Day 97

Click here to read about an amazing woman who I breifly crossed paths with and follow her as she changes her family tree

Day 96

Click here for a $5.00 off $5.00 purchase coupon for Kohls.

I just printed mine. After you sign up you will be emailed your coupon to print.

Day 95

Click here to watch Dave Ramsey's Town Hall for Hope for free on hulu. I can't wait to watch it :).....thanks Bryan

Day 94

Click here for your $7.00 coupon....thanks Heather

Day 93

Click here to print the newest coupons on coupons.com

Don't miss the $.50 off ten Kool-Aid packs. If you find a good sale they may be free.

Click here for the newest Target Coupons and don't forget to match them up with your man. coupons.

Day 92

Having debt is a burden and weighs heavy on your heart and can take over your life. I know... I was there and we were drowning in it. It was all I could think about and ask my husband... cry about. At first I felt like we should deal with this on our own and felt foolish even praying. I did not even know what I was praying for. After all we dug our own hole and we were just living like everyone else, right?....paycheck to paycheck drowning in debt. But of course God knew. I had a lightbulb moment......my dependence on God is more than okay, it is wanted. I realized that EVERYTHING belonged to HIM and we were not honoring Him with our finances. The Lord did not come to save us and make us independent, perfect Christians. Yes he had forgiven me but I knew and know that I still need Him day in and out.
He is there everytime I come to Him, as many times as needed....And let me tell you I am a sinner and come many times.

When it is too much....Surrender it all....After all He is waiting to hear from you :)

"Again, here is what I tell you. Suppose two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for. My Father in heaven will do it for you. Where two or three people meet together in my name, I am there with them." Matthew 18: 19-20

I would be honored to pray for you. If you are struggling leave a comment or email. Lets pray for each other!

I will make a post with everyones name and blog link so we can pray for each other.

I believe in the power of prayer. I don't believe that your debt will magically disappear, but I do believe you will find peace and direction on how to knock it out.

Imagine what the world would look like if everyone honored God with their finances.

Day 91

Be sure to check out your local Library Summer Reading Club

below are the details for the Wichita Library:

Join the FREE Summer Reading Club

Wichita Public Library.

Register from June 1 to July 24 at any Wichita Public Library location for the free Summer Reading Club. It’s open to kids and teens up to age 17. (In sixth grade or up? You might be interested in joiningExpress Yourself, the Library's Teens Read program, instead.)

When you register, you’ll get a bookmark, a book bag, and a reading record.

You can set your own reading goal. You can count any book, newspaper, or magazine you read yourself or to someone else, and any book someone reads to you.

Upon reaching your reading goal, you’ll be eligible to receive a prize. Prizes will be handed out from July 1 to July 31.

Why Join?

• It's FREE!
• You exercise your brain!
• You choose what you read!
• No book reports or homework!
• Win PRIZES!
• Impress next year’s teacher with your sharpened skills!
• Explore new worlds through reading!

Click here for more info.

Check out the the Scholatic Summer Reading Challenge here

Here's How It Works:

1. Kids read any eight (8) books of their own choosing.

2. Kids use the Summer Reading Journal to tell us their favorite part of each book. A parent/guardian signs the journal when it's complete. You can also get a Spanish-language Reading Journal.

3. Children bring their completed Reading Journal to a Barnes & Noble store between May 26th & September 7th, 2009.

4. We'll give them a coupon for a FREE book! They choose from a list of exceptional paperback titles.*

Click here to download journal.

Day 90

Through May 25th you can try Baskin Robbins new Soft Serve Ice Cream for $.88

We have reading reward coupons for 2 free scoops ice cream. So I can treat my three kids to ice cream for just $.88 :) They will be sooooo happy!

At Dillons when you buy 2 boxes of Kraft Deluxe or Velveeta Shells you get a $1 catalina (a catalina is a coupon that you can use on you next purchase)

$1.65 x 2 boxes

$3.30

Print 2 $1.00 coupons here

Minus $1.00 catalina coupon used on next purchase

Final Price $.15 per box

And click here for $1.50/2 to get boxes for $.40 each

Day 89

Old Navy Solid Color Flip-Flops only $1.00 May 23rd

In Store Only.

Print (twice) $1/1 Kraft Cheese coupon here and print Target Coupon $1/2 here

Should make for a great price on cheese!

Quik Trip has 1/2 price summer drinks....this one's for you Talli :)

Arby's now has 1/2 price drinks and shakes from 7 p.m. to close :)

Day 88

When you buy $15 worth of Huggies products you will get $3 taken of your total instantly at Kroger stores.

Offer good through May 30th 2009

Buy 2 jumbo packs of diapers at 8.99=17.98
~$3 instant coupon

~$3/2 cellfire.com coupon ~must be loaded previously...no longer available to load
~and then Check out your coupons. I had a mailer with a $3/2 coupon and $1.50/1 coupon and $3.00/1 from inserts

You can even print a coupon for a $2/1 if you take a survey here
Final Price~ depending on your coupons could be

$3.25- $3.75 per package

Remember instant $3.00 off one per transaction

Click here for your free Blue Bunny Treat.....thanks Heather

Day 88

If you use internet explorer you will notice that the right column of my blog does not load and says operation aborted. It is a Internet Explorer issue. You can use http://www.google.com/chrome/eula.html to view my whole blog. After researching it seems like it is affecting several blogs. Anyone else having the same problem?....or know what to do?

Help!!!!

now for the good stuff....

A great tip from Amy:

I started making my own glass cleaner. It is much less expensive and I think it works as well. Now I just keep a big bottle of alcohol and a jug of ammonia You can also put ammonia in a baby food jar and soak your diamond jewelry to make it sparkle...use an old tooth brush to brush it. You probably already know all this since you're so clever!

Strong Glass Cleaner
1 cup water
1 cup alcohol
1 Tablespoon ammonia

It takes two batches to fill my empty 32 oz. Windex bottle......thanks Amy

Day 87

Click on the cellfire ad on the right column of the blog to load your new e-coupons!

These coupons must be loaded on to your card by 6/1 and expire on 6/15.

Cellfire eCoupons can be used at the entire Kroger Family of stores! Participating stores include: Baker’s, City Market, Dillons, Fry’s, Gerbes, Hilander, JayC Food Stores, King Soopers, Owen’s, Pay Less, QFC, Ralphs, Scott’s Food & Pharmacy, and Smith’s Food & Drug Stores.

Click here to request your coupon for free Oscar Myer Beef Franks. Starting May 20th from 9:00 am (EST) until midnight....thanks freebies4mom

Day 86

More Target Deals

Two free Hershey bliss candy bars here

Bertolli 4 meals $3.25 each Coupon here plus $5.00 Target gift card with purchase of 4

Quaker True Delights 2 boxes $.89 eachCoupon here and here

100 calorie snack packs 2 boxes $.39 each coupon here and here

Wheat Thins and Ritz Free plus overage of $.46 insert 5-17 buy ritz get wheat thins free and coupon here and here

Pringles by check out 2 cans $.19 each coupons here

Kashi Waffles Honey Oat 2 boxes $.29 each coupon here

Apples $.96 coupons here

Corn on sale $.25 each total $1.75

Total Spent $18.77

Total Saved $35.72

I had two separate transactions

First was my 4 bags of Bertolli to receive my $5.00 Target Gift

~remember when putting your Target list together that Target accepts both a Target Coupon and a Man. Coupon for one item.

Happy Target Shopping!

Day 85

Free DiGiorno Flatbread Melts Monday, May 18 starting at 12:00 am EST. First 100,000 people who register will be mailed a coupon.

Day 84

It's Sunday....Coupon Day. I believe there should be 3 inserts in this week's Sunday paper.
Valasis, Smartsource, P&G.
I have a wonderful Mom who takes the time to clip her coupons and sends them to me every week. I love the extra coupons ;).....thanks Mom! Do you have someone in your life that would do that for you? Or know someone who receives the paper but does not use the coupons.
Another way to save more money!

Day 83

I remember a few years ago having a garage sale and it making me sick to my stomach about how much money I had spent on clothes for the kids and then turning around and selling them for a couple of dollars.

And then I had an idea....yes a great idea....why don't I go to garage sales and find awesome clothes for my kids and stop wasting so much darn money on clothes. How about that???!!!

Below are some of this weeks garage sale finds.

Ralph Lauren Polo Shirt for my husband~ I paid $1.00 for it~ it is in perfect condition


My children are showing off their garage sale finds. I am also done throwing money away on toys.
We found a transformer in perfect conition for $1.00 and a light saber for $.50 and the girly found 3 like new barbies and some adorable sunglasses all for $3.00

I have no clothing budget or toy budget. I make enough to pay for what I buy for our family and then extra money selling on ebay.

The above shoes I purchased for $.50

Click here to watch them on ebay to see what they sell for.

This is another way we became and stay debt free!

Day 82

A great email question:

Dara, I’m curious about how you learned to live debt free. My husband is a railroader and we move a lot so the debt is piling up.

First I would recommend reading the book The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. It was a huge eye opener for both my husband and I.... It was the first wise financial decision we made....We had it in our shopping cart and were going to charge it to our credit card, we looked at each other and said this is crazy. We put the book back on the shelve and checked it out at the library :)

~The first thing we did was sit down together and add up how much debt we had. I thought we had around $20,000 but in reality we had $48,000.

~Saved $1000 Emergency Fund

~Then we payed our debt off smallest to largest no matter what the interest rate was

~We made a budget and put a name to every dollar

~We use the envelope system....taking out cash for budget categories....that way we do not overspend....when the money is gone from the envelope we know we are done spending for that category

~Canceled Cable...don't miss it....still don't have it, have basic cell phone, basic home phone we cut back on anything and everything we could.

~Squeezed every penny out of the budget to throw on our debt

~My husband and I started communicating about money....that was huge for us.... now we are on the same page and were and are intense to make sure we honor God with our finances

~Coupons

~and most important lots of prayer

Wishing you the best of luck.....be intense....and tell every dollar where to go!

Thanks for the question,

Dara

New Shortcuts Ecoupons available to load to your grocery card. Click here

Day 81

My Dillons trip

Fresh Express Iceberg Salad~ Free plus overage $.88- $1.00 man coupon

Ball Park Franks~ Buy one Get One Free $1.79 each -$.79 each-(2) $1.00 man. coupons

Bologna Free plus overage $.88-$1.00 coupons.com coupon

Minus my $.05 bag refund

Total Price $1.29

Does your grocery store have a bag refund policy?

When shopping at Dillons you receive $.05 for each bag you bring in.

It adds up!

Day 80

Yea!!! notice on the right column you can load your Cellfire Ecoupons from this blog. Click on the cellfire ad~ 6 days left to save coupons available today. Take advantage of over $16 worth of coupons that you can save directly to your grocery savings card. Once you save these coupons, you will have until 6/1/09 to redeem them. Make sure all your coupons are loaded on your participating card. It's free and will save you money :)

My trip to Target cost $22.01

Total Savings $51.09

Remember both a Target Coupon and a Man. Coupon can be used on a single item!

2 boxes of Ritz Crackers

2 Glade Oil Refill with warmers

1 Hershey Bliss Chocolate

6 bottles of Mayo

6 apples

1 Glade Fan

1 Glade Continous Spray

1 Glade Fan Warmer

2 Kraft B-Que Sauce

2 Kraft Salad Dressings

2 Crystal Lights

1 Target Brand Purell

1 Colgate Toothpaste

1 SoftSoap Hand Wash

4 Right Guard Deoderants

Headed to Target.....be sure to print your Target Coupons here and Coupons.com coupons here. I also used a couple of Target coupons mailed to me and man. coupons.

Happy Shopping!

Day 79

In this weeks 5-10-09 Sunday coupon inserts Windex Antibacterial or Wipes are free after rebate. There is also a coupon you can use for $.40. My store doubled the coupon to $.80 so I made enough to pay for the stamp.

I Love Free!

Day 78~ Part 2

My recent trip to Dillons

These are great coupons whether you shop at Dillons or not.

Check your stash for them!

Kens Dressing~free with man. coupon

Mentos gum~ free with man. coupons

Suddenly Salad~ $.54 with coupons.com coupon and cellfire ecoupon

Hot Pockets~ $.99 with man. coupon

Kraft Barbeque Sauce~ $.54 with man. coupon

Total $2.07

Day 78

Click here
Click here

Click here

Great selection of coupons were added today!

Day 77

The Best Job in the World......is being a Mother to my three Amazing Children! Staying home with my kiddos is a dream. Growing up all I ever wanted to do was be a Mom.

So when we found ourselves in a massive amout of debt.....yes $48,000. What motivated me to get out of debt was I did not want our children to make the same mistakes we made. We were asked to give a testimony at church awhile back and when it was my turn to talk I lost it and could barely talk because I was overcome that we have forever changed our family tree.....and if you know me I am not a cryer. We are grateful that we crawled out of debt and will continue to honor God with our finances.

We are teaching our kiddos at young ages to save. My daughter is to young, but if you ask either one of my boys ages 8 and 4 what their long term saving is for they will both tell you a house for their wife. How awesome is that!!!! Our goal for each one of our children is they will graduate from college debt free and start their lives without the burden of debt.

This is why I write this blog. If just one family tree is changed it will be all worth it.

Happy Mother's Day!

Proverbs 13:22 A good man leaves an inheritance for his children's children, but a sinner's wealth is stored up for the righteous.

Day 76

Angel Food Ministries....

is a non-profit, non-denominational organization dedicated to providing grocery relief and financial support to communities throughout the United States. The program began in 1994 with 34 families in Monroe, Georgia (between Atlanta and Athens), and has grown to serve hundreds of thousands of families every month across 35 states. Angel Food Ministries crosses denominational lines and has spread the good news of the gospel of Christ through salvation tracts that are placed in each food order.
Blessings by the box:
Angel Food is available in a quantity that can fit into a medium-sized box at $30 per unit. Each month's menu is different than the previous month and consists of both fresh and frozen items with an average retail value of approximately $60.

Generally, one unit of food assists in feeding a family of four for about one week or a single senior citizen for almost a month. The food is all the same high quality one could purchase at a grocery store. There are no second-hand items, no damaged or out-dated goods, no dented cans without labels, no day-old breads and no produce that is almost too ripe.
Also offered are specialty boxes such as steaks, chicken and pork. Many participants in this bonus program appreciate the expanded choices. Additionally, there is no limit to the number of units or bonus foods an individual can receive, and there are no applications to complete or qualifications to which participants must adhere. Angel Food Ministries also participates in the U.S. Food Stamp program, using the Off-Line Food Stamp Voucher system.
It's both a Bargain and a Blessing!

Click here for more info.

Day 75

The following is from my great friend Rebecca.....

I had some really great coupons to use at Target yesterday, but my favoritewas Kraft bbq sauce on sale for $.99 and then a 75 cent off coupon from this past Sunday's newspaper. $.25 for an 18 oz bottle of bbq sauce--really good deal! Two others were Hershey's Bliss on sale for 2.99 and then a $1 off manuf.Coupon, and Smart Food popcorn clusters on sale for $3 and a $1 off manuf. coupon......thanks Rebecca

Before you head to Target. Click here to print your Target Coupons that can be matched with Manuf. Coupons for great savings.

and Click here for more Target Deals.....thanks Money Saving Mom

Happy Friday!

Day 74

First visit coupons.com and print the great Kellogg's Cereal Coupons....even if you do not shop at Dillons visit the site.... there are some great coupons right now.

The box of Cereal and 5 Air Heads cost a whole $.01

Cereal $1.98-$1.00 coupons.com coupon

Air Heads $.50 each-(5) $1.00 man. coupons

Check out the savings of 103%.....guess even if your savings is above 100% you still owe a penny??? I can deal with that :)
Two kids enjoying their free snack!

Day 73

2 pieces of Grilled Chicken

2 individual Sides

and a biscuit

all

FREE!

Today is the last day to print. Click here. You are able to print 4 coupons off one computer.

Coupon available for printing from 9am CDT 5/5/09 to 9:59pm CDT 5/6/09. Coupon is redeemable at participating KFC® locations in the U.S. from 5/5/09 to 5/19/09, excluding 5/10/09.....thanks Angela

Day 72

Click here for the Menards Free after Rebate items and
several other great deals this week....thanks Megan

Day 71

We were not able to make it for the Live Town Hall for Hope.

But we will be buying it for $1.99 to watch online

In this 87-minute town hall presentation, Dave reveals:
A short history of capitalism in America
The necessity of personal responsibility
Three action steps you can take today to restore hope
The truth behind real estate, market fluctuations, Great Depression comparisons, the job market and much more!
Refuse to participate in the fear and hysteria that’s gripping the nation! Instead, share this important message with everyone you know. Use the information and resources here to help others get informed, get connected, and take action!

Day 70

Check it out here

Day 69

Cereal $.39 each after (5) $1 off coupon Kelloggs man. coupon and $5 Target Gift Card
~ Free $5 Target GiftCard™ with purchase of 5 selected Special K products! Quantities limited; no rain checks.
Apples Free at Target click here for coupon.....thanks Angela and her lovely assistant

and
It is a new month make sure to sit down and make this months budget and tell every penny where to go. Squeeze every penny out of your budget to put towards your debt!
Click here for a free budget form.

Day 68

Caregivers Marketplace™ is the nation's first cash back program for anyone who gives, gets or needs care.

You can receive cash back on eligible products that are not typically covered by insurance or Medicare – no matter where you buy them.

The program is free and your information is always kept confidential.
Click here for more information.....thanks Heather