Hey, they’re back! Go to valueworld. net for coupons!

So here’s how this week is going. Saturday I spent $2 on two boxes of cereal, and my husband spent $8 for 4-12 packs of pop. Today I spent $12.52 for 1 1/2 pound of bulk cheese, 1 pound shredded cheese, one tub of cottage cheese, one six pack of yogurt, one gallon of milk, two loaves of organic bread and a little more than four pounds of bananas at Kroger.

Then at Meijer, I spent $4.19  on two packs of cherries, two packs of pitted prunes, a pound of lasagna noodles, one package of six 100-calorie cookies.

So far, then, $26.41. I don’t intend to shop anymore this week, so I don’t think that’s too shabby.

For me, this is the start of the new week (I go Thursday to Thursday, as the paycheck comes in). Today I spent $4.19 on two gallons of milk at Aldi ($1 each). Large ketchup ($1.19) and one pound of strawberries ($1)O…all at Aldi–Aldi comes through again).

I finished my grocery shopping. In my last post, I had gotten up to $3.93. I paid $1.50 for a loaf of organic bread (day old) and $1.95 for green beans and strawberries at the clearance rack at Meijer, bringing my total to $7.38!!

I don’t think I can do this every week, but maybe once a month I could do it to use up some of the pantry!

This week I gave myself a challenge. Grocery shopping on $10 or less.

In the interest of fairness, I should say that I have a lot of canned goods and frozen meat.

But, anyway, here it goes: two gallons of milk for .79 each (marked down at Kroger for their due date of August fifth), $1.58, a loaf of bread for $1.29, bananas $1.06 (.44 per pound). So far, it’s $3.93.

I’m planning on buying vegetables on the reduced counter at Meijer…and that’s it for the week!

Today, we went on a truly frugal family outing–we went to Bordine’s nursery. So we could aaah and oooh over all of the beautiful and rare plants…and to pick up the free tomato plants–one free per child. Like I said, we’re thrifty. The nursery is giving out these plants through Memorial Day.

www.bordines.com

Well, I finally did it. My own taxes.

Usually, I’d go to a preparer and spend $175, but this time I used Tax Act software–for a total of $34.

Well, what did I think? I was very nervous, but it went OK. I was really obsessed with doing it right, which was probably healthy.

And yes, I’ll probably do it again.

Does anyone else do his or her own taxes? What were your experiences?

Last week, in our newspaper, a Sam’s Club one-day pass came out at us. Our adventure began in the parking lot, where a double shopping car make schelpping my two preschoolers around easier.

At the door an unsmiling greeter, seeing my one-day pass, directed me to a womanned table, where a friendly woman asked me questions about my monthly budget. Using a computer, she said that I would save $55 to $791. Pretty exact, huh?

She sent me to the customer service desk. Neither of the women at the customer service smiled, said hello, or showed any pleasantness. When I asked if I could purchase gas  (a few cents cheaper than the local station) today, one of the unsmilers told me I could if I purchased a membership. I declined, explaining that I live eight miles away.

She grabbed a list, obstensively of other Sam’s Clubs, but didn’t do anything with it or mention it again.

Again, the other workers at Sam’s Club seemed to be penalized for smiling. The few that I saw seemed surly and put upon.

I wasn’t going let a little surliness ruin our day. My kids enjoyed the wide variety of samples from the smiling samplers (note they don’t work for Sam’s Club, so they can smile).

The selection is poor.

The prices: eh… A 60 ounce coffee creamer was $5.47. At the dollar store, I can buy 60 ounces of creamer for $5.

Skinless, boneless chicken breasts were selling for $1.99. The butcher shop across the street where I live routinely sells it for $1.39.

An eight-pack of Del Monte canned vegetables was $6.80, or about .80 per can. The local Aldi, two miles from me, canned vegetables are .49.

A Miracle-Gro potting mix for 55 quarts was more than  $11. I have no idea if that were a good price or not because there were no others with which to compare it. 

Since I just bought a digital camera, I was curious to see  what Sam’s Club had. Sam’s Club offered about five models, far fewer than even Target offers (about 20). I would feel reluctant spending a large sum of money without much comparison.

While at the camera section, I noticed the prices on printing digital prints: 13 cents. Walgreens usually runs a special for .10 per.

On the way out, we made our only purchase, an ice cream sundae, from another unsmiling worker.

Is Sam’s Club worth it? Maybe for some:

• People who shop once a month and don’t follow supermarket sales papers.
• People who live in rural areas without much competition.
• People who live or work nearby and want to take advantage of the gas sales.

So is Sam’s Club worth it for me? In short: NO.

Today I took my daughter to the monthly free event at Evanswood Church of God. For two hours, kids listen to Bible stories, eat cookies and have fun.

It’s held the first Saturday of each month. Here’s the church’s website:www.evanswoodchurchofgod.org

Did I mention this is free and open to all kids?

This weekend I went to an estate sale…for towels. I need towels. The towels I bought when I got married are soon reaching the point of becoming dust rags.

So there I was on the way to the library when I saw a sign for an estate sale.

The house was just chockful of goodies, like fancy china and stuff. But with two special needs kids, I focused on my prey: towels. There were white towels, in good condition with prices of .25-.50. So I bought all they had, with a package of oatmeal (still within the expiriation date to boot). The final price: $2.

Here’s a link to the guy who runs the sale. http://www.garyshouseholdsales.com/index.html.

I met Gary, and he seems really nice.