Hand Cramps

So I am trying to get off the ground with my couponing. I have a binder loaded with baseball card inserts,divider tabs,scissors & pens. Now all I need is to fill it with my coupons. I have clipped and cut and sorted for what seems like hours and this pile of inserts doesn't seem to get any smaller. My hand is KILLING me. Wish I could work these scissors with both hands. I guess thats what I get for not clipping them from the beginning. I think I got a little ahead of myself when I decided to start clipping coupons "for real" because I started buying 2 and 3 papers a weekend, pulling the inserts out and then stacking them in places that I would inevitably forget about until Sunday would roll around again and I would go buy more. At this point, I still was unsure what to do with all of these coupons but boy was I excited to have them.

So now I have them clipped and somewhat organized but I still have to stuff them all in their individual little sleeves. What I really want to do is put the whole mess away and go to bed. Alas, I must soldier on if I want to hit the stores this week. It seems a little daunting to think about matching all of the coupons with what is on sale and trying to decide what stores are worth hitting up. With a toddler in tow, the fewer the stops the better. I really don't have to do much work now that I have discovered two amazing websites. The ladies at http://www.southernsavers.com/ & http://www.time2saveworkshops.com/ pretty much do all of the work for me. All I have to do is click a few buttons and they have all the latest sales matched up with what coupons work and there are even links to printable ones. They even give you scenarios showing the best way to use your coupons at the drugstores where you can get things for free almost every week.

I am still trying to get a system going for my drugstore coupons. I think I may get a smaller accordian file since I will probably only have a handful in there from week to week and just keep my binder for my grocery stores. Now the big problem is what to do with all of these inserts I haven't cut yet. I even found some in the garage the other day. Can't tell you how they got there or how long they were there because they were expired. Such a waste. Looking forward though, I will figure this out and hopefully soon I can share with you some amazing savings!

What do you use to organize your coupons?

What I Love About Sundays

Chloe performed with her dance team at the Apple Festival this year. It was soooo cold! We definately were not prepared for it but we had a good time anyway. They had just about every kind of apple available fixed every way possible.There were lots of other good treats as well. I was hoping to try a fried twinkie before we left but I was so cold all I could think about was getting home and into some cozy sweats. I don't think we are going to actually have a fall this year. I think it has skipped on into winter and that makes me sad. The months of September,October & November are my favorites mostly for the weather. Oh well, I guess we will just have to make the most of it. I will miss my flip-flops though.

What I Love About Sundays

 Chloe and her buddy Leah decided to go "ghost hunting" and came down the stairs in their all black get-ups. I remember doing crazy things like this when I was her age. She cracks me up.

new name

So I foinally decided on a name for my little cake business. I'm not telling just yet as I'm still working out the details with the website and liscensing but I will let you all know soon! It is such a relief to have finally decided on something. I'm not kidding, I used to spend hours at night unable to fall asleep because I couldn't stop thinking about it. I have little notes strewn everywhere with names and ideas on them.
I'm sure Monty is just glad I finally stopped asking him what he thought of them. There were many nights that I wld wake him from a deep sleep with my newest revelation of the most perfect name for a bakery. He would sleepily say that sounds good and go back to sleep never recalling the conversation the next day.
Anyhow, I'm trying to get a logo designed and will hopefully get that website up soon. I will be sure to let you all know when I'm done.Have a great day!

What I Love about Sundays

cake,cake,cake

   I had two cake orders this week and they kept me busy. They were both on the creative side which I love. It gives me a chance to try new things. Our good friends Aaron and Sarah had me do an army theme cake for little Landon. He is all about the G I Joe stuff right now and his face upon seeing the cake was priceless. His jaw literally dropped to the floor. He goes "WOW that's a cool cake!" He is so cute. That really is the best part of the job to me. I love being able to bring little bits of joy to others in the form of cake. I had a wedding cake to deliver this afternoon. The couple had a destination wedding and were celebrating with a reception for the friends and family who couldn't make the wedding. They seemed to be a fun couple and wanted a cake that "didn't really look like a wedding cake,"  so I did a 3 tier square with lots of circles in the wedding colors. I was really happy with the way it turned out. Hopefully they enjoyed it as well. I didn't get home from delivering it until 8 this evening. I had to stop by RiteAid to get some free stuff before weekely sale was over. I was able to get a fusion power razor,scope outlast toothpaste and an oralB toothbrush for free after coupons and rebates. I am getting quite addicted to this freebie game. lol. A neighbor stopped by earlier and I laughed while explaining what I was doing surrounded by piles of coupons, envelopes and a huge paper cutter. Monty said "yep, this is married life. This is what we do." I was cracking up.

     

 We had a minor setback this afternoon when I was about to leave. I noticed that my keys were not in fact on the hook where they belong. I searched and searched and I finally found them in the back seat...of my locked car. I was less than thrilled. It only took an hour for a locksmith to get there. an HOUR. What if I had locked the cakes in the car? They would have been a melted mess. I have got to find my spare set. once the guy finally did show up he no more than stepped out of his van and put what looked like a huge blood pressure pump in my door and my alarm was going off. Glorious! and all I had owed this man who saved the day was 40 dollars. wait, what!? 40 bucks you say? oh yes, he made 40 dollars in less than five minutes. I told monty we had to get one of those pumps!

I'm still here!

Please don't give up on me. I know I haven't posted in over a week. It has been insane around here. Harrison was sick then Chloe was sick and I have had 6 last minute cake orders. Two of which are due this weekend and the others are for a wedding next weekend. Yikes. I haven't had time to do anything but bake. I actually had to miss one of Chloe's performances for the first time. Turns out,tonight was the last game of the season. She made sure to lay on the guilt really thick. She loves to give me a hard time. I really hope I can carve out some one on one time with her soon. My friend Laura invited me to see Casting Crowns in Chattanooga on the 10th and I think ill ask her if she would like to go. It would be fun to have a girls night. She has been working so hard lately. I feel bad for her. She has so much homework every night and doesn't get home from practice until 5:30 and games until 9:30. I don't miss that at all. Anyhow, enough of that for today.I'm going to try to get some pics uploaded soon. Lots of cakes and cookies and cupcakes. Yum. Hope you all have been doing well and I promise not to stay gone that long again!