I went to a coupon class in Rocklin this weekend and I just loved it. I am trying to just save money where we can, and this class really helped. I learned a lot from the class, but I just wanted to share a few things on here so you can all take what I learned as well. The person who did it was featured on the TBS show Extreme Couponing, and spent $900 on groceries, and by using coupons, she only spent $87.00. Pretty amazing! They stated that everything in grocery stores go on sale cycles in about a 3 months period. So they have a website put together where you can enter your store you shop at, put in your grocery list, and then they put all the deals together for you! It's great. The website they gave me was http://www.sacbee.grocerysmarts.com
Now, I don't know if this website will work for everyone outside of the Sacramento area, but you might as well give it a try. Another thing I did was I signed up to get 3 Sunday Newspapers! I feel crazy, but the more you have, the more you can save! The key to couponing is to buy items in bulk that will last you a 3 month period. You get those items when they are at their all-time low price (when they hit the sale price in the stores) And that is when you use your coupons.
Rule #1: NEVER USE A COUPON ON A FULL PRICE ITEM!
Rule #2: Stock up 3 months at a time. For example, when dishwasher detergent goes on sale, get what you need for your family that will last you the next 3 months until it goes on sale. You do this with all your common household and personal hygiene items and you can save so much.
Rule #3 Do NOT cut out all your coupons when you get them on Sunday! I made little manila folders labeled "Smart Source," "Redplum," "P & G," and "Weekly Store Coupons." Whenever you get your Sunday papers, just write on the front cover of whatever coupon source it is, the date you got it, then file it into it's correct folder. I made an additional "Weekly Store Coupons" because sometimes Safeway or other stores will have additional store coupons to use that week. When you use the website I listed above, it will tell you what date and what source to go to. (SS=Smart Source, RP=RedPlum, PG=P & G) That simple! No more spending so much time going through all the papers and cutting out what coupons you will use. Just simply put them in a folder until the website listed above tells you to cut them out.
If you don't take anything away from this, at least go to the following website and sign up for their email list. They pretty much tell you what deals you should not miss for that week and also give you links for additional coupons that you can print. It doesn't get much easier than that! The best thing? IT IS ALL FREE! So go to:
http://www.tipresource.com/ and sign up at the top of their website. They also have a Facebook page that you can "Like" and you can keep up on there as well.
Just wanted to share this with all of you. Hope it was somewhat helpful, and hope it made sense.
The Year 2011 In A Nutshell
So I have wanted to update this forever, and we are in March already?! I found an app on my phone to update from my phone so this will make my life easier:) Here is the year 2011 summarized. Mostly for me to look back at, but here we go.
Highlights of 2011:
January—For Cameron’s birthday present, we went to the Sacramento Kings vs. Phoenix Suns game. Our seats were at the very top of the arena, but at halftime, we snuck down to the bottom bowl and got better seatsJ
Cameron’s brother Brit also came to visit us and brought little Johnny with him. It was fun getting to know him and Johnny better.
February—We were going to go to Free Museum Day in Sacramento where all the museums are free, but missed the exit, so we decided to take a random trip to San Francisco instead. We went to Pier 39 and Fisherman’s Wharf and walked miles and miles around San Francisco. It was so much fun!
We also moved to our new apartment in Roseville. It was a downsize but we had lots of fun amenities like 2 pools, 2 hot tubs, basketball, tennis, racquetball, a sauna, a tanning bed, and a gym. We were also half a block from Cameron’s work! Woohoo!
March—Cameron’s work put together a coed softball team and our games started in March. Our team wasn’t the best, but we had a lot of fun playing. It felt good to play softball again and I had some good hits and plays. Cameron had a few home runs and a grand slam.
April—We went to see one of our favorite bands Young the Giant play in San Francisco.
May—Our friend Michael Dahm moved from Arizona to Roseville and moved in with us. He got a job where Cameron works and it has been a blessing having him live with us.
We watched my sister Julianne’s kids for a week while they went to Hawaii. It was stressful, but a lot of fun.
We got little baby child, Dexter. He was abandoned in one of my co-worker’s friend’s yard and they needed a home for him. We took him in, and he has given us endless entertainment since (and headaches sometimes)
Cameron’s family came to visit us. Our 614 square foot apartment was crammed with 7 people, but it was a blast having them there.
My dear, dear Grandpa Gentry passed away and I drove with my brother-in-law Lyman and my niece and nephews to St. George Utah. It was a sad time, but we stayed in a “crazy ass house” and made lots of family memories.
Baby Kingston Wesley Gentry was born!
June—We took another little trip to San Francisco with some of Cameron’s family.
I sang the song “For Good” from the musical Wicked with my sister Miken at a “going away” party for her principal.
Baby Rivers Dean Gentry was born!
July—Cameron and I took a last minute trip to Disneyland and southern California for 4th of July weekend. We had SO much fun! We had a nice hotel, went to the beach, went to Disneyland, then decided to drive over to Las Vegas to see my brother David and his family and spend 4th of July there with them. It was one of my favorite memories from 2011.
My sister Maren and her family visited Roseville. Since my other 2 sisters are in the area as well, we had a sister day where we got pedicures and pictures together and laughed A LOT.
I had the opportunity to go part-time at work and focus more on school.
I turned 22!!
August—Cameron and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary on August 21st.
I also went through the Temple for the first time and my Mom and Mother-In-Law came out to be there with me. It was such a special time for all of us.
September—Cameron and I drove to Utah and were sealed on September 2nd in the Salt Lake City Temple. A lot of our family made it from around the area and from far away. This was the highlight of my year.
October—Nothing too special except we celebrated Cameron’s birthday. His birthday is in December, 4 days after Christmas, so he wanted to celebrate another time when we could actually make it a more special day. I got him tickets to see some of our favorite bands in concert in San Francisco. We saw Manchester Orchestra and The Dear Hunter.
November—Cameron went to Sacramento every day for a week and a half to take classes to become an insurance agent. He passed his test on his first try, which doesn’t happen very often, and became a licensed Property and Casualty Insurance Agent in the state of California.
We celebrated Thanksgiving with my sisters and their families.
We decorated for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving. Let me note how hard it was to keep our tree decorated with our little devil cat Dexter. He liked to jump into the tree and tear the decorations down.
December—All my siblings made it to AZ the first weekend in December to surprise my Dad for his last performance of Feast of Carols. I had been involved in planning a secret alumni performance, and helped get donations to send my parents on a cruise to Alaska as a big thank you for all their work through the years. It was great seeing all my family and great being home in AZ again.
Our family dog, Briggs, passed away just a few days before we got to AZ. He will always be loved and truly missed.
Cameron and I spent Christmas in Roseville by ourselves. We opened our presents at midnight Christmas Eve.
There we go!
Highlights of 2011:
January—For Cameron’s birthday present, we went to the Sacramento Kings vs. Phoenix Suns game. Our seats were at the very top of the arena, but at halftime, we snuck down to the bottom bowl and got better seatsJ
Cameron’s brother Brit also came to visit us and brought little Johnny with him. It was fun getting to know him and Johnny better.
February—We were going to go to Free Museum Day in Sacramento where all the museums are free, but missed the exit, so we decided to take a random trip to San Francisco instead. We went to Pier 39 and Fisherman’s Wharf and walked miles and miles around San Francisco. It was so much fun!
We also moved to our new apartment in Roseville. It was a downsize but we had lots of fun amenities like 2 pools, 2 hot tubs, basketball, tennis, racquetball, a sauna, a tanning bed, and a gym. We were also half a block from Cameron’s work! Woohoo!
March—Cameron’s work put together a coed softball team and our games started in March. Our team wasn’t the best, but we had a lot of fun playing. It felt good to play softball again and I had some good hits and plays. Cameron had a few home runs and a grand slam.
April—We went to see one of our favorite bands Young the Giant play in San Francisco.
May—Our friend Michael Dahm moved from Arizona to Roseville and moved in with us. He got a job where Cameron works and it has been a blessing having him live with us.
We watched my sister Julianne’s kids for a week while they went to Hawaii. It was stressful, but a lot of fun.
We got little baby child, Dexter. He was abandoned in one of my co-worker’s friend’s yard and they needed a home for him. We took him in, and he has given us endless entertainment since (and headaches sometimes)
Cameron’s family came to visit us. Our 614 square foot apartment was crammed with 7 people, but it was a blast having them there.
My dear, dear Grandpa Gentry passed away and I drove with my brother-in-law Lyman and my niece and nephews to St. George Utah. It was a sad time, but we stayed in a “crazy ass house” and made lots of family memories.
Baby Kingston Wesley Gentry was born!
June—We took another little trip to San Francisco with some of Cameron’s family.
I sang the song “For Good” from the musical Wicked with my sister Miken at a “going away” party for her principal.
Baby Rivers Dean Gentry was born!
July—Cameron and I took a last minute trip to Disneyland and southern California for 4th of July weekend. We had SO much fun! We had a nice hotel, went to the beach, went to Disneyland, then decided to drive over to Las Vegas to see my brother David and his family and spend 4th of July there with them. It was one of my favorite memories from 2011.
My sister Maren and her family visited Roseville. Since my other 2 sisters are in the area as well, we had a sister day where we got pedicures and pictures together and laughed A LOT.
I had the opportunity to go part-time at work and focus more on school.
I turned 22!!
August—Cameron and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary on August 21st.
I also went through the Temple for the first time and my Mom and Mother-In-Law came out to be there with me. It was such a special time for all of us.
September—Cameron and I drove to Utah and were sealed on September 2nd in the Salt Lake City Temple. A lot of our family made it from around the area and from far away. This was the highlight of my year.
October—Nothing too special except we celebrated Cameron’s birthday. His birthday is in December, 4 days after Christmas, so he wanted to celebrate another time when we could actually make it a more special day. I got him tickets to see some of our favorite bands in concert in San Francisco. We saw Manchester Orchestra and The Dear Hunter.
November—Cameron went to Sacramento every day for a week and a half to take classes to become an insurance agent. He passed his test on his first try, which doesn’t happen very often, and became a licensed Property and Casualty Insurance Agent in the state of California.
We celebrated Thanksgiving with my sisters and their families.
We decorated for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving. Let me note how hard it was to keep our tree decorated with our little devil cat Dexter. He liked to jump into the tree and tear the decorations down.
December—All my siblings made it to AZ the first weekend in December to surprise my Dad for his last performance of Feast of Carols. I had been involved in planning a secret alumni performance, and helped get donations to send my parents on a cruise to Alaska as a big thank you for all their work through the years. It was great seeing all my family and great being home in AZ again.
Our family dog, Briggs, passed away just a few days before we got to AZ. He will always be loved and truly missed.
Cameron and I spent Christmas in Roseville by ourselves. We opened our presents at midnight Christmas Eve.
There we go!
