by heather | creative tips
I am very coupon savvy. My friends call me the Coupon Queen. I love couponing. Saving money makes me happy.
My friends are always amazed when I tell them my coupon stories, like when I got $60 worth of groceries for just $7 (see picture below). Yep, all of that for just $7. And the $3 milk wasn’t even on sale.
The other week I got all of the groceries here for less than $20…
Now the fun part…..the couponing tips!
• Ask family and friends who get the Sunday paper to save the coupon inserts for you that they haven’t used. Most people just toss these out, and that is a shame!
• You can print coupons online. At least half of the coupons I use are printed right from my home printer. And it is FREE. There are a number of websites like Coupons.com,RedPlum.com, SmartSource.com, even companies like Betty Crocker have bunches of coupons available each month. All you need is a printer, ink and some paper!
• Find your favorite brand of foods online. Sign up for their newsletters and like them on Facebook to have easy access to their coupons and promotions. For example, I love Wholly Guacamole. They offer $1 off coupons every month that they send right to my inbox. I started a separate email account just for my coupons so they don’t bog down my regular account.
• Ready for a super secret tip? Any coupon can be printed twice! All you have to do is hit the back button on your browser and the coupon will magically print again.
• Get a binder and some clear plastic sleeves to organize your coupons. This will keep everything in one place and easy for you to sort through. I always organize my shopping trip and pull my coupons before heading to the store so I don’t look like one of those crazy couponers….even though secretly I am a little.
• It’s all about the matching up the sales with the coupons. Or waiting for a store like Harris Teeter to have a Super Double Coupon or Triple Coupon week. That is really when you hit the jackpot. IT IS SUPER DOUBLE COUPON WEEK AT HARRIS TEETER STARTING TODAY! They will double coupons up to $2.00 – limit 20 per day. See the Harris Teeter website for more details.
• There are bloggers out there that do all of the hard work for you. I visit MyCouponTeacher.com every week to see what the latest coupon match up deals are for my local Harris Teeter. These couponing bloggers will tell you what items are on sale and which coupon to match it to to get the best price available. Sometimes they even link to the coupons that you can print out for free. Like I said, they do all of the hard work for you. I just skim the list each week and see which products I am interested in that match up with whatever coupons I might have stashed away.
• You can get free groceries. I often get free items at the grocery store by matching up sale items with coupons. Even if I am not interested in the product I will go ahead and get it. I can always give to a friend or donate to someone who could use it. I will never pay for another toothbrush, chapstick, mustard or hot sauce again. I get those free all of the time.
This is an example of what your receipt might look like when you start couponing – notice the coupons tendered at the bottom.
This really only scratches the surface of couponing. There are many more tips out there that I have even yet to learn. Please feel free to comment on this blog post if you have any amazing coupon tips to share. I would love to hear them! HAPPY COUPONING!
by heather | fun finds
I would call this post a bucket list, but that would be a stretch. Even if I could vacation in one of these amazing spots, I would be a happy camper! Let’s daydream together…
Cocoa Island
This small 23-room hotel is located on its own private island in the Maldives. The suites, which resemble local fishing boats, rest on pine poles set into the ocean floor. Steps lead from each suite right into the water. You take a speedboat to get to the island from the airport. That sounds fun too!
Delaire Graff Estate
The Delaire Graff Estate is settled in the vineyards of Stellenbosch in South Africa. This 5-Star lodge is an art, hospitality and wine destination located in the mountains outside of Cape Town. The views look incredible!
MAIA
Is this place for real? A secluded tropical haven of blue water, white sand, and carefree living located in the Seychelles Islands off the coast of Africa. One of their taglines reads “Gracious. Spacious. Secluded. Sublime.” Ummm, yes please.
Hotel Kakslauttanen, Igloo Villiage
Here you can watch the phenomenal Northern Lights illuminate Finland’s winter sky. Each igloo is equipped with thermal glass, which keeps the view clear even in sub-zero temperatures. And inside, you’re treated to every amenity, including your own hot sauna. Out of doors, there are husky and reindeer safaris and even a Santa Village – elves and all.
Poseiden
This underwater five-star luxury hotel in Fiji, set to open in late 2012, has been marketed as the “world’s first sea floor resort”. It might be a little creepy at night, but well worth the once in a lifetime experience. You can even use button controls to feed the fish out of your window. And for just $30,000 for the week you can reserve your spot now! Yeah, right.
Hamanasi Hotel
This would be an awesome adventure vacation. From scuba diving and snorkeling Belize’s Great Barrier Reef to climbing Mayan pyramids, hiking through rainforests in search of hidden caves, to spotting elusive birds and wildlife. You can even dive with the largest fish in the sea – the whale shark. And the best part, you can stay in a tree house!
Should I go on? This has been really fun research. What are your dream vacation spots?
by heather | weekly specials
Wit, jokes, amusement, funniness, clowning, joyfulness, banter, whimsy, playfulness, comedy…call it what you will.
I use LOL way too much. But I only do it when I really laugh out loud…which is a lot. When I really get to laughing at something hilarious, I can’t stop. I cry and giggle so much it hurts. It makes everyone around me laugh because I look like a complete idiot loosing all control. And then their laughter makes me laugh even more. My husband says “oh no, she’s going chicken snail”.
The term “chicken snail” came from the first time I really lost control of my laughs in front of my husband’s parents when we first started dating. Of course it was an inappropriate time, when we were out to dinner at a nice restaurant. I don’t remember exactly what was said, but my husband’s father thought I said something about a chicken and a snail. The story itself isn’t that funny, and who knows what caused me to laugh so much at that moment. I found an old email from my now mother-in-law from soon after that night that reads: “We’re smiling with the memory of your face convulsed with laughter over the mooing chicken!” The name “chicken snail” stuck and we now use that term to describe anyone who gets the giggles and can’t stop.
I can’t wait to see what the blog brings for this week’s “humor” theme. Let’s all LOL together!
Be sure to check out our “Let’s Laugh” board over on Pinterest for some funnies.
