flash's saving Blog

Been working on articles about saving money, couponing...and a trick to get around that "no printables" rule...hopefully Jeffrey will have them on the site soon! I've definitely filled up his inbox!

Keeping landscaping up can be expensive. A few tips...

1. Use those rewards/points/MyPoints and survey rewards to get Home Depot, Lowe's, etc. cards. In the last few months I've had $150 in g/c earned that went to Home Depot. Tools, fertilizer, peet...

2. If you have hard water and use a softener system, like we do...turn it off when you water! The plants need to keep their "native" environment, and we save $$ by conserving the salt and other softener resouces. They are expensive!

3. If you evergreens need an immediate boost, rhodadedron/azalea fertilizer, like Miracle Gro for azaleas, will revive them quickly to a lush green.

4. Water and time can be expensive. If it's going to rain, SPRINKLE the immediate dry fertilizer (Miracle Gro, Schultz, bloom booster...) over the areas before the rain comes in, and allow the rain to dissolve it and feed. A great way to get the ground cover to fill in quickly after winter.

Blinkies
75 cents any one Egg Beaters exp. 6/30/06


Tear Pad
$2 when you buy any 1 Nabisco Multi-pack AND any 2 participating Kraft products Exp. 8/31/06

Rebate
Try Me Free ($2.99) Speed Stick with Irish Spring exp. 12/31/06
Try Me Free ($3.69) Aquafresh White and Shine. Exp. 3/31/08 (tear pad, replaces previous Smartsource pullout)
B2 Lysol Wipes get 1 Lysol product free ($4.19) exp. 5/31/06

Booklets
Restocked Kraft calcium booklet
Restocked Safeway Picnics to Parties booklet ($1 on any O organic)
Restocked [u]Rite Aid allergy booklet (exp. 7/29/06)
$1 NasalCrom Allergy Spray
$1 Visine
$1 Sudafed PE
$1 Zicam
$3 Nasal Comfort Mist
$1 Dayquil sinus
$1.50 Claritin
$1 Benadryl

Loose
$1 FastFixin’, exp. 12/31/06
$1 any package of Bear Essential diapers or training pants, any size. Exp. 12/31/06

[b]Expired/[b]
$1 on one Kraft singles with any Oscar Meyer Shaved deli meat (4/30/06)
$1 produce with one kraft grated cheese (2/2/06)

Okay, it finally paid off...the Breyers Fruit Swirls and ice cream coupons for the news products began with this weekends Unilever circular.

So, the $6 product that I have a rain check at $1 each...now I have coupons for 75 cents off. That makes each 25 cents!

If you didn't get a rain check, stay tuned, there are more offers, and more seasonal offers, coming.

Ragu Organic continues at $1 a jar, with that 75 cents coupon...25 cents.

It's still a soccer field!

I'm still trying to minimize these photos...but here's my soccer field!

Not much happening today, although I've been working!

DH is planting more replacements. Takes hours for a few, since the ground is hard and tree roots are thick.

The grocerycouponguide.com article on couponing fundamentals is posted:

Couponing Fundamentals

An article explaining all those in-store coupon finds, and where to find them, should be out soon.

I've been collecting info today, loads of lists on brand contacts, newsletters, and sources of coupons. There is just so much to say! And type...ouch!

If you are looking for coupons on Kraft products, they publish a coupon finder during the week before the Sunday inserts come out. To find the coupons you want, just type in your zipcode and select all papers.

Kraft Coupon Finder

An example for the results in the Baltimore area:

INQUIRER-PHILADELPHIA
A1 Marinade
A1 Seafood Marinade
A1 Steak Sauce
Boca Burgers
Breakstone's Sour Cream
Bull's Eye Barbecue Sauce
Kraft Grated Parmesan Cheese
Kraft Mayonnaise
Kraft Natural Cheese Crumbles
Louis Rich Chicken Strips
Oscar Mayer Bologna
Oscar Mayer Corn Dogs
Oscar Mayer Hot Dogs
Philadelphia Cream Cheese

POST-NEW YORK
A1 Marinade
A1 Seafood Marinade
A1 Steak Sauce
Boca Burgers
Breakstone's Sour Cream
Bull's Eye Barbecue Sauce
Kraft Grated Parmesan Cheese
Kraft Natural Cheese Crumbles
Louis Rich Chicken Strips
Oscar Mayer Bologna
Oscar Mayer Corn Dogs
Oscar Mayer Hot Dogs
Philadelphia Cream Cheese

POST-WASHINGTON
A1 Marinade
A1 Seafood Marinade
A1 Steak Sauce
Boca Burgers
Breakstone's Sour Cream
Bull's Eye Barbecue Sauce
Kraft Grated Parmesan Cheese
Kraft Mayonnaise
Kraft Natural Cheese Crumbles
Louis Rich Chicken Strips
Oscar Mayer Bologna
Oscar Mayer Corn Dogs
Oscar Mayer Hot Dogs
Philadelphia Cream Cheese

SUN-BALTIMORE
A1 Marinade
A1 Seafood Marinade
A1 Steak Sauce
Boca Burgers
Breakstone's Sour Cream
Bull's Eye Barbecue Sauce
Kraft Grated Parmesan Cheese
Kraft Mayonnaise
Kraft Natural Cheese Crumbles
Louis Rich Chicken Strips
Oscar Mayer Bologna
Oscar Mayer Corn Dogs
Oscar Mayer Hot Dogs
Philadelphia Cream Cheese

SUNDAY NEWS-YORK
Breakstone's Sour Cream
Kraft Grated Parmesan Cheese
Kraft Mayonnaise

TEAR PADS

Free Bag ($4) Fresh Express Salad when you buy One Pulsar or Advantage Twin Pack toothbrush – exp. 7/15/06

Booklets

Fiber Sure Mail in for a $2 coupon off of any size FiberSure, exp. 12/31/07 (yep, 07)

Kraft Calcium Short Cuts booklet – exp 7/31/06:
75 cents off Kraft Singles
75 cents Ritz Crackers
75 cents Honey Maid Graham Honey Sticks
55 cents Jello Pudding (4.5 oz box)
75 cents Kraft String-ups
75 cents Triscuit crackers

I rarely surprise myself, but the onion soup was really good! The only part left from the pot roast dinner was two onions, and I added the last 3 onions from the bag, chopped it all up and caramalized, added the water/bouillion/stock. Tore up the bread DH bought and put on top with the last of some Emmanthaler cheese and provolone (holidays) and broiled.

The rest of the bread, checked for mold...then used a jar of artichokes that came from a Christmas basket, processed them up to a tapenade, added in home dried tomatoes from Dad's garden, spread on the bread, sprinkled with some Kraft mozzarella that was free with something awhile back, broiled...YUM!!!

Just enough for a rerun tonight.

No waste, lots of WANT!

Today, well, I sent out the pacific train, sent a welcome packet to BignRichFan, sorted out the Southern train, prepared welcome packs for 8 to be sent tomorrow.

It wasn't too bad, except for the two people with wishlists 30+ long. Impossible to remember when I'm sorting through my coupons.

I did receive the organic coupons for earth day, and I think they are really nice. $9 worth, good products we actually have here.

Watered the yard a bit. Hubbie is planting. Replacement plants, and he's depressed. It's such a waste of money to have to replace plants, but we have one area where the birch trees fight for water and knot up other plants roots. Planted, it's beautiful. Otherwise, quite ugly, and the animals use it, well, it's not nice.

So, down to cook up the leftover roast onions and such into a nice french onion soup. Use up that bread and cheese, too!

Whoops...didn't quite mean to open up an entire subject here. Generic are not usually brand names. I'll do an article about it...

Lysol is currently running 4 rebate programs. BOGO cleaner, B2 toilet cleaner get 1 any product, B2 wipes, get 1 any product, B2 sprays, get 1 any product.

I don't use that much Lysol! But there are a few things I use, and I'm taking advantage of these!

For example, Buy One Get One...mildew remover went on sale for $1.59 with the club card (rings up at $3, discount is applied at the end). I can use it for cleaning the deck and the basement stairs. I had 2 $1 coupons...Bought 2 for 59 cents each. Sent in the rebate, which they reimbursed for the full $3 (Lysol policy). FREE.

DH prefers the Lysol toilet bowl cleaner (hey, if he is willing...!). Bought two on sale, again with $1 coupons on each, and for my third FREE item (after rebate), I picked up the largest package of Lysol wipes they had. The wipes were slightly more than the rebate maximum, but the rebate came for the maximum amount, so I pay 19 cents for a $5 package of wipes.

For the B2G1 wipes, I purchased the two smallest packages, which were free after coupons and sale prices, and purchased the largest package of wipes available on sale and with a coupon. Again, slightly more than the rebate price, but after the rebate, I paid 19 cents for the largest.

Note, I did NOT pay for the largest items. I used them to meet the requirements of buy ANY xxx. For the FREE ITEM rebate, I bought the largest I could, used a coupon, and even though it was above the rebate price, did VERY well.

Be creative in using rebates and special offers. Think outside of box. Is it better to get a small item for free, or a very large item for almost free? Wait for the sale, the coupon, and use the rebate on the best deal you can find.

Oh...why so many wipes? Well, one, I volunteer at a medical facility. Two, well, the Corgi licks EVERYTHING. EVERYTHING!

So, that's my tip of the day

Every sale, coupon, or other promotion has a reason. Often it’s seasonal. For example, smart shoppers don’t buy fresh fruit and produce out of season. The price of a cup of fresh blueberries or a pound of asparagus is generally 3 – 5 times costlier out of season! Instead, they find fresh produce on sale and freeze, can, or otherwise preserve a “stockpile” of it for the off months.

Holiday stockpiling is also common. Turkey or ham are typically loss leaders for holiday shoppers, and those after Christmas clothing sales give great savings for later gifts.

Other seasonal savings may be less obvious. Manufacturers purchase shelf space in your local store. The addition of a new product means they need to compete to buy more of the available shelf space, or more typically sell out old items to make room for their new ones. So…ice cream is goes on sale at the end of winter to make space for new flavors and products. Soup goes on sale at the end of summer, when again, the shelves need to be cleared for the fresh harvest and new products.

Take the time to think through these cycles, and you can take advantage of some great opportunities.

Sound complicated? Here’s a current example:

Breyer’s, a popular U.S. ice cream manufacturer, will be introducing new flavors and products this summer. In January/February, they introduced “in store” coupons (blinkies) of $1 on any one item. The retail price of $6 meant a “fair” savings. However, stores that didn’t carry this coupon had sales, continuing down over a few weeks…2/$9…then 2/$7. The manufacturer’s coupon from the first store could be taken and used at the store having the sale price. A better savings.

Once the coupon stock had been depleted, sale prices decreased even more. Buy One Get One Free (BOGO). Shopper who had held on to the coupons waiting for a better deal found it. But then…prices dropped to $1.50. Great with the coupon!

After the coupons expired, the price dropped further. $10/10. Very good. The stores supplies were quickly exhausted.

Why the huge discount? Breyer’s is redoing their packaging. Consumers don’t buy old ice cream in old packaging when new ice cream in new packaging is clearly visible. New flavors and novelties also need shelf space. So those shelves have to be cleaned out of old product!

What to do now? The savvy shopper was not out of luck!

Once the product was out of stock, the sale price could be captured on a rain check! Why? Rain checks are basically a coupon for the sale price, and don’t usually expire for one year. That 10/$10 pricing on a rain check will still be in effect when the new packages come out, along with new coupons introducing the new line!

The price of the new product will return to $6, or slightly higher! While everyone else is spending a fortune for the newest flavors, with the rain check you will only spend $1 each minus whatever coupons you have!


How can you find these savings? Ask yourself WHY certain items are on sale. Pay attention to trends. When the Reveal light bulbs came out, GE’s energy saver bulbs dropped from $9 each to $1. GE reintroduced the energy savers with a package indicating they will save $47 a year on electricity.

As organic, natural, omega-3, no trans fat, all come to be “must haves” in product labeling, the old packages will be cleared as quickly as possible. Watch for the changes, and you can capture significant savings.

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!!!

Simple Green is running a promotion, but their site security certificate currently has a problem. Email them, tell them that you want the coupons but there is a problem with their security certificate. Mention you are on septic, and would really like to try their products.

Did this Friday, received a PILE of coupons.

Today's mail brought $102 in rebate checks! Several from groceries, and $80 from computer equipment.

Also, another $10 from surveys.

And a very pleasant gift, $20 donated to a charity for a professional survey I took.

So, in terms of the $20 challenge and groceries (saved $12 today)


Current savings:
2006 $20 challenge: $4114
2006 grocery savings: $5793

DH happily invited me to blog on this one.

Evidently while we were purchasing the new Calcephon dutch oven (free), I mentioned it would be great for a pot roast. I've never had a dutch oven...so two days ago, while I was getting a rain check, he snuck a pot roast into the cart!

Okay, it was on sale, and a very good price and quality.

Today, potatoes and carrots went on sale, so with the remaining onions bought for the fajitas...well, it's time for a pot roast.

So, a quick shoping excursion!

I shop with my DH whenever possible. He's not only my best friend, he is also a great reality check on sales and reminding me of what we already have too much of at home.

He is, however, is "immune" to advertising. I don't know if he has a genetic mutation, an antibody, or just a resistance growing up in a corporate family. He does not notice tv ads, magazine ads, internet banner ads, even the amazingly annoying AOL popup ads on their welcome page.

He is quite proud of this.

We walked down the juice aisle, and found a giant bottle of Ocean Spray cranberry juice, half price. ONE had a giant collar coupon for $1 off.

I said "could you grab the one with the coupon?"

He said "what?"...which was followed by a series of "huh?", "where?", "what are you talking about?", "WHERE?"...

I pointed to it. RIGHT UP THERE. THE COUPON.

"HUH?"

And so it went. We continued walking, chatting, he remained oblivious to all the little blinking lights of coupon machines, grinding out their offerings, and sale banners fluttering under fans.

We were almost to the checkout, when I realized I forgot the free-after-coupon toothpaste. Just time to circle back...double check to see if they had a Hamburger Helper coupon one of the train members was looking for...and no DH to be seen!

I stopped, I waited, I looked around. Nowhere to be found. He's 6'5", so fairly hard to miss...

Then a soft nuzzle on my ear, and the sweet nothings of "I didn't see any blinking lights"...then..."but I found these..."

20 $1 off any Prairie Grove Farms natural pork product. Doesn't expire until '07!

I had walked RIGHT PAST THEM!

Definitely having an off day!

But...how did DH spot them? They were completely hidden away on the back of a meat shelf...

His answer?

"Come on, flash, it's MEAT!"

Now if only *I* can learn this lesson from him. Be oblivious to the sales, offers, coupons, rebates, and every other promotion for items I don't actually WANT or NEED. Only see ones that really matter.

That's the best tip of all.

Everyone knows to look for the *4* inserts today/tomorrow...but there are a few surprises, too!

First, Safeway is inserting their picnics brochures, which has a fold out on the back cover for $1 on O organic, and two other safeway coupons.

Second, Glide has a free sample, with a note to look for the coupon in the P&G insert.

Third...Rite Aid has a manufacturer's rebate for TRY IT FREE on Nice and Easy color booster, and several other things.

Make sure you skim through ALL the circulars, quite a few have MANUFACTURER rebates and coupons! Good at any store, but you won't find them unless you look in their ad!

Blinkies

75 cents on Egg Beaters, exp. 6/30/06
50 cents on Slammers milk, exp. 11/30/06
50 cents on Texas Toast, exp. 8/15/06
50 cents on Heinz Ketchup, exp. 5/28/06
$1 on 3 Kraft Natural Cheeses, exp. 5/28/06
75 cents on Freschetta Pizza, exp. 8/14/06
$1 on 2 Vlassic, exp. 5/31/06
$1 any Huggies diapers, 5/28/06
$1 any Huggies Little Swimmers swimpants, exp. 8/31/06
$1 any Pampers swimpants,
50 cents on 2 Yoplait yogurt, exp.6/19/06
55 cents any Lysol cleanser, exp. 6/19/06
50 cents on Bumble Bee salmon pouch, exp. 9/30/06
25 cents Dixie plates, exp. 6/04/06
$1 ANY 3 General Mills cereals, exp. 6/19/06
$1 on 3 Healthy Choice meals, exp. 5/27/06
55 cents on BlueBunny, exp. 5/31/06
30 cents on LandoLakes Buttery spread, exp. 7/31/06
55 cents on Athenos or Digiorno cheese, exp. 6/30/06
$1 Cottonelle TP, exp. 8/13/06
$1 any one 4 pk or larger Scott TP, exp. 8/13/06
50 cents any one 4 pk or larger Scott TP, exp. 8/31/06
$1 ground beef with one Hamburger Helper - exp. 6/30

TearPads
$1 any Prairie Grove Farms pork product, exp. 2/01/07
$1 on 3 Chapstick, exp. 12/31/06

$4.50 rebate Bayer products
$1 off one Stoned Wheat Thins and One Athenos Feta Cheese (okay to double) - exp. 5/31

Free Frig pack coca-cola with 3 card purchase, exp. 05/30/06
Free 7.5 oz Nabisco cookies with 3 card purchase, exp. 05/30/06
Free votive candle set with 3 card purchase, exp. 5/30/06

$1 ANY one Tom's Main product, exp. 12/31
(combined with FREE $20 oral health program and journal from Tom's; for every request received they will donate $10 to a community dental clinic! look for loose coupons for the free, or tear pads for the combo of coupon and free offer.)

Loose piles

$1 off one any Morning Star Farms product -- exp. 7/31
$1 off Two packages any Eggo product - exp. 7/31


Collars:
$1 Maple Grove Farms dressings - exp. 10/31
$1 Oceanspray juice exp. 05/31/06


In boxes:
SPECIALLY MARKED BOXES, the outside says to look inside for up to $10 in savings.
I did. You have to take the box apart, the offers are printed in light gray on the inside of the box. It was worth it! There is another rebate form to receive $10 in coupons....

And a $1 coupon inside EACH BOX!

The rebate for coupons expires 10/31; the coupon expires 12/31/06


In free samples:

The "free Greenie" for dogs comes with a $25 coupon booklet on pet products...they are doublable (? meaning NOT marked DND), and range from $1 on greenies to manufacturer coupons for free products.

In the John Frieda new freebie, $1 on any products, exp. 10/31/06

Get the free Earth's Best baby food sample? Unfold the brochures to find 6 coupons on Earth's Best products.

My little sanctuary...always lots of work, but it saves money if you'd rather be home than away!

I woke up with a fever, 100F. Blech. Everything hurts.

Three things happen when I get sick:

1. I get emotional
2. I crave Taco Bell
3. I make bad decisions (see above).

All this great self-awareness, you think I would know better than to shop online. Any money matters are best made when I'm feeling, well, my best.

Silly me.

Those free business cards and stationery, well, they weren't free after they tacked on all the extras, like not putting their own advertisement on the back. That great deal on chocolate sounded SO good, but of course I shouldn't eat it, and I have plenty left from the December holidays! But something about spending seems right up there with cold medicine when I want to feel better.

Wrong decision.

Feeling blue, bad, under the weather, just not quite in a place to manage money?

Take a note of our pup, Max...and crawl under the covers!

People frequently mention stacking deals, and I've recently received some questions about it...so, here is an explanation/example.

Stacking a deal simply means applying as many discount, rebates, or other incentives as possible to get the best deal.

A current example.

Drugstore.com is having a clearance sale (up to 60% off), a beauty sale (up to 40% off), and other offers.

It's GNC week, so 20% off of all GNC orders if you have a gold card (which are also on sale).

DH's favorite GNC protein drink/meal, is regularly $40. It's on sale for $27 (savings of 30%). Add on the Gold Card discount, and it's down to $22 (44% savings). There is free standard shipping on orders of $29 (new customers or New Gold Card), or $89 (existing customers).

Free gift with purchase ($8 value).
Free protein drink with purchase ($4)

Go through eBates, get 5% cash back on purchase.

sign in to drugstore.com account, give 5% back on future purchase.

Use a credit card that give 5% cash back on drugstore purchases.

So, what was $160 + S&H ($175) is now
$73 plus two free gifts (or $61).

the products in Sunday's insert are:

Always®
Aussie®
Bounty®
Cascade®
Charmin®
Clairol®
Crest®
Dawn®
Downy®
Duracell®
Febreze®
Fixodent®
Folgers®
Head & Shoulders®
Iams®
Ivory®
Millstone®
Noxzema®
Olay®
Old Spice®
Pampers®
Pantene Pro-V®
Prilosec OTC®
Puffs®
Secret®
Sure®
Swiffer®
ThermaCare
Tide®
Zest

PG indicates total "value" of coupons is $83...

If you've been waiting for Pamper coupons...ask your neighbors for their inserts!

It's the big weekend, 3 inserts in Sunday's paper!

Did you know that a schedule of Sunday inserts by publisher is posted on the coupon guide website?

Coupon Insert Schedule

To find which papers in your area carry the Proctor and Gamble PGBrandSaver, go to

PG Inserts

and enter your zipcode or state.

WOW, I'm happy! Thanks to whoever inspired me to contact Amy's organic about their product and coupons...

I received a very nice brochure on all their products (especially nice because I was just ARGUING with DH that they have a wide range of products...he thinks of them as pizza and pasta sauce...HA!)

I received:

4 ONE FREE ANY PRODUCT coupons -- no dollar limit! expires 12/31/08!!!

4 $1 off frozen items coupons exp. 12/31/08

2 50 cent off coupon any grocery item (cans, etc.), exp. 12/31/08.

They receive MAJOR KUDOS from me...they have wonderful products!

Well, DH had another 100 yards of mulch delivered, so that is going to take up the day. I am NOT good at preparing dinners after a full day of physical labor!

So, my trick the last year has been to pre-fix everything in the morning, before I do anything else. Today I sliced up the onions, meat, bell peppers, broccoli for a side dish; made sure we had a can of tomatoes and some seasonings; shredded a block of cheese I SERIOUSLY needed to use up. Checked that the sour cream was still good, tossed one thing of some rice dish DH had made not so recently. (oaky, maybe another pound out the door).

Tonight ... FAJITA's! Even if I'm too tired to hold a spatula, DH and I can work it together from this point.

In CA, I was surrounded by natural food stores, but we don't have as many out here. I was at a new store this weekend, though, and walking through the aisles I found SO many brands that I wasn't even aware of!

If you have a favorite organic/natural brand, and want me to look into offers they may have, please let me know!

Spent most of the day sorting coupons!

Bullet train has been mailed.

Northeaster train has taken on new passengers and has been mailed. A caboose will be mailed in two weeks.

Sent coupons to the frugal texan.

Sent coupons to csmiles4u3 and a few to jodi_m, before they expired!

Trying to track down the Southern train; a member left and no coupons seen since. She says she sent them, but no one has received them.

Trying to track down the Clipper train; pjmama can't be found with the first coupon train, and wodaking with the restarted train.

I feel very responsible; midlight21 and chrysnblue are on both trains, and there were at least a pound of coupons in there for them. I really wanted to help them make a dent in those savings plans! Hopefully they will let me know what the status is; if they haven't seen them, I will restart them.

I have quite a few organic/natural coupons now, for the next Pacific run.

In the midst of this, my DS is ruining my day telling me how worthless the trains are to everyone and how she could do better from her own newspaper...and that my best friend who is staying days with my Mom in the rehab home is now her other daughter, leaving me in the cold.

I'm so GRATEFUL for my friends help...of course, DS probably worries that my friend will end up with part of that inheritance (which doesn't exist). Perhaps not, but she certainly isn't being nice.

And you know, I was having a great day, happily doing all this stuff, and then my sister sends this email and I just don't feel like saving or blogging or ANYTHING.

Isn't that silly? One person can make one comment at the wrong time, and all the hard work and discipline, and HAPPINESS and JOY about the progress go right out the window.

So, today's challenge is to GET OVER IT.

I have an hour of consulting tonight, and it pays well, so I am going to take a hot bath, regroup my head, and maybe go on an internet coupon hunt.

They came, DH cooked what I assumed was two. He didn't care for them, and said we should use the remaining ones for fajitas.

Sounded good. In a few weeks, maybe a month, when I'd gotten through a bit more of the pantry...

Stopped into the store next to the DMV to pick up some broccoli. DH said we didn't need any. So, I looked to see what they had, and suddenly he says, you do have all the stuff to make fajitas with, right?

Hmmm...well let's see, no tortillas, no bell peppers, no onions, no meat...

Oh, BTW, he cooked ALL the meat. AND he wanted fajitas!

So, no coupons, no sales, no list. Grumpy wife!

So, I continue to pay for those "free" steaks, and those silly rewards!

Lesson learned. Again. And Again...