When couponing turns to nightmare

It went a little something like this:

Me - Ma'am I found these bags of rice listed for $.97 in a Wal-Mart ad but the price on the shelf says $1.08.  Can you price match that for me?
Evil old lady - Where did you see that ad? (she then scans one bag to tell me the price that I'd just gave her)
Me - It was listed on a Wal Mart under a dollar ad that I saw online.
Evil old lady - I can't price match online prices (she then grabs a laminated sheet with the words 'we don't accept online prices' on it)
Me - I understand that but this was listed for Wal-Mart, not another store. It was on (I gave the website)
Evil old lady - I can't price match an online price see! (She waves the sheet at me) And that website gives us a lot of trouble because it's never right.  (sometimes the price is wrong so I let it go)
Me - Ok, well then I'd like to put these back then  They aren't all for me and I'm not sure the others want this price instead.
She grabs the 6 bags from me, credits the one bag she scanned while repeating she can't price match it and was acting really grumpy.
Me - I need to count these sponges, I should have 16 and I'd hate to have the wrong number.
Evil old lady - You only have 14 (hatefully)
Me (I find the missing two under the dog food) - Oh here they are, got covered up sorry.  (She gives me a hateful look and says hmmph)
Me - I found these nail polishes for $1.87 at Target.  There was no price tag on the shelf so I don't know if the price is the same.
Evil old lady - Where did you find them? (picking up all 8 angrily and ringing up one, the price was $2 and something)
Me - At Target.
Evil old lady - You know I have to enter each one seperately to change the price right? (hatefully)
Me - No I didn't realize you had to do it that way, I'm sorry.
Evil old lady - Next time you need to bring the flyer or proof of the price difference (as she roughly punches numbers)
Me - Oh well I thought Wal-Mart policy says I don't have to have an ad, I'm sorry but I didn't bring it.
Evil lady reaches behind her and picks up another store's ad and slaps it on the conveyor belt causing the nail polish to fall over and roll - I need one of these or I can't price match. (She did price match them)
Me - Ok, next time I'll remember to do that then. (Except the policy states that no ad is needed)
Evil lady - How many of these did you get (all were in a sack by this time)
Me - There should be 8
Evil lady - No you have 9 (she grabs them out of the sack and sure enough there's 8, but then we had a good 5 minutes of her trying to figure out what she did wrong and then fixing it, all the while acting as if it were my fault)

When I handed her my coupons she moaned and humphed like saying 'you've got to be kidding me'.

On the sponges she told me it was wrong, because the price of the sponge wasn't $1 like the coupon said, and I explained it's $1 off for every two.  She let me have the deal, ha ha.

On the nail polish she tells me the coupon can't be used because it's not the same polish, so I showed her that the coupons says ANY of that brand and she says 'oh well how about that' rudely.

Then I tried to pay and the damn card machine, which I'm going on a limb to say they all hate me since it's rare one works for me, wouldn't read my card.  I was like oh hell no I will leave all this shit here if it doesn't take it, I'm not dealing with this woman any longer (my purse with my checkbook were in the car).  I asked her if she could swipe it on her side and she did and it worked thankfully.

All that while trying to keep my 2 year old from messing with things on the shelves or running away.  It was awful.

The woman made me feel like I was doing something terrible by buying what I did, and for not buying the rice, and then when the coupons came out it was like I was trying to do something illegal. What the hell?  I feel bad for being mad at her, I mean she's old and I have a soft spot for old people, and she's just trying to do her job correctly, but this lady made my shopping trip terrible.  I was nice and polite the entire time and apologized for making her job harder, and she was rude and grumpy, but she did do one price match.  I however missed another price match and had to pay full price so I didn't save much this trip.  Damnit three times.

Not a fab day, but now I have nail polish to cover Jocelyn's girly fetish and lots of sponges that should last me a while.

Shopping trip #2

There's a lot of good deals going on right now, and this is our first transaction of about 8 to get all the deals.  Eight trips to Walgreens and I'm happy about it.

The bad thing is, with a small town my store's stock is relatively small so today I couldn't get all that I'd planned on getting, two things they didn't have and one thing I could only get half of.  I was told the two out of stock items won't be in until Saturday at 10 am, and it'll be the first 10 customers who get them and since that's the last day of the sale I'm pretty sure the whole town will be waiting in line.  Not joking.  I was like duude can I just order them and she told me no that she started ordering for this sale 3 weeks ago and ordered as much as she could get.  I'm going to look into that because I was told you could order products if you were shopping in bulk.

Anyway here's our second haul:

After my last post I tried to break it down, and well I said I was bad at math and I still got it wrong in that post OMG.  It seems 1+1 is above my intelligence when multiple numbers are in question.  Once I get the hang of it I will break it down but for now, using the receipts and the math already done for me here is how the prices worked out...I also tweeted my price today after I left the store and got it way wrong then too.

What I got:  6 bottles of Windex Multi-surface, two different varieties of Theraflu, two varieties of Schick Quatro razor systems, and three varieties of Glade Tough Odor Spray.

Total amount before coupons and Register Rewards : $75.31

Total amount after coupons: $45.28

Total amount of RR : $19

Technically I paid only $26.28 for all those items!

It's taking ovvvvverrrrr!!

Week two of couponing and I'm like OMG let's shop, let's find the deals, let's see how much we can save.  Ya'all I'm to the point I dream of coupons chasing me down the isle in Wal-Mart.  It's becoming an epidemic and I was warned, yes I was and I was like no no, I might have OCD but I never really get obsessed with something because I'm obsessed with EVERYTHING, including that little blade of grass, no that one riiiight there.  But right now it's like coupons are floating behind my eyeballs at all times, my palms are itching to go shopping and put this binder to use.

WTF have I gotten myself into?

Seriously, kinda scared and I've only just started.

Am I on my way to being an extreme coupon chick?  A lunatic coupon addict?  Cheese and rice someone save me.

This has to do with the fact that we have a list, that yes I check throughout the day to make sure it didn't disappear or the numbers changed on me, for our second couponing shopping trip that started out at $230 and we'll pay $53...OMG can I get a what the fuck, how, no way chick, whatever ya feeling exclamation. Yup that big of a drop, sweet huh?  After we saw the final numbers Bo and I looked at each other and were like no fucking way is that possible and we checked again and the numbers did not change.  We both started grinning like morons and high five-d each other.  SAAWWEETT!

Ever since then I'm like ok, what new sale can I add (I added two today, one where I can get nail polish for $.83 each, and Canadian bacon for $.47 each) on and I'm re-watching the Extreme Couponing episodes that I have and I'm taking notes.  I've gotten my mom and one sister and niece on board, although on board is more like me doing all the work cause they don't want to and going shopping for them.  Which I'm fine with, I'm having fun with this.  Again OMG this is freaky deaky.

So yeah, that's what I've been doing lately.  Coupon planning, organizing, sale matching, etc. and fantasizing about all the money we're saving and what that means for my closet our family.

Anything major in your neck of the woods??  Please share!  One of these days I want to do a story circle, we all share a story...I feel like I talk too much ;).

MWUAH

Popped my couponing cherry

You can thank Bo for the title ;).

I've couponed before, many times in fact, but I didn't stick to it long and I never noticed a savings.  I was doing it wrong of course.  You take your coupon for blah item, and when that item comes on sale at a low price, you combine the two and pitchicow savings.  And if you have a fab store (which I do not other than Walgreens, damnit 3 times for living in the middle of nowhere) you get in-store credit, extra savings, or double or tripple coupons and you've got extra awesome savings my lovelies.  My goal is not to have a $1000 grocery total and only pay $15, that would be incredible and I'd have to change my panties after but that's not my goal.  One, I don't have the room to store that kind of stash.  And two, well that's too much time spent in a grocery store for this girl who is not a fan of shopping.  ECK.  If I can save $100 a month on groceries I'm a happy girl.  If I can save more then woohoo but I have no plans of going over board and opening up my own mini grocery store in my garage.  I will share whatever goodies I accrue with my Mama and Daddy cause I am a good daughter and any baby stuff with my niece cause I'm a good aunt.  I have no plans at the moment to stockpile like crazy...but I've been warned it almost always happens.

Here's what I got today, my first day out:

Walmart:

Barilla Whole Grain Pasta: Sale price $1.28, coupons at $.55 off, comes to $.73 item, I had 5 coupons bringing the total from $6.40 to $3.10 for 5 boxes of pasta.

Tabasco Hot sauce : Sale price $2.82, coupons at $.75 off, comes to $2.07 per item, with 5 coupons bringing the total from $14.10 to $11.35. (This was advertised on a blog for $1.27, I didn't write down this price so I was not aware of the giant price difference until I looked at my receipt.  Lesson learned, must write down all sale prices to make sure it all matches and watch the register with each purchase/coupon...grrrr).

Huggies Little Movers Slip-Ons Jumbo pack: Sale price $8.99 (price matched with a Walgreens sale), coupons at $3 off, comes to $5.99 per item, with 5 coupons bringing the total from $44.95 to $29.95 (another note to self, keep all coupons together, and NOT in my back pocket or coupons won't get discounted...MAJOR grumble on that one).

V8 Splash: Sale price $1.88 (price matched with a Harps sale), coupon $1 for 2,  with 1 coupon the total was $2.76.

Not on sale:

Pop Secret popcorn: original price $4.48, coupon for $.50 for 2,  with 1 coupon the total was $8.46

Walgreens:

Hyland's Nighttime Cold N Cough Kids: Sale price $4.99, receive $4.99 Register Rewards (limit 1 per customer per transaction) making this free.  I still paid tax though.

Garnier Fructis Shampoo/conditioner: Sale price $3.33, coupon for $1 off, comes to $2.33 per item, with 6 coupons bringing the total from $19.98 to $13.98.

Total before coupons: $103.14
Total after coupons: $69.15
Savings of $33.99

After watching the Extreme Coupon show, this feels a bit shitty since they get $1500 in groceries and spend $30.  BUT the thing is, I have Wal-Mart and Walgreens as my stores and they are not as good as the stores used by people on that show.  I don't get double or tripple coupons, and I don't earn store points.  Walgreens gives me Register Rewards which is awesome, but that's my only extra freebie and it means multiple trips to the store through the week for it to pay off.  I'll never (unless by some ginormous miracle) get things for free or next to nothing.  I'll still save it just won't be as incredible as those seen on the show.

It's still pretty cool to see all those items and know I didn't pay full price.

Side not:  I was reminded 4 times why I suck at math.  Even with two calculators, a scratch pad and an Excel spreadsheet (with formulas to help me add sheesh), I still got 4 different totals and I'm HOPING this is the real one otherwise I'm so fired.  Can't do math for nothing and the best coupons were in my back pocket until I got home, meaning a second trip to Wal-Mart and embarrassing explanation.

Couponing...not for the faint of heart

So it's Thursday, I got the 5 newspapers on Monday and I'm still clipping coupons.  Are you kidding me?

I thought I'd do a paper a day that way I wasn't spending all my time on it.  Except that didn't happen and now I have three newspapers stacked in front of me.  In three days I get more newspapers and the cycle starts all over.  I haven't even checked the sales or organized my coupons, I've been doing nothing but clipping.

My goal today is to get the rest clipped and not touch these puppies until Saturday.  I better save money damnit.

I broke down...and now I'm paying for it

I kept it mum, but a few weeks ago I bought a new pair of jeans.  I had to.  And it hurt like hell to search for THIS size when I'd rather be THAT size right there...you know that one that has a much smaller number?  But my old jeans are really becoming an eye sore.

So I spent WAY too much on a pair of Levi's.  This brand of jean does wonders for my ass and I've always loved them.  I found a pair that wasn't butt crack low, in fact they were high as in old school above the belly button.  I do like my lower rise jeans, however the belly flab doesn't look so fab.  I put them on and woohoo, it felt odd having jeans so high again but my tummy was gone, and everything was smooth and it looked pretty damn good if I do say so myself. 

I brought them home, washed them and they sat in my closet for a week before I remembered aha I have some cute as hell jeans I can wear.

I put them on.

Within two hours I was pissed.  Why?  Well these jeans that are supposed to smooth your curves and control your tummy, LIE LIKE A BASTARD.  Two hours into wearing these $60 jeans and I suddenly had a preggo pooch.  No really, Bo didn't believe me until I showed him.  I knew when my husband's eyes did a funny twitch that the image wasn't one that was only in my head, it was real and horrible.  Not only was there a red neon flashing sign pointing to my rolly polly tummy, but they were now loose enough I could take em off without unbuttoning or unzipping them.

WTF?!?!

They look like the worst 'Mom jean's on the planet.

Now I can't take them back, I've washed them, I've worn them and we tossed the receipt.  Because I had faith that these puppies were going to work and now they don't.  Not by a long shot.

Hopefully I'm wearing clean undies

If you didn't know already, I'm cheap.  I rarely buy clothes for myself and all, repeat ALL my three pairs of jeans are very thin in the crotch and leg area where my chunky thighs have rubbed the fabric down to tissue thickness.
If you look closely you can find out Victoria's Secret...

That strange and quirky side of me, wants to wear these puppies until they do split or tear just to see it happen.  At home, of course.  I would feel like the Incredible Hulk ripping out of my clothes.  You can't tell me that wouldn't be awesome??

But the logical side of me knows that it will happen when I don't want it to.  Like bending over in front of a family member or stranger. RRRRRIP.  Or in Walmart parking lot when I step out of my car.  RRRRRRIP.  It won't happen when it's just me and Bo and I'm trying to be all sexy and rip them off of me in the heat of passion...although that could be a little kinky.

I get this from my Mama, she survived on two pairs of jeans and company t-shirts she got for free from work most of the time while us girls had closets stuffed with cool clothes.  In this aspect I've turned into my Mama.

On one hand, it means I'm a cheap date, which every man loves.

On the other, I am a bit scraggly.

Sigh....I FUCKING HATE SHOPPING.

Big girl panties

This morning I did something rather big for me.

I went grocery shopping with Jocelyn.

Alone.

Just me and her.

I was nervous in the store, but nothing like I usually do.  I didn't set and obsess over do I put her in the car first or the groceries or what could happen if I turn my back too long.  Nope, but I shopped rather quickly, even though my Mom was there too and we kept running into each other.  I wish I had lingered a bit and talked to her a little more but I was antsy to be home. 

I got home, unloaded the groceries, and yes I gave myself a pat on the back.

You know you live in a SMALL town when…

When you go to two ‘grocery’ stores and neither have what you need!?!
Really tell me how this is possible because my little brain cannot fathom this.  We went looking for postcards for Miss.  Our first stop was Walgreens and I thought while there I’ll pick up the few things I needed, but they didn’t have those little ranch dressing packets.  Then I thought, hey we’ll skip driving all the way over to Walmart on the other side of town, we’ll stop here at this grocery store although I haven’t been in here since 1980 something.  Nope, no ranch dressing packets either. 
Those things aren’t like insane items!  They aren’t rare ingredients that should be in specialty stores.  THEY ARE FREAKING RANCH DRESSING PACKETS COME ON!! I want to make ranch dressing people, I don’t want the gunk in the bottle its just not as good. 
Bo gets to pick everything plus those damn packets that no one but Walmart seems to have.  Why didn’t I just go myself and get it all while I was out?  Cause they pissed me off for not having the packets…haha.

My review on…

Shape ups by Sketchers.  First the positives.

1) Comfortable!  Oh so comfy.  However it takes a bit to get used to walking in them.  It feels like your walking on a balloon or pillows.  You have to get your balance, but its not all that hard.  I wear them all day every day, they are that comfy.  I am really not a fan of things on my feet but these shoes don’t make my feet claustrophobic.

2) Cuteness factor.  They are very cute and stylish. 

Now for the downsides.

1)I have no arches in my feet, and there are no arch supports in these shoes.  I have noticed that my feet are turning in, even though I walk on the outside of my feet to build up an arch.  I don’t notice this until I take the shoes off and then I can feel how badly my feet have turned.  I’m going to buy some inserts with support and hope that helps.

2)I’m not sure if the no arch support thing causes this but sometimes my toes go numb. It’s random, I can be sitting or standing, but it happens with these shoes on.  Even though they are way comfy…

3) I have noticed nothing in the toning up areas.  Nothing.  No stretching sensation or sore muscles, nadda.  I’ve done tons of walking in these shoes and the only sensation I notice is that my feet do not hurt once I’m done.  So I can’t say that it tones your legs or your butt, because I have no proof of that.  Maybe if you do Jane Fonda’s Buns of Steel, but that sorta defeats the purpose of the shoes.  They come with some info on what exercises to try that is supposed to help.  I did these, and I truly didn’t see a big enough difference in the sensation as I do when I’m barefoot or in other shoes.

In conclusion:

The price is far too high in my opinion.  They are very very comfy yes, but as far as I can tell do nothing else.  I’ve had them for a month or so, and notice nothing.  I have recommended them to people with feet issues, like my mother who has worked 30 some years standing on her feet in steel toe shoes for 8-12 hours a day.  For someone like her, these are very comfy and wouldn’t hurt her abused feet.  But other than that, I don’t recommend them for toning. 

I’m still holding out hope because it has only been a month and I don’t do the exercises every day.  Any workout you do daily is going to show results, so I’m not 100% sure its the shoes or just the workouts themselves that cause the toning.

With all that, if you have the money and are searching for comfy cute shoes, I would recommend them. 

 

There was a knocking at my door.

I wonder who could it be?

Why it’s two boxes?!?!?

Hmmm

I wrack my brain trying to figure out oh what could it be?

OOOOH I know what it is!!!  This is when I noticed the weird orange glow of my photos, sorry so I moved to the living room.

  

Are you excited?  Can you tell yet??

Notice how I unceremoniously dumped the contents out on the couch, threw the boxes on top, and lovingly placed the boxes next to the heap.

And then my camera died, otherwise you would have seen me lick my new video camera.

What does all this mean you may be wondering?  Well its not to brag, by any means.  The video camera we had before, is bulky, won’t record unless it is plugged into the wall and is about 10 years old.  You have NO idea how in awe I am of this new lightweight companion of mine, but I digress.  The point is, I will be doing some vlogging now!  This means you will have to put up with me even more, cause now you get to hear my strange voice, my southern American drawl, and see just how twitchy and nerdy I really am.  Aren’t you excited????

#1 rule - be prepared

As a parent, you learn very quickly to have extra diapers, clothes, toys, food, etc anytime you leave your house. You don’t need your whole house crammed into the diaper bag, but enough junk to cover you if you stay somewhere longer than expected. Or you get the fabulous poo bomb. We have been a parent for four years, you’d think we would have known better than to leave our house as unprepared as we did today.


This morning we attended a Christmas party thrown by Bo’s boss. The first screw up of the day was when I realized that although I did pack Jocelyn food for breakfast, I forgot a spoon. Yup. It’s a good thing she could eat the hash browns and biscuit I had instead. After a relatively bad breakfast costing us $20, we took off to do some ‘quick’ shopping for our family photos we’re getting this weekend.

I mentioned this morning we should bring the stroller so we can shop easier, but Bo said no he’d just carry Joss and it would be fine. We’re going for something specific; it won’t take as long as general shopping. Fine.

Except not so fine. Way not fine. There we are in the mall, I am loaded down with coats, clothes, and Jocelyn in high heel boots that I haven’t gotten used to wearing again, while Bo takes Bailey to go pee. I’m sure it was no more than 10 minutes but it felt like hours. I didn’t see a place to sit down, so I just walked the same path about a 100 times. My feet were on fire. I dropped the clothes numerous times, had to rearrange everything and at one point managed to scratch her arm with the hanger of her new dress. By the time they came back I was about to cry. Not only was it a nightmare to find them clothes (I mean how hard can it be to find nice clothes that aren’t too Xmas in a large mall, very hard when everything is scattered like my 4 year old put the stuff on the racks), but then we waited 30 minutes to get help with finding shoes. In the little boys section, the boxes of shoes below the display shoes were not the same shoes. NONE OF THEM. They had Nike and Arizona shoes, but neither of these was on display, not to mention there were about 20 shoes on display and only two shoes styles could be found in the shelves. Yeah pretty pathetic if you ask me. Bo took the shoe we chose, had to wait in line then had to wait while a salesperson went to the back of the store to retrieve the shoe. Bailey was comatose in the floor. Jocelyn was sucking her thumb and rocking herself while mumbling. I, having found a lovely place to sit, was surrounded on all sides by the clothes we’d found, children and holiday shoppers. When he returned from his three day journey for shoes, I informed him that I was done, screw getting nice clothes for us to wear we can do our part of the photos another day.

To keep the hysterics from pouring out of my mouth we stopped at our favorite frozen yogurt place on the way home.

Have I mentioned I hate shopping? It’s days like these that make me wish I could buy everything online. Holiday shopping sucks. I’m so thankful that I’ve already bought the biggest gifts so far and all that’s left is stocking stuffers. This stupid madness of last minute shopping is HELL.