be made into meatball subs for dinner and lunches (if I can find room I'll probably freeze some of the rolls to use later).  The hamburger and hotdog buns are for my son for lunches and dinners and such (he'll only eat the tops of them and I turn the rest into bread crumbs and stuff).  I also got a 24 pack of wet cat food with flavors my cats actually like for 6.67 on clearance.  It had some dented cans in it, but they were all okay when I opened it.  I added it to my cheap cat food I already had for some variety as the cats are glaring at me every time I open the same flavor of cat food for the third time in a row.  I also got a bag of Luvsome dry cat food as I had a 1.00/1 E-Coupon loaded for it and I was out of dry cat food (it was 3.00 and some change after coupon). 

I also found some unsweetened Baker's Chocolate for 1.69 per box (they were dented).  I got two for holiday baking and other things as they are one of the chocolates that are safe for my son's peanut allergy.

All totaled I spent 18.53 at Fred Meyer.

At Carrs I went and got some sale items that were cheap with coupons.  I got a 64 oz thing of Sunny D for 1.29, or something close (I don't have my receipt in front of me for exacts on change there), not seen as it was in the second picture that didn't come out.  I got Goldfish for 1.49 per bag with in-ad coupon (it was cheaper per ounce than the big containers were at the current price for the big thing of them), big things of string cheese for 4.99 with in-ad coupon combined with manufacturer coupon.

Right so tangent/off topic from the shopping trip at this point.  The string cheese is going to be used for dinner in the coming months and I wanted to share this trick as it is SO simple and so tasty!  Remember the manicotti noodles I ordered from Amazon?  Well, take whatever baking dish you want, size up how many manicotti noodles will fit and then cook the manicotti noodles to package directions.  Drain and cool and then pour a small amount of your favorite tomato sauce (or pasta sauce period I guess) into the bottom of the baking dish and spread around.  Place the manicotti noodles into your baking dish, but stuff each with a piece of string cheese as you go.  Top off the manicotti with the rest of your tomato/pasta sauce and more cheese to melt over the top (I buy the small blocks of mozzarella when they go on sale cheap and just keep them in the fridge for ages to grate up for something like this).  Super easy and believe it or not super tasty!  I had gotten the idea from a recipe off of Money Saving Mom that she linked to years ago if I remember correctly.  The original recipe called for ground meat, lots of add ins and things though and by doing it with just the tomato sauce on top I find it makes a really good meatless meal to make.  No matter how many times I make it for people (for funerals or new babies, etc) they always ask me for the recipe as it's a crowd pleaser. 

I also got some Pillsbury orange rolls while I was there as they were on sale for 2.50 each.  These keep in the fridge for quite a long while and it is kind of an easy breakfast to pull out for something special.  These ones I got with my eye on Thanksgiving and Christmas mornings to serve, but we'll see if they last that long.

I got my son some Golden double stuft Oreos for 2.49 as a treat for his lunches.  Since he only eats the center out of the Oreos, I tend NOT to buy them unless they are on sale cheap.

I also, for the first time in a long time, had to get paper towels.  I got Brawny paper towels as they were on sale for 5.00 for a big pack of them for the 5.00 Friday this week at Carrs.  Worked for me.

3.  Today saw my husband having some tales of frugality.  First he got free lunch at a counter day at one of the local electrical supply outfits for him and his crew (the supply houses tend to have counter days from time to time with free lunch things like hot dogs or brats or something for their customers).  Then tonight we had saved up money to go to Red Robin (versus my son's usual demand to go to McDonalds for his weekend fries run) for dinner.  It turned into a waiting fest as my husband went in and seemed to take forever, but I could see how packed the restaurant was so we waited in the car as I kept telling my daughter to be patient (we get take out and bring it home for the sake of my son's processing issues).  Finally my husband came out and proudly told the tale of how the restaurant had taken forever to get his order done, but didn't have him pay when he put in the order so he waited around and waited around, all the while being patient and polite.  The gal who took his order originally finally came over with his take out bag and handed it to him and he explained he hadn't paid yet, so she went searching for his ticket, but couldn't find it.  She looked in the computer and couldn't find a record of it.  She called her manager over and they couldn't find it either.  So finally they apologized for the wait and just told him to take the meal for free and they'd figure sort out their end later.   The saved money will be put to good use later when we have to take my son out for french fries when he's sick or something (I literally have a "son French Fry" budget envelope).

I did take 20.00 of the money we saved by that happening, though, and placed it into the grocery budget to fill the gap from the money I overspent this week on that end.  I'm hoping in the coming weeks to not need much and just live on what we have as my husband is actually staying rather busy right now and thus it might give us an opportunity to pay off some of the dental bills and hopefully save a few bucks.  I can hope anyway.

4.  I definitely rested this week.  I haven't been sleeping well at night at all so cat naps during the day seems to be the only way I'm getting any good quality of sleep with my arm.  I can not WAIT until this condition improves I'll tell you what.  At least I'm getting mobility back slowly but surely, so I'm saying that's a silver lining if nothing else.

5.  I actually am ahead of the game and have my meal plan pretty much hashed out for next week.  Woohoo!

6.  While at the used store last weekend my husband scored me a fondue pot straight out of the 70's!  I loved going to fondue parties at one of my friend's houses when I was a kid, so the wonderful memory nostalgia was totally there for me.  For 2.00 it was definitely worth getting and I'm looking forward to doing some cheese and hot pot fun in it sometime soon.

7.  I called the sleep center in Anchorage and explained our plight when it came to the bill and told them how upset we were that my husband had been told repeatedly that everything was going to be covered and don't worry about it because we wouldn't have to pay anything.  She said she'd look into it and warned yesterday would be the earliest I'd hear from her, but so far I haven't heard anything.  If I haven't heard from them by the middle of next week I'm going to call and push the issue a bit.  We'll see how it goes from here.

8.  I washed my son's pillows this week.  Buying machine washable pillows is one of those things that just pays for itself nearly immediately with him as he leaks milk on them, so it felt good putting clean smelling pillows back on his bed.

9.  Frugal fail of the week was finding a unmarked bag of ham of undetermined age or origin in the recesses of my freezer door hiding under some margarine.  I saw it was kind of freezer burned, but hoped it wasn't so old as to TASTE like freezer burn, so I defrosted it and was going to fry it up to go with french toast one night.  Right so it tasted weird once defrosted but we hoped frying it would help.  Note:  DON'T DO THIS with freezer burned ham!  Eeeeeewww!!!  It tasted so bad I ended up throwing away the pieces I'd fried.  I tried, with the tiny bit that was left in the bag, to mix it in with scrambled eggs the next day for my lunch.  I was able to choke it down, but it really tasted a LOT like freezer...a lot of cajun seasoning was added to make it edible (but it worked).

10.  Frugal win of the week I have to say was just plain walking away from things that I really didn't NEED but were really inviting to spend money on impulse-wise.  Like the marked down coffee creamer I walked by three times before saying, "No" and going and getting a 1.49 thing of half and half instead so I could have it in tea, coffee, or use it in cooking if I needed to (yes, I bought myself 1/2 and 1/2 as a treat.  It's been stressful and I needed a treat for myself).  Or the marked down flavored instant oatmeal that still wasn't that much of a steal but looked good for a quick breakfast.  I have oatmeal at home and can add my own stuff, so I just walked away. 

11.  I went online and found myself a Peanuts wallpaper from "It's the Great Pumpkin" to decorate my computer screen for free.   I love the fall scenes at the beginning of the special, so I got one of Lucy and Linus in the pumpkin patch.  Love it :).

And there you are folks.  Some of my frugal adventures this week.  How did you do?

14 comments:

  1. Way to go on catching all the sale items. I think buying the bread instead of using your arm to make bread is a wise decision.
    My money saving this week has been successful.
    *I went to Goodwill's half off day and bought a gown for $3. It replaces the rag I have been wearing. It was becoming so worn it was almost indecent. Sometimes I am a bit too cheap.
    *I also hit Dollar General's fall clearance plus I used the $5 off $25. I ended up with all sorts of things, shoes, pasta, cloth bags...all types of odds and ends.
    *Harvested from garden: tomatoes, okra, Lima beans, white and pinto beans, cabbages, Chinese vegetables, paprika peppers, peanuts, sweet potatoes, basil and feverfew.
    *Canned salsa and tomato sauce. The tomatoes are almost finished for the year.
    *Son #3 was gifted two pumpkins that are good for eating. I have instructed my sons to always accept any gifts from people. If we can't use it, we pass it on.
    *Son #2 came home this past weekend for fall break. I sent him home with everything in the refrigerator plus about 25 frozen meals and 6 gallons of frozen raw milk. He is struggling with the difficult senior level engineering classes and just does not have time to fix food. Eating in the school cafeteria is VERY EXPENSIVE. The restaurants in walking distance of the school also have high prices since they know the students can't go far. I figure each meal I send saves him at least seven dollars, he says it is more. He appreciates and misses my home cooking. As I cook a meal here, I go ahead and fix a plate or two and put it in the freezer. It saves me having unused leftovers.
    *Yesterday Son #3 stopped by Save-a-lot on the way home from school to hit their three day meat sale. I don't have a Save-a-lot in my town but I watch their sales on-line. This is the list I sent him to get: 50 pounds of potatoes $7.99, chicken leg quarters $.39, ground hamburger meat $1.59, ham $1.19, bone-in pork butt roast $1.19, boneless beef pot roast $2.79. They were out of the hamburger meat but he was able to get everything else. They were in family packs so I have ended up with quite a bit of meat. Today I will need to repackage it into smaller portions.




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    1. *Also, did all the usual money saving activities like washing out baggies, using less detergent by stopping the washing machine and soaking clothes overnight, cutting out coupons, opened the windows since it is cool at night, fixed lunches for son # 3 plus driving to the Amish to get milk.

      EPIC FAILS
      *My garden has been destroyed by some type of a varmint. I almost started crying when I posted that statement. In August I started my fall garden plants in paper cups (which I made) because bugs would eat everything as soon as it sprouted. This year I started about 200 seedlings, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, winter cabbages, Chinese vegetables, the list goes on. About a week ago I went out and noticed about 25 holes in my garden about 6 inches wide and 12 inches deep. They were under the freshly planted seedlings. I figured whatever was doing the damage was after the water so I left bowls of water around the garden. The next morning, just as many holes but in other areas. That night we went out after dark and shone a light on the garden and something ran away into the woods. Once again holes all over the garden. The next night we went out again, me holding the flashlight and my husband aiming a shotgun. We saw it digging again. It ran after my husband shot at it. I was hoping it was scared away; it was not, it is getting smarter. The next night we went out and did not see it but the next morning there were even more holes. I think he brought in his friends. We continued going out but could not catch it. Yesterday I just sat in the garden and cried. Of all the 200 plants I had tenderly watered and watched since August, maybe six are left. It has dug up the carrots, turnip greens, sugar beets, lettuce, onions, strawberries, garlic, kale...everything. All that work for nothing. I told my husband to just plow the garden under because I was giving up. He said if we don't get it now, it will hang around all winter and get next years garden also. So last night we went out every two hours and finally caught it early in the morning. Hubby got a shot at it but it kept running. Once again, I hope it is gone. We will continue to get up every few hours all night long and look but it is so discouraging. Gardening is not for the faint of heart.
      Jeannie

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    2. Oh man, Jeannie I'm so sorry :(. Could it be a ground hog? Those stupid things used to decimate my grandfather's garden if given a chance. He'd sit out there for hours smoking a cigarette with a shotgun sitting on his lawn mower just waiting for those little suckers to rear their ugly little heads.

      He finally started setting up snares around the plants. Wiped out about five rabbits and three ground hogs in the span of a week. It was impressive, but he didn't have problems for quite a while after that. He'd also set catch-um-alive traps up around the perimeter of the garden to catch them (and then make sure they didn't stay alive after that). Give a call to your local cooperative extension service. Maybe someone in the area could lend you traps to catch the little blighters!

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    3. I think it is a ground hog but it is so dark and the garden is quite a distance from the back deck. We tried the catch-um-alive traps but could not figure out what they would go in it to want to eat. I think they are after the huge grub worms we have been seeing in the dirt. I have never seen as many as this year. I think hubby might finally have hit it. We found blood in the garden (yahoo!). I haven't gone back out today to look since I get so upset.
      Jeannie

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  2. Jane,
    I don't know how big your varmint is but we had a similar experience and it was vols (unlike the Tennessee Vols). They eat the roots of the plants. They totally destroyed some of my treasured irises and things in the vegetable garden. Sometimes chipmunks will tunnel as well and while cute are mega destructive. After you get rid of the current ones I found it useful to lay down blood meal as varmints hate the smell of it. I agree, gardening is not for the faint of heart. Dorothy

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    1. Dorothy, it looks like an elephant with vampire fangs in the middle of the night from my back deck while holding a flashlight. It is not eating any of my plants, just digging under everything. It might take to eating the plants after the grub worms are gone but I don't plan on waiting to find out. I have never seen chipmunks out here. I have seen them when I used to live in Nashville.
      BLOOD MEAL! Yes, that just might do the trick! I used it years ago to run of something from the garden and it worked then...rabbits, I ran off rabbits using the blood meal. The garden did stink but who cares. Tomorrow I will go to the feed store to get a bag.
      I have been using the sprinkler in hopes that some of the seedlings might survive in spite of all the damage. Oh well. Thanks for letting me whine. I do feel better.
      Jeannie

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  3. Hello- I'm Jessica! I've been reading your blog for some time now and I really appreciate what you do to sustain your frugality and family. It gives me something to strive for.
    Last week and this week both of my grocery bills were way higher than the usual. However I don't separate our cleaning supplies from our groceries so every few months I spend about 40-50 dollars more on supplies. And this week I needed to buy some propane $12, batteries $9, and a few other things that weren't typically on my list due to unforseen weather here in Oregon. I am just grateful that I was able to do that. Even if it meant holding off on my extra credit card payment a little longer.

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    1. Don't feel bad. I don't separate out my cleaning supplies and things from my grocery budget either, so sometimes when you have to buy batteries you just figure really fast that the budget got tighter for that week.

      I have found that good old soap and water and cheap scrub sponges (I buy mine locally at our bulk store because single sponges are actually cheaper than buying the bulk things of them, but you can get the bulk things of sponges on Amazon for decently cheap too). Also check out Amazon for batteries. I bought their generic "Amazon brand" batteries a few years ago and they actually held up pretty good and were pretty cheap too. I know that doesn't help when bad weather is breathing down your neck, but might be something to look into for future stock up precautions :).

      Bright side with the propane is at least it is cheap right now, right?

      Thanks for commenting and reading :).

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  4. Wow, that nurse was really on a power trip for some odd reason. Sorry you had to put up with that kind of attitude. That certainly wasn't necessary or needed! Glad you were able to get the blood work done at a great discount though. You found some great grocery deals too! I'm glad you were able to walk away from some deals, too, especially when they were not necessary and you're already tight on budget. It's for that very reason I find shopping every week is not so frugal! Too temping to buy the "great deal" even when you know you shouldn't.

    I had a really great frugal win this weekend. My daughter has a project for school where she needs to make a "plant cell" and all the components a cell are represented with edible material. She had to write up her idea with list of supplies as part of the project. Her list of ingredients included jelly beans, gummy worms, chocolate egg, cherry pie filling, cake mix, food colouring, sprinkles and chocolate and white frosting. I often buy candy when they are super cheap during or after various holidays and stash them away for the next holiday. I had chocolate eggs stashed away from Easter and I convinced her to suppliment the jelly beans for skittles or gummy lifesavers which I had bought on sale after last Christmas (candy has a long shelf life). I already had the pie filling, cake mix, frosting, sprinkles and food colouring in the pantry too. So the only thing we had to buy was the gummy worms, which I bought at the dollar store for $1! I don't want to even guess how much it would have cost if we had to buy it all just for the project!!!

    On Friday, I participated in a beading workshop to learned how to bead on a loom, plus received a container of seed beads, a loom, and a beading needle for only $15(offered to volunteers and staff at a huge discount so they could fill spaces in the class). It was super easy to do and so much fun! I really enjoyed learning this craft and hope to use my new skill to make gifts in the future.

    Made my daughter's Halloween costume this week. Last year she was an angel, which she won best costume with (wasn't even my best costume work, either...did I mention I love Halloween like others love Christmas?). So this year she decided to be the devil. I bought a red "devil" adult sized onsie for the main part of the costume. To give it a bit more "pizazz" I sewed a long devil's tail using a coat hanger inside to make it bendable, then attached it to the bum of the onsie. I will use fishing line to hold the tail more upright which also allows it to swing back and forth. I did this with a cat costume a few years ago and it was very animated. We'll see if this gets her another first prize this year! I found a devil horns headband that lights up at the dollar store. Haven't bought it yet, but heavily thinking about it since it is dance she will be attending.

    For the last 2 weeks, I've been going for walks around the neighbourhood to get some free exercise. The weather is perfect for it right now, but I'm hoping to keep up the habit and momentum into winter somehow. I go for the walk by myself and I'm really enjoying the "me time" quite a bit.

    Trying to avoid shopping too much this week as I spent a bit too much lately. I did a Costco run earlier in the week and picked up some supplies I don't buy often, which spent most of what I had for this weeks groceries. Since I don't really need anything major food wise, I'm trying to keep myself out of the grocery store.

    So, that's about it for me. Hope you get this sleep clinic issue settled soon, Erika! Until then, don't let it get you too down. You can, and will, cope with whatever outcome happens, so no point in letting it ruin your outlook on life! Have a great week!!!

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  5. Your grocery haul is impressive. I think I would complain about the nurse. She had no right lecturing you about your diet, exercise, and blood pressure. With her complaining who wouldn't have high blood pressure. Every time I go to my surgeon, my blood pressure rises a lot. Between the long commute and being afraid the cancer will come back, I am a bundle of nerves. Medicine is not that woman's calling. Glad you are trying with the sleep center, they need to help you and make sure it doesn't happen again. Cheryl

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  6. I'm not sure if there were any awesome deals at the grocery for me last week. I did go out Thursday and get some groceries, I found some more blemished bell peppers I bought, I need to wash and slice those to freeze, and a used store had a small, size of a child's hand exquisitely detailed Paddington Bear. My oldest loves him, so it's going to go in his stocking. It looks as though it's brand new. I lucked out at Hobby Lobby today and got some nice yarn at about 70% off, and found these awesome fashionable looking tote bags for $3.99 each. My husband and I each used a 40% off coupon on them, and so one will be my much needed new primary bag, and the other an add on gift for my Sister in Law's January birthday. I pulled apart a baby blanket I had worked on for two weeks, because I just didn't like how that stitch was. It curled on all of the edges and just wasn't pretty. But I'll use that to combine with this ultra thin rainbow yarn my mom gave me, to make an even better baby blanket as a gift. My husband had a few free redbox codes, they expire at the end of the month so got my boys The Angry Birds movie, and the DC Super Girls dvd, and they've enjoyed those today. We also watched a tradition, Curious George's Boofest. I realized my oldest has only one pair of long sleeved pajamas, so I managed to use a coupon and a $5 reward from Kohls to get him a new pair for $7, those will be delivered in time for his birthday, but then today discovered right before we left for gymnastics, that he outgrew the pants I had in the next size up bin. Walmart was of course, out of his size, and I refuse to pay more than $10 for a pair, so i'll have to keep an eye out, but he will need them soon.

    I got my third paycheck this week. They aren't the biggest, not even $150 each twice a month, but it's helping. I just wish I could stop worrying all of the time and feeling discouraged when I listen to Dave Ramsey and hear those people talking about how they paid off like $200k of debt in two years making 90 or 150k. I'm like...sheesh. Who couldn't??!! And that just makes me so worried about everything. Did you know, I get so incredibly paranoid about if there's going to be fog or not the days before I work?? Where I have to go is towards the mountains, and as of late the fog is sooo dense, it scares me a bit. And all I can worry about is another accident, like that snowy one I had a year and a half ago. Then that reminds me that it will start snowing soon. And I'll have to go to work. I'm just an absolute mess. And it just all boils down to money in the end I think, and that pressure I feel. Just awful. I feel like before I got so ancient and had kids, I wasn't a worry wart.

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  7. 121 over 83? That's ideal blood pressure!

    Sounds like you got some good deals this week! And yay on the free dinner!

    Speaking of free dinners, I got my dinner tonight almost free (99 cents), which totally made my day. I had a coupon that I received in the mail for $3 off of a new brand of frozen pizza, so I clipped it and put it in my purse as I was shopping. I checked out the price at a local store and it was $3.99 on sale -- making my large size deluxe pizza, normally at least $8, only $1! Also made for an easy dinner, which never hurts! I do love grocery serendipity. :)

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  8. I am saving a bit on electric bill by using a battery candle in the bathroom. It shines enough at night so when we go to bathroom at night we don't have to use the full light. I have it placed so that the reflection hits the mirror. I also have one of those led lights on the sink top.

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