Some Of The Good

I know I'm a wee bit sarcastic sometimes...and I love to poke fun at myself...and all of my failures...but occasionally I will see the positive in something I have done. I look at my list of 'I'm Gonnas' from the beginning of the year and it makes me want to vomit, because I have not yet accomplished even one of those goals. Today I was beating myself up about the whole weight loss 'thing' and for some reason it made me think about 2 things I HAVE been regularly working on. Granted, they may not be the most 'important' but somehow I have managed to find the time...or the will...or whatever the hell you want to call it, to continue trying.

Recycling. Yes, we have started recycling and I feel like as time goes on, more and more of our waste makes it into those buckets. I actually purchased bins for our kitchen at the end of last year and started soon after that. In the beginning we weren't really sure what to toss and what to recycle...and we still have moments where we question it, but I feel like we are consistently making an effort to at least get a majority of our boxes, cans, paper, cardboard and bottles into the recycling bins, rather than into the garbage. We are by no means perfect...and there are times when I 'know' something should be recycled, but I'm too lazy to rinse it out...however I'm trying.

Couponing. I honestly NEVER thought I would get into couponing. I have always been just one of those people who goes to one store...gets everything in one trip...throws a bunch of stuff into my cart because it's what I like/want/need...never looks at prices...and probably spends a buttload more than I ever need to spend. There were those rare times when I would see a coupon for something I buy regularly and swear up and down I was going to use it, but in the end would forget and it's expiration date would go flying by. I think it was about 6 weeks ago that I decided to give couponing a whirl. A friend of mine was showing off her incredible savings and I got really excited thinking about what I could potentially save my own family. Here is what I have been doing consistently since then:

1. Every Saturday morning I pick up 2 Star Tribune and 2 Pioneer Press newspapers and clip coupons (buying multiple papers get you multiple sets of the same coupons so that you can stockpile). I used to think only the Sunday paper had coupons, but apparently Saturday papers are like 'early Sunday' papers with similar coupons and grocery store ads.
2. Prior to each shopping trip I try to get online to print out coupons for some of my favorite items that may not be included in the paper.
3. I shop the ads and try to plan out meals around some of the sale items.
4. I will go to multiple stores and get a few items at each to get the best deals.
5. I make very specific shopping lists and try to combine sales with coupons to get things even cheaper.

Couponing is tough because it requires time...time to plan...time to clip...time to make multiple visits to multiple stores...and that's not always easy for me. I definitely think couponing is going to take some time for me to ramp up on. I don't know that I will ever be the woman who can save 80% in one shopping trip. If I can fairly consistently knock off 15-20% of my total bills I would be happy...if I could knock off 25-30% of my total bills, I would be REALLY happy...if I could get closer to 50%, I would be ECSTATIC! Here is what I spent today and the savings that I was able to take advantage of.

COBORN'S $71.25...$48.76...32%
TARGET $120.32...$94.11...22%
CUB $88.82...$55.64...37%

Now granted, I still spent almost $200, however this trip should last us close to 2 weeks and there were some items that I stocked up on because of specific sales and coupons. Like the 10 jugs of apple juice I bought from Coborn's because they were on sale for $0.99...or the 8 boxes of Ziploc bags I purchased from Cub because they were on sale for $1.99 and I had 4 BOGO coupons...or the 9 lbs of 93% lean ground beef I picked up from Coborn's because it was on sale for $2.19 per lb. These are savings that I would have NEVER taken advantage of in the past...because I didn't care. Now I'm finally starting to realize that there are tons of savings staring me in the face each and every day and with a little more planning, I can actually benefit from them...and that's pretty cool!

So there you have it...my 2 accomplishments...recycling and couponing... Now if I could work in a little weight loss too, I would be golden!