Thrifty Thursday

My friend has been doing a helpful Thrifty Thursday over at her blog and I thought I'd join in!

I really get most of frugal living info over at My Frugal Adventures, but I do have a tip of my own to finally share!

When you are done grocery shopping, be sure to check your receipt before you leave the store. There have been SO many times that I have been overcharged (the computers aren't perfect) or gotten the wrong item to get the sale price (even I'm not perfect!!) and have had to go to the customer service counter to get a refund/exchange. It has taken me so many times and lost dollars (they really do add up!) to finally check my receipt before I leave the store. Just last night I was shopping at Safeway and as I was slowly walking towards the door, I realized that the cleaning items I bought weren't at the sale price (because of my mistake, the third item I picked up to get the promotion wasn't included in this specific promotion). I made a u-turn and returned the items (I was just stocking up because they were at a good price, I didn't really need them, which is an entirely different subject!), and I was on my way again. It would have cost more to buy the 2 items than to buy the 3 items together.

So, most of this necessitates knowing how much you are paying for each item going into cart and sticking to your shopping list (you ARE using one of those, aren't you??). My goal for the next month is to make a price book and really know, rather than just casually knowing, where the best deals are for certain items (I usually get my dish soap at CVS- free-$.75, foil at Walgreens- $.59), yogurts for Matt's lunch-Safeway, $.25-$.35 each, etc.). Costco doesn't always have cheapest items, cereal is one thing that I know I can get cheaper elsewhere.

Have fun living and learning the frugal way of life! It is a game that I like to play and I don't always win, but it is always a challenge!

Little Sister

Serena will be turning 1 year old next week! She still seems like such a baby, but is quickly trying to keep up with her brothers and sister!

Not Too Shabby!

Ran over to Safeway tonight (while Matt and the kids sat in the truck and ate their Coldstone Ice Cream, which was bought with a gift card) to grab some of these great deals!

I used a $10 catalina I got my last trip for the Frozen Food Promotion, so I paid $7.62 out of pocket and picked up a $3.50 catalina for next time. I used 11 manufacturer coupons and 7 e-coupons (loaded onto my Safeway card. I'll head back over there this weekend to get another $30 worth of frozen foods and do my regular shopping. This was pretty much a fun trip to see how little I could pay for so much! You should try it!

MANY thanks to My Frugal Adventures for lining up most of the coupons! You can check out her blog to find out what some of these terms are if you are a bit confused.

P.S. Flowers not included!

Finished!

Here is the finished product! The girls have a bird theme going on in their room, so the branches actually work (they were the only things we had handy to hang the letters up!). I'm really really not much of a decorator, but this room is slowly coming together!