May Savings

On the last day of May, we wanted to up our Kroger gas points to 1,000. We'd let our points accumulate so we could get a dollar off a gallon. Gas prices have been so high, that we had cut back on our driving. But now that prices have dropped, we decided to fill up again. We only needed to spend another $200 at Kroger today to make our 1,000 points, so we knew we'd do it.

I had a lot of coupons to use. First I downloaded some onto my card from www.kroger.com and printed out the list:

I'd already clipped some coupons from the newspaper and filed them. Plus I had a bunch of coupons that Kroger had mailed me, including two "checks" for $15 each.

At the Rocky Mount Kroger, I couponed another $25.39 off my total. Plus, I'd used my card to get some discounts ("Kroger Plus Savings") of $74.90.  Then there was the senior citizen discount of $12.83. 

My total grocery bill came to 222.88. We ran out of our resusable bags and had to get two paper bags. It took two large and one small shopping card to get the groceries to the parking lot, where they filled the back of the old PT (which holds more with the back seats removed):

After we'd  unloaded the groceries and had lunch, we took my old truck and a bunch of gas cans and headed for the Westlake Kroger, where gas was a few cents cheaper than the one in Rocky Mount. We were able to get 51.889 gallons (at $2.409 a gallon) before the pump stopped. Total $125. That'll keep the lawn mowers and the truck going for a while.

On the way home, we stopped at Goodwill, where I found some three Pfaltzgraff dinner plates in my pattern (either Blue Sky or Denim—they're similar), four salad plates, and three saucers for 49¢ a piece, a picture frame that looks like it's made of money, a interesting-looking tote bag, and a flower pot. 

I spent a total of $9.54 at Goodwill. 

I'm proud to be a cheapskate.

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Goodwill Hunting

Today, I went hunting for bargains at the Westlake Goodwill. Did I find any? 

I found this heavy ceramic mixing bowl for $2.99. The color goes nicely in my kitchen. The bowl is 9 inches across and 4 and 1/2 inches high.

Here's a side view. I like the wide rim that makes it easier to carry. I suppose it could be used as a serving bowl, but it's very heavy to pass around.

One of the workers had just brought out this handmade fabric shoulder bag when I grabbed it. It's very well-made, has one outside and two inside pockets and—despite the decorative button—has a velcro closure. It's worth way more than the $2.00 I paid.

This ceramic cat used to hold something. A bowl, maybe? But I could think of a lot of things it could hold, so I splurged at $2.69

I thought this picture frame—probably designed for a teacher—was well worth it 99¢ price tag. It could be a reader's frame—or even a writer's frame, too.

Here it is beside a cat folk art lamp. (My husband asked for a light bulb to make sure it worked. It did.) It's missing a shade but I think I can find a suitable one. I love the cat and birdhouse theme. 

The bottom says "Figi Graphics" & "Country Primitive" & "1994" & "San Diego, CA." It's made of resin, is 11 inches high (base is 5 inches by 5 and 1/2 inches and is fairly heavy. 

Anybody have any idea what's my lamp is worth? I splurged at $3.99.

I also bought a pair of tan slacks for $3.50 and two pins for $1 each. All in all, it was a pretty good hunting trip.

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Book Bargains

The Franklin County Library in Rocky Mount has a used book sale every month. Here's what I bought today:

How much did I pay? 

$3.75 for everything. Not bad for 10 books!

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Purrfect Stuff

Saturday, on my way home from Roanoke, I stopped at Purrfect Treasures to see if I could find a good bargain. The place was really crowded. Word must be getting out.

Eddie-puss gives what I bought a cat scan.

A cat tote (I'll use it as a grocery bag) and two handmade pins:

I spent a whopping $3 for my treasures.

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Purrfect Treasures

Today I stopped at the Purrfect Treasures shop.

This doghouse out front looked so inviting. 

 Purrfect Treasures, located on Route 220 just north of Rocky Mount, is operated by Planned Pethood, one of my favorite charities. Their Facebook page is here.

Look at all the neat stuff Purrfect Treasures has:

The cat lamp was $50. I was tempted, but I have no place to put it.

So—what did I buy? These:

The calico cat draft stopper was $2.50. The metal pig hook and the Maxine potholder were $1 each, and the ceramic black cat was $4.

Here's a close-up of the oversize pot-holder:

And the pig hook:

While there, I also bought a raffle ticket for a chance on an iPad. You can't have too many iPads! 

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Tote & Bag

Today at the Rocky Mount Goodwill, I bought two bags, a handbag and a tote bag. Both are big enough to carry my MacBook, should I wish to lug it around. I paid a whopping $8 for the handbag, which was new and still had some tags attached. It's a Maxine Marsh "Rosetta Shopper," but I wasn't able to Google up that particular bag, so I don't know if I got a good deal or not.

Inside there's a zipper compartment and a few pockets. I'm kind of disorganized and need separate compartments so I can find things.

I paid $3 for the tote bag, which has a dangly disk that says "Apostrophe." The well-made tote looks new, but I can't be sure. Again, I had no luck Googling it. 

Besides the two bags, I bought 10 coat hangers for 75¢. I always need hangers. Here's what the backs of the bags look like:

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Book Bargains

I bought all these books for a total of $4.75 at the Franklin County Library's used book sale today. They had hardcovers for 50¢ and paperbacks for 25¢.

The Terrible Truth About Lawyers is for my husband, whose hobby is watching cases in court. The others are or me. Two books, How to Write a Children's Book and Get it Published (1991) and Writing for Children and Teenagers (1989) are horribly out-dated. I figured they'd be good for laughs. At 50¢ each, they beat the Amazon prices.

Since Edna St. Vincent Millay is one of my favorite poets, I was glad to score Savage Beauty. It's $10.81 on Amazon; I only paid 50¢. I'd wanted to read Growing Up, Russell Baker's autobiography, for a while. On Amazon, the paperback is $7.99; I spent 25¢ for it. Charles Kuralt's America, another book I've wanted to read for a while, is $10.76 for the paperback on Amazon. The one I bought is a hardback.

The old book just below Chloe the kitty is a 1945 edition of Laughing Stock: Over Six Hundred Jokes and Anecdotes of Uncertain Vintage, edited by Bennett Cerf. It was in the freebie box. The 2009 edition is $20.77.

On Amazon, Rhett Butler's People is $10.76; Dave Barry Hits Below the Beltway is $10.49; Sharyn McCrumb's Sick of Shadows (the first in the Elizabeth McPherson mysteries) is a variety of prices: I bought the 1989 mass market paperback edition.

The Friends of the Franklin County Library hold a sale every month at the main library in Rocky Mount. I think I got some pretty good deals.

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Danville Goodwill

Today at the Goodwill in Danville, I bought a few decorative items—two small vases, a picture frame, and a plaque. These three, all in mint condition, were 69¢ each:

Here's a different angle:

I splurged and bought this decorative tile for $1.00. It fits my country decor.

The artist signed it on the back, but I can't make out the name. The date could be either 81 or 87. I like the way it was designed so a hanger loop fit right in.

I'll bet there's a story behind the pig plaque, but I'll never know what it is.

Total: $3.07. Not bad for cute little decorative items.

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December Decor Discoveries

Yesterday, the Discovery Shop was having a 25% off sale on everything in the shop. Since we were going to the farm store in Moneta (where I bought a really good manure fork), we'd pass right by Discovery. Naturally, we stopped.

Over a week ago, I'd looked at this wooden folk-artsy cat plaque, but at $7, it was a bit more than I wanted to spend.

 I'm glad I waited for the sale. They also had another wooden folk-arts piece—and it was two sided:

The original price was $5, but with 25% off I decided I wanted it. I like folk art—here's a display of some (purchased at Goodwill or Discovery) in my kitchen:

In the 25¢ bin at Discovery, I found a little wooden cat. For 19¢, how could I resist? He looks so cute beside a mouse I bought a while back.

 On the way home from the farm store, we passed Goodwill. Of course I found a few things I wanted. Like this little tiny tea set:

For some reason, the pieces were individually priced, so the whole set  cost $2.25. A splurge for me.

The planters were $1 each. That's reasonable. I especially like the one that looks like a Western saddle. I think Jim-Bob like the other one better, though.

I didn't need any of this stuff. But the price was right. . . .

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