Where Have I Been?

 

Hopefully you haven’t noticed my absence too much over the past few weeks.  I have tried super hard to not let too much go but I have had to pass on posting some deals just to keep up.  But since I know you are so curious as to where I have been, I will tell you:) 

 

Right after Christmas I was looking around at some local sites for some advertising possibilities and came across BakersfieldMom.com.  After scrolling through, I saw a note from the owner saying that she was selling the site and there was a little spark in my mind.  I decided to just email her and get the facts but really thought nothing else of it.  She emailed me right back with tons of info and I started thinking about it more and more.  I had to take a week or so and figure out if I knew enough or could learn enough to redesign it myself and make something great off of it. 

 

I saw such potential for a site where local moms could go to get valuable resources and connect with other moms as well as a place for local businesses to reach their target audience.  We have lived here for 3 years and I know nothing about the town or all the great things it has to offer.  I myself am looking forward to all the info I will get from the site.

 

After 3 months, the site has now been redesigned and launched today!  You may have noticed a few other changes around this site as well as I have also taken on a partner to help me with both sites as I wrote about on our facebook page several days ago.  Tiffany has been a huge help and has provided you with several of the deals lately as well as taken over the Walgreens write ups each week. 

 

As soon as we get the new site up and running, there will be some great new things to come for this site as we put our minds and talents together to figure out how to most effectively run the site and help you save money!  I would love for you to check out our new site at BakersfieldMom.com and let us know what you think!  You can also join in and comment to be entered to win $100 in cash!

Great Seminar Tonight, 3/22 Registration Open

 

Thanks to all of you who came to our Basic Couponing 101 Seminar tonight.  I had a great time explaining the basics of saving a ton of money with you!

 

Just a note that the registration for our Advanced Savings 201 seminar on March 22nd is now open HERE.  This is our first 201 class and I think it will be great to have a little more time to really delve into some of the more complex transactions and how to stretch that budget just a little further. 

A Few Things Fixed!

I have gotten a few things fixed on my site and I would love feedback from any of you who have had problems in the past.  I know some of you were no longer able to access my feeds through your feed reader or were getting 404 errors for certain pages.  Most of these should be fixed now but I would love to hear from any of you whether it is or is not working on your end.  It is so hard to figure out some of these things when I only know what I see and what happens on my computer.  Thanks for any help you are able to send my way:)

A Little Help Please?

I am noticing that there are quite a few things not working on my site these days.  If you come across anything however big or small that is not working, I would love for you to shoot me an email at saveathomemommy (at) yahoo.com and let me know.  It would really help me to fix things up.  Thanks so much:)

My Recent Store Experiences

I ran into Vons this afternoon to look for a coupon booklet I have heard about and to pick up a few copies of the weekend ad that came out in today’s newspaper.  It seems like every time I go into the stores lately I come out crying for some reason or another. 

 

The other day as I was checking out, employees discovered a lady had been hiding in the back eating food that she obviously needed but couldn’t pay for.  They found the containers hiding in the back after she had already gotten out of the store.  While I don’t condone her stealing I was crushed at the reality of hungry people right in my back yard.

 

Today as I was waiting for the cashier to bring some more ads to the front, a couple of young girls came in the store looking for a woman’s husband who was in the parking lot crying.  An elderly man said it was his wife and was trying to hurry to finish paying for his groceries so he could get out there to her.  I couldn’t take it and went out to the parking lot to find an elderly woman crying next to her car.  I tried to comfort her and waited until she was relieved to see her husband coming out of the store.  As I walked back inside to get the ads I had come for, he stopped me and thanked me for helping and explained that she had Alzheimer’s and was very confused and scared.  I barely made it back to my car before tears fell down my face. 

 

It definitely brings me back to a much needed reality to see people dealing with much more serious issues than I have been faced with.  My own troubles seem so small and make me feel guilty for even calling them troubles.  I hope I keep having these opportunities at the stores to remember just how good I have it and be reminded of the things that I can do to help those all around me.  Thank you God for the reminders of your constant love for us all and your desire for us to love each other just as you have loved us!

The Best Blog Birthday Gift EVER!

  

At the beginning of the week if you had asked me what I wanted for my blog birthday, I would have said more traffic or income but yesterday I got way more than that!  Yesterday was our SaveAtHomeMommy day to volunteer at FLOOD here in Bakersfield to get a Disney ticket through their new promotion this year.  There was a time when I stopped and looked out at the 30 or so people that were there and tears welled up in my eyes.  I can not believe that God chose me to start a silly little blog that would become what it has.  To see the hundreds of food and hygiene packs filled and prepared to hand out to people in our community in need was overwhelming.  I was so honored and humbled that God saw fit to use me and my site in this amazing way.  I did a horrible job at photo taking, I am so sorry!  I wish I had better ones.

 

I want to continue to work with FLOOD in whatever ways I can to help them out.  I found out today that they purchase all the food and toiletries each week to put in these packs.  I could not believe that.  Most of these items can be picked up at the dollar store but even better, can be purchased for FREE with coupons and sales. 

 

I am now going to try to mark items in my deals lists when I find them, that can be donated to them with a link to a page with all their information.  I hope we are able to work with them much more in the future to impact our community in a very needed and easy way!

 

Thank you to all of you who had a part in my great birthday gift, it meant more than you know.

 

 

 

It’s My One Year Blog Birthday!

I can not even believe that a whole year has passed since I started this great adventure into blogging!  As many of you know, SaveAtHomeMommy started off as an easy way for me to share deals and such with my family and friends all at one time.  I never in a million years would have dreamed that it would have turned into all that it is now.  It has been a crazy and wild journey for sure and I have a very long way to go.  I learn everyday just how much more I need to learn about all that goes into running this site.

 

I owe a HUGE thanks to all of you my readers for all the love, support and encouragement you have given me throughout this year.  Every time I have thought about quitting, one of you has sent me an email full of encouragement and praise and helped me continue.  I love knowing that I am helping others save money in times when it can be so crucial to many.  It is the only reason I have continued to do this.

 

Thank you also to all of you who have loyally printed coupons, loaded coupons, signed up for offers and used all the other resources on my site that bring in an income for me.  Truth be told, I still make very little money for my time but I love what I do so it is still worth it.  I hope you will continue all you do to support my site so it can continue to grow over this next year.

 

As a big thanks to all of you for your support, I have an amazing week planned full of great giveaways in return!  Stay tuned as there will be at least one new giveaway each day this week. 

 

If any of you have testimonies or pictures, etc. of your adventures in saving money, I would love you to email them to me at saveathomemommy @ yahoo . com (no spaces) so that I can share them on here throughout the week. 

 

So, thank you, thank you, thank you and LET’S PARTY!

Check Your Spam Folder!

For the past few days, my email newsletters from SaveAtHomeMommy have been going to my spam folder!  I am so mad and hate it when that happens.  Please, check your spam and click “not spam” so maybe they will get the message that this is not spam and you will not miss out on the great deals sent by email from this site each day!

Happy Anniversary!

Today is my 8th anniversary with my wonderful husband!  I would have to say that my road of dating before my husband was a little rough and I didn’t always make the best choices.  The best choice I ever made was to pray and pray hard that God would guide me and give me the husband that was right for me.  I can now say 8 years later that I am totally unworthy of the gift God gave me in my husband!  I am not sure why he saw fit to give him to me, but I am so glad he did.  He is the most humble, loving, funny and all around perfect man for me.  He is a great father to our little girls and I am so happy to have spent the past 8 years with him by my side and look forward to many, many more.  Happy Anniversary Kyle!

We Have Moved!

 

I am so happy to say that our move is ALMOST complete!  We have a few things still left at our old house and some cleaning to do, but all the big stuff is done.  The last time we moved, we only had one small child and very few things and we pretty much got everything set up in a day.  This time is totally different!  We have two children, more stuff and we had to pack one house, paint and clean the new house, move and clean the old house.  It is taking forever and I do not like things to be unsettled.

 

Thank you so much for putting up with me not being around much over the weekend!  I needed to take a little break and focus on my family and making sure that my girls were set up and comfortable in their new home.  Like I said, there is still so much to do but I am going to set aside a few hour blocks throughout each day to get things posted and respond to emails and comments.  If you emailed me or commented and haven’t heard from me, please feel free to email again or leave another comment as I am sure some things got lost in the shuffle. 

 

Thanks again for bearing with me and hold on for all the deals!

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