Walgreens this week

No picture this week because I got my mother a number of stocking stuffers, and I know she reads my blog!

Just as I was getting ready to go into Walgreens this week, a friend called.  He was in town to do a magic show.  (I would say I'm the only person I know who is friends with a professional magician, but we have a lot of friends in common!)  He asked me before another friend and I met him for a late lunch to pick up a pair of fingernail clippers for him since I was at Walgreens.  He insisted he'd pay me back.

I had a number of Register Rewards, which were going to expire this week, so I used them all, even though this wasn't a great Walgreens week.

I spent a total of $3.66 and had 60 cents added to my W card, so a final cost of $3.06

What I got

Kraft mayo with olive oil
2 packages of Angel Soft 9 roll toilet paper
1 pair slippers
1 pair black and gold socks for a friend as a stocking stuffer
1 Lifesavers candy box for my aunt for Christmas
2 pairs of aloe moisturizing socks (LOVE these)
Revlon fingernail clippers
4 packages Walgreens paper plates
6 stocking stuffers for Mom

Total before coupons was $47.91.  I didn't realize I was that close to $50.  I received back a $5 Register Reward, but had I bought $2.09 more I would have received another $5 Register Reward.  D'oh!

My favorite cashier was ringing me out.  When she saw I got all that for $3.66 she let out  a yell.  My friend who was with me asked her if she was okay.  She was just amazed at how good I did again this week!

Once we meet my friend for lunch, he asked how much his fingernail clippers were.  I'm bad in math, believe it or not, so I just told him they were free.   He said they couldn't be free, and my other friend started saying that yes, indeed, they were.   Finally I said I got $50 of stuff for $3 after coupons, with $5 to spend on my next order, so if he wanted to figure out the final cost of them, that was fine, but I wasn't going to worry about it.  After I explained my shopping trip, he never again mentioned paying me the $3 for fingernail clippers.  :)  Of course, he bought lunch for my friend and me, but even if he hadn't, I wouldn't have worried about a $3 pair of fingernail clippers.

Friday Fotos

Some photos of my Christmas decorations.  I have a collection of oddball nativities, and I took photos of some of my favorites.

Duck nativity:

From Russia:

African American nativity

Native American nativity:

Fisher Price Nativity:

Playmobile:

From South America:

From Sweden:

Another from Russia:

A Very Ninja Christmas

My weekend guest left this morning, so I'm back to blogging.

I was accepted for another House Party.  This one was for American Ninja Warrior, and I received buttons, magnets, a t-shirt, and temporary tattoos.  I was suppossed to be able to stream the seasion premier of American Ninja Warrior, but it didn't work with my Wii, and I couldn't burn it to DVD.  House Party was as helpful as possible and even said they would overnight a burned DVD for me, but since Fed Ex and UPS don't deliver overnight where I live on Saturdays that was impossible.

Instead we watched a TV show from 1993 called "Brought to you by Santa" of some of the most amazing and funny Christmas commercials ever made from around the world.  It was a huge hit, and everyone really enjoyed it.  After all, Christmas isn't Christmas until Santa slides in on his rotary shaver.

We made Christmas cards, played other games including moving jingle bells from one bowl to another with chopsticks, a "Right" and "Left" passing a prize game using the Christmas story, ate Mexican food, and had a fun time!

Some photos:

Happy Chanukkah

Although I'm not Jewish, two menorahs have been added to my holiday decorations.  This is one I bought new in Israel in the most facinating shop I've ever been in!  It was owned by an elderly Jewish merchant and sold everythign from $2 dreidels (which I bought one of them) to menorahs that cost thousands of dollars.  He was a burly guy, and the sign out front said, "We do ear piercing".   Just a facinating shop, and I loved the heart in this menorah.

My other menorah is an antique I believe.  I would guess it's from about 1920.  I found it in a junk shop for $5 a few years ago, and I wish this menorah could tell tales.  I believe it's Eastern European in origin, and I would love to hear the stories of where it's been and how it came to be in the United States.  I think it's just beautiful.  Each year these two pieces come out during the holidays.

My "niece" and "nephews"

I became an "aunt" again in August.  My "nephew"   L was born then.  I have dear friends whose children call me "Aunt", so I have to be the fantastic Aunt to them.  I give them gifts and spoil them rotten when I can.  That's an auntie's job.

Well, they currently live four hours away by car.  (Which is better than last year.  Last year at this time I traveled 20 hours by plane to visit them!)

I was happy they were in visiting for Thanksgiving, and I was able to spend the morning with them.  And someone stole my heart!

While  "L" was smiling, "I" and "K" were enjoying hot chocolate.  :) 

My Black Friday

I saw a great blog post the other day about the TRUTH about Black Friday.  Of course there are exceptions, but for the most part the stuff that is on sale is not as good of quality, that these are not "once a year" prices, but you can likely find the same items at just as low prices elsewhere during the year.  Again, there are exceptions to that, but I certainly didn't find anything that would warrent me going out at 4 in the morning to get!  (In fact, I was busy talking to an old friend.  He called at 2 in the morning and we talked for five hours, so I certainly was up to go out if I wanted to, but I didn't see any reason to.)  And I certainly didn't see anything worth cussing cashiers about as one woman on someone else's facebook page claimed to do.  (Wow, let's really celebrate Jesus' birth by using the F word because something we wanted was sold out!)

The one cannot be missed item for me I ordered online Thanksgiving Day.  It was a Christmas tree, and ours got ruined.  It was on sale for $38, and I have a $15 mail in refund.  I also had a $10 off anything at Lowe's coupon, but the website wouldn't accept it.  I decided to order it without the coupon so I wouldn't have to go and hope to get the tree before it sold out.  (I've not yet gotten my e-mail saying my tree is ready to be picked up, but I'll call tomorrow if I haven't gotten one.)

After a couple hours of sleep, I got up, and then yesterday afternoon I hit the stores I planned on hitting.  I wanted to go to Walgreens and CVS.

I did order a few things online.  I ordered 4 years subscription to Reader's Digest for Mom for $14.  (Usually it's about that much for a year.)  I also ordered a photo collage from Walgreens.  It was free after coupon.  I picked it up yesterday.

My first stop was at Walgreens.  Here's what I bought:

8x10 collage photo print (a gift for Christmas)
Gilette Scrub Clenser
Colgate Enamel toothpaste
Planter's mixed nuts
TWO cases of 24 count bottled water
one two-liter of 7up (I'm planning a party next weekend)
Olay body was
Oral B toothbursh
Robitussin to go
Crest whitening toothpast
Thermacare wrap for neck/wrist/arm
4 count Advil PM
Gum Flossers
Old Spice Body Spray
Just for Men Shampoo/condition
Nivea Shave Jell
Secret body spray
Scunchi non-slip pony tail holders

My total after coupons was $37.39.   I had coupons for the olay body wash, the Gum flosswers, Crest, and Colgate.  I also had Register Rewards from my last trip to Walgreens.  I saved a total of $41.17.  I received back in "Jingle Cash"  (what register rewards are called this holiday season (was $40.50.)   So for $37.39 I got all this plus MORE than what I paid that I can spend next time I go to Walgreens.  Nice haul.  Plus I have a $3.50 mail in refund on the Planters nuts.

I do have to say kudos to Walgreens in preperation of their Black Friday sale.  Instead of having to search the store for things that I don't buy unless they are free, I was able to go right to an end-cap and they had everything displayed, so it was easy to add everything to my cart.  I also took a paper and a marker and checked off each item as I added it!  Made shopping very simple. 

Then I went to CVS.   They had a deal online where if you bought a $25 CVS gift card, you would get a $5 promotional gift card, so I ordered one and got $30 of gift cards for $25.  So, I already had a $5 savings.

At CVS I got:

1 Colgate sensitive toothpaste
1 L A Looks styling gel
1 bottle of laundry detergent
1 Listerine Pocket Packs
5 M&M King sized candy bars
5 Reese's candy bars
1 Carmex lip balm
1 Snuggie, desinger print
4 bottles of Sobe
2 Gillette deoderant
1 Phillips ear bud headphones

My total was $12.03 after coupons and gift certificates.  Add the $25 I paid for the $30 of gift certificates and it was a total of $27.03 paid at CVS.  I received back $34.85 in Extra Care Bucks.

My trip to Lowe's (went anyway even if the tree wasn't available)

2 bricks of rat poison (not pictured)
1 box of 8 containers of rat poison  (We live in an old house and this is the time of year we'll often have unwelcomed intruders)
2 small poinsettias

I had a $10 off coupon so I paid just over $6 there.

So my Black Friday summary:


Spent in total  $136
total of "stuff" bought:  $418
mail in rebates will net me  $18.50
Extra Care Bucks:  $34.85
W card savings:  0.40
Register Rewards 40.50
cash back from my credit card:  $1.36

So if you take what I spent and subtract all the above (which of course the ECBs and Register Rewards aren't exactly like cash, but let's go ahead and do it for this example) then I spent a total of $40.39 for $418 of stuff, or a savings of 90%. 

The Christmas tree and magazine subscription is not pictured:

Holiday Cards, part two

Recently Shutterfly offered bloggers 50 free Shutterfly cards if we'd write a post about some of their products.  I did, and my cards have arrived.

In fact, before that offer I had attended a House Party and we got codes for free photo books.  I made a photo book for my cousin of the snows we had last winter.  I was able to personalize it and even put some photos in the book of his house and business during our blizzards last winter.   I'm really dreading winter because all I can think about is last winter.  But winter will come even if I don't want it to, and I might as well use some of the photos to make a book about the winter we'll talk about for years to come!

 I had a code for five free cards, and I have a handful of Jewish friends and don't feel like I should send them a card that says Merry Christmas.  For a number of years I went with a more generic "Happy Holidays" but decided last year to revert back to "Merry Christmas".  The year I had visited Israel, I sent along photos of me at Bethlehem with my Christmas letter and me at the Western Wall with my Hanukkah letter, so I try to do something very similar for both greetings when I don't do a "holiday" card.

These are my Hanukkah cards this year (which I must get out soon as Hanukkah starts at sundown on December 1!)  There are 8 snow photos on the front of the card, and the bottom corner says "Snow Kidding"  The inside has another snow photo and says "May your winter be warm with the thoughts of family and friends!  Happy Hanukkah!"

Because I got free Christmas cards last year and never mailed them out, nor did I mail my Christmas letter from last year, I decided that because the cards I got last year are a little dated (me in front of the Church of the Saviour on the Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg Russia) and I can't exactly use them another year, I'm going to mail both cards this year.  For that reason I chose a flat card from Shutterfly as my Christmas card.  Part of the reason is I hope to keep TWO Christmas cards and TWO letters under one ounce.  As verbose as my Christmas letters tend to be, this may prove to be difficult!

I chose one where I could add seven photos.  It says "Wishing you a Merry Christmas  From  (us)  Just don't dream of a white Christmas!" 



Let  me point out here that the photo to the right of Merry Christmas is our next door neighbor's van.  I took that out of an upstairs bedroom window last year.  The day before the van had been driven, but we had a "snow hurricane" in the night, and we had tons of snow dumped on us.

As always, I'm highly pleased with the quality of the items offered by Shutterfly.  As a bargain hunter, paying full price for their items is not something I would likely do, however, they often have sales, free card offers, etc. and as always, I very much enjoy ordering from Shutterfly.