Fall Decorations, Take 11

We're still in the kitchen. I bought these 2 very large candles 3 years ago. I change the candle rings out for various seasons. I only have these and ones with red berries. The candles are vanilla scented. There are two of these on my kitchen table. I don't light them very often in the kitchen because who wants to be eating Italian food and smelling vanilla?? I occasionally have them on the mantel in the living room. The rings were bought when fall decorations were on sale one year.

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood. A chilly 50 degrees. Invigorating!!

I'm off to Curves in a few minutes.

We're having 2 single college guys over for supper. Much to do before the meal.

~Joan

31 Cents

My total from this post was 31 cents. That includes tax. Incredible, isn't it?

Double Qs at KMart

My 3 oldest girls just got back from a phenomenal trip to our local KMart. Some of the KMarts are having double coupon days, up to a $2 Q! That's a ton of savings.

I know some items are difficult to see. Since our store is not a Super K, we got nearly all toiletries and cleaning items, with some cat food and air fresheners thrown in for variety. There are also razors, carpet cleaner, Endust, Visine, first aid non-stick pads, as well as lots of shampoo, shaving gel, and toothpaste!

I spent about 90 minutes this AM researching prices, pulling Qs and making a list. Each person could use up to 75 Qs with 4 identical items for each person.

We got all in the above picture, plus some items we just could not fit up there on top of our chest freezer ($576.44 retail value) for $57.44 ($20.99 for items plus $36.45 for tax). That's 9.9% of the original cost, the majority of it being the tax cost.

The beauty of a family that works together was that in just a few minutes we had everything brought in and sorted, then divided into items to be stored in our pantry, with others ready for selling to a local store (hi, Tammy and Vik!). I remember the day when all my children were young (and it doesn't seem that long ago) when a shopping trip of this size would have taken me most of a day to unload from the car, unpack, then put away.

What a blessing.

~Joan

September Daily Spending

September was my best month yet for saving $ on daily spending. If you're just starting to read my blog, here's a quick recap. We have 10 people living in our home. My WH and I, along with our 8 children. We home school, and my WH works from home, so on most days, we are all eating here. There is the occasional exception. One of my children works during lunch every day, and another will occasionally miss lunch or supper. The daily spending includes an average for the month for food, personal toiletries, all cleaning supplies, and medicines.

My first month of serious couponing was April of this year. I didn't figure that month's expenses because I was learning the whole coupon thing. Our May average was $5.40 per person per day (PPPD). I thought THAT was tremendous. June's average was down to $3.20 PPPD...big drop! July was up to $4.53 PPPD. August was $3.92. September was $2.37 PPPD, our best month yet.

This is an ongoing adventure and challenge to me. I don't want to be obsessive about it, which would be easy for me to do. One of the Bible verses I memorized recently is Psalm 19:14, "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD my strength and my redeemer." I can't let saving money direct all of my thoughts. But I do think there is a time and place for it.

I'm very grateful that my family supports this endeavor. Everyone pitches in...some shop, some clip Qs, some file them, some organize pantries, some merely consume what we bring home, LOL!

~Joan

Grocery Saving Extraordinaire

Is clipping coupons worth it?

I get that question over and over again...from cashiers of all people! Sorry for the fuzzy picture. I didn't realize it wasn't crystal clear until after I put everything away.

Guess how much I paid for the stuff in the picture? Here's a list of original costs (from left to right, back row first):

~Food Lion brand frozen breaded chicken breast patties ($2.99)

~64 oz. half and half ($4.29)

~Gerber nurser (baby bottle; $1.15)

~Food Lion Kid Wipes ($1.38)

~Smithfield Boneless Ham Quarter, sliced ($8.72)

~Gerber baby food peaches ($1.09)

~Nestle White chocolate morsels x 2 ($2.53 each, total $5.06)

What is the grand total I spent? I'll tell you tomorrow night. Please leave a comment and guess.

Yours for saving,

~Joan

Fall Decorations, Take 10 + 300th POST

Here is a view from one end of my table-for-10 to the other, showcasing my pumpkin salt & pepper shakers and fall runner. The shakers are from Diane, who also gave me the pumpkin centerpiece on my foyer table. The runner was a gift from my DH's stepmother. The candle on the other side of the napkin box has a lovely fall candle ring around its wrought iron stand, but you can't see it.

This is my 300th post. Hard to believe.

~Joan

Fall Decorations, Take 9.1...The High Chair

Sam, one of my readers, was very observant about my last post. Under the pilgrims is an old high chair. In the picture, it is serving as my spider plant holder. The funny thing about the high chair is that during the lives of my 8 children, it was NEVER used.

It belonged to my neighbor growing up (hi, Nancy!). Her oldest son, who is about 10 years older than me, was her first to use it. She gave it to my dad to refinish for me. We never had room for it in our other 2 houses. Now I keep it in the kitchen for company with very small children. In the meantime, it does make a pretty plant stand.

We never had room in our kitchens for something so big. We just used one of the clip-on high chairs. Worked like a charm.

~Joan

Fall Decorations, Take 9

~*~*~Continuing the house tour~*~*~


Who is that watching from the corner of the kitchen? Let's get a closer look...

This is a wall hanging that I bought from a woman that sold her handiwork in my former home town. She inspired me to learn to tole paint, and I took 2 classes from her. I will be showing our original class project soon. Stay posted!

I hope these decorations are putting you in the holiday spirit. We have so much to be grateful for, don't we?

Have a blessed Lord's Day,

~Joan