RIP Fishy and Goldilocks...

If you did not hear the faint sound of taps playing in the background or the swirl and woosh of the porcelain tomb, which sent dear Fishy and Goldilocks to their final resting place- today I must sadly announce that they have passed. First fishy, his 24 hours here with us on the kitchen counter were so special...his golden scales, and flowing tail made him a delight to watch as he darted in and out of the sunken ship. After her mate died, poor goldilocks started swimming sideways, fish specialist coco diagnosed she was suffering from a broken heart, and mere hours later she left this earth as well. RIP sweet .19 feeder goldfish. May you have relished your hours on this earth and had enjoyed your short yet sweet trip to our home. If not for our fishbowl, you were about to be bagged up and brought home by a man who had 10 red bellied 7inch long piranhas. And they liked their food alive. Although you unfortunately met your demise, at least it was in the comfort of your own bowl and not as the midnight snack of a sharp toothed carnivore.

Whew. Yesterday was SUCH a busy day. I don't know if I stay busier now because I have more things to do other than eat, or if life has just decided to throw me a few extra things to keep it spicy. I was up, fed kids, dealt with an issue, showered, had a hair appt, went for a walk in the blazing heat, got a pedi, went to dinner, went to meijer, dealt with a van issue, and made it home. Mix in there about 20 phone calls to customers and to Tony about customers and a quick stop to CVS and my day was really packed pretty full.

So yesterday as I mentioned I went to dinner. Fortunately I went with one of my girls who is doing the WW along with me, so I knew that temptation should be at bay seeing as how we were going at this together. Couple that with the fact that we had just walked 20 minutes in what felt to be near the equator and I knew we wouldn't be wanting to splurge. Applebees is soooooooooooooooooooo bad for you. Beth googled all the nutritional value and excluding the 4 or 5 WW meals and a couple of the new 550 meals you are actually eating lard. I dont know if they flavor EVERYTHING on the menu with bacon grease... then deep fry it, add dressing and mayo, then garnish - or what. It is horrible. But amidst the heart cloggers, they do have the cajun lime tilapia/chicken, which turned out to be a winner. We got extra pico for 0 points and a side salad with a touch of dressing of choice for 2 points and a skinnybee margarita for 2 points and got out of there using about 10 points. Seeing as how I had only eaten 6 points earlier in the day that left me plenty if I needed a quick snack and the f/f popcorn Tony and I had while watching the news really hit the spot. All in all.. Applebee's I challenge you. Make some fat free boneless wings please and some fat free mexi ranch. :)

Also, if anyone lives near a CVS, when I popped in one yesterday to grab a couple 0 calorie Sobe lifewaters, I checked the clearance and they had 22 bottles of pantene, all normally 4.99 but on for 75% off. That brought it down to 1.25/bottle. Then, on the front of all these bottles, there was a peelie coupon for $1 off. So I got 22 bottles of it for a quarter a bottle. It was the moisture renewal and color care line, so maybe CVS is discontinuing it. Either way, if any of you need shampoo/conditioner, come on over and check out the stockpile. When the clerk was ringing me out, he had to price modify each of the shampoos and also manually enter the coupon- until the machine from 1950 beeped and he had to call over the manager. The manager walked over and looked at my enormous stack of hair product and kind of eyed me up and down and said "What in the world would you need all this stuff for?" I assertively (which is not like me really, but here I have all this self worth now which is new), looked him in the eye and said "Not that its your business, but I have 4 kids so we will use it, share it or donate it as I cant beat it for a quarter a bottle." He just stared at me for a minute and then proceeded to take the other 12 dollars off my order in one press of a button. So here's to you CVS cashier in your white lab coat you were pretending to wear even though I know for SURE you do not work in the pharmacy, and also to you mr moustached CVS manager with your FBI-like grilling of me and my abundant purchase of pantene to be sold on the black market. You refilled my dwindling stockpile AND gave my kids the opportunity to have shiny, lustrous locks. Well played.

There is nothing I love more than getting a deal. Although to some that may seem a bit cat lady, a bit hoarder, I can tell you that we really do go through the shampoo.

So stockpiling. Its how I save the most money. Its how you could save the most money too. When you re at meijer or wherever and they have your or your kids favorite juice on sale... don't just get one or 2. Get 6. If you have the room/clams, and store them in your basement or your spare bedroom or your huge pantry. Start your stockpile today. You know you will need to buy juice again and its not like its going to waste.. why pay 2 dollars more when you need it again in 2 weeks, when you can be prepared for that shortage and stock up now. I use juice as a common example but it applies to all aspects of the grocery list. Black olives for instance- this week at Meijer, 10/10 with the 11th free. That's .90 a can. They are almost 1.50 full price and even the recent sale prices I have seen are around 1.50. I have been blessed my the hubs with two huge closets down stairs equipped with gorilla racks to store and manage my whole stockpile. They look like a store themselves. But now, when I need olives for something low-fat and tasty, I zip downstairs which gives me exercise, and I have them and I got them for .90/can. I don't need to run to Kroger which wastes gas and time and then still have the privilege to over pay when I get there. So stock up folks. It WILL be the way you will start to save money. And the first time you NEED that juice/shampoo/cracker, and all you have to do is walk to your stockpile you will feel smart, savvy and like the saver you should feel like. After all, there are plenty of other things in life you could spend that money on....

Last week I stocked up on Sweet Baby Rays bbq sauce when it was a $1 a bottle.
This week I stocked up on shampoo, garden delight pasta for .61/box, motts for tots apple juice for 1.67 a big bottle, and black olives @.90/can.

I think Ill start posting what it is I've stocked up on each week, where and what price. Also if I find any deals with coupons Ill post those as well.

Less eating. More exercising. Less stress. More saving...

Sounds like a mantra even I could get used to...even if it does mean I'm the crazy coupon lady at the register in front of the wannabe high-end, nose in air, uppity broad. :) Go to the USCAN then. Or better yet, let me keep my coupons and pay my bill. This is how I save my family money. This is how I can help keep our bottom line low. Its not like Meijer only has 1 checkout. Its not like you didn't see that I had a cart piled up like Everest. Having a stack of coupons the size of the yellow book does not make me white trash. Quite the contrary, dear overpaying snotty lady, the money I save actually increases our net worth. Why pay my husbands hard earned money to Meijer when theres a way I could keep it? OR- get double the amount of groceries that are in your cart and only pay 1/3 of the price? Did the thought of you carrying around a coupon binder the size of the one I have make you shudder? Would the papercuts and time I 'wasted' on clipping all these coupons have put you behind in your schedule of daily monotony? Sad. As about half the things you have in your cart I have in mine as well... but my awful, dreadful, move me down a notch in the caste system coupons are going to work for the same items you're buying. Except mine will be free. And that, dear evil eye, will make them taste oh so much sweeter.

So here's to you smart and savvy blog reader.. and to your continued success at being a saver.