A shout out to my favorite stores

March 25, 2015March 25, 2015 / kstrick7 / 2 Comments

I know Christmas is way over. However, I wanted to give a shout out to some remarkable merchants out there. Since I broke up with Wal-Mart or Walmart or Walmarts (as my Mamaw called it) my cash flow has been much more flowy-er. You can read about that here.

Just want to give a public & personal thank you to the following stores:

Kmart

Dollar Tree

Walgreens

Dollar General (which my Mamaw called the General Dollar Store)

Thank you, understanding merchants, for not having a maximum time you can visit your store, in a few days period. Thank you for allowing me to patronize your store every time, which seemed like I had just left your store, & then I remembered something I forgot. For the nine days I was off work at Christmas, I shopped just like it was my job. You allowed that. No questions asked. After I went back to work, one of your dear employees probably was chatting at break with a fellow coworker & said

“You know that lady we saw in here so much that one week during Christmas time? I have not seen her in a while.”

That’s because I have to face reality and go back to my real job. But thanks for not judging me.

And I can’t not say something about these folks without mentioning Kroger. Listen ya’ll, Kroger has been a life changer for me. They give you free stuff. Not just once or twice a year. Every. Single. Week. Just for shopping with them. They give you a free item every Friday. You just have to get online & download the freebie. When you check out, you give them your Kroger Card & it adds up on your ticket to be FREE. They also GIVE you in FREE UNITED STATES DOLLARS $.10 or $.20 off of each gallon of gas your purchase. That truly makes me weepy. I drove a gas guzzling Suburban for years. Only to trade into a Ford Focus that gets 75 miles to the gallon. Well, maybe not that much. But after spending my kid’s inheirtance on gas for that Suburban, it sure does seem that way. (Sorry kids. I know you thought you got all that shuttling around for free.)

And I can’t say something about Kroger without mentioning the lovely Katie at Kroger Krazy. That sweet girl just wants everybody to save money. If she lived closer to me, I know we would be tearing the Kroger store down together. Her blog is chocked full of life changing, game changing, deals. I love Kroger Krazy. Anybody that wants to do all the leg work for me, hey, we are friends for life. (Katie, you may or may not want to put out a restraining order on me right now, ha!) Seriously, this is a wonderful resource for anybody that want to save money.

My next new store to patronize & love is Dirt Cheap. Let me just say I bought a BUNCH of clothes for my Grand Baby Girl for not a lot in there. We are talking Target brand shirts for Dirt Cheap. EEEKK! I get happy all over again just thinking of it. And, too my daughter was a page for the Senate one year & got to meet the owner of Dirt Cheap. He was some sort of government official. He was a really nice man & held in high regard by his peers. I like doing business with nice people.

Some people may view my thriftiness as cheap. No, no, no. There is a difference. I seek out bargains, but will spend the big bucks when needed. As I get older, I realize, when it comes to my purchases, there’s more than one way to skin a cat. (Don’t get PETA after me. It’s just a Southern expression meaning there’s more than one way to do something.) With a little time & effort, you don’t have to pay full price for stuff. I do think it kinda my responsibility to take care of my home & the people there in. Just like the woman in Proverbs 31. I love this passage because I believe this is still a wonderful example laid out for us today.

Proverbs 31: 27 She watches over the ways of her household, And does not eat the bread of idleness. (NKJV)

If you get the chance, reading the whole passage about the virtuous woman, will truly bless your heart. (Proverbs 31:10-31) It always inspires me to be better. I have been blessed to be acquainted with some of the most wonderful virtuous women ever. My Mama, Mamaw, Mama Boyce, & mother-in-law are the ones that come to mind. They all were wonderful examples that I try to pattern my life after. My Mamaw & mother-in-law would be tickled to death to see me saving money at the grocery store. They both LOVED a bargain.

Mamaw & Mama

I hope you have gotten some use out of this little blog post today. I know I love to shop. But I don’t think I have to spend ALL my money. Until there’s another sale at the dollar store, I have to be going because I should be washing clothes.

photo credits: walgreens, dollar tree, dollar general, http://www.krogerkrazy.com , Kroger, Dirt Cheap

The time I broke up with Walmart

July 2, 2014September 4, 2014 / kstrick7 / 2 Comments

It was the summer of 2009 & I had had it. Every time I turned around, I was running to Walmart for something. My husband had been laid off from his job. We were turning off lights, taking shorter showers, limiting our cell phone usage, and basically only going to church & to & from work. We cut way down on eating out. Lots of things we learned quickly we thought we had to have, we didn’t.

One day, after coming out of Walmart, I was studying my receipt. Now, I know Walmart is the place you have to watch out for falling prices. They also price match anyone’s ad that’s a lower price than theirs. So why, pray tell, could I not come out of there under $150? Hmmm….I got to investigating more on this mystery. I went down the list & low & behold I found the answer.

Walmart was sucking my bank account dry.

I was going in & making my price slashed purchases. However, I was coming out with stuff I could very easily do without. I made up my mind right then & there, I was not going to take it anymore. So, I did what any full-blooded Southern, penny pinching consumer would do.

I broke up with Walmart.

There were others there to comfort me through this life changing decision. K-mart stepped right in & gave me a card, that when you buy your wares, you start racking up points. In return, you can cash those boogers in & get money off. Right off your total purchase! I thought they were just flirting with me, until I bought a nice birthday present for nearly nothing out of pocket.

Next, Dollar General became my new love. Do you know you can get $5 off coupons that make $25 worth of necessary things only cost you $20? I’ll take $5 free dollars. The Dollar Tree got on my list of favorites, as well. Do you know how many things you can get in Dollar Tree for $50? (Yup, 50, that’s how many.) They even have food now. As I happily started seeing my money being put to better use, I realized Walmart had too many distractions. Yes, I can get soap cheaper at Walmart than Dollar General. However, I am not bombarded with stuff, as soon as I walk in the door. Stuff that I & lots of other well meaning, moneysaving shoppers think they have to have. (But honestly do not.)

Sometimes my spiritual life seems to get spent the same way. Temptations & enticements easily lead me away. There are times I have so many things that try to get in the way of me reading my Bible. Often enough, I don’t take the time to stop & encourage someone. Or I let other things get in the way of me stopping to send a card to someone sick. I don’t take the opportunity to acknowledge someone’s problems because I’m too busy doing things that really aren’t helping me at all.

Such as reading all the wonderful, uplifting posts on my Facebook news feed.

(Ha. Haha. Hahahaha.)

Or perhaps I might find a wee bit of time to help someone if I weren’t on Pinterest pinning funny sayings to my board. Or looking for new hair styles, or pinning lots of lovely things to my crafty project boards – that I will probably never get time to do anyway.

James 1: 22 says But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

That means I have got to be a doer. A doer for good. Then, maybe my temptations won’t seem so big.

John said in

I John 2:16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. (NKJV)

This means all the stuff I was seeing that I just HAD to have, was not only not necessary, it’s not of the Father. SO, I had no business with it anyway.

The apostle Paul cautioned Timothy in

I Timothy 6:9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.(NKJV)

Buying more things than I needed was foolish & harmful. It just wasn’t doing anything but leaving me with less money. At the time, I just didn’t need to be doing that. While things are more on track now, I still don’t need to throw our money away.

Now that we are in 2014 & we have been back to a 2 job home for a while, I still do not go in Walmart very often. My break up with Walmart taught me a few things.

I have to hold myself to my shopping list. If I go in to buy notebooks for $.10, but still wind up with $103.17 worth of stuff in my buggy, those $.10 notebooks weren’t really that cheap, were they?
I can survive without Walmart.
Change may not be as bad as you think.
I am not willingly subjecting myself to a store’s ploy to take my money. Because, hey I admit it. I am a sucker for a bargain & Walmart is FULL of them, plus lots of other stuff I don’t need.
I can do without a lot of things I thought I could not.
Even if I have money to purchase things, I need to ask myself if it’s a need or a want.

Just so the elephant in the room can move on out, this is not a paid endorsement from Kmart, Dollar General, nor The Dollar Tree. These are my own personal opinions, in which have been perfectly approved by the president & CEO of I should be washing clothes (Which is me.) I’m not bitter with Walmart. I think they taught me some valuable lessons. Some that I would have never experienced, if not for them & their stuff.

Thank you for coming by to visit with me today. I have enjoyed our time together. I hope you are able to provide for your family’s needs and wants. Just remember, too, God will provide. He provided for us while we were a one job household & He will provide for you, too. I hope you enjoy this beautiful holiday weekend. As for me, I have to be going because I should be washing clothes.

photo credits: sodahead, tattoodonkey, & howtobreakup.net

Christmas shopping is a trick

November 15, 2012 / kstrick7 / Leave a comment

I was listening to the radio on the way to work. There was a commercial talking about black Friday. Evidently, if you don’t start camping out, outside of Best Buy right now, you are a loser & won’t have anything for your loved ones, for Christmas. Or at least that’s what the announcer implied.

Deals! Deals! Deals! Oh the joys of saving money-for the holiday, of course…..

I will say this, the retail stores have done a great job of trying to get what little left over money the country has. I mean, the Christmas decorations are out earlier every year. At Halloween, we went over to our town’s trunk or treat for Miss Neenee to get some candy. We were driving along & the Miss said, “Look Mama, snowflakes.” Then, she proceeded to point to the light poles, that already had the Christmas decorations on them. Go. Figure. Let me tell you this, I have 5 kids & a grand child to buy for. I do not Christmas shop all year round. I do not go to black Friday. I wait until December to start shopping for Christmas. And you know what? Every year, they get Christmas presents. I am not usually too stressed or coming apart. My problem is, with such a large family, spending too much money. Aha! You may say, perhaps I need to visit black Friday! No, I would rather go thru all the money I have, than put myself through that. Everybody has their rathers. I would rather make a couple of mad dashes here & there & get it done.

Mind you, there was a time I loved Christmas shopping. When my Mama was living we loved to shop together. She loved shopping at any time of the year. Christmas was just an extra special treat! Even when she was in a wheelchair, she would have my Daddy take her to the Walmart Supercenter at midnight. Not just at Christmas, but other times, through out the year. Her thought was that it was less crowded. So, if she wanted to take time looking at things, she did not have to worry about being in people’s way. Her Mama loved to Christmas shop, too. I remember going to the store with her. She would let me pick out what I wanted. It was a toy, sometimes, or make-up, as I got older. I got to help her pick out presents for my cousins, too. We would do a lot of window shopping, as she called it. You know, looking & admiring, not so much buying all we saw. In times past, I would go with my sister-in-law & brother shopping on Friday after Thanksgiving. We usually went to Memphis shopping. We would go to the Mall of Memphis & to Goldsmith’s on Poplar. It was always a fun time making my brother carry our bags. Perhaps one day I can Christmas shop like my Daddy. He did all his Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve, every year, for every one, at Radio Shack. My Mama was not too much on electronics. So, he would have to pick her gift up somewhere else. But boy did me & my brother always get some cool stuff! One year we got a remote control airplane. Another time my brother got a hand held electronic baseball game & I got a tape recorder. Good times.

Whether you decide to go to black Friday & line up with all the folks to buy your goods, or if you decide to lay back & wait to start your shopping later on- I won’t judge you. I will just be snoozing blissfully, on my day off, while some unshowered, lady(who has been up all night) snatches an Easy Bake Ultimate Oven or Furby away from a well meaning shopper down at the local Walmart. There will be chaos, nasty jeers, yelling, & tramplings in some stores, all in the name of Christmas presents. Who wouldn’t want to miss that?

Thank you for stopping by to visit with me today. I would love to hear about some of your Christmas shopping experiences. However, I have to be going now, because I should be washing clothes……

I Found A Real Live Angel At The Consignment Store

September 27, 2012 / kstrick7 / Leave a comment

You know how sometimes things just happen to you & you think-wow, there are nice people still in the world? I had one of those moments Saturday.

My youngest & I had a day out in town. We ate lunch at a local drug store (they have the best burgers & fries). And actually had dessert at another pharmacy. (No, there was no theme for the day- nor did we plan it that way!) We window shopped at a few stores downtown in our little corner of the world. Local merchants really are the best. I love the mall, however, I do not love the money it takes to shop at a mall.

In recent years I have been all about getting a good deal. If I feel like I have gotten a good deal I am really happy. Thus, the reason we were rummaging around in my FAVORITE consignment store, on Saturday. This consignment store has all kinds of things-furniture, dishes, books, clothes, jewelry, shoes, etc.,. You just never know what you may come across, that you have been looking for,& just have to have. So I have set the stage so you will know what bliss I was in. I took my “had to haves” to the counter & the nice lady rung up my findings. Miss Neenee, who can behave wonderfully, when she wants to, came over to me & asked me if she could get a book. (For those of you reading this, that know us, I know you are thinking- “you mean the same girl that runs around like a wild Banchee Indian after each church service?” Well, you have to understand as a kid, that acting, the way you are supposed to , at church, was a big problem for me. So, she comes by it honest.)

Anyhow, this day, her manners were working impeccably & she was being really good. I let her put her $.50 cent book in with my bounty. I paid & the lady gave me my sack. She asked Miss Neenee, “Do you like jewelry?” Of course the Miss got all brighted eyes & says, “Yes, ma’am.” The lady said, “Well, I have something for you.” She hands over a long black box that contained the prettiest amber colored beaded cross necklace & earrings.

Beautiful necklace from the lady at the consignment store

I asked her, how much it was. She said,” I want to give this to her.” I about started crying. You see, the lady looks to be about the age my Mama would be. I have a “thing” that makes me sad- just knowing Miss Neenee is growing up without a living grandmother. I was so close to my grandmothers & loved them more than anything. I know how important it is for a little girl to have a grandmother to spoil her. When we come across kind people like this, it just melts my heart.

In Hebrews 13: 2 the Hebrew writer states- Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.

I think that’s what happened to us Saturday. We entertained an angel! 🙂 Have you ever had a wonderful experience like this? I would love to hear about it. Right now I have to be going, because I should be washing clothes…..