Archive for April, 2008
April 30, 2008 at 10:45 pm
· Filed under children's parties ·Tagged child's birthday party, disney, dollar stores
Saturday was my son’s party. Since he’s now getting interested in Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh, I thought I would have a Disney themed party. For the last several months, whenever I visited a dollar store or thrift shop, I’d look for Disney stuff, and by the time of the party I had quite a haul from blue jean jacket to books to a Mickey Mouse train.
I baked a cake and iced it with cake mix and icing bought at a supermarket loss leader. The day of the party I bought balloons at the dollar store, took advantage of a pop sale at Kroger, and bought frozen pizzas there (half-off sale), too.
For entertainment, I bougt temporary MM tattoos at the dollar…and we decorated waffles. I had a Mickey Mouse waffle iron, so i thought I’d break it out and make waffles and let the kids decorate them with whipped cream and red M&Ms (bought on clearance from Valentine’s day). It was a huge hit, and I received so many nice comments.
All in all, the party costed $100, which included presents! I was tired, exhausted but proud that a thrifty, happy time was had by all.
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April 30, 2008 at 10:24 pm
· Filed under thrift shopping ·Tagged clothes buying, Mad Magazine, thrift shopping
I used my last coupon for VW (a local chain of thrift stores) today–the one that is half off everything. My bill came to $78. With that I bought three videos, a camera that normally sells for $100 used, a flat iron, a cordless phone, a slew of dress shirts for my husband, pants for me and khaki skirts. My favorite finds were a Talbot top with tags still attached ($58–I got it for three) and a pair of Nine West sandals. Of course, I bought toys and books for my kids.
Later, I went to Kmart. That’s when I realized what a good haul I made. Summer blazers for women were $30. For Kmart, are they kidding?
I got top of the line clothes for my husband and me. That’s one of the reasons l like resale. Instead of having a few shlocky outfits–I get several really nice ones for the same price.
There’s one more thing I’ll mention that I bought at VW, a bundle of old Mad and Cracked Magazines from the 70s and 80s for 25 cents each. But the nostaglia is priceless. My favorite is the disco issue, which includes a record that never was played. I wonder if there’s any outside value to that.
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April 29, 2008 at 1:24 am
· Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged job interview, stay at home mom
Thursday, I had a job interview…I didn’t get the job, but in a way I’m thankful that even though I didn’t get a job, I don’t need to work, although being thrifty is somewhat like a part time job
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April 27, 2008 at 3:29 am
· Filed under children's parties, gardening, grocery shopping ·Tagged Aldi, children's parties, grocery shopping
Tuesday I got the call I was waiting for…my fertilizer was in! I’d gotten a deal on the four steps at ACO hardware, but sorry to say they didn’t have them all in at the time of the sale.
So the next day with my little boy in tow, we picked it up. ACO has this huge clearance aisle, and guess what I saw? Winnie the Pooh in a birthday party hat…the perfect centerpiece to my son’s fourth party on Saturday, and it was less than four dollars. Sweet!
In the same strip mall, there is an Aldi’s. So I thought I’d drop by. There was a sign on the door that bananas were 10 cents a bag! I kid you not. So I took five bags–about 15 pounds. They were all in good condition. I don’t know why Aldi was selling for that price, but hey I wasn’t going to ask questions.
Here’s the link for Aldi: www.aldi.com
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April 27, 2008 at 2:16 am
· Filed under grocery shopping, haircuts ·Tagged BoRics, dollar stores, Kroger
Bunched my errands together. Argrusa and Bank. Nice stuff…strawberries for .99 and great produce deals.
Kroger bargains—galore. Tons of 75 percent off. Also, they’re having a sale on cereal. Four boxes for $6. Then they have coupons in the aisle for 75 cents off two boxes. So for the cereal (Chex), I paid $1.12 per box. And then there’s the dollar store. I bought Target markers and Rose Art wash off dry erase markers, both made in the US (!) for a dollar each.
There’s a BoRics inside the Kroger, which certainly saves time. I got a great haircut fo $10, because Tuesdays, the cuts are $2 off—the woman did a great job!
Some time ago, I got a newcomer (I just moved) coupon for a free haircut that would normally cost $55. I was not happy with it—this haircut was far better. Even the BoRics facility was cleaner and more spacious than the supposedly upscale salon.
Bring my own pop (the library sells beverages at typically inflated prices) to free blogging class at the library, and while I was there, I checked out the free book section, and scored some great magazines(some current) for free!
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April 22, 2008 at 11:01 pm
· Filed under thrift shopping ·Tagged rummage sales
OK, here’s the skinny…the big rummage sale at my son’s preschool (well, at the church where the preschool rents some space). Took my daughter with me. Since two year olds are not early morning people (at least mine isn’t) we got there at nine…most of the good stuff gone. But I did get a really nice mail file that I had my eye on buying new. I also got a kind of Betsy-Wetsy doll (liquid in, liquid out) doll that supposed to help in potty training. I didn’t want to spend $35 at Toys R US on, so I got it at the rummage sale for $1.50.
Then she and I went to Target where they have five 12-packs of pop for $15, plus get a free five dollar gift card, which I promptly used to buy a big box of Target diapers, which are, I think, the cheapest on the market.
Went home, had lunch, then to Vanessa’s gymnastics class. After that, she and I went back to the rummage sale. Now it’s a $3 bag sale. Sweet, I love bag sales. Popped a nearly new Dockers khaki trousers and two nice dress shirts for hubby, two nice tops for me, various children’s clothes (including a winter ski parka for my daughter), a few paperbacks and two Barney videos.
Here’s the link to the church. They seem nice: http://www.troyfirst.org/
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April 22, 2008 at 10:59 pm
· Filed under children's parties, thrift shopping ·Tagged saving money on kids party, thrift shopping, value world
Friday is my big shopping day. My inlaws watch the kids, and I run around like a chicken with its head cut off. Nice agreement. I stopped at Value World. I love Value World. I got three skirts, one Liz Claiborne blazer, two books and a Goofy T-Ball set. Perfect. My son’s having a Mickey Mouse party, and so I’m looking for stuff. The total: $16.50.
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April 18, 2008 at 12:25 am
· Filed under gardening ·Tagged Bordine nursery, gardening, raspberries
Today, Thursday, I went to Bordine’s. I was looking for a golden raspberry plant. I’ve been trying to grow berries to save on groceries, and I found a beauty…I paid $10 for it, which isn’t bad considering a regular raspberry plant is $6.99 at Kmart, and the quality wasn’t same. My other two were from Aldi and they cost $3 each, but they weren’t golden. I hear that birds don’t like golden raspberries, but that they still taste awfully good.
Here’s a link to Bordine’s. http://www.bordine.com/
The nursery is having a big sale Saturday and Sunday, and that’s where I’ll be getting my shrubs, but the raspberries won’t be on sale.
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April 18, 2008 at 12:19 am
· Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged Kroger, Plato's Closet
Wednesday, I went to Kroger, the one on Long Lake and Livernois. Great stuff. They’re remodeling the store, and so all of this stuff is 75%. Mostly, I bought rice and rice mixes and stuff, but I also bought some fun items like coffee syrups and caviar (a little over a dollar a jar).
Here is an interesting link about teen spending habits
http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_a/hard-times-are-teaching-teens-frugality/20080417182609990001
A great place for teens is Plato’s closet. I’ve been there, very cool. Here’s a link to Plato’s closet
http://www.platoscloset.com/
Since my son’s not potty trained, his preschool wants me to stay in the lobby. Last time, I was there, I took a stroll around their rummage-sale set up. Wednesday, there’s a big old sign, saying that you can’t wander around. Oops, my bad. Nice stuff, I’ll have to go Saturday. Here’s a link: it’s the First Methodist Church of Troy
http://fumctroy.org/calendar/Rmg%20work%20dates%20%2B%20times%202008.pdf
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