Coupons!

Before I go into the tips and strategies that work for me, I want to point out that hip2save.com, which first got me into couponing, and iheartpublix.com, which my local Publix manager told me about, are fantastic places to check for deals and links to specific coupons. This entry is just what works for me.

I do pretty much all my grocery shopping at Publix, except for one trip a month to Sam’s and every couple months I might wander into Whole Foods, and I do pretty much all my toiletry/household shopping at Target, with the occasional side trip to Ulta. It keeps it simple. I’m not going to drive 5 different places on one of my 2 days off during the week, toddler in tow, to save a couple bucks. I occasionally hear people say that Publix is too expensive but I have never found that to be true. I’ve also heard people say it’s not worth the time to coupon. To be completely honest, it does take time and effort to plan around deals but it’s worth it. Case in point: I bought $112 worth of groceries today for $57. I will sacrifice some time to get half my groceries for free, thanks.

My first piece of advice would be to find out your store’s coupon policy. Each Publix has the right to establish their own policy. Mine accepts Target, Albertson’s, Winn Dixie, Walgreen’s, CVS, and I think one other store’s coupons, but they don’t accept Whole Foods as a competitor. They allow a maximum of one Publix coupon, a competitor coupon, and a manufacturer coupon per one item. (I used to get super cheap formula this way, among other things.) They also allow one coupon for each item on a buy one get one free, for example today I bought Fresh Express bagged salad BOGO, and I had two 50 cents off one bag coupons, so I paid $3 for $8 worth of bagged salad. And with the acceptance of competitor coupons, I used an Albertson’s coupon for buy one, get 2 free racks of ribs, which all went into the freezer.

Come up with a filing system that works for you. The first website I mentioned above uses a system of sticking coupons in baseball card style sleeves so you can see each one and taking it with you when you shop. That would drive me crazy. I have an accordion file labeled according to categories, and a couple times a month I clip and organize my coupons, pulling out expired ones, and filing the new ones, and I only take the coupons I plan on using to the store, paper clipped to my list.

Utilize the internet! My mom saves the coupon circulars from the Sunday paper and after she clips her coupons, passes them on to me because I don’t get the paper, and in the meantime I can print them off various sites. The best site out there, in my opinion, is coupons.com. Also, I do Swagbucks, and they recently added a coupon option that is powered by coupons.com, so it’s a win-win. Since my Publix accepts Target coupons, I print coupons off their website (note: sometimes they are manufacturer’s coupons not store coupons, and the only way to find out is to print it.) Every so often, Target will have $1 off produce coupons, which I snatch up. Usually they only print twice per computer, but we have 2 computers, so I maximize savings that way. I currently have several pasta coupons, just waiting for a BO/GO so it’ll all be free. Many companies offer coupons on their facebook sites or for signing up for email newsletters. Redplum.com is also good, as is mambosprouts.com which has natural food product coupons. The Whole Foods website has coupons to print, and I find that it is great for things like Thai Kitchen products, of which Whole Foods has a better variety than Publix.

I clip any coupon I think I might want to use. When the Publix ad comes out, I read through it, write down what’s on sale or bo/go that I want to get, and then go through my coupons to match what I can. If I don’t have a match on a bo/go I’ll go online and see if I can find any coupons to go with the sales. I do the same when I need makeup, face cream, shampoo, etc. before going to Target. Again, I only take the coupons I plan on using, to avoid the trap of buying something just because I have a coupon. If it’s not on my list, I don’t buy it. If it’s not on sale (and it’s not a necessity) I don’t buy it. I don’t buy snack food like crackers unless they’re on a BO/GO, (last time I bought Wheat Thins on BO/GO and I had a Target $1 off purchase of 2 to stack with a manufacturer of the same, so I paid a dollar for 2 boxes) or recently I stocked up on Goldfish for Edward because they were 10 for $10 at Publix. There are occasions I will buy something if it’s not on sale if I have a coupon, but only for a select few items. I love Muir Glen tinned tomatoes, and right now I have some coupons for them. I’m hoping there will be a sale, but if not I’ll go ahead and buy them before the coupons expire because they are so much better than any other brand I’ve tried. (Great for soup, sauces, etc.)

You can’t be brand-loyal on most things, or if you are, be willing to wait til it goes on sale. Fortunately none of us are picky. Everyone eats what I fix, end of story, and we don’t have food allergies, so I don’t have those kinds of considerations to make.

Many people have asked me about my couponing, so I hope this was helpful. What are your best money-saving tips? Do you have more questions about what I do to save money?

A penny saved is a penny earned, or, how Dave Ramsey changed my life.

When William and I had been married for four months, we lost our jobs from the school where we’d been teaching at the time. The person we worked for promised us severance pay and then didn’t give it to us. (That is the really short version of the unethical ineptitude of our previous boss.) We thought about suing after this person refused our repeated requests for Christian mediation, but eventually decided we just needed to move on with our lives. So here we were, newlyweds, with me just finishing up seminary and William in the middle of it, with no major income. One of the families from the school hired me to tutor/babysit, and I was babysitting for others, so I had some money coming in, and William tried his best to find work, but there wasn’t much to be had. This was in February of 2006. We racked up debt, went through our savings, racked up debt, I cashed in my very small investment funds so we could pay rent in August, because we were literally down to our last $100, and oh, did I mention we racked up debt?

When we were quite literally broke, that was William’s first week at ICS, and I had a job offer out of nowhere to work in TFA’s home school program. (I’m grateful I had a job. I’ll leave it at that.) In October, I was also hired at ICS, so I was working 2 part time jobs, William was working 1 part time job, and we were making ends meet. Because of the debt built up from 7 months of very little income, with needing to pay rent and eat, my view toward using credit cards was along the lines of “we’re in it so deep another $20 isn’t going to matter.” At this point in life, I knew how to cook but not really how to shop. I’d plan my meals and buy ingredients, and be happy if what I needed happened to be on sale.

Fast forward to October of 2008. Happy 3rd anniversary to us, we found out we were expecting, shortly after having a discussion about how we were going to start trying in the fall of ’09. William and I were both working full time, but we were without health insurance, so the out of pocket doctor bills were manageable, but there was no extra, and we still had looming debt. And I had a Target habit. And William had a Woot.com habit.

Jump to December 2009. My very wise mom gave us Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover book for Christmas. (Hint, hint, much, mom? Lol.) I sat and read it start to finish, because I have issues and I hate reading books in pieces, and thought it made a lot of sense. William read it too, but he had been trying to get me to listen to Ramsey’s radio program and I wouldn’t, because I HATE TALK RADIO. Ramsey’s principles are simple. Stop using credit cards. Now. If you have lots of money in savings, and lots of debt, that money in your savings isn’t yours. That probably struck the biggest chord with me because we had by this point, with job stability and stable income, built a good savings account. If you are familiar with his plan, you know what comes next. Make a budget based on what you know your income will be and you know what your expenses are. Then, baby step one: Save $1000 fast for your emergency fund. We had above that, but we also had a lot of debt. Not unmanageable, because we always paid the minimum, and sometimes well above, on all our payments, plus we had cable, were able to eat out, etc. We weren’t living hand to mouth, but we weren’t really getting anywhere on the debt. So, next is baby step two: Debt Snowball. Pay off your smallest debt first. Take all debts down to the minimum, except for the smallest, and get rid of it. Then the next smallest. Again, made total sense. But here is where the rubber met the road: we had to take our savings down to $1000 and keep it there, and throw everything else at debt. William and I talked about, prayed about it, and then I took a bold step. I looked up the total balance for 2 credit card accounts I had, which totaled a few hundred dollars, I transferred the exact amount from savings to checking, paid off those cards, canceled them, cut them into pieces, and threw them in the trash. I took all my other credit cards out of my wallet and hid them. This was at the beginning of 2010. I thought I was going to puke, but at the same time it was hugely liberating.
With our new set budget, no using credit cards, and our debt snowball, which by now is a debt BLIZZARD, our life is so different. I grocery shop knowing I have a set amount of money for the week, I clothes shop knowing I have a set amount for the month, etc., and when the money’s gone it’s gone. If something extra comes up, it comes out of another category, not on the credit card. But I had a new challenge of getting as much bang for my buck as I could. This is another topic for another day, but I am a coupon queen now and I love it. I save 40 to 60% off my grocery bill on a regular basis by looking at what’s on sale, matching coupons to the sales, and planning my menu off that, rather than the other way around as I had previously done. It sounds so simple now, and we eat like kings for very little money.
Something I had to adjust to this whole past year was having the emergency fund so you could pay cash for emergencies. Dave Ramsey promises in his book that if you commit to this plan, something crazy WILL HAPPEN to test your mettle, and uses the example of the alternator in your car going out. Well in early spring, my alternator went out. And for what may have been the first time ever, I paid cash for the repairs instead of charging them. Then William had to have an emergency appendectomy and was hospitalized for a weekend. Most of that was covered through state programs, but that was another test. About halfway through the year, William’s car died completely, mine had more trouble, we were blessed with the money to buy William another car, which recently also died, I had to replace a tire on mine, and on and on. There were several times I cried over these events, but we were able to pay for these things with cash, not put it on credit. A few months ago I paid off my last credit card, forever. We have one last debt to pay off. This was the progress we made in one year, from almost 10 different creditors to one. The end is in sight, and then the money we make will truly be ours. Because of all the unexpected car trouble we didn't have as much as we would have liked to have spent for Christmas for people, but oh well. There's next year.

This sounds corny but it’s true, it’s like chains have fallen off of us. I used to check our bank account every day and stress about money. Now I check it once a month or so, because I know exactly what we make and exactly where every last dollar is going. If something comes up, it’s ok. We just go back to minimum payment until our emergency fund is back up to where it needs to be.

I have a much easier time getting rid of things now too. We just sold a few hundred books and a couple bookshelves, I’m dropping off some clothes and shoes and other random stuff for a worthy cause this weekend, and we are still able to go out with friends and enjoy life, without having debt lording it over us.

I keep hearing of Dave Ramsey FPU classes coming up. If you can, TAKE IT. It’ll change your life.

Does anyone else have this problem?

When I go to get rid of stuff, clothes in particular, it always turns into a battle between my flesh wanting to hold on to possessions and my spirit knowing there's no reason to keep that 6 year old sweater vest I haven't worn in 5... Please tell me I'm not the only one. I'm never more selfish than when I'm trying to weed out my belongings.

Leftover Soup

Last week I roasted a turkey for the first time for our dinner guests (I officially don't know what the fuss is over roasting a turkey. Just make sure it's defrosted, then follow the directions.) With it, I made a sweet whiskey-maple sauce and a pomegranate-cranberry sauce to go on the turkey. The pom-cran sauce didn't quite thicken how I wanted it to, but it was still yummy. (It was just Ocean Spray juice and the juices from the pan, essentially.) We had lots of leftovers, so I thought I'd whip up some soup. Earlier in the week I used the leftover pom-cran sauce and low-sodium chicken broth, added some chopped carrots and celery and some pasta, all heated together til the pasta was cooked and the veggies were just tender. It was really good. Today I thought I'd make soup again, as it would be a great way to use up turkey leftovers. I put water, a vegetable bouillon cube, and pomegranate-cranberry juice in a big pot, dumped in roasted turkey cut into bite size pieces, the remainder of a bag of baby carrots, and about 1/3 bag of barley, plus some garlic powder, chili powder, and a bay leaf (which William insists makes a difference but I don't think it does at all.) I let it all cook on medium low heat for 2 hours, added a smidge of salt at the end to bring the flavors together, and we enjoyed it for lunch along with some rye crackers. If you find yourself with lots of leftovers after Christmas, this is a fun, healthy and economical way to use them up. I think this recipe would work with traditional cranberry sauce in the soup, leftover green beans, spinach, etc.
Side note: I make my own stock usually but am currently out. The next best thing is College Inn brand, and the next best thing to that is vegetable bouillon cubes because it usually doesn't have added msg or high levels of sodium. Always read the ingredients though.

Christmas poems

These are two of my favorite Christmas poems. I discovered them in a book my Grandma gave me years ago, a collection of poems, short stories, and excerpts of longer stories. Enjoy.

"Christmas and New Year Bells"
by Alfred Tennyson

The time draws near the birth of Christ;
The moon is hid; the night is still;
The Christmas bells from hill to hill
Answer each other in the mist.

Four voices of four hamlets round,
From far and near, on mead and moor,
Swell out and fail, as if a door
Were shut between me and the sound:

Each voice four changes on the wind,
That now dilate, and now decrease,
Peace and goodwill, goodwill and peace,
Peace and goodwill, to all mankind.

This year I slept and woke with pain,
I almost wish'd no more to wake,
And that my hold on life would break
Before I heard those bells again:

But they the troubled spirit rule,
For they controll'd me when a boy;
They bring me sorrow touch'd with joy,
The merry, merry bells of Yule.

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light;
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going; let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind,
For those that here we seen no more;
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes,
But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease,
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.


and

"The Sheep Herd"
by Sister Mariella (who, incidentally, was a champion of Flannery O'Conner.)

I am a shepherd-I have hated
The smell of damp sheep in the rain,
The pain
Of clouted shoes on weary feet,
The silly barking of watchdogs in the night,
The blinding light
Of summer suns on hillsides without shade.
Nor anything I did not wish was not
From hoar-frost on the meadow grass
To dizzy stars that blinked on stupidly and bright.

Last night
I went with other men who tended sheep
Over to Bethlehem to see-
We did not know just what we'd come to see
Who'd followed up a cloud of singing wings.
Until we came to where a young girl held
A little baby on her lap and smiled.

She made me think of flowers,
White flowers on long stems and blue night skies.
Nothing happened-
But today
I have been shaken with the joy
Of seeing hoar-frost wings
Atilt upon tall grasses; the sun
Upon the sheep, making their gray backs white
And silvery
Has hurt me with its beauty, and I heard
The sound of the barking watchdogs break
The tolling bells against the quiet hills.

Giving thanks

The past year has given me many reasons to be grateful. Here are some of them, in no particular order.

As a teacher, my years are doubly divided by school years as well as the calendar year. Things that happened last school year but still in 2010 seem so far away. Included in last school year would be the fantastic child care from my trifecta of babysitters: my mom, Kathleen, and Christy. This school year I'm grateful that my mom was able to watch my boy all 3 of my workdays. I am grateful that when I drop him off, he happily waves bye to me (though I wouldn't object to SOME sadness that I'm leaving.)

I'm grateful for the most amazing workplace, bosses, co-workers, students, and families to be found anywhere.

I am grateful that when William had to go in for his emergency appendectomy, he was seen, diagnosed, and operated on in a matter of a few hours. I am grateful for all the people who volunteered to watch Edward, and I am grateful for my friends, who on hearing what happened, dropped everything to come visit and then took me to lunch so I didn't have to eat hospital food.

I am grateful for the miracle God has done in the life of baby Sophia and the bold faith of her parents, which is inspirational.

I am grateful that when William's decrepit Honda broke down, he was able to safely get his car out of the road, and when getting a new car seemed hopeless, God provided through unexpected help via the generosity of dear friends.

I am grateful for Dave Ramsey's book that my mom gave me for Christmas. We started the Total Money Makeover in January and have since paid off all our credit cards and mostly been able to pay cash for emergencies (mostly centered around car trouble.) We're not out of debt yet but the end is in sight.

I am grateful for the body of Christ. Specifically, the people at Pine Ridge PCA where I grew up, the people at Reformation OPC where I've been a member for 5 years now, and for Lake Sherwood OPC, which feels like a second home.

I am grateful for my women's prayer group at ROPC, where we cry, laugh, and eat together. These women have prayed me through so much.

I am grateful that after months of insomnia, the Lord answered the prayers of myself and many friends who were praying for me and granted me sleep.

I am grateful for the faithful preaching of the gospel of Christ that takes place every Sunday in my church.

I am grateful for the new friendships in my LSOPC study group.

I am grateful for facebook and the way it allows my out of town family and other people I don't get to see too often to participate in my family's life.

I am grateful that after looking for a 2nd job for a couple years now, William has finally been hired and will start tutoring soon.

I am grateful that Christ will one day restore all things to the way they ought to be.

I am grateful for my TSBTS and the DT Tuesdays, Netflix recommendations, and other assorted shenanigans.

I am grateful for coupons and Publix.

I am grateful that all the Eggs get to be together for Thanksgiving and in particular for my mom in law who gets to have all her grandkids in one place.

I am grateful that my little brother is having the time of his life at college.

I am grateful for my family and my friends. (That includes you.)

Have a blessed Thanksgiving :)

Awareness

Cancer is serious business. It can strike anyone at any time for pretty much no reason at all. Breast, colon, blood, ovarian, uterine, lung, prostate, skin, brain. There are words that strike unspeakable grief into those that hear them. Tumor, biopsy, metastatized, chemo, and God forbid, untreatable. I know many men and women who have had cancer and have had it successfully removed, treated, and beat into remission, and I know others who were not spared, and they wasted away and died.

According to the National Cancer Institute, U.S. women have a 1 in 8 chance of getting breast cancer in their lifetime. About 1 in 35 die from it, and it is second only to lung cancer in leading cause of cancer-caused deaths in women.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. (I'm not sure who isn't yet aware of breast cancer, but that's not the point of this entry.) People wear pink and remember those they love that have battled, or are currently battling, breast cancer, or because they themselves battled it. Stores sell their regular merchandise in pink and forward proceeds to cancer research. All this is great. Solidarity and money are two very practical responses and needs. Humor is often needed to deal with serious issues. I get that. But...

Last year, and here is where I might be pushing some buttons, there was a facebook phenomenon of women and girls posting what color bra they were wearing, all in the name of "Breast Cancer Awareness." It even made the news, which is kind of ridiculous. At best it was a silly inside joke, but at worst, the people who knew what it meant, especially the men who knew what it meant, were left with an unfortunate thought about the color of the participant's underwear. Harmless fun? Maybe.

This year, girls and women are posting statuses such as "I like it on the counter" or "I like it on the floor". Supposedly it's just where you put your purse when you get home, but it doesn't say that in the status. Again, this is in the name of "Breast Cancer Awareness." I'm not sure how making purposefully sexually suggestive statements is doing anything to help breast cancer victims or survivors, or encourage early detection, or educate those souls who may not actually know they should be doing self examinations at home or getting yearly check-ups. There is no follow up with stats about cancer, stories about survivors, links to cancer sites, ways to donate to the American Cancer Society. This does not empower anybody. For the young girls posting this, who are facebook friends with anybody male, think about what you are doing. You are putting the idea that you like sexual encounters in various places in your home out there for anyone to see. Adult women, do what you want, but do you really want people to be thinking of you in terms of where you like to have sex? Breast cancer has nothing to do with sex. At least the bra thing sort of made sense, in that it holds your breasts up. If you're going to follow this useless trend, at least consider giving it some value. Research cancer. Find somewhere to donate. Cut your hair and give it to a reputable charity that makes wigs for cancer patients. Send an encouraging note or take a meal to someone struggling with cancer.
Check it.

http://www.pantene.com/en-US/beautiful-lengths-cause/Pages/default.aspx?utm_source=yahoo&utm_campaign=Pantene_CC_NF_1011&utm_medium=cpc&utm_content=Get+Inspired

http://www.cancer.org/

http://www.relayforlife.org/relay/

https://www.pinkribbonstore.com/gifts/site.do?siteId=343&origin=PRS_GOOGLE_ADGROUP-CompetitorKeywords&gclid=CJmqmue8v6QCFUxa7AodTGvkBw