Good Morning!

I was too tired to write last night. Woke up yesterday with ENERGY! Yippeee! It didn't last long, though.

I needed to go out to Gainesville for printer ink and some groceries so I put together my list and coupons.

Left the house about 9:30 and headed for Target. I learned something new while I was there, too. A few weeks ago I received a $2.00 off coupon from Target for Spots cat food. $2.00 off is a big deal! They usually have the best price, so I figured I would stop there in my ring around Gainesville. I had a couple of other cat food coupons as well, and figured I would stock up if they had the flavor Spot likes. There was only 1 bag, so I went ahead and got it. Since it was the day after Valentine's Day I checked around for clearance items I can use year round. Their stuff was only 30% off and I found nothing I wanted to spend any cash on, so I went to check out with my  bag of cat food. I handed the checker my coupon, not realizing I had given her 2 until she was scanning them. The machine took both of them! I asked her about it, and she told me that with a Target coupon you can combine 1 other manufacturers coupon as well. I got $4.00 off 1 bag of cat food! $2.00 for a $6.00 bag of cat food made my day!

Off to Officemax for ink. Why does that stuff have to be so expensive???!!! No sale items, but lots of pretty stuff to organize with. Thankfully I have a husband that takes care of all of that. I just hand him the stuff and he files it. I'm lucky. I organize by pile. LOL

Next stop was Publix. There was some sales to be had, but I wasn't there for stock up, just sale items. Between coupons and specials I got $76 worth of food for $37. Not bad, not bad at all! I think I stayed so close to my budget because of the cold/flu bug we are getting over. I actually went to Publix and didn't get a sub. Anyone that knows me well knows I must be feeling pretty bad for that to happen!

The energy I started with is almost gone. I'm parking further out in the parking lots, though not as far as Justin does. I swear that boy just likes the hike to look at all the pretty cars!

Next stop is Kroger. This store has doubled in size in the last few years. I had my list, my coupons and almost zero energy and about that much tolerance. They have switched the store around so much I can never find anything the first pass through. I finished my list, added a few things that were on such good sale that I couldn't leave them behind, and went to check out. Can someone please tell me why they have just 2 cashiers on at 1 in the afternoon? Of course one is 10 items or less and has no one in line. Grrr. I like to play the "see how much I have saved game" at Kroger. Ring everything up, hand over the key ring card, then hand over the coupons.Initial ring up was $129.85 and I payed...$76.34!!! Double coupons, and coupons I had forgotten that I had loaded onto the card made it super good!

One last stop when I got into town, Wal-mart. I don't like to do a lot of grocery type shopping there, but some things are worth making the stop. I picked up what I needed, spent another $25, and headed home. I had to unload the car, put the cold stuff away and go to class. I think I did great budget wise, $230.00 worth of groceries for $185. I've done better, but I'm pretty proud of myself!

I didn't exercise in the traditional sense, but I walked 2 laps around the interior of each store, before filling my cart. I figured it balanced out. I didn't get any candy or junk food to eat in the car on the way home, either. I did get some "house" treats, though. Sometimes ya just gotta have a stash of m&m's!

Class was class. Many people were out last week with the same crud, so most of us were surprised that we were having a mid-term test! Thankfully the teacher took pity on us and made it open book!

Came home, put on the sweats and fell asleep while reading. It was a good tired!

Sharon