On the Coupon Bus and Other Stuff

Last night I went to a workshop put on by Amber at CouponConnectionsNW.com called "Couponing 101".



I've heard of people saving hundreds on their grocery bills. I've read a couple of books and gotten that the idea was to match coupons with store sales, but I couldn't see how it was that people were getting stuff for free or were actually ending up with a negative amount owing at the grocery store checkout.

Amber was talking about how much she loved Albertsons. She said during the workshop "They don't pay me to say this, they just pay me to take their groceries!"

The class was very helpful. I'm still processing a lot of the information and will be giving it a try, but starting slow (as she recommended). I like the idea of doing it as a game, but I don't know how I'll feel about going through the store line multiple times or to multiple stores in my gas guzzling vehicle.

We need to do something. Our budget has gone down repeatedly and honestly every month I usually exceed what we have set aside for groceries. The idea of actually being able to save for something is something I haven't even thought about for awhile and there are things I would like to save for. A trip to India for one! I'd also love to be able to give to the ministry that is helping my sister right now.

So, I'm going to try this out. If I post about it, you may not be too excited to read it because I doubt I'll be one of those people who walks out after the grocery clerk pays ME, but hopefully it will be somewhat encouraging nonetheless.

If you're interested in checking out a workshop click on the Coupon Connections NW link and subscribe. Or you can email me because I talked to Amber about possibly doing a class at my church as well.

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On another note, I have so much on my to-do list today! I'm putting together some raffle prizes for a fundraiser we're doing for Women's Retreat scholarships. Today I'm basically running around picking stuff up.

I'm also needing to drop stuff off at the accountant, our attorney's office and my house is m-e-s-s-y!

This may sound strange but when I have so much to do I have to remind myself every hour that "first things first" so that I don't go up and crawl into bed or sit blankly in front of hulu shows...haha. I'm serious!

On top of that the kids have half days for the rest of the week. That could be good because I am also working on a painting as one of the raffle prizes. And did I mention the fundraiser is Saturday? Theoretically I can get this all done. I can't promise I won't go a little crazy in the process

And I have even more on my mind, which is my second reason for this post (and my excuse to be blogging when things need to be done). I was thinking maybe if I dump some of the stuff on my mind I might have an easier time with what I need to do.

I'm sorry, this post is getting really boring, huh?

Okay, quickly here we go in one big mind dumping paragraph - I'm planning on signing up for school. I keep seeing things about some bill of Obama's (when did our president's name become synonymous with giving away free money??? Just sayin' - and yes I'm looking for some of that free money) and how it supposedly expires in April. I'm guessing financial aid doesn't expire and it's just some advertisement for someone who wants business and internet clicks, but I don't have time to research it. Anyone reading know about this? I'm planning on applying for financial aid anyway but should I be doing something beyond that??? I heard this message at bible study yesterday and it kind of got me thinking about us renting out our house and going away for awhile. The speaker was talking about following where the Lord wants you and being in transition. But I feel like we are in transition even though we're staying in the same place. And if we left (my husband and I have talked about this) what about our kids and school and activities and everything. I'd love for us to be able to spend some real time together as a family, without the distractions of life, but in my mind that's impossible. I don't even think our two oldest girls would want to go with us. I don't know. Also I heard a good show on Focus on the Family about children and discipline. I'd love to be able to listen to it with Bill because being on the same page is something we've always struggled with and I'd love to be able to listen/watch/read something together because I think it would be really great for us. I know I should be praying about all of this and more. Some neighbors are losing their home and moving soon. I just met this neighbor after they'd lived here for a year and I'm sad that they're leaving now.


Well, I think that's all for now. If you've gotten this far thanks for listening:)