Test of Faith

I don't know nor can I easily explain the way God has opened up my eyes and my heart the past few weeks. The sense of peace & understanding that He has placed on my heart the past few months is just amazing. I have no words to describe it other than amazing. :) Life has thrown a few curveballs recently and usually I would immediately get heated and upset and I would stay that way for the rest of the day, sometimes a few days depending on what happened. I have always wanted to be able to just let things go but knew I couldn't do it myself. I don't know what God has done, but I have been able to remain calm and understanding and trust that He has a plan. It is such an amazing feeling! What a weight off my shoulders!

This past Sunday Pastor Perry preached about money, explaining the difference between tithing and offering and why it's so important to God and for our walk with Christ. He explained it with a different perspective than I'm used to and it was like a light bulb going off. He then did a live sermon that night called Unleashing Your Finances where he went over 5 steps to free yourself from your finances and debt. Scott and I are having to face major financial issues in the next few months so getting our finances in order is going to play a major part in helping us get through it. Scott & I agreed that, since his paycheck is about to be changed, we'd start in November so it was less complicating. Pastor Perry even mentioned that if we follow these steps for 90 days, something major is going to happen that will cost a lot of money. Something will break, need to be replaced/fixed, etc. Something will happen to test our faith.

Earlier this month we were faced with having to pay late charges on his government travel card, which is a whole other story. Basically, his unit paid his card on time, but somehow the money was put in the wrong account and 4 months later, the bank refuses to waive the fee and the unit refuses to pay the fee and we have to pay it otherwise Scott will be demoted & possibly lose his AGR slot. Anyway, it worked out that I had an extra paycheck last month (thank you 3 Fridays!) and we were able to cover it. That is one of those situations that I usually would stay heated about for days, but thanks to God keeping me calm & my eyes & mind open, He explained things will be ok and helped me notice the extra paycheck. He will provide!

Back on point, another bigger financial situation has hit: a speeding ticket while in a school zone. The lights weren't flashing but the traffic cam caught Scott "speeding". (He was going 33mph in a 25mph school zone even though he was actually going under the 35mph limit.) The price: over $400. Yikes! My immediate reaction was to be upset and say to myself "not again" because we have gone through this multiple times and then some in the past 4+ years of marriage. I told him to fight it because this seemed unfair. I complained about it to some friends asking "WHY does everything dealing with money happen at once?! :(" After reading a few of their replies, God answered me. He's testing my faith. He's seeing if I will trust that He has a plan and things will be ok. Just like Pastor Perry said. I couldn't help but smile when I realized this. I immediately had a sense of peace. I DO trust Him and have faith that He will provide. I have grown up in church but this is the first time in my 25 years that I can recall feeling like this in my relationship with Christ. It's indescribable! I've always heard that if you ask God for patience, He's not going to give you patience. He's going to bring about situations to TEST & GROW your patience. Another light bulb went off. It makes complete sense to me now. We have a lot going on in our life between now and mid-October but I have faith that God has a plan and He will make a way where there seems to be no way. ♥ :)

Coupon Adventure #2

My BFF & I were aware of some deals & possible freebies at Bi-Lo and Walmart this week so we decided to check it out yesterday. My coupons are almost completely sorted & in their dividers so I was able to take in my coupon binder. It was kinda weird getting so many stares and comments about it. We even encountered fellow couponers while at Walmart. One couple seemed to follow us around the soaps & razors. haha They had the same coupons we did.

Store #1 - Bi-Lo

My friend told me about Kemp's frozen yogurt being on sale & we had a $1 off coupon. Bi-Lo was also doing a 5 for $5 sale but they didn't seem to have as many items on that list like Kroger usually does. We looked over the ad and didn't see anything that we had coupons for. That was kind of a bummer. We were told Brawny paper towels would be $.50, but of course they were out. I then remembered I had a $.50 off Sparkle paper towel coupon that Bi-Lo would double, making the paper towels free. We then head over to the frozen section to find the yogurt. It was Buy One Get One Free and with Bi-Lo's policy, you don't have to buy 2 in order to get the deal. I didn't need 2 cartons of ice cream so I only bought one.

This is my smallest haul, but still very proud. :) Retails at $6.69, I paid $1.88. Almost 72% savings!

Sparkle - retail: $1.00 - paid: free
Kemps - retail: $5.69 - paid: $1.84

Store #2 - Walmart

We were mainly headed there in hopes of using our $6 off 3 Gillette items coupon to be able to get shaving cream for free. But of course, they were out. Neither my husband nor I use shaving cream so no major loss there. Luckily, since I had my newly finished binder with me, I started flipping through my Health & Beauty section to see if I had any other goodies I could get. Some of my coupons are expiring soon (8/17/13, 8/25/13 and 8/31/13) so I was hoping to use some if they were a good enough deal. The hubby needed more razors for personal use and some to keep at the motorpool for weekends when his reserve soldiers forget to shave. So we picked up female disposables for them. I figure if you're going to forget to shave, you deserve to shave with shame. haha I was also aware of a Bounty sale and luckily they had plenty in stock. We bought other items at Walmart that we needed but didn't necessarily have coupons for, like milk, yogurt, and cat litter. These are just my coupon items. (Although I did save $2 off of the cat litter & my yogurt is always $1/each. Nothing major.)

Retails at $42.61, I paid $19.21 before tax. That's 55% savings! Not the best but still proud. :)

Right Guard - retail: $2.97 - paid: $.97
Lady Speedstick - retail: $.98 - paid: $.48
Bic disposables - retail: $2.96 - paid: free
Venus disposables - retail: $3.97/each - paid: $3.97 (BOGO $1.98/each)
Gillette disposables - retail: $7.97/each - paid: $7.97 (BOGO $3.98/each)
Bounce dryer sheets - retail: $1.97/each - paid $.97/each (I bought 6 using 2 $3 off 3 coupons. These were on sale at Walmart, not sure of the actual retail value before sale.)

When My Happy Gets Bumped

I subscribed several months ago to receive the daily devotion from Proverbs 31 Ministries. Today's was entitled "When My Happy Gets Bumped". (Click the title if you'd like to read the devotion.) I love when the devotion speaks straight to my heart. This one was perfect timing. Like most girls, I do have a habit of getting very upset over such small, stupid issues. I'm aware of the problem and have been working on it, even my husband has noticed. Yesterday we had one of our small fights that got out of hand rather quickly. One of the biggest issues in our marriage is communication. I'm very open about my thoughts & feelings; my husband not so much. In the past he's said he'll work on it, but nothing changes. Yesterday was one of those days. I was very upset about something and needed to talk it through with him but couldn't because 1) I was at work and don't like to discuss personal matters where others can hear and 2) he was also out to lunch with some fellow soldiers, but I didn't know this at the time. Because he was around people & knows I don't like either of us to discuss personal matters in public, he wasn't able to call me nor was he answering my texts. This went on for about an hour. With each passing minute I was getting more & more upset and hurt. I started thinking he was ignoring me and didn't care about how I was feeling. (I know now that wasn't true.) My happy was bumped for the remaining few hours I was at work.

After work I called him to explain how I was feeling & he actually opened up and shared his own thoughts & feelings. I was so happy and thankful! I still am just thinking about it. That was a HUGE step for my husband. He's used to keeping everything in because that's how he was raised & the type of environment he was in. So this was huge for him. I thanked him for opening up and told him how much I appreciated it. It made me so happy. I love when we have productive arguments and conversations. It gives me so much hope for our future. I woke up this morning still thankful for that conversation, so of course I called him. haha. His primary love language is Words of Affirmation and I try to tell him positive things as much as possible. I literally feel like my "cup runneth over". I know it sounds silly, but I'm so content and thankful right now for the people God has placed in my life. I have such amazing, uplifting, & encouraging friends and a loving, caring husband. I'm very blessed. ♥

First Couponing Adventure

A week or 2 ago I learned about a couponing class that was being held in my area. I've watched Extreme Couponing and personally know a few couponers. I've always been interested in trying so I told my best friend and we both went. The class was short but very informative. They gave us our Couponing Starter packet, at least that's what I call it. haha We each received several coupon booklets from that Sunday's papers, store's coupon policies, and their tips & tricks they typed out. The best part is that the leaders email us throughout the week about deals going on at the stores & will mention if we have a coupon for it. From what I've noticed, couponing takes a lot of work and can almost be a full-time job so I'm glad that my group has leaders that hunt out the deals for us since I work full-time. It definitely makes it easier.

We learned in our group that Kroger & the BiLo near me are probably the top best stores to coupon at. Kroger doubles coupons up to $.60 and you can stack store coupons on top of manufacturer coupons. They also do a mega sale every week called 5 for $5. If you buy 5 of any of the items they've listed that week, you get $5 back, so it's like $1 off each item. I don't plan to be an extreme couponer. I only want to buy items we'll actually use and not buy a ton at a time. For now, 2-3 duplicate items is enough for me I think. I may eventually do 5 but that may be further down the road. I grabbed my coupons & we went to Kroger.

This is my first haul. :) I'm pretty proud of it. Retails at $36.40, I paid $11.14. That's almost 70% savings!

Cheetos - retail: $3.19 - paid: free
Crest - retail: $3.19/each - paid $.49/each
Gillette - retail: $3.99/each - paid: $1.99/each
HE shampoo & conditioner - retail: $3.17/each - paid: $1.25/each (shampoo - $2.50/each, conditioner - free)