Coupon Clipping – is it Worth the Effort?

I have recently been inspired to save more money at the grocery store by a mom who is a coupon guru. She has it down to a science and saves a small fortune every month – so I thought I would give her method a try. The most important principle she taught me was to save your coupons for when something is already on sale. This principle does however trade the logic of buying only what you need for buying only what’s on sale that you have a coupon for - even if you won't need it for another 6 months. I am now saving about 20% at each shopping trip, but…

There is an issue, not with the coupons per se but with the way that we are buying food – there aren’t any coupons for the produce isle or anything that is fresh. Things are often on sale, but you can’t get the satisfaction of extra saving like you can with the processed food, so I found myself buying things I wouldn’t normally buy in the name of saving money.

I didn’t enjoy eating them as much as I thought I would, so the coupon clipping has since been scaled back. I am still buying things as they go on sale, but not buying anything simply because it’s cheap. Eating well is better than eating cheap and I thank God everyday that I’m not forced to choose the latter.

The Spice of Life

My favorite seasoning right now is garam masala. It is a blend of common Indian spices that add flavor to what ever it is that you’re cooking – I usually like to add it to meat, poultry or fish.

Last weekend I took whole chicken split down the back and seasoned it with garlic, onion, allspice, cayenne pepper, and garam masala. Bake covered at 300˚F for 1½ hours then uncover and turn up the heat to 375˚F for the last 30mins – basting ever 10mins or so. Everyone loved it, including hubby who is sick of baked chicken lol.

Living Naturally

I want to be natural. I am going natural. In different contexts these statements can mean very different things. I embrace both. I grow veggies in the summer, buy organic food for Baby, and try to eat minimally processed food as much as possible. I have also decided to no longer chemically alter my hair – thus, going natural.


It’s not the first time that I’ve made this decision, a couple of years ago I attempted to break free from the 8 week cycle of processing but gave up when it took 2 hours to comb and I didn’t know how to manage my actual hair.

So here I go at round 2, the last processed hold out among my friends and family and I’m ready to take the leap mostly for my little girl. I’m not going to process her hair and don’t want her to think that kinky/curly hair has something wrong with it that needs to be fixed. When I was a kid everyone I knew had chemically straightened hair – except me. I was so jealous of the easy time they had while I struggled for hours never satisfied with the results. I realize now that I didn’t have the tools or information about how to best manage my hair and I don’t want Baby to suffer through the same frustrations.

This time I have resources, information, and tools that I didn’t have before. I also have a hair style and a plan for growing my hair out and cutting (the BIG CHOP!) off the processed part.

Here are a few websites that have been passed on to me that I found helpful:
http://www.tightlycurly.com/welcome/
http://bglhonline.com/
http://nappturality.com/
http://www.mynhcg.com/
http://www.naturalblackhaircare.com/index.html
http://naturalsunshine.ning.com/?xg_source=badge

So I will keep you updated on my progress. So far there is nothing to report. I had my last touch-up early September, so that would make me almost 6 months out. I’m styling my hair in a twist out and using the tightly curly method. So far so good…