I'm Melissa! I'm a 32 y.o. re-employed (9 mo unemployed) wife/mother/fur baby lover who was forced into the hounding world by my genetic "cheap make Lincoln scream" dna link and the need to stretch my very few dollars as far as possible. I also have an addictive personality which is why I choose not to drink/smoke but instead go in cycles of being obsessed with different things in life ranging from shoes, cars, working out, dieting, and now hounding.
well.. it looks at though I will not have time to go bed shopping this weekend. I had started writing up a list of everything I need to do this weekend however, after today car shopping is going to be the highlight of this weekend.
I was about to fall asleep last night at 12:20 and I remembered my keys were still in the ignition of my car.. I decided it would be fine and fell asleep.. the rude awakening at 8:23 this morning of my car saying CLICK CLICK CLICK wasn't so great. Here is the situation, and excuse me if I've already mentioned this like 400 times (I can't remember if I have or haven't) but my car has been having issues with letting go. It really is in love with me driving it or having my key stuck inside the ignition.. something about the car and that darn key.
My mechanic has had the car for over 3 weeks at one point and of course his report is, "it works every time for me".. yeah well it DOESN'T work every time for me. They've replaced the cylinder and greased the key.. and short of ripping apart my entire car just to figure it out they can only imagine that the transmission doesn't think the car is in park therefore will not let go of the key.
My husband and I have come up with tricks to get the key out and finally I figured out that if you just leave the dang thing in there it pops out on it's own. Pretty magical really. Sometimes it takes just seconds to pop out but now it's becoming increasingly longer, today it was 20 minutes.
Anyway.. last night I got home from work after 6pm and just wanted to go in and.... (make myself one of my mocha fraps) EAT and get to work on my BUCKET of work I brought home.. which I did...
so that brought me to 12:20am and then 8:23 this morning. luckily my co-worker has to pass my house to get to work, so I rolled my car out of the garage (almost lost the car as I tried to push the car and the recycle bin and the car started rolling down hill out of my garage) she showed up, popped her hood, jumped it in 3 seconds, she was gone around the corner before I even shut the hood of my car. we're that good folks!
anyway.. I've been looking for a new car on and off here and there but I've worked very hard to save the money I've saved towards a new car and really.. I JUST DON'T WANT TO SPEND IT!! not good.
So my husband is busy shopping at Carmax. Just wondering if anyone has had any luck (good or bad) at this place. I've also been looking at a local car auction but my husband got me turned on to carfax.com so I've been checking each of the cars and of course the cars I want have either been in accidents or have wayyy too long of records to want to touch.. *sigh*
soooooo I guess this is going to be a car shopping weekend and the bed is getting trumped... ***my cousin's husband (then boyfriend) wanted to buy her a diamond engagement ring and they needed a new bed. her engagement ring got trumped. then for their 10th wedding anniversary he wanted to buy her a 10 year anniversary band and of course they wound up needing a new bed that year. So again her "marital" jewelry was trumped by a bed.. now my car is trumping my bed. so strange***
Okay.. I had to hit that Jewel sale before I didn't have time to hit it.. plus it was on my to do list from this weekend. They said they would be restocked with chicken on Monday and as I said I had those $15 in CATS that were expiring today burning a hole in my pocket.
So last night after work I quick took a run to Jewel. I grabbed 4 packages. The sale was 4 for $19.99. Well not one of those packages was a full 3lbs (which was the sale) and not one of them was $5!! So I didn't know how the deal would work out...
Well up to the checkout I went.. my total for 4 packs of just under 3lb of chicken? $13.23 WITH TAX! Yipes. grabbed 2 packs of gum, paid $1.28 and left with my almost 12 lbs of chicken.
I fired up the new George Foreman and spent the next couple hours breaking down those packs between grilled chicken packs, raw chicken packs, and cut up raw chicken packs. My freezer is full of chicken and beef once again!
OKay.. one other thing.. I bought that huge honkin ham for $6.99 the other day. It's still sitting in the bottom of my fridge.. I need to make it.. I'm not going to make it for just the two of us AND I don't get home until 6:30 most nights so I don't have the time to make it.. can I just throw it in the crock pot? What else can I do with it? I should have just brought it to my mom's house and threw it in her freezer for Easter! oh well!
ha ha ha sorry.. I'm totally in love with them. I figured I would just post my recipe for my mocha fraps.
♥8 oz Almond Breeze unsweetened I use chocolate but you could use Vanilla or original if you like ♥ice just enough to fill and cover the liquid ♥coffee creamer probably about a teaspoon full ♥2-3 packets of splenda, equal, or sweetnlow. whatever you use. ♥1 teaspoon (or more if you like) instant coffee (decaffeinated or regular, again your preference) ♥1 teaspoon sugar free syrup HUNGRY GIRL suggests TORANI brand syrups but I found a knock off at my local grocery store for a bit cheaper. I used chocolate.
Blend in a good blender, smoothie maker, or magic bullet type mixer. I use a little lite whip cream with cinnamon sprinkled on top just to make it more appealing and a little more naughty.. but I don't care. They are yuummyy!
I've also made them using regular skim milk, a sugar free packet of hot chocolate, instant coffee, and some splenda. Those turned out good but are more calories.
You can get creative and use all sorts of different flavor of coffee. Hungry Girl talks about using those flavored coffee's, flavored coffee creamer, and of course the sugar free syrup comes in a huge variety of flavors.
You could use these to make some smoothies too if you wanted. Some yogurt, some fruit, some ice, maybe a splash of juice. Yummy!
ha ha ha poor Charlie.. ♪ chhhheer up Charrrliee♫ (sorry I'm mixing my Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with Charlie Brown) doh! No mail for Charlie.. but mail for me!! I got this today!!
this little bag came filled with a few goodies and I'm not even sure how I got it. I must have signed up for something awhile back. I love MY SAVINGS so who knows.. anyway.. this little make up bag came filled with a Shaver, some lip gloss, and some deodorant! So cute!
Also, over at Staples Thanks to Sherry at SAVING SHERRY for posting this great deal. They have a coupon code for $20 off a $20 stamp order here. Use coupon code 47328 at checkout online. Funny thing is I've been running very low on address labels and wanted to get one of these stamps. I waited and the deal came to me! How about that?
ooh what else.. Ohhhh I got 2 more things checked off my WEEKEND to do list. My sister, her 2 boys, my husband and myself all shoveled my parents entire driveway in under a half hour. Great workout. It wasn't as bad as I thought. The end of the driveway had a good 2 feet of thick heavy ice that my oldest nephew and my husband hacked away at while my sister, my younger nephew, and I all plowed away at the foot of powder on the rest of the driveway.
I still have to go back to to Jewel. I wanted to go on my lunch break, but lunch breaks just don't happen at my office right now. My husband finished the laundry, cleaned our bedroom and our loft upstairs. So the computer room is a wreck but the rest of our upstairs is super clean. Now if I could just get that kitchen back in order. I brought home an hour of work and it's almost 10pm so that kitchen is going to wait another day (again).
Sooo coupons, my dress, and bed shopping possibly this weekend...??
hmm this is more like every day of the week for me, so not so sure what it is about today that it's actually bugging me.. but here is the list of things I HAD to get done this weekend. I was sick this week with a monster cold so yesterday I wound up lounging around the house all day, took shower around 7pm and then did a few errands.. but none of them actually made a dent in what I needed to get done this weekend. Here is my list.
1. Jewel. They are having their awesome buy 4 for $19.99 meats again this week. I have $20 in CATS burning a whole in my pocket along with a list of a few necessities we need for the house. Drove past 2 Jewels last night but didn't want to get out of the car again. I went to Jewel and snoozed and loozed (or something like that) I got there and all the meat deals I wanted to pull were already taken! *sigh* I could have gone with all ground beef and pork.. but that's all I got in my freezer now!
2. Woodmans. This store is on the other side of town. Winds up being a 30 minute drive. I was within 5 minutes of it last night on the same road, but didn't want to drive that far south out of my way of the other errands we were doing. There are a few WW necessity items I need from there. ACCOMPLISHED
3. Laundry. I am notorious for doing laundry and just leaving it in front of my dryer. I wear wrinkled clothes to work, to parties, to baptisms.. doesn't matter. Downy wrinkle release is my best friend and I actually wind up making my own once the bottle is gone. I have about 7 loads of laundry currently sitting on top of my bed waiting to be folded or hung. My sheets are in the dryer, my mattress pad is being washed right now. shhhhhh my husband is actually watching tv and cleaning our bedroom which is where all the laundry is....
4. Kitchen. I have a full load of dishes that is clean and just needs to be put away. I also have a full double sink that is double deep of dirty dishes that need to put in the dishwasher. umm yeah.. emptied the dishes, refilled the dishwasher, started the dishwasher but my kitchen is STILL a wreck. I started pulling out all the things I want to sell at our garage sale this spring so kitchen appliances pieces are all over the place...
5. Bathrooms. Both bathrooms are disgusting. enough said. I just finished the upstairs ones in it's entirety and actually the downstairs isn't as bad and it's only a toilet and sink. never touched the downstairs bathroom.. it's attached to the kitchen and it's only 9:30.. hmm
6. Bills. I normally pay them so far ahead of schedule, I forgot about one that was laying on the computer room floor in a stack of stuff to be recycled. Imagine that. I just wrote it out (I tried to pay it on line and realized I would have to PAY to pay it on line and decided the stamp was cheaper). But I did pay all my other bills (some of which I found in that same stack of recycling) that I had ahead of time on line. The ones that HAVE to be mailed will wait another week. IN the mean time I will "File" them in my recycle stack. just as far as I was when I wrote this, but I did accomplish it today.
7. Car. I have to drop my mom's car off today. yeah nope, read below...
8. Shovel. I have to shovel my mom's driveway today in order to drop off her car. However, it's NEGATIVE 2 right now and the foot of snow on her driveway isn't going anywhere. Luckily I talked to my sister and she's gonna have a plow guy come tomorrow so dropping off my mom's car and shoveling have actually been stricken from my list.. however now I have to find time before Tuesday night to drop off her car and check the house before she goes home.. I should add to the list PRAYER because I'm gonna need it when I walk in her house and find all her pipes have burst, the house has been ransacked, and my Porsche is missing. yeah nope... going with my sisters plan although it was warmer than I thought.. it was 8 degrees around 4pm but the windchill was negative something..
9. Bed shopping. This is something my hubbie and I have been talking about since July folks. It hasn't happened since July, it probably won't happen today. HA HA HA HA HA SNORT
10. Coupons. I quit cutting out the coupons and just clip right from the inserts because I plain just don't have time. I still have the old ones, probably all expired to send out to the military. I need to go through those envelopes to make sure I don't have any I could use still. I also need to go through all my inserts, make them neat, write the dates on the front and put them in order. Also I need to get the ones that are dead out of here too. umm I found the coupons I needed for my shops today.. yeah that's it. 11. Work. I brought about 2 hours of work home. ACCOMPLISHED
12. Dress. I ordered my bridesmaid dress last month and it came in 2 weeks ago already. I need to pick that up. The wedding isn't until July so maybe I could fit bed shopping and my dress pick up together for my 11th anniversary July 3rd. lol! The dress shop is only 20 minutes from my house.. doh! right there with my bed shopping!
13. Mail. bills. enough said. ACCOMPLISHED
Any ideas for me? How would you organize this list? have you ever been a procrastinator and how did you overcome your obsession with blogging and FB long enough to stop procrastinating and get some work done? Is there FB/Blogging/web surfing rehab?
**so I accomplished 7 (6 1/2 because I have to go back to Jewel before Wednesday) of the 13 things and 2 others my sister/husband will help me with tomorrow that being the car & the driveway.
Hello, my name is Melissa and I'm a smoothieholic. As I sit typing this my outside temp in the Chicago burbs is -2 degrees and windchill is around -17 but ALAS I'm sipping a mocha frap I made right here at home all for probably less than 10 cents and 54 calories. It's a weight watcher dream.
Let me just start by saying that my sister had moved briefly out of state in the early 90's. This was right about the time that smoothies were the "new thing" on the west coast. She came home, told me about them and then showed me how to make them. This was something NEW to me and so was born my smoothie and anything smoothie like obsession. My obsession of course leads to other obsessions. Finding the perfect fruits, yogurts, mixes, powders, ice, spices to make the perfect tasting smoothies.. but it doesn't end there.. in the obsession has also been the hunt to find the perfect smoothie making machine.
My poor mother, I can't tell you how many blenders we've been through since smoothies came to Chi-town via my sister. It's been more than a few I'd say, and since I've been married and living on my own over 10 years now it's been a few more in our house as well. My house is where blenders come to die, some commit suicide even before the box is opened. Every person who "thinks" they have a great blender is usually proven wrong when I hit them up for some "girlie" drinks or a smoothie.
Anyyyyywhooo so this brings me to my current dilemma... the last few weeks I've been having to "speed blend" my smoothies because my very favorite Back to Basics ORIGINAL smoothie maker has been leaking AND not chopping ice very well. As you can see with this model there is a spicket however no lip at the top to pour from. The spicket is set higher than the blades, therefore, there is always a good 4-8oz of smoothie left on the bottom. Once you try to turn the container upside down it never comes out neatly. Also, my model doesn't even have a handle on the back to hold it. I'm pretty sure I have their FIRST model they made. I can only remember that we got it at Service Merchandise and I stole it fair and square once I moved out. My mom has since gone out and bought this Back to Basics smoothie maker. When it came out a few years ago it was a little pricier. I can't find the exact model my mom got, but you can see Back to Basics and other brands that jumped on the smoothie blender band wagon have learned from the original mistakes. They've moved the spicket down, added a lip/spout, and added a handle. Also I've noticed that the stick for mixing on my mom's newer model actually is shorter. My original model they made too long and if you weren't careful you would wind up with chunks of plastic in your food. Not fun or yummy.
Okay.. so we all stay up late and watch infomercials.. and we all dream that every infomercial product is the ANSWER to our prayers.. the steamer is going to clean everything perfectly, my house is going to be spotless and germless. You have to use the steamer in order for any of that to happen.. just bringing one into ones home doesn't render said house spotless or germless, however, through the magic of tv you don't get to see how much a pain it is to use this or that product. Setting it up, cleaning it, you can't feel the weight of it, or how cheaply made it is.. blah blah blah.. soooo I think you all know where I'm going.. what other infomercial has ANYTHING to do with blender.. ahhhh of course Magic Bullet.
Of course, I remember a few months back there was Magic Bullet's on sale/clearance at Walgreens for like $5 or some insanely cheap price and of course I never once checked any of my stores. No clue why. All I know is that this week I started looking into them and finding out, price wise I just couldn't give in. They are over $60.
Last night I went to pick up my bra's from JcPenney I had ordered (all clearance of course $11.99 each plus I used a coupon code, picked them up myself to avoid shipping fees and used mrrebates to get 3% back) and on my way out from JcPenney I grabbed a few of their small catalogs. This morning I started browsing through them and the first thing I noticed was this set. It was in the catalog for $29.99. I tried to order it on line and get some coupon codes but nothing was working. Instead Tim and I had errands to run and a new JcPenney store just opened in our area so I figured we could stop in and grab it. I grabbed one and went to scan to make sure it was priced at $29.99 in the store, NOPE $39.99 what??? so I go to the checkout, explain the situation and they tell me to go back to the catalog service desk to get checked out. I wasn't in the mood, I was hot and tired (I've been sick this week) but I drudged back there and the catalog lady was awesome, gave it to me for the $29.99 price and even let me PHYSICALLY twist her arm joking around with me. (hardyyy har har)
So we stopped for a quick Panera yummmy dinner and came home and I wanted some dessert. But what else.. a mocha frap! lol! Let's give this thing a TEST RUN. OOOHhh myyyyy, I don't know how I lived WITHOUT this piece of heaven in my home up until this day. Of course, the blades are new and sharp, the pieces are all new and right on my counter BUT here is what I've noticed already that I love about this. I NOW know why they sell the Magic Bullets in sets of two because I want one for work.
Set up is a breeze. It's super tiny and living in a townhome with not the biggest cabinets I could keep this on the counter without taking up too much space OR easily put this away each time. I've already mentally taken my smoothie maker and my blender out of my kitchen. I won't be needing EITHER of them after today.
I was able to take the actual glass I'd be drinking my frap from and make it IN THE GLASS. #1 I don't have to do a ton of dishes!!! the container, the glass, the lid, the blade, the blending stick, and the rubber stopper all had to be cleaned each time I made anything. Not to mention the spicket should be cleaned out as well because honestly how knows what could be lurking in there. #2 NO GUESS WORK. I usually stand there trying to figure out just how much the current ingredients that are in the bottom of my smoothie maker will make. Will it fill the glass I want it to fill? Will it not be enough? This time, I poured my Almond Breeze in the bottom, added ice, powder creamer, splenda, sugar free choc syrup then threw the blade on, twisted and put it on the base. It blended itself in about 20 seconds.
Once I was done, I took the blade off, rinsed it off under hot water and left it on a towel to dry. No taking apart the whole assembly, no wiping the counter down from the spicket leaking or the rubber seal leaking from underneath. This will also not be taking up 1/4 of my dishwasher space either. I usually clean it out myself but each time I wash a load I throw the entire assembly in there for a deep clean. I'm not using the little lip rings that cover the top only because I always grab a straw to drink them from and I figure it's just another dish I don't need to wash.
Okay so since I got home I realized not only can I get rid of my 2 big blenders, but also my hand stick mixer set, my old quesadilla maker (I got the new George Foreman 360 for Chrismas) which also means I can get rid of my old George Foreman grill that the plates don't come out from and is impossible to clean!! This mixer is so great it's even cleaned out my cabinets, I can't say that about the steamer we bought though! ....and for your listening enjoyment... IS THIS LOVE?
yup I had $52 worth of ECB's burning a hole in my pocket.. quite literally. They were expiring tomorrow. I got all of them from my shop in December with all those pages of freebies. Problem is, I should have figured out my best plan of action complete with coupons and stuff.. but *sigh* I've just plan been too busy to plan my shops. I sorta wing it, and most times come out pretty happy with what I decided to do... the only thing is now I'm down to under $10 in ECB's. I'd gotten a few over the last couple weeks and then got a total of $5 in ECB's from today's shop. I'm missing a gallon of milk which I paid $3.19 for and a 28 pack of water bottles I paid $6.99 for.
♥5 boxes of CVS crackers $1.99 ea gave back $1 ECB's for each box ♥2 containers of Q-tips $3.99 (my DH was very mad I bought CVS brand last time) ♥2 containers of Kraft Parm cheese $5.99 each (very steep but I was burning and didn't care) ♥2 nail clippers 99 cents each ♥10 cans of cat food 89 cents each (we needed them) ♥9 packages of Excedrin $1.99 used $2 manus for each FREEBIES ♥1 package of 3 Shick intuition refills $10.99 (I had no coupons with me for them, but I needed to burn another $20 and thought to myself what one luxary item would I NEVER spend cash on.. this was one such item that came to mind.. even though I love/hate them, they are good in a hurry) ♥1 Cascade powder $2.99 (this is for my office, I'm sick of trying to squeeze the last drops out of the gel gallons for our dishwasher) ♥1 gallon milk (not pictured) $3.19 ♥1 28 pack Nestle water bottles $6.99 my total was over $80.. after my Excedrin coupons, I used a $10/$50, then gave her all my ECB's and paid a whopping $2.16!! NOT BAD! I walked out with $5 in ECBS which stinks because if I actually put some time/effort into this I could have walked out with probably at least the same I walked in with.. oh well.. such is life.
I'm feeling a need for positive in my life.. I just watched a small segment of Oprah's show today.. her talking with Demi and Ashton about the change in not only America but the World. the words "we are in this together" have very much touched me tonight.
But here is my cyber pat on the back to try to push me into seeing that I need to start moving in this direction FORWARD in 2009. I actually said out loud today that I didn't accomplish anything while I was off 9 months. I'm still in awe that I let those days slide by without slapping myself and saying "wake up girl you'll never get these days back" BUT then something deep inside me says I did right by myself. Maybe it was a good time for me to stop and smell the roses so I could say I once spent some time to myself.. not sure.
Last Thursday marked my 2nd check at my new/old job. Again the check in it's entirity and a big portion of my husbands check from the week prior went to savings.. this made me think.. where was I a year ago financially????
I know a year ago I was still in debt. I know a year ago I was working 2 jobs, my husband too. I know a year ago I saw my son for probably an hour every other weekend and most of that time was spent eating with him or just not talking or interacting with him because I was so exhausted all the time from working. I know a year ago I was moving in the right direction (financially). I know a year ago I had *just* found out I was going to be laid off come March. But, once I checked my bank on line and found out just where I was financially a year ago, I nearly threw up. seriously.
A year ago (this week) I was over $25,000 in debt. so basically I paid off almost $26,000 in 4 months time. I still don't know how we did it.. but today my credit cards are paid off (except for the bridesmaid dress I put on my credit card ONLY to earn the points for it which I will be paying off with my husbands check this Friday). Last Thursday I deposited enough money into my regular savings to meet a personal goal of my own. It was something I was striving for.. and then tonight to look at my NEGATIVE HUGE balance from a year ago.. and just the screen before seeing the savings as of today... I'm wowed by myself.
Sorry I know I need to get over myself, but right now... "God I could use a little push" just point me in the right direction and I can do the rest.
Any other pushes needed out there in cyberspace???
Okay, it's not totally free.. BUT all you pay is shipping!! It's a local (to me) place but I'm sure they would be willing to accomodate to others around the country. If you or any relatives/friends have anyone over in Iraq/Afghainstan Piece-a-Cake bakery in East Dundee Illinois will send them FREE cookies. You have to pay the shipping which is $20 for APO $25 for FPO. Anyway, they send them 75 an assortment of those huge sugar cookies of smilie faces, hearts, flags, etc. All you need is the soliders address there and you can even include a short message if you like. Anyway you can order them a few different ways. Stop in Piece-a-Cake at 304 N River Street in East Dundee Illinois. It's on the same street as Bandito's. Call in an order with your credit card. Phone 847-836-6703. Fax in an oder with your credit card 847-836-0626. Order them via the net at http://www.piece-a-cake-bakery.com/ or email at cakeb1@aol.com I have sent several batches to my cousin in Iraq who is actually in Afghanistan right now. The first time he said he got an assortment of brownies, cookies, and treats like rice crispy treats. I've also sent them to friends as well and they all reported back the box was big enough to share with a large group. story from the local paper about this bakery
sorry should have posted this last night.. totally forgot to post it to my blog or anywhere else.. instead I ordered one item for my cousin and went to bed. *sigh* (I read about it on another blog yesterday afternoon, whomever it was that posted it sorry I'm not giving you props because I honestly don't remember who it was that I saw it first on)
Okay.. basically log on to Hickory Farms through www.mrrebates.com because mr rebates sweetens this deal by giving you back another 7% on top of what a great deal this already is. If you do not have a mr rebates account, sign up, it's free and very easy.
Once you log on THROUGH MR REBATES to Hickory Farms (just go to the search box in the upper left hand corner and type Hickory Farms) it brings you to their site. Click on your selection to browse their "items" and deals. They show you the "clearance price" in red.
Pick an item(s) you would like to buy, add it to your cart) enter the coupon code SIZZLE for an additional 15% off.
better yet, send these packages to our guys/gals over in Iraq or Afghanistan. There is FREE SHIPPING TO APO OR FPO ADDRESSES!! WHOO HOOO!
So I got the Family Get together gift box, normally $50 on sale for $12.50 then after the SIZZLE code knocked down to $10.62. Mr Rebates will give me back 74 cents so my total for my cousins birthday gift was a whopping $9.88 SHIPPED TO AFGHANISTAN! go me!
Hey everybody.. of course no pics. I did these transactions at Jewel on Wednesday this week. It was the last day for their buy $30 get $15 back deal and I had wanted to take better advantage of it, however, working and trying to put together deals is really exhausting to me. Seeing as how work is my priority right now, unfortunately hounding has taken a back seat to everything else in life. Luckily I have a pretty good stockpile already so there isn't much we really need from one day to the next (minus all the WW friendly foods I stocked up on last week).
Okay. Round 1 12 cans of Progresso WW soup $5/$10 on sale ($2.68) shelf price **just to be on the safe side I bought 12 just in case the shelf price was actually lower which happens pretty often. Totally throws me off. Used 2 50 cent coupons and 2 $1 coupons plus $15 in RR's from a transaction I had done the week before. My total was $4.92 received my 3 $5 RR's no issue!! yeahh!!
Round 2 2 gogurts $4/$10 ($3.36 shelf price) used 2/.75 coupon 6 boxes Cascadian Farms gronola bars $3/$10 $4.68 shelf price used $1 manus 2 Fiber One Pop Tarts $4/$10 used 70 cent manus (price might be wrong) 3 $5 RR's from prior transaction paid $6.36 OOP (would not allow me to use 4 $5 RR's in one transaction) recieved my 3 $5 RR's no issue again!! whoo hoo
Round 3 1 gallon skim milk $2.28 GASP it wasn't $1.99 for the first week in MONTHS! 4 boxes Frosted Flakes 4/$7 used $1 IP manus used 1 $5 RR paid $1.41 OOP and walked out with $20 in RR's that don't expire until the 28th!! (actually I shouldn't have paid with my $5 RR and my total should have been a little over $4. The cashier didn't scan 3 of my $1 manus which I realized after I left the store)
Okay.. here it is.. the Shick Intuition. I admit, this isn't even my razor, I stole this pic off photobucket. I got my Shick Intuition a few months ago free in the mail. I got a few coupons with it but never intended to ever use it. My sister uses it and LOVES them. Hasn't bought another razor since.. but I never saw the point considering the price. Even the few times since I have started hounding that I could have basically gotten them free I haven't.
Of course, one day I was in a big hurry and had to shave that day. So I figured since my sister had said how awesome and time saving they are I would at least the one I got for free. Yeah.. UMMMMM LOVE AT FIRST SHAVE! For real! I couldn't believe how in love with this shaver I became after just the first use. It was like crack, crack for all of those who hate to shave... crack for those of us who hate to take the time to shave... crack for those of us who hate lather up in the shower and by the time you got yourself lathered the shower water has taken half of it away...
So I actually started lQQking for deals on them or at least the refills. There was none that week or the next few weeks coming up, but then I used it a few more times and realized I HATE THIS THING! lol! Before I started hounding I would use the same razor for months. I started hounding and getting them for free so now I use the same replacement head for probably 2 weeks. I don't shave every day in the summer, probably every other day. This summer was even less because I wasn't working and actually didn't wear shorts until almost July. Now here I am using the same head for the 3rd shave and already I can feel the blades rubbing against my skin. By the next shave it was almost not even worth it, there wasn't enough lotion around the head to really get a good shave without almost hurting myself. So basically I got 4 shaves out of it.. is it worth it?
Have you used this? Do you like it? Tips? Comments?
you will NEVER believe how much I spent at Woodmans tonight! Never in a million years. $80!! I hope you took that aspirin because you are going to need it. But in defense of Woodmans it's a store that has awesome deals and an awesome selection of products. Their cheese isle is 2 sides and the length of a normal Walgreens isle. It's pretty impressive. I just started Weight Watchers again so I wanted to stock up on the products that make my life easier eating healthier. I also had some awesome ideas from my sister in law to help me out. Also this weekend my son and I were making mocha frappachino's at home so I went on HUNGRY GIRL to look up a few mock recipes she's put together for yummy very low point alternative fraps and other starbucks type yummies. Luckily, Woodmans had a majority of the actual products she suggests and for wayyyy less than the websites she suggests you order them from. Yahhh me!!
Lastly, my in laws bought us the new George Foreman 360 grill(check it out here) so my husband has been making quesadilla's for snacks all the time. I had to stock up on supplies so I wound up GET THIS buying 5lbs of cheese for $14.99. Works out to $3/lb which is actually pretty good in my area. I usually wait for the 8oz packages to go down to $1.50 on sale and then stock up, so this is the same and I don't have to wait for another good sale! lol! talking about quesadilla's makes me think of...
YEAH I SAID IT!! DUMMIES!! There are big dummies out there.. but ahhhh haaaaaaaaa I got their number and those dummies are only lining my fat pockets in my big girl jeans (I gained over 50lbs the last year so I can officially say I'm a big girl again.. I can also announce I'm back on Weight Watchers so eventually I'll start blogging about that too)
And back to the dummies.. Sooooooooo today I wanted to take the $3 coupons to Walgreens to grab some FREEBIE Ben & Jerry's ice cream, however, since I'm on WW again I figured I'd get some of their "light" stuff or sorbet. OF COURSE my WAGS had none of that... only the wonderfully yummy full fat stuff and really not a great selection at that. Of course they had their most popular yummmmmy flavors, just none that could jive on a diet. So I decided to go next door to Jewel that had them 2/$7 this week. I figured I could pay 50 cents for each instead.. that's fine.
So back in the truck (we got about 9" of snow over the past 24 hours so I needed the 4x4) and slid over to Jewel. I decided since I was there that *sigh* I should hit their buy $30 get $15 in CATS back deal.. hooo hummm.. so I grabbed some PT & TP (paper towels and toilet paper) and up to the register I go.
I get rung up, hand over my coupons and of course MY LUCK no CATS print. So little miss manager JUST SO HAPPENED to be "clocked out" and was in my line trying to buy a few items for her dinner and ran around the counter to try to figure out what was wrong. So she rings up a separate order trying to force the CATS to print, NO GO.. ughhh so she sends me to the service desk. In the process she pushed my cart to the side right next to the garbage can. She comes back hands me my 3 $5 CATS, smiles and says "thanks for being so patient" (*sigh* I love you little manager lady). So I'm fumbling in my purse to put my precious $15 in CATS in an envelope.. and I lQQk down in the garbage AND WHAT DO YOU KNOW... MORE $5 CATS JUST LAYING RIGHT ON TOP!! Who the heck is out there THROWING AWAY MONEY? Who is it? I want to know because if they got money to burn like that then I want to be adopted so you can just throw it at me night and day.
There were 2 of them right on top, I was lQQking for that third one, I KNOW YOU ARE IN HERE... nope.. couldn't do it without being completely obvious.. so I just left.. but here is how my transaction went down (basically)
2/$7 Ben & Jerry's ice cream used two IP $3 coupons = $1/2 1 24 pack of Charmin Big Rolls $12.99 (sale based on shelf price of $17.99) used 35 cent manu 1 10 pack (? is that right) of Bounty select a size $10 (shelf price of $12.99)used 35 cent manu he gave me my total that was insane.. I handed over the above coupons PLUS $15 in CATS from the last time I ran that deal.. my total $10.xx (the above story happened, no CATS blah blah blah) so I paid $10 OOP and left with $25 in CATS!! ♥ IT!!!
okay guys FrugalSuz posted this video and said it was her twin.. I've watched this video like 4 dozen times because first of all the lady looks like someone I know.. secondly, my husband and I have actually done that before because some of the deals I swear they are going to stop me on the way out. Anyway.. check this out!!
ALSO I got a coupon for 20% off your transaction total at Ulta emailed me to me today. It's good from Jan 15th-19th. It's a friends/family deal that includes one salon service but does not include clearance or Chanel fragrances. Anyway.. it was emailed to me and I can't figure out how to post it, so instead here is a link to slick deals where it's posted Enjoy!!
sorry this is going to be a fast post. It's already almost midnight and all I've done today is work, work late, ran to 2 CVS's, got gas for the car, made dinner at almost 8pm, cleaned up the kitchen, started some laundry, fed my cat, took the pics and posted. *sigh* working is sure getting in the way of hounding! ;)
1ST TRANSACTION 2 FEBREZE CANDLES CLEARANCE $1.99 USED $2 COUPONS 2 XMAS SEPARATED DISHES CLEARANCE 49 CENTS EACH 1 CVS MOIST WIPE 84 COUNT $4.29 USED $3 OFF CVS COUPON 1 J&J STRESS MELTAWAY LOTION $5.99 USED $1.50 J&J CVS COUPON AND $1 MANU $3/$15 $2.59 ECB PAID 58 CENTS OOP 2ND TRANSACTION 1 XMAS BABY BIB 99 CENTS CLEARANCE 2 XMAS BOXERS $1.75 CLEARANCE 1 COIN PURSE 49 CENTS (TOO CUTE TO PASS UP) 3 PET BLANKETS 75 CENTS CLEARANCE (TO BE DONATED TO SHELTER) 1 CVS MOIST WIPES $4.29 USED $3 OFF CVS COUPON 1 CVS HAND SANITIZER (THE CASHIER HAD TO TELL ME ABOUT THE BUY ONE GET ONE 50% OFF DEAL SO I GRABBED THE CLOSEST THING TO ME) 59 CENTS 1 BAG ALMONDS $3.49 USED $1.50 CVS COUPON AND $1 MANU $3/$15 CVS AND $7.49 ECB PAID 19 CENTS OOP
3RD TRANSACTION (DIFFERENT STORE) 3 FEBREZE CANDLES $1.99 ON CLEARANCE USED $2 MANUS 1 COTTONELLE BUTT WIPE PACK $5.98 GOT BACK $3 ECB PLUS TRIED TO USE A $2 MANU FROM LOCAL GROCERY STORE BUT THEY WOULDN'T TAKE IT BECAUSE IT HAD THE GROCERY STORE LOGO ON IT.. GRRR 2 CVS FEMININE WASHES $3.29 AND $1.64 (B1G150%) USED $3 CVS COUP $3/$15 AND $3.99 ECB PAID $1.61 OOP
****Also I wanted to know.. the 6 pack of water at CVS where you get a $2 ECB does it have to be a specific type of 6 pack?****
A local grocery store Jewel (which is owned by Albertsons) is doing that great spend $30 get back $15 on certain products.. yeah well.. I tried to roll those RR and it didn't turn out that well.. here is what I did. All prices are off shelf prices not sale prices so I had to calculate everything out to get the deals based on shelf not sale prices which can be pretty sweet.
FIRST TRANSACTION 3 packages of diapers on sale $10 each NO I'M NOT PREGGERS.. I am saving them for a baby shower I'm going to soon. used 3 $1 coupons My total was $28 got back $15 from the regular promotion plus an extra $5 from another deal where if you spend $25 on baby products you get $5!!
2ND TRANSACTION 6 boxes of cascadian farms granola bars $4.64 3/$10 on sale 2 boxes of puffs $1.25 on sale (fillers) used 6 $1 coupons on the granola bars, didn't bring any puff coupons.. are there any out there? used $15 in RR from first transaction. Paid $2.xx OOP
3RD TRANSACTION (they wouldn't let me buy any more P&G products with the coupons so I ditched what would have been my 3rd transaction and got these) 1 gallon of milk $1.99 10 Dannon Light and Fit Yogurts ~ ughh I seriously can not remember the sale on these. I had .50 cent off 2 coupons loaded on my Jewel preferred card plus I used a $1/10 coupon and a buy 6 get 1 free coupon. 1 loaf of bread $1 4 cans of cat food again I don't remember the price. My total came to $6.38 paid with one of the $5 RR's and $1.38 OOP
Left the store with $15 in RR's I can use another day.
I also made a quick stop at Walgreens to grab the Electrasol dishwasher tabs. On sale for $3.49, used the $2.50 coupon from the paper. Then paid with my GC and will apply for the rebate this month.
That's all I've got for tonight everyone. Sorry. this whole job thing has got me wondering how all the rest of you do it!! *sigh*
Hey everybody.. welcome to my hounding blog.. I'm just a girl who lives in the Chicago Northwest Suburbs (Carpentersville) I have other blogs over at the book I should write as well as on MYSPACE I was doing really well on Weight Watchers and working out for 3 years. I have a website of that too! Losing my ARSE in the battle
