More 5/31 Expressions

A few "things" that will save us some $ stay in the back of my mind. Things I don't really want to do. Two things lately and I finally did one. I purchased a Restaurant.com gift certificate with a 60% off code months ago. Last month, it was in the news that the owner of restaurant for which I purchased the certificate had been arrested for criminal activity and had sold his restaurant. Yesterday, I called Restaurant.Com's customer service and with no hassle, they gave me credit to buy $50 worth of gift certificates. We will be going on our business/pleasure trip in a couple of weeks. What better way to save some more $. So, I got 2 $25 gift certificates to restaurants close to our hotel - for nothing extra out of our pocket. The other thing I need to get going on is - I saved my receipts when I bought some plants a few months ago. I bought 2 Hydrangea plants and they did not do well at all. I believe they told me they have a 1 year return policy. I need to dig out the receipt and the two dead plants and get my $ back - if I remember right, just over $10 with tax.

Oh and one other thing I plan to write about later - my dislike for Citi-bank! I have decided to cancel my "Rewards Card" - but before I do, I have enough points for a $10 gift card. I ordered a bookstore one for my husband. After I get it, I will be cancelling my Citi-bank card - buh - baiiii! Asta - lasvista, sayonara, . . .

5/31 Expressions

We wanted to buy my daughter some summer clothes. We gave her a "budget". We all hopped in the car and headed to the mall. There was no crowd. Gas prices? Lack of consumer confidence? Any way, there were lots of sales. My husband headed to Starbucks with the $5 GC I got for free thru the mail. My daughter and I hit a store we had never been to - the "Wet Seal". They had a BOGO sale on their clearanced items. Being on a budget, my daughter found 4 shirts for the price of about 1.5 when it was all said and done. Then we headed to Sears as I had a $5 GC for them that I, again, got for free through the mail. She ended up getting a pair of Capri. She has well over 1/2 her "budget" left.

For cheap entertainment this afternoon, my daughter and two of her friends will be swimming at our community pool.

Dinner will be chicken salad sandwich and salad. I got a large box of fried chicken from Kroger last night that was clearanced at half price. We had some last night. The rest, I will remove the skin and bones and make the "salad". I picked some fresh lettuce from my "garden" this morning - the leaves are soaking in a bit of vinegar and water at the moment.

We had some guilt-free unfrugal moments today too. We had a nice lunch at Chee Burger Chee Burger and hit the bookstore.

5/30 Expressions

I have been an "ostrich with my head in the sand" when it comes to checking our stocks, mutual funds, and retirement 401K equivalents for probably the last 3 months. We are "buy and hold" kind of people - so, I didn't want to send us into a panic, depress ourselves over things we don't plan to change in the near future. Well, yesterday, I summed up the courage. Yup, we have suffered a paper loss - but no where near as bad as I thought. Of course it helps that the last 3 days have helped us regain some of the loss.

On the rental property front, one of our long term tenants moved out today. She declared bankruptcy about 7 years ago, but did pay her rent. I believe she ran into some medical problems? In any case, she has purchased a place of her own. So, we are happy for her. We have kept her rent lower than "market" because she was such a good tenant. So, the rental agency said we should be able to re-rent for a good bit more. However, it appears quite of bit of work will need to be done to get the place rent ready. The tenant has agreed to forfeit her entire deposit. Of course, some of it will be chaulked up to "wear and tear". So, I have started calling for estimates - although the rental management company will be providing us with estimates too - I want something to compare them with.

5/28 Expresssions

Late yesterday evening - the door bell rang. It was the UPS delivery truck - and I had 2 boxes at my door. My dwarf lemon and banana trees were delivered! My daughter and I planted them and they look pretty healthy. Hope we get fruit from them eventually. I have always wanted to try to grow them - so, I hope they are worth the shipping charge. I have been meaning to put together another "load" for the consignment shop so I won't make a trip to "just" pick-up a check. But I have procrastinated again. Instead, I clipped a coupon from my grocery store receipt for the dry cleaners and got some summer work clothes together to be cleaned.

5/27 Expressions

I must think I am on summer vacation :)

Mail today was nice - we finally got our Federal Tax refund - not the "stimulus" check. And, I got a rebate check. I took the afternoon off my day job and deposited those checks. Then, my daughter and I visited ULTA with free nail polish coupons and we had a 20% off 1 product coupon. We also ran into Kroger and got the Ragu Pasta Sauce for the free Fandango movie ticket. Can't have too many of those for a family of movie lovers.

5/24 Expressions

Frugal for today: my daughter and I doubled up on baking. While I mixed and prepared chocolate chip, and peanut butter cookies, she prepared a turtle brownie mix. The oven was full the entire time and the cookies took turns baking with the brownie. Part of each dessert is now in the freezer. Unfrugal for the day: we went to Wal-mart and came out with more than we intended.

5/22 Expressions

We got our hair "done" and are happy with the results. Mail was very nice today. We got fake stick-on nails, 4 dry erase markers, a generous sample size of Cafe Verona from Starbucks, a rebate check from e-bates, and a rebate check from Rite Aid. Can't beat generous freebies and money too often :)