Quick check in

Hi everyone

I'm still here. DS is still home with his injury. We were both hoping he would be recovered and back at school yesterday, but no such luck. I finally started getting better sleep this weekend - if you can call waking up at 6am better 😂 Well, it sure beats being wide awake at 4am. 

Yesterday & today were icy cold and windy. I kept most of the blinds closed to help keep out the cold. Brrr. I didn't feel like going out in the cold, but needed to do grocery shopping yesterday. I wanted to get some blueberries at Aldi since they have the lowest price, but got serious sticker shock. $4.99 for a pint. WTH are they smoking? There's no way I'm paying $5 for just one pint. That's just crazy!

I also saw 2lb organic strawberries for $12.xx at Sams Club. Who on earth pays that much for strawberries? What makes it worth $12? I'll take my chances with the regular strawberries. Thank you very much. This makes me even more determined to get a freezer once I move. 

When I got home, I still had to fix dinner. I didn't cook on Sunday, because I needed some ingredients. Then sanitize and pack away all groceries. This germaphobe still wipes down all groceries. I can't unlearn it. I actually remember my mother teaching us to wipe or rinse certain grocery items when I was young, especially the milk. So this whole sanitizing groceries is nothing new to me. 

• I did zero grocery shopping last week. I went to Sams the Friday before and bought 2 pumpkin pies. I've been eating pie ever since. By the time Thanksgiving rolled around, I was out pied 😂 I froze the leftover slices. Thank goodness I didn't gain any weight from all that pie. 
  
  
• I did zero BF drugstore shopping. None of the drugstores had any freebies. I remember going to all 3 first thing in the morning years ago, cause they were loaded with free items. I miss those days.
  
  
• I'm practically done with Christmas shopping. I'm just working on BF's stocking stuffers (I'm making progress), then I'm done shopping. I need to figure out what else to add. DS is easy. He only wants one thing in his stocking. He's definitely his mother's child 😂 If you give us one meaningful gift, we're happy. We don't need a bunch of stuff. I really don't need anything. If I just have BF & DS with me (and I can put smiles on their faces 🧧🧧) for Christmas, then my holiday is complete. I'm outshopped and I picked up so much free stuff for my birthday. I didn't even redeem all my rewards. I'll write a post tomorrow. I did really well this year. 
  
  Between working the deals, using earned & discounted gcs & rewards, adding extra clearance items to resell to recoup some of our cash, earning freebies on some purchases, I came in under budget. Yay!! And thank you Rakuten for those 12-20% cash back offers. It makes shopping so much more fun. 
  
  I had to make myself a list of retailers I shopped at, to ensure that everything gets delivered. Then I can start wrapping. 
  
  
• When I was looking for a gift at one store,  I noticed that the price of something I purchased 2 days prior, had been reduced. So I did Live chat and within 3 minutes my refund was issued for the price difference. Many retailers are good with price adjustments. So when I make large purchases, I add the items to my cart again (after checkout), just in case the price gets reduced. Some stores will actually email you about a price drop. 
  
  
• I bought my/our bedroom lamps for $14.90 OOP, thanks to reduced gcs redeemed with my CC points. I've had my eye on these lamps since Spring or Summer and the price was finally low enough to purchase. I haven't told BF about it yet, but I know he'll like it (we have similar taste). I want him to see the finished product (the entire room). That way he'll be able to see how I can easily decorate a room without breaking the bank. I'm a simple, clean lines girl. Less is more, but the room will still have warmth.

• I don't know what's happening with L'oreal skincare. They keep having big sales and I can hardly find the cleansers anymore. I'm still buying it every time I find it. I stocked up on moisturiser at Target, because they have 25% off this week and I also had a 5% off birthday Q. Rakuten had 15% cash back (rare, since Target is usually only 1% back), so I bought 3 sets (day & night cream). 
  
  While I was checking out, I noticed the OS Captain (b/w) is clearanced. Target displays your previous purchases at the bottom, asking if you'd like to purchase it again. Well, as I was packing 2 days ago, I thought to myself that I need an OS b/w intervention 😂 cause I have a lot. I'm hoping the Captain isn't being discontinued, but I'm now thankful that I stocked up when I did. BF & DS have nothing to worry about. I have them covered for at least a year.
  
  
• I'm in baking mood. I'm ready to bake holiday cookies, but it's way too early for me. I like to take one day shortly before Christmas to do all my baking. I need to make a list of ingredients I need.
  
  
• I'm pooped. I've done nothing other than clean, laundry, cook and take care of DS the past few weeks. Every day feels like groundhog day. I take him for a drive sometimes (since he can't really go anywhere), so he can get sun and fresh air. 

I need to go deposit all those bills I saved ($1, $5). I'm thinking of rolling the leftover cash into next year's Christmas budget. That will give me a head start on Christmas savings. 

Is anyone else done with Christmas shopping? 

Have a wonderful evening peeps!