On our last episode of Extreme Couponers   *Puddin Tane*- (no uses of real names are used in this blog in case the person I am describing could be you) was checking out at the grocery store and had just left with three full carts of items he/she had purchased for the whopping price of just $40.00.  Now comes the part that even I as an avid grocery shopper dread -lugging everything home and putting it all away.  I always manage to get those few items that I already have 10 of because I did not check before I left to see if I had it before I got to the store and when I get there I panic thinking that I don’t have it and decide I better get it just in case.  For our extreme couponer Puddin Tate that is not the case, you see Puddin is very organized and knows exactly where everything should go because not only are they an extreme couponer they are a stockpiler or hoarder as well.  You know the type, the ones that stockpiles have gone from the garage, to the walk in closet to the one room in the house that could have been used for something but now has the 1000 bottles of mouthwash, 500 rolls of toilet paper, or even the 90 bottles of laundry detergent that will last them into the next several millenniums.  Puddin like the women in this episode of extreme couponing called Double Trouble have made it their life long obsession to be the best extreme couponers they can be and alienate all others around them.

This is where the bad part comes in, when couponing and stockpiling control your life and you enjoy them more than the little things, it is now definitely time for an Extreme couponing intervention. Feeling the need to coupon and Hoard less will not happen overnight but it will happen.  This is a process that could take months, even years to overcome but in the long run everyone will be happier for it.

Remember Puddin at the beginning of our episode well I am happy to say that he/she is now 6 months coupon free and is spending more time on the better things in life and this is where the good part comes in…Puddin has now even become the most popular person on their block because a few weeks ago a snow storm hit and no one could get to the store and so Puddin opened up their house and had people from miles around coming to buy as much mouthwash, toilet paper, and laundry soap as they could carry because you know that is what everyone needs in a snowstorm. Hope you all enjoyed today’s blog and stay tuned next week for my video podcast on “My top 10 True or False List on Surviving Teenagers, The Kids, The Myths, and The Legends.

Picture if you will  heading to the checkout line at the grocery store with just a few items in your cart and as you get in line notice the woman in front of you with a heaping cart and thinking to yourself  this won’t take long and then it happens…she pulls from her purse the biggest stack of coupons you have ever seen and that’s when you realize this is going to take awhile.  I have been that person the one getting upset because I need to be somewhere and it is taking forever to get through the line.  That was until a few years ago when I became an extreme couponer myself.  Clipping coupons had always been a tradition in my family, my mother taught me just like her mother taught her and I hope someday to pass down to my own daughter so you can say couponing is in my blood.  It wasn’t until I became a single mom of three that I really started to take advantage of this vast knowledge.

Couponing has been a past time of many housewives for decades, but modern day television has brought couponing to a whole new level.  Introducing EXTREME COUPONING the absolute thrill ride for the common couponer.  As a couponer myself I have decided to give you all a few pointers by breaking down extreme couponing into two episodes.  Episode one-the how to’s of extreme couponing and Episode two- how not to be an extreme couponer.  So let’s get started, first and foremost you must be a very organized and motivated person in order to be the ultimate extreme couponer because every detail must be met when it comes to shopping with coupons.  You must follow a plan starting with collecting papers or go dumpster diving for as many coupons as you can get as seen in this episode of Extreme Couponing http://www.tlc.com/tv-shows/extreme-couponing/videos/dumpster-diving-with-the-family/ where one mother makes it a family affair.  Now I don’t know about you, I love couponing as much as the next person, but dumpster diving for coupons is where I draw the line.  The next step is to figure out where you will shop this step is extremely important because you are wanting to save money not only by shopping but on gas as well, so you want to  want to shop at stores that are in the same areas of one another.  Now that you have gotten your travel plans figured out it is time to mentally prepare for the big day.  I like to mentally picture where I am going and how much I am willing to spend to make for a great relaxing shopping day.  The last part of the day for any Extreme Couponer is getting that cart filled and heading to the check out line where the real fun begins.  As you watch your  $400.00 grocery bill become lower and lower you start to breath slowly hoping that nothing happens that could cause you to have to pay full price for something or that would not let the cashier take your coupons, but today you got lucky, after all, your hard work you walk away with a cart full of groceries for a whopping $65.00.  You have done it, you are now an Extreme Couponer.  Stay Tuned next week for Episode Two-Stockpiling the good and the bad.

Good morning everyone, my name is Jessica and this is my first blog, so bear with me.  I have been writing these devotions for years on Facebook and so I thought I would take it up a notch and try blogging them.  So here it goes, I found a great devotion for today and as I started to read it I realized that it is so in tune with my life right now.  Have you ever had a time in your life when you wondered about what the word “LOVE IS KIND” truly meant?  There have been times in my life including now when I could be really upset with people and how they treat not only me but each other as well.  The words “LOVE IS KIND” hit me this morning like a ton of bricks.  I always thought that this word meant that you have to always be kind to someone you love but in retrospect I realized that another form of being kind is to also be forgiving to those who have hurt us.  Many of us have been hurt by someone we love or even someone who did not mean to hurt us intentionally.  At first we are angry that they hurt us like they did and try to think of ways to get back at them for doing so, but as we calm down we start to realize that everything that has happened  did so for a reason.  I felt that way as of late and thought what could I have done to have had things go the other way and that person not have hurt me in the way that they did, then I thought about it for a while and I realized that I just need to forgive them and move on.  I thank God for bringing those people into my life because it made me realize that there were things in me that I needed to face and they helped me to do that and I thank them for it.  I know that I have to forgive them because I love them and that is what God is talking about when he says that Love Is Kind.  No matter what happens to us in our everyday lives we should forgive the person or persons who hurt us, made us feel bad, or even made us cry because forgiving them not only shows that we have kindness in our hearts but it helps us to heal as well.  We can then close that chapter in our lives and move on to bigger and better things.

“Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”  Have a great day full of love and kindness. For more information go to The Love Dare