from the laying carpet 3/10 post

again i have no idea why these didn't show before...ugh!

topher bday party

no idea why these didn't show up in the original post...hoping they will now! :)

Coupon Info

So I know I'll probably have a bit more traffic here over the next few days and I thought I'd outline how to get started with couponing.

The key to saving money on groceries is to be a strategic shopper. It's all about shopping with coupons while a product is on sale and stocking up so you don't have to buy something when it's not cheap (or FREE!!!). I found this tutorial very helpful- and this to help you figure out the best time to buy the things you want.

• The first key is to know how your store's savings programs work, such as sales and promotions, and combine them- with coupons- to save the most money. National stores such as Wal-Mart and Walgreens have coupon policies available at their websites (just click on my links above- print this and take it with you when you shop). Walgreens lets you use a store coupon (which can only be used at Walgreens) and a manufacturer's coupon (this also works for target and they have their own printable coupons here). No one here in Danville doubles coupons except for K-mart at certain times and on certain items that you must have a "shop your way rewards" card (free from the customer service desk). I only know of one place in Champaign that doubles coupons which is Schnucks which doubles up to .35 (in other words a .30 coupon doubles to .60 off of the item).

• The second key is to know where to find the best coupons. The easiest and (usually) best source is your Sunday paper. Many hard core couponers buy 4 or more copies of the Sunday paper but I typically buy only one and I can still get a lot of deals/savings with just one copy of each insert. There are also MANY different site in which you can print some coupons such as coupons.com, smartsource.com, redplum.com, www2.kelloggs.com, (which you need to sign up for to have access to print them), bettycrocker.com, Eatbetteramerica.com, and when you "like" certain products on Facebook they occasionally offer coupons as well. If there is something on a wicked good deal and you only have a copy or two of the coupon for the deal there are some websites where you can buy clipped coupons such as collectiblecoupons.com, thecouponclippers.com, couponsthingsbydede.com. Signing up for samples when they are listed on the blogs below typically include coupons as well. There is also a magazine called AllYou sold exclusively at Wal-Mart that is FILLED with coupons! You may also go to allyou.com/subscribe to have it sent directly to your home. When you start collecting coupons you'll need a way to organize them. Some people use binders with baseball card holders so they can see them, I personally use a 4*8 index card holder with dividers and then you want to organize them by the date they will expire the soonest expiration at the front (otherwise you will just keep adding and adding and have a big unorganized mess!!). When you first start out you can use the little accordion coupon holders- or envelopes. But being organized is CRUCIAL to getting unadvertised or clearance deals. It does take some time up front but it saves you time when you go shopping.

• The last key is to know when to use your coupons, combining them with the lowest sale prices on your favorite items. Mylitter.com has some great advice as to what your favorite items would be. Also don't be afraid to ask for rain checks- just make sure they'll get another shipment of product before your coupons expire!

The only other advice I can give is to remember that when starting out that this most likely isn't the last time you will see products at this price! Remember to look for the smallest size of the product because that gives you the biggest savings- the trial size area is your best friend! Also don't forget that you DO NOT need to cash in on EVERY deal at EVERY store! Chose a store to focus on- start with one and go from there!

Here are my favorite coupons deals blogs:
athriftymom.com
becentsable.net
centsablemomma.com
commonsensewithmoney.com
couponmom.com
dealseekingmom.com
frugallivingandhavingfun.com
hip2save.com
krazycouponlady.com
moneysavingmadness.com
moneysavingmom.com
mylitter.com
passionforsavings.com
shesaved.com
stretchingabuckblog.com
wildforwags.com

these all show coupon matchups for walgreens, cvs, walmart and other stores as well as other money savings tips!

Topher's Bday Party! 3/26/11

I was a bit stressed with having 2 weeks to unpack enough to have a birthday party for 4-5 year olds and was having a hard time deciding what to do for a cake or cup cakes. When I went to Wal-Mart the day before the party I saw this and could not pass it up! It worked perfectly with our Jungle theme!

Topher with his friend Nicholas from school - he was so happy that someone from school showed up!

Singing happy birthday- after which Matt propmtly tried to blow out the candle for his brother!

Topher's best friend from Peoria- it was so nice that they drove the 2 hours to come!

Crowding around the birthday boy as he opens his presents! This dragon he got was so exciting that one of the other kids tried to open it for him!

March 10, 2011 working on the new house

We had a few things to do to get the new house ready to move in. (okay we didn't have to, but it makes life easier) We decided to rip down wallpaper and paint the bedrooms that we'd be in (Mike's and my room still not complete), so we didn't have to worry about moving furniture around twice. We also decided to put new carpet (in lieu of the lovely swirly blue stuff in ours) and found that we had very nice hard wood floors under the carpet- but Mike likes carpet in the bedroom so now we have off-white carpet. The boys wanted to be included in the painting of Mom and Dad's bedroom (this was during our sick time which is why Topher is in pj's in the middle of the day) - they didn't actually get too much paint on themselves. Hopefully one day I'll remember to take pictures of the finished products...kinda hard since we are having to re-do our bathroom earlier than originally planned. We have to have our hot water line replaced- thankfully we decided to get the home warranty so its not costing us an arm and a leg- but we are looking forward to having a shower instead of a "sprinkle" every day!

Valentine's Day! 2011

Topher's preschool class had a party with treats...

Some crafts, decorating a treat bag (they let Matt make one too!)

and some stories...

They had sooo much fun and got entirely too much candy! Which was pretty much gone the same day :)

New/Old House

So we are in the process of buying our second house and we can't help but think about the differences between our first house located in Havre, Montana versus the one we are buying here in Danville, Illinois. The first house had no garage! And we lived in Montana! There was a lot of snow...though this year there has been a lot here in Illinois as well and now we will have a 2 car garage! Yay! No more scraping windows in the morning! The first house in Montana was also about 1200 sq ft versus a little over 2000 in this new one! The first house was also only officially a two-bedroom (the two in the basement didn't count because the windows weren't right) and this one is a 3 bedroom with a potential fourth. The first had one SMALL full bathroom, and one half bath in the basement; the new one has a fair sized full bath and a half bath on the main level and a half bath in the basement! Yay! The new house still needs some upgrades (the full bath and the kitchen), but we are also gaining a rec room (its huge!) and a separate dining room (finally!)! The main floor is all hardwood, except for the rec room (which is an addition) which is carpet, and of course the kitchen which is (blue- ick) tile. The upstairs bedrooms are carpeted as well. The basement here is only partly finished and has a low ceiling, but will work really well for an exercise room (in one of the rooms) and a food storage room (which is good cuz couponing gets you a LOT of stuff!), and a laundry room. We can even turn the main room of the basement into a "man cave" if we wanted. The boys favorite part of the house is the "secret room" which is part of the upstairs closet in one of the bedrooms which had/has a slanted wall which was covered up by some wall and a closet door which connects to a small "door" that ends in the master closet. The boys can't wait to move and play in the "secret" room!

The front of the Montana house...ho-hum to say the least!

We had a good sized back yard with a built in dog-run, but it wasn't gorgeous.

I look at this picture and can't help but see how much more curb appeal this has! (Yes I watch HGTV!)

This yard is gorgeous! And it is sooooooooo huge! Way on the back of the property is a cement basketball court and a nice shed as shown in this pic!