Time for Change

A lot is changing in my life and around our house.  Life has been extremely busy lately, and I just feel like I can't get ahead or even keep up any more.  Summer seems like it's passing me by and I have not yet had a chance to enjoy it.  I talked with several of my frugal friends this morning and it seems as if no one has had time for much deal seeking or coupon shopping.  I am so thankful for my stockpile now more than ever.  I have a stack of inserts to look through from 5/1 thru present!!!  In the midst of all this busy-ness, I am making lots of changes in our lifestyle, habits and routines.

Due to some recent health issues, I have become very interested in what I am putting into my body and on my family dinner table.  I starting seeing a N.D. (Naturpathic Doctor) and I love it!  The first change I am making is our eating habits.  I have been very interested in eating better lately and trying to feed my family better.  A few sources that I learned a lot from are the documentary Food Matters and the book The China Study.  I highly recommend both of these to anyone that is interested in the quality and value (by value, I mean nutritional, not dollars and cents) of your food.  Food Matters is available on Netflix and you could probably get it through your local library also.  You can check out more info on the documentary here, and even catch a snippet of the film.  The book The China Study can also come from the local library or book store.  I picked mine up on Kindle for iPad through Amazon.  This book offers hard evidence and many years of studies and research to back up it's nutritional information.  There is a documentary based on this book just being released now that I would love to see, it's called Forks Over Knives.   You can check out release dates and info about it here.  I also learned quite a bit from my neighbor, friend and farmer, Jim Evans of Ready Jam Farms.  Jim runs a CSA or Community Supported Agriculture co-op that offers locally grown, non genetically modified, totally organic produce to his customers each week through the co-op and our local farmer's market.  He's an individual farmer with respect for the environment and land, and most of all his customers.  


With that being said, I have made a commitment to do two things to start out.  One is to buy organic when I can get it.  Sometimes it's just not convenient and I won't be able to, but if it's available I will buy all my fruits and veggies organically grown, or grow them myself.  Two, is to eat AT LEAST 50% of each meal as raw, whole foods, from plant based sources.  That means fresh fruits, veggies, nuts with every meal, and 50% of what I am consuming.  Yes, I am starting out slow.  That is because if I try to do too much at once I will get overwhelmed and give up.  I am trying to make changes to last a lifetime, and trying to do it right.  Does this mean I am going to throw away everything in my stockpile and start new, no.  Another reason I am starting out slow.  We will use up as much from our pantry as we can first and then replace with better products as we run out.  I don't want to be wasteful and if I make these subtle changes gradually over time rather than overnight, my family will be less resistant to the change also.  Does this mean I won't be deal shopping any longer, no!  I will be seeking out deals on organic items, and still getting the best deals that I can.  It will change the deals that I blog...more about that a little later.  


You are probably thinking right now, how much more expensive this is going to be on our family food budget.  Organic foods are generally higher priced than the more readily available foods.  You are right, it is going to be more costly up front, right now.  But I am thinking into the future.  If I put forth the extra efforts now, I will save on health care costs in the future.  It's a balancing act and one that I think is a very good investment.  


So, with the time it takes to change habits and learn new ones, grow a garden, learn new recipes and educate myself even more, there's been less and less time for me to coupon shop or post deals on this blog.  That brings me to the next change.  I am changing up the platform for sharing deals with my frugal pals and I think that you will enjoy it.  I have created a Facebook page for deals and frugal finds.  You can "like" the page Sharing the Wealth! Saving Money: 101 here and YOU can share your frugal finds on the wall also.  This means there is a potential to find MORE deals if we all start to share our shopping successes.  This blog and all it's info will still be here.  You can still print coupons from here, find links to great money saving blogs, see the Sunday Coupon Preview and have all The Basics right at your finger tips.  I would never take all that great info away!  


So, take this as your personal invitation to join Sharing the Wealth! Saving Money: 101 and start sharing YOUR great finds! I just ask that you only post deals that are tried and true, and you make sure to include as much info as you can in your post.  Make sure to be specific and give inserts or links of where the coupons needed for the deal can be found.  If you are posting about finding coupons such as WT's, peelies, blinkies, etc, make sure to give store names and locations so others can take advantage of them too!  Links to money saving blogs with deal write ups or scenarios for local stores are also welcome.  I am looking forward to interacting with all my frugal friends through Facebook!  See you there! 

New Features

Aside from the new background, this blog has two new features that I am really excited about, and I think you will be too.

First, you will find the Sunday Coupon Preview window on the right sidebar.  This will give you advance notice of what inserts and coupons are coming out each week.  I like having this right here so we can all see them as soon as they are posted. 

Next, it has been my goal to figure out how to give you (and me) the ability to print my posts so that you can create your shopping lists while you browse the blogs. I read the money saving blogs and prepare my lists as I look through them by opening a blank notepad and copying and pasting the info that I want. I thought it would be a great time saver if I could figure out a way to print directly from a list on my blog. 

I found this great site called PrintFriendly.com.  Over at PrintFriendly.com you can turn any web page into a printer friendly document.  You can turn any one of my posts into a printer friendly document by clicking on the button at the bottom of each post.  You probably won't need to print most of my posts, but I am thinking this will come in handy when I post my shopping trips.  

With Print Friendly you can edit the document before you print it, which is really a great feature.  You can take my list and delete things that you don't want on your shopping list, and you can add items that aren't on my list to customize it to your needs.   There's a demo video over at the PrintFriendly.com website  that explains everything you can do with a web site document you want to print, why not check it out - it's only a couple minutes in length.  What I love is that I can take any web page and delete any ads or unwanted photos and text and save ink by only printing out the info that I want or need. 

I am going to put a link to PrintFriendly.com over on the sidebar soon so that it's always available for you to use if you want to go there to plug in other money saving blog's addresses for making lists. 

See, I told you change is good! :)

Change is Good!

I have been planning some changes here for quite sometime but I wasn't planning on putting them into place until this fall after school starts when I have more time to sit down and work on things in bigger blocks of time. 

I have a little note from thecutestblogontheblock.com that my background on this blog is going to expire on Friday (tomorrow!) so I am forced to make a few changes sooner than I wanted.  I wasn't super crazy about the background here anyway and that was one of the items on my list to change up a bit. 

I had been looking into getting some professional assistance to make the upgrades that I wanted, but after seeing the cost of doing that I really don't think it is going to be a reality.  The estimates are in the range of $600 (gasp!).  With my frugal personality, I couldn't see spending that kind of money when it's something I can learn to do myself, especially since this is more of a hobby for me than anything.

So, I just wanted to let you know that there's changes coming real soon.  Things may be a bit unorganized until I can get them all finished so please bear with me.  Everything will still be here, but it may not be exactly like it has been.  I have one new feature that I will explain later that I think you are REALLY going to like!  I will give you a little hint....the new button appears already right below this post. 

Changes to this site

I am trying to make this the best source for all your money saving needs so I have recently been working on some changes to this site.  If you are a regular reader, you probably have noticed some minor changes recently.  If there's something you would like to see changed or added please send me a note.  I want this to be the place you come to first, to find all your links and deals. 

Recently, I have set up all the external links on this blog to open in a new window rather than in the same window as the one you are currently reading from.  I think this makes it a little easier when you are checking all the money saving blogs and coupon links. 

I have also added the Target coupon printables link under the list of printable coupons.  You will want to check these often, because they print out as manufacturer coupons with the Target logo on them.  If you shop at a store that takes coupons with competitor logos on them you should be able to use these there.  You don't have to use these solely at Target.  I love when I find a new source for manufacturer coupons!

Lastly, I am in the process of adding pages for all the basic couponing and money saving information.  This should be helpful if you need a refresher on a certain topic or for those that are new to learning to coupon. 

Again, please bear with me as I make these changes - I am still learning how to make the changes that I want to make and some don't happen as quick as I would like.  Remember, I am trying to make this YOUR site for saving money so please send me your suggestions!  I would love to hear them!