Yeah, Yeah, I'm Still Here

I really didn't forget about my blog. Well, yes, I did.

Life gets crazy sometimes. Or maybe it's the people in life that get crazy. Not sure.

So I'll blog again when life is a little less crazy.

The Fabric Exchange

Today I did something new. I started a Facebook group called The Fabric Exchange. You should join!

Geez O Pete

I sure wish I could be like some of my favorite bloggers and whip up an incredibly thought-provoking, motivational, artistic or otherwise useful post. It is not to be from me.

I can't seem to even finish my latest sewing project - a brainless project that I thought would be so fast and easy - but my attention span is nil...

I have so much nervous energy that I want to jog - but am too tired to lift a fork of food to my mouth. All at the same time.

My stomach is in knots, and my insides are jittery. But my waistline grows.

My brain shuts down in the middle of a presentation and thoughts are lost.

I am awakened at night with cold flashes - yes, the same as hot flashes, but different. Thank goodness for Google or I'd never have known what cold flashes were. And oh, they are accompanied by palpitations that scare the bejeebers out of me.

I am told this can last for oh, ten years or so. And I haven't even come close to listing it all.. Thank goodness this is my blog and I can ramble about the dreaded M all I want.

Referrals to a support group are welcomed. And you thought this post was going to be about bargain shopping, or a dog named Pete.

Kroger & CVS: Two Of My Favorite Places!

I ended my workday with a trip to CVS and Kroger today since I had so many coupons expiring today (January 31). I have to admit, if you'd told me six months ago that I would someday enjoy grocery shopping I'd have laughed in your face! I learn more with each trip to CVS and Kroger, but it's worth the effort for sure. Gone are the days of spending hundreds a month for food and household products - I never even get close to $100 per week now!

One of my friends shared a great tip a few weeks ago, and it's been so helpful in my couponing efforts. Our local Dollar Tree has the Sunday paper for $1.00, and if I go there straight after church they always have plenty on hand. Yesterday I bought three papers since I knew there were several Cs in there I'd use at Kroger and CVS this week alone, and my trip to CVS today more than paid for that $3 worth of Sunday papers. Some weeks I only buy two, but most weeks it's three. It takes the same amount of time to cut Cs from three papers as it does one, so there's really no added time (or not much anyway). I do find that it does take a couple of hours to cut them out, sort them and add them to my binder, but I am not complaining! You can sign up for weekly e-mails from the insert folks (Red Plum, Proctor & Gamble, and well, I can't think of the other one right now) and you'll know exactly what coupons will be in the next Sunday paper.

CVS has a great sale this week, and I'll be back for more before this sale is over. Today I spent about 45 minutes in the store, and spent $8.89 and here's what I got:

3 Skippy peanut butter

4 Lipton tea bags (100 ct each)

1 Dawn Hand Renewal

1 Tampax Pearl

2 Soft Soap body wash

1 Gillette shave gel

I made these purchases in two transactions, and used $10 in ECBs. The only bad part is that I am now out of ECBs :-(( I will go back to CVS later this week and finish out one of the Soft Soap deals and will get some ECBs out of that, so that's nice - and certainly an incentive to pay more attention to which Cs I have with me when I shop. I left some at home today thinking I wouldn't need them, and of course I couldn't bear to buy something on sale without a C! I had two Cs that were expiring today that allowed me to get part of the Soft Soap deal, and the great CVS ladies here told me I could still get my ECBs on the deal as long as I come back this week and finish the required purchase. So I learned something else during today's trip: you don't have to buy all of the deal in one day to get the ECBs - that's something nice to remember if you forget to bring part of your Cs with you!

Kroger has great deals this week too. I consistently save 50% every time I go to Kroger. Sometimes I do even better. Today I purchased $112.47 worth of groceries for $57.26. I love that everything I purchase is high quality name-brand, and never do I pay more than if I were to buy the generic version. The key really is to use your Cs when the items are on sale, and keep in mind that Kroger doubles those Cs that are .50 cents or less. No way will I ever buy groceries at Wal-Mart again.

The gas savings are worth mentioning as well. We've never taken advantage of the Kroger gas savings until this week. .10 cents a gallon is a big deal when you buy as much gas as we do, and typically we only purchase BP gas as we save 5% there (.15 cents a gallon when the gas is $3/gallon). We can use our BP card and get a 1% rebate even when we buy Kroger gas so sometimes, depending on the current price, it's essentially the same as buying at BP.

Enough blogging for now.... I need to find some storage space for all these groceries!

My Samantha

24 years ago today... it was snowing. How do I remember that? It was the day I gave birth to my one and only child. The love of my life. My Samantha Jo. Not only my daughter, but also the mom of my two grandsons, Ethan and Evan. Thanks Sammi Jo for making me mom, and a granny :-) I sure do love you :-)