Not much news to post today. We're cooped up inside with the ice/sleet storm that came through last night. We're expecting another 1/2"-1" of sleet and then maybe 1-3 inches of snow after that.
The boys are outside sledding and just having a ball! Emalee's taking her nap and I'm getting ready to continue working on my taxes. Blah!
Thankfully, we still have power so we're warm.

Update: I'm back from getting my groceries. Thought I'd post of pic of what I got too! I knew the Dillon's ad was awesome this week! I walked out of the store with 6 bags of Green Giant Steamers for free! I also got all my Chex Mix and Cheerios Snack mixes free. The Totino's Pizza Rolls were $1 each! Kleenex were 75 cents each and if you know my family you know we go through Kleenex!

Do I post my pictures on here to brag? No! I do this because you can do it too! I believe that the Lord has given me some much needed help in this area of grocery shopping and I want to give Him the glory. He knew I needed to save some money somewhere and through the help of one of my friends He's showed me how to coupon shop. Now I have so much food I don't know what to do with it! So, I've made a decision to sit down tonight after church and start writing out menus from what I have in stock. I have a goal to get at least 3-4 weeks worth of menus written using only what I have on hand.

Here's the break down of todays shopping trip:

My total before coupons: $157.12

My total after coupons: $74.73

Percentage of savings: 53%

It's a new day. I took the boys to school, came home, got Emalee dressed and fed. I'm getting ready to do my grocery shopping before they run out of Green Giant veggies (I can get several of them for free). When I get back I plan on doing some baking. I was inspired by http://www.moneysavingmom.com/ to get some cooking done so I think I'll just start with tonight's supper and go from there. The meatballs on her site look scrumptious...maybe I'll make a batch of them too.
I'm excited about this weekend. It's our annual Deacon/Elder retreat in Branson. Should be a fun, tired, thought provoking time for all of us. The best part........(drum roll)....NO KIDS!!!
Another thing I'm excited about is making my first batch of homemade laundery soap. I'll give it a try for awhile and see if I like it, if I do I'll post the recipe on here. I've been told that the soap costs about 25 cents per gallon. I can't even imagine paying pennies for my laundry soap! I really hope I like it!
Well, I'm off to get my bargains at Dillons. They're having a great sale this week and I have tons of coupons that match! I'm taking my calculator with me today along with my list to add up my total as I go. I have a weekly budget and need to stick to it today! I'll post my percentage saved when I return...

Passport photos taken!

In order for Emalee to get a SS# we have to apply for her Certificate of Citizenship (aka: CoC). Anway, part of what's required in the application is for her to have a passport photo taken. I took her today and I think we succeeded! I had to hold her up in the air because she was too short to stand up behind the white screen, but after a few attempts we got the right shot! Yeah! That part is out of the way and I can send the application in.

More Cottonelle TP for FREE

Go to Cottonelle's website http://www.cottonelle.com/coupons.aspx to get your coupons. This doubles at Dillon's making the 4-pack of TP absolutely FREE!!! You can print this twice per computer.

Another shopping adventure...

I had a great day shopping today. I think today was my best day ever using coupons. I saved 49% at Dillons today and got several items absolutely FREE!!! I love it when that happens! I took a picture of my free items.

Here's what I got completely FREE.... 12 bars of Johnson's baby soap (the orange and purple boxes), 2 Suave deodorants, 3 tubes of toothpaste (Crest and Colgate), a box of crackers, 2 bottles of Softsoap (not pictured), two 4-packs of Cottonelle toilet paper, and a box of Hamburger Helper. I also got cereal for $1.22 and $1.66 per box. I stocked up on ceral today and got 11 boxes.

My total BEFORE coupons was $181.50, but after my coupons I only paid $94.60!!!!

If you'd like to get FOUR 4-packs of Cottonelle absolutely free go to http://www.coupons.com/ and http://www.smartsource.com/ and print two .50 cent Cottonelle coupons. Dillons doubles these making them worth $1.00. They also have Cottonelle for .99 cents. So, your TP will be FREE with these coupons. (If you can print all of these you should have 4 coupons.)

You can also get Johnson's Bath Buddies soap FREE at Dillons by going to this website and printing (limit 2 prints per computer) the Johnson Buddies coupon. Dillon's has these for .99 cents and this is a $1.00 off coupon. http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?sduid=0&t=836711#

FREE Johnson's baby soap if you act NOW!!!

Want some FREE baby soap??? Go to www.moneysavingmom.com to see her entry about Johnson's baby soap. You'll have to download a coupon printer, but it's worth it! I get many of my coupons this way.

More on coupons...

I wanted to let my readers know that All You magazine has tons of great coupons in it that I've found to be very practical. You can only get this magazine at CVS pharmacy and Walmart (to my knowledge anyway). The best part is that you can thumb thru the magazine before you buy it to see if it's worth getting. This month features a lot of weight loss type coupons (Slim Fast, etc.), being January and resolution month, but I'm sure February's edition will be much better.

I'm back!!!

My computer went out of business a few weeks ago so I've not been able to write anything. Actually, the break was kinda nice. The boys were out of school and we were really able to focus on the Truth of Christmas this year. I simplified my decorating which really helped me focus and then something terrible happened....the stomach bug made a visit the weekend before Christmas. I was sick that Sunday through Wednesday (the night before Christmas). I was up wrapping presents during the time that Santa is usually putting them under the tree! Despite all of the chaos, everything was completed in time for Christmas morning. We're all feeling fine now and hoping that the stomach bug doesn't return.