Eating well, Saving money

I don't know about you and your family, whether it be two or eight of you, but I know that Kyle and I (okay, I) have a tendency to spend WAY too much money at the grocery store. Now, in general, we try to eat fairly healthfully, and of course healthy food costs more. But I can't fool myself that well...there's more to the grocery store wallet-siphoning than I'd like to admit.


The culprits include: 
Going to the store hungry (everything looks good)
Assuming that if I get enough stuff, I can surely make up several meals out of it (why do I always buy so many freakin' zucchini?)
Romanticizing in my abilities to actually accomplish all of the culinary feats I dream up (I'm going to break down pounds of produce and freeze a ton of meals)
...worst of all...
Not having a PLAN!


Enter Groupon.
Yes, Groupon.


Most of the time I scan my Groupon page and mentally comment on how I would never actually use most of them...until I saw something intriguing today. It was for a company called "eMeals". I knew I had heard of the company before, but couldn't place it. I read on.


"eMeals" is a service that takes into consideration you diet (regular, vegetarian, gluten-free, etc.) and grocery store preferences (for store advertisements and specials), and creates weekly meal plans for you. It outlines each meal, how to make it, and a shopping list for the week at the bottom.


I signed up for the weekly dinner meal plan for "clean eating". I can think up enough lasagna type dinners...it's spicing up our healthy eating options that is sometimes difficult for me. And, because I don't cook seven dinners a week, I can just pick the meals that I like and go from there.


Here's a copy of the my meal plan for this past week.

With THIS Groupon, I'm paying about $2.40 a month for the service, that I anticipate will save me much more than that.


Last but not least, it's recommended by Dave Ramsey. A major part of Dave's Financial Peace University is really identifying where your money is going, and how to control it. Now, I'm not someone makes every financial decision based on what Dave says (I have a credit card or two), but when it comes to cleaning the clutter out of your budget...he's the man! So, the fact that he endorses this specific product for something like grocery spending speaks volumes to me.


Whether you use this service, or just start sitting down to make a grocery list by meals you actually intend to prepare, I would almost guarantee you will see noticeable differences in your grocery bills. 


So, Happy NOT spending!

A Bit M.I.A.

Sorry for the lack of posts, but I've been out of commission for a bit. 

Over the past four or five (and upcoming two) weeks, we've either had company, been visiting somewhere, or getting ready for one or the other. Plus, all last week I attended a class, which prevented me from doing my usual lunch-hour posts. 

Now, I have a cold. Some guy in my class had a hacking cough, and despite my efforts to avoid being in his vicinity...I managed to contract whatever it is he had. 

At some point in the near future I fully intend to do a mass dump of all of my photos and stories. 

30 for 30

This past Sunday was Kyle's 30th Birthday! We didn't do much to celebrate since we are going to see his family this coming weekend to really celebrate, but I did make him a cake. An awesome cake, I might add. That, however, is another post.


Being a total copycat of my friend April's blog post of her husband's 30th...here's my Top 30 about Kyle.


1. When he's awake, he has endless energy. It's kind of like having a 5-year-old around sometimes...in a good way.
2. He's a great money manager. As in, I get a weekly update as to how much we'll make a year when we retire. It gives me peace of mind. 
3. His devotion to God and his family. It's one of the main things that attracted me to him...he has his priorities straight!
4. He loves to make me laugh. 
5. He helps around the house in ways most husbands don't. I've just learned to look the other way when he's loading the dishwasher.
6. He's a sensitive soul. 
7. His lack of hair means more "personal care" budget for me ; )
8. He likes to shop.
9. Along those same lines, he helps me pick out outfits. 
10. He appreciates good food.
11. He doesn't give me crap about being awful when we play golf together. 
12. He has a giving heart. 
13.He's man enough to admit that he can't do everything. So, he uses me as his IT and spelling guru. 
14. He can talk to and find something in common with everyone. Seriously, everyone. 
15. He's passionate about politics. It's the kind of attitude that gets things done. 
16. His lack of rhythm, but yet can rattle off 90's rap songs
17. His sense of adventure and love for activity. 
18. That he loves Gus as much as I do.
19. He knows more about sports and athletes than anyone else I know. I learn something new all the time. I'm looking forward to watching the Olympics with him!
20. His ability to recognize when I'm running on empty, and willingness to help me in any way possible.
21. Working out and eating right are important to him, but he'll also join me in justifying eating carrot cake and ice cream. 
22. His confidence. He never has the need or desire to "one up" or show off to anyone. 
23. That he has to turn his head to keep me from seeing him laugh after he's said something he knows makes me mad
24. In regards to #14, he's really good at his job in sales. We decided a long time ago that we'd fail horribly if we had to switch jobs with one another. 
25. He's a talker. He'd rather get it all out on the table to start working on it, than hold a grudge. 
26. He encourages me to (within reason) spend money on myself (clothing, hair, nails, etc...) He knows that if I feel good about myself, his life is much easier. 
27. We can discuss business and understand one another.
28. He's pro nap time
29. He's honest about my cooking/baking. Even if it's bad, he'll say, "well, it's not the best thing you've ever made". 
30. He picked me.


Happy Brithday, babe!

Looking back...

Last night, trying to get our office set up, Kyle and I were sorting through tubs, cabinets and boxes of file folders containing all of our "stuff" of both married life, and our lives before we knew one another. We've moved quite a bit over the past few years and neither of us had done much purging...it was just toss and pack. A lot of it was old tax returns that could be tossed, contracts from apartments, and insurance papers from health issues long forgotten. 


It was nice to kind of see where we have been, and how far we have come. What I wasn't anticipating on stumbling across, however, were things from my old relationships. I honestly didn't even know that I had some of that stuff with me...I figured if any still existed, it was in the house I grew up in. It was a bizarre feeling, but luckily, since we were trying to hurry (and the fact that my husband was standing next to me) I didn't reminisce for too long, I just quickly glanced through the pictures and such and immediately tossed them into the trash pile. It was bittersweet in that the memories from the artifacts themselves were mostly good, otherwise I wouldn't have kept them, but they were tainted with the memories of what obviously followed.


In our class at church yesterday, our teacher was talking about just that. Try driving while only looking in the rear-view mirror...you can't do it. Or at least you shouldn't. It's okay to glance back once in a while for validity of where you've been, but to thrive, you have to look ahead.

Would you keep a chive on your tooth just because you enjoyed last night's potato?  ~From the television show Boston Common

There was one really sad part about going through all of stuff from my past, and subsequently throwing it in the trash...there were some pictures that I looked really good in! I'm talking good hair, good make-up, nice smile...the works! No digital copies either, just Walgreens prints that no pair of sewing scissors could dissect well enough to remove the parts of the pictures that I no longer wish to view. 

Such a tragedy!!