ugh...

WTH...I hope this 30 cent increase in one day isn't a trend of what's to come :(  I might have to get a second job, just to be able to afford my first job...

And then I came home to my FAVORITE oven mitt I bought on our honeymoon, now missing it's thumb. RIP oven mitt...I know I have a drawer full of others that have been waiting their turn but it just won't be the same without you.

These pictures pretty much sum up the past few days and week for me...but here's to Friday being just a few hours away and then the weekend will finally be here!!

busy week...

It's been a busy week...the week started out great, coming off the big Superbowl win.  I ordered my Superbowl Champs sweatshirt but unfortunately it still hasn't shipped...it was supposed to ship on Tuesday...I'm worried it's on backorder now...so who knows how long that will take, boo!

Our contractor finally finished up the work on the rental house and we headed down on Saturday to inspect the work before we paid him. OMG, it was a disaster...I seriously don't know how this man makes money if this is how he leaves his jobs. Thankfully the floor looks good and doesn't need to be touched...most of the trim will need to be redone and we need to do some patching and painting on the walls, due to the new vanity being smaller than the old one. The new bathroom door was cracked and our contractor still installed it without asking us about it first. Luckily, Lowe's will still let us exchange the door, even though it has been installed. Seriously, I LOVE Lowe's...yeah, they might be a little more expensive but they won all of my future business with how awesome they've been and helped us through this process. We've also hired Joe's stepdad to go down this week and complete all the finishing touches that SHOULD have been done by our contractor. Thankfully we didn't pay the contractor until the job was done (thank you Mike Holmes, we love you and your show and have learned SO much from watching it!), so he didn't get all of this money...and he lost out on a HUGE construction job we hope to do one day on our home. So at least we learned now what kind of work he does and can look for someone better next time. And so the never ending drama continues...I hope this fiasco finally comes to an end soon.

On to the more positive things of the week, I'm at 6 out of 12 visits to the gym this month, yay!  It feels so good to be working out again and to have a goal...when I was training for the 5K last fall, I never missed a workout...I'm really hoping I get reimbursed from Joe's insurance company...it might be the thing that motivates me to go each week.

We also decided we are going to Arizona and Las Vegas in April for our anniversary. We are staying with my sister for part of the trip and then spending the other part in Vegas. We got a super awesome deal on flights (Suncountry had 25% off flights last week) so now the hunt is on for some cheap hotel and rental car deals! We had gone back and forth for a while about this trip...but at the end of the day, you only live once and we don't know what the future holds, so we wanted to go while we still could.  I'm super pumped, can't wait :)

a date which will live in infamy...

The BIG day has finally arrived and I can't sit still....I've been cleaning like a mad woman today (which is what I do when I'm nervous or upset)....today it's nerves. Yet I'm so freaking excited...I can hardly stand it. So now that the house is mostly clean, I'm trying to keep busy so my nerves don't lead me to the kitchen...so I will blog for a while :)

I've recently really gotten into e-books. Joe bought me an iPad for Christmas and I can't put the thing down. The only downside is most of the best sellers are $9.99 and I just can't bring myself to pay that much for a book (yet I can walk into a B&N and drop $15 for a book and not think twice about it). I think I still struggle with not receiving anything tangible from the transaction. Thankfully iBooks has a $2.99 or less section that I've been buying from.  I also downloaded the Kindle app for free and they have way more books for $5 or less, which is fantastic!

I sometimes feel pathetic that these things make my week but I love it and will share anyways.  We went to Target yesterday and saved $15.75 in coupons and just under $6 from the 5% savings.  Granted, it was a larger than normal shopping trip.  It was a major stock up trip with detergent, toilet paper, toiletry items, etc (which have the largest coupon savings).  But it was $22 in my pocket and I'll take that any day!  Seriously, you all NEED to clip coupons...it's the best thing since sliced bread :)  I will continue to keep track and maybe bi-monthly I'll do a little update so you can see what you can save too.

I'm also putting this out here, so I have more motivation to see it through. My goal for February is to get to the gym at least 12 times to see if I can get the health insurance discount. It's more cost effective for us to have insurance through our own employers...and of course, my insurance doesn't have the option but Joe's does. Since we're on the same gym membership, they told me that sometimes the insurance companies will still reimburse for spouses, even though they might not be on their plan. I'm dying to find out, so February is the month I'm going know once and for all...no more excuses to not stop on the way home anymore! I've been there 2 times so far this week (I decided this a few days ago), so I'm well on my way to achieving my goal.

We had my work post-holiday party last night (post-poned due to the 12/10 blizzard) at the Marriott Hotel in DT Minneapolis.  The food was decent (a little too fancy for my liking) but we both had a really good time. It's always fun to hang out with your co-workers in a non-work setting for once and get to know their spouses. One of the entertainers was a magician that was actually pretty funny and did some amazing tricks. I think it's way more fun to see these shows in person vs the television...with the TV, you never know what "camera tricks" they are really doing. We both had a few "how the heck did he do that?!?" moments last night, he was good.  Joe had started to talking to the magician before the show (while I was in line for the bathroom).  We ended up talking to him for more than 20 minutes...so then I was super nervous he'd select me for the cutting a body part in half portion of the show...thankfully neither one of us was selected, whew!!

Anyways, hope you all had a great weekend and enjoy the game, it's going to be a good one :)

coupons and meal planning...

For those looking to save on your grocery or Target bills, read on :)

I've been clipping coupons for a few months now and decided to keep track of my savings, starting in 2011.  I make weekly trips to Super Target and we typically spend anywhere from $50-$100/week for our groceries, cleaning supplies and personal care items. Basically Target runs our household, we almost exclusively shop there (except for a great coupon deal at Cub or the few items we pick up from Costco). Along with clipping coupons, we save 5% on every bill because I use our Target Red Card, which I budget and pay off right away so there is never any incurred interest.  If you aren't interested in a credit card, they have one that links right to your checking account too.

In January alone, I saved $23 in coupons and $15 in the 5% savings from using my Red Card, for a total of $38!!!  And I don't buy, just to buy because I have a coupon.  I can throw coupons away if they are old, expired, or one I won't use anytime soon.  I also only buy what we will need and use in the next month or two because another coupon will come along (you will notice the coupons are cyclical).  I do however, if possible, plan our meals around what is on sale that week (or what we already have in the house) and what I have coupons for to maximize savings. I also watch for things like detergent and toothpaste to go on sale and use my coupons then, even though I might not need it for a few weeks.

We spend $60/year for the Sunday edition of the Star Tribune to get my coupons.  I also save the Target coupons you get each time you visit. So assuming January will be a typical month, we can potentially save over $450 this year (or $400 if you factor in the newspaper costs). The few $ you save each week might not seem like a lot but add that up over months and years, it's huge!

And seriously, I maybe spend 30 minutes a week clipping coupons and meal planning.  It's become part of my Sunday morning ritual, I actually look forward to seeing what they will have each week.  It is definitely worth the time.

Here's a great website I found with tips and ideas for starting out and organizing.  I use this plastic accordion organizer and keep it in my purse.  I choose to organize by type (food, medicine, household, personal care, etc).  I'm in love with this one from the Container Store (seriously the best place on earth!!) but I think it would be too long too keep in my purse.

Also, meal planning is fabulous!  I plan out our dinners each week...when I make things like spaghetti, I make enough so we have leftovers for either lunch or dinner another night.  For breakfasts and lunches, we typically just eat toast, cereal and sandwich/chip type meals, nothing too fancy for those.  We haven't really seen a significant decrease in the grocery bill since I started meal planning but I've seen a $50-$75/month savings in our eating out expenses. We still eat out but it's usually only 1-2 meals per week (when it was probably at least 4-5 times per week in the past, going out for lunch killed our checkbook).

Happy clipping!!