9/30 Expressions

Frugal deeds for the day:  I got my Brita Pitcher from Wal-mart which was just under $9 and used my $5 off coupons and I will be sending in for a $10 rebate.  I also bought a bag of Doritos so that I could have a receipt for 2 - to get a $5 rebate.  Today was the last day to purchase for the Doritos form.  Nice thing is - I used my Wal-mart gift card - so, no charges to my credit card to pay off.  My husband and daughter went to guitar lessons, on the way home, they will stop to get a ream of paper and I will mail in that rebate and they will pick-up the dry cleaning that I used the discount coupon for.  I plan to plant a few house plants to donate to my daughter for her yard sale tomorrow.  I already donated the pitcher.  Hope she gets rid of a bunch of junk that will be a treasure to someone else and she has extra pocket money.  Added:  In the mail, I got a free survival tool from Savemore.com - quite interesting.  I also paid the HELOC down to $0 :)  Now on to other goals.  The realtor contacted me about beach front properties . . . still no deal to jump at me.  Hopefully soon.  Our condo association is having its annual meeting in early November . . . good thing because November is a slow month.  So, if they can finish the annual condo inspection (to stay in the rental program), we can go down there and make small repairs/updates and attend the meeting.  If the realtor can find some great deals by then, we can probably look that weekend too.

9/29 Expressions

Frugal deeds for the day:  We are gift card rich!  Today I received both batches of gift cards from Citi Thank-you Points!  Woo hoo, we have our 10 $100 Wal-Mart Gift Cards and 2 $25 Panera Gift Cards.  So, we are going to try to stretch them as far as we can so that we can save more of cash income streams.  I am hoping we can live off of 1 of my husband's bi-weekly pay checks (to cover expenses for both households) - so, it will be fun.  Tomorrow, I will pay off the HELOC.  I still need to plant the discounted Lowes plants.  We have a yard sale to get ready for.  Not sure how much more excitement I can handle.  Today, I dropped some clothes off at the dry cleaners - with my coupon.  Since Rite Aid is close by, I got enough toothpaste, toothbrushes, and body wash to last the next 3 months.  I would say after coupons and UP rewards, I may have spent $8 total - half of that would be taxes.  I have a stash of stuff for DH to take to our "other" house.  We need to save to pay property taxes by the end of December and I want to beef up my daughter's education fund.  Still want to keep my eyes open for 1 more beachfront property - but it has to be deeply discounted before we plan to jump.  I am so glad I am "off" from my day job tomorrow.  I am also thinking about planning our next trip.  I just checked on-line and I have enough Southwest points for the three of us to fly to Los Angeles.  It would cost $30.  No baggage charge, etc.  So, if we have enough hotel points, we may go over Thanksgiving break.  My husband has relatives in the area - and there are things we want to do.

9/28 Expressions

Frugal deeds for the day:  Lots of coupons and rebate forms galore on the web today.  I printed out a coupon for $5 off the Brita Water Filter Pitcher and a rebate for up to $10.  That is what couponers/rebaters call a money making deal.  Plus, since we have a filter on our fridge water dispenser - we won't need it. So, I am donating it to my daughter for her yardsale this weekend.  I am so proud of her, she told her class-mate she will have to pass on going to the movies this weekend because she is getting ready for her yard sale.  Also on-line today, I printed a coupon for a free after rebate ream of printer paper from Staples.  And finally, I usually don't buy "wipes" - unless they are free - but there is a rebate form for the full price back on Lysol wipes plus I have a .50 coupon that will double at Publix - so, another money maker :)  Okay, none of them will make me rich - but rebates are getting few and far between - so, finding 3 in one day is pretty exciting for me!  The only other thing I am going to do is use my savemore.com certificate - I think I paid $7 (I had credit) for a $60 wall decal.  I am going to put one in the bathroom.  Now that we probably won't sell our house this summer, I am going to take my time in updating. 

9/27 Expressions

Frugal deeds for the day:  This evening, my daughter and I ate our dinner at Outback Steakhouse.  I had the coupon for a free steak dinner - but my daughter ordered that meal.  With an appetizer, my meal, drinks, and a trip - we got out of there for $23.  Not exactly free - but the meal was yummy.  Freebies in the mail a coupon for an Old Orchard bottle of juice and coupons from the Home Depot for a buy 2 mums, get one free.  Also, as I stated a week or two ago, I thought the "replacement" values of our homes were too high.  My husband finally got around to making a call.  The insurance agent agreed to drop some of the values - so, our total insurance premiums dropped $200/year.  Next, our dishwasher finally kicked the bucket.  So, I ordered a Stainless Steel Amana from Home Depot (said it was good for families under 3 people - was loud - but cleaned well) - all things we can live with for a price of $299.  Of course I had to order a few kits for the installation.  Delivery, installation, removal of the broken unit were all free.  There was a $25 off code.  So, after tax, etc. my total was just over $313.  But wait!  I went through ebates and will get about $9 back and I used my cash back card, so, I should get atleast $3 back :)  Now, all of the appliances will match.  Then another big shocker for me.  I am not sure how I feel about it - but anyway, the tax assessor for our current residence sent a notice with the intent to raise our property appraisal for tax purchases by $3,000.  Well, I went on line and it has been dropped by almost $40K - ouch.  But it drops our tax bill by just over $200 - so, I will take it.  But, this is an area that was not supposed to have experienced much of a drop - even though I kept seeing houses sit on the market, drop prices continually, etc.  So, there you have it.  We probably will not put this house up for sale next year even though my husband's new employer would pay the selling costs. Funny, the appraised value is about $60K under zillow now.  This will give us more time to renovate it - and probably sell it after my daughter graduates.  Now I can start saving more earnestly for college.  I hope the costs start to stabilize.  Added:  Just got my free "Souther Living Homestyle Cookbook" by buying a few grocery items and sending in the receipt a month or so ago :)

9/26 Expressions

Frugal deeds for the day:  One of my co-workers brought coupons for me to cull through.  I found a few useful ones.  I received a notification that I will receive a bonus this month at work.  I am grateful for that.  My daughter got paid for her cat-sit. 

9/25 Expressions

Frugal deeds for the day:  Pictured are a few of my auction "wins" from last week:  sofa table, candle-abra, vintage linens.  These are a "few of my favorite things".  I've trimmed up my Phildendrons and have the starters in a mason glass full of water.  Tomorrow, before coming home from work, I will bring home some Spider plant off-shoots.  Those will be my contributions to my daughter's yardsale.  I plan to stop by Wal-mart to get my free energy drink from Murphy's gas station and also purchase a $10 Wal-mart gift card - because they sent me a $1 off any gift card.  I won't be purchasing gas because I did so at Costco's since we still have a month or more left on our membership.  Then I will pick-up a few things at Wal-mart with that gift card. 

9/24 Expressions

Frugal deeds for the day:  Early this a.m., I had an appointment and my daughter went with me.  Then we headed to Plato's with a box full of stuff.  (Only 1 item was sold for a little pocket change for my daughter).  Then we went to Costco - easy, peasy, I gave them my $18.XX check and they handed me $50 in cash for being an Executive member.  I also bought organic salad mix for my lunches this week $4.29 - and my daughter got a large bag of Kettle corn.  We also purchased a baked sandwich type thing - and split it between the two of us for our lunch - we ate it in the car with our own water.  Then we stopped by Starbucks with my giftcard and had a drink - sadly, no grounds at this one.  Then we headed to Rite Aid.  I had $13 in UP rewards to spend.  So, I got a multi-vitamin and my daughter decided to try biotin.  To spend up the rewards, I also purchased a box of black/orange pekoe tea - 80 bags for $1.  After UP rewards, I paid $1.35 out of pocket - mostly for tax.  Since we were close to home, we stopped, and unloaded and picked-up our Kroger receipt that we forgot.  We then headed to Lowes with my discounted gift card and we purchased either 50% or 75% off plants - 2 grapes, 2 blueberries, and 2 roses.  Then we also got paint for the bathroom - wow, when did paint become so expensive.  1 gallon of paint, and 1 gallon of primer = $55.  We did look at the oops paint - there were only about 5 and none of them were what we were looking for.  Then we headed to Kroger.  Got our chapstick and a price adjustment - charged $6.99 for a $2.99 item (had a $1 off coupon too).  I asked about their policy to give the first mis-priced item for free?  They said that only applies to items under $5 :(  Well, we scoured the store for manager specials and we scored:  veggie tray for $1.99, speciality whole wheat bread .99, large prepared salad for $2.49, portobello mushrooms .50, and button mushrooms .50.  Then we went to the "International Market".  We noticed that an "Indian Spice Market" store had opened.  Wow - I got a sandwich size bag of whole cloves for $1.99.  Last year I looked for the stuff in the store and I swear, it was around $9 for a small bottle.  I wanted to use them for pomanders - but for $9 a bottle - and I seriously doubt it would cover an orange - I didn't attempt it.  But for $1.99 - I will be trying it.  Also got cinnamon sticks for around the same price too.  Went to the international market and got 6 plums for $1.29, other fresh veggies and frozen items on sale.  Then we got home - and picked up the mail.  Rent check - I wasn't expecting much since our townhouse needed a new stove/installaltion/removal - plus, we only wanted a glass top.  Even so, we got a nice check.  So, I will have enough to pay off the HELOC without any problems.  However, I found 2 more short sale beach front properties we are interested.  The realtor is looking up rental and comparable information.  I am thinking I may want to only pay 1/2 the HELOC and pay the other half next month because the interest will be less than $20 - as we may need some "earnest" money if we end up making an offer . . . now, my daughter and I need to get some work done around the house.  The weather is gorgeous and comfortable.  Instead of going to the "Y" - we will walk the dog for exercise.