What a long, strange trip it's been...

This officially marks 8PP's 200th post!  It's crazy to think of all the varied, bizarre topics that have been covered in this blog.

Like...identifying a gay toddler...

...and anthropomorphized cartoon tumors.

In March, I covered disgusting things people do with their placenta...

...But in April, I switched it up with an appeal to my fellow Christians to stop acting like jerks in front of nonbelievers.

I became obsessed with couponing last month and started blogging more openly about mine and my husband's difficulties conceiving a second child.

And at some point this month, I just got really sarcastic.

So thanks for sticking with me this past half a year or so, and reading my rambling rants on everything from politics to bad doctors to why IT IS SERIOUSLY PERFECTLY FINE IF MY SON WANTS HIS TOENAILS PAINTED.

And if you feel like celebrating, may I recommend a hilarious t-shirt, or maybe mug, from the 8PP Store?  All proceeds go to a good cause, namely, paying off my ridiculous stack of medical bills.

As always, thanks for reading.

My percentages are improving. Also, I like cereal.

12 cans of cat food
2 canisters of air freshener (presumably, for after the cats eat the cat food)
4 pounds of sugar
2 big squeeze containers of Smuckers strawberry jelly
1 big container Hawaiian Punch (for a "graduation" party at my son's preschool)
4 large cans of Ragu pasta sauce
2 boxes of Raisin Bran
2 boxes of Frosted Flakes
6 boxes of Raisin Bran Crunch
2 cans of Axe Body Spray (I hate the way it smells, but my husband pointed out that I hate the smell of the chicken farm where he works worse.)
5 bars of deodorant
2 gallons of SunnyD

32 items total.

Total Price before discounts:  $140.03
Store promotions and loyalty card discounts:  ($40.45)
Savings from coupons:  ($52.78)
I paid:  $46.80
Total savings:  $93.23 or 67%

I just got my groceries for 1/3 of the price.  And my husband has forbidden me from buying any more cereal until I can find somewhere to store it.

(I'm thinking, the attic.)

Adventures in Couponing: Third (and final) Trip of the Great 3-Day Couponing Weekend

Final run to the last few sales I wanted to catch, before everything rose back to pre-Memorial Day prices.

First Stop:  PETCO
I worked in pet retail for 3 years, so I know some of the tricks.  The best deal is if you can find a clearance item to stack with a manufacturer's coupon.  And PETCO, with its ever-changing product lines and planograms, always has a ton of clearance.

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Adventures in Couponing: Second Trip

Hubby and I have our big beginning-of-the-month grocery run planned for tomorrow, so I decided to make a couple more small couponing ventures tonight, so we can get whatever's left on our shopping list on our last big trip tomorrow.  Here's the breakdown:

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Adventures in Couponing: First Trip

I decided to try to go small after my first experimental couponing trip to Harris Teeter (where I got $50 worth of groceries for $20).  So I made a list of just a few things I wanted to go at each store, organized my coupons into envelopes (stacking manufacturer and store, where I had both), made a shopping list, grabbed some circulars, and hit the road.

For a beginner couponer, I am very pleased with the results.  See for yourself.

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Couponing: Perfect hobby if you have OCD

My latest big obssession has become couponing.  I made one half-hearted couponing trip to Harris Teeter during Triple Coupons week, and walked out with $50 worth of much-needed groceries for $20.  That was a big thrill.

Then I started watching a couple of episodes of "Extreme Couponing" and saw the much more impressive discounts self-taught housewives were receiving.  And I thought, "I can do that!"  I worked as an accounting tech for six years.  I managed a retail store for three.  Now I work in finance for a state government division.  If anyone can take obssessive organizing and use it to maximize cost-effectiveness, it's a numbers nerd like me.

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Quick and dirty.

No big post this morning, as my routine has been somewhat thrown-off.  My son came home "sick" (I swear he fakes it) from daycare yesterday, and I can't take him back until 24-hours is up.  So today I'm stuck cleaning runny diapers and trying not to think about how much work is piling up in my in-box.

A few highlights from yesterday:

Watched "Horton Hears a Who" and it was adorable and had great voice-casting.

Practiced my new couponing skill and took advantage of Harris Teeter's triple-coupon week.  Got $50 worth of much-needed groceries for $20, so I would call that a success.

Found out that an easy way to relax and entertain my son at the same time is to play PS3 and let him hold an unplugged controller so he thinks he's playing.

And a couple of lowlights...

The baby turning a sports water bottle upside down over the bed and yelling, "It's raining!"

Him coming to me upset and asking, "Where kitty go?  See kitty?  Kitty play?"  I found the cat for him, and he immediately tried to sit on the poor thing.  "I ride it!"
"No baby, you can't ride him.  Hurt kitty."
"Oh.  Where doggy go?"

The 1920s called. They want this generation back.

Taking time off work, but can't afford to go anywhere?  That's a staycation.  Salvaging used goods thrown away by others is no longer dumpster-diving, it's "free-cycling".  And books and books of clipped coupons are no longer the domain of grandmas, but of twenty-somethings.

Things that haven't been in vogue since the Great Depression are now skyrocketing back into popularity.  Don't believe me?  Take a visit to Google and see how many people now raise chickens at home (even in urban dwellings).

Frugality is my generation's new hobby.  "Sure," you might be thinking.  "Times are tight."  But it's my belief that there are several issues beyond the Great Recession contributing to this widespread penny-pinching.

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