Pick Your Battles

Somethings just aren't worth the fight.

Learning to Coupon

My current career transition (from part-time teacher to full-time domestic engineer) has made me start thinking about ways to save more money and stretch our budget further. I decided that part of what I would do was learn to coupon... serious couponing where you get stuff super cheap or free. So, a few weeks ago I signed up for 3 copies of the Sunday paper and started reading lots of couponing blogs.

I've learned lots. Mostly I've learned that the way to get a ridiculous deal is to combine a good sale price with a store coupon and a manufacturer coupon. Also, when things are a good price, use all the coupons you have and stock up.

So, today, I made a Target run... they issue new store coupons (just a handful) every 2 weeks, which only makes me love them more! Anyway, here's what I bought and how I did:

*Please ignore the two lightblubs and the two bottles of Shout... those got returned. The lightblubs are the wrong ones (I have a raincheck for a specific type) and I didn't notice until I was out of the store and my one of my coupons for Shout was expired, which doesn't make it a good enough price, since I have adequate stock of it in the house right now.*

• 2 Desitin
• 2 Head-to-Toe Baby Wash
• 2 Johnsons Bubble Baths
• 1 Evenflo Nursing Pads
• 1 Johnson's Nursing Pads
• 2 Pledge Furnitue Wipes
• 6 boxes Market Pantry fruit snacks
• 2 Betty Crocker Warm Delights Minis
• 6 Suave Naturals Shampoo & Conditioner
• 2 Suave Professionals Shampoo & Conditioner
• 1 trial size baby lotion (for my purse... no coupon)
• 1 trial size "Hello Kitty" band-aid (Allison's $0.97 splurge, no coupon)
• 1 four-pack of travel size kleenex (for the diaper bag, no coupon)

My out of pocket total: $38.82. Amount saved with coupons: $26.70... thats a 40% savings... all this stuff SHOULD have cost me over $65! I had at least one coupon for every single thing I bought... with the three exceptions noted.

I think my best deal today was a toss up between the shampoo/conditioner and the fruit snacks. The fruit snacks were just $0.52 a box using a printable Target store coupon... you can find it here. The shampoo (the "Naturals" kind) I paid just $0.39 a bottle for... I had two manufacturer coupons for $1.75 off of any 3 Suave products. A steal, right?

I love a good deal. =) I think I'm going to track what I buy this month with our regualr budget money to see how much more I can get with the same amount of money... see if my $12 newspaper subscription is worth. it.

Our Addition

Our baby boy has arrived and we have decided on a name...

Carter Brian Thornock joined out family on Friday, March 27th at 9:08 am. He weighed in at a whopping 8 pounds, 10 ounces! That big of a baby was a surprise to ALL of us... I'm still wondering where on earth he was hiding himself in my belly. =)

Allison is adjusting well so far. She thinks his name is "Right There" (she'd pat my belly and say "right there" when we asked her where baby brother was... it stuck) and she only gets jealous of him when I'm nursing him. Otherwise, its all loves, hugs and kisses for brother.

Nesting

I've been going a little crazy nesting lately. It's really kicked in pretty badly. I'm trying to be all ready and stocked for this new kid. I currently blame the state of my closet on nesting...

Yeah. If you want to know, that is over 550 diapers. Talk about stocking up. But there was a killer deal... combine the sale price on Huggies at Walgreens this week with a $5 manufacturer's coupon with an in-store instant rebate deal... it was kind of a steal for all those diapers. It doesn't seem crazy, until you understand the amount of time I spent in Walgreens and calling Walgreens this week trying to make sure I could get in on the deal (they, naturally, sold out of all Huggies diapers SO fast this week, so I was stalking their delivery truck, and at the store waiting for the diapers as they put them out on the shelves). Sadly, I'm pretty sure if I remember what newborns are like, 550 diapers will probably last us just about 2 months is all.

I think nesting is likely also to blame for he TWO lasagnes (one for dinner, one for the freezer) I made today (not that we can ever even finish one!).

I've also decided that I need and want to learn how to coupon effectively, for diapers if nothing else. I mean, I'm about to have twice as many children in diapers on half the income (okay... I get to keep receiving my paycheck through August, but I'm still freaking out about that whole situation). There just something about getting a steal of a deal that a rush. =)

By the way, for those looking for a deal on diaper, the $5 huggies coupon (along with a $3 one) can be found at coupons.com. You can print 2 from every computer you have access to. Probably the best place to use them now that the Walgreens deal is over is Walmart... my Walmart had the jumbo (small) packs for $9.72... with the $5 coupon you pay on $4.72 for the pack... thats just under 12 cents a diaper for size 3. Can you tell I'm a little obsessed with this? I think I need help...

Simply Sweet Marriage Giveaway

So I've plugged this before, but here we go again! Simply Sweet Marriage has now opened their website and they have really great prices on intimate products for married couples. Right now they're giving away free lingerie on their blog... check it out here!

Little Nurse Maid

I have a very sweet little girl. This morning I stayed home from work sick... miserably sick. Brian took advantage of me being home to get a full day's worth of school work in. Before he left, I sent him on a run to Albertson's to get me some Cup O Noodles (I don't really like canned soup) and some fruit bar popsicles. He went ahead and left Allison playing in the front room while he ran out... I was still in bed.
As soon as he left, Allison came running into my room to check on me. She offered me the bottle of juice for her baby doll. Then she brought me in her "baby"... a little pink bear that is one of her favrotie comfort items, and her blankey. She also brought me a bottle of water. Juice, baby, blankey and water were all things that we kept with Allison to help her feel good while she was sick for the last little while. She knew that mommy didn't feel good and was trying to bring me things to make me feel better.
It was sweet, and it made me smile... until the next time I coughed anyway.

Sick & Tired of Sick & Tired

Allison got sick about 2 weeks ago. Some kind of yucky virus... possibly RSV. Fever, lots of congestion moving to chest congestion and a nasty cough. Poor thing! We did everything we could for her... Vicks rub, humidifier, a sippy of water in her crib, lots of comfort items and yummy hydrating food. It interrupted her sleep pretty badly for a few days and just made her miserble for several days. She's finally mostly over it... just a little cough left.

Sadly, after nearly 2 weeks, I was pretty sure that Brian and I had both gotten lucky and missed it. No such luck. I started with the cough yesterday and it makes me have so much more sympathy for Allison... this cough HURTS! Not to complain, but combine it with feeling so big, and not sleeping really well (becuase no position is comfortable)... I'm ready to say I'm done.