Money Crunch

Hello...

I am sure you all are like me & feeling the money crunch these days. It seems as if we have been hemorrhaging money. I have had to ignore the price of gas just so I can get to work everyday.

I have been searching & reading on the Internet lately a lot of saving money. One thing I keep hearing a lot about is clipping coupons. I used to do that every week, but I never used them. It seems that the grocery store brands were always much cheaper than the name brands. Also I had never heard of "Stacking." That is where a store like CVS or Walgreens has store coupons & then you clip manufacturers coupons & use them together on one item.

Well, I read where it has worked at Walgreens & CVS stores all over the country- but the question of the day is- Will it work here at my local stores???

So I spent the week Googling to get tips & tricks on how to get this to work for me. I found out that to get "Stacking" to work at Walgreens- you must have the cashier scan manufacturer coupons first then scan the store coupons.

After spending the day clipping & going over the sales ads & making a game plan.

I went to Walgreens first- I had more to get there, plus they are the best, because there is no card to show.

Well, I bought all of this stuff:

Yes, I know it doesn't appear to be a lot of stuff, but it is brand name stuff- which is rare in my house. Ok, as this stuff sits on the shelf would costs me a total of $34. Well, after I used all of my coupons I only spent $8.67!!!! I am now a convert to the coupon clipping world.

After going to Walgreens, I stopped at CVS. Now they have a reward card system.

So I bought these items:

On the shelf this would have cost me about $13 total. With all the discounts & coupons & rewards- final price was $5.10!!!!!

So for a little under $14 I brought home almost $50 worth of items! That will really add up over time.

Ok, So I am ready for a new week of coupons and discounts!!!

This week I am going to tackle the grocery store.... I will let you know how that turns out.

Where have I been?!?!?

Well, my goodness!! Look here!! Where have I been?? I have been swampped with school & work & life. But I would just like to update everyone with what has been happening & to let you all know I am still hitting the books.

Well this I am in year number 2 of school. I talked to my scholarship advisor & she told me that I am at the end of my scholarship. If I want to continue to go to school to get my Pre-Pharmacy (associates) degree I would have to reapply as a new student, or pay for it myself. She told me there would be no guarantee that I would recieve the scholarship again, and I sure don't have the funds to pay for it. So I went to Rose & told my advisor my dilemma. He told me that I should just get my Liberal option associates. He told me that I could walk (graduate) THIS May if I do that!!! I will only need 2 more classes that I can take this summer. I am so excited!! So I am currentlhy taking 17 credit hours. It is a killer load along with working & all. But, most of my classes are online. I only go to the school to take Yoga.

I am reapplying for the scholarship so I can get my bachelors and then my masters degree- I am thinking Health Care Management- It is more in the business field & the money can be very good. That would be doing something like running a hospital or clinic.

So I have marked my calendar for May 2. That will be graduation day. I will post photos & keep you all up to date on my plans next...

Hugs Ya'll!!!

Hello Old Friend, Hello

So I survived the Spring semester of school. It was so hard. I am glad it I passed. My grades were awful. I made a D in psychology. I love psych, but the professor was not very good at getting his point across. I hated his class. I did not think I would pass. Right after I took my last final we headed out on vacation for so much needed r&r. We went to Montana. We had a blast. I loved the scenery. When we hit Wyoming, it reminded me of a cowboy movie. A lot of the people we talked to only live in Montana & Wyoming seasonally. They would only work for 5-8 months each year & then they would vacation the rest of the time. Perfect!! I could easily handle that.
We were unable to dig for sapphires because it snowed 19" over night & closed down the town we planned on going to to dig, but we did dig for garnets (my birthstone) I found a lot of them. It was really cool.

I had 3 weeks off of school & now I am back in session. I am taking Intermediate Algebra which is the same as high school Algebra II. Which I aced over a decade ago. I remember all of the stuff the professor is talking about, but I hope I can remember it when it comes to taking a test.

I am looking ahead to the Fall Semester. I have already enrolled in my classes. I am taking English Comp II-3 credits, Humanities I -3 credits, College Algebra -3 credits & Zoology -5 credits. I am taking 14 credit hours this fall. I am scared I will not be able to keep up. This is the only combination of classes I can take to keep my scholarship. This is the only semester I will have a heavy load, so if I make it through, then it will be smooth sailing after that.
I will be in class Mon-Thur nights. I will only have weekends to get homework done. In the spring I plan on taking General Chemistry I & Lab -5 credits, Microbiology -5 credits and a Health and Wellness class - 2 credits. This will be pretty challenging. But I know if I can make it through the Fall, I will be fine.

I need to get some photos up from our vacation. I will try to sort through them soon & get them up. We had a blast. I am looking forward to out next vacation. I need to think of something cool to do next May.

Watch My Corn Pop Up In Rows

Well, It has been a very long time since I have updated. I am still in school. I am hanging on. I am ready for summer break. We are planning our yearly vacation. We always go camping on our anniversary. We have it perfectly planned. We miss the crowds by going the week before Memorial Day. We can just about get any campsite we want. We are looking forward to this year's vacation.

My favorite show on T.V. lately is Cash & Treasures on the Travel Channel. They had a show where the host went to Montanta to to dig for sapphires. I am ready to pack my shovel & my bucket & go to Montana to find my fortune in sapphires. I will let you know how that "pans" out.... hee hee.

Well I started my garden. I planted the seeds in my little planters. I planted corn, spaghetti squash, regular squash & spinach. I planted them less than 2 weeks ago.

Here is what they look like today. I am going to plant them in the morning. I am so excited to watch my corn grow. I love driving by and seeing corn in the field growing. It really grows fast. I have chose red corn. I hope it grows & nothing eats it before I get see the corn. I will try to take more photos as it grows.....

I hope everyone is doing well..... Enjoy your spring!!!!!

Babies, Babies & More Babies!!!!!!

I also took some pics of the other goats....

Two more of our female goats had babies last week!!! So we now have 6 BABIES!!!!

They are so adoreable! I wanted to get a pic of me holding them all, but they are so wriggly & the mommas get so upset. So I had to settle getting a pics of them twins at a time & them in their lil' goat house. Enjoy the cute pics......

It's 2 Boys!!!!

Well--- we had 2 boys. We were really hoping for 2 girls, but the boys are so adoreable too!!!! After the initial shock of being held for the first time, they were amaizingly calm. they even fell asleep on me. Terri was even brave enough to get aquainted. =)
Stay warm & safe!!!!

Make a Wish

Well..... today is the big day. The big 3-1...... Another birthday. Last year I had all of these things I had planned on achieving. I started off by getting up early & going to the gym.... that lasted a week, maybe....

The one thing I had not planned on was going back to school. I am about to start my 2nd semester. I am excited. I am once again taking all of my classes online. I was told that I could take Native American History instead of Humanities I. This will be more interesting to me & it looks good on my transcript--- Hopefully I pass... hee hee hee..... So on this 31st year of my life I resolve to complete at least 12 more credit hours of college. Lets hope that I can do more than that......

We have had another winter storm this past weekend.... But instead of snow we had sleet & ice.... Luckily yesterday was a holiday & I did not have to go to work. But the sun came out & melted the sleet & then last night it froze into a solid sheet of ice.... So today I am still in my PJ's.

Yesterday Joey went down to feed the goats & he called me & told me that they had left me a birthday present... He said that one of our goats had twins!!!! Sometime today I will try to skate down there & get some first photos of them. He said they are adoreable. =)

Oh by the way -- Also born today in 1976 Trisha Stillwell, Miss USA-Oklahoma (1997, top 10) and on my 15th birthday, I remember watching on TV as US & 27 allies attack Iraq for occupying Kuwait (US time).

Hopefully today is uneventful. I like peaceful days..... I hope everything is easy going for you.....

<3

Time, Time, Time.... See what's become of me......

Holly, Tony & lil' Max stopped by for a visit this last weekend. It was so good getting to visit with them for a little while. It seems like yesterday we were at Holly's mom's house listening to the Chipmunk's Christmas & watching the muppets. Where does the time go? Every time I hear Alvin & the Chipmunks, Kenny Rogers or Dolly Parton I think of Holly.... =)

While out looking for gifts and stuff for the family, I came across a little yellow tractor & I knew just the little boy that would like that. So I put it in a little bag & put it under the tree. As you can see Max was all smiles when he saw it. Holly said he even sleeps with it. Awww!!! He kept looking in the bag to see if anything else would come out of it. Maybe he was hoping we would refill it. LOL!

The Emig family met Terri, our crazy lil' round dog. She loved meeting them - she just wanted to lick them all. Then after I gave Holly a grand tour of the House of Bowers, we visited for a while. Before we visited the goats, I got a pic of Max by our tree. He is a photo pro. He flashed a very cheesy smile, but I was laughing too hard to get the photo, but I ended up getting this great one. Then we had to get a photo of Max Blue on a Blue Tractor....... As you can see-- ADOREABLE!!!

Then Max & his parents got to meet our extended "smelly" family--- the goats. They were very curious about him..... I enjoyed feeding George out of my hand (See Emig Family Blog for photos from that "enjoyable" time.) Our time was over & they had to go. It was time for them to go to a Christmas party. I know Max will be excited to see what Santa is going to leave him. He is a good boy, so I know Santa will leave him lots of goodies.

Merry Christmas to all & Happy New Year too!!!!