Costco On Saturday: What Was I Thinking?

In checking our fridge's contents and realizing that we are going to be out of milk before Monday, I trekked to our local Costco and faced the early-Christmas-shopping and lunching-on-the-samples types who hang out on Saturday.  Holy cow!

I guess I should not be too critical, as I did find a perfect gift fro Genius Golfer, and bought it.

I Sound Like My Mother, Again

This morning I had an errand at the local Walgreen's to pick u a prescription (this is attempt number 2) for a remedy for The Girl's bothersome acne.  It is back, but because our lame insurance is really just for catastrophic medical issues, it covers nothing of the day-in-day-out kind of stuff.  So the great solution she used a year ago is out of the question, as it required monthly check ups (and ridiculous pregnancy tests) because of the potential side effects it has.

Anyway, that was a long version of:  I went to Walgreen's.

I gathered the other sundry things I needed to pick up there and brought the whole hot mess to the check out.  As I was laying out my pile, I asked the gentleman behind the counter "So, I understand that I can't just come in here and get the sale prices anymore unless I have card.  Is that right?"  Yep, he told me, that is the new deal.  And that kind of chaps my hide today.

I know the reasons to the WHY questions--the store will track my purchases and customize deals to save me money.  Yada Yada Yada.

You know what?  I already shop the sales and clip coupons and have figured out long ago that any store with too much information on me isn't necessarily trying to help me out.  Far from it.  It just bugs me that just about every store now has their own "loyalty program" which is just another way of saying they all have my personal info.  And I really don't like that.

When I came home from this infuriating errand, Genius Golfer was making himself some lunch in the kitchen and asked what was up. So I told him and I didn't hold back.  He just looked at me and said, "You sound just like your mom."

Well, I was raised right, I suppose.

The Shopping Blur

I missed writing yesterday because the day was packed with Back To School preparations.  Haircuts for all, and the dreaded school clothes shopping.

I say "dreaded" here only because that is how it has been in the past.  This year was actually pretty nice.  The Boy brought his iTouch and was plugged in through much of the trying on segment.  That helped!  The Girl is growing but still petite enough to fit into most everything she saw, making the decisions the only hard part.

The Boy, looked at a lot, but opted to go with Genius Golfer because, and I quote here, "Dad really gets me".  What?!?!  I am chopped liver, I suppose.  Oh well.  I did enough shopping to last a year at least, so I guess his choice is better.

The haircuts--trims, really--were even painless.  If only my wallet could say that for the day's work.

My Family's Favorite Grocery Store

The week before Thanksgiving at a grocery store is like the Black Friday shopping craze at the rest of the retail world.  The close to Turkey Day it gets, the worse the grocery store is too.  It is crazy.

I just got back from our local grocery store.  So far so good.  If I have done my job today, I am hoping that I need not make another trip before the big day.  Shopping isn't my favorite activity anyway, but through in crazed people and calendared time limits, and I have no desire to be there. 

Is it just me, or do we loose sight of the purpose of the Thanksgiving holiday in the hustle and bustle of shopping, preparing, and gorging ourselves on that one day only to then spin around and do the very same thing for the next month or so prior to the Christmas holiday?

Simplicity awaits patiently for me to choose it over the chaos of the holidays.  Yet, each year as I try to choose that, I get sucked in to the retail vortex.  And it makes me mad every year.

Thanksgiving gets pretty overlooked, but for the food, when we really have so much to be grateful for that one day out of the year seems disproportionate.  Maybe it is just me.

The Life You Save May Be Your Own

I am not sure what the big deal is. Black Friday, I mean. I am the first one to get excited about a great deal, but not to the point of physically harming someone. Did you hear that a 34 year old WalMart employee in Long Island was KILLED by a trampling mob this morning?! What is the deal?! Is this what our society is coming to?

I didn't bother today. I did look at the ads, but nothing seemed worth dealing with people. So I slept in. It was great--I think I am fighting off a head cold and the sleep was just the ticket. I don't enjoy the big crowds of people anyway, and when they are whipped into a frenzy over a super cheap DVD player, they are even less appealing.

I hope your plans went well today--regardless of how you spent the morning. The way the economy is going, I think there may be good deals right up until Christmas Eve. I'll check those ones out while kids are in school and people are back to work. Otherwise, I'm with Maxine here.

What's in YOUR Pantry?

I love a good sale! I mean the ones for things you REALLY use and then you have coupons for that stuff and then there is a discount on top of all that too. Sadly, these kinds of sales are getting fewer and farther between.

Today was the first day of the big Box Tops for Education sale (read: General Mills, Pillsbury, Betty Crocker brands) at our local Albies. I don't usually shop at this particular store because I can always find the everyday stuff much cheaper at my friendly, local, neighborhood Macey's, but for at least the Box Tops sale, I do find my way to Albies.

I bought 66 items. These were not the same types of items that you could/should pick up at the Dry Pack Cannery because they are staples, but rather the kind of things that come in handy as treats for soccer halftime, or in kids' lunches for school, or when the classroom coordinator sends home a note that says they need 31 individually wrapped, store bought, manufactured and factory sealed items for a snack during testing at school. The kind of stuff I bought today fits in those kind of parameters.

As always, I used coupons and matched coupons with the items Ablies had on sale. I came away having saved $158. In years past, that number was over $300. This tells me again prices have gone, up, up, up. In years past, I would do that "Happy Dance" in the Albertson's lobby without caring who saw me. Today I am still happy for my savings, but I am more happy that I can fill my family's pantry and stock pile the items we use when they are cheapER and not have to feel pressured to buy something because we "need" it NOW.

I realize that I still spent money today at the store, but I used my resources wisely and planned ahead and thought through what I was purchasing--not just impulse buying because "That would be easy," or "Oh, I forgot I was supposed to bring that tonight," or even "Mom, THAT is what I want to take!"

As my family's ultimate comptroller, seeing that savings circled on MY bottom line makes me feel like I had a productive day and did right by my family. Dang, that just feels good.