Savin' a Little Money....Yippee!!

Interested in making your dollars go a little farther? Heather has given us some ideas. The following is shared with her permission from her own blog. You may have some more ideas or suggestions you'd like to give.

DISCOVERING THE ART OF COUPON SHOPPING
So, my friend Rachel has introduced the idea of "coupon" shopping to me. Yes, I knew coupons existed, I just didn't understand how to use them to the best of my advantage. I went to Dillons yesterday and saved 44% on my grocery bill! I paid $39 for $70 worth of groceries. Without going into too much detail I wanted to share a little of what I've learned this week.
1. Dillons doubles coupons up to $1
2. You can download coupons onto your Dillons card. (who knew?!?!) I explain this below.
3. You can save some major money by using all these coupons when Dillons happens to have the same products on sale. This means you need to do some planning by only shopping for things when they are on sale and you have a coupon(s) for that item.
4. The Kansas City Star newspaper has tons of coupons in it!!! Several savvy couponers suggest that you buy at least two copies so that you have more coupons when certain items are on sale.
5. There's some great sites that teach you how to "coupon shop." The first two sites listed are places where you can print coupons from your computer. The rest are sites that explain coupon shopping in more detail.
Here they are:
http://www.slickdeals.net/
http://www.coupons.com/
http://www.moneysavingmom.com/
http://www.comicalcouponcents.com/
http://www.iheartcvs.com/
http://www.becentsible.com/
http://www.mommystayshome.blogspot.com/

HAPPY SHOPPING!

Here are 2 sites that I found where you can load coupons onto your Dillons card. (I found the second site this morning!)

The first site is the easiest to get to: It's http://www.shortcuts.com/ just follow the instructions. You'll need your Dillons card w/you so you can enter the number onto the site.

The second one is hard to get to so follow these directions carefully...I can't figure out another way to get you there:

type www.frugalhomemakerplus.blogspot.com/2008/05/super-saving-saturday.html into your URL or click on it here.

When you get to that page you'll see a picture of food. Under the food click onto where it says "loading coupons onto your store cards"
When you get to this next page in the 2nd paragraph you'll see the words Go here, here and here. Click on the 2nd "here" and it'll take you to the protor and gamble site for loading the coupons. Don't bother with the other "here's" as the first one no longer works and the third one you've already done!

I have confirmed with Dillons that at check out you may swipe your card and use a coupon from the newspaper, etc. at the same time for the same product! Woo Hoo!!! I got 4 things FREE at Dillons yesterday by doing this! (EXAMPLE: I had a coupon loaded onto my card for .50 off of toilet paper. I also had a paper coupon for .50 off of toilet paper. The toilet paper was on sale for 1.50. So, with my paper coupon doubling to $1 plus my .50 e-coupon loaded on my card, the TP was FREE!!!

Hope this helps!

~ Heather

Me or Him?

How do we decide when to spend money on ourselves versus spending that money for a good work for God? For example, I can afford to take my family on a small vacation, or I could send that money to a missionary or donate to a cause, but I can't do both. What is the right thing to do?

God's Will Versus My Will

Whoa.....it's been way too long since I've posted anything. Are you guys checking in every now and then? Someone sent in a topic she'd like to discuss--this whole idea of God's will vs. my own. She says that sometimes she thinks we force them to mesh or don't recognize that they are often different and wonders if she's the only one who gets caught up in these traps of worldly desires that are not from him. I'm more than certain she is not alone. Any comments?

For Women Only

Heather passed this info along to me, so I thought I'd post it. Family Life Today will have Shaunti Feldhaun on their broadcast 5/5-5/9 talking about respecting our husbands. She's the author of For Woman Only. Heather listened to her last year and really enjoyed what she had to say on this topic. If you haven't read the book, it's pretty insightful as to how our men think and view things (from their own point of view).

FM 90.1 at 9a.m. or you can go online to www.fltoday.com and listen also.

Slowing Down

I have deliberately over the last few years tried to slow down a bit and be home more. Seems like there is always something to do or be involved in that takes you away from home. Does anyone else struggle with this?

Commanded to Respect?

One of the hard things about relationships is respecting one another. We know we are commanded in the Word to respect our husbands, and that is at the top of the list of what our husbands need from us. Some days I'm pretty good at respecting Kenny; other days I fail miserably. The thing I am working on presently is not to put my own agenda on him (which looks like, sounds like, and probably IS nagging). That is a particular weakness I have, and it shows a lack of respect for him. What does respecting your husband look like to you?

Family Fun

What a great time we had Sunday night at our church-wide skating party!! We had nearly 150 people attend, 92 of which were skaters. It was really fun for me to watch families interact together--of all ages. One thing I want to focus on this year is family interaction, rather than everyone going off in a different direction, which is often the case. What are some things you do as a family that are inexpensive, but enjoyable? Maybe we can share some ideas with one another. Our boys would probably say that we focused on working together...cutting wood, splitting wood, stacking wood, mowing, digging holes in the garden for tomatoes...you get the idea. (You notice cleaning the house didn't make the list.) Hey, it was family time. And I bet when they have their own families they'll want to get out that tiller and make a few trips back and forth across the yard with it themselves. Share some of your family together-time.