The Sunshine Award

The other day I was presented with The Sunshine Award!  This is an award given to a blogger from another blogger to show recognition for their work.  Melissa from Forever Fitting In (http://foreverfittingin.com/) presented me with this award.  I've never had the chance to meet her but WOW she has such an awesome story & is such an inspiration =) Being able to make such an impact & seek justice for herself and others is so awesome. So thankful for having been able to connect in the blogging world with her!

After receiving the nomination, the blogger must

Acknowledge the nominating blogger.

Share 11 random facts about yourself.

Answer 11 questions the nominating blogger has created for you.

List 11 bloggers.  They should be bloggers you believe deserve some recognition and a little blogging love!

Post 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate answer & let all the bloggers know they've been nominated.  You cannot nominate the blogger that nominated you. 

11 Random Facts About Me

1.  I was told at 21 years old, I had a slim-to-none chance of ever being a mother. I had MANY cysts on my ovaries as well as a small uterus.  A year after being told this heartbreaking news, I found out I was pregnant with my son =)

2.  My husband had a crush on me his senior year and never spoke a word of it.  He asked me on our first date 5 years after he graduated and we've been together ever since that day. 

3.  Playdoh & the smell of salt in the air at the beach are tied for my favorite smell.

4.  My children are my world.  They may drive me to the verge of insanity on a daily basis, but my life would be horrible and empty without them.

5.  I rededicated my life to Jesus last year and there hasn't been a day I haven't felt him with me.  

6.  Pixar, Disney & Marvel movies are my favorite.  True Story.  Having children has turned me into a bit of a softie.  

7.  I talk to my cat & treat her like I would a child.  I'm probably classified as a crazy cat lady.

8.  I've saved more than $1,000 this year couponing.  I havent' got to the "Extreme Couponing" ladies' level, but I plan to. 

9.  I've always wanted a Clydesdale.  I'm hoping I can eventually make that a reality, even if i'm slightly allergic to horses.

10.  My first job was at an outdoor produce stand at the Jockey Lot.  I wasn't the least bit sad when I got my first job as a Massage Therapist.  

11.  I used to be obsessive-compulsive about Ty Beanie Babies when I was in middle school.  It got to the point, I went and camped out with my parents & best friend at 2/3 AM in any & every weather to wait for sales that started at 8 am. 

11 Questions: (Nominees: Please answer these same questions)

1. What’s your favorite meal of the day? Supper. More extra hands to help with cranky, sleepy children ;)
2. What’s your favorite fruit? Watermelon
3. When you were five what did you want to be when you grew up?  A Vet, such an animal lover & still am to this day.  I have a dream of opening a rescue once my children are a little bit more grown up & independent.
4. What quality do you find most attractive in others? Ambition.
5. What’s your favorite sport? To watch?  Running for myself, Football to watch. 
6. Gold or Silver?  White gold.
7. What’s your favorite candy? Nerd)s.
8. What’s your favorite online shopping website? Amazon
9. What’s your pet peeve? It's a three-way tie between Arrogance, Laziness & Cheating.
10. Winter, spring, summer or fall?  Summer, Hands Down. 
11. How many pairs of shoes do you have? 10, mostly running shoes.

11 Bloggers::  Please Check These Ladies Out =)

I think, therefore I blog.      http://brooketimms0327.blogspot.com/

Baby Button Brown    http://babybuttonbrown.blogspot.com/

Our Brown-Eyed Girl    http://ylindo01.blogspot.com/

A Diamond in the Stuff      http://adiamondinthestuff.com/

Growing Up Madison    http://www.growingupmadison.com/

Candace Creates     http://candacecreates.com/

Tidbits of Experience     http://www.tidbitsofexperience.com/

Mom Behind A Blog      http://www.mombehindablog.com/

Simply Anchored       http://www.simplyanchoredblog.com/

Chicken Scratch.      http://www.chknscratch.blogspot.com/

In This Crazy Life      http://inthiscrazylife-bethany.blogspot.com/

We Homeschool.

Monday, I began an adventure with my sweet boy.  After much thought, comments supporting & disagreeing with my decision, and researching.  And we loved it.  My baby is tracing his name, numbers & letters very well.  He loves being able to cut things.  He loves being at home and being comfortable while doing school.  It's such a great feeling to be able to teach my baby new things, at home, and free of stress. And of course, we have bible time.  

We're just getting started, but we love it already.  I look forward to being able to share his progress as we go! 

My Son is a drummer...

This time last year, Kade couldn't speak in full sentences.  Thanks to dozens of horribly severe ear infections, he was unable to hear.  He understood his name, knew who his family was & knew what he wanted.  However, his lack of hearing lead to a lack of communication.  This time last summer, he had his first speech eval.  With speech therapy weekly beginning in October.  AMAZING things have happened.  My baby can talk...ALOT.  He's able to speak clearly, sing, pray & communicate in general.  

Last December, Kade sat at his cousin's drum set at Christmas.  It was over.  He insisted he wanted to play.  

Months went by, still he continued to say he wanted to play the drums.  I messaged my cousin's drum teacher.  He starts kids as young as 4.  He ended up getting an opening in April to get us started.  We got our practice pad and got to practicing immediately.

May rolls around. Once he began playing on the drum set, it was love.  He loved it that much more.  That afternoon, I met a lady on Craigslist who had a cheap set, and bought him a set for his birthday.

This past week, we've reached another milestone.  He's learning to cross his right hand over his left to play both the high hat & snare at the same time.  He also learned that he likes AC/DC because it's on Iron Man ;)  I have faith that between his love for learning & his love for the drums, I will be raising a full-fledged rocker!

We LOVE Free!!

Okay, If you haven't joined Kellogg's Family Rewards, do it NOW!!  

As a mommy of 2 (with a husband who craves sweets as much as the kids do), we have to keep sweet, sugary cereal in the house.  Pops, Froot Loops, Apple Jacks, etc.  Well about a month and a half ago I saw on certain boxes of the above listed cereals a promotion for Monsters University.  You enter your Kellogg's Family Rewards codes in and after 4 codes (4 boxes) get a free Mike pillowcase.  You could also enter codes for downloads & movie tickets.  

Today, my son's pillowcase came in and was FAR beyond what I expected.  I figured it would be a regular fabric pillowcase.  Nope.

SUPER soft, SUPER comfy & Plush.  AMAZING deal and I was buying these cereals weekly regardless of any promotions that came with the boxes.  

Again, if you haven't joined, this is just one of the few perks! We get all sorts of freebies from our rewards programs.  And chances are, if you're a mommy, you'll want to snatch up every freebie you can!  

Back To Couponing!!

Okay so i'm a tad behind.  Crazy busy with moving, church, etc and i've procrastinated a tad on blogging.  So now that I've been able to print & clip coupons again rather than clipping alone, I've started saving a ton as well.  Not to mention, Publix sent out their booklets for the month of August!  So here's what I snagged this past week at Bi-Lo.

2 Boxes of Size 4 Luvs
 Reg. Price per box: $16.97; Sale Price per box: $14.97
1 Publix Coupon: $10 off 2 boxes of Luvs or Pampers
Final Price for both boxes: $19.94

2 Boxes of Poptarts 
Reg. Price for per box: $2.48; Sale Price per box: $1.66
2 Target Coupons for $.50 off each box
Final Price for both boxes: $2.32

1 Bottle of Vegetable Oil
Reg. Price: $4.49; Sale Price: $2.50
No Coupons =( Final Price: $2.50

2 Boxes Kellogg's Fruit Gummies
Reg. Price per box: $2.99; Sale Price: $1.99
1 Target Coupon for $.50 off one box
Final Price for both boxes: $3.48

1 Jumbo Pack Dora Pampers Easyups (Since my 20 month old insists on potty training 
already)
Full Price: $10.88
1 MFR Coupon for $1.50 off one pack
Final Price: $9.38

& I donated $1.00 to Operation Care

The fact that I got a buggy of groceries that SHOULD have costed $61.25 for $32.62 with tax makes me a FIRM believer that couponing is an art, not a waste of time.  Which i'm told quite often when i'm walking through a store with my huge binder.  But I know the truth ;)

Thanks again for reading!

I HAVE INK CARTRIDGES!!!

So I FINALLY got ink cartridges!! However, thanks to Bi-Lo's AMAZING deals on meat this week, I didn't get the super low totals I had hoped for but I have enough meat for two weeks.

I broke my buggy down into two transactions again since I had the high-dollar coupons my aunt had given me for $10 off a $50 purchase.  I still left the store with over $70 in savings and NO items that weren't necessary.

Anyways, here goes::

Transaction #1::

1 Pack Chips Ahoy

12 pack Coca-Cola

40 Count trashbags

2-1 lb packs of ground turkey

2 packs of boneless skinless chicken breast (BOGO)

2 lbs ground chuck

1.5 lbs sirloin tip steak

2 packs Carolina Pride cubed ham (BOGO)

1 lb collards

2.5 lbs bananas

1 lb russet potatoes

1 lb sweet potatoes

Subtotal before savings:: $75.37

My Savings:: $29.85

Subtotal before savings:: $45.52

Tax:: $0.41

Final Total:: $45.93

Transaction #2::

1 Gallon Hawaiian Punch

Trix Cereal

Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal

6 Hershey's With Almond Bars (BOGO)

Pack Hot Dog Buns

2 Canisters of Kool-Aid drink mix

Pack of Arnold sandwich thins bread

1 Bellywasher (Kade's prize for being quiet in the store)
Angel Soft 24 pack toilet paper
Mr Clean Antibac Cleaner
3 packs Ensure

Subtotal before savings:: $83.62
My Savings:: $37.39
Subtotal after savings:: $46.23
Tax:: $0.75
Final Total:: $46.98

Again, NOT where I want to be.  Things have gotten tight.  Wanting to sell your home, save for your next, and prepare to build your DREAM home are stressful.  And costly.  I would like to knock my grocery & takeout budget down to around $200-$250 a month.  So this is a little glimpse at my attempts to do so.  And hopefully go far with my couponing to save my family a ton.  I have faith that I can do it.  I just have to find the patience to do this.  Thanks for reading again.  Until next time....

Will Work For Ink Cartridges!

And another trip without ink cartridges to print my own coupons.  This is slightly sickening.  I'm not much a fan of spending $80 a week in groceries.  Picking my own coupons according to sales and what we actually need had my bill around $40-$50.  I'd eventually like to get my monthly grocery/take-out bill down to $100-$150 a month TOPS!  The fact that one lady on Extreme Couponing spent a whopping $6 for a month's worth of groceries to feed her family of 6 baffles me.  I'm not on that level, but I want to be.   

Anyhow, I did my grocery trip this past week with the coupons that I had clipped, received from Bi-Lo, and still had left in my binder after printing.  I broke my buggy down into two transactions of $50 or more to save an extra $10.  Also this week (at Bi-Lo), if you spent $25 or more in P & G products, you got an extra $0.25 in FuelPerks.  I filled my 19.2 gallon tank in my SUV up for $39.01 after this trip!

Transaction #1::
Mueller's Lasagna & Jumbo Shell Pasta 
2-6 packs Hershey's w/ Almonds candy bars 
HMB Buns
5 Packets of Kool-Aid 
Mr. Clean
2 Bottles of Liquid Tide (P & G Products)
2-3 Pack Packages of Pampers Wipes ( P & G Products)
4 Count Ivory Soap Bars (P & G Product)
Pillsbury Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
Kraft Cheddar Shredded Cheese
Digiorno Pizza
3.88 Lb Pack of Ground Chuck
Head of Lettuce
Vidalia Onion

Subtotal Before Savings:: $88.17
My Savings (Including Coupons):: $33.29
Subtotal After Savings:: $54.88
Tax:: $1.81
Final Total:: $56.69


Transaction #2::

2 cans Manwich
1 jar Ragu spaghetti sauce
1 can Dinty Moore Beef Stew
1 box Apple Jacks
1 box Corn Pops
3 cans Bush's Baked Beans (Ibotta**: $0.50 back)
1 canister of Kool-Aid
1 can Chicken Broth
Mentos Gum (Kids can't resist it at checkout)
Mane & Tail Shampoo
Playtex Sport 18 ct Tampons (FREE**In Mail Coupon)
Kraft Italian Shredded Cheese
Bird's Eye Asian Veggies Steamfresh

Subtotal Before Savings:: $49.19
My Savings:: $19.72
Subtotal After Savings:: $29.47
Tax:: $0.67
Final Total:: $30.14


**Ibotta Coupon App available on Apple devices.  Certain offers & bonuses are available at certain times.  To redeem the offer, you simply scan barcodes & take a picture of your receipt & this money goes can be transferred to your PayPal account (and is NOT taxed!).  HIGHLY recommended for anyone who is looking to save the most money possible.

Ink Cartridges are being bought TODAY, Thank Goodness! Again, not my best trip, and hopefully soon i'll have a good enough trip to include a breakdown of how cheap I got things, or more free things!

Thanks again for reading!