Retire@50

Last summer while doing the $25/week grocery challenge I lost 5 lbs. Then I had my kidney stone and ended up in the hospital for 2 weeks and lost 10 more lbs. After getting out of the hospital I had no energy and no appetite and lost another 5 lbs. Unfortunately after that it was the holiday season and instead of building on that loss I gained back everything I lost by April 1st.

Mid-April I started low-carb/primal/paleo way of eating. I weigh on Sunday and Wednesday and when I got on the scale this morning I saw the Whoosh! fairy had visited me and I had lost 2 lbs since Wednesday. This puts me 2 pounds under my low of last year, without the visit to the hospital to help out

So even though I've lost over 20 lbs my mind wants to tell me only the last 2 count, since the first 19 lbs were re-lost lbs. Bad Head!!! You can't always control your thinking, but either way I'm now on my way to losing 'real' weight

I finished reading the library book Tucker's Claim by Sarah McCarty. Romance - very good.

I went to the farmer's market this morning and got a small watermelon for $3 and a zucchini for .50 cents. I have a buttered zucchini noodle recipe I want to try out next week.

I also got 2 pounds of grass-fed, hormone free ground beef for $4.50/lb from the Anderson Meat Company. I've been looking at grass-fed beef for several weeks now, but hadn't been able to talk myself into paying the price. Most of what I've seen has been around $8 in the stores. I did some online research and found a couple places about $6-$7/lb. I'm going to try it tomorrow night to make sure I like it before buying anymore. Does anyone have any suggestions on buying grass-fed meat at least somewhat less expensively?
Or do you know of a good online source?

I would fix it tonight, but I'm going to my parents to play games and have steak.

It was really cool this morning - under 50 degrees. I had to wear a light jacket when we walked. I love it. 50 - 70 is my preferred weather.

I finished reading my book Valor's Choice by Tanya Huff. Sci/Fi - very good.

ytd = April 1 2011 - March 31, 2012
Coupon total ytd = 992.87
RX total = 246.32
Discounted Gift Cards = 207.19
Total = 1,446.38

King Soopers has a new game on their website called Spin and Win. Add 4 P&G coupons to your loyalty card and spin the wheel to see if you win. I did this yesterday and won $3. That paid for my romain lettuce this morning. I usually win at least once on these games. They last for a couple weeks or more.

I spent 11.21 on produce and eggs this morning and got a new book for 6.20. Used $8.40 in coupons. I picked up a prescription for .80.

Paid my car insurance. It went down a little. 6 months for $279.21

If anyone is interested in low-carb/paleo/primal eating here's a huge list of podcasts by various authors/specialists in the field.

ytd = April 1 2011 - March 31, 2012
Coupon total ytd = 984.47
RX total = 246.32
Discounted Gift Cards = 207.19
Total = 1,437.98

I bought my size 16 incentive pants on August 3rd. At that time I could barely get them to the top of my thighs. I tried them on this morning and I was able to just squeeeze into them. Very tight, but completly on. I was shocked! I usually weigh on Sunday and Wednesday and the weight loss has slowed in month 4. I've only lost 3 lbs so far this month, but I've felt smaller, so decided to try the pants on just to see, I never, ever expected to get into them with only a 3 lb loss. I take my measurements the first of every month so I will be excited to see what they are on Thursday.

I went to Safeway this morning for produce and to pick up 2 prescriptions. Prescriptions cost $9.20.

I got 5 large tubes of Colgate toothpaste to donate. They were free after coupons. I don't know how toothpaste companies ever make money on toothpaste. It's always free. I've given away over 50 tubes so far this year.

I also got 4 trial size boxes of Tide for free and 4 pouches of Starkist tuna for .50/each. I'll give 2 of the tunas to my oldest niece and keep the other 2.

I was reading money saving mom this morning and they have a super cool way of making art for your walls from toilet paper tubes - check this out

ytd = April 1 2011 - March 31, 2012
Coupon total ytd = 971.47
RX total = 246.32
Discounted Gift Cards = 207.19
Total = 1,424.98

I already got my blood test results from Friday. That was super fast.

Cholesterol = 228 - a little high
Triglycerides = 153 - a little high
HDL = 48 - a little low
VLDL = 31 - perfect
LDL = 149 - a lot high
T. Chol/HDL ratio = 4.8 - a little high

This gives me a baseline. I will recheck in 3 months and see if there is any improvement. I know my HDL and Triglycerides have improved from the last test.

I went over to my sisters this morning to drop off coupons for free greek yogurt and the Minute Maid frozen cherry lemonades I got for them. On the way back I stopped at Walmart to pick up some deals using yesterdays coupons.

Walmart has an 8-lb box of hamburger patties on sale for $16.98. 32 ct or .53/each. It's 75/25 fat and that's a really good price for patties. I got 1 box.

I got 8 pouches of Idaho instant potatoes for .17/each that I will donate to the food pantry.

I got 5 free trial size pouches of Cascade dishwashing tabs. That's 15 washes. I used the coupons from yesterday's P&G insert.

I used the $10 Walmart gift card I got in the mail from My Points last week to pay for part of it. Spent $8.57.

I finished reading the library book Smokin' Seventeen by Janet Evanovich. Mystery - very good.

ytd = April 1 2011 - March 31, 2012
Coupon total ytd = 964.47
RX total = 246.32
Discounted Gift Cards = 207.19
Total = 1,417.98

Lots of good coupons in the paper this week so I went to the 7-11 and got 2 more papers. With these coupons I know I can get very cheap/free dishwashing tabs, paper towels, and Tide, plus I see other coupons that may get me free stuff depending on sales.

Stopped at Walgreens for this weeks moneymaker. Buy 1 28-ct box of Estroven for $10 and get a $10 register reward. I had a $3 coupon so after taxes I made $2.33. I got 2 boxes and will donate both to the food pantry.

My steak from last night was really good. I marinated it in olive oil and red wine first and then added garlic, salt and pepper and seared it for 3 minutes on each side and finished it in the oven at 450 for 15 minutes. I like my steak well-done.

I finished reading my book Cutting Loose by Tara Janzen. Romance - very good.

I've been eating a lot of Big Ass Salads the last few weeks for lunch. I start with a homemade dressing. The base is salt and pepper and balsalmic vingegar. Then I add olive oil or sunflower oil or mayonaisse depending on what I feel like that day. I add a large handful of spinach and about 4 cups of romaine.

Next come the veggies and egg. I usually add a hard-boiled egg, onion and tomatoes. I may add celery and/or radishes if I have them.

Meat can be any of the following, ham, pepperoni, leftover roast chicken breast, turkey deli meat, tuna, ground beef, or shrimp sauteed in butter.

Finally I might add some slivered almonds, walnuts or sunflower seeds. Makes a huge salad and very tasty and filling, I don't want to eat again for several hours.

Today I woke up late so only eating 2 meals. For dinner I'll have one of the steaks I got yesterday and green beans with salsa, a small salad and watermelon for dessert. Sounds good to me.

I finished reading the library book Promises Revealed by Sarah McCarthy. Romance - very good.

I went in town this morning to get my blood test, next time I have to go I will take another route though. The directions the computer gave me took me way out of the way if I had known exactly where it was. There is a much faster way from my house. Live and Learn

The lab place was 1 block from a super Target so went in and got a loaf of apple fritter bread for mom and 2 of the Archer Farms brand of sliced ham. 1 for me and 1 for mom. If you haven't tried this brand (Target brand) of ham, it is very good.

I drove right by the King Soopers gas station and got gas. I had a $1/gal off for transferring a prescription. I filled up my 2 5-gal gas cans and my tank. Paid $2.39 after the discount and got just over 19 gals, saved $19.11 on gas. Paid with a credit card that's giving 5% back on gas this quarter.

Stopped at a Walgreens in town and got another 6 of the .39 cent Scotch bubble mailers.

Last stop was Albertsons on the way home. They had a sale buy 1 get 2 free petite sirloin steaks. The steaks looked really nice. They come in approx. 2 lb packs. You pay for the most expensive package and the other 2 are free. So I got around 6 lbs of steak for $14.33. Each package has 4 or 5 steaks in it. I plan to cook the whole package tomorrow night. I'll eat it for 2/3 days and freeze the rest. Paid with a discounted gift card.

I finished reading my book A Purple Place for Dying by J.D. MacDonald. Mystery - very good. This is the last of this series, I've reread all of them now and have decided not to keep anymore so they go in the used bookstore box. That clears up one bookshelf, but more are coming in everyday to refill it

ytd = April 1 2011 - March 31, 2012
Coupon total ytd = 944.47
RX total = 227.20
Discounted Gift Cards = 207.19
Total = 1,378.86

Ran several errands this morning. First stop was Walgreens where I got 6 more Scotch bubble mailers for .39/each and a tube of Colgate Pro-Sensitive toothpaste that I will donate to the food pantry. The tooth paste was on sale for 4.99. I had a $1.50 coupon and got back a $4 RR. So I made a few cents on it after taxes.

Next stop was Safeway. I got 3 trial size boxes of Tide for free. 2 Starkist tuna pouches for .50/each. 2 6.4 oz tubes of Colgate toothpaste for free and a lb of Primo Taglio deli turkey for $5.99. I spent $7.23. The toothpaste goes to the food pantry.

At the library 18 holds came in. I had to bring in a bag to carry them all. Most weeks I get 3 - 5 holds then all the sudden they all show up at once. It's a good thing I can renew most of them twice. I already have several checked out so I'm behind on reading the library books.

Next up was King Soopers. I spent $10.56 after using $55.47 in coupons. $2.77 of the $10.56 was for items to donate to the food pantry. I had a coupon for $10/$50 at Safeway, but King Soopers takes those. I also used the 2 $10 gift cards I got from buying cereal last month, so that was $30 of the $55 in coupons I used.

I got 5 cans of Spaghettios for .29/each, 2 bottles Lawry's marinade for free, 3 free 2ct packages GUM Crayola toothbrushes and a can of Del Monte tomatoes for .49 to donate to the food pantry.

I got a package of 8 ct Jif to Go for my oldest niece using a free item coupon and I got 3 free 4ct packages of Minute Maid frozen Cherry limeades to give to my youngest niece.

For myself I got a bunch of radishes, 2 red onions, 3 tomatoes, a bunch of spinach, 2 bottles of Nature's Bounty CoQ10 (BOGO + $6 coupons + 50% more/per bottle + $5 back when you spend $30), 2 doz Land O Lakes eggs, and 2 5 ct boxes Atkins bars.

On the way out of King Soopers I got a free movie from the Redbox machine using a promo code.

I finished reading my book Sizzle by Julie Garwood. Romance - very good.

I've been wanting to get my cholesterol/triglycerides checked out since I've been on this new way of eating for 3 months now and have been waiting for Walgreens to get their machine working. It's been 3 weeks. So yesterday I read about a place called DirectLabs where you can order medical tests for yourself online and then take the order to a LabCorp. I checked it out and the nearest LabCorp is only 20 miles away. They have a locator on the site and it will even give you driving directions - pretty cool.

The lipid panel test was $29, Walgreens was $35, plus before checking out I checked retailmenot and they had a coupon code to take $3 off. So $26 for the test.
They also have a deal where you can set up your appt online, so now I have an sppt for Fri morning at 9 am to get the test done. It takes 8 - 10 days to get the results.

I'd like to get my thyroid tested sometime too, that was $100 something. I have a high deductible on my insurance and this is a lot cheaper than going to a dr and paying for an appt to get a prescription to get the labwork and then going back to the dr for the results. There are lots of websites that help you interpret the results. If it's bad I can set up a dr appt then.

I got a $10 gift card to Walmart in the mail yesterday from MyPoints along with 4 books I ordered from Amazon and a $7 coupon to NatureMade.

On our walk this morning mom and I saw a daddy deer, a mommy deer and 2 baby deers. Very cute.

I finished reading my book Crazy Wild by Tara Janzen. Romance - very good.

I just finished watchin a course on early American history thru the 49ers. I got it from the library and it was excellent. The teacher was guy who teaches high school in CA. There was thirty 30-minute lectures. For each lecture he dressed up as a different character of the time period and spoke with that accent. He wasn't a famous character, but was familiar with famous characters, for instance George Washingtons secretary or Mark Twain's brother. He would tell a little bit about the common man's life during the time discussed and then talk about the main issues of the time. Quite entertaining. I bet his students love him.

There was a big fire in the foothills near me for the last couple of days. You could see it from my house. They had it mostly contained yesterday and then we got a big rainstorm last night. Almost 2 hours of rain, which really helped. Glad it's out now. I hate to see the mountains burn.

I finished reading the library book What Angels Fear by C.S. Harris. Mystery - pretty good.

I went to Walmart and King Soopers this morning. I got free Eggsland eggs at King Soopers because they were marked wrong.

I got 10 cans of spaghettio's for .29/each. 8 packages of Idaho instant potatoes for .24/each. And 2 2ct packages GUM kids toothbrushes to donate to the food pantry.

I had alot more stuff even though it's only been 10 days since my last visit so I dropped off 8 more sacks at the Food pantry. Plus I wanted to get the school supplies there while they are still needed. School starts next week here.

Super hot again today, but supposed to rain later on.

I finished reading the library book Cast in Chaos by Michelle Sagara. Sci/Fi - excellent series.

I took my youngest niece to see Cowboys and Aliens yesterday. We both liked it. I used my last free movie coupon from buying cereal last month. I spent $5 for her ticket.

We went to Red Robin for lunch. I got a mushroom burger and a side salad. Removed the bun from the burger. It was good.

We went bday shopping for her. Her bday is next month. She wanted this thing that plugs into her car and plays her iPod thru the FM radio @50, earplugs @15 and then we went to Wet Seal and got 4 pieces of clothes for @25. They were on clearance buy 1 get 1 for .01 cent. I have about $10 left and will get her a small gift card to Walgreens, so she can get fancy shampoo or skin stuff that she likes

Also stopped in at Borders which has everything at 50%. Got 3 expensive books for $25.

On the way to pick her up, I stopped at Staples to get some school supplies to donate, plus pick up some things for me. Our local food pantry is basically the focal point for all of the charitable groups in my small town. They collect food, personal care, household, health care items, toys for xmas, clothes and school supplies all in one place. That's nice for me.

At Staples I had a coupon for 300 address labels for free - normally $9.99. I also got 2 packages of copy paper and 1 package of photo paper for .50/each after rebate. The photo paper will go to my mom.

Staples had 1 subject notebooks on sale for .01/each. I got 6 of those and a 7 ct package of mechanical pencils that were free after rebate. All of that will be donated.

I spent $25.92 and will get a $24.46 rebate check and mom will give me $.50 for the photo paper. I paid with an 8% discounted gift card and turned in 5 ink cartridges.

Walgreens has the Tru2Go blood glucose monitor free after rebate this week. $9.99. It comes with 10 free strips so I got one and tried it this morning. I really like it, needs a very small amount of blood to test, but it's 3 points higher than my Ultra mini monitor. The monitor itself is really small too, about the size of a silver dollar, so easy to carry around with you. 10 test strips is worth around $7. I'll get the rebate and I might get another monitor and have my mom send in a rebate form for it.

I got a $2 rebate check in the mail, but can't figure out what it was for. Usually it says on the check what you sent in for. Ah well, I'll cash it

I finished reading my book One Fearful Yellow Eye by John D. MacDonald. Mystery - very good.

I recently finished reading the library book Why We Get Fat And What To Do About It by Gary Taubes. I thought it was really good. It basically details the history on how government policy was formed around the theories of low-fat, high-carbs is good for peoples health regardless of the science that doesn't back up those theories. The following quotes are from Amazon. Well worth reading to decide for yourself.

"The most important point of the book is that all those public recommendations -- the food pyramid, the "eat food, not too much" approach, everything we know about a balanced lifestyle -- is founded on the premise of Calories In vs. Calories Out. That we get fat because we eat too many calories, or we don't burn enough of them through movement. But this is nonsense. It's not just wrong, it is actually not a statement about what causes obesity at all (or heart disease, cancer or diabetes, for that matter.) It is, in Taubes' words, a "junior high level mistake," because it tells us nothing about fat accumulation. If we get fat, by definition we have taken in more calories than we've put out -- but WHY we took in those calories, or didn't burn them, is the key point. "

"Taubes reviews the scientific literature (rather than the popular press) and presents a conclusion that was common knowledge before WWII, and heresy afterward: we get fat because our fat cells have become disregulated and are taking nutrients that should be available to other tissues. Like a tumor, the cells live for themselves rather than in balance with the rest of the body. And since those nutrients aren't available, we become hungry and tired. Therefore we eat more, and move less. "

"While Taubes acknowledges that exercise seems to be good for us for a variety of reasons, weight control isn't one of them. Study after study conducted by proponents of exercise have admitted that they see no compelling evidence for exercise as a weight-loss tool. And it makes sense if you throw out the calories in/calories out model of why we get fat. If we're fat because our fat tissues are starving the rest of our cells of fuel, exercise is just going to make us hungrier and more tired, not leaner and more fit. (It's worth noting that according to Taubes, in the 1930s obese patients were treated with bed rest.) "

I ordered 7 books from Amazon this morning and paid $0.00. I had $80 in swagbucks and when I was signing out they offered me another $40 if I signed up for the Amazon gift card. So I did that.

$66.29 - total of 7 paperbacks
-9.93 - free shipping
-7.99 - 4 for 3 promotion
-----
$48.37 in free books used $8.37 of my swagbucks total

I finished reading the library book Just Like Heaven by Julia Quinn. Romance - very good.

ytd = April 1 2011 - March 31, 2012
Coupon total ytd = 841.01
RX total = 227.20
Discounted Gift Cards = 207.19
Total = 1,275.40

I got $60 in the mail today. A $40 rewards check from my mastercard and 2 $10 Kellogs Discover cards for buying cereal last month.

I got a haircut at Great Clips this morning. I had a coupon for $7.99 so I paid $10 and saved $4.

I picked up a prescription at King Soopers. It was a transfer so I got another $1 off gas rewards. That will save me $20 in gas. The prescription cost $1.60

It's only 60 degrees so had a really nice walk this morning.

I watched Predators last night from Netflix. I liked it. I'm almost out of movies in my Netflix queue. I think I'll probably cancel it next month and just use Redbox until I get behind in movie watching again.

I got 2 more $5 Amazon gift cards from Swagbucks today also.

I finished reading the library book Invincible by Sherrilyn Kenyon. Paranormal - very good.

ytd = April 1 2011 - March 31, 2012
Coupon total ytd = 837.01
RX total = 227.20
Discounted Gift Cards = 207.19
Total = 1,271.4

I dropped off 6 bags of groceries and stuff at the food pantry this afternoon. 91 items valued at $106.54. I spent $10.09.

Stopped by the local library and the weedy lot in front has tons of Indian paintbrushes. Those are my favorite wildflowers.

Went to Safeway for free produce. I got 2 bags of Fresh Express salad, 2 bags coleslaw, 3 tomatoes, a bag of celery and some cherries. Cost was $10.55, but I had a coupon for $3/$10 produce purchase so I paid $7.55 using the gift card I got last month for transferring prescriptions. Still have around $13 on the card.

Finished reading the library book The Jefferson Key by Steve Berry. Thriller - very good.

I met a friend at the cheap theater to see Pirates of the Caribean yesterday. Used to call it the dollar theater, but it costs $1.75 for a ticket now, so can't call it that anymore

We both liked the movie. Tons of people there though, didn't care for that. We went to Applebee's for lunch afterwards. I got a spinach and shrimp salad, which was really good - spent $10.75.

Before meeting at the theater I stopped at the big library in town and got several books and about 50 back issues of magazines. I love reading magazines.

I also went to the used book store and traded in a bag of books.

The dollar store up on my end of town went out of business. I saw there was one by the theater and since I was early I went in. They had a frozen foods section. I've never seen a dollar store with a frozen food section. I got some furniture polish, which even Walmart brand is $3, so that was cheap. I rarely see this under $2. And I also got some plastic wrap. Another item I rarely see a good sale on.

I finished reading the library book Hit List by Laurell K. Hamilton. Paranormal - excellent.

ytd = April 1 2011 - March 31, 2012
Coupon total ytd = 822.01
RX total = 219.65
Discounted Gift Cards = 207.19
Total = 1,248.85

Yesterday mom and I went in town to shop. I went to Kmart to get some new jeans. I've been buying the same style jeans there for over 10 years. I needed a new pair in the size I wear now, which is a size 18. Mom was not happy to learn I'm fitting in a size 18 now. Not because she's unhappy about my wearing that size, but because that's the size she wears. I weigh quite a bit more than she does, but I carry my weight in my stomach and she puts hers on her butt.

I also wanted to get a pair of size 16 and 14 pants as incentives. I like to try the next size down on every few weeks to see if I'm making progress. They didn't have those sizes in the women's section so I had to shop in the normal people section - woohoo! It may be big normal, but it's normal or will be as soon as I can fit into the 16's.

I used the Sear's gift card I bought at Safeway a few months ago that gave me $10 off my groceries when I bought a $50 gift card. I was over by .27

Also went to Party City. I had a coupon for $10/$50 which I gave to my mom. She said she didn't think she could spend that much. $100 later... Anyways she saved $10 with the coupon.

We went to Bed, Bath and Beyond where I got a new silicone oven liner. Mine wore out after 5 or 6 years. It was $10 and I used a 20% off coupon and paid with a 8% discounted gift card.

We had lunch at Ruby Tuesday's and I had a coupon for a free salad bar with purchase of the entre, so I saved $2.99 on that. Spent $11.27 also paid with a 10% discounted gift card.

I decided to go ahead and get the AARP membership. It's $16/year. I keep borrowing mom's card to get deals at Walgreens so I figure it will at least pay for itself.

I transferred a prescription to King Soopers and got another $1 off gas reward. I gave it to my dad since I don't need gas this month.

I finished reading the library book Legacies by L.E. Modesitt Jr. Sci/Fi - very good.

ytd = April 1 2011 - March 31, 2012
Coupon total ytd = 815.02
RX total = 219.65
Discounted Gift Cards = 207.19
Total = 1,241.86

I retired 3 years ago today - yipee! I have loved all of it, even the times I was in the hospital - that would have been so much harder if I had to work.

Today is also my sisters birthday. My niece drove down from collage and dad took all of us to Cheddar's for lunch. It was ok - I had the lemon pepper chicken. I didn't think it was that special, but it's new here.

I got several more items free today from yesterday's coupons. Walmart has trial size Cascade action pack dishwashing tabs that have 3 tabs in each pouch for .97. There was a coupon for $1 in yesterday's paper so free and paid part of the taxes on it. I actually bought 2 extra papers yesterday because the coupons were so good. I get 2 subscriptions and mom give me what she doesn't want.

I also got 3 trial size Degree deodorant, 3 boxes of BenGay cream, and 2 12 ct Bic razors for free from Walmart. All the coupons had overage so they paid for all the taxes too. All of these items go to the food pantry.

At King Soopers I got another 3 tubes of Colgate and 3 bottles of Ivory body wash for free using yesterday's coupons. I did pay taxes on them but got another $2 coupon to use on my next order for the Crest so came out ahead. All of these go to the food pantry too.

Walmart had their 5 lb chubs of hamburger marked down from $11 to $7.69. I got 2 chubs and came home and made a bunch of hamburger patties and froze them.

I finished reading the library book Pick Another Checkout Lane Honey by Joanie Demer. Non-Fiction - ok. The part about how to decode the barcodes on coupons was interesting, but I'll never remember it. I think some of the other books I've read like this are better. Like How to Shop for Free and Shop Smart, Save More

ytd = April 1 2011 - March 31, 2012
Coupon total ytd = 785.47
RX total = 219.65
Discounted Gift Cards = 207.19
Total = 1,1212.31

It's the end of the month and several coupons are expiring. They are for things I can get free that I can give to the food pantry, so I went shopping today.

I went to 2 Walgreens and got 9 .39 mailers for myself. I've used 4 in the last 2 days with paperback swap books. Spent $4.14. Went to the post office to mail my items and spent $7.64

At King Soopers I spent .83 in taxes and got a $2 OYNO coupon back, so basically made money. The $2 coupon was for buying 3 Crest toothpaste. When you buy $6 in Crest you get a coupon for $2 off your next order. The $6 is the before sale price, so even though they were on sale for $1 and I had coupons to make them free, the catalina is based on the $2.24 pre-sale price.

I got the following for .83 in taxes after coupons. All of it goes to the food pantry.

3 boxes Ronzoni Garden Delights pasta
3 6.4 oz tubes Colgate toothpaste
6 Oral B toothbrushes
3 12 oz Ivory body wash

Next was Safeway were I spent .49 and got a coupon for $3 off my next $10 produce purchase. I got the following

16 oz SW brand brown rice - FREE
12 oz SW brand marinade - FREE
16 oz SW brand frozen green beans - FREE
1 bag Fresh Express coleslaw - .49

The rice and marinade go to the food pantry.

I finished reading my book Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs. Paranormal - very good.

ytd = April 1 2011 - March 31, 2012
Coupon total ytd = 764.97
RX total = 219.65
Discounted Gift Cards = 207.19
Total = 1,191.81

I took my youngest niece to see Captain America yesterday. It was Ok. It wasn't great and neither one of us liked the ending. I used 2 of my free movie tickets from buying cereal last month, I have one left.

I had a coupon for $10 off any purchase at Pier 1, so we stopped there on the way to the movie. I found two cute soup bowls I liked for $6/each. After the coupon they were $2.15 with taxes. I had 2 coupons, but couldn't find anything else I liked or thought someone else would like for a gift so I gave one coupon to the lady waiting in line in front of me, she was happy.

Since Border's is going out of business and I still have a gift card, we went there. I got 4 books at 40% off and used up my gift card and spent $3. The gift card had about $18 on it.

We ate at the food court for about $11.

Walgreens has cushion mailers on sale this week for .39/each - normally $1.59. I got 9 of those and will probably go back on one of my grocery runs before Saturday and get at least 3 more. I've swapped so many books lately I was completely out. At one of the Walgreens they were having a booksale for charity. I picked out about 10 paperback books and donated $10.

I finished reading the library book Kiss of Snow by Nalini Singh. Paranormal - very good.

ytd = April 1 2011 - March 31, 2012
Coupon total ytd = 743.97
RX total = 219.65
Discounted Gift Cards = 207.19
Total = 1,170.81

I went to King Soopers to get a few more free things for the food pantry this morning and to get more eggs and tuna for me. I got 3 doz eggs, 4 pouches of tuna, 3 boxes of Ronzoni pasta, 2 tubes colgate toothpaste, 1 reach toothbrush, 1 reach floss and 2 colgate wisps. After coupons I paid $3.88. I used $11.75 in coupons. Everything except the eggs and tuna will go to the food pantry.

Next I went to Safeway and got $78 worth of groceries for free. This is a little complicated. Safeway has a deal this month when you transfer 6 prescriptions you get $60 in gift cards. I had already got one of the $30 gift cards and I transfered my 6th prescription today and got another $30 gift card. I spent $5.60 on the prescription. I also got a coupon for 10% off my entire grocery order, after safeway coupons, for transferring the prescription.

Safeway has a deal this week when you buy a $100 Mastercard you get a coupon for $10 off your next order. So I spent $105.95 for the card, (paid with a credit card that gives me 1% back) and got my $10 coupon. It's like buying money with the $10 coupon I am ahead $4.05. I can use the MC anywhere.

Safeway sent out a bunch of coupons last week. One was the $10/$50 coupon that I used at King Soopers to get my free salmon. They also had a $4 off 4 lbs of frozen chicken breasts, and several free item coupons. The free item coupons were salsa, marinade, salad dressing, frozen vegetables, rice and Mission tortillas. I got all of those for free, plus 10% off the price, which was used to cover other items. I had a coupon to make a travel size of Tide free and a Pure Protein bar free. And I had a coupon for $3 off $10 in produce, plus several other miscellaneous coupons.

In all I used $41.25 in coupons, including the $10 off coupon from the MC purchase and $5.95 from the 10% discount and $26.51 on the $30 gift card I got from the pharmacy.

I got the following items. FP = food pantry. SW = Safeway.

SW ceasar salad dressing - Free - FP
SW marinade - Free - FP
SW salsa - Free
SW brown rice - Free - FP
Mission low carb tortillas - free
2 big rolls Viva paper towels - .48/each
SW frozen green beans - Free
Travel size Tide - Free
4 boxes Atkins bars - 3.47/each
Pure Protein bar - Free - FP
4 lb frozen chicken breasts, boneless/skinless - 5.19
2 lb frozen tilapia fillets - 7.19
Gortons fish fillets - 1.25
1 lb deli turkey meat - 5.43
4 stalks celery - .28
1 onion - .73
2 bags Fresh express lettuce - BOGO - 2.29
3 bags shredded cabbage - 3.57
1 garlic - .50

I got quite a bit of meat and produce for free on this order. My freezer is getting stocked up again. I love coleslaw - it's my veggie of choice, plus it lasts alot longer than lettuce. I eat about 2 cups at a meal so those 3 bags of coleslaw will be gone in a little over a week.

I finished reading Crazy Kisses by Tara Janzen - Romance - excellent.

My sister and I drove up to Greeley to see my oldest niece yesterday. I took her 4 bags of groceries and book #16 in the Stephanie Plum series. We took her to lunch at Red Lobster where I had shrimp scampi - spent $10.27 using a discounted gift card.

Then we went to see Harry Potter. I used one of my free movie ticket coupons so saved $6.50. The movie was really good, my niece loved it. Before the movie we needed to kill some time so we walked thru the mall attached to the movie theater.

They had an Asian gift store where there was a really cool carved 'jade' dragon ship. It was about 4 feet long and 3 feet tall. It was $800. I bought a smaller version for $100. It's about a 18 inches long and a foot tall. Very cool looking. I also got a chinese jade dragon for $20. I'm not sure what the actual stone is, it looks like jade, but I'm sure it's not or my small version would probably have been $800 too.

I went to the Farmer's market this morning and got about 10 tomatoes for $6.

I finished reading the library book Lie With Me by Stephanie Tyler. Romance - very good.

ytd = April 1 2011 - March 31, 2012
Coupon total ytd = 678.52
RX total = 189.65
Discounted Gift Cards = 207.19
Total = 1,075.36

Went to King Soopers this morning and spent a lot more than usual on groceries, but I got $25 worth of wild caught salmon for free. I spent $62.40.

I had a coupon from Safeway for $10/$50 and I had 3 $5 Visa cards that I got from buying the Kelloggs cars 2 cereal last month so between those two deductions I got 3 lbs of salmon for free. The salmon was on sale for $7.99/lb

I also did 3 mega deals - buy 10 save $5 which saved me $15 and I used $19.73 in other coupons.

I spent $20 in vitamins which was a big part of the $62 I had to spend and I also got some frozen shrimp on sale for $6, which was another chunk.

I got 3 tubes of Colgate toothpaste, 4 Reach toothbrushes, 3 boxes Ronzoni Garden Delight pasta, 1 Pasta Roni and $2 in Produce for free. All of this, except the produce will be donated to the food pantry. I got the produce free for buying 4 bottles of Kraft Salad dressing. They were part of the mega deal and were .99/each after sale and coupons and then I had a coupon for $1 off produce when you buy 2 bottles of Kraft dressing.

I got 3 doz eggs for $1/each and 6 large boxes of Kleenex for .66/each. I got 3 Rice a Roni for .69/each for the food pantry - had a coupon get a free pasta roni wyb 3 rice a roni. I got 6 pouches Bumbleebee albacore tuna for .99/each and 1 was free.

Did you know they are adding soy to cans of tuna now? It's ridiculous, it's so hard to find anything without crap added to it and if you do it costs an arm and a leg. I found 5 1/2 oz cans for more than $2 without the soy. It's like paying people not to add crap to food or paying the phone company not to list you so you don't get junk phone calls, should be the other way around

I also got a box of Kosher salt, a bottle of Palmolive dish soap for .39, some tomatoes, lettuce and bagged coleslaw, 2 things of Philadelphia cream cheese and Baker's unsweetened chocolate. Things sure do add up fast.

I paid with gift cards I bought in 2007 using the stimulous checks Bush sent out. Back then Bush was sending out $1200 checks for stimulous. King Soopers had a deal if you buy a $300 gift card they would add 10% more to it. So you paid $300 and got $330 on the card. I bought $2400 worth of cards using a credit card that paid me 5% back and making $240 on the cards with the 10% bonus. I started on my last one of those cards today. I had 8 and am down to 1. I've bought groceries, prescriptions, gas and gift cards with those cards in the last 4 years, they lasted a lot longer than I thought they would. This one still has over $300 on it so it should last several more months, unless I keep shopping like today.

I finished reading my book Bright Orange for the Shroud by John D. MacDonald. Mystery - pretty good.

I had a $1 off a gallon of gas from King Soopers for filling a prescription and went to fill up my tank and my 2 5 gallon gas cans today. I spent $2.39/gal with the discount. I spent $51.07 total on my Discover card which is giving 5% back on gas purchases this quarter. While I was there I bought a $100 gift card using the credit card, so I can get gas in the next quarter using a gift card that I got 5% back on.

I also dropped two more swap books at the post office for $4.82. After my carpet finished and I put all my books back in place, I went thru and organized my books. I found several duplicates, plus I found some books missing from certain series. This is because I loan books to a friend who keeps them for years. I forget what I have and occassionally buy ones I've loaned her because it's been so long I forget I bought them. The missing books are mostly from 10 years ago when she packed up all the books I loaned her and moved. She hasn't unpacked yet. She knows she has them and keeps reassuring me that as soon as this one next project is done, she'll get to them, but I'm not holding my breath.

So I took my duplicates and the list of missing books and put them all on paperback swap. I've already swapped over 10 books. If my friend ever does give back the old books I might have some more duplicates, but I'll just list them on swap.com and get some new ones.

I finished reading the library book Born of Shadows by Sherrilyn Kenyon. Paranormal - very good.

ytd = April 1 2011 - March 31, 2012
Coupon total ytd = 641.89
RX total = 189.65
Discounted Gift Cards = 207.19
Total = 1,038.73

I'm having to walk in the evenings now because it's over 80 even at 8 in the morning, and even though it's over 80 when I walk about 8 at night, the sun is going down and there's more shade, which makes it bearable. Anyways, the neighborhood behind me was built about 3 years ago and I've been walking there year around at all hours of the day and evening for that long. There is one house that I walk by and the back yard has every kid toy you can think of. Huge swimming pool, trampoline, sandbox, playhouse, large swing/slide/wall climbing thingy, basketball hoop, volleyball net, tetherball, various yard toys etc. The garage is frequently open and you see all kinds of bikes, toys and motorized car things. Last night I noticed a new toy - a teeter-totter. But the odd thing is, in the 3 years I've been walking over there I have never seen a kid. I see them at all the other houses, but never this one.

I got a huge mesquito bite on my arm on my walk last night, first time I've had one here in forever. We don't get a lot of mesquito's - man did it itch.

Yesterday I went to Walgreens and got 2 large bars of Milka chocolate for free, well except for .09 in taxes. These will go to my nieces. I wasn't even tempted by them, my cravings for sweet stuff seems to be gone. The candybars I bought last week for my mom are still sitting on my counter too and that included my favorite candy bar - Caramel Milky Way.

I also went to Safeway and got Romaine, tomatoes and shredded cabbage. I used a $1 coupon off $5 in produce and paid with the gift card I got for transferring prescriptions, so it was all free. $4.49

I finished reading the library book Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris. Paranormal - very good.

I've been trying to lose weight recently, since April 15th. After being so sick last year I wanted to get healthier. I'm not drastically cutting calories or exercising more than normal. I'm willing to lose the weight slowly. As part of the effort I am reading a lot of books on how to lose weight and be healthy, and books by people who have lost a lot of weight.

One of the books I read recently was by a lady who was on the Biggest Loser. I can't remember the title of the book or her name right now, but it was Julie something. She was a stay at home mom and won a car for one of the contests.

Her book told a lot about how she hated her body. How she was disgusted by her being fat. How she looked at other fat people and thought they were disgusting. How she was afraid to meet other people thinking they were disgusted by her fat. How she wanted to be thin so other people would like her.

I was talking to my mom about the book and told her I just couldn't relate to the woman and her story. I've been overweight since I was 6 and fat my entire adult life, but I've never thought that way. I don't like being fat because it's uncomfortable and unhealthy, but I don't hate myself or my body. I don't think of myself as less than someone else because I am fat. When I look at other fat people I don't think they're so fat, they're disgusting. It's just a classification. I think it about skinny people too.

When I'm in Walmart walking all kinds of random thoughts go thru my head when I see people, but they aren't moral judgements, just commentary. Look at those legs, they are so skinny, how do they hold her up. That's a pretty color on her. What beautiful skin. Weird color hair. I like those earrings. Look at those tattoes. That lady has a strange hair color. Nice looking guy. What a pretty girl. That lady is big. Neat t-shirt. That lady's outfit looks classy, etc, etc.

The only time I'm disgusted is when I see behavior like yelling at kids, or talking loudly on a cellphone, or picking their nose or something like that

Fat is not synonomous with bad or immoral. Someone isn't worth more as a person because they are thin. Then my mom surprised me because she said she can totally relate to the woman's story. She's felt that way her whole life. Less than because of being 10 or 20 pounds over what society says she should be. She compares herself to others and she always seems to come up as less. Less pretty, less thin, less creative etc.

She has been on a diet and exercizing her entire adult life and has never been satisfied with herself. I asked her if she looked at other people in the store and thought things like that lady is fat, she's disgusting, etc. She said she doesn't but I don't know if I believe it. She's said things to me before about how someone is so skinny it makes her sick. And how she is so fat, she doesn't want anyone to see her.

I know when I was growing up my sister was skinny and she seemed to get more praise for her looks than I ever got for grades or awards. I knew that my mom thought her being pretty/thin was a better accomplishment and worth more than being smart or achieving something. Even though she was skinny naturally and didn't have to try to be that way. My mom would deny this of course, but it was obvious.

I always had enough accomplishments growing up, that I guess I never considered my value as a person was related to how I looked. I knew I had worth because of the things I did and the awards I got. I didn't have low self-esteem. I just didn't care as much about my weight/looks as I did about enjoying food. Eating food I liked, when I wanted it.

I believe part of the reason I got so fat, is I have very little body consiousness. Once I'm dressed for the day I never think about how I look again. Someone has to tell me if I have something on my face or if I spilled something. I just don't notice.

I never thought that if I was thin I would be more popular or whatever. Why would I want to be friends with someone who only wanted to be my friend if I weighed a certain weight and not anymore?

I wonder how many other people think like my mom and the lady who wrote the book. When they see other fat people, do they think they are disgusting? Do most people have a running commentary about how other people look and make judgements about them based on that, or is it just commentary and classification? I know teen-agers do that a lot, but once people become adults and learn that you can't judge someone on their looks, do they keep doing it anyways?

Now I have to admit, if I see someone scary looking I might think scary looking and be leary of them, but I don't think bad person. Just cautious. Also if I see fat hanging out of clothes or butt cracks, etc. I get a little disgusted, but still don't think the person is disgusting, just the piece I saw that I shouldn't have One thing that really disgusts me even with thin women is when they bend over and you see the top of their butt crack and their thongs - yech!

Now if I could wake up tomorrow skinny would I take it? It depends, how skinny? Less than 130? No thanks. 130 - 150, if I was healthy and didn't have to live on lettuce leaves for the rest of my life then yes I would. Would it change my viewpoint of myself? I don't think so. Would I suddenly become body conscious and start buying lots of clothes to show off my body? I don't think so, but you never know until it happens and maybe I'm just a hypocrit. Since it won't happen overnight and will probably take years, if ever, at the rate I'm losing, I guess I'll settle for liking myself regardless of my weight and still trying to get healthier as best I can.

I finished reading my book Blood Challenge by Eileen Wilks. Paranormal/mystery/romance - very good. I really like this series.

Got up very early for me and finished my 40 min walk before 9, it was already over 80 degrees by the time I was done.

Ran several errands this morning.

Walgreens - 4 cans mushrooms - $2
Farmer's market - 5 tomatoes - $3
Post Office - mailed 3 swap books - $7+
Safeway - picked up prescription - $4 and got some green onions - .59 cents
Vitamin Cottage - 2 stainless steel water bottles, celery and lemon mayo - $25
Library - dropped of 4 books, picked up 13 lots of my holds came in at one time.

Everything was within 3 miles of my house.

I had shrimp last night and a big salad. The shrimp are described as deveined, but I had to devein about 10% of them - yuck! They were very good though.

I finished reading the library book Blood Kin by Maria Lima. Paranormal - very good. I also finished reading the library book Master Your Metabolism by Jillian Michaels. Non-fiction - I thought it was good and made a lot of good points.

ytd = April 1 2011 - March 31, 2012
Coupon total ytd = 637.89
RX total = 184.64
Discounted Gift Cards = 207.19
Total = 1,029.72

I've had diabetes and high blood pressure for over 10 years. During that time most of the things I read about how to control diabetes from the ADA were eat more whole grains, eat less meat, eat less fat. Even just this month the new ADA guidelines are to eat 45 - 65% daily carbohydrates. I followed the rules and I kept getting worse. Every year I had to increase my medications. I lost some wieght, but even with that I couldn't bring my diabetes/high blood pressure under control.

For the past 3 months I've been reading about a lot of alternative ways to control diabetes/high blood pressure and the middle of April I started trying them. The main one was to drastically reduce carbs (under 50/day), no sugar. Eat more protein (4 - 6 oz/meal) and eat more fat (just not trans fat). I am amazed. I haven't lost tons of weight, but I have lost 15 pounds in 3 months, eating around 1800 cal/day. I went from taking 4 high blood pressure meds to keep my blood pressure in the high/normal range to 1 med with my blood pressure absolutely normal. I got my fasting blood sugar results today for the 3 month A1c test. It is 6.1% down from 7.3%. This is fantastic! Under 6% is considered normal, if I can bring it down just a little bit more, I will be normal! In only 3 months. Next month I plan to get my cholesterol and triglycerides checked.

I feel like I've been duped, like the government has been lying to me. They want me to be on drugs to control the problem. They want the agricultural businesses to grow, by me eating more of their products. This is their advice for the last 20 years and in that time there has been an explosion of obesity and diabetes and I blame it on that advice to americans to eat more grains and less fat. The drug companies and agricultural companies donate hugh amounts of money to the ADA.

I watched the documentary FatHead on netflix, which gave a lot of good information. I've read several books including the Diabetes Solution, Eat Fat, Lose Fat, Protein Power and several others that explain how many, many, many studies show when people reduce carbs, all the markers doctors look at for health improve - blood sugar, blood pressure and lipids. I've found several websites devoted to diabetics who have improved their numbers this way and are now medication free.

Eating this way has taken away all my cravings for food. I've bought several candy bars in the last couple weeks that were free, but I haven't even been tempted to eat them. I've given them all away. It used to be I could eat a big bowl of pasta, or oatmeal or something like that and in 2 hours I was looking for something else to eat. I was never satisfied. I feel so calm now.

There are some drawbacks. It's a lot more expensive to eat this way. My grocery bill doubled last month and tripled this month. This month the reason is buying $100 worth of vitamin supplements to see if I can get my blood sugar down a little more. Partly the cost was because I wasn't stocked up for this way of eating and had to buy a lot of things when they weren't on sale. Once I get stocked and start finding the sales the monthly price should come down some. Another offset to that though is not eating out as much that saves around $50 a month since I went from 10 times a month to 4.

It's harder to eat out or go to friends to celebrate. I have to really plan ahead and bring my own food if needed.

It's really hard to find products without some kind of sugar or msg or transfat. It seems like everything has some form of sugar - it's amazing. Even tuna is packed in broth, which has msg in it. And just about every salad dressing or cheese or lunchmeat has either sugar or something hydrologized in it. Hydrologized anything means transfats.

I spend more time prepping and cooking food. I didn't used to eat meat at home much unless it was in a frozen dinner or tuna or something like that, so I actually cook meat.

It's a little boring after awhile since I mostly eat protein and veggies at every meal. There are some really good low-carb bars and ice cream and stuff out there and I can eat nuts, which helps. Again all that stuff is more expensive than grains. But bottom line I decided spending the money now to be healthy and get my numbers under control will save money in the future when I don't have to have amputations or heart disease etc.

I've lost one clothing size, both up and down and I have more energy. My heartburn after meals went away. I can't remember the last time I had a headache. I fall asleep within a half hour of laying down - it used to take me an hour or more. I sleep almost the whole night thru - I usually have one bathroom break, but the sleep seems to be a deep, good sleep, not restless.

All in all I feel so much better and the results speak for themselves. I did Atkins years ago, but couldn't stay on it for longer than a few days. For some reason this time it is not that hard. Eventually I should be able to increase my carbs some and eat around 100 grams/day.

I don't know why I finally decided to take control of this area in my life. I think I was kind of fatalistic before. You have diabetes, you'll have it for life. You'll always need medications. Eventually you'll die of it and probably a lot sooner than you would otherwise. I frequently read the advice from the ADA and tried to follow it, but obviously that was a load of @#$@#. And maybe that's why I was so fatalistic, because I did follow their advice and it wasn't working. I just kept getting worse.

Now the more I read the alternative view points and websites, the more excited I am about having normal numbers. You can't be cured from diabetes, but I can be normal. For the next 2 months I plan to continue this way of eating and add in the supplements that are supposed to help. I'll test again in September to see if I've made any more improvements.

Anyways having a stupendous day today with getting those results in the mail. I also got 3 more $5 credit cards from the cereal deal last month.

I finished reading my book Free Fall in Crimson by John D. Macdonald. Mystery - pretty good.

ytd = April 1 2011 - March 31, 2012
Coupon total ytd = 630.70
RX total = 184.64
Discounted Gift Cards = 207.19
Total = 1,022.53

I went on a spending spree at Walmart this morning. Spent 123.88 after coupons. $12+ in coupons. I got a 10" and 12" teflon coated skillet with glass lid. Both of mine have spots where the teflon has rubbed completly away. I got 2 new t-shirts in a smaller size and a pair of shorts in a smaller size - woohoo!

The rest was stock up on basics like food extracts, furniture polish, nuts etc. I got 3 trial size of Cascade dishwashing detergent for free. 2 packages of pull-ups wipes for free and a package of Cottonelle wipes for free. The wipes will be donated.

Mom and Dad are on vacation so they dropped off a package at my house for me to mail this morning on their way out of state. So I did that too.

I stayed up till 2 o'clock last night reading a library book. Breaking the Rules by Suzanne Brockmann. Romance - excellent. Love this whole Troubleshooters series.