Coupons and BIG NEWS

I just got back from our local grocery store. For the past two days they have been having triple coupon days and let me tell you that you can save big time on the triple coupon days. I know some people who have saved over $200 with their coupons. Unfortunately I am not the best coupon clipper, however, I did save $39.60 in coupons and was able to get some free stuff. Always fun saving money. Because I saved so much money, I decided to splurge and get a couple 6-pack of beers for Jim and I. And they are really good and much needed by Jim who has been stressing a bit lately about everything that has been going on.

And what has been going on? We are moving to to the Gulf Coast in Mississippi in the next few months!! It looks like he is going to get a job offer there and we are up and moving the family. We will be within an hour or two from Jim's mother, sister, and brother. That means there will be free babysitters (yahoo). And we will also be closer to my family in Michigan, which means we can easily drive there for long weekends. And Jim has been missing Mississippi a lot and it is home for him. And of course, my home is wherever he and Jack are.

Financially, it is going to be sooooo nice for us. With the equity that we have gained in this house and our previous house, we are going to be able to buy a house for cash or have a very very little mortgage. And of course, with my anal research self, I have been scouring the internet looking at houses for sale and now have a list 4 pages long of houses that I want to look at when we are there next week.

It absolutely astounds me as to what you can get there for a house in comparison to this area. In Southern Cali, you need a minimum of $500K to get into a 3-bedroom house and there in MS, you can get one for about $200K or less.

Of course, there are cons to us moving. The biggest one being, is that we are not going to see Laura on a regular basis. That is going to be really really hard on all of us. But we plan to have her fly to us for long weekends, vacations, and summers, so we will be seeing her at least every 6 weeks or so. I will also miss a lot of friends that I have made here, especially the L. Family that I have come to consider my California family. I consider Janet my sister and their kids my neice and nephew. It will be hard to move away from them. I will also miss our house. I love our house, but I do know that it is just a house and there are many many houses out there that I can love just as much. And of course the mother's playgroup that I have come to enjoy so much. I hope that I can find a playgroup that is half as good as this one here.

So things will be a bit hectic here in the Jackaroo World for the next few months. We plan on putting our house on the market right after we get back home in July. There there is the whole cleaning the house to get ready to show and doing some minor repairs (yuck). Not to mention, trying to keep the house spotless all the time for showings (double yuck). The last time we sold a house, we did it in one day with 3 offers that day. I am not so sure it will be that easy this time.

I also have going through my mind of what we are going to sell off and/or get rid of. We have a lot of junk to get rid of somehow. And doing all these things while taking care of the Jackaroo. Should be fun.