My favorite deals of the week

I have a confession to make. I'm one of those people who sit around, flip through the sale ads like it's on Oprah's reading list, and clip coupons.

Hi, my name is Alex, and I'm a coupon shopper.
*hi alex*

Laugh all you like, shopping this way saves me a crapload of money every week. Chris isn't that fond of it (because it involves driving to 3-4 different stores to maximize the savings), but even he admits the sense in it.

SO! I'm gonna start posting my favorites every week on here. If nothing else, it'll keep the dust from collecting on this poor blog.

Now, the thing you have to keep in mind when shopping like this, is that you can't get overly attached to brands. Yes, I know -this- is better than -that- but -that- is $2.00 cheaper today. And, oh wait, the store brand has another $2.00 off -that- one's price. Guess which one I'm gonna buy?

Also, you need to think further ahead than just -this- week. Are you almost out of bacon, but not quite? It'll probably last another week, sure, but there's a sale on 4 lbs of bacon for $2.00. Guess what keeps really well if you don't open it, and freezes even better?

Bacon.

In fact, most things freeze really well. I even found a way to freeze EGGS (which comes in real handy when there's a sale on an 18 pack of large eggs for $0.99.

To the deals. I'll start with grocery items and move on from there.

I like to guess roughly how much I'm going to be buying (either by pound or quantity) to get a better picture of what I'm spending.

Save Mart Supermarkets:

-Foster Farms Chicken Breasts (with ribs) Max Pak: $0.99/lb. x4lbs (roughly) = $3.96
-Asparagus: $0.97/lb. x1 = $0.97
-Celery: $0.87/ea. x1 = $0.87
-Minute Maid Orange Juice 64oz: $2.00/ea. x1 = $2.00
-Bohemian Hearth Bread (mmm, potato bread): $1.79/ea. x1 = $1.79
-Sunny Select Cooking Oil (Canola's the best): $2.99/ea. x1 = $2.99

Raley's

-Large Bulk Russet Potatoes: $0.25/lb. x4 = $1.00 (-super- deal here. If I didn't already have 15 pounds of potatoes under my sink I'd be jumping at this.)
-Red Seedless Grapes: $0.95/lb. x1 = $0.95
-Barefoot Wine (Pretty good wine for the money): $4.99/ea. x1 = $4.99
-All Pepsi 2-liters: $0.88/ea with in-ad coupon (limit 3). x2 = $1.76
-Hefty One Zip Storage/Sandwich bags: $0.99/ea with in-ad coupon (limit 2). x2 = $1.98
-18pk Raley's LG Eggs Grade AA: $1.99/ea. x1 = $1.99
-Raley's Chunk Cheese 8oz: $2.00/ea. x1 = $2.00
-Kettle Potato chips 5oz: $1.50/ea. x2 = $3.00
-Bertolli Extra Virgin Olive Oil 17oz: $5.99/ea. x1 = $5.99
-Large Artichokes: $1.50/ea. x2 = $3.00

Safeway (a tricky one. Sometimes certain items are only on sale Saturday and Sunday, or you have to buy a certain number of them to qualify for the sale price. Keep an eye out for these... sometimes they aren't such a great deal afterall. Also, if you're going to shop here, you HAVE to get a Safeway card. Their prices are -ridiculous- otherwise.)

-Foster Farms Whole Chicken: Buy 1 Get 1 Free (not sure the price/lb, still a good deal.)
-Nabisco Oreo or Ritz crackers: $2.50/ea. x1 = $2.50 (yes, it was the oreos. Pfft.)
-Safeway Hickory Smoked Thick sliced bacon 3lb: $7.98/ea. (this is -really- good bacon for the money.)
-Hillshire Farm lunchmeat: $2.99/ea.
-Sweet red/orange/yellow bell peppers: $1.50/ea. x2 = $3.00
-Golden Grain Pasta: $1.00/ea. (This is -really- good pasta, and it's never this cheap.)
-Duncan Hines Cake or Brownie Mix: $1.00/ea. (This is the time to stock up!)

Safeway saturday/sunday only sales:

-Bananas: $0.48/lb.
-Kraft Macaroni and Cheese: $0.50/ea.

That's pretty much it for grocery stuff. It's a little list-y, so I think I'll save the other couple ones for a separate post. :)

New Situations

Every Tuesday at work we get our fish shipments in. Every week, it's the same delivery guy, an Indian (I think) dude named Jaz (spelling.. ...approximate). Every week, I chat with him politely as I help him unload his truck onto one of our big carts to push into the store.

Last week, Jaz decides to change up our polite routine and, at the end of our conversation, blurts out "You're hot.." in a quiet sort of voice. "..ah... thanks."

Initial impression? Shy guy blurts out something he regrets later. I thought it was a little cute, but I brushed it off. Eh.

This week, Jaz decides to try his hand at pickup lines.

"Are you cold?"
"Nah."
"That's because you're hot, huh."
"...ah."
"Are you single?"
"Ah, no."
"Oh."

..So, our polite conversation becomes awkward. Ugh.

Anyway, later on in the day, I recount the situation to my direct manager, who reports it to the assistant manager, who calls me in and asks me how I feel about the situation.

I'm at a loss. I don't know! I've never encountered something like this dude before. How do I handle it? Do I talk to the guy or do I have the A.M. change the driver on the route or do I have him file a report or what.

>__< I honestly don't know what I feel about the whole damn thing. Awkward? Yes. Would I like it to stop? Yeah. Am I going to file a complaint? No. I'm going to talk to the dude if he says something next week, and if he says anything else I'll talk to the A.M.

But my question: Who the -hell- tells a relatively perfect stranger that they're hot? More specifically, who says that shit when they're sober? I can see drunken slobs doing something like that (like a middle aged man named Doug in the bar... different story), but not sober people.

Unless they're stupid.

Or have no tact.

...

I miss people with tact.

My morning: so far.

So.

I got up early this morning so I could do the more than two weeks worth of laundry that had built up in our room. I forgo breakfast, thinking "Hey, I have an unthinkable amount of fruit right now, and dad has orange juice and raspberry sorbet. Smoothie!"

I get all of the clothes together (it took the entire hamper -and- a huge duffel bag to transport all of these) and Chris and I head off to my dad's house. Chris helps lug them inside, I kiss him goodbye, and head on in.

First problem: The washing machine's full. ...okay, not a problem, merely a setback. I set the thing to wash, head into the kitchen and start chopping up my fruit.

Second problem: There is no raspberry sorbet. When I investigate further, I discover it was apparently devoured just this past weekend. Note: This is my sorbet I left here when I first moved out and had been nipping at while doing laundry here.

Third problem: There is also no ice. The ice machine in the freezer is busted. And no ice cached anywhere else.

My dream of a smoothie is dying slowly. Horribly. Loudly (due to a small amount of cursing on my part).

Damn it all, I NEED FOOD. I plop my chopped fruit (mango/banana/apple) into the blender, pour in some orange juice and set that baby to full speed ahead.

I pour a bit out, it's still kinda pulpy. Pour it back in. Warp 9 for a few seconds. All stop.

As I'm taking the container off of the blender the second time, it decides to have explosive diarrhea all. over. EVERYTHING.

The blender is covered in pulpy goo.
The counter is covered in pulpy goo.
The cabinets are covered in pulpy goo.
The floor is covered in pulpy goo.

...I. am covered. in pulpy goo.

Brilliant.

>__< Luckily, I'm washing clothes, so I remove pants (undies and shirt were spared, thank god), and my shoes are washable. Not a total loss just a pain in the freaking ass.

After a couple minutes of just standing there in total shock, I clean the mess up (a procedure that involved more scooping than soaking/wiping), and proceeded to the computer to complain.

After all this I check the mail to see if I got anything sent here, seeing as how I never changed my address. Sure enough, I got a letter from Wells Fargo. Hmm?

My savings account is being closed because I overdrafted three times in a year. The funds will either be transferred to my checking account or the savings will be converted to yet another checking account. More cursing. Lots of cursing.

I'm now going to go play Fable, because I had the foresight to bring the XBox along with me. I'm not moving except for laundry.

The time is now 8:23 am.

Edit (8:40am): I forgot a controller for the XBOX. ...I may cry.

My Longest List - Things to buy

So I mentioned before that I have a few lists tucked away of stuff that needs to get done, what we need to buy to replace what we're losing, that sort of thing. The latter is my longest list. Thankfully, I've managed to stock up on essentials everywhere else in the apartment, but since the kitchen is so small and storage is a problem, a lot of the stuff I need to replace is kitchen-based items.

Anyway. THE LIST (of things to buy), by generalish catecory:

General:
-Vacuum Cleaner (the most expensive item on here, with the possible exception of a couch.)
-Iron
-Broom
-Hammer
-Mop
-Step ladder
-Surge protectors
-Flashlight(s)
-Doormat
-Desk
-Computer chair

Living Room:
-Lighting (A floor lamp at least)
-TV Stand
-Couch (we'll be leaving the one everyone has smoked/had sex on/spilled bongwater on with connor)
-Throw blanket
-Throw pillow(s)
-Wireless internet receiver for XBox (since we probably won't have cable/satellite for awhile, we can at least watch intant stuff on netflix)

Bathroom:
-Plunger
-Toilet scrubber

Kitchen:
-Trash can
-Pots (at least 3 in different sizes w/ lids)
-Roasting pan
-Cookie sheet(s)
-Pasta jars
-Plastic cutting board
-Wooden cutting board (since mine is on it's way towards death)
-Ice trays OR those super neat whiskey stones over at thinkgeek
-Oven mits
-Ice cream scoop
-Pizza cutter
-Cheese grater (Technically, I actually have one, but it's been so beat to hell here I'd like to get a new one)
-Knifeblock (like that super awesome Kapoosh one)
-Silverware organizer
-Silverware
-Kitchen timer
-Pitcher
-Can opener
-Vegetable peeler
-Slotted spoon
-Pasta ladel
-Bottle opener
-Cast iron pan(s)

Wanted, but not needed:
-Fine mesh sieve
-Slow cooker
-Kitchen scale
-Bathroom scale
-ONION GOGGLES.
-Wall art

I couldn't think of anything else.. let me know if you guys have any good ideas. :)