Bargain Blessings

I've been meaning to do this for a while now, and am finally getting around to it! I forgot the cord to my camera while I was away at the Summit, so I wasn't able to share any pictures with you...so here we go!


These first two pictures are of my roommates (Sarah, Jen, and Mary) and I! I was so blessed to have three awesome roomies to share the experience with.


Here we are again sportin' our Cellfire gear!




This next one is of me with Alex and Cassie from The Thrifty Couple. This was my second time getting to meet them! The one after that is of Jen, Me, and Keri Lyn (She Saved).


These next two pictures are from the dinner with key-note speaker JD Roth from Get Rich Slowly. All I can say about him is what a nice guy! He spent the entire time at the Summit hanging out with the rest of the bloggers...learning and teaching at the same time! The group picture (from left to right) is Jen (Thrifty NW Mom), Alex and Cassie (The Thrifty Couple), Crystal (The Thrifty Mama), Me, Angela (Frugal Living NW), Sarah (Give Me Neither), and Mary (The Writer's Block). What a wonderful dinner this was. I learned so much from these incredibly talented bloggers! I wish I had space and time to introduce you all to everyone I met during the Summit...these are just a few!


These pictures were from our dinner on our last night there. Pretty huh?

Lastly, I just wanted to say thank you to Andrea (Mommy Snacks), Crystal (The Thrifty Mama), Erin (5 Dollar Dinners), Crystal (Money Saving Mom), and Toni (The Happy Housewife) for all of the hard work they put it to this year's Summit and very importantly to my wonderfully generous sponsor, Cellfire! I feel so blessed to have been able to attend this year's Savvy Blogging Summit and am so excited to use everything that I learned to continue to make Bargain Blessings a better place to be!

I am so excited to announce that there is a new Bargain Blessings Community that includes a forum to chat about deals, ask questions, get to know each other and just have some fun! This is a work in progress, and it will eventually be hosted directly on the Bargain Blessings website, but for now you can access it and see what other community members are chatting about buy looking for the above widget on the sidebar of the website.

You will need to take a moment to register to be able to participate in the community. Don't forget to complete your profile too!

I will be selecting a few readers to become moderators on the forum during the next few months, so keep that in the back of your mind if that is something you would like to do. Stay tuned for further details on this.

Lastly, anyone who starts or participates in a discussion now though Wednesday, will be entered to win a 1 year Subscription to All You magazine! You can enter up to five times and you can also gain an extra entry by inviting your friends to become a fan of Bargain Blessings on Facebook and leaving a comment here to let me know you've done so!

PS: If this is your first time seeing this, the current Bargain Blessings Facebook have a little bit of a head start on you since I announced the community to the on Sunday night. I also share lots of other deals over on the Facebook page, so don't forget to become a fan so you don't miss out on any of the fun!

My cousin Jasmine and her fiancé Nick entered a contest for military couples to win a dream wedding. We were thrilled to learn yesterday that they ended up in the top five! Part of the contest now comes down to a public vote on their website.

I normally wouldn’t ask you all to help with something link this, but it would mean so much to me for them to win. They so deserve it.

Would you please consider helping them out by going to Operation Wedding Day and voting for Jasmine and Nick? They are currently in the lead, but the other couples are closing in quickly. You do not have to register to vote; all you need to do is select them and click "vote". There is actually no limit to how many times you can vote per day, so feel free to vote as many times as you would like. The voting is open through 4:00 MST on April 16th.

Thank you SO much in advance for your help…I’m blessed with the best readers ever!

I'm just about to go to bed, but wanted to give you all an update on my day at the Savvy Blogging Summit!

We didn't have any classes today, but we did have an awesome speaker at dinner...JD Roth with Get Rich Slowly. I also ate way too much and now have a stomach ache! :)

I'm a little bummed because I took some pictures to share with you all today, but I forgot to bring the cord for my camera, so I can't post them until I get home. Hubby did surprise me with a wonderful new video camera right before I left for the summit though, so I was able to get a little bit of video for you all!

PS: You might be surprised to know that I don't actually have a lisp...it was just my last camera that made my voice sound that way! :)

My bags are packed...I'm ready to go... :)

Well, I'm headed out the door here in a moment! My first stop will be DIA to pick up two of my roommates and blogging buddies who are flying in for the Summit! After that, we will be off to Breckinridge, Colorado to let the fun and learning begin!

Don't you stop checking back on the site though...I have lots of deals and fabulous guest posts from my wonderful blogging friends...so like me, you will need to put your learning caps on and get prepared to soak up some valuable information.

I'll check back in soon! I hope you all have a wonderful start to your day!

During 2008 there were over 7,000 firework related injurys in the United States. With the holiday coming up I thought it would be nice for all of us to have a quick review of some Firework Safety.

If you are planning to use fireworks the first thing you will want to do is check your area's restrictions. Here in Colorado, almost any firework that leaves the ground is illegal. You can go HERE to check your state's firework laws. If you have specific questions on your area's restrictions you can also contact your local police department.

Now, if you are in an area of the country that is less restrictive on firework use here are a few safety tips to keep in mind to make sure it is a safe and enjoyable experience for everyone! This tips are courtesy of the National Council on Firework Safety.

• Use fireworks outdoors only.
• Obey local laws. If fireworks are not legal where you live, do not use them.
• Always have water handy. (A hose or bucket).
• Only use fireworks as intended. Don't try to alter them or combine them.
• Never relight a "dud" firework as it could explode. Wait 20 minutes and then soak it in a bucket of water. *Also make sure to keep it away from other fireworks.
• Use common sense. Spectators should keep a safe distance from the shooter and the shooter should wear safety glasses.
• Alcohol and fireworks do not mix. Have a "designated shooter."
• Only persons over the age of 12 should be allowed to handle sparklers of any type.
• Do not ever use homemade fireworks of illegal explosives: They can kill you! Report illegal explosives to the fire or police department in your community.

I have three amazing roomies at the Summit that I cannot wait to meet! They are Sarah with Give me Neither, Jen with Thrifty NW Mom, and Mary with The Writer's Block! Make sure to stop on over and check out their sites...they are wonderful!


Like I mentioned above, I am so blessed to have an amazing sponsor for the Summit, but there are other bloggers that are working hard to pay their way. One of them is Megan over at Half-Pint House Handmade. She makes some adorable hand made items, including the cute business card holders in the picture above. If you would like to support Megan by buying one of her neat handmade gifts, make sure to head on over to her site to check them all out!

While I'm at the Summit, I will have some fun things going on over here on the website. You can look forward to some fantastic guest posts and maybe even a few giveaways! *wink* *wink* If you are not already doing so, make sure to follow me on Twitter and Facebook where I will be giving live updates from the Summit and on any hot deals that roll out next week.

As always, I so appreciate all of you...I am so blessed to have the best group of readers a girl could ask for.

Alright, alright...I admit it. My coupons have been somewhat disorganized for months. Gasp...I'm glad I've got that off my chest. :)

Although my husband is glad to have all the coupons cleaned up that have been invading what seemed like every corner of our house, I don't think there is anyone who could understand more than you guys how excited I am to say....all of my coupons are now 100% ORGANIZED! YAY!

If you have taken one of my Couponing Classes lately you know that I have been in the process of switching over how I organize my non-insert coupons (Blinkies, printables, peelies etc.). Well, I've been waiting and waiting to find a decent price on the baseball card inserts that I needed for my binder. I finally found a great price on Amazon a few weeks ago.

It has taken me a little while to get motivated, but once I finally did it wasn't that bad and only took me a few hours to get everything cleaned up. I will admit that the fact that we have 5 family members staying with us from out of town this week helped a bit with the motivation. :) Either way, I am so excited to have it all finished and it has made my shopping preparation a lot more pleasant!

I asked the Bargain Blessings Facebook fans to rate their coupon organization on a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being the best) and they averaged a 6.92 grade...not bad! So now, I ask you...how would you grade your coupon organization and which method do you use? Now that I'm all organized I have to say that I'm very happy with my entire system and I'd rate it a 9.5. I'm still using my clipless method for my insert coupons and I love that. Now that I've got all the other random coupons under control I don't think it could get much better!

Hi everyone! I just wanted to drop you all a quick note to apologize for the lack of posts today.

I am so excited to be in beautiful Keystone, Colorado for a ladies retreat this weekend and am using this much needed down-time to recoup and recharge.

I hope you all are enjoying your weekend!

Yesterday afternoon I had the pleasure of meeting all these wonderful ladies. They are a group of gals that also run websites in Colorado. It was so nice to get together and chat about all things "coupon blogging"! Make sure to stop on over at their websites and check them out!

Laine with Mom's Thrifty Deals

Jenna with Frugal 'Burb Chik

Danielle with Denver Metro Moms

And, I don't have a picture but last week my husband and I also had the opportunity to go to dinner with Cassie and Alex with The Thrifty Couple!

It has been so fantastic to get to know all of these other bloggers and learn more about how to make Bargain Blessings better for you guys!

The meaning of the word "couponer" is unique to each individual who embarks on the frugal lifestyle. For some it may mean using coupons at the grocery store to stock up on very inexpensive groceries and for others it may mean snagging all the great online deals. For me it is all about being able to provide more for my family than I ever could have imagined. Not only that, but what a blessing it is to be able to bless others with the abundance we now have! I got an e-mail from a reader the other day about how God arranged for her the perfect encounter that allowed her to bless someone while she was leaving Safeway and on her way to Rite Aid. How awesome! As a guest speaker at our church said last week, Go God!

Sometimes people ask me why I would pick up items that my family wouldn't necessarily use just because they are free. My thought on this is that even if my family will not use it, I know there is another family out there that would love to have that free box or brownies to make a snack for their kids that they might not have been able to afford otherwise, or a bunch of pencils for their kids to use in school. I want to encourage all of you to think about those that are in need right now...they are all around us. There have been so many wonderful deals lately, hopefully they will help all of us to bless others with our abundance!

Whatever your style of couponing is, I try to provide you with all different kinds of deals...clothes deals, toy deals, toiletries deals, free samples, grocery deals, money making opportunities, etc. I love the joy and excitement of being able to share a brand new deal with all of you and am so thankful for all of you who leave comments and send me e-mails with encouragement, questions and even just to let me know how your couponing journey is going! I just love it when I get to pass on a deal that one of you e-mailed me to share with other readers! And I love it too when I get an e-mail from a brand new reader who is so excited that one of their friends told them about Bargain Blessings. So with that, I just wanted to say THANK YOU...thank you for helping me spread the word, thank you for all of your encouragement and thank you for filling my days with lots of laughs and smiles!

Love,
Jennie

I just have to share the I'm so super excited! My friend Faith had business cards made for me! My camera is acting up, so I'm sorry for the poor picture quality but hopefully you can still tell how super cute the cards are.

I created Bargain Blessings in order to help other families to save money, and now these will help me to spread the word and help more people! Yay! Thanks so much Faith!

The cards were made by The Daly Press right here in Denver. Make sure to give them a call (303 -778- 6933) if you have any printing needs!

So this has nothing at all to do with couponing, but I just feel really lead to post a link to Meredith Andrews singing You're Not Alone on YouTube. I know this seems random and I have no idea who it is intended for, but whoever it is...I hope it helps you! God Bless!

:) Jennie

Well this is a bit of a random post, but hey...it is the weekend, so who said we can't have a little fun! Happy Saturday everyone! :) Now go have some fun of your own and get those deals!