My Bargain Booze

While in NY, I did some regular store shopping (hit the Kohl's near my mom's) and the megasized liquor store. It's the only liquor store that I know that routinely gives out samples while you're shopping. I spotted this cheap wine on sale for $4.34 a bottle. And if you bought 2 bottles, you could send in for a $5 rebate. So that works out to be a little over $2 a bottle. Blush and white wine all pretty much taste the same to me so no use wasting a lot of money on good wine for me. (I have had the Two Buck Chuck wine before and thought it tasted good - but I don't have a Trader Joes nearby. The nearest Trader Joes is 50 miles away and they don't sell wine at that location).

Then yesterday I was at a little independent grocery store which is remodeling and I saw they had crates of miscellaneous beer and wine for $10 a crate. I am not really a beer drinker but the crate with Mike's Hard Lemonade in it caught my eye. So I bought it. Here's what I got for $10 plus tax



Also yesterday I went to the recycling center and spotted this cute empty Heineken mini-keg so I took it and delayed it's recycling for a while. Will have to think of some sort of crafty thing to do with it. If you have an idea what I should make with it, feel free to leave a suggestion.



Well gotta run, all of a sudden I am feeling thirsty.

Nipper and more Nipper

Well here he is, Nipper in all his glory. You know, Nipper the world famous advertising icon for RCA. The biggest Nipper in the world. I remember driving past it in the family car as a kid. He even has his name on his collar.

If you're curious where he is in the photo further below, look at the center, and then up a little (look for the beige building with what looks like windows on the top).

Re-cap of my trip to NY

Jacob and I spent the week before Easter at my mom's in upstate NY. Got there on St. Patrick's day and found out the local chain of convenience stores were giving away a free ice cream cone to anyone wearing green. There are two Stewart's within a half mile of my mom's house. wink wink.

Oh I forgot to mention - on the drive up, I tried taking a picture of one of my favorite signs. It says "Gross Used Cars". Unfortunately I didn't get a pic of the sign I wanted to, instead I got their other sign.



It was still winter in New York and they still had lots of pretty winter snow scenes.


Kids still had school there, so I was able to take Jacob to kid-related places and not have a mob scene. Went bowling (using the Banquet bowling coupons), Chuck E. Cheese and Jeepers

And Easter in NY wouldn't be complete without getting Paska bread from the Polish bakery. Here's pics of other stuff they had for sale:







My brother and his wife live in Albany, and when I went to visit them, I was driving right past Siena College - who upset Vandy in the NCAA tournament, so I stopped by and took a pic. My brother is a Siena alumni and I have a cousin who is a Vanderbilt alumni.



While in Albany, we went to an observatory (free). I hadn't been there in years and thought Jacob would enjoy it - he did.







A pic of Eliot Spitzer's former residence (weird coloring in pic is due to a glass reflection, even tho I had turned the flash off):


Wow - it's getting late and I got things to do today. The Nipper pics will have to wait, maybe later tonight. Gee, I thought everyone knew who Nipper is!

P.S. Did you know that Dunder-Mifflin has a branch in Albany?

Happy Birthday to my 8 year old baby

If you are waiting to see more Nipper pics, don't worry, they are coming.

p.s. I've come to realize my nickel donuts from earlier this month were really a good deal. In the weeks since, I've looked on the day old cart, and everytime they've now stuffed 4 donuts in the same size container (instead of 3) with a regular price of $2.20 and only putting a ".50 off" coupon on it!

Find Nipper. Like Where's Waldo, but a Nipper.

Ok, I said I would post a pic of Nipper. Here he is. Don't you see him?? He's right there. Click on the pic and it should enlarge for you.

More pics and more on my trip to NY soon.

Happy Dyngus Day

Happy Dyngus Day. If you didn't get awaken today by having a bucket of water poured on your head, don't worry, there's always next year. Same with Siena - better luck next year.

Well I am back from New York. I told you, right? I guess not. I tend to not mention vacations (or "anti-vacations" as my husband calls trips to NY) on the blog, until they are said and done.

I am tired after driving 500 miles today and I have to fill out some forms for Jacob to take to school tomorrow. So no new pics here today. But they will be worth the wait. I will show you a big Nipper. A huge Nipper. I think the biggest Nipper in the world actually.

later....

Way to Go Siena!

I happened to be on the campus this a.m. Sorry for not blogging lately.

Nickel (or less) Donuts

The thrift store was a disapointment today - I bought a few small things, but nothing to write blog about. Instead I'll show you my nickel donuts. MMMMMM donuts. I don't need any donuts, but for a nickel each, they won't go to waste. Regular price was $1.65 for a package of 3 donuts (.55 per donut) but each package had an "Oops we over-produced" sticker on them with a $1.50 coupon off each package. (The one package in the pic doesn't look like it had an "oops" sticker on it, but it did - when the cashier ripped the $1.50 coupon off, the whole sticker came off with it. So $1.65 - $1.50 = .15 per package or .05 per donut.

But what there's more. I got an additional 10% off my shopping order. The grocery store occasionally mails out coupons good for a free item and an additional discount off your total order. So....since I spent $.45 on the 3 packages of donuts, with that extra 10% off, it works out to be less than a nickel per donut.

The free item I got in this mailing was a for a free re-usable shopping bag (a .99 value). Plus, when I bring it back to the store to use it, the store credits my order .03 per each bag that I use. I must have about 8 of the re-usable bags that I have gotten free. But now I have so many, I use them for other things since I never fill up 8 bags in one shopping trip (they hold more than the usual plastic grocery bag).

My Favs from last week's American Idol

My other favs of this season is Michael Johns and Ramiele. I know many people like that young David Archeleta. I am not a fan. He is too much of a lip licker. Licks his lips when he sings. Drives me nuts. Another thing that drives me nuts is when singers grip and re-grip their microphone. Carrie Underwood is a prime example. I think she would have a hard time singing if she wasn't able to hold onto a microphone while doing so (and constantly be gripping and re-gripping it) when she sings.

A Message Board is Born (almost)

Since the message board has been down since yesterday morning, tomorrow night I will start the back-up board. I am still not 100% sure I want it to be our full-time board, but we'll play it by ear and see how it goes. The new board is not tweeked exactly how it should be so its not set in stone and changes will be ongoing.

A Collection is Born

Was at Smile today and snagged this Saltines tin (the one on the right) for .50 to add to the two others I have. So now it's official, its a collection since there are at least 3 of them. The one I got from today is only from 1987 (which I remember as being a very good year).

Also picked up another Rachael Ray cookbook for .50 - I will have to put a bunch of them up together as a lot on ebay. And last week I forgot to mention this bargain a big half-full bucket of laundry soap for $2.



While at the grocery story this morning I found yet another instant lottery game ticket just sitting there in the vending machine slot, waiting for me to take it. I don't understand how this happens - people apparently put $2 in the machine and then somehow FORGET to take the lottery ticket they paid for??? I don't get it, but now my eyes are trained to look at the lottery machine vending machine when I walk past it. This ticket, however, turned out to be a loser. At least I didn't waste $2 on it.

Enter the Yardsalequeen Contest!

This is a first for me. Bruce Littlefield, the author of Garage Sale America asked me months and months ago if I ever considered running a contest on my site. No I hadn't actually, but that got me thinking. He said he'd donate a prize and then I got in touch with the ladies at Sassy Signs and they loved the idea and wanted to donate a prize.

And then I figured I could throw in some goodies - and ta-da - a contest is born.
I even went all high tech and had this banner professionally made (haha)

Yard trash makes me a free soda winner

Last week or so I spotted a Dr. Pepper bottle in my yard - courtesy of some stupid litterbug. At least they left the cap on it that said "1 in 6 caps win" - so I got online and yep, I won a Dr. Pepper with it. The coupon quickly came in the mail for it. Not as good of a win as the time someone threw an empty Lunchables box in my yard and it turned out to be an instant winner for a pair of Motorola walkie talkies, but a win is a win. My Lunchables Prize

And my son won something this week too. Our county has a Parks & Recreation Department and they are always running contests for kids - guess the # of jellybeans and stuff like that. I've never really paid much attention to it. Their office is next to the library. Well last week when I went to drop off some books, I noticed that Parks & Recs had a random drawing for leftover Valentine's Candy, so I put my son's name on a slip of paper, and here's the important part, folded the entry form like a little accordian and deposited the entry into the shoebox. And he won a bouquet of lollipops.

Folding the entry form like a little accordian makes it more likely to be chosen (I think) when there is a random drawing. Here's the little bouquet and his entry.

I'm now a Walgreens shopper

My little town is getting more shopping possibilities. A Walgreens opened a few weeks ago. They gave out tons of coupons to save $3 off a $10 purchase. Went today and used another coupon before they expire (on 3/1). I've never lived near a Walgreens so this is all new. In NY, I was always a CVS shopper (and still am). When I lived in Charleston SC, the drugstore that I loved there was Phar-Mor. What was kinda weird today - there was a nice looking, but older man (probably late '50's) trying to strike up a conversation with me in line. He was staring at me and his first words were "I love Walgreens" and then when he saw me whip out my coupons etc, he goes "A woman after my own heart" (he was, without a doubt, looking for a coupon clipping trophy wife). I don't think he saw my husband hanging out by the door, waiting for me.

Prior to Walgreens, we ate at a new Mexican restaurant. No, not a restaurant serving the food of New Mexico. A restaurant with Mexican food. The same family has some other restaurants so the food/menu was the same as what we've had at their other locations. But this one is real close to us now. And of course, used a Buy 1 Lunch get 1 Half-off coupon.

More on stupid pricing

Took Jacob to McDonald's this afternoon. Used coupons that I had bought on ebay (if you search McDonald's coupons on ebay - you'll see people selling packets of McDonald's coupons intended for kids - free small fries, free cone, free kid's soda etc). It really is against ebay's coupon policy on listing those free coupons, but ebay doesn't normally shut the coupon auctions down.

Well anyway at my McD's, you can get 4 piece McNuggets for $1. Jacob normally gets two 4 piece (8 nuggets total for $2, if you're doing the math). On their menu, McDonald's sells a 10-piece McNuggets for $3.39 (that's just for the nuggets, no drink or fries with it). Why would anyone ever order a 10 piece??? It would be cheaper to get three 4-packs for $3 and get 12 nuggets than spend $3.39 and only get 10 nuggets.

Then went to Giant to get a big bag of Doritos on sale for $1.74 (not like the 3 for $1 puny bags pictured below). Then Jacob wanted to ride the grocery store elevator. Our new grocery store has an elevator, which I think is odd. The only thing I can think of is that they grocery store had to limit their environmental footprint in construction, so they had to move their offices/employee breakroom to a second story. And maybe there is some sort of disability law requiring them to put in an elevator if it's 2 stories. And the thing is, the elevator is not tucked away in a corner, its right there, next to the customer service desk, so it's physically impossible for Jacob to walk past it and not want to take it for a spin. And I am a pushover, so I say yes.

Pretty Uneventful Week

Not much was going on in the last week. Did go to Smile on Wednesday and ended up just buying 3 books - Dinner Doctor (.50), The Cake Mix Bible ($1 - cuz it's hardcover) and Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals (.50). A few years back I bought the Cake Mix Doctor book for my mom for Christmas - a cookbook where all the recipes start with a box of cake mix. The Cake Mix Bible book and The Dinner Doctor are by the same author. I am gathering a collection of Rachael Ray books, so I will list them in a big bunch on ebay. I saw an auction where a grouping of about 5 of her books sold for $50.




Been trying to be good and declutter and get organized. Somewhere within the last 10 years or so, I've gotten really disorganized and all my paperwork is starting to really get out of control. I did declutter something yesterday. A collection I had going on in the kitchen. Turkey wishbones (and a few chicken wishbones). Come on, I can't be the only person who saves wishbones. Correction - I am a person who USED to collect wishbones. I trashed them. They looked gross.

I think I've pretty much finished doing the little mini-remodeling of my bathroom. Painted the ceiling, replaced the towel bar, took down unused soap dish that was attached to the wall from when the house was built, painted the baseboards, filled in nail holes in the wall and painted over them, fixed where the linoleum was coming up near the tub and water was getting underneath (I know all the flooring in the house is ready to be replaced but this was a temporary fix since I am not personally ready for the hassle that it would take to replace all the flooring). Put up Spongebob (yes, Spongebob) border. Now I think I just want to get a new toilet seat and new faucet. Will have pics later.

The year is going by so fast. Here is it almost March already. Valentine's is over and Easter is coming up real quick. I am glad that Easter is early this year. (It seems early at least to me). Here's my thinking - the stores just finished up with their Valentine's Day displays and now they only have a small window of opportunity to sell Easter candy - which I think by far has the best holiday related candy. Mmmmm Cadbury eggs. Mmmm Cadbury eggs with the crunchy shell. So with this short window of opportunity to sell, my theory is with a shortened shopping season, a lot will be leftover - and marked down for me to buy real cheap.

And the Oscars are even early. I gave birth on Oscar Night 2000, and that was at the end of March (I remember seeing Annette Benning in the audience looking extremely preggers and thinking "she should be having that baby now, not me!" Jacob was 3 weeks early and I was a little unprepared.

Walmart pricing

I bought new eyeglasses today at Walmart for $208 plus $49 exam fee. I'll get them next week or so. My current glasses are Walmart glasses and they've held up good, but I have too many scratches on them and wanted new.

Afterwards I did some shopping and saw this sign (I usually keep my digital camera in my purse since you never know when a photo-op will occur). Still haven't figured out how to take a pic with my cellphone.

Math was never my strong suit, but even I can figure out that buying 3 at .33 is better than three for $1.

Update on the new message board

As I wrote yesterday I said I was working on a new board - which I was - in the evening after spending the day in Baltimore. But today I realized, it was gonna take me a looong time to figure out that program. It was making me mad. So I gave up on that new board today.

BUT I found a different board hosting program that was much easier to figure out. Spent some time on it this afternoon and so far got it to look like this:



There is still some work to do on it before it goes "live". Hopefully the old message board will be fixed soon - knock on wood. There are things there I want to copy to the new new board.

It will take some getting used to, not exactly like the old board, but similar in ways.

Spent yesterday at the Inner Harbor

We are members of Baltimore's Aquarium thru August 2008 so we made another trip to the city to go there. Geez, why wasn't everybody doing President's Day shopping like they are supposed to? The place was totally packed. Ugg. I thought that it wouldn't be too bad since at least there wouldn't be any school field trips going on, but I was wrong.