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.