From the yearly archives:

2009

Low Key Grocery Shopping with Coupons

by Carrie on December 20, 2009

Just a few weeks ago I was lamenting my compulsive urges to buy ridiculous amounts of things like pasta at one time just because there was a good price, but now I’m glad I did it. With the cancer, I’m not planning to be in the mood to chase down deals for at least the next three months. I’ve got cupboards full of food to eat without having to do much grocery shopping.

The only thing I really needed today was milk so I picked up a gallon.

I also got some sweet potatoes which were $0.49/lb. My favorite sweet potato dish takes an onion so I got one of those too (onions and sweet potatoes are both on the clean 15 list so I went with non-organic to get a better price, I do have the clean 15 and the dirty dozen lists posted on my refrigerator for easy reference and I’m really making an effort to start following them on a regular basis.)

Safeway had a coupon for free breakfast sausages with a $20 purchase and even though I’d like all my meat to be organic, I just can’t resist free sausages.

To get the rest of the way to that $20 threshold, I picked up some Smooth Move tea (specifically recommended by my doctor to combat a certain uncomfortable chemo side effect), Fiber One yogurt and toaster pastries (had coupons for both and they’ll also help with that side effect), and a couple cans of tasty looking organic soups (I do love to make my own soups but just don’t have the energy or freezer space for that right now and need some quick, easy meals on hand).

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A Lesson on Mental Slowness via my Recycling Bin

by Carrie on December 20, 2009

Mental slowness is one of the side effects of both the Vicodin I’m taking to manage the pain related to my cancer and the chemotherapy to treat the cancer. It’s a side effect that is supposed to worsen over time so I figured that one week into the treatment, it wouldn’t be an issue. Boy was I wrong.

I use a dishpan under my sink to collect my recyclables so that I don’t have to go out to the garage to drop off each individual container. The dishpan was getting full so today I walk out to the garage to empty it into the cart. The recycling cart is split down the middle and has a blue side for containers and a green side for paper. Normally the green side is on the left and the blue side is on the right but when I got out there today they were switched around.

My first thought is that the lid must have just fallen off and got put back on the wrong direction so I open it up and discover that it’s bolted on quite securely so it falling off isn’t even possible.

My second thought is that my next door neighbors unbolted my lid, switched it with their lid, and then put my lid back on their cart the wrong way. Why I would ever think that requires a bit of a back story:

Shortly after I moved in, my next door neighbors tried to recycle old paint by precariously balancing it on top of their recycling cart. The paint spilled all over their cart and they have been trying to switch carts with me without me knowing ever since. I figured them out and solved the problem by writing my house number on my lid.

But I checked the bottom of my cart and it was paint free like it’s supposed to be so obviously my neighbors had no part in the change in my cart.

So my third and final thought was that the city must have changed the configuration of their recycling trucks and unbolted and turned around the lid.

And doesn’t that seem like a completely reasonable explanation? So I dumped my containers in the blue side and went out to lunch with my parents.

I knew I wasn’t feeling well today so I had them drive and when they dropped me off after lunch, I asked them if their recycling cart had gotten switched around too (because obviously, if the city had to switch mine to accommodate the new trucks, they’d have to switch all of the carts in the whole city).

My dad, who took my garbage and recycling carts out to the street and back this week since he was stopping by my house those days anyway, says “Oh, maybe I just put it in backwards.”

And I think “Oh! That makes so much more sense!” All I need to do is turn the whole thing around but it took hours to figure that out.

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Time to Squeeze in an End of the Year Charitible Donation

by Carrie on December 18, 2009

I’ve posted before about how I think donating cash is most frugal and green and thus beneficial for charities. They don’t have to spend money sorting, storing, and transporting donated goods and can instead buy what they need as close to when and where they need it.

If you’re looking to make a tax deductible donation in time for your 2009 taxes, you’ve got just a few more days to squeeze in a donation.

Historically, my favorite charities have been the American Red Cross and my local public schools via Donorschoose.org.

This year, I have a couple more charities that I’ve become personally involved with and will be permanently moving to my favorite charities list:

  • American Cancer Society
  • Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of America
  • Look Good, Feel Better (I have absolutely no doubt or worries about my treatment being effective which leaves my hair as my biggest concern about my cancer. Look Good, Feel Better is a specific program sponsored by the American Cancer Society that teaches free classes about wigs, head scarves, drawing on your eyebrows with makeup, and anything else you might want to know how to do so you don’t feel like you look so weird. I’m attending the class Monday night and looking forward to it has pretty much been the highlight of my month.)

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What I’m Reading 12/18

by Carrie on December 18, 2009

I haven’t been keeping up with my RSS reader as well as I would like to be these past couple weeks so I have only a couple links to share today.

My first chemo treatment on Monday seems to have gone pretty well. I’ve had some side effects but none especially severe and I’ve been at work for at least a bit every day since Monday. The treatment center does have wireless internet so maybe during my next treatment I’ll bring my laptop and get caught up on my blog reading then so I have more awesome links to share next time.

  • Consumption: A Thought @Bonne Vie
  • Medical Bills & Personal Finance @Chief Family Officer (I’m very fortunate to have great insurance and be only a couple hundred out of pocket at this point. I’ll be detailing my costs involved with having cancer in my budget wrap ups starting at the end of this month.)

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T-Minus One Week Until Christmas

by Carrie on December 18, 2009

One week to go before Christmas. If you’re Christmas shopping isn’t done yet then crunch time is here. If you’re still struggling for ideas, take a peek at my holiday gift guides:

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