Virginia Sales Tax holiday now through Tuesday

Check out this link here. Virginia is a sales tax holiday for specific items from now through May 31.

Should I ever write a book.....

...it will be entitled There is a Special Place in Hell reserved for Wells Fargo.

My dislike for this megabank is well known. The latest episode involves their new fees. I knew they were coming, but expected some sort of warning. Wrong.

This month they began charging us an overdraw fee of $7. Not because we overdrew on the account, but on the offchance we did in the future. I noticed it because I checked my statement. That's the reason for this post. Make sure you always check your statements.

I have asked my husband to go online and download our bank statements going back five years this weekend. Come Monday I plan on closing the account. We use USAA as our primary bank and have been thrilled ever since we made the switch, so dumping WF (or actually Wachovia is the brand name of our bank, but as they never forget to tell you -- they are a Wells Fargo Company) is not a big loss.

Bottom line: CHECK YOUR STATEMENTS! No one should be paying fees in this day and age. If your bank does, find one that doesn't. There are lots out there, start saving!

Be creative with cooking...sometimes it works

And last night was one of those nights. Turns out my addiction to Food Network paid off. The best part, I didn't spend a dime on anything different, just used what I had.

Rosemary Wine Pork Chops.

Three boneless pork chops, purchased in bulk from Wegman's a few weeks back.
Splash of White Wine
Bigger splash of olive oil
Sprinkle healthy amount of rosemary (probably two tablespoons)
Less Garlic Powder
Pinch of salt

Place all ingredients in a plastic bag. Marinate on counter to room temperature for about 30 minutes. Grill on oven top griller for 20 minutes, flipping halfway through.
Enjoy!

I served with instant brown rice that I added some frozen veggies to. It was a pretty yummy meal if I do say so myself, and since no left overs, hubby clearly agreed!

Sugar content!

I bought a bottle of Sprite today. I don't do this often, but couldn't see a bottled water and was thirsty. I was stunned when I saw the sugar content -- 64 g!!! Lesson learned, no more real soda for me, pregnant or not! I am adding this here because this should serve as a money saver to all...check the sugar contents of your sodas, if they are too high, don't buy!

A note about Groupon

This came up in an email conversation with a friend this weekend. Groupon is one of many websites that offers a slew of deals for the savvy consumer. Many (falsely) believe these deals are only good for 24 hours.

THIS IS NOT TRUE!

Many Groupon deals are good for 48-72 hours. Make sure to read the fine print. If the deal sounds good, but you want to find out more (such as if this is good in your area, if your spouse would enjoy, if you really need more furniture, etc.) wait and digest the deal. Giving yourself the extra time that Groupon allows will likely save you money and allow you to choose wisely.

New Month...

Well October definitely ended on a good note!

After dropping our son off at my Mom's so we could head northward for a family wedding, we spent the night in Delaware. We went to Delaware Park Casino and I am very happy to report we left there with TRIPLE the money we came in with! My husband did so well at Black Jack that his winnings paid for our hotel both nights and also for the wedding gift!

The key to this was quitting while we were ahead. I honestly had more fun watching him play than I did anything else. When it was my turn I originally intended to just play my small amount and when it was gone, so were we. BUT, I had some luck and some fun, so 30 mins later when I had the same amount I started with, I walked away.

November is shaping up to be a good month, I think. Although with a few trips and Thanksgiving our gas budget is going to be completely obliderated.

Yesterday by going to the outlets and using a gift card, I paid $40 for a $150 Pottery Barn quilt. I am quite proud of myself because this quilt will last our monkey until he is in grade school!

As for food, last night we made the Guiness Stew I mentioned last week. All told I figure this meal cost us about $8, not bad.

Tonight, nothing is more American than Hot Dogs, which we have, so thats how we are celebrating Election Day!

Tomorrow night, we are having Chicken Korma in the CrockPot! Here is the recipe. I have everything it calls for except the stewed tomtoes. Total cost, ballpark but am estimating about $5.

Thursday, leftovers.

Friday, its pizza night. Total cost, $5

Saturday, burgers. Have everything, but total cost is $5.

Have a great week everyone...and be sure to vote!!!!

Saving more this week

The Monkey got sick with either food poisoning from bad fruit or just a quick virus. Either way Tuesday was lost completely and today we have watched more Barney than I care to remember.

The bright side (always have to look for it) is that I didn't cook today because, in part, we had so much left over from last night. So the crockpot meal I was going to make will be bumped to next week.

As for last night's version, which I mentioned here, it turned out pretty well. Next time I will add less broth (even at half the rec'd amount it was still too soupy) and a bit more than a TB of flour. My hubby loved it though, so thats always a good sign.

Stay dry and safe, the weather outside today is insane!

Half off Body Shop with Groupon Today

This will go a long way at Christmas Time!

Groupon is giving away $40 worth of Body Shop products for $20! Click here for the details!

The week ahead...

I planned out our menu for the week, here goes.

Sunday (last night): we had burgers
Monday: Chicken tacos, recipe courtesy of IrishErin, easy...1 lb chix, Package of taco seasoning. Put chicken in crockpot, with seasoning and water recipe on package calls for. Place on low for 7 hours or so (I am cheating, 3 hours low, 3 hours high). Chicken can even be frozen when you stick in. You fix it and forget it...SO EASY!
Tuesday: Shepards pie. I make my own version of Rachel Rays, which can be found here.
Wednesday: steaks
Thursday: Pasta and sausage
Friday: pizza
Saturday: burgers

Most of these ingredients I already had. I was low on boneless skinless chicken, so we headed to Costco this morning and I bought the big 10 lb bag for $20.

We did a lot of shopping this am for food, food for the month. We spent $52 at Costco, including the chicken, red peppers ($5), fruit snacks ($11) cereal bars ($11)and diced tomoatoes ($3.50).

The cereal bars reminded me to update the list of where I get my staples cheapest. It can be found here. For $11 I got 48 cereal bars. My son loves them! We were buying them at Harris Teeter, 8 in a box for $1.98. But 48 from HT would cost close to $16, so this is a $5 savings.

I didn't need the fruit snacks, but we ran into a friend who had her son with her. He is just 6 weeks older than my monkey. They had the fruit snacks, and my friend opened hers mid-store for the boys to try. The Monkey loved them! I checked the label and they were good for him, so I figured what the heck. He eats so little as it is, I will take whatever nutrition for him I can get!

Finally, I usually buy the Contina (sp?) tomato sauce or diced tomatoes. They are $2.99. But when I was reading the label, the Centro was actually better by a long shot with more vitamins and protein, so I spent the extra 50 cents.

After Costco we went to Trader Joes. We spent $13 on salad stuff and vegetables for the shepards pie, minus the potatos.

So its Monday...and I have spent a whopping $65! That leaves us with $20. Lucky for me most of the food was for the long haul so hopefully it will last.

What kids really need...

My son has a birtday coming up. He will be 2.

A lot of people have asked about what to get him for his bday. With our 800 sf of love, he really doesn't need anything (or I should probably say not sure I can handle him getting more since there is only so much my very generous brothers and sister-in-law can store in their basements). I tell them trucks, books and cars are always safe bets. He absolutely doesn't need clothes though since we are on the gravy train of hand me downs between my husband's cousin (whose sone is 6 months older than ours) and our godson, who just turned five.

I told Marie, my faithful-blog reading Mother-in-law, and my own Mom, that what my son really needs is either more space or more money for college. This article in today's New York Times scared the bejesus out of me!

I went to Providence College. I graduated 13 years ago. There is no chance I would have gone there had the tuition been anything close to $53k! I worked as an RA, in the library and took out student loans(that we will still be paying off when my son goes to college) to go there. I say proudly going there was the single best decision of my life, without it I never would have met my husband or had my son, and these two people mean more to me than anything in the world.

Many people feel this way about their college educations. It scares me though to think about how on earth we are going to pay for our son's education, and thats 16 years off. We do have a 529, but its got a paultry amount in it. The article has definitely encouraged me to start putting more in, even if its just $20/month.

If you don't have a 529, get one! If you do, make sure you are putting away what ever you can. And if people ask what to give your child, be honest. Sure they want to give fun gifts, who doesn't, but if you want to be honest, tell them what Katie and Jimmy really need...and its not a new truck or Barbie doll.

Rebate honored!

Yippee! If you remember from an earlier post I wondered if I would still get my rebate, even though I had lost the receipt and was technically applying for it after the deadline.

Well, today in the mail, my $100 rebate debit card arrived! I plan on using it for the bill associated with the item. This goes to show, that even though something has an expiration date, it doesn't always mean it will be strictly enforced. It never hurts to try (if they say no rebate/refund you are no worse off than you are now).

I am really excited about this! So thanks D.A. for encouraging me to get the receipt copied from the vendor, we are now $100 richer...what a great day!

Farmers Markets

I will admit up front they are not the cheapest. It might seem odd to even list on a money saving blog. But if you cook, which I have blogged about before (here, here and here for example), buying your food at a Farmer's Market is a healthy option. I try to hit the one in Falls Church every Saturday morning...it all depends on how cooperative The Monkey is, and how cold it is outside.

The Washington Post yesterday had a great listing of local farmer's markets in Maryland, DC and Virginia. Click here.

Ziploc bags

I think I may have written about this last year when I first started out, but I have been reusing my ziploc bags a lot lately, so it bears repeating.

A great way to save money is wash out and air dry your freezer bags. Also, save the bags your grocery gives you deli meat in, and reuse. These bags are EXPENSIVE. And as long as you didn't have a poisonous substance in them, you can wash out, air dry and reuse.

You can also simply reuse the same bag for frozen chicken or ground beef, instead of getting a new one out each time. Either leave the old ones in the freezer when they are empty (as a reminder) or take them out when they are low, and just fill up with the new meat. Either way, you can easily get three or four uses out of them, instead of one.

Flashbacks

This will definitely be a random musing post....

Its been more than 2 years since I was a reporter, being paid to find the news and hopefully scoop others. Some days I did, some days I didn't. I loved my job, all aspects of it, and this was just one of the many ways I would fill my days.

Writing this blog in many ways is similar, especially since I have found other similar blogs. I readily acknowledge I get some tips from them. I have and will post links giving them credit. So its understandable that today, when I saw another blog that I had forwarded my scoop to (in hopes they would give me credit like I have done with them) tell the news on Facebook and not give me credit, that I would be a little bit mad. Ok, a lot mad. Luckily for you, I made this discovery about 6 hours ago, so the anger has subsided and I don't have the energy to vent as I would have this afternoon if I were not running after an 18 month old.

Something else, that is of a more pertinent nature for you, the reader, is this. As I have said before, I am not here to be paid by others to direct you to certain websites. If Amazon wants to give me money, great, but if their deals are in the terlit, I am going to say so. I stumbled across a blog today that was pushing amazon, and then at the bottom she had a disclaimer. Kudos for having the disclaimer in the first place, but since when is saving money and encouraging others to do so, incompatible with being honest?

Thats my two cents. Hope you had success on Cyber Monday, I didn't buy a thing. And thanks to everyone who has joined the FB group. I appreciate your reading and sharing the news about money saving ideas.

Cyber Monday

In a little more than 3 hours the computer "savings" are likely to appear. I know I am already signed up on Facebook for at least one savings event come midnight, and I am sure many other sites and stores will start offering great "deals" just for you as you sit at desk at work, possibly trying to stay awake after a hellish drive home from where-ever you were for Turkey.

Be careful though, make sure you are really getting a sale, or else your "savings" are not real. Like everything else, you have to know what you are looking for and read the fine print.

I was reading a blog yesterday where a buyer wondered why a particular site seemed to be changing the List Price, making it higher, so it appeared to be offering greater savings when the "NEW" price was introduced. I have often wondered this myself but could never prove it -- unless I knew what I was looking for and specifically how much it cost.

For example, if tomorrow I see a 5 Q Kitchen Aid Mixer in Red for $100, I will buy in a heartbeat. I know this particular item is at least $250, and usually closer to $350. I will own this one day, but that day is not likely tomorrow or anytime soon...unless it goes on crazy sale. Now, if I see Madden NFL 10 as $39.99 and its advertised as a sale, close to half off...check out first. Regular price for this game on PS2 is $39.99, so if you are buying for a PS2, no savings. But if it actually for a PS3 or Xbox, there could be some serious saving!

Happy shopping and savings!

Restaurant savings

Last night I saw a deal from Restaurant.com that gives me a $25 gift certificate and I wound up paying $2 for it. I'll admit right away I am skeptical. BUT...several of my friends from all across the country have said they had positive experiences, so I am trusting them.

First the deal. If you go to Restaurant.com and enter the passcode SAVE when you check out, you save 80%!

The fine print is important, a bunch of places have restrictions on when you can use or how much you need to purchase for credit to count. One friend said he knew his card wasn't good for when he was coming in, so he called ahead and spoke to manager. Said he wouldn't come with his group of 8 UNLESS they honored card. In this economy it was a no brainer for manager and his card was accepted.

I'll let you know how our deal plays out when we use it (it was for Ted's Montana Grill, one of my hubby's favorites).

Safe travels to all those on the road today.

Free photocards from Vista Prints

Go to Vistaprint.com Look to tab on left under holiday & family, and click Free items. Then follow to free photocards. You design it the same way you do at other sites. You get 10 free, and then after that they charge you. If you get the 10 free you still pay shipping, which varies depending on how soon you want them.

UPDATE>>> From reader JCM: Check out this blog which is offering readers a great deal from SeeHere (Fuji Film site) on photocards. Not free anymore, but 50 is better than 10 and the shipping is not that bad.

Free 11 oz photo coffee mug from Snapfish

Buy one get one free. Offer expires Dec. 4, 2009
Enter code DEC3 at checkout to get rebate.

Free photobook from Shutterfly

Offer good thru Sunday. Spend $50 on pix, photocards or whatever, and get a free photobook. We made our son a photobook from them a few months ago so he would know his family, especially those he doesn't see all the time, and were very impressed with Shutterfly's quality.

Just enter PASSALONG a checkout to get rebate.

Toys R Us Saturday 11/28

According to the ad in my email, these are all in-store sales. Click here for printable coupon.

- Buy one, get one 50% off lego sets
- $50 gift card when you buy any Band Hero Super Bundle or or Wii DJ Hero Bundle
- 20% off all guitars
- FREE Toy Story Backpack, CARS Backpack or Bakugan “Become a Master Brawler” DVD with ANY purchase of $25 or more