Put Those Credit Cards Away!

Consumer spending is NOT the path to prosperity! Keep that in mind this holiday season when you are "shopping 'til you drop".



Don't go into debt to have a Happy Christmas!

Sluggy

What's Your Favorite Christmas Song?

I was planning on posting some Christmas Youtube videos/songs during the next week.
Poking around online for songs/video ideas got me thinking about my favorite Christmas songs/carols.

Here are my top 10 Secular type songs.....at least my favorites this year......

10.  Merry Christmas from the Family

9.  Shake up Christmas

8.  You Ruined My Christmas

7.  We Need a Little Christmas

6.  Silver Bells

5.  Christmas Island

4.  Hippie Christmas

3.  Maybe This Christmas

2.  Christmas in Dixie

1.  White Christmas

And here are the ones that just make me want to take hot metal pokers and shove them into my ears.......

10.  Dominic the Donkey

9.  Please Daddy Don't Get Drunk This Christmas

8.  Wonderful Christmas Time

7.  The Christmas Shoes

6.  Jingle Bell Rock

5.  All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth

4.  Santa Baby-especially the Madonna version

3.  Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

2.  I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas

1.  Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer


And here are my top 10 Religious/Traditional songs/carols.....again, my favorites THIS year.....

10.  The Seven Joys of Mary

9.  O Holy Night

8.  O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings to Zion

7.  Lo, a Rose e'er Blooming

6.  Past 3 o'Clock

5.  Down in Yon Forest

4.  In Bleak Midwinter

3.  Ave Maria (the Bach/Gounod one)

2.  When Was Jesus Born?

1.  The Wexford Carol

And here is one that really isn't a Christmas carol/song but feels right to listen to it this time of year anyway.
A capella fans will like this....



 

So what songs/carols are on your list of favorites?

And which ones do you think will make you go insane if you hear them just one. more. time!?

Sluggy

My Kind of Dollar Shopping

While I didn't buy these things at the Dollar Store, I paid less than $1 for each of them......where else but Rite-Aid! lol

4 x Dove Shampoo on sale 2/$7=$14
3 x Axe Deodorant on sale 3/$14(but 20% discount was $4.39 each)=$13.17
1 x Cold-Eeze drops on sale=$3.99
SubTotal....$31.16

Coupons Used
2 x $1/1 Dove Hair Product(link to IPQ emailed to me)=$2.00
2 x $1.50/1 Dove Hair Product IPQ(link on Walmart site)=$3.00
2 x $2/2 Dove Hair Products AdPerks Q(on R-A Value Videos site, 1 per Wellness account)=$4.00
3 x $2/1 Axe Deodorant IPQ(Redplum site)*=$6.00
1 x $1/1 Axe Product AdPerks Q=$1.00
Coupon Total.....$16.00

$31.16-$16.00=$15.16
I used $15 in +Up Rewards and paid .16¢ out of pocket.

I received $12 back in +Up Rewards($4 Dove, $5 Axe, $3 Cold-Eeze).
$3 in +Ups spent down for 4 shampoos, 3 deodorants and 1 cold drops.

$44.42 in merchandise for $3 of my +Ups and .16¢ cash.
I'll take that deal any day! 8-)

*On the coupon sites you can get 2 prints of each coupon per computer.  I had a third copy of this coupon because I printed it in November(only printed 1 of the 2 I was allowed)and they re-posted it for December too so I could print 2 more, which gave me 3 copies.

Sluggy

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.....For Buying Restaurant Gift Cards!

Like the old Christmas tune says.....

 

But it's also the most wonderful time of the year to buy Restaurant Gift Cards!

Around the Holidays, restaurant chains(as well as some local restaurants-check out your local places too!)offer bonuses for purchasing gift cards to their locations.
They want to get in on some of the money you are spending on Holiday gifts just like all those retail merchants do.

But I buy restaurant gift cards at Christmas time for my OWN use.
But ONLY those chains that are offering bonus incentives on a purchase.
Usually it's a $5 bonus gift card when you purchase a $25 or so gift card.
Sometimes it's a free item instead for a gift card purchase or a store "reward" at a grocery store or a drugstore.

This is the time of year, with the spare cash I have sitting around-NEVER go into debt or put these kind of purchases on a credit card that you can NOT pay off in January to do this!!-I load up on restaurant gift cards to places we typically go out to eat at during the year.
My list of local places includes Lone Star, Bob Evans, Logan's, Red Robin, TGI Friday's and now and again Red Lobster.

Just 2 weeks ago I bought $100 in restaurant gift cards at Rite-Aid, as they were giving a +Up Rewards bonus($12 in free script good at Rite-Aid).  So I bought gift cards to spend at restaurants I would eat at anyway in the coming year and I got $12 worth of free toiletries/HBA/food at Rite-Aid.

While out Christmas shopping together, Hubs and I went to Bob Evans for a quick and filling meal.
I saw that they were offering an incentive to buy gift cards and I bit.....

Here's the deal.....
Purchase $30 in Bob Evans gift cards(can be 1 Card for $30 or multiple cards totaling $30).
Get a Coupon Book with $20 in Bonus Savings
AND get a box of 6 Sugar Cookies

Usually I wouldn't be too thrilled with a deal like this but I checked the Coupon Book out before I plunked down the cash....

1 x BOGO Adult Entrée Q wyb an adult entree
1 x $3 off $10 Purchase Q on meals
1 x Free Kid's Entrée wyb an adult entrée
1 x Free Slice of Pie wyb an adult entrée

You can use these coupons when you eat at Bob's and then pay with your gift card.  It's actually more than $20 worth of freebies/discounts.  We don't have any kids for the Kid Entrée Q but this restaurant will let me use it on an adult who wants a kid's entrée.  Sometimes when we go I only want a small portion so this works for us.

Plus you also get these Qs in the booklet for Bob Evans products at the grocers...

These didn't inspire me much as I don't buy frozen premade foods much(frozen mashed potatoes....really??lol).
But I might use that sausage meats one.

Just be aware that the Coupon Booklet coupons good in the restaurants expire on 2/28/14, which gives you just over 2 months to redeem them.
The coupons for the grocery store foods are good until 3/31/14.
I might have purchased more than $60 worth of gift cards if these restaurant coupons didn't expire the end of February.  Jan and Feb. the weather is touch & go here so I'll have my hands full getting to Bob's enough times to use those 2 sets of Qs I got.

And how awesome is it that I have a dozen Christmas cookies now and I didn't have to bake!? lolz

Now I have to get over to Lone Star Steak House and pick up some gift cards for there before Christmas.

Do you buy gift cards in December to use throughout the following year because they offer incentives during the Christmas season?

Sluggy

This Week on The Dining Table

The "Christmas is only 8 Days Away and I am finally READY!" Edition.......

 Everything is wrapped and under the tree except for 1 last minute order from Kohl's which is suppose to get here by Dec. 24th but isn't necessarily Christmas presents(underwear and summer clothing-great clearance deals on that now!)but if it arrives in time I'll wrap it and put under the tree.

 

On to the Meal Planning.
Here is what was planned last week--
 

Sunday--used leftover Fried Chicken to make Lemon Pepper Chicken w/Zuke, Rice
Monday--finish the Leftovers Stuffed Shells, Salad
Tuesday--Dinner out w/a gift certificate(free)
Wednesday--Meatloaf, Squash Casserole, Asparagus
Thursday--Roasted Chicken(maybe w/BBQ sauce), steamed Broccoli, roasted Sweet Potatoes
Friday--Leftovers Medley
Saturday--No Clue yet-options of leftovers, lasagna from freezer or pizza take-out(w/gift cert.)

Well we ate everything listed except for Sweet Potatoes as I didn't get to the store until Friday.   Leftovers moved from Friday to Saturday and I bought a pizza at Weis on Friday for dinner that evening.

As for the food spending last week....
There was 1 trip to the grocery store & 2 trips to Rite-Aid and I spent a grand total of $55.35(including my Rite-Aid trips at $2.23)on $234.01 worth of groceries/toiletries at 2 different stores.  We are at $184.95 spent on $590.26 worth of groceries/toiletries for December so far.
14 days left in the month and $115.05 left in the food budget(if I want to come in under $300 this month instead of the usual $400).

I am still hopeful I can pull off a $300 food month.  The freezer is still good on various proteins and some frozen lasagna, ravioli and crab cakes so I think we can pull this off, as long as I stay out of the grocery store and am not tempted to go hog wild right before Christmas!  Oh, those marketers are pulling out all the stops to get us to spend, spend, SPEND the next week or so!  Just make a list of NEEDS, get in and get out quick to avoid the impulse spending.
Staying out of the stores will be easy for me this week since #2 Son needs my car most of the week while his is being repaired.
Best to stay outta the stores.....unless of course, you have +Up Rewards to use up at Rite-Aid that is...... ;-)

Leftovers going into this week--some of that Roasted Chicken I cooked up, leftover spaghetti sauce from the Stuffed Shells I made and Zucchini and Rice.  That is about it this week.

Here's this week's meal plan---

Sunday--Dinner Out after some Holiday shopping w/Hubs at Bob Evans
Monday--Chicken and Dumplings(to use up the rest of that chicken & milk about to expire)
Tuesday--Ravioli & Sauce(use up leftover sauce), Green Salad
Wednesday--Chicken Fried Steak(I'll have something else), Mashed Potatoes, Veggie Medley
Thursday--Something Inexpensive Out after #2 Son's Christmas Concert(the last one we ever have to attend!lol)
Friday--Shrimp Burgers on rolls, Deviled Eggs, Green Beans
Saturday--Spaghetti and Meatballs, Spinach Salad


What I need to purchase for this menu?....... biscuit dough.  I picked up salad greens, rolls, shrimp burgers last week.  Have the CFS, taters, meatballs(in the freezer)and pasta already.
Since I have little that needs buying for this menu, I'll check out any loss leaders offered in the stores this week and start constructing next week's menu around those and what I have already here.  With $115.05 left in the food budget for December, I'll try to stay at or under $40 this week for foods that will be consumed next week.  Does that make any sense to anyone? lolz


What is getting fixed and served at your house this week?

Sluggy