Gotta check your grocery receipts

I was at the grocery store today and bought some broccoli crowns ($1.29/lb on sale) but the cashier charged me for regular broccoli which cost more. I brought it to the cashier's attention and she just nodded. When I look at the receipt, of course I was overcharged and had to go to customer service for my $1.15 back. So it pays to check your grocery receipt for overcharges.

Tis the Season for gift receiving

Today starts my three weeks of gift receiving. Anniversary, birthday and Mother's Day.

Went to a bunch of yardsales on Saturday. I need to be more careful in what I buy. Last week when shopping at VV during a .35 clothing day, I bought a cool looking retro inspired men's shirt with martini glasses embroidered on it. I get it home and notice a hole right in the front. Ooops. So then I thought "Well, I'll just cut the buttons off and throw the shirt in the textile recycling bin". I look again, and see someone had already cut the buttons off! (VV does not weed thru the junk - they put it all on hangers). I always cut the buttons off old clothes (that aren't suitable for donating) and save them. As if I really need a bunch of buttons. But it's a habit I can't stop.

Yardsales on Saturday were ok. At one community sale a seller had a bunch of boxes of monogrammed stationery from Tiffany's. The monogrammed letters were some unpopular letters like Y and Q. As I was standing by her table, she held up a box of Q stationery and said to her friend "If you go by the name Queen, these would come in handy". How did she know???? (I wasn't even wearing my crown). And no, I didn't buy it.

Happy Belated Earth Day - we celebrated by buying a gas powered hedge trimmer

Earth Day was this past Sunday - we went to a nearby town for their Earth Day festival. They had closed off the streets. When I took the above pic, my back (almost) was to Vintage Value. It just about killed me to walk past it and not go in. My husband would have had a shit fit.

Afterwards we ate lunch at a Mexican restaurant and then went to Lowes and bought a gas-powered hedge trimmer. Happy Earth Day. Here's a money saving tip for saving money at Lowes - get 10% off your purchase at Lowes (the coupon is good to save up to $500) Lowes 10% off coupon link I found this coupon by actually buying a Lowes coupon on eBay - many people sell the coupons on ebay, even though the fine print on the coupon says that coupons cannot be transferred. Well after getting the coupon from the ebay seller, I did some research and found the special Lowes website. Anyhow it takes a day or longer for the coupon to arrive (by email). So give yourself some leeway before your planned Lowes shopping trip to give you time to get the coupon.

Recap of my trip to upstate NY

I never really mentioned what I did over spring break (visited my mom at my childhood home - neither of which is pictured above). My son and I were there for a week. We went to Chuck E. Cheese (twice), did indoor glow-in-the-dark mini golfing, went to a children's museum and also a science museum. Saw part of a planetarium show - we had to leave when the stars starting spinning - Jacob didn't like the spinning part.

Also drove around some of my old stomping grounds. Had to do a driveby at the old bachelorette pad, which I think has turned into a crackhouse. And also did a touristy thing and did a driveby of an Extreme Makeover House (the show will air May 20 - give or take a few days). Both houses are pictured above. I'm sure you can guess which is which.








And a trip to upstate isn't complete without some special foods. Had to buy Paska bread for Easter and that involved going to a little kinda rundown city for an old time real bakery. Another food item I love to have is a fish fry. Here is the place I went for fish frys on Good Friday. Not that I'm very religious and am afraid to eat meat on a Friday or anything, I just like them since they taste so good. Look at all the people waiting in line to order - even though I'm not considered a "local" anymore, even I know to call in the order and go to the pick-up counter rather than waiting in a Disney World type line that wraps around and around and out the door.



As I was going to the science museum (and driving by my former apt) I drove by Union College which has this cool looking building.



I took Jacob to an indoor bouncy/slide place which also had a bunch of video games. Well anyways, I saw this one for toddlers plastered with all kinds of Danger signs on it and thought it was funny.

Bought a brain and a book today

I paid $1 for the jello brain mold and .50 for a book. Pretty slim pickins at the thrift today. Supposed to be a nice weekend, so there should be lots of yardsales this weekend. Then what happens is after the yardsales many people donate the leftovers to the local thrift. Many times I'm shopping on a Wednesday and I see stuff that I passed by the previous Saturday at a yardsale.

Motorcycle fixed. Glasses bought.

My husband got the motorcycle fixed. Get this, it was a measly $3 part that broke and made it impossible to change gears. Back when he bought the motorcycle, he found a website that sells the tech manuals that you download for about $10. The nearest BMW motorcycle repair place is probably over an hour away, so having that manual saved us the hassle (and money) of getting it fixed there.

The above pic is of a couple of glasses I bought to give to my Mother-in-law. Last year when she visited us, she told me she was looking for those kinds of glasses - vintage glasses with a rubbery texture and with a swirl design. I looked them up on ebay, so I knew what I was looking for when I scoured the thrifts. Well it took almost a year, but I finally found them (a set of 5 for $3). Yes I know I could have bought them on ebay for her, but I love a good challenge. And also by not buying them on ebay and lining the pockets of some ebay seller, my $3 is going to help local animals (bought the glasses at a non-profit animal welfare thrift).

Went to the dentist on Monday

I had a 10:10am appointment on Monday to get two fillings replaced. (Personally, I think whenever a dentist can't find any new cavities or other problems to address, they go with the standard "these fillings are looking old, they need to be replaced"). You know you are addicted to thrifting when you schedule your dental appointments to coincide with the nearby thrift store - Vintage Value - for their .35 clothing days.

Anyhow as I was enjoying the 80's music, during a break in the drilling I mumbled to the hygenist "Is this Sirius?" and she said yes. And she said she enjoyed the continuous music, but misses hearing the local news.

Little did we know. God Bless the Hokies.

Message Board is down - Happy Friday the 13th

Just a quick note to say that the message boards are temporarily down. So don't worry, its not you so no need to email me since I am aware of the problem (its not me either) When the boards are down, I always say "temporarily" down, but who knows...minutes, hours? days?? Probably not days though.

Just got home - went out to lunch/shopping with my husband this afternoon and rode the motorcycle. The motorcycle broke down on the way home and we had to pull over while he tried to fix it (gear shifter is broken). Thankfully some guy also pulled over and offered his help. Something is still wrong with it, but I'm glad we made it home without me having to call a taxi.

Happy Friday the 13th.

Made $2.50 at the thrift today

Just a quick post but I had to share a funny thing that happened at the thrift today. I found a large rolled up laminated map of the USA with a $1 price tag on it. Another customer sees me with it and asks if there's any more. I say "No" and he looks all depressed and goes on to say he's wants a large map like that to put thumbtacks on all of his travels. Meanwhile I'm thinking it would be a good thing to put on a wall for Jacob to learn states, cities, capitals etc. So anyways the guy goes, I'll give you a dollar if you let me buy it. I pause. Then he goes, how about $2.... $2.50??? I heard myself saying "sold!". (There will always be other maps around....). Now if I was nice, I would have just let him buy it. But did you see the book I bought the other week???

Keeping my promise

Well yesterday I said I would write again today. So....in order to keep my word, I am writing.

Will write more soon about my trip to NY. Don't have time right now and I'm tired.

Happy Belated Easter

Ok, I really have a good excuse for not blogging lately. I was in upstate New York for a week. I went OVER a full week with no computer access at all. I could have checked my email when I was at my brother's house but I decided just to go cold turkey.

The weather was too cold for garage sales (they haven't really started up there yet anyways). But I had a good time shopping at Christmas Tree Shop They are only located in the Northeast. I was barely 20 feet into the store and was putting stuff in my cart left and right. Also did some Kohl's shopping. I love the Kohl's that is near my mom's. There are a few in Maryland (but not 3 miles away like it is when I stay with my mom) - but the ones near me are at least 45 miles away. The weird thing is when I do go to the Kohl's that is closest to me, I never find anything. I think it has to do with the layout of the store (2 stories and in a mall) but the one near my mom is one level in a strip mall. Easier to navigate or something.

Here's a little trick I did at Kohl's - I did my shopping late at night by myself (heaven!) and had them put my stuff "on hold" for a day. Then the next day I brought my mom and went and picked up my merchandise at Customer Service and took it to the register where my mom bought it and got the Senior citizen discount of 15%.

It's been a long day (and week!). Will write tomorrow.

Bitch Book

Bought myself a little something today for .50. There were quite a few yardsales today. Bought other stuff besides the book, but nothing really amazing.

Lynn - to answer your question about recipes in the White Trash Cookbook, here's a few to consider: Fried Squirrel (or rabbit), Butt's Gator Tail, Cooter Pie (also instructions on how to kill a cooter. What is a cooter? From the instructions I guess it's a turtle. Ewww....eat a turtle??? Not in this lifetime. Aunt Donnah's Roast Possum, Kiss Me Not Sandwich (spread mustard on 2 pieces of bread and add sliced onions). Potato chip sandwich (bread, mayo and chips). That sort of reminds me of my great creation/invention: The Peanut Butter, Jelly and Frito Sandwich©. Delish! Anyhow I digress....Potato Chocolate cake (a cake that uses mashed potatoes as an ingredient), Russian Communist Tea Cakes, Freda's Five Can Casserole, Jail House Chili, and so on.

Virgin Mary Fridge Magnet Set and White Trash Cooking

Two of my most unusual buys are pictured above. A refrigerator mix and match Virgin Mary and Jesus magnet set (I paid $2) and a White Trash Cooking cookbook (.50). I just gave my mom the same exact book for a Christmas gift (yes, yes, I know I am too kind and generous but that's the kind of person I am). So now I have my own copy. Bought some other stuff too, but nothing quite as interesting.

Oh I did stock up on men's Degree deodorant for .08 (plus tax) I think I bought about 15 of them at Target (on clearance for $1.08 and I had $1 off coupons)

Nice and gusty yesterday

I took my son to the Calvert Marine Museum yesterday for a little bit. The weather was sunny, cold and the windy was gusty. Yeah! Then stopped at a Post Office to drop something off in the mailbox and as I was walking to my car, I see something out of the corner of my eye. Money blowing down the sidewalk. So I ran to it and was able to put my foot on it. Then I noticed it was a $20 bill (and no one else was around). Believe me, I circled the parking lot a few more times just to make sure I didn't miss any more.

Did a yardsale with less than 24 hours notice

Since my husband has to work crazy hours this month, I knew the chances of him having Saturday (yesterday) off from work was very slim. I wanted to sell at the annual Parks & Recs indoor yardsale (yardsale space is a very cheap $5) but I resigned myself to the fact that I would just have to go as a shopper with Jacob. There's no way I'd be able to have a yardsale (set up etc and pay attention to customers) and watch Jacob at the same time. But on Friday, my husband called from work around 11am and said that he could take Saturday off (and therefore be home with Jacob) if I wanted to sell at the yardsale. I was so excited that I drove to the Parks & Recs office to sign up and left my wallet at home. DOH! But I figured I could withdrawl money at my nearby bank so I drove over to the bank to make a withdrawl. But without any ID on me I didn't know if I could. But thankfully I got the teller who sees me a lot (I routinely go thru the drive-thru with my dog to cash checks etc. My dog LOVES the bank since they give out dog treats at the drive-thru.) So I was able to make a withdrawl without any problem. Then I drive back to the Parks & Recs office to pay. Then it dawns on me....in my change purse that I keep separate from my wallet, I definitely had more than $5 in it. I didn't have to waste my time going to the bank and then driving back to the Parks & Recs office to begin with. Double DOH!

There were lots of customers at the sale and I didn't have time to take a good picture of my table when it was full. The above pic was taken a few hours into the sale. I plan on going thru the rest of the stuff that didn't sell and make a donation box to Smile. I did good selling a lot of the "new" stuff that I've been able to buy cheap at stores using coupons, like deodorant, Sunsilk hair stuff and cat food and dog treats. A few months ago I really stocked up on Electrosol dishwasher soap when people were selling free coupons on ebay. I ended up paying about $1 per coupon for a free box of Electrosol, I think overall I have about 40-50 boxes of it in my stockpile. I'm sure if I had more time to organize the yardsale I could have sold some of that for $2 a box.



I made two really good buys yesterday. One was a vintage Redman picnic basket for $3. Not in the best shape but I like these baskets - I think they have more personality than Longaberger baskets. I can never have enough baskets for storage. And the other good buy was a nice computer chair for Jacob for his room and it was only $3. Has the hydraulic lift thing on it so he is having a ball raising and lowering himself on it.

Maybe I can convince my husband to try a new beef jerky???

As I mentioned below I said that Food Lion was having the Purina Carvers on sale this week for $2 each. And I had quite a few $2 coupons. Here is my stash. Good thing my dog likes them. Now if only I could convince my husband its a new type of jerky. I did have to pay sales tax (.10 per package).

In a future post, I'll post about some couponing sources online where I sometimes get coupons. The thing with stockpiling is that you have to look at the expiration dates on things and use up the ones that expire first. I have a few months before any of them start expiring. (But really, do you think I'm going to throw out expired dog treats for a dog that sometimes rolls around in poop?)

My new used ugly shoes

I bought these shoes earlier this week. I had intended to maybe put them up on ebay, but I decided to keep them. Paid .75 They are made by Timberland.

Top 10 Shelling beaches in the country

Top 10 Shelling Beaches

My sister in law spotted the above website and sent it to me since we live near beach #6. I would have never guessed since all the shells always look so small and broken to me. (I took the above picture back in January.)

Bargain of the day - Purina Chew-eez Carvers (.10 package)

Food Lion (one of my grocery stores) has the Purina Carvers dog snacks on sale for $2. And guess what? I got a ton of $2 off coupons. So that makes them .10 a package for tax.

Yeah - stupid medical crap from 2006 is over!

I am so happy that I finally got our 2006 medical junk all straightened out from Wageworks (mentioned further below). Today we got a check for $29 which was the last of our account that needed to be paid back. So now its down to $0.00 and everything is accounted for. What a major pain in the butt. Not going to the hassle of using Wageworks this year. Yippee!!!