Harris Teeter Super Doubles First Trip October 31, 2012

The early bird gets the worm....and free ham on the first day of Super Doubles.

My PIC (partner in crime) arrived at 6:58 and were the first in "line" (there were only about ten people there).  We had our list ready, our coupons pulled and cart ready to roll. The doors opened and we were off.  We tag teamed.  He pulled half of the items and I pulled the remainder of the items on our list. We were done in 5 minutes and doing a high five as we were heading to the checkout.  Practice what you preach and wait to celebrate when you get to the car, because something might happen.  I have not always done this and today is a good example.

The PIC's total was $15.  WAYYY too high.  Sure enough, the Gwaltney bacon was not on sale and I thought it was. Not all of the sale tags were up yet.

My total was in the negative - and we hadn't voided my Gwaltney bacon off yet.  Sometimes I get a negative amount, but usually it's because of n ZSaver coupon, but not today.  I used a BOGO raincheck on a BOGO sale, which is against the rules, but with the sale tags not being up, I didn't know it was already on sale and BOGO sale price is not deducted by the register until the end. We ended up re-ringing my entire order for simplicity. It took a few more minutes than I anticipated, but the cashiers and customer service associates were fabulous.  They helped me figure everything out. My problem was thier problem as well.  That is why this is "my" store - their customer service is out of this world!!!

The totals are below:

PIC's totals:

6 McCormick Cinnamons (small bottles)
The sale tag was not up, so the larger bottles would have been $1.57 instead of $1.69 for the smaller bottles.  I will be exchanging them.
3 pkgs Smithfield Ham Steaks
6 pkgs of Ore-Ida frozen potatoes
2 Al Fresco Sausages
3 pkgs Smithfield Bacon

Retail Value:  $64.86
VIC Savings:  $22.63
Coupons: $34.13
Paid: $8.10
Savings of: 88%

My totals:

3 pkgs Smithfield Ham Steaks
3 pkgs Smithfield Bacon
6 pkgs of Ore-Ida frozen potatoes
2 Silk Fruit and Protein drinks

Retail Value:  $50.79
VIC Savings: $19.21
Coupons: $27.54
Paid: $4.04
Savings of: 93%

Good luck everyone!  Leave a post and share your totals with everyone.

The 2012 Beach Project - 3 of 3

I know that you are happy that the final post has been published.  Believe me, I am ecstatic that the end of this project is in the VERY near future.

One thing that I did not mention in the previous posts is food. We did our fair share of eating out during this project, but were also very frugal when possible. We packed our lunch, snacks and a cooler with sodas and refillable water bottles.  I wondered why I didn't shed a few pounds while I was working and sweating.  Then it occurred to me.  Sodas have a ton of calories and I normally don't drink sodas. They were very good and since we were working so hard, we deserved them!!!

I have always said that Grandma could cook dirt and it would taste good.  She cooked a few meals for us over the summer and we enjoyed them immensely.  We even got biscuits and stewed apples.....and fried shrimp, stewed potatoes, butter beans or field peas, creamed corn - all that came from her garden.  If my cousins are reading this - don't hate.  You live closer to her and get her food more often than I do and I still get one of the boot cups, so don't even think about running away with it (inside cousin joke).

My Aunt called one Wednesday night before our weekend work trip and asked if we wanted to come to her house for dinner on Saturday.  OF COURSE!!! Come to find out, she had invited the entire family.....20 people were there.  We had a clam bake.  It was out of this world, especially knowing that my Uncle caught the shrimp and my other Aunt and Uncle dug the clams.  It was great to see the family during a "non-holiday".

Another shout out goes to Mom.  She made sure that we had what was needed for sandwiches and dinners.  We stayed at her beach house during the entire renovation.  We have always have enjoyed staying there, but it was especially comfortable after a long day's work at the stinky trailer. A nice hot shower and food in the fridge really hit the spot.    

The time has come for the after pictures.

As you can see below, we (Mom mostly) painted the kitchen cabinets turquoise. The insides of the cabinets are also painted, thanks to her.  She found some great wallpaper and we lined the shelves with it, that is, after Dad re-did the yucky, gross, sagging shelves.  The dishwasher is a great addition to the kitchen, thanks to Dad.  We decided to leave a couple of shelves open, so I lined them with patterned shelf paper (thanks to Mom's great shopping abilities) and placed baskets in them to hold the dishcloths.  It's really handy not to have to open a drawer to grab one.  Notice the light hanging over the table?  This was in the living room originally.  I painted it and the husband hung it for me. This is probably my most favorite thing about the trailer, except for the vicinity to the ocean and my family.

I went a little crazy at the Target clearance and purchased rugs with lime green in them for $2.50. They look okay, but by hanging the Target clearance $5 table runner as the window covering, it pulls the green out of the tin platters hanging on the wall (found in the trailer when we acquired it) and brings everything together.  The couple that sold us the stove (from Craig's List) had just finished remodeling their beach house.  They had a few items laying around that had not made it on Craig's List yet and they sold us the pendant light, a stainless steel microwave and a light for the bathroom for $50.

As mentioned in the previous post, the husband took out the overhead bar, which opened up the space.  He and Dad did a great job of capping the cabinet off at the end.

The living room was painted and we decided to leave the accent wall, as well as the beams, their original finish.

The addition of a new rug from Goodwill (A new Target rug that retails for $350 that was marked at GW for $159, then half off that) cozies the space up.  We really liked the rug a lot, but it did not incorporate the turquoise cabinets in the kitchen.  Luckily, the kid and I found some fabric at Leisure Fabrics in High Point for $4 a yard and made pillows and a throw to tie the two together.  The tan zebra fabric was her idea.

Next were curtains.  They weren't that time consuming to make.  Once again, I referred to Pinterest for inspiration.  My friend told me about Target marking down a lot of their home items.  I was able to purchase the curtain rods for $10 each. I used the former Dorothy Originals for the lining fabric. The husband picked up this sleeper sofa for me at a warehouse sale in downtown Wilmington.  The chair was donated by my Sister and looks fantastic in this space.

The below picture shows the hall.  The paint really brightened it up.  The husband hung a short barrel lamp shade over the existing light to create the look of a pendant lamp, once again, a $5 clearance purchase from Target.

The kid's room came together nicely.  She wanted color on the walls, so turquoise it was.  Once again, the fabric for her curtains came from Leisure Fabrics in High Point for a mere $3 per yard.  The picture does not show it, but we picked a platform bed base off of Craig's List for $25.  It's really handy to have the storage space, since we ripped out the closet.  The square mirror came from Mom's beach house and the oval one was in the trailer.  The remainder of the furniture and lamps were in the trailer when we acquired it.

The bathroom turned out better than I anticipated.  Even though it's the only one, there is a lot of storage space.  The awful gold tub magically was transformed into tan when we changed the color of the wall.  A new toilet and shower head modernized it.  Thanks to Pinterest, I got the idea to hang curtain clips on a plate rack (from Mom's house) to hold washcloths.

My favorite space in the trailer is the master bedroom.  It turned out exactly how I envisioned it.  With the addition of the curtains from Mom's beach cottage, I am able to pull the curtains in front of the end windows at night and during the day, pull them closer to the center, framing the ocean picture (another "found" object in the acquisition).  My co-worker gave me some of her leftover fabric to cover the lamp shades with.  There was also enough fabric and trim to make a pillow. This ties everything together.  I have an idea for wall art, incorporating sea shells, but have not done it yet.

There is an obvious lack of pillows on both beds.  A bunch of pillows really makes a bed look inviting, but practicality is a must, so no big, huge decorative pillows for now.

This concludes the 2012 Beach Project.  There are other small things to do inside, and still more work to be done outside.  Painting the exterior is next on the list.  I'll blog about that when we are finished.

The 2012 Beach Project - 2 of 3

And it continues.......the "chores" that were done in this post were over a 3 - 4 weekend period.

There is only one thing that is ALMOST as good as decorating this place....it's demolition.  Granted, demoing a ceiling because of mold is not really that fun. We had to wear gloves, masks, protective glasses and use expensive trash bags.

He's giving me that look of "if you don't put that camera down and help me....."

Below is a picture of the hall.  Notice who is on the ladder all of the time?  This is where the muscles are needed the most.

What you can't see in this picture is the lack of stable floor in a portion of the hall and at the back door.  When dragging the full contractor grade (expensive) trash bags out to the back deck, it was like playing hopscotch, except there were no numbers to jump on, but simply floor beams that you had to feel for.

We needed to get the mold out first before doing any type of  other demoing, so that we were not breathing it.  Did I mention it was hot???? You can't really run a fan during this because the dust was so bad. 

The up side of pulling some of the ceiling out is that we were able to see how the trailer was constructed and which ways the beams ran.

Finally, it's time to re-build. Dad helped us with this leg of the project.  As you can guess, the first thing to get fixed was the floor in the hall.  They ripped out the current sub-floor, added a few braces and installed a new subfloor. 

Also, the wall that housed the washer and dryer pipes needed to be replaced, as well as part of the wall that backed up to the washer and dryer, so they did that as well.

While they were working on that project, I was getting rid of the items that we were not going to re-use.  The place had it's own "scent" (aka moldy stench"), so most of the furniture and contents had to be tossed. The kid helped me in the kitchen by boxing up what we were not going to use in there. 

I was really unsure what to do with the items that we did not want, but was still useable.  I felt really guilty for throwing them in the dump, but did not have the time to wash them before donating and they really needed washing. My Grandmother came over and offered to take them to her house, wash them, and take them to the thrift store. That made me feel a lot less wasteful.

It gets worse before it gets better - right???? I kept telling myself this.....and, it's still hot, really hot.

The carpet had to go.  Tack strips are not fun to pull up, but I got really good at doing it. We discovered more places in the sub-floor that needed replacing, so we kept truding along.

It's soooo nice for the floor not to move/dip when you walk on it.

Here is our load to the dump - $70 worth to be exact.  My uncle kept telling me - "Anything that is wood, toss it to the side and I will burn it".  I understand why now.  Ouch - I wasn't expecting that.

The next item on the to-do list was to prime - EVERYTHING....cabinets - inside and out, as well as all of the walls. Mom helped us this weekend.  We used an oil based primer.  It threw me for a loop, so luckily Mom was there and finished things up for me while I "slept it off".  I really thought the priming would take all weekend, and that we would have to take another entire weekend to paint, but we got the priming done in one day...."we" meaning me and Mom until 3:00, then Mom finishing. We were able to paint the next day, but those pictures will be in post #3.  No sneaking a peek!

The husband removed the upper portion of the bar, to open the space between the kitchen and living room up. This made a tremendous difference.  The addition of a fridge from Mom's house was also VERY welcomed.  Cold drinks and icecream are a must!

Before

After

We cleaned up some - which is very difficult to do with tools all over the place, but there was no reason to put them away until we were finished.

After the purchase of a former water bed base off of Craig's List with drawers in it for the kid's room, we painted and installed it.  It was very inexpensive.

The next weekend, the husband and kid had a couple of events that kept them in town, so Dad and I worked.  He tore out the yucky, sagging shelves in the kitchen and bathroom cabinets and rebuilt them. This was a very welcome addition.  Before, I wouldn't dare reach under the cabinets, but after Mom crawled in there and painted and Dad replaced the shelves, it was MUCH better.  He bought a dishwasher from Habitat, cut the cabinet away and "dry" installed it.  We discovered a leak under the sink that we didn't have time to deal with, so this chore was added to the hubby's list for his next visit. He also brought me a much needed front porch light that my Step-Mom purchased for me.  They have the absolute BEST Habitat near their house and get great deals.

Luckily, the A/C was fixed so we were comfortable.....finally....AND the stench was gone, completely.  Between getting rid of the furniture and carpet and painting, everything smelled a lot better.

We sold some of the salvagable furniture on Craig's List and did not want to clutter the master with a dresser, so Dad built shelves in the master closet. 

The next weekend Mom came back to help, as well as my Sister and her family.  They had the task of cleaning out the storage building.  We had NO IDEA what was in there.  It was packed to the gills. I'll bet passer-bys thought that we were having a yard sale.  There was stuff everywhere.  From shoes and clothes, to canning jars (SCORE!), an old T.V., a couple barrels and two VERY HEAVY couches.  It was still hot, very hot.  We took several loads to the dump.  My Sister gladly volunteered to ride with me - a 10 minute trip to the dump and back....good quality Sister bonding time in the A/C. Sorry, there are no picture of this - which my family is probably glad of.  We looked really rough, and smelled bad too.

The husband and I laid the floors.  This took about 2 days.  Lowes screwed up our order did not order the floors, so Mom had to go to another town to get them.  They gave us a discount for our troubles, but we would've rather had the floors than get a late start.

My Brother-In-Law is a master craftsman, making custom furniture, so it was appropriate that he put down the shoe moulding. He has the patience for this and certainly the skill.  He did an excellent job and it really added a lot aesthetically.

My Sister cleaned the windows which made a WORLD of difference. The windows are paper thin and she didn't break one, which is a feat in itself!

We were slowly but surely getting closer to the stage in the project where things were smelling better, looking better and soon liveable.

I spent every possible moment on Pinterest getting ideas for the place.  This was/is the most fun part of the entire project.  I got a recommendation from my neighbor on where to purchase fabric inexpensively and, sure enough, Leisure Fabrics in High Point was the BOMB!!!  The owners were really nice and the fabric was $3 - $4 a yard.  WOW!!!  I got fabric for the kid's curtains and pillows for her room, fabric for curtains for the living room and pillows for the couch.  I was also able to get 50 yards of nice trim for the pillows for $5 - for the entire 50 yards....yes, that's .05 a yard. No coupon needed!

I needed backing for the curtains, so I used the old Dorothy's Originals that were in the trailer.  Ruffles are not really my style, and these curtains are $150 a pair.  I simply cut the ruffles off. I felt so good about reusing, even though I was cutting up $150 curtains.  Not only is it good for the environment, but my pocket book is thanking me as well.

When it came to the master, I had a specific look that I was going for.  I purchased some curtains at the GW Boutique, but needed more.  Sure enough, Mom had some in the cottage that is behind her beach house that worked perfectly. The colors were just right and I was able to use the rod as well.

Mom was also was my personal shopper.  Any time I needed anything, gave her a BOLO (be on the lookout) and she came through for me. 

This is all for now.  Wait until next week for the final after photos. 

The 2012 Beach Project - 1 of 3

Are you curious where I have been all summer?  Here goes....

Our family inherited a beach "project".  We had the opportunity to acquire a mobile home on family land located a couple of miles from the beach.  The mobile home was abandoned by the owner (who rented the land) and was closed up for several years.  On the land are two mobile homes, two VERY old storage buildings that the weeds and woods have taken over, and a usable storage building.  It needed a lot of TLC, but structurally, the "main" mobile home was sound. The yard had been cut by my Uncle (who lives across the street), and my Dad, when he was in the area, but still needed a good weed eating, the bushes trimmed and a tree needed to come down. This is where we began the project.  A weekend of yard work.....in mid-July.....oh my.....

Creepy - huh????

Below are after pictures of the yard.  Even though my Uncle cut the grass for years, he still came over and helped us cut the tree down and clear the limbs.  I could only hope to have the energy and stamina that he has at his age. He also burned the brush for us, which was a tremendous help and time saver.

The next step was to get water and electricity.  The electricity was fairly easy - we just made a call, but the water was a different story.  The mobile home was previously on a well.  We had the task of digging the lines, laying the pipe, making the connections to city water and getting it inspected.  My husband is perfectly capable of doing all of these tasks (except for the inspection part), but time was not on our side. 

Being 4 1/2 hours away from this little paradise-in-the-making, we needed to hire some of it out.  Once again, my uncle came to the rescue.  His golf buddy is a plumber.  We rented a ditch-witch, dug the lines and fought some gnarly roots.  My husband won, of course.  With those guns, the roots had little chance. Golf Buddy laid the lines and made the connections, after his golf game.  Did I mention he was retired?

We have water - CHOIR OF ANGELS!!!! The electricity was also turned on...another CHOIR OF ANGELS!!!! and nothing blew up when we flipped the switch - A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!!!!

We were not very optimistic about what the inside of the mobile home looked like due to condition of the outside, but were very pleasantly surprised. 

Living Room

The first thing I spotted was the wonderfully retro hanging lamp in the corner. I also took a mental note of what could be re-used in the rooms.

Kitchen

 

 

I am very pleased with the size of the kitchen.  There is plenty of counter space and storage.

Bedroom

Bathroom

 

 

Master Bedroom

 

 

As you can see in the bedroom, there was mold damage, as well as in the hall and bathroom.  This was the first item on the list to address. 

For those of you who know me well, you know that I am a SUPER PLANNER.  I can organize the heck out of a project/task.  It was on......I opened Excel, pulled out the "big boy paper" and started planning.  I had every weekend planned out - our work timeline with how long it was going to take and what materials were needed.

Sorry to leave you hanging, but this is the end of  Post  1 for the 2012 Beach Project. I will publish Post 2 in a week or so with pictures of the actual renovation.



ACT II Popcorn deal at Walgreen - ends 10/6

Walgreens has their single packs of ACT II popcorn BOGO this week.  Also, there is a coupon in the sales flyer, making them .25 ea.  I purchased 8 last night (this is the limit on the coupon) and my total was $1.02. 

The single packs are located near the chips.

Now all we need is a good movie!!