Some Blog News!

Here are just a few things that are new at Proverb31girl.com:

1. Since I’ve been posting a lot about how to save money and there is a lot of interest out there I’ve decided to make it easy on everyone and create a “Money Saving Ways” category in the menu. Hope that helps!
2. I’m working on integrating what Proverbs 31 is scripturally. Some people know about this chapter in the bible but not everyone does. And from what I’ve heard, a lot of people get the wrong impression of her (in my opinion). I hope to use my blog to help women want to BE like her, not throw their hands up in the air and claim 5 reasons why they can’t/don’t want to be like her.
3. I’ve created a coupon swapping group on Facebook! There is a lot of interest in how to save money and one way is to be in a community of people who have the same goals. In the group we’ll be sharing deals we find, advice we have, blogs we follow and most important, exchanging coupons. Click here to join!
4. A button and banner for easy sharing is coming soon!

Some Blog News!

Here are just a few things that are new at Proverb31girl.com:

1. Since I’ve been posting a lot about how to save money and there is a lot of interest out there I’ve decided to make it easy on everyone and create a “Money Saving Ways” category in the menu. Hope that helps!
2. I’m working on integrating what Proverbs 31 is scripturally. Some people know about this chapter in the bible but not everyone does. And from what I’ve heard, a lot of people get the wrong impression of her (in my opinion). I hope to use my blog to help women want to BE like her, not throw their hands up in the air and claim 5 reasons why they can’t/don’t want to be like her.
3. I’ve created a coupon swapping group on Facebook! There is a lot of interest in how to save money and one way is to be in a community of people who have the same goals. In the group we’ll be sharing deals we find, advice we have, blogs we follow and most important, exchanging coupons. Click here to join!
4. A button and banner for easy sharing is coming soon!

Couponing Made Easy with these Links!

I’ve mentioned it before but I think it’s worth mentioning again. There are many people out there doing the hard and tedious tasks such as finding coupons, finding sales, matching them up and figuring out how to get the best deal possible. You don’t have to do it yourself – you just have to follow the blogs of people that are doing it and doing it well! I save hours by subscribing to the feed of all of these blogs and just reading the posts of the deals I’m interested in. There are many ways to follow blogs, personally I use Google Reader. I can tell you more about that if you’re interested (just let me know in the comments below or on facebook). There are also some sites that I only follow on Facebook and that’s just because I’m an unorganized mess lately But if you’re a frequent facebooker that’s a great option too.

Coupon Blogs I Follow: (there are MANY MANY out there so don’t think these are the only ones!)

In alphabetical order:

So those are blogs I recommend. Now on to MANUFACTURER WEBSITES that I visit for coupons. All I did was spend some time going through my cabinets and fridge and made a list of the brands I buy often. Then I used google to find their website and looked on their site for a coupon page. I also looked at their facebook page and found that many, many manufacturers put out coupons that way. Another thing I’ve begun doing is emailing the company asking for coupons. It’s surprising how many responses I’ve gotten that my coupons will be in the mail!

Now on to COUPON WEBSITES. There are sites out there dedicated to providing you with coupons. Here are some of the ones I visit:

1.  Most people know about Coupons.com. But do you know that Coupons.com feeds into Swagbucks? So you’re still printing the same coupons but for every coupon you use, you earn 10 swagbucks! It’s really awesome. The link below will take you to see what I’m talking about.

2. If you’re not interested in doing Swagbucks, then there is:

Smartsource.com

And the last thing is COUPON SWAPPING. This is pretty new to me but there seem to be a lot of sites out there dedicated to coupon swapping! Does anyone have one they recommend? Currently I’ve been cutting out/printing coupons for friends & family and we’ll exchange but I would love to join a group that has more people or even start a small one here. Is anyone interested? Couponing really is about helping each other out so let me know your thoughts. We could easily keep an eye out for each other and mail out coupons. If you’re interested contact me or comment below.

Find Those Coupons!

I told you I’d do it and since then I’ve been anxiously putting it off. I KNOW I’m going to forget 5 things I want to say so I’m looking to my readers to pick up the slack in the comments field!

Anyway, here it goes. My top ways to find coupons:

1 – The obvious spot: newspapers. Sunday newspapers are loaded with coupons but sometimes there are no inserts and sometimes there are no good coupons so if you’re like me and don’t want the paper or to waste your money/time…listen to the blogs. There are some coupon bloggers who will post what coupon inserts will be in that week’s paper. Then on Sunday morning go to the dollar store and pick up a discounted paper! Yes really, the dollar store sells them for a dollar! But be careful, make sure there are coupons inside the paper you pick up.

2 – Magazines. A lot of health food stores and grocery stores have free magazines that have coupons in them. They’re either by the door or in the produce area usually. Look around and grab 1 or 2!

3 – Coupon Sites. I’m sure there are more than I use but I print coupons from: coupons.com, smartsource.com, mambosprouts.com, redplum.com and couponnetwork.com. It’s also great to join RecycleBank and earn points to “purchase” coupons.

4 – Coupon Blogs. I could spend hours trying to find coupons or I could be smart and let other people do the work for me. It’s so easy to follow blogs and there are many ways to do it.

• You can visit a blog and subscribe to get their posts by email. Don’t want to clutter up your inbox? There are 2 options: 1-create a new email address that you use purely for coupons and sweepstakes. I highly recommend this so if your email address DOES get sent to the wrong person and you do start getting spammed, it’s an email address you don’t care about. 2 -create a filter in your inbox that coupon emails get put directly in a special folder and you just click on that folder to see what came in. It won’t be sitting in your inbox.
• You can visit a blog and suscribe to get their posts by RSS Feed. There are sooo many services out there that help you keep track of your blogs. Personally I use Google Reader which links right over from my Gmail account. It’s super easy to use and I keep all of my blogs in a special coupon folder.
• Follow on Facebook. If you frequent your news feed you’ll catch deals as they’re posted and have better chances at getting freebies with limits.
• Follow on Twitter. An easy way to see what deals are popping up.

5 – Manufacturer websites. Sometimes the best coupons are sitting right on the website of your favorite brand. I visited each website of the brands I use most and bookmarked them in my web browser. When it comes time to go food shopping I quickly visit each site and see what coupons are available. Since we eat mostly organic and gluten-free this really saves us a lot of money. The ones that I often get coupons for are: Newmans Own, Stonyfield Farm, Pepperidge Farm, Rudi’s Organic Bakery, Morningstar Farms, Green & Black, Earths Best, Celestial Seasonings, Salada Tea, Horizon Dairy, Organic Valley and Santa Cruz Organics. Don’t forget to check their facebook pages too – a lot of coupons and deals are found there! Not finding coupons? Email and ask them! I’ve done this with a few coupons and surprise surprise, they mailed me coupons!

6 – Coupon Swapping. I have some friends that are into coupons and I make sure to send them coupons I think they’d like. In return, most of them do the same. It’s an awesome way to “beat” the print limit and get lots of coupons for things you buy often or can stock up on.

I’m sure there are many more tips on how to find coupons so please share below! I’m not an expert and try not to obsess over saving money. It’s really about doing the best you can and helping others do the same. Also, if you have a CREDIBLE coupon blog or site and would like to post it below, I’m okay with that. Please know that if you send my readers to a spam site or contact them without permission you will be reported, blocked and frowned upon.

I Recommend…

Hey all! Happy Monday!

Today all I want to do is recommend a few things to you. No one is paying me or is blackmailing me to do this. I just thought you might be interested in a few things I spend my time doing.

1 – Swagbucks. It’s a simple way to earn prizes online…just by using their search engine!

2 – Coupons. I do a lot of coupon searching and will probably do a full blog on it but here are a few blogs I recommend following:

3 – (In)courage. It’s a great womens devotional site that I love following:

Enjoy these sites – more to follow in another blog!

The Most Important Time of My Day

Well kids, work is wearing me out and therefore blogging an original idea isn’t as easy as it once was. But bear with me, in 3 weeks I’ll be back to normal! But for now, here’s a devotional that really encouraged me. I hope it encourages you too. And hey – if you have any suggestions/comments/techniques you want to share – please leave a comment! We’re all in this together.

With love and sleepy eyes,

Jess

22 Oct 2009 - Lysa TerKeurst

“‘… Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:4 (NIV)

Is it really that important to have a quiet time with the Lord everyday? I mean the Lord knows how busy my life is, so if I just toss up a few prayers and listen to a Christian song on the radio while rushing into my day, that should suffice. Right?

It’s easy to let the busyness of life crowd out time for prayer, Bible reading, and sitting with the Lord. There are a million things on all of our to-do lists, time is tight, and quiet moments seem few and far between. But I’ve learned that if I make the choice to be with the Lord first thing in the morning, my outlook on life that day and my ability to handle things seems to go so much smoother.

Also, I’ve had to change my mindset on having a quiet time. Spending time with the Lord in the morning doesn’t end when I say “amen” and put my Bible back on the shelf. I’ve just invited the King of kings to participate in my day. So, I get up from spending time with the Lord in the morning and start eagerly looking for His hand of activity in my life.

I think about the Bible verses I read that morning and look for ways to apply them to my life that very day. I watch the circumstances that come my way hour by hour and ask the Lord to constantly give me wisdom to process life in the way that would be most honoring to Him. My mindset is healthier, my attitude more positive, and my ability to extend grace to those who rub me the wrong way is increased just by setting aside some time to be with the Lord.

If you are struggling with having quiet time with the Lord each day, try these helpful ideas:

1. Be honest with God and admit your struggle. Ask God to give you the desire to set aside time to be with Him.

2. Start with just a small amount of time. Even if it is just 5 minutes at first, give this 5 minutes solely to the Lord without any other distractions. Over the next weeks and months, your desire for more time with Him will increase.

3. Use a version of the Bible that lends itself to study. I use the NIV Life Application Study Bibleand I love it. It helps me understand the context each book was written in and gives me commentaries to understand specific verses.

4. Ask God for understanding as you read the Bible. When I first started reading the Bible I had a hard time. So, I started praying that God would open my spiritual eyes to see the truths in a life changing way for me.

5. Write some of the verses that seem most applicable to your life on 3×5 cards and use them in your prayers. For example, Matthew 6:19-20 says, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth… but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” So, I could use this verse in my prayer time by praying, “God, help me to know how to store up treasures in Heaven. Help me to relinquish my tight hold on my earthly possessions so I can use them to build Your kingdom now. Show me how to best use that which You have blessed me with. Give me Your mindset for the money I have.”

6. Get involved in a Bible Study with friends. This will help hold you accountable to getting your study time done and will open up great discussions to deepen everyone’s understanding of applying God’s truths to everyday life.

I’ve found a daily quiet time with the Lord is very important and very doable as well.

Dear Lord, I want a more vibrant relationship with You and I know having a daily quiet time is an important part of that. Help me make this my most important priority each day, no matter how busy life is. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Swap With Me!

Here’s the deal.

I have a nice spot on my blog for links. However, I need some help filling it. I would more than anything love to help my bloggy friends and readers promote what they’re doing – so post a comment or send me a message with your blog/website/myspace/whatever link and I’ll advertise for you!

And if you’re interested in doing a swap, put a link to my blog on your page. It’s simple: www.proverb31girl.com.

Now here is where it gets fancy. If you’re a graphics/video type person – feel free to send me those as well! I’m all about referring people to great sites so the more it stands out, the better.

And if you’re interested, I’ll send you some of my graphics too!

It’s simple. It’s fun. Let’s swap!

A Busy Day Blog

Every once and a while I read a blog and say to myself  ”okay, I needed to read that, maybe someone else does too.”

So, being the blog community friendly person I am, today’s blog is a recommendation to read another blog. Now don’t dismiss this and not read it. It’s not very long. And it’s not too girly. So take a few minutes out of your day and give it a try:

http://animperfectbeauty.blogspot.com/2009/09/beginning-busy-day.html

Conference Frustration

I’m really frustrated with living in New York. Now before you give me a list of reasons why NY is great (probably to come from those who don’t live here)…let me explain.

Every movie, book and website will tell you that you need to be in NY or LA to make it big. So thank you, our state is overcrowded with people so focused on themselves and “making it” that we’re the rudest state in the country. But that’s not really what I’m currently frustrated with.

I’m frustrated with the fact that although many many bands, conferences and tours come to New York…not many of them are “Christian.” Now don’t get me wrong, many secular bands have Christian members, I’m not being judgemental…but I’m saying that when you do a google search for a band signed to a Christian label or even harder, a conference geared towards Christian life, often, they’re not coming here. It’s only been recently that Battle Cry and Revolve Tour are close…and even still, Revolve Tour is a trip to CT or PA. They don’t stop in NY. And women’s conferences I think are even harder to find. I once found a conference that I was insanely interested in going to…to find out it pretty much stayed in the mid-west. And the upcoming She Speaks Conference I would love to go to, is in North Carolina. It’s a conference specifically for women who speak, write, blog and lead ministries. It sounds awesome. So although I won’t be going this year…maybe one year down the line I will. For now I’ll just keep reading their blogs as they get super excited for it. Check them out! She Speaks Blog & Lysa TerKeurst.

I guess I’m hoping that 10 people will reply and tell me how crazy I am because there is a whole list of bands and conferences that come here and I’m just clueless. So go ahead, comment away

And if anyone has any power to change this, I would support your decision fully!

Dangers online

I don’t think people realize how dangerous the internet can be. I’m not talking about stalking and picture sharing. I’m talking more about how what you post on the internet can be seen by many people…even the people you don’t think will ever see it. Like the comment that you post on someone’s myspace page that’s meant for that person, but can be ready by anyone. Or by accepting a group invite now giving your co-workers access to all of the personal information you post on your facebook page. Or how about that blog you write that says “screw the world” or “i can’t believe how wasted I got” and is then found by anyone that google searches your name. I think people need to start wising up and holding back a bit. Or has our younger generations lost all respect for themselves and each other? What happened to the days of a quiet intimate cup of coffee with a friend who you can trust? Sure it seems “the same” by having blogs, emails, text messages, myspace pages, facebook pages and chat rooms…but is that really the intimacy our desperate souls need? i don’t think it is.