I guess I have quite a lot to blog about. Last weekend was a fun one! Jordan and I went to see Janel play in her powder puff game, which unfortunately, despite a lot of hard work and a lot of spirit, they lost to the juniors, but it was still a good time! Jordan and I had a dr's appointment after that- and then the rest of the afternoon was spent setting up for the Spring Hill Country Ham Festival. New Song sponsored a "farmer for a day" booth where kids came through and got to do all sorts of fun "farm-themed" things. As you can see- the youth AND youth leaders had a good time setting up! Friday night, Jordan and I went to the game and had a great time watching IHS beat whoever they were playing...haha! We all went to bed and crashed- big day on Saturday. Saturday we woke up, all had breakfast together and then helped the girls get where they needed to go for homecoming. I made it over to take some pictures of Janel and her friends before they took off- and to help them with last minute getting ready...a flurry of hair spray, curling irons, mascara and bobby pins, but they got it all done and made it in time! Jordan and I took off for U-turn on Saturday night. It was a GREAT night, despite a really weird game that we played....not quite sure what to think of it....there is no noise, but here's a sample of what it looked like....
And then Sunday was full of friends, worship, teaching, fellowship, rest, football and fun! We finished off the evening (Jordan, Laurel and me) watching Iron Man- I LOVE THAT MOVIE! All in all- a GREAT weekend! On another note- I never posted my results of how I think the Grocery Game works and whether or not it's worth it. Here's what I came down to. The list itself that is published on the grocery game is not the MOST helpful for the types of things Jordan and I buy, so although the concept was very helpful, subscribing to the list wasn't the best for me. BUT- I did learn a lot through the 12 weeks of trying it about shopping sales, combining with them offers and coupons to get the best deal. So, here's what it looks like for me...I still shop on a "stockpiling" basis, so I am still looking to buy things when they are on sale rather than when I just NEED them. I check out the Publix, Kroger, CVS and Walgreens circulars each week, circle things on sale and go through my coupons to get the best deal. So far it's working great with each shopping trip averaging a 53% savings on every bill. It's become a challenge for me.....my favorite recently was a trip to Walgreens where I stocked up on 2 packs of Zicam cold medicine, 4 packages of duracell batteries, trident gum and sony CDrs for $25, when it would have been $65. That's exciting! :-) So here's to saving!!!

Oh- and no news yet of Baby Rachel- we are anxiously awaiting!

Well, the Dance finale was last night and we were NOT disappointed. In a perfect world, I think I would have had Katee win, but I certainly wasn't upset that Joshua won. In my book, they were both very deserving!! Last night was a great finale, and Jordan and I enjoyed watching it VERY much.

Speaking of Jordan, he's feeling much better and is now well into his quick overnight to Evansville to see Steve, Dan and others and play a couple of rounds of golf with them. Leaves me wondering what I am doing tonight...but don't worry- I have a few ideas of my own. Might make it down to Green Hills (TEAVANA CALLS!) and end up with a friend back here in SH. We'll see...it's kind of fun not having a plan and not having anywhere I HAVE to be.

So, here's my Grocery Game Week 4 Update. This was the most disappointing week of all, BUT, it as also a week where I really needed to get lots of items that weren't on sale at all, so I know that certainly didn't help me.

My Kroger trip:
Total Cost: $54.19
Total Savings: only 25% (Eww, I know, but oh well! That included, like I said about $20 of non-on sale items.)

My Publix trip:
Total Cost: $12.54
Total Savings: 58%- that was AWESOME! I paid $12.54 for over $30 worth of stuff.

I also went to Walgreens on my own, based on sales I saw they were having. I got 4 packages of pens for 9 cents each, almonds at 50% off, only got a few items, but I only spent $5.03 for $21.57 worth of stuff!! That's a 77% savings- woohoo!

I'm going to stick with it. It's been 4 weeks, and although some have been better than others, I think I have found the way for the "system" to work best for me. Whatever your plans are- have a wonderful weekend!!

Grocery Game- Week 3 Update:

So, it's beginning to work out pretty well. I'm stocking up on things like meat and pantry staples, as well as getting toiletries and medicine for dirt cheap! It does take some planning, but using what I'm getting and supplementing it with the fresh produce I get has turned out pretty well. Here's what happened this week:

Publix:
Regular price: $36.15
My price: $17.06
Savings 53% ($19.09)
Some items I bought: Season salt, couscous, bananas, fresh cherries, etc.

Kroger:
Regular price: $58.39
My price: $33.94
Savings: 43% ($24.45)
Some items I bought: HUGE package of pork chops, whole chicken, turkey meatballs, peaches, onions, etc.

**again, I spent about $10 on non-sale items- things I needed to make some of my planned menus for the next couple of weeks, but it still turned out to be a great savings b/c I had a couple of coupons for some of those items. So, I saved about $44 this week. Hey- if I can save an average of 45-50 per week- that's almost $200 a month. I think it's worth it so far!! We'll see if this holds up.

I got up and worked out this morning. See, I used to, in college, have a great habit of running and working out and was very much in shape. Most mornings of the week, I'd be up and run 4-6 miles before the sun was fully up...then, for some reason, after getting married and both of us adjusting to one another's schedule, that stopped happening. Mornings weren't as easy as they used to be. So, I've stayed "in shape" but definitely not where I'd like to be. I'm smaller than I used to be, but size truly isn't everything, and I know my body needs more exercise and I need more energy. A friend was over here for dinner on Tuesday night, and was talking about how she and two other ladies from church go to the Rec Center at 5:30am every morning. Ewww...But, last night, after Life Group, I came home, ate b/c I hadn't all evening, and decided I should just go on to bed about 9:50, so I did. I woke up this morning (w/o alarm) at 5:40am and decided, "What the heck- I'm going." So, I went and had a great work out and I must say I'm feelin' great. Not sure if this is a new pattern or not, but I am certainly going to try and make it more of a habit. (I also made it to the gym yesterday BEFORE life group- so I'll fit it in when I can)

On another note, I need to do my Grocery Game, Week 2 update. I have to say, I'm not quite as thrilled with this week. I am finding some holes (for me) in the Grocery Game. Part of the problem is that a lot of things on the list- I just don't buy normally, so I've bought a few things the past 2 weeks that I normally wouldn't, which means, even though I am saving money on THOSE, I'm not really for us, b/c we don't typically eat it anyway. BUT, I think with that realization I can use it to work for me and still save a good amount of money. Here's the breakdown:

At Publix, I spent about $23. I don't have my receipt, so I can't remember exactly, but I think that was actually about a 56% savings....didn't use a lot of coupons there, but bought several buy 1 get 1 items and stocked up on some good stuff. I didn't get the penny item though...it was hot dogs, and I just can't do that :)

At Kroger, I spent $31.73. I saved $33.74, so 51% savings for my items. Here's the bad part about Kroger- I HAD to buy butter- spreadable and in sticks, and that was NOT on sale. Luckily I had a coupone for $1 Smart Balance, but those two items still added up to $6.18 which was almost 20% of my total spending, so you see buying stuff when you need it as opposed to when you don't and it's on sale certainly does cost more.

I do however, after 2 weeks, have a freezer stocked with Bacon, italian turkey sausage, chicken breasts, a whole chicken, shrimp, lots of frozen beef, 16 oz. shredded cheese, lots of frozen veggies, etc. for much less than I would have spent normally. So- I'm stickin' with it. We've certainly been eating well (with the help of my organic produce I get from Delvin farms bi-weekly) Here's a run down of this week's meals (if you REALLY care to know)

Sunday Lunch: pot Roast with Organic potatoes & carrots (we had a church picnic, so it was actually more than that- but that's what we brought)

Sunday dinner: homemade pizza with italian turkey sausage, red onion, tomatoes, bell pepper

Monday dinner: shrimp & beef kabobs with squash, zucchini and onion, FRESH tomato basil soup (made from the tomatoes from the farmer's market and my neighbors home-grown basil) cranberry walnut salad and bread

Tuesday dinner: grilled honey soy chicken, fresh corn on the cob, mashed potatoes, salad and watermelon (it was a yellow one- very strange!

Tonight: I don't know yet- I'll open up the freezer and be creative!

So last week I blogged about The Grocery Game, a way to seriously save money at the Supermarket. I'm currently doing a 4 week "trial" so see if I want to continue to subscribe to the lists that provide insight to the best savings. So, here ya go:

The Grocery Game: Week 1
-clipped coupons from Sunday's paper and some old papers I had. I hadn't really been in a habit of clipping coupons but I figure if I'm going to do this right, I had better collect as many as possible.

-I am currently subscribing to Kroger & Publix lists, which are the stores I go to regularly anyway. After pulling up "The List" (which organizes all of the best deals of the week and color codes them to tell me what to buy) After trips to both stores, here's how I made out:

Publix
Total bill w/o coupons & savings: $113.46
I paid: $59.80
Savings of 53% overall
(keep in mind that my savings is actually more b/c most of these items are already ON SALE w/o coupons)

Kroger
Total bill w/o coupons & savings: $110.46
I paid: $44.56
Savings of 62% overall

Here is a sampling of some of the things I got and some meals I will make from this:
- 1 1/2 lbs. of fresh organic shrimp (for jambalaya and shrimp scampi pasta)
- 2 bags fresh frozen asian veggies & 3 lbs. hormone free chicken breast (for stir fry)
- 2 boxes of whole grain spaghetti
- 2 lbs. top sirloin steak for grilling
- 9.5lbs. sirloin roast (this will last a LONG time. I felt like a butcher cutting it up, but with a little work, I saved a TON of money on this)
- Grilled Mesquite chicken strips & Dole Salad Blends for a yummy southwestern salad
- lots of fresh stuff like tomatoes, cherries, bananas, eggs, milk, turkey lunchmeat & then lots of pantry items like graham crackers, townhouse crackers, popcorn, brownie mixes, air freshener, bathroom cleaner, cereal, tea, shaving cream, medicine, and many other things!

I have a few doubts, but I am going to give it at least 3 more weeks. It takes me being creative, b/c I can't just plan out my menus and get what I need, but I need to really plan around the sales/coupons, but as I go more and more weeks, I'll have more and more to work with and will be able to probably get back to some of my "normal" menus.

I would say it's definitely been worth it so far.

Just finished watching "So you Think You can Dance." LOVED the Bollywood dance number at the end. Yes, that's right...I said, Bollywood. I'm sure you can check it out on You Tube if you missed it.

So, my new favorite thing right now is "The Grocery Game." I was reading the paper about tips on saving on all sorts of things, and I seriously LOVE trying to save money at the grocery...it's a weird little interest of mine. The article was talking about this website- thegrocerygame.com and it intrigued me enough to try it out.

If you are one who doesn't like planning ahead, making a list, sticking to it, looking for deals then this is definitely NOT for you- and that's okay. But, if you're like me and love being a savvy food shopper than this is SO for you. It's a little confusing at first, but I decided to try it with a "mini" trip to the store and here's what I ended up with:

- Herbal Essence Shampoo
- Herbal Essence Conditioner
- Pantene Pro-V Shampoo
- Swiffer Sweeper Refill Pack (32)
- Frozen Broccoli
- Frozen Corn
- Crest Whitening Toothpaste

My total?

$9.21 plus tax! (Look back again at everything I got)

I saved almost $21 off list price from this trip alone. And these are all things I use! (The swiffer refill pack is usually $8.99 by itself) Imagine what my real shopping trip will be like. If you're intersted, check out it out here and read up. I'll be sure to keep you posted on how it goes. It is supposed to take a while (12 weeks) to really get to a place where you're saving the max, but I think it'll be worth it!