Walgreens October Freebies

Looks like October is going to be a great month for free after rebate items at Walgreens. The following are free all next month:

*Breathe Again Adult Nasal Spray with SinoMarin, 3.3 oz
*Pepcid Complete or Pepcid AC, 8 count
*Colgate Total Advanced Clean Toothpaste 4.2 oz
*Ameal BP Capsules, 60 Pack or Chewable Tablets, 90 Pack
*Garnier Fructis Shampoo or Conditioner, 10.2 oz
*Beano To Go, 12
*Buckley’s Chest Congestion or Cough Suppressant Liquid, 4 oz.

As always, you can use coupons to purchase the items and make the deal a little sweeter. If you are not getting the freebies at Walgreens every month, I beg you to start now!!!!!!!!! WHY would you not get all of your toiletries for free???? It takes very little effort, and I have a closet full of free or almost free stuff to prove it.

Quotes of the Week

Just in case you think I'm the only "quirky" one in the family, here are some quotes from this week.

"So, 25 is the new 5. Yeah, apparently you're 5." -My mom, talking about how tired she is of hearing that 50 is the new 40, 40 is the new 30, etc.

(Said in a firm and knowing voice) "Duct tape." -My auntie, while discussing the broken battery container on my camera.

"Actually, today I look like a dude. And yesterday I wore ugly shoes just because they were comfortable." -Me, while texting a friend about how my style is going sharply downhill since starting internship.

Introducing...

Ivy the cat! I'll try to get a better picture of her later when she's not acting like a dope.

I adopted Ivy about two weeks ago from a local humane society. She is 11 months old and has spent most of her life at the shelter. Because of this, she was very very nervous about human contact. She is still a bit nervous, but she has really come out of her shell! She is a tiny little thing with a bushy tail.

There was a very traumatic incident on Monday where I *had* to get her back into her (enormous) cage because the apartment people were coming to work on the air conditioning unit. We have both mostly recovered from this incident, although one of us is still scratched and bruised. She never bites or scratches under normal circumstances, though.

I don't know that there's going to be anything frugal about having her. I'm pretty sure that she will eat better and have better medical care than me. ;)

Sleigh Bells Ring, Are You Listening? Christmas is Coming!

It's time again for another Christmas shopping update! I got busy this morning with a bit of online shopping- utilizing free shipping, free samples, and good deals, of course!!! I have now finished buying for almost everyone on my list. Still need to buy for: Grandpa (I can't purchase it until closer to Christmas) and two of my friends. I also will need to make something for the females in my family (I have the supplies) and will need to make some food stuffs later on. My handmade scarves for coworkers are almost done.

I am also still giving the stockings I talked about earlier. I have accumulated a LOT of pretty cool free stuff over the last nine months and I am still collecting. Another reason that I want to do this is because I want people to see just how much stuff you can get for free and how that free stuff can potentially eliminate some of the financial burden of shopping for toiletries and other items. Anytime that I can proselytize about frugal living, you know I will. ;)


Things that make gift giving easier:

1) I purchased the majority of my gifts online. Whenever stores offer free shipping, have great sales, or offer freebies with any purchase, I try to think if anyone I know would like anything from that store. Oftentimes the answer is yes. The deal is that much sweeter if you shop through a rewards portal like Ebates.

2) Whenever I got a really nice coupon (like $10 off any purchase), I would think about if I could use it toward a gift. Same with gift cards that I earn through My Points and through my credit card's reward program. Otherwise, it would just go towards more shoes. ;)

3) I plan early and keep my eyes open. For example, I have part of my sister-in-law's birthday gift and her birthday is not until April. When the good deals and cute stuff that I know people will really like come around, I jump on the deal.

4) Shop end of season clearance. One of my friends is on internship in Florida. The flip-flops that I ordered from J. Crew for $4 each will still be appropriate as Christmas gifts.

5) Budget and stick to it. I didn't do such a great job of sticking to my budget this year, but I won't be going over by much. I think I set the amount too low for the amount and quality of gifts that I wanted to give. The burden is much lighter if you shop throughout the year.

Happy shopping!

I Shoulda Blogged This Long Ago...

...but totally forgot about it. In June, I purchased this FAB toile tote from Monica. I love, love, love toile, and she did such a great job on it! If you haven't visited her blog yet, be sure to do so. You will be amazed at the crafty genius that she has going on. She really makes every occasion special. I know that I have stolen her ideas numerous times.

Because Every Weekend Should Be Three Days Long

My awesome primary supervisor (i.e. the one who is responsible for me and my work) told me that she was going to switch her hours from 8-5 Monday through Friday to 8-7ish Monday through Thursday, leaving Friday as a day off. I thought it was a great idea, so starting sometime in October I'm going to do the same! WOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! Three day weekends EVERY SINGLE WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I know that Monday through Thursday will be long hours, but I've had a lot of even longer days while in graduate school. And I have a feeling that Free Fridays will keep me motivated.

The End of The Frugal Line????

For the first time since I started writing this blog, I cannot think of a single frugal thing to say. I have blogged about all of my brilliant ideas and some of my finds. I am also having problems uploading pictures to my computer.

Don't worry, this is not the end. Things just may be slower for a while.

Unexpected Blessing

I commute two days a week to an office about an hour away. I found out that I will be paid mileage to do so. The mileage is a rather generous amount, and I will have several thousand dollars extra at the end of the year. Commuting is not a big deal for me since I have done it for the last 7 years. So, I have decided that I will put all of the mileage money into my saving-for-my-next-car account. I would really like to pay cash for my next car, so this is a big step in the right direction. I plan on paying all routine maintenance and gas out of my regular paycheck, but any major repairs will have to come from the mileage money. Still, what a blessing!

Sweet Sassy Molassy, You Need To Make This Recipe!

Seriously, it is that good! From the September 29, 2006 issue of All You Magazine:

2 cups uncooked pasta
6 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 head broccoli, cut into florets, stalks peeled and sliced (about 3/4 lb.)
8 oz. extra-sharp Cheddar, coarsely shredded (2 packed cups)
Pepper
8 Saltine crackers

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a large pot of biling salted water, cook pasta, stirring often, for 7 minutes. Transfer 1 cup of pasta cooking water to a bowl, add cream cheese and whisk until smooth.

2) Add broccoli to pasta in pot. Continue cooking until pasta is al dente, about 4 more minutes.

3) Drain pasta and broccoli and and return them to pot. Add cream cheese and 1 1/4 cups Cheddar; stir until cheese is melted. Season with pepper. Transfer to a 9-inch square baking dish. Crush crackers, toss with remaining Cheddar and sprinkle mixture on top of pasta. Bake until top is golden and sauce bubbles, about 20 minutes.

Tessa's notes: I used Mexican blend cheese instead of Cheddar and it tasted great. Also, I think it could've used more Saltines on top.

Planning Meals

After a few weeks of disorganized grocery buying, I decided to come up with an obsessive-compulsive plan. The Ramblings of T: Come for the frugality, stay for the OCD.

Anyhoo, I was tired of wasting groceries and eating not-so-great. I have a ton of recipe books, but they are no good to me if they never get used! I went through all of my recipes and selected a few weeks' worth of dinner recipes and a few lunch recipes. I selected recipes that were inexpensive to make, sounded good, and were comprised of ordinary items. I hate it when a recipe sounds good but I have to buy 23 weird items for it. I then put all of the recipes in clear plastic pages inside the binder. I plan to work my way through all of the recipes in my planner, and then start through them again. The binder has sections for Lunch, Dinner, Side Dishes, and Dessert. This has really cut down on excessive buying and I have been eating some yummy stuff. Plus, I am not tempted to eat out since I know what I can cook for each meal.

Friday's Outfit

Dress $15 from T.J. Maxx, J. Crew tank top $7, Bandolino shoes. I have some shoes that would've looked cuter than this, but I was going for comfort. Which leads me to my current dilemma: I have too many "cute" shoes and not enough "functional" shoes. I think I may need to get rid of some tall heels and replace them with kitten heels and/or flats.

I know you are all just weeping for me and my shoes. ;)

A Hodge Podge Post

Well, I didn't get to take an outfit pic yesterday, and today's outfit was just shameful. I will continue to try to post outfit pictures as I am able.


A new addition to the kitchen:


This painted metal cart was $15 from an antiques store and was spotted by the eagle eye of my Auntie. I have wanted one of these for awhile! The green cast to the picture is due to fluorescent lighting and taking the picture at night. ;) I would also like to note that the phone and the answering machine were both free.


Here is another scarf that I am working on. I just finished a black one with little specks of color. I was serious when I said I would try to use up all of my yarn this year!!!

I will try to plan my posts this weekend and take pictures so that I can have a better organized week next week.

First Day! Sort Of.

First, a rather shaky outfit of the day. You aren't going to be able to see all the cute details of my outfits, but you'll get the general idea. Cato chocolate brown button down $7, Joneswear brown patterned skirt from J.C. Penney $7, Bandolino heels $15. I also carried this brown croc print purse $40 and this briefcase $35. Anyhoo, so I met with my secondary supervisor for the first time today. Three days a week I will be in the town that I live in and two days a week I will be about an hour away. I have already met my primary supervisor (the one in the town that I live in). I really like both of my supervisors and I think this is going to be an amazing internship!!! I was a little nervous because some of my friends are having a bad experience with their internships.

Some of the things that I love:
* My hours will be 8-5, Monday through Friday. No crazy hours.
* I am never on call (carrying around a pager for crisis clients).
* I have a full 24 hours to complete my paperwork (this is actually a long time!).
* Everyone works together in a collaborative manner.
* My supervisors seem to really be on top of things.
* I get my own office in both places.

I am really getting excited about this year. Thanks to all of you that prayed for me and my internship, and a big thank you to the One who arranged such a perfect site for me.

Free Download

Hurry! If you go to www.walmart.com and go to their music download section, they are offering a free BarlowGirl download called Million Voices. I am not familiar with this song, but I do like BarlowGirl.