It Should be Called Black and Blue Friday

After the last popcorn ball and chocolate bar have been passed out to Trick-or-Treaters, it is now time to look forward to the next holiday:

BLACK FRIDAY!!!

I know many of you were thinking I was going to say Thanksgiving, but I think the turkey and cranberry sauce can be put on hold here while we look ahead to saving money and the big holiday rush that will soon be upon us.

There are many people, myself included, who agree with the blanket toting Linus that Christmas has become to commercial. If you need proof of this, I am sure that many of you saw the battle between Halloween decorations and Christmas decorations that were taking place in your local big box stores. As a society, we show our love by decorating our homes and finding the perfect gift. It is hard not to get wrapped up in everything. Just last year, I was reduced to a weeping mass because we could not put half of our Christmas decorations on our Christmas tree because our new cat was into climbing the tree and I didn't want them broken.

My theory is, you know you are going to have to buy gifts, you know you are going to have to decorate, so why not make the most of it by saving your pennies and having some fun!

A really great Website that gives a preview of Black Friday ads is Black-Friday.net Right now, the site has copies of the Toys R' Us toy catalogue, Target Toy Book and even information about Wal-Mart's pre-holiday sales. If you visit the site and decide this is something you are interested in, then you can sign up for email alerts where they will tell you when they post something new.

Another key to saving money on Christmas shopping is to have a plan. It is easy to get a little out of control when you are just aimlessly buy gifts just because you like them. My husband and I come up with a budget on how much we want to spend on everyone including ourselves. We then, take out cash and place the appropriate amount into envelopes labeled for each of our "giftees." This really helps control the money situation. Once the money is gone, then we are done shopping for that person. No ifs, ands or buts. This way we are not in debt over our heads after the holiday season.

My last tip, is to start shopping now. I already bought one of the hubby's gifts on Amazon because it was a good deal. Plus, you can't beat painless shopping on the Internet when you just have to click a button and it comes delivered to your door.

Keep in mind, because of our not so awesome economy, stores are competing against each other to try and snag your dollars. So make them work a little for your money, and try to find the best deals possible. Believe me, they are out there.

So if you are going to be like me and the rest of the crazies out there in the cold a 3 a.m. hoping to snag a great Black Friday deal, remember; eat a good breakfast, come with a plan and try not to trample anyone!

Happy Shopping!!

'Cause I'm a W-O-M-A-N

Since Labor Day has officially come and gone, it was time to pack away the summer decorations and bring out my plethora of pumpkins, ghosts and fall decorations to put out around the house. We have TONS of fall decorations because it is my favorite season!

There is just something about the clean and crisp clear days, putting a fire in the fireplace and snuggling under a blanket that just makes me feel so cozy.

Another great thing about fall is that all of the summer clothes on go on clearance and you can get some great deals!!!

Last week I had scored some clothes for our cruise for around 85% off the original price. I even got the hubby some great shorts and shirts for just $6.60! You can't beat that!!

In my attempt to score some great end of summer items, I have tried to find some bathing suits that I could snag at a great price.

Being that I am curvy, finding a bathing suit that offers, coverage, "support" and doesn't look like it belongs in the retirement home, can sometimes be difficult. Finding a bathing suit at the end of the season is even more difficult.

I knew nothing would be left in the stores at this point, so I decided to go to the trusted Internet. I have had great success finding clothes around the web before, so I thought I might be lucky this time.

So far, no such luck. Since a lot of the swimsuits are sold as tops and bottoms separately, for a lot of the suits, only the bottom is left. (That is not going to do me any good, especially on a Disney Cruise.)

I decided to check out Macy's website because I have had pretty good luck at finding things in their stores and thought it would be the same online.

They did have a few cute suits, but one suit in particular made me refuse to buy any kind of swimsuit from their store every again.

Let me show you the photo.

In my opinion, this photo is picture proof of what is wrong with today's idea of beauty in main stream culture.

This woman in the photo, if not photoshopped, is only a small percent of what women throughout the world look like. The average woman is a size 14, where this model probably would have room in a size 0. Also, why even have a size 0? Why pick a number that represents nothing, and therefore should not be a size?

It is photos like this that cause 6th grade girls to go on crash diets, for women to look in the mirror and think they are not good enough, and even cause some women to starve themselves to death.

When is the fashion industry and retailers going to realize that it is alright to have a little bit or even a lot of curve? That women who are buying the clothing, want to see what someone, who looks like them, would look like in the clothing.

If you are disgusted with the way the industry is going, then I encourage you to email, write or even call retailers and tell them what you think. No change can be made if we are not willing to take the first step.

PHENOMENAL WOMAN
by Maya Angelou

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing of my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them,
They say they still can't see.
I say
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
The palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

The first step is admitting you have a problem.

I am always the first person to admit when I have an addiction.

I am addicted to Facebook, warm and sunny days, Netflix, TiVo and Walt Disney World. (I used to be addicted to Reality TV, but that vice is starting to fade quickly.)

So it is no wonder that over the past week I have developed an addiction to coupons.

Yes, coupons.

I know that coupons sometimes get a bad rep, but if you do it right, you can really save a lot of money.

According to Wikipedia (the best place on the Internet to go to for information) the very first coupon was introduced in 1887 by the Coca-Cola Company. Coke had just joined forces with Asa Candler, a business tycoon who got his start as a drugstore owner.

Candler was responsible for taking the soft drink (or pop as we folks from Southwestern Pennsylvania call it) from a tonic to a drugstore soda fountain staple.

He did this by sending out free Coke coupons to potential customers and placed some coupons in magazines.

In order to help soda fountains across the country deal with the flood of free Coke coupons, the company gave the fountains free syrup to help offset the cost.

Because of Candler's creative coupon campaign, between 1894 and 1913, one in nine Americans had tried the fizzy beverage, free of charge, which added up to 8.5 million free drinks distributed.

By 1895, Candler announced to Coca-Cola shareholders that the beverage was being sold in every state in the United States.

It was not until 1909, when coupons first saw widespread news.

Cereal Mogul, C.W. Post, (who's brand has created some of my favorite cereals like Fruity Pebbles, Honey Bunches of Oats and Raisin Bran) used coupons to help sell his breakfast cereals and other products.

Like they say, the rest is history.

Today, 2,800 different companies offer coupons for many of their products.

Annually, consumers save $2.6 billion on manufacturers' coupons alone.

When my husband and I got married almost three years ago, I was big on clipping coupons. I had grown-up in a "clipping" household, so it was natural for me to continue to do so.

I had found a great website called Coupon Mom which had a great amount of tips on how to get the most bang for your buck with coupons and shopping sales.

I kept it up for awhile, but it just seemed overwhelming and I could not get the hang of the interface of the Website, so I just gave up and stopped using coupons.

We would shop for groceries at both Aldi's and Shop N' Save and just buy what we needed. If it was on sale, great, if not, well then we would pay full price. And the same would go for other items like household cleaners, beauty and paper products. Essentially, we were throwing money down the drain, because I did not take a little time out of my day to spend some time with a pair of scissors.

This all changed the other day when I happened to see a link that someone had posted on Facebook about how to save tons of money with coupons.

I clicked on the link, which was a Youtube video, and all of the memories of saving money with coupons came back.

I "googled" coupons and found this amazing site called Hip2Save.

The woman, Collin, who created the site has done an amazing job! She explains so much about how to use coupons properly, how to create your very own coupon binder and she even explains some of the different rewards programs at some popular chain retailers.

Collin also updates the site several times a day to list any great deals that she hears about.

My favorite part of Hip2Save is watching the Follow Me Monday videos. Collin, and her trusty camera girl, go to different stores and show you how she shops with coupons, sales and rewards programs. Considering the whole couponing experience can be a little tricky, the videos really help to illustrate the process and answer a lot of questions.

Being completely inspired by Collin and her savings, I decided to try my hand again at coupon shopping.

With my mom in tow, I headed out to Target with a few coupons I had gotten off the Internet and a list of items I would try and land for a good price.

On my first trip, I scored two tubes of toothpaste, body lotion, four bottles of Suave Professional Haircare products, a package of band aids and really cute blue clutch purse. My bill came up as $13.68 with a savings of $19.83. For my first trip "back in the saddle," not to shabby!

I went home later that day and scored coupons from my in-laws, found more on the Internet and got some out of the All For You magazine.

I clipped and clipped until my fingers were cramping up from scissor usage and I had run out of coupons. I wanted to go out Saturday morning, back to Target, to get some great deals.

When Saturday came, my husband and I went out for a Breakfast date and then up to Target.

(I just want to take this moment to thank my wonderful husband. He was so sweet and so patient as he stood there waiting for me to go through 15 unmarked envelopes to find the $.25 off Sensodine coupon.)

Target was having some great sales and I had some great coupons! With our cart almost filled to the brim, we made our way to the checkout.

There was a lot of confusion with the coupons and it required a lot of patience, but I knew that might happen.

When everything finally went from conveyor belt to bag, my grand total was $119.31. For a brief moment I started to panic. I thought, "What did I get myself into! That is a ton of money. I thought I could do this, but maybe I was wrong. Well, at least we will get some Disney points from our credit card!"

But, after all of the coupons went through, the grand total came out to $36.31 for 31 items, we had saved $83 on everything! Was elated, and proud! I had done it.

The items we had purchased had included some pretty pricey things like cat food, two Air Wicks imotion start kits, a Febreeze noticeable starter kit, Air Wicks aqua spray and some other items. (Everything we bought is pictured at the right.)

My suggestion is to give coupon clipping a try because you can really save a lot of money which adds up in the long run.

My suggestion is to go to Hip2Clip to get started.

Check out her coupon organization page. It will really help you get organized.

Also, to see some tips for newbies go to here.

My words of advice for you, are to give it a try. You will be surprised at how much a little bit of elbow grease and planning can save you in the end.

Happy clipping!