WELCOME

I am a stay at home mom who is fed up with spending a large portion of income on grocery bills. It is my job, according to God, to be a good help mate for my husband. I am trying to live up to my job description. I am starting a journey into the grocery coupon world and invite you to come with me. I have never used coupons for grocery shopping and as of January 1st 2008 I am diving in. I will be using http://www.thegrocerygame/ , http://www.moneysavingmom.com and the http://www.couponmom.com/ website to guide me on how to save money. I am going to treat this adventure as a part time job and put in the hours necessary to make it work. I am excited and nervous to get started.

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Teetering On the Edge

I have been teetering on the edge of coupon insanity and good deal getter, I have officially went over the edge to coupon insanity. My coupon organization has been the little black box, remember I posted it awhile ago. Last night I started organizing my coupon binder. Yes, I said binder. I have bought a 3 ring binder with a lot of pockets. By the way, Sherri the Queen of the smelly things, is welcoming me with open arms to her side. I will post when I get it the way I want, it is COOL!

Do You Want to See My Deal?


Do you want to see a good deal I got today?

Well, do you?

I got 18- $2.25 off 1 Electrasol coupons a week ago. I have been looking and waiting for someone to put them on sale or at least to get a good deal. I went to Target and they have Electrasol 20ct for $3.04 regular price. This is even cheaper than Wal-Mart. I took all my coupons and bought my year supply of Electrasol. The bill started out at $57.46 before coupons, could you imagine? It would break my heart if I had to pay that. Instead I paid $16.99 for 18 boxes. That comes to about $.94 per box.

When I left the register my total was $21.46. That did'nt seem right to me I thought it would be more like $17. I got outside and looked at my bill. The cashier had only scanned 16 of my coupons. I turned around and headed to customer service. They went and pulled my coupons out of the register and sure enough all 18 were there. A couple had stuck together.

TIP: When using coupons you will run into mistakes. This is a given, let me repeat, YOU WILL HAVE CASHIER/STORE MISTAKES! You have to have the confidence and willingness to go back into the store or to the cashier and have them fix it. They may not like it but hey it is your hard earned coupon and money. Go back girlfriend/boyfriend and get your money. Today going back got me an extra $4.50 off my bill. Also make sure to check the receipt if something does'nt seem right. If you need to have the cashier explain it to you. The people behind you may not like it but hey you will probably never see them people again anyway. If you do they will know not to get behind you in line.

Proof that I am a slacker



Here is the proof that I am a slacker. I have not cut coupons or organized them in about 3 weeks. The poor coupon box it has been neglected for a good month now. For the past two weeks I have taken the inserts with me to the store in a Kroger bag just in case I needed them. Last night I sat down and cut, cut, cut. My God the coupons never seemed to end. Here is a couple of pics of my stash.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Waste Not Want Not

I will confess that we eat a lot of fruit here at my house, I buy it every other week at Sam's Club. My bi-weekly trip includes 2 bunches of bananas, a 5lb bag of apples and 2 lbs of strawberries. I always have on hand the 4oz canned peaches and yogurt.
Sometimes the bananas get over ripe heading into the second week. Once a banana gets to ripe I say forget it. There is nothing worse that eating a mushy, mushy banana. But instead of just throwing away the bananas and good money, I might add, I have found a way of taking those over ripe bananas and using them. I am sure this is probably not news to you but then again maybe this is new to some of you. Here is what I do:
I take the bananas and peel them then I throw them into the freezer. Then when I get 4 bananas I make banana bread with them. Sometimes they don't even make it to the freezer I just peel them and whip up a batch. Four bananas will make two loaves of bread. We usually eat on one and then I throw the other into the freezer for later. Sometimes my hubby needs something to take to work for a party or something and he pulls the bread out and goes. I feel like I am a recycling and it always makes me feel good.

Side Note: If you throw the bananas in the freezer. After you take them out they will be dark and runny and nasty looking. They are fine just thaw them and dump them into the mixer. I promise they will taste fine.
If you leave the skin on and freeze your bananas they turn black, which is o.k. they still taste the same. I say to peel them first so that you don't have to get your hands gunked up peeling them.

A Split Decision Shop Today


I went to Kroger today but it was not planned. I came home from a long day and then an hour later my hubby showed up. Grant it, it was his normal time to come home but I felt as if I had just sat down and boom he was there. I had taken some pork chops out for dinner and was craving some Shake-In-Bake. I am sorry to say that I have not found these on sale, hence, I did not have a supply to go to in the basement. Off to Kroger I went and I decided that the Mega Deal could not live without me this day. I did Good! I loaded up on bagels again. Yes I did 10 packs of bagels for $1 a bag. I told you I needed to have stock in Lenders, I was not kidding. We eat so many bagels in this house.
Anyway I spent $27 for everything. I bought:
10 packs of Lenders bagels
4 bags of Doritos
2 containers of sour cream (thanks Sherri for the q's, I love me some free sour cream)
1 bunch of romaine lettuce
1 box of Shake-n-Bake
2 packs of Heiners buns(tomorrow its hamburger and hot dogs)
1 box of Special K granola bars ($1 off coupon)
1 Betty Crocker icing ($.55 shortcut coupon)
2 boxes of Eggos

I thought I would throw in a picture of what 10 packs of bagels looks like all together.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Adding a New Store to My Repertoire



Great Deal this week ladies and gents!!
If you have not looked at your KMart ad today you need to look at it and run, don't walk to the store. Let me first start by saying that at our house we can only use Scotts toilet paper. Not because we like the paper thin scratch your bottom tp but because we have a very old house with very old pipes. Scotts paper is about the only thing that will break up and go through the pipes. Now enough about my plumbing. Kmart has Scotts tp on sale for 2-12 packs for $10. The best price I have seen this for is 2 for $11. I saw this ad today and ran to the store. This deal gets even sweeter though. I had $1 off 1-12 pack coupons and $2 off 2-12 packs coupons. So I bought 9-12 packs of tp today. That's right I bought 108 double rolls of Scotts tp, and paid $38 for it all! I am sure people were thinking, "oh the poor woman, I hope her digestive condition clears up before she uses all her tp." I am so excited about my deal I thought I would post two pictures. The tp is in the boxes because I did'nt want to wipe the shelves clean and make the poor couponless people break open new cases.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Coupons, Coupons, Coupons!


Electrasol had a great coupon last week. They had a $2.25 coupon. This is great! I had to have a lot. I went on Ebay and ordered 28 coupons. Yes I know I don't like buying coupons but this is a great coupon. I then hit everyone up I know for papers. Between 2 friends and I we have collected 53 Electrasol coupons. Yay! Now we need to find them on sale. Today my coupons came in the mail.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

A Glimpse of the Ballerina


Today I went back to Kroger and I saw a glimpse of the ballerina again. I felt her coming out as I entered the store. I immediately assumed first position and in I went. I started walking on my tip toes (pointe) and flowing ever so gracefully to the Huggies wipes trying to balloon as I went (Ballon means to bounce, where the dancer can show the lightness of the movement). I loaded up my 20 packs of 40ct Huggies and headed for checkout. As I checked out I did a perfect Pirouette (Complete turn of the body on one foot with the working leg at various angles) as I paid my $1.45 total. Yes, that is a %99 savings!
I did not get a picture but thought you would enjoy this one.

Love Hate Relationship


I am really having a love/hate relationship with Wal-Mart, right now I am loving them. I went there last night and spent $14 after coupons before coupons my total was $23. Side note: You have to love a cashier that gives overage on coupons.

A couple of things I had no coupons for. I know I was sad too, but I needed them.

My Second Trip This Week


My second trip to Kroger went much better. I really only see two deals that I can not possibly live without this week. This second trip was for the Huggies 80 tubs of wipes. Let me first say that I bought 20 coupons for $1 on Ebay. This was my first time buying coupons. I don't like to do it but a good deal needed drastic measures. These coupons were for $1 off 64 ct or larger Huggies wipes. Some of you may recall that with the buy 10 participating items you get $5 off at the register. Well, this makes Huggies wipes $2 per tub and with my coupons it makes them $1 a tub. I got 800 wipes for $13.00, this includes my Ebay purchase. I think that is a good deal. Before coupons my total was $22.

Those Darn Parties

O.k. o.k. I have been to Kroger a couple of times this week and I plan at least one more trip, I think. The first trip to Kroger I spent $37.00! Outragous,! I know. My hubby had another party at work and decided to take hot dogs with BBQ sauce on them. It was fine except for one thing, the Ball Park all beef hot dogs are not part of the Mega Deal, UGH! So 4 packs of those and it blew my budget. I was able to do one Mega Deal so that made my hot dogs bearable. I also managed to recoup due to the other two trips. Read the next post.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Overwhelmed















Here lately I have been feeling overwhelmed. With what, you ask? Life! Would be the correct answer. Anyway, I am not posting so that you can get out your tiny violin and play me the saddest song on earth. I am posting to tell you I did not pick up my papers on Sunday. Nor did I pick up my papers on Monday morning. I went to pick up my papers around 4p.m. Monday afternoon. Here is the story: I went in to my gas station cheerful and ready for a stash of papers. As I walked to the counter and said hi my guy, I feel since I see him every Sunday night I can call him my guy, he told me that he had thrown the papers away. Away! I said. "You threw my papers away?" My heart skipping a beat in between words. He smiled and told me he had just throw them away and they were on top of the garbage in the dumpster. "Whew!" I said and headed for the dumpster. Here is a picture of my babies that were almost lost forever. They are a little wrinkled, but o.k.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

I think I need professional help!


O.k. there are two motto's that I try to live by, well at least two that I try and live by. The first is, "It's nice to be nice" and the second "never say never". Remember back a few months ago I posted about having trouble with some coupons at Wal-Mart? Remember I vowed to never go back? Well I kinda didn't hold up to my end of that deal. I do try and shop other places if possible but sometimes Wal-Mart is the place to be. I ask you, How can I stay away from a place that sells Vlasic pickles for $.12 a jar? Or who sells HP printer paper for $.97 a pack. I just can't do it! Here is where I think I need professional help. To get the Vlasic pickles and the HP paper you have to have the printable coupons. I do have them, actually I have them saved to my desktop. So every time I sit down at my computer I see these wonderful coupons staring back at me and daring me to use them one more time. Today I needed to make a trip to Wal-Mart for some sticky mouse boards. No, we don't have mice but these boards make great bug boards. Our basement gets crickets and these sticky boards are the best traps. They are also a great buffet for the spiders who eat the crickets, but that is another story. Anyway, as I was preparing to leave for Wal-Mart I couldn't help but print another three coupons for the HP paper. I now have 9 packs of paper, which has saved me $27. I can't stand going to Wal-Mart and not picking up the HP paper. Help I think I am addicted to good deals. The coupon doesn't expire until December. I may be in big trouble.

Show Me the Money!


I enjoy it when the mail comes. Some days there are bills and unsolicited ads but a lot of the time there free samples and rebate checks. Like today, I went to the mailbox and what do my wondering eyes see? A Huggies rebate check for $5. Remember way back when, when Kroger had Huggies diapers on sale and if you bought three there was money taken off at the cash register? If you remember hard you will remember that there was a rebate for every three packs you bought you got $5 back in rebate.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Changed it up a bit


I went to CVS last night with Sherri and Christi to do my shopping. We had a good time and hit 2 CVS stores instead of just one. My deals had to change a little because the CVS employees at two different stores did not know how to do the 4 x 6 photo books. They were also out of the towelettes so I was not able to use my CVS $2 skin care coupon. HMMM, I am thinking of calling CVS Corp and telling them about the 4 x 6 books and see if they will let me do another 6 x 8 photo book and get ECB's for it. Here is how my deals went.
First let me say I had a $7.99 ECB, a $5 ECB and $3 ECB going into my deals this week. I know its weak but hey.

1st deal:
1 photo book
1 Bayer
1 Gain
2 CVS pantyliners
coupons
$3 kodak photo book
$2.50 Bayer

Total OOP .03 I paid cash

2nd Deal
1 photo book
2 CVS tampax
3 Sally Hanes nail polishes

coupons
$3 photo book
$3/2 Sally Hanes polish (I had to get 3 because the polishes were on sale for .99 so the coupon was beeping because the total for two was $1.98 so I got 3 which brought my total for three to $2.97 and the cashier adjusted my coupon down. So I got three for free instead of two.

Total OOP $3.94

Total OOP for both transactions was $3.97 and I have $27.98 in ECB's for next week.

P.s. The photo books are great! I would do a few more if they would give me more ECB's

Monday, July 14, 2008

CVS deals for this week

I have not gone to CVS yet but I plan to work these deals.

1st deal
1-6 x 8 photo book $7.99
1-4 x 8 photo book $3.99
1 Bayer heart advantage $4.99
coupons used
$3 off 15
$3 Kodak photo book
$2.50 Bayer

total OOP $8.47 plus tax ECB's earned $13.98

2nd transaction
1-6 x 8 photo book 7.99
1 CVS towelette 2.99
2 Sally hansen polish 1.98
2 CVS pantyliners .99 each
1 Gain laundry detergent $4.99
coupons used
$3 off 15
$3 Kodak photo book
$2 CVS skin care coupon
$3 off 2 Sally Hansen
Total OOP $8.93 plus tax ECB getting back $12.97

p.s. I will add a Sunday newspaper to each deal if they have them and that will change my totals a little bit.

Giving Some Props


About 3 weeks ago a blog called Mommies with cents started a Little Einsteins milk giveaway. I entered of course, even though I never win anything. Low and behold look what came in the mail today. It is 5 coupons for 1/2 gallons of milk. I am so excited, I hope my local store carries this brand. Thank you Mommies with cents!

Yesterday at Kroger


I went Krogering yesterday. My coupons that Kroger sent me in the mail about a month ago were expiring yesterday so I had to go. Ever since the gas hikes, plus the fact that there just is'nt any great deals lately I am having trouble getting over %50 like I used to. This week my savings was %43. Anyway here is my deal. I will just run down the items quickly and give you my total oop.

4-12pack of Diet Coke
2 free bags of Kroger chips because of buying Diet Coke
1 NY Texas toast
1 old fashion ice cream
2 Kroger cream cheese
1 deli chicken for dinner last night
4 Kroger frozen veggies
2lbs of grapes
2 bags pictsweet frozen veggies
1 head leaf lettuce
1 Herdez salsa
4 Sweet Baby Rays bbq sauce on sale $1 I will be going back for more probably.
2 boxes of Special K granola bars I will probably return for more of these as well I have many coupons.
2 bags of sunflower seeds
1 celery
2 boxes of Post cereal (raisin brand and shredded wheat)
1 bag of spinach
Total coupons $9.35
Total OOP $54.15

Plus .80 came off of the bill just from my shortcuts

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Art Lesson Continues


I figured since I have not been shopping this week I would enlighten with a little art piece instead. Click here to see a better picture. This picture is from Peter Bruegel, the elder. This painting was done in 1566 and hangs in the Detroit Institute of Art. It is called The Wedding Dance. Bruegel was a Netherlandish (person from the Netherlands) painter. I think he like to shake things up a bit as well. Back in 1566 peasants were not allowed to have public celebrations or assemblies and this painting clearly depicts the violation of that. I also really like the fact that he would put himself into the painting as a bystander, always cloaked in black. If you look closely on the bottom right of this painting, standing behind the man in blue pants, there he is all in black. You will probably need to zoom in a couple of times to see him. This also received great scrutiny because the men are armed with knives. I would think the fact that all the men have erections would have caused more scrutiny. OOPS did I say erections? Yes ladies and gents you read it correctly, erections. Some party huh?

I just love the stories of art. A picture may seem to be one thing but as you dig deeper you find out that some artists were just freaks. I love that!

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

My Camera Fund

In the recent past I blogged about starting a camera fund, but I dont think my passion for this camera really came through in my last post, I am going to clear that up right now. I have been watching a blog called The Confession of a Pioneer Woman. She takes awesome pictures and has a Nikon D80 camera. This camera is AWESOME! I have the old film version of this now digital camera. Anyway, the Pioneer woman takes great photos and tells you how her camera was set to get the picture. I check this blog many times a day that is how addicted I am. Ever since I have started following this blog my heart has been throbbing for this camera. I really, really, really want this camera. O.k. here comes the but- but, I will not buy this camera unless I have money to pay for it. I refuse to put it on credit and get sucked into that kind of debt plus I dont think my hubby would like that either.
So to earn money for my camera I opened an ING account. Why am I posting this and wasting your time? you ask? My reason is to show that money can be made.

Every year when we get taxes back I put $2000.00 into an account and this becomes our vacation money. We love to take family trips every year and if I did not put money aside we would not be able to afford a vacation totally paid for by cash.

This month I transfered $1600.00 of vacation money into my ING account to earn interest. I just checked my account today and for July I have earned $1.04 so far. This is $1.04 closer to my $899.00 camera. Yay!

Wal-Greens Diapers

I needed diapers so off I went to Wal-greens to work a deal. They had their diapers on sale for $5.99 a jumbo pack and when you bought 3 you got back $5 is RR. Also they had an easy saver coupon for $5 off 2 packs.

I did 2 transactions, 3 packs of diapers each. Here is the break down:

3 packs of diapers totaled $17.97 - 2.50 (easy saver coupon) each pack = 10.47 I had $4 of so on gift card so I paid OOP $6.??
My second deal was the same except I used the $5RR that printed from my 1st purchase toward my 2nd purchase and put out right around $6 in cash.
My plan was go get another $5 RR and then buy another 2 packs and pay like .50 for 2 more packs of diapers but sadly I found out that if you pay with a RR they will not print you another one.
I paid $13.00 for 136 diapers. I was at Sams the day before and their Member Mark diapers cost $30.88 for 156 diapers. I think I still got a good deal. By the way the diapers are fine.

I did manage to get to Kroger last week.


I had family was in town last week so I was not checking blogs and clipping coupons like I normally do. I did go to Kroger though. My deal was not great but I did o.k. I am sorry but I did not break this weeks deals down. I will give you the general deal and a picture. I did two Kroger deal where you buy 10 participating items and get $3 off at register.
I also did one Coke deal where you buy 4-12 packs and get $3 off at register.
I spend right around $40 this week. Sorry Coke is not pictured.
I did much better at Wal-greens last week. See other post

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Lookie What Came in the Mail Today!


I buy the Del Monte 4 oz cans of fruit from Sam's Club that come in a pack of 24. There are 12 peach and 12 mixed fruit cans. I emailed Del Monte last week because the mixed fruit cans are half empty. They are filled with juice and hardly any fruit. I received an email a few days ago saying that they were sending me a partial reimbursement. Low and behold I went to the mailbox today and there was the check. I was anxious to open it and see what they sent. They sent me $5. Yay! I think the whole container at Sam's is around $8 so this will almost pay for our next fruit can purchase.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

I NEED HELP!

I need some help. I use the RSS feeds that is on the Internet Explorer toolbar. Last week for no good reason it stopped working and I can not figure out how to get it going again. I have reinstalled Explorer, set me feeds update to 15 minutes, managed my add ons, installed .netframework. I dont know what to do next. I cant find help when I google it. HELP ANYONE!

Decent week for Kroger

I think this week can be a decent week for Kroger. I printed out two pages from the grocery game, I have not done this in awhile. I will post after I do my shopping this week.