Kroger had a deal on General Mills products this week and thank goodness they did! My fiance bought a gallon of milk a few days ago and we definitely needed some cereal to help us use it all up before it expires. The items were 4 for $6, which is a steal by itself, but of course I used some coupons and made it even better. I had to break it up into two transactions since they were only allowing the extra savings once per transaction.
1 box of Cheerios
2 boxes of Honey Nut Cheerios
1 box of Curves cereal
1 box of Fiber One cereal
2 boxes of Nature Valley bars
1 box of Curves granola bars
Coupons:
$1 off 3 General Mills cereals
$.70 off Fiber One cereal
$.75 off Curves cereal
$.75 off 2 Nature Valley bars
$.50 off Curves granola bars which was doubled.
I paid $8.29 total which figures out to $1.04 a box! My receipts tell me I saved $14.82.
CVS went pretty well. I guess I miscalculated though, since I wound up paying $2.59 out of pocket instead of a couple of cents. The reason was that I had a ECB for $2.99 and the cashier told me the register wouldn’t take it since it was more than the amount owed. I really wish I would have figured it out better before getting up to the register so I could have bought another little bag of mini eggs to bring my total up high enough. Oh well, I’ll just add it to the experience pile.
1 Garnier Fructis shampoo $2.99, minus $1 coupon
1 Colgate Total Advanced $2.99, minus $.75 coupon
1 Lypsyl lip balm $2.99
1 CVS Acetaminophen $3.69, minus my free CVS acetaminophen coupon (which the cashier rang up as $3.99)
1 bag of Cadbury mini eggs for filler, $.65
Minus $5 ECB
I got back a total of $7.98 in ECB PLUS I got my $10 ECB for taking a survey for CVS Advisor Panel. That $10 more than makes up for the fact that I paid a few dollars more than I wanted tonight 
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I am an avid reader by nature and usually devour novels. Lately though, I have become more attracted to nonfiction books. This is very odd for me since I’ve very rarely picked up nonfiction books in the past for pleasure. I’m chalking it up to the fact that I’m getting older, fitting into an adult role, and I need answers to real life questions. Plus, I’ve been out of school for a little while now and I think the stigma that I’ve had against nonfiction (for being connected to stress and school work) seems to be fading by the minute.
I am currently reading Suze Orman’s The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke. I’m only a few chapters into it, but I’m already liking it a great deal. She has a wonderful insight into 20somethings’ real life financial situations and manages to offer viable solutions without taking on a condescending or holier than thou tone. While I’ve been reading, I’ve noticed that I’ve already considered writing blog postings about many of the topics she covers. This overlap got me thinking.
Why not write book reviews on personal finance/self help books that are either written specifically for or whose material largely applies to 20somethings? Mixed in with these book reviews will be my commentary and personal anecdotes. I am also considering reviewing a few documentaries.
I would absolutely love for my readers to be involved with these reviews. I will announce which book I’m reading (or movie I’m watching) in advance so you can pick it up at a library or bookstore. This is definitely not a requirement, as I’ll summarize the book enough so that readers who aren’t reading along will understand the topics and arguments. I really would enjoy an active discussion including readers’ personal experiences and goals.
With the Money Book for the YF&B, I’m going to write one post per chapter. The first post will be on credit scores and credit reports. I’m really looking forward to writing up my reviews!
