Making Money Tip

Just so you know, I still plan on posting each week on Monday what I have been making online. However, I haven't been doing any surveys or attempting any offers right now. I have so much going on in my life that I simply don't have time right now.

Which brings me to this week's tip: If you are serious about making some extra money online, set aside 15-30 minutes each day. This time allows you to go through your emails, pick out the offers/surveys you want to try, and complete them. Just think, if you can make $1.00 a day doing surveys/offers, that's an extra $7.00 a week. While this may sound small, it's an extra $28 a month. That's groceries if you do coupons (like me) or if you are going for gift cards that's $28 off something. And it really isn't that difficult to make more. This is just a low example.

Next week I hope to review Cash Crate. We'll see how life goes in the upcoming week!

$232.85 Worth of stuff...for $72.69...savings of 68%

I really had a great weekend at the stores this weekend. I enjoyed myself immensely. I am going to begin with my tip for the week instead of putting it at the bottom.....Try Drug Store shopping...but go slow. I think I have finally got the hang of "CVSing." I did really well this week. I started small a few weeks ago and have worked my way up. The Southern Savers CVS weekly ad gives scenarios that you can try. She lists simple transactions to start with then list the bigger transactions. I started small and have learned her way to do this. The key for drugstore shopping is to make the Extra Care Bucks (or whatever your store gives out) work for you. The beauty of CVS is you can use the ECBs to purchase more stuff to get more ECBs. Here is what I got this week:

You are seeing here $79.19 worth of stuff for a total of (after sales and coupons and ECB) $20.49 and I still have some ECBs left over. I saved 74%.  CVS was out of the FREE Oral B power toothbrushes today so I got a raincheck. I don't make special trips to a store. I will just get it next time I am there.

I also went to BiLo this week...twice. Once by myself and once with my mom. I purchased a few things each time.

This is the first visit. I spent $22.65 and got $52.99 worth of stuff. 

This is my visit #2. This is $35.91 worth of stuff for $15.37. Yes, I got more dog treats. Dog treats are generally pretty expensive (to be dog treats). Sometimes they range from $2.00-$10 for some bags. So, I get them when on sale and get enough to last for a while. Plus, my doggies love them. 

BiLo totals: $38.02 spent after coupons and sales, $88.90 before sales and coupons, savings of 61% 

And again Publix takes the prize for the most coupon friendly place. I LOVE PUBLIX. I got $65.12 worth of stuff for $14.18. WOW. That's a savings of 78%. Take advantage of those Publix coupons stacked with manufacturer coupons.

I hope everyone had a good week shopping. We are pretty stocked up on cereal, toothpaste, and dog treats. I will not be getting any of those things for a while unless they are free or a few cents short of free. 

SON days

 

The more I go through in my life, the more I rely on God to help me through it. I really love this song because it really does describe my relationship with God. I can't imagine what Job dealt with and how much he lost. AND HE STILL PRAISED GOD. May we all be like Job and praise God even in the rain. I always try to remember that even though I am going through this hard time, God has a reason for it. Whether the reason be to bring me closer to him or to be a witness to other people. There's a purpose. 

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Now Is the Time..not tomorrow

I know I have said that this blog is not going to be about dieting. And it's not. However, since this is something that has come up in my life, it will be blogged about.

I have always said, "I'll start tomorrow. I'll start after the weekend. I'll start (fill in the blank)." This time, it started immediately. As soon as I found out about my impending health crisis yesterday, I started. I went to the store and bought a few items that I knew were low in sodium and low in calories. I am NOT counting calories. I am NOT consciously going to count everything that goes into my mouth. However, I have done this enough times with enough success to know how to do this. While counting is a great way to lose weight and while it has worked for me, FOR ME, I don't think it is sustainable for life long management. You may disagree but I refuse to spend my days counting my calories. I know the calories of most foods. If I am unsure, I will look. But for now, that's as far as it goes. If I don't lose weight after a couple of weeks doing it this way, then I may loosely count calories to get myself on track. My goal right now is to not gain weight. I'll be weighing myself in the morning to get a base weight and then I plan to weigh myself every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to keep myself on track.

I don't know how this is going to go for me. I haven't ever tried losing weight this way. I have ALWAYS counted (as in writing/tracking/logging) whatever I put in my mouth. However, since those ways have failed, I KNOW that FOR ME, it is not sustainable to do it that way.

Today has gone well. I'm confident that I have eaten less today than I have in a long time. And I'm not hungry. We'll see how this goes.

Okay...Here We Go Again

I've had a lot going on this past week. I was sick for most of the week...to the point to where I barely left the bed. Then, I went to the doctor on Wednesday for my cold and found out I have high blood pressure. Yeah..really high...in my opinion (155/94). I bought a blood pressure monitor and the highest it went was 171/96 and 155/107. Yes, I'm not happy. I went to see my cardiologist today and the verdict is in...it's not as big of a deal as I felt it was and I need to lose weight (and medicine). I have a perfect storm for high blood pressure it seems. I have family history, I weigh a lot, and I don't exercise. There you go...a recipe for high blood pressure.

So, here we go again...slowly. I am not going to go crazy and count every calorie I eat..yet. I talked with my doctor about the connection of losing weight and my defibrillator discharging. The doc seems to think there is no connection. And if there is, it's just the fact that my heart is getting used to the exercise. He also seems to think that it won't happen this time because I am taking Amiodarone (the medicine that keeps my heart in rhythm). So, not only will this be a general blog, I will be reporting on my weight loss. I'm not going to go hard core and count everything. I want to start slow. Make small changes. Eat less salt. Etc.

Here we go.

Weekend Shopping Trips

I was going to post this weekend but Michael and I spent a lot of time just enjoying each other's company so I never got around to it.

I had awesome shopping trips this weekend. See below:

This is from a place I mentioned in my last coupon post. The place is called Bargain Foods. They get overstock and damaged items from stores and sell it at a reduced cost. What you see here is $72.27 worth of groceries for $40.32. I LOVE THAT PLACE. The only thing is they don't accept coupons. But it's okay. I save enough there anyway. 

I loved my Publix shopping trip. As you know, I have two dogs. We need lots of dog treats. So, I spent $11.39 on $58.01 worth of stuff. WOW. Now, of course these were dog treats, ice cream, taco shells, and Maalox, nothing to make a meal with (except for the Taco shells). However, these were things we need.

 This is my shopping trip from Bilo. It's not the best I have done at BiLo but it was good. I got some meat that was on sale. Plus, I got some cleaning stuff. And more Maalox. I spent $36.41 on $60.95 worth of stuff. Like I said, it wasn't the best I have done but I didn't have any coupons for the meat. 

And this is my shopping trip to CVS. I am still working on perfecting my CVS shopping but I'm getting better. I spent $35.76 on $84.58 worth of stuff. I am really happy. I got free toothpaste, toothbrushes, and Listerine. I was excited. Plus, I got some Valentine Day stuff for my valentine.

So in total this weekend, I spent $123.88 on $275.81 worth of stuff. That's a savings of 56%. I'm pretty stoked about that. So what is my tip for the week?

Get rainchecks. That's how I rocked it out at Publix. I had awesome coupons but the week I needed the dog stuff, they didn't have it. I got a raincheck and went back when I had other stuff to get and got the dog stuff. GET RAIN CHECKS when the store is out of the product you want and go get it before your coupons expires.