Coupons and Saving, part two

We did it again: we saved money at the local grocery store. Actually, if you want to get technical, my daughter M.H. save a bunch of money. I simply came along for part of the ride.

So, here's how it went: I'd gone to Publix first thing in the morning. I figured if I had my friend Kevin, the cab driver, drive, I could get a case of cat food from the vets' office and a case of bottled water at Publix, then get home and have the rest of the day to work. Of course, it turned out Kev needed a few items, so the trip took a little longer than planned. No biggie.

I'd been home maybe 15 minutes when M.H. called. "I need to go shopping. Want to come along?"

Sure, why not. Hitting Publix, or almost any place M.H. plans to shop can turn into a small adventure.

Disclaimer: I am not, by nature, a shopper, at least not the way my daughter is. I lean towards the hit-and-run method. Yes, I'll use coupons and occasionally even come up with a list. I don't dare leave that list in Kev's cab, though. I made a stop once on the way to the store, leaving the list on the front seat and came back to read, "Lots and lots of RED MEAT, cake mix boxes (one each of chocolate, vanilla, and yellow cake), six cans of frosting mix, soda, hot dogs (10 packages),lots and lots RED MEAT." But, as far as shopping with M.H., it is definitely an adventure.

Last Sunday, Publix had a $10-off-$50-or-more coupon. At the store, M.H. told me that had to buy enough to ring up $50 at the cash register. (This doesn't include the BOGOs, which kick the cost of the freebie off before it all rings up.) After wandering through the store with coupons and shopping list in hand, we headed for check out. I'd put a box of Tazo Chi Tea into the cart and handed her the $3.99 for it; this tipped the amound to just over $50 without costing M.H. anything.

Then the coupons were handed over. I went to sit down and watched as the cashier scanned first the $10 coupon, then an entire fist-ful of the pieces of paper. M.H. had six boxes of cereal (it was one that she, her husband, and my granddaughter like, it was buy-one-get-one free, and she had six coupons for the stuff), several four-packs of yogurt, Kraft Mac and Cheese, coffee creamer...all stuff they use on a regular basis. After the coupons were scanned, the register read $17.33. However, she had a $10 Publix gift card that she had gotten for clipping three or four UPCs a month or so again and sending them in, along with the receipt. So a $51 shopping trip cost her $7.33 ($4 of which I paid for).

It gets better. Her husband B. pointed out that they were almost out of something-or-other (yes, that's the technical term!), so M.H. would have to go back out. Fortunately, someone else had given her a second coupon. That $58 trip cost her right around $7. So, because of couponing, BOGOs, shopping lists, and buying only things that they really use, they ended up with almost $110 worth of food for less than $15.

While B.H. may never be seen on Extreme Couponing, she does know how to save some serious money for what her family needs. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go check on some couponing sites. (Yes, I'll pass 'em along...eventually.)

Coupons, or How We Saved a Bundle

My daughter, M.H., moved here a year ago with her husband and daughter. It's definitely nice having them around, although I don't see nearly enough of my son-in-law or granddaughter. Such is life.

One of the things I've really learned to appreciate about M.H. (among other things) is the way she can save money, and not just a little. She's been into saving as much money as possible; between couponing, looking at the deals in the local stores, and rebates, she's been able to save a bundle. She's also been after me to follow her example. I'm beginning to see how she does it. Granted, I doubt she'll end up on an episode of Extreme Couponing, but she does do a great job of saving.

When M.H., B., and G. still lived in Rhode Island, M.H. would periodically call to tell me about her saving exploits. There was the time when she called to let me know I'd be receiving a rebate check. How so? I wondered. Turns out she had made out her shopping list, then checked the local grocery store's website, as well as Wal-Mart and Target's sites. She worked at one of the box stores at the time, and had an employee discount card. She and B. started where she worked. Between the buy-one-get-one-free offers (BOGOs), her employee discount, and her coupons, as well as only buying what she'd put on her list for that particular store, she ended up with around $150 worth of stuff and paid all of $5. (Yes, you read that right.) Sure, she ended up with enough disposable razors to last several months, as well as laundry and dish detergent, but those were all on sale, they have a longer shelf life than, say, a gallon of milk, and they're stuff that they honestly needed. Ever try doing a load of laundry or a sinkful of dishes without detergent? Exactly. On top of that, she also qualified for a rebate check of almost $9. End result? $150 worth of stuff the family needed, and she ended up almost $4 ahead of the game. Phew!

M.H.'s shopping seldom went that well, but as she's told me numerous times since moving here, "I hate paying full price for that!", as she pointed to detergent, coffee creamers, and the like.

Two weeks ago, I had M.H. drive me to the nearest Publix. I'm sure there are people who don't like Publix, but it's where I do most of my shopping. (And no, I'm not getting paid or rewarded in any way for writing that.) I picked up a few items, while M.H. picked up stuff for her family. At the end, between the BOGOs and her coupons, she ended up with around $67 worth of groceries and parted with a little over $22 in cash. That's roughly a 66-percent savings!

Yesterday, M.H. came by. As her first load of laundry went through the washer, she drove me to one of the local drugstore chains (where she happens to work). They had laundry detergent on sale, as well as toilet paper and 12-packs of soda. We do occasionally drink soda, though not nearly as much as we used to. (I can get by with maybe a glass or can of it every couple of weeks.) Had I bought the detergent (the brand I usually buy) at Publix, it would have run between $4.99 and $5.79. It's presently on sale, but M.H. could do better than an 80-cent savings. The stuff was on sale for between $2 and $3 a bottle; between the sale price, her employee discount, her savings card, and the nine $1-off coupons, we loaded up. Then we threw in a 12-pack of toilet paper and three 12-packs of soda, which will hold us for quite a while. The nine bottles of detergent would have run $45 plus tax at the grocery store; between the sale prices of everything, the discount cards, and the coupons, we shelled out $20.73! I can live with that.

At least I won't have to buy t.p., detergent, or soda for a while...

Aging, with Attitude

I've noticed something lately: I'm becoming my parents, while my offspring are becoming, well, me (though a much younger me).

For starters, there are the aches and pains. When my kids were little, and I wanted to take them to the beach or park so that they could get rid of some excess energy (and I wouldn't have to think about the housework), I'd call my grandmother up.

Now, mind you, I called both of my grandmothers on a regular basis. They were very different from each other, but definitely cool, each in their own way. But while Dad's mom lived in New York (state, not city), Mom's mom and I lived in the same Florida county; therefore, it was Grandma Hallock I'd call for the weather update.

After catching up on the pleasantries, I'd mention that I was planning to take the kids out. "The meteorologist on Channel 8 said that there's a forty percent chance of rain today, something about a cold front coming through, so I'm wondering if it's safe to head for the beach."

"Well, hon, my arthritis is only bothering me a little," she'd tell me. "I think you should be fine today, but maybe not tomorrow."

Funny thing is, her arthritis was almost always right. Go figure...

I'd heard from both grandmothers and their friends that the weather would change soon because "I can feel it in my bones." My younger self used to think that was old people crazy talk, but over the past decade or so, I've been noticing how true it seems.

A couple of mornings ago, I woke up with a painfully stiff, sore neck. I didn't have a headache or a fever, which was good; it's always nice to rule out anything serious. Most writers tend to be a bit neurotic. I'm not as neurotic as, say, Woody Allen, but on some days, many of us could give Woody a run for his neurotic money.

I grabbed a tube of BenGay and slapped some on. I have several tubes of it, as well as Tylenol's version of it (Precise). A certain offspring, who could easily be on Extreme Couponing, had sent them to us several months before moving to Florida when she'd picked them up for mere pennies. So, after putting BenGay on my neck, and popping a couple of Tylenol and four baby aspirin, I eased into the kitchen to start the coffee.

But the neck continued to hurt throughout the day. When it did ease a little, my left knee...well, you get the general idea. The cold front that had come through had decided to settle in. While it wasn't a seventy-five percent chance of rain sort of thing, it did tell me that the weather would be this way for a couple of days.

An aside: I've been known to laugh in late August, early September when the meteorologists on TV say that there's a cold front coming through in the next few days. I live in Florida. While it does occasionally get down-right cold in January or February (temperatures in the teens are cold, as far as I'm concerned), cold fronts in Florida in August or September might just bring the temperature down a degree or two to a nice, brisk 79 or 80. Brrr! Not! But it did get into the high 50s last week...

Another thing I've noticed, heading into the end of my fifties: I tend to have a lower tolerance for some things (like, um, manure) than I used to, while things that used to absolutely drive me nuts hardly phase me.

A while back, I was riding with my friend Kevin, who happens to drive cab. We first met when we both drove for the same cab company. I'd started first, then he showed up maybe a year later, then quit for maybe a few months before climbing back into a taxi. Kevin's a few years younger than I, and he describes himself as a grump or grouch.

One morning, Kevin was driving me some place or other. It was a couple of weeks before Christmas, when people sort-of forget how to drive. It's like, they're in the right-hand lane, thinking of turning into this group of stores coming up to buy something, when suddenly and right now, they realize that the bank is on the left and they need to hit it up before shopping. We were behind three-lanes-and-half-a-block-worth of people driving like this.

So, Kevin had been grousing for the last couple of minutes as we ease south along Forty-Ninth Street that the other drivers are idiots, that you should have seen that guy plow into that pick-up truck this morning, the fact that we were only his third call of the day. His second call was a regular customer, but his first call was one that prompted him to tell M. and me, "You won't believe the call I got at 6:30 this morning. I hadn't even gotten my coffee, the address they gave me didn't exist, and after ten minutes of looking for him, he ran out from between a couple of houses and told me to hurry, he was late for work! I think he'd already been drinking..."

Finally, I looked over at him and said, "Kevin, you are such a grump!!!" As I said that, a car from the left lane cut across all three lanes of traffic, nearly hitting both us and the car in fron of us, before ducking into a strip mall, all the time waving Sorry, thanks! at everyone he'd cut off or almost hit. "What's with this (expletive)!" I practically yelled.

As we eased up to the light, Kevin looked at me slightly askew and, smiling, said, "And you call me a grump?"

Another story: My daughter, M.H., and I talk quite frequently. Once, several years ago, when we were on the phone, G. was doing something or other that she'd been told not to do. Let's face it: most kids do that, especially when the parent who said not to do it is on the phone.

At one point, M.H. told G. to "stop that right now." G. didn't, so M.H. said, "Don't make me count to three!"

By now, I was smiling, but trying not to let a snicker come across the phone. This sounded too familiar.

"Okay, that's it!" I heard. "One, two, three!" Then, to me, "I'll be right back." As she put the phone down, I could hear, "You're going to your room!" She was immediately informed that that was fine, G. had a TV, VCR and radio in her room. "Not any more, you don't! I'm taking them out right now and you can stay in your room until you apologize and make it right!" A stream of I'm sorrys followed this, along with much crying and wailing. But M.H. held firm.

When she finally picked up the phone, my daughter had one question for me: "When did I turn into you?", to which I responded, "When you became a parent!"

Life goes on, we age, and, if we're lucky, we manage to mantain our sense of humor.