May Totals

So, I did not reach my goal for April, but I set my May goal for 60%. I must say, the Super Double Dollar week at A & P got me off to a GREAT start! I didn't hit too many setbacks after that, but some of my orders were a little less than 50% so that brought my totals down a bit...did I do it? Check below to see!

Number of items: 216
Total before savings: $720.72
Store Savings: $262.55
Coupons: $199.11
Number of Q's: 119
OOP: $236.76
Total Savings: $$270.20 or 63%!!!

I DID IT! I reached my 60% goal! I'm so proud...and happy that A & P did double dollars! I wouldn't have been able to do it without it! I'm going to aim for 60% again for June. Wish me luck!

I'm Baaaaack!

Wow, it has been awhile since I posted huh? Let's see, I did awesome with the A & P super Double Dollar coupons in the beginning of May and totally stocked up on Ziploc. They were free, giving me a profit of .50 a piece, and every 3 that I bought, I got coupons for OYNO! I used ALL my ziploc coupons and got a TON of stuff for almost free! I couldn't believe it! Then I went away for work for two weeks. I only got to hound once out there, got Viamin water for .73 a piece and some Nabisco snack packs for $1 a piece (normally 2.49). I went to A & P last week, saved some $$, and I also did a big grocery order on Sunday with DH and my cousin.....I saved a little less then 50%, but we HAD to get kitty litter and DH's lunch meat and newspapers. I have money budgeted for those, but I normally do it all separate so the papers and the lunch meat don't reflect my grocery savings, since even though the lunch meat is on sale, it's not reflected on the receipt...all well. DH also got into a fight in the aisle. It's weird, he's normally the cool, calm and collected one of the relationship, and I'm the snippy, bitchy one. So here's the story:

DH goes to wait in line for his lunch meat, so my cousin and I do the shopping. DH finds us in the cereal aisle where I'm looking for the Special K that's on sale...NONE, the whole shelf is empty. Oh well. So as I'm standing back up (the Special K is on the bottom shelf), DH comes down the aisle. He has his lunch meat in one hand and a bday card for his sister in law in the other. When I saw the card (my cousin and I saw it at the same time) and we both laugh, and he's like 'What?" And I'm like 'I got the SAME card for Jess!' (Jess is sister in law). So we're talking about it, and a lady comes to the end of my cart, where my cousin is standing. I heard her mumble something, so I assumed she had said excuse me, so I moved my cart back so she can get to what she needs. So we start talking about how the card fits Jess to a tee, and the lady is shuffling boxes and boxes are falling. now, she is nowhere near my cart, so I'm not in her way, at least I didn't think she was. She we're talking or whatever, then she gets up (she was bending down) and throws a box or two into her cart. I pick little things up even when I'm in conversation with others...I guess it's in my Criminal Justice background lol. So as they walk away, passing us, she mumbles something about how rude people are. I know she's referring to me b/c she gave me a nasty look, but I let it slide. Normally, I woulda been in her face haha. So, as they walk past, the husband gives my DH a look. I too let that pass...no need to make a scene over something stupid. So, the guy gives my DH another look, to this, my DH turns and is like 'What is your problem?" oh boy, not good. So they start arguing. DH normally just walks away, but not this time. The guy starts saying that we were rude and not moving at of his wife's way. Then the wife comes back and starts walking towards my DH with her hubby. I grab my DH's shirt and I'm like 'Walk away, they must live pathetic lives if they want to start a fight in the middle of a shop rite. So the lady starts saying to me that she had asked me a few times to move so she can reach her stuff. Then she's like 'Even when all the boxes were falling, you still didn't move' I told her I wasn't even NEAR her and if she did say something, she wasn't audible b/c my cousin was standing at the end of my cart! HELLO! Then DH was like 'I saw you, YOU started pushing the boxes around and making them fall!' Then the lady was like 'Maybe if you weren't arguing with each other, you would have seen me struggling and moved out of the way!' Um, when did joking about a card and how it fits someone perfectly turn into arguing? Whatever. I finally got DH to walk away from it. My cousin was like 'She was no where near your cart after you moved when she first walked over!' And if it was that big of a deal, she should have said excuse me again. She only said it once, and that one time, it was a mumble. I assumed it was 'excuse me' since she was near my cart. It really fired up my DH. I think maybe our roles are reversing :) But seriously, there's no need to fight with someone in a Shop Rite..esp when it's the one that DH's mom works at lol

We've also been very busy with Lucky, our new kitty! Here are some pics:


That is her, doing what she does best...SLEEP!



This was her first day at her new home. DH was on the couch watching the Mets game. She jumped right on him! Guess she's a Mets fan....will have to change that to a YANKEES fan!



Guess I was a little tired and took a 'catnap' with Lucky :)

We also went to a wedding on Monday, and it was the first time we left her home alone for more then an hour. She did very well! I don't think she got up off the couch from her 'naptime' Here's a pic from the wedding:




I will be updating more often! Hope everyone is doing well!

Still no Lucky :(

I just called the shelter to check on Lucky. The nice lady there told me that the vet looked at her yesterday, and he doesn't think it's a hernia after all, that it's a fluid buildup from the spaying. I guess that's good? But hopefully the buildup goes away? She also is going to be on medicine for 5 days that will give her an appetite, so she'll be eating. She said that normally on day 3, the cats turn around and start eating normally. She is still gaining weight so that's good. She also said she pepped up when she saw the vet, but I guess not in a good way, since the lady said 'She did pep up when she saw the vet, probably because she didn't want to see him' LOL. She said to check back on Thursday to see how her progress is going. DH said that even if they said we can take her home today, that we wouldn't because she was out of it yesterday when we saw her. I also didn't want to pick her up during the week because I want to be here with her for a day to see how she reacts to the house. So maybe Friday or Saturday she'll be able to come home finally! As for now, we have my parent's dog, he's going home later today. Such a good dog. He's been sleeping all night and all morning. He's passed out on the living room floor stretched out and snoring....too cute!

Back Home in Jersey!

I'm finally back home in Jersey! YIPPEE! I was gone for two whole weeks and didn't really post any blogs, as I didn't really hound or save money since work paid for everything! I did hit Safeway for Vitamin Water for .77 cents and some snacks for $1 a piece, normally $2.49. I did some grocery shopping Friday when we got home. I wanted to stock up on meats on sale at Shop Rite, but we went at about 9pm, so all the good meats that were all sale were gone. Ah well.

Update on Lucky (Kitty). She is officially our kitty! I filled out the paperwork while on travel for work and faxed it in. When we came home Friday, we made some donations to the shelter and to visit her. She had just gotten spayed so she seemed all doped up. She was very quiet as well. I don't think she knew who we were. Today was her day to come home, so we cleaned, got her bed set up, got her litter box situated and went to get her. She hasn't been eating since about Wed. or Thursday...she only picks a little here and there. She also popped a hernia after the spaying, so she can't come home. When I went there and said we were taking her home, they were like 'Nobody called you?" I'm like no why? That's when they told me. I was a little irritated that nobody called me, but they're lucky I live a block away LOL. They took her out for us and told us to hold her and pet her, maybe it'd put her in a better mood, so we stayed with her for awhile. She started wagging her tail a bit, and I took that as that she was happy/content, but the woman that was there visiting the other cats said 'No, when they do that, it means they're agitated.' LOL...woops...so we gave Lucky back and the lady there said to call tomorrow afternoon. The vet was going to look at her again today and see if she's making any progress......poor Lucky :(

When we saw her both times, she's shedding like anything! DH had a white shirt on which was black when he was done holding her. Also, she had this big dandruff type flakes on her, which she did NOT have at all when we took her there....is this common after vaccines and spaying? Not sure what it was, but it looks like big dandruff flakes...and it's sooooo easy to spot b/c she's a black kitty.

I was very upset when we left, so we went and picked up my parents dog since he is going to be home alone all day as my parents are at a BBQ.

Kitty

This week I've been majorly slacking keeping up with my savings and stockpile and poker update information. This is due to Kitty. Kitty is a stray male (we think) cat about a year old, maybe younger. I saw him walking around last week and tried to catch it. Wouldn't let me near it. I started putting food out for him and he came around every night for his meal. He's so cute and meows so cutely! On Tuesday, while DH was home at night, I tried to get him to come inside. I left the patio door open and he was hesitant at first, but he came in. Only a little bit for a few minutes tops. Then he went back out. He liked our house!

Wednesday I was home b/c we had our air compressor replaced (fun). My 3 year old nephew and my mom came over since she babysits sometimes during the week since she got laid off last month. My nephew saw the food and was looking for "Kitty". I never saw him during the day, only at night. He came over Wednesday and came in again. This time, he let me pet him then 'marked' me as my co-workers said. He loved being in the house, only the one part of the living room. He also loved me! When he went back outside, when I called him, he came, just like a dog! When DH came home, he went right up to him!

On Thursday, he was waiting for me to get home from work. He came to the truck when I got out, followed me to the front door, then ran to the patio for his dinner. When I walked to get the mail, he walked with me, like a well trained dog. He also followed me back. I was getting really attached, but couldn't keep him b/c he's a stray (we think someone dumped him). and we're going to MD for 2 weeks and I'm allergic. DH and I tried to get him in the truck to get him to Petco for an exam and low cost vaccines. He wouldn't get in and scratched us up. We asked around and someone mentioned that a woman was looking for a cat the other day, so we walked around the complex trying to see if Kitty would find his home. He went under some bushes so we walked home, he did not follow. DH took the food away b/c I was crying for no reason about this cat. We didn't see him all last night.

Today, I was still upset, so DH said that he figured since he didn't come around last night that someone took him in, probably found home. He said that if when we got home from work, he was around, we'd take him to the shelter and explain the situation and see what they say. As I go to the mailbox, I hear him crying for me. He was waiting on the patio. I went inside, got him some treats and rushed to Petco for a crate. I got one and got home and got him in. As I did that, a neighbor came over. He's been feeding him too and got somewhat attached to him. He said he's a great cat, so cute, etc. He's a cat guy too, he has 2. I asked if he wanted him, he said he already has 2 cats and the assn rules state only two animals...meanwhile, ppl have TONS of dogs and cats! So we chatted for awhile and I took Kitty to the shelter.

Once there, the lady was unpersonable and rigid. There were a ton of cats there, so I didn't like Kitty's chances of getting adopted or claimed. The lady said there's a waiting list so I'm assuming that some people are trying to get rid of their cats, so when a spot opens, they call the owner and ppl can surrender the cats? So I spoke with her some more and she said that there's a colony of cats in our development (we've been here for 3 years, this is the FIRST cat I've seen!) where people feed the cats and they bring them in to get checked up, spayed, etc. then let back out in the wild by us. People still feed them as outside cats and they can't reproduce since they're fixed, to bring down the population. When she looked at Kitty she said he's probably from the colony and needed his ear clipped, NO, I said, he is NOT from the colony or his ear would be clipped already. She took my number and my license and make a copy. I asked what would happen with Kitty and she said he'll be on 'hold' for 7 days for someone to claim. If nobody claims him, on day 8 he will go up for adoption. I just have a bad feeling that he won't get taken care of and will either be put to sleep (it's a no-kill but she mentioned she had no room for him, so I'm terribly worried) or they will dump him out here again. Let me just say that if I find out any of that, I will be owning that adoption place!
I just hope they do the right thing with this kitty....he's a GREAT cat! If, when we get home from MD and he's still there, we're going to adopt him. I'll pay the fee since they will do the fixing, vaccines, etc. Also, the guy neighbor is going to talk to his boyfriend about adopting the kitty as well. So cross your fingers.

This week has been a terrible roller coaster for me. I've been crying uncontrollably about Kitty. When he was here crying I couldn't take it....now that I'm home and he's not here, I'm crying again. Little things set me off. DH doesn't understand b/c I'm not a cat person....I can't stand cats....but this little guy found us and I feel I've betrayed him by putting him in a crate and taking him there. People say I did the right thing...he will get treament if he needs, fixed, fed the right foods, etc. If he finds a loving home before we get home, then it was not meant to be with us owning him....but my heart is breaking.

April Totals

This month I am on time with my totals! YIPPEE! I did not hit my mark, again, but what I think is/was killing me was Shop Rite and their meats and produce. Their old receipts only showed the Price Plus sales. Now, the one I go to has the touch screens AND shows store sales AND Price Plus sales! YIPPEE! Next month should be better (esp w/ the $1 doubles at A and P) so I'm going to shoot for 60% savings for May.....can I do it???????

Number of items: 109
Total before savings: $467.05
Store Savings: $125.00
Coupons: $99.87
Number of Q's: 78
OOP: $236.76
Total Savings: $230.29 or 49%

Money Saving and Stockpiling Challenge

I didn't want to keep writing posts with the same stuff, since a lot of it during the week is repetitive. Like now, DH and I take a shower together each night, we're opening the windows, hanging our laundry, etc. So I'll post every few days and update on the savings and stockpiling.

This week, I did great with savings AND stockpiling! Wednesday I went and got the free pasta bread bowl from Dominos. I had gone to ACME and CVS first. ACME for the VIVA paper towels (Out of Stock) and then to CVS for Zyrtec and band-aids, which earned me $10 ECBS! Back to Domino's. At this one, the only thing that was free was the pasta, not the entire thing. But, the guy liked us and gave us the free pasta bread bowl! YIPPEE! It gave me lunch for THREE days! I had it Wed, Thurs and today for lunch. Can't go wrong for FREE!

Wednesday, DH said he would come shopping with me at Shop Rite, so that was great! I was getting my Q's together and saw the Kellogg's Q. I thought it was only for Mini Wheats, but it was ANY Kellogg's. I grabbed my Q's for that and ran to Target for the Special K deal! I spent $1.95 OOP, AND earned a $5 gift card!

At Shop Rite, I got Zyrtec, deodarant, yogurt, and some other things, for OOP $23 and change, and got back $10 ONYO! Here's a pic of what I got Wednesday:


The Kellogg's were on sale for 2.39 each, then with the 1 Q, it was 1.39. I had a GC from the Schick deal, so I paid 1.95 OOP for each, and got another $5GC! That comes to 90% savings!

At Shop Rite, I got the Lysol Toilet Cleaner for .38 each, the Yoplait Yogurt for .32 each, the Taco Cheese for .99 each, and the deodarant was FREE (YES all 8 were free!). Our total OOP for that and the Zyrtec and toothpaste and tortillas and OJ was 23.40 or 67% Savings!

Thursday I was able to do the Viva paper towel rolls. I got 6 of them plus a Vitamin water for 2.74 OOP!

Today, I went to A & P and got 3 10pks of Capri Suns, and 2 boxes of Mini Wheats Chocolate for 1.21 OOP! YEE HAW! Thanks to A and P for offering double $1 coupons! I'll be there twice a day....once on lunch and once after work! May is off to a great start grocery savings wise!