My mom's leaving tomorrow and today was the first day in her visit that we didn't have any appointments or activities to attend -- or drive the kids to chauffeur. We spent the whole morning putzing around the house, hanging pictures, dusting, and looking at how cool my YNAB budget* is. Then people got hungry and we decided to run some errands and I offered to treat everyone to a late lunch at the fast food Chinese joint (everyone but me, of course, because just walking into that place sent my body into high food-allergy alert).
Panda Express -- $14.80
That covered two 3-entree plates and a side of Orange Chicken for The Daughter -- oh, and a small soda for The Son.
Old Navy -- ($19.64)
Once everyone was fed, we made our way to Old Navy where the plan was to make a quick stop so The Daughter could return the pair of khaki's she bought the other day while shopping with my mom. While I stood in line to make the return, The Daughter wandered off to make sure the same pants weren't offered in a better color (the pair she'd purchased were a nice chocolate brown).
Old Navy -- $81.51
How silly of me to not realize that there is no such thing as a quick and/or simple stop with The Daughter and my mom in tow. Those two had been in this very same Old Navy store not a week earlier and they still needed to look at every single item in the women's department and try half of it on.
In between making threats to leave them if they didn't put it in high gear, I found two pair of flannel PJ pants for the son on sale for 50% off -- or $8.25/ea. He refused to come into the store (he was happily enjoying his lunch and a new Raymond Chandler book in the car) but gave me carte blanche to pick out any color and size I thought best. I bought a pair in Small and one in Medium. There was only one pair in Medium that I thought he'd wear so I picked them up thinking that even if they're too big, he'll surely grow into them quickly. And I picked up a pair in Small (of which they had a much larger selection) thinking that if they were too small, I could return them but if they fit, he'd have a pair he could put to use immediately. Turns out the at Smalls will fit just fine and he likes the Mediums so we'll tuck those away -- but not too far away because I'm sure he'll need them soon enough.
The Daughter, in the meantime, didn't find the same pants in a better color -- but she didn't come away empty-handed either. She found a different pair of pants that she wanted -- and these weren't on sale. Then, with my mom's help, she found a stash of cashmere sweaters on sale for 50% off; half of expensive is still expensive. I really had to bite my tongue but I'm determined to let her learn her lesson with this clothing budget idea so she said she wanted it and it fit into her budget so I bought it. The pants were $29.50 and the sweater was $29.75.
The Home Depot -- $55.04
I applied a $25. gift card that I received from my step-son and daughter-in-law for Christmas so my actual cash outlay was only $30.04. I was tempted to save my gift card for something sexier, but money's money so I figured I might as well go ahead and use the card before I lost it or forgot about it.
- 2 ultra-allergen-trapping furnace filters -- $15.97/ea.
- a ClosetMaid hook thing -- $6.26 (didn't work in The Daughter's closet so it will be returned)
- an oak threshold to help seal the huge gap underneath the garage door into the house that lets in so much cold air and, apparently, mice -- $9.89
- a 4-pack of mouse traps -- $1.97
- a pack of gum for my mom -- $1.09
Whole Foods -- $10.57
I'd planned to go to Kroger but Whole Foods was closer and more convenient. I just needed a few simple ingredients for our spaghetti dinner but I really didn't want to buy meat at Whole Foods after my experience last week. [Last week I bought 2 pounds of their 85% lean ground beef on sale for an incredible $1.99/lb -- but it was nasty!with big chunks of vein and way more fat than meat.] I told the guy at the meat counter that I was reluctantly buying beef and that I'd promised myself, after my experience, to never buy beef from WF again. He ended up comp'ing my one-plus pound package of 95% lean ground beef -- a $5.29 value. I'm glad I told the guy my story -- and not just because I got my meat for free. I'm not a huge fan of Whole Foods but sometimes it's just awfully darned convenient to shop there and the last thing I need in my life is another shopping hurdle. Tonight's meat was perfect so, at this point, all is forgiven.
- one can of Muir organic tomato sauce -- $1.99
- one gallon of Organic Valley 2% milk -- $5.49
- an organic acorn squash -- $2.77
- bag credit -- ($0.10)
Safeway -- $52.66
The last stop of the day was the Safeway gas station where I pumped 19.732 gallons into The Tank at $2.669 per gallon. The odometer now reads 118,465.
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Day 126: Gas, Flannel PJs, Mouse Traps, and Ground Beef
My mom's leaving tomorrow and today was the first day in her visit that we didn't have any appointments or activities to attend -- or drive the kids to chauffeur. We spent the whole morning putzing around the house, hanging pictures, dusting, and looking at how cool my YNAB budget* is. Then people got hungry and we decided to run some errands and I offered to treat everyone to a late lunch at the fast food Chinese joint (everyone but me, of course, because just walking into that place sent my body into high food-allergy alert).
Panda Express -- $14.80
That covered two 3-entree plates and a side of Orange Chicken for The Daughter -- oh, and a small soda for The Son.
Old Navy -- ($19.64)
Once everyone was fed, we made our way to Old Navy where the plan was to make a quick stop so The Daughter could return the pair of khaki's she bought the other day while shopping with my mom. While I stood in line to make the return, The Daughter wandered off to make sure the same pants weren't offered in a better color (the pair she'd purchased were a nice chocolate brown).
Old Navy -- $81.51
How silly of me to not realize that there is no such thing as a quick and/or simple stop with The Daughter and my mom in tow. Those two had been in this very same Old Navy store not a week earlier and they still needed to look at every single item in the women's department and try half of it on.
In between making threats to leave them if they didn't put it in high gear, I found two pair of flannel PJ pants for the son on sale for 50% off -- or $8.25/ea. He refused to come into the store (he was happily enjoying his lunch and a new Raymond Chandler book in the car) but gave me carte blanche to pick out any color and size I thought best. I bought a pair in Small and one in Medium. There was only one pair in Medium that I thought he'd wear so I picked them up thinking that even if they're too big, he'll surely grow into them quickly. And I picked up a pair in Small (of which they had a much larger selection) thinking that if they were too small, I could return them but if they fit, he'd have a pair he could put to use immediately. Turns out the at Smalls will fit just fine and he likes the Mediums so we'll tuck those away -- but not too far away because I'm sure he'll need them soon enough.
The Daughter, in the meantime, didn't find the same pants in a better color -- but she didn't come away empty-handed either. She found a different pair of pants that she wanted -- and these weren't on sale. Then, with my mom's help, she found a stash of cashmere sweaters on sale for 50% off; half of expensive is still expensive. I really had to bite my tongue but I'm determined to let her learn her lesson with this clothing budget idea so she said she wanted it and it fit into her budget so I bought it. The pants were $29.50 and the sweater was $29.75.
The Home Depot -- $55.04
I applied a $25. gift card that I received from my step-son and daughter-in-law for Christmas so my actual cash outlay was only $30.04. I was tempted to save my gift card for something sexier, but money's money so I figured I might as well go ahead and use the card before I lost it or forgot about it.
Whole Foods -- $10.57
I'd planned to go to Kroger but Whole Foods was closer and more convenient. I just needed a few simple ingredients for our spaghetti dinner but I really didn't want to buy meat at Whole Foods after my experience last week. [Last week I bought 2 pounds of their 85% lean ground beef on sale for an incredible $1.99/lb -- but it was nasty!with big chunks of vein and way more fat than meat.] I told the guy at the meat counter that I was reluctantly buying beef and that I'd promised myself, after my experience, to never buy beef from WF again. He ended up comp'ing my one-plus pound package of 95% lean ground beef -- a $5.29 value. I'm glad I told the guy my story -- and not just because I got my meat for free. I'm not a huge fan of Whole Foods but sometimes it's just awfully darned convenient to shop there and the last thing I need in my life is another shopping hurdle. Tonight's meat was perfect so, at this point, all is forgiven.
Safeway -- $52.66
The last stop of the day was the Safeway gas station where I pumped 19.732 gallons into The Tank at $2.669 per gallon. The odometer now reads 118,465.
Related posts: