Book Review: TWEAK by Nic Sheff

TWEAK: growing up on methamphetamines
by Nic Sheff

I originally heard about his book while listening to Fresh Air with Terri Gross on my local NPR station. (If you have never heard the show Fresh Air, Terri interviews a wide range of people and sometimes it is very interesting.)

Anyway, back to the book. This is a memoir written by Nic Sheff about his experiences while taking a variety of hard drugs, and the constant struggle to get off them. This book is crazy. It's scary and sad. I have known people who have done these types of drugs, but I never got close enough to actually see what it is like.

The author began his experiences with drugs and alcohol at age 11. Today, he is only 25. After reading this book, I don't see how he isn't dead.

He just put up a website which you can find at www.nicsheff.com to read a little more about him.

Coming up, I will be reading David Sheff's book: Beautiful Boy: a father's journey through his son's meth addiction. After reading the son's memoir, it will be interesting - and as a parent, terrifying - to read how it was for his dad.

Coupons, Club Cards and BOGO.... OH MY!

Well, it was another productive weekend at the grocery store. Could have been more if I had planned better, but here is how I did:

Frys

They were having a mix-and-match sale - you buy ten participating items, and save $5.

My bill: $37.69
I saved: $43.54

54% savings.

Safeway

No big sales like Frys, but some decent deals for things I needed:

My bill: $11.32
I saved: $21.93

67% savings.

77% savings at Safeway

I am becoming the crazy coupon lady.

I recently started paying a LOT of attention to the grocery store ads and all my coupons to see how much I could save at the grocery store. I was inspired by my friend Tracy who actually does workshops on this, and I plan on going to one to see what she does.

Anyway, last week, I had already done my weekly shopping but I realized that I had a few coupons that were going to expire so I decided to make a quick run and get these couple of things.

My bill before any discounts: about $19.56
My bill after my discounts: $4.51

What? Yes, that's right.

Here's how it broke down:

I went up with my items:
Steak for that night - $4.52
Tea bags, 2 boxes - $4.83 each
Ice cream bars - $3.99
Pasta Roni - $1.39

By using my Safeway card, I received the sale prices:

The Pasta Roni -$1
The tea bags were by one get one.
The steak was 30% off - $2.57

In addition to the savings I get using my card, I also received a 10% discount because my card was fairly new. More savings.

Then, my coupons.

I had a coupon for $0.55 for the pasta roni, which they doubled.
Final cost for pasta: FREE

I had a coupon for a free box of tea bags, up to $4.
Final cost for BOTH boxes - $0.83. FOR BOTH!!

I had a coupon for the ice cream for $1 off.
Final cost for ice cream: $2.99

My Club card saved me: $8.28
My coupons saved me: $6.00

So I saved $15.05 by using coupons and the club card.

:) Stay tuned.