Kmart....Again!!

Kmart is at it again with their double coupons which means Jennifer is at it again as well....haha! Unfortunately I do not have a picture because by the time we got home last night it was late and I was too tired to worry about it. I will say this is the best Kmart trip I have had to date and the first time my husband accompanied me on one of these double coupon trips.

Anyway....here is what I purchased:

Honey Nut Cheerios (2)
Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Cereal (2)
Cinnamon Toast Crunch (2)
Cocoa Puffs (2)
Crest Toothpaste (2)
Resolve Carpet Cleaner (3)
Pedigree Dog Treats (1)
Ziploc Containers (2)
Palmolive Clear Dishsoap (2)
Palmolive Dishsoap (4)
Kleenex Lotion Tissue (1)
Gain Fabric Softner (1)
Febreze Air Spray (1)
Pledge (4)
Glade Fabric Spray (1)
Scotch Sponges (2)
Whiskas Treats (2)
Chew Lotta Dog Treat (1)
Lifesavers Bagged Candy (1)
Aquafina Water Bottle 20 oz (1)
Betty Crocker Fruit Gushers (3)
Betty Crocker Warm Delights (2)
Betty Crocker Potatoes (2)
Betty Crocker Cookie Mix (2)
Betty Crocker Frosting (2)
Sue Bee Honey (1)
Nestle Baking Chips (3)
Progresso Chicken Broth (1)
French Worcheshire Sauce (1)
Jello Pudding Singles (1)
Healthy Choice Soup (3)
Healthy Choice Single Serve Pasta (1)
Smuckers Apple Butter (1)
Smuckers Grape Jelly (1)
Starkist Creations Tuna (1)
Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls (3)
Pillsbury Frozen Bag Dinner Rolls (1)
Pillsbury Refrigerated Cookie Dough (2)
Country Crock Light Butter (2)
Nestle Refrigerated Cookie Dough (2)

Total Items Purchased: 72

Total Before Coupons: $163.96

Total After Coupons: $69.61

Coupon Total: $94.35

My husband just stood there with his mouth open like you did not just save almost a hundred dollars....it was funny. If you break it down I paid under a dollar for each item although there were several items that were free after coupons. I did go over my weekly budget but with the double coupons I am willing to go a little over.

Last week I hit a great boneless chicken breast sale and purchased seven packages of chicken for $18 bucks. We eat chicken at least once a week so we should be good for nearly two months! My goal is to live off of our stockpile this winter and not to have to go grocery shopping except for staple items like Milk and bread. I have asked for a bread maker for Christmas so maybe I will get it and I can start making my own bread which will be even more savings.

I don't know how everyone else is doing but working in the building/development industry is really slow right now so I need the comfort of knowing if work gets cut back we are okay for a few months on groceries. I would love to hear ways you guys are cutting back or your coupon savings deals. Good luck and happy bargain hunting!!!!

Sad....not surprised! (Warning my opinion only)

I will be the first to say that I do not typically discuss politics due to one I do not know very much about them and two it causes too many arguments....now on to my point. I must forewarn you I have expressed some very touchy points and please note these are my opinions and not to start an argument.

I think we all are not really surprised that Obama won this election due to the current state of the economy and the entire blame being placed on the Republican party. As expected Americans believe that having a new party in office will put this country in the right direction. I myself must admit that even on election night I was very upset placing the direction of my future in one person's hands. Following prayer and some soul searching why are we holding out hope for anyone to change this country? It is clear that as a nation we have turned our backs on God and we are trying to put band aids on these huge wounds by having the "right person" come in and change the world. We will accomplish nothing if we as a nation do not turn our hearts towards God.

I am blown away by the complete ignorance displayed by Americans when it comes to their reasons for voting. I have heard everything from legalizing pot, color of skin and "because I am tired of being poor"!!! Seriously people are you kidding me?? They all upset me greatly but the one that surprised me the most was the tired of being poor comment. Obama's entire campaign was directed around the lower class citizens in American because when you make a promise of sharing the wealth you will definitely get attention.

I for one am not opposed to helping those that are truly in need, those who know me know I support this all of the time, but what I am against is people who constantly have their hand out. We have all heard the sob stories of how they ended up where they are but it never cease to amaze me that most of the "broke" people where nicer clothes and drive better cars than I do and I am not broke!! I am tired of my hard earned money going to LAZY people. Obama's big plan to come and raise taxes on the people who have worked hard to take care of people who do not want to work hard is nothing but a ploy to get votes. Hello people everyone has the same opportunity in American to better themselves it is a choice not to do so for most. I am tired of the attitude of "what is in it for me" and I pray very hard for the future of this country.

I will not place the blame on any one person it is all of our faults for sitting back and letting this country fall apart. We have a generation of children that are growing up with absolutely no direction, no respect, and no work ethics. I hate to see who will be running for president or heading up the armed forces, if there is one, when I am my grandmother's age. We have raised a generation of men who are wimps who do not know what to stand for just follow whatever moron is in front of them. Shame on the parents for doing such a horrible job with this generation. I am so thankful for the families that protect their children from this and are teaching their kids to follow God, be hard workers, respect others and servant hood because when I am old I want to know that there will some glimpse of hope in this messed up world.

On a side note....I am not a parent but to all of my friends and family that are working hard every day to raise your children to follow God I thank you. You all are a great example to me and I pray when we are blessed with children that we will be the same example that you have been to us. God bless and I love you all dearly!

Okay what is the deal???

Okay can anyone tell me why it will not save my blog with the spaces between the paragraphs? I keep editing it and it will not seperate the paragraph....HELP!!

Kmart Shopping Trip

I have decided to start blogging my grocery savings because it is so much fun and exciting. I am learning so much from other bloggers and especially from moneysavingmom.com. I have lowered our weekly grocery and toiletry budget to $50 per week and so far we are doing great. I will say this shopping trip was an exception due to some left over funds from last week's grocery envelope that I did not use.

Okay to the point our Super Kmart is doing a double coupon days and will match the value of a coupon all the way up to $2.00!! You can use up to four of the same coupon and up to 75 per visit. Here is what I purchased today:

Cover Girl Foundation

Clean & Clear Face Cleanser

Meaty Bone Dog Biscuits (3 Boxes)

Glade Carpet Fresh (3)

Glade Scented Oil Refills (2)

Meaty Bone Chewy Treats

Heinz 57 Sauce

1lb Box Elbow Macaroni (2)

Betty Crocker Skillet Potatoes (2)

Betty Crocker Brownies (4)

Quaker Breakfast Bars

Dole Canned Fruit (3)

Ragu Sauce (4)

Peanut Butter

Worcestershire Sauce

Tortellini Barilla Pasta

Frozen Bag of Tyson Chicken Fillets

Bob Evans Breakfast Sandwiches

Sargento Salad Finishers (4)

Bag of Lettuce

Total Items: 38

Total Prior to Coupons: $113.07

Total Paid out of Pocket: $64.39

Coupon Savings this Trip: $48.68 Woohoo!!

Total Savings this month: $69.72

Spent this month: $132.25

Funds remaining for the month: $83.75

Share what your family budget is and how it is going. My goal is to get my whole budget down to $35 per week but I am sure I need to get up my stock pile before that will happen. I will get better at it as I go...this is my first month really tracking my success. More to come.....

Flooding

Our back yard has a lake around our pool now!!! LOL
View from the our front porch looking down the street. Both of our neighbors woke up to their cars under water.

We are currently trapped in our home due to the excessive amounts of rain in the last two days. We have not discovered three feet of water in our crawl space!!! I am trying to be positive and not get too worried! :)

I am back.....this is a long update!!

Well I am finally getting around to posting again. It has been an extremely busy summer and posting was the last thing on my list to do.

We have had a wonderful fun stress filled summer, haha. We had company in our home the entire month of July and it was a great. Steven's dad and his wife came to visit for a few days which was nice because we have not really been able to spend alot of time with them since we were married. Steven's sister came for the 4th as she does every year and we spent the week relaxing, shopping and blowing up stuff!!

We were also very happy to have Christopher the entire month and man is he growing into a great young man. I met Steven right after Christopher's fifth birthday and it just amazes me that he will be fifteen in a few months...time goes by so quickly. I know I have said it a million times but he has been a huge blessing in my life. He is an outstanding kid. He does not have that teenage attitude you see all of the time. He is respectful, helpful and just so fun to be around. We both miss him so much but we are excited to see him and Steven's family at Christmas this year.

Steven is back at the school thing and he and I both cannot wait until he is done. It has been a long, expensive and tiring road but we can see the finish line quickly approaching. I am so proud of him for sticking it out and getting it done now he just hast to decide where he wants to work but I think that is so much easier than school itself. I must say my husband is very smart...not that I thought he was dumb but he has been on the deans list several times for his good grades. I am excited for our future together and ask prayer for him as he makes decisions for his career in the next few months.

Lastly, I finally bit the bullet and joined Weight Watchers three weeks ago. I am proud to say I have lost 12.4lbs in those three weeks!!! I have made a promise to myself, God and my husband to get healthy and stay that way. This is the first time I have ever done a weight loss program without a friend but I will say I find I am more excited and motivated knowing that I am doing this on my own. I find it is easier to excuse poor eating habits when you have a buddy who is having a hard time as well. I have discovered alot about my eating habits in the last year that I never recognized before and it was when I finally acknowledged my issues then I was able to deal with it and move forward. I will keep you all posted on my progress.

Well I promise to keep this more updated. Oh yeah we were given a digital camera by my sister in law so I can start posting pictures....woohoo. Now I just have to figure out how to do that.

Leap of Faith

Do you ever feel like God puts things in front of you just to see how you will respond to a situation? Now I do not mean trials just people or things in general. I remember many occasions where I truly believe God placed a stranger in my path to test my faith as well as my heart to see what my response to that person would be. It brings to mind a play where a family knows that Jesus is coming to dinner and they are so worried about him coming that they turn away and ignore people in need. In the end those people were representations of Jesus....basically that is what I am talking about.

You are probably wondering where I am going with this but this past week I came across something that has me reflecting on God's purpose for this person in my life. As many of you know I work full time but I also do bookkeeping for some small companies on the side to help them get started and on their feet. Long story short one of my side jobs I have been helping get this company out of near bankruptcy and I have met some very interesting people along the way. I am sad to say that my first impression of some of these people was based on my own fears of who I thought they were based on my own ignorance. I have seen some of the poorest families I have ever met and God just started pulling at my heart for these people. My pastor about three weeks ago gave us all a challenge to get three new people and share the gospel with them this year. My husband and I had already picked out our three each based on the obvious family and friends....but it seems God wanted to add a few more people to that list.

Last week this young man was hired to work at their company that we thought was going to be your typical guy who just needs a job...nothing special about him. I was called by the owner to come in and talk about him and come to find out this young man was homeless and living in his van. He had come to work that morning and told one of the ladies that his stomach hurt because he had not eaten in two days!! Okay now those who know me this is what I live for it to help those who have nothing so here come my tears. I went straight home to my husband who was in the car with me in minutes going to the grocery store and loading a cart full for this young man. We drove to the office and loaded up the fridge with food so when he came in each day he had breakfast, lunch and dinner. He was not there at the time but came shortly after we left and the owner called me telling me he was crying because he was so thankful for the food. Anyway I did not say any of that to get a pat on the back because I don't need one nor do I want one it is the right thing to do period.

Well it is amazing the way God uses something that seemed so natural for me and my husband to do to put alot of curiousity in their hearts. I finally told my husband I am going for it and I just picked up the phone and called the owner my first words were "Do you believe in God?" He was a little surprised but it started a very nice conversation about church and faith. He grew up in church along with his wife but some situations he saw pushed him away from it for many years. I invited them to go to church with us on Sunday and he thanked me for the invite but would let me know. I just figured that was his way of blowing me off so he would not hurt my feelings and I just kept praying for them. Yesterday I went into the office and he said we are coming to church with you on Sunday!!! His wife looked at me and said can we bring some of our friends too? So now they are coming, another couple they know are coming and the new kid said he needs to get back in church too. I was so excited I could have cried. It is a small step but it is better than nothing. It is amazing the chain reaction it creates when you take one leap of faith and just let God do the rest....two people have turned into five....that is awesome!

I would challenge all of us to reach out to those that take us out of our comfort zone and just see what happens. You will not "win" them all but they will never forget the times you tried. I saw this in my mother's life and to see the little things she did after she died that made a huge impact on friends and family will stick with me forever. God created all of us to do great things in this world and that one moment you pass up could be a moment he is testing you. Be ready and just GO FOR IT!!!

Remodeling & Marriage!!!

Okay whomever thought you could blend the two was obviously not married! LOL My wonderful husband and I had the brilliant idea that we would do some updating to our home and boy let me tell you that is a learning experience. I have realized that the simple task of picking out a wall color can turn into a major event in our lives.

Anyway...we started with the living room and hallway last week. The lovely lady who lived in our house before us thought she would add a special feature to our home in the form of textured paint. Not only is it ugly it is also a wonderful treat to rub your arm against it and feel like sandpaper has been scrapped all over your body. Well me being the oh so smart woman said "we can just sand it down" and then paint over it. So my very patient hubby agreed and started sanding the hallway and boy was that a mistake!! I was beginning to think a small fire had started in the hallway until I realized this mass of smoke was dust that was now covering everything in my home!!!!!! Of course there is no way I can complain because that might make him mad considering I wanted this in the first place so I just smile and let him continue. Four days later the hallway is sanded....seriously four days later. Now there are two reasons for that and one being we were not too smart in our choice of sanding methods so it took three attempts to get it right and two my husband is the ultimate PERFECTIONIST. I am very thankful he loves to do a good job but my time and his time are two different things. Needless to say we both agreed that the living room was not going to be a part of this wonderful sanding experience. Fortunately the hallway was the worst part so I was happy.

Sanding is done now what? Cleaning up the mess and that was a chore in and of itself. We finally had everything cleaned up by Saturday morning so now it was prep time. Let me make something very clear I HATE to paint! Anyway we spent 3 hours taping off the ceiling and floors and we were finally ready to prime the trim. (We had that poopy brown trim so we wanted to paint it white) We primed everything and painted the walls a beautiful dark green and then the white trim. I was so happy on Sunday when we finished that I could have nearly cried....anyone who knows me well will tell you that I hate when my house is not in order it stresses me out so I was anxious to get everything in place and clean. So we let it dry until Monday night and I slowly started to pull off the tape....and what a wonderful surprise....the tape was pulling the paint off!!! What!?!?!?! We paid a small fortune for this "painters tape" that is supposed to prevent this and it was doing the total opposite. I think we both could have taken a sledge hammer to the walls at that point, hahahaha. We have now spent the last two nights doing touch up and it is finally done!!!

I am happy to report we are still happily married! We are starting the guest room/future baby's room this weekend and that is only painting so we should be okay. We are waiting on the bathroom vanity we ordered to come in and that will be a whole new experience. I hope to get a digital camera soon so I can post some pics for you all to see.

What is a Frugal?

Have you ever heard someone say they live a frugal lifestyle and thought what in the world are they talking about? Well join the club because I was the same way until my best friend had me check out a few blogs of woman who are putting this into practice in their own lives and man it is really neat. We all want to save money and get the best for every dollar we spend and these woman amaze me at how far they can stretch a buck. I have listed some of the blogs I like to check out every day (I will add more as I have time). I have started clipping coupons and bargain hunting much to my husband's dismay, haha! He did not see the point until he went shopping with me one day and my bill went from $92 bucks to $39 dollars with sales and coupons!!! He was rather impressed and we both look for bargains now. There is obviously much more to living a frugal lifestyle than just clipping coupons but I have to start somewhere. I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas!!

First Timer

Well I have finally decided to create a blog!! I am always on here checking out friends and family blogs so I thought it would be nice to have my own. It is going to take me a while to figure all of this out so any advice would be helpful.