Beyond my understanding....

People complain about others not keeping in touch yet put forth zero effort to keep in touch themselves. I can't say I am "great" at keeping in touch with friends but I try. I try to text, email and even call some and I'll continue doing this until I see that the other person makes no effort what-so-ever to initiate the communication. Slowly but surely many of my friendships have ended this way. Of course, there are are a handful of my friends that I don't need to say hello to for months and when we do get the opportunity to catch-up, it feels as if we never stopped talking. But those friends NEVER complain about us not speaking that often. They just know that we think about each other and wish the best but just can't express it sometimes. So, there's my rant. If you are one of those "friends" that messages me once a blue moon on messenger and don't text or call me for ages AND complain about me being too busy then please please please, check yourself! Because a messenger message saying, "hello" isn't always enough. Sometimes if you want to communicate with someone, you just have to pick up the phone and say hello.

That's all. Oh one more thing, I despise hypocrisy.

CVS :)

My trip to CVS made me very happy. I added 9 bottles of Xtra laundry detergent to my stockpile along with 2 bottles of Crest Pro-Health mouthwash, which I must add were totally FREE! I paid 3.99 for each bottle and got 3.99 Extra Care Bucks (ECB) back. The Xtra was on sale for $1.49 each and I had a $1/1 coupon making each one 49 cents each! I paid for everything but tax with ECB's and my total out of pocket was $1.50 for tax. Awesome trip! If you get a chance to make it to CVS before 1/30 then make sure you grab the mouth-wash! They had all kinds of awesome deals!

$10 for $20 or $15 for $30 at Bath & Body Works' Online Store

 

You can score a deal on Bath and Body Works Online store at Groupon. They are currently having a 10 for 20 or 15 for 30 sale which mean you can grab $30 worth of stuff for $15. Coupon doesn't expire until April 2011 giving some time to shop for Spring scents :)

Groupon is a great site to find awesome deals and allows you to earn rewards for referring friends :) Give it a shot. Tell me how it goes.

Happy Shopping!

14 Questions

A couple of my blogger friends have posted "14 Questions" so I decided to partake in it. Its sort of fun. :)

14 Questions

1. Lots of pillows or just one? Describe your pre-sleeping rituals.
2 pillows- Clarisonic with Clarins face-wash, brush my teeth, mouthwash, moisturizer, PJs, socks then bed. :)

2. What kind of books do you read?
Mystery, non-fiction, romance.


3. What are your neighbors like?

They can be annoying but I try not to communicate much. They are quite ghetto.


4. What's really creepy to you?
Snakes

5. What's your current fandom/obsession/addiction?
Saving money

6. Do you prefer your junk food sweet, salty or savory?
Mostly sweet & potato chips!

7. What was the last thing you bought that's expensive?
My Clarisonic

8. What is your greatest fear?
History repeating itself.

9. Do you get cravings?
Chocolate, potato chips and matar!

10. What do you do to change your mood?
Take a walk alone or read blogs online.

11. What was the last meal you ate that you loved?
Yummy south Indian food from Kaveri. :)

12. Do you want to learn another language?
Nope. Wanted to learn Spanish but not so much anymore.

13. What's something that you'd like to say to someone right now?
Life's too short to worry about the little things.

14. What are you looking forward to? Graduating. Spring/Summer gardening.

Quilted Northern Toilet Paper Deal!

Right now if you head over to Staples, you can score a deal on Quilted Northern TP! Staples has the TP on sale for 15.99 (after instant savings) for 30 rolls. To sweeten the deal, if you buy 4 cases, you can use the $20 off $60 code 22401 at checkout lowering your total to $46 + tax after coupons. That's about 0.38 for each roll of good TP! 


Now if you want to get even a sweeter deal, head over to ShopAtHome to get 2.5% back on your  purchase! With all that TP, you won't have to worry about stocking up for a while....


Happy Shopping :)

First day back to school

Today I returned to school after what seemed a short break. The past couple of weeks have been an awakening for me. Realizing what I can do with what I have opened my eyes to pathways that weren't there for me last year. The money saving tactics I have learned in the past couple of weeks has changed how I view expense now. People spend thousands of dollars a year on necessities that can be "bought" for merely pennies. To give an example, I spent nearly $50 a month, every month last year for shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, deodorant, feminine products and other oral/hygiene items. In the past week, I have stockpiled toothpaste, feminine products and some oral care products for the entire year for about $10. I am not ashamed to admit that I have 30 tubes of toothpaste sitting in my cabinet because all those tubes cost me about $1. I also have 40 bars of Olay soap which will last us for 3 years now. I got it all for about $5; they normally cost about 2.50 for 2 bars. Some might think I am hoarding, but honestly, I will be sharing these with my sisters, mom and other family members. Also, given the financial situation we are in, there are months when we can't even afford a bar of soap so this insurance brings me peace. In the past we have had months when we didn't have any shampoo or conditioner and simply couldn't afford it and ended up using samples we had stashed away. Now, I know that day won't come for a while.

The whole experience of being able to save much needed, hard earned money is fun yet very enlightening. I know that even when I will have the funds to buy these products at regular price, I never will. Couponing is exciting and its a way of life for me now. I don't care if the cashier looks at me funny. I actually know for a fact that stores are reimbursed 110% of the coupon value by manufactures and they appreciate us couponers. I also know that in this bad economy it is sensible to save your money and its also sensible to utilize coupons because they actually help the economy! I follow many women *mostly* that have saved their families approximately $20,000 a year by using coupons and following the simple rules. The number may seem high but its so believable to me because I have already saved nearly $300 in the past month and if this continues, my savings for this year will be close to the $20,000 mark as well. :) So, if you are reading this, check out my prior post, Couponing, and give this a shot. Trust me, you will be addicted and this is one addiction that brings more good then bad. Thanks!

ShopAtHome

I received my first check from ShopAtHome today. It was for $36.24. Thats free money that I can put to good use. I am shocked that this site actually works so well. My "earnings" was mainly through the Safeway purchases which were awesome deals to begin with and getting extra cash back for my purchases is even better! I encourage everyone to sign up for this. If anything, you can find awesome coupon codes and earn money while making purchases. There's absolutely nothing to lose. Trust me, I have tried this and love it! Give ShopAtHome a try and tell me what you think!

Up to 50% off on clearance items at Carter's and OshKosh!

Carter's and OshKosh is having a sale on their clearance items! 30% off on already clearanced items. You can also score free shipping if your purchase is over $50 by using code SNOWDAY and an additional 20% off by using code NEWBORN. So head over to Carter's/OshKosh and stock up on clothes for the little one. If you go through ShopAtHome, you can earn an additional 2% back on your purchase! Happy Shopping !!!

Thanks to Andrea Sommers at Because Cheaper is Better for this deal!

126.51

Thats how much I saved today by using coupons! I am ecstatic! I am also so thankful that I found couponing and enjoy it so much. Mom and I made a trip to Rite Aid and Target today and let me tell you, the savings was incredible. I bought 6 boxes of Special K Cereal, 4 packs of Stayfree pads, 2 packs of Tylenol Precise Heat Patches, 2 boxes of Kellogg's Fiber Plus bars, 2 bottles of Burts Bees lotion (8 oz each), 2 packs of Sharpies 8 each, 2 individual Sharpies, 2 Hershey's Bars, 2 packets of M&Ms, and 2 bottles of Excedrin all for $20.72. I used my $20 +up rewards I received last time, paid 0.72 out of pocket and (drum roll) I received $22 in +up rewards! Yay! That's a $2 money maker! I also scored 20 bars of Olay bars for free!!! I am loving this couponing hobby!!!

Couponing...

To jump start one of my goals for 2011, I recently began looking into "couponing" the old-fashioned way. I subscribed to the Sunday paper which includes some high value coupons and helps with the ink & paper part of printing. You also receive coupons that aren't printable and are worth alot of money. :) I've also been following a few websites such as Hip2Save, Totally Target, The Frugal Find, i Heart Rite Aid and The Krazy Coupon Lady for the past couple of weeks to get the deals down. I finally got all the "paperwork" together and went to Rite Aid with a plan of action today.

I purchased a whole lot of stuff, as you can see in the picture and used some manufacture and some Rite Aid coupons along with my wellness card and got an amazing deal. What you see in the picture:

8 Aquafresh toothpastes
Excedrin Migraine
Excedrin Extra Strength
2 Loreal Hair Colors
2 pkts of Halls
Jumbo Huggies (sz 5 70 count)
2 pairs of house shoes (on sale 50% off)
* there were also two toys included in transaction each at $3 each


I used alot of coupons and my final for 2 transactions was 44.32 + 12.80= 57.12 and received 39 +up rewards. I used 10 up rewards to pay for the first transaction making it 34.32 out of pocket and paid 12.80 out of pocket for the first, leaving me with 29 up rewards for my next purchase. If you do all the math, my final cost for all that in the picture plus 2 toys comes out to $18.12. That is an amazing!!! deal given the fact that we usually pay $22 for the diapers alone. I am so happy and thankful that I found this new "hobby"
 which will help both me and my family to save this year and onward....

Specific Goals for 2011

As the new year rings in, we all think of resolutions for the year. We still to a few but really let go of most of them. I, like many others, have made lots of new year's resolutions in the past but this year, I will be doing something different. This year, I plan to only have 3 and I hope that I can accomplish them successfully. If I don't, its acceptable but I hope I can accomplish all three.

This year I hope to:

1) Lose 30 lbs while maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
2) Take better care of my skin & hair
3) Manage my money and save.

I have already begun working on these and as I progress, I will post up updates.