Being an experienced garage sale person, I left my teenage son holding onto the bike and went to find the seller. Turns out she is the fabulous lady who sometimes cuts my hair. She got a new bike and sold me this bike for . . . $15.00!! It is a Denali bike with Shimano brakes! It works perfectly and rides so smoothly. I had been riding my teenage son’s bike and it was not comfortable or enjoyable!

Here’s a picture of me in my brand new workout clothes. You might remember that I asked for workout clothes advice the other week. Taking Lori’s advice on buying a close fitting wicking shirt, I picked this shirt and the cute running skirt. I wasn’t so sure about the skirt when I saw it on other people – because I couldn’t imagine it was comfortable, but it is! I wish someone would give me one so I could give it away to you on my blog!!

I’m so excited and I think it’s funny that my bike cost LESS than my new outfit! What’s with that?

Hope you all have a great weekend, and if you don’t go to garage sales, maybe you should!!  Ever found a deal at a store or a yard sale?  Diane

I think it’s important to focus on foods you can buy every week at the grocery store, not restaurant meals.  No matter what weight loss program you are following, you were probably initially told to get rid of the “bad” food in your pantry, and replace it with healthy alternatives.  However, once you got to the grocery store you probably couldn’t believe that apples were $1.39 a pound and a little bag of baby carrots costs $1.99.  Those chicken breasts were $1.97 a pound!   You can’t afford that!  Or can you?  Look at this list:

• Cost of 11 ounces of  Potato Chips – $3.21
• 14.5 ounce Oreo cookie package – $2.75 (on sale!)
• 16 oz. Powdered Sugar Donuts – $2.19
• 12 oz. box Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal – $3.39
• 48 oz Canola oil (Kroger brand) – $3.99
• 12 pack can Coke – $3.33 (on sale)
• 1 package Nestle Toll House dough – $2.50 (on sale)
• 1 pound sirloin steak $4.99

Okay, now what’s expensive?  Prepackaged food that has very little nutritional value, or wholesome fruits and vegetables?  Expensive steaks, or chicken breast on sale?  Why is it that when I was overweight I thought nothing of spending $2 – 3 dollars on a bag of chips, but balked at spending the same amount of money on a bag of apples?  Why was it okay to buy the $2.50 one pound bag of M&M’s that I would eat in an afternoon, but refused to spend the same amount of money on fresh veggies?

For me, I didn’t value the fruits and vegetables as much as I did the junk.  The junk was fast, available and made me feel good when I ate it.  The fruit was fruit.  Salad was salad.  It had no pizzazz and I gained no emotional comfort from eating healthy food.  I wanted junk and junk I got.  As I gained more and more weight over the years, I ate less and less healthy foods.  I was careful with the kids diets – they ate good foods, but I didn’t.  I thought I couldn’t afford to buy enough apples and grapes for all of us, so I’d just eat cookies. :)

I used money to justify my bad choices, when in reality I was spending much more than I needed to buy purchasing foods that weren’t healthy.  Do you do the same thing and occasionally try to blame your food purchases on budget restraints? I’d encourage you to look closely at how much you are spending each week on food that doesn’t fill you up, and next time you are at the grocery story, do a little comparing of your own.  

What are your thoughts about the cost of healthy foods?   Diane

While there, we got:

•  zucchini
• green, orange and yellow pepper
• banana peppers
• purple hull peas
• green beans
• tomatoes
• squash

AND the biggest watermelon I’ve ever seen! We put it on the scale and it weighed:

51 POUNDS! Yes, you read that right! 51 POUNDS! Cost? $5.00. For the nine of us, that’s a good deal!

I can’t wait to open it up. I may have to get a bigger knife. . .

Just to keep on task. . . If you have 50 pounds to lose, that’s what it looks like. And if you have lost 50 pounds, that’s what it felt like to carry it around!

I hope you have a great day!!  Diane

I love to save money, and for years I struggled to keep up with coupons. I’d often give up, and just buy whatever was on sale. One day, I was once again trying to figure out how to organize my coupons and came across several sites that offered tips and ideas. Here is my current favorite: The Coupon Mom. You can get store specific information on sale items, what coupons to use, and other tips on saving money. But, the absolute best thing I ever did was buy this binder, make some sleeves for the coupons, and organize them by category. It has saved me time, effort and best of all cash!!

This great binder has a plastic pocket in the front, which is where I put the coupons I will use for that shopping trip. When I get up to the cashier, no fumbling around for last minute coupons. They are all ready to go. One more little coupon tip – don’t throw those old expired coupons away. Most stores scan the bar codes, and they really aren’t expired at all! (I’ve never had a grocery store turn an expired coupon down.)

And finally, I wanted to thank Hadley and Tammy and Alissa for the Lovely Blog Awards. There are so many people that I follow and admire, that I found it absolutely impossible to pass them on without hurting feelings. So, just know that I truly am honored, and appreciative of all the nice comments.

I hope everyone has a fabulous Saturday. My oldest is going through college orientation. But I’m so thankful she is staying home!!  Diane