Yesterday I printed chore charts for Jacob and Skylar.  I made them at DLTK’s Growing Together, which has an easy way to print custom chore charts. You just choose a picture for the top, then fill in what you want the title, columns, and rows to say. I made one for daily chores and one for weekly chores for each of them, placed them in clear sheet protectors, and hung them on the side of the pantry. The kids can just check off each chore with a dry erase marker (you could also laminate and use the dry erase marker). Then they can just wipe them clean and start over. I will mention that the pictures are big, so there is only room to list 3 or 4 chores on the page with the picture. It will continue it onto another page if you need more rows than that.

On the daily charts, I made a column for each day of the week, and a row for each chore. On the weekly charts, I just put Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4 as the column headings. The chores on the charts are not necessarily everything they ever have to do, but they are the jobs that we want the kids to routinely be responsible for and remember to do on their own. We’ll see how it works!

I wrote in my previous post about getting serious about couponing. Today I went to CVS and got a box of Mucinex and a bottle of Lubriderm lotion and paid no cash at all! Both of these are fairly expensive items, but ones that I felt like we needed. The Mucinex is for my cough that won’t go away, and it was on sale for $11.79. The Lubriderm is for Jacob who has dry, sensitive skin, which is a mess right now after having an allergic reaction to some laundry detergent. I had a $2.00 off Lubriderm coupon, which made it $5.49. Then I had $10 in CVS Extra Bucks that I earned earlier in the week with their Pepsico deal (buy $20 worth and get $10 ECB). Finally, I had a $10 CVS gift card that I earned from My Points. I got both products, paid no cash, and still have over a dollar left on my gift card. Very cool.

I have decided to start couponing. Real, serious couponing. We recently made a trip to Alabama to visit family, and also went to Auburn to visit friends. My friend Lindsay, with whom we stayed, showed me how to do real couponing. She showed me her system, and I’ve already got mine going. There are several websites and blogs that provide so much information, it is pretty easy. These wonderful bloggers make databases of coupons, match them up with store sales and rewards (like CVS extra care bucks and Walgreens register rewards), and show you how to get some great deals. I’m saving entire coupon inserts, and the lists I check online tell which insert each coupon is in. I will have to build up my coupon collection before I can get the full benefits, but I’m already saving some money. This method does require some time and organization, but I think it is going to be worth it. Here are some of the sites I have started reading:

Deal Seeking Mom

SwagGrabber

My Frugal Adventures

Remember that coupons do vary by region, so not everything you find will necessarily be available to you. And you have to look through the options and work out your own best deals sometimes. Make sure to look at the e-coupon sites if you have store cards, such as a Kroger card, because you can “stack” e-coupons with printed manufacturer coupons. I just got five Healthy Choice frozen meals for 7 cents each by doing that. As I get more experienced, I will share more tips. You’re welcome to share tips too!