Last Weekend's Frugal Wanderings

The weather here was amazingly warm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  Temps we haven't seen since last September so we've been going out and about more.

First off I took myself to the movies on Friday afternoon using a free gift card........

Saw "Going In Style".  It's a remake of the 1979 comedy with George Burns and Art Carney.  I have now seen both and I have to say that the remake is better.
I forgot that even though this showing was a Matinee, Friday is considered a weekend so the price was outrageously high.
Ugh!
But no worries since I used a freebie gift card.

While in the city South of us on Friday I hit Rite-Aid.......

I used the 3rd card to get 4 more bottles of free nail color.  The store only have 5 bottles of this variety and it seems like R-A is phasing this one out in favor of more expensive types of Sally Hansen polish.
Whatever, I got my limit of 12 bottles and made $1.50 total in Plenti points to boot.

On Saturday Hubs went with me and we went to Lowes....

10 bags of garden soil bought and carted home.  We used a free gift card so nothing out of pocket.

Then we hit the Bread Outlet.....

3 loaves of Arnold's premium bread for $4.

Then we went to the pet store.........

To pet puppies of course! ;-)
I will confess to having a touch of dog fever lately.  Our last beagle, Cherry, passed away about 3 years ago now and except for the grand dog Cinnamon, we have been dog-less for awhile.

This little guy is Cisco the chihuahua.  He was a peppy little thing.

This is Foxy the Fox Terrier mix.  She was sweet but didn't much like to be held.  Since when do pet stores sell mixed breed puppies for in the neighborhood of $1300?!?

This tiny guy is Cisco's runty brother, Chico.  AT 10 weeks old he is still so small they have to keep him in the back in a cardboard box lined with heating pads.

I wonder what big old Cinnamon the Husky/Shepherd would think about this fellow? lolz

Hubs tore me away finally and we headed home.

I noticed that the forsythia bush has begun to bloom....

Next to go will be the tree next to the house by our bedroom. It blooms tiny white flowers to drop off before the tree leaves out.  I don't know what it's called though.  Will try to get a photo of it and the flowers and see if anyone who reads can tell me what it is.

On Sunday Hubs and I decided to take a ride to an animal shelter we've adopted from before in the county South of us.
They had this bonded pair of chihuahuas on their website waiting for a new home.  Their owner got too old and sick to care for them any longer.

The larger one is named "Scooter" and is obviously older.  Daughter loves how he is missing teeth and his tongue hands out the left side of his mouth. lol

 The smaller guy is named "Munchie".  He is a love and if you ask him he'll roll over and let you rub his belly.

They also had this little cute(about the size of Munchie)who wasn't listed on their website.
His name is Charlie and he was a stray.
Who just opens a door and lets a dog like this out in the world to fend for themselves?!?

He has more typical "Hua" behavior....the bluster and barkiness.  It took awhile to get him out of his crate and onto a chair set up for visiting with the little dogs.

I got a brief clip of Hubs petting Charlie.


I don't think I'll be getting a dog any time soon though since I have to go out of town for 3/4 of May but it's fun to look and think about it.

On the way home we stopped in at Kohl's.  I had a $10 Yes2Rewards certificate to use before the end of April.

I found a short sleeved nightgown on sale for $16.99.  Most of the nighties are for cold weather so I needed this.
After my 20% off coupon and the $10 certificate I paid $5.59 OOP for this item.

So aside from the usual puttering around stuff that basically was our weekend.
We spent $9.59 total(besides gas and wear and tear on the car)OOP.  I'd call that a pretty frugal few days.


Sluggy

Whatever You Do Unto One of the Least...

I am not a traditionally religious person.
I was raised Catholic.
Because of some experiences in that faith, & then in a Protestant faith, I have serious personal issues with organized religion.

This does NOT make me a bad person or a non-spiritual person.
I have as many morals or ethics as the next person, in some cases I'd dare to say I have more?
I just don't spend my time studying or professing my spirituality in a church or temple.
There are many paths to god, or enlightenment, or whatever you wish to call it. Everyone needs to find their own way.
And other people need to respect every one else's beliefs and pathways.

At the root of all religion(or should be) is the directive to love one another. To put it in the current vernacular, People trump things.
I think anyone would agree with that.
That's a basic tenets no matter your religion.

Things are not inherently bad or good.
The way in which we use things give those things either label.
We should use things to HELP people or any of
God's creatures.


Which brings me to Stockpiling.

Getting things we need in our lives for free through legitimate channels(like rebating/couponing) is good.

We save money on the things and can use that money for other meaningful purposes in our lives.

Acquiring A LOT of things....like more tubes of toothpaste than we will ever use in a lifetime, or so many boxes of cereal that we can't eat them all before the expiration date....that kind of acquiring is not so good.

That is putting things first.
Not people.

So what should we do when the Stockpile gets unwieldy?


We sell stuff. If your family needs cash to pay bills and you have an excess of food &/or toiletries in your stockpile, have a yard sale or put items on eBay/Craigslist/local trading post.


We donate stuff. If you know a family who is struggling, load up a bag of goodies. If you have a local food bank, load up a bag of food for it. If you have a local medical clinic, load up all those free glucose meters for it. If you have a local women's shelter/homeless shelter/senior community center, load up a bag of toiletries & snacks for them.


This post was inspired by someone I know on my yahoo newsgroup called The COMPACT. Most of us started over on The Compact group not buying new for a year with varying degrees of success, in an effort to re-examine our shopping lives. Those who choose to stay past that 1st year have modified their pledge a bit but in general choose to not buy new when avoidable and are much more conscious consumers with a heavy dose of being truly green and protecting our environment.


Anyway, this friend has been spending this Lenten time trying to do RAOK(Random Acts of Kindness)via Feeding Hungry People.

I think it's a noble cause!

I look up to this person for her efforts in this, especially given the load of responsibilities she bears in her daily life besides this Feeding People Cause.



A recent post about her FTH Challenge got me thinking about my stockpile of stuff & how I should help too. Then I read an article in our local newspaper about a local animal shelter that gave direction to my plan.

The economy has been very bad for not only people but for Pets too. People can't seem to find the money now to feed or otherwise take care of their pets. They also can't afford the Surrender Fees that most shelter's charge to give up a pet.

The article said that the personnel at this shelter arrive every morning to find dogs tied up to their chainlink fence and cats inside the 10 ft. high fence. (There is no exterior door in this fence. People are literally throwing their cats over this fence into the shelter's outdoor enclosure.)


As I have undertaken a 60K Savings Challenge this year, I don't have much left in the budget $ to give to the shelter.

But I do have a way to make my small sum of cash go much further.

Yep.

Coupons.



Over the last 10 days, while shopping for my family's needs, I incorporated some pet food shopping with high value dog & cat food coupons I had.

I was able to stretch my $20 cash into $68 worth of dog/cat food using coupons. Both sons assisted me with some of this shopping.

On Saturday we were able to take 12 bags of food up to the shelter.





#2 Son with the Pet Food for the Shelter.
I know it's only a drop in the bucket but it's a start.

Doing Unto the Least of God's Creatures.
Feeding the Hungry Animals.
We will continue to keep this as our Pledge.


Sluggy