People often ask us how we are able to grow a family in southern california and be able to have me stay at home. Of course there are many facets to this explanation but over the course of the last year coupon shopping has become one of the driving forces behind making ends meet. Now, first I want to start by saying that without a doubt God has called me to be at home managing and overseeing all that goes on within these walls. He grew a strong passion in me for fulfilling His call to mother my children and serve my husband ( ooohh, some of you cringed, I know :) ) Don't judge, just here me out. Proverbs 31 is very lengthy and goes into detail about a woman who fears the Lord.
Verse 11 "The heart of her Husband trusts in her , and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not harm all the days of her life.
15 -20 She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens.
She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong.
She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night.
She puts her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle.
She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy.
25-31 Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.
She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, he praises her:
"Many women have done excellently, but you exceed them all."
Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
Give her the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates."
Everything I do as a wife and mother is my attempt to emulate the woman described above. Not only does my attempt bring glory to God but it blesses my family. Even when I completely mess it all up , the foundation is there. That is what I am shooting for and they know it. They can forgive me , learn from me, help me and essentially serve me in my quest to be more servant like to them.
Also, Titus 2 reaffirms the position I hold about what I am to be when it describes what the older women in the church are to teach the younger women.
Verse 3-5 "Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so, train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled."
It is so clear to me when I make an attempt to be these things God has called me to be that I am insufficient. Who in this world could possibly ever come close to the descriptions above without the grace of God? No one. This is only possible when Christ intercedes on our behalf.
Philippians 4:13 " I can do all things through him who strengthens me."
So.......
As part of my job, I have an opportunity to bless my husband and children by saving as much of our money as possible using coupons.
This is my attempt to encourage you to try it out for a while and see what changes you can make.
This week at Rite aid you can purchase Johnson's baby products for $ 2.99 each. You can also find links to $1 off coupons for countless baby products on the
Johnson's website. And a link for a $5 off $25 purchase at Rite aid coupon
here. If you purchase 10 products at $2.99 your total with tax is $32.52. Use your $15.00 in coupons and pay $17.52 out of pocket. Then, to make this deal even sweeter you can submit for an easy saver rebate of $15.00 for purchasing 10 Johnson's baby products. So, needless to say I paid $2.52 to stock up on baby wash, shampoo and powder. Oh! I forgot! Also from now until October 17th if you save your receipts and submit them you get $5 back per $25 spent at rite aid in the form of a gift card. So, actually Rite aid PAID ME $ 2.48 to replenish my baby product stockpile. Thank you Rite aid!
The rest of the products in the picture above are also from Rite aid or Walgreens and at the end of the shopping trip after adding everything up I realized that each store paid me about three dollars in the form of a Rite Aid gift card or Walgreen's Register Rewards to take these products from their store. I think Stevens still not quite convinced that he is not living with a shoplifter! He always looks at me in disbelief and says "how is this possible?!?" But ultimately he loves it.
Here I went to CVS and saved $57.78 using coupons. I used the remainder of a gift card I had for transferring a prescription to CVS which totaled $7.71 then spent $2.47 out of pocket. CVS is a great place to start. It is complicated to learn all the different programs at the different stores but CVS is definitely the easiest system to learn and work well.
Again a CVS trip where I paid $0.86 just using coupons and their Extra Bucks program.
Feel free to call me, bombard me with questions, send me an e-mail. I am truly committed to seeing Gods word at work in the lives of the people around me and in my own life. I know that committing to that is the only way I have a chance of coming close to what I desire to be. Keeping His word close and constant is the only way for consistent auto-correction in my life. God's word is the only right, true , pure, holy, consistent, completely trustworthy thing in this world. I am camping out right there with it for as long as I live, It's the only way to survive.
