It's a "Blouse Kind Of" Winter

This winter I've fallen in love with colored blouses. Yes... I know that blouses are meant for spring weather but the minute that the temperature drops below 60 degrees, the heat in my classroom is cranked up to a point of smouldering steam. The major downfall to this is that I have no control over the heat/air. Not only is this a problem, but my classroom also seems to receive all of the heat from our entire hallway. Needless to say, I have the back door to my classroom open every morning and sweaters are no where to be found in my daily work wardrobe. Here are some great blouses that I've purchased in the past few weeks at even better prices. Are you wearing blouses this winter?

Forever21- $19.80

Old Navy- ON SALE $24.99 in store and $26.00 online

(30% OFF CODE: NEWYOU) makes it $18.20!!

$10 Spent... $26 Saved!

Why is it that a day off of work for a teacher is just not as grand as it sounds?! There are two potential ways to spend a day off of work. One is to do absolutely nothing and get rest, but then I end up feeling guilty for wasting precious hours of free time on a week day. The second option is to try to cross off every to-do on my list including appointments, grocery shopping, errands, meetings, etc. Once again there is a down side with the fact that I end up exhausted the next day back at work.
Well today was one of those days off that I decided to try and accomplish everything that I've been pushing off for months. Starting with a dentist appointment.
Sidebar: I've come to understand why all adults hate going to the dentist... THE BILL! I loved going to the dentist and getting my teeth cleaned until I had to pay for it myself. Why is it that good health comes with a huge price?
Back to this glorious day off of work. I kept trudging through my mid afternoon need for a nap and decided to try and conquer one of my new years resolution: to begin couponing again. I was shopping with a friend this weekend and saw that Harris Teeter (my favorite place... next toTarget that is!) was having a fabulous Meal Deal this week. I searched through my coupons and made a successful journey back into the couponing world.

On this quick trip, I managed to pick up the following: Alexia Ciabatta Rolls, Perdue Popcorn Chicken, Bird's Eye Steamfresh Red Potatoes, 2lt Sprite, Tide HE, Yoplait Light Yogurt with Granola, Colgate Toothpaste, Colgate Toothbrush and Aleve.

Cost: $36.63

-Savings: $26.37

 Paid: $10.26

**And I only used 7 coupons!!

FREE BREAKFAST... It's back!

Oh the irony! The last blog post I wrote before my hiatus was about a breakfast give away... and this amazing freebie is back!

What better way to start the new year than with free breakfast?! If you live in Columbia,SC, Myrtle Beach, or the Triad (Greensboro, High Point, Winston Salem, Burlington, Asheboro) then you can cash in on this amazing deal. Chick-fil-a is offering a free breakfast item of your choice on a date of your choosing from January 9-14. All you need to do is visit the following link and schedule what date and time you would like your free breakfast item: Free Chick-fil-a Breakfast.

With delicious Chicken-minis for $0.00,
The Penny Pinching Teacher

New Year's Resolutions

After a 4 month hiatus, I AM BACK! This school year turned out to be more of a time consumer than the past. I'm not sure if there is something in particular that could be to blame for my lack of blogging. Whether it was moving into the new house, Revenge coming to ABC, or just the lack of eventfulness in my life. But when I received a comment from a follower in the UK a few weeks ago (4 months after my last entry) I knew that I had to get back to this wonderful world.

The new year is always a time of stress and busyness, but I'm hoping that in the midst of all of this chaos, I can set some goals that are absolutely attainable. Instead of resoluting to workout or eat healthier, I am going to make of list of things to complete each month in 2012 and I am determined to complete those task before the next month arrives. Why set goal that I am only going to push off until the last minute? I'm setting goals for tomorrow.

January Resolutions:
1. Drink more coffee. (yes, you read that right. I'm a much happier person with coffee and tend to check everything off of my many to do list when I have a cup of Starbucks in the morning . So let this resolution begin tomorrow! Happy Monday!)
2. Leave work by 3:30 every day. (Last week I seemed to push this resolution to the way side trying to get back into the swing of things but this week I am determined!)
3. Start couponing again. (If you're living on a teacher's salary and not taking advantage of coupons then you're being robbed blind. Jump on board and start clipping... and not just for groceries. Check out Target's printable coupons for anything from clothes to bedding.)
4. Read 1 book a week month. (Let's be realistic now. I have a stack of books built up from this summer that I never got around to reading. At the top of that list of The Hunger Games and I'm cracking it open tonight!)
5. Get Organized. (For someone who boarders on OCD, I cannot find a way to keep organized at work. I have a great system for my weekly materials but I am nothing short of a mess when it comes organizing the file cabinet after file cabinet of materials from the past.)

I think I'm going to cap this list off at 4 task for now. There are still 22 more days to come up with more resolutions for this first month and I'm sure tomorrow I'll think of 10 things to add to the list.

- Happy Resoluting... tomorrow.
Penny Pinching Teacher