Extremity

It's official. Rite Aid released their new coupon policy, which is now more restrictive on BOGO sales and the number of like coupons that can be used. The buzz all over the coupon world is that this is a result of the show Extreme Couponing. And...I agree.

Maybe I don't really deserve to have an opinion. I am not a coupon guru, I am just an average girl who gets giddy over cheap stuff. I have never even seen the show because I don't have cable. But from what I hear (and a few clips I have seen on the internet) it is basically an extension of the show Hoarders, where people who probably need therapy buy 400 bottles of mustard instead, and convert their kid's bedroom into a storage closet to hold enough toilet paper to last until the second coming.

When I first realized how "extreme" Extreme Couponing really was, I still didn't think it would have that much of an impact on the couponing world. I figured it was just another attempt of the media to exploit people who, in all seriousness, need help. But apparently stores are starting to take notice. And why shouldn't they? It isn't good business to have empty shelves.

I would write my opinion about the specifics of the new policy, but that doesn't really matter. It really is a fairly petty issue. Rite Aid has the right to accept or decline whatever coupons they want, regardless of my personal feelings.

My point is that I am not an extreme couponer. I am a college student with a young family trying to stretch the few dollars I have. Since I stay home with my daughter, it is my contribution to financially supporting our family. Will I still find good deals even though Rite Aid changed their policy? Sure I will. Will I still shop at Rite Aid? Who knows. I go to where the deals are.

I guess the reason why I bothered writing this is to say that shows like Extreme Couponing are the reason why I don't watch T.V. Truthfully, I couldn't afford cable if I wanted it. But I hope that someday we will be able to afford it. And I hope that when that day comes I will have the wisdom to just say no, and keep this crap out of my house. In a way, I feel bad for even writing this, because in order for the media to stop exploiting the truly sad lives of these people, we have to stop consuming this cheap, sick excuse for entertainment.

This is what $7 buys

This is what I do every Monday morning. And I love it. I paid $6.53 out of pocket and got:

• 3 packs of Huggies Little Swimmers
• 2 bottles of Purex Laundry Detergent
• 1 Oral B toothbrush
• 1 Oral B floss
• 1 Crest toothpaste
• 8 boxes of Ronzoni pasta
• 2 boxes of American Beauty pasta

With all the pasta I couponed last week, I estimate I now have a year's supply. If you come over to my house please don't look underneath the table next to my couch, or you will find out where I'm stashing it all...

A Whole Lot of Nothing

I have debated over the past week whether or not I want to keep this blog. I even deleted it, and then a few days later undeleted it. I'm having a lot of mixed feelings. Why?

Because I'm not sure if I want to get this personal with the world. I'm not just talking about the online world. I'm just not sure if I want to let people get to know me this well. Because I think a lot of people don't know me very well at all. And I'm afraid to change that.

But I'm going to take a little leap of faith. I'm going to assume that people won't stop being my friend if they get to know some of my actual opinions on things (and on the flip side, I'm going to assume that if they do stop being my friend then they are super lame). And I wouldn't be doing this, except for one reason.

I think I need to write.

One of my amazing professors, Steve Walker, once told me after reading some of my work that if he could write that well he would keep writing. He even told me that of all the students he has seen come through BYU, he can only think of two who were better writers than me (yup, I'm bragging a little bit right here). What he said really stuck with me and whenever I think about it I feel guilty because I rarely ever write. So this is going to be my attempt to push myself to write.

But please don't expect anything very profound, or even well written (or even correctly written) from this blog. Because my hope is that it will just get me to start getting words and ideas out there again, and maybe that will prompt me to write in a more professional manner. Maybe not. But I love to write. Even if I have nothing to say at all. So here's to the future of a whole lot of nothing.

No One Cares About My Boobs

Well, I don't really know what the first post on a blog is supposed to look like, so I'm jumping right in.

Today Kate and I accompanied Brett to a doctor's appointment. I knew Kate would need to eat as soon as we got there, and I have to say I was a little surprised when I entered a waiting room that was filled largely with men over the age of 60, as well as several missionaries. So, I parked it just a seat away from an old dude while Brett went to check in and proceeded to whip out my boob (okay, I used a cover, I just wanted to make that sound more scandalous than it really was). If you're expecting me to write about all the weird looks I got and go on a rant about breastfeeding stigmas, you're about to be disappointed. In a waiting room full of people, I felt completely comfortable feeding my baby, and if anyone else was uncomfortable with it I sure couldn't tell, because no one gave me so much as a disapproving, approving, or otherwise judgmental glance.
So why I am writing this?

Because that's exactly how it should be.

I was just feeding my kid. I know lots of other people feel awkward breastfeeding around others (whether covered or not) or have had other bad experiences breastfeeding in public. I'm happy to say that has never happened to me. I have breastfed Kate in lots of different places and my experience has always been the same: no one cares. And so I just want to say thank you to all the people out there who don't care (or at least act like they don't care) how and where I feed my kid.