Tom has started a new blog. The link for it is over to the right. Well, we (his family) seem to be the only ones who call him Tom; the rest of the world knows him as Tommy! You have to see this movie that he made, with special effects.
Well, off to work - just wanted to put in a plug for my kid's stuff!
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Such a deal!
Here's a deal for ya - I was looking at next week's (09/09 - 09/15) sale paper from Food Lion and I saw that there was a very good loss leader (loss leaders are the things usually on the front page of the ad, usually a very good price, and the store generally won't make a lot of money off of - they are used to lure you into the store to buy the stuff that they will make money on). Wisk laundry detergent, regularly priced at $6.49, is sale priced at $2.99, with a limit of 2. The sale price alone is good with a savings of about 58% right there, but here is a place you can print a coupon for $1.00 off of that, bringing the price down to $1.99 per bottle, making a savings of 72%. After you print one coupon, hit your browser's back button and print out another one. The limit is two coupons from the site so if you try again it will come up and say that you have reached your print limit. I think I have a new hobby - this coupon thing is getting fun!
Oh, and I want to clear up something I wrote in my last post - when I wrote that I use the treadmill, Bowflex and Wii Fit, the problem is that I don't use any of these consistently - sporadically at best - otherwise I would have lost more than 25 pounds by now!
Oh, and I want to clear up something I wrote in my last post - when I wrote that I use the treadmill, Bowflex and Wii Fit, the problem is that I don't use any of these consistently - sporadically at best - otherwise I would have lost more than 25 pounds by now!
Guess what I just did?!
Guess what I just did?! I just registered for a belly dancing class. Go ahead - read that sentence again. I'll wait.
Okay, now that you've recovered your sensibilities, let me tell you about it. I had received the latest program offerings from our county parks and recreation department and was absently thumbing through it thinking that maybe I'd like to take a class in something, and lo and behold, Beginning Belly Dancing caught my eye. I bought a DVD to teach myself a while back, but never actually got around to it more than once, so I figured I needed something a little more structured! After just one time with the DVD my arms and middle were sore, so I know it must do something.
I'm looking for something different in terms of exercising. The heart rate monitor I wrote about a while back is connected to software in which I input my exercise heart rate, progress, weight, and stuff like that. Every so often there is a Fitness Challenge in which anyone who belongs to the group can participate and challenge themselves for 12 weeks. The latest challenge began yesterday and I really want to do well this time. Last time I came in #328 out of 2,211 participants, so not too bad, and between that challenge and the one before it I lost 25 pounds, but I still have quite a bit more to lose. So, I was looking for a different form of exercise besides the treadmill, Bowflex and Wii Fit that I do now.
I'm also dragging my poor friend kicking and screaming to this class. When I asked her if she'd go to the class with me, she asked if there wasn't a geriatric quilting class or something else we could take! She is so funny; when she finally agreed to take the class, she told me not to expect her to be as enthusiastic about it as I was; her husband was enthusiastic enough for the both of them!
Also, had to update on my coupon adventures. I made a last trip to Kmart on Saturday night before the double coupon event ended and got even more stuff! When I went the first time they were out of stock on a lot of items that I wanted and they had restocked by the time I went back on Saturday. My total for Saturday's trip came to around $80.00 and after coupons it was $30.00. But my coupon adventures were not over yet! I saw that Giant had Oscar Mayer bacon Buy One Get One Free, which in itself was a great deal, but I also had COUPONS! So I went to Giant yesterday and bought 6 packages of bacon. My total came to $40.92, then the Buy One Get One amounts came off, then my coupons came off, and my grand total was $11.97, which works out to roughly $1.99 per package, which is 64% off the regular price.
Well, that's all for right now on this rainy Tuesday morning. Guess I'd better get to work now. Happy Tuesday!
Okay, now that you've recovered your sensibilities, let me tell you about it. I had received the latest program offerings from our county parks and recreation department and was absently thumbing through it thinking that maybe I'd like to take a class in something, and lo and behold, Beginning Belly Dancing caught my eye. I bought a DVD to teach myself a while back, but never actually got around to it more than once, so I figured I needed something a little more structured! After just one time with the DVD my arms and middle were sore, so I know it must do something.
I'm looking for something different in terms of exercising. The heart rate monitor I wrote about a while back is connected to software in which I input my exercise heart rate, progress, weight, and stuff like that. Every so often there is a Fitness Challenge in which anyone who belongs to the group can participate and challenge themselves for 12 weeks. The latest challenge began yesterday and I really want to do well this time. Last time I came in #328 out of 2,211 participants, so not too bad, and between that challenge and the one before it I lost 25 pounds, but I still have quite a bit more to lose. So, I was looking for a different form of exercise besides the treadmill, Bowflex and Wii Fit that I do now.
I'm also dragging my poor friend kicking and screaming to this class. When I asked her if she'd go to the class with me, she asked if there wasn't a geriatric quilting class or something else we could take! She is so funny; when she finally agreed to take the class, she told me not to expect her to be as enthusiastic about it as I was; her husband was enthusiastic enough for the both of them!
Also, had to update on my coupon adventures. I made a last trip to Kmart on Saturday night before the double coupon event ended and got even more stuff! When I went the first time they were out of stock on a lot of items that I wanted and they had restocked by the time I went back on Saturday. My total for Saturday's trip came to around $80.00 and after coupons it was $30.00. But my coupon adventures were not over yet! I saw that Giant had Oscar Mayer bacon Buy One Get One Free, which in itself was a great deal, but I also had COUPONS! So I went to Giant yesterday and bought 6 packages of bacon. My total came to $40.92, then the Buy One Get One amounts came off, then my coupons came off, and my grand total was $11.97, which works out to roughly $1.99 per package, which is 64% off the regular price.
Well, that's all for right now on this rainy Tuesday morning. Guess I'd better get to work now. Happy Tuesday!
Friday, September 04, 2009
The Damage
Okay, here's the rundown on my Kmart shopping trip. When I walked in the door my very first stop was at the customer service desk where I verified what I had been told the day before. It was true! The lady said I could use as many coupons as I wanted. Little did she know! The employees at Kmart were the absolute best. Every single one of them was nice- even the poor cashier who had to scan my coupons! At the end, two other employees and two managers walked up to the register where the cashier was (still!) scanning coupons and excitedly waited for my total! I think it was interesting that one of the managers was in line behind me with a handful of coupons herself!
While the employees were wonderful, unfortunately, the customers were complete horses' patoots. Well, except for one nice lady. Whenever anyone got in line behind me, I nicely let them know that I had a LOT of coupons and that I would probably be a while checking out. Every one of them said, "Oh, that's okay. I can wait." Within five minutes they were giving me dirty looks, rude comments, and fuming out of the checkout lane to go to another register. I don't understand this - I told them right up front, and there were other (faster) options of checking out. Except for the one lady I mentioned - when I told her I had numerous coupons, she just smiled and said, "Honey, waiting in line doesn't bother me at all. If that's all I have to worry about, I'm a lucky woman. I have a grandson with a brain tumor and compared to that, waiting in a line is nothing." I told her that I admired her perspective. More people should be like that.
I was going to list all the items here, but changed my mind. It's too much stuff! When the cashier finished ringing me up (before coupons) my total came to $353.69. Then the coupons started. And went on, and on, and on, and on............... and eventually my new total came up and it was - drum roll please - $119.35. That is a savings of roughly 67%. Several of the items ended up being free, almost all the deodorants, toothbrushes and toothpastes. As I was deciding what products to buy, I would figure out my savings with the coupon and if it didn't mean a savings of at least 60% or more, it didn't go into the cart.
Oh, I do hope they don't stop super double coupons. I'm really hooked now! The pictures of my goods are above - and if you're wondering about the dog items, those of you who know we don't have a dog - some went to Sam's family for their dog and some are for our neighbor's dog, whom we kind of adopted in a grandparent kind of way - we enjoy his company but he always goes back to his own home afterwards!
While the employees were wonderful, unfortunately, the customers were complete horses' patoots. Well, except for one nice lady. Whenever anyone got in line behind me, I nicely let them know that I had a LOT of coupons and that I would probably be a while checking out. Every one of them said, "Oh, that's okay. I can wait." Within five minutes they were giving me dirty looks, rude comments, and fuming out of the checkout lane to go to another register. I don't understand this - I told them right up front, and there were other (faster) options of checking out. Except for the one lady I mentioned - when I told her I had numerous coupons, she just smiled and said, "Honey, waiting in line doesn't bother me at all. If that's all I have to worry about, I'm a lucky woman. I have a grandson with a brain tumor and compared to that, waiting in a line is nothing." I told her that I admired her perspective. More people should be like that.
I was going to list all the items here, but changed my mind. It's too much stuff! When the cashier finished ringing me up (before coupons) my total came to $353.69. Then the coupons started. And went on, and on, and on, and on............... and eventually my new total came up and it was - drum roll please - $119.35. That is a savings of roughly 67%. Several of the items ended up being free, almost all the deodorants, toothbrushes and toothpastes. As I was deciding what products to buy, I would figure out my savings with the coupon and if it didn't mean a savings of at least 60% or more, it didn't go into the cart.
Oh, I do hope they don't stop super double coupons. I'm really hooked now! The pictures of my goods are above - and if you're wondering about the dog items, those of you who know we don't have a dog - some went to Sam's family for their dog and some are for our neighbor's dog, whom we kind of adopted in a grandparent kind of way - we enjoy his company but he always goes back to his own home afterwards!
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
Look out Kmart!
Attention Kmart shoppers - you might want to stay home tomorrow 'cause I'm going to clean out the shelves and annoy people! Well, only those who have a problem with coupon-users. Let me explain. Kmart is having a "super double coupon" week right now where they will double coupons up to and including $2.00. How great is that?! Unfortunately, not all stores are participating. Here is a list where you can check if your local store will be participating. I had written to Kmart customer service last week and asked (before I got that handy list) and was told that my local Kmart was the only one in the area participating. I say again - How great is that?!
I went Sunday evening to "test the waters" and they are fine! There are rules to the event in that you are limited to using 10 coupons per transaction, so when I went Sunday I just wanted to see how things would work out, using just a few coupons that I had. I had never heard of, much less participated in, a super double coupon week before. Well, I am hooked now. My total for the items you see in the picture below came to $27.21. Then I handed over THE COUPONS. My total dropped to $6.06. For all that stuff you see. Yeah, I'm going back tomorrow!
Also, after reading some other people's blogs it seems that not all Kmarts are adhering to the 10-coupon rule, so I called my local one to ask and was told that there was no limit. The lady that I spoke with said, "If you have a cart full of stuff and a coupon for everything in that cart, we'll take them!" I hope I don't find out tomorrow that she was mistaken.
I promptly hung up and started cutting and organizing my coupons. I am sad, though, to learn that this will be the last super double coupon event indefinitely, and even if they do change their corporate minds, another one won't be forthcoming until sometime in 2010. Darn. I was just getting the hang of this, too. Well, there's always tomorrow. Literally!
I went Sunday evening to "test the waters" and they are fine! There are rules to the event in that you are limited to using 10 coupons per transaction, so when I went Sunday I just wanted to see how things would work out, using just a few coupons that I had. I had never heard of, much less participated in, a super double coupon week before. Well, I am hooked now. My total for the items you see in the picture below came to $27.21. Then I handed over THE COUPONS. My total dropped to $6.06. For all that stuff you see. Yeah, I'm going back tomorrow!
Also, after reading some other people's blogs it seems that not all Kmarts are adhering to the 10-coupon rule, so I called my local one to ask and was told that there was no limit. The lady that I spoke with said, "If you have a cart full of stuff and a coupon for everything in that cart, we'll take them!" I hope I don't find out tomorrow that she was mistaken.
I promptly hung up and started cutting and organizing my coupons. I am sad, though, to learn that this will be the last super double coupon event indefinitely, and even if they do change their corporate minds, another one won't be forthcoming until sometime in 2010. Darn. I was just getting the hang of this, too. Well, there's always tomorrow. Literally!
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