Finding ways to save a buck...

I don't know if any of you saw the new show that TLC has, "Extreme Couponing," but it was crazy the amount of money those ladies were saving. With my family growing from 4 to 6 and me still only working part-time, I know that I need to find ways to save money, and couponing has become my new hobby. I'm not very good at it yet and I don't think that I will ever go crazy over it, but surprisingly it is enjoyable.

This past Sunday I bought one newspaper and couldn't wait to get home and begin cutting coupons and adding to the ones that I had already collected. Monday couldn't come fast enough. The thing that makes it more interesting is figuring out where I'll use my coupons. In case you haven't realized  it, each store has weekly sales, and the best way to use a coupon is when that item is already being marked down at the store. For example, I went to CVS for a few on sale items, one of the sales item was children's toothpaste- buy one get one free- and the Sunday paper had a coupon for buy two colgate toothpastes and save a $1.00 which I was able to use. Anyway, there are all kinds of neat little tricks and I'm still very new at all of this, but I was so excited about having spent $43 and saved $40 dollars. Then I went to Toys-R-Us because they were having a sale on Earth's Best Organic baby food 20 jars for $10, though I didn't have a coupon, I just couldn't pass that up. I had to check the expiration date to make sure that they wouldn't expire before the babies were old enough, which meant not getting fruits, but I'm happy with 20 jars of veggies. Next time I see something like that I will have a coupon to go along with it.

I'm also learning to buy things when they are on sale and out of season, like clothes and toys. That way when winter and Christmas roll around I've already got clothes and toys for the kids. My mother used to do this all the time when we were little, my only problem is guessing the kids' sizes accurately.

None of this is new for "professional" mothers, but it is all very new to me. Not that I've never liked a good sale, but when it was only Remy it almost didn't matter to me what I paid for something. When Jackie came along I became a little more aware, but with 2 more on the way there is no way that I can not be extremely conscience of what I spend.

Other ideas or future plans to save $$:
- thinking about using cloth diapers, at least while I'm home during the day. I'm still a little fearful of all the work this one might be on me.
- making my own baby food. I did this a little with Jackie, but will be more on top of my game with the twins
- I will most definitely grow another garden, but it will have to wait until the spring of 2012, since I can't do all the work this far into my pregnancy.

If anyone has any other ideas, comments, or tips please feel free to share.