Easter Basket of Blessings

The last couple days have been tough for me. With Easter coming I wanted so much to build a memory with Kayla. I remember when I was growing up waking on Easter morning to find a basket that the Easter Bunny left for me. It has always been one of those things that I wanted to do for my child. The candy, a new toy... goodies that were presented on a bed of cellophane grass.

Money has been tight in our house. We scrape by, pay the bills, have a roof over our heads and food on the table. But, money for extras gets scare some weeks. That is the kind of week we are having. We always make it somehow, but when a tight financial week corresponds with a holiday the lack of funds in the bank is felt a little bit more.

I was feeling pretty down about the lack of an Easter basket full of treats for Kayla. In the back of my mind I kept trying to tell myself that it would all work out. I tried to surrender my wants to God, but kept feeling like what I was asking for was being ignored.

I know that Easter is about God's gift of his son Jesus, a sacrifice for our sins. I know that the true glory of Easter morning is found in His resurrection. I cling to that everyday of my life. But, like other holidays I wanted to create a full scope of memories for Kayla. I want her to know the love of God and what Easter means to us as His followers, but at the same time I want her to enjoy those other little things that also create childhood snapshots in our mental scrapbooks.

As I was worrying over an empty Easter basket, God had it all under control. He was providing. I was just too blind to see it.

I had mentioned to a coworker that I wanted to get K her first Barbie and put it in her basket. K has a few Barbies already, but they were mine. They weren't new. I wanted her to have one that was all hers. Wednesday, when I got to work, a new Barbie was sitting on my desk. My friend had one in her gift closet at home and brought it for Kayla.

I wanted to hide Easter eggs on Sunday, but even the thought of spending money on treats to fill the plastic eggs seemed frivolous. Yesterday I picked Kayla up from daycare only to find out that they did an Easter egg hunt with the kids. The eggs were in a bag, unopened. Joe mentioned that we could just re-hide them. At first I thought that to be silly, but the more I contemplated this I realized something. Kayla is a toddler, she didn't open the eggs, she doesn't know what is in them. She won't stop half way through a hunt on Sunday, look at me and say, "Um, Mama... I found these already."

Today as I was leaving my coworker mentioned to me that I should bring the Easter candy that she had in her jar home to put in K's basket along with a couple chocolate cookies.

When I dropped K off at my Mom's I broke down about the whole Easter thing. My Mom (who always seems to have an answer) went up the stairs of the townhouse. She came back down with a little bunny stuffed animal and a cute little Easter basket.

As I was driving home, I was still thinking about that silly Easter basket. What was I gonna do? All of a sudden it was like God hit me over the head and yelled, "WHY ARE YOU IGNORING ME?" In a flash of understanding I found that the empty Easter basket I was dreading had been filled through the blessings of others. I was just too caught up in my own misery to see His blessings. The people in my life did not have to give these gifts, but they did. No one asked for something in return. They were gifts given freely.

That made me think more about the gift of Jesus and His death on the cross. God did not have to give the gift of salvation through the sacrifice of His son. But, He did. He gave. It is up to us whether we accept that gift. God's blessings are all around us.

A little coupon adventure.

Extreme Couponing will not be filming me clip coupons and shop anytime soon. I will never have a "stockpile" in my spare room. I will not be spending 70 hours a week devoted to coupon clipping and shopping. But... just for fun I tried to see how much I could save at Target and Wal-Mart tonight.

This is a breakdown of my purchases:

Target

2 - Nivea Platinum Men's 2 in 1 Body Wash
Reg. Price: $3.99 each
Mfr Coupon: $3/1 (x2)
Final Cost: .99  each

2 - Reach Dental Floss
Reg. Price: .97 each
Mfr Coupon: $1/1 (x2)
Final Cost: FREE

2 - Degree Deodorant for Women (Travel Size)
Reg. Price: .97 each
Mfr Coupon: $1/1 (x2)
Final Cost: FREE

2 - Carefree Panty Liners
Reg. Price: .99
Target Coupon Price: .01
Final Cost: .01 each

2 - Trident Layers Gum
Reg. Price: $1.29
Mfr Coupon: Buy One, Get One Free
Target Web Coupon: $1/2
Final Cost: .29

I also purchased a few store brand items for which I did not have coupons.

1 - 31-Ct. Up & Up Diapers, Size 4
Reg. Price: $6.29

1 - Market Pantry Sliced American Cheese
Reg. Price: $2.84

1 - 6-Ct. Up & Up Toilet Paper
Reg. Price: $3.79

Total w/tax (before coupons): $30.57
Total w/tax (after coupons): $16.32
Total Savings: $14.25


Wal-Mart

2 - Nivea Body Wash for Women
Reg. Price: $3.00
Mfr Coupon: $3/1 (x2)
Final Cost: FREE

1 - Aquafresh Extreme Clean Toothpaste (Travel Size)
Reg. Price: .97
Mfr Coupon: $1/1
Final Cost: FREE

1 - 20 oz. Mountain Dew
Reg. Price: $1.48

Total w/tax (before coupons): $9.05
Total w/tax (after coupons): $2.05
Total Savings: $7.00

So I purchased $41.67 worth of items for $18.37

This was a fun experiment for me. The only error I made was in purchasing the 2 in 1 Nivea Body Wash at Target. I could have gotten Nivea Body Wash for Men at Wal-Mart for free. Target's price for the body wash is $3.04 for both the men's and women's, the 2 in 1 is $3.99.

I definitely will be trying this again soon! Check out my favorite site, Pocket Your Dollars for the best coupon match-ups every week!

Next step in this coupon adventure will be organizing my coupons better. I am leaning towards the binder and baseball card protector pages idea. That way at the store I could just flip through and find the coupons with out digging through envelopes.

Until next time: Happy Clipping!

More thoughts about coupons!

Bargains, deal, sales... coupons... my mind is cluttered as of late by thoughts of this craze called Extreme Couponing. In yesterday's blog I talked briefly about the new TLC show Extreme Couponing. I have been thinking about it a lot since that post. Here is what I believe we can take away from the show. If you take what the people featured on each episode do and apply it on a more realistic healthy scale it can totally work. It does take time and energy, but the level of involvement will totally be up to each individually. For me spending countless hours dumpster diving for coupons and planning my assault like I was gearing up for a major battle is not worth it. I will however try my best to apply some of what I have been learning about the smart use of coupons to my shopping excursions.

I was reading about Wal-Mart's coupon policy on Pocket Your Dollars today. I read something that I still can't quite figure out. A follower on the site posted the following:

Would there be anything on Walmarts website in regards to returning an item that you used a coupon for? I had to return an item a couple of weeks ago and used a coupon, which appears at the bottom of the receipt with coding similar to the item purchased. The clerk said she had to give me the amount less than the coupon and I said I need to get my entire amount back as you were reimbursed for the coupon. Manager called and she also agreed with that statement and said that Walmart doesn’t turn in coupons so they weren’t getting reimbursed! Seriously? I argued that point and they finally agreed to give me the coupon price back, too, just to get rid of me, I’m sure. I’d loved to have had a policy on that to show them because it was just a silly argument.

I rarely add my thoughts on message boards, but I couldn't pass this one up. In response I wrote:

I am confused as to why you would expect a store to refund you the coupon amount? That is not your money. If an item is $1.00 and you have a 25 cents off coupon, you only spent .75 cents of your money. Whether they were reimbursed the .25 or not , it was never yours to begin with. I am surprised that the manager backed down. I would never even try to get them to reimburse the coupon price.

This is quite a scam she is working. The coupon amount never came out of her pocket and she should not think she is entitled to it. Even if the store was reimbursed for the amount of the coupon by the manufacturer, the money is not the consumers.

This post did bring up one great reminder for anyone looking to utilized and maximize their coupon usage. Know the coupon policies of the store you frequent. On the Pocket Your Dollars site as well as other sites, it is recommended that you print out the store's policies and have them with you when you head out on your shopping trip. This can (maybe not always) save you from frustration at the check-out. Ultimately it will be up to the management on a coupon dispute. To get the store's policies visit their website or Pocket Your Dollars.

Happy couponing!

Extreme Couponing - Revisited

Tonight on TLC a new show aired, "Extreme Couponing." I was anticipating watching this show as I am intrigued by the savings that people obtain utilizing coupons and store sales. After six minutes of the show I was annoyed, before the show even ended I handed the remote off to my husband and told him he could watch whatever he wanted.

While I want to save money whatever ways I can, going to the extremes that I saw just in 3/4 of the one episode is not what I want. The first woman that they followed spends up to 70 hours a week on couponing. But let's take another look at what she purchased 200+ boxes of pasta. 150 candy bars. Plus other items. A look at her storage room shows that she has food items and household goods that will last her and her husband at least 2 years. But this comes as what cost? Sure she got great deals but she also admitted that she has sacrificed time with her husband to shop.

Because I am wanting to start saving more money on my purchases and outings I have started slowly getting into couponing. This is what I have discovered so far.

Don't clip coupons just because there is a coupon.
This was my first mistake. I actually find sitting down with the coupon flyers and a pair of scissors to be relaxing. Only problem was that I went overboard. I clipped coupons for items that there was only teeny tiny chance I would ever buy. I found myself throwing out more coupons than I used, because they expired and they were items I would never purchase.

Be organized.
If you are going to start couponing find a system that works for you. I started out with the small coupon accordion wallet. This became a mess of coupons and inconvenient to dig through at the store. Last night as I went through the newest flyers I emptied out the small wallet and instead moved the coupons into envelopes. Each envelope is labeled for a different department of the store. I then put the envelopes in my larger accordion file. The next time I plan a grocery trip I will go through the envelopes as I make my list and move the coupons I want to use into the small wallet to bring to the store.
What I really want to do is utilize one technique that many extreme couponers use. Purchase a 3-ring binder and the plastic pages that baseball card collectors use. This way you can see each coupon without digging through the stack.

Let others do the homework for you.
For a good part of the last year I have been a fan of Pocket Your Dollars on Facebook. Carrie Rocha has made it her career to find the best deals around. Each week she posts shopping lists on the Pocket Your Dollars website. She shows the best combinations utilizing manufacturer and store coupons along with sales at particular stores. She will also share freebies and online coupon codes.
A co-worker recently told me about Mommy Savers, while I haven't had a lot of time to look at this site I look forward to checking it out.

Find deals everywhere.
Many companies offer coupons when you like them on Facebook. Leeann Chin for example offers coupons through their facebook pages. They will post them and if you "liked" their page you will see the offers in your news feed.
Don't overlook Twitter. You don't have to tweet but sign up for an account and follow your favorite stores for online deals, etc.
Coupons.com is a site to find additional coupons for groceries and services. You will have to download their coupon printer to print.

Share your needs with others.
Are there particular coupons you know you want. Let your friends and family know! I have come to work and found Huggies coupons on my desk, flyers for a gas station that is by my Mom's house and a friend has sent me coupons that I could use in the mail.

Read this blog.
I will be sharing coupons I have available from time to time on this blog. I purchase an Entertainment 2011 book this year and will post coupons for restaurants, services and activities. The coupons will be free for the taking and I am willing to mail them if needed. I only request a SASE so I can send them out.

Good luck and while you search to find the best deals you can, don't forget to put aside the scissors and flyers and spend time with your family!

I would love to hear from others their secrets to saving money! How do you stretch your dollars?

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