Bit By the Frugal Bug

This was my second week attempting frugal grocery shopping and I am very pleased again. I only used 1 coupon and price matched 18 items at W-mart.

The problem with all the couponing this week was the match-ups I found on websites called for coupons that came out in the May inserts. I don't have those inserts as I wasn't saving coupons at the time. So, it will take a few more weeks before I'm all set on the coupon front.

This mama killdeer laid eggs in the flowerbeds at church. We've been watching her every week.
They hatched this week. I sure hope we get to see them! 

But I can still price match! I don't know exactly how much I saved this week as I forgot to write down the prices from W-mart. Last week I saved about $13, which doesn't sound like a lot. So why are my grocery bills so much lower than they have been?

I think it's because I'm spending the time going through all the grocery ads for all the stores in our area so I KNOW a good deal when I see it. There are many times when W-mart's price is better than the one I have written down. It's good to know that I'm getting a good price.

And of course, I'm not buying organic anymore. I would like to go back to organic one day...but not right now.

I love that I'm saving money on our grocery bill each week. Since I don't actually have an income....saving money where I can makes me feel like I'm contributing to our family's budget in a very real way.

My grocery store helpers. They are very patient and good shoppers.

Now, I need a better deal on my Internet and phone service! Our Internet has been flaky lately and to get a faster service it will end up costing only about $8-$10 a month more BUT $100 more for a new modem. That's not helping me save money. The only reason we even have a land line is for the Internet service. I wish i could get rid of the whole bill!

I'm all about getting a better deal. Once you start saving money, you feel really offended if you can't save on something. We went to Chili's last week with a "kids eat free" coupon. Bought books at the bookstore "buy 2 get 1 free" and used a Starbucks gift card.

It's official. I've been bit by the frugal bug. I LOVE saving money.

Let the SUPER BLOGGING Begin!

OK, so if you've been following me here (and at my other blog), you know we are doing some home remodeling right now. By doing, I mean paying for.

THEN, both our computers died within weeks of each other.

Ouch.

Thankfully, (Praising the Lord for blessings!) we had the money to do something about it. Turns out computers don't cost nearly what they used to back when we last bought one. We've been a bit out of the technology loop. So we now have ONE family computer. It has to be taken care of and used well. It will be for personal use, family finances, record keeping for our business, school work, church stuff, etc.

And, of course, blogging. S said on the way home from the computer store, "Now you're all set up. I expect to see SUPER BLOGGING going on."

No pressure. I'm not really sure what super blogging looks like but I'm pretty sure it involves you guys leaving LOTS and LOTS of positive feedback so some one's husband will see the results of his recent purchase. Ahem.

And now I'll tell you that S and I felt a bit like country folks come to town while we were shopping. The young kid (actually, he was the manager) was talking rapid fire about apps on the printer, and how you can send documents from your phone straight to the printer at your house and they print automatically, and how you can scan your fingers on the laptop to access sites instead of using passwords......

...and I think we might have stood there with our mouths dropped open just a bit. And shook our heads a few dozen times.

"I tell you Herbert, I just cain't get over it. You just push that little handle down and the toilet flushes ALL by itself RIGHT THERE IN THE HOUSE!"

We aer so up with it. Kinda reminded me of a few years back when we needed a new phone. We were looking at all the choices that had answering machines built in and one of us said, "Where do you put the tape? I don't see anywhere to put the tape?"

But that is no longer us. No sir. WE are UP with the technology and whipping out SUPER POSTS such as this one.

Ahem. (your turn---make me look good ladies!)

I Know How I'm Shopping This Year

Oh this technology. It's something else.

Friday nights we have a Bible study at our house. Right now we are watching The Truth Project. It's really good stuff. This week's lesson was on History. Somehow we got to talking about our history curriculum. We constantly use The Mystery of History in our Bible study time. None of us learned history in this way when we were in school so we are learning it now as adults. There was a new lady at the study who had not heard of it and so I went and got the book.

Next thing I know, our friend Mark is looking on his iPhone. Oh, here is TMOH for (some price amount). WHAT??? I paid a lot more for it than that!!! Where are you looking?

He has an app on his phone where you scan the bar code of something and it shows you where you can buy it. And all the different prices you can buy it for. Hmm. Interesting. I didn't believe him that is would work on anything so he scanned a box of mac n cheese from my pantry. Boom. There it was.

Sunday night at Bible study, a gentleman had a book that S was interested in. I saw S trying to snap a picture of the book with his phone. So I quickly downloaded the bar code app, scanned the book, and found him a copy for $5.

Now my brain is spinning. You see where this is going right? You go to a store that sells homeschool curriculum. You find something you like. You scan the bar code. Boom. Price wars right there on your phone.

Oh yeah. I'm saving money this year is what I'm saying.

I like technology today.

Upgrading My Can Opener

Our laptop died this weekend.

Tragic, yes? Even more so when you know that our laptop was the most advanced piece of technological equipment that we owned. Before I tell you about our prehistoric ways, I am reminded of a friend from college.

Todd was going to be rooming with 3 other guys in an apartment come fall, so they had all been on the phone during the summer hashing out the details. Mike had a couch he could bring....Chris had access to a dining room table, etc.

Finally it came down to little things like who has a can opener? Todd said he did and he would gladly bring it in August when they moved in. Everyone was pleased until Todd showed up with something like this:

Picture source.

There was talk of violence among them is all I'm saying. ALL of the other 3 guys could have gotten their hands on an ELECTRIC can opener but no....they had trusted Todd. Todd and his sad, pathetic excuse for a can opener. (Never mind the part where I just got an electric can opener a few months ago.)

The point of the story is my cell phone. We paid for S to have a phone with data access because he was in leadership at our church and needed to have access to the e-mails that invariably go along with that even during the day. But I did not see the need to pay "all that money" for a nice data phone for myself. I mean...I'm home a lot. We have internet at home. What else do I need?

But let me tell you, whenever a group of homeschool moms would be sitting in a group visiting and someone would ask, "when is that conference?" and 14 moms pulled out their phones to check?

I felt sorta like Todd. But if you needed to know what time it was...I was your woman. MY phone proudly displayed the time in DIGITAL FORMAT 24/7.

I know!

So suffice it to say, we had already been talking about the need to upgrade our phones and then our laptop died. This got us to making an entire technology upgrade plan for our family. I mean, it's time to switch from cassette tape to CD's, you know? Figuratively speaking, of course.

And while we were at the phone store forking over the money, I told S this was a GREAT Valentine's Day gift. If he were smoother, he could have said, "I thought so too." But you could see the lightbulb go on over his head about what a great idea that was, so...OK...he still gets credit.

I love my Valentine's present honey!

One of the most delightful things to me, other than the fact that I will not have to drive around lost and call a friend to have them look up directions for me on the internet and call me back, is the typing. It's HORRIBLE. I cannot type on that phone to save my life. But even when I type in alien language like:

eana!  ael ;avn bnkldk!

My phone spits out:

Great! See you there!

This post sent to you from my desktop computer, which sports a slot for a 3.5 inch floppy disk.