"IT MAKES CENTS TO ME FRIDAY" FOR FEBRUARY 17th"

Hi everyone, 

Well, I don't think I did as bad this week with spending, in terms of the dollar amount. However, as I tally up the receipts we'll find out. Oh, I totally FORGOT to get photos of my purchases, so I'll entertain you with other photos, totally unrelated to saving money, but still very cute :) :)

February 12th, 2012 - Sunday: Purchase $49.54 at Petco:
- One 30 lb. bag of natural dog food for my dog
- $3.55 for California state tax
- The original retail price for this dog food was $48.99.  I could have purchased it for $5 cheaper at another store, but it would have been a much longer drive.  So  I printed out my $3 coupon on-line and went to Petco. It is a reasonable driving distance.  The tax is based on the original cost of the item.  The coupon was applied after taxes.

TIP: Homemade cleaning products can often times save you money. If you are living on an "in between" job budget like me, then something like homemade laundry powder just might do the trick. Click here to visit Maryjane of The Beehive Cottage blog. I used her recipe. It's a winner, for sure.  I just found my laundry powder in the garage. It got packed away in the move.  It's in an air-tight container and is still perfect. So when my current liquid laundry soap runs out, I'll be going back to my homemade laundry powder:

February 12th, 2012 - Sunday: $31.12 at Whole Foods:
- 20 oz drip coffee with cream/sugar "a want, not a need"
- 32 fl.oz. bottle of Bragg's organic, raw-unfiltered apple cider vinegar As I recall, it was the exact same price as the Whole Foods brand.  Plus, the Bragg's bottle has more of a vintage look to it.
- Dark chocolate bar with orange peel This is for my sweet friend who gave me the ride to Whole Foods. She still won't take cash for gas money. However, I can pay her in chocolate. That's a sweet deal.
- Tillamook sharp cheddar cheese It's made in Oregon and it's G.O.O.D.
-Whole Foods brand cheddar cheese.  I bought this one, too. Both of the cheddar cheeses are for my father. He likes cheese. I like cheese, too, but my body can't handle this form of dairy, yet.
- ca. 1 pound of lean ground beef
- 0.97 pounds of trail mix from Whole Food's trail mix bar
California likes to add a sales tax to the trail mix. Sales tax for this item was $0.07 cents.
- local Sunday newspaper $1.50 I purchased this because I'm interested in using coupons again. It's more of a trial run to see exactly how much money I spend on the Sunday papers, versus money saved on items that I actually use on a daily basis.
- total tax on this trip was $0.11 cents.

This next photo is the famous Lone Cypress tree in Pebble Beach, California. This is actually what's known as a Monterey Cypress tree, and this one is special because it's growing all by it's lonesome out on this little rocky outcropping. If you ever visit here, it's worth it to take the 17 Mile Drive to see this and other beautiful spots along the drive:

February 14th, 2012 - Tuesday: $25.62 at Whole Foods:
- Croisssants "a want, and not a need"
- 20 oz. drip coffee with cream/sugar "a want, and not a need"
- Dry rub applewood smoked bacon
- 2 Dagoba organic, dark chocolate bars "a want, and not a need" One chocolate bar was for the friend who gave me the ride to the store. The other one was for my dad and myself to share.

This next photo is some of the beautiful coastline in my hometown:

February 15th, 2012 - Wednesday: $35.64 at Trader Joe's:
- mini-pearl tomatoes
- canned salmon
- canned albacore tuna
- 1 dozen organic, jumbo eggs
- Trader Joe's premium sharp cheddar Dad snuck this into the cart. He really likes cheese.
- Cashew, almond and cranberry trail mix "a want, not a need"...but wow, this stuff tasted great. it had a natural sweet/tart flavor from the cranberries.
- 2 pounds of organic, ground beef
- applewood bacon, uncured


This photo is some of the beautiful flora that can be found along the coast.  I really like the stark contrast between the orange and purple:

February 16th, 2012 - Thursday: $45.31 at Whole Foods
- one bottle of ultra purified drinking water This comes with a $0.10 cent bottle deposit. Oh, interesting,that in the state of California, you don't get the full 10 cents back on your return. Recycling companies pay by the pound. So I'll maybe see about six or seven cents back on this bottle. Unfair,but that's how it works right now.
- local daily newspaper
- sandwiches from the breakfast bar " a total want, and not a need"
- 0.85 pounds of organic, cara cara oranges I've never had these before. The price was outstandingly good. My dad LOVES oranges.
- One Dagoba organic, dark chocolate bar "a want, and not a need" My father and I shared this, too, along with those sandwiches from the breakfast bar.
- 2 small squares of dark chocolate For my friend who gave me a ride to the store this day.
- $20 dollars cash back I gave this to the same friend who I gave those squares of chocolate, too. She has driven me around so MUCH. It's been a real ministry, blessing and relief. So it was only fair to help for the gas.  I'm still studying the driver handbook, and working out who will give me the actual driving lessons. Dad will be okay to drive again in a few months.
- $1.02 was for taxes

Oh, I also spent $5 to purchase  year-long membership to Sheri Graham's "Intentional Planner" site. It's got everything you need to put together your own home management binder. You can pick and choose what you want, download it, print it out for personal use only. It's fabulous. It's the BEST $5 I've spent in a LONG, LONG time.  There's a lifetime membership package which you can check out on her site. I'm saving for that, because that will get me access to the videos and eBooks. Click here to visit.

I spent a total of $187.23 this week.  The dog needs to eat, and her food was $49.54. However, that will last a L.O.N.G. time. So I'm not counting that in my figures.

That brings my total down to $137.69 spent on us humans (my father and myself).  Of that, I would say that $66.67 was spent on food that we needed. So that works out to about $33.34 per person. That's not too bad...Now the "wants" are still a struggle in terms of not buying them so often..but for what it's worth, they're quickly losing the appeal.

Now I should let you know that I follow a gluten-free diet for health reasons.  So last Tuesday, I completely fell OFF the gluten-free bandwagon. I ate croissants, coffee, chocolate AND trail mix.  The croissants and the trail mix were not gluten free. In any case, I ate them and it was fine. However, the next day I was really, really sick, especially in the morning. Later on the day it dissipated to nausea/slight dizziness. This told me a couple of things that were both negative and positive. The negative is that no matter how good those croissants and other stuff look, it will make me sick. Which is did. The POSITIVE in this situation is that the toxicity level in my body is going DOWN and that's why my body had such a strong reaction to those foods.

What about the breakfast sandwiches on Thursday? I know, I know...but I'm telling you, it's HARD to break the gluten habit sometimes.  Well, I am paying for it today (Friday)..although this time it's just a lot of shoulder pain/inflammation.  So there you go. I think this is my  "lowest" week in terms of eating good.  So I really am seeing where the changes need to be made.

I'm also going to be looking at various coupon sites, to see where I can save money on the basics that my family uses every day.  That's why I have started buying the Sunday paper again. 

Oh, I did find a FANTASTIC deal on a home management binder/planner over at Sheri Graham ministries site. Click here to visit.  I can't wait to talk about that some more in a future post. Oh, and I'll be working on those socks that I pictured in my previous post. It'll be sock knitting and watching episodes of the fabulous, Canadian tv show "Road to Avonlea".

That's the news from the ocean shores of California today. Love and hugs, Heather :)