Thursday, July 15, 2010

Shopping Day

I fought a really nasty migraine most of the day yesterday, but since today was "go to town day" for me and I woke up feeling better, I spent the entire day out shopping!

This weekend we are planning to make our first batch of soap, so I was out tracking down the lye (Ace Hardware), the coconut oil, rice bran oil and essential oil for fragrance (health food store), something to use as a mold (plastic serving trays from Deals), and some soap coloring and a rubber stamp of a sand dollar to stamp the bars (with a coupon at Michael's Crafts; they're not necessary, but they were cheap and it will add a little to the look of the soap).  I'm really looking forward to this project and I think Shane is, also.

I bought myself lunch at Logan's Roadhouse (with a coupon, of course).  $10.00 bought my lunch, the tip, and enough leftovers for Shane to take to lunch tomorrow.

I gathered a few more things for Kat's room remodel at Bed, Bath & Beyond and JoAnn, Etc.  Yes, more coupons were used.  I can't wait until we can get started on the room in earnest.  It would be wise for me to stay out of the stores right now, because all those bright solids that are popular right now are going into her room, and I get caught up in buying for her all too easily.

I bought LOTS of school supplies today, too.  Wal-Mart has the basics on sale really cheap right now, as in 25¢ boxes of crayons, bottles of glue, glue sticks, erasers, etc.  Kat's school requests only a minimum of supplies for grades K-4:  two erasers, two 24-packs of crayons, two 24-packs of pencils, two boxes of tissues, two small bottles of glue, a school box and a backpack.  Except for the backpack and the school box, all supplies are pooled for the entire classroom to use throughout the year.  I bought Kat's backpack on clearance earlier this spring for $3, and everything else was on sale today, so I ended up spending less than $9 for all of it.  I know we are getting off easy compared to some other schools, but even at that, there are probably some families in our district who will have a hard time coming up with money for supplies.  That's why I bought a lot of extras; I will donate them to Kat's school for anyone who needs them.

Let's see, I also paid another fat payment on the van loan.  Our new balance is over in my sidebar.  I think we can do it in three more payments, or possibly just two!

Finally, I picked up our groceries for the week.  One of our local chains had a lot of great store coupons this week, so I got a few things that weren't absolute necessities.  By the time I was done with everything, I decided I was too tired to cook tonight, so I'm copping out again with hot dogs for supper.  With the coupons, a package of buns, a package of franks, along with a head of lettuce and a bag of tortilla chips came to just $2.25 altogether.  I might even make the Betty Crocker brownie mix and bring the total up to $2.75.  Woo hoo!  I know it's not the most nutritious meal, but it's probably one of the cheapest and easiest.

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July Grocery/Pantry Challenge:

Items Purchased Today (store brand unless indicated):  A dozen ears of corn from a farmer selling in a parking lot, 1 loaf oat bran bread, 1 gallon milk, 2 bags potato chips, 3 bags tortilla chips, 8 oz. cream cheese, 1 can frozen OJ + calcium, 1 Betty Crocker brownie mix, 8-ct. hot dog buns, 5 pounds unbleached flour, 5 pounds white whole wheat flour, 8-ct. Farmland franks, 1 head Dole lettuce

Amount Spent Today (including tax):
$24.05

Amount Spent To Date in July (including tax): $97.85






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11 comments:

Lisa B. said...

Great minds think a like!

I just got home and it's going to be grilled polish sausage for the guys and a hot dog for me.

Way to go using all those coupons! BBB, Michaels and Joans usually have some pretty good ones.

I'm off to float in the pool with a spiked lemonaide and cool off!

Sheila said...

Sorry about the migraine. I hope you are better now--I know I am so worn out for a day or so after a migraine.
You sure got some good deals today. If we lived closer, I would love to go shopping with you.
Can't wait for the review of the soap making. I hope all goes well with that.
Congrats on the van payment--y'all will have that paid off in no time!

Shelli said...

I'm sorry about the migraine. I promise not to mention them again as it seems as that's what brings them on for me. ;)

I wish I knew how to be disciplined in spending like you are. We could really use it right now with one starting college in a few short weeks.

Alea Milham said...

I only get migraines when I am pregnant. I get the whole tunnel vision thing and just when my eyesight comes back it hits, but I am always so excited to see again that I don't care. You would think by now I would know that my eyes are not going to get stuck that way. :D

It sounds like you had a fun and productive day. I go a little crazy when we are redecorating one of our children's rooms. it is just so fun!

McVal said...

School supplies already?! It IS coming up, isn't it? Yikes!
LOVED your "The smell your cat could smell like!" LOL!

slugmama said...

Sssshhhh.....I am not allowed to mention that S word(sch@@l)around here for another month.
But your post reminded me & I pulled out the 'S' supply box to inventory and we are good to go on most things except notebooks and binders. I feel much better knowing that now. ;-)

Annie Jones said...

Lisa B: Did you guys get a new pool?

Sheila: We could meet in the middle. :)

Shelli: For me, it seems like I get one when I realize I haven't had one for quite a while. I wish I could just not think about them.

Alea: My mom had blurred vision with hers (she doesn't get them anymore), but I don't have any kind of forewarning. I didn't start getting them frequently until my mid-30s. Before that, it was only once a year or so.

McVal and Slugmama: We are a little more than 4 weeks away from the start of school already. Our school is really on the ball...they send home the next year's supply list during the last week of school so you know well ahead of time what you need.

Frances said...

It sounds like you got some great deals! And once in a while you just need to eat hot dogs.

I used to get migraines regularly until I quit a high stress job. I haven't had one in 11 years. Though, my mom and sister still get them, as did my grandmother.

Together We Save said...

Sounds like you had a wonderful shopping day!!

Annie Jones said...

TWS: Thank you, it WAS a nice day. And thanks for stopping by my blog. :)

Unknown said...

Sorry about the migraine but it's probably hard not to think about them when they're so painful.

I've been keeping an eye out for good bargains on school supplies this month. So far I've the glue sticks and colouring pencils in a box but I've still to get quite a bit more but I've still about 5 and a bit weeks to get the rest and all the back to school offers will start in August and then I can get her uniform too.