My families grocery budget

I am working hard at cutting down my families expenses. To start I am trying to keep track of what I am spending on groceries. Watching the fliers for sales, using coupons when ever possible, stocking up on items we use alot of when they are on sale. My ultimate goal would be to spend $100/ week on groceries and supplies for my family of 4 , not sure if it is possible, we will have to see.

Week	Spent	Bought	Notes
1 Febuary 27th	$174.40	Diapers, wipes, cleaners, shampoo, razors, 4 deoderants, 6 cling wraps, Epsom salts for mister, pop, 13 boxes of cereal, spaghetti sauce, hamburger meat, pizza meats, pizza mix, 3 bottles of Motrin, baby mum mums, 3 packs hot dogs, lettuce, Pringles, Doritos, shake n bake, mozza cheese,	Used $88.56 in coupons
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My Name is Jennifer and I am a Popaholic

Since I was a kid I have been completely addicted to Pepsi, I drink on average probably 6 cans a day. Which is horrible first off cause of the calories 150 calories a can so a total of approx 900 calories a day just on my pop. YIKES!!!! No wonder I have weight issues. And then there is the caffeine, which is probably the reason I have trouble sleeping. I come by it honestly, my mom and grandmother were both pop drinkers. My mom was a Diet Coke fan and never drank anything else, which meant there was always pop in the house.

With my kids I am completely against giving them pop. My oldest Dodge who is almost 6 thinks pop is the same as beer, bad for you and only for adults. I really encourage water and discourage pop. I hope he learns a love for water the way I learned the love for pop. ( fingers crossed)

So this week, I have switched to Sprite and Gingerale. Still not good for me, but no caffeine and still gives me the satisfaction of something sweet. I am hoping that once I get use to the no caffeine I will be able to switch again to something that is not pop.

What do you Hoard?

Lately I have been addicted to the show Hoarders. For those of you that have never seen it you really should check it out. It will make any frustrated mom feel really good about their homes. Basically it is about people "hoarders" that are unable to get rid of stuff because of emotional attachment etc. Some of their homes are piled to the ceiling with everything from empty pill bottles, old newspapers, and clothes to rotting food and dead cats.

View Show HERE

After watching many shows, I have come to the conclusion that I may be a bit of a hoarder. I usually always have one room in the house that is filled to the door with odd stuff. It stays that way for a few months until I do an compete purge and clean it out. I find that every 2-3 months I need to spend a week purging at least one room in the house. Just to note my house never looks like the homes in these pictures.

Recently I tackled my office and filled a van with a load of stuff for the dump as well as a box of garage sale stuff.

What types of things do I hoard?

• old magazines, catalogues, newspapers, fliers
• thousands of pieces of paper with one or two notes on them. Often a phone number or meeting time/ date
• empty boxes and old envelopes
• old tax papers
• clothes, shoes and coats
• shampoo bottles with hardly anything in it

Why do I hoard?

I am a big money saver person. I hate throwing out something that is still good, someone else can use or that I may need again. Seems like once you throw something out, you will need to buy it again.

However, I am not really a true hoarder since I also love to purge. Nothing feels better then cleaning out a room and filling the garbage bags. I love the high I get from getting rid of junk.

Check out Oprah's 12 Tips to Overcome Hoarding

Take Oprah's Hoarding Severity Scale

P.S

THESE PHOTOS ARE NOT OF MY HOUSE

I'm Back

Wow, it has been so long since I blogged last. I wish I could say I have been traveling around the globe or spending time with my family, but actually I have been sick. Extremely sick :(

But I have decided that maybe getting back into blogging will help me deal with some of my health issues. So I am going to try to my best to blog on a daily basis.

Well enough about that stuff. What is new ?

1. My youngest son is turning one next month. He is now standing, walking with a walking toy, and developing a new sense of humor.

2. My Oldest lost his first tooth this week.

3. I just celebrated my 26TH birthday

4. And the big news is I am going to college in March. I am taking Multimedia Web Design. So excited!!

Cooking with your Kids

One of my favorite things to do with my son and dayhome kids is to bake a cake, muffins or rice crispie squares. The kids love it, I give them each a job, one pours the oil, one measures the flour and someone else mixes. I think it is so important to teach your kids to cook, so I am always excited to see kid friendly kitchen stuff. All of these items are from Snug as a Bug

Coupon Frustrations and How to Overcome Them!

As with everything in life, there is always some sort of negative side of things. When it comes to our latest hobby of couponing, we have come to discover some frustrations that come along with it. Here is a list of some of those things that irk us and some tips on how to overcome them:


#1 Too many coupons to know what to do with!! The best solution we have found so far for this is our coupon binder, as Jennifer so nicely described in a previous post! Using different type of page inserts and dividers you can organize your coupons by useful categories to make sorting and locating easier! We have also made a pile of coupons that we know we will not use and use these coupons for trading with others and coupon "trains".
You can also donate any coupons to people in need. For example, donate your pet food coupons to a local shelter!



#2 Binder is too full! This is a current problem we are both having. We have yet to come up with a great solution. We question if we need a bigger binder, a second binder, or if we should search for a better system! Some ladies go as far as large carrying cases that look like tool boxes! We have yet to get to that level yet, but who knows!



#3 EXPIRY DATES! This is one of the saddest realizations as a coupon diva.....when a coupon you have has expired. At the moment we take these expired coupons and give them to Jennifer's son as he has graciously taken on the hobby of couponing just like Mommy! He has his own little coupon binder and plays store with his friends and uses expired coupons and flyers! I love this idea :)
When coupons are nearing expiry and you have more than you can use, don't just go and use them! If you have enough to save a decent amount of money on the item and you know you need it then go for it! But don't just use them "just because". Some useful tips would be to trade them with someone you know will need them and put them to good use. ALSO, one of the neatest solutions we have come across so far is to take those coupons to the store with you when you go and leave them with that product so that someone else who is shopping for that product can take advantage of the coupon!!

#4 Cranky store workers! This one is a bummer and sometimes can't be avoided. Some people just seem to be against coupons for some reason and want to do everything in their power to prevent you from using them. It's sad really, but to each their own. To avoid conflict here are some things you can do: Make sure you have a copy or good knowledge of the store's coupon policy. That way you can present it to prove that what you are doing is allowed. You can also go to Customer Service with your purchases rather than a regular cashier as they usually have a bit more knowledge of the coupon process and if authorization is needed for the transaction (ex: price matching) then they are able to do so right there. ~Debra