Coupons, Goals, and Peppermint Bark

This is going to be a quick post since I want to be out the door soon to drive home to Sarasota to spend a few days with my sister and parents.

Coupons

I love saving money and I love to share my money saving tips! One of the biggest things that you can do to save money is cut coupons. It can get kind of frustrating/ overwhelming with all the online coupon sites out there. (There are a few good sites for coupons, which I’ll share at a later date). However, today I want to focus on what I consider the source for the motherload of coupons: the Sunday newspaper.

Yesterday I picked up a local Sunday newspaper for $1.00. This morning I went coupon crazy. Anyone want to guess how much my coupons are worth??

$65.35!! I spent one dollar and cut out coupons worth $65.35. “A profit of $64.35,” you say? Not too shabby!

I’m sure I won’t be using all of these coupons, but even if I just use coupons that will save me $1.50 before they all expire, that’s still a profit of $0.50, and to me a profit is a profit. I like to clip as many coupons of things I could potentially use, because let’s say (for example) one week a local store has Febreeze products buy one get one free. If I have a coupon for $1.00 off two Febreeze products, well that would be the week that I would go get my two Febreeze products! It’s all about capitalizing on your savings!!

Also: I do not cut out every single coupon included. We have no pets, so I have no use for any of the dog or cat treats or pet food coupons. I also have no use for coupons for sugary cereals or other products I wouldn’t use. If I had cut out every single coupon available, I’m sure my savings would be approaching $100 in coupons.

So go get coupon cutting! Don’t forget to pick up your local Sunday paper next weekend!

Goals

Now that I have completed my first 5K , I have been thinking about my next set of fitness goals and my overall approach to fitness:

• Improve my 5K time. (First goal to get under 30 minutes).
• Include a better balance of cardio, strength, and flexibility workouts. (For me, this means making sure I don’t do the same thing two days in a row, but that I want to try to do something everyday).
• Run longer distances. (First goal: 5 miles).
• Have a weekly Fun Fitness Day. (This will probably usually be an activity that Ross and I can do together, and probably one we don’t do on a regular basis. Things like rollerblading, tennis, finding new trails, etc. Personal Fun Fitness Days can be doing things like trying a new fitness DVD, trying new yoga downloads, etc.).

I have no real set dates for any of these goals, because most of them are things I just want to work up to being able to do on a regular basis. Also, I have not signed up for any more races. As most of my readers know, I’m unemployed. I definitely need a job and an income before I can sign up for any more races. For now, I’m just going to focus on enjoying running and feeling my body become stronger.

Peppermint Bark

This is something that Ross has been asking me to make for weeks. It’s a Christmas treat I created in my old college apartment last year that won the affection of its taste-testers. Since I am going to spend some time out of town for a few days, I thought I would leave Ross with a special surprise when he got home. (Hopefully he doesn’t look at my blog from work after he’s done teaching today!!).

this makes one small batch of bark, and can be made into much larger batches

• 1/4 c. semi-sweet chocolate morsels, plus 1 Tablespoon
• 1/4 c. white chocolate morsels
• peppermint extract
• 1 candy cane, crushed
• 1/4 teaspoon vegetable shortening

1. Melt 1/4 c. semi-sweet chocolate morsels (can be done in a double boiler or in the microwave, heating up for 30 seconds, stirring, then heating again until melted).
2. Add a tiny dash (tinier than any of my measuring spoons!) and 1/3 of the crushed candy cane to the melted chocolate. Spread in a thin layer on a plate covered in wax paper. Refrigerate.
3. Repeat the same process with the white chocolate. Be careful to spread the white chocolate layer on top of the dark chocolate layer quickly and carefully, or else you’ll end up getting a swirled effect from the warm white chocolate.
4. Sprinkle the remaining candy cane pieces on top of the bark.
5. Melt the additional tablespoon of semisweet chocolate morsels with the vegetable shortening (this will make the melted chocolate easier to drizzle). Drizzle the chocolate over the bark in whatever artistic manner makes you happy!
6. Refrigerate and enjoy!

I know people who have enjoyed this at room temperature and refrigerated. I personally prefer refrigerated bark, I like the cool snap it has. Let me know if you try this (it’s truly incredibly easy), and honey I hope you enjoy!

LC