I have had an amazing FRUGAL ADVENTURE these past few days, and I thought that I would share it with you. So fix a cup of hot tea, and sit a spell. I hope that this will inspire you to action!
THURSDAY - I had a Coupon Makeover Class at Summit Credit Union in Greensboro NC. After leaving, I went to Chick-Fil-a to use some coupons for dinner from their Cow Calendar (which I usually get multiples of every year - and they do take expired coupons, even 4 years old!!!)
I had coupons for a FREE drink and FREE 3 piece chicken strips. To make my meal complete, I ordered 2 butter buns for $0.30 and cut 1 of my strips in half. I then had 2 sandwiches and a drink for under $1 at Chick-fil-a!
I downloaded a few cd's from www.bluebehemoth.com from Victoria Botkin on "Curriculum Advice Part 1 and Part 2" - about homeschooling - to listen to on my way to Winston Salem in the morning (btw, FABULOUS material on the cd).
FRIDAY - I went to Frye Medical Center in Hickory NC for 2 SOLD OUT Coupon Makeover Classes sponsored by Summit Credit Union. I had a FREE lunch at a WONDERFUL Japanese Restaurant called Naganos (thanks Glen!), and an inspiring conversation about "family" with Michelle on the way back to Winston Salem.
I still needed to get back to Greensboro, but in the parking lot of the WS Summit Credit Union branch was a HARRIS TEETER and CVS calling my name! I didn't have my full grocery list prepared, but of course I had my Coupon Notebook with me:)
I only went in for an eVic special - If you didn't know, when you become an eVic customer with Harris Teeter, you not only get the 1 eVic deal advertised on Wednesday, but you get about 3 more sent via email on Friday!!!!
The eVic special was a 4-pack Activia yogurt for $0.99. Well, I had a coupon for $1 off! So, including tax, I walked out of HT paying $0.01 for my trip. Then on to CVS.
I went to look for clearance items, and found Christmas items marked down to 90% off!
Here is the damage:
3 snowman ornaments were $5.99 = now $0.59 each
1 present shaped ornament was $1.99 = now $0.19
2 rolls penguin wrapping paper was $5.99 = now $0.59 each
2 teddy bear wrapping paper was $3.99 = now $0.39 each
2 Santa glitter wrapping paper was $2.99 = now $0.29 each
I found some Atomic Fireball bags on the clearance table and I asked the manager the price (normally 2 for $3), he said $1 and I started to put them back, he then said "O.k., how about $0.50!" Those babies went in the buggy!!!
I found some hair accessories for 50% off and was pretty pleased with my CVS trip!
On the way to pick up my children at Nanna's house, I met with a lady that wanted some of my items on Craig's List (made $25), then stopped at Dollar General to look at Christmas Clearance - it was on the way:) Lots of stuff for 50-75% off, but still too high for me - I'll wait for 90% off. I did find out that they do their markdowns on Tuesdays! I looked in the 50% off bin of "slightly damaged" items - you know, the boxes are a little smooshed - and found some deodorant - Secret Clinical Strength for HALF OFF, and I had a coupon!
They also had their "crocs" 50% off too, and in my size!! When you wear an 11, this is a BIG deal...so I now have hot pink and red "fake crocs" that I got for $3 a piece.
SATURDAY - Cousin Colin turned 2, and the family went to his party at our church gymnasium which had some bouncing and sliding fun from Triad Inflatables, afterwards, we went to Carolina Thrift on Wendover. We were looking for some binders for Homeschool and found 10 for $1 a piece; they would have been HALF OFF on Monday (EVERYTHING in the store would be 50% off on Monday 1/18), but we were not going to be able to come out on Monday, so...I found 2 riding cars for Nanna's house for $4 a piece, a LeapPad with 5 Books for $12.99 for my neice (who we kidnapped and was with us that evening), and my favorite - a 4 ft long serpent/dragon stuffed animal for $3 that we will have MANY battles with on our courageous adventures with the kids at St. George Academy:)
We then went to Wal-Mart with all 5 young-uns - they behaved wonderfully! It did help that we had "goodie bags" from the Birthday Party and stopped at the bakery for FREE cookies too:) I had to get some Triaminic Children's Strips for some kiddos that were starting to get the sniffles. So BEFOREHAND, I went to the Coupon Database HERE and looked to see if we had some coupons...you knew I would, right?
I got the medicine for $1.50 each, bought 5 and saved $15 - the coupons were for $3 OFF!!!
For dinner we used a Gift Certificate for $25 that was gotten for $2 at www.restaurant.com, for Ciao Pizza. We had a minimum purchase of $35, which was easy to get to with 5 people! (If it had just been the 2 of us, we could have eaten like royalty with an appetizer and dessert).
The food was good but it almost made me sick paying $4 per kid's meal and knowing that I had $0.18 boxes of pasta at home and could have fixed THAT when I spent $16 + drinks on them! Now I know why I don't eat out with them that much:)
Almost $20 compared to under $1 - ya see my point?
I would love to hear about your Frugal Adventures too...what kind of fun are you having?
