Christian and Pumpkins

Being a Christian is kind of like being a pumpkin.

Here’s what God does when we invite Him into our hearts…
Step 1: Wash your pumpkin
Say - “We’re not a pumpkin, but we’re kind of like one.  God picks us from the patch, brings us in and washes us clean.  Just like a pumpkin, we have an inside and an outside.  People only see the outside, but God sees the inside as well.”
Bible Verse - 1 Samuel 16:7 – “The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
Step 2: Carve an opening in the top of the pumpkin large enough to fit your hand into
Say - “God wants to change our inside, but the only way he can do it is if we become open to Him.”
Bible Verse - Revelation 3:20 -  Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.
Step 3: Put your hand in and pull out the insides
Say - “God scoops out all the yucky stuff, the sin, in our lives.  He removes the seeds of doubt, hate, impurity and greed.  Jesus was willing to get messy for us…He died on the cross to cleanse us from all our sins.”
Bible Verse - Ezekiel 36: 25b – 27 – I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. ²⁶ I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷ And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
Step 4: Carve the eyes and smiling face
Say - “Jesus gives you a new smiling face.  When all the yucky stuff (sin) is gone, you feel so happy!”
Bible Verse – Proverbs 23:26 – My son, give me your heart and let your eyes keep to my ways.
Step 5: Add a votive candle to the inside of the pumpkin
Say - “If we leave the pumpkin empty, it will just be hollow.  We need God’s light inside of us to make us alive!  When Jesus lives inside of you, you can glow!  You will want to tell people about him, be kind to others and bless others more than yourself.”
Bible Verse - John 8:12 – “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

May we make the most of every opportunity to teach our kids about God, scripture and what He means to us…

¹⁸ Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ¹⁹ Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ²⁰ Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates, ²¹ so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the LORD swore to give your forefathers, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.

~ Deuteronomy 11:18-21

Found this at True Couponing.

 

True Couponing Week 3 and 4.

I totally forgot to share how I did last week.  From what I remember it was not that great of a savings.  Not a lot of BOGO's.  Not a lot of time to get prepared due to my computer being in the shop.  But this week wow look out baby!  I did great.  I spent a total $132.00 and saved $131.00.  Now that is savings.  My husband was so proud of me.

Here is a picture of some of the items I got.  I forgot to put out the Wesson Oil I got for bogo w/ 2 coupons on top.  Now I got more items then this like night time pull ups, hamburger, milk and more things but this was the stuff I got my best deals on w/ coupons and bogo's.  I got the eggs for FREE.  There is 2 things of Crackle Barrel cheese but my hubby had already open one.

My sister asked me if I would eat all that cereal.  I said YES, on top of that the Chex and the Rice Krispies are great for baking, like muddy buddies and rice crispy treats.  She also asked if we would eat all the crackers.  I said yes but not as fast as the cereal that was shy I got the ritz snack size bags. They will stay fresher longer.

I am only in week for of my True Couponing attempt and I am loving every minute of it.  Ok well maybe not loving the 3 hours it takes me to get organized. But that will improve.  I wish I new a way to get my printer to only print in black and white. I can do it manually but I can't get the coupon printer downloads to print in black n white.  :^( Might have to invest in a cheap black and white printer.

Check out True Couponing for yourself.

Lil' Momma

True Couponing Week 3

Last week we did not have a very big shopping week due to everyone being sick during that week. 

I did get a good deal even in my sickness; I  got paid to purchase Thermaflu.  I was paid $1.00 a box. That deal went like this. Theraflu on sale 2 for $7.00 ;$5.OO/2 publix coupon; then $2.00 coupon on each box. 

$7.00

-5.00

$2.00

-2.00

$0.00

-2.00

$2.00 PAID to Me!

This week what I did my True Couponing clipping deals I got 

$98.47 worth of food for $31.32.   

That is an exciting savings of $67.16.  

That is about 75¢ for each item in the picture below. 

I did take advantage of some other deals in the store bogo's and tried not to buy anything w/o a coupon.  I did pretty good over all. 

Lil' Momma

True Couponing Week 2

Week Two of the 12 week challenge. I started clipping/printing coupons on Thursday and finished up on Friday night tweeking my list and all. So I was ready for Saturday.

First I must say I am disappointed in Publix.  They are getting pickier on what compeditor coupons they take.  I was under the understanding they will take any grocery store coupon.  What makes a grocery store a true grocery store. The store must sell meat and produce to be considered a true grocery store.  This past week there was a $5. off $50 purchase that you could print for a grocery store called GFS Market Place. The closest store is in St. Pete. So that is close enough to me, so I thought.  My Publix will not take those coupons. They will only take Sweet Bay, Winn Dixie and Target.  So I lost $10. right off the top.

Here is what I did....

Here is what I paid final after any coupons I used...

Mullers Pasta 4 box for 7 ¢ each (Reg$1.17 each)
Uncle Ben's Rice 4 boxes FREE (BOGO sale and BOGO coupon) (Reg $1.99each)
International Coffee 2 cans for 99¢c each (Reg $2.99)
Planters Nuts $2.49 each (Reg$4.29 each)
Chex Cereal $1.25 each (Reg $3.49 each)
Triscuits/Wheat Thins 64¢ each (Reg $2.79 each)
Mt Olive Dill Pickles $1.15 each (Reg $2.79 each)
Zip Lock Bags $1.72 each (Reg $2.83 each)
Coffee Mate Creamer $1.95 each (Reg $3.45 each)
Sour Cream 45¢ each (Reg $1.50 each)
Carrots where on sale not sure why they are in the picture.  Oops

Bounty Paper Towels $5.99 (Reg $8.99 each)
Tyson Chicken Nuggets $3.99 each (Reg $6.59 each)
Ricola 39¢each (Reg $1.79 each)


But my best deal is I got PAID 1¢ for each of these packages of yogurt.

While I was at the store they had a taste tester gal there who was giving out taste of this yogurt.  My littles loved it.  She gave me 1 coupon for $3.00 off.  I asked for a few more and she only would give me one more since I had two kids.  So I got paid 2¢ for the above picture!  I a friend of mine who was at the store got me one more coupon and handed it to me as I was walking out the store.  I will use it next week.

So that is was my deals....
If I had paid full price w/o any coupons or bogo's or sale's period I would have paid....
$109.06
But I paid $43.53 minus the 2¢ I was paid to get the yogurt I paid $43.51. for all of that food.

I did take advantage of some of the other deals like the buy the soda buy 3 get 1 free.  We take advantage of that deal all the time. I purchased a few other things that were BOGO but they did not have a coupon w/ them so I did not list them.  I did try not to buy anything that was not on sale.

(Edit: I used 34 coupons on this trip.  Not all where for the items above. Some where on diapers and on Moose's birthday cake.)

Lil' Momma

True Couponing Week 1

 A few months ago there was a news report about this Mom, Kati, who was saving all kinds of money by clipping coupons and she was offering FREE seminar to learn how.  The only bad news was that this seminar was about an hour away. Well I started following the website and praying that God would bring this Kati and her partners to my area. God answered my prayers and they were scheduled to be in my area Nov 8. I started saving my coupons in October so that I could maybe start off on the right foot after the seminar.

Not only are Kati and her gals are mom's wives, Christians, but they homeschool too.  How cool is that?

The one thing that stood out in my mind was that they stated the coupons that are in the newspaper today really will not be most beneficial for a month or so to get the best deal.  See the store expects you to use that coupon the week it comes in the paper, then next week it will put that item on sale for like 30% off; then in a few more weeks maybe on sale for 40% off then in a week or two later it will be at its rock bottom price 50% off (or bogo) or more. And if you held onto your coupons you will get the best deal. 

The trick is to not give up while learning the system. 

So I along with a ton of other ladies in our area are all trying to learn this new system in an attempt to save our families money.  I will try to share each week how I do.  My goal is to get my $200 worth of weekly groceries down to $50 a week

Since this is week one, I will just share the few deals I got, I only have 3 weeks worth of coupons put back.  Oh that is another thing.  My newspaper subscriptions start tomorrow.  I will be getting 2 papers (2 sets of coupons) to start.  The girls at True Couponing recommend you get 1 paper for each person in your family but if you want to keep them even in number for BOGO items you would need to round that up to an even number.  I should be getting 6 papers on Sunday, BUT for now I will start w/ 2 to see how things go.

Remember I only had a few deals, but a good start to learning the system and filling my pantry.

(Q = coupon)
Wisk on sale for $4.49 used a $2.00 Q and $1.00 Target Q = $1.49 for 1
Glad Candle - BOGO used a $1.50/2 Q = paid $1.50 for 2
Ronzoni Pasta - BOGO used 2 55/1 Q = paid 29¢ paid for 2
Stove Top Stuffing - 99¢ used $1.00/2 = paid 99¢ for 2

I did not need any of these items this week but I only paid $4.27 for all of that and that is almost the same price as the Wisk that was on sale! So there is my start, I can see where it will get better. 


Lil' Momma