No Spend Weekend

This month we exceeded our monthly budget ($450) by January 25th therefore in an effort to keep our February grocery budget on track (will deduct January overspend from February budget) this was a zero grocery spend weekend. Time to clean out the cupboards and dig around in the freezer to make it to the end of the month.

Yesterday was crock pot chicken in mushroom sauce over rice, breakfast was scrambled eggs with bits of jalapenos, green peppers and summer sausage (left over from weekday lunches). Both turned out very nicely. Tonight I have to create something with white fish. Time to turn to allrecipes.com, one of my favorite free sources for recipes.

Instead this weekend was spent thinking and planning our future downsizing (1-3 years). A "garage sale closet" was started. Every year the town my mother in law lives in, Mundare, Alberta (1 hr away) has a town wide garage sale.

I volunteer to assist her with the garage sale but also bring a truck load of our own items to sell. The concept of the more the better especially applies to garage sales. Due to the large number of sales loads of buyers are attracted and most sellers are able to part with 90% of their goods from a 9am-2pm one day sale. I also take a break around 10am and walk the 2-3 blocks surrounding her house to get my own bargains.The sale is always held the first weekend in May (start of Alberta garage sale season when the snow is gone).

Here are the initial results of my weekend scrounge:



As I find more goods to part with all I have to do is deposit them in the closet. I can't wait for May!

Priceless

1. Morning hot cup of my favorite Earl Grey Tea
2. Observing wildlife in nature
3. Listening to the ocean waves crash on the beach
4. Getting a morning kiss and hug from my husband
5. Financial independence

Who needs the Gym? Snow shovelling and Bargain Hunting is a great workout!

Photo: snow on top of patio table on deck

Alberta seems to be receiving freakishly large amounts of snow this winter. Today's physical activity includes shoveling/snow blowing the sidewalks and driveway, and shovelling the snow off our deck and garden shed to prevent collapse. Two Edmonton businesses had their roof collapse yesterday, so rather than experience an expensive and troublesome insurance claim ($1000 deductible - to keep premiums low) we are getting our workout today in a different way.


Photo: Back yard overlooking natural ponds and wetland, bleak in winter, beautiful in our two month summer

Estimated savings on Gym membership $50/month (kidding, we are too cheap for that and have some exercise equipment in the basement-all bought second hand, hubby only pays to use racquetball courts with the boys).

Based on this blog one would think I actually enjoy shopping. The only kind of shopping I enjoy is second hand stores and garage sales. Speed shopping with a list is how I shop the rest of the time. The primary goal here with all our penny pinching is paying off our mortgage as we have no other debt. Our mortgage is a line of credit which is secured against the property. We can pay as much down as we want every month and qualified three years ago during the Alberta oil boom of prime plus 1 interest rate. We always make a much larger payment than we would if we had a conventional mortgage. The goal is to have it paid off by the end of 2012. That is financial freedom, a life totally free and clear of debt. We will try to never have debt after that point in our lives (current age 41 and 48). If used properly credit is a great tool that can cost you little - we will continue to use credit cards and lines of credit to manage our finances but actual money spent on interest will be nothing (if you pay things off immediately on credit cards they don't cost you anything and we get several free plane tickets per year due to our Bank of Montreal Airmiles Mastercard and Royal Bank Avion Visa).

Okay, now for the penny pinching this week:
The stash of shampoo and conditioner were down to the last bottle each so this week I stumbled on a sell off of Loreal shampoo and conditioner. I am not brand loyal (Kraft Peanut butter and Heinz Ketchup being the only exceptions) but when I found Loreal Shampoo and conditioner on a sell-off at my local Rexall I bought a 10-12 month supply:


Regular 5.99 per bottle, on sale $1.24(no coupons used)
Bought 11 bottles, including tax total $15.63 (including 5% GST)

Also at Rexall found:
Peek Freans cookies Regular $2.99 on sale $1.07
Dare Fruit Snacks Regular $2.99 on sale $1.07 -.50 coupon = .57


After scouting the fliers Friday two freebies (with coupons) were found:
4 cans mushroom soup free (.50 at Walmart, used $1 WUB2 coupons)
2 Secret Deodorant free ($2 at Sobeys, used $4 WUB2 coupon)-no photo

3 cans tomato soup for .50 total (used $1 wub 3 coupon at Walmart)





Off to shovelling!

Groovy deals this week

This week has been bitterly cold in Alberta averaging minus 25-30 degrees Celsius all week, therefore my shopping has been limited to 1 store per 5 minute after work dash.

How do I find the deals? I comb the fliers on Thursday evenings and make a list of all the deals specific to stores. I only actually buy the deals that are most needed. My stockpile never usually exceeds 6 of any one item and watch carefully about good by/sell by dates.

This weeks best bargains:
Walmart
Secret deodorant (my usual brand) on sale this week for
$2.57 x 6 - $14 (2 x $7 WUB3 coupons)=
Total after taxes (GST) $2.19 for six!!
















Rexall Drugstore
Fa Yogurt honey bodywash (Regular 5.99) on sale $1.16 x 5
Febreze noticable refills (Regular 4.99) on sale 2.96 x 2 - $2 WUB2 coupon
Rexall brand barbeque chips (Regular .99) on sale .50
Rexall branch 250 count tablet vitamin C chews (regular $15.99) on sale 1.66
Rexall muscle & back relief 40 count (Regular 16.99) on sale 9.99

Total after taxes and coupons $23.07

Not much in the way of food deals this week - mostly non-food items but my freezer and pantry are full so no worries, I will continue to only buy at the absolute lowest cost.

Good news this week, one of my favorite U.S.A. stores is coming to Canada to take over my least favorite Canadian retailer - Zellers! I actually made a commitment to myself this year that I would not spend one dollar in Zellers (due to poor customer service, no recognition of the scanning code of practice, and dirty stores), even if the item was free - that is how much I hate Zellers. On the other hand, I was waiting for Target to start cross border online shipping, but this is even better! We will have to wait until 2012 but all the Zellers stores will be closed, remodeled and reopened under the Target brand (think upscale Walmart if you are not familiar with shopping there). Yay!

First Day of the New Year 2011

One of my 2011 goals is to become less wastefull. On that note this morning was spent finishing the recycled Christmas cards into new gift tags using 100% recycled materials including ribbon.

On Christmas all paper,wrapping,ribbons,bows and garbage was put into a garbage bag and then stored until this morning. I divided all the non-recylable materials and was left with a pretty small pile of trash. Used non-foil paper is going into recyling. All of the above is being recycled for next year.

On the "No More Christmas Crap" note I am making a conscious decision to save things throughout the year that come into the house for Christmas decorating and wrapping. Based on everything that was recycled this year and the amount of leftover wrapping paper bought on sale last year for pennies on the dollar, I likely will never have to buy Christmas crap including bows and ribbons again. When the supply runs out I will turn to nature (pinecones, seashells, and holly) or freecycle (Christmas cookie tins).

I don't think of this as a New Years Resolution, maybe a change in lifestyle?

Blizzard, Freebie and Used Clothes

I am stuck in the house this weekend (literally) after our 2 foot snowfall since Friday, and frankly have a bit of cabin fever. My car is quite low to the ground therefore am waiting until they plow some of the roads and others have packed down the snow before venturing out. In case of emergency hubby does have a 4x4 truck but since they recommend not travelling at all on our roads unless absolutely necessary I am heeding that warning and am hibernating in the house this weekend. Stockpiling groceries certainly is a good idea in climates (like Alberta, Canada)that may leave you stranded at home with no way to reach stores for several days. I have to return to work on Monday therefore am anticipating an adventure on the commute. Thank goodness for the internet, pvr and books. I might even be motivated to do so baking!

I shall share with you some finds from earlier this week since due to confinement there has been no shopping this weekend:



Banana Republic fall coat - $7.99 at Goodwill, similar coats sell for $120 on the Banana Republic website, and this one appears never to have been worn.

Kenneth Cole reaction T-shirt $4.99, retail price would have been around $35-50.

And the best freebie I have ever received, a size 10 brand new pair of Haggar pants from doing a survey (I am on their email list). They fit perfectly, retail for $59 and will add to my work wardrobe. This product normally is carried by the Hudson Bay stores in Canada.





Total cost for these three wardrobe pieces? $12.98 Canadian with approximate value of $215!

Smoking Hot Deals Today

A few treats bought to put away for when those fattening days of Christmas are just a memory.





Rexall
Box of Pot of Gold Excellence chocolates (full size!)
.86 (8.99 regular)
Box of Royal Edinburough short bread
.36 (4.99 regular)
Nintendo Sour Gummies Bag
.26 (2.99 regular)
2 x Rexall 40 ct extra strength muscle & back medication
9.99 (regular 16.99)
Large bottle Rexall hand sanitizer
FREE (some kind of Rexall promo)

Total charges including tax $22.54 (also received 21 Aeroplan miles and 1 Airmile for Westjet airmiles mastercard)

Goodwill
Choker necklace .99


***all my grocery tallies include non-food grocery items such as medications and cleaners

Grocery and Coupon Tally 2010 Results

December blew the grocery budget, worst month in two years! Oh well, I actually stocked up therefore the freezer is full and the budget should recover this month.

December Groceries $811.47 (total honesty here)
December Coupons $39.26

In 2008 I estimate my average grocery bill was $850 per month/$10200 per year. In 2009 It likely was closer to $600 per month/$7200 per year. I kept track of coupons used in 2009 and it amounted to $1612 (first year of couponing is always the highest, sometimes buying unnecessary crap).

For the first time I can actually tally what my real grocery bill was for the year 2010:

Groceries $6125.39 (average of $510/mos)
Coupons $1273.01

I have no coupon goal for 2011, as it seems way more important to see the bottom line on money spent on groceries after coupons.

Grocery goal in 2011 $5,400 or $450 per month. This would be an overall savings of $625 off 2010.

Of course I could go even lower but we eat at home 99% of the time therefore our entertainment bill is smaller!