Saving Money is Always MY Style...

Quote for the Day:

"A graduation ceremony is an event where the commencement speaker tells thousands of students dressed in identical caps and gowns that "individuality" is the key to success." 

~ Robert Orben

I've blogged on here before about my chronic arthritic back pain that I've been living with/suffering from for almost 2 years now.

Well...I have an update with some good news!!!

On Friday (2 days ago), I had an epidural injection for pain control.  Leading up to the procedure, I tried not to get my hopes up too high and expect any miracles.  

On Saturday the pain wasn't too bad, but there was still pain.  However, it was not severe enough to keep me from being a whirling dervish when it came to cleaning  the house and preparing for an upcoming trip.  I was able to get a great amount of work done (a great amount for me, anyway, considering that I have spent the last 1 3/4 years only able to do the barest minimum of housework because of the pain.)

This morning when I woke up I noticed that I didn't have any pain.  I've gone shopping today (something that has KILLED my back in the past) and I have only had a rare twinge of pain every now and then.  

Right now...today...I have about 97% pain relief from my normal levels of pain!!!  How exciting is that?  All from a procedure that took about 1 minute to perform.  Heck...getting me positioned and applying the antiseptic took longer than the actual procedure!  :)

I feel like a "normal" member of society again!  :O   Instead of having "pain" when I do something, I will sometimes get a sensation of "tightness" or "pulling" in the area that would have hurt from the same motion just a few short days ago.  

I thank God for Dr. Mahmood, my pain management doctor!  What a blessing his skill and knowledge is for people like myself dealing with chronic pain!!

I have also started doing some simple yoga for arthritis, so I'll keep that up and see if we can't extend the intervals between future injections, too!  :)


I haven't done any couponing since late December.  (I find that I don't like to deal with it during the winter months...weather and all, ya know.)  Since December we have been using from the stash of supplies, toiletries, etc., that I had built-up.  About 2 weeks ago, I resumed my couponing again, although for now I'm only going to Walgreens since Rite Aid hasn't had any really fantastic deals the last couple of weeks.  Today I went to Walgreens and got some great deals that I thought I'd share with you.

Missing from the picture is the Sunday paper that I picked up there, too.  After coupons, I spent $20.18 out of pocket and got $15 back in Register Rewards, making the net cost $5.18 for all of the above items!  Not too shabby!  You'd spend more than that at the dollar store!


And now....I have a Public Service Announcement for you...
Have you heard of Biscoff Spread, yet?  

I had heard about it from co-workers so when I saw it at Walmart today I decided to pick up a jar of it.  (There was a $1.00 off coupon on the side of the jar!)

Let me just warn you DO NOT BUY THIS ITEM!!!  It is THE DEVIL!!!

OMG...it is DELICIOUS!!!  You will thank me for warning you to not buy it!!!  Trust me on this!   I think this link says it all!!! 

You have been warned!!!  I can not be held accountable if you choose to ignore this warning.


Loretta

It's the Simple Pleasures in Life...

Quote for the Day:

Just living is not enough.  One must have sunshine, freedom, 
and a little flower.  

~Hans Christian Anderson

Sometimes it's life's little pleasures that can make my day.  Like some fresh-cut flowers from my flowerbeds...

Or a porch swing...

And, of course...warmer weather...

Andy & I came down with colds on Sunday night so we haven't felt exactly up-to-par.  But we've both been working, none the less.  It takes more than a nasty cold to keep us down.  LOL  

However, last night at work I suddenly lost my voice.  Just like that.   *snaps fingers*.  My voice was there with me...right where it belonged...till about 8:30 PM.  Then...poof...it was gone.  :(    I turned to talk to my co-workers and to both of our surprise...my voice was not where I had left it.  Weird.  This is only the second time I've ever had laryngitis in my life and it's very inconvenient!  :P 


I did my Rite Aid and Walgreens couponing today and had good purchases/results at both places...

At Walgreens, I purchased these items....

 
My out-of-pocket was $13.11 but I received $11 back in Register Rewards to be used as cash towards my next purchase.  (If you are wondering why I didn't pull the $1 coupons off of the Your Life vitamins and use them, I already had 2-$2.00 coupons and used those instead.)


At Rite Aid, they once again gave me free items and PAID me to remove them from their store!    This is what I bought...

My out-of-pocket was $13.61, but I received $8 in +UP to be used as cash on my future purchases.  I will also receive a $7.99 rebate from Rite Aid.   In addition, once again, at the bottom of my Rite Aid receipt there was an offer to earn a $3 off of a $15.00 purchase by going online and filling out a questionnaire regarding my shopping experience.  This is the THIRD time in a row that I have received this offer/coupon!  :)))   Love it love it love it!  Keep 'em coming, Rite Aid!  :)   All in all, this shopping trip to Rite Aid became a $5.28 money maker for me...in addition to getting some very useful items!  :)

Thank you for stopping by my blog and thanks for listening to me ramble!  :)  Hope your days are filled with simple pleasures and great bargains!


Loretta

Rite Aid and Walgreens Shopping!

Quote for the Day:

Thrift was never more necessary in the world's history than it is today. 

~Francis H. Sisson

Those who know me know that I have a strong vein of "thrift" running through me!  (Actually, I think that puts it mildly!)  But, I come from a long line of thrifty/frugal people, so I think it's truly in my blood.  Luckily, I am married to another thrifty, frugal person, so we get along well together in that respect.  (My husband jokes that he is so tight with money that when he walks he "squeaks"!  LOL) 

Today was my day to go do my coupon shopping and I wanted to share my Rite Aid and Walgreens deals with you.  It's not as phenomenal as some days, but still very good, none-the-less....especially if you look at how much I got for so little.  Sometimes it not all about getting things for FREE, but just getting things you use for as little out-of-pocket cost as you can.  And that's more what my shopping was about today, since neither Rite Aid or Walgreens had much in the way of "free" items.

My first stop was at Walgreens...

After coupons and using previous Register Rewards, I paid $8.48 out-of-pocket.  Not bad, considering that bottle of Bio-Oil, alone, retails for $11.99!  :)  

In addition, I received $6 in Register Rewards to use toward my next purchase!

Next stop was Rite Aid where I picked up these items...

After coupons, Wellness Rewards and Up Rewards, my out-of-pocket was $5.87.

In addition, I received $3.00 back in Up Rewards to use on my next purchase as well as another offer to do an online survey to earn another "$3.00 off of a future $15.00 purchase" coupon.

If you are wondering what someone who doesn't have children at home needs with all that baby wash...I use it to wash my face!  If it's gentle enough to use on baby skin, it certainly can't harm my face!  :)  (There...you now know my "beauty secret"!)  :)  Soooooo much cheaper than those special facial washes!  :)  AND they don't sting if you get them in your eyes!  Wow...it just keeps getting better, doesn't it?  I've been using baby wash as a face wash for several years now.


Did you see those three bottles of liquid dishwasher detergent?  Yes, we have a portable dishwasher.  But I wanted to share what I now have sitting in my entryway...

Yes...my new dishwasher (built-in style) has arrived!  Last weekend we went to Home Depot and paid for the new kitchen cabinets, counter tops, dishwasher and sink for the kitchen remodel!!!!   YAY!!!   We are actually going to do it!  We took the plunge!  


We opted to pick up the cabinets ourselves in a couple weeks in lieu of paying a delivery fee.  However, the dishwasher was not an in-stock item, so it got delivered for FREE and arrived yesterday.   This is the one we decided on.  It has a "tall tub"...so hopefully it will take some of my deeper pots.  :)  It was on sale when we bought it...BONUS!  :)


And...while we were "sleeping" on the decision to buy the cabinets, they went on sale for 10% off!  *happy dance*   Getting cold feet can sometimes pay off!  LOL


I am soooooooooooo ready to have a decent kitchen!  I can't wait!


Thanks for stopping by my blog!  Please leave a comment to let me know you were here!

Loretta

More Super Couponing and a Quilt Top Finished!

Quote for the Day:

“The art is not in making money, but in keeping it.”

~ old proverb

Yesterday I was given a surprise day off from work!  :)  It doesn't happen very often, so it was a nice surprise.  It enabled me to do a lot of sewing on Sera's "Disney Princess" quilt and I got the top completed!  

I feel kinda bad because Sera's favorite color is PINK, but the focus fabric for this quilt was lavender, so her quilt is PURPLE.  To compensate for this, I'm going to find some pretty pink fabric from my stash to use as the backing.   She can have her Disney princesses on one side and her pink on the other! 

Now...onto my couponing...
My favorite drugstores to do my couponing at are Rite Aid and Walgreens.  They both offer deals, that when paired with coupons and their own rewards programs, add up to great money-savers.  (CVS also has great deals, but we don't have a CVS in our town.)


Today I went to Rite Aid to do my couponing there and I thought I'd share with you what I got.


This is what I purchased...

I had coupons for everything except the jane mascara...however, it was on clearance for 75% off...bringing the price down to $1.37...and I was in need of a new mascara!  :)


Before coupons, the total was $11.33.  After coupons, the total out-of-pocket was $1.01.   (Actually, I was only out $1.00 because the cashier offered to take the penny out of the penny cup that was there by the register!)  :)

After paying, I received $6.00 in +UP rewards to be used as cash towards my next shopping trip.  In addition, I submitted my receipt online and will get $1.00 back in rebate for purchasing the Lysol.  Also, on my receipt there was an offer of a $3.00 coupon off of a $15.00 future purchase if I went online and filled out a survey about this shopping visit...which I did...and then I printed out my coupon.

So... today Rite Aid gave me free products and then paid me $8.99 to remove these products from their store!  :)   How cool is that?   I LOVE getting free products...AND being "paid" to buy them!   


I learned several years ago that it isn't how much you MAKE...it's how much you KEEP.  


Even though I make a good hourly wage at my job, when you subtract taxes, car upkeep (including insurance, etc.) to drive to and from work, malpractice insurance, continuing education expense, and all the other expenses that go into keeping a nursing license and job, your "hourly" wage is much lower than what you think.  You can go here to calculate YOUR real hourly wage.


When you know your REAL hourly wage you can then figure out exactly how many hours it will take you to pay for something.  Then you can decide for yourself whether or not that thing is worth the x-number of hours of work it will take to pay for it.  

You can also use it figure out how long it would have taken you to earn the money to pay for the free products you can get with couponing.  :)   For me...it's definitely worth my time to coupon as I can get $50-100 dollars worth of free product per month...and that's a LOT of hours that I don't have to spend working at my "real hourly wage"! 


Thanks for visiting my blog today!  Feel free to leave me a comment...I love to read them!  :)  


Have a blessed day!


Loretta

Super Couponing!

Quote for the Day:

"He who does not economize will have to agonize"

~Confusius 

Wanted to show you the results of my shopping trip to Walgreens to today.
I love it when THEY PAY ME to take stuff out of there store!  LOL


This is what I bought...

Before coupons, the total was $48.78.  :O

After coupons, I paid $10.70 out of pocket and received $12.00 worth of Register Rewards to be used as cash towards my next purchase!  :)

So, basically, Walgreens handed me these products and then paid me $1.30 to walk out the door with them!  :)

I can live with that!  :)  That's the way I like to shop!

I also want to give a shout-out to the wonderful people who work at our Walgreens here in Grafton!  They really are very pleasant to deal with.  I have one lady that almost always waits on me...she works at the cosmetics counter and that's where I usually go to check out.  She is very helpful and knows that I will have plenty of coupons.  She always likes to see just how little I pay!  LOL  And when I missed a couple of months of shopping/couponing this past winter due to illness and travel, she said she missed me and wondered what happened to me.  (She told me she thought that maybe I was one of the lucky "snow birds" that went to Florida for the winter and that was why I hadn't been around.  LOL)  Every employee there is more than happy to help you find anything you are looking for.  I've never had an unpleasant experience there! 


Thanks for stopping by my blog today!  Hope you have a good Monday!  Now, I've gotta head to work...

Loretta

A Day in the LIfe...

Quote for the day:

You know you've got to exercise your brain just like your muscles.

~Will Rogers

It's Tuesday...yep...it is...I think...yep...I'm pretty sure it's Tuesday.

Today was my day off from physical therapy, so I took the opportunity to go to Rite Aid and Walgreens and do my "couponing".  Thought I'd share my deals with you all...

Here are my purchases from Rite Aid:

Before coupons the total was $18.21.   After coupons I paid out-of-pocket  $3.04 and received $7.49 in UP Rewards to use as cash towards my next purchase.   So today I got all the above pictured products for free, plus made $4.45 for shopping at Rite Aid today!  :)

Here is what I purchased at Walgreens:

Before coupons the total was $38.35.  After coupons I paid out-of-pocket  $22.04 and received $7.00 in Register Rewards.  In addition, two products have rebates that I will send in...$19.99 and $5.99.   So I got all the products purchased for free but also made $10.94 for shopping at Walgreens today!  :)

Now for some decluttering...

Andy & I both like to do Sudoku puzzles.  We buy the books for $1 at Deals and Andy does the 4 star puzzles and I do the 3 star puzzles.  (Yeah...he's smarter than me...what can I say?)  

After he does the 4 star puzzles he puts the books aside for me to do mine.  However, not only does he do more than I do, he isn't as picky as to what books he likes to do his in.  There is only one brand of book that I like to do...the others either are in big books that are hard to handle or the print is too light or the puzzles too small.  (Yeah...I'm picky...LOL.)

Anyway...the moral to the story is that we end up with a pile of books waiting for me to go through and pick out which ones I want to work the puzzles in.  

Here's the stack of books:

Here are the books that I "released" by throwing away because they don't meet my specifications:

I like to do a puzzle or two before I fall asleep to unwind or to take with me to appointments when I have to wait.  Here are the five books that I kept to do the puzzles in:

I know that the structure of those last sentences was really awkward and could use some editing...but, frankly,  forget it...it's Tuesday, for goodness sakes!  LOL

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Please leave a comment and let me know what you "released" into the wild recently!

Loretta