This Week's grocery bill was $39.58!

Yes, that's right. I bought a weeks worth of groceries for under $40. Actually, it is more than a weeks worth because I stocked up on a few items that were on sale, and I had coupons for. Several people have asked me about my coupon system so I thought I would blog about it so you can see what I do. It doesn't take alot of time or energy and I save about 50% off my bill each week.

1. I start with buying 2 Sunday papers each week. If I happen to be going to my parents' house on Saturday, I will buy my papers from one of the people who sell it for $1 along highway 41 right around the Super Target and the Kohl's. Otherwise, I buy it on Sunday when you can get 2 papers for $2.50.

2. I take out the coupons and use a sharpie marker to write the date on them and then I stack my coupon booklets up in my desk. If you have coupons that you have saved and don't know the date that they came out, check the fine print on the "spine" of the booklet, it will list the date that they were issued.

3. I usually shop on Monday or Tuesday. The night before I shop, I look at the ads for Publix and Kroger and see what they have on sale, especially for meats. I like to look at the ads because the pictures help me get an idea of what I want to cook that week.

4. With my mental list a a couple things that I want to make for that week for dinner, I go to the computer and go to couponmom.com. I go to the grocery deals by state tab and then go to either Publix or Kroger deals in Georgia. I find that I usually save more money at Kroger, but I do end up going to Publix about once a month depending on what they have on sale, especially buy one get one free. The grocery deals list shows everything that is on sale that week and lists out any coupons that go with that item. For example: This week Kroger has Barilla Whole Grain pasta one sale for $1 per box. The Mar. 29 issue of Smartsource coupons had a 50 cent coupon for Barilla Whole Grain pasta. Kroger doubles coupons up to 50 cents, so I got the pasta for free. Since I get more than one Sunday paper, I had 2 coupons, so I got 2 boxes of pasta for free.

5. Once I have looked at the whole list of sale items and coupons, I plan my meals for the week and then use this list as my new grocery list. I check all the things I need for my weeks menu and then print it out. I then go to my stack of coupons and only cut out the ones I need. I paperclip them to my printout and go to the store.

Here is my real life example from this week. My dinner Menu for this week is this:

Monday - Pizza night - I already had Tombstone frozen pizza in the freezer that I bought for $3 a piece last week at Publix.

Tuesday - Pasta with ham, peas and fire roasted tomatoes - I am using my free pasta, leftover ham, peas from the freezer and a can of fire roasted tomatoes all of which I bought on sale and stocked up, just like I stocked up on the pasta this week. I actually found enough coupons to get 8 boxes of free pasta.

Wednesday - Tuna casserole (We actually LOVE Tuna cass!) - I bought a 16 oz block of cheese for $2.50 and No-Yoke egg noodles for 50 cents because they were on sale and I had a coupon. I already have tuna and cream of mushroom soup from a previous shopping trip when they were on sale and I had coupons for them (do you see a trend happening:).

Thursday - Asian Sesame Chicken with broccoli and rice - Tyson all natural chicken is on sale for $1.99 per pound and I got the Lawry's Marinades for 50 cents a bottle because they were on sale and I had a coupon. I bought 2 bottles because I had 2 coupons so I will have it in my pantry for later as well. Broccoli crowns were on sale and I had 3 50 cent coupons for Mahatma rice, which was on sale for $1.09 each so I got 3 bags for 9 cents each.

Friday - Grill out Polish sausages - Carolina Pride products are buy 1 get 1 free and I had a coupon so I bought 2 packages of sausages to grill out. I have onions in the pantry to grill with these and buns in the freezers. I also have 2 sweet potatoes left form last week so I will put those on the grill also.

Saturday - Leftover day (i don't like to cook on Saturdays)

Sunday - Baked Potato Bar - A 10 lb bag of potatoes was $3.99. Cour cream was $1 for a 16 oz tub and I bought a pack of Carolina Pride bacon (just because it is buy 1 get 1 doesn't mean you have to buy 2. At Kroger and at Publix, you can just buy one item for half price.) I will have cheese left from the 16 oz bar that I bought and I have canned chili from a previous shopping trip. I will probably have enough broccoli left from Asian Chicken night to have that on the bar as well.

Breakfast - I got 2 boxes of Frosted Mini Wheats for $1.18 per box. On sale and I had coupons.

Lunch - Bread for $1.49. The Kroger Whole grain wheat bread uses very little sugar and uses whole grain and it's cheap. Skippy Natural Peanut Butter was $1.70 per jar because I had a coupon and on sale. I got 2 jars. We will also have leftovers from the night before's dinner.

Snacks - Tortilla chips were on sale for $1 a bag so I got 2 and salsa was on sale for $1 a jar also. I got the Kroger brand for both of these only because I know that I like the Kroger brand of salsa. I got bananas, they are always cheap and my girls love them.

In addition to this, I also bought milk, fresh tomatoes, 5 Suave deodorants for free, 3 McCormick Grill Mates seasoning for free, 2 boxes of 10 pk Capri Sun drinks for 79 cents a box, and I got a rain check for Angel soft bath tissue, which I will get for free next week because I have the coupons and they are on sale.

o that's how I was able to get more than a weeks worth of groceries for under $40. It takes me less than a hour to plan my meals for the week, print my list and clip my coupons. Considering this week, I saved $68.84, it's like I got paid $68 for that hour that I spent planning. I would say that it worth it!

If you have questions about my coupon system, then please comment! I will answer it the best I can.

The Bronze Serpent

As you know, I am studying Moses in BSF this year. We are in Numbers now and a couple weeks ago we studied the story of the Bronze Serpent in Numbers 21:4 - 9. this must have seemed strange to Moses to be told to make a the bronze serpent for the Israelites to look at in order to be saved from the venomous bites of the snakes. He must have remembered the golden calf incident and wondered if this may be asking for trouble from this incredibly fickle group. I certainly thought is was weird. So I don't think God would do it if it didn't hold great meaning, and in fact, I believe it is a great prophecy.

The Israelites were discouraged, again, because they had no food or water. It didn't seem to matter to them that God had provided food and water every time they needed it over the last 40 years. God got mad at them, again, but this time he sent snakes to start biting them and the people began to die. The interesting thing isn't necessarily the fact that the snakes came, but that they had been in the desert for 40 years and hadn't had trouble with snakes before this. I have been to Arizona (closest thing to the desert that I know) and there are rattlesnakes everywhere! Anyway, Moses had to make a bronze serpent, the symbol of Satan and sin itself, and put it high on a pole and when the people looked at it, they would not die from the snakes' bite. Sound familiar?

I don't think it is a coincidence that 2 Corinthians 5: 21 says, "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (NKJV). The entire old testament is full of prophecies of Christ, but this one truly hit me in this Easter season. What a great visual that God had given to the Israelites. Jesus is the bronze serpent. He actually became sin and was put on the cross to save me from my own selfish desires; from my own sin.

How many times do I take for granted the miracles of God because they are so prevalent in my life that I just expect them to happen? How many times do I forget that GOD BECAME SIN? How many times do I forget that I am dead with Christ; that I only live because He chose me?

May I never take the everyday miracles for granted and never forget the extreme that You went to in order to save me from myself.