Back in the Saddle again...

Last Tuesday we had an enrichment kickoff on Preparedness...aka Food Storage. I'm really enjoying some of the ladies in our new ward who are so gun hoe and inspiring homemakers. So I decided to jump on the band wagon and pick up were I left off last year. I found out one of my neighbors is a die hard coupon gal. I know myself how much you can save clipping coupons. I tried Coupon Sense for a month last year. Yes I saved tons of money the first time at the grocery store and we are still eating all those cereal boxes. I found it was like a second job trying to organize all the coupons. My family consists of a husband who eats just to survive, me who would like to still lose some weight but can't when her pantry is full of free and bargain priced cookies, fruitsnacks, and granola bars. I also have two little girls that barely eat anything...ok just Cassidy since McKenzie eats her own food and all of Cassidy's leftovers...she is a girl after my own heart once again! So to say the least, a lot of food expired before we could even get to it and that was just one month. I am lucky to have a Father-in-law who picks up leftover coupons from people he sprays each week. No need to buy the Sunday paper here. I get atleast 4 or 5 coupon books from every source. I now realize I've taken for granted the many times I let my rationed bundle of coupons sit on my shelf and expire when just down the street people are buying coupons off ebay and paying for piles of newsapapers to be delivered each Sunday to their door.This past weekend I took my collection of bundled up coupon ads, cut coupons for about a half hour, realizing again how much I still hate it, drove to Fry's, probably spent over an hour there, mostly due to using the self check out with all of this, bad idea... but once again impressed with how much I saved. I knew I could do better if I used a program like coupon sense or grocery smarts, but saving 60% just on my own looking at one grocery store ad and clipping a few coupons..... That's right. I spent $83.76 for 71 items of food saving $126.87! That's incredible. I saved $30.00 alone with my cut up manufactured coupons!I was so happy with how much I saved that I spent another hour organizing and admiring my fully stocked pantry. I decided to dive underneath my bed to inventory my 1 year supply of cans........realizing that this year quite a few cans will begin to expire (flour, dry nonfat milk, powdered eggs...etc). Realizing more that I haven't been rotating things and thinking all the while what am I going to do with 30 cans of red wheat with no grinder and what would I even make with it anyways....so it continued from there.I am on a mission to not only continue working on my 1 year supply but to incorporate things my family would actually eat and be healthy for us, learn how to use what I already have and save on the budget....and yes it is looking possible! I'm excited for our Stake Relief Society Meeting with more great mini classes in Preparing emotionally, financially , temporally and spiritually! So back in the saddle again!
If anyone else feels so enlightened you can check out these wonderful websites I've been searching daily.....
http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/
http://everydayfoodstorage.net/
http://preparingwisely.com/
http://safelygatheredin.blogspot.com/
http://everythingunderthesunblog.blogspot.com/
http://azurestandard.com/
http://goodlookingcook.blogspot.com/
http://www.enlightenedhomemaker.blogspot.com/
https://greenbeeco-op.com/index.php