Couponing with Mom

Mom and I managed to get a little couponing in while she was here. Publix had some great deals in time for Easter that we just HAD to take advantage of. So here it is.......drum roll please!

We spent $43.16 and saved $68.54 which is a savings of 61%!

Our haul included 2 boxes of Special K granola for $1 each (we are on a granola kick right now), 3 boxes of Wheat Thins Stix (54 cents each), a couple of boxes of Crackerfuls for 9 cents each, brownie mix for 30 cents, bacon for $2.50, 2 jars of Hellman's Mayo for less than $2 each, 2 bags of shredded cheese for $1 each, and 3 packages of Folgers Coffee bricks (11.3oz) for $4, and a few other things.  

Mom has just started on her couponing endeavors and I am thinking that once she starts summer vacation, she will have a lot more time to devote to it and I will be completely jealous of her receipts!

Once in a Generation

A once in a generation tornado outbreak.  That is the phrase I heard on the radio this morning on my way into work.  That is a pretty bold statement, but after seeing the pictures of the devastation and destruction this morning I believe it.  Last night (and yesterday evening) several massive tornadoes ripped through the state of Alabama, leaving paths of destruction in their wakes.  We were very lucky.  One of the tornadoes came through Elmore County (where we live), and tore through several communities that are 10-15 miles from our home in Tallassee, but thankfully they STAYED 10-15 miles away from us and we did not have any damage that I could see this morning.

There are certain events that occur that you never forget in your lifetime. For example, I remember exactly where I was when Mark McGuire broke the Hank Aaron's home run record (my family was driving across the Hernando DeSoto Bridge from Arkansas back into Memphis), and I am sure every American remembers where they were when they heard the news about 9/11.  I vividly remember sitting in my AP US History class watching the Twin Towers fall, feeling numb.  Last night's tornadoes will likely join that category for me.  As I was watching the 5:00 News, they broke in with live video of a massive tornado tearing through the heart of Tuscaloosa.  It was like a movie.  It just kept coming toward the camera for several minutes before the news station in Tuscaloosa lost power. Then an hour later during the 6:00 News, the same tornado--that never went back up into the clouds--was bearing down on Birmingham.  You could tell that even the newscasters were not sure what to make of the situation.  I don't know if it was because I was in the Tuscaloosa area a week ago for  site visits for work, but all I could think was that I was just there in those places, and I hope everyone is ok.  One of the offices I was at was near one of the hardest hit areas in Tuscaloosa.  Thankfully I heard from the people I work with in those areas this morning. It gave me a sense of relief but it also shook me up a bit. It is one thing to hear about devastation on tv, but it is another thing to talk to a person you know on the phone who is going to look for loved ones they have not heard from yet who lived in neighborhoods that were completely leveled.  I mean, what do you say to someone who is telling you this on the phone???

My thoughts and prayers are with those who suffered a loss in yesterday's storms.

A Day at the Links

We had a wonderful visit with my parents this weekend.  They came down for Easter and we had a GREAT time!  We did everything we could outside so that we could send them back up north with suntans and make all of their friends jealous.

Eric and Dad went golfing on Sunday afternoon and invited Mom and I to tag along.  We were a bit reluctant at first but ended up having a great time.  They boys event got us our OWN golf cart which we were very responsible with.  I brought along my camera (of course) to get some pics of the fun!

Not so sure about this.....

Dad with his second shot.

 Eric was swinging for the fence.

OK, we ARE having fun!

I even got my golf on.  I promise I made this shot...LOL.

So Mom and I only made it 9 holes but it was fun.  I got some great nature shots (another post for a another day).

Down on the River

It's no secret that one of Eric's favorite things to do is fish.  Just one quick look in our freezer and you can see the evidence.

I grew up going to my grandparents' lake house where we spent all of our time skiing and tubing, but rarely fished. So when Eric and I started dating fishing was something that I had to get used to it very quickly.  It did not take me long to determine that I would enjoy myself much more lounging on the boat reading a good book or a magazine while Eric took care of the fishing.  I soon also realized how peaceful it was out on the water, especially on the river (The Tallapoosa River) that runs through town.  Because the river is so shallow in parts, there are not a lot of boats that run up and down at certain places.  You can spend an entire day on the river and not see another boat.  The only issue I have ever had with it is that the water is SOOOOO COLD. I am talking 65 degrees in the middle of July and August.  It never gets warm.  When the water is down it is no biggie because there are several sand bars along the way, but when the water is up, you are stuck in the boat.

This summer should be different with the addition of "the river lot" AKA "Friendly Cotton."  It is a lot on the river that my BIL now has and he and Eric (and others) have been busy the past few weeks building a new deck, along with access to the river.  It is great! It has a gorgeous view and sooo much privacy.  We were there for 5 hours on Sunday and did not see a soul drive by in a boat.  There is more work to be done, but we were able to enjoy some burgers and hot dogs cooked on the grill and spent some time laying out this weekend.  I realized that all I have are pictures of the view and none of the deck.....I will work on that.

The view from the deck:

The tree behind the deck:

This is just a random shot I got when I was playing around with my camera:

Honeysuckle near the deck:

Staying Cool

I had the boys outside with me yesterday afternoon while I was making my daily rounds in my flower beds, picking weeds.  It was absolutely beautiful--low 80's, nice breeze.  Needless to say I was taking my time.

Apparently it was a little too warm for our oh-so-spoiled puppies.  Don't worry!  They found creative ways to keep cool.....

Peanut got creative and  found a nice cool spot in a puddle created by the drain that comes out of the back of the ice machine in our shed. He is laying in a little river of ice cold water in the shade.

Hawk took the more obvious route and cooled off with a dip in the pool.  I am pretty convinced he believes the pool is there for his own private use whenever he gets hot.  We have trained him to go in and out of the pool via the steps (so he won't tear the liner).  It is still a little cool for human use, but for a large puppy dog it's perfect!

Paper Flowers

A co-worker showed me a new card-marking idea at work this week (one one of the few days I was actually in the office and not off doing site visits this week).  I think it is really cute and I can't wait to use it on a card.  I put a couple together today just to see exactly how to make them and it was fairly simple.  I did have to make a trip to Michael's when I was in Montgomery this morning to get some large brads (all I had were small ones), but I already had everything else in my crafting arsenal.  So here is the finished product:

Cute right?

What you need to make one:

double sided scrapbook paper (one sheet is more than enough)

scrap card stock (enough to punch one circle with your hole punch)

large circle hole punch (I used a 1.75" diameter punch and ended up with a 3.5" flower)

double sided tape

large colorful brad (big enough to cover where the points of the circles meet)

How to assemble:

1. Punch a 6 circles in your double sided scrapbook paper and 1 circle in your scrap card stock.

2. Fold one edge of one of the double sided scrapbook paper between .25" and .5"

3. Fold adjacent edge the same distance making a point with the other edge.

          *You will end up with a triangle that has one curved edge.

4. Mark the center of the scrap stock circle and place double sided tape around outer edge of circle.

5. Assemble folded circles on tape around center of scrap stock, with points toward the center.

          *You may need to adjust the folds to make all 6 circles fit without extra space or overlap when you to them together.

6. Stick brad in the center of the flower.

My BOC has arrived!

Ok I am not going to lie.  I was starting to get anxious to see what was in my BOC (Bag of Crap from Woot.com) .  And it finally came yesterday! So without further ado........

TADA!  My Bag of Crap!

It contained:

• A 2011 woot! calendar
• 2- 6" HDMI cables
• One crappy black and white reusable shopping bag
• a SuperFly Mini flying monkey key chain....yes it screeches!

All in all I would say a pretty crappy haul, but for $3 I can't be picky.  I have heard of other wooters getting much better stuff but I had heard of worse stuff.  My friend at work got  2 cedar grilling plank 6 packs, 3 baby bottle drying racks, the crappy bag and 4 pairs of earmuffs.  Not a bad haul if you ask me.  I am still waiting to hear what my brother got....

Plus I am very proud of my screeching monkey key chain...she is so cute!

Awesome Grocery Store Find = Awesome Dinner

A couple of weeks ago as I was perusing the aisles at Publix, I ran across a BOGO sign in the pasta aisle.  I stopped to check it out (of course) and it was the Bertolli Pasta Sauce brand.  I am quite a snob when it comes to spaghetti sauce since the only spaghetti sauce that tastes good to me is my mother's homemade sauce.  I occasionally buy already prepared sauce but only for ravioli or other non-spaghetti pasta dishes and ONLY if they are on sale.  As I was looking at the options, one jar caught my eye:

This stuff is fantastic!

Something in me said to buy it, so I did, and I am so glad I did.

We have been super busy the last couple of weeks and I have only cooked once, yes ONCE in the 2 weeks during which this jar has been in our fridge.  So last night I made the decision I was cooking and I was using the Vodka Sauce.  I just made the recipe up as I went, using all of the things in our fridge that I like (of course).  Here is my fabulous made-up recipe: (4 servings)

Ingredients
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1-2 cups balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing (for marinating)
6 garlic cloves, minced (I like garlic a lot)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
fresh herbs, chopped (I used basil, thyme and rosemary because that is what is in my garden)
1/2 sweet onion, chopped
1- 8oz container sliced mushrooms
1 box bow-tie pasta
1 jar Bertolli Vodka Sauce
mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions

• Marinate chicken in balsamic dressing and 2 minced garlic cloves for at least 1 hour (the longer it marinates, the better it tastes).
• Grill chicken until done.  I did ours outside because it was so pretty last night.
• Cook pasta and drain.  Set aside.  
• In a large skillet saute remaining garlic cloves, fresh herbs, chopped onion and mushrooms in Extra Virgin Olive Oil until mushrooms and onions are soft (5-10 mins).  While veggies are cooking cut chicken into strips or bites and add to veggie mixture. Pour entire jar of Bertolli Pasta Sauce into skillet and stir until veggies and chicken are coated and sauce has been heated. 
• Divide bow-tie pasta evenly among plates.  Do the same with the chicken, veggie, vodka sauce mixture.  Top with mozzarella cheese and microwave each plate 30 seconds (to melt the cheese) and serve immediately.

I did not get a picture of the finished product because we were both starving.  Eric and I both LOVED it we will definitely cook it again....just have to wait for another BOGO sale!

From the Garden....

Some roses that came from the rose bush in our yard...so pretty!

Couponing Success!

So TLC has a new show called Extreme Couponing that comes on Wednesday nights, so this week I decided to see what it was all about.  I must say I was a bit disturbed by the people they profiled.  In the 3 shows they aired, they profiled 8 couponers and in my opinion 7 of the 8 were borderline hoarders.  I understand the purpose of stocking up of cheap items, but why do you need to purchase 300 toothbrushes or 50 packets of cold cuts (won't they go bad?) or 77 bottles of mustard?  The one that was really nuts was a guy who bought 1,100 (yes 1,100) boxes of cereal.  He did get all 1,100 for $150.00 which is awesome, and he did donate them to his church's food bank, but 1,100 BOXES?!?!  Most of the people who were profiled had garages and other rooms of their homes that looked like mini-grocery stores.

However, aside from the massive quantities of groceries these people purchased I can honestly say I VERY impressed with their savings: $230 worth of groceries for $2.50, $1,900 worth of groceries for $100, $600 of groceries for $6. I can only aspire to do that well some day (but with a much more reasonable amount of groceries).

I was inspired by the show and decided I was going to try really hard this week with my grocery shopping.  I got all my coupons together and hit up Publix after work yesterday.  I am pleased to report I had my best shopping trip to date:

That's right.  I spent $20.98 and saved $46.38 (69% savings!), and no I did not buy a bunch of random stuff that we will never eat.  Some of the items I scored were several bags of frozen veggies, some granola (a new favorite of mine), a couple of boxes of cereal, some frozen pizzas (Freschetta), some pasta, toothpaste and some oh-so fabulous Jello Temptations for $.13 per 3 pack (if you have not tried these yet, you are missing out!).  Hopefully this will become a trend for me, I could get used to these kinds of savings!

Dinner Time!

We have been super busy the past couple of weeks and I realized yesterday that I have not cooked dinner in almost 2 weeks....yikes!  I felt like such a slacker!  I finally broke my non-cooking streak this evening with a recreation of a sandwich I had at Panera Bread this past weekend:  a steak and white cheddar panini.

from the Panera Bread website

Ingredients
bread (I used 5 grain Italian, the original sandwich is made with a soft baguette)
thinly sliced grilled sirloin steak
shredded white cheddar cheese
horseradish sauce
caramelized red onions

Directions
Assemble sandwich and press on a George Foreman Grill (or a fancy panini press if you have one).  If it were cooler I would have made some soup but I can't do soup when it is above 70 degrees outside so we substituted with chips.

Eric loved it, and I will definitely be adding this recipe to my recipe book.

Couponing

I have always loved a good deal and have been known to scour the clearance racks everywhere I go.  I guess I have been burned one too many time after buying something at full price and then seeing it discounted a few weeks later, so I have learned to be very strategic with my purchases.

I have gone to get a Sunday newspaper for the past year just to see what great deals I can get that week. Since the beginning of 2011 I have really gotten into couponing for my groceries.  At first it was a way for me to save money on groceries, but it has become more like a game for me.  Now every time I go into the grocery store I am looking back and forth between my coupons, my list, any deals that were not listed in the weekly ad.  Eric thought it was silly until he realized how much money I am saving us every month.  In January, I saved an average of 25% on all of our groceries, in February it was up to 37% and in March my savings was up to 44% on our groceries.  Keep in mind that I do not separate my couponing and non-couponing purchases, which is what a lot of extreme couponers do, so they can see their savings clearly.  Frankly I do not want to make multiple trips to the grocery store per week if I can help it--the only reason I want to go back is if there is a really great deal I missed!

Most of my coupons come in either the Sunday Newspaper or web sites like couponmom.com.  Since I work full time and don't have time to sit and match the ads up, I rely heavily on some awesome blogs to let me know what's on sale and which coupons to make sure I have.  My favorites are I Heart Publix and Hunt4Freebies.  They update throughout the day with great deals and freebies and most of their posts tell you what is on sale along with a link to find coupons for the items so you don't have to try to find them.  Although I have been known to google an item with the word coupon if I have a specific item in mind (hello $1 off Blue Belle Ice Cream when it was on sale for $3.99/gal @ Winn-Dixie one week and $4.50 @ Publix the next--needless to say Eric was a happy camper those weeks).

I am not quite on the level of the people on Extreme Couponing on TLC.  Although I am psyched to watch the series that starts this week to see how these people do it!

BOC for me!

I am very pleased to report that I today I acquired my very first "BOC" (Bag of Crap for those not familiar with woot.com jargon).  I have no idea what it will be but I can't wait to find out!

Woot is a 1 deal per day web site that has different items for sale each day at discounted prices. I always check it along with 1saleaday.com daily to see what kinds of deals I can get.   I have gotten 8G SD memory cards for $5, a digital meat thermometer for $15, a bluetooth headset for $20, LED flashlights for $3, Green Bags for produce (free), Ipod speakers for $5, a Margarator for $40, etc.  Woot.com occasionally has woot-offs where they have limited numbers of products so they continuously post them all day, which usually culminate with the holy grail of woot items.  The BOC.  It is always $3 plus $5 for S&H, but you can get anything from a few random items to a big screen tv.  Seriously.  Look it up on YouTube and you can find videos of people opening their BOCs.

So after 2 years of chasing the elusive BOC I now will have one of my own in the next week or so!

This BOC was a little different, since it was April Fool's Day (a perennial BOC day, along with Christmas) the characters at woot.com decided to come up with a game to play in order to qualify to get a BOC.  However, it apparently took wooters only 8 hours to come up with a cheat code that when entered repeatedly into your browser would take you to the purchase page.  As you can see it took me 73 tabs to get mine, but it was so worth it!