I HATE Wells Fargo

There is a reason we closed our Wells Fargo accounts planning to NEVER have to deal with them again when we got married. Then we bought a house. We did NOT go through them for our mortgage- on purpose. By some evilness, our loan was sold to them instead of US Bank. I HATE Wells Fargo. Have I mentioned that? They have a serious lack of basic customer service, cannot answer a single simple question without trying to sell me something I don't want and don't need and their stupid on-line bill pay won't let you do partial payments- what if I want to pay more principal once a month? Oh, I get to deal with their obnoxious phone people or wait in line forever in a branch.

Even more motivation to get this paid off sooner- I won't be able to handle them for 30 years. Grumble.

Dear Craig,


GUEST POST ALREADY!


Love,

Herkimer & Kitty


PS BRING MORE CATNIP! Oh, and bacon, too! Yeah, we like bacon. yummmmmmy.
(and paper towels & carpet cleaner)

Here it comes.

It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone else and I know it isn't a surprise to me.  Sophie is the daughter of two highly-opinionated, head-strong and slightly stubborn parents. No, I'm really not surprised that at 6 1/2 months young she is starting to throw little baby tantrums when she can't do something, have something, be somewhere etc. RIGHT NOW. My mom has told me that as a teenager I could be a seriously obnoxious turd (not a direct quote, but you get the idea) so I guess I'm just getting a taste of what I put in.

I don't agree with the baby books that say to sit and calmly reason with a baby. They don't get it. They have no frame of reference for "angel, mommy & daddy don't like you to eat the cat food/want you throwing the remote/rolling down the stairs/playing with a hot pan full of oil." You'd have just as much luck telling that to a cat. I also don't agree with the parents that give in all the time. "Ooh, it's okay. Just let him/her have that chocolate milk on the white sofa. Kids just ruin things. Hahaha!" I don't think so.

No, I don't have the answers but here I go to try to find what works best for us and Miss Sophie.

Sharing the (Couponing) Love!

I follow some blogs of friends who are really great about sharing when & where things are on sale or great coupon offers. I figured it was my turn to maybe help a bit. There are many more (couponed) items available, these are just a highlight of what I would get. Here's what I've found for this week:


Coupons.com

• $.60 off Yoplait yogurt (8)- YES, Walmart will let you use this on the prepackaged 8 which are already cheaper than buying them individually 
• $.75 off ANY brand of milk (including Great Value with is also already cheaper) 
• $.75 off any Newmans Own Salad Dressing
• $1 off vitamins (Mom, does dad still do fish oil?) 
• $1 off a pound of Sara Lee deli meat 
• $1 off ANY brand of cheese (2 lbs) 
• $.55 off any Pillsbury cake/frosting item

SmartSource.com

• $5 off Zyrtec 
• $1 off Pickles
• $1 off any package Gold-n-Plump Chicken 
• $.55 on Kikkoman product (soy sauce etc.) 
• $.40 on 6 Yoplait Yogurts
• $1 off olive oil 
• $.50 off pomeranian balsamic vinegar or glaze 

Pillsbury.com

• $.85 off Fiber One cereals 
• $.60 off 8 Yoplait Yogurts
• $.60 off 2 boxes of Suddenly Pasta Salad
• $1.10 off Old El Paso taco kits
• $1.10 off General Mills cereals (2) 
• $.60 off Cherrios 

 Eversave.com 

• Run by the same people as coupons.com but you can print more of the same coupons from them. 

A few other items...

• In order to actually save money, you really should only buy things you were going to buy or need. Don't get something JUST because you have a coupon for it. You're still spending money. 
• I've also found that going directly to manufacturers sites and looking up items is a good way to get coupons (Pillsbury above is an example of that.)  
• Have a coupon for something on sale? Double points! 
• Try eBates.com. You just click on a store you like to shop at (including walmart.com!) and go ahead and shop like normal. The good thing about this extra step is you can get anywhere from 3%-40% cash back on your purchases. You get a check once a quarter. I'm going to be doing site-to-store orders on diapers, wipes, lightbulbs etc. this way.
• The Springville Walmart is doing Double Coupon Tuesdays (I believe it's up to $1 but hey, that's a dollar!) 
• If you find a coupon for an item that you get sometimes but don't necessarily need this shopping trip, print it anyway. Print as many as it will let you (usually 2 or 3) and then just save them for when you want them. I keep most of my coupons in the center consul of my car. Perhaps not the most organized, but I know where they are! 
• Know the ad matching/coupon policy before you go to the store. Here is a link to Walmart's Policy. I ad-matched on string cheese, tomatoes and juice earlier this week in addition to using my coupons. Don't underestimate the power of ad matching. I saved about $5 doing this. Between that and the coupons I used, I spent about $15 less than I would have if I had gone in not having glanced at other ads or printing a few measly coupons. I understand it might not be a big deal to most people to spend a little more, but it is to me. Go ahead and call me stingy but if I don't have to spend $15 more on the same food, then I won't! 

p.s I gladly accept inserts from Sunday papers :)

p.p.s Items that can be used for multiple meals get double "points." That Sunday roast chicken? You can get 3 meals out of it, easily. (Obviously the roast chicken, some of the left over meat for chicken tacos or spaghetti and then boil down the carcass for a delicious, low-sodium chicken stock for soups.) 

p.p.p.s I am NOT going to be one of those nutty "extreme couponers" who spend tons of time each week couponing. Craig works hard and I just like to save $$ where I can so we're not throwing away his hard-earned funds. 

What other coupon/money-saving things do you do? 

Share in the comments and I'll add them here so others can save, too! 

Must be Thursday

List of things I would love to have accomplished today: 

Folding 4 loads of laundry

Put laundry away

Clean main floor bathroom

Clean master bath

Clean Sophie & cat bath

Scrub kitchen floor (cats, baby food, a shoe... mopping just won't cut it)

Weed the garden

Transplant lettuce & carrots to real garden from pots

Weed a friends garden (she's having an exceptionally difficult week- the kind we never want to have)

Empty dishwasher, reload & handwash knives (they're all dirty :/) 

Write fall show choreography

Continue getting information together 

Scan/Email Purchase order to Band Shoppe so our new items can get shipped

What will likely get accomplished today: 

Move laundry baskets upstairs

Mop kitchen floor

Empty dishwasher 

Weed friends garden

Oh, well. A little at a time. This list wouldn't be so stinking long if I'd just keep up with things instead of having two lazy days in a week. (Yes, I am blogging to justify sitting with both kitties on my lap instead of figuring out how to scan on our printer/scanner) 

Off I go! 

Worldly Frustration

What is the first thing you see in
this picture? Sell the product,
not sex. 

I am quite sick of the Electrolux commercials. You know the ones I'm talking about. The ones with Kelly Ripa running from work to cooking dinner, hosting a party, catering a slumber party & looking for monsters under the bed or the birthday party or the "juggling more in your day" one. What are they really trying to sell in this series of commercials? What we see is not the fabulous appliances but an attractive, fit super woman who caters to the every need & desire of her family in addition to be a working mom. And really, how many of you do laundry in heels? One of the most disturbing and offensive parts of this whole series of advertisements is the fact that they actually want the consumers to believe that this lifestyle is not only desirable but possible.

I read an article lately that was a critique of the current cultural trends. This was written by a UC Davis law professor about this campaign:

"...Expect women to be everything: the perfect worker, the perfect wife, the perfect mother, et al., but those are the main three.  The perfect worker keeps everything professional despite the emotional ups-and-downs that are part of everyday life.  The perfect mother is always around to provide a hearty meal and comfort from a bad dream.  The perfect wife, well, that part's not in the commercial, but lord knows how she would fit anything else into her schedule and still get time for rest....  Everyone's needs are taken care of, and the implication is that's what a woman is like.  Doing all the work in the household and her part on the job - taking cares of everyone else's needs - satisfies her."

What kind of work is she dressed for?

I find it very difficult to believe that anyone could find complete happiness in all service all the time. All these commercials say to me are "you're not doing enough. You're not perfect until you have the perfect home, the perfect children, perfect job, perfect body and are everything for everyone." Sorry, I'm just not buying what you're selling. 

Playing catch-up

Craig set up our new tent

Last week, we decided to take a little break and get "out of town." We sort of left town. Craig came home from work, we prepped our camp fire dinners and then the Relief Society Presidency came over for a visit (can we say amazing networking visit? One of the counselors is a dental assistant. Yes- I'm still looking for an office to work at. Let me know if you know of anyone hiring!) After they took off, we headed up Mapleton Canyon.

Dinner on the fire

Sophie fell asleep in the car on the long drive (7 miles from our house...) to the campsite. When we got there we picked our spot and got our fun evening going. I built the fire and started cooking dinner while Craig set up the tent. He may have put the top cover on backwards but whatever. We could see the tree tops, moon & stars while inside.

The obligatory marshmallow roasting

For dinner we had roasted potatoes, zucchini, crookneck squash, onions and roasted marshmallows. Neither one of us really like s'mores or marshmallows but it seemed like a necessity while camping. And I hear they pretty much last forever so whatever.

The pretty river that had flooded
 two land bridges

We had a nice evening getting away just enough. Craig might have been cold, the one person sleeping pad might have been just a touch too small but at least we got to have some fun, go to bed early and fall asleep listening to the (flooded) river running near our site. I love camping and hope we can get back soon!