I almost blew it today.

As a rule, I do not shop at Wal-Mart. I went there today, mainly to look for a couple of items I had Qs for that I couldn't find anywhere else. I bought some things I really didn't need to buy; it's only carried at Wal-Mart and the Q had a long expiration date. I should have left them on the shelf, but, you all know the siren song of the Q, don't you? I was able to get 4 of the Tai Pei entrees and a bag of salad. I finally found the BUNdinos there and I wanted to use that Q and send off for the rebate. I was afraid I had blown my ZERO budget, having only $11.11 of rebate money left. The total was $8.93! Yea! I still have $2.18. I used more than $11 in Qs on that trip.

I was really curious about the BUNdinos, so, I had a couple of them for lunch. Be warned; it's all bread, hardly a spoonful of filling in each one. The box had 9 (they are about the size of a Bagel Bite), cost $1.98 and about all I got was bread. Your kids might go for them, mainly because they are so easy to prepare in the microwave. They are not made for toaster or conventional ovens, only microwave. All is not lost because I will get $1.98 back in the mail.

I only paid .18 for the bag of salad after Q. I needed it because I have a crap-load of tomatoes here. If I eat all the tomatoes, my dad thinks he hasn't been bringing me enough and doubles up. I like tomatoes, but, I don't want it every day!

Somehow, the temperature control in my refrigerator got turned up to "cold" and nearly everything in there froze. Two boiled eggs froze hard as rocks, my salad had icicles on the lettuce leaves, and my oranges froze solid. I'm worried about my fresh eggs. If they froze, I've lost a lot. I have 3 dozen eggs in the fridge. I think I may have knocked the control up when I made bread last week. I keep the flour in the refrigerator and it is up against the thermostat control. I probably jiggled the thing when I was putting the flour back in.

To recap:

Rebates used: $26.80
Free Bi-Lo card: 20.00
Free CVS card: $1.15

I have left: $2.18 in rebates

I just keep a running total of Qs used for the year. I don't break them down month to month, so, I cannot tell you how much in Qs I used in July. Suffice it to say that I didn't buy anything except a loaf of bread without a Q and it was on a special sale price. There's nothing I need in the next 2 days and I have already thrown away all my July expiring Qs, just so I wouldn't look at them and say, "Oh, poor baby, I can't throw you away. I'll have to take you to the store and use you." Don't laugh, you know the feeling. For the dedicated couponer, there is a gravitational pull to the store when you are holding them!