Buyin' Me Some Silkies Chickens and Right Being Made Right

Today I headed back to the feed store to buy more chickens.  This time I was finally able to get my Silkies!  Later, once I got home, I discovered one of them has a deformity in her feet and walks funny. I don't really care but wonder if other will pick on her as she gets bigger. Hmmm... I'm gonna have to find out about that because Silkies aren't "cheep" to buy.  Heh heh.  The bigger problem I had was that once I got them in with my still tiny roosters in a shared cage, the roosters started picking on them even though they are all the same size.  I know they will eventually do a pecking order and so I wasn't sure how friendly it was and if the new ones would be safe.

 





Today is a very good day but for reasons I cannot say.  Although my friend Homeschool and Etc. might know why.  :)  I had some visitors to my house today and they stayed for awhile.  It was wonderful!!!  At one time I was really sad about some events that happened and although I was grossly wronged and hurt, I decided not to be bitter and just wait for things to calm down.  Turns out, right was made right in a particular way.  Now there is a totally confusing paragraph for you.  LOL.

 

Now that AIMS week is over I am completely shocked how much laundry I have to clean in the house.  I'm due to make another 10 gallons of laundry soap.  When I went to the laundry mat recently, I washed so many loads that I ran out of laundry soap and had to buy some Tide.  It killed me to pay $6 for a little thing of Tide when I pay only $2 to make my own 10 gallons.  I know people say they like the Tide smell but I like the frugal smell!  Ha!  I just throw in some wonderful softener and it smells fantastic.  My laundry soap last 6-8 months!  It's awesome.  :D

Kids Pitching in to Make Homemade Laundry Soap

 

It was time again to make some more laundry soap.  I had bought some laundry soap through couponing not too long ago but after I ran out, I realized making my own was just a way better deal. 

 

This time it was different though because I was actually patient enough to wait for soap to completely melt down in the water. I wish I had done this sooner instead of being impatient. The consistency was more like regular laundry soap. 

 

 

This time the kids really wanted to help.  I've learned not to discourage them from helping because I know that someday I would end up pulling teeth to get them to help.  I figure it's worth the extra work to let them pitch in.  Once we got our 5 gallon bucket they filled it with the Borax, Super Washing Soda, and this liquid that's shown above  (Fels Naptha Bar melted down), they stirred and we were set to go. 

 

 

I've had someone tell me they'd rather spend tons of money on Tide because it smells really good.  I tried to tell them that the smell actually leaves pretty fast.  When I walk through church I can't smell anyone's clothing.  In fact, when I say hello to them I never bend down to smell what detergent they are wearing.  LOL.  So to me, I'd rather be smelling the green bills in my pocket that I just saved from making my own laundry detergent.

 

If you've never made it, it's super easy!  I did a blog on it Here:

 

How to Make Your Own Laundry Soap (10 gallons)

 

Make sure you melt down the Fels Naptha bar into some water on the stove.  COMPLETELY.  I was too impatient before but there should be no chunks at all. 

 





Why I Switched to Cloth Diapers

I'm asking for prayers for my husband's job that more work will come in.  I have 244 followers and would love the prayers to be lifted to heaven.  This economy is not that great and work tends to dip drastically in my husband's field.  I'm praying that God will bless my husband's job with more projects.  His boss is Christian and it's such a blessing for Charles to work there.  Ohhh, I wish our economy would stabilize.

Did you know I switched my babies to cloth diapers?  I spent an hour with a lady (thank you, Rosemary!) I met on Craigslist who was super nice and she had almost every brand of cloth diapers out there.  She showed me each one so I could see the differences.  A lot of it is about preference but there are just some that function better.  Functioning by not leaking!  I wanted to cloth diaper 9 years ago but there wasn't as many options and I hated the constant leaking.  Maybe there was good ones out there but I just wasn't good at finding them. Anyway, the selection is HUGE now and we're lovin' it!  I can afford to buy the disposables but being that I spend $700 a year on the Target brand, lets not even mention the more expensive brands, cloth just makes sense.  

I used the excuse that you have to also use electricity and water and you have to count in that cost.  Well, in just one load I can wash several days worth of cloth diapers.  I have a front loader so even better.  Sweet!  I have been changing diapers nonstop since the year 2000 without even a month break.  Do you know how many diapers that is?  Around 50,000!  Whooooaaa.... You know you love kids when you don't mind changing THAT many diapers.  I wish I could see all the diapers I changed in a big mound to really understand how much I added to our landfill.  That is just me alone that used that many and threw away. Eek.

I made sure to go to Sprouts and buy Country Save which is safe for cloth diapers.  It's 80 loads for 10 bucks.  I asked Rosemary why it was important to use this kind of laundry detergent and she said because regular laundry detergent will break down the material that keeps diapers from leaking.  Okay, I make my own laundry detergent but I might just figure out how to alter it to be able to make it safe for cloth diapers as well.  I've been noticing lately that I have this desire in me to learn how to do everything the hard way.  Not sure why but I just like learning how to make things myself.  What if I couldn't go to the store and by the top brand out there?  Isn't it nice to know your options?  Save money?  To actually know what you need and how to make it?  Maybe it's the frugalness in me, I don't know.  

It really is important to protect your cloth diapers so if you are curious about brands, just click on this link HERE to know which ones are safe and the cost differences.  

By the way, I'm trying THIS next!  Keep one in the shower filled with a mixture of half vinegar and half Dawn dishsoap.  Use it to wipe down the shower while you are in there and your shower will always be clean.

Learning From Bad Mistakes

Click on picture
to order

It's been soooo wonderful with my husband finding a job back in his career field.  I knew he was a hard worker before and he missed working in his field he went to college for.  Seeing him at it again reminds me what an incredibly smart guy I married.  Still, he showed his love to us but working at whatever job he could find while the economy was struggling for the last three years.  Of course before I took the money for granted and threw it around like nothing bad could ever happen.  When his company went under and we saw no one else hiring, that sinking feeling came. It's tempting to live stupid like we did before but, yikes, the last three years were like swimming against the current.  It was hard.  This time I wanted to do it right so I got the book by Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover.  Just reading it makes me so wish I knew this stuff a decade ago.  How could I have been so foolish?  I can't change my past but this time I'm not making the same mistake and will plan the best I can for the future.  I know my future is in God's hands but I can do my best to be a good steward of what He gives us in the meantime.  I will slowly go put away my list of wants.... :D He says in his book, "If you live like no one else, later you'll live like no one else."  Well said!

Ashley napping with Max

Right now I'm having some doggy troubles, as usual, and don't know what to do.  I've lost 3 chickens to my little black dog Max.  I now have one chicken left.  We are so sad! Those chickens were our egg layers.  No only was Max carrying off their eggs but he was also completely beheading the chickens.  I know, to much info.  Max is sooooo cute and I think we should just build a whole separate chicken area that Max can't get too but Charles likes that our chickens can walk around.  He's basically saying it's either the chickens or Max.  Argh...  I want both so I'm trying to convince him it's finally the time to build that chicken house we bought plans for.

I've been going through some serious mind battles about my faith. Actually, I've been going through it for at least six months.  Sitting in church was worse because I would have to hold back my tears through the songs because I would remember when I used to sing for Him.  Then my heart would harden when hearing the sermon.  It got harder and harder to look past people issues and just let things just bounce off me.  I would look around and see the faults of people rather than see that they need God just as much as I did and that's why we are all there.  I met with my pastor and he prayed for me.  That was three days ago.  Just last night during service it dawned on me that the dark cloud that had been over me had lifted.  Then a scripture came into my thoughts,

He who has been forgiven much love much, but he has been forgiven little loves little.  Luke 7:36

I had a hard time with forgiveness because I doubted that God had truly forgiven me.  I tend to lean towards the idea that God is up there just waiting and waiting for me to make a mistake so He can just be done with me forever.  I don't know why I think in such legalistic ways but I do.  I'm not taught that, (more in the past) it's just that my mind goes into this autopilot.  I almost always have to take the wheel and remind myself that God loves me and He has forgiven me like He promised.  People use the excuse to not find a church because "everyone there are just hypocrites."  Well, don't we go because we desperately need God?  Because we need to hear from Him?  Most of us don't come because we have it all together and we need some ear tickling.  We are leaky vessels.  I certainly am so I need a place to worship and hear from God.  

Couponing at Fry's and Big Savings

This week I got 10 inserts from the Sunday paper because there were some really, really good coupons.  See the potential freebies on this page?  If your store doubles coupons then you'll get 10 free toothbrushes and 10 free toothpastes.  There were cereal coupons in there also that would make each box of cereal only cost .69 cents.  Also, there were other potential freebies.  I'm waiting for the items to go on sale.

Okay, so I kind of disappear when I'm planning out a big couponing trip to the store.  I have been keeping up with my newspapers and inserts each week so that has helped a lot.  However, it takes several hours when I study Coupon Sense and find all the internet coupons I want to print out.  Half of the coupons I use are from the internet.  I think I did pretty well.  I only got half my shopping done so tonight is another big trip to the store.  Last night I saved 73%.  I spent $153 but saved $571.  Not bad!

Fry's is having this really neat sale right now so I took advantage of it before it's gone.  Here are my freebies.  I forgot to include some but this is most of it.

This all should have cost $118
I paid $4!

Surviving in a Tough Economy

Prayers were answered!  My husband has a job back in his field again!  It's been a tough 3 years with him losing his job to the economy.  I had to check my attitude many times when it got really tough.  I didn't have the spending money I used to have but quickly learned how to be frugal.  I didn't know bargain hunting would be so fun!  :D  I learned that saving money and being responsible is important no matter how much money you make.  I also learned to plan for the future rather than think what I have is permanent.

Nothing in this life is guaranteed. The last 3 years he had to find work way out of his field just so we could have something. I was proud of him because instead of wallowing in the mud and refusing to work unless he had THAT pay, he took a pay cut and stuck it out.  Finally, he's back in his career field and back to what he used to make.  In the last 3 years I've learned how incredibly wasteful we were and how to be resourceful.  I feel like God was doing a heart check on me.  Rather than rely on myself, I learned to rely on Him and have faith.  God gives and God can take away.  It's easy to smile when we have everything going for us but what about when that's all taken away?  Can we still praise God?  

My dad and Charles

I never want my husband to work extra hard just so I can have nice things.  I will sacrifice wherever needed to have him home and able to enjoy his family and not have to work his life away.  I know some have to just to survive.  I mean, having the choice, if it meant a smaller house, an apartment, whatever it takes, I'd rather have him home.  Awhile back when I was questioning whether or not to have any more kids.  Could we make it?  How will our finances cover it?  I had all those doubts and a man walked into my husband's office and wanted to talk to him. Without him knowing anything about us he said he felt that God wanted him to share something with Charles about faith.  He said God has a blessing on families and to trust Him.  As God gives us children, he will also make a way.  I believe we had 3 kids at the time.  He wasn't the only stranger that came up to us and shared like that.  We had many incidents like that.  It's amazing how true that's been and how God has always provided.  I've learned on my heart to be very, very frugal.  Whether it's making money online, spending hours each week couponing and looking for deals, or making cut wherever needed, it can be done to save money!  I've even raised chickens and sold them to homes where people wanted to have fresh eggs.  That was pretty fun and I'm thinking about starting that up again.  I thank God He's kept His promise and kept us afloat through the tough times.  I've learned some valuable lessons of not being wasteful that I'm gonna keep with me.

Hostility Stores Have for Couponers

I had a horrible experience couponing at Fry's yesterday because I thought I'd give the one by me a shot again but the management made sure to show me their hostility again.  Just like always I stayed very kind to them in response but they really didn't care.  I think that store hates couponers and makes sure to show me even though I always follow the rules.  Other than that, in the last 3 days I saved around $1,000 with my couponing.  We did really well.  On average between the three stores I saved around 75%.  Pretty good!  My favorite deals were the $7 bags of string cheese that I got for only $2.50 apiece so I grabbed about 14 bags of them.  Also, I paid 29 cents for sour cream and 69 cents for cottage cheese.  I got about 80% off of my 7lbs of fresh ground beef at a different store.  Anyway, would take forever to share all the deals.  Basically, couponing works!  I actually found coupons for ground beef which is really, really rare.

I probably should share some of the same problems I get from Fry's when I coupon there.  This is not always at one store but the one by me serves as a good example so I'll share.  First of all, just two days ago I shopped at Fry's and they decided when they saw my cart that they did not want me to separate my items by threes.  The policy states that over three like coupons, they will not double.  I don't really buy in huge bulks as I only buy six of each things.  Unless, I get some online coupons and it's such a fantastic deal I get 10.  Because I only have six items and six coupons, I'll just separate in two different orders.  Well, they decided two days ago that they didn't want me to do that and just have me put it all in one order and all coupons will be made worth $1.  They didn't want the line to back up with customers.  So, I came back yesterday and did the same thing except this time they gave me no warning and the SAME check out lady decided to not tell me till she was scanning my coupons that she would NOT up my coupons after the third item. When there were wrong prices on items she would not stop and check it for me, even though I would ask, and when coupons would be stuck together, when she'd skip over them, she refused to go back and fix it to scan it.  On coupons that legitimately should have doubled up to $1 but didn't, she would ignore me and refuse to fix it.  I would kindly try to ask her to fix these things and she would either huff out loud, get irritated at me, and finally called the manager (that dislikes me very much).  Instead of checking into the right prices, he would just argue and say there is no way that item would be priced that.  When he finally did call back to that department to check the price, the guy wouldn't even know about it or explain why the price tripled overnight even though they said it wasn't supposed to.  The manager talked to me with such a hostility you could cut it with a knife.  Another manager lady came up and made sure some of my coupons wouldn't double.  When I kindly asked if I could just separate the transaction into two so my coupons would double, she once again ignored me and kept scanning.  Once she was done I simply went to customer service and got my money back.  I'm done going to this store, done with being hated because I'm a couponer.  I've never once talked rudely to the management there and have always kept my cool, even made sure I was following policy.  I have called corporate before to report the male manager but in order to cover his tracks he lied and said I was trying to break all the rules.  I keep a policy paper in my coupon book to make sure I know how Fry's works.  As of now I've been having to drive 10 miles out of my way to a Fry's store that has a nice manager.  She doesn't break rules or anything, I just love her because she's always treated me nice and respectfully when explaining things.  I always feel welcome there.

I guess in order to coupon, we're just gonna have to accept that bullying will almost always come with it.  Especially inconsistancy with the policies.  I will just deal with it in order to save money for our family, it just can really be a downer on your day.  I think sometimes it'd be good to send in coupon secret shoppers in order to fix poor customer service issues. 

Couponing at Safeway and Grumpy Store Managers

Last night and today I was doing some major couponing again and didn't get a lot of sleep.  It ended up being around 2am when I got home but sometimes it just works out like that when you can't get out till late at night.  I've been a lot stricter about what I use my coupons on.  The item itself needs to already be on a pretty good sale before I'm willing to use a coupon for it. None of those lame 20 cents off stuff.  So I was checking out Safeway today and was shocked at some of the Friday only sales they were having.  Well, today is Friday, baby, and so I happened on a good day!  So my favorite deals I got were....

EDITED:  Deal at Safeway.  Buy 2 Classico's get 2 pasta's free.  Had coupon $1 off 2 Classico's and another coupon for $1 off 2 pastas.  Should have cost $46, only cost $2.50.  Saved 95%.

These are sooo good! I guy was giving out samples and I loved it.  Then I recognized the picture on the box and thought maybe I might have coupons for it in my book.  I did!  You can't tell in the picture but this is a large family pack.  Normally $11.50 per box, sale Friday only for $5.  Had $1 off coupons.  Should have cost $69 but only cost $24.  Saved 65%.

Another 25 boxes of cereal.  Normally $4.59 a box but on sale for $1.88.  Had $1 off coupons. Should have cost $115 but only cost $25.  Good deal!  Saved 78%.

I have to say though that the store manager at Safeway is very scary and rude to everyone.  Even to his employees.  Either he hates his job or he was a drill sergeant most of his life and still hates life.  He was NOT happy I was couponing.  Even though it's a major sale day and lots of people were there, they had only one lane open.  I'm not a MAJOR couponer where I buy in crates or anything but he made sure I knew he wasn't pleased with me.  I only needed to do two separate transactions but when he found out about it he raised his voice and told me there is no way I'm gonna do it.  He said absolutely not and in his words, "You ARE going to put this all on one transaction and just not get as good of a deal."  I was still very polite to him and said, "Okay, I'll just put some of the stuff back." He sighed really heavy and gruffly told me that this time and ONLY this time I can do two separate transactions.  I was polite to him the whole time.  I'll just be sure to not shop at the one next to my house and drive further out.  My transactions went pretty fast but they thankfully opened up another lane.  They should have done that anyway on a major sale day.

I got some other fantastic deals but these were my favorites that were bought in bulk.  I need to go back and buy some Sure deodorants for $ .50 apiece at Safeway later tonight and then do some price match shopping at Walmart.  Also, need to head to Fry's and get some free beverages and feminine items.  Anyway, trying to get shopping done before baby comes next week.  I'll be going into the doctor's in 5 days to have baby.  I'm super de-duper nervous!  Aaaaaaagh!  I'm trying not to think a lot about it and just get my stuff ready.  I need to just relax and enjoy each day that I have with my family.  New baby coming, new job for hubby (said in faith), and cars getting repaired (also said in faith).  :D  

My Crazy Coupon Savings of the Week

My friends and I had a girls night out and it felt so good to get out.  My husband is just so awesome about letting me get out with my friends and going kid free.  I think all moms should be able to get out once a week to wherever gives them a breather.  I love either going to a quiet bookstore, the mall.... no, just kidding on that one, or just hanging out at a friend's house while I cut coupons or something.  I can't just sit and do nothing if I'm at my friend's house.  I have to have my hands busy with something. Couponing is actually a hobby so it's not so much work.  

Speaking of couponing....

Last night I bought 12 boxes of cereal, 20 toothpastes (free), 20 toothbrushes (free), 2 whole chickens, 1 Purex detergent, 10 Right Guard deodorants (free), and 1 Angel Soft toilet paper (free).  

This SHOULD have cost me $204 but I only paid $37.  That is a savings of 82%!  Yeehaw!  I saved $167. 

I use coupons for every single thing I buy pretty much so that cereal was just dirt cheap.  Our kids go through at least 1 to 1 1/2 cereal boxes a day if they just eat a bowl in the morning.  This is only about 10 days worth of cereal. My husband was running low on our previous mens deodorant stash so it was time to refill it.  With 8 people in the family toothbrushes go fast.  Toothpaste not so fast.  It lasts quite awhile.  I probably have a 5 or 6 years stash.  Toilet paper?  Well, no need to explain why I needed that freebie.  I don't like to buy detergent since I make it myself for only $3 every 8 months but if I get a crazy deal on it somewhere, I'll buy it just as a back up.  I hate spending money on laundry detergent when it's easier to make than macaroni and cheese.  We were able to get a raincheck since all the Ivory body wash was sold out. We didn't have any coupons for it but if something is a dollar on sale and they are out, we'll get the rain check for future use when we finally do get some coupons. That's what I did with the deodorant so all 10 were free.  

Anyway, that's my fun and crazy deal of the week that I wanted to share.  Michele and I went couponing real late at night and it took about 45 minutes just to check us out.  They had only the self checkout lanes open.  We asked them if they wanted to just open a regular lane but they said no.  They regretted that decision since the machines kept freezing up and there were so many coupons.  The manager told us next time they'll open a lane up just for us.  :D

Best Printer for Couponers

I'm 35 weeks pregnant and usually I don't do a weekly countdown but since I'm getting close I have been.  :)  I just can't believe I'm towards the end.  I have gotten nothing ready and haven't even bought a car seat.  I DO have a car seat but a boyish looking one.  There is a particular pink and black one I have been looking into buying.  Pink because I love girly colors for my girl but black so it doesn't show every piece of dirt so easily.  I do have a swing and bassinet that was given back to me that I had lent out.  Yay!  I do need to climb up in the attic and find some girl baby clothes which I know I have.  Probably half of her clothes I'll have to donate.

Today I'm gathering up all my coupons that'll give me freebies at the grocery store or major deals.  So far I'll get some free toilet paper, 10 free Right Guard deodorants, and some free face foundation.  Then I have some coupons to get some major deals on food.  I have a fantastic Lexmark Prestige Pro805 printer that's popular with couponers because of it's ridiculously low cartridge price.  The only reason I'm getting the free deodorants is because I found the coupon off of Redplum.  About 6 months ago there was a major deal to buy Right Guard for only $1.  Well, I didn't have any coupons for it so I waited for the shelf to get cleared out and then asked for a rain check from the cashier.  Rain checks are good forever so I'm finally going to cash it in today.  :D  My husband is happy since our stash for men's deodorant is running low in the pantry.  I still have tons of hand soaps, bar soaps, women's deodorant, Ivory body wash, shampoos, shavers, tootpaste, etc, from previous couponing.  Anyway, some of the coupons I get from Sunday newspapers but a lot I get from printing them from popular coupon sites or from Facebook. It's not really worth printing out coupons if it costs a lot to buy a new ink cartridge.  I bought the Lexmark Prostige because black ink refills are only $5.  I didn't buy it for the new price that yous see because when I went it, I asked for the model that was only 6 months older than the newest one out.  I ended up only paying $100 for it.  As many freebies as I have gotten it was worth every penny.  The cool thing about having 5 computers in the house is that most of these coupon sites will only let you print a max of 2 of the same coupon.  Well, that means I can get 10 and since this printer is set up via wi-fi, I just go to each computer and quickly get my coupons printed out.  No cords attached.

Ashley

Anyway, Ivy is done homeschooling for the year, Kyle will be done in about 3 weeks, and the older 2 boys chose to be done in July.  It's fine with me since it's pretty much self guided.  It's the younger ones that I have to spend more time with one on one while homeschooling.  I'm excited since this will be my first time homeschooling a year straight through.  It's a lot of work schooling four kids but in August one more will be added since Ashley is turning five.  Wow!  You know what I'm super excited about?  My three boys will be able to join band this year at a school they go to once a week.  Well, all three chose DRUMS so guess what my house is gonna sound like?  We'll be buying a drum set soon.  Oh boy.

Buying New Doesn't Always Make Cents

A few months ago I learned another hard lesson about wasting money and how buying new doesn't always work best for us.  I had been buying used for the kids or shopping clearances for several years now.  I was shopping in the mall a few months ago and decided to do something nice for Ashley and get her a brand new pair of shoes for $20.  The new look lasted all of two weeks and then it looked like they had been thrown under a truck.  I've gone to a thrift store and bought nicer shoes than that for $2. 

$20 new shoes after 2-3 weeks

These shoes were super embarrassing to today I took her to a thrift store and found her several pairs of shoes.  Okay, so it's shocking to know these shoes were used yet they obviously have faired way better that the new pair I had bought.

Shoes already used $2

Guess which ones I kept and which ones I threw out?  I used to be picky but then I realized kids grow soooo fast and I've learned how to be extremely picky instead in the thrift store.  Sure, there are people that just grab anything off the rack but you don't have to shop that way.  Just think, either it looks fantastic or not.  It should look new or pretty darn close to it.  If you try something on and have to talk yourself into buying it, DON'T BUY IT.  That just creates more clutter in your closet because you'll never wear it.  I found Ivy two pairs of shoes and Ashley five pairs.  I'm going through their outgrown shoes tonight and quickly getting rid of them so nothing piles up that we don't need.  As soon as I got home I dumped those pink shoes in the garbage.  Here I bought those pink shoes for $20 new yet I just bought seven new looking pairs from Goodwill for less than that.  Fashion does not have to be sacrificed for the sake of saving money.  

In fact, last night I bought myself two maternity shirts from Ross (a discount store).  I went into the dressing room with six shirts yet only came out with two.  The reason is that four of them I liked but since I stood there trying to talk myself into it, I knew I shouldn't get them.  Two that I tried on made me say "Wow!" so I bought them. I am in need of nothing else so I just checked out and left.  When I got home, I got rid of two items in my closet.  Shirts I didn't like but kept because I didn't have many maternity shirts.  I'm keeping my rules about whatever is brought into the house, that many items need to be taken out. I love my home so I need to keep it clutter free! 

My Piggy Bank Went on a Diet Without My Permission

As much as my husband and I miss his other career, this one has been such a blessing for me in a different way.  He works a split shift and comes home during the day.  It's so great having daddy home during most of the kids' waking hours.  Having him here for lunch and dinner is awesome.  We go back and forth, back and forth about whether it's safe enough for him to apply back into Engineering.  EVERY TIME we think it's safe, we hear news that unemployment is not really dropping (Obama is full of it) and it's best to stay with what is stable.  Because of what is happening in another country, it could make unemployment here rise even more.  Sigh.  However, I would miss Charles if he had his old schedule back and wasn't coming home till sun down. He's truly my best friend and we get along really well.  Thank goodness, otherwise we'd be driving each other nuts by now.  I don't know.  We worry that if he did get his old career back, it'd be really unstable and then he'd be out of work in 6 months.  Engineering is not too safe right now.  The proof is in the pudding, Obama.  Unemployment is "dropping" because you're looking at the facts in the wrong place.

The lice is officially gone!  Having that lady come to my house and show me how to properly do it made the problem go away so much faster.  If only I had met her sooner.  I think for now I'm gonna keep going through their hair every other day and the once a week just to make sure.  Just one egg missed can cause a problem.  I'm just so happy we can go to church again and this problem is solved before the holidays!  Wheeeeee!  Did you know I missed my sister and her family coming in from South Africa?  They are back home after 6 years of being gone and I couldn't even see their plane come in because of the problem.  It was heartbreaking.  At least  we can see them for the holidays.  :D

Today I woke up with a migraine, but on a positive note, it forced me to take the morning slow and just watch my kids play.  Caleb kept walking around with this gun and making shooting sounds at everyone.  The boys and I were talking in their bedroom last night about how great it is that there are 4 boys.  One more boy to play soldier with, video games, and other fun stuff.  They think Caleb is the greatest little brother ever.  We shall see though as he gets older and out of diapers.  Haha.

Why Buy Used?

Our "new" couch

One of the biggest lessons we've learned since changing careers was how to save money.  At first we made a lot of mistakes being used to a bigger income.  Over time I finally figured out that it's just not possible to spend more than you earn. We paid off our debt 5 years ago and didn't want to go back into credit.  Since everything had to be paid with cash, it was either we have it or we don't.  

We've been waiting and waiting to get a couch that would fit our family.  Our old way would be to go to a furniture store and just put one on credit, bring it home, and make payments.  That's how we got our tables.  By the way, those are the worst tables every that we bought at Mor Furniture.  I'm embarrassed to even tell you what we paid.

Girls in their "new" outfits

We always went to the mall to buy our clothes before and it didn't bother me one bit to drop $40 on one shirt.  Now that makes me cringe.  I've been keeping a list of clothes that are needed in the house and waiting for a half off day at a local thrift store.  So I took my list and headed over with the kids.  We stick to the list to save money and not bring stuff home we don't need.  First we headed to the shoe rack.  Another lady was standing there staring at the shoes.  I just grabbed all the ones that looked new, had my kids try them on and threw them in the cart.  By the time we were finished with that section I had emptied half the rack.  No joke, only the used looking ones were left and that poor lady was still standing there trying to decide on one. :)  We had one cart completely full of just shoes.  

Ivy needed just shirts and tights so we headed there. She has lots of skirts but they needed tights to make them more modest.  Then she needed shirts.  We grabbed about 2 weeks worth of new looking tights and shirts and headed out of that section.  Kyle needed only regular shirts and Chaz and Ryan needed dress shirts.  They also needed belts.  As soon as our list was fulfilled we headed out.

Just as we were heading out we saw the couch we'd been looking for.  It's hard being patient sometimes but patience paid off!  We wanted a couch where we could easily wipe stuff off, was dark, and could fit our whole family.  This was perfect.  We grabbed it for $100!  Before, we would had no problem putting a couple $1000 on credit to get something like this.  Oh, the lessons we learn.  If only we knew this stuff back when we could've bought used and saved the difference.  Now it's out of survival but then we could've saved the difference.  

I think people assume that buying used means you dress poorly and it's real obvious.  Well, it can be obvious if we're not picky of course.  lol.  There has been times where I walked into a used store and could only find one thing that met something on my list and looked new.  Also, there has been times we walked out with nothing.

Lessons learned the hard way I guess but better late than never, right?  :)

Why My Family is Stocking Up

My mom and dad visited the other day
It was so nice having them!  My dad holding
Caleb with Kyle behind him.

Last night I took Ryan, my 10 year old, couponing at the store.  I had to avoid the store I normally go to because it's always a nightmare there using coupons.  So we went a couple more miles down the road to another.  Ryan really wanted to come but I told him I needed to focus.  I really do go into The Zone when I'm in there.  Finally I said yes but only if he only talked when I had a question or if I didn't need to concentrate.  He said it was no problem.  

So we get in the car 9 o'clock at night and it's dead quiet all the way to the store.  I wondered why he wasn't talking and then I realized he thought the no talking rule started immediately.  I said, "Ryan, we can talk on the way there."  He said, "Oh man, all that wasted time I couldn't been talking to you."  Haha.  So for the last 5 minutes of driving we chatted up a storm.

Caleb stacking cans

So we get there and I start to see what's on sale and go through the aisles having to pin point "fake sales" vs. really good deals.  The fake sales are the ones where they make big signs looking all important for that one product.  They'll even put it out in the open away from it's normal aisle.  But of course it doesn't show original price.  So then I would go to the aisle to see and, yep, sure enough it's not a sale at all.  OR, it's be only 2 cents off.  2 CENTS!  Sadly, you would see a whole shelf cleared because it always dupes people.  


I'm not an EXTREME shopper so of course I don't only pay $50 at the end. But I did only spend $200 for 4 carts of groceries. Yeah, Ryan and I had to keep taking stuff back to the car.  Back in the day, I would spend much more on one cart of groceries. It was just amazing the money I saved yesterday.  Around $600 savings.  So that's not bad at all.  I spent 6 hours cutting coupons yesterday and had the kids rotate in to help give me a break.  That was only cutting the food coupons since that's what I needed.  I haven't started on all the others. I was extremely exhausted with a bad headache but sales were ending so we had to go before midnight.

I have no space in any pantries, cupboards, in my second fridge or even in the hallway closet.  No where.  So we are trying to figure out a space today where to put it. 

 A friend asked me a fair question today,
"Why do you buy it if you don't have space for it? Wouldn't that save you even more money?"


I replied "Our plan is to have 3 months worth of food stocked up for emergencies. Every family should do that because we never know the future. Things are kind of crazy right now. That doesn't mean that I get a variety of things each trip. I get a bunch of one, two, or three different items that are on major sale. Then I use my coupons on top of it. But since I have overstock from last month, the month's stuff will make it more variety. It's just good to have a plan ahead of time".


Dacil, a fellow couponer I met at the store saved my bacon and sent me this video on saving time with couponing. I do this in some ways but this idea is even better.  Would love to share with you!  :D

Coupon Bullying at Target and Fry's Food Begins

My over flowing coupon book

The other day I thought I would visit Target to use my Tide coupons.  So I went to the Travel size section and picked out 10 of their Tide travel size packs for $1.  I had seen other professionals use the coupons for the same purpose and the coupon didn't say you couldn't use it for that size.  So I took it up to the register and the cashier refused to take the coupons for $1 off.  She said that is just not something they do there at Target.  So I said, "Is this Target exclusive about their rules?  Why is it okay at the other Targets?"  She still refused so I asked her her manager.  Then her manager also said she couldn't use them.  So then I asked for HER manager.  The whole time I was completely polite.  Didn't even get angry.  But they were treating me with contempt and even made me feel stupid by their tone of voice.  So then the store manager came and approved it right away.  She also said the coupons were completely valid.  Then she walked away so the cashier said my total was 90 cents after the coupons.  BUT she also said I can't just pay for tax.  That I need to buy something.  So I looked around and found a candy bar that I didn't even want in order to finish the 20 minute long (and only 10 item) transaction. She acted very irritated and of course since it was taking so long I had people watching and staring.  My problem isn't so much that every Target does not agree with their policies, but that the cashiers are treating couponers like idiots before really even knowing their own rules.

So then I immediately head over to Fry's where I know you can just pay the tax no problem.  BUT of course I buy ALL my groceries from Fry's.  I may save a lot but I still give them all my business and spend a good amount of money with them every month since I have a large family.  I go to the aisle to get my 11 Ivory body wash and then go to check out after I select a more items that I didn't even have coupons for.  I handed my coupons to the cashier and she gets very irritated with me and even stops talking to me!  In fact, she was so rude with me that I calmly said that I would just go to another lane.  What does she say back?  "Oh, then go!"  So I did.  Thankfully the other cashier was much nicer. Do you want to know where I am sending the small packs of Tide?  To someone I know that are missionaries in South Africa.  Often anything I have given away was either to help others or because people like the people in South Africa, absolutely miss American products and would just love a chance to use it again. I'm not out to hoard.  Just making things a bit easier for me and some around me.

That's not my only experience.  The other day I went to save money at Fry's again with my coupons but this time none of them were for free.  I was just using my coupons on sales.  After I get in the lane and it was getting pretty late (15 minutes to closing), I realize I was getting the girl in her 20's that just does not seem to like couponers but she was the only cashier.  She will pull every single thing out of the bag to check every coupon.  Not necessarily a bad thing except for that she rings the manager constantly about very obvious stuff that qualifies.  So the line gets so backed up.  She'll question and question me and I have to explain.  I feel like a criminal trying to get away something with all the intense questioning and mad dog looks.  It's almost like they think I'm trying to rip them off.  Unfortunately, the manager gave the same treatment every time he had to get called over. Sometimes her machine would automatically reject one of my coupons even though the exact same previous coupon worked. So instead of fixing it, she'll just say I can't use it.  In the end I had to pull out about 10 items from my bags and still pay for 10 other items I didn't want since she refused my coupons that were legit.  The reason?  They said it was getting late so I couldn't take the other stuff off my order.  They were getting so mad I thought they seriously were gonna ban me from the store.  

Check out more TEES and cool
coupon binders!

You have to know me.  I don't yell at people other.  I'm polite even in really intense situations.  I will make a stand for something that is right but I won't lose my temper and yell.  EVER.  That's why when a friend once accused me of yelling over the phone, I just laughed because even my husband knows I never yell.  He lives with me for goodness sake.  If anyone, your spouse knows you best.  So this kind of treatment was not only unwarranted but was so far from good customer service that I'm sure Kroger Co. would be shocked.  Hopefully.  Kroger is cheaper but is known to sacrifice it's customer service.  Unfortunately I can't afford to shop at Safeway which has great customer service so I'm stuck with disgruntled employees at Fry's.

Back to the story.  When I reminded the manager of their coupon policies and told him that the other manager at the SAME store said something different than him, he replied "Well, then he needs to be sat down and have counseling."  I said, "Whatever happened to good customer service and caring how you treat your customers?   He shrugged his shoulders and said, "That's just how we operate."  I'm sure Kroger is very proud.  

Customer Service: 5 stars
Price: 3 stars





Customer Service: 1 star
 Price: 5 stars



So I guess it just depends what matters to you.  My dad says he likes to shop Safeway because they treat their customers very well.  If it means he pays a little bit more then so be it.  People really do have an impact on your day.  Grocery shopping is already a chore.  Why make it something you dread?   I have six children and my husband's career type has drastically changed due to the economy.  I use couponing to survive and make sure my family is gonna be okay.  EVEN if I'm filling up a couple of pantries.  We are not guaranteed tomorrow or his job to last. We don't know.  It could last 20 years.  But you BET I'm gonna make some plans of survival which mean I'm gonna stock up.  Does that mean coupon bullying will make me want to stop?  No way.  Whenever I see people in need, I gladly help someone out with what I got.  In fact, I give about half of it away to someone I love in need.  Couponing people are not pathetic by any means.  They are smart. If something happens because of the economy, I'm sure its' the couponers that will have people knocking on their door.  Is it possible the cashiers are just jealous and can't fathom it?  Wish they could do it?  Often, we know the store policies more than them because we spend hours and hours planning.  You bet we're gonna go armed with information on how their policies work. Even more than coupon policies, but I think a good sitting down of customer service training would benefit stores like these the best.  Why argue over one coupon?  Why not save a customer?