Meet me at Monroe!

Today I am happily guest posting for Paula at Monroe On A Budget!

Updated Family Photo-----> -----> ----->

On my right sidebar you'll notice our newest family photo (which I am in LOVE with!!!) My husband's sister Jenn, is one of the most talented photographers that I know... and I'm absolutely NOT biased! She's incredible at capturing 'stolen moments in time!' And in case you hadn't realized it by reading my family blog, stolen moments are my FAVORITE memories!

Without further adieu, here is the talented Jenn Anibal, whom I proudly call my sister!

OK, so the above link it solely to my sweet little family session, check out the rest of her photo art HERE!

(And in case you are wondering, she's local and very affordable!!!)

Q & A

Coupon Clipper: Great shopping! But I have a question...is this your "weekly" shopping or "coupon only" shopping? When I go shopping, I get good deals on many things I buy but I also HAVE to buy things each week, such as milk, OJ, apple juice, bread, cereal, canned goods, etc., that may or may not be on sale or that I have coupons for. I have enough canned tomatoes and tomato sauce to last me a while, but there are many common things that we need every week that creeps that $$ total up on me.

Because of this weekly shopping that I have to do, I can never just pay $13 for almost $100 worth of items, items that my family needs each week. Like I mentioned, I do try and stockpile when I can but there are still those same items that can't be stockpiled or purchased cheaply.

Just wanted your thoughts on this.

Me: Since I have been an avid coupon spender for nearly two years, I have learned to stock up on the food and household items that my family uses more frequently, when they are on sale and I have matching coupons!

Each week, I sit at my computer (or look at the sales flyers in paper format) and review what each store is offering as 'sale items' that week. I pay the most attention to the front page and the back page of each sales flyer- since that is where the stores advertise their greatest discounted items (these super discounted items are also called 'Loss Leaders.' Loss leader means that the store is willing to take a financial hit on the specified items... in hopes that I will do the rest of my spending that week on their other non-sale items! *Milk and fruits and vegetables are often highlighted as loss leaders!).

My personal grocery shopping strategy is as follows:

1. My main grocery store is Meijer. I find that Meijer offers the best produce in my area, for fairly decent prices. I like to shop around 10am since meat mark downs and a reduced produce cart appear (at my store, Livonia) around that time.

I LOVE that Meijer accepts manufacturer coupons (doubles up to $.50) and that I can spend Meijer store coupons as well (Mealbox coupons).

When meat is on a great sale, I will stock up by purchasing what I think that my family may eat/entertain with for the next three months. When frozen chicken breasts are on sale, I may purchase 6 large bags, and store them in my freezer. I also purchase ground beef in larger quantities- ensuring that all of my cooking is with sale priced meats.

I plan my fresh produce purchases around what I can pick up off of the reduced produce cart, what my family will definitely consume (apples, bananas, tomatoes and lettuce for sure!), and what is on super sale that week.

As far as dairy, I purchase milk and eggs when we need them. If milk is on a pretty good sale during the week, I will purchase our milk early in the week for our weekly consumption and then I will pick up more milk (for the following week's use) later in the week, so two weeks worth of milk is purchase on sale!

When cheese is on sale, I will purchase several blocks when I can spend $1/less per block, and then I shred it myself, as I have found that an 8oz block yields more cheese than an 8 oz package of already shredded cheese.

2. I shop at Kroger a couple of times per month- but I only run in really quickly to solely purchase the loss leader items with coupons.

3. I watch for grocery sales at Target and the drug stores! Often cereal, Jello, spices and other food items are great deals at these stores. I am willing to pop in to purchase items that we regularly use!

4. I occasionally shop at Costco. I do purchase a few items, like Crasins, that are the best price at Costco. More recently, I have fallen in love with Gordon Food Service, their Feta, meatballs and egg noodles are great quality and are decently priced!

5. I also occasionally shop a 'mom & pop' type of tiny local grocery store in my neighborhood. I will check out their sales flyer each week and see if there is something I could stock up on.

When I share my grocery purchases in pictures, that is exactly what I have purchased on my main grocery shopping trip for the week. I normally do not take pictures of my little shopping jaunts, but maybe it would be helpful if I do. (Taking pictures of my groceries takes time, effort and me running interference with a toddler :))

I would also like to add, that as far as laundry detergent, shampoo and toilet paper- I normally keep these items completely off of my grocery list by purchasing them with my Extra Care Bucks at CVS or with my Register Rewards at Walgreens.

The BIG picture behind successfully spending coupons- is to purchase what you need BEFORE you need it. Plan in advance (during a sale) to purchase the items that your family uses most often, and then stock up!

Sharpen Your Scissors: TWENTY TEN

Happy NEW YEAR! I LOVE a fresh start! In doubling the pleasure of a 'clean-ish slate' of a year with a blog-o-versary filled with new goals... (sniff, sniff) its just beautiful!!!

I have decided to place a little bit more a of a definition of who I am in the great expanse of the blogosphere. I consider myself more of a 'Grocery Blogger' than a 'Deal Snagger.'

I am much happier putting my time and energy into more practical purchases like groceries and household consumables (like napkins, and laundry detergent)- and making sure that they are put to good use either by my family or another person with needs. 2009 was a year of reflection for my husband Dave and I. We no longer want to toe the line of 'Have to Have's.' We are prefering to grow in the areas of gratefulness and contentment.

As the care provider for my family and our home, I have been adjusting my shopping and spending habits to reflect a more simple lifestyle, which has been helping us to be more thankful for what we have been given.

Mixing our desire to live more simply with being a blogger in a 'nickle and dime yourself to death' type of blogosphere means that I need to be willing to define myself and not look back. I will still be offering stockpiling deals, and I will continue NOT tempting you with offers that can influence you to spend you time, energy and money on things that don't really matter in the grand scheme of living!

Although I began posting in 2009 with super-sluthing sale items and a lot of Q&A, and am MUCH more happy to begin 2010 with your family (and mine) in mind!

Sharpen Your Scissors TWENTY TEN:

Who Am I: My name is Laura Webber, and I am a Christ follower, a wife to my wonderfully supportive husband Dave and I am happily a stay at home mom to our two year old son Boaz... oh yes, and I am a super savvy consumer!

What You Can Expect: to be encouraged along your journey to savvier savings with grocery and household purchases! I currently will be sharing the following posting schedule:

Sunday
Sunday Survey: hear what other Sharpen Your Scissors readers have to say about relevant and timely topics.

***Celebration of Food Sunday: share recipes/ideas for national food holidays.

Monday
Grocery Game Plans for Kroger and Meijer: come and find out which items are at rock bottom prices (including coupon match-ups) each week for the leading area grocery stores.

Drug Store Deals: find out what the Top Steals & Deals of the week are for CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreen's.

Tuesday
Tutorial Tuesday: learn new easy & inexpensive recipes to add to your recipe repertoire! Enjoy seeing the recipe unfold step by step in pictorial format.

Wednesday
***Recipe Junction: swap recipes for the week's highlighted stockpilable item.

Want-A-Peek Wednesday: pictures of my weekly grocery shopping trip(s).

Thursday
Thought Provoking Thursday: creatively thinking outside the box for non-grocery/household spending.

Friday
***Meal Plan/ Grocery List: peek at my following week's dinner menu including a grocery list for ingredients necessary if you'd like to share the same meals.

Saturday
***Spending/Saving Saturday: a monetary snapshot of my weekly spending and saving.

Where To Read Each Post: you can read each post directly at www.sharpenyourscissors.net, you can also subscribe by feed reader or receive email updates by clicking the links along the right sidebar and by visiting ***clipandcook.blogspot.com to easily find all of the recipes shared at Sharpen Your Scissors.

When Are Classes Held: I teach classes by invitation. If you are interested in bringing a class to your area, please contact me at sharpenyourscissors@gmail . com.

How You Can Participate: please feel free to send any questions to the above email address, add your insight into any post by leaving a comment (by clicking on 'comments') at the bottom of each post, or by becoming a 'Follower' of Sharpen Your Scissors. Periodically I host give aways here and of course you'd want to participate to have a chance to win!

Why Do I Teach/Blog: I teach to encourage other to begin spending more wisely and to be able to take better care of their families. Teaching also allows me to fund raise for Raincatchers, an organization that brings clean drinking water to families in some of the poorest villages in Haiti. I blog to share ideas, point out HOT weekly sales and to answer questions along your journey!

I am looking forward to TWENTY TEN being a great start to a more simple new year!

$5,000

After attending (READ: teaching) 46 classes since January, I finally decided to place my own crisp $10 bill towards raising funds for the amazing work being done through Raincatchers in Haiti. The $5,000 fundraising goal has now been met!!!

$5,000 in the US is a chunk of change, but in a third world country it has the power to be spent like a massive cash winning from the lottery!

As I've mentioned before, it ONLY takes $200 to build a Raincatcher! $200 has the power to change lives FOREVER! The average life expectancy of a Haitian is 37. Life is hard, food is scarce and water sources other than what is provided by a Raincatcher are unclean and hardly consumable.

Raising $5,000 has allowed funding 25 Raincatchers possible! Together we have been able to impact the lives of between 12 & 30 people PER Raincatcher that has been attached to the roofs of Haitian homes by the teams of adults and students who have been drawn to visit and care for some of the poorest of the poor in Haiti. (Houses in Haiti are often built in 2-3 home 'neighborhoods,' so one Raincatcher can serve up to three families)

On the scale of lives impacted through the Raincatchers that we have provided funding for, at LEAST 300 people, and as great a number as 750 people have clean, accessible water. As a Mom, I cannot imagine being choice less and having no other means than to offer my son filthy water to sustain his life. Can you imagine the JOY a parent must feel to have the means to hydrate their children with clear sanitary water? This thought often brings me to tears!

Thank YOU for making it possible for lives around the globe to be forever marked by the love of someone that they will most likely never meet. Without further adieu, let ME thank YOU for journeying beside me in fundraising...

I am thrilled to offer my 'mad' shopping skills, my massive assortment of coupons for spending, my grocery cart driving capabilities (I can even parallel park!!!) and $100 cold hard cashola from my wallet as a thank you YAY! YAY! GIVE AWAY!!!

I have decided to offer THREE separate ways to enter this give away:

1. Sign up (or flaunt your current status) as a "FOLLOWER" at Sharpen Your Scissors. Then, write a little comment to me informing me that you are a SYS 'follower!' (Becoming a 'follower' is the greatest compliment that you can give a blogger!)

2. You can earn another entry into the YAY! YAY! GIVE AWAY! by introducing your friends/family to Sharpen Your Scissors. For each person that you introduce to SYS that also become a 'follower' of Sharpen Your Scissors you will gain an additional entry into winning the $100 shopping spree with yours truly!!! Again, drop me a comment for each new 'follower' that you have recruited!

3. If you would like to make either a first time (if you have yet to attend a Sharpen Your Scissors class) or an additional monetary gift to Raincatchers, you may write me a little note in the comment section of this post sharing with me that you have decided to give a little bit more to Raincatchers!

The truth is, I have been SO EXCITED to host this YAY! YAY! GIVE AWAY! that I hardly slept last night and I began posting at 5:30 this morning!!! In my sleepless state I have been dreaming about making this a

DOUBLE YAY! YAY! GIVE AWAY!!!

If I can double the number of 'followers' on Sharpen Your Scissors by Noon on Monday, then I will draw TWO winners and offer TWO $100 shopping sprees! I currently have 155 'followers,' and I am looking to increase that number to 310+! The more people that I have viewing, taking advantage of the information on this blog and attending classes- the more awareness and funds can be raised for Raincatchers!!!

The winner(s) will be chosen Monday, September 28th at Noon... randomly as usual!

*If you happen to live outside of my teaching radius (the locations of where I have taught my classes) I will send you a $100 gift card by mail, to your store of choice!!!

What Do I Do With All of My Stuff?

My cup(boards) overfloweth... Honestly!

My savvy shopping skills allow me to find creative ways to to share with others. I often purchase an excessive amount of products that our family consumes, like toothpaste, diapers, cleaning supplies and even groceries just to be able to share. I also enjoy bringing home items that I have 'purchased' for FREE- just to be able to find a good home for these items.

Here are places that I have found that have happily accepted my overflow:

1. I have connected with a local food pantry who helps families in need. I am able to share health care, hygiene items and groceries with the food pantry. *To find a pantry in your area visit www.pantrynet.org.

2. I have assembled a significant amount of Jello (50 boxes) and added a Jello mold, and then donated to package to a non-profit for a silent auction.

3. I have been able to collect hygiene items for a church drive.

4. I have been able to connect with struggling families in my own neighborhood by finding their asks for help on Freecycle.org.

5. I have been able to help friends who are finding it difficult to make ends meet during our tough economic times.

6. I have been able to help alleviate financial burdens for several college students.

7. I have been able to 'love on' family and friends by purchasing their favorite items (like a favorite shampoo/conditioner) or sharing our families goodies with them.

Stockpiling allows me to care for my family well, plus it allows me to easily be able to give. When an opportunity arises, I am prepared with the means to be able to be generous. I am really excited to see how the influence of generosity will impact my son's life as he continues to grow up.

How Do I Find the Deals?

A year and a half ago, when I first began researching the most effective ways to spend coupons, I discovered several bloggers who posted the items that they either planned to, or already had purchased for the week, including which stores they intended to shop. I was very intrigued, and so I began my collection of these blogs.

I began reading these blogs every day... in fact, I would check each blog several times a day to see if there were any new postings. Later, I decided to install a RSS Reader through my Gmail account. A Reader allows me to check just a single location to find all of the recently published blog posts that I was reading. (Ask a computer savvy person to help you if you need it!)

Reading, and using the pictures posted on the websites helped me to begin scoring deals for my own family, this is commonly referred to as copy-catting. I found it unbelievably helpful to allow someone else to find the deals for me.

Each week when I would faithfully clip my Sunday paper's coupons, I began carefully pouring over ALL of the sales papers included with my coupons in addition to continuing to relying on the blog posts for securing my shopping strategy for the week.

With my trusty Sharpie marker in hand, I would circle the items in several of the weekly store flyers that warranted the possibility of purchase, and this is how I began researching my own deals. Week after week, it was just me and my trusty marker scouring the ads for the best weekly deals.

Soon, I shifted from relying on other bloggers for my deals and I began searching for myself. I began to feel like every blog repeated the same information, making me feel like I should brush up on my own investigative shopping skills.

If I turned my focus to ad searching for only the brands/deals that my family consumed most often, then I could save myself some major time pouring over every posting that entered my Google Reader. Scaling back my time reading every post allowed me to skim each post instead, looking for coupons (like Internet printables) that I may not have been aware of.

Building self-reliance into my bargain hunting benefited me in several ways:

1. I could spend less time in front of my computer.

2. I could focus on finding sales for items that I would actually purchase.

3. I could spend less money by NOT purchasing all of the deals that were blog advertised.

4. I would never feel helpless to be able to find deals if my Internet is down, or I am away from my computer.

Instead of just following the crowd in the blogosphere, I began shopping for what I needed by utilizing the sales flyers.

I am aware of the items that my fridge, freezer and pantry are already stocked with, and I also am aware of the items that my household is lacking. This information allows me to make quick judgement calls on whether or not the stores' flyer advertised sale is worthy of spending a portion of my weekly budget. When I was following other bloggers for my shopping game plan, I was always tempted to purchase items that we didn't need and that we wouldn't use, causing me to spend needlessly just to 'get a sweet deal!'

Each week I pour over the ad's and I compare grocery store sale prices to grocery store sale prices, and I take a peek at what is on sale at each of the drug stores. After reviewing the ads, I plan my purchasing of fresh items, needed items, and 1-5 items to stockpile.

Building my stockpile little by little has allowed me to purchase my favorite products when they are on sale and with coupons... at rock bottom prices. Purchasing multiples of these rock bottom priced items (with 1-5 products each week as my goal) keeps me shopping within my home instead of succumbing to the current pricing at the stores that week.

Being aware of our favorite products, like Tide, Aveeno, Huggies and Kraft, helps me stay focused on purchasing what we need in advance of our need, all while keeping our our of pocket costs to a minimum.

I believe that my complimenting deal seeking blogs with the knowledge of what my family consumes (or I can donate) allows me to creatively and most effectively stretch my spending power.

Why Do I teach Coupon Classes?

I have always had a heart for teaching.

I have a degree is Early Childhood Education, and I actually have this teensy little habit of teaching everyone within ear-shot whatever it is that I am currently pursuing... like the time I taught my friends to make rubber stamping cards, or that time that I taught kick boxing classes... teaching others about coupons just seemed like the natural progression of my teaching obsession!

A year and a half ago, after my first few weeks with couponning success, I invited a group of 10 girlfriends over for dinner and I gave my very first 'coupon class.' I was still plowing my way through the learning curve of couponizing my household, but I just couldn't keep my mouth shut.

As the weeks passed, I continued to share my new passion for coupons, and I made offers right and left to share my skills. One night I had my Bunco league (or my Pink Poker friends, as I like to refer to them) over to my house for dinner and a high rolling Bunco night of fun... and yep, I started talking about coupons.

I invited my Pink Poker friends to peek at my stockpile and they were each in awe of all of the FREE goodies that I had, so they started making plans for a Pink Poker coupon class.

Now, I am a bit of a dreamer, and I had tossed the idea of teaching classes around for a few months... but the problem was- who really knew what a 'coupon class' was, it did (and probably still does) sound kind of weird.

I decided on January first to design an information packed coupon class that I could use as my New Year's REVOLUTION (vs. an easily broken New Year's Resolution).

The ripple effect that I wanted to create needed to be well thought out, easy to understand/stay organized, and it needed to make an impact. So I set to work first creating the layout of the topics for my education, then I created the resource guide and finally I created a coupon box kit as an easy place for a coupon beginner to start.

I was tickled to have created something original, something that was truly unique since no other blogger was doing what I was launching out to do. I LOVED it!

My REVOLUTION was set in stone by three goals that I have for teaching classes:

My first goal is to teach families how to care for themselves by spending less and receiving more. The skills I teach are to use manufacturer coupons, store coupons and store reward programs to multiply your spending power for the same products that you already purchase, like paper products, cleaning products, hygiene products and groceries. 'Creative spending' techniques allow purchasing resources to be stretched further and as a result, better quality products can be purchased, like name brand products and more produce.

Secondly, I placed the goal of developing "sharing relationships," or really, developing a heart to share with those who are financially struggling. I was overwhelmed that the amount of goods that I was able to purchase with coupons for less than the amount that I had previously been spending. I literally was purchasing 5 times the products for 30% less money! I was overwhelmed with 'stuff!'

I have always enjoyed being a giver, my sister once told me that I am the kind of girl that would offer the shirt off my back- only to offer my bra as well... and so couponning allowed me to ramp up my giving!

I decided that if I were to be teaching others to shop more effectively, than I would also like to develop a passion for giving in each of my students. I encourage my students to partner with family members, friends, neighbors, a church/civic organization or a food pantry to share the overflow of the goods that they purchase.

Lastly, I want to make a lasting impact on a global scale, giving to someone that you will never lock eyes with... a sacrifice. My husband, Dave and I have a heart for a missions organization called Raincatchers (http://www.raincatchers.org/) whose purpose is to bring clean drinking water to some of the poorest villages in Haiti. Clean. Drinking. Water. A resource that I, and most Americans take for granted. This goal was the driving force behind my stepping out and stepping up to teach. I could trade my education of shopping for a donation to an organization in desperate need of financial resources.

My class comes with a financial cost in order to serve each student to the best of my ability. The beginners coupon kit which includes a box, an organizational system, a resource guide and the previous weekend's coupon inserts to start clipping, plus the cost of my gasoline to travel, a cost of $5. To keep the class cost reasonable, and still be able to raise a significant amount of funding for Raincatchers, $10 of the class fee is a donation. The remaining $5 of the class fee was a tough call for me personally to make. I love to share my skills, but the time required for me to spend away from my family, per class, was at least 5 hours due to purchasing and organizing class supplies, driving and teaching. It was hard for me to justify not accepting financial compensation for teaching so Dave and I have decided to create an emergency fund with my earnings, which allows me to care for my own family in a significant way through teaching. *Classes where it is necessary for me to rent a location have an additional $5 class fee, but when the rental fee has been met, gift card giveaways during the class will counter any excess funds.

I have stayed true in teaching my three goals of helping families who in turn will have the resources to be able to help those locally and globally who are in desperate need. And in order to continue encouraging others along this path, I developed this blog. I decided to ramp up my education by creating Sharpen our Scissors to be a central learning location in sharing new tips & tricks, answering questions and highlighting amazing deals for grocery and household goods.

Teaching coupon classes has been quite a rewarding learning experience for me. I have stepped out of some of my more secure comfort levels, allowing me to grow and be challenged personally, and I have really enjoyed meeting and connecting with so many of you.

Teaching has also allowed me to creatively fulfill my insatiable need to teach. With 42 classes under my belt, I look forward to many more opportunities to inspire others to make just as significant an impact in their circle of influence.

How Did I Begin Spending Coupons?

I've have been spending coupons for 18 months and I have been unbelievably successful in lowering the financial impact that groceries/household items places on our family's budget.

I used to purchase a Sunday paper after church each week, back when I was single. Once Dave and I were married, the few dollars that I managed to save each week with coupons seemed like a waste of my time, so I quit clipping.

Shopping without coupons meant that I was constantly at the store's mercy for the prices that I was obligated to pay. If an item that we needed was on sale I was thrilled to get a 'deal,' but if the items that we needed were full price, then I was stuck with the sticker price of those items.

I hated that I felt swindled when I would leave the grocery store. I felt like prices were so unreasonable, but that I was option less- we still needed to eat, to care for our bodies and our home.

I began the weekly ritual of apologizing to my husband after returning from the grocery store. I hated telling Dave how much I had spent and showing him how little I had actually bagged and brought home from the store with me. I began shopping twice a week so that I would feel like I was spending less, but really I was just shopping more often and still spending just as much!

Just before Thanksgiving 2007, my small group from my church (242community.com) decided to adopt a family through the Salvation Army for the holiday. Each member of our 10 person group gave $5 towards the Thanksgiving meal for the 4 person family that we had adopted.

All 10 of us grocery shopped together before we delivered the meal to our family. We had $50 to spend, but we miraculously were able to purchase $150 worth of groceries since one member of our group brought her coupons and we shopped by the sales flyers. WOW! We tripled our spending power by applying some simple skills with our shopping!

I personally was amazed by the power of coupons... I needed to start applying these skills to my own spending habits!

I was 37 weeks pregnant when we shopped for our adopted family, and the only thing that I was looking forward to learning was how to be a new mom, so I placed my coupon learning on hold for a few weeks.

During my first few weeks of motherhood both of my boys (Dave and my son Boaz) were guaranteed to sleep between midnight and two in the morning- and it was then that I began scouring the Internet for coupon spending skills.

I literally spent weeks learning by the glow of my computer screen. I found several very helpful blogs and I carefully memorized the coupon policies for the stores that I frequented.

I started small, I carefully planned my grocery shopping trips to include coupons that were included with the Sunday papers that I had resumed purchasing, and I began spending coupons that I had printed from the Internet. I also began shopping at CVS, a store that I had previously proclaimed was far to expensive for my blood.

Week after week I became more encouraged by my savings... and I now proclaim loudly that I will forever be a coupon spender!

About Me

Hmmm, where to begin...

My name is Laura (Cronenwett) Webber, I am a thirty-one year old wife and mother of one overly adorable 20 month old son Boaz. I am happily a stay at home wife and mother in the suburbs of Detroit.

My husband Dave and I were married in June 2006. When we married, Dave was working in the health care field as a computer programmer, and I was employed by our church (242community.com) as the Director of Early Childhood. We decided to expand our family and our son Bo joined us in December of 2007.

Previous to being married, I had been wise with the money that I had earned. I lived on my own and I owned my own home, so every dollar that I earned was earmarked for something important.

When Dave and I joined our incomes we spent what we wanted to spend, and we saved what we wanted to save... but really we did so without thinking too much about it. I regret some of our early marriage spending, but it was a learning experience. We chose to make a lot of home improvements (thank you Home Depot) and we enjoyed eating out quite a bit as well.

When we found out that we were pregnant we decided to reign in our spending. I attribute our current level of savvy spending habits to hinging on the birth of our son. The weight of caring for someone outside of ourselves sat heavy on our hearts, and we needed to practice being wise parents before our son arrived.

I began practicing my frugal spending skills when I began purchasing maternity clothes off of the clearance rack. We also purchased our son's nursery furniture on Craigslist, we decided to use BumGenius cloth diapers and we planned to breastfeed. OK, that last one was my plan!

Mid-way through my pregnancy I discovered Mom2Mom sales. A Mom2Mom sale is like a glorified yard sale where tables are rented and childhood goodies are available for great prices. I began purchasing clothing, books and toys for my soon to be born child. I was willing to sift through tables of kid stuff at several sales, and my patience paid off by finding great items for unbelievable prices!

I have transitioned myself into a savvy shopper through the encouragement I feel in finding the items that we wanted/needed for less than full price. It really is exciting to feel like I have gotten a sweet deal, and I enjoy knowing that I am able to spend less so that we can do more with our finances.

I began spending coupons just after my son was born... but I'll share more on that later in the week!

My New Year's REVOLUTION

(Originally posted January 2009)

( Here is a quick peek into my PINK pantry.)

2008 sure started with a BANG for Dave and I. At the turn of the year last year Dave and I stood clutching our then four week old son Boaz, and looked ahead (financially speaking) only as far as our eyes could see.

Dave and I decided, long before we were even pregnant, that together we would do whatever it would take to allow me to be able to stay at home and raise our son. I vowed never to take for granted the luxury of our decision and so I have researched as many ways as possible for me to be a wise steward of Dave's hard earned salary.

Dave and I decided that Boaz would be breastfed, cloth diapered and would wear clothing and play with toys and books from Mom to Mom sales. Second hand never seemed second best to us, it just seemed financially wise for our family.

I was also inspired by my friend Alissa (THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!) to begin using coupons again. Coupons, I know, sounds SO DORKY!!!

I used to get a Sunday paper, back when I was a single girl- and I would occasionally remember to bring a few of those coupons that I religiously clipped with me on my shopping adventures- but my savings then barely added to much of anything, and so I stopped clipping.

Alissa's inspiration began for me when our cell group adopted a family for Thanksgiving 2007. I was HUGE with pregnancy, and the mere thought of starting anything new, like couponing, in the face of bringing a precious babe into this world, was anything but alarming. I had enough on my plate with my 'nesting' already in full swing! I did, however, enjoy spending Alissa's coupons as our cell group shopped for that Thanksgiving meal together (it must have been quite a sight with 10 young adults, geeked up on coupon savings, traversing the aisles of a grocery store as a team).

Not long after Bo was born, I began to get my 'shopper's bug' back. I have this insatiable need to buy stuff. Not materialistically shopping, but I love to know what the stores offer. I love to know which store has the best price on that item. I love to get that item on SALE. And I love to 'people watch' and meet new people. I really was born to shop!

Sometimes I would feel guilty when I shopped. It was a little bit hard for me to spend Dave's hard earned money when I wasn't contributing financially to our family. Dave would always assure me that I was making just as significant impact in our family, and that me being at home to care for he and our son was far more precious and needed than money. Dave was very reassuring, but I felt like I needed to do more in the area of our finances to help care for my family.

When Bo was three months old I decided that I would look into clipping coupons again. I knew that with a little bit of time and a sharp pair of scissors that I could save us at least a few dollars each week. I also decided to google coupons on the Internet- and I was amazed at what I found...

I AM NOT THE ONLY NERD OUT THERE IN THE COUPON CLIPPING WORLD!

How refreshing! I was able to sit in the comfort of my own home and learn the art of coupon usage at my pace (usually from 12-2am when everybody else would be asleep!). I struck a gold mine when I found about a dozen christian women who blogged about how they best provided for their families on a BUDGET. Ooooooooooooooooooooh, the B word. Music to my ears, as I like boundaries, but to Dave... well, at best, he decided that if I liked it, it was OK for ME (not him) to set up a weekly budget. And so that is exactly what I did... eventually.

When I started using coupons, I bought only one Sunday paper and I only got one set of coupons. In my research I found that these women were buying 2-5 Sunday papers to multiply the number of coupons that they would have to spend... why didn't I think of that?

The second thing that I learned from these women is to stockpile. A stockpile, at first to me, seemed gluttonous. I truly struggled with buying so much even though I was spending less that I had before. I was able to bring home- probably 3-4 times as much food and toiletries than before for the same amount of money- it was ridiculous! I had more items than my family could use in years (honest) and so I decided that if I was going to become a stockpiler- that I was going to become the most generous stockpiler in town! To date I have had the honor to share my goodies with family, friends, friends of family and friends, adopted families, drives at church, families in need found on freecycle and a local food pantry. Words cannot express how AWESOME it feels to be used by God to be a carer and sharer!

I'll be honest, using coupons does take time and effort... and it is something where I continually keep learning new tips and tricks. I have decided to set aside about an hour each Sunday afternoon or evening to get my coupons clipped. I review the sale papers that come with the papers and I will sometimes set up my week's strategy for getting the best deals. This 'deal-seeking' really helps me to feel like a financial team player.

I decided to track my spending and coupon usage- just to kind of keep tabs on myself and to keep encouraging myself to do better each month.

Here is a breakdown of my tracking of August through December.

AUGUST 2008

Budget: $100/week or $14.29/day =$442.99 for August's 31 days.

Spent:$444.55

Saved:$1,081.53

Coupons used:406

Free items:155

SEPTEMBER 2008

Budget: $85/week or $12.14/day =$364.20 for September's 30 days.

Spent:$387.64

Saved:$1,953.33

Coupons used:561

Free items:366

OCTOBER 2008

Budget:$85/week or $12.14/day =$376.34 for October's 31 days.

Spent:$380

Saved:$2,129.66

Coupons used:816

Free items:654

NOVEMBER 2008

Budget:$85/week or $12.14/day =$364.20 for November's 30 days.

Spent:$256.46

Saved:$1,796.13

Coupons used:729

Free items:534

DECEMBER 2008

Budget:$85/week or $12.14/day =$376.34 for December's 31 days.

Spent:$294.64

Saved:$1,306.42

Coupons used:456

Free items:420

FOR A GRAND TOTAL OF: (for five months)

Budget:$1,924.07

Spent:$1,763.69

Saved:$8,267.37

Coupons used 2,968

Free items:2,129

***82.4% of the items brought into my house over the last 5 months was FREE!!!

YAY! YAY! YAY! YAY!

I am really proud to be able to care for my family in a very financially responsible manner- as well as to be able to look beyond the needs in front of my face and to be willing and able to care for other people and families who are struggling through our country's tough economic time.

This is where my New Year's REVOLUTION comes into play... I want to teach as many people as possible the knowledge and skills that I have learned. I really desire to help individuals and families in ways that they have never thought of before. I just can't keep all of this incredible information to myself. I am just one person. I really want to make a lasting impact that God can use.

I believe that God wants me to spend my money wisely.

I believe that God wants me to care for the needs of my family and friends.

I believe that God wants me to care for the needs of the broken.

Its pretty silly to think about, but wisely using coupons has allowed me to actually achieve all of the above. Want to join me?

Over the course of the last few months I have hosted a handful of classes to teach coupon usage. Those who have taken my class have had incredible results. I would love to continue to teach and make an impact in the communities where I have been invited to teach. Please think about circling a group of friends, neighbors, family members or co-workers who would be interesting in learning skills that will impact their spending for the rest of their life.

The class ($20 per person) includes coupon inserts from the Sunday paper, a coupon box and an organizational system PLUS (this is my favorite part)...I'm also excited to announce that $10 out of the $20 class cost goes to a non-profit, Raincatchers (raincatchers.org) as a donation. I LOVE the ripple effect!

If you are interested, the two hour class will cover the basics to get you started, tips and tricks to keep you motivated and (hopefully) a 'healthy addiction' to keep you saving your hard earned money.