All the News That's FIt to Print

I am still alive... mostly. THAT is a huge overly dramatic remark, but an honest one, nonetheless. I really thought when this whole arm thing happened that I would have a week or two of down time and then be on the mend and back in business, so to speak. Reality check. I am mending- this my husband and doctors have assured me. Repeatedly. I am also frustrated beyond all words. It has been nearly 8 weeks now and I am still only able to move my left arm at the shoulder joint about 3 or 4 inches from my body before I wish I hadn't. And this, I can only do a couple of times before the nerves rebel and my arm hangs limp and useless at my side. I am allowed to work- from home- in 15 minute increments- with thirty minutes rest between. I dare you to try that one. Did I mention how frustrating this is?

I have not been shopping. I have not even looked to see what sales might have come and gone. And, I have not found my neon green coupon binder. I have felt sorry for myself. I have become annoyed at myself when my building frustration veers into the waters of deep sadness. I have sat here, looking at cleaning tasks, farming tasks, and various general maintenance tasks going either undone, done haphazardly (by me), or stuffed into the "do later" column. My husband and family are a great help, but there is only so much more they can take on to do and fulfill the responsibilities of their jobs and schooling. See? Self pity leaking out, gumming up the works. Then, I think about all the ones out there dealing with REAL hardship, trials, and loss and I am ashamed of my bouts of self pity and morose countenance. I fractured my arm, not lost it for good.

I am getting better. This will end at some point and I will be back to normal; driving myself where I want to go, interacting with other humans when I get there, working, shopping, hanging with my friends... you get the picture. For now, I am finding solace in venturing out once a week with my husband on short errands. I worked for 3 hours today and actually accomplished something. I have a plan for working tomorrow, too. These small successes make me feel Good. Satisfied. And, Hopeful.

As for shopping, I am very grateful that I had a stockpile of grocery things from which to feed my family these past weeks. The supplies may be running thin, but I still have enough staples to last us a while. And, my sweet, helpful husband assisted me in cutting and sorting my stack of coupons, getting them ready for when I do feel able to hunt down those sales. My daughters bring me "gifts" of freebies from my mailbox most days, which brighten my days just that little bit more. And, I was able to sit here and type this: two handed, without my arm aching and my fingers going to pins and needles. It may not be much, but I will smile and be satisfied with that.

I will get back into the swing of things. I will count all my blessings and I will look forward to 2012 and all the adventure it will contain.

I hope this blog post finds you and yours in good health and calm spirits.
Talk with you all soon!
Sonja ♥

Moderation in all Things

I have been thinking about the changes I have made to my life this year; some of them are more personal than others, of course. But, among them are the writing of this blog, the choice to save money using coupons, and the decision to be proactive and creative about helping my husband to provide for our family's needs without me working full time. As I sit here this morning, waiting for the sun to come up to signal its time for me to trek out into the cold to care for my livestock, I have been comparing how much has changed from when I first began couponing for my family in March (of this year) and now. I actually laughed aloud and shook my head at myself, remembering the drive to get to the stores first on Sunday morning, just when they opened their doors, for fear that the stock on the shelves would be gone were I to wait. Sitting up with my husband late into the night; clipping coupons, comparing multiple couponing sites for deals, cross referencing sales, and cursing the corporate gods who dropped regional coupons that I didn't get! Oh, the sales others were having! The slightly lower prices at Targets, Walmarts, Harris Teeters, and Piggly Wigglys in the South, or the Midwest or wherever they were, tortured me. And, those people had stores that doubled coupons, matched sale prices, and had Customer loyalty card which could be loaded with online coupons at the click of a button. I considered moving. There was clearly nothing else to do.  "Why????" I cried out! Okay, I am possibly exaggerating my response just a little, but perhaps you have been there: watching those perfectly coiffed wives and mothers (men, of course, too), marching into their stores with binder in hand and walk out with 4-8 shopping carts worth of food for less than $20. I wanted to be one of them, didn't I?

Here's the thing: I am thankful that I came across Extreme Couponing on TLC. Without that, I would be shopping the old way, spending way too much and getting way to little. But, in my zeal to stop paying with my money, I started to pay with my time. Then, I had a bad fall and injured my ankle...totalled my car in a dispute with a highway guard rail (It had the stronger argument.)... and needed to take some time to heal mentally and physically. I felt horribly guilty the two months I stopped writing and chasing sales. I was convinced that I was letting down the few readers I had and that my family was quite possibly going to starve if I didn't run to the store and purchase 20 jars of Ragu at 7 am. Reality check needed! I reevaluated my goals and the guilt stopped.

Fast forward to today. Literally, it is Wednesday morning, I have not shopped any store sale yet. I have spent about 2 hours last week planning and deciding which sale items I wanted to purchase and collecting the necessary coupons. I do have my list printed. But, since I now order my stock ahead when I anticipate needing more than I am sure the store will have in stock, I no longer scramble. I know the truck will come in Thursday for Rite Aid, Shaws and Walgreens and any items I ordered will be on it and waiting for me. This week, I did not need to preorder any stock, since I am only planning on buying a couple of each item. If the items are gone when it is convenient in my schedule to shop, then I will get a rain check. No more racing other shoppers. No longer at the mercy of someone else's schedule to shop or scrambling on Saturday mornings to collect as many coupon inserts as I can get my hands on. I have reached my Balance Point.

I do have a small 3 tiered shelving unit in the basement which holds toiletry stock and some dry food stock, but I do not intend to line my basement walls with shelving units, buy under bed totes to store excess inventory, or have enough stock to open my own grocery store. I am not going to have a maze of products stacked floor to ceiling in my office space, living room, children's bed rooms, or garage. That is fine for those who do. Their choice, their way of living. I have a good supply, what I consider a reasonable supply for me. Others may feel I should stock pile more. But, saving my family money at the expense of my living space, time, or sanity is not healthy or productive for me. And, I think I may get some raised eyebrows at this, but I am meaning no disrespect or offense to anyone who chooses to stock more than I choose to. I am simply saying that for me, couponing has been a way to lower my family's expenses. I do not need to stock 20 tubes of toothpaste, even if I plan to give away some of them to others. I do not need to take advantage of every sale item that comes along. That balance is needed. Too much of anything can be detrimental.

That completes this mornings thoughts. I am sure more will follow...

Warm Regards,
Sonja ♥

Learning Each Day: Creating a Button for Your Blog

While I was searching around the internet for freebies and deals from other blog sites and webpages, I noticed that so many blogs had "buttons" which other bloggers could grab and post to their sites. Great idea, right? Obviously, I wanted one, too! But, how? I am pretty computer savvy. I know a little about HTML codes, uploading pictures, and the like, but I had never written code on my own. Where to start?

Where other than on the internet? I typed in " how to create blogger button" and was directed to a couple of related articles. I selected this one- Oikology 101 (Read article HERE) initially because it was written by someone who writes on the Blogger site. I chose wisely. The article was clearly written to be easily understood. I followed the directions and within minutes had my button posted to my blog.

There was one small glitch, which was my doing. I created my button using a print artist program and made a jpeg picture to upload to Photobucket. Oikology did tell me to make sure that I sized my project to 150x150, but I forgot to resize my jpeg before I uploaded it. Once, I checked my blog, I realized my error and simply resized my photo and uploaded it in the correct size.

Thanks, Oikology 101 for your help!

 Need a button for your blog? Now you know where to go for detailed instructions! Hope it helps, blogger friends!

Sonja ♥

Restaurant Deal $100 in gift cards for $8.

So, as I was checking my facebook account, I noticed a post from a friend of mine about www.restaurants.com. While supplies last, they have a GREAT deal! Normally, you can purchase $25 gift certificates for $10, which is a pretty good deal. When you use the code PUMPKIN at the check out, you can get $25 gift certificates for only $2. SERIOUSLY!!!

I ordered a $25 gift certificate from Miguel's in Bangor for $2.
I ordered a $25 gift certificate from China King Chinese Restaurant in Augusta for $2.
I ordered a $25 gift certificate from Black Sheep Tavern in Bucksport for $2.
And, I ordered a $25 gift certificate from Twenty Milk Street at the Portland Regency Hotel and Spa in Portland for (you guessed it) $2.
Total spent (no tax) $8. And, there were many other offers available.

A couple of notes: signing up is FREE. You can either print your certificates when you have finished paying (either with your credit card or with your paypal account) or, you can log in to print them at your convenience later. There are minimum purchase limits on these coupons, so you will end up paying more than the gift certificate amount. And, the restaurants almost universally add a "gratuity" % to your order before the gift certificate amount is credited to the bill. I found them to be between 18%-20%.

Using Miguel's Restaurant as an example (It has a minimum purchase of $35 and a 20% gratuity added before the gift certificate is applied.) this is the scenerio I am hoping for:

Appetizer:
NACHOS - Our homemade chips covered with sizzling hot cheese & salsa 7.99

Dinner:
THE "PHILLY" - Fajita steak, cheese and poblano peppers 8.99 for me and
CHIMICHANGA - A crispy fried burrito with ranchero salsa 10.99 for Sean.

Our Meal Total is $30.97, add 20% gratuity= $37.16, less $25 gift certificate= $12.16 out of pocket. We could substitute desserts instead of the appetizer for the same price. And, I did not include an amount for beverages. Usually, my family orders water with lemon to drink with our meals. We might order a beverage, but probably not.

The final analysis is this, including the cost of the gift certificate ($2) and the cost out of pocket ($12.16), the meal total cost is $14.16, still 1/2 price of what the meal would cost without the gift certificate. I will update you after I attempt to use the gift certificates with reviews on the restaurants and my experience using the gift cards, but color this girl E-X-C-I-T-E-D! I smell some food adventures coming my way!

Thanks, Courtney M. for the tip!

Sonja♥

Hannafords My Essentials Catalina

With Hannaford's change in coupon policies, I honestly doubted my continued shopping there. I still look through the flyer that comes in the mail each week, because I don't want to miss a good sale, if one comes up- just in case. This week's flyer piqued my interest.

Hannaford's is offering catalinas based on purchasing their store brand, labeled "my essentials". For every four My Essential products you purchase, you earn a $1 catalina for use on your next order. You can earn up to a $10 catalina. As I mentioned, interesting. So, I looked at what was on sale that might make this deal worth my shopping at Hannaford's this week.

My Essentials canned vegetables are on sale for 2/$1. As are My Essentials chicken noodle and tomato soups. My Essentials refrigerated biscuits and yogurt are on sale for .45¢ each. You can mix and match My Essential items. Hmmmm....

The Scenerio:

Purchase 4 Biscuits= $1.80. Pay $1.80 cash and receive $1 Catalina back.
Purchase 4 Yogurts= $1.80. Pay .80¢ cash and $1 catalina, and receive $1 Catalina back.
Purchase 4 cans Vegetables= $2.00. Pay $1 cash and $1 Catalina, and receive $1 Catalina back.
Purchase 4 cans Soup= $2.00. Pay $1 cash and $1 Catalina and receive $1 Catalina back.

I like to use the catalinas to purchase low cost items that my family would use and that are on sale. Taking into consideration the catalinas earned, yogurt and biscuits on sale for .45¢ get marked down to merely .20¢. And, the price of canned vegetables and soup reduce from .50¢/can to .25¢/can.

You can do a total of 10 different transactions of four items (since the limit on this offer is $10). In the end, the net cost of the items are the same, but the amount you pay out of your pocket is significantly less. In this scenerio, purchasing all the items at once would cost $7.60 in cash and earn you a $4 catalina. This makes your net transaction $3.60. Using multiple transactions, the cost out of pocket would be reduced to $4.60 and you would still have $1 catalina to use another day for a net transaction of $3.60. I choose to use multiple transactions. It takes more time, but in the end, I spend nearly half as much cash from my wallet.

I have earned $3 in catalinas so far, but I plan to stop in when I go passed a Hannaford, again, this week. How about you?

Sonja ♥

Free Hugo Boss Frangrances & Philips Avent Bottle

I got a lead today about a free sample of Tom's of Maine. I followed a couple of links, only to discover that the samples were gone. Sorry, Miss Cherie, I thought of you and was so looking forward to posting that link, but alas! it was not to be.

On my travels, I did discover a few other freebies along the way. These were a few of my favorites.

Hugo Boss has free samples of your choice of three delightful frangrances. I chose Boss Orange. You can get your sample HERE. Which sample will you choose?

I also found a place HERE for a free Sample of your choice of one of three Hugo Boss Men's Fragrances.

You can get a Free 4oz Philips Avent Baby Bottle when you "like" their facebook page, while supplies last. You can get yours HERE.

My littlest baby is already 11 years old and in Middle School, but I have friends having babies and family having babies. This can be added to a gift bag with some other goodies for any expectant mother in my life.



Have you found any interesting Freebies this week???

Sonja ♥


Today's Freebie: Fiber Choice

Today's free sample is Fiber Choice.

I have never tried taking fiber, so I have not had the opportunity to try this. I have a good friend who usually uses Benefiber, but I thought that she might like Fiber Choice.

Click HERE for your Free Sample.

Did you come across any interesting freebies this week?

Sonja♥

Free Sample Aveeno Shampoo and Conditioner

Today's Free Sample comes from the Walmart site.

Get a Free Sample of Aveeno Living Color Shampoo and Conditioner.

Get your Free Sample Here.

I can't wait to try this one out!

Has anyone already tried it? What did you think?

Sonja ♥

Freebies in my Mailbox

I love getting free samples in my mailbox! I mean, what's not to love about trying a new product before buying it? Or, having single size packets of products to leave out for visiting guests? Or, to pack in your carry on bag when you travel? Or, to use in hundreds of other useful ways? 

Today in my mailbox I received a lovely, little, feminine bag of goodies. Among these were samples for Ponds facial cleansing cloths, Tresemme Shampoo & Conditioner, Garnier Fructis Shampoo & Conditioner, John Freida Full Repair Shampoo, Conditioner, & Repair, L'Oreal Youth Code lotion, Burt's Bees facial cream and a coupon book with $20 in money saving coupons exclusive to Target.

In another packet, I received 2 pair of disposable underwear for women from TENA Women. It included a booket with helpful hints on dealing with adult incontinence. My Nana was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease many years ago. As her health deteriorates, sadly, this kind of product becomes more and more necessary. And, these products can be very expensive! I intend to keep this packet in my first aid/emergency bag in my vehicle. If I need them on an outing with Nana, they will be waiting, just in case.

A friend of mine gave me a tip about using baby diapers for absorbing domestic animal household "accidents". Perhaps, these would suit that purpose, too?

The last item in my mailbox was a sample of Biore facial cleanser. I have not actually used this product before, but I wanted to try it out. I love that now I can... for FREE!

I do not pay anything for samples. I find them very frequently available on facebook, couponing webpages, and blogs. Proctor & Gamble's program will send you free samples and coupons each quarter when you sign up. This quarter I am expecting to receive free samples of Crest 3D White Toothpaste, Crest 3D 2 Hour Whitening Strips, and Herbal Essense Shampoo and Conditioner. I was pleased to see some high value coupons for Tampax Pearl, CoverGirl NatureLuxe Foundation or Lip Balm, and Venus Pro Skin Moisure Rich system. Sign up Here. You can Sign up for Target Samples Here and Sign up for Walmart Samples Here.

What freebies came in your mailbox today?

Sonja ♥

Shaw's: $10 Catalina WYB $25, again

Retail Value: $39.38. Cost Out of Pocket $10. Catalina Earned $10.
Net Cost= FREE           100% Savings

Today was the last day for the $10 catalina when you buy (wyb) $25 in participating GM products. I already had a $10 catalina to use on this deal from my shopping trip last Friday and coupons to match this sale, so I wanted to try my hand at doing this deal another time. With coupons and catalina in hand, off to Shaw's I went.

In my first transaction, I decided to purchase 6 bags of Chex Mix. These were on sale for 2/$4. I had a coupon for $1/2 from a Sunday insert. This made them 2/$3. I purchased 4 bags of Betty Crocker Cookie mix on sale for 2/$4. I had (4) .40¢/1 manufacturer coupons (which doubled to .80¢/1) to bring these to $1.20/bag. Totino's Pizza Rolls were on my list and I used an online printable coupon of .40¢/2 (doubled to .80¢/2) to bring them to .60¢/box. And, I purchased (10) Yoplait yogurts on sale for 10/$6. I used a $1/10 coupon with these to being the total to 10/$5. Clearly, none of these prices were so AMAZING as to be MUST HAVES... until you consider the $10 catalina offer. My total before coupons/savings came to $28.00. After coupons and discounts, the total was $10. I paid $10 in cash and received a $10 On Your Next Order (OYNO) Catalina. Basically, everything I bought, was FREE.

Retail Value $31.18. Cost out of Pocket .62¢.
Net Cost .62¢           98% Savings

For my last transaction today, I flipped the $10 to purchase the Kibbles 'n Bits that I had gotten a rain check for on Tuesday. Kibbles 'n Bits were priced at $5.99 (which was even less expensive than was advertised previously. I don't know why, but I am not complaining!) and had a buy one, get one sale on them. This made them 2 bags for $5.99. I used (2) $1.50/1 manufacturer coupon from the Sunday insert to bring them down to $2.99 for 2 bags or $1.50 each (for the 3.6 pound bags). I did not want to use cash, so I needed to bring my balance to over the $10 mark. I added 2 bags of Chex Mix with the same coupons as above... and a twix candy bar at the register. My total came to $10.62. I paid with my $10 Catalina and .62¢ cash.

I really am very impressed with the Shaw's crew. Today, my cashier was Ethan and my bagger was Jill. She was so friendly and I appreciated that on a dreary, rainy day. There was a small snaffoo buying the Kibbles 'n Bits when the computer failed to register the buy one, get one sale. Ethan was great. I knew the amount on the register was too much, so I inquired about the price of the dog food and showed Ethan the sales flyer. He was so polite and professional. He called over his shift supervisor, Joyce who took one look and fixed the problem. Easy, easy. Problems will occasionally arise, but when they do, it is comforting to know that the cashiers are on your side, ready to help. Joyce even handed me a copy of next week's sales flyers early. I highly recommend the Bangor Shaw's store.

Starting tomorrow, there are going to be some good buy 3, get 3 sales. I am looking into taking advantage of the Classico pasta sauce. www.classico.com has a $1/1 printable coupon. You can print this twice. Quakes Rice Cakes are going to be on sale for $1 and they had some $1/3 peelies that will make these a fairly decent treat. Vitamin Water Zero is on sale for $1 with a bonus of (4) bottles when you buy (10), this makes them .71¢ each. I am going to look for a coupon for the Pillsbury Cake mix on sale for $1. I am also interested in the FREE MILK offer when you buy (4) participating GM cereals at 4/$10. There are several $1/2 coupons available for this offer, which would bring the cost to $8/4 boxes of cereal. When you consider that milk costs about $4/gallon, if you were going to need the milk anyway, it is like paying $1 for each box of cereal. Not too bad!

What sales caught your eye for next week?

Sonja ♥