Category Archives: All

Scarlet’s Dark Art

July 28, 2020 LadySkullshine 2 Comments

So my friend invited us to her “Dark Art” event, benefiting Glaucoma research. The idea was to paint as though you are blind, using unknown colors and items to paint with. It was this past Sunday, but we weren’t able to attend. I thought it would be nice for my daughter Scarlet to still participate from home. When I told her, she was really excited about doing this. Scarlet loves to paint and loves to help others with awareness. So it was right up her alley.

Once I had everything in the area covered, we got started. I blind folded Scarlet and gave her a few random items. I wasn’t sure what she could really use but I grabbed a pencil, a straw, some cotton balls, q-tips, and a plastic paint tool. I picked out pink, purple, yellow, and pearl paint colors. Then got my camera ready to record and take pictures, of course.

She started off with the cotton balls for the sky. At one point, she turned the canvas sideways without realizing it. Part way through, we had to pause filming. There was way too much paint all over her hands, so I had to run to get wet wipes. Her eyes stayed covered the whole time. I even called her out at one point just to make sure. Later in the video, she reached back for a wet wipe and I yelled “Don’t touch me!” lol.

It was very messy, but she had a lot of fun. We will most likely do this or something like it again. For the event, my friends had to paint for an hour and a half. Scarlet painted for a lot less than than that. We got about six minutes recorded and lots of pictures. Ignore the part where I fall through Scarlet’s hamper LMAO.

All, Awareness

My Scarlet. Always Sharing, Helping

July 22, 2020 LadySkullshine 2 Comments

Very few know this, but my youngest daughter suffers from a few disabilities. I belong to several Facebook groups relating to Autism, Tourette’s, Children with Disabilities, and so on. I like to read through the posts and think about how it relates or not. On a very slim occasion, I will comment with some of our own experiences. I say slim because I rarely post or comment on anything to begin with, let alone a stranger’s post in a public group. Not to mention, while they may be reaching out, they may not care what I have to say.

I keep to myself about a lot of things, especially with how the world is today. But I really wouldn’t mind sharing our experiences or any suggestions, if it will help anyone else. My daughter also feels the same way. We’ve talked about it often and she loves to help others. With that said, I’ll give you a little bit of her background.

My daughter Scarlet is 13 years old. She had a seizure right before her first birthday. She’s had asthma and allergies for most of her life, along with severe eye problems and trouble walking. Several years ago, she was diagnosed with Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder. They later said she had Autism and referred us to a Neurologist, who then confirmed her diagnosis for Tourette’s. She has since been diagnosed with Depression and ADHD.

Scarlet has been through a lot of medications, doctors, therapists, coping skills, emotions, and broken items. It’s been a long and windy road. There is still the occasional meltdown along with bouts of severe tics, but we manage it a lot better. Some of those meltdowns have been my own, wishing I could do better and do more to help her.

That’s just a few tidbits. Since I know Scar is comfortable with it, I think I might share a bit more about our experiences here. Maybe some coping skills we have learned, adventures we end up on, symptoms, silly moments, and so on. I might add some of her art as well. She loves to paint. It helps her a lot. She has a lot of great qualities and is full of so much love. She is my Sunshine.

All, Financial, Updates

Coupon Mission: Update 3

July 17, 2020 LadySkullshine Leave a comment

I feel like this should be a Bloopers edition….

It’s been over a week since my last update. I saved some money, but nothing went nearly as planned. Anxiety, stress, and memory lapses really did not help my mission.

Before I left the house, I prepared myself. I already had all my notes on each ad. I also wrote a list of the items I needed to buy there. When I folded it up, I could see my list. Then I clipped my coupons to the back. I did this with each ad, with the feeling that I was about to accomplish something.

With my organized stack in hand, I started at Dollar Tree. I planned to get Renuzit air freshers for $.67 each, with a buy 4 get 2 coupon. Except, I never brought the coupon and completely forget about it. When I grabbed the air fresheners, I couldn’t figure out why they weren’t marked down. I convinced myself that it will come down at the register. They didn’t, of course. But hey, I did grab a bag of Chex Mix that was much cheaper than Rite Aid.

I quickly moved on to Dollar General. They were out of a few of the items I needed. I grabbed what I could and checked out. As I put my cart away, I realized I left my coupons on the counter. So none of those were used. The cashier nicely said I could use them next time. I just smiled and agreed, as I beat myself up inside for being so mindless.

Next was Rite Aid. I’m not used to this store, so I struggled to find some things. I’m also not sure how much I really saved, compared to what I normally pay. Then, I bought the wrong razors. I had coupons for $5 & $4 off. Except one was for disposable razors, so scratch that. I still saved with their sales and my one coupon though. They were regularly $13.49, but I paid $6.14 each. Not too bad, considering. With this visit, I saved a total of $23.87. Plus I have $8 towards my next trip.

Giant was my last stop. It wasn’t as great as I wanted it to be. A few of my coupons were rejected. I also got confused over an Air Wick oil starter kit deal in the ad, listed at 2 for $6. There was no picture in the ad and no sales marked on the items. I found a kit for $13.99. I didn’t think it was right, but grabbed it anyway to ask the cashier. She had to get a manager, who approved it. Honestly, I think it was a misprint. I also had a $2 coupon, so I got 2 for $2 each! (Orig 2 x $13.99 [27.98], on sale 2 for $6 – $2 coupon = 2 for $4.) With this trip, I managed to save $75.64 off my bill of $352.02. That’s 21.49%. It’s a start.

Then of course, once I got home, I scanned all of my receipts with at least six different apps to get even more cash back.

I know I could have done a lot better. I’m still working on my process of doing things to be faster and more efficient. I really need to focus more. I learned that I need to print more coupons, take them with me, and remember to use them! Then I need to pay more attention to the details on the coupon and store rules. Also, I should probably compare prices a bit more. Stupid mistakes that I can easily work on. Baby steps.

All, Random

Invisible? Anxiety Driven Rant

July 16, 2020 LadySkullshine 1 Comment

Sometimes I feel completely invisible. Not heard or seen. I’m not referring to anyone or thing in particular causing it. It’s just a sad feeling in general that comes over me at times. Then I battle through all the emotions that come with it.

Most times, my anxiety takes control and forces me to want to hide. While other times, I feel like I’m jumping up and down screaming look at me! look at me! (like Mr. Meseeks from Rick & Morty)

I hate it. It interferes with so many things. Like, how do I go from one moment of hiding from the world, then the very next moment I feel ignored and get upset. I just want to go one day with zero anxiety, panic attacks, depression, and all those wonderful mental battles. It would definitely help my other health issues as well. But no matter how much I work on my mindset and make it seem like I have it all under control on the outside, I’m a train wreck on the inside.

All, Random

Alexa Is Growing On Me

July 11, 2020 LadySkullshine Leave a comment

A while back, I posted “Alexa. Was I Just Paranoid?”. I had explained that originally, I wasn’t on board with the Alexas, Siri, and all that. I love technology, but I just didn’t feel comfortable with it. I finally came to the realization that if I’m going to be paranoid, then I might as well get rid of all of our technology. I won’t do that. So, I managed to find a great deal and we bought two Echo dots. That was a few months ago.

The Echos have definitely been very handy. I ask Alexa to set timers for me every time I cook. My fiance often asks his Echo to tell him jokes. She’ll let us know when our Amazon packages are arriving and remind us to feed the puppy. We failed to set up the Roku, but I’ll try again when I can focus on it. We also use them as an intercom system in our home. Not to mention, all the googling she’s done for us.

Recently, I have been really interested in the smart bulbs. I just didn’t quite understand exactly how they worked. I did some research, then ordered a set which arrived today. I set them up, connected the Echo, and I love them. There are so many colors and you can cycle through them. The reading light setting is really bright. I’m so glad that I ordered these bulbs. I even got them free! I’m testing the bulbs and providing a report to the merchant.

I have no regrets buying the Echo Dots and now we have beautiful lighting in our home with ease of control. Have I said how much I love technology?

All, Random

Today Is My Birthday!

July 10, 2020 LadySkullshine Leave a comment

Happy 45th birthday to me! 45?! And still sparkly!!

It really was an awesome day! It started with a birthday text from my Haley, chocolate chip cookies with Scarlet, flowers from my mom, randomly found notes and home made cards from my Scarlet and my fiance Sully.

I appreciate all the experiences throughout my life so far, good and bad. I’ve made a lot of mistakes and learned a lot. No matter where life takes me, my greatest achievement ever will always be my babygirls. I’m beyond proud and grateful, and would be lost without them!

All, Financial, Updates

Coupon Mission: Update 2

July 7, 2020 LadySkullshine Leave a comment

I don’t have much of an update, but I have made some progress.

So this weekend, I got the Sunday paper ads and coupons. I checked what deals I could get at Rite Aid and if it’s worth going through the trouble this week. It was, so I focused on their ad and what coupons I had on hand. I finally went shopping today and ended up spending $19.92 on Crest, ZZZQuil, 3 Pantene, and razors. I saved $22.37 between store deals and coupons. I also now have purchases tallying towards cash back. For example, spend $50 on P&G items and get $15 back. Not too terrible for my first trip back on the mega coupon wagon.

Yesterday, I received a stack of mail full of coupons from Daisy, Celestial Seasonings, Bush’s, Juicy Juice, Kelloggs, and Hostess. They also sent me letters advising of where I can get more coupons. I even got a few recipes too. I’m going to send out another batch of requests soon. Once I get through my list, I’ll post all of the companies that send me coupons.

The next thing I need to figure out is my plan for printing coupons. Since I rarely print, I have a subscription that allows me to print 15 pages a month for free. If I will be printing coupons, this will definitely increase fairly quickly.

Like I said, it’s not much of an update. But it is definitely progress.

All, Financial, Updates

Coupon Mission: Update 1

July 3, 2020 LadySkullshine Leave a comment

I recently posted that I’m on a mission to be a for-real couponer. I already save money literally everywhere else in our household budget, so it’s time to take on that ever growing grocery bill.

Granted, I do buy a lot of items. My cart is always overflowing and I usually fill both refrigerators, freezers, pantry, cabinets, and then some. It just bothers me, knowing that I can save so much more. I use my store’s loyalty program and buy things on sale. I just really need to use more coupons. The issue is finding ones that we can actually use.

Since my last post, I have reached out to 46 companies requesting coupons. For the majority of them, I just had to fill out forms on their sites. I also created a new email address specifically for this. I’ve already received several responses. A bunch said they would mail coupons to me. Most of them advised that they could not send anything, but then they directed me to where I could get their coupons. Some companies post them on Facebook, while others are sent via their newsletters. I’ve also found some that have points programs. When I’m more organized, I can post more detailed information of what I’ve found.

I recently went grocery shopping and don’t have a ton of coupons, so I won’t have any major progress yet. I just have to stay focused and remember that the end results will make all of this worth it. I am also going to begin couponing at the pharmacy again. I did really well with it before. That will help me stay on track in the meantime.

For more ways to save money, visit the Financial Tips page.

All, Financial

Mission to Extreme Couponing

June 29, 2020 LadySkullshine Leave a comment

I’ve been flip flopping with coupons over the years. I don’t mean using some coupons here and there to save a few bucks. I mean the legit couponing, where you pay virtually nothing. When I used them religiously, I did fairly well. But certain things have caused me to fall off the wagon.

There was a time when I clipped every coupon. I got the big hot pink binder to file them and a smaller one to take to the store. I wandered through the aisles, attempting to follow my list, while checking deals, and fumbling through a binder full of coupons. No matter how prepared I thought I was, it was very overwhelming for me and I could never manage it properly. I get confused, forget to use a coupon, or get stuck calculating if it was even worth using. By the end of the shopping trip, I saved very little, was super stressed, and didn’t even buy all the things I needed. I ditched the binders and used a small envelope organizer. That didn’t help at all. Eventually I realized it was causing me way too much anxiety. From then on, if I managed to use a coupon I would just appreciate the savings.

Sometime later, I started using the Krazy Coupon Lady site/app. It really helped me a lot, giving me some guidance to get a handle on the process. KCL shows you where to find deals, coupons, policies, etc. I was getting about 20 packs of newspapers every week. I focused on CVS since it was the pharmacy I used, it was familiar to me, and they always had decent deals to begin with. I made my list of items with notes, got my coupon stack, and went shopping. I actually was able to get nearly all of my items for free. On some trips, they even paid me.

This was a wonderful thing…when it worked. A lot of times, I would sabotage myself by screwing something up or getting side tracked. The store would be out of an item and I’d have to rethink things, then my anxiety would take over. I ended up slacking off. Then there was no CVS where I moved to. I have a Rite Aid, but never really attempted it there. Or anywhere else.

I’m tired of seeing $300 grocery shopping bills. It’s out of control. I do buy a decent amount of stuff to stock up and fill both of our refrigerators, freezers, and pantry. But still, this is a huge amount of money when I know for a fact I could save more.

I am on a mission to be a for real couponer. I save money literally everywhere else on our household budget. I’ve done some research and made some notes. I already do the majority of the following, but I do need to start contacting companies and purchase more papers. Let’s see how much I can save going forward. I’ll be keeping a closer eye on this.