Window Shopper

I constantly am looking for and finding ways to cut down on the money I have to spend at the grocery store especially since I live in an area of little resources. Our big store is Wally World. They have some good deals but they are not what they used to be, unfortunately. In fact, we have found them to be higher than many stores so we end up traveling some 50 miles to a discount grocery store that we visit once a month. The deals are greater there.

And we have a local Mom and Pop wholesale place too. But, not everyone has that so there have to be some ways to save money for them too. So, here are some more tips for saving money:

Tip: Instead of buying a couple of bags of frozen fries or hash browns, try buying the bags of potatoes and making home fries. It is actually cheaper.

Tip: If you like granola bars, try making your own bran muffins instead of spending for the bars that cost so much individually.

Tip: Did you notice that cereal prices are through the moon? Have you noticed also that there are bags of cereal, some almost the same type that are in boxes? Those are cheaper due to not having the box and the advertising.

Tip: Buying the boxes and bags of rice and noodle flavored mixes costs quite a bit. You can buy the bulk rice or noodles and flavor them yourself. Think Garlic and Herb!!! Butter noodles.

Tip: Kids love those pre-packaged lunch meat and cheese packs but they are very expensive. Try buying the lunch meat and the cheese in bulk and package it yourself. Get creative! The cheese and the meat will freeze when you buy more than you need right now. Look for the sales!!

Tip: For those who love popcorn (waves her hand high!), we tend to buy the convenience stuff that goes in the microwave, right? We do that too. But, if you want to save money, buy the bulk bags of popcorn and flavor those yourself too! It’s really easy. Pick your spices and put them on.

That’s all for now from the Window Shopper. Happy Shopping!!

Recently, I got some mail from my doctor. I actually thought it was something that said I needed to come in because something was wrong with me. However, it really was not that at all. And, frankly, it should have been for my husband because I don’t have the problem, never have. But, it looks like this was one of those mass mailings, meaning my husband should have gotten one but still did not.

Can you believe my doctor, who is mainly a general practitioner and handles mostly older people, has decided to give treatments I never heard of before I got this mailing thingy. He wants to give Botox for headaches. I have no idea why. Most of the older folks have some pretty bad problems but that wouldn’t likely be one of them. On the other hand, my husband has some fairly bad headaches occasionally. However, we have watched the Ella Enchanted a few times. There is this guy who is giving batox treatments with this awesomely huge needle that drips green. I don’t think so. LOL!!!

I do not have this movie at home. We first saw it by borrowing it from my sister. Both my husband and I fell in love with the movie right from the start. Granted, it is a tad strange but that’s part of it’s charm. Tonight, we saw it again, this time on one of the movie channels on our cable.

The film stars Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock and Christopher Plummer. This reunites Bullock and Reeves for the first time since 1994 in the movie Speed. It is set in the present day or part of it is. Essentially, the two people, Alex and Kate, have started getting to know each other by using the mailbox at the Lake House. They both live there but at different times, different years. The mailbox appears to be their one way of communicating to each other. But, something happens when they try to set up a time to meet. It is an awesome movie which I am putting on my buy it now list.

Having thought about it, these guys did some of my favorite tunes for the 60s, 70s and 80s. They are still out there singing their tunes and enjoying the fans. We watch the older television series quite often. Full House had the Beach Boys on and the cast of Full House sang with them. I think it was Kokomo at the time. But we do love the Beach Boys! This is Surfin’ USA.

I think I will give you a two for one today. Can’t get enough of the boys, can you? So, here is I Get Around.

If you have any other videos you want to see, as always, put them in the comments section.

Happy Shopping!!!

I have been to Raleigh, North Carolina, during all seasons of the year. It is a beautiful city, well worth the effort to visit on a vacation. The place is so pretty, especially in the fall. The colors are awesome. Did I mention a FREE Raleigh Getaway? Thought so. The prize is incredible. Want just a taste? Of course, you get a night stay for two at the Courtyard by Marriott, a $25 gift certificate to a Bistro, a couple of tickets to a theater performance and several more. Hey, you have to go register. Don’t wait on me to tell you all of it.

Do you like Shakespeare? Then it is time you traveled to Raleigh during their Fall Getaway season for the NC Shakespeare Festival. Two of the writer’s plays are being shown during this event…The Crucible and The Comedy of Errors. If Shakespeare isn’t your cup of tea, how about Man of La Mancha? The museum exhibits include Dinosaurs: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries, Landscapes from the Age of Impressionism and Mysteries of the Lost Colony. Opera, Theater productions, Little Theater and festivals are just a few of the attractions available to those who travel to Raleigh, North Carolina during their Fall Getaway season in October.

With all the recalls going on from China, it is sad to hear that there is one from a meat process plant from this country. Topps Meat Company is recalling 22 million pounds of ground meat products due to possible E. coli contamination. There are three people currently ill from the contamination and more being investigated. At this point, please, if you have bought Topps meat products recently, check with the company or your grocery store to see if what you have has been affected.

Usually, I say happy shopping here but not today.

From time to time, I like to show you some crazy pages that will tickle your funny bone or make you want to hit me. LOL! But, I have to share these because some of them will drive me crazy if I don’t find a way to get them out of my head. Just such a one is that Leek Spin I gave you in one of my earlier posts. If that doesn’t run through your mind all day, I know that there are things that will, like the badger song or the banana phone. Those are nuts!

I haven’t given you the Banana Phone yet? Oops! I have to change that.

The Banana Phone

What else can I have you visit? Some games and fun stuff without names, I think. I shall give them names:

The Balance Game

Fly Swatter

Lite Brite

And one more for the road:

Badgers In England

That’s about it for this time. Happy Shopping!!!

Have you noticed that the housing market is in a huge slump? That’s because there are too many homes for sale and not enough buyers. Why? For one thing, it’s a good deal harder to get a home loan now. For another, a lot of the people trying to sell have those goofy mortgages that have flexible payments and interest rates. Not good. Those were great when the interest rate was bottoming out. However, now a days, the rate goes up and down and it’s tough on the home owners who have those loans because it can vary what they have to pay.

I have a real problem with the real estate market right now because we had planned to buy a house of our own in the near future. Now it looks like that might not happen. We have medical bills that, while they are getting paid little by little, there is a hospital that does not like the amount we must pay right now. So, they turned us into the credit leeches. That can mess our credit standing up and we could have problems buying a house. Sigh. I hate that.

I have given a number of tips on saving money at the store but sometimes they get lost in the shuffle and sometimes new folks come along so I thought I would give a few more tips, some will be repeats I’m sure since I don’t always keep track of what I have already given. Frankly, most of this is simple common sense. But I do know that new moms and newly married folks are not up on all the ways to save a dollar. They probably never had to before this. So, here are some pointers on how to save a few dollars each time you head out to buy things:

Tip: Make your list at home. Be sure to construct those meals in your mind or on paper for each day of the week. Now, I have to say that I don’t usually do this anymore but I have had years of experience in making the lists before this. So….

Tip: Make your lists according to the sales items. I construct my meals based on what I have on hand. It works beautifully now but not for a long time. You have to know what you are planning to eat for the week most of the time.

Tip: I suggest that you do not use credit cards for grocery purchases. If you go beyond the month, you will be paying interest on groceries you no longer have. When you do that, all the money you wanted to save goes out in interest payments. In addition, if you use a card, it is harder to imagine your money going out of your pocket.

Tip: Check the sale paper to see what bargains are available. Buy the reduced priced items. Stock up on the non-perishables.

Tip: Some say that you should never buy more than you need at the meat counter. I say, if it’s a great price, buy all you can, take it home and cram the freezer. Do NOT make the mistake of buying more than your freezer can handle though.

Tip: Be sure to check out the markdowns. Those can be really great prices as loss leaders. A lot of times, those will be on the endcaps. Always watch the endcaps BUT sometimes they put regularly priced items there too. So, be sure of what the regular price is before you buy.

Tip: I have caught one discount store that raises their prices of an item for a week or two and then advertise them at reduced prices but drop it back to the original price. Watch for that trick. You can be fooled into buying more because of that.

More money saving tips are coming in the near future. Thank you for visiting and Happy Shopping!!

Actually, this is not a post on where to get free stuff online. For that, you have to find people that have a clue where things are on the net. I am not that with it right now. No, I am talking about going to the doctor’s office or the bank or anywhere that they have things with their names on them that they want to give away…pens, calendars, scratch paper. I love that. Freebies!!!

I had collections of several things but the biggest by far is my pen collection. I get pens from all sorts of places. See, the places I get them want to advertise so they buy these pens with their names on them and give them away. You can find pens at the bank, sometimes, when they get pretty generous, otherwise it’s calendars at the beginning of the year. Well, I know. They haven’t been that generous for a while now. My pen collection from them has been a bit sparse and dried up, literally now.

Good places to get them are the doctor’s offices and the pharmacy. Once in a while, you can get them at the hair salon. I got a couple the other day when I got my hair done. Nice, big fat pens too. What can I say. Life is simple.