New baby on the way!

Sorry it's been so long since I've written. I've been a little slack this month with keeping up with my savings and receipts. I haven't felt up to taking pictures of my purchases either. Why? I've been sick for the past couple of weeks. But I've been sick for a good reason! We have baby #2 on the way! We are very excited that Tucker is going to have a new little brother or sister. We had our first ultrasound on Feb. 18th and at that time we were 6 weeks and 1 day along. Baby Allison is due on October 13. We are thankful to God for this new little blessing and I would appreciate your prayers as I have been very sick with migraines and nausea.

Valentine's Day

My hubby and I had a WONDERFUL first Valentine's Day as a married couple. On Valentine's morning my sweet hubby brought me BEAUTIFUL pink hydrangeas! Hydrangeas have a special meaning to us because I carried blue hydrangeas in our wedding! He got me pink ones since it was Valentine's and they are so beautiful and more special than roses (which he actually got me a dozen beautiful roses a couple of weeks ago!). For Valentine's evening I planned a surprise for my hubby. My mom watched our 8 month old son and I picked up Ruby Tuesday to go and took my hubby to a nice hotel in town. Top floor, king bed, 2 person jacuzzi, etc. I had gone earlier in the day and checked in and decorated the room. I put out tons of candles, rose petals on the bed and around the tub, candy on the nightstand, balloons, etc. I set a nice table for us to eat our private dinner! We enjoyed our private dinner (from Ruby Tuesday) in our hotel room and we enjoyed our night there. We watched the Olympics on the nice 32 inch flat screen in our room and in the morning we had a HUGE free breakfast buffet. I am very appreciative to my parent's for watching our son over night. It was Tucker's very first night without mommy and daddy and my parent's said he was an angel and never even cried one time! It was a great weekend!

Super Bowl Menu

I am very excited about the Super Bowl tonight! I look forward to it every year. Not really because of football, but because of all the fun party food (and yes, unhealthy) I get to make and serve! It's so fun. This year our menu is all finger foods! And yes, every single item that I purchased was on sale! Here is our menu for tonight:


White Castle Cheeseburgers

Game Day Meatballs (in the crock pot!)

Buffalo Wings

Buffalo Mozzarella Sticks

Soft Super Pretzels with Cheese Sauce

Pizza Rolls

Velveeta Salsa Dip with Tortilla Chips

Sabra Roasted Red Pepper Hummus with Stacy's Tuscan Herb Pita Chips

Jalapeno Cheddar Dip and Chips

Baby Carrots and Ranch Dip

Spinach Dip with Ritz Crackers


Drinks:

Diet Root Beer, Diet Cherry Cola, Mtn. Dew, and Publix Diet Tea


I know you're probably thinking, "Wow, all that food must have cost a TON!" Well, actually, it all cost under $20 (including drinks)! I think that's a pretty good deal!

Sermons

As I mentioned before, at Hampton Park Baptist Church our theme this year is "Being Stewards of God's Amazing Grace." Our pastor has already preached some wonderful sermons on being stewards of this life, stewards of salvation, and stewards of the Gospel. I am sad to say that we missed a couple of Sundays because I was sick. :( However, our church posts their sermons on their website. If you can't make it to church one Sunday, or if you have some free time, listen to a sermon or two. Here is the link:

www.hamptonpark.org/resources/sermons

You will be blessed and also learn how to be a better steward of what God has so graciously given to us! If you read my post on being stewards of this life, you'll see how practical and appropriate these messages are. This is something we all need to hear!

Pray for me as I continue to learn what it is to be a steward.

January Totals

I'm sorry for the lack of posts this week. It has definitely been a busy week! How did you do in January? This is how we did for the month. Now, keep in mind that this includes more than just groceries. It includes drug stores, toiletries, diapers and wipes, etc. This month I got several good deals and really stocked up on diapers! So please don't think that I spent over $250 on food! I've decided for February that I am going to keep a more detailed breakdown of my spending so at the end of the month I know exactly what I spent just on food (grocery items, not counting restaurants).



January Results:



Total Shelf Cost: $838.08

Total Coupon Savings: $321.35

Total Savings from Sales: $254.49

Total Savings: $575.84



Total Spent Out of Pocket in January: $262.24

Savings Rate: $68.71%

Saved 82% at Publix

So far this month this has been my best trip. Obviously, I didn't need much. Right now our cabinets are so full I can't fit anything else into them! We have enough food for 3 meals a day for at least the next 2 weeks.



Here are the totals from my Feb. 1 trip to Publix.



Before sales and coupons: $37.23

Savings from coupons: $13.50

Savings from sales: $17.03



Total spent out of pocket: $6.70 (82% savings!)

Learning the Lingo

When learning to "Coupon" there are several things you need to know. I posted an entry earlier in my blog which listed my favorite/most visited "savings" websites and blogs. Most (if not all) use couponing terms and abbreviations. If you're just getting started here are a few abbreviations that you will need to know! I'm sure there are more but these are the most common. Websites, like Southern Savers, use them all the time!



SS = Smart Source

RP = Red Plum

PG or P&G = Proctor & Gamble

IP= Internet Printable coupons

B1G1 or BOGO = Buy One Get One Free

B2G1 = Buy 2 Get One Free

ECB = Extra Care Bucks (CVS)

RR= Register Rewards (Walgreens)

SCR = Single Check Rebate (Rite Aid)

OYNO= On Your Next Order

WYB= When You Buy

MIR = Mail In Rebate

PSA = Prices Starting At

ADC= After Doubled Coupon

OOP= Out of Pocket

FAR= Free After Rebate

MRF= Manufacturer

MQ= Manufacturer coupon

WSL= While Supplies Last

YMMV= Your Manager May Very (your store's policy may differ)

IE = Internet Explorer

FF = Firefox



Well, I HTH! (Hope That Helps) :)

How did you do in January?

How did you do this month? I hope you were able to save a lot of money! Did you take advantage of the double fuelperks at Bi-lo? We did! We filled up our car a couple of days ago and only paid $2.18 a gallon. We got $0.30 off per gallon! Thanks, Bi-lo! Did you get free breakfast at Chick-fil-a? We were only able to make it out one morning this week- Monday. We enjoyed our free Chicken Biscuits! Wish we could have made it out the rest of the week. But...with a baby and a husband that works 3rd shift, it's a little difficult to get out of the house in the morning! If you didn't do as well as you wanted this month, tomorrow is the beginning of a new month so set a goal and do better! I'm going to! We spent a little more this month than I wanted. But that's ok! We can all do better.

Don't forget to keep checking those coupon websites for new coupons. Also, the Sunday paper has many coupons as well. Today there are 2 coupon inserts- 1 Red Plum and 1 Smart Source. Also, I recommend subscribing to All You magazine! My hubby got me a subscription for Christmas. I got my Feb. issue a couple of weeks ago and there are tons of coupons! Also, American Baby is a GREAT magazine. You can subscribe for FREE and it has fantastic articles and a few coupons as well! (I found 3 in this month's issue. It's not a lot, but the magazines are free!)

Also, I'm going to post some info about Swagbucks and Ebates when I get a chance. If you're not signed up- you need to sign up soon!

This Past Week

This past week was fantastic! My hubby had several days off (since it was my birthday) and we got to spend a lot of time together. My birthday was fantastic. It was the best birthday I've ever had! (Not because of the gifts or awesome food, but because it was my first birthday with a husband and son!)

I woke up Wednesday morning and my hubby had an awesome scavenger hunt planned for me. I had to use the clues to find my gifts. Glenn got me a 320 GB hard drive to replace my old 80 GB in my laptop. My 80 GB was almost full because I have so many pictures! My mother-in-law, Donna got me a new battery for my laptop! YAY! My old battery lasted 5-10 minutes. The new one lasts almost 5 HOURS! My laptop is like brand new! My hubby also got me a Checkers/Chess/Backgammon board game to add to our game collection. Our new tradition is to play Checkers every year on my birthday (My grandparents play Dominoes every year on my Grandma's birthday! My Pawpaw turned 90 in December and my Grandma turned 84 in January. They have been married for over 60 years!) Glenn and I played 2 games of Checkers and I beat him both times! :) Glenn also got me a gift certificate for a manicure and pedicure from Dallas Skye Salon and Spa - a really nice Salon that I have never been to! ($$) He is such a sweetheart. He also made me some home made coupons (ex. "Good for 3 days of no housework" etc.). I love them! He also made me a cake with my favorite Rainbow Chip frosting! I am truly blessed with a wonderful, sweet, and loving husband!

Wednesday evening my parents took us out to the Peddler. It was delicious...as always! I got some wonderful gifts from my parents as well! It was items that I really wanted for the kitchen... Pyrex Smart Essentials 8 piece mixing bowls set, 2 Calphalon spatulas, 3 stackable Wilton non-stick cooling racks, a waffler maker, a 12 inch Hamilton Beach non-stick skillet, a beautiful utensil holder, and my dad gave me a 32 inch LCD HGTV (a couple weeks before my birthday). My mom's home made cheesecake was SUPER! It was a wonderful day! Thanks, everyone for making it so special!

Birthday Blessings

I am very sad to say that I was sick on Saturday night and Sunday morning so we didn't make it to church this week. I was disappointed because I was looking forward to the next Stewardship sermon. My mom told me it was about being a steward of the Gospel. I'll have to listen to it online when I get a chance. I also need to write a blog about last week's sermon as well. It was about being a steward of our salvation. So good! I love our church and I love our pastor. Which brings me to the topic I wanted to mention. BLESSINGS!

Today is my 25th birthday and I am thankful to God for 25 years of life! He has blessed with me so much. A wonderful husband, a precious son, loving Christian parents and brother and sister, good friends, a great church, the gift of being able to be a stay-at-home mom, a really nice apartment, a brand new (2009) car, and many other blessings!!!! God gives and God takes away and He is good all the time. Most importantly I am thankful for my Heavenly Father and for the salvation that He granted to me!

My husband took me out Tuesday night for a WONDERFUL birthday dinner at Travinia. It was my first time EVER eating there! It's so beautiful and the food is terrific! If you've never been you really need to go! I had Chicken Marsala (my favorite Italian dish) and it was heavenly! Travinia is an upscale Italian restaurant. I would say it's nicer (more dark, romantic, quiet, etc) than The Olive Garden and a little smaller and more cozy than Carrabba's. After dinner we got take-out dessert from Ruby Tuesday! I got the Italian Creme Cake, which was awesome! It was a great "birthday eve!" On Wednesday evening my parents are taking us to my FAVORITE restaurant- The Peddler! We go there every year for my birthday and I order my favorite dish...pork tenderloin. and a baked sweet potato! I can't WAIT. Also my precious mother is making me a cheesecake. And my hubby is making me a cake as well! I am going to gain a few pounds this week.

I am very blessed and I am thankful to God for all He has done in my life! Thank you, Lord!

Stewards of this Life

Some points from HPBC's Sunday morning sermon on being a steward of the LIFE God has given to us!

Life is God's: It is His to give and His to take away. Life is a gift from God.

"We are restless unless we rest in God."

The eternality of God vs. the mortality of man:
We are frail and we die because we are sinners and we are mortal.
However, God has always been and always will be.
Turning to Christ is our only hope.

Psalm 90
vrs. 1-11 "The confession of reality"
vrs. 12-17 "A supplication for rescue"

Ps. 90:12- We need Reality Instruction
Our relationship with God is broken. We are totally at God's mercy (John 3:36).
The Son gives us life (John 3:16-18).

Ps. 90:13- We need Merciful Rescue
Man's greatest need is the presence of God. If God had not had pity on us we would be without hope! We couldn't reach God unless God reached us.

Ps. 90:14a- We need Secure Satisfaction
We are to be satisfied with Christ's steadfast love. God has everlasting, loyal love. God's love is not theoretical. It is active!

Ps. 90:14b-15- We need Extreme Joy
We should be "shouting for joy!" We should have "emotional electricity."

Ps. 90:16- We need Spiritual Perception
We want to see something God has done, not something we have done. Glorious power= a display of magnificence. Let your children see this!
*****"Children learn about God from their parents...but there comes a point when God has to slam them down on the Damascus Road and blind them in the face. We have no concept of how AWESOME God really is. God will blow you away!"*****
Our thinking should be "My parents, Christian school, and church wasn't perfect, but at least they introduced me to Jesus and His word!"

Ps. 90:17- We need Lasting Significance
Man's works crumble and fall but God's kindness gives lasting significance to what we do.
Eph. 2:10
II Thess. 2:17
Heb. 6:10
I Cor. 3:13-14

We are to be good stewards of this life!

Stewards of God's Amazing Grace

I started my blog on Sunday, January 3 and I chose the title "Steward of the King." Obviously, Christ is the King and the Bible commands us to be stewards of the gifts that He has so graciously given to us.

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary the definition of Stewardship is- "the conducting, supervising, or managing of something, especially: the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care."

I was surprised and EXCITED to find out in our Sunday morning church service (Jan. 10) at Hampton Park that our church theme for this year (2010) is: "Stewards of God's Amazing Grace!" I couldn't believe it! God must really be wanting to teach me this year about how to be a steward. Every Sunday my pastor will preach about being a steward of something God has given us! I'm so excited. We've already heard two sermons on stewardship and I can't WAIT for church tomorrow to hear the third!

Free Chick-fil-a Next Week

Chick-fil-a on Fairview Rd. in Simpsonville, SC is doing a free breakfast give away every day next week (1/25-1/30)! The free breakfast is from 6:30am-10:30am. Don't miss out!

Jan. 25- Chicken Biscuit

Jan. 26- Sausage Biscuit

Jan. 27 (my birthday!)- 3 count Chicken Mini's

Jan. 28- New Yogurt Parfait

Jan. 29- Cinnamin Cluster

Jan. 30- Pajamas and Biscuits (wear your pj's and get a free Chicken Biscuit!)

Go here for more info: www.cfarestaurant.com/simpsonville/home

Double Fuelperks This Week

This week (1/20-1/26) Bi-lo is offering DOUBLE fuelperks!!! That means you'll save $0.10 per gallon for every $50 you spend!! So, this is a GREAT week to shop at Bi-lo! Grab the sale ad and look for matching coupons! Also remember that Bi-lo doubles coupons up to $0.60!

Go here for the deals at Bi-lo this week:

www.southernsavers.com/2010/01/bi-lo-weekly-ad-121-127/

Feel free to share any great deals that you found! :)

Earning Money from Emails??

If you spend time on the computer, you have an email address, and you're pretty good with keeping up with your email, then you are a perfect candidate for making money by simply opening an email and clicking a button. Sound too good to be true? It's not. Granted, it's only about $0.02-$0.03 an email but they send 3-4 per day so it really adds up! Passion for Savings has a short article that gives you more details. I am currently doing My Points and Inbox Dollars. I am up to $15.49 from Inbox Dollars and 1645 points from My Points. If you're interested leave me a comment and I can send you a referral link or email and I can earn money or points when I refer you! Inbox Dollars gives you $5 just for signing up! Go here to read more information:

www.passionforsavings.com/2010/01/money-monday-earn-money-with-email

I will be posting more later about other money making websites such Ebates and Swagbucks.

9 Month Anniversary

My hubby and I (and our son) went on an anniversary date to Monterrey's tonight. We've been married for 9 months today and what a great 9 months it has been! Time is going by so fast! The dinner was wonderful (I could eat chips and salsa till I pop!) and Tucker was really good while we ate.

Getting Started on Saving

One of the first things to do when learning how to save is learning when, where, and how to look for deals. Obviously, the sale ads are a good place to start. The Sunday paper has most of the sale ads and the Wednesday paper (in our area) has the grocery ads. Several people have asked me where to find coupons. (In fact, last week I had a girl behind me in line at Bloom ask me, "Where did you find all those coupons? That's amazing!") Here are my 3 most used sites for free printable coupons:

http://www.smartsource.com/

http://www.redplum.com/

http://www.coupons.com/

I also spend time almost every day looking at several different websites and blogs that list special deals, sales, rebates, coupon match-ups, free samples, etc. Let me list my top favorites for you. Be sure to visit them!

http://www.southernsavers.com/

http://www.simplesavingsecrets.net/

http://www.moneysavingmom.com/

http://www.dealseekingmom.com/

http://www.momforhim.blogspot.com/

http://www.thefreebieblogger.com/

http://www.freesnatcher.com/

http://www.freebies4mom.com/

http://www.passionforsavings.com/

December Bloom Trip

This is from December 10, 2009, but it gives you an example of how I shop. I'll be posting other updates as well. Starting this year (2010) I am keeping track of all my grocery spending for the year in an Excel spreadsheet. My goal is to save at LEAST 50% every time I shop. I've done pretty good so far!

My husband was so kind to watch our 6 month old for me so I could shop without distractions today at Bloom. It's Super Doubles week (again) so they double coupons up to $1.99. I took my whole coupon book with me since Bloom always has items on sale that are not in the sale ad. (The limit at Bloom is 20 coupons per transaction per day so I used exactly 20. There were a couple of things I had to leave out since I reached my limit).

I am VERY disappointed that I did NOT have the "$10 off a $40 purchase at Bloom" coupon that was in this week's Tuesday paper. :( IF I had that coupon everything you see listed below (and in the picture) would have been FREE. Actually, it would have been -$1.34 so I could have gotten another item or 2 free. But since I don't get the newspaper I paid $8.66 for EVERYTHING you see below. Someday when I'm rich I will have a subscription to the local newspaper! Or if any of you wanna shell out a couple hundred bucks for my Christmas gift you can get me a subsrciption! lol. I usually buy a Sunday paper every week. But I don't get the weekday papers. However, if they ever have another $10 off coupon I WILL not make this mistake again and I will buy that paper. :)

Here is a list of what I got today at Bloom.

*ADC= "After double coupon"*

1 Toaster Strudel and 1 Toaster Scramble- on sale 2/$4. Used 2 $1 off coupons. ADC= BOTH FREE

3 boxes of Hot Pockets- on sale 5/$10. Used 1 $1 off 3 boxes coupons. ADC= $1.33 each

2 packs of Nestle Toll House Caramel Filled Cookie Dough- on sale 2/$4. Used 2 $1.50 off coupons. ADC= FREE plus overage of $2.00

3 bags of Nestle Toll House Morsels- on sale 2/$4. Used 3 $1 off coupons. ADC= FREE

1 Baker's Bar unsweetened chocolate- on sale for $2.19. Used 1 $1 off coupon. ADC= $0.19

2 cans of Better Crocker frosting- on sale for $1 each. Used 2 $0.50 off coupons. ADC= FREE

3 cans of Progresso Soup- on sale for $1 each. Used $1.10 off 3 cans coupons. ADC= $0.27 each

4 cans of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup- on sale 5/$4.00 aka $0.80 each. Used $1 off 4 cans coupon. ADC= $0.30 each

1 box of Tetley Tea (not on sale)- $1.65. Used 1 $0.50 off coupon. ADC= $0.65 (**Tetley is our FAVORITE tea**)

1 box of Lance Grilled Cheese Crackers (not on sale)- $2.89. Used 1 $1 off coupon. ADC= $0.89

1 Tide To Go pen (not on sale)- $2.99. Used $1 off coupon. ADC= $0.99

2 cans of Wet Ones wipes- on sale 2/$5. Used 2 $1.50 off coupons. ADC= FREE plus overage of $1.00

1 (10 pk.) Tide Stain Release (not on sale)- $3.99. Used 1 $1.50 off coupon. ADC= $0.99

(not pictured) 1 pack of Trident Layers gum- on sale for $0.99. Used 1 $0.75 off coupon. ADC= FREE plus overage of $0.51

Total Cost (before sales and coupons)= $63.91

I saved $15.67 in Bloom sales

I saved $39.58 in COUPONS!

Total spent= $8.66

*Again, IF I had that $10 off coupon from the paper everything would have been FREE!*

Learning to Save on Groceries and Essentials

I wrote this (in a Facebook note) on November 24, 2009 but I wanted to add it to my blog so you can see what I have learned (and still am learning) about my new favorite hobby- COUPONING! I hope it encourages you!

The Evolution of my Shopping Habits

In October of 2009 I began "couponing." It has changed everything about shopping for me. It has changed how I shop, when I shop, where I shop, and how much I spend shopping! I wanted to share my transformation with you.

When I moved out of my parents' house about 2 years ago I was hit with the hard reality that when I was hungry and went to the frig to grab something to eat nothing would be there...unless I bought it and put it in there! I realized that food wouldn't miraculously appear on the table as it had for the past 21 years. Thus I began grocery shopping.

I've always known that it makes sense to get the most for your money so I did what I thought would save the most money. I shopped at “low price stores” such as Wal-mart and Aldi for everything. Aldi has some great prices- even better than Wal-mart; so I'd shop there first. Whatever Aldi didn't have, I'd get at Wal-mart. I never looked for sales or coupons. I just bought what I needed (and occasionally wanted).

Over a year later I realized that the local newspaper I had been receiving (free of charge) every Wednesday on my front door contained sale ads for Bi-lo and Publix (and sometimes Ingles). I had been throwing the paper away for over a year without ever opening it! My wonderful mother informed me that stores such as Publix have sales every week and when you buy most items that are on sale for "buy one get one free" it's like getting it 50% off (for each item). And a lot of times that 50% off price was cheaper than Wal-mart...and even Aldi! Wow. I had never considered shopping at Publix before because I always thought Publix was “too expensive!”

So thus began my second phase of shopping. I would patiently wait for my "Tribune Times" newspaper to appear on my door on Wednesday mornings. (I have since learned that all the weekly sale ads are also online on the store's website). I would open each ad and make a list of what was on sale that I needed and I would go shopping and buy what was on sale. That started saving me money...AND TIME! I live less than a mile from a Publix, Bi-lo, and Ingles! Shopping at these stores saved time and money from having to drive 15-20 minutes to get to Wal-mart and/or Aldi.

In late September of '09 my mom told me to check out a website called "Southern Savers." I told her I would and I forgot about it. A couple of weeks passed and my mom reminded me again. So finally I checked out the website (http://www.southernsavers.com/). I wasn’t really expecting much. However, I was SHOCKED! I couldn’t believe how much money other people were saving!

This brings me to my newest and most cost-effective way of shopping. Basically I print and cut out coupons from the internet (red plum.com, smartsource.com, coupons.com etc.) and I buy a Sunday paper every week at Walgreens for $0.88 and cut out the coupons and organize them into my special coupon book with categories (Breakfast foods, dairy, meat, etc). I then check the sale ads on Sunday (for Ingles) and Wednesday (for Bi-lo and Publix) and see what I need and what coupons I have that match up with the sales. However, Southern Savers matches most of the sales and coupons for you (there are still deals I find on my own). I use Southernsavers.com to create a printable shopping list of the items I need and the coupons that go with each item. I have 4 envelopes each labeled with a store name (Bi-lo, Ingles, Publix, and Bloom). I put the list and corresponding coupons in each envelope and then make my way to the stores. I can’t even tell you how many items I get for free or just pennies. Almost every item I buy is under $2. I could go on and on but I just wanted you to hear the story of how I shop. You’re welcome to ask questions if you want more details. I recommend Southernsavers.com and simplesavingsecrets.net to get you started if you are interested in couponing to save LOTS of money. I spend about $120 a month on food for our family. It really doesn’t take that long to get organized and save lots of money. It is so fun and so worth it!

Update on Resolutions (Drink water!)

One of my resolutions this year is to become healthier. One of the ways I am accomplishing this is by drinking MORE WATER!!! I never used to drink a ton of soda but I admit I used to buy the Diet (only with Splenda!) sodas (mostly from Publix) quite frequently. While Splenda is much better for you than Aspartame, water is still most definitely better for you than soda!

see this article: http://nutrition.about.com/od/hydrationwater/a/waterarticle.htm

My wonderful husband got me a Pur 3 Stage Vertical Faucet Water Filter for Christmas! Because the 3 stage filter filters the water over natural minerals, our water now has a crisp, refreshing taste! This has definitely helped us want to drink more water. I highly recommend this filter!

Auto Show! ($95 profit!)

We had a BLAST at the Auto Show on Friday! Not only did we have free tickets, we also signed up for 2 test drives which we'll receive $50 each for completing. So, we paid $5 for parking and we're making $100 just for signing up for test drives and going down to the dealer. We do this every year and always enjoy making $100-$200 (depending on how many dealers are offering $50 Visa/Mastercard gift cards for doing a test drive). (You also get a FREE one year subscription to Motor Trend magazine every year at the car show as well!)



We took our 7 month old son to the car show and he had a blast. He fell asleep for about 30 minutes which is understandable since we were walking around looking at cars for 4 hours! I could've stayed even longer. I love love love the car show!



This is a picture of our son sitting in a Chevy Silverado. I don't care for Chevy trucks, but my baby looked SO cute sitting in it!!

SC International Auto Show (FREE tickets!)

I am so excited about going to the SC International Auto Show here in Greenville tomorrow with my 2 boys! I've been going every year for about the past 6 years or so and I ALWAYS have a blast! It is being held at the Carolina First Center January 15-17. There are FREE tickets available at Bi-lo and Rite Aid stores so pick yours up if you want to go! It's only free on Friday (Jan. 15) but you can purchase a discounted ticket if you want to go on Saturday or Sunday! I can't WAIT! For more information visit:

http://www.motortrendautoshows.com/

My $20 Publix Gift Card

My friend, Joy, gave us a $20 Publix gift card for Christmas and I was so excited to see what I could get for $20. Here is what I got. I went to Publix on 2 different days so it's divided up into 2 transactions.

First Transaction (top picture):

Total cost before sales and coupons: $37.90

Total savings from coupons: $26.25

Total savings from sales: $6.42

Total cost: $5.23 (of course it was free since I used the gift card).

Second Transaction (bottom picture):

Total cost before sales and coupons: $40.76

Total savings from coupons: $8.00

Total savings from sales: $14.73

Total cost: $18.03 (I had $14.77 left on the gift card so I only paid $3.26 out of pocket!)

Thanks, Joy for the gift card!!!

My $15 Publix Gift Card

My brother gave me a $15 Publix gift card for Christmas this year! Yay! It was so sweet of him. My family all laughed when I opened it and said that really it was like giving me a $50 gift card. :) They know I love to coupon, look for deals, and save money. So they knew that I would stretch that gift card and get at least $50 worth of "stuff" at Publix (one of my favorite places to shop). So I'm posting this so you can see what I got with my $15 gift card yesterday. I hope it encourages you to "stretch" your gift cards and get more for your money.

As you can see from the picture I purchased:

1 box of Skinny Cow truffle bars
1 box of Pop Tarts
1 value size box of Fiber One bars
1 value size box of Nature Valley bars
2 Old El Paso dinner kits
2 boxes of Tuna Helper
4 boxes of Hamburger Helper
1 pack of Old El Paso Cheesy Taco Seasoning
2 bags of Wonka Puckerooms (gummies)
1 bottle of Publix hand sanitizer (2 oz.)
1 box of Scotties tissues
2 Glade soy candles
1 Colgate Max White toothpaste

My total before sales and coupons was $57.27. I saved $19.52 from Publix sales and I saved $21.33 by using coupons. I saved a grand total of $40.85. My total cost came to $16.42 and since I had a $15 gift card I only paid $1.42 out of pocket! I was very happy with my purchase. Thanks, Brandon, for the gift card!

First Solids!

Today we gave our 7 month old his very first solids! He had rice cereal mixed with Mommy's milk and he loved it! He gobbled it up and it was so cute. I am very glad that we got the whole thing on video camera. I'm so proud of my little man!

Starting off the New Year with a BANG!

If you are on Facebook and saw my status on Jan. 1 you might have already heard how my hubby and I welcomed in the new year. In case you haven't heard let me tell you about our morning on Jan. 1. We all woke up on New Year's day in great moods! I got our son dressed and put him in his Bumbo in front of the TV so he could watch the Rose Parade while I took a shower. My husband was going to make skillet cornbread (in his new cast iron skillet he got for Christmas) to take to my parent's house for New Year's Day lunch. Just as I was getting ready to get into the shower, my husband starts screaming, "FIRE, FIRE, FIRE!" I came running out into the kitchen and there was a large fire burning in the skillet and hitting the cabinets above! I started screaming and running around and our son started crying. I couldn't remember how to put out a grease fire! I was yelling, "Is it baking soda or baking powder???" I didn't know what to do so I just followed my instincts and grabbed a cup of water and threw it on the fire. It exploded. The fire jumped several feet and even hit me in the stomach (miraculously though I was not burned). My husband grabbed a pot holder and picked up the skillet and the second he picked it up the fire completely went out. It was quite scary while the whole event was happening. We immediately took our baby outside because the smoke alarms were going off and the house was filled with smoke. My husband and I are thankful to God that neither of us were burned and that all we have is a little smoke damage and our cabinets (and the rest of the kitchen, for that matter) are all ok (after some good cleaning). We truly feel that we witnessed a miracle and that we had Christ's angels with us during the whole ordeal because we can't explain how the fire just miraculously disappeared when it should have gotten bigger due to my stupidity of throwing water on a grease fire. After everything settled down I googled how to put out a grease fire and found that baking soda will smother the fire, a wet towel, or a metal (not glass) lid placed over the fire will work. But every website says DO NOT PUT WATER ON THE FIRE. A friend of mine brought my attention to this video-

http://www.videosift.com/video/Kitchen-Oil-Fire-gone-terribly-wrong

After watching this we are even more thankful to God for His protection. We didn't do any fireworks on New Year's Eve this year but we sure managed to create some on New Year's Day in the kitchen. :) Thank you, God, for protecting us! God is good all the time.

2010: The New Year

Hi! I am Erin and welcome to my blog! I am so excited about the new year! And I can't WAIT to see what God has in store for our family! The purpose of this blog is just to share what God is teaching us. I'll probably share different things such as good deals I've found, how to save money, books I'm reading, what I'm learning from God's Word, updates on our family, etc.

I have set 10 goals for 2010 and I wanted to share them with you. Please feel free to pray for me and keep me accountable with these goals!

1. Grow closer to God (through reading His Word daily, talking with Him in prayer, staying faithful in church, and striving to be more like Christ)

2. Develop a deeper relationship with my husband

3. Learn how to be a better (and more patient) mother for our son

4. Save more money than ever by being a good steward and using God's resources wisely (and by couponing, waiting for sales, looking for good deals, and learning to be patient)(I am going to keep track of my savings for 2010 in an Excel spreadsheet)

5. Start paying off some of our debt (mainly credit cards since we don't have a mortgage)

6. Read one book every month

7. Get more organized and stay organized (I'm already pretty good about this and I want it to stay that way) :)

8. Complete the Dave Ramsey "Total Money Makeover" (book and workbook) with my hubby

9. Get healthy/become healthier (I'm not saying "lose weight" because I say that every year and it somehow never happens.)

10. Start a blog (which I am doing today- Jan. 3, 2010) and keep up with it!

I hope that you enjoy reading my blog just as much as I enjoy posting! Feel free to leave me comments or send me a private email. Happy New Year!