Frugal Friday!

Wednesday, May 20th: Well, I was pretty ticked when I opened my mailbox today because THERE WERE NO GROCERY ADS! What the heck? Did someone play a horrible trick on me? The ads come every Wednesday and there were no ads! Is it Wednesday? I look at my watch to verify. Yes, it's Wednesday. I don't understand. Hmmm... Maybe they will come tomorrow. I decided to take advantage of the internet and just view the ads online. Sprouts Farmers Market has double ad day on Wednesdays. This means that the specials from the previous week and the specials for the upcoming week are both valid on Wednesday. Well, my best friend Bonnie is having a bridal shower in a couple of weeks and I volunteered to bring my famous chicken salad. Thankfully, today was the last day to get the boneless skinless chicken breast on sale. I ended up getting seven pounds of chicken. Whoa, that's a lot of chicken! Original price: $4.49/lb. My price: $1.88/lb. I also got one pound of fresh green beans while I was there. My favorite green bean recipe is steamed green beans with sauteed garlic and almonds - mmmm! Original price: $1.99/lb. My price: $0.88/lb. Total savings: $19.38 or 58%.

Thursday, May 21st: I'm not really sure what Victoria's Secret is or how she gets people to pay $10.00 for one pair of underwear, but she somehow manages to do it. I'm not one of those suckers who pays full price on any given day, and today was no different. Victoria's Secret is having a sale and it started today. Typically, their underwear sales are 5 for $25, but the marketing department got a little carried away this time. 10 for $25. YES! After a fun dinner with Bonnie and Naked Nancy (Bonnie's mom) at PF Changs tonight, Bonnie and I decided to hit up the sale. My sister, Jessica, gave me a coupon for a free pair of underwear and $10 off your purchase (not to be used on any promotions) last time I was home. After everything was said and done, I got 6 pairs of underwear (5 + 1 free pair, Bonnie bought the other 5) and some Very Sexy mist. Original price: $72.00. My price: Wait for it... $12.50! Ummm one of the best deals ever? I think so! The mist was on sale for $10.00, but with my $10 off coupon it was FREE! Total Savings: $59.50 or 83%.

Total Weekly Savings: $78.88 or 75%.

P.S. My intention in blogging about my frugality is partially to brag about it, but mostly to inspire you to find out how to get the most out of your hard earned dollar. I hope it's working. More to come next week...

Jessica Graduated!

My cute little sister, (I say little, but she's actually 3 1/2 years older than me) Jessica, graduated from Texas State University on Friday! Jessica received her Masters and Certification in Elementary Education. She even received a snazzy diploma holder (shown below) when she walked across stage. Way to go Jess - we are proud of you! She is currently looking for a job, so if you know of any open positions in Austin, HOLLA!


NOTE: I definitely can't post a picture of my parents without speaking to how freaking cute they are - don't you just want to run up to them and give them a big hug and a kiss?

Frugal Friday - I Got Nothing

My apologies... I did not have time to post on Friday or Saturday due to my participation in some of the most fun wedding festivities I have ever been a part of! Congrats to Mr. and Mrs. JR Baker! I'll post details and photos later. You will probably be able to see some of their sweet photos within in the next week, here: www.shaunmenary.com. Shaun is such an awesome photographer and I would highly recommend his services to anyone wanting to get some B.A. photos!

So I did not receive cost savings from any of my purchases this week, BUT I only bought a couple of things throughout the week so I'm not too sad about it. One way I did save money was by making cheese and chicken quesadillas with Ali and the McCurdys! Ali and I went over to Kristen and Dave's to make dinner and watch the season finale of the Biggest Loser, which you know is a favorite show of mine. Helen won after losing a whopping 140 lbs. WHAT?!?! I've been working out for 5 months and I can't seem to lose even 10 lbs! Oh well, what are you going to do?

Frugal Friday!

Wednesday, May 6th: Oh, Wednesdays... I just love you! Most people would say that Friday is the best day of the week, but I'll venture out and say that Wednesday is. Not only am I encouraged on Wednesdays that Monday now seems so far away and I've already made it through half of the week, but Wednesdays are always an exciting day for me. Why? Because the weekly grocery ads are delivered to my mailbox on Wednesdays. If I have to run home after work to change and head out again, I always stop to check the mail so I can read the ads at red lights, only after checking for found money of course. On another note, I am in two weddings this summer and the last thing I want to be referred to as is the "fat friend" in the wedding party. That being said, I've recently gone on a healthy food kick. Market Street has a lot of fruits and veggies on sale this week and I decided to take them up on a couple of their offers. Red leaf lettuce is on sale, 3 for $2.00. I decided to get one because I didn't want the others to go bad if I didn't eat them soon enough. Original Price: $1.29; My price: $0.66. I also got a couple of bell peppers; one yellow and one orange. Original Price: $3.58 (that jack is expensive); My price: $1.98. Total Savings: $2.23 or 46%

Thursday, May 7th: Today, my friend and co-worker, Angela, told me about a sweet deal. Some might find it hard to believe that she knew about a deal before I did, she is actually one of them. So apparently Oprah mentioned on her show earlier this week that KFC was giving away free food. WHAT?! FREE FOOD?! Yeah. To thank my readers, I've posted the coupon below. Print it off and go get you some! I know it's small, but the coupon says that you get 2 pieces of grilled chicken, manager's choice. What does "manager's choice" even mean? Probably that they take the two smallest pieces that have been under the hot lamp the longest. The free food doesn't stop there. You also get 2 individual sides and a biscuit. Please note that KFC is hoppin' on Mother's Day and your coupon will not be accepted on Sunday. I never thought that the meal a mother might want on her special day would come from KFC, but hey, it's your day mothers and you can get what you want.

OFFER FOR MOTHERS: KFC won't accept your coupons on Mother's Day, but Pei Wei will! Find the offer HERE, print it out, and have your husband buy lunch/dinner for the rest of the family and yours is on the house!

I have been trying to think of fun/creative gifts to give to friends as a wedding or birthday gift and I finally found what I've been looking for! My Real Simple magazine came today and let me just tell you that it is the best Christmas present I've ever gifted myself with. It is also another piece of mail that excites me! Not only is the June issue of Real Simple packed with great organizational tips/ideas and recipes, but it also has an advertisement that got my heart rate pumping when I saw it. The ad is for personalized stationary, note cards, and much more! The website is: http://www.expressionery.com/. The ad also mentions a promo code for Real Simple readers, and indirectly, followers of my blog. Use the promo code "junesimple" and expressionery.com will take 40% off your entire order, now through September 30! In addition to receiving 40% off my entire purchase, 3 of the items I purchased were already 30% off the original price. I can't provide you with too many details because I am pretty sure the recipients of the items I purchased read my blog, but I got some personalized things for some people. Original Price of total purchase: $225.16. My price of total purchase: $82.62. Total Savings: $142.54 or 63%.

Total Weekly Savings: $144.77 or 63%.

Frugal Friday!

Wednesday, April 29th: Oh man! Today was such a great day, in regards to free stuff! Ali's friend, Matthew, brought Chick-Fil-A over for dinner tonight out of the goodness of his heart; Love that! FREE dinner.

My sister, Kristen, gave me the inside scoop today - literally! Baskin Robbins was offering $0.31 scoops of ice cream tonight from 5:00 -10:00 pm. After our Chick-Fil-A dinner, we headed down the street to hit up Baskin Robbins. Original price for 2 scoops of ice cream: $3.69. My price: $0.62. Total Savings: $3.07 or 83%. Good thing I worked out tonight or else I would have felt really guilty about eating Chick-Fil-A AND Baskin Robbins in the same night. Phew, close call.