Couponing: How to cut your grocery bill by 45%

Hi lovelies!

If you were like me, I knew nothing about couponing and I paid full price on almost everything! I used to go grocery shopping and cringe at the checkout counter once I saw how much I spent. Now that I have a family I was determined to cut costs wherever I could. One of my coworkers suggested couponing. I ran with it and have been able to consistently save 45% off of my grocery bill. I also want to add, even though I'm able to save a lot I'm still buying great products not junk. It's also important to buy in bulk if something you need is on sale. If you do this you end up saving money down the line too. I wanted to share some tips with you all. Right now I'm going to focus on two stores that I shop at the most. Those would be Pick N Save (formerly known as Copps) and Target.

Pick N Save (formerly known as Copps):

You should sign up for their rewards card (don't worry it's free) you can either do it online or in the store. Since I have an active 9 month old baby I decided to do it online! I signed up for the online card in minutes. A perk of the online card is that at the check out you just need to type in your phone number and your card will pop up. Also if you do the online card they have eclips which is store coupons that you can clip to your card. That way you have the coupons already on your card before you even get to the store! After you sign up for the card they will start sending you their weekly ads and monthly paper coupons. Now you're ready to shop the ads!

On Wednesday, I usually receive the ads. Wednesday and Saturday are the best days to save. I should also mention that Saturday is double coupon day ( for manufacturer coupons). I look through the ads and see what the deals are for the week and what I need to buy or what I plan to buy in bulk. I then look to see if there are eclips coupons I can use on products. I clip all the coupons I think I might use. In part of the ad they also have paper store coupons you can use. On Pick n Save's website they also have a tab that says manufacturer coupons that you can print. Please note you can use a manufacturer coupon and a store coupon on one item. I then start my list. I'm going to give some examples:

They had a sale on Starbucks Coffee! Originally it is 8.99 each bag. It was on sale $5.99 each. I then eclipped a coupon that said $2 off Starbucks coffee when you buy two. In addition I printed a $1 off coupon that they had on their website. I ended up paying $8.98 for two bags! Basically buy one get one free. This is also an example of buying in bulk.

Here's another example that is still going on if your children are still in diapers. In the weekly ads there was a coupon buy Huggies Snug N Dry Diapers Box (60-112 count diapers) for $18.99. It's originally $25.99. I cut out the coupon and then if you go on their website you can eclip a $2 off Huggies coupon. My daughter is a size 2 so it ended up being 104 count. I ended up paying $16.99 for a box of diapers! That means I saved $7! Make sure to read the fine print, it says limit one with card. Make sure to take advantage of this deal before it expires!

One last example! There was a sale on Giovanni Rana Pasta and Sauce 2/$7. There was a eclips coupon for $1 off. I then took it one step further and went to Giovanni Rana's website and printed their coupons. They had a $1 off their pasta and $1 off their pasta sauce. I ended up paying 2/$4. I saved $3.98! I also may add it was delicious!

Pick N Save also has Friday Downloads! One item absolutely free!  Making Fridays even more awesome! On Friday you go on their website and download the item from eclips. They usually have this item in the front that says Free Friday Download. This week it was a bag of Smartfoods Popcorn.

They also mail coupons to your house. Usually specific coupons each week you can use. They send about a months worth at a time. There are two items per week. One item is free if you spend more than $35 dollars and the other is discounted if you spend $35 or more. This week it was a free roll of Kroger's paper towels and 9 cents for a can of Del Monte veggies. The best one I've seen so far was a free 12 pack of Big K soda if you spend $35 or more.

And there you go! You might think geez that's really time consuming! But once you do it a few times it becomes quicker and easier. I really only spend 30 minutes making my list and clipping coupons. Not bad for a result of almost cutting your grocery bill in half! Feel free to comment with any questions and I'll help ya out! Look out for my next post I'll focus on Target.

~baninners~

Neat and Tidy

I remember when I was in elementary school and my mom took me to a picnic hosted by my school. One of my classmates came running up to me once my mom walked a couple feet away to talk with the other parents. My classmate said, "Wow you're adopted too just like me!" I looked at her confused. I told her, "No I'm not, that's my mom." She looked at me and said, "No you must be adopted you don't look like your mom! "Your skin is not quite the same." And then she ran off to the jungle gym. I stood there very confused. Thinking, I don't look like my mom? My mom and I are different than each other? Am I really adopted and that's not my mom? At that moment I realized race. Before that I was happily content playing with everyone and not noticing differences in appearances as a big deal. Not knowing our culture's obsession with race.

When I arrived home, I asked my mom whether or not I was adopted. She told me that no I wasn't that we were considered a mixed race family. She explained to me what that meant. My mom explained that she was considered to be white and my father was African and considered to be black. She also explained that my older sister and I were a mixture of the two. After that experience, I became conscious of race.

When I was young, I was lucky in the fact that where we lived in Madison there was a high mixture of different races living in our neighborhood. I was exposed to different cultures and played with children of all races. But when I was getting ready to go into 6th grade my family and I moved to Indiana. There I noticed a huge divide between different races. Nothing that I was used to at all! There was even a black and white side of town. Not officially but everyone knew it. When I was in middle school in Indiana my parents registered me for all honors classes (except gym and choir). Including me, there were two people of color in the honors classes. My whole middle school experience was vastly different than anything I experienced in high school. Since 5/7 of my classes were honors and I spent most of my time with the students in those classes it was assumed that I wanted nothing to do with my "black side" which was not the case. Before I started sixth grade my mother sat my sister and I down and told us that we would have to pick which side we wanted to associate ourselves with. After, that shocking conversation I decided that I wasn't going to pick a side and that it made no sense. But unfortunately, sometimes society decides for you (in this case middle schoolers). I tell you I was happy when we moved out of Indiana and back to Wisconsin after I graduated middle school!

I remember once in sixth grade when we had to take a standardized test. The teacher had us first fill out the informational part first; name, birthdate, race, etc. I was filling in the bubbles until I reached the race question. At that time probably 2003 there was no bubble for multiracial or biracial. I sat there not knowing which bubble to fill in. I looked around and everyone had completed that section quickly and was waiting to start the test. I had no idea what to put, I felt that if I put white then I would be leaving out my Congolese side and if I put black then I was leaving out my white side. I'm both why do I have to choose? I heard the teacher say time to take the test! I skipped the question and started the test but it was still in the back of my mind about how I would answer the question.

A lot of standardized tests and applications today do have mixed/biracial as a choice or you can select more than one race. But I still find some do not, for those I simply don't respond to that question. I personally don't think it's fair that you would have to just select one.

I also grew fed up with people trying to define who I was. "You're too white to be black" (whatever that means) or "Well, your half black so you're black." Why is American society so obsessed with race? Why do you people feel more comfortable when they can put you in a neat and tidy box? Why do I have to choose? Does it really matter? As a sociologist, I really do believe that race is just a social construct. For the past few years I've decided that I would define myself. I am mixed. I am happily Congolese and white. I'm both and not ashamed of either!

The Journey to Natural Hair #teamnatural

The journey to natural hair has definitely been a process for me. I've always appreciated that my mother had my sister and I have natural hairstyles. She learned how to braid our hair and also style our hair in its natural curls. These hairstyles continued until I was 14 years old and my mom finally agreed that I could get a perm. I was so excited because I was seeing girls around me getting perms and at that time I thought that stick straight hair was the most beautiful. When my hair was first permed it was past my shoulders but over the years of perming and straightening my hair it became shorter and shorter. I remember that it would take me about two hours just to straighten my hair; I have really thick curly hair.
When I reached my sophomore year in college I got really tired of constantly straightening my hair and it was no longer the length that I wanted it to be. So, I started wearing weaves. For the next year I wore various wigs until one of my friends said to me, "Why are you wearing weaves? Your real hair is nice!" I actually took this to heart and questioned myself why? I decided to go back to my real hair. By then the weaves had actually helped my hair grow a lot because I wasn't constantly straightening it and putting chemicals in it. After the weaves I decided to go to my natural curly hair. This was a process because my natural curls were damaged because of all the chemicals and straightening. Some of my hair was curly and the other parts were straight. It was frustrating but I knew it was going to take time. It has been two years of my hair being natural and not perming or straightening my hair. My hair is naturally black and I decided to dye it blonde. This took awhile for me to do because I had never fully dyed my hair. I remember walking out of the salon thinking that it was an extreme change but after a couple days I loved it!  I love my curly hair and I don't know why I didn't embrace it sooner.

Products & Styling:  I have 3C hair so my hair has really coily curls with a lot of shrinkage. I only really do wash and gos for now. I'm still learning different styles to do in my hair. But I did try to do twists and they don't work on my hair because they actually make my hair really shrink. I do wash and gos every other day.  I can only use sulfate free shampoos because it really dries and strips my hair. I also learned that for curly hair shampooing it all the time actually isn't good I use the organix conditioners. It depends on the time of year which specific conditioner I use. I use the argon oil and the morrocan oil conditioners in the winter and spring. For the summer and fall I use the kukui conditioner because it helps with frizz and my hair is really frizzy in the summer and fall. For a leave in I use kinky curly knot today in the winter and spring and mixed chicks in the summer and fall. On day two I just wet my hair and apply the leave in. I also deep condition my hair, every two weeks or once a month. I use honey, 1 egg, and shea butter. I apply it to my hair and let it sit for an hour and then wash it out and style my hair as usual. This really helps my hair stay soft and not dry. I also use apply cider vinegar once a month to prevent buildup in my hair.

Curly Hair Gurus: I often watch youtube videos of Hey Fran Hey and SunKissAlba for different styling techniques and products. I also follow CurlyNikki via facebook.

Enjoy!

Winding Down

Last weekend, I had an amazing time! I had a cookout with some of my friends from town. They prepared fresh fish, banku, and fried egg. It was so delicious! Then we went swimming in Lake Volta. Well.... I don't know how to swim for me it was more like standing...lol But they promised they will teach me how swim! Then for the evening festivities a dance off! Congolese vs Ghana! I won!!! They were surprised that I could actually dance the way I do. Final Round this weekend!! I will have to be practicing in the evenings! The term is winding down so it is getting very busy. Finals start next week so we are getting prepared for that. I'm also going to form study groups for the children so that they can get the help they need to study. Mostly for the study groups I will be focusing on the JHS. And very exciting news!! We finally have running water in the house! Wahoo! I must say I appreciate water a whole lot more!

"It's been so long since I've been on"

All you 90's babies will know my title reference! I know it’s been a long time! Internet access isn’t easy in Torkor that’s why I’ve been kinda quiet lately. I’m really enjoying Torkor. My stage 2 class is tough, they don’t like to sit still but I’m really liking them. We started reading groups in the evenings for students who need extra help/a place for them to study. So far there is 5 boys who come to the house every week day evening. Two,( Richmond and Kelvin) are in JHS 1, and the other 3 (David, Hope, and Godsway) are in JHS2. I’m really happy that they want to learn outside of school and are willing to let us help them. We started reading groups for stages 1-4. It started off a little bit of chaos but we got the groups under control. Assigned a teacher to each group and then Colleen and I each have a group as well. The children absolutely love the reading groups. They didn’t want it to end! We had a quiz bowl Friday, which was so much fun! There was three groups of three. The subjects were French, English, General Knowledge, Science, and Math. Most of the competitors were in JHS but one of them her name is Prisckilla in stage 3 she absolutely killed the French section! She knew all the answers! I was so proud! We had midterm break last week and I got to catch up on my sleep, tv shows, and did a little bit of sightseeing as well. My roomie went to Accra for the 3 days, so I was home alone. One of the teachers asked if I was lonely, I said no! I’m never alone, lol! It was nice for a day or two. And I had 5 visitors over the duration of break so how was I lonely? Lol! I went to the grotto which is a special place for Catholics to worship. There are huge beautiful statues. And when I say huge I mean huge! The place was so beautiful and peaceful. The only thing was that I got eaten alive by mosquitos! I’m really enjoying myself and I can’t believe I only have a month left! Until next time!

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile but since school started its been crazy. The teachers have warmed up to me a lot and are excited about the dance. The kids are picking it up pretty well. Only a week until the performance so I'm hoping they will be ready. In the middle of the second week I started mentoring students who really need help with reading. Some are 12 and are reading at a level 1. The students are willing to learn and even want to skip their breaks so i can teach more! Which makes me feel good. We had reading assessments last friday and it was not good. A lot of them are really struggling. Starting monday i will be mentoring 10 children in reading all different grades. The volunteer in torkor-kpando left so i was sent monday afternoon to help at the school there. I was supposed to leave tuesday afternoon but im still here! The children at torkor are wonderful! Really helpful! One of the kids Schneider picked me up at the kpando station and escorted me to the house. We met his friend Hope and they showed me where i could get take out. The next morning, the children from the school came with water from the well. I mean like 10 all carrying water on their heads. Two young boys Godsway and Confidence helped me to figure out the stove but they realized that there was no gas. I went to the school and the children ran to greet me. I entered the office and discussed with the director Bishop about all I had to accomplish. We went to the classrooms to talk to all the sponsored children to tell them to send their parents the next day. The next day. I ended up meeting parents all day to talk to them about their money responsibilities, 5 cedes renewal fee, daily feeding fee, health insurance card, and the difference the sponsors aren't paying. I also had Christian and Walter sign for their Pagus High School Awards and give them their scholarship money. The next day I met with parents again and Christian accompanied me to buy the provisions at the market. I also bought some flip flops since mine, broke in town and bartered for a couple dresses. The next day Thursday, we handed out the provisions to the sponsored children who came the first day of school boy were they happy! Today, (friday) me and Hope were supposed to pick up the new volunteer in Accra. But the volunteer Colleen called and said something went wrong with her ticket and we'd be picking her up Saturday instead. So i went to school and today was fun day. The kids were cleaning the compound and then they had a soccer match teachers vs students! Me and mavis and her friend had a dance competition with the younger children it was so fun! Some of them can really dance! The match was fun too the students won! Tomorrow to Accra we go! Yay, this Wisconsinite misses cheese and chocolate bars and potato chips! Until next time!