A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned!

I think I've made my point already to how much couponing can help, but just to drive my point home more I had to share my little story. 

The hubby's computer fell in love and ran away about a month ago (e.g. died), and since football season is back, which means fantasy football, it was time he had his own computer to use! Don't get me wrong, I'm more than willing to share, but football season gives me more time to do my homework, so I need my computer at the same time that he does. Long story, well... long, we decided to go computer shopping. We were able to pick up this little bad boy and paid cash! That's right, no cards, no additional debt, we had a need, and had the money to pay for it. Man, can I tell you how great that feels?! 

image from: http://www.laptopreviews.org.uk/toshiba-laptops/toshiba-nb205-netbook/

P.S. If you're interested, the best price that we found for this little guy was at Fry's Electronics. By the way, when I say little, I mean little... it's a mini computer! Absolutely adorable - just can't tell the hubbs that, as far as he knows, it's very manly! 

Mini Banana Muffins

I made some scrumdelicious muffins for a potluck at work today, and they were a hit. High five me! Here's the recipe.

Mini Banana Muffins

Makes around 35 - Prep time 10 minutes - Baking time 15 minutes - Total time 25 minutes

Ingredients

1 1/2 C all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

3 large bananas, mashed

3/4 C white sugar

1 egg

1/3 C butter, melted

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat muffin pans with butter or margarine, and lightly dust with flour so that muffins will slide out easily. You can use muffin liners if you'd like as well.

Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Combine bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter in a large bowl. Fold in the flour mixture until wet and smooth, but don't over-mix! Scoop into muffin pans. 

Bake in preheated oven for 10 - 15 minutes (it was 13 in mine). You'll know they're done with the edges are golden and they spring back with lightly tapped.

Enjoy!

Getting Organized

One of the biggest questions that I get is "how do you manage to get everything done in a day?!" My response... 

I don't. 

There is a lot that I don't get to that I really wish I had, and I'm still balancing my day to day, trying to push my limits where I can, see what I can and cannot accomplish. For what I do get done though, I owe to planning! I love organizing, in fact, I'd marry it if I could... although that would put me in a pretty odd situation since I'm already married... awkward pause... 

Back on subject! There is this great book that I've had for years. The bindings worn, there's pink highlighter on most pages and any onlooker would probably wonder why I occasionally drag it around since it's not super small, but it's my standby when it comes to all things organized! 

I bought mine straight off Amazon for pennies on the dollar (gotta love a good used buy) and am still finding new tips and tricks inside. 

One of the great tips that I got from this book was to organize your week vertically and horizontally. This tip came especially handy for me years ago when I was suffering burnout because I was 'never getting anything done,' or so it seemed. My problem was that I would organize my day in a list form, but wouldn't organize my week in the same manner. What this meant was that I would put a bunch of big projects in one day's work, and then be super disappointed and confused when I couldn't accomplish everything in my day. Looking back I would love to just smack myself upside the head and say "duh silly, of course you're overwhelmed!" Truth be told though, we all want to be superwomen, and at first, at least for me, that felt like getting everything done in a days time. 

The real trick here though is to list out all of the big items that you need to get done, and spread them throughout your week (or month, depending on what you're planning) so that you're not overwhelming yourself on one specific day. Also, get rid of anything that is not important or conducive to what is really important to you. This means figuring out your priorities and getting rid of any 'fillers' in your day that don't contribute to those. This may mean saying no occasionally, and that's okay! Here's an example: For me, which would be more important: A. making 2 dozen homemade cinnamon rolls for my co-workers or B. taking a quick trip to the store to pick up a treat for work and taking that extra time spending a date night out with my husband? 

Drum roll please... B of course! Although I love to bake (just as much as I love organizing!), I love my husband more and enjoy spending time with him. Easy answer, right?

I would definitely look into buying this book, or checking it out at your local library. There are so many topics like organizing your time, household chores and simplifying your holidays. Good stuff! 

My Best Produce Secret, Bountiful Baskets

image from: http://peekatmypaper.blogspot.com/

I just got back from my weekly trip to the park to pick up my fruits and veggies for the week. Confused? Maybe I should explain... my dear friend Lani and I go half and half every week on our co-op picks from Bountiful Baskets. 

http://www.bountifulbaskets.org/ 

I discovered Bountiful Baskets about a year and a half ago and was amazed at how much produce you can get for only $15.00! The best part is that this is restaurant quality produce, so you know it's going to taste great. 

Here's what was in our basket today:

8 bananas 

6 apples

6 pears

1 bag of green grapes

1 package of red grapes

1 package mushrooms

1 head romain lettuce

3 heads broccoli

2 green acorn squash

1 honeydew melon

2 cucumbers 

2 tomatoes 

Now you can see why we need to split it in half! For those of you with bigger families though, you may find that this fits your needs perfectly. They offer every weekend, and you have to sign up a week ahead (see the schedule for your area), but you're not obligated to buy every time which is a great perk if you only want to do it every couple of weeks, if you have a family vacation planned, etc.

Here's a list of the states that they offer in:

Arizona

Utah

Colorado

Wyoming

Texas 

Idaho

Nevada

Washington

The price is $15 for the traditional basket, or $25 for the organic one.

Enjoy and happy Saturday!

Good Buy, Enchilada Sauce

I know, I know, really late notice, but I just got done with my grocery shopping for the week ahead and found a GREAT buy! At Food City they have single day sales, and today they have their 28 oz. cans of Las Palmas Enchilada Sauce on sale for $1.00 each! That's right, you'd pay $1.78 at the least for these babies on any normal day. The limit is 4, so you know I stocked up. That means we have plenty for our delicious shredded chicken enchiladas for awhile. Yum! 

Speaking of grocery shopping, I only spent $24 this week! Mind you I'm going to pick up some basil and pancetta early next week for my favorite dinner of all - Vodka Cream Pasta. Still, that will only put us at about $30 for the week! This is phenomenal in comparison with the amount of money I used to spend in the past... seriously, the amount would make you ill, don't ask! 

Use Coupons, Save Money!

*Standing up* Hello, my name is Jessica, and I'm a couponer. 

Yes, at first it can feel a little weird to get into using coupons, I mean come on, that's not what us young people do. That's what the mother of your childhood best friend did who had six kids and only let you use two sheets of t.p. Well ladies, I'm excited to announce that I am now a frugalista and have saved oodles of cash in the past month through using coupons and by shopping smart! It takes time, and practice, and I know I personally have a long way to go, but it works and I'm so excited to share my tips and tricks! Let's face it, would you rather throw your money down the drain, or save it for something that means more to you; like for me, a vacation!  

What is the trick you ask? Well since there are a ton of them, this will be an ongoing discussion on my blog, but first let's talk about the concept of using coupons. Think the Sunday paper is the only route to go? No way my friends, there are mailers delivered throughout the week, online coupon sites, CVS/Walgreens bucks and store specific coupons that you can load onto your frequent shoppers card that will automatically process when you checkout! There are probably even more resources out there, and trust me, once I find them I'll be sharing! 

For now, my first tip is going to be about the Sunday paper. Every Sunday morning I make my weekly trip over to the Family Dollar down the road where I can get the paper for only a buck! There's your first savings right there! I personally am only buying one a week right now, but I hear that when you get mad skills at clipping coupons, you end up buying multiple copies. Speaking of the paper, did you know that you can see what coupons are going to be coming out every weekend before hand? It's true, just go to www.sundaycouponpreview.com/ and then you can decide if you want to buy more than one copy of the paper that week depending on what deals are being offered. Need an example, lets say you've got a baby and see that there's going to be a great coupon insert for Johnson's baby products. Well in that case you could pick up a couple of papers (or more depending on your need) and stock up on the coupon so that you can get those great savings on more than one item. 

I'm so excited to share much more with you all. My next coupon post is going to be about my great coupon binder that is my best resource. You'll quickly find that I love things to be organized, it's more efficient and helps me keep my sanity! Until then, happy clipping!