what to do when pain limits you exponentially

Hey there!  Well today is December 1, 2010 and my 9 year wedding anniversary to my wonderful husband Eric! He's stood not only beside me but with me through it all, and I mean ALL! Anyone who has a disease that causes daily trouble truly understands what it means to have someone be there with you through it all. He's truly a God-send!

Serena, Miranda (me), Eric, and Aleah - Taken on Sept. 21, 2010 Aleah's 3rd Birthday!

So, I'm laying here on the couch, yes I finally made it out of bed after 3 1/2 days stuck in it, and the kids are playing well together for the moment. My oldest has scrambled eggs for them to eat earlier, so that took care of their mid afternoon snack, and it was her very first time every using a stove all by herself!  She did great, and I was just in the living room and since it's an open floor plan, I was able to watch her every move. So since there is nothing pressing at the moment that I absolutely have to do right now, I am laying back on the couch writing this blog on what to do when limited exponentially by pain. 

 Well for starters, you can write your own blog! I've found that it helps me make it through days like this. Not only does it pass the time, but it allows me to have a voice when I'm just too tired to speak aloud!  I also work on photos on those days I can't get out of bed. Even a beginner photographer can have fun editing photos! A fun site is PikNik. There are a lot of freebie options that are available there and the best part is anyone can use the options without being overwhelmed!  A couple other sites that I have not used are LunaPic, BeFunky, and LoonaPix. I will probably check those out soon though. I love editing photos. It's a great pas the time kind of fun! For fun stuff I tend to use the free online stuff. But I do have a couple of photo softwares that I use for my actual photography work. Another idea for passing the time on days when you can't do more than sit or lay in bed is my current favorite thing to do... coupon! 

  Today is Wednesday which means that the store I frequent most often for grocery shopping has it's newest sales paper out. So today I'll spend some of my time cleaning out my coupon binder. 

Just a snapshot of my binder opened up. It's really heavy! I use a briefcase style binder that my husband bought for me years ago, and it never got much use until now! I made my own dividers/tabs, and I use baseball card holders to store coupons. 

I have all my coupon categories, separated and tabbed to help me find each category quickly. On the binder side that's lifted you can see where I keep my store cards and pockets for calculators, scissors or blade knife, etc. Plus there are 2 folder pockets where I keep printouts (coupons, store policy) and a folder for coupons and other things I might need.

So on a typical Wednesday I get my Publix paper ready (my favorite store as of now) and I check my favorite blogs for deals I might have missed. SouthernSavers, KrazyCouponLady, and a couple more (my main laptop power cord is dead, and due to brainfog all my favorite links are stored on the link toolbar). My first stop is always the two listed though! So I've usually already cleaned out expired coupons (not as hard as it sounds if done weekly), and I've already bought or picked up my freebie coupon inserts, clipped the coupons, and filed them. Now I'm ready to make my shopping list, pull the coupons for each item, and be ready for Friday/Saturday shopping! Right now I'm only shopping for groceries every 2 weeks. I may need a couple essentials like milk and bread before my next trip, but that's pretty much all that I need in between shopping days. And at this point I'm spending no more than $200-$250 for 2 weeks to feed 4. Not bad but I plan on doing better with each shopping trip.  This week I'm behind on everything! I haven't even clipped my coupons yet and it's already Wednesday night! So I've got a lot of catching up to do, but I still have a couple days to get ready. I've actually just been too sick to even clip the coupons this week. Usually I'm not this sick. This week has just been an extremely bad week. Usually I can at least sit in bed and get these few things accomplished even on sick days. But yeah, this week has been extremely bad for me. Today is the first day I've even left my bedroom! And I'm in a lot of pain just sitting on the sofa, but yesterday it wasn't even feasible to attempt it because of the high severity of pain! So I'm thankful that today I'm at least sitting on the sofa outside the four walls of my bedroom.
  Ok back to coupons!  I really am hoping to be able to get my shopping done this weekend. So I'll get my things together as if I'm going to be able to get things done. So after I've gotten my binder cleaned out, restocked, and my list printed or written down I simply have to go to the store! BUT I never go without my list and I stick to it unless there is an exceptionally great deal I didn't see in the papers or on the website. I also try and have more than just the typical 2 copies of papers. This way when there are BOGO deals (Publix has them EVERY week) I can stock up on a LOT! Typically I'll have anywhere from 6-10 coupons of each item, and yes that means 6-10 papers, but I only buy 2 papers each Sunday. The rest I get before closing from a gas station down the road. They allow me to go and sort through the papers as long as I keep them neat and only take the inserts. So that's freebies for me which allows me to save even more on shopping day! But I always buy 2 papers to ensure that I will at least have 1 pair of coupons for the BOGO deals. The reason for having at least 2 coupons per item for BOGO deals is because some stores allow you to use a coupon for both products. Typically this will make your BOGO deal either REALLY cheap or free+! Anyway, that's my typical preparation for a shopping trip. The first couple weeks of it was me getting used to it, then the next couple weeks were me trying to tweak the process to make it work better for me. And now, I just maintain. Which is really easy.
  Maybe the binder method isn't your cup of tea. Well don't worry as there are a couple other methods to choose from! The Krazy Coupon Lady website has a great starting to coupon advice section. and since I didn't find it until a few weeks into my coupon adventures, I'll give you a head's up and post the link here!  And here is Southern Savers beginning to coupon link!  both of those should get you going in no time!
   So I suppose this ties up my 'what to do when pain limits you exponentially' blog. Well, those things plus facebook, fancast, and netflix!  :)  That's pretty much what I do on days when I'm limited to just sitting or laying down. So until next time... Hope that maybe you find that coupons are something you might pick up doing, or that some of the other things I enjoy help you to pass the long days when you might be stuck in bed.   Talk to you soon!