August 10, 2012

Outside Temp: 65 F (much cooler today, in the mid 80's and overcast most of the day!)
What I cooked today:
Burgers and Tater Tots: The kids all cheered when I told them what I was making for dinner.  I guess the old standby isn't too boring around here.

Update:
We had a very lazy day today.  Played games, read books, watched movies and TV shows (Katie's next two disks of Leverage, the TV Show, came in the mail from Netflix, so that took up about 5 hours of the day). 

Patrick went into town with his dad, and I entrusted him to stop at Staples and pick up some school supplies.  I've been watching the sales for the last few weeks, and (since we got our supply list from the school) I've made up my lists.  I already had a little over half the list, but still had plenty to get.  I'd been waiting for a good sale price on filler paper, since I didn't want to pay $1 a package for paper.  There was a sale at Staples, and I didn't want to drive all the way into town, to attempt to save $0.99 on paper.  That makes no sense. 

However, I rarely allow Patrick to go shopping.  He's notoriously bad at it, and he always picks up something that is not on my list.  Since I'll be in town next week, I know I'll be able to finish out my list, but I really wanted to try to get this deal before the sale ends.  So, I thought I'd try it.  After all, how bad could it go?

The deal was simple.  You get paper at $0.01 (max of 5), if you spend $5.00.  So, I had to create a list for him that got items on my list, at a good price, and didn't overpay for those items.  But, I had to make sure that they met the $5.00 minimum price, without going too far over. 

The list included 2 pencil boxes, a 2pk of scissors, 4 2pks of pens, 2 pks of dry erase markers, and (of course) the paper.  The total should have been $5.05, exactly (since we don't have sales tax here... woo hoo).  I warned him that it is common (especially at the end of the sale) that the wouldn't have everything on the list.  He could add and subtract items, as long as he got the deal on the paper.  I even sent him with the flyer, with all the items circled and numbered. 

So, I was totally amazed when he came home with everything on the list.  They had run out of the 2pk of pens, so he supplemented with erasers, but the total on the receipt was exactly $5.05.  And I got my 5 packages of filler paper!  Wow!  I might just trust him with my shopping again, assuming that I send him with a detailed, color coded list, complete with pictures.

That all being said, he did go to Sam's Club with his dad and spend about $25 on chips, nuts, popcorn and pasta.  All my careful planning and budgeting goes out the window when he goes to Sam's Club.