Alternate Sources

 

I was thrilled to finally wear my thrifted cashmere vest. Maybe I've worn it once or twice before.  Nothing fancy today -- just denim leggings, a black turtleneck, and my vest.  All I had to do was go out hunting and gathering.  While I was at it, I did get my pneumonia vaccine.  Now I am basically as vaccinated as can be -- my adventure with COVID at Christmas means I can't get the shot for that.

I spied these small 3oz plastic containers suitable for air travel on a 90% markdown.  There's always a need to store small amounts of liquid, and at 23 cents apiece, I decided it was worth it to stock up.  Dollar Tree sells a pack of three of the flip-tops for $1.25, so this price was a bargain.  That's the mathematical reasoning that often goes into my purchases.

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Color Grabber sheets are an important part of laundry in this house. With a sheet in the wash, I can mix lights and darks. Or launder something new without fear it will bleed on the rest of the load.  Each box has a $1 off coupon, which doesn't expire, so I used two I had towards the purchase of these.  The coupons in these boxes will go to the next set.  While in the store, I checked the clearance rack.  This cleaner was a great price, which I confirmed using Google Lense. I do that a lot -- do you? I check out sale and clearance prices, as well as comparable retail claims, using this tool.  My search indicated this cleaner normally sells for $13 a piece. I plan to use it on the kitchen exhaust fan and surrounding area.  Oh, and I did score a great Flash Food deal (not pictured) of wheat crackers and granola bars.  Things we always need to buy, so the savings make sense.

Next up was Burlington. My goal was to find a gel eye mask.  A friend fell and hit her head, ending up with a bad black eye.  I wanted to stop by to check on her and bring a gift. Oddly, I have not been able to find this particular item.  For now, disposables will have to do. When in this store, I always check out cleaning supplies and food.  You can find these staples outside of the grocery store at a good price if you know where to look. The 7th Generation laundry concentrate was clearanced for $7.19 because the cardboard shell was broken. I see that a lot.  This package normally sells for thirty bucks, so this will be a way to conserve laundry dollars.  Packing tape was just fine to secure the shell.  There was a canister with a Snoopy mug for 25 cents. I guess at one time it had a coaster and something else, which is long gone.  I can peel that info off the lid, add hot cocoa and cookies, close it back up, and have a holida gift. 

This is my haul from Gabe's. This seems like a trash haul, but it's not.  The mouthwash was a great buy and since learning you shouldn't rinse after brushing because you are spitting out the fluoride, I've wanted to switch to that. I can't convince my fella not to rinse with mouthwash after brushing, so he needs this.  Speaking of my man, he told me this week that he misses having tacos for dinner and that he got a few for lunch on Wednesday.  The Taco Bell shells normally sell for over five bucks, making $2 a tidy savings.  The gravy for sausage and biscuits were only 40 cents each and I have breakfast sausage to use up. I am thinking a breakfast for dinner sort of thing.  The Barbie cookie kits (one is a dream house and the other her bus and other happy things), will be a birthday present for a big Barbie fan.

I don't usually feed Frankie dry food, other than kibble as a treat or lure.  However, Stella and Chewey makes good stuff and I plan to feed it over the next few weeks with my own food.  This four dollar bag normally sells for twenty-two.  If I had more room, I would have grabbed a few more. I also grabbed a bottle of EVOO because we just opened a new one and I always want one in reserve.  The tin of cherry pie filling is for ice cream, as my friend with the black eye loves cherry ice cream. And that's the kind of friend I am!

I used Google, Google Lens, and the Walmart app to see what the normal retail was for a lot of this stuff. That enabled me to determine I could save more spending outside of the traditional sources.  

Tommy made dinner based on ingredients and instructions I set out for him.  The meat in the chili was a marked down deal in the freezer with carne asada marinade, which really helped the sauce. It was so good! We enjoyed it while watching Oppenheimer, which we surprisingly had not seen.  What a picture!

Do you look up sale prices when you are out shopping for deals?