I’ve shared bits and pieces, but now I’ll share how my fun and crazy life got more crazy and more fun last week.
Through a random blogging connection, I ended up on ABC World News with Diane Sawyer. It had nothing to do with this little ol’ blog. We were just the “normal” family who ABC’s tech expert, Joanna Stern, taught to use apps and technology to save at the grocery store.
There were screams of excitement in my car when I told my kids we were going to do this. Some people might be freaked out by the idea of being on national television, but my kids were not. They were thrilled.
I did my best to warn them that these things often fall through and they shouldn’t get their hopes up TOO high.
Meanwhile . . . I started cleaning.
If the totally random opportunity to do this totally fun thing had come up four years ago . . . I probably would have had to say no.
It would not have been possible to (literally) plow through the clutter in time to have the house presentable enough for an ABC producer to come in with his camera.
But after four years of this deslobification process, I only minimally used my master bedroom as a dumping ground and shoved ONE measly pile of paper into the cabinet underneath the counter where it generally resides.
And even though I had plenty to do to get ready, I didn’t shed a single tear of despair.
Really, if I didn’t have to spend the first two days painting my entryway (which I NEVER would have done if I hadn’t started that blankety-blank random project the weekend before), it might have been almost painless.
So how did the visit go?
It was fun and it was fast.
Paula (the reporter), Joanna (ABC’s tech expert), and Eric (the producer) came to my home around one o’clock. I had spent the morning getting dolled up, squeezing into my girdle, and walking through the house looking for any details I’d missed.
Within minutes of their arrival, we were looking in my fridge and pantry and talking about the challenges of saving money on groceries when you don’t have much time to spend searching for deals and coupons.
We headed to the grocery store and spent the next two hours shooting there. The plan had been to come back to the house for some cute family scenes in the yard (which meant Hubby spent Saturday mowing and trimming bushes), but rain and timing meant the rest of the family met us at the store after school.
It was such a fun experience. And I’m so glad they didn’t replace any of my children with professional actors. (You know. The way they do on every sitcom when the family ends up on TV.)
If you watch it, you’ll see that there about three shots of my house for a total of 20 seconds or less.
Some of the apps mentioned: (my referral links)
Ibotta The one where you earn on products you buy (that we’re looking at in the photo above).
Not mentioned, but a very cool app for saving:
--Nony
Congrsts Honey on being able to grab opportunity because you put in the time and consistent work when there was no opportunity.
I’d say it’s too bad you put so much work into your house for 20 seconds (or less)…but it doesn’t sound like you had much to do anyway. Plus it’s nice to be ahead sometimes. 🙂
Looks like it was a very exciting day, and the video is totally cool. I’ll have to check out some of the links because I don’t ‘do’ coupons either. I’d intended to give extreme couponing a try at one point. Got all the supplies, bought a few Sunday papers a week, clipped my little heart out…and then the paper decided the only people who would get coupons were those subscribing at least three months at a time. I don’t do backed into a corner well, so I gave that idea up immediately. But this is even better. No extra trash to worry about. No having to stay on the ball about using a coupon before it expires. The only thing I’d need to do is figure out how to use an app. Okay, so my daughter is going to figure it out for me…and then show me how to do it. 🙂
You go girl!!!!
How fun! Remember the little people. 🙂
Number One: You look amazing! And I’m super impressed that you let a news crew poke around your kitchen.
Number Two: I’m a regular reader and I’ve been in the Philippines for awhile. I wanted you to know that we are back in the states and we missed the storm. Whew. I know that you can tell where you’re readers are located. I didn’t want you to worry when your PI reader disappeared. 🙂
I’m so glad you’re okay, Amanda! Was it intentional that you left before the storm??
No. Our overseeing church leaders decided in August that they wanted to end our term early. They asked us to return home (complicated reasons). We asked to be allowed to stay until April. They were firm that we needed to return home as soon as possible. We packed up and flew out of Manila on November 5, three days before the storm hit. We were living in Tacloban, the hardest hit area. We are so thankful.
By the way, a lot of your posts about mission work were extremely encouraging to my husband and I during our work in the Philippines. Especially the talk about bugs in the food. We’ve laughed about that one a lot as we pick ants out of the rice and eat it. 🙂
(I don’t want to hijack your post. 🙂 I just know that I was checking your blog a lot for inspiration as I was packing these past few weeks. I’d hate for you to worry about a regular reader.)
I’m so glad you’re safe!!!
Very cool segment. So did you really learn anything? Or is this all stuff you knew about before? Just curious.
I was once an avid couponer, so I did know a lot. But, I had never used Ibotta even though I had it, and now I think that’s one I’ll use all the time since I understand how to use it.
I also like the sites that let you input your grocery list and they find all coupons that match. They didn’t have that when I was couponing regularly!
So you only normally spend $500 a month for groceries? I have to say that sounds really good to me! Our monthly budget is (gasp) $1150 a month. Admittedly there are 10 of us in the family, but STILL :-).
Your kitchen and refrigerator looked great, too!
Yes. I’m one of those naturally frugal people. Probably would have been a bigger difference for someone who is used to spending more!
Wow, you really brought some life to that segment. You, your family and your house looked great! Your personality just leaps off the screen too. Congratulations!
How fun, your house looked GREAT! Your family is so cute. Congrats! I have been a reader for a long time, your blog is one of my top 5 faves to read. Thanks for keeping it real. 🙂
Do you know, your house looks just like all the other ‘why can’t my house look like that’-houses on tv!
Well done 🙂 🙂
I know we’re not silly vain women who care about such things, but You looked Great!
Thank you!! And I’m totally silly and vain and live for compliments!!
Cool segment. Your kids look like they were having fun. Did you wear heals to the grocery store? LOL. That was just for TV right? I see they mentioned your blog in the article. Did your readership see a jump!
I checked out the Ibotta link but didn’t find any information to answer this question….is this app available to Canadian citizens or only US? I would love to try it.