My coupon and frugal shopping adventures

I know most people love to save money, hey who doesn't. I finally said enough! Spending close to $600 a month was ridiculous to feed and clean my small family.  I decided that I would start to coupon. Most people think, "Well I have a certain type of ice cream I eat and I don't get anything other than that."
If that is your thought then don't worry about couponing or frugal shopping, you can't be brand loyal.  I started out just checking out deals for Safeway and Target around here and then started checking out the extreme coupon websites for tips.  My first few trips were a little disappointing, I didn't save much and it seemed like a waste of time. Well I didn't give up and I got a few more papers and clipped more than one of the same coupon that we would use.  I then went to Safeway and had a few coupons paired with their deals and I got 4 name brand deodorants, 2 house cleaners (they were actually free!) and 4 3 bar sets of name brand soap for .....$6!  I stocked up and it was awesome.  There is actually a excitement that you get from couponing and getting great deals.  I saved my family $34 on that transaction alone.  With couponing you can't pay for everything you need for food, veggies etc on just coupons.  But I have allowed us to save anywhere from 50-65% on our grocery orders!!!!  I am so happy, we were doing fine financially but I just wanted to see if I could do it too!! I have and it is actually fun and doesn't take that much time out of my day!!!

Also I am going to discuss........ wait for it...... Dollar Tree!!!! Most people say "Ewww why do you want to buy anything at a dollar store, are you that broke?"  No we are not but they have really fantastic deals and some great off brand items that have been around for years but nobody wants to try them because they aren't "NAME BRAND"  I will tell you they have 4 pack rolls of toilet paper for, you can probably guess, $1!!!! So you spend $5 and you get 20 rolls of TP!  I have tried it, it's no Charmin but it does it's job and I don't think you need expensive toilet paper to... well we all know what!  I also got some great razors, that are actually pretty good for being disposable and I haven't had a problem and there are 10 in a pack!  They sell Zest, Dial, Jergens, Angel Soft, Hefty zip lock bags etc.  I just want people to know, that yes I coupon and shop at the dollar store but you know what?  I have more money for the other important things in my life and have a little stock pile so that we won't have to buy certain things for months or if there is a really good sale :) 

If you want to save money, take it into your hands and try it.  Don't look down on people because they don't have name brand everything, in this economy every one's got to do what they got to do!  Now at this time I have saved $250 this month from couponing and dollar store shopping, so now we get to go out to eat and buy some clothes and still save our regular money we save every month!

Thanks for reading and have a great day!!

Normal everyday

I'm writing this after finally getting to work for a while. I am relieved that I work at such a great place and also cannot wait to get my overtime like normal.  Family is great, Hayden is hilarious and we are planning on going to the mountains with the dogs soon.

Dogs: Well the story is we were thinking about another dog but didn't want to spend a fortune (since we don't have it) and we wanted to save a doggy.  We looked and looked. Then suddenly I do a search for a Boston Terrier and found a female Boston in Pueblo, CO at their shelter. For those of you that don't know Pueblo is a 2 hr drive away. So I got into the car and drove 2 hrs by myself to the animal shelter, hoping to God that she hadn't been adopted yet.

I walk into the shelter and they had me fill out an adoption form before I can see if she is there.  I walk to the back and was drawn immediately to were she was! She was so little, much smaller than Bella and gorgeous! I had to go to the meeting room and meet her and she was so sweet. She started by doing a cute puppy bow and then came and bumped my hand with her head. She was mine!  She was very thin and we went through the adoption procedings.

Her fee since she was "old" at 6yrs was $60 and that included her shots, spay and microchip!  They told me right before we were leaving for our new home that she was slated for euthanasia in 2 days! "We never get anyone that wants an older dog so it was going to be her time!" Not if I have anything to do with it!

She was very thin so with the thought that she could possibly have heart worm :-( I took her to the vet.  Heartworm negative!!!!! But her teeth are really bad and she is missing so many that it hurt to eat dry kibble, that's why she was so skinny!  Now we have to save for her teeth removal and cleaning but now she is very happy and gaining weight due to the soft and semisoft food she eats like crazy.

Our home is indeed very happy! I am working again and super happy and love learning all the new things.  Our move to Colorado although, very tough and trying was the best thing I have ever done.  We are a stronger family and we are on the adventure of our lives!!!!!

ROSIE!!!

The good Job!

So now I am working at Littleton Adventist in their ICU and it is sooooo much better.  I have gotten some great time in with the family going on little excursions to the mountains which are only a few minutes away. We have gone to the park, WOW children's museum and various other places. Our lives are full of excitement and happiness. It's amazing how good you feel when you get to do what you love!

Matt and I are getting ready to celebrate our 10 yr wedding anniversary and I love him more and more everyday!

Hayden is adorable and has a good time no matter what we do! He is definitely getting older and his temper tantrums have almost stopped! Now just to get him to preschool this next month.  They have a great program here in Highlands Ranch at one of their rec centers. It is a great price and they get rave reviews.

Now we live in Highlands Ranch and in the most exciting neighborhood we've ever been in. First our neighbors got into a fight and 6 cops showed up, along with a fire truck and ambulance. All super late at night! He went to jail and she moved out.
Next one of the buildings in our neighborhood caught fire and burned all 4 units! Now we are nervous that our unit is wired as bad! Fingers crossed we have no problems!

The new job

I started work on the 18th of July. I didn't have an office or a computer or anything and they still made me work 11 hrs the first day. Then every day it kept getting worse and worse. Many things that I can't talk about but by the second week I was scared for my nursing license.  I also horribly missed my old work family and seeing my family. I was working over 60 hrs per week and not getting paid for it. Matt was miserable because he didn't know how to get around here yet and didn't know what to do with Hayden all day while Hayden cried because I worked 5 days straight.  Matt wanted to move back to Texas briefly but I decided I needed to get a new job and fast. And to top it off my new boss took vacation for my second week. I put my resume out and within 2-3 days I had several interviews lined up. Now it was just time to quit the hell job and start someplace else.

The big move!

Ok so we had gotten ready, I had taken the manager job and we were moving as of the 5th of July.  The moving company came on the 5th and took our stuff. We stayed with the in laws one last night and were leaving the next morning.  We packed the car with the stuff that we thought was valuable or didn't want the mover's to take. Like when Matt had packed his gun in a box and the mover's said that they don't move guns and ammo etc.  So Matt put the box on the stove, I kept smelling a weird smell and low and behold the gun and ammo box was on fire because the stove turned on! Neat! Luckily we didn't get shot to death from hot ammo before the move! We left on the 6th and were to drive with our 4 yr old, 1 dog, 1 cat and all our stuff! It took us 14.5 hrs to get up to Jeff and Dusty's house and Hayden actually did fantastic.
Then the waiting started! We finally got our stuff on the 15th when they had told us "it will only take 3-5 days to get your stuff!" I had 3 days until I started my new job, great! So much for relaxing in the new place before I started my job.
The day before work we got everything done, Hayden settled in, the pets set up and even our pictures up in the house.
Now it was to start the new job!

The decision

First I will start out with the beginning of our great journey as a family.  Matt and I have been married a long time and have our beautiful boy Hayden.  Matt had been in Texas since '81 and I had moved there after graduation from Joplin High School in '99. We had a home in Frisco, TX and sold it so that we could try to move to Colorado. We lived with the in laws for 6 months until we got an apartment in McKinney. Matt was a stay at home dad and I worked as a RN at Medical Center of McKinney.  I had a hard time getting a job in Colorado since we didn't already live there! Weird! Finally after about a year I heard about a manager job at an unamed LTACH. So we got ready to go!  We were going to do it, finally after years of talking about it we were going to move!