Archive for October, 2008

October 28

October 29, 2008 at 1:33 am · Filed under grocery shopping ·Tagged , , ,

I’m fortunate to have insurance for prescriptions. Walgreens’ had this promotion that if you transferred a prescription for a $25 gift card. (My previous prescription came from Rite-Aid, which gave me a $30 gift card for transferring my prescription from Walgreens.

I used prescription gift card. I bought diapers on clearance, laundry detergent (50 loads for $1.99), olive oil on sale ($3.99 for 17 oz.) My uncle recently died, and I made copies of his family photos. Luckily, Walgreens had a sale on making copies of photos, and I used to pay for that by the gift card, too.  See www.walgreens.com

On the way back from my daughter’s school, I stopped by Agrusa. I bought skinless, boneless chicken breasts for a $1.25 a pound, a dozen oranges on clearance for .99,  and three pounds of apples for $2.49.

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Review of New Salvation Army in Shelby Township

October 26, 2008 at 3:10 am · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged ,

Well, I came, I saw and I shopped at the new Salvation Army in Shelby Township at 23 Mile Rd. and Van Dyke.

So I came with my daughter, stood in line, and got in. As usual, they had some delicious refreshments: chips, coffee, donuts, punch and hot dogs. Yum!

As usual, for their openings, the store was cram-packed with good stuff. Unfortunately, they didn’t have five for five (five pieces of clothing of the color of week for five dollars) yet. I did get a beautiful blazer and dress for myself, Dryel, and make-up (more about that below).

One of the highpoints of the Salvation Army is make-up. New make-up that has been donated. I was able to refresh my make-up stock with L’Oreal products…only .99 each.

There was also a great deal of new stuff, especially appliances. Since I didn’t need any, I passed. The book section was fairly well-sized. I scored the new Ann Rule, published this year, for .33.

Interestingly, northern Van Dyke is now a thrift shopper’s paradise. There’s Rescued Treasures, a St. Vincent de Paul opening in the old Salvation Army building on Van Dyke. There’s this new store, and the Bargain Spot, too.

Two thumbs up, and yes, I’ll be back.

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October 3–Auto Lab and Me

October 12, 2008 at 4:14 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

I own a 2000 Saturn, and I took it into the auto dealership for its oil change. And I got sticker shock.

Not only was the oil change $32 (and that’s with my AAA discount), but they wanted to do maintenance and repairs that would cost more than $900. The dealership serves free coffee and donuts, but that’s not enough to counter the sticker shock.

Here’s how it was broken down:

  1. water pump: $454. What I did: bought water pump at Murray’s Discount Auto Parts for $30 (they give you a 10% discount on parts if you call ahead), and had Auto Lab put it in for $140. Total price: $170.
  2. New tires: $196. Called around. Could get excellent tires for $140.
  3. Power Steering Flush: $110. Talked to mechanic who is a friend of mine, and he doesn’t recommend it.
  4. Transmission Flush $200. Again, not recommended. Will do transmission flush which goes around here for $40 (non dealership.

Final notes: I looked at coupons for oil changes (from the newspaper from the Yellow Pages) and found that many places are offering them for less than $20, which seems a fair price because five quarts of oil would run me $13.10.  Auto Lab recommended a coolant flush, which would run a $100. I bought the materials: the kit and the antifreeze from Murray’s for $15, so I think that’s what I’m going to do.

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The Little Steak That Could

October 7, 2008 at 10:42 pm · Filed under grocery shopping ·Tagged , , ,

Kroger, the supplier of most of my food needs because of their awesome manager’s specials, had some steak on clearance—$2 a pound, when it was originally $9 per pound. I bought all they had—4 1/2 lbs.

Then I fried up the steaks, and my husband salivated. But I had big plans for that steak, and it became:

  1. Spaghetti with bits of steak (the pasta and its sauce were also on sale)
  2. Macaroni and cheese with spinach and bits of steak (the spinach came from Aldi and the mac and cheese was from the reduced rack)
  3. Egg noodles in cheese sauce with cut green beans and steak (egg noodles and the canned green beans had been on sale)
  4. Rice, canned tomatoes with garlic and bits of steak. (the rice and tomatoes had been on clearance)
  5. Beef stew from cans with extra bits of steak (you guessed it, the cans of beef stew had also been on clearance)
  6. Lima bean soup with rice and bits of steak (the rice was the same one from number 4, and the dry soup mix had been 75% off).

I should say that the rice, pasta, etc. had all been bought on sale, on clearance or from the reduced rack earlier, awaiting a transformation.

And so that was the little steak that could.

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School Expenses–Not

October 1, 2008 at 6:23 am · Filed under thrift shopping ·Tagged , , , , ,

My son brought home a flier from preschool for a field trip. Here’s the skinny: it’s to an apple orchard 45 minutes away, I’d have to drive him each way, the program last 90 minutes, it’s $9 a person, and I’d have to go.

I say NO.

I don’t feel guilty. I don’t want to drive all that way, and, yes, my son has been to those pick-your-own orchards before, and he didn’t get a lot out of it.

Fatefully, the free community paper, listed that a nearby nature center is having a free donuts, cider, hayride and petting zoo event this Sunday, so that’s where we’ll go.

So another thing I’m not into: buying books from Scholastic. I get all these nice, full color catalogs for books. And, yes, for new books they are reasonably priced. But I don’t do that. I get tons of books for my kids from Value World, where you can buy a big bag for less than four dollars. I also get them at garage sales, too.

So call me a rebel, call me lacking in team spirit.

I call myself thrifty.

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