The Last Year

I admit it. I've been distracted, overwhelmed, pulled in a million directions. Jason and I had a lazy weekend last weekend, and it was nice because as we talked, we realized that for the next month and a half, we have something important to do EVERY WEEKEND. I feel like I'm spinning my wheels. We started school; my PartyLite business is going well; I'm trying to be most diligent in clipping organizing, and using my coupons. Sometimes it's too much. I'm being chased by time, and I think it might catch me.

I'm not saying this to complain. This life is a wonderful one. The babies are healthy and growing. We're surrounded by friends who love us, and God is faithful as always.


I had a birthday in the middle of August, and I always like to sit down (usually closer to my birthday than this) and reflect on what God has done in the year. Isn't it sad that today is the first day I've had to do such reflecting.

Here are a few things:

I had a beautiful baby boy December 23. While 34 weeks is a little early to come, God took care of him and me and he's ALL BOY! I'll do a separate post about that. Who knew that boys really could be that different from girls this early in life!

My sweet baby turned 3 in July. Where has all the time gone? It seems like just yesterday we were bringing her home, and now she's sassy and smart and just a joy (most of the time; let's not forget she is still THREE!).

I went on load reduction at school which means that I only have to teach 4 classes every semester, which may not seem like much, but it gives me more time here, at home, where I desperately long to be.

I taught the most difficult group of students I have ever taught, AND SURVIVED! (Let me add, Jason survived too. It was questionable there for a while.)

I celebrated 5 years of marriage to a handsome, caring man.

We added two new folks to the meal swap I mentioned in an earlier post, which now means that I only have to cook one night during the week and the other four I get great food from wonderful friends. It's a WIN!

All in all, it's been a wonderful year. Please forgive me if the posts aren't as frequent as they have been in the past. I'm a little busy, but I'll be here occasionally.

Two Trips to Share

Okay, friends, I have two shopping trips to share with you - one from last week and one from today. If you're really fast on reading this blog, you can still make it to Walgreens and score these sweet deals. The Friends and Family Discount (15%) expires today, but the rest of the deal will continue for the rest of the week.

Last week I went to BiLo and Publix and scored all this food! Yay! I have to say too that God works in amazing ways some times.
I've not shared this here, but for the past few months several ladies in my church and I have been swapping meals. It is AWESOME! Please feel free to steal the idea. I cook one night a week for all four families (mine included) and then the other three nights of the week, I get a hot meal from one of my friends. We recently lost our fourth and are looking to replace her. Sad day.

Anyway, we get together once a month to plan the month's meals, which makes it really easy to pick up the things that I need when they are really cheap. Since we took the month of August off, I was behind in my preparation, and I needed salsa and chips, which I must note weren't on sale anywhere last week. I simply told myself I would wait until this week and hopefully they would be one sale somewhere. (Does this show you how much of a tightwad I am). When I got home and was putting away my things, guess what I found, a HUGE bag of chips a friend had given us and a large jar of salsa. God truly is faithful!

Back to my savings, this was my trip to Publix and BiLo. I spent $53.44 at Publix and $11.50 at BiLo. I saved $64.44 at Publix and $19.35 at BiLo. That's a savings of 56% and look at all the stuff I got!

Now, this was today:

I bought 3 packs of Pampers, one large bag of Pampers wipes, a box of Pampers wipes, a box of Huggies wipes, a candy bar for filler, two boxes of Special K, and 6 Sobe Life Waters (these I got at CVS and paid .05 for all six, less than a penny for each one). I spent $26.18, used my 15% Friends and Family Discount at Walgreens, used 3 B1G1 coupons for the Sobe at CVS, saved $31.90 or 55%. That's pretty sweet shopping if you ask me.

Oh, I should probably stop showing you all the candy I buy. That might explain why I can't lose weight, huh? ;-)

You can head to the Walgreens Facebook page and print the 15% coupon. It expires today, so you better hurry!

Why I do it...

I do sometimes get some flack for my obsession with couponing and deal hunting, but I've had two very satisfying experiences this weekend that affirm to me why I do what I do in the savings department.

This backpack is packed to overflowing with things I picked up at Staples. Our church works with DSS and fills backpacks for foster kids. There's nothing more satisfying than knowing that those of us who have been exceptionally blessed can bless someone else. It was also a teaching moment when I took Abby with me to the store to get the things and then filled the bag and said, "Baby, there are little boys and girls who don't have a backpack, and we're going to give one little boy or girl this one so that they'll have one." She looked up at me with those big eyes that said, "You're kidding, no backpack, crazy!" There's no time like now to learn to think outside ourselves.


And for all of you who mocked me about the Stayfree pads I picked up several weeks ago, God knew why I needed them. I put all this stuff in a bag and gave it to a lady at our church who really needed it. There's not enough money in the world to buy the feeling of humility I felt when she told me thank you. Were I buying this stuff at full retail, I NEVER would have given it away, nor would I have a stockpile of it the other room, but since God has blessed, I can bless.

And let's not forget that I also do it for these two sweet babies who call me Mommy and for the fella that calls me Honey. Proverbs 31 says that a wife of noble character is worth far more than rubies and that "Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value" and that "she sees that her trading is profitable" and her children "arise and call her blessed." (v 10, 18, 28). That is my goal and why I do what I do.

How I do it

I was asked on my previous post where I get my coupons from, so I thought maybe I would share how I get the deals I get. Some of you already know this stuff, so feel free to tune me out, but before I share the technical stuff, I wanted to let you know about another awesome shopping trip, this time to Publix.

I've always thought that Publix was too far from my house to shop at, and I've bought into the thinking that Publix, like CVS, is just too expense; I mean, their generic stuff looks gourmet to me, but I'm wrong. Take note, because I don't admit to being wrong often. I much prefer to be right, but this time, I've made a mistake. Publix is only about 15 minutes down the road from me, and for the awesome savings that they offer, they're not too far away.

So here's what I got:

That's 2 half gallons of Smart Balance milk, 2 Soft Scrub Scrubby Pads, 2 big boxes of Chex, and 2 bags of Chock-ful-o-nuts coffee.
I paid $11.47, saved $15.47 and used $8.50 in coupons.
The Secret Clinical was a sample of deodorant that I got in the mail today. Yesterday I got a sample of Purina dog food.

So here are a few things that I do when couponing:

First, I have store cards for my 3 favorite stores, CVS, Ingles and Bi-Lo. Publix and Walgreens do not require store cards, so that's really nice.

I use two websites to help me find the best deals: Southern Savers and Hip2Save. Southern Savers lists mainly grocery store deals and occasionally great internet deals, and Hip2Save posts mainly freebies and internet/store deals. They serve two different functions for me.

I always buy TWO Sunday papers just for the inserts. Now, I do love to catch up on the news, but I buy the Sunday paper only for the coupons, no other reason, coupons only. I pull the inserts out (sometimes I stand in line and look through the papers quickly to make sure that they actually have the inserts in them) and put the date on them in marker - big marks on the front of the insert. That way when Southern Savers references the insert, I know which one I'm looking at.

I keep my inserts in a pocket folder divided into SmartSource, Red Plum, PGBrandSaver, internet coupons, and other coupons, and before I go to the store, I go through the inserts and match the coupons with the things that I want to buy. Never, ever, ever go to the store without a list. You will spend way more money than you intended to and you won't get great deals. Keep in mind that not all inserts have the same coupons, so Southern Savers may have a coupon listed in an insert that doesn't actually show up in yours.

I know that some people clip all their coupons and put them in binders in baseball card holders, but I have two small children who constantly cry for my attention, so I don't do that. Sometimes my mom will call me and let me know of a deal, and I'll take advantage of that. I also know the products that usually have coupons on them, so if I see one on clearance, I may come home and try to find a coupon to match it with. That's the extent of that.

I also love refunding. If I see that I can submit a refund for something, I do! I've gotten $39 in rebates just in the past two weeks. Y'all, that's $40 in money that I can deposit into my checking or savings account for things that I would have bought anyway. ChaChing!

One last note, whenever I go into CVS, I go directly to the magic coupon machine (in Pickens it's right inside the door, a big red machine) and scan my EC card to see what coupons shoot out. Usually there are some good ones for things that if they're not on sale already, they will be in the next few weeks. Sometimes you even get lucky with money off a purchase. Remember, these are store coupons and can be used with a manufacter's coupon in most stores.

I've saved a lot of money doing these kinds of deals, and let me warn you, it's addictive.

Feel free to post questions/comments below.

What a Deal!

You've got to take advantage of this deal if you have a baby or if you brush your teeth!

My mom called me and told me that Walgreens has Pampers wipes on sale for $2.49 and that there is a $2 off coupon in the July 6 Proctor and Gamble BrandSaver.

I had seen the deal on Southern Savers, but I hadn't thought much about it because I don't really shop at Walgreens all that much. I couldn't, however, pass up $.49 wipes. I mean, I wipe a lot of bottoms in my house.

I was worried that when I got to the store that they would all be gone, but the Walgreens in Pickens had a nice stock. I also grabbed Colgate toothpaste for $3.49 with a $1 coupon and $3.50 in RegisterRewards.

Here's what I got:

The Snickers are just filler so that I could use the RegisterRewards.

I paid $7.80, saved $16.01 and still have $3.50 in RR.

You seriously need to go to Walgreens and cash in on this. Wipes are a great baby gift!

The Checkups!

Yesterday was the big day - Abby had her 3 year checkup and Jake his 6 month. Now I know that Jake is almost 7 months now, but I wanted their checkups together, so I did what I had to do. Being the brilliant parent that I am, I of course scheduled said checkups right in the middle of naptime and with a doctor that I don't particularly like, but you know me, ever thoughtful!

I could have choked on my lunch when the nurse came around the corner holding a clear cup asking if Abby could give a specimen. I mean, sure, we just learned to peepee in the potty, peeing in a cup should be no problem at all. Luckily, she took one look at Abby and said, "she probably won't go in a cup, huh?" I replied, "uh, no."

Abby did, however, stand on the scale like a big girl and even let the nurse take her height measurement. She's 28lbs (6th percentile, woohoo) and 35 3/4 inches tall (28th percentile). She going to be tall and lean - yeah right! ;-)
One thing we couldn't get out of her was her blood pressure. Even though she's very practiced at taking our bp with the little cuff out of her doctor's bag (thanks, Lena) she wouldn't let the nurse near her with the real thing.

She also struggled against the gown that she had to wear. We convinced her to put it on with the promise of a prize and the observation that her gown matched Jake's diaper. Go figure. Three year olds.

The doctor asked if Abby was talking, and I swear if Jake had been able to say words, he probably would have said, "She never stops talking." I didn't know there were any three year olds who didn't talk, but I guess it happens. Abby and the doctor then had a great chat about colors and body parts. All the while, Abby clung to my neck like it was a life raft.

When it was Jake's turn, he weighed a whopping 13lbs even (1st percentile) and was 25 3/4 inches long (13th percentile). I don't know why my babies are longer than they are fat, but that's okay.

The one concern with Jake was his persistent hives. About 3 weeks ago he broke out with unexplained hives all over his body. They come and go, but the doctor said that now we get to go to a pediatric allergist to see if we can figure out what's going on. Fun days, huh? That means sticks and blood work.

Overall, it was a good checkup. They gave Jake a bazzillion (and that's not an exaggeration at all) shots. I had promised Abby NO SHOTS when we went, and they said that she could get two boosters if I wanted to. Now what parent WANTS their child to get shots? I asked if we could put it off since I promised, and I guess we'll do the boosters when we get her flu shot. I'm already dreading it.

And that's the update.

A Quick Rant

Now this picture may not look like anything to you, but it's a washing machine full of wet, unwashed clothes. I went to my laundry room this morning to finish washing Jake's diapers when I noticed that the covers were exceptionally wet. I just assumed because of the way that I have to wash his diapers that the spin cycle hadn't worked very well. Mistake!

What actually happened was our washing machine decided to go to the big laundromat in the sky.

Silly me, since I thought it was just the spin cycle, put another load in the machine to wash and then noticed that it sounded a little sick, opened the washer to find that the agitator wasn't working. Luckily, the water would still drain out the machine, so I wasn't left with a drum full of water and dirty clothes. That would have been fantastic.

While I was trying to figure out what I was going to do until we could get the clothes washed, I walked in to get Jake when I found him lying in a puddle.


This is our first overnight mishap. It would happen when I don't have a washing machine. No, Jake hasn't been raptured; I shot the picture after I stripped him and ran him to his room to be cleaned up.


And this, my bloggerville friends, is my third cup of coffee. It's definitely been a full-pot kind of day already.