Extreme Couponing

Ok, maybe not extreme.  Who really needs 80 bottles of salad dressing or 100 cans of corn?  Besides that who has the space to store all that not to mention the time to devote to finding all those deals and coupons?  I don't.  I must admit that I don't coupon quite as much since Phoebe has been born, but a good 20-30 minutes per week (normally while I'm pumping so what else do I really have to do during that time anyway?) can save you a lot of money.  People always ask can couponing really save you that much money?  Yes!  On average I save almost as much as I spend on my grocery/drugstore bill each time I shop.  And I buy products that we actually use on a regular basis.  Everyone could use a few extra dollars in the bank, especially now that those holiday credit card bills are coming in...

Check out some of my recent savings below:

From a Kroger trip:
Total Value purchased: $25.05
Total Spent: $9.16
Total Saved: $15.89

From CVS:

Now CVS does take a bit of planning and multiple transactions at the register with the Extra Care Bucks (ECB).  But I've found it can save you some big bucks, especially on some of those more expensive toiletry items.  These purchases were made in 2 separate weeks (2 different sale ads)

Week 1

Week 2

Total Value Purchased: $81.24

Total Spent: $38.83

Total Saved: $42.41+ $1.50 ECB in my wallet for another time

I follow Southern Savers to find all my sale and coupon match ups.  She has already done all the work so I I have to do is click, cut and shop.  Check it out!

Monkey See Monkey Do

So EVERYTHING goes in Phoebe's mouth now.  Her fist is definitely a favorite.

After seeing Phoebe enjoy her fist so much, Caylee thought she would give it a try.  Really, Caylee doesn't normally suck on her fist- she just wanted to be like cousin Phoebe.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

PeaPod

The PeaPod is currently my favorite baby product and has come in very handy this week.  Pack and plays are nice, but really too big and heavy to travel with (on a plane that is).  Thankfully when we've traveled to to Oklahoma, Delaware, and Chattanooga we were able to borrow pack and plays from family and friends.  But flying out to Colorado we had to come up with a different plan.  The PeaPod is actually one of the first things I put on our baby registry because I thought it looked that cool...  It is.

It packs up small enough to fit into a suitcase and only weighs about 5 lbs, so its easy to transport.  There is a small blow-up mattress that we put a crib sheet over and it is good to go.  (They also sell ones with a self-inflating mattress, but it is easy to blow up so probably not worth the extra money.)

It is very easy to set-up- it pops open as soon as you take it out of the carrying case so make sure no valuables (such as your child) are close by.  Its easy to fold back together as well and is pretty spacious.  A two or even three year old could sleep in it.

And if you wanted your child contained...

The PeaPod has ties on the bottom so you could stake it into the ground at the beach or camping and even has UV protection.  We will certainly be taking this to the beach with us next summer.

Christmas in Georgia

On Saturday we headed back home from Chattanooga and my parents and brother drove in from Delaware to spend Christmas with us.  I worked Christmas day and Chris preached at one of the area churches, so there was really nothing special about Christmas morning.  Thankfully, I was able to leave work at 11am so I met everyone back home after church.

Family Christmas picture after meeting back at home Sunday afternoon

Look at all these presents!

I was happy to work this year because it means I should have off next year.  Next Christmas will be much more exciting for Phoebe.  After church and work we cooked our Christmas meal and then opened  presents and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon.

Is this one for me?

I'm going for it

Its mine now...