Week #3-They Say Nothing in Life is Free-Ha!

I like to think I am a good shopper and try to find the best deals.  But in all honestly, I'm not.  I simply don't have the desire to scour websites, blogs, newspapers, etc for coupons.  Nor do I have the desire-or time really-to drive around to multiple stores getting the BOGO deal on deodorant.   I wish I had both the desire and the time because I truly think there is money to be saved.  While discussing this topic with another parent at my daughter's preschool, she shared a money saving strategy with me that I thought was right up my alley.   

Right after telling me how she has never paid for a tube of toothpaste, this parent told me she often emails companies and simply asks them for freebies or coupons.  I replied, somewhat surprised, "You just ask them...point blank?"  "Yep." she proudly replied.  Well, I could do that I thought...So in the name of saving money, here goes!

I decided to pick five companies to email and plead my case.  These are companies whose products I use on a regular basis and that I would really appreciate receiving some of their merchandise.  The companies I plan to email are:

• Daves Killer Bread
• Tillamook Cheese
• Applegate Farms
• Sensodyne (GlaxoSmithKline)
• Tide (P&G)

I don't think I would have ever thought to email companies directly for my own personal use.  I am definitely stepping out of my comfort zone by doing this!!!  Check back later in the week to see what products I did-or didn't-score!

Week #2 Review

Yay!  Week #2 is complete!  I made my list, purchased cards, wrote sweet notes inside, stamped / addressed, and stowed them in a safe place! Wow, feels great!  And oh ya, I also put calendar reminders in my gmail calendar to remind me when to mail the cards out....so really, I have no excuses this year.


What I learned, gained, want to pass on, etc from this weekly goal:
*What I gained from this goal was a peace of mind.  I am so awful at remembering birthdays and I always feel so bad when I forget.  Knowing that I have a plan in place to simply mail out a card for a loved one's special day provides me a sense of calm.
*I learned that if I just put a little more effort into it, I can be better organized!




All my cards-ready for the mail!!!

Check back soon to sew what I will be tackling in Week #3!

Week #2-Happy Birthday to You!...and You....and You...

My goal for week #2 was not one I came up with on my own...I'm pretty sure a friend in Facebook land did.  I am so thankful they did though because I am not sure this is one I would have thought of by myself-and I think it's a great one!

My goal for this week is to get all the family birthday cards done for the year.  This means purchasing all the cards, writing the sweet note inside, addressing and stamping.  To some, this may seem a tad ridiculous.  I mean, how hard can it be to send out birthday cards when it's the recipient's actual birthday? Well, call me birthday challenged.  I really stink at remembering birthdays and if I do happen to remember, it's a miracle a birthday card gets sent.  That being said, I am quite excited to complete this goal!


My plan (yes, I tend to have a "plan" for everything):
1) Make a list of everyone I need to buy for (and yes, part of the plans I make include lots of lists).  My family is not big but leave it to me to forget someone.  Sad, I know.
2) Purchase cards
3) Write sweet note, address, & stamp.
4) Find a safe place to store these cards.  And not too safe or I will just forget where they are.
5) Create calendar reminders to mail out the cards.  Because yes, it would not be surprising for me to complete steps 1-4 and then forget to mail them out.  Yep, this is a good goal for me.


Stay tuned for a review of Week #2....

Goal #1-Week in Review

This past week I tackled purging all of the processed foods living in our kitchen.  I went into this task thinking it would be quick and easy, I mean we really don't eat that many processed foods.  However, I was taken aback at the amount of food I ended up ditching...really quite scary actually.

Some of the items were obviously "bad" foods (cheese dip in a can-gross) but some foods, I was surprised-and a little sad-that I would have to find an alternate or just learn to live without.   Included in the latter-our favorite pickles, Claussen.  Also, A-1 Sauce and Tapatio.  Big bummer.  We use these quite often so I am currently on the lookout for some better versions-home made or store bought.  So, although my goal was to rid the entire house of processed foods, those items will be staying around until I can find a good alternate.  I have to be realistic about this all....


I took pictures of my pantry before and after the processed food cleanse....wasn't sure if I was going to share because I am horrified at the mess my pantry was in prior to cleaning it out...but whatever.  And I think the after picture makes up for it all!


Pantry prior to cleanse:

And after...isn't it pretty???

What I learned, gained, want to pass on, etc from this weekly goal:
*There is a lot more unnatural stuff out there than I realized.
*I am feeling a little overwhelmed with now trying to keep this stuff out of my house.
*I will need to do some research on finding some adequate substitues for some of our faves such as pickles and A-1 Sauce.
*It feels fantastic to have rid my home of all that!!!!


Check back soon for Week #2!

Here I Go....Week #1. Adios Processed Foods

In addition to conquering 52 goals this year, I also have one overall goal to become a more healthy human. I plan to accomplish this by returning to consistent exercise and watching much more closely what I put into my body.  The latter leads me to tackling my first weekly goal of the year:  Eliminating all processed foods from the house.


Luckily, my kitchen is not stocked full of processed foods...but there are some sneaking around that need to get the boot.  While I hate throwing food away, I just don't want these types of foods in our house anymore.  I want my family to be nourished by whole foods.  

I think the hardest part of this task will be having the other members of my household (husband, daughter (4), and son (2) be on board and okay with this change in our diet.  Sorry kidlets, no more frozen chicken nuggets for lunch!  For myself, I am very excited about doing this and looking forward to our venture into the whole foods only world!

Stay tuned at the end of the week with a status report for week #1!

All The Ws...What? When? Why? Oh ya, an H. How?

What: My journey of accomplishing one goal (chore, task, adventure, etc) every week for the entire year of 2012.

When: Each and every week for the duration of 2012.

Why: In theory, I really like the idea of a New Years Resolution. However, I am not good at them. So while pondering this dilemma, I came up with an idea to simply tackle one type of challenge / task a week at a time. That idea eventually evolved into doing a weekly goal for an entire year. Lofty? Maybe. Impossible? Nope.

How: I have a list of all the goals I would like to accomplish for the year. I have added those goals to a calendar and will simply follow my calendar.

My goals will range from very simple ideas such as flossing my teeth every night to more challenging ones like using only public transportation for a week.

My main purpose to blog about this experience is for my own note keeping purposes-I figure it will be a perfect way to record it all. However, if by sharing my blog, I happen to inspire someone or encourage someone to step out of their comfort zone, even better.