I DID IT!!! IT ACTUALLY WORKS!!!

I just got done couponing tonight and it was actually successful! Usually, as I mentioned in my previous post, I go to the store and almost every (if not all items) I am looking for are cleaned off the shelves! It has been frustrating. BUT, I went tonight with Nick and Sadie and was 100% successful! Here's what I got:

6 cans of beans (diff. varieties)

8 bags of cereal

1 bottle of Worcestershire

1 bottle of ketchup

1 bottle of Oxi-Clean stain treatment

1 gallon of milk (free)

2 boxes macaroni and cheese (free)

$4.00 off my next grocery trip coupon

GRAND TOTAL: $10.09 (this is including my $4 off next puchase)

SAVINGS: I paid 20.6% of the retail price. Purchasing $48.97 worth of products and only paying $10.09...I'LL TAKE THAT ANY DAY!

K now for the cold stinky truth...Couponing is hard because it is very time-consuming; Nick and I clip coupons together Sunday night and put them in my couponing binder. We clip and then we organize according to date. Then we remove any expired coupons from my binder. After this, I have the task of researching where the good deals are and locating the coupons for these deals. I also have to figure out what products I am going to buy in what transactions in order to save the most moolah. Researching the good deals, organizing my purchases/transactions, and then trying to find the products is the hardest part for me so far. I hope that as I become more experienced with it, it won't take as long.

Is it worth it?

I dunno yet.

It felt great to save so much money tonight and to get so many cheap food items for our family.

However, I was stressing out in the store. Nick was just staring at me with a bemused look on his face while I was trying to figure everything out and Sadie was throwing fit after fit.

Conclusion:

1. Don't coupon with kids...it sucks.

2. Couponing is an art I am not sure I can master but I am going to keep working on it for now. I like feeling like I am contributing (financially) by saving our family money.

3. It's an awesome feeling when you actually accomplish it!

4. I will keep you all updated on good deals I get and where I currently stand with couponing as time goes on.

5. But come on...You guys are so excited for me right? :)

Recent Photos

I can never think of creative titles for my posts! And really guys? NO ONE COUPONS? Apparently all the women that do coupon live in Idaho Falls...hence the empty store shelves every week. Ha ha. Anyways, here are some recent pictures I took. I hope you all enjoy! :)

I love all the fingers in her mouth!
I love this picture. You can tell by her face how proud she was of herself "chasing" the ducks around! She absolutely loved it!

Fireworks this year in Idaho Falls were awesome!!! I ALMOST stayed home with Sadie but am so glad I didn't! Turns out she did great and LOVED them! She would yell, "pupel!" when a red one went off and "Gween" when a blue one went off etc. It was such a fun night!

Has anybody else caught their kid licking water off the pavement? It's her new favorite thing I swear. Boy does she get excited when I turn the sprinkler on!!!

Yep, pretty disgustingly cute.

Nick and I ran To Bone and Back June 25th (40 mile relay race) with friends and family! We had so much fun! Above is us with cousin Ashley and her husband Travis and their kids. Thanks for running with us guys!!!

Awww!

Her cheeks have gotten so chubby lately. All that greek yogurt she eats for breakfast I guess! :)

COUPON CRAZY!

Okay well not quite yet...I would like to though! I need your guys' advice. Any of you coupon? I mean, not just using the occasional coupon but have ordered 5 Sunday newspapers, put together a coupon binder, know the grocery store's truck schedule, and go to the store at random times of the day in hopes certain items will be in stock? This is me. Am I any good at couponing yet? No. I just started. BUT, I did get a free pack of Dan nino yogurt the other day thanks to coupons (and not to mention wit). :)
Here's my problem. Every time I hear about a free or money making deal, I rush to the store only to find the shelves completely empty!!! Argh!!! So frustrating! So, for those of you who coupon, when is the best time to go stock up on items? I got up and went to Albertsons early Monday morning while Nick and Sadie were still sleeping and STILL could not get the items I was looking for! Any advice? And if you guys have any other advice regarding couponing, I will happily take that as well!
THX!

You can find ANYTHING on YouTube!

Such as how to curl your hair! I have always been terrible at curling my hair! 99% of the time I straight iron my hair because it is fine and I can never seem to keep any curl in it. So, I You Tubed how to make loose curls and found a video that I really liked! It is a really fast way to curl your hair (you don't have to section and curl every little peace) and it turns out looking awesome! I tried it and my curls lasted all day too! I am so excited about this! I felt so womanly and beautiful with curly hair! :)
So here's the video. You guys probably already knew this trick but it was knew to me. It reminds me of when I sewed buttons on some curtains for Sadie's room a few years ago and thought I had come up with the idea! Ha! Ha! Ha! Turns out people have been sewing buttons on curtains for decades! Oh well...Hope this video helps somebody else out like it did for me! Tootles!

Aquarium

Sister-in-law Rachel, Nick's brother Skyler, Nick, Sadie, and Justin and Rachel's cute little twins Avery and Cole!

Last week Nick had some Wells Fargo meetings in downtown SLC so we decided to spend the weekend with some of his family. One of the outings we did was go to the aquarium in Sandy. Sadie loved it! She loved dipping her little fingers in the sting ray tank (no I wouldn't just let her dip her fingers in a predator's tank, don't worry! You can pet the sting rays if you want...) that is until she found out that the gray rocks below her little fingers were not actually rocks! Once the sting rays started swimming she got pretty freaked out and that was enough of that! After that, she was pretty apprehensive of all the tanks and what was swimming inside! :) We had a good time though!

Sadie Juggling

MIDOL

Don't take Midol before going to bed or you'll be awake all night...comfortable...but nevertheless awake.