31 Little Things - Couponing Sanely

The Nester is once again doing 31 days of blogging. Check out what others are writing about for 31 days. I joining Nester with my own 31 days of Little Things. Little things that inspire, motivate, and help me get through my busy life.

This is a new improved repost of a previous blog entry.  I think it fits nicely with the 31 Little Things theme.  I am a Stay At Home Mom.  I think it is part of my job to save my family money.  I think coupons can be a great help and by clipping coupons it is a small thing I can do to save money.  However, I have 10 Commandants I use to Stay Sane Couponing. So if you sitting down reading the Sunday paper today and clipping coupons just some things to mull over.

1. No Deal is worth losing sleep over. I don't do complicated coupon deals. The more complicated it is the more stressful it is to me. If this is your cup of tea, go for it. I need my deals to be pretty straight forward.

2. Time is money. I am a big believer in balance in my personal life. I am not going to spend all day seeking out deals or clipping coupons. I spend roughly 1 hour a week clipping coupons and seeking out deals.

3. Meal planning saves you money. It will save you more than couponing in the long run. It saves you when you are not eating out. I rather invest more time in meal planning and cooking ahead than clipping coupons. I think over the long term this pays off more than couponing. I shop sales and plan my meals around those sales.

4. Make sure your coupon organization system works for you. I actually clip out coupons. I file them in a certain order. This system works for me. I was a file clerk in a very previous life. My friend is a simple file the insert. It works for her. Have a system and use it. The more organization you have the less time you have to spend on couponing.

5. Don't buy foods/products you won't use. No coupon is a great deal if you aren't going to use the product.

6. Use coupons ethically!!!! You would think this would be common sense. Don't be a shelf clearer. Don't forge coupons etc.

7. Don't go it Alone. I use coupon websites that help me pinpoint the deals. The internet community is full of bloggers that seek out the best deals nationally as well as locally. There is no need to reinvent the savings wheel. I also have several girlfriends that share deals and pass the info on.

8. Make sure you get the paper with the most inserts. My local paper barely gets any coupon inserts. I am lucky that my Mother-In- Law gets a paper that gets the most inserts and she saves them for me. I regularly buy Seattle Times to get more inserts.

9. Be Flexible. Deals sometimes don't work out. Try new products.

10. Don't compare yourself to other couponers. I am never going to be an extreme couponer. That is too much effort. Any savings is better than no savings at all in my book.

My bottom line is to feed my family cheap nutritious food with minimal stress and fuss.

31 days of Little Things - Inspiration

Do you realize that there are a 1,000 bloggers involve in Nester's challenge blogging for 31 days?  These bloggers are writing on EVERY subject imaginable.  It is really inspiring me.  Here are a few that I keep checking back on.

31 Days of ...........

Outdoor Adventures for Boys at 4tunate - Mom to Quads or Quattro Mom has some great ideas to get outdoors. I loved the post on Geocaching. 

Thrift Transformations at An Oregon Cottage. I love me some thrift.  There is lots of thrift eye candy here.

Beautiful Objects at Beautiful Objects more thrift eye candy.

Better Garden Next Year at Weekend Farm Mom. I desperately want to be a better gardener.

Reading at Life with Ike.  This is just a really interesting series for readers out there.

Margin at the Stanley Clan.  I especially love her post about Messy Margins.  I think Mom's strive to find the balance.  Finding my margin is something I struggle with myself.

Reclaiming My Utopia at Allxys.  She had me at using TP for kleenex.  Good Stuff here.

Gathered Art at Bradford Place.  This is a really unique series about different art you hang on your walls.  Love the blog quote in her banner - Trust us. Walls talk.

DIY Wall Art at A Pop of Pretty. There are lots of Amazing Ideas here on what to put up on your walls.

31 Little Things - Freezer Cooking

The Nester is once again doing 31 days of blogging. Check out what others are writing about for 31 days.

I don't know if this should be included under little things.  How we feed our families is important stuff.  It is a rather big and personal thing. I've got the two man wrecking crew AND they can chew through some food.  I do try to do some freezer cooking.   I almost ALWAYS do this when I have company.  Having things made ahead of time frees me up to enjoy my company. I was lucky enough when I was in MOPS(mother of preschoolers) to have met and heard Lindsay Tkacsik the co-author of Fix, Freeze, Feast.  One of the things I took away from her presentation was how freezer cooking became an extension of her hospitality and a way to bless others. The Fix Freeze Feast book is based a lot on the Costco meat packs and by splitting and doing a little prep you can get some meals in the freezer. It has been ages since I have done a full freezer cook day. I am more of a mini session type of gal. I do a few hours here and there depending on the season I am in. This works best for me. Now that I have a system and have done it numerous times, it is a small thing I do sometimes to get dinner on the table.

Recently potatoes were 98 cents for 5 pounds.  I bought 8 pounds and turned them into 8 family portions of garlic mash potatoes.  I did it in two different hour sessions. I think people especially Moms can really over think this.  If I have one meal frozen in the freezer, I am ahead.

Mash Potato Beauty Shot from 1 cooking session

I am REALLY looking forward to Life As Mom's book release "Not your Mother's Make Ahead and Freeze Meals". Life as Mom is tackling freezer cooking for her 31 day series on her other blog Good Cheap Eats. 

31 Days of Little Things - A little bit spooky

The Nester is once again doing 31 days of blogging. Check out what others are writing about for 31 days.

I have been having trouble getting into the Halloween mood. Sure I brought out THE RATS and Scary Larry.

Scary Larry

But I wanted to do something to get me more in the mood for Halloween. Just a little something. I love to craft so I got a wild hair to make these glue ghosts to hang from my jewelry tree. 

 

I have used the jewelry tree for everything else BUT jewelry.  I had made these glue ghosts long ago with my kids but decided to revisit them today. Instead of googly eyes, I used these black sequins I had on hand. This project is totally doable with children.  The ghosts do need to dry overnight. All in all, the ghosts added a little spooky to the decor.

31 Days of Little Things - Thrift

The Nester is once again doing 31 days of blogging. Check out what others are writing about for 31 days. Growing Up Gillian is doing her series on 31days of Thoughtful Thrift and Beautiful Objects has 31 days: Thrifted Project. Which so happens to tie into what I want to blog about today.

Yes, I love to thrift.  It is the thrill of the hunt. Thrifting especially for clothing stretches my dollar. It is a little thing that I do to save money. It also provides lots of entertainment. Here are a few thrifting tips I have learned.

1. Places where the security has to sanitize especially when they do it in front of customers is not the place for you.  Unless you are a hard core picker.  Those people are a breed all their own.

2. If you see it, get it.  It most likely won't be there in a few minutes.  You can always walk around with while you decide.  Mrs Epi and I followed around a young kid with a guitar hoping they would put it down.  That is not Stalkerish at ALL.  Had we just picked it up when we first saw it.

3. Thrift doesn't necessarily mean cheap.  Thrift prices have been going up.  There are still significant deals to be found. It just seems they are few and far between in the area I live in. Sometimes you need to branch out beyond Goodwill and Value Village.  Some of my great scores include a 27 cent bookcase

4. Consignment lately has been better than thrift for me especially for boys jeans.  The quality is a lot better too as most screen their goods.  I praise the woman who is dropping off the size 14 husky pants and shorts. 

5. Expect the unexpected. You will see interesting things - prosthetic legs. Yes, Goodwill is where I go for my prosthetic leg needs.

6. Visit often.  Chances are there are going to be many times that you visit and leave empty handed. Those who thrift often are rewarded.

7. Have an open mind about what you are looking for. My Mom collects pie birds.  I found a pie bird. I did not go in looking in for a pie bird. 

8. You sometimes need to use your creative eye to see the potential in some items.

31 Days of Little Things - Kindness

I am participating in Nester's 31 days of blogging. Please check out what everyone else is blogging about. (YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO!) For my complete list of 31 days click here.

We all have thousands of opportunities every single day to help realize the 'natural order of things.'
So many seemingly trivial interactions between two people present us with a choice:
Do we pass along a little spark of love and humanity or do we pass up those opportunities and leave the world a little bit colder in the process?
A wise man once said every society is judged by how it treats it's least fortunate amongst them."

This was on my cousins facebook wall. Have you passed on a little kindness today?  I think kindness matters even a small kindness such as:

Holding the door for someone else
Smiling at the Clerk at the Store
Waving to the Bus Driver that picks up your child
Greeting People
Giving yourself some Grace

These cost us nothing. I think they also improve your outlook on life, too. Leave a comment with a small kindness you have done today or for you or others.  I'll update with the bits of kindness I have scattered today. I am going to be conscious today about kindness.

31 days of Little Things- Day 1

The Nester is once again doing 31 days of blogging.  Check out what others are writing about for 31 days.

I am doing 31 days of little things - tips, inspiration, and quite possibly the voices in my head.  I am going to say Day 1 is just a little tip.

Day 1

I have a smart phone but I am not smart.  It is totally too much technology for me. I discovered recently I have been under utilizing this little device, seriously.  You can use your smart phone as a pedometer.  It has been motivating me and my hubby to do more walking.  I am using the Accupedo app.  I just carry my phone in my pocket. It isn't perfect but it is so satisfying to see your total at the end of the day.  Sometimes, it is the little victories. Hey, I might even be hip too.  Jessica Simpson tweeted that she was using a pedometer too. Jessica is supposedly doing 14,000 steps. If you want to track your walking for rewards, Walgreens has the program "Walk with Walgreens."