Why I love Harris Teeter

This is going to be shorter than I originally envisioned, but my son's naptime is surely coming to an end soon.

First, as I noted on the Facebook group page (not a fan, join here), Harris Teeter is offering triple coupons through Tuesday, May 4. What this means is, if you have a coupon worth .98 cents, it becomes $2.97. More likely you have a 75 cents coupon, so that becomes $2.25! They are tripling coupons up to 99 cents, so that $1 off is just a $1, but the others are worth big bucks!

Second, I love HT because the customer service really does seem to be better than other stores. A friend told me he once mentioned to the fish department he wished they had more of XX fish (sorry J, can't remember what it was exactly). A week or two later, sure enough they had XX fish.

On Tuesday, during my second trip of the day (needed to get in before the sales changed the next day), they were out of the eVic special, an email alert I get giving me even more savings. Fitzgerald, the very nice meat manager, searched for me throughout the store to tell me he checked in the back and no dice they were out. BUT, I could get a comparable item for the same price. So I got a $9 piece of pork loin for $4. And the one I got, was NICER than the one they had on sale!

Third, I love HT because the prices are generally as cheap or cheaper than other stores. I have noted before I shop specific stores for specific items (ground beef and coffee come to mind), but for general shopping when you combine their coupon policy with their general prices, its just a better deal (time and gas money wise) to shop there. When I did my shopping on Tuesday, I only noticed ONE ITEM of my regular staples at Giant (Special K Fiber Bar) that was cheaper there than at HT.

So with great coupons, good selection, good customer service, etc. I have decided I going to do most of my general shopping at HT. My time is money too!

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.

When I write a book...

..its either going to be titled 'Wonder Woman doesn't exist,' or have some play on words with the whole Carol Brady thing, since my last name is Brady (Mary Bluepatches is not my real name, in case you didn't know that), and I am no Carol.

Many of you have written me and told me that you really appreciated my earlier post. That means a lot. I am glad you could relate. It shows that we are not alone in the journey of motherhood and being, for the most part, the cfo of our families, as well as the cruise director in our own lives.

The fact of the matter is Wonder Woman DOESN'T exist. We can try to be perfect but its not going to happen, because if it did, we wouldn't be human, and ergo we wouldn't be here.

One reader said she finds herself constantly comparing herself to other moms. I do too. I had an instance recently where I went to visit a friend in her immaculate home with her very well behaved child and my son was running around like a headless chicken! I wanted to scream and wished the floor would swallow me up. I had another friend who told me she went shopping recently with her two small children and could just feel daggers in her from onlookers when her toddler was running around the store and her newborn was screaming his head off.

The one lesson motherhood has taught me more than anything is that there is no one right way to do things. My son watches television and eats a lot of what I consider junk. But he also knows how to say "Please" (sounds more like "Peas") and loves to have us read books all the time. He would be outside watching the trucks and playing in our car if I would let him, ALL DAY LONG!

Some parents don't let their kids watch TV. Others only feed organic. Some do cloth only diapers, others think bottles are the best. Some let kids eat in front of the tv, while others have a strict regiment for eating at the table. At the end of the day, these are all ok. As mom's (and dad's too) we have to remember that old expression our mom's taught us: If Janie is jumping off a bridge, are you going to too? It's ok to be different.

If your children are happy and healthy, especially if they are super young (I am saying 3 and under) than you are doing an amazing job as a Mom! That's all we can ask for, everything else is gravy. Don't ever forget that.

I know this post is again not typical money saving, but this blog isn't just about the latest sales, trust me there are plenty of those kinds out there already. I write about mostly money and being the cfo of our little family, and how we stay sane and out of debt. Reminding myself constantly that its ok not be perfect, goes a long way to ensuring that sanity.

Have a great weekend!

Free Burritos in DC today!

Click here, but apparently all DC area Moe's Southwest Grill locations are giving away free burritos today to help raise funds for Juvinille Diabetes. Yum!

Change in commenting policy

As a result of spam, I have now changed the way comments can be posted. They will go through me (boo!) first, so there may be a delay.

Chances are you are not some chinesse sex therapist trying to sell me things, but unfornately said person is out there and I prefer his comments not to be posted on my blog.

You scream, I Scream....

...we all scream for Ice Cream!

It's Ice Cream Week, or so it seems.

Tomorrow, Wed. April 25, Baskin Robbins is having 31 cent scoop day! Click here for all the info.

And then on Thursday, Carvel is giving out free cups of its new Low Fat Ice Cream with flavor shots. Click here....

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!