What to do when there is no more room!?!

I have failed to mention, that our refrigerator/overhead freezer and our small chest freezer are busting at the seams. I haven't been able to buy and stock as many frozen foods/meat/milk as I would like, because I just don't have any room. This all seems to have just occurred over the past two months, since I started really working with couponing. I guess that is a dilemma that alot of folks would love to have?!?

I guess you could consider us to be bountifully blessed beyond measure:)

I am inspired beyond belief!!!

I spent way too much time on the computer last night... As I mentioned I didn't calculate the time that I would have to compete with my teenager for computer time. It has been so convenient to review my blogs, coupon education sites over the past two months after he left for school and before the littlest one woke up and then again during his afternoon nap time. So over the past couple of days I have lost about 3 hours of computer time a day. I stayed up well past 5 am and was back up at 7am getting my husbands breakfast and lunch ready. I am trying to steal a couple of more minutes while my littlest is playing peacefully in his bed.

I realized today that I can double my available coupons that I print from the internet. I have a laptop that I can attach to my printing cable and the coupon sites will recognize it as a different computer and allow additional printing of IP. Whoop, whoop!!! Don't know why this didn't occur to me any sooner?!?

I also just happened upon this amazing blog site. It is woman who has an annual budget of spending $800 total on groceries and personal items. Check it out... So far I have done a quick review but I am pumped. I can do that!!!

http://jane4girls800dollarannualbudget.blogspot.com/

I had set a new monthly budget for June of spending $60 per week back at the end of May, but after reviewing things yesterday thought that it would be more realistic to achieve $80 per week :( But if this blog is correct and her annual budget for groceries/toiletries/eating out is $800 for a family of 4 then a weekly budget of $15.38 would work for me...I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!

I sat down and reviewed my budget goals and savings goals under our "Fearless Faith Plan" that my husband and I created in Nov of 2007 and with this latest educational info, I know I can...

I also was inspired two days ago to add in an additional goal of buying the share that my husband's friend has in his old Nova. That is about $2850. I knew that I was being directed to set this as a goal, but realistically couldn't see it happening, now I think all of our "Fearless Faith Goals" can be accomplished on or very near our original goals and also with this additional goal that was laid on my heart!!!

It truly is amazing what opportunities God will present to you when you seek to do his will... My husband and I have been overwhelmed with how much our money has been stretched since we decided to step out on faith for our finances.

I will have to post more about that later, littlest one is not tolerating his alone time anymore...

XBox 360

Whoo, hoo...Our DS (darling son) won an XBox 360 game system at his school. Apparently, they enter the students' name in a drawing if they passed their TAKS test and pull a winner's name out at the end of the year.

He was in a quandry, not sure that he wanted to keep the system because he loves his Wii. So far, I think he has decided to keep the system, we'll see.

Part-time Job/Work for Yourself

I just wanted to get a link out to those who might be interested, click this blog subject title to link. I have mentioned several times that my DH (darling husband) has said that he believes that my couponing (q'ing) is comparable to me having a part-time job, which contributes to our family's resources.

I found this wonderful blog site and article that seem to sum it all up for me....have a look see;)

Successful Weekend Shopping

I was able to get a little shopping done on Saturday in the big city of Amarillo. I was loaded to bear with my lists and my three inch zipper binder full of coupons. I was accompanied by my sister in law (SIL) Annie. First stop to Family Dollar, I have never really shopped in this store but Annie had several items to purchase. I spoke with the clerks and they called their store manager then the district manager and found out that they can accept internet coupons, whoo hoo!!! I didn't drag out my binder, but made mental note of several items/brands that they stock and will have to spend more time there next trip to town. I did find some clearance children's liquid tylenol clearanced from $5.97 to $1.50, so I wiped out their stock and picked up three to add to my medicine cabinet.

Next stop Walgreens, I was pumped. I had them scan the box of computer paper to see if their price was reduced as I had read on several blogs, yes...So I was able to pick up one box with four reams of paper for $7.95 and will send in the $5 rebate plus an additional 10% for a gift certificate card at Walgreens, so four reams of paper for $2.45, not too shabby...

I have decided that I will not be shopping at Walgreens anymore, the clerks and the manager stated that they do not accept internet coupons...my purchases were already rung up, so I will just keep my items and receipt, then hit up another Walgreens next time I shop and have the items returned and my account credited....

Next stop WalMart. I have never shopped with internet coupons (q) so I was a little nervous, but I did brave the store and entered in with my full binder. I did stop off at the customer service desk to make sure that they accepted internet coupons and after some calling, they said they did.

I was determined to buy items on my shopping list and use as many q as practicable. I stuck my free q on top and was able to score most items, except 2 so will have to continue my quest. All said and done, my initial shopping total for a total items of 57 was $139.88....but after coupons were deducted, the grand total amounted to a whopping $74.87!!!! I am way pumped.

46.5% off of grocery bill!!!!

It took a little time, I picked a young male checker and he thought it was kinda' fun with all of the coupons. He ended up having to call over a Customer Service manager to review everything, but they accepted all of the coupons. I probably had about 1/2 manufacturer q and 1/2 internet coupons. My best purchases were the Muir organic tomato sauce priced at $1.16 per can with $1 internet q, for a total of .16 per can and then I had $2 off q from Farmland and was able to find really nice sliced hams at $2.88 each so after q 88 cents each, then Farmland bacon at 2/$5 and I had $2 off q so they were 50cents each, plus 1 lb. Farmland sausage rolls priced at $1.23 with $1 off q so I got 4 rolls at 23 cents each. I am overloaded with bacon, sausage and ham, but couldn't be any happier. These are items that we need and the prices were wonderful!!!

The other thrilling thing is that I as able to go to Panhandle Salvage on the way into town and was able to buy about 8 packages of 8 oz cheddar cheese at $1.50 each and colby cheese and also found two boxes of powdered milk. I did pick some yogurt, yellow peppers, onions and potatoes, frozen broccoli, corn, etc. That store is getting more and more crowded, so you have to hit it when it opens or you lose out. I got there at 9:30am, they open at 9:00am, but had made a call to my SIL and she was there at 9:00am so was able to grab some of the hot items for me, until I could get there to finish my shopping.

So a wonderful shopping day for me...and the family. I did finally get some sense and we packed our large cooler and it was just the right size to hold things all day while we visited the family without having the items go bad before I could get them home to the fridge/freezer.

My SIL was thrilled and surprised that I was able to do so well with q, she asked if I had told my MIL Rosina? No, did she really want me to talk about my shopping and success at CVS w/q. She looked at my massive q binder and looked at me and had to say, no.....She doesn't have the time and wouldn't be able to get things organized.

They do very well with having Panhandle Salvage, near by, so their grocery savings are significant each month. I had to explain that David believes that my q time is really equivalent to having a part-time job, it takes alot of time and effort. Alot of people say it is easy, but I have not found that to be true. I spend alot of time clipping, comparing and researching and the hours add up to a chunk of time each week. Especially when you strive for $0 OOP or reductions of 90% on some of your shopping excursions.

But I am thrilled that I am able to see such significant savings in our budget over just 1 1/2 months of being into q'ing.

Kenneth's Accolades

National Honor Society Induction Ceremony

Kenneth was inducted into the Friona HS NHS last night. He and 8 other students from the Sophomore class received the honor, plus one Junior. It was a tough night for him and he about passed out after the ceremony. He is battling a bad case of Bronchitis and he refuses to miss any school (he's one tough cookie about attending school), the award room was too hot and his breathing became very labored with the heat, therefore we had to hussle him out the door to get some fresh air. Michael has been under the weather also with allergies and earaches, so mommy and he watched the awards ceremony behind the glass area away from everyone because it was too hot and he was fussy.






Very upstanding young man, don't you think.






A nice looking group.






Also, Kenneth was notified yesterday, that he was the only member of his sophomore class to receive commended performance for all of his TAKS tests!!! Way to go...

Surviving and Thriving On a Long Journey With A Toddler

Here are a few photos from our journey to the Big D two weekends ago. The portable DVD player was just what we had hoped for, it truly made it a survivable trip with a toddler. Michael was spellbound and able to tolerate 8 hours on the road. Mom just had to ride in the back to make sure that the player was loaded, videos changed timely and kept running. He only broke down for the last five minutes of the trip.

David and I also took the time to make a few more stops than we typically do. It's amazing how you also spot a cute park, one that you have never seen before over several journeys, when you have a toddler to entertain.

We highly recommend the park in Silverton, TX if you are ever going through Silverton, it is right off of the main highway through town... We stopped there on the way home as well and I think our 15 year old Kenneth had more fun than anyone on the swings and rides. Sorry, no photos from that excursion too tired...

A Muddy Morning

I don't know if they erected this fence to protect the new bushes from the dogs or Michael, but it doesn't seem to be working...
Now, he wants a hug!!!

A mud puddle, um um good....
Michael making and sampling his mud pies...

I am able to upload a few photos this afternoon, someone is sleeping very soundly after his very adventurous morning in the backyard, playing with mud. It truly is one of Michael favorite activities. Gotta' love it.

Amanda's Graduation, A Good Day!!!

Happy Graduate


Donnie and Amanda, the proud husband and wife


Melanie and Amanda


Amanda, Proud Dad and Tired Michael


Uncle John and Jeremy

It was a very full trip, 16 hours on the road round trip, but well worth the effort.

Amanda graduated from University of Texas at Arlington with her Bachelors in Education and is set to be an elementary teacher in Waco. Couldn't be more proud, she is really excited about her career as a teacher!!! We were able to stay with our youngest daughter Melanie for a few nights. It was good to see our oldest son Jeremy. Makes me happy:)

David's brother John was a gracious host for allowing us to hang at his house in North Richland Hills for far too many hours and also meet up post graduation for a really scrumptious pig out of pizza and graduation cake.

It was also an overwhelming weekend because I was able to see all of the kids over the mother's day weekend. Nothing could be better than that, if only I could have seen my mom:(

I Love CVS

If you have never visited this site, I highly recommend you take the time.... click on the title for an auto link. This site will get you on track for an obsessive disorder that will consume your freetime and every waking moment...

Really, it is a wonderful educational tool for getting you up to speed on starting a lifetime experience with shopping at CVS.

My Saturday shopping excursion to my local CVS (30 miles down the road, so not a quick event for me) took about 3 hours with commute. What you say... I didn't take any pictures of my haul, I was just too tired. Best I can figure everything out. I received about $260 in merchandise for a net expense of -$1.83. I know it sounds unbelievable, but it is true.

Some of the items I received, 5 Aquafresh toothpaste, 2 sample Aquafresh toothpaste, 2 Johnson's soap buddies, 3 bars Johnson's soap, 10 bars Ivory soap, 2 microwaveable brownies, 10 varied nutrition bars, 2 bottles multivitamins, 3 packets of Claritin, 5 men's deodorant, 10 bottles bodywash, 1 razor set, 6 room deodorizer sprays (totally free), 1 gallon milk, $35 CVS giftcards, $25 Barnes and Nobles giftcard, $15 Itunes giftcard, 2 Huggies packets baby wipes, 1 Huggies baby soap, and 3 toothbrushes.

As my husband said, we are even getting top quality items...not the local pepsodent and generic products that I have been pawning off on them for the last few years.

The only downside, is the checkers were a little frustrated with me by the end of everything. I messed them up with the rainchecks, apparently you need to give them at the start of your transaction or they are messed up...so I didn't take the time to ask for the rainchecks that I really wanted, no problem, I will just have to hit up a couple of CVS's in Amarillo next weekend when we go and make sure that I get the rainchecks that I want.

I think the rainchecks are the long term moneymakers to look for. One of my rainchecks didn't have a item limit listed... and there is no expiration date on them, so you can take the time to look for the coupons you would like and I lucked out on the fact that the items went through as free and this month there was an ECB with purchasing the items, so I really doubled up on my ECB credits.

It looks like we are well stocked on soap and room deodorizers. I need to focus on laundry detergent, paper products and women's deodorant.

I also have started my Christmas stash piles and have already finished my shopping for two of the guys on my lists, so way ahead of last year. I told my husband, maybe I can have most of our Christmas shopping done by August of this year and that includes the shopping for his co-workers...

I wasn't the best at my OOP expenses, that ended up being about $70. I had my scenarios worked out to the t, but when they don't have some of the items or not as much quantity as I had planned, it messed with my calculations and I worked a long time on my calculations. I find it difficult to calculate on the fly. Especially when you are dealing with the volume that I was buying. I think that in the future I need to just itemize everything and look for groups of purchases in the $15 to $20 range and do one at a time and then go to the next one...it will also make the checkers happier. I now have over $36.97 in ECB left to spend and $35 in CVS gift cards, so I have about $71.97 left to spend at CVS, leaving me with a net expense of -$1.83 after it is all said and done.



The key to my shopping is I asked for rainchecks everytime I went to CVS last month and they didn't have the items I wanted. So I had two rainchecks for free 12 oz. Softsoap body washes. I then saved some coupons and this month they were also offering $5 in ECB back for softsoap purchases in excess of $10, so a true money maker after it was all said and done.

Another essential element is so many items that ended up being moneymakers. I did buy 5 of the Adidas deodorants and actually was paid $14.97 to buy them! I had five coupons for the value of the item $4.99 each and also CVS was offering ECB back of $4.99 each for a limit of three, so that's how I was paid to purchase their product....Unbelievable!!!

So thanks mom for all of your help!!!

The next self inflicted challenge is to start figuring out how to attack our food budget more and get it down to a goal of $60 per week total food expense, I am also going to go with the cash only method, I find it too easy to just pop out the pulse card everytime I want something. I think I will have to look at other blogs to increase my learning and skills.