Basic Couponing

Check out this basic coupon holder I love that you can put wrap it around your shopping cart. 

I prepared this document for my Women Preppers group its the basic on coupons, I was really into it awhile back but got busy with other things so sort of let it stop, but now I noticed my containers are getting empty tooth brushes, soaps, deodorant, razors etc so its time to get busy again. Couponing does take some time, the more time you give it the more you will save.

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This is the easiest way to start off couponing, yes there is a lot of other ways on savings you can learn all that too, but this is the basic's to get you started. 10 cents here 50cents there it all adds up in the end.

1. Collect the Sunday coupons, ask your family, friends, neighbors for theirs never hurts to ask especially if they don’t use them. Look in recycle bins. There is a few ladies that have access to coupons you might find them thru friends or Craigslist or coupon groups they can hook you up for a small fee, yes its suppose to be illegal to sell them but it happens anyway thank goodness.

2. There will be Smart source, Redplum and sometimes Procter & Gamble are the main coupons, mark on the front of it the date that they came out.

3. Go to couponmom.com sign up its free, don’t go anywhere else on the page later you can do that it will get you confused, hit “Grocery deals” Then “Your state” then the store you want to go too. Later you can try the other stores to see who has the better deals

4. It will tell you on percentage what you will save from 100% down. I usually buy fom 50% on up I consider a good deal and will stock up on the items. S is for Smart Source and R is for Redplum, PG is Procter & Gamble go to the date it says and your coupon will be in that one, cut out.

5. Things to remember – If your coupon is for $1.00 and your item is on sale for 90cents they are not going to give you 10cents back and it might be a problem if it’s the only item your buying so I would advice to buy something else too you need, to offset it. Also Target online, Walgreens, Family dollar and Rite Aid also has their own coupons so check those out too.

Other ways to save, start a grocery price book, this can be a notebook, on your computer, on your phone write down the normal prices of items you buy all the time and compare it with other stores, this way if you see a deal you will know you are getting a better deal or not.

If you see it a product on sale and you use it a lot this is the time to buy it now. Rotate, rotate even on shampoos and soaps.

Good luck and happy savings. 

If your looking for a bigger coupon holder try a binder with inserts.

Quail

Our new quail cage the eggs roll out, automatic water

We gave up on the rabbits for a few reasons, 1. its too hot they wont breed in this hot Texas heat having to put out ice cold bottle of water for them to lean on was a pain 2. Not a fan of rabbit meat. Dont get me wrong if something happened and I had nothing else to eat I would gladly consume rabbit meat in a heart beat thinking it was steak :)

Quail have been so easy to raise, they are cute, they are tasty! You can eat the quail eggs too! We have been raising them for about a year now or more got a batch of eggs from a local boy in San Antonio bought ourselves an incubator with a battery back up a must if your into Preparedness like us and hatched out our first set of quail.

Eggs are pretty tasty I prefer my chicken eggs over quail but they are ok to cook with I dont have any trouble selling or bartering them either. My daughter loves the Chinese recipes that have quail eggs in them, hubby just likes to boil them and cook them in with some bacon grease and a bit of seasoning....yum

They lay pretty much all year round so thats another plus, they make these odd sounds at night that could be a downer for people who live in the city, its mostly the males that do that so if you can only keep a few it wont be so much of a problem.

The chicks are so tiny they do this adorable play dead thing on their side when sleeping with their legs sprawled out, they are fast got to watch it they run faster then a lil mouse! When we transport them from incubator to their brooder we have to be careful they have popped out so fast and ended up on the ground at a full run.

Later as they get older the chill out and are easy to handle, hubby says they are easy to butcher too we just did a batch not long ago we have it in the freezer and we ate some, talk about some good eatings! Its got to be one of my favorite poultry meats now.

I really recommend having quail my favorite are the Texas AM yellows/whites...but we mostly raise the coturnix here is a link to Back Yard chickens with the subject of them if you are considering raising them. http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/102281/coturnix-quail-basics-information-and-pictures-galore

Prepareness

If you didn't notice I had on the side a small link section for Prepping, I just added more onto it recently so take a look if your interested mostly basics. My family got into "Preparedness" yrs ago it went along the lines of homesteading it just sort of merged together, hubby always knew about it and was gently leading me to be more prepared, it wasn't until I read the book, "One second after" by William Forstchen that I got really scared that I wasn't prepared enough.

Its about an EMP (Electronic Magnetic pulse) happening in the United States. what if, then I started thinking of all the smaller things that could happen, how really prepared was I? ....breaking down in a car, losing power because of a storm, losing a job, to bigger things that could happen like financial collapse of the USA, earth quake on the west coast, train derailing near us with chemicals that we would have to evacuate etc...

I started inventory what we had, what we needed and started buying, bartering, flea marketing everything else I did a lot of researching. Am I completely done Preparing? Heck no, but I am more prepared now then I was yrs ago. I have a more peace of mind now. A few yrs ago I saw first hand what panicking and no planning could create as the hurricane Rita was coming down on Houston they did a mass evacuation from the city, Cars stalled everywhere, gas ran out along the hwy ways, people got stuck, every store within 10miles of hwy got bought out on most everything, especially water, food, diapers, meds. Every hotel near us was booked, and I do mean even the smaller run down ones were taken up, I just couldn't believe the craziness of it all. 

Prepping has gotten a bad rap thru the years thanks to Doomsday prepper tv show, it has brought some crazy people out in the public eye, but it also opened some eyes so I can't say the show was that bad, we actually learned a few things, plus I know now to say, "We are into preparedness" rather then "We are preppers" I dont know what it is but people understand and are calmer about the first more then the last statement. The movement has taken off especially after Katrina, where there was so many people huddled in that stadium waiting for the government to come help them, FEMA nearly born didnt do so well, big eye opener for many folks, it has become a lesson in history for any one wanting examples of Disaster relief gone bad. 

The Gov even suggest for you to have at least 3 days of food prepared for emergency, I really think they should up that to a pay check worth of food at least. I have heard of so many story's where peoples food stash has helped them when they have lost their jobs for a few months. Being prepared is not stupid, its not being crazy, its smart. Even the boys scouts motto is be prepared. Do you have water in your car? A first aid kit? Does your family know where to go if you lose communication via cell phones? If you lost your job now do you enough food to last you till you can get another? Lights go out in storm do you have candles, lanterns flashlights handy? Do you have extra cash on hand in case you cant access the ATM machines. How prepared are you?

Here is some helpful links to get started you can always buy them locally but if you already have amazon prime you can get free shipping for it.

Favorite freeze dried food I have found is via  My Patriot stupply http://www.mypatriotsupply.com/?Click=166673








Basic first aid: I have found this to be one of the best "Basic" first aid kits out there keep this in your car, diaper bag, office desk.



I have one of these in each of our "Get home bags/Bug out bags" they use these in third world countries to drink water, I recommend researching it but love this straw.




Waterbob for the bathtubs I have two of these, If your pipes might freeze or your water will be turned off while the fix leaks, what ever emergency this waterbob fits in any bathtub which will give you fresh water to drink or at least flush your toilet

Emergency foods for your "Get home bag, Bug out bag or first aid kit" Its good to have around can tolerate extreme temps so you dont have to worry about it spoiling. I have one of these for each of our bags.

If you want more food for longer term try mountain house just in case bucket, its good on price and has some good reviews.

Bartering

 Hubby and son

We are lucky to have an awesome bartering community near us, once a month or it varies depending on the weather, we meet up and barter stuff we made or any extra stuff we have on our farm with other individuals from all over the San Antonio area.

The Human Path school in San Antonio is the one that sponsors it recently they moved to a down town location which is closet to us to get to now. We have a lot of fun, meet like minded folks, talk, learn, make connections, barter some awesome stuff, herbs, meats, nuts, honey, home made aprons, hats, walking sticks, home made breads, cheeses, tinctures, jellys, salsa's the list goes on.

The art of bartering is lost on some folks its cute to see some new people trying to barter for the first time, I have always thought it was easy but to some folks they get really nervous about it. For now I barter what I think is fair but if it came down to really having to barter for our lively hood I would probably be more skillful on getting the best deal.