What I Saved: Always check your receipt

This was a great weekend for coupons in the Overholt house!  Harris Teeter has some amazing deals and they worked nicely with coupons from this week and weeks past!

I start my Sunday's by hitting up Books a Million and grabbing a few Raleigh News and Observer papers.  The coupons are almost always better than our local paper. (Hint: Buy the largest city's paper in your area)  With that in mind, the papers sell out FAST everywhere around town.  I was in line this morning by 9:40 am for a 10:00 am store opening...and I was the 6th person in line!

Fellow couponers!

By 10:09 they were completely sold out.  Over half the people in line didn't get a paper.  I felt bad but also realized that I'll need to get there even earlier next weekend!  It's a fun experience though, you start to become friendly with the other people in line since you see them on a weekly basis!

This weekend my shopping actually started on Saturday.  I picked up Tide for $1.47 at Harris Teeter and then got 5 Healthy Choice meals for $4.75 at Target.

My trips today were also equally productive.  I picked up three more cards at CVS and MADE MONEY.  Plus I got all this at HT:

I also picked up meat and produce but had already put those items away.

Finally, I just made another CVS run where I picked up 6 deodorants, one body wash and a Cadbury chocolate egg and only paid the $1.05 sales tax...and they gave me $6.87 back in ECB!

My total numbers for this weekend look like this:
Total value: $255.99
Total spent (not including sales tax and including ECB's earned): 34.99
% saved: 86% - MY BEST WEEK YET!

Now, as far as the "always check your receipt..."  I got home from Harris Teeter today and while I was putting everything away I realized I didn't have the apples I bought.  I wanted to make sure I wasn't charged for them so I went to grab my receipt.  I always know what my total should be, and I thought everything seemed right in the store so I figured I got charged but they didn't end up in my bags.  I was wrong.  I didn't get charged for the apples, but the reason my bill seemed okay was because I got double charged for bread!

It was only a few dollars, but I figured I still needed apples, so what the heck, lets make another Harris Teeter trip!  I have to give a shout out to the staff at my HT, they are amazing!  The manager refunded my money and, because I had to make a second trip, gave me my apples for free!  I'm sure it was only like $2.00, but I thought it was really sweet of her!


Does your grocery store go above and beyond?  Any register errors you've been able to catch?

Check back this week for an update on this bad boy...it's almost done!

Slow Cooker Enchilada Soup

As I'm sure you know by now, we are BIG fans of the slow cooker!  It's a life saver on those nights when Darrin has to be somewhere by 6:30 and I don't get home from work until close to 6.

We also love Mexican.  I do a lot of chili (which I know isn't Mexican but it has a similar flavors and can be made pretty spicy).  I needed some new Mexican-inspired slow cooker meals.  I browsed a lot of site and finally came up with a combination of about 10 different recipes.

Ingredients:
1 lb of ground meat (typically I'd use ground chicken but I went with ground turkey this time)
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can of corn, drained
2 cans of stewed Mexican tomatoes
3 10oz cans of enchilada sauce
Homemade chips (see below)
Cheese, jalapenos and sour cream for topping

Cook the meat in a skillet until browned

Add meat, beans, corn, tomatoes and enchilada sauce to the slow cooker, stir to combine
Cook on low for 8 hours
(See, SO simple!)

I also make homemade chips.  They are way healthier and I like them a lot better.  I buy the taco size corn tortillas and cut them into 8 wedges each.  I typically cut up about five for one meal.  Line a cookie sheet with tinfoil and arrange the 'chips'.

These are so yummy!

Spray a little bit of olive oil cooking spray and top with some salt.  If you like flavored chips you can also add a little garlic powder or cumin or whatever else you'd like.  Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 10 minutes.  Word of warning, once they start to crisp up they go from cooked to burned REALLY fast so keep an eye on them after the 9 minute mark.

We topped our soup with cheese, jalapenos and sour cream and it was so good!

Easy and healthy...can't beat that!

Plus, we had enough for leftovers the next night!

I feel like we've been doing a lot of soup recently.  Does the weather inspire your cooking?  Any good soup recipes?  

What I Saved: It's not always extreme

I took it easy this week with shopping and couponing.  I didn't really hit up anywhere but Harris Teeter once and a local produce store.  It was a little hard for me to calculate my savings on the produce but I did the best that I could.  I'm guessing I saved about 40% this weekend.  I ended up spending about $65, which is a little over what I'd like to have spent but for what I purchased, but I can't complain.

I picked up a lot of produce because I'm trying out a few new recipes this week (look for the successes later!) and I needed a little more meat than usual.  Very few coupons for both of those categories and I was getting specific types of meat, so I couldn't only buy what was on sale, like I usually do.

Like I said, I spent about $65 this week and this is what I ended up with:

Pork Loin
Ground chicken
Chicken Sausage
Roast Chicken
Fresh produce (apples, organges, bananas, carrots, potatoes, brussel sprouts, peppers, onion, leeks)
Riceworks Chips
Granola Clusters
Hunts tomato sauce
Salsa
Air fresheners
Paper towels
Napkins

To be honest, while the coupons that came out in the paper this weekend were pretty good, I didn't find the deals anywhere to be that outstanding.  And honestly, I'm okay with that.  It's kind of nice to take a weekend "off" and still only spend $65 on groceries for an entire week.  I will admit I'm a little disappointed I went over my new $50 a week budget but some of the reciepies in the December Rachel Ray magazine looked super yummy!

I'm trying out a potato soup recipe tonight, so check back in a few days to see how it turns out!

Anyone trying couponing yet?  What did you save this weekend? And leave a comment - I'm starting to wonder if the reason I'm getting so many hits is because my Mom is reading this 100 times!  Is anyone out there? 

A Different Kind of Pasta

We love pasta!  I'm not sure that was loud enough, so let me try it again...WE LOVE PASTA!

Growing up in an Italian family pasta was a staple food and every common meal.  I remember eating sauce - or gravy if you're aiming for authenticity - off the stove with a spoon while my mom was cooking it (an all day process in our house!). 

I love sauce (and must admit my recipe is pretty darn good), but there are so many things you can do with pasta that does not include a meaty red sauce!  

I decided to try something new a few nights ago and it turned out really well so I wanted to share it with all of you.


Pasta with Sausage, White Beans and Kale
1lb of ground sausage (I'd typically use chicken sausage but the store was out so I used turkey)
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 can of cannelloni beans, drained and rinsed
1 cups of kale, chopped
2 cups of chicken stock
Crushed red pepper, to taste
8 oz of pasta (I used whole wheat angel hair), cooked and drained
Mozzarella or Parmesan cheese, to top


Brown sausage in a skillet with a little bit of olive oil
When almost cooked, add in onions and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes

Add in white beans and cook another minute or two

Make sure they're rinsed good!

Add chicken stock and red pepper flakes (if using) and allow to simmer for about 5 minutes
Add kale to skillet and cook until wilted

I just tear the kale into bite size pieces

Season with salt and pepper, to taste
Reduce heat and simmer for about 4 or 5 minutes
Add to bowl with cooked pasta and toss with a little bit of cheese

Our plates topped with a little bit of cheese

We really liked this dish.  It's full of fiber and really good.  I would probably have added 1 cup of white white after the beans and then about 30 seconds later or so added just 1 cup of chicken stock but I didn't have any white wine.  


Do you have any favorite pasta dishes?  Did you grow up with a particular style of cooking?

Remodeling Again???

No, I'm not that crazy - a home remodel once in 100,000 years is enough for me.  There are a few little updates I want to make to the house though.  To be honest, it's more fun little projects than actual work.

When we did the big remodel last year (Check out posts ONE, TWO, and THREE) we had the whole house, including the ceilings, repainted.

But guess what they forgot??

Poor air vents!

Yes, those are the air vents.  Now I forgot to take a picture of what they actually looked like on the ceiling, but let me tell you, compared to the freshly painted, white ceiling, those stuck out like a sore thumb!

Thanks to my very creative friend, Amy, I was able to make these look 100 times better for about $2.00!

That's Amy at her Small Group Birthday celebration!

All I did was SPRAY PAINT them!  I got a can of semi-gloss spray paint, had Darrin take them all down, and spent about 10 minutes outside painting them (and the screws!).

The Before and After!

I think they look so much better.

All finished

 And now the ceiling matches and that makes me happy!

The color didn't come out that great - the ceiling is white and wall is blue, but you get the idea!

Like I said, I have several projects I want to start working on, but the next one is going to be tackling this bad boy:

I'm going to paint it white, well shabby chic white probably.  It's going to go in the spare bedroom so Darrin has his own set of drawers.  Right now I have taken over 6 of the 8 in the dresser in our bedroom!

Do you have any big projects you'd like to start this year?  I'd love to hear about them so share them below in the comments!

What I Saved!

As promised here is the weekend update of my couponing.  I have to admit, I am really getting the hang of this.

First, here's a look at a few of the things I was able to get this weekend:

Saturday CVS trip

Just some of what I was able to get at Harris Teeter

I was able to get some really great deals this weekend.  As you can tell from the first photo I picked up 9 boxes of hair color.  Now I'm sure you're wondering what I'm going to do with NINE boxes of hair color - I'm donating them to a local women's organization.  I know it seems silly, but sometimes it's important for women to be able to do a little something for themselves.  I made money on them ($10 in ECB) and get to do something nice - that's a great afternoon of couponing!

Harris Teeter was super successful for me today.  Here are few of the items I was able to pick up:
Italian Turkey Sausage
Ground turkey
Harris Teeter fresh soups (I got four because they freeze really well)
Frozen Veggies (2 bags)
Grands Biscuts (4)
Tuna (2)
Shredded Kraft Cheese (4)
Cereal - Fiber One and Peanut Butter MultiGrain Cheerios (5 boxes)
Fiber One Bars (2 boxes)
Coffee Cream (2 bottles)
Ortega Taco Seasoning (4 packets)
Fruits and Veggies (Apples, bananas, potatoes, brocolli, kale)
Canned goods (Bean, corn, tomatoes, enchilada sauce)
Finish Dishwasher Tabs (2 boxes)
Greek Yougurt (4)

I also made one final run to CVS to scoop up some deals from the new ad and walked out with 3 Valentine's day cards for our nephews and niece (I need to get more, but that was a start), two replacement heads for my toothbrush, and two packs of gum.  I only spent $1.05 that trip and made $5 in ECB.

So my final total for the weekend was $248.38 worth of products and an out of pocket total of $59.02. I was able to save 76% this weekend and come in WAY under budget for the week!

Hopefully as you read this you're seeing how GREAT couponing can be and are maybe thinking about trying it.  Organization is key so I wanted to share a few tips with you as you're getting started. 

Tip 1: Don't clip every coupon that comes in your paper.  I keep each week paper clipped together with the date it was issued and keep them in an accordion file.  It's a huge time saver.  I only print Internet coupons if I'm going to use them, or if I know they will go fast.  Tip 3 is great for storing the printable coupons you can't pass up.

Making sure the date is on the front is such a time-saver.  I also keep my P&G separate each month.

Tip 2: Get organized before you go.  Like I said before, I have my few favorite couponing sites and before I head out each weekend I come up with a game plan and a list.  I know almost down to the penny what I should be spending each week.

Tip 3:  Stay organized at that store.  You have to have a system for when you are at the store.  My mom got me this super cute binder for Christmas and I have it divided into 7 categories: Frozen, Meat, Dairy, Cold, General Items, Household, and Health and Beauty.  As I put something in my cart, I grab that coupon and put it in a plain envelope.  When I get to the cashier I have everything ready to go and checking out is a breeze!

As I learn more I will try and share everything I find helpful with you here.  If you have any questions go ahead and leave a comment or send me an email or message on Facebook.  I'd love to help you start saving money!

Have any of you taken a stab at couponing?  How's it going?  I'd love to hear how you're liking and about all the money you're saving!

My Poor Baby!

Darrin and I haven't been blessed with children yet (Sorry Mom!) but we have been blessed with three very sweet four-legged children. 

Little Girl and Sammy on Halloween a few years ago!

In case you can't tell from the interesting (?) picture above, Little Girl is a Beagle/Hound mix and Sammy is a Chihuahua/Min Pin mix.  Chewy is a very large Flat-coated Retriever. 

I've had Sammy since he was a puppy and he is a total mama's boy.

Little Girl was a rescue dog I fostered that weighed 17 pounds when they found her (she's 40 pounds now - shhhh, don't tell her I told you!).  I decided to adopt her when she started sleeping in bed with me and wrapping her paws around me at night.

 
Darrin got Chewy when he was a puppy from a shelter and only hours away from being put to sleep.

That said, our dogs are like our children (and I know my friends that have real children think I'm nuts when I say that, but honestly, they are a big part of our family!). 

And that's why when I woke up a few mornings ago and found little girl with blood on her chin but no obvious cuts I got a little nervous.  Little Girl jumped the fence in the back yard once and cut her shoulder pretty bad (I have photos but decided to spare my loyal readers - HI MOM!).  I was nervous she did something like that again, but all I could find was a raw-looking spot on her belly. 

I called the vet and brought her in that afternoon.  I'm pretty sure they think I'm a little over the top, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.  The vet we saw was wonderful!  She did a comprehensive exam (she was new and hadn't seen LG before) and after looking at LG's medical history - she has really bad ear allergies and constantly has to have that taken care of - decided that my poor little baby has very bad allergies and probably got bit by a bug.  With allergies as bad as she thinks LG has she said that it's not a surprise she was licking herself raw. 

My sick little lady at the vet!

She prescribed a half steroid, half antihistamine pill for her and we were on our way.  I'm pretty sure her medicine costs more than anything I have even taken, but this little lady is more than worth it!  It seems to be working, she is scratching and licking that spot much less and that makes me one happy doggie mommy!

Do you have any pets?  Are you a dog person or a cat person?  What's the "craziest" thing you've ever done for your dog?

I'm making my weekly CVS and Harris Teeter trip this weekend with lots of great coupons so check back tomorrow night to see how I did!

A Challenge to Start the New Year!

For me, running has always been something I loved when I was stressed, hurt, or upset and something I loathed any other time.

Honestly, get me all fired up about something and I can take off and run forever.  But the idea of just throwing on a pair of running shoes and hitting the pavement and I shut down (I mean I practically go fetal!). 

And that stinks because I really like the benefits of running, lots of toning and not too much bulking up plus, it's way better cardio than an elliptical in my opinion.  I like being outside and not feeling confined and not having a gym full of people watching you.  And honestly, once I start running I'm fine.  I just have a hard time lacing up my Nike's and getting out of the house (Maybe I should move the couch and DVR AWAY from the front door?  Less of chance of a detour...Hmmmm...).

Anyway, I decided that I wanted to start running again.  NOT as a New Year Resolution because we all know how well those turn out, but just because.  I needed motivation.  I needed accountability.  And I needed a challenge.  So I asked a co-worker if she wanted to run a 5K with me.  Now it's been awhile since I went running (like almost a year) so I'm going to need to do a little, okay who are we kidding, a LOT of training. The first 5K we found is at the beginning of February and not NEARLY enough time for me.  We're looking at March though, which seems far enough away to be plausible and not so far away that I'll lose my motivation. 

So I'm hoping that having a goal that involves some sort of competition will be enough to get my bum off of the couch (thank goodness I'm not really feeling Ben this season and The Bachelor has way less of hold on me than before!) and onto the street!  We're about six weeks out - keep checking back to see if survive or if the running gets one over on me!

Any tips as I start "training" for the 5K?  When is the last time you gave yourself a deadline to accomplish a fitness goal?  Did it work?

It's Going to Get Extreme!

Extreme Couponing.  Thanks to TLC this term is now part of our pop culture vocabulary.  Not many people haven't heard of the 200 tubes of toothpaste or 150 cans of coffee drinks that people are getting for pennies (if anything at all!).  While I think that most people find that kind of consumerism pretty over the top, I also think that couponing is now widely accepted and spread over all economic classes.

That said, I decided to take up couponing.  I've started kind of small and am slowly working myself up to as extreme a level of couponing as I (or my husband or our pantry) can allow myself!  There are several great resources out there.  My two favorite are www.southernsavers.com and www.moolasavingmom.com.  Both are geared at couponing in grocery stores primarily in the south but also include national chains such as CVS, Target, and Walmart.

Like I said, I started out pretty small ($10 savings here, $40 savings there) and am working my way up.  This week was my best by far! 

Our local grocery store, Harris Teeter, (which for my northern readers is 100 times better than the Giant Eagle), was having a Super Double event - all coupons up to $1.98 were doubled!  I spent several days planning my strategy and ended up making FOUR trips to HT within the weekend.  I also made two trips to CVS (my first time) and had some success there too!

The overall totals look something like this:
Total value of items purchased: 282.16
Total spent: $72.07
% Saved: 74.5%

I'm not going to list everything I bought but here is a little sample:

 

4 boxes of Honey Bunches of Oats (Free)   
2 boxes of Tampax Pearl (Free)
2 cartons of Smart Balance Milk (Free)
Pretzel M&M's (Free)
8 lbs of chicken for $8
4 boxes of whole wheat pasta
4 boxes of Rice-A-Roni
4 bottles of Pantene Pro V ($0.75 each on average)
4 Cover Girl eye shadows
4 Nivea lip balms
100 oz of Tide for $7.99
Hair gel for less than a $1
4 12 packs of Charmin
4 Seattle's Best coffee for $3.50 each

 If you have thought about couponing but haven't tried it yet, you really should.  It's pretty easy and the amount you can save is awesome!  I'm hoping to save enough money this year to put toward a mini anniversary trip for Darrin and me!

Can you believe we've been married for four months?!?

Have you tried couponing?  What's your biggest savings to date?  Any tips for your fellow readers?  I'd love to hear what your success have been!  Leave a comment and let me know.

New Year, New Commitment

Alright, alright, I get it!  I'm not the best when it comes to frequent posting.  That's just a sign that I'm out living up every minute of my newlywed life, right?  It has nothing to do with my procrastination or obsession with reality television, I swear!

In all honesty Darrin and I have been pretty busy since the wedding in September.  We spent October doing some traveling (beach weekend with friends and Asheville to surprise Thelma, Darrin's mom, for her birthday) and watching some great people tie the knot.  November was weekend house guests, weekend babysitting and back to Asheville to celebrate Thanksgiving with the Overholts.  Then we spent December getting ready for our first Christmas as man and wife.  We went up to Pittsburgh to celebrate the holidays with my side of the family. 

A few other things of note:

I'm not that great at beach games

Black Friday really go the best of me!

My MOH is getting married! 

I have to admit, 2011 was a pretty amazing year!  And already 2012 is looking to top it.  We have a ton of fun things coming up this year: a family reunion, Margarita's wedding, and our first anniversary are just a few.

We also made the requisite New Year Resolution(s).  For me, one of those is to try and be more diligent about posting on my blog (even if only 10 people read it...I'm trying to hone my writing skills for bigger and scarier projects) and to really learn how to coupon!  I was pretty successful on that resolution this weekend - but you'll have to check out the next blog for all that goodness (how's that for suspenseful - do I know how to keep people wanting more or what!).


Did you make any New Year Resolutions?  Have you been good at keeping them?  Or have the first 7 days of 2012 already done you in? Hit up the comments and let me know!