What can you get for $1?

Last night I stopped by Publix with the original intention to get a turkey and a few other things for a dinner party I am hosting on Saturday, which is a miracle all by its self! Anywho, I didn't find the turkey and ended up getting chicken for my soup tonight for dinner.
When I got to the register I wasn’t sure if I’d met the requirement to use my 5/25 coupon but I had just enough and even pulled out change to pay for my total bill!
When I got home I pondered the question of what really does a dollar get you these days? Well, lately in my house it gets me this~~

I spent $1.03 and saved 35.09! I used 4 quarters and three pennies!
Here is the breakdown for all of you wondering how -

Qty	Item	cost	coupon used
1	Lettuce	0.99	1 - $1produe/target
1	Red pepper	1.8	1 - $1produe/target
3	bananas	0.68	1 - $1produe/target
2	green onion bunches	1.19	1 - $1produe/target
1	yellow pepper	1.68	1 - $1produe/target
1	tomato	0.85	1 - $1produe/target
1	cucumber	0.65	1 - $1produe/target
2	Kraft cheese	4	1-$1 target 1 - $2.5 manufacture
2	Crescent rolls	2	2 - .75 manufacture
2	chicken noodle soup	0.99	1 - $1 manufacture
2	Theraflu	7	1 - $3 manufacture 1 - $5 Store
1	chicken breasts	2.74	1 - .50 store
1	Snicker bar	0.89	n/a
			** Used $5/25 on total

Time for Tuesday!

Today’s blog hop is hosted by Busy Mom’s tips and more! Click on the image below to join. Its a fun way to find new blogs.

If your joining me for the first time, Welcome and I hope you find something interesting.

A break for friends

Today is a new blog hop I just found and its a great way to find and read new blogs. If your interested in joining click on the image and add your name to the list.

If your here for the first time ~ Welcome and I hope you will come back soon!

Turkey day blues

Its the Monday after Thanksgiving

and the question is…..

Did you beat yourself up for everything that you ate?

Did you step on the scale to see if you gained any weight?

Or, did you just enjoy the ride and decide to take it one slice of pie at a time!!

Well, the hardest thing we can do for our weight loss journey is beat ourselves up over enjoying our ever-so loving comfort foods. Of course I say this after I had a talk with myself in the mirror this morning and it wasn’t pretty let me tell ya! I am my worst critic when it comes to criticism.

Even after loosing weight I still struggle on an almost daily basis to control my obsession of food. I can’t help it~~ I LOVE FOOD! The kind that leaves you one size larger before you leave the dinner table.

Easy fix right? Well I hope so. One holiday down and two to go.

Best advice is to keep doing what you do minus the holiday. One day (or two or three) isn’t going to destroy months or years of hard work. Now make that a month or two then we might have a problem.

Back to the beginning

This is a repost of my original welcome message. I get so many people asking me how I lost weight and how I keep it off. Here was a glimpse of my journey that lead me to my blog. I hope you find it useful and if you have questions let me know.

Welcome to Skinny on a dime!
I am very glad you are here. You might not realize it but I need your help and support just as much as you need mine.
So here is my story in a nut shell and the reasons why I've decided to put this little blog together.
A little over a year ago, I was at my largest weight ever in my life. I was headed for a road of depression and sadness. I wasn't used to being the size I was and I wasn't sure how I'd ended up there. Every time I would grow out of a size I would just say to myself "Well when I get to a size... I will have to start working out!" and it just never stopped. I became comfortable in the size I was in. I told lies to myself to try to believe that I wasn't as large as I was. I'm not really sure what my breaking point was that made me win the battle but whatever it was I am so thankful for now.
In June of 2008, a coworker offered me an opportunity that changed my life forever. A very well known weight loss company was teaming up with a local college to do a study for a new program they wanted to launch the following year. I said to myself "What else do I have to lose!" so I join with a very close friend of mine. I qualified for the study and decided that I would set a goal to lose 50lbs during the process. I wasn't sure how it would all work out but I was willing to give it a try.

So everyone asks, "What’s the secret, what did you do different?". I am here to tell you that there are no secrets, gimmicks or tricks. My success came from changing what groceries I bought and how I prepared my food. I also had to exercise but not near as much as you would think. In my next few blogs I will lay it all out on the table. I will give you every resource that I have. I will also show you along the way how you can save money buying the things that will keep you healthy. So join me if you have the same desire to be .....

Skinny on a dime!

Publix (x4)

spent $1.89 and saved $45.72

 











spent $2.23 and saved $32.90

For some reason, (quite possibly my last trip that was $1.51 for $109 worth of groceries maybe??) my store stopped allowing me to use more than one certain coupon (5/25) at a time.

So, I had to either:

A – go to the publix by my work (which involved me shopping with a rather large stack of coupons at 5pm and that wasn’t gonna happen)

or

B – split my list up into 4 trips.

I chose B which worked out much better in my favor.

The first picture was shopping trip #2 where I spent $1.89 and saved $45.72! The second picture was shopping trip #3 where I spent $2.23 and saved $32.90! I have one last trip to make either today or tomorrow and all the shopping will be complete. (The first trip is in a previous post.)

Preparing a Feast

I love Thanksgiving and Christmas. I love them more than any other holiday in the year. I love the spirit in the air, the smells that come from the foods, the weather, and most of all the lights! I could drive around for hours looking at Christmas lights – no joke.

Since we moved to Florida I had to learn how to prepare these big holiday dinners all by my lonesome. I enjoy doing it though so its not a big burden. I go all out, way over the top. People could come to my house and eat for the rest of the week and I would still have leftovers for work on Monday.

If for some reason we decide to go home for Thanksgiving this year though I will be cooking along side some wonderful cooks that do this year after year. Even though I really love doing this myself, I would love the chance to go home but in the event I don’t this is what will be on my plate come Thursday:

Smoked Turkey ~I don’t know why but my husband loves to smoke a turkey so every year he pulls up his pants, slaps on an apron and gets the smoker going!

Baked ham with pineapples

Macaroni and cheese ~ this is probably my favorite thing of all time

Chicken and dumplings ~ my grandma’s recipe, she always had a pot ready at the drop of a hat

Cornbread turkey and dressing ~ for all you southerners, this is the best stuff around

Candied yams

Cabbage ~ most southern family’s usually make some fashion of greens and I don’t really care for them but I can throw down on cabbage

Giblet gravy

Pasta salad

Sweet potato pies

Lemon meringue pies ~ courtesy of my 13yr old

Cheese balls with crackers

Homemade salsa with chips ~ I gotta have things out to keep the guys out of the kitchen until the food is ready so I started serving appetizers on the counter.

If I can roll myself off of the couch on Thursday I will post some pictures of the event and even along the day on Wednesday when I prepare most of my food.

Friendly Friday

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If you’ve found me from Friendly Friday then Welcome. I hope you find something interesting to share.

Publix or bust

I truly love Publix.

Using coupons at this store has been a saving grace for my family recently. My last trip there was on 11/13 where I spent a total of $8 and saved $107!

I am starting to buy things for Thanksgiving just incase we decide to stay here instead of traveling home. If we do decide to go home for Thanksgiving well I won’t have to do much shopping to cook for Christmas.

Meeting New Friends

Now that I am trying to get back into blogging after a short break, blog hopping is a fun way to find new blogs and share ideas with some really cool people.  Go here to get started!

Bi Weekly Menu (a tency bit late)

Wednesday – **My Favorite Meatloaf  with mashed potatoes and some type of vegetable
Thursday – Leftovers
Friday – Breakfast for dinner – yeah! I love breakfast for dinner. Pancakes, bacon, eggs, cheesy grits~~ you name it.
Saturday – Sweet and Tangy Fish with Wild Rice and Salad (I cut out the fish recipe from a magazine, I will add it when I get a chance)
Sunday – Hot Tortilla Soup (love love love this!)
Monday – Leftovers (Freeze the rest for later)
Tuesday – **Crock Pot Pulled Pork & coleslaw Sandwiches with chips
Wednesday – Leftovers (freeze whatever pork is left)
Thursday – Thanksgiving! Either I will be cooking or eating lol. We haven’t decided whether we are going home or not so I will finish the week as if I were at home.
Friday – Leftovers
Saturday – Leftovers lol

**Both My favorite Meatloaf and Crockpot Pulled pork come from The Pioneer Woman’s website. I reference her recipes a lot if you haven’t noticed!

Now I Remember why I bring my lunch!

When it gets busy at election time around here our lunch room fills up so much that its standing room only. Most days I end up going out to eat just to get away from the noise and stress. This proved to be not so good for the wallet or the hips!

Now that everyone is gone I am getting back into my old habits of packing a lunch everyday. So far this week I’ve saved myself around $21 and its only Wednesday! Also, I have cut out a lot of unnecessary fat from my diet because I prepared the food I ate at home. 

Great tip – Pack your lunch whenever you can and remember it doesn’t have to be a salad or a sandwich everyday. When you cook dinner the night before, make extra for the next day. Or make a big pot of Hot Tortilla soup or Chili, then freeze it and take it out to eat for lunch whenever you need an idea. Try making homemade spaghetti sauce, freeze that also and pour over pasta for a hot lunch.

Each day the quietness sets in…..

First off, the election is over! Yay! and NO "R" words (recounts).  This part I am truly thankful for. It has been a long year with everything going on. Finally I can get back on track with eating healthy and staying focused on my life goals.

On a sad note though, the wonderful people that used to fill our office with laughter, tears and food are all gone. Friday was their last day and it was an emotional roller coaster. The best group so far we have ever had in our department has departed. Walking in Monday morning was strange. There was no buzz of gossip, no invites to donuts and no coffee brewing in the back of the office. Today was even more somber. The reality of them being gone has set in. Some of them, I’m sure, will be back from time to time and even a few of them will return for 2012. For now though its just quiet, slow days at the office.

I intend to dive back into blogging (call me crazy~~I like sharing random facts of the day lol) and back into eating healthy and living frugally on a very very tight budget for the next few months.

I will start back up with dinner picture postings and random sightings and trip extravaganzas and savings. Until then though, have a happy week and enjoy the rest of your day!!!