My Not So Hot Grocery Trips

It wasn't a good week for sales around here.  I know everyone has been raving about the Kroger Mega sale, but what I saw in the ad was either overpriced still or I already had so much there was no way I could justify buying more (pasta).  So, I held off grocery shopping until Sunday when the new sales come out here and I'm glad I did.  Meijer was having a great natural/organics sale.  I was able to combine that sale with the 10 for 10 and get the 11th free sale (although I did not get the 11th free for some reason and I'm saving my receipt for next weeks trip and will be taking it to customer service).  But in the end it still was one of my worst savings trips that I have had recently.  Oh well, I was right on budget and I know next week I won't spend as much since I stocked up this week.  Here is the loot:

8-May
Kroger
3 Big K 2 liters	$2.37
Yoplait Yogurt	$ .99	1.00 coupon
4 - 6 packs Coke	$ 8.80
Basil	$ .89
French's Mustard	$ 1.69	.6 coupon
2 Egg. Best Org. Eggs	$ 7.98	2 - 1.00 coupons
1 lb Ground Turkey	$ 2.50
3 lbs. Org. Potatoes	$ 2.49
8 ears of corn	$ 2.40
4.87 lbs. Bananas	$ 2.48
1.73 lbs. Tomatoes	$ 3.44
Org. Cherry Tom	$ 3.29
Cantaloupe	$ 1.50
Total Spent	$39.39
Total Saved	$18.10
Meijer
Garlic Powder	$.50
Cucumber	$0.67
Onions	$2.29
Vinegar	$2.79
Stoneyfield Org. Yog.	$3.56
Org. Apples	$3.99
2 Org. Tom Sauce	$2.98
Meijer Powdered Sugar	$1.69
2 lbs. Strawberries	$2.49
Ground Pepper	$2.99
Unbleached Flour	$2.99
3 Orange Peppers	$4.50
2 Meijer Choc. Chips	$3.34
Tea Bags	$2.50
3 lbs. Ground Chuck	$7.99
2 Meijer Salad Dressing	$2.00
3 Cans Meijer Olives	$3.00
8 Cans Org. Green Beans	$8.00	$3 off
10 Cans Solid White Tuna	$10.00	$1 off
EB Org. Romaine	$1.79	$1 off
1 can Org. Garb. Beans	$1.00
5 Whole Wheat Pasta	$5.00	$3 off
Org. Unsalted Butter	$4.99
Org. Milk	$5.69
Quick Oats	$1.00
Oats	$1.00
Total Spent	$79.89
Total Saved	$29.76
Earned		$6 off next organic purchase
Walgreens
2 - 3 packs of gum	$5.38	$2.38  Walgreens coupon
1 8X10 Photo	$3.99	$3.99 coupon
4 4X6 photos	$0.75
1 card	$0.99
Total Spent	$5.02
Total Saved	$6.37
Total Coupon Savings	$17.97
Total Spending	$124.30
Total Savings	$54.23

How did you do this week?  What good deals did I miss?

SuperFoods Rx - A Book Review

Part I - An introduction to SuperFoods Rx

Caution this is a book that can change your life - for the better!  The suggestions for living a healthier, happier, and longer life provided in this book are completely manageable.  You are not asked to purchase expensive, exotic food, nor eliminate all the tasty things in your diet or starve to death. If there has ever been a book that has had an impact on my everyday life, this is it and I am so excited to share it with anyone who will listen!

Before I jump right into the superfoods here is a little info. about the book.  It is written by Steven G. Pratt, M.D. and Kathy Matthews.  Pratt is an opthamologist (he believes that many of our health issues are first visible in our eyes) who is also a world respected authority on healthy living.  Matthews is an author who has specialized in health and medical issues. It was published in 2004 and I am appalled that it took me this long to read it! 

I have read a few books on healthy living and been mildly disappointed.  For example, What to Eat, by Marion Nestle and In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan are both chock full of information about the benefits of healthy eating and study after study about cultures' eating habits, but neither helped me to be a healthier eater.  As I review that sentence I realize that it may make absolutely no sense, but what I am getting at was there was no real applicability to what they were telling me.  In the end what they said was eat less meat & dairy and more fruits & veggies.  Well duh!  I already knew that.  What I wanted to know was what foods to eat specifically and why to eat them.  I wanted to know particular foods' benefits.  That is exactly what you get in SuperFoods Rx and I loved it for that reason. 

The premise of the book is that we all know we should eat more fruits and veggies, reduce our intake of animal fat and avoid trans fat all together, but what we don't know is that there are many foods that are not only healthy, but can actually help stave off disease, slow the aging process considerably & often times reverse the damaging effects of our prior bad habits.  So the book introduces you to fourteen superfoods, their sidekicks, and even offers up several recipes for incorporating the superfoods into your diet.  Each superfood is accompanied by plenty of well researched justifications for eating the foods which includes the nutritional properties and benefits of eating the foods.  For example, did you know that tangerines are one of the best sources of a type of fiber called pectin, which is very powerful at reducing your cholesterol levels.  The book is full of useful information just like that.

In the next few weeks I will be going over each of the fourteen superfoods, their sidekicks and why we should eat each of these foods.  I can't wait to share this information with everyone and record it for myself.  The book has so much to learn from, it is a must read for anyone interested in healthier living.  If you can't wait for the next post here is the SuperFoods Rx website http://www.superfoodsrx.com/, so you can start improving your health now.

Goodwill Trip of the week

This week I spent $7.95 for 6 items.  I think they only charged me for 5 items because the math just doesn't add up for 6.  So here is what I got:

• 1 Size 8 Tony Hawk polo
• 1 size 8 green Unionbay t-shirt
• 1 large red long sleeve Old Navy Shirt
• 1 medium maroon long sleeve henley Faded Glory
• 1 size 6 Cherokee jean shorts
• 1 size 10 Gap jean shorts

Wordless Wednesdays

This is the flower bed I have been working on for weeks.  It is hardly perfect right now, but we actually got rid of some of the asymmetry that there was in it and the plantings all came from our yard or my mother-in-laws.  

This is just for fun, but this is my backyard.  When I look out at it, it makes me feel peaceful and I've been looking at it a lot lately, so I thought I would share.

My baby tomato and pepper plants.  This will be our first garden in this house and the first time I have ever grown anything from seed.

 My husband made me two raised beds that will serve as our garden this year.  If it works we will likely add on.  If it doesn't work we are going to have to chop some trees down :(. 

Financial Goals Update - April

At the beginning of the year I looked at our monthly budget and tried to plan out some yearly goals based on that.  Then I showed them to my husband and got his thoughts on the subject and in the end  came up with seven very achievable financial goals for this year.  Here is what they look like and how we are doing:

• Credit cards paid off by August
• We are a little off track here with just over $6,000 in debt when we should be down to $5,500.
• But if we can do this it will be $12,782 worth of debt gone in one year.
• We actually had $16,000 at one time.
• Save money, approx. $10,000, for a new truck for Doug.
• Can't start this until the credit cards are gone.
• Use tax refund to pay off one of our two remaining credit cards.
• DONE
• Use my debate coach pay for credit cards
• I think I get the check this month.  Can't wait :)
• Build Christmas gift fund of $1000 to include food too.
• Not working so well right now.  I keep raiding it.  We currently have $50.
• Keep food budget at $400 a month ($100 a week).
• Tried this, but then adjusted it to $500 and it seemed to work better.  However, during much of March & April we have been only speding slightly over $100 a week and doing pretty well. We may need to adjust it back to $400.
• Take a small vacation, around $700, paid in cash from daycare money (we don't have to pay daycare during the summer since the kids stay home with me).
• We are headed to Florida soon!  We already paid for the condo, which is mainly why we are behind in our credit cards.  We have also saved a decent amount of spending money, but we still need some more.

We haven't made a lot of visible progress when you look at this list, but we have lowered our credit card debt by almost $7,000.  In addition to that we will really begin to make big progress when the kids get out of school and we don't have to pay daycare anymore.  Since C is already in school and A starts this coming school year we will see our daycare payments drop by almost $500.  We cannot wait!!!

Goodwill Trip of the Week

I try not to go to Goodwill every week because I will spend to much, way too much, but I may be rethinking this & begin to develop something called restraint instead.  Restraint is a little foreign to me, but I am getting better at it.  So I tried out my new found restraint this week and went to Goodwill looking for a a few specific things.  I found one:



This handy dandy little hamper of sorts is going to help me make some money.  As I have mentioned before the kids share a bedroom.  Both of the kids' baby furniture was bought with the idea that they would use it throughout their entire time in our home - insert huge mocking laugh right now.  What was I thinking!?!  They have worn that stuff out and what I originally thought was decent construction is actually no where near the type of construction my kids need if I plan for it to last.  So their convertible cribs/beds are now packed up in our attic and they are continuing to use the dressers, but they definitely will not last 10+ more years.  So in an effort to get more closet space we are going to sell one of the cribs and the matching dresser.  The hamper will become a dresser of sorts.  So a $5 item is now going to help me make $125 (I hope:).

The next item is a $1.50 shirt from the Children's Place that will fit C next year and is in such good shape (and a dark color, to hide those stains better) that it should last through A too.

I left having spent $6.50 and hopefuly enabling myself to make $125 and guess what else?  I used restraint!  I'm really am getting better at this!

Friday Night Freebies

Lots of freebies again this week.  I promise I usually do not do this well.  I often try to get at least one free item a week and well the past two I have greatly exceeded that - I'm not complaining one bit though!

Here is the breakdown
2 Kids Crest...free with $1 coupons
Butterfinger & Folgers Coffee (not pictured)...free with Walgreens Reg. Rew. from Splenda deal
2 Splenda...free w/$3 coupon, plus buy 2 and get $3 in Reg. Rew. (Walgreens)
2 Org. Carrots...free at Meijer with $2 off 2 Earthbound products - I love Recyclebank!
1 Kashi Cereal...free at Meijer with $2 Recyclebank and $1 store coupon
1 Reach Floss...free at Kroger with $1 coupon
Pedigree dog food...free at Kroger with $5 coupon
3 pack of Ivory Soap...free at Kroger with $1 coupon
2 free Country Crock manufacturer's coupons

Let's keep these good weeks rolling!