Life vs. Literature

I worked 4 long years to earn a Bachelor's Degree in English.

I've read authors from Homer to Virgil, Jane Austen to Mark Twain, Christina Rosetti to Bram Stoker, John Milton to Shakespeare and countless others in between. I've met reckless heroes I've fallen in love with, headstrong heroines I've learned valuable lessons from, kindhearted secondary characters I've found remarkably relatable, and foul villains I secretly hope find the good in themselves.

I've bled into dozens of papers, 1000 words to 15 pages long, analyzing 4 tiny stanzas through a single theme spanning 5 books. In all of my readings, I've been trained to pull out and qualify character motives, logical theme progressions, heavy symbolism, location relevance, and repetition. I can slash chapters down to a single sentence of summary and write paragraphs about the particular usage of a four-word phrase.

You can't point out an object, place, name, action, dream, color, time period, buffer scene, rhyme, alliteration, or exclamation point that I can't find meaning in.

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I think that to a certain extent, my analytical nature can be helpful for self-evaluation, determining why my feelings may be hurt, or why I might be acting irrationally, even how events of my past have helped me to grow into a functioning adult.

But too often, I find myself analyzing my life, the people in it, and every major event like I would one of my stories. What could he gain from saying this?  What about her character would motivate her to act that way? Why are you wearing that color to this event? Why choose this particular phrasing to make your point?

Books are written with a purpose - to entertain, to feel, to inspire, to teach, giving us role models perhaps absent in the real world, or allowing us to travel without being able to afford a plane ticket.

But people are not characters. Life is not a novel. There is no careful revision process involved in everyday circumstances where only the details that matter make the cut.

Real people are not eloquent, many (like myself) unable to muster the command of the spoken word at a moment's notice. Actually, most of the people I know don't even have a brain-to-mouth filter. So I can't analyze their words, actions, or choices with as much relentless fervor as I would Jane Eyre's.

I need to take a moment's thoughtfulness (no matter how small), a kind word (no matter how simple), or an act of decency (no matter how standard) at a higher value in real life than I would an act of the same magnitude which might take pages to express in the confines of  a novel.    It is much simpler for an author to create that which is admirable in a character than for a person of good character to express himself as a best-selling author.

Real. Life. Is. Not. A. Book. 

The Money Blues

I've been having a weird week. To sum up:

      - Bought my first-ever smartphone.  Had to get a new number, losing the one I've had for 8 years. Not to mention all of the strife that comes with any contact with a telecom company.
     - Earned my first-ever promotion at work [in title and workload]. Have to wait on that most important aspect of promotion... The $. 
     - Got my first-ever ear infection. Had to go to Urgent Care and get 2 shots (thanks for making me go, B). Oh the pain. And the co-pay.

     - Watched a friend leave my company. Had to say goodbye.
     - B got some wisdom teeth out. Had to worry from work all day about him. Oh, and our super awesome dental insurance might only cover the first 4 wisdom teeth - not the 2 extras....

Not to mention that it's been Passover, so there was a big feast to prepare 8 days ago, and since then, there have been a lot less food and snacks around the house. For those who don't know, a Karissa without snacks is usually pretty grumpy.

And you know, it's emotionally trying to constantly be thinking about money. But, how do you keep on track with your budget if you're not constantly thinking about money? Mostly all of the above events that make up my weird week all come back to the almighty dollar.

- Get the best deal on the phone we want. Don't pay too much. How much is too much. What's the best course of action to get the deal we need?
- Promoted, but no upfront increase in salary until I prove my value. How do you deal with having all the same responsibility without the benefit of a raise?
- Get sick?  Pay your co-pay, plus buy prescriptions, plus feel cruddy until the meds kick in.
- Figure out how to pull your budget together for a necessary dental visit on top of the pain of having 3 teeth pulled.
- And Passover. Passover is an 8 day fast of all things yeasty, vinegary, live culture-y, and fermenty. You start the week by cleaning out everything from your pantry with any of these types of ingredients, and then you hold a meal called a Sedar on the first night to commemorate Passover. It takes money to prepare a Passover Sedar, and it takes money to replenish all of the food you got rid of that had those ingredients. Talk about having to stretch your grocery budget.

So what's my point?  My point is that having to deal with so many shifts in my schedule, things not going the way I want, and worrying about money has really put a damper on my week. But worrying about money is a necessity as an adult. Which is all the more reason that we have made a budget, and have to stick to it. So, I probably won't be able to fully replenish my well-stocked pantry with what remains of my budget for this month. We added an expense in phone contracts that we were expecting to coincide with a raise, which is still a way off, but have enough extra at the moment to cover it. And we had to absorb the cost of an extra trip to the doctor from our annual budget, as well as extra pulled teeth from what's looking like our tax return.

But we have the budget in place so that when I did have to go to the doctor, we weren't worrying about where that money is going to come from in that moment. So yeah. I've had to "worry" about money. But since B and I are on the same page with our budgeting system and have worked most of the kinks out, that's a little less to worry about.

New Phone, New [money-saving] Technology!

So, until recently I've had a dumb phone. And I've been perfectly happy. But, B proved to me using math that if I wanted a smartphone, it was only going to be about $8 more per month. And we got a great deal on the phones themselves... like they were both free. So I said sure, I guess I have to get with the times at some point right?

Since then, I've been experimenting with money-saving apps I've heard so much about. So far, my favorite is Ibotta.

The way it works is you download the app onto your device and sign up. From there, you're able to pick your favorite stores, browse what deals are available, and do short activities to unlock savings on the items you're planning to buy anyway.

Once you're at the grocery store, or at home after you've made your purchases, all you have to do is let Ibotta take a bar code snapshot of the item you've unlocked and take a picture of your receipt. They do the rest!


Other highlights that make me a big fan of the rebate app:

- They have savings categories for grocery, health & beauty, apparel, electronics, pets, babies/kids, movie tickets and restaurants!

- When I signed up, I earned $2 for doing a rebate within a week, plus I got a $.50 rebate on milk. Usually, in order to find savings on milk, you have to make a huge cereal purchase, or something of the sort. So the fact that this is on any brand and any type of regular milk makes me happy.

- They also offer several ways for you to cash out, in terms of gift cards (a relatively short selection at the moment), PayPal or Venmo. Right now they have a deal where if you sign up for Venmo and cash out the first time using it, they'll give you an extra $5!

- At Publix, you can still use a Publix store coupon, a manufacturer's coupon, AND an Ibotta rebate on a single item.  Since the Ibotta rebate is done after you've already checked out, it's not considered coupon savings, so you can save even more!

- For every friend who signs up through your referral link and does at least one rebate, Ibotta gives you $5! (Wanna help a sister out? http://ibotta.com/r/BLRuvg)

Are there any other money-saving Apps a newbie to smartphones should definitely have?

PINCHme - I'm dreaming!

I've discovered a new site that I can't decide if I love or am just obsessed with. It's called PINCHme.

How it works:

1. Create an account and sign up for samples when they are "released" (usually about every 2 weeks).  I've found you have to order your sample within about an hour of release, or the samples will be GONE.

2. Wait patiently for your sample to arrive, and try it out as soon as your bright teal box arrives. (Or whenever...)

3. Visit the website again and take a short questionnaire about your free sample. PINCHme will keep track of the samples it's sent you AND let you know when you have a review available. This is how you earn points.

4. "Get Rewarded."  I haven't gotten to this stage yet, but to my understanding, once you reach a certain amount of points (3000), they start putting your name in monthly drawings to win gift cards!

Some of their past products have included brand name samples of shampoo, laundry detergent, protein bars, lotions, coffees, teas, chocolate bars, perfumes, and more!

I've now signed up for their past 2 samples. The first was the new Gevalia 2-Step Specialty Coffees. PINCHme let you pick if you wanted the mocha flavor or the caramel macchiato. I got the latter, and it was delicious. The second sample I've ordered is Sinful Colors Nail Polish. I'm not big into nail polish, but hey. Free is free right?

Happy Pinching!

It's MATH Time!

This is a post about Kroger. Shocking, isn't it?

While in recent days I have noticed several things about Kroger I do like (for instance, the price of milk, their free Friday download, other digital coupons for necessities you don't see often), I'm a Publix fanatic through and through.

And when I tell people this, along with my reasons for Publix-shopping, I most often hear "Well I shop at Kroger for the fuel points."   I usually just stare at them, and here's why:

Kroger fuel points is a scam. 


Ta-da!  That's it. They market the discount in the same way that gas prices fluctuate so it seems like a good deal. I.E., if Gas Station A is 10 cents more per gallon than Gas Station B, obviously you're going to go to Gas Station B to fill up. But, if you think about fuel points in terms of a flat-rate coupon, it does not make sense. And I can prove it to you using math, which is my favorite.

Say you spend $100 at Kroger to get your 10 cents off per gallon. Then say you buy 15 gallons of gas. (This is more than my car can hold. But say 15 gallons.) Using your Kroger fuel points, you save $1.50 on gas.

I don't shop at Kroger much, so generally we end a month with about 20 fuel points. But since we still have the Kroger card, we get a 3 cent discount every time we buy gas. So buying the same 15 gallons, I save 45 cents.

You've spent $100 at Kroger, and saved $1.05 more than I did on the same amount of gas.

My grocery budget is $250 per month. Last month, I was about $2 under budget (and spent about $48 at the Farmer's Market).  I also did the math on how much I saved versus how much I spent at Publix. I spent about 49% of what the groceries were worth. That's another way of saying that I got over $400 in groceries and only paid $200.

So, back to the point at hand, fuel points.  If I spent the same $200 at Kroger, I would save $2.10 on gas per month (assuming I bought 15 full gallons each time), but save less on groceries than I do at Publix with BOGO sales, doubling coupons, and using 2 coupons for 1 item where I can.

I still only go to Kroger for gas - it's usually cheaper than anywhere else, and I get the 3-cents-off-per-gallon deal.  I just don't buy into the 10-cents-off-per-gallon fuel point gimmick.

Annual Expenses and Ideas on Budgeting for them

Ah the budget. It all comes back to it, in the end. We're still tweaking ours, as new expenses arise and old expenses increase, or, less often, decrease. But all-in-all, we're making improvements.

B's mom inspired us to make one such improvement in taking our annual budgeting to the next step. Instead of having to pull money from our emergency fund for those once-a-year expenses we always forget about, we're going to have that money built into our monthly budget and set aside in a separate account waiting oh, so patiently to be used. Now, in addition to our checking account, income account, tax account, and emergency fund account, we're going to set up an "annual expenses" account.

This means that I'm going to sit down and come up with a list of annual expenses and the amount associated with each expense, add all of those expenses together, then divide the total number by 12, so we essentially create another "monthly payment" that goes into the annual expense account. So when we need $40 to take Pippin to the vet, it's already sitting in the account.

Here's a list of the annual expenses I've come up with for our home:

- Gas and Power Bill spikes. We noticed a $20 jump in our gas bill for January because of an unexpected polar vortex. I anticipate that we'll see that same spike in the summer months on the power bill. Estimating a similar spike 4 months a year = $80
- Tax Preparation. My parents use Turbotax, which may be more feasible and much less expensive for us next year, but with so many job jumps, combining our households, interest on loan payments, etc., we've opted to visit an actual agent this year = $200
- Visits to the Vet. Plus potential prescriptions or shots. = $38.95 for 1 annual visit (plus tax), plus $150
- Annual doctor's appointments. Co-pays, prescriptions, glasses/contacts, all predictable  medical expenses.
- New clothes/shoes. We don't buy new clothes much, especially when B's work uniforms are all supplied by his employer. I always ask for gift cards for Christmas and holidays so I use that as my annual clothes and shoes budget. But, at some point, we'll need to replace B's work boots = $120 + tax/shipping
- Vacations/getaways. These are so important, but if we don't budget for them, they're not going to happen. I'm not sure if we'll have time to get around to 3 getaways, but for this year, I'd like to budget two weekend getaways at $100 and one anniversary getaway at $300 = $500
- Car repair and maintenance. This category is a bit trickier. A lot can go wrong with your car. We're going to stick to maintenance we know we'll have come up over the course of the year. That includes 4 oil changes per year per car (about $240), plus enough to replace one full set of tires (about $400) = $640.
- Renewing licenses. Okay, so having to renew your driver's license doesn't come up every year, but you have to update it if you move, and pay again so $20 each = $40
- Replace cell phones. I don't upgrade that often... What are phones going for these days? $300?  I think I'll budget $200, for both of us and hope for the best.... = $200
- Gifts. Birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas/Hanukkah, etc. It's very difficult to plan for this far in advanced when you don't know what anyone will want for Christmas in December and it's MARCH now. But we'll plan a certain amount per gift per person and occasion, so call it $300.

Yeah sure, I wanted to include 2 visits to the vet, just in case, or a trip to the emergency room, that way the money is already there if we need it. But I had to remind myself that I haven't been to the emergency room since I was 7 (knock on wood).  If a situation does arise, THAT is what the emergency fund is for, for unplanned visits that we don't have to budget for. So we'll plan for that 1 annual visit for the cat, since we know we'll need to take him. But that second what-if-something-happens visit? We'll Emergency Fund that, IF it happens. And we can always supplement these figures with blow budget, gift card budget, and unused grocery/gas budget.

A New Grocery Habit

It's been such a long time since I've posted. Between crazy weather, extra evening plans, and more kinds of sickness than I'd like to share, my time for blogging has been pushed aside!


So groceries. The majority of my contributions to keeping our budget on target is mostly in terms of grocery planning. We had been budgeting $300 per month, but I felt confident that once we were a little more established that I could whittle it down. So starting in November, it became my goal to get it down to $250. That number includes all food, of course, but also paper products, personal hygiene, cleaning supplies, kitty care, etc. We've been striving to meet that number, but had been still going over by about $20 each month.

Well,  my total for February 2014 amounted to $249.50!  So I'm definitely getting more comfortable with the lower budget.  But it took a lot more work than I'm use to putting into it. Usually my process is just to buy the things we need and the things that are on sale at the cheapest price possible with as many coupons as I can find.

I found this month that in order to keep it under $250,  I had to REALLY pre-plan based on sale prices and coupons on my final shopping trip of the month. So I made my list in the form of a table including the price per item found in the ad, minus the amount I could find in coupons, and with the total plus tax. It was very intense.  I also was going to 3 different stores, so I had to set a strict budget for each store: $15 for meat and produce to last the week at the farmer's market, $6.50 for 2 gallons of milk at Kroger, and the rest of the budget (about $26) for sale items and items we desperately needed at Publix.

Of course things changed once I got to Publix, so yeah, I walked around the market with my phone out doing calculations. I ended up spending just a little more than I anticipated because one of the items I bought was mispriced in my ad.  But luckily I was able to make up for it because I'd over-estimated for the farmer's market. And by the time I got to Kroger, the milk was on sale for a better price than I'd anticipated and I was even able to get some ice cream for B.

I believe I'm going to have to be this particular and specific on the last shopping trip of each month to stay faithful to the budget. Stay tuned for more info on if this proves to be more tedious than my patience allows for!

Kitty Update: Month 3 with Pippin

I would say our little fur baby has now fully adjusted to life in our home.  He's on a good schedule (minus the part where he wakes us up at 6 am on weekends for his breakfast), and has finally stopped attacking me every 5 minutes. He also has gotten a lot more snuggle-y. With me, anyway. He's always been a big fan of B and his fuzzy robe.

So far, Pippin hasn't managed to destroy any of our furniture or any of his toys (though some of his mice are missing noses). I haven't had to buy any more food since my last update on Pippin, and I believe I've only bought one container of litter. So month 3 = $6 total for keeping kitty.

We've also discovered yet another [cheap] toy Pippin seems to love: paper towel rolls.  They're about his length and thin enough for him to wrap his paws around.  He likes to attack and kick the living cardboard out of them!

Also, this picture:

Pippin sat like this in our bookshelf for a good long time. I laughed very hard.

Savvy Shopping Secrets

So one of my very best friends has moved into an apartment by herself. And I'm so excited for her!

But she told me it's going to be a little tight until she can find a roommate. So I thought I'd share a few shopping secrets I've learned to help her save more while still working on making her place more homey!


1. Bed Bath & Beyond accepts expired coupons.
     - They also accept coupons on your phone, and have a number you can text while you're in the store for them to send you a coupon nearly immediately if you haven't signed up for it before.
     - And they will accept one 20% off a single item coupon per item in your transaction.
     - Simple math: If the item you're buying is between $15 and $20, a $5 off your purchase coupon is more valuable. If the item is less than $15, the $5 off coupons are not valid, and if it's more than $20, the 20% off coupons are more valuable.
     - Side note: Buy Buy Baby is owned by the same company as BB&B. Buy Buy Baby will accept BB&B coupons (but not the other way around), and only if they're current.

2. Joann Fabric has a 10% discount club for students.
    - Show your Student ID to a manager for a club card that gives you 10% off your entire purchase every time, even combined with coupons.

3. Starbucks has a gold member rewards program.
     - Simply register any gift card and purchase 5 drinks on it and you immediately become a green level member that gives you a free drink on your birthday and free refills on tea and drip coffee while in-store.
     - Once you've purchased 30 drinks in a year, you become a gold member, with the same benefits as a green level, plus you earn a free drink every 12 purchases you make.
     - They're doing a current special where if you register a new card by February 7, they'll give you a free drink!  (Also, see details of green and gold benefits if you scroll down on that page).
     - Also, don't forget about Starbuck's pick of the week! They have a song, app, or book that you can download for free while in any store, or grab a card from the counter with a redemption code on it!

4. The Dollar Tree accepts manufacturer coupons
     - Granted, many things they carry are not name brand. But somethings are, so check!

5. Retailmenot 
     - Retailmenot.com is a website that lists printable coupons and online coupon codes for restaurants and department stores, as well as lists expiration dates and success rates people have had using the particular coupons.
     - This site also has a free mobile app, so even if you're making an unplanned purchase, you might be able to find a good coupon on your phone!  

6. Groupon has a whole section devoted to GOODS
      - Not only can you find deals on activities and getaways on Groupon.com, they also have a whole section devoted to deals on everything from jewelry to coffee to sheets!

There's Snow in the South!

Okay, okay, so it's snowing.  For some, this is the end of the world. For me, it's working from home for a few hours today and probably a few more tomorrow.

But, if your job can't travel to your home like mine can, I'm sure you're thankful for the extra time to relax if you got sent home as well.

Things I like in the snow:
- fuzzy socks
- hot tea
- heavy beef and rice meals
- big blankets
- BOOKS

Speaking of books, I've got some snowy day recommendations on getting your read on for free.

In this day and age, there is no reason for you to pay for books. For a particular book, maybe it's worth it to invest, but for general cold day reading, there are plenty of resources for FREE books.  Also note that even if you don't have an e-reader, you can still read e-books on your smartphone OR on any computer.

1.  The library.  YES, they still exist. Every county has one. And you can get a library card with any proof of current residency.   Two really important things to remember about libraries - Firstly, you can not only borrow physical books from your local library, but also movies and TV shows on DVD.   Secondly, most libraries now offer digital borrowing; log into the library website using your library card number and sign up for the books you want to borrow. Usually, the ones you want are already checked out so you have to put your name on a waiting list.

2. BookBub. BookBub is a fantastic website that sends out a daily email of e-book deals. Some are on a super sale, but many are FREE. Plus, you can customize the types of genres you want to receive (Mystery, How-To, Religious and Inspirational, Fantasy, etc), as well as pick from the suppliers offering deals (Amazon, iTunes, nook, etc). Another resource for free e-books is BookShout, but this site requires you to use their particular app for reading on e-readers, tablets, and smartphones which does not work on many devices. But, if it works on yours or if you're willing to read on a computer, all the better!

3. Your Friends. I borrow books from friends all of the time. Obviously, borrowing physical books from friends and family may involve you actually going to their place of residence, which I do not recommend in the snow. HOWEVER, you can lend e-books you purchased from Amazon to anyone else (or them to you) as long as you know their email address, so there's no reason for going into the cold.  Follow these steps from Amazon.com:

"Your Account"  >  "Manage Your Kindle" (under "Digital Content")  >  change the view to "books"  >  Select the drop down menu labeled "Actions" next to the title you want to lend and select "Loan this Title" at the bottom > Type in your friend's email address. They will have a couple of days to accept the loan and then two weeks to read it!

4. Classics.  Many classic novels written in or before the mid 19th century can be found in e-form for free, including works by Jane Austen, Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, Emily and Charlotte Bronte, Oscar Wilde, and Charles Dickens.

Grab a nice cup of tea, read well and stay warm!

Simple Tips to Start Saving

Going from life as it is now to saving a few more bucks a month, or even to saving up to half of your income (my ultimate goal) is rough. It's hard to change your lifestyle, your current habits, and your routines. But if you have a goal of paying off debt, building a savings account, saving for a home, or whatever, small changes are the easiest to implement to get you started.

Here are some simple tips to start toward that goal:

1.  Quit your cable company.   I've harped on about this already. 

2.  Start couponing.  See previous ramblings here.  In addition, I always recommend looking online for coupons (or Groupons) whenever you plan to eat out, go to a movie, or go shopping at department stores.

3.  Shop smarter.  Assuming that you don't have time to coupon, you can still save money at the store.

           - For example, take advantage of sales on items you'll be buying anyway. If you're not picky about cereal, buy the brand on sale instead of what you usually get.  

           - Try the less "luxuried" brands. For example, try swapping out the super expensive brand of shampoo you've been buying for a less expensive brand like Suave.

           - Also, try the store brand, especially for basic items like sugar, flour, bread, chips, pickles, etc. B and I have found that 90% of the time, the store brand is just as good.  

           - Try local farmer's markets for less expensive produce and meat.

4.  Reuse.  

           -  B and I had been buying flats of water for him as a matter of convenience for his line of work. But my parents got him a light water bottle for Christmas, and he's been using that instead of spending $4-5 every couple of weeks on water. 

            - We also never use paper plates, despite our love for convenience, and we wash and reuse plastic flatware. 

            - We only use rechargable batteries for our gaming systems and cameras. They're a bit more up front, but I can't even tabulate how much we must have saved on batteries!

5.  Save Energy. 

            - Try keeping your A/C a few degrees higher when its warm, and your heater a few degrees lower when it's cold. Running these constantly really jacks up your power and gas bills.

            - Unplug chargers and turn things OFF when not in use, like your printer, Keurig, DVD player, etc.

6.  Limit what you spend.  

            - If you eat out three times a week, cut it back to two, or even one! 

            - Buy a coffee every morning on the way to work?  Make it at home and take it in a travel mug.

            - If you're really prone to impulse spending,  set a spending limit for yourself when you do hit the mall and stick to it.

The MOST important part, however, is to remember that the few dollars here and there you've been saving now needs to go toward that debt, savings account, etc.  It's very easy to splurge with the extra money you've saved, especially if you're not in the habit of saving. Resist it!!!

buy.it.freeze.it.save.it.eat.it

One MAJOR way we save money is by stocking our freezer to the max. Seriously, open at your own risk. 

But there are a TON of foods that I buy when they're on a great sale, and have one for now and freeze one for later. Examples:

- Meat - all things beef, chicken, hot dog, sausage, bacon, etc.
- Old wine, which you can cook with later

- Hummus, guacamole, or other dips
  - Shredded cheese (doesn't work so well for slices - they start to crumble after a while)

- Cookie dough

- Butter or margarine

- Fruits and veggies - Strawberries/blackberries/blueberries are all good for making smoothies later. I also like to pre-portion blueberries in cup-sized servings so I can make muffins with them. One of my BFFs would freeze bananas when they get really brown to make banana nut bread later. Veggies you can steam straight from the freezer to accompany any meal.

- Bread, muffins, biscuits, hamburger buns, or rolls.

- Pancakes - when we have leftover pancakes or waffles, I portion them into plastic bags for B to grab quick breakfasts later!

- Cake. My boss brought in a cake one day - it was beautiful (and delicious), but no one at work wanted any. SO I took it home, cut it into slices, wrapped each slice in plastic wrap, and froze them, for just one slice whenever I want one.

- B's mom likes to make big meals and then portion them out into single-serve containers for our freezer. We appreciate it a lot. And we've even started following suit when we have more leftovers than meals left in the week. We find that spaghetti and pasta dishes (and quiches or stews) reheat the best.

Make sure you check the label before freezing things - somethings say "DO NOT FREEZE", like cream cheese and probably anything Pillsbury that comes in a pressurized roll.


Happy Money-Saving!

Cats Can't Complain

We've had Pippin for about two months now. He's on his second bag of food and third container of litter. We have 7 mice, 6 jingly balls, 2 wands, and one FroliCat.

Here's the run down on how much he's cost so far:

Fortunately for us, Pippin doesn't have a sensitive stomach and will eat just about anything, so I'm able to buy any brand of cat food depending on what's on sale (provided it meets my health requirements). We also go the extra mile to NOT feed him people food, so he likes his food all the more. There are always coupons for the brand of litter we use. Between coupons and sales, I've probably spent less than $15 on cat food, and litter is about $6 and lasts for 3 weeks. And we buy toys from the dollar store - 3 mice for $1, 2 jingly balls for $1, bam. Lots of toys.

Cat for 2 months (excluding pet deposit and our negligible start-up costs): $5 on toys + $15 on cat food (and there's still over 10lbs left for the month to come) +$18 on litter = $19/month.


But, the real point of this post is refrigerator magnets. Not the chip clip kind, or the cutesy best-friend's-bridal-shower memorabilia, but those cheesy magnetic letters you buy for your nephew, Little One, so he can learn his alphabet.

Pippin discovered these such letters the other day. He was sliding them around on the fridge, then, when he managed to get one off, would bat it around on the floor, pick it up and carry it in his mouth, play with it in the living room, and it would ultimately end up under the couch, the fridge or the stove. The process would then repeat. At a certain point, Pippin lost all his marbles magnets, and B had to [attempt to] fish them out. Pippin helped.

All of this to say that I've realized that pets are only expensive if you make them that way.  Pippin probably doesn't even need dollar store cat toys. He seems to like refrigerator magnets better, anyway. In fact, it's harder now to get him to play with those dollar store mice! Side note, I also threw an old contact case, and he chased it around for 20 minutes. It appears that as long as it's a different color than the floor and relatively small, it's good enough for Pippin!

Letting Businesses Work for My Business

The initial reason I switched from shopping at Kroger to Publix was because of Publix's BOGO deals. Saving money = awesome.

But once I started doing business with them on a regular basis, I've been so much more impressed with Publix's culture.
If they've run out of a product I want to buy on sale, they'll give me a raincheck to come back later and buy it at the same price. 
If I want to return something, they don't even ask questions; they simply refund my money. 
If I ask for help finding a product, many employees not only take me straight there, but will also recommend less expensive brands they find to be equal in quality. 
And, most importantly, if I DO find anything to complain about, Publix asks what they can do to ensure I leave satisfied.

Sure, Kroger advertises all of their newly "lowered prices" (which are arguably no lower than before), but when was the last time an employee walked you out to your car and loaded your groceries into the trunk for you?

This is the kind of culture I look for in a company. Publix as earned my loyalty, and would have to screw up pretty big to lose it.

Kellogg's is similar in its commitment to customer care. A few weeks ago, I was on Kellogg's Family Rewards (doing what else?) printing coupons. I purchased the coupon I wanted to print with points I had collected from marked boxes of Kellogg's products. Well, the coupon in question did not print. I tried to address it with RedPlum, the printers of said coupon, but their recommendations did not work. So I brought it up with Kellogg's. They not only reactivated the coupon for me to reprint it, but they credited me with double the amount of points I'd spent on it. And later that week, I received a personalized letter in the mail from RedPlum with two coupons for any Kellogg's product.

Neither were huge gestures, and it probably only cost the companies 5 minutes and $2 each in coupons. But I felt heard and my problems were addressed above and beyond my expectations.

As a customer and consumer, I strongly feel that it is not my job to pick a company to purchase products from. Rather it is up to the company to positively and professionally convince me they're worth my time and money to do business with. Ultimately, the company I want to do business with is the company that does everything in its power to make certain I have nothing to complain about before I set foot in their store or visit their website.

You Don't HAVE to Use It

When I was little, I remember listening to my Grandma say she needed to go to the store, my dad asking what she needed, Grandma responding with "I have a coupon," and the ensuing discussion about how she didn't need to buy baby powder or cereal or whatever it was just because she had a coupon. Though he wasn't talking to me, I've found this an invaluable lesson in my money-saving ventures.

This holiday season, my inbox has been BOMBARDED with sales, promotions, coupons, gimmicks, updates on my "special interests" and everything in between. 7 for $25 here, $10 off your purchase of $50 there, and let's not forget 40% off site-wide.

Wow. Excellent deals. For someone so intent on saving money, all of those percentages off, dollars off, and coupon codes are very tempting. And tempting though it might be, just because it's on sale right now does NOT mean I need to buy it right now.

I'm not getting these advertisements because I'm special, because said businesses care about saving me money, or because they think I deserve to splurge. It's on sale right now and I'm targeted with these advertisements because the company is trying to move out stock to prepare for the new season and trying to meet it's sales quota.

I always have to remind myself that the best way to save money as a consumer is to reverse this process. Yes, I still am signed up for promotions from any store I could possibly need something from. But I wait until I need something and THEN start reading those emails. Once I've decided I really do need that toaster, accent pillow, scarf, etc, I start looking for the sales, promo codes, and printable coupons for the stores I know have what I want. But if I'm looking for a gallon pitcher, that does not mean I need to open the Michael's ad.

I find that during the winter holidays (and in all of the sales right after - I'm lookin' at you, January), it takes the MOST restraint out of any time of the year. They do this to us on purpose. But if you are in the market for something particular, now is the time to buy!