This and That


What a Saturday this has been.  Usually my Saturdays are really lazy days -- REALLY lazy days -- in that I do pretty much nothing.  My weeks are busy what with babysitting the not-so-much-of-a-baby girl and driving back and forth so I always feel like I should just "rest" on the weekends and I have decided that I get more tired relaxing! Plus, I have been staying in and staying quiet a lot due to the allergy issues and not wanting to catch anything else, like the flu, and I pretty much feel like a hermit and not at all well.  So, I decided today would be different.

I got up a little before 7 a.m. -- I am  usually up at 5:30 a.m. and I ate a bit of breakfast and checked email.  I woke up hungry which is unusual for me but then, I didn't eat dinner yesterday so I guess it would be expected. Then I decided to revisit an activity that I hadn't really done for years --  now, don't let your imagination go wild -- I am talking about couponing!

When my kids were little, I tried to have a coupon for everything in my grocery basket (we were young and on a budget -- I had to make my fun wherever I could find it!).  I guess I was one of those crazy coupon ladies before it became trendy.  I even had file bin that I would carry with me.  It was chock full of coupons and sadly, one day, I left it in the basket at the store and I never saved another coupon after that.  I have clipped them from time to time and left them at home or dropped them on the floor or whatever -- my heart just wasn't in it.  However, today I decided to see if I could get back on the bandwagon to some degree.

Things have changed a bit since those "old days" of couponing.  Now you can download coupons on to your store reward card! Now that is my kind of coupon clipping -- sitting around with a cuppa and ticking off a box on the computer!  I wasn't sure if it was going to work so I had a plan.  At one store I was going to shop for just those items to make sure that the concept worked and it did.  The
next store it worked as well and as I perused my receipt I realized that I got multiple discounts on some items -- the sale price, the e-coupon savings and, on some things, a senior citizen discount.  I still smart at that "sr. citizen" thing but on several items it was like 10% so I guess I can suck it up and be a big girl about it.

So, here is what my savings looked like --

Tom Thumb   $10.39
Kroger  $16.98
Target  $11.20

That doesn't look too shabby for less than an hour at the computer and sorting coupons.  One thing that I plan to do differently now than I did back in the day is I am only going to use coupons for stuff I really use and be careful not to go off buying stuff just because I have a coupon for it.   Oh, and of course, I  got a few
coupons with the receipts as well.  One of them is for a free dessert with coffee at the Starbucks in Target.  I can handle that, for sure!

The next thing I am going to do is get a Target Red Card.  It is a debit card linked to my bank account, just like my bank card, and it automatically takes 5% off everything you purchase there,  in addition to any coupons.  Sounds like a good deal to me.

In the middle of our runaround, Hubs decided he was hungry so we went to Cooper's Barbecue down in the middle of the Stockyards.

They have really fantastic barbecue -- the first bite of the brisket was pure heaven.  I had chicken (even though I nibbled at Hubs beef), potato salad and beans.  There was enough left to bring home for dinner and we refilled our bean bowls (the beans are self-serve) and brought  those home as well so dinner is done! I love it when  I go out and end up with two meals for one.  That is one perk to being a bit older -- we can't eat as much and we have learned to ask for to-go boxes and it is certainly profitable.

So, what is usually a lazy day turned out to be a get up and go day and I feel so good for it!  Three stores and lunch out! I am almost giddy.

What else has been going on -- let's see.  Well, I am currently reading "Round Robin" by Jennifer Chiaverini -- the second in the series and I am having a hard time putting it down.  As I said before, small town, quaint quilt shop, characters you can relate to -- all the makings of a good story.

And besides, the covers are just so great.

Hubs and I have been enjoying our Roku and haven't really missed the half of our cable service that we eliminated a month or so ago.  We really like British mysteries and comedies so we subscribed to Acorn and have already enjoyed a Poirot, a Cadfael, and a Callan.  I have watched several episodes of "A Fine Romance" with Judi Dench so I definitely think we are getting our money's worth there --$29.95 a YEAR. 

Oh, yeah, I have taken to playing the lottery.  When I win big I will be sure and give you the address of my Swiss chalet (no, too cold) or my beach front house in Hawaii (hmm..too expensive even for a lottery winner) or maybe my NY penthouse!  You can see it has gone to my head, for sure -- wonder what would happen if I actually won something! LOL!  I am probably never going to have to worry about finding out!