HELLO!!!

Hey everyone!

I know it's been forever...I always go back on forth on whether or not I should even HAVE a blog since I can't seem to find the time to update it. However, it's times like these that I am THANKFUL to have one, because I want to share a great deal that I came across today!

If you love Target as much as I do, you can get $5 off of a $5 or more purchase online. You need to sign into your Target account (or just make one real quick, it's easy!) and find anything on the website you want to order. (I ordered some mascara!) When you check out, enter the promo code:
TGT75HFN
...and you get $5 off your purchase! You have to pay $0.99 for shipping, but hey that's not bad! I paid only $0.99 for my purchase and shipping!

Hope everyone is well! I keep up on all of you, and will find some time soon to update this thing!
XO

Summer time at last...

It’s finally summer!

I have been a bad blog owner for the past month, not because I’ve been neglecting to do so! No…my family has been hit with a bout of bad luck. It all started three weeks ago on a Friday night, when my mom tripped over the vacuum cord and fell. We had to take her to the ER – she ended up breaking her arm and smashing her shoulder into pieces. She was in the hospital for six days – four of those she was waiting to get operated on. I spent the night for 2 nights and my sister spent the night as well, she couldn’t move anywhere since she was lying in a bed with a broken arm. She needed help because the nurses were slow so we had to be there.

Fast forward to the next week, when my dad had scheduled surgery already planned. He has prostate cancer and he also needed a hernia repaired. Since my mom can’t drive, I was already doing all of the shopping and cooking once she got home. Now I am also chauffer to both my parents since my dad can’t drive either.

The day before my dad was supposed to be released from the hospital; my mom had another emergency and had to go to the ER. We ended up being in the ER until almost midnight that night. I needed a sweatshirt and some shoes since it got really cold, so my boyfriend took me home for a few minutes to grab some. On the way back we found my cat dead in the middle of the road. Someone hit him in the 5 minutes that we were at my house. I had to deal with that then pick up my mom who was waiting at the ER. Not a fun night.

The next morning, my dad got released from the hospital. We took him home, and about 2 hours later, his catheter stopped working. We had to take him back to the ER, and he was there for about 4 hours. We came home and ate dinner, and the same thing happened again. We went back at about 9:30 and didn’t get out of there until 2pm. This was a Saturday. The following Monday I started my summer job (Boys & Girls Club).

I also had a job interview for a teaching position at a charter school close by my house. It didn’t go so well, I was really distracted and couldn’t focus as much as I should have been able to. We will see what they have to say about it in a couple of weeks.

Things have finally started to slow down a bit…I’m dog sitting for a couple of days, but should be back to updating soon! xoxo

Things I’ve learned working in a school

#5 – Children often times confuse poop for an art tool.

I cannot tell you how many times in a year I get an all-staff e-mail about a “poop artist” in the lower or upper el boys bathroom. More times than you want to know about!

#4 – Don’t assume a child knows how to do something – no matter how simple – because most of the time they can’t. Even after you teach it to them.

i.e. Today, at the end of fourth grade, one of my students couldn’t add 14 + 14 + 14 + 20 + 23. He put that the answer was 47, and then proceeded to tell me that he was “close” when I re-added it. 47 IS NOT ANYWHERE NEAR 85!! I was fuming.

#3 – Most kids are brutally honest.

They will ask you pretty much anything. The one question I got the most this year…”When are you going to make your hair yellow again? It looks better that way.” Brutally honest.

#2 – The gym teacher is always the favorite teacher.

There must be something inviting to a kid about a teacher who wears sweat pants and t-shirts to school every day of the week. In every school I’ve been in (with the exception of my middle school years) the gym teacher is ALWAYS the favorite. Kids love gym!! (PS - I know they get a bad rep from movies and tv shows...but in real life, they are the favorite!)

#1 – Never, and I mean NEVER, eat homemade baked goods for a student’s birthday.

You don’t know where those baked goods came from, and chances are they came from somewhere very unsanitary. I know it sounds mean, but in this year alone, I have seen students eating cupcakes and cookies with hairs baked on or in them on MANY occasions. It’s DISGUSTING. I don’t care how good they look, DON’T DO IT. You can eat baked goods from the store though! Those are usually safe J

Weekend Shopping (and savings!)

I’ve been finding lately that my favorite thing to do on Sunday mornings is to get my shopping done early. My weeks are busy with school, tutoring, and other activities so it is hard to find the time during the week unless it’s a quick stop after school. Here’s where I went and what I bought!

CVS

5 – Honest Tea (assorted flavors) on sale 5/$5

1 – Nivea lip balm, on clearance for $0.75

3 – Eucerin hand & body lotions (assorted) @ $5.49 each

1 – Oral-B toothbrush, on sale for $1.99

1 – Oral-B brush head refills for electric toothbrush (orig. $46.99 – on sale for $29.99)

1 – Bic Soliel Shimmer razor, $6.99 on sale

Coupons used:

4 - $1/1 Honest Tea product

1 - $1/1 Nivea lip product

3 - $1.50/1 Eucerin lotion

1 - $1.50/1 Oral-B toothbrush (certain types)

1 - $3/1 Bic razor

Total before tax: $37.70

Total saved: $49.18

Received $31.00 in Extra Care Bucks (you can use these on almost any products in the store – they are good for a month!)

I didn’t plan on spending so much money there, and I could have saved more out of pocket by doing multiple transactions. I was just so excited that the brush heads were the right ones for my toothbrush, and I wasn’t thinking clearly about it. I got $20.00 in ECB just from that item alone. You will never find those brush heads for $9.99. I also see it this way – yes I spent $40.00, but I will get to put the $31 toward all of my upcoming purchases there. I may not have to spend more than pennies there for the rest of the month! Which makes me very happy!

Walgreens

4 – Degree deodorant (4/$15)

2 – Right Guard deodorant (both with free trial size body wash attached!)

1 – Ritz Crackerfuls on sale for $2.00

1 – Aquafresh Kid’s toothpaste

2 – Caramels from the register…sooo delicious (and cheap!)

Coupons used:

2 – B1G1 free Degree deodorant

1 – B1G1 free Right Guard product

1 - $1/1 Ritz Crackerfuls

1 – in ad coupon for Aquafresh @ $0.99

1 - $0.50/1 Aquafresh kids toothpaste
$3.50 in Register Rewards

Total paid: $6.19

Total saved: $28.63
Received $7 in Register Rewards to use on my next purchase 

I was excited about all of the B1G1 free coupons that I could use this week to make my deals even better. The Degree products were 4/$15, plus you got $5 in Register Rewards. The Right Guard deodorants were already B1G1 free, and with the coupon, both were free! I also got the Ritz Crackerfuls for $1 out of pocket and got $2 in RR back on those, making them free as well.

I read on a blog that they are in great need for product donations at the Salvation Army of Monroe County. I gathered a large bag full of some of the products I don’t need at the moment and will be taking them to the site this week sometime. This is why I got the Right Guard deodorants and the kids toothpaste – both were either free or just pocket change to buy and someone that really needs these items will get them. It feels good to be able to make a small difference in the world by spending very little money. I donate money as much as I can, but donating products is a bit easier when you don’t make a ton of money.

Rite Aid

This was my smallest (and cheapest!) haul of the day. I went in basically because my UP+ rewards were going to expire this week, and I needed to use them!

1- RenPure Organics conditioner (@ $4.99)

1- Lady Speed Stick deodorant, on sale for $2.99

1 – Revlon Just Bitten lip stain (Reg. $8.99, on sale for 40% off)

1 -  Ms. Pedicure Foot Scrub (clearance @ $0.99)

1 – Spic and Span dish brush (clearance @ $0.25)

1 – 3 Muskateers candy bar (for the boyfriend) @ $0.50

(as you can tell, I was struggling for items at the end to make it to $15 total so I could use my $3 off coupon!)

Coupons used:

1 - $3 off $15 purchase
1 - $1 off a non-prescription purchase

1 - $2/1 Revlon beauty product

1 - $0.50/1 Speed Stick deodorant
$7 in UP+ rewards

Total Paid: $1.61

Total Saved: $13.50

Received $6.99 in UP+ rewards to use on my next purchase

Not a ton of coupons to use, but my total was really small! Not a bad weekend aside from all of that money spent at CVS!

I also got a really great pair of shoes this weekend! I got a gift card to Betsey Johnson for my birthday, and I already had an incredible pair of shoes picked out to spend it on! Check out these awesome shoes....

All mine!

Guilty pleasures in action

This morning - while I was eating my McDonald's breakfast in a Meijer parking lot - I realized the true scale of my guilty pleasures. Don't ask....just take a look.

 

Exhibit A: My car radio. I had the four choices above...and I LOVE 30 Seconds to Mars and also Silversun Pickups. Yet I chose to listen to N.K.O.T.B.S.B....I even teenied a little bit when the song came on because I haven't heard it yet on the radio. Then I proceeded to turn it up and finish my egg and cheese biscuit, all while the family in the van parked in front of me gave me disapproving looks.

Now I am going to watch The Real Housewives of Orange County until bedtime!

8 Guilty Pleasures

#8 – Betsey Johnson

This may sound funny, but yes, loving Betsey Johnson is a guilty pleasure! It's literally every girly-girl's dream come true. Not that I am embarrassed about it, it’s just that I have a hard time spending so much money on one thing. Her stuff is expensive! I love it just the same…and if I ever get rich one day, you will find me wearing Betsey dresses every day! I am lucky enough to own 1 dress and a few shirts, plus tons of purses, socks, and jewelry. LOVE IT!

#7 – Tiny Chef

This is embarrassing to admit, but I am kind of addicted to the app Tiny Chef. You have a restaurant and you cook food and design it. Then you start expanding and buying more restaurants and yeah…you get the idea. (And to be even dorkier, those are actually screen shots of 2 of my restaurants! NERDxCORE)

#6 – Gourmet cupcakes

Every area has their own cupcake places – my favorite around here happens to be Just Baked cupcakes. Their red velvet cheesecake cupcakes are TO DIE FOR. I mean it. I literally die when I’m eating them. (Well afterwards, when I’m trying to work off the extra pounds from devouring a large cupcake in about 5 seconds.) I have no self control when it comes to cupcakes!

#5 – iCarly

Another embarrassing fact to admit...I like watching iCarly. I can’t help it. Carly’s brother Spencer is HILARIOUS. And have you SEEN the ostrich episode? (See pic above) So funny!!  I like to watch on weekends when I’m not doing anything. Sam and Carly can be pretty annoying, but it’s worth sitting through for the parts with Spencer. Don’t judge.

#4 -  Music from Glee

Yes – I love watching Glee. And yes – I download a lot of the music from the show as well. I can’t help it. A lot of times they are singing songs that I don’t always like, but the way the song is arranged makes it so much better. They also put modern twists on some older songs. I love their version of “Somebody to Love” by Queen (even though no one will compare to Queen – one of my top 5 favorite bands ever!) and also their rendition of “Poker Face” by Lady Gaga. And whoever creates the mash-ups (where they mix 2 songs together) on that show is a freakin’ GENIUS. The mash-ups are incredible! Come on – “Start Me Up” and “Livin’ on a Prayer”??? SO AMAZING. Plus it’s the girls singing it!

#3 – Vanilla ice cream cones with sprinkles

I tried really hard not to make my entire guilty pleasures list consist of food, although I could have easily done it! I love that you can go to different ice cream places and the ice cream and sprinkles taste just a little bit different at each place. My current favorite happens to be Dairy Queen. Their vanilla is very tasty and MAN – they have the best sprinkles! I try not to go more than once a week, although sometimes it’s hard!

#2 – Driving

I know this one doesn’t sound like a guilty pleasure, but in my case it kind of is. I included it because sometimes I feel guilty doing it. Driving isn’t good for the environment and gas prices are out of control, yet I continue to drive when it isn’t necessary. The problem is that I really love to drive! I love listening to music and just driving. Not a single day goes by where I don’t get in my car and go somewhere. Or 10 somewheres.

#1 – Bad (but sooooo good!) Pop Songs

Ever since I was little, I’ve always loved pop music. I grew up listening to the Beach Boys and Wilson Philips. When I was in middle school, I used to listen to the Top 8 at 8 on our local radio station and keep track of the songs every single night. I love and was obsessed with Hanson and the Moffatts. And boy bands…you name it, I loved them! You can still catch me jamming out to N’SYNC and BSB in my car!

Horrible pop songs that I am currently listening to:

Avril Lavigne – “What the Hell”

NKOTBSB – “Don’t Turn Out the Lights”

Glee cast – “Friday” (cover of Rebecca Black)

NLT – “Do It Like I Love It”

Charice – “Pyramid”

I know right….it’s BAD. But I love!

What are YOUR guilty pleasures???

In my past life....

...I was chubby and had a sick perm...

 

...I lived in pools as much as I possibly could...

 

...I had the biggest (and best!) family ever!...

 

...I was in love with 2 different Scotts...

 (real first boyfriend Scott)

(pretend famous crush Scott)

...I had blonde hair...

 ...and pink hair...

...I spent a lot of time at concerts...

 

...and hung out at concerts with this guy a lot (oh HEY Deon)...

...I helped coach a very successful Varsity competitive cheer team...

 

...and that was a pretty great life.

I don't know about you, but I feel like once big changes happen, the things I leave behind don't belong to me anymore. It's sad in a way. I miss a lot of those things. I'm glad that there are pictures so I don't completely forget my past life.

Weekend Savings

I know y'all might be getting tired of hearing about my shopping trips...but saving so much money just doesn't seem to get old! I didn’t have much time to shop this weekend, but the couple of stops that I made were pretty good ones! Here are my weekend deals from Meijer, Walmart, and Walgreens!

Saturday:

On Saturday I had some time to shop at WalMart and Meijer with my sister. I was glad that I had my coupons with me because I found some great unadvertised deals!

Walmart:

1 – Crest Pro-Clinical Daily Whitening Toothpaste (Orig. $4.75 – on clearance for $1.50)

1 – John Frieda Brilliant Brunette shampoo (Orig. $4.97 – on clearance for $1.00!)

1 – Dial NutriSkin lotion ($1.97)

1 – Sally Hansen nail clippers ($3.97)

Used:

1 - $0.75/1 Crest toothpaste

1 - $1/1 John Frieda product

1 - $1/1 any Dial lotion

1 - $2/1 Sally Hansen product

Total before savings & tax: $15.66

Total after (w/tax): $4.20

Saved: $11.46

Note: I was so bummed that they only had one John Frieda shampoo in the clearance section, because I actually use that shampoo - and I also had more $1 off coupons! I was so grateful to find that one, though.

Meijer:

2 – Ivory soap 4-pack - not pictured ($1.19)

1 – Dial NutriSkin lotion ($1.99)

1 – John Frieda Root Awakening Shampoo ($6.49)

1 – John Frieda Root Awakening Conditioner ($6.49)

Used:

2 - $1/1 Ivory soap or body wash

1 - $1.50/2 John Frieda product (Meijer coupon)

2 - $3/1 John Frieda Root Awakening product

(also – John Frieda products were buy 1/get 1 50% off over the weekend!)

Total before savings & tax: $17.35

Total after (w/tax): $4.83

Saved: $12.52

Sunday:

I only had a little bit of time after church on Sunday to run to Walgreens. Last week I waited until Sunday afternoon to hit the stores, and they were already out of a lot of the sale items I wanted. So I went at 9:45, and had no problems this week!

Walgreens:

2 – Peeps bunny 4-pack (75% off! Only $0.18 each)

1 – Wylers Light singles to go ($1.00)

1 – Carefree liners (on sale for $0.99)

1 – Caress Silk soap bar (Orig. $.1.99)

1 – Dove bath bar (Orig. $1.99)

2 – Kleenex tissue box (Orig. $1.39)

2 – Lysol toiler cleaner 16oz. (on sale for BOGO Free @ $2.99)

Used:

1 - $1/1 Carefree item

1 - $1/2 Lysol toilet cleaner

1 – Walgreens coupon for Kleenex @ $0.89 each (limit 3)

1 – Walgreens coupon for Dove/Caress soap @ $0.99 each (limit 3)

1 – $5 Register Rewards from last week

Total before savings & tax: $16.83

Total after w/tax: $2.57

Saved: $14.72

TOTAL BEFORE ALL SAVINGS: $49.84

TOTAL SPENT: $11.60

77% savings!

Not a bad weekend at all! I am loving making short shopping trips when it is convenient. I am also loving the fact that I haven’t felt the need to go to the mall in 2 weeks! THANK YOU to LRWC and KCL for helping me save so much money – I can’t wait to see how much money I can save this year! (To hopefully put towards a house next year!)

My Life As Liz

So I don't know if any of you have ever heard of this fabulous show called "My Life As Liz". It's on mtv and just finished its second season. It's so great! I just got really into it more recently. I love all of the characters (especially Liz and her best friend Sulley), and love how it is filmed more like real life than a show. AND...Liz is from Texas! I loooove me some Texans. And Texas. And also New York where she moved. AND you will have to excuse my excitement...I may be delirious from 45 minutes of cardio-kickboxing. Anyways...

Here's Liz and Sulley:

 

This picture just completely sums up my love for these two.

Sulley is completely in love with Liz. It's blatantly obvious. Liz loves Sulley too, but in the "friend" way. Liz actually looooves Louis. Or Bryson. Or Louson...I don't know and she doesn't really either.

Bryson

Louis

Who would YOU pick?? At first I liked Bryson, even though he did some douchy things to Liz. He was just so cute. I wasn't too sure about this Louis character because he is a MUSICIAN. And you can believe that most musicians cannot be trusted. I KNOW FROM EXPERIENCE...of friends! Haha. That picture really does him no justice. But then....

The season 2 finale happened and I changed my mind. Bryson kind of blew it. I don't want to ruin it for y'all if you haven't seen it.

Does anyone else love this show? (Besides me and Tabs?) What are your thoughts?

I WON something! Shocker!!

This is probably the most incredible news that I've gotten all week...A. because I never win ANYTHING, and B. it's been a pretty crappy week in the news department. AKA - not sure if I will have a job next year. I know you can get worse news, but that really is not fun news to hear. The GOOD thing is, I won something! The awesomeness that is Busy Bee Lauren (of course she's even more awesome because she shares my name with me!) had a giveaway for a photo session with Inner Circle photography, which is run by a lovely local girl named Miranda. From her website, you can see that she takes INCREDIBLE pictures...they are so artistic and soooo my taste! Which is why I am so excited! Not only do I get a free photo session, but I ALSO get a $100 printing credit toward my pictures! How cool is that? Once I get more details I will let you know! Maybe you can help me decide what I want my photo session to include?!

You can see Miranda's work HERE!

Check out Lauren's post on Inner Circle photography HERE!

YAY!

My Shopping trip (5/3/2011)

 

Since I am still so new to using coupons to get things for rock bottom prices, I have been doing little bits of shopping at a time. I had about an hour to kill after work on Tuesday before heading to Nick’s. I wanted to hit up Walgreens and Meijer, and maybe Target if there was some time left. Here is a wrap-up of my trip:

Stop #1: Walgreens

1 – Tylenol Precise Pain Relieving Heat Patches 3 pk. - $7.99

2 – Right Guard Body Wash – BOGO Free ($4.49 each)

4 – Easter Pencils - $0.25 each

1 – Arizona Green Tea can – on sale for $0.49

Coupons used:

BOGO Free Right Guard Products

$5 off Tylenol Precise product (www.precisepainrelief.com)

$3 off Tylenol Precise product (Walgreens May Savings booklet)

$1 Register Rewards

TOTAL COST (w/ tax) = $1.30

Stop #2: Value City Furniture

(Ok…so I had a coupon for a free stuffed animal (Kare Bear) from VC Furniture. I wasn’t going to go, but I thought I’d just pop in and check the place out anyway since I was right there. I’m kind of glad I did. Although I don’t have much use for the Kare Bear, I can donate it. It was a $7.99 bear, so it was worth it.)

TOTAL COST = Completely FREE

Stop #3: Meijer

I went in to check out the prices at Meijer, because I had a lot of MFT’s coupons that matched up with the Meijer Beauty coupons from their website. (Go here for some great savings:  http://meijer.shoplocal.com/meijer/default.aspx?action=entryflash&storeref=70)

Needless to say, it wasn’t a very worthwhile trip. Since the coupons are good until June, I might wait this one out a few weeks. I did however find L’Oreal eye shadow for $4.79 – and with two $2 off coupons, it was a good buy!

So I bought: 1 – L’Oreal eye shadow (@$4.79)

Used: $2 off one L’Oreal eye product (Meijer Beauty book)

$2 off one L’Oreal eye products (MFT coupon)

TOTAL COST (w/ tax): $0.96

TOTAL MONEY SPENT (out of pocket): $2.26

This experiment is turning into an awesome thing for me…you see I have this shopping problem, where I have to go to the store at least once a week. I usually hit up Target and spend $20-$40 on different things I find there, whether I need them or not. I’ve spent less than $20 this whole week – and I’ve gotten about 4x the stuff I could have in a Target trip. I’m starting to realize how much money I am actually wasting. So, I have been satisfying my need to shop (and I actually haven’t even wanted to go to the mall!) while saving lots of money. I hope to keep getting better at it, and eventually working my way into using food coupons (yikes!). It’s a scary thought!

Freebies!

Here are some things that I’ve gotten for FREE either by mail or in-store over the past few weeks!

1-    Aveda Hand Relief travel size lotion ($7 value)

1-    Full-size hand sanitizer from CVS ($3.99 value)

1-    CoverGirl NatureLuxe foundation – full size ($11 value)

2-    Reach dental floss ($2 value)

1-    Sample of Dream Angels “Forever” perfume

2-    Lever 2000 cleansing wipes

1-    Beyaz pill holder (free with new prescription)

1-    True Blue shea butter hand lotion ($5 value)

1-   Sample size Secret deodorant

1-   Taster’s Choice instant coffee samples

3-   Tampax tampons

4-   Always pads and liners

Some of these things I will use, but the others will be added to my collection of freebies that will be going to my aunt at the end of the year! I love that I can help out without spending money!

My pictures from the Heidelberg