And I'm back in the game! PLUS- Help a family bring home a new addition!

First things first: Head on over to Dreams of Grace and enter a raffle to win some super cute goodies from Thirty-One. All money raised is going towards this sweet family's costs to bring home their beautiful daughter, Grace, that they're adopting from China. Donating is easy and can be done straight from the blog. Visit their site, hear more about their adoption journey and show some love and support!

I've been out of the couponing game for a bit now, and by that I mean I've not really been doing a lot of matchups or stockpiling. That's sort of the beauty of the couponing life, because it allows me to stock up so I don't have to buy certain items for months! I've also been concentrating a lot on buying more organic and natural products, so my costs have gone up a bit. However, I was getting low on a few things and decided to start back at it! I headed over to CVS and Bi-Lo last week and snatched up some goodies! Also, Blogger is being a jerk and moving my pictures around, so please pretend that my pictures are centered.

First up was CVS where I found a good deal on Dove products. My shampoo/conditioner stockpile was depleted so I grabbed a couple of each. To round out the deal I chose to get some men's deodorant (Adam's got plenty for now so this may find its way into someone's stocking this Christmas!), and lucked out to find a package that was buy one, get one free. With coupons and extra care bucks I paid 40 cents for each of the Dove products (technically 20 cents for each deodorant), and I used a CVS coupon for 50 cents off on the sponges.  I get most of my cleaning supplies (sponges, brushes, etc) either free with store rewards or on the cheap at the dollar store. Not sure why anyone would pay more...

Next up was Bi-Lo, and this was a prime example of why you should ALWAYS pick up a raincheck for an item that's on sale but the store's supply is gone. I've found that if I hang on to the raincheck (which doesn't expire), I almost always come across a really good coupon eventually that makes it a better deal than it was during the orignal sale/coupon matchup.

• 3 organic spaghetti sauce jars- FREE with Bi-Lo survey coupon
• 2 Colgate toothpastes- FREE using raincheck and coupons; my raincheck still has a quantity of 4 on there so the next time a coupon comes around making it free I'll pick those up. I NEVER pay for toothpaste.
• 2 boxes of Bounce- $1 each with raincheck and coupons
• Powerade- FREE with coupon "bought" with mycokereward points
• Temptations kitty treats- 20 cents. Jonesy already has a couple packages in his "stockpile" so these will be going in his Christmas stocking. What...? Your cat doesn't have a stocking??

I hope everyone has a great week! I'm excited about a week of great weather, a chili cookoff at work (I'm entering my white chili!), and projects at the house this weekend. We're going to be putting down tile in our master bathroom and installing a new vanity for the hall bathroom. Can't wait to cross those things off The List!

How I do meal planning

I've been a little MIA on the blog for a bit, and I blame some complications with a root canal I had several weeks ago.  Up until a couple days ago I didn't feel like my usual self and was having severe pain in my jaw and pretty much constant headaches.  Pain killers made me sick and all problems combined resulted in lack of sleep...and lack of energy to do anything. However, I'm back in the game and grateful to be feeling better!

I have people ask me occassionally how I do my meal planning and thought I would give you guys an example of what I do most weeks. Now, keep in mind it's just the two of us so our quantities may be smaller, but the same principles apply to larger families. Meal planning for me goes something like this:

1. Anyone who knows me knows I coupon! You're going to get your best deals by combining the sales for the week with coupons. As a good rule of thumb, keep in mind that the products on the front and back page of your sales ad are the best deals for the week most of the time.  Also, a lot of couponers and frugal moms will tell you to buy whatever meat is 99 cents per pound or less for the week. 

So, long story short: base your meals on what's ON SALE. The store dictates your menu, NOT your kids :)

2. I consider what I already have in my kitchen.  I look for things that are about to expire and use them up so they don't go to waste! This is especially true for those of you who stockpile items through couponing. 

3. Combine what you bought and what you already have and plan your meals! I most often use allrecipes because their ingredient search makes it easy to find a recipe that uses the specific ingredients you're trying to work with. Most weeks I try to do one crockpot meal and at least one meat-free dinner.

4. I type up my menu for the week, including main dish and side items (and dessert if I am so inclined). This menu along with the individual recipes get printed up and posted on the fridge so hubby knows what to expect for dinner (I will eventually begin training him on how he can look at the pages and figure out how to help :) )

5. This is the super important, super helpful part.  I look at each night's dinner plan and decide if there's anything I can do ahead of time to make that night's work easier.  For example, I will often go ahead and cut the week's worth of onions/peppers on Sunday, brown up ground beef for spaghetti later in the week, etc. I will make notes for each night on what I'm cooking, and what prep work I need to do for later.  This includes putting frozen meat in the fridge to thaw. How many times have you forgotten to thaw out some chicken for dinner and ended up getting pizza? Been there, done that.  All prep work is marked with a "*"

That being said, here's my plan for this week.  This week's a little different because I don't have to cook for three nights. Tuesday nights are when Adam goes to class so sometimes I will go ahead and cook so we have leftovers for lunch the next day, but this week I know we will still have lots of the chicken soup left, so I will just be doing prep work. Friday and Saturday night I'm off the hook because Adam has planned a surprise trip to who-knows-where for my birthday! Very excited, but until then, here's what I have in store:

Sunday
Chicken and tortellini soup
garlic bread (using french bread from freezer)
*cut onion and pepers for frittata
*thaw salmon
*boil eggs for breakfast

Monday
Dijon Salmon
baked potatoes
corn
*thaw white beans
*thaw 2 cups chicken stock
*thaw chicken breasts

Tuesday
*cook and shred chicken breasts

Wednesday
Southwestern Chicken and white bean soup (put in crock pot in the morning)
Cheese quesadillas

Thursday
Turkey smoked sausage frittata
quinoa
green beans

Friday
Off the hook- birthday trip!

Saturday
Off the hook- birthday trip!


And that's how it's done! Trust me, planning ahead like this will totally relieve some of that stress that comes along with figuring out a way to get dinner on the table every night. If anyone is interested in seeing menu plans more often to see how I plan ahead, just let me know and I can do this more often.  I'll at least try posting a week's plan where I have to cook every night, because that's more typical.

One month!

Happy one month anniversary to us!! We are choosing to celebrate any and every milestone and I can't believe its already been a month. It's still so fun to be sharing a home with my best friend, even with all the learning and compromising that's going on. I don't particularly love going to sleep while the drums are being tuned and I miss having my sweet cat curled up next to me at night (why must my husband have allergies??), but I know Adam couldn't care less about watching anything on Bravo and he may or may not literally lose his mind if I keep untucking the sheets on his side of the bed. But, we kind of like each other and all, and we make it work :)

The house is slowly but surely coming together, but don't you dare even think about going in the spare room. You may never be seen again... Our upcoming projects include painting and getting some more pictures up on the walls. Still needs some work, but its home! We welcome visitors!

I have officially passed the point of no return when it comes to couponing, which is one of the reasons I even wanted to start this thing. I get SO inspired by the money-saving blogs I read every day, and I wanted to encourage my family and friends as well! Over the weekend I created my coupon binder and I will definitely follow up with a more detailed explanation of how I'm using it once I get a feel for things and see how I can use it most effectively. But for those of you who are interested in getting started, here is some of my best advice for beginners (which was me just a few short months ago! If I can coupon while planning a wedding, you can do it, too!)

1. Buy at least TWO Sunday papers for the weekly coupon inserts (although some weeks there aren't any inserts, usually on holiday weekends). I always want *at least* two copies of every coupon because when stores run "buy one get one" sales you can use a coupon for both the item you're paying for AND the free item. Also, ask around and see if your friends, families, or co-workers would be willing to give you their coupon inserts (I am lucky enough to have my mom send me her leftover coupons and my step mother-in-law does the same! I also swipe them from the paper we get at my office. haha)
2. Don't shop at Wal-Mart unless you absolutely have to. Since couponing, I've only needed to go to Wal-Mart once (in about 4 months). Besides my own personal dislike for Wal-Mart, its important for you to know that you will spend SO MUCH MORE money shopping there. Trust me on this one. Plus, its always so crazy busy, I hate waiting in the long checkout lines, and REALLY hate running back and forth from side to side when I forget things...
3. Find a local grocery store that doubles coupons. Here in the Chattanooga area both Bi-Lo and Publix double coupons daily. If you are in the area and shop at Bi-Lo, be sure to hang on to your receipt and take the online survey listed at the bottom. Each month Bi-Lo offers a different free item when you complete the survey. In the past few months these items have included tomato paste, manadarin organges, and this month is was Bi-Lo brand 2 liters (which are GREAT for taking to church events). I would say that I've gotten 6 or so free 2 liters this month.
4. 95% of the time I only buy things when they are on a great sale AND I have a coupon for that item (the only things that I break this rule for are milk, maybe eggs, etc). This really isn't a tip, more like a goal...
5. Products are usually at their "rock bottom" price every 10-12 weeks. When something is an incredible deal, buy enough to last you and your family 3-4 months. This way you'll NEVER pay full price for anything and when you run out of something you can go "shopping" in your own home stockpile!
6. This is kind of a no-brainer, but something that does take a little change in planning. Base your meals on what's on sale for the week in combination with what you already have. This will cause you to have to think creatively AND possibly work with new ingredients/cuts of meat, which I really enjoy!
7. This isn't really a coupon tip, but just a money-saving piece of advice. Put a little effort into your food. Buy fresh produce when its on sale and cut it up/cook it yourself. Stop paying extra for boneless skinless chicken breasts and buy bone-in split chicken breasts. Cut the meat off yourself, and then make your own homemade, preservative-free, low-sodium chicken stock in the crock pot using the bones (and some veggies, seasoning).
8. Get organized and look online for helpful websites/blogs. These have been SO important to me and have given me leads on the best deals. I do my own coupon match-ups, but the blogs I read have given me a heads up on some awesome sales I may have missed on my own. **You can find the links for some of the blogs I read at the bottom of this page.**
9. Request samples online because they usually will send a coupon with the sample. These coupons are usually high-value AND they most likely will have an expiration date forever away.
10. Contact the companies that have products that you enjoy. Most of the time they will send you coupons or free samples! A few months ago I probably got coupons from 40 or so companies simply because I emailed them and said "I like your product!". It was like Christmas in my mailbox...

Okie doke! There's your homework assignments! More to come on the aforementioned and fabulous coupon binder. Have a great day! Eat a piece of cake or kiss your spouse one extra time in our honor today. As for us, we will celebrate with salmon for dinner :)