Walgreens - FREE INK REFILL 4/2/08

Check your Sunday Paper
I heard rumor of it - and it's a darn good thing because my black ink is out and color is on it's way.

There is a coupon in today's paper that allows you to get a FREE Ink Refill at participating Walgreens on April 2nd ONLY! I did it last time they offered it and besides not being able to pick it up in an hour which was no big deal for me - it was a heck of a deal!

I lost out on printing coupons last week because I didn't realize the black ink was bone dry -- and you only have one chance at "bricks" coupons and you're done.

Gearing up for April

April's Budget

Again, courtesy of my You Need a Budget (YNAB) software I present by April budget! (you'll see a pun here shortly)

Changes to the budget this month include a reduction in school lunches. Because of Spring Break, I had left over funds in the lunch account that can roll over until April.

We changed plans for our Budget Billing with the Master Plumbers to include our expensive MicroPowerguard furnace filters.

$6.00 for cell phone? Well, that's because I accidentally paid them twice this month. Oops! Forgot that I had just signed up for autopay. DUH!

Gifts will be a new addition from now on. I've been meaning to put in on here, but this month was a no-brainer because ... IT'LL BE MY 39th BIRTHDAY IN APRIL! Of course, part of that money will reimburse the checking account for by son's Easter present that I forgot to budget for March. OOPS!

The grocery stockpile is growing by leaps and bounds. I've had to rearrange the upper shelf in my closet to help store extra boxes of pasta and other staples that I was able to get a good deal on while I have the extra grocery money. I'll be dipped if we are going to have a flour shortage and I won't have pasta! I won't hear of it!
LOL.


Finding Money
The whole thing about this process is to find money in places you wouldn't be looking normally. Squeeze your budget til it screams - etc.

Today, I decided to try my luck and contact Bank of America to see if I could get a lower APR rate on my credit card. I half expected them to laugh at me because I haven't used the card .. it's just been a storage account for my transferred balance.

Long story short - they lowered my rate from 14.75% to 9.9% without any hassle at all.
That should save me about $300 in finance charges. (if my pay off date goes as planned) NICE!

What's with the UNDER CONSTRUCTION thing there, Wendy?
I thought I may do a BS2 in rewind. Not that what I've done is beyond spectacular, but I thought I would share my story and what I did back in July when I decided to do my TMMO. What I did to get me to where I am now which is halfway between here and there.

BZZZ Agent - BZZ of the Day
So from time to time, I get to try new products and let people know what I thought of them.
I got in the mail today my Glade Wisp Flameless Candle. I was excited to get this because I often light candles and leave them burning unsupervised - especially in the powder room. You'd think I'd have learned my lesson from my gel potpourri incident at the last house. Gel Potpourri burns quick and leaves dense smoke in case you didn't know. Anyway, this new Wisp Flameless Candle holder is much bigger than I was expecting. I was picturing a holder that would hold something similar to a votive. This is much bigger - looks very nice and is easy to turn on and off. Best yet, safe for use in my powder room (or anywhere else that I've left it unattended) It's available in an array of Glades fragrances including my favorite Rainshower! I've got those darn plug ins all over my house too!

Oh is my Mom going to be upset!

Her "secret" recipe for Spaghetti Pie was one of the meals on my Aldi Store Emealz menu list this week! The recipes are very darn similar! And because my mom will never get a computer, I don't mind sharing the recipe because it is sooooo yummy!!!

You can find here in one my previous posts: Spaghetti Pie

American Idol (after the fact)

Not that anybody has been reading my Idol opinions but ...

I forgot to post what I thought about Tuesday night's performances. Not that I can really VOTE for who was in the bottom three ... but the fact that Ramielle hasn't been in the bottom three yet amazes me.


David Cook, “Billie Jean” -- I don't care whose version it was ... it blew my head off! Although it would be nice if he could have taken full credit for the amazing rendition. Here's Chris Cornell's version -- after listening to that I think David did an exceptional job!!!
Michael Johns, “We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions” -- amazing - not flawless, but amazing.
Syesha Mercado, “If I Was Your Woman” -- nice. I don't think I would have put her in the bottom three this week.
Carly Smithson, “Total Eclipse of the Heart” -- always loved the song so I didn't have a problem with it.
Ramiele Malubay, “Alone” -- No no No! I just don't get this girl's lasting power. Incredible.
Brooke White, “Every Breath You Take” -- I actually liked this one (and I'm admittedly not a fan of hers)
David Archuleta, “You’re the Voice” -- whatever. You know, I am getting sick of hearing the screaming girls every time this guys face hits the screen.
Chikezie, “If Only for One Night” - Nope, not tonight. There's just better than him here - although it's Kristy's choice of songs that knocked Chikezie out.
Jason Castro, “Fragile” -- thank God! Bottom Three. Wake Up Call! Drop the dime-bag and get with the program!
Kristy Lee Cook, “God Bless the U.S.A.” She sang it really well, and even if she hadn't done a great job - who could vote her out after singing THAT song! I knew it as soon as I heard what she was singing that there was NO WAY she'd be out.

I would have voted Ramiele, Chikeze and Jason in the bottom three ... and Ramiele out.
So I admit I was wrong with my choice.

Like I said, I don't think anyone cares about my opinions - but I felt bad not skipping a week since I started this.

Ramblings .....

If I didn't care about debt anymore ...
This may be my car. $400 per month payments for a really classy ride with bells and whistles galore! I'd probably need to take a class in order to learn all of what the buttons and knobs did. I didn't check, but I bet the darn car would probably talk to me too! Ahhhh, if I didn't care about my debt at all -- I'd have a really sweet ride.

But the reality is that I DO care - and I DON'T want the $400 monthly payments. My 1997 Lumina has been one heck of a car for me and besides the fact that the air conditioning unit doesn't work anymore ... there isn't a reason to replace her. She has her blemishes, but then again -- so do I. It was fun, however, to build a car online and watching the numbers increase insanely with each gizmo and gadget that I added.

On the Work front
Welp, the storytellers are still keeping the latest script under wraps at my dh's job. We're not being fed contradictory stories this week, so I guess that's okay. It's funny though being and outsider and seeing how things work.

"Whoa! Guys! We are so busy! We can't keep up with all the orders. I can see overtime lasting for {insert long time frame here}." Yippee... overtime for {insert long time frame here}! This is great news! Then two weeks later you hear "Whoa! Guys! No overtime. In fact, we are going to cut some people's hours. If you want to take vacation time ... go ahead and use it now. We don't know when it will pick up." Really? What happened to ALL THOSE ORDERS and the overtime that was going to be lasting so long because we were OH SO BUSY? I learned to take it with a grain of salt but you begin to wonder if the business itself can be bi-polar instead of the bosses that run it. Currently, the overtime is there - and I'm going to milk it for all it's worth!!

Evaluations
On a scale of 1 - 5 what does the staff think of me? This is the question on the block the last two weeks as the staff got manager evaluations to fill out. What they tell me to my face - 5's. I'm aces! The favorite. Truth? Who knows. I don't think we'll even get to see them. It's for the owner and the GM to "review". Why? I dunno. What are the consequences? Probably nothing. Raises? Pshhh! Yeah! Right!!! I can dream, but since we got raises less than a year ago, I'd have to say NO.

De-cluttering
I was blog jumping again this week and I came across an interesting post on another "new to me" blog. This one was from DEBT SMACK and the post was about how those with vacation houses don't have the same clutter clogging it like our everyday houses do. They have the bare essentials that you need and somehow, it's always enough. My comment basically was that I am a sentimental pack-rat. I save things that have value, no value, or may have value someplace down the line. It was an interesting read - and although I would LOVE to simplify my life, I don't know if I could keep my house like a vacation house.

Oops
I put a little bit more to the Bank of America card than I should have this month. I forgot that although I transferred the money to the checkbook to pay for my annual home owners insurance that I forgot to write the check out for it. So THAT'S where all that extra money came from! Ahh well. A little less payment next month. Good thing the insurance isn't actually DUE until May 1st.

Candidates aren't the only ones who FLIP FLOP

Contradictory News from the Workplace

Who knows whose story to believe or to believe ANY. My dh's workplace is under new ownership and what the story WAS ... isn't what the story IS. Problem is, nobody really knows what the story is... REALLY, because the storytellers aren't talking. An already short story shorter ..... I have a feeling it will effect our DEBT FREE date. Hopefully that's ALL it effects! I can live with that!

We're halfway between here and there (not counting the HELOC that were able to move into BS6) but it's a hard road for the second half of the journey. The only good news there is that our tax refunds and this little tax rebate will hit the Bank of America card before the rate goes up to 15.9. That will help. I'd transfer the balances to another card, but what's owed would have to be split amongst more than one card and the transfer fees aren't as gravy as they used to be. Like I said, hard road now. Time to get creative!

Grocery Shopping and Weekly Menu Update

Let the stocking up begin! This week I had an extra perk in the grocery budget and I made the best of a good thing! Let's see what I got for FREE this week:

A pouch of cat treats
1/2 gallon of Dean's Ice Cream
2 bags of Steamfresh Corn
4 boxes of Honey Bunches of Oats

I hit my Italian grocery for produce and prosciutto ham for my salad on Easter and Hungarian Sausage that was on sale. I then filled my cart at Aldi for a whole $69.00 and most of it was stock up for a later date! LOVE IT! DH finds comfort in an overflowing pantry as well!

No Corned Beef and Cabbage this week since we just had it, and not too adventurous in the meal planning department this week. I switched my Emealz from ANY STORE to the new choice of ALDI. The whole list - should I have needed everything was $62.00 for the 7 days of meals! I was impressed! Decent meal ideas - I'm saving it for next week, I think.

This Week's Meals:

Monday: French Toast Bake
Tuesday: Hungarian Sausage & Pierogies
Wednesday: Monterrey Spaghetti (with Chicken)
Thursday: Kielbasa Soup
Friday: Winging it - pantry pot luck!
Saturday: Italian Easter at my mom's! I can't wait!
Sunday: Boys on their own (I work at night)

American Idol Top 11

Okay, was it the overkill of Beatles Night Part Two - because there was a lot of so-so performances last night. Little David redeemed himself and Brooke was one daisy chain away from Hippysville. I did enjoy David Cook, but I'm beginning to see that I'm become impartial - as I have him as my "favorite". The rest for me was "Blah, blah, blah!"

David Archuleta, “The Long and Winding Road” - Flawless, but I have to ask the Archuleta fans out there who are voting like mad for this kid -- What kind of album is he going to put out? It's the same thing I asked the Soul Patrol too. What genre does he belong to? He's a great singer - don't get me wrong but I just don't see where he fits in the whole scheme of the record business.
David Cook, “Daytripper” -- I couldn't disagree more with the judges. This guy is Daughtry reincarnate and they'd be wise to see that! Taylor Hicks vs Chris Daughtry -- should I go look up the numbers? Would I buy his album? YES!
Syesha Mercado, “Yesterday” -- Maybe it was me, but her voice sounded close to tears. Was that the point? The last few seconds I caught onto, but other than that -- it fell short in my eyes. I thought she looked fantastic though.
Brooke White, “Here Comes the Sun” -- Okay, she and Jason Castro should go run off and make hippie children together. She's not comfortable on the stage whatsoever UNLESS she's sitting down or hidden behind an instrument. She can record, but she won't be able to tour!
Ramiele Malubay, “I Should’ve Known Better” -- This was a mess. Cute kid, but not good.
Jason Castro, “Michelle” -- His face "sold the perfomance" are you kidding me? How did that happen? He's having fun -- so I'll leave him alone. I must be getting used to him, because I don't even consider him in my bottom three, but he's close!
Carly Smithson, “Blackbird” - Solid. She must have had fun for St. Pat's Day because I noticed a LOT more Irish accent to her speaking voice this week.
Michael Johns, “A Day in the Life” -- I'm starting to agree with the judges. I enjoy this guy, but he's starting to run in the middle of the pack considering I thought he was going to be walking away with this thing.
Amanda Overmyer, “Back in the USSR” -- had it's moments of greatness and it's moments of weakness. I disagree with the judges in their selecting her next song as a ballad because the last time they talked her out of singing her way -- they hated it and she was almost eliminated. Paula, for pete's sake -- Shut up!
Chikezie, “I’ve Just Seen a Face” -- Moments of train wreck and moments of Taylor Hicks - I'll pass... No thanks! Every other week theory in play again.
Kristy Lee Cook, “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” -- you know, I'm still singing that song today - I didn't mind it as much I figured I would. But it's inevitable. Her name is stamped on the stage for the Bottom Three.

My Bottom Three:
Chikezie
Ramielle
Syesha (although I believe Kristy will be sitting here)

Blog Jumping Leads Me To: Finance Gets Personal

I was doing some blog hopping thing this morning and I found a blog with a lot of good information. This post in particular I wanted to share because, frankly it's worth the read.

From "Finance Gets Personal": Snowflaking: 100 Ways to Come Up with More Money for your Debt Snowball

Recipe Request for Chicken Picatta

The recipe from E-Mealz may be copyrighted so I don't want to infinge on them -- and this one is more like what I make myself (just too lazy to type it out - or rely on my memory) I'm really bad at writing down how I make something and usually go by tasts and the "add a little of this and a little more of that" rather than measure anything unless I'm running directly from a recipe. I take after my Italian grandma, I guess.

Chicken Picatta from the RecipeZaar -- I'm not real fond of bitter tasting capers so I usually leave them off and instead will do something like mushrooms.

American Idol Top 12

So was this an ironic day on American Idol. Both boys who have been rumored to already have people writing songs for them for AFTER their stint on Idol did poorly last night. A little bit of reality set in?


1. David Cook, “Eleanor Rigby”: This was great! I was wondering where he was going for a little bit in the beginning, but by the end I had a full idea! Nice to see that he was genuinely thrilled with his performance rather than sitting cool.
2. Brooke White, “Let It Be”: Again, same sound as she's always had. Is she going to be 2008's Carrie Underwood? No stage presence just a pretty face with a very nice voice!
3. Carly Smithson, “Come Together”: Very strong voice! But often plays second fiddle to SOMEBODY!
4. Jason Castro, “If I Fell”: The faces he was making while singing were cracking me up. Again, the hippy will pass another day.
5. Michael Johns, “Across the Universe”: I was hoping for more from him. He's got a solid voice, but after watching some of the performances tonight, he kind of fell short.
6. Amanda Overmyer, “Can’t Do That”: Well, she was all smiles tonight. Makes me wonder MORE of what was eating her last week! Did a nice job.
7. David Archuleta, “We Can Work It Out”: As Simon said after David Cook, "If this was a singing competition instead of a popularity contest you would probably win" Well, here's the thing: Despite him forgetting the words and really floundering with this song, I doubt Lil David will be in the bottom 3 -- EVEN THOUGH it is a FATAL FLAW most of the time.
8. Chikezie, “She’s a Woman”: My favorite performance of the night. Man, he gets into his songs sometimes, doesn't he!? Just amazing energy and full of life on stage!
9. Ramiele Malubay, “In My Life”: So many better than her -- especially after Chikezie. She couldn't hold a candle.
10. Syesha Mercado, “Got To Get You Into My Life”: She's cute. I think she's counting on her acting background and her presence to keep her in. Sooner or later that won't be enough.
11. Kristy Lee Cook, “Eight Days a Week”: Of course, that will be the only song I wind up singing today. Damn her! I hated it. She's trying to hard for something and if it's to please Simon who changes what he wants day to day.... you can just forget about it and hang it up. Which is what I think will happen tonight.
12. David Hernandez, “I Saw Her Standing There”: Are you kidding? This was terrible! How could you DO that, David!

My vote for the bottom 3:
David Hernandez
Kristy Lee Cook
Ramielle Malubay

Who's going home:
Kristy Lee

Who would go home based only on THIS performance and IF this was truly a SINGING competition:
David Archuleta

E-Mealz now offers Vegatarian!

Veggie-Mealz

I guess you can call me a cave woman -- I gotta have my meat, however this may interest some people out there. E-mealz is introducing something new:

"E-Mealz just got greener! We are introducing this “Veggie-Mealz” plan as a family-friendly dinner menu plan to feed 4 to 6. “Veggie-Mealz” is not for every version of vegetarian diets, but for the broad appeal of a vegetarian diet that allows for eggs and dairy (lacto-ovo). There is enough flexibility in the plan to be of organizational use to anyone on a vegetarian diet. You can easily make adjustments to the meal plan and grocery list to suit your specifications."

$10 E- Certificate to Woman Within

$10 E-Certificate Offer
Woman Within's Refer a Friend Program is back just in time for spring!
If you are new to Woman Within (plus sizes fashions) and would like a free $10 to put towards your purchase (combine it with coupons, I believe!)

Email me! We both will earn $10. It's time for a spring wardrobe for work!


sbchat101 --- at --- yahoo.com

End of Week Update

A little extra goes a long way
As stated in an earlier post, I was given a bit more buck for the bang on the grocery budget.
Still keeping my weekly 3 store run for deals, I have been able to restock the pantry, spice cabinet and the empty freezer is getting full! (should have defrosted the freezer while it was empty -- but will a freezer defrost while it's in a garage in the Midwest in winter??)

Important Stockpile Information
I've been watching for "the sale" on pasta that my Italian grocery gets every once and awhile. That's when I typically stock up on pasta to last me for ... quite awhile. Well, I haven't seen a sale on pasta in quite awhile, however what I HAVE seen is the prices going UP!

I guess this little "Grain Shortage" they have been touting lately may actually be true. Because of this, I bought 6 boxes of Aldi Penne Rigate and 3 bags of flour. Take notice in your area if this is one of your staples and stock up so you have what you need.

Small Battles in a Large War
My Citibank statement came in - and although I had noticed the total due and even posted it here - it finally hit me at the small victory that had happened that I hadn't really noticed before. First I have to tell you a little story about my Citibank card.

Back in the good old days when balance transfers were free and the percentage rates were super low FOR LIFE, I decided to throw quite a bit of debt onto this Citibank card. I call it my storage card. "I'll pay for it when I can" because the payments were low and the finance charges were either 0% one balance transfer and 1.99% on the other - there was no urgency. And there wasn't. I've been paying the mins on that card forever!

I started at $17,000 of transferred STUPID debt from other credit cards that were used as my life support because I was living without a plan.

The small victory? It's under $10k!

E-mealz
My friend sent me an email asking what was on my list this week. For those who haven't heard about E-Mealz there are quite a few posts about it on my blog. It's a nice and easy list of meals with recipes and a grocery list. Saves time and money by having a plan BEFORE you walk into the grocery store! I'm on the Any-Store plan and I've been mix and matching meals from previous weeks. (I'm always a rebel) here's a snippet of what's on my Meal List this week from E-Mealz :

Chicken Piccatta (I love lemon!)
Pepper Steak
Baked French Toast (different than my recipe!)
Black Bean & Smoked Sausage Soup

I'm getting into making a soup every week. The boys didn't care for my Greek Lemon Chicken & Rice last week. "Too much lemon!" Ahh, well. MORE FOR ME!

Working at a restaurant has it's perks!

Holy Ricotta Cheese, Batman!
The owner of the restaurant and I were chatting yesterday and he asked me if I liked Ricotta Cheese. Well, let's see -- An Italian girl living in Wisconsin -- OF COURSE I LIKE RICOTTA CHEESE! What do you make when he says he's going to give you some? Typical lasagna or stuffed shells, most likely. What do you do if he gives you a 5 pound tub of homemade Ricotta cheese? You get creative REALLY FAST!

Not for the faint of heart or the high of cholesterol!
So besides a lasagna made with the BEST Italian sausage from the Italian grocery I go to - and now this homemade ricotta cheese what else do you do with FIVE POUNDS of it?

Here we go!

Ricotta Cheese Cake (I made it with marble cake mix)

Sicilian Cheesecake (I am following the suggestion to omit the cinnamon/salt/orange and will add amaretto instead!)

I'll pack some of this stuff for the freezer as there is NO WAY I'll be able to eat this much this week. Just alone up top here.... 4 pounds of ricotta and 12 eggs!

If my mom wasn't making a Calzone Pie for Easter, I would have made one of those too. (That's another 3 pound ricotta cheese meal! LOL)

American Idol: Girls Night Top 8

Is it me? I just can't get into the girls this season. I'm just kind of like -- EHHH.
Nothing really blew me away. Suprisingly because LOVE Joan Jett and Pat Benatar and both singers were represented tonight. One awefully - and Amanda just didn't seem like she was particularly thrilled to do the song. Perhaps she was "forced" to perform that song over her own choice? Who knows. Who stays? Who goes? Did Simon push the wrong ones out the door? I don't care what anyone says -- he has HEAVY influence on the voters.

Syesha Mercado, “Saving All My Love For You” -- okay.
Brooke White, “Love Is a Battlefield” -- UGHH! I know I didn't like it. I LOVE Pat Benatar and this was painful - however if she was going for different she wins.
Ramiele Malubay, “Against All Odds” - okay.
Carly Smithson, “I Drove All Night” - She's good. No question.
Asia’h Epperson, “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” --seems like the background singers helped her a lot!
Amanda Overmeyer, “I Hate Myself for Loving You” -- Thank God she did this song instead of I love Rock and Roll. I cringed with I heard she was (or anyone was) doing Joan Jett. I liked it.
Kristy Lee Cook, “Faithfully” I liked this too. Country twang not something Steve Perry would do, but it was good.
Kady Malloy, “Who Wants To Live Forever?” Can't catch a break can this girl?

*My* Votes for the Train Ticket Home:
Kady and Brooke

Who I think they will send home:
Kady and Kristy

American Idol -- 8 Men Standing

I am the 80's -- my whole teenage scene was 100% the 80's. Was excited to see the 80's -- but the guys didn't seem to pick the best featured songs of the 80's. The David Hernandez song was great, but bugged me because it wasn't popular in the 80's -- it was popular in the 90's. It was a remake from a one album commercial flop by a band called Original Sin. So I guess that's why it was a valid song choice - on a technicality. Still a good vocal. I've got to give him credit.

Foreshadowing:
I hope that none of the girls do HEART again! Loved Heart, had enough of with this group of gals already.

Amanda will do Bonnie Tyler, "Making Love out of Nothing at All" or "Total Eclipse of the Heart" (my opinion for a song choice for her- soley NOT a spoiler)


Best of the Night:
David Cook, “Hello” --I hated this song in the 80's. David's version was stellar! LOVED IT! (guitar could have been left out)
Michael Johns, “Don’t You Forget About Me” -- I'm sorry -- I just like this guy!
David Hernandez, “It’s All Coming Back Me to Now” -- blew me away!! HOWEVER as far as I can remember it didn't get fame until 96 when it was recorded by Celine and again in 2006 by Meatloaf.
David Archuleta, “Another Day in Paradise” -- Good as always. Ehhh...

Just Alright, Dawg:
Chikezie, “All the Woman I Need” -- He's on one week, he's off another week. This was his off week.
Danny Noriega, “Tainted Love” -- Liked how he made it current, love HIM and his personality. Not sure if it was strong enough to keep him around.

Sorry - Not Getting it.
Luke Menard, “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” To me, this is the last of the dead weight. Once he's gone - the big dogs can play!
Jason Castro, “Hallelujah” - Didn't get why the rave reviews. Pushing for votes for someone else to get voted out is my guess. Of course, I never heard the song before so what do I know.

MY votes for going home:
Luke Menard (finally) & Chikezie

Who I think they will send home:
Luke & (gulp) Danny :(

Organizing - Part Two

A Quick Story of Cause & Effect
My last post said I was heading shopping with more coupons than I had been because of finally spending the time to organize my coupons. I wound up with coupons and sales saving a little over 50% of my grocery bill! I haven't done that in a while!!!

Raising the bar
My dh decided to give up a little of his blow money so we can restock our freezer and just get more groceries in general. (More junk food in general would be the correct term, but who am I to argue with getting a bump in my grocery fund) I'm not so stretched and it feels good. Of course, now with the coupons in line - you watch I will find it easier to stay within the original dollar amount. LOL

A Story about Potatoes
On my home away from here http://www.llnoe.com/ , there was a question posed about potato recipes from Kris - the fact is we can pick up 5 to 10 pounds of potatoes pretty cheap. What do you do with all of the potatoes? What are your potato recipes? Here's a link to our running conversation about spuds (if you are working to get out of debt - via Dave Ramsey's plan, you'll want to register for this site anyway!)

Spent a little time organizing today ...etc.

"Hello. My name is Wendy and I'm a pack-rat."
I just spent a good couple of hours purging expired coupon inserts - some dating back as far as September! My store used to take expired coupons and that's why I saved them. I used to be better about organizing though. Every month had their own huge manila envelope so I knew where to begin the hunt for a certain coupon. But alas... I hit a rut and just started throwing them all together -- well not even THAT good. Some were in the car, some were on the table, some were in the trunk with my ALDI box, and some were on the computer table.

Now everything is back together - by month, in envelopes and my recycle bin is FULL of outdated coupons! Whew!

How do I do my coupons?
I cut and paste the coupon database from http://www.couponmom.com/ into a spreadsheet. I can then do a sort for the coupon I need by brand name and I knew what date the insert is in. Typically a flawless idea - unless I used to coupon already -- or the coupon is expired.

Heading to the store --
I hate shopping on Saturdays - however, there are some great ONE DAY ONLY sales today... and now that I have my coupons organized I'll be going with about 20 of them instead of 1 or NONE like I have been doing lately.

Printing --
I printed more envelopes for me to use too. Long and shorts. I use the longs and write my grocery lists on them and store my coupons in there too.

** I heard a rumor that April 1st will be another FREE INK REFILL day at Walgreens. I took advantage of this last time they offered it. You had to wait for a couple of days for it (no one hour) but for free? I can wait.

Back to organizing --
If you could only see my kitchen table -- aka JUNK DRAWER and my computer desk! I guess I can brag because I organized one area... but I've got a LONG way to go!!!