Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Doppelgängers and nationality inquiries...

So, what do all of these people have in common besides fame?  Me, apparently.
(too many to count)

(occasionally, but most recently yesterday)

(once, and hopefully never again)

(Bon Jovi, thank you Doug my bro-in-law)

(when meet joe black was popular)

(not as frequent but every now and again)

(usually for the smile)

(my sister pointed this one out in high school)

 
(in Ally McBeal days only)

If I had a dollar for every time somebody told me I looked like one of the above in my lifetime or someone else in the media (some way more frequent than others, thank goodness), or someone else they know "you look so familiar", or tried to guess my nationality "OMG I totally thought you were Mexican/Asian/Hawaiian/Argentinian/Native-American/Fill-in-the-blank", or how many times and ways I have had to explain to people that I am just your average white girl, I might not need to use coupons.

As for Brigham, he really only has one celebrity look alike, which we heard A LOT about after we sent out our wedding invitation.
What do you think?

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Extreme Couponing 1.0 (not so extreme)

When I was in San Diego this past weekend visiting my family, we had a couple days to just unwind and watch TV.  Since it was a holiday weekend, I guess, there was an "Extreme Couponing" marathon on TLC...and I got completely sucked in for hours and hours.  With each new episode my jaw continuously dropping to the floor!

It really is shocking to see people, who typically seem just as busy or busier and no smarter than me, checking out $1000+ worth of items for less than $50 over and over, and over again.  Then, to see the stockpiles in basements and pantries, that look and appear like grocery store isles (and know that everything in there was basically free) was even more mind blowing.  So it got me motivated to give couponing a chance.

All week I have been dabbling around on the Internet looking for tips and tricks of the trade.  Then yesterday I checked out this article online "How to be an extreme couponer in 10 days" and felt like I hit the jackpot of all coupon tutorials.  I totally recommend this link to anyone interested in trying this out:


I still need to shell out some cash to get my newspaper subscriptions (for Sunday coupons, which Internet resources recommend getting 2-6 sets of newspapers), so I didn't clip any of those, but in the mean time, I was able to print out some coupons online to get started...so shopping I went, coupons in hand!

Today, I went "couponing" for the first time to basically get a taste of the experience, and to see if I will really want to get those newspaper subscriptions.  I went to Target, and Costco, so no double couponing today.  Costco only allows you to use their store coupons, so I made a list of all the items I needed from their coupon booklet.  I wouldn't say it was anything near or even approaching extreme, and I really didn't end up with huge savings, though it was enough to leave me feeling satisfied.  But, the good thing about this trip, different than any others, is that I stayed focused and only put items in the cart that I had planned on buying/needed/had coupons for and COMPLETELY avoided impulse buys (which saved me about $100 right there.)  Next, I went to Target with a stash of coupons (both store coupons and manufacturer)...but I realized before I went that the Target store coupons were for the store brand, not brand name, so no huge savings there.

So, here are the results:
Costco: 77.89 (including 15.25 saved with coupons)
Target: 35.11 (including 5.00 saved with coupons)

TOTAL: $113 (total saved 20.25 with coupons) for a 15% savings today.

It's no 90% savings, but it was definitely fun enough as an experience to give me a new outlook on shopping.  Brigham is also excited about this new development.  I suppose if you count the money I would have spent in either of those stores on an average trip (usually Target is $60 and Costco is $200) I guess you could say I saved at least 50% today.

Monday, September 5, 2011

labor day weekend, san diego

I Heart San Diego To Do List:


Go to the beach
Ride Wave-Runner in Mission Bay with the fam
Go bargain shopping
Eat In-n-Out
Watch HGTV and other favorite shows
Watch "Extreme Couponing" marathon
Eat at Pat & Oscars
Go see San Diego Temple lit up (too late for a visit inside)
Take a romantic walk on the beach with hubby (La Jolla)
Eat Yogurt Mill (frozen yogurt)
Family BBQ
Backyard pool party
Chillax
Go to Brigham & Mike's musical fireside (Del Mar)
Sell 40 CD's
Book future gigs
Enjoy family bonding
Eat special waffle & strawberry breakfast to congratulate Brigham
Eat at Rubio's (taco shop/burritos)


Did I miss anything?