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) :)