Think I’m insane to post my age?  Perhaps you’d rather put less candles on your cake instead of another one?  Not me!  Let me explain why I celebrate each birthday with joy…

I could give you scripture such as:

²² Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed for his compassions never fail. ²³ They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  Lamentations 3:22-23

Click to REGISTER HERE for our retreat!  Reserve your spot now…

This Sunday there should be multiple coupon inserts in your Sunday paper.  These coupons provide great money saving opportunities for the wise couponer.  Here’s the shocker…I won’t be purchasing extra papers!  Have you passed out?  Has your mouth dropped open and hit the floor?

I will receive my home delivered newspaper and will gladly use whatever coupons match with great sales for items I currently need or will need in the near future.

Confused?  Perhaps you are scratching your head and asking why I wouldn’t purchase extra papers since there are so many inserts?  The answer is easy… I really am not in need of any of the items the coupons are for.  Although they are great products, I already have them in my stockpile.  As I look at my calendar, I recognize I have just a few limited days before traveling for a week.  How do I desire to spend my time?  Since I am well stocked in the items, I’ve decided to not spend the limited time purchasing, clipping and organizing coupons.  I’ve also decided I will only head to the store for the minimal items, if any, I need prior to my trip.  Actually, my goal is to only stock pile additional items I am low in or need to add.  This is one more benefit of a stock pile!  No grocery store for me this week or next…and no, my family will not starve.  Instead, they will be well fed from our freezer and pantry.  Their daily needs will be provided for from the stock pile.

This is one more way I’ve proven you do not need to become a prisoner of your coupons or shopping.  Freedom is to be had, just like the great deals are.  

Have you checked http://www.moneysavingmom.com or http://www.forthemommas.com to see the sneak preview of this Sunday’s coupons?  You can also peak into the upcoming sales. Gather your information and make educated choices as you plan your shopping trip and stock pile needs.  Your time and money are valuable and worthy of taking a few minutes to educate yourself with these money saving resources!

Happy Couponing!

My answer is a resounding, “YES! You can save BIG and spend less time preparing and shopping!”

For the past two weeks I have proven this to be true.

The first week I reviewed my Sunday paper coupons at home from the paper we have delivered daily.  I also reviewed the current Weis ad.  I found them both to be worthy of purchasing additional papers so I had more coupons so we purchased our newspapers Sunday morning on the way to church.  After church we went to the local Weis store and clipped and shopped at the exact same time.  I would call this ‘flying by the seat of our pants’ couponing.  If you were there you would have found both Bob and me removing the coupons from the multiple papers, and then finding the coupons we were interested in and clipping them by hand which meant we neatly tore them since I didn’t have my binder or scissors with me (lesson learned).  We didn’t spend much time at the store and still made quite a few bargains and gas points.  I wish I still had my receipt to show you the details.

This past week I once again reviewed my paper at home as well as the ad.  We did our Sunday trek of Bob dropping me off at the Dollar Store to purchase my papers while he made a Wawa run for his coffee.  Remember, always verify they have the correct number of inserts.  I could have walked down the sidewalk to Weis if the Dollar Store didn’t have them all.  After church we grabbed a quick bite to eat, cut some coupons at the pizza shop and then went to Weis.  Great deals were had!!!  Keep in mind the week before I put my coupon binder back together again and I had it with me for this trip.  Again, I didn’t plan the trip ahead of time.  I do have the details for this trip.  Although we purchased many items not listed below, here are a few of the great deals I received:

Ragu Pasta Sauce is on sale- buy 2 get 2 free (limit of one deal).  I didn’t have coupons for this however, who could refuse half price pasta sauce?

Birds Eye Steamfresh Veggies are 5 for $5- I had a coupon for $1 off

Yoplait Yogurt is on sale for 10 for $5 and I had lots of coupons for $1 off 8 and since this is a popular item in our home we purchased quite a bit

Ortego Taco Sauce was on clearance for just .99 and I had multiple coupons for $1 of two so I stocked up.  We’ll be enjoying this in many forms. Always check the dates on clearance items.  This sauce has another year left to it yet.

General Mills Cereal (GM) was on an incredible deal from Weis and then GM made it even better.  Weis gave free milk coupons when you purchase any 8 boxes of this cereal.  Specially marked boxes provided a special deal for free movie tickets- when you buy two you get a free ticket on line.  In addition to this I had coupons $1 off two boxes.  I purchased quite a bit of cereal of our favorite kinds and Bob and I will have free dates to the movies!  Do the math and you will be impressed!  This deal is good for 12 weeks and you do not need to purchase all the cereal in one trip.  Also, there is no limit to the number of times you do this deal.  We purchased two deals worth this past Sunday.

Weis is also running another great deal this week on multiple items (Scott TP, Viva paper towels, Cottonelle TP, Huggies diapers and wipes, Kotex, Colgate, Irish Spring, Soft Soap body wash, wipes, Kleenex, Depends and Poise, Palmolive, and Speed Stick/Irish Spring deodorant .  When you purchase $30 worth (shelf price) you get $10 off toward your next order.  If you do not need $30 worth of these items you can purchase $20 shelf price and receive $5 off your next order. I chose Scott paper towels and Kleenex tissues.   I had coupons for these items, however even without coupons I would have found this deal worthy since we were getting extremely low in tissues and kind of low in paper towels.  By the time you get the $10 toward your next order you save quite a bit!  Remember, at Weis it’s the shelf price they count toward the $30 or $20, not the sale price.  Unlike Giant who doesn’t count it until after all savings- sales and coupons.  This is one more reason why Weis is my store of choice!  

Overall, here are the numbers for this past Sunday’s trip:

• Out of Pocket (OOP) $125.73
• Total Savings* $75.83 (includes 2 gallons of free milk which are now in my freezer)
• Total Movie Ticket Value* $96! (in addition to the total savings listed above)
• Total Gas Points* .30 per gallon which could save us $8 at the pump!
• Total Savings including all * above: $179.83
• Percentage of savings was 70%

NOT BAD FOR NO PLANNING!  All it took was to look at my one delivered paper quickly on Sunday morning, look at the Weis ad, purchase multiple papers (because I found it worthy to) and do a 45 minute shopping trip.  All it takes is a few moments, an organized binder from past coupons (which doesn’t take very long) and a trip to the store knowing what the sales are and then having your eyes trained for clearance items- such as the taco sauce.

As you can see, I really haven’t spent much time on this.  I hope you’ve found this encouraging.  By the way, the sales I spoke of above are still available until this Saturday, January 19th.  

How much time do you spend preparing for your trip?  I’d love to hear your responses!  So would others.

These are two very popular questions I’m asked.  Let’s look at them individually…

Where Should I Purchase My Paper?

Up until recently I have recommended purchasing Sunday newspapers at Dollar Tree since they only charge $1.00 per paper as compared to full price elsewhere.  Depending where the store is located will depend which paper they carry.  In the past I’ve found this to be very beneficial until they began limiting the number of papers each person could purchase.  I found this limiting for myself since I often purchase multiple copies when the coupons are good.  Another problem- they just seem to run out all the time, quite early.  I’m not sure if they are limited by the amount of papers they are permitted to sell?

Another reason to rethink where I purchase my papers happened this month.  I heard, through good sources, there were to be five inserts on a particular Sunday.  I investigated what coupons would be found in them.  I realized I wanted multiple papers since there were quite a few valuable coupons for items I needed to restock.  When I went to Dollar Tree at 10:30am they told me they were already sold out.  After a short conversation they mentioned their papers only had four inserts.  I then went down the sidewalk to our local Weis store (Gap) and checked the same paper and guess what?  It had all five inserts!  Mmmmm… I’m wondering if Dollar Tree doesn’t receive all the inserts in their discounted papers?  I was happy to purchase four papers that Sunday- and they all had five inserts!  Thank you Weis!!

Lesson learned- make sure the papers you purchase have all the inserts in them.  You can verify which inserts you should see at www.moneysavingmom.com or www.forthemommas.com.  I find both of these sites are extremely helpful in my coupon shopping.  In fact, I’ve learned to teethe on coupons with their help.

How Many Papers Should I Purchase?

Personally, it varies from week to week.  The Sunday newspapers are my number one source for coupons.  By verifying which coupons should be included in the paper and what deals are on the way I can make an informed choice.  I’ve been known to purchase anywhere from two to eight papers Sunday mornings.  Keep in mind I am an extreme coupon shopper which means I have a large stockpile on hand at all times. For instance, this time of the year we will see many coupons for cleaning items so I know it’s time to begin seeking deals to stock up on spring cleaning products as well as cleaning products for the remainder of the year until next January.  Seem a bit extreme?  Perhaps to the untrained coupon shopper.  However, when I get name brand cleaning supplies for $1 or less at this time of the year then I’d say it’s worth my while.  I won’t need to purchase my cleaning items for an entire year.  For the most part I save a minimum of 75% of the cost.  Although cleaning is not one of my favorite things to do, I do smile when I get to use quality products and saved money for my family at the same time!

How many papers will I purchase this week?  I’m not sure yet- I better go check out my sources to see what coupons will be in them and get planning!  To help make this easier- I have a Sunday paper delivered to my home so I can check before heading out the door for church.  It’s common for me to read through the coupon inserts in the car while my husband gets us to our church in Gap.  Happy shopping everyone! 

Now that we are settled into our new home and new community it’s time to get back to extreme couponing in excellence!  I recommend you sign up to receive the updates to my Sharing From the Heart blog because you won’t want to miss my coupon savings tips I will be sharing with you throughout this new year.

First Tip: To stockpile or not?  That seems to be a BIG question I’m asked quite often.  There are pros and cons to stockpiling.

Do you have space?  If so, what size stockpile do you have room for?  What type of products do you think would be worthy to stockpile?

My first question to you-

Are you new to couponing?  If so, why not start out slow and start small.  This is my recommendation since new couponers can get overwhelmed if they take it on all at once.  Just begin watching the ads, getting coupons from the Sunday paper, perhaps printing coupons from the internet, and connect to a few of my favorite coupon saving websites that do most of the work for you.

Have you been couponing for a little while and are comfortable with it?  If so, I recommend you buy multiple papers when the coupons are useful for what you will want to purchase prior to the expiration date of the coupon.  Most likely the items on the coupons WILL go on sale prior to the coupon expiration so do not rush out to purchase items just because you have a coupon.  At this level you can begin purchasing a few of the same items (BOTH with coupons and on sale) to start a small stockpile.

Already an extreme couponer with a stockpile?  It’s time for me  to get on my soapbox… there is a fine line between stocking with a purpose with an intent to use prior to spoilage AND hoarding.  I admit it…you get almost a ‘high’ when you get to this level.  When you begin saving 70-90+% and begin bringing home free items consistently, you want to score the next deal and can, get ready for it…yes, you can become addicted for the next score.  Sounds funny…or does this sound familiar? Who doesn’t want to pay just $100 for $1,000 in merchandise?  ALL things in moderation please.  Score the great deals but also be reasonable.  The coupons will come around again and so will the sale prices.  Figure out what you have room to stockpile AND can use before the next cycle of sales.  Then donate the rest!  Use your extreme couponing skills to the benefit of local food pantries, missions and such- you can even get a tax receipt for your donation.  Think of those you know from church or your neighborhood or community that are hungry, out of work or down on their luck- donate some of your stock and make their day!

Now, my caution regarding hoarding.  What is hoarding?  It’s stocking in any quantity- large or small- of items you will not or could not possibly use up prior to expiration of the product.  Just about all items have an expiration date so it’s important you know when your stock will expire.  DO NOT WAIT to donate untill the expiration date.  In my book, that’s just throwing away trash to a local person or organization.  Trash belongs in the trashcan.  All things in excellence please!  Hoarding is also treasuring your stockpile more than relationships within your family or community.  Hoarding is allowing your stockpile to take over your home.   We’ve all seen it on tv and perhaps some of you have this already occurring in your homes- everywhere you turn you have part of your stockpile; you lose valuable space needed for life because you ‘need’ to put more stock there, you won’t share your abundance with others in need, and you look at your stockpile with extremely proud thoughts/emotions.  When we’ve put our couponing and stocking above our family life and community life, then we’ve gone too far.  Get some boxes and begin filling them with items to donate and share.  It won’t hurt, it won’t make you bleed.  It will give you an amazing feeling of a job well done!  Last year, Bob and I donated over $1,000 in products to a team from our church that provides mission work in Haiti.  This donation cost us approx $150!  It all came from my stockpile, so the $150 was spent a little here and a little there.  This was amazing and very exciting at the same time!  We provided health and beauty aids, cleaning products and food for people that have nothing in a land that is devastated.  Children ate cereal for the first time in their lives.  Something as basic as cereal that we take for granted every day.  I am still humbled by it!  In fact, it motivates us to do more- there are many opportunities for this!

We do stockpile and we’ve appreciated our stockpile for the past nine months especially!  Over the past 7+ months our family experienced the following: I had a heart procedure last May (2012), we placed our home on the market shortly after that, sold our home, lived in transition housing (hotel) while we waited for our next home, moved everything we owned into storage, moved to our new home, unpacked countless boxes, prepared and celebrated Thanksgiving for the family at our home and then celebrated Christmas.  It’s amazing how quickly the past 7+ months have gone by.  During that time we didn’t need to purchase any cleaning items or health and beauty aids.  We only purchased minimal amounts of food.  How is this possible? Because we had a healthy stockpile full of things we use and would need.  The best part- we didn’t know we were going to move when we stocked up on these items.  We hardly went to the grocery store!  Yes, this stockpile has been a blessing and we are looking forward to filling the gaping holes we’ve created by using so much over this past year.  We’ve also continued to donate to different causes at the same time.

Another benefit to stockpiling is learning to shop to the sales, not the typical grocery list way.  When cleaning items are on sale, we stock up.  We can do this because we are already stocked up on other items you typically find on a grocery list such as juice or milk… more on this in a future blog.

To stockpile or not?  The choice is yours.  You can still extreme coupon without stockpiling!  You just do it on a smaller level and it still is amazing when you save 70+% at the grocery store!

Please share your comments and questions.  This will help everyone!!

God’s compassions are new every morning, great is His faithfulness!

It’s early and I am watching the day unfold.  The darkness becomes light right before my eyes and I am reminded today is a new day.  The choice is up to me- will I embrace this new day or live in the past of yesterday?

The past has some very good memories- as a teen I accepted Christ, meeting the man who would become my husband, and the birth of our children and grandchildren.  Yes, the past has many warm memories!

However, if I am totally honest, my past includes some events I would prefer to not remember- childhood abuses  by two older boys, feelings of being lost in a big world, some bad choices I’d made, the loss of one of our children and the loss of several grandchildren.  Yes, my past has many harsh memories.

As a woman of God I must decide if I believe in a loving merciful compassionate God and His Word found in the Bible.  I am immediately reminded of His promise in Lamentations 3:19-24 – I have hope!

“I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall.  I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me.  Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therfore I will wait for him.”

His compassion IS new every morning.  Will I miss out on them because I am dwelling in the pain of my past?  Embracing God’s promises doesn’t magically erase the painful memories of my past.  Accepting and embracing God’s compassion toward me helps me to remember the blessings, have hope for today while not letting my past pain rule who I am today.  I AM a woman of God and I choose to exchange the pain of my past darkness to become God’s light as He unfolds His love, mercy and compassion on me today.

I encourage you to spend time with Him today, accept his compassion toward you and know today is a new day!  Here is a worship song by Don Moen called Thank You Lord to help you start today fresh in Christ…

Look closely…the leader is in the front and the others are following his every move!

“I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free.”  Psalm 119:32

I hear the gentle lapping of the water and as I gaze around me, admiring God’s beauty, at a distance I see something beautiful that catches my eye- a family of ducks swimming across the water.  They didn’t stray from one another, instead they faithfully stayed close to each other.  They were surrounded by a large body of water, they could have gone all over on this peaceful morning and yet, they chose to cling tightly to each other.  I realized we can learn a valuable lesson from these faithful ducks.  I asked myself a question- “Who and what do I cling to?”

It’s often easy to be a Sunday or Holiday believer, but what about all the other days each and every year?  On those days when life is sweet I give God praise.  Do I also praise Him when I walk through the pain life often brings?  The daily struggles that come my way? This family of ducks follow their leader everywhere, staying close together.  If the leader turns, so do they.  In fact, they follow their leader’s every move.  I am once again challenged:  Do I stay closely connected to God in this same way?  Attentive to His every Word?  When He says “Go!”, do I go?  When He says “Stay!”, do I stay?  When He says “Serve!”, do I serve?  When He says, “Be still my child.” do I sit patiently waiting and basking in His love?  It is a challenging thought for me.  What about you?  I want to be like this family of ducks!  I want to be closely aware of the Leader of the family of God.  I want to follow my leader’s every move.  Therein lies the challenge…as a daughter of the King of Kings- am I attentive and willing to stay closely connected to my God?

Here is today’s worship song by Chris Tomlin- I think this says it all.  Is this the cry of my heart?  I want it to be…do you?

The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.  Zephaniah 3:17

The grass on the dunes sway with a rythm as they dance to the music God plays on the wind.  Oh, to be like this grass.  To live free, fully abandoned for You.  To hear the songs You sing over me and to let myself embrace the beautiful movement of it all.

These grasses do not worry what today holds for them, let alone tomorrow.  They are living out their purpose for this very moment.  They are planted where You want them to be and their dance is comforting and encouraging to me .  I sit here, amazed – before an audience of One.

Father, teach  me to seek you daily, recognizing I am before you, before an audience of One each time I am before You during my quiet time.  I want to dance to Your song that You created specifically for me.  I want to spend each day planted where You want me to be and serve the purpose You created for me.

Is this your desire too?  Then a great place to start is worship.  Enjoy and be encouraged by this beautiful worship song as you stand before an audience of One today.

This is a great opportunity to treat your mother for Mother’s Day, hang out with your girlfriends, bring ladies from your church, treat yourself to a morning out… the most important part is that you come to be pampered by our team of trained pamperers!  You deserve a break…why not make this event a time to remember?!

(*Note to the ladies who have a free event credit from the cancelled April tea- you can use your credit for this awesome event.  Contact Karen Pennell at karen@karenpennellconsulting.com or (610) 593-6331 to use your credit!)