Weekend Shopping Extravaganza

My parents, Mr. Right, and I went shopping on Saturday. First we hit Target and Mr. Right and I spent about $70 in gift cards (we got for the wedding) finishing out things that we need for the house. Oh and buying a really pretty silk dress that I need for the Valentine’s charity event we work every year.

We had about $70 left in gift cards, so we “sold” them to my parents who were purchasing about $80 in merchandise. I felt sort of guilty, since the people that purchased the gift cards wanted us to use them for ourselves. Sure, we could have used the gift card money in the electronics aisle (or on more clothes/shoes) but we’re too practical for that. The only reason we used it for the dress was because I needed something fancy and it was either buy it there (on sale for $20) or else pay cash out of our pocket for it at a department store.

I reasoned that the people who gave us those cards wanted to achieve two purposes – to show us they care by giving us a gift and to help us get our home started. Surely they would understand that we would prefer to use that money on something we actually need rather than just spending it on frivolous stuff to use it at the store they got the gift card at.

As we left the store, Mr. Right and I agreed that we would use that $70 to buy hardware for the cabinets in our kitchen. We looked at purchasing them at Target, but one knob was $4 and a drawer pull was $6. Mr. Right has his general contractors license and knows a store where they are priced for $0.40 each.

Next stop was the mall where my mom returned some Christmas stuff and we all got a pretzel (I was on my 6th so it was free – hurrah!) and did a little window shopping. I found a few things on sale in Express, but after seeing the credit card bill this month with all of Mr. Right’s business expenses, even the sale price wasn’t cheap enough to be able to afford (on something that I really didn’t need to begin with).

Then we headed to Sam’s Club – the reason that we got the trip together in the first place. My mom has a membership, so we always go together and I pay her back. Since Mr. Right and I spent about $85, we just used the money she owed us from Target to call it even. Which means no money in the bank specifically for cabinet hardware, but the Sam’s purchases were things that we needed. The hardware is something we can live without.

• 128 oz of daily shower cleaner spray - $3.50
My dad said this is usually around $2 for a 32 oz bottle at the store. By far the best deal we got.

• 4 boxes Velveeta @ $4 each - $16.00
Our 2nd best deal. I use Velveeta in lots of my cooking, as well as a party favorite (chili cheese dip). Velveeta usually runs $6-$6.50 at Kroger

• Frozen Ravioli - $8.50

Not a huge bargain, but not a bad price either. Its Mr. Right’s favorite dish so I like to have it on hand for special occasions (he’d rather have it then go out to dinner, so for $8.50 I get several “fancy” meals)

• Oxi-Clean powder - $16.50

Maybe we’re just a messy family, but I go through A LOT of stain remover. This way I can just add water to the powder (using one of the extra shower cleaner containers I have). The box of powder will last for ages!

• Orange Juice - $5

I had breakfast duty at church yesterday morning (another blog on the matter to follow), so I had to get juice. I bought it there because it was a decent price and I didn’t want to make another stop.

• 6 lbs Jalapenos - $6

Impulse buy made by Mr. Right. They are pickled, so they should last a while in the fridge. He said that he was glad that I did the shopping; otherwise our budget would be out of control from his impulse grocery items.

• Italian seasoning - $4.25

I make pasta salad a lot using Italian seasoning. This was a much better deal than the smaller containers that are sold at the grocery store.

• Irish Spring soap - $8.25

Another of Mr. Right’s purchases, one that I almost immediately regretted. Sure we have 20 bars of soap for that amount, but Walgreens has them cheaper this week AND I have a Walgreens gift card that I could have used.

• 5 cans chicken - $10

I’ve tried baking chicken and then chopping it up for recipes that called for pre-cooked chicken, but most of the time it just ends up chewy and flavorless. I won’t use it often (its not as healthy nor is it budget friendly) but its nice to have on hand.