Fit Day Free Online Diet Journal

Whoa. I sure ate a lot this weekend. I finally weighed myself and find that my jeans are tight. I need to go on a diet. I thought it was from not biking, and that perhaps just adding biking to my daily routine would help me maintain. But I have exceeded the cushion of safety in my weight and it is time for some serious efforts here. I think part of the problem is the Eat From the Pantry Challenge and all the processed foods that we've been eating this month, but the stuff is going away from the freezer and fridge. It just landed on my fat ass. Just temporarily though.
 
One thing I'm going to do is start documenting everything I eat, and all my activities in a fitday online journal. It is a free tool that has helped me tremendously to lose weight in the past. When you document everything, its pretty obvious how fattening a certain food may be (like chicken wings) and how much exercise helps burn calories.
 
My goal is to lose 15 lbs by Easter.

I made the List!

How exciting, I made the Frugal Hacks Blogroll along with a bunch of other great bloggers. Check it out to find lots of deals!

More Curb Alerts

Well since today is a holiday for government employees we have another day for demolition before the new American Woodmark Cabinets arrive tomorrow. Did I ever mention how impressed I am with Lowe's and American Woodmark? No? Well I am.


So we're planning on removing everything except the sink. Earlier this week we put out the washer and dryer for curb alert and it was gone within minutes on craigslist. Then on Saturday, we put out the dishwasher and it was gone within a day. And then today we got rid of the stovetop and oven to one of the guys from earlier who emailed. All our appliances are gone now and it was so easy.

 
Now we have to continue to burn the old cabinets in fires, and chop them up for the trash man. Here's what's left of the old kitchen, just the sink. We cut the wall out between the dining room and the kitchen and it opens up the area and makes it seem really big.

More Peelies on TBT

The peelie for free 24 pk of water at Publix is on the Friday TBT. I just found a paper box with a bunch of them in it. Valid until 2/28/10.

Publix Peelie on Todays St Pete Times

The front page of the St Pete Times has a Gasparilla peelie that pulls off to reveal a coupon for a FREE 24 pack of Publix water bottles w/ a $30 purchase. I don't have mine with me but its valid into the middle of February.

Great Paint Rebate

Well, for all you home remodelers, this a HOT deal, I know we're going to be getting some paint for the kitchen remodel.
 
You can get $5 off one Gallon of paint, or $20 off a 5 gallon pail. You must buy the paint between 1/14/10-1/18/10 (this weekend) to be eligible for the rebate. Most of these brands are sold at Home Depot.
Types of paint that qualify for the mail in rebate:
–BEHR® Interior and Exterior Paints and Primers, Decorative Finishes, Waterproofers, Stains and Cleaners
–GLIDDEN® Interior and Exterior Paints
–RALPH LAUREN® Paints and Specialty Finishes
–FRESHAIRE CHOICE™ Paint
Offer not valid on America's Finest, SpeedWall, SpeedCote, UltraHide, Glidden Porch and Floor, Standard Flat Ceiling Paint and PVA Primers, Professional Finishes, Gildden Stucco & Masonry Paint.

Kraftmaid


Kraftmaid has this free kitchen idea book available now, click the banner to order yours, Hurry they go quick!

We just finished remodeling our bathrooms with Kraftmaid cabinets and they look beautiful. Unfortunately, the quality is really crappy. The doors are hung crooked on hinges applied sloppily. Of our four cabinets, three have problems. When we got the replacement cabinet door, it was missing the anchors to attach to cabinet and they sent the wrong part 2 times. After two months, we are still in limbo with them.

So go ahead get the book, dream about a beautiful cabinet, and then wakeup in the middle of a nightmare.

Hands On Network (HOT)

This weekend before continuing on the kitchen demolition, we drove over to Westshore Macy's to attend the 45 minute Hands On Tampabay (HOT) orientation. This is the local volunteer organization to work through for the Give a Day, Get a Disney Day promotion. It was pretty simple and easy and we learned how to sign up. Unfortunately all the opportunities are coming up showing that 0 volunteers are needed. The HOT representative said that more spots would be available in the middle of the month when the February calendar is posted. So if you are interested in doing this promotion, it is going to take a little legwork - but probably will be worth it.

My First Shop of 2010

Last night we went to Publix for our first grocery shop of the new year. We don't really need much since we're trying to use up our stockpile, as I talked about in the Eat From the Pantry Challenge but we do need to get a few produce and dairy items. You probably didn't notice that I didn't post new year resolutions, but I didn't. I don't really feel ready to do that yet. I have been thinking about goals though, and have decided my frugal shopping goal is to spend less than $1000 this year at the grocery store. This would work out to an average of $19.23 per week, or about $77 a month. This is a huge stretch goal because in the past our groceries were our second highest household expense at about $4000 a year. Basically, we are going to try to cut our grocery budget by 75% using coupons, stockpiling stuff on sale, and shopping the BOGO deals at Publix.
 
So back to our trip yesterday to Publix. I felt unprepared for the shop, and was printing and cutting out Target coupons to stack with the MQ's on Special K Cereal because I didn't remember that Target had some matches. I was relying too much on the blogs to outline the deals, and they missed some key coupons that I had (like BOGO MQ on the Special K cereal to match with the BOGO sale, so all boxes were free). I need to increase my awareness of what coupons are out there and what I have. I also didn't preplan the purchases on a spreadsheet (which I've never done) but this would have saved me more money. I had extra $5 off $50 coupons but only used one, when I could have thrown the other one in since our total was over $145 before coupons. I had two expired store coupons from last months flyer, and had to tear out two new ones from the Green Advantage Flyer. I also made the mistake of not splitting the order so that I used less than 50 coupons.  Also the last coupons (the stacking Target Q) confused the clerk and she called over the manager to approve. Then at the bottom of the pile finally, they start beeping because I have too many coupons. I also had more coupons than items in my cart which requires manager override too. I don't mind doing this but the store was "alive at five" and the line behind me was getting impatient. I told the girl that I'll use them next time. So these mistakes cost me about $7. At the end of the transaction the total was $27 and the savings were $135, for 84% savings. So, the $27 is more than the budgeted amount per week of $19. If I had planned my shop better I would have come in about $20, only $1 over budget.
 
I'm not really fond of having grocery shopping become a mathematical worksheet, but I suppose why not. After all, its one of our biggest expenses of the household. Its actually amazing how so many people just don't make the time or effort to use coupons to save hundreds of dollars every month. I can save more money using coupons than I could make in a part time job. Maybe I should just quit my day job and become a professional grocery shopper. I could just split the savings with the people. It would pay me and they would spend less on groceries. Think that would work? Who wants to sign up?
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