An introduction, and shameless plug :)

I am very honored that Kelly asked me to help with her coupon blog while she is out of town for the next couple days. Honored, and nervous as all get out! 1300 followers, compared to my measly 600? Hopefully both of our numbers increase over the next couple of days, as I would hope that some of my readers will "like" her page, and vice versa :) Here's just a little bit about myself, and how I know Kelly...

My name is Leslie and my blog is based on my experiences as a new mom to a 10 month old baby girl. And just as a heads-up, my blog isn't always as "family friendly" as Northern Illinois Couponing Moms, aka I curse. Alot. (You're welcome Kelly, didn't want to offend anyone!) but as long as I am a guest on NCIL, I vow to watch my language. Again, you're welcome Kelly. I have been working at a daycare in Davis Junction, IL for nearly 5 years now, and that is how I met Kelly. She brought her daughter to the center, and I taught her all kinds of naughty things to say and do, and I'm sure Kelly thanks me for that everyday. I really do miss having her daughter around- when you work with kids, there are some that you have instant connections with and her daughter was one of them. Kelly has become a friend to me, as well as a mentor, sounding board, teacher, and I think we have a mutual stalking situation going on- I religiously follow her couponing trips, and she is always commenting on my blog, usually something along the lines of "ahahahahaha, I so know what you mean!"

Couponing was never of interest to me until I realized that it's not just about me anymore, which was about the time I found out I was pregnant. When I was pregnant, I ate a lot of cereal. Let me re-phrase that: I should own half of Kellogg's and General Mills with the amount of cereal I ate while baking my cupcake. But I got all of the boxes super cheap, because Kelly taught me how :) And I never looked back- I'm not an extreme couponer, but I have cut my grocery bill by 50% at least, every month. But I also still consider myself to be a beginner- I make mistakes, or get home and realize I should have bought this with that coupon. Whatever...I consider any savings to be of importance, especially when I have to spend a ba-jillion dollars on diapers and formula every month. I also have to cut spending in some areas to be able to afford my hobby. And my hobby is Jason Aldean. I attend his concerts, and am a pretty big fan, to say the least...Kelly, you said I could put a picture of him up, so I am:)

(Me and Jason in Madison, WI, 2010)

Ok, enough about me. Can't wait to interact with all of you on NCIL, and let's hope it's a learning experience for me, and not a "Kelly's website is going down in flames because Leslie has no idea what she's doing" experience...