Got a Penny? Turn it into $10 with Ebates!

Credit goes to Jennifer at www.imommies.com for finding this incredible deal!

Here's what you do:
1. Click here to sign up for ebates.com Ebates is a shopping portal that gives you cash back for purchases you make online. (If you feel so inclined you can use my email address adh913@yahoo.com as the friend who referred you :)
2. After you create your account, click on the "all stores" link and locate Petsmart.com. It is under the Pets category.
3. Once you get to Petsmart, enter 2811431 in the search box. It should take you to a page with dog and cat wrapping paper. This paper is now just $.01 per sheet.
4. Order as much or as little wrapping paper as you'd like.
5. Proceed to checkout. Shipping will be FREE!
6. Pay your pennies and then on May 15th Ebates will mail you a check for $10 for signing up and making a purchase! It will be a nice surprise for Mother's Day!

I have used Ebates in the past and they really do send out the checks!

If you already have an ebates account you can open up a new account under someone else in your household. This is totally legit because it says "Only one new account per household"; not "only one account per household". At least that's my take on it!

Free Redbox Rental

Use these codes at any redbox movie rental machine and your cost is $0 for 1 night only.

code: groundhog
code: rent

Walgreens $5 off $20 Deal Scenarios

Today only using the $5 off $20 purchase coupon you can get some good deals.

Here is my scenario:
1 Gillette Phantom Razor $9.99
6 Axe Trial Size Body Wash $9.00
1 Chapsticks Naturals $2.00

Using these coupons:
$5.00 off $20
$3.00 off Razor

Pay out of pocket $13.00
Get back $6.00 Register Rewards for the Razor, $2.00 Register Rewards for the Chapstick, and 2 Free Movie Tickets worth up to $12.50 for buying the Axe products.

Printable Coupons

Here's a fresh round of printable coupons for your shopping pleasure:

Eat Better America has the following coupons. I was allowed to print 6 of each.
$.50 off Cheerios
$.50 off Total
$.50 off Wheaties
$1.00 off any Cascadian Farms
$1.00 off any Glen Muir (get overage @ Publix with this coupon, qualifies for $10 gift card offer)
$.60 off any 2 Green Giant Frozen Veggies
$1.00 off any 8th Continent Milk
$.50 off Fiber One
$.60 off Fiber One bars

$1.00 off Quaker Cinnamon Life

$2.00 off Stayfree Dry Max

$1.00 off Birds Eye Voila (These are on sale this week at either Publix or Winn-Dixie)

$1.00 off 2 Orvile Redenbacher Popcorn (These are BOGO at Winn-Dixie and you get a free 2L Check drink with purchase of 2)

$2.00 off Honey Bunches of Oats with chocolate clusters (These are $2.28 at Super Walmart)

New Look

I've been playing around with blogger templates and I think I like this one best. It is bright, cheerful, and well I was bored with the old look. Hope you like it too!

1-Day Coupon for Walgreens 1/31/08

On Thursday, January 31st, Walgreens is offering this $5 off $20 purchase coupon. It will be great to use this on some of the Free After Rebate Items.



More good deals:

**Reynolds Aluminum Foil on sale 4 for $3 (with 7 day coupon). There are reports that the 75 ft. foil has $.50 coupons on the boxes.

**Some stores have the white and pink bottles of L'oreal Studio Line hair products on clearance for $1.

**Batteries on sale for $1.99 (with 7 day coupon). Use with the $1 off coupon from Sunday's paper

Other good deals here.

A Sale at Vera Bradley.com!

Going on now! Save 25% off and get free shipping when you purchase any retiring pattern or style!

The Popular Tie-Tote is a retiring style. It was $59, but is now $44.25 with free shipping.

Here is the "Cambridge Tie-Tote"

Everything in "Petal Pink" is 25% off, as well as "Classic Black", "medallion", "windsor navy", and "capri melon".

No coupon code needed! www.verabradley.com

Bath and BodyWorks Good Deal Alert!

This may not last long.

Get a free SCENTPORT Home Fragrance Diffuser with refill purchase. But the refill purchase is free with a $15 order.

So here's how to do it:

1. go to www.bathandbodyworks.com
2. click on Look under the Spa & Aromatherapy
3. Order the Lavender and Chamomile refill
4. Add the diffuser to your cart
5. Add something else to your cart to bring your total to $15. I ordered a $3 waterless handsanitizer!
6. At checkout enter code "Therapy15"
7. It should show that the refill and the diffuser are now FREE.
8. Pay for the other product and shipping

My order:
1 Lavender and Chamomile refill $12.50 FREE
1 Diffuser $7.50 FREE
1 Waterless Handsanitizer $3.00
Shipping: $6.00
Tax. $.78
Total $9.78 for a $24 order!

This would make a great Valentine gift for a secret pal or secret sister!

New $10 Gift Card Offer From Publix

Heidi asked if I had any information on the new Publix promotion for a $10 gift card. After a little research here is what I found:

Where is the form? Smart Source Insert from Sunday's Paper
Offer valid 1/16/2008-3/16/2008
What do I need to buy?
Purchase 15 Participating General Mills Products in ONE shopping visit between 1/16-3/16/08 and get $10 GC to Publix

Participating Products are:
Cheerios
Cheerios crunch
Honey Nut Cheerios
Total
fiber one
wheaties
chex
progresso
green giant frozen or canned
nature valley granola bars
cascadian farms
8th continent soymilk
yoplait yogurt
muir glen tomato products

Limit 1 per household, must send in UPCs and dated receipt

What do I notice?
1. There are no size testrictions, therefore you can buy the individual boxes of Cheerios, etc.
2. You don't have to buy 15 different products, you could buy 15 of the same item if you want.
3. There are coupons for most of these products. One that comes to mind is the $1 off any Glen Muir products.

What I might do?
15 boxes of individual Cheerios (my kids take them for snack time)
Use 7 $1 off 2 Cheerios coupons
Should be around $3.75
Then I will get a $10 gift card

Second idea?
If you have some of the $1 off Glen Muir products, the small cans are only $.79.
You could do this:
6 Glen Muir $.79 - $1
1 Good Life Cat Food -$3 coupon
8 individual boxes of Cheerios- $4 (4 $1/2 coupons)
Total: $1.23

You could have a lot of fun with this one! If you see any cheap scenarios please let me know and I'll share them with all the readers.

Awesome deal on Toilet Paper at CVS!

Toilet Paper is not an exciting item to discuss but when you can get it this cheap it certainly is exciting!

CVS is beginning to clearance out all of those "double bonus packs" of stuff they brought in for the January promotion. Included in this promotion are the 20 double-roll packs of Cottonelle TP. They were $9.99 each with $2 Extra Bucks back with a limit of 5. Now they are $5 each and you still get the $2 ECB if you buy them before February 1st.

So, here's what I did yesterday:
5 packs Cottonelle= $25
Used a $4 off $20 printable coupon (see this post to get yours) -4
Used 5 $.50 off -$2.50
Total= $18.50 (I paid with EXtra Bucks)
Received $10 in new Extra Bucks
Less than $.12 per roll!

**Note for Starke shoppers**
Assistant Manager Jeremy had to get these out of the back of the store for me. He said they had a lot of them back there. I told him they were now $5 instead of $9.99 and he said he would put them back out into the store today. He didn't know they were on clearance! He had put them away in order to make room for other sale items for the week.

CVS Printable Coupons

These are good for this week only. They expire Feb. 3rd.

$3 off $15
$4 off $20
$10 off $50

$3 off an 8 X 10 Picture Print at the Kodak Kiosk
Use 2 of these this week and get your 8 X 10's for only $1 each because they are BOGO!

Free Women's or Men's NutriSystem Trial Pack

Thanks to Gallo at Frugal Families!

You get three food samples to try out the NutriSystem Plan. Choose either a women's or men's pack.

"You've heard of Nutrisystem for weight loss. Now find out what all the talk is about for FREE. Order a FREE sample pack today and we'll send you 3 delicious NutriSystem foods to try. We're so sure you'll love our selections, all we're asking for is your shipping information. Absolutely no obligation or credit card needed."

Click here to sign up

**Link should be fixed now**

Good deals at Walgreens 1/27-2/2

Wow! It's almost February already. The new February Easy Saver Catalog is out now at Walgreens. If you are new to shopping deals at Walgreens the Easy Saver Catalog is a small but thick pamphlet located at the front of the store where they have the weekly flyers. It contains coupons that are good all month long, as well as items you can purchase and get a Walgreens rebate for buying.

Here are the best deals I see:

FREE AFTER REBATE DEALS All MONTH LONG:

*Garnier Fructis Shampoo, Conditioner, or leave-in conditioner $3.99
Use $1 coupon from either 10/14/07 or 11/11/07 and Make $1
*Soft Soap Spa Radiant Body Wash $4.49
* Clear Care Travel Pack or Convenience Pack $5.99
Rebate - FREE 1- 12 fl.oz bottle of Clear Care contact lens cleaning & disinfecting solution, up to $9.00
*Gillette Venus Embrace Razor System
* 5-Hour Energy Drink 2-pack $4.99
* Speed Stick 24/7 AP/Deodorant $3.99
*Maybelline Volume XL Seduction Lip Plumper $5.

Good Deals with Easy Saver Coupons
* Schick Quattro or Xtreme disposable razors $6.99 - $2 ES coupon-$3 = $1.99
Use the coupon from today's paper for $3 off Schick Xtreme3 (8 ct.) or Quattro (3 ct.) Final Price: $1.99

Good Deals with 7-day Coupons from today's Walgreen Flyer
*Maxwell House Coffee-on sale for $2.33
Use the $1 off coupon from 12/16/07 and get it for $1.33

*Dawn Dishsoap $.99
Buy 2 and use the $1 coupon from 12/30 Proctor and Gamble for a price of $.49 for each

Good Deals with Register Rewards:
Register Rewards print out after your transaction and you can use them like cash on your next purchase
*Gillette Phenom Fusion Raxor $9.99 and get back $6 RR
Use $2 off coupon from PG 12/30 for a final price of $1.99
*Chapstick Naturals $2, get back $2=FREE

Other Items:
*Act Mouthwash (which I make my kids use) on sale for $3
Use $1 off coupon from 1/06 for a final price of $2

Free 2 Year Subscription to Parents Magazine

Thanks to Linda at fishingfordeals:

Parents Magazine

Parents is America's leading magazine devoted to serving people who are raising children. It regularly features information about beauty, food, fashion, home, age specific child development, health, pregnancy, marriage, finance, child care, education and discipline. Note: You will receive ONLY 24 issues of Parents Magazine with no commitment or obligation whatsoever. You will NOT receive any additional magazines and you do NOT have to cancel a subscription. We will not be accepting feedback on this magazine.

Free bottle of Coffeemate

Take a short coffee survey and receive a coupon for a free bottle of Coffeemate up to $4.15

Register Here

A Sweet Valentine Freebie

Surprise someone special with a fun little trial of Clinique Happy, the wear-it-and-be happy fragrance favourite. You can even add your own personalized message—and we’ll get it all there in time for Valentine’s Day. It’s totally FREE—but only here for a short time, so don’t miss out!*

I sent it to myself!

click here to send a sample

Watch out Wallet-Daddy goes to the Grocery Store

Having a new nursing baby doesn't lend itself to me actually leaving my cozy home for any amount of time so daddy had the duty and privilege of buying groceries for the week. If you have a husband like mine they don't really relish the thought of buying groceries, in fact he hates it. The last time he did this was in 2001 when Ciarra was born. So I knew I needed a very easy, simple plan to get him in and out of there without too much fuss.

First, I made a list of items we needed for the menu we will have next week. Second, I put the list in store order to make it easy for him to find everything. Third, we discussed the budget of $90. Now, I knew the items on "the list" would be less than $90 but knowing him I knew he would add an item here or there to bring the total up and can I tell you that he hates buying "generic"brand items. Something that haunts him from childhood!

Well, how did he do?

He spent $84.26, so he came in under budget! Yippee! But he did add a few items like the Brats and gourmet buns. Eeek! And of course his love for name brand meant he bought "Doritos" and "Rold Gold" instead of Great Value, along with "Campbells" and "Green Giant" items. But over all I am as pleased as punch that he survived the grocery store. And since we will NOT have any more children, it might have been his last trip for a good long time!

I love you honey!

Frugal Family Activities

I heard on the news that this was susposed to be the "Most Depressing Week" of the Year! This is due to the fact that we are deep into the winter-weather blahs, sunshine is scarce, there's not really anything going on to look forward too (emotional let-down after spending months preparing for the holidays), credit card bills from December are coming due (not here!), and the talk of economic recession everywhere! Well, those are depressing!

But look around you and see how very blessed you are! Right now is a great time to focus on family. I love this time of year when we are forced to spend more time together as a family due to weather and it is a really slow time for us. There aren't any sports that we are involved in going on now, no big functions taking place at school or church, and because we are trying to save money there aren't any big trips or excursions. What we do have is home time.

What can you do as a family to beat the blahs while being mindful of your home economy?
Here are some ideas that we like to do as a family:

• put a jigsaw puzzle together (we just finished a 1000 piece NASCAR puzzle)
• build houses out of cards, see who can make the tallest one
• play board games (Deal or No Deal and Clue are our current favorites)
• fly kites (Wal-mart sells these for $1)
• Watch Wheel-of-Fortune (great for beginning readers!)
• rent a redbox movie for $1
• bake cookies
• plan a scavenger hunt (I usually plan the first one and then the kids take over)
• we play on our trampoline and with our pool table
• wrestle with daddy
• use sidewalk chalk to draw pictures
• plant seeds indoors to be ready for Spring
• play video games together
• have a jump rope contest, do fancy tricks
• invite another family over for a playdate
• paint with watercolors, make personalized stationary

What activities do you and your family like to do together at home?

Please share an idea or two with us so we can all share in the fun.

Tax Checks Coming to Your Mailbox in June 2008-A Done Deal!

In an earlier post I discussed the possibility of tax payers receiving a surprise tax rebate check designed to spur and stimulate economic growth. Well, those are now a reality! Full story here.

Individuals will be getting $600, married couples $1200, plus and additional $300 for each child you claim. So for our family we will be getting $2100. We won't get $300 for Camryn because she was born in 2008 and it is based on the last year's tax return. (At least that's what I understand).

So, now that the checks are a reality, albeit 5 months from now, make a committment to spend or save it wisely. Everyone had some great ideas on how to use the money in the last post- many will be paying down debt and some will be saving for vacations or emergencies.

Pictures of Camryn

That is a preemie size onesie!

Big sister Christin with Camryn

Big brother Caleb with Camryn

Big sister Ciarra with Camryn

All of my beautiful blessings together! Aren't they precious?

Camryn Elisabeth is here!!!

Our little miracle baby made a grand entrance into the world Saturday night, January 19th at 10:01 pm. She was barely 37 weeks but considered full-term. My water broke right around 6:15 pm, went to the hospital and progressed very quickly. My husband, mom, and two sisters witnessed her incredibly easy birth and our other 3 kids quickly came in to the room to see the baby. I was released late yesterday afternoon and haven't unpacked the bags yet. When I find the camera I will post pictures of the tiny one in pink.

She truly is a miracle! After she was delivered the doctor discovered that she had a "true knot" in her umbilical cord which was cutting off her blood and nutrition supply. Only 25% of babies with a true knot of this magnitude survive in the womb and another 15% die during delivery. We are so blessed that she came early because she may not have made it much longer with the knot. God truly watched over her and I know He will continue to do so! She weighed only 5 pounds, 6 ounces and is 18 inches long. The preemie clothes are too big!

Thank you all for your prayers and well wishes! And I will post the pictures later today.

Angie

Economic Stimulus=Check in Your Mailbox???

President Bush has endorsed an economic stimulus package to help boost a suffering economy that would total about 115 million dollars in tax relief to tax payers and businesses. You can read about it here.

Bush's proposal is for tax rebate checks for $800 for individuals and $1600 for married couples. This could actually happen since both Democrats and Republicans are pushing for economic relief. And it could happen soon!

The news on the economy isn't good and hasn't been in quite some time. Everyone knows about the housing market crisis, rising oil prices, and have you bought eggs lately? I thought I was buying gold eggs or something last week! Don't even get me started on the price of a gallon of milk. And since you know my family is addicted to cereal, you should know that we probably go through 10 gallons of milk a month!!

So, would this economic tax relief help? President Bush and Congress want to send you some money (your money by the way) and they want you to go spend the heck out of it! That's what economic stimulus means. Spend, spend, spend. And that is, of course, what most people will do.

But what about you or me? If you are on a quest to pay off debt, live below your means, save for the future, or invest in your own retirement are you going to use this money wisely and not frivilously! In my opinion, I think we should help our own household economy before the economy at large so . . . . .

It would be a great start for those just beginning the Dave Ramsey plan. Fully fund your emergency account and begin paying off debt.

If you already have your emergency fund in place how about adding the money to your debt snowball and really knock a large chunk off of a debt.

Or go ahead and fund a 2008 Christmas or vacation savings account or save to pay your next car insurance premium in full instead of installments!

If you have no debt (congratulations!) invest the money in a Roth IRA or other retirement plan.

And if you are past all the baby steps and are living like no one else then by all means spend it and help the economy!

So, if the economic stimulus package passes and you get a surprise check from your dear old Uncle Sam how will you use the money?

My Baby Shower Today

I was blessed with a wonderful baby shower today at work where I received lots of baby goodies. My fantastic friends organized the shower and I had to laugh out loud when I read the invitation. They included a statement that basically said that because I was such a frugal person and smart shopper that I had no need for the basics such as diapers, wipes, shampoos, clothes, toys, etc. (I had already stocked up for next to nothing!) and that I would really appreciate gift cards for food and groceries!

Well, that was well received by my co-workers and I was blessed with over $200 in gift cards and cash. One of the cards read, "Here's a gift card for Walgreens. I'm sure you will stretch it farther than any one of us could have done with a gift." Hee Hee! Yep, I will s t r e t c h out these gift cards and make every penny count!

I also received a beautiful Vera Bradley "Raspberry Fizz" diaper bag from the hostesses! I absolutely love it!

Thank you to all who attended and blessed me and my family. Special thanks to my wonderful support team of best friends, sisters in education, and extended family: Sheila, Frances, Erin, Tiffany, Susan, Suzanne, Tanya, Pami, Melissa, and Amy. You mean the world to me!

Final Reductions at Yankee Candle.com- Great deals!

Yankee Candle has 75% off some Christmas and Autumn gift baskets, gift sets, and all of their Fall/Winter Scents. They have large jar candles for $12! Many $3 for $10 deals and car fresheners for $1. And lots more!

Check out the sale at www.yankeecandle.com

If you order $26 or more worth of stuff use code "QRW18" for $10 off a $25 or more purchase.

These will make great gifts for teachers, Sunday School teachers, co-workers, etc. for next year!

We have a date for the Baby's Arrival!

I had my weekly dr.'s appointment today and we set an inducement date for January 28th. So, I have 11 days or less until the little one makes her grand debut. How exciting! I am 100% effaced already so it really could be less than 11 days. We decided on an induction for a few reasons, mainly because I have been Group B Strep + in the past so I will have to receive I.V. antibiotics for at least 2 hours before I deliver and since I deliver babies very quickly the Dr. and I thought it would be best to ensure the antibiotics get to do their job. So I will go in early and get the antibiotics and then they will begin the induction. Of course, I could go early on my own!

So, I plan to work all of next week and that will be it. I do have a 4-day weekend that begins tomorrow afternoon but I still have a lot to do to get both my class and my home ready for baby. Any and all good thoughts and prayers are appreciated! And please pray for my dear hubby who is already a nervous wreck even though we've been through this 3 times before!

Angie :)

Make this Pie!

I'm now starting to crave chocolate! Previously it had only been ice and Arby's. Great! Now that I'm almost done with pregnancy I'm going to pack on the pounds from Chocolate! So far I've been very good with my weight and am actually at -5 pounds from my previous before baby weight!

Here's the to die for Kentucky Derby Pie from who else but Paula Deen:
I love that it is all regular ingredients and kind of on the frugal side!

4 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups sugar
1 (12-ounce) package semisweet chocolate morsels, melted
1 cup sifted self-rising flour
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups chopped pecans
2 (9-inch) deep dish unbaked pie shells or 3 (9-inch) unbaked regular pie shells
Ice cream, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine eggs, sugar, and melted chocolate in large bowl. Add flour and mix well, stirring in remaining ingredients except for pie shells. Bake 30 -40 minutes.

Serve warm with ice cream. Freezes well!!

Mini-shopping trip to Winn-Dixie

I finally made it to Winn-Dixie on the last day of the sale week and picked up the items I mentioned in an earlier post that I thought were good deals:

Here's what I picked up:
2 Boxes Kix cereal BOGO and Used $1 off 2 coupon
2 Boxes Total cereal BOGO and Used 2 $1 off coupons
1 Box Nature Valley granola bars FREE with coupon plus $1 overage
4 boxes Armour sausage links BOGO and $1 off coupon
3 12 packs of Coke 3 for $10
2 boxes Pop-Secret popcorn BOGO and 2 $1 off coupons
2 things of Keebler Chips Deluxe fudge stripes BOGO and 2 $1 off coupons
1 Kraft live active individual cheese snacks FREE
2 Quatro for Women razors $3 each after $4 coupon
1 Daisy sour cream (full price but this is my favorite sour cream!)
1 Kraft shredded cheese $2
1 WD deep dish pie crust pack $1.50

Total before card and coupons: $92.40
After card and coupons: $28.52

A reader's tip from Cassie @Homeschooling Four

Cassie wrote me to say:

***An unadvertised deal this week at Walgreens***

When you buy 3 glade plug-ins,you get $2 in RR. When you buy 4, you get $3 in RR. When you buy 5 ormore, you get $4 in RR. I didn't even know this was a deal until itprinted out for me. Great freebie on top of the other freebies.This is included on my Walgreens post for this week athttp://homeschoolingfour.blogspot.com/2008/01/walgreens.html

Cassie has a beautiful blog. Please click on the link above to see the great deals she has put together for Walgreens this week. Lots of very cheap cleaning supplies.

I will definitely be going to Walgreens this week with her plan. Thanks Cassie!

Free Book from Billy Graham.org

Free this month: God’s Promises for Your Every Need

God's Promises for Your Every Need is a bestselling classic. With verses from the New King James Version of the Bible, this book makes it easy to find special promises from God's Word according to topic. Order your free copy today!

Click here to order.

Make sure you check the box "Not a 3rd party request".

January Challenge: Part 2: The Coupon Crate

In January Challenge Part 1 I challenged all of you to buy/recycle a crate or hanging file folder to contain your coupons. This is sooo much easier for me than trying to find time every week to clip coupons. It also allows me to easily manage multiple copies of each week's coupons.

So, here is my system. Sorry this post took a while since the first part was posted but at the end of my pregnancy I just seem to be doing everything s l o w e r!

First thing I do: Seperate the coupons by Name of the Flyer. These are usually Smartsource, Red Plum (used to be Valaissis), Proctor and Gamble, and sometimes General Mills.
(This is the view from above my very pregnant belly! Hee Hee!)

Next, I label the file folder with the date and the type of coupon. If I only get 2 copies of hte paper, I stick all the coupons in 1 hanging file. But since January 6th had so many coupon sections I had to use 3 hanging file folders.

Finally, I stick the file folder into my container. I stick the newest coupon folder in the front. Now I can easily find my coupons when I need them. I usuallly keep the folder with the coupons for 12 weeks. By that time 99.9% of the coupons in them are expired. As the weeks progress the file folder with the oldest coupons gets recycled with the newest coupons. Today I tossed the coupons from 9/09.

I also keep a file folder in the front for store coupon flyers, like Publix's advantage flyers and a folder for printable coupons from Target, smartsource.com, boodle.com, etc.

Then I just close it up and it is portable.

Now, you are probably wondering how I know what coupons are in which week's inserts?

I use the virtual coupon organizer, which is free, at http://www.couponmom.com/ You have to register there, which is free also, and then you can search for coupons. For example, if Winn-Dixie had Armour sausage on sale then I go to the coupon organizer and type in Armour. I find that there is a current coupon for the Armour sausage from the 10/14/07. I go to my coupon crate, pull out the insert and cut the coupon. Wallah! EasyPeezy!

If you are a member at http://www.hotcouponworld.com/ then you can also use their coupon database using the same procedures.

Hope this helps you get your coupons organized and ready for year long savings. Never pay retail again!

Publix Good Deals thru Wednesday, Jan. 16th

Here is my daughter Christin with our haul from Publix. This is what we bought:

**4 Betty Crocker fruit snacks BOGO with $.55 off 2 coupons from the blinke machine in front of the roll-ups
**8 boxes of Quaker Simple Harvest Instant Oatmeal BOGO and $1 off each box coupons from Sunday 01/06
**8 Boxes of Pasta Roni BOGO and $.50 off 2 coupons from 01/06
**8 Boxes of Rice a Roni pilaf and wild grain BOGO and $.50 off 2 coupons from 01/06
**6 Bottles of G2 (a new Gatorade product) on sale for $1 and we used 6 $1 off any G2 from the new Yellow Advantage Publix flyer so they were free
**8 jars of Peter Pan peanut butter $1 with $1 off coupons= FREE
**16 cans of Del Monte diced tomatoes BOGO and $.40 off 2 coupons
**4 cans Chunky soup BOGO and 1 $.74 off 4 coupon
**1 bottle Welch's light Grape Juice $2.50 and used $1 off coupon
Kraft Products:
1 Oreo, 4 Boxes Mac and Cheese BOGO, 1 Kraft Singles, 1 Kraft Jell-o

Total before special savings and coupons: $143.21
Total after special savings and coupons: $45.21

Plus I will send in this receipt and receive a $10 JC Penney gift card. This runs through January and you can send in for up to 3 gift cards. You must purchase 4 different Kraft products each time and spend $50. But the $50 is pre-savings, pre-coupons!

Print form here.

Frugal Shopping with my daughter-January 12th

Yesterday, my daughter Christin and I took a frugal shopping trip to Gainesville. We had a great time and was so glad to be able to spend time alone with her. She's a great kid if I say so myself. As she gets older (eeek!) I want to teach her, as God commands mothers of girls, to be a good steward of her time and money and to train her up to become a good wife and mother. So, off we went.

Our first stop was Arby's! Arby's is the ONLY thing I have craved since I've been pregnant. Well, except recently I've starting craving ice (I always do in my last month). We didn't have any coupons for Arby's but we thoroughly enjoyed it!

Our next stop was Lowe's. We took our free up to $10 coupon for a houseplant and decided on a very pretty potted Anturium. It has dark green leaves and pretty pink lily-like flowers. It is in a pink terra pot. It was only $9 so she added in a purple pansy and it was all FREE! We are putting the Anturium in the dining room for now and the purple pansy is on her dresser.

Next we headed to Old Navy where they are having their "additional 50% off clearance sale". This sale happens twice a year usually, when they are clearing out winter in January and summer in July. I had a $25 gift card that I received for Christmas to use there. We ended up spending the gift card plus an additional $35 and brought home over $200 worth (in original prices) in new clothes. Christin picked out several shirts, a jogging outfit, and a jacket. We got some items for everyone in the family, including 2 outfits for Baby Camryn.

Up next: Target where we only bought Electrasol for the dishwasher. It is currently on "price break" for the 20 count packages. They are 3 for $8 or $2.67 each. I had 8 coupons from last Sunday's paper for $2.25 off each one. So we bought 8 for a little over $4 total with tax. These should last for 5 months.

Finally we headed to the mall. Christin had saved her Christmas money from relatives to shop at Limited Too. Have you ever been to Limited Too? The prices are outrageous!!!! The girls only get to spend their own money in that store. She had a coupon from a home-mailer for 25% off any purchase and being a good girl she headed straight for the racks that were 40% off. She was able to purchase a dressy top and pants to go with it for $30, which is the exact amount she had!

We then went to Lane Bryant to use the $15 off $15 coupon. I bought socks. Glamorous, I know. Paid only tax for those. While heading out of the mall, Cinnabon called my name so we had a late afternoon snack by sharing a large, lovely Cinnamon roll.

Our final stop of the day was Publix grocery store. I'm putting it in a seperate post.

I spent a total of $110 on everything yesterday. The retail of what I bought was a little over $450.

Items for the House: $50
Groceries and eating out: $60
Spending time with my daughter, teaching her to be frugal, and saving 75% off retail: Priceless!

Guess the CVS Amount? It was $1.73!

And here's how I did it:

First and second transaction:
4 Excedrin
1 Garnier Fructis
Total: 10.99
minus $2/$10
-8 (4 $2 Excedrin coupons)
-1 (Fructis coupon)
Total: $0
Earned $4 ($2 for each transaction)

3rd transaction:
6 Softsoaps
1 Colgate
Minus: $2/$10
-$2.10 (6 softsoap coupons)
-1 Colgate printable
-1.50 Colgate from Diabetes book
Paid with ECB from above deal
Total: $0
Earned $5.99

4th and 5th transaction:
2 Robitussin $6.00
1 Huggies Jumbo $9.99
1 Contour Monitor $14.99
1 Palmolive $1.49
4 Reese's Whips $4
Minus $5/$30
-2 Huggies printable
-14.99 Contour coupon
-6 Robitussin printables
-.40 palmolive
-$2 Reese's BOGO coupons
Total: $5.99
Paid with ECB from 3rd Transaction
Total paid: $0, Earned $1

5th transaction included Similisan instead of Robitussin
Earned $10 from Contour and $5.99 from Similisan
Paid with ECB earned last week

6th and final transaction:
4 Reese's Whips
8 Johnson's Buddies
2 Huggies Jumbo
2 Loreal Vive
1 Breeze 2 Monitor
2 Robitussin
1 Similisan
Milk
minus $10 off $50
-$2 Reese's
-8 johnson's buddies
-4 Huggies
-2 Vive
-10 Breeze
-3 Similisan
-6 Robitussin
Paid with ECB from one of above transactions and
$1.73 out of pocket because I had another $5.99 in Extra Bucks but didn't want to waste it.

I will use it next week!

Thanks for playing!

Guess how much I paid for this stuff?

Most of this stuff is still in the back of my car but I will take a picture tomorrow. I killed about an hour at CVS tonight and here is what I bought in multiple transactions. (My favorite cashier was there so I couldn't resist!)

Here's what I got:
8 bottles Excedrin
2 Garnier Fructis Shampoo
6 Softsoap Hand soap
1 Colgate toothpaste double pack
1 Aquafresh toothpaste
4 bottles Robitussin cough syrup (giving to my granny)
4 Jumbo packs of Huggies Size 1
2 Contour blood meters (giving to my grandma)
1 bottle Palmolive
8 Reese's whips
8 Johnson's buddies soaps
2 Loreal Vive shampoo
1 Breeze 2 meter
1 Similisan Earache relief drops
2 gallons of milk

So how much out of pocket do you think I spent? I will post the answer Saturday evening!

How we saved at least $100 in 2007