Dogs, Books and Coupon Inserts.....

My weekends are generally not peaceful or restful.  I do not do cleaning on the weekends, I use my weekdays to do that so that I don't have to worry about it while in the midst of crazy dogs (Because daddy is home with them all day) and an obnoxious husband (yeah, yeah, yeah....some of you think he is an angel.  Live with him for a few weeks and then talk to me) not to mention a gabazillion errands that *have* to be done.

This weekend has been particularly interesting (I find that I need to use that word because anything else only has 4 letters in it and I know that some of you *hate* when I revert to my swearing like a sailor).  Grace (aka: Doodle Bug, Doodle or Princess) is not feeling well at all.  She has been throwing up nearly non stop since yesterday morning, poor girl is sick and mama is chasing after her with the Resolve and the steam cleaner.  Not to mention force feeding her Pepcid to try to settle her stomach (Sidenote:  I have discussed this medication with my vet for all of my dogs and have been given the green light as well as recommended dosages.  Please do not give your animal ANY medications without having that discussion!).  She is finally feeling better this morning and even ate a little of her kibble which has miraculously managed to stay down.  However, Jacky jumped on the bandwagon and threw up last night before bed and refused to eat more than a little of his kibble this morning.  Travis is ok but I can tell his tummy is not well (My backyard is the best evidence).  The only one NOT feeling any pain is my big ole sensitive tummy Mattie......he is just fine ;-)

Sick animals terrify me....I am one of those lunatics that is on the phone to the vet if one of my dogs sneezes (Thankfully Joe keeps me from stalking my vet and makes me wait to see if it is anything more than a little dust in their nose before I make the call).  We had a chronic illness in one of our cats and we learned to pay attention to "baseline" behaviors and go on alert if we see anything outside of the norm.  It is much easier to treat an animal if the problem is caught early enough.  Yes, yes, yes....I am a "Crazy Doggy Mama" get used to it.  Not gonna change.  Our personal choice not to have children means that I am allowed to go a little nutso about my dogs and we are fine with it.  Unfortunately sometimes this interferes with my life in ways that are seemingly ridiculous.  I had to stay home last night while Joe went to the Father's Day/Birthday dinner for the family last night because the idea of leaving Grace here and having to come home and attempt to clean up all the messes after they had sat there for hours was just completely unacceptable.  I hope that everyone will forgive me, if not next time she is sick I will bring her to your house and let you watch the carpets get yucka and see how well you handle it ;-)  Yup, I'm a nut....but really, I am ok with it and so is Joe.  In actuality sometimes he is way worse than I am......but we won't go there.

Next on the list is the latest book I have read in my quest for couponing information.  This book is a very fun read but not a ton of new information.  However, the best thing is that they actually provide the current coupon policy for a ton of different stores in the back of the book!  There are two different methods for binder organization explained in the book (Neither of them alphabetical, so no go for me) but again very entertaining.  This book is EXTREMELY popular.  They did not have any copies in either the used book store or ebay.  The local retail bookstores did not have any copies in stock and I actually had to order it from Amazon.  My poor mail carried was a little disturbed that I was stalking him while I waited for it to arrive but hey, I was excited to read it.  I can't say that everyone should rush out and buy this one (Sorry Miss Joanie and Miss Heather!) There is some good information in here for a beginner and really a very easy read but again, very basic beginner stuff.  The worst part is that most of the information they give in this book is available for free on their website http://thekrazycouponlady.com.  Definitely check this site out, there is tons of information and they do early warning for upcoming deals for the week.  This is my second favorite site and the information is pretty consistent with my store prices and deals.

This morning I got to make an incredibly entertaining phone call to the Houston Chronicle.  Some background in case you are not all hanging on my every word and remember that a couple of weeks ago we had a little guy show up on our doorstep offering an annual subscription to the Chronicle for a $1 a week for just the Sunday edition and promising me double coupon inserts.  When I got my paper last Sunday it was in 2 different bags, the first two sections were in one and the rest was in a second.  I pulled it out and had stuff fly all over the place.....and only 1 set of the coupon inserts.  Well, I always assume that the first delivery is wonky so I blew it off and went on about my business.  This morning when I wandered out to get my paper, I discovered that once again it was in separate bags and only 1 coupon insert.  So, I picked up my phone (If you are unaware, I *hate* making phone calls....really, it makes me unhappy.  I only do it in extreme circumstances, I prefer text messages) and called the Chronicle.  Now, my approach to making any phone call with a question or complaint is to check my attitude.  People are much more willing to work with someone who is not yelling or freaking out at them.  As a matter of fact if I start the phone call with "I'm an idiot" I generally get phenomenal service!  I highly recommend never making a phone call when you are angry about something.  Wait until you are calm and be cheerful, customer service people are generally so happy to talk to someone pleasant that they will go out of their way to help you.  Anyway, soap box is firmly tucked back under the desk again and onward.  I spoke with a very nice lady this morning and asked her about my double coupon inserts.  She *almost* laughed at me, they have never offered anything like that to subscribers and there is no such program (I am not shocked, door to door sales people are awful about making promises since they know there is no way to really track it....and they are probably not going to get in trouble for it anyway because how can you prove it?).  So, I asked if they did discounts on multiple subscriptions and found out that they are currently offering a promotion for $.50 an issue for Sunday only delivery.  Houston take note, $.50 a week for a $2 paper!!!!  Make the phone call, NOW.  Fair warning, you will have to pay for it in advance by credit or debit over the phone.  I now have 2 subscriptions to the Chronicle (So I still get my double coupon ads) and I paid $1 for the first and $.50 for the second.  So I get 2 papers for $1.50 a week which is still less than the newsstand price for a single one.....The promotional $.50 is only available for your first subscription any additional will cost you the $1 but still an excellent deal.  Two for less than the price of one....The Krazy Coupon Lady would be proud of me!

Speaking of the Krazy Coupon Lady, I know I linked to the website earlier but I am going to do it again.  http://thekrazycouponlady.com because I actually have a few things to say for my couponing buddies.  Due to the success of the show on TLC (Extreme Couponers) the coupon craze has hit BIG TIME.  Do not be shocked to see people stalking your neighborhood looking for newspapers sitting in driveways.  This is NOT acceptable behavior, even if they did show someone do it on national TV.  Also, supplies for coupon binders are going like crazy in the stores.  I need to add to my baseball card sleeves and cannot find them anywhere locally but BEWARE of Ebay.  Right now with the demand the prices have gone a little nutty.  Do some homework, I can buy more for less at Amazon.com right now and that includes shipping.  Although, there are some lots of binder inserts with different sizes on Ebay that I have been looking at.  Set your price, do not get caught up in a bidding war and pay twice what they are worth.  Now that the season is over the craze should start to die down some at least until the next season starts.  The chaff will start getting separated from the wheat, blah, blah...you get what I am saying.  Also, do not expect to walk into the store and immediately get $800 worth of stuff for $10.....that is not remotely a realistic expectation.  Understand that it takes time to build up your coupon collection and it does take work to match it up with your store circulars (although this is getting much easier with the success of some of the couponing websites) and really watch the savings start rolling in.  Give yourself at least a month to start seeing changes to your bottom line and also cut yourself some slack when you get a not so good deal.  This is a learning process and like learning any other skill it takes time, practice and you're going to make mistakes.  Accept that now and move on, it will make it a much better experience and something you can stick with past the craze and please do not buy 100 bottles of ketchup just because they are on sale......you will regret it ;-)

Happy couponing!

p.s.  My plan for my next post is a breakdown on how my binder is organized, in case you are not liking your current set up or haven't found a system that you like.  I will also offer some different ways that I have read or heard about from the books I have read and the sites I have wandered across.