Josh and I recently started getting the Sunday paper ( I had a coupon with my CitiPass book) This week I’ve found the following deals I thought I’d share:

Kroger is having a buy 3 and get $3 off certain items including Charmin, Downy and Tide. I just so happen to have a 25 cent off Charmin, 25 cents off Downy and 35 cents off tide. So, with the $3 and the coupons, I’m saving $3.85 when buying all 3 items together.

They also have any General Mills cereal 2 for $4, and I have a buy 2, get $1 off coupon. woohoo for $1.50 for cereal.

They have their Herbal Essence shampoo 2 for $5, I have a $3 off when you buy 2 coupon so I’m getting it for $1 a bottle!!!!!! 

I’m excited about my finds. I think I may have found a new, cheap, hobby.

Today I had an awesome day. But my justifications for it being an awesome day is a little different than it normally is.  I realized today that Josh and I did things today that we always wanted to do as a kid but was told no for one reason or another. For one, I got to sleep with my dog. Mom wouldn’t let my dog sleep with me when I was little. I woke up late (9 AM, which is late for me, when I was a teenager I could sleep until 11 or so) got dressed, and Josh and I decided to go get cheap fireworks.  We go to a stand and they have everything on sale trying to get rid of it after the 4th.  Josh shared with me that the shells he got was something he always wanted but his mom would never let him get them. He had a little kid grin on his face all the way home.  I decided on the way home that I wanted an Icee. So we stopped by the gas station and went inside. At the drink station, there was the options of small, medium, large, extra large and Batman size (which is 32 oz.)  Josh and I both looked at each other and grabbed the Batman size!!!  When I was little, I always dreamed of getting the BIG Icee. But no, I had to get the small size.  But today I felt special leaving the gas station with that huge cherry frozen concoction. As we were leaving there was a kid going in, and I knew, secretly inside, he was jealous. Tonight we are having friends over and we are making homemade pizza (another fun activity from my youth) and we are going to play video games (probably the new Aerosmith Guitar Hero I told you about) and eat brownies and homemade ice cream. Yep, my day will end staying up as late as I want and doing what I want. Ahh, the joys of grown up-dome. Well, until the next bill comes in..

As a present to my dear hubby, I recently purchased Guitar Hero Aerosmith Edition. (Target had it on sale and you get a free Aerosmith Greatest Hits CD) We debated as to whether we should keep it or not. In a moment of weakness, he tore it open and it was un-refundable.  The first couple of songs are not that great. It’s only when you get 5 or 6 songs into it that you finally get into the good stuff. It has Walk This Way with Run DMC, Sweet Emotion, Love in an Elevator, Dream On, Pink  etc. The graphics are awesome. Steve Tyler’s a little scary, but no worse than he is in person. Overall, it’s typical Guitar Hero fun. The thrill of unlocking the songs to see what new songs are available is a wonderous feeling. I give it two thumbs up.  Rumor is Metallica  is coming out with a version. There should be a Kiss version. If anyone knows Gene Simmons, please pass along my request.

Yellow watermelon. Yes, a yellow watermelon.   The other day I was at the grocery store and I stumbled upon a yellow watermelon.  If you know me, you know I LOVE watermelon. I will eat it until I get sick.   Every year Josh and I will get a watermelon while we are in Florida and eat it while we overlook the ocean.  I was skeptical at first. I had to buy one just to see what it tasted like.  The guy who checked me out questioned my purchase.  I run home, grab a fork and dig in. It was REALLY good. I think I may like a yellow watermelon better than a red watermelon. I think it is sweeter and has a little more of a honey taste as opposed to a red watermelon. I’ve had two now and they were both excellent. So I either had really good luck or they are just sweeter. As an added bonus, they are seedless.  So next time you go to the store, pick up a wedge of yellow watermelon and let me know what you think.

I had an interesting experience at the grocery store today.  I was in the produce section and noticed they had strawberries on sale. Josh and I are trying to eat healthier, so I thought I’d grab some. There’s another woman looking at strawberries too. I then realize these are some acquaintances of ours.  Not wanting to get into a big long conversation with them, (They are the type that, without meaning to I’m sure, make you feel inferior. Their life is SO wonderful, blah blah)  I devise a plan. I looked intently at the strawberries until she went on to lettuce. Then I nonchalantly turned the other way and worked my way backwards in the store.

I NEVER go backwards in the store. You always get frozen stuff last that way it stays cold longer. (that’s okay though, I organized my cart and put all the frozens together so they would help each other stay cold)Not today. Today all I cared about was making sure I didn’t run into our dear little friends.  Several things happened as I was doing this.  For one, it got me out of my normal routine. ( So I will probably have to go back at some point because I forgot things) But it made me think more as to what I need. I did no browsing whatsoever. Got what I needed and get the heck out of Dodge.  It also made it into a little game. I felt like I was 5 again and I was playing hide and seek.

This exercise tonight made me think. You can turn grocery shopping into a game. You could set a certain amount and no matter what you buy you can’t go over it.  (not so much for a budget, but that’s a nice little added bonus)  You could pick out a random person you don’t know and do as I did and avoid them at all cost.  See if you can save more than you spend (use coupons, sales etc to actually SAVE more than you pay them) Categorize your buggy as you put items in your cart so its easier to unload when you get home (you can even pester the bagger to make sure they keep your organization.  )

I challenge you to use your imagination next time you go to the store. If you have any fun ideas, please share.

One thing I’ve noticed since I’ve changed jobs is, some people pay what we tell them to and NEVER question it. There are people that their homeowners insurance went up by 80% and they’ve never called to ask why.   This has opened my eyes to our own spending.   I decided to analyze some of our spending to see if we are wasting money.

I actually saved us $32 a month by looking over each bill to see what we are really paying for. Apparently, I’ve been paying $12 a month (for the past 5 years) just so I could have "Deluxe caller Id" which means if someone calls while I’m on the phone, it tells me who’s beeping in. I’ve used this a couple of times, but it’s not worth $12 a month to me.

Another thing we did was suspended the insurance on the Blazer. This is something a lot of people don’t think about.  We had liability on it, but by suspending it and just holding comprehensive on it, I saved $20 a month. Now, this does mean Josh can’t drive it. If there’s a weekend I know he’s going to be driving, I’ll bump it up then bump it back down. Comprehensive only means if  a tree falls on it or it gets stolen, it’s covered. If he drives it and hits someone, we are screwed!! So I only recommend this if you have a vehicle you NEVER drive. If you do this, lock the keys somewhere so no one will drive it. But at the same time, why pay for something you aren’t using.

With gas prices the way they are, a lot of people are more cautious of what they spend. To me, it’s sad that it takes our economy going to the crapper before people start realizing they are wasting away their money! If they had done this a long time ago, they’d be in a lot better shape. 

So I urge you to sit down and actually look at what your spending each month. Are you really using all of those cell phone minutes you pay for? Do you have a feature on your cable bill you didn’t even know you had? Are your credit card interest rates from where you first got them? If they are, and you have better credit now, call them and negotiate your interest rate! If they don’t want to help go to someone who does.   Use those coupons restaurants send in the mail. $5 is $5!!

Apparently I had an allergic reaction to Renu Contact Solution.  I usually use Opti-free, but Renu was on sale so I thought I’d try it. It took about 3 weeks, but it got to the point where I couldn’t wear my contacts. I would put them in, and by the time I made the 15 minute drive to work, I had to take them out. My eyes were all red, things were blurry then they’d start to burn. It was like I had sand in my eyes.  I even changed contacts thinking I got a hold of a bad pair (you know how some feel better than others?) I was about to call the doctor and then it occurred to me that I switched solutions. I went to Walgreens that night, got my reliable Opti - Free Solution, and haven’t had a problem since. I don’t know if I got a bad bottle of Renu, or it they are going to have another recall, but it was definitely the problem. Has anyone else had problems with Renu?

This 2nd installment of Becky Bloomwood’s adventures is, without a doubt, better than Confessions of a Shopaholic.  I highly recommend it. You could read this book on its own, but I recommend you read Vol.1 to get a strong background so you can properly enjoy the 2nd installment. I hope Shopaholic Ties the Knot will be as good. I’ll let you know.

This is my FAVORITE pasta salad recipe. It’s so crisp and refreshing for summer. Plus, it makes a LOT. So if you have to take a dish somewhere, this is a good one.

You can adjust these ingredients to your taste preference

You will need:

16 oz box of elbow macaroni (cooked and drained)

1/2 Large yellow onion

1/2 green bell pepper

1/2  head of cabbage, chopped (raw)

3-5 tablespoons of Hellman’s mayonnaise (depends on how mayo-sy you like it)

Celery seed (seed, not salt!) sprinkled on top, then mixed in.

Sprinkle more celery seed and paprika on top, if you like, to make it pretty.

The best thing about this dish is you can make it ahead of time. It’s actually better if it marries overnight in the fridge!

Enjoy!

If you like 80’s music, you need to come to Mickey Roo’s tonight at 8:30 to see The 80’s Team play. They are AWESOME! I’m not just saying that because my friend is the guitarist, or that I was born in the 80’s.