It's been a very busy week and I'm sorry it's taken me all week to get this post out. One thing or another has kept me from being able to sit down and focus...even now, I'm taking the time while Philip is talking to his mom on the phone. I try very hard not to be busy with other things while he's at home. He works so hard and sacrifices so much so I can be at home with our kids....it's the least I can do.....I love you and appreciate you so much, honey!!
I've thought and thought how I want to share my couponing and shopping and money saving strategies. I'd like to say that I've got it all figured out and I never spend a dime I don't have budgeted. I'd like to tell you that I'm an avid saver and we are debt free with an awesome bank account..but, alas.....I would be lying to you and so I'll start with the truth.....
I LOVE to shop!!!!! I LOVE a bargain!!! I'm the crazy lady who buys10 packs of chicken thighs because I'm afraid they'll never be 88¢ a pound again! I'm the lady with 15 tubes of toothpaste because I found a sale, had 3 coupons (but even without the coupons it was a good deal!) and had to stock up. Cheeze Its for $1 a box??? Give me 5 please!! THAT is my downfall...not being able to turn away a bargain. Not turning away a bargain has often caused me to overspend, which, since I'm confessing here, is probably my greatest sin. Honestly.
About a year ago I was struggling with that very thing and knowing I needed "help". I needed to find out how other people made ends meet, paid off debt and put money in savings..on one income. I'd heard story after story about folks who would take their coupons and buy $150 of groceries and only pay $5 or $10 for them. I would think to myself, "It can't be done!", and then I would beat myself up for a while.
Thankfully God got hold of me, wore me out, tore me away from my pity party and He and I began a journey that we've been on for a year now. I've looked back more than once, but thankfully His Holy Spirit quickly grabs my attention and puts my focus back in perspective.
So where do I begin?? This is how I shop......
Like I said before, I only buy real groceries every two weeks. In between that time, I may have to make a run for bread (if I've gotten lazy and not baked any for a while. Anyone interested in learning how to make homemade bread?? Let me know..) or dog food but not much else.
In our area, as in most, the Wednesday paper has all of the sales flyers for the grocery stores in our area. Since we have the paper delivered, this is easy for me to get hold of. If you don't have the paper delivered, then I would highly suggest buying the paper on Wednesday and Sunday. Sunday's paper will usually have sales flyers for KMart, Target, Walgreens and CVS plus those very valuable coupons!!
Usually on Thursday afternoon, I will sit down with my diet Dew, my sales flyers, my coupons, my calculator and my shopping pad. Our food budget doesn't waver too much....I usually spend $250-$275 on 4 people. Let me make you aware, I'm talking 2 adults and 2 teenagers..15 &17...the 15 year old, being my 6' tall, 230 pound son who doesn't know the meaning of the words, "I'm full"! I've read about many people who only spend $30 a week on 4 people. That used to get me down until I realized that 2 of those people are under the age of 3!!!
Anyway...I meticulously go over each sale, noting on my pad only the things that are a very good bargain. I write the name of the store and under that write each sale, the price, how much I'd like to purchase, total that, figure the tax and write down the final tally. I do that for each store that advertises. I'm fortunate to have all of the stores within 2 miles of each other, so going from store to store isn't a problem.
After I've written down the sales, I will go through my coupons and see if I have any that match up with the sales. If I have some, I paper clip them adjacent to the sales flyer for that store.
Once that is done, I retrieve my running grocery list that we keep on the microwave and head to the laundry room, each bathroom and our pantry to see if we're out of anything that didn't make it to my running list for some reason. (Explaining the running list will follow soon..)
Once I'm satisfied that I've covered all of that, I head back to the table to plan my strategy for the next day. Yes, this usually takes at least an hour, sometimes more, but at this point in time, I'm saving an average of at least $50 a pay period. Not bad for an hour or so of work, if I do say so.
In my next post, I'll share how I break down my shopping day, and begin trying to explain shopping at CVS (a must for those serious about saving!!).
Blessings......
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
The Day After....finally!!
Did you vote yesterday? I truly hope so.
Did your candidate win? Honestly, it really doesn't matter. I'm a person that likes looking at the facts, and the fact is, that Barrak Obama will officially be the President of the United States on January 20, 2009.
What does that mean? That means that we as Christians we should do as we've been called to do from the very beginning..we are to bathe this man in prayer. We are to lift him up before the Father and pray that God will protect him and that he will 1) come to salvation through Jesus Christ if he doesn't know Him 2) if he does know Jesus as Savior, that this will only cause him to grow stronger in that relationship 3) that he will make decisions only after seeking the Father 4) that God will be glorified and honored in everything.
You see, no matter what happens in our lives, someone is going to be unhappy...if I make green beans for supper, Zack is going to be unhappy. If I tell Beth she has to have lights out at 10, she's going to be unhappy. If Philip doesn't get 8 hours of sleep at night, he's going to be unhappy. If we don't go to the beach for vacation, I'm going to be unhappy, but just because we're unhappy doesn't lessen the call that God has placed on our lives...to be His people, honoring and glorifying Him with our lives.
Make praying for our President-elect a part of your everyday life. Not only our President-elect, but those who work with him on a daily basis. Remember James 5: 16b---"....the earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results." NLT
Blessings....
Did your candidate win? Honestly, it really doesn't matter. I'm a person that likes looking at the facts, and the fact is, that Barrak Obama will officially be the President of the United States on January 20, 2009.
What does that mean? That means that we as Christians we should do as we've been called to do from the very beginning..we are to bathe this man in prayer. We are to lift him up before the Father and pray that God will protect him and that he will 1) come to salvation through Jesus Christ if he doesn't know Him 2) if he does know Jesus as Savior, that this will only cause him to grow stronger in that relationship 3) that he will make decisions only after seeking the Father 4) that God will be glorified and honored in everything.
You see, no matter what happens in our lives, someone is going to be unhappy...if I make green beans for supper, Zack is going to be unhappy. If I tell Beth she has to have lights out at 10, she's going to be unhappy. If Philip doesn't get 8 hours of sleep at night, he's going to be unhappy. If we don't go to the beach for vacation, I'm going to be unhappy, but just because we're unhappy doesn't lessen the call that God has placed on our lives...to be His people, honoring and glorifying Him with our lives.
Make praying for our President-elect a part of your everyday life. Not only our President-elect, but those who work with him on a daily basis. Remember James 5: 16b---"....the earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results." NLT
Blessings....
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Let's Talk Shopping
How do you shop?
Do you use a list? Do you use coupons? Do you price match?
How about a budget? Do you allot so much for groceries and household items and then that's it?
When I began blogging, I really had a lot of things I wanted to talk about and share...like being the Biblical wife and mother God has called me to be. I want to share recipes and ideas. I want to share about our homeschooling life. I want to share how to save money and live a simpler life....and to me, a simpler life doesn't mean living by lantern and washing clothes on a scrub board...although I do swear by using a clothesline!!
I don't have it all figured out..by no means...but I've been around a while and I have picked up a few things here and there. I've learned lessons the hard way simply because I'm an extremely stubborn, thick-headed woman, who God has to repeatedly discipline because I want to do things my way...(hey!! didn't Elvis sing about that??)
So....I'm asking. What do you want to talk about? What would you like to see on here?
For me, with the holidays coming up....I'd like to address the subject of saving money when you shop. I was singing and dancing all the way home Friday after buying groceries because in coupons alone, I saved $45.32!!! That amount didn't include the price matching I did at Wal Mart and the groceries I bought at our little trade market by the house. Overall, my savings for 2 weeks worth of groceries was over $65!! Now...I know that there are people saving way more than I did/am and believe me....they are my goal, but I've only been serious about this for a little over a year now and remember...I'm a slow learner (see above!)
In the next 75 days, our household will be celebrating: Thanksgiving (it can cost a lot to serve that meal), our 25th wedding anniversary, our son's 16th birthday, Christmas, my dad's birthday, our daughter's 18th birthday and a trip to a Scott Dawson conference at $100 each (x's 4)!! So you see, spending will be at the front of my mind for quite some time to come.
I'd love to share what I've learned with you and I'd love to hear what works for your family too!!
In the next day or two, I'd like to share how I saved the $65+ this week and where I know that I could have saved even more.
With you all holding me accountable, I think we can be successful together!!
Blessings....
Do you use a list? Do you use coupons? Do you price match?
How about a budget? Do you allot so much for groceries and household items and then that's it?
When I began blogging, I really had a lot of things I wanted to talk about and share...like being the Biblical wife and mother God has called me to be. I want to share recipes and ideas. I want to share about our homeschooling life. I want to share how to save money and live a simpler life....and to me, a simpler life doesn't mean living by lantern and washing clothes on a scrub board...although I do swear by using a clothesline!!
I don't have it all figured out..by no means...but I've been around a while and I have picked up a few things here and there. I've learned lessons the hard way simply because I'm an extremely stubborn, thick-headed woman, who God has to repeatedly discipline because I want to do things my way...(hey!! didn't Elvis sing about that??)
So....I'm asking. What do you want to talk about? What would you like to see on here?
For me, with the holidays coming up....I'd like to address the subject of saving money when you shop. I was singing and dancing all the way home Friday after buying groceries because in coupons alone, I saved $45.32!!! That amount didn't include the price matching I did at Wal Mart and the groceries I bought at our little trade market by the house. Overall, my savings for 2 weeks worth of groceries was over $65!! Now...I know that there are people saving way more than I did/am and believe me....they are my goal, but I've only been serious about this for a little over a year now and remember...I'm a slow learner (see above!)
In the next 75 days, our household will be celebrating: Thanksgiving (it can cost a lot to serve that meal), our 25th wedding anniversary, our son's 16th birthday, Christmas, my dad's birthday, our daughter's 18th birthday and a trip to a Scott Dawson conference at $100 each (x's 4)!! So you see, spending will be at the front of my mind for quite some time to come.
I'd love to share what I've learned with you and I'd love to hear what works for your family too!!
In the next day or two, I'd like to share how I saved the $65+ this week and where I know that I could have saved even more.
With you all holding me accountable, I think we can be successful together!!
Blessings....
Monday, November 3, 2008
I'm a Catalog!!
I just had to share this!!
While doing my devotions this morning, I was taken quite by surprise when I realized I'd just been compared to a catalog!! Now, I've been compared to many things over my lifetime, but never a catalog!! Well, believe me, this completely caught my attention..
As I read, the author was talking about the fact that the Christmas season is upon us and that each day would find more and more catalogs in our mailboxes. These catalogs would show us page upon page of things we didn't know we needed until we opened the catalog. I had to laugh!! I'm notorious for looking through a catalog and thinking, "Cool!" "Wow! I'd love to have that!" "Why didn't I think of that?!" You get the picture.
I've also gotten what I call "trash" catalogs. I'm not talking about ugly, sinful catalogs. I'm talking about those shoe catalogs for older men. I'm not older :o) and I'm certainly not a man..throw that catalog in the trash. Or the catalog for candy and goodies. I love to make my own (lots cheaper!) and there is enough of me anyway..throw that catalog in the trash too.
The author then went on to tell me that I was God's catalog...Whoa! Wait a minute! Me. A catalog. OOOkaaaaay.....
As I went on to read though, I found I completely agreed with the author. Like the catalogs we get in the mail that let us know we're "missing out" on something; that we've just got to have this something to make our lives better, easier, smoother; our lives should show those around us that they've just got to have what we have. If they had what we've got, their lives would be better, easier, smoother..... We should be a living, breathing, walking catalog for Jesus. People should be able to look at our lives and realize that they're missing out on something and that Something is Jesus Christ Himself!!
I took some time to examine my "catalog" and asked myself if the people watching my life, if the people who are around me in Wal Mart, if the people who are in the church I attend...see Something they've just got to have.
I pray that they do.
I decided this morning that I didn't want to be a "trash" catalog. How about you??
Blessings......
While doing my devotions this morning, I was taken quite by surprise when I realized I'd just been compared to a catalog!! Now, I've been compared to many things over my lifetime, but never a catalog!! Well, believe me, this completely caught my attention..
As I read, the author was talking about the fact that the Christmas season is upon us and that each day would find more and more catalogs in our mailboxes. These catalogs would show us page upon page of things we didn't know we needed until we opened the catalog. I had to laugh!! I'm notorious for looking through a catalog and thinking, "Cool!" "Wow! I'd love to have that!" "Why didn't I think of that?!" You get the picture.
I've also gotten what I call "trash" catalogs. I'm not talking about ugly, sinful catalogs. I'm talking about those shoe catalogs for older men. I'm not older :o) and I'm certainly not a man..throw that catalog in the trash. Or the catalog for candy and goodies. I love to make my own (lots cheaper!) and there is enough of me anyway..throw that catalog in the trash too.
The author then went on to tell me that I was God's catalog...Whoa! Wait a minute! Me. A catalog. OOOkaaaaay.....
As I went on to read though, I found I completely agreed with the author. Like the catalogs we get in the mail that let us know we're "missing out" on something; that we've just got to have this something to make our lives better, easier, smoother; our lives should show those around us that they've just got to have what we have. If they had what we've got, their lives would be better, easier, smoother..... We should be a living, breathing, walking catalog for Jesus. People should be able to look at our lives and realize that they're missing out on something and that Something is Jesus Christ Himself!!
I took some time to examine my "catalog" and asked myself if the people watching my life, if the people who are around me in Wal Mart, if the people who are in the church I attend...see Something they've just got to have.
I pray that they do.
I decided this morning that I didn't want to be a "trash" catalog. How about you??
Blessings......
Remember to Vote Your Convictions Tomorrow
I'm going to be honest, I'm not fond of talking politcs. Yes, I do try to be informed. Yes, I do try to keep up with the current events. Yes, I am going to vote tomorrow and I truly hope you intend to also. I want to share my struggles with this election though.
I'm not going to tip toe around this...I will not be voting for Barrak Obama. This man clearly stands for everything I'm against. He's had way too many inconsistencies while he's been campaigning and done too much back-peddling, so to speak. I have absolutely no peace about this man being president of our country.
On the other hand.....In years past, I have always voted the Republican candidate for President. Sad to say, this year, I will not be voting for John McCain. This man, too, stands for things I am completely against. Like Obama, I have no peace about this man being president of our country either.
So what to do?? I was truly at my wit's end, praying, reading, seeking direction and wisdom from others and no one had any guidance to offer. All seemed hopeless. I had folks telling me to just vote the lesser of two evils. Something about that doesn't seem right....vote for the lesser of an evil???
Anyway, thanks to Chelsey over at Joyfully Living (www.joyfullyliving.blogspot.com) for introducing Independent Chuck Baldwin to me. After checking out his website, and doing a little research on my own. After careful consideration and prayer, I will be voting for him for President. I encourage you to check out his site over at www.baldwin08.com There, you can read about this candidate and make an informed decision for yourself.
The important thing is that you vote your convictions. Not what anyone, including myself, is telling you. We have less than 24 hours to make up our minds and when you leave the polls, I pray that you do so with a clear conscience, knowing that you 1. Voted 2. Voted your convictions.
Blessings......
I'm not going to tip toe around this...I will not be voting for Barrak Obama. This man clearly stands for everything I'm against. He's had way too many inconsistencies while he's been campaigning and done too much back-peddling, so to speak. I have absolutely no peace about this man being president of our country.
On the other hand.....In years past, I have always voted the Republican candidate for President. Sad to say, this year, I will not be voting for John McCain. This man, too, stands for things I am completely against. Like Obama, I have no peace about this man being president of our country either.
So what to do?? I was truly at my wit's end, praying, reading, seeking direction and wisdom from others and no one had any guidance to offer. All seemed hopeless. I had folks telling me to just vote the lesser of two evils. Something about that doesn't seem right....vote for the lesser of an evil???
Anyway, thanks to Chelsey over at Joyfully Living (www.joyfullyliving.blogspot.com) for introducing Independent Chuck Baldwin to me. After checking out his website, and doing a little research on my own. After careful consideration and prayer, I will be voting for him for President. I encourage you to check out his site over at www.baldwin08.com There, you can read about this candidate and make an informed decision for yourself.
The important thing is that you vote your convictions. Not what anyone, including myself, is telling you. We have less than 24 hours to make up our minds and when you leave the polls, I pray that you do so with a clear conscience, knowing that you 1. Voted 2. Voted your convictions.
Blessings......
Saturday, November 1, 2008
And the Winner is........!!
Congratulations to Sandy over at Uncluttered Living!! She is the winner of the $10 Build a Bear gift card!!!
Thanks so much to all of you who entered. I appreciate you visiting my site and I hope that I see all of you here much more in the future. You have been true blessings to me!!
I have another give-a-way going on right now through November 14. I have 4 gift cards for 10 free prints at any HP Photosmart Express station. We don't have those in our area, but maybe you do in yours!
Thanks again and Sandy..I've zapped you an e-mail. Can't wait to hear from you!!
Blessings.....
Thanks so much to all of you who entered. I appreciate you visiting my site and I hope that I see all of you here much more in the future. You have been true blessings to me!!
I have another give-a-way going on right now through November 14. I have 4 gift cards for 10 free prints at any HP Photosmart Express station. We don't have those in our area, but maybe you do in yours!
Thanks again and Sandy..I've zapped you an e-mail. Can't wait to hear from you!!
Blessings.....
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