I appreciate Mary Hunt. She has a perspective on how to raise your children to be financially confident.
I didn't have parents that taught me to be financially confident so I was really at a loss for how to raise my children in this area without some ideas. Well, Mary has plenty of ideas. She has some very sound advice re: how to help your children to form a solid foundation in this area. Just keep in mind that this is just one person's advice. There are many ways to train your children to handle and view money wisely. Every family is different and their ideas for instilling wisdom in their children can be vastly different in this area. Still, I appreciate that Mary has taken the time to tell us her opinion.
My favorite part of the book was the chapter where she discusses having your children manage a portion of the family budget. Although this idea initially terrified me I soon came to realize that I was scared because of my own lack of personal training in this area. I am going to try and implement a few of her ideas with my children and then see how things go.
You should continue to read a wide variety of authors to decide how you want to raise your children to view and handle money. I always ask people for ideas re: how they teach their children in this area so that I can analyze their responses and adapt them to my family and our situation. Remember that one "size does not fit all" when it comes to financial advice.
One thing is for certain....if you don't train your children in this area then they will form their own opinions about money. Training in every area of their lives is important.
Available August 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Thursday, May 3, 2012
REVIEW: Don't Panic Quick, Easy, and Delicious Meals for Your Family
When the "Don't Panic" series of cookbooks came out I was a huge fan. I loved the idea of cooking all of my meals in 1 or 2 days and not having to cook the rest of the month. The cookbooks were easy to use, had great tips for freezing meals and had some great recipes for every day meals. They were thematic and organized by types of meat, soups, etc.
So, when I had the opportunity to review their latest cookbook I was really excited. I really wanted to like this cookbook. I mean, who doesn't love a "quick and easy" cookbook? I own many quick and easy cookbooks that I love that have great recipes that utilize fresh and flavorful ingredients. Unfortunately, I just couldn't see how this cookbook would be useful to me. The introduction to the book says it all, "we are finally able to share some of our longtime favorite recipes with you that we left out of our previous books because they are not suitable for the freezer." That statement is true. The cookbook reads more like a group of women getting together to share their favorite recipes (i.e. a "community cookbook" or a "church cookbook)." As I read through the cookbook I came across several recipes that were already familiar to me.
I mean everyone who has been cooking for any length of time has a Chinese Chicken salad recipe with green onions, almonds and sesame seeds right? If you've ever been on the South Beach Diet then the "Beef Kabobs with Peanut Lime Dipping Sauce" will be familiar. If you watch Rachel Ray then the "Thai Chicken Wraps" will ring a bell and if you watch "Everybody Loves Raymond" then the "Lemon Chicken" recipe will make you laugh (ok, I threw that last one in for humor but you get the picture).
I took the time to make a few of the recipes (Spicy Pecans and Homestyle Mac & Cheese). Both were delicious and tasty but, again, nothing that I didn't already have in my recipe box. In fact, I wonder if the author's can take credit for these recipes as many of them can be found on the internet. This begs the question, "At what point is a recipe considered plagiarized?" Can authors just change one or two small ingredients and then call the recipe their own? This doesn't seem ethical to me but I don't understand the publishing world so it may be perfectly acceptable. I can understand how dessert recipes might be similar because of the chemistry involved, however, many of the appetizer and main dish recipes can be found on the internet in almost the exact format as shown in this cookbook.
There were a couple of dishes that were new to me but they wouldn't justify the cost of the book for me. If this were given to me then I would probably copy down a few of the recipes and then give the book away. The book just doesn't seem cohesive to me. The recipes are mismatched and there is no real common theme to them. Quick and Easy is probably not the best title for this book as several of the recipes take longer than 30 minutes from start to clean-up. Additionally, you wouldn't take 30 minutes to make an appetizer, 30 minutes to make a main meal and 30 minutes to make a dessert. That's 1.5 hours. Most "Quick and Easy" cookbooks stick to main dishes for this reason.
Still, I really enjoyed the author's first two cookbooks and use them regularly to cook my freezer meals. Their formula for freezer meals is a good one. I would recommend checking out their other cookbooks.
- Available April 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Albertsons, LLC 11/16-11/23
I finally ventured out to do my very first shop here in my new city. I haven't been accumulating any inserts the last 6 weeks so I used internet printables for my entire shop (except for the two peelies for the orange juice which I peeled almost 4 months ago). It was fun to realize that I could save money even if I didn't purchase a single newspaper insert.
For all you newbies out there.....give this little shop a try.
I did have a little trouble at the register but the cashier was able to put all of my coupons through. My Imperial sugar coupons wouldn't scan so I had to show him the sugars so that he could see that I purchased the correct sizes, etc. A few of my other coupons wouldn't scan either but he just looked at the items and then pushed the coupons through. The Idahoan potato coupon had to be adjusted because the potatoes are $.99 cents and the coupon is for $1. Great shopping experience. Thankfully I had some patient folks behind me. I gave the lady behind me a few coupons for her transaction too; this is always a good idea if you have time!
We had a pretty busy week at the Webster household full of some patience-building moments. Unfortunately, I failed to have patience for most of them. Pray for me! This was a pretty discouraging week as my little one is causing me to fully understand just how rebellious my own heart is. I am becoming convinced that the Lord put her in my life to teach me about my own sin. This week was filled with nosebleeds, half-eaten tubes of toothpaste, two full sippy cups of milk thrown on the carpet, ripped-up books, and many attempts at stealing cookies off the kitchen counter along with several attempts to make "pee-pee" in the potty which produced nothing. I know that may not sound like much but this all happened in one day.
Did I mention that I'm also having hot flashes from menopause through all of this?
Really, please pray for me. I sometimes struggle to see the big picture when I'm dealing with my children. I could really use some encouragement to love them right now.
OK, here's the shop...
Click on picture to expand. Please read all of the notes below for more information. My Albertsons policy is to triple coupons up to 35¢ and double coupons up 50¢. My Albertsons will double/triple up to 4 like coupons per transaction.
STOCKPILE
2 Idahoan Potatoes $.99 cents ea. (sale price)
- $1/1 Idahoan Potatoes printable (make a potato character and then enter contest; coupon will pop up)
= FREE
= FREE
6 Pillsbury Crescent Rolls $.99 ea. (sale price)
= $.50 cents ea.
= $.59 cents ea. - **see note below
4 Campbells Cooking Soups $.75 cents ea. (sale price)
- $1/4 Campbells coupon - must ask for at register
= $.50 cents ea. - must buy 4 to use register coupon2 Ocean Spray Cranberry Sauce $.99 cents ea. (sale price)
- $.50/2 Ocean Spray Cranberry Sauce printable
= $.50 cents ea. - limit 42 Evaporated Milk $1.09 ea. (sale price)
- $.50/2 Evaporated Milk printable
= $.59 cents ea.2 Chinet Guest Towels $1.59 ea.
- $1/1 any Chinet product printable (sign up for club and receive coupon in email)= $.59 cents ea. - **see note below
9 Steamfresh vegetables $.99 ea. (sale price)
= $.66 cents ea.
3 Imperial Sugar (powdered and brown sugar) $1.99 ea. (sale price)
= $1.25 ea.3 Honey Nut Cheerios $2.33 ea. (sale price)
- $.50/1 Honey Nut Cheerios printable and printable and printable= $1.33 ea. - must buy 3 to get this price
2 Tropicana 59oz. Orange Juice $2.50 ea. (sale price)
- $1/1 Tropicana 59oz. peelie
= $1.50 ea. - limit 22 Gold Medal 5lb. Flour $2.29 ea. (sale price)
- $.25/1 Gold Medal printable (click on blue banner on upper right)
= $1.54 ea.
1 Imperial 4lb. sugar $2.79 ea. (sale price)
- $.75/1 printable
= $1.79 ea.
4 Smucker's Uncrustables $2.89 ea. (sale price) and $2.99 ea. (regular price)
- $1/1 Smucker's Uncrustables printable and printable= $1.89 ea. or $1.99 ea.
2 Nestle Tollhouse Chips $2.50 ea. (sale price)
- $.50/2 Nestle Chips printable or 11/6 RP= $2.00 ea.
THINGS I NEEDED
4 Philadelphia Cream Cheese $1.25 ea. (sale price)
no coupons
= $1.25 ea. - must buy 4 to get this price1 Cool Whip $.99 ea. (sale price)
no coupons
= $.99 cents ea.1 Duncan Hines Cake Mix $.99 cents ea. (sale price)
no coupons
= $.99 cents ea.TOTAL: $122.70
TOTAL AFTER COUPONS AND SALES: $49.17
SAVINGS: 60%
CHINET GUEST TOWELS: I will use the Chinet guest towels as napkins for Thanksgiving as they look exactly the same as the Chinet napkins! These napkins rang up wrong at the register (store tag said that they were $1.59 so I got one for free)!
CHINET NAPKIN DEAL: Make sure you read the store tag when buying these items. I was going to do a different Chinet deal that I saw advertised in the Albertsons online-ad and when I looked at the tag it said that I had to buy 3 of the items to get the sale price even though this was never mentioned in the ad!
ALBERTSONS AD: These deals are for the Albertsons LLC. Apparently, there is a different store called Albertsons in other states. Please check your local ad to make sure that you are in our region. For example, Los Angeles uses a different ad.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
No Rite-Aid stores in my area....
We just moved and I was feeling fairly settled tonight so I thought that I would do a search in my area to find out where my local Rite-Aid is located. Guess what?
There are NO Rite-Aid stores here. I'm feeling a little bummed as I'm really going to miss shopping at Rite-Aid. I'll start posting my Kroger grocery store shops here in about a month. I also have a local Tom Thumb which is just like a Safeway store so I'll probably post my shops there too.
Just wanted to say hi to everyone. Hope you're all doing well. Sorry I won't be able to post anymore Rite-Aid shops here to help ya'll!
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Publix, 10/13-10/19 (Florida Ad)
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| Unadvertised B1G1 sale on Marzetti dressing; love that dressing! |
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| Sunset tonight from our balcony; spectacular gift from our Father. |
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| At the Daddy/Daughter Chick-Fil-A date night! |
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| Sweet treats for the young lady! |
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| Eating pizza on the deck tonight. |
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| Hubby smiling for the camera. |
Made a quick stop at Publix to pick up a few items before the "One Stop, One Store" coupons expire today. I wanted to get some more candles for housewarming gifts and some trash bags since there was a great sale this week!
....click on picture to expand....
MONEYMAKERS
6 Covergirl Eyeshadows $2.99 ea. (regular price)
2 Covergirl Lip Gloss $4.99 ea. (regular price)
- $8/2 Covergirl face product Q from 10/2 P&G
= FREE (combined lip gloss with eyeshadow) or $2.02 overage (two eyeshadows together)6 Airwick 3oz. candles $3.49 ea. (regular price)
- $5/2 Airwick candles from "One stop, One Store" booklet
- B2G1 Airwick 3oz. candles from 9/18 SS= FREE + $1.04 in overage wyb six candles
2 Marzetti Simply Dressing $3.69 (unadvertised B1G1)
- $2/1 Marzetti Simply Dressing from 7/24 SS or 9/11 SS (regional)
= FREE + $.31 cents overage wyb 2STOCKPILE
2 Extra Gum $1.09 ea. (regular price)
- $1/2 Extra gum from 9/25 SS
= $.09 cents ea.2 Tazo Teas $4.29 ea. (regular price)
- $1/1 Tazo Teas from 9/11 SS
= $2.29 ea.1 Glad Trash bag 20 ct. $4.00 ea. (sale price)
- $.75/1 any Glad product from "One Stop, One Store" booklet
- $.75/1 any Glad trash from 10/2 PG
= $2.50 ea.THINGS I NEEDED
Black Forest Ham $4.75
no coupons
= $4.752 Arnold Bread $4.29 ea. (B1G1)
no coupons
= $2.14 ea.Pears $.88 cents lb.
no coupons
= $1.73TOTAL: $82.89
TOTAL AFTER COUPONS AND GIFT CARD: $1.25 (should have been $6.45)
SAVINGS: 91%
NOTE: I gave the cashier 6 coupons for Lipton tea and didn't buy any. I was looking at the Lipton tea and then moved my coupons over and then got distracted by the Tazo tea and completely forgot to put the Lipton tea in my cart. I was pretty excited about getting my Tazo tea. :) I will have to go back this week and pay the store for those coupons. I owe them $5.20.
NOTE: I used a "Get a $10 Publix gift card when you spend $50" last week (apparently only for certain counties in FL). I used that gift card to pay for part of my balance this week.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
5TH UPDATE: Publix, 10/6-10/12 (Florida ad)
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| Our Publix haul; stocked up on pasta, feta and talenti gelato! |
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| My second shop today on the way home from Chick-Fil-A! |
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| 3rd trip to Publix! I won't be near a Publix for several years! |
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| 5th UPDATE: Everything in stock today! |
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| Our new shell collection which was gathered by my hubby! |
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| The sunset from our balcony; very relaxing. |
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| We're ready to shop mom; no major meltdowns today....yeah! |
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| Had to run out again to get my favorite mascara and Olay Regenerist! |
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| FREE Inserts from the recycling bins! |
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| What a lovely view from our room; I love the ocean! |
Hello everyone! Reporting from Florida this week. I think that we are going to be here until the end of the month so I'm excited to stock up on some great items! I'll be adding another post sometime over the next few weeks since I got a few rainchecks today!
I'll post details later.....I'm off to Chick-Fil-A with the girls. Looking forward to some great playtime on the jungle gym.
I'll be heading back next week to get my Pepperidge Farm Goldfish bread. I picked up two rainchecks for 5 deals each for a total of 20 packages of bread. I'm going to have to go and find my freezer in storage and plug it in so that I have a place to put all of that sandwich bread!
3RD UPDATE: We went out to the recycling bins this morning and grabbed a bunch of inserts that I was missing for the last month. Found several P&G inserts so I headed back to Publix with my monemaker and got some more pasta, covergirl, tea and babyfood.
Click on pictures to expand....
MONEYMAKERS
18 Covergirl Eyeshadows or brow shapers $2.99 ea. (regular price)
- $8/2 Covergirl face product Q from 10/2 P&G
= FREE + $2.02 overage6 Covergirl powder puff $2.49 ea. (regular price)
- $8/2 Covergirl face product Q from 10/2 P&G
= FREE + $3.02 in overage wyb 224 Dove Deoderant 2.6 oz. $2.99 (B1G1)
- $3/3 Dove Deoderant from Green Advantage Flyer
- $.75/1 Dove Deoderant from 10/2 RP
= FREE + $1.53 in overage wyb 66 AirWick Candles 5.2 oz. $3.99 ea. (sale price)
- $5/2 Air Wick Candles from One Stop One Store booklet
- $2/1 Air Wick Candles from 9/18 SS
= FREE + $1.02 in overage wyb 24 Olay Regenerist Cleanser $6.99 ea. ($3 off sale price...$3.99)
- $3/1 Olay regenerist cleanser Q from 10/2 PG
- $2/2 Olay regenerist cleanser Target Q from 9/25 RP
= FREE + $.01 cent overage wyb 2STOCKPILE
8 Beech Nut BabyFood $.55 cents ea. (B1G1)
= $.02 cents ea.64 Mueller Pasta $1.39 ea. (B1G1)
3 Mueller Whole Wheat Pasta $1.39 ea. (B1G1)
- $.55/1 Mueller Whole Wheat Pasta from 8/21 SS= $.15 cents ea.
4 Airwick 3oz. candles $3.99 ea. (sale price)
2 Airwick 3oz. candles $3.49 ea. (regular price)
- $5/2 Airwick candle from One Stop, One Store booklet
- B2G1 Buy two 3oz. candle get one 3oz. candle from 9/18 SS
= $.16 cents ea.2 Covergirl Lashblast $7.49 ea. (regular price)
2 Covergirl powder puffs $2.49 ea. (regular price)
- $8/2 Covergirl face product Q from 10/2 P&G
- $2/2 Covergirl Lashblast Target Q from 9/25 RP
= $.49 per item2 Athenos Crumbled Feta $2.59 ea. (B1G1)
- $.75/1 Athenos Feta blinkie (found in store last week)
= $.55 cents ea.2 Marie's Yogurt Salad Dressing $3.29 (B1G1)
- $1/1 Marie's Yogurt Salad Dressing from 8/21 SS
= $.64 cents ea.10 Lipton Specialty Teas $1.99 ea. (regular price)
= $.69 cents ea.2 Progresso Italian Bread Crumbs $1.97 ea. (B1G1)
no coupons
= $.98 cents ea.2 Sunsweet Noir Prunes $2.00 ea. (sale price)
- $1/1 Sunsweet Noir Prunes from Greenwise Magazine Fall
= $1.00 ea.4 Talenti Gelato $4.69 ea. (B1G1)
= $1.35 ea.2 Klondike Bars $3.33 ea. (sale price)
- $1.50 Klondike bars (publix Q found on display)
= $1.83 ea.2 Crisco Extra Virgin Olive Oil $5.99 ea. (regular price)
- B1G1 Crisco 16oz. Publix Q from 9/25 SS
- $1/1 Crisco oil blinkie (found in store about a month ago)
= $1.99 ea.2 Simply Potatoes $3.00 ea. (sale price)
- $1/2 Simply Potatoes Publix Q from 9/25 SS
= $2.50 ea.PF Chang Home Meal for two $7.49 ea. (regular price)
- $2.50/1 PF Chang Publix Q (found on kiosk)
- $1/1 PF Chang Meal from 9/18 RP
= $3.99 ea.2 Olay Regenerist serum $16.69 ea. (sale price)
- $10/2 Olay Regenerist Q from 9/25 RP
- $2/2 Olay Regenerist Target Q from 9/25 RP
= $10.69 ea. (a good price considering this is usually about $22 a package)THINGS I NEEDED
1/4 Seedless Watermelon $4.08
no coupons
= $4.08 4 Apples $1.29 a lb
no coupons
= $2.464 Nectarines $1.99 lb
no coupons
= $3.104 Plum tomatoes $1.49 lb.
no coupons
= $1.191 Red onion $1.49 lb.
no coupons
= $1.071 Garlic $3.29 lb.
no coupons
= $.46 cents1 Golden Acorn Squash $.99 cents lb.
no coupons
= $1.171 bunch bananas $.69 cents lb.
no coupons
= $1.99 1 Publix coffee filters $1.29 ea.
no coupons
= $1.29 ea.2 Covergirl $2.99 & $7.49 (regular price)
- $8/2 Covergirl from 10/2 P&G
= $1.24 ea.1 Kid's Aquafresh Toothpaste $2.19 ea. (regular price)
no coupons
= $2.19 ea.1 Set of 8x8 Foil bake pans $3.89 ea. (regular price)
no coupons
1 Aquafresh Extreme $3.09 ea. (regular price)
- $.75/1 Aquafresh from One Stop, One Store booklet
- $1/1 Aquafresh Extreme Q from 9/11 RP
= $3.89 ea.
1 Aquafresh Extreme $3.09 ea. (regular price)
- $.75/1 Aquafresh from One Stop, One Store booklet
- $1/1 Aquafresh Extreme Q from 9/11 RP
= $1.34 ea.
1 24pk of Publix water $3.99 ea. (sale price)
no coupons
= $3.99 ea.
1 Naked Juice 32oz. $4.99 ea. (regular price)
- $1/1 Naked Juice 32oz. from Greenwise magazine Fall
= $3.99 ea.
1 Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix $2.49 ea. (regular price)
- $.40/1 Betty Crocker cookie mix from 10/2 GM
= $2.09 ea.
1 Vigo Kalamata Olives $3.29 ea. (regular price)
no coupons
= $3.29 ea.
1 Smucker's Uncrustables $2.00 ea. (Yellow Advantage price)
no coupons
= $2.00 ea.
TOTAL: $585.98
TOTAL AFTER COUPONS: $93.97
SAVINGS: 84%
NOTE: I just went looking for information on the $.55/1 Mueller Whole Wheat Pasta and couldn't find it in the Hot Coupon World Database. I searched for the coupon and found it in the 8/21 SS but every website I found indicated that it expired on 9/30 of this year. I didn't notice that when I clipped it today. I just stumbled upon the coupon while looking for another coupon and thought, "hey I think that's on sale this week." All that to say, Publix will still be reimbursed for it, however, you might want to ask at customer service before using it.
NOTE: The watermelon seemed expensive since a whole watermelon was $8. I decided to get the quarter though because I like to SEE my watermelon (I have eaten several bad ones this summer).
NOTE: Some of the babyfood jars rang up at $.65 cents (BeechNut Stage 2.5, homestyle textures pears). Just be careful when you pick out your babyfood. Make sure they are B1G1 at the register.
NOTE: I gave away two Dove deodorants to my cashier and one Covergirl mascara to the store manager. We had a nice chat about couponing. She is a really sweet lady! UPDATE: I gave away 6 bags of cat treats and a candle to my cashier (don't have a cat)!! She is a really sweet cashier and I just love seeing her every week at this Publix in FL.
NOTE: I will sell some of these items at my garage sale. I will make about $70 on the deodorant, powder puffs, eyeshadow, brow pencils and candles. Selling these items constitutes a large portion of my grocery budget for the year.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Publix, 9/8-9/14 (Florida ad)
Just posting a little Publix shop that I did yesterday. After spending a year in CA without Publix I was overjoyed to be saving "real" money on my groceries. I spent about $18 (after a $10 off $50 coupon that was only for the FL market).
I'm excited about getting so much pasta sauce. This will last me for several months on my once-a-month cooking plan. I purchased 20 jars for the price of 3 jars which is an excellent deal (that includes what I paid out of pocket for the 20 coupons that I purchased on EBAY). I just want all of you that are learning to see that if you don't have alot of time to coupon you can always purchase coupons off of EBAY for items that you know that you will use and then get them for the least expensive price. I paid $3.90 for my coupons and I paid $3.90 for the sauce after coupons. Total of $7.80 for 20 jars of pasta sauce.
20 Barilla Pasta Sauce $2.39 (B1G1)
- $1/1 Barilla Pasta Sauce from 8/28 SS
= $.19 cents ea.
1 Publix Toasted Oats Cereal $2.49 ea. (regular price
- $1/1 any Publix cereal (found on kiosk)
= $1.49 ea.
1 Huggies Mega Wipes 216ct. $5.99 ea. (sale price)
- $.50/1 Huggies wipes from 8/14 SS (no doubling in FL)
- $1.50/1 Huggies wipes from "Big Deals for Baby" booklet
= $3.99 ea.
2 Kashi Entrees $2.50 ea. (sale price)
- $1/1 Kashi Entree printable or $.75/1 printable
= $1.50 ea.
3 Naked Juice $2.50 ea. (in-store sale price)
$1.50/3 catalina
= $2.00 ea.
6 Pepperidge Farm Goldfish $1.00 ea. (sale price)
no coupons
= $1.00 ea.
1 Milk $3.89 ea.
no coupons
= $3.89 ea.
TOTAL: $102.98
TOTAL AFTER COUPONS: $18.69
SAVINGS: 82%
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