4/23 Expressions

Frugal deeds for the day: Must be competition time for department stores. So far, I have received $10 off $10 coupons from JCPenneys and Kohls and I just printed one for Aeropostale. Lucky me, I got a 3% longevity pay increase today. Every bit comes in handy. Unluckily, our garage door had a problem, $179, and a small repair job on a rental property - another $40. Apparently one of the rental unit's fireplace flashing is a problem - and the property manager gave us a quote. We asked for a second. You would have thought they would have done it automatically - but they didn't.

4/17 Expressions

Frugal deeds for the day: Today I got my hair "done" at the local beauty school. We had dinner at a very nice restaurant with a 1/2 priced gift certificate. On our way home, we stopped at Publix for dessert and a few other items - saved over 50% with coupons - our Publix is now taking "Competitor" coupons including the $5/$25 Rite Aid coupon (although they told me they will quit taking pharmacy coupons starting 1 May). When we came home, Kohl's sent me a $10 off $10 GC I can use next weekend. Great for socks, etc. Tomorrow I will try to make time to plant veggie seeds - mainly lettuce. I have also been sewing pillow cases - 2 more to go and that project is done. I did take 17 items to the consignment store this week and hope to take more next week.

4/16 Expressions

Yesterday, my daughter and I took part in some of the "Tax Day" deals. We stopped at Maggie Moos and were given a "sample size" of the ice cream pizza plus a scoop of any ice cream we wanted - what a great company - and we love their ice cream too. Then on to PF Changs where we enjoyed a meal with 15% and brought home enough for tonight's dinner. Got 9 tomato plants and 9 green pepper plants planted. Hope to get some seeds in the ground shortly.

4/9 Expressions

It pays to ask questions. I have not paid much attention to our stock statements. Well, I got a quarterly statement of the stocks we have at one of the trading companies. I purchased a handful of stocks a few years ago when they were giving bonuses, free trades, etc. Well, I noticed my sweep account was building up with dividends - and of course earning a paltry interest rate. In the meantime, "my" brokerage firm had merged with another one. I called about signing up for dividend reinvestment plans for the stock that we held - yup, they are all eligible - and no fees associated. Then the customer service rep stated that if I discontinue receiving the paper statements - I could save $2 per quarter - paper statements are now gone. Then I asked about my sweep account - can I just withdraw the funds - yup, can I use them to trade, yup. Okay, I forgot my log-in and password. Turns out I never had one since the companies merged. So, I set-up and the rep. gave me free trade credits too. That was one nice customer service dealing - I guess since it was so nice and easy - I will reveal the name: TD - Ameritrade. Yippe, no "customer service" headache today :) I will be mailing out the taxes tomorrow - another yippee! One rent check early - triple yippee! My bonus actually paid out yesterday. So money-wise, this has been another nice week. And the weather was fabulous! Very tempted to pull weeds and plant something tomorrow too - doing my own yard-work and planting edibles - that's frugal :) Oh, and Purple Heart picked-up 2 boxes yesterday - more clutter gone! I have a box ready to go to the consignment store too - but they were not accepting consignments this week - so, I am ready for next week.

4/5 Expressions

When it rains, it pours. At least that is the way I feel today - in a very good way. I won a $25 Gift card from a Almost Frugal's Facebook contest. I joined Listia a day or so ago, did a few things to earn free credits - and just now, I was notified that I won the 3,000 wildflower seed (I was just informed it is really 6,000) for most of my points and it included free shipping. Then I loaded a few more bonus points at Disney rewards, and "cashed in" for Mickey shaped cut-outs with wildflower seeds imbeded into the paper. I hope that bare area in the back yard will be filled with wildflowers instead of just weeds since it is difficult to mow. And in the mail, I received the last gift card I ordered from mypoints and a survey check. Oh, and I went to my first yoga class today - the instructor did not show - but the VP of the company did and hand wrote each of us a free pass to 1 class - I will give it to my daughter to try one of the classes out.

3/28 Expressions

More frugal deeds for the week: Our sofa sleeper in the beach condo is starting to look a bit shabby (not chic). So, I have been keeping my eyes open for a deal. Normally, I have been partial to overstock because I can usually get delivery free. I've looked for months - and the only one I was interested in was "sold out" and has been this entire time. Well, I checked our Target this weekend - and I found a sofa sleeper (queen) and matching oversized chair (twin sleeper) on sale, free shipping and I had a code for an additional 10% off, went through mypoints, used my cash back credit card and now I will have them delivered for about the price of the sofa only at Overstock. Plus, I will be getting another giftcard next month for a potential gift or just to reduce household expense. The "old" set will get donated to Habitat for Humanity. I also cooked extra salmon pot pie and blueberry/coconut scones for meals this week. I have packed my breakfast/lunch/snacks to take to work tomorrow and will shortly give myself a manicure. Used a few samples up this week - anti-wrinkle face cream and foot cream - both very nice. My daughter and I have started exercising to dvds we have at home. But next month, I plan to buy a monthly pass to the city's exercise partnership - $30 to attend as many of the offered classes. Monday through Saturday they have classes in Zumba, Kickboxing, Yoga, and Pilates. The pass must be purchases monthly - or you can pay $5 per class. So, it is a great way to check the classes out and hopefully motivate me to do better in the exercise department.

3/27 Expressions

Frugal deeds for the week: My husband painted the bathroom upstairs. We have almost completed our taxes - would be a bit unfrugal to take so long if we we were getting a refund, but since we most likely won't, it was frugal in that we are DIY'rs. Just finished my grocery shopping at Kroger with a handful of coupons. I found out I am getting a bonus in my next pay check. My spring work wardrobe looks a bit shabby, so, my daughter and I hit Stein Mart's 12 hour sale with a bunch of coupons too. Of course, since I am in a decluttering mode, that means I need to get rid of some some stuff for what I brought in - so, next week, I plan to take a load to the consignment store. We are also keeping to our plan to pay off the HELOC (financed the beach condo) as soon as possible, so, we paid another chunk off today.