A few deals - and a no-deal

I know I haven't blogged much about redoing, renewing, or reusing anything lately. The truth is, well, I just haven't done any of those things. School is busier than I had anticipated. WAY busier. 16 hours of homework some days busy (yes. that's seriously how my Friday went last week.). It will settle (right?) and I'll finish that love seat before we know it.

In the meantime, MQ and I have been trying to figure out how to live on a fairly tight income and I have become slightly obsessed with finding good deals. On everything. And I recently found some and wanted to share.

Our local Target has a grocery section now - and I have more or less ignored it. I recently noticed some of their  things seemed a bit cheaper than at our usual grocery store . . . leading to an obsession of grocery price comparison - which involved a pen and paper walking up and down isles of Sentry and Target. Seriously.

Some of my favorite finds (all these items, by the way, were not on sale at either place):

Saltine Crackers. Target: $2.59; Sentry: $3.19.

    Ok. $0.60 savings. Pretty good. We go through Saltines like crazy though, so

buying them at Target will likely save us about $1.20 a month.

Frosted Flakes (Family Size). Target: $3.54; Sentry: $4.89

That's $1.35 savings right there. Love it. But, it gets better.

Simply Orange Orange Juice (no pulp, with calcium, of course): Target: $2.99; Sentry: $4.57

$1.58 savings. Plus! On top of that I had a Target-only coupon for another $1 off!

Honey Nut Cheerios (Family Size). Target: $3.65; Sentry $5.59

$1.94, my friends!  This makes me feel like my pen and paper

 creepiness in grocery stores was fully justified.





So, it's possible you are not nearly excited as I am about these deals but let me tell you, when you are on a tight grocery budget, the $6 I saved simply by shopping at Target, rather than Sentry is HUGE. I did, of course, head to Sentry immediately after my Target excursion to buy produce and meat and the fancy french bread I still love.

And now for the no-deal (and this one's a doozey).

You see, I love this fancy way overpriced exfoliator.

Kate Sommerville's Exfolikate (and I swear it's not just the name that makes it appealing).

 It seriously works miracles on my skin.

I, of course, cannot afford the $80 pricetag for this little 2oz guy. I discovered her when one of the Sephora workers gave me a sample and it was love at first use. And, when that little sample was out, I returned, for another sample. And this sample-obsession kind of got out of control. . . . I know, I know. This is terrible.

Michael made me feel bad - told me I'm taking advantage and said it would be people like me that would make them stop offering samples. He's right.

But still, $80?

So I went to Sephora, for one last sample (seriously! the last one) and the woman at the door recognized me and said "oh, nice to see you again" . . . . . ugh. clearly, I've been there for samples one too many times.

There was no way I could ask for another sample, so I compromised and purchased a $20 sample-size. I should've just left empty-handed but I felt so guilty  that I just gave in.

Here's my justification: if I can save $6 a week on groceries, I will be able to save $24 a month which will cover the cost of my Exfolikate.

It all events out in the end, right?