Laundry day gone bad.

I should use the term "Laundrypalooza", as a friend of mine calls it. I was thinking of calling it Laundrystock, because like Woodstock 99, there were some problems. Let's start the day.

My mom came out to visit and to accompany me to the laundromat to try and tackle my laundry issues. Since we moved upstairs the laundry situation has improved, but there is a backlog. My building has 4 apartments and one washer and dryer. The dryer is around the back of the building. To get there when we lived in the basement, you had to haul everything up the stairs, out the door, down the steps, around the building and back down the steps into the basement area where the laundry facilities are. This basement area is not accesible from the basement apartment. I also had new tenants open my door and bring their laundry in thinking my apartment was where the laundry was. So, we got in the habit of only doing what laundry was neccesary, so a stockpile grew. So today was the day I took everything out and washed it and my mom offered to help me.

So we are at the laundromat doing my 17 loads of laundry (the washers were not very big there). We are folding dry stuff when we hear a crash and look up to see that someone has hit my mom's car. The car crossed the street and hit my mom's car in the driver side door. We call the police. They arrive and we find out that neither of the people in the car have valid driver's licenses, only the passenger has an insurance card and it is expired, the car belongs to a relative and the girl who was driving has warrants out for her arrest. Needless to say, my mom is pissed. The cops cuff the driver and put her in the car. We are asked by the cop if they went anywhere to drop something after the accident and before the arrival of the cops. I didn't think about it then, but the passenger went inside the laundromat and used the bathroom. I thought he went to use the phone, I didn't realize there was a bathroom in there. So, they may have gotten rid of something. Who knows?

I have to say this was the most exciting trip to the laundromat I have ever had.

Estate Sale Score!

A few weeks ago, my mom and I stopped at an estate sale. I got some things that I really like for an amazing price (tip: late in the day of the last day of an estate sale, things are cheaper but there is less to chose from.) So, following are pictures of 2 items that I got that I am really happy about.

First is my new artwork. They seem to be a printed line drawing with the color applied later. I have no idea what they are, but they are numbered x/200 and signed in pencil. They are dated 76 and are of 2 rather famous places in Quebec. One is the Chateau Frontenac and the other is the Rue Du Tresor. I think these are really cool and paid $1.50 for the pair. Now to have them framed, but for that I have a coupon. (Big surprise, eh?)















Second is a short, long bookcase. This is a perfect fit on a wall that isn't very large and if you place a deep bookcase on it, it will spill over into the doorway of Andrew's room. With a few pretty canvas bins, I think it will change that area from a toy eyesore to less of a toy eyesore. Since this is in our living room, I would like a slightly more adult solution to the toys than the current one we had. This works perfect and all for the bargain price of $2.00. That's right 2 bucks and it's not pressboard. It's not high quality wood, but it actual wood.
















All in all, I am quite happy with these. With a little work and some good deals this summer, we may be able to upgrade the decor of our living quarters from early garage sale to upscale garage sale. The next project that I am starting is making some Roman shades for our living room.

Dude seriously, I need to start eating breakfast.

I have entirely too much cereal after today. Here is the lowdown.

Friday night @ Jewel
8 boxes (16 oz) of MultiGrain Cheerios
Total spent - $2.20 (that is 0.25/box + tax)

Today @ Jewel
6 boxes (18 oz) Oatmeal Crisp - Maple Brown Sugar
2 boxes of Hamburger Helper Singles
0.84# of green grapes
2.47# of bananas
5 single serve bags of Pringles Minis (these are nice when you want to eat the whole bag of chips)
Total spent - $0.92

It's a good thing we really like the MultiGrain Cheerios. I have no idea what to do with the Oatmeal Crisp, I will probably put it on the list or donate it. I only brought 5 boxes home though. I gave one to my favorite cashier.

Got milk?

w00t!!!!

We got Police tickets and they are not in Stevie Wonderland!!!!!

Presale began today and we were able to get our tickets. Prices are a little much, but it's better than a scalper. Ours were $94/each. The show is at Wrigley Field and if you want to sit on the field, the tickets are $254/ea. That is entirely too much for me, unless it came with a bonus that included Stewart Copeland and my house.

I am so happy that I am no longer upset about forgetting some of my coupons this morning.

It is the San Francisco treat after all.

So today's haul is:
26 boxes of Rice A Roni
Total spent $0.26

Recent brags:
Target
8 bottles of Sunsilk leave in creme
1 bag (3#) of Organic gala apples
Total spent $2.14

Dominicks
26 bottles (16 oz) of Ken's salad dressing
1 pk Capri Sun Roarin' waters
1 pk hot dog buns
1 slice of watermelon
1.19# of bananas
Total spent $5.46

Jewel
24 cans Muir Glen organic diced tomatoes (plain and seasoned)
4 boxes Frosted Flakes (14 oz)
2 boxes Pop Tarts (8ct)
Total spent $5.81

It has been a busy few weeks for us. I found out that Hilander grocery store in Rockford will double coupons up to 0.55. 2 like coupons per transaction. Since my in-laws are in Rockford, this is really good news. I plan to do some serious damage in the future. I have gotten some really great beef deals at Target lately. I got Diet Coke (ie my life blood) for $1 a 12 pk with the great coupons I traded for. Lots of great deals lately.

Andrew has become a major Blues Clues junkie. He sings along and really interacts with it. He now knows colors, shapes and lots of new words. Today's word was "another". Everyday is a new adventure and so much fun. Although his pronunciation is a little off. He pronounces circle as "hircle". We have to make sure any knives are far from the edge of the counter as he can now reach the edges. He stabbed some poor bananas to death today!

I got to babysit for The Moose this week. He is the son of The Princess. He slept for a good portion of the night and was so sweet when he was awake. He is such a cutie and I was totally happy to watch him. I also got to watch grown up TV while he slept which is a treat I rarely get to enjoy from 7-8 pm.

Basically, it has been a busy few weeks with lots of good stuff happening. Big movement on the financial scene. GI Bill has kicked in, this week is the last payment for my 401k loan that I took out last year, and now I think we can get down to setting and reaching my goal for this year. That goal is to become debt free. I plan to start using my credit card for expenses and to pay it off every month. I plan to up my 401k percentage and to put more into savings. I am not sure how much we can save up, but I think we can get a substantial amount saved up this year.

As you can probably guess from the beginning of this post, our grocery bills are going down. They don't call me Coupon Chris for nothing.