Maismom's every day life

We just received our energy bill (both electricity & gas). My husband opened the envelop, and told me "You are not going to believe this." I was like, "What? What?"

The bill was $96 and this is the lowest as far as I can remember since we moved in this house!! I haven't seen two digits energy bill for a looong time. Thanks for nice weather (no A/C or heater needed) and we were careful about running a washier, dryer, dish washier, pool pump, etc.

This is a nice saving because I normally budget $250 for our energy bill. (Yes, that's our norm, and I talked to neighbors, and they're in the same range or even more.) Our DD is taking a driving test on Monday, so our insurance premium went up significantly. We also need to pay pro-rated premium for the remaining period, which is $557. We can use the savings from energy bill to pay a part of insurance premium.

Safeway is running a KRAFT promo.

I bought:
Kraft American slice cheese $3 - 75 cpn
Cream cheese 8 oz - $2
Wheat thin $2 x 2 - .55 cpn
Total $9 - $1.3 cpn = $7.7
Less Kraft promo $4
Final price $3.7

I'm going back to get some more cream cheese. I will be using a lot of cream cheese as holiday season approaches, and $1 for 8 oz is a good price for me.

I checked the price at Super Walmart and their price was more than $1 for the same product.

Cream cheese $2 x 4 = $8
Less $4 from promo = $4
$1 each

My 401K is doing pretty good. The return percentage normally picks up really good starting October. (The trend I noticed last few years.) My return so far is 11% this year, and I am happy about that. I'm not a risk taker, so I am diversifying my 401K balance to 10 different funds. Some good, some ok, but overall, 10% return is a good percentage for me.

It's amazing how money makes money. The return on my 401K has been better than my raise, so I really don't care about my meager raise anymore. Actually, a couple years ago, I didn't notice that I got a raise because the amount was so tiny LOL

This week is the homecoming week for our DD's high school. Students started constructing their float this Saturday, and pretty much finished on Sunday. That's pretty impressive because they have two more days (Tue & Thurs) for it, and the float looks really good.

Since our DD is in charge (she is the class president) of the event, it puts some burden on us as parents. We had to obtain some materials for the float. That means we had to pay for them first, then, get reimbursed. I know we will get a check from school in two weeks, but the amount is almost $400. Good thing we had some extra cash this month. Of course, we are not the only family who is supporting this activity. There are other families waiting to get reimbursement, too.

We are really proud of our DD putting all this together successfully, though. I just hope she will have nice memories from her high school days.

L'Oreal Vive pro shampoo & conditioner are buy one get one free this week at Longs Drug. I had a couple of coupons for them, so I went to get those. It is not like I need more shampoo.... I have enough to last next two or three years. But, holiday season is coming and I can use these to make a nice basket for "Adopt a family" program at work. (We adopt some underprivileged families, and donate goods necessary for their daily lives.)

I got two shampoos and two conditioners for free.

As usual, the cashier didn't know what to do with the coupon. He didn't even scan the coupon because he saw a store discount transaction. I explained to him the discount on the receipt is from store discount, and the coupon is for manufacture discount. I guess it was too difficult for him to understand. So, I called the manager, and she said "We will take it (the coupon) if it scans." The cashier scanned the coupon, and it beeped. So, I told him to enter the value of product. He did, and the coupon scanned just fine. Gee....

I have three more coupons for them, so six more free shampoos & conditioners.

Can I just say where did my time go?

We were supposed to get up before 7 today because DD had a marching band practice from 7. Well, we woke up at 7.... I drove her to school in my pajama, looking like, well, just woke up. When we got there, my friend looked at me, and said "I like your hair." LOL

Came home and my turn to leave for school. Guess what? I got in a minor car accident. I was waiting to make a right turn because the signal was red and waited cars to go by. Then, I felt "bump!" This woman behind me thought I left already and went forward, and hit my car. Fortunately, it was really minor and my car only got some scratches. Anyway, I asked her to show me her driver's license and got her name and address.

What bothered me a bit was when I asked her phone number, she gave her mom's phone number. (The lady is in her 40's!) I am really regret now that I didn't get her insurance information because I was in a hurry for my class, and, I was just not thinking through.

I will go to the auto body shop and get an estimate. One more thing to be added to my to do list

I went to Bel Air a couple of times to get some canned veggies. They are running "Buy 12 Del Monte and get a case of water free" promo. There are cans that have label with .45/2 cpn printed.

On my first trip, I found four cans that had a label with coupon printed.
Paid $7.20 (60 cents x 12) and received a catalina for a case of free water ($3.97 value) Thus, $3.23 is my final price for 12 cans of veggies, about 27 cents per can.

Then, I made a second trip with four coupons I cut out from label.
Paid $5.4 ($7.2 - $1.8 (4 x 45 cents coupons)) and received a catalina for a free case of water. This time, my out of pocket is $1.43 ($5.4 - $3.97), 12 cents per can.

Unfortunately, second store did not have many cans with labels with coupons. Well, they had some, but they were green beans and we don't eat them. So, I didn't get those.

I will probably stop by another store on my way home today to see if they have some.

Fiscal year end is over, and numbers are final. I can breath a little now.

I went to pay my tuition yesterday, and paid off the rest of installments. $693.

I came home, checked mail, and found a mailer from Safeway that had $10 off from $50 purchase coupon. I was going to go grocery shopping anyway. Whenever I get this type of store coupons, I buy things I cannot find coupons, such as vegetables and meat, etc. So, I bought chicken, ground beef, baby back ribs, some veggies, milk, and OJ.

For dinner, I cooked tilapia that I bought and prepared at the dinner prep place. I will not sign up this month because I could not find anything attracted me in this month's menu.

I also baked a loaf of cinnamon bread using muffin mix, some cookies, and pre-cooked spare ribs for today's dinner. I have a class tonight, so I had to prepare something last night. Otherwise, my DH will just order pizza or something.

Yesterday was also store flyer day. Not much in Save Mart nor Safeway. But, Raley's had some good deals. They are giving out a free case of water (24 bottles) with 12 Del Monte product purchase, and canned veggies (60 cents each) are included in their participating products. My daughter's school runs a can drive every year and I have to donate some canned food anyway. I was totally out of canned veggies, too. Time to stock these babies up!

It was crazy busy yesterday. My company's fiscal year ended in September, and I had a lot of journal entries to do in order to expense many things. I started at 7:30 a.m. and couldn't take any break till 4 p.m. So, I ate my lunch at 4 p.m.... 25 cents Progresso soup comes handy in this type of occasion.

I also have school on Monday night, so I was at school from 6 to 9. I was exhausted by the time I got home.

It's time to make a to do list since I feel many things are slipping.

Things to do:
1. Send out rebate forms for Longs and Walgreens Due 10/6
2. Change an appointment for my daughter's driving practice
3. Obtain a passport application for my daughter
4. Order a birthday cake for my daughter
5. Pay tuition for my school Due 10/5
6. Order new contact lenses
7. Finish my tax project Due 10/8
8. Write about "supply chain mgmt" Due 10/5
9. Contact my partner about the debate for our philosophy class Debate on 10/25

Oh, I almost forgot, but Target have Gold Fish crackers for $1.25 this week. There's Target coupon for 50 cents off, and manufacture coupon to use with. Get some cheap Gold Fish.

I'm on my little weekend trip with my daughter and a couple of her best friends. This trip is her 16th birthday gift.

We left Sacramento this morning, stopped by Outlet in Vacaville for few hours. Then, drove through Golden Gate Bridge and took route 1.

It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon drive, and traffic was not bad at all. It is just beautiful here.

We will go to Monterey aquarium tomorrow. Girls are really excited about it.

I will be working on my homework and project, though.

This trip will cost quite a bit, but I clip coupons and save money in other areas so I can do things really matter to me.

I made a quick trip to Walgreens near my office during lunch time.

I bought:
Zicam (Cold medicine) $6 - $4 (rebate) - $0.5 (coupon)
Tylenol Cold (Daytime) $5 - $1 cpn.
Tylenol Cold (Nighttime) $5 - $1 cpn.
Tylenol Extra Strength 100 tablets + 25% bonus : ) ($7.5 - $1 cpn) x 2
Pantene hair spray $4.99 - $4.99 rebate = Free
Rimmel make up $8.99 - $8.99 rebate = Free
Aquafresh toothbrush $3.99 - $3.99 rebate = Free
Tax $3.80
Since I bought $25 worth of participating products (Tylenol), I got $10 catalina, and I will get the rebate that is 10% more since I will request it to be reimbursed to my gift card.

So, after coupons & rebates, my final price is $14.50 including sales tax.

The wonderful "Buy 20 get $20 off" deal at Safeway ended yesterday. I stocked up some Capri Sun, and I was done with the deal. With Kellogg, Quaker, and Safeway deal, I'm stocked up on cereals, oatmeal, granola bars, fruits snacks, Capri Suns, Progresso soup, and cake/muffin mixes. We will be fine in the breakfast and snack dept. for next several months.

Now, I'm keeping my eyes on cold medicines for upcoming winter. Walgreen's was giving out an immunity booster by Thera Flu last week and I wish I made an efforts to get more. I only got one just see what it's like, and it really worked well. I like Thera Flu in general, and I actually "pay" for them.

We got our cost accounting test back, and I got 91% which isn't too bad. Only 4 people got more than 90% for the test, so I'm happy with my score. Now, I'm working on my tax project which isn't going too smoothly. I always used Tax software when I filed my tax, and ours isn't that complicated like the case in project. I need to ask my classmates how they're doing. I have one paper to write by Friday, and need to watch my philosophy class video.

As for work, we are wrapping up for the fiscal year end. Next week is going to be pretty crazy closing all the numbers. We missed the sales target, but we are fine with the profits. So, I'm not too worried. I'm just watching movements of my business assets nervously.....

Not too much was going on this weekend in terms of deals. I spent my Saturday morning in my classroom, went straight to DD's school where she had a marching band practice. We also went to get our hair cuts that was waaaaay overdue.

I started my project for the tax class, but I was so confused how my teacher gave us the project material. So, I did what I could, and stopped doing it.

Baked a loaf of banana bread and peanut butter cookies. I guess I was bored on Sunday.

By the way, my DD's homecoming week is coming up. She needs to find a dress (and we need to buy it....), then, hair, make up, shoes, etc.... Ahhhh! Homecoming week is crazy busy and expensive, too.

I stopped by Target to get more free tuna. I don't have enough nerve to get 10 free tuna at visit LOL So, I'm doing like two or three at a time. I needed some contact lens solution anyway, so I was going to combine my free tuna with the solution purchase, so I pay something at the cashier when I check out. I really don't like to stand out by not paying anything at the cashier and walk away from the store.

Anyhow, I went to the eye care isle. OK, Renu was $6.99. Opti Free was also in that price range, but I have $1 off cpn. so I'm thinking, hmmmm, maybe I should go back to my car and get a coupon for it. Then, I found Target brand contact lens solution for $2.74!! It was the clearance price, but this is great price for the solution. I love Target : )

On top of the cheap contact lens solution, I got a couple more free 7 oz. tuna pouch.

You may think I'm doing so much drive around and wasting gas. Well, fortunately (or unfortunately), I live in the area saturated with stores. It happened AFTER we bought our house. After we moved

When I came home, I found a mail form Kellogg. Yeah!! I got my $10 back!! It really made my day.

I got some free Excedrin from Rite Aid. Keeping them in my office drawer.....

Excedrin 50 ct. (various kinds) 2 for $10
Less $2 cpn x 2 = $4
Less Rite Aid rebate $5
Less Excedrin rebate $2.99

$1.99 profit to cover tax and postage for the rebate

I took a day off from work yesterday. My workload is slow during the middle of the month, and will get really crazy towards month-end. So, I took a break.

Also, I had the first exam for cost accounting last night. So, I wanted to study a little. It was nice to be able to spend a couple of hours reading the book and review some things for the test.

Anyhow, I found a lady who is trading her Quaker rebate form. I sent her a message and traded with coupons she wanted. This is going to be a money maker since I paid $3.5 for the products and will get $5 back. I love the deals like this.

I also bought some hair color. OK, I confess. I always went to salon to get my hair colored. Yes, it's expensive! But I was afraid I screw it up and my hair will look terrible. Well, I don't care anymore. I'm at the age I really don't care what other people think how I look. So, I went ahead and colored hair myself, and it turned out to look pretty darn good! I'm so happy because I spent little $$ buying hair color.

I bought 6 boxes of Garnier hair color at Longs.
$4.99 per box x 6 = $29.94
Less three BOGO cpn -$14.97
Less "Buy $25 and get $10" Longs rebate -$10
Final price $4.97 for 6 boxes of hair color, 82.8 cents per box. I'm set for next six months, I guess.

It took me FOREVER to come to work this morning because there was 5 car accident on I-80. I'm already exhausted.

I have my first test for Cost Accounting Class and I need to study. So, I decided to take a day off tomorrow. I have about 120 hours of paid time off, and I should use some. My PTO was accumulated to more than 200 hours, then I took three weeks vacation to go to Japan. I'm comfortable having around 100 hours of PTO in my book.

I need to start planning about the trip to Monterey the end of this month. I'm taking my DD and her two friends to Monterey. This is my DD's 16th B.D. gift trip. I googled a map and it's about 200 miles from Sacramento. I'm thinking about route 1 just to enjoy the scenery. It's so beautiful to drive from San Francisco to Monterey. I need to skip my Saturday class, but it's o.k. I will still do my paper and submit, so I can earn some points for it.

BTW, I got some free tuna from Target last night. I will make some tuna sandwich for lunch tomorrow

I forgot about it. Fall is a great season. Everyone seems to catching up after deal drought summer.

Free tuna: Starkist tunas are $1.50 at target. With $1 manufacture and 50 cents Target cpn, free tuna.

Safeway deal: Buy 20 get $20 off deal is still going on till next week. So far, I stocked up on muffin mix, Progresso soup, granola bars, etc. I heard individual Snapple may be participating item. If it's true, they are free, too.

Garnier: Longs Drug is running Garnier rebate, buy $25 get $10 gift card. It's time to match up cpns, and their prices. I know there's BOGO cpns for hair color. It may come handy.

It's 10:30 in the morning, and I already did two deals.

First Safeway:
16 cans of Progresso soup
4 boxes BC Fruit rolle up snacks
Final price $5.30

Second Safeway:
1 Eating right frozen dinner
2 Warm delight mini bowl
1 Dreyer's 1.75 Qt. ice cream
Final price $1.80

I love when all the deals come out the way it's supposed to be!!

And I'm writing this blog LOL

I had some time to relax during summer because I didn't take any classes. Now, I'm taking four classes, and constantly doing something while working full-time. It's crazy.

My daughter also volunteers me to her student body activities as a parent's help. I'm also the treasure for her marching band's parent support group.

So, I don't have much time to do things around house. It is not really good for my mental health to see a pile of laundry or dishes in the sink. OK, I have a husband who hardly helps me in the house. He does "yard work" like he has so much to do.

We've been married for 20 yrs. and I know it's waste of my time to ask him to do something. So, I don't. And, no, I don't want the "D" word. It's not worth it.

Anyhow, now back to study for my first exam next week, cook dinner, clean the sink, finish up laundry, and make a grocery shopping list.

Gee! I haven't been to Safeway this week to do any deals! I should take a day off next week from work.

It's only second week into the fall semester, and I'm already tired. So many things to do and too little time....

Nice thing is that the subjects I'm taking is pretty interesting. It really is worth my time.

I will go to the dinner preparation place tonight and prep some meals. I don't think I will sign up for October because I didn't find the menu attractive enough to pay more than $10 per mea. I learned how to prepare meals in advance with pre-made sauce with zip-loc bag from them. I also got a nice hint about the ingredients they use they are suitable for freezing. I consider the fee I paid as a lesson fee.

I still haven't got FAR items from Walgreens this month. Just been too busy!! I should make a quick trip today.

I went to Save Mart last night, and bought 5 boxes of Quaker oatmeals.

$2 per box x 5 = $10
Less 70 cents coupon x 5 = $3.5
Less $3 in ad coupon
Final price $3.50

I received muffin mix coupons from coupon clipping service yesterday Just in time. The sale ends today for BC muffin mix. I used my last box on Sunday, and need more of these.

So, here I go to Safeway near my office. Not so good news was their price was 19 cents more than the store near my house.

Well, I thought about it for a second, and decided to pay 19 cents more per box for 18 boxes, which come out to $3.42 more, since Safeway gave me a nice $10 additional discount last time.

I bought 18 boxes of muffin mix and 2 boxes of Go tarts! Final price $14.42.

I know I can get cake mix for free, but I did the similar deal last year and got a lot of cake mix and muffin mix.

I used all of muffin mix while I still have about 10 boxes of cake mix left.

Lesson: Get more muffin mix even I have to pay for them because I will use them for sure.

I took a quick trip to Rite Aid during lunch.

Our dogs need new blankets and they have a fleece blanket for $2.49 this week. Also, a couple of FAR (free after rebate items) and free deodorant.

I bought:

4 fleece blanket $2.49 x 4 = $9.96
Colgate toothpaste $2.49 (FAR) - .75 coupon = .75 profit
Deodorant (.99 x 2) - ($1 x 2 coupon) = 0.02 profit
Imodium EZ chew $5.99 (FAR) Free

I complained about the oblivious cahier the other day. Well, sometimes it works for our benefit.

I went to Safeway yesterday. The coupons I ordered for muffin mix haven't arrived yet, so I was holding to do any deals. But yesterday was the last day for Kraft catalina deal, so I gathered up coupons I have and headed to Safeway. This time, it's the different Safeway from the one I was talking about the other day. People are nicer here.

To make sure the deal works correctly, (as I said before, Safeway deals often are a headache to deal with) I got exactly 20 items and went to check out. At the end, total was $27.38. I though "there's no way these items cost $27.38!" So, I went straight to the customer service counter and told the lady $20 didn't come off. The girl looked at my receipt and the ad I pointed out, but has no idea about the deal.

She asked me what I bought, and she noticed one item I bought was a cake frosting. She told me "it's not in the picture here." I told her "There are more participating items that are not in the picture, and you can go to safeway.com and look at the list." The customer service lady stopped looking at my receipt and simply gave me $20 back, no hassle. Thank you!

After I went back to my car, I was thinking, I know this is a good deal, but I didn't have very many high value coupons, and now the price seems to be too low. $7.38 for 20 items....hmmmm.

I came home and examined my receipt. Well, the way they deduct discount is like step by step. The register scans 5 qualifying items, and takes $5 off, another 5 items, another $5 off, then takes off $10 after the rest of 10 qualifying items are scanned. So, I actually had $10 off already which I didn't realize because I didn't examine the receipt carefully before I went to the customer service. My thinking was "$27.38? No way! Gosh, the safeway computer is making a mistake again!"

So, thanks for the oblivious customer service lady. I got $10 extra discount.

Here's the items I bought:
6 boxes of Capri Sun
2 boxes of BC cake mix
2 BC frosting
2 BC muffin mix
2 boxes of popcorn
2 boxes of Kellogg fruit snack
2 Old el paso Salsa
2 Old el paso Enchilada dinner kit

The real price for all these items was supposed to be $17.38, but I got these for $7.38 due to the error. I think Enchilada dinner kit caused this problem. The store had the tag for this product, but I don't think this is the participating item, only taco dinner kits are. I wonder how store people tag their products????

Anyway, since I bought 5 participating items for Kraft catalina deal, I got $3 catalina. So, the real final price is $4.38.

I'm hoping to receive muffin mix coupons today, so I can stock up some muffin mix.

Ohhhhh, I'm in heaven. What a great coupon day!

There are 4 inserts in today's paper. One of them is for Betty Crocker products that I can use very well with Safeway's "Buy 20 get $20 off" promotion.

Today is the day to invest in papers. (Not to read, but to get coupons LOL)

My Saturday class started today. No more sleeping in on Saturdays for next four months.

Got my latte and filled up gas, and off to school. It's the Operation Management class, and I like the subject. I will start writing my paper after this blog.

I will be studying this afternoon, and tomorrow, too. Cheap way to spend a weekend.

I've been stocking up cheap cereals these days. Next week is time to stock up some cheap oatmeal.

70 cents Quaker oatmeal coupons will be coming up this Sunday. I'm planning to buy 5 of them at Save Mart.

$2 x 5 = $10
Less .70 coupon x 5 = $3.5
Less $3 in ad coupon

Final price $3.5 for five, make them 70 cents per box. If I remember right, there are 10 pouches in the box, so 7 cents per breakfast.

I stopped by Safeway to get my coffee this morning. Then, I decided to pick up some cheap cereal, too.

In their ad, Post cereals were 4 for $6. Well, I should know better. The deal at Safeway, especially this one particular store, is a hassle. I bought 4 boxes, and rang up as $10. The register was supposed to take $4 off at the end of the transaction!! I know this cashier in the early morning shift who has "I just work here" attitude. So, it's a waste of time to talk to her. I asked her about the deal anyway, but of course her answer was "I don't know anything about it." HELLOOOO!! Check your store flyer!!

So, I have to stop by the customer service this evening on my way home. Crap!

I want to tell Safeway management. You have very nice promotions, but your execution SUCKS!! Many products are not tagged correctly, not registered in the computer, talking to a cashier is a hassle, and sometimes customer service is a joke. I wonder if they are serious about staying in business.

By the way, assuming this deal works as it supposed to, the deal is like this.

4 boxes of Post cereals.

Sale price $2.5 per box x 4 = $10
Promotion discount -$4 (You need to buy 4 in one shopping order.)
Coupons $1/2 x 2 = -$2
Then, they will give you $3 catalina, a coupon you can use for next shopping.

Final price, $1 for 4 boxes of cereal. 25 cents per box.

UPDATE
I stopped by the store after work, and got my $4 back!! Yeah!

Safeway is having buy 20 items and get $20 off promotion. I need to come up with an idea to get things really cheap....or even free.

So far, I'm thinking about getting some mixes and Capri Suns. Cake mixes are really cheap, or free after coupons, but I still have some from last year's sales. Hmmmm..... should I get those since they're free anyway?

I will buy some muffin mix for sure, though. 50 cents per box for muffin mix is a good price.