A great deal!

Today I went to the pharmacy to refill a prescription (something we do pretty regularly here, unfortunately). I stumbled into a great deal that may interest others out there who are penny pinching....

Rite-Aid has a special coupon right now that gives you a $30 gift card per prescription that you transfer from another pharmacy to Rite-Aid. Ryan and I had four prescriptions at Medco, a mail-in pharmacy that our old insurance used, and so by transferring them to Rite-Aid for our new insurance, we're getting $120 in Rite-Aid gift cards. WOW! That's a nice little bonus at the holidays - they sell things we already use so we will certainly use the cards. Others out there might be interested in transferring, too. Our local Rite-Aid (on California in W. Seattle) has a really great pharmacist, bills directly to our insurance, and has been quite helpful, so I see no down side for us. Plus, they're only blocks away, so we can walk there.

I have been exploring couponing (which I never realized was a verb, by the way). I'm determined to be more frugal than I had been, and to speed up our debt reduction/elimination. I'm DETERMINED. And you know how I am when I'm determined - get outta my way!

I browsed frugal websites for about an hour last night; there are a lot of them out there. I signed up for CouponMom, and I've been learning about their programs. In general, couponing doesn't help my purchases, because there are very few organic products out there with coupons, and those products that are offered tend to be highly processed organic food, which is also not what I want. However, I am using the PCC 10% off coupon each month, and trying to shop their member days (the 15th and 16th of each month give a 10% discount to members). At the grocery store, I'm trying to buy only the sale meats when possible. I've realized that the only place I can afford eggs is Trader Joe's ($3.69/dozen for organic free range), and we'll live without eggs if we can't get to TJs before we run out. (I get slightly ill when I see the sale prices for non-organic eggs - under $1 sometimes. I just try to remember it's apples to oranges....)

My stainless steel coffee cup has paid for itself about 100 times, by the way. I got it in Spokane when we went to Caley's graduation (I'd been looking for the "perfect" one and found it), and I've used it almost every day since. We make coffee each morning, and I refill it throughout the day from our home coffee maker, and that keeps me out of coffee shops unless I'm meeting someone socially. My metal water bottles are also in daily use, and I simply refill them from taps whereever I am when I run out.

Enough rambling about bargain hunts, but if you find something I should know about, please let me know. I'm determined to be a great budgeter, and I hae a long way to go.

On other notes....
Ryan worked until 3am this morning, then was out the door at 8 (and frustrated because he was "running late"). This is not sustainable, and I am equally proud of his great work ethic and horrified at the lousy hours. I'm praying for a break - he needs to be with his family and have down time. T his working 7 days a week business is RIDICULOUS and I really hope that the end is in sight. Thanksgiving is going to save his bacon! He'll get a few days off and I have to imagine that they don't expect him to work then (shudder).

Tessa and I visited Grammy & Grandpa yesterday with the intention of helping my mom out because her knee is giving her problems, but she made us a gorgeous dinner and we had a wonderful visit (and I didn't help a bit because Mom can be as stubborn as I am). Tessa and I got in a swim, and Tessa was part dolphin, swimming under my legs and doing somersaults and leaping off my shoulders and swimming to the side, etc. There was a lot of laughing, and I loved that.

Today I'm doing a Genentech call about some other programs, and booking a trip to San Diego for another speaking engagement for Genentech. I'm keeping busy when I'm not doing the mom thing, and that's a good thing, although I don't know where to find all the hours I need.

And speaking of which, my computer break is over. Please remember to send me your bargain info and tell me how to keep to my budget without losing my mind - I will look forward to your tips!