Elisabeth's Personal Finance Blog

I saw the Dental Surgeon yesterday. It is unusual/rare to have the kind of nerve involvement my infection has caused. Only time will tell if all of the feeling will return and the tingling, cold sensation will go away. I had the tooth pulled today. The sooner it was pulled the better according to the Dr.(and me). I can decide on an implant later as it has to heal for 6mo or more first.

Lucky for me, so far, no pain. Not even much discomfort. I am a wimp as far as pain goes. The Dr. office called to check on me and they thought it was strange also. I comforted her by saying maybe it will hurt later this evening. I hope not for my sake. However, part of my lower face is still numb due to the infection, so maybe that is why there isn't any pain. The only thing that hurts is the injection site (novacaine) and one side of my throat.
I hate pain meds beyond tylenol. I really hate hydrocodone. Nasty stuff. If I don't take it by Thursday night I'm taking it back to the pharmacy.

My cost so far is $142. My insurance will cover $235 and if I get lucky and they cover the consult fee I will get back $75 from the Dental Surgeon. I knew I should have contributed more to my health savings account.

Good news! Safeway is having a sale on Aquafresh toothpaste. Buy 3 or more and its $1.50. I have MQ for .75 that Safeway will double. Do the math and yes, you are right it is free, free, free, well except for Maryland sales tax. I got 20 tubes this morning for .90 And, since I am still feeling okay I am considering going out this evening to pick up more. 10 for the soldier project and the rest for the food pantry. I have enough coupons for 23 tubes. I won't feel guilty clearing any shelves as the sale ends tonight and everyone else had all weeks to get theirs. Another item struck from the list as completed.

Giant Food has Reach toothbrushes on sale for .99 A good toothbrush for a great price. I took my B1G1 and $1 MQ with me. They had 2 toothbrushes. I put them in my cart and started looking around for more on a display or endcap. No luck, but I found the same brand and type in a 2 pack. Hmmm. I took one to a price check machine and the 2 pack was .49

Let me think about this: 1 for .99 or 2 for .49. What should I do? I rushed back and filled my cart with the rest of the 2 packs, all 8 of them. Then it was off to the checkout. I gave the cashier my b1g1 and $1 off MQ and ended up paying .27, the tax. Yeah!

I got a raincheck for 6 more singles at another Giant after the jewelry party.

Okay, I am about to admit to spending a crazy amount of money for a piece of costume jewelry. I love the piece. It is a bracelet. Its sterling silver with pearls and silver leaves. To be honest, I bought it for my niece. I told her that she has custody of it and I get occasional visitation upon request. It will look beautiful on her. Cost: $174 plus tax. I know, "crazy" but I can't bring myself to regret it.

Grrr! I hate taking days off. I would have seen if the endodontist would see me later in the day if I'd known that the tooth can't be pulled out with that much infection in my tooth and surrounding area until I've been on the antibiotic for several days. In fact, the Dr. said here is my number, if the infection gets worse over the weekend I'll prescribe another antibiotic to go with what you are already taking. Gee thanks! He was very nice and I was nice to him, I just want it done and over with. Frustration.

So, I called my son to tell him about my tooth/infection and he said "Guess what? I have SMALL POX." He didn't yell the "small pox" but it reverberated in my head that way. I asked how and he said the Marine Corp gave it to him. WHAT? To be honest I still don't quite understand how this happened based on what he said but I will question him more tomorrow. I think (based on what he said) that he got it from the vaccine. They gave it to him 14 times. Huh? He seems to be unlucky enough to have developed a mild case of it(fever, tired, headache). Small pox can kill and it disfigures. He seems to be taking it seriously thank goodness. He promised not to pop the vesicle. They warned him it could spread if he pops it. I hope he doesn't scratch it in his sleep. Sound like a mom don't I? I will be saying alot of prayers.

Time to distract myself (or I will drive myself crazy with worry). Giant Food's sale this week includes Reach toothbrushes for .99 I have coupons for $1 off so I can complete the soldier project toothbrush collection this week for the price of tax. Hoorah!

I am officially done with body wash, toothbrushes and dental floss. I'm half-way done or better with deodorant and q-tips. I'm a third or better with toothpaste, wipes and razors. I'm still holding out hope that I will be able to give each soldier their own package of razors and not break the packages up.

So it was a great day at Target and Walgreens. No so great of a day at the dentist and speaking to my son.

I have an infection the size of a marshmallow one the left side of my face at the jawline. Lovely! Thats the bad. The good is several things. One I got in to see my dentist who immediately prescribed antibiotics and forwarded me to the endodontist. Lucky me, the endodontist is one of the best looking guys I've ever seen! Married and to young but a pleasure to watch working. Sigh! I get to see him tomorrow at 11am so no work. Hmm. But a must see because that particular tooth can lead to nasty consequences if not treated asap. The dentist also gave me pain meds. The powerful kind. Lucky me I don't need them yet because the infection is also in the mandibular nerve causing numbness, tingling and a cold burning sensation at times. Tylenol is working for now. I hate how I feel on stronger pain meds.

While I was waiting for my prescriptions to be filled I looked around Riteaid. In the mark down area I found 4 gillette deodorants. All were at least a year out in expiration. I had $4/2 MQ so I paid less than $1.50 with tax for all of them.

Another good was that my prescriptions were a total of $8.20. I put it on my pretax credit card. So no cash out of pocket.

I also dropped off a few prescriptions for my parents so I will get a $25 gift card. My DM said I could use it for the soldier project.

Now the bad. I will probably have to have that tooth pulled out. Looks like the root canal cracked. I wonder what that will cost. Insurance should cover it. The good is it is the back molar and usually people don't bother with an implant. The BAD is it will be PULLED OUT! Scream! I hate having teeth pulled.

I left work on the dot. Very unusual, but necessary. The food pantry donations had to be dropped off. Lucky for me someone was there to accept everything.

Then off to CVS. A very good day.

4 Stayfree Pads
1 box of Kleenex tissue
1 green bag tag
= $16.74
-2 ecb
-2 (2)$1 Stayfree MQ
-7.38 (2) BOGO Stayfree MQ
-4 CVS $4/2 Stayfree
-1 CVS $1 Allergy Relief
= .46
Got back 8 ecb

I paid 2 ecb + .46 oop to get 8 ecb. Yea!
Plus I got a raincheck for the Olay deal. I can use at my leisure.

Off to Walmart. Got 3 cans of Maxwell House coffee for SIL dad. 34oz size for his employees and customers.

6 x 3 = 18 - 3MQ = 15 oop for her.

A Tightwad Gazette trick to extend your coffee budget in a heavy drinking household/business is to put regular amount of coffee in first pot and for second add another coffee filter to first and 1/2 the normal amount of coffee to make a pot and brew as usual. Works great unless someone who is not thrifty catches you in the act. LOL. In the interest of disclosure, I don't drink coffee. However, my ex drank it this way for months and was very happy until he caught me in the act. Not a thrifty guy at that point.

Off to bank to deposit Riteaid Rebate Check and Olay $15 rebate check. Love checks in the mail! Keepem' comin'.

Next to Safeway. Did the Suave Deal:

4 Suave Body Wash for Men
$5. $1.25ea wyb 4
-2 (4) .50 MQ
-3 oyno (from doing deal yesterday)
= .30 tax oop
got back (2) $1.50 oyno Catalinas

Rinse and Repeat (LOL)

Someone else made that comment on SD and I've been looking for a chance to repeat it. Body wash will go to food pantry. I have 38 for soldier project already.

Stopped at the library to return 3 things and picked up 4 books on hold. I bought a paperback for .25 (library fundraiser).

I've been thinking about doing paperbackswap. Does anyone else do it? How is it working out for you? Do you find postage prohibitive?

And, finally, home sweet home!

I got to the food pantry by 3:55p on Monday and they weren't open. I noticed someone else had left food on a picnic table outside. Not a good idea in my opinion. Living in an area with alot of open space and wild animals invites trouble. So, I took everything back home and unpacked it from my car.

Its annoying to me to have the stuff sitting around my house. I fight the clutter monster daily. But, its my fault for getting home late from work. I'll try again tomorrow (Wed.). This time I will leave on time, no distractions allowed.

Now that I have high speed internet again I wonder if I will watch tv much. Its been off 12 of the last 14 days. And the two days it was on was for 2 half hour shows. I finally just unplugged it to save on the electricity (tv, vcr, dtv, dvd). Hey, phantom electricity is expensive over time.

I can watch HULU, youtube for music and old movies (old movies can be 1-2yrs old). I read, visit family/friends, work, and work on my projects (soldier/food pantry) and I am thinking of adding the local dog/cat rescue to my projects. I am more productive and feel better about myself and my accomplishments when the tv is off. I admit that at times I watched for hours with little to nothing to show for it. Not a good feeling.

I stopped at Food Lion today. Uncle Ben's rice was supposed to still be on sale so I wanted to get some. They always have unadvertised sale items so I looked around. Further up the aisle were BOGO Light n Fluffy egg noodles. And there were peelies for $1/2, so I got 4.

5 Uncle Ben's Rice $1
4 Light n Fluffy $1.76 BOGO

$9.75+7.04=16.79 - 4.75 (UB sale) - (5)$1MQ rice - 3.52 BOGO - 2 (2)$1/2 = $1.52

Life is an adventure when couponing. The rice was not on sale anymore though the tags were still up and said sale until 12/23/10. So the manager came over and adjusted the price. In doing so somehow an extra UB rice got added on. I knew the math was wrong when I owed $3+. I know what I owe before getting to register most times. I didn't want to hold the line up more than I already had, I paid. The receipts from FL are confusing at best. I finally took it over to the Customer Service desk and said look I know something is wrong and I was overcharged. I explained how I knew, they agreed and then took 5 mins. to decipher the receipt and figure out what happened. Good thing I had the time. The CS folks looked at me several times like "you got a great deal, why do you care about $1.75?" Its the principle of the thing and also its my money and I'm not a good steward of it if I don't take care of it. Plus I can do alot with $1.75 for my goals. I got my refund and moved on.

I left work and headed to Annapolis to shop. They have a nice Shoppers Food store there. This Thurs/Sun they are tripling MQ to .50 and doubling to $1. It was great. Not crowded and I zipped through. I went through Slickdeals.net unexpired newspaper MQ and the printable MQ to put together possibilities. My total was $45.50 and after coupons it was $3.63 (md tax was .30 of the 3.63). I love stores that let you keep overage and put it toward other items! Everything is to be donated to the Food Pantry except the Solo cups/plates and the Gatorade. A flyer went out recently asking for most of this (not specific brands though).

4 Mahatma Yellow Rice Saffron
1 Minute Rice Brown
6 Cans Dole Pineapple
2 Ortega Fajita Seasoning
2 Solo Cups
1 Solo Plates
2 French's Worcest. Sauce
2 French's Brown Spicy Mustard
4 cans Carnation Evaporated Milk
2 Gatorade (for DS)
4 boxes Uncle Ben's Brown Rice
4 can Chef Boyardee Ravioli
4 bottle KC BBQ Sauce

My next stop was Target:

4 Bath Buddies (Food Pantry)
6 Gillette Body Wash 8oz (Soldier Proj)
4 Satin Care Shave Gel (Soldier Proj)
4 Reach Dental Floss (Soldier Proj)
2 Qtips (Soldier Project)
2 Benedryl Itch Relief Sticks

Total= $29.28+1.46tax=29.28-26.54MQ= $2.74oop

The cashier pushed her button and the light started flashing and I just smiled. I knew I was legal. The manager said "no problem, I've seen $300 go down to $20, you should coupon too, ...." LOL

Next it was off to Borders to take advantage of the Educators Appreciation Sale. 30% off educational and personal items, so I picked up a Sarah Brightman CD for my sister and a book for me. I used a gift card courtesy of points from my credit card. $0 oop .56 left on card.

My last stop for me was CVS.

6 Degree Deodorant (soldier proj)
$2.50 each
2 Right Guard Deodorant (soldier proj)
$2.50 each
1 Gillette Custom 3 Sens Razor 4ct
$6.49 (soldier proj)
1 CVS Razor Case (for DS)
$1 (clearance, unplanned purchase)
=$27.49+.12tax=
$27.61-14.50MQ-8ecb-3/15Q= $2.11oop
got back 5ecb+2ecb+2ecb=9ecb
Spent 8ecb to get 9ecb. It would have been just about breakeven if I had not impulse purchased the Razor Case. Oh well, I'm only human. LOL

I also stopped at Riteaid and Safeway for my mom. I got bananas at Safeway for .39lb (for me) and prescriptions for mom.

I'm very pleased with my progess for the Soldier Project. At this rate I should meet the challenge.

It was supposed to be 10 boxes of cereal for $0. I went to Safeway to take advantage of the cereal deal last week. Five boxes of cereal for $5. Of course, I'm not the only one who wanted the Quaker Squares. I have 10 coupons for $1 off a box. So, 10 boxes for free. I ended up with a raincheck.

I went in today and they had 9 boxes. I waited while they checked the back. No luck. The nice front office person said to pick out any box of cereal I wanted to make up the 10th box. The generosity of that gesture just about knocked me down. I chose Quaker Life cereal since it was a Quaker product and on sale this week. No coupon for Life cereal so I had to pay $1. Still, a great deal!

All the boxes went to the local food pantry as a donation. They were as happy as I was.

Thank you Safeway and thank you Safeway front office person.

As I was about to get into my car to go to work I noticed my front right tire was flat, flat, flat. Ugh! Once more, FLAT! On my way to work. Darn. Lucky for me, I leave early for work and my brother loaned me his truck and even took my car to the shop to get the tire fixed. A blessing on him! Thank you DB. His truck is a monster double cab double bed, double long, whatever you call it. Whoa! I drive a Ford Focus. Big change. The truck is such a smooth ride. Going 60 felt like 30. Not a good thing for me. I hate tickets. I had a Camry before the Focus and the smooth ride cost me a few tickets over the 14yrs (320,000 miles)she lasted. I loved that car. She was one of the last off the boat from Japan.

The shop said I needed 4 new tires to replace the unrepairable flat. He recommended a mid-grade tire to replace my "cheap" tires. Unfortunately for him, he said it with an air of superiority and I was unable to resist saying I had purchased them at this shop. LOL! The flat was due to a nail, not cheap tires. I chose the tires because my car was almost is 7yrs old at the time not 3yrs old. I replaced the transmission recently but I'm not replacing an engine. That will mean a new to me car. If I get 5 more years out of my car I will be ecstatic. But, realistically, probably not. So, only 2 tires.

As my parents age, my sister, brother and I are helping them so they can stay in their apt. Tuesday is my night to provide dinner. So, it was turkey, stuffing, collard greens and gravy. I've recently been introduced to collard greens. I love them. My parents chose the veggie. I just opened the can, LOL.

I stopped at Walmart and picked up (6) Reach dental floss and (2) diet pepsi. I had 6 mQ to cover the cost of the floss and paid $3.10 for the soda and tax. I need to quit the soda. Maybe this weekend.

I got a $8.99 rebate on a Schick razor today. There was also a $5 gift card from Riteaid in the mail. I love mail like that.

I dropped off several things at the local food pantry: 4 J&J bath buddies, pkg of 3 pampers diapers and 6 Joy dish detergent. Cost to me: $3.

For the 38 soldiers I have:

38 body washes
38 dental floss (13 in hand and coupons
for 25 more free)
12 toothbrushes (will everyone even want
another one)
16 toothpaste
10 deodorants
8 shaving cream (coupons for 4 more free)
8 Q-tips travel size (used to clean their
rifles & ears LOL)
1 baby wipes
7 Soap bars
? Razors
1 feminine product

So, here is my tacky question. As you know razors come in pkgs of 1-12+, is it okay to split up pkgs? I have 18 if they can be split up or 2 (G. Fusion)singles(w/extra cartridge)and 4 pkgs of 4 disposables. I know I can reach 38 if pkgs are broken up. I have a couple of months left, maybe there will be enough sales to not worry about it. And, if I split them up how would I give them out/repackage so no one gets cut, plastic baggies? Those little protectors fall off.

Riteaid has a sale this week on J&J products so:

Cotton Swabs 500count
$2.99 - $1 in-ad storeQ - $1 MQ = $1

I have this vision in my mind of sending these to them overseas and being used, this side for my ear, this side for my rifle (LOL). Obviously, I've been under alot of stress lately.

Anyway, please let me know what you think about the razors.

As my beloved grandmother used to say "This to shall pass..." even when it feels like it won't. My flu is gone, mom is home, and my niece chose to come home instead of checking into a hospital. So we go on from here... Thanks for the words of support!

My son informed me that the Soldier Package Project is not 28 but 38. "Hey, mom I talked to my Corporal and he said there are 38 in my platoon." So, after a moment of panic and did he really say 38? I picked myself up off the ground and have gotten back to work.

Yesterday, I went to Target and bought 20 bottles of Gillette Body Wash 8oz. The price is 1.79 and I had a coupon, $4 off 2 bottles, making it free. I now have the body wash up to 37. Two soldiers in the platoon are women so I have Olay Body Ribbons for them. Meaning I have one extra Gillette which my nephew in college will snatch up quickly.

Something startling happened through all this. Well to me it was startling. This started out as my project (a way to deal with him deploying for the 1st time and to help at the same time) and as my project I get to plan it and control it. I am also paying for it, so I say where things are bought and when and for how much. As I was speaking to my Aunt about my mom, her sister, she asked about DS and I caught her up and mentioned the project. She immediately offered to send me a check for $25 and said she was sure others would contribute. I quickly said No, Thanks I've got it covered. She left the offer open ended and I thanked her. Now I am wondering/considering my answer. Is it right to deny the soldiers more needed items because, of what? My need for control, is it getting the credit for being wonderful, something else, why? I am going to think hard on this. How I spend money is tied to beliefs, emotions, values. What does this say about me and am I going to change? Probably... It definitely shows a lack of flexibility.

I have a mean case of the intestinal flu, my mom went to the hospital last night with a bp of 221/110 and they found a aortic anuerysm (excuse misspelling) and my niece is drowning in depression/sad and might check into a hospital tonight for that. And, I can't visit anyone cause a flu that has you wrapped around the toilet isn't something to share with those you love. So thanks for letting me vent my misery and frustration. Sometimes a phone call just isn't enough and reaching out to hug is out of the question right now. The good news is my food and travel expense will come in under budget since I can't eat or go far from the bathroom. Ughhhh.

My son deploys to Afghanistan in July. He calls me a super shopper. I asked how I could help his platoon. We decided on personal items to take overseas. Since I work in a middle school, we are turning it into a project for my students. I will pay but they will help me shop and distribute the items into 28 bags. I take pictures to show them next year of the US Marines getting their bags.

Riteaid
(3) John Frieda Shampoo @$5ea
(2) Almay eye makeup @$7.49 B1G1F
=$22.49 + tax
- $5/20
- $4 (2 MQs for almay)
- $9 (3 MQs for JF Shampoo)
= $5.54 oop
$5 JF rebate and $5 almay rebate
Profit $4.46

Target
(1) J&J buddies soap (don't tell USMC).99
(1) Satin Shaving Cream .97
(2) Gillette 8oz body wash $1.79
(1) Reach J&J dental floss .97
(1) Cottonelle wipes .97
= $7.48 + tax
$1 J&J MQ
$1 Satin Shaving Cream MQ
$4/2 Gillette body wash MQ
$1 Reach J&J dental floss MQ
= .95 including tax
I was a little uncomfortable because I kept trying to get the clerk to adjust the coupons and the manager kept saying push them through. Oh Well!

Walgreens (Didn't work out as planned)
(3) reach J&J toothbrushes reg. $4.19
@ 5.01 with store coupon. I then used a B1G1F MQ and a $1 MQ coupon. My out of pocket was $1.03 (including tax)

Riteaid (my mom is severely disable so I shop for her)
(2) Gillette body wash @4.99 ea
(2) Gillette deodorant @4.00 ea
(2) Almay makeup @7.49ea B1G1F
= $25.47 + tax
- 4 Almay 2MQ @ $2ea
- 4 Gillette Deodorant $4/2
- 4 B1 Deo get Body wash free
- 4 B1 Deo get Body wash free
= $5.70 (including tax)
Get back $2 Deo and $5 Almay rebates.
(I know the clerk messed up but, oh well!)

Thanks to southernsavers.com and slickdeals.net for helping me to assemble these deals.

I live on a limited income. But, I want to contribute to various organizations. Since most do not have the time to shop and plan the way I do they cannot maximize the dollar. This weeks contributions/purchases.

Deal #1
.99 (2) Nivea lip moisturizer
9.99 (1) Pampers Diapers
8.99 (2) Covergirl Cosmetics B1G1F
Total 20.96
B1G1F MQ for nivea
$5/20 purchase
B1G1F Covergirl Cosmetics
$2 MFQ for Pampers
Total OOP with tax $4.94

Deal #2
9.99 {1) Pampers Diapers
5.30 (2) Covergirl Cosemetics B1G1F
5.19 (2) Covergirl Cosemetics B1G1F
Total $20.48
$5/20
B1G1F MQ Covergirl Cosmetics
B1G1F MQ Covergirl Cosmetics
$2 MFQ for Pampers
Total OOP $3.92

Dear #3
2.44 Easter Candy (for me)
9.99 Pampers Diapers
12.99 (2) Covergirl cosmetics B1G1F
2.74 Crest toothpaste
Total $28.16
$5/25
$2 MFQ Pampers
$1 Crest MFQ
12.99 Covergirl cosmetics B1G1F
Total OOP $8.56

Total OOP 8.56+3.92+4.94=$17.42-11=6.42

Will receive $10 rebate card and $1 rebate from Riteaid.

Could have done better to skip the 2.44 for candy since I need it like a whole in the head. Then my total would have been $3.83 after tax.

The pampers went to the Food Pantry, the toothpaste for Marines at Camp Lejune and the cosmetics/nivea go to the middle school where I work as reward/incentive for students meeting goals.