IT MAKES "CENTS" TO ME FRIDAY - FOR SATURDAY - MARCH 24th.

Hi everyone,

Okay, so I'm late with this post, but late is better than "never" today.  Here is what I purchased this week.

A sweet friend called me up and asked if I needed a ride to the store.  I didn't "need" to go, but when a ride/opportunity presents itself, I've got to take it.  I told my friend that I didn't have a lot to buy, which was true. Would that be okay? She said "Yes".  So off we  went to the store. Oh, it is raining today, too.  We went to Whole Foods, where I love to shop.  That place has a lot of good stuff and a lot of culinary temptations, too. So you have to be careful when you walk into this store. 

Purchase on March 24th, 2012 - Saturday at Whole Foods: $21.04

- 20 oz. drip coffee with cream & sugar - $1.90 "want, not a need"
- 2 pastries (one croissant and one nutty sticky bun) - $5 "want, not a need"...and WOW, the price went UP.  It used to be $2.39 per pastry. So the "oodle" factor just went down, when the price went UP.
- Applewood smoked bacon, 18 oz.
- 1 Izze sparkling "grapefruit" drink (for Dad) - $1.49 plus $0.05 bottle return deposit "want, not a need", but Dad really likes these. I read the ingredient label and I was not horrifed by the ingredients...but it is a "treat", that's for sure.
- 1 Bar Gelato, coffee-flavored - $1.99 "want, not a need" My father and I saw these in the store the other day. They looked interested.  In terms of ingredients, these are fantastic. It's made with all real ingredients and things that a third-grader can easily pronounce.
- Local newspaper $0.75 "iffy" I think a newspaper is okay, since it's good to keep up with local happenings.


The bacon that we eat looks like this. It's a Whole Foods brand, and I trust it. Otherwise, I don't buy any other kind of bacon.  Although I've been on a bit of a bacon-frenzy lately. So I'll probably not buy bacon for awhile yet. It doesn't have nitrates or nitrites. I AVOID all meat that has nitrates or nitrites in them:

Oh, this bacon crisps up really nicely when cooked on a flat pan on a grill/barbecue outside. It's much nicer than frying it inside a pan in your home. That and it doesn't smell up the house like bacon.  It'll make your neighbors want to come over and have a meal at your house. 


The gelato bar was awesome. I just had a tiny taste of that and wow, simple ingredients make for the best tasting stuff.  This is what we bought.  Then take a look at the second photo and read the ingredients. It's so ultra simple and all foods should be made with easy-to-pronounce ingredients:

So this was just one of my purchases for the week of Saturday - March 17th to Friday - March 23rd. I didn't include all the other purchases I made this week, because it was more of the same stuff/junk.  I think this is my "low" for the week. That's okay, because that's what "tracking" my spending is all about.  It's about learning where my money actually goes, and what needs to be changed.

Here's another "purchase" that I made at Whole Foods last Monday. These particular items were FREE.  I was in Whole Foods, when a lady with long brown hair, pushing a shopping cart, stopped me in the store and asked: "Do you like Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day products?" Why yes, yes I do like them very much. She handed me two coupons, each was good for one FREE Mrs. Meyer Clean Day product, up to $5.99.  So I went over to the aisle that has all the nice soaps.  I wasn't planning on buying more soap, because they're expensive. However, I like Mrs. Meyer's bar soaps, because they're made with good ingredients.  The soaps are normally just over $6 each. As it happened, they were on sale for just $5.19 each...and since I had two "FREE" coupons, both bars of soap were absolutely FREE. That was a 100% savings. Isn't that the coolest.  Here are the two scents that I "purchased":

Just as a side note, Mrs. Meyer Clean Day products have some of the cutest, vintage-style labelling of any cleaning product I've ever seen. So they get a lot of "points" from me for good packaging. Oh, that and the fact that I've got personal experience using these products and they work very well.  So out of this entire week's worth of mostly unnecessary spending, this was the BEST item.

In other news, I'm working on knitting a pair of custom socks for my father. He wants a ribbed cuff that goes to his knee. So that's presenting a bit of a challenge for me. Okay, it's a HUGE challenge. I'm just "winging it" with the pattern to see what happens. I'm also taking notes as I go along.  If any of you know of a good on-line resource that specifically states how to increase and decrease while knitting a "Knit 2, Purl 2" rib pattern, I'd be greatly appreciative. I'll share that project with you in the next few days.

It's raining today.  Not right now...but earlier today it was really coming down. I read that Watsonville was going to have a 90% chance of rain today, so when I saw that, the chances are really 100% good that it would rain here, too.  The rain is such a blessing for everyone, especially the farmers.

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