Tonight was a GREAT night. I was able to attend "Let's Do Dinner." It's part of the Women's ministry at our church. They have "Let's Do Lunch" once a month at noon. For the women who work and are unable to attend, they have the nighttime dinner program. Well, I was able to share with the ladies for a a few minutes about my one of favorite topics....COUPONS!! Can you imagine me talking about coupons??? NEVER! Well, a good time was had by all. I promised the ladies tonight that I would post some of the websites that I have shared with you all before, but by posting them now, they are easily accessed from here.
Ladies of Let's Do Dinner, tonight was wonderful! I had a great time, even if you laughed at my binder. When you have one for yourself, we'll both laugh all the way to the bank! Also, one other thing. You all saw the products I bought. Just because I bought those doesn't mean that those were the only things on sale or with good prices at Kmart. I bought some weird colors of fingernail polish. Well, those are for gifts for the little girls in Portugal whose parents are the missionaries I mentioned last night. Little girls love that stuff! The "normal" colors are also on sale! Also, there was lots of free cat food at Kmart to be had, too, but I don't have a cat. That was just a sampling of what was there. Here are the websites I promised! Just click the links below and be whisked away to a saving wonderland! Please feel free to ask questions by clicking the comment link at the bottom of the page. You can ask questions there, and all of the women can see the question and the answer.
1. The Coupon Mom This is a free site, but you must sign up. Her services are free because of all of the advertising on her site. When you first sign up, you will see LOTS and LOTS of ads, but just click "No Thanks" or "Skip," and you will never have to deal with all of the ads again. This site has lots of information, but it's main feature is that is has weekly lists of the sales at Walgreens, Rite Aid, Walmart, Target, CVS (coming soon to Hampton Roads), Kroger, Harris Teeter, and Food Lion (listed under North Carolina, not sure why). On each list for each store, it lists the sales on everything in the sale ad, matches a coupon to it, and tells you how much you should save. Also, you can select the items you are interested in buying, click a link at the the bottom of the page (Display Selected Deals), and it will give you a printable shopping list! GREAT SITE!
2. Hot Coupon World This is a free site, but you must also sign up. It is a forum site. Women from all over the country post deals they've gotten, and specials they've found that might not be advertised anywhere else. There are also LOTS AND LOTS of tips on how to save money, stockpiling, and much much more. You can spend literally HOURS reading the information there. DO NOT GET OVERWHELMED. Start slow and small. One tip for navigating this site. They use a lot of abbreviations like YMMV, TMF, Man Q, WAGS. At the bottom of every page you're on there is a link to a page with abbreviations. It will help you tremendously.
3. Money Saving Mom. This is my favorite frugal blog. It does not require that you sign up. She has lots of great posts about saving money and she also lists many of the deals for the week.
OK ladies, enjoy this. Take your time. Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither will be your coupon binder or your personal stockpile. It takes time, and you've got lots to learn. It's so worth it!
Happy Savings!
OK Ladies....
Today was a good shopping day....
Many Kmart stores around the country are having Super Double Coupons this week. That means coupons with a face value up to $2 are doubled. So a $2 coupon is worth $4. A $1 coupon is worth $2 and so on. That means you can get some incredible deals. Here is a picture of everything I bought today. 
This is $141.97 worth of stuff. After all the sales and coupons, I was able to get all of it for $17.38. Don't worry, I couldn't believe it either. Neither could the cashier or the lady behind me in line. We all did the happy dance right there together. After my last post, I realized once again that this is what couponing is all about.
I bought 51 items today. As I looked at the picture, I realized that there were only
22 items that I actually paid something for. Everything else on the table was absolutely free. And some of the items that I got today are actually going to my friends, the Bustrums that I wrote about in my last post.
God is good. He does provide. He can use it all!
Happy Savings!
It's finally Fall....and other stuff
I know, I know, Fall started in September. Well, for some reason, it finally feels like Fall today. I was driving today and looked up and the first few trees are beginning to turn. The weather is changing, and it's getting darker earlier. I just love Fall. Today the first real cold front has arrived. I needed food to make me warm, and I thought about Sopa de Elote. That is Sweet Corn Soup, and it's one of my favorite foods that I ate in Mexico. I found this recipe online. It was SO good. I made two small alterations. I added a little chicken bouillon powder because that's what they do in Mexico, and I didn't add the peppers. The other thing that I can say about this recipe is that I did it last minute, and it came together so quickly! There is nothing better than a quick, yummy supper. And I tell many people, "If it's not easy, I don't do it!"
Couponing is going well. It has it's ups and downs. Some days I am thrilled about doing it, other days I feel such a weight from the responsibility of keeping it all together. I am saving hundreds of dollars of every month. I am getting lots and lots of stuff for free each month. One of the highlights for me has been collecting stuff for my friends, Mark and Hannah Bustrum and their girls, who are missionaries in Portugal. Craig is going there in a couple of weeks for a vision trip. Our church wants to send a team there next year. I had Hannah send me a list of stuff they wanted and needed. I laughed and laughed when I got it. I have things that I've gotten for free (lots, actually) that were on her list. Not only is using coupons a benefit to my family, it is a benefit to some of our closest friends on the other side of the ocean. So, when I get discouraged with the time it takes to cut coupons, file them, and purge the expired ones, I will remember the Bustrums. God can use it all, remember that.
Great Days to Shop at Walgreens 10/24 & 10/25 DEAD DEAL
Get your $5 of $20 coupon here. Remember that your total has to be $20 after all other coupons and discounts.
Hope you have a GREAT day shopping. Check out Money Saving Mom HERE and HERE see some of the deals you can get right now at Walgreens (if you have the coupons from the last few weeks). Thanks Money Saving Mom. There are some good money makers as well as some free and cheap items. I am hoping to profit about $8 shopping there, if not more. With some careful planning, you can do it!
Catching up and priorities....
Just so you know, I am catching up. I am 3 weeks behind on clipping coupons. I am behind on house work. And I have just got to get my mind around some things. My family is coming for a visit, and we are planning for the Princess's 4th birthday. I will be back regularly soon. Thanks for your patience, and thanks for continually checking the blog!
Happy Savings!
Walgreens wants your business 10/17 & 10/18 DEAD DEAL
Get your $5 off $25 here and save again on Friday and Saturday. Walgreens is really wanting your business. Remember, the total must be $25 after all your coupons and other discounts.
Happy Savings!
Be a tester for companies....
My desire to be frugal comes from my mama. I tell people that she raised me on a 4 letter word: S-A-L-E! One day I came home from 4 year old preschool and she had arranged on my bed a bunch of clothes that were "hand-me-downs." My eyes were immediately drawn to a pair of black patten shoes. I held them with such excitement and asked (as a 4 year old), "Were they on sale?" And she said, "Better, they were free!"
Today, I want to share with you how you can get products for free. There are two consumer groups, one with General Mills and the other is Kraft, that want your opinions. You sign up for the groups, and they will send you either coupons for free products or the products themselves for you to try out. In response, they want your feed back. They want you to share the products or coupons with your friends and family. And after you've tried the products, they want you to tell your friends and family about the products. Join for FREE!
Join Kraft First Taste
Join General Mills Pssst
Here is my first recommendation from General Mills!
Pillsbury Thin Pizza Crust. I like this product because of its convenience. One of the things that I did that we ALL loved was made a Breakfast Pizza. I was tired one night and looked in the fridge. I scrambled eggs and browned sausage. I crumbled the eggs on top of the unrolled crust, spread the sausage on top of the eggs, and sprinkled lots of shredded cheese on top. I put that in the oven and cooked it as long as the directions called for. And the kids ask for it at least once a week!
Enough for commercials. Sign up and get FREE STUFF!!!
Happy Savings!
See, you can do this! And deals for the week!
Here's another reason why you can do this. Both of these trips were done at Walgreens and Walmart. Most of you have either Walgreens or Walmart or both. Neither one of them doubles coupons and both of them accept internet printed coupons. So, these are two runs I made yesterday.
Here is the Walmart trip. I actually bought some other stuff, but these were the most impressive deals. 
This is 11 packs of the Green Giant Steamers. I bought 8 of the regular bags of veggies. They were $1.23 each. I bought three of the specialty steamers that were $1.82 each. I had $1.00 coupons for all of them that I got from the Sunday paper 10/5 and another week in the past. So I got all 11 packages of veggies for $4.30. Also, you will see the two Gillette Fusion Gift packs. On the box you can plainly see that it says a $15 value. Walmart had put these gift packs on clearance for $5.00 each. Well, I still had a couple of coupons left. The coupons were $4.00 off. So I got those gift sets for $1.00 EACH!!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT???? I CAN'T EITHER!!! So, even if you don't have a coupon, look for those gift packs at Wally World! $5.00 is still a great price. So for 11 bags of veggies and 2 gift packs, I paid $6.30!
Now, for my Walgreens run. This last week, they had all of this on sale. And because of coupons and rebates all of this was free! The coupons were in the Sunday papers in the past, or they were internet printables. YOU CAN DO THIS!!! Now, actually, because I had some Register Rewards (coupons for money of your next purchase that print when you buy qualifying products) that were left from two weeks ago, I will actually make $9. BUT even if you didn't have the Register Rewards, it would all be for free. If you request your rebate on a gift card, you would make an extra 10%! 
I have lots of sites that I use for finding out great tips. You will see the main ones listed on the left of my blog. This week, there are also GREAT deals at Walgreens and Rite Aid. I think at Rite Aid this week you can get almost $150 in stuff for free after rebate! Money Saving Mom lists the deals each week that you can get from the stores. She also tells you the sources of the coupons. So, for the deals for this week, click on the names of the stores below! Thanks Money Saving Mom!
Walgreens
Rite Aid
I hope to post more good deals from Walmart and Target soon. Or, you can check out Coupon Mom. You must sign up for free, but then look for the deals of the week from Walmart as well as Target!
Happy Savings!
Pray for Craig's family....
We received a call this morning that Craig's grandparents were killed in a car wreck last night. Pray for Craig as he spends time with his mom supporting her through this difficult time. Pray for members of family that do not know the Lord. Pray that they will seek and that Craig can be light. Thank you so much for lifting us up.
Like a dirty aquarium....
We are on a new adventure: FISH! A few weeks ago, we were at a GREAT garage sale and found a fishbowl and a bunch of the accessories for $3. The Artist was so excited. She bought it with her own money, and she was thrilled to think about buying her VERY own fish. We bought a betta. The first one died. We're not sure why, but it's probably because I didn't have water conditioner (we were told we didn't need it). We bought another betta and the water conditioner and he, Flame, is still alive. And, he's happy, too.
Well, about two weeks ago, we inherited a 10 gallon aquarium with one fish. To make the transfer to the house, we put him in a carrier and emptied the water. I read online that I shouldn't have to clean the tank completely. I only needed to add new water, water conditioner, and change the filter. As we filled the tank with water, lots of gunk began emerging from below the rocks. It was awful. We decided to let the filter run and see if was any better. It got better so we put the fish in.
Last Friday, Craig and the kids went and bought 6 new fish. Well, one died. We got a new one. Another one died, and another fish had a "growth" on it's head. After talking to the fish expert at a pet store, we discovered that the fish had ICK. In the meantime, another one died. So, we got ICK pills and an aquarium vacuum. We were also told to bring in a water sample after vacuuming. Well, I was determined to take it in because the whole room where the aquarium is smelled like dead fish.
Today I took the water sample in. The fish expert used an abbreviated form of a VERY bad curse word to tell me how BAD our aquarium water was. So I asked what I needed to do. These were the instructions: START OVER. Start over? I am new to this whole aquarium thing. How do you start over? Put the fish in bags. Wash the aquarium and all that's in it with the basic blue Dawn dish soap. Buy 10 gallons of spring water and add two other things I bought from her. I sure hope it works.
I am tired of this aquarium. As I drove away from that big pet superstore with the kids talking in the back ground, I was mumbling quietly about having to put my hands in "icky" aquarium water once again. And I heard the Lord say, "It's just like sin." You see, when we come to the Lord, He completely cleanses us from our sins. We are completely clean. As you know, we continue to sin because we are human. Well, our unconfessed sin is like the mess in my aquarium. The water can look clean, until you begin to move it around a little, and the gunk begins to emerge from under the rocks. We might confess some of it, put in a new filter, do a water change and it will look a little better. But then the water begins to stink. It affects us and everyone around us. Until we confess it all and bring it all to light, sin festers. God is the only one who can cleanse it all and wipe it away.
So, tomorrow morning, I will be changing nasty, stinky, aquarium water. I hope there are no more dead fish. I hope I don't get sick. And I pray this reminds me of how often I need to just START OVER by completely confessing my sin. (1 John 1:9)
I like visitors....
Well, maybe. You see, I am a messie! I have posted on this before. I wish I could say that I continued what I had going here. I have not kept it up like I wanted to. I would have struggled if someone had knocked on my door at 5pm. I wouldn't want to let anyone enter. My pride would not have allowed me to open the doors to ANYONE.
Well, at 6pm tonight, my temporary neighbor, who is here for 9 weeks taking classes for her job, asked if I was going to watch the debate. I said, "Well of course." Then it hit me, she was wanting to watch it over here because she has no cable at her house. And before I knew it, "Would you like to come over and watch it with me?" flew out of my mouth!!! I am so thankful that I live on the Eastern Coast. You see, in California, the debate started at 6pm. Fortunately, in VA, it started at 9pm and I had 3 hours to feed the kids and clean the downstairs area of our house. (DON'T YOU DARE GO UPSTAIRS!) So, the kids and I worked (mainly me with some good help from the oldest), and we got it done! The downstairs area looks GREAT! It even smelled good, thanks to an apple cinnamon candle that I lit immediately at 6 when I invited her over!
So, do I like having guests over? YES! I love it. Do I like having a clean house? YES! I love it. But, it takes planning just so someone can come over! So, what's the problem? That's the million dollar question. So, help me fellow messies and organized friends. Help me figure out why I can't stay disciplined enough on a daily basis to just take care of the basics. Do I want perfection? No, just want a little order. So, comment on this post and share your greatest tips for staying on top of the chaos! Tomorrow we will conquer the upstairs area! I told the kids we could play play play on Thursday and Friday if we conquered the upstairs! I look forward to your replies!
Walgreens: Generous with the coupons 10/3 & 10/4 Only
Print your $5 off $20 coupon to use today and tomorrow! Let me tell you how to get the most BANG for your buck! Go and JUST buy the FREE AFTER REBATE items that you will find in the Easy Saver Rebate Book located in the rack with the regular sale ads. Those three items add up to $19.47. You will need to get another small item that costs 53 cents or more to get to the $20.00 requirement. Then they will take off $5, so you'll pay $15.xx plus tax. Submit your rebate, and you will receive 19.47 back. If you request it on a gift card, you will receive $19.47 PLUS 10% for a whopping total of $21.42. Depending on your tax situation, you will be making a profit (after tax) of $5-$6. I would say that is getting paid to shop!
Happy Savings!
Free Recipe Booklet with Coupons!
So sorry that my original directions about clicking the picture would take you to the proper site! SO SORRY! So, click HERE and sign up to receive a recipe booklet that has $10 in coupons inside. Hurry because quantities are limited!
Happy Savings!
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