I took this picture the other day because I had a “don’t mess with me face on”. Lots of situations going on and annoying old house things. Anyway, I knew it reminded me of something and I found this grumpy cat pic. Hahaha….
Category Archives: Things that make me go hmm?
The Tiny Hall
This has got to be one of the most awkwardest halls ever. There are four doors that swing in to this tiny space. The master bedroom door, bathroom door, Alex’s room door and the door leading to the large (dog trot) hall. This coming weekend my focus will be on refinishing floors in the front part of the house BUT…this hall is my next project! Buh-bye wallpaper!!! There are three jobs that I absolutely abhor. The all time number one most dreaded evil is scraping paint and caulk off of old windows (misery!!!). Followed closely behind that is floating and finishing drywall (ugh!) you can probably guess what number three is…yup! Scraping off nasty old wallpaper that was put up with superman glue. Sigh….I scraped it out of the other rooms. I guess my time of procrastination has come to an end.
Nut Jobs
Oh my, I had a good laugh this afternoon. I found a letter that I received in June of 2008 at my place of employment. I received a phone call from a young man and he was wanting to set up interest free loans for our clients. As many of you know, I worked for Charles Charrier for a couple years and did up until last week. Anyway, I very kindly told him that we did not need interest free loans for our clients. He was persistent and started asking nosy questions about our business, how we handle our client files, etc. and I basically told him that it was none of his business how we operated and that I hoped he had a good day and since he was still arguing, I just hung up. We received numerous phone calls of that particular nature, he was not the first.
Anyway, the next day, my boss got a letter in the mail from this dude calling for my resignation. Since my blog is rated G, I blacked out the name he called me. But what cracks me up most about this letter is him telling us how much money he is going to make. I don’t know what takes the wind out of his sails more: 1) the fact that he calls me an inappropriate, unbusiness-like name; or 2) that he is writing his very strongly worded letter, in pencil, on notebook paper. Really? He has yet to send me those check stubs, by the way. I ran his name on Google and he graduated LSUA in December 2008 with an Associates in Art degree. I was nice enough to black his name out.
My Little Klepto
Sparky and Vivian
My dog has a habit. Yes, he does. He likes to pilfer small objects, most notoriously, pens. I just caught him scoping out a fuzzy topped green pen of Vivian’s. I saw it when it caught his eye. He stood under the desk contemplating how to get to it. I moved her chair away from the desk. I have found three pens in his kennel this week! He loves pens. There’s just something about them. But, his pilfering is not limited to pens. Generally, whatever he finds on the floor will end up in his kennel. If you set something down and are looking for it, chances are you will find it in his kennel. When we were sheetrocking the laundry room addition, he came in and out the kitchen taking sheetrock screws.
I had a friend of mine come by and wire up some outlets and also to work on the laundry room addition. He happens to be deaf. I was not in the kitchen when he was working, I was elsewhere and I forgot to warn him of Sparky’s habit. Anyway, he set his screwdriver down on the floor and he could not hear the dogs. Sparky sneaked up behind him and stole the screwdriver. He buried it in his kennel. I found out later that my friend looked all over for it, inside the house, outside the house, in his truck…he finally found it in the kennel (I forgot to ask him if he purposely looked there, or just happened to glance in the kennel and saw it). I laughed so hard. Oh, that dog!
I have found barbie shoes, sheetrock bits, many pens, lids to hair spray bottles, plastic bits, socks, you name it! Whatever he takes a fancy in that day, or whatever he finds on the floor, ends up in his kennel. What am I going to do with that dog?
Ok, I couldn’t help but coming back and amending post to include some hilarious videos of other klepto dogs. It seems that Sparky is not alone in the world, nor are other dog owners. The first one is a poodle who goes to great lengths to pilfer items, this definitely is Sparky. The thing is, I usualy don’t catch him and I wonder how he got such and such from on top the desk or counter. I always fussed at my daughter for leaving things on the floor and it turned out that he actually retrieved them himself.
Hahaha…and this dog is serious about his stealing…
Andrea
Smart Couponing
1,100 boxes of cereal? 20 jars of pickles? Who needs all that? To hoard it? To give it away? Neither of these are good reasons to spend 6 hours of my precious time planning for a strategic strike. Multiple transactions? NO WAY! Not only would that make me grumpy, it would make the sales clerk and the people behind me grumpy too.
Some people enjoy the challenge of finding items and working the system to get it at the lowest cost possible by checking out in multiple transactions. While many say there is nothing wrong with this, I for one do not have the time to check out at the register in multiple transactions, nor do I care to store all the stuff that I got for “free” or for next to nothing. Not to mention, I know this statement will probably have people up in arms, but why buy so many items? Your are depriving other people from enjoying a sale too. Nothing annoys me more than seeing people clear the shelves. I had coupons too that I wanted to use, but now that you bought 100 boxes of the same cereal, I cannot use my coupon. More and more stores are starting to limit multiple coupons and just last week, Kroger posted a sign at each register that said that they will NOT do multiple transactions. I think that this will be a continued trend by stores. I also noted that many coupons say: Limit one per transaction, per person. Or, not subject to doubling, etc.
I think the funniest thing I hear extreme couponers say is: “Well, when it gets close to expiration or if I bought a lot, then I just ‘bless’ someone else with it, or donate it to a food bank.” While this is admirable, how can this be a savings to you if you are not consuming it personally? I would prefer to focus on brands I normally buy and things I normally eat and buy somewhat normal quantities. For me, this system works a lot better for me.
I was going to write a longer post on this subject, but I found that so many others have already beaten me to it. So, without further ado, visit these great bloggers for their take on the extreme coupon craze. I will give you a hint, they think the same thing that I do:
Extreme Couponing, Is It Worth It?
Response to TLC’s Extreme Couponing
I love this quote: “In regards to the show, for many that watched this will be their first taste of couponing and will only cement their fears: that couponing is an overindulgent, irresponsible, and rude practice.”
Extreme Couponing: Not A Reality
A quote from the above link:
“First pretty much everything you saw tonight can’t be done in most grocery stores.
- They will not let you check out for 5 hours and do 18 transactions back to back, and nor should they.
- The lady shopping in the Kroger store in Houston lives in an area that will actually no longer double coupons starting next Wednesday.
- Most stores have a limit on the number of like item coupons they will accept or a limit on the number of like coupons they will double. (We will see Bi-Lo break their own policy for this in a few weeks on another episode).
- Many coupons are starting to have limits written on them “per transaction” and “per customer”.
- Very few stores double items past their value (i.e. you buy a 60¢ product but they double to $1). The one big store in the south that has done this, Publix, is even updating their systems to no longer allow it. Remember stores pay for the doubling on coupons so there is no reason for them to do this.”
Forget extreme couponing, let’s just talk about using coupons and using them wisely. The very last link I posted above, the woman gives sound advice. It is something I do already: Pick one store you are comfortable with, start small and once you get used to it, you can expand to buying more than 2 weeks to a month’s worth of groceries at a time. The strategy is very simple and does not take hours of preparation. By being loyal to one store, you start seeing the pattern of sales and will know when things will come up for sale. If you sign up for a loyalty card, I use Kroger for example, they send you weekly emails about what is on sale and you can also load digital coupons right on to your card. How easy is that? That is a little less clipping to do. I log in online, add coupons that I know I will use. It will also let you make a grocery list based on the sales paper, then you can print it at the end and it will print your grocery list, as well as a list of what coupons you have pre-loaded so you won’t forget. Easy as pie.
Another thing, Kroger sends me coupons based on products I buy frequently and they also send coupons for store brand items. SAVINGS! I buy a lot of Kroger store brand items…with an added coupon…this makes it worthwhile to shop there. I also get $10 off of $100 purchase coupons, $3 off $15 from the meat department and you can use all of them in a single transaction. I went to Kroger last week and I bought two weeks worth of groceries. Granted we are a small family of three. My total was $138. I used several paper coupons, as well as my pre-loaded digital coupons. I also bought as much as I could on sale. Some of my items were not on sale, but I am brand loyal to a couple things due to allergies, so I did pay full price. But, the savings from other items evened it out. Also P&G sends saver coupons and Kroger has a buy 10 participating items and you get $5 off. After using a combination of my Kroger card, digital coupons, paper coupons and store coupons, my total was $84.63 and $10 was Historical Association lemonade stuff (lemon, limes, frozen lemonade and gallos of water) that I got reimbursed for. You can see that I bought pretty much normal items in normal quantities. Here is my receipt:
I will point out my favorite savings:
The steak, pork chops and chicken were all on sale. I bought all three, they were already half off, then I used a $3.00 off coupon that Kroger sent me for the meat department and I had an extra coupon specifically for $1.00 off the chicken. I saved $4.00 on top of the sale prices.
I had a coupon that printed at the register the last time I was at the store that if I bought 4 Pilsbury, General Mills or (can’t remember other brand), items, that I would get $2 off. So I bought 3 cans of Pilsbury biscuits (we eat the like crazy), they were on SALE for $1 each, and I bought one box of instant potatoes, also on sale for $1.69. So my total was $4.69. And I got a $2.00 off coupon good for my next grocery visit. Which I used last night to buy dog food, which NEVER goes on sale. I am not going to say it was “like” paying $2.69 because that phrase irritates me. I did pay $4.69 and took my bonus coupon and used it on another item that I know never goes on sale but I have to buy anyway.
I bought some Herbal essence spray gel which also usually doesn’t go on sale. It was $2.94. I forgot I loaded an ecoupon on my card for it about a month ago, so it was a bonus to get the .60 off! A nice surprise. That is why it is good to go and load the new coupons on things you normally buy every week when they send the email even if you do not need it immediately, still load it. They usually do not expire for 60 days.
CLOSE YOUR EYES MEN! Playtex, which normally is $4.99 a box, went on sale for $2.53 a box. I had a $1.00 coupon and only paid $1.53! Also, at register, it gave me a $2.00 coupon on my next purchase of 2 boxes of Playtex. I will hold on to this until they go on sale again.
Arm and Hammer Detergent (the perfume and dye free, the ONLY one I can use) went on sale for $3.99, normally $5.99. I had a $1 coupon, so my final price was $2.99. I also had coupons for Tide, but Tide was not on sale. It does go on sale at a deep discount twice a year. I will hold on to this coupon until it does. These are the only two detergents that I can use.
You don’t have to sacrifice little things that you like either. I like Haribo gummy bears. MY FAVORITE! I noticed they were on sale 10 for $10 (you don’t have to buy 10 by the way, they are still only a dollar each if you elect to buy lesser quantities). They were $1, which is .39 off. I also had a coupon for .30 off and my final price was .70. Those were some good gummy bears!
Due to my allergies and Vivian’s slight lactose intolerance (she still drinks some milk), we generally buy a lot of soy milk or almond milk. Whatever is cheapest at the time. The Almond Breeze was on sale for $2.99, normally $3.59 and I had a $1 off coupon that I saved waiting on it to go on sale. My finally cost was $1.99 for a gallon. Not shabby.
You will notice that a lot of the items were not on sale and those items I generally buy anyway. A common misperception is that people who use coupons buy brands they do not normally buy. This is not true in my case. I do buy some of the better brands because of allergies. And sometimes, if it is cheaper to buy the better brand over the store brand, heck yeah! I will buy the better brand.
I like to drink Folgers Colombian Dark Roast. I know that it is hard to get a coupon for Folgers products. So, I generally hold on to Folgers coupons when I get them and wait for Kroger to put it on sale (which they do once a month, you better check the sales paper!!!). Any other brands that I normally buy, I ALWAYS, ALWAYS, check their websites or the coupon websites to see if they have any coupons for those items. I have to buy them anyway, it doesn’t hurt to search for corresponding coupons. I also am signed up to receive manufacturer coupons from CouponMom.com and I get an email weekly with new coupons. I print the ones I will most likely use and leave the rest. I do not get the sales paper, I do not get the Sunday paper. I do not get coupons from the paper. I am able to save money without a subscription to the paper. I more likely than not, didn’t get my paper. Someone would pick it up because the lady was always late delivering it. So, it was not worth the money for the subscription. Also, I count the $15 for the subscription into the final cost of the items. Was it worth paying $15 for the coupons? In my case it generally was not because I could get the same coupons through other means. If you live in a bigger city with a bigger market, this would probably benefit you. It does not benefit me in Alexandria, Louisiana. 🙂
I have lots more to say, but will maybe continue in another post later. I will be having a coupon class soon and will announce the date and location. I have another friend who coupons a completely different way. She has a larger family and she has subscriptions to paper coupons. She has a great way of saving money and knows all the rules about doubling and tripling coupons. I am going to get her to tell her strategy. The bottom line regarding couponing is: You have to find what works for YOU.
“House of the Leaning Pole”
"House of the Leaning Pole"
Has a certain ring to it! We have kicked around ideas for a good name for our house. We have also thought about renaming our house versus naming it by last name of the original owner. BUT, I think “House of the Leaning Pole” is definitely descriptive. Everyone knows where my house is…its the one with the big leaning pole out front. This is a very old picture. Almost 4 years old. I swiped it from Google Earth. Since this picture, we had a bad ice storm and it caused the pole to crack at the base and it is leaning even farther now. I am informed that it is AT&Ts pole and I am further informed that AT&T has been notified about it. I just hope it does not fall over onto my house or fence.
Come on AT&T….please come and replace this pole????? 😀 Please????? It will save me the embarrasment of naming my house something dumb. We don’t want that.
Andrea
All is right again….
You might remember my post about suffering a shock from receiving a $4,700 utility bill which, thankfully, turned out to be a clerical error. This month I suffered an equal shock by receiving a $110 utility bill which was NOT a clerical error! Thank God! Such extremes! Hehe….
The $110 utility bill is not very surprising. My house has ceilings of 13 feet, and heat rises, so in early spring, my house is pleasant as the natural design of the house keeps things pretty cool. It is in the winter when I pay through the nose. Hopefully, upcoming improvements, which includes an insulation project and solar panels (still investigating a good firm), will help lower the heating bills in the winter.
Happy Friday everyone!
Andrea
$4,700 Utility Bill!?!?!
WOWZERS!!!!!!!!! Imagine my shock when I am told I have a $4,700.00 utility bill!!!!!!!!! For me to have $4,700 utility bill, ALL of the following things would have to happen:
1) My heater or air conditioner on 24/7, 20 degrees higher or lower than the outside temperature;
2) All of my water systems dripping, leaking, cracked pipes and gushing out into the street;
3) My gas line being ruptured all month and gas flowing out into the atmosphere;
4) Steven, Vivian and I taking 5 baths a day and leaving the water running all day;
5) Have every electric system in our house plugged in, running and going 24/7, which includes leaving all lights in the house on, 24/7.
And then, even if we did ALL of that, for a one month period, I still don’t think I would have a $4,700 bill!
I did not get my utility bill this month and, upon a disconnect notice in mailbox yesterday, I called to see what was going on. I checked my Excel Spreadsheet and noted that I did not receive a bill, but that I had the funds allotted waiting on the bill to come in. So, upon the getting the disconnect notice, I called the City of Alexandria Utility Department to let them know that I have the money to pay my bill, it was just that I did not get a bill this month.
So, I called and imagine my surprise when they told me that my bill last month was $4,700!!!!!! The lady said that it could not possibly be right and saw that my meter was re-read, so she recalculated my bill (I heard her tap-tap-tapping on the calculator) now I only owe $1,017.00….what??? My bill has never, ever, ever been that high! So, I went to the Utility Office and sat there a while to talk to one of the supervisors. After seeing two people and waiting a while, a supervisor came out and she asked me why I did not come in after getting the $4,700 bill (like this is my fault) and I informed her that I never got it. I received a rather short typed notice that some utility bills were sent out in error, but I trashed it, not thinking about it, waiting on my bill to come in. After all was said and done, she assumed that someone saw that my bill was $4,700 and pulled it and sent someone out to re-read the meter. It was re-read, but no new bill was sent out. Then, looking closer, over $500 was penalties and late fees from the $4,700 not being paid. They forgot to adjust the bill to take those penalties off. I never got a bill so how could I be penalized for not paying it?
They were nice about it, for once. But she kept telling me that I should have called in….that I should have asked for a bill….that I should have known something was wrong…. hmmm….. I always pay my utility bill when I receive it, so usually it is paid 2 weeks before the due date. So, I did not think it odd to not get a bill, I just assumed I had already paid it. In my Excel Spreadsheet, based on my usage from last year, I have that amount held out in my budget waiting on the bill to come in. If they don’t send me a bill, how will I know what to pay and when to pay? Whatever…………
So, after all was said and done, my bill was reduced from $4,700 to around $500. That is a BIG difference….lol….. I still didn’t get a copy of my bill to compare my usage to last year’s usage. When I asked for a copy of it, you would have thought that I was stupid based on the looks I got. I told them I like to see my usage from year to year and I base my budget calculations as such. Still got a stupid look. I didn’t push my luck. I paid my bill, and left. I just hope none of that stuff appears on next month’s bill!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Andrea
Things you never see in Central Louisiana
1. Icicles
2. Ice (unless its in a tall glass of tea)
3. Frozen trees
Its cold! Ok all you Northerners…stop laughing at my post! 🙂 I want summer…I want the beach…I want to go to Mexico on a cruise!!!!!!!!!
Andrea
Why do smart people never answer the phone?
So, I called my textbook supplier to see if they would still buy back last semester’s books. I was told by my husband that I may have missed the cut off for selling them back. I could not find anything on their website about buy backs, so I called the Customer Service number. This is how the conversation went…SERIOUSLY…..
The girl answers the phone
Me: Yes, I am coming this Friday to purchase my textbooks for this semester. I want to bring in last semester’s textbooks. Are you still buying back last semester’s textbooks?
Her: I THINK we are already done with that.
Me: Ok, well, can you tell me for sure?
Her: Our system is not working right now.
Me: Ok, can I talk to someone else who may know?
Her: I am sorry, what did you ask me? I was writing something and forgot what you are asking me.
Me: I am asking about your store buying back textbooks from last semester (talking really slow at this point). Should I just bring them Friday to see if I can sell them back to you?
Her: Ummm….our system is down.
Me: (Looooooong quiet pause)
Her: Well, you are coming in Friday?
Me: Yes.
Her: Just bring them then and maybe someone can tell you then.
Me: Hung up the phone.
I have no more information than when I first called. I spent money on a long distance call for an idiot to answer the phone and NOT help me. ARGH!
Andrea
Perpetual Renovator 