(Sort of) Exteme Couponing and Some Great Ideas

Lately, I have been on a constant quest to save money.  In this day and age, who isn't?  I watched the TLC show Extreme Couponing a few times and thought, "I could do that..." but after some research and finding that circulars in our area were really difficult to come by, I somewhat gave up on the idea.  Then I decided to dig in and figure out a way.  I started researching on the web and found some really great sites.  I started printing coupons that were available for products that we have used in the past, products that we always use, or products we would be willing to use.  I printed everything available for any of those.  I signed up for all kinds of company emails (if you are thinking about this, I recommend you open a dedicated account for these emails so that they don't clutter up your personal email) and promotions.  I cut out hundreds of coupons and organized them.  Then I started combing the sale flyers.  Every week I thoroughly look through the flyers, find items on sale, match them up with coupons, and make a plan.  Then I go shopping. Last time I had a goal of spending $100 and saving at least that much.  I ended up spending $95 and saving $130.  I don't think I will ever be able to rack up a bill of almost $1000 and spend only $5...our stores around here don't generally have specials that great and the coupon policies are fairly strict especially now that none of them will double any coupon over $1.  With that being said, I will still spend 3-4 hours a week clipping coupons and combing ads because saving half on a grocery bill (which I do with regularity right now) is pretty amazing.  It frees up money for lots of other things.  But if you don't have time for all of that, I have a few suggestions to save you money in the long run:

1.  When your favorite items go on sale, STOCK UP!  Most canned and boxed goods will last a really long time.  Frozen goods will keep for forever if they haven't been opened.  Some fresh goods can be frozen for a longer shelf life.  If you normally pay $1.69 for a box of macaroni and your store has them on sale for $1 a box and you normally use 3 boxes a week-it will save you $8.28 in a month if you stock up while they are cheap.  Stores cycle through sale items so pay attention to your store and buy stuff that will keep even if you don't need it immediately.

2.  If you have a small family and a warehouse club membership, join up and split the cost of bulk goods with a couple other families.  You can split the membership costs and the shopping responsibilities and break up the larger packages into more manageable sizes for your families.  Some things are cheaper when bought in bulk.

3.  Sign up for online deals!  There are tons of websites out there just giving stuff away!  Search your favorite products and see what you can find!

4.  Enlist your family members!  If you don't have time to cut coupons and really need or want to save money, enlist the help of a friend or family member with the promise that you will do the shopping and save them money as well!

5.  The most important tip....be smart about what you buy!  Ten jars of mustard for 35 cents each isn't really a deal if nobody in your family likes mustard.  It's a waste of $3.50 and a waste of your most valuable asset...your time!

I hope these suggestions will help those of you who have been sending me messages out.  I love saving money and I'm always happy to share anything I know with you!  God bless!

The Hull Family Vacation 2011

Okay, so I have pretty much slacked off when it comes to blogging.  But in all fairness, I have been really busy finishing up school with my kids and then we immediately headed off on our vacation.  Then we got back and I was kind of ill, but there was the 4th of July holiday and a visit from my sister, and other obligations....Suffice to say, I have been quite busy.  But here is the rundown of our vacation!
Jeff, Hayden, Cebelle, and I took off early Friday June 17th.  We drove to Dover, DE to spend the night because it left us about four hours to drive to get to VA beach the next morning.  We stretched our legs in a mall and ate some dinner at Sonic...and then got upgraded to a king suite with a two person jacuzzi when we returned to our hotel because the lady in the room beside us was extremely loud.  Jeff went down and told the manager that she and the others in her room were really loud and we didn't want to be rude and ask her to tone it down, so could they please just move our room.  She felt bad and upgraded us from a double full bed suite.  The kids thought it was awesome because they could swim in the bathtub.
We took off early the next morning and after much excitement driving over-under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, arrived in VA Beach at about 11:30.

We were picking up Carol and Gina at the bus stop there, so we walked down to the boardwalk and grabbed some lunch while we waited for them.  When we met up with them and got everything packed up in the car.  We got to Sandbridge where our rental was, and found out that the entire rest of our family was stuck in a traffic jam and were not moving.  So we stopped off at the rental agency and picked up the keys and got our stuff unpacked while we waited for them.

The kids waited somewhat patiently for everyone to arrive and get mostly unpacked...and then they were in the pool...

I won't bore you with every single detail...but we did lots of awesome things!  We spent lots of time at the beach (we even watched the sunrise over the ocean the day before we left), spent lots of time at the pool, rode GoKarts, watched street performers, went to the Virginia Aquarium, walked on the boardwalk, went to Norfolk, ate some great seafood, and most importantly...spent time with our really terrific family who we love so much! Here are some highlights:

We checked out of our beach house on Saturday the 25th and then headed to Washington D.C. with Carol and Gina.  We checked in at the Radisson and then headed to the National Air and Space Museum.  Hayden loved it!  We went to a show at the planetarium and both the kids were in awe!

We also stepped outside to the National Mall to show the kids what it looked like.  They haven't really studied American History yet.  That's something they start this year.  So hopefully next time we return to DC we will be able to tour monuments as well!

On Sunday, we went to the Smithsonian National Zoo.  It was amazing.  We walked all day long!  But the kids were such troopers and we saw so many cool animals.  There was a whole bird house that was huge and then an outdoor aviary which made Cebelle about the happiest kid in the whole wide world.  

Since Jeff and I had purchased a new camera for this trip, we were also excited to try our hands at some nature photography.  Here are a couple of my attempts:

And here are a couple of Jeff's attempts:

I was really proud of the both of us!  I thought it was pretty awesome for a first attempt on both our parts!  

We left D.C. Monday morning the 27th and we were home by 6pm that night.  We were so exhausted and happy to be home.  The awesome thing is the memories that we all carry with us of this wonderful time!  We had so much fun together and experienced so many things that our kids had never experienced before.  I love that so much!  Seeing the excitement in Hayden's eyes when he drove his first GoKart or ride on the boogie board on the waves on his own and seeing Cebelle watch the sunrise on the ocean and pet a duck for the first time are those moments are completely priceless.  I'm so thrilled to have spent time with our wonderful family and make wonderful memories with all of them!  I wish the same for all of you...even if you don't step foot outside your house all summer long!  God bless!