Call me Coupon Crazy

I mentioned briefly last month that in the new year a friend and I decided to take up couponing to save a few dollars on our grocery bills.  It all started innocently enough, as we had visions of saving a couple of bucks here and there and maybe stretching our grocery budgets to a few more cartons of ice cream, or choice cuts of meat. 

Then we got sucked in. 

 My girlfriend and I are now avid couponers.  We prowl the Internet for reports of coupons to print or request by mail, and scour local flyers for great sale prices to match up with our coupons.  We take our coupon binders (coupons placed in baseball card holders, and organised into a few categories) with us anytime we shop.  We have also branched out into price matching in order to get even greater savings. (Some stores in the area will match any competitor's advertised sales price ... this means you don't have to hop around to multiple stores to get the best sales in a week ... plus the product is usually in stock at the store that doesn't have it on sale!) Finding a good deal that can save me money has become ridiculously addictive.  It's like a weekly scavenger hunt through grocery store flyers and clearance sections, and the rewards are the savings you find on your grocery receipts.

A page from my coupon binder.

On average, I'm saving between $30 and $40 per week in coupons alone.  Paired with the price matched sale prices, I'm paying about 1/3 what someone would if they were to pay full price for most items on my shopping list.  My overall expenditure per month hasn't yet gone down, as I've been stocking up on products we will use in future.  But over the past 2 months I've stayed within our regular monthly grocery budgets but bought a lot of extra food and household items now stored in our pantry. For instance, I have enough paper towels to last a year or two, and about 2 or 3 months worth of breakfast cereal.  I expect my monthly bills to begin dropping by next month, as I now have several categories of items which we don't need to buy for a few months to a year. 

Some of my best deals so far have included:

• free 2L tubs of President's Choice ice cream
• Free scrubbing bubbles shower cleaner
• family-sized boxes of Raisin Bran and Rice Krispies cereal for 99 cents each
• Fibre Plus cereal for $1.99  ... and there were $5 worth of coupons printed inside the box
• 2 free yoga mats from Kellogg's

My receipt from a recent shopping trip.
In blue, the total I paid for my shop:  $65.07
In red, the total savings from coupons:  $40.04
Many items were price matched, for further savings
not reflected on the savings calculated on the recipt.

Couponing in Canada is not quite as extreme as it can be in the US (you may have seen the TLC show Extreme Couponing), but a little bit of effort can still get you some free products, and great deals on many grocery items by matching up coupons and sale prices.

If you're interested in knowing more about couponing and price matching,  I recommend you visit SaveaLoonie.com and check out the "How to coupon" button or MrsJanuary.com and look for the "start here" tab.  These sites explain all the basics of couponing in Canada, post links to new coupons and deals daily, and also offer weekly lists of the best sale prices and coupon match ups for the major Canadian grocery chains, saving you a lot of work.

If you want to see a serious couponer in action, keep your eyes open next time you're at Walmart or the grocery store:  you'll recognise us by the binders perched in our carts and the sale flyers clutched in our fists.

Florida Vacation

We celebrated Family Day last month by heading south to Orlando, Florida for 10 days. My parents came with us on the vacation, and we rented a 4 bedroom house in the community of Davenport, just Southwest of Orlando.  The house was bright and airy, and featured a heated outdoor pool (which we had requested) and a games room with pool table, Foosball and air hockey (a pleasant surprise). 


We did not visit any of the Disney attractions on this trip.  Instead, we purchased a package that gave us unlimited entries during our stay to Seaworld, Aquatica (Seaworld's waterpark) and Busch Gardens.  I had expected our visits to the parks would be short-ish, as the kids would wear out and we'd need to return home, but as it turned out both kids had amazing lasting power, especially Chloe -- on the days we were out she made do with short naps in the Ergo, and sometimes also in the car on the way to or from our destination. 

Jeff talked me into going on my very first adult-sized roller coaster on this trip, complete with an upside-down loop.  I was pretty apprehensive, but I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, and will probably try some others in future.  He did also talk onto another ride a few days later that was actually far more terrifying.  The photo that the ride automatically snaps was hilarious ... Jeff is laughing his head off, enjoying the ride and right next to him my expression is absolutely horrified ... you'd think someone was torturing me to death!  I think our only regret from the trip is that we didn't pay the $20 extortion fee to bring home a copy of the picture.

Other highlights of the trip included:

• Touching the sting rays at SeaWorld
• My dad's eyes sparkling as he played with my girls
• Walking through the nature reserve at Circle B Bar Ranch and seeing many birds really close up, as well as two small alligators. 
• My Mom's whoops of laughter as she rode down the kiddy water slide with Maya
• The soft coo of delight Chloe made on the Merry go Round every time her horse started it's downward motion
• Maya's delight at rescuing a lizard that was caught between the screen and the windowpane of her bedroom window (this was her favourite part of the trip)

We enjoyed Orlando, and will likely return again in future, but we did notice that beyond the theme park attractions (of which there are many) and the outlet malls, there was not a lot else to do.  Another time we'd consider splitting our stay between a week in Orlando to visit theme parks, and a week in another part of Florida, maybe on the ocean, or close to some historic attractions such as the fort in St. Augustine.

Before we'd even landed back in Ottawa (where, alas, we arrived to an icy winter snowstorm) Maya was already scheming ways to convince us to return next winter.  I have to admit, I may not need much convincing. 

A few photos from our trip ...

Chloe and Maya playing at the "beach" at Aquatica

Grandpa and Chloe

Maya and Daddy pausing in their search for
alligators at Circle B Bar Ranch Preserve

Jeff and Maya visited the Space Centre at Cape Canaveral

Grandma pointing out alligator footprints to Maya

Mommy and Chloe watch the dolphins at SeaWorld

Plea from a mom

Being a parent is hard.  I get that.  I love parenting my girls, and I am grateful for the opportunity to be a stay at home mom right now.  And I accept that there are many annoying and downright undesirable things that come with being a parent.  Like wakeful nights, dirty diapers, and even having your child vomit directly into your cleavage. But some things just have me throwing up my hands and whimpering "why?"

Why must my beloved younger daughter routinely poop right before we are due to head out to pick up Maya from school?  It happens about 50% of the time, and when I say "right before" I don't mean within the half hour before leaving, but rather within minutes of leaving and often in the 2 minutes between  dressing her in coat and boots and picking her up to carry her out the door. This little biorhythm she has going seems to be independent of her wake-up time, morning meals or even whether or not she has already soiled a diaper that morning.  So far, we've managed to only be late picking up Maya once, but not for lack of trying on Chloe's part.

Why on earth does my 4 year old leave her socks lying around all over the place?  Maya loves to be barefoot, and I'm ok with that, but the socks end up in every corner of the house EXCEPT the laundry hamper, which inevitably means there are also none in her drawer, despite the fact that she has well over a dozen pairs.  This routinely results in a sock hunt to find socks she's stashed someplace that aren't too dirty to be worn again anytime we want to leave the house.  On the upside, all her socks are identical, so I don't have the added worry of trying to find a matching pair. On the downside, Chloe has recently learned how to take off her socks too.

Why must Maya have such selective hearing? It's become common for Jeff or I to ask her nicely to do something three or four times. Then we get frustrated and raise our voices, at which point Maya frowns and tell us "You have to tell me nicely, then I will do it!" Yeah, 'cause that strategy was clearly working so well for me!

And the biggest one that leaves me throwing up my hands in despair ... why do my children both become noisy and/or demanding the second that I pick up the phone?  It never fails!  A few days ago, my girlfriend sent me a message via MSN asking it was a good time to call.  All was quite, so I told her yes.  In the time it took for me to walk over to the phone on the wall and pick it up on the first ring, my older daughter started making loud demands for a snack, and my youngest burst into tears.

How about you?  What has you pleading for mercy at your house lately?  I'd love to read your comments and stories.

Let's Catch Up

So I probably should have gotten back to blogging a week ago, but I was so backlogged with things I wanted to blog about that there was a log jam in my brain and none of them squeezed out.  So today we're going to play catch-up.  Here, in no particular order, are some things that have been going on.

EYES.    My eyes aren't back to normal yet, but are good enough for everyday functioning.  I was really taken aback by how long it took them to get to feeling normal ... it was definitely 4 weeks until the light sensitivity subsided enough for driving to be ok, especially on sunny days. I have a check up later this week, but I already know the vision is quite good now, though still some trouble with eye strain when reading too much.

COUPONING.    I've used coupons on an occasional basis for years, but in early January a good friend and I decided to challenge ourselves to take it up more seriously and see what kind of savings could be had.  I had planned to blog my intention to start couponing, then follow up after the first month.  So much for that.  But about 5 weeks in, I estimate I've saved at about $100 by using coupons alone, and gotten some great deals by pairing coupons with sale prices.  I'll post more about this soon.

MAYA.    My girls are growing by leaps and bounds, and both have surprised me often in the past month with the stuff they can do, seemingly out of nowhere.  Maya is making all sorts of new connections to things around her and puzzling out things for herself and is growing increasingly independent.  Conversations with her are often fun and interesting. 

CHLOE.    Apart from walking very steadily and swiftly, Chloe is now into climbing up on things, and this week is taking delight in climbing up and sitting on chairs all over the house, looking immensely proud of herself.  She says several words now (her favourites are "Mama" and "uh oh"), and chatters away having long conversations ... if only we understood her language.  She's discovered she can reach things on counters and tables and that she can open cupboards and drawers and help herself to their contents ... so we're spending a lot of time chasing after her and putting things back where they belong.

VACATION.    We're heading to Florida soon for a family vacation.  My parents are joining us, and we're looking forward to having this time away together.  We won't be going to Disney, but we have some other fun things planned. 

FRIENDS.    A number of our friends have moved away from the area over the past few years, and at the same time we've been consumed by work and keeping up with our young kids, leaving not enough energy for socialising.  But we've both been feeling the lack of companionship beyond our families, so we've pledged to renew old friendships and forge some new ones this year.  We're feeling better already, and it's only February! 

HOUSEKEEPING.   Not good at it usually, have been worse at it the past month due to eye surgery.  The kitchen floor was so bad at one point that I'm surprised my children weren't glued to the floor.  (which might have been poetic justice, since they're the ones who made it so sticky, with all the food they spill/drop on purpose onto the floor!)

Phew!  My brain feels lighter again.  And just in time, as Chloe has started to cry and it's time for the school pick-up run.

Eye Surgery: Take Two

Twelve days ago I had the laser eye surgery on my left eye. If you remember (or go back to read about here) way back in September I went in to have the vision in both my eyes corrected, using the Lasik procedure in which they cut a corneal flap, correct your vision and then replace the flap. The healing is quite quick and not overly painful. However, there was a complication and the flap on my left eye was cut too shallow so they couldn't proceed.

Fast forward 3 months of healing time, and I was ready to go ahead and have that eye corrected, but using the PRK method, in which the surface of your cornea is scraped away instead of lifted and replaced. It's a much lower risk procedure, but comes with a lot more discomfort and a much longer recovery time.

The experience of the actual procedure was very similar to the last one, so there were no big surprises there. The normally attentive staff were even more solicitous than usual, and everything went smoothly. Then I headed home to spend the next few days taking some serious narcotics and communing with my bed. This was actually a bit of a bonus of the procedure, since I got more sleep in the first 48 hours than I've had in any other 48 hour period since before Maya was born!

The best way to describe the eye discomfort is that it's a s though pool water is stinging the eye ... only it doesn't go away when you blink, or wipe your eyes. I am also very sensitive to light, especially when the sun reflects off of the snow outdoors. Reading, especially on the computer, and watching the tv, are still very difficult tasks, due to the strain they cause the eyes. At times while I look at the computer screen or tv or newspaper, my eyes simply cannot stay open and look at what is in front of me, no matter how hard I try. At certain times, they work better than others, but there doesn't seem to be a pattern to it. It seems to work best if I read in short snatches, so as not to over stress the eye muscles. I find driving more than short distances to be difficult still, so I'm avoiding driving as much as possible.

It's early days yet in the recovery process, and I keep telling myself to be patient. The vision in my left eye is coming clearer, and is already better than before the surgery. But I'm looking forward to the healing being complete so I can get back to normal! In the meantime, it may be awhile before I'm back to posting regularly again.

Visit with Santa

Thought I'd share these photos, even though Christmas is over.  (Better late than never.)

Maya told Santa she wanted an elephant and a hippo toy for Christmas

Maya loved Santa.  Chloe not so much.

Chloe being placated by the offer of a candy cane.

Holiday Synopsis

I've not disappeared from the planet, just been busy celebrating Christmas and looking after my monkeys while Jeff has been away on business for 10 days. (He comes home tomorrow ... hooray!) A quick synopsis of the past few weeks:

The winter blues had me hugely procrastinating all December about getting ready for Christmas.  So I suddenly had to sprint and get everything done in the last week before the holiday.  Because with 7 days left to go, it looked like there might not BE a Christmas at the Tiltons this year. Yikes!  Note to self:  next year, get my hiney in gear earlier, no matter what it takes. Though I did discover that when you wait until the week before Christmas to visit Santa, there's no line up at the mall.

Christmas was lovely.  There was lots of extended family, good food, laughter, and the requisite gifts.  Maya's favourite gift is a small stuffed Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer that came in her stocking.  Chloe's favourite gift is the SweetPea3 mp3 player from Tag Along Toys which I won in a draw days before Christmas which Santa brought her from his workshop. She loves being able to carry her favourite music with her all around the house.

My birthday number mumblety-mumble passed nicely.  I had a visit from a dear friend in the daytime.  In the evening my parents joined us for a dinner out, followed by ice cream cake at our house. It was a nice day.

Jeff has been away since New Year's Eve, so the girls and I have been hanging out, enjoying the school break.  Maya has loved being able to sleep in and just be at home, though she's happy to start back at school tomorrow.

Another Lesson Learned

I learned yet another mommy lesson yesterday.  For a while now, I've been saving room in my purse by leaving spare wipes and diapers in the car when we're out and about.  This works great ... except I didn't think about the fact that the temperature is now dropping below freezing. 

Yesterday, just as we were getting out of the car at the mall, I caught a whiff of Chloe's diaper (which, it should be noted, had already been changed right before we left home).  No problem, I think.  I've done quick changes in the back of the car before.  We can do this and still be on time to see Santa.  Until I tried to pull a wipe out of the package.  Frozen solid.  Some serious tugging finally pulled one loose.  Then I had to defrost it between the palms of my hands until it was usable.  Usable, but still not that warm.  Let's just say Chloe was not impressed. 

I'll be keeping wipes in my purse again for the rest of the winter.

KISSing in the Christmas Kitchen: A Bonus Day!

NOTE: Christmas is a busy season: it's full of special events, visits with friends and family, and lots of entertaining. It's also a lot of work. It's easy to let things get out of hand, which is why I have a few strategies for KISSing (Keep it Simple, Silly) in the kitchen at Christmas time. This week I shared 5 of my quick-and-easy kitchen ideas for the holidays. I had so much fun with it, that I thought I'd put together one more post with some more ideas.

Some of these ideas involve pre-prepared foods. I'm all for taking a few shortcuts at Christmas time so that you can concentrate your time and effort on the things that you really love. For instance, in my family there's no point slaving away over gingerbread from scratch because I'm pretty much the only one that eats it and even then it's not my favourite. It makes sense for me to partner with Mr. Pillsbury.  On the other hand, I'll spend hours making our favourite almond lemon heart cookies from scratch. For me, it's about trying to balance the workload during a busy time of year, and having fun in the kitchen.


Pillsbury Ginger snap cookies
Buy a tube of Pillsbury's gingerbread cookie dough.  Instead of the time-consuming rolling out and using cookie cutters, just separate the dough into chunks and roll each piece into a ball. Roll the ball in white sugar, then place onto a cookie sheet, and press it lightly with the heel of your hand to flatten it slightly.  Bake according to directions on the package (may take slightly longer than the rolled cookies, as they're a little thicker). This is something quick and fun to do with the kids, or to whip together at the last moment when you're having company over.

Lynn's Peppermint Bark
Click here and scroll to the bottom of the post for the recipe from Lynn at Diary of a Turtlehead.
I tried this yesterday with Maya, and it was fun to make and delicious to eat.  If you want to save time (or don't have little hands to help you), you can buy crushed candy canes at Bulk Barn.

Bruschetta Chicken Bake
 I love this recipe from Kraft. It's easy to make, tastes good, the kids will eat it, and it reheats really well. Perfect for a night when you want a simple meal together, or for a day when the family members are busy and eating at different times.  Feel free to play around with the recipe.  We like it with a bit of extra cheese, and I add some oregano as well as basil to give it a bit more flavour.

Easy Potluck contribution:  Slow cooker meatballs
The holidays often mean potlucks, and it can be a lot of work to bring a main course.  This one is easy peasy.  You'll need a box of frozen, pre-cooked meatballs (I like the PC Blue Menu Italian meat balls, but M&M also makes some nice ones) and one or two jars of Diana Sauce depending on how many meatballs you're going to cook. I like the Original Diana Sauce but there's a honey maple one that works well too.   Dump the frozen meatballs into the slow cooker.  Pour the sauce on top, until the meat balls are coated.  Turn the slow cooker on and you're all set!  Since they're pre-cooked, they just need to get hot, so it doesn't actually take that long. About an hour on high is probably enough, or longer on a lower setting.  If you're in a rush, you can defrost the meatballs in the microwave (directions should be on the package, it should be about 5 minutes) and then just put them in the slow cooker on low or "keep warm".


Do you have any great, simple ideas of your own?  Please share!  I'd love to add some new things to my repertoire.