Always Be Closing

I think because of my father, I'll always be a sales(wo)man. I'm always looking for the BBD (bigger, better deal) and also manage to get what I want...although that might be in part due to the fact that I am an only child.

But that's a rabbit hole for therapy, not my blog. I digress.

Granted, I also studied marketing in college, so I get it. There are tips and tricks to make consumers buy your goods. Although I haven't figured out Target's. That place must pump a mix of meth and heroin into their store because, without fail, I managed to load up my cart. Every. Single. Time.

Again, I digress.

Marketing, sales, I get it.

Here's where rubber meets the road: I dream about it.

Even though I'm not in a marketing or sales role anymore, although I believe those also entail herding cats which is part of my job now, I still look at campaigns, pricing, product placement, etc. For example, my cousin complained about the K-Mart commercial that played The Lights because it got stuck in her head. That's a genius - albeit evil genius - campaign because she remembered that it was a K-Mart. I tweeted that whenever I hear an instrumental version of Carol of the Bells, I get "Give a, give a, give a Garmin" with the ending of "Garmin dot com. Garmin dot com." Now that, is true marketing genius. I not only think about giving a Garmin, I repeat the website.

So anyway, about my dream.

The setting: A conference room with dry erase boards about.
The people: Me and a half dozen indiscriminate faces.
The topic: Meeting about Cinnabon cinnamon rolls.

Yes. I dreamt about being in a marketing Cinnabon gender roles. The guy leading the meeting said, "So, if the cinnamon roll is the father figure, how can we draw in the mother?"

Here's where I come in: "The frosting. It's warm, the best part, and it smothers everything."

Yes. I likened a mother to frosting because it smothers.

I'm amazing.

Oh, and just as my alarm was going off, the rest of the indiscriminate faces were giving me accolades for my brilliance.

So What Wednesday

It's that time of the week where I link up with Shannon at Life After I "Dew" and say SO WHAT!

So WHAT if...

• I am still stoked that I managed to get a week's worth of meals on $11 and what I already had? I blogged about it. Enjoy.
• I waited until I was down to cheese & booze before going to the store? You gotta do what you gotta do.

The left side is my roommate's side.

• I now have Broncos jerseys in all three color combinations? My mom surprised me with a white jersey. Trifecta.

Miller - Lynch - Miller.

• I feel like some sort of genius for draining my black beans by cutting two slits on opposite sides? Lets air in while the bean juice drains.

Opposite sides make sure it doesn't spout all over you.

• I shed a tear when I spilled my Crystal Light fruit punch on my diploma? Let's not talk about how it's also four years later and I haven't framed it.

• I made this SWW post look longer with pictures? You dug it. Admit it.

What are you saying So WHAT to? Link up with Shannon and tell the world!

Frugal For One

Alright. Let's face it. I'm not the best at budgeting. Before, I had talked about $20/week for groceries and with coupons, smart shopping, and holdovers in your "stock" from previous weeks, I think that, for a single lady, it's possible.

Well, thanks to an unexpected bill for Harry's double pink-eye, I found myself with $11 in my checking account for this first week of December. (Granted, I have credit cards, but that's a slippery slope and savings is SAVINGS.)

How did I manage? Well, prior to December 1, I had purchased a pound of rice, a 4-pack of Greek yogurt, and a bag of shredded cheese for a total of $7.05 at Target. That held me through Saturday and Sunday (with some sausage I already had) since most of Saturday was spent with Grape Flu.

Now, how am I going to make it from December 3 - December 7? Monday, I had a yogurt from my 4-pack, and some leftover chicken in the office from the boss that was going to go bad. Then I ventured to the grocery store.

Here's what I needed:

• 4 Breakfasts 
• 4 Lunches (Between the chicken on Monday and two servings of rice, I had 3 covered)
• 5 Dinners

Here's what I had:

• Brown N Serve Sausage ($1 at Safeway)
• Shredded Cheese ($2.49 at Target)
• EVOO/Spices/Condiments, etc.
• 2 yogurts left from my 4-pack ($3.69 for 4-pack)
• 2 c. cooked rice leftover from the rice ($.87 at Target)

I have the right side of the fridge. Which has cheese, booze & baking soda. I am literally on empty.

Here's what I bought at Safeway:

• 2 Southwest Ranch Salad Kits (On sale at 2/$5)
• 3 Pineapple Greek yogurts (Flavor - overstock -  on sale for $.69)
• 1 can seasoned black beans (Reg. price at $.89)
• 1 can Swanson's chicken broth (On sale $.88 until 12/25)
• 16 oz brown rice ($1.99 - boo to paying $1.02 MORE than Target)

BOOM. $10.83 for a weeks' worth of meals. AND I saved 26%.

Now, how do you menu plan on so little?

Here's my plan. (Not accounting for office coffee & candy.)

Monday

Breakfast

Greek yogurt

Lunch

Boss' chicken

Dinner

1/2 Salad Kit

Tuesday
Breakfast
Greek yogurt

Lunch
Black Beans & Rice

Dinner
Remaining 1/2 of Salad Kit

Wednesday
Breakfast
Greek yogurt

Lunch
Pantry Clean Out Rice (Literally picking random spices & sauces I like)

Dinner
Black Beans & Rice

Thursday
Breakfast
Greek yogurt

Lunch
1/2 of second Salad Kit

Dinner
Black Beans & Rice

Friday
Breakfast
Greek yogurt

Lunch
Other 1/2 of the second Salad Kit

Dinner
Sausage & Cheese Rice (just like it sounds, but with onion & chili powders)

After I've typed this out, I think I'll even have leftover rice. With the chicken stock, water, and a full bag of rice, there was close to 10 cups of cooked riced.

Basically, I feel like a champion for finding deals and sticking to my budget. I think that if I increased my weekly budget to $15, I could even get some chicken in there to "beef up" the menu, too.

Have you ever challenged yourself to a budget for groceries?

p.s. Pro tip: Non-processed foods are not taxed. Look at my receipt, I didn't pay tax on any of that.