"working" from home

Awhile back I began really struggling with the whole idea of being a stay-at-home mom and yet being a Proverbs 31 woman.

For those of you not familiar with Proverbs 31 it talks about the "perfect" mother and wife. She takes care of her family clothing them in the best of the best, preparing their food before the crack of dawn, selling her wares in the market, etc. And in the end..."Her children rise up and bless her; Her husband also and praises her..." (vs. 28).

So, I mulled that around in my head for awhile. All the while knowing that I am called to stay home with Ryan and I absolutely love it! However, I want to not just stay at home but be the best I can for my family.

One way that I realized I could "help" our family be good stewards of what God has given us is with our grocery budget and our budget in general. I started searching for other blogs on the topic of being frugal, getting things for free, coupons, etc. I ran across and added the following blogs to my bloglines: freebies4mom (she scouts out the very best and real freebies, coupons, etc.), becentsable (these women shop all our favorite stores and tell us the best bargains at each store in relation to the coupons around the Internet and newspapers), hoorayforfreebates (a running list of all the rebates that are worth filling out and taking part in - I haven't really done this yet but the comments let me know it works), and themotherload (not only are there great recipes, ideas and such, but my favorite is freebie Fridays!). These are my favorites but there are others out there too. And a lot of these ladies are God-seekers too which makes it all the more connecting.

So, I thought I'd share one of my recent outings. To preface...Paul and I have recently been trying to bulk shop once a month and then only go out for things like bread/milk/bananas as needed. This is helping me plan meals, eat less packaged food, and stockpile so that I'm buying less in future outings. I now scout the weekly CVS ads to see if there is anything worth my time. They have a great rewards program that, if used correctly, can really save some bucks. Check out becentsable to learn more. I started by buying 2 Listerine Smart Rinse that were on sale for $3.49 and CVS gave you $3.49 in rewards to use on future purchases. I bought two (=6.98) and I had 2 coupons each for $1.00 off. Total with tax =5.47 and the best part?! I had $6.98 in rewards to use towards my next purchase!

So, then I went for the cereal. Usually I don't buy cereal or cereal bars there because they're expensive but they the deal was by $20 of General Mills and/or Folgers and get $10 rewards/ExtraCare bucks back. And the cereal and bars were on sale 3 for $9. I had 8 coupons worth $5.95, a coupon for CVS for $5 off a $25 purchase and the $6.98 from before. So, I stocked up on 3 boxes of Sweet and Salty bars, 2 boxes of Fiber One bars, 1 box Lucky Charms, and 1 box Cinn Toast Crunch...I also got a gallon of milk and a pack of gum. My total was $25.91 but once all the coupons were added it came to $7.75!!! Total for all the stuff you see below...$13.22!!!! And for the kicker...I still have $10 in rewards for my next trip to CVS! I think thats being a pretty good steward, don't you?!