Big K Soda

Why is it that my boss insists on making fun of me for drinking Big K soda? Their diet lemon lime soda tastes great and in fact it tastes even better since they are on sale for $1.99 per 12 pack right now at Kroger. If you haven't tried it - I'd suggest it. Best off-brand soda I've ever tried.

Einstein Bros Bagels = Over Priced

I know Einstein Bros Bagels is overpriced, yet I still go there and then act outraged when I pay the total. Today, I let the drive-thru voice convince me to get a combo with my Bacon & Avocado Bagel Thin instead of the sandwich only and a cup of soup on the side. "You can get the soup as a side to the combo," she said, failing to mention the soup side costs an additional .99.

10 minutes later (they also have the SLOWEST drive-thru!), I got my measly bagel thin and cup of turkey chili soup to the tune of $7.54. I could have gotten 7 Whopper Juniors for that money. Naturally, the turkey chili was disgust.

NEVER AGAIN...or at least not until the next time I forget my lunch and want a healthy (costly) lunch alternative to fast food.

Leftovers - does this make me ghetto?

Last night after a grueling day of cheer competitions I told my husband he could pick up dinner (you have to treat yourself every once in a while!). But because we were treating I decided I would eat half of my dinner last night and have the rest for lunch today at the office. This is a move I would say is brilliantly frugal. What might however, make this move ghetto, is the fact that I had a burger and instead of cutting my burger in half I just ate part of it and saved the rest in a clear container. So any and all who go near the fridge can marvel at my gnawed off of burger. Any of you ever done this?

Fantastic Deal for the Weekend

This link takes you to a 30% off coupon for Gap, Old Navy or Banana Republic and better still 5% of the proceeds go to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society!

http://gap.p.delivery.net/m/p/gap/gcan/gpjump.asp?p=bp/lls.html

Deal of the Day - Atlantans

Today at Belk from 4 p.m. - 10 p.m. buy 1 pair of men's $52 dress slacks and get 2 PAIRS FREE!

Doesn't get much better than that!

Costco

On my trip to Costco today I guess you could say I was a woman with a mission - well two missions.

Mission 1 - keep my spending to a minimum. I know it's so tempting at the holidays to do impulse buys, but with two girls who each want an ipod for Christmas my spending must be kept to a minimum.

Mission 2 - to enjoy a delicious and "brilliantly frugal" $1.50 hot dog meal.

Let's just say I succeeded at one mission and failed at another.

My first stop at Costco was the service desk where I asked for some coupons since I had left mine at home - did everyone know they had extra coupons and would give them to you just for the asking? Well I didn't either until my friend Stacey educated me on this about a year ago.

I quickly flipped through my coupons and determined what I would buy based on need and on coupon. I made my selections and then made my way to the toy aisle.

Now my plan for Christmas this year is to buy a few things every payday up until Christmas and to not use my credit cards at all. I like everyone else am trying desperately to get out of debt, not create more to pay off later. I made a couple of selections in the toy aisle - I'd say one of the best I got was 3 DVD games for $9.99 as well as a DS game for each of my girls for $9.99 - a steal quite frankly! I also picked up a couple more small toy items and made my way to the register where alas there was a line winding through the store. I waited in line, paid for my goods and was headed for my wonderous hot dog when I stopped dead in my tracks.

The line for snacks was about 20 deep, and my lunch hour was spent so I headed to my car empty-tummied but proud of the fact that I had kept my spending to the minimum and had made sure to maximize my coupons.

So remember Costco shoppers the moral of this is always ask for coupons if you don't have any with you and make the coupons work for you. Don't buy things you don't need, but if you do need it buy it with your coupon. And don't go to Costco for a hot dog on Friday cause you just might leave hungry.

Restaurant Sodas = Rip Off

Is it just me or are the prices of soda at restaurants continuing to climb? It's painful to receive the check at a Mexican restaurant with meal deals in the $4 range that includes a $2 to $2.50 charge for Diet Coke.

So, I stick to water. For those of you who can't stand the thought of drinking water with your meal, bring a Crystal Light On the Go packet (or any other brand of powdered goodness) with you to pour in.

Do the same at the movies...if you're shelling out $3 or $4 for a bottle of water, you're wasting your money!

I remember the good old days when soda cost 50 cents and stamps were 25 cents. Of course that was when I was a kid and not responsible for funding my own lifestyle.