Weekly Spending and the Deal Trifecta

Well, after my hiatus, I am re-energized and ready to tell you all about this past week's frugal and green adventures! It has been a long week, so I'll start out by going back to the goals I set last week.

Financially, it was a pretty heavy week. Father's Day was my biggest expense--I took my dad to a flea market, which he loved, and spent $20 on gas, $4 on admission for both of us, and bought a book for $5. Not a good start, but the week got better. I ended up saving a lot of money by staying home and doing things that mattered...like applying for jobs, etc. Even on Wednesday when my family and I went up to Boston, I packed a cooler of goodies for us--sandwiches, yogurt, cookies, juice--and we ended up only spending money on gas! I though that was excellent...(we also enjoyed some coffee and cake, courtesy of Simmons!) Then on Thursday, my only other spending for the week was $0.06! I picked up two trial size bottles of Gold Bond healing lotion and used 2/$1 off coupons (here).

Today was a stocking up day for me. I took a trip out this after noon to the deal trifecta: Target, Walmart, and Stop and Shop. Deals were pretty slim, but worth it:
Target: Travel size Extra Strength Tylenol - $1 - $1off(here) = free
5.8oz Colgate Total Advanced Clean w/2 trial size bonuses - $3.19 - $1.50off manufacturer's coupon (Probably 6/1 Red Plum) - $1off Target coupon (here) = $0.79
Total: $0.79

Walmart: Bic Soliel 4-pack - $4.67 - $4off coupon (6/21 Smart Source) = $0.67 + tax
Kashi Heart to Heart cereal - $3.24 - $2coupon = $1.24
Total: $2.19

S&S: Kashi GoLean Crunch - $2/6 - $2coupon = $1

So the overall total for today was $3.98. Not my best, but I had a bunch of coupons about to expire and everything I got was a deal, even if it wasn't a steal.

Green outlook is looking pretty good. All of my plants have been getting a lot of water from the crazy rain we've been getting, so they're happy. I'm trying to drive greener, which I definitely need to do more research on. I recently heard that using your breaks less burns less gas (not a very safe premise, but I'll try anything!), so I tried that while I did my errands. Biggest complaint about this method: other people! I could time it perfectly--coasting towards a light, inching along, etc.--but the people in front of me never get themselves moving in time for me to avoid breaking! If anyone knows any other methods, send them my way and I'll tell you how it goes...

I will definitely be posting more this week, so never fear! And I'll make Katharine post more, too...

Hugs,
Alison