Anxious

I have had many friends ask me how in the world I keep our grocery budget so low and include all that I do in it and be able to eat.  Well, I am thinking about possibly putting an invite out there on my FB page for those that want to see how I do it, share how they do it and just see what we can’t learn from each other.  I’m a little nervous about it, but I know I have a lot of helpful information and now that I do this I just don’t see how people pay so much money for everything without a second thought if they can cut costs there.  Most times they probably think they can’t because just paying the shelf price for necessities is a lot!

Hmmm… what do you think?  Should I do it?

UPC Coupon Secret

I have found out today that as long as the group of five digits of the UPC code on the coupon match the first five of the product then it will work even if it doesn’t state that item on the coupon.

 

Example…

There is a coupon for Pringles Stix for .50 but the first five digits match the ones on the regular Pringles so voila… more money saved (especially when they go on sale for $1)

 

Same thing applies for the cream cheese individual tubs also works on the regular tub

Sargento reduced sodium cheese works on the regular ones

Same thing with some of the butter coupons

 

Happy couponing!

A Laugh for Today

I just got a text from Hubs who is at work... "the world is dominated by idiots"

I'm dying laughing wondering what kind of story is going to come from that one!

I'm a Frugal Mom

Wow... I wrote this great email to a friend of mine I haven't seen or heard from in 13 years. Way too long to go without being in contact, but our lives have come back together once again and she was asking me to share how I save so much on groceries by coupon shopping and I wrote this awesome email to her that for some reason I can't copy and paste into here.

I will be working on transcribing it onto here in a bit, but for the meantime...

HT will be having triples starting this Wednesday so get your coupons in order.

My house is a mess so I will be devoting the next three hours to solely doing nothing but cleaning the house. Hopefully the dust bunnies won't start a revolution and the vacuum won't rebel. As long as those two things don't happen I'm sure I will be OK, but time will tell!

I hope everyone is having a great weekend as I am enjoying my weekend at home. My hubs will be in Chicago next weekend with his dad so we will be having a girly girl weekend, especially since Poot was downhearted that daddy won't be here next weekend so he says to her in hopes of cheering her up "You can have a 'jama party!" So here I am trying to get together a 'jama party for Poot next weekend. I told her we could eat pizza and ice cream, watch movies, paint our nails and stay up late and she was very excited about that. Two of my cousin's girls are coming over to partake in the festivities and I'm hoping my other cousin's little girl will be joining us as well... so here's to a girly girl 'jama party next weekend!

Any ideas??

Top Reasons Why Women Want to Lose Weight

The Top Reasons Why Women Want to Lose Weight

1.       When they wear sleeveless shirts they don’t have to worry about their arms waving back (in addition to their hands)

2.       So they no longer have to wear panties that come up to their waist in order not to have “dunlap”

3.       So they can breathe again because they are no longer sucking it in all day

4.       So their three year olds don’t tap their butt just to watch it jiggle (and in turn laugh at you)

5.       Just so they can look in a full length mirror and smile

Kindness of Strangers

Have you ever just been blessed by the kindness of a stranger?  I was the last time we went to Kohl’s.  They were running their Kohl’s cash promotion and I waited for mine… $10.00 but still less money I had to spend next time.  The lady in line behind us said if we waited for her to check out we could have hers.  I waited and it ended up being $20.00 worth.  That was very much appreciated.  I turned around and told her thank you multiple times but she didn’t hear me any of the times I don’t think.  The lady at the register kept looking at me funny because I kept saying thank you to this lady who didn’t respond, but what can I do but keep saying it?  Anyways… I noticed that it was going to expire soon when I looked at it this weekend so planned on going today during lunch.  Then, Saturday in the mail I got a gift card from Kohl’s $10 off anything in the store so I had $40 in Kohl’s cash and gift cards to buy something for myself.  I went today and got two shirts and a dress, all things I can wear to work and only spent $2.14 out of pocket!  I was super excited about that.

Come to think about it, the only time I ever really buy anything for myself is if my hubs is there making me do it!  But that’s the nature of being a mom… you put everyone else before you.  Your clothes could be thread bear but if your babies needed something they would get it first!  I love being a mom and would do anything for my babies and feel especially spoiled just by being able to buy a few things for myself.

Vaseline Lotion at Target

There are many websites that are saying you can get the Vaseline lotion at Target for .24.  I went today with my $3.75 manufacturer coupon and $1.00 Target store coupon in hand ready for my cheap (price not quality) lotion.  I was expecting to round the corner and see the price at $4.99 as the websites had advised because every other time they’ve been right, but not this time.  I go up the aisle and see the price as $5.99 so instead of being .24 each they were now going to be $1.24.  I even took them to a price scanner to check them and yep, $5.99. 

Needless to say I did not get my lotion today, but I will hold onto both coupons for a bit and see if the price comes down to $4.99 by 05/09/10.

The week in review

I completely missed out on blogging this week.  It has been a great week!

Monday I went to the doctor and got my cholesterol checked (along with a million other panels), received a tetanus shot (which is still hurting), got a prescription for Chantix to help me stop smoking (too expensive), got a solution to my falling asleep problem (take melatonin to fall asleep, doesn’t keep you asleep and no groggy feeling), and asked the doctor about an ideal weight for me.  First she said 135, but I was down to 135 about eight months ago and still had some to lose so she said then shoot for 125 but she didn’t want to see me lower than that, so that is my goal now.

Tuesday I started back to sparkpeople.com with a vengeance.  I learned that I could lose the 20 lbs in two months.  That would be super nice so I won’t be the fat mama in the summer pictures that we will be taking at the beach (more on that later).  I have decided to go with low calorie, low carb, low fat and high protein  I am tracking everything in spark people and will weigh myself every three days.  I think I might print a calendar to put in the bathroom and record my weight on it on the days I weigh in.  Maybe that will help me stay motivated.

Wednesday (yesterday) was great.  During the week I have done all the laundry, cleaned the bathroom, vacuumed the whole house getting prepared for the weekend.  Hopefully I will get it all done so I won’t have to do everything on the weekend that we’re all home.  Hubs’ parents have put an offer on a beach house and if they get it they want to go down there this weekend, so keep your fingers crossed for that it goes well. 

Thursday (today) is baby day around the office.  One of the guys in IT had a baby this morning and mom and baby are doing great.  Also, one of my co-workers is about to be a first time grandpa today as well.  His daughter is in labor as we speak.  They have given her pitocin and now she has an epidural so we’re hoping some time today all will be GREAT!

More updates later, especially on the weight loss plan.  Someone has to hold me accountable…

Target Actual

I did good at Target…

 

1 - Marvel Gummi Vitamins $5.04 - $1 = $4.04 (the $1 coupon on Target site was a man Q)

2 – big things of snuggle fabric softener $3.99 (sale) - $3 Q = .99 each

2 – Dial Nutri Skin hand soap $1.49 - $1 Target Q - .35 Man Q = .14 each

2 – Air Wick I motion Starter kits $6.00 (sale) - $1 Target Q (was $2 but reduced it) - $5 Man Q = Free

 

Total OOP = $8.16

Saved = $36.68

Savings of 81%

 

The Air Wick things were normally $14.00 so that was a great deal!  The Dial Nutriskin hand soap was $1.49 not the $1.37 that I had seen posted on another website, but either way .14 each is an awesome price and one I’m willing to pay.

 

I have decided that I am going to be a grocery budget stickler so we can get our savings account up and start saving on money for land.  I have started a spreadsheet where I will write in how much I’m to our grocery budget each week and start writing in how much I spend and subtracting it.  The cash method works great and I highly recommend it but our bank gives us points for each dollar we spend using our check card as a credit card so I’m trying to rack up all the points I can between now and Christmas so we can get a good gift card. 

 

Out of what I spent today I am only putting in $4.12 of this trip out of our grocery budget because the vitamins I get regardless and I think I having decided to exclude medicines and dog food from our grocery budget because these are things I will buy anyways.  Normally I pair with sale and coupon like I did today, but this is something we have to have.  OK, so yes, we have to have food too but not a particular kind on a certain day and this can normally be planned out.  Medicines can’t always be planned out.

 

I am excited about my new venture and here is my short to do list below of the things I want to accomplish to help me with my goal of saving all I can…

 

Price List of all the must have’s and their normal prices from various stores

Stock up over the summer while out of school on non-perishable items to last through end of year (yes, big goal but will explain later)

 

Target Deals

I am headed over to Target at lunch today to get some of their deals…

 

Snuggle Fabric Softener - $3.99

$3.00 coupon

OOP - .99

 

Rayovac Batteries - $1.00 (dollar section)

$1/2 coupon

OOP = .50 each

 

Dial Soap - $1.37

$1.00 Target Coupon

.35 Man coupon

OOP = .02

 

Air Wick I Motion Starter Kit - $6.00

$2 Target Coupon

$5 Man coupon

OOP = Free

 

GE Energy Smart Light bulbs - $2.99

$2 Target Coupon

$1 Man Coupon

OOP = Free

 

I am going to buy…

 

6 Packs of Batteries ($3.00)

2 Dial soap (.04)

2 Air Wick I Motion Kits (free)

2 GE Light bulbs (free)

2 Snuggle (1.98)

 

Total OOP = 5.02

 

Isn’t that AWESOME!  I will let you know how it goes because I also plan on getting some Marvel vitamins for the girls ($1 Target and $1 Man coupons)!!

Nothing

Guess what I have decided to do this evening (after going to Bed Bath & Beyond, the mall and Mimi's Cafe for dinner)? Nothing! That's it... absolutely nothing and everything that I haven't done in a while.
I caught up on Ugly Betty from this week and learned that next week is going to be the last episode... very upset about that, but nothing I can do about it except for seriously enjoy it last week.
This month seems to be a great month so far and is only going to get better. Peezy had a doctor appointment today to check her ears as one of the tubes had been clogged/blocked after she had them put in and went for her post-op. The verdict is that her ears are clear! The first time in since before Christmas that she hasn't had an ear infection. I'm very happy about that.
Next, we have my job. It seems to be going great and the accounting department has given my boss the go ahead for us to do something that I think we should have been doing all along, so that is a plus. I also got trained in a billing function (which is not "my" function) so there are now two of us in the entire company that know how to do this particular task.
Hubs' job is great and he's trying out for a special task force at work at the end of the month. I'm sure that he'll get it as he's awesome at his job and they have come after him to fill this position. Needless to say we're excited about it.
This is the last month of this semester in school. I have decided to take the summer off to spend time with the family and not to spend the money on it since we're having to pay the deductible for the girls' surgeries. Which is a lot. Not to mention that I think I did pretty good this semester. This is my first time going back to school and really dedicating myself to doing it and doing it well in a long time. I have to give thanks to my hubs for this one. He has been extremely supportive and I couldn't ask for more!
I have re-worked our budget and we should be having a lot of money left over every month and hubs has committed this evening to really sticking to our weekly allowances and the rest to pay bills and necessities. Whatever is left over will sit into the bank until we get to a comfort level of $3000 and then will put anything above that into a savings account. I told him how much we could have by the end of the year and he was really excited so we will be closer to our goal of buying some land, paying it off and then building a house within the next five years (woo!).
My grandmother had surgery Tuesday and she came out of it OK.
Easter was great this year. Like it is every year, but this year Peezy understood more of what the egg hunts were about and was a much more active participant in them! It was great and we got some good pictures.
My in laws put in a bid on a beach house and they were outbid on it, BUT that just means it wasn't meant to be and they will find something else they like better that is more "them." I am actually very excited about it. I just really hope it has a private pool like this place did so when I put the girls down I can go chill out by the pool. I'm not really good at laying out but I am good at falling asleep and if I can do that and get some sun at the same time then awesome, so it would be good if we were somewhere I could lie by the water and still hear the baby monitor!
This month has been great so far and we're only on day eight so I can't wait to see what the rest of the month will bring.

Normal? What's that?

Do you ever think that your life isn’t normal compared to everyone else’s?  I think about it sometimes.  There are times where we have so much going on, are being pulled in ten different directions at one time and drama behind the scenes that I just wonder if our lives are ever going to be “normal” like everyone else’s.

What is normal?  Is there such a thing?  I think I am just wishing for a boring, non-eventful life.  Does that ever happen?  Will there ever come a day when I come home from work, cook dinner, get the kids ready for bed and they go down easy, and just be able to relax?  Does that ever happen in anyone else’s life?  I know for the next two to three years that’s not going to happen because I’m in school full time on top of everything else but we just have so much going on that I wonder… does normal ever happen?

Between both of us working full time jobs, both of us in school full time, him trying out for a “special” squad at work that includes a lot of overtime, classes out of town, more training, etc. and not to mention Poot has dance once a week,  and all the drama that comes with her having a “other daddy” (that’s what she calls her biological father, my ex-husband), huge family and trying to accommodate everyone for holidays (a whole other issue!) and trying to keep up with normal household stuff (which seems to increase with each passing day).

My goal right now I think is going to be to de-clutter my house.  Maybe that will makes things easier.  I might try to get stuff together for a yard sale and just clean everything out.  But then my garage will be cluttered for a few weeks with all this stuff.  Hmmm… I don’t know… what do you think?

OH… new month so new free photo book from hot prints (shipping free too!) so go sign up and get your book.

Sleep?

I have been a bit sleep deprived this week. After our short weekend trip the trend stayed at not getting to bed before midnight! Sunday I started thinking though (dangerous I know) but my quality of sleep I was getting was horrible so back to the gym I went this week. I went Monday and tuesday and the sleep I did get was great and it didn't take long to fall asleep (another plus). I didn't work out tonight but am going to bed after I write this. I've also lost more weight this week. Working out definitely has its advantages! I highly suggest it to anyone. Six pounds this week. Oh yeah I've been back to eating well and remembering every little bit helps!
Good night world!