Saturday Shopping Shuffle

Just like everyone else, our money isn't covering as much as it used to these days; so recently we got on the coupon bandwagon for our grocery shopping. Traditionally, we have been convenience shoppers; buying whenever, wherever and whatever was convenient. Add onto that, we were not planning our menus, so when we got home at 6:15 in the evening, we would typically cave in to the idea of going out for dinner. This lack of imagination (and excess of laziness) was present on the weekends as well. There would be weeks where we would eat all three meals away from home.

So you could imagine when we sat down and itemized our spending, more than three times the amount of money was spent eating out than was spent on groceries. Sadly, it was not shocking to us, but it was definitely something we finally embraced. There is no way we could continue to spend our cash and eat the way we did if we wanted to support the kids' activities and classes.

I took to getting some thrifty advice from a friend / co-worker of mine. She's been a follower of pocketyourdollars.com for more than six months. She and her boyfriend were trying to better position themselves financially in order to buy a house. We met over brown bag lunches in my office the other day and she walked me through Carrie Rocha's site and gave me a few tips of her own.

Today was the second Saturday we did the mad dash around town. We first started out at CostCo to denote the cost of some items that made sense to buy in super size should the net price be worth it. We then split our grocery shopping between Cub and Rainbow after I painstakingly looked at all the specials, store coupons and manufacturers' coupons to get the best price on what we needed. Rainbow has a limited time offer for doubling manufacturers coupons on Saturdays. Needless to say, we used as many coupons there versus using them at Cub. At the end of the trips and one additional return trip because I grabbed the wrong pork chop package, we ended up with two-hundred dollars' worth of groceries for less than one-hundred thirty dollars. While it took the better part of the day to get everything accomplished, I think it was worth the effort.

My savings will continue to get better as I start to stockpile the coupon inserts and search out the online coupon specials. Bargain grocery shopping likely might become my new favorite hobby.

Which leads me to ask: what have you done to stretch your dollar further? what is the best deal you've ever gotten?

Drink This, Not That

Alright...so a year ago, I realized and accepted I was back to being big. It has taken me another year to get worked up about it and have a desire to say good riddance to this big body. Ever again. With that, I am yet again an official card-carrying member of Weight Watchers. When I checked in on Saturday for the first time back at it, the gal noted, "Oh. you are a Lifetime member." I replied, "Yeah, I was a Lifetime member." She corrected me saying, "Once a Lifetime member, always a Lifetime member. Remember that. You'll get back to your goal weight." Judy's such a sweet lady.

I'm not going to get into the reasons why I feel more this time around than back in 2007 that this is the time I will lose the weight and keep it off. I just know my mind is clearer and more engaged with embracing a healthy lifestyle and maintaining better balance in my life.

I love my Caribou. Love, love, LOVE my Caribou. It grew from being a once every couple of weeks to an almost daily visit. I became such a frequent visitor they asked if they should have my drink ready for me to pick it up in the mornings. I politely declined and mentally noted that as a warning sign I was spending too much (money and calories) toward my love affair with Caribou.

Here's my old standard: Medium milk chocolate turtle cooler--640 calories, 35 fat grams, 74 grams carbs, 0 grams fiber. Weight Watchers points: 16

In recent months, I would have one of these daily. For a while, I even had a decadent almond croissant to go with it. I felt like I was "starving" by lunch, which was only 3 hours later.

My new standard: Small dark chocolate lite cooler--140 calories, 4.5 fat grams, 39 grams carbs, 10 grams fiber. Weight Watchers points: 2

Now, I will not restrict myself from ever having the old standard again; that would be disastrous. But I will save it for a real treat, such as my birthday, and savor it. Maybe I'll even put a candle on it and sing happy birthday to me!

Where'd all the money go?

Oh yes, to:

*the couple of Target runs for Target Clinic and prescriptions

*candy coffee everyday

*lunches and dinners

*Halloween costumes and treats

*back to Target again for new clothes because everything else falls in one of two buckets:

1) everything is dirty or

2) nothing fits

*fill the gas tank because of the multiple Target runs

*birthday festivities and the many indulgences such as:

1) a day-trip to Duluth

2) buying birthday gifts for other October babies and buying a $17 doodle book for patient little 6-y/o shopping companion

3) a massage

4) dinner, drinks and dessert

5) a new scarf

6) going to a movie (with popcorn and soda, thankyouverymuch)

Hmm, yeah. Not cool.