A Deal, A Better Deal and a WOWEE Surprise!

I went to the Salvation Army yesteray, just as they were putting out the books. I found thirteen really nice leather bound books from a Collector's Guild - these are desirable because they are great classic novels, but also because they are highly decorative for home decor. They were priced with price stickers at $1.00 each, so I grabbed them all up. When I checked out the gal just rang them up at 50¢ each which is the normal price for hardback books. She usually doe that if the pricers in the back get carried away and price something that usually has a set price. They sometimes let community service people price things which is just beyond me.

When I got them home, I flipped through the pages of the books looking for anything in the pages. I have found book store receipts, plane tickets, hotel receipts, four leaf clovers and even $10.00 worth of McDonald's Gift Certificates once in a book. As I flipped through the copy of "Gone With The Wind" what to my wondering eyes did I find? A full on frontal picture of a man's....ehm......anatomy. And, not just a picture - a POLAROID picture of some guy's know know WHAT. It shocked the heck out of me, then gave me quite a chuckle. I am just happy that my son didn't find it or that I didn't ship it off to the Nunnery!

Perhaps this is a new promotional thing at the SA! FREE PORN WITH PURCHASE!

Gee, My Hair Smells Terrific!

Yesterday I was at Target checking out the Clearance endcaps. I had gone to look at the 90% off Easter merchandise. My heart skipped a beat when what did I spy? My beloved Garnier Fructis Shampoo and Conditioner on clearance for $2.45! But, to sweeten the deal even more - each bottle had a little radio attached to it for free. I still had ten coupons left that were due to expire in six days. The coupons were for $3.00/2 Bottles. I went through the line twice as to not upset a checker with an overload of coupons.

I ended up with 12 conditioners, 8 shampoos and twenty radios all for a grand total of $19.00. For me that is a great deal and a good savings on something that I buy everytime I shop for my family. At full price the twenty bottles would have cost me $57.80 and I wouldn't have gotten all the free radios either! I plan to add the radios to goodie bags for my son's birthday party. So, I saved $38.80 on the shampoo and I have all those fun little radios to boot! The radios sell for $1.00 at The Dollar Tree, so that's a $20.00 value added to my deal!



In the toy department I found two packs of Hot Wheels Holiday Racer Monster Trucks. They were priced at $4.99, but scanned at 29¢. I also found Mini Magna Doodles with a backpack clip priced at $6.99 but scanning at 49¢. I bought twelve packs of the Monster Trucks to add to DS's goody bags and four of the Magna Doodles. Last week at Wal-Mart I bought 24 of the Tootsie Roll Banks full of Tootsie Rolls for 25¢ each for the goody bags too. I search all year long for birthday prizes, decorations and goody bag fillers. The kids and parents are all shocked when they see all the gooides I bestow on the kids. But, with my deal hunting and shopping ahead - I actually spend less than they do when they shop at the Dollar Tree at the last minute.

Here a Deal - There a Deal

Since Easter was last weekend, I have been finding a deal here and there in the holiday markdwons. I tried to resist any candy deals, but when I found big bags of Reese's Peanut Buter Eggs for 50¢, I had to give in to temptations. I put all but one bag in the freezer. But, I happen to know they are good frozen too! ;o) I did get a good deal at Wal-Mart on a tablecloth. They were putting out new boxes of Spring Tablecloths and napkins out on Friday when I ws shopping. They had just found them in the backroom - they had never been put out before Easter. They were $10.00 but on sale for 75% off. I found a pretty turquoise blue Damsk one and matching napkins. I knew the table cloth would be $2.50, but when I checked out it rang up at 80. Score! DH was in the store working so I called him and asked him to go pick up another one and a few white ones for an upcoming wedding shower. But, when he price checked them, they rang up at $2.50. I had him get one white one for the wedding shower at that price anyway.

I sold several things on ebay this week. Everything sold for the minimum bid and that really surprised me. I still ended up making money on everything, but I didn't have as many bids as I would have hoped. I did sell a clump of fire red lucite grapes from the 1960's today. I paid $3.00 for the grapes and a huge ironstone platter. The grapes sold for $64.50. Yeah!

My Week of Deal Hunting

Monday I went to the Salvation Army. Fund a swanky set of Royal Haeger candlesticks for $6.00 and a fabulous TV Lamp for $5.00. (Both are curently on ebay.) Lady working at the SA had set the lamp down then RAN to clock out and came back for the lamp. I had seen it sitting on a table by a couch and had already picked it up. She was so jealous. She kept following me asking if I really needed that lamp. She is an ebay seller too. I hadn't realized she was going to clock out when she ran off. She had her eye on four lamps, but only got one because everyone swooped in on them. She gets plenty of good stuff, trust me.

Wednesday I went to the Mall. Now, you just don't understand what a statement that is for ME to make. I loathe the Mall. High prices, snotty clerks, snotty customers. Ick. But, I wear Merle Norman make-up and that is the ONLY palce in my entire area you can get it. So, I went to the Mall. After I got my make up I went next door to a gift shop that sells all sorts of collectible items. I thought I would get DS a Beanie Baby for his Easter basket. He's 10 and doesn't need a huge bunny (but would roll up into a ball and cry if he didn't get a bunny of some sort!), but he does collect Beanie Babies. So, they were marked $5.99 each. As I looked at them the clerk (who was not snotty in any way!) told me the Easter Beanies were on sale 3/$10.00. So, I picked out three for his Easter Basket. Up by the check out there was a bunch of Easter stuff on sale. Well, you guessed it, I started digging. As I looked at it the clerk told me to ignore any prices and she'd let me have anything I wanted for $1.00. Now, I'm not sure if I look like a deal hunter, or look poor or what - but I just get offered deals wherever I go! I only bought two things. A "Grow A Bunny" for his basket - she only charged me 50¢ for it since it was only $4.00 to start. I also got a little satin covered egg with a porcelain bunny, vegetables and garding tools in it. It was priced $19.99 originally. It was a part of some fancy-schmancy line, but I can't rememeber what. I'll research it on ebay. But, sadly, I collect bunnies, so it will most likely be added to my bunny hutch!

Thursday as I was going to school I saw a nice hose cart sitting out with a FREE sign on it. So, I grabbed it. My step father doesn't have one - so I will give it to him.

Went back to the Salvation Army Thursday afternoon. Clerk that lost out on the lamp walked past me and asked, "How much did you sell the lamp for?" Now, no one knows I sell on ebay. And truthfully, most of what I buy at the Salvation Army is for someone in our family. But, I did buy the lamp to resell it - I just hadn't YET. So,I truthfully replied, "I haven't sold it -it's at home on my table." Effective last night - it WAS on ebay. She'll probably look for it since she sells too! I bought a few books (One kid's 70's book entitled, "Something Queer is Going On Here!"), a Build-A-Bear "Happy Birthday" Frog and some cardstock. Spent $4.00.

Friday - well, that's today. There's a moving sale up the street starting at 9:00. I better get a move on!

Thanks for all the kind thoughts and messages about DH's job. Things are looking brighter. We will have health insurance. He'll get two weeks vacation next year - so he only lost one. The boss is working on 401K and life insurance. So, thanks everybody.

DH Lost His Job Monday

Well, he still has his job - same hours and same job - but new employers. He lost all his accurred vacation time, no three week vacation next year, no health insurance, no life insurance, no 401K, no retirement, etc. So, same freaking looooong hours (about 15 - 17 hours a day) with NO benefits. He did work for Interstate Brands (makers of Twinkies and WonderBread) now he will work for his boss that bought out the distributorship. Interstate Brands just cut them all loose effective May 8th. Sucks, huh? So, need any good help? His boss will work on getting the insurance ASAP, which is the mnost important thing right now. He just worked very hard for many years to get to the plae he was - very good pay, plenty of vacation time, etc. Sucks!

I went to a yard sale and a thrift store yesterday. At the yard sale I got DS his own personal CD player for 25¢. It needs headphones, but we can get those at the Dollar Tree. I got a lot of good stuff at the thrift store and I put it all on ebay this morning to start Saturday night. Hope it does well. Found a really cool black wicker purse with pearlized lucite handles. I paid $2.00 for it. Hopefully, it will do well. One a lot like it ended at $53.00 recently.



Yard sales are in full swing right now - hope everyone is out gettiing some good stuff.

My April Fool's Day - NOT!

DS and I decided to go to Sonic today for a shake. I pulled in a little crooked to be able to read the Dessert menu. When I pulled out I scraped up against the pole with the regular menu on it. I heard the fender give and the scrapping sound. OMG - Dh will KILL me! I pulled around and got out to look at the car and sae these huge black scrape marks on the car. I reached out to touch it and it started to rub off. Whew! It was just black rubber skid marks. I decided to go through the car wash to get rid of most of it. I drove to the car wash and sprang for the big $7.00 "Bells and Whistles" car wash. We drove in to the stall and stopped. The spray bar came over and sprayed thick white soap all over us. Then when we heard these horribly loud noises coming from behind us in the car wash. The big spray bar was coing down behind us making all these loud horrific noises. Finally it just stopped moving and the "Please exit" sign lit up. So, there we were covered in soap and no water! I drove next door to the self serve bay and washed the soap off myself. (I also got most of the black marks off the car, thankfully!) I left a note under the managers door about the car wash. He called later and we went and picked up $10.00 to cover the car washes.

So, after all that I was wiped out and decided we would just have pizza for dinner. When we got home with the pizza I opened one up and discovered beef all over it. I asked for black olives and mushrooms - not sure how they turned that into beef! We don't eat beef or pork, so that was no good for us. We called the pizza place and they made us a new one. When DH went to pick that one up - it was a large instead of an extra-large and only had black olives on it. So, they made another one the right way. They even gave DH a Diet Coke to drink while he waited. So, we ended up with two large pizzas, two extra large pizzas and a Diet Coke all for $15.00. We have a "Buy One Get the Next Size Smaller for Free" card, so we really only paid for one pizza. So, we ate tonight and will eat tomorrow and another day too, plus we fed the neighbors the beef pizza.

So, event though it seems like all bad stuff happened today - we did get a clean car and $10.00 back and four pizzas for the price of one. And, I didn't ruin the car! I guess the day wasn't so bad after all!

Random Acts of Kindness

If you read Yardsalequeen, you've already read part of htis - but I wanted to post it here too)

I have done two RAOK in the past two days. Both times, the recipient has been taken aback when I first offered. Then they have offered me money for the items I am trying to give them. When they finally understood that I was GIVING it to them, they were very thankful and gracious.

Yesterday at Lowe's I had a $10.00 off a $50.00 purchase coupon to use. I only spent $22.00, so I asked the guy behind me in line if he could use it. He offered me $5.00 for the coupon. I said, "I can't use it, I just want someone to use it. Please take it." Then he responded, "Bless you" which made me feel good.

Tonight we ordered pizza. When I opened it at home (I usually check it, but didn't tonight - lesson learned) it had beef on it. We are vegetarians, so it was no good here. We called them and they replaced it. So, I took the meaty one next door and offered to the family with three kids. He asked me what I wanted for it. "I am going to throw it away if you don't take it. It's still hot. Please just take it." "Oh well, thank you I appreciate it," he said.

So, I am wondering...is doiing or receiving a Random Act of Kindness really such a rare thing that people don't even understand what you are doing?????

My Deals This Week

I went to a thrift store on Wednesday. I got there about 30 minutes before they really open, but you can go on in if the "OPEN" sign is up. As I walked past three big racks of nice suits and dreses the lady working there leaned over and told me I could get anything on the racks for 3/$1.00. So, I looked through them. The first item I picked up had a price tag on it from some swanky boutique for $109.00. I also got a two piece suede jacket and skirt combo and a three piece pinstriped ladies suit. I got three other items too, but I haven't taken them out of the car yet to remember what they are! So, I got six outfits for $2.00. These will all be for resell. DH actuall foudns oemthing cool while he was wandering around. He found these huge wooden clothespins that you hang on the wall. I think they are for holding a notepad. But, I plan on using them to hold a curtain near the laundry area. I also got my son a brand new Pokemon Monopoly Collector's Edition Board game for $2.00.

Went shopping at Wal-Mart and found some good deals on the Clearance aisle. I got a Schick Intuition gift pack with a razor, spare blade and wooden pumice scrubber thingy in it for $1.00. I had a coupon for $2.00 off so I got it for free and made a $1.00 profit on it. They also had two packs of Glade Wisp Air Freseners on clearance for $5.00. I had $3.00 coupons so I ended up geting a two pack for $2.00. They are usually about $7.00 each. So, $1.00 is awesome. I bought three two packs. When I opened one up, there was a $2.00 coupon in each one. So, I will be watching the Clearance aisle for them to go down even more so I can use these coupons.

I am about to do something very unlike me as far as bargain shopping and saving money. We are getting ready to buy a 50" Plasma TV and a new wall unit for it. $$$$$$$$ Shock! We are pretty frugal with our spending and rarely go out to eat or to the movies or basically anywhere - so having a nice big TV for movies and LOST would be a great treat for us. So, we are going to do it. If I can write a check that big!

Hint of the Day: Look around your Wal-Mart for a clearance aisle. Ours is in between the paint and automotive section. This is anew thing for our Wal-Mart and it is a fun aisle to wander through. Don't forget your coupons!

ToysRUs 90% Off Finds

Every year my family looks forward to the big Toys R Us 90% off sale. We make it a family event! My husband, son and I go armed with a list that I have printed out from Centsible Chat, a bottle of water and our comfortable shoes. We go to each individual section and follow these guidelines. First, we look for any green tagged items on the shelf. Then we go through the list looking for any items in that area. After that, we look for any one of a kind items, items without shelf tags or items with dusty, dented or faded packaging. We gather any items up that meet these qualifications and head to the self-scanners. My son scans the items while I take note of what scans at the 90% off price and place it in the cart. My husband takes the rest of the items back to the shelf and we go on to the next section to start over. We have so much fun with this and like to share our finds with people shopping on the aisle with us. Sometimes they are excited and very thankful to have found a deal. But, more times than not, they look at us like we are from Mars and they just don't get it. Oh well, their loss! This year we were lucky to find the Etch-a-Sketch Plug and Play Video games for $2.50, the inflatable SpongeBob Squarepants Birthday Decoration for $1.49, Hot Wheels Battle X Arena for $1.49, Hot Wheels Battle Weapons for 35¢ each, Barbie Kareoke Cartridges for 15¢, Spiderman Icee Pops for 15¢, two different Leap Pad Mind Games for $1.99 each, stickers for 15¢ and some SMAX figures for 59¢. We have found more in past years, but that didn't stop us from having fun on the "hunt"! When we checked out the checker told us that our total was $174.xx before discounts" and then he pressed the discount button on the register and said, "And now your total is $18.74!" I think he was even surprised at that total! It would have been a bit less, but DH threw in a Pepsi at the last minute! My son will keep the Battle X Arena, one of the Leap Pad Mind Games and one of the Etch-A-Sketch Plug-In Plays. A few of the items are for upcoming birthdays too. The Icee Pops and Inflatable SpongeBob will will go to my son's birthday party this year. I will list the Barbie Kareoke Cartridges on ebay next Christmas. Here's a picture of DS in front of all the goodies. Not surewhy he looks so glum. He's used to Mom photographing him in front of odd things like mounds of Pop-Tarts and piles of Glade Candles!

Last year I posted about a contest from Albertson's Gatorade for these huge coolers. I had won and so had a ton of other people on other boards. This is another contest soponsered by Albertson's and Propel. I called tonight and won! Yoppee!

You can call in once a day and the time resets at 12:00 am EST. A lot of people are winning in the middle of the night particularly at 2:00 am. I won on the Gatorade Call-In contest at 2:00 am myself. Oh yeah, I guess you would like to know what the prize is! It is an MP3 player.


1-800-537-7723

There are 1,488 prizes - all of which are MP3 players. It is limited to the following states: AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NM, ND, NJ, OK, OR, PA, RI, SD, TX, UT, VT, WA, WI, & WY.

Limit one call per phone number per DAY. Ends 5/15/06. They tell you at the end of the call if you are an instant winner. Try on your cell phone also, work phone, etc. Once the guy starts talking hit "2" then when he talks again hit "2" again. Then enter your eight digit birthday. Then he will say, "I'm sorry" or "Congratulations".

Post if you win! Good Luck!

My Busy Week of NO DEALS!

I spent most of the week volunteering at my son's school. Wednesday I worked in the library then chaperoned about 160 4th Graders to the Boys and Girl's Club. They did a lockdown and let the kids just go crazy and do whatever they wanted - some climbed the rock wall, played basketball, played air hockey and fooseball, etc. Some of the kids spent most of thier time between the snack bar and the TV room. It was a fun day for them all. DS enjoyed endless amounts of time on the Air Hockey table. After school he had volleyball practice then we all went out to eat.

Thursday I worked at school helping the kids have their class photos and Spring Portraits taken. Lots of boogey cleaning and hair combing. They gave short notice on the picture day so some kids came in not dressed too great. I found the counselor and got a couple spare shirts on hand for some of the dirty litle boys to wear. I hope their Mom's are happy! I guess that was my one deal of the week - I got my son's portrait package for free since I helped the cameraman. That was about $45.00 worth of photos.

Friday I went with the Special Olympics Unified Volleyball Team to compete in a tournament. My son played twelve games and won ten of those. So, his team won first place. This was his first sport experience and it was a good one. I must explain that Unified Volleyball pairs up three special needs kids with three non-special needs kids and they make up a team. My son was one of the non-special needs kids. He was chosen for being a good role model to other students.

Today is Saturday and it is raining and cold. No yard Sales today for me. We are supposed to have 3" of snow on Tuesday. The worst part is that we started Spring Break today. Ds and I have all sorts of garage sale/thrift store trips planned this week. IF it doens't SNOW!

Hint of the Day: If you have a Toys R Us around you - you might want to stop in and look for any green taggged merchandise. It is all scanning at 90% off. The best thing is that a lot of merchandise is scanning at 90% off, but is not tagged in any way. So, it is a bit of a scavenge hunt to find items. Personally, we have a ball with it. We just pick up anything interesting and take it to the self scanners. If it scans at 90% off we put it in the cart. Otherwise it goes back on the shelf and we load up again. Last year we got a ton of Playmobil items at 90% off. I gave some away, donated some to the school, donated to Toys 4 Tots and still have a few around here. You can even get bikes for $5.00-$10.00 at these sorts of sales. They even have Overload Candy Bars ringing up at 6¢ each. If I can find those they will go in the goody bags at DS's party this year. D had a good report card this week and won the volleyball tournament, so we will most likely indulge him with a few things too. Heck, at 90% off - WHY NOT!?!

March Deals So Far

I went to a thrift on Wednesday - got three big half full jars of buttons that I combined into one huge jar for a total of $2.50, three like new vintage board games for $3.00 each, a stack of books that are really drawers for $1.00, some sort of brass vintage thingy that has Greek, Hebrew or I don't know what on written on it and a few other misc. things. I have the brass thingy listed on ebay, but I think I might pull it so I can research it further.

I wanted to go to my favorite thrift yesterday, but we were in tornado warnings all day. Decided it wasn't worth getting blown to Oz in search of a treasure. Instead I shopped on-line for some much needed clothes. I spent $250.00 which is like a ten year clothing budget for me normally! I ordered it on my credit card, will get it all, try it, send back what I don't like and pay it off all in one month to avoid service charges. I had, of course, a free shipping code that saved me $20.00.

I'm on my way to take DS to school - hoping to stumble onto a yard sale.

On Wednesday we had our taxes done. We go to the County Courthouse where volunteers from AARP help you do it on the computer and then e-file it for free. We used to pay $125.00 to have it done and we never got much back. Now it's free and we get a much larger refund. The volunteers really go over the forms with you and ask questions, so you can enter lots of things. Our state refund went for $88.00 to $270.00 just by him adding things and asking questions. Anyway, that is a deal - free tax services! We always put at least $10.00 in the donation can. They always say that is too much - but, gee, $10.00 to have your taxes done??? Now, that's a deal!

Deals, deals, deals - I went to "Deals" on Wednesday too. Have I mentioned Deals before? Everything is $1.00 and they take coupons too! I got these awesome leather looking photo storage boxes for $1.00 each. I had seen them at Hobby Lobby for $14.99 each and was too cheap (ME?) to buy them. I only bought two at Deals since they were flat in a box and I really couldn't see them that well. They are very nice and stylish. I should have bought a bunch of them. They had clearance Valentine's stuff 10/$1.00. I found ten nice little heart shaped tins. DS has a birthday party this weekend and we have already put the earrings and necklace he bought in one of the tins instead of a gift bag. The rest will go in the treasure box at school for the kids.

Another Beautiful Saturday Outside

We had another fun beautiful Saturday outside today. There was a Kite Festival out at a very teeny tiny little town near here. We went out and drove up this huge-erific mountain. Once we got up there you could buy a kite for $1.00 and pay $1.00 to fly it. My son got his kite up 1000 feet in the air. He was very proud. His Grandparents were their cheering him on and they won a $5.00 Wal-Mart gift card for the Best Support Team. We spent $3.00 for three kites, $1.00 to fly the kite and 50¢ for a kite raffle. So, $4.50 for a fun day!

On the way home we stopped at Dillon's. They have all these specials for Buy so many of a product get a coupon for so much off your next purchase. I bought 8 Toaster Struedel for $1.99 each. Used 8 50¢ coupons that they doubled to $1.00 each, so they were 99¢ each. Then I got a $3.00 off my next shopping order coupon. So, I basically paid $4.92 for 8 boxes. Not a bad deal. I wanted to treat us to some deli fried chickenbut they were all out. When I asked if they had any more, they replied, "Well.........We'd have to COOK it." Uh, Helloooooo? I'll pass.

Til the next deal time!

Mardi Gras Parade Day Fun

My son and I went to the local Mardi Gras Parade yesteerday. They have been having Mardi Gras for about 8 years and it gets bigger and better each year. It goes down our famous "Dickson Street" and then circles up around the Square where the floats park and everyone walks around enjoying themselves. We went towards the beginning of the parade hoping to get some beads before they ran out. They were throwing htemlike crazy. We each caught about 25 strands of beads, plus DS got tons of candy and junk. We decided to drive up by the Square and see what was going on after the parade. There we saw the new World's Record for the largest King Cake - 250 feet long. A local bakery had made it and they were selling slices for $1.00 to benefit the Homeless Shelter. Ds and I each bought a slice and walked around watching people climbing trees to retreive beads that were stuck in the branches. The things people will do to get beads! (And this was a family event - I've seen COPS New Orleans!!!!) On our way out we decided to get another piece of King Cake for Daddy who couldn't come. The local DJ was cutting slices then and the crowd was growing thin. He said, "How about a nice big piece for $2.00?" Well, okay, DS would pout if he didn't get some more when Daddy did anyway. So, he cuts off about a 14" long piece of this cake and hands it to me. (Sometimes the deals just find me!) I got a lot of envious stares as I walked to the car with my giant King Cake! ;o) So, we had a really fun day outside enjoying other people. That's my hint of the day - Be sure to go to your local events - they are always a source of good entertainment for little to no money!

We went to Deal after that and spent $44.00. When everything is $1.00 - you just start throwing it in the cart. Then when you check out and it is $44.00 you think, "D@mn! $44.00!" But, if they have it today, they might not ever have it again - so you better buy it. I got a bunch of really nice American Greetings Scrapbooking kits for $1.00 each. I bought about 10 things at $1.00 each, but it was over $100.00 worth of stuff. We also buy their batteries - they have 16 AAA and 16 AA batteries for $1.00. These are cheapo batteries but are just fine for toys and even remotes and things that don't need a lot of power. DS will pick up a $1.00 toy and then need $4.00 woth of batteries for it. NOT!

After that we ordered pizza from our local "Buy One Get Two Free" pizza place. We got three pizzas and cheesesticks for $12.20. Not a bad deal, indeed.

So, if you wanted to know every move I made yesterday - now you do! We had a fun day out and hope to do it again next year too.

I left a comment for Nicole down in the blog - but I wanted to thank her for reminding me bout Freecycle. I had thought about posting asking for shelves, but hadn't done it yet. So, I did put a post on there Tuesday, had a response Wednesday morning and DH is picking them up this afternoon. They are supposed to be 6' tall, black, wooden and backless - just what I need for the Flea Market. If you haven't checked out Freecycle in your area you really should!

I went to a thrift this morning. I bought a Jesical McClintock formal gown for $5.00, four vintage Wesern Shirts and some misc. stuff for ebay. Got DS some books as usual. I don't normally sell clothes, but these looked like good deals. The dress still has the tag on it- it is really pretty.

Went on to Dillon's to stock up on their $1.00 sale. I bought 15 bags of frozen veggies - Kroger brand is the best. Produce is so expense these days! DS eats cucumber almost every night with his dinner. They are 89¢ right now. If he eats 25 cucumbers a month - that is almost $25.00 a month just to budget CUCUMBERS! (Rant over). He does like carrots, broccoli and salad too. He doesn't eat cooked vegetables at all.

Hint of the Day: Need something? Check Freecycle. Want to get rid of something? Put it on Freecycle!

My Valentine's Day Finds at Target

I want to thank everyone that left me a note about my cat, Neilsen. We lost him Friday afternoon. He was so close to passing, but we had an ice storm coming and a holiday weekend ahead, so I called the Vet and made arrangements to take him in thirty minutes later. When I hung up and went to get him, he was already gone. I am thankful he went on his own, here at his house with us. We did end up gettiing close to 6" of snow and sleet, so I don't know how I would have taken care of him after all that hit. I miss him so much. We have three other cats, all with their own distinct personalities. But, we had Neilsen for 15 years, so we really lost a member of our family.

Okay - on to the purpose of this blog! I heard that Target was 90% off on Valentine's merchandise today. Normally, Valentine's stuff is all chocolate and silk roses. But, Target gets things in every department. I got my son seven pairs of funny boxer shorts with Scooby Doo, SpongeBob, Homer Simpson, etc. on them. He likes to wear them in the summer as shorts around the house. They were 79¢ a pair. I got him three T-Shirts for 99¢ and all three of us matching Snoopy T-Shirts for 99¢ each. I got a bunch of packages of multi-striped tissue paper for 19¢ each. I found a gorgeous pink leather serving tray for $1.99 that I already have in the flea market for $18.00. My best find was two red leather nightstands with built in shelves. They were $69.99 but scanned at $4.99. So, I got nearly $140.00 worth of furniture for $9.99! I am going to use them in the Flea Market for display and also put a nice price tag on them just in case someone is interested! I also found ten bags of Hershey's Nuggets mixed in with the regular candy for 27¢ a bag. I will give some away and freeze some. I really didn't need them and really shouldn't have bought them. But, 27¢? Come ON! That's cheaper than a candy bar!

I went back to the Global department to look around. They have so much cool stuff there and it is 50% off. Actually, that's where I found the leather nightstands. Anyway, I found this big hammered copper cauldron with a forged iron handle. It was $60.00. But, on sale it was $30.00. I had a $20.00 gift certificate that I had earned for doing a survey, so I treated myself to it for only $10.00 But, I still feel guilty about spending $10.00! It is in the living room in the bay window with a big plant in it. It is really pretty.

Hint of the Day: Scour the aisles looking for items that are "holiday" or "Seasonal" even if they don't look it! And, treat yourself sometimes!

Haven't had a lot of baragins hunts to brag about lately. I am sure Iw ill find some Valentine's Day stuff when it goes to 90%. DH did surprise me this year with two cards, chocolates and two bouquets of flowers. I don't know what got into him!

I've been busy volunteering at the school working in the library. The libraian broke her hip and needs help. I like volunteering and being at school. ANd sheis vey nice and appreciative which really helps. Today is Teacher COnference Day which I always dread. It always goes okay, I just have this impending feeling of doom before hand.

We have a 15 year old kitty named Neilsen. He is failing and not doing well. It breaks my heart to watch him. He has quit eating and is sleeping most of the time. It is hard to watch. He has been a faithful kitty companion for many years.

I went to my favorite thrift (not the best stuff, but the nicest people) at noon yesterday. Well, it opens at noon, but you can go in anytime after about 1:15, so I always get there then, since most people do come at noon. Anyway, when I pulled up there was this guy sitting by the door. When I pulled up, he sort of motioned at me, then brushed his hand away at me like I wasn't who he thought I was and then he went in the thrift. I thought maybe he was witning for someone and mistook me for them. I went in and browsed around a bit. A little bit later I heard that guy at the counter talking. He had a bedspread and he said, "I need this." The ladies smiled and said, "Okay, that's $7.00". He said, "I'll give ya a dollar." The ladies said they couldn't sell it to him for a dollar. Then he went NUTS. Turns out he was a homeless man. He started screaming that he was FREEZING HIS YOU KNOW WHAT OFF OUTSIDE. (He cussed. A LOT!) The ladies told him that a bedspread wouldn't keep him warm, but they would give him a blanket. They went to get him a blanket and he started hollaring, "You think you are a bunch of saints for giving me a blanket. You think I'm funny, living on the streets? I'd like to see any one of you out there freezing you're a$$ off out there." (Mind you, I was the only one under the age of about 70 in there and he coudn't even see me.) So, the lady gives him the blanket and he THROWS it on the floor and says, "THIS IS CRAP." She said, "I am sorry, but that's all we have. If you don't want it, I'm sorry." "No", he says. "I'll take it. It's crap, but what else am I gonna do if all you PEOPLE think I can use is CRAP?" And then he stormed out of the door. Right before he walked out he said, "THANK you, ladies." Which was sort of funny because we all thought he was going to go whack on us! I had the cellphone out in case I needed to hide in the used suit rack and dial 911!

Here's what I ended up buying:

*resell

Birdhouse made from a gourd - $3.00
Denim vestw/ cargo pockets for me- 50¢
Pocket Doll from 1985- 50¢
6 old Mini Aluminum Jell-O Molds - 50¢ (I have too many of these, and am not supposed to buy anymore. )
Oklahoma Sooners Glass - 50¢
Stack of Country Living Mags - FREE

Went to another thrift on the way to school. They are SO expensive. Almost every knick-knack is $8.00. This store will well things that are "K's Collection" whcih is from the Dollar Tree for $3.00. Hellloooo?

Stack of Country Living Mags - $1.25 I don't normally pay for mags, but since I got about 10 for free earlier, I figured $1.25 for about 20 total wasn't bad.

*Notice that NONE of this is for resell. Me, me, me!

It's starting to snow right now. I have a ton of errands to do today, but now I must sit by the TV and wiat for them to annouce the school closings. The school in the next town (8 minutes away) is closing in 15 minutes - but no word on our schools yet. DH drove an hour away to deliver bread to a school and they were already closed. Now, won't he be a happy camper all day?!?!?!?

My Saturday Deals

I went to a thrift yesterday. I spent $12.50 but nothing to get excited about. DS got a new bathrobe, denim jacket (courtesy of my Mom), Bahama's shirt and an LL Bean shirt. All brand new looking. He has a huge collection of shirts form all over the world. He's never been anywhere but thriftng!

Went to Dillon's to get some of their ad specials. Louis Rich Hot Dogs were Buy One Get/One Free. That is a good deal, but these are also the very best hot dogs and I have trouble finding them anywhere usually. They also had one of their cheap pop and chips deals going. 24 packs of Pepsi were 2/$10.00. Lays, Doritoes, Cheetoes, Fritoes (anything 'eetos!), etc/ were 4/$8.00. Buy 24 pks. for $10.00 and four bakgs of chips for $8.00 - total $18.00. Then the register takes $5.00 off for a total of $13.00 THEN there is a $10.00 mail-in rebate for a total of $3.00. On some of the 24 packs were coupons for Buy a 24 Pack get a free bag of Lay's. The coupons expired 1/31/06 so I just left it on there. The checker took it off and subtracted one of the bag of chips. I didn't say anything aobut it being expired, because Dillon's has taken expired coupons before if they are on their products and you didn't bring it in. Whne I checked my receipt at home, the checker had actually taken off $6.99 - the cost of the Pepsi BEFORE sale prices. So, it won't even cost me $3.00 for this deal - I will be ahead $3.99.

Super Bowl Sunday is today. I could care less about the game - but we always have a party with the three of us and at lest enjoy the commercials. Yeah - Go WHOEVER!

Bargains at Wal-Mart

If you have a Wal-Mart near you, you might want to check out the toy aisle for markdowns. They always markdwon lots of toys around the first of February. My son had always gotten very nice Valentine's Day gifts due to this. DH and I were there Wednesday and the lady was scanning and marking things while we shopped. We were the only ones on the aisle and had our pick of everything. We got a LeapFrog
I-Quest which was $64.99 for $8.00. We got two cartridges for it for $5.00 each. They were $14.99 each. This is so you can download your child's actual textbook and it will quiz him and review him on material from his book. The cartridges are good for 6th - 8th grades. He's only in 4th grade - but it still has lots of random spelling games, science quizes and social study questions. It also has a calculator, agenda, calendar, appointment schedule, etc. in it. (He entered his Valentine's Day party with an alarm to go off just in case we forget about it - Not like I haven't been planning for it and getting ready for it for weeks!) He can use the cartridges when he is in the appropriate grade.

I also bought him a Plug-In Play Frogger game (from the good old 1980's) for $3.00. I think it was about $19.99 at Christmas time. This is tucked away in the closet for a "You Did Good" or a "It'll Get Better" spur of the moment gift. I got a friend some Power Ranger Sound Gloves (**Swoosh**Crash**Kaboom!**) for $1.50 that were $9.99. By friend, I mean his freind. My friends are not into Power Rangers. Well, some of them are...

Hint of the Day: Buy toys and games NOW while they are cheap! Save them for birthday gifts for your kids, birthday parties, Christmas gifts, Toys For Tots, etc.