randomly chaotic and frequently mundane

You ever have one of those weeks?  I’m having one of those months, and it’s only half way through.  I’ve been trying to get another interview with Alpine Access scheduled, but they’re not responding and the website won’t let me reschedule through the system.  I’m thinking I might have to start a whole new application process with them to make any progress whatsoever.  On top of that, the rent is late… I told the landlord I’d have it as soon as possible.  I’ve been trying to sell stuff on craigslist to come up with it, but no bites.  I got a notice that if it’s not paid by Tuesday the landlord is going to court to start the eviction process… lovely.  I also got notices on the phone and electric bills and if they’re not paid on the appointed dates, they’ll be cut off.  I’m actually surprised that I lasted this long before everything started trying to fall on top of me.  Of course, I had expected to be getting some help by now.  I have no delusions about getting hired anywhere locally with my limited availability, but I’d hoped to have some source of income at this point.  Online earnings are nice, and they’ve really been saving my butt, but they’re just not covering it all… It’s all one big UGH.

Groceries acquired.  Did pretty good.  I managed to save a total of $60, half of that with coupons.  24% overall.  I’m getting there.  My goal is to save 40% or more every time I go grocery shopping between sales and coupons.  More than that might happen occasionally, but I don’t think it’s realistic to expect more than that.

Sure, there are people out there who go grocery shopping and get $200 worth of groceries for a quarter or something… here’s the thing.  You see them on the news every now and then right?  When’s the last time you saw one of those shoppers buying fresh produce or fresh meat?  Not often, right?  Personally, I can’t remember EVER seeing that.  Yeah, if you’re buying all packaged foods, you can definitely do that.  But I probably spend at least $50 on fresh meat and produce every time I go grocery shopping.  Sure, meat and produce might be on sale… but you’re not likely to have a coupon for them (ok, sometimes you can find one…).

Ok… I might be crazy.  It’s ok.

I received a payment from Smorty.com, so I can attest to them actually paying.  Payment received via paypal.  It’s most excellent.  So that’s another paid to blog site to look into.  So far I’ve only gotten 3 opps from them, well, actually there was a fourth but I didn’t think that I was the best person to blog about male enhancement.  Not having the male equipment to enhance.

I mailed a check to the bank for deposit on Tuesday.  It hasn’t gone into my account yet.  Hope it’s not delayed much longer.  I already verified that they do in fact accept mailed deposits (just mail to any branch w/ a deposit slip).  It made the most sense.  I’m not gonna spend $10-15 on a cab to make a $25 deposit.  That would just be stupid.

Gage is playing in the mud today.  I can’t tell him not to, I’m tempted to make a few mud balls myself.  I loved playing in the mud when I was a kid.

Eventually, I’ll reach the point where I’m saving 40-50% at the grocery store by use of sales and coupons.  I don’t think I’ll ever be that person who gets $100 worth of groceries for $10, but I’m working on it.  I know that Woody and I once managed to get about $200 worth of groceries for $80 — that was impressive as hell and I strive to accomplish that again.  Of course, it was like 2am, we were both tired but we needed food.  It was right after I moved to Colorado.

Coupons are good.  Coupons are your friends.  The thing with coupons is that you have to be smart about using them.  Now, all the “experts” the ones who get a cartload of groceries for chump change say that you should combine coupons and sales.  This is true.  They also say that everything you buy must be on sale AND be on a coupon you’re using.  Unfortunately I can’t do that.  I need things that are often not on sale or that I don’t have a coupon for.  But I get the gist, you know?

Here’s the thing… couple of weeks ago I bought some Herbal Essences shampoo and conditioner.  I had a “buy one get one free” coupon which I used.  The Herbal Essences was on sale, 2 for $5 — the regular price was $3.59.  When I got home, I checked my receipt and found that $3.59 had been deducted for the coupon, not $2.50 (the sale price).  Why?  Well, when stores submit coupons like that they let the manufacturer know how much the discount was to be reimbursed.  So they’re getting their $3.59 back.  It doesn’t matter to them.  It matters to the consumer.  We save more money when stores do that.  I paid $1.41 for shampoo and conditioner, and it wasn’t the cheap stuff.

So especially with buy one get one free coupons, you want to buy on sale (I’ve actually got BOGO coupons set aside for a few other brands of shampoo and I’m waiting for them to go on sale). You’re going to sacrifice a little brand loyalty, but if you only ever use BOGO and use them when the items in question are on sale… you can save some good money.   If you can use them on something that’s already 50% off, you’ll get 2 free.  Here’s the math on that:  let’s say aerosol air freshener is $3 a can.  Since they’re 50% off, you’ll spend $1.50 a can.  That’s a total of $3.  When you apply your BOGO coupon, the store will discount $3 — ergo, free.

And then there’s the joy of coupon doubling, which some places do if you use their member card.  Usually there’s a limit on the coupon discount, 99 cents or $1 is the usual limit.  Which means that any coupons less than or equal to that amount will be doubled (unless the coupon says it’s not subject to doubling).  So your 55 cents off a bag of bagels becomes $1.10.  Add doubling to sales, and I can see how a person could save so much at the grocery store.  I just haven’t been able to accomplish it yet.

Last grocery trip I saved about $12 with coupons alone.  My sale savings were around $20.  Overall it was about 20% saved.  Always working for a higher percentage saved.  Always.   Saving 50% on a regular basis is my goal.