Next Steps

Dear Friends,

Family Hope Ministries desires to come alongside people of the Bremerton Community that are hoping for the opportunity of a better future. Some have wound up being single parents, others have one parent working so the other can stay home with the children, still others have experienced tragedy and have lost everything.

These singles and families will be able to come to Family Hope Ministries to obtain the neccessary tools and resources to improve their situations and work toward a more self-sufficient lifestyle.

We are able to start accepting donations that will support our ministry. Your donation would provide hope and opportunity for many people in the Kitsap Peninsula. You can send your tax-deductible donation to :

Family Hope Ministries
PO Box 5574
Bremerton, WA 98312

We thank you in advance for your help in encouraging those in need.

Sincerely,

Marie Gooding
Director

"Coupon Meals"

My friend Rachael and I have challenged ourselves to put meals together using ingredients that came from the coupon deals that we have accumulated. I have been doing it all week but forgot to take pictures... Until last night... I made the main dish in my crockpot. I broiled 4 hamburger patties that I got from Omaha Steaks for about $1, then cut them up. I put them in the crockpot with 3 cans worth of homemade cream soup that I used progresso soup broth to make. I added some chopped onion, salt and pepper and sprinkled a little parsley on top and cooked it all on low for 8 hours. When done, I mixed it with some noodles and served it with peas, peaches and biscuits. It was very good! It tasted like beef strogonoff.

My other challenge to myself is to use my crockpot for a week, except for Thanksgiving. So tonight, I am making lentil soup in the crockpot with pumpkin dinner rolls. Hopefully, I remember to take a picture! :)

Walgreens Deal

Some deals just need to be posted. Here is what I got from Walgreen's today. I spent $0.03 plus tax bringing it to $1.23 which I put on the gift card that I got for transferring a prescription. Sweet deal! I just happened to need almonds for my Thanksgiving menu. Check out http://www.hotcouponworld.com/ for all sorts of good information and deal ideas.

Budget calculations so far

Here is what I have spent on groceries so far this month.

Budget money spent: $154.42
Gift Cards: $82.47
Savings according to the receipts: $560.61

I was able to transfer some prescriptions to Walgreens for gift cards and I got one from the auto center for stopping by. They sent me an invitation with a gift card incentive... :)

I also have a gift card from Kmart that the manager sent to me to remedy a bad situation. He really did a good job at making me want to continue shopping there. The gift card was a bonus.

I am going to put together an excel spreadsheet that will track this kind of stuff for me. So I will have actual numbers for the whole month posted in the first week of the following month.

Making Progress

The picture is just so cute, I had to put it in. She was so tired, she didn't even wait for me to put her to bed.

We had our first board meeting on Saturday. It went very well. We now have a plan for the next steps for our ministry. We have a lot of administrative things to do before we can start fundraising, but I enjoy this kind of work.

We are hopefully going to have a laptop donated to us that we can use for our "portable" needs. So, now we are on the lookout for a regular computer and printer and all of the other things that any other business office would need. So if any of you in the Kitsap Peninsula have any of these items that you are wanting to get rid of, please leave me a comment. All donations are tax-deductible as well.

One of the next items on our agenda is building a website. I will still keep my blog going though. I will link it to the website. So be on the lookout for it! We hope to get it up and running by the first of the year.

I hope all of you have a great week!

Marie

"God Whispers"

"God Whispers" are the little things that happen that could only come from the Lord. Well, I have a God Whisper to share. We just got tax-exempt status last week. Yesterday, a lady from United Way called to have me fax her a copy of my tax-exempt status letter because someone wants to designate their financial donation to go to our ministry. Just so you know, it can take up to 8 months to get approved by the IRS. So I am claiming this as a God Whisper that 3 days after we received the letter, United Way calls to get a copy of it!

Too awesome for words!

Tax Exempt Status Update

We received our tax-exempt status letter today! YAY ! I am so excited that I really don't know what to do with myself! We have our first board meeting on the 15th of this month, so we will discuss direction then. Between now and then, I must get a good schedule going at home since I have one in preschool now and the other stays home with me. So, I ask for prayers for the Lord's guidance on getting a good schedule that enables me to properly care for my children and my home as well as make progress with this wonderful new ministry.

I am so thankful that I got a handle on the couponing way of shopping before we started in on the ministry. Now, it doesn't take as long to find the good deals. My stockpile is well established as well so there is less need to do any major shopping anyway.

I hope everyone has a great rest of the day and a great weekend!

Marie

Double Coupon Days at Kmart

I happened to go into Kmart this morning for a coupon to use at Target and saw the sign that today was the last day for double couponing up to $2.00. I was actually quite upset because I had called 2 weeks ago to see if they were participating and they told me no. So, this evening, I went back loaded with all of my coupons and this is what I got:

2 Almay eyeliners, 2 Almay mascaras, 2 Almay eyeshadows, 1 Almay concealer, 3 bags of lifesavers and 3 packets of Tuna. I spent $3.01 plus tax which came to $4.25.

Today was the last day for this but they have done this twice now within a few months so keep your eyes open for the next one. As a side note, Kmart often has manufacturers coupons hanging around. So it might be good practice to pop in there every so often anyway.

Target deal for Glade scented oil candles

Yesterday I read on http://www.commonsensewithmoney.com/ that there was a good deal at Target for these candles. So I tried it and it worked. I already had all of the coupons needed so I didn't have to look any farther than my coupon organizer for everything I needed. I had 2 BOGO coupons for the candles, and 2 $2 off coupons. With the sale being $2.50 each for them and you get a $5 Target gift card for buying 4 of them, it was a sweet deal. I paid $1.43 total, including tax, and got a $5 gift card. Plus, the great thing is that these would be perfect Christmas gifts for teachers, neigbors and others that you would just like to give a little something to. I hope some of you can put this deal together too and start building a "gift closet". I have a small closet set aside for wrapping paper, ribbons, and things that I pick up here and there on a good deal that I can use for gifts. It is so nice to know that if I have forgotten a birthday, or just want to give a gift, that I have a stash to choose from in the closet verses going to the store in a pinch and spending a lot more for something.

Spending and Savings so far for October

I don't anticipate spending much more in the month of October. I calculated my receipts and it is a little bit staggering. I have been trying to participate in all of the local store's saving programs. I have shopped at 6 different stores this month.

Total spent so far- $226.41
Total saved so far- $615.20

I have a stockpile of non-food items that is pretty hefty. I wont have to buy shampoo for a year.
I have toilet paper oozing out from under my son's bed. My food supply is growing for the non-perishables. For November, I plan on building the stockpile in other areas and focus on finding the free items that I may be able to pass on to others in need.

I love Walgreens!

I love shopping at my Walgreens! The people there are so nice and there are good deals to be found there too. There is a $2 Pert Plus coupon in the paper today. If you combine it with the sale and in-store coupon you have yourself a very good deal. Here is what I got for $2.23. I also got a $5 Register Reward for my next shopping trip.




I also wanted to show what we had for dinner tonight. It was very simple but very good. I defrosed my hamburger that I had cooked up with some onion from a few weeks ago, put it in the pan and added a big can of crushed tomatoes, a regular can of diced tomatoes, a can of corn with the water, 2 diced potatoes and 2 small zucchinis. I also added some salt and pepper. I simmered it for 20 minutes or so and it was done. I made some wheat biscuits to go with it. It was a very good dinner. The kids even liked it! :)

I am beginning to get some regular readers so I am going to start posting the good deals I see in the local stores around here so the others in the area can find the deals without having to spend a lot of time on it. I seem to find the most good deals at Safeway, Albertsons and Walgreens. If there are stores in the Bremerton area that you have found good deals at, please let me know by adding a comment on this blog so I can add it to the list of good deals that I have found.

It never hurts to ask

I emailed the makers of Borax to ask for coupons. I never see any in the ads and I use it to make my laundry soap. Today I received in the mail from them:

2 $1.00 off Borax

1 35 cents off any Dial soap

1 40 cents of any Renuizit

1 50 cents off Purex detergent

1 50 cents off any Soft Scrub

It was a very pleasant surprise to get those coupons from them.

I love coupon shopping!!!!

Here is what I got at Walgreens. I spent $7.11. I will be getting $9.00 in rebates back and I got a $3.00 Register Reward. My total savings according to the receipt was $71.06. Woo Hoo!
Then I headed to Fred Meyer. I spent $0.34 plus tax. It came to $1.06 for 2 shampoos, 2 conditioners and 2 deodorants.

If you aren't convinced to use coupons yet, I am not sure if you ever will be after seeing this! :)

Success at Walgreens

I finally figured out the register reward thing at Walgreens! (I think)
Here is what I got for a total of $0.74.

I bought sale stuff with manufacturer's coupons and used $11.oo in register rewards. $0.46 of it was tax so I did pretty well I think. For all sorts of good ways to shop at Walgreens, go to www.hotcouponworld.com and click the link to the drugstores, then Walgreens. I find all sorts of good information there.

Kmart Double Coupon Days! YAY!

Here is what we bought at Kmart today.
We spent $29.56. With coupons and sales prices, we saved $78.05! We love double coupon days!




We also want to encourage people to visit www.couponmom.com You can get a free ebook about coupon shopping that will be very useful. With the economy the way it is, more people are using coupons and this ebook will inform you on how to use them wisely and to your best advantage.

The kids are napping, so I will go put away all of my great deals now!

Shopping at Albertsons

Here is most of my stash from Albertsons today. I spent $56.68 and saved $87.49!
Ground beef, chicken and pork roasts are good deals this week. I cook it all up at once and freeze in meal size portions. It makes it so much easier when I am cooking dinner.
I took my coupons to walmart and spent less than .75 on these kotex and wet ones.....
Albertson's isn't going to let me take their Sunday papers on Monday anymore.... Does anyone know of any cleaver ways of collecting the coupons from the Sunday papers? I am going to ask the ladies in bible study to save them for me and my new good frugal friend.

The Couponizer Giveaway

The Common Sense with Money blog is giving away a Couponizer! Neat! There is nothing worse when shopping than being disorganized! Go there now and sign up for a chance to get it! http://www.commonsensewithmoney.com/

Menu Planning Monday

This is my first try at Menu Planning Monday. Hopefully this will help me "find" more time in the day by not having to think about what is for dinner during the week.

Monday: Crockpot Chili with cornbread muffins

Tueday: Spanish Noodle Skillet with homemade bread

Wednesday: Vietnam Fried Rice with homemade bread

Thursday: Mandarin Rice Bake with cornbread muffins

Friday: Spaghetti with garlic biscuits and cucumber slices with buttermilk dip

Martha Stewart can show us how!

Martha Stewart wants to show us all how to blog. I am going to dive into her blog to get as many tips as I can. If you ever wanted to start a blog, you have a very good place to start learning how. Go to http://www.themarthablog.com/2008/09/how-to-create-your-own-blog-let-us-show-you.html to learn more.

Frugal Friday

I just finished putting together my children's play room. I must say that I did buy the train table at the Goodwill for $15. Otherwise I accumulated all of the other big pieces for free. I got the shelving from freecycle, my aunt just gave me the table and 2 chairs (which inspired me to create this room for them), just about everything else, including the toys, have been gifts over the years or hand me downs. Now I just have to hang original "Art" on the walls. Maybe it is time to use some of that end roll paper we got free from the local newspaper and the bucket of markers we got from freecycle last year...... You don't have to spend much money if any to have a nice place for your kids to play and learn.

Works for Me Wednesday

I have set up my coupon/price book folder. I have used things that I already had at home. There is a section for non-food coupons, food coupons, rebates, receipts and my price book. I will soon add the formulas that will let me know how much it costs to make things from scratch. Then I can compare prices at the store(sales and coupons) with what it costs to make it. Right now, I know that it costs me $.32 a serving to make my cream soup from scratch. So if I can get cans of it for less than that, it is a good deal. If not, make it from scratch...... So I need to get out my measuring cups and spoons to figure out all of the other things I make from scratch. So this is my binder..... WORKS FOR ME!

Here is the recipe for cream soup mix:

2 cups powdered milk

3/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 cup chicken bouillon

1 tsp. onion pwd.

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/4 tsp pepper

Combine and store in an airtight container. To use for any recipe calling for a can of cream soup, mix 1/3 cup mix and 1 1/4 cup water. Boil for a few minutes, stirring often.

This recipe is from the Miserly Moms book.

The Grocery Game

I have been introduced to a new way of shopping! I am now a member of the game of couponing. My goal (that is quite achievable) is to obtain as many grocery and toiletry items as I can for free or better. I went to Walgreens last week and used coupons for some granola bars. I paid $3 for 6 boxes and will be getting a $5 rebate in the mail. So, they will pay me $2 for trying these granola bars. www.moneysavingmom.com and www.couponworld.com are the places I have been frequenting for great information..... HAVE FUN!

Homemade Window Cleaner

I made window cleaner this morning, washed the windows with it and really like it. There aren't any streaks, just really clean windows. I mixed 2 cups water, 1/4 cup vinegar and 1/2 tsp liquid dish soap. Then I put it in my new spray bottle and labelled it. Viola! I even used my rag that used to be Kevin's T shirt. How frugal am I??? :)

For more frugal tips, visit Frugal Friday.

Making Laundry Soap from Scratch

I wanted to try it for a while now, and I finally did. I made my own laundry soap and I really like it. I have 2 gallons of soap for under one dollar. I really like the feeling and smell of clean without the perfume smell. I got the recipe from the Living on a Dime newsletter. Here it is:
1/3 bar Fels Naptha Laundry Soap-grated,
6 cups water
1/2 cup washing soda
1/2 cup borax
Heat the water and soap in a large pan until dissolved. Stir in washing soda and Borax. Mix and heat until dissolved. Boil 15 minutes. Remove from heat. In a 3 or 5 gallon bucket, ad 1 quart of hot water, then add the soap mixture. Mix. Add enough cold water to make a 2 gallon mixture. Mix until well blended. Let sit 24 hours. The soap will gel. Use 1/2 cup for each load.

Stir or shake before each use.

Waiting for tax-exempt status

We are waiting for tax-exempt status before we can launch this ministry. We hope to have it by the end of the year. So, for now, we are collecting information on budgeting, scratch cooking, gardening, sewing, being frugal and any other life skill that would allow for people to spend less money and have more money for more important things in life.