Wednesday, August 26, 2009

My Biggest Grocery Savings to Date!!!

I am so excited about these savings!! I actually told my 13 year old daughter that was with me, "If I save over $100, I am so bloggin' this!" We watched on the Publix cash register screen as my savings went from $30 to $40 to $70 to $90. I stood there as it got closer to $100 saying, "Come on! Come on!" And then it was done: $101.73 in savings!!! *WooHoo* I was stoked! (The cashier, not so much! LOL).

Here is what we got:
4 boxes of Cheerios
3 boxes of Honey Nut Cheerios
3 boxes of Cookie Crisp cereal
5 pk of Kotex pads
4 boxes of Pyramid Lipton Tea bags
1 box of Luzianne tea bags
3 Yo-plus 4-pks
5 4-pks Fiber One yogurt
4 boxes Taco Bell dinner (an item I did NOT have a coupon for--I know, shame on me. LOL)
2 Velvetta cheese spread (mexican flavor)
2 pints Starbucks Ice cream (Caramel Macchiato kind--yummy)
2 loaves of garlic bread
2 boxes of breadsticks

I used a $5 off $30 coupon I got in the mail from Publix (I think that should make up for my not having a Taco bell q LOL).

Summary from my receipt:
Store Coupons: 9.50
Vendor Coupons: 24.65
Advertised Specials (BOGOs): 67.58

Your Savings at Publix: 101.73

Grand Total: 35.64

I just tried to explain to my husband that the Cheerios alone are 4.99 a box--I got 7 boxes of them so we could say, I paid full price for the cereal and got everything else for free. He is about impressed as the cashier was. LOL Oh well, I will bask in my savings victory!!

Honestly, I don't think I have ever saved this much on groceries. I have when buying clothes on clearance at Penneys or in the big Target Toy Clearance but on groceries, this is a new one on me.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Bird Feeder Update

If you remember a long time ago I posted pictures of Alexander and my husband, Jeff making a bird feeder out of an empty two-litre bottle. For many months, no birds ever came to it. None. Alexander was quite discouraged because he was all set to look at the birds and see what kinds would come. We didn't know what to do. We knew that the birds just needed to find the feeder but we also knew that that might be skiddish since we had several stray cats hanging out on our porch too.

We managed to shoo the cats away and finally the birds came. Alexander has enjoyed looking at them and trying to figure out what they are. The birds are now used to seeing movement at the screen door and don't fly away as quickly as they did at first. Even the baby, Gregory, gets excited when he sees a bird at the feeder.

(Jeff did make the holes a little bigger for the seed to come out easier.)

Here are a few pictures of the birds we have seen.





Female House Finch








Both female and male (the red headed one) House Finch








Cardinal












We also have a family of cardinals that have been coming. It looks like a male, female and 2 babies. We need to research it a little but I think that cardinals are the kind of birds that will continue to come back to the same feeder for a long time.

We have also had a chickadee come but we haven't gotten a picture of it yet. Also the doves are starting to show up more since the other birds tend to fling the seed all over the porch looking for their favorite kind. LOL

I think that the feeder was a good project for Alexander. I felt bad that it took so long for birds to come but once they did, he was thrilled!!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Twitter Party!!

Ever been to a Twitter party? They are lots of fun and full of lots of giveaways! Resourceful Mommy is hosting her bloggiversary party this Wednesday evening. Click the button to RSVP and be entered to win over 50 prizes worth over $1500!!! WooHoo!! I can't wait!!


bloggiversarybutton

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Our weekend

It started earlier in the week really when the drum went out on our laser printer and it quit printing. I ordered the part and chose Priority shipping so we could get it by (hopefully) Friday or Saturday---hasn't come yet. So we have been printer less since like Wednesday.

On Friday, dh came home and mentioned that it was warmer in here that usual. I told him that it also was very hot. But he reminded ME that the a/c shouldn't be working as hard as it is. He used to work on a/c units so he started fiddling with it and discovered that the fan motor was red hot and that was all she wrote. We were at the end of June, in Savannah, Georgia, with 10 people in our house, and no a/c. *thud* Not a major problem though because as I said, dh is handy and in his words, "It is an easy fix. Just needs a new motor."

We spend a hot night in bed but it wasn't completely unbearable. I woke up with a migraine which is typical for me when under stress.

Saturday morning, Jeff started calling supply places for a new fan motor. Now we are having a problem, it seems the supply places that would have a motor, are closed on Saturdays. Again, not a problem because Jeff's boss, Jim has a couple of window units we can borrow until Monday when Jeff can fix the a/c.

Jeff tries to call his boss but there is no answer. He is having a yard sale so not close to his phone. Jeff decides to drive out to his house. He and our oldest son load up and take off. About 10 minutes after they leave, my phones rings. "The truck died," states my husband. "Try to call Jim's house. We might need to call a wrecker."

I sigh and try his boss a few times. I call Jeff back and he says to just call a tow truck. So I find one that will take my credit card info over the phone because dh has no cash nor debit card. I call him back and tell him that help is on the way.

About an hour later, the wrecker comes with the work truck, Jeff and Jeffrey. They seem in good spirits. We all eat lunch and Jeff decides to head out to Jim's house in our van to get the window units. It is now early afternoon in Savannah, and we are pushing 90-93 in the house.

Jeff is gone about an hour when my phone rings again, "I am on my way home but we might want to see if we can afford a battery for the van. Jim had to jump start it when I went to leave." I remind Jeff that my Mother's Day gift last year was a new battery so it should still be good. LOL He says that he will see me when he gets home....BUT about 45 minutes later the phone rings again, "Van's dead. I am at Habersham and Derenne. You need to come jump me." *shaking my head*

I get our son's truck and drive to rescue Jeff and the van. We make it home...barely. But thankfully, he has the window units!!

Jeff installs one in the living room and one in the dining room. It is still hot but it starts to get a little cooler. We know where we will all be sleeping this night! In the Living room.

After the a/c units are installed, Jeff and I take the van to the mechanic who agrees with hubby, it is the alternator. Great.

For those keeping score it is: one printer, one work truck, on a/c, and one van. We are having a GREAT weekend.

We know we aren't going to be able to cook with the air out because it will make the house even hotter. So I run to the store (in my son's truck which also has no a/c) for lunch meat and other easy things. We are looking on the bright side--we get to watch movies and enjoy some time together.

Saturday night we got 3 twin mattresses and the mattress off our bed and lined them up in the living room and dining room. Our oldest 3 each got a twin, the next 4 slept on our mattress sideways, the baby was in the playpen, Jeff got the couch and I had the love seat. It was cozy and we all hoped that the person farthest from the bathroom didn't have to go because there were a lot of people to walk over to get there!

Sunday morning we all woke up and enjoyed day old donuts from the store. I grabbed the milk from the fridge to take my RA medicine and said, "Honey....this milk is warm." He came to see and sure enough, the fridge was warm. I wanted to scream!!!

Being the kind of person I am, I changed my status on Facebook to reflect our new mechanical failure. Jeff and I began to figure out a plan for getting ice and stuff to keep from losing too much. He fiddled with the fridge (since he is handy) and determined that it was (again) an easy fix. But now it was Sunday and again, no parts places were open. About the time we were trying to decide what to do, there was a knock on our door.

To our great pleasure, a friend of ours was there with 3 coolers full of ice, bottled water and cans of coke. He raided his father-in-laws automatic ice machine for us! We were very grateful.

After lunch, the mechanic called to tell us the van was fixed! And it would only cost us about 360.00. LOL Before Jeff and I could go to get that, another friend from church stopped by to deliver some chicken dinners. Sunday was our church's Patronal Feast Day---which we missed. But they were nice enough to bring us some leftovers from the luncheon.

Oh and did I mention that Sunday was also our Andrew's 6th birthday? LOL Poor kid, he gets a do-over later. LOL

Things are looking better by Sunday night: the van is fixed and the fridge is cold again but we still have no air and a broken work truck in the yard.

Monday morning, Jeff's boss picks him up for work. He has left me specific instructions for what to get from the supply place. I call the first one, they don't have the part. Second place, no they don't either. But they gave me the number of another, BINGO! They have it. My two oldest sons and I jump in the van to get the part. Success! The part is bought and we are back home.

Jeff comes home from work a little early Monday evening. He replaces the fan motor but in the process, breaks the old motor shaft in the fan blade. He tells me to go get another. Supply place closes in one hour---can I make it. Success!! I return with a new fan blade. Jeff hooks it all up, turns the breakers back on and Ta-Da...still no a/c. Crap!

He says to me that it must be the capacitor. But the capacitor they gave me with the fan motor is not the same as the one we need. So guess what I get to do Tuesday morning? And guess where we are all sleeping again on Monday night??? *sigh* At this point, I am wondering who we made mad!

Another night with all 10 of us in the living room and another day of keeping very active little boys from generating more body heat in the house.

Tuesday I go ASAP to get the new part. The guy knew immediately what I needed. He said, "Yea, this isn't supposed to look like this." LOL Jeff had told me that this part would be at least $40 (later he told me it would be anywhere from 40.00 up to 140.00). So I was prepared to pay a lot. The parts guy gave me a total of 8.82. I said, "80.82 ?? " thinking I had misheard. He said, "No, 8.82." I was so thankful!!!! And relieved!

On the way home, I called Jeff to tell him I had the part. He said that as soon as the concrete guy left, they would run home and put it on. At lunchtime, Jeff, Jeffrey and Jim, the boss, all showed up. They fixed the a/c and then enjoyed their lunch in the living room with all of us.

Tuesday night, we all slept in our own beds!! *woot*

Lest you think things are looking up, Jeff is still fiddling with the a/c because it still isn't working quite right. He is pretty sure it is the fan blade they gave us but he doesn't know how to make it work better. We are waiting on the part for the fridge and the drum for the printer still has not come in...which really irritates me.

Tonight though, I really need to focus on the positives because I am starting to get a little cranky. And why am I cranky? Because of all that happened this weekend, I was unable to get to my Publix list until this evening. Because I have been lax in getting my coupons filed, it took me a while to hunt down my bbq sauce and mustard ones. By the time I was done, it was 8:30. Too late for me to go to the store. So I am cranky! I wasn't really cranky when the a/c went out, or the truck broke down or the van...no I get cranky because I couldn't get cheap condiments!!

How lame is that????

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Publix 6/23/09

Does anyone else get a "high" when they get to the checkout and see how much they have saved with coupons??? I KNOW I can't be the only one. It is even better when the cashier says something like, "Wow, you did good!!" That's how I felt yesterday when I was leaving Publix.



I was holding on to cereal coupons hoping for a good BOGO sale at Publix and it paid off yesterday. So did holding on to all those Yoplus coupons.





This is what I managed to score at Publix yesterday for less than $40!!!

10 pks of Yoplus yogurt 1.25/each and I had 10 .50 q's which my Publix doubles so .25 for yogurt is pretty good, huh?

Starbuck's Ice cream 1.89/each--I only had one $1.50 coupon, not as good as .81 cents on clearance at Target a while ago but still OK.

Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream 1.89/each--I can't remember but I think I had 2 $1/off coupons

4 boxes of Frosted Mini-wheats 2.10/each--used 4 $1/off coupons

4 boxes of Golden grahams; 1 box of Cookie Crisp; 1 box of Lucky Charms 1.89/each--used various coupons $1/3; $1/2; 50 cents

Nabisco Graham Crackers 2.00/each---used 2 $1 off coupons

Ritz Crackerfull Cracker sandwiches--1.37/each No coupon but they looked soooo good. LOL (And they are LOL)

2 Gallons of milk 2.79/each

3 bottles of coke--2 for my shopping helpers and one for the babysitter at home.

My Savings Summary:

  • Store Coupons 5.50
  • Vendor Coupons 17.00
  • Advertised Specials 46.48

My Savings at Publix: 68.98

Grand total: 35.37

In the words of Tammie, the cashier at Publix yesterday, "I love Coupons!!"

Monday, June 22, 2009

Flip Camera Give-away

Andrea over at mommysnacks.net has a great giveaway going on right now. She is giving away one of those cool flip video cameras!! Be sure to check out her first ever vlog! Andrea ROCKS!!

Go here to see her review of the camera and your chance to enter.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Target Air Fresheners

I meant to go to Target last week to scoop up the Special K deal and also the air freshener deals but just didn't make it. That is what happens when you have 8 children I guess. LOL Then when I saw the new Target ad for this week, I thought that I might need to get some of the new "But this get that" deals. They looked really good.

I went last night. I still had my air freshener coupons in my holder so I thought that I would check that aisle to see if they were still cheap. The shelf tags indicated that they were back to "normal" prices--11.99, 8.99, etc. So I sighed and put my coupons away. THEN.....I saw the end cap with its "Temporary Price Cut" sign!! SCORE! LOL

1 Airwick iMotion 5.99-3.00 peelie coupon=2.99
1 Lysol Nutra-Air starter kit 5.99-4.00 Q=1.99
1 Airwick Essential Oils starter kit 4.99-4.00Q=.99
2 Glade Sense and Spray 5.99-4.00Q=1.99/each
2 Glade Lasting Impressions 5.99-4.00Q=1.99/each

7 air fresheners for about 14.00 so average about $2/each. Not bad. I will add them to the stash I already have.

What does one do with a box of air fresheners?? Well, some very good friends of our are getting married next month and then 2 weeks later moving to Wisconsin so the bride can begin graduate school. Getting married, moving very far away and going to school can leave a new couple broke! So my plan is to dig through ALL my stash and make a goodie box for them. I will even ship it for them since room in their car will be minimal. Maybe between now and then I will be able to find some more stuff to bless the new couple with.

While at Target last night I also did the Huggies, Viva deal (buy 3 get $5 GC):
Pull ups 8.99-3.00=5.99
Diapers 8.99-2.00=6.99
Viva paper towels 6.99 (no Q but we needed them)
about 19.00-5.00GC=14.00
so about 4.50 average each thing--not as great as free but still OK especially since I am on the last bag of diapers from the Walgreens+$5 coupon buying spree a while ago. LOL

CVS 6/15/09

Is it just me or is CVS seriously lacking in the deals lately? I went a full month without going and then ran into the "Oh no! My ECBs are fixin' to expire" problem.


Yesterday I took a trip to CVS. I had three transactions worked up but realized that I really only needed to do one to roll the expiring ECBs.


Here is what I got:
4 boxes of Kellogg's cereal (1.88/each)
2 Dry Idea roll on B1G1 (5.29/each)
2 Excedrin (4.49/each)
1 Schick Quattro (7.99/each)
2 boxes of mac/cheese (needed it for supper LOL 1.79/each *thud*)


I used 6 $1/off coupons; 2 $2/off coupons for the Dry Idea; 1 $4/off Schick and my $16 ECBs.

Total oop: 4.13
ECBs earned: $7


So I lost 9.00 in ECBs but I think I got some good deals on stuff we actually use. We discovered that my husband LOVES the Dry Idea roll on. I am glad I printed off all those $2 coupons and even more glad that they don't expire until November!

I was going to do the sunglasses deal but there were none priced lower than 9.99 at this CVS I went to so I passed on it. I will continue to look at the other ones but if I can't find any of the 5.99 ones, I will probably pass.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Crafting With Daddy


Alexander is our crafter. Along with Moriah, he loves to create and draw and all that good stuff. He is always collecting things and wanting to make stuff. His latest thing is making "people" out of coke bottles. He will tape yarn to the lid for hair, tape paper on for clothes and set them up to play with. When I cleaned their room a few weeks ago, I found a bunch of these people. LOL

My parents were here this past week and Grandpa sprang for coke in 2-liter bottles. When we emptied them, Alexander asked if he could have them. Grandma asked what he would make with it and he told her, "People." She went on to explain how MY Grandma Boring (my Dad's mom) would make bird feeders out of them. His eyes lit up. Something that Alexander likes as much as crafting is birds! He immediately asked if we could do that.

After googling "bird feeder from 2 liter bottle", we found a set of instructions that would work. Then for the next 24 hours, he asked constantly when we would make it. LOL CONSTANTLY! LOL

On Saturday, he talked Daddy into making the feeder part with him. Mom told him that we would get the bird seed on Sunday (We didn't--I was ill. But I told him tomorrow for sure. LOL).

Daddy is a construction worker so of course he got out the drill to make the holes for the skewers and seed to come out. I figured that Jeff would just do it himself but then I heard, "Hold it right here so you can feel how it is. OK now pull the trigger..." LOL So Alexander got to drill the holes himself. Then they added bamboo skewers for the perches. We still have not gotten the bird seed but will since Alexander asked every five minutes. LOL

I will post a picture of the finished product.

CVS 5/16/09

There haven't been many great deals that I have been wanting to get. But cereal? Yup, that is one that I will run for. With 8 children, we go through a lot of cereal. So when the Kelloggs was on sale for $2 and I had $1 coupons, I decided to get some. But since my parents were here this weekend, I could only manage one trip.

4 boxes of cereal $2/each
1 Bayer Quick Crystals 2.00
1 Schick Quattro for Women 8.99

Used:
4 $1 coupons
$5 ECBs (I was running low on ECBs)

Paid 10.65 oop

Got back:
$2 ECB for Bayer
$4 ECB for Schick
and...
$10 ECB for doing a survey a few weeks ago *woot*

Not bad. I need to get back into my blogging and dealing. So many distractions and just pure laziness.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Publix 4/8/09


I am really beginning to LOVE Publix!! Even though today they were out of some of the BOGO stuff (mainly cereal), I still managed to get quite a bit and save a lot too. I also didn't remember until I was done getting my list and coupons together that Publix's ad doesn't switch until Saturday rather than Thursday like normal. But I still went on since I had some coupons I wanted to use that were expiring soon.

4 Lipton family size tea bags BOGO
4 Wheat thins Artisan crackers BOGO (and I had BOGO coupons--they were all free!!)
2 Breyer's Ice cream BOGO
4 Kraft Mayo BOGO
2 Kraft Dressing BOGO
4 Emerald Almonds BOGO
4 Swanson Broth BOGO
2 Ragu Pasta Sauce BOGO
6 I Can't Believe it's Not Butter BOGO
2 Chex Mix BOGO
2 English Muffins BOGO
2 Cake mixes BOGO
2 Mentos gum (priced 99 cents and I had $1 coupons)

Non-dealy things:
1 Cake frosting (but I did use a q LOL)
1 melting chocolate (my 16yo is making a dessert)
18-pk Coke (cans)--they were 4.99 and had $1 coupon on them so 3.99
Bag of Sugar--on sale 1.99 used coupon

So from the bottom of my receipt:
Vendor coupons: 22.61
Store coupons: 4.25
Advertised Special Savings: 59.82
Advantage buys: 1.00

My savings at Publix today: 87.68

Total out of pocket: 44.87

My favorite part of today's trip was when the cashier and bagger both said, "Wow, you did GREAT!" I hear the often at CVS (LOL) but it is nice to hear other places too.

And in all honesty, this is only my third serious couponing trip to Publix...and I think I am hooked. I never shopped there before because it seemed so expensive, but now that I am learning how to shop the sales better with the help of many blogs and other ladies. I am really starting to LOVE Publix!!

To see more Publix SuperSavers, check out FiddleDeeDee!!

Saturday, April 4, 2009

A Non-Deal Post

Originally, this blog was going to be for deal posting only but I have found that I just can't keep up with more than one blog. I have the other one still up but it has not been updated since November.

For those of you who may have popped in here from elsewhere, let me tell you a little bit about myself.

I am Rebecca. I live in Savannah, Georgia with my husband of 19 years, Jeff. He is a construction worker and full-time student working on his English degree. He blogs too but rather infrequently. He is the witty and deep one of the family. But right now, most of his time is spent working 8 hours then coming home and working on school for 4-5 hours. We met in New York right out of high school. We lived in Kissimmee, Florida for several years before moving to Georgia.

We are the proud parents to 8 great kids. Our oldest, Jeff Jr, just turned 18 this past December. Oddly, I was more emotional when my oldest daughter turned 16 than I did when he became an adult. He works full time with Jeff is the construction business. He is thinking of going to tech school in the fall or spring. Right now he is working on his GED.

Next in line is our 16yo daughter, Amanda. She is the second mom in the house. She is a great help with the little boys. She also loves to write and bake. Her latest obsession is Broadway musicals. Our next step with her is to get her driving permit.

The third child is Moriah. She is 13. She is different from Amanda yet in some ways very similar. She is our fashionista. She LOVES purses and going shopping. She is truly a girly-girl. Where Amanda doesn't really care about wearing make-up, Moriah asks all the time when she will be allowed. She also is my crafter. She likes to knit, stamp and bead.

I love both my girls. They are so special to me. They are truly growing into lovely young ladies. I can't wait to see where God takes them from here.

Timothy is our fourth child. He is 10 years old. He loves his family. He is the one who will bring me water when I am sick or offer a hug when I am down. He also loves his video games. LOL He is also Jeffrey's shadow but Jeffrey doesn't mind and THAT I love. Timothy has recently discovered a love for reading and is reading just about everything he can get his hands on.

Alexander is next. He is 8 and shares a birthday with Moriah. Alexander is so very sensitive. He collects roly-poly bugs but the thousands (well it seems that way LOL). He likes to draw and color. He has said for a few years that he wishes to be an artist when he grows up.

(Only three more left LOL)
Andrew is our 5yo and first red-head. He is a sweet boy. It took him forever to potty train but he is still a sweet boy. LOL He loves Legos and playing on the playstation. He is pretty "active" and can often be found running back and forth in the living room battling invisible bad guys.

Symeon is 3 years old and our 2nd red-head. LOL He is so cute. LOL I know I am probably biased but he is!! But he is a rough and tumble little boy. He is ALL boy. He can be very shy or he can be very loud---just depends on his mood.

And lastly we have Gregory. Gregory will be one on April 17th. He is trying to walk--well, he walks if no one is looking at him. He has two volumes: loud and louder. He just likes to "talk" loudly. He is a cutey too.

If you lost count, that is 6 boys, 2 girls. We didn't really plan a large family but I am very happy that God chose to give me one.

We don't have any inside pets. We have a cat, Baby, that was given to us by Andrew's Godfather. He is an outside cat now who has taken a "wife" and fathered 3 kittens with more on the way. *shaking head*.

Other things of interest about our family...
I homeschool the children and have from the beginning.

We are Eastern Orthodox and attend a Greek parish. My husband is an Ordained Subdeacon and teaches the Jr High Sunday School class. My oldest 2 boys serve at the altar. I am a member of the ladies group, Philoptocos Society. I serve on the board and am in charge of special coffee hours.

I like to sew and crochet although since being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis this past October, I haven't done much of either. I am not a good cook--well, I can be a good cook, I am just too lazy. LOL I know that my family appreciates when I cook well and add new things to the menu so I should do that more.

We are a family that loves football, basketball, hockey--any sport really, EXCEPT Nascar and baseball. Our favorite though is football and in the fall we can be found watching the Gators or Buckeyes on Saturday and who ever we can catch on Sundays.

My latest obsession is couponing. I have always used coupons but in the last year or so, I have REALLY gotten into it. LOL Jeff says that I am like an addict and when people bring me their coupons he jokes that they are "feeding my habit" LOL I got into shopping CVS a little over a year ago. My girls are usually with me when I hit CVS or do any clearance shopping. They know that if toothpaste is more than 50 cents--we are NOT getting it. LOL We laugh at 15 or 30 percent off clearance at Target.

I love reading other blogs about deals and shopping. I am a fairly new twitterer and I am on facebook. If you want to read more of my boring life or to see pictures, pop over to my old blog and take a look around.

In addition to deal posts, I will add some of our life stuff and I will try to not be boring. If you read this far, thanks and I hope you stick around.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Publix 3/25/09

After a couple of disappointing trips to my local Publix, I thought about giving up. But whenever I see the BOGOs that they have each week I think, I really should try again. So today I did...and had a MUCH better trip.
Not everything I got was BOGO but was advantage buys. My husband and oldest son, who work together in construction, told me today that they are tired of granola bars for breakfast (no, I do NOT get up and cook them breakfast every day LOL). Thankfully, Publix has yogurt on advantage buy and I had lots of matching coupons.
Here is what I got today...
4 bags of Fast Fixin's Popcorn Chicken (BOGO--5.99 each)
2 bags of Doritos (no q's; no sale--needed for working men's lunches)
2 Knorr Pasta Alfredo sides (BOGO--1.59 each)
3 Minute Maid Rice (ad. buy 2/$4)
2 Dannon 6 pk yogurt (3/$6)
5 Dannon Danimals yogurt (3/$5)
4 Dole Parfait bowls (BOGO--2.25 each)
3 cokes (one for mom; one for coupon holder and one for babysitter) 1.39/each
Total before coupons: 51.06
Used coupons: 17.10
Total:33.96
The bottom of my receipt says I saved: 41.42 at Publix today!! That includes coupons, sales and stuff.
If I didn't need the chips or the cokes...my total would have been about $20!!
That is a MUCH better Publix trip!!!

Saturday, March 21, 2009

CVS 3/21/09

I must be out of practice with CVS. I am looking over my receipt as the pictures loads and realise that I didn't get the $2 ECB for the Dry Idea and must have gotten the wrong toothpaste since I didn't get the ECBs for it either. This CVS that I go to on Saturdays, usually has all the signs down by then so it is kind of a guessing game and trying to match the ad with what is on the shelf. LOL
But what I did get...
5 Dove deoderant (2 for $7)
2 Dry Idea roll on deoderant (2.99)
1 Spongebob Band-aid (3.49)
1 Neosporin to go (6.29)
1 Kotex lightdays (3.99)
1 Colgate Maxfresh toothpaste (3.49)
1 Bic Soliel
Used:
2 1.50/2 Dove q's
1.25/1 Dove q
.50 Bandaid
1.00 Neosporin
1.50 Kotex coupon (CRT from CVS)
2 2.00 Dry Idea
2.00 Bic
13.99 in ECBs
Total oop: 23.45
Got back 13.00 ECBs and 3 CRTs

Walgreens 3/21/09


This is what I got at Walgreen's today.
4 pks of Walgreen brand diapers (2 for $9)
3 pks of Reach floss (3 for $9)
Sambucol (12.99)
Wal-Zyr Allergy med (3.99)
Irish Spring body wash (4.99)
I used an Irish Spring BW free coupon.
$10 EZQ from Wags for Sambucol + $4 printable
$3 off 3 Reach coupon
$20 RR from Huggies deal last week
Total oop: 15.96
Total Savings thru Wag advertised and mfg q's: 57.45
Now that I look closer at me reciept, the floss didn't ring up $3--it rang 4.49/each. And I didn't get the RR for them. So it should have been less I think.
Oh and I will send in the rebate for the allergy meds and those will end up being free.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Menu Plan Monday


This week I did something BOLD and planned meals for TWO weeks!! WOW!! I know in my mind that I do so much better making a menu plan. I don't know why I resist. We spent a lot of money on fast food last week and I KNOW it is because I didn't make a good plan. So this last week, I sat down and made a plan for two weeks.
You might notice that there is a lack of meat in my menu. We are Greek Orthodox and are in the midst of Lent which means fasting from meat and dairy. We do allow dairy. We also eat more fish than is allowed. I could go into all the reasons but that is really between us and our spiritual Father. *grin*
Nothing fancy here...
Tuesday, the 17th--St Patrick's Day: Cabbage and potatoes--might try some soda bread too
Wednesday the 18th: French Toast
Thursday, the 19th: Potato soup
Friday, the 20th: Spaghetti
Saturday, the 21st: Chinese take out
Sunday, the 22nd: Pot luck at Church-corn casserole, pbj, corn salsa
Monday, the 23rd: salmon patties, mac/cheese
Tuesday, the 24th: pancakes
Wednesday, the 25th: Fish, Greek Pasta salad
Thursday, the 26th: ramen noodle stir fry
Friday, the 27th: spaghetti
Saturday, the 28th: ?? Older 3 Children will be at a Lenten Retreat so we might do something special with the remaining 5.
To see more Menu Plan Monday, pop over to $5 Dinners who is hosting this weeks round up.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Publix--3/10/09


Quick Publix post for you.
I rarely shop at Publix. The first big trip I did there, the cashier took my q's first and then looked at each on and matched each one with the product on the coupon. It took for.evah. So I was leary of going again but I had those Frosted Flake q's ($1/2) and Publix had the BOGO. I also had 50 cent Banana Nut Cheerio q's (which my Publix doubles) and those are also BOGO. So I braved it again.
They were out of the cheerios. So bummer. And I didn't think to get a raincheck. But as you can see, I got the Frosted Flakes. And threw in some Hellman's which were also BOGO and I had 60 cent coupons for them.
I think I did OK---4 boxes of cereal and 2 mayo for less than $10.
I decided that for me, I will just shop the BOGOs at Publix if I have good q's. Or for double coupon things. Publix prices a quite a bit higher--especially their meat. But double coupons and BOGOs---I am SO there!!

Walgreens x2



I went to Walgreens twice this week (and might try to go one more time). I laid out my plan and hoped that I wouldn't get any cashier's who would scrutinize every move and coupon.
First trip I purchased:
2 pks of Huggies diapers $10/each
1 pk of wipes $6
1 Irish Spring Body wash 4.49
1 Sambucol Cold and Flu 12.99
1 Walgreens Extra strength headache med. 2.99
Used: 21.75 in coupons
OOP: 27.97
Got $10 RR back; free body wash catalina and will mail in the 2.99 for the Extra strength
The next trip:
1 Irish Spring 4.49
2 20 oz Cokes 1.49 each
1 Axe Men's Shampoo 5.99
1 Sambucol 12.99
3 pks of Huggies 10.00/each
Used: 25.98 in coupons (including the body wash cat. and a BOGO Coke q)
OOP: 34.21
Got another $10 RR for the diaper deal but my Irish Spring didn't roll--that's OK
I will also mail in the 5.99 Axe shampoo
Out of these deals I think the best is the Sambucol. Regular price is 14.99. It is on sale for 12.99. There is a $10 ESQ at walgreens and I had $4 q's. That's a money maker!!!
I have $20 in RR to use this week.

To see what other people did this week at various drugstores...Check out http://thecentsiblesawyer.blogspot.com/2009/03/drugstore-divas-313.html And be sure to send congrats to new mom Denise over there!!

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Using a Coupon Database

In the past few years I have found that I can reduce my grocery bill by using coupons. I also found that using a database like this one at HotCouponWorld is a big help. It took me a little while to get the hang of using it but it is a great tool.

You can search for coupons for a certain item. You can even search by source or store. Searching by store is helpful for those who don't have a lot of stores to choose from and don't want to wade through a lot of information. The coupon database is also helpful in finding where the printable coupons can be found.

You can also trade for coupons that you might need that someone else doesn't. You might wonder why you would want multiple coupons for something. If something that you use is on sale, multiple coupons will help you stockpile that item at a low price. For example, for the last few weeks several stores have had Progresso Soup on sale. Food Lion had it for $1 a can; Walgreens had it for 1.25; even Target had it on sale for 1.40. This is something I stockpile for Lent for my husband's lunch. (He claims that the Lentil soup is THE best he has had. LOL). I had several coupons from inserts that came in my paper and some that friends brought me, plus several printables. I was able to get a bunch of soup for anywhere from 25 cents to $1 a can!!

Speaking of Target and printables, you simply MUST check out the Target Coupon Generator at HotCouponWorld. If you print coupons on-line, you know that some sites print one coupon per page. Or print a coupon on the top and then the bottom has a recipe or ad or something on it. If you print multiple coupons (which you should), you end up with a lot of wasted paper and ink. The Target Coupon Generator prints multiple coupons on one page--you can even print more than one of the SAME coupon!

Using the example of the soup again, let's say that on the Target Coupon Generator there is a soup coupon and I have manufacturer coupons for soup, I can use BOTH at Target. At most stores, you can combine a store coupon with a manufacturer coupon to get even more savings---pair those with a store sale and you are on your way to really saving!!

There are so many resources out there to help you lower your grocery bill. It is a shame not to use them. I am not as good as some people who might be able to feed their families for less than $50 a week but I am getting better! I think that feeding my family of 10 for less than $100 a week proves that! LOL

While you are at HotCouponWorld using the coupon database and the Target Coupon Generator also check out the many resources that they have complied there for you.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Survey Sites that Pay!!!!

In today's economy, I think we are all finding that every little bit counts! One way to earn a little extra cash or gifts is through online survey sites. If you are like me, you cruise a lot of blogs and see people mention this site or that site but you wonder, "How do I know that I won't get a ton of spam?" or "How do I know this site is legit?" Wouldn't it be nice to have a list of tried and true survey sites? And have that list complied by people you can trust? Well, guess what? Now there is!!

HotCouponWorld has made a list of 19 survey sites!! These sites are legit! They are a good way to earn extra money because they really do pay out! And even better, you won't get bombarded by a ton of spam---although some sites still send a little, you won't be overwhelmed.

Something I have done to help with spam and to keep on top of my surveys is create a separate email (from a free site like GoogleMail or Yahoo) just for surveys.

Not only are online surveys a great way to make money or earn points which can be redeemed for gifts but you might also be chosen to test new products!!

Check out HotCouponWorld's list of recommended survey sites and start earning some cash today!!

Friday, January 30, 2009

CVS 1/27/09



Quick trip to CVS this week.

1 Pert shampoo

5 Gillette Shampoo

1 Blade deoderant

3 Listerine Smart Rinse

2 Mentos

3 Bayer (one was a bonus pack)

2 Kids Throat Cooler

Total before coupons: 66.84

Used Coupons: 16.54

Used ECBs: 50.00

Oop: 1.42

Earned: 37.98

ECBs I have now: 53.06

Walgreens 1/24/09

This is the result of actually 2 trips to Walgreens. I don't normally shop Walgreens because everytime I have, I have had problems using coupons or RR or something. There is another Walgreens I could try but it is farther than I would like to drive and is pretty much out of the way for me.



On my first visit, I got the Ragu, Skippy, Pepsi and Kotex. I earned $21 in RR. I told the cashier, "I will be right back to use those in a minute." We took the stuff out to the car and came back in. On the 2nd visit I got the Lipton tea bags, Pantene shampoo, Kotex and Lever soap. I used several q's for all of it. After those my total was $41.xx she then tried to use my RR and they wouldn't work. She said, "You should have used these first." And I am thinking, "YOU should have put them in first since I handed them to you that way." She tried several time and they would not work. *grrrrr* So she handed them back to me. I still save almost $30 on that trip but wanted to use the RR to lower my oop. I also earned another $10 RR.



So from the two trips me oop was about $70 and I earned $31 RR. Frustrated, I decided to just go spend the RR the next week.

I stopped in on Tuesday, the 27th and got this:



6 packs of diapers. They were on sale for 5.99. I have 2 in diapers (one I need to start potty training). So this is helpful and something that I needed. I also got 3 cokes for my shopping helpers. LOL My oop was 11.26 (probably should have only gotten 5 packs but I like things to be even. LOL)

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

CVS 1/20/2009

I had about $64 in ECBs that were set to expire today. I hate when I do that but there haven't been any decent deals at CVS or rather nothing I wanted to venture out to get. Plus we had all that sickness over Christmas and New Years. So I just held on to them until I HAD to go.

I wrote down a few things to look at but when I got there, of course, no shampoo and a few other things I was hoping to get. So here is how I did...

4 12-pks of Pepsi products
3 bags of chips
1 Clairol Hair Instincts
2 CVS allergy med
3 American Greetings cards
2 Maybelline Mineral Powder
3 Sambucol immune system support

Total before: 95.49
used 2.00 q
used 64.26 ecb
oop 30.58 (more than I really wanted to spend oop but I was flustered and in a rush LOL)

Earned: 65.08 in ECBs plus 4 computer coupons

So I actually ended up with more ECBs than I started with, which I wasn't planning on but is OK by me. Hopefully I won't sit on these ones...come on CVS give us some good deals!!!

Monday, January 19, 2009

Target Toy Clearance


Sorry about the glare on the picture but you get the idea. Target is having its big January toy clearance. I had been real good about not going because we really do not need more toys but today I gave in after reading on one of my favorite messages boards that there were rumors of toys going 90 percent off!!! Anyone who knows/follows Target clearances, knows that this is unheard of! Only holidays go 90 percent off. I still had to check it out.
As my daughter and I made our way to toys I saw standing close to the toys, my favorite mark down lady!! WOOT! We moved a little quicker. I overheard her discussion over time with the manager LOL. When they were done talking, I told her that I love seeing her in the toy department. She told me where they had already been and what still needed done. I asked her about 90 percent off and she denied it. I still will check later this week. LOL
This is what I got today...
Electronic Doodle Pro 5.48
Mad Science Dinosaur kit 3.94
2 Lapdesks with stamps and such 3.74 each
Barbie with 3 puppies 4.98
Breyer Stablemates 4.98
Stormtrooper Potato head 2.74
R2-D2 potato head 2.74
Othello 2.48
Yahtzee Free for All 2.24
Zooreka 2.98
American Girl 300 Wishes 4.98
Monopoly Town 1.98
Horton Hears a Who game 4.98
Thomas the Train engine 1.72
Clipo set 4.98
Vtech smartboard 6.24
King Arthur figures 2.98
Word World Stamp kit 2.38
I also got a few shirts for 1.48 and some cereal for 1.97. So I didn't just get junk. LOL I put most of the stuff away for birthdays or namedays. I am not stupid enough to think I can hold it until Christmas. LOL
This made up a little for the lame Old Navy clearance last week I guess---although we needed pants much more than we needed toys. LOL
I told my girls that most of them are board games because when everything goes digital we won't be able to watch any TV---we will need something to do. LOL

Menu Plan Monday


Monday~Pizza Rolls; Hamburger Helper
Tuesday~Pigs in the Blanket; Chicken and Rice
Wednesday~Fish sticks; Spaghetti
Thursday~(Timothy's Nameday--he picks meals)~chicken noodle soup; Dairy Queen
Friday~Spaghetti O's or mac and cheese; Tuna casserole
Saturday~leftovers
For more menu plans check out orgjunkie.com

Monday, January 12, 2009

Menu Plan Monday


Monday~~
Lunch: leftovers
Supper: gyros
Tuesday~
Lunch: corn dogs
Supper: chicken and biscuits
Wednesday~
Lunch: spag o's
Supper: Tuna casserole
Thursday~
Lunch: pizza rolls
Supper: meatloaf
Friday~
Lunch: grilled cheese
Supper: pancakes
Saturday~
Lunch: leftovers
Supper: pizza