Happy New Year!

I'm ready to party!  How about you? We are so looking forward to spending New Year's Eve with our son, DIL and her Mom. It has been 9 years since we saw my son on New Years Eve! I can't think of a better way to end 2009 and look forward to 2010!

I am also looking forward to the Money Saving Challenge for 2010 and all of the new money saving things that we will do to increase our net worth. I love the challenge of learning new things! 

I pray that all of you and your families will have a  Blessed New Year! 

Target is at 75% off!

I don't have time today to list separate prices but Target is now at 75% off on Christmas, food items and Kleenex, etc. I just got back and the supply is going rapidly. I only had one box of Kleenex so at $.74 a box and then using various coupons, it was great for me to stock. I also got some hot cocoas, brownie mix, cookie swap kits, Christmas books, another box of Christmas cards, wired ribbon that are colors I can use all year round and the deal I was thrilled with..............Red Charger Plates!    It is all in the picture except 4 boxes of Kleenex. I spent aboout $ 32. but nothing OOP because I used the American Express Giftcard that was a gift from a clothing company that I did surveys for.  I doubt very much that anything that was left at my store will be around for 90% off.     

I Did A Few Things Today That Keeps Money in Our Pocket!

I finally was able to find a hair salon to get my hair cut. It was long overdue. I went to the local Supercuts early this morning and got the best cut that I have had in years. Before I went, I signed up on their site and within 20 minutes they had sent me a $2.00 off coupon. Since a Senior Cut is only $12.95, after the coupon I only paid $10.95 plus a tip.  Tonight I can color it using the $3.99 Nice and Easy Color Kit I purchased the other day. Yeah!

While I was out I went to Premier Wine and Liquors and picked up 2 bottles of Champagne for tomorrow night. I also picked up 2 bottles of sparkling grape juice at Top's. We are invited to my son and DIL's for dinner tomorrow night so I will bring Champagne and sparkling juice and my veggies with dill dip for an appetizer. My DIL's Mom is in town also so it should be fun!

While I was at Tops, I looked for marked down meat. Alex M whose blog is here: Living Without Money let me know last night that her store had marked a bunch down. The only thing I found was a package of Ground Lamb. But I was grateful to get that since we love ground lamb. Thanks Alex!

I stopped in Steinmart since they were having a red dot clearance sale. DH and I both need winter clothes. I found a couple of really nice sweaters( picture) for DH marked down from $59.50 and $58.00 to $ 15.94 each. I also had a coupon from Sunday's paper that gave me another 30% off so I paid $ 11.16 each plus tax.

Then I went to Dollar Tree where I picked up some Valentine greeting cards at 2 for $ 1.00, a bag of frozen strawberries for $1.00 ( this is the lowest price I have found for these) and some Quart Size Ziploc Bags for $ 1.00 each.

Last stop was at Target where I found the clearanced Method Liquid Soap (Christmas containers) for $ 2.54 each and then used the $2.00 off Target IP coupon to get them for $ .54 each!

Kohl's Clearance

I ordered some really cute clothes for my grandaughter tonight from Kohl's. They have lots of kids clothes on clearance for 60-70% off. First I signed into  Ebates so that I would get 4% back on my order. Then from Ebates, go to Kohls. Click on the CLEARANCE banner and chose your items. When you check out use these two codes:  extra20 and  nocharge   

They will give you an additional 20% off your order and free shipping. Kohls lets you use two promotional codes on an order! Run quickly because things are going rapidly!

Homemade Chicken Soup

About 13 days ago, I roasted a Perdue Chicken.  We invited our son and DIL for dinner. The next night I made Chicken Stir Fry. We ate that 2 nights. I still had a Ziploc bag of leftover chicken that I froze. DH would get tired of it if I served it too many nights in a row.

I thawed that chicken last night and decided to make homemade soup today. I had about 4 stalks of celery just starting to wilt in the fridge but no carrots. So I used chicken broth, the celery and leaves chopped, a couple of diced small onions, some frozen corn, the chicken and some spices. Last night we had beef tips and gravy served over rice. Knowing that I would be making this soup tonight, I made extra rice and threw that in the soup also. So we had a bowl of soup with some crackers for dinner. It is so cold out that it tasted really great! We rarely ate soup when we lived in Arizona because it was so hot most of the year. But we sure have been enjoying many homemade soups here!   

I try really hard not to waste food but sometimes it happens. But not often. There are so many ways to use up bits and pieces of meat and vegetables. We make soup, fried rice, meatloaf, omelets, pot pies, etc. to use things up. Sometimes something gets shoved to the back of the fridge and gets forgotten. I will be trying my very best from now on to waste nothing. If I am going to waste food, I might as well save the time to buy it and just take my dollar bills out and burn them.

What do you do to use up bits and pieces of food? Please leave a comment and share your ideas with all of us!   

CVS and Save A Lot!

DH and I were up and out early this morning to go get our H1N1 shots. I have to applaud the Erie County Health Dept. There were long lines but they were so efficient that we were in and out in 30 minutes. 

Since we woke up to 3 inches of snow and we may get up to 5 more tonight, we decided to run a whole lot of errands today. Two of them were to CVS and Save A Lot.  This is what I purchased:


CVS:

1 Bayer Contour Meter - $ 14.99 - Used Up to $30 Mfrs. Cpn = Free and I received $5.00 in ECBS
(I LOVE moneymakers!) 

1 Dawn - $ .99 - Used $.20 Cpn = $ .79

1 Nice N Easy - $ 4.99 - Used $ 1.00 Mfrs Cpn = $ 3.99

2 Pantene Shampoo - 2 for $7.00 - Used (2) $1./1 Mfrs. Cpns = $5.00 for both and I received $ 2.00 in ECBS

2 Natures Bounty( not in picture) -200 ct. 1200 mg. Fish Oil - $ 21.49 each - on sale B1G1F =
$21.49- Used $ 1./1 IP Cpn = $ 20.49 and I received a $ 3.00 ECB

3 cans Bumble Bee Tuna - $ .50 each = $ 1.50 - Used $ 1./3 Mfrs. Cpn = $ .50 for all (these are for my cat; it's cheaper than cat food)

Used $ 5./30. CVS Cpn
Used $10.00 in ECB's and $2.00 in ECB's both received for doing surveys for CVS Advisor Panel

Total was $ 14.91 including 8.75% tax but nothing OOP because I paid with Free Prescription GC's that I received in AZ and I received $ 10.00 in ECB's. While I was shopping DH was paying for $ 110. in prescriptions using Free Prescriptions GC's. I sure wish they allowed the Prescription Deal Coupons in New York State but alas, they don't! 


Save A Lot:


1 Huge Cantaloupe - $ 1.99

4 Caskeys Cream of Chicken Soup - $ .59 each = $ 2.36 - Used $ .50/4 Store Cpn = $ 1.86 or $ .465 a can

1.83lb. Yam at $ .39 a lb = $ .71

2.36lbs. Bananas at $ .20 a lb(reduced for quick sale) = $ .47(They were barely ripe!)

4 cans of Caskeys Chicken Broth - $ .59 each = $ 2.36 - Used $ .75/4 Store Cpn = $ 1.61 or $ .403 a can

1 Bag of BBQ Corn Chips - $ 1.19

2 - 15oz. cans Libby's Fruit Salad - $ .99 each = $ 1.98

2 Ragu Spaghetti Sauce - $ 1.50 each = $ 3.00 - Used $ 1./2 Mfrs. Cpn = $ 2.00 or $ 1.00 each

3 Brown Gravy Mixes - $ .39 each = $ 1.17

5 lbs. All Purpose Flour - $ 1.49 - Used $ .50/1 Store Cpn = $ .99

2  jars Pizza Sauce - $ .99 each = $ 1.98

1 Tartar Sauce - $ 1.39

2 Banquet Pot Pies - $ .50 each = $ 1.00

2- 12 oz Bags of Shredded Pizza Cheese- $ 2.29 each = $ 4.58 - Used $ 1./2 Store Cpn = $ 3.58 or $ 1.79 each

1- 24 oz. Chocolate Syrup - $ 1.49

1 - 24oz. Fish Sticks - $ 2.99

1 Pkg. of 6 English Muffins - $ .99

1 Loaf Grissom Wheat Bread - $ 1.29

1 Loaf Grissom White Bread - $ .85

1 Bag of Cheese Puffs - $ 1.19

Used $ 5.00  Store Coupon 


Total OOP was $ 25.72

We picked up the mail while we were out and were delighted to receive $ 182. in Rebate Checks and my Woman's Day Magazine (Free Subscription). It is snowing outside right now, so I think hot comfort food will be on the menu tonight. 

Gearing Up For My Money Saving Challenge of 2010 and Our Goals!

Back in November I told you that we were starting to plan for our 2010 goals and I advised that you should start planning for yours. I have! Have you?

Our 2010 goal is to save as much money as possible to replace the money that we are spending to purchase our new home. There is no way that we can replace all of it this year. However, we can put a good amount away to help replenish those funds and we have the figure written down so that we know what our goal is and what it will take to attain it.

In order to do this, I will be continuing my money saving challenge and kicking my frugality up a notch to save even more this year. The money saving challenge motivates me and keeps me accountable. Hopefully, it helps all of you along your frugal path also. So set your goals for the year. It doesn't matter whether they are to pay a large amount on your debt, add more to your retirement funds, save for your children's college education, save for a new home or car or those appliances or furniture that you have been wanting or just add a large sum of money to your everyday savings in order to increase your net worth. If you don't set those goals now, you will be no further ahead come the end of 2010. Write them down and keep them where you can see them on a daily basis.  

I will be continuing my frugal ways but trying even harder so that I can squeeze every penny possible into our investments this year. This is just a summary of some of the things I will be doing:

- I will be setting our food, HBA,and cleaning products budget at $150. a month again this year. I will accomplish this by putting $150. in cash in an envelope at the beginning of the month. When it is gone, it is gone. I will not replenish that envelope until the 1st of the next month. I will be doing more healthy from scratch cooking since it costs less most of the time. The processed foods that I buy will be limited to those that are Free or under $ .50 each. I will do a better job of rolling ECB's and RR's. I am planning on cutting most of the soda and junkie snack items out of our diet. Rebates and coupons will be frequently used. I will be checking my grocery lists with an auditors eye prior to actually going to the market. I will waste not one ounce of food. Leftovers will get used along with all produce purchased. I will be cutting paper towels, bottled water and dryer sheets from our budget. I used paper towels mainly for draining bacon this past year anyhow and I can do that with a few paper napkins and newspaper. I used old rags mostly for cleaning. I will not be buying Swiffer pads unless they are free. My microfiber cloth works really well on the swiffer and can be machine washed. I will be cutting back on the portion of meat we eat. We don't need any more than the size of a deck of cards. When the local fresh produce is in season, I will be freezing it and canning it for next winter. I am going to enjoy having a freezer in our new home. I have missed having one for the past eight years. I will continue to make all of our bread once we are in the new house.

- Laundry will again be washed in cold water with minimal detergent. It is hard for me to dry clothes in this apartment without using the dryer, but in the new house I will take full advantage of a clothesline in the basement. Once we move, I will be making my own homemade laundry detergent unless I can buy detergent cheaper which is doubtful.

- I always do everything I can to make sure that our gas and electric bills are as low as possible. I am very mindful of wasting energy. Installing a Rinnai tankless water heater in our new home, high efficiency furnace and high efficiency air conditioning will really help. 

- We will continue to just own one car. We owned two before we retired but find that one is just perfect for us. DH and I do almost everything together and if not, we work around each other's schedules. We pay less insurance with one car. With one car, we are always able to save enough money to buy a new one when we need it paying cash.  I will continue to use the points from the Tops Supermarket program to reduce the cost of gasoline. When I don't have enough, I will get gas at the cheapest station in my area. I will plan my shopping trips using the most efficient route.

- You all know that we buy our clothing in bulk when we see a 80 -90% off price. We will continue to do this.

- Exercise is becoming more and more important to us as we age. We will be using the fitness room here at the complex on a regular basis. It is included in our rent. In the new house, we will have a separate exercise room which we will use daily. Walking in the neighborhood has always been a favorite way to get exercise also. All of this can be accomplished cheaper than buying a gym membership. Our son and DIL, who live here in the area, gave us a Wii for Christmas so I will be looking for a great price on the Wii Fit Plus. 

- We rarely eat dinner out. So we have decided that we will have a nice meal out once a month only and use our Entertainment Book coupons or other coupons to defray the cost.

- Going out to see a movie is not a priority for us. If we have free movie tickets, we might go although I find that I give them away more than we use them. We might take advantage of the drive in here in the summer. We keep a list of the movies we want to see and I will rent them from redbox with a free code when we are in the mood. I also belong to a survey program that lets me get 1 free rental a month. We also can order free movies at the office here at the apartment complex. I gave DH a Blu Ray Player for Christmas so I am sure we will be doing lots of movie watching.

- I will continue to maximize my points and survey programs for giftcards and cash. I will use those for making practical purchases such as food, giftcards for dining out or for gasoline, and for gifts.

- For now we do not have landline telephone service, so that has been a large monthly savings. We have two cellphones so feel no need for landline. We may have to have it in the house because of our alarm system. However we will only need the most basic service.

- We will be setting aside a certain amount of money for gifts for all of 2010. No more than that amount will be spent.   

- When we lived in AZ, we had no need for a dry cleaner. We were in cotton shirts and shorts 85% of the year and jeans the other 15%. I will have to find one here that takes coupons from the Entertainment Book to defray the cost of cleaning coats, etc.

These are just a very few of the things that I am willing to do so that we can reach our 2010 goal. I will be telling you what I do and spend by blogging on the money saving challenge. Nothing will change on this blog except that I will be planning more carefully to save more and more money and letting you know how I do it. 

So are any of you game again this year to join in the challenge? I would love nothing more than to see all of you have many thousands of dollars more in net worth at the end of 2010! So come along and we will work on it together starting January 1st!   

I need Your Expertise on Save-A- Lot!

I have found a Save-A-Lot store up near where we are building the house. Can someone answer the following questions for me?

- Do I need a store card to get the buys?
- Do I have to bring my own bags and boxes?
- Do I have to rent a cart like you do at Aldi's?
- Do they take manufacturers coupons besides their store coupons?
- Do they double coupons?
- Do they carry meat and produce?
- What do you buy there that is cheaper than any place else?

I would really appreciate any help that you can give me. I am not at all familiar with this store. Please leave a comment if you can share some info on it or answer any of my questions above. Thanks in advance for your help!  

Target at 50% Off!

I went over to our Target between 7 and 8 AM to see what Christmas things were reduced. It was mainly the cards, wrap., tags, gift bags, ribbons,ornaments and decorations and gift sets.  So I picked up my cards and some giftbags for next year, some ribbons that were colors that I can use year round, some gift sets and 4 canisters of chocolate covered almonds. My total was close to $70. However, so many people were shopping that things were going rapidly. I doubt there will be much left for 75% or 90% off........at least at my store. I had put away a  Free Target Giftcard months ago just for this purpose so nothing OOP!  I was especially happy with the Knotts Farm Jams and Jelly gift set for $ 4.99. We go through so much for breakfasts and this was so much cheaper than buying jars separately.  I will be checking back to see what is left when they reduce further. I do have my eye on a couple of items that they have not reduced yet.

Please feel free to comment and let us know what you purchased today and at what percentage off where. By sharing everyone benefits!  

Merry Christmas To You and Your Families!

Our family wishes you and your families the joy at Christmas that we are feeling this year being near our children. May you all  be blessed with peace and joy tomorrow and in the coming New Year!

We will be spending Christmas with our son and his wife at their home. It has been at least 5 years since we have spent the Holidays together and DH and I are really looking forward to it. So I will be back blogging as usual on Saturday or Sunday.

Precious  

Starting Today!

I started my Buffalo Blog:  Frugal Precious while I was still in Arizona. I have decided effective today to post all Buffalo grocery shopping on this blog and not maintain the Buffalo Blog anymore. It will be easier for me not to maintain two blogs and it will be easier for the Buffalo visitors who visit that blog and this one not to have to switch between blogs anymore. After asking some of the Buffalo people, I decided this is the way to go.

So everything will be on this blog from this day forward:  Buffalo grocery shops, retail deals, frugality posts and my money saving challenge.

Frugal Makes Cents is the blog that I have maintained for almost two years now and hope to maintain for many years to come. 

Money Saving Challenge 12/20 - 12/23

These are the things I have done the past 3 days to save money:

- Used a Free $10. LL Bean Giftcard to help buy a warm pair of slippers for myself

- Used approximately $37. of a $50. GC that I won to pay for a gift

- Received a $5.00 Alice.com GC from Swagbucks and used it to purchase a book of stamps. Total OOP to me was $ 3.80.

- I was about to go out and buy some Christmas music to enjoy here in the apartment. In the mail this afternoon I received a wonderful card from an online friend and enclosed in the card was the music from The Nutcracker. You know who you are who sent this! :-) We are so enjoying it! Thank you!

- The coupons in the newspaper here are pretty disappointing. My AZ friend, Leanne sent me a huge envelope of coupons that are just wonderful and that will be saving me a ton of money. Thanks Leanne!

- I filled up the car with gas and saved $.20 a gallon using my Tops gasoline points.

- Received a $15. ECB for taking a  CVS Advisor Panel Survey

- DH made a huge canning kettle full of Party Mix ( recipe that has been in DH's family for years). This will be our snack for a long time.

- I bought a top round roast at Top's the other day on sale for $ 2.69 a lb. so that I could attempt to make my own Beef on Kummelweck rolls. The beef and au jus turned out perfect. My sandwiches were almost as good as the ones I buy at restaurants. I say almost because we had to slice the beef with a knife. My deli slicer is in storage. A knife doesn't get the meat quite as thin as I would like.

- I made a large pot of homemade beef barley soup from the leftover beef. This will feed us until Christmas.


Feel free to leave a comment and share with us what you did to save money!

DH's Family Party Mix

Every year for 42 years, DH has made this party mix for Christmas. His mother always made it for their family.  I panicked two weeks ago when I realized that my recipe box had gone to storage.
We started asking family members to give us the recipe. Finally, thanks to my SIL this weekend, we got it. So DH made this big pot last night.

I am giving you the recipe so that it will be on my blog and I won't lose it again.

Party Mix


1 Box of Wheat Chex
1 Box of Rice Chex
1 Box of Cheerios
1 bag of Thin Pretzel Sticks
3 lbs. of Mixed Nuts ( We prefer the ones without peanuts)

The sauce:  2 cups of oil
                    2 T. Worcestershire Sauce
                    1 Tbsp. Salt
                    1 and 1/2 Tbsp. of garlic salt

DH makes about 1 and 1/2 times the sauce and blends it all together with our immersion blender. Then he pours it over the other ingredients and stirs well.

Bake it at 250 for 2 hours. The first hour you just let it bake with the cover on. Then the second hour, you uncover it, and stir it every 10 minutes. I use a big canning kettle for this. We also adjust the salt to our own tastes sometimes only using the garlic salt. I buy the smallest boxes of cereal (10-14 oz.) but you could use larger and then just make as much sauce as you think you need. 

I Love My New Notebook!

I joined Snapfish about 10 days ago and received a $10.00 credit towards my first order. So I ordered the above pictured notebook and only paid OOP $1.61 including tax.

Most of you that have followed my blog will recognize the picture as the one I took to use on my Money Saving Challenge.  I am so looking forward to the New Year and tracking daily every penny we spend and every penny we save in it. This will definitely be a good start to my money saving challenge for 2010! 

We've Been Away Since Last Friday!

 I've been missing in action!  We drove 5 hours to the Albany area to visit our son, DIL and grandaughter last Friday. We just returned about an hour ago. The above picture is what we came back to. It is snowing right now. 

We were lucky that we had great weather going to Albany on Friday. Coming back today, we hit a blizzard in Syracuse and snow flurries in Rochester. We got home and it was nice. However it is snowing now.

We had such a wonderful, few days with our family there. Our grandaughter is so precious and is growing like a weed. Her vocabulary is amazing! She is a little chatterbox, knows her alphabet, counts to 20, and sang all her little songs for Grandma and Grandpa! We loved every minute of it. It is hard for me to believe that she is 2 and 1/2 already!  I think Santa will be very good to her on Friday. We went to a Santa party on Sunday with her. Santa came in on a firetruck and sat in his chair and gave presents to all the kids(ones Mommy and Daddy had purchased). My grandaughter was a little afraid of Santa but we did get some nice pictures.  And she sure loved getting her Mrs. Potato Head! We all had a great time and hope to see them all again soon when my son and DIL here have their baby. I am just so happy that we are all so close now!

Sorry that I didn't get a chance to post your comments until now. They are up now and I have responded.

This week is a time for all of you to spend time with your own families and just enjoy being with each other. Those of you who have to travel, I wish you a safe trip! We will be spending Christmas Day with our son and DIL here and are really looking forward to it. It has been about 5 years since we have  done so. 

So enjoy the season and get ready for a daily money saving challenge starting in January. I will be here on and off this next few weeks but also taking some special time with my family!    

Money Saving Challenge- 12/11 - 12/17

These are the things I have been doing to save money:

- Signed up for Dunkin Donuts Perks to receive a coupon for a free cup of coffee

- Signed up for the Free Aveeno Tote Bag

- Invited my son and DIL for dinner last night and cooked that nice Perdue Roaster that I got for $.99 a lb. Made stuffing and mashed potatoes, yams and tossed salad. Served whole strawberries and strawberry sorbet for dessert. Nice home cooked meal for way less than it would cost to eat out and tasted better too!

- Ordered and started to receive the Buffalo paper for free for 2 weeks

- Shopped the sales at Wegmans and Tops to get the best deals

- Did some great Christmas gift deals at AE Outfitters and Target

- Picked up a Whitman's Sampler Assorted Chocolates for Free with a $ 5.00 RR from Walgreens

- DH got the oil changed at Valvoline on Monday and used an $8.00 off coupon from the Entertainment Book

- DH found a barber(a real one with the barber pole out in front) and got his haircut for only $12.00. This is the best haircut DH has had in 8 years.

- Received $ 15. in Amazon Giftcards from Swagbucks and ordered one Alice.com Gift Certificate

- Making stir fry for dinner using the leftover chicken from the roast last night, some Chinese veggies, fresh carrots, celery and onions. Will serve on rice and garnish with Chinese noodles.

- Did 4 loads of wash in cold water saving on energy

- Dunkin Donuts ( picture) has a deal right now on coffee. 4- 1lb. bags for $19.99! I can't even touch this price for the 12 oz. bags in the market. DH and I love this coffee!

- I received a Gift in the mail today from the women's clothing company whose survey panel I served on for a couple of months....a $100. American Express Giftcard.  WooHoo!

- Ordered a gift today using my Amazon.com Gift Certificates

- I received my LL Bean $10. Giftcard today from my purchase last week

- I received a Pinecone $3.00 Survey check today

- We received our enhanced licenses in the mail today so now we can go over the border to Canada. The licenses were cheaper than getting a passport.

- Mailed 3 Christmas gifts to southern N.Y. today using the flat rate $10.35 box plus insurance.  Love those flat rate boxes.

- Purchased the Brio My First Train Set for $11.99 and free shipping. Great deal because it is usually $49.99!

- Signed up for a Free Sample of Mariani Dried Plums

- We have finally found the cheapest gas station near us and have been filling up there although Buffalo seems to have the most expensive gas in NYS.


Please feel free to leave a comment and share with all of us what you have been doing to save money.

My Two Bargains While Running Errands!

I had to return bottles to the market today. This is something I am not really used to since we just recycled bottles in AZ. But I think I now have the system figured out. I also had to return a pair of PJ's at Target. I also went to Wegmans to get my $2.50 back for two coupons that wouldn't scan the other day even though I purchased the proper products.

So while I was at Wegmans, I picked up this cloth grocery bag with a Free Wegmans Store Coupon.  

At Target, I price matched the Walmart ad to get G-Force on Blu Ray for $ 19.96 and then used this coupon to get $10.00 off  Mfrs. Cpn and then used a Target IP store coupon to get $5.00 off. So I paid $ 4.96 for this which I think is a great price for a Christmas gift.       

American Eagle Outfitters- What a Deal!

I just purchased 2 pair of really nice argyle socks from American Eagle Outfitters for $ 4.92 including tax and I will get 5% back because I shopped through Ebates. This store is giving an additional 30% off their clearance items through 12/15. The discount is automatically applied to your shopping bag. So you can get an additional 15% off by using discount code:  96852031 and get free shipping if you order today. So do this:

- Go through Ebates for an additional 5% cashback
- From Ebates pick American Eagle in the dropdown box on the upper left corner
- Click on Clearance and put what you want to purchase in your shopping bag
- When you are ready to check out, use your discount code of 96852031 
- Check  out and you should receive 30% off automatically, another 15% off with the code and free shipping 

These socks would make a nice co-worker gift or stocking stuffer!

Target!

I was up and out very early this morning to a department store to finish my Christmas shopping!  I am so happy to have it done.  It hasn't been easy with everything else that has been going on. Besides Christmas shopping , I did make a trip to Target. Ignore anything in the pics that I didn't get at Target. The rest was my Tops shop which will be on my Buffalo Blog!

This is what I got at Target:

1 dozen Large Eggs - $ .99

2 Kodak Fun Saver Cameras - $ 3.84 each = $ 7.68 - Used (2) Target $5.00 off coupons - made 
$ 2.32 on this purchase. I told the cashier that the cameras only cost $ 3.84 each and to adjust the coupons. She didn't seem to care, so my gain.

2 Neosporin Lip Therapy - $ 4.04 each - Used $ 3.00 IP coupons = $ 1.04 each

1 Bonus Pack Rolaids - $ 2.99 - Used $ 1./1 Mfrs. Cpn = $ 1.99

2 Playskool Activity Balls clearanced at $ 11.18 each - Used (2) $ 5.00/1 Mfrs. IP Cpns = $ 6.18 each 

Total OOP was $ 16.85 including tax.   

She's As Happy As Can Be!

I was more than a little worried that our little "Princess" would be upset by this move. She has only known our AZ house and climate for her six years. She traveled really well in her cage in the car only meowing if it was dark out. But once the sun was up while we were on the road, she was fine and just happy to either sleep or peer out the window.

Then it took her a few days to check out the new apartment. She seems to have settled in and is very happy in her new surroundings! For that I am very thankful!

Guess What We Did Today!

We have been unpacking all day. This big old truck in the pictures brought our things for our apartment today after dropping most of our furniture and wordly possessions into their storage facility yesterday.  

DH and I are both beat but so happy that we will actually have our sleep number bed to sleep in tonight. After sleeping on the queen size bed two weeks ago because we had broken ours down and got it ready for the movers, and sleeping on the twin beds the last night in our AZ house, sleeping in hotels and then on air mattresses on the floor here for 8 days, we are loving our bed. Amazing how the simple pleasures in life are so important. Since I was up so early this morning to greet the movers, I enjoyed a nice nap earlier today in that bed.  

DH and I even got most of the boxes unpacked and put away today. We just have 6 more to do tomorrow. DH is happily watching football in his big leather chair in the living room. When I get done with this post, I will be joining him in mine.

Since we did so much today, I splurged and went to Wegmans to pick up fresh submarines. They tasted so good since someone else made them.

We are happily feeling like we have moved and can be very comfortable in our apartment until our home is built. Yeah! 

Target and Walgreens!

I ventured out to Target and Walgreen's this morning for a couple of great deals. This is what I purchased:


Target:

1 - I Can't Believe It's Not Butter - $ 2.04 - Used $ .75/1 Target IP Cpn and $ 1./1 Mfrs. Cpn = $ .29

2 Boxes Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa - $ .97 each = $ 1.94 - Used $ .50/2 Mfrs. Cpn = $ .72 each

Total OOP ( out of pocket) was $ 1.73


Walgreens:


1 - Sudafed Triple Action - $ 9.49 - Used $3./1 Walgreens Cpn from Ad and $ 5./1 IP( internet printed). Cpn = $ 1.49

2 Boucle Throws - $ 12.00 each = $ 24.

Total OOP was $ 25.49 and I received a RR (Register Reward) for $ 5.00 off my next Walgreens order for spending $ 25. in one transaction. The Sudafed IP Cpn is here Sudafed. Use zip code 08822 to find it. 
  

So Beautiful!

While I was out shopping this morning, DH spotted this beauty right outside our apartment. He looks like he is hungry and foraging for food. DH ran for the camera and managed to get a few pictures which he took through the living room window. I hope he comes back another morning so that I can see him live.  We would never have seen such a beautiful site outside our door in Phoenix.  

Giftcard Deals!

Are you purchasing some giftcards for presents this year? You might want to take a look at this list on this site first:

Bonus Giftcard Deals

As always, check  first and make sure the place you are ordering from has the deal! 

Money Saving Challenge - 12/7 - 12/10

It is so hard to get back into the money saving mode when things aren't the way you are used to them. But we are slowly trying to get back to normal.  We have done the following the last few days to save money:

- Shopped the sales at the market and used coupons where we could; otherwise bought store brands

- Purchased 4 snow tires negotiating $40. off per tire

- Got the car inspected using a 1/2 off coupon which saved us $21.

- Used Target and Kohl's Giftcards to defray the cost of some necessary purchases

- Used Hallmark Coupons to purchase some festive Christmas candles since we have none here

- Purchased a couple of Christmas presents at L. L. Bean while I could get free shipping with an over $75. total and earn a $10.00 Giftcard toward my next purchase

- Received a survey product in the mail today which will save us from purchasing one

- Caught up my points programs and  I am searching through Swagbucks to earn Giftcards

- DH's mouse for his computer is on it's last leg. He really wanted a Logitech Laser Mouse which cost $109.99. I purchased it at Staples using a $90.00 Rewards check so only paid $21.74 including tax

- Purchased a $32. gift item today using a promo code which made the item free. I only paid $ 8.95 s/h  

- Caught up my accumulated surveys  

- Made a pot of beef barley soup using prime rib leftovers from dinner out on Sunday night

- Did 1 large load of laundry which saved on using the dryer more than once. Washed in cold water.

- We are trying to keep the heat as low as possible but it is so cold here at night that we need it at 72. Maybe as our blood gets used to the cold, we can lower it. 

Please feel free to share with all of us what you have done to save money. 

All I Have to Do is Look Outside to Know That I am NOT in Arizona Now!

I planned on taking some pictures of where we are living today to show you how pretty it is; however the weather is not cooperating so the best I could do is shoot this one out the front door!  There is no way I am venturing outside until it stops snowing and the wind dies down. 

We woke up to the sound of snowplows at 5 A.M. There was 4 inches of snow on the ground but it had stopped.  About an hour ago it started snowing again and is a blizzard out there. The wind is just whipping the snow all over the place too.  Double click on the picture and it will make it bigger and you will see the snow coming down!

So any other pictures will just have to wait! 

I'm Back! I'm Shopping!

I actually ventured out in the rain and wind this morning to see what shopping is close to the apartment. There is so much of it. I have a Target and Wegmans across the street. Within 3 blocks I found a Top's Supermarket, Walgreen's and The Hallmark Store. I am still getting used to prices here because they are so different from AZ prices. I have started a price book to keep track. It will be the only way that I will end up knowing who has the lowest prices and when a sale is really a great sale.  

Just a reminder that I will be putting all frugality and money saving challenge posts on this blog along with retail and drugstore deals. My other blog Frugal Precious will have all of the deals relavent to the Buffalo area such as Tops Supermarket and Wegman's deals. I will be posting a Tops Market shop shortly on the other blog.  

I stopped at the Hallmark Store this morning and used 3 of the $5.00 off coupons that have been in so many magazines. You can also print 2 internet coupons here:  Hallmark Coupon

I purchased the 3 sets of candles that are in the picture by having the cashier ring up 3 separate orders. Each set of candles was $ 5.99 minus the $5.00 coupon = $ .99+tax! I also made sure that I used my Hallmark Gold Crown Card to get my points.  

Please feel free to share any retail deals you got today by leaving a comment. 
  

Homemade Beef Barley Soup

Remember the prime rib that I had leftover from dinner the other night? Well, it is in this homemade beef barley soup that DH and I cooked up tonight.  DH cut up the prime rib into bite size pieces. We added barley, slices of fresh onion, diced celery, and sliced fresh carrots. I put it all in a small soup pot with a box of Beef Broth and 1- 8oz. can of tomato sauce. The only spices we have right now is sea salt in a grinder and ground peppercorns which we used to taste. After simmering it for an hour, we filled our soup bowls and enjoyed it with crackers! It was absolutely scrumptious!  I hate to let any kind of leftovers go to waste. Waste costs money!  Since it is so much colder here than we are used to, I think we could eat soup and love it any day of the week!  

Do you have a special soup recipe that you could share? Feel free to leave it in comments!

A Little of This and a Little of That!

I want to say a GREAT BIG THANK YOU TO KC whose blog is here:  Desert Diva Deals!  She did a number of weeks of giveaways which won you a $ 50.00 Safeway Giftcard. I won one of them two days before we left Arizona. Since we don't have a Safeway Market here in New York, I asked KC if she would go to Safeway and exchange it for a $ 50.00 Home Depot Giftcard. She graciously agreed to do that for me and mail it to me here.  Today, I picked up my mail at my P.O. Box and it was there. She even sent it to me certified mail to make sure I got it! KC, you are THE BEST and I appreciate all that you did to get me a card that I could use. It will come in handy when DH and I move into our new home! 

Today, DH and I spent hours filling out forms to register our car and get our new licenses here in New York. We needed over 6 forms of ID and the Title, Bill of Sale, proof of NYS Insurance, etc. on our car. The Bill of Sale was so that we could be exempted from NYS Sales Tax since we already paid sales tax on the car in AZ when we purchased it. I was a little nervous when we started to drive to the DMV, hoping that I had everything we needed. Well, we did and have our temporary licenses until our new enhanced ones come in the mail. We also got our registration and plates. DH has set up an appt. for Thursday to get new snow tires and the inspection done on the car. BTW, our car insurance here in NY is two hundred dollars cheaper for the same insurance than it was in Arizona. So that is a huge yearly savings!  This was one of the last things on our list to do. So now, after I get some Christmas shopping done and wrapped, I can get back to the business of the deals. Yeah!

To celebrate getting done with most of it, DH and I went to Panera Bread and enjoyed a truly wonderful late lunch! It felt good to sit and relax for an hour or so. 

We got home and got a telephone call from the moving company. They are delivering our things to storage on Friday and delivering our things here to the apartment on Saturday morning. I will be so glad to be able to have furniture and live normally after "camping out" in the apartment for 8 days. WooHoo!            

We Got a Great Deal on a TV!

Our TV's are on the moving van and the one for the apartment won't arrive until later this week and with the huge storm coming here, maybe even later.  So feeling sorry for DH missing his Monday night football, we went out and bought this one today. Now DH is happily watching the Buffalo Sabres Game and football. We have cable TV service included in our rent. We also have free Netflix compliments of the landlord so that when our DVD player arrives, we can order some movies too!

DH scoured the ads in yesterday's Buffalo newspaper and decided that this Vizio 32" LCD 1080p TV was the best deal in the area, which was at Walmart for $ 398.  It wall mounts so it is just the TV that we wanted to mount on the wall in our exercise room in the new house. Meanwhile, it sits on our TV stand a.k.a. our file box in our bedroom and makes DH very happy tonight.  We went to two different Walmarts before we found this one. This was the demo model, which was the only one the 2nd store had left. The manager told us that it had only been on display for less than a week. After checking it over with a fine tooth comb and determining that the full warranties applied, we got it at a discount for $ 321. which I believe was a great deal!

Today we got a lot of address changes and banking business out of the way.  I researched what we have to do to get new licenses and register our car here. I have determined that we need to hand over our first born!  Not really, but what they want to register the car is unbelievable. DH and I are gathering all of that documentation and hope to do all of that tomorrow. Since a huge storm is coming, we figure we will be snowed in the rest of the week. 

Last night we took our son and DIL out to dinner to thank them for all that they have done for us on this move. We had reservations at Garlock's which is a wonderful steak and seafood restaurant. It has made Buffalo's Best of List many times. Their specialty is their prime rib which I ordered. I was in a state of shock when it arrived.........all 48 ounces of it (cost $25.99). Somehow I missed the size on the menu when I ordered it. DH and DIL ordered sirloin steaks that were huge and my son had swordfish. The food was excellent but the portions are way more than any of us could even attempt to eat. We all brought home leftovers. I am planning on making a big pot of homemade beef barley soup from the prime rib that I brought home, for dinner tomorrow night. With snow coming and it being so cold, we will really enjoy it. 

Please feel free to leave a comment and share with us any really great retail deals that you have gotten lately!             

I've Been Shopping!

We have been shopping like crazy the past couple of days.  Our furniture and boxes are not being delivered until the end of next week.  So all we had with us was what we could take in the car: bedding, our picnic basket with plates, forks, knives, and coffee spoons and glassware, the coffeepot, the cat and her cage, litter and her food, the computers and printers and our luggage.  So we made a run to Target yesterday and got essentials:  an electric frypan, a saucepan and a roasting pan so that I can cook; two king size blankets( we had 2 but it is so cold here);3 dishtowels and a hot mitt; a can opener; 8 soup spoons, a large cooking spoon and flopper; 4 soup bowls; 2 large coffee mugs; a kitchen garbage can; bathroom garbage cans; scarves and gloves; a Swiffer Mop and refills; a laundry basket; a collapsible shovel for the car; hangers; shower hooks and a shower curtain; a bath mat;kitchen shears,an aerobed rechargeable pump; a paring knife and 2 knives to cut roasts; a brush for my cat;and I am sure there are other things that I have forgotten. I had a Target GC from when I bought my Dyson vaccum cleaner that helped defray the $ 316.99 cost.

We are sleeping on queen size aero beds. But we had no place to sit. I was actually using our cooler with a pillow on it to type here on the computer. So we went out and purchased a padded card table and 4 padded chairs on sale for $49.99+ tax at Ace Hardware that our son let us know about. They will be fine until we move into the house. It gives us a place to sit to read, eat and do paperwork.  We did not want to spend a lot of money on something that will only end up in the basement of our new home. All of our bedroom furniture and some of our living room furniture and lamps will arrive via Atlas and we will be set. We have a ton of boxes with necessities coming too and our Dyson vacuum.

This morning DH and I went to Kohl's so I could buy a winter coat. This is something that I didn't need in Arizona! My old one from when I lived in NY before no longer zipped and I was freezing! The picture is of my new blue winter jacket! I love it because it is so warm,the sleeves are a perfect length, and it is long which I love! The best part: it was $160.00 on sale for $88.00! I also purchased two long sleeve tops to get me through until more of my clothes arrive. They were $32. and $28. I had a Kohl's GC which helped defray the cost.

Other than that we have been running errands like picking up our accumulated mail up at the P.O. Box and changing 1 cell phone #. We still have lots of telephone calls and banking business to take care of tomorrow. Soon I should be able to make grocery lists and go get the deals.  

We also have been enjoying the company of our son and DIL.  My son made a turkey sausage and chicken jambalaya for our dinner the other night that was just outstanding. Last night, we watched a movie with them! I so love being here!  

Hello From Our Temporary Home in New York!

I just wanted to let everyone know that we arrived about 6 hours ago in New York and I am writing you from our apartment which will be our temporary home for 3-4 months while our new home is being built.

We are extremely tired after all we have done this week. On Monday, Atlas Van Lines loaded all of our wordly possessions. That took from 7AM to 6 PM. They left and DH and I cleaned the house so it would be perfect for the new buyer. We were able to stay overnight Monday night in it sleeping on beds that we sold to the buyer. At 6 A.M. on Tuesday morning we started out on our cross country drive with our cat, who was so good through all of it!  We stayed Tuesday night in Amarillo, TX. The next morning at about 5:30 AM, we started out again and stayed in Peerless, MO, just south of St. Louis on Wednesday night. On Thursday morning, we left and made it to just south of Cleveland, Ohio where we stayed overnight. We left Cleveland this morning at about 6:30 AM and arrived at the apartment office at about 11 AM. We had great weather until we were 10 miles south of Buffalo and then we encountered a blizzard but we drove slowly and made it. We have no snow tires since they don't sell them in Arizona. I think it was our Welcome to New York! TeHe! It has stopped snowing now but they are predicting up to a foot of snow today and tonight. Time will tell!

We have unpacked almost everything that we had in the van which is just minimal things to get us through until Atlas brings some of our furniture and boxes to our apartment the end of next week. We have a few heavy large items that my son will carry in for us when he arrives here after work to help. Then my son and his wife have invited us for a nice hot meal at their home. We are so looking forward to seeing them! I'm very excited. It won't be long now.

I also did all of our laundry this afternoon and DH and I went to Wegmans to get some food and necessities to get us through the weekend. 

The apartment complex is gorgeous and we are so thrilled with our apartment. It has all been freshly painted and has brand new carpeting installed everywhere. It has two large bedrooms, two baths, a living room and dining room combination, a wonderful kitchen, a fully furnished laundry room, tons of closets and a nice pantry. We also have a storage unit. I will try to take pictures of the complex in a few days. It is just so quaint.  

Anyhow when the rental people brought us in to do the walk through, there was the most beautiful gold basket filled with regional bottles of wine, crackers and peanuts. It had a card welcoming us to our new home from my son and his wife. They also stocked our refrigerator with 6-7 specialty cheeses,from the cheese store that they frequent, some Samuel Adams Cherry Wheat beer ( my favorite) and also purchased us paper plates and cutlery so that we could enjoy some of it this afternoon which we did! They also gave us the most beautiful Poinsettia plant. It is the first feeling looking at it that Christmas is coming. The rental agent told me that my son contacted them and asked if they would let him into the apartment last night after work so he could leave it all and we would be surprised when we got here today. We loved it and it reminded me of when my other son and DIL did the same thing for us when we arrived in Arizona. We have terrific kids and DIL's and we are so thrilled that we will be so close now.

We no longer own our home in Arizona. The Title Company closed it today. Now we have so much to do to make this temporary home the way we want it until our new home is completed.

Meanwhile, I hope you enjoyed the couple of posts while we were traveling. It is terrific that google lets you schedule posts for when you are unavailable. :-) 

We have been invited to the Christmas Party at the Clubhouse for the residents tonight; however we have opted to go to my son and DIL's for a nice dinner and their company! I have missed all my kids and grandaughter so much. 

Give me a few days to get organized and I will be back posting soon! I have so much more to tell you but my son should be here soon, so I want to freshen up and look my best for him.     

What I Have Learned These Past Couple of Months!

One thing that I have learned as the years pass is that you never truly stop learning!  I am always researching how to do something better, or how to save more money on something, etc. I truly believe that it keeps your mind sharp!  Plus I really enjoy the process!

As you all know, I have not been doing much shopping the past three months. It certainly feels so strange to me. However, I have had time to really thing about what I have learned during this time.

The most valuable lesson is that there is ALWAYS another deal!  This especially applies to grocery shopping. I find that sales on food items are repeated about every 12 weeks. So if I miss the deal on chicken, in 12 weeks or so it will be on sale again. Or if one store has a great sale today, the other grocery store will have a great deal next week!  At the very least, if that chicken doesn't go on sale when you expect it to, you can buy what is on sale instead. Buy a week's worth of beef and wait to see if the chicken is on sale the next week. If not buy the pork on sale! You can arrange your menu around what is only on sale that week. I will be taking full advantage of this kind of shopping while we are living in the apartment. I will not really start stockpiling until we move into our new home. Besides, Atlas bringing us all of our things from storage to the house, we will also have to hire movers to move our stuff from the apartment to the the house. So I do not want to accumulate any more stuff than necessary.  I will be making our menus based on the sales that week.

Fortunately, I was not overstocked here in this house. We have been using most everything up since we decided to buy our new home. We have just a few packages of meat and vegetables in the freezer, a very limited amount of food stuffs in the refrigerator and a few things left on the shelves in the pantry. We will continue to eat from those places and will give our neighbor whatever is left over. They will also be the recipients of HBA products and cleaning products. I will be leaving the buyer some cleaning products, sponges, dish and dishwasher soap, TP, liquid handsoap,shampoo, paper towels, garbage bags, and laundry detergent. These are all things that when I move, I wish I didn't have to run out and buy the first day of a move and will make their life easier. The house will be immaculately clean when we leave but I know, even when I move into a clean brand new home, I clean. I am anal about cleanliness. So the buyer will probably want to clean also and this will help them out.

I have also been watching all of the retail deals and wishing I could buy them especially when I see something I know someone in my family would like for Christmas. I have imposed on my son and DIL to accept a couple of deliveries but I will do most of the Christmas shopping, at the last minute, after we move. Hopefully, by then, the prices will be marked down even further. This time of year, I actually buy for next year also when I see a remarkable deal. But instead, I will be watching the sales in January for great deals. Plus I know that there will be terrific deals all year long for me to stockpile. So if I miss some deals now, it is not a real problem! 

So, I  have learned that I don't have to run right out and get that sale. They will be there again and again and again!  

Please feel free to leave a comment and let us know what you have learned about shopping!     

Frugal Entertainment

DH and I love frugal entertainment. Whether it is watching our favorite TV program or going to the movies with free movie passes, we always have fun spending time together.  We are lucky because we seem to enjoy the same TV programs. So most evenings, we watch at least one together.

These are some of the other things we do to keep entertainment costs low:

1.  We go to the movies once in a great while if there is something we really want to see and if we have free movie passes. We accumulate those through rebates and as gifts.


2. We make a list of movies that we want to see on DVD. We very rarely buy one unless it is so cheap that we can't pass up the deal. I earn free DVD rentals by doing E-rewards. We also use DVD rental coupons from the Entertainment Book.


3. We have an entire chest of board games in our great room, most of which were given to us as gifts. We, also,love card games.


4. It is not unusual for us to work on a huge jigsaw puzzle set up on our game table.


5. We love swimming and have had pools in all of our homes. This new one will be the first one without one. We have decided that we don't want to take the time to take care of one anymore. So we will probably join the Y.

6. Once in a while we will go to Dunkin Donuts for coffee and a donut.


7. We eat out at restaurants once every month or every other month. We set our money aside until we can afford a really nice meal.

8. We do lunch a couple of times a year using coupons from the Entertainment Book or that are printed in our local newspaper.

9. We love museums and try to go on B1G1F coupons. 

10. We love to sightsee and will do lots of free places.

11.  We both love to just sit outside and read.

12. DH loves crossword puzzles and I love logic puzzles.

13. We enjoy going to major and minor league sports games a couple of times a year. The major league ones aren't cheap but once or twice a year is affordable. The minor league or farm team games are cheap.

14. We have done lake boatrides, zoos, aquariums, etc. but usually with a B1G1F coupon.

15. We have friends who have a home on a lake. We love to visit them and water ski or ride on their jet skis.

16.  I think our very favorite form of entertainment is cooking a nice meal and inviting family to share it with us.


There are so many ways to have a great time without putting out a lot of cash. Sure there are those times when you just have to splurge. But by being frugal most of the time, you can afford those really expensive occasions when they arise.


Please feel free to leave a comment and share with us how you have fun frugally.