BrookShire Brothers Jan 27 Feb 2 Sale Ad

This is for prices for Brookshire Brothers in the Katy, New Caney, Magnolia and Montgomery Stores only.. when I was in coupon class last night I heard that there may not be anyone that compiles a list of current sales with coupons so I will try to do that for you. Honestly I still use Krogers more, but because Brookshire Brothers is literally on my way to and from the kids school, or my husbands work- I do not mind stopping in for the couple deals they have, esp if I have coupons.

Initially there may be an item on sale that I do not know a coupon source for because my coupon information for sources on things is pretty slim at this point. As I keep more inserts etc week to week that should grow.

Progresso Vegetable Soup 5 for $5 makes it a $1 a can
-$.50/2 1/17 SS
- $.75/2 (Simple & Affordable)
= $0.25 for 2
11-15-09 General Mills

Skinner Pasta Spaghetti or Elbow 24 oz bag 99 cents each.

Kelloggs Cereal Fruit Loops, Apple Jacks, Corn Pops or Frosted Flakes 3 for $5 Limit 3 with $10 purchase.
01-03-10 RedPlum 1
12-13-09 RedPlum

Totino's Crispy Crust Pizza 88 cents Limit 8 with ad'$10
My children eat alot of these so I will probably get the Limit of 8, 88cents is a pretty good price

Gain Laundry Soap- $3.99 57-73 oz box Limit 2 with ad' $10

Betty Crocker Brownie Mix 18.3- 19.9 oz 88 cents.

This week that is pretty much it. Not many deals..and lots of limits.

If you want to purchase any of these coupons- handling fee purchase, you can try CouponsThingsbyDede

What am I Learning Friday

This week I have learned a lot about myself. I think we go through areas in life where we just really have deeper desires than others. This week I found that my continual desire to be more of a Proverbs 31 woman is greater than ever. I find that it is very important to me to please my husband and children. Making sure they have a good dinner, changing our dinner time to be close to when they get out of school so that they are more satisfied and not hungry while they are trying to get homework done. Being more organized. This is a huge battle for me lately. I am fairly organized but staying on top of it is not always easy.
I found myself stumbling upon a great resource online for Proverbs 31 I love the way the site breaks it all down. I looked into my life this week to decide how I am a Proverbs 31 woman and then also what areas I would like to improve.
Lately I have really dug into coupons and trying to better adjust our menus and money so that we eat better meals and also don't feel like "robbing Peter to pay Paul." Life has been scary these past few months. When you look at the logistics of our budget there is no money at all with what Paul makes for food, gas and extras of any kind. Kind of a scary fact if you ask me. One I try not to focus on all that much. I then found I needed to be more creative.
This week I joined a coupon class to get more insight into how I could better meet our family needs and maybe even help others, which I truly love doing. I have been teaching a few friends what I already knew and inspiring them, this class inspired me even further. It reminds me of this section of Proverbs 31
¹⁴She is like merchant ships;
She brings her food from afar.

Did I need the coupon class? Probably not. I have read a good bit online through various blogs, spent hours upon hours doing research about all kinds of things relating to coupons, manufactures, and stores. It was three hours of my night, away from the kids..However, I felt after leaving that it was probably the best three hours I spent all week. I did really learn even more than I knew and I could then bring that information home and apply it to our lives. I also have a few friends that are even more interested so I can pass this information along. It also furthered my desire to stockpile, which helps me on my next Proverbs 31 goal.

I do love making quilts. I admit since this new year I have not been as disciplined as I could be. The quilts and things do bring in some extra money which is what I use to buy groceries. Its in a way income specifically for that. When I read over Proverbs 31 again it stated,
²⁴She makes linen garments and sells them,
And supplies belts to the tradesmen.
I really dug deep on that one. I thought wow, that is so me. I had never realized that before. So I need to get better with using my time while the children are at school and in between times that I am volunteering at the school. I want my business to be more productive so I need to balance my hours better and set aside real time to work at getting more done.

Another area I have been focusing on is with the kids. We sure have had a couple rough weeks. Mainly with choices they make. I find that part of it is really my fault because I may ask for something to get done but then I don't do a very good job at following through and making sure it has been finished. For example last weekend I spent Saturday shopping at various stores, trying to balance all the sales and the coupons I had. I asked our oldest to do wash all day. Well come Sunday night I realize only one maybe two at the most got done. If I had come in and paid attention and been diligent I would have known that he had not done as I asked. On the same hand I could have put in a load or two myself while we watched TV both evenings. So I was very guilty of idleness.
²⁷She looks well to the ways of her household,
And does not eat the bread of idleness.
We tried chore charts in the past and they did not work well. I had a new idea. My children seem really excited about all the new coupons, the different foods we can now afford to buy etc. So I am creating a new chore chart but I am not assigning a specific person to that chore. The reward will be several things from picking a meal,to picking a dessert, to helping me cook, choosing a game or movie etc. I would like them more involved and in the same respect I want them to want to help around the house. I can't afford to pay an allowance anymore, simple facts are we owe them again right now as we have borrowed all the cash they had on hand over the last few months. So we shall see if my new idea will help me keep a better house. With 5 people and 3 dogs it sure does get out of control pretty quick.

So I feel I am digging in deeper to become the woman that I would like to be. The woman that I feel our Lord calls us to be. I am praying that I can continue to improve upon that and will continue to dig deeper in the coming weeks and share on Fridays what I am learning about truly being that Proverbs 31 Woman, Wife and Mother.

Coupon Class

I feel like all my hard work over the past few months has truly been blessed. I happened to be with a friend at a meeting last week and her friend told her about this coupon class, that was today. I am so excited that this GOD ORDAINED information was passed to me and that I lept at it. I learned so much tonight. For example one mistake I make is using more than 3 coupons on a triple or double item. For example if I have 4 coupons for Grands Biscuits, for when they have the sale 10 for $10...and I buy 12 like I normally do, I do not get that triple on that 4th coupon. I only get it on the first three. Does that make sense. It did to me. It was a light bulb moment. I thought about this past shopping trip. I thought I should have had at least $5 more in savings.. that is why. My double and triple on a few items never happened, it was at face value only. Now I am not saying that you only get three triple coupons per shopping trip, it is per item. So if you have it for Grand biscuits you can use three, get triple savings, then if you have it for Mustard you can also use three and get triple savings..Good INFO!
Now I already knew one fact that I love, and have testified to happening. You can use your manufactured coupon with an uploaded coupon to your card like Kroger. For example CellFire or Shortcuts.Com.. They not only give you the manufactured discount on the item but they give you the loaded coupon too. Now the catch with the loaded coupon is you only get one, even if you use three manufactured ones..
I did also learn that Walmart- like I thought really does not have the true savings they claim if you are looking to shop using coupons and sales. I truly found that the case this week when I shopped both places. There were a couple items that I knew were cheaper at Walmart but my savings were not even close comparison wise. I now realize that I will be cutting coupons for things like razors etc and putting them in a binder to then watch for later sales that Kroger will have. I never thought to buy things like Shampoo and stuff there. I glance at prices but always find it is still cheaper at Walmart. That is because I am not watching the sales close enough.
Anyway there is too much info to put into one Blog but I will start next week trying to break it all down as I would love to inspire others to also take the plunge and clip those coupons, plan your menus and save that money!
I am very excited to see that my husband got the kids homework finished up, dishes were finished (i had most of them done before I left) and they were ready for bed by the time I made it home after ten tonight. He was so supportive when I was jumping up and down (not literally- but inside) over the fact that I won a bag full of coupons tonight. A free class and I walk away with money! Wow... so wonderful as there is a HUGE Mega Sale at Kroger this weekend. The Lord truly is amazing. He opened some doors today for me that will possibly truly help me stay at home and just sale quilts so that I can continue to be with our children, the way that HE intended for a woman to be. That makes me very warm inside.

Thankful Thursday

Colossians 3:15

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

Is it really Thursday already? I am very much looking forward to the weekend though. I am so Thankful this week, not that I am not normally, but just even more so today. Kind of odd though as I am very depressed today too.
I have been really focusing on how to be a better Proverbs 31 Wife and Mother...it is very difficult. Especially this section this week.

¹⁷ She sets about her work vigorously;
her arms are strong for her tasks.

¹⁸ She sees that her trading is profitable,
and her lamp does not go out at night.

I have had to really dish out some discipline this week, stay on top and follow through. I have also been working hard to get the house situated and really clean. Very important to me as my dad in Utah might be in the area at the end of February plus I think it would help my depression overall to have a clean functioning home.

I have been doing better with Menus and meal planning. January which is almost over went pretty well. Overall the kids ate every night and didn't complain too much. I have focused on finding ways to cut back food wise. That means joining a ton of manufacturer's websites online, reading blogs, doing research. Most importantly coming up with a strategy that works for me.

Saying all that I am so thankful to my family this week who has supported my new venture and dealt with the ups and downs of that. My biggest fan right now is my husband. I have all the wash just about caught up, the kitchen is nearly clean - correctly cleaned etc.. I truly felt the Proverbs 31 wife this week.

¹¹ Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.

I am excited for tonight- a Thursday when I can attend a couponing class. I feel this is so important this year as our finances take a even bigger dive. We realized the reason we struggled so much this year is we lost nearly $20,000 in income. HUGE difference. I am so blessed though because since I know that our Heavenly Father as my Personal Savior, I am grounded in the promise that HE WILL PROVIDE for us. I believe that if I continue to work hard he will continue to find new ways for us to save and stretch our buck so to say.

Philippians 4:19
And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

We continue to have problems financially- unexpected things that knock the wind out of us. Like Property taxes doubling, the O2 sensor going out in the truck, which once fixed the brake lights went on. In a way I almost laugh. Isn't that really how life is.
We come out of one struggle, praising the Lord for his continued help and blessings, then go right into another. I feel that I could let it all blow me over at times. Then I sit back and look at what we have already made it through and have faith that once again it will be the same.
I am thankful for these sandpaper situations that continue to mold and make me into that child that he wants me to be.
Isaiah 64:8
You are our Father;
We are the clay, and You our potter;
And we are all the work of Your hand.
For more posts about Thankful Thursday, please see Grace Alone

SnapFish Deal

I just purchased a planner. Nothing special really but I am always looking for a way to advertise my quilts. I was able to put 6 pictures on the front cover. I used a quilt, pillowcase, closeup of a print with embroidery, T-Shirt Quilt, burp rag and potholder/towel set. Not too bad, gives an idea of my items for now. I was able to get it for $1.61. Pretty cool. I chose for it to have lined paper. I want to track my orders using it. It is small enough to fit in my purse. A Big thank you to Frugal Coupon Living for the tip.
1 Notebook 9.99
6-photo collage
Cost of stationary gift 9.99
$10 Discount 9.99
Subtotal $0.00
S&H and Tax My cost $1.61

Kraft- Coupons Anyone

Tuesday’s coupons of the day are some great new Kraft printables HERE just out in time for Super Bowl parties.

You can find:

* $1 off (4) Philadelphia Cream Cheese
* $1 off Velveeta Cheese 1 lb or larger
* $1 off (2) Planters Mixed Nuts or Cashew Halves 5.5-11.5 oz.
* $1 off (2) Capri Suns
* $1 off Kraft Grated Parmesan Cheese 8 oz.
* $1 off Oscar Mayer Deli Fresh Shaved Meats
* $1 off Oscar Mayer Meat Bologna or Cotto Salami 16 oz.
* $1 off Claussen Pickles 20-32 oz.
* $1 off (2) Kraft Deluxe or Velveeta Shells and Cheese
* $1 off A-1 Steak Sauce

Tackle it Tuesday

If you would like to see other Tackle it Tuesday click on the link..
As for my Tackle it Tuesday. It was hard to get motivated today. I wanted to come home and go back to bed after getting the kids to school. I had to think real hard on being that Proverbs 31 woman today. REAL HARD. So first thing I did was get a new load of wash in, then I did a load of dishes, then I ate breakfast..At that point I felt I got a couple things done so I was off to eat breakfast and check email. This afternoon I continued with a second load of dishes. Believe it or not I still have some that need to be washed by hand. I am going to see if my hubby will do those. He left them for me from his Salsa making adventure last night. I have been doing wash all day. I have nearly everything done. I have a pile of blankets and sleeping bags that I will have to keep working on this week but at least all the clothes are just about done and folded. I just need the kids to get what is there's and put them all away. Sadly we have been reworking some of the rooms so laundry baskets and buckets because holders for fabric and other things. It created a problem for me today. I have all the clothes I have done all day piled among two baskets in my daughters room (that is where the washer and dryer are).

I can't wait to have a table again... that is full of all that food I got good deals on... as the room that goes in was supposed to get finished this weekend. Yet, it waits...Hopefully this weekend we can get it done and I can square up my house.One of the Nine Blocks

I also finished up all of Jakobs sudoku blocks for his quilt. All 9 are pressed and ready for sashing, then the border then the top is done. Well embroidery of his name too...That will be a wait off my shoulders as Zekaryahs quilt is still not complete, and his birthday is this Saturday. I told both boys I need to push their birthdays to the same week, so it gives me one more weekend to get both quilts done...Zekaryah's we will do a week late, Jakob's a week early. I think it works. Now I need to shower and get myself to the school to help with choir. Tomorrow I spend the entire day at the school helping with a function for 5th graders so I am hoping my Tackle it Tuesday really helps me be prepared for getting nothing done then. All the little things really do add up.

Stealing and Cheating

Two situations have occurred in my household this past week. I was actually a little shocked on both accounts. For me I wanted to address both issues very carefully, biblically and practically.
The first issue was cheating. I was very disappointed at this situation. First off let me explain that my little one has some trouble solving word searches and crossword puzzles. It truly does take him some time. So I really despise when this is given first thing in the morning to do as busy work. However, at no point do I agree with cheating. If the assignment allowed for them to work in pairs then fine, but this was to be done by yourself. The teacher explained to me that my child and one other were copying off another child's completed work. I was very upset with my child for his poor decision making. Now to me cheating is cheating...

I think in this case the one he is cheating most is himself. My punishment may have been severe in this matter as I felt for at least one week there should be no t.v., computer, video games. Somehow the degree of punishment was not felt agreeable to my husband so one night was all that took place. My husband felt for the most part that it was busy work and yes he had cheated by copying but that in some ways it just wasn't that bad. He thought when I said he cheated it was on a test or something. To him that deserved punishment.
From the bible I found
1 Corinthians 6:8
Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers.
Most cheating references dealt with cheating in the sense of objects so it was rather hard to come up with verses that truly supported my deep feelings on this issue.
I do hope that he chooses the correct path in the future.

Now the second issue I must admit blew me out of the water. We were at Walmart last night shopping and saw fabric was being closed out and on sale at 50%. I begged for a few yards and was able to get two "themes" in enough fabric to make one quilt each from. It was so hard to not BEG for more because the price was $2.22 a yard. You just can't beat that.
Now to the issue....the fabric there was bound with rubber bands. The kids were astonished by the pile on the cutting table. We paid for our items, returned home and I was in the middle of making dinner for that night and preparing for today when I looked at a table in the den and saw 20+ rubber bands.
I must admit I blew. When I questioned where they came from and who had them- knowing we only had the younger two with us... I could not get a straight answer. So I sent them each to their own rooms. I tried to get Paul to go to our room to discuss it, but he did not want to, so I simply quietly told him I felt it was stealing and they WOULD be getting punished for such. In a way I think he felt that again I was over reacting. I then decided to lean on what had just happened earlier in the week with the cheating. That punishment was not made and they need to know they WILL BE punished when they do wrong. Granted this really was more of just a poor choice but STEALING IS STEALING... it did not belong to them.

I decided to do some research on the subject since honestly we have never had a situation like this one. On a side note, children are children and will make mistakes, us adults sure make some big ones of our own don't we. On that note I want to make sure as a parent I nurture them in the way that they should go and try to help direct their path to be a Godly one. Where they will make the best decision they can in each situation and learn from their mistakes...I also want to make sure that even though they realize that Stealing is a sin, that they realize they are also forgiven for that as well. So punishment wise my decision was to work off what they stole- I am having each be considered one bag of rubber bands. This is done by two chores picked by me. In addition, they are to come home after school and do homework, no tv, no computer no games. They can read quietly in their room or turn in early for the remainder of this week. They will also need to read through the verses that I have found so they understand why I feel this is so serious.

Here are some verses on Stealing.
28.Ephesians 4:28
He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.

Exodus 20:15
"You shall not steal.

5.Leviticus 19:11
" 'Do not steal. " 'Do not lie. " 'Do not deceive one another.
Deuteronomy 5:19
"You shall not steal.

21.Matthew 19:19
Jesus replied, " 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,' and 'love your neighbor as yourself.' "

23.Mark 10:19
You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.' "

24.Luke 18:20
You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.' "

27.Romans 13:9
The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself."

For the record, I do have wonderful children....so I do feel very blessed that even though I do not like these tough situations, that occassionally they do arise so that we can reinforce the basics.

Menu Monday

This week my soon to be 12 year old, Zekaryah, has a birthday on the 30th. Since I am still without job my idea this year was to allow him to choose his menu for the entire week. That worked a little but in some ways was a little crazy. I did not allow him to choose desserts all week because we eat so late on most school nights anyway.

Monday

Cheese Enchiladas- younger two

Bean Burrito- oldest

Kids want a side of Pineapple with their dinner

Homemade Salsa and Chips

Chicken, mushroom, onion and cheese enchiladas- Paul and I

Tuesday

Frito Pies or Chili Dogs- your choice

Hot dog- Jakob

Wednesday

Soup of choice and BLT or Grilled Cheese

Thursday

Fish Sticks, Three Cheese Potatoes, Brocolli

I am still hoping for us to purchase Salmon for $5.99 at HEB before then for us adults

Friday

Baked Potatoes

Movie Night

Saturday

Zekaryah's Feast Dinner

Chicken Tenders

Homemade Velvetta Mac N Cheese

Mashed Potatoes

Corn

Cheesecake for dessert

Sunday

Homemade Waffles, Whip Cream and Blueberries

Note: My oldest is not found of anything on this menu, so I am just waiting to hear how dinner will go for him all week. Thankfully I can always give him some cold cereal if all else fails.

Organizing Challenge Anyone?

I love challenges. I think they help motivate me. Of course this challenge will require my whole family. Last year I did pretty good at following the Organizing Junkie... but the summer hit, we got kind of busy and it tapered off. Well I am back at it again. I am happy to say I just let my husband know that "WE" are doing this challenge.

Since Last January for our anniversary we have been trying to get this room off our closet finished and organized. Our house does not really have closets, pantries etc and it is very frustrating. Having a Quilting business- sort of anyway I need a place to store all my fabric and supplies. I also need some place to store food- since I have been trying really hard to use extra money and stock up on items that I know we will use when I can use a coupon and hit a sale. This week I did pretty good. Yet I have containers of food and it is driving me crazy.

So here we are one year later. I stumbled across this today and thought here we go. We are going to make getting this room done a priority for February 2010. I really will need help once we can get walls and shelves as I have about 6 huge rubbermaid containers of fabric to go through and organize. Not quite sure how I will get that part done, but first thing first- finish walls and put in shelves.

I am very excited. I would like a more productive and organized Home!!

If you would like to read about the challenge...*