The grocery strike threat prompted a re-examination of protein sources and advance plan of meals. I made a weekly plan and in that week we've had take'n'bake once, eaten out once, and had leftovers for three days. Why take'n'bake? We have a coupon book for local, "sustainable, green or organic" businesses and we haven't used all the coupons we want to yet. I bought two pizzas for $10.74. My closet is hurting for warm sweaters, thick socks and knit tops so I'll be hunting consignment stores in the next week.
So we entered a coffee shop, set to work on the Friday NYT crossword, when we heard "we're saved!" from the proprietor. Apparently there was a crossword already in progress, tackled communally. We helped out, discussed tech, mentioned interest in getting a Raspberry Pi, and lo! We were given a 17" flat screen TV with HDMI port for streaming Pi fun! Now for the Pi, SD card, USB keyboard and some cables. Also for our crossword help, we received a good tip on monthly government surplus auctions for PCs with no operating systems. I may save some $50... I want a cheap laptop for Linux work.
Clothes: bought socks for us all; whimsical frivolous socks -- mine have illustrations of a young moppet struggling with a wind-battered umbrella and slashing rain, saying "#*$% this ^!@&" (not really, the four-letter words are on the socks but I'm not typing them out) -- saved $5.40 there. I apologize to My English Castle for the brain-damaged punctuation of the last sentence. I see the use of plain cheap sturdy socks. At Value Village, using a 20% off coupon from the coffee shop, I purchased two sweaters for me, and a rain jacket for the boy. I have a branded pen from the coffee shop, again for free. The coffee shop saved us about $24 that time, five times the cost of our drinks. Saved four dollars at Fred Meyer outfitting boy with dress shirt for orchestra. Somehow I don't mind shelling out $ for the boy's clothes or school or books, but man, am I stingy with most everything else (except food implements).
using up my Chinook book coupons this week
October 28th, 2013 at 12:12 am