Couponing for Beginner (Part 1 of a lot)

This is where I began:
http://thekrazycouponlady.com/beginners/

     She gives you TONS of information about where and how to begin the process. I watched some of her videos where she takes you through her transactions and it helped quite a bit since I am a visual learner. The next thing that I did was just get ONE newspaper and sat down and cut out the coupons just to learn about them in general. I did not try anything funky, I just took them to the store (WalMart) and used them. No frills, no doubling coupon weirdness, just made a list of what I had coupons for and bought it. This really helped because I saw how much I could save with just a little teeny bit of planning (seriously 20 min here).

     Once I had gotten the "bug", I began looking into what coupon inserts were offered and when and then began dabbling into the world of printing coupons via this website: http://thekrazycouponlady.com/print-coupons/

     This is when I got to the point that I HAD to organize everything because it was just too unorganized otherwise. I did not wanna be the lady scrambling for cat food coupons at the register and digging through her umbrella bag purse! ;-)

     To organize at the beginning, I just had envelopes that I labeled with "Frozen Foods" "Female Hygeine" etc etc etc and would stick the coupons into them when I found them. Before a trip (at this point) I would search the weekly meal deals at Winn Dixie, the serious good deals at Walgreens, and normally forget about the madness known as WalMart. I would make a list for each store (also Dollar General is amazing) and write down ONLY those items that I was buying with the coupons. I would write down what the sale was and what my coupon value was. This helped me to stay 'on target' and not get confused when I was in the store. At this point I was still only buying one paper a week and printing just a few coupons weekly. On average I would save about 25% off of my weekly grocery bill and I had not (yet) begun to dabble with a stockpile or an organizing binder or anything like that.

     I know this might sound foreign because it is A LOT to take in. Stay tuned for (Part 2 of a lot)!

Loathing....Unadulterated.....LOATHING!

Ants- I know God has a reason for making things and that all things have a purpose. But, why oh why, ants? Are they that important to the circle of life? Since the age of 0, I have been seriously and almost fatally allergic to the little stinkers. My parents have told me that I toddled right into an ant bed when I was 1ish and ended up in the ER with a serious "issue". And, of course, I would live in Alabama. It only makes sense that I live in the ant capitol of the world. Yay.

On another note let me now switch to the silver lining and say "thanks" to the makers and inventors of Benedryl. Without you my daily routine would be constantly interrupted by the pesky biting and chewing and stinging things of L.A. I appreciate and salute you, Diphenhydramine Hydrochloride!

Once a bride, always a bride!

99% of everyone who knows me knows that I am a little off-the-beaten path when it comes to everything and anything in life. Seeing as I was (literally) in the hospital getting surgery-ed upon until the WEEK of my wedding, Jacob and I did not have the opportunity to get very artsy couple photos done nor did I get the bridal shoot that I had craved since I was a child. Granted, my father is an amazing photographer and made gorgeous photos at both of our ceremonies that day. For that I am truly thankful considering the fact that I remember VERY little from the day. (Is that normal or do I have issues?!)

So the idea of the un-bridal shoot was hatched quite a while ago when I saw the photos that Stacy did of Amber and Russel's engagement and wedding and thought that I would like her to do a photo shoot of Jake and myself just for a memory book. Nice idea, right?! Well knowing the type of person I am means that I could never make anything easy. When I was contemplating what I could do 'different' for our anniversary this year, I started looking at our old photos and thinking about how skinny I was when we got married. Let us remember that I had downed 15-20lbs due to the surgery, so I got the genius idea to try on the wedding dresses. Then I was roughly a size 2 dripping wet and now.... well for the sake of not getting graphic.... we will say "not a 2". I pulled out the dresses and stuffed myself in them like a sausage and went and showed Jake. It was rather comical because I barely had them on, but his reaction of a laugh made me cry (I am rarely moody so this was intense for me).

Perhaps if I had more drive or were not so close out of (another) surgery, I would get intense into working out and shaping my body up and losing weight and dieting and yadda yadda and all that jazz. Since that is not the case, I figured that it was BEYOND time that I get those special photos done before we have a Baby Krausz and my toe can no longer fit into the dresses. So I called Stacy and said, "I have a weird but marvelous idea..." She bit on my line so we hatched the plan to meet and do the famed bridal, yet unbridal shoot.

WHAT A FUN DAY THIS WOULD TURN OUT TO BE! It was about 37,000 degrees on the Kelvin scale, intermittendtly raining making the humidity go to 110%, and then there was the "dress" issue. Do not misunderstand me by thinking that I am feeling morbidly obese because I know this is not the truth. But squeezing a "real" body into that dress fit for a 15-yr old is just funny. It probably should give me a complex, but it was all too hilarious to me. It took me, my mother, and Stacy pulling, tugging, tucking, and pushing to get me into it. But, once I was in, the sucker actually fit. Go me, right?! None the less it was a glorious experience that helped my self-confidence out tons (as the passersby honked and screamed) and put into ink the feelings that I felt the day of the creation of the Krausz Hausz. I will forever be grateful to George, or Stacy, for helping me make history.

Three years ago sounds like a long, long time.....

As I contemplated Operation Stuffed Sausage (details to follow tomorrow) last night, I was thinking about where I was this time three years ago in my life as I was preparing to marry my sweetheart for time and all eternity. And I came up with some pretty definite conclusions such as: CLEARLY I was 92lbs soaking wet in concrete boots, my hair was WAY lighter (almost blonde), and I was in SUCH a different "place" in my life. Wow. It seems like a century ago when I think about the fact that I was still chugging my way through graduate school ever so impatiently,, praying for the day when I would get to wear the cool Harry Potter sleeves on my graduation regalia. It also feels like ages ago (and I am glad to not revisit those days) that I was housed in a portable single-wide trailer full of awesomeness (hardy har har) everyday with 32 students + 2 teacher's assistants + me each block while constantly breathing a slow drip of black mold. Yumm-O! It seems like just yesterday, though, that I snagged my sweet honey right off the mission and have been walking down the road to eternity with him ever since. You know? If someone would have told me a long time ago that I would undergo certain trials and tribulations (and catastrophies), I wonder if I would have A- believed them without laughing or even B- agreed to go through them. But, ya see, here is the weird thing. I am pretty sure I DID sign up for this gig. I think my Heavenly Father (who obviously has a sense of humor) sat me down and said, "Ok, honey, here is what you are going to have to do on that big Earth down there. Do you think you can handle it?" And, with me being me, I am pretty sure that I said, "Ok, Daddy-O. Bring it on!" Some people would think I am plauged by such things as being hospitalized almost an entire month leading up to my wedding day and dropping 20lbs and looking like a crackhead. But, in reality, if you cannot look back in time and laugh at some of that stuff, you will not have succeeded in life at all. By NO MEANS of the imagination am I stretching so far as to say that I have not really struggled with certain things while I am going through them. Heck no! I am a weenie in the 'present' tense. It is only in the 'past' tense that I can put my big girl panties on and be happy with certain things in my life. And, as I walk down my little memory lane of the last three years of marriage with my honey, I am oh so glad that he picked me- the awkward, nerd, sickling to walk with into the eternities. I hope that they have good medical coverage!

Why do I coupon?....

At the risk of people thinking I am turning into a crazed, hoarding, coupon freak-a-zoid, I thought that I might take this opportunity to explain exactly WHY I began to 'coupon'. It is not because I see a good deal and cannot pass it up. It is not because I intend on becoming a guest on the t.v. show, 'Extreme Couponing'. Nope. I do it to achieve a much loftier goal: provident living.

What is provident living you might ask? It is not buying 98 tubes of toothpaste that sit on a stock shelf for years without being used. It is not having enough mashed potatoes to fill up a double-car garage. It is the idea of "Learning principles of avoiding debt, discerning between needs and wants, and living close to God in order to be provident providers both spiritually and temporally." From the time I was a little girl (far before I knew what Mormons were), I was intrigued by the idea of canning, freezing, and putting up for the winter. Call me old-fashioned but, if the shoe fits... I have very fond memories of helping my great-grandmother shell peas for days on end and can anything from pears to tomatoes. I also remember as a child (and, yes, let us remember that I am NOT normal) cutting coupons in the Sunday paper and asking my mother, "Does that mean we will save lots of pennies, Mama?"
You see... I did not, by any means, grow up in a family that was in poverty. We were regular working people that got affected by the ebb and flow of the economy. I consider myself fortunate that I did not come from wealth because those familes truly have suffered with the recent ebb-a-licious economy.

Fast forward a couple or 15 years: when Jacob and I got engaged, one of the sweetest women that I know told me that she wanted to throw me a shower but a "different" kind of shower. She wanted to throw me a Provident Living shower where all of the gifts would be related to food storage, canning, emergency preparedness, and avoiding debt. Since I am a "different" kind of girl, I was so excited. That one afternoon changed the course of the rest of my life because it really helped me focus on the important things. Women present told me stories of how living frugally, keeping their store houses full and avoiding debt kept them out of bankruptcy and allowed them the gift of staying at home and raising their families. This was everything that I had wanted! So as Jacob and I entered into our marriage, I made the vow that I would save just a smidge (which when you're the only bread-winner at times it tough) of money each month to purchase an extra roll of toilet paper or food storage cans from the LDS Distribution Center. While it was not enough to last us several months, it got us through some REALLY rough times when I was very ill or Jacob was without work. Most young couples are just a paycheck or two from bankruptcy. I do not want to be a part of that "norm".

Fast forward again to the present: While working at the dance studio, I began noticing some of the moms using their time wisely by cutting, arranging, and sharing coupons with one another. While I used a coupon here and there for a box of cereal, I never even knew that such skills were attainable. From that moment on, I was hooked. By spending just a few minutes here and there out of my week, I can contribute to the provident living of my family by a way other than taking on my 4th job for the week (most of you know me and understand my plight)! In these last two months, I have drastically reduced our grocery bill each month and been able to almost obliterate my husband's almost daily trips to the Golden Arches. Most will argue that all the coupons out there in the world are for over-proccessed, bad for you foods and, in some ways, they are right. There ARE tons of sodium-laden items out there that you can get very cheap. Since my body is very sensitive to proccessed foods, this is clearly not an option nor does it stick to my original goal: provident living. I never purchase items that I would not feed my future children. I do not hoard food, toiletries, or anything else for that matter (thank you o.c.d. for that). I sit down with the weekly circulars, jot down the "deals" that are BOGO (buy one get one free) or 2 for ___ or 10 for $10, and then talk it over with my husband what he would like to eat that week (keep in mind that all of this grocery-buying DOES include meat and FRESH produce). By saving half on our grocery bill each week even with adding to our P.L. pile, I am able to use that extra money for more important things like paying extra on our car payment, putting into savings for a baby, etc etc yadda yadda. Well I hope that you have enjoyed a glimpse into the daily thoughts of Crystal Michelle. While I am no genius and no superwoman, I do think that I come up with good ideas every once in a while. One day I do want to be one of those moms that can stay home with the children. Some day I do plan to not to have to be the breadwinner. And while my husband is planning on being a doctor, we are a mighty far way away from that paycheck. Right now we are just two normal people paddling along in this river called life and we are affected by the economy and its' unshakiness. One day I hope to be a woman that knows that my family is safe because we have a year's worth of food in storage and our 72-hr kits all packed. Until then I will continue plugging along one coupon at a time...

Prayers......

To my dearest friends,

It is a very rare occurance that I actually am seeking prayers for myself, but today is the day that I am really needing you to lift me up to Him. I have been having quite a bit of abdominal pain for the last month, but I just dismissed it as cramps. After being constantly prodded by my dear mother, I went to my OB today. I have been diagnosed with an ovarian cyst the size of a grapefruit. This diagnosis terrifies the living poop out of me because of just how serious and life-threatening they can be. He sent me home with an antibiotic, pain, and nausea meds to be on "extreme light duty" until I go back to him next Tuesday. He thinks it will shrink a little over the next week and he plans to scope me and then drain it surgically. When you are saying your prayers this evening, please send one up for me to have the strangth and peace to rest and overcome this obstacle. I love you all and thank you more than words can express for being so special in my life.

<3 Crystal Michelle Center Krausz

New Enterprise High School!