Take a number and get in line to kick my butt

I planned my menu for this evening plus bought a few other basics that I needed. I am sorry to report to you that I spent $81.52 today, although I was able to use $30.93 in Qs. Some of the things, like the fresh veggies, are going to do double duty. I am going to have a veggie tray w/ ranch dip tonight, then, with the veggies left over, I am going to make some beef stew in a couple of days. I have a package of stew-cut beef in the freezer. Yes, I know it costs more to buy it already cut up than to do it myself, but, this package was marked way down and was a great bargain even compared to the same thing that I could cut up.

I rarely find Q tearpads in my store. I don't know why they don't have them and I've also noticed that there are less blinkie machines, too. Today, though, I was able to find a couple of pads of Qs; one is $1 off milk when you buy Sara Lee bread. O.K. Even I buy milk and bread and that's a couple of things for which I rarely have a Q. I also found what I think is a new item; Jell-O No Bake Pumpkin Style Pie Dessert. Except that it is pumpkin, the box looks just like the Jell-O No Bake Cheesecake. Now, that (the cheesecake version) is a handy thing to have around the house. I made mini-cheesecakes in muffin cups and topped with various flavors of pie filling for a couple of my law firms. They loved them!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. I am looking forward to the new year. It seems an appropriate time to learn to spend less money.

Those 12/31 expiring Qs are calling me

I cleaned out my Q binder last night. I have a whopping amount of expiring Qs to throw away. You know they are all calling my name to use them before I have to trash them. I am trying hard not to listen to them, although I must buy some things tomorrow for a buffet I'm putting on tomorrow night. I have those Qs singled out of the larger group, but, it's really hard to throw away hundreds of dollars worth of Qs. You feel my pain, don't you?

I'm going out on a limb for 2009

This seems to me to be dramatic, considering all the cats I feed, but, I am going to keep my grocery spending under $1,200 for the coming year. With aggressive couponing and careful planning, I think I can do it. I see a lot of mac & cheese in my future!

Cat food runs about $34 per month. My non-food spending has dwindled to practically nil as I have years' worth of shampoo, soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, facial cleansers, etc. I believe I have at least 8 months' worth of toilet paper. I will have to start looking for good Qs for that soon. I think I probably have enough paper towels for a year. The one big thing I have to buy is pads and liquid for my Swiffer WetJet. Proctor and Gamble has some pretty poor Qs for those, if at all. I'm not going back to the mop and bucket, though. My back just can't stand it.

I have a wok (if I can find it!) and I would like to get better at stir-fry meat and veggies. I have soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, and such things to last for years. I was able to get 5 packages of frozen stir-fry veggies free with Qs a few weeks ago. I have an ample supply of rice, so, this seems like a good combination to use what I have. If any of you have a favorite, I'd appreciate some tips. I like garlic. I cheat, though. I buy the minced garlic in a jar. I love to cook with garlic, hate to handle it. Bad combination.

O.K. Hang on for the ride. I'm going to make it through 2009 on $1,200. To tell you the truth, I'm scaring myself as I write this. I can do it, though.

I'm still living on free birthday food.

I went out of town for my birthday Friday. I had a Q for a free meal at Houlihan's and it was wonderful. I was in a hotel on someone else's dime and had room service. The hotel comp'd me a bottle of champagne and a birthday cake. The next day, I used a free Q for a pastry at a French cafe. Today I had another great free meal at a rib joint. I'm telling you; there's a gold mine out there in chain restaurants for birthday gifts.

Free Birthday Food

Most chain restaurants and many local ones maintain a website whereby you can register your birthday. About a week before your birthday, you will get an email to print for something free for your birthday. Of the ones I received this year, I have a free entree, no other purchase required, at Houlihan's, Sticky Fingers, and Moe's Southwest. Lesser ones are a B1G1F at Big River Grille and Famous Dave's. There's a free dessert w/ entree purchase at Longhorn Steaks. I also have a free dessert at Macaroni Grill which doesn't appear to require any other purchase. Dairy Queen offers a B1G1F blizzard. These usually show up in your inbox about a week before your birthday and are good for two weeks, so, you don't have to use them all on one day!

Just buying necessities

I can't believe it, but, a half gallon of milk, a quart of coffee cream, and a loaf of bread came to $9.72. I think when I buy a cartful of stuff, I don't notice the high prices of some individual items because they get "drowned out" by all the other stuff. When you go in for milk and bread and it's $10, that really brings the whole thing into perspective.

I scored another $25 CVS GC today by buying an $8 prescription. I usually start Christmas shopping for the next year a day or two after Christmas. CVS sometimes has some great toys 75% off about a week after the holiday is over. I think I may just use my GC to do that this year.

So far this month, I have only spent $37.95 and of that, $22.51 was for cat food. I feel like I'm in pretty good shape.

My cats are "high maintenance"

I had to buy cat food this week. Two 18-lb bags, w/ a $1.50 Q was $22.51. I swear, that's all I got and that won't last a whole month.

I'm completely out of milk, bread, and coffee cream. I'm going to have to spend a bit today to get what I need. I am definitely going to be living off of stockpile for everything else. I can't think of anything I need besides those basics. I know I didn't set a budget limit for this month, but, I still want to keep it as low as possible.

A bit off-topic, but, I wondered if anyone had an opinion about this. I use my cell phone for almost all my calls. I have VoIP service at home. I hardly ever pick it up to use it. I enter a lot of sweepstakes and you know they sell their lists sometimes, so the house phone is always ringing from some telemarketer or something. If they block their name and number, I definitely don't answer. If it I.D.'s them as a telemarketer or fund raiser, I don't answer. Works out pretty well for me, having a "throw away" number I can use for entering sweepstakes. I'm looking for ways to cut my expenses, though, and I'm wondering if it would cause me too much headache to cut off the VoIP and just use my cell phone for everything. The service is only $15.07 per month, but, that's $180 a year. Are any of my readers avid sweepstakers and how do you handle it?

HAH! I made it!

I did NOT go to K-Mart during super doubles. I can't believe that I was able to resist, but, I did.

Well, back from NOLA and cleaned out the fridge yesterday and ate all leftovers for lunch. I am having more difficulty with my esophageal spasms, so, I think I will probably eat meatless for a while. I seem to get choked on meat more than anything else. I have a dozen boxes of GG frozen veggies in the freezer, plus some "real" potatoes and sweet potatoes. If you include the pantry items, I can eat veggie meals for a long time. I have a really good recipe for sweet potatoes. I may do that in a couple of days. For tonight and tomorrow, I will be out of town on a short business trip. The hotel serves a light supper and a substantial breakfast. I doubt that I will spend any money eating out while I am gone.

There are more cats eating in my basement now that bad weather has set in. I will have to replenish their food buckets today. Ouch! Two bags will cost about $25.

I am definitely going to make it.

I have resisted the siren song of the super doubles at K-Mart all week. I'm leaving for New Orleans tomorrow, so, it looks like I'm going to make it without caving in.

I bought a "luxury" item at the grocery yesterday. I wanted a box of "mini moos," those shelf stable packets of half & half. We will most likely have a coffee maker in the room in NOLA and I refuse to drink a cup of coffee using that awful powdered "creamer." They were, at least, a weekly special, so, I only spent $2.64 for them. That comes out to .11 each and that's why I call them a "luxury" item.

I had to run errands in a distant city yesterday, so, I ate out last night. First time I've been in a restaurant in a while. I had quite a bit left over, so, I'm going to heat it for supper tonight. I like getting two meals for the price of one! Better yet, I earned Delta SkyMiles by dining at that particular restaurant. That makes it a triple, I guess!

I'm up to day 5 and have not given in.

Well, this is the 5th day of K-Mart's super doubles and I so far resisted. I'm sure I could go a bit wild with all my $1, $1.50, and a few $2 Qs and really feel like thumping my chest over my good deals; however, I am NOT going.

I bought a few cans of veggies at Food Lion the other day. I spent $5.72 and used $3 in Qs. That was Dec. 2nd, I think. I had a $1 FL Q for 6 of their house brand of veggies. Also had a $2 FL Q on a bag of salad. Definitely a good deal.

I have been eating in every day. A couple of nights ago, I made some cornbread and opened some pinto beans and sweet potatoes. The next night, I added brocolli to the leftovers. I'm trying to eat better. I think I told you the doctor put me on a megadose of vitamin D. I also have to take a B-12 shot every 3 weeks or so. Since my surgery in 2002, I have had a problem absorbing nutrients from what I eat.

I have an added incentive to cut back on groceries. My electric company offers a budget payment plan in which you pay the same amount every month, regardless of how much electricity you've used, then, July is the "even-up" month. If you've overpaid, you get a credit. If you owe more, you pay the extra that month. They base your monthly payment by how much you used in the past year. I had been paying $73 a month all of last year through July. I ended up owing an additional $75 in July. O.K. so they need to adjust my monthly bill upward a bit so that doesn't happen again. I would have thought that $10 more would have been sufficient. No, they jacked it up to $90 a month. That was in August. Now, starting this month, they have jacked my payment up to $115 per month. Just since July, my electric bill has gone up $42 a month. Yikes!

I'll be out of town this weekend. My friends are taking me to New Orleans for my birthday. I'm hoping to find warmer weather there! We are all budget-minded people, so, we will not be visiting Emeril's or Paul Prudhomme's.

I fought the good fight; Day 1

I did NOT go to K-Mart yesterday when super doubles started. I dropped all those beautiful 11/30 expiry Qs in the trash. Now, only 6 days to go to refuse to hear the siren song of the doubles. Help me stay on track.

I haven't been cooking lately. I've been snacking more than anything. I found a box of graham crackers in my pantry yesterday. I know they have been there a very long time, so, I put them in the oven for about 10 minutes at 250 degrees and crisped them up. Now they are as fresh as the day they were made in the factory. Graham crackers w/ peanut butter and a glass of milk. That's what you call comfort food.

Well, it's December 1st and I haven't thought too much about how I will structure my challenge for December. I'm thinking that I will not put a $$ amount on it this month, but, I will continue to live off of stockpile as much as possible. I will be baking for Christmas and putting on a buffet, so, I know I will be out a bit more than usual. I have the following to work with:

Rite Aid GC $62.20
CVS GC $41.06
CVS ECB $19.97

I will receive another $25 CVS GC this month with a new prescription.

I think I will be eating a lot of chicken stir-fry in the near future. I have several packages of skinless, boneless chicken breast in the freezer and I got 5 bags of Veg-All Steam Supreme free. I also have plenty of soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, etc. Oh, yeah, PLENTY of rice to serve with it. I think I must have 50# of rice plus many, many packages of the small side dish packages.

Well, at least a bit of good news, money-wise

After spending almost $30 yesterday, I still got home with no milk! I was looking over my receipt and found that I had been overcharged for 3 lemons. They are regularly 2/$1 but were on special for .37 ea. I bought 3 and found that I was charged full price. When I went back to get my milk this morning, I talked to the girl at the service desk. She refunded me the full price I paid for 3 lemons, $1.62 including tax. That was unexpected. I also received a $1.98 rebate today. So, if you add those together, I was only out of pocket .91 for my milk. I flipped when I saw how much the milk cost; $4.51 including tax for a 1/2 gallon of Lactaid. Our food tax is set to reduce by another 0.25 the first of the year, so, in my city, it will be 7.5%. There is a base state tax, then, local areas can put another amount on top of that. It's capped, I'm not sure the amount, but, I know that one city has 10.25% on non-food compared to 9.25% here. As I understand it, at some point in the far future, we will not be paying sales tax on food at all. If they are only reducing it a quarter of a percent each year, I may not live long enough to see it! For those of you in states with no sales tax at all, I must tell you that we do not have a state income tax nor an ad valorem tax on vehicles. I personally think that our property tax here in Chattanooga is a modest amount. I'm not sure what the rate is and the kicker is, if you live within the city limits, you pay both city and county taxes. A lot of people through the years have chosen to live in the unincorporated areas of the county to avoid the city tax. Problem is, the city keeps annexing more and more of the unincorporated areas. Add to that the gas those folks have to burn to get to work or shopping, I think being in-town and paying city and county tax is a good trade-off.

I suspect that many of you, being frugal shoppers, may never check out the produce section where pre-cut fruits and veggies are packaged. The cost is frightfully high for letting someone else do the peeling and chopping for you. I have found on several occasions, though, that a 3 lb. bowl of mixed fruit is marked down to .99 when it is about to expire. I have purchased these on several occasions and I've never been disappointed with the quality. So, the next time you are in the produce department, check it out. You may find a great bargain. The cut raw veggies, if marked down, can be a great way to have the ingredients for a stew or stir-fry for singles or couples and not have a lot of veggie left over to go bad before you get a chance to use the rest of it. I have always haunted the meat department for marked down meat cuts; I have only recently found the jewels of the produce department.

I blew it!

I blew it this month. I just spent $29.67 today, for a monthly total of $104.25. On the positive side, I used $67.37 in Qs today. That's a total of $107.98 in Qs this month. As for the purchases, I was looking forward to my needs in December. I bought some frozen shrimp that I will put on the Christmas buffet. It was 1/2 price + a $1 Q. I also bought some condiments that I will need for the buffet. I'm going to brag a bit on what I bought; the Veg-All Steamers were $2.19 and BOGOF, making them $1.09 each and I had a .55 Q which doubles to $1.10. I had 5, so, 5 free bags of frozen veggies. I know, that doesn't make up for blowing my budget.

Had dinner with the parents yesterday. I made 2 "dump" cakes to use up the blueberry and cherry pie filling I had left over from making the mini cheesecakes. They seemed to go over well.

My doctor has put me on a megadose of vitamin D that I take once weekly for 6 months. It seems I scored poorly on some lab tests. And I was always so good in school in taking tests!

I don't think I've been eating well lately.

The doctor has put me on a megadose of Vitamin D for the next 6 months. Apparently, I've been eating so poorly most of the time that my vitamin levels have bottomed out. To be perfectly honest with you, I just can't get excited about food. The upside of that is that I don't go to the grocery store for entertainment! I don't spend any grocery money when I'm not eating. O.K. I tried to make a joke out of it and it fell flat.

I did get around to making the mini cheesecakes Sunday. I made a bit more than 2 dozen and carried them around to my law firm clients until they were all gone. Then it hit me; I didn't even keep one for myself! What a doofus! I used 2 boxes of cheesecake mix out of stockpile and a can of apple pie filling. I did have to buy a can of blueberry filling and one of cherry, but, they were greatly reduced, something like $2 ea. I still have a lot of it left, but, of course, not enough for a full pie. Anybody have any ideas what to do with the blueberry, cherry, and apple pie filling?

A personal note

I told you a couple of weeks ago that the doctor found a lump in my breast. It was really big. He had me feel it and it felt like one of those great big marbles. I had a mammogram a week later and there was NOTHING there. Absolutely nothing. Thanks to everyone who kept me in your thoughts and prayers.

O.K. Gotta start my holiday baking today. I want to have a dozen mini cheesecakes to take to one law firm tomorrow. They're my favorite kids (the lawyers are even kids to me!).

I've just been eating leftovers and breakfast cereal lately. I did go all out and fix breakfast a day or two ago; bacon, eggs, toast, and orange marmalade. That's very unusual for me. Some time back, my store had Hormel bacon B1G1F and I had double Qs. I bought as many as I had Qs for and put them in the freezer. I also did the same with roll sausage. Pretty much the same deal with GG frozen boxed veggies; low, low price, double Qs.

In the past week, I have scored $60 in Rite Aid GC and $25 in CVS GC for prescriptions. I may try to go through January with no oop. I know I can't do it in December. Too much holiday baking and a party. Well, not much of a party. My best friend and her husband come over on Christmas night or the day after and I serve substantial snacks; meat and cheese, crackers, olives, raw veggies and dip. Oh, yeah, the best part; champagne. I already have that so no big expense for the drinks.

Single serve entree, no; cooking, yes

I was going to be lazy last night and just pop something in the microwave. I had a little burst of energy, so, I made some mac&cheese (I think I have 10-15 boxes still), opened a can of pinto beans (I've tried to cook my own beans a few times; I'll take canned ones any day), and made some cornbread. I love Miracle Maize Sweet Cornbread Mix. It's made by Little Crow Foods. If you write or email them, they will send high value Qs that expire 2 years from now. I'm having a bit of a problem with the Miracle Maize, though. In my city, the only store carrying this item is Wal-Mart and I have sworn off WM for life. I think I said that even if they were handing out $100 bills to walk in, I would not go. I guess I will have to sneak into WM to buy Miracle Maize and throw away the logo'd bag! Better yet, take my own Publix bag. That ought to gig them a little. Needless to say, I didn't take anything next door. Oh, yeah, almost forgot the best part; I had some leftover grilled salmon from a lunch outing a couple of days ago.

I'm hoping to feel energetic enough on Sunday to make some mini cheesecakes for my law firms. I have several no bake cheesecake mixes (it was at a really great price, believe me) and I have blueberry, cherry, and apple pie filling to put on top of the minis.

Well, I've let it get into cold weather and I have not painted my baskets for Christmas. I guess the next really sunny day, no matter how cold, I am going to have to drag them all out of the basement and get busy. I make little baskets for all my "people" every year. I put the small packages of coffee, single serve hot chocolate envelopes, Christmas wrapped candies in it and decorate with colored paper, Christmas themed "picks," (you know, a lttle plastic bouquet of Christmas looking flowers or something that you stick in styrofoam), and sprinkle with silver icicles and little metallic candy cane shaped confetti. I think I have enough Christmas candy to finish all of them. Last week, or maybe 2 weeks ago, CVS had it on sale and if you bought $20 worth, you got a $10 ECB. I got $20 exactly, used $18.49 in ECB, used my GC for the $1.65 I owed, and got $10 back. I do not count that in groceries; those things go in office expenses since they are gifts for my clients.

I'm going to have to stop taking food to my neighbor.

I made the chicken breast/instant brown rice/broccoli/cream of chicken recipe yesterday. Took some next door. My neighbor is at least 85 years old and has a grand total of 2 teeth in his whole mouth. When I handed him the container, he grabbed me and tried to kiss me. I turned my head and he caught my cheek. He told me he has feelings for me. I do not know how a man of such advanced years could mistake neighborlyness with romance. I'm not going back over there. About 15 years ago, he suggested something very vulgar and an exchange of money for it. I called a police friend of mine to go over there and talk to him. We didn't speak for almost 10 years. He came over one day and apologized for what he had suggested. I told him that we should put it behind us. I can't believe he's skating on that ice again.

Well, the chicken dish turned out pretty well. Everything that went into it was stockpile items. I did not buy anything to fill in any gaps. I just used what I had.

Since I don't have any meat thawing for tonight, I guess I will just have a frozen single serve entree. I am guilty of stockpiling them since I started the challenge last summer; however, they were such a fantastic buy that I could not pass it up. I was able to purchase a dozen or more of Michael Angelo's at about $1 ea. They are usually $3.75 + tax.

I think I have enough cat food to last at least a couple more weeks (I can only hope!). There's nothing that I need right now. I just found a $2 Food Lion Q on a Fresh Express Salad Blend or Kit. They don't cost much more than $2, do they?

Oops! I got caught stockpiling!

I received a rebate form, buy $5 of Barilla pasta or sauce, get $2 back. This week, my store had the Barilla jars for $2 ea. and the pasta for $1 per box. So, 2 jars and 1 pasta was exactly $5 (plus the dreaded tax) and I had (2) .75 Qs on the Barilla sauce. Now I get $2 for my trouble. Sweet!

Last night's chicken and rice dinner that I planned had to be put on hold. I had to visit the ER for several hours yesterday. Just some unresolved stomach problems. So, maybe tomorrow night I will get to it.

I transfered 2 prescriptions to Rite Aid and scored $60 in GC! And, the best part, my 2 meds were much cheaper there than what I had been paying. In fact, one of them was 50% less and the other about 30% less.

Had to buy cat food AGAIN

If I didn't include cat food in my grocery budget, I could live on nothing. These cats are eating me out of house and home. There are several strays that have figured out when to come by at feeding time. I really don't mind the extra mouths to feed. I feel sorry for the little fur balls that don't have a home or anyone to care for them.

In addition to the cat food, there were just some necessities to buy; milk, bread, fresh fruit, and a few fill-in items for my holiday baking.

I started the month with a budget of $75. I have received $5 in pp fees for trading some Qs and I've received $1.98 in rebates. So, out of $81.98, I have spent $70.69 so far this month. That includes 3 18lb bags of cat food. I have used $39.11 in Qs this month. I still have about $16 on a CVS GC and also received a $10 CVS GC in a trade. I have nothing on my Walgreens GC right now and my Rite Aid GC only has about $2.20 on it.

Here's one idea I've had for holiday baking. At some point, the Jell-O no bake cheesecake mix must have been an awfully good deal because I have 4 of them. I was thinking of making mini-cheesecakes in muffin tins and top them with canned pie filling, perhaps apple, cherry, and blueberry. I have a couple of cans of that in the pantry and I might buy one or two other flavors to make a variety of these. The kids at the law firms for whom I work are not picky; they just want me to bring them something from my kitchen. I guess I don't need to tell them it's a no bake cheesecake. I'll just accept their compliments and smile. Now, I've let the cat out of the bag because there is one secretary for whom I work who is following my blog. To you: girl, can you keep a secret?

I'm back home and cooking!

I had to spend $6.67 to purchase some ingredients for a chicken pot pie. My friend, Andra, gave me a killer recipe. It was great! There's a downside to it, though. The recipe made (2) 8" pie plates. I took one to my neighbor and cooked one for myself. My dad came by and helped me eat it, but, I've still got 1/2 of a pie pan left in the fridge. I guess everyone knows what I'm having for supper tonight.

I am woefully behind in filing Qs from last Sunday. I just got them all clipped today. Now, the fun part; sorting, putting in the Q database on HCW, and filing them all. I only had 4 papers, but, this stack of Qs looks like I had 10 papers! I also need to see just what I have in order to make a shopping list this week. I will be doing some holiday baking, so, there's some extra things I'll need that I don't have on hand.

On a more personal note, the doctor discovered a lump today. I might not be posting as often for a while. I have a lot on my mind. I will still be living frugally, though. That, you can always count on.

I'm staying on course

I've been on the road for the past 3 days. The first night, I ordered room service (on someone else's dime, of course!). For last night and tonight, I have a micro and fridge, so, I have popped into grocery stores to pick up something for dinner. Yesterday, I spent .07 and a Q for $3.49. Today, I had no Q for a frozen dinner and paid $2.99 for my groceries to eat tonight. When I get home, I'm going to have to do some grocery shopping. I'm out of milk and I need a couple of items for a recipe I want to try on Monday. So far, I'm doing pretty good. Also, I received $5 h/f from a trade and I add that to any money I have budgeted for the month. Additionally, I received a $1.98 rebate a couple of days ago. I've spent $26.18 and have used $21.06 in Qs through today. Not bad, so far.

I haven't abandoned my challenge

You haven't heard from me in a few days, but, I haven't spent any money, so, there was not much to report. My esophageal spasms have been worse, so, I've mainly been eating breakfast cereal. That goes down pretty easily. In addition, I think I told you I had kitchen problems. Over a period of 4 days, the plumber fixed several leaks under the sink and had to dig into the ground out back to expose the pipe, cut into it, find the clog (don't even think about what it looked like!), and get me up and running again. I didn't do any cooking during this time because I didn't want to carry all the dirty dishes to the bathroom and wash them in the bathtub. Man, did those single serve entrees come in handy!

I do plan to make a purchase at CVS today. They have coke fridge packs 4/$12 and I have 2 $1 Qs to use. I will receive $4 in ECB. I'm also going to get the Crest toothpaste that gives purchase price of $3.39 back in ECB. I have a .75 Q to use on that. I will pay with ECB and take a bit off of my GC, so, I will not be spending any money for these things. I need more toothpaste like I need more cats, but, they are paying me to take it home. I don't see anything else in the CVS flyer that moves me. Quite frankly, I haven't even looked closely at the Walgreens and Rite Aid flyers from last Sunday. I did go out and pick up the rebate books from each but I haven't followed up with any purchase plans.

I will be out of town Thurs-Sun, so, there will be no cooking or meal planning until next week. I don't want to cook tonight because it will create leftovers and keeping them until next week is just too risky.

New month, new challenge.

The first thing I had to do this morning was to buy cat food. I spent $23.12 for 2 bags. I'm hoping it will last all month, but, as cooler weather comes, I have more stray cats in the basement.

Seeing as how I've already spent this much and the month isn't even 12 hours old, I'm going to shoot for staying under $75 for November. The only GC I have right now is about $21 on a CVS GC. I think I will be able to get $60 in GC from Rite Aid this month, although I'm not quite sure if I will qualify for the transfer requirement. I have had these meds filled at Rite Aid before, then transfered them somewhere else to get a GC. One of the meds is actually on a new prescription of something I take all the time, first filled last month, so if they are going by the fact that it's actually a different prescription than the last one I filled there, I will get a $30 GC. The other one is even more "iffy" than that, but, I'm going to try.

I haven't had any MIR lately that I could send in, so, I don't have any anticipation of rebate money coming in any time soon.

Andra from HCW gave me a very good recipe for a chicken pot pie. It looks like it will turn out much better than that crap I made last week that was supposed to be a chicken pot pie! I will have to buy pie crusts, but, I have everything else on hand. It's a big recipe, so, I can make 2 and give one to my neighbor.

You know, I've noticed that I have my needs met even though I give a lot away to my neighbor. Somehow, the stockpile doesn't seem to run dry. I believe there is a life lesson in that observation.

I had 2 trick-or-treaters yesterday, my great-nieces. They are about 3 and 2. I guess my dad gets the rest of the candy!

Tomorrow can't come soon enough.

November 1 can't get here fast enough. I've got to have cat food, bread, and a couple of ingredients for a recipe I want to try. Also, I will be giving out baked goods to my paralegals and secretaries the week before Thanksgiving on up until Christmas. I haven't yet calculated how much I'm really going to need for November. I might have to "fall off the wagon" for the next couple of months. I started this challenge at the end of June because, truly, I had to. I have very little income and I've got to make the most out of what is on the shelf. That is still my ultimate goal, but, the next two months are going to side-track me from that. I enjoy baking for others and have a great time during the holidays when I pass out the goodies. It may take me a few days to determine how much I'm going to need for November. December is too far away to know how much money I'm going to need.

I failed to figure it up exactly to the penny, but, I went over by $9.XX for October. Sorry about that, folks. I did my best.

I'm a bit over budget, again.

I just couldn't resist the call of the Michael Angelo's. I bought 14 and spent $18.52. That has put me over budget by about $9.

I've been making progress on using up leftovers from the past few nights. I have a bit of spaghetti sauce left and a chicken breast. I surprised myself. I didn't know I could prepare such a tasty chicken dish. I think it was the pineapple slices on top that made it special.

I usually make a lot of goodies for the holidays for my friends and family. I have an awful lot of ingredients in the house. There may be one or two things I need, but, overall, I think I can do my Christmas baking, no problems. Oh, I think the only thing I'm going to need to buy is cream cheese. I think it will be on sale sometime between now and Thanksgiving. I know that Walgreens sometimes has it for about $1 a brick. I'd rather have a coupon to double!

I feel like I need to apologize for going over budget. After all, it was for stockpile items and the whole point of this challenge is to use up what I have and not stockpile more. Please understand what a burden it is sometimes to prepare a meall for only one. These single serve entrees are just exactly right for me so much of the time. Those of you who live alone know what I mean.

I prepared dinner last night, all stockpile items.

I had chicken breasts in the freezer from a great sale several months ago. I used some Ken's Sesame Ginger marinade and baked them with pineapple slices on top. I had brown rice, corn, and brocolli w/ cheese sauce. All of it was already on hand.

I did buy a few things that I truly did not need at CVS this morning. The had a great ECB deal on Bic 3 Comfort razors and SoyJoy bars. I used $14 in ECB and $4 in Qs, put .91 on my gift card and got back $12 in ECB. So, no money oop there and I used some ECB that were about to expire.

I think tonight will be some leftover spaghetti sauce and pasta of some shape or another. I do have spaghetti, but, I've also got penne on the shelf and some other shapes. I'd have to go rooting around in the pantry to know just what. Tomorrow night will be the leftovers from last night. I don't want to do it 2 nights in a row.

This week Michael Angelo's single serve entrees are on sale for $2.50, regularly $3.75. I have several BOGOF Qs, so, I'd be stupid not to stock up on them at that price.

I'm back in the black.

I received a $10 rebate from Kellogg's, so, I've got $9.XX left for the month.

My esophageal spasms have been quite bad lately, even after having my esophagus dilated last month. Because of this, I am eating a lot of breakfast cereal, yogurt, and applesauce. It's all things on hand. I'm not having to buy anything special to eat, but, I just can't eat meat and most veggies right now. I'm seeing the doctor again on Monday and see if we can figure out this problem.

I think I have enough cat food to last through the 31st. At least, I've got my fingers crossed. The raccoons got into some of it last night and cleaned out one tub, but, I had some in another container that they didn't get. I'm hoping he'll go for the trap tonight. I trap the raccoons that get in the basement (humane trap, don't think I'm hurting them!), my dad takes the trap out to the country and lets the 'coon out near a creek. Don't you know those 'coons see their life passing before their eyes when that trap shuts and then they get a new lease on life. They're thinking, "Sweet!"

I'm hoping to get this "eating thing" worked out soon. I had planned to prepare some chicken breasts with Lawry's something-or-other chipotle marinade. I had to put it on hold because of my spasms. Maybe tomorrow night. I can hope.

I'm a bit over budget right now.

I had to have drain cleaner today and while I was in the store, I found a large bag of salad for .99 and a large fruit bowl for .99. I'm not eating enough fruits and veggies lately, so, I thought these would be good to have around. With the drain cleaner, I spent $5.24. I think I only had $4.63 to work with, which means I'm over by .61 or so.

I bought some other things, too, but, I think they can justifiably be put in office expense. I make up gift baskets for my lawyers, secretaries, and paralegals every Christmas. I bought the one-pot specialty coffees, flavored hot chocolate envelopes, and apple cider envelopes. Since these were purchased for a business use, I think it should go in office expense.

Well, I got the kitchen drain working again, so, there goes my excuse for not cooking! I found a recipe for a chicken pot pie using canned chicken. I have all the ingredients on hand, so, I think I will do that tonight. It says it makes 6 servings, so, I am going to do this in 2 smaller casserole dishes and just take the whole dish next door.

I've been eating pasta and meat sauce for the past 2 or 3 days. I don't really get tired of it very often, but, I'm going to take a night off from spaghetti and make the chicken dish. To tell you the truth, many nights I just have a bowl of cereal for supper. I will see the doctor again on Monday and see if she has come up with any clues about what is wrong with me and why I am so tired and losing weight. And besides, I have almost 40 boxes of cereal. Gotta eat what I have!

It depends on how I feel in the next few weeks, but, I think I am going to CA for Christmas. My cousin is a career Marine, now a First Sgt., and I don't think he can come home this year. I don't want him to be alone on Christmas, so, I'm trying to work out something to be there with him. He's one of my "baby" cousins, about 12 years younger than I. When he was a toddler, I tormented the crap out of him. I'm probably going to start getting it back in my old age. When he was about 3, I started calling him, "you smell funny." That was my name for him. He would get so mad and shout that he didn't smell funny! Then he would go crying to my grandmother and she would really get on my case for making him cry. His dad is about 14 years older than I and I was raised in the same house with him. He used to torment me when I was a small child, so, I guess it's a family tradition to pick on the smaller one!

My Rebate! Rebate! software just disappeared from my computer, so, I have no idea what rebates I have outstanding, how much to expect, or any details of what I have done in the past. I don't have any idea what happened to it; it just disappeared. I guess that means I'll just get "surprises" in the mail for a while.

I did a little shopping today, but, still under budget.

I told you that I had some great BOGOF Qs on Michael Angelo's single serve entrees. I bought 10 today, as well as milk and bread. I then went to Walgreens to take advantage of the BOGOF Dixie Ultra plates and bowls. I had a Q for a free 2L soda when buying 2 Dixie products. That's not exactly a grand slam, but, it's at least a double or triple. You see that I really do think baseball all the time.

I started this month out with $60 + the .76 I had left from last month and I've added $9.77 that I have received in rebates. So, I have $70.53 to work with. Here's a recap of what I've done so far this month:

$65.90 oop
$99.36 coupon use

I have $4.63 left in "real" money. I also have about $23 on my CVS GC and I have $26 in ECB, too. I have depleted my Walgreens GC and I only have about $2.20 left on my Rite Aid GC.

I know that the whole purpose of this challenge is to see how far my stockpile will take me. Buying 10 single serve entrees may seem like stockpiling; however, I have been in poor health lately and rarely have enough energy to cook a real meal. I've lost an enormous amount of weight and if it weren't for single serve entrees in the freezer, I'd be eating a lot less than I am even now. So forgive me for relying so much on "easy" food to prepare.

I made spaghetti last night for dinner. I used a baggie of meatballs from the freezer, a jar of sauce from stockpile, and pasta from stockpile. I also had a 1/2 of a garlic loaf in the freezer, so, I put that in the oven to go with my Italian meal.

I'm making more iced tea and drinking cokes a bit less. I have 89 boxes of quart sized tea bags, 24-30 bags per box. Definitely have to drink more tea, less coke. I really am trying to use more stuff that I already have!

Another reason why I can't cook right now; my kitchen sink is clogged and I have tried everything I know to get the clog to move. I've used a 1/2 a bottle of lye and I've used the plunger until I break out in sweat. I'm going to have to work a little harder today to get it fixed. In the meantime, I can't wash any dishes if I can't get the sink to drain. I realize that I'm really reaching for an excuse not to cook, but, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Cooler weather is about to get here and I think that soon I will start thinking of preparing soup for lunch or dinner (or both). That's one thing I have plenty of in the pantry. I really do have enough food to last for quite a while. I'll just keep on meeting the challenge as much as possible.

I'm back.

I ran away from home, but, came back! I was out of town for a couple of days. I must confess that at one hotel, they had a snack shop and a Stouffer's lasagna in the freezer case. I didn't really want to go out to find something else, so, I paid FULL PRICE for this single serve entree. I know. I'm a bad girl. I also bought a candy bar at FULL PRICE at the other hotel. I promise never to let that happen again!

I'm trying to clear out some space in the freezer before I redeem my Michael Angelo's BOGOF Qs. I"m definitely going to stock up on those soon. I'm out of bread again. I was at the store to pick up a couple of items today and I forgot that. I guess tomorrow I'll have to make another trip to the store for bread. I hate that when I forget something. Gas is way too expensive to be running to the store every day or two for a forgotten item. Of course, when I buy a loaf of bread, I will have to go back to the dreaded grilled cheese sandwich. I'm never going to get through all that free cheese from last August. It's multiplying, I swear.

I have not been feeling well lately and really cooking dinner is just out of reach for me right now. I'm thinking that a bit of cheese and some crackers will have to suffice for dinner tonight.

In case you didn't know this, I have a tip for you. Whenever you have crackers of any kind, including graham crackers, that have gone stale, don't throw them out. Place them in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Bake at about 250 degrees for about 10 minutes. Take them out and let them cool completely. They will be as crispy as the day they were made. Be sure to let them cool. They will be mushy when you take them out of the oven while they are still warm. Yeah, you're right. I was looking ahead to cheese and crackers tonight when I found out my crackers were stale. Now I have a bag full of very crispy crackers.

To recap what I have left for the month: I started with $60.76 to spend, I have gotten $9.77 in rebates and I have spent $37.34. That leaves $33.19 for the rest of the month plus any of the GC balances I still have. I think I have $26 in CVS ECB. I feel like I'm in pretty good shape for the month.

The weather is turning so about now is a good time for me to see what I have in the soup category. I'm sure I have plenty in the pantry. Hey, that might be what I'll have to break out of the grilled cheese rut I've been in. Or maybe, soup AND a grilled cheese sandwich. Hmm, I'll have to think about that.

I haven't been eating too much lately.

I haven't had much of an appetite lately. I ate some cereal yesterday and a few boiled shrimp. Sunday was probably cereal and a grilled cheese sandwich. I just haven't felt like eating. I haven't done any shopping, so, I haven't spent any of my money.

I'm on my way out of town for a couple of days, so, it will be mostly restaurant food. I'll be back on Thursday and hopefully, can think of something quick for dinner that night.

I am planning a major spending on groceries; I depend on single serve entrees for those days that I just don't feel like cooking. I have a bunch of Michael Angelo's BOGOF Qs that expire 11/12/08. I also have several $1.50 off expiring 11/30/08. I am definitely spending some of my money on stockpiling these items.

I gave in and bought the veggies.

O.K. I couldn't resist the GG boxed veggies. I bought 12. I also bought 2 of that new Palmolive dish soap with a TMF offer with it. It turns out to be a money maker when using double Qs. If I do one for me and one for my mom, it will be a total of $5.98 back. In total, I spent $10.87 for all of that. I also went to CVS and got 3 more Soleil, used ECBs, Qs, and had to use a few cents of my GC. No oop there. Walked out with another $12 ECB.

I figured out exactly what the GG veggies cost after Qs and adding tax; .56 each. There's no way to walk away from that deal!

I'm still stuck on the grilled cheese sandwich wagon. It seems like every time I make one, I actually have more cheese left, rather than less. It's creeping me out and I'm getting really tired of the sandwich. Sometimes I make tuna salad or egg salad for a sandwich to break up the boredom.

I think tonight is going to be a night when I nuke a single serve entree. I have to go out and work during the dinner hour, rush hour, every other kind of nuisance you can think of and when I get home, I will be too jangled to fool with supper. I am a process server and there is a special circumstance where I must serve someone at 6:00pm today. Unusual for me to serve that late in the day, but, it is the only time we know where the defendant will be. Also, there will be baseball on TV. Ya'll know by now I don't cook during a baseball game!

I've gotten some rebates lately.

So far this month, I have received $9.77 in rebates. I started the month with $60.76, I believe. For all purchases, including cat food, I have only spent $16.03 this month. It looks like I am in pretty good shape right now. I did use the rest of my Bi-Lo GC and I used an ECB of $11.99, but, I got back $23.50 in ECB, and have used a couple of dollars on my CVS GC.

I'm struggling over a dilemna; Bi-Lo has the Green Giant boxed veggies for $1 a box this week. With Qs, that would make them .50 per box and I could get 10. I'm torn because this whole challenge is to see how far my stockpile will take me, on the other hand, .50 GG veggies is pretty hard to walk away from. I think the regular price is something like $1.79 now. Here's the other problem; knowing that I could have had them for .50 each means that I would NEVER pay full price for them, even if I was completely out! I have a few days to think it over. Right now I'm leaning toward doing the deal. I have $54 to work with as of today.

Have you heard about the promotion from Eight O'Clock coffee called Accumul8? You join up and then enter the info off of your bag of coffee to earn points. I wish I'd known about this a long time ago. I shudder to think how many bags have gone in the garbage. Anyway, with 2,500 points you can get a $25 Visa GC. Each code is worth 140 points and if your code doesn't have all the required information, you can mail it in and they will send you a special code for redemption. I've had to do that because some of my coffee bags have been in the house 2 years or more and back then they weren't coded with all the information they have on them today. With only 700 points, you can get a special coffee mug and a Q for a free bag of coffee. If you drink coffee, it's a pretty good promotion.

As I expected, dinner last night was a repeat of the night before. That's O.K. I really don't mind doing that once in a while. Oh, the coconut cream pie? I still had 1/2 of it and my dad came by for something. I sent it home with him. I talked to him a couple of hours later and asked him if he'd tasted the pie. He said that between him and his wife, the pie was already gone! I guess that means I am free to make the pineapple upside down cake today. I have some leftover crushed pineapple from the chicken dish a few nights ago. I wonder if I would ruin the cake if I added a small amount of crushed pineapple to the batter? Does anyone have any thoughts on that?

Give me a hand. I'm using up a lot of stockpile.

I usually tell you about my dinners that I make from stockpile items, but, there's several eating events throughout the day when I also use stockpile. I've been making tuna and egg salad for sandwiches for a few days. I have plenty of eggs from the last big sale and tuna like you wouldn't believe on the shelf. Of course, there's cereal for breakfast (I don't really want to think about those 20 boxes I bought recently), sandwich stuff for lunch and soft drinks and tea to drink all day. Tonight, I was going to make a veggie dinner, but, at the last minute decided to fry some bacon and put it in the baked beans. I had that, peas, mac & cheese, applesauce, and some of yesterday's coconut cream pie. I took quite a bit next door before I ate. I also made some killer corn muffins. Um, so sweet and crunchy. I use Miracle Maize Sweet Cornbread Mix. I always have a good Q for that; the only bad thing about it is that I can only find it at Wal-Mart and I HATE WAL-MART!!! The cashiers' heads always explode when I have Qs. I had one recently to leave me at the register for 5 minutes while she ran down someone to allow her to try to scan my Qs. I guess when you pay peanuts, you only get monkeys to work for you.

I made a chicken dish last night with pineapples and soy sauce, used a little cornstarch to thicken the sauce, and served over a bed of rice. I'll bet I have 50 pounds of rice in my house. You know, I could try a rice pudding. I've never done that.

I don't always have to have meat for dinner. I am just as happy with a complete veggie meal. Don't misunderstand; I'm not a vegitarian. I just don't think it's not a meal without meat.

I feel like I am doing really well using stockpile items. I think I mentioned that my "kids," my niece, nephews, and families, are all getting file boxes full of useful stuff out of stockpile. I think I used about $600 worth and you can't see in my house where anything is missing. As far as I can remember, the only "food" I have purchased this month is a loaf of bread and a half gallon of milk. Everything else I've had for this first week of the month is out of stockpile.

I only buy skim milk to drink and sometimes that doesn't work too well in recipes. It occurred to me the other day to use a can of evaporated milk when a recipe called for milk. I have plenty of that and it's a small enough amount that I can use it all within 2 or 3 days.

I fear tomorrow night's dinner will be a repeat of sorts. I have plenty of mac & cheese and peas left, so, I'll ramble around in the pantry to find a couple of more things to add to it for dinner. I see a tuna sandwich in my near future, too. I absolutely will not eat tuna that's been in the fridge for more than four days. It's not worth the risk.

I wanted to make a pineapple upside down cake today. I have everything for it except the cherries and I don't think I'll miss them, but, I'm still working on that coconut cream pie from yesterday. I guess I'll put the pineapple on hold for a couple of days.

I was looking around the washing machine today and I believe I have enough detergent and softener to last about 8 months. I have several bottles of bleach and I don't use it too often . I never use it for household cleaning, although I know many people do. The cats are set for at least a couple of weeks. Everything seems to be under control.

I promise to "confess" when I shop. I won't hide anything from you. Thankfully, I have several bags of Dove Promise chocolate candy, so, I won't have to sneak out and buy any. I'll tell you what's really a good, no, great, chocolate, and that is Hershey's Bliss. As the CVS manager said, "Don't waste that candy on kids. That's grown-up candy."

Romano's Macaroni Grill Boxed Dinner Kit

Many of you received one of these in the mail. I prepared it yesterday. My advise; if you didn't receive one free, don't run out and buy it. It was terribly disappointing. Maybe it's just me. I prefer a marinara sauce over pasta; however, everything was out of stockpile, so, mission accomplished.

I found a boxed mix for coconut cream pie in the pantry. I whipped that up a little while ago and put in the fridge. I'm still working on all that free cheese from August. Yes, another grilled cheese sandwich today! I am also in the process of making some tuna salad for sandwiches. I have everything on hand for that, as well.

I have some boneless, skinless chicken breasts thawing in the fridge. I'm not sure what to do with it tonight, but, I'm thinking about something with soy sauce and pinapples over rice. I have everything on hand to do that and add a veggie or two.

In the past couple of weeks or so, I've used several packages of Pillsbury crescent rolls and also their cinnamon rolls. They've been in the fridge for a good while and I guess I need to use it or lose it.

I think I've been doing pretty well with using stockpile items lately. I do kind of "fall off the wagon" every now and then and buy something I don't need, just because I have a Q. I know I'm not the only one.

I did it again, I went shopping for non-essentials again!

Give me credit for not doing the K-Mart doubles. I resisted completely. I did, however, go to CVS this morning and buy a bunch of stuff I don't need; I used $11.99 in ECB, some Qs, and $1.94 off my free GC and got back $23.50 in ECB. I went next door to the grocery for some milk. I've been out for several days. I had 2 of those $2.25 Electrosol Qs that expire today. They were marked down this week to $3.79 and I bought 2. Here's the embarrassing thing; I don't own a dishwasher. I'm determined that someday I will have one. I'm trying to win one. I may break down and buy one. I may move into a place that has one. One way or another, "with God as my witness," (Miss Scarlett O'Hara) I will have a dishwasher and I'll be all set with detergent. O.K., so after all Qs and GC used, I spent a total of $2.40 today. Oh, yeah, I got a rebate of $3.79 in the mail yesterday. I still have about $50 to spend this month.

I have gotten all my Christmas stuff together, boxed, bagged, wrapped, and tagged everything. Unless I think of someone else that I've forgotten, I'm all done. I don't usually go shopping the day after Christmas, but, a couple or three days later, I start shopping for next year. I pick up little things all year long and put away. Then, when October rolls around, I am done. My family members are getting file boxes full of HBA, cleaning, food, and toys. Almost everything came out of stockpile. I generally figured it up and there's about $125 worth of stuff in each box. I made 5 boxes. That doesn't include toys for the little girls. They all got Disney princess stuff. I think they are all ape over that stuff.

I want to share a little bit about why I haven't been preparing regular meals; I'm going through a rough patch with my health. Six years ago, I weighed 280+ pounds. I had gastric bypass surgery and lost down to 150. I was very happy with that. For the past year, though, I have not been well and I am down to 112. I have had several tests run lately and hopefully can find out what is wrong and try to correct it. Eating is sometimes very hard for me. My esophagus goes into spasms and traps my food. That is extremely painful and sometimes last for 6 hours before my esophagus "lets go" and my food can travel. Of course, that makes me afraid to eat. I would blow away in a strong wind, but, the funny thing is, I never feel hungry. When I eat, or try to, it's just because I need to. I don't ever feel like, "Oh, I'm hungry. Let's see what's here." Even so, I am trying hard to live off of stockpile as much as possible. I'm running out of applesauce and yogurt, two things I can get down with little problem.

I'm over it.

O.K. I'm over it. I'm not doing the K-Mart double coupon up to $2 each. Ouch! Just typing the words hurts. Besides what I'm giving for Christmas, I have 84 bottles of body wash. Everything else in HBA is not far behind that number. I am not going to K-Mart. I am not going to K-Mart. Repeat after me...

I took my friend out for her birthday lunch today. We ate late and so much that dinner was completely out of the question. I'm afraid the Romano's boxed dinner is off until tomorrow. I brought most of my chicken piccata home and fed it to the cats. Really, this restaurant we went to gets rave reviews but there was nothing on my plate or hers that I liked. They had too many flavors all rambled up together. I guess I just like "plain" food, or at least, more plain than what they serve. Even the dessert had too much going on in it. I told the waiter that we were celebrating a birthday and he promised something special; we got zip. I'm regretting the $60 I spent. I just wish I'd picked a better restaurant. I don't think she enjoyed it very much, either. I really wanted her to have a good time and something special to remember. We go back a ways; I'm 52 and she taught me how to drive when I was 14. Thank goodness her mother never found out about that!

I'm in BIG trouble!

K-Mart is having doubles up to $2 starting tomorrow, according to the customer service clerk at my closest store. She says it's 10/4-10/7. I had heard that it was ending on 10/4, so, I hope she knows what she's talking about.

I have HBA coming out my ears. I have plenty, plenty of laundry detergent. I have no business doing the double at K-Mart, but, you know that I hear the siren song, don't you?

I just pulled out all the stuff I'm giving my family members for Christmas. It hardly makes a dent in HBA. Somebody please talk me down from the K-Mart thing. I need encouragement here!

I'm really trying to dig into stockpile.

Yesterday, I had to buy cat food and a loaf of bread; $13.63. I had all ingredients on hand to make tuna salad for sandwiches. Dinner was completely out of stockpile; chicken and dumplings, an extra can of chicken added to that, brussell sprouts, cream-style corn, applesauce, sliced tomatoes, compliments of my dad, crescent rolls, and Gold Peak tea. I took dinner next door to my 85 year old neighbor. I spoke to him earlier today and he said I brought him enough for 2 days, so, I am not going to cook tonight. For tomorrow, I'm planning on the Romano's boxed dinner, adding chicken from freezer stockpile. Got the boxed dinner in the mail the other day. Free food! Gotta love it!

I am starting to put together Christmas gifts today. I purchased some cardboard or corrugated file boxes at Office Depot (had a $4 Q to use there) and I am going to drag out all the stuff I've been getting all year with an eye toward the holiday. The niece and nephews (and families) are getting a big box of useful stuff out of stockpile. I do have some toys for the little girls. There will be HBA, cleaning, things of that nature, and some gourmet chocolates for everyone. I hope they appreciate the gesture I am making, as money is tight and I cannot go "shopping" for their Christmas gifts.

I know that giving things from the drug store or grocery store is not most people's idea of gift-giving. Remember when CVS had those Russell Stover Internationale chocolates BOGOF with ECB? I think that's good enough for gift-giving. It's a very upscale product that my kids have probably never seen or heard of.

I am not the most creative or artistic person by a long shot, but, every Christmas, and lately I started doing this for Easter, too, I make gift baskets for my secretaries, paralegals, and lawyers for whom I work. It's mostly those little packets of coffee, enough for a few pots, the flavored kinds and regular, Christmas candies (you know, the regular candy that the companies dress up in Christmas colors), candles, some little doo-dads, and I bake a bunch of stuff for them, too. They all go crazy over them! It's just a little homemade job, but, they make these folks feel special. Throughout the year, I scout out thrift shops and sometimes yard sales for small to medium baskets, spray paint them red, green, and gold, start with some pretty tissue paper, use those little plastic Christmas "bouquets," because I'm not really sure what you call them. They have a stem you can poke through styrofoam or just down into the basket. I garnish the finished product with silver and red "icicles," and sprinkle with little glitter candy cane shaped "doo-hickies." I don't know what you call this stuff. I'm sure you people who do craft projects are cringing at how I described these things and that I don't even know what to call them!

When I know that one of the secretaries or paralegals is going on vacation, I make them a little goody bag of trial size things. They always say, "Oh, I didn't even know you could get these sizes. Now I don't have to carry the big stuff." I don't tell them that companies send out these things free!

Just some ideas for you to ponder now that it's getting closer to the holidays.

I've made a plan for October.

For October, I am going to allow for $60 out-of-pocket for all groceries, both edible and non-edible. The cats need more food (so soon?) and litter. That will take about 1/2 of the money.

Here's what I have available:

Out-of-pocket: $60.00
Leftover Sept: .76
CVS GC: 27.46
CVS ECB: 11.99
Rite Aid GC: 2.20
Wags GC: 4.17
Bi-Lo GC: 5.10

I will use any rebates that come in during the month.
I will use any h/f I receive for trading Qs.
I have about $40 worth or so of free Qs.

Dinner tonight is only some leftover Jarlsburg cheese (dairy: use it or lose it!), some Keebler Toasted Crackers (found that while rummaging through the shelves), and a glass of wine. I cannot have anything after midnight tonight due to having a procedure tomorrow at the hospital. I don't like to eat heavily the night before one of these things.

Hurray! I came out on top again this month!

I just received $2.75 h/f for some Qs I traded to someone. Applying that to my overage for the month, I now am in the black with a whopping 76 cents! I made it through September on $50. Let's hear a cheer!

I'll come up with a challenge for October by tomorrow morning. I still haven't figured out exactly what I can reasonably expect to spend and still stick to the spirit of the challenge by living off stockpile.

Your comments are appreciated. How do you think I should "do" October?

Woo-Hoo! I got a rebate today!

I received a $6.99 rebate today, so, I am only over budget by $1.99. That's great.

I was taken out to lunch today and had a lovely piece of salmon. Unfortunately, I was unable to eat even half of it, so, I brought it home and had it for supper tonight. That takes care of tonight's dinner in fine style.

Tomorrow is the last day of the month. What about October? What I am going to do? I need to hear from you.

I received a box of Romano's Macaroni Grill Boxed Dinner Kit in the mail today. I only need to add boneless, skinless, chicken breast. Oh, have I got that! Maybe some brocolli on the side, huh? Free food. That's what it's all about.

I've just about cleaned out the fridge.

Well, the beef stew is gone, the spaghetti sauce is gone, and I used the last slice of bread yesterday. The freezer is full, if I could only get myself in gear to plan and prepare a meal. The pantry is full. I've been on this challenge in one way or another since June 26 and I haven't made a dent in the pantry food. I just can't even tell I've been using it for over 3 months.

I broke down and went to CVS today as I had 2 of the .50 Dawn Qs and it's .99 this week. I used my GC for the $1.16 I owed, so no money spent there. Truly, I should have let the Qs expire on the 30th. I have 2 liquor boxes full of dish detergent. The whole purpose of this challenge has been to use stockpile, not bring in more. There's some deals, though, that are just impossible to walk by. Free Dawn is just one of those times.

October 1st can't come too soon. I have about 3 days' worth of cat food in the basement for my 4 outdoor cats, plus the freeloaders.

What kind of challenge should I create for the month of October? Any ideas? I'm completely out of Walgreens GC, although I will have $4.37 put on a card within the next week. See? I really didn't chase the deals at Walgreens, just like I said! I've used almost all of my Rite Aid GC. I have a couple of dollars left on that. I have a $25 CVS GC, but, no grocery GC. I'm hoping for about $30 back in rebates during October. Those are hard to count on, though, as the processing times swing so wildly. I've got to spend about $12 in the next few days for cat food. That takes a chunk out of the $50 I've been allowing for a couple of months. I want to continue the challenge, but, I've got to be realistic about how much I need to spend to get through the month. I don't want to jack it up too much; it takes the spirit out of the challenge.

I'd like to hear from my readers for ideas about October. Is there a new twist I can put on it? Should I continue as before, with $50? I admit, saying that I spent no money oop in July is a little misleading; I had a goo-gob of gift cards to work with. Even into August and September, I had quite a bit left with Rite Aid, Walgreens, and CVS. That money is pretty much dried up. Please post your comments. I'd like to get a discussion started about October. I don't do anything special for Halloween. I have a bag of fun size candy bars, just in case, but, for the past few years, I haven't had a single child come to my door. I remember as a teenager that we went out like a marauding gang to score candy, roll yards, and throw eggs. Yes, I was a bit rebellious. Worse, I did this with my church group friends!

Chime in with your opinions and suggestions. We've only got a couple of days to come up with a plan. I can't do it without you!

I didn't run away from home!

Sorry I've been missing for a few days. I actually went out to lunch yesterday. I had a Q for a free appetizer at TGI Friday's and I stopped in to try out their new quesadilla. It was very good. I did have a glass of wine with lunch, so, I did have to pay a bit, but, much less because of the Q.

I've been totally out of the mood to cook lately. I've been relying on the single serve entrees in the freezer. I received a nice surprise today, though. My neighbor brought over some beef stew he made today, along with some corn muffins. It smells yummy! And, it looks like it will last about 3 days. Between that and the spaghetti sauce in the fridge, I won't have to actually cook through the end of the month.

I haven't spent any more money or GC since I last reported. I received a $25 CVS GC today from MyPoints. Rite Aid has a new offer; they will give up to 4 $30 GC for up to 4 transferred prescriptions. The Q is good through November. I have 2 prescriptions that I have to have all the time. I think I'll try to score $60 GC at RA. That would be a great boost. I'll probably wait until November to do it as I just did one a couple of months ago. Some people are just bolder than I am; I like to operate under the radar. If you have any prescriptions at drug stores other than RA, go in and ask the clerk for the brochure with the Qs in it.

I finally got around to the spaghetti.

Just when I quit talking about making spaghetti for supper, that's what I did last night. I had a repeat tonight and it looks like I'll be eating it for another night or two. I had a jar of Emeril's Roasted Garlic and BAM! the garlic is quite heavy. Good, but, it'll burn your lips off. I not only used that jar out of stockpile, but, used a bag of cooked ground beef in the freezer and a couple of pieces of garlic toast. That's all gone now, but, I still have some bags of ground beef. I have some Pepperidge Farm garlic loaves in the freezer, but, when I'm eating alone, it's just too much to prepare. It doesn't keep well. When you reheat it, it's just kind of sad.

I've mentioned some of the medical difficulties I have. When I had my colonoscopy a couple of weeks ago, they also dilated my esophagus. I'm still having trouble with food getting stuck in my esophagus. It happened last night and I didn't eat very much of the spaghetti. The cat got most of it. Tonight it worked out a bit better, but, I do have to be sensitive to what I am trying to eat.

I have some shopping to "confess" to.

The whole point of my challenge is to live off stockpile for as long as possible and not add anything to it. On the other hand, the "art" of couponing is knowing when to jump on a deal when it's really great and it's something you'll definitely use. I used a CVS ECB yesterday to buy the L'Oreal Revitalift (O.K., I admit it, I need some wrinkle helper!) and paid the difference with a free GC. I got an ECB back of $11.99, so, I did O.K. there. I had to have milk and I had no Q for that; however, I found my Lactaid .69 off regular price yesterday and had a free GC to pay for it. Today, I bought 2 of the Joy for .99 ea. at Walgreens w/ (2) .30 Qs. I had a few cents left on 2 free GC, but, ended up paying out of pocket .64. I bought the 7Up on sale at Rite Aid and used a free GC for that. I think I have $2.20 left on that GC and that's what I bought 20 boxes of cereal with a few weeks ago. I had to have coffee cream, so, I stopped at the store and got 2, used Qs, and used a free GC. Now, my biggest "sin," if you will. Food Lion had my favorite single serve Stouffer's entrees 1/2 price just for yesterday and today. I had a $1/3 Q, so I bought 3 boxes of lasagna. That total was $4.14, all oop. So, I am now $8.98 over budget for the month and have used up about all of my free GC.

It was really a good thing that I shopped at Rite Aid today. There's a special promotion going on now where you get $30 GC for each of up to 4 prescriptions you transfer there and the Qs are good through November. I think you can only get a GC once every six months or something like that, so, by November, I will be eligible again to transfer and get the GC. I actually have 2 prescriptions that I have to pay for. All my other meds are covered under Medicare Part D and they are not eligible for the GC deal. I've got to really read the "fine print" on the offer, and , boy is it small print!

Looking back over the shopping I've done for these two days, I guess I really could have done without the L'Oreal and the Joy, but, they were both such good deals that I just couldn't resist. The rest that I bought are "real" groceries that get used up pretty fast. Please forgive me that I've now gone almost $9 over budget for the month. I did really well in July and August, so, I kind of expected things to not work out quite as well this month, although I worked really hard to stay "inside the lines."

I've eaten meatloaf and veggies for 3 straight nights. There's one mini-loaf left and I'm sorry, but, it's going outside to the cats. I just can't face it again tonight. Over those 3 nights, though, I have used up quite a few things in stockpile; the peas, brocolli, mashed potatoes, applesauce, and rolls. Oh, yeah, let's not forget that Key lime cheesecake. I'm still working on that bad boy.

Today and tonight are baseball games on several channels. I doubt that I will do anything in the kitchen today other than nuke a single serve entree between innings. I suppose I should take some chicken out of the freezer for tomorrow night. Umm, just not sure about that yet.

Just to keep up, here's a recap of what I have left to "spend" this month:

Money: -0-
CVS GC: 3.62
CVS ECB: 11.99
RA GC: 2.20
Bi-Lo GC: 5.10

I have a $25 CVS GC "on the way" from MyPoints, whenever that shows up.

Thank goodness there is only 9 days left in the month!

I make good use of my stockpile.

My cousin is very good about saving coke codes for me, so, whenever I go to her house to pick them up, I take something from stockpile to give her. I think it's only right. Last week, for example, she had a Ziploc baggie full of caps. I gave her some floor cleaner and 6 cartons of sour cream. I had to move that sour cream. It will go bad, sooner or later. I had several Qs, it was on sale one week at my double coupon store, and I got 12 free, plus the dreaded tax, of course.

My neighbor, whom I speak about in my posts, is 85 years old. I often take him dinner, well, pretty much every time I cook dinner, I take him a plate. He gifted me a bottle of my favorite wine a little while back. I thanked him and gave him 2 boxes of tea bags (I only have about 85 boxes!). I try very hard to do the right thing when others help me in some way. My stockpile is one of the few ways I am able to reward others; I don't really have extra money to pass around.

My 77 year old dad does all my yard work for me. Sometimes he sees something on the shelf and he will ask if I have more or ask if I got it free or a good deal before he lets on that it is something he would like. I'd give him anything he wanted! There's no way I can repay him for all he does for me around here, but, sharing stockpile makes me feel a little better about the situation.

I would like to find more ways to trade or barter with my stockpile. I guess that's a situation that just has to present itself in some way, but, I'm always looking out for that.

I have presented these ideas of sharing and bartering stockpile to give you an idea of how to utilize what you have in order to get something you want. Everyone's situation is different, but, hopefully this has gotten you to think of your stockpile as more than just "all that stuff" in the house.

Dinner was a success.

I used quite a bit of stockpile last night for dinner; a Stouffer's meatloaf, a can of peas, a pouch of instant mashed potatoes, a jar of applesauce, leftover mac&cheese, and some Pillsbury crescent rolls. My neighbor made out like a bandit! I have quite a bit of the meatloaf left, so, I suppose I will eat leftovers for a couple of days. The Stouffer's actually comes in 6 mini-loaves of meat. They cook much faster in the microwave that one big one, and it's more portion control friendly.

I received another $1.55 in pphf for some Qs I traded. I've decided that the money I receive for trading Qs is "legal" to use to reduce my over-budget condition. That means that now I am only over by $4.20. I'm feeling much better about the month now that the balance sheet doesn't look so bad!

Living alone, HBA products seem to last a long time. Since I started the challenge in June, I've only dipped into the stockpile a few times for body wash, facial cleanser, maybe a couple of other things. That's where I really need to use, use, use!

I'm going to have to remember to go to TGI Friday's for lunch a couple of times in the near future. I have (2) certificates for a free appetizer. You don't have to buy anything else to redeem them. They expire soon and I'd really hate to lose them.

I still have a freezer full of chicken breasts, so, after the meatloaf is gone, I guess I'll be scouting out a new chicken recipe. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Do you think this is "legal?"

O.K. I'm over budget by $10.85. In the past couple of days, I have traded some Qs for pphf to the tune of $5.10. Since this "income" was produced by Qs, is it "legal" for me to apply that amount to my budget overage? I've thought about it and I don't see a problem. I do have to sometimes make up the rules as I go because there have been situations that I didn't anticipate when I started back in June. If it seems like it is in the spirit of the challenge, then I am only over by $5.75.

I know that every time I say I'm going to do spaghetti that night, something happens and I don't. Same thing happened yesterday. I had Emeril's sauce on the kitchen counter to remind me and when I opened the freezer to get a bag of ground beef, I saw shrimp. Oh! You have no idea how much I love that. So, the spaghetti got pushed aside and I had about a dozen shrimp for dinner. Nothing else, just that.

I also found a Stouffer's meatloaf in the freezer the other day. It's one of those family size packages. I'm thinking about meatloaf tonight with mashed potatoes (boxed, stockpile), some peas (cans on the shelf or the frozen ones, stockpile), maybe some apple sauce (stockpile), but, unfortunately, no dinner rolls. Sister Schubert's are all gone. Oh, wait. I have several tubes of Pillsbury crescent rolls. Whew! That was close. I'm still working on that Key lime cheesecake. Sounds like a plan.

I feel like a fortune teller. I can see a grilled cheese sandwich in my near future, like maybe lunch today!

I'm back to cheese sandwiches again.

A coupon last week for a free loaf of bread, still lots and lots of that free cheese from last month, so, I guess I'm back on the grilled cheese sandwich train for a while. I had to work more than usual today. I drove over 110 miles, and as it turns out, all for nothing, but, it kept me out during the dinner hour. McD's looked inviting so I had French fries and coke for supper. I know. I'm bad. I had planned on a spaghetti dinner tonight, but, working late puts me out of the mood to cook. Besides, I got home just 5 minutes before the baseball game started. What was I supposed to do?

The month is only 1/2 over and I've completely blown my budget. If you want to beat up on me, go ahead, just let me go first.

An update for today.

I was able to score a $25 GC to my local grocery for transferring a prescription today. I know that at the beginning of my challenge in July I said that I would not be stockpiling, but, that I would be using stockpile. Sometimes, though, you just can't pass up a really good deal. Since I had no money left to spend this month, this GC is a Godsend. There's a catalina deal at Bi-Lo right now, buy 5 or more Green Giant boxed veggies and get a $3 oyno. Even better, they are on sale for $1.50 each and I had Qs on all. I bought 11 boxes, divided into two orders, used $5 in Qs, and received $6 in oyno. I used my GC to pay, so, no oop. I'm feeling pretty good about the deal. I did buy a couple of other items I needed, so, I have $10 left on my GC plus a $3 oyno (I used one of them on the 2nd order).

I'm still $10.85 in the hole and hoping for rebates to roll in this month to get me out. I really want this challenge to work.

I'm committed to cooking dinner tonight.

I took everything out of the freezer yesterday, just to get a better idea of what I have to work with. There are a half dozen packages of boneless, skinless chicken breasts or tenderloins. I have 3 "instant" dinners, those single-serve entrees. I have several packages of ground beef already cooked, just ready for spaghetti sauce. I found a package of chicken breasts already flavored with lemon pepper or something like that. I took it out yesterday and put it down in the fridge so it would thaw by this evening. I think I'll have mac & cheese to go with it (I think I have about 20 boxes of m&c), I have some green beans on the shelf, I still have some Sister Schubert's rolls in the freezer, and I have an Edwards Key Lime Cheesecake in the freezer. That bad boy is coming out today to thaw for dinner. My neighbor will eat well tonight.

A bit off-topic, but, it's still all about saving. I am going to Manchester, NH next summer for the 20th annual sweepstaker's convention. I've been entering sweeps at least that long, but, had never heard of the annual convention until a few months ago. I have to pay $160 for registration to attend, however, I had enough frequent flyer miles to get a free airline ticket, I had enough Hilton Hhonors points to get a room for a week, completely free. I am flying into Boston a few days before the convention to visit a friend. I have enough hotel points to stay in Boston the first 2 nights before I go to NH. I am leaving NH a day before I fly out. I plan to stay in a hotel near the airport that night, mostly for convenience. I have enough hotel points to do that night free, as well. I have over $75 in GC to chain restaurants, so, eating out won't cost much. My hotel is comp'ing me breakfast every morning because I am a gold VIP in their program. Other than the convention registration, the only thing I am paying "real" money for is my car rental. I will be gone for 10 days and will not spend more than $500 for everything. I guess you could call me a "points junkie." It's only natural for a "coupon junkie" to also be a "points junkie."

I wasn't so bad after all.

A few days ago, I bought a bag of shrimp. I was able to get it 1/2 off regular price and I had a $1 Q for it. I divided it into 3 portions and put them in the freezer. I was just wondering how much I splurged and when I figured the cost plus tax and minus Q, I spent $2.81 per serving. Now, I think that's a respectable amount of money to spend on a generous serving of shrimp. Breaking it down to that level, I don't feel nearly so badly about buying it.

I noticed recently that you can now get "whole grain" fig newtons. Now, why would anybody mess with a perfectly good fig newton and try to make it "healthier," or whatever they're trying to do with it? Geez, can't I just have a cookie without being reminded that it's not the healthiest thing for me to eat?

I Just Couldn't Resist!

I almost made it through the whole week without doing the SC Johnson deal at Walgreens. Sadly, I broke down today and bought 7 of the featured items to get a $10 RR. I used about $10 of Qs in that shopping trip and paid for the rest of it with a GC. No oop here. Then, when I had the $10 RR in my hand, I went back and did a completely different deal and used over $21 in Qs. Between the two trips, I have (2) Oust rebates, a Scrubbing Bubbles rebate, and a Walgreens rebate for Crest toothpaste. That's about $13 coming back to me and I didn't spend any money oop. I didn't even use up all of my $25 GC. I think I still have about $7 on it. Besides cleaning products and toothpaste, I have for my trouble 4 jars of Dole fruit and a box of cookies. Hey! I need to gain some weight! Cookies, good.

I'm still a little "off" today from my surgical procedure yesterday. I think I have a Michael Angelo's in the freezer. That's probably dinner tonight.

I'm awaiting lab results on the polyps and biopsies from yesterday's little adventure at the hospital. Doc says I need to gain 20-30 pounds. To tell me to eat is like telling a drowning man to take a big drink of water. It just doesn't work right now. I am the proud owner of a whole lot of Haagen-Dazs ice cream. Maybe I can put it to good use!

I blew it! You can beat me up over it.

There was a deal so good at my double coupon grocery that I had to do it; I bought 10 lbs. of Hormel Black Label bacon. After Qs, I paid $21.73 for 10 packages. I have gone over my budget by $10.85; however, I still have some outstanding rebates. If they come in before the end of the month, it might pull me out of the hole.

I talked to my neighbor this morning. He really went on and on about the chicken I cooked last night. He had to know what the coating was. When I told him that it was French's fried onions, he said he would have to try that sometime. I was cooking breast tenderloins and didn't really know how long to bake them, so, I just guessed. I put them in a 400 degree oven for 14 minutes. It was perfect! They were done through and through, but, still very moist and juicy. For once in my life, I didn't overcook the chicken.

As I mentioned before, I have to fast tomorrow, then have a surgical procedure on Thursday. I'm just going to forage out of the fridge today. I'm not going to cook anything.

A big thank you to the person who told me about using the French's fried onions to coat the chicken. It was a big hit.

I did really well today at the grocery.

I had to buy cat food, no way around it. I had a $5 off a $40 order at the grocery and I only had about $40 left for the month. The subtotal was $43, I was able to use that $5 Q, then all the other Qs I had for everything else. Bottom line: $22.71. I think I am up to $46.04 spent this month, starting out with $50.42, so, I have, hm, $4.38 left. I also splurged and bought some shrimp. They were BOGOF and at my store, you can buy only one item and get it 1/2 price, so, I bought one bag. And still, I had 1/2 off my whole order in Qs. The cats are taken care of for the month and I can't think of a thing I need to buy for myself.

I also went to CVS. I know, I know, I promised not to chase the deals there, but, I fell off the wagon. The Right Guard deodorant was $2.99 w/ a $2 ECB. I had $1 Qs. I bought the limit, 5, and a couple of other items. I used a GC, so, no money oop. I now have $10 ECB to use later.

I just redeemed more MyPoints for another $25 CVS GC. They say to expect it in 2-6 weeks. Wow, don't they even know how long it takes to process it? That's a big window.

Well, tonight it's chicken breast tenderloins. I might fry it. I had some chicken tenderloins at Chick-Fil-A last week and they were really good. I don't know if I can do as good a job as they do, though.

I don't want to rub it in, but, that fried okra last night was fantastic. I'm pretty much weaned off of fried foods, but, sometimes I have to give in. When I was growing up, my grandmother fried everything. I'm not kidding. She could fry just about every vegetable. We'd even have fried corn. No joke!

O.K. Just had to add this note. I used a package of chicken breast tenderloins from the freezer, 2 cans of French's fried onions as the crumb crust for the chicken, some whole grain brown rice, a can of southwest veggies (I'm not really sure what it was), broccoli, and rolls. Everything from stockpile or freezer. Nothing from the store recently. Oh, yeah, and a sliced tomato from my dad's garden. He says the season's over and he's pulling up the vines tomorrow. I shared with my neighbor and I was able to cook just about enough for two. I do have one tenderloin left which I will probably have for lunch tomorrow. All in all, a good stockpile dinner.

I'm having fried okra tonight!

For those of you unfortunate enough to have been born somewhere other than the south, you do not know the ecstacy of fried okra. My dad had given me some several days ago and I just hadn't gotten around to cooking it. It's in the fry pan right now, the aroma wafting throughout the house. It's simple enough; cut okra into fairly thin slices, coat in a mixture of flour and cornmeal, season with salt and pepper, pour some vegetable oil in a skillet, and then, and then, you get this delicious dish. I'm rather embarrassed to say that I'm not making anything to go with it. When I eat fried okra, I tend to go overboard. I didn't want to have anything else on my plate to detract from this delicacy.

I'm taking some chicken out of the freezer this evening, so, I will be forced to do something with it tomorrow night. I have so many side dishes in my stockpile; potatoes, pasta, and rice of every flavor and description. Surely I can find something to compliment the chicken. I might even have ice cream for dessert. Who would have thought that?!

I'm going to have to buy cat food tomorrow. Those little critters eat like horses! The two kittens are growing bigger by the day. They need a lot of food. The two older females need to keep their "girlish" figures.

Beginning on Wednesday, I will not be able to eat anything. I can have clear liquids that day, then, in the evening, start the colon cleansing process. I shudder to think of the taste of that stuff you have to drink. The procedure is Thursday and I have a feeling that I will do nothing but come home and go to bed afterwards. Look for very light eating for a couple of days after that.

I'm swimming in Haagen-Dazs

I had an unpleasant experience at a Walgreens last week and I complained to corporate. The manager called to smooth things over with me. I went back to the store to meet with her. She said she was going to give my a GC as an apology. I was expecting maybe $25; her idea of "I'm sorry" is a $10 GC. Anyway, I spent it all on Haagen-Dazs with those $2/2 Qs out right now. I'm in Atlanta right now and they have the 4 oz size of HD ice cream for $1 ea. The Q says $2/2 pints, but, I tried using them with the 4 oz and the register didn't beep. I now have 10 pints and 12 4oz cups.

I'll be here overnight. I really didn't want to fool with going out to dinner. There's too much baseball on TV this afternoon and tonight. While at Kroger scooping up all the ice cream, I bought a single-serve entree to microwave for dinner. I think I spent $2.68 of "real" money as well as $12 in Qs for the ice cream. Breakfast here is complimentary and usually pretty good.

I promise, I'm really going to buckle down next week and do some real meal planning and preparation. I'm going to use stockpile items and enjoy it! It's so easy to say and so hard to do. There's no excuse for me to go to the store again this month except for cat food.

I've been AWOL for a few days.

My apologies. I've been under the weather for a few days.

I'm off my grilled cheese sandwich kick, at least, for a while. Y'all knew I'd get tired of that soon enough. I had a great Q on deli meat last Monday, so, now I'm enjoying turkey and swiss sandwiches.

I hate like all heck to admit this, but, I left that leftover chicken just a little too long. I decided that it had to be thrown out. The cats loved it, but, I wanted to kick my own butt for not using it soon enough. I'm still going to try those new recipes I found on the Leftover Wizard, but, I can used canned chicken, which I have absolutely "goo-gobs" of. You do know that "goo-gob" is an actual numerical designation, don't you? I think it means "more than you can count."

I have a Walgreens GC and I'm going to use quite a bit of it before Sunday. They have Haagen-Dazs ice cream for $3 a pint. I have a lot of $2/2 Qs on that. I've lost a lot of weight lately, more than is healthy, so, I can safely eat the ice cream without worrying about extra pounds.

I know this blog is supposed to be about using stockpile, maximizing coupons, and saving. Just a little off-topic for a moment, though; I am having a colonoscopy on 9/11. I am past 50 and I know that I should have done it years ago. It just seems so "unfriendly." I have a history of ulcerative colitis, thankfully, no flare-ups in many years, but, the damage has been done to my colon. If you are 50 or older and have never had this done, you really should. Colon cancer is the 2nd leading cause of death in the US and it is one of the most preventable kinds of cancer that we know of.

Now, back to our regular programming.

I didn't realize just how fast I can go through an 18 lb bag of cat food. It's time to buy once again. If my calculations are correct, I have spent $14.14 in "real" money this month, leaving me with $35.86. I may have to blow it all at once; I have a $5 off $40 purchase Q at Bi-Lo. I hope that means $40 before Qs. If that's the case, I can do pretty well with it. I was able to get a couple of good Qs on Purina. The Q pictures some varieties of Purina, but, not the Friskies, which was bought by Purina in the past few years and I would think, technically, Friskies is a variety of Purina. I guess I'll find out.

20 boxes of cereal, no milk!

I reported yesterday that I took advantage of the Kellogg's rebate offer and bought 20 boxes of cereal. Of course, it made me want to open one, but, NO MILK! I had to make a quick trip to the grocery today for milk, nothing else.

I did a lot of housework today, very unusual for me. I am not a domestic goddess. Anyway, didn't get around to using those 2 new recipes I found to use up that leftover chicken. Will definitely do tomorrow. As I was rambling around the kitchen this morning, I spied some shrimp in a ziploc bag. I put it in the fridge to thaw. Just had a marvelous dinner of nothing but a 1/2 pound of shrimp and a glass of wine. I thought I was at the beach.

My dad was here today. We shared a big sandwich of meat and cheese that I had purchased yesterday with a $2 Q. He supplied the tomato for the sandwich. It was nice to visit with him and have someone to join me in a meal, even if it was just a sandwich.

One of my trading buddies is sending me some $2/2 Haagen-Dazs. It's on sale for $3 per pint at Walgreens this week. I think I will stock up. I know, I know, I said I wasn't going to stockpile, but, really, is having some ice cream on hand considered stockpiling? After all, it won't last long! I think it goes without saying that it is something that I will not be sharing!

Oh, I spent $4.46 today for milk. I require Lactaid for lactose intolerance. It jumped 5% in price since last week. I did get a nickel off for bringing my own cloth bag. That's the same as a Q, right?

I went a little crazy today.

I bought 20 boxes of cereal at Rite Aid today. I know that sounds like a lot, but, can you say rebate? I spent $44.27 of my GC there. I had to pick up a few things at the grocery today, too. I spent $9.68 of my $50.42 "real" money. I also used $12.35 in Qs. I was also able to get 6 trial size bottles of ReNu at Target. I also ate free today. Chick-Fil-A was having a promotion and I got 3 chicken planks there for lunch. I still had one more of the free chicken sandwich w/ drink purchase at McDonald's.

I used that leftover wizard I told you about earlier. I found a couple of ways to use the leftover chicken from the crock pot dinner a couple of nights ago. I'll let you know how they turn out. They both use several stockpile items; the only thing I had to buy was celery.

I'm definitely going to have to watch myself closely this month. Spending practically my whole Rite Aid GC on cereal probably wasn't the wisest use, but, I will get some of it back sooner or later.

End of the month.

Yes, I went to the grocery today and did another 3 of the Planters nuts deals. As predicted, I have .42 left of my available money. It's not a large sum, but, I will roll it over in September.

I went to Walgreens this morning to take advantage of the Excedrin moneymaker. They also have Haagen-Daaz (how do you spell that?) 2 for $6 and I had a $2/2 Q. My total was 4.64, but, I had a free GC to cover that, so, no oop there. I also received a $1 RR.

Here's what's available to spend for September:

$50.00 oop
.42 carry over from August
49.24 Rite Aid GC
31.36 Walgreens GC
18.31 CVS GC
1.00 Walgreens RR

I also have some free coupons to redeem. Among them are cat treats, yogurt, toothbrush, toothpaste, Michael Angelo's single serve entrees, Fast Fixin's chicken (I've never tried that), so, I think that I will do fine for September.

Hang on for the ride! Let's see if I can keep it up!

I'm doing a little better.

Well, today is the last mail day in August and I received a $2 rebate. That means I have $3.06 for the rest of the month. I believe that I will be able to take advantage of a couple of those $3 Planters wyb 3 Kraft items. I can do 3 deals and still have about .42 left. The cocktail peanuts are on sale this week for $3 a can. I can use Kool-Aid for the fillers.

There is a uniquely southern word or phrase that many of you may not be aware of. When you go out to the garden and pick just enough vegetables for tonight's dinner, that's called a "mess of okra" or a "mess of squash." I paid a visit to my parents' house today and came away with a "mess of okra" and too many tomatoes. Tomorrow, I will pan fry that okra, make a potato dish to go with it, find some frozen niblets corn in the freezer, and thaw an Edwards Key Lime Cheesecake. That's going to be some serious eating. I'm thrilled that I was able to make it through August and only spend $50 oop. I don't know about you, but, I think it's a pretty mean feat.

On Monday, I will give a recap of available balances on my various gift cards that will be in play for September. Again, I will budget only $50 oop for the month. Let's see if I can do it again.

I got out of the hole!

I reported a day or two ago that I had gone over budget by 37 cents. I received a $1.43 rebate today, so, I officially have $1.06 left. Yippee!

Dinner turned out well last night.

The crock pot method of cooking a whole chicken worked out really well last night. My neighbor made out like a bandit. I took him a dinner of chicken (I gave him 1/2 of the whole chicken), a potato side dish, peas, cream corn, sliced tomatoes, Sister Schubert's rolls, rice pudding, and I even took him a bottle of Gold Peak tea to top it off. From the looks of the leftovers, it seems I will be eating chicken sandwiches until I start to cluck!

Besides groceries, be it edible foods or non-food consumables, HBA, paper products, and such, I also stockpile Christmas gifts. I have 3 nieces, 4 nephews, and 3 great-nieces. The 3 neices are getting a good supply of make-up this year. There have been so many great deals this year on make-up at CVS and Walgreens that I made that the centerpiece of their gifts this year. Instead of individual gifts, I am going to get some of those file storage boxes at Office Depot and make up a big box for each family. It will include HBA for men and women, make-up, men's cologne or aftershave, toys for the small ones, various things from my stockpile. In our family, we would rather give and receive very practical gifts, so, they are going to get personal toiletries, cleaning supplies, and probably candy and a few food items in their boxes. Except for one nephew in high school, all the others are married. You know that when a young couple is just starting out in life, cash is always short and I think my practical gifts will be remembered long after some doo-dad I might buy. The one still in high school wears contacts so I guess he'll be the recipient of the dozen or so trial size bottles of ReNu. Who can resist buying them at .99 each when you have $1 Qs for them?

I blew it!

I had $10.85 left yesterday and wanted to use some really hot coupons. I've gone over budget by 37 cents. The item that pushed me over wasn't even a necessity; I had a $2 Q on Downy and since when is fabric softener a necessary item? On the other hand, when's the last time I had a $2 Q on Downy? Never.

I'm making a bit of progress in the kitchen. The chicken is in the crock pot and will be ready for supper. I have boxed potatoes by the dozens, so, that will be one side dish tonight. I have some frozen veggies and I'll add one of those to the dinner plate. Maybe this time I will remember the Sister Schubert's rolls in the toaster oven and have those, too. Remember when I heated some for dinner one night and forgot all about them?

I'm also using a new item for the first time today; the Reynolds Slow Cooker liner. When they first came out, there were some really great Qs and I bought a few boxes. I dressed my chicken with McCormick's chicken rub. That was one of those purchases in the past that occurred just because I had a great Q for it and it was BOGOF. So, finally, I am using it!

Oh, yes, I almost forgot. There will be sliced tomatoes on the menu, courtesy of my dad. The tomato season is coming to an end, but, there is still okra in the garden. Hmm, maybe I need to go visit my parents in a day or two. I'll even offer to help harvest the okra. If you've never had pan-fried okra, you are definitely not from the south. You cut the okra into bite-size pieces, coat them in cornmeal and flour, and fry in oil. I'm not saying it's a healthy dish, but, it's a mighty darn good tasting one!

More money!

I received $6.99 in rebates yesterday, so, I now have $10.85 to spend this month. I am going to the grocery today and use some hot Qs. I would just kick myself if I didn't take advantage of them.

At the end of the month, when you clean out your Q binder, does it bother you that you have to throw away so many Qs? I cleaned mine out last night and all I could see was a big stack of money going into the trash. Of course, it's not possible to use every single Q you ever get, but, doesn't it just feel "wrong" to throw them away? Most of the time, I don't actually throw them away; I send them to military families around the world. Their commissaries accept Qs up to 6 months past the expiration date. If you hate throwing Qs away as much as I do, that is a great way to give them a 2nd life.

I'm thinking that the challenge is going to be harder in September. I don't have very many rebates outstanding right now. I received a $20 beer rebate in July and August. Those were very big, considering how rigid my spending was during that time. I don't have that to look forward to for September, but, I am still going to go for it; $50 oop plus all free GC and any rebates received.

Due to circumstances beyond my control, the crock pot chicken has been pushed back a couple of days. I am going to get it done in the next day or two and I'll report on how well the hints I received work out for me.