Oh so shiny

Y'all know I am obsessed with kitchen stuff.

Well my overpriced cookware  (Zwilling J.A. Henkels) bit the dust. All that money and only a 2 year warranty. BAH!!  Never again will I spend so much money on cookware. So I decided to go with stainless steel. No teflon, no ceramic coating, just going back to basic (not including my cast iron) cookware. 

BEHOLD!!

Shiny new cookware....aaahhhh, it makes me so happy!

Not only is it shiny, I scored a FANTABULOUS deal!  (Much MUCH cheaper than my other set)

Oh yeah, look at the retail price, now

If I were paying retail it would be $208.13, holy sticker shock!  I saved 75% (including tax).  I bought my new cookware at Macy's (hello magic plastic, haha). Sale + a 25% off coupon.  Woot!

What good deals have you scored recently?

Black Friday Freakiness

Those two words scare me. I used to work in retail, the last time being ten years ago when I was in between jobs. 

What is is about Black Friday that turns otherwise mostly sane people into blood thirsty, stark raving mad lunatic shoppers?

How many of you braved the mass chaos?

Two of my sisters were shopping by 5pm yesterday and finished up at 6am this morning. Their excursion involved the mall, Home Depot and not one but two Walmarts. I think they  now have street cred. Especially since one of them slapped a dude for pushing. I.AM.NOT.JOKING!

I did venture the 3 miles to Home Depot at 5am for a couple of things for the hubbs and stopped by Kohls around 6am. By then the crowds were mostly gone. Those poor clerks look like they had  survived a blitzkrieg. 

I can see the next trend will be therapy groups for Black Friday survivors. I can just envision the groups huddled together, speaking in hushed tones.

A little red head with freckles says"Yeah I survived Kohls 2012." Then a burly dude with a grizzly beard who has been quietly stirring his coffee finally speaks up and says, " I was at Walmart 2012--wave 1. They came at me from every direction.  I was so overwhelmed. The pushing, shoving and screaming. I looked around panicking and realized I may not make it out of this. I hit my radio and told them to tell my wife and kids  love them. I am not ashamed to say I cried. I still can hear the shouting and smell the intermingled odors of sweat and desperation.  I just can't go back there man..." Now he has his head in hands and his body is wracked with sobs...The group sits in stunned  silence because they have met a true warrior...."

Ok, so I may have taken a little creative license there but from the overheard  snippets of conversation, the truth is not that far off. The point I am trying to make I hope if you were or are still out there, have some compassion for those retail workers. They have a tough job, little pay, reduced if any benefits and constantly dealing with the public. So you know it ain't pretty!

Make sure to say please, thank you, excuse me and mostly have nice day. Those poor people could use some kind words.

My frugal weekend shopping spree

Can a shopping spree be frugal? I spent some time with my thrifty friend (who also happens to be the mad genius behind The Money Badger Blog--you should check it out !!) Mrs. $ Badger talks the talk and walks the walk on  budgeting, frugal shopping and a prepared pantry. She also has mad craft skills! We went to the Farmers Market in Hamilton 

http://moneybadger.blogspot.com/2012/07/this-little-badger-went-to-market.html

Where I  bought some beautiful and delicious blackberries. Unfortunately this all that is left because I could NOT stop eating them, haha And it is a really good thing this picture took because I ate them while I was typing this.

Up next on our frugaltastic shopping spree was Main Street Market (formerly Marsh's grocery) for the Berry Fest sale. 3 lb package of strawberries for $3.98--that is a  small batch of jam! They also had boneless/ skinless chicken breasts for $1.97/ lb. and bone-in chicken breast for a $1.19/ lb. Let me tell you the suckers were huge! I got a package of each (they both weighed in at 6.5 lbs). Since it is just me and the hubbs, I portioned the chicken into 2 piece packages. I was able to get  a total 6 portion packages. That is equivalent to $3.42 per pkg on average. Gotta love that savings!

We rounded out our trip at Rural King. ALl I can say Rural King is like a Tractor Supply--but on steroids. They had Ball canning (pint) jars on sale for $6.99 per case (which is the cheapest I have seen around here). And I had a coupon for $3 off the purchase of 2 cases. So I was able to purchase the jars (which includes rings and lids) for $5.49 each before taxes---that is a helluva deal. I dare say Mrs. Badger would say it is..."Badgeriffic"   Maybe not...haha

However my best purchase while at Rural King was this...

The original price was $74.95. It was clearanced at $44.95

Holla! I now get to make homemade jerky and fruit leathers. I am such a foodie nerd!

The St Patty's Day ranting and thifting post!

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Well the luck of the Irish must have been with me yesterday and  today because I scored some AWESOME deals when I went thrifting! Wa-hoo! I will go in depth on my finds in Monday's blog post of Funky and Frugal Finds Monday #6.

Remember how I talked about my the hubbs BFF getting a mobile home that we are helping him remodel? Well apparently between the two of them they decided I wasn't busy enough handling the painting and decorating. They gave me EVEN more stuff to take care of  (and I have a cold so I have very little tolerance--for anything right now)!  My responsibilities now include personal errands for his bff (like clothes shopping, laundry detail,  bank transactions, post office, and grocery shopping) Somehow I am now a personal assistant. An UNPAID personal assistant. What the huh? ggrrrrr Can someone please tell me how two men both 51 and 50 (the hubbs and BFF, respectively), can be so completely helpless, clueless, demanding?!

Last time I checked I was only married once. To one man.  Having 1 husband is bad enough at times. Now I have my hubbs AND a stray.  They are finding things for me to do so I will leave them alone. (I think I am getting played...hmmmm)

http://www.eons.com/groups/topic/1423481-how-to-be-a-195-s-housewife 

Ok, now that I have that out of the way...the hubbs BFF asked me to pick some jeans and tee shirts for his work. Yesterday I did manage to score a pair of Levis (like new!) for $2.98 (at New to You Thrift store) and 5 tee shirts for $6.50 (St. Vincent de Paul). Those were some good prices! And the hubbs BFF freaked out (in a good way) and was all like, "NO WAY! I would have spent like $100 on all that".  To which I replied, "Hey  you can pay me the difference" They both laughed.  I was serious... Of  course the hubbs was all proud and braggin' about what a good shopper I am. (well duh!) To make up for them running me ragged, the hubbs BFF did buy pizza  for dinner last night. So I didn't have to cook or do dishes. I GUESS that makes me less ranty and stabby feeling....for now

 The GOOD news is they are both gonna go to the barber shop today (awww they're so cute, haha)  and then head over to the trailer to do work. So I won't see them ALL day! Not to mention I got me some thriftin' plans! If the weather holds out I have some gardening stuff to do. And I am back on track working on some projects. hoo-ray!

I already hit the Goodwill in Lebanon this morning (50% off day-woo!) and found some cool stuff. And because I spent over $25, I got a coupon for a free Goldstar cheese coney. Cool thrifty finds AND a free lunch?! Heck yeah! I came back home to eat lunch, finish my blog post and rest up because I have more shopping, thrifting, money to spend! Da-da-duh-danta-duhda...CHARGE IT!
 

So I will chat at y'all tomorrow. And I totally plan on recycling all my shopping receipts since I am pretty sure I am gonna kill a tree today!

Wherever you go and whatever you do, May the luck of the Irish be there with you.  

Chubbs and Tovah wanted to wish everyone a Happy St. Patrick's Day

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My Weekend Retail Therapy

You would think after all of the Christmas shopping, I would be over it and not want to shop. Oh my friend you would be so wrong! This weekend was full of fantastic finds!

My daughter found this beautiful mirror for my vanity at one of our local thrifty haunts. It's chippy paint.  It's cottage-garden style. It's adorable!!

Meijer's
It is a desert plate but I thought it would be awesome as a candle holder. AND it was on clearance SCORE!

Big Lots
It is great because I use it for loose change. (Well if the hubbs and my daughter would quit taking it that is!)

TJ Maxx

A new shower curtain on clearance

This ADORABLE pillow!! It matches the decor in my girly spare bedroom perfectly! Also on clearance. 

Some aromatherapy for me! Lavender bath salts, french milled soap and silky talc 

These adorable potpourri birds!

Lavender

Lemon Grass

A very cool school vibe wall mounted magazine/ file holder

I saw the flowers and chippy white finish and had to  have it. I have NO IDEAL what I am using this one for. It is not quite big enough for a magazine. Cold use it for mail or maybe to hold hand towels. Ideals anyone?

Tuesday Morning

A couple of discounted pictures frames. They are slightly different but similar in finish. Love these!

Some super cute 100% cotton fabrics and scraps for quilting projects.

A new rattan silverware organizer

My weekend was spent shopping and then deciding where to put all my newest treasures.  I also cleaned some items out of the kitchen and closets. I did a massive donation to Goodwill. I try to eliminate 1 item for every 1 new item brought in the house. A must when you live in a small space! What did all my bloggy friends do this weekend? Shop, cook, decorate, lounge around? I would love to hear from you!