Good Times

These past two weeks really have revolved around James' new job and his preparation for leaving. There have been many ups and downs and not many pictures...but, let me give you what I got:

My couponing is continuing to be a big success! I probably spend about 30 minutes a week and save on average about 30% at the grocery stores and drug stores. It's still very exciting! This week I saved the most I have ever saved- 63% ! The other thing that couponing has done for me is really aid in my ability to assess my needs verses my wants. I don't just buy something because I have a coupon. I carefully look through the paper, ads, or my couponmom site and see what it is that we actually need, and then try to find a way to get it cheaper. Also, stock piling is a big part of couponing. Between sales and coupons, I was able to get 6 bottles of laundry detergent for $11 this week. I won't have to buy detergent until next year, so that will chip away at my future shopping trip balances along with other deals like that I have come across! And because I am taking the time to drive to multiple stores some days or spend extra time online, I am much more careful with our money. I'm not going to save $20 at the store to turn around and spend it on something silly like I might have done in the past. I guess what I am trying to say is that couponing has helped me in my overall desire to be thrifty and prudent.

Our little Emma is busy, busy, busy. She loves to play in the kitchen- and if you leave the fridge open for a second she is right in there pulling everything out! She just began to throw full on tantrums which is not so cute. She will throw herself backwards and kick her little legs if you put her down when she does not want you to, or take something away from her. You think she would learn after the few times she smacked her head on the tile, but her temper gets the best of her! Despite her anger management issues, most of the time she is an absolute love. She is going to walk any day. She can stand alone for long periods of time and has attempted a step, but then quickly kneels down as if she isn't quite sure yet. I am hoping she takes her first step before James leaves...he would be terribly sad to miss out on that!

Emma and Dad during Elder's Quorum on Sunday- she'd fit right in if he was a High Priest!

Emma and her buddy, Nora.

Both her and Bradley's two front teeth are fully showing now! They look so cute together!! Bradley is still very much enjoying his soccer games. He scored 3 goals last week! It's not even the goals that are exciting, it is the fact that this kid seriously does not give up. If something is difficult he keeps at it until he wins. I love that about him!

We have yet another new addition to our back yard! I found this little swing set at Toys R Us. It is on the small side, but is perfect for our yard. Between the swing set and the trampoline, I think my boys will be very happy back here . Some days I barely see them at all they are too busy playing and jumping around in the yard. It does my heart good to finally have a safe place for them to play. It may not be the acre or two I wanted, but it fun and it is all theirs. Bradley told me today that we have the coolest yard ever. :)

Savanna is doing great. She is still working on finishing sewing her first dress. She apparently picked a fabric that is very difficult to work with, especially for a newbie. Her sewing mentors have helped her quite a bit but she still has a little work to go before she can show it off! Her book group discussed the fantasy novel "Fablehaven" last week. Savanna really enjoyed this book. It is written by an LDS author and therefore has many great morals and lessons woven into the storyline. One of the protagonists is about Savanna's age and has an obnoxious little brother, so I think she could relate very well to her. ;) Savanna is still enjoying seminary, despite the early hour. She has been working hard to save up money for EFY (Especially for Youth), a week-long camp held at UCSB next summer. It's $480 and tuition is due January 12th so she has been gardening, cleaning, and babysitting to save up. If anyone has any work for her to do, please let us know!

That's about it on the home front this month. I am just beginning Nicholeen Peck's book on teaching children self-government and am also going to start reading Animal Farm by Orwell for our next Adult Colloquium. I will have many evenings free to read in the near future. I will share what I learn as I go. Until then...Hope you all are having a great week!!

Dance moves and fridge demolition.

Did I post this one already? Couldn't remember!

September 14 - 28, 2011

Couponing

I never thought I would be a couponer. It's not that I have anything against coupons, or that I am embarrassed about using them. I just never really thought you could save all that much by clipping a 50 cent off coupon, I thought it was really time consuming for very little reward, and I thought that most coupons were for items that I didn't really want in the first place...I was wrong!

A good friend of mine introduced me to an amazing couponing site, www.couponmom.com. I won't go into all the details (she explains it way better than I can), but let me just tell you that her strategy is genius AND I had no idea you could use so many coupons at the same time so effectively on items you actually want.

I will give you one little example. Coupon Mom suggests that you hold onto your coupons until an item goes on sale. You can purchase an item, say a bottle of salad dressing, when it is on sale for $1. You can use the coupon you have saved for $1 off that dressing and you can get it for free. Better yet if you have multiple coupons, you can get multiple bottles for free. You can also use a store coupon, a manufacturer's coupon, and an e-coupon on the same item in the same transaction! And Coupon Mom's site spells it all out for you and does all the research, even adding up the saving for you so you don't spend hours clipping coupons you don't ever use. You follow her organization method and you only clip the few coupons you needs each week. You are done within 15 to 20 minutes.

My friend is saving close to $800 PER MONTH using this method. I have only been getting coupons for 2 weeks, so this was my first real week trying it out. I did have to go to a couple of extra stores, but I saved 20% at my first store, close to 50% at my second (see picture above), and 40% at my third store! And, I only used a handful of coupons (I think I used about 7). Most of my savings came from reading the weekly ads that come in the mail each week and planning my trips accordingly. Drug store sales begin Sunday, so I hit up our local CVS first thing Monday morning and got some killer deals. Grocery store sales begin Wednesday, so I am going to switch my grocery shopping days from Friday to Wednesday to capitalize on those sales.

Any way, it's exciting. I do the bulk of my shopping at the Farmer's Market and Trader Joes so my savings won't come near the $800 mark. However, I saved $80 just this week with minimum effort. Not too shabby. My hubby would be very pleased if I trimmed $300 or so off our grocery bill each month!

Okay, so here are the best sites if you want to give it a try:

www.couponmom.com

www.redplum.com

www.smartsource.com

www.coupons.com

www.savingstar.com

www.shortcuts.com

August 31, 2011