17 Cent Amazement

After having a rough and very busy day at work yesterday, I decided to make a quick stop at my favorite Walgreens by my house. I had seen on a couponing blog that there were gummies on super sale, plus I had coupons for them, so I could not resist. It was going to make me feel slightly better, I just knew it!

I bought 6 packages of gummy bears and then found that Tostito's chip were also on super sale so I grabbed 2 bags of those. I hate paying $4 for a bag of chips so I usually buy a generic brand so buying "real" Tostito's is sort of a cheap (well, VERY cheap) thrill. Plus, it makes Mark happy.

The teenage boy behind the register started ringing me up and after I gave him my coupons plus my register rewards from last week's shopping trip, my grand total was 17 cents. Yep, 17 cents. The boy was amazed! He said, "wow, how did you just do that? All of this for 17 cents?!?!" I replied, "well, I guess I am a good shopper." Haha, I sure am! I wowed this teenager and felt pretty darn good about it.

Talk about a cheap thrill!

1 year anniversary.....of couponing, that is

Ok, ok, I know I am obsessed with calendars and putting things on my calendar, but I promise, I did not write on my calendar when I began couponing.

I have 4 couponing blogs that I follow each day as I enjoy my lunch. One of them is saved on my toolbar as the particular date I began following this site and it was April of 2009. Wow, how time flies!

I wish I had a cool statistic like the exact amount of money I saved this year on groceries, toiletries, and other household items, but I don't...I just know it is A LOT! Just this weekend, I spent $5.36 at CVS and saved $36.86. I was disappointed at my trip to Kroger only because the things we needed were perishables so I didn't have a coupon for those items. I was a slightly depressed only handing the check out man a single coupon!

Silly as it may be, I have a few couponing goals for myself as I begin year two of my couponing adventure:
1. Learn free ways to collect coupons rather than paying for the newspaper each week. I already have a lady I work with bringing me her coupon inserts each week and another friend's mother sends me dog-related coupons once a month. Apparently, people dumpster dive (won't be doing that) and search for newspapers that are lying around at restaurants (already put my Dad on that mission while at Starbucks Sunday mornings) for coupons. Not that $12 a month is bank-breaking, but free is always better! If anyone else has ideas for me or coupon inserts you aren't using, please, send them my way!
2. Begin collecting baby coupons. Mark and I are no where near ready to have a baby (sorry to both sets of our parents), but our friends are so I will have plenty of baby showers to attend over the course of the next 9 months. I would love to get deals on items I can make into a cute baby baskets!
3. Cut our grocery budget by $50 per month and put that in a savings account for trips, furniture, or something else fun! We only spend $300 now so $50 is a significant amount, but I am up for a couponing challenge!!!

Happy 1st anniversary!

Results of the Avon Walk

Well, the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer is over and I survived. I managed to contribute $2380 to the $2 million raised for the Houston walk. Pretty amazing! I am so thankful for all the donations, thoughts, prayers, and text messages I got over the course of this adventure. It meant the world to me!

We started the morning by meeting at a park where I got my tag for my back. I also got to sign the big column and do some stretching before the walk started.

I also had to experience the world of porta potties which are disgusting. This was the least fun part of the walk considering I visited 3 more porta potties along my walk - gross!

I walked past many breast cancer survivors who thanked me for what I was doing. It was such great motivation to keep walking. While I was hobbling along with Mark by my side, one lady came outside of her home and personally thanked us. She said that only 10 people can be treated with $2 million. That isn't that many people at all. That statistic is staggering and a great reason to continue to donate to breast cancer research.

Although I planned to walk the 39 mile route over the course of 2 days, I only completed 22.8 miles on the first day and did not walk on the second day. Mark and I made the executive decision that VERY sore hips and 13 large blisters were reason enough to stop walking. I walked for 7 hours on Saturday and denied help from many people who asked if I needed it (due to the hobbling I was doing!).

This was a great experience for many reasons. First, I loved walking in honor of Mamaw. When times got tough, I thought of her and thought my pain was probably nothing compared to what she has been through. Second, it was great to be a part of a large cause working to benefit so many people past, present, and future. Third, it was wonderful knowing I had so much love and support at home from friends and family. The text messages and well wishes were so kind! And fourth, this walk reminded me of the constant love and support I have from Mark. I literally could not have completed the walk without him. He probably walked a good 8 miles with me while holding my hand the entire way. He ran to get me cold water and met me at different locations to drop it off to me, he went to a local athletic store and bought me another shirt and pair of socks when mine were drenched from the rain (yes, it even rained while I was walking), and he told me so many times just how proud he was of me as I pushed through the last few miles. My husband is one in a million and I don't take that for granted.

I also learned a few things....I am tougher than I thought I was (I really lost hope about mile 17, just ask poor Mark), I can't just get up and walk 39 miles without training, women are really funny and all love talking about the same topics (food, how to stay skinny, how they met their husband, and dating - I eavesdropped a lot while walking), and I can do just about anything with support, especially Mark's support!

Almost time to walk!

Well, I will officially be walking in Houston at the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer at this time just two days from now. I was very calm about it up until this point. The nerves are starting to creep up on me!

I have all my gear. I bought another 2 pairs of socks yesterday after work along with some additional wicking capri pants. Mark was also very generous and took me to another store last night and bought me a good pair of shorts (when did shorts become so short, by the way?!?!?) and another pair of socks. He thinks I will be happier walking in shorts since it is so humid in Houston. We decided it would be a good idea to be prepared so he said he would hold the shorts for me, and if I want to change mid-walk, he will meet me somewhere. What a great husband! He has been very supportive throughout this adventure.

Truth be told, I probably should be a little bit nervous. I have not really "trained" for this as well as I initially intended to. I haven't walked a long distance in almost 2 months and really have been a slacker about going to the gym everyday. I anticipate I will be sore and am expecting blisters on my feet. Call it lazy, call it busy, call it neglect, but I did it to myself and I am regretting it now...

I really never challenge myself with physical types of activities so I am going to enter this with my game face on (I think that is cool to say if you are an athlete?). Many people generously donated over $2300 to my fundraising so I can't let them down! I am doing this walk to support Mamaw, to support others with breast cancer, and to help fund future research. I can do this....I hope!

Shopping Trip

As usual, I am very excited about my recent Sunday trip to some of my favorite stores. This weekend's newspaper was filled with great coupons! I had a true challenge on my hands: feed us for the next week for $30. Mark and I spend no more than $300 a month on food and toiletries (this includes laundry items too) and all that was remaining in March's budget was $30. Some may be scared, but not me, it was a true shopping challenge!!!

I only bought things that were either free or close to free. I went to Tom Thumb, CVS, and Walgreens. I got all of this from CVS and Walgreens for a total of $2.82. One box of cereal alone is usually this amount!
This picture includes the above plus what I bought at Tom Thumb for the whole week. The week's total was a mere $13. I was lucky and got 7 Gala apples free since the lady couldn't make the scale work so that really helped my bill.
Now, don't worry, we won't just be eating a microwave brownie and ice cream (both cheap treats for Mark). We have plenty stockpiled in the freezer so these are just supplemental items.

Last night, we had turkey sliders, healthy cole slaw, french fries, fruit, and pudding for dessert. It was yummy!

I love a good couponing challenge!!!

A little here, a little there....

Mark has been working on our house bit by bit now that hunting season is over and I think it is coming along nicely! He installed a new bath faucet in the guest bathroom (tile is missing but will be installed!). The other one was old, plastic and didn't turn off so we needed a new one.

He also hung these picture frames in the hallway. I have yet to fill them with pictures, but I will, once we decide what wedding pictures we like (yep, still haven't done that either!).

And, the most exciting, we bought a huge area rug for our main room. We had been looking and saving awhile for this so we are super excited to have something nice. The dogs love it too, especially Dixie. She is happy to have something soft to lay on at night while we watch tv. I am posting both these pictures because in the first one, Bandera just happened to be sitting there when I snapped the photo, while Dixie was by my side. When I went to take another one, Dixie whipped her body around and positioned herself right next to Bandera. Guess she wanted to be in the picture too!









The weather was so nice last week that I decided to surprise Mark by setting up a nice dinner outside. It is the least a wife can do while on Spring Break, right? Well, we can't really afford patio furniture (too many other things to buy) so I made due with what we had. It isn't the prettiest but it allowed us to enjoy a nice dinner on our patio! The dogs especially liked us watching them run around in the backyard. Bandera "protected" us from all the birds!

It snowed in Frisco on the first official day of spring...that is crazy Texas weather for you! The snow was as tall as Bandera. It melted by the afternoon but it was a sight to be seen while on Spring Break!








While the weather was terrible, Mark took Dixie to her very first Hunt Test. I had to stay in town to do work for my class so Mark kept me updated via text. He pulled a fast one on me and convinced me Dixie did a terrible job all weekend and didn't pass any of her tests when in fact, she passed with flying colors! This is what Mark surprised me with when I came out to the garage....

Dixie was proud of the two ribbons she earned, as was Mark. Mark is such a good trickster and I am so gullible!!!

38 days, yikes!

I received an e-mail from my advisor for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer and she informed me there are only 38 days until the walk. Are you kidding me?!?!?! That is not very long at all.

Like I hoped, I have been able to make it to the gym much more this week. I have been getting up at 5am in order to get a 40-45 minute work out in before going to work. I went Tuesday, Wednesday, and this morning. I must admit, getting up at that time is hard but when I leave the gym I feel great. Plus, a major item is checked off my to do list!

I have class on Saturday which eats up most of the day but I am hoping to get some good walking in over the weekend. The weather is getting much better and much warmer so doing some outside walks would be really nice!

38 days and counting......