Today's spending:
Albertsons: 19.45 cat litter - saved 9.00. Stocked up. This is THE lowest price I've found at .21 per pound on scoopable litter. They have it on sale two or three times a year and when they do, I always try to buy extra. The real trick is to time it so I buy enough to last between sales...

Albertsons groceries: 23.39 - saved 25.07!!!! We saved more than we spent. I'm not quite sure how that happened, but it is a first EVER and that reciept is going on the fridge for all to stare at in awe and wonderment.

I think it was due to the fact that I gleaned the info in my price book last night before looking through the ALB sales flyer. I was able to purchase pre-made apple juice for almost the same price as concentrate; the difference was one one hundredth of a cent per ounce. I am grooving on the price book!!!

We also got a coupon for a free Pria bar at the check out. DH likes those. We snack on a lot of bars when we crave something sweet. They are a little better than chocolate and generally satisfy the cravings. Generally.

Speaking of the price book, baselle, I could not use the Handy Shopper software. My PDA is one generation before the version the software was written for However, I have bookmarked the site and should I get an upgraded unit, I will revisit the issue. Thanks again for the heads up.

We dropped a load of books off at the used bookstore. They give instore credits. Its the sort of place you have to go to from time to time as things change just enough to keep it interesting. We also dropped off nearly all of our CD's. DH is ripping everything off the disks and putting them on his computer. My credit should be pretty hefty now. I want to find books for my niece and nephews about the area I live in and send to them. I also want to find as many books as I can in Spanish and send those off with the people who build houses in Mexico. It makes me feel that someone else is benefitting from the things I am no longer using.

We took a small load of things like old clothes, pails from laundry detergent and cat litter (the big, heavy plastic ones), an old filing cabinet and some other smaller things to the people who go to Mexico so they can share the wealth. I like knowing that these things are going to someone who can use them and, hopefullly, are staying out of the landfill. The poverty stops me in my tracks everytime I see it.

Furniture pricing was not so fruitful. We went to an import place. It seems that the prices have suddenly doubled since we were last there about six months ago. I think that more and more people are finding out about this place. We will find a couple of other import places to do some research and compare prices. The inventories are always changing so since we didnt find anything we really liked this time, we'll go back again in a couple of months.

We took a detour to Bed Bath and Beyond. I had a 20% off coupon from the Sunday paper; I carry these things with me "just in case". We found a king tailored dust ruffle for $32 ($40-$8 discount). This is amazing because we've been looking all over the place for bedskirts period. Then to find one that matched the bedspread was wonderful. But, to get it at a disounted price just sweetened the deal; especially since I had just ordered one from JCP for $50. I think that one will have to be returned at the store. We'll see how that color matches though before making the final decision. At least the one at JCP can be returned at the store which will save on postage. There were other items on the order and I had a $25 off coupon. Saved some, but postage would have been less had I not ordered the bedskirt. Live and learn.

Overall, it was a so so day as far as deals go. We did well with the numbers, but my heart wasnt in the shopping and spending experience. Maybe I'm not ready to spend that sort of money on furniture when we are getting by just fine with what we currently have. Buying new stuff right now feels superfluous and wasteful. Maybe that will change, maybe not. I just know that when I was looking at things today, the iron fisted grasp I had on my purse got tighter and tighter and I thought "There is no way I am parting with any of my cash for any of this stuff." A very large internal switch has flipped. I hope it gets rusted over into this new position until all my debt is payed off.

The rest of this week should be very quiet. I have nothing planned other than a large stack of books I would like to get started on. No trips out planned. Certainly no spending planned. I am already dreading Monday. But we do get paid on the 13th, so that makes the week a little easier to bear; some incentive to go to work.