Creative Couponing

Going Commando

2009-07-09T09:18:00.002-04:00

I have went commando mode with my coupons. Is it even possible to go commando? Am I using the word correctly? I don't know.

It has been about 5 weeks since I clipped coupons. I'll hold on while you catch your breath and fan yourself. Yesterday I decided to go commando mode. I separated all my papers from the inserts and I put like inserts together. I went through each insert and put like coupon pages together that I wanted to keep. Then I clipped only the coupons I knew I would use. All of the rest of the insert and coupons I threw away. I'll say it again, I threw them away. I have gotten so relaxed on my coupons we have been living off of our stock pile. I do run to the store for the basics; bread, milk, eggs etc... but there are never coupons for those.

Today I am feeling so much better, my stack of coupons are gone and I have a small pile that I need to file.

Mission complete, almost :)

Kroger and over charging

2009-06-27T17:17:00.002-04:00

Kroger is infamous for over charging. It happens all the time. Most people do not take the time to look at their bill so they never know.
My hubby LOVES to catch Kroger overcharging him for items. He has made it kind of a game. He will pick things up thinking that it might be the one item. A couple of weeks ago he went and bought a bag of Kroger brand french fries for that nights dinner. Before he walked out of the store he checked his bill and sure enough he was charged the regular price instead of the sale price. He headed to the customer service. In my Kroger their policy is, actually I think its a federal customer protection law, that says if you are overcharged you get the first item free and the difference on all the other items you are over charged for.
Usually we are overcharged on a Kroger brand item that is on sale. The sale price never quite makes it into the cash register.

Today I went to the store and Kroger did not disappoint. They had the Dole brand salads in a bag on sale. You know those salads that have everything in the bag and then you just put it all together when you get home? They were on sale for 2/$5 which is a really good deal, these things usually cost about $4 each. So I picked up two bags. When I checked my receipt after checking out they had charged me 3/$9. This is actually tomorrows deal. I headed straight for customer service. They gave me $3.59 back, $3 for the price of the first salad and $.50 for the overcharge on the second salad and then tax. I came home with two bags of salad for $1.25 per bag. That is a deal!

P.S. Watch your receipt it truly pays off.

Ukrops and coupons

2009-06-20T11:54:00.002-04:00

I live in an area that has a Ukrops. Sadly to say we only have one in this area and they are struggling to stay open. I really like Ukrops but hardly shop there because they do not double coupons. As a last ditch, stay in business effort, Ukrops started tripling manufacturers coupons on Saturdays for the months of May and June. Yes, tripling! But, we have read in the local paper, they are going to start tripling coupons on Wednesdays and Saturdays starting in July. This is very exciting. Get those $.75 and $1.00 coupons out and head to Ukrops.

Kids Bowl Free

2009-06-10T09:19:00.003-04:00

I hope everyone has signed up for free bowling this summer. The AMF bowling centers have a program where you can sign up kids for free bowling through the summer its called Kids Bowl Free. Adults can bowl to, it cost $23.95 for the summer. You can add up to 5 kids and 5 adults. You can bowl two games a day everyday from 9am to 5pm Sunday through Saturday. The only thing you have to pay for is shoe rental. In our case we have to rent only one pair of shoes since I just ordered my new bowling shoes and my hubby already has a pair.

How the program works is this:

Every Sunday AMF sends you an email with a link to print your coupons for the whole week. There is one coupon for the kids and one coupon for adults (if you do the adult program). You follow the link and print out your coupons for the week. Take your coupons to your participating bowling center and you are all set. We have bowled twice so far and the kids love it.

Oh How I love the Swagbucks!

2009-06-10T09:15:00.002-04:00

Have I told you lately how I love Swagbucks? I have redeemed a total of $30 in gift cards so far. I just ordered a pair of bowling shoes and applied two gift cards to buy them. I love getting things discounted. I love Swagbucks! They give me money just for searching, its great!

Free Legos Smart Kit and Creativity Contest

2009-05-22T18:41:00.003-04:00

Money Saving Mom has posted the coolest thing. Lego is having a contest. They are giving away Smart kits to teachers so that the teacher can come up with an activity to do with just the smart kit Legos. Homeschoolers are welcome! All you have to do is follow the link to the Lego site and then register. Mine is already on the way. I am going let my kids play with the set and see what we come up with. I can't wait to get this, I am so excited!

Click here to go straight to the link.

Wisk detergent deal worth doing

2009-05-21T17:34:00.002-04:00

I found a great Wisk deal at Food Lion today. I do not shop Food Lion normally just because their prices are usually higher and their ads run from Tuesday to Tuesday. Today for some reason my hubby put the ad on the kitchen table for me to see.
Low and behold right on the front I saw the Wisk. They have the 50 oz. liquid Wisk on sale for B1G1 the regular price is $6.09 each. Yesterday I got all of my coupons clipped and organized and I remembered seeing a Wisk coupon for $1.50 off. A light went off and I looked at my coupons.

Here is the deal I did at Food Lion today

Wisk B1G1 for $6.09 the coupon is $1.50 off two.
I paid $4.88 including tax for 2 bottles of Wisk. That comes to $2.44 per bottle.

The ad said there was a limit of 2 free bottles. I did 4 bottles in one transaction and 2 bottles in another transaction.

The picture is what I got. They had a lot to choose from.

I went to Kroger last night. When I get the energy and time I will post my deals.

Cartridge World

2009-05-19T10:11:00.004-04:00

Have you ever heard of Cartridge World?
What Cartridge World is is a business where you can go and take your empty printer ink cartridges and have them filled for half the price of buying a brand new one. Your cartridge, most times, are filled while you wait. The company uses computers to check the cartridge to make sure its o.k. for refilling and not damaged or anything like that. They also guarantee them to work. If your cartridge can not be refilled they have cartridges there that they fill and give you for the same price. The cartridges are weighed and filled by their weight.
The other day I took a cartridge over there and they weighed it and said it was full and didn't need to be refilled yet. While I was there I also was talking about getting things cheaper and going through my speech of saving money. The girl working behind the counter reached behind the counter and pulled out some coupons for me. I was shocked! I can get ink cheap and then I can use a coupon too? Wow!
We have one here close to where I live and I really like them. I like using this business because I can get ink refilled cheaper and the cartridges stay out of the landfills.
If you have one of these businesses in your area I recommend them.

Question about Kroger

2009-05-17T12:55:00.003-04:00

>I have a friend who gets a Kroger insert on Friday before the deals come out on Sundays. She posts them on her blog and I have a button on my blog linking to hers. I had a question on how to find the link on my blog. If you scroll down my blog a little ways you will see a flower and a bird inside a white background on the right hand side of my blog click on the flower and bird area of that button. My friends blog is called tryingtosavealot. I hope you all find the deals and have fun shopping for them.

2009-05-17T12:54:00.000-04:00

Bird Update

2009-05-06T17:18:00.002-04:00

By they way I found out what kind of birds we have in our fern. We have house finch's and the mama has laid 5 eggs. We are patiently and excitedly wait for baby birds any day now.

I got coupons today

2009-05-06T11:44:00.003-04:00

I got Kroger coupons today in the mail! I eagerly opened them to discover they had sent me some coupons for free stuff. Who doesn't love free stuff!

Here is the list:
Free Lenders bagels
Free cheerios
$1 off 2 general mills cereal
.75 on 2 Yoplait yogurts
$1 off Lenders Bagels
.65 Kroger ice cream
$1 off 2 Keebler
.40 off Rosarita refried beans
$1 off 2 Wish Bone dressings
.50 off New York frozen bread
$1 off Pledge
.60 off Greased Lightning
$1 off 2 pictsweet steamable veggies

I am definitely going to use the free coupons tomorrow. As I have said before, I should have stock in Lenders. We eat so many bagels it is not even funny. I can't seem to keep bagels in stock and there are never coupons for them. I am so thankful for Kroger and free bagels.

I found out what birds we have

2009-05-01T16:55:00.001-04:00

These birds are called House Finchs. They are a common bird but its been fun watching them. We now have 4 eggs in the nest.

What in the heck is it?

2009-04-30T15:20:00.004-04:00

We hung some ferns up a couple of weeks ago and now we have a nest and three eggs in it. I have no clue what kind of birds these are. If anyone knows please leave me a comment.
Enjoy the pics

Swagbucks are paying off

2009-04-18T10:52:00.003-04:00

I am so glad I joined Swagbucks. It is really paying off for me. I have used $20 in Amazon cards so far and I have another one sitting and waiting for me. I bought two sets of Bob Books last week from Amazon and paid $18 for both sets. I used $10 in gift cards on this one purchase.

Join under me by using the button on the right side of my blog.
Join now and enjoy, enjoy, enjoy

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T11:21:00.004-04:00

HAPPY EASTER!

I pulled some verses out this morning to celebrate the holiday.

John 10:10-11
The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give life in all its fullness. "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

John 19:1-3
Then Pilate had Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip. The soldiers made a crown of long, sharp thorns and put it on his head, and they put a royal purple robe on him. "Hail! King of the Jews!" they mocked, and they hit him with their fists.

John 19:28-30
Jesus knew that everything was now finished, and to fulfill the Scriptures he said, "I am thirsty." A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to his lips. When Jesus had tasted it, he said, "It is finished!" Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Matthew 28:1-9
Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to see the tomb. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, because an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and rolled aside the stone and sat on it. His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint. Then the angel spoke to the women. "Don't be afraid!" he said. "I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn't here! He has been raised from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying. And now, go quickly and tell his disciples he has been raised from the dead, and he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there. Remember, I have told you." The women ran quickly from the tomb. They were very frightened but also filled with great joy, and they rushed to find the disciples to give them the angel's message. And as they went, Jesus met them. "Greetings!" he said. And they ran to him, held his feet, and worshiped him.

Kroger on Monday

2009-04-06T18:00:00.003-04:00

Yet again I went to Kroger. This time I did a little better. I didn't want to go back so soon but it was a, I need to pick something up for dinner trip, so I decided to get my weekly trip done as well. Here is what I bought
4 mangos
1 bag of lettuce hearts
gala apples
1 sunkist almonds
2 loaves of Natures Own bread
2 half gallons of ice cream. One cost .88 on special
2-18 ct Kroger eggs
1 Citracal
18 packs of Lipton pasta sides
4 box of Fiber One bars
2 boxes of Nature Valley granola bars
2 FREE gallon of milk
7 tubs of I Cant Believe its not butter
6 packs of all beek Ball Park hot dogs
2 bottles of olive oil
1 deli chicken for dinner
3 bottles of Shout

Total coupons used was $27.59
total Kroger savings and coupons $71.69

TOOP was $93.29

Again I have pictures in my camera that will probably be lost forever.

Back in the saddle of Kroger

2009-04-06T17:57:00.006-04:00

of my
Last week I went to Kroger. Sorry for not posting sooner but I lost my receipt until recently when I unpacked a kroger bag that was in the basement on the floor waiting to be put away on my shelves. Man did I spend the money! Maybe that is why I lost the receipt I was subconsciously trying to block out the paint. I spent $145.63. Let me tell you I had hot flashes and thought I would pass out when I heard that total.
I took some pictures from my camera while I was in the store. Here at my house it was pouring down rain and there was no way I was carrying everything in unpacking it, organizing it and then putting it all away. Here is the skinny on everything I bought.

List of items
3 packs of Luv diapers
6 packs of Goodys powder (hubby loves this for headaches)
3 large bottles of Vaseline cocoa butter lotion (for my mom)
4 bottles of childrens Advil (GREAT DEAL- on sale for $3 each and there was a $2 coupon attached to the box. Since they dont expire until 2011 I bought 4)
1 McCormick spice(needed not on sale)
9-6 packs of Dannon yogurt
7 bags of Pillsbury frozen biscuits
7 bottles of Wishbone Blue Cheese salad dressing
5 boxes of Barilla piccilini pasta
12- Pillsbury cresent rolls (4 in a tube) Very freezer friendly by the way
3 boxes of Kraft Philly cream cheese
6 boxes of Raisin Brand cereal
3.83 lbs of grapes
1 bag of potatoes
6 tubs of Land O Lakes butter
1 tub of tomatoes
2 tubs of strawberries
16 cans of Del Monte fruit
2 cucumbers
2 bottles of Clorox Clean Up

I had $70.35 in coupons
My total savings with Kroger and coupons was $180.48

TOOP was $145.63 which was a %56 savings.

I took pictures in the store of my cart but for the life of me I cant figure out how to transfer those pics to my computer. I did manage to get a picture of my receipt from my digital camera. I dont seem to have a cord with USB connections on both ends. UGH!

To Shortcut or not to Shortcut

2009-03-26T10:48:00.004-04:00

In the past week or so I have heard arguments about using shortcuts and manufacturer coupons on one item.

I have a position and thought I would share. First let me say that my friend Lori emailed the shortcuts company and they emailed back saying that we should not use a shortcut and a manufacturer coupon on one item and that they are working on fixing the problem. Now that said here is where I stand.

I feel if I can use both a shortcut and a manufacturer paper coupon then I will use both. As a matter of fact I did last night. By the way, I have been using shortcuts and manufacturers paper coupons for about a year now.
These companies know exactly what they are doing. They have teams of people who sit around and come up with "what if" scenarios. They knew that the system would allow both and they let it fly, for at least the past year anyway. Now that the economy has changed and people are using more shortcuts they have decided that it is not right to use both. When they change the system I will stop using both but until then I say save save save.

Now please do not leave comments about how bad and immoral I am blah blah blah. You know what, you can leave comments if you want because they are pretty funny to read. This is where I stand and this is what I will continue to do.

The only problem I have with this whole argument is that it might end soon, and my great deals won't be so great anymore.

Downside of not having my binder in order

2009-03-25T09:58:00.005-04:00

I went to Kroger the other day and look at what coupons I forgot to use. These were not in my binder but aimlessly wondering around my house being placed in different piles over time.

I totally spaced and forgot that I had these coupons. I will not do this again, I will put these coupons in my bra to make sure I don't forget about them.

I had a coupon for
1 FREE pack of Lenders bagels
1 FREE box of nature Valley granola bars
1-$1 off 2 packs of Lenders bagels

When I found these coupons yesterday it truly made me say UGH! At least they are not expired, that would have truly broke my heart.

KEEP YOUR COUPONS IN YOUR BINDER!

My Kroger trip today, success I say.

2009-03-22T17:22:00.006-04:00

I went to Kroger today after many weeks of not going to Kroger. I spent $146.23. When I saw the total I started to get hot flashes, no I am not old enough for hot flashes-thanks for asking. Then I remembered the last time I did a big grocery shopping trip was back at the beginning of February. I was o.k. after that. This picture does not do the "load" justice. I had a couple of things not pictured because I ran out of space.

Here is the list:

2-6 pack of Danimal yogurts $1.69 each after $1 coupon
1 pack of sweet potato french fries not on sale $2.29
5-4 packs of Danactive yogurt $1.29 each after $1 off coupons
1 pack of Crayola toothbrushes $1.50
2 Oral b stages toothbrushes $3.38 before coupon. I had a B1G1 coupon
4 packs of Lenders bagels $1.69 (a company I should have stock in by the way)
4 bars of Kraft colby jack cheese $1.50each
1 lb of Private selection honey ham $5.99
1 bunch of asparagus $1.99 (trying Pioneer Womans asparagus)
6 Pillsbury french loafs on sale for 4/$5 I had .40 off 2
1 Kroger peanut butter on sale for $1.79 I had a .55 off coupon
1 fresh bag of spinach
1 FREE Kroger yogurt with a coupon they sent me
2 english cucumbers
7-4 packs of Hunts sugar free chocolate pudding on sale for 10/$10 I had coupons for $1 off 2
5.3 lbs of grapes $1 a pound on sale
2 packs of Kroger grape tomatoes $1 each
1 bag of lettuce hearts $2.99
1 bag of onions $1.99
6 cans of Rositas refried beans on sale 10/$10 I had coupon for $1 off 3
1 container of fresh mushrooms $1.48
1 egg plant .99 (making Sherri's famous egg plant Parmesan)
3 Kraft dressings $2.44 each
10-18oz jars of Peter Pan peanut butter on sale for $1.99 I had coupons for $1 off 2
2 jars of Planters peanuts 2/$5
2-2 liters of Crush soda on sale 4/$5 I had $1 off 2 coupon
1 16oz bottle of diet coke for the ride home .99
1 Snickers bar for the ride home .50
4 loaves of Natures Own bread
Before coupons and Kroger discounts my total was $242.64
After coupons and discount my total was $146.23

I had $96.41 in Kroger savings and coupons
I had $33.43 in coupons

Oh and by the way I have 251 fuel points that expires 4-30-09 which right now gets me .20 off per gallon.

Deals for me this week at Kroger

2009-03-22T12:31:00.002-04:00

O.k. I am going to Kroger this week. I know I said that last week but I mean it this week. I have my paper out and I am clipping coupons.

I have found a couple of deals so far that I will definitely do this week. Here they are:

Hunts snack pack puddings on sale for 10/$10 I have coupons for $.50/2 which doubles to $1.00 these will come to be .50 per pack. I have 7 coupons.

Peter Pan peanut butter on sale for $1.99 a jar. I have coupons for $1.00 off 2 which makes it $1.50 per jar of peanut butter. I have 13 coupons.

Kroger peach, apricot, cherry or strawberry preserves on sale for $1.99. I have coupons for $.50/2 which will double to $1.00 making them $1.50 each jar. I will use one or two coupons.

Manwich and buns are on sale for 10/$10. There are coupons out there for $1.00 off when you buy 2 Manwich's and one pack of buns. If you buy 2 Manwich and 1 pack of buns you will pay $2.00 for everything. Pretty good deal I will probably do one.

Rotel tomatoes are on sale for .87 and Kroger tortilla chips are on sale for 10/$10. I have coupons for $1.00 off when you buy 2 Rotel and 1 torilla chips. I will pay $1.74 for 2 rotel tomatoes and one back of tortilla chips.

Rosita refried beans are on sale 10/$10 and I have coupons for $1.00/3 so I can get 3 cans for $2.oo which is a good deal. These things hardly ever go on sale for less than $1.00 a can.

To see the complete run down of sale items go to Trying to save alot or hit the button on the right side of my blog to take you to the deals.

Ten Things You Can Do to Stay In Your Home

2009-03-21T14:57:00.005-04:00

I was at Staples on Thursday and a lady came up to me and gave me a photocopy from a magazine and I thought I would share it with you.

The information came from The Nation Magazine, March 23,2009 edition. This magazine has a monthly feature called "ten things". The editorial is written by an editorial board member named Walter Mosley. This is a do-it-yourself opinion and action device. The magazine describes this feature as a "go to the heart of issues in a stripped-down, active and informed way. They interview experts or everyday citizens and construct a list of ten things you can do.

Anyway

Here are ten things to help you fight foreclosure and to stay in your home.

*****DISCLAIMER**** I am not a professional financial advisor nor do I claim to be. I have no real financial experience except spending money on groceries.

I am passing this information on hoping it can help someone.

1. Make sure your loan has a fixed rate of interest and not a variable rate. If it has variable rate, work with your mortgage lender to get it to a lower fixed rate.

2. Seek out HUD-certified counselors (hud.gov) when you are thinking of refinancing. Contact only nonprofit agencies such as legalaid.org. You do not have to pay a fee to get out of foreclosure.

3. If you are being foreclosed, call the ACORN foreclosure hot line immediately, at (347)410-5894

4. Do not take out loans that are beyond your financial means. (I think this should be #1 but as I said I am not a professional) Do not make payments to any institution except your lender.

5. If you are a renter in a house that has been foreclosed, your landlord must give you notice before evicting you. Once you are given notice, find out how much time you have- the laws vary from state to state. For renters rights in a particular state, search hud.gov/renting/tenantrights.cfm Go to nolo.com, click on "Property & Money" and go to "Foreclosure" for more information. (If you have info or resources on renters' rights, please send an e-mail to NationTenThings@gmail.com.)

6. Avoid companies that promise a quick fix. Go to fraudguides.com/mortgage-foreclosure-rescue-scam.asp to see a list of scams.

7. If you believe you are in a foreclosure scam, contact a lawyer immediately. Go to naca.net or foreclosurelegalassistance.org. Always use an attorney with a background in representing familes in foreclosure.

8. Stay in communication with your bank, and always ask questions when you don't understand something that was said or something that you read. Go to responsiblelending.org/glossary.html for an explanation of foreclosure terms.

9. Suppport organizations that assist families with foreclosures:
Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (naca.com)
Center for Community Change (communitychange.org)
Take Back the Land (takebacktheland.org)
National Low Income Housing Coalition (nlihc.org)
Housing Assistance Council (ruralhome.org)
National Housing Law Project (nhlp.org)
Watch testimonials on the Brave New Films website fightingforourhomes.com

10. Call your local ACORN chapter for help (acorn.org/offices). Volunteer to be a home defender in your area. Display an ACORN Foreclosure-Free Zone sign in front of your house or apartment. Tell family and friends facing foreclosure to seek counseling from ACORN, and tell Congress to keep families in their homes. Go to acorn.org and click on "action" for more information on advocacy.

A Call to teach

2009-03-15T13:18:00.003-04:00

This post is to inspire you.

I have been asked to help teach a class on couponing. My two friends and I are going to teach single teenage moms how to use coupons. We will have a few weeks to break down the system and teach, teach, teach. I am so encouraged and excited about this opportunity! First off I get to teach someone about something I love to do, save money. Secondly, I am helping a group of young women become empowered. Thirdly, this is an opportunity to show these women, some on a fixed income, how to use their money wisely and how to make it stretch farther. Most importantly I get an opportnity to share Gods love.

I am encouraging all who read this blog to share what you know. Everyone of us has been given a gift from God. We are responsible to use this gift for the good of others.

Jumping back on the band wagon

2009-03-15T13:15:00.003-04:00

I have been slacking this last month or so in case you haven't noticed. I have not cut my coupon inserts since the beginning of February. Yes, it has been at least a month. Here is a picture of all my inserts I need to cut, UGH! I am working on it today and I will hopefully get everything back into my binder as well.

Swagbuck gift cards came and went

2009-03-14T16:46:00.003-04:00

I'm sure I have mentioned before on this blog that I am a homeschooler. Not that I am a teenager or young adult being homeschooled but that I am a mom homeschooling my children. I am always on the look out for good homeschool curriculum or fun books that we can incorporate and use in our daily quest for knowledge. I received 2-$5 gift cards to Amazon.com for searching through Swagbucks. Remember me signing up through them to earn extra gift cards for things? As soon as my gift cards became available I headed straight to Amazon to buy some books. I really wanted to get a Phonics Pathways book for reading. This is a great book to teach reading if you have a chance, go to the library and check it out. It's simple, simple, simple to follow and understand. Anyway this books runs about $23 with shipping at Amazon. I took my $10 gift cards and bought this book. I love that I got this book for $13.

Saving Money

2009-03-06T15:03:00.001-05:00

My blog has been boring because I have been saving money. How am I saving money? I have not been to Kroger. I have not done any shopping there in 2 weeks. We seem to be living off of what we have. I did go to Sam's Club once or twice in February but even there I did not break the bank. The 10 for $10 deals at Kroger start up again on Sunday so maybe next week I will go back. I am sure they miss me.

Swagbucks, Gotta love it

2009-02-28T15:03:00.002-05:00

You have got to try Swagbucks. I know if you try it you will be hooked like I am. I can now get 2-$5 Amazon gift cards. I have a total of 92 Swagbucks. I will have 2 left over after I get my gift cards. Now I need to decided what to get. I am sure I will get some kind of curriculum thing.

I got a $10 Swagbuck on Friday morning. I yelled because I was so excited. My kids came running thinking something was wrong.

****Remember sign up under me and I will get more bucks for you signing****

Food Lion and Kellogg mini wheats

2009-02-26T12:17:00.002-05:00

While I was at Food Lion I also got the Kellogg frosted mini wheats. They had them B1G1 free. I had $1 coupons. I got 6 boxes of cereal for $5.02. SCORE!

Scotts toilet paper and Food Lion and CVS

2009-02-26T12:05:00.004-05:00

We use Scotts toilet paper at our house. I know you all were dying to know that. We use the Scotts because our house is old and so is the pipes. We want to make sure that they stay unplugged as much as possible.

Food Lion had a great deal that ended this past Tuesday. They had the 6 pack of extra soft Mega rolls on sale B1G1 Free. They were priced at $5.59 each and I had 14 $1 coupons. I ran to Food Lion, sorry Kroger friends, but I ran to Food Lion. I got 12-6packs of toilet paper. Yes I cleaned the store out and I have a rain check for more.

I got 24 rolls of toilet paper. In other words 2-12 packs of Scotts for $7.72 including tax.

After running to Food Lion I walked to CVS to do a toilet paper deal. I did 2 CVS transactions.

1st transaction

1 Gillette Fusion Gamer razor that was $7.99
I had a $4 coupon and the razor was giving back $4 in ECB's.

I paid $4.00 OOP

2nd transaction

1-12 pack of Scotts toilet paper $6.99
I had $1.50 coupon
I used my $4 ECB.

I got the razor and toilet paper for $5.5o OOP

Kroger Magazine

2009-02-26T12:01:00.002-05:00

I received two magazines within the past couple of weeks. I don't know how they come or why but I am glad for some coupons.

God showing His love

2009-02-26T11:07:00.002-05:00

I have been thinking about a verse we learned a couple of weeks ago. It's 1 John 4:19 which says, "We love because He first loved us." I have been meditating on this verse and rolling it around it my head, pointing it out to my children by acts of kindness.

I have had 2 random acts of kindness this week that have totally surprised and delighted me.

The first was on Monday when the kids and I went to Sam's Club. Yes, Sam's Club who knew. I was getting pretzels and a drink for us and it came to $3.10. I had the exact change, which for me to have the exact change or to have cash for that matter is a miracle from God. Anyway I gave the lady the money. Then I realized she didn't include the drink. UGH! I thought. I was digging for another .95 which was not there. I decided I would use my debit card, aka survival tool, to pay for our drink. The lady behind me said, "No, don't use your debit card for .95 here is a dollar." I declined and she insisted I take the dollar. So I took the dollar and thank the woman.

The second act of random kindness was last night. My hubby took one of the kids bowling. It was my childs first time ever bowling. There were two guys next to them who were throwing strike after strike and were impressed by my childs 105 game. Yes my child bowled a 105 and by the way said child is in kindergarden. My hubby and child bowled 3 games a piece. When my hubby went to pay the two guys who were on the lanes next to them had paid for 2 games.

Wow! I am in awe of Gods love. These are little acts of love but are not possible without God.

Loser numeral uno

2009-02-22T14:28:00.001-05:00

I know I am the biggest loser around here. I have not posted. I have not posted because I have not been shopping. I finally got my coupons clipped and put away last week. Now I am only 2 weeks behind instead of 6. UGH! This is my life people.

This Weeks deals

2009-02-22T14:27:00.001-05:00

This weeks Kroger deals are posted. Check them out. Follow this link or click the button down on the right side of my page.

Burning question

2009-02-16T22:15:00.004-05:00

I have had a burning question swirling around in my head and I want your opinion. Here is the question:

If you saw/had proof that your friends spouse was cheating, would you tell your friend?

Why am I asking? No reason. I would tell my friend. I am just wondering where people stand on this.

Disclaimer: I am not in an situation where a friend is being cheated on nor have I been cheated on or am cheating. This is just a question nothing more.

I will leave this survey up until March 1st. It is totally anonymous so please feel free to answer.

CVS deal

2009-02-16T22:03:00.003-05:00

I LOVE when a company gives me things to come back and shop in their store. I went to CVS on Friday night to fill as prescription. As my receipt printed out so did $13 in ECB's. The receipt said I had filled out a survery. I don't remeber doing a survey, I think CVS was just missing me. I was in desperate need of diapers so off I went on Sunday to CVS. They had Jumbo Huggies diapers for $8.99 a pack on Sunday only.
I did two transactions here they are:

1st transaction
3 Jumbo packs of Huggies diapers $8.99 each
1 Gillette Fusion Gamer razor $7.99 each

2nd transaction
1 pack of Jumbo Huggies diapers

My coupons

I had $1.50 coupons for each diaper pack
I had a $4 coupon for the razor
The razor gave back a $4 ECB
I had $13 in ECB's

I paid a total of $19.00 for everything.

The razor was FREE. It was $7.99 and gave back $4 ECB and I had a coupon for $4 off.

Kroger deals of the week

2009-02-08T21:32:00.002-05:00

My friend Lori has posted the deals for Kroger this week. Check it out. Her website is Trying to Save Alot.

My Mentos came

2009-01-26T13:11:00.003-05:00

My Mentos came!

I was so happy when I saw this in my mailbox.

They sent me 6 packs of Mentos and a free loader with them!

I don't have to buy any Mentos for my project!!!!

Kraft Cheese Deal

2009-01-26T11:22:00.002-05:00

Run don't walk to Kroger and get the Kraft cheese deal. %2 Kraft cheese is on sale for $1.50 when you buy 10 and get the $5 off at the register. Well yesterday my friend Lori found coupons for .75 off each bag of cheese. The coupons are located right at the cheese section in a blinkie machine. I went last night and bought 15 bags of cheese. Sherri and I went and did 10 bags each and then we split a 10 deal to give us each an additional 5 bags. Neither one of us could do another 10 deal by ourselves because, unfortunately, we have run out of freezer space.

Oh my! I have spent to much at Kroger this week

2009-01-26T11:20:00.008-05:00

I have been doing the 10 items get $5 off deals this week. I have spent to much money. Sorry I did not get a picture of my load but the amount of stuff I had was just to over whelming to arrange and then turn around and put away.
Instead
I have given you my list with a total price:
15 bags of Kraft .75 each
16 boxes of Kleenex tissue
2 jars of Miracle Whip
1 pack of Jumbo Pamper diapers
1 Jumbo pack of Huggies
3 gallons of milk
1 box of Vans waffles (FREE-coupon from my scavenger hunt)
1-4 pack of Yoplait Plus yogurt (FREE-coupon from my scavenger hunt)
1 pack of Ball Park all beef franks
2 Kroger ice creams
3-4 packs of Dannon yogurt
6 cans of Rotel tomatoes (FREE + OVERAGE .23each)
3 bottles of heinz ketchup
7 cans of Hormel turkey chili (FREE with coupons)
7 French's mustard (FREE with coupons)
7 Franks hot sauce (FREE with coupons)
1 pack of Kroger hot dog buns
1 pack of hamburger buns
1 celery
2-6 packs of Dove soap

I was over charged by $3. They charged me for 9 French's instead of 7. But I got overage from the Rotel so it all good.

My total before coupons and discounts was $266.43
Total OOP $85.47
My total in coupons including doubling was $90.98

Swag Bucks

2009-01-25T16:53:00.004-05:00

I wanted to send out a big THANK YOU! to all of the people who joined swagbucks from my link on my web page. I have not received anything yet but my points are adding up. I have 38 so far, Woo Hoo!
To get my bucks up I have dedicated myself to using swagbucks for all of my online searching. I added the link to my toolbar so that when I go to search its right there and then I remember to click there first.

Unexpected delight

2009-01-23T12:49:00.003-05:00

If you remember, I posted about teaching a Magic Tree House class in February. One of the things we are going to do is make a volcano with Mentos and diet soda. A couple of weeks ago we got Mentos gum coupons in our inserts. I ran to Kroger and bought 7 packs of Mentos gum. Well I use the word "bought" loosely because all of the gum was FREE. Anyway, I got the gum thinking I could use this for my experiment. As with any experiment that you are doing with a group, I did my own experiment first to make sure the gum would work. Unfortunately it did not. I was bummed because I had gotten all of this gum for no reason.

Here was my next step. I need you to recall one of my famous phrases, "If you dont ask" what? "You dont even have a chance for a discount."

So I asked.

I emailed Mentos to see if they could send me some coupons and I explained in the email that I was teaching a class and what I wanted the Mentos for.

Today I checked my email and Mentos replied back to me. Here is the reply

Thank you for taking the time to contact us regarding Mentos. We appreciate hearing from our consumers. We do not have any coupons to mail out however from time to time they are available in your local newspaper.

I was a little bummed and then I read the last line. Here comes the last line. I am so excited, I am sitting here my heart is racing and I'm chuckling.

The last line reads

I will send some Mentos to the address in your email to help with your project.

Are you kidding me? They are going to send me some free Mentos!!
WOOO HOOO!

When they come I will take a picture and post. I dont know how much I will get or when it will come.

SOBE water

2009-01-20T15:53:00.003-05:00

SOBE water is on sale at Kroger this week for 10 for $10. There is a deal going when you buy 10 items you get an additional $5 off at the register. With this Kroger deal the SOBE water is .5o each. This is a good deal but the deal gets even sweeter. Some of the SOBE waters have coupons on the bottles if you can get the water with the coupons the SOBE is free and its giving overage. The only trouble with this deal is the bottles with the coupons are hard to find. My Kroger didn't have them. Here was my deal I was trying to do:

30 bottles of SOBE and it would have given me $9 in overage.

WHAT A DEAL

Anonymous

2009-01-17T09:51:00.004-05:00

I posted a while back about starting to use swagbucks to make some money by searching online. If you get a chance read the post.
I wanted to share a comment that came on my blog yesterday. I love, love this comment someone left on my blog. Warning: This comment came as is I did not change it at all I just added the quotation marks and the color.

"Looks like you believe in getting something without contributing anything. This is pathetic. When you're grown up you can become a banker."

Why do I think this is funny? First off I think its funny because anyone who has something to say but chooses to leave their comment anonymously and doesn't have the guts to leave their name can not be taken seriously. Secondly I love this comment because it shows a different mind set than myself. I believe if I am trying to save money and companies are going to allow me to get something for free, I am going to use it. These companies set up their rules and they understand what they are giving away. If they choose to do it then Yay! better for me.

This person is obviously not a couponer so I have no idea why they were even on my site.

By the way is couponer even a word?

Have you heard? I LOVE COUPONS AND FREE STUFF!

Furnace Issues

2009-01-17T00:16:00.000-05:00

We were having some furnace issues yesterday. We have radiator heat heated by gas. I went to the basement yesterday and stepped in puddles of water all over our basement. We called the plumbers thinking the overflow tank need draining or that the pressure valve needed replacing. Of course, it wasn't the easy fix it ended up being the valve. Now, to replace this valve we had to have our system totally drained. All of the radiators in the house had to be drained and turned off. Yes we were without heat for about 3 hours yesterday evening. It was 14 degrees outside and we were paying our plumbers overtime rate which was $90 an hour. Great! I know.
Here is our dilemma. Our boiler is over 30 years old and is about %40 efficient. Every %100 of energy we use we are losing %60 up the chimney. The aquastat is not working properly (just about boiling our radiator water) and the heat gauge is off about 20 degrees. We are thinking of replacing the boiler, which costs about $4000.00 or $5000.00.
Here are my questions, If we replace the furnace will we see a big drop in our monthly gas bill? Will we see a drop in our electric bills?

New Kroger cards

2009-01-15T11:26:00.002-05:00

My hubby and I really need new Kroger cards. First of all we have two different cards with two different numbers. Secondly our cards are very old and in pretty rough shape. We should have two cards but with the same number. This way when we fill up we both can use our fuel points no matter what card we have. I wasn't sure if it was possible to get new cards and to carry our fuel points with us. I took the logical step and called Kroger corporate customer service. The lady told me to go into the store and get new cards and then call the corporate customer service back and they can link our old cards with our new cards and everything will transfer. Hmm who knew? I really like Kroger.

God Is Good

2009-01-15T10:59:00.004-05:00

I wanted to share a story of what God did this week.
I am teaching a magic tree house book club which will start in February. The first book we are studying is Pompeii, Romans and Mount Vesuvius. Cool right? I really wanted to make togas for all of my students, 11 in all. I was struggling with how I could make them and be cost effective. I decided I would go to one of my most favorite places in the world Good Will. Before I went I was talking to a friend and said I was praying that God would provide a bunch of white sheets cheap so that I could do these togas. I was really doubting I would find them but I was hopeful that God had it worked out for me. I went into the Good Will and headed to the back. To my surprise there was a whole bin of white sheets. They had been donated to the Good Will by one of the local hospitals. As I was rejoicing and laughing a worker walked up to me and said they had gotten 6 big boxes of sheets and that there was even more in the backroom. She said it was very rare to have white sheets and the hospital donates their sheets every couple of years or so.
I know some people would say, "yeah but they're only white sheets. God provides white sheets?" I say to them, "God provides all things. He will provide and provide more than what we need and bless us more than we thought possible." I went in looking for 7 or 8 white sheets and God provided about 8 dozen.
I went to a friends house yesterday and cut out 14 togas and have one for myself as well. All for the great cost of $16.
Can I get an Amen?

More Kroger store coupons

2009-01-15T10:47:00.005-05:00

First off I want to thank Sherri for pointing out my dirty picture in my last post. I have taken it down and cleaned it. Well not really but I am going to take it down and clean it real soon. This is not the point of this post however. I am posting to tell you that I got more Kroger store coupons a couple of days ago. I don't know how I get these but they come every so often. Here is what came:
$1 off 1 Kroger bar or shredded cheese
$1 off 1 Kroger 16 oz butter
$1 off 1 Kroger orange juice
$1 off 1 Kroger refrigerated biscuits
1 FREE Kroger yogurt
$1 off 1 Kroger sour cream

I also get the Kroger My Magazine which comes with manufacturer coupons.

Between the scavenger coupons I picked up from the registers, remember when I scavenged the self check out the other night? And the Kroger mailer, I will get 1-4 pack of yogurt and 1 individual cup of yogurt FREE.

Free is always good.

Last weeks Kroger picture

2009-01-12T16:30:00.007-05:00

I went to Kroger on Wednesday night last week. I love shopping at the grocery store after 8 p.m. The store is quiet, usually, and there is not many people. I say usually because this trip was a little different. I went to check out and all the lanes were closed except the do it yourself line and the 15 items or less checkout. I went to the 15 items or less, obviously. When I got there I made sure that I was the last one in line, I knew my coupons would take awhile, since I had $59.00 worth. Well after a few minutes people started lining up behind me. What could I do? I held firm and everyone behind me would have to wait or go to the self check out. It was all good until the Mentos. I grabbed the regular Mentos because I didn't see any of the gum Mentos. Well the coupons wouldn't work. By the way, I asked the cashier to scan one to make sure it worked before I put anything on the counter and she assured me that they would work or that she would make them work. I am sure people were glad to see me leave. I even got a Wow! from the cashier when she saw my receipt.
I had coupons for everything I bought except the milk, tomatoes and Diet Coke.
Here is load:
Prices are what I paid after coupons

7 boxes of Quaker oatmeal squares cereal $1 each
6 boxes of Special K cereal bars .75 each I think
7-6 packs of Yoplait yogurt $8.90 for all yogurt
1 pack of Kroger grape tomatoes
4-20ct boxes of Aleve .99 after coupons
2 bars of Dove soap (FREE) had a Kroger $2 off 2 Dove products
1 Crest Pro Health toothpaste (FREE)$1.50 shortcuts and $1 manuf. coupon
1 Crest whitening toothpaste (FREE) had a coupon for a free one up to $3.99
2 cans of Rosarito refried beans had .40 coupon from Kroger
2 gallons of Kroger %1 milk (FREE) when I bought 3 Special K bars I got a free milk
1 bottle of Diet Coke
6 bottles of Soft Soap .30 each after coupon .35 off coupon
7 bottles of Franks extra hot sauce (FREE) .50 off coupon
7 packs of Mentos Gum (FREE) $1 off coupon
1 Kroger ice cream I had a coupon for .55 off Kroger coupon

Total before coupons was $105.00

After coupons and Special K deal I paid $26.75
My savings was 82%

I had $59.90 in coupons after doubling and everything. I also had 2 shortcuts Yoplait yogurts on my card.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!

2009-01-03T16:00:00.000-05:00

I am celebrating! I have been blogging for just over a year now. My first post was December 20, 2007. Man how time flies. Its funny now that I look back. I can remember how nervous I was when I started using coupons. Heck I was nervous just thinking about using coupons. Now I get nervous shopping if I don't have a coupon.

Another great tip

2009-01-03T14:49:00.002-05:00

This tip I just thought of yesterday. I went to the store with my Mom and we went through the "do it yourself" checkout. I was standing in line and realized how many coupons people were just leaving behind. You know those catalinas that print out with your receipt? I was shocked and appalled. Most I was just shocked that people would leave money behind. Can you guess what I did? "Well uh" she shyly says. I walked around and picked up every coupon. Here is what I got just by picking up other peoples trash.

1-$1 off Listerine mouthwash
3-$1 off Danactive yogurt
1-$1 off .75 Bumblebee tuna
1-$1 off 1 package of Oscar Meyer deli meat
1-$1 off 3 IAM dog food
1-$1.50 off Trail Mix Crunch cereal
1-$3.00 off Kraft snackables cheese
1-$2.00 Cottonelle fresh wipes
1-.75 off any Cottonelle toilet paper
1- FREE 4 pack of Yo-Plus yogurt
1- FREE box of Vans waffles

Yes, this is the mother load.

Look whos digital again

2008-12-31T12:07:00.002-05:00

Guess who is digital again? I can now post pictures again on this blog Yay!

My dear sweet hubby bought me my Nikon D8 for Christmas this year. He paid way to much, but hey, I am just glad to have it. It was on sale the week before he bought it and we missed that sale. I am so excited. I am so excited that I can't even take pictures with it. I am waiting for the perfect picture opportunity. I know that sounds stupid but I can't help myself. When things settle down a little I am going to jump right in and start taking pictures of everything.

Here is a picture for those of you who have forgotten what my new camera looks like. My hubby also bought me a zoom lens which hasn't come in yet.

Swag Bucks

2008-12-31T12:01:00.002-05:00

I have started using Swag Bucks. This is a search engine that pays you bucks to shop. You can then turn in the bucks on the website for gift cards to many different stores. I am going to give it a try. I need all the money I can get. If you have used the Swag Bucks please leave a comment. I would like to hear the good, bad and the ugly.

p.s. I am also going to put a link on my web page here. I think I will earn swag bucks if you use my link. So please use my link.

thanks

Another Surprise deal

2008-12-24T15:44:00.008-05:00

I got another deal today, this one was unexpected though. It is kinda a long story but I will make it quick.

Monday my kids and I went into Applebees for lunch. We waited and waited and no one came to help us. We waited about 10 minutes and no one even came for our drinks. Ten minutes may not seem like a long time to wait, but for Applebees that was an eternity. We ended up getting up and walking out. Today we were out shopping with my mom and wanted to go to Applebees for lunch. I was a bit apprehensive since we were going to go to the same one that I had walked out on on Monday. In we went, sending all apprehension on vacation. Today we had great service, no problem. To my surprise the manager came to our table and asked how everything was. Here is where I saw my opportunity to vent. I told the manager what had happened to me on Monday. He apologized and did not say anything else. To all of your surprise, I'm sure, I did NOT ask for a discount I just let it go. We were getting ready to leave and the waitress brought out bill. The manager had given us a %50 discount. Yay!!

Another great tip!

2008-12-22T14:56:00.003-05:00

I found another tip the other day. I was at the mall and saw a friend, she showed me a coupon book that she got. Surprised, I asked, "Where did you get that!" She told me that the mall information booth had them. What this book was was a coupon book with coupons for almost every store at the mall in it. I headed straight away to the information booth. When I got there the lady told me that they were out. I was bummed. The good news is now I know they have this little book of gold I will get mine next year.

Thanks Tracy.

Great news

2008-12-11T21:34:00.002-05:00

I posted the other day about how we live on one income and how God has faithfully blessed our family. Just when I think that God could not possibly do anything else for us He always gives more. I found out the other day that one of the Krogers that is only 2 miles from my house is opening a fuel center. How great is that? Using my Kroger card is really racking up the gas points for us. I filled up my car last Friday for $1.06 a gallon. That was a .3o off per gallon savings.

Shopping Tip

2008-12-11T21:26:00.002-05:00

I came up with another shopping tip as I was in the store tonight. My tip is, get to know your Kroger manager. Most of them will be so helpful and friendly.

I have 5 coupons for free Einstein milk. I have had these coupons for a couple of months now and am unable to find the milk. Tonight I went to my Kroger manager and asked him if he could order them for me. I asked him a couple of months ago to order 6 cases of Johnsons Buddies for me. He has seen me so many times that now he says, "Hey how are you?" He has that hey I know you look when he sees me. He took one of my milk coupons back to his office and looked up the company that sells the milk. He came back to me a few minutes later as I was shopping and gave me a whole print out about the company. He even gave me a suggestion of where to find the milk (not a Kroger store). I LOVE MR. T. Thank you Mr. T.

My My

2008-12-11T21:08:00.002-05:00

O.k. this post is a little unsettling. I am a bit shamed as I sit here and type. This story starts back to this past Saturday. My poor widdle baby woke up with sore ears. We rushed to the doctors office to find out that my widdle one was suffering from a double ear infection. After the doctors, we headed to Kroger with prescription in hand. I have a coupon for Kroger, see. For every new or transferred prescription they add $20 to your Kroger card. How can I pass a deal like that up? Please understand that I do not want my babies sick so that I can make money on prescriptions, but if it happens, I am pleased to know I have a coupon. My prescription cost me $10 and then Kroger add the $20 to my card. I did'nt do any shopping so there it sat on my card.

Tonight I headed to Kroger and totally forgot about the $20 until I was in line to check out.

*****Here is where the shameful part comes in.*****

I did four transactions because of the General Mills cereal deal. Krogers has their cereal on sale 4/$12 then General Mills has a deal for every four cereals you buy you get back $4 at the register.

My first transaction went like this *Shame coming*
2 containers of Kroger grape tomatoes
1 gallon of Kroger ice cream
1-2 Liter of Coke Zero
4 boxes of Cheerios
1 avacado
1 bunch(stalk?) celery
1-12oz bottle of Diet Coke
1 Hershey candy bar
1 coupon for FREE Coke Zero
Total OOP .36
Here is the shame, my balance was -.15 which means they owed me .15. The lady asked me to buy a candy bar because she did'nt know how to do the negative balance. I bought a candy bar.

My next three transaction went like this
4 boxes of Cheerios

Total OOP $4.20 each transaction.

All in all I got
16 boxes of Cheerios
2 containers of Kroger grape tomatoes
1 Gallon Kroger ice cream
1-2 Liter Coke Zero
1 Avacado
1 bunch of celery
1 bottle of Diet Coke
1 Hershey candy bar

Total OOP for everything $12.96

UGH Crock Pot!

2008-12-11T21:07:00.003-05:00

I emailed the Crock Pot company on November 30th. They have yet to get back with me. I know you say,"Its only been two weeks." Yes it has been two weeks but I emailed them its not as if I sent a letter and am waiting for them to respond.

A great Ebay deal for Magic Treehouse

2008-12-09T11:10:00.004-05:00

I usually do not shop on Ebay. I quit shopping after I got my account stolen and a thousand knock off brand purses were loaded into my account.

This really good deal pulled me back in though. I am getting ready to teach a Magic Tree house class. For those of you who do not know the Magic Tree House books they are WONDERFUL! They are a series of books where a brother and sister are trying to become master librarians. They travel by way of a magic tree house through time and space gathering historical and geographical facts. They are a really fun way for kids to learn.

I went onto Ebay last week, with the help of Sherri, and I ordered books 1-28. These books cost $3.99 in stores. I was able to get all 28 books for $27 including shipping. Now that is a good deal!

Sams Club yesterday

2008-12-06T21:10:00.003-05:00

I went to Sams yesterday and spent a ridiculous $216.00 Whew, I thought I might black out here just typing it. The only really good thing about going shopping yesterday was that I filled up at Kroger using my gas points. I had .30 off per gallon so I filled my car for $1.06 per gallon. The very best thing though was that I only needed a 1/4 tank of gas. I spent $6.

Another money savings for us is that I only fill my van every other week. When I go to Sam's Club is when I fill up.

Happy where God has put me

2008-12-06T20:48:00.002-05:00

I thought I would share my life a little so that you could see how we live within our means. I live in a small city. It is large enough where we have at least one of everything, like a J.C. Penny, Home Depot, Sams Club, Lowes, Star Bucks recently we even got a Panera Bread. My city is large enough for this kind of stuff but still small enough that when you meet someone new if you talk long enough you will discover that you have a mutual friend. I really like the size of my city. My hubby and I moved here just over 10 years ago.

When we moved here my husband and I knew that I would not be working so we got a house on his income only. Its an old home, which we love and its only 3 miles from his work, which we love even more with gas prices the way they are. My house is centrally located where we are probably 2 miles from 3 different Kroger stores, a CVS and a Walgreens. We can walk to parks, the post office and the public library. We live in a nice area, I say that we are welfare row of the nice area. Sorry neighbors if you are reading this. But if you are my neighbor you have already heard me say this. You have probably laughed with me about it.

Since we live on one income there are some financial restrictions for us. We have two cars and both are paid for. Since my hubby works 3 miles away his car is very old. It is a 1995 so it has been paid off a long time. My car was paid off this past January, Yay!! We know that we can only handle one car payment at a time so we will always have a car that is paid for. I love not having a car payment! I LOVE NOT HAVING A CAR PAYMENT! We also do NOT have any credit card debt!

I know my house is not shiny new nor are my cars but what a blessing it is to be able to stay home with my kids. I am exactly where God would have me.

K-Mart

2008-12-04T17:57:00.003-05:00

I love K-Mart when they do double coupons. Yes I know Kroger doubles coupons all the time. What makes K-Mart so special? When they do double coupons they double all the way $2. A $2 coupon becomes a $4 coupon. The temptation was too much to stay away so I headed to K-Mart yesterday with coupon binder in hand.

I am sorry to say I have misplaced my receipt but here is what I got.

1 Gingerbread house kit $5.99 (on sale-no coupon)
6 boxes of Rice Krispies cereal 4 for $10 + a $1 coupon that doubled
2 Soleil razors $6.49- $2 Kmart discount + a $3 coupon
1 bag of Reeses Crisp candy + $1 coupon that doubled
1 Dove shampoo on sale for $3.79 + $2 coupon that doubled FREE
3 big candy bars Hershey for stocking stuffers
3 bags of Life Savers FREE after coupon. These were on sale for $1.79 + $1 coupon that doubled

My bill before coupons was a little over $40.

I paid OOP $10.48

Officially debunking Crock Pot

2008-11-30T16:38:00.002-05:00

I am officially debunking Crock Pot. I bought a 5 quart Smart Pot, actually I bought two. Both times when I cooked in it the lid started to rattle. The first one I bought about a month ago and took it back after cooking in it. The second one I bought on Black Friday, I really debated buying it again because of the trouble I'd had. I figured since it was $15 and anyone can get one bad product I decided to give it another try. Still it rattled and spit water at every passer-by. I think this second one is actually worse than the first! Shame on you Crock Pot Corp.

Can you guess what my next step will be?

My next step-

Tomorrow I will be calling Crock Pot and telling them about this product and, you guessed it, I will be asking for a discount or something to make me a less disgruntled customer.

What is my motto? If you don't ask you don't have a chance for a discount.

I will post tomorrow after I get a response.

Answering a request

2008-11-27T08:09:00.006-05:00

I have had a question about adding coupons to my Kroger card so I am going to answer it. Please remember I am not an expert there maybe more ways to add coupons but these are the only ways I know.

Why would you want to add coupons to your Kroger card? Because its added savings of course. If you have a coupon attached to your card and you have a manufacturer paper coupon in your hand both of these coupons can be used on the same item. A perfect example for me would be this: Betty Crocker frosting has gone on sale for $1.50 I have had a .50 paper coupon that double to $1 at Kroger. Then I have had a .50 shortcuts coupon on my card. This makes a frosting free.

$1.50 frosting
-$1.00 manufacturer coupon doubled
-.50 shortcuts coupon
= FREE frosting

CAUTION WITH ADDING COUPONS TO YOUR CARD I was adding coupons that I thought I would use and then I ran out of room and there were coupons I wanted to add but couldn't . Now I look at the sales and then go and add my coupons from the websites.

Here are the websites I use. The first is shortcuts.com when you go to this link you will have to register and then add you cards.

The next site I use us P & G eSavers This site is actually a Kroger site. You need to register and then add you card number. Once you are registered you can add coupons here as well.

My third and last website I use is called Cellfire.com This is a new site I just added it tonight. My friend has used it for awhile and really loves this site too. With this site you need to add your cell phone number. They do not contact you or do anything to your cell phone but you do need to add you number to get access to this site. Now with this site you can add coupons to your cell phone or you can add them straight to your Kroger card. They will send a confirmation code to your cell and then you are to add that number into the website. I added All of my coupons directly to my Kroger card. It was a little confusing to do but if you register then login and go to the deals area, I think it even said add coupons to your phone. When you click on the coupon you want to add a little window will pop up and allow you to add your Kroger card.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

2008-11-27T08:07:00.002-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

I went to Kroger this past Friday

2008-11-18T18:58:00.002-05:00

I went again to Kroger this past Friday. It was a new week with new deals. I couldn't resist. I am getting ready for Thanksgiving and Winter. Here is my list and pricing:

3 Breyers ice cream
2 boxes of Betty Crocker Au gratan potatoes
7 boxes of 24ct Tylenol Rapid release gel caps FREE (if anyone needs Tylenol please see me)
2 cucumbers
2 gallons of milk
1 bottle of diet coke .99
2 bags of Kroger cookies
2 Honeysuckle turkeys 10-16 lbs
14 cans of Dole Tropical fruit and Mango oranges.
7 lbs of Blue Bonnet margarine FREE
7 bottles of Crisco vegetable oil
2 cans of Hormel chili

Total before Kroger card and coupons $162.63

Total after coupons $64.71
Total of coupons used $40.32

Good and bad news

2008-11-16T14:43:00.002-05:00

I have some good and bad news, which would you like to hear first? Huh? Speak up I can't hear you. What? Oh, o.k. the good news first. Here it is. When I was at the mall yesterday I had to go by Ritz Camera and look at the Nikon D80 one more time. I do this every once in awhile you know. I noticed that a new camera came out called the Nikon D90. I was hoping and praying that the D90 was the new D80 camera. The good news is The D90 has taken the place of the D80. Why is this good news? Because the D80 has went down in price by $200.

Do you want to hear the bad news now? The Bad news is the Nikon D80 still cost $750.00. The really bad news is my hubby thinks even $500.00 is way to much for a camera. UGH!

Needless to say I will be watching sales ads.

I picked up a money saving tip today

2008-11-15T22:04:00.003-05:00

I picked up a money saving tip today in a most unlikely place. First let me give you a little background so this story will make sense. When I go shopping to the mall or the grocery store even McDonalds stray people come and talk to me and give me their life stories. They carry on conversations as if I have known them their whole life. It's really kind of funny and a little strange at times.
Today I went to the mall and a lady started talking to me, as usual, in the shoe department at Macy's. We got into a conversation about high heels and I told her that I hate wearing high heels. It is such a drag to find a great pair of shoes only to see a 3 inch heel on it. Anything over 1 1/2 inches is like being on stilts to me. She gave me the greatest tip! She told me to take the shoes to a shoe repair shop and have them cut the heels down for me. She even gave me a local shoe guy that does it for $10. She old me she just took 3 pair of shoes last week and had them all cut down. *Caution* There was a caution with this though- you can only cut about 2 inches off of a heel. You can only cut down the heel until the front of the shoe starts to lift up.
From now on I will not shy away from any shoe just because of the heel. I usually buy all of my shoes on sale so I can get a great pair of shoes or boots NOW!!
Thank you anonymous talker!

Getting on top of things

2008-11-14T17:01:00.004-05:00

Finally I was able to get onto of my coupons from last week and dig out my Kroger receipts from last week.

I did a huge Kroger shop last week. I spent around $90 I have not done that in months.
Here is a list of everything I bought. Hold onto your seat its a ton. I ended up doing 6 different transactions. With the Kroger deals you can do 3 transactions of 10 at one shop. Have I mentioned that I am missing my camera? I would love to have some pics of this shop.

3 gallons of milk
3 Bryers ice cream
4-6pks of Dannon yogurt
1-6pk of Bryers yogurt
28 can of Carnation evaporated milk FREE
**please if you need some evaporated milk call me**
3 packs of Nestle chocolate chips
2 jars of Smuckers jelly
1 Peter Pan peanut butter
6 18oz cans of Quaker oats FREE
12 Bath Buddies FREE
9 boxes of Cheerios
7 packs of Duracell batteries (getting ready for Christmas)
1 Sour Cream
1 box of Kroger Vanilla wafers (paid full price UGH! coupon had expired)
1 Kroger syrup
4 bottles of Pledge
4 big bottles of Welches grape juice
1-2lb Domino sugar
4 boxes of Swiss Miss hot chocolate mix
7 bottles of Shout
1 18ct large eggs
2.49 lbs of bananas
2 things for $6.99 that for the life of me I cant figure out what it is.

Total before coupons and Kroger card $271.92

I used $115.16 in coupons

Total OOP $104.77

Changing the system

2008-11-09T09:34:00.002-05:00

I have changed my shopping system a little and I thought I would share. I now have a three ring binder with baseball card inserts which hold all of my coupons. I do not take a clipboard anymore. I stick my Grocery Game list into my binder. My binder is divided into sections, here are all or most of my sections. Obviously you make your sections to what best suits you.

Baby
Beverage
Breakfast
Desserts
Condiments
Canned goods
Other food
Refrigerated
Frozen
Toiletries
Cleaning products
Paper products
Medication

At the back of most of these sections I have a page protector. This protector allows me to store extra (over flow) coupons in it. That way I do not have to keep buying inserts.

I pull all of my coupons I am going to use before I shop. Then I put them into an envelope before I get to the store. Then as I am shopping I pull out the coupons and check expiration date again and quantity per coupon etc. Any coupons I decide not to use I slide them into the sizable pocket in the front of my binder. When I get to the cash register all of my coupons I am using are in my envelope. All of the coupons in my binder pocket get refiled at a later date. Sometimes a much later date.

Tip to use at Kroger

2008-11-09T09:26:00.004-05:00

I have a tip I use at Kroger all the time. When I go through the self-check out I always look for catalinas there. A lot of the time people do not take their coupons. I think my $2 Pamper catalina was obtained this way. Sure I look like a bag lady checking pay phones (a.k.a on top and around the Kroger machine) But a deal is a deal. I do not mind taking coupons that other people leave behind.

First CVS trip in a month or two

2008-11-09T09:17:00.003-05:00

Maybe some of you have noticed, I have not been to CVS in a month or two. The reason? I got burned out on couponing I decided that Kroger would be my main store and everything else just kind of fell by the wayside. That is until 2 nights ago. I found myself out of diapers for my little one and saw CVS had Pampers on sale with ECB's, so off I went. The deal was buy two packs of diapers and get 5 ECB's limit 1 per card. I had a Kroger catalina for $2 off Pampers and thought I would try and use it at CVS. Here is how I worked my deal. It was not a great deal but the diapers were needed.

1st transaction

2 packs of Pampers jumbo diapers $10 each
I used $3.50 in coupons
paid $17 OOP and got 5 ECB's

2nd transaction

1 pack of Pampers $10
used $1.50 coupon
used $5 ECB's
Total OOP $3

So for $20 I got 90 diapers.

By the way the catalina worked. Before I got to the cash register I grabbed the manager and asked him.

Wal-Mart Deal today

2008-11-08T20:21:00.002-05:00

I owe a big shout out to Sherri for her diligent deal finding. She found a deal at Wal-Mart for me this morning. Wal-Mart had a deal that was only advertised online but it was an in-store sale. They were selling Compaq Presario notebooks with 2 GB RAM, DVD-R, Celeron processor, Vista Windows for $298.00. When Sherri saw this she called me because she knows I have been waiting for a good deal on a laptop. Last night I readied myself for the crowd, got a good nights sleep and headed to Wal-Mart this morning at 6:45. I got there so early because the ad said the stores would have 10 minimum so I wanted to make sure I got one. When I got there I got a ticket for the laptop and was number 5. The sale didnt start until 8 so I milled around for awhile and came back for the computer. Right around 8 the crowd started to swarm. The electronic guy said they had 29 computers, WHEW!!! I paid for my computer and was a happy camper. I decided at this price maybe my mom should be a happy camper as well, so I waited for everyone else to get their laptop and then I got another ticket and bought another one. Why buy one when you can get two at such a good price? If you see my mom shhh because its her Christmas present.

Receive money for old cell phones or ipods

2008-11-07T21:29:00.003-05:00

I saw this on
money saving mom and thought it was a good deal. Flipswap Trade is a program where you can send them your old cell phones or ipods free of charge and receive Amazon gift cards. Below is what I cut and pasted from their website.

Here is the link check it out.

Flipswap Trade-Ins allows you to put an Amazon.com Gift Card in your wallet and help the environment at the same time! In three easy steps and as little as five minutes you can determine your phone's value, print out a prepaid shipping label, and send us your phone. You can expect to receive your gift card within 3-4 weeks (depending on shipping times). Even if your item does not yield any value, sending it to us guarantees that it is disposed of properly. Our recycling practices meet ISO 9001 and 14001 certified recycle standards, ensuring the greenest methods of e-waste disposal.

FREE SUBSCRIPTION TO LEGO MAGAZINE

2008-11-06T20:47:00.003-05:00

Get a free membership to Lego magazine! Follow this link and sign up. I need to send a thank you to money saving mom for this info.

Proud of my hubby

2008-11-06T18:34:00.002-05:00

I am so proud of my hubby. Last night he stopped at Kroger before he came home from work and got some pie shells and some cough drops. He got the .77 Kroger brand cough drops. When he got to the counter to pay for them they rang up a lot higher. He got his receipt and headed straight for customer service. He enforced the scanner law. He showed them that the drops were marked at .77 so they gave him all of his money back and the item free.

The scanner law is this (at least in my state) When you are over charged for an item you get your money back and the first one free. If you have bought more than one of these items you get the difference on all the other ones you were over charged.

Getting a little political

2008-11-04T12:14:00.003-05:00

Emails have been swirling, phones have been ringing and people have been asking or trying to tell me who to vote for. Enough already, I say. My view of politics does not focus around issues such as abortion or gay marriage. When I think of America and the political system I try and remember why this country was founded in the first place. The pilgrims first came here get get away from Catholicism that had gone corrupt. They wanted to worship freely without persecution. I get it I am right there with that. Here is where I differ. There is a good reason for a division in religion and education. I am not going to pass laws to force people to believe my religion or my beliefs. Just because I live in a country where certain acts are legal and/or illegal I do not have to agree with these acts nor do I have to participate in these acts. Here is my burning question. If we pass laws making things we believe in illegal does that mean all the people doing the illegal act is going to stop? Obviously not! If we are in the mind set to pass laws to get people to stop doing illegal activities then drug use and/or addiction would not be an issue in this country.

I received an email today that totally hit my feelings on politics and religion. Here it is

Top 10 Predictions No Matter Who Wins the Election

1. The Bible will still have all the answers.
2. Prayer will still work.
3. The Holy Spirit will still move.
4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.
5. There will still be God-anointed preaching.
6. There will still be singing of praise to God.
7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.
8. There will still be room at the Cross!
9. Jesus will still love you.
10. Jesus will still save the lost when they come to Him.

ISN'T IT GREAT TO KNOW WHO IS REALLY IN CONTROL?!!

O.k. rant over moving on.

Thanks to Grace for the email.

FREE COFFEE AND CHICK-FIL-A SANDWICH

2008-11-04T12:03:00.008-05:00

Rumor has it that after you vote you can go to Starbucks and get a 12 oz coffee FREE.

Also Chick-Fil-A will trade you their chicken sandwich for
your "I voted" sticker.

Showin some love to Kroger this week

2008-11-02T14:03:00.002-05:00

I will be showin some love to Kroger this week. They are having the buy 10 participating items and get $5 off your bill.

So far I see free Carnation evaporated milk, maybe some free Colgate toothpaste, cheap cereal and cheap Nestle chocolate chips.

I will post more after I look through all my coupons and wrap my head around the savings.

Kroger Coupons came today

2008-10-31T13:58:00.002-04:00

More Kroger coupons came today! I have no idea how I am getting these but I say BRING IT ON!

Here is the list of coupons I received:

FREE 12 pack
FREE Private Selection ice cream
FREE Post cereal
FREE Kroger grape tomatoes
$1.50 off Coke
.35 off Kroger veggies
.65 Kroger deluxe ice cream
$1.00 off 2 Lenders bagels
$1.00 off 2 Post cereal
$1.00 off 4 Knorr
.60 off 2 Duncan Hines frosting
.40 off 2 Rosarita beans
$2.00 off 2 Dove product
.50 off 1 New York garlic bread
$2.00 off Tri Scents air freshener
$1.00 off 1 Sunsilk shampoo

Another REbate Check

2008-10-28T11:40:00.003-04:00

We were on vacation in September and a friend of mine bought a box of Blueberry Mini wheats. Inside of the box was a rebate. I , of course, was all over it and told her to send it in. She said she was not interested and I could have it. I sent off the rebate with the receipt. Today in the mail was my $3.36 rebate check.
This is a great deal because my friend bought the box of cereal and I got the money!

Say Hello to My Little Friend

2008-10-28T09:02:00.002-04:00

Here it is!
Say hello to my little friend.

I got my slow cooker yesterday. Today I am whipping up chili. I just finished adding everything into the slow cooker.

This is a Smart Pot, which means it will turn onto a warm setting once the cook time has been reached. It has four different cook settings, a high 4 or 6 hour and a low 8 or 10 hour setting. I got the 5 quart round pot. I was looking at the more expensive ones but they were just to big. This baby cost $24.88 at Wal-mart and I will get a $5 rebate.

Here is the recipe from Betty Crocker

Family Favorite Chili

2 pounds ground beef
1 large onion, chopped (1 cup)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (15 ounce) tomato sauce
2 Tbs chili powder
1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 can (15 or 16 ounces) kidney or pinto beans, rinsed and drained

Cook beef in skillet until brown.
Mix beef and remaining ingredients except beans into slow cooker.
Cover and cook on low heat setting 6 to 8 hours or until onion is tender
Stir in beans. Cover and cook on high for 15 to 20 minutes or until chili is slightly thickened.

I cook everything in my slow cooker on low. I have used high a couple of times but the meat seems to get tough. Remember slow is the way to go.

If you have any good slow cooker recipes I would love you to leave it in the comment section.

Finding Deals in the Stangest Places

2008-10-27T07:00:00.000-04:00

Since I started this blog in January I have not put very much personal info on it. I have done this on purpose. First, I don't really want a bunch of strangers knowing every little detail of my life. I am sure most people reading are very kind and nice, but lets face it, not everyone reading blogs on the internet have best intentions. Secondly I made this blog as a way of expressing my delight and joy when I find great deals. I LOVE posting pictures of my grocery trips to Krogers and I LOVE sharing what little knowledge I have with people.

Why am I writing this? This deal I found only through a personal experience I had this week. My Aunt died on Tuesday. She was very very close to me she was more of a second mother than a great aunt. I found out on Monday she was in the hospital and Monday at 8 p.m. I headed out on a 10 hour drive to be with her in her last moments. It was very sad but I praise God that I was able to hold her hand to the end.

After my aunt passed we called a friend of mine who is a mortician. My aunt wanted to be cremated. My friend gave us some prices of funeral homes in the area. The difference in pricing is really amazing. We found prices from $2000.00 to as little as $695.00. As it turns out not all funeral homes are created equal, at least in their pricing. In the area where my aunt is there are only 2 crematoriums but many many funeral homes.

So if you find yourself in a position of making funeral arrangements it does pay to shop around. My aunt had insurance but a lot of people do not.

The World Serious

2008-10-26T14:46:00.002-04:00

After many years of listening to baseball chat and hoots and hollers from my husband, The World Serious, as he likes to call it, is finally going to benefit me. Let me say right here and now, I am not a sports fan! I have been subject to much football, baseball, hockey, and basketball over the years and finally I am getting a prize for my endurance. Someone stole a base in one of the World Series baseball games and Taco Bell is giving one free crunchy taco away on Tuesday, October 28th from the hours of 2-6 p.m.

After 15 years of sports I am getting a free taco, yeah! HMMM, I feel as if I am getting the short end of the deal.

Gotta love Taco Bell though! If you go and get a taco this week show some love to the employees.

Bye Bye Walgreens

2008-10-19T20:52:00.003-04:00

In case you haven't noticed I have not been shopping at Walgreens. If you can remember way back to one of my posts about Walgreens, you will recall that I was shoppping Walgreens at least once a month and getting the stuff that was giving me all of my money back plus overage with the EasySaver rebates. I was building a nest egg on a Walgreens gift card for those times when we absolutely needed something and did not have the money to buy it.

It has been a few months since I have shopped Walgreens. Everytime I would go in there all of the products were out. I sent an email to corporate. They sent my email to the local store and the manager called and left me a detailed message about how they were trying to be better stocked and they were sorry. He apologized about seven times on the phone. I thought, "What the heck I will try them one more time." I went back to Walgreens the next week only to be disappointed again. I was so disappointed that I did not even send another email or complain. This is actually the first time I have written about it. Everytime I think about it I get bothered.

Now you know why you haven't seen any Walgreens posts.

What Fun at Kroger today

2008-10-18T16:18:00.002-04:00

Today I went to Kroger and what fun it was! I was scanning the soups and looking at coupons when a couple of ladies walked by. One lady said, "Is that your coupon binder?" I say, "of course it is." We all stood in front of the soups and carried on a nice conversation, we talked about using our coupons and getting good deals. We ran through some of the buys of the week. They showed me their organizational tools and I showed mine. We wished each other the best and headed on our separate ways. That was really fun, all the time that I have been Grocery Gaming and shopping with my coupons this is the first time that I have actually met a fellow couponer in a store. Couponer? Is that even a word? It is now.

I had $104.00 worth of stuff and paid $67.02. I had a total of $41.23 in coupons. This is a %59 savings!!

Here is a list of everything I bought:

48 cans of Campbells cream soups I had .40 off 4 coupons
7 bottles Frenchs Worchester sauce (ALL FREE w/ COUPON)
6 packs of Lenders Bagels (on sale no coupon)
1 bottle of Diet Coke (My first in a week)
1 Private Selection ice cream had 1.oo coupon
1 Kroger ice cream
7 bottles Softsoap liquid soap .30 each with coupons
7 boxes of Quaker oats square cereal $1 box with coupons
1 small bottle of miracle whip NO ON SALE & NO COUPON :(
1 Febreeze noticeables I had $5 manu. coupon & 1 $5 P & G esaver coupon
This item gave me almost $3 in overage. It was on sale for $6.99 and I got $10 off.
1 box Kroger ice cream cones
1 bottle of Kroger peanuts
2 Kroger vegetable oil

If my calculations are correct I now have $229 in Kroger qualifying money which should give me $.20 per gallon off on gas.

Rodin, Rodin

2008-10-17T22:03:00.006-04:00

This is art lesson whatever number I am on. I know I am such a bad blogger. I should really have an organized agenda. You know like the "real bloggers" who have pages dedicated to certain interests and certain interests are posted on certain days and all that jazz. What can I say, I have a hubby, kids, a house and somewhat of a life so please forgive me. My blog is like my life scatter brained, busy and disorganized.
Now for the art. A couple of weeks ago I got a chance to do some research on Rodin. Non scholarly people would pronounce his name Row-Din or ro-din, but us scholars here know that it's pronounced Row-Dan.
Rodin was alive in the 1800's during the impressionist era and as with most impressionists he also lived in France. He was a sculptor. He sculpted many human figures. Did you know the human body is the most painted, sculpted/reproduced figure in art? The body has perfect symmetry. I love how God has created us in His perfect image. Lets demonstrate symmetry for a minute o.k.? Pretend you have an imaginary line down the middle of your body from head to toe. When you cut the two halves in half what you have on the left you would also have on the right, example: left arm-right arm, left hip-right hip, left leg-right leg. Both sides are equal to the other in shape, form and balance, Ahh symmetry.
Rodin recognized this symmetry and his sculptures are beautiful. He was able to look at people and capture them perfectly in his sculpting. He would look at them in different lights even in candle light. He would have his models lay down, stand up and even turn so he could see them from the back. He was so good at it that he was accused of casting real people and not actually carving and creating the images from scratch.

Here is a piece of Rodin's art called, "The Thinker". This piece is very popular and it is cast in bronze. It is a huge piece of art as well, I have had the pleasure of touching one of these sculptures in real life. Check out how well definded this man is. Notice how he has his right arm leaning on his left leg. Go ahead give it a try, it is very unnatural and uncomfortable. The thinker was actually a piece that came from the "Gates of Hell" which was another of Rodin's pieces. The "Gates of Hell" is two massive doors that were commissioned for an art musuem that never opened. This piece is very cool as well. It depicts hell at the bottom of the doors and there are 180 small sculptures inside this huge one. The Thinker is sitting on top of the door frame in the middle looking down into hell. If you get a chance look at some pictures online of this piece. You will see people trying to climb up "out of hell" the door frames. There are people in the corners.
Fun fact of Rodin: He had a girlfriend for 53 years. They had a son together who had some kind of mental illness. Rodin married his girlfriend when he was 77 years old. She died two weeks later and he died 9 months later. I am not sure if this fact is a reflection on marriage or just a strange occurance. Actually I do know, she was sick and wanted to marry so they married.

Free Coffee!! Free Coffee?

2008-10-17T08:16:00.003-04:00

Hey, there is free coffee to be had at Barnes and Noble. All you need is the coupon for it. My friend Lori has so lovingly left a link on her blog to the coupon. Run, don't walk to her blog and print out yourself some coupons. I printed two but that's just me.

Crock-Pot Deal

2008-10-13T21:18:00.003-04:00

I must tell you all about a Crock Pot deal. First let me start by saying that I have wanted a new crock pot for about 6 months now. The one I have is still working o.k. but it is a non stick kind that sits on a griddle base and the non stick is wearing off. I have been looking and lurking on blogs and website eyeing new Crock Pots and have been biding my time. The time has come to buy a new one. There is a $5 rebate on any Crock-Pot over $24.50. If you would like to print the rebate form click here. The crock pot I am looking at runs about $55.00.

Enjoy the picture of my future crock pot. It comes with all the bells and whistles. This thing will do everything except go to the freezer and throw the meat in. Here is a quick features list.

6 Quart Capacity
Digital timer tells you when meal is ready
Programmable cooking times from 30 minutes to 20 hours
Automatically shifts to warm when cooking is done
Removable oval stoneware for easy serving and clean-up
Dishwasher safe stoneware and lid

It's that time of year again

2008-10-12T17:51:00.002-04:00

It's that time of year again. The time of year when the leaves are starting to change. The time of year when the air is getting cooler and the days are getting shorter and shorter. It's that time of year when you load up the family and head to the apple orchards and the pumpkin patches to wonder the fields and pick, pick, pick. That is exactly what we did yesterday.
We first headed to our favorite orchard only to find out that our orchard was already picked over. They, graciously, gave us directions to another orchard where we picked and picked and picked. We picked 261 apples.

Here is my money saving tip: Pick your own apples. We go once a year and pick them and then we peel and core and bag them up. We actually did all the peeling and coring today. We bag them in gallon size Ziploc bags in apple pie portions. This year we got 27 bags of apples. We freeze them flat so that we can store them in the top of one of our freezers.

I use these apples through the year to make apple pies and fried apples mostly. People are always surprised when I tell them that my apple pie is my easiest dessert I do. Since the apples are ready to go I just add the flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. I use the Pillsbury ready made pie crust, you know the kind that you just unroll and its ready to go.

If you haven't gone picking this year you better get to it. Time is running out.

Shoe buying time UGH!!

2008-09-28T14:31:00.003-04:00

After spending $118.00 on 3 pair of shoes for my kids yesterday I was feeling pretty drained. Buying shoes for my kids always wears me down. One of mine has a narrow foot and the other has an extra wide foot. Unfortunately the best fitting shoes are Stride-Rite. I say unfortunately because we pay anywhere from $35.00 per pair to $55.00 per pair. You can probably guess, my kids only get 2 to 3 pair a season. Last year I found a sale and bought 4 pair of shoes for $20 each in 3 different sizes and thought I would have this season covered. I pulled out the shoes a couple of days ago, patting myself on the back for getting such a great deal, only to realize that my child had a growth spurt and two pair of shoes don't fit. UGH! So I pulled out the next pair and they fit good or so I thought. We went to the shoe store to find tennis shoes and the girl measured my childs feet and said, "These shoes are to small." I told her that we had just gotten those out from the closet. The sales girl looked at me and said, "I would wear these out then, because this child is not going to be in these long." Again I say UGH!

I walked out of that store with a $52.00 pair of tennis shoes for one child, that I hope last through the winter and one pair of shoes that were $49.00 for my other child and a 3rd pair for the future which cost $18.

My Buddies came in today

2008-09-25T21:32:00.001-04:00

I went and picked up my buddies today. I got 48 Johnson Buddies bars and 3 bags of candy and paid just a little over $8. Yay, I love coupons!!

While I was at Kroger

2008-09-22T13:49:00.003-04:00

I received some coupons last week for $3 off when you buy 3 Johnson items. We discovered on vacation last week that the whole family likes the Johnson Buddies bars. So while I was a Kroger the other day I had them order me 8 cases of them. Yes, I will be using all of my coupons and getting 48 Johnson Buddies for FREE! I will have to pay tax. The Buddies are .99 at Krogers and every three I buy I will get $3 off.

I figure if we use 1 a week I almost have a year supply.

Me Likie me some deals!!

Still Digitally Challenged

2008-09-20T18:45:00.002-04:00

I hate to say, but, I am still digitally challenged and went to Kroger today. I am sorry to report that I do not have a picture of my load. The load this week probably would have covered the top of my freezer. My freezer is where all my pictures are taken. Here is the very looong list of things I got this week. Also this was broken up into 4 transaction because Krogers deal was buy 15 participating items receive $3 off bill. I broke up my transactions to get the most savings. Here we go:

2 Pepperidge Farm Goldfish
24 cans of Campbells soup
6 boxes of Nature Valley granola bars
4 lbs of I Can't Believe Its not Butter
1 bakery baguette
1 bag of fresh spinach
1 bag of sunflower seeds
1 bunch of celery
2 cucumbers
2 packs of Ball Park franks
2-2 liters of Diet Coke
1 Deli fried chicken
8 4 packs of Yoplait yogurt (shortcut discount as well)
1 Pillsbury crescent rolls
2 Jumbo packs of Huggies diapers (shortcut discount)
2 bags of Pillsbury frozen dinner rolls
1 bag of frozen Pillsbury biscuits
3 Johnson Buddies (FREE)
2 bottles of Greased Lightning
1 Kroger Sour Cream (FREE)
1 box of Chex Mix bars (.40 for 1 box) (shortcut discount)
1 pack of Kroger Oreo cookies
9 bags of Betty Crocker ready to make cookies
4 boxes of Bettery Crocker Supreme Brownie

I had coupons for just about everything I bought this week. I had so many coupons I handed a couple off to another shopper.

My total before coupons or discounts was $192.95

The Total I paid out of pocket $91.45

I had a total of $56.20 in coupons. I think that will pay for my next 5 renewals to the grocery game. I should have done a little better but I messed up one of my deals and forgot to use a coupon. My total would have been $4.50 cheaper if I had done everything correctly--UGH!

This is outrageously high for me but I was loading up on soups. I also bought two packs of diapers which shoot up a bill by themselves.

Kroger Coupons

2008-09-16T21:46:00.002-04:00

Kroger is pursuing me right now I think. Through the summer, the deals have not been that great so I have been saving my money and staying home. Kroger just can't stand me not spending money in their store. A couple of weeks ago they sent me coupons and again yesterday I received more coupons. Kroger is like a whining puppy dog standing outside my door in the rain and begging to come in. Every time I see coupons from them its as if they are saying in their best whining puppy dog voice, "Please, please, pleeese come to the store." I do love the coupons though. Here is a list of what I received:

$1 off any Kroger bar or shredded cheese
$1 off 1/2 gallon of Kroger o.j.
1 FREE Kroger yogurt
$1 off 1 lb of Kroger butter
$1 off Kroger biscuits
$1 off Kroger sour cream

Most of these coupons I probably will not use but I do like having them.

Sams Club deal today

2008-09-16T15:16:00.003-04:00

Today I went to Sam's Club after being out of town for a week. I needed to pick up some bar towels for an art class I am teaching. I went back to the bin only to find one pack that was open and missing some towels and a bunch of towels laying in the bottom of the bin. Instantly I thought "DEAL FOR ME!" These towels cost $9.84 for 24 towels. I found an employee and asked if there were anymore towels in stock because I really needed them. I also told her if she didn't have anymore in stock I would take what was in the bottom of the bin if she gave me a discount. What is my motto? "If you don't ask you don't even have a chance at getting a discount." She saw a supervisor and got him involved. He looked and counted to make sure the pack was missing some. He said, "Yeah take them and you can have them for $8." This is not a great deal, but a deal is a deal.

I'm Back!

2008-09-16T15:04:00.002-04:00

Yes I am back from a wonderful vacation. We went to Myrtle beach and laid around most of the week. I am sure you missed me, well at least Sherri missed me. We talked on the phone yesterday for 82 minutes. Oh my, what can two women talk on the phone that long about, since we talk to each other everyday? Deals, kids and all kinds of misc. stuff of course.

I did get a deal while I was gone and wanted to share with you. Listen up homeschoolers. I say, LISTEN UP HOMESCHOOLERS! This is for you. At the beach they have an aquarium called Ripleys Aquarium and admission is $21 per adult and $10 per children. I thought there must be a discount to be had somewhere. I took out my HSLDA (Home School Legal Defense Association) teacher card and my local home school group card and headed for customer service. I pleaded my case that we are homeschoolers and would like a discount. Now remember my motto, repeat it with me. "If you dont ask you have no chance of getting a discount." Remember me saying this? Anyway I asked and here is what they did for us. My husband and I got in for FREE and the two kids got in for $10. It would have cost of $62 without our teacher card instead it cost us a total of $10. Now that is a deal!

How Do I Get Kroger Coupons?

2008-09-04T21:59:00.002-04:00

A question has been asked, How do I get Kroger coupons? You know, I really don't know how I get Kroger coupons. I am signed up to shortcuts and I am also signed up for P & G eSaver . These two websites are wonderful. You sign up at each site and then you can load coupons onto your Kroger card. I love these sites and let me tell you why. If you have a coupon loaded onto your Kroger card and you also have a manufacturer coupon in your hand you can use both on one item. I have gotten Yoplait yogurt before for .40 a 4 pack. I don't know if Kroger sends coupons through that or not. I think Kroger sends coupons to people that do alot of shopping there. I only started getting coupons in the last few months. I have a friend who hardly ever gets coupons from Krogers and she shops there as much as I do or even more. This is basically a long post just to say I don't know how I get coupons from Krogers.

If anyone knows how the Kroger system works or has a comment on Kroger coupons please leave a comment. I would love to hear from you.

Preparing for vacation!

2008-09-02T20:58:00.002-04:00

I am so ready to get back to the beach this year. Besides the hurricane hitting just South of where we will be staying I think we will have a great time. If you remember a couple of posts back I was stressing out about using disposable cameras, since my point and shoot camera broke, and I am to poor to afford my hearts desire. Well I have a solution. Its called the Nikon N50, it is my old reliable film camera. Yes I said film. This camera is to the 90's as the D80 is to today. My N50 was top of the line in like 1994. To my surprise you can still buy film! This film thing lead to my trip to CVS this week. I checked my camera bag and to my surprise I had no film. Here is my CVS deal

8 rolls of CVS film 4.99 x 2
1 disposable underwater camera
1 blood tester 9.99
2 Colgate toothpaste 2.99 x 2
4 Goodys headache powder 1.78 x 4
1 Covergirl lip stick 5.99

I did 4 transactions
I used my $2 off $10 coupon for each transaction.
2 Colgate $1 coupons

I paid a total of $7.50 OOP for everything. I do not have any ECB's to roll for next time. This is o.k. since I got all the film I needed for less that what the camera cost by itself.