Home Preserving for Dummmies.

I just got a book about home preserving. This is something that I have had a lot of interest lately especially this summer when I had my vegetable garden. I wanted to preserve tomatoes because they grew like crazy. I am going to go online tonight and start looking at the costs for the supplies that I am going to need. I went to Whole Foods last week when they had their $5/$25 coupon for a few days and took advantage of their sales and some coupons for canned tomatoes. I make my own pasta sauce and tomato soup and I wanted to make sure I had ample stock. I am interested in making salsa to start with. Let's see how it goes.

ShopRite email compliant

I sent my local ShopRite a complaint email regarding a coupon that I activated online at ShopRite.com that I did not get to redeem. I went to the the customer service desk and got the 40 cents that I was owe. My husband laughed at me when I told him about the email. He said I was right to send the email but laughed at the small amount. I am not ashamed of being frugal! I'll write if/when I get a reply.

Saved 50& on my foodbill.

I went to Shoprite early last Sunday morning and picked mostly loss leaders that I had coupons for. Before coupons my total was $72.53. After coupons and my loyalty card my total was $39.06. The cashier was totally surprised as was the woman behind me in line. I got 5 items for free and even made some money for my UPromise account. YAY!

Spent way too much today!

I finally went to the liquidation that is going on at my local LinensNThings that is closing. I was shocked to see that the store was very sparse. And the store was only at 30% off! It's closing tomorrow and to be honest I was really disappointed with what was left. What I really want to know is did people clean this store out with only a 30% discount? By the way the store looked I would have guessed that everything was at 90% off. I got the following items:

2 decorative pillows for my bed $40
A cheese grater $10
A digital themometer $15
2 Toaster tongs $4
A frame $7

I am saving most of these things for Xmas gifts to I guess I can justify the damage to my wallet.

Grocery Shopping

I only really grocery shop at two stores, Shoprite and CVS. Sometimes I shop at Target (especially around the holidays) and Walmart or Wegman's. I tend to buy loss leaders mostly so that is why I stick to Shoprite and CVS. Lately I have been thinking about extending out to other grocery stores. I have a Pathmark and a ACME near me. I am trying to decide if it is worth checking out their sales with coupons and loyalty cards.

Target Christmas Shopping

On the way home from the gym I stopped at my local Target. I roam the clearance sections looking for stuff and yesterday I was on the hunt for Christmas gifts. I came away with some good stuff.

• A set of computer speakers for $9.97
• A Riedel water pitcher marked down from $38 to $8
• A purse for $9.97
• Two pairs of shorts for under $5 each
• Two polo shirts for under $5 each

I did buy the IronMan DVD that was not on sale.

I can cross off some more stuff from my giftgiving list!

Saving Money is a part-time job.

I think I figured out that I spend at least 20 hours a week searching for coupons, clipping coupons, searching for deals and actually shopping. I an on the internet for hours a day reading blogs, listserves looking for the best way to get a deal and spend little to no money out of pocket. At times I have considered looking for a part-time job to supplement out household income but I think that it would seriously hinder my frugality. :)

Shopping Trip 10/5/08

I got up early this morning and headed out to my local Shoprite. I wanted to make sure that I was able to take advantage of some $2.25 off Electrosol dishwashing tablets that were on sale for $2.49. I knew that this was going to be a hot item. I got the max (4) along with some other good deals.

• 3 Lunchables at $1.99 each
• 1 1/2 gallon of milk
• 3 Hershey snacksize candy $1.49 each
• 1 Lysol spray $1.88
• 1 box Kleenex tissue $1.66
• 2 boxes Aunt Jemima frozen waffles $1.99 each
• 1 Lean Cuisine
• 1 Palmolive

I misplaced my receipt but I think that was most of it. I had coupons for almost everything.

I also stopped by Kmart because I had some coupons for cat treats and they are typically the cheapest in my area. While I was there I found two things on clearance: a leaning mobile toy for babies (the kind that you can put them on the floor with) and a stair backet. My total for the store was about $26. The basket was for me and the toy a christmas gift for me nephew.

I went with my hubby to CVS. I need to go and he had some scripts to drop off. I only a couple of the deals that I wanted: the Speedstick deodorant and the Always pads that were giving ECBs. I had a coupon and used ECBs to pay for it. I also picked up a couple of other items and my total was 46 cents. My hubby laughed at the register. BTW CVS Summer ECBS are coming out! I got $7.00. My total ECb's back were over $15. Overall a really good trip.

Finally I went to Target to take advantage of the deal that they are running on TIday Cats cat litter. If yoy buy two 35 gallon tubs at $10.99 each they are giving a $5 giftcard. So I bought two ad paid with two $1 coupons off and a previous $5 gc and paid a total of $16.98.