So, I found that if you sign up here you will get a $1 off coupon each week for the next four weeks emailed to you. This will make for some free tuna if you hit Target soon and free or next to free at other stores if paired with a sale.
Check it out… great deal!
I think this is going to be my new motto! Who is it from… Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts??? I don’t know, but I think it’s one of them. I am going to adopt this motto and apply it to my life. I am going to go ahead and prepare for anything that I can so I don’t fall behind or get a curve ball thrown that I can’t handle.
Coming up first we have Halloween… girls already have their costumes and we have candy to pass out. Done!
Next, we have hubs’ birthday… completely not prepared and don’t know what to get him. I will have to figure this out quick as I have less than two weeks to get it done. I don’t know what to get him as a present and I know we’re going to out to dinner with his family that night, but think I might take him out the night before. I won a gift certificate from work for dinner at a nice restaurant for $50 and I have the certificate for the free chocolate dipped fruit from Edible Arrangements… maybe dinner for us and the fruit with some wine. Anyone have gift ideas, let me know!
Then, oldest’s birthday and she wants a sleep over… need to get out invitations and plan all that. Maybe this weekend??
You also have Christmas coming up which is huge, so will need to get started on buying presents. Maybe I can convince the hubs that we should start shopping this weekend to get some of it out of the way. I have been taking out money each week for our Christmas fund so we have the money to do it. Then, I can go ahead and have some presents to put under the tree once we get that up on Thanksgiving! That would be nice. Also need to get all stuff down from attic so we can make sure we have all we need. Last year we did a real tree… I didn’t remember to water it all the time, so maybe not a good idea this year.
School… already on the wagon getting that stuff ready. Have a placement test this weekend. Financial aid doesn’t have an update for me yet so don’t know if I have to pay for it or not. That would be nice to know. Registration is next week so need to figure out what classes I’m going to take too.
Looks to me like I have a nice to do list shaping up for everything.
I FOUND THE .50 OFF BEEF COUPON!!! It’s good at whatever store you choose it for. I chose mine for Kroger, so it printed off a .50 off ground beef purchase at Kroger. This is how you do it… it took all of about thirty seconds… go to this website here. Fill in the information it asks of you. The last field it will ask you for a code… A23568. Make sure to check the box to the right that you are 18 years old and then choose the store from the list. Whatever store you choose is going to be the only store the coupon is good for, so choose carefully. Also, this comes to you as a PDF file and you can print multiple times. You can even go back and do it all over again and choose for a different store!
Happy beef hunting!
From the posts that I’ve seen online today… Wal-Mart has a special for one pound of 80/20 ground beef for $1.25. Evidently there are also some .50/1 coupons (Cargill) floating around so this would make the beef .75/lb. There may be a limit of one per customer, but I might just go in and get one, make hubs get one, while he’s standing in line I will go get another and then he can get one more. That way we can get four of them to help with my precooking meals.
Whilst I was pondering the loads of pre-cooking that I would love to accomplish before heading back to school I started thinking of all the easy things I could pre-make and freeze and what meats would help me accomplish a lot of this. One of the first things I started thinking about was ground turkey and all the things I could do with that…
Meat Loaf
Meat Balls
Burgers (premake the patties)
Brown the meat for spaghetti, hamburger helper, etc.
Soups
And endless casserole possibilities!
What is one thing I can’t live without when making purchases… coupons. I started looking for coupons online that could help me stock up on meats and such to accomplish my goals, so here are the ones I stumbled across today. Don’t forget to print them twice by hitting your back button!
.75 off one package of Butterball ground turkey
Shady Brook Farms – you can sign up on their website and create your own recipe box (which I need new recipes) and you can opt to have valuable coupons and special offers sent to you. Of course I opted for that. Haven’t received any coupons yet, but have my fingers crossed… go here for that.
OK, so now that I’ve run out of turkey deals to sign up for I searched on for ground chicken. I came up empty on that one! (sorry)
BUT I did find one for ground beef… Laura’s Lean Beef product. Go here and look at the bottom left hand corner. If you put your information in there you will automatically be able to print a coupon for $1.00 off any Laura’s Lean Beef product.
I think I am going to spend my lunch today running around and grabbing some great deals.
Here is my lunch “schedule” since I have to do most of my stopping in to stores JUST for deals during my lunch breaks. Much easier and quicker without two children in tow.
First stop… Target
More .29 each Degree deodorant and body spray (will get two more of each)
Bumble Bee Tuna -- $1.00 each with $1.00 coupon = free
Hormel Compleats -- $1.89 - $2/1 cpn from All You (October) = free
Reach Dental Flass -- $1.02 - $1 cpn = .02 each
Honey Bunches of Oats Pecan Bunches -- $2.24 - $2 cpn = .24 each
Second stop… Walgreens
I have $11 in RR so I’m going to try and roll those over…
2 x Breeze Glucose Meter -- $14.99 – 2 x $30/1 cpn = free plus $5 RR
Dove Bar Soap -- $.99 with in ad coupon - $1 cpn = free
Buy 4 cartons Quaker 1 min Oats at $3.19 ea, use the BOGO in ad coupon (takes off price of two cartons of oats), then use with 2 x $1.25/2 cpn = $3.88 OOP plus $5 RR (free after RR)
I’m sure I will get more stuff, but haven’t looked completely through the ad, but know I will be getting the above.
Did you know that the Baby Einstein movies won’t make your baby any smarter? (SURPRISE!!)
If you go here you can check out all the details. They will refund $15.99 per movie, up to four per address. They also give you the opportunity to trade in for books or get a discount on something else. I am going to opt for the refund! I have about seven or eight. I am going to turn in four and my mother in law is going to do the other four. That’s $63.96 per four movies that you get refunded.
It takes a while to get it back, but if your children are pass that age of watching these movies I would turn them in for the refund!
OK, I’m looking at my receipt where I purchased the two Degree Fine Fragrance items from Target on lunch today. Tell me if you decipher this like I do…
Degree $3.29
Mfr Cpn $1.50-
Refund Value $1.79
Degree $3.29
Mfr Cpn $1.50-
Refund Value $1.79
Package Subtotal $6.58
Target Coupon $3.00-
Package Total $3.58
So the way I’m reading this… I paid .29 each, but if I refund it I get $1.79 each back. If I returned them I would get $3.58 back and I only spent .58 OOP, so I would make $3.00 for purchasing this and then taking it back??
Does this make sense? I would love for this to be true and I would go do this a few more times, but seriously… have you run across this before??
If you haven’t read by now, I am trying to stock up on all the stuff I can before I head back to school. Mainly toiletries, paper products, laundry stuff, cleaning supplies, etc. Those are the things that if you run out of, regardless of where your budget stands, you still have to buy it. I don’t know of too many people who would say to their spouse “Sorry honey. We can’t get any more toilet paper this week because we don’t have any money left in the grocery budget.” My husband would look at me like I’m crazy and ask “We still have money in the bank, right?” and of course my response would be yes since we’re living completely according to our budget. He would promptly stomp out of the house (after using some baby wipes) and go to the store and by himself and our girls some TP and leave me to drip dry. This same scenario could be applied to laundry detergent… no honey, we don’t have any clean clothes because we have run out of money in the grocery fund to be able to buy anything else this week. Sorry, you must wait until next week when the fund replenishes itself… YEAH RIGHT! We do live in the real world!
So, I am looking for all the cheap stuff I can get. Like that is anything new? No, not really, but I’m not looking to just have one or two back up of everything… I want a six month supply! That being said, here is a good deal on deodorant for her!
Target…
Buy 1 Degree for Women Fine Fragrance Deodorant at $3.29
Buy 1 Degree for Women Fine Fragrance Body Mist at $3.29
Use 1 $3/2 Target coupon here
Use 2 $1.50/1 manufacturer's coupons here (make sure to hit the back button three times so it will print the second time)
$0.29 each after coupons
You can’t really beat that deal. I’m sure you could as I got three free things of Sure deodorant this week, but I’m talking about for some “good” toiletries that you’ll love to use, not just use because that’s all you have left.
I’m thinking of applying some of this same energy to getting “manly” toiletries for my nephews for Christmas. There is nothing better than getting a basket full of goodies to sift through!
Oh and I will be heading back to Walgreens this weekend (Saturday) to get more TP for cheap.
I did get a $50 Wal-Mart gift card from my bank for having so many points and I’m thinking about using that towards my six month supply goal, but then again I might just apply it to cheap Christmas presents goal and get for multiple people.
I still have to figure out what we are going to do with any surplus that is left in our Christmas fund after we’re done shopping! Maybe that will go towards my six month supply goal, but what fun would that be? For me that would be a lot of fun, but my husband doesn’t get as excited about this stuff as I do.
Only one week left of the HP $50 printer trade in promotion! Here is the deal on this…
You take in your old printer and if you buy one of the participating HP printers then you INSTANTLY get $50 off the printer. You don’t have to wait to mail anything in, rebate to come in the mail, tracking it to make sure you don’t forget it, etc.
You can also do this online, but if you do it online then you will have to do the happy paper trail mentioned above. It’s definitely a great deal and if you are anything like me and have to get a new printer because the scanner portion of your all in one thing isn’t compatible with Windows Vista.
This is my next “big” purchase. Just don’t know when yet!
So, I ventured out to Walgreens during lunch today and ended up making money on my trip!
1st Transaction…
Zantac 150 $8.99
$9 RR back
Halls Refreshers $1.00
.50 coupon from tear pad (but did see .35 cpn in paper)
$1 RR back
OOP = $5.26
RR earned = $10.00
$$ “made” = $4.74
2nd Transaction
3 x Quilted Northern TP 9 roll $3.99 ea (sale)
3 x $1 man cpn from paper (or you can try the printable one)
Chapstick $2.99
$3 RR back
Total (after coupons) = $11.96
Used $9 RR from above
OOP = $4.12
RR earned = $3
$$ “spent” = $1.12
All in all I don’t think I did too bad. I spent $9.38 OOP of ended up with $4 RR when I left (since I earned and used the $9 RR in the same trip). When you add up the OOP and RR left, I spent $5.38 but I ended up with a lot of TP! I have $4 RR from today and $7 from a previous trip, so I still have $11 RR to spend.
To go along with my six month stock up goal on all non perishables I think I might go back and get some more TP.
4 x Quilted Northern TP 9 Roll $3.99 ea = $15.96
2 x $1 printable coupons = ($2.00)
Total = $13.96
Tax 7.75% = $1.24
Total = $15.20
RR = $11.00
OOP = $4.20
Next… my list of what I want to stock up on and my “guesstimates” on how much I think I’ll need to last me six months. I might have to add a few shelves in the garage or at the VERY top of our linen closets to pack all this stuff in the house!
CVS has a promo code for 15% off all collage prints and gifts. 15COLLAGE is the promo code. This will take 15% off your collage total for the order. If you were thinking about doing anything like this for Christmas gifts… go ahead and order now to get the discount instead of waiting until last minute and paying full price!
$1/2 Hellman’s products 22 oz or larger
Also on the same page you can enter to win a $250 grocery gift card when you “swap n share” on Facebook.
Target coupon generator (you can print unlimited number of coupons and pair with manufacturer coupons for great deals)
I will post more later as I have time to seek out ones that I need, but this is the short version so far.
Here are the specials starting tomorrow and running for the next week. Hope this helps! (Hint… you can copy and paste into a word document and take out the items that you are not going to get. OR you can cut and paste into an excel spreadsheet and make formulas to match up with coupons to give you the total cost)
E-VIC Special:
9-12 oz.
Weekly Spotlight:
2 lb. bag 21-30 ct. EZ Peel White Shrimp B1G2, limit 6 bags
Meal of the Week:
16 oz. HT Ground Italian Sausage
16 oz. HT Lasagna
26 oz. HT Pasta Sauce
15 oz. HT Ricotta Cheese
8 oz. HT Mozzarella Cheese
16 oz. HT Garlic Bread
6 oz. HT Shredded Parmesan
$9.99
Footlong Subs $3.99 each all week long. Earn 2 Sub Club points with purchase.
B2G3:
14.5-15.25 oz. HT Canned Veggies (select varieties corn, peas, green beans), must buy 2 to get 3 free, limit 10
Mystic Pizza, must buy 2 to get 3 free, no limit listed in ad
BOGO:
Millstone Coffee
Progresso Soup
Breyers Ice Cream
17-20 lb. Purina Dog or Puppy Chow
Jumbo Cantaloupe
Coke 6 pack bottles
HT small pack Boneless Chicken Breast
Sargento Shredded Cheese
HT Reserve Angus Beef Boneless Top Round, London Broil, or Top Round Roast
Italian Style Pork Sausage
Hormel 1.5 lb. Extra Lean Boneless Smoked Ham
HT Boneless Marinated
OM Beef
Ht Rawhide Dog Chips
30-300 ct. HT Vitamins
HT Latex Gloves
Mott's Apple Juice, 64 oz.
Prego Pasta Sauce
College Inn Broth
Emerald Nuts 10-11 oz.
Libby's 20 oz. Pineapple
Sun Crystals 50 ct.
Keebler Deluxe Graham Cookies
Chinet 200 ct. Napkins
Hershey's Miniatures, assorted sizes
Life Savers 6.25 oz. bag
Tiger Thai Tempura Shrimp
Jose Ole Taquitos
Pictsweet 28 oz. Green Peas
Buitoni 4 Cheese Ravioli
Duncan Hines Cake Mix
Emerald Whole Cashews
La
Meats/Packaged Meats/Seafood:
HT 18-22 lb. Previously Frozen Tom Turkey 0.89/lb
HT Lean Ground Beef Seasoned Meatloaf or Meatballs 4.49/lb
HT Filet Mignon 9.99/lb
Angus Filet Mignon 10.99/lb
Angus Beef Flank Steak 6.99/lb
Hormel Black Label Bacon 3.99
Coleman Organic Tenders or Chicken Strips 5.99
HT Sliced Lunchmeat 2/$5
Hormel Pepperoni 2/$6
Hormel Naturals Fully Cooked Chicken Strips 2/$5
Carl Buddig Lunchmeat 2/$6
MBA Smart Organic Whole Fryer 2.99/lb
John Morell Sausage 2/$5
Johnsonville Grilling Links 3.99
Tuna Steaks 9.99/lb
Flounder Fillets 7.99/lb
Steamer Clams 5.99/lb
Spicy Pecan Salmon Fillets 9.99/lb
TransOcean Deluxe Chunks or Legs 2/$6
Tilapia Fillets 5.99/lb
Grouper Fillets 9.99/lb
Dietz and Watson Homestyle
Virginia Ham 4.99/lb
Deep Fried
Produce:
Pumpkins, large 3.99
Hard Squash 0.99/lb
Ornamental Gourds or Pumpkins 2/$1
Pie Pumpkins 2/$3
Tomatoes 1.79/lb
Seedless Red Grapes 2.79/lb
Large Red Onions 1.29/lb
Cored Gold Pineapple 4.49
Asparagus 2.99/lb
Strawberries 2/$7 (1 lb)
Dole Gold Pineapple 3.99
Apio Cut Veggies 2/$4
Fresh Express Salad Mix 2/$5
Beverages:
Coke 12 packs 2/$9, buy 2 12 packs for $9 in a single transaction and get a 50 oz. twin pack free. Expires 10/27.
Dasani 6 pack 2.89
Powerade 8 pack 5.69
Fuze 6 pack 5.99
Propel 6 pack 2/$6
7 Up or Diet 7 Up 12 pack 3/$10
Starbucks Frap. 4 pack 5.99
Sobe 5/$5
Lipton Tea jug 2.99
Gatorade 8 pack 5.49
Refrigerated/Dairy/Frozen:
Bob Evans Sides 2/$6
Tyson All Natural Chicken Tenders 25.5 oz. 5.99
Contessa Sesame Chicken Meal 5.99
Pillsbury Toaster Strudel 2.$4
Stouffer's Party Size Lasagna 9.99
Yoplait Yogurt 10/$5
Kraft Chunk Cheese 2/$5
Ht String Cheese 5.99
Dannon Activia 8 ct. 3.99
Land O Lakes Butter Quarters 2/$5
Breakstone's Sour Cream 16 oz. 2/$3
Amy's Breakfast Burrito 2/$5
Earthbound Farm Salad Mix 2/$7
Healthy Choice or Marie Callendar's Meals 2.97
Kraft Cheese Cubes and Deli Fresh Cheese 2/$5
Kraft Mayo 2/$5
Kraft Shredded Cheese 2/$4
Birds Eye Steamfresh meals for 2 5.99
TGI Friday's Cheddar and Bacon Skins 2/$6
Blue Bunny Champs 3/$10
Morningstar Farms Grillers 2/$6
Alouette Feta 2.99
Provolone Cheese (deli) 5.99/lb
Special K
Purchase any 5 Kellogg's Special K products in a single transaction with VIC card and save an additional $5. Limit one reward per transaction. No cash back. Mix or match.
All Special K Cereals 12-14 oz. 2/$5
All Special K Bars & Bliss Bars 3.8-4.86 oz. 2/$5
Special K K20 Protein Water Mix 2/$6
All Special K Protein Snack Bars 3.8-4.86 oz. 2/$8
All Special K Crackers 8 oz. 3.19
All Special K Protein Meal Bars and Shakes 2/$10
Other Foods:
HT Peanuts 2/$3.29
HT Instant Oatmeal 2/$3.75
HT Chicken Broth 2/$2.75
HT Graham Crackers 1.97
HT Kettle Chips 2/$5
HT Italian Sodas 2/$5
HT Rich n'Crisp Crackers 1.97
Kellogg's Special K Cereal 2/$5
Chicken of the Sea 5 oz. 4/$5
Keebler Zesta Crackers 2/$5
Chex Snack Mix 2/$5
Barilla Penne Pasta 5/$5
Kellogg's Raisin Bran or Frosted Flakes 2/$7
Quaker Grits 2/$3
Cheetos or Fritos 1.88
Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix 5/$2
Keebler Town House Crackers 2/$5
Arnold Palmer 10 ct. box tea/lemonade stix 2/$5
Uncle Ben's COuntry Inn Rice 5/$5
Mars Fun Size Candy 2/$4
Kraft Caramels 2/$4
HT Naturals Organic Rice 4.99
Honey Maid Graham Crackers 2/$7
Oreos 2.99
Nabisco Fig
Hidden Valley Ranch 2/$7
Rothbury Farms Croutons 4/$5
Heinz Ketchup 2/$5
Minute RTS Rice 3/$5
Bush's Best Beans 3/$5
Pepito Flour Tortillas 1.99
HT Bread 0.99
Red Velvet or Fudge Cakes 8.99
Apple, Cherry, or Blueberry Pies 3.99
Garlic Cheese Tear and Share Bread 3.99
Non-Food:
HT Aluminum Foil 50-75 sq. ft. 2/$3.99
HT Fabric Softener Sheets 2/$4.69
Top Care 36 ct. Nasal
HT Your Home
50 oz. Laundry Detergent 3.97
3-5 ct. HT Storage Containers 2.27
Sylvania Lighting, full line 20% off
Megaware Cast Aluminum Cookware, final week, all items on sale
4 ct. Disposable Sensor 3 or Daisy Gillette Razors 4.99
Pumpkin Masters Carving Kit 4.99
40-50 ct. Aleve 5.99
Nivea SKin Care or Nivea for Men 25% off
Herbal Essences 2/$5
Scott 12 rolls bathroom tissue or 4 long lasting rolls paper towels 7.99
Luvs Jumbo Packs 6.99
Glad Tall Kitchen Bags 12-22 ct.3.99
Scotties Family Facial Tissue 264 ct. 1.59
Wet Ones 1.99
Tailgate at Home Sweepstakes: use your VIC card from 9/30-11/3 and be automatically entered to win your own private tailgate celebration. Receive 5 bonus entries when you purchase brands listed on this page in ad. Valid in NC and SC stores only. Grand prize: 5 winners Kingsford Grill and $500 in HT gift cards. First Prize: 20 winners, $100 in HT gift cards. Second Prize: 20 winners. $50 in Panther Store gift cards.
I have started my lists on who has what sales and match ups for the week, but haven’t finished compiling my list. I will once I am home from work this evening and can dedicate a bit of time to it.
I have made a huge decision. I am going back to school. I have filled out all financial aid paperwork and have submitted to the local community college and have turned in all necessary paperwork they need in order to get the ball rolling. I called to check on the status and was told it could take 8-10 weeks but that I could continue with enrolling. My tuition will be “put on hold” until the status of my financial aid is determined. I also found that by going for Business Administration all classes but two are online and that is a huge plus for me.
I am going to have to learn how to manage my time better. I will be working full time, a full time school load, two kids, dance class, Gymboree, taking care of the house, couponing and shopping for cheap and all that my “normal” life entails. I will definitely have to figure out what is worth my time as far as shopping and keeping within my budget. I may not find all the greatest deals and we may not have as big of a stock of back up because I won’t have the time to dedicate to finding all the deals and running out on lunch and getting them, BUT we will not parish from starvation. I may have to buy us all more underwear so we never have to worry about wearing dirty ones and we may go to a “two day rule” on jeans but it will get done! Somehow, some way it will all get done.
I have decided that for the time being I am going to work on being a morning person because there is a lot of time in the morning that I can get things done while the girls are asleep so that is my goal for now because that is something I can do now in order to prepare for this period of two years that I will not have any extra time. Also, I am going to be doing some research on meals that freeze well, so if you have any… pass them my way. I will be making a “freezer cookbook” for this time period. I will have to set aside a day every two weeks to try and cook enough for the next two weeks. I can make all kinds of things, precook meats to make simple meals easier and all that good stuff.
Have any pointers?
This is the perfect example of why I now believe so strongly in rain checks. I got three things of peanut butter for .03 total!
Jif Omega 3 peanut butter when on sale a few weeks ago for .99. They ran out so I got a rain check for them. They don’t expire and at some point I figured there would be a coupon come out that during either the normal double coupon or during a triple coupon promotion that I could get this peanut butter for free or next to it.
Jif Omega 3 peanut butter is normally priced at $3.29 at my local Harris Teeter. This would have been $9.87 and since I only paid .03 for all three, this was a savings of $9.84. How awesome is that!
Not to mention that I got six things of peanut butter from Target for extremely cheap last week but who couldn’t use more? It keeps forever and is great for when we get an ice storm and the power goes out. At least we won’t parish during those few hours we can’t use the stove or microwave!!
I found some great deals this weekend! Some I didn’t find until AFTER I went through this Sunday’s paper because I won’t use those coupons until next weekend (unless I run across a killer sale or a drug store).
Wal-Mart – my local Wally World will not take internet coupons. I have printed off their corporate site their policy and to no avail, they will never take my internet coupons. Then, this weekend while I’m returning something the hubs bought in the wrong size (2XL versus Med… who would have thought there’d be a difference???)… anyways, the CSR lady who did my return also came to help the cashier when I checked out because their register wouldn’t take a coupon for some reason. I said something about how I wish they would take internet coupons and she said they do as long as they are in color. I have now come in to work today and set my printer preferences so it will print in color (it also copies in color… ssshhh!)
Then, I had my first rain check from Harris Teeter really pay off! I have a rain check for Jif Omega 3 peanut butter for .99 and this Sunday’s paper had a .55/1 coupon in it. Not like I didn’t stock up on enough peanut butter last week (six from Target), but I have a hard time passing up free stuff. I will be headed to Harris Teeter this week to get my free PB.
Walgreens has some good deals this week. I’m about to take my lunch break and go. I will let you know how it turned out upon my return!!
Have a great day!
Go here to print off .25 coupons for Pepsi, Sobe Lifewater and Dole juice. Don’t forget to hit your back button three times so you can get two of each. I read the small print on the coupon and the coupon is good for 20 oz Pepsi products as well so make sure you read it thoroughly before getting to the check out line.
Better yet, wait for Pepsi to go on sale for $1 and if they are out, get a rain check. Then, cash in your rain check when triple coupons roll back around and get a 2L for .25!
Learn to play the game to save all you can!
I have finally learned the joy of All You magazine. I have been looking for it and couldn’t find it. It is only at Walmart but still, I couldn’t find it. A friend picked it up for me and wow… tons of coupons! I thought about ordering a subscription of it when the “Get 12 issues each just $2.24” card fell out but instead I went onto their website (allyou.com) because it said there were coupons online. I go there and it has a little box on there to click to get a “free trial”. Come to find out I can get two free magazines and then the other ten for $19.90. That comes out to $1.66 per issue. That is a savings of $6.98 and every little bit helps, right? If you would like to check it out, go here and then look at the top right hand of the page and click on free trial.
Go here to check out the coupons. This is “run” by coupons.com BUT they have some All You exclusive coupons on there. They have the .50 off Starkist tuna pouch which could result in some cheap or free tuna when paired with a sale and either double or triple coupons. There is also ones for Scott brand toilet paper and paper towels. If you’ve never used their extra soft toilet paper I definitely recommend it. When I think Scott tissue I think thin and horrible, but their extra soft is GREAT and I’m a TP snob. There is a special attached to this coupon when you print it out to get more Scott brand coupons. If you buy two different Scott products (toilet paper, paper towels, tissues, napkins, etc.) then you will get a $2 off Scott brand coupon by email. I might have to try the paper towels now just so I can get the reward and we need paper towels anyways.
Regardless, check out All You magazine. It’s definitely worth the purchase as there are a ton of great articles and coupons!
I completely forgot to mention why I got so much of everything. Now that I have a surplus in my grocery budget (yes, took some hard work, but I have “extra”) I have decided that it is now time to work on getting back ups of everything. I am starting with laundry stuff, cleaning supplies and toiletries. My goal for right now is six months of back up for each category.
Right now I think I have enough tooth paste for a year, enough fabric softener for about four months (hopefully longer), dryer sheets for about six months and I think that’s it. I would LOVE to get an abundance of paper products (toilet paper and paper towels) because that always seems to be expensive. Granted, I buy when on sale and with a coupon, but I need to get better at it. Maybe learning the CVS game will help me.
I am going this weekend to use the rest of my RR at Walgreens to get things we need and then will attempt the CVS game. I don’t think I’m “done” with the Walgreens one but CVS seems to have more deals for what I need right now.
OH… speaking of Walgreens… if you have the All You Magazine Issue 10 October 23, 2009 (has caramel apples on the front) there is a coupon inside for Buy one get one free on Rimmel cosmetics. These will be B1G1 free at Walgreens Saturday only from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. I suggest you head on over and get that this weekend!
During lunch I went to Target yet again. I bought three big bottles of Snuggle fabric softener, a box of Snuggle dryer sheets and six jars of Skippy peanut butter for a grand total of $9.16! I love getting deals like that. Snuggle is on sale (softener and dryer sheets) for $3.99 each and there was a $3.00 coupon in this past Sunday’s paper. I’m pretty sure it was in the Red Plum insert. On the back of the Snuggle coupon page is a .40 coupon off Skippy. Skippy is on sale for $2.04 so I stacked the .40 coupon with a Target $1.00 coupon off Skippy so that made it .64 each. My hubs was just telling me three days ago we were out of peanut butter. Well babe, guess what… not any more!!!
Here is the link to the Target printable coupons. There is no print limit on them and target does not have a coupon quantity limit. Check out the coupons here and then you can go here to see Target’s coupon policy which is finally available. I suggest you print and put this page in your coupon “thing” (whatever you use) so you have it with you should anyone ever give you any grief.
This weekend I will be trying to post an abundance of great information and will post more on my coupon book and how it works for me.
Have a great day!!
I have set some more goals for myself. I am bad at keeping up with them (like taking two classes this year and doing the shutterfly books for the “year in review”) but I think these I will keep up with.
I want to do a book on how to coupon shop and how to keep within a grocery budget. It’s not going to be super long by any stretch of the imagination, but as time goes by I can always add more.
I also would like to post an ad to teach people how to shop with coupons, live within their set grocery budget, how to get their coupon book set up and more importantly… how to keep up with it!
I think I need to get a little instruction type booklet done before I advertise to teach other people how to do what I’ve accomplished over the past year. I haven’t been doing it for ages, but I am now mad at myself for not having done it sooner. I will start on the book this evening, maybe tomorrow… OH, here it comes… the procrastinator! I will fit this in and get started on it over the weekend and hopefully have a lot of it done. I’m hoping to have the book done, put in PDF format and have a nice little e-Book going.
Forgot to tell you about my other shopping trip yesterday to Walgreen’s!
I spent out of pocket… $3.29 and bought the following… 4 cans Campbell’s chicken noodle soup (.50 each with in ad coupon and stacked with 2x$1/2 man. Coupons = FREE), 3 cans of Swanson chicken broth (.69 ea with in ad coupon and stacked with .40/3 manufacturer cpn = $1.67), three boxes Fiber One bars with two bars each (cost $1.43 each and used .40/1 and $1.00/2 = $2.89 or .96/box), Nivea post shaving balm (6.99, no special but hubs had to have), 2 packs of Trident Layers gum ($2/2 and earned $1 RR)… I put a lot of RR’s on this order and only spent $3.29 for all of that. I’m quite happy with that considering that hubs’ shave balm is $6.99 alone so I took the money for this purchase out of the “toiletry” fund.
Also, I have a surplus in my grocery fund! Two weeks ago I took out my $40 in cash. Last week’s $40 I didn’t take out until this week since I was gone for the weekend, so that was $80 total. I spent $5.00 at the grocery store on eggs, provolone cheese and toothpicks to round out what we needed to complete our menu for the week. Then, I spent $2.60 at Target on the two big things of Snuggle fabric softener. Last night I spent $2.34 at Kroger (see below for that breakdown). I have $70 in my grocery fund right this minute and will be taking out another $40 tomorrow! That means I will have $110 in my grocery fund.
Kroger = $2.34
2 colgate toothpaste = free (on sale $1, have $1/1 coupon)
Tyson fajita chicken strips = clearance $1.69- .55 cpn = $1.14
½ gallon whole milk = clearance .99 (date on it is today, but baby will have gone in two days or I will bake)
Now I have a question… I noticed one of the other blogs I read that the lady freezes milk she finds on clearance and uses it when she bakes and stuff, but my question is… don’t liquids expand when you freeze them?
I think I have been overly ambitious on my to do list for this week. Even though it’s not that long I just can’t seem to get it all done. I think we all have weeks like that and this week is most definitely mine. Since my trip this weekend with my friend and her two children wore me slam out and then I didn’t get home from our trip until 5:00 p.m. Sunday only to realize that since I wasn’t driving my car I didn’t have my garage door opener or my keys! Yep… locked out of the house! We had our windows open so much last week because of the gorgeous weather so I thought that there had to be one window unlocked because we never lock them (yes, I know that is smart). I walk around the house peeking into the windows and hoping that I found one unlocked. Do you think that happened? NOPE!
I ended up calling my mother in law to come let me into my own house. While I was waiting on her I was unpacking her MDX that I drove (needed the third row since transporting four children and two adults) I realized that I need to find a good place to hide a key around the house. If you have any suggestions, please let me know!
Well, we finally get IN the house and all is well. The baby still wants to nap so I lie her down, the eldest wants to watch her shows (Noggin) and play and wow… I realize how much of a mess our house is. There are no dirty dishes and grime around, but just the clutter from being neglected from trying to get everyone packed (hubs went to Chicago with his dad so we were all gone this weekend) that I didn’t do my normal declutter and wipe down that I do on Friday nights and you could tell! Not to mention that the house didn’t get it’s weekly scrub down that Saturday either.
It was worth it to overlook those things to have some time with my girls, but wow… it’s hard to catch up. Not only did I not get back until 5:00 p.m. (later if you count the fact I couldn’t get in the house yet) but I still had to plan the meals for the week, hadn’t gone grocery shopping, laundry needed to be done and wow… it was overwhelming. So much so that it’s not all done yet and it’s Wednesday. Granted, I do work full time and hubs is now home every night, but I don’t have the nights that he normally works to catch up on everything and he’s used to the house being clean all the time. I think he’s realizing how much I do the nights he’s not home to keep the house running. BUT he does help so that is awesome.
Tonight is a busy night… the eldest has dance, mother in law wants to take us out to dinner afterwards, so I think hubs is taking the eldest to dance and will wait there with the baby. I am going to go to Kroger and get some free toothpaste and cheap ground turkey. Colgate is on sale 10/$10 and I have $1/1 coupon so only have to pay tax. They have the 1 lb rolls of ground turkey 3/$5 ($1.67 each). I normally buy it at Aldi’s for $2.49/lb so this is a savings of .82/lb. Anyways… I have surplus in our grocery budget. I took out $40 for the week before last and still had it. I spent $5 out of it for a few things at the grocery and then another $2.60 on the fabric softener. I took out the $40 for last week so I still have $72.40 in my budget and then take out another $40 in two more days.
I was hoping that Harris Teeter would have triples this week since I have a surplus in the grocery budget, but they didn’t. There are some things I can get for cheap this week so you will still find me there. Possibly Friday night after the kids go to bed, hubs will be home and I can go alone. That would be awesome, but we’ll see how it goes.
Have a great day!
Who doesn’t always have photos that they need to print out but hate paying around .25-.30 per print? “I DO I DO!!” Here is the solution… go to the CVS Photo page here and sign up for their services. Once you do this you will be sent an email where you have to click on a link to activate your account. Once that is done they add 50 free photos to your account.
I did this today and am going to upload my pics tonight and have them printed off so I can get free pics to make photo albums for Christmas. That would be one more way to cut costs and I’m all about cutting corners!!
Sign up online for Dove Dimensions here. This is a great way to possibly win free stuff and get coupons and such for some great beauty products. If you sign up for Dove Dimensions they have a game online where you can play up to three times a day. It’s like a slot machine type game. If you match three like products on a spin then you get a full size of that product for free. Took all of one minute to play. I may have lost but I can play again tomorrow.
There are also two coupons on there right now for $1.50 off any one Dove Cream Oil Body Lotion (excludes trial size) and another one for $1.00 off any hair care product (also excluding trial sizes). There is also a link to register to win a $500 gift card and who couldn’t use that!?!? I know I could!
Try it and see. It’s worth it if they send you coupons in the mail or via email to take the few minutes to sign up.
Have a GREAT day!
There was a GREAT Snuggle coupon for $3 off dryer sheets or fabric softener in this Sunday’s paper. Target has the fabric softener on sale for $3.99 each. After the coupons and tax my total was $2.60 for two big bottles of wonderful smelling fabric softener. Not that I was near the possibility of running out this week (or this month) I went ahead and bought it.
That is where coupons come in great! You stock up on stuff when you have a coupon paired with a great deal or sale and get it for next to nothing (or much cheaper than usual). Then you don’t have to worry about paying full price or running around everywhere trying to get a good deal versus a great deal when you can. Living within my $40/week budget I actually have more stuff in my pantry, laundry room and back up in the linen closet than I do if I was just buying what I needed when I needed it without living on a budget. I rarely run out of things and normally when I do, I have back up!
Living on this budget has got to be the greatest idea ever! Not that it was mine by a long shot, but now that I’ve been doing it for a while I don’t understand why more people aren’t doing it? I save so much money, have more stuff than normal and rarely run out of things. It’s great and I will sing it’s praises from the highest mountain once I get the nerve to start climbing it!
My friend sent me this today and I couldn’t happen but read it and smile. It is very true. I hope you read it and it makes you smile.
"Love in most cases, doesn't just happen… And even if it does, it isn’t always enough to carry you through the trying times. Love is about learning how to live with each other after the romantic feelings are no longer in the forefront of the relationship. Love is cherishing each other during financial hardships, demanding careers, crying infants, never ending housework, in-law/relative drama, and other relationship issues. Love is when the most wonderful words your partner can say to you are “I’ll take the kids away for the day so you can get some rest” or “why don’t you go hang out with your buddies, you deserve to have a little fun.”
Love is more than the wistful feelings you experience when things are still young. It’s about the mellowing and ripening and deepening of a genuine relationship as time progresses. It’s about building a foundation based on respect, trust, faithfulness, compromise, consideration, and forgiveness.
It has always been my thought that you shouldn’t love someone “because of.” You shouldn’t love a man because he can take care of you financially … or a woman because she looks like a supermodel. You should love “despite of.” You should love him despite the fact that his finances are a bit messed up and you should love her despite the fact that her body isn’t what it was at age 20.
That’s what love is. It’s making an account for being human."
If you are looking for a new show to watch that will make you laugh, can I please suggest
My hubs asked me to put the TV on the other night to something he wouldn’t be interested in watching so he would fall asleep. I figured
I was grocery shopping last Sunday (without kids for once, very peaceful LOL) and was stopped by this lady mid-aisle.
Question #1
“OK, seriously. Does using coupons REALLY work for you or is it more time consuming than what it saves you?
Answer… More than worth it! I use idle time to cut my coupons and sort and put into my three ring binder (will show you mine later). I have a $40 weekly budget for groceries. This includes all food, snacks, paper products, dog food, etc. for a family of four. Most times it includes the toiletries as well but I started $10 weekly budget to learn how to play the drugstore games to get those. Regardless, we are a family of four and I do it on this budget each and every week. I think I’ve gone over one time.
Question #2
She asked if she could look at my coupon book and was intimidated by it. I have a 3” three ring binder that is packed full of everything! Baseball card protector sheets, dividers, zippered pockets, etc. I am very organized because it makes the shopping easier, especially when you have two children with you. She asked how long it takes me to do each week. Probably an hour, but when I first started it took me longer because I was NOT organized but it was well worth it.
Question #3
How long does it take you in the store each week to get your shopping done? I asked with or without kids? I normally have both of my girls with me and with them in tow it takes much longer, about an hour and a half, but with just me an hour or less. I have learned to go first thing on Saturday mornings. The store is not busy because people generally sleep in longer than on the week days. I stop and get the girls breakfast at Chick Fil A and bring drinks. They sit in the cart and eat while I get the first half of the store done. The second half is what takes the longest.
Question #4
Do you shop from a list or how do you get it all figured out?
I first plan my menu for the week from home on Friday evenings. I go through the freezer see what meat is there and come up with all the main dishes. Then, head to the pantry to write down the sides and then the freezer (sometimes the pantry) for the vegetable. I try to make my entire menu from what I have on hand and if I’m missing an ingredient or two, no big deal, I just add to my shopping list. If I can make the whole menu from what we already have at the house then that’s when I do the best coupon shopping because that’s all I’m shopping for… the deals and the steals.
Question #5
If you aren’t shopping completely from a list then how do you make sure you have enough for the next week (week after the menu already planned)?
When I get to the store I first hit the meat section. If split chicken breast is on sale for .99/lb or less I buy it. This can be used in casseroles which go a really long way. Then, I buy whatever they have on clearance that we would eat. When I get home I put ALL the meat in the freezer because we already have the menu planned for the week so I will use that towards the next week’s menu.
Question #6
How did you get so many coupons? I am not a coupon snob and will get them from anywhere I can. I get multiple Sunday papers each week, I get people’s coupons that they don’t use or all of their coupons if they don’t use them at all, I got to coupons.com and print them all there (print twice the ones I need from multiple computers, product websites, links from other blogs, Target’s website has grocery coupons, drug store fliers, samples in the mail normally come with coupons so I request them whenever I find them, sign up online for different “communities” (like huggies.com for baby stuff and things like that) and you will get them in the mail or online via email, and wherever else I can find them!
Question #7
This all seems intimidating, what advise do you have for someone just starting? Treat it as a game. There is so much you can get for free, next to it, or much cheaper than normal and you have to make a game of it and try to “beat” it. As long as you treat it like a game and have fun with it (which it can be addicting) then you will win. It takes time to get it organized, but once there it is easy to maintain. Keep your head on straight and don’t let it overwhelm you. Start with just making a menu and keep to it. That was difficult for me since our schedules change all the time and often at last minute but I have learned that just by sticking with that and using what we have on hand saves a lot of money. That way you only buy stuff that is on sale and you have more food this way then before when you just bought whatever without a second thought. Start with a larger budget and once comfortable, work your way down. It can be done and is the easiest place to start when trying to save money.
This lady really made me smile because I could really talk about coupons and saving money for hours on end and it’s become a game to me. I told her about rain checks and trying to master one store first and then branching out once you feel more comfortable. Like me starting on the drug stores. It’s a game and once you “have it” at one place then start the game over again with another store.
It is possible… just breathe, keep clipping and take your time!
