coupons

 Since I'm a stay at home mom, I feel that I can help make up for that lose of income by doing all I can to save on the groceries and bills..etc...So I'm trying to get in the habit of using coupons to help with this. Now in the past I have had a issue with just printing off what I thought would be good and then not remembering to bring them, not using them in time, or just printing off ones that really are of no savings to me. So I've decided to really try to work on this. I don't want to get 20 jars of mayo at 50 cents a jar kinda thing, (first where would I put all of that and second I cant even think of how long that would take my family to us that(I do applaud those who are able to do that and turn around and share what they have with others who need it, maybe one day I will have the system figured out to do it as well, but for now on to the basics))  but to shave of 15, 20 bucks or more off my groceries would be great. So here are my steps I'm going to try and implement.

First of all you have to realize its going to take time out of your day. I usually use this time of night after I get kiddos to make my list. (probably will change do to kids starting school at the end of the week, but we will see)

Second look at the sales ads before you print any coupons! ( a big thing for me, such a waste of paper and ink)

Third look for coupons that will work with items that in the sales ad.

Okie Dokie, In my area I have a walmart, food lion, pigglywiggly, and a Harris Teeter. So I checked their weekly ads and the only one that interest me was Harris Teeter. Now what I buy is usually cheapest at walmart, so it really has to be on sale anywhere else for me to shop there. Luckily with school starting back, Harris teeter had some good buys that I could use.  So this is what I was able to do today with using coupons for these items...

They had boxes of Kellogg's cereal on sale buy one get one free. Planters peanut butter buy one get one free and minute maid  10 pack juice boxes on sale 2 for $5.

So normally at Harris Teeter, Kellogg's cereal is $3.28 a box, so half off is $1.64 a box.I bought four boxes which came to $6.56 and found a coupon for $1 off four boxes on the Kellogg's website. So in the end I paid $1.39 per box of cereal.
Normal cost $3.28 x 4=$13.12, final cost $5.56 Savings of $7.56


Planter's Peanut butter runs for $2.69 a jar, so half off is $1.35 a jar. I do have an account with kraft first which will give you a coupon to try new items they have come out with and last week i got an coupon for $1 off planters peanut butter and in the paper today I came across a coupon for $.75 off a jar. So two jars at a cost of $2.69 minus $1.75 equals $.94 cents for two jars or $.47 cents a jar.
Normal cost $2.69 x 2=$5.38, final cost $.94 Savings of $4.44

Minute Maid 10 pack juice boxes run for $3.99, and Harris Teether had them on sale for 2 for $5. I had two coupons for $1 off a box each. So $5 minus $2 eguals $3 for two boxes.
Normal cost $3.99 x 2=$7.98, final cost $3. Savings of $4.98

Total saving with coupons $7.56+$4.44+$4.98=$16.98

Not bad for just three items...


They had other items that where also buy one get one free and most of the time you can just buy the one item and it will be half off, remember that when using coupons too or remember to use two coupons for when getting both.

So im encourage on what I can do when i really put my mind to it and at least my stores are really close to each other and its not a problem for me to hit one or two up on the same day or 6 like a did today, but that a differnt story, lol.

I also see all these woman with huge binders for there coupons I'm beginning to understand why..right now I'm using a folder but I have a feeling I will need to up grade later on.

Well see how it goes...
Wen

Family Time

This past Saturday, I just had to get out of the house. This southern heat wave is driving me stir crazy. Drew and I have come to an agreement, well I imposed the agreement. lol. He wants to stay home on the weekend, because he drives the whole week going on calls throughout eastern NC. I stay home all week, cause I with three boys and no ac in my car and my boys have hit the age of we do not like to go shopping its just too much to go sometimes. So, I want to go, now I can go by myself when Drew is home on the weekend but I also want to have family time outside of the house. So my agreement is I get an outing either SaturdayI or Sunday and he can have Friday night and one free day during the weekend. Not a bad deal in my book...
Well after much debating , aka arguing( lol) on Saturday we just got in the car, it actually was quite nice and it was over cast and sprinkles throughout the day so the temperature was pleasant. We finally ended up at Atlantic beach...

Once we arrived, we were flooded with memories of Isle of Palms, SC.  Just like IOP you have to cross a bridge to get there and once on the island you are immediately taken in by the island feel. So instantly we felt we were home. Not only did it remind us of home, it reminded me of my mom. My mom loves the beach and the only beach we would go to was IOP. So that made it even nicer. Without planning on going to the beach, we thought lets just walk around and maybe let the kids get there feet wet.

Needless to say, feet just didn't get wet. lol. My kids were in heaven, DJ "accidentally" fell down many of times. lol. We enjoyed the day so much we actually planned to come back the next day after church. So after lunch on Sunday we headed back, thanks to the remnants of Emily, the waves were awesome at the beach and there was such a nice breeze. which was pleasant with the heat wave. Watching the kids play, I was grateful to have this time with my family, as much as I miss my kids being little, I was thankful that they were big enough for all of us to enjoy the beach (and not have to haul a car load of stuff for a baby anymore lol) Sadly I left my camera in the car and couldn't get as many shots as I wanted, but got a few with my phone.

Next time, I'll hopefully remember it so I can get some close shots. All in all it was a great weekend, with a few mishaps, but it was nice to have this family time together. I see my children getting older and I know that our time together with get less and less as the grow and take on activities of there own, but I will have my memories and will always be here when they are able and wanting to go exploring with there mom. My sons are a gift from God and I love them. They may irritate and anger me at times but its worth it. It overwhelms me every time I think about them, that God entrusted them to me. Thank you Lord.

  Psalm 127:3-5

3 Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him. 4 Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth. 5 Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate.

Allergies

Wow, I have never had issues with allergies like I have had since moving to NC. I'm actually having to use Drew's allergy meds. Between the itchy, drainy eyes, runny nose, congestion and itchy throat, I have been pretty pitiful the last few days. Add an attack on my pride, I am unable to wear my contacts, which sucks.lol

The Bible says Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh Genesis 2:24

I think going through this is giving me a better understanding of what Drew goes through during the spring. I could sympathize with him but not truly comprehend. Not that I like having allergies, but at least an understanding of what he goes through is helping me become more of one flesh with him. Its amazing even after 11 years of  marriage what God can show to you. I think that is the kicker, people change and as spouses you have to be willing to grow together and continue to work on being one flesh.

Even if at times its irritating , like my eyes are to me right now. lol
wen

teeth

Sigh...sniff...my kids are growing up. The thought does sadden me a bit.  Don't get me wrong, I do look forward to seeing them grow and become the person that God wants them to be. But at times they catch you off guard as they go through the changes of childhood. What brought this on...
well it started with DJ losing his first tooth yesterday. It was totally unexpected. We stopped for lunch after church yesterday and afterwards I thought he had something stuck in his front bottom teeth and with closer examination he was actually missing his tooth. So that is one tooth that the tooth fairy is going to have to fetch herself. lol.  We left a note explaining what happen to the tooth fairy.

I had someone ask wasn't he kinda young to start losing teeth. DJ is a little over 5 and  1/2 and for my kids that's not too early. Christian was right around that age when he lost his first one and josh was a little after 6. So both christian and DJ got teeth right around 4 months old so i don't think it is. It just means they are growing up and my baby may always be my baby but he is definitely becoming a big kid now. which is exciting and sad at the same time :(

New Bern Bears

Many of you may have seen my pictures of the kids with statues of bears. When we moved here, we noticed statues of bears everywhere. Come to find out the town of New Bern's symbol is the bear. OK that's cool, then we started to realize that these are not plain old bear statutes. These bears all are different and  that intrigued me. So I had to do research on them. Theses bears are part of a public art project to celebrate the town's 300th anniversary. Come to found out there are 50 bear statues and I plan to get a picture of the kids with all of them. So you will periodically see pictures of the kids with the bears until I get one of all of them. here is a picture of all fifty bears...

some pics with the kids and the bears:

"Dr.Paws" dentist bear

Harvest bear

Football Champ Bear

Judge Bear

Brier bear 

  Bearer of rights bear

Starting a blog

Hey everyone!
Ive been debating for sometime about starting a blog, I finally have decided to get off my tail and just do it.  I have been wanting a way for friends and family to keep up with our family and hopefully this will allow it to happen. Selfishly, I'm hoping that it will make it easier for me to just do this one thing and not have to send multiple updates to people, which always leave me feeling I have left someone out or forgot to add something.  Fair warning I'm also going to be adding my opinion about things, so like it or don't your choice. Hopefully it will interest some or at least keep you updated on what is going on in our wacky world.
*Wen