While Micah has been at school, I have been taking advantage of having only one child to unbuckle and buckle back into the car and running errands.  Yesterday, Owen and I went to the bank, where he got a sucker.  This was perfect to keep him entertained while I did some work at Walgreens.  I have several friends who coupon, and I read even more blogs of people who do.  I have decided, after looking over the budget and seeing that no costs can be cut anywhere, that this may be the only hope of saving a little money each month.  I have read, bought papers, clipped, made lists galore, and organized mountains of coupons, and the past few weeks have seen a huge savings.  I went to Kroger one day and bought $115 worth of groceries-my final bill was $68.  Today I went to Walgreens where I bought a new Venus razor, an oral B toothbrush, and a bottle of Herbal Essence shampoo.  I used coupons that I had clipped for all of it and paid $11.  But that is not the best part.  The register then spit out $9 in register rewards, which I then took and bought some deodorant and tylenol (also using coupons on these items).  I spent $11 out of my pocket and bought over $20 worth of products that we needed.  It feels really good to accomplish this task because I can't do much to help with the income, but I can sure save us some money-and a penny saved is a penny earned (or something like that).
Next we went to get Owen's haircut.  I told the sweet young girl that he was in bad need and that I would like to see the back and sides shorter.  Next thing I knew she was using the razor to shave a huge hunk off the back of his head!  I gasped, and she said "oh he is going to look so cute with a really short style."  I wanted to crawl on the floor, pick up with wad of hair, super-glue it back to his head, and run out of there.  I instead, took a deep breath, politely smiled, and told myself it would grow back.  When she finished, it looked better than I imagined, but still not my favorite.  I am sure his Uncle Drewby would be proud, as Matt claimed he looks "high and tight." Thankfully, Owen's hair grows ridiculously fast, so he should be back to a shaggy do in month or two.  When we arrived to pick up Micah, his jaw dropped.  I seriously wish I had a picture.  I then saw a lip quiver and jumped to the rescue with a laugh, claiming that Owen got a new funny haircut (saving the day and receiving a laugh back)!  In my head I was thinking that I wanted to shed a tear or two myself.  I think I am getting used to it now though.  Here is a picture-what do you think?