Life Update + How to Maximize Your Savings at BJ's Wholesale Club

Whew! It's been a while since I last posted!! I guess it's time to get back into things...

The last few months have been absolutely life-changing and incredible. I lost my job (for good reason), had three weeks off and began taking classes at The National Personal Training Institute. NPTI is the first and as of yet only hands-on, intensive learning program for personal training. I've been there for six weeks so far and it is astonishing how much I have learned! On Day 1 I was wondering how in the world I was ever going to learn all of the stuff on the syllabus, and how on earth I was ever going to become an effective trainer. Fast forward to the end of week six, or day 30, and I am a completely changed person inside and out. I have found a new love for all kinds of different fitness equipment, a confidence I never thought I could have, and I am fitter than I ever thought I could be. Just one example of body transformation is this -- on day 1 I could barely squeak out 5 push-ups in a row... now I am up to 20, and can perform 15+ on an unstable surface. It is really remarkable and it is so motivating to me as a trainer. I am learning that YES, I CAN... so my intent with my clients will always be YES, YOU CAN!!!

ANYWAY, onward to the main event here.

Do you shop at wholesale clubs? I do. I have memberships to all three of the big ones in the US, currently -- Sam's Club, Costco, and BJ's. But the one that stands out is BJ's, and here's why. They accept any and all manufacturer's coupons. Their program is fantastic. Here are a few lesser known highlights to their coupon policy:

• You can combine store coupons with manufacturer coupons. This means if you have a $1 off coupon provided by BJ's, and a $0.75 off coupon from the Sunday newspaper, you can use both.

• You can use TWO manufacturer's coupons for one item. You must have two (no doubling). I always use the self-checkout lanes so I can scan my own coupons. Example: I have two 55 cents coupons for Almond Breeze almond milk. I scan both for a total savings of $1.10. (This is particularly awesome when you have a $1 off BJ's coupon, too-- then you get an 86 oz jug of almond milk for $1.79!
  
• You can use two different coupons for the same item, too. So, if you have a $1 off coupon for Wholly Guacamole, and a $0.50 off coupon for Wholly Guacamole, you can scan both for a total savings of $1.50.
  
• If you forget your coupons or for some reason don't receive them at your house (I don't!) Go to the counter and ask for the latest coupons and they'll hand you a stack. Merry Christmas!
  
• At the front of the store there are also quite a few coupons to take a gander at. A few months ago there were coupons for organicgirl, and $1.50 off a bag of organic apples (THAT was a good couple of weeks!).

To boot, BJ's prices are already great on many items! They often have instant rebates on certain items and their store brand is also noteworthy. I recently snagged a great deal on a 16 oz. container of vanilla extract. Regular price was $8.99, but there was an instant rebate that brought the price down to $6.99, which put the price per ounce at 43 cents, which is lower than what I usually pay (99 cents/oz., at Aldi).  And I don't have to buy it as often! I plan on using the larger container to refill my smaller Aldi container.

Here are some of my favorite things to buy at BJ's... with or without coupons! There are a lot more things I buy there, too, but these are my staples!

• Organicgirl greens -- they have a HUGE variety of organicgirl greens ranging in price from $4.29/lb to $4.99/lb for the Super Greens mix (tasty!). I usually go for the spinach to use in my smoothies... for a while they had 55 cent off coupons stuck to the Super Greens containers that I peeled off and used on the spinach occasionally... -- I've also been able to print off an unlimited amount of $2 off any organicgirl product coupons in PDF format online. I used a total of 4 coupons, before the coupon expired (one on each box -- I did NOT use more than one per product, because I felt that was being a little too greedy!) which saved me a total of $8 -- essentially, that's almost two entire pounds of spinach for FREE.
  
• Organic quinoa -- $4.99 for a 2-lb bag. Costco's got 'em beat by a few cents on this one, at $9.79 for a 4-lb bag, but if you're on a budget or tight on space (it is recommended to keep quinoa in the refrigerator), then the 2-lb bag is perfect. And you don't need to wash this variety!
  
• Nasoya tofu -- $3.99 for two packages -- I've seen coupons, too! Same price as Whole Foods' store brand, but MUCH better price that Whole Foods for Nasoya brand.
  
• Blue Diamond Almond Breeze almond milk -- $3.79/ 86-oz jug. Every time I go to Publix, I "harvest" about 4-6 of their $0.55 cents off coupons for Almond Breeze to use at BJ's :::guilty::: ... and I use two each time I buy a jug. It's always a good day when BJ's has a coupon, too. PLUS... the jugs are really sturdy and easy to pour. I save some of them and use them to store my homemade laundry detergent!
  
• Wholly Guacamole -- $6.99 for four packs -- NOT a better deal in comparison to Aldi's two packs for $2.99, however... I am about to buy some with $1.50 in coupons which WILL make it a better deal! It will make each package $1.37 as opposed to $1.49. Every penny counts!
  
• Organic apples -- currently $8.49 for a 5-lb bag, which equals out to $1.69/lb. NOT a bad price for organic apples. Publix usually has regular apples for higher than this. We always buy organic apples because it is #1 on the list of recommended produce items to buy organic due to pesticide content. Spinach is on there, too! I used to have apples on hand at all times but have taken to buying them every other week or so because of the price.
  
• Bananas -- $1.39 for a 3-lb bag ($0.46/lb) -- not a better price than Aldi, but close... Aldi's bananas are currently priced at $0.44/lb.
  
• Greeting cards -- I recently discovered this... birthday cards, holiday cards, the whole shebang -- 50 percent off!!! I will never buy another card at Walgreen's for as long as I live (unless I forget and am in a rush... lol).
  
• Raw sugar -- use it for baking delicious dark chocolate brownies ($5.99 for 4-lbs) I am not 100% on this, but I think I paid $3.99 for 2 lbs at Whole Foods, so this is the better deal.
  
• Organic carrots - $2.99 for 2 lbs  (this is the same price as when Publix puts theirs on sale!)
  
• Agave nectar -- $6.99 for a big 44-oz bottle (AMAZING DEAL! Better than Costco's two 22-oz containers for $7.99)
  
• Morningstar Farms veggie burgers -- $11.99 for 16 large patties (they are DELICIOUS and I love to microwave them a bit and cut them up/mash them for use in veggie tacos or skillet dinners!) Coupons for these items are always readily available and I see them in BJ's coupon books all the time! Remember -- you can use maximum 1 store coupon + 2 manufacturer's coupons!! 

I subscribe to the Sunday paper, which often has some good clippable coupons, but I also like to print coupons... my favorite place to print them is at Krazy Coupon Lady... click the name to go to the printable coupon list. A few times a month (I should do it more often...) I go through the entire list and look for items that I use. If you have more than one computer in your household, install the coupon printers and bookmark this site so you can print more of the same coupons -- there are usually limits of 1-2 on each coupon from the same computer.

Well, that's all the tips I have for right now! Happy saving... remember, every coupon you use for an item you are going to buy anyway is MONEY IN YOUR POCKET!

How to Use a Bucket to Save Some Bucks

You know how every time you turn on the shower you have to wait for it to get warm enough to slip into it? And allll that water gets wasted while you're waiting?

Yeah, Caitlin, I know, and it bugs me!

We bought a 2.6-gallon bucket that we placed under the flow of water from our shower head to collect as much of that water as possible. What do we use it for? Two main uses:

1. Watering plants: it's already in a bucket, so no more filling up at the hose or the sink!
2. Adding it to the laundry: YES! just put it in the washing machine with your laundry and less water will be needed to start the cycle!

Hopefully you have a bucket at your house already that you're not using. We had to buy one ($3 for a nice, sturdy one at Big Lots), but hopefully the gallons of water we save throughout the year and the other things we use this handy dandy bucket for (like making our own laundry soap!) will even out the cost!

We fill up about half the bucket every morning and have been very good at using the water. We could even give it to our cats to drink! We just need to be careful not to get shampoo in it :)

How to Live a Life at 80%

Put your thinking caps on. We're gonna do some math.

You may have heard of the 80/20 "principle" --where if you eat well 80% of the time, you can splurge the other 20%... some people have cheat days where they eat anything they want for one day, usually the same day, every week. Is this good? Does it help you stay on track? Maybe. But the more I have thought about this supposed principle, the more I think it could end up hurting you more than helping you. Think about it:

If you subscribe to the 80/20 principle, that usually means that 20% percent of your food, or more than an entire day's worth of meals, is just plain bad food. Little to no nutrients. Processed. Greasy. Fried. Artificial. Or maybe you just ate too much.

If food what we need to give us energy, we should want to eat the food that will give us the most, and the best, energy.. I know we don't always want to eat those kinds of foods--but 20% bad food per week is a lot. A serious amount. Even 20% of $20 is $4-- I could buy a lot for $4.

Essentially what we do to ourselves each time we insert edible foodstuffs, or stuff posing as actual food, into our mouths (processed, fried, fatty, farmed, cholesterol-laden foods would be examples of these foodstuffs), we are basically saying to our bodies "I don't care how this will make me feel." Usually when I eat something high in sugar, like ice cream or a slice of cake, I feel like taking a loooooong nap. What's wrong with this picture!? Food should be giving me energy, not taking it away.

So if we say "I don't care" to 20% of what passes through our pieholes (I hate that word), I believe we are limiting ourselves and our health. If I want to have a health level at 80%, an energy level at 80%, heck, even a sex drive (yep, I said it!!!) at 80%, -- then I will strive to feed my body properly at least 80% of the time. But I don't have time for that. Twenty percent of my day is a lot. Twenty percent makes a huge difference. Can you imagine if  our savings accounts had 20% interest rates?! Back in my school days, an 80% grade on a test was as good as failure for me. It was one point away from a *gasp* C! I can't afford to sacrifice 20% of my health and energy level every day of my life because I am causing my body to struggle to cleanse itself 20% of the time because I fed it garbage.

I really want to at least aim for 100%. I will probably never, ever get there. I'll still have my cravings, and I'll still give in to them now and then. And you know what, they come less and less often these days--because the more good, wholesome food I give my body, the more of that kind of food it craves. 

I've got to aim higher than 80%... because if I'd like to live at 100% for 100% of my life, I think need to care a bit more than that.

Couponing-- Dollars & Sense

I love coupons. Am I an extreme couponer? Not really. With the way I eat, it's not as possible as I would like it to be. Although I've managed in the past to get $25 worth of stuff at Publix for just $10,  most of the products that have the extreme couponers going crazy and stockpiling are processed snacks and products from companies that I avoid purchasing from for various reasons. Most coupons in the Sunday newspaper are Proctor & Gamble products or other big name brands-- Gillette, Skintimate, Listerine, etc. by way of hygiene products, and Kellogg's, ConAgra, etc. dominate the frozen foods and processed snacks. Not very often do you find coupons for pita chips, hummus, almonds, soymilk, Terra chips, Stevia... stuff I actually buy. Don't get me wrong, when I see these coupons, I clip them right away! But I pass on the vast majority of coupons from the paper. I don't care if it's free. If I can't pronounce half of your product's main ingredient, your company tests on animals, or a serving of your cereal has more sugar than a can of Coke, I'm not buying it.

I do always check the Publix and Winn Dixie ads for Buy One Get Ones on products that I actually use. Toufayan wraps and Arnold Sandwich Thins go on BOGO and I stock up. Smart Balance Light, BOGO with $1/off coupon, I stock up. I especially love BOGO pasta deals with coupons. Especially on Ronzoni Garden Delight or Healthy Harvest. Two boxes for $0.79? Please and thank you! Sometimes, stores will actually help you out with coupons. Walgreens does this. My favorite Publix near my home does this. They were doing a BOGO on 28 oz cans of tomatoes (I needed diced) and the store had literally TAPED $1 off coupons onto the cans. So I got two large cans of diced tomatoes for 87 cents. I felt good that day. I start keeping a record of which products generally go on BOGO and then I just don't buy them until they're on sale. It's just common sense... or cents :)

Sites like http://www.iheartpublix.com/ and http://www.totallytarget.com/ are really helpful when it comes to pairing deals with coupons. I check these sites weekly. I also love the Publix and W/D iPhone apps when I can't get online to check the ads. It's great when there are ingredients you need for a meal that week on sale at a local store.

CVS has been known to purposely put things with coupons on sale. Generally, their prices are higher for stuff, but when something is BOGO and you get a coupon for $1 off two, you can save big. I recently got two 11-oz containers of Emerald Cocoa Roasted almonds BOGO minus $1. It was a great deal for really delicious almonds :)

For items I buy often, like almond milk, I go to sites like The Krazy Coupon Lady to check for coupons before I go. When I saw that Wacky Mac (veggie pasta in crazy shapes... I like the shapes, ok?!?) was on sale for 99 cents at Publix, I checked out this site for a coupon and scored 40 cents off. Also, when it comes to printing coupons, know which ones have a limit and sign up on other computers! I am about to download software to print coupons on my husband's computer just so I can print more almond milk coupons.

As for really extreme couponing, where you can get things literally for free by stacking coupons and taking advantage of loopholes in stores' coupon policies, and even making profits on purchases... I think that's just wrong and manipulative. Of course... if you're just buying processed crap, then it's not really worth much anyway.

I'm in love with Big Lots

Anyone who knows me knows that I love this store. Though most people look at me and snicker, think I'm weird, and tease me about it, I usually get the last laugh. When I return from my weekly trip with a bag full of great ingredients for delicious meals, desserts, or just pantry staples at a fraction of the cost of even the cheapest grocery stores, I know I've "dun good" with my dollar! 

What you've heard is a myth. They don't sell all "expired" stuff. Although they do have their own brands, it's also a closeout store. So, for example, when stores stop carrying certain brands, or a brand changes their logo, stores like Big Lots buy out their stock to resell in their own stores at a discount. You can get all kinds of stuff there for any kind of lifestyle -- from junk food junkie to health aficionado (totally spelled that right the first time ;-)), Big Lots has something for everyone. And with shipments every week, you never know what you're going to find! Here are some of the great finds I've picked up at my local Big Lots... that really fit my lifestyle!

• organic tomato paste ($0.33 per can)
• organic diced tomatoes ($0.80 per can)
• organic veggie broth ($1.50)
• organic chocolate (cherry vanilla... amazing and $1.80 for a bar!)
• Bob's Red Mill 7-grain cereal and bean soup mix
• whole wheat couscous ($2 a box!)
• organic canned beans (pinto, garbanzo, black, $1 a can!)
• Ghirardelli chocolate chips (their semi-sweet chips are vegan)
• Ghirardelli brownie mix (makes a mean pan of black bean brownies!)
• organic granola bars (Nature's Path)
• Kashi cereals
• Clif bars
• light coconut milk 
• potato gnocchi ($2 per pack, vs. $4-$5 at a normal store)
• Tom's toothpaste
• REAL Italian pasta
• organic pasta sauce
• organic canned vegetables (green beans, yellow corn)
• organic teas ($2/64 oz.) Green Tea Pomegranate, Peach White Tea)
• Ocean Spray Fruit + Veggie juice ($2.50... it's $4.29 at Publix!)
• Arnold 100-calorie Sandwich Thins ($1.40 for eight! Freeze them and use them for veggie burgers)
• lots of ethnic foods, including dry beans and Asian stir-fry sauces -- chili garlic is one I like to have on hand and it is a cool $1.50!

I love to check Big Lots for these kinds of items before I go someplace like Whole Foods--it's great when I find the items here because most of the items listed here do NOT have coupons... shopping at Big Lots is like using coupons... without using coupons! Their loyalty club, by the way, sends 20% off entire purchase coupons through your email periodically, and each $20 purchase gets you a step closer to a 20% coupon as well. Ten $20 purchases = 20% coupon to use on anything!

Big Lots has a lot to offer. They even have furniture, lamps, rugs, hardware and it is THE cheapest place to buy BATTERIES (4 AA batteries for $1.50, it really does not get any cheaper and they have tons), Wii games, dishes, kitchenware, decorations, outdoor stuff, pet supplies... you name it, they probably have it or will have it in time. I try to make it in at least once a week.

I am not a big sandwich eater but they do have a steady supply of bread about a week away from expiration at a DEEP discount - $1.40 - $1.80 per loaf, which is even cheaper than buying them BOGO at Publix. I have stocked up for Ben in the past. Just put the loaves in the freezer and store the loaf you're using in the fridge and it will last for weeks. If I see the sandwich thins though, I will snatch those up quick. They've also had Thomas' Bagels and Bagel Thins.

There is also a great variety of condiments at Big Lots -- many types of mustards, ketchups, chili sauce, hot sauces, relish, dressings, spices/rubs, peppers... it's all there! You really never know what you'll find.

Keep in mind that some Big Lots stores get preferential treatment. Specifically, those stores in a wealthier area of town are actually labeled "flagship" stores, which are generally better stocked and organized. The one closest to my place of work is a flagship store. I prefer this store, but I still love venturing into a non-flagship store just to see what I'll find. It's an adventure every time!

Water, Weights & Real Exercise: Take the Burden OFF of your Body

I bounce out of bed Monday mornings at 5am to do kickboxing in my living room. Who is this person? It's me. And I'm approximately 137 pounds of awesome.

I should be feeling good. And I do! But I still get down in the dumps about the numbers sometimes.

When The Biggest Loser winner and runner-up, sisters Olivia and Hannah, weighed in at the finale at like 127, 128 lbs after 8 months of literally living in the gym--for some reason I vowed I could get to the 120's, too.  So I decided to work out harder and eat better to try and get there. Well, I worked out hard, and my energy level skyrocketed in comparison to where it was. I added in a lot more strength training and varied my cardio a lot. My "workout weeks" were averaging between 2-3 hours of exercise weekly, which for me was very inconsistent. Now, thanks to how much better I'm feeling and great technological inventions like The Gymbox , I am now averaging between 4-6 hours of intense workout time weekly! I used to aim for 4 days a week, now I'm at 6, and I even had a string of 8 workouts in a row (don't worry, one of those days was a lot less intense).

I did drop a few pounds, really noticed things getting firmer and tighter, my clothes were fitting better, and I really saw my abs come out! But then, while these things were happening, the number started to go back UP to where it was! I wondered why. I was definitely burning a ton more calories and eating all the right foods. I have heard about people not used to exercising putting on weight at first until their bodies get used to it. A common adage in the fitness world is "muscle weighs more than fat" -- which, when taken literally, doesn't make all that much sense. Five pounds of muscle weigh exactly the same as five pounds of fat. Similarly, a square inch of muscle really does weigh more than a square inch of fat. Muscle is simply more dense.But the two look and "hang" on your body in two drastically different ways. Behold:

Each of the above-pictured replicas represents five pounds. However, it is obvious that one takes up significantly more space than the other. One is also a lot "prettier" than the other.  I know which one I'd like to have in my body!

But I still hadn't figured out why I had gained weight... why does muscle weigh more? I was about to find out.


Water in the Body

I am almost done with my fitness nutrition certification course through ISSA. One of the things I have recently learned about was water content in the body. Did you know that muscle cells contain 75% water, whereas fat cells in adipose tissue contain only 25% water? All of a sudden, the fact that I had been trimming down but supposedly gaining weight made more sense. The stronger my muscles get, the larger the muscle cells become, which means they require more water. Obviously women's muscles, due to hormones, don't get indefinitely large.

Water is also used to repair torn muscles. So when I spend an hour lifting weights, and wake up the next two days practically unable to walk, this could very well be the muscles swollen with water trying to repair themselves. Water metabolizes fat and makes muscle more elastic. So drink up!
Exercise: What counts?

Don't be fooled as many Americans have-- as THIS article in Time magazine reveals, the most frequently reported moderate activities were food and drink preparation (25.7%), followed by lawn, garden, and houseplant care (10.6%). What is exercise, anyway? Most Americans would say that it is anything where you are moving. That could be true. But what does it take to get the health benefits? You have to get your heart rate up. It doesn't matter if you're vacuuming. If vacuuming gets your heartrate up, it's exercise. Do it often. What does NOT count as exercise is this: sweating. Just because you are doing something that makes you sweat (I sweat while cooking, while taking a stroll around the block with Ben, and even while sitting at my computer sometimes!!) only indicates your body temperature--not your heartrate--has increased and your body is trying to cool itself down.

Ok... so how much exercise do I need to fit into my already-busy schedule?

According to the CDC, you need a MINIMUM (stress the MINIMUM) of either ...

1. Two hours and 30 minutes of moderately intense aerobic activity each week (like brisk walking or cycling)
AND
muscle-strengthening activities on two or more days of the week that work all major muscle groups--legs (including the booty!), hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and arms.

OR

2. One hour, 15 minutes (75 minutes) of vigorous intensity aerobic activity (jogging, running, Spinning, kickboxing, boot camp)
AND
muscle-strengthening activities on two or more days of the week that work all major muscle groups--legs (including the booty!), hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and arms.

OR

3. An equivalent mix of both options 1. and 2.
AND
muscle-strengthening activities on two or more days of the week that work all major muscle groups--legs (including the booty!), hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and arms.

So what doesn't count? Anything that doesn't get your heartrate up. Cooking. Shopping. Light gardening. You get the idea. Get that heart pumpin'!! It feels so good.



You can read more CDC guidelines by clicking here. The more time you put in, the more benefits. Getting your heart muscle and the rest of your muscles strong will make you not only look better, but FEEL better and BE actually BETTER. The top two leading causes of death in our country are heart disease and cancer. You know it wasn't always like this. Eating is very, very important to good health, but so is exercise. So if you're a healthy-eater that doesn't do their body good with at least the minimum amounts listed above, change something! We reap what we sow, so... sow what you know!

[Product Feature] ROKU -- Little Box of Amazingness

So we got this new TV, right? It is such a huge step up from our giant boob tube it's not even funny. We love it.

Every week, we watch several TV shows. Thing is, we never catch them when they're on TV. We don't like to plan our lives around TV, and we hate all the commercials, so we have been watching them on Hulu.com whenever we feel like it, and we love it!! But once we got this new TV, we were thinking about how we could make it possible to watch our shows on our new TV. Ben's parents (still feels weird to say my "in-laws") received an AppleTV device from Stephanie, Ben's sister, for Christmas this year. So we looked that up on our beloved Amazon.com to see if it was compatible with Hulu... but it wasn't! After a little research and a visit to Hulu.com itself, we discovered ROKU... starting at $59, the ROKU streams over your highspeed wireless internet onto your TV. No hooking up to your computer required. We subscribed to Hulu Plus for $8 per month so we can watch all episodes, past and current, of our favorite shows like The Office, Modern Family, The Biggest Loser, and Glee on the HuluPlus channel on ROKU! Before, we'd sit on the couch with one of our MacBooks, brand-new TV in the background and watch our shows on the tiny MacBook screen. ANNOYING!

The Little Box of Amazingness itself.

With ROKU, you can simply go to the Hulu Plus channel, go to your queue, and select the episode you want to watch, and it plays in HD on your big screen! O-M-G! After doing it the MacBook way for over a year, this was a welcome change!!

Hulu Plus wasn't the only channel that rocked my socks on ROKU -- they also have Pandora (FREE), Amazon on Demand (which allows you to choose from several hundred FREE movies or rent them right from the screen), several other free movie channels, Facebook Photos (where you can watch facebook pictures on the big screen) and my favorite.... THE GYMBOX!!!!

Okay, this has turned into another feature all of a sudden, but it all goes back to ROKU, the Little Box of Amazingness. (Did I mention it only took 10 minutes to set up and it was SO EASY!!?)

Now, The Gymbox. It's a fitness channel. You subscribe online for $10 per month, or $99 per year, and you get to do HUNDREDS of group-fitness-class-at-the-gym style workouts!!! You can choose from

• cardio dance
• core strength
• pilates
• yoga
• treadmill
• kickboxing
• stretching
• strength training
• SPINNING 
• step
• extreme cardio intervals

That is 11 different types of workouts with REAL trainers that upload NEW workouts EVERY week. For $10 a month!?! I actually bought a Spinning bike (for a sweet $300 on Amazon, check it out HERE!) with some leftover bonus money so I could spin in my living room!

This is an absolutely GENIUS invention. My husband and I did a Step class together in our living room! (He was really good at it, too, better than me! Must be is dancing skills kicking in!) All of the past workouts are archived so you can scroll through and select others you haven't done before. The trainers are great, and there are "beginner" classes which are a little more basic, but also shorter. At 30 minutes, the beginner classes are perfect for mornings before work. The longer advanced classes, at 40 minutes to an hour (usually an hour) are perfect for weekends or weekday mornings when I have more time. 

Click HERE to go there now!

And at $10 per month, it is WAY cheaper than a gym membership and you don't even have to leave your house. That's the best part-- Ben and I have often asked each other this after a morning workout in the living room: "Would we even work out if we didn't work out at home like this?" The answer would be NO! Because the exact amount of time I need to get in a good sweat session in the morning is the exact amount of time I would WASTE driving to the gym. No thanks!

You can even bring your ROKU with you wherever you go. Ours was a deluxe model that came with cables to hook up to any TV with an a/v port (so where your DVD player gets plugged in). We use the HDMI cable, but if you're going on a trip, you might not have access to an HDTV.

Anyway, I love it. Ben loves it. Best money I ever spent!

Savvy Spending... How to Get the Most BANG For Your Buck!

Costs can stack up a lot faster if you only shop retail!

Savvy spending. That doesn't mean we DON'T spend. It means when we do spend, we spend very wisely and try to get a lot of bang for our buck. This week-and-a-half, we have spent quite a bit of money...more so than usual. I got a bonus recently and it's been veeeery nice to not have to pay $650 in rent every month for a dinky, dark, downtown apartment. So we decided to make some upgrades to our technology in the house, and we did that first by purchasing a refurbished 42" flat screen LCD HDTV! We ordered it, it arrived, and we installed it last weekend.

What's a refurb? Factory refurbished items can be a number of things. First, it could be that the item was indeed defective and was sent back to the factory to be repaired and inspected. It could have been a store display, or a store return for any reason (TV too small, recipient did not like, etc.) and once the original box has been opened, retailers are not allowed to resell the TV as new. If the item is not sold as-is, oftentimes they are sent back to the manufacturer to become a certified refurbished item. Then they can be sold online (usually) for hundreds of dollars less than the brand-new price--AND it's been double-inspected. We like that.

You can get refurbished phones, cameras, food processors, refrigerators...heck, we just bought a refurbished hedge trimmer and saved $20!! It feels great to be able to get exactly what you need (and sometimes what you don't need!) for a lot less money than "normal" people pay :-) It feels like you're part of a secret club!

Shop online! The UPS and FedEx guys know us. We have stuff delivered to our house ALL the time from our online shopping ventures. We order vitamins, hedge trimmers, kitchen cabinets (yep), furniture, cat food, cat litter... you name it, I can find it online WITH a coupon code for at least 10% off! I absolutely love online shopping. You can buy with so much confidence due to all of the customer reviews (or lack thereof) on a product and know you're getting a great product before you just buy it in the store because it looks nice... and then it breaks two days after you get it, or just doesn't work. I did this for our wedding registry as well. If the reviews were bad, it was not on my list!

Some of my favorite sites to find great deals are:

www.amazon.com -- everything from fitness equipment, movies, books, appliances, electronics... they don't have much by way of linens or clothing, but that's not a bad thing. Great customer service, so easy to use, and if you use your .edu email address you can get a YEAR of free two-day shipping with Amazon Prime! Yay!!!

www.vitacost.com -- great variety of vitamins and supplements and their "store" brand is great. We also buy shampoo, body wash, etc. on here because they have a great variety of cruelty-free and organic products. We even buy food on it! Ben likes this European cereal, called Muesli, that Vitacost sells for $1.50 less per package than Publix!

www.shopping.google.com -- kind of a metacrawler for online stores. I go here to check and make sure I can't find the same product somewhere else for less money. It even includes eBay, and includes shipping into the total cost!

eBay and Half.com -- great for books. I read the reviews and check prices on Amazon.com first, then cross-check these sites to see if I can find it cheaper.

Overstock.com -- great place to get great deals!! We bought our stainless steel kitchen sink and faucet for hundreds less than Home Depot and Lowe's prices. We also have purchased and office chair. They do have a few coupons as well, and shipping is always $2.95 no matter what! 

www.retailmenot.com -- if you're on a site buying something and you see a field to enter a coupon code, but you don't have one--don't despair! Simply Google the site name plus the words "coupon code" or "promo code" and retailmenot.com will, 9 times out of 10, come up first. I did this for our kitchen cabinets on www.CabinetGiant.com and save an extra 20% (!!!).


What I love most about online shopping is that most of the time, you don't have to pay tax!! Plus, you save TIME, hassles, uncertainty, GAS, and pains in the arse from having to fit whatever it is you are buying, especially if it's large, into the car and out again, to bring into your house. Have it delivered right to your door!

The Internet is a GREAT tool for busy people. And now, you don't even need a computer! With the Amazon iPhone app, buying a hedgetrimmer on your lunch break at work is an absolute cinch! Paying off your credit card bill (in full, every month, of course!) is a snap with Bank of America's iPhone app, too.

Reflection: One Summer in Australia Can Change Everything



Windjana Gorge in the Kimberley Region, Western Australia

Soon it will be two years since I came back from Australia... I went in 2009 for just a month, and came back pretty much a different person. Soon enough, I found myself having to grapple with what felt like a completely new identity, one where I would no longer be unaware of what was serving my sustinence, one where I would no longer be controlled by my taste buds...

It was that summer in Australia that I consumed animal flesh for the last time. It is a decision I look back on in awe, sometimes, because just a few weeks before I decided to take the plunge into vegetarianism, I was telling myself and everyone else how I "just couldn't give up meat" because I "like it too much". I had determined that flesh, to me, was no longer considered food.

Becoming something you weren't before, whether that's a Christian, a new employee, a vegetarian, or a healthy person, it requires a drastic change of your thought process. And that's what happened to me. I forced myself to think about what it was that was on my plate--where did it come from? What did it take to get it there? What IS IT exactly? Chicken was the most difficult, but also the most easy... chicken tastes good, especially Tandoori varieties, however the reality that there is dead animal flesh on my dinner plate became increasingly unappealing to me.

Good taste would no longer be boss. I would no longer be fooled by the industry-controlled media saying "you need it for protein". Did you know legumes are in the same category as meat now, and by volume contain MORE protein and nutrients than any kind of flesh? That's without the saturated fat and cholesterol, and with the addition of lots of good-for-your-colon FIBER.

Fruits, veggies, and legumes--food you can feel good about eating.

My end thought on the whole transition was this: Meat tastes good but isn't nearly as good for me as plant foods that can taste JUST as good as meat does... so why bother eating meat? The non-factory farm stuff is too expensive for what I want to spend, anyway. A 2 lb bag of beans costs less than $2. The less cholesterol and saturated fat I consume, the smaller the risk I have for heart disease, high cholesterol, and many forms of cancer. So I populate my dinner plate with delicious, plant-based culinary creations [mainly] for that reason. Of course there are more reasons... environment... how there is no need to manufacture living creatures... but mainly because I just don't need it.

BONUS: Did you know Bill Clinton lost 24 lbs when he switched to a dairy-free, plant-based, very low fish diet? Me either! Read about it HERE!

Feature! Our [Current] Favorite Workout DVD

I'm sure that as time goes on, this will change, but since we purchased it, this is one workout that Ben and I revisit over and over again. We purchased it for $20 (which is a LOT considering all of Jillian Michaels' DVDs cost $10 or less...) this DVD offers so much variety, you could do it every day and achieve a different purpose!

There are four different focus areas:

• Legs
• Sculpting
• Boxing
• Cardio 

Each area contains four different segments, two of which are featured in the two "main" workouts. The DVD is part of the 30 Minutes to Fitness series, and there are about 20 premixes that allow you to focus on two or more of the areas listed above -- some examples include Cardio and Boxing, Boxing and Legs, or  Sculpting, Cardio AND Boxing... the list is pretty much endless. There is also a killer 6-minute abs section that can easily be tacked on to the tail-end of any of the mixes. You can do any of the 30 minute premixes OR, do every single exercise on the DVD for the ultimate one-hour burn. It is an incredible workout that we have used again and again. Kelly's accent is kind of funny, and we love the boxing segments!

 This DVD is an easy way to get in a full-body workout in just 30 minutes. And it's like having 20 workouts in one! You can buy it HERE. And GOOD NEWS -- the price has gone down to $13.49 since we purchased it! What an incredible deal!

Often while working out, we turn to face each other in the living room to encourage each other with how hard the other is working. This is especially helpful with hard cardio moves, like squat jumps and fast feet. Working out is one of our favorite things to do together--it is so good to know that my soulmate cares about his health as much as I do! And it's a lot easier to get out of bed and work out in the morning when you've always got a workout buddy!