Craft Projects on a Budget

So, I have found a new love that fuels my love for home decorating and DIY craft projects. Are you ready for this? It's called...........Pinterest!

Maybe some of you have heard of it???

It has really inspired me to be more creative. A lot of these craft projects use things you would have at home like tin cans, newspapers, tissue paper, etc.

But, you can find coupons for all of your craft store shopping. Each week Hobby Lobby has great sales and they will also have a 40% off coupon too!

Joann arts and fabric store has a lot of great coupons in their ad this week. I would definitely check it out.

I plan on using those coupons to buy some cheap fabric!

Great Deal on Eight O'clock Coffee

There's a great deal at Publix this week on Eight O'Clock Coffee. My husband is a big coffee drinker and he really likes this coffee.

It's BOGO for this week until Tuesday night. Before coupons each bag would cost you $3.49. That's already great savings since it costs $6.99/bag when its not on sale.

Here's where you can find some great coupons to make this deal even better!

$1 off 1 bag SS 6/05

$2 off 2 bags SS 6/05

www.eightoclock.com

Happy Shopping!

I'm Back

Sorry for the long hiatus on blogging. Tyler and I made it back from our mission trip to NYC and it was amazing! I enjoyed the opportunity of serving alongside my church family in the Big Apple. It truly was an experience I will never forget!

I'll be blogging later on with pictures and more details about our trip.

I just have to say between working 40 hours a week, and all of the other stuff going on in my life, I have put couponing on the back burner these past couple of weeks. I'm trying to get back in the normal routine but its been difficult. And you know, I don't even have kids, so I don't know how all of you moms out there do it! Major props to you!

Hope everyone had a great Monday! God bless!

Until the Whole World Hears.....

Its been 4 years since Tyler and I have been on a mission trip. For those of you that don't know our story-Tyler and I got to know each other during a mission trip to Alaska with our college ministry. Who would've thought that we would go thousands of miles away to meet the one God had intended for us to spend the rest of our lives with? I think God has a great sense of humor!

Anyways, we have so many great memories from that mission trip. We formed so many new relationships and had an awesome time serving the Lord. Alaska truly is a beautiful country.

I encourage all of you to take a vacation there!

This time, we will be going on a mission trip with our church, The Station Church to NYC! We are so excited to see what God has planned for us on this trip. I ask that you pray for safety during our travels and throughout the week, and that God would do amazing things.

Buying Healthy Foods with Sales and Coupons

I've heard some people say, you can't buy healthy foods with coupons, and that's just not true! There are plenty of coupons out there for healthy stuff such as eggs, cereals, bread, beverages, etc. I mean, even Whole Foods has coupons and they are known for their healthy, organic foods.

For instance, Nutella is on sale this week at Publix. I have never tried Nutella, but one taste and I was in love! Now, I'm not gonna eat it all the time because its 200 calories per serving, but it could be a part of a well balanced breakfast.

Publix also has:

Blueberries- 1 pint $1.99

Fresh Express Salads- BOGO

Yoplait Yoplus Yogurt- BOGO

Ronzoni Healthy Harvest or Garden Delights Pasta- BOGO

And there are many more great deals each week. Its up to you what you purchase at the grocery store!

Happy 2 Year Anniversary!

It was 2 years ago on May 30, 2009, that Tyler and I became man and wife. It has been an amazing 2 years for us and I can't wait for many more anniversaries with him.

We spent the weekend at the beach. It was so nice to get away for a little bit of rest and relaxation. We ate seafood, Shakes custard ice cream, and we even ate at the famous Lambert's. I had been there before but it was Tyler's first experience at "the home of the throwed rolls". Its amazing though, we got there 20 minutes after it opened and there was already a line to the door! That's a sign of a great restaurant!

And, of course before we left we had to go to the Tanger Outlet mall. Since I have been there, I think they have greatly improved. The mall had so many outlet stores that I love! Especially, the Gap Outlet. Who out there loves the Gap Outlet? :)

So, overall it was a great trip. I love getting to spend time with Tyler. God has truly blessed me with a wonderful husband.

Homemade Pizza

Have you ever made a homemade pizza?

It sounds difficult, but its actually pretty easy.

Here are the ingredients I used:

I think you'll notice the incredibly huge jar of banana peppers...Our best friends gave it to us. Anyways, I used ready-made pizza dough. This is a really great product I found at Publix for under $2. You can find it in the bakery department. I also used Ragu homemade pizza sauce, which tastes really good! The great thing about pizza is you can add whatever toppings you want!

Doesn't it look delicious?

Here's the final product with a yummy salad with balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

I Want to Ride my Bicycle!

I forgot how hard it was to ride a bicycle, and man does it make your body sore! Tyler took up mountain bike riding awhile back, and I just got a bike of my own a couple of weeks ago so I can go riding with him! Its a lot of fun, but it can be difficult at times!

Its a really great way to exercise. It is so much more fun to me than going running. I would encourage anybody to try it!

Oh, but don't forget your helmet! Safety first!

Love Letter from God

I heard a radio commercial on the way home from work the other day. It was absolutely beautiful and it brought me to tears. Its a compilation of over 50 scriptures in the bible explaining God's love and mercy and his plans for us. I encourage you to go listen to it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEfJpJ1lhQc&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Please continue to pray for the victims of last week's tornadoes. Pray for strength and perseverance for all of the workers and volunteers. Please pray for the Viola family, the Lindsey family, and the Cole family. These families attend our church and lost their houses in the tornado that hit Pleasant Grove.

I am blown away by the outpouring of donations and volunteers supporting the relief effort! God bless y'all!

I will praise you in the storm

As many of you know, many of places around the state of Alabama were completely destroyed by an F4/F5 tornado that hit last Wednesday, April 27, 2011.

There are no words to express my emotions from these past few days. My beautiful hometown of Tuscaloosa, Alabama had a lot of damage from the storms. That day, I got home from work and I knew the weather was going to be bad. I called Tyler to make sure he would be leaving work early. Our power was out when I got home and I thought "oh great." Luckily, we had a generator given to us by my in-laws for the past snow storms. We charged our phones, kept the refrigerator running, and ran the TV too so we could listen to James Spann. Sidenote: Can I just say what an awesome meteorologist James Spann is? I don't know how we would get through bad weather without him keeping us informed.

Anyways, James Spann had said the tornado hit Tuscaloosa pretty bad. He said it was around the 15th Street/McFarland Blvd. area. I thought to myself "Oh no the little house is gone."

I began to get anxious and concerned. I could not get a hold of my sister, dad, or mom. I could get text messages out every now and then but the cell phone network was terrible.

I finally received a text message from my dad that read "the little house is gone." For those of you that don't know, my parents owned a house on 16th street in the Forest Lake neighborhood. My younger sister was suppose to move into the house. My heart just sank.

It wasn't until later on that evening, I finally got a phone call from my mom. She had told me the house was destroyed. But, the worst news of all was she told me that my dad had been inside when the storm hit. I couldn't believe it. I burst into tears. My dad had stopped by the house on his way home when the tornado hit.

I am so thankful that God had his hand of protection over my dad and he came out of the storm unscathed.

Tyler and I went to Tuscaloosa to help them clean-up on Thursday. And, I can tell you that pictures and videos do not do it justice. There are no words for the devastation.

I ask that you pray for my family as they recover from this tragedy. Pray for the families that were affected by the tornadoes. Pray for those that lost loved ones. Pray for the government officials as they make decisions regarding clean-up and rebuilding our cities and towns. Pray for all of the volunteers giving their time and donations.

I am amazed at all of the people who are donating their time, money, and supplies for the relief effort. I feel truly blessed to be a citizen of this state. Thank you God for the kindness of strangers.

Boogity, Boogity, Boogity- Let's Go Racing Boys!

On Sunday, Tyler and I had the awesome opportunity to go to the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at TALLADEGA!! We have always wanted to go to a NASCAR race! We had so much fun and it definitely was an experience. There are some die hard race fans out there!

Me and my hubby

Favorite driver!

The view from our seats

But, let me tell you, thank goodness for ear plugs! Tyler brought some with him and I was so thankful he did. I knew the race cars were loud, but not that loud. And, when the cars rush by your seat you can feel the wind brush your face. You'll also end up with particles of rubber on your face too! But, its all worth it.

I definitely want to go back to Talladega again!

A day at the park.....

A day at Tannehill State Park with my hubby

Tannehill is such a great place to take your family and pets. Tyler and I went a few weeks ago after church and we hiked 3 miles! Definitely in pain after that workout!

Free ice cream on May 10th!

Mark your calendars for May 10th!

Haagen-Dazs shops all over the country are offering free ice cream on May 10, 2011 from 4-8 PM.

The offer includes one single scoop cup or cone.

Purex Complete Crystals Softener for 99 cents

This week at Target you can get Purex Complete Crystals Softener for 99 cents a bottle!

By using a $1 off coupon for Purex crystal softener at Target.com and using a $2 off coupon for the softener found in the RP (Redplum) coupon insert from 3/13/2011, you can get an entire bottle for 99 cents.

What a great deal on fabric softener!

FYI: Target.com is a great place to find competitor store coupons. Just look for the coupons section on the bottom of Target's home page.

Tip # 6: Drugstore Savings

A lot of drugstores out there have savings programs available. I follow the CVS Pharmacy weekly ads because there's a CVS less than 5 minutes from my house. But, places like Rite Aid and Walgreens have great in-store savings week to week.

I know that at Rite Aid and CVS you have to sign-up for a card, while at Walgreens you don't need one.

Drugstores such as these will offer reward amounts for certain items each week. You can use these reward dollars on your next purchases. Using these with coupons helps you save even more money!

At first it's difficult to get into the whole rewards program thing. You will have to spend some money in order to get those rewards. But, with those reward vouchers and coupons you'll eventually only have to pay small amounts of money out of your own pocket.

This past week at CVS Pharmacy I paid $14.15 out of pocket and saved $61.56.

That's the best I ever done at CVS!

Tip # 5: Begin creating your stockpile

In order to get the most "bang for your buck" you have to watch the grocery store ads and see which items are at their lowest prices. When you use a coupon with this low-price item, you can get it really cheap!

At this point, you would want to stock-up on the item. Now, you only need to buy enough to last you 6-8 weeks, 10 weeks at the most. Grocery store items are typically on a sale every 6-8 weeks.

On the blog I follow, SouthernSavers.com, the writer will tell you which items are great stockpile items!

After a while, you'll have a nice stockpile of meats, groceries, toiletries, and cleaning products as well. I can tell you that I will never have to pay full price for things like detergent, toothpaste, and deodorant.

If any of you watched Extreme Couponing last week on TLC, you do not need to buy 70 bottles of mustard just because you can get it for .39 cents a bottle. Seriously, how much mustard will you go through in 10 weeks?

Tip # 4: Coupon & Savings Blogs

With the use of coupons increasing dramatically, there are a lot of websites and blogs out there that inform readers about great deals at various stores.

I personally follow, Southern Savers . Jenny at Southern Savers does a great job of listing all of the items on sale at a store that week and she tells you the coupons that match-up with that item. It makes it so easy!

Southern Savers follow grocery stores mainly in the south: Publix, Winn Dixie, HEB, Bi-Lo, Kroger, etc.

She also tells you about great deals at drugstores such as CVS Pharmacy, Walgreens, and Rite Aid.

Here are some other great websites to follow:

i heart publix

the krazy coupon lady

Stay tuned for my great savings at CVS Pharmacy this week!

Tip # 3: Organize your coupons

So, there are a few different ways for you to organize your coupons.

# 1: A coupon binder or box

When I first started couponing, I spent a couple of hours every Sunday afternoon cutting out all of my coupons. I stored mine in a smaller accordion file box. But, over time it took up a lot of time for me to find the coupons I needed for the upcoming ad, so I switched my coupon organization method.

A lot of people store their coupons in a coupon binder. They use baseball card sleeves to keep their coupons in. They will also sort coupons according to categories such as dairy and frozen food.

Or, some people keep all of their clipped coupons in a box bigger than a recipe card box. They sort their coupons according categories.

# 2 Whole Insert filing method

This is the method I am currently using to sort my coupons. How it works:

When I get an insert from the Sunday newspaper I mark it as RP(Redplum) or SS (Smart Source) and whatever the date is.

I keep all of my inserts in file folders according to the month. For example, all of my inserts from the month of March are in a folder called March 2011. This makes it a lot easier for me when its time to go to the grocery store. I will print my shopping list with the coupon matchups. My shopping list will say for example, $1/2 items found in SS 1/02. So, I just go to that insert and clip the coupon.

It saves time for me and my busy schedule.

Need more tips understanding coupon organization? Here are some links:

http://www.southernsavers.com/2010/12/how-to-organize-your-coupons-part-1/

http://www.southernsavers.com/2010/12/how-to-organize-your-coupons-part-2/

Southern Savers is the website I follow for the weekly ads. Jenny does a great job of finding the deals and coupons each week!

Tip # 2: Online Coupons

There are many great sources to get FREE printable coupons. The internet is just another outlet to help you save money.

Manufacturers are going through Facebook to offer free coupons as well. Products such as Tide and Schick Intuition razors will offer you a free coupon if you "Like" them on Facebook.

Here are some of the websites I check for printable coupons:

www.coupons.com

www.redplum.com

www.smartsource.com

There is a limit of how many prints there are available for each coupon. So, if you see a coupon you like you'll want to get it then. These websites start over with a new set of coupons each month.

Stay tuned for Tip #3!

God bless

Free sample of Valspar paint

Valspar paint is offering a great deal right now! For 100 days Valspar paint is giving away 1000 free samples of paint per day!

You can choose from all of the colors offered by Valspar.

I chose a color called garden sprout. I'm gonna try it in our guest bedroom. This sample would be great for a craft project as well.

The giveaway starts at 9am CST so you'll want to get your sample fast before they run out.

And, the best part is you'll also receive a $5 off coupon!!

Lowe's Home Improvement coupon

I got an email today for a $10 off a $50 purchase coupon at Lowe's. This is great to use right now since its springtime. Hurry up and get yours because it expires on April 4, 2011.

Here's the link:

www.lowes.com

Plastic Easter eggs for 39 cents a bag!

I took a trip to Hobby Lobby today to buy some of their Easter decorations that were 50% off. Little did I know......this included the plastic Easter eggs too!

They have 12 eggs to a pack for 77 cents, and 50% off of that means about 39 cents per bag!

This is a great deal considering the church Tyler and I attend are having a community-wide Easter egg hunt. And, we are trying to get 10,000 candy-filled eggs for this event!

Tip #1: Buy the Sunday Newspaper

First of all, two blog posts in one day- GO ME! Sorry just had to get that out. :)

So, after I posted my savings from Publix, some of my friends asked if I could give them some tips to help them start couponing. So, I have thought of 5 tips to couponing!

One of my friends asked, "Where do you find all of these coupons?"

I find coupons in places all over the internet, but I find most of them through the Sunday newspaper. If I can offer a really good piece of advice its this: Get a subscription to the Sunday newspaper. I subscribe to The Birmingham News and I receive the paper on both Sunday and Wednesday. Getting the Wednesday newspaper allows me to look at all of the grocery store ads in my area.

You can get really good subscription deals through your local newspaper. Some are like a $1 a week. Which is great considering the Sunday newspaper costs $2.50!

Stay tuned for Tip #2......

God Bless!

My Savings at Publix!

Last week was a great week to save some money at Publix! Especially on Kibbles n' Bits dog food and Betty Crocker fruit snacks.

Here's what I bought:

12 bags of Kibbles n' Bits dog food (4lb. bags)

8 boxes of assorted Betty Crocker fruit snacks

3 boxes of Weight Watchers ice cream bars

3 boxes of Quaker Oatmeal Squares cereal

6 boxes of Quaker Oatmeal low-fat granola bars

6 boxes of Quaker Oatmeal

5 packages of Mentos chewy mints

1 head of Romaine Lettuce

1 package of Publix napkins

1 bottle of Palmolive dish liquid

1 roll of Publix paper towels

1 loaf of Publix whole wheat bread

1 bag of Lays kettle potato chips

1 gallon of Publix 1% milk

1/2 pound of Boar's Head turkey breast

-I used 12 $2.00/1 coupons for the kibbles n' bits dog food. The 4lb. bags were BOGO for $4.99. Using a $2.00 off coupon makes the bag of dog food .50 cents! :)

-I used 4 $0.50/2 coupons for the fruit snacks.

-I used 5 0.50/1 coupons for the Mentos. Publix doubles coupons up to 0.50 cents and the Mentos cost 0.79 cents so by using all of the coupons I gained a $1 overage!

-Publix had a 50% sale on Saturday and Sunday for Quaker Oatmeal granola bars, oatmeal, oatmeal squares cereal, and Tropicana Trop 50 juice. I bought coupons from a clipping service earlier on in the week so I could be ready for the sale. I love the granola bars and squares cereal and Tyler eats the oatmeal for breakfast.

- I used 3 $1.00/1 coupons for the Oatmeal cereal

- I used 3 $0.50/2 coupons for the granola bars. Publix doubles coupons so this is basically $1.00 off of 2 boxes.

- I was really lucky and found $1.00/2 coupons on the Quaker Oatmeal boxes. I ended up buying 6!

I'm still working on my stockpile, but each week it gets easier and easier!

So total I spent:$55

Savings: $131.60

The first thing....

So, a few weeks ago- I finally completed all of my rotations in the coordinated program. I had just finished completing about 8 weeks worth of food service rotations.

And you wanna know the first thing I did (after jumping up and down with excitement) ?

I painted my nails a beautiful, bright turquoise color!!! The actual name of the color is Turks & Caicos by Essie. I love it! The color makes me so happy!

Thanks to all of my friends and family who have supported me all throughout school. I couldn't have done it without you!