Happy Thoughts (21)

Another week comes to a close and here are a few things making me happy as the weekend says, "Howdy!"

Super Simple Crafty Projects

Apparently, this is a popular project!  Maybe because it's not complicated to make and a ton of fun? I found it a few weeks ago on Pinterest AND learned that one of my favorite bloggy friends, Carrie, did the same project recently (and hung her's in the same place!).  Is there any wonder why she's one of my favorite ladies?

Insurance
The body shop looked at our car and gave us a $2200+ estimate. OUCH! Happily our deductible is considerably less than that. Yahoooo.  Now we just have to wait our turn to have it fixed.

Occasionally When a Movie is Made Based on a Book, 

It's Done Right

I saw The Help yesterday and give it two thumbs up. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and really feel like Tate Taylor, the film's screenwriter and director did a superb job of capturing the heart-tugging but never cheesy, brilliance of the book.  As a Jackson, Mississippi native, Taylor was in a unique position to bring this story to life. I venture to say, it would take a Mississippi boy to make Jackson in the 1960s as engaging as he did in this film. It was an ugly time in our nation's history, but this film's story is beautiful.  Truth is, I shed a few tears, I laughed out loud (I didn't "lol" because I NEVER "lol"), I fully enjoyed the film.

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Financial Guidance

The hubby and I are currently working through this workbook and trying to figure out what changes we can make in our financial life.  Thankfully we aren't in "trouble." But it's never a bad time to learn, grow and improve on our money management skeeeelz.





Killer Dance on Television

Last night was the season finale of another year of So You Think You Can Dance.  Don't worry no spoilers here.  But, what an extraordinary season of dance this has been.  It makes me so incredibly happy to have a television show celebrating dance in such a fantastic way. I can't wait until next Summer.

What's making you happy on this weekend eve?

Happy Thoughts (8)

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Friendships that are less work and more fun

...and include popcorn for dinner or suffering through DVDs of home movies of me as a child

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Going back to the gym after a week off and FEELING IT

I have a feeling my muscles hurt as bad as that chick in the pink's wedgie

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Learning to be quiet

It's more difficult than one might think

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Killer Deals on stuff we need and use

I've been twice already and intend to try to hit it 3 more times before the deal is over!

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Feeling Pretty

indeed, this is a shameless plug for Leaving the House in This?!?

Alrighty, now I need some more happy thoughts from YOU!

What's making you smile this week?

Free! Free! Free! For You!

That’s right, this Thursday, you’re going to have something to be THANKFUL for too!

Thanks to some generous friends and family, I’ve got some coupons in my hot little hands that make Doritos, Folgers Coffee, Dannon Yogurt & select* Pepsi products TOTALLY FREE. Have you seen these? They’re good until the end of the year (except the Folgers one which is good until the end of September) and they can be printed in unlimited quantities.  PLUS the only restriction is that you can only use one of each coupon at a time. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY! It’s a crazy amazing deal. As a relatively new couponer, deals like this blow. me. away. Who doesn’t want FREE STUFF?  Am I right?

Episode 49: “Today I am Thankful for… free stuff for you and for me!”

Now, I have a little confession to make. When I first got these coupons, I didn’t want to share them with anybody. I was afraid that if lots of people had them, the manufacturers or grocery stores would put a stop to us using them. Yep... selfish, I know. Then I thought about making you guys become followers of A Foreign Land to earn the coupons. But, recently, the handsome hubby set the most incredible example of selfless giving. Thinking about his monumental generosity, I was inspired to just share, share, and share. (BTW, I’ll have to tell you that handsome hubby story sometime. It really is a WHOLE other reason to be Thankful. But, I won't share that story here today. That’s not the direction this post is headed. But, I promise, someday I’ll tell you. It’ll be great. We’ll get a cup of coffee and catch up and I’ll tell you the whole thing.)

Anyway, here’s the deal. I have all four coupons (Doritos, Folgers Coffee, Dannon Yogurt & select* Pepsi products) and I want to share them with YOU! If you just leave me a comment below, I'm happy to send them right to your inbox. Make sure you leave your name and email address ~ if I don’t already have it.  When I'm back in town on Monday – did I mention we’re headed to the beach this weekend? Yep, ANOTHER reason to be Thankful – I’ll get to emailing you guys the coupons. If you haven’t seen them by Tuesday morning, come on back over here and leave another comment and we’ll figure out what’s up.

Seriously guys, it doesn’t get much better than FREE!

So today, I am thankful.

*Pepsi, Pepsi One, Diet Pepsi, Diet Pepsi MAX, Wild Cherry Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Diet Mountain Dew, Mountain Dew Live Wire, Mountain Dew Code Red, Mug, Sierra Mist, Sierra Mist Free, Lipton Brisk, Tropicana Twister Soda

Diary of a Reluctant Coupon Clipper

Marching closer and closer to a full blown cliché, I have started shopping with coupons.

It was the hubby's idea. He's the born saver in our family. Initially the idea irked me on several levels. Hunting and sorting through circulars and magazines to save a few cents didn't seem worth our time. There's the inevitable, "I have to buy this brand because I have a coupon" (even though that brand is cheaper) confusion. Or the, "Of course we'll eat 4 boxes of fruit by the foot (though we've never eaten an inch of fruit by the foot prior)... AND, we'll save 50 cents in the process!" madness. Coupons, I thought, lead to buying things you wouldn't normally buy. And I'm not typically a spend money to save money type of gal. But, my biggest objection was that our time and effort and all that paper and ink weren't worth the minimal savings to be had.

As usual, I was wrong.

In the past two days, I've saved $43 using coupons. I haven't bought anything that wasn't on our shopping list, and I am an absolute convert.

Sure it takes a little bit of time, and there were a couple extra stops so it took a little more effort. But, I gotta admit I'm enjoying the hunt and the thrill of the kill. And on top of the savings, the whole deal has been an exercise in patience. At each check out line, I was faced with an obstacle. First, I got stuck in line behind a fellow coupon shopper while she was haggling over her receipt and the anticipated 15 cent savings that she had not received. (lesson learned: never be THAT woman. Fifteen cents is NOT worth my, the sales person's or the people-standing-in-line-behind-me's time) At the next stop, the register wasn't picking up my B1G1 vitamins (B1G1 - that's coupon speak for "buy one, get one free" - check it, I'm even learning the lingo). However, just politely waiting while the sales person readjusted the pricing on the second bottle saved me $7! (lesson learned: pay attention as items are scanned) By my third stop, I tried to save time by using the self check out lane. Unfortunately, the scanner didn't recognize my coupon so I had to wait for assistance. When the attendant sweetly and quickly entered my coupon manually, I saved $2.38. (lessons learned: sometimes it's worth the itty bitty wait AND it's okay to ask for help) And at my fourth and final stop, I got so excited about the $10 gift card that I earned by transferring my prescription that I totally forgot to present all the other coupons I planned to use. This oversight necessitated a stop by customer service for a price adjustment. (lesson learned: don't count your chickens before they're hatched... I was mentally shopping with the FREE $10 when I could have been actually spending less on the current transaction!)

When I think how much we can use $43 in the coming month, that's right 4. 3., I'm pretty stinking excited. Even if you subtract the $1.50 for the Sunday paper and a couple dollars for ink, paper and gas, we're still waaaaay ahead. Now, I'm rather confident that my savings won't always be this dramatic, but the cents certainly add up quickly. Even if I only save half that much each week, it is TOTALLY worth the effort.

So, chalk this experience up to one more thing I NEVER thought I'd do. (Can a minivan be far away?) And let's put clipping coupons in the "delightful surprise" column. Who could have imagined?