Wags Wednesday!

I coupon at my local Walgreen's on Wednesdays because I get 15% (20% Wags Brand) off as a student.  If you are a fellow couponer, my deals are slightly different from yours.

Transaction #1
(1) Rescue Sleep 28ct          $6.80
      Filler                        .20
Use $4.50 & $2.50 RR from last week, receive $8 RR from Rescue Sleep

Transaction #2
(2) Cottonelle 12 pk          $6.78
      (2) $.55/1              (1.10)
(2) Finesse Hairspray          5.95
      (2) $2/1 Wags Nov    (4.00)
      (2) $1/1                (2.00)
(2) Caress Body Wash         3.90
      (2) $2/1                (4.00)
(2) Nestle Choc Chips          3.04
      (1) $.50/2              (.50)
Filler                          .20
Use $8 RR from Rescue Sleep, receive $2RR from Cottonelle

Transaction #3
(1) Rescue Sleep 28ct          $6.80
Filler                           .20
Use $2 RR from Cottonelle & 5000 points from prior weeks, receive $8 RR from Rescue Sleep

Transaction #4
(1) Gillette Mach 3               $6.79
      (1) $3/1                   (3.00)
(2) Caress Body Wash             3.90
      (2) $2/1                    (4.00)
(2) Cheerios                       4.25
      (2) $1/1                    (2.00)
(2) Nice! Toilet Paper              2.00
Use $8RR from Rescue Sleep, receive 2000 points from Cheerios & $2 RR from Gillette

Transaction #5
(1) Gillette Mach 3                $6.79
      (1) $3/1                   (3.00)
Use 3000 point from prior weeks, receive $2RR

Total Before Tax $1.69
Total After Tax $6.50
Total After Tax and Rewards $2.50
Retail Value $93.30

my stockpile

I've been couponing since April and these are some of the things I have accumulated.  Keep in mind that I have given away a lot of things.  I allow people who come to my house to grab a sack, and get anything they may need.

Not many people have the patience to coupon.  I don't have patience for many things, but God gave me the brain to figure out this skill.  I do believe that He has blessed me to bless others.  75-100% of what I actually pay is TAX ONLY.  There's no getting around tax.  I have turned this into my hobby.  Most people have hobbies that cost them money; mine saves me money.

piece and love,

kayla

Walgreens Haul

Hey guys I've been waiting to get a really good deal before I tell you about how well couponing is going for me!!

So here it is!

Take a minute to guess the retail value on this.  Just think about it...

keep thinking....

keep thinking............

Out of pocket, I paid $5.87.  I saved $51.98.  That's 94%!  

On top of that,

I received a $4 Register Reward (which I can use on my next purchase), 2000 points (which equates to $2 once I redeem them), and $10 off my next $35 purchase.

TECHNICALLY that means I got paid $10.13 to make this purchase.

piece and love,

kayla

update

I would say my first couponing trip was a success!!  A very small trip, but none the less a success with 76% savings!  I spent about $3 on items that would have been about $12. 

I am so completely thrilled to have a job again, and to have started this hobby!!  I might give tips later, or I might just tell you to go to coupondivas.com and do the research yourself.  ;)

piece and love,

kayla

couponing

I've taken up a new hobby, y'all!!  And it doesn't cost me any money!!  Well...except for the Sunday paper and free prints at the library, but the savings is going to be way worth it!!  I have a trip to Walgreens planned ASAP.  I'll let you know how much I save.  Yay!!

piece and love,

kayla

worry is a sin

Can I just tell you guys what's been going on in my life the past 36 hours?

I was racking up at the penny sale at my local grocery store.  While on my way to check out, I saw a former manager and chatted for a bit.  She told me a spot was open at the hotel she works for.  I was thrilled.  I immediately went home, ironed clothes, and went to apply for the position.  I thought, This is my answer.  

I drove home and walked to our student union.  Every semester my school does an event called Big Money Bingo.  Everyone gets one Bingo card for the chance to play for one of over $8000 in prizes.  A few minutes in, I received a phone call from a former coworker saying that the manager wanted to talk to me about a position open at a hotel I previously worked for.  I thought, Is this my answer?

Well, guess what guys?  I won!  An Xbox Kinect bundle pack.  If you know me, you know I don't play video games.  I wasn't allowed as a child, and I have no desire in my adulthood.  After roughly an hour of politely arguing with the customer service manager at Walmart, I was able to get store credit for the full amount of the prize.  I thought, Oh, Thank You Lord.  Forgive me for worrying about affording groceries.

I met with my former employer today and explained to him the reasons I was forced to quit.  He said I was the best Breakfast Attendant he'd ever had, and told me I start tomorrow.  I thought, Glory be to God!

piece and love,

kayla

thank You for small blessings

The Lord has truly blessed me with brains.  I've discovered this thing called studying.  I don't know if you've heard of it, but I have made 100% on my past two Cost Accounting exams.  God is good.  :)

This is where I will be one week from tomorrow!!  Yay!!

 I know.  You're like There are woods and leaves everywhere dude, what the heck.  It doesn't look like it, but this is Florida.  And that's my best friend Jessie!

piece and love,

kayla

it's all up to you

Each and every day is a blessing and an opportunity.

An opportunity...to be better

...to praise better

...to love better

...to eat better

Messing up is not an excuse to give up.

piece and love,

kayla

i forgot

to thank you for your kind words on this post.

So, thank you.  :)

piece and love,

kayla

some sugar for my sugar

Hey guys!  Happy Valentine's Day!  Boyfriend's 21st birthday is tomorrow.  I always get so excited for his birthday.  :)  I'm making him a cheesecake today, and we're going on a date tomorrow.  

Tonight,

he's cooking me dinner and we're going to a play here on campus.  

I haven't worked out all month, but I've lost 4 more pounds so far.  Avoiding Taco Bell is probably the best thing I've done.  ;)   

Enjoy your day, lovely ladies.

piece and love,

kayla

grey area

By the way, grey and grey are both acceptable spellings of the color.  Gray is typically used in America, and grey in Great Britain.  I like -ey.

It's about to get real, y'all.

There is an organization on campus that is basically geared toward empowering black women.  I was invited to two nights of speakers, and have immensely enjoyed both events.  I have a page filled with notes consisting of inspiring words, as well as advice.

Here's the thing.

I am not a black woman.  Obviously I have my own struggle--we all do, but I do not know the struggle of a black woman.  I am blessed to be in a relationship with an amazing black man--who does not know the struggle of a black woman.  

I have absolutely no frame of reference.  When the speaker would say things like There is nothing better than to be a black woman, I felt myself looking down at my feet.  I don't feel as if I have the right to throw out an Amen or anything as such.  I am not a black woman.

While I have the utmost respect for the sensational women who spoke to the organization, and those who are part of the organization, I have a difficult time relating to phrases like women of color.  

I'm beige--what does that mean?

I was raised to see no color.  I don't know if I have told you before, but I'm a military brat.  I've been exposed to every kind of color that people come in.  I often forget that Boyfriend is a different color than me, and has a different history than I do.  

Boyfriend is a leader around campus--he's involved in many organizations and employed by the school.  Some believe that a black woman should be by his side--that a white woman is inadequate.  I believe that NO woman could possibly love him and care for him as much as I do.  

I thought I would feel better after writing this, but I don't.  If any of you have any insight or anything that could help me (if you could even follow my thought process), as always, feel free to comment.

piece and love,

kayla

daily substitutions

First, I want to thank you all for the congratulations.  It means so much!

The only thing I have really cut out of my diet is fast food (Taco Bell) and soda.  And when I go out to eat, I order from the kids menu instead of clearing my adult size portion.  So here are some really simple substitutions that will save you so much, and you won't even know it.

My zucchini bread recipe calls for 1/2 C vegetable oil.  Let me tell you one thing.  1 TBSP of oil has 120 calories and 14 g of fat!  14!  For one tablespoon!  I don't know how many tablespoons are in 1/2 a cup, so I'll let you do the math.  Applesauce, on the otherhand, has 90 calories and 0 g of fat per 1/2 C.  

I don't have all the facts for everything else, but here you go.

Turkey sausage vs. Hot dogs

Turkey bacon vs. Bacon

Extra lean ground beef vs. Ground chuck

Wheat buns/bread vs. White buns/bread

Wheat pasta vs. White pasta

Green tea vs. Coffee

These are super simple substitutions that make my home healthier.  These things are not drastic.  Except maybe the tea part for you coffee drinkers.  And the extra lean mean takes a kick to my wallet, but with the money I'm saving from avoiding fast food, I can afford it.  If you keep healthy food in your home, you'll eat healthy food.

piece and love,

kayla

it's the first!

Drumroll, Please!

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I weighed in today for a grand total of 144.8.  That's a 10.4 loss in one month.  And averaging 1-2 inches all over.  I'm thrilled.  I can fit into my clothes now!!  It's like going shopping in my own closet.  

I was looking at the CDC website, and it said a healthy weight for someone of my height is 101 to 136.  

Before I tell you my goal weight, I want to tell you that I'm thinking about going into the Air Force when I graduate.  That means I have to be seriously fit.  SO...my goal is 125.  That's just ball park.  I will not be upset in the least if I don't make it to that.  My main focus is being able to run and lift.  But I feel like that will be a healthy size for me.  I know, I know.  I'm going to look like one of the skinny girls I make fun of.  Oh well.  I'm going to be a BEAST.  

I'll have some more food substitutions I use in my next post.  

piece and love,

kayla

gym snob

The funny thing about this is I go crazy with diet and exercise once a year, and then gain it all back.  Lather, rinse, repeat.  I have absolutely no right to be a gym snob!

Never the less

I can't stand the little girls who get on the elliptical with absolutely no resistance who go ridiculously fast.  

credit

There is something called a flywheel in these machines.  Once it gets going, it uses momentum to propel you forward.  On the lowest resistance you aren't doing any work--the machine is doing it for you!!  So while you're trying to look awesome going super fast, you're not doing anything for your body.  

I totally respect if you're doing stations or whatever and only want to do 10 minutes on the machine.  Don't get on, do a mile, and get off.  Go for time, not distance.  I think that's one of the most common mistakes for people in gyms.  Just go home.  I'm trying to put in work, and I'm wasting energy being annoyed with you.  

piece and love,

kayla

kitchen cooked croutons

I was trying to look up prices of a bag of croutons, but if you know me, you know I don't like research.  Any time I need to know anything, I ask Boyfriend to look it up for me.  ;)  Regardless, why would you want to buy something with 100 preservatives when you could use this?

And obviously some whole wheat bread.  One slice of bread makes nine croutons.  I mix a little bit of all of the above, toss in my bread squares, and throw them in my 425 oven.  Just leave them in there until they're as crunchy as you want.

Sorry about the glare, my camera ran out of juice.

piece and love,

kayla

meal replacement

I suppose I should update you on my shakes from this post.

I gave them to my mom.

I do vigorous exercise, and I just don't think they're meant for people who exercise as hard as I do.  By the third day I was so dizzy I couldn't even walk into the kitchen without holding on to something.  Here's my theory.  

The shakes were keeping me SO full, that I couldn't fit enough water into my body.  I was losing a ton of water as sweat, therefore, dehydrating.  I was miserable.

A friend told me I should use one scoop rather than two per shake, but by that time the thought of drinking another meal was nauseating.

Oh well.

The first of the month is getting closer!  Boyfriend had to get on the scale for class, and has lost 4 lbs.  :D  

piece and love,

kayla

yummy in my tummy

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Big news, guys.  Domino's was giving away a medium one topping pizza to students with a Domino's app for $2 today, and today only.  I don't have a smartphone, so Boyfriend and I cheated the system.  Oh well!  

Don't lose faith in me.  I'm still dieting, if you want to call it that.  I look at all the nutrition facts before I go anywhere.  I just couldn't possibly pass up a $2 pizza.  

So here's what I did.  

I got thin crust rather than hand tossed, saving me 390 calories.  I also got fresh green peppers rather than pepperoni, saving me 230 calories.  Those are two easy substitutions that saved me an entire meal's worth of calories!  These are the types of tricks I've adopted into my lifestyle to work towards a healthier me.  Indulgence is essential, but be smart about it.  

Click here for Domino's nutrition facts.

piece and love,

kayla

study break

That's right, y'all.  I'm working towards minimized stress this semester.  That means watching lectures on the second day of classes.  Spongebob is on mute for some company, and my new soda is diet sparkling green tea.  It's wonderful.

piece and love,

kayla

first day jitters

To this day, I still get nervous every first day of class.  My 6th semester of college starts tomorrow, and it is going to consist of Management & Organizational Behavior, followed by Advanced Accounting.  Fun, huh?

Maybe you remember that I was going to take a class called Marriage and Family.  I wanted to take this to broaden my knowledge of relationships.  I read the syllabus, and learned that I would have to write a 10 page paper.  10 pages! For a class that's not in my major!!!  Heck no, Joe!!!  I dropped and enrolled in Plane Trigonometry.  I'd rather do 1000 math problems than a 10 page paper.  Call me crazy, if you'd like.

piece and love,

kayla 

my workout

Since Boyfriend is gone, my workout is much more simple so I'll let you know what I do.  I've just been focusing on cardio the past few days, because no one will see your rock hard muscle if it's under a layer of fat.

Here it is.

Stretch, obviously.  Just do it.  Don't question me.  I get on the elliptical and the machines at my gym have a TV.  Watch TV on your butt at home, or burn some calories while doing it?  Duh.  So, I love that.  And there are different programs on it that will automatically change your crossramp (incline) and resistance.  I've been doing the Interval program.  On the low interval it's programmed at 4 and 4.  I bump it up to 7 and 6 immediately.  On the high interval it's programmed at 10 and 10.  After 30 minutes, I bump it to 10 and 13.  The last 3 minutes of my hour workout I do 20 and 20, which is the maximum.  I made sure to pay attention this time instead of fleeing from the gym, and in one hour I burned 562 calories.  

I feel like this will be a lot more meaningful to you once I have some results, but they say stay off the scale if you want to make this long term.  I'm trying with all my might to fight everything I've known in the past.  So bear with me!  Bare with me?  Whatever, our language sucks.

PIECE and love,

kayla

just one more thing

I know I wrote already today, but I've been watching YouTube since I got back from my workout and I have to make one little comment.  I was watching MszJackieChu over here talk about things that damage your hair.  She said try to avoid brushing your hair and finger comb it instead.  You've seen this picture before, but let me just show you again.

This is natural, guys.  How in the crap do I finger comb this?  

piece and love,

kayla

interracial love and yoga

Last night I was watching Chopped.  If you've seen the show you know they do a little I'm this chef at this restaurant, if I won the money I would do this, yadayada before they actually cook.  So this guy was talking about himself and I noticed that he's in an interracial relationship.  This may sound really bad, but every time I see an interracial couple I want to fist pump.  In my head I feel like we're connected in some way.  Like we're in this together.  Forgive me if that sounds terrible, but I feel like you probably know what I mean.  My relationship endures stares and comments, and in reality, I forget that we're a different color.  I want to tell all the stares and comments to save it.

Anyway,

I do this every morning.

It's fairly easy and awesome.  The 10 minute session gives me peace in the morning, and it's good for my sore muscles from my real workouts the night before.  I feel better and that's the most important thing.  I can't wait until I can do a more advanced video. 

piece and love,

kayla

they're here!!

My shakes are here, guys!!!

I got a canister for them, because it's much more attractive on the counter than the bag.  I tried my first one today and it was actually pretty good.  I'm super excited.  Boyfriend and I are only weighing ourselves the first of the month so I'll let you know how it goes then.

I made these super yummy "healthy" desserts I wanted to show y'all, but we ate them all.  So I'll just tell you about them.  I mashed one banana and mixed it with a spoonful of peanut butter.  I sandwiched this mixture between a graham cracker broken in half, and stuck them in the freezer.  It makes 6 by the way.  They are absolutely wonderful.  Being that it's the first of the month, I'm assuming everyone is on the health kick and these are an awesome alternative to ice cream sandwiches.  Go try it!!

piece and love,

kayla

:)

I'm practicing being skinny by walking around in my sports bra.  Here's the thing.  I want abs.  New year's resolution, goal, aspiration--whatever you want to call it.  I can't wait to be healthy.  

I've ordered the ViSalus-Body by Vi-whatever you want to call it shakes.  They should be arriving next week.  I can't tell you how excited I am!  I've been spending hours upon hours on YouTube watching people's results and whatnot.  

Last night was Day One of workouts.  With Boyfriend's help, I'll be happy in no time.  I'm keeping a food journal until I get the shakes in.  If you haven't heard of them, they're a meal replacement with tons of vitamins.  I'll update you on weight and all that jazz once I get going.  

piece and love,

kayla