What do you think of Marc's new specs??!!
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Friday, April 29, 2011
Crazy Coupon Lady
I have been couponing for a couple of years now. While I am no where near as crazy as the people on the TLC reality show, Extreme Couponing, I do save quite a bit of money when I go grocery shopping. This post is written specifically for my sister, Rachael, who asked if I could teach her more about the 'art' of couponing. She is almost 19-weeks pregnant with her first child, plans to be a stay-at-home mom after this little one is born, and would like to learn more about how to save money using coupons. I hope that I am able to educate her, as well as any other of my blog readers who are interested, about saving money when grocery shopping.
1. The first thing that you need to do is buy multiple Sunday papers. Buying more than one paper allows you to collect more coupons, thus allowing you to save more money. I get 4 Sunday papers each week. You can either buy your papers from the grocery store or get a newspaper subscription. A lot of times purchasing a subscription is the cheapest route. In the Sunday paper there are Coupon Inserts, called Smart Source (SS), General Mills (GM), Proctor & Gamble (PG), & Red Plum (RP). Not every Sunday paper has all coupon inserts, and not every individual paper has all of these inserts either. Be sure to ask your newspaper provider which coupon inserts they have. The more, the better.
2. Buy Your Coupon Binder. There are a couple of different options when choosing your coupon binder. You can just buy a normal, everyday binder that are found at your local Target, office supply store, etc. Or you can buy a more heavy duty zipper binder, which is what I recommend. Mead & Five Star make some good ones. I have the Case-It brand & like it. I recommend these type of binders because they zip up, making it near impossible for your coupons to fall out all over the grocery store aisle when you are shopping (NOT like this has ever happened to me!).
3. Next, you need to decide how you will organize your coupons in your coupon binder. There are two methods that can be used.
* Organize By Category: This takes more time up front but less time when shopping. It will take an hour or two of your time each week to clip & organize your coupons. This method makes preparing to shop quick & easy because your coupons are already clipped & organized. You can use baseball card holders to store your clipped coupons. Page dividers are also used to divide your coupons into categories (yogurt, pasta, rice, cereal, etc). You can buy baseball card holders & dividers at almost any store. This is the method that I use.
* Organize By Date: With this method, you do not clip any coupons until you use them. This requires you to get sheet protectors to put each insert into it's own page. It is best to write the date (from the paper the coupon came out of) on each insert. This will be valuable to you. I will discuss why later on.
4. Plan Your Grocery List Based On Sale Ads: Every Wednesday, I get grocery ads in my mailbox. You probably do, too, but may have never noticed. They usually come with a stack of other advertisements for places like Lowe's, Arby's, Pet Smart, etc. The grocery ads that come in my mail are for Safeway, Albertsons & Top Foods. If you do not receive ads in the mail, you can also get them at the actual grocery store. Almost all grocery sales go from Wednesday to the following Tuesday.
So how do you figure out what the best deals are & where are the coupons to match up with the deals? No worries, you don't have to figure this out yourself! There are many websites out there that do the matching up for you. Cool, huh??!! Here are a few of my favorites:
Just go to their website, click on the grocery store you plan on shopping at, and look at the deals & coupon match ups for that particular week. It is that easy. If there is a coupon match up for a certain deal, they will tell you which coupon it is, what particular date the coupon is from & what insert it comes from. For example:
Kraft Dressing on sale $.99 (limit 2)
Buy 2
Use $1/2 coupon from 4/10 SS insert
$.49 each after coupon
This deal is at Safeway & it is for Kraft salad dressing on sale for $.99 (limit 2). They are telling you that there is a $1/2 coupon in the April 10th Smart Source (SS) insert, making them only $.49 each after the coupon. Not a bad deal for salad dressing!
Go through the ads for whatever grocery stores you shop at, check out the ad match ups on the money saving websites & create your grocery list based on the best deals. Now, I shop at 2-3 different grocery stores during the week to get the best deals. Starting out, though, I would suggest that you start with just ONE store to focus your efforts on. You will get way too overwhelmed if you try to do more than one store as you are getting started with couponing. I think the easiest way to choose a store is to find the one that is closest to where you live. You will be wanting to go more often, so it makes sense to not to have to travel very far.
And before you know it, you will be saving 50-90% on your grocery bill every week just from shopping the sales & combining coupons with these sale items. Pretty impressive!
And there you have it! The basics of couponing! There is soo much more to couponing (like printable coupons, shopping at drug stores, double couponing, etc.). I promise I will go more in depth into these topics on another day, but hopefully today's post helped you get a better understanding of couponing & the basics you need to know to start saving money when grocery shopping.
Feel free to leave me any comments and/or questions you may have!
Happy Shopping...and Saving!
1. The first thing that you need to do is buy multiple Sunday papers. Buying more than one paper allows you to collect more coupons, thus allowing you to save more money. I get 4 Sunday papers each week. You can either buy your papers from the grocery store or get a newspaper subscription. A lot of times purchasing a subscription is the cheapest route. In the Sunday paper there are Coupon Inserts, called Smart Source (SS), General Mills (GM), Proctor & Gamble (PG), & Red Plum (RP). Not every Sunday paper has all coupon inserts, and not every individual paper has all of these inserts either. Be sure to ask your newspaper provider which coupon inserts they have. The more, the better.
2. Buy Your Coupon Binder. There are a couple of different options when choosing your coupon binder. You can just buy a normal, everyday binder that are found at your local Target, office supply store, etc. Or you can buy a more heavy duty zipper binder, which is what I recommend. Mead & Five Star make some good ones. I have the Case-It brand & like it. I recommend these type of binders because they zip up, making it near impossible for your coupons to fall out all over the grocery store aisle when you are shopping (NOT like this has ever happened to me!).
3. Next, you need to decide how you will organize your coupons in your coupon binder. There are two methods that can be used.
* Organize By Category: This takes more time up front but less time when shopping. It will take an hour or two of your time each week to clip & organize your coupons. This method makes preparing to shop quick & easy because your coupons are already clipped & organized. You can use baseball card holders to store your clipped coupons. Page dividers are also used to divide your coupons into categories (yogurt, pasta, rice, cereal, etc). You can buy baseball card holders & dividers at almost any store. This is the method that I use.
* Organize By Date: With this method, you do not clip any coupons until you use them. This requires you to get sheet protectors to put each insert into it's own page. It is best to write the date (from the paper the coupon came out of) on each insert. This will be valuable to you. I will discuss why later on.
4. Plan Your Grocery List Based On Sale Ads: Every Wednesday, I get grocery ads in my mailbox. You probably do, too, but may have never noticed. They usually come with a stack of other advertisements for places like Lowe's, Arby's, Pet Smart, etc. The grocery ads that come in my mail are for Safeway, Albertsons & Top Foods. If you do not receive ads in the mail, you can also get them at the actual grocery store. Almost all grocery sales go from Wednesday to the following Tuesday.
So how do you figure out what the best deals are & where are the coupons to match up with the deals? No worries, you don't have to figure this out yourself! There are many websites out there that do the matching up for you. Cool, huh??!! Here are a few of my favorites:
Just go to their website, click on the grocery store you plan on shopping at, and look at the deals & coupon match ups for that particular week. It is that easy. If there is a coupon match up for a certain deal, they will tell you which coupon it is, what particular date the coupon is from & what insert it comes from. For example:
Kraft Dressing on sale $.99 (limit 2)
Buy 2
Use $1/2 coupon from 4/10 SS insert
$.49 each after coupon
This deal is at Safeway & it is for Kraft salad dressing on sale for $.99 (limit 2). They are telling you that there is a $1/2 coupon in the April 10th Smart Source (SS) insert, making them only $.49 each after the coupon. Not a bad deal for salad dressing!
Go through the ads for whatever grocery stores you shop at, check out the ad match ups on the money saving websites & create your grocery list based on the best deals. Now, I shop at 2-3 different grocery stores during the week to get the best deals. Starting out, though, I would suggest that you start with just ONE store to focus your efforts on. You will get way too overwhelmed if you try to do more than one store as you are getting started with couponing. I think the easiest way to choose a store is to find the one that is closest to where you live. You will be wanting to go more often, so it makes sense to not to have to travel very far.
And before you know it, you will be saving 50-90% on your grocery bill every week just from shopping the sales & combining coupons with these sale items. Pretty impressive!
And there you have it! The basics of couponing! There is soo much more to couponing (like printable coupons, shopping at drug stores, double couponing, etc.). I promise I will go more in depth into these topics on another day, but hopefully today's post helped you get a better understanding of couponing & the basics you need to know to start saving money when grocery shopping.
Feel free to leave me any comments and/or questions you may have!
Happy Shopping...and Saving!
How could I not add a picture of my adorable girlies??!! :)
Thursday, April 28, 2011
A ScentSational Opportunity!
I am so excited to announce that I have started a new business! I am an independent consultant with Scentsy!
I have been using Scentsy products for quite some time. I absolutely love their products! Not just because they smell good, but also because they are safe to use in my home. With two small children, I never wanted to light my traditional candles in fear that one of the girls would get to close to it & burn themselves. But with these wickless candles, I can warm my Scentsy bar (or brick) & know that there is no flame, smoke, soot, or lead being released into my home, & that my girls will not be harmed in any way.
While I absolutely love staying home with my two girls & would not trade it for the world, I felt like I needed 'more'. I didn't want to be defined as just a wife & mother (although these are the most important 'titles' that I will ever have!). I wanted an opportunity to get out into the 'real world' and start selling a product that I use everyday in my home, a product that smells wonderful, but most importantly a product that is safe to use around my children. I was also looking to meet other wonderful women (and men) in my community, & making extra income for my family. I saw Scentsy as a win, win for me!
So here I am, about to start on my new 'adventure'! And I couldn't be more excited about it!
If you are interested in learning more about Scentsy & what they have to offer, please take a moment & look at my website: http://www.jaclough.scentsy.us/
If you are unaware of this fabulous company, Scentsy is a direct selling, wickless candle company headquartered in Meridian, Idaho. They sell wickless candles, ceramic warmers & a variety of fragrance products.
If you are unaware of this fabulous company, Scentsy is a direct selling, wickless candle company headquartered in Meridian, Idaho. They sell wickless candles, ceramic warmers & a variety of fragrance products.
I have been using Scentsy products for quite some time. I absolutely love their products! Not just because they smell good, but also because they are safe to use in my home. With two small children, I never wanted to light my traditional candles in fear that one of the girls would get to close to it & burn themselves. But with these wickless candles, I can warm my Scentsy bar (or brick) & know that there is no flame, smoke, soot, or lead being released into my home, & that my girls will not be harmed in any way.
While I absolutely love staying home with my two girls & would not trade it for the world, I felt like I needed 'more'. I didn't want to be defined as just a wife & mother (although these are the most important 'titles' that I will ever have!). I wanted an opportunity to get out into the 'real world' and start selling a product that I use everyday in my home, a product that smells wonderful, but most importantly a product that is safe to use around my children. I was also looking to meet other wonderful women (and men) in my community, & making extra income for my family. I saw Scentsy as a win, win for me!
So here I am, about to start on my new 'adventure'! And I couldn't be more excited about it!
If you are interested in learning more about Scentsy & what they have to offer, please take a moment & look at my website: http://www.jaclough.scentsy.us/
And if you are interested in hosting a party to receive free product, half-price items, and get insider access to monthly specials, leave a comment or email me & I can give you the details. When it comes to experiencing Scentsy products, there are a variety of options—from home to workplace to cyberspace—I can help you pick the perfect party that would work best for YOU!
All images are from the Scentsy website or Google images
Thank you for all of your love & support as I start this new chapter in my life. I am super excited to be starting this new business & I am grateful to be able to share it with all of you!
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Creative Kids: Goin' Bananas
It's time to get crafty again with the girls! You can see my other Crafty Kids posts here & here.
This time I got brave & let my girls in the kitchen! I know, can you believe it??!! It actually went much better than expected & the kitchen stayed relatively clean. Best of all, the girls & I had fun baking together. And really, isn't that what it is all about?
Today's recipe: Banana Bread
Kennedy was THRILLED to hear that she finally got to make banana bread. She literally has been asking me daily if we can make some. Looks like today was her lucky day!
You think they are a little excited to get started?!
The ingredients:
In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda & salt.
In a separate bowl, cream together the butter & brown sugar.
In another bowl, mix the eggs & mashed bananas until well blended. I have found that the best way to mash bananas is to use my magic bullet. So easy to use & mashes them perfectly.
Combine both wet mixtures into the large dry mixture bowl. Stir to moisten.
Pour batter into lightly greased 9x5 inch loaf pan. I prefer to line the loaf pan with tin foil. It makes it easier to remove after baking, plus no clean up of the pan. Win-win in my book! :)
Cook at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 60-65 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
The girls waiting patiently (or should I say impatiently?!) for the bread to get done baking.
Voila! The finished product.
Once the bread is out of the oven, let it cool for 10 minutes & then turn out onto a wire wrack. Or in my case, I just lifted the tin foil out of the pan & let it cool on top of the stove.
And now for the true test. Did my 'food panel' like it??!!
Kennedy's thumbs up & Ashby shoving a huge piece into her mouth gave this mama the sign that, YES, these two little girls thoroughly enjoyed the banana bread!
And if the above pictures weren't enough, here is Ashby with her hand out asking for more! Yep, I think she likes it! :)
This time I got brave & let my girls in the kitchen! I know, can you believe it??!! It actually went much better than expected & the kitchen stayed relatively clean. Best of all, the girls & I had fun baking together. And really, isn't that what it is all about?
Today's recipe: Banana Bread
Kennedy was THRILLED to hear that she finally got to make banana bread. She literally has been asking me daily if we can make some. Looks like today was her lucky day!
You think they are a little excited to get started?!
The ingredients:
In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda & salt.
In a separate bowl, cream together the butter & brown sugar.
In another bowl, mix the eggs & mashed bananas until well blended. I have found that the best way to mash bananas is to use my magic bullet. So easy to use & mashes them perfectly.
Combine both wet mixtures into the large dry mixture bowl. Stir to moisten.
Pour batter into lightly greased 9x5 inch loaf pan. I prefer to line the loaf pan with tin foil. It makes it easier to remove after baking, plus no clean up of the pan. Win-win in my book! :)
Cook at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 60-65 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
The girls waiting patiently (or should I say impatiently?!) for the bread to get done baking.
Voila! The finished product.
Once the bread is out of the oven, let it cool for 10 minutes & then turn out onto a wire wrack. Or in my case, I just lifted the tin foil out of the pan & let it cool on top of the stove.
And now for the true test. Did my 'food panel' like it??!!
Kennedy's thumbs up & Ashby shoving a huge piece into her mouth gave this mama the sign that, YES, these two little girls thoroughly enjoyed the banana bread!
And if the above pictures weren't enough, here is Ashby with her hand out asking for more! Yep, I think she likes it! :)
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Over The Hills And Through The Woods...
...To Papa & Grammy's House We Go!
As you read in this post, we recently returned from a long weekend at my parent's house in southern Oregon. My sister, Rachael, & her husband, Brian, also came down & it was so nice to spend time with all of them & celebrate Easter together. Not to mention, the girls had a blast! The weather, for the most part, was absolutely beautiful & we were able to spend a lot of time outdoors. Of course we came back home to rain, but what's new. After the amazing weather we had this past weekend, I am anxiously counting down the days to summer & nicer weather!
We drove down to my parent's house on Thursday afternoon. The girls were so excited to get down there, they could hardly stand it. As we were leaving, Kennedy wanted to send grammy a video & let her know we were on our way.
As you read in this post, we recently returned from a long weekend at my parent's house in southern Oregon. My sister, Rachael, & her husband, Brian, also came down & it was so nice to spend time with all of them & celebrate Easter together. Not to mention, the girls had a blast! The weather, for the most part, was absolutely beautiful & we were able to spend a lot of time outdoors. Of course we came back home to rain, but what's new. After the amazing weather we had this past weekend, I am anxiously counting down the days to summer & nicer weather!
We drove down to my parent's house on Thursday afternoon. The girls were so excited to get down there, they could hardly stand it. As we were leaving, Kennedy wanted to send grammy a video & let her know we were on our way.
The girls did extremely well on the 5-hour drive down to my parent's house. All I can say is thank goodness for iPads & the Leapster! These electronic devices made for a nice & quiet drive for daddy & mommy!
On Friday, papa & daddy had to work so it was just the girls at home. We lounged around, played a little bit & then headed to a nearby park. The girls LOVE playing at parks, and this park was no exception!
Friday night Rachael & Brian drove down from Portland. The girls were already in bed but they knew when they woke up Rae Rae & Uncle Brian would be there, & they were so excited! They just love them (as do daddy & mommy!). Rachael is now 18 weeks pregnant & looks fabulous! She has the cutest little baby bump! We had a special moment during the weekend when we got to feel baby Brown kick! It was the sweetest, most precious, little tap! And we were so glad to be able to experience this special time. Thank you for letting us be a part of it, Brian & Rachael!
Saturday morning the four of us got our pictures taken by a friend who owns a local photography business. The girls did so well & I cannot wait to see how the pictures turned out. After pictures, we took the girls to the annual Easter egg hunt. Papa, grammy, Rachael & Brian also came along to watch the girls. They had fun collecting eggs. And of course eating the chocolate that came in the eggs!
It was another beautiful day, so after rest time we headed out to play in the backyard. My parent's backyard is absolutely GORGEOUS! It is huge & backs up to a river. It is simply amazing! Pictures do not do it justice, but here is one picture that I took when we were back there. If you remember, our backyard is about 1/16th the size of their backyard & about 1/1000th as beautiful as theirs! :)
Papa & grammy had bought the girls a Jumbo Fun Ball for Easter, but they gave it to them a day early so they could enjoy it while the weather was good (Saturday night & Sunday were supposed to be rainy). Oh my goodness, did the girls love this ball! They rolled & rolled, and then rolled some more. Even mommy got in it & gave it a try!
The girls rolled for so long in the ball, that their hair was a big staticy mess when they got out!
After playing in the Jumbo Fun Ball, we headed out to the front to play with some motorized cars that papa & grammy had. Kennedy was in love with the Dora car, and although we have a Barbie Jeep at our house, Ashby would not get out of theirs. Unfortunately, she couldn't reach the pedals to drive so she had to be the passenger & mommy got to be the 'driver lady'!
That night after dinner, Marc & I helped the girls dye eggs. This was the first time that either of them had colored eggs, and from the fun that each of them had, it surely won't be the last!
Sunday was Easter & the girls had fun going through their TWO baskets from the Easter bunny. Easter bunny #1 (us) gave them practical things like books & board games. Easter bunny #2 (papa & grammy) gave them the yummy stuff like jelly beans & chocolate. Guess which basket they preferred??!! :) They also had fun hunting for eggs again.
After eating a delicious brunch that my mom made, we headed to church. The girls did so well during the service. Not that we are ever surprised at how well behaved Kennedy is in church. But Ashby is usually a different story! The girl just does not like to be quiet or sit still! I brought a few tricks up my sleeve to entertain her during mass & she did great. That made for a very happy daddy & mommy!!!
After another delicious meal from my mom (she made the BEST food while we were there!), it was time to head back home. We hated to see our fun long weekend come to an end, but Marc had to go out of town for work so we had to leave a day early (we weren't supposed to leave until Monday). The time went way to fast & it was sad for all of us to leave.
On the way out of town, Kennedy wanted to make sure she told papa & grammy thank you & what a fun time she had.
Papa & Grammy--thank you so much for such a fun visit! We loved all of the yummy treats you had for us, especially the Fruit Loops, doughnuts & ice cream!! Thank you for the big red ball that you gave to us for Easter. We had so much fun rolling around in it in your backyard & we can't wait to come back & roll in it some more this summer. Thank you for playing outside with us & for charging the cars so we could ride them while we were there. Thank you for reading to us. We LOVED the book about Rosa & her germs and the two books about picky eaters (we can kind of relate to those girls!). Thank you for letting us pester your cat, Sadie. Ashby sure does love her! And thank you for all of the hugs & kisses we got from you while we were there visiting! You are the best papa & grammy in the whole wide world! We miss you already & cannot wait to see you again soon!
Love,
Kennedy Rae & Ashby Grace
P.S. mommy & daddy thank you too! :)
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