I'm back

Hello Friends!

I hope you had a lovely week! I caught up on a few things that I have been wanting to get done forever. Here's what I did with my extra time:

1) Brian and I cleaned out the body of our fridge. We have to work on the doors and the freezer yet. Everytime we open it up, it feels like it is brand new!

2) I finally organized a huge stack of recipes that I had from the Internet, magazines, and catalogs. I found an old ring binder and purchased some clear sleeves. Everything went in there, and it works for now. Eventually, I want to get another binder were I put the recipes that I have tried. I would have two binders then, one with "to try" and one "tried and true."
3) I think it was in 2008 that I really got into "couponing." I had a really nice pantry built up with non-perishables and toiletries. There was a lot of money that was NOT spent on these items due to coupons. We also didn't run out of these items, because I made sure to keep the pantry stocked.
Somewhere along the line, I stopped. I know partly it was due to the fact that I wasn't buying some of the same food items, and I thought the coupons wouldn't really help. Which really doesn't make a whole lot of sense, because you can still cut your costs with coupons. I took time this week to go through the stacks of coupons that I had and clipped the ones I knew I would use. I am happy to report that I didn't spend around $20 this week. The pantry is looking good, and Brian is happy to see the shelves stocked and the money in the bank.
My favorite site for managing coupons is the COUPON MOM. The idea behind couponing is that you wait for an item to go on sale and use your coupon so you receive maximum savings. Basically what the site does is tell you what is on sale at the store you shop at, and what flyer the coupon is in. It does most work for you, all you have to do is clip the coupons. The Coupon Mom is a free site. She emphasizes giving to charity, so she states her site will always be free to users. I also like to go to TARGET'S website, they have coupons you can print out. You can also use a manufacturer's coupon and a Target coupon for the same item. This can be a really great deal! I know there are a lot of sites out there. Is there a favorite site you have? Do you use coupons? I would love to hear your thoughts on this!!!

Happy Monday!
Rachel