Works for Me Wednesday: Cutting Myself Deals

It's Wednesday, and that means it's time for another "Works for Me Wednesday" tip, as hosted by the blog carnival at We Are THAT Family. See this week's Works for Me Wednesday here.

I often must contend with two sides of my personality: the "Ooooo must try NOW!" side, and the frugal side. Obviously the instant-gratification personality is at odds with the frugal side (not to mention our budget), so I kind of keep the instant gratification side in check by cutting myself deals.

Here's an example: I see a delicious-looking recipe online. Said recipe involves an ingredient that I don't have. For instance, in the past couple of weeks or so I saw a tidbit on how to make your own authentic Japanese teriyaki sauce. Since I love stir-fry-style meals that come together quickly, I thought, "Ooooo must try NOW!" But - the recipe called for mirin (sweet rice wine), which I do not have. My cabinet is packed with couponed condiments, including bottled (not-so-authentic) teriyaki sauce. I cut myself a deal: Once you finish using all of the bottled teriyaki in the pantry, you can buy mirin at the best possible price, unless there's a major deal in the interrim.

Now, by "best possible", I mean I would still bargain hunt - checking local Asian grocers' prices against those on Amazon, for instance.

So, why is this little habit one I've found worth forming?

• It delays gratification. Like the "Eat from the Pantry" challenge we did in January, this is just a great exercise in and of itself in terms of building patience and discipline.
  
  
• It still promises gratification if the desire persists long-term. This makes the established delay easier to tolerate at the moment that I want to purchase the item. Instead of "No", it's "Not now", so I can get over the hump and move on.
  
  
• Postponing the purchase for a not-too-specific future date means that it will probably be long after I finish the bottled teriyaki sauce that I remember my "deal" with myself - if I remember it at all. After all, I'm not going to go from cooking a weeknight dinner with the last of the teriyaki sauce - straight to the grocery store for some mirin!
  
  
• There's a decent possibility that in the interim, I'll find a coupon, sale, or other special involving the desired item, whereas had I purchased it immediately instead of cutting myself a deal, I would have paid too much.

In other words, putting a "deal-ay" between my desire to buy something and its possible purchase is a great way to save myself some money and teach myself some patience, without total deprivation.

Do you cut yourself deals? What are your deal-cutting strategies?
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A.'s New Frugality Booster

This past weekend, we spent a lot of time with family, and while everybody was getting together, we also celebrated my summer birthday. Behold the newest weapon in my frugality arsenal:This, ladies and gents, is my new crock pot (or to be trademark correct: slow cooker) - a birthday gift from my inlaws. My first crock pot was also inherited from my mother-in-law - an early 1970s-era workhorse (that is: "Old School"). But the new birthday crock pot has all manner of bells and whistles. At 6 quarts' capacity, it can cook two smallish chickens - or 7.5 lbs. of pretty much anything (Helllooooooo freezing extra meals!). It has a clip-tight gasket lid for transport. It even has a thermometer probe option that allows you to put the thermometer right to the center of your meat and specify a minimum temp, so once your meat hits the temp, the cooker goes to "warm". Is that not pretty close to rocket science? I told the my husband that I didn't care if it was the middle of summer; I was going to try out some slow cooker meals this week if I can manage it. With cheaply bought Giant Super G chicken breast and canned beans and corn, I'm thinking some type of white chicken chili sounds good.

Anybody care to share slow cooker recipes while I'm in the zone? :)

New Uses for Couponed Makeup

Trying new makeup is always a fun adventure. Who doesn't love snagging the latest foundation or mascara free after ExtraCare Bucks? But sometimes, the deal is so hot that when you arrive at the store, your preferred shade(s) aren't available because others got there first. But how can you pass up a freebie staring you in the face? Here are some fun new ideas for what to do with that couponed makeup:


Collect nail polishes or other fun makeup items and give to your favorite teen. If the colors available aren't your style (but still free or close to it), then collect a variety and gift-package them for your favorite teen - a niece, your kids' babysitter, the next door neighbor graduating this coming year. Bonus points if you throw in couponed top/base coat, nail polish remover, cotton balls, or manicure tools!

Think outside the box with application. When you don't let the makeup packaging dictate what goes where, a muted matte pink lipstick could become a great creme formula blush. A too-brown-for-you powdered blush or bronzer could be a neutral eyeshadow. A too-light-for-you mascara could become a great eyebrow tamer/enhancer when applied with a very light hand - or even a coverup for a few stray grey or white hairs on your head. The basic idea is to look at the product's color and daydream about where else it might work on you. You can always wash off and start again - that's the beauty of experimenting.

Could you only find a foundation/concealer a shade darker? Don't worry - it's still good for:

1. "Tan" you. If you get tan during the summers, or use fake tanning, a shade darker foundation is ideal for keeping your look pulled together! You only need to use it sparingly on "trouble" areas (undereye circles, zits, etc.) and blend well, to get a no-giveaway summer face.
   
2. You, photographed. You may cringe to see the "one shade darker"color against your complexion under your bathroom mirror lights, but the reality is that if it's only slightly darker and blended very finely at the jawline, you will look younger, healthier, and more radiant in family portraits. This is especially true of fairer-complexioned women who tend to be washed out by ambient photo studio lighting. You'll also achieve a more awake, younger look by doubling the amount of makeup that you usually wear for daily use - from mascara to blush to lip color.

Could you only find foundation/concealer a shade lighter? Don't worry - it's still good for:

1. "Pale" you. By January, you could be thanking your lucky stars that you have a slightly more palid shade in your makeup arsenal.
   
2. You, sculpted. Dotting a slightly lighter shade under your eyebrow arch, on the top of your cheekbones, and on the inside corner of your eyes (blended well!) can make your face look skinnier, and you expressions look more awake and alert.

Make an emergency kit of makeup. Just because the shades aren't precisely those of your preferred lineup doesn't mean you won't appreciate the emergency kit stowed in your office desk, glove compartment, or suitcase when you realize that your everyday makeup was accidentally forgotten. Think of it as a "desert island" lineup - what items are absolutely necessary to get you through the day - chapstick, mascara, etc. If you travel to one location quite frequently - say a relative's house or vacation house - you could consider leaving an entire complement of couponed makeup and toiletries there so that you don't have to pack one every time. Just remember that there are expiration dates for cosmetics and toiletries.

Donate to your local community/church/high school theater productions. If you've ever been in a play or musical, you know the gallons of makeup that such productions can consume. Even a small production can go through bottles of foundation in a single night for sufficient stage makeup. And since such productions are often low-budget, it's quite likely that your local thespians would welcome any of a wide variety of colors and brands of foundations, concealers, lipsticks, blushes, eyeliners, mascaras, and so on.

Trade with a fellow couponer. If you know a local couponer who hits up different stores, you can offer to be on the lookout for each other's favorite shades and products and trade every so often. Yes, you might give three lipglosses and get back a mascara and a pair of tweezers, but at least you're trading for stuff you'll eventually use, right?

Donate to your local women's shelter/domestic violence shelter. Women who rely on these shelters often do not have big beauty budgets, but your donation of cosmetics (as well as other basics like body washes, soaps, tampons and maxipads, etc.) can be a block in rebuilding their self-esteem as they get back on their feet.

What other creative ways have you found to use cheap or free couponed cosmetics? Post a comment to let everybody know. :)

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Organizing Dates

A while back, my husband and I spent a couple of hours on a Saturday sorting through moving and storage boxes that had been accumulating in our office. I found at least $30 worth of office supplies, including:

Specialized printer papers:
Photo paper
Business card paper
Window cling paper

Other office supplies:
3-ring binder transparent sheet sleeves
Staples
Binder clips
Pens and pencils (we handed these to our young daughter to 'test' while we sorted other stuff)
Scotch tape
Highlighters
Mechanical pencil leads
Mailing envelopes

I was shocked at the amount of usable office supplies that resulted from just 2 hours of organizing. If I had needed any of these, I might have bought them before realizing that they were hidden in the boxes upstairs. And now: I have an organized cabinet full of office supplies.

Do you have some storage or moving boxes that haven't been opened in a while? You might be surprised to discover what useful things are hiding out in them. A little time can pay big dividends!
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The Beauty of Product Reviews - MakeupAlley.com

Many drugstores and beauty product retailers offer no-questions-asked color guarantees on cosmetics, to prevent customers from being wary of trying out products. The problem is: these kind of return trips soak up time and energy, and those are often more valuable than money!

Take heart, and head over to MakeupAlley.com. This is an independent site where thousands upon thousands of members submit reviews for their latest cosmetic and toiletries endeavors. It covers almost every product on the market - from Wet'n'Wild all the way up to Dior and other high-end cosmetics. Membership is totally free, and I have never, ever gotten spam of any kind. The cosmetic reviews database is vast and very informative - as members are listed by their age, skin type, skin color, eye color, and hair color. This way you can find reviews written by people with your characteristics who have already tried products that you've been wanting to try.

A big bonus is that I've discovered some low-priced drugstore gems via this site.

One is Queen Helene's Mint Julep Masque (review here), which I never would have found or tried on my own. It got 4/5 lippies (equivalent of stars) from more than 2,200 people, and 80% said that they would buy it again. This was enough to prompt me to read some reviews and, curious, try it out for myself.

It's a minty-smelling clay mask that you apply, let dry for 15 minutes or so, then rinse. A great way to do this is to wash your face (to get inital makeup layers off), put on the mask and let it set while you do other tasks like brushing your teeth, then hop in the shower once it's dry. Your face feels very refreshed and deeply cleansed - like you just spent a day at the spa, but for pennies!

Queen Helene's Mint Julep Masque goes a loooong way; if you did your whole face once weekly, a tube (which is very large) would probably last you several months. If you have some spare ECBs, you can snag some at CVS, where it's priced at $4 - haven't seen any coupons for it, unfortunately! ;)

Another highly-rated beauty item is an aspirin mask. No joke! 1610 people gave it 4.2/5 lippies, and 86% said they'd repeat the experience. There are variations on this recipe posted in the reviews, but the general idea is: wet some plain old aspirin tablets (don't soak), then crush them a little until a wettish paste-like consistency, and gently rub into your skin and let sit for a few minutes. Most people use water, some people crush the aspirins into their regular face wash like Cetaphil. One reviewer I saw compared the wondrous results to that of a chemical peel. Now I'm wondering how to work a small bottle of aspirin into a CVS ECB deal to try this out.

The price of aspirin being what it is (around a penny per tablet in big bottles), this could be the ultimate in frugal home beauty treatments! Has anybody out there actually tried this? We would love to hear reviews if anybody has/does!

What frugal beauty tricks are up your sleeves? Any home treatment recipes or other tips to share?

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Giant Deals this Week - 02/20-02/26

Mommy Making Money and Frugal in Virginia already did boffo jobs of covering the Giant deals, including coupon matchups, for the coming week. As I mentioned, pickings are slim in terms of stocking-up potential.

I have thus far spotted only three other deals worth mentioning:

• Healthy Choice meals are listed on the front of the ad as 5/$10, and the tiny print mentions that Café Steamers are included. The 01/04 SS Sunday insert had a $1/2 coupon, which makes these $1.50 each - not a huge bargain, but for comparison's sake - even if you used the $1/2 coupon to double at Shopper's right now (retail close to $4) you'd still be paying close to $3 each. As if!
  
  
• The chuck roast and steak are $1.77/lb (save $2.52). Since I'm a big crock pot/slow cooking fan, I'll probably consider this. I've been able to freeze Giant's beef roasts (raw, not cooked) without any issues in the past, too, so they are convenient for backup meals if you need to defrost something quickly and throw it in to simmer.
  
  
• The bagged European blend salads (Giant brand) are $1.77 - normal price, I believe, is $2.99, exactly the same as the Dole bags of salad. (I always have bad luck with bagged salad of any brand going south real fast, so I only grab deals like this if it looks fresh and I'm planning on serving it right away.)

Shopper's Summary

OK, I'm 99% sure I'm done with my Shopper's run. As mentioned a few posts ago, I had to take back some IcyHot back patches that I thought I was getting free. Fortunately for me, the cashier was so gracious and my refund took me less than 3 minutes, tops. Yeah, customer service! But while you're there - already hauled the toddler into the carseat, everyone's clean and fed and there's a clean diaper - might as well use any of the surplus (over the 4 limit) coupons that you couldn't use last time, right?

So I hauled out all my $1 soon-to-expire yoghurt coupons, along with some other freebies (Whipps) and did one more run.

Here's the sum:

~$94.56 spent for ~$397.84 worth of groceries, household products, and toiletries - a savings of 76%. Since I'll be MIA a few states away on a family trip in a few days, I'll be able to spread a lot of these groceries across our week-long trip. Somebody fetch the cooler! I've got a lifetime supply of free yoghurt here...

In all seriousness, yoghurt has a long shelf life. This time at Shopper's, I was careful to pick out 4-packs that had expiration dates toward the end of March, so none would go to waste.

I learned something new today: apparently the bar codes on coupons don't necessarily communicate the expiration date, at least not with some systems. I had one valid coupon refused because in my zeal of clipping several copies of that one, I had that one out of alignment and had inadvertently chopped off the expiration date. The lady said that they are required to eyeball every coupon to check the expiration dates! She also said that some people try to clip off the expiration dates to get expired manufacturer coupons through - talk about bold - and unethical (unless the store has an expressed policy of accepting expired coupons). So don't get all scissor-happy like me and accidentally shave off those expiration dates. :)

I don't know if I have any motivation to hit either Bloom or Shopper's at this point; I guess I'll monitor our other money-saving blogs to see if anybody else has scoops on freebies at Bloom.