Archive for October, 2008

Budget Total – September 2008

Thursday, October 2nd, 2008

After adding up my grocery expenses for September, here is the grand total expended for the month:

$11.80

This is for all food, including fruit, vegetables, meat, milk, cheese, eggs, and my favorite gourmet coffee. Many of these items were also organic. $11.80 fed myself, my boyfriend, and quite a few dinner guests – not to mention the fact that I added a ton of items to my food stockpile.

And, this figure also includes all household items, such as foil, sponges, dish soap, toilet paper, paper towels, napkins, toiletries, and so forth. It also includes all my Sunday newspapers – more coupons! – and paid for some new kitchen pans and utensils.

All of my shopping trips for September are documented in the September 2008 archive, if you’d like a more detailed overview of what this amount got. Also, you’ll notice that there were several trips where I left the store with more money than I came in with, during those instances where I was given change back from catalina coupons, or had coupons that produced more overage than I anticipated. I never aim to get “money back” from my purchases – I always plan on using my overage to pay for other items. But sometimes the register goes into the negative anyway, when an item rings up less than you anticipated, or if you forget to check a price. Stores are reimbursed by the manufacturers for coupons redeemed, and depending on the store’s policy, sometimes they will give you cash back. In these instances, I adjusted my budget total accordingly to include this “profit”.

For October’s grocery budget, I am setting aside one $20 bill. Let’s see how much I have left over at the end of the month!

Guest Post on MoneySavingMom.com

Thursday, October 2nd, 2008

I recently wrote a guest post for one of my favorite websites, MoneySavingMom.com. The article, How I Buy Organic, Fresh Foods For Pennies, talks in more detail about the strategies I employ to slash costs on expensive foods. So if you’re interested in reading more about the methods I use to save, check it out!

Stockpile Giveaway, Week Three!

Thursday, October 2nd, 2008

This week’s giveaway is all about hair!

Winner will receive a haircare prize package, consisting of the following:

(1) 13.5 oz bottle of Pert Plus “So Fine” 2 in 1 Shampoo Plus Conditioner – designed especially for fine or oily hair
(1) 13.5 oz bottle of Pert Plus “Happy Medium” 2 in 1 Shampoo Plus Conditioner – designed for normal hair
(1) Try Me Free Rebate Form For Pert Plus – this little form will get you another bottle of Pert for free! Buy any Pert Plus Thick ‘n Full, Revive & Rejuvenate or Dandruff Dismissed product between now and August 31t, 2009 (!), and send in this form along with your contact info and receipt, and they will mail you a refund up to $3.99.
Assortment of haircare coupons – everything from shampoo to styling aids and even hairdye! A $22 value, this is sure to save you some cash while keeping your mane looking great!

Here’s how to enter: Just leave a comment on this post, and you’ll be entered to win!
To earn an extra entry: If you’d like to gain a second entry into the contest, just put up a link to my blog and leave a separate comment letting me know that you did. You can either link to this contest, or any other post that you liked. If you already have me in your blogroll – thank you, and be sure to leave a second comment mentioning it to improve your odds!

Fine print, rules, etc: This giveaway is only open to US residents, because I unfortunately can’t afford to ship this package overseas. (APO/FPO addresses are OK, because the rates are the same as domestic.) But fear not, international readers! I will be having another giveaway that you can enter soon, I promise!

Entries will be accepted until 11:59 PM, October 8th. A winner will be chosen via Random.org on October 9th and notified. Be sure to leave your email address, either in your post or in your blogger profile, so that I can get in touch if you win! Email address will be used only to notify winner. If, for some bizarre reason, the winner does not respond after 4 days, a new winner will be chosen.

Shopping Trip – September 30th – Last One For The Month!

Wednesday, October 1st, 2008

This was a nice way to finish off my shopping for the month:

Total Spent: Zero!
Total Before Coupons: $6.00

View Receipt

Got:

4 packages of pasta

Safeway has Ronzoni pasta on sale for $1.50, and there was a coupon in the 8/24 newspaper inserts for $1 off one. My store doubles coupons up to .50 cents, making these free! I needed this, because I was planning to make spaghetti for dinner tonight, and realized that I had none left. Which brings us to this week’s edition of: What does a coupon user eat, anyway?

Spaghetti and meatballs with mushrooms, tomatoes, black olives, and artichoke hearts.

Stockpile Giveaway, Week Two: WINNERS!

Wednesday, October 1st, 2008

And the winners of last week’s stockpile giveaway are…

First Prize: Formula & Coupon Prize Package

Comment number 27 is:

Unfortunately, Mverno did not leave any contact info, so I have no way of getting a hold of them. Mverno, if you’re reading this, please shoot me an email at: bakahentai AT gmail.com. If I don’t hear back from you within 4 days, I will be forced to choose a new winner.

Second Prize: $1 Luvs Coupon

Comment number 43 is:

Very cool! Danandmarsh, I’ve sent an email notifying you. I hope your friend can get some use out of this coupon!

Thank you to everyone who entered. Be sure to check back tomorrow, for Stockpile Giveaway: Week Three!