Happy Thanksgiving & Totals!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. I hope that you are reading this and enjoying your Thanksgiving day with friends and family. So I am done with the cooking prep, cleaned the house, and I am just waiting on the festivities to begin. I decided to add my receipt bag...yes I had a large grocery bag filled with my receipts. I am not where I thought I would be. I thought for sure I would be at least at 5000 saved but that is fine I haven't been as shopping "crazy" and saving as I would have liked but I am still using my coupons and saving money. But I have every bit of faith that this December and January I will save big time money in these 2 months. So for the months of September, October, November Total Retail $4932.47 Paid OOP $3053.77 Saved $2013.48 For a GRAND TOTAL savings so far since April when I started this $3794.94 saved just $6205.20 left until my goal of $10,000.00 saved!!!! That is basically saving $542.13 a month on average. I will take that! But I want to save more HAHA I am about to go open the Black Friday Ads. I have been holding them off until I finished this project of adding my receipts. My husband just gasped before when he saw a Best Buy ad with a 42 inch tv for 199.00 I have a feeling I know what he wants for Christmas but where would he put it he has a tv in every room! Happy Thanksgiving and be safe tonight if you are going out for some Black Friday shopping. Remember to tell the staff Thank you for all the hard work they put into this coming weekend. Many of them won't get to spend time with loved ones so we can get great deals. Michelle

Totals so far....

So I started a new job and it took a few weeks to get into my groove and to also keep up the momentum with the savings. I have kept shopping with coupons but I haven't been as diligent putting my receipts away. So I know that I am missing lots.

June
Paid 682.52
Retail 1121.90
SAVED 439.38 39% savings
But again this is missing quite a few receipts I am sure.

July
Paid 312.63 I know I spent way more so lots of receipts are missing
Retail 540.80
Saved 228.17 42% savings

August is a fun month already we have Super Doubles. So far for the first 10 days
Paid 267.13
Retail 512.68
Saved 245.55 47% Savings

I am back on track in the savings department and loving every minute of it still. I need to work on my stockpile. I am low on the following:
Pasta
Pasta Sauce
Veggies
Peanut Butter

We are pretty good on everything else so I am happy about that.

Gastric Bypass????

So when I started out years ago on my weight loss journey I thought of gastric bypass all the time. I went to a seminar and the Dr. was talking to me about lap band as I didn't have as much to lose and I was very scared of dying with Gastric Bypass. But when he heard I throw up easily he said no because the band might move when I throw up. So I got that idea out of my head. I have seen 3 friends have the surgery and each one is doing great. I used to think I need one more to do it and be fine and I will really consider it. Well I sent away for the paperwork from my insurance company. I would have to pay 150.00 copay to the Dr office and 150.00 co pay to the surgeon.....hello 300.00 total....I pay 480.00 well I would pay that to Weight Watchers if I stuck to it. But I just can't keep paying for a meeting that I get nothing out of. I don't like the leader at either meetings near us. We had a great leader when I lost the weight before. She moved away.....but I was with some moms and we were talking. It is crazy when you see someone physically fit and they say I will walk with you when you need to walk, I will push you when you can keep going I don't care about my time I care about you getting this weight off and keeping it off....it's crazy how much they care about me and don't want me to do the gastric bypass. So her husband wanted me to go to WW with him this am to weigh in. He just goes to weigh in I guess but I decided to ask a trainer at the gym to weigh me in weekly. It is cheaper and hell I value her feedback more vs. this lady who lost 20 lbs and is a WW Leader. Speak to me when you lost 100+ pounds and have walked in my shoes WW Leader! So they told me I need a support system and they offered to be that for me. I need it I never have been the type to say I need help. I always have been the type to say no I can do it even if it means I am up all night doing something that could easily have been done by 2 or 3 more people. So I accepted. It was nice to have that support because my husband really has no clue what I need in terms of support. So it is great having people cheer me on, scream at me to keep going, and knowing people believe in me that I can do this when lately I haven't been so sure myself.

I have the gastric bypass precertification papers in the mail to me. I am going to look them over and start the process and make a decision at a later date but at least I have them in case.

So WW Points Plus is what I am doing for nutrition. I am going to speak to a nutritionist as well. I want them to see what I am eating on WW and make sure that I am doing this the right way. Plus my exercise.....I have been beating myself up trying to do so much in the gym and if I go off course I feel bad and skip the gym. Well I realized today don't set any goals for a specific class or set time in the gym....JUST GO FOR 1 HOUR A DAY. If I have time for more great but if not 1 hour a day is going to do wonders for me mentally and physically I am sure.

I have been in a funk lately but I feel like things are coming together. I looked at myself in these past few weeks like what is wrong with me? Why did I put this weight back on? Why am I not at goal? Where did I stear off course and stop looking for the light at the end of the tunnel? I know that a setback isn't going to derail my desire to be healthy and skinny it is just a part of the journey. Maybe my journey will be years long who knows. All I know is that I need to be able to look back and say I did my best and show my kids that I tried my hardest.

So as I work towards that 100 lbs gone this year I am well on my way to the 10,000.00 in a year. I had a great month last month and I will post that update later tomorrow. I need to add up all my receipts!

Happy Tuesday Y'all!

The last 2 days

Ok I did pretty good on the 800 calories but I think I got more to 1000. LOL I am ok with that as I think 800 is a bit low. The 1000 I would say came from these 2 pretzels Erik made. I ate 2 of them and they were 120 calories. But I ate them at 9 at night and I was mad I ate after 6pm. So I am going to work on not eating after 6. This am I got up at 445 for the gym. I wanted to do Body Pump but I fell back asleep for a few minutes work up at 506 and realized I won't make the 515 class. But I was up and wanted to work out. I drove to the gym the sun was coming up and I said forget the gym I am going to walk the track. I walked 2 miles and came home. I wasn't sure what time it was at that point and it was very bright out. I knew I had to be home to get the kids at 730.
I stayed in work out mode and went back to the gym at 930 for Step class. This class is challenging to me because of all the choreography but I am sure it will get easier. So in class the room was so hot I was sweating like a beast I thought I was going to pass out. The instructor actually came back and asked me if it was all sweat LOL. I made it thru class and was so proud. Facebook is a great motivator because I posted about it staying in the gym for 5 days straight and 2 of my friends commented on it and how glad they were to see me. Day 1 down!
Tomorrow I will walk again since I know the sun comes up so early I like that vs. being inside the gym. I might even start the training for the marathon tomorrow I was going to wait until June 1st. But who knows maybe it will help. But I doubt it LMBO didn't help when I started training for the half. Tomorrow is Body Combat and Body Pump can't wait to get back to these classes again! YAY
I got on the scale this am no big change so I am not going to worry about that. I have to admit I am hungry on just 800 calories so I am drinking tons of water. Also going to the bathroom tons. Good thing I am frugal and get toilet paper dirt cheap HAHA
Heading in the direction of 100 lbs down for sure by the end of the year.

Diet Diet Diet

So I saw on FB a lady said she went from 311 to 150 lbs in a year. I had to email her of course LOL. She said she ate 800 calories a day under strict supervision of her Dr. Monday I am going to call my Dr. and get a appt. I want to do it. I am going to try to do it like this.

190 Slimfast Shake
100 calorie Slimfast Snack Bar
190 Slimfast Shake and I am going to add in a salad here
100 calorie apple
200 calorie Weight Watchers Meal

This with the salad will put me a little over 800 calories but I think that is ok. The lady I was talking with SHE DIDN'T WORK OUT! She said she waited until she got to the end of her journey and started to work out to tone up. Well I need to work out so maybe it will go faster.

So I will try this slimfast/800 calorie diet for the month and report back how it goes!

Coming out of my funk.....LOL

After I wrote that post this am I thought WOW I am really being a Debbie Downer I have so many things to be thankful for and happy. So I am going to post something HAPPY! Well happy for me at least.

It is 2:25 and I have not strayed from my Slim Fast Meal Plan. So I am not sure if I talked about this before. I watched GMA well I watch it daily it is my way of keeping up with what is going on in the world. So they reviewed the top 3 diet plans. Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers and Slim Fast. Well surprisingly Weight Watchers came in last. It didn't do so well in the long term where Jenny Craig did. But Slim Fast beat WW and since I had some WW shakes ok we have 2 cases sitting in the outside fridge LMBO I decided to put them to good use. So I have had today.
1 Slim fast shake for bfast
1 Slim fast snack bar around 10 for a snack.
1 Slim fast shake for lunch and a apple with PB LOVE THAT!
I am going to carpool in a little bit so I am going to bring another snack bar and for dinner I am having a 500 calorie dinner. For snack I am eating a 100 calorie bar tonight a WW Ice Cream bar. I am going for 1500-1800 cal a day. My hubby thinks that is to low but I am going to see what it does. Oh and water OMG I am going to float away. I have been drinking water non stop. So I am excited things are going good today on the weight loss front HAHA

Frustration.....

So much in my life is not going where I want it to go.
My handbag company is causing me stress and anxiety. Daily I work on handbooks, brochures, order forms, consultant training docs but I am so scared to get a damn bag made. I am scared because I did this once before with a friend and we had each other to rely on for support and to vent. I really don't have anyone to throw ideas off of. It is very lonely and scary. Scary in the sense that when a consultant signs up I know having been in Direct Sales many years before starting my own company 5 years ago that you put all your dreams into your business. You set out and book parties, recruit consultants and many times they quit for one reason or another. I don't want the consultants to quit I want them to see that this is a company that I care about them and I hope with my help I can help them achieve a goal no matter how big or how small it is.
This who weight loss thing is causing me stress to the next level. I wanted to be at goal by this summer yet the scale keeps going up. I thought of gastric bypass for so long went to seminars in VA on it. I just was scared of death! A friend had it in January and lost 89 lbs already. Another friend had it previously she did great but put on some weight again. Another had it and looks fabulous and no complications for any of them. Well the one has a iron issue but hell she is skinny! I used to love going to the gym and working out what happened to me????? So I talked to my mom and my husband and a friend about it. I looked up the horror stories on the internet and well damn it that scared me out of it again. But what is it going to take?
The couponing is going great that is one highlight in my life. I am saving money and that is a good thing. We found our dream house in a town close to here. I went to bed and was thinking anything is possible. I CAN get all this weight off. I CAN have that house even if it isn't tomorrow I will one day be able to afford a house like this. I CAN start this company and help men and women achieve his or her own goals. But damn it what is wrong with me??? Why can't I believe it not just think it?
I used to be happy go lucky Michelle where is she when is she coming back?

TLC Extreme Couponing 5-4-11

WOW what a great show that was. I have to admit this ranks up with Nathan's 2nd Episode as my fav one so far. The couple who were able to donate what was it over 20K in free products AMAZING. So how can you do something like this? Well what I read on the forums and what I was most interested in was the jeans. They could only print 2 so this was for a church so I am sure they put out a request for people to print coupons. So if you have friends or family that won't use the coupons ask them to print them just send the link to them and ask them to print it. Man I wish I was still working I would have been able to print tons LOL.

I am all about teaching my kids in real life lessons. They have seen on our way to drop off my daughter last year at preschool lining up at the food bank at 8am. They asked what was going on and I explained to them that they are going to go for food and people donate food and supplies. Well this summer I am going to have them learn about donating. I know that Angel Food Ministries my oldest daughter can help bring out groceries to the cars. My little ones might not be able to help with that though. But I want them to see me in action giving back and losing weight. This summer they will each have a large tote that they will shop with me weekly (makes for a good one on one time too) that we will shop and come home with stuff they want to donate. They can fill up the tote and it will be a rewarding experience to fill that tote up hopefully lots of times and donate it.

I also need to become hard mommy in the working out department. My oldest needs more activity. Last night I went to go work out and told her come with me lets go walk while we wait for your sister at gymnastics. She said no and I gave in and said fine. But I can't do that I know that taking the first step is the hardest. So I am not going to take no anymore. She MUST walk with me. I am doing this for her and for me. My kids will learn from what they see so me losing weight and saving money hopefully it will be second nature for them.

I am not going shopping again until Sunday. Taking a break since I hit every store yesterday. Hubby is off it is our 11 year anniversary tomorrow. I am looking to go get a present for him so I might look online for a coupon for the store I am going to. We are going to dinner tonight hopefully Moe's for $3.00 Joey Burritos. Plus tomorrow night we are going to the movies. Saved on babysitting fees when my friend and I agreed to swap baby sitting on our anniversaries LOL. So I will watch her kids next month! Feliz Cinco De Mayo friends!

Shopping is almost done for the month.

My husband has 3 teeth pulled yesterday OUCH! We were only expecting 1 but the dentist looked and said well you have 2 wisdom teeth that are in bad shape I can take them before it starts hurting you OR I can get them today and you won't feel the pain later. So my brave husband said ok take them all. So implants are coming next....looks like I better keep doing coupons to afford these 1400 FAKE TEETH LOL. I haven't asked but I wonder is it for all 3 teeth or just the one tooth because you don't need your wisdom teeth right? Hmm I need to ask about this one maybe we can get a deal SCORE!!!!

Ok so he was off today so I decided to use our food budget money and try to do all the shopping for the month today. Well as much stuff as I could get on sale I am not buying stuff if it isn't a good deal. So far today I am done with everything BUT
3 Chicken breasts packages I can't find them on sale anywhere. But I have 2 packages here from last month so I can use them until they go on sale I have 2 more weeks LOL.
2 Packages of Turkey Burgers from Jenny O Cajun Seasoning Thanks Candace Erik loves these! LOL We went to our friend Candace's awhile ago and my husband had these. He had the ones from BJ's not sure of the brand and loved them he had these and said I have no idea what I was eating before but it is gross compared to Jenny O so I have to go to Walmart for these so I might hit them up on the way home from getting the kids.
4 London Broils I know I should have gotten them last week during the bogo sale but I assumed that they would still have the sale going on until Memorial day. I have 2 London Broils in the freezer and 4 Beef Tenderloins so if I don't get them I won't be meal less but I really want to get these on bogo so I will wait until it happens again.
2 Garlic Bread Texas Toast or Pepperidge Farm none were on sale from where I went today and I went to Kroger, Harris Teeter, Lowes and ran into Food Lion for a quick walk thru.
2 Cream Cheese getting at Aldi
3 Butters getting at Aldi
School snacks (I have a few but not sure the kids will like them. 49 cent rice cakes with a 55 cent off 2 coupon I got 6 of them I hope the kids like them.)
Ice Cream for toothy over here LOL
Tater tots cuz he wants grilled cheese and tater tots for dinner tonight.
Pretzels not sure why he wants pretzels but ok.

So far I have spent 260.00 for my monthly groceries and I don't plan on spending more then 75.00 on all of this so I will be under 350.00 for a family of 4 groceries. That is like 85 a week!

I have also decided I will not buy anymore
Pasta, Rice, Mac and Cheese, Taco stuff, Veggies, Detergent, fabric softener, shampoo, soap, deodorant, or conditioner.

I have so much of this stuff the stockpile areas are exploding!
So far I have saved 200.75 and spent 260.85 as of 5-4-11 at 2:24pm LMBO I am going shopping in a little bit for my Aldi and Walmart runs.

I met a lady in the store gave her some coupons and talked to her about couponing. She was into it but curious if I was one of those Extreme Couponers. I said well I hope to be that way one day. 43% savings for the month so far I need to get to 55% savings this month!!!!

Monthly Total YAY!!!

Ok so I pulled out all my receipts today and I am so excited to share the news.
Cost 2146.52
Saved 1113.71
Total Out of Pocket 1088.12
52% Savings for the month.

This includes groceries, clothes, and our trip in Myrtle Beach when I saved 192 on tickets!
I must say I normally wouldn't spend this much so I am curious to see what next month brings because hubby has told me the spending needs to slow down. Kinda funny he is telling me the spending needs to slow down when I am saving so much. HAHA But we have our income tax check I have been pulling from so I was able to spend more. But I also bought clothes for the trip and did grocery shopping for Easter and the trip. I didn't skimp on the trip we had a condo so we had breakfast and made lunch daily in our condo. Dinner we did out but I had lots of snacks and goodies on the trip.

I am so excited I hope to next month be at 55% savings. I haven't gone shopping yet this month and it is already 2 days into the month. I am plotting a huge trip to Tacos and Tostito's LOL so I am waiting for payday and I am off shopping! YAY!

It was fun shopping but I can't wait to build the soldiers packets I will figure out the totals tonight what I need for those. I will post that too.
Hope you all had a great day,
Michelle

Getting Fit!

So lately I have been focusing on saving money with coupons I have let the gym and my nutrition get out of focus. I have been gaining weight and it isn't pretty. So I need to have a goal and I found this great facebook page where they do monthly challenges. So I joined!

I am on the Purple Yellow Team! This is Get Moving May. I need to track the minutes I do cardio and toning PLUS how many OZ of water I drink. I just journal for the month. I am going to get back to running. I want to start the couch to 5K program again. Funny after running a half marathon going back to the couch to 5K but I am going to start again slowly and work my way up to a half or maybe even a full for next Winter/Spring.

So this is my game plan for the week.
Drinking 1 1/2 gallon a day of fluids water and crystal light
Tonight I am doing Spin
Tues 1 Hour Running Class in the gym and 1 spin class
Wed 1 Hour Spin 1 Hour Weights
Thur 3 Classes so 3 Hrs of Cardio and 1 hr weights
Fri 1 hour cardio 1 hour weights
Sat 1 hour weights 1 hour cardio

In the gym I take
Spin, TTT which is 20 minutes in 3 circuits of weights, cardio, step. I also do Body Pump and Body Combat. I am looking to see how I can work in some water aerobics classes. I also want to incorporate swimming on M W F at 630 and swim a mile daily in the gym.

My Goal is to also stay on track for WW points and journal that as well!
So exciting I hope to lose 15 lbs this month and get this horrible number off the scale!

April 30th Harris Teeter :-(

So I went last night with my kids to get
3 Milks
3 Mac and Cheese
3 Steamers
1 Mio drink
EVERYTHING was out in the Fuquay store on 401 by Dairy Queen. No surprise but I wanted to get out after being up since 3am watching the Royal Wedding I was ready for a shopping break.

Well this morning I woke up at 630am and ran to the store because I was told that they were getting a truck in and they would have the stuff in the am. NOT I went they were out of Milk, I got 3 mac and cheese, and no steamers or Mio drinks. The Mio drinks were not even in a spot in this store but they were before?????
So I got my mac and cheese thinking ok I will just try the Holly Springs one later while my daughters are at practice. Did I mention I have the most talented kids? LMBO Every mom says that right? 1 is a Gold Medal Winning Competitive Dancer, 1 is a Competitive Gymnast who has a 2nd home on the beam and too won many Gold Medals, 1 is a Dancer, Gymnast, T-Ball, Work momma and daddy to the nerves Gold Medalist ;-), and our son he hasn't shown his true talent yet he is only 2 but he swears he wants to be a hockey player but points at baseball and says hocket so we will see what he really means in due time. Ok back to the task at hand see I can go on and on about my kids!
So I get in line and see a couple in front of me with the ughhh Coupon Nightmare Cashier. I swear lady if you hate coupons that much maybe you shouldn't work in the only grocery store in town that has Super Doubles! But not only that the Co-Manager from HE** was standing next to her. The couple has no binder and I don't see tons of coupons but I at first think Please God let them tell me go first I only had 3 coupons LOL but I am glad they didn't. What I witnessed Corporate will get a letter from me about this manager who shall remain nameless I don't want to get sued LOL. But if you see me out in person ask me I will tell you. ;-) So I notice they have items that will be using coupons so I like to watch the game as much as I like to play so I gladly wait my turn and sit back and wait to do the SCORE cheer for them because I think they will save a ton. 1st transaction great no problems. I hate saying she and he because I have a feeling I will learn her name. Because you see she is the 1st person who knew me from my couponing blog so she reads this....so to you the great saving Diva Kudos to you and tell me your name we should shop together!
So they have items left in the buggy and they say this is a seperate order. The cashier and manager both say they don't seperate orders as they shake heads and breath out that sigh like ughhhhh x 10.
So the manager says if your card is used and it is attached with her number it isn't going to work. The man says well it shouldn't be. He gives the coupons to the Coupon hater and she says see they didn't double. He said I don't know why. I would have loved to been able to come in and save the day and say here scan my card but it was only 645am and I still had 17 other coupons to double at the Holly Springs Store so I couldn't. Ughh I felt so selfish and at the same time a bit like I should have made them eat that little ughhhhh x10 and attitude they were giving these 2 customers. I don't know if they really lived apart like they said but neither did the rude manager or coupon hating cashier. So I was taking the customers word....THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT! But thankfully another customer was in line behind us with 2 items and she saved the day. She said here use my card I swear I heard to coupon angels singing SCORE....close your eyes and imagine with me SCORE!!!!! sung by beautiful angels. That's right Mean Manager and Coupon Hating Cashier us Coupon Men and Women Stick TOGETHER! So the customer said well I want a VIC card they said we need your ID and if corporate puts it together that you have 2 cards at the same address they will be put together. That is when the manager said and don't get me wrong he can feel anyway he wants BUT NEVER IN FRONT OF THE CUSTOMER DO YOU SAY STUFF NEGATIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!! So the Manager says "People will find a way to manipulate the system anyway they can." I had enough and said are you the manager he said ughhh yea in a snotty tone like Duh Yea like that. I said well listen I worked in retail many years you should never say anything to a customer like that. Telling them they are manipulating the system. He said it was a general statement not directed at them just a statement. I said well I apologize I thought it was directed at them as I saw his name badge in full view. I believe he is the overnight manager and HT did something right doing that he only works with the employees most of the time not the customers. I will commend them on that. But seriously I had customers who would return used shoes when I was younger and a manager at Bob's Stores. We never said no or Kohl's too they have a never say no return policy. Mr Mean Manager get over it maybe you should work in a store that doesn't use coupons and you get to be rude to customers...oh wait not many stores like that still in business right?
This did not turn me off from HT just THIS HT. I am sure they won't miss me but I did like the General Manager he was a very nice man and he will be getting a visit from me. My husband says not to say anything they might take it out on me but they can't and I am not going to sit by and let a mean manager or cashier that hates coupons just keep doing this.

So I went to my daughter's Tball practice and we had snack today so I ran well drove but I have run from my house to Avent Ferry road before (man that hurt) training for the 1/2 marathon. I got
2 boxes of Granola Bars
2 Hi C Juice Boxes packages
2 Mac and Cheese the coupons didn't double the system is so smart!
3 Waters
3 Steamers
The milk is out everywhere. I think I might go to Walmart later and price match at Walmart I love this milk.
All of this for 11.61 I saved 26.00 So 31.61 Retail and 11.61 Cost! LOVE IT!

I put the stuff away in a hurry because the rice was outside at practice and the granola bars and hi c is gone LOL. I will post my letter this weekend that I send to corporate. I am getting excited about the inserts tomorrow. Debating on 4-6 papers or just buying coupons or on http://www.wholeinserts.com I can get 40 inserts for 22.20 I am thinking that might be the best way to go. Still tossing it all around in my head.
If you have any ideas tell me. I plan on doing one Extreme Couponing trip at Kroger this month. I want to plan one with the manager and do it with his consent. He is a nice guy I think he will let me try it out LOL.

I love my Harris Teeter....in Holly Springs and the Manager is so customer service driven it is a delight shopping in that store WITH COUPONS TOO!

93 cents from 17.20 at Harris Teeter!!!!

I went for my 2nd trip to Harris Teeter this week.
3 Deer Parks 3.00 MONEY MAKER
2 Salad Kits FREE
1 Reach Dental Floss .12 cent MONEY MAKER
3 Smart Balance Milk 1.50 for all 3
1 Pasta for pennies

All in all I paid .93 cents for this order. My daughter thought I was crazy I was so excited I was high fiving her. She told me to stop and she wanted to run away and pretend she didn't know me!

Walmart 30.50 Total Paid 2.50!!!!

I decided to go to another Walmart instead of the one by me. I think in my area we have tons of couponing women which is a good thing when you want to save money. Bad if you want to get the merchandise LOL. I went to Holly Springs and hit the jackpot. I had 7 Nivea Lotion coupons making them free!

7 Nivea Lotions FREE
1 Secret Clinical FREE plus a 43 cent MONEY MAKER!
4 Dial body washes these took up some of the money I would have gotten back. 2 Were free 1 was 54 cents and 1 was 97 cents
1 Head and Shoulders shampoo was a 1.03 MONEY MAKER
Tax was 2.19 my total before tax was 32 cents!

91% SAVINGS

Lowes Steal on Make Up!

So I love my Cover Girl Brown and Beige eye shadow. I used to hate buying it because it was expensive. I get one that is normally 4.99 I saw it on clearance for 2.54. I had 1.00 off coupons so 1.54 I got 4 since Lowes limits you to 4 like coupons. That was a huge score for me. So I have enough eye shadow to last me the next 2 years since I don't wear it often. I need to check out the expiration dates LOL.

I got
4 Covergirl Eye Shadows 1.54 each
3 Krunchers Chips 1.00 each
1 Rhodes bread 1.00 each

25.60 Retail
13.37 saved
12.23 Out of Pocket
Not my best deal ever but I saved at least 50% so that is good.

83% Savings at Kroger

104.31 Retail Paid 19.70 Out of Pocket
28 FREE Crest Toothpaste
1 Gentlelax for my daughter who was at the doctor earlier in the day because of a tummy ache poor kid is well should say was constipated ;-)
for 3.99
1 French's Worchestershire Sauce for 55 cents
1 Eggo Waffles for 1.85
2 Mini ice creams for 2.50 for my 2 shopping troopers with me.
1 Kraft cheese for 1.39
4 Betty Crocker icings clearance 75 cents I had 1.00 Q's so I made 1.00 on them! MONEY MAKER!!!!
2 Kroger brand toaster pastries for 2.01 total
2 Old El Paso Taco Dinner Kits for 3.25
1 Kroger Bagels package for 1.25
1 Kroger Wheat Bread for .59
2 Ivory Soaps 3 pack FREE
This was a good trip got everything I wanted and it was worth waiting 20 minutes in the car for the down pour to end. The toothpaste is for our soldier program I am doing in my kids classes at the end of the school year. This was a great deal too because the coupons expired on the 30th!

The Royal Wedding

I feel the need to tell you this little part of me besides being Frugal Fit and Fabulous......I too am a FANATIC about the Royal Family. My first time ever hearing about the Royal Family I was 6 years old watching the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana. I was with my Grandma watching it at the crack of dawn and I can remember the beautiful train and tiara. I am thankful I had a Grandma who

shared in my crazy obsession with the Royal Family. She would subscribe to all the tabloids and magazines and give them to me after she read them. I had scrapbooks made of Diana and eventually Sarah the Duchess of York when she married into the family. I remember Princess Diana was coming to America to FAO Schwartz growing up so close to NYC it was a given I was going to NY. My mom took me and I will never forget the first time seeing her in person it was so much fun to be in the same area as a real life princess.
My Grandmother heard a high school in our town was going to England and my Grandma was friends with the teacher running it. We got to go on tour and from my Royal Magazines that post the monthly schedule I knew when we were going it was the Prince's Trust Concert in London and we would be in London that day. My grandmother went to the concierge and asked about tickets he said no sorry that is not going on she must be wrong. My Grandma laughed and told him she is never wrong when it comes to the Royals. We went to the play and she said that I would be able to go and my Aunt Terry and me snuck out of the play and I got to see Prince Charles and Princess Diana. That isn't the best part that was the next morning when my Grandma went back to that same concierge and said see I told you see was right and he said sorry! While in London we went into Kensington Palace and saw a Royal Museum. I was walking ahead because I knew I would get to the Diana part. I was alone and came upon her wedding gown and screamed. Security came and my Grandma yelled to my Aunt Terry to come get me....she knew it was Diana's gown LOL. That has to be my favorite memory of my Grandma seeing her gown together. We would share Royal books we bought and sadly when Princess Diana died in that Paris car crash I was living away in VA. I had friends and family calling to offer condolences and see how I was. It was insane it was just known I was a huge fan and that I would be so sad. My husband met me that June and she passed away in August...he stuck around with me after the days of 24/7 news coverage. I left to go to NJ to watch the funeral with my Grandma. I remember watching Earl Spencer giving his eulogy of Diana and me and her looking at each other with our mouths on the floor like no he didn't just say that! We often talked about going to London when William and Harry get married. Sadly my Grandma passed away and she didn't get to see this. My aunts were talking with me and my mom via computer and phone today. I chatted with friends online sharing in the day.

As a mom I have been very emotional I guess I see it in 2 ways. 1 I see it as a mom who is worried for this young woman and hope she knows what she is getting herself into. I thought in the run up to the wedding hmmm it isn't that crazy maybe they will leave her alone after the wedding. BUT hello this wedding was beautiful they are not going to be left alone. 2 I wanted so much for my girls to see this and dream like I did about being a princess one day and knowing that in the world real life Princesses are not just in books. Plus not everyone gets happily ever after.

I watched the wedding and the coverage in the days leading up and when I caught the first glimpse of William WHOA he looked so cute! I thought well when she gets a view of him at the end of the alter it is going to make her pass out. When I saw her I thought uh oh we are going to have 2 of them passing out. I was thrilled to see she did wear a tiara and sad to not see a very long train. But all in all a good day.

Favorite moments of the day
First glimpse of Kate with her dad in the car.
Harry looking like a nervous wreck it was so cute!
William talking to Kate's dad at the alter and the lip readers claiming he said-"wasn't this suppose to be a small family affair?"
Kate walking out of the balcony saying "oh wow!"
Prince Charles holding his step grand daughter on the balcony precious!
The 2nd Kiss it seemed to take her by surprise and her giggle afterwards
Personally my little prince Jalen seeing the horses walking and heads going up and down and he turns to me and says "Mommy the horses are saying yes!"

Here are some of my favorite pics of the day. I hope you enjoyed your day. My kids and I had a Royal breakfast with Dunkin Donuts Royal Donut and Tea which they hated on my Grandma's China. I know she would have gotten a kick out of that.

Harris Teeter Super Doubles Baby!!!!!

Ok so today I planned on going and waking up at 6 to be in the store by 630 I just didn't get up I looked at the clock and thought those coupon ladies will leave some stuff on the shelves FOR SURE! HELLO what was I thinking banging my head against the empty Smart Balance Milk Door!!!!

So last night I met a fearless couponer named Nancy. She doesn't use a binder yes you read that correct she DOES NOT use a binder. I am amazed but she does use a check filing system file that is plastic so it won't come apart and she shops with her coupons in a envelope with her fabulous list on top. Nancy saves 75% on her shopping trips all the time so I thought if it works for Nancy I want to do it like her. As I am typing this it reminds me of Fancy Nancy I have to tell her next time that is my new nickname for her...it so fits her she is a riot! So I got all my coupons out of my binder and got over my fear of what if they are out of stock of the item on my list. She said just go to your next day and pull something from that list. (she keeps all her HT shopping trip coupons in this envelope for the week)

So here is my list
1 Smart Balance Milk with a 1.50Q making it free
3 Smart Balance Milk with a 1.00Q making it .50 cents each
3 Minute Rice Steamers 1.00! making it free
3 Kotex 1.00Q making it free
3 Reach Floss 1.00Q making it free
3 Baily Creamers 1.00Q making it 19 cents
3 Hefty Paper Plates 1.25 on 2 Q which I thought would make it .69
1 Band Aid with neosporin 1.50Q making it 29 cents

Here is where it goes downhill and fast! Smart Balance Milk is OUT!
Kotex ummm hello what pricing was I looking at? It was on a national site so no idea what pricing but I learned from a new coupon friend in the HT that I met last night that I can check thes store here by store because they have different prices and I would have seen the kotex are not that price in the Holly Springs store I was in.
Bailey's Creamer damn coupon printer thing I printed my coupons yesterday well it said I printed my 2 already....ummm no I didn't so I only had 1 to use.
Band Aids again these were 3.99 I am sorry I don't need bandaids for 99 cents....that sounds funny seriously before I would have bought them for that and stocked up thinking 99 cents is a deal....so not the case anymore.
Hefty Paper plates were 3.79 a package so I was so not going to pay 7 and some change to get 2.50 off I can get a better deal elsewhere.
I saw a clearance area with 3 buggies full of stuff. I got 3 Glade Oil Candles in the tin for 2.12 I had a 1.00Q so I only paid 36 cents for 3 of them in total....I love smelly stuff for my house LOL

Ok so the good news I hadn't planned on doing the Homestyle Mac and Cheese yet that was for day 3 but I had the coupons so I got 3 of them for 50 cents. I got Birdeye steamers they were 1.00 each I had a 1 off 3 so it was really 2.00 off 3 with the doubled coupon so I paid 33 cents a bag. I liked that deal so I used 2 coupons and got 6 bags for 2.00 SCORE!
Minute Rice Steamers....OK I AM STEAMING MAD!!!! Ladies and Gents if you are not buying it don't take the peely off of it. I got 3 steamers for FREE but my peelies were gone. Ughhh I just don't get that it isn't yours and you are stealing someone elses coupon. Grrrrr
I did get 1 Bailey's Creamer for 19 cents I am happy with that. I don't really drink coffee I just like the creamers LOL. I put about half a cup of coffee and half a cup of creamer hehe!
I got my 3 reach floss they were 1.65 and I got paid .35 a piece for these...I will get to that at the end how I got paid for these things and HT doesn't pay you for overage.
I got 3 6 packs of Deer Park Water they were 1.00 I had a 1Q so it doubled to 2 so I was paid 3.00 to take these from the store.
2 Cheese Nips they were 1.00 each I had a 1.00 off Q that does not double so I got them for 1.00 for 2 50 cents a box is a deal to me SCORE!
Hidden Valley Salad kit was 2.00 I had a 1 Q doubled to make it free....I was hunting the store to get another free item.

So I go to self checkout with my helper shopper Jalen....I love shopping with him he gets a kick out of the coupon printers in the aisles and he loves to drive the carts but today he decided to take a kids cart and shop. So I am checking out and I think it is a new cashier because she keeps calling a girl over when a beep goes on the register when a guy was checking out. I think oh good god I hope this goes ok. So I ring all my stuff up. I hit the coupons button and hand her my coupons to scan. I am watching and counting because I know it is 20 coupons. I see the total only came down 20.00 and I had already scanned my debit card so I couldn't stop the transaction. I let the receipt print and I go to the customer service desk. Ummm excuse me the cashier only scanned 10 of my coupons not the entire 20. The cashier comes over and says oh something must have not beeped and I just kept scanning and they weren't working! UMMM OMG!
So the customer service clerk and me go and grab all 20 of my coupons she doesn't ask to see the items and she just takes out the last 10 coupons....THANK GOD!
I got the water and reach in that part so I was paid 3.00 for water and 1.05 for 3 dental floss.
My total before VIC discounts and coupons was 58.93 Out of Pocket (OOP) was 1.82 I saved 57.11!!!!!!!!!!!

All in all it was a great shopping day. I got a raincheck on the 4 smart balance milks. Tomorrow my plan is
3 Smart Balance (going to another HT)
3 Rice Steamers
1 Reach Floss
3 Kraft Mac and Cheese
3 Salad Kits
After that I am not sure I will check the stores prices to see what else I can get for free. I love couponing and can't wait to go back tomorrow!!!!

I am back from Vacay!!

Well I have to admit vacation was so much fun and I ate like a diet was the last thing on my mind. I have a few things to admit....
1. When the exercise room is in my building but I have to walk across the parking lot to the main building to get a room key it was just to far. Working out went out the window. Damn I am lazy!
2. Friendly's was just one block away....growing up with one in my town was great my kids needed to experience it 2 nights in a row they just had to right?
3. I never made it to Bi-Lo I brought my binder and was so ready to shop but I just never found the time the beach and pools were calling.
4. Soda replaced water but it was always diet...I never strayed from that BUT the ice cream really didn't help.
5. I didn't just get any ice cream I got the Reese's Pieces Sunday!

6. All the beating up in the world on myself coming home was so not worth it....I ONLY GAINED 1 LB on vacation!!!! I got it off and a extra one the very next day in the gym. I think my body needed that break and I enjoyed it.

So I added up my coupons savings tonight and I am pleased to say I saved 623.90 this month in groceries. I am going to adjust totals once a month in the ticker I have going. I am sure I will beat the 10K goal I have for myself....the losing 100 lbs well not so sure on that buy hey a girl can try!

Tonight I went to a coupon swap my first official one. I was walking up thinking what am I doing I don't know these people and I am doing this alone. But I so needed to get out of my shell and do this because it was fun. I was amazed how many coupons we had passing around. It was crazy all the money in that room! I got some great coupons and figured out how to do a swap. They meet monthly so if you are in the local area and want to come I can fill you in on where to go. I am very excited about tomorrow....Harris Teeter Super Doubles!!!! I will update tomorrow with pics what I get. I am taking 10.00 with me let's see if I can get everything within my 4.16 goal pre tax for the items.

Beach in 9 days anyone?

We are going to the beach in 9 days and I am so excited. I went to Myrtle Beach 2 years ago for a moms weekend. It was so nice and a seemed like a great place to take the kids. So we are going and I can't wait!!!

We are staying in a condo with a workout facility so I plan on working out daily. Plus walking on the beach and hell I might even try running while the sun is rising so no one is around to see me jiggle jiggle LMAO. But I plan on staying on point with weight watchers except for one cheat day. We got the condo so we can have more room and cook our own meals. It is so expensive to eat out for every meal with a family of 6 so I have been stockpiling vacation foods.

This past weekend I was shopping and got lots of goodies. I stocked up on cases of capri sun, diet coke with lime, coke zero, chips for the kids and the hubby, pretzels for me, pop tarts for the kids, diapers, wipes, and I think that was pretty much it so far. But this weekend we had a sleepover party for my daughter and I needed to get items for that.

I didn't take pics because we were running around and at our last stop my daughter informed me her finger hurt. I looked and it was purple. We were at the dr. on Wednesday for this same finger and he gave us a antibiotic we aren't sure what happened to her finger. But I had to drop the freezer and cold items off and run back out car full of groceries to the dr. I wasn't about to take it all out to take pics.

Some big scores
Kroger
1.49 sit and stand refreshners I got 8 of them for .49 cents I had a 1.00 off coupon. I got the display stand as well because I bought almost a whole box the girl said yea take it. I like getting the display fixture it is easier to stockpile.
Lowes Foods
I am a hot dog snob...I admit it but I really don't like hot dogs anywhere but the ball park. But I will eat a Nathan's hotdog. So they were on sale for 3.99 reg 5.98 at Lowes. So I got 7 packages LOL. I figure we can use them on the grill all summer and they are easy to cook for lunch on the indoor grill for the kids.
My daughter is starting TBall and our vacation coming up I like to have gatorade on hand. They had 8 packs for 3.99 reg 6.98 as a Lowes Rewards Customer I could get 2 so I got 2!
Food Lion
Sunny D was on sale for 1.00 I got 5 my kids love them and have gone thru 3 of them already in 2 days.
I also got a free Capri Sun case using the coupon printing machine when you walk in the door. LOVED that!

So far for the month I have gone over budget...God Love the income tax check LOL but we also had 2 parties I stocked up for, vacation, and stockpiling.
Stockpiled
12 Taco kits
10 Mac and Cheese
10 WW meals
4 packages of waffles
4 boxes of waffle mix
16 bags of shredded cheese
10 boxes of rice a roni
12 packages of potatoes
40 cans of veggies
6 garlic bread
5 pepperidge farms cakes

So we are good for the next month and this month on sides and meats. I have been buying quite a large bit of produce too almost every other day I am picking up some kind of produce. This weekend alone we ate 4 packages of strawberries.
Next month the goal is to stay under 200 for food budget for the month. I get a budget of 500 a month from the hubby but I have been trying to teach myself to put that towards another bill or savings so we shall see how that goes....it is just so much fun to stockpile. But I am running out of room to tell you the truth and I refuse to have my stuff all over the house! But I am also keeping in the back of my mind the money I save could go towards a freezer. I want a freezer so bad for the garage and soon. Meat is going to be going on sale for Memorial Day I am sure. I want to load up on London Broil and I am sure Ham to for Easter.

So this month
Retail 1157.58
Coupons 458.45
I Paid 699.13
Saved 40% total so far....I would be dead if I spent almost 1200 a month on groceries. My husband loves me but not that much LOL to spend that much. But it just goes to show what coupons can do for your budget.

On the bottom of my Kroger receipt I see extra rewards

Pull Ups 6.99 limit 2 I have 2 off coupons so 4.99 for pull ups!
Pork chops in a package for 4.00 SCORE
Crisco Veg Oil 48oz for 1.99 and I have a coupon YAY~

So I will be going to Kroger today as it expires tomorrow. Always check the bottom of your receipts for deals! I haven't hit up the pharmacies in the past 2 weekends. I have so much health and beauty stuff. Even if it is free I don't want to bring it in the house it will be free again. I am going to look for Easter Basket stuff though sometime this week.

I will post pics from the beach and my trip to Bi-Lo....I can't wait to try out that store!!!!

TLC Extreme Couponing/Weight Loss

So I joke I want to be on the show....joke well somewhat I mean who wouldn't want to be on tv? Well good tv not bad news tv. LOL But seriously I think that this show is INSANE not Extreme.
I looked up the definition of Extreme
ex·treme (k-strm)
adj.
1. Most remote in any direction; outermost or farthest: the extreme edge of the field.
2. Being in or attaining the greatest or highest degree; very intense: extreme pleasure; extreme pain.
3. Extending far beyond the norm: an extreme conservative. See Synonyms at excessive.
4. Of the greatest severity; drastic: took extreme measures to conserve fuel.

My favorite is number 3 Extending fa beyond the norm.....Seriously 35 bottles of antacid? What was that lady feeding everyone at her BBQ was she putting the antacid in candy dishes at the table? I would be very afraid to eat anything she was serving with that type of antacid around.

Ok so the pretty lady J'aime who has to look her best when going into the store. How many kids did she have 3? I have 4 what will that one push me over the edge the feelign the need to be all made up. Please sometimes I do my trips after the gym but most times I do it in a pair of jeans or leggings and a tee. I am definetly not wearing those knee high high heeled boots to shop in. Although she does have her stores down by aisle and she has a meticulous plan so maybe that saves her some walking. Lord knows I walk around my store numerous times.

I feel no ill will towards these women they each did her own thing. I just hope and pray that this show doesn't ruin couponing for those of us just starting out. Kroger is already testing no longer doubling coupons. Rumor around the street here is that Kroger purchased Harris Teeter or is in the process of it so does that mean HT won't either? I also know that this was heavily edited and planned out for the show. I also don't think it is right to go on these women's FB pages, blogs and blast them for being a fraud. Trust me TLC is not going to let anyone do time for coupon fraud and the marketing execs were at the stores for these shows I am sure.

With that being said I am planning a stockpile trip LMAO I want to do it once just once and see a huge bill go down to almost nothing. I am not going to do mustard of cereal or any other condiments. I need to find some good coupon deals and work my magic HEHE

Ok so onto the next topic...can TLC come out with a show like The Style Network has Ruby? Maybe a Michelle Show? I swear I have no motivation to go to the gym. I don't want to go and was seriously thinking yesterday what a waste of money this month I have barely gone. I am not going to lie and say oh yea I am going to go because you know what I probably won't go again until Monday. Tomorrow I will be hopefully scoring some great seats to the Taylor Swift Concert in the am. Kids have half a day so I can't go after they get out the daycare is closed. Saturday one of the girls is having a sleepover here so in the am I am getting ready for the event and they are all coming here after the practice...6 more girls in the house....I will be filling them up on deals I got couponing LOL. Sunday they will all leave around noon and I plan on having a day with the family.....maybe I will try to get them to go for a walk with me or something.

I do have some goals here in the weight loss dept. I want to do the Diva Dash Triathalon this September. So I need to get over my fear of swimming in anything but a pool. I want to go to White Lake and check it out maybe we will do that on Sunday if it is really warm. I am confident in my swimming, biking, and running that short of a distance so it is just the swim that scares me with the fish. But I also want to start training for the Princess Half Marathon that I am doing with my girls in February. I want to have a kick butt time. I figure I have a lot of months to train for this but this NC Brutal heat will have me training indoors on the treadmill for the summer but that is ok. I will do what I have to do.

I am eating right have been sticking to my WW points I just need to get more activity in my day. Wish me luck!

Tally so far

I will add pics in the am but here is where I stand with this weeks shopping. I am pretty much done with this month and half of next month's shopping and some goodies for our week beach trip. So I pretty happy with my totals.
Store Out of Pocket Saved %
Kroger 110.47 37.48 25%
Harris Teeter 89.86 92.68 53%
Harris Teeter 3.79 13.66 80%
Aldi 42.99 0 0
Food Lion 18.69 2.99 14%
Food Lion 34.18 3.20 8%
Food Lion 14.86 27.00 64%
Lowes 69.56 71.28 51%
Walmart 5.98 0 0
Target 45.39 18.00 28%
Total 435.77 266.29 38%

So I got groceries that didn't have coupons and I also went clothes shopping at Target with Mikayla. I had clothing coupons and a coupon on a toy that Zoe got. I have 65 more left for the budget this month so let's see what I can turn that into! LOL

Ok So I had a plan.....

My family are creatures of habit I guess you can say. Our menu is not often varied we have a few staples that we have weekly.
Tacos-I never had them until I met Erik. We weren't big Mexican dish family being the Polish Irish American's growing up it was really meat and potatoes. When I had them I thought wow what have I been missing? So every week we have Taco night and we LOVE it!
Spaghetti, Garlic Bread and Meat Sauce or Alfredo Sauce for the kids. This is a nod to my Grandma I suppose. Every Friday Lent or no Lent no meat was eaten in her house on Friday. They ate plan marinara sauce no meat. We didn't have garlic bread but my Grandpa loves his brown beans with his spaghetti. I haven't tried that with my family Erik might think I am crazy.
Pork Chops-So I don't know how this came to be but we do serve this once a week in our house as well either with rice and green beans or mac and cheese and green beans. The kids believe it is chicken so they eat it. A few times I have slipped and said Pork Chops and they refuse to eat it....really you ate it last week no problem! Zoe has taken to eating Ketchup with a side of Pork Chops LOL. But hey if it gets her to eat it we will do it.
Chicken-Either baked, nuggets, breasts, legs or whatever else we do this once a week too. Nuggets if it is crazy night and we just don't have time I like to pop them into the microwave and made a side dish and veggie. Most times though I make chicken breast with cream of chicken and put it in the oven. Erik loves it like this. I make a rice dish and a veggie.

So this was my plan We know we are going to need a veggie with each meal, mac and cheese, rice, garlic bread, pasta, prego sauce (our fav), taco kits, and the meat for tacos and pasta sauce in advance for 6 months to a year in advance. I wanted to stockpile these items when they went on sale BUT SOMETHING HAPPENED.

Today I cleaned out the pantries, my master closet stockpile of bath items, and the closet of cleaning and laundry items. I am in shock at how much stuff I bought in these 3 months. Seriously I think that when you coupon and find good deals you need to take inventory once a month. I never did a inventory of everything. So let me just put it this way we don't need for another year:
Deodorant, Razors for Erik, Shaving Cream for me or Erik, Shampoo, Conditioner, Body Wash, Fabric Softener, Stain removers for clothes, red hot sauce, mustard, hamburger helper (I got these for almost free so I got a lot find out my family doesn't like them....these are being donated but I am just hesitant because they will need to purchase the meat for them), dish soap, dishwasher tablets I am good for the next 2-3 years LOL
I am good for the next 6 months on:
Toothpaste, Laundry Detergent, and toothbrushes

My plan will be downsized. I am going to try to work in 3 month time frames. That way I have the space for everything and I can go ahead and plan a menu and watch for items going on sale. I also don't want anything to go bad so I need to pay attention to expiration dates.

The main reason too for doing this is it will lower our monthly food budget. I plan on being able to get the grocery bill down to 200 a month or less for my family of 6. This stockpile will allow me to do this. I will have put out money up front with this but I feel the lower monthly payment will be better for my family. I think of this as a jump start.
Here are some pics!

A photo slideshow by Smilebox

Day 1 Has Arrived

Ok so today the day after I announced to the world wide web that I was going to lose 100 lbs and save $10,000.00 in one year......WHAT WAS I THINKING? I don't even think we spend that much in groceries a year without coupons??????? What am I planning on buying? WOW but the even bigger fear is losing 100 pounds. What is that about and hello I told you all that is my goal.....if you see me out eating or drinking something bad you have every right to correct me. I guess since I am putting this all out on the line you have every right to share in my journey and I hope that sometimes my blog makes you laugh so to repay me for the light happy moments in your day feel free to tell me if I am falling off the wagon. (note to my teacher friends and well everyone else reading this I like run on sentences and please don't judge my blog by my writing....I write like I talk I have been told-Thanks Maribel)

So of course today I had some deals to score. I knew from 3-8 Kroger was giving away FREE Chips yes people FREE chips a bag of them. I thought ok SCORE....I always text my couponing buddy Candace SCORE when I find a good deal. We have a joke when we get Money Makers (when a store is actually paying us to take the product out of the store and this happens quite often) that we will use a blow horn and blow it and scream MONEY MAKER! LOL yea we take couponing seriously! ;-)
So I also knew at Food Lion where I don't like to shop because they don't double coupons but they had a deal on Pampers Pull Ups. WE HATE HUGGIES pull ups in this house because Jalen can undo the velcro side easily and hello accidents! They were on sale for 7.99 and I had 2.00 off coupons so I got them for 5.99 I picked up the last 3 they had. It is a 3 day sale so I plan on going back and using the rest of the 2.00 off coupons and stocking up on some pull ups. (tried potty training last weekend that lasted a day when your son tells you I don't want to be a big boy I guess he knows what he wants!)

So the photo below shows my deals at Food Lion today.
Big time scores I am proud of from this trip-Gallon of milk for 1.68 used a coupon that they printed out from the coupon machine. You walk in the store scan your card it prints out coupons for you. So I got a 1.00 off 2 pillsbury ready to bake cookies-----so not helping the diet------but they were also running a special buy 2 of those same cookies and get 2.00 off a gallon of milk.
Pancakes were buy 1 get one 1 would have been a better deal if I had a coupon but I didn't grrr.
Diapers 7.99 minus my 2.00 off SCORE!
FREE Lays Chips

Total was 68.32
SAVED 27.03
Total Out Of Pocket 41.29
Balance left to save....$9972.97 for the year!

Ok so I know you are probably saying so Michelle you shopped a little today what did you do towards working out and losing weight? Well I didn't do much in that department. I didn't make it to the gym the kids were off and getting out of bed just wasn't in the cards right away. It was a lazy type of day. But tomorrow I have to be at a Tball Meeting for Zoe at 9am and drop Mya at Gymnastics at 845 so I will be up early. I am going to work out tomorrow doing some cardio for 2 hours.  1 of those hours I will be working out with Mikayla walking and trying to get her running at the track. Mikayla told me tonight she wants to lose some weight. She is not overweight but not a rail either. So I told her ok we can work out together a few times during the week and weekends. She can't get mad at me when I tell her no she can't eat something and when I make her plate that is it. She said ok. I guess being overweight as a teenager I don't want that for her so her taking the necessary steps to make sure that doesn't happen to her I applaud her. She won't be like me thinking about losing weight she will do something so her weight isn't a issue like mine is.

My game plan for saving money this weekend is simple. I am going shopping with Erik for summer clothes for Mikayla and we will shop the sale racks and clearance. I am not counting the clothing shopping into the total for 10K that will only be groceries. Last month I stocked up on paper towels and toilet paper. This month I am stocking up on side dishes and a few months worth of canned veggies. Veggies go on the lowest priced sales during Oct Nov Dec (holiday time) meats go on sale during the summer BBQ season. June July so I plan on saving some extra money to stockpile meats. Oh and I am looking for a freezer for the garage if anyone sees any good deals or knows of someone trying to get rid of one. Our freezer fridge that I got in February from saving money on groceries is just to small for our freezer stockpile needs. LOL

I am going to bed I hope you have a great shopping  weekend. Don't forget pharmacies have the best deals on paper and cleaning products check them out first when you are doing your shopping.
CVS Deals starting Sunday
http://www.weusecoupons.com/upload/cvs/133924-cvs-free-cheap-gda-week-4-3-4-9-a.html
Rite Aid Match ups starting Sunday
http://www.weusecoupons.com/upload/rite-aid-ad-previews/136056-rite-aid-matchups-4-3-4-9-a.html
Walgreens Deals
http://www.weusecoupons.com/upload/walgreens-ad-previews/132397-walgreens-4-3-4-9-deals.html

Happy Shopping I will update tomorrow after my work outs!
Nighty Night

Welcome to my Blog!

I love to write...those of you that follow me on FB and get emails from me I am sure you know this already!
So let me tell you a bit about me.....

My name is Michelle and my parents divorced when I was 5. We didn't live lavishly before the divorce and after the divorce things didn't change much except one major change (besides leaving my brothers and dad in Florida) we moved to NJ in with the best Grandparents in the world. My Grandma taught me many things but one that is the most important is NEVER MESS UP YOUR CREDIT! Hmmmm wish I would have listened to her instead of taking out the Spiegel credit card. Curse you Spiegel for sending a 18 year old a $850.00 credit limit!

My mom and grandma used coupons when I was growing up. I remember shopping in Food Town and putting the coupon on top of the item for the cashier. Or the grumpy cashiers who wouldn't take the coupons off if I didn't get the coupon on in time and she already scanned and bagged the item. I also remember shopping with my Grandma and beeping the horn for everyone to come out and help bring in the bags. I always got a special treat when I went shopping with her.

Growing up I put on weight I wish I could tell you I was a 20 lb line backer looking newborn. Well that wasn't the case I was a normal size 6 lbish bouncing joyful beautiful FABULOUS baby girl. HAHA so I like to think...mom I was right??????? I remember shopping alone because my friends fit in regular size stores and not me. I was ok with it because I always thought ok the weight is going to come off but I just need to figure out how to do it. I joined Weight Watchers numberous times....the first time in High School with my Grandma and Mom....you have to be ready to do something like that I so wasn't ready. I seemed to think I was FABULOUS so my weight never really got in my way. I enjoy life and live it to the fullest most of the time.

September 2007 was life changing for me. I watched as my Grandma passed away before my eyes. I watched as her children prayed around her in a circle this was my family and I stepped back for a minute and watched her children praying over her as she lie in a coma like state. I swore in that instant I WOULD LOSE this weight I would never want my children to pray over me dieing and I would do anything I could to stop it. My grandma didn't die due to her weight it was Kidney Failure but if I could do anything to keep me here on this earth to enjoy my kids, my husband, my aunts and uncles, cousins, in-laws, Grandpa and Family and Friends all over so help me God I was going to do it.

I considered Gastric Bypass but that ran a huge risk of me dying...NOPE not a option. I thought of Lap Band and when I heard I needed a needle to get a fill....HECK NO! I gave birth 3 times no needles because I was scared of them. Jalen being born in NC they said I had to have a IV I was not a happy camper! So as my Grandma was in the hospital I sent a wish to heaven with her for God to send me and Erik my amazing husband a son. Well wouldn't ya know it 2 months later I was pregnant....on my Grandma's bday I found out the baby I was carrying was a boy.....on my Grandparents anniversary I had our son sent from my Grandma....he is a blessing from heaven. I remember being alone with him after Erik went to get the girls and his Grandma who helped raise him too passed away the night before. We both lost our Grandma's in such a short span of time. I remember saying as his Grandma's sun set our Son's sun rose. The nurse that was caring for me started to cry. So me and Jalen were alone and I was holding him and I told him you will never know me this way. You will never know me as overweight. You will know me as FIT and FABULOUS...the frugal part hadn't come into play yet....man if I only knew back in the day....I could be a millionaire! LOL

So I started working out I lost the baby weight and 60 pounds pretty easily. Working out, weight watchers because I was ready for it and I lost another 20 for 80 lbs total gone. I lost 6 dress sizes and I am able to shop in regular stores! The journey is far from over but I hope you stick around and join me as I go on a mission to lose 100 lbs! I ran a 1/2 marathon in February 13.1 miles THANK YOU! My next challenge a Triathalon.

So how did this frugal thing come to be? It all started on New Years Eve watching TLC's Extreme Couponing. Seriously a man bought 5700 worth of merchandise and paid 251.00.....HELLO hold the phone I gotta get more Sunday Papers and Coupons! I have in the month of March over 850.00 on items my family will use. I will share with you my deals I find and my journey to save $10,000.00 in grocery bills from April 1, 2011- April 1, 2012.

Hopefully in April of 2012 You will still think I am fabulous, I WILL be fit, and you will see how frugal I am and maybe I will have taught you a few things.

Oh one last thing about coupons. People say they don't have coupons for things I use....if you use toothpaste, deodorant, dishwasher or dish detergent, tooth brushes, laundry detergent or bodywash/soap YOU NEED TO COUPON for that stuff alone. You shouldn't have to pay for that or pay under 1.00 for it with coupons most of the time. If you see you are getting to much and the stuff is free.....DONATE it to the local fire dept, police station, EMT department, and the Military Branches.