8/29 Expressions

Frugal Deeds for the day: For lunch, I made some brown rice and a "curry" dish. I didn't have any curry, but had tumeric. I searched for a recipe to use leftovers - and found one. I substituted just about every ingredient with what I had on hand, or just omitted the ingredient. I am happy to report, lunch was delicous. I was able to use the last of the peppers and tomatoes given to me and a few other veggies I had in the crisper. I plan to give myself a manicure today. And for exercise, I plan to walk around the neighborhood while the weather is fairly decent. This weekend, I plan to get minimal amounts of groceries. Why? I have a dental appointment again and will be able to stop by Aldi. While searching for recipes, I saw an interesting one for making your cheese. Last time I was at Aldi, they had a gallon of milk for $1.4X. If they have it on sale this time, I may try my hand at cheese making.

8/27 Expressions

Frugal deeds from this week: I didn't mention that I went to Stein Mart this past Sunday evening. For those looking for frugal career wear, I would have to say it is my favorite. I was able to hit the 50% extra off "red dot" clearance items and use a $5/$45 coupon. I got 2 jackets, Stein Mart's original price of $95 and ended up paying $11 each. Not much more than thrift store prices. I have been using my daughter's expensive hair straightener. Time to get one of my own - but I am too cheap to get the expensive kind. I did a google search and decided upon the Remington Wet to Straight and found it at Amazon for just under $25 - wouldn't you know - I wanted free shipping too. So, I added a cute Van Gogh notebook for $1.50 - purse sized I believe - but I love irises - so, just looking at the cover is enough for me (I already have a large framed print, light switch cover of the same print :). And I used my $15 in Amazon GC's I earned from Swagbucks. This is an early holiday present for my daughter - now we don't have to squabble over the flat iron when getting ready for school/work. So, hopefully this iron will be great as I just spent just over $10 on my rewards credit card (so another small rebate back).

8/22 Expressions

Frugal deeds for the day. Enjoyed the freebie lunch at the museum event. Then my daughter and I printed off 3 internet coupons each. Good today only $20 off $20 Ann Taylor and 2 Bath & Body Works coupons for free products with any purchase. We came home with 4 purse sprays, 2 small body washes, 2 lip glosses and 4 purse sized hand sanitizers and we each spent less than $4 out of pocket. In the mail today, I received a $10 off coupon from DSW just for signing up for their free rewards card - and I am close to earning another $10 already since my daughter bought a couple of pair of shoes for school. Also, I printed a recipe for cookies last night which uses Rice Krispies in the ingredients - they are delicious and a great way to use up my freebie Rice Krispies. I also flaked up a nice smelling hotel bar of soap and it is now laundry detergent.

8/21 Expressions

Frugal deeds for the day: I reserved 4 free picnic passes (includes food and family fun) through our museum. Another benefit of the annual pass. So tomorrow, lunch will be fun and "free". I have also been picking small tomatoes from my plants. For dinner, we had pizza with our 1/2 priced gift certicate - and we have enough for another meal since it was essentially a BOGO deal - 2 large pizzas.

8/16 Expressions

Frugal Deeds for the Day: The 1 cent mystery item at Publix was a 1/2 gal of ice tea. To reduce my "spending", I used the coupon for the free Rice Krispies on the largest box. Also made a stop at CVS for some of their Free after ECB sale. For entertainment, we watched a Redbox DVD - "Confessions of a Shopaholic".

8/15 Expressions

Frugal Deeds for the day: We stood in line at a sporting goods store this morning for a chance of to get a gift card. We got $40's worth in their "Grand Opening" extravaganza. My daughter got some things she needed for sports. I am glad I purchased 5 heavily discounted AT Cross pen/pencil sets earlier this summer. We have an impromptu birthday party/lunch we are attending and the set seems so appropriate. Also, we hope to stop by Victoria's Secret for some free underclothes -they have been sending us freebie cards like crazy.

8/12 Expressions

Frugal deeds for the day: Some how, I signed up for Vocalpoint. Today, they sent me a coupon for a free box of Rice Krispies (in a "talking" card - that almost scared the beejesus out of me). Anyway, the coupon was nice and they sent a bunch of $1 off a box of cereal coupons too. I will handing some of those out while shopping since we don't eat much cereal. Also, my tomato plant produced a red tomato - too bad it is the about the size of 2 grape tomatoes. Tasty nonetheless. I have started my habit at eating my brought from home lunch at work - and today for relaxation, I started knitting a dish cloth with cotton yarn. Tomorrow is pay day.

8/8 Expressions

Frugal deeds for the day: I got a statement from USAir to turn in my small amount of miles for magazine subscriptions. I am going to do it. Since I can get about 4 subscriptions I am interested in and don't think I will be able to use the miles. We are talking about less than 3,000 miles. Went grocery shopping and got my freebies and a bunch of other stuff too. I am going to give myself a mani/pedi. My husband took his $25 GC (paid 1/4 on clearance) to get his hair cut. Of course there will be some left over, so my daughter is going with him to see if there is a hair product she might want. Then they are heading for Maggie Moos. My husband will be getting a free milk shake. My daughter will just be getting a treat - it was her birthday yesterday. She also stopped at the credit union to deposit her birthday check from her grandfather and I gave her an additional $31 in rebate checks to deposit in her account too. She also used the last $25 Staples GC to get the rest of her school supplies.

8/7 Expressions

Frugal Deeds for the day: I finally got a response from Swagbucks - about disabling my account while I was on vacation - and they reinstated it - but asked that I not conduct any unnatural searches. Today I did one search and earned 20 Swagbucks - sort of makes up for the days I wasn't able to search. Just a few bucks short of my next $5 Amazon.com GC. Tomorrow, my daughter needs to finish out the school supplies list. We plan to use the last $25 Staples GC. Then on to Target with the $25 GC to buy sports equipment

8/6 Expressions

Frugal deeds for the day: We have been home for a few days now. We brought home some "gifts". My daughter gave a can of Mac Nuts to the neighbor. Within an hour, the neighbor returned with a bunch of home grown tomatoes (good thing because although my vines are now producing - they are very tiny) and a pet sitting job for my daughter. A little kindness can go along way. In the mail, I had several refund/rebate checks, coupons for a free pint of Starbucks ice cream, a coupon for a dozen eggs free from Kroger, some free packs of instant Nescafe coffee. Of course there were a few bills too - but it was nice to have some useful freebies :)

8/3 Expressions

Frugal deeds for the day: Well, today is the last day of our vacation. Most of tomorrow will be spent traveling and waiting. Today, my husband and daughter are enjoying one more adventure that we were able to get at a discount - using the discount card. The recession has certainly hit vacation spots. Anyway, this morning, I have the washer and dryer going - sure don't want to load up with dirty clothes. Also, I am cooking up the last of the grocery. We will have a wonderful lunch. Dinner will be anything leftover. I plan to get in one more wonderful walk and perhaps one more visit to the beach. I have to say, Hawaii is a restful, peaceful place - if you want it to be. From a financial stand point, the stock market has been less stressful too :) Oh, and with my pay, I received a bonus. It will cover most of the expenses we incurred (we paid for the room/air fare earlier this year).