September 2010
Thursday Shopping 9-30-10
I’ll be honest, today was not one of my better shopping days. Savings-wise, I still did fine, but I was frazzled and disorganized, and generally a bit crabby overall. The last day of the month caught me by surprise, and I feel like I have been rushing around all day (even more than normal) trying to catch up on all the things I wanted to have done by today. I never did catch up and spent most of the day feeling frustrated. I left for Publix without organizing my coupons and my checkout was a complete disaster. I’m pretty sure I missed out on some major savings, but everything was ... read more
Watermelon Feta Salad {Recipe}
I subscribe to at least 10 magazines. So many that I don’t have time to read them all. I know I should let some of the subscriptions go, but I can’t. I love them. The pretty colors, the pictures, the craft ideas, the home decorating advice. And the recipes. Oh, the recipes! Lately it seems I have had even less time to pore through them, (though I somehow managed to add 3 more subscriptions to my pile), often managing barely a quick page through before they hit the magazine shelf, only to be covered up in a few weeks’ time by another issue I don’t have time to read. Over ... read more
Five Tips for Disney Fun (on a budget)
I’ll spare you all the boring [to everyone else] details of our [very fun] trip to Disney and share just one very humorous anecdote: This trip we were staying at the Contemporary Resort (thanks to some awesome Florida Resident deals), and on Saturday evening we left the park around 11:30pm and took the monorail back to the hotel. By then both girls were asleep in our double stroller and we wanted to keep them asleep at all costs. Unfortunately, when we got off the monorail at the hotel, we were told that the [only] elevator was out-of-order. We asked how long it would be, since at that point, waiting was ... read more
Five Tips for Disney Fun (on a budget)
I’ll spare you all the boring [to everyone else] details of our [very fun] trip to Disney and share just one very humorous anecdote: This trip we were staying at the Contemporary Resort (thanks to some awesome Florida Resident deals), and on Saturday evening we left the park around 11:30pm and took the monorail back to the hotel. By then both girls were asleep in our double stroller and we wanted to keep them asleep at all costs. Unfortunately, when we got off the monorail at the hotel, we were told that the [only] elevator was out-of-order. We asked how long it would be, since at that point, waiting was ... read more
Sunday Shopping 9-26-10
I really, really didn’t want to go out shopping last night because a.) we had just gotten home from our Disney weekend and I was exhausted and b.) it was pouring down rain and stormy outside. But there were some good deals to be had (like the free $33 toothbrush at CVS!) and Sunday is my drugstore shopping day, so, against my better judgment, out I went. I stopped at the 3 closest CVS stores and ended up with only one toothbrush. I did, however, get 5 rainchecks, so hopefully I will be able to still make that deal work later this week. The deals at Walgreens are fun ... read more
Disney Weekend Halloween Craft
There are a lot of good things about living in Florida. It is almost always sunny. It doesn’t snow. There are palm trees and flamingos and alligators. There are about 150 amazing beaches within driving distance. There is no state income tax. Half the population doesn’t live here most of the time. I could go on and on. But the best thing about living in Florida has got to be Walt Disney World. I’ll admit it: I’m a Disney Dork. I love it. I love everything about it. If it were up to me, we’d be there every weekend. I know this will probably come as a shock, given our ... read more
Thursday Shopping 9-23-10
(I apologize in advance for this drawn out account of my shopping experience today. For just the bottom line, scroll WAY down!) I can be such a spaz sometimes. I am constantly running around trying to cram one more thing into my day, and I rarely, if ever, just sit and relax. Breakfast and lunch, when I even bother to eat anything at all, is usually just something I can eat quickly on the run–a granola bar or yogurt–and from the time I wake up to the time I go to bed, I am trying to catch up on my list and all the things I want to accomplish in ... read more
Controlling Kid Chaos
The older I get, the more of a neat freak I become. This is most unfortunate because kids are messy. Really messy. It would’ve been so much easier if I could’ve started neat and learned to relax by the time I had kids. But I can’t. I love my kids, but I hate the messes that they are constantly creating! A couple of years ago, when we were living in Seattle, I remember being offended when a childless couple came over for a neighborhood cocktail party and the wife commented “I just don’t know if I could have kids and live with all this kid clutter everywhere.” At the time ... read more
Sunday Shopping 9-17-10
For 3 months I have been wishing and hoping for a deal on women’s deodorant. Somehow I’ve managed to accumulate about 20 free containers of Right Guard for men as I scrape the very bottom remnants of my own deodorant. Today my patience finally paid off! Actually, it was a pretty good day all around. I ended up with 4 tubes of free lipstick, a ton of free dish soap, free toothpaste, free air freshener, free men’s deodorant (more Right Guard!), free ThermaCare heating pads, and lots & lots of canned vegetables. Here is what I got: At CVS I spent $12.48 for $105.62 worth of groceries (even though it ... read more
Girly Spa Playdate
We are having our annual family portraits taken tomorrow (more on that at a later date), which got me thinking about primping to prepare to look my best. This will go on the Christmas card, after all! I desperately need a pedicure, and while the pre-thrifty me would’ve thought nothing of splurging on a relaxing hour at the spa pampering my toes, (“honey, in Florida it’s a ‘need,’ not a ‘want.’), the new budget-conscious me knows I can make my toes look just as pretty at home. For free. In a previous life I was the director of a large day spa and salon. Getting manicures, pedicures, facials, and massages ... read more
The New Ride
It has been quite a journey for us, this car buying process. And now, at long last, after nearly 5 very looooooong months of arguing, negotiating, web-surfing, test-driving, researching, stonewalling, deciding, changing our minds, arguing some more, negotiating, deciding again, walking away, then coming back to the table, we FINALLY have a 2nd vehicle. Isn’t she lovely? In a million years, I never thought I’d be driving a minivan. Even when we first started shopping, a minivan was the furthest thing from my mind. I wanted something “cool,” something hip and stylish, something that told the world, “yes, I may be lugging two kids around and spending my days changing ... read more
Thursday Shopping 9-16-10
It wasn’t really an exciting week for groceries. I have been chomping at the bit to use my new Kraft $5 off of 5 coupons. I thought I had struck pay dirt when I caught someone’s comment on SouthernSavers.com that Kraft Deli Deluxe slices were on sale, since I would then be able to stack 5 Publix store coupons & get cheap cheese and free produce. Yay! Alas, when I got to the store, the cheese was not on sale, and my dreams of $5 worth of free fruit and vegetables were dashed. All was not lost, however, because there was a nice little Publix tailgating coupon booklet at the ... read more
7 Steps to Mega Drugstore Savings
By now you’ve probably figured out that using coupons to save money at the grocery store is fairly straightforward: Match the sale items with coupons, then build a stockpile so that you only buy items at their cheapest as much as possible. With helpful websites like SavingWellSpendingLess.com to do the work of matching sales and coupons each week, even a minimal effort will save you money. Extreme couponing at drugstores (like CVS, Walgreens, & Rite-Aid), on the other hand, is a whole new ball game. As in life, with greater effort comes greater reward, and although learning to play the coupon game at the drugstores can be a lot more ... read more
Halloween Decorating Inspiration
I just love holidays. Luckily for me, my 4 year-old has inherited my enthusiasm for all things holiday, and between the two of us, we could spend hours planning all the fun we will have on all our special days. She literally has been talking about Halloween for months now, since before the Fourth of July. So while it may still seem a little early to most sane people, M. and I are chomping at the bits to make this house festive from top to bottom. On a budget, of course. People sometimes think I have a lot of ideas, but I honestly don’t think I’m very original. I’m not ... read more
Black Beans & Coconut Rice {Recipe}
I am vegetarian but my family is not, so I am used to cooking both ways. My non-vegetarian friends & family, however, often panic at the thought of cooking something vegetarian for me. Inevitably, their minds go blank, and they give me salad. And I have a confession: I am a vegetarian who doesn’t really like salad all that much. I’ll skip the pious lecture about the horrors of meat versus the virtues of vegetarianism. The truth is that I don’t really care that much whether someone eats meat or not. I personally don’t like the taste, and never have. But from simply a cost standpoint alone, there are some ... read more
