Extra Savings Tactics

Loyalty Cards!
I have a key chain dedicated just for customer loyalty cards.
Some stores will have great deals on foods, and then there's a special markdown if customers have their loyalty card. That's how I got my rib-eye down from sixty dollars to twenty dollars.

A lot of stores are now working the internet...
Emailing coupons (I scored a free package of Kraft singles).
Pre-loading their customer card with coupons (I got a free pound of bacon and a free gallon of milk)
And manual customer coupon clipping to their loyalty cards. Where the customer looks online for the weekly specials and manually load those coupons to their card or print/clip.

CVS's loyalty card on the other hand...
The stores have a coupon kiosk
You just have to scan your card at that kiosk until the screen tells you there are no more coupons.
Sometimes they're good, sometimes they're junk. It's a crapshoot.

Another money saver

Reusable bags.
A lot of stores will give your a slight discount if you shop with a reusable bag.
Target and Tom Thumb do this. I believe Market Street also participates. It's five cents per bag. But if it's a large shopping trip, you can get a decent discount on top of your coupons and loyalty discounts.

Speaking of these bags and CVS, you should be able to find a GREEN TAG. You put this scan tag on one of your reusable bags and you get bucks back. Not actual dollar bills, but "good for your next shopping trip on any product" bucks. This tag is 99 cents. I've only looked at one CVS location for this. I'm not a big CVS/Walgreen's shopper unless I have stackable coupons.

Then this gets into bonus bucks/free gas/register rewards. I haven't done any of this yet so I'm not going into details. But it's if you buy a certain product or spend a certain dollar amount on certain products, you get "like cash back" coupons that are good for your next shopping visit.

10 years ago and now

I was getting ready to go to school (college) - my second semester. I had remedial math and a US history class.

I was eating breakfast in the living room and just turned on the TV. The first tower had already been hit. I saw the second plane hit. I called my mom into the living room to see. I called Ryan to wake him up and let him know.

I went to school anyway.
My math teacher was not willing to discuss the issue and plowed through class.
My history teacher asked about it and some dumb guy said something about "them damn Iraqi's." I made the statement that we didn't know who did it. Point, set, match. We didn't do anything for the rest of the class.

I got home and stayed glued to the TV for a while.
Found out about two more planes. One hit, one miss.
I had some newspapers for history's sake. But I got rid of them.

Today, I have the news that my eldest uncle passed away.

Other dates in history...
The Challenger mission with the teacher on board. We watched that in school. I was in first grade. I don't know why, but my vision (the image in my head) says I was in 3rd grade. I don't know. I just remember watching it and it exploding. I don't remember my feelings about it.

Obama's inauguration.
I watched the whole thing in school. My first year teaching and I had a student who refused to watch history because of the color of the man's skin.