Lessons Learned

Today’s lesson of the day: Thou shall not grocery shop when hungry.

At least I was having healthy cravings. LOL. I now have cantaloupe, watermelon, orange juice, strawberry yogurt and bananas in my house.

I guess it could have been worse.

Target Savings

I had lots of fun at Target this morning.

Finish Dishwasher Gel Packs - I've never used these before but when they only cost 4 cents for a pack of 20 I think they're worth trying.

Target price: $3.79
Manuf. Coupon: $2.25
Target Coupon: $1.50
Cost to me: 4 cents!

Rimmel Eye Liner - I rarely use eye liner and I'm not sure if I will like this or not but at 14 cents I can try it!

Target price: $4.14
Manuf. Coupon: $2.00
Target Coupon: $2.00
Cost to me: 14 cents!

Market Pantry Turkey Sandwich  Meat - I bought 1/4 pound at $3.99/lb.

Target Price: $1.00
Target Coupon: $0.50
Cost to me: $0.50

Baked Lays BBQ chips - maybe I could have gotten these cheaper but I need them for tomorrow's lunch

Target Regular Price: $3.79
Target Sale Price: $3.00

2 Fuji Apples - again, I needed them for tomorrow's lunch at $1.69/lb

Target Price: $1.79


Total Spent at Target Today: $5.85
Target Gift Card: $5.70
Cash that I spent for these items: 15 cents!

Super Savings!

Today, I headed out on my first serious couponing expedition. I've been collecting coupons for several months and never using them. My biggest struggle was my lack of organization and lack of knowledge of the policies of the stores in my area. Over the last few days I've gotten the coupons semi-organized and have studied the coupon policies of the stores I shop at and the sale flyers for deals for this week.

I am proud to say that all of the above items cost me $5.13 and were purchased at CVS or Publix, two stores that I have never shopped at regularly. I was thrilled with the sweet check out lady at CVS. She was so helpful in explaining the CVS card, the Extra Care Bucks, the GreenBagTag and benefits of bringing my own bags. I will definitely go back to that CVS!

Publix, on the other hand, was less than helpful. The clerk wasn't sure how to use any of my coupons, or if they would double. I was under the impression that if I used a "buy one get one free coupon" during a "buy one get one free sale" that both items would be free. Maybe I misunderstood the Publix coupon policy but it would have been a much more enjoyable trip had the clerk and manager not argued with me when I simply wanted an explaination of what the correct coupon policy consists of. In the end, I did have to pay $1.68 total for the 2 boxes of cereal instead of getting them both free as I had hoped. It was still a good deal, I thought.

Breakdown of the cost per item:
Listerine Zero from CVS (regular price $5.99, I think) = 50 cents per bottle
Tums Smoothies from CVS (regular price $5.49) = $1.99
Special K Cereal from Publix (regular price $3.35) = 84 cents per box

My favorite deal of the day: Peter Pan Peanut Butter from Publix (regular price $2.47) = 23 cents per jar

Total Spent with coupons, sales, and ECBs = $5.13

Would have been  $29.11 without coupons, sales or ECBs

Total Savings of $23.98 or 82%!

I didn't think 82% savings was too shabby. Now, if I can just find a way to lower the price of milk. LOL!

Ten on Tuesday: A Day Late and A Dollar Short

1.    1. I had great intentions for this “Ten on Tuesday” to become a weekly occurrence. A regular weekly occurrence even if it is a day late.

2.    2. I accomplished very little on my to-do list today and will have today’s to-dos plus tomorrow’s to-dos to do all tomorrow. Does that even make sense?

3.   3.  I learned today that the saying, “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach,” is actually true. I asked my husband if he agreed and he nodded as he continued to eat that Toll House chocolate chip cookie in true Cookie-Monster style.

For future note, the meal that satisfied the hubs tonight was Banquet frozen popcorn chicken bites, crowder peas, mashed potatoes – instant, cole slaw, and cornbread followed immediately by Nestle Toll House Chocolate Lover’s Chocolate Chip Cookies and a tall glass of milk. We even discussed how I could “tweak” this menu for the future. Make pinto beans instead of crowder peas. Mac & cheese instead of potatoes. Sweet potatoes instead of potatoes. Popcorn chicken bites from Wal-mart instead of frozen. English peas instead of crowder peas. All must be followed quickly by a dessert.

4.    4. I’ve been working on a journal-a-day type of project for this year. I’m already behind but I plan to catch up very quickly. I want this year to be remembered. Not that there’s anything special in the plans for the year. But I just want to remember what normal was when I think back 20 years from now. 

5.    5. I won a blog giveaway for a cool water bottle from http://katiepegher.typepad.com/life-photos-scrapbooking/2011/01/and-the-winner-is.html I can’t wait to get it and take it with me to the gym. New Year’s Resolution.

6.    6. I think I’ve picked my “One Little Word.” I’m not sure I’m ready to share it until I’ve decided how I can make it an active part of my daily life.

7.   

My one little word for 2010 was “Celebrate.” I came up with that when I was in Disney World the week after Christmas 2009. I kept finding items that said “Celebrate everyday” and I adopted that as my phrase, motto, and euphemism of the year. I felt a little sad that 2010 ended and I had to leave that phrase behind. 

8.    7. I purchased this (Link to Kohls wall hangy thingy) with another favorite phrase last week using my beloved Kohls Cash. I have no clue where I’m going to hang it. I’m not sure there is room in our home for another decorative item right now. So, for now it will be packed away. I had envished it in my future green-tan-chocolate brown kitchen but that may be a few decades away. Then the hubs mentioned saving it for a baby’s room. Again, could be a decade away. Whereever it lives, even if it’s under my bed for a while, I will find a loving home for it someday. 

9.    8. Blogspot is weird tonight. I’ve had to type this entire blog in Word.

10.  My new favorite hobby is couponing. I’m planning my first trip to CVS tomorrow. I’m hoping to snag some FREE mouthwash and some other stuff for pennies. I’ve been googling all sorts of coupon blogs, websites, and message boards over the last few days. Many couponers have these elaborate Trapper Keeper binders set up for their coupons and I must admit I was a bit jealous. This week, I have spent over $30 trying to find the perfect Trapper Keeper for my coupons. First I wanted something pretty and pink. Then I decided maybe I needed something with a few more pockets. And then I realized I’d have to do a lot of coupon clipping to ever make up for the $15 Trapper Keeper I purchased. One Trapper Keeper was returned today, the other will be returned tomorrow. I’ll scrounge for a recycled-from-college binder that I already have and use it. But I do have to say, I would have looked rather stylish perusing the aisle of Target with my pink Trapper Keeper and matching pink spiral notebook and matching pink scissors. 

P.S. I apologize for the formatting of this blog. Apparently, Blogger does not like me today or yesterday either.

Free Shutterfly Cards

My favorite card. Love the simplicity and the bit of embellishment. Link at bottom.

I’ve always wanted to send photo Christmas cards from Shutterfly (http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards). The first time I thought about it J and I were just dating and I thought it was a bit odd to send cards with both of us pictured and a bit odd to send just photos of myself. Then last year, we got on the ball. We dressed nicely for Thanksgiving and took some really cute photos outside my Nanny and Pa’s house. They looked great minus the white gutter against the red brick of their house. LOL. But I managed to Photoshop out the gutter and salvage the picture. Then I decided we were wearing Thanksgiving-y colors and I didn’t want a blue-orange-brown Christmas card. (I’m sure they would have made cute Thanksgiving calendar page. http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars)

So this year….our newly expanded family of me + J + the cute gray cat that adopted us have a photo shoot date set up. That date being the day I set up the tripod. LOL! Once we get the photo, I can’t wait to get to work on the cards from http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards.

 Link to the card shown above: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/christmas-2010-christmas-card-5x7-flat?fg=0&sortType=1&fa=2&storeNode=93496&fc=1 

I'm working on 50 free cards from Shutterfly for sharing on my blog and you can too: http://blog.shutterfly.com/5358/holiday2010-blog-submission-form/

30 Before 30!

 

I'm linking up with my new favorite blog, www.emyselfandi.com, for her 30 things to do before 30 post. I love this idea of having a list of things to do before a certain age. I'm not sure I'll be able to come up with 30 things tonight but seeing as a have several (somewhere between 6 and 8) years until I'm 30, I'll still have plenty of time to add to my list of things. 

1. I hate trying to come up with the first thing on the list. Yikes! #1 always seems to mean the most important. I guess the most important would be to have a summer packed full of fun the year I turn thirty. I realized in typing this list that I will turn 30 in June and then celebrate my 10th wedding anniversary in August of the same year. I think that is super cool and requires some super fun plans that summer. I'll let you know when I decide what those plans might be (in a few years)!

2. Go on a cruise with Mom. Hopefully that will happen in the coming summer! Woohoo!

3. Lose 15 pounds. I should really get busy with this one NOW!

4. Get a full time job as an elementary school teacher. Come on, Economy! I'm ready and willing to work!

5. Pick out and purchase a new (or at least new-to-me) SUV. 

6. Find an organization system for my photos, scrapbooks and stick with it and stay up to date. 

7. Learn how to apply eyeliner on myself. 

And now, I'm stuck. Since I have a number of years before 30 I'll keep adding to my list.

Until then, check out the blog, www.emyselfandi.com I've thoroughly enjoyed reading about E, her cute dog Addy and teaching high school. (I have a cute cat Tucker and want to teach little kids but somehow my blog isn't as much fun. Maybe I should update more?!?)

New Normal

What is normal, really?

It's been a busy, crazy week and another one is starting tomorrow.

I'm ready for the new normal to consist of : scarves, boots, pumpkin spice lattes, jeans, pumpkins, Dixie Stampede soup, a full time job, and spare change to spend on hobbies. And happiness for all. I'm not sure if my new normal will contain all of these but a girl can wish, right?

Photo Credit: http://www.wellsphere.com/weight-loss-article/how-starbucks-pumpkin-spice-latte-fits-in-your-diet/791459

The Most Wonderful 4 Letter = FALL!

Only one month until Fall! (Yes, I know Fall begins Sept. 22nd and it's only the 20th but the countdown thing I used online says it's 31 days until FALL!) Woohoo!


Side Note: Do you ever forget what lead size mechanical pencil you prefer? I do! Just got out two pencils to test out. And I can't decide. I like the way 7mm feels when writing but 5mm smears less. Ugh.

What's in your purse?

Back in April, Stacy Julian issued a What's in your purse? challenge. You were asked to take pictures of your purse and its contents. Yep, I did that - back in April. But I never did anything with the photos. Just snapped them and loaded them into Picasa.

So, fast forward to today. I'm in search of new blogs and decide to go through my list of followers on Twitter. I come to a blog "Peek at My Paper" and begin reading her posts. That's when I find her purse challenge posts except she goes on to talk about what the contents of her purse say about her. WOW! Why didn't I think of that?

Without further ado, here are my purse challenge photos and what I think the contents say about me.

1. I like pink! Purse, phone case, wallet, small spiral notebook, sticky notes, even my book!

2. I'm a paper person. I need to write my notes/lists on paper - no electronically stored lists. I have my grocery list in the notebook. Another list torn out of the notebook. A list of names and addresses for a wedding shower I was throwing. My Sunday School lesson plan.

3. I'm a bargain hunter! Several coupons and receipts are found in my purse.

4. I love Chic-fil-a! Their coupons are the best! Did you know that Chic-fil-a will accept expired coupons? Or that if the coupon is for a free grilled sandwich, you can trade it out for a different kind of sandwich? The Veggie Tales CD came in my kids meal from Chic.

5. I must have sunglasses & my cell phone! Those are my essentials!

6. My iPod, lip gloss, and book are just extras. I can do without them but must have sunglasses & cell phone!

7. I guess having my wallet and keys are pretty essential too.

8. The paw print shaped tag is from my cat's bed that I bought that day that he never sleeps in and the postcard is from the vet say that the cat was due for shots.

9. The ziploc bag is full of coins. I save my coins to feed my Starbucks habit. I try not to spend "crispy cash" as my favorite 2 year old twins call dollar bills on coffee.

10. The vial and nasal spray thing is my migraine medicine, Migranal. Works wonders!

11. Hissy Fit by Mary Kay Andrews is probably my favorite book ever! And that pink purse - probably my favorite purse ever too. I'd always wanted a colored, leather purse and this one fits my personality perfectly. I'm still carrying that same purse today and I rarely stick with one purse that long. My wallet is in my fav Vera Bradley pattern too, Mod Pink Floral. So sad that pattern's been discontinued.

12. That orange thing? It's a free sample of some magic cloth that I saw demo-d at the mall. It was pretty cool but not worth the $20 price tag to buy.


Here's a link to the blog post that inspired me to write this post: Peek At My Paper blog link

A few more photos just for fun:

The price you pay for FREE

I was lucky enough to receive a free Starbucks coupon. I decided I'd use it yesterday. It was hot outside, I felt a bit drab, and was hungry/thirsty.

I go to my Starbucks in Target and order a non-fat cafe vanilla frappuccino no whip. Here's where I should note that I normally order a non-fat vanilla bean frap with half coffee base no whip but lately that hasn't had enough of a coffee flavor.

I inhaled my frap as I browsed through every inch of Target. Ah, the joys of good coffee.

Fast forward 12 hours....yep, still wide awake at 1am. Why? I wonder as I lay in bed thinking of the upcoming fall season, plotting ways to obtain a career job, which Coach bag I'd buy if I had the money, thinking about my love of YellowBox flip flops, or how cute the tiny baby socks on the end cap at Target are that have the "3-6 months" label on the bottom in that non-skid stuff and trying to come up with a way to invite myself to a family-friend's mountain cabin again so I can sip coffee on the rocking chair porch overlooking the mountain view in my PJs each morning.

And that is when I realized it. COFFEE. My normal vanilla bean frap is only half coffee based...my new cafe vanilla frap = all coffee! Ugh. Thank you, my friend caffeine for keeping me up most of the night and thank you, my dear cat for waking me up 4 hours after I fell asleep.

I wonder if they can make my cafe vanilla decaf? Or half decaf-half regular?

So, the price for my free frappuccino  yesterday was about 4 hours of sleep.

Photo note: Taken in April of my favorite book, purse, and frapp at Starbucks.

Love-hate relationship with school supplies

I love school supplies...

...because there is something so fresh and new about starting a school year.
...because the notebooks and pens and organizers and planners are so colorful.
...because everything is empty - the notebooks are empty, the planners are empty, the pencil pouches are empty - all just waiting to be filled with possibility.
...because the hustle and bustle of the stores is fun - like Christmas except it's warm outside.
...because the deals are so good - 1 cent folders!


I hate school supplies...

...because this is the beginning of the first school year since I graduated from college and I should be stocking up on my supplies for my own elementary classroom - but I'm jobless.
...because my husband is stocking up on school supplies for his classroom and sometimes I'm just plain jealous. Please forgive me.
...because if I had lots of money I'd still stock up on school supplies for when I do get a classroom.
...because it's hard to justify spending $20 on a cute planner that won't get used because I'm jobless.


The rest of my story

The rest of my story would probably be beneficial to know and might explain more as to why I'm in such a love-hate limbo over school supplies but I feel it's best not shared right now. Maybe soon. Maybe not.

As a side note: I visited every school-supply-selling-store in my immediate area this afternoon to entertain myself. Found lots of great stuff. Should have snapped cellphone pics to share but I didn't. (I've been doing that a lot lately...taking cell pics of anything that I want to buy but can't justify the cost of)

So, I went into Staples then Target and then Office Max (went to Walmart a few days ago) and I was shocked. I've always been a loyal Staples fan but Office Max blew me away. Lots of cool stuff. Lots of neat planners. Lots of just pretty colors. Ugh. I did not need to find a new store.

Singing to my Heart

Our church is running their revival services every morning and evening this week. Last night, this lovely young man sang this song. I was so moved! After getting home with a yucky headache I was so of disappointed that I didn't know if I could find a version of the song online to listen to again.

Well, the headache was gone this morning and I set off to googling and found the song. "God's Been Good" sung by the Legacy Five. I've downloaded this and a few others from iTunes already. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.  

Off to get ready for tonight's service now. Busy busy around here. Will be back with more blog soon.