I get a little carried away with my ideas

I have a problem, my kids say I'm addicted to couponing.

There have been a couples times that school work has been abandoned for the sake of the deals.

However, there are lessons in couponing!

Alexis asks every time, "How much would that have been before coupons? And how much after?" She's shocked if I pay full-price for things, it does happen.

I don't have a formal location dedicated to my ideas, photos, tips and advice. I'm working on it though!

So today I got a little carried away with some tips to a friend, I decided to post it here to get everyone at one time.

Ask me if you have questions, it's fun for me so I don't mind it all!!

Enjoy!

I do most of my bigger deals at RiteAid/Walgreens/Safeway.

Albertsons & Safeway will usually do Double The Value Coupons or Double Coupons in their weekly in-store ads.

THE EXPERTS

Here are the sites that I frequent daily.

I would say that I defer to The Krazy Coupon Lady (KCL) on almost everything.

They have all the coupon policies & step-by-steps for each store along with weekly deals for each store.

KCL
Frugal Living NW
Hip 2 Save
are all great sites.

'Like' them on FB to put them all in one place, although they don't post every single thing on FB.
They have coupon databases on their website & always link to the printable if there is one.

I don't do 'extreme' shopping trips, too intimidating for me right now.
Probably to do that you'd need to 'buy' coupons from ebay or another clipping service. Which I just did to get a years supply of dishwasher detergent.

MY BOX

I use a shoe box type thing that I got at Fred Meyer for about $5.
I put all my coupons in small envelopes that are labeled: Cosmetics, Toilet Paper, Coffee/Tea, Meat, Cereal etc.
Big categories like Dental that have to be broken up into sub-categories like Dental-toothbrushes, Dental-floss e>Keep all your inserts even if you don't cut all the coupons. I just tossed out last weeks & now there's a deal for toilet paper at Fred Meyer, but I don't have the coupons. If it's a product you think you MIGHT use, cut it out!

If you never will use the product, leave it in the insert & file it.

You never know when a money-making deal will come along.

Keep your unused inserts together, i.e. Red Plum, Smart Source etc. Put same Red Plums together & put them in order of date (listed on the spine of the ad). When a website lists a deal & references a coupon from that particular insert they'll say: use $1/2 ($1 off 2) Cover Girl Cosmetics, RP 1/9 (Red Plum January 9th).

Make sense?

Keep all your coupons until they expire.

Always check out the clearance section at Target/Safeway/Albertson's, I've found great deals there too & then had the doubles to match up to it.

Don't get upset if a deal doesn't work out, you can always tell the cashier, "please put those back".

COUPON POLICIES

Print out & CARRY with you each store's coupon policy.....read it first..... that way if there is a problem you can lovingly show them what their policy is.

Walgreens' Coupon Policy

Rite Aid's Coupon Policy

Safeway's Coupon Policy

Target's Coupon Policy

TIP
When you print a coupon from FB or something else that doesn't let you chose your quantity (most databases):
Click on the back button twice - quickly- it will ask you to refresh the page, say 'yes' and it will print again. A glitch that benefits us couponers nicely.

Also, if you have more than 1 computer, make sure & print coupons from that one too.
Most databases only let 1 computer print a certain #.

TIP
Sign up for Rite Aid's Video Values on their website.
You watch short ads & at the end you enter a code and then they have extra coupons to print. Those can also be used with other MQ (manuf coupons) in their store.

WHEN DO I WORK ON THIS?

I spend 1 day cutting/organizing/making my store lists.

FINALLY

When your coupons have expired DON'T THROW them away! Send them to overseas Military families, they can use them for 6 months after their expiration date.

Go here to read more & how/where to send.

Hope

A little over a week ago, my Grandma Vera, passed away. She was my dad's mother.
Over the years I have witnessed (and done some witnessing) of people sharing their faith in Jesus with her. Praying for her to accept the free gift of salvation that is offered through our Lord Jesus.
While I was growing up she had been our guest many times at church. She sat through the service and I never noticed that she really didn't want to be there.

My dad (her son) shared his faith, I've shared my faith, my other set of grandparents shared their faith, even my daughter shared her faith with Vera. Of all of the people I know of, Alexis sharing her faith made me pray more and more for Vera's heart to soften towards The Truth.

My grandma was a proud & strong-willed woman, gave her opinion on everything & anything no matter what the listener thought.
Growing up, we always laughed at her "colorful" language and gestures towards everyone!

She would listen to what we wanted to tell her about Jesus, but sometimes would basically say that she had had enough.

Unfortunately I didn't know she was in her final days so I can't say for sure if she had come to a decision at some point in her life (or in her hospital bed) on whether she had accepted Jesus as her Savior or not.

After she died, I felt so sad that I didn't have yet one more opportunity to pray with her and tell her one more time that God loves her and I want to be with her in Heaven some day.
But as so many people have reminded me, she had been given plenty of opportunities and ultimately she was given free will to do with as she pleased.

I pray that I will again see her someday.

I was given a fresh boost of hope 5 days later when I was teaching in Alexis' 1st/2nd grade class on Wednesday night. The class has a prayer journal that the teachers record each child's prayer request if they have one.

Well 2 days before Vera died, Alexis' prayer request was for her "great grandma's salvation". I was not in her classroom that night, nor had we talked about Vera in the past week or so.

However, this is not an unusual prayer request from her (according to other teachers) but that night it had even more value.

We can expect HUGE miracles from our Lord because he promised he would be faithful. The Holy Spirit brings people & other prayers to mind & I'm so thankful that Alexis was obedient to that.

I pray that it has eternal rewards in the following days.

Freedom at Last!

I was rummaging around in my keepsake chest and came across an article that the late Marian Smith (Travis' mom's mom) wrote for a magazine. I don't remember which magazine it was published in.

This is a story about my dad and at the end he talks about his struggle with cancer. I was so overcome with emotion that I was crying while I sat in my closet and read the article.
It was the very paragraph that helped me regain my confidence that my dad is with Jesus and completely whole.

Marian wrote this as told by David H.Hall




Where was my Mommy? I missed her hugs. It felt like death. She'd left me off at Granny's, at Riddle, Oregon the week before saying she'd be back by Monday to pick up my sister, Clayetta, age 8, and myself. Each day I thought, "Mommy will be here today." Finally I gave up hope, it was 3 years before I would see her again.

I found out Mamma (Granny) and C.C., my step-grandfather, had adopted us. My name changed from David Larson to David Hall. That's what those bewildering meetings with men called 'lawyers', Mommy and my grandparents were all about. My father came to see us twice saying he wanted to keep up but couldn't afford to do so. He remarried and I didn't see him for many years.

Mamma and C.C. took us to church showing us the love we needed so desperately. I realize it was only by the grace of God they could, in their fifties, take on raising 2 kids. They took us on a trip to the mid-west to show off their new "children". "Mamma" was my mother's mother and I'm sure this 4'11" tiny lady of 80lbs, was heartbroken over the situation.
C.C. insisted both of us should be kept together. I loved riding on the tractor with C.C. and going hunting with him. Life seemed better as I had 2 loving parents now.

One evening, when I was 12, I was told it was bedtime but I wanted to stay up. Angrily I walked by C.C. as he held out his hand to me and told me that he loved me. I pulled away continuing up the stairs forfeiting my goodnight hug. The next morning I was told that C.C. had been killed in a 'woods accident' by a tree they called the "widow maker". A deep sadness flooded over me with the loss of my dad and the realization that I'd not hugged him and made up our differences.

I played basketball and helped Mamma on our 18-acre farm. My sister had become abusive to Mamma so she was sent to live with an aunt.

When I was 16, Mamma sold the farm. We moved to Eugene, Oregon over my protests. I didn't want to move to a big city but soon was enrolled at Sheldon High School and entered into sports. Even with a new start I became more undisciplined. Pain in my heart over my life losses wouldn't leave.

Two doors away from our home was the home of a pretty brown-haired girl named Becky. I noticed her right away and she seemed interested in me. We watched each other from a distance.

In high school I sought the "greaser" look, tight pants, hair combed straight back '60s style. I was defiantly getting into fights regularly. I graduated from high school and went on to Lane Community College.

The Vietnam war loomed on the horizon and I had drawn a low draft number. I could get drafted at any time and that meant being a foot soldier in the Army. I was doing well in college but decided to join the Coast Guard. Soon I was in California for training.

My service life was comprised of drinking, fighting and running around. I'll never forget Peter Pappas, the only Christian on the base, usually on his bunk reading the Word. We'd talk about the Bible but I still had my own agenda.

Stationed at Subic Bay in the Philippines I was serving in the Mecong Delta area in Vietnam as well. One day under orders we were told to shell the Vietcong before they could fire on our boats, so I fired off a volley that killed 10 men. I'd seen plenty of death, but knowing that I'd taken their lives, even in war, crushed me.

One night I was arrested with 2 counts of assault and battery plus one count of rape. I acknowledged the assault and battery, but I knew the rape count was untrue. As I was denying the rape charge I was being thrown into a civilian jail with murderers and hardened criminals. Our ship was ready to move out and I would be left in a foreign jail indefinitely. Providentially, someone from our ship had seen me taken to jail and at 1:30 AM I found myself being bailed out for $44, and hurried to the ship. After that when we came into port I was confined to the ship to keep me from being thrown back into the Philippine jail.

Toward the end of my stay in the Philippines I noticed I'd tired of wild lifestyle. At 21 I started praying for a brown-haired, blue-eyed virgin to marry.

Home on leave from the base in San Diego it was great to be back with Mamma. Also, I thought a lot about Becky. One day I was mowing Mamma's lawn and Becky came over. She'd told her mother it was only neighborly to welcome me home. We talked and I asked her out. She was a little standoffish on our dates. Her father told her not to date a non-Christian so she finally asked me the big question. "Are you a Christian?" I had to honestly tell her "no". Becky gave me a new Living Letter Bible to take back to San Diego.

One night as I was reading my Bible I zeroed in on John 3:16, "For God so loved the world so much that He gave His only Son so that anyone that believes in Him shall not perish but had eternal life." I wanted this promise to be a reality in my life, I prayed, "God, if you're real, please work in my life." He came into my heart in a fantastic way. Lying on my bunk it felt like my body wasn't even touching the bed. I was cleansed, brand-new!

I called Becky with my news, but she seemed cautious. But, as I spoke with her father he discerned it to be real, Jesus was living in my heart!

Happily, Becky and I were soon married. We were blessed with a baby boy, Chuck, and later a baby girl, Sharlene. Living in Minnesota, we were having a hard time financially. During that period my dark memories returned. Satan had a powerful grip on me and I had an abusive attitude toward my family. I received deliverance from God once more.

My Mom, Vera, lived a hard life after leaving us. She married 10 times searching for fulfillment, later we made our peace.

in 1997 after 28 years of married life with my precious wife, I was faced with another challenge. Our daughter was to marry a Christian man, Travis, and we were caught up in the coming event. After the wedding on January 17, 1998 I finally admitted I had a physical problem. I had ignored my symptoms for 6-months, that of blood loss and weakness. I was diagnosed with colon cancer. Numb with shock I wondered how it could happen to me at the age of 50. Hard reality set in when I started the chemotherapy. At times I felt I couldn't go on, trying to work and being so ill. Happily, I've just had my 6-month checkup and have a clean bill.

An extra bonus is the recent birth of our 1st grandson, Aidan, to our son and his wife, Nicole.

God gives us joy in life we hold to our bosoms and cherish. I have a win/win situation. I am either completely healed by Christ or I will go home to be with Him where there is no "sorrow or pain." How can I lose?

Kids will be kids

Well yesterday morning I slept in, now I know there are certain risks you take when there are 3 children in the house unattended when you do something like that.

Preston comes into my room to inform me that he had just gotten his haircut. "Oh? Who cut your hair?" "Sister". I'm so proud of myself, I didn't get mad, I didn't freak out, I didn't laugh either. I just calmly when about my morning routine, needing some time to figure out my reaction to it all.
Well, Carter's hair had been cut too. Preston, however, got the worst of it. Poor guy, it looks really bad. But I'm not ready to fix it yet, it takes time and setting up, so maybe this weekend.


But wait! The story doesn't end there. While eating his breakfast this morning Preston says, "Ew there's hair in here". I take a look & sure enough there's bits of hair in it. Sure looks like the counter after I get done cutting hair, "Preston did you cut your hair again?" "Yup".
Great!!
I gave Alexis a calm talk yesterday about not cutting hair anymore, but I forgot to tell Preston. So my first reaction was, "Stop cutting your hair!!" Then I realized I hadn't told him that yet. Oops, so no more cutting hair. It's not safe & it makes a mess!
Good thing I didn't vacuum yesterday because I'd have to do it again.

So depending on when I decide to fix his hair, you just may get to see how bad it is.
This picture was after the 1st one, doesn't show it justice. Just picture chunks missing.

Alexis & Charlie did the Born 2 Run Challenge

My hip, knee & ankle all were hurting at mile 8 but I finished and beat last years time.

Alexis & I were in the Lane Pregnancy Support Center's 3rd Annual Born 2 Run Challenge.

It was raining & cold, but the rain lifted just long enough and the coolness felt good after awhile.

Alexis did the 5K walk with Uncle Rick & Aunt Sandy Smith (Travis' family) and Charlie did the 15K run.

Alexis thought my goal should've been to win, but my goal was to do better than last year.

I'm not going to brag about my time because, let's be honest, it's nothing to brag about. I finished in the same place as last year, but I did better.

My time was 1hr 36m for 9.3 miles. There are some serious runners out there, how can you run the whole way? I didn't walk much, but I still had to a few times. I do like to run, but I'm not a runner that's for sure.

I don't yet know how much the center raised through this fundraiser, but prayerfully it was above & beyond expectations.

Alexis was excited to do it with her Aunt & Uncle and I'm so glad they were willing to go with her.
Travis' cousins (Janelle & Jason Smith) were also in it and both beat me like crazy. Of course they're just young kids ya know.

Janelle did great, beat me by about 11 minutes and it was her birthday.
Jason, 21, came in 12th overall. Amazing.

Next year I think Travis will probably run the 5K with Alexis. He doesn't like distance running, but I know he'll do it for his little princess.

Aunt Sandy & Uncle Rick Smith with Alexis after crossing the finish line.
Good job team!!

Our Home School Nations Fair

"This was for the kids" I kept saying as I stressed out about getting everything ready. Well turns out I only let Alexis contribute a couple small ways, the perfectionist in me had a hard time letting it go. Thankfully she really didn't care.

Families in our church's home school group got choose a country to study through the year & display what they learned.
I think most of us waited until a couple weeks before to get it done though.

Everyone did an amazing job, it was great to see the creativity in these families.
It was also great to eat some tasty food from around the world.

We chose Israel because my Mom has been a couple times & I knew that she would have a lot of stuff to display. Plus, that's where our favorite person is from....Jesus!!

This photo doesn't really do justice to all the great stuff we had out, but the other picture made my hips look HUGE.
I'm wearing a prayer shawl, not sure if I'm being sacrilegious since I've only seen men wear them, but I wasn't about to let any of the boys wear it.
I found a map of Jesus' ministry in the back of my bible, so I transferred it to the big map on the board.
We made Poppy Seed Cake (yes the kids helped), I thought it was totally disgusting but there were a few people that liked it.
We also made Cheese Blintzes, oh so yummy.
Then we had Pita bread & Hummus.

The Creech family did Norway. She claims to be related to the 1st King of Norway, well we supposedly have 3 Norwegian kings in our family too, maybe we're related. That would help to explain some things between us.

The Lambert family did Vietnam & shared with us a little history of our dear friend Maddie.
She was adopted from there when she was 5 weeks old.
Thankfully Kim decided to toss the dried squid, it was so so stinky!!

The Sinclair girls did Canada, with hand carved soaps. They smelled so good!!

The Johnson family did England, decked out in proper attire too.
Look at all the things that came from England, so creative.

The Rule family did the Philippines, they even had an exploding volcano. There was a lot of commotion from the kids, unfortunately I couldn't see over the mass of kids' heads so I didn't witness it.

The Turpin family did Romania, the mommy Adina is from there.
Yummy garlic sausage.

The Kreklywich family did Italy, later they brought out some yummy pizza.

The Blazer family did Somalia. James did a wonderful job with all his research, great job little man!!

Yummy Popcorn Recipes

Made popcorn for my father-in-law's birthday and they both turned out great.

I will make these again.

Links to recipes on the right, here's the photos.

Butterscotch Popcorn


Cajun Spiced Popcorn