My "niece" and "nephews"

I became an "aunt" again in August.  My "nephew"   L was born then.  I have dear friends whose children call me "Aunt", so I have to be the fantastic Aunt to them.  I give them gifts and spoil them rotten when I can.  That's an auntie's job.

Well, they currently live four hours away by car.  (Which is better than last year.  Last year at this time I traveled 20 hours by plane to visit them!)

I was happy they were in visiting for Thanksgiving, and I was able to spend the morning with them.  And someone stole my heart!

While  "L" was smiling, "I" and "K" were enjoying hot chocolate.  :) 

My Black Friday

I saw a great blog post the other day about the TRUTH about Black Friday.  Of course there are exceptions, but for the most part the stuff that is on sale is not as good of quality, that these are not "once a year" prices, but you can likely find the same items at just as low prices elsewhere during the year.  Again, there are exceptions to that, but I certainly didn't find anything that would warrent me going out at 4 in the morning to get!  (In fact, I was busy talking to an old friend.  He called at 2 in the morning and we talked for five hours, so I certainly was up to go out if I wanted to, but I didn't see any reason to.)  And I certainly didn't see anything worth cussing cashiers about as one woman on someone else's facebook page claimed to do.  (Wow, let's really celebrate Jesus' birth by using the F word because something we wanted was sold out!)

The one cannot be missed item for me I ordered online Thanksgiving Day.  It was a Christmas tree, and ours got ruined.  It was on sale for $38, and I have a $15 mail in refund.  I also had a $10 off anything at Lowe's coupon, but the website wouldn't accept it.  I decided to order it without the coupon so I wouldn't have to go and hope to get the tree before it sold out.  (I've not yet gotten my e-mail saying my tree is ready to be picked up, but I'll call tomorrow if I haven't gotten one.)

After a couple hours of sleep, I got up, and then yesterday afternoon I hit the stores I planned on hitting.  I wanted to go to Walgreens and CVS.

I did order a few things online.  I ordered 4 years subscription to Reader's Digest for Mom for $14.  (Usually it's about that much for a year.)  I also ordered a photo collage from Walgreens.  It was free after coupon.  I picked it up yesterday.

My first stop was at Walgreens.  Here's what I bought:

8x10 collage photo print (a gift for Christmas)
Gilette Scrub Clenser
Colgate Enamel toothpaste
Planter's mixed nuts
TWO cases of 24 count bottled water
one two-liter of 7up (I'm planning a party next weekend)
Olay body was
Oral B toothbursh
Robitussin to go
Crest whitening toothpast
Thermacare wrap for neck/wrist/arm
4 count Advil PM
Gum Flossers
Old Spice Body Spray
Just for Men Shampoo/condition
Nivea Shave Jell
Secret body spray
Scunchi non-slip pony tail holders

My total after coupons was $37.39.   I had coupons for the olay body wash, the Gum flosswers, Crest, and Colgate.  I also had Register Rewards from my last trip to Walgreens.  I saved a total of $41.17.  I received back in "Jingle Cash"  (what register rewards are called this holiday season (was $40.50.)   So for $37.39 I got all this plus MORE than what I paid that I can spend next time I go to Walgreens.  Nice haul.  Plus I have a $3.50 mail in refund on the Planters nuts.

I do have to say kudos to Walgreens in preperation of their Black Friday sale.  Instead of having to search the store for things that I don't buy unless they are free, I was able to go right to an end-cap and they had everything displayed, so it was easy to add everything to my cart.  I also took a paper and a marker and checked off each item as I added it!  Made shopping very simple. 

Then I went to CVS.   They had a deal online where if you bought a $25 CVS gift card, you would get a $5 promotional gift card, so I ordered one and got $30 of gift cards for $25.  So, I already had a $5 savings.

At CVS I got:

1 Colgate sensitive toothpaste
1 L A Looks styling gel
1 bottle of laundry detergent
1 Listerine Pocket Packs
5 M&M King sized candy bars
5 Reese's candy bars
1 Carmex lip balm
1 Snuggie, desinger print
4 bottles of Sobe
2 Gillette deoderant
1 Phillips ear bud headphones

My total was $12.03 after coupons and gift certificates.  Add the $25 I paid for the $30 of gift certificates and it was a total of $27.03 paid at CVS.  I received back $34.85 in Extra Care Bucks.

My trip to Lowe's (went anyway even if the tree wasn't available)

2 bricks of rat poison (not pictured)
1 box of 8 containers of rat poison  (We live in an old house and this is the time of year we'll often have unwelcomed intruders)
2 small poinsettias

I had a $10 off coupon so I paid just over $6 there.

So my Black Friday summary:


Spent in total  $136
total of "stuff" bought:  $418
mail in rebates will net me  $18.50
Extra Care Bucks:  $34.85
W card savings:  0.40
Register Rewards 40.50
cash back from my credit card:  $1.36

So if you take what I spent and subtract all the above (which of course the ECBs and Register Rewards aren't exactly like cash, but let's go ahead and do it for this example) then I spent a total of $40.39 for $418 of stuff, or a savings of 90%. 

The Christmas tree and magazine subscription is not pictured:

Holiday Cards, part two

Recently Shutterfly offered bloggers 50 free Shutterfly cards if we'd write a post about some of their products.  I did, and my cards have arrived.

In fact, before that offer I had attended a House Party and we got codes for free photo books.  I made a photo book for my cousin of the snows we had last winter.  I was able to personalize it and even put some photos in the book of his house and business during our blizzards last winter.   I'm really dreading winter because all I can think about is last winter.  But winter will come even if I don't want it to, and I might as well use some of the photos to make a book about the winter we'll talk about for years to come!

 I had a code for five free cards, and I have a handful of Jewish friends and don't feel like I should send them a card that says Merry Christmas.  For a number of years I went with a more generic "Happy Holidays" but decided last year to revert back to "Merry Christmas".  The year I had visited Israel, I sent along photos of me at Bethlehem with my Christmas letter and me at the Western Wall with my Hanukkah letter, so I try to do something very similar for both greetings when I don't do a "holiday" card.

These are my Hanukkah cards this year (which I must get out soon as Hanukkah starts at sundown on December 1!)  There are 8 snow photos on the front of the card, and the bottom corner says "Snow Kidding"  The inside has another snow photo and says "May your winter be warm with the thoughts of family and friends!  Happy Hanukkah!"

Because I got free Christmas cards last year and never mailed them out, nor did I mail my Christmas letter from last year, I decided that because the cards I got last year are a little dated (me in front of the Church of the Saviour on the Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg Russia) and I can't exactly use them another year, I'm going to mail both cards this year.  For that reason I chose a flat card from Shutterfly as my Christmas card.  Part of the reason is I hope to keep TWO Christmas cards and TWO letters under one ounce.  As verbose as my Christmas letters tend to be, this may prove to be difficult!

I chose one where I could add seven photos.  It says "Wishing you a Merry Christmas  From  (us)  Just don't dream of a white Christmas!" 



Let  me point out here that the photo to the right of Merry Christmas is our next door neighbor's van.  I took that out of an upstairs bedroom window last year.  The day before the van had been driven, but we had a "snow hurricane" in the night, and we had tons of snow dumped on us.

As always, I'm highly pleased with the quality of the items offered by Shutterfly.  As a bargain hunter, paying full price for their items is not something I would likely do, however, they often have sales, free card offers, etc. and as always, I very much enjoy ordering from Shutterfly.

Debt the Halls

While watching TV tonight I saw the average family will spend almost $700 on Christmas this year. Personally I can't imagine. Of course, I save prizes from sweepstakes and contests through the year. I also keep an eye open at garage sales for items that would make great gifts. Sometimes you can find things that are brand new, or other times you can find things that are no longer sold that would fit in great in a collection. (My aunt is getting a few garage sale items including hand-forged alumimum, which she collects, as well as a signed, numbered, framed print of a local landmark. She will love all of these.)


When I was growing up my grandmother used to give "Care Packages" to Mom and my aunt. She'd get two boxes and put in her spare bedroom. When there was something buy one get one free, she'd buy it, and one item would go into each box. My mom and my aunt used to roll their eyes at these gifts, but after Grandma went into the nursing home, they each said how much they missed them.

So I've found that "Care Packages" are often welcome Christmas gifts, especially to people who are struggling financially. I've given a number over the years, and because I can get groceries very cheap sometimes, I can give much more value wise than if I were to go and buy something retail for my family. Not everyone appriciates these, so they aren't a gift I would give just anyone. College kids really love these. Teenagers in high school? Not so much -- with the exception of teen girls and a huge basket of make-up.

One year I watched sales, and I was able to get almost $1000 of gifts for about $50 - $100. These were good gifts, too. Things like photo books with family photos, etc.

I try to buy gifts as cheap as possible, but only if it's something that the recipient would like. I don't want to be like the lady I once saw on TV that when she went to a dinner party instead of a bottle of wine, she would take Pine-Sol becase she got it free. Even when working with not a lot of money, gifts need to be something that will be appriciated!

But I don't understand why people go into debt at the holidays. I was reading entries at a contest recently and a number said they couldn't afford for their children to "have a Christmas". Since when is money a requirement of "having Christmas"? Yes, I realize people want to give stuff to their children and people they love, but I do hate the phrases as "We can't give them Christmas" or "They won't have a Christmas." Christmas is a date on the calendar, and it's going to happen to everyone gifts or not. It's like that old joke, "Do other countries have a 4th of July?" and you expect the other person to say, "Of course not, silly, that's an American holiday," and then you reply, "Oh, so does their calendar go from July 3rd to July 5th?"

It seems that Christmas has lost not only its original focus but also it's secondary focus of family and friends and love and has become an all out buying session seeing who can get the most gifts. Some of my favorite memories include friends and gag gift exchanges at the holidays. Or how my best friend and I used to make mix tapes in the 1980s as our Christmas gifts. Very little money invested. Or the time that my best friend and I decided to make Christmas cookies. We decided to get creative and still laugh about the batch we made with Cocoa Wheats. (Don't try it!) or how we loved our peanutbutter and jelly cookies. Memories with family and friends. That's the most valuable part of Christmas.

I don't remember a thing I got one Christmas when I was little, but I remember staying up late when I was about eight years old putting together a puzzle with my dad that he got for Christmas. We were watching "Miracle on 34th Street", and what I would give to have another few minutes with my Dad. That is actually one of my favorite memories of Dad, and certainly not something that could be bought. Sure the puzzle was a Christmas gift, but it was the putting it together with him that made it special.

Personally, this year, I'm hoping for little STUFF. I'm decluttering and I can't tell you how many 30 gallon trash bags of stuff I've gotten out of the house. Not to mention the stuff we've given away or have set back for a garage sale. We don't have the room for stuff. I want junk out of the house. We don't have room for knick-knacks, etc.

My mother asked me today what I want for Christmas.

Sure I'd like a laptop and and iPod. (My current mp3 player is about 6 years old and I can no longer add anything to it because the software is no longer supported.) Other than that, I can't think of anything "stuff" wise I'd like.   Of course, those aren't in the budget, if I ever get new ones, I'll have to win them.  Well, I do need a new pair of shoes, but because of my big feet, I have to buy those myself. The pair I'm currently wearing I won in 2006 and since I don't have winter boots (not a good thing when we got about 10 feet of snow in February!), they are what I wear year-round.

I read once that people who desire experiences over things are happier people. Most of what I want is experiences. I want to return to Israel. I want to see a weekend show of a friend who's a professional magician. I want to go to Ohio and visit some friends whom I haven't seen in years. We became friends at church camp when we were in high school. I want to go on a weekend retreat with my church.

Of course, these things can't be gift wrapped and placed under the tree. Instead, I'm hoping for things that will help out with regular household expenses and allow me to put a little money back (if possible) to these things.

Obviously, with the problem with the bathroom, there's little extra money, so whatever I might receive will likely go towards paying off what we had to put on credit cards because of the bathroom.

I am still in the voting contest at http://www.lifeofdumdums.com/ and I'm asking for everyone to vote. If I win that, that will help a lot with paying off expenses. It will allow me to get my mother a recliner for Christmas (and she needs one for medical reasons). If I win, it would be a huge blessing. So if you could vote daily through Tuesday, it would be much appriciated. (My photo is the one of the guinea pigs with the fire truck.) Thank you.
Please don't go into debt for Christmas. You don't know what is around the corner. We had no idea that we'd have $1400 of bathroom expenses a couple weeks ago. What if you were to put $800 of Christmas gifts on your credit cards and find out you needed $1400 of work on your bathroom the next day? Please spend wisely, as generously as possible, but not going into debt.

First time, disappointed with something free.

I'm a firm believer in NOT COMPLAINING about free stuff.  If a company is generous enough to give it away then I believe a person should be happy with it.  I've received some odd freebies over the years.  Like the Arm and Hammer Shaker.  What did you do with that?  I've received weird t-shirts, weird mouse pads, etc.  But they are free, and I don't complain. . . at least when there are no strings attached.

With House Party you are expected to host a party with the supplies given.  I've had some great parties.  When I saw the American Ninja Warrior party, I applied to host, knowing that the box wasn't as good as some in the past.

What did I receive?

Well, first off, I'm still clueless as to how we're going to be watching the American Ninja Warrior show because there was no DVD included.  House Party has yet to fill the hosts in on how this will be accomplished.  I did receive an e-mail saying we'd get details at a later point.

In my box was the following.  (Keep in mind we had to invite 14 people, so 15 items each in the box is usually standard.)

1 t-shirt for the host (not my size, but that's okay, often t-shirts aren't my size.)
2 Ninja Warrior magnets
15 Ninja Warrior temporary tattoos
15 Ninja Warrior buttons
and this is the one that is upsetting to me
FIVE Ninja Warrior headbands

A number of my friends have asked if they can dress as Ninjas to my party.  I said that was cool.  I may have more Ninjas than I do headbands.  Now, if I end up with six Ninjas, I won't be able to pass out a headband to each.  I'm definately disappointed that the box only allows for 1 in 3 party attenders to receive a headband.

I'll come up with a solution, I'm sure, but I'm not happy about 10 guests not receiving headbands.  And it's not like something I can buy since these were made specifically for the party.

A man giving $1 Million to charity. . .

I saw this article the other day where a man is attempting to buy Thanksgiving dinner for six for under one dollar.  My first thought was "Why is this even news?"  I mean, how many of us who coupon and refund could do this?  I figure a number of us could.  Of course, often my mother and I have gotten a turkey TV dinner for Thanksgiving since it's just the two of us.  So, a dinner for six could feed the two of us for DAYS.

Especially with the refunds in my state for alcohol purchases this could be super easy.  (My state forbids the purchase of alcohol for an alcohol refund, so beer companies will often do things like "Buy $10 of frozen pizza and get $10 back after mail in refund".

This week I had a $10 off a $50 gift certificate purchase, $10 off $25 of Thanksgiving items, $6 off $10 of baking supplies, and $6 off $10 or more turkey.

So buy the gift card first before you buy the rest of your items.  (That's what I did.)  Then because I had the turkey refund I used the "Thanksgiving items" as vegetables, stuffing, etc.  Of course, I'm not even thinking of using coupons yet. 

A feat like this would be easier if you live in a city, esp. near a store that adds up your total spent before coupons are deducted.  Some places have deals like "Spend $250 and get a free turkey."  Okay, for instance, with my cereal deal I got $90 of cereal free.  That would be a huge step towards a free turkey.

But for me, I live in the middle of no where.  My town doesn't have a high school.  It's 20 minutes to the closest McDonalds.  There are three stop lights in my entire county (I think.)  We don't even have a "normal" grocery store in my town.  My choices of grocery stores in the next town are Foodland and Wal-Mart. 

I do a lot of my shopping an hour away.  That's where pretty much anything is for us except for Wal-Mart.    There I have choices of Kroger and Giant Eagle. 

But I believe given the time and want-to I could do Thanksgiving dinner for one dollar.  It's too late to plan to do so for this year, but I truly believe it's possible.

BUT. . .  I loved in the story where he said that he wants to eventually give one million dollars of items to food banks.  I never thought of it before, but I think that's a fantastic goal, and I think I will see if I can give one million away in my lifetime.  (I think all couponers should take on this challenge!)  Of course, I won't limit it to just stuff I got with coupons, but also with sweepstakes wins, etc. And not just to charity, but also to people having a rough time.  I know sometimes people are too proud to go to a food bank, but if you tell them you got the stuff free with coupons, they don't mind taking it!

It's 10pm. Do you know where your toilet is?

I know "It's 10 pm.  Do you know where your toilet is?" sounds like a silly blog post title, but recently my toilet was in my bathtub!

This actually begins a few years ago.  My bathroom needed some work done, and we hired a handyman.  First he never did get hot water to my sink.  (I have it now.)  Then he put vinyl flooring in -- UPSIDE DOWN.  Well, the perfectionist that I am didn't like upside down vinyl, so he put in other, this time right side up, but never fastened it down.  I started curling at the edges of the floor -- and in the middle where he chopped it up to put it down. 

After a couple toilet overflows we had our current handyman (different guy) take a look at it.  What he found really didn't surprise me.  The toilet had rusted off the cast iron pipes.  It was just sitting there on top of pipes.  But it had leaked enough the floor was rotted.  (That didn't surprise me, I knew the floor was wet because of the gaps in the vinyl from the previous handyman.)  Our current handyman told us that it was lucky that I hadn't landed in the laundry room the floor was so bad rotted.

Well, thus started our week of bathroom renovations to fix the necessitites.  First a new floor had to be put in.  I'm glad the joists were still good!  The first picture reminds me of Asain toilets!

Then of course we had to put new flooring on top of the floor because even though it was money we didn't really have, you can't have a bathroom floor of plywood! 

Then the basics started returning.

I'm thilled at a bathroom floor that I won't fall through, and I also really like flooring that isn't chopped up in places and curling away from the floor.   I'm still doing some basics in the bathroom and trying to decorate and get a little better organized on less than a shoestring budget.

In all the cost of the bathroom was around $1400.  Money that we don't really have to spare.

So, I know I've been begging for votes, but with a chance to win $2500, I really need the votes.   Just go to http://www.lifeofdumdums.com/ and you can vote daily.  My picture is the guinea pigs with the fire truck.  I really appriciate the votes, and just by voting you might win a $50 Fandango gift certificate!

So, I know where my toilet is now.  And I like it no longer being stored in the tub!  :)