Coupon Lady....Anything to Save some Money!!

Since I am now on a very limited budget, I have been thinking of ways that I can cuts costs.  After watching a show about "couponing" and seeing people actually making money shopping-I decided to give it a shot.

Last night I had my coupons in hand, the grocery/drugstore ads, a few very useful web sites, and a book about "couponing" that my sister loaned me.  I started out making my lists, dividing my coupons to reflect each store, and mapping the routes to each store (the route had to be the most direct so that I wasn't spending too much money driving around town).  I was ready to go!!

Today I made my rounds.  I started at CVS. I purchased (4) Colgate Toothpastes, Pretzel M and Ms, and a chocolate egg. Total price $6.02.  Less coupons and rewards....they paid me  72 cents to shop!

Next was Walgreen's.  I purchased (2) boxes of Quakers granola bars, (2) packs of Dentyne gun, (2) packs of M &M candies, (1) carton of marshmallow eggs, and (1) pack of lady products. Total price $13.47.  Less coupons and rewards $4.51.

Next was Rite Aid.  I purchased (2) Gillette Body Washes.  Total price was $5.98.  Less coupons and rewards the total price was $.99 for both.....just under $.50 a bottle!

Finally of to Tops.  I purchased (1) Jenny O 3 lb. turkey, (2) packs of  Purdue Chicken patties, (4) packs of rolls, (1) pack of Country Crock potatoes, (1) pack of Birds Eye frozen veggies, (1) box of stuffing, a 2 liter of 7-up, and (2) Tyson pot roasts.....total price $48.77.  Less coupons and rewards $23.75 plus 10 cents off my gas.

I have dinners for 5 days (plus a few days of leftovers), snacks for about 2 weeks, and toiletries for a few months.

Total money spent today...$28.53!

My New Wardrobe....Sweat Pants and Slippers

Well it's been several weeks since I lost my job.  I started off so motivated.  I landed a part-time job 4 days after I was "let go" from my job.  I started exercising.  I actually cooked dinner a few times a week.  I cleaned the house from top to bottom.  And I scoured the help wanted ads faithfully.  I was sure that my situation would be very temporary.

Now six weeks later I have gotten rather complacent.  I do get up early to feed and let the dog out.  I still go to the mall and walk a few times a week.  And I continue to vacuum daily so that Honey's fur doesn't take over the house.  But I have also made a few new best friends that have unleashed my laziness.

These new friends are Judge Judy, Judge Joe Brown, and Judge Alex.  They convince me to sit on the couch for hours and hours watching how they perform their justice to middle America.  As not to miss one second of their shows, I have given up cooking and cleaning.  Instead I grab a box of cereal and just eat straight from the box.  If I drop any of the floor I then call the dog in to "clean up".

I still do manage to shower daily, but my new wardrobe is sweats.  I don't even don the jeans anymore.....sweats are fitting my ever expanding belly much better.  And my sweats don't even match.  Grey bottoms and a hot pink top.  Hot pink bottoms and a red top.  Leopard print bottoms and a yellow top.  Whatever is clean works for me, who do I have to impress anyway?  Certainly not a boss:(

So starting Monday I need to get back on the wagon and get back on the job search. I need to clean and I need to start eating healthy again.  It's bad enough that the casino made me feel insignificant but they are not going to get the pleasure of seeing me let myself go!  Here's to a productive Monday morning!!

What the Heck is a Chalk Line?

So now that I have a little more free time on my hands, it's time to work on all of those projects around the house. One of the biggest projects that I wanted to tackle was taking up the carpet in my family room.  The carpet is a cream colored barber that still smelt like the previous owners cat.  It also had a beautiful electric blue paint streak right by the doorway.  It was the only memory I had of the electric blue walls that blinded me every time that I came in the back door.  My dog also liked to claw at the carpet, which left it in tatters.

As soon as the carpet was taken up, it was time to chose new flooring. Since my dog loves digging in the backyard and tracks her muddy paws into the house,  it was decided that a tile or laminate floor would be best.  Next we had to look at price, since the budget is limited.  Also I was looking for something that would be easy to install. I am very much a girly girl and would hate to break a nail.

We decided on peel and stick tiles.  The price was right and according to the instructions on the box, it looked very easy to install.  On the day of installation I worked in the morning and planned to spend the evening finishing the floor.  As I am leaving the mall I get a phone call asking me to stop at Sears and get a chalk line.  A what??  A chalk line?? What the heck is a chalk line??

I then went to Sears and perused the hardware department.  I saw a label claiming to be a chalk line, but to me it looked like measuring tape.  There was no chalk to be seen!  I continued to look around and found a few other packages claiming to be chalk lines that also looked like a measuring tape thingy jingy. So I bought one.

I continue home, throw on my work clothes and get ready to install the tiles.  Just as I was about start laying the tiles in a corner, I was told that we needed to start from the center of the room, hence the reason that we needed a chalk line.  We measure the room, find the center, then I lay the line down on the floor and start to pat the string to get the chalk on the floor.  It's not working!  Why do I see no chalk?  Then I was told that I had to snap the string, wow that worked great!  I now see a nice straight chalk line.

From there we start to install the tile.  Things were going great until we worked our way our to the outer walls.  The tile are too big and need to be trimmed down. Not only do the have to be cut, they have to be lined up to the pattern!  Ok I can do this.....I will just cut a tile in half and it should fit. Umm no....it's still too big.  I will trim it down a little. Crap I trimmed it too much and now it's too short.  New tile......trim, trim again, trim a little more, yay it fits!  And this particular tile only took me 20 minutes to lay.  Only 32 more to go like this!

So it's now 2am and the floor is done.  It looks very good and I no longer smell the cat urine.  Please let the tile stay stuck to the floor.  I would hate to go throw this process all over again!

Step Away from the Levis

Having to now live on a limited income, I have really had to cut out all of my extra spending.  Going to buy a new shirt, jeans, or purse is no longer an option.  I now have to ask myself "Amy do you really need it?" I then get that little voice in my head that says "step away from the Levis".

Although not purchasing all of the super cute spring outfits really bothers me, I have to admit that when it comes to health and beauty items I tend to go crazy! I have this crazy obsession with make-up, shampoo, styling products, and even aspirin and seasonal allergy medication.

Not having a job makes my obsession worse.  Anytime I see anything on sale I have to buy 2 or 3.  I am afraid that one day I won't be able to purchase that cleansing cream and lipstick.  My complexion will fail and my lips will look naked.  This will be about the time that I get an interview and I won't be prepared to have that polished look. I also won't have my allergy pills so I will not only look bad, but I will be sneezing all over the interviewer!!

I may be dirt poor in the months to come, but my entire bathroom closet will be stocked  to make me look good and smell good til 2020!

Dae-What....Daewoo!

I own a 2001 Daewoo Lanos that I purchased brand new 10 years ago.  I had never bought a brand new car before and was excited over the 10 year 100,000 warranty that was offered.  Now if you have never heard of a Daewoo before, you aren't alone.  Unfortunately just after I purchased the car, the company went out of business.  I am guessing there may be about a dozen of these cars left in this area. Heck maybe I should just park it for the next 15 years, then it will be so rare a collector might offer me a nice chunk of change for my hunk of junk.

Now having a car that is 10 years old is risky, but having one that is so uncommon makes repairs pretty pricey if anything breaks down.  Every year I hold my breath when it is inspected because I know it will be expensive. Last year I spent $800 on it, then wondered if I should have just traded it in. This year I feared the same fate. Being unemployed, a $800 car repair dictates if I eat this month!

 Luckily this year some higher power decided to cut me a break.  After stressing all day, the inspection center called and let me know that the only thing the car needed was a $5 light bulb!!  I got an inspection, emissions test,  and an oil change for a final cost in the double digits...not the triple digits.

Not having a job makes simple things like a car inspection seem like life or death.  A bad car equals lots of money for repairs, but even worse it could leave me without transportation to go for interviews or even start a new job.

What I Want to be When I Grow Up

Last week the Parade Magazine posted an article highlighting what people earn.  As I was going through and looking at earnings from across the country, it made me think.....what exactly do I want to do when I grow up?

Obviously if I was looking at just salary, I would want to be the plastic surgeon in Las Vegas that earns $1 million a year.  I am sure being in Vegas he has quite an extensive client list containing dancers, performers, and snow bunnies who want to look 20 years younger.  However needles and blood isn't for me, so I must choose again.

How about a graphic artist, I do appreciate art.  But looking at the salary of $12,180-I don't think I could survive on that.  Next we have wine maker.  I do love to drink wine, so maybe I should learn to make it.  And considering that we live in a popular grape region I would be all set.  Unfortunately the pay is only $25,900.  I could live on this salary but it would be a very tight budget. In keeping with the beverage category, I could try a barista.  They make $17,500 and considering I don't like coffee, I wouldn't spend my paycheck at work.

Let's see what jobs are actually in the salary range that I would be comfortable in.  Furniture maker- $39,000.  Unfortunately I am a girly girl and would be afraid to break a nail.  Exterminator $66,000.  Too bad I hate bugs.  DeeJay $30,000- I love music but I am not a fan of smokey bars.

There were two jobs that did catch my eye in this article.  The first being a blogger (go figure).  The pay is only $10,000 but it would be a great part time gig.  The other was an obituary writer.  It would be a sad job indeed. but I do like to write and it pays $75,713.  Not too shabby.

With my recent unemployment I have been given the opportunity to really explore what it is I would like to do.  Once I do find that perfect opportunity life will definitely be more "richer"

Another Element of Unemployment....no Healthcare

One of the biggest struggles of losing my job is my health care coverage.  Ironically I was never one to go to the doctor, unless I was on my death bed.  I paid into my heath care plans for years and years and never used them. This past year however, I finally decided to address some issues that I have been hiding under the carpet all of these years.

I am not sure if it's old age, stress, or the fact that I haven't had a good nights sleep in about 7 years-but I have been having some severe memory issues.  I regularly pay my bills 2 or 3 times in one month- yes I mean double and triple paying because I forgot that I already paid them.  I have conversations with people and forget what we spoke of.  And would complete sales reports at work, turn them in, then do them all over again- forgetting that they were already submitted.

Now that I have begun to seek treatment for my problem, I have to stop testing mid-way because now I don't have medical insurance.  Considering the fact that I have sat on this problem for so long, I suck it up and go on Cobra at $309.71 per month!  However after submitting 2 months worth of these over-priced payments, I receive medical bills totaling $6000!!!

I call the insurance company directly, however they have my account listed as closed, I call the Cobra administrator, however she claims I need to call my previous employer, I call my previous employer who claims it is out of their hands.  But someone knew how to cash my checks.

Being unemployed is hard enough. Paying over-priced medical coverage is even worse.  However being unemployed AND paying over-priced medical coverage and still not having coverage...well that has put me over the edge today.