Eating healthy on the cheap

Lately, I've talked to a lot of people about couponing without buying junky processed foods. It's hard because a lot of the foods advertised in the Sunday coupon section are junky and will make you and your family feel gross. I love coupons as much as the next person but not quite as much as the people on Extreme Couponing. Admission: I've never watched this show because I know I will be annoyed that they are saving more money than me. So here are a few ways that I try to eat healthy (not California healthy, just regular healthy) and save money.

• Stock up on coupons for healthier products. Example: I like to buy Kashi cereals, so I signed up for their mailing list and such online. Also, any time I have requested a free sample from them, I get a bunch of coupons with it. Save these to combine with a sale at Publix, and bam, you've got cheapish, healthyish cereal. 
• This week, I had a $5 off $30 Winn-Dixie coupon and a $5 off $30 Publix coupon. My store accepts both and will let me use both in one transaction. So you can buy whatever the heck you want and still save $10. 
• Stock up on in-season produce. Some things I buy no matter what the season (bananas, lettuce, spinach), but when produce is on sale (because it is in season), I buy more of that item that week. It's a good way to rotate and add variety to our diet too! Also, hit up the farmer's market for produce. It adds an extra trip, but it's fun and educational for the little people too. 
• BOGOs are our friend. So ever since my trip to California I've been trying to eat raw foods for breakfast and lunch. Because I love greasy unhealthiness, it has been a hard transition to make, but there are some things that make eating veggies easier for me. Hummus is one of those things. This week hummus was BOGO at Publix, so I bought ten of them. Even better would be to make my own, but I can only do one super hard thing at a time. Right now that is eating vegetables. 
• Pick your own fruit. I haven't found any places I love in Alabama yet, but in Florida we explored a lot of pick-your-own farms. Again, educational and fun for the kids and cheaper for you. Here is a site I use for finding places to pick.

What do you do to save money and eat still eat healthy foods? I am seriously asking for help with this one!

Free Captain D's Sandwich

Just go to their Facebook page and click Like. Follow the links to the coupon and print that bad boy. Fine print reads that you have to buy a drink and a side, and you can print out as many as you want. But the fun ends on July 8th, so really I wouldn't print out too many, depending on your tolerance for deep friend fish sandwiches.

Free donut day at Krispy Kreme, June 3

Stop by and grab a free donut at Krispy Kreme to celebrate National Donut Day on June 3rd.

Rock n Roll Race Sale, June 1st ONLY!

Source

To commemorate National Running day, the Rock 'n' Roll running series is offering discounts on their races.

• Full Marathon: $26 off
• Half Marathon: $13 off
• 10K: $10 off
• 5K: $5 off

Go here for more details.

I'm running Savannah on November 5th (luckily I haven't signed up yet, but I will now). If you sign up for the full marathon, it will actually be cheaper than the half with this discount ($95/full and $85/half). Yet another reason to prove to yourself just how cruel to your body you can be by signing up for the full marathon.

Read to earn tickets to Alabama Adventure

If you live in the Birmingham area, check out the Vestavia Library in the Forest's summer reading program. We went today and picked up bags (with lots of coupons for freebies in town) and got the low-down on the reading program. For every 50 pages you read, you get a ticket. You can combine tickets to earn prizes that are worth between 2 and 15 tickets. The best part of the program is that if you read 300 pages, you get a ticket to Alabama Adventure in Bessemer. So fun! I couldn't find any info for this reading program on their site, but they may be updating at some point. And the part about the park tickets wasn't listed on the materials we got, so I don't know if they have a limited supply or what. Question mark. If you go and get any more/new/different info, let me know, but for now, my kids are super stoked about going to the closest thing to Disney World in Alabama.

Our cheap summer plans

Since many small people in my house have been vomiting a ridiculously large amount, I decided to think about the joys of summer and make a list of what free/cheapish things we can do in our community this summer.

1.  The gardens: Aldridge Gardens and Botanical Gardens are both free and make for nice walks, exploration and picnic lunches.

2. Running: This is for me, as I don't really expect my kids to start training for a marathon (until next year). Moss Rock Preserve and Boulder Fields, Oak Mountain Park, Greenway Trail, and Veterans' Park.

3. Animals: The Alabama Wildlife Center and Birmingham Zoo (which isn't free, but since we purchased a pass, we will be getting our money's worth).

4. The great outdoors: Ruffner Mountain nature sanctuary, Rickwood Caverns and Meyer Planetarium.

5. History: Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Southern Museum of Flight, Sloss Furnaces and 9/11 Memorial Walk.

6. Fire: Watch July 4th fireworks from my brother's house/awesome view of fireworks.

7. Food: Birmingham Farmers' Market and The Peanut Depot.

8. Art: Birmingham Museum of Art.

9. Water: Free splash pad in Gardendale and The Bama Belle (sunset boat rides, which is what Enoch really wants for his birthday).

10. Parks: Kelly Ingram Park, Homewood Park, Railroad Park, Wald Park, Wildflower Park and Veterans' Park.

11. Movies: Free movies at the Rave on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings and free movies at Homewood Park on Friday evenings.

12. Reading: Hoover Library summer reading program and Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Program.

What's something cool and cheap are you doing this summer?

Free 8x10 Walgreens Photo Collage

Just picture a tiny baby at the other end of this freaky Winona stare.

Available until tomorrow, May 7th. Give your mom something at which to do the mom stare. You know what I'm talking about. You're riding along in the car, and suddenly you feel her eyes glued to you. It's the mom stare, and shouldn't she be driving? I already do it to my own kids too. Maybe my kids will get this for me. So type in FREECOLLAGE at Walgreens online photo center.