Coupon Databases

As I still consider myself a "Newbie" in the world of couponers, I wanted to share a couple of ways to find available coupons online.  Since moving to a small town, I found to my dismay that their local newspapers barely contain any coupons.  I used to live in the Chicagoland area where the Chicago Tribune Sunday newspapers were being delivered to my house and contained an ample amount of coupons!  I was in heaven! My new hobby was not only enjoyable, but blissful, delightful leaving me in sublime.

Despite all that, in my discouraged spirit of my "joy" not available thru the newspapers around here, I have found another way to enrich my coupon passion and hobby.

I always check this website first to look for available coupons

I always check first: Deal Seeking Mom website and check her Coupon Database.  When you visit her site, you click on "enter main database".  There will be a small window area where you are able to type in an item. As an example, if you're looking for orange juice, you simply type "orange juice" in the field.  If there are coupons available, the database will lists all the available coupons and its sources.  Some are printable from your own computer or it will list available coupons; for example, in SS (Smart Source) and the date that the coupon can be found. It usually will look like this:  SS 10/30/2011 $.50/1 X12/31/2011.   That means, the coupons is from Smart Source insert, from the Oct. 30th issue, the coupon is good for fifty-cents off one product, and it expires on Dec. 31, 2011.

My computer is setup to check Deal Seeking Mom's website first.  I highly recommend checking one or two more databases.  The others I check is Hot coupon World, and Mashup Mom.  There are many, many other coupon databases online.  These are in my "favorites".

Homeschooling Teens

I started the homeschooling journey nearly three years ago when my child was in 6th grade.  Everything was going smoothly.  He looked forward to his daily lessons from me without any hesitations, resistance or arguments.  All was fine, until now!

Now my son is 13 years old.  Does something happen in the teens brains that all of a sudden, this year, the big attitude came with it.  It seems that since we started this year, (8th grade), I have become a very frustrated teacher/mom.  Everyday for the past two months has been a roller coaster of arguments, confrontations, and yelling!

I've spoken to other homeschooling mom about the daily challenges this has become.  Apparently, they are also going through the same thing as I was and feel drained and ready to give it up!  You know, back to a public school! Fortunately, with the help and the lending ears and support of other moms of teenagers, especially, in my case, boys, I'm still hanging in there. 

This year is the first time I bought a curriculum.  It wasn't cheap either but I like the daily schedules and teacher's guide already completed for me.

Since it is a purchased curriculum, the demands for daily studies are more rigid.  Although you can tailor the schedules for your own needs, I found that you really have to skip a whole day's work in order to do that.  The reason is all the books coincide with one another; so when you read a history book, your paperback book and language arts studies related to that subject. 

I started to add my own videos, pictures, and old workbooks in addition to the daily schedule we have from Sonlight.  Although, it was not always a biblical or Christianity view, I have found this eased the tension in our homeschooling routine.  There's a lot of reading involved in this curriculum.  My son loves to read but I am telling you, there is a LOT of reading! The books are great-- they are living books which is more interesting than reading your ordinary text-like history books.  But be prepared to read a lot this year!

If you head over to Walgreens now, buy the TheraMax Flu & Cold Nasal Spray, on sale for $7.99 and you'll received $8.00 RR.  It was an unadvertised sale at all 3 Walgreens store I visited this morning. 

If you need clarification on Walgreens RR (Register Rewards) and how it works, please visit this website.  www.wildforwags.com

Saving with Coupons

Yesterday, my friend Eve, was telling me how much she has saved money on using coupons.  I had no idea she was saving alot of cash and getting some stuff practically for free.  She told me about some websites and explained how the coupons worked.

I stayed awake past midnight reading information from a handful of websites she shared with me.  It amazes me that many of them are creative homeschooling moms.  I totally understand that as a homeschooling mom myself, I don't really have a full-time paying job either.  Any money I can save on my grocery is a blessing! 

I applaud the women who have gone to many painstaking hours putting together their beautiful websites and online videos to teach us "coupon newbies" the rope.

RR, IVC, and ECB, are just some of the jargon's that are used in this strange new journey to me.  As you can probably tell by now, I was paying retail price for most of my groceries.  Sure, I try to only buy when items are on sale,but now, I am learning I can save even more money on top of the sale price. 

Thank you Mashup Mom, and The Frugal Find mom who I enjoyed watching and learning from their online videos.  Thank you for all your hard work and having such a BIG heart in sharing all your tips and tricks on saving at the stores!

Ahh, Summer's Almost Here: Blog and Luffa Sponge

Finally, time for myself!  Our last week of school and I started blogging again. My garden is starting to bloom with buds of many.  This year, I decided to grow luffa from scratch.

I bought luffa seeds this year at our favorite nursery store in Bloomingdale, Illinois, Platt Hill Nursery.I enjoy going there because they have so many varieties of plants, supplies and excellent customer service.  Their staff is very knowledgeable and helpful.

Back to the luffa sponge seeds.  One of the best tricks I learned from the Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago at their Children's Educational Programs was growing plants from seeds using plastic gloves.  Plus this is fun for the kids!

Here's how we started the seedlings of the luffa plant: 

• plastic disposable gloves, the kind you can buy at a dollar store; the real flimsy super thin, one size fits all gloves
• cotton balls
• small cup of water
• seeds
• rubber band
• small potting container with soil 

What to do:
Soak five cotton balls in water. Drop one cotton ball into each finger of the glove.  Add 2-3 seeds into each finger and tie the top of the glove with a rubber band.  Leave the gloves in a semi-bright room and in about 7-10 days the seeds will start rooting/sprouting.  Carefully, remove the the whole cotton ball with seedlings and plant them into a container with soil until the seedlings are about 2" or 3" tall. Then you can plant them outside in the garden. 

Our seedlings are going to be transplanted into the ground this weekend.  The luffa sponge plant is a vine and the fruit they bear looks like a cucumber.  A trellis will be needed to support the vine which can grow up to 30 feet. Here's a website for more info on the Luffa Sponge. Luffa Info

Good luck growing these fun and functional plants.  There will be plenty of luffa to give away as gifts. 

Coach Outlet Store Experience Part II

Since I left the Coach Outlet Store at the Chicago Premium Outlet in Aurora, Illinois very disappointed and slightly upset, I decided to contact their Corporate headquarters to find out about their policy.

I typed my email to them and surprisingly, I received an answer almost instantaneously. It was kindly explained in their email that Coach reserves the right to limit purchase quantities to any individual or in a "group setting" so that they can maintain their standards of service and distribution. According to their email, it helps them maintain control over the distribution of products and it ensures them better access to Coach products for more consumers.

Okay then, I get it.  I really appreciate the prompt reply I received from Coach but I still didn't like the way we were told about their policy the last minute, at the check-out counter. 

It would have been nice to know that they had a quantity limit beforehand.  We spent time in there looking around and shopping for quite some time and standing in line, only to be told about this policy at the last minute.  That's a waste of our time. 

Anyways, lesson learned: There are quantity limits on purses you can buy in a day, at the Coach Outlet store in Aurora, Illinois even though their own coupon doesn't specify it. 

Coach Outlet Store at Chicago Premium Outlets in Aurora Illinois- A Horrible, Nauseating Experience Part I

It was my mother's first time shopping at the Chicago Premium Outlet in Aurora, Illinois. We bought stuff from the Nike Store, Lane Bryant, Reebok, Gap, The Kitchen Store and finally the Coach Outlet Store.

There was a Coach Rep handing out 30% off coupons to be used on the entire purchase today.  My mother saw 2 purses she liked a lot and found two cute little purses for $79.00 that she also wanted to give to her two friends who drive her around (to the cemetery and the church) as thank you gifts, since they refuse to take any money she offers to them for gas and going to the trouble of picking her up and driving her around. My mom's purchase was made and we left the store to grab a bite to eat and sit down for awhile.

We went back to the Coach store after we ate so my mom can buy 5 more purses/wristlets. The cashier sold her only the wristlets since all of a sudden she tells us that there's a policy of a limit of 5 Signature purchase. I told the lady that I will buy the 2 purses with my own credit card since I don't live with my mom anyways and I was taking her out shopping for the day.  The cashier told me I couldn't buy it and decided to whisper something to another cashier.  It felt like we were getting "ganged on" because now this new cashier is telling me they can't sell to me because we are a "group".

A what?!  OMG-- this is the silliest thing I have ever heard.  "We are a group". Are you kidding me?  I explained again, that I will buy it for myself and still, they refused to sell me the two purses!  Mind you, I have never, ever, bought anything from any Coach Outlet Store in my whole life.  I have been buying real, genuine, Coach purses from reputable stores!

It was a very disappointing  and repulsive experience for us on our second visit to the Coach Outlet store in Aurora, Illinois.  If it were up to me, I would return all the purchases my mother made today.  The service was horrible, unkind and grim and it seems like they are making up the policy as they see fit.  I could have argued that the coupon didn't state any limits or even mention the word "group".  However, I saw that my mom was getting upset, and I didn't think it was worth it to argue my point to these young girls.   The way these two cashiers unexpectedly tell us about the purchase limits and their reactions made the shopping experience in that store nauseating. 

There are many other beautiful purses! I'm done with this brand-- moving on!

End of the Homeschool Year

 In our final week of 7th grade homeschooling we are reviewing American History in preparation for  the U.S. Constitution and more history for 8th grade.
Our second year of homeschooling has been a learning period.  I was more relaxed this past year compared to my "stiff almost military-like" mentally of always sticking to every detail of our schedules from last year.  I was such a warden in getting things done properly.  I felt so pressured ( I don't know from whom) to make sure I was teaching him everything on time, following our public school district's standard (which is not mandatory in Illinois) that is posted on their website.  I felt I had to "keep up" with the public school students.

As I review the past 9 months of homeschooling, I found that we are actually ahead of schedule.  We have completed our Medieval and Ancient History studies and in May, we were reviewing specific leaders and their accomplishments. In Math, we have begun our introduction to the basics of Geometry while still completing tests and exercises in Pre-Algebra and Algebra I.  Science was a piece of cake! We covered so much material and experiments at home.  This is by far his favorite subject!  We read literature books such as Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, and The Giver by Lois Lowry.  We completed writing exercising, mostly typed in MS Word, since my son doesn't like to write much.  This is one "part" of my strict ways I had to ease up on.  Whenever I assigned writing compositions or essays, he insisted on typing it and either save it on the hard drive, a flash drive, or emailing it to me.  He was definitely motivated and argued less on completing his writing homework. In today's world, it is completely acceptable to finish the writing assignments using word processing programs; after all some if not most colleges today prefer this method.

This week I am already in the 8th grade mode!  I am thinking about the great books we will be reading next year! I am also in the process of reviewing a new curriculum for Math--debating over Saxon Math or Singapore Math.  We use SOS (Switched On Schoolhouse) for US History and Language Arts.  As far as Literature, I like a site called Litcharts.  They have PDF, printables and iPhone Apps of many books. Here is the website for LitCharts:  www.litcharts.com

What I learned in our 2nd year of homeschooling: it's OK if I don't follow the pre-made schedule I make ahead for myself; that it's OK to sometimes "wing it" to accommodate other learning methods and ideologies that may come.  We incorporated more field trips and learn in different environments and not only from books or in our "classroom".  That if we miss a day, it's not the end of the world and the most important thing for me keep in mind is that he is learning and grasping concepts.

Renaissance Artists

Hi Everyone!

It's been awhile since I wrote in and update my blog.  All the while, writing in here was always in the back of my mind and hopelessly felt guilty for procrastinating to go ahead and type.

I wanted to share this awesome site called: SchoolTube.  I guess it's like Youtube with an educational twists.  As we continue our (homeschooling) studies into the Medieval History, one of the topics we are also covering now is Renaissance Art time period.  We just finished learning about the Medici Family and their historical role into the Art World, along with Leonardo Da Vinci.

During this course of study, we also watch videos and that's what I am sharing here; a brief history of the Artists of the Renaissance that is available at: http://www.schooltube.com/.