Animal toys and treats

Right now holiday pet toys are on clearance. Its a great time to stock up on toys, treats, and bones!

A few weeks ago we bought 4 HUGE rawhide bones normally $40 for $10. We're careful with rawhide the dogs get it occasionally and not for very long to prevent them from eatting too much.

Yesterday we bought

A stocking of rawhide chews $.70 normally $2.99
A stuffed boot toy for dogs $2 normall $8.99
A vinyl pengun $.70 normally $2.99
A stocking of cat toys $1 normally $5.99
Bag of treats $7.99 (full price!)

Sub total $12.39
After tax $13.46

Full price $28.95
Saved $16.58

New comforter

When dh and I combined stuff we went with his quilt because he loves it. His green quilt. I detest green. I've dealt with it for 5 years. But no longer!!! Our plan is to paint the room purple, we have purple curtains over the windows and a dark brown curtain over the closet. A purple Comforter might be a bit much on top of all of that. I found this comforter at the nex, on clearance. Normally $120, on sale for $60! I had to check with dh first. It's his comforter too! And its over our $50 limit, anything more then that we check with our spouse. He approved it and thankfully it was still there later. I LOVE it! Its so pretty and fluffy. No more tugging the quilt from each other in the middle of the night. Apparently his quilt was only a full, NOT a queen. Last night the cats wouldn't have anything to do with it, they were fighting over the skirt i left on the bed. You can see they've come to terms with the change.



My plan is to give this room a complete makeover.To get rid of the dressers replacing them with a really big and tall one to share. A new night stand on my side, and to paint the one on Dh's side. I'd like to add a comfy lounger and small reading table. Not to mention painting it purple, and replacing the cheapo carpet. If only I had 6 hands.

My spending plan

Last night we picked up our Costco groceries, butter, cheese, etc. When I spotted and loudly gasped at their very soft body pillows. I had purchased one more then 2 years ago but now it was flat and not fluffy soft. I had been looking and waiting for another one for a few months now. However this is the first time Costco had them in stock! And they were on sale $9.99 instead of $14.99! Ohhhhh! But we're trying to save money, spend less. . oh but so soft and fluffy! I'm quite sure DH knew this inner monologue was going on because he said 'Oh just get it! You know your going to regret not buying it!' Love him! Had I been alone i probably would have been good and walked away, but reported my find to him later.

That's how our money gets spent, a spouse finds something they want and the other spouse encourages the first one to buy it. We both want each other to be happy, and we certainly don't want to bum the other one out so we encourage the purchase. But its not helpful to our bank balance, and it need to be curtailed somewhat. My plan to spend less is:

Shop alone: When I do a rite aid or Walgreen's coupon hunt Dh goes off and looks at things by himself. Sometimes that adds a few items to the cart. Especially if we go to a department store or mass retailer. However the problem with this is its hard for me to get the car. One or two days a week I need to make sure I have the car and that I don't let other things side track my shopping. Plus dh does not want to shop when he gets home from work, he would rather stay home and relax. If I go he wants to be with me so he comes too, I need to get it done when he's at work.


Thrift stores: For some reason we've gotten out of this habit, I'm not sure why. But we both enjoy shopping at thrift stores and its much cheaper for the pocket book. I want to very seriously consider every non-sale purchase there. Its easy to brush it off and say oh 'well its only $6, the thrift store is already so cheap' but the truth is they generally have great sale merchandise. Why spend $6 when I can get it half off? We don't buy under ware, shoes, or pants at the thrift store but everything else is game.

Keep track of money, OUT LOUD: Dh does not pay attention when I tell him at the start of the two weeks that we have X amount of money to last. He doesn't subtract money spent from the total. I need to keep a more accurate running total and constantly update him.

Stop eating out: We tend to be on the go a lot and generally grab meals while we're out. This is unhealthy and expensive. I need to get a better list of meals that can be prepared without knowing exactly when hubby will be home. I love to cook, he loves to eat my cooking and its better for us. NO EXCUSES! However we did allow one meal out per week.

Buy things that matter to us: I can tell you very few purchases from the past two weeks, yet I know we spent a ton of money. I want to stop buying the kind of items we can't remember and just buy the ones we do. At the thrift store. On sale!

We used to be really good on all these points but as we became good at them our available money increased and gradually we lost the habit. I like being frugal. I like really appreciating the 'small' treats. Its time to go back to our penny pinching ways!

Now if you'll excuse me I have a very very soft pillow to stroke, I mean cuddle. :)

Kitchen Aid stand mixer! Woo!

I managed to blow out my hand mixer last week. Normally I would shop around for a replacement while waiting for a good price. But I needed one to make the 3 batches butter cream frosting required for class. My instructor said blowing out a hand mixer was a common problem when making icing. Dh and I talked it over and decided now was the time to invest in a stand mixer. I LOVE it! I wanted blue but all my appliances are white or black. I'm not a fan of white appliances because they yellow with age. Black it is.

Can I just tell you how thrilled I am with it? I have wanted one forever but in till this kitchen did not have room for one. Once we bought the house funds became too strained to purchase it without planning. We bought ours at the nex for $236 and we will have a credit of $23 on the card statement making the total $213 no tax on base. The same model was $300 at sears on sale for $280 plus tax. I have $140 saved. That means only $73 will come out of the family budget. My husband had said I could have $150 towards the purchase but I was waiting till next month to buy it. I got exactly what I wanted, for less then hubby said I could spend!

Who can afford to shop retail??

Yesterday I want to Jcpennys to spend some of my gift card. I was in need of panties! Of course being me I headed straight to clearance sections and didn't give the 'sale' racks a second glance. I ended up finding 9 pairs I liked. I spent $22.31 on 9 pairs. Full price total was $69!!!! Oh my! Who can afford to blow $69 on a little more then a weeks worth of underwear? At the same time I found 2 clearance bras for $11.19 each or $22.38 total. Full price for the bras are $28 or $56 total! If I had paid full price for 2 bras, and 9 pairs of panties I would have paid $125! That's a lot of money for underwear!

After I picked out the undergarments I headed to the ladies clothing racks. I found a beautiful white cardigan for $15.99 very thick and warm normally $44. I also found 2 wrap around long sleeve shirts for $7.99 each normally $22 each. Had I spent retail for all of my purchases it would have cost me $213. That's my monthly grocery budget! I cant believe how expensive everything is getting. Even on sale for 50% off (which is a rare sale) everything would have been $106.50. I paid $76.60.

Jcpenny is a department store I would consider moderate, cheaper then Macys and more expensive then Target. But it seems like their prices are getting to be outrageous. Maybe its not that the department store prices are going up? Maybe I'm just so used to buying used/deeply discounted that pure retail is totally shocking? I love quality clothing, but there is no way I can afford to spend $213 on 2 shirts, a cardigan, 2 bras, and 9 pairs of panties. Its a good thing I have an eye for clearance, since I'm not about to buy second hand panties!

Cake decorating class

It seems my $10 student kick was far too low cost to be my only supplies. I had a feeling I would need a few more items but in actuality I need quite a bit more! I spent another $18.18 and I estimate I only have half the things I need.

I bought
piping gel $3.49
Cake Leveler $2.99
4pc coupler set $1.99
2 packs clearance holiday baking cups $1.58

Total $10.05
- 10% student discount
+ tax
Final $9.72

My expensive purchase was my turn table. They had a plain model for $8.99, or a non-slip footed model for $12.99. I had a 40% off coupon to use. The basic model would be $5.39 after coupon my instructor says she puts a wet towel under hers to keep it from slipping. The footed model was $7.79 after coupon no towel needed. That's a difference of $2.40 for a model I like much better. I'm just fine with that. Total after tax $8.46.

I need meringue powder, cardboard cake serving boards, flavorings, disposable bags, pointed scissors, tooth pick holder, a ton of shortening, powdered sugar, and 3 small lidded bowls. I'll going back to the craft store a few times to buy things with coupons. I'm thinking Costco for the shortening and powdered sugar. I already have some Wilton coloring, those colors will do just fine for the next week at least. My husband offered me a plastic tool box to carry everything in, and since this is a week when every penny matters I'm going to accept. I'm hoping that the next class wont be as costly supply wise because I'll have the main stuff. In the mean time this one looks like a lot of fun!

After christmas sale

My base's store (called NEX) was clearancing out a bunch of Christmas stuff. I saw CARTS filled to the brim with gift sets! I bought two of these lotions sets. They were originally marked $18 each!!! Can you imagine?? I paid $9 for both!

I also picked up 2 foot care sets. Normally $11 apiece! I paid $5.50 for both!


I also bought my mother in law's main Christmas present for next year, a snow baby. It is normally $40 and I paid $10. No picture of that.

Safeway Deals

Safeway has 18oz jars of Jiff peanut butter on sale 2 for $2! You have to use an in-ad coupon to get the deal. I wish I had more then one ad! The price for two is normally $6.58!

Michael's deals

My wonderful sister in law bought me an American express gift card to use for a cake decorating class. Exactly what I wanted! :) I'm very excited I think cake decorating will be a useful skill to have. I signed up today, and after some searching and phone calls they figured out what I needed to buy for the class. I wanted to know today because I had a 50% off coupon that expired today, and usually their coupons are for 40% off. Plus I was there and I can always use the coupon from tomorrow's paper on something else. Anyways, I bought the Wilton beginner's box. Normally $20 but i used my coupon. So far its $15 for the first class and $10 for the supplies. The next kit is even more expensive so if its something I enjoy I will watch for another coupon.

Michael's has their Christmas items 50% off. Not the best! I like to wait for bargains till the items are further discounted. Many items are on sale for 50% off right before Christmas anyway. However their pre-made Christmas floral decor was 70% off. I had two years of flower shop in high school so I usually prefer to make my own arrangements. However the wreath I bought was so discounted I could not have made the same wreath for that price. Normally $39.99 I paid $11. I wanted one that had a winter look as opposed to a Christmas wreath because I plan to leave it up in till Its time for the spring wreath.



My class, supplies, and wreath would have cost a whopping $75!
My total was $36 but only $21 of that came out of my pocket because of sister in law's gift. I have $35 left on my gift card and I want to save it for the next course.

Walgreens deals

I went to walgreens today and I completely forgot to pick up a rebate book! Bad Cupcake!
Before sales and coupons our total was $28.20.
After sales it was $17.70

We bought a gillette fusion gift box $9.99 after sales ($5.99 after coupon)
a dog bone (lol yes we needed more)$3
3 rubber maid index card boxes $1.50 on clearance
4 cans swanson chicken broth $2 ($1.6 after coupon)

After coupons the total was $13.30

Pets mart

I love petsmart. I find them to be almost always cheaper then petco. They have great sales. Last year after Christmas they had tons of toys and bones clearanced. We bought a lot of things to donate to the animal shelter and will be doing so again this year, as well as stocking up for my beasts. We were almost out of dry dog food so we headed over to them yesterday. We make the choice to feed our animals quality food and it definitely comes with a more expensive price tag. I used to feed the kitties (when it was just me, and 3 cats) friskies it was $17 for a huge bag at Costco. But when I switched to Nutro i noticed a change in their coats, they were much silkier, and they eat less. Usually we find a big bag on sale for $26 it feeds 5 cats for a month. That works out to $26/ 28 days in a month (for purposes of comparison) = 93 cents a day. About 17 cents per cat per day for dry food. I can live with that! Their health is very important to us. We feed them indoor weight management and out vet wants us to continue, but she also recommended feeding them tooth cleaning treats. The dog food is usually around $30 for 44 pounds and I think it last a little over a month but I'm not sure. $30/ 28 days = $1.07 a day. $1.07 a day / 2 dogs = .54 cents per dog per day for dry food. I marked the date we bought the food on the calender so I can figure out how long their food lasts.

PetsMart total

Total before coupons and sales $71.25
Total after sales $65.89
Total after coupons $52.23

We bought (prices include sales)
44 pounds of nutro sensitive stomach for dogs $33.99 (#30.99 after $3 coupon)
4 bowls of meow mix $1.96 (.98 after buy 4 get 2 free coupon)
2 cans 22oz purina dog food $1.68 (.68 after $1 off two coupon)
1 big box nutro bog biscuits for sensitive tummies $3.49 ($2.49 after $1 coupon) 1 whiskers lickin treats $1.59 (used coupon to get friskies treats free w purchase)
1 pouch friskies tarter control treats .99 (free after coupon)
3 bags chew eez dog rolls $9 ($6 after buy 2 get 1 free coupon)
1 bag meow mix treats $1.49 (.10 should have been free after coupon but I did not catch the cashier's error till now)
1 box busy bones $2.50 ($1.50 after $1 coupon)
1 pouch feline greenie dental treats $2.99 ($1.99 after $1 coupon)
a plastic silencer for dog tags $1
For some reason the cashier rang my $3 off coupon twice so I saved an additional $3 off everything. Strange! When I walked up to her and plucked my stack of coupons on the counter she sighed and said 'oh man! You want to use all of these??' duh. Why else would i hand them to you? To show off? To be fair this is my first cashier who gave me a little bit of a hassle since I started using coupons. I don't really care if it irritates her its completely legal and I won't pay extra because she sighs at me. Her coupon phobia is her loss! :)

Dollar Tree

I braved the slushy winter mess today, in search of a rain coat for little dog. He has 2 but they are full coats that do not work well for male dogs. Need I say more? Since I was out in the gunk anyway I headed over to the Dollar Tree. Man I love that store! I can go hog wild buy anything i want and it never breaks the budget. I can't do that anywhere else! It seems like their holiday decorations are better then last year. I love the small welcome mats, mine is a bright green that says 'joy' it helps keep the mud down somewhat because I put one inside and out. I found a beautiful green table runner that fits my table. I moved the one I bought from the dollar store to my bookcase. I bought a whole lot more then that but a list is not much fun to read. Today they were having a 10% off sale which tickled me, a dollar store sale!

I did buy little dog a rain coat for $10. It works better but its still not right. Little dog is a Pembroke corgi and because of that the coat is too long in front. I did buy the corgi recommended size, and it fits length wise but not height wise. It bulges in front so he looks like a bright yellow daisy. Highly offense to his male pride! Big dog's coat is excellent it is bright red with velcro around the belly and chest. Very easy to put on him. I bought it on ebay and its exactly what little dog needs so perhaps I'll look for another one. My wonderful mom made them very cute coats but when I tried to fit them to the dogs myself I messed it all up. I need my mama! :) I like them to have coats when its pouring down rain all day long. They are still potty training puppies and need to go out frequently. I dont like them to be soaking wet because they don't enjoy it and I dont either. Wet dog is not an exsuisite perfume to me! :)

Walgreens deals

On monday dh and I went to Walgreens to pick up some goodies. I was finally able to get caught up on my coupons. We spent $14.79 and we saved $30.12! Without using rebates! I dont have a problem with rebates, we all know I am a fan but its nice to walk out with $44.91 worth of stuff for $14.79. I can not list the originally prices, and what the coupon deals were because the receipt got wet and lost a lot of ink but I'll figure it out best i can.

We bought 2 excedrins on sale buy 1 get 1 for .01 cent. (I used two coupons)
2 Finesse shampoos 2 for $5 (I know I used a $1 off coupon)
Can of alpo dog food (free after coupon)
Can of mighty dog food (free after coupon)
2 bottles of Arm and Hammer laundy detergent 2 for $5.99
2 bottles dove conditioner on sale for 2/$5.99 ( I used buy one get on coupon)

If i remember correctly the excedrin made us .70 after sale + coupons. My dh just loves to hear the price we paid vs the amount everything was originally. But his very favorite is getting paid to take a product home.

Sunday money update

Ok so we fell off the cash band wagon. We stopped at Home Depot to kill some time ( waiting to pick up freecycle stuff) and I grabbed the thanksgiving weekend ad. They had a set with an 18v cordless drill, cordless saw, sweet flashlight, and radio for $60. Remember the $7 used drill? It gets the job done but very, very slowly. So we splurged on the Ryobi 18v drill, with cool extras. I'm glad we waited to purchase the drill because now hubby has a drill he really likes at a great price. We did put it on the credit card because we were not carrying enough cash and we were 20 minutes from home.

We also bought a power strip and bottle of nail polish from Rite Aid, free after rebate. We paid cash for those! :)

$60ish dollars on credit card
$7 rite aid free after rebate

Target goodie bins

I forgot to mention when we went to target I found good things in their discount bin. They had beautiful christmas cards that you insert a photo into. $1 for 8. Not bad! I bought 2 packs. I also found a dvd of underwater scenes about a half hour's worth for $1. I bought one for me and my fish loving mom. I'm very excited about the dvd! Frequently when I go into a store that sells TVs they are playing a fish dvd that i've wanted. I bought the dogs a santa toy that plays 'jingle bells' that they tore to bits in 5 minutes! That was $2.50. I purchased a beautiful calender of the Greek Isles for $1. A girl can day dream.

Christmas Presents

I found a beautiful set of earrings for my mom at Macy's half price. Normally $38 on sale for $19. They are gorgeous! I hope she loves them! I bought big half hoop earrings for myself $4.12. They were normally $33! Woo! I cant think of anyone that would like them besides me, so gosh I have to keep them myself. Bummer. I have my good friend Naomi thinking about Christmas shopping too I'm very thrilled. It is good for me as well because I help her shop and she gets a little crazy at the last minute! I found a singing bear at Jcpenny's that I think my mom will love. I'll have to write what it says later, I left it in my friend's car. Get your christmas shopping done the mall is already crowded!

Goodies

When Dh and I were at fred meyer we picked up some goodies for ourself. Dh picked up a poker mat normally $50 on clearance for $11 for $5.50. I got 3 jello molds (about 3.50 each) and we bought bug spray and sun lotion in one. I think it was around $2.50. Dh is thinking about buying another poker mat for his friend for christmas. We're both very pleased with our new goodies and it didn't cost us much!

Halloween Candy

We did not get a single trick or treater!Not one! Our street is under construction so I am not surprised. We have a big mixing bowl full of candy left so why did I buy another $16 worth of candy? To make candy wreaths from living on a dime with my grandmother. We buy $8 worth of 75% off candy from walgreens. I think 6 bags of that was .50 a bag carmels for baking and candies. They did not have a lot of wrapped candy that didn't look halloweeny so we went to Rite Aid. Their candy was 50% off and we bought another $8 worth there. I'm going to use a coat hanger for the metal part. We also purchased ribbon marked down 70% off for .90 a roll. Its thick ribbon, 2 are green, and one is a deep red that I think will pass for Christmas ribbon. My grandma will be staying for 3 days, and she is not in the best health but mom and i think she will be able to do the wreath. I think it will be fun for both of us.

Brand Loyal

I confess I used to be brand loyal. Even after i took a marketing class and learned all about brand loyalty I still had my preferences. Crest toothpaste, ragu pasta sauce, Jiff peanut butter, Caress body wash. It did not matter to me if there was a comparable brand on sale for much less, that's what I liked and that's what I bought. Wow did that cost me money! I know that when someone is frugal sometimes they have to make more of an effort to save money. For instance making granola is more work then picking up premade granola at the store. Bargain shopping, coupon clipping it all takes work. But sometimes you can save money without any extra effort. Sometimes all it takes is giving up your brand loyalty in favor of store brands or a sale brand. Maybe sometimes the brand you try is not as good as your favorite. There are a few brands of pasta sauce that I don't like but when they are extremely cheap I'll pick them up anyway. I either use them in dishes were their flavor is disguised or add a bit of spices and sugar till it tastes better. Sometimes you just have to get used to the new product. I hated any toothpaste but crest. However when money became tight and a different brand was far cheaper i couldn't justify the extra expense. Now I've adjusted and so long as the flavor is mint I'm fine. If by chance we buy something we really cant stand (like Nori, not my thing) we give it away and try a different brand. Even if you have some initial failures eventually giving up brand loyalty will be a great benefit to you.

The drill

This summer my husband bought a corded drill. I think from a yard sale. A few weeks later he found a cordless drill at the thrift store for $15. He was thrilled, and purchased it. Two drills should be good right? Yes. If your rabbit doesn't eat through the cord for the cordless drill. And if the second drill isn't left outside in the rain two would be peachy. All the sudden we needed a new drill. Our first move was to price new ones online. Why? For two reasons. Thrift stores and pawn shops don't have an online inventory. Second we needed a baseline to know if the used drill was a good buy or not. Sometimes used stuff is not much cheaper then new. In that case we usually buy new. FYI sometimes renting tools isn't a good deal either. It would have cost us $55 a day to rent a pressure washer. We spent $90 on a new one. Used it for two days on the house, and have found several other uses for it. We did watch for one all summer in the used market but had no luck. Which brings me to our next move. We posted a wanted ad in www.craigslist.org that brought us several replies(best to do this as soon as possible so you get more replies) but no good deals. Our craigslist ad had brought us prices of $20-$45. In fact the man with the $20 drill bought is for $25 and wanted to resell it at a $5 loss? That's outrageous for a used tool! In the online retail ads We found the best drill deal right now for a new drill was $100 for a drill, saw, and other tool stuff in a set. More then we wanted to spend. Next we hit thrift stores, we came up empty. A trip to the local pawn shop reveled cordless (hubby wanted cordless, corded drills are cheaper) went from $20-$200! However hubby found an add on craigslist for a cordless drill for $7. It was a half an hour each way to pick it up. We figured even with gas it would save us $7 off the cheapest pawnshop drill. If you were pressed for time, low on gas, or don't enjoy driving then the cheap pawnshop drill might have been the right choice for you. Everyone is different. The lady we purchased the drill from also sold us a big garage light for $7 so our trip was defiantly worthwhile.

There was another option. We looked up a new power cord for our drill. It was $12 and took several days to ship. Not an option. That would have bought the drill to $27 for a bottom level drill. I would rather wait and get a good drill for a good price.

The drill we bought is not very powerful but suits our current needs just fine. We weren't able to wait for a better drill at a good price, so we went with the cheapest we could find while we look for a better one. If you have time to wait in a used purchase you can generally find a better price. We didn't. Even so we looked for a pressure washer all summer, and finally bought a brand new one in the fall.