My 2015 Goals

It's time to talk change. Self-improvement. Growth. You know, all that stuff that we humans loathe to do. I, myself, am a highly self-motivated person. When I set a goal, I work hard to get there. As such, I thought before I laid out my 2015 goals that we would see how I did on last year's goals.

My first goal was to run a 10k. Accomplished! I ran my first 10k in August. It was extremely hilly and my time wasn't the best, but I did it.

Me and the hubby at the Cincinnati Beer Run in May 2014.

Lately: 10/3/13

Haloti chased this poor little groundhog up into a tree at our house yesterday, around 3 pm. The poor little groundhog was so scared, he didn't come down until the middle of the night. I kept checking on him all afternoon yesterday, but he didn't move a muscle. He sat like this all day yesterday. I'm happy to say that when I went to check on him this morning, he was gone. Thank goodness. I was having nightmares of trying to get him down after Googling "getting a groundhog out of a tree video". Watch the video. So glad we don't have to do that :)

Retail Value: $127.10
Paid: $45.30
Savings: 64%

Crispy Chicken BLT Salad.

The hubby got me some gorgeous fall flowers last week.

The vacuum scares the beejeezus out of Gizmo. Somehow, he managed to score a ride-along to stay safe from that evil, noisy machine.

Made a batch of lunch burritos to freeze for the hubby.

Fall is upon us, and in this house that means breaking out the heating pad for the pups to share.

Haloti stays true to his namesake, and supports those Duckies!

My shirt for Huntington's Path to the Cure.

After putting in 3 miles on a sunny fall morning last week.

Spaghetti with Toasted Breadcrumbs, Swiss Chard, and Poached Eggs.

One day closer to the weekend! Happy Thursday everyone!

Donating To the Women's Shelter

Last Wednesday, I finally got everything organized enough to drop it off at the shelter. Truth be told, it was really just load after load of laundry. The finished product ended up being quite the haul, and included:

28 tank tops
43 long/short sleeve tees
34 sweaters/sweatshirts
20 pairs of pants/shorts/skirts
5 dresses
15 pairs of shoes
13 bottles of shampoo
14 bottles of conditioner
6 boxes of tampons
7 bottles of mouthwash
15 tubes of toothpaste
4 cans of hairspray
19 razors
8 deodorants
14 bottles of body wash
11 bottles of lotion
5 cans of shaving cream
17 sticks of lip balm

Whew! The lady who met me at the shelter was flabbergasted. She asked me if I'd held a fundraiser to gather the items. Nope, I told her, just my stuff and couponing pickups. She told me that a lot of people don't donate because they think they don't have enough to give to make a difference, and that couldn't be a bigger misconception. Everything little bit helps, she told me. She also told me that they are always collecting the following:

-women's clothing and shoes
-children's clothing and shoes
-children's toys
-personal items: shampoo, conditioner, oral hygiene products, deodorant, razors, etc.
-household items: cleaners, paper products
-food: canned goods and non-perishable items

So, to sum up. I cleared out space in the basement. I thinned out my stockpile. I donated items to women who can really use them. I will receive a tax deduction for my donation. It's a win-win-win-win situation.

I'm looking forward to growing my next 2 projects for charity. This week, I was able to add dental products, baby wipes, chicken noodle soup, and cat litter to my homeless shelter and animal shelter donation piles. This train is chugging along!

I hope everyone's having a great week, happy Hump Day!

Shifting Gears

Retail Value: $136.14.
Paid: $30.39
Saved: 78%

This couponer has come to that point in their life when their stockpile is good enough. Or rather, enough is enough. I have more shampoo than I could use in the next couple of years, enough chap stick to give 20 of my closest friends 5 of their own sticks, and toothpaste really seems to be spontaneously regenerating itself. For all my ideas about making beauty baskets for people for Christmas and just giving out items here and there, I'm just not using enough of what I've stocked. I've decided it's time to use my powers for good. Couponing for charity! I love couponing, I love to shop, and I like to help people. I cleared out my stockpile, and I'm donating the bulk of it to our local women's shelter. I also decided that since I'm going to be there anyway, I might as well take all my old clothes and shoes while I'm at it.

What I've got going to the shelter tomorrow- 3 large tubs of clothes, 1 large tub of shoes, and 1 large tub chock full of shampoo, conditioner, body wash, lotion, razors, deodorant, etc. There's at least 20 warm sweaters in those tubs (among the plethora of other clothing items), I'm hoping they go to good use this winter.

I'm starting 2 other projects as well. A donation for my local animal shelter and a donation for my local homeless shelter.

I'm starting small on these next 2 projects, but everyone's got to start somewhere. I'm hoping to have sizable donations to make in December. How am I doing this? Just using my coupons to pick up free, or close-to-free items.

I'm excited to start some new projects. Here's hoping my pictures of my final donations in December knock everyone's socks off!

Lately-ish

Haloti looks crazy!

I was at the self-checkout at Walmart, attempting to run my debit card. Apparently, their machines were having trouble. The terminal didn't take my card the first, or second time, but it did print out this "receipt" when it rejected my card the 2nd time. I took this to the cashier to see what I needed to do. The cashier looked at this for 1 second and then snapped at me that this was a receipt, I was fine to go. I just kind of shook my head as I left. Sure enough, this purchase never hit my bank account. Maybe the cashier should have taken 2 seconds to listen to me. 

Wild turkeys!

Seared Pork Chops and Roasted Baby Carrots with a Mustard-Pan Sauce.

This is inevitably what happens when I try to work out at home.

This is what happens when I ignore him when I'm trying to work out :)

Grilled Lamb Chops.

Siri is apparently an Oregon State fan.  This is the answer you get when you ask her what her favorite college football team is.

Coupon Haul 8/18/13: Spent $22.08 on $93.69 worth of product.

Coupon Haul 8/24/13: Spent $19.71 on $97.59 worth of product.

Coupon Haul 9/1/13: Spent $20.08 on $72.33 worth of product.

Hair freshly colored!

Making chocolate chip cookies for the hubby, watching football. It's starting to feel like fall!

Why I Coupon

Combos, Playtex Tampons, Brawny Paper Towels, Finesse Shampoo and Conditioner, Lady SpeedStick, Sally Hansen Insta-Dry and Complete Salon Manicure, M&M's, Reese's Mini's, Softsoap Hand Soap, Irish Spring Body Wash, Softsoap Body Wash.

I thought instead of the usual weekly breakdown on my haul, I would use this opportunity to talk about why I still coupon. Some people I encounter give me that "Girl, you crazy" look when I tell them I coupon. There was a time when the hubby and I had to coupon. When we first moved to Kentucky, we had some serious budgetary issues and money had to be saved. Now that the hubby has a great job, I think people assumed I would stop couponing. Nope.

I had some minor complications with my haul this weekend, and I was seriously bent out of shape. First of all, I was seriously disorganized. I hadn't cleaned out my binders or cut up my coupons from last week. I put my list together hastily. At Rite Aid, my coupons had expired the day before. At CVS, I made a math error when putting my list together. I tend to be one of those people who gets seriously bothered when things don't go perfectly. Which is often in life. So after the drug stores, I was feeling crummy and inadequate. I was still feeling bummed about my haul until this morning, when I sat down to crunch some numbers on the haul.

For this week's haul, I paid $27.73. The total value of the products was $78.29, which means the total percentage of savings on my haul was 65%. That's really not that bad, and not an unrealistic percentage of savings. Unbeknownst to you all, I buy a lot more when I shop than what I picture. What I picture are items that I bought with coupons. It's rare to get coupons for fresh veggies and fresh meat, and veggies are the bulk of what I buy at the grocery store. Another fact that I don't talk about- my weekly maximum budget is $100. I almost always try to spend less than that, because any money leftover in my budget goes into the coupon savings account. I also transfer any money saved from coupons and/or sales into my coupon savings account. Most stores will list on their receipt how much money you saved with sales and coupons. So, as an example, I spent $83.16 last week. I got to transfer $16.84 plus the $69.70 that I saved with coupons/sales into my savings account. For a crummy week, that's still a good amount of money. It all adds up.

To put all this in perspective, let's go back in time about 7 years. I was working crazy hours, I was at work more than I was home. I didn't do any kind of sales planning. I just made a quick list of meals I would make for the week, and then buy what I needed. Willy nilly. Most weeks, I spent $150-$175 on groceries. For 2 people! I want to bawl like a baby sometimes, when I think about all the money I threw away. And that didn't even include my personal items for the month (shampoo, conditioner, makeup, etc.). If you add up all that money over a year- that's about $7200 in groceries. Not to mention, another probably $100 a month for cosmetics ($1200 a year!). That's $8400. Yowsa. If you took what I spent this week (and said I spent that every week) that would be $3,991.68. That's a serious, serious difference. A $4,408.32 difference, to be exact. So, it really wasn't that bad of a week after all.

The hubby and I have benefitted greatly from couponing. Since starting a savings account to keep track of our savings last year, we were able to make such a large down payment on our brand new appliances that we are making our last payment on those next month! We've also been able to build our couponing account back up to over $2000 already. We are hoping to pay cash to fence in our backyard next summer, and I think that goal is completely do-able.

So for me, the whole couponing thing is not about getting a lot of junk for free. It's not even about being a cheapskate. It all comes down to good common sense. I used to fork over that $4,408.32 that I now save to stores. These days, I keep it for myself.

August's First Haul

St. Ives Apricot Scrub, Vaseline Spray & Go, Bounty Paper Towels, Downy, Skittles, Starburst, Revlon Nail Polish, Scuunci Elastics, Colgate Toothbrushes.

I've been bad lately when it comes to couponing. I've been keeping up (but barely), and I haven't been super-excited by the sales all summer, so my hauls have been very small. And uninspiring, as you can tell from the frequency of which I've been posting about them. I was in dire need of fabric softener this week however, so that motivated me to find other sales. You know, since I would be at the store anyway. In the end, I'm glad I sucked it up, and schlepped out to the store. My find of the day that had me very excited? Free Skittles and Starburst at Kroger! I love me some freebies :) Here's the breakdown for the week:

CVS:

Colgate Toothbrushes, 2 for $5.98 (Buy 2, Receive $2 in ECB's)

-used (2) $1 off any Colgate toothbrush coupons

Revlon Nail Polish, $4.99 (Buy 1, Receive $3 in ECB's)

-used (2) $1 off any Revlon Color Cosmetic coupons

-Used $4.50 in ECB's, paid $7.46 out of pocket, and made $8 in ECB's.

Rite Aid:

Scuunci Hair Elastics, $2.99 (Buy 1, Receive $2 in UP's)

St. Ives Apricot Scrub, $4.49 (Buy 1, Get 1 50% Off and Buy 2, Receive $2 in UP's)

-used (2) $0.75 off St. Ives Apricot Scrub

Vaseline Spray and Go Moisturizer, $5.99 (Buy 1, Receive $2 in UP's)

-used a $1 off Vaseline Spray and Go Moisturizer coupon

-Used $4 in UP's, paid $9.21 out of pocket, and made $6 in UP's.

Kroger:

Starburst and Skittles, 2 for $1

-used (4) $0.50 off 2 Starburst or Skittle packs (doubled to $1- free!)

Bounty Paper Towels, $5.99

-used a $1 off Bounty DuraTowels coupon

Downy Fabric Softener, $3.99

-used a $3 off 3 Downy products coupon, and a $1 off Downy Kroger e-coupon.

-Paid $12.96

Total Spent- $29.63 on 82.40 worth of product. Savings of 64%.

I hope everyone had a great weekend! :)

A Long Weekend, a Stomach Virus, and a Coupon Haul

Downy Fabric Softener, Puff's, Bounty Basic, Secret Clinical Deodorant, SoftSoap Body Wash, Crest Toothpaste, Covergirl Jumbo Pencil Lip Balm, Dawn Dish Soap

Oh, goodness. It's been a hell of a last couple of days. On Friday (of our long 4th of July weekend) the hubby came down with a stomach virus. He was better by Monday, however, the evilness hit me on Sunday night. I was in the middle of making dinner, when I got very, very light-headed. I went to lay down, and within 2 hours, I was throwing up. Among other things... Here it is Wednesday, and I've woken up extremely disappointed that I'm still sick, and seemed to have developed a sore throat. Argh. The debilitating part of this virus is that's taxing to be on your feet for more than a couple of minutes without getting light-headed. I'm super annoyed, I've got lots to do around here. I haven't cooked or baked at all this week, the blog has been neglected,  the house needs to be vacuumed, muscles need to be worked out, etc.

Luckily, I was able to complete the grocery shopping and couponing for the week on Sunday before I got sick. Unfortunately, I just haven't had the energy to open my computer and use those little click-y, buttons to type actual English words. I've got a small list of goals to try and accomplish today, blogging being numero uno on that list. I actually had a good haul this week. My stockpile was running perilously low on fabric softener, dish soap, those little kleenex boxes for the bathroom, and paper towels. So, as you can see, this was a much needed haul. Here's the breakdown for this week:

CVS

*All items purchased under "Buy $30, Receive $10 in ECB's" promotional event.*

Dawn Dishsoap, $0.97
-used (4) $0.25 off any Dawn product
SoftSoap Body Wash, $2.99
-used a $2 off SoftSoap Body Wash CVS store coupon
Covergirl Jumbo Lip Balm Pencils, $9.29 (Buy 1, Get 1 50% Off)
-used a $4 off 2 Covergirl Lip Products coupon
Secret Clinical Deodorant, $9.99 (Buy 1, Get 1 50% Off)
-used a $5 off 2 Secret Clinical Deodorants coupons, and a $2.50 off a $12 Deodorant Purchase CVS store coupon

*Also used my $5 Beauty Bucks reward, and $2 Spring Spending Reward*

-used $10 in ECB's from last week, paid $4.28 out of pocket, and made $10 in ECB's.

Rite Aid

*All items purchased under "Buy $30, Receive $10 in UP's" promotional event.*

Bounty Basic, $0.99
-used (4) $0.25 off any Bounty product coupons
Puffs, $0.99
-used (2) $0.25 off 3 Puff's small boxes coupons
Downy, $3.99
-used a $3 off 3 Downy products coupon
Crest, $5.79 (Buy 1, Get 1 50% off)
-used (2) $0.75 off any Crest toothpaste coupon

-used $5 in UP's from last week, paid $20.54 out of pocket, and made $10 in UP's.

Total Spent- $24.82 on $102.23 worth of product. Savings of 76%.

Happy Hump-Day Everyone!

Tuesday Tidings

Time: 9:07 am

Weather outside: 73º and sunny, with a high of 91º. Humidity- 83% right now, at 9 am. Translation- it's going to be disgusting out at the height of the day.

On my desk: Numerous US Weekly's, World War Z, and Deadlocked. I'm behind on my reading, but I'm currently trying to catch up. I finished that cheerleading book, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay last week!

On my nightstand: Right now? Nothing, except an empty bottle of water. But tonight? You might find World War Z there, I'm a couple of chapters in. 

On my DVR: Game of Thrones! Holy cow, the hubby and I just watched "The Red Wedding" last night, and let me tell you, I think I'm still processing it. I'm walking around in shock. I can't believe it. The hubby and I are watching the season finale tonight, what else are they going to throw at us this season???

In my ears: The Today show.

In my garden: Currently waiting on basil and cilantro!

In the oven: Nothing yet, but I've got all the fixings to retry making cheesecake. It will happen this week.

In my tummy: Kashi's Go Lean Cinnamon Crisp cereal with banana slices and almond milk. My favorite breakfast. I've tried other breakfasts, but I find I actually miss this breakfast. It's just not worth skipping for me :)

In my future: Working out. Laundry. I'm behind on couponing by about a month, really need to that. Possibly baking. Making something yummy for dinner. Reading World War Z. My life is hard, huh? LOL.

On tap for dinner: Beer Braised Chicken Taco with Cabbage Apple Slaw. So good. 

Latest obsession: Homemade Samoas!

On my mind: I need to get some chicken defrosting. I need to set out some butter and eggs to come to room temperature. The dogs want to go for a walk. I really need to start the laundry. The house needs to be vacuumed. All these things can wait because this cup of coffee is so damn good!

Couponing Haul: 6/16/13

All Laundry Detergent, Colgate Mouthwash, Maybelline Nail Polish, Covergirl Eyeshadow Pencil and Nail Polish, Dentyne Gum. Sorry, you can tell the sun was super bright that day on the one side of my picture!

The hubby was in desperate need of Powerade, so we took advantage of the low(er) price at Kroger.

Hillshire Farm's Smoked Sausage for $0.68 at Kroger! Smoked sausage is nice to have on hand for cookouts, soups, breakfasts, etc. We don't eat a lot of it (not so healthy), so these should last me quite a while.

 I'm back with a couponing update! It's been awhile since the hubby and I have done a couponing haul. We had about a month there where all of our extra dollars (down to the last penny) were being spent on the yard. C'est la vie. Plus, the sales have sucked the last couple of weeks. Now that my stockpile is built up, I'm not going to pay just anything for certain products. I wait until the sale is really good, then I pounce. My stockpile is low on dishwasher soap, fabric softener, canned tomatoes, canned green beans and corn, and canned beans. I keep watching for a sale on any of these items, but to no avail the last couple of weeks. I'll be there, lurking in the shadows, waiting for my prey... Ok, I know I'm a weirdo, so here's the breakdown for the week:

CVS

Colgate Mouthwash, $5.79 (Spend $10 on Colgate, Receive $5 in ECB's)
-used (2) $2 off Colgate Mouthwash coupons
Covergirl Nail Polish, $6.29
Covergirl Eyeshadow Pencil, $7.79 (Spend $10 on Covergirl, Receive $3 in ECB's)
-used a $3 off 2 Covergirl products coupon
Maybelline Nail Polish, $4.19
-used (2) $1 off Maybelline Nail Polish coupons, a $2 off Maybelline Cosmetics CVS store coupon, and a $1 off Maybelline Cosmetics CVS store coupon.

*Used a $5 off a $30 purchase CVS store coupon

-Used $14 in ECB's from last week, paid $3.04 out of pocket, and made $8 in ECB's.

Rite Aid

Colgate Mouthwash, $5.99 (Buy 1, Receive $3 in UP's)
-used a $2 off Colgate Mouthwash coupon
Dentyne Gum, 2 for $2 (Buy 2, Receive $1 in UP's)
-used (3) Buy 2, Get $1 off Dentyne Gum coupons

-used $4 in UP's from last week, paid $2.79 out of pocket, and made $6 in UP's.

Kroger

Hillshire Farms Smoked Sausage, $1.68
-used (3) $1 off Hillshire Farms Smoked Sausage coupons
Powerade, $0.79
All Laundry Detergent, $2.99
-used (3) $1 off All coupons

-Paid $23.81

Total Spent- $29.64 on $103.35 worth of product. Savings of 71%.

A good week, if I do say so myself. Happy Hump Day everyone!

Coupon Haul: 5/12/13

Pantene Shampoo, Kashi Go Lean Cereal, Crest Toothpaste, Pantene Conditioner, Venus Razors,  Mentos UP2U Gum, Physician's Formula Eyeliner and Lipgloss, Revlon PhotoReady Primer.

I've been busy, busy, busy. Not with anything particularly important, its just that the hubby had the last 4 days off. We had a very lazy weekend, watched movies, ate indulgently, and drank even more indulgently. To say I'm feeling sluggish today would be an understatement. Ugh.

I did have a very good weekend couponing. I got some expensive product for very little dinero. I don't know if Kroger has changed their coupon policy lately, but I'm noticing e-coupons go through even when I have a manufacturer coupon. It's very strange, it means I got a few things for free! I went with it. I also completely ran out of my primer, I was so lucky to find a good deal on it. Here's my breakdown for the week:

CVS-

Revlon PhotoReady Primer, $13.29 (Buy 1, Get 1 50% Off)
-used (2) $2 off Revlon Face Products manufacturer coupon, a $3 off any $10 Revlon purchase CVS store coupon, and a $3 off any $12 makeup purchase CVS store coupon.
Mentos UP2U gum, $1.57

-used $10 in ECB's from last week, paid $1.50 out of pocket, and received $5 in ECB's from the Magic Coupon Machine.

Rite Aid-

*Physician's Formula Cosmetics- Spend $15, Receive $10 in UP's*

Physician's Formula pH balanced lip gloss, $6.96
Physician's Forumla Felt-Tip Marker eyeliner, $9.95

-used $10 in UP's from last week, paid $6.91 out of pocket, and made $10 in UP's.

Kroger-

Venus Disposable Razors, $5.99
-used a Buy 1, Get 1 Free Venus disposable razors coupon
Pantene Shampoo and Conditioner, $2.59
-used a $3 off 2 Pantene manufacturer coupon, and a $3 off 2 Pantene e-coupon (free!)
Crest Toothpaste, $1.99
-used a $1 off Crest manufacturer coupon, and a $1 off Crest e-coupon (free!)

-paid $5.99

Total Spent- $14.40 on $75.20 worth of product. Savings of 81%.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Weekend Wrap-Up: Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo is one of my most favorite holidays. Mexican food is beloved by me, I look for any excuse to make it, eat it, drink it... Margaritas= amazing! My plan to make chicken enchiladas was derailed last night (by Kroger, those rat finks), but I made Mexican-inspired rice, as well as a Mexican-inspired salad. I will be making enchiladas in the near future however, now that I've got enchiladas on the brain.

The hubby worked quite hard in the yard this weekend. He put in underground pipes to funnel water away from the house. This turned out to be quite a laborious task as he had to rent a trencher, dig trenches for the pipes, and then shovel dirt on top of the trenches. Mission accomplished on the pipes! He was also able to sprinkle grass seed on the side yard, and cover it with straw. We are on our way to having a mud-free yard!

Gizmo watched intently from his watch post, whining every so often because he could see the hubby right in front of him, he just couldn't get to him.

Reunited at last!

I did some small, indulgent couponing deals this week. I picked this up at CVS for a grand total of $3.99. Pretty good for a $30 product! It's going straight to the top of my "testing" pile :)

I got a ton of nail polish at Rite Aid for a total out-of-pocket expense of... $2.74. I really love these Covergirl nail polishes right now. The brush is easy to use, the formulas are easy to use, they have a wide variety of colors, and the polish is pretty chip-resistent. I can't wait to try the glittery taupe I bought!

These Sally Hansens' were also included in my Rite Aid haul. I'm excited to try all the shades.

So, how did Kroger ruin my Cinco de Mayo dinner? Their rotisserie chickens (I was going to shred the meat, and put it in my enchiladas) looked like crap. Total crap. I couldn't bring myself to pay for what looked like tiny, roasted hamsters. I was steamed. I picked up a fresh chicken, and decided to try my hand again at roasting a chicken.

I finally got it right. 4th time. Phew. The hubby said it was by far the best chicken I'd ever cooked. Anyways, by the time the chicken was done roasting, it was too late to go through the whole dog-and-pony show of making enchilada sauce, making the filling, stuffing tortillas, and baking the whole she-bang.

But, at least the chicken was stellar :)

It made for some delicious-smelling homemade chicken broth.

Starting Monday off on the right note. The hubby is out of town all week in Nashville, so Mama is cooking for 1. Started off the day with an egg white scramble with peppers and onions, a smidge of mozzarella cheese, and a smattering of salsa. With strawberries on the side, of course. So good!

I'm off to do some cleaning, laundry, and then make big batches of Quinoa Taco Salad (lunches this week) and Vegetable Soup with Pasta and Kale (dinners this week).

I hope everyone had a fantastic Cinco de Mayo!