Thursday, September 30, 2010

time for a re-do

It is time...
time for a re-do.

I have gone long enough in our bright mustard colored master bedroom.  In fact, that isn't even the color that I wanted.  The paint chip was definitely NOT that bright or yellow.  It was quite mute compared to the paint being on the wall.  I wanted something more brown.  Guess I have learned my lesson in picking out paint.

My next vision for our master bedroom is something a lot more quiet and relaxing.  I see either a pale blue or light tan on the walls.  The comforter is going to be along the lines of ivory, khaki, or tan with some accent throw pillows.  I have already ordered the euro shams from Restoration Hardware for a third of the original price.  In fact, they are going to be my inspiration for the bedroom since I can't seem to find a picture of my dream bedroom.  The only picture that I have is in my head and sometimes that picture can be blurry.

I am planning on making curtains for the windows instead of having valances.  Our bedroom is on the east side of the house so it is bright too early in the morning especially on the weekends.  I guess you can see why the bright mustard paint isn't working now.  It is like waking up on the surface of the sun.  My sleep mask is bearly doing it's job:  keeping any hint of light off my eye-balls.

We recently upgraded to a king-sized bed (recall my stories here and then here) and felt like it is time for a more "grown-up" style.  Just to be honest, I would LOVE to rearrange the furniture for the make-over, but the someone who I am married to doesn't want to do that.  Now just answer me this:  how can I fully complete my master bedroom makeover if I can't even rearrange the furniture as it is laid out in my head?  ugh, frustrating.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

my obsession

Some people are obsessed with various things such as shopping, cleaning (I am a "smidge" obsessed about this), eating, exercising, working, sleeping, facebooking, football season, tv, etc.  I think you get the idea.  The point is that people are obsessed with many things ranging in different categories.  My latest obsession is saving money....otherwise known as couponing.

I might think about saving money at least several hours or more in a single day.  It gets REALLY bad when it is time for my weekly grocery list.  I spend about 2 or more hours just making my grocery list for the week, which doesn't seem that bad when I am saving more than I spend.  I have tried to quickly go through the list without obsessing over every single dollar that might/could be saved.  It doesn't work.  I have to go through my list of known websites.

Here is my routine for each week's grocery list (in a brief nutshell):
-I start by looking through the Publix's ad to see exactly what is on sale and what we need.  I try to think about coupons that I already have cut and filed in my coupon binder.
-Next I got to I Heart Publix and Southern Savers to look at the weekly Publix ad with coupon match-ups.  They are both really good websites tell you item by item what coupons to use for each.  Some coupons can be printed from another website!  AWESOME!
-Keep in mind I am making my list and printing/searching for coupons from my binder as I am on each website.
-The next websites I go to really "seal the deal" as far as couponing goes.  Coupons.com, Money Saving Mom, and Target (store coupons) are all great places to find additional coupons for your weekly list!  And another thing:  Money Saving Mom is great about listing free samples of products that can be mailed right to your door!  I get roughly 3 samples (or more) each week on various items:  shampoo, conditioner, hair styling products, cereal, Hamburger Helper, toilet paper, deodorant, granola bars, feminine products, lotion, shaving cream, laundry detergent, just to name a few.
-And when making the grocery list I can't forget that Publix doubles coupons (up to 50 cents if in AL) and take other store coupons including $X off a $XX purchase.  Even more savings! 

Now you can see where I come from every week in making my grocery list.  It takes time, but time is money in trying to save via couponing.  For example, this past Sunday we spent $55.33 and saved $97 (savings of 63%)!  I am not going to list every single item, but we got a lot of stuff including popcorn, a frozen CPK pizza, cheesecake, produce, fish fillets, bread, 2 bottles of Complete contact cleaner, TP, shampoo, shaving gel, sandwich meat, and 6 bags of Halloween candy.

Speaking of Halloween candy, it has been my goal to not spend a dime for any candy this year.  Considering Publix has had the good candy (Nestle's Crunch, Reeses, Hershey's Kisses, and Yorks) BOGO, it has been hard to stick to my goal.  So far we have 9 total bags of candy (no small bags, but decent sized bags) and have spent less than $8 total.  Not too shabby; less than $1 a bag.  You can't even that good of candy at the Dollar Store for that price!

Saturday, September 11, 2010

September 11th

Today is the day that will live on in America's history for eternity.  I will never forget that day and watching the news coverage.  The images of dying people, burning buildings, and destroyed planes are imbedded in my memory as long as I live.

Today I am lifting up the fallen, their family members, and service men and women who have helped make our country the greatest place to live.

You can relive my 9/11 story here.