Movin' On Up!

My parents will be closing on their new house in Waukesha, WI, on February 22nd. One week from today! Click here to see some pictures of their new house. The only thing that is different is the price, and there isn't any wallpaper in the dining room anymore. (Thank goodness!) I told Ella today that Gigi and Papa would be coming to Wisconsin this Friday and wouldn't be going back to Michigan to live anymore. She said, "Thank you mommy!" I am so excited to have them close by. The new house is on the boarder of Waukesha and New Berlin, about a 7 minute drive from our house! I'm sure it will be an adjustment for everyone, but I think it is the best situation for everyone. Now they will be able to see Ella sing at church, come to her tumbling class, attend future sporting events or dance recitals, and the same goes for Nathan too! Not to mention the free babysitting...

I have a new obsession. Clipping coupons. I just started reading many blogs regarding "couponing" and have now made it my personal goal to save as much money as possible on groceries and personal care items. I'm trying to learn the ins and outs of our local grocery store, Pick 'N Save, and also the drugstore, CVS. I was told to pick two stores and really become familiar with their policies and rewards programs. So that's where I'm starting. Currently, the blogs that I check regularly are:

Hip2Save

My Milwaukee Mommy

Commonsense with Money

Mommy Snacks

Coupon Saving Game

I'm learning to check sales at stores like Target, Walmart, Walgreens, and CVS, then seeing if I have a manufacturers coupon (MFR), then checking to see if I have a store specific coupon. For example, I went to Target today and purchased all of this for $5.30. I had a $1.00 MFR coupon for Vaseline Clinical Care lotion and I also had a Target $1.00 coupon for any brand lotion. On top of that, it was on clearance for $4.22! So, I only paid $2.22 for a bottle of lotion!

My best deal of the day was these 2 cosmetics by NYC for $.94 total!

Again, I had a $1.00 MFR for NYC cosmetics, and then a Target $.75 coupon off any cosmetic. The lipstick was $.97 (which I thought was $1.72, but rang up as $.97) and the nail polish was $1.72. So $2.69 for the 2 items, minus the 2 coupons I had, brought the total cost down to $.94! Nice deal, huh?

After looking through the Walgreens flyer from the Sunday paper, (which I bought for $1.00 at Dollar Tree), I discovered that there were many items on sale that I also had a coupon for. I bought all of this for $10.35.

That's 2 full size boxes of Kellogg's ceral, 3 boxes of kleenex, 3 Chapsticks, 2 boxes of baking soda, and 1 container of flushable Cottonelle wipes.

It's actually kinda fun seeing how much money can be saved. From what I've been reading, couponing is like a game. There is a ton of money to be saved if you know all the rules, tips, and tricks. The blogs I've been reading do all of the work for you. They tell you what's on sale at certain stores and then match up coupons from the paper or online. I've only been at this for about a week, but I feel like I'm slowly getting the hang of it.

I had to work over the weekend, so it wasn't as busy as last weekend. On Friday, we got together with some couples from church for drinks and appetizers. We had a ping-pong tournament and Joe came in 2nd. Way to go babe! I taught Sunday School on, you guessed it, Sunday morning. I don't get as nervous anymore and I'm beginning to enjoy doing it. But, I don't know how teachers do it on a daily basis! They must be saints. Nathan's Godparents, Brian and Jenny offered to watch the kids yesterday evening, so Joe and I could go out to dinner. We gladly accepted and had a nice Valentine's dinner at a restaurant not too far from our house.

And now it's onto another week!