While Mommy naps....

So, while Nathan and I finished up our nap today in my bed, Emma was wonderful enough to take care of Matthew when he woke up from his nap. She got him out of his bed so he wouldn't cry and disturb Nathan and me in the next room. So thoughtful of her!! I love that girl. BUT, when I came out, I found little fragments of my packing peanuts all over the carpet. Turns out, they had been playing in my large box of packing peanuts because they were "bored." My fault for leaving them out in the living room after packing up my signs yesterday...I know. What a good excuse to vacuum, right?

Em took this cute picture with my cell phone and couldn't stop laughing when she was trying to tell me about it. They had peanuts sticking to them, and Matthew couldn't get this one off his face! : )

And yes, he IS still in his pajamas AFTER his nap today. And NO, I don't want any judgement for that!

I lied....

I know I promised that the next post wouldn't be about couponing, but I lied. I hit Albertson's again this morning, since they have week long double coupons, and I was able to get my hands on a bunch of doublers. Here's what I got this morning:

5 Four Packs of Activia yogurt
4 Reclosable Lindsay olives
2 Nestle Tollhouse refrigerated cookie dough
4 Rhodes Warm n Serve rolls
8 packages Bar-S Hot dogs
3 bags frozen Tyson Anytizers
18 cans Campbell's Chunky Soup
4 Stouffer's Frozen Meals
3 Dove Shampoo
4 Dove Conditioner
1 six-pack Dove bar soap
1 box Excedrin (with bonus Excedrin PM attached)
2 Johnson's Oatmeal baby wash
1 Johnson's Oatmeal baby lotion

My total today was about $36 for $245 worth of groceries and personal care items. When you add that to my Albertson's trip from last week, I have brought home just over $400 in groceries and personal care items, and have only spent $62 for all of it. That is an 85% savings overall. For my $62, I brought home 104 items, which means I averaged .60 per item! Plus, I earned gas rewards that will save me $5 on my next fill-up, so technically, I could take that amount off my total as well. Love, love, love it! Okay...the next post really WILL be about something other than couponing! : )

Dorky coupon pic!

Since this blog acts as a journal as well as a blog, readers have to put up with dorky coupon pics like the one below! I just had a friend ask me why I'm so into couponing. Well....here's why. This is my Albertson's trip for last week.
I purchased the following:

3 bags frozen Tyson Anytizers
10 cans Campbell's Chunky Soup
5 cans Old El Paso Refried Beans
2 bottles Kikkoman Soy Sauce
2 tubes Colgate kid's toothpaste
6 boxes Betty Crocker fruit snacks
8 boxes (3-pack) Pop Secret Popcorn (my nightly indulgence!)
3 Dove shampoo
1 Dove deodorant
1 head of lettuce
3 boxes Special K Cereal

Retail on all of this is about $158. I spent $26. That's about an 85% savings. It's as if I paid 59 cents per item on that list. The bags of Frozen Anytizers are $9.99 each in themselves. I know a common assumption is that you can only get items you don't really use or need for really cheap, or almost free. Not the case! Are there incredible coupon deals on things we never use out there? Of course there are. It doesn't mean I'm stuck buying those things. As you can see from the photo, I can get screaming deals on everyday products that most families can use. Do we always eat Special K Cereal? No. BUT, if I can get it for less than .50 a box, WILL we eat it? Sure....we're just not that picky! Couponing satisfies my need for retail therapy and stocks up my food storage with things my family WILL use for a fraction of the cost. THAT is why I do it.

These are pics of my food storage. In the 8 months out of the last 13 or 14 that I've had the time to coupon, I have built this up. I started with nothing. Now I have a year (or more) supply of laundry soap, dish soap, dryer sheets, feminine products, Kleenex, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, dental floss, household cleaners, razors, shave gel, body wash, bar soap, band-aids, medicines of all kinds, vitamins, and more I'm sure. With the food I have built up in storage, as well as the two chest freezers we have, I could feed my family for months....easily. That's a great feeling! And I was able to do it without spending more than I would have if I was just living week to week. You know how it is...you head to Wal-Mart to get a few things for the week, and rarely walk out having spent less than $100! You can see from the photo above the kind of damage I can do with 1/4 of that amount now. All right....I promise the next blog post will be about something OTHER than couponing! : )