Getting there...

Well, it's taken a while, and some concentrated effort, but I finally paid off two credit card bills. The last payment went out this week.
WHEW!!
Now my focus is going to be in two areas - building the Emergency Fund, and paying off our rental property mortgage. However, I'm kind of torn about what would be the best way to go with this right now. Y'see, the last renters in the houses (two houses on one lot) pretty much trashed the place, so there is going to be a lot of work to do. So, it really seems that any "extra" money I have now will get eaten up pretty quick by remodeling.
OK, so let me see if I can organize my thinking a little better...
1) Remodel both houses
2) Evaluate the real estate market to determine whether to sell or rent or do a "rent to own". From what I am seeing in the current market, the RTO may be my best shot at getting the best return on the investment
3) Try to refinance the investor's mortgage to get a lower rate and also pay the loan off faster.

If things go the way I hope, maybe by the end of the year we'll have this property either out of our hair completely (sold!) or at least making enough money to be paying for itself. Then the Emergency Fund will take care of itself, I expect! Then...well, maybe I can start saving to build our log cabin...debt free!

Ingles' Triples...and a really LOOONNNGG receipt!!

Well, Ingles' started their Triple Coupons week today. I spent about 2 hours yesterday preparing for it, getting my 50¢ Q's all together and the other Q's that made sense to use, even though they wouldn't triple. I also took a friend with me who I've been "training" to use coupons. She's on a limited income, so every penny really counts for her.
My total, before Q's, was $236, and if you were to add tax to that, it would've been about $250. Then I started scanning my Q's...as always, I was on the USCAN register and my friend (who had already finished her shopping) was watching. Fortunately, she noticed the register was only DOUBLING!!! OMG!! I was SO glad she caught that!! Well, the poor little girl that assists at the USCAN's got stuck with having to manually add the triple amount for all of my Q's...and just how many Q's did the CarolinaKid have? Uhhh....wellll...after counting the scans on my receipt...I had 76 coupons!!! 36 of those were larger amounts (over 50¢) that would not triple, so the cashier had to manually enter <gulp!!> 40 coupons!!
So, you may be wondering, how much did I pay OOP?
(Cliff-hanger, here)

I got lots of interesting things...Pringles potato chips - 10 tubes!! 3 boxes of Special K cereal, 2 boxes of Capn' Crunch cereal, Totino's pizza rolls (3 boxes), two large bags of Perdue Perfect Portions chicken breasts, 3 large bottles of Tide, 4 packs Land O' Frost sandwich meat, 2 Tyson's chicken breasts, 3 Blue Bonnet margarine, 1 Crisco oil, 3 Coffee Mate, Green Giant Steamed veggies (3), BirdsEye steamed veggies (3) (like I needed any more of either of these!!), Dial bar soap (3), (like I needed any of these either!!), Viva paper towels (3), Scott paper towels (3),Nature Valley Granola bars (3), Healthy Choice pasta meals (2), Ziploc sandwich bags (3), Downy (3), Crest (4)(I REALLY didn't need any of these, but it was a MONEY MAKER, so how could I resist?), Dawn dish soap (ditto!), Scrubbing Bubbles (ditto again), Pantene shampoo (2), JollyTime popcorn(3), Pillsbury cake mix (3), Quaker grits (3), and 3 Pepsi frig-packs.

So, back to the cliff-hanger...just how much did I pay OOP for all this lovely stuff (much of it food and not HBA or cleaning products). How about $105.00?!? The cashier was really excited, and when she saw how long my register tape was, she hollered to the manager (the service desk was right behind her) "Hey Chuck!! Look at this register tape!! I've never seen one this long!!" Chuck knows me, both because I often know about triples before he does and for the special items I have requested that he carry in his store (he's great!! Chuck is one reason I LOVE this store!!). I stopped by the service desk so he could REALLY see the tape, and he just laughed. "You've been waiting on this week for awhile, haven't you!! He then asked if there was anything I could not find. There actually WERE a couple items, which I mentioned. He replied "The truck will be in Tuesday night". "I'll be back Wednesday, then" I replied.
Many of the food items were FREE (Pringles, grits, cake mix to name a few), and others significantly cheaper than the shelf price. Also, with my purchases of Tide, Downy, Pantene, etc.,etc., I now have enough to send in my P&G form in for $120 worth of coupons. I'll probably do this same trip (mostly) again, and submit the P&G again on my friend's behalf.
One other interesting thing ... my friend? She's on food stamps, and you're not supposed to get change from that, right? For some reason (we could NOT figure this out!) it caused the register to spit out $1 at the end of her transactions!! Added to that, she also noticed her Q's did not triple either, so they had to refund $3 and change to her. Between those two things, and a $5 Q, she was able to get some Olay moisturizer - that she otherwise would not have been able to purchase.
Just how long was my receipt? Try 6 FEET LONG!!
Later, PackRat and I went to his brother's to give him & his wife some of what I had "legally shoplifted", as they are both on disability AND food stamps. I hope to be able to take his wife to Ingles' later in the week, so she can do this too. I've been trying to teach her the coupon thing too.
Let me see, how many people have I "Coupon Tutored"? Sheila, Diane, Angie, Lisas (3 different Lisa's - two at work, and my hairdresser), Yvonne, and several random strangers.

Ain't couponing grand!!!

The Grocery Challenge Ladies...

I had these pics I compiled awhile back of adorable pups that I thought would be a good description of our GC/DogPound ladies, so here goes....

This cutie must be Emhalf...

This pup could only be HiTenny...

And of course, no one could mistake this hound for anyone else but HuntFish...

And, this is none other than Dancin'Mama.....

And now for YOUR VOTE....

Please tell me who YOU think this pup is...could this be JMo...or perhaps LBMoore...oh, what about Oot-n-aboot (aka Ooty)? Please post a comment so we can all know who this little beauty is!!!

Having fun buying for the Food Bank

Today, I really had some fun buying some stuff for our food drive at work. Just like many other areas in our nation these days, we are experiencing a lot of lay-offs and plant closings in our area, so the Food Banks in our area have already been hit pretty hard.
When I got my newpapers today, I sat down with the Ingles' sale page, and with a sea of coupons surrounding me, made a plan.
I prefer to use the self-check, as I tend to have more success with the coupons, and I can use "slightly expired" Q's on the self-check line. Today, for the first time, I decided to see what my total would be if I didn't have my store-saver card, so I didn't scan it until I was finished...my total before store sales, and before Q's and before NC sales tax was over $69. After scanning my card, I saved $17.49...then after Q's, I saved $34.75. So, my total OOP was only $18.48!!
It would have been even better, if I had not bought stuff for myself. PackRat wanted some ice cream, and I also wanted to get sugar and flour while I was there as they were on sale at a substantial discount. So, if I take off the items I bought for myself, my OOP for the Food Bank about $3.00.
So, what did I get for $3 OOP?
3 large boxes of Success rice
5 boxes of Comet Rice
6 boxes of Quaker grits
5 boxes of Betty Crocker cake mix
5 tubs of Betty Crocker frosting
12 cans of Green Giant vegetables (green beans, corn, sweet peas)
This was just this trip - that's not counting the other GG veggies I bought yesterday, plus the Quaker Oatmeal I'm adding from my stash.

This was soooo much fun!! I invited my neighbor (Hi Sheila!!) to go with me just to have someone to share the absolute thrill of doing this. We both giggled like loons as we watched the total due on the screen get lower...and lower...and LOWER!! Oh, man, what a blast!! This was so much fun, I may have to do this again!! Since my own pantry and freezer are crammed full, a second trip would also go to a Food Bank.
Once again, coupons have allowed me to be a blessing!! This is just TOO MUCH FUN!!

I've been tagged!!

OK, Lisa B. tagged me on this, so for what it's worth, here goes...

1. My physical appearance (according to others - I don't see it myself) is nothing like my personality - I'm short, small framed and small boned..."you look delicate" is how someone put it!! Looks can be deceiving, for sure!! My personality would probably make you think of an "Amazon" or a "Valkyrie"!!
2. I am an avid quilter - I love creating something beautiful with fabric!!
3. I breed and train horses (we're down to 6, from a high of 12)
4. I'm a geek - my official job title is "Technical Analyst II". I've worked with computers for about 20 years
5. I love rollercoasters, flying and scuba-diving
6. I play 5 different instruments - saxophone, guitar, banjo, piano and flute
7. I love most any kind of music, but my top two favorites are bluegrass and jazz

White Chicken Chili

Crock Pot White Chicken Chili
1 1/4 lbs boneless skinless chicken
2 (15 ounce) cans great northern beans or navy beans
1 (15 ounce) can hominy or white corn
1 (1 1/4 ounce) envelope taco seasoning
1 (4 1/2 ounce) can of chopped green chilies
1 (10 3/4 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 (14 ounce) can chicken broth
1/2 cup sour cream
chopped green onion (optional)
monterey jack cheese (optional)
Directions
Place chicken in a 4 quart slow cooker.
Top with beans and corn.
In a medium bowl, combine taco seasoning, chiles, condensed soup, and chicken broth. Pour over top of ingredients in the crock pot.
Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.
Before serving, stir gently to break up chicken, then stir in the sour cream.
Serve topped with green onions and jack cheese, if desired.

After KMart...a trip to Ingles

So, after going home from KMart, and unloading my trunk, I took my food Q's to Ingles and used them there...even though they wouldn't double, some of them were still really good Q's - $1.50 - $2.00.
While I was at Ingles, I visited with my "meat counter lady" and gave her a stack of Q's. I had shared some of my "hounding adventures" with her last week and so she got motivated to try her hand with Q's also. She was so glad to see me, because she wanted to tell me about her first trip with coupons...she saved $17!! I gave her a good-sized stack of inserts, and shared with her my adventure at KMart. She's planning on going herself, once she heard how much I saved. While we were talking, Friendly Store Manager came by. I asked him did he know when Ingles would triple again, and he said he didn't. I said "I do! It's going to be the end of November!" Meat counter Lady started laughing, because Friendly Store Manager made a funny face and wanted to know how I found out. "Internet, of course!!"
He's usually pretty good about special requests, so I asked him to pass along to Corporate that Ingles was loosing some of their business to HT and BiLo b/c they both double up to 99¢, and would Ingles be willing to adjust their policy to match? He said he'd pass it along. I also mentioned the bag credit I get at BiLo. He started laughing, and asked was I trying to take his job. I told him "no, just trying to make my favorite store STAY my favorite store". He laughed again, shaking his head, and said yes, he'd pass all that along. Then MeatCounter Lady told him about her $17 savings, then she said "Tell him how much you just saved at KMart", so I did, adding the comment to both of them that "I may never need to buy TP, soap, or shampoo again for the rest of my life!!"
We all got a good laugh out of it, and Friendly Store Manager is going to talk to Corporate. Like JMo always says "If you don't ask, the answer is already NO!"
Oh, and my Ingles savings? $27 off an $85 total. And all of it food...and I mean GOOD food...
Since it was perishable, I didn't take any pics (so sorry!) but we could probably live off my stockpile for, ohhhh....about....a month, I guess...maybe more.
So, I guess I SHOULD do that to free up space for HT triples in a couple weeks...then Ingles triples a few weeks later.