Tampons and Analysis Paralysis

So I am still trying to get the hang of this whole couponing thing, and as I went through all of my coupons and sales ads for this week, I noticed that tampons (or at least the kind I prefer) were on sale. I don’t particularly need tampons right now but they are a necessity, so I figured that I may as well stock up while they’re on sale and I have coupons. So, I then started the process of trying to decide where I was going to buy tampons, which coupons I would use, and how many I would buy. Things have been super slow at work this week, so I have, essentially, spent the majority of my 8-5 each day for the past three (two?) days going over coupons and ads with a fine-toothed comb. Its pretty sad. So I finally decide to go with Target’s deal of buy 2 boxes of 54 ct Tampax Pearl tampons (at $6.99 a box) and receive a $5 Target gift card. I have a $3/2 manufacturer’s coupon plus a $1/2 Target coupon, which would put me at $4.98 (counting the $5 gift card) for 108 tampons. Pretty good, right? So I go into Target, pumped to be saving money and, wouldn’t you know, my Target isn’t offering the 2 boxes of 54 tampons=$5 gift card–instead, they are offering 2 boxes  of 36 tampons=$5 gift card. Well, that threw my whole plan off, because I had made calculations down to 4 tenths of a penny for which tampon deal (Target, CVS, Walgreens, or Rite Aid) would be the best deal so I left with no tampons. Sad day. But I did get the hubby-to-be two boxes of Zantac heartburn medicine (7.59 each) for .59 each AND I got two tubes of tooth paste and two toothbrushes for 1.98, so it wasn’t all bad.

Perhaps I am using couponing as defense mechanism–as a means of avoiding thinking about wedding stuff. The wedding is in 24 days and, let’s just say, that I am BEYOND ready for it to be here. So much stress. So many things going wrong. Weddings are supposed to be happy, exciting times, but, honestly, at this point, the only bright spot in the whole thing is that the wedding means I will be married to my love. 🙂

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Mis-Adventures in Couponing

Have you ever had one of those days where you are so exhausted (be it warranted or not) that it hurts to even sit? Yeah, I’m having one of those kind of days.

I’ve been trying to get into couponing, because money is tight, but I am just not getting the hang of it. Seriously, I am up to my eyeballs in coupons, I go to all of these frugal coupon-y websites, I scope out the ads and I just can’t seem to get $500 worth of groceries for $1.57. Is it just me? Like yesterday, for instance, I stopped at Kroger (one of our local grocery stores) to pick up a couple things that were on sale and that I had good coupons for. I had my list all planned out, coupons in hand, ready to save some money.  My plan was: bratwursts (on sale 2/$5, plus 2 $1/1 coupons for a total of $3/2 or $1.50 each), deodorant (on sale $2/1, 3 $1/1 coupons for a total of $3/3 or $1 each), cereal (no sale, no coupon, just the good ‘ole cheap-generic-giant-bag-o-cereal), and pasta (on sale 10/$10, 1 $1/2 coupon, 1 $.50/1 doubled coupon for a total of $1/3 or $.33 per box of pasta). Turns out, I didn’t read the sales paper closely enough and the bratwursts on sale were not the ones I thought were on sale, so even with the coupons they weren’t that good of a deal. I was annoyed, but still excited about the awesome deal on deodorant I was about to get (this is the only D.O. that doesn’t make my armpits itch, for some reason, so I was pumped about being able to stock up on non-itchy-arm-pit deodorant and not break my budget). That is, until I realized that the coupons I had were for a specific type of the deodorant, which just so happened to not be on sale. Grrrr. I was just this side of pissed off, so I just grabbed my cereal and pasta and peaced out.

I did get a pretty good deal last week, though: Powerade was on sale for $.59 at Kroger and I had 4 $1/5 coupons. Since Rob loves Powerade, I went ahead and bought 20 bottles of powerade, for a grand total of $7.80/20 or $.39 each. Rob said that in gas stations (where he used to buy a Powerade or Gatorade every day) the drinks could run upwards of $1.40, so in that scenario, I saved over $20 which isn’t too shabby.

I apologize for lack of depth in this post–I’m in a bit of a funk today. But, at least I wrote an entry, so that’s good, right!?

i. am. strugglin’.

oh, yes ma’am, I have been strugglin’ when it comes to blogging. In my defense, though, life has been pretty hectic.

– In April, I was offered a student affairs position at a BIG southern University (is it okay for me to say which one? maybe I’ll wait) which was AWESOME, because I had been unemployed for almost a year and was irr-i-tated about it. BUT the job started the first of May (and in a different state), so I had like 5 minutes to find an apartment, move, and get settled AND hubby-to-be had to quit his job, so money has been, well, non-existent (but that’s a whole ‘nother post).

– Said job isn’t quite what I thought it would be, but I’m making the best of it.

– Rob and I went home last weekend for his bachelor party, my (our?) bridal shower, and my bachelorette party. Fun was had by all, but I will say that bridal showers are kind of awkward. Or maybe its just me?

– Wedding is coming together (thank God, considering I’m getting hitched in t-minus 36 days. woot woot!!). Details to come.

– And, now, a promise:

I promise to be a better blogger.

I love blogs. Like forreals. Blogs are like self-help crack to me (wow that was an odd analogy. wait, is that even an analogy?) and I want to get in on that crack-y goodness, thus, I am going to blog. Really. I am going to make a list (oh how I love my lists) of blog topics/thoughts/ideas and by-God, I am going to blog. Cross my heart. Be prepared for random ridicularity (that’s how I roll) and, hopefully, coherence and relevance.

And on one final note, I will post a picture of Harley, because when all else fails, show off the fur-baby (please excuse the crappy quality of my droid camera):

Big wheels keep on turning

I have a confession to make… I am southern. I love fried okra. And fried chicken. And biscuits. Especially with gravy. And all of those other yummy and fattening southern foods. My desire to eat yummy, fattening southern food tends to compete with my desire to fit into my clothes (which I currently do not do. Seriously. i have one pair of pants that fit. eek) and I am facing a conundrum: how exactly do I balance my culinary heritage with my modern day appearance? Really, is it possible to eat buttery, fried, smothered, filling foods and NOT weigh 700 pounds? How? Has anyone found that balance?

Easy come, easy go, that’s just how you live

It has been a few days, and since I am determined to be a better “bloggess”, I figured I should write.

One reason I haven’t written is because things have been kind of hectic lately:

Job/Work/Lack thereof: Still no job, although I had one interview last week and have one coming up on Monday. Last week’s interview was for a part-time transfer advising job at a community college (which was the exact type of position I’d had for the past two years, albeit that one was full-time). I went in for my interview very prepared and felt like I brought my A game. I got a call the next day saying that I completely blew the search committee away BUT they felt that a part-time position wasn’t the best fit for me, so they’re in the process of trying to get a permanent, full-time position arranged. *fingers crossed*

Money: These past 7-ish months have been my first foray into ‘big girl panty world’… i.e. that world that involves like paying bills and stuff, and the concept of all of the bills coming due at once and having to live for a week on fumes is still foreign and frustrating.

Life as a Housewife: Since I don’t have a job, I feel obligated to play housewife and do laundry, clean up, cook, etc… more ‘big girl panty’ stuff that I’m not used to. I’m really tired of cleaning the kitchen and washing dishes and cleaning up after the fiancé and our roommate EVERY DAY. I know they work hard, but is it too much to ask for them to pick up after themselves? I slaved over a hot stove last night (literally) making a really tasty meal (if I do say so myself) and what do I wake up to this morning? The food still on the stove. Old, crusty, gross pasta and old, crusty, gross garlic bread. If they weren’t going to pack a lunch, couldn’t they at least toss it? UGH. boys. I’m putting my foot down this weekend, though, and we’re going to do a THOROUGH spring cleaning.

Apartment Stress: I am in a bit of a stress pickle right now when it comes to our living situation. Currently, my fiancé and I share a 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment with Rob’s best friend (and his girlfriend, at least 6 nights a week). Our lease is up April 5. Well… we still don’t know if, where, & when I am going to get a job, thus we don’t know whether to sign another lease with our current apartment (which we love, BTW) or find somewhere else. We don’t want to sign a lease and then me get offered a job and us have to break the lease. Our apartment people will let us sign a month-by-month lease… for $970, which is like $250 more than we pay now, so… no.

Harley: Oh, my spoiled rotten little fur-child. His litter is strewn everywhere (yes, my dog is litter box trained). His toys are chewed up and strewn everywhere. He chewed up his daddy’s Alabama basketball (and Rob is still mad). He peed on the floor twice yesterday. I keep having to chase him under the dining room table, because that’s where he loves to hide when he grabs something he’s not supposed to have (like socks or cotton balls or dryer sheets). It is impossible for him to let me sleep past 9 am and even 9 is a stretch. But… he is adorable. And I love him more than life. 🙂

Pet Peeve: I hate being put on the spot. People tend to think I’m sketchy because whenever I’m put on the spot I have a tendency to just agree and then later change my mind. I don’t do it to be ugly or sketchy or anything–it all boils down to (a) I don’t want to hurt people’s feelings (b) I don’t want people to think badly of me. And there are some people who pretty much won’t allow you to do anything but agree with what they are putting you on the spot about and try to make you feel bad if you try to disagree or they badger you or they make it seem like you suck at life. I hope I don’t do that to other people, because those people that do suck at life.

 

 

 

Here comes the bride

I have come to a conclusion: i. hate. wedding. planning. There was a span of about 5 minutes last week, where I was actually kind of excited about the whole wedding planning thing, but now… not so much. To make a very long story short, the fiancé (Rob) and I have been engaged for what seems like an eternity (or basically off and on for the past 4 years, officially on for about the past year-ish) and our date (which  we have changed at least 57 times) is July 30, 2011. All was well and good, until yesterday, when the person who was going to pay for our wedding decided to lose their minds, go completely hateful, and pretty much tell me I suck at life—literally, for no reason, other than asking for this person’s help, considering that this person used to plan weddings FOR A LIVING, and I’ve never been married before and have only attended a handful of weddings, to boot. But, I digress. So, currently, we have no wedding money, no wedding location (because the deposit was supposed to be paid this week, but obviously, that is not happening), and no wedding plans. I know a lot of people pay for their own weddings, and it seems as though Rob and I will be paying for ours, but it would have been nice to know, oh, I don’t know, perhaps 6 months ago that we would, in fact, be footing the bill, so that we could have been saving. But, I digress.

On a lighter note, I love my weiner. Weiner dog, that is. His name is Harley, he is a 10 lb, 7 month old, brown and cream, long-haired miniature dachshund. And he is a handful. Like most dachshunds, Harley is stubborn. And loud. And likes to destroy anything he can get his little teefies (teeth, for those who don’t speak baby/puppy). The dilemma he and I are facing now is that he is, literally, destroying everything he owns. Let me show you:

This is “blue baby”. “Blue baby” was the first toy that Rob and I bought him and Harley carried it everywhere. He did this little thing where he would suck on blue baby’s head and knead his blanket like a kitty. Cutest thing ever. But then… he chewed off blue baby’s tail. Then an ear. Then the other ear. Then he chewed off an arm and ate a quarter of blue baby’s stuffing, so I sewed the arm back on. Well, then he tore it off again and strew half of blue baby’s stuffing around our dining room. I took blue baby away.

 

This is “Army Man”. I bought “Army Man” for Harley as a Christmas present. I had to take Army Man away from Harley today, because he was, again, eating and strewing stuffing. Army Man used to have a hat, two ears, and a tail… but not anymore.

 

This is “baby”. I bought “baby” for Harley as a post-neutering cuddle-buddy. Baby originally had a squeaky in each hind foot and a large squeaky (surrounded by stuffing, apparently) in its head. Baby is now just an empty sack. No squeakies. No stuffing. Just a carcass.

This is Harley’s blanket. Harley’s breeder had him and his brothers and sisters sleep on this the night before Rob and I picked him up, so that he could cuddle with it in his new home and be comforted by the scent of his brothers and sisters. Anyways… now that he has chewed several holes in it, I have had to take it away, because the hole in the picture is large enough for him to stick his head through and, as funny as it is seeing him walking around the house with his blanket/cape following him, not very safe.

And, finally… his bed. This is the kennel pad that we put on the floor of his kennel so he has somewhere comfy to sleep. But, apparently, he doesn’t care to have somewhere comfy to sleep, because this is the second kennel pad he has had and he has only had it for a month.

So, my lovely readers, I am taking suggestions for destruction proof (or at least destruction resistance) plush toys and beds for dachshunds. Any ideas?

This ain’t my first rodeo…

Bad. Atrocious. Awful. Crappy. Crummy. Dreadful. Godawful. Lousy. Terrible. No good. Very bad.

See also– my day.

At any rate, this is the umtillionth time that I have attempted to start, write, or keep up a blog, but I am as determined as I can be to make this one work. So please, join me as I discuss housekeeping, job hunting, wedding planning, puppy parenting, crafting, randomness and life, in general, as I attempt to step into my “big girl panties.”

Put on your seatbelt… it’s gonna be a bumpy ride…