Look what I found! :)

I found this at the goodwill in today :) It was hidden in that little basket back there. I hardly ever shop at goodwill because their prices compared to my little thrift store are outrageous, but my thrift store is closed for renovations. :( This piece was priced at $9.99. I also snagged a vintage flower print pillowcase, and this cute little medallion sterling china bowl for only 29 cents. OH! and we also   got a new coffee table today.. Yay for having more space in my living room!

Dillons mega event 1/27

Dillons is running another mega event this week :) I spent 45 dollars and saved 47, and I am counting this towards my February grocery budget. My favorite things about this trip were the free kleenex and free dip :) I will also be going to leekers tomorrow since they are doing double coupons, I need to pick up some things for my superbowl party. Go Giants ;)

I finally get it.

How everyone always says that once you start eating healthier you don't miss junk food as much. That's not super true for me, because I miss it and crave it a lot. I've been cutting back on junk food and fast food a lot and I just ate Dairy Queen today and feel horrible. I can already feel my face breaking out from the greasy food :( Plus I feel gross and guilty, not to mention that super sleepy feeling you get when you load up on sugary stuff.
Yuck. yuck. yuck.

Little things.

Lights strung on trees. This was right before Christmas time, also the night we were cruising.

Downtown Kansas City

Something I snapped one night when we were cruising downtown.

Oh my god.

This is on Valentines Day. And my anniversary. Holy crap, I'm so excited I could burst!!

Daily Goals

So I've decided I am going to try hard to set at least 2 goals for myself everyday, this seems a lot less overwhelming than setting long term goals.



hmmm... now to think of some.

Thrifting

Look what I found today!

Vintage Valentines! And a whole bag for just .20 cents!

Words to live by.

Choose to be thankful, even when life feels so overwhelming.

Snack basket

Today I made a snack basket for my kids! Or in this case kinda a snack bucket, haha. I just used a large tupperware dish that I had, and placed snacks in it that I had portioned out into little ziploc baggies. Used scrapbook paper and tape for the sign, this was super easy and this is going to be super convenient. This is also a good way to teach your children how to do things for themselves, plus it gives them choices! What kid doesn't love choices?

Some of the snacks I included in here were chocolate covered pretzels, animal crackers, teddy grahams, nutter butter bites, and some cheese and peanut butter filled crackers. I also plan on making one for the fridge this week that will include fresh fruit and veggies, yogurt, and string cheese. :)

Seasonal Sale Cycles

I've been going off of this list for awhile now, so I figured I'd share it with you so you know when is the best time of the year to buy what. I'm currently looking for a new bedding set.

Seasonal Sales Cycles

JANUARY -
Historically, Quaker has hot deals on cereal/all items. We see Pepsi/Tostitos go on sale mid-January (again, rebates abound for these). Other items of note this time of year are chili, side dishes, anything for hearty/warm meals.
• Post-Holiday Sales
• White Sales
• Sports and Weight Loss Equipment
• Computers
• Winter Apparel and Accessories
· Organizers, Rubbermaid totes, shelf organizers, planners, filing cabinets

FEBRUARY –
many of the same food items as January
• Electronics
• Floor Coverings
• Housewares
• Furniture
• Candy and Chocolates

MARCH -
Frozen food month. You'll find many stores are offering free freezers or fill-a-bag deals. Between March and April, look for spring cleaning deals, so many cleaner items will be on sale. With Easter, looks for eggs, ham, Kraft products to cycle into good sales. Paper products like towels, napkins, plates are starting to come on strong. Beverage items.
• Spring Apparel and Accessories
• Winter Sports Equipment
• Gardening Supplies
• Luggage

APRIL –
• Spring Apparel and Accessories
• Coats and Hats
• Paint
• Wallpaper
• Jewish Foods and Eggs

MAY - 
get ready for summer! Here come loads of deals on BBQ sauce, frozen veggies, baked beans, and condiments of all kinds, summer-time meats (ribs, hotdogs, and ground beef). Also with all the holidays, look for tons of paper goods that match the holiday and pick them up after clearance. These deals generally continue through September!
• White Sale - Linens and Towels
• Spring Cleaning Supplies
• Auto Maintenance
• Home Maintenance
• Sodas & Bottled Water, Hot dogs, Hamburger Meat, Condiments, Paper & Plastic plates & cups
* Raid/Off bug repellents and sunscreens

JUNE –
• Summer Apparel and Accessories
• Pianos
• Television Sets
• Building Materials and Hardware
• Dairy Products

JULY –
• Air Conditioners
• Summer Sports Equipment
• Sportswear
• Craft Supplies
• Sodas, Hotdogs, Hamburger Meat, Condiments

AUGUST –
• White Sale - Linen and Towels
• BBQ and Patio Equipment
• Back to School Supplies
• Bathing Suits
• Fresh Fish and Vegetables
• Breakfast foods (Cold cereal-Juice-Waffles-etc)
• Cold lunch items for in lunch boxes

SEPTEMBER -
back to school; time to fill up on snacks! Pudding cups, Capri suns, fruit snacks, cereal sales start up hard again, peanut butter/jelly. Also, like clockwork, there will be Prego coupons in August, and plan on getting lots and using them in a hurry before they expire in September when the spaghetti sauce goes on sale. Sauce wars between Ragu and Prego this month. Campbell’s soups will go on as well and there will be coupons in the end of August for these as well. Lunchables are on sale this time of year, too.
• Back to School Supplies and Apparel
• Gardening Supplies
• Housewares
• Bicycles
• Canned Goods

OCTOBER - 
Stock up on holiday foods – Stove Top, turkey, instant mashed potatoes, broth, cranberries, marshmallow, ice cream, pie shells, whipped cream, pudding. Look for great Kraft deals again this time of year. Piggyback those Kraft coupons when you can. Crackers are a biggie - going on for $1 or less a box. Lots of extra deals like $ off cheese WYB crackers. The real kicker is the after Christmas food deals! Save your coupons because pie fixings, fried onion, broth and canned green beans will be on deep discount. I got those onions for .50 a can, normally almost $4. These generally continue through December.
• Cars
• Houses
• Fishing Equipment
• Crystal, Silver, and Glassware
• Candy
· Baking/candy-making items (choc chips, sprinkles, vanilla, corn syrup, nuts, etc)

NOVEMBER -
• Winter Apparel and Accessories
• Quilts and Blankets
• Heating Devices
• Turkey, Sweet Potatoes
• Canned goods (soup, chicken broth, condensed milk, veggies etc)
• Baking goods

DECEMBER –
• Toys
• Gift Items
• Party ware
• Post-Holiday Sales
• Party Foods, Baking Goods, and Various Meat
• Canned goods (broth, soups, etc)

All year long after a holiday, you can always pick up cheap cookie dough and any food related to a holiday.

Continual sales are candy, popcorn, chips, cereal
Frozen pizzas go on sale in the fall and then again the spring; not often in the summer because people don't want to turn their ovens on in the summer.

Walmart Toy Clearance

I went to walmart today just to buy a few groceries and went to check out the clearance section like I always do and guess what I found... All the toys that were previously half off are now 50% off their already discounted prices! I stocked up for Easter, and Noelle's birthday in June.

One of my favorite deals was the tech deck set, it was originally 15.00 and I snagged it for 3.25!

Here are my totals, spent 31.74, saved 54.57!

P&G stock up sale, 1/4 spent 27.60 saved 54.61!

So Dillons is running their P&G stock up sale again, I'm still running off of stuff from last time but I figured I might as well stock up again. Here was my shopping trip from today. :)

I did get a few other things as you can see..

1 Organic milk, originally 2.50 marked down to .79 cents

1 cole slaw, on sale for 1.00

1 macaroni salad, 1.00

2 potato salads, originally 1.00 marked down to .49 cents each.

1 Sun chips marked down to 2.99

And now for the good stuff :)

6 Old Spice Deodorants, paid .49 cents each after sale and coupons

3 Tide Detergents paid 2.99 each after sale and coupons

2 Dawn Hand renewal soaps, .99 cents each after sale and coupons

1 aussie shampoo and conditioner, .99 cents each after sale and coupons

3 old spice bodywashes, .49 cents each after sale and coupons.

I spent 27.60 altogether and saved $54.61 cents! 

I also spotted an unadvertised deal on covergirl eyeshadows so I will be going back this week to pick those up as well :)

New years resolutions, more or less my goals for 2012.

- Eat Healthier. This is really important to me because I do not eat healthy at all. I'm talking no fruits or veggies.
- Exercise.
- No more caffeine.
- Be more patient with my children.
- Play with them more.
- Find better methods of punishment.
- Keep better track of our money.
- Get organized better.
- Redecorate my home.
- Try more new recipes.
- Work on more projects.
- Get my ebay account rolling.
- Get up earlier.

It's the 3rd day of the New Year and so far most of these are going okay. I realized that the no more caffeine probably isn't so realistic with me having two kids, so instead of giving it up completely I am just cutting back on it greatly. I used to just drink soda and coffee all day, now it's down to half a cup of coffee in the morning.
Eating for me is going well so far too, except I have been craving chinese like usual. :( When I went grocery shopping I bought a lot of fruits, veggies, and whole grains so that when I'm home I have no choice but to eat them. There are a lot of new projects and recipes I'm wanting to try this year as well, one of them being homemade salsa. I can't wait! :) Really looking forward to this year, and all the good things it has to offer us.