{ innocence of a child }

i woke up to a phone call this morning from James saying he will be late getting back in. the small boat they took had to turn around because the weather is too bad. i checked wunderground, and it showed nothing. i switched it to infared, and it was all yellow and just sitting over the water off VB. i guess our lunch date will have to be postponed until another day. i'm a little bummed.

last night as i was reading through facebook, i continued to think about what a great communication tool it really could be. that is if the person on the receiving end wanted to hear what you have to say, or take the advise you had to give. maybe not even so much as to take it... but at least know options are there. (or vice versa)

i'm angry. i'm angry at the loss of my friend and was caught off guard as i let the tears flow. they didn't stop. and when i wanted them to... they still did not stop. so when O, who was reading on the couch with his back towards me, asked me a question and i couldn't answer because i was sniffing up snot, i was caught off guard. and when he came to console me, which he does so freely, all i could do is cry harder. 

when i got my barings straight, and all i could muster up is that i'd lost a friend. O asked if someone doesn't want to be my friend, and proceeded to tell me that his old friend M doesn't want to be friends with him anymore now that they are in a new class. (what an opportunity to talk... when your child sees you at your most vulernable time.) and as we progress in our conversation, he asks so innocently "did he get lost and can't find his way back home?"

yes. yes, my dear child. lost. but praying he did find his way home. 

Lost

I've lost me. Somewhere along the lines of being a mom and wife, I've lost me.

My hair is not done.

My weight has soared.

Where have I gone?

I want me.

Come out. Come out... Wherever you are!

Me, please return in the condition you were so many moons ago.

Our heart needs it.

{On the return}

Looking forward to posting again. After this weekend, and school starting back for the kids, I will have much more time.

I'm also looking forward to hearing from you all, again.

Be blessed.

T

Getting the AXE!

It's been a couple of months since Thomas started to ask for me to replenish his "AXE" stash. It brings back so many memories of working at Canyon Hill Center, some of you may recall incidents too. The odor of AXE will forever be etched into my mind. The big day came yesterday when coupons for AXE @ a B1G1 came in the paper. The scents he chose, I'm hoping, won't make me relive those moments all over again from days ago.

I picked all of this up for $13.84. Usually I am close to FREE, but because the Catalina's weren't printing properly, my hard work of scanning, gathering, planning and shopping was foiled.

I got the AXE for free. It was a 3/$12 deal. I had (2) B1G1 Q and (2) $1 off Q. I also had $6 in Register Rewards from Friday's purchase. All I paid was the tax. I EARNED $4 in RR.

This is the order I did the transaction in. I did EIGHT seperate transactions, and asked the cashier to call someone over to the cosmetics counter to check me out. That way I wasn't holding up any line.

1. Axe 3/$12- (2)B1G1Q, (2)$1Q, $6 RR = $1.01 tax , recvd $4 RR
2. Advil 2/$10- (1) $4Q on 2, $4 RR= $1.98, recvd $5RR
3. Colgate Toothpaste 2/$7- (2) $1Q, $5RR= $.26tax, recvd $3RR
4. Advil 2/$10= $4Q, $3 RR= $2.98, recvd $5 RR
5. Colgate Toothpaste 2/$7, and silly band for filler- (2) $1Q, $5 RR= $.46 tax, recvd $3 RR
6. Suave lotion 4/$12 - (2) B1G1 Q, $3RR=$3.71, recvd $3 RR
7. Advil 2/$10- $4Q, $3RR=$2.98, recvd $5 RR
8. Colgate Toothpaste 2/$7, and silly band for filler- (2) $1Q, $5 RR= $.46, recvd $3 RR

I paid $13.84 OOP for $99.49 worth of personal items we will use. I also received a $3 RR that I haven't used yet. That is an 86% savings!!

Not bad for a couple hours worth of work.

Thanks for reading. Hope it helps you to do some deals this week at Walgreens.

be blessed

Couponing 101

Hey there!!

I've taken a hiatus from blogging while starting my new job. I don't have near as much time to post as I did before. I did want to touch on a couple of things that were brought to my attention last night while talking with my mom. (God bless her soul for starting to coupon!!)

Most people make a list of the groceries they need and head to the store. What you have just done is make a list of everything that is not on sale at the store. We need to step back and realize that groceries go on sale. They all have a "rock bottom low price", and we want to focus on only buying groceries when they are at that rock bottom price. Don't worry it's pretty easy, in most areas they follow a cycle roughly 6 weeks long. That means if we see a rock bottom price this week then buy enough of that item to last 6 weeks. That way you don't have to go back and pay the full retail price in between. Does that make sense?

So how do you know? Good question! I'm glad you asked!! When I first started posting I had asked for some feedback to let me know where you were shopping. I was willing to help out and post the sales that were in your area. I only received a few replies, so honestly I didn't think anything of it after that. When talking to my mom yesterday, it became apparent that there are few and far between bloggers that cover your area. I did find one called Little House on the Prairie Living. She has some local stores listed and some things you might find. MIND YOU... this is a LOT of work, so if you use her site, give her some feedback that you are using her site, OR she might stop posting.

One site that I use all the time is called Southern Savers. You can find drugstore buys here that include, but are not limited to Walgreens and CVS. I also use The Coupon Challenge, and The Krazy Coupon Lady.

These websites will provide you with all the sales you could possibly dream about for groceries and personal care items. Most have some links to department store savings too. The work is done for you. All you have to do is pull/clip the coupon and go use it!!

Alright, getting on with the program....


Stocking up:

Sales on items usually run in 6-8 week cycles. This means that when you see an item on sale, adding a coupon, and it making it FREE or close to FREE you should be stocking up. (I get FIVE papers in addition to my home delivery because of this. How can you stock up if you don't have enough coupons??)

You could, buy a box of cereal for $4 a box, every week for six weeks and you’re out $24!

or

Buy six boxes of cereal at their rock bottom price and use coupons. Pay only $6 total for six boxes of cereal.

You save $18 by purchasing them at the right time and stocking up.

Does THIS make sense?? Right now our Stock pile on cereal is HUGE... Our boys will eat for an afternoon snack, and I don't have to tell them anymore "Save it for Breakfast because that's all we have".

Add On The Coupons:

If you buy when the items is at its lowest price AND use coupons, you save a bundle! Here's how it works:

credit here

GETTING ORGANIZED:

You need to have some sort of organization that way you know where and what you have for coupons. I started out with a photo journal book. Three of them, actually. I filed them accordingly: Perishables, Non-Perishables, and Household Goods ie.. toothpaste, body wash, TP, tampoons, etc..


Then James purchased a binder with baseball card holders for me and I've been using that. I have 60 pages of card holders with 9 slots on each page. This allows me to view EVERY coupon that I have. I am giving a thought to using an accordian style folder for inserts. Using this method, you just clip the coupon you need without cutting every one at one time, and keep the rest stored by date received. (I cut them anyway because we are sending to Japan. Our total right now is over $3400 to be sent to a naval base in Japan because they can use up to SIX months after the expiration date. I still have one VS bag to go through and that will probably put our total at $4000!)

Most important, you should just organize to whatever fits your lifestyle. YOU are the one who is doing the shopping.

NOW PUT IT ALL TOGETHER:

1.Save the inserts on Sunday

2.Go to the website that does your match-ups

3.Get the Coupons together (Either clipped or from accordian file)

4.Print out your shopping list

5.GO SHOPPING!!

Good luck!

be blessed!

Kroger and Harris Teeter Shopping Trip

Monday I went to Kroger, and of course they were sold out of everything. T and a his friend H went with me, and thought it was odd that we were leaving with nothing. That's how I roll, usually. If you aren't stocked with 50% of what I need, I won't buy anything. You've just wasted my time coming to your store.

I spoke with a store associate and said that they would get a truck in yesterday and they would be stocked back up. So I made a trip to make sure that I was able to get the Nivea men's body wash for FREE. I also picked up a couple of bags of Boulder potatoe chips, a couple of bags of BF Snackerz, and then they OWED me .24 for taking the stuff out of their store. They don't pay out overages, so I had to buy something else. I bought 2 more Snackerz and used 1 more coupon, (which didn't make the checker at the next register too happy). My total was $.34.

Here's the deal... I don't usually buy candy at our house, so for the boys to get a treat... It was worth it!

They were actually out of some stuff I wanted, but said they would be putting it out in the next hour, so of course I had to go back. Right??

So here's how it played out... After a swim with J in the afternoon, Climb with O, dinner done and over (Pizza night splurge) I gathered my Qbook and went back out. This is what I found:
{10} Capri Sun - $14.90
{10} Kraft BBQ sauce (4 going to food pantry) FREE
{5} 8oz  KoolAid/CountryTime lemonade FREE (coupon was on BBQ sauce and on sale to boot)
{3} Crest pro-health toothpaste for kids (1 going to food pantry) FREE
{4} Clorox 2 stain remover - (1 going to food pantry) $2.00 (.50ea)
{2} Sister Schuster frozen rolls - $.98 (.49 ea)
{2} 44oz Classico pasta sauce $3.98 (1.99 ea)
{2} Kashi Cereal - $1.98 (.99 ea)
{1} Kraft Homestyle MacnCheese- $.50

This total came out to be around $25 with tax.

So, are you NOW ready to learn?