Daughter's Birthday Week......Share a Song!

When Daughter was very little, we couldn't afford cable tv.  Well, we could have afforded it but not if we wanted to put money away for emergencies.
Instead, we had a tv antenna and we lived on the side of a mountain range facing east, so even though the nearest broadcast station was an hour away, we got all the major broadcast network signals coming out of NYC and northeastern New Jersey since they were mega powerful.
So our tv reception was a fuzzy picture for the major tv networks(CBS/ABC/NBC/PIX)and also for the NY PBS station, WNET.
PBS was a lifesaver back then before we had a VHS player.
Hours of kid-friendly shows for my toddlers, including Sesame Street.

And once we could afford the tape player we bought kid tapes, including a whole boatload of Sesame Street shows since that is what there was and what the kids liked.

#1 son loved Elmo and The Count.
Daughter was all about Oscar the Grouch and Cookie Monster.

Here is one of my Daughter's favorite parts from one of those Sesame Street tapes we had.

Sluggy

2011 Review Extravaganza ....January to March

I'm taking part in this 2011 Review Extravaganza from over at Mimi's Place, Living in France.
Here is the link to The Rules.
If you want to take part go read the rules and then link up each Friday in December.
And to read the folks participating, go click on the Button on my side bar.

Onward to my 1st Review of 2011...the Jan. through March months.

JANUARY
I talked about my Goals for 2011.
I talked about rebating.
I shared fun musical clips.....well at least "I" thought they were fun!
I celebrated not only my Birthday but my 1000th Post!
I held a big  Birthday Celebration Giveaway which lasted a whole month.
I complained about our region's crappy coupon inserts.
I conducted a Christmas Spending Autopsy.
And I did A LOT of Free Rite-Aid shopping!

Moving on to FEBRUARY....It was NOT a stellar month!

I just felt taken advantage of by everyone in my life and was feeling a tad low.
I way over spent on the Food Budget.
Daughter got into all 5 of  the Colleges she applied to and I was having "fun" dealing with paperwork and bureaucratic stuff.
My Mother-in-Law passed away and I provided comic relief at the Funeral.
I did more large scale Rite-Aid shopping and held 2 more Giveaway.
If people didn't think I was 'weird' enough, I proved I was even Stranger than they could imagine.
I spent an entire post explaining How to Do Rite-Aid.....ok, so this post was really for Mark. lol
I talked about how with spending frugally and couponing I was able to Save Money & Give to Local Charities.
I blogged about January's result for the $32K Savings Challenge for 2011.

March
I talked about my murderous thoughts toward small rodent like creatures.
I showed y'all my long ignored sewing pile and my stockpile.
I was classically random in this Post.
And I first wrote about my year long purging attempts Here.  Seeing Mark declutter was the final UMPH I needed to kick my butt into gear.  Thanks buddy!

So looking back over the 1st 3 months of 2011, how are you feeling about it now?
Most of mine?....I am glad it's over with and I don't want to go back there.
How about you?
Are you in a better place emotionally, physically, financially and/or spiritually now?
I hope so!

Sluggy

Stop!....Before You Use That Credit Card Again to Buy Christmas Gifts....

Step away from the credit cards and go get a free Mp3 on Dumping Debt from that guy that many folks who are climbing out of debt love to hate at one time or another-Dave Ramsey.
Whether you are on a strict rice and beans diet or not, get this free lesson from Dave through Jan. 31, 2012.
Go HERE and download it.
And the next time you whip out that credit card to buy just one more present you can't afford to pay off on the next statement, go listen to the lesson.
Maybe it will help you hold firm this Holiday Season and not spend beyond your means.

It couldn't hurt, right? 8-)

Sluggy

I Went Back to Rite-Aid!

I had $48 in +Up Rewards expiring this Saturday I earned from my trips to Rite-Aid 2 weeks ago.
And the eBay buyers were driving me batty today so after dropping a package at the UPS location I popped over into Rite-Aid to see what I could score......

Transaction #1
2 x BC Cookie Mixes on sale 2/$4=$4.00 *counts toward Saving Star
2 x SunMaid Raisins on sale 2/$4=$4.00  *counts toward Saving Star
2 x Diamond Almonds on sale 2/$6=$6.00
2 x R-A Apple Juice on sale 2/$4=$4.00  *counts toward Saving Star
2 x Silk Shaving Cream on sale $1.49=$2.98 *counts toward Saving Star
2 x Monster drinks on sale/4-day Sale $1.50=$3.00  *counts toward Saving Star
1 x John Frieda Foam hair coloring on sale=$11.99** rang up $10.79 w/20% wellness discount  *counts toward Saving Star
1 x Duracell batteries 9-vold 4 pack on sale=$9.99  *counts toward Saving Star
1 x Alka Seltzer on sale=$4.99  *counts toward Saving Star
1 x Sucrets on sale=$2.99  *counts toward Saving Star
6 x Mentos mint rolls on sale 3/$2=$4.00  **actually rang up $3.99 total instead
2 x M&M bags on sale $2=$4.00  *counts toward Saving Star
SubTotal....$60.73

Coupons Used
1 x $1/2 BC Cookie Mixes IPQ=$1.00
2 x .50/1 Diamond Almonds Tearpad=$1.00
1 x John Frieda Foam hair coloring HomemailerQ  from Rite-Aid=$11.99 ****
1 x $1/1 Duracell batteries ManuQ=$1.00
1 x $2/1 Alka Seltzer ManuQ=$2.00
1 x $1/1 Sucrets ManuQ=$1.00
1 x $1/2 M&M ManuQ $2=$1.00

Coupon total....$18.99

$60.74-$18.99=$41.74

I used $41 in +Up Rewards to pay and put the .74¢ on my free Rite-Aid gift card.
I got $15 in +Ups back($2 Alka-Seltzer, $3 Baking Supplies, $2 Sucrets, 2 x .50¢ Pure Silk shaving cream, $2 Duracell, 3 x $1 Mentos rolls, $1 wyb2 Monster drinks, $1 wyb2 M&Ms).
I qualified for $1 SCR(Duracell).

I have $48 toward the $50 needed to get the $10 Saving Star +Ups this week.  I bought $50.74 worth of Saving Star items above so some thing or things didn't register though they had a shelf tag with the STAR on it! Grrrr

So I bought 2 jars of Jif peanut butter, which are Saving Star items this week and some more Mentos.....

 Transaction #2
2 x Jif PButter on sale $2=$4.00 *counts toward Saving Star
6 x Mentos rolls on sale 3/$2=$4.00 **rang up $3.99
Total....$7.99

I used the rest of my expiring +Ups, $7 worth and put the .99¢ on my Rite-Aid gift card so Zero OOP.

I got back $14 in +Ups....the $10 wyb $50 of Saving Star items, 1 x $1 Mentos *** and another $3 wyb $12 in Baking Supplies.

The limit on the Mentos +Ups is evidently 4 $1 ones.  Instead of 3 x $1 when I bought 6 this time, I only got 1 and the message "You have received the maximum number of +Ups for this item".

***The surprising +Up was the $3 Baking supplies one.  I have only bought $18 total in qualifying items for this $3 wyb $12 +Up. (You can do this one twice, so spend $24, get 2 x $3 +Ups.)  But I got a second $3+Up at $18.  Hmmmm.....

To recap.....
I rolled all $48 in +Ups, spent $1.73 on my gift card, will receive $1 in SCRs and have $29 in new +Up Rewards that expire on 12/24.

And I got all the stuff above and didn't spend a penny in cash.

I got a raincheck for the Brita pitcher(they were out)and I'll check some other Rite-Aids for more $50 Home Improvement Gift Cards(they were out) on Saturday.

****The Free John Frieda home mailer from Rite-Aid arrived yesterday in my mailbox....just in time to use it this week to get $ credited toward the Saving Star total since the JF hair color is a qualifying item this week.  Thanks Rite-Aid for some good timing for a change. ;-)

The funny thing today was when the Asst. Manager came up to me and asked me if I had been sick or something.....because she hadn't seen me in the Rite-Aid for months and she was worried about me.  She had been asking all the staff if they had seen me lately and when nobody had, she had gotten worried.  What a sweetie!  I told her I was sorry I didn't let her know I was taking a break from deal hunting and the next time I did, I'd let her know. ;-)
Well it's nice to be missed.....I think.lol

Sluggy

A Quick Post.....

Yes, I can be brief, believe it or not!lol

While running some errands last week, I popped into Big Lots.
Why?  Because I was stressed out by the errand I had to run and I hadn't been in BL in ages AND we just happened to be over by a BL so?.....why not?

And now I am going to be a hypocrite.
I yammer on and on about not buying/using wrapping paper.
It's bad for the planet and all so use up what you have and then use cloth, fabric bags, furoshiki or even at least paper gift bags that can be used over and over again.

So I spied something in Big Lots that called my name....no, it SCREAMED my name and wouldn't shut up! until I took it to the register and paid for it and brought it home.
Ugh.
I hate persistent inanimate objects that do that, don't you?

Anyway, here is the thing I had to have.....

Leg Lamp Wrapping Paper.


Need I say more?

Sluggy