W Magazine must have heard about my awesome fashion/thrift store shopping finds and therefore gave me a complimentary subscription to the fashion bible until January 2014. I know I didn't pay for it but for some reason I have been getting it.
Sunday, March 04, 2012
Thrift Store Fashionista
No yardsales just quite yet, but I did get some bargains this week at my favorite thrift. All clothes were half priced. For myself I bought this wool coat for $4:
W Magazine must have heard about my awesome fashion/thrift store shopping finds and therefore gave me a complimentary subscription to the fashion bible until January 2014. I know I didn't pay for it but for some reason I have been getting it.
W Magazine must have heard about my awesome fashion/thrift store shopping finds and therefore gave me a complimentary subscription to the fashion bible until January 2014. I know I didn't pay for it but for some reason I have been getting it.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
I am back baby!!!
woo hoo, here's a new picture for me to share:
Yes, its my kitchen, it all it's messy cluttered glory - a picture that I took yesterday and was able to load to my computer. Woo-hoo DH fixed my camera/computer issue so I can take and load pictures again to my computer.
Now it's time - no more excuses - to start selling again on ebay. I already wrote up a few auctions to start tonight.
Yes, its my kitchen, it all it's messy cluttered glory - a picture that I took yesterday and was able to load to my computer. Woo-hoo DH fixed my camera/computer issue so I can take and load pictures again to my computer.
Now it's time - no more excuses - to start selling again on ebay. I already wrote up a few auctions to start tonight.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
As usual, living high on the hog
I am still having some issues with my computer and camera - so no recent pictures to show. I should just throw this computer out (after removing all my photos) and buy a new computer and new camera. Since according to a recent article we all live high on the hog here in Calvert County, Maryland (ranked #13 on the richest counties in America list). Well duh, how else do they expect yardsale royalty to live??? My castle is similar to the one pictured in the article but larger, of course. In reference to living "high on the hog", I think that means most people here butcher their own pigs. People look forward to the annual Calvert County fair like it's the best thing since a church yardsale. Life is so much better since the neighbor with the damn rooster moved away.
Well since I have no new photos to share, I will go into my archives and find a previously unpublished photo. I took this is December 2011 at a new thrift store that opened last year. As you can read, eveything on the table is .10 to .75.
Well since I have no new photos to share, I will go into my archives and find a previously unpublished photo. I took this is December 2011 at a new thrift store that opened last year. As you can read, eveything on the table is .10 to .75.
Monday, February 06, 2012
If I had $500 to spend for Valentine's Day
edited - post deleted.
Waaa. I didn't win the contest, therefore I have deleted my post for the contest. Not that I'm a sore loser or anything. Of course if the judges were wise and had declared me the winner, my entry post would have lived on in internet infamy and would driven tons and tons of traffic to their couponing website for an infinite amount of time. Oh well, it wasn't meant to be. Their loss. And mine. A classic lose lose situation.
Sunday, February 05, 2012
JC Penneys New Pricing Strategy
If you've read my blog for a while, you know I love my yardsales and thrift stores. But I've been known to occasionally (gasp!!) shop at stores such as JC Penneys and Kohls. But I only make a purchase if I know I got a good bargain. Low prices are good, but free is even better. I present you with:
Exhibit A
Exhibit B
Exhibit C
Exhibit D
So yesterday I went to Penneys to check out their new pricing strategy. (Don't worry, I didn't make a special trip just to go there, but it was near the Outback Steakhouse we had dinner at, so it was convenient. And you know I got a deal at Outback - back in December I purchased a $100 gift card and got a $20 coupon which was going to expired next week, but I digress).
So when I was at Penneys, there were no bargains to look for. Everything was marked with it's "fair and square" price. What fun is that? Zero. None. No bargains for me to look for. With my mad shopping skills, I expect that even in a retail store I can find better bargains than Joe Schmo off the street. Not the same. As an extreme bargain hunting shopper, there was no thrill of the hunt. Lame and boring. Shopping is a sport and I want to win against my competitors (other shoppers). My husband thought it was just fine. What does he know. He's a guy who doesn't get the sport of shopping.
p.s I am especially mourning the loss of the free $10 off anything JC Penney coupons. Waaaaaaa!
Exhibit A
Exhibit B
Exhibit C
Exhibit D
So yesterday I went to Penneys to check out their new pricing strategy. (Don't worry, I didn't make a special trip just to go there, but it was near the Outback Steakhouse we had dinner at, so it was convenient. And you know I got a deal at Outback - back in December I purchased a $100 gift card and got a $20 coupon which was going to expired next week, but I digress).
So when I was at Penneys, there were no bargains to look for. Everything was marked with it's "fair and square" price. What fun is that? Zero. None. No bargains for me to look for. With my mad shopping skills, I expect that even in a retail store I can find better bargains than Joe Schmo off the street. Not the same. As an extreme bargain hunting shopper, there was no thrill of the hunt. Lame and boring. Shopping is a sport and I want to win against my competitors (other shoppers). My husband thought it was just fine. What does he know. He's a guy who doesn't get the sport of shopping.
p.s I am especially mourning the loss of the free $10 off anything JC Penney coupons. Waaaaaaa!
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Thrift Store Pet Peeves Arg!!!!
I had a bit of a problem with my computer last week but thankfully I am semi-back to normal. The only issue I have now is with my camera and getting new pictures on my computer.
Sooooo....until that is fixed by some miracle, I will have to go thru the thousands of my photos already on my harddrive and pick something out to talk about.
Today I pick: Thrift Store Pet Peeves. I have a bunch I could talk about, but here is one that really irritates me. Why do workers in thrift stores (and yardsales) put price stickers on things in very conspicuous places that may end up damaging the item when the label is removed?
Here is a picture of some vintage Charlie Brown & Snoopy plaques I bought a while back. I was tempted not to buy them since the store put large price tags right on the artwork which is just made of paper. The thrift store could have chosen to put the label on the back of the item, but no, they put it right smack dab on the front, where it can damage the item. Arg!!!!!
I knew because of my years of experience and mad skills I have in removing labels, I could probably remove the labels without damaging the plaques. Here's my plan of attack:
1. Start removal process very soon after acquiring object. The longer the sticker remains on, the harder it is to remove.
2. Summon my lady-in-waiting to retrieve hairdryer and official Tweezerman tweezers from royal bathroom.
3. Plug in said hairdryer and turn on low heat and aim it at label. After a few seconds, try to lift off a corner of the sticker with tweezers (while maintaining low heat on hairdryer). Once a corner gets lifted up, pull very gently to remove the rest of the label.
4. Have a drink and celebrate your success.
Well anyway, that's how I remove a price tag sticker. Your results may vary.
Sooooo....until that is fixed by some miracle, I will have to go thru the thousands of my photos already on my harddrive and pick something out to talk about.
Today I pick: Thrift Store Pet Peeves. I have a bunch I could talk about, but here is one that really irritates me. Why do workers in thrift stores (and yardsales) put price stickers on things in very conspicuous places that may end up damaging the item when the label is removed?
Here is a picture of some vintage Charlie Brown & Snoopy plaques I bought a while back. I was tempted not to buy them since the store put large price tags right on the artwork which is just made of paper. The thrift store could have chosen to put the label on the back of the item, but no, they put it right smack dab on the front, where it can damage the item. Arg!!!!!
I knew because of my years of experience and mad skills I have in removing labels, I could probably remove the labels without damaging the plaques. Here's my plan of attack:
1. Start removal process very soon after acquiring object. The longer the sticker remains on, the harder it is to remove.
2. Summon my lady-in-waiting to retrieve hairdryer and official Tweezerman tweezers from royal bathroom.
3. Plug in said hairdryer and turn on low heat and aim it at label. After a few seconds, try to lift off a corner of the sticker with tweezers (while maintaining low heat on hairdryer). Once a corner gets lifted up, pull very gently to remove the rest of the label.
4. Have a drink and celebrate your success.
Well anyway, that's how I remove a price tag sticker. Your results may vary.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Adult Field Trip to Washington DC - National Air & Space Museum
Well again, there were no yardsales this past Saturday. Woe is me. But I managed to survive the day by drowning my sorrows at the open bar at a party hosted by my husband's place of employment. They know how to put on a party. This event was held at the National Air & Space Museum in Washington DC.
There were tons of things to do and not much time to do it. Eat, drink, be merry, see museum, watch Imax movies etc. All free, of course. Like I said before we thank you Lord for nuclear power! And since it was held in the evening when the museum is closed to the public, didn't have to deal or mingle with pesky tourists.
Looking down on the band and dance floor. This was early in the evening - people were too busy eating to dance - the dance floor filled up by the end of the night.
First thing I ate was a lobster lollipop.
This was called Shrimp Ouchy. It was shrimp yummy.
Risotto bar
omg - the desserts!!! Note to self - next time, line my large handbag with an empty gallon size Ziplock baggy. Or two.
Outside of the musuem
There were tons of things to do and not much time to do it. Eat, drink, be merry, see museum, watch Imax movies etc. All free, of course. Like I said before we thank you Lord for nuclear power! And since it was held in the evening when the museum is closed to the public, didn't have to deal or mingle with pesky tourists.
Looking down on the band and dance floor. This was early in the evening - people were too busy eating to dance - the dance floor filled up by the end of the night.
First thing I ate was a lobster lollipop.
This was called Shrimp Ouchy. It was shrimp yummy.
Risotto bar
omg - the desserts!!! Note to self - next time, line my large handbag with an empty gallon size Ziplock baggy. Or two.
Outside of the musuem
Saturday, January 21, 2012
My old mirror mirror that is on the wall
Since I will be doing some minor remodeling to our powder room, I took some "before" pictures. It's very Circa 1992. We bought the house new in 1990, so I think I finally got around to taking down the crappy builder's grade medicine cabinet, adding the oh so fancy lighting fixture, painting, and putting up the dollar store peel n stick border around 1992 or so. And haven't done a thing since. I mean really, why mess with perfection? ha. But now the mirror is starting to age, at the bottom you can see where the reflective part of the mirror has gotten weird. It's like some cleaning chemical or something got behind the glass and started eating away at it.
I am keeping the sink and cabinet. I can never figure out why people go with those pedestal sinks. Not me. Where do they hide all their crap????
I am keeping the sink and cabinet. I can never figure out why people go with those pedestal sinks. Not me. Where do they hide all their crap????
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Mirror mirror soon to be on my bathroom wall
Here's one of my thrift store buys from the other day - a huge mirror for $10. I had better things to do today, so of course I asked my Lady-in-Waiting (having a Lady-in-Waiting is just one of my benefits of being Yardalequeen) to take the photo. So those muscular, well toned legs wearing fashionable grey pantaloons, fuzzy socks and thrift store Merrell brand shoes belong to her. Not me, of course.
It's been a good 20 years since our downstairs bathroom has had a facelift. So it might be about time for some minor remodeling. Like replace the lighting and the mirror, electric cover plates, remove the peel 'n stick wall border that I remember buying at a dollar store close-out etc etc. And it wouldn't hurt to give the bathroom a new coat of paint. (I bought a $5 gallon of a neutral colored Oops Paint at Ace Hardware.) Hey and guess what? The mirror looks all big and heavy in a cast iron frame, right? But it's not, it is big but not heavy - the frame is plastic! But I swear, it doesn't look like plastic and you can only tell if you touch it. And really, how often do you go around touching people's mirrors when you visit someone's house?
It's been a good 20 years since our downstairs bathroom has had a facelift. So it might be about time for some minor remodeling. Like replace the lighting and the mirror, electric cover plates, remove the peel 'n stick wall border that I remember buying at a dollar store close-out etc etc. And it wouldn't hurt to give the bathroom a new coat of paint. (I bought a $5 gallon of a neutral colored Oops Paint at Ace Hardware.) Hey and guess what? The mirror looks all big and heavy in a cast iron frame, right? But it's not, it is big but not heavy - the frame is plastic! But I swear, it doesn't look like plastic and you can only tell if you touch it. And really, how often do you go around touching people's mirrors when you visit someone's house?
Friday, January 13, 2012
The Great Yard Sale Season of 2012 has officially opened!
I went to my first yardsale of 2012 (last weekend) so I know the yardsale season as officially begun. For $3 I bought a leather Stone Mountain handbag. Yes I know I already have the best handbag ever made which I currently still use and love but for $3, it doesn't hurt to have a little variety now and then.
And tomorrow I will shop at an indoor church yardsale, but then I have a feeling there may be a dry spell until springtime. But you never know.
I had a few other buys this week - from a thrift store. I was looking at our old rubbermaid kitchen sink dish drain the other night and thinking how old and gross it looked. And ta-da, just the next day I spot a brand new, never used one for $2.50.
I wish I had instead been looking at my old and gross mini-van and found a new one for $2.50.
Did anyone catch Storage Wars the other day where Barry Weiss found some old glass collectible fly catcher jars? The day after watching it, I found a blue glass fly catcher jar. The cashier had no idea what it was. I don't think it's old but for $1 I had to get it.
Oh and I bought an orange chair for $4. Depending on how the pictures turn out, my plan is to use it as a backdrop for when I take pics for ebay.
And tomorrow I will shop at an indoor church yardsale, but then I have a feeling there may be a dry spell until springtime. But you never know.
I had a few other buys this week - from a thrift store. I was looking at our old rubbermaid kitchen sink dish drain the other night and thinking how old and gross it looked. And ta-da, just the next day I spot a brand new, never used one for $2.50.
I wish I had instead been looking at my old and gross mini-van and found a new one for $2.50.
Did anyone catch Storage Wars the other day where Barry Weiss found some old glass collectible fly catcher jars? The day after watching it, I found a blue glass fly catcher jar. The cashier had no idea what it was. I don't think it's old but for $1 I had to get it.
Oh and I bought an orange chair for $4. Depending on how the pictures turn out, my plan is to use it as a backdrop for when I take pics for ebay.
Monday, January 02, 2012
Cheers to a Great 2012!
I've been away. I would like to tell you I was visiting a vineyard and winery in the Tuscany region of France.
But I honestly cannot say that I was. I did however go to a local vineyard with a friend. Of course I used a coupon for a free wine tasting for 2 plus free wine glasses. The place and the grounds are much prettier when it's not wintertime and raining. Wine is not my adult beverage of choice, but I can manage to choke some down from time to time.
And I just got home from visiting my family in upstate New York for a while after Christmas. Plus I may have stopped in to their Salvation Army once or twice, just to browse, of course.
But I honestly cannot say that I was. I did however go to a local vineyard with a friend. Of course I used a coupon for a free wine tasting for 2 plus free wine glasses. The place and the grounds are much prettier when it's not wintertime and raining. Wine is not my adult beverage of choice, but I can manage to choke some down from time to time.
And I just got home from visiting my family in upstate New York for a while after Christmas. Plus I may have stopped in to their Salvation Army once or twice, just to browse, of course.
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Friday, December 23, 2011
Happy Festivus Everyone!
and now I will do an Airing of Grievances on how you, my blog readers, have disappointed me in the past year. In my earlier post, I told you I wanted you to buy me the $249 plus tax & shipping parade bracelet. Such a simple thing to do and you failed miserably. I was going to guess that at least I would receive a dozen or two of them, and not a single one has arrived! Phooey on you and you and you. And I was only planning on keeping one or two and ebaying the rest - because I'm generous that way. Shame shame shame on you.
So therefore I had to take matters into my own hand. I assumed (and rightly so) that you would disappoint me, so until I win the lottery, I bought myself a knockoff. So there. It's even imported! From exotic China!
Here's the one you were supposed to buy me: (which is now soldout on the BJs Warehouse website, so you can't even attempt to get into my good graces if you tried)
And this is the one I bought myself:
I hope you're happy. Now go enjoy the rest of Festivus!
So therefore I had to take matters into my own hand. I assumed (and rightly so) that you would disappoint me, so until I win the lottery, I bought myself a knockoff. So there. It's even imported! From exotic China!
Here's the one you were supposed to buy me: (which is now soldout on the BJs Warehouse website, so you can't even attempt to get into my good graces if you tried)
And this is the one I bought myself:
I hope you're happy. Now go enjoy the rest of Festivus!
Thursday, December 22, 2011
My Christmas Troll Collection Expands
Somewhere in this castle is my Christmas Troll collection - so one day when I find them, I will have 3 more to add. The stuffed Santa troll is so ugly I had to have it. Plus, at .50, it was well within my budget. I bought the 2 other small trolls a few weeks ago for .25 each.
And today I bought a hardcover book - The Gospel According to Superman. Who says I'm not religious????!!!! It was in the kid's book section (kids books are normally .25 - and today was a half priced day, so I got 2 books for .25).
And here is one of my awesome buys from last week. I was donating items when another woman was donating this Berlin Sports wagon. I told one of the workers I was interested in it so they looked it over to price it. They decided that since it needed some work done on it - it is missing a screw - they would only charge $15 for it. Sold! If you were to buy it retail, it would *only* cost $189 at Toys R Us In my pic, it looks like it's missing one of the slats, but its laying down in the bed of the wagon.
One more day til Festivus!
Monday, December 19, 2011
Bargain Liquor and Mickey Mouse - what a combo!
There were no yard sales for me this past Saturday morning, so I had to get my bargain shopping fix elsewhere. On a couponing message board, I had read that Walgreens had $19.99 Christmas shirts ringing up at a .80 clearance price. So I had to check to see if my Walgreens had any. I found (and bought) two. Unfortunately, I only have one Walgreens near me so I cannot easily drive to other Walgreens to buy and hoard more.
Then leaving Walgreens, I saw a big "going out of business - everything 40% off" sign at a local gas station/convenience store. So I stopped in to see what they had. I hadn't been in that store in forever since I don't shop at gas station convenience stores (cuz everything is overpriced). When I buy gas, I just swipe my credit card at the pump so no need to go inside. Well what a surprise - it was a small liquor store inside. And at 40% off, I stocked up. It had been picked through already, so there were no large bottles of Johnny Walker for DH (so I had to settle for small bottles). The 1.75 liter bottles of Aged Cruzan rum were only $19.99 so, after the discount, they were $12 each. I would have bought more but 2 was all they had. The liter bottles of Myers were also $19.99 so $12 after discount. They also had a lot of generic cheapy type of liquor made by companies I have never heard of - which I passed up. Cruzan rum is from St. Croix - where we honeymooned and toured the Cruzan Rum distillery. For all the liquor in the pic, I ended up paying around $90. I will be all set for at least a month!
Thursday, December 15, 2011
A Day in the Life of the Yardsalequeen (December version)
- Got up, made Jacob's lunch and got him on the school bus.
- Left the castle to get the royal vehicle's oil changed at Mr. Tire using my Groupon oil change coupon (paid $13 for the oil change and tire rotation coupon).
- while car was in the shop, walked to the nearby Staples and used $66.80 that I had in Staples Rewards credit to buy more printer ink and some other stuff.
- also browsed BJs Warehouse. Saw a $299 bracelet in the jewelry case that I liked. I see it's only $249 (+ tax & shipping) online (what a bargain - I really think you should buy it for me. Yes, I'm talking to you.) Here it is: Parade Bracelet Note to BJ's Warehouse advertising management: If you would like, you can send this item for me to review here on this super popular blog. With all those blingy, shiny gemstones, I think it would go well with my crown.
- picked up the car and drove to a nearby thrift where I spent around $5 on stuff. ($1 of it was a package of 2 ink cartridges which I will probably end up recycling at Staples for $4. Either that or I will ebay it for more).
- by this time, it was around 11am so I stopped at Quiznos and used my last Quiznos Groupon. If I remember right, I paid $2 each for 8 Quiznos sandwich coupons on Groupon. Got the sandwich "to go" so I didn't buy any soda - I have an electric cooler in my car full of canned sodas. Ate half the sandwich in the car and took the rest home for later.
- went to Old Navy to use my $20 Groupon coupon. Recently there was a nationwide Groupon for Old Navy - for $10 you could get $20 worth of merchandise. And since I had $10 in referral money in my account - I paid $0 for the Old Navy Groupon coupon. I bought 10 pairs of cozy socks (which were on sale for $2 each). I just had to pay .60 in sales tax. Will probably give as gifts.
- went to Bath & Body Works and used a 20% off your entire order coupon. I bought 2 things that were already on the 50% off clearance shelf.
- went to Target where I bought 4 boxes of Chex Rice cereal. On sale for $2.25 a box. And I had 2 coupons that were save $1 off 2 boxes. So I paid $7.00 for 4 boxes.
- went to Shoppers Food Warehouse, where they double coupons up to .99. I had some .75 off McIlhenny Tabasco sauce coupons. Price was $1.50 so I paid $0 for them when the coupons were doubled. Also bought a few other items (did not do a major grocery shopping trip).
- went to Kohls with my 20% off coupon. Plus I had a $10 off anything coupon which was only supposed to be good from Dec 1st - 10th. I asked at Customer Service if they would still honor it and they said yes. Bought a $5.99 winter themed doormat, a $6.99 gift for a child, plus some clearanced Fall dishtowels. Paid $4- something out of pocket.
- went to Walgreens. Got the Goody hair clips and the Salonpas pain patch (that are free this week with Register Rewards). I also *bought* a Revlon Top Speed nailpolish, which also was free ($3.99 on sale, minus $1 Revlon coupon which is in the coupon booklet by the Walgreens make-up counter) and received the $3.00 Register Reward (plus the Register Rewards for the Salonpas and Goody). I plan on giving the pain patch to my sister-in-law who uses them.
- went to Giant grocery store for a few things. Since I use the scanner gun to record my purchases, the scanner gun automatically gives me electronic coupons too. I've noticed that everyday it gives me a $1 electronic coupon to save $1 on any 4 Marchuan Ramen Noodles. So since individual packages are .27 each, I am able to get 4 for .08. Like almost everyday. Also bought packages of Betty Crocker Fun-da-middles cupcake box mixes for .84 each. The chocolate flavor was on clearance for $2.34 (the vanilla was still $3.19 a box). I had .75 coupons that doubled to $1.50. So $2.34 - $1.50 = .84 each. (Although Giant doubles coupons too, sometimes certain things are cheaper at Shoppers Food Warehouse so that is why I shop there occasionally).
- Returned to the castle and unloaded the royal vehicle.
- Jacob came home and took him to get his hair cut at Great Clips with a $6.99 coupon that was due to expire on the 18th. And yes, I do tip. I am thrifty but not cheap.
- then went to Papa Johns and picked up two free large 1 topping pizzas for dinner. A while back I won the coupons for free Papa Johns pizza at a Christmas bazaar. While waiting for the pizza to get done, walked around Food Lion where I bought a half-healthy Poinsettia plant that was on clearance for .50.
- did a blog post.
- thinking about what I want to buy tomorrow.
- Left the castle to get the royal vehicle's oil changed at Mr. Tire using my Groupon oil change coupon (paid $13 for the oil change and tire rotation coupon).
- while car was in the shop, walked to the nearby Staples and used $66.80 that I had in Staples Rewards credit to buy more printer ink and some other stuff.
- also browsed BJs Warehouse. Saw a $299 bracelet in the jewelry case that I liked. I see it's only $249 (+ tax & shipping) online (what a bargain - I really think you should buy it for me. Yes, I'm talking to you.) Here it is: Parade Bracelet Note to BJ's Warehouse advertising management: If you would like, you can send this item for me to review here on this super popular blog. With all those blingy, shiny gemstones, I think it would go well with my crown.
- picked up the car and drove to a nearby thrift where I spent around $5 on stuff. ($1 of it was a package of 2 ink cartridges which I will probably end up recycling at Staples for $4. Either that or I will ebay it for more).
- by this time, it was around 11am so I stopped at Quiznos and used my last Quiznos Groupon. If I remember right, I paid $2 each for 8 Quiznos sandwich coupons on Groupon. Got the sandwich "to go" so I didn't buy any soda - I have an electric cooler in my car full of canned sodas. Ate half the sandwich in the car and took the rest home for later.
- went to Old Navy to use my $20 Groupon coupon. Recently there was a nationwide Groupon for Old Navy - for $10 you could get $20 worth of merchandise. And since I had $10 in referral money in my account - I paid $0 for the Old Navy Groupon coupon. I bought 10 pairs of cozy socks (which were on sale for $2 each). I just had to pay .60 in sales tax. Will probably give as gifts.
- went to Bath & Body Works and used a 20% off your entire order coupon. I bought 2 things that were already on the 50% off clearance shelf.
- went to Target where I bought 4 boxes of Chex Rice cereal. On sale for $2.25 a box. And I had 2 coupons that were save $1 off 2 boxes. So I paid $7.00 for 4 boxes.
- went to Shoppers Food Warehouse, where they double coupons up to .99. I had some .75 off McIlhenny Tabasco sauce coupons. Price was $1.50 so I paid $0 for them when the coupons were doubled. Also bought a few other items (did not do a major grocery shopping trip).
- went to Kohls with my 20% off coupon. Plus I had a $10 off anything coupon which was only supposed to be good from Dec 1st - 10th. I asked at Customer Service if they would still honor it and they said yes. Bought a $5.99 winter themed doormat, a $6.99 gift for a child, plus some clearanced Fall dishtowels. Paid $4- something out of pocket.
- went to Walgreens. Got the Goody hair clips and the Salonpas pain patch (that are free this week with Register Rewards). I also *bought* a Revlon Top Speed nailpolish, which also was free ($3.99 on sale, minus $1 Revlon coupon which is in the coupon booklet by the Walgreens make-up counter) and received the $3.00 Register Reward (plus the Register Rewards for the Salonpas and Goody). I plan on giving the pain patch to my sister-in-law who uses them.
- went to Giant grocery store for a few things. Since I use the scanner gun to record my purchases, the scanner gun automatically gives me electronic coupons too. I've noticed that everyday it gives me a $1 electronic coupon to save $1 on any 4 Marchuan Ramen Noodles. So since individual packages are .27 each, I am able to get 4 for .08. Like almost everyday. Also bought packages of Betty Crocker Fun-da-middles cupcake box mixes for .84 each. The chocolate flavor was on clearance for $2.34 (the vanilla was still $3.19 a box). I had .75 coupons that doubled to $1.50. So $2.34 - $1.50 = .84 each. (Although Giant doubles coupons too, sometimes certain things are cheaper at Shoppers Food Warehouse so that is why I shop there occasionally).
- Returned to the castle and unloaded the royal vehicle.
- Jacob came home and took him to get his hair cut at Great Clips with a $6.99 coupon that was due to expire on the 18th. And yes, I do tip. I am thrifty but not cheap.
- then went to Papa Johns and picked up two free large 1 topping pizzas for dinner. A while back I won the coupons for free Papa Johns pizza at a Christmas bazaar. While waiting for the pizza to get done, walked around Food Lion where I bought a half-healthy Poinsettia plant that was on clearance for .50.
- did a blog post.
- thinking about what I want to buy tomorrow.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Changes to Yardsalequeen Message Board
Just a quick note to say that a few days ago I made my Message Board viewable only to those who are registered members. Up until recently, I had a small portion of the board viewable to anyone and everyone. Well because of computer attacks by spam-bots (if you don't know what that is, consider yourself lucky) I had to make the board only for registered members.
I've gotten a few emails from people who had been lurking for years and now are wondering why they can no longer read the board - so I figured I'd better say something here in case anyone else was wondering. So if you are intelligent, smart, witty, love yardsales and know how to play nice with others and know how to curtsy, I encourage you to register to be a member of the Queen-dom.
I've gotten a few emails from people who had been lurking for years and now are wondering why they can no longer read the board - so I figured I'd better say something here in case anyone else was wondering. So if you are intelligent, smart, witty, love yardsales and know how to play nice with others and know how to curtsy, I encourage you to register to be a member of the Queen-dom.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Thursday, December 08, 2011
Taking the time to celebrate one holiday at a time
In my previous Debbie Downer post, Anonymous commented that they wanted to see the Royal Christmas Tree. Hello??? I don't know about you, but I like to take my time and celebrate one holiday at a time. Therefore, behold, I present to you, the Royal Festivus Pole.
After celebrating Festivus then it's time to start thinking about decorating for Christmas.
I will have to post about my successful yardsale when I have more time. But later today - woohoo - I get yet another crown! (on bottom left molar).
Thursday, December 01, 2011
First Yardsale of 2011
I have one day to pull a yardsale together. I signed up to sell at an indoor yardsale this Saturday, December 3. My first and last one for the year. So tomorrow I will just walk around the castle sticking price stickers on stuff and throwing it in my car. You know, for being a yardsale queen, I really should be better prepared.
I haven't blogged much lately so this post will be a mishmash of things to catch up on what's been happening lately.
Been doing lots of shopping lately, including some online deals and even (gasp) retail. But my retail shopping is pretty tame. Over Thanksgiving weekend, I hit CVS and Walgreens for their freebie deals with Extra Care Bucks and Register Rewards. I am part of the Occupy Walgreens and Occupy CVS movement.
Here's one of my CVS receipts. The majority of that receipt is the free Extra Care Bucks. I know it looks impressive, but in reality, it really should have been twice as long. I split my shopping cart into two orders. After I bought my first half of stuff - I had a receipt this long, but I tore off all the Extra Care Bucks to pay for this second order.
My Black Friday Kohl's trip was worse than I could have ever imagined. The checkout lane was ginormous - and took hours to check-out. I went because I had the free $10 to spend between midnight and 4am and additional 15% off and got the Kohls register rewards (or whatever they are called). But totally not worth it. I should have known better.
The checkout line went on and on and on and on...
Speaking of Kohl's, here is their $39.99 fragile glass hourglass (on sale for $19.99) - notice the debris from broken hourglasses. My $2 hourglass from a yardsale a few weeks ago puts these to shame.
One of my "buys" from Walgreens. Is it still considered buying if they pay you $4 to take it out of the store? In the mail, I got a free coupon for a free Shick Hydro razor (I have no idea why they sent me the coupon and don't remember signing up for anything) - so the cashier deducted the cost of it $8.99 - and then a $4 Register Reward printed. So I "made" $4 on that deal and got a free razor.
And I've been doing some Christmas Bazaar shopping. I went to one church bazaar the other Saturday that had a large "grannie's treasures" room. I bought a single endtable for $8 (plus I bought other junk). Remember, God loves a cheerful giver! I liked the mid-century modern look of this endtable.
The thrift stores are all decorated for Christmas. One of my thrifts has really gotten out of control in their pricing. No way would I ever pay $8 for used shoes. Or $8 for a prison ornament. Do people decorate their Christmas trees with prison ornaments to remind them of their relatives? Like do they say "I want a Lompac ornament because that's where Uncle Joey lives"??? Or maybe there is a group of collectors similar to those hardcore Hallmark ornament collectors but instead they collect penitentiary ornaments.
My son Jacob is very interested in all things relating to weather - so when I heard that his favorite weatherman - oops I mean favorite Chief Meteorologist - was going to give a talk at the library - I got him out of school early so we could go. Those of you who are in the DC/MD/VA area, you gotta know who I am talking about - weather superstar Doug Hill.
I printed out one of his head-shots and got him to autograph it for Jacob.
I haven't blogged much lately so this post will be a mishmash of things to catch up on what's been happening lately.
Been doing lots of shopping lately, including some online deals and even (gasp) retail. But my retail shopping is pretty tame. Over Thanksgiving weekend, I hit CVS and Walgreens for their freebie deals with Extra Care Bucks and Register Rewards. I am part of the Occupy Walgreens and Occupy CVS movement.
Here's one of my CVS receipts. The majority of that receipt is the free Extra Care Bucks. I know it looks impressive, but in reality, it really should have been twice as long. I split my shopping cart into two orders. After I bought my first half of stuff - I had a receipt this long, but I tore off all the Extra Care Bucks to pay for this second order.
My Black Friday Kohl's trip was worse than I could have ever imagined. The checkout lane was ginormous - and took hours to check-out. I went because I had the free $10 to spend between midnight and 4am and additional 15% off and got the Kohls register rewards (or whatever they are called). But totally not worth it. I should have known better.
The checkout line went on and on and on and on...
Speaking of Kohl's, here is their $39.99 fragile glass hourglass (on sale for $19.99) - notice the debris from broken hourglasses. My $2 hourglass from a yardsale a few weeks ago puts these to shame.
One of my "buys" from Walgreens. Is it still considered buying if they pay you $4 to take it out of the store? In the mail, I got a free coupon for a free Shick Hydro razor (I have no idea why they sent me the coupon and don't remember signing up for anything) - so the cashier deducted the cost of it $8.99 - and then a $4 Register Reward printed. So I "made" $4 on that deal and got a free razor.
And I've been doing some Christmas Bazaar shopping. I went to one church bazaar the other Saturday that had a large "grannie's treasures" room. I bought a single endtable for $8 (plus I bought other junk). Remember, God loves a cheerful giver! I liked the mid-century modern look of this endtable.
The thrift stores are all decorated for Christmas. One of my thrifts has really gotten out of control in their pricing. No way would I ever pay $8 for used shoes. Or $8 for a prison ornament. Do people decorate their Christmas trees with prison ornaments to remind them of their relatives? Like do they say "I want a Lompac ornament because that's where Uncle Joey lives"??? Or maybe there is a group of collectors similar to those hardcore Hallmark ornament collectors but instead they collect penitentiary ornaments.
My son Jacob is very interested in all things relating to weather - so when I heard that his favorite weatherman - oops I mean favorite Chief Meteorologist - was going to give a talk at the library - I got him out of school early so we could go. Those of you who are in the DC/MD/VA area, you gotta know who I am talking about - weather superstar Doug Hill.
I printed out one of his head-shots and got him to autograph it for Jacob.
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