Monday, March 19, 2012
Little Did I Know...
My last post was June 13th...(as previously noted, I'm not good at keeping up with this thing) and little did I know that as I was posting about my bargains, there was something going on inside me...a little something we now call Kensli Raye. Yep, Kase and I found out we were pregnant 4th of July weekend and spent the next 9 months preparing to be parents. I had a great pregnancy...God truly blessed us and continues to do so each and every day. We welcomed Kensli Raye Kuriyama into the world March 5th at 4:44 p.m. She weighed 7lbs and 5 oz and was 20" inches long. Our life has never been the same since. She's perfect (like her momma) and is the best little baby. We are head over heels in love with her. Kasey is an amazing Dad and already has a special bond with her that brings tears to my eyes. It's been amazing to see how our lives have changed (for the better, of course) since that 4th of July weekend. I can't wait to see what is in store for us as we raise this baby girl. Here's some pics of our sweetie!
Monday, June 13, 2011
I've Done Something I Swore I Would Never Do...
Well...two things I swore I would never do, actually. I bought stuff at Wal-Mart today just because I had a coupon and I've started a stockpile. I guess this is the fist sign that you are becoming a crazy coupon lady. Maybe I need an intervention. Regardless, I did get some awesome bargains today...here's a quick run down:
4 boxes of Ronzoni Penne pasta for $1 each
2 boxes of Ronzoni linguini for $.87 each
4 bags of beggin strips ( for Baylee and Bosley, NOT Kasey, he prefers real bacon) for $1.48 each
2 boxes of Lance's peanut butter and cheese crackers for $1.78 each
2 jars of Peanut butter for $1.38 each
2 packages of sausages for the grill for $2 each
2 pack of tootbrushes (as Gavin would say) for $3.97 or $1.98 each
2 bottles of BBQ sauce for $.88 each (this is what I bought just because I had a coup...I am welcoming all BBQ sauce recipes, by the way)
And some other random things...dog food (saved $3), loofahs, etc. Those details aren't important.
My coup savings came out to about $25....$31 dollars total after tax. I had some buy one get one free ones, and several $1.00 off 2...and a few just coups for single items. The nice Wal-Mart checker lady said she felt like she was on TV...I just felt awkward knowing that the people behind me in line were probably getting annoyed. However, I was pretty stoked that I got some good bargains...and Kasey kindly offered to build me another pantry for the stockpile I swore I would never have.
So 3 weeks into summer I am find myself feeling like I'm on an episode of Hoarders (no correlation to the stockpile starting, for the record). I like to think of it as "organized" organizing. I have however finished the bathroom shelves, and almost done with the hall storage shelves. I have lots and lots of give away piles though so I consider the mess a success. My "give away" piles would normally be garage sale piles... however after meeting a very special goup of amazing ladies last weekend, all of my things will go to Broadway Treasures (second hand store in downtown Plainview...just FYI for all my out of town readers...all 2 of you-ha ha).
It's amazing how God humbles you sometimes. After working a Walk to Emmaus last weekend, I felt this uncomfortable sense of being "adored" I guess is the word for it. It seemed like all the ladies wanted to come and talk to me or ask me questions because I was a "counselor" or they would say "You have the counselor at your table...y'all are so lucky." It was like they thought I had it all together and I am in the business of "fixing" people's problems. But I'm a nobody...I'm not this great and wonderful helper who has all the answers and can "fix" it all. I'm just a regular person that has been called by God to minister to others. I can't fix anything, I can just listen to them and love them. As I looked at the other ladies on the walk most of them were "poor" and had "nothing" by MY standards. But as the weekend progressed, these ladies were acting as if they had all the riches in the world and felt like they had EVERYTHING because for the first time they understood their riches in Christ. They understood that God loved them, had forgiven them, and continue to forgive them everyday. Talk about being served an entire humble pie. It made me realize how often I take for granted my identity in Christ, how much He loves me, how precious the cross is, and how trememdously I have been blessed. In the end, the ladies who felt blessed BY me were actually a blessing TO me. Praise God!
4 boxes of Ronzoni Penne pasta for $1 each
2 boxes of Ronzoni linguini for $.87 each
4 bags of beggin strips ( for Baylee and Bosley, NOT Kasey, he prefers real bacon) for $1.48 each
2 boxes of Lance's peanut butter and cheese crackers for $1.78 each
2 jars of Peanut butter for $1.38 each
2 packages of sausages for the grill for $2 each
2 pack of tootbrushes (as Gavin would say) for $3.97 or $1.98 each
2 bottles of BBQ sauce for $.88 each (this is what I bought just because I had a coup...I am welcoming all BBQ sauce recipes, by the way)
And some other random things...dog food (saved $3), loofahs, etc. Those details aren't important.
My coup savings came out to about $25....$31 dollars total after tax. I had some buy one get one free ones, and several $1.00 off 2...and a few just coups for single items. The nice Wal-Mart checker lady said she felt like she was on TV...I just felt awkward knowing that the people behind me in line were probably getting annoyed. However, I was pretty stoked that I got some good bargains...and Kasey kindly offered to build me another pantry for the stockpile I swore I would never have.
So 3 weeks into summer I am find myself feeling like I'm on an episode of Hoarders (no correlation to the stockpile starting, for the record). I like to think of it as "organized" organizing. I have however finished the bathroom shelves, and almost done with the hall storage shelves. I have lots and lots of give away piles though so I consider the mess a success. My "give away" piles would normally be garage sale piles... however after meeting a very special goup of amazing ladies last weekend, all of my things will go to Broadway Treasures (second hand store in downtown Plainview...just FYI for all my out of town readers...all 2 of you-ha ha).
It's amazing how God humbles you sometimes. After working a Walk to Emmaus last weekend, I felt this uncomfortable sense of being "adored" I guess is the word for it. It seemed like all the ladies wanted to come and talk to me or ask me questions because I was a "counselor" or they would say "You have the counselor at your table...y'all are so lucky." It was like they thought I had it all together and I am in the business of "fixing" people's problems. But I'm a nobody...I'm not this great and wonderful helper who has all the answers and can "fix" it all. I'm just a regular person that has been called by God to minister to others. I can't fix anything, I can just listen to them and love them. As I looked at the other ladies on the walk most of them were "poor" and had "nothing" by MY standards. But as the weekend progressed, these ladies were acting as if they had all the riches in the world and felt like they had EVERYTHING because for the first time they understood their riches in Christ. They understood that God loved them, had forgiven them, and continue to forgive them everyday. Talk about being served an entire humble pie. It made me realize how often I take for granted my identity in Christ, how much He loves me, how precious the cross is, and how trememdously I have been blessed. In the end, the ladies who felt blessed BY me were actually a blessing TO me. Praise God!
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Ahhhhhhh.....
That's me breathing a HUGE sigh of relief that school is out!!! This past school year has gone by incredibly fast and I can hardly believe tomorrow is the 1st of June. Over the past month Kasey and I have kicked our "DIY" into high gear and have been helping his parents renovate their new house. It's been an amazing transformation...the first time we get together as a family we will be reminded why we put in so much hard work. It's going to be the perfect place for lots of Kuriyama "life" to happen. However, it's not been all work and no play these days...I have had some time to do some of my "crafty" things... Here are cupcakes from my sweet friend Victoria's bachelorette party...
And here is my new flower bed my mom and I dug...Gavin helped us too!!
I have been scoring some pretty sweet coup deals lately as well. Kasey and I have decided to really start eliminating our debt and be more conscious of our spending. So this has sent me into super coup mode...like I needed a reason. :) I've also decided to stockpile MINIMALLY...no need to have Kase build me another garage for my goods and I don't have 3 years of mustard stored in my pantry. I have though, started getting multiple coupons and using several when things go on sale.
Here's some deals I got at CVS:
Kikoman Soy Sauce (such a good Japanese wife) 2/$3, which made them $1.50 each. I used a $.55 off coup so I scored 2 soy sauces for $.95 each.
They had Ragu on sale 3/$5. But you got $3 in Extra Care Bucks (to use on my next purchase) so it technically made them 3/$2 or $.66 each...but even without the Extra Care Bucks, $1.67 for spaghetti sauce is pretty good.
They also had theit cokes on sale 3/$10 but if you bought 3 you got one free, so that's 4/$10 or $2.50 each.
All in all I spent $17.
I've made 2 trips to Target...both in which I can't really remember all the details or find my receipt, buuuut between the 2 trips I saved over $30 and got lots of new make-up (all of which I had a coup, of course) and some cereal, pasta, trashbags, body wash, and some other random grocery items. I LOOOVE Target because it's just fabulous...AND I love it even more that you can use a Target coupon and a maufacturer's coup.
Other than serious couping, I plan to do some serious cleaning and organizing of our storage spaces and bedrooms and closets. Who knows...maybe Kasey will let me turn our office into a nursery one of these days. :)
I have been scoring some pretty sweet coup deals lately as well. Kasey and I have decided to really start eliminating our debt and be more conscious of our spending. So this has sent me into super coup mode...like I needed a reason. :) I've also decided to stockpile MINIMALLY...no need to have Kase build me another garage for my goods and I don't have 3 years of mustard stored in my pantry. I have though, started getting multiple coupons and using several when things go on sale.
Here's some deals I got at CVS:
Kikoman Soy Sauce (such a good Japanese wife) 2/$3, which made them $1.50 each. I used a $.55 off coup so I scored 2 soy sauces for $.95 each.
They had Ragu on sale 3/$5. But you got $3 in Extra Care Bucks (to use on my next purchase) so it technically made them 3/$2 or $.66 each...but even without the Extra Care Bucks, $1.67 for spaghetti sauce is pretty good.
They also had theit cokes on sale 3/$10 but if you bought 3 you got one free, so that's 4/$10 or $2.50 each.
All in all I spent $17.
I've made 2 trips to Target...both in which I can't really remember all the details or find my receipt, buuuut between the 2 trips I saved over $30 and got lots of new make-up (all of which I had a coup, of course) and some cereal, pasta, trashbags, body wash, and some other random grocery items. I LOOOVE Target because it's just fabulous...AND I love it even more that you can use a Target coupon and a maufacturer's coup.
Other than serious couping, I plan to do some serious cleaning and organizing of our storage spaces and bedrooms and closets. Who knows...maybe Kasey will let me turn our office into a nursery one of these days. :)
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
I'm not consistent with this thing...
So it's been a little while since I have blogged...things have been a little bit crazy. It's spring time and that means softball and TAKS and everyone at school gets crazy around this time of year...the kids too. I haven't made any bargain halls...but do have a few things to show off the I have made over the past few weeks. Tomorrow is payday so I'm sure I will embark on a shopping extravaganza...I have a nice stack of coups!! YAY!!
Here are my peaked icing cupcakes...I've been wanting to be able to make these foorrrevvver!!!
The white icing ones were for Jeremy and Victoria's dinner...the green ones were for Aspin's 9th birthday!
Here are my peaked icing cupcakes...I've been wanting to be able to make these foorrrevvver!!!
The white icing ones were for Jeremy and Victoria's dinner...the green ones were for Aspin's 9th birthday!
Here is my Easter table from the Emmaus meeting last Saturday...
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
The people behind us in line probably hate us right now...
So last night I drug (willingly drug, mind you) the husband to Wal-Mart for our weekly purchases. It was one of those trips that you seem to be out of ALL of your toiletries...D.O. for the B.O., wash for the bodies, and special scrub to ward off the wrinkles that are creeping upon me. I have to admit that the husband has been really pretty good about my coup routine...maybe it's just because the first trip we went I saved $20 and I used my powers of "man speak" and equated it to a saving enough money to buy a roll of Copenhagen...regardless, he's very much in support of me being the (not so) crazy coupon lady. Our trip Monday night we spent $119 before coups and subtotaled $101 after she scanned them all. Luckily, we had a VERY nice checker who knew how to work the coups...which made our life easier. Where do I get my coups you may ask (just prentend like you did if you didn't)? Most of mine are either online that I print off and I usually check out the inserts in the Sunday paper to see if they are any good. I don't usually buy things I normally wouldn't just to use a coupon, because I think that defeats the purpose. If the Wal-Mart or United brand of something is cheaper than the name brand with a coup, then I buy the off brand. My goal is to save money, not spend more money so I can "pretend" to be saving it. Does it hurt my heart to let a good coup go to waste?? Absolutely!! So I pass along the savings to my coupon proteges and let them bask in the glory. I figure if I can save $15-20 dollars a week, that's at least $50 a month which isn't a lot, but I'd much rather spend that money on something more fun (Hobby Lobby, anyone?) than Swiffers and face wash. Could I buy $600 dollars worth of stuff for $6.98?? Probably...if we had a grocery store that did double coupons and savers cards and I bought trial sizes of everything and kept a 5 year supply of tampons and tuna fish. But since we don't, and I don't care for tuna all that much, I will stick to the not so crazy method.
For those of you who want to try your hand at coups, here are some good websites:
coupons.com
redplum.com
smartsource.com
couponmom.com
Just be prepared...the people behind you in line will probably hate you. =)
For those of you who want to try your hand at coups, here are some good websites:
coupons.com
redplum.com
smartsource.com
couponmom.com
Just be prepared...the people behind you in line will probably hate you. =)
Saturday, March 26, 2011
I should do a blog...
From time to time I get asked for recipes, get compliments on my "craftiness," and have people tell me that our house looks like and episode of HGTV. I casually mentioned to Kasey (my FABULOUS hubby) and some of my friends (my only readers...ha) that I should do a blog and share my "Martha Stewart-ness" with everyone. So here it is...my blog. My guide to: cutting coupons (or "coups" as we shall now refer to them as), "so easy Debbie (Ahrens) can do it" recipes, and the random "knick knacks" and projects that I dabble in from time to time. Who knows...maybe one of these days I can have my own HGTV or TLC show. Until then, I will continue to keep my day job and post on my blog. =)
So for my inaugural post, I leave you with the recipe for our dinner that I cooked tonight...
Queso Chicken
8-10 breast tenderloins, chunked
Seasoning for chicken (I use fajita and Adobo seasoning, garlic salt)
1/2 package Velvetta cheese
1 can Rotel (with Cilantro...if you LOVE it as much as I do)
Tortillas (From Amigos...because they are the best and I refused to go to the Barrio before Kasey and I got married to learn how to make tortillas)
In a skillet, brown chicken tenderloins until almost completely cooked. Cut Velvetta into chunks and add to skillet along with can of Rotel. Cook on low until Velvetta is completely melted and chicken is cooked. Serve with tortillas and any of your other favorite mexican food trimmings (guacamole, hot sauce, tortilla chips, etc).
Kasey liked it...and having a husband that is the son of cattlemen, any chicken dish that he will eat is worth noting in my book.
This is a pretty cheap meal as well...it cost us less than $10:
I bought the chicken at United for $2.59.
(They were buy one get one free, so I got 2 packages for $5.19)
Rotel-$1.09 at Wal-Mart
Velvetta brick $4.48(ish) at Wal-Mart BUT I bought it with a $1.00 off coup so $3.38(ish)
Tortillas at Amigos-$2.00 (ish)
Cheap and easy...just like me!
So for my inaugural post, I leave you with the recipe for our dinner that I cooked tonight...
Queso Chicken
8-10 breast tenderloins, chunked
Seasoning for chicken (I use fajita and Adobo seasoning, garlic salt)
1/2 package Velvetta cheese
1 can Rotel (with Cilantro...if you LOVE it as much as I do)
Tortillas (From Amigos...because they are the best and I refused to go to the Barrio before Kasey and I got married to learn how to make tortillas)
In a skillet, brown chicken tenderloins until almost completely cooked. Cut Velvetta into chunks and add to skillet along with can of Rotel. Cook on low until Velvetta is completely melted and chicken is cooked. Serve with tortillas and any of your other favorite mexican food trimmings (guacamole, hot sauce, tortilla chips, etc).
Kasey liked it...and having a husband that is the son of cattlemen, any chicken dish that he will eat is worth noting in my book.
This is a pretty cheap meal as well...it cost us less than $10:
I bought the chicken at United for $2.59.
(They were buy one get one free, so I got 2 packages for $5.19)
Rotel-$1.09 at Wal-Mart
Velvetta brick $4.48(ish) at Wal-Mart BUT I bought it with a $1.00 off coup so $3.38(ish)
Tortillas at Amigos-$2.00 (ish)
Cheap and easy...just like me!
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