Well, it has been absolute paradise here in Puerto Rico! We have had an amazing trip - it's been great to visit with my parents and see that they are really enjoying their retirement life! :-)
We are staying at an amazing hotel - El Conquistador for one night, which is why I have Internet access and can write this post. Blogging from my iPhone did not work as well as I expected - the last post I had to send to my friend and she put it up for me - thanks Cindy! This hotel has it's own beach on it's own little island that they take you to. We are getting ready to go do that this morning so I am getting this post in.

My mom was right (again), they do NOT coupon here! There were NO coupons in the paper - any day of the week! I went to Walgreen's and bought a few things which totalled to around $16, I had some RR's with me so I thought I would use them. I gave her $10 in RR's and she had to call a manager to make sure it was ok to use them all! I had more items than RR's so I knew I was ok but yeah, they are not coupon friendly around here. Oh well, I thought I could teach my mom a few things but I guess not! The Walgreen's ad was very similar to ours though - some things that were in our ad were a bit more expensive than at home but in general, things are a bit more expensive. I have included a picture I took of the ad, looks a lot like ours but with a few more local items thrown in. It's hard to see in the picture (sorry for the quality) but the crackers on top are $.79 here and in our ad they were $.50 - same spot in the ad and everything - I just found this funny. They do give RR's here too though for the same items as home - the Ricola cough drops and Aussie products had RR's on them. Later tonight we are going to Ralph's (grocery store) to get the last items we need for our Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow so I will be able to see how they might be able to work out some better deals there. :-)

I hope you have been keeping up with Jill Cataldo's website - I can see that I am missing some good shopping deals! Not that I am complaining - deals will always be around at home, this paradise - definitely not! I have been going through her site and Mashup Mom's site this morning and boy - there sure are ways to get a GREAT but CHEAP Thanksgiving dinner on the table!

This is the first year in a very long time that I will not be getting up at the crack of dawn to go shopping on Friday with my sister - not that I couldn't (well, not with my sister but with my mom) - they do the whole Black Friday thing here too but that would be absolutely nuts since we will be flying home that afternoon and where would I put the stuff anyway?!?!?! :-) It's funny - the mall and store parking lots here are FULL all the time - it's like the recession hasn't hit here - of course, it has but even in the non-tourist areas, you wouldn't know it!

I'm gonna head out to the beach now - I wish everyone a Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving tomorrow! I know I will be so happy to spend mine with my parents, just like I have done EVERY year of my life! I truly am lucky to be able to do that this year - I am really big on traditions and so to be able to have my mom's sweet potatoes tomorrow will be one of my biggest joys of the year (some things just bring you right back to childhood). I know that the way I have shopped, saving a lot of money over the last year has made it possible for us to be here so I will continue so that maybe we can come again next year!

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Shopping on Friday! :-)