Saturday, March 19, 2011

Love a sale?

Here is your chance for this weekend only. Check out this deal my girl wrote about on her blog, Math: Know Your Limits.

Now, out to enjoy this beautiful weather.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Learning all the rules

Using coupons has truly been a learning experience. You have to learn the lingo and all the rules. Each store chain has a different set of rules, some change from location to location.

It is a good idea to ask at the service desk of your favorite stores. Remember to ask about rain check policies too. One of my favorite stores issues rain checks and will note on there if you have a coupon that will expire before the item is expected to be in stock.

Just had a great quick trip to the store tonight, spent $17 saved $23 and purchased a $50 gas card for $40. Total savings for the night....$33. Not bad for a quick trip.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Just my opinion - take it or leave it


I love to try new things and I was lucky enough to be chosen as one of the Purex Insiders I have loved Purex products for quite some time. I recently tried their Purex Complete 3-in-1 sheets on a recent trip to the mountains. I knew where we were staying would have a washer and dryer in the room and loved being able to do all the laundry before returning home.

The product I received last week to try was Purex Complete Crystals Softener. I was a little skeptical about adding them to the wash before starting the washer. The crystals dissolve in the wash infusing fabrics with freshness. I used the sample bottle I received in the mail and also purchased another with my free coupon. The scent I purchased was Lavender Blossom, and boy do I love that scent. The scent mild with just a hint of lavender. My clothes and towels maintain the fresh scent for days. That is a great plus in book.

Knowing you love free things as much as I do - they have hinted they will send me a few coupons to share with my readers. Leave a comment and you just might get a coupon. And you know I would love to see more people use coupons.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Dress Fitting

Watching our daughter prepare for her wedding is been sheer joy. This week I went with her for the first dress fitting. She found her dress at Sugar Drop. We met with an amazing lady, Ann, to make the alterations for her dress and veil.

Each time I see our daughter in the bridal gown she chose I am more and more convinced she chose the perfect gown for her. She was absolutely stunning it in yesterday. She was able to try on her jewelry with the dress and her shoes - oh, those shoes are just too cute. I know I am biased, every mother thinks her daughter is the prettiest bride ever. I am realistic and know she probably won't be the most beautiful ever - but she will look amazing.

The one thing I noticed yesterday was the smile that she could not get off her face each time she looked in the mirror. Just a little more than 3 months until her big day - and there is still so much to do. But, we are on schedule with our to-do list which makes us both happy!


Saturday, March 5, 2011

Coupon Workshop Part 2

Here are just a few things I have learned couponing. I will be happy to help anyone get started or organized. It can be a little overwhelming.

  • Decide it is work the time - if not don't go any farther - stop now
  • Decide if you want use lots of coupons or just a select few - like diapers and detergents
  • Once you decide you want to go big - get a binder with pocket dividers and baseball card slots
  • If you want to start small -get an accordion file
  • Get the Sunday paper, and have a friend save you theirs
  • Clip your coupons each week - don't get behind - you will feel overwhelmed
  • Check the sale papers and see what's a good deal and you have a matching coupon
  • Print coupons off the web - there are many great sites - send me a message and I can send you my favorites
  • If you are on Facebook follow some saving or frugal type pages
  • Visit more than one store for sales - I usually shop two
  • Know the store coupon policy - some double, some take competitior coupons as well
  • Visit websites of people who match sales with coupons currently out there
  • Be realistic - some weeks you will save major money and some you won't
  • Most of all, do it because you enjoy it - or you won't stick with it
I am not sure any of this will help you, but know I have saved about 50% on my grocery bill the past two months. Some weeks I have save 75% some like this week only about 34%. I am okay with a 34% week. Many of this week's purchases never go on sale and never have coupons - but that doesn't mean we don't need them.

Happy couponing!

Coupon Workshop Part 1

If you have been following my blog, you know I have made an extra effort this year to take advantage of coupons. I intent is to be more purposeful with our family's money. I noticed a post on a friend's wall on Facebook a few weeks ago about a free coupon workshop she had attended and recommended to everyone. I looked the website for the presenter and found she would be in my area in February. I signed up and singed up a good friend too.

As you know, we have seen our fair share of snow this winter and the workshop was snowed out. Not to fear, she rescheduled for this past week. So, my frugal friend and I headed off on night this past week - pumped up to be filled with new knowledge on how to use our coupons more wisely.

The presenter shared her story of why she couponed and how much savings she reaps from her work. She claims she only spends an hour of week on couponing, a fact we find hard to believe. She purchases 10! Sunday papers each week and clips all the coupons from them. She might just spend a hour - but I would imagine she utilizes her 6 kids for that same hour. She does shop multiple stores and matches up sales to the coupons. This would also have to had time to her week. But maybe she is superwoman and can get all this done in an hour. If so, she didn't share those secrets.

Everything else she shared in the workshop was not new knowledge to me. She might have shared something I wasn't aware of - but considering she was talking 90mph the entire night - I probably just missed it. (It could have been the two kids behind us kicking our chairs that distracted us.)

I went eager to learn and left feeling let down. I don't mean for this post to be a gripe session - just more of a we don't always find what we seek. It has taught me a little more patience and endurance. I will continue to seek more coupon knowledge. There is another workshop by another presenter in our area again soon and I hope to attend it.

Next post will be about some of the things I have learned the past two months I have dedicated a little extra time to couponing.

PS - Coupons are available for more than just groceries. Last night we ate dinner with a coupon and took advantage of 1/2 price appetizer time. Saved $13.77 on our total bill - three members of our family ate for $28.42, two ate shrimp and one ate grilled chicken.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Coupon Workshop

Tonight I attended a free coupon workshop with my friend Becca. As soon as my head quits spinning from the speaker talking so fast and I am able to process everything she shared, I will share some cool tips. Stay tuned.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

A Hard Transition




This week our family said goodbye to what almost seem like a part of our family. Our 1999 Ford E-150 van need many major repairs, the decision was made that maybe it was time to trade the van. It still looked amazingly good for a 12 year old van.

We have traveled many miles in our van. Many hours of vhs movies have been watched. In 1999 not many vehicles had a television and vcr. I guess we were a little ahead of the game with that. Those were just great a great bonus to our van for traveling. We traveled as far as Texas, Florida and Maine in our trusty old van. It will truly be missed.

We headed out to the same dealership we had purchased the van (and two other vans and my latest car, the Ford Flex, that I love). We really had no idea what we were planning to buy. Our main goal was to find something economical, a.k.a. cheap, and fuel efficient. We looked at everything from a Ford Fiesta to a Ford Mustang. Okay, I know a Mustang was not cheap or fuel efficient - but a really cool car.

After looking at several options the van was replaced a by a cute little 2011 Ford Focus. The best feature of the Focus - well the gas mileage of course. It is currently averaging 33-34 mpg and we only have 170 mi
les on it so far. This is a little more than double the ga
s mileage of the van. Hopefully this will help offset the cost of the car. It will just take my wonderful husband some getting used to. He will probably miss the van more than any of us.

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