Extreme Couponing Update

I'm on a roll! Updates all over the place! Well here's where I am on the extreme couponing.


I am awful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I mean, I have saved some money. We'll say oh... 7% on average at the grocery store. It's hard to "extreme coupon" within the parameters that I have set for myself. Those parameters are:  1) Don't buy stuff that I don't need 2) I am not about to store excessive amounts of stuff. These seem to be key parts of "extreme couponing" but I save 100% when I don't buy stuff that I don't need. Also, when you buy excessive amounts of stuff, you have to store it for a long time and that means that there's probably a lot of preservatives. The Skinny B*tch book says that foods with preservatives will preserve themselves on your @ss. I think they may have a point. There are some very very overweight people on the "Extreme Couponing" show. I mean, it would be hard not to eat a lot if you essentially had a grocery store in your house. Do I cook or do I throw a frozen pizza in the oven? I know what would win at this house....

Well yesterday I had a good trip in the couponing department. I had the store ad to Walgreens and we were low on a bunch of hygiene products. So with my coupons in hand and I set out to save. I had 10 items valued at $33.80 with my coupons I got my total down to $24.21 ($9.59 or 35.2% savings). I also got a $3 "Catalina" coupon from the store which means I have a $3 credit towards my next purchase (and I already had a photo purchase from online waiting on me). So we'll go ahead and call my new total $21.21 (12.59 or  37.3% total savings). Well I got to my car and this is probably the most important tip of the day. Pay attention to your receipts!! I looked at my receipt and I noticed that on the shelf an item said Buy One Get One Free. Well my receipt did not reflect my 50% discount on the second item. The item was $5.29.  Furthermore, I had bought 3 packs of gum because they were on sale 3 for $2. Instead I was charged $0.99 each. I was going to just drive away and not worry about it, but then I thought, "What's the purpose of clipping these coupons if I am going to drive away from savings? It's in the name of science!" So I went back in and it turns out that they had over charged me $4.14 (12.2% of my original total). So now my total is $17.07 (16.73 or 49.5% in total savings!).

This adventure, I would say was worth it. This was a good learning experience. This encourages me to keep looking for good deals, especially on things that I need. I'll let you know if I discover any more secrets or good methods!

Read More

Zumba Update

Some times I tell you that I'm going to let you "know how it goes" on one of my topics, and then I never do. Well I am working on it! So, here's some "how it's goin" regarding Zumba. Well first, I said that Lauren (Lo) was coming with me to Zumba when she came to visit and I'd post a video blog. Well that never happened. We never went. I worked out once the entire time she was here. It was so worth it though. I wish she would come back.

Anyway, I have continued to go to Zumba. It's great and an awesome hour of cardio. I am starting to pick up the steps because not only is she not making up the steps as she goes, but if you come more than once, you're likely to hear the same songs again. In further coincidence, the songs also have the same steps! Isn't Zumba great! Well I'm typically too busy watching the instructor and trying to keep up to pay attention to anything that any one else is doing, but sometimes I catch a peek at others and have made some observations. Every class seems to have a certain few people.

First, there's the under study. I call them the under study because this person is the girl who is up front prepared to relieve the instructor of their duties on a moments notice. Sometimes even correcting the instructor. This girl is intense and gives me every reason to chuckle. And to stay out of her way.

Then there's the future stripper. Oh my. Typically this is a girl that's on summer break. From sophomore year. Of high school. Where these girls get these moves, I am not sure. I mean, there's a lot of hip moving and booty shakin' in Zumba. It's great! But this isn't a constant session of "Pop Lock & Drop" it. I keep looking for the pole!

Finally (at least in my observations thus far) there's down in front. This person, no matter where you move or how tall you are, is the person ALWAYS IN THE WAY and to make matters worse ALWAYS WRONG WRONG WRONG. Now on day 1 of Zumba classes, this person was me. I tried to get away from the front but somehow due to forces beyond my control I was front and center. I at least turned around and said "No matter what you do, don't follow me." I could just see "Duh" written across their faces.

Sometimes when I am in class I like to imagine the instructor coming up to me after class and telling me that I am so good at the moves that I should consider teaching a class. Then I laugh out loud to myself  in the middle of the dance because if I had an ounce of pride I would have quit that class 10 minutes after I started. Here's to burning calories!

Read More

Heaven Help Us if We Ever Have a Kid

The First Day We Met Pistol

Pistol is our dog, lovingly named after Pistol Pete the mascot of the great Oklahoma State University (maybe we're biased). I'll admit that at first, I was apprehensive about getting a puppy. Matt's mom had found him and there was a new litter (are dogs a litter?) to choose our dog from. I was worried because we had so much traveling to do and dogs are just a huge responsibility. Well Matt is a big dog lover and every bit capable of taking on the responsibility, so when it came down to it, I was on his side for getting a puppy. I also liked the idea of him having a little companion in the 5-6 months before we got married. So we went down to Talahina America and picked out our puppy. He was such a perfect fit for us!

Pistol's First Photo Shoot

Our hearts have been captured by this little creature. He requires a lot of attention, he's SO stubborn, but he is also really smart and loving.

Of course he's a Poke's fan. Probably the cutest little Poke's fan there ever was, really.

And he wouldn't even think about that other team.....

But he's not so tough. At least he doesn't look that way when he gets a bath.

He even dressed up to celebrate the wedding. He was ready to make this family official. Having a mom and dad that weren't married wasn't something he was taking lightly.

So by now, I have you convinced that as far as I am concerned, this little piece of heaven is the greatest dog that ever walked the earth. You could argue with me, but it really wouldn't get you any where. But what really concerns me is the picture above. We do this every morning for about 10 minutes. He can't commit to going outside because he's too nosey and wants to know what's going on inside. He wants to be in the heat so that he can catch a few rays (get his summer glow, I suppose). The fact that I ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN is absurd. This is a waste of air conditioning. It's 110 degrees outside. But because it makes my dog happy, every morning I let him do this. But in reality, even though he's my child, he's a dog. What on earth will we let a REAL CHILD get away with? Just bat your cute little eyes at me and the world is yours. I'm supposed to be in charge. Right??!?? Are you with me???

Not to mention the 8 different kinds of snacks we have for him. He has his own little shelf in the pantry. He sleeps in our bed. More specifically right next to me or on my feet. Always some where inhibiting me from moving. He rides in the drivers seat when we got on a trip. Yeah, the drivers seat. It's not easy.

Well... maybe some experience as puppy parents will help us learn to stand our ground (although so far things aren't looking good). I just hope this isn't a sign of things to come... We're weak! Oh- and just in case it needs to be said.... we're completely satisfied with being puppy parents and puppy parents alone for quite some time.

Read More

Eventful Week

  

You should probably know that my little brother, Joe, and I are really close. We have a 7.5 year age gap so we really don't have much to argue about. Our lives are in completely different places, but we have an enormous amount of respect for each other. He looks up to me, and I look for opportunities on a regular basis to be a good big sister. I send him packages, I usually bring him some sort of gift when I come home, I take an interest in his life, and I regularly tell him what he means to me. When I was little I always wanted an older sibling so when Joe came along, I made a decision to be the older sibling to him that I always wanted. Joe decided that he was going to come visit for a week. Take the big adventure road trip down to West Texas. He brought his best bud Cody. They arrived and I planned out a week's worth of meals. The benefit of teenage boys is that they're relatively cheap to feed. Sam's Club? I think so! There wasn't any fancy cooking around here this week. I did make blue berry muffins one morning because they're Joe's favorite.

 

Matt wanted to take the boys to  hit "range balls" for some male bonding time. I showed up to take the pictures and hit a few with my pink clubs. Up until Matt and I started dating, I had no clue what hitting "range balls" meant. So, I'll go ahead and explain for you in case you grew up like me. Hitting range balls means to go out to an open space (sometimes at a golf course, some times these places are solely dedicated to this hitting of the range balls). Then you buy a bucket of golf balls (rent them, I suppose) for about $5-$7 and you just hit the balls with your golf club over and over until you run out of balls. For people like Matt, this is an opportunity improve your accuracy, direction, distance, and overall skill for the game on long range swings. For people like me, it's an opportunity to merely make contact with the ball and call yourself  "Tiger". As you can see above, I also have no regard for golf "attire." I'd like to make a name for myself in the golf world by playing in dresses and rhinestone sandals with only the driver club. I'll let you know if it works out. This outing was a good time and Matt got to teach the boys a thing or two.

Last week, in case you didn't know, Harry Potter came out. Matt, out of his own accord, bought mid night tickets to the show (shocked me. The man hasn't even watched Harry Potter in his life). So we all participated in a Harry Potter Marathon. This really is a commitment because 1) There's 7 movies! and 2) They are 2.5 hours long! So  needless to say, last week was a lazy week.

Thursday night we watched Part 1 of the final movie. Then we got our snacks and got dressed. I have a Griffyndor t-shirt and Matt has a Slytherin bracelet because I knew he wouldn't want to be too involved...  (Does it look like Matt is trying to get me with fangs to anyone else?? Curious.....)

Joe has a "Muggle" t-shirt and Cody has a shirt that has some dramatic saying on it with all of the characters.

I wasn't sure that I was going to make it through the midnight showing. I'm a girl who appreciates her sleep, but the movie was so entertaining I made it through just fine. They even had Harry Potter 3-D glasses. Too cute! I kept them and I'll be bringing them with me for all future 3-D movies.

Friday night Matt and I went to an engagement party for our friends Brian and Briana. We told the boys to hit the town. Check things out. Go have an adventure. They went to Domino's and got a sno cone. Party Animals.

We had a big day on Saturday. We planned to go to Balmorhea to the natural spring. On the way we stopped at the Odessa Meteor Crater. I gotta tell you. Don't make a special trip to West Texas for the meteor crater. Now we can say we have seen it....

Then we went to the Balmorhea spring. This really is cool. It's out in the middle of nowhere. (Balmorhea Population: 527). The boys look like they're holding hands... but they really aren't that friendly. This spring stays around 75* year round. It was cold! It's about 25 ft deep. There are fish in the spring and a lot of people get certified to scuba in the spring. We all really enjoyed the afternoon here.

Then we headed over to Ft. Davis because we were going to go to the observatory that evening. We had a little time to kill so we kept ourselves busy in town. The boys saw this and NEEDED to go in.

I DO. NOT. LIKE. SNAKES. I think they're interesting to watch on the discovery channel, but for me that's it. I don't need to get up close and personal. For some reason, the boys did. 

Look on the floor by his foot! That's a fake snake which looked like a coiled up very real snake. I nearly had a heart attack. I was done with the snake exhibit after that. I want my $3 back.

We went to the cutest little restaurant in town. This was the sink in the bathroom. Rustic....

The restaurant had and old "ice cream and soda fountain" theme to it, so we all had ice cream. Look at that Sundae. Everything is bigger in Texas....

In case you can't read it, this sign says "Just in case God is looking the other way, I am not and I am taking notes for him. Do not step on birds!!" We never saw any birds..... Strange things in Ft. Davis...

'

We traveled up the mountain to the McDonald observatory. We first listened to a presentation on constellations and planets... It was an "all ages" program... We went to a presentation where they showed us their software. This software gives information where you can see the sky from any location (in the case they used the observatory) and then they can tell you what it looks like at any time of day. Say at 1:30 p.m. or 3:30 a.m. If you're an astronomy nerdy nerd, this is right up your alley. They can do this for year 1931 or even year 3031. So my little brother waits until the end of the presentation and walks up the presenter and says "Can you type in December 21, 2012?" He kills me. According to this software, we're all going to be okay. Then Joe follows up with, "In your professional opinion, is Pluto a planet?"

This is Matt and I just before the "star party". You'll have to forgive my appearance... it was a long day of swimming and travel. I didn't have the forethought to bring makeup. Or a brush...

At the star party they pointed out in the sky the constellations which was neat. They had this insane laser pointer that can apparently cause issues to planes. We then went to the huge telescopes and got to see Saturn! This was especially near and dear to my heart as I played the role of Saturn in my 1st AND 3rd grades plays. This was a very interesting outing and for the first time in what seems like eons I was COLD. We got home pretty late from our eventful day, but it was well worth it. Joe and Cody headed home Sunday morning. Matt and I cleaned the house and now every thing is back to normal.

Back to the grind of doing what I want! In reality... I need to get on preparing for school and getting things off of my "to do" list. Wish me luck!

Read More

Extreme Couponing

Being married is a new dynamic for us and one thing we have to get used to is sharing finances. This is especially true because Matt and I decided that I should take this summer off to just relax, focus on our home, and do what I need to do before I start school again in the fall. So we really are sharing all the money that he makes... which can be difficult for me because I am used to having financial independence. I have also always done a really good job of managing my finances and saving money. Well with a little bit of my extra time I have watched about 5 episodes of this new sensation "Extreme Couponing" on TLC.
So, because I love ya, I'm going to experiment and let you know how it goes.

I actually went on a couponing trip and lost my receipts so I can't tell you my actual savings, but what I can tell you is that the amount of time I spent research versus the time I spent trying to get the deal was NOT worth it. Unlike the people on these shows, I value my time. I don't have a job right now, but spending time with my husband is more valuable to me than saving an extra few bucks. Cost and value aren't the same thing.  Plus, lets do the math. This chick on the episode I am watching now spends 60 hours a week to save $500. That's $8.30 an hour. PLUS she has a ton of crud in her home that she has to store. 124 bottles of shampoo?? I don't think so.
But in the spirit of saving money, I'm going to give this another go while saving my time and saving money. I'll let you know if it's worth it.

First, our newspaper will sell us the Sunday paper for $20 for 20 weeks and deliver it to us. That's $1 per issue (duh) when the cover price is $2.00 for the Sunday paper. Well in Midland they have a really cool paper sales system. People stand at intersections and on/off ramps and sell the paper. It reminds me of the movies when they're like "Extra Extra, Read all about it! Midland... Still in a drought! Old news is new news around here!" There's a few kids that do this too. Matt and I are so moved by their ambition to earn a dollar in this 110 degree weather, we always go buy the paper from the kid and give him a tip. It warms our hearts so we just eat the cost on that. But if you're really into saving, go the $1 route.

Some stores do "double" coupons. I'm am not aware of any of these stores in Midland... so that sets me back. It seems to me that the biggest secret is to look at the sales ads and compare them to the coupons that you have. That's where the "extreme" part comes in. But I have also set the guideline that I'm not buying anything that I don't need. I don't clip coupons for things that I wont actually purchase. We don't have the space and I don't think it's very eco-friendly to buy excess of stuff that you don't need. So what I am really doing is setting the stage for what I am going to do (Do I sense a blogging series????). I hope it goes well. If not I'll have learned a valuable lesson. I'll teach you my secrets along the way.

My little brother and his friend are coming to visit next week. They eat a lot, but they'll eat anything. Albertson's is selling frozen pizzas for $.88. Well I went yesterday and they were out. SO I am going to go to Wal-mart and try to get them to "price match". I've never done this before... so wish me luck! Happy shopping!!

Read More

Independence Day Weekend

Somehow this year it worked out perfectly where Matt got 6 days off in a row for 4th of July weekend. I got lucky and the boss let me off too so we went home for the weekend(that's an unemployed joke). Dorothy said it best, "There's no place like home." I don't care what people say about Oklahoma, as far as I am concerned, it's God's country. I've been a lot of places, but my heart will always have a special place for the prairie. Don't get me wrong, other than the total lack of precipitation and the "Texas" mentality, things are great here. I love our house. I love that it's easy to get around. I love having new experiences.  And I especially love quality time with our little family. Me, Matt, and Pistol.

Back to the weekend:
We had the wonderful blessing of having Lo (Lauren to those of you less familiar) fly down to visit us for 4 glorious days of reminiscing, laying out, cocktails and general ridiculousness which is inevitable when we're together. It was like having a piece of home down here in West Texas and it was a breathe of fresh air. That's actually kind of ironic because she's from Chicago, but I think we did a pretty good job of converting her.
Right here is where I would post a picture of our good times together...but we some how lost our minds and didn't take one picture together. Failures is what we are.
Lo rode back with us to Oklahoma and we dropped her off at the airport. I hugged her goodbye, which was one of the top 10 sincerest hugs of my life. I didn't like to see her leave. I wish she would move down here. Too bad everyone else's life doesn't revolve around me. Wouldn't that be convenient??

We finally made it home on Thursday and crashed into bed. It's a lonnnnng drive from West Texas to Northeast Oklahoma. Friday we went shopping at Bass Pro Shops (because I am an awesome wife!). We went to lunch with Meredith and had a great time. I miss her all the time! All we do is laugh together. That would be cool if she would move down to Midland too. Friday evening my aunt and cousins came over and we had a little fourth of July celebration.

This is my cousin Khi. He's a cute little booger.

On Saturday we went to float the Illinois river. For obvious reasons I don't have an pictures but what I wouldn't give! We had SOO much fun. Lauren came (I honestly didn't believe she would come, haha)! She brought a life guard with her because she can't swim (who can't swim???). Scott and Larissa came, Bryan, and my little brother and his current girl friend ( I can't keep up with that kid). Matt came back looking like a lobster. Good times!

Sunday we headed to Duncan to see Matt's parents. We got to swim, eat good food, golf, and hang out. Good times in D-town. 

Family Portrait! I took this with the timer on my camera. Check out my new fishing shirt. That's right. I'm fratty.

Due to some serious burn bans we didn't get to shoot off fireworks on the fourth which was a bummer. We did watch the New York display on TV though. It was incredible and that live experience is officially on my bucket list. We DID however, have the time honored tradition of home made ice cream. 

Matt was in charge. He got a new shirt too. He's also pretty fratty.

Cookies-n-cream home made ice cream is from HEAVEN. HEAVEN I TELL YOU! It even rained for a few minutes on the 4th. I could have cried. I am pretty sure I made up a song. It had been 45 days since I had seen rain.

Tuesday morning we headed home. It was a nice drive with me and my husband. And Pistol. We're back in West Texas for a few days before we head out again. I love Independence Day. I love the celebration of the greatest country in the world. What I really love is the time with family. I love that the holiday brings us together every year. This year I have a new family to add to the mix. More love to spread around! Hope your weekend was special as well!

Read More