The Latest Fixation...

So much for trying to keep up with this blog and the others. It's just not working out! I'm trying to keep one eye on the 8 kiddies I'm babysitting (including my 3 young'uns) and one eye on this post. There's got to be a better way. I look at my friend, Devri, who's a busy mom and yet she seems to find the time to keep her blogs up-to-date and I wonder how she does it! I've got to find out her secret.

Anyway, I wanted to tell you all about my latest craze...

For years now, after seeing our friend Tessa's food storage, Scott and I have been trying to increase our own, but raising a large family usually comes with high unplanned expenses, so our food storage has been slow to increase, that is until recently. As you know, food storage doesn't include just food, it includes everything else that you and your family would use, such as health and beauty products, etc. Anyhow, a few of my awesome neighbors and friends have been couponing, using Amy - The Savvy Shopper's method. Now, if you live in the states, than I highly recommend that you check out Amy's site. She has a great video tutorial that explains how coupons work and how to organize them in a binder. I've found that organization is the key to having a good experience in couponing. I've been couponing (and doing rebates), for a month and half now and I cannot tell you how fast our food storage supply has increased and on a budget. It's been a blessing, I tell you, a great blessing. I've been able to purchase Colgate toothpaste for 24 cents... yes, 24 cents. I've been told that if you spend more than 50 cents on toothpaste, then you've paid too much. I've purchased Johnson's Buddies soap sudzing bars for 17 cents for 3 bars... yep, you read it right... 17 cents total for 3 bars (actually, the 17 cents is the tax, the soap bars were FREE and I've got quite a few of them)!!! I've also been able to purchase Garnier, Finesse hair products, Nivea lip balms, Samy salon hair products and other brand name items for dirt cheap and sometimes for FREE (man, I LOOOOOOOOOVE that word), in fact cheaper than store brands! Yesterday, I got a couple of bottles of Ken's salad dressing for 49 cents a bottle... and the madness just keeps going!!! To date, just from one grocery store, I've saved nearly $400.00 in one month! So, this weekend's agenda is going to include the re-organization of our storage room downstairs to make room for all the awesome deals I've been getting. Right now, it's hard to walk in the first aisle without stepping on bags and bags of granola bars, pudding snacks, cereals, etc.

OK, on to the next fix... ETSY! I love home/handmade items. On Valentine's and on my birthdays, my favorite present is always, a handmade card. When my sis-in-law, Alissa, lived nearby, I was always impressed with her creativity (you should see some of the things she's made, including her beautiful cards). She's AMAZING!!! So, about Etsy... it's a great site to purchase handmade items. They've got the most darling items on there! And the money that I've been able to save from couponing and rebates? Well, let's just say that I've set an Etsy spending account aside for me to play with. lol. ;)