8/25 Expressions

Frugal deeds for the week:  Yesterday, I won a box of South Beach meal or snack bar at Kroger.com.  Today, in the mail, I received my Y membership cards, 2 t-shirts and the $25 prepaid Visa card.  I also received my Art museum membership yesterday.  Potentially bad news, a couple renting one of our properties is getting divorced.  Neither, by themselves, can make the rent payment.  Their lease is up next month and they will be paying thru next month.  The rental agent said she is working on securing new tenants.  The weather is finally cooling down - but I am just exhausted.  I think I will skip walking today - and take a break.  We stopped in Publix this afternoon and snacked on some samples - they had samples of "mushroom fries" - portobello mushroom  - they were delishes - so, we will be trying to re-create that recipe at home some time this week.  It has been raining the last few evenings, and that has been great for foliage/grass.  And of course, the water bill.  We are really not liking the vehicle my husband traded his dying Saturn for last year . . . it is a sporty small car bought used.  We may trade it in for a used vehicle that will have more utility.  So, I have started to look around.  We like to trade it evenly - although I know used car dealers probably would not like that deal - or if we could get by with a trade and a bit of cash.

8/21 Expressions

Frugal deeds for the day:  I cashed in 115 points at Recyclebank for a 1 year magazine subscription for my daughter.  We went to the mall and we she spent some $, but we got the following freebies, ice cream cup from Ben & Jerry's, 2 pair of underwear from Victoria's Secret, free 2.5 oz lotion from Victoria's secret - thanks to coupons mailed to us, or printed off the internet.  We went to the Art Museum and saw a wonderful collection and ate at the Italian cafe - we shared an entree - it was wonderful.  My daughter just left with her adoptive grandmother and they are doing some volunteer work:  painting.  Either today or tomorrow - I plan to dye my own hair, trim it myself, and give myself a mani, pedi - how's that for frugal and give myself a boost.  And hopefully good news, Kenneth R. Feinburg takes over processing claims starting Monday.  Although, apparently, I will need to fill out a new long application, I supposedly not have to re-submit information.  Hopefully, all will go a lot smoother than it has been.  I read where he is saying they will process the claims within days - hope it is true.  I saw on yahoo.com a link for a blog where the person is designing 1 clothing item per day out of another item (upcycling) and spending no more than $365 for 1 year.  Pretty inspirational - maybe I can look at the stuff we have an convince my daughter to take that on as a hobby - create something "new" out of something you already have. 

8/20 Expressions

Frugal deeds for the day:  I am "off" my day job today.  This morning, I played chauffeur  for my daughter and drove her to school 1 early to attend a meeting.  I sat in the car and read my free morning paper and drank coffee from home while I waited for her and drove her school 2 to attend class.  To make it worth while, I stopped at Kroger and picked up a few manager specials and items on my list.  The cashier was impressed because I "saved" 54%.  Now, I have the crockpot going, will get out the garden shears and trim/pull weeds in the flower beds, and do a bit of cleaning.  I also hope to get in a nice long walk before she gets home.  I am not complaining - but it looks like it is about to storm - and we definitely need the rain.  I picked 9 banana peppers from my "garden".  My pear tree has about 5 pears on it - and I am hoping I can harvest them shortly too.  This weekend, we plan to declutter a bit more, stop at the mall and get my daughter's freebie Ben & Jerry's cone (birthday club), free item from Victoria's Secret - and I am hoping my half priced Art Museum membership card comes in the mail today so we can stop at the museum and see the latest collection.

8/18 Expressions

Citibank sent my daughter a credit card offer to received 50,000 American Airlines miles after spending $750.  Uh, she still a bit young to sign up.  But I did.  That is enough for 2 roundtrip domestic flights.  And since we love to travel - and are a bit on the frugal side - this is a great deal for me.  Please note that I am not advocating everyone sign up for credit card offers as YMMV.  We do not carry a balance and will probably only keep the card for a short period of time because after a year, there is an annual fee of $75.  I signed up for the business card for our condo rental - since we are required to have a business license, pay local lodging taxes, etc.  So, I will probably try to replace the sofa and loveseat soon - since Target cancelled my order.  I am hoping my husband can get one too - and we can each order one and fulfuill our spending for things we would have purchased anyway - and get a nice mileage bonus.  I am not affiliated with Citibank - as a matter of fact, I believe I wrote a not a very nice post about Citi-mortgage and pulled our HELOC away from them about 2 years ago.  At lunch today, I shopped at Publix for a few needed items.  But I found another "good deal".  Laughing Cow spreads were 3/$6.  Right on the display are $1/1 coupons.  So, that makes them $1 per container - nice small snack - plenty of flavors too. 

8/17 Expressions

Frugal deeds for the week:  We finally received an "interim emergency payment" from BP yesterday.  It was 55% of my claim - either way, I am tired of dealing with the current adjuster and made a request that my file be transferred to a center that specializes in condo rentals.  It may cause a bit of a slow down - but better than getting high blood pressure dealing with this adjuster.  You can bet I deposited it today, with $15 in rolled coins, I stopped at the consignment store and picked up 2 small checks (this $ goes to my daughter) and a few other small checks - including the .05 dividend check.  I got a call from the "Y" - for signing up early for membership - they are sending 2 t-shirts (she asked what size), a $25 Visa Card, and something else.  Then, while looking thru my purse, I saw the letter from the local Art Museum about re-newing my membership - there in an obsecure ad form, it said I could ask for a 1/2 priced membership if I signed up by the 15th.  I was thinking "a day late, a dollar short" - but then thought it wouldn't hurt to call.  Sure enough, they said if I paid by CC on the phone, they would do it.  So, I did.  This week I also won 2 20 oz Coke coupons (for my husband) and a Burger King Croisandwich? coupon on Listia for very few points.

8/14 Expressions

Frugal deeds for the day:  Yesterday, I redeemed some Mypoints for a $10 Barnes & Noble GC.  I also used some of the Amazon Gift Certificates I won from Swagbucks to buy a crockpot - well rated - free shipping - just over $30 - no cash-out of my pockets.  My daughter decided she did not want anything else for her birthday and that a crockpot would be great for the family.  The last one was probably 15 years old - the electrical part broke (the handles had broken off years ago too) - so, I used the ceramic insert part for a planter - unfortunately, the tomato plant is not doing very well - don't know if it is the heat, lack of drainage, or both.  But hopefully, fall will show up soon and I can use the crock to make warm and hearty soups.  Yesterday, I finally wrote an e-mail to my daughter's school district's Superintendant about the over crowded bus she is riding temporarily - the situation was resolved within hours - how great is that.  It is frugal because she was begging me to drive her and a couple of other students for the rest of the semester to school - gas, and time in rush hour traffic - very unfrugal and bad for my health :)  Although I was cranky about the situation, I kept the tone light and matter-of-fact - and the problem was solved and no hurt feelings.  However, I won't be too nice about the next comment - BP STINKS - my claim check has been "in the mail" for almost 2 weeks - can I say inept and a bunch of other bad words.  In other good news, we took the private tour of the soon to be completed beautiful YMCA - and although it probably isn't all that frugal, we signed up as charter members.  Hopefully, the whole family will get on a health kick and we will cut down on future medical bills.  It is nice to support it for the community too.  Then we stopped at Kroger - lots of great deals with store deals, electronic coupons and internet coupons - we saved 54%.  After dropping everything off, we stopped at Earth Fare - we missed the free lunch bags - but had a nice lunch there and picked up a few things.  Tonight, my daughter and husband will be going to the movies (I am not a big movie fan) and then they will eat dinner at Red Robin's - my daughter gets a free meal (birthday club) and it expires today.  I will eat stuff from Earth Fare, take a long walk, and relax.

8/13 Expressions

Frugal deeds for the weekend:  I reserved a tour of a new YMCA being constructed in our area for tomorrow morning.  I am hoping we learn about some great, frugal activities that might be available when it opens.  After that, we plan to head to Earth Fare for their breakfast buffet, pick up a few groceries - they have a coupon out for 10 ears of locally grown corn/$1, and attend their back to school extravaganza - I believe they are giving out lunch totes?  This week I received a dog treat and shampoo samples in the mail.