First I got some freebies this week, so I'm going to break them down by point here :).
1. I actually, in an act of OCD about not missing out on freebies, plugged reminders for the 25 Merry Days with Fred Meyer into my phone, so I made sure to get my 7-Up coupon and my cake mix coupon loaded onto my card immediately. When I went to the store I also found that they had the peanuts back in stock (and I got 4 oz free too! Woohoo!), so I got those while I was there. And I also got the freebie Friday freebies too of the Tim Tam cookies and the Werther's caramels (I didn't realize I grabbed sugar free, but I'll eat them either way). My friend then contacted me and gave me her freebies for the BBQ sauce and her 7-Up, so I grabbed those while I was at the store too. The peanuts immediately went into the "peanuts go here" area high up in the garage to make sure they are FAR away from my son.
I spent more than I should have this week on groceries...well I guess more than I wanted to, 30.00 over budget (80.00), but I ran into some really good sales on meat, including Butterball turkey for .99 lb at Carrs, so I grabbed one for next Thanksgiving (sad, but true *laugh*) and I got some good steaks on reduced at Fred Meyer (which is so totally going to be my birthday dinner treat to me). I also got butter (2.49 per lb with in-ad coupon at Carrs), flour (1.49 per 5 lb bag at Carrs with E-Coupon, limit of 2) and a bunch of other regular groceries to try and get us through as long as I can without going to the store again. The kids only have a four day week next week, of course, and I just plain want to stay out of the stores with the kids through next weekend if possible since the stores are going to be REALLY busy I'm sure and my son doesn't take large lines very well.
2. My vacuum cleaner blew a belt this week and I ended up flinching and then calling my husband and asking him to go and get me a new belt at the Kirby store. We didn't have a lot of money, at all, but I knew I needed that, so I figured I'd just have to deal with it. My husband told the Kirby guy that he could install the belt himself, but he needed a replacement for the vacuum. When the Kirby guy heard that my husband would install it, he just gave it to him for free =D.
3. I had placed an order with Jo-Ann Fabrics at the end of November for some unbleached muslin. It wasn't the type I really wanted, but the price was right on an online sale and the shipping charges were cheap, so I swallowed hard and spent about 13.00 to get 10 yards of muslin.
I e-mailed them a couple of days ago as my order had never gone beyond "processing" even though I knew that the cloth was still available online and I had already been charged for it. So, I just asked if the item was going to be shipped anytime soon.
Suddenly the next day I get a package from Jo-Ann's with an apology letter saying they were sorry that my order had been so delayed, that it was their fault and that, get this, they rushed my order to me FREE OF CHARGE and were refunding my money from my original order as their way of saying, "sorry". THAT is above and beyond customer service! I'm thrilled that I got 10 yards of fabric for free, I have to say :).
4. I didn't go anywhere and worked at home all week, which definitely saved us money. I only shopped once this week and made sure to combine it with errand running day on Friday to conserve gas, as well.
5. I pulled out a thing of hamburger from the freezer and split it in half right away. One half I used for tacos, using ground turkey to pad out the hamburger to last three meals and then used the other half to make hamburgers for dinner tonight (to treat my husband as burgers are his favorite meal I think).
6. I made Christmas gifts out of materials I already had in the house this week. I used a pillow that we never really used (a friend gave it to us), cut it open and used the nice new stuffing in it to fill other things I was making (more on that later).
7. I grabbed some change we had in the change jar and went and donated it to charity. It wasn't much, but it was what I had. I figure if everyone does that, we could help a lot of people :).
8. I looked up a bunch of stuff online to print off for stocking stuffers for Christmas as I didn't want to go and spend the money on them (and honestly, this was more fun, anyway).
And there you are folks. Some ways I saved money this week. How did you do?
Amazing freebies for one week, wow. Wis grocery stores in Canada had freebie days. Sounds like you had a very frugal week. Good job :).
ReplyDelete*wish...not wis.
ReplyDeleteSome awesome luck this week for you! I need to pick up the newest freebies too, but its the local university graduation weekend, so avoiding that area for a couple of days! I was able to get my nuts and 7up too though.
ReplyDeleteOur church party started off stressful, solid icr roads but it staryed to melt, and as I turned around from loading stiff in the car, a massive vertical rainbow, running the whole length of the ski resort mountain next to us. We managed to make it safe to church, only sliding in the parking lot. Managed to get it all decorated and etc...and less than usual amount of people came, so after giving the 2 sets of sister missionaries leftovers, a friend and the primary president and I each took a box of butter and some real maple syrup, a gallon of milk and I got an apple juice too. I was quite thrilled. Since were had a lot of kids not there, the ones that were each got like 20 mini fruit candycanes each lol.
Last night I found a toy on walmart.com my 4 year old has been dying for that i honestly didn't think existed, for $9! Its promised to be in store pickup on Friday. So excited.
My husbands bishopbric meetings got canceled for the morning, so hes off on a 2 hour each way drive to pick up film equipment and drop it off, then come to the last hour of church to help me eith the kids and my sunbeams. Crazy, but I am actually a little scared of one of them, he bites and hits and pinches and pulls my hair. But in 6 months he is supposedly moving.
Im going to get my Christmas baking done this week, and taking off Wednesday so we can do cookies, the kids and I. My husband was given movie passes from a student, so Tuesday when Christmas break starts hes taking our 9 year old to Star Wars. I want to see it too, but I am waiting for dvd, because its not been possible to get grandma to sit, and its silly to pay $30 to a sitter when in 6 months it will be on dvd!! He also got given a gift card for the new Krispy Kreme thays opening in January so with coupons that will go twice as far!
I hope the days leadingup to Christmas are filled with good health and cheer for your family!
Well I'd say you had some Christmas miracles happen this week at your house! I would use the candy and cookies as stocking stuffers, personally. The cookies especially look yummy! Free material is amazing...worth them screwing up the order for sure. Oh and by the way, not only did you get steaks on special for your upcoming birthday, you also got a free cake, too...now that is an awesome early birthday present!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see your Christmas presents you made. I've enjoyed the ones you've shared so far. I'm currently working on an embroidered tea towel that I will be giving my daughter's school cab driver. She's been so amazing with my daughter. Several times she stopped for coffee before picking her up and bought her a cookie too. Such a nice lady. I'm definitely giving her a nice Christmas gift this year!
I worked 3 days this week, which means I don't have as much time to do other thing except make money (which is definitely a good ting). One day was an unscheduled add on, which was very appreciated. Of course that day ended up being our coldest day yet (-15C or 5F). I spent the day doing village tours through unheated building. I pretty much lost feeling in my toes for most of the day. At the end of the day, some of the children shopped in our gift shop. A precious little boy came up to me while I was cleaning up and said "You did a great job with the tour today. I bought you a Chirstmas gift to thank you." He then handed me an elf bracelet. It was so sweet I didn't even know what to say...made my day in the cold so worth it! So, I had a little Christmas miracle this week too.
My daughter actually still has 5 days of school to go. We are trying to convince her that Christmas is actually on Monday, not Sunday. She doesn't sleep AT ALL on Christmas eve, and I don't function well on no sleep. I'm hoping this works and we get some sleep that night! Anyways, I hope the Christmas miracles keep coming and you have a wonderful week, Erika!
Aw! That little boy sounds like a real sweetheart. What a nice way to say "thank you" :).
DeleteThe candy and cookies can't be stocking stuffers, unfortunately due to the peanut allergy, but no worries. I have other things in the works (I'm hoping to get them done tomorrow and do a post on them as I think it's going to turn out super cute when I'm done :). I would do my daughter's stocking stuffers with things my son can't have, but he's grabby sometimes and is FAST about sticking things into his mouth. Spending Christmas in the ER isn't part of the plan for sure.
I picked up that cake mix and never thought about it being a free cake for my birthday, but you're absolutely right *laugh*. So, yay for a free cake ;).
Both of your kids go to school much longer than they do here. Friday was supposed to be the last day, but it snowed Wednesday and so school was cancelled on Thursday and Friday--Erika, don't laugh too loud--Rhonda A. already did that for you:) I know you both contend with SO much more snow, but it crippled up the Willamette Valley, for sure. It's been a long time since we had over 4 inches. So, they don't go back to school until Jan. 3.
ReplyDeleteI am therefore working extra this week, keeping kids busy. Then, I will have next week off as the kids' parents don't work or have a lot of appointments that week. So, I haven't got a lot of time to work on Christmas, but we are keeping it very simple this year.