No Coupons This Sunday and a Coupon to Share :)

There will be no coupons in this Sunday's paper due to Easter. So, just buy the paper for the great comics ;)

Also, my friend, Stacey, who does a terrific cooking blog What's Cookin Stacey?, shared with me that Kum N Go has a coupon for 5 cents off each gallon of gas. This ends Easter Sunday, so if you need gas this weekend, get your coupon and save some moola!

Couponing

Im so excited today! I get to tell some Homeschool moms about how I use my coupons :) I imagine some will already know the methods I use, or have seen them before, but it doesn't hurt to maybe learn something new, or get refreshed :)


I have shown you all the notebooking method I use. It has really helped me keep track of my coupons much better. The ones I am not sure I will use I still hold onto.

Here is my method:

Every Sunday, I go through my Sunday paper and look through the coupons. I immediately cut out the coupons I know I will use-toothpaste, hair products, certain pain relievers, etc...things that my family will use everyday, almost, and I would like to save money on. When I am done with those coupon sections, I fold them in half (fold the top over the bottom, so to speak). Then, I take those sections (keep that Sunday's sections folded together-will explain why in a minute) and place them into an accordion file which I have labeled for each month of the year. Also, to help keep things a bit simple and less bulky, while I am looking through those coupon sections, I pull out those ads that are in there-you know, the ones for the shoes, the lil adorable baby dolls, jewelry, etc and throw them away. I do not need them, I do not use them and they will just take up too much room :) Yes, I know, it's just paper, but enough of those can take up too much valuable coupon space ;)
Now, why do I fold each week's coupon sections up together? And, why do I save them? Well, I fold them together because it makes it easier to locate each week, within that month, and I can find coupons for those deals these wonderful bloggers post about later on! On the side of pretty much each coupon section, in teeny-tiny print are the dates :) If I keep these sections together by date, it makes it much easier than trying to read each section for their date! I also started, since this past weekend, writing the dates on the outside too!! In BIG numbers-lol!! Now, I can see the dates quickly. So, when some wonderful, amazing blogger share Such and such is on sale at This and That Place and I can use So and So coupon from Supersaver (usually listed as SS on the blogs) or Red Plum (listed as RP), etc...I can go to that month's coupon section in my accordion file, pull out that week's coupon section and go right to that particular coupon section to find my coupon-I put it in my notebook under the area that is for use this week and add that to my shopping list-with the word coupon written beside it so I do not forget ;)
This has helped me. Last time, I once again saved over $10 at Walmart. Not a whole lot, but what can you do with an extra $10? That could be at least 5 days of lunches for my kids-or perhaps 2 dinners for my whole family (with frugal recipes of course ;) It can be almost a half tank of gas for our Durango. Or, maybe even a treat for myself-like a new shirt or something :) But, I often like knowing that money is in our bank account for other uses ;)
So, sorry for this coupon review--I know I have talked about it before, but maybe there is a new reader who might like it! And, please, keep an eye out on the blogs listed in the frugal section--you will find some wonderful ladies who really have searched for great deals using the coupons! You won't be sorry!!

Cream of Anything Soup

In one of my meatball recipes, I pour cream of mushroom soup over the meatballs in the crockpot. My hubby and I like the soup over pasta or rice. I realized I would not have enough with the one can I had to make 'gravy'. I remembered often seeing recipes for Cream of Anything soup and realized I actually had enough of the needed ingredients to try it out. I used Budget 101's recipe. To try it out, I made 1/4 of the recipe. This was hard-lol! When you are trying to divide a recipe, and kids keep coming in to ask you all sorts of things, you lose your concentration...not fun :P
My results, though, were wonderful!! It was really good! I was surprised! For some of the liquid called for, I opened a can of mushrooms and drained out some of the liquid into a measuring cup. I, then, added water for the rest of the liquid needed. I chopped some of the mushrooms from the can into small pieces (only because if my kids see mushrooms, they freak out-lol). Also, I kept out the bouillion called for. I added that in when I made the actual soup. I was not able to do the math on that part-lol!

After trying it out, and everyone loving it, I made the whole batch. I still left out the bouillion, so this way, I can use beef flavor, chicken flavor, etc when I need it. I added a note to my recipe and to the baggies in which I packaged the mix to add in the bouillion.

There are tons of recipes for make your own mixes, as well as some great frugal tips on Budget101.com. Here is a link to the recipes section Make Your Own Mixes and Convenience Foods
They also have Gluten Free Food Mixes

Goal Setting SUnday

Trying to get back into the swing of things now that my computer seems to be running fine. Im going to try something new in this thread to keep myself motivated--reporting my exercise--ugh! I have long wanted to start walking around my neighborhood, but I have used excuse, after excuse to not take time to do that for myself! Im not looking to necessarily lose weight, but I need to get moving for my health. I do hope this will help me maintain my weight at the same time. I also need to stop the snacking in the evenings. I can go all day just fine with watching what I eat, then evenings come and I feel so hungry-so I need to cut that out! So my exercise goal this week is to walk around our neighborhood 3 days this week, 20 minutes, at least, each time.

My other goal this week is to get ready for Easter. I have lots of plastic eggs to fill, and I might be able to get my older kids to help with this.
I also need to work on cleaning out my email inbox. I have many, many emails just sitting there, that I need to go through and put into folders. For instance, I often will send recipes to my inbox to view later. I either need to put those in my favorite places, print them off and delete them, or place them into appropriate folders within my mail box. There are also many homeschooling sites I have sent myself. It is time to move those to appropriate places to save and use for later :) Right now, my inbox sets at over 240 unread emails, or emails read and meant to be saved for later use. I need to dwindle that down and keep my inbox open for new things ;) Plus, Im not sure what all is there and I need to be sure I am not missing something good ;) I would like to get this down to at least 100 emails by the time I update this goal next Sunday :)

Have a great week everyone! And, if you would like to join in on any exercise goals, feel free to comment! Perhaps we can keep each other motivated!! 

Frugal Easter Ideas

Every year this becomes an issue. I try to get candy for the kids, but I don't want them getting sugar highs all day Easter. So, I try to find frugal ideas for things that can go into baskets, and even the eggs. This year is just like every other year-only Easter snuck up on me!! How? I mean, it is not like it came early this year. Usually, I am more prepared. Plus, my 2nd oldest daughter will be having her 13th birthday on Good Friday-so I have to add in her present for that weekend too :)

One thing I have done in past years was to use those candy melts from teh store (Walmart has even carried them in the past) and use molds to make little candies to go into eggs. Im not sure if this is less expensive than buying candy, but when my kids saw the cute Easter-themed shapes they were thrilled! And, it probably did cost me less than buying those sorts of chocolates. Another year, I used those same molds to make crayons for my kids (no, I did not use the molds for candy again). My kids went nuts and all it took was melting down all those little crayon bits we had in a container waiting for something to be done with them :) I was even able to make some neat colors, or put a few different colors in one mold to make interesting tye-dye crayons :)

As the kids have gotten older and not into the cutesie things anymore, it gets a bit harder to figure things out-frugally that is :) So, in my search I found some folks with great ideas. Here are links to their pages-I hope you can find some unusual ideas to make your baskets fun this year-and affordable!
Thrifty Fun
Thrifty Fun Easter Basket Ideas
Frugal East Baskets by Deborah Taylor-Hough
Thrifty Fun: Easter Basket for Coffe Lovign Teens (or other family member/friend)

And here are some suggestions for all those decorated hard boiled eggs:
Ideas for Using Leftover Easter Eggs
We tend to have alot here since all the kids want lots of eggs to decorate, so this link was very helpful to me. We eat eggs for breakfast and I make deviled eggs for lunch. I also make deviled egg potato salad which helps to use up some eggs. I also love tuna salad with boiled eggs in it-yum!

Goal Setting-whoops-dropped the ball this week!

No, really, Im not trying to avoid it! I forgot due to the computer issues I was having. I would try to get online, do what I needed to do (and some days that was difficult) and sign on. I think I have figured out my computer issues, and hopefully fixed it, so I should get back to the Goal Setting schedule :)
That doesn't mean I laid off my goal setting offline. I made my curtains last week as I had planned and I like them ;) I will try to get a pic posted soon.
But, sadly, I never did get to my dresser or my room-well, some of my room :) So, perhaps that is a job for next week ;) Im sort of waiting to tackle my dresser until I see the warm weather set it. We just had about 7 inches of snow here last weekend, so you never know what the weather will do around here. I hate to have all my winter clothes packed away and need them ;)

How to Buy a Ham

I really do not know this. For years, I have been buying a spiral cut ham from Aldi's which suited us fine. But, I noticed I could not get as much out of it as my mom always seemed to with the hams she bought. So, I decided to do some research on the subject (don't ya love search engines?). I am also wanting to catch one of the deals on hams right now that are not spiral cut-I can cut it myself, just not in a spiral-lol! It all goes down the same way, right?
I found this site which offered the difference between butt and shank portion hams-as well as some other good info. Butt offers more meat than a shank, but you pay more per pound. Of course, if it is only a 10 cent per pound difference, I think you would probably be getting your money's worth :)

Dollar Stretcher Recipes

I just came across this while looking at some things on Dollar Stretcher. It is a huge collection of recipe articles-food articles-menus-etc...I am finding many things that can help save money on food, pre-cooking/freezer cooking ideas, etc...Some of it I already know, but there are alot of new things as well. Maybe you will find some new ideas to help you in the kitchen :)

Grocio-could be a great new frugal helper!

Grocio is a great new, free site that helps you do comparitive shopping for your grocery list. It is sort of like PriceGrabber.com or PriceWatch.com-but for groceries--ohhhh-neat! How convenient is that? Im not sure what I will do with my free time-lol! It is just beginning and should be in pretty full force launch next week. There are a couple things you can do now, like viewing Sunday circulars, checking out their blog, etc...so get signed up (and once again, it is free!).

This is based out of the Tulsa area, but you can sign up no matter where you live in the USA!

They can even help you match up internet coupons to things on your shopping list. So go check them out! If you would like to put a referral code in for me as thanks for referring you to their site, my code is SL9K. I would appreciate it :) I don't get any money but if they have a contest, it can help me win ;) Winning is nice and fun every now and then ;)

Sunday Paper Double Deal at QuikTrip

I went to my local QuikTrip in Owasso last Sunday to buy a Sunday paper. I sent my oldest son in for me with the money. He quickly came running back out to let me know you could buy 2 Sunday papers for $3-they are regularly $2 for one. Hey, double the coupons-works for me! So, I told him to go ahead. Im not sure if this is a weekly thing, since my son told me about it, but it is a great deal. So, check QuikTrip this Sunday before buying your paper. TaylorTown Preview shows there to be alot of good coupons this Sunday. Also, before you do this QT deal, make sure it is worth it to you :) I bought the two papers and had not seen the TalorTown Preview beforehand. There was only one coupon section last Sunday :( But, I did still find some valuable coupons so it was not a complete loss.