Okay, so I have a bundle of coupons for hair coloring, but I was more focused on finding the right hair color than getting a bargain.

I chose what seemed to be the easiest and less, um...noticeable-in-case-of-failure product...Clairol Natural Instincts.

It WAS easy to apply. It took FOREVER to rinse "until water runs clear". Did I mention I have LONG red hair?

The hair is great, the color, well, since my hair was previously colored, I probably should have done the roots first, then pulled through to the ends. But since I wasn't sure it was a real color match, I followed the instructions and started at the roots.

The overall color is nice. A bit redder than usual (except the roots, which are perfect), and not quite as much coverage of the one white streak I have. Then again, the box says to use a different product for coloring major grays (it's NOT gray! It's White!)

Overall...yes, I'd do it again. Maybe a different product, different color, but I can afford to try a few different things. And $5 - 10 versus $120 or so every six weeks, definitely fits into the savings challenge.

How well it holds up...TBD. But my hair feels BETTER than usual.

So this week's saving challenge, I'm calling a success.

Jen, how did yours go?

I don't have much grey hair, but the red is fading with age, and the blonde is well, a bit ashy. At least, I think so. I've been having my hair highlighted for 15 years. Somewhere under there used to be gorgeous red hair.

Last year's savings, I switched to all over color. The cost for my cut and color, along with DH's, went from $250 every six weeks, to $150 every six weeks.

Still...once again, Diva Jen, well, you started me on Target...

They have swatches of synthetic hair next to each box of color (and there are shelves FULL of products), so I can actually see the color of the treated hair.

Hmmm...the hair color DOES look MUCH better on the model on the box.

But, it does seem ridiculous to waste so much money on a simple vanity that I should be able to do myself, and better, right? Right?

ACK!!!

So, this week, sometime, I'm going to color my own hair, for the first time.

Like I needed the stress.

If I'm fluorescent, at least you can't see me in cyber space!

But the savings...over a year...without coupons, is still YIKES $120, over a year, that's...painful! (I'm skipping the hair cut this week out of fear, but DH still needs regular cuts, and we both have extremely wavy hair, so do it ourselves there is just not practical -- yet).

DH offered to finish up the mulching without me, just around the bases of the trees...so I've been online getting through email and taking SURVEYs. Since I posted on the evil marketing of the unpaid survey, they swamped me with free product trial surveys, much to my delight. Actually, my arm is numb...too much time and the office is really set up for my DH, not my ergonomics.

He worked on the grape arbors, maybe we will have grapes planted some day. Blueberries are thick and full, and even though we've been having heavy downpours, quite a few of the fruit trees held their fruit. Quite a bit on the ground, too, but Ms. Deer will take care of that.

Dinner tonight was to be spinach salads, but I've changed to spinach omelets. Frig is still heavy laden.

Okay, well, beautiful weather today, so we are, of course, back to the mulch pile. 50 cubic yards so far, more to go.

I wore out the pair of leather gloves, so switched over to a similar pair only with suaded palms. And fingertips. Which leaked through...yep, black finger tips.

A good bit of dirt and sun, even with the sunscreen, and the gardening gloves, well, my little white paws and tan arms with black nails definitely remind me of the Corgi pup. Feet...well, I did wear tennies...actually great running shoes that don't run well...and are breathable. Yep, black TOES, white rims around the ankles from the short socks.

Face should be pink from all the exertion and sun...but, well, when Dove said that free sample of energy glow would make a light bronze color, I don't think they planned for pink skin underneath. Add a bit of orange to the mix.

So, will be "testing" how great those laundry detergent samples really are! I'm a Clorox girl, but Shout and Wisk work...we'll see about the Gain and other free samples.

Then again, the Gain Apple Mango Tango (?)...maybe I will SMELL like I look, all swirled and fruity!

One of my personal challenges this year is to stop just throwing out products that I try and can't use. It easy to just move on and take the financial loss, but much harder to live with the financial loss.

A few weeks ago, I received a free sample of a Dove facial cleanser. I liked it. It went on sale, I had a coupon...but the store didn't have it in stock. They did have a similar Dove product on sale, and that my coupon worked for, so I purchased it. But, when I used the cleansing pillow, it scratched my skin, and I promptly broke out in a rash.

I put it aside for a few days. But, I do have this commitment, and this blog to keep me committed (or to have me committed?). So, I emailed Dove about the problem.

Even I don't know everything that goes on in the marketplace. Turns out that Dove had a major recall of one of it's facial cleansers a few months ago. Completely unrelated, but...

I received via overnight express:

1. post-paid mailing address to return the product

2. full refund of the retail price, even though I had noted I used coupons and sales

3. four coupons for free full sized Dove products, retail over $20

4. a self-addressed envelope to send a note from my doctor in, should I wish any medical costs be reimbursed.

Hmmmm...

so I emailed P&G about the expired coupon they sent me. HOW RUDE OF THEM! They responded that it was in fact supposed to be a coupon for a free product, and they would send not only that free product coupon, but additional ones.

Piping up is paying off!

I won't add the $ to the challenge; I will be donating the coupons to the coupon trains.

I will be renewing my commit to contact the manufacturers when things don't work out. I don't plan to continue to MAKE money this way, but I don't plan on wasting as much, either.

Me.

As part of our gardening odyssey of savings, DH upgraded our mulch to a high quality. Hmm...very dark. Mulch is usually very dark in a wet pile, but fades out once it dries in the sun. So...I didn't think too much about it...

SLATHERED myself in sun screen. Red headed, fair skinned me.

Turns out, DH paid extra to buy the permanently dyed mulch...black...and it is quite stunning. It resists fading, so keeps that beautiful freshly laid look year round. So they say.

And it was still such a huge savings!!! I'm thrilled!!!

Except...I wore sandals for part of the day. Didn't really look at the bottoms of my feet when I showered yesterday. Knees were a bit dark. But today...knees are BLACK. Feet are BLACK. It won't scrub off. It won't PUMICE off!

That's when DH tells me he bought PERMANENTLY DYED black mulch...and yep, it's PERMANENTLY on me. With the sunburn, the black feet, and the white lines of where the sun stopped and my shirt and shorts were...well, I'm quite a sight!

So, a tiny extra expensive from this garden savings. And I really do hate to say this, it goes against everything...but if we saved $4500 on gardening, I am going to spend $20 and get some nice bath gel to SOAK this stuff off in!

AH.

This is, of course, the downfall of any savings plan. Saving money and considering the savings as something to be spent elsewhere. NEVER EVER EVER allow yourself to do this. Saving is the reward!

Unless you have permanently dyed black knees and feet.

Well, as you can see from my last post, we got through the murder, and life returned to normal, so back to coupons!

The murder, well, teenage road rage, just happened to be at the court house, mid day, with dozens of people and police officers around...one of the kids pulled a knife, and then they ran. Not unusual for city life, but for the sleepy little down with one Main Street, the first murder in 20 years. And having police and news helicopters hovering for hours while every thing was roped off certainly shut the town down for awhile.

Yesterday and today we have continued on the mulch. DH decided (after years of my encouragement) that we should put landscape fabric down in areas without ground cover. Added to the work, looks great. But, it's 91F outside, and we are taking a break. Still lots to do.

Doing some additional trimming and things we have hired out in the past. I'm not afraid to hang atop a 3 story ladder, as long as DH is holding it. And, he's much stronger this year, and can dig out a trench or haul loads much easier.

So, our gardening savings this year, compared to paying for the same (not as good!) work the past three years, is now...

$4500.

Unbelieveable to me, but we never added up ALL the different spring time costs before. Occasionally we've done a small piece of it before, but since we initially did the back breaking work of landscaping, maintenance has been shared with many people with deep pockets. And, since they don't CARE about the quality of work as much as WE do, since we live with it all year, we are doing a careful and better job, especially in areas we know are problem areas.


Ah...if I had a savings category for gardening, this would go into it

Finishing it continues to be our weekly challenge.

Today brought $5 in rebate from Green Giant (I don't even remember this one!).

The Kraft food and family magazine did arrive, with an insert, but only one coupon for my region.

Working on the mulching. It started to rain, so I took a break and wrote up some Rx savings tips (you did ask for them ). Now...back to the mulching!

Dinner, agh...was supposed to cook beef ribs, but didn't get them started yet, so tv dinners, Lean Cuisine and lots of protein bars, probably.

Back to the MULCH PILE (it's winning the war so far!)

Current savings:\\
2006 $20 challenge: $4351
2006 grocery savings: $5825

We have just received a notice that the maintenance/warranty on our dryer is about to expire. The cost to continue is $200 a year. Ridiculous!

But, somehow, DH and I both fall prey to these expenses fairly easily. He just purchased a new laptop, which seemed a great deal on sale at $1000. When the clerk rang it up, he said of course we will want the extended warranty, and the accidental warranty and maintenance agreement. DH said yeah...and the total shot to $2K.

I said WAIT A MINUTE (one of those times when we balance each other )...just how much is the warranty? Well, for four years, and for complete coverage and maintenance and connection to all your other devices, it's $250 a year.

Okay, so our house HAS been hit by lightning, and we've lost some modem and power supplies...

...but in four years, DH will likely rather buy a NEW computer, than that to have paid twice for the old one!

I did in fact fall for this five years ago, when I purchased the washer dryer set on my own. Busy day, needed item, a warranty and maintenance contact where they will maintain the items for four years, clean out the lint trap, repair and replace anything that's wearing out...$100 each item each year...but in the urgency of the moment, it seemed completely reasonable.

I asked DH about this today. After all, his policy is, if you are buying a premium item and paying a premium price, why does it need a warranty? If you pay extra for quality, it should have quality. If not, what are you doing?

So, why are we buying warranties and maintenace contracts? His simple response: "I never thought it all the way through."

The reality is, we don't USE warranties and maintenance contracts, except on the vehicles. Anything breaks, we fix it ourselves.

EASY: There is NO WAY that we can SIT ALL DAY to wait for a REPAIR person to come fix something that isn't broken. So out with the maintenance.

EMBARRASSMENT: There is NO WAY I am going to let a repair man see the gunk in my lint trap, or how dirty my refrigerator is (I'm told it's not, but, well, produce sheds!).

I'm sure I could get through all the E's.

Now, DH and I have designed, built, repaired and maintained state of the art equipment. We can replace bearings and washer and take things apart and put them back together.

Yet, we keep falling for the contracts.

So...DH is going through all of our warranty/maintenance/contracts and deciding what we NEED (cars), and what to dump, or get our money back.

And, I'm sticking with his question...if we pay premium for quality products, why DO we need a warranty or maintenance agreement?

DH and I did fairly well with the loose end projects last week. The insulation installed, and FREE with all those gift cards, will be a nice savings.

So for this week...we are going to mulch our own yard.

Sound easy? Consider two acres, 100 yards of mulch to spread.

But, we've paid $2700 each year for the last two years to have someone else do it! Now that we are back in the savings mode, it's time to cut that down. DH has already purchased the mulch, $900 total, and a better quality than before. So, by doing it ourselves (rain permitting), we will save around $1800!

I'll be physically sore, but financially happy!

DH and I are still catching up on all those little projects. Today is rainy and cool, so up into the attic to get that insulation in! He asked me NOT to join him this time, something about me still being a bit sick, and the possibility of my fainting or otherwise falling through the ceiling. DON'T ADD TO THE PROJECT LISTS!

He did run out of insulation so, off to Home Depot for a small amount more. Also picked up some fertilizer, twine, and a second pitch fork. Lesson of the weekend...do NOT try to SHARE one pitchfork with someone else while you are both trying to put down mulch with it...OUCH.

So, $98.28, and had the $100 gift cards from MyPoints, so NOTHING SPENT! The trick of using those cards is to not spend extra money!

Then, a quick run into the grocery; Birds Eye on sale 40% off, plus coupons...saved $32, paid $12.

Rebates came today, $60, and another $12 in surveys. That brings totals up to...


Current savings:\\
2006 $20 challenge: $4174
2006 grocery savings: $5825

Not counting the home depot, as it's not groceries, and I spent the cards, so not adding to anything.

Pot roast is in the dutch oven...it's not a savings if you throw it out, in my book. I'll throw in the carrots, onion, and potatoes later. Leftover onions...onion soup! Yum!!!

I realized that DH and I have gotten out of our habit of the weekly challenge. Starting it up in October, it was one of the most successful savings things we've done. Then came the holidays, and the crises, and things fell by the way side.

But, it's time to get back in the game!

So, this week is CLEAN UP savings time. By that I mean simply getting all those "need to" little things out of the way. Rebates that need to be sent, memberships we need to cancel, organizing and filing. Just the little things that add up until they make a major blockade for doing any of the BIG things.

Today, renewed the driver's license. It did take time, had to go to the eye specialist to have the form filled out and signed, had to get a picture taken and all that. Had some scripts refilled so we can send in the rebate coupons. Worked a bit in the yard watering, trimming, and mulching. Keeping the plants alive is one of the big money savers; the year of the assault, we let everything go, and have been replacing and trying to reestablish them ever since. Major cost for NOT doing something!

Hopefully we will get some of the home projects done this week too. We've already "purchased" all the supplies (FREE last December)...but it's wasted money if we don't use it!

So...that's our challenge for the week.