The Proof is in the Pudding

After two months of couponing, I was starting to wonder if I was spending more by making more frequent trips to the store instead of saving on all these “hot” deals I was finding. I pulled out all my receipts and started to tally them. I’m excited to say that although it was a slow start and I’m still on a learning curve, my couponing efforts have been worth it. Proof, you ask?

1. August’s grocery list was about 1/3 the size of July’s. I was excited by this, but still not certain.

2. I spent $138.71 less in groceries and yet my cabinets are all overflowing. Thank you God! And I don’t mean just my kitchen cabinets, but both bathroom vanities are full as well. And my fridge and freezer are also well stocked. Here's my bathroom vanity.

Here's the spare bathroom vanity with my overflow.

Here's the other side of the vanity with all of the kid's stuff.

3. I am seeing a 27% reduction in my monthly grocery expenses and I am very happy about this.

It’s encouraging because I know I made so many mistakes this month, but little by little I am learning and I am looking forward to next month’s savings. Things were tight for so long after having the baby and staying home for 12 weeks. We were looking very sad. Now we can focus on paying off hospital bills and catching up again. God is so good. Thank you Lord!

Co-Sleeping?

According to Wikipedia, co-sleeping, also called the family bed, is a practice in which babies and young children sleep with one or both parents.

I’ve never been a huge advocate of co-sleeping. I’ve always felt that children should learn to feel safe and comfortable in their own beds. I believe that it can interfere with a couple’s relationship. And I really feel that at the end of a long day of bouncing back and forth between the kids, I need a break. I need me-time. I need to retreat and have a few minutes all to myself to unwind and relax. I never allowed Jayden to sleep with us and trust me, Esteban has always suggested it. Especially if Jayden’s not feeling well or if there’s a bad storm or if Jayden wakes in the middle of the night, he will want his little boy in bed with us. I have always put my foot down. It was a non-negotiable.

So WHY am I doing this with Maya? WHY am I letting her sleep in bed with us? I have no idea. I’m breaking my own cardinal rule. Maya still wakes one to two times at night to nurse. One night, she woke up crying and Esteban got up and brought her to bed with me so I could feed her. I normally sit in my rocker to nurse her, but I was so exhausted that night, I just lay there and fell asleep and I’ve been doing it ever since. Worse of all, I find that letting her sleep so closely to me has been most helpful thing I could do as far as her nipple confusion goes. In fact, I spoke with a nutritionist who suggested that prior to feeding time, I spend time with Maya encouraging as much skin to skin contact as possible. In essence what I was trying to do was to get her to fall in love with me all over again. And it seems that she has! Since I’ve started to co-sleep, she’s latching on incredibly well and our nursing sessions are getting shorter, and more productive. In fact, she’s stopped wanting the bottle from the sitter. She will still take the bottle from Daddy, but twice this week Maya has only taken one bottle in a ten hour stretch at the sitters. Of course, that concerns me, but then she gets home and makes up for it.

I don’t know what to make of it. All I can say is that our bed is no way near big enough. I’m super tired. Subconsciously, I am worried that Esteban will roll right on to her or that she’ll roll off the bed onto the floor when I’m nursing her on my left side. I don’t think I ever fall into a deep sleep and I spend quite a bit of time guarding Maya from Daddy when he's having a restless night. My body aches from holding my position and from sleeping on the edge of the bed to make room for her. And I’m worried that I am creating a monster.

My New Hobby

I used to think of myself as a couponer. I would snip a coupon here and there and if I remembered to use it, hallelujah! I saved .40 cents. Little did I know of this secret sisterhood of women, who are truly couponers. They work at it, often clocking tons of man hours scouring their neighborhood stores for the hottest deals and bringing home bags of items at nearly no cost out of pocket to them. How do they do it and more importantly, how can I do the same? This is my new hobby. It consumes every bit of time that I have left to myself these days. I am a long away from becoming a couponing goddess, but I am learning every week from all the mistakes I make.

It started about 6 weeks ago. I got a newspaper subscription and started clipping away. Then I joined a coupon train, where I can get the coupons I need like for diapers or grocery items in exchange for coupons I don’t need like make-up or junk food items. Then I got a magazine subscription to the All You magazine for almost nothing and now I have access to even more coupons. And lastly, I stay very close to the internet and websites such as Hot Coupon World and Mommy Savers. There, I hear of all the best deals first hand. And for a newbie, I haven’t done too bad for myself.

The biggest strike against me is time. I never have enough time to get from store to store to get my deals. And when I do, I am rushing either because I’m with the kids and they are cranky or because I need to get home so that I can feed Maya or so that Esteban can get to work. And so every week, I throw together my spending scenario for the week. Careful planning is very important, but rarely do I have time to devote to this step. Then, I try to find or trade for the coupons I will need to make my deals even sweeter. I get to the store and instead of being prepared, I’ve forgotten my list, I’m fumbling through sales circulars, trying to find coupons, and finally shocked at the register because the I’m not paying what I had calculated spending. But every time I go, I learn something new and it takes time to become good at something so I don’t give up.

Today’s shopping excursion was yet another learning experience. I took Jayden with me and he was carrying on, yelling hello to anyone who passed by and flinging my circular all over the place. Yet I was still careful to remain focused. I was very careful to find all the advertised items I had planned on getting and sticking to the plan. I was careful to use all my coupons without forgetting any and I was careful to use my extra care bucks (ECBs), which are part of the store’s incentive program. And when I get to the register, surprise! I owe way more than I thought I would. How could that happen?

I ended up using up more ECBs than I wanted to. That was not the goal. The goals are to spend the least amount out of pocket as possible as well as to roll/grow the ECBs (basically free money given back to me by the store for my purchases). When I got home, I quickly tried to figure out how I went wrong and realized that my spreadsheet formulas (yes, you read this right) were incomplete. Even though I was unhappy with my trip, it wasn’t a total loss. I brought home a package of Zantac, two containers of Purex, four body washes, a toddler’s Dimetapp and two bottles of Robitussin. My subtotal before tax was $46.46. I used $12 worth of coupons and $4 worth of store coupons. My balance was $28.46. I used $25.49 in ECBs and my total cost out of pocket was $2.98. My out of pocket was great, but I spent $25.49 in ECBs and only earned back 16.99 in ECBs. So I’ve learned yet another lesson this week.

It is easy to become addicted to saving money and getting free items so I try hard to keep things fun, celebrate successes and not go overboard getting things I don’t need. I do have quite a stockpile, but they are all things I normally use and would normally pay full price for. It’s hard to know when you’re crossing the line when the line is different for everyone. I just ask that God bless me while I dabble in couponing. I don’t want to become that lady who just bought 37 razors or 98 bottles of shampoo. Ha-ha!

The Prince and Princess

Here's my little prince enjoying a beautiful Florida day. He wasn't a big fan of his kiddie pool when he first got it, but he loves it now. He got the water table for his birthday from his padrino and as you can see, he thinks it's another pool. He plays with it with water or without. Daddy is giving him a good hosing down and he was enjoying every minute of it!
Here's my little princess. As you can see, she's really growing and everyday she gets stronger and learns something new. She loves Jayden and is always delighted by his silly antics. It's almost impossible not to get a smile from her. My girlfriend, Limary, sent her this outfit from PR and she was just too cute in it.

God has been too kind to bless us with these two little rascals. I am so thankful to have them and am desperately trying to enjoy every little moment.