WE MOVED!

Surprise! The time has come for me to make my last post here on SavvySisterShops.blogspot.com.

That's because.... I moved over to SavvySisterShops.com! Come join me over there! This change has been in the works for a long, long time so I'm really excited about this... especially because I learned to build the site myself! (I'll tell you all about that soon.)

I had some help from my friend Shelley- she designed the new header, pictures, and button. She's awesome, can customize anything, and she's VERY affordable.

I wanted to give you all access to more: like the Savvy Sister Coupon Database- it's super cool and I'll show you how it works in an upcoming tutorial. You can search for any coupon out there, eCoupons, Magazine coupons, Newspaper coupons, Printable coupons!

If you were already a subscriber through the RSS feeds, you have moved with me! If you haven't subscribed yet, head on over the SavvySisterShops.com and click the orange button with white stripes.

You can now sign up for e-mail updates as well! See you in a 'click'!

My Favorite Things: Stockings

I love our family stockings! It's always nice to take a break from the true "hustle & bustle" and remember what Christmas is all about. (I seriously cannot believe how packed our calendar is this month! We're not even TRYING to be busy!)

So, we have 6 stockings for our family. You may have counted in our family pictures our 3 children. One stocking is for our stillborn baby, Matthew. I actually bought these stockings when I was pregnant with him. We hang his stocking along with ours every year and write notes to him to put inside. We know he's already in heaven and we tell him what we'll do this year so we can be with him again!

Merry Christmas all.

We're off to Texas!

It's such an exciting thing to ride in a moving truck with your Dad!


Instead of looking at a computer screen today, I'll be looking at this.... for many, many hours.


Goodbye beautiful Utah mountains! I'll miss you!

And, I'll miss you all- but I'll still be just a click away! Don't forget to enter to win a FREE 3-month Utah Savings Card this weekend! There will be 10 winners and almost 10 people have entered. Save 10-80% off every time you use the Utah Savings Card!

I wanted you to know about all the awesome Utah bloggers out there.... bloggers, link up and tell my readers what your specialties are!

It finally happened...

... my husband is employed again! For those of you that know my story, our family has been struggling through unemployment for about 9 months now. Well, we had a wonderful miracle happen and my husband, John, is a working man again! We are very, very grateful and humbled to know that many are still searching for work in a difficult economy.

And now, I have some more news. It makes me sad and glad at the same time. But, (okay... deep breath here)- my husband's new job is in Dallas, Texas! We're moving to Texas next week. I know what you may be thinking, since you're obviously someone that reads my blog. "What's going to happen to Savvy Sister Shops?"

Well, I have an answer. Not much is going to change, at least for now. There is one HUGE change and that is the change of where to get your Family Fresh Foods deals. I've asked Vanessa at Our Thrifty Ideas Become One to start posting the Family Fresh Foods deals. She gladly agreed and I think you'll be really excited to be a regular visitor on her blog!

Vanessa was actually the first reader of Savvy Sister Shops that I met! That was way back in January and we met at Family Fresh Foods, of all places! Vanessa also attended the first coupon class that I taught. She is a northern Utah blogger, too, so I think Family Fresh Foods is in very good hands.

So check out Our Thrifty Ideas Become One and if you are an avid Family Fresh Foods shopper, go to her post on the unadvertised Family Fresh Foods deals for the week.

This is bittersweet for me. We have been hoping, praying, and working towards my husband being employed again for a long, long time. We are very thankful and feel very blessed to have this new job. But, Family Fresh Foods is the reason I started this blog, I'm going to miss it so much! This weekend will be the first in 8 months that I will not be posting the Family Fresh Foods ad.

So, upward and onward! We will be moving to Texas the end of this month- a 2-day drive! I'm looking forward to our new adventures and I hope you'll follow along as our family gets settled in a new state.

As far as Savvy Sister Shops goes... another small change coming is a blog makeover which I am so excited about! I'll still be shopping the deals at Target, Wal-mart, Rite Aid and Walgreen's and sharing those with you. I think that the Kroger ad in Texas is the same as the Smith's ad in Utah, but I need to do some more research in that area. I'll also be looking for the best FREE samples, HOT coupons and 'Daily Deals' to grab! (Our family will be traveling with a LOT of bags of Nutty Guys foods during this move!)

I want to thank you all for your kind comments and your support. I've made so many friends just from starting a blog! I meet my readers all the time and it always surprises me. I've also made connections with old friends again- they love to shop for bargains, too!

If you live in the area and are interested in attending a coupon class, I will be teaching one more class Tuesday night, 7 p.m. August 24. This class has been moved to Wed. night! If you would like more information, please send me an e-mail.

A very kind reader, Desirae, has agreed to open her home to any Savvy Sister Shops readers, or friends, or anyone interested in learning how to use coupons for this class. If you would like to attend this class, just leave a comment or send me an e-mail at savvy sistershops@live.com. (Remove space.)

Wow, life is full of surprises, that's for sure! I never thought I'd be making this announcement on a a deal blog that thousands of people read each month. And, we never thought we would ever, ever move from Utah. But, here we are! I'll try to be brave! And, once again- thank you, thank you, thank you for your kindness and support. I love my Savvy Sister Shops readers!

Have you planted your garden? It's not too late!

Last year we moved to our home in the last part of June. I always loved having a garden planted in the spring, but I thought I'd be too late. Then, I started to learn more about square foot gardens. They are so easy to set up and are a "non-gardeners" garden!
I read that instead of building garden boxes, you could use a worn out bookcase or bookshelves for your garden box. My daughter's white bookcase broke during our move. Instead of throwing it out, we turned it into a garden box!


Just lay the bookcase on its' back and fill with soil. The perfect recipe is 1/3 Peat Moss, 1/3 Vermiculite, and 1/3 Compost. All of these items may be found at garden centers at your favorite store. Mix these three together and then fill the box/bookcase. Then, plant your favorite vegetables. Buy some plants already growing at the garden center to plant your garden!

Our favorite plants are tomatoes. We planted the tomatoes as soon as we could! We had a fantastic green tomato harvest in the fall. Here is my son with 3 of the 5 bowls we picked from our tiny garden! We let them ripen inside and then used them to make spaghetti sauce, dried tomatoes, and we even canned some whole tomatoes! Yum!

I used to think that homemade spaghetti sauce was more expensive than what you could buy at the store. I've changed my mind since I found the $1/1 Muir Glen coupons and can get tomato paste for FREE at Wal-mart and tomato sauce for 9 cents at Macey's. Mmmm... homemade is so much better! If you haven't planted a garden yet, it's not too late! It's the best way to get FREE food right from your own backyard!

Our story on Couponing to Disney

I told our family's story on Couponing to Disney! I just noticed that it was published this morning. Kristin, as you probably know, is on her vacation with her family in Disney World. She asked bloggers to guest post while she's busy having fun with her family. It was an honor to be published!

Look for more of my posts to be published next week!

Thanks, Jodi!

My Story- Part 3

This is the conclusion to my 3 part story! If you missed the other 2 parts, you can read them all here.

Last winter, I liked to watch Brigham Young University's Entrepreneurial Classes on BYUTV. They have special guests who are successful entrepreneurs come and teach the class to the University students. My favorite class was the one taught by Mary Krafts of Culinary Creations. She is a successful caterer and businesswoman here in Utah. If you have ever seen her cooking shows on TV, she acts very different when teaching an entrepreneurial class. Her ideas and message were very inspirational.

One of the things she said that stuck with me, was "Do not live in scarcity. Even when you have nothing, you can live in abundance." She also told stories of being generous to others, even when you feel like you don't have enough.

This is what using coupons and starting this blog has done for me. Like I've said before, I had to look at what I CAN do in this period of unemployment for our family. Another thing I have been able to do during these last 7 months is spend less than $100 for groceries and other supplies! We have drawn on our storage and just bought the essentials. It's been amazing to me how cheaply we have been able to do this and still provide what we need for our family.

We still have such an abundance of things that I am able to go teach coupon classes every week or so and give away 15-20 items completely FREE from my very own storage! Even I can afford to give things away!

Like I said, I'll keep you posted on the status of our family and employment. We're hoping for some really great news any day now! Thanks again for your support of Savvy Sister Shops!

This is my story- part 2

This is part 2 of my story! Sorry to leave you all hanging back here, I honestly felt like our story was getting really long. (Plus, I ran out of time!)

If you missed part 1 of my story, you can read it here. The picture above is of my 3 cuties, at about the time where part 1 of my story ended.

So, to pick up where we left off last October, I had just had a fabulous full month and a half of shopping with coupons. We had really added almost everything we needed for a 3-month supply of food and other essentials.

When my husband told me that they were cutting his pay at work (like almost all of it), we knew it was time to leave. Have you ever read "Who Moved My Cheese?" by Spencer Johnson? Well, it's an excellent read if you have not seen it and we knew that our 'cheese' had been moved. My husband went back to hunting for jobs day and night and also selling extra sound & light equipment he had accumulated over the years. Let me just say that ksl.com classifieds have been a good friend!

I was feeling really grateful that we were prepared for this storm. I remember going to Walgreen's one more time to use some Register Rewards and then I STOPPED shopping. Like completely. I was able to draw on our storage from our "family store" and from our freezer. I have videos of these areas of my home here and here. Stocking up really paid off for us.

As the months went on, however, I knew that completely NOT shopping was not going to work. Life goes on, even without a job. Children still need shoes, we still eat every single day (!) and we still have to buy shampoo, toilet paper, soap, etc. (Of course!)

As soon as I found out that The Standard Examiner offered the same coupons as the Salt Lake papers, and that I could pay monthly- I signed up! The small amount of $19.99 a month for 5 papers every Sunday is a very small amount to pay for all the FREE and cheap items you get in return. If you don't know about this deal yet, I can set you up for this amazing price! Read here to find out more.
In January, my husband and I were looking for business ideas. The job market is rough out there, as many of you know, and so we thought that if no one else would give us a job, we would create our own. I wanted to stay at home, for lots of different reasons, but also because my son is in Kindergarten and is still home half of the day.

I don't remember what happened first, but my husband had an idea for me to write an e-book about coupons, I had an idea to start a coupon blog, and the owners at Family Fresh Foods decided to double coupons everyday. I had already been e-mailing friends and neighbors and family about the sweet deals I was finding online. So, I thought it would be best to just start my own blog where people can come if they want to!

I took about 4 days to set the blog up and then I announced it friends and other Utah bloggers. They took notice, especially of the double coupons at Family Fresh Foods, and Savvy Sister Shops began!

This has helped me through these last 7 months of unemployment. It has been a good thing to concentrate on the things that I can do, not on what I can't do. I can't go shopping like I used to and we don't go out to eat. But, I can research the best deals, I can blog, I can still use my coupons to get the FREE and cheapest of cheap deals. It has made me feel great that we have been self-reliant through this time. We truly have had everything we need somehow. That didn't stop a few kind neighbors from being "grocery fairies" and dropping off bags of food at our doorstep. We are grateful for others and their generosity. We are grateful most of all to the Lord for His generosity and guidance.

Savvy Sister Shops is a lot of work and also lot of fun. I didn't dream that I would be able to make so many wonderful friends through a blog! It makes me laugh when I go shopping and people recognize me or say that they already read Savvy Sister Shops.

As far as my husband's job hunt goes, we have a very exciting prospect in the works! I will keep you all posted as soon as we know the final outcome. In the meantime, I hope you will continue to keep reading and following the deals on Savvy Sister Shops. Please tell your friends about Savvy Sister Shops, as well!

I'm not going to stop using coupons or blogging no matter what! It's WAY too much fun!

This is my story

Now that Savvy Sister Shops is off to a great start, I want to tell you more about me! This is my family. We love to play together, laugh together, watch silly shows and movies together and we are a very musical family. I play the piano and teach piano lessons. My husband is an amazing drummer! My son has taken up the drums as his instrument of choice and plays them whenever he can get to them! (Incidentally, their drums share the space where our food storage is. The concrete spot is a great sound proof room!)

My daughters also play the piano and are invited to sing at different functions and at church often. There is always music playing somewhere in our home!

We have 4 children. Three children are with us and we have another sweet angel in heaven. Our children are ages 12, 9, 5, and our little boy, Matthew, was our special stillborn baby born in December 2007. I cannot tell you about our family without telling you about him. I'm sure many of you reading this have also lost children or babies. If you'd like to tell me about them, please send me an e-mail.

In 2007, our family was living in a very large home and my husband was working as a contractor building other large fancy custom homes for other people. Everything was perfect and we were on top of the world! Then, the "bubble" burst. Yes, the financial bubble that had been building up for years, and also our hearts broke when we found that our baby had died while I was pregnant with him.

We struggled through 2008 and finally decided to leave the contracting and building business. We then struggled to find work! I know that many of you reading this will be able to relate to that as well. It was a humbling time for us as we moved from our home and into my husband's parents' home. Finally, in January 2009, my husband landed a great job. A few months after that, we moved to South Ogden, where we live now. (This is where our story gets exciting!) This is when I began using coupons!

When we moved to South Ogden, our short-term food storage was basically depleted. I wanted to begin using coupons, but I didn't know how. I knew that I needed to get multiple Sunday copies of the newspaper if I was really going to get serious about using coupons!

One summer day in August , I was shopping at Smith's. I was filling up my cart with the ad items- probably a 10 for $10 sale, when a newspaper salesman stopped me and asked if I used coupons. I said no, but that I wanted to learn how. He said that all the items in my cart could be bought with coupons. What... really? I knew I could be saving money and cutting our budget if I used coupons with sales. To make a long story short, I got the multiple sets of Sunday newspapers subscription and started cutting and clipping! I also used many different blogs and sites on the internet that directed me to the very best deals.

I cannot explain what got into me after that. I was so DRIVEN to get our food storage back! My goal was to gather our 3-month short-term food supply A.S.A.P.! I was trying to store EVERYTHING that we might need in a 3-month span: soap, t.p., laundry detergent, deoderant, canned foods, frozen foods, cereal, etc. I even had a 3-month supply of juice boxes and applesauce cups for my daughter's school lunches stored away! And the great part was, I could but all these essentials with coupons!

Our monthly budget for groceries and supplies used to be $700 a month. In September 2009, I spent about $760 when I began using coupons. BUT, I was able to get 3 times MORE food and supplies in that time. In October, the amount spent on groceries and supplies went down to $260!

I had already built up such a wonderful supply, that I slowed way down on shopping and only bought the very best and cheapest deals I could find.

It was a good thing, too.... because we got some bad news at the end of October.

To be continued....