Friday, September 17, 2010

Jobs and Deals

I've continued doing yogurt smoothies for breakfast. Still trying to do the pantry challenge as much as possible, I have come up with some interesting fruit combinations which has been half the fun. Yesterday I threw in frozen strawberries and then added some lime juice. Ohh my God, yum! It reminded me of the strawberry limeaide from Sonic that I almost married two months ago.

I interviewed for a part time job yesterday. It is basically design work with the Clayton County Economic Development Office. 19 applicants make me worried, but even if they don't see it, I would be perfect for the job. Two of me passions in life are Design and Community Growth. It is also one of those jobs where you get to dabble in everything (kind of like marketing) and I really like that.

After the interview I scored some awesome deals.

1. I bought 2 bras at Layne Bryant online. They always have buy one get one 1/2 off, but they also had a code that day for an extra $25 off an order of $50 or more. Since bras are around $40 there I basically got one for free and then a little off the other. I had them delivered to the store to avoid shipping cost. (Jumping ahead to later that day). When I picked them up at the store they let me try them on and they were way too big. I seem to have gone down a cup size since nursing. They allowed me to do an even exchange with the bras I like in my size.

2. Office Max had an online deal going that if you spend $150 you could get a free companion airline ticket. Having to pay for just one ticket for the whole family sounds like a great deal. Since we need to replace the Cannon Powershot camera that I had stolen at the wedding last month, we purchased that for almost exactly $150. (Amazon was the same price.)

3. Link and I went with my mom to Cedar Rapids to pick up my order at Layne Bryant and also saw that in the store they were having a pants sale. $30 a pair (usually $50). So I got a pair.

4. Mom and I also picked up two very old and decrepit car seats from one of those "FREE for the taking" giveaways on the side of the road and brought them to Toys R Us. Until Sunday they are having a nationwide Great Trade In event where if you bring in a car seat, high chair, stroller, etc, you get 25% off a new one of something in those categories. They don't care if it is trash, at least it is out of circulation. Mom got herself a new booster car seat for $30. I got a jogging stroller!!! I had wanted a B.O.B. but they were not included in the deal and in fact there was only one jogging stroller there, so it made picking one out really easy. I ended up paying $100 for it. Straight cash from the garage sale money I made. And in the end, I really don't care what brand it is. It has inflatable wheels and glides just as easily as the more expensive ones I tried out in Boston. I love it!!! Add to that stop a $5 off $25 coupon I had and a boy's clothes sales rack where almost everything was a dollar and I super scored!

5. After a great meal at Olive Garden where we had the soup, salad, and bread sticks, we finished our day at Walmart. This time I couldn't find all the brands I had coupons for but I did find a majority. I ended up saving $12 and paying $18 for all the stuff in my cart. So almost half off everything.

6. Back home, online again, I noticed Audible.com was giving away a free audiobook for signing up, no purchase necessary. I went to my Amazon wish list and looked at the books I wouldn't mind listening to instead of paging through and signed up with 5 different e-mail addresses. So I have 5 free books. They also have a pretty easy cancel to the membership, so I canceled all my memberships after getting the books to avoid any fees in the future. This is right at the line for ethical frugalness for me. (I am not illegally downloading the books.)

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