What a difference a YEAR makes!!!!

We now live in KANSAS!

My baby is a KINDERGARTENER!!!

My oldest is 10!!!  Hello "double digit" birthdays!

What a difference a year makes!  Hopefully I'll be better at keeping this up-to-date from now on.

It's SUMMER time!!!!

I can't believe it's been over a month since I've last been on here.  Honestly it kind of feels like longer.  We've had an amazing month of vacations and plain ol' fashion FUN!  I'll try to just hit the hi-lights.  Mid-June we took the kids down south for a "vacation" to Granny & Popo's.  They were every bit as excited as we were.  My in-laws live on several hundred acres out in the middle of nowhere (seriously...it's hard to even get 1 bar on a cell phone! LOL!) and my kids LOVE it!!!  They love the freedom of being able to climb trees and just explore.  They even started a "country kid's club" and "built" a tree house and everything!  I must say I can totally relate because growing up my grandparents' farm provided the same treasured past times.  It brings a smile to my face and a warmth in my heart to see them truly enjoying and exploring this beautiful earth and taking a break from the much-abused video games, movies, computers, and tv shows.  So while the kids were living the good life with the grandparents Jarred & I headed south for our annual trip to Playa del Carmen, Mexico.  I literally look forward to this week ALL year long.  I start a countdown in about October! LOL!  It's AMAZING!  We had a fabulous time, and this year was extra fun because my brother & his wife came with us as well as our long-time friends. 

All "gussied up" for dinner!  Kinda looks like a "prom picture" huh? LOL!

At the beach in Tulum (Mayan ruins).  It was beautiful!!!

Dinner again.  We sat on the steps and listened to the mariachis (sp?).  I think I got some sun! LOL!

Playing dominoes and giving our skin a break from the sun.

Toes in the water...toes in the sand!

There was a group of Texas country musicians staying at our hotel and they put on a concert in the lobby one night.  SO fun & felt just like home to hear "y'all" so much! LOL!  (Michael Thomas Riley, Darryl Dodd, Stoney La Rue & Randy Brown)

Proof that I got in the Caribbean again this year! Ha!

Doing some shopping on the 5th (the main shopping strip in Playa).

Water aerobics!  LOL!  So fun!

We went snorkeling at the world's largest natural aquarium, Xel-ha.  It was breath-taking!

And of course we had to indulge in the perfect pedicure (while the boys were out golfing).

Needless to say we had another amazing time!!!

We headed back to the states only to find that the kiddos were not quite ready to come home, so....they extended their stay and spent the next week getting to spend quality time being spoiled by their Nana while we had a little "stay-cation" at home.  It was really nice to be able to clean and organize the house and run errands without the "help" of the kids.

This summer we added in an extra vacation and booked a week in Vegas at Caesar's Palace.  It was my first time to "sin city".  We went with a couple that have quickly become some wonderful friends and boy did we have a great time and eat some delicious food!  And OH MY, the shopping and the stores!!!  We literally shopped every day until we literally dropped...the boys however went to the Shelby Corvette museum & golfed. LOL!

Doing the tourist thing!

We went to see the World Series of Poker - Main Event.  This was the first day and we were able to sit and watch the head table.  The man in the cowboy hat is Doyle Bruson.

The fountain show at the Bellagio

We got to see a real fashion runway show!  Get your bell bottoms & tie-dye out...the 70's are BACK!

I surprised my hubby with an extra-special dessert on his birthday!

We didn't come back gazillionaires, but at least we didn't lose it all!  I think when all was said and done, we lost about $100, not too bad after 5 days of gambling.   

VIVA LAS VEGAS!!!

Shopping, Shopping, Shopping.....

Amazingly enough I have actually been doing other things with my time other than shopping with coupons the past few weeks, but alas, since I try to limit my conversations about it elsewhere, it consumes my thoughts here! LOL!  I think after today's purchases I have progressed from a "novice couponer" to a "professional".  In fact, when I checked out with my groceries this afternoon and my total was $0 due, the man behind me asked when I was going to be on "that show". LOL!!! I still don't think I've gone crazy, but I suppose it could be debated.  LOL!!!  But seriously, in just this week alone I saved over $220 and averaged a savings of 70%!!!! 

This past week marked the one-month mark of my coupon experience.  I bought my first newspaper on Sunday, May 1, 2011.  I'm still in awe of how much our lives have already changed!  First of all, I decided to give myself the "extreme" challenge of attempting to cut our grocery "budget" in half.  Before May, typically I'd spend anywhere from $175-225 per week on grocery and household items.  I thought it'd be pretty darn cool if I could cut $50 or so from that, but my ultimate goal was to get it to $100/week!  Being that we are a family of 5, I'd say that's a pretty extreme goal, wouldn't you????

The past few weeks I've gotten close to the $100, but I always seems to go over by $20-30.  I mean, I was still saving money, but it was kind of like getting a B-, and being that I'm a fairly controlling, focused, determined, stubborn, Type-A kinda girl, well...that just wasn't good enough!  LOL!  That was, until this week!!!!  I did it!!! And with the help of a couple of newspapers from this past Sunday, you can too!!!

First things first, I made my grocery list.  This includes everything that I need....from butter & brown sugar, to toilet paper and toothbrushes.  Thankfully my list this week wasn't too terribly long so I had some freedom to take advantage of some of the great deals that were going on.  Yes I do grocery shop "normally", but because I am able to "stock up" on lots of staple items on sale... for the most part I've found that I only need meat and fresh produce each week.  Because my husband is traveling this week and my nephew is here on "vacation", my menu this week is VERY kid-friendly and simple.  On top of that our garden is producing like crazy so I've been able to supplement with that too!  Yea!  I'm telling you nothing beats a home-grown tomato, and tonight we're having garden-grown green beans!!!  So, without further ado, here's this week's shopping adventures and everything that I was able to score for $100!!!

This is a combination picture of a trip to CVS and a trip to Wal-greens.

CVS:

1 Liter Crest Mouthwash: on sale for $4.50, use $2 off coupon from newspaper & get $2.50 in store rewards = FREE (I got 2 of these)

Oral-B vibrating toothbrushes: on sale for $6, use $3 off coupon from newspaper & get $3 in store rewards = FREE (I got 2 of these)

Colgate toothpaste: on sale for $2.79, use 75 cent coupon from paper & get $2 store rewards = 4 cents!!!

Ban deodorant: On sale for $2.99, use 75 cent coupon from paper & get $2 in store rewards = 24 cents!!!

5 - 20 oz bottles of vitamin water: on sale 5/$5, use $1/5 coupon printed off the internet & get $2 store rewards = 40 cents each!!!

And remember that $3 reward I had left over from last week, well, I used it here! ;D

So, these purchases cost me $16.28, but I left with $17 in rewards from my purchases PLUS I earned an additional $1 reward for using my reusable grocery bag!!!  BONUS!!! 

(I actually had to go to 2 different CVS stores to get everything I wanted so I was able to use some of my rewards on my subsequent purchase, so I only had to pay out of pocket $10, and I had $11 in rewards left over.)

Walgreens:

I'm always looking for fun new hair products and since I'm sporting a new sassy, super-short hair do, when I saw this deal on Garnier Fructis products I was pumped!!

Buy 4 products for $14, get $4 register rewards (store credit).  There were 2 $1 off a Garnier product in the paper, so with 2 papers I scored a great deal. 

Purchased 4 products for $14 - 4 $1 coupons = $10 cost and I earned $4 rewards = 4 items for $6

Tide duo packs & Downy were on sale for $3.99.  I LOVE these duo packs!  They make your clothes smell great and you don't have to really treat stains!  They're a bit pricey, but this is an awesome way to get them!

If you spent $10 on certain products, you got a $3 reward.

$3.99 * 3 items (2 tide bags & 1 bottle of downy) = $11.97

I had 2 $1 coupons off the tide packs and a 50 cent coupon off the downy = $9.47, and I got a $3 reward =  $2.15 per item!!!

All detergent was on sale 2/$7 with a coupon from the store circular.  There was a $1 off coupon in the paper which made the detergent $2.50 per bottle.  I really didn't need more detergent, but seriously...that's CHEAP!!!  Cost for 2 bottles (total of 70 loads) = $5

The Gillette products are one of those deals you just can't pass up!  I've bought TONS this week, and here's why!

This week if you spend $30 on gilette products, you earn a $10 reward.  On top of that, there's a great deal on the gilette fusion razor.  Here's how it breaks down.  I had a few awesome coupons this first trip that actually made this gilette deal CrAzY cool!!!

I bought 1 razor @ $9.89

2 bottles of body wash @ $4.49 each

2 sticks of deodorant @ 4.99 each

1 can of shaving cream @ $3.50

Sub-total: $32.35

But I had a $4 coupon off the razor AND it earned me $5 rewards (it really only costs 89 cents!!)

I had a BOGO coupon for the body wash

I had a $2 off coupon for the other body wash (the one that wasn't free)

I had a BOGO coupon for the deodorant

I had a $1 off coupon for the other deodorant (the one that wasn't free)

I had a $1 off coupon for the shaving cream

Coupon value: $17.48 PLUS I earned $15 rewards

So I got all that and they PAID me 13 cents!!!!

So my total for walgreens was: $41.34, but I earned $22 in rewards

I know, I was getting nervous too....I had already spent over half my budget ($52 out of $100) and had yet to get anything off my list!!!  But wait...it's coming!

This is how this deal works with just the coupons from this Sunday's paper:

Buy 1 razor, $9.89; 1 can of shaving cream $3.50, 2 bottles of body wash $4.49 each, and one bottle of aftershave lotion $7.99 = $30.36 subtotal

Use $4 off razor coupon, $1 off shaving cream, BOGO body wash coupon, and $2 off aftershave

Cost = $18.87, AND earn $15 rewards

The gilette deal at walgreens was SO good this week, and since I had 3 papers, I scored this deal 2 more times (items pictured are only for 1 time so YES!!!, I have twice this amount PLUS the products in the top picture!  Thankfully we had plenty of room to neatly store it in it's proper place and my husband is completely taken care of in the hygiene department for a good long while!!! LOL!)

So, at this point I'd spent $10 at CVS and $76 at walgreens (I'm rounding here).

Target:

I had a couple more great vitamin water coupons, and wanted to cash in on them.  I had a buy 2 get one free for the 4 packs at Target so it was $2.79 x 3 = 8.37 - 2.79 = $5.58

The band aids were on sale for $1.68.  There was a 55 cent coupon off nexcare bandages in the Sunday paper.  Target had a $1 off coupon at http://www.target.com/ or you can tear it out from the "big honkin' deals" magazine they just sent out last week.  So $1.68 - $1 - .55 = a box of band aids for 13 cents!!!!

Because I had a $5 gift card from my sunscreen purchase last week I got all of the things in this picture for $1.30!!!! (yes, that includes tax!) 

I had some free time this afternoon so I ventured over to Wal-Mart.  I was curious to see how prices compared to what I was paying.  I found a couple of good deals while I was there.

I had a coupon for 60 cents off 3 old elpaso items from http://www.coupons.com/.  So I got all three of these things for $1.80 total.

Ever since I saw the coupon for these, I've been wanting to try them!  I finally found them at wal-mart, and they were on sale for $2.87 each.  I had two $1/1 coupons from http://www.coupons.com/ so I got them for $1.87 each!  I can't wait for breakfast in the morning!!! 

Now it was time to start using my "free money" and knocking out my grocery list!!!

First up, CVS!  I got this gianormous pack of tp, 2 tubes of super fun lip gloss and a pack of bubble gum (because I had the kids with me and felt the need to reward them!) and I didn't pay a single penny!  I just handed over some of my "reward certificates" and as a matter of fact I still have $2 in rewards left!!! Oh yeah!

After I dropped the kids off at Vacation Bible School, I stopped in at Walgreens.

Yeah, I probably didn't "need" more toothbrushes, but I wanted them, and hey, it was free!!!  I managed to get 2 bags of chips, a huge box of trash bags, 2 boxes of ziploc bags, butter, cheese slices, a bag of apples, brown sugar, face wash, more razors (because I had coupons that made them free), and a hair dryer!  My hair dryer actually just shorted out this week!  So I got a new one, and oh yeah...I didn't even pay a penny for all this stuff!!!  Whoop!  I still have $4 in rewards at Wal-greens too!!!

I also got this while I was at Walgreens.  It's on sale for $1 and you get a $1 reward so yup...it's FREE!

I had a few "real food" items I still needed, so since HEB was literally across the street I headed over.  Because I try not to leave the house without my coupons, I was able to score this french onion dip for free!  HEB had it on sale for $1.50 and then had a store coupon for 75 cents.  I also had a 75 cent manufacteur coupon = FREE!!

I managed to get everything in this post AND all my groceries for the week for a grand total of $100.72!!!  OH YEAH!!!!

Happy Shopping...or maybe I should say Happy Saving!!! 

CrAzY COOL Coupon Deals!!!

Ok!  It's official!  I'm hooked on coupons!  I LOVE it!  I feel like all this time I've been wasting money.  It just makes sense to me to help my family in any way I can.  Let's face it, a penny saved is a penny earned, and this stay-at-home momma just got a SERIOUS pay raise thanks to coupons!!!  I promised myself I wouldn't got "extreme" in the sense that I wouldn't buy anything we couldn't or wouldn't  use or donate, no matter how cheap it is or even if they "pay me" to take it out of the store.  That seems to me to be taking advantage of the situation, and honestly we don't have some gianormous closet to "stockpile" anything and I'm not willing to fill my house with anything else.  Trust me, with 3 kids, they do a fantastic job of accumulating enough junk as it is.

I must say this, I KNOW couponing isn't for everyone.  It does take a little time and organization, but in a very short amount of time I've managed to stream-line it with a few helpful resources.  If you choose to use coupons, I'll warn you of something I've learned quickly and painfully.  Only discuss coupons & deals to those that express interest to you.  I recenty had an acquaintance crush my spirit when I was told, "I don't remember anyone here asking about your coupon stories."  Yikes!  Akward. 

I confess, I am excited!!! Coupons are literally saving our family HUNDREDS of dollars!  In just a few weeks, I've saved almost $500!!!  Our family has been tremendously blessed and my husband works very hard to afford the lifestlye we live.  I don't have to use coupons.... I CHOOSE to!  It's just being fiscally responsible.  I mistakenly assumed that in the expensive day and age we find ourselves in that trying to help people save money would be a welcome thing...I mean come on, we ALL have to eat, and hopefully bathe, etc.  So.... as a result, I will limit my coupon obessive discussions to my blog and those that initiate conversations with me about it.  I'd like to think of it as a "don't ask/don't tell" philosophy.  And I am thankful she put me in my place...I think I had gone a little over to the "crazy" side!  LOL!

So, here are my deals of the week!  You still have a few days to cash in on these deals if any of them are things that are on your grocery list!

I paid a whopping $19.50 (tax included) for EVERYTHING in the picture above.  It's actually a combonation of 2 shopping trips.  One to Walgreens & one to CVS.   Here's how it breaks down:

Walgreens:

Purchase 1 bottle of Complete Contact Solution  PAY $8.

A $8 "store cash" coupon will print out with your receipt.

You can use this for ANYTHING in the store (except alcohol & tabacco products)!!!! 

This is how I spent it:

Charmin 6 pk (double roll) toilet paper - coupon in store circular $2.99

I also had a 25 cent coupon from the paper a few weeks ago.  = $2.74

Honey nut cherrios are on sale for $1.99 (no coupon needed)

I printed out a 55cent coupon off the internet

(coupon print limit reached & no longer available) = $1.44

Aluminum foil

coupon in store circular = 69 cents

The Woolite detergent is on sale for $5.99

I had a $3 coupon from the sunday paper a few weeks ago = $2.99

Add in tax and it was FREE!!!! 

YES! I paid $8 for contact solution, foil, detergent, cheerios, and toilet paper!!!

And YES, all these items were on my real list!  I like to use my "free" money to purchase stuff we actually need, not just hoard massive quantities of stuff we'll never use because it's free.

The rest of the stuff came from a trip to CVS

 (conviently located just down the street from Wal-greens)

My kids were out of body wash/shampoo, so when I saw this deal I couldn't pass it up.  I also got $3 store credit just for it being my birthday week.  I guess when I signed up for my CVS Careplus card they asked for it.  Totally worth it in my opinion!!! 

So, here's how I got the rest of the items you see.

Suave items were on sale, and if you spent $10 you got $3 in store credit.

The kid's shampoo was on sale 3 for $5.  Originally I wanted to get 6/$10, but they only had 4 so I "cleared the shelf"...that's "coupon crazy lingo" for bought all they had! LOL!  And then I got a bottle of shampoo & conditioner (also on sale for 3/$5).  I happended to have a 50 cent coupon for the deodorant so it looked like this:

6 items at $1.67 each = $10

The deodorant was on sale for $1 - 50 cent coupon = 50 cents

Total due was $10.50 and I got $3 store cash

This is how I spent my $3 birthday money and my $3 I earned from the suave products.  I also had $3 dollars from a previous week.  So I had a total of $9 store "cash"

Purex detergent is on sale for $1.98 (no coupon needed)

Puffs tissues are also on sale for 98 cents (no coupon needed)

Trident gum is on sale for 99 cents, but then they print out a 99 cent voucher = FREE!

I bought:

 2 packs of gum = $2

3 box of tissues = $3

and 2 bottles of detergent = $4

That printed out another $2 in vouchers from the gum, so I turned around and grabbed another bottle of detergent.  I didn't want to bother with coming back to the store again.  It was an easy fix.  LOL!

So, YES, here I paid $10.50 for 4 bottles of kids soap/shampoo, a bottle of shampoo & conditioner, 3 bottles of laundry detergent, 2 packs of gum & 3 boxes of kleenex.  Whoop!

When I came home and showed my husband my "loot" he encouraged me to buy another bottle of solution as he was completely out.  Might as well have an extra one on hand while it's on sale & buys my groceries for me! Yea!!! 

So here was another trip to Walgreens.  I told the cashier I wanted to pay for the contact solution & pony tail ties seperately.  The pony tail ties are on sale this week for $2 and you also get a $2 store cash voucher.  She was happy to oblige and I paid my $10.  I had the remaining items in my cart to spend my money on!

Gain & Cheer are both on sale for $4.99 each with a coupon from the store circular.  I had a $1 coupon off of each from the Sunday paper a few weeks ago.

1bottle cheer = 4.99 - 1 = 3.99

1bottle gain = 4.99 - 1 = 3.99

the marshmellows were 1.99

 (ridiculous impulse buy, but we were out and I was getting tired and "off my game". You can buy marshmellows at any grocery store for 99 cents or less!)

and the mac & cheese was on sale for 69 cents with a coupon from the circular.  You can't have your sub-total be below your store voucher value so I needed something cheap since I had a 3 cent credit.  Chloe insisted on the mac n cheese, it's her FAVORITE. 

So the second time I checked out my total due was 66 cents!!!  The lady behind me started clapping and whoo-hooing.  And before I knew it the cashier was too as well as the rest of the people in that part of the store!!!  I was embarassed, but not Chloe!!!  She just stood up and smiled and did her best princess wave to all her "fans".  LOL!!!  I'm still laughing at that memory!!!  SO Fun!  That experience left quite a memory in her head as well, because now she wants to "shop with coupons" every day!  LOL!

The next day it was time to do "real" grocery shopping.  I scored these deals at HEB.

I had a $1 off coupon for oscar meyer hot dogs (you can find it at http://www.coupons.com/ or even your local grocery store website should have a link to "coupons" and it will come up)

The all-beef hot dogs were on sale for $2.88, but for every package of hot dogs you bought, you got a FREE lunchable. 

So I paid $2.88 * 2 = $5.76 - $1 coupon = $4.76/2 packages = 2.38 per package of 10 all-beef hot dogs

AND I got 2 lunchables for FREE!!!!

So everything in this picture cost $4.76!!!

I also had a coupon for $1 off "lunchables with fruit".  These lunchables do not have a juice box.

They were on sale for $1.50 each.  I had 2 $1 off coupons so....

$1.50 - $1 = 50 CENTS per luncable.  ON TOP of that.... HEB had a coupon for free corn nuts chips for each "lunchable with fruit" purchased.  So I got all 4 items in this picture for ONE stinkin' DOLLAR!!!  Whoo Hoo!!! 

And I must side note, those corn nut chips are VERY tasty!!!  It's basically like a cool-ranch dorito with LOTS of seasoning on it!  We've already eaten one whole bag! LOL!

Since I was having to go out shopping again, before I left I checked the circular to CVS one more time to see if I could score any more deals there for things on my grocery list.  And what do you know, I DID!  Spaghetti sauce, mayo, pb, and tea bags were all ON my list.  If you bought $10 worth of certain products pictured you got $3 store credit.  All of these items were on there so I paid $10 on the nose for this stuff AND now I have a $3 store credit to go buy whatever.  I'm going to hold on to this credit this time.  It doesn't expire until the end of June.  And honestly I'm pretty stocked on laundry detergent! LOL!  

This is how it breaks down:

The spaghetti sauce is 3/$5

The peanut butter was on sale for 3/$5

The tea bags (100 count) on sale for $2  (compared to $5 at a grocery store!  I checked today!) 

and mayo  (and that's a BIG jar! LOL!) was on sale for $3

The total was $11.67, but I had coupons from this past Sunday's paper to bring it to an even $10 and there is NO tax on groceries.  Go me!!!

If your interested in coupons, I hope this gives you a better picture of how you can save and how EASY it really is!!! If you have any questions, please feel free to post a reply and I'll tell you all I can.  OR if you have a certain item(s) you want me to watch for deals for just let me know.  It's kind of like a treasure hunt, and right now I'm really enjoying it!

Happy Saving!

Going EXTREME!!!

For those that know me even the slightest little bit know that I LOVE to shop!  I can shop for anything from groceries (my personal FAVORITE) to clothes, jewelry, shoes (of course) and even plants.  However, it is certainly not what I want to define me and I honestly try to get most things on sale...oh how I LOVE a good deal!  Recently, I've tried to streamline my habits to be more beneficial and less selfish.  A couple of weeks ago I saw commercials for a television show on TLC called "Extreme Couponing".  I watched one episode and was instantly intrigued.  I am a self-proclaimed "type A" personality (i.e one of those people who enjoys organization, having things precise, and very detail-oriented...sounds terrible huh?!? LOL!).  On top of that I majored in accounting with an emphasis on audit for my college career so I love to track money and read fine print!  LOL!  I know what you're thinking,  but rest assured I know how to let my hair down and have a good time too!  I'm certainly not your typical "pencil pusher". Ha!  Anyway, after watching several episodes I decided to take the bait and give this "extreme couponing" a go.   Seriously it can't be THAT complitcated, right???? About 3 weeks ago I bought my first Sunday paper and I haven't looked back since!  I am cautiously becoming more & more familar to coupons and have yet to shop without them since this little experiment began!  It literally blows me away how easy it is and that it REALLY does work!  I remember thinking watching that first episode that those people were crazy!  I mean seriously, who buys 110 bottles of sleeping pills or 75 bottles of antacid????  I don't care if they DO pay you to take them out of the store, that just seems wrong if you're not going to use them or donate them!  I have promised myself I am NOT going to stockpile massive quantities of anything just so I can say I got it cheap, and PLEASE hold me accountable to that!  I can't imagine the complex mental issues I would develop as a "type A hoarder"!!!  LOL! 

So, here's the basics....

I started off just clipping coupons from the paper, but quickly learned that the internet is the serious jackpot!  My favorite sites are

 http://www.coupons.com/   This is a great website that is contantly changing.  You can just click on the ones you want to print & then voila, you have instant discounts.

http://www.target.com/  All these years I have LOVED Target, and I never knew they had coupons just ready & waiting for me to use.  Once you get to the site, scroll over to "see more" and click on the coupons link (on the left-hand column). 

http://www.albertsons.com/

The awesome thing about coupons from a source like target.com is one of the very first cardinal rules a couponer should know by heart!  There are 2 types of coupons: manufacturer (who made it) & store (where you buy it).  For each item you buy you can use one of each!  Yes!!!  That's right!  You can use TWO coupons for the SAME item!!!  Example: Walgreens (store) has a coupon for dawn dish soap for $1 off 1 bottle.  I have a coupon from the paper (manufacturer) for 35 cents off 1 bottle of dawn.  So if Dawn is on sale for $1.50 I can purchase it for 15 cents!!!!  $1.50 - $1 store coupon - 35 cent manufac. coupon!  Can I get a WHOO HOOO!!!!!  Yes, I do now have 2 bottles of dish soap, but I thought it was too good of a deal to pass up.

So far this is my extent of my regular sites I check.  There are LOTS of others, but I haven't tried using coupons from those sites.  I have also started signing up for lots of "fan club" type things.  I created a junk email account and use that just for sites like pillsbury.com and poptarts club, etc.  You name it, if they have a website, they have a member club and there is almost always a coupon associated with it.  That's something else I learned from the show.

My favorite stores to shop at are:

Albertsons (because they actually double & TRIPLE coupons!!!)  Coupons 35 cents and under are tripled, and coupons 36 cents - 50 cents are doubled.  So a 35 cent coupon is actually a $1.05 coupon!!!  This is where I started doing all my "real" grocery shopping because of this and they honestly do have great store specials.  The only draw-back is that if you don't have a coupon, their "everyday" prices are higher than that of the other local grocery stores.  I wish we had a Kroger, because it's the best of both worlds, awesome selection AND coupon multiplying!  Sigh, makes me miss living in the "big city".

Target - I will ALWAYS love Target, with or without coupons!  I don't really know what it is, but I just love it! LOL!

Wal-greens - they have great deals on health & some household products.  Especially with their "in store cash back bonuses".  Case in point... my son likes to use "manly body wash" now.  He really could care less what brand it is so I usually just get him what is on sale.  So, Walgreens had buy 3 bottles of Old Spice or Gilette body wash on sale for $10.  I had a $1 off 2 bottles of Old Spice body wash coupon from the Sunday paper and a $2 off 1bottle of Gilette body wash also from the paper.  On top of that Walgreens was offering a store cash back reward of $3 if you bought any 3 bottle combination.  So I got 3 full-size bottles of body wash for $10-$1 coupon - $2 coupon = $7 but then they gave me $3 in "store cash".   I grabbed 3 brownie mix boxes that were on sale for $1 each and since there is no tax on grocery items I got them for FREE by just handing over my "store cash".  The cashier said she'd never had anyone have a zero balance due!  Yea me!!!

CVS - it works exactly the same as Walgreens.  Although I will caution you to get a store rewards card here.  It is free and takes like 5 seconds.  They don't ask you for any info either.  So why not!  And you get to take advantage of all there great discounted prices that way.



So, here is my "haul" from today's shopping outing.  I went to Target & Walgreens.  I really just devoted today to shopping with coupons.  I plan to do my "normal" grocery shopping on Wednesday.  So far I've managed to consistently save about 50% on my groceries during the past 3 weeks.  Not too bad, especially for a beginner, and I gaurantee you I do NOT have a trophy "wall of toilet paper" or "room of toothpaste".

In case you can't tell, the picture above is of:
12 bottles of vitamin water (my husband drinks 1-2 every day)
3 boxes of my favorite 100 calorie breakfast crisps that I eat every morning (I am a serious creature of habit! LOL!)
2 boxes of whole wheat crackers (another favorite snack, especially with Laughing Cow cheese! YUM!)
2 boxes of nutrigrain bars (my kids love them for breakfast!)
2 boxes of granola bars
a bottle of baby shampoo (gotta love the tear-free stuff for my kids!)
and my 3 boxes of brownie mix
and 3 bottles of body wash

I got ALL of that for less than $30 TOTAL!  I have no idea how much it retails, because a lot of it was "on sale", but I literally saved $30 with coupons!  YIPEE!!!  That's enough savings to "pay" for my next pedicure! LOL!

Looking forward to my next challenge...grocery shopping on Thursday!  I'll be sure to let you know how it goes!

Happy Saving!

The prespective of a 4 year old!

Chloe & I ventured to the library for the first time today.  Not sure why I've waited so long to do it, but we clearly enjoyed ourselves and have already planned on adding it to our weekly routine.  So, on the way there we were driving on a 4 lane "farm to market" road.  Yes, if you've forgotten we live out in the COUNTRY!   Anyway, we were beside another SUV and before I knew it the woman driving the other car (who was on her cell phone) had drifted completely into my lane.  Frantically I searched for the horn and stepped on the brakes.  She just nearly missed us.  I was panicking...not so much for my own safety, but Chloe's car seat is directly behind mine and she was in harms way as well.  My protective "mother bear" guard was up.  Lost in the moment I couldn't quite make out what Chloe was chattering in the background at first.  So I said, "What was that Chloe?" and she replied, "What are you communicating Momma?" "HUH?!?"  was my first and only response.  She then went on to tell me that, "In preschool I learned that people use the horns on their cars to communicate.  What were you telling that other car Momma?"  (As she said this I happened to pass the other driver who showed me a not-so-nice hand gesture.  Keep in mind people SHE came into MY lane.)  I was in shock and remember complaining does no good...(see previous post!)...so I just said, "I was just telling her to watch out."  Little does my sweet baby know people also use their hands to "communicate" too. Ha!  As fate (rather God) would have it, both the other lady and I ended up at the library for storytime.  I refrained from making the evil-eye contact with her, not something I would have guaranteed I could/would have done prior to my fast, and managed a polite smile.  So thankful I handled that situation with a better attitude and didn't regress to vindicate myself to the other mother.  But mostly I'm thankful for the prespective of my precious 4 year old who made me laugh when I could have screamed!  Thank you Jesus for giving us grace & laughter when you know we'll need it!

"Fast" Forward!

Goodness no, I'm not referring to speeding up life in any form or fashion.  Honestly, it feels like every day goes faster than the day before as it is.  One day I'm zombie walking in the wee hours of the morning tending to a newborn and WHAM!  The next thing I know I've been married almost 12 years, I have 3 kids, moved 7 times and I'm registering my baby for pre-kindergarten, talking to my older daughter about why you shouldn't "chase boys" at recess, and buying deodorant for my pre-teen son!  Where has time gone??? 

No, what I was referring to was a spiritual fast I recently finished and how it's pushed me forward in my faith and my pursuit to be a better person and follower of Christ.  I have fasted from things before, but I have never fully embraced the purpose as I did this last time.  Our church was very liberal (not a phrase you hear to often here in the "Bible belt" LOL!) in how it encouraged people to participate.

Here is a link to the sermon from the Sunday the challenge was issued.

http://www.beltway.org/player/032011

"The "acceptable fast" is discussed in the biblical Book of Isaiah, chapter 58:3-7. In essence, it means afflict the soul through abstaining from fulfilling the needs or wants of the flesh.

‘We have fasted before you!’ they say.

‘Why aren’t you impressed?
We have been very hard on ourselves,

and you don’t even notice it!’

“I will tell you why!” I respond.

“It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves.

Even while you fast,

you keep oppressing your workers.

4 What good is fasting

when you keep on fighting and quarreling?

This kind of fasting

will never get you anywhere with me.

5 You humble yourselves

by going through the motions of penance,

bowing your heads

like reeds bending in the wind.

You dress in burlap

and cover yourselves with ashes.

Is this what you call fasting?

Do you really think this will please the Lord?

6 “No, this is the kind of fasting I want:

Free those who are wrongly imprisoned;

lighten the burden of those who work for you.

Let the oppressed go free,

and remove the chains that bind people.

7 Share your food with the hungry,

and give shelter to the homeless.

Give clothes to those who need them,

and do not hide from relatives who need your help.

New Living Translation



Basically there is complete freedom in what you fast from as long as when you abstain from it you do it solemnly and replace your desire for that earthly need for a greater desire for Him.  David does a MUCH better way of impressing this in his sermon (he truly is gifted), but for a "cliff notes" version, that's pretty much the gist of it.  After a lot of praying and seeking, I felt led to fast complaining.  Yes, I know it sounds so minimal.  But in my life lately I've become very free with issuing my "opinion" on everything wether it's asked for or not, and especially when it's not good.  I'm usually a fairly positive person, but in the past few months I've been attacked in several ways that have caused me to have a very negative & insecure outlook on a lot of things.  Not exactly who I want to be.  I knew God would show me plenty durning this 21 day period and I was more than willing to learn.  And furthermore, it clearly states in the Bible that complaining is something we should NOT do. Do everything without complaining and arguing.  Philippians 2:14

Almost immediately I was tested.  And I confess the first few days I was tempted to find ways around it by "informing" Jarred, my mom or kids about something that had happened that I didn't like or was upset about.  I was convicted of this, asked for forgiveness and continued to seek Him.  I was brought up in the lutheran ELCA denomination and there is a song that we would sing every Sunday based on Psalm 51.  God placed this song on my heart during this time and it was my heart's cry when I would find myself tempted.

"Create in me a clean heart O God and renew a right spirit within me.  Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.  Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with your free Spirit."

 

Not ironically it was the basis for the first devotion during the 21 day fast that the church had provided.  Again, I LOVE how God works.  Always having the perfect puzzle piece to fill us and meet us where we need Him. 

 

So, "fast forward" (I'm so witty I know! LOL!) to Easter Sunday.  The completion of the 21 days.  I had survived after being tested daily, hourly, and sometimes relentlessly; and honestly I felt renewed, restored, and refocused.  What a blessing!  Thank you Jesus!  But the enemy was NOT going to give up.  Our Easter Sunday was plagued with the dreaded stomach virus, tornados, and record braking baseball-sized hail.  However, it was also full of quiet, uninterruped quality family time that I'll always treasure and some much needed rain.  We found other ways to worship Him in our home by making resurrection rolls for breakfast and doing the resurrection eggs with the kiddos.  We made the most of it and I managed to keep my chin up and my mouth shut. 

 

Excited about seeking more of Him and "fast" forwarding my life in new ways very soon!

 

Blessings!