June 2011 – Page 3 – Bless Your Heart

6 or 16?

June 10, 2011 Shannon

Yesterday I had the pleasure of watching Susan’s daughter Olivia for a few hours. She is 6 years old and smart as a whip. She said the FUNNIEST things! I wanted to make sure to save them for posterity.

She was playing with the pugs when she said “I wish I could teach them to roll over. Then you could win one of those pet talent contests on tv. You’d win a 4 night cruise. I hope you don’t get seasick. You don’t do you?”
At Grand Asia Market where she tried bubble tea for the first time – “Yours tastes like chocolate mixed with disgusting.”
At my house – “I have the best idea for our vacation next year.” Me- Who’s vacation? Yours and your parents? O- “No, mine and yours. We’ll go on a 4 night cruise and go to Atlantis.” Me- Atlantis?? O- “Yeah, you know, the resort in the Bahamas. You know it. I have $50 at home. I don’t want you to spend all your money, so I think that will cover it. We’ll go and spend time together.”
I was painting her nails when she said “You have the clear top coat right? Cause I don’t want any chips.”
On the way to meet Susan I plugged my iPhone in to the car to charge. O thought I was plugging in an iPod and asked if that’s what I was doing. I said “Do you want to listen to some music?” She replied “Why can’t we just talk? Let’s talk about our lives. How was your day? Tell me about your day. What do you think the future will be like?”

She is the cutest, most articulate, most polite little thing! I had a blast!

beauty ho, couponing, shopping

Couponing at CVS

June 9, 2011 Shannon

Some people who are serious couponers go to many drugstores to take advantage of weekly deals. I prefer to just stick to one drugstore. So I chose CVS. I think I’ve got them pretty figured out.

Here’s my strategy:

First- sign up for an Extra Care Card. This way you will get sale prices and earn Extra Care Bucks. Extra Care Bucks are reward dollars you can use in store on most anything except things like alcohol, tobacco & prescriptions.
Next, as SOON as you walk in go straight to the Extra Care Bucks machine and scan your card. Coupons and Extra Care Bucks will print. You will also see Extra Care Bucks at the bottom of your receipts. Be sure to keep those and use them quickly as they are only good a few weeks.
If you don’t already have some, buy some reusable shopping bags. Be sure to take them with you to CVS. Not only are you helping the environment, you earn money back from CVS in the form of Extra Care Bucks. First you buy a Green Bag Tag then they scan it each time you shop using reusable shopping bags. You earn $1 on every 4th scan.
Also, sign up for the CVS Beauty Club. You earn $5 in Extra Care Bucks for every $50 you spend on beauty items. Plus they give out fabulous beauty coupons periodically.
On Sunday I clip my coupons then go through the CVS ad. CVS advertises a ton of great deals each week where you can earn Extra Care Bucks. Pair those up with coupons and you’re doing great. Here’s an example, it’s my list from Sunday of items I bought to earn Extra Care Bucks. 1. Spend $10 on John Frieda get $3 ECBs (Extra Care Bucks). 2. $3 ECBs WYB (when you buy) a 2-4 pack of Colgate toothbrushes. 3. Earn 1 ECB wyb 1 Efferdent. (I use them to clean my CPAP machine‘s tub). 4. $2.50 in ECBs wyb 1 giant Crest Pro Health mouthwash. 5. $7 in ECBs wyb 2 Banana Boat sunscreens. I used coupons for each item as well.
When I get home I clip my Extra Care Bucks and put them in my little coupon baggie for CVS to use on next week’s trip. So now I have $16.50 to use next week! It’s just like cash!

Couponing to Disney has a VERY informative page on how to shop at CVS. Be sure to check it out.

cooking

I liked it, so I made a ring out of it

June 8, 2011June 9, 2011 Shannon

For dinner last night I made breakfast. I had a bunch of crescent rolls I needed to use so I made a sausage ring. The original recipe was some other sort of ring from Pampered Chef. I mixed up cream cheese and sausage one day and stuffed the ring as a variation on the original. CSP loves this recipe. It’s super easy peasy to make but looks like it took forever and is gorgeous. I think it makes a fabulous brunch dish.

What you’ll need:

Round baking stone
16 crescent rolls. Pillsbury are the best.
1 package fresh sausage. I like Neese’s country sausage.
2 packages of cream cheese. The standard size box.
eggs

Recipe:

Pre-heat your oven to 350*.
Brown your sausage. Drain grease if any.
Mix in both boxes of cream cheese. I know it seems like a lot of cheese but a good bit of the moisture will bake out of it.
On your round stone, arrange 8 of the crescent rolls where the long ends are meeting corner to corner. They will make a ring like this. Click on all photos to enlarge.
Open the other 8 crescent rolls. Line up the long ends of the crescent rolls with the long ends that are already down on the stone. You’re filling up the middle of the ring with these rolls.
Spoon the sausage mixture where the long ends of the crescent rolls meet.
Now pick up the pointy ends of the rolls from the middle of the pile first and lay the dough across the sausage. Tuck any loose ends under the ring.
Your final ring should look something like this. Take any extra long pieces and fill in where there is lots of extra sausage poking out.
You can brush the rolls with egg wash if you’d like. Some people even sprinkle more cheese on top. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350* or until golden brown. If you are being fancy and serving for brunch you can chef up some scrambled eggs and pile them up in the middle of the ring. Looks very nice. Garnish with parsley or dill if you’d like. Even some chopped tomatoes would be nice. You can make all sorts of variations on this ring. Make sloppy joe meat and bake it into the ring. Or chicken and broccoli. All are guaranteed to impress!

couponing

Coupon categories

June 7, 2011 Shannon

Organizing your coupon binder can be a daunting task. I needed some help with the categories so I asked Susan for her help. CSP chimed in too. I made a title page for the Food and Non Food pages and listed the categories so it would be easy to find a coupon in a flash. I don’t know why my pages are showing up yellow, they are white. Must be the lighting. Anyway, CSP helped me kind of order the categories by the way the stores are normally laid out.

Here are the categories I used:

Non Foods–

Paper Goods
Laundry – Dish- Cleaning
Household
Medicines & Vitamins
Beauty
Hair
Bath & Body
Oral Care
Pugs

Food-

Dairy
Frozen
Condiments & Salad Dressing
Canned Veggies & Fruit
Pasta & Rice
Breakfast
Baking
Spices & Sauces
Snacks
Drinks
Sandwich Stuff
Soup
Meat

Some of the categories are a little vague but it lets me put things in a broad category like Household where I put candles. I am really liking this system!

couponing

Where to get coupons

June 6, 2011 Shannon

When you first start couponing you need coupons. Where to get them? The Sunday paper is your best bet. Some people buy multiples of the paper to get lots of inserts. Red Plum and Smart Source are the main inserts in most Sunday papers. You can also print coupons from their websites. If you really think you’re going to get into saving money by couponing, I would go ahead and set up a folder on your favorites bookmarks bar marked Coupons.

Then go to these sites:

There are a TON more sites out there, just Google Coupons and you’ll see! Don’t forget eCoupons too. You use them for your groceries as well. Go to Upromise and set up an account, then once a month activate their eCoupons. Then when you buy say, a can of soup, you can use a paper coupon on the soup at the store, then get credit in your account for your eCoupon. Saving Star is another great resource for eCoupons. They have an app too so while you’re in store you can check your account. Build up $5 at least then transfer it to your Paypal account or get gift cards.

Don’t forget, there are 2 main types of coupons. There are manufacturer coupons issued by the companies that make the products and there are store coupons issued by the stores. You can stack these coupons for ultimate savings. Example: you want to buy Tide detergent. You clip a manufacturer coupon from the Sunday paper for 50 cents off. Then you read Target‘s ad and clip a coupon with the Target logo on it that says store coupon next to the expiration date that is worth 25 cents. You are allowed to use both to save a total of 75 cents. That’s called stacking.

You may want to check with a friend or neighbor and start swapping coupons. My friend Christina and I swap coupon inserts every couple of weeks. She has 2 small kids and I have 3 dogs so our needs are different and we clip different coupons. We swap the coupons and it’s like we bought 2 papers! Some people also participate in coupon trains where they will receive an envelope full of coupons, pull the ones they want, add the ones they won’t use, then send them on to the next person in the train.

Now go get clipping!

shopping

31 more reasons to love me! :)

June 5, 2011June 4, 2011 Shannon

You are invited to an ONLINE Thirty-One party! If you aren’t familiar with Thirty-One then check out the website here. Thirty-One offers every kind of bag and storage option you can think of plus wonderful gifts for everyone on your list from baby to adults. All the items come in your choice of a ton of amazing prints and can all be personalized! You can shop in the comfort of your own home, in your pajamas, with a glass of wine! And CHECK OUT this month’s special! The Large Utility Tote is only $9 when you spend $31. That’s 70% off! You can get it in a special print this month only- Pink Circle Spirals, as well as 10 other prints! This tote is amazing- SO many uses, at least 31! To see the rest of the Spring/Summer catalog and to place your order, click here:http://www.mythirtyone.com/shop/catalog.aspx?eventId=E687372&from=DIRECTLINK

I love Thirty-One and my wish list is long! I want the Fold & Go Organizer, the Large Utility Tote, the Organizing Utility Tote (for when I face paint), the Picnic thermal tote, the Jewelry Roll with Pouches, and the Card Caddy with cards (30 cards! only $1 for each card!) and more! I love all the prints- that’s the hardest part, choosing what print to get. And everyone knows a Southern girl loves monograms so I love being able to personalize all my items! Come on, you know you want something! It will totally help me out as I’m going to be selling Thirty-One soon to make money to furnish our kidlet(s)’ room! Can’t wait!

Thank you!
xoxo

couponing

Freebies & coupons

June 4, 2011 Shannon

Another way to get coupons for your coupon stash is to ask for freebies. There are a TON of freebie websites and email newsletters out there. Just Google Freebies and you’ll be sure to find one you’ll like. I subscribe to Shop For Freebies. com’s daily newsletter. Couponing to Disney also alerts me to freebies. When you receive a freebie or sample in the mail most of the time there is a coupon included. Like today I received a sample of Gold Bond body wash. I’ve never used this brand or product but I LOVE samples so what the hay?! Samples are great for travel because once you use it up you just throw out the package and you don’t have to return home with big bottles. Anyway, included with my sample was this coupon for $1.00 off the product. Not too shabby for 30 seconds of inputting my name and address!

couponing

Email pays off!

June 3, 2011June 4, 2011 Shannon

After being inspired by Couponing to Disney I made a list of some of the products we use that I love. Then I sent emails to the companies praising their products but NOT asking for coupons. I received an envelope full of coupons from Dial last week and today I received a booklet of coupons from SC Johnson because I wrote to Glade about their Spring candles. LOTS of good ones too! So if you’re looking to build your stash of coupons I highly suggest writing to some of the companies whose products you use on a regular basis. I mean look- one email made me almost $20! More than that actually because our grocery stores double up to 98 cents. Word. Oh, and if you’re thinking “OMG I don’t have time to write a million emails”…don’t! Just write one. Then save it somewhere, copy and paste, and change some details. Basically here’s what I wrote to Glade: ” Hi! I just wanted to take a moment to let you know how much I enjoy the Spring Sparkle Glade candles. The lime scent is so fresh and clean smelling! My husband, who normally doesn’t care what kind of candles I burn, even loves these and has remarked how good the house smells. I know the Spring Sparkle is a seasonal scent but please consider making it part of your permanent line. Thank you for making such a quality product at an affordable price! Sincerely, Shanny & CSP”. That’s it. Like 4 sentences. Took 2 minutes tops. Made almost $10 a minute!

couponing

What to do with expired coupons? Send them to the troops!

June 2, 2011June 4, 2011 Shannon

At the beginning of each month I go through my coupons and pull out all the expired coupons. Seems like such a waste to throw them out though right? Well, we don’t have to. Did you know that there is a very special group of people who can benefit from our expired coupons? Our military families stationed overseas! They can use expired coupons for up to 6 months past the expiration date! Isn’t that awesome!?! No need to add to a landfill when you can help people. Now, how to get the coups to the troops? There are a ton of organizations that help, so depending where you are you may choose a different group than I would. If you Google Coupons for Troops this is what you get. So just pick a group and send them your expired coupons. They take food and nonfood coupons. Basically you separate the coupons into food and nonfood piles, add up the dollar amount then put them in baggies and send them in. Consider it the least we can do for the people who protect our freedom every day!

bloggy stuff

June!

June 1, 2011June 1, 2011 Shannon

It’s the beginning of a new month and that means a new wallpaper for my laptop. I love Smashing Magazine‘s monthly wallpapers. Free! And I like the little calendars. I chose this one for June. Looks like a fruity party!