Goals for 2009

I know it's a little late for New Year Resolutions, but those are often broken by this time....so I'm having goals instead.

1. My first goal is to lose 46 poounds. I figured that there's about 48 weeks left so it's less than a pound a week---very achievable! I will do this by counting calories and exercizing more.

2. Pay off my student loan---it's down to less than $450! That's less than $41.00 per month and I normally pay $50. However, my paychecks at pre-school will be short in March and April due to school holidays. I have no credit card debt so this is my only thing to pay off.

3. Take 6 hours of Graduate courses to keep my KY teaching certification. I'm currently taking 3 hours and will take three more in the summer.

4. Clean out/organize my house. I just put 4 boxes of items to donate in my car this morning. I still have a bunch of stuff to go through, but will just take it a little at a time. I also need to set up one place for my stockpile. Right now I have things in about 4 different places!

5. Maintain my EF. I currently have enough to pay approximately 3 to 4 months of expenses. With the economy the way it is and my crazy pay schedule at school (my primary job), I don't expect to add much to it----I just don't want to have to dip into it.

6. Read my Bible more.

7. My last goal is the fun one---spend quality time with DBF whenever possible!

Happy New Year!

I think this will be a GREAT year!


This is me and DBF on New Year's Eve. Isn't he adorable? :)

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!!

I celebrated Christmas with my family and DBF last night.

Here's a picture of DBF and me from last night. It's not a GREAT picture, but it's our first picture together.














I will post better ones when we get back from his parents next week!


My presents from CVS hounding went over well. My older nieces liked their (FREE!) bags of make-up and Bic Soliel razors. My SIL loved the basket of (nearly FREE!) HBA and cleaning supp;ies. Too bad I forgot to take pictures of them! She, DB2, and their younget 5 kids just moved into a different house so it turned out to be a great gift. DB2 didn't seem too crazy about it, but he never does. DB1 appreciate his basket of supplies though. He's on a fixed income so it will be very helpful to him. I will have to make that a yearly gift and just vary the container that I put it in. Maybe next year it can be in a Rubbermaid tote or something. I've already got two toothpastes to start my new "gift stockpile" My sister got a weather alert radio from me. DBF and I will exchange gifts at his parents' farm on Christmas day.

December Update

I haven't been keeping up with this page or the Grocery Challenge forum like I used to. I've really not been on the Internet much in the past couple weeks. I've done some GREAT deals at CVS since Thanksgiving. I had 60 ECBs when I went to CVS on Thanksgiving. I used 50 and $1.48 OOP and got 67 ECBs in return! I used a handful of coupons and walked out with two bags of things. The next morning I went back for another Schick razor and the TV remotes---- I used some ECBS, $0.56 OOP and got at least 20 ECBS back. I still have nearly 30 to use for the great sale that starts 12/21.

Is it bad that I'm going to delay my family Christmas get-together by a couple hours so I can do a CVS run after church? I'll be with DBF's family on Christmas day, so my family's celebrating on Sunday.

Okay, I have to brag on DBF. Last Sunday, not only did he fix my heater in my car, he also fixed me dinner! Isn't that sweet? He's still buying me Christmas presents too, even though he said he already has 5 or 6 for me. I'm excited about spending Christmas with his family. This will be the first time I'm met his sister and 20 month old niece.

Not much else going on. One more week until school's out for 2 weeks!!

Top 5 Things I'm Thankful for This Thanksgiving...

5. I had my mom in my life for 33 years.
4. I have many loving and caring friends (this includes online friends, too!)
3. I have two jobs when so many people have none.
2. My Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, died for my sins.

and.......the top thing I'm thankful for this year...........

DRUM ROLL, please!





1. The man pictured below (who know very little about me at the time) had the courage to ask me out four and a half months ago.






I truly believe that he is a gift from God when I needed him the most. I could not ask for a better guy. He'z everything I've been waiting for. He thinks I'm beautiful even on my worst days (I think he needs his eyes checked---LOL) and he always treats me like a princess. Every woman should be so lucky!


So what are YOU thankful for this Thanksgiving?

My Mom

You have been in Heaven for 4 months as of today. I miss you very much and I think of you every day. I'm so thankful to have been with you these last years. I got to know you as an adult, we got to be friends instead of only mother and daughter. I know that you are happy, healthy, pain-free and with Daddy in Heaven today. Tomorrow will be you first birthday in Heaven. I'm sure it will be the best birthday you've ever had! Happy Birthday, I love and miss you.

A Hound in Training

A life long friend of mine, Lula, asked me to help her learn how to get her grocery costs down. Her husband, an iron worker, is out of work so she is currently working two jobs....as a school custodian and a school bus driver. They have 3 kids so she needs to stretch her paychecks as far as possible. She lives about an hour away from me and with our busy schedules we don't get to visit often. So DBF and I went to visit Lula and her family a week ago this past Sunday.

The first thing I did when she asked for my help was print a copy of Jennysmom's grocery tips for her. Next I got all of my coupon inserts gathered up to share with her. There were many that she could use! I asked her to make a list of what products she used the most so I could put out hound alerts for her or find the coupons myself in future inserts. I gave her the websites for Taylor Town, HCW, and the GC message board. I also told her to get a Extra Care Card since she hss a CVS nearby. Another tip was to buy at least one newspaper each week and use comparison ads whenever possible. She doesn't have a Kroger nearby and Target is too far away, but Wal-Mart is close so she can take the ad there and get a better price.

Lula was happy and excited to find out how to save some money. I showed her and my husband some of my receipts of my hounding trips. They were impressed at how much I saved. DBF even bragged about me! :) I haven't spoke with her yet to find out if my tips have helped, but I imagine they have. She may even make an appearance on the GC board soon!