Hi, My Name is Youa and I Am A Couponing Addict

I've never really written about this but, I coupon... A lot. It all started a year and a half ago when I got done with college and thought I needed a hobby. Hey, no more late night cramming, reading until my eyes fall off, and no more research papers! IT WAS GOLDEN! I started off with a nice little three inch binder. Something small and not over the top, something I can work with. 

(Now, let me put in a disclaimer: I've actually been using coupons way before this, just not to this amount. I would print out whatever coupons I needed and then use them at the grocery store whenever I go).

I started watching, "Extreme Couponing," to get motivated and then found The Krazy Coupon Lady and it all sort of went from there. I made my first couponing purchase:

And spent out of pocket $10 (add in a pack of maxi pads). I was in love! Over the next couple of months, my purchases grew and I got better and better at couponing. I even started a mini stockpile. 

Which eventually grew into this:

The Hubster thinks I'm crazy and that I need to slow down but couponing has helped me save a ton of money and so far we have toiletries to last us three years. I've recently gotten into food couponing. Here are my first few purchases:

I spent $117 dollars on all of these food/items when they really retail for $350 dollars. Hopefully, I'll do better as this year goes on. 

I am not the best couponer out there and I don't clear the shelves (I'm lazy and don't really have the space) but it makes me happy and saves me money, so for now, I'm good. 

~NtsuabArt~

Busy Week

It has been a rather busy week and a half around here. One of my friends just left for vacation because her husband deployed so I volunteered to watch her two dogs for her... which means that for the last week, I've had five dogs running rampant in my house. Oh yea, my house is mess right now. It only took them one day after I clean and dusted everything to get it all messy again. However, my friend will be back in two weeks so no worries and my dogs are enjoying them while they're here. 

We took all five of them to the dog park on base and let them run around on MLK day. 

Not much else to report about from the homefront. No major house decor going on and no major changes. 

Eventually, I will clean the office and then I can finally put up pictures of that but for now, my lazy behind is sitting here doing nothing. 

Until I have something far more interesting to say and talk about,

~NtsuabArt~

P.S. We are going to the Pima Air and Space Museum for my birthday tomorrow, since it's literally in my backyard (because I live on base). Cannot believe we waited three years to even venture out that far. I will post pictures of the planes and whatnot :)

Window Treatment Update

The sheer curtains that my sister sent me finally arrived last week. I had the Hubster put it up on Friday morning and bathe in it's sheer delightfulness. It looks lovely, and light, and oh-so-perfect. 

(The plants are there because we've had a freeze warning for the last couple of days).

It gave the windows just enough coverage so that it softens the view of the outside but still lets in the light.

Plus, it stops my neighbors from being able to see into my house considering that we live in such cookie cutter homes. 

Here's the whole picture ^ above and below is a look at the windows before the sheer curtains: 

All I have to do now is figure out what I need to do to make the playroom look better. I want my son to still be able to play in there but have it look nice too. Pinterest, here I come! 

~NtsuabArt~

Living Room Ideas

With all this talk about the new house, I should probably give you guys a picture of what we're working with. 

This is it. It's a lot bigger than the old one and has a lot more space. I mean, look at it from this angle:

Anyway, the wall where the entertainment center is at is the one that I am still trying to persuade the Hubster to paint grey. I haven't quite decided on what color grey yet but one of these is what I am thinking of:

Light Grey Room

Darker Grey Room

Dark Grey Room

The red sectional is being replaced by either a dark or light grey sectional so when I decide on which color I want the sectional to be, I'll decide on what color of grey the wall will be. That is, if I can convince the Hubster to paint it. And since we barely eat at the table and rarely has any guests over, we are getting rid of the dinning room table in favor of barstools. Lots and lots of plans. Let us hope, they carry through. 

~NtsuabArt~

All The Little Birds on Jay Byrd Street

I am really excited to say that the Hubster put up some curtains! It took a bit of convincing but after pointing out to the Hubster that the blinds do not need to come down for him to put them up, I got my wish! As you all know, the walls are white and will most likely stay that way. We might/could be moving in one to two years depending on what happens to my husband's work so no big plans for paint and whatnot (other than painting two walls and the Hubster's grandmother is going to help me convince him to do it. That or my friend is coming over when the Hubster deploys and we'll do it ourselves). This mean that I'm going on a White/Black/Grey/insert-bright-accent-color-here plan. 

The Hubster got me these lovely Ikea curtains two Christmases back (Christmas '11) and I didn't want to use them at the old house because I didn't want to have to trim them or anything. 

EIVOR Curtains

So I saved them. For an entire year, they lived on my bookshelf and collected dust. But they knew they were destined for something better. At first, I had the Hubster put them up like this:

My initial plan was to get some black fabric and extend the pure-white curtains all the way to the floor. But after living with it for a couple of days, the pure-white curtains seemed too heavy for the space. So I have the Hubster lower switch out the curtain rod and put up a longer one about five inches below the one in the picture and took the pure-white curtains out. We went from that to this:

Then I have the Hubster put the original curtain rod over the smaller window on the other wall. And behold:

(That's my son's play room)

I've got to say, I like them. And, I'm glad I waited until we now to use them. They feel a lot more airy and goes with the space better. My lovely sister, who lives twenty minutes away from an IKEA in California is going to send me these sheer IKEA curtains so I can put them in between the birdy curtains (it's cheaper for her to buy and send them to me than for me to drive two hours to Phoenix and back).

LILL Sheer curtains

 I can't wait! She said she mailed them out today so hopefully, I'll get them soon. Will update on how it all looks in the end ^__^ 

~NtsuabArt~

Giving Up Cable

Just as the title suggested, we've given up cable.

Forlanda

The Hubster called the cable company today and told them, "We want out!" Like every company, they asked, "Why?" The truth is, the cable company keeps raising our rates. When we started three and a half years ago, we were paying them a little over $60 bucks for both internet and cable. Now, I understand that there's a starter rate but when the cable/internet bill goes up every six months, I say no more! Besides, we were paying them $150 bucks a month for something that we rarely use. The television is always on but it's more for background noise than it is for actual TV watching. So, in the end, and in the spirit of the new year, we gave it up! 

This does not mean that there will be no more TV watching in our house. Along with shutting off cable, we signed up for Netflix and Hulu Plus. Our son only watches certain shows and the lineup is never any good. Since he only likes one or two shows, it would be easier to stream them than to wait until they come on. He mainly watches Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles anyway. 

We'll see how long this lasts. I might have to get an antennae for the television upstairs because I like noise when I go to bed, but I think we can do without it. Goodbye cable TV, you will be (sort of) missed.

~NtsuabArt~