Tuesday, September 23, 2008

dolla dolla bill ya'll.......

Another successful trip to the grocery store, and I just had to share this one. Saving enough money this time to even suprise the cashier! YAY!

Check out my haul!



6 boxes of cereal
4 boxes of pasta roni
2 bowls of easy mac
2 boxes of pop tarts
2 6 packs(24oz ea) of Pepsi (NOT for me!!!)
5 tubes of Crest toothpaste

Shelf Price: $55.90
Out of Pocket: $20.07
Total Savings: $35.83 or 64%

I got all this for $$20.00!!!!!! I am so proud of myself.

I know you all are dying to hear about my girls camping getaway weekend. I am going to do a post about it, I am just waiting for some of the girls to send my some pictures. I took some, but I want to see what they have too.

BH 90210 is coming on. Bye.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Time for a change?

In the past year or so, I have been wondering if I need to change careers. The more time I spend with Bubba and Harley, and going to their school functions, I wonder how cool it would be to work in a school.

When I left college, I didn't have my degree, in anything. I was in my final year of the education program, and I just up and quit. Things got a little hard, and I gave up. I had problems. Financial problems, social problems, and drinking problems. For years after college, as I worked a "normal" job, and grew up, A LOT, I realized I hadnt made the right decision. Even though I knew I made a bad decision, I still didnt regret NOT doing the teaching thing. In my heart I knew that at that point in my life I would make a horrible teacher!

In the last year or so, I am starting to realize that I might like kids. LOL. No really, I do like kids. Being a part of Bubba and Harley's life and watching them learn and grow is pretty amazing. I love when I get to go to their school functions, watch them interact with other kids, and watch all the teachers interact with the kids too. I love getting to talk to the teachers, and just getting involved.

I have talked to a couple of my teacher friends recently about job opportunities within the school system. While I still dont think I would like to be a "full blown" teacher, I think I am ready to be a part of the action.

I say "i think" because there are a few things holding me back. Okay, 1 thing. The money thing. If I end up getting a job, say, as a teacher's aid, or assistant, its quite the pay cut. I feel almost guilty when I say that. Because I know that people who teach, do it because they LOVE teaching. They dont do it for the money, because there is not much money to be made in the teaching business. They do it because its their passion, and it doesnt even matter that they don't make what they deserve, because it makes them happy anyway. So I wonder, would I be happier? Would I love the job so much, that the pay wouldn't matter? I'm still looking for the answer to that question.....

I hope that I can find that answer soon. Especially after today. Today I was informed that my boss has put in her 2 weeks notice. She is not happy in her job and had decided to quit. She doesnt even have another job lined up. Her husband works, and they are willing to deal with the temporary loss in money to salvage her happiness. I knew she wasnt happy with her job. I love having her as a boss, but I always knew that something inside her wasn't right, know what I mean? She always had conflicts with one of the co-workers, and it was totally unfair. I hated seeing my boss treated badly.

I like my job I have now. The company is a great company to work for. I get benefits, and vacation, and bonuses, and little random perks here and there. All for just showing up to work everyday and doing my job. I work bankers hours, and get major holidays off. The pay is good too. And I must say, I am good at my job! I would say that there is somewhat of a high stress level in my job. When working with industrial accounts, and contractors, there are always deadlines! Those deadlines have to be met. It's also always a challenge considering that I dont have any experience in the electrical field whatsoever other than the experience I have gotten from this job. I am also put in a situation where I have to deal with the above mentioned co-worker on a daily basis. I like this person. But this person is quite un-predictable. Its hard waking up everyday wondering if its going to be a good day, or a bad one. Am I going to get blamed for something that I didn't do? Am I going to get "called out" in front of customer or other co-workers. You get the picture.

So, after hearing about my bosses soon "departure" from the company, I am starting to wonder. Should I do that too?

Monday, September 15, 2008

how do you like them apples.... or pears?

my good deals that I have gotten this weekend. My "stockpile" has started. The big thing this weekend was cereal! I want to share my list and what I spent because I think its so cool.

1st trip to Safeway:
3 boxes of cereal (cocoa puffs, trix, golden grahams)
3 boxes of hamburger helper
3 cases of water (24 bottles in each case)
3 bottles of Dial anti bacterial soap

Shelf Price: $41.40
Out of Pocket (which is what I actually paid): $18.36
Total Savings: $23.04 or 56%

Not too bad!

Check out my 2nd trip:

5 boxes of cereal (cocoa puffs, cinn toast crunch, and 3 cheerios)
2 Kraft Easy Mac
3 cases of water (24 ct/ea)
2 bags of Lays Potato Chips
3 cans of Progresso soups
2 McCormick seasonings
1 box of Glad Force Flex garbage bags (75 ct)
1 24 pack of Charmin Double Roll TP
1 bottle of Tide laundry detg (the 150 oz one with the spout!)
1 gallon of milk
1 magazine
2 loafs of french bread
2 beef roasts
3 lbs of seedless grapes
1 lb of asparagus
1 lb of sweet onions
2 lbs of bartlett pears
5 lbs of potatoes
6 boxes of raisins
2 containers of fresh raspberries
1 bag of baby carrots

That is quite the list!!! Especially considering that the laundry detg is usually around $20, even at Costco! The trash bags and TP are usually $10.00 or more.

Shelf Price: $174.04
Out of Pocket: $93.24
Total Savings: $80.80 or 46%

$93.00 might sound like a lot to some people. But consider this, I wont have to buy trash bags, toilet paper, or landry detg for a couple of months. Same with cereal since I have 8 un-opened boxes sitting here. The 6 cases of bottled water should last for a couple months also. Also consider the fact that I bought this all at Safeway!! Wow!

Sunday, September 7, 2008

I'm game!

After my trip to Wal-Mart, better known as "the worst place in the world to be on your day off", I decided that I need to do something else. I've tried avoiding them, and shopping somehwere else, but I ended up spending way too much money. Today I was starting to wonder if the extra money was worth keeping my insanity and not reaching across the scanner and shoving the divider stick strait up the cashiers ass!!

Fast forward to this afternoon: We went to a friend's daughter's birthday party and in my visiting with the other "moms" I was re-aquainted with "The Grocery Game". You know, you clip coupons from the Sunday paper, and the grocery game helps you by telling you which coupons to spend, and when and where to spend them. The Grocery Game tells you where all the sales are at your local stores. They help you "stockpile" dry goods. Bottom line is you buy when the items are the cheapest and save lots and lots of money. I have done the grocery game before and I did save, but I quit doing it because for one, I didnt have much room to have a "stockpile" per say, and two, well, I am just lazy. One of the ladies there has a stockpile of 40 boxes of cereal that she has bought for less then $1.75 each box, and they are good brand name cereals. She also has 14 packages of Venus razor refills that she got...... FOR FREE!!!! She also has shampoo, toothpaste, toilet paper, etc. Things that dont go bad for a while, that she bought for dirt cheap! She has a group of ladies that all participate in the Grocery Game together, and they do a coupon train. In clipping coupons you come across some that are great deals but you have no use for. ie.. diapers, cat food, baby food, etc. So you put them in the coupon train for someone else to use, and you might get some good ones out of the train that someone else put in there for stuff they dont need. Oh, and one of the best things that this lady shared with me? She hasnt shopped at Wal-Mart in monthes!!!! All of these great deals have come from Safeway, and Rite-Aid.

So..... I was thinking about starting our own group here in town. I am talking about a group of about 4-5 girls maybe. You would be responsible for getting your own Sunday papers and clipping the coupons. The Grocery Game is $7.00/month. That is way cheap considering, if you play right, you could save at least $100/month.

So... who's with me????

Thursday, September 4, 2008

More protein, Less sugar

That is my mantra for the next little while. I need to lay off the sugar for real. I have been having these horrible ups and downs with my energy level. I eat a bunch of sugar and I feel fine one minute, and I am completely out of it the next. I mean out of it, too weak to even make myself a sandwich. Happens when I eat all fruit too, and yea I know, fruit has a lot of sugar in it. I am trying to find some different ways to get more protein in my diet because I havent been too much into the whole eating meat thing lately. And I am getting tired of cottage cheese. The sugar thing though, for real, its outta control. I love me some milk duds and whoppers.

I have been going for walks at night, because the weather is awesome! And I love walking through the neighborhoods around here. Everyone has the most perfect green yards. And everyone is mowing and it smells so fresh, it's just so peaceful. Tonight I ate 1/2 a watermelon and I was vegging on the couch when I made myself get up and go. So the pooch on her leash, and we were off. I did a new route, which I later drove and found out that it is 1.6 miles. I could have gone longer but I havent worn my tennis shoes in a long time and I am re-breaking them in. So I have a nice ugly blister now on the back of my heel. Grrr. The Wii-Fit has been calling my name, but I really want to take advantage of this weather while its here. Bob comes to my side of the bed at night and pokes at me. I think he puts spiders in my bed too. He is so mean!!!

I am so tired of being a fat slob. Oh and by the way, anyone who was on here the other night a the right time to see my F/U FAT post, my apologies to you. I needed to vent, but later realized it was completely innapropriate so I took it off. I know some people saw it, so oh well. Yea I hate my fat. I told it to go to hell, but not that politely, lol.

So, today marks 6 months until my 30th b-day. Pretty scary. I am not going to look like this when I turn 30, I just cant. I dont want to look older than 30 before I am actually 30. The frump has got to go!!!

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Another IKEA post

I <3 them.
And I am going to try a compile this while watching the premeire of 90210, so it might take me all night.

But anywho.... I go to IKEA's website, I would say, everyday. We are going there next month, so I am trying to compile a list of all of the things that I am going to buy. BUT, IKEA, as awesome as it is, doesnt have a very user friendly website. I would say 90% of the items for sale on their website, arent for sale online. So therefore, you cant add them to your shopping cart. Not that I intend to buy anything online, but I would like to be able to stash things in my cart so I can keep track of what I want.

omg, I already like the show. Whoa they even used the same theme song! LOVE IT!

Ok, here are some of the items that I KNOW I want:

this - I would put them in my bedroom.
this - It speaks to me for some reason. I dont know if it could replace my current full length mirror, but its possible.
But oh my G, look at this one. Did you see what it said about using the little flowers as hooks???
If I had enough money, this would live in my house somewhere. Probably the dining room.

Alright, I have suddenly become very tired. And I am in to this show. Drama drama drama.
Do you guys even "like" looking at my IKEA stuff? Maybe I should keep it to myself?