Honey, I Shrank Our Spending!

2010-05-10T08:25:00.000-07:00

Menu Plan Monday Oct 19-25

2009-10-19T04:25:00.000-07:00

Here's my meals for this week:

Dinner

Monday- Pizza Cups, Salad

Tuesday- Tomato Soup and Sandwiches

Wednesday- Crispy Chicken Drumsticks, green beans, rolls

Thursday- Lentil Tacos, Spanish Rice, Corn

Friday- Weekday Lasagna, salad, Low-fat Bread Machine Italian Bread (made into breadsticks

Saturday- Halloween Party (I'm bringing Crockpot Brown Sugar Chili)

Sunday- Potato Soup, Peasant Bread

Breakfast

Monday-Eggbeaters Omelet, English Muffin, fruit

Tuesday-Eggbeaters Omelet, English Muffin, fruit

Wednesday-Eggbeaters Omelet, English Muffin, fruit

Thursday-Eggbeaters Omelet, English Muffin, fruit

Friday-Heart Smart Waffles, sausage links, (kids will eat with homemade syrup)

Saturday-Heartsmart Pancakes, bacon, (kids and dh will eat with homemade syrup)

Sunday-Cereal, yogurt, fruit

Lunch

Monday-Cheesy Vegetable Soup

Tuesday-Cheesy Vegetable Soup

Wednesday-sandwiches, fruit

Thursday-Refried Bean Soup

Friday-Refried Bean Soup

Saturday- sandwiches, fruit

Sunday- Fat Free Hotdogs, oven fries

Snacks

Air popped popcorn, , String Cheese, Fat Free Rice Krispie Treats, Chex Party Mix

My family is also wanting some Caramel apples, but since they are so expensive at the store, I'm making my caramel from scratch.

Come back and see how my shopping went. for the Grocery Cart Challenge.
Go here to see more plans.

Grocery Cart Challenge

2009-10-13T04:31:00.000-07:00

I try to spend about $120 a week on food for the week, stocking up and on items to put in my food storage. Here's how this week went.

Day's Resale Bakery

2 Loaves sandwich bread, 1 loaf potato bread, 1 Arnold Sandwich Thin-$4.00

Walmart

5.34 lb bananas- $2.56

King Size M&M's- $1.00 (Child treat)

1.59 pounds tomatoes- $3.15

4.46 pounds red grapes- $5.44

2 Velveeta cups- $1.96

Smart Taste Rotini $1.50

2 Nature's Own Hamburger Buns- $3.94

Celery $1.36

Weight Watcher Cheese Singles- $3.62 minus $1.00 off coupon

Whole Cantaloupe $1.00
2 Fat Free Sour Cream-$2.00

2 Weight Watchers Yogurt- $1.08 minus $0.55 off 2 coupon

2 Weight Watchers Yogurt- $1.08 minus $0.65 off 2 coupon

Fat Free Yogurt- $2.14 minus $0.55 off coupon

2 bacon- $4.96 minus $1.50 off 2 coupon

Heart Smart Bisquick- $2.94 minus $0.60 off coupon

Cherry Limeade- $1.98

Herbal Tea- $2.32

2 popcorn seasoning- $3.74

2 pizza cheese- $3.96

Turkey Pepperoni- $3.32

2 frozen steam broccoli- $2.50

Lunch meat- $3.00

Weight Watchers Mexican Cheese- $2.68 minus $1.00 off coupon

Sunchips- $2.68

Great Northern Beans- $0.98

2 cooking spray- $3.36

Bacon pieces- $1.56

2 pasta sauce- $3.06

Salsa- $1.44

Whole Chicken $5.30

Fat Free Hot Dogs- $2.98

I Can't Believe It's not Butter- $3.24

2% Velveeta- $4.46

Orange juice- $1.98

Rice Krispies- $4.18 minus free coupon so I got for free!

Diet Dr. Pepper- $3.98

Nestle Water- $3.88 minus $0.50 off coupon

Total: $98.05

Save a Lot

Lettuce- $1.29

cucumber $0.59

apples $3.49

24 cans tomato soup- $11.76

Total: $17.13

Food City

3 bags popcorn: $4.47

Total: $4.47

WIC

2 gallons milk
1 bag rice
1 juicy juice
1 eggs
2 boxes cereal

Total for the week: $123.65

See how others spent their money this week at The Grocery Cart Challenge.

Menu Plan Monday: October 12-18

2009-10-12T04:03:00.000-07:00

Here's my menu for this week:

Dinners

Monday- Sloppy Tacos (made with 2% cheese and lean meat on light bun), oven fries

Tuesday- Soft Tacos, Mexican Rice, Corn

Wednesday- Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup, Peasant Bread

Thursday- Chicken Sandwiches, green beans

Friday-Homemade Pizza, Salad

Saturday- Spaghetti Casserole, salad, Low-fat Bread Machine Italian Bread

Sunday- We are going to a friend's house who invited us (but I am bringing some fat free hot dogs for the grill

Breakfast

Monday-Eggbeaters Omelet, English Muffin, fruit
Tuesday-Eggbeaters Omelet, English Muffin, fruit
Wednesday-Eggbeaters Omelet, English Muffin, fruit

Thursday- Heart Smart Waffles, sausage links, fruit

Friday- Cereal, yogurt, fruit

Saturday-Heartsmart Pancakes, bacon, (kids and dh will eat with homemade syrup)
Sunday-Cereal, yogurt, fruit

Lunches

sandwiches and soup or leftovers and fruit each day

Snacks
Chex Party Mix, String Cheese, Fat Free Rice Krispie Treats, air popped popcorn, granola bars

Come back and see how my shopping went.

Go here to see more plans.

Come back tomorrow and see how I do at the grocery store for the Grocery Cart Challenge.

Grocery Cart Challenge Oct 5-11

2009-10-07T08:22:00.000-07:00

Here's how my shopping went this month......

Day's Resale Store

2 loaves sandwich bread, Weight Watchers English Muffins, Arnold's Sandwich Thins $4.00

Save a Lot
4.51 pounds bananas $1.50
Basil $1.39
4 Biscuits $3.56
Cheese Puffs $1.19
2 cream cheese $1.98
4.02 pounds ground chuck $6.79(on sale $1.69lb)
Lite Ranch Dressing $1.29
4 lbs onions $2.99
Oregano $1.39
5 lb bag potatoes $0.99
Pretzels $0.99
Powdered Sugar $1.29
2 Sugar $3.98
Brown sugar $1.29
Dill pickles $1.69
Tortillas $0.99
Vanilla Ice Cream $2.29
Total: $35.59

Walmart
Bell Pepper $0.94
Cucumber $0.66
Lettuce head $0.98
Cereal $5.24
Shell Macaroni $1.00
Strawberry Syrup $1.34
Hawaiian Punch $1.97
3 Butter Non stick Sprays $5.04
2 Non stick Canola oil spray $3.36
Spaghetti $1.50
Bacon $2.49
Red Velvet Cake $1.16
Cream Cheese $1.82
Lite Hot Dogs $3.00
WW String Cheese $3.42 minus $1.00 off coupon
1 lb Ground Turkey $1.98
Ham Cheese Loaf $3.00
2 shredded cheese $3.96
6 WW Yogurt $3.24 minus 2 free from two buy 2 get 1 free coupons
White Rice $1.32
Egg Beaters $4.38 minus $1.00 off coupon
Yogurt $2.00 minus $1.00 off coupon
WW Cheese Slices $3.62 minus $1.00 off coupon
4 Progresso Soups $6.00 minus Two $1.00 off 2 coupons
Lite margarine $0.62
Yogurt $2.14 minus $0.55 off coupon
2 Granola Bars $$4.52 minus $1.00 off 2
Sunchips $2.98 minus $1.00 off coupon
Margarine $0.50
2 mini marshmallows $1.92
2 All purpose flour $3.48
2 Bread Flour $4.28
Diet Dr. Pepper $3.98 minus $1.00 off coupon
RF Parm Cheese $2.42
Orange Juice $1.98
Sloppy Joe Envelope $0.88
Cherry Lime aide Drink mix $1.98
Total:$86.14

Food City
3 White Popcorn $4.47
1 small package M&M's $0.79(kid treat)
Total: $5.31

WIC Vouchers
2 boxes Multi gran Cheerios
2 gallons milk
1 Juicy Juice
1 dozen eggs
1 package brown rice
2 huge bunches grapes
Total: FREE

School Snack Program
My child's school got a grant to give kids on free and reduce lunch snack on days off school and weekends. Since we have Fall Break this week, here is what they sent. I don't usually buy these things so they will be treats. There are pop tarts, crackers, fruit cups, pudding, juice boxes, ravioli, applesauce, etc.
Total: FREE

Total Spent: $131.04

Week in Review: While I went over $11, I still feel good because I bought extra Butter sprays because I have not been able to find them when I go to the store and they had lots this time, I bought more ground chuck than I needed because it was like $1.00 cheaper a pound than I had been paying. I also bought some beginning of the month stuff like basic baking supplies. I also bought extra stuff for a birthday that we would not usually buy. I am also feeding my kids breakfast and lunch this week which they usually have at school. (That added a lot) All in all I am pretty happy this 1st week of doing this.

See how others spent there money this week at The Grocery Cart Challenge.

Menu Plan Monday October 5-11

2009-10-07T08:21:00.001-07:00

This week I am trying something new. On Monday's I'll post my menu and then on Tuesday's I'll show you how much I spend at the grocery store. We have decided to budget $120 a week for groceries, but some week's may be a little more and others may be a little less. I have a family of 6 to feed. I think planning is key to making that happen. It seems really hard to eat healthy meals and spend less at the grocery. So, here's my attempt. My kids are home this week on Fall break, so I have to plan more food because they usually eat those meals at school. We also are celebrating my dh's 40th birthday this week.

Dinners

Monday-Spaghetti Casserole, Salad, Low-Fat Bread Machine Italian Bread

Tuesday- Headstart Family Fun Night (I'm bringing Pickles and Chips)

Wednesday- Lentil Tacos, Spanish Rice, Corn

Thursday- Soup beans(made with ham bouillon), Sauerkraut with Lite Hot Dogs, cornbread

Friday- Sloppy Joe Casserole, Corn, fruit

Saturday- Spaghetti and Meatballs, Low-Fat Bread Machine Italian Bread(made into bread sticks), salad, Red Velvet Cake with cream cheese icing, vanilla ice cream (This is the meal my dh picked for his birthday: I might be using my 35 weekly points for this meal)

Sunday- Crispy Chicken Drumsticks, green beans, baked potatoes, rolls

Breakfast

Monday-Eggbeaters Omelet, English Muffin, fruit

Tuesday-Eggbeaters Omelet, English Muffin, fruit

Wednesday-Bagels with light cream cheese, yogurt

Thursday- Heart Smart Waffles, sausage links, (kids will eat with homemade syrup)

Friday-Biscuits and sausage, yogurt (I'm having same as Monday)

Saturday-Heartsmart Pancakes, bacon, (kids and dh will eat with homemade syrup)

Sunday-Cereal, yogurt, fruit

Lunch

Monday-Sandwich on Arnold's Sandwich Thins, fruit

Tuesday-Sandwich on Arnold's Sandwich Thins, fruit

Wednesday- Grilled Cheese, Tomato Soup, fruit

Thursday- Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches (for kids), Sun Chips (For me: Boca Burger on Arnold's Sandwich Bread instead of P&B sandwich, fruit)

Friday-Grilled Cheese, Chicken Noodle Soup, fruit (Weight Watchers Progresso Soup for me instead of Chicken noodle soup)

Saturday-Sandwiches, Sun Chips

Sunday-Leftovers

*I made my dh some homemade bread in the bread maker and he is eating that with some soup this week.

Snacks

Chex Party Mix, String Cheese, Fat Free Rice Krispie Treats, air popped popcorn, granola bars

Come back and see how my shopping went.

Go here to see more plans.

Campfire Night

2009-07-02T05:29:00.001-07:00

One of the things on my kid's list of fun things they wanted to do this summer was to make smores. I thought it would be neat to expand that idea to a campfire night. During a campfire night, we roast winnies, make smores, and just enjoy the fire. You could build a fire at a local park which has the facilities to do that, make a fire in your charcoal grill, or use a fire pit. Fire pits can range from $50-$300, so that might be an expensive purchase if you only bought it for that one time use. It could however be an investment if you planned to do several campfire night or use it when you campout. I was planning on going to a local park, but my son's Cub Scout Pack had a campfire night that we were all invited to and someone brought a fire pit. The kids enjoyed looking for sticks to roast their hot dogs and marshmallows on, but you could also use skewers. Make sure you keep safety in mind during a camp fire night by keeping your children from getting too close to the fire and having a bucket of water near the fire in case of an emergency.
After it gets dark, you can sit around the fire and tell stories. This activity was a lot of fun for my family and cost a lot less than if I would have gotten a camping site. The only money I spent on this activity was on the food and my family would have eaten dinner that night, so this was a pretty frugal activity for us. Here's a list of some items you may need for a Campfire Night.

Things to get for a Campfire Night
Campfire Marshmallows
Hershey’s Chocolate Bars
Graham Crackers
Hotdogs
Hot Dog Buns
Mustard, Ketchup, other condiments
Charcoal, wood, etc (Things to start your fire with)
Cold drinks

I hope you get the chance to have a campfire night with your family this summer.

Pizza and a Movie Night

2009-06-15T15:54:00.001-07:00

My kids love pizza and love to watch movies, so why not do both in one night? This summer my kids made a list of fun things they wanted to do this summer and Pizza and a Movie night was one of those. I really like to do these nights because it's a time for my family to spend together doing something fun. We usually get our movie from the Redbox, which cost $1.00, but we have also gotten movies from the library for FREE. I don't cost the count of the pizza because I make it homemade and we would have had dinner anyways. So, I think this is a pretty frugal summer activity.

Here are the recipes that I used to make our pizza, pizza sauce cheesy breadticks, and Monkey Munch (our movie snack):

Pizza Hut Style Pizza Dough or Cheesy Breadsticks

1 1/3 cups water

2 tsp sugar

1 1/4 tsp salt

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp cornmeal

3 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

1 1/2 tsp yeast
Add ingredients to bread machine, according to manufacturer’s settings, and run dough setting. After the machine beeps, roll out the dough. You can roll the dough into two 9×13″ pizzas (great for kid’s lunches!) or into two medium pizzas or a large pizza and an order of breadsticks (as instructed above). Parbake the crust with a drizzle of olive oil on it at 450 degrees for ten minutes. Remove the crust and add sauce and toppings. If making breadsticks, add your breadsticks at this time. Place into the oven for another ten to fifteen minutes or until golden and bubbly. Enjoy!

You can freeze your pizza dough for an easier night.

Easy Pizza Sauce

2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
2 cloves garlic
3 tablespoons dried parsley flakes
4 teaspoons dried onion flakes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
2 cups water
Combine tomato paste, garlic, parsley flakes, onion, oregano, basil and water in 2 quart saucepan. Cook over medium high heat until mixture boils. Reduce heat to low and simmer 10 minutes. Cool a little and spread on your pizza crust and proceed with remainder of your toppings.

Makes 3 cups

You can freeze this pizza sauce easily.

Monkey Munch

9 cup Chex

1 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup butter

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Put cereal in large bowl. Melt chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour over Chex cereal, put into a large plastic bag with powdered sugar and shake well to coat.Spread mixture evenly on wax paper and allow to cool.

This does not last long at my house!

We will be doing this several more times this summer. I hope you get to plan a Pizza and a Movie night for your family this summer.

Frugal Family Fun-Pine Cone Bird Feeders

2009-06-09T05:42:00.000-07:00

Our family gets together once a week, usually on Monday night and does something fun together. It's a great way to make sure that you take time for your family. So, each week, I'll post something about what we did for fun.

On our summer fun list (that my kids made) they wanted to make pine cone bird feeders. They love the birds and were really excited about this. We have two huge pine trees in our yard and I kept seeing these beautiful pone cones on the ground well we started collecting them and I knew I was going to do something with them. So here's what we did.

Pine Cone Bird Feeders

Materials you will need:

Pine Cones

Peanut Butter

bird seed

string

Directions:

Place string on the end of the pine cone leaving a loop to place the feeder on the tree. Place peanut butter on the pine cone and get into the underneath parts of the pine cone. We made 4 feeders and it took a whole jar of peanut butter. Next, I got a casserole pan and place the bird seed in it and the kids rolled the pine cone in the seed. Then we hung them on a tree.

Cost-

Bird seed- $1.00 (we used half a bag)

String- $1.00 (from Dollar Tree and there is lots left over)

Peanut Butter- FREE (for me but this might cost you a little more.)

Pine Cones- FREE

Results:

So, for under $5.00 we had a really fun family time and also accomplished an activity the kids wanted to do this summer. The kids were really proud of their feeders and can't wait to see the birds eat from them. I am really glad that I waited to do this activity when my husband was home because every kid wanted you to help them. The extra hands came in handy.

So, if you want to have fun this summer with your kids, consider pine cone bird feeders.

New Blog

2009-06-08T14:18:00.000-07:00

I started a new blog on Frugal Family Fun. Go here to see what kind of fun our family is having for free or little money.

Homemade Fabric Softner

2009-06-08T12:22:00.000-07:00

Do you want to save money in the laundry room? Then this article is for you! After making my own laundry detergent, which I love, I knew I needed to make my own fabric softner and went searching for recipes! Many people make their own laundry products to save money and to use more natural products. This recipe calls for vinegar (this is pretty cheap), a bottle of conditioner (I get the 78 cents one or a free one after rebate or ECB from CVS or Rite Aid.), and water. so, this can definately reduce your laundry cost! I found it to be quite easy to make and I stored mine in a gallon milk jug and then pour it into a baby wipes container. I then take an old sock that has lost it's mate forever and dip it in the fabric softner. I squeezed some of the liquid out and then threw the sock in the dryer. I washed sheets first and I found no staining, which is a common question people ask about the homemade fabric softner. My fabric softner made my clothes smell like the conditioner I used. So, if you are wanting to save some money in the laundry room, give this recipe a try!

Homemade Fabric Softner
2 cups hair conditioner [one regular size bottle is almost 2 cups - close enough]

3 cups white vinegar

6 cups water

Mix these together and use as you would store-bought softener.

Note: I stored mine in a gallon milk carton and then pour into a baby wipes container for use.

Frugal Summer Fun for the Family- Redbox Movies

2009-06-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

Are you looking for fun activites for your kids this summer, but you don't have a lot of money to spend on that fun? Well, that's how I felt, so my family made a list of things they wanted to do this summer and most of them were pretty frugal activites. One activity was getting movies from the Redbox using the free movie of the month codes. We actual got to use the first one this week. We had popcorn and sodas, which cost maybe $2.00-$3.00. But all of those things were already in my pantry, so it felt like I did not spend much at all. We enjoyed watching Hotel For Dogs as a family.
Redbox is a great service for families not wanting to spend much money on family fun. You can find Redboxes in many locations. My closest one is in a Walmart, but I also have one near me outside of a MacDonald's. You will need to go to the Redbox website to find where the closest Redbox is to you. Once you find out where your closest Redbox is located go to that place. It will be hard to miss because it is a big red vending machine. You will have to have a credit card to rent a movie. The movies cost $1.00 per night. I think that is pretty frugal family fun. But, wait, on the first Monday of the month throughout this summer, you can go online and get a free movie code, we usually post it on Busy Mommy too. You need to hit the rent with promo code first and then proceed with your order, you will still need to use a credit card. If you want more than one free movie, all you have to do is use a different credit card. As long as you bring the movie back before 8 pm the next evening your credit card will not be charged. Also, if you register your e-mail on the Redbox website, they will give you a free first movie code to use and send you e-mails about upcoming movies. Another feature that I really like about the Redbox service is you can go online and reserve a movie, so when you get to the Redbox the movie will be waiting for you. You can not use movie codes on reserved movies though.
I have been using the Redbox movie service for over a year now and I have been quite happy with it! I did however have a movie that would not play. I e-mailed Redbox about my problem and they sent me a free movie code. So, I also think that they have great customer service !
So, if you are looking for a fun frugal family night this summer check out your local Redbox.

Our Summer Fun List

2009-06-05T07:35:00.000-07:00

Last Friday was my kids last day of school. So, now it's time for me to entertain them all summer until school starts back. But, what can I do that won't put a huge strain on the budget? This year, I decided to get creative after reading an article from Momadvice. I let my kids decide what they wanted to do. I already do a lot of fun frugal activites with them so they had some ideas already in mind. It was interesting to me that they put a lot of those activites and lots more that were very frugal on the list. It was also a fun family time as we sat around talking about what we wanted to do this summer. We posted a list of the activites we want to get done this summer and placed it next to our family message board. We will be marking things off the list as we do them to make the list even more fun. I will also be posting about these activites here as we do them, so stay tuned. Here is my family's list of of the things they want to do this summer to give you an idea of what you can do for a little or no money. I am sure your family will come up with their own great ideas.

Family Summer Fun List 2009

1. Go to Burger King Playland and Eat

2. Go to the Summer Library Programs

3. Make Homemade Slushies

4. Have a Homemade Pizza and Movie Night

5. Make and Play with Homemade Play dough

6. Go get some shaved ice from a local store

7. Spend a night with Granny

8. Go to the Park

9. Make Pine Cone Bird Feeders

10. Have a Family Bake Night

11. Make Smores

12. Go to the Movies

13. Go on a nature hike

14. Go to at least 1 movie night at the park

15. Get a free Redbox movie each month (They have 1 free movie code per month)

16. Go Swimming

17. Have an ice cream sundae night

18. Read a LONG book with mommy

19. Go on a picnic

20. Make homemade ice cream

21. Make homemade bubbles and play with them outside

As you can see most of these are pretty cheap. We do take the kids to the movies in the summer which will be the greatest expense but we do go to the matenee to cut cost. There are lots of free movies during the summer at some locations but we don't live near any of those or we would take advantage of that.

Why don't you make a list with your kids before summer gets started. You may have to give them a few ideas, but it is interesting to see what they will say they want to do.

Hope you have a fun frugal summer!

Free Package of Oscar Meyer Beef Franks

2009-05-20T20:42:00.000-07:00

Get a package of Oscar Meyer Jumbo Beef Franks for free. Just go to this website and enter your email and they will send you the coupon.

Arm and Hammer $10.50 Coupons

2009-05-20T18:45:00.000-07:00

The Arm and Hammer website is offering $10.50 worth of coupons on there products. Go check it out and see if you use any of them.

Easy Pizza Sauce

2009-05-14T07:27:00.000-07:00

Easy Pizza Sauce
2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
2 cloves garlic
3 tablespoons dried parsley flakes
4 teaspoons dried onion flakes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
2 cups water
Combine tomato paste, garlic, parsley flakes, onion, oregano, basil and water in 2 quart saucepan. Cook over medium high heat until mixture boils. Reduce heat to low and simmer 10 minutes. Cool a little and spread on your pizza crust and proceed with remainder of your toppings.
Makes 4 servings
Calories 80 Fat 0.5 Fiber 4.5
~
This was really good on the pizza. I don't know about the serving size, but I can get at least 2 pizzas out of this one batch of sauce and maybe a third one.
~
Note: This pizza sauce freezes really well too.

Easy Pizza Dough

2009-05-14T07:21:00.000-07:00

Cooking from scratch is a great way to save money. Here's a pizza dough recipe that is so easy. I found this recipe on Mom Advice.

Basic Pizza Dough (from"How to Cook Everything,")

1 teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, plus more as needed

2 teaspoons coarse kosher or sea slat, plus extra for sprinkling

1 to 1 1/4 cups water

2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon olive oil

To make this dough in food processor: Combine the yeast, flour, and 2 teaspoons salt in the container of a food processor. Turn the machine on and add 1 cup water and the 2 tablespoons of oil through the feed tube. Process for 30 seconds, adding more water, a little at a time, until the mixture forms a ball and is slightly sticky to the touch. If it is dry, add another tablespoon or two of water and process for another 10 seconds. Turn the dough onto a floured work surface and knead by hand a few seconds to form a smooth, round dough ball. Grease a bowl with the remaining olive oil, and place the dough in it. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp cloth and let it rise in a warm draft-free area until the dough doubles in size, 1 to 2 hours. You can cut this rising time short if you are in a hurry or you can let the dough rise more slowly in the refrigerator for six to eight hours.

To make this dough by hand: Combine half the flour with the salt and yeast and stir to blend. Add 1 cup water and the 2 tablespoons olive oil; stir with a wooden spoon until smooth. Add remaining flour a bit at a time; when the mixture becomes too stiff to stir with a spoon, begin kneading, adding as little flour as possible- just enough to keep the dough from being a sticky mess. Knead until smooth but still quite moist, about ten minutes. Proceed as above.

To make this dough with a standing mixer: The machine must be fairly powerful or it will stall. Combine half the flour with the salt, yeast, 2 tablespoons olive oil, and 1 cup water; blend with the machines paddle. With the machine on slow speed, add flour a little at a time until the mix has become a sticky ball that pulls away from the sides of the bowl (switch to the dough hook if necessary). Knead for a minute by hand, adding as little flour as possible, then proceed as above.

To make this dough with the bread machine: Add ingredients as follows- warm water, olive oil, flour, salt, and then add yeast at the top. Turn machine on and select the dough setting. When the machine beeps, you can roll out the dough onto your pizza stone/pan.

I made this dough in my bread machine. I watched it and it seemed really wet so I added some more flour to it. It was still a little sticky when I took it out of the machine so I added some more flour. This was really good and once I took care of the stickiness, it was easy. I added a sauce, cheese and other toppings and cooked for 15 minutes at 450 degrees. Some people like to pre-bake there crust before putting on toppings and you can do that too.

Mom Advice Experiements- Homemade Laundry Detergent

2009-05-13T05:55:00.000-07:00

Experiment: Can I make a powder laundry detergent that will clean well, not break out my family, and be cheaper?

Experiment Taken From: Notebook 03.08.2007

Materials Needed: (See Instructables for their directions)

1 cup Borax

1 cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda Powder (not baking soda)

1 bar Fels Naptha soap (you can use other soaps like Zote used by instructables, but I could not find that soap, others also use Ivory, Pure & Natural etc)

Food Processor or cheese grater

Use the cheese grater on your food processor and put your soap in to grate. Then take out the grated soap and put in the chopping blade on your food processor add the grated soap and the rest of the ingredients and process until powdery. I like to put a wet dish towel on top of my processor during the chopping stage. Add to container and use 1 tablespoon for small loads and 2 tablespoons for large loads.

Note: You can use a grater instead of a food processor and mix all the ingredients with your hands, but I find that harder to dissolve in the washer if it is not more of a powder like substance.

I put my washing powder in a 5 gallon bucket that I got at Walmart for about $5. I also tied a long string to the bucket with my tablespoon attached, so I would never lose it. (see above picture)

Results: I was worried about whether this powder form would dissolve as I had read others having this problem. I just turned on the hot water and swished the soap around before putting in my clothes and I have not had any problems with my powder soap dissolving. I made 10 batches of the laundry powder to save more time later and it really did not take that long to finish all of the batches. My clothes seem clean. One big difference is that this soap does not make bubbles and people worry that it will not work, but it does work fine. Nobody seemed to break out from the detergent and several in my family have broken out when I have changed detergents. I figured out that this soap cost about 5 cents a load. I was using Sun detergent and it was about 8-10 cents a load depending on where I got it from. So, while the powder detergent does not save as much as the liquid homemade laundry detergent, which is more like 1 cents a load. I am still saving money. Most tide detergents are about 20 cents a load. Personally, I was really happy with the results. I would like to mention that you really do not want to wash your food processor in the dishwasher after you have made your detergent because it will leave a soapy residue on your dishes. Instead hand wash it. Also, I have read a lot of articles saying that this type of detergent is harder on your washing machine. I read that adding some vinegar to your fabric softener dispenser every now and then will help with this problem, so I plan to do that. I also learned that vinegar works really well as a fabric softener, so I may be switching for fabric softener sheets to a homemade fabric softener soon.

Conclusion: This homemade powder laundry detergent is easy to make, if you have a food processor, and cleans well. It also did not break anyone out in my family. So, I think it is a keeper for my house.

For more experiments go to Mom Advice.

Family Easter Picture

2009-04-21T05:19:00.000-07:00

Planning My Menu

2009-04-20T07:02:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite quotes is, "Fail to Pan, Plan to Fail." I really think that is true in so many things in life. It also fits really well in trying to save money at the grocery store. If you take some time to plan, you can save money at the grocery store. If you have a guide for what you are going to eat, then you will be more likely to be successful in saving money at the grocery store. That's where menu planning can help you. I like to plan my menu's for 1 week at a time, but I know others who like to plan a month in advance, so do what ever works for you and your family best.

Here are some steps I follow when planning my menu.

1. Take an invetory of existing foods- This is really important because sometimes I get really good deals and already have items on hand. Some people call this pantry shopping. I like to know at all times exactly what I have in my pantry so I keep a list on the fridge and add and take away. This prevents me from having to go digging in my cabnits and deep freezer. I also like to double my recipes as I cook and so I keep a list of the extra freezer meals I have on hand and I make note if I want to use some of those that week.

2. Check and compare sale ads and coupons- This can seem time consuming, but it helps me save the most money. I also know that Walmart price matches so sometimes this helps me not have to go to several stores. I also like to match coupons to get the best deals. I will stockpile items that I plan to use later, if I find a really good deal. I also like to make note of recipes that work best with the items that are on sale that week.

3. Decide on your meals for the week- You can find lots of menu planning worksheets online, but I just use paper and pecil for mine and then type it on the computer. I have a notebook that I use for meal planning. It is a three ring binder and I use the following tabs: Chicken, Beef, Pork, Fish, Desserts, Breakfast, Beverages, Soups, Salads, Muffins. I keep my recipes behind the tabs and then I can just go looking for recipes that match what I need. For example, if chicken is on sale, I go looking in the chicken tab for a chicken recipe my family likes. I also have a tab for untried recipe that I want to try. I try to make at least one new recipe a week. The very first tab is where I put my menu plans. I like to keep old ones just to see what we ate later, it helps me make new menus. This took a little while to make, but now that it is made, it saves me so much time! I put my recipes in plastic sleeves so that they are protected and I can feel save to use them as I cook.

4. Make a grocery list- After I have my recipes, I make a list of the things I need to make each recipe and then I go pantry shopping and mark those items off of the list since I have those on hand.

5. Match coupons - I like to make sure I have all my coupons ready that I plan to use before going to the store. Get those ready and have those ready with your list so you can go shopping.

6. Go Shopping- If I plan my menus, I am so much more likely to not have to go back during the week and this not only saves me money, but time.
~
That is pretty much what I do as I plan my meals. I hope you will take some time to plan your meals, it really does save money and time.

Here's my dinner menu for this week:
Dinners
Monday- Corndog Casserole, salad
Tuesday- Crockpot Taco Junk, tortilla chips, salad
Wednesday- Crockpot Brown Sugar Chili (I'll make a double batch to freeze for another meal), Cornbread
Thursday- Spaghetti Casserole, garlic toast, salad
Friday- General Tso's Chicken, Baked Egg Rolls
Saturday- Eat out for my birthday!!!
Sunday- Homemade Pizza, here's the dough I use

My Walmart Shopping Trip 12/6

2008-12-08T03:43:00.001-08:00

Here's what I bought this week at Walmart, I was quite please with my deals!

Remember check out the Walmart corporate coupon policy. It may be a good idea to print this off so you can show it to your cashier if you have problems getting them to accept your coupons.
Also, remember these are the prices I found in my area, Walmart does not have the same pricing nationwide, but the price should be similar.

~
8 Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers Mixed Vegetables, $1.00 each
Used 6 $1/1 Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers Frozen Vegetables, exp. 11-29-08
Used 2 $0.60/1 printable
Final Price 6 were FREE, 2 were $0.40.
~
2 Toaster Strudels $1.88 each
Used 2 $1.00/1 printables
Final Price $0.88 each
~
7 Quaker Weight Control Instant Oatmeals $2.78 each (on roll-back)
Used 7 $1.00/1 printables
Final Price $1.78 for each
~
3 Johnson and Johnson Trial Size First Aid Kits- $0.97 each
Used 1 $3.00/2 printables
Final Price Free after coupon and $0.09 overage (Was able to get 3 with coupon)
~
4 Baking Soda $0.38 each
Used 2 $1.00/2 Printables
Final Price Free and $0.48 overage
~
2 Chex Mix Turtle Bars $2.48 each
Used 2 $1.00/1 printables
Final Price $1.48 each
~
2 Bar S Hot Dogs $0.88 each
Used 2 $0.25 off printables
Final Price $0.63 each
~
1 Progresso Soup $1.50
Used 1 $1.10 off printable
Final Price $0.40
~
2 Betty Crocker Cookie Pouches 2/$3.00
Used 2 $0.75/1 printable
Final Price $0.75 each
~
1 Egg Beaters Original $2.56
Used 1 $1.00/1 printable
Final Price $1.56
~
6 Buddies Soaps $0.97 each
Used 2 $3.00/2 printables
Final Price Free and $0.18 overage
~
2 Tide Trial size Detergents $0.97 each
Used 2 $1/1 Tide, any size, exp. 12-31-08 (P&G 11/30/08)
Final Price Free and $0.06 overage
~
Disney Wall-E DVD $19.98
Used 1 $3.00/1 printable
Final Price $16.98
~
4 2 packs AA Rayovac Batteries $0.94
Used 2 $1/2 Rayovac Alkaline or Hearing Aid Batteries, exp. 2-28-09 (SS 11/23/08)
Final Price $1.76 for 4 packs

Total Final Price Before Tax and Coupons: $80.93
Total Final Price Before Tax and after Coupons: $40.23
That's just about half off the orginal price!!!!

Walmart Price Matching

2008-12-08T03:35:00.001-08:00

This year my little 3, almost 4, year old is into Dora Saves the Snow Princess stuff. So, on the top of her list is Fisher-Price Dora's Prance & Fly Pegasus. I went looking and everywhere I looked it was around $44. I really did not want to pay that much for a doll and horse, so I went searching for a better deal. As I looked at my Black Friday ads, I spotted the Kmart ad for the week after Black Friday, the doll and horse was in there for $29.99. I decided I had to get it since the price was so good! I had a lot going on at church on the Sunday which the sale started and I was already at Walmart so I decided to go price match. Walmart will match any advertised price for a store close to them. They will not match Buy one Get one Free deals or percentages off. It has to have a price listed. My Walmart has always matched CVS
and Rite Aid but I have heard some reports that they will not match a price that you need a discount store card to get the price. All you have to do is take the sale ad with you and show it to them. I have had them question a price before but never reject me because I know the price matching policy. Walmart will not price match any online store even there own, it must be a sale ad. So, as I went to price match I could find no Fisher-Price Dora's Prance & Fly Pegasus, so I asked someone stocking the toy shelves. He said they had two left in the back and went and got me one. The Kmart ad did not start until the next day, but they still price matched for me. This saved me time from going to the store the next day and I was already shopping at Walmart. Another thing I like to do is price match stores that do not take Internet coupons. Walmart will price match an item and take these coupons making my deal even better. So, if you need to save time running around to all the stores you might consider price matching at Walmart. as you do your regular shopping there. I know one little girl who is going to be so happy I did!

Making my own Maple Syrup

2008-12-03T04:08:00.000-08:00

With a family of 6, I am always looking for ideas to save money on my grocery bill. A few months ago, I found this recipe online for homemade pancake syrup and thought, I just have to try that! I ran out the other day and remembered that recipe and decided to give it a try. All I did was fill the old pancake syrup bottle up. Nobody even noticed. It is a super easy recipe to make and I had all of the ingredients on hand! Here is the recipe. Enjoy!

Homemade Maple Syrup

4 cups white sugar

½ cup brown sugar

2 cups water

2 teaspoons maple flavoring (or vanilla)

Mix the water and sugars in a pot and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the flavoring. Cool and pour into container. You do not need to refrigerate the syrup.

Stockpile Basic Baking Items Now!

2008-12-01T04:57:00.000-08:00

Stockpiling is a great way to save money on your food budget. Basically, stockpiling means finding an item at the rock bottom price and buying up that item to store for later use. If you can find a coupon to use with this rock bottom price it makes it an even sweeter deal. You will also have the item on hand when the price goes up and you can choose not to buy it until it goes down again because you have the item you need on hand. Right now is the perfect time to stockpile on basic baking items. At this time of year, merchants are fighting for your holiday food dollars. During the holidays, baking ingredients are a loss leader. This means they are willing to take a loss on those items in the hope that we will get in the store to buy the other full priced items. Another great thing about this time of year is that manufacturers have lots of holiday coupons to use with these rock bottom prices, which makes stockpiling even easier. See Holiday Coupons and Holiday Coupons from Nestle Busy Mommy articles to start matching some coupons with your store sales. Here are a few baking items that you can store and some tips on each. We use many of these items through out the year, so why not buy them when they are cheap!

All Purpose Flour- Store this in a tightly sealed container. Shelf life is 8 months in the pantry, 1 year in the refrigerator, and several years in the freezer.

Self Rising Flour- Shelf life is only 6 months.

Whole Wheat Flour- Stored in the freezer it is good for 6 months, shelf life at room temperature is only a couple of months.

Granulated Sugar- Stored properly in a tight container, it will last for years.

Confectioner's Sugar- Best to store in original box, it last for years.

Brown Sugar, light or dark- Best to use within 6 months of buying, do not store in the refrigerator. If you are going to keep it a long time, you can freeze it.

Baking Soda- Once opened, it has a shelf life of 6 months.

Baking Powder- Once opened shelf life in pantry is six months, store in freezer and it is good indefinitely. You can check to see if your baking powder is still active by stirring one teaspoon into 1/3 cup of warm water. If it still fizzes, it’s okay.

Yeast- Store unopened yeast in a cool, dry place, such as a pantry or refrigerator. Use within three to four months. Freezing yeast is not recommended because it kills the yeast cells.

Marshmallows- They’ll stay moist if stored frozen in a tightly sealed bag. They’re easier to slice with scissors when frozen.

Vanilla- Last indefinitely on the shelf because of the high alcohol content.

Chocolate Chips- Store tightly wrapped for six months.

Unsweetened cocoa powder- Store it in a tightly sealed container for up to two years.

The Christmas Box Gift Deal

2008-11-28T05:46:00.000-08:00

Not only do I love seeking out coupons and deals but I also love to read a good book. Do you have any readers on your shopping list? This may be the perfect idea for them. For only $15 (the cost of shipping) you can order 25 COPIES of the heartwarming holiday book “The Christmas Box” by Richard Paul Evans. This New York Times best seller would make the perfect gift for neighbors, coworkers, teachers, friends, and family. I loved this book! It has such a great message. When you order 3 or more (25 bundles), you'll receive a FREE copy of Paul Cardall's The Christmas Box music CD. So if you want a great Christmas gift deal go here for more information. But hurry – this offer is only good through December 1st!

Friday Freebies

2008-11-28T05:43:00.000-08:00

Here are your Friday Freebies for FREE stuff on the web. Have a GREAT weekend!

Free Jiffy Recipe Book

1 year subscrition to Self Magazine

Lipstock Chapstock Sample

Free Roll-up Sample when you sign-up for Box Tops For Education

Schick Quattro Razor

Free subscription to Remedy Life Magazine

Walmart Freebies-Check out what's new, lots of samples!

Airborne Original Zesty Orange

Sun Crystals Natural Sweetner

Hairband from Crest (for current and new Vocalpoint members) It's easy to sign-up!

Robb Report Magazine (1 free issue from StartSampling)

Oprah is offering a free download of Holiday Hits 2008 CD for a limited time (48 hours from posting).

$1.50 Pampers Coupon

Free Download of Rachael Yamagata - Sidedish Friend go here. There is a new song each week!

Aquaphor Ointment

If you have any great freebies on the web please let us know! Leave a comment to this post to share other freebies.

Free Santa Video

2008-11-28T05:39:00.001-08:00

Would you like to get a FREE video from Santa for your child to see who made Santa's list? You can as a reward from Disney Family. Here are the steps for getting this freebie.

1. Register here for free with Disney Family.

2. Login here to create your video.

3. Upload a picture of your child. It cannot be over 1MG.

4. Copy your URL into your browser and play it for your child. You can also mail to family and friends.

Pilsbury Crescent Roll Coupon and a Recipe!

2008-11-24T08:15:00.000-08:00

I love Pillsbury Crescent Rolls and they even have them in reduced fat! Here is a new $1.00 coupon. Since it is Thanksgiving time, I have found these on sale in a lot of stores. Add a coupon to that sale and you have a better deal! You could have these with your Thanksgiving Dinner or you could try this yummy recipe!

CHICKEN BASEBALLS
3 oz. fat free cream cheese, softened
2 tsp light margarine, melted
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
one half chopped onion
2 cups cubed, cooked chicken
1 8oz can reduced fat crescent rolls
2 Tbsp skim milk
In a blender (or by hand) combine cream cheese, butter, salt, pepper, milk, onion. Blend. Pour mixture over chicken and stir. Separate crescent roll dough into four rectangles and seal perforations. Spoon 1/2 cup mixture into center of each. Pull opposite corners of dough to center and seal. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Serves 4

Calories: 235.5
Total Fat: 10.2 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.3 g

My Comfort Breakfast and a Coupon!

2008-11-24T04:59:00.000-08:00

This is the breakfast I have been enjoying on these cold winter mornings. It just makes me all warm inside so I call it my comfort breakfast. Quaker Weight Control Banana Bread and Cinnamon Instant oatmeal are a great addition to my Weight Watchers plan. Here's what I do:

Banana Bread Oatmeal

I make 1 package as directed on the box and then I add a packet of Splenda and I cut up a banana and stir it in. So easy and yummy!!!

5 Weight Watcher Points

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal

I make 1 package as directed on the box and then I add a packet of Splenda and I add several dashes of cinnamon and then add 1/2 cup applesauce and stir. So easy and yummy!

4 Weight Watcher Points

You can also get your $1.00 off any one box Quaker Oatmeal to save you some money!

To read more about my Weight Loss Journey go visit my other blog, Honey I Shrank Myself!

Kellogg's Coupon

2008-11-19T12:44:00.001-08:00

Are you trying to cut back your food budget? Did you know that most Kellogg's cereals are less than 50 cents per serving, including milk? Kelloggs wants to give you your first 2 bowls free with this $1.00 off coupon. I have seen lots of store deals with Kellogg cereals lately. I got some Corn Pops at CVS last week for $1.00 a box after my $1.00 off coupons.

Kung Fu Panda/Conagra Foods Rebate

2008-11-19T06:22:00.000-08:00

My kids are getting the Kung Fu Panda movie for Christmas. In last Sunday's newspaper, there was some rebate information for that movie that said the rebate form could be found here. You buy the movie and send in the proof of purchase tab and then your receipt from 5 of the following products :Act II Microwave popcorn, Chef Boyardee canned products, Chef Boyardee Pizza Kit, Hunt's Ketchup, Peter Pan Peanut Butter, or Snack Pack Pudding. Then they send you $3.00 back! There are so many coupons out for those products right now and I am already buying the movie so this is an easy rebate for me!

New Right at Home Coupons

2008-11-19T02:18:00.000-08:00

Make your house smell great this holiday season with a Glade Candle! I love the holiday scented ones. Right now, there are some new Glade Coupons at Right @ Home.

*$1.00 off any Glade 4 oz Jar Candle or 2 in 1 Candles
*Buy 2 Get 1 Free Glade Scented Oil Refill Packs
*Buy 1Get 1 Free Glade Plugins Scented Oil Refills

Go here to get your coupons!

There is also a deal at CVS this week , the candles are 2/$5 and when you buy $10 worth of Glade Products you get $5.00 ECB. These coupons would work great for that deal!

Lorie's Frugal Ideas Notebook 11/18

2008-11-18T06:59:00.000-08:00

My Frugal Idea Notebook is where I store all the ideas I get from other blogs on the web to help me stay frugal. This week I am focusing on Cheap Christmas Gift Ideas and I found some really neat ones on the topic!

1. $5 Cake Mix Basket from The Grocery Cart Challenge (I want to make a few of these!)

2. Last Minute Gift Cards from Buzzings of a Queen Bee (I'm always needing a quick card too!)

3. A Romantic Frugal Gift from Betty Beguiles (I want to do this with my husband!)

4. Gifts your kids can make from One Krusty Mama (My kids would love to make these!)

5. Homemade Sugar Scrubs from Thrifty Jinxy (I know a lot of women who would love this!)

6. No Sew Fleece Blankets from Mom on the Go (Cheap if you have some extra fabric on hand.)

7. Giving to Charity from "Cents"able Mamma (I like to give during the holidays, here's a way that won't cost much.)

8. Using Bowls as Gift Baskets from Wildwood Mama (I have seen these on clearance and never thought about that use!)

9. Cheap Family Christmas Gifts from Curves with Attitude (I love this idea of involving your whole family!)

10. Leaf Candle from Generation Cedar (This looks like a fun project!)

11. Free Stocking Stuffers from Are We There Yet?

12. Christmas Gift Basket Ideas from Frugal Ideas From the Parsonage (This is alot like what I am doing this year!)

CVS Buys Nov 17

2008-11-17T10:05:00.001-08:00

Here’s what I bought: (More stuff for family Christmas Gift Baskets)
Transaction 1:
4 Glade Glass Scents @ $2.50 each
Coupons:
2/ Buy1 Get 1 Free Glade Glass Scents(from Sunday inserts)
Total with tax: $5.60
ECB earned: $5.00 (Buy $10 Glade products get $5 ECB)

Transaction 2:
4 Glade Candle Jars $2.50 each
Coupons:
$1.50 off 2 Glade Candle Jars(from Sunday insert)
$5.00 ECB (from Transaction #1)
Total with tax: $2.30
ECB earned: $5.00 (Buy $10 Glade products get $5 ECB)

Free Kozy Shack Ready Grain Cereal

2008-11-17T03:31:00.000-08:00

Sometimes these deals go fast, so you better hurry! Get a free 7 oz. twin pack of Kozy Shack Ready Grain Cereal coupon by going here. You can also get a $1 off coupon for Kozy Shack No Sugar Added pudding treats at Cool Savings. It's easy to create an account there and they have some great coupons!

New Busy Mommy Frugal Writer

2008-11-16T13:10:00.000-08:00

I am now the Frugal writer for Busy Mommy.I love this website! If you are mom you should go check it out. There is a wealth of information on there!

December All You Magazine Coupons

2008-11-16T13:04:00.000-08:00

I went to Walmart this weekend and got the new All You magazine. I love this magazine to read but it always has some great coupons in it! Here are the coupons from the new December Magazine valued at $33.15! The magazine is only at Walmart by the checkouts and is only $2.49. Here are the coupons in the new December magazine. Click the image below to view coupon list.

Rite Aid Buys 11/16

2008-11-16T12:31:00.000-08:00

Here's what I got at Rite Aid Today:
2 Venus Embrace Razors on sale for $8.99 each (for family gift baskets)
George Forman Grill on sale for $24.99 ( $20.00 gift for dh's work exchange)
2 Pampers Wipes on sale 2/$5
St. Ives Apricot Scrub on sale $4.99(for family gift baskets)
Total with tax: $56.14

Coupons Used
2/ $4.00 off Venus Embrace Razors (from Vocalpoint)
2/ .50 cents off Pampers wipes coupons(from Sunday Insert)
Total Coupon Savings: $9.00

Rebates
$5.00 George Forman Grill
$1.00 on 2 Pampers wipes
$4.99 St Ives Apricot Scrub
Total Rebates: $10.99

Total after coupons and Rebates: $36.15

Rite Aid is also offering The Gift of Savings. Get back up to $20 of what you spend. This order will get me back $5.00

So it's like I spent $31.15

Note: When I got home the Razor was missing from one of my packages. I took it back but they did not have any for the coupon I had so they gave me another one that was also on sale, but I plan to take it back on Friday when they get a truck in and get the one I really wanted.

Homemade Simple Coupon Booklet

2008-11-16T10:35:00.001-08:00

The Home Made Simple coupon booklet is back! There is usually a coupon for a free item in the book. They say you will receive it in 6-8 weeks. These are always great so make sure you order yours today!

Saving Money During the Holidays-Gifts

2008-11-16T10:17:00.000-08:00

Christmas is a time that most people spend a lot of money or go into debt. Does it really have to be that way? I think we can have a really fun and relaxed holiday without spending a lot of money. Gifts is one area that we can really save money on. An expensive gift does not always mean the best gift. Some frugal things can be even more meaningful than an expensive gift. Here are some frugal gift ideas:

Frugal Christmas Gifts

-Baked goods wrapped nicely make a nice gift.

-Have the kids make something or use the holiday crafts they make at school. Family Fun magazine has some really neat ideas for kid's crafts.

-Write a poem or a special story for someone.

-Give coupons to redeem service, like washing the car, watching kids, etc. Here are some downloadable ones.

-Gifts in a Jar, such as soups, hot cocoa, cider. Here are some recipes and here are some more.

-Used Books

-Homemade Jams and Jelly, here is my favorite

-Framed school pictures, grandparents love these! You can find frames at dollar stores for real cheap!

-Collect samples from companies online throughout the year, Walmart is a great place to start, and put them in a gift basket decorated nicely. Teens love this!

-Make a recipe book with your most loved recipes to pass down to your family.

-Make a family ornament with a picture and the date included on it.

Sunday Paper Coupons 11/16

2008-11-16T10:10:00.000-08:00

There seem to be some great coupons in the Sunday paper this week, $128 worth. Many of them are for food for your holiday entertaining. You may just want to buy more than one. To get a preview of the coupons before you decide how many to buy head over to the Taylortown Coupon Preview.

Here are some ideas for using those coupons:

Smart Source Insert

-Progresso Broth save $1.00/1. These are $1.98 for the 32 oz at Walmart making them .98 cents after coupon!

- Fiber One Toaster Pastries save 70 cents off one. These are $1.98 at Walmart making them $1.28 after coupon!

-Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers save $1.00/1. Some of these are rolled back to $1.00 making these FREE after coupon!

-Huggies diapers $1.00/1. You can always use diaper coupons if you use them to make a great deal!

-$3 Rebate from buying the Kung Fu Panda and 5 participating food products. Expires 2/28/09.

-Krogers Grocery stores are having Mega Sales and many of these coupons will work for this sale.

Walmart School Clearance

2008-11-05T06:14:00.001-08:00

Walmart Deals for the Day!

5 Pentel RSVP 2 pack Red ink Pens- .10 cents each= .50 cents

1 PapermatePink Pearl 2 pack Eraser- .10 cents

Total Paid-.60 cents

I'll be using the pens for for DH and my Mothers' Christmas Baskets!

CVS Nov 2-8

2008-11-05T06:03:00.000-08:00

I have been just rolling ECB on diapers for about a month now!

2 Jumbo Pampers Diapers $10 each

Coupons Used- 2/$1.50 off

Total After Coupons:$17.00

ECB Used: $10.00 from last weeks Huggies deal

Total after coupons and ECB: $7.00 OOP

ECB Earned: $5.00

So it's like I paid $2.00 for 2 packs of Pampers Jumbo Pack Diapers!

Menu Plan Monday November 3rd-9th

2008-11-03T04:32:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been awhile since I have planned my menu for the week. I know that planning is so important and could be one of the reasons I have not been doing as well lately! So, here I am back in full force to get back on the menu planning wagon! Fall is here so that means lots of great soups for me! Comfort food!

Breakfast

Oatmeal, fruit, hot herbal tea (3 days)

Low fat waffles and fruit, hot herbal tea (2 days)

Omelets, fruit, hot herbal tea

Scrambled Eggs, hot herbal tea

Lunches

Refried Bean Soup (2 days)

Cheesy Vegetable Soup (2 days)

Leftovers
Tuna Salad with fruit
sandwich, fruit
Dinners
Doritos Casserole, salad
Crockpot Potato Soup, Jiffy Cornbread
Easy 1 pt Chili, Cornbread
Pizza, salad
Scrambled eggs, sausage links, biscuits
Chicken Corn Chowder, garlic toast
Spaghetti Casserole Bake, salad
Desserts/Snacks
Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies (I'm making Chips Ahoy Dessert with them!)
Wendy's No Bake Peanut Butter Bars
Chex Party Mix
Fat Free Rice Krispie Treats
98% Fat Free Microwave Popcorn

Go here to see more plans.

IGA Sale October 29- November 4

2008-10-31T05:40:00.000-07:00

Here's some deals at IGA this week for these stores in Kentucky: Paintsville, Stanville, Valley, Casey's, Happy, Jenkins, McDowell, Hyden, and Jackson.

General Mills Cereals 2/$5

IGA Chicken Noodle or Tomato Soups 4/$2

IGA Canned Corn, Green Beans, Peas, Cream Style Corn or French Style Green Beans $.39 each

8 lb bag Russet Potatoes 2/$5

3 lb bag selected varieties Midwestern Apples 2/$4

Duncan Hines Cake Mix 4/$5

Jolly Time Popcorn 3 count bags 3/$5

I did not have a lot of coupon matches this week, but there is a fall coupon book in stores with lots of great deals.

Rite Aid Purchases for Oct 26-Nov 1

2008-10-27T14:16:00.000-07:00

Rebates are a little easier for me after I got 2 Rebate checks, now I am just rolling rebate money! I plan to use some of these items for Christmas! It is so nice to let someone else GIVE you Christmas gifts to give away!!! There was lots of free after rebate items this week! Here's what I got this week:

2 Suave Lotion $1.99 each (I got 25% more bottles!)
1 AxeShock Shower Gel $3.99
1 Adidas Body Wash $3.00
1 Oral B Artica Toothbrush $2.49
1 Kotex Maxi Pads $3.00
Total: $18.50 with tax
Coupons used:
$1.00 off Kotex pads (Sunday paper insert)
$1.00 off Adidas product
2/$1.00 off Suave Lotion (Nov All You Mag)
-$4.00 in coupons
Rebates:
$2.49 toothbrush
$3.00 Kotex pads
$3.99 AXE Shock Shower Gel
$3.00 Adidas Body Wash
Amount Due Back: $12.48

Total Out of Pocket: $2.02!! I only paid $.50 each for the Suave Lotions and tax and the rest were all FREE!

There was also a Suave Lotion rebate of $2.00 in the new rebate book, but it was not listed in the sales ad so I do not know it I can get this rebate or not until I see it it entered.

Update I had to call about the Suave Rebate because it did not show up and they did add it. So, I only paid .02 cents because of overage with my coupons.

2008-10-24T05:08:00.000-07:00

Get a free sample of Colgate Total Advanced Whitening Toothpaste here! Get your $1.50 off coupon here!

Holiday Baking Coupons from Nestle!

2008-10-17T06:12:00.000-07:00

Most people will be doing a lot of baking for the holidays over the next two months. Here are some great coupons to help you save money this season from Nestle.
$.75/2 chocolate chips
$1.50/2 refrigerated cookie dough
$1/2 Carnation evaporated milk
$1/2 Libby's pure pumpkin
Thanks to Common"cents"ical for this link!

Saving Money Shopping Drug Stores

2008-10-17T05:52:00.000-07:00

When I started trying to save money, I saw lots of people claiming to get FREE stuff from drugstores like CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreens. I decided to play the game and I have also gotten free stuff, made money, or just really good deals. This is a great way to get a stockpile going on things you use regularly. Here are some of the stores I shop and how they work.
~
Rite Aid is a store I shop at every week. They have Single Check Rebates (SCR). Basically, you buy the products that have rebates all month and then you either send all of them in online at their website or you mail them in using the form in the monthly SCR booklet. Once you send it in for a check you can’t add anything to it, so you have to make sure you have bought everything you want before sending it in for a rebate. The good thing about Rite Aid is that they will put these products on sale so you will save even more money. Lots of times, I will pair a coupon with a product on sale and SCR. This sometimes makes the product free or I sometimes even make money on it. It took me about 3 months of spending before I was able to “roll” my SCR money. When I first started out, I just bought the free after rebate or free after rebate and a coupon and then when I got that check, that money stays on my Rite Aid Card that I only use for buying stuff that has a rebate, hence I am “rolling” my SCR monies. Now each week I have the money on there to buy the free after rebate stuff and it is not coming out of my pocket. Rite Aid is also offering a $3o gift card when you transfer a prescription so you could start out using this money. You can do this deal up to 5 times. Another important thing to note about Rite Aid is they do not take Internet printable coupons. Rite Aid does have coupons that you can pair with manufacturer coupons which could make an even better deal. I made $5.00 on 4 large tubes of toothpaste that were on sale and had a rebate doing this last month. This week Rite Aid is offering lots of Free after rebate deals on medicines, so be sure to check out the ad. So, as you can see you can save and sometimes even make money with Rite Aid and get lots of great stuff for your stockpile.
~
Another place I like to shop at is CVS Pharmacy. I also saw lots of people getting “free” stuff here too and wanted to try it out for myself. CVS has what they call Extra Care Bucks often referred to as ECB’s, where they give you “money” back when you buy certain products. They will place these ECB products on sale to make it an even better deal. I like to use a coupon with these deals to get an even better deal or sometimes a free product. Most months they will also offer free after rebate stuff too. Make sure you check the ECB monthly booklet to see how many times you can get an ECB on a product. In order to get any of the sale prices or ECB’s, you must either register online or at the store to get an ECB Store Card. If you register at the store you can use your card right away, if you register online you will have to wait several weeks. The ECB’s print right out on your receipt and it keeps a running total as to how many ECB deals you have used and how many times you can do them again. I started out slow in the first month that I bought things and usually only got the free after ECB products. I could then roll that money over onto more deals which is how you continue to keep your out of pocket expenses low. It takes awhile to get the hang of this and sometimes you will have to do more than one transaction to keep your out of pocket expense low. CVS is also a great way to get a stockpile going of things you use a lot. This week at CVS, I got two 10 oz tubes of Colgate Total Advance toothpaste. I did them in two separate orders. I used $1.50/1 coupon from the September All You Magazine and my first order total was about $2.00 and something and then got a $2.00 ECB back which printed on my receipt. I then paid for the second tube with the coupon and ECB paying cents for the second tube and got another $2.00 ECB back to roll on a deal next week. I only paid the tax for both of these orders after ECB.
So as you can see there are a lot of deals and freebies at drug stores. I will be matching coupons and listing some of the deals you can make to help you get free products at these two stores since those are the ones I have available to use.

Cereal Coupons

2008-10-10T07:46:00.000-07:00

Want to save on General Mills cereals?

I found Cocoa Puffs, Trix, and Golden Grahams for $2.00 a box at Save-A-Lot stores and Walmart had them for $1.78.

Note: Check your Walmart for price because not all Walmarts have the same rollbacks.

Here are some coupon matches:

$1.00 off two BG Cereals Final Cost $1.28 per box at Walmart

$.55 cents off one box of Trix Final Cost $1.23 per box at Walmart

$1.00 off three General Mills Cereals from a recent Sunday paper insert, you'd have to use this one at Save-A-Lot since they do not take internet coupons. Final cost $1.66 per box

Some Contest that might interest you...

2008-10-10T07:34:00.000-07:00

Frugal Finds is giving away a great Yoplait prize pack to three lucky winners!
Here is a printable coupon for some Yoplait.... Print Your Coupon.

Frugal RI Mom has a $10 CVS gift card to give to one winner. I love making $10 roll at CVS!

$5 Dinners has a Prego dinner value pack to giveaway. With the cooler days ahead, this would be perfect!

So, go visit some of these blogs, you could win something nice!

New Progresso Light Coupons

2008-10-03T05:16:00.001-07:00

I recently tried the New Progresso Light 1 Weight Watcher point per serving soups. I never really cared very much for the Progresso 0 Weight Watcher point soups, but these are so much better. I tried the Beef Pot Roast last night and it is so good!! You can get $.50 off and try one of these new soups here! You won't be sorry. They are so good! Remember to hit the back button a couple of times to get two coupons!
Friendly reminder- Check your points if you eat the whole can. 1 + 1 does not always equal 2 in WW world!

Kmart Double Coupon Days

2008-10-02T17:22:00.000-07:00

Well my Kmart was not one of the double coupon sites, but people online were talking about calling customer service and they said if you copied the ad from the web and took it in they would have to honor it and double your coupon up to and including $2.00! So, I called customer service and my Kmart and it all worked out. I got 3 packs of diapers in the back there. The stuff rang up $180 some dollars and my final cost after coupons was $61! I am stocked up for awhile now on shampoo and cleaning supplies! I also got the Ziplock sealer. It was $3.99 and I had a $2.00 off coupon so after doubling, I got it for tax only!

CVS Run

2008-09-24T12:14:00.000-07:00

Today I went to CVS to get some more Diet Dr. Pepper. I had a $3 ECB from the begining of the week when I got 4 cases for $11 with a $3 ECB, so I wanted to get some more. I bought it and did not know that you could get another $3 ECB with purchase, but I got another one. I also picked up some clearance stuff. Here's what I got:

Order 1:

4 Diet Dr Pepper Caffine Free- $2.75 each

4 flexible straws- clearance to $.25 each

4 boxes freezer zip lock baggies clearance to $.25 each

Electric Razor (gift for DH for his birthday) $2.50

Total: $16.25 with tax

used $3 ECB

Total OOP of $13.25 and $3 ECB's to use

Order #2

4 Halloween Boxes of Fruit by the Roll $2.75 each (Bought these for Trunk of Treat at Church)

1 CVS Tote Bag $.99

Total: $11.99

Used two $.50/2 coupon from insert

Used $3 ECB

Total OOP: $7.99

CVS Clearance Deals

2008-09-24T04:26:00.000-07:00

Last week I went to CVS. I wanted to get some Fiber One bars because all Walmart has had for weeks is the Strawberry and oats flavor. So, I found some fiber one bars in the clearance bins because it had September 19 on it. It said $2.00 on the front. I took it because they are $2.50 at Walmart and I had a $.60 off coupon. I also picked up a lot of bags of clearance marshmallows. When I got to the register, the manager told me that the Fiber one bars were suppose to be $1.00 so I got them for $.40 after my coupon! What a steal! I have lots of campfire marshmallows to make rice krispy treats too!

Fiber One Samples and Coupons

2008-09-24T04:23:00.000-07:00

Want some free Fiber One cereal and a Fiber One bar? Go here to sign up to get those samples and a coupon booklet for $3 off Fiber One products.

Want a Smart Ones Coupon?

2008-09-22T08:09:00.000-07:00

Lots of people seemed interested in the Weight Watchers coupons that I had in my last contest. Now you can get your own coupon for $1 off any Weight Watchers Smart Ones product here.

Also, you should check out the new incrEdible rewards program. All you do is buy Weight Watchers products and save your UPC's and then mail them in for points for lots of great prizes including the All You magazine! Go check it out! When I registered, it did not ask me if I was a member, so I guess anyone could sign up.

Weight Watchers Coupon Winner

2008-09-18T19:36:00.000-07:00

The winner of the Weight Watchers coupons is Jenn at The Coupon Coup. I really like her blog, you should check it out! Congratulations! You have 24 hours to e-mail me your address and I will send it on!

Weight Watchers Coupon Giveaway!

2008-09-10T20:59:00.000-07:00

****Note: Since I have enough people now, this contest will be closed. I will pick a winner later today! Thanks to all who entered!****

As some of you who read my other blog, Honey I Shrank Myself! , know, I am trying to lose 100 pounds this year! I have lost 72 pounds to date, since January of this year, doing the Weight Watchers program. It is the only thing that has EVER worked for me. To see my progress pictures go here. Anyways ,Weight Watchers is doing a new program called Lose For Good. For every pound I lose from Sept 7th thru October 18th, Weight Watchers will donate a pound of food up to 1 million dollars to Action Against Hunger and Share Our Strenghth, No Kid Hungry. I hope to lose some weight so that I lose for the good of me and for the good of others. In honor of my 72 pound lose, the opening of this blog, and the Lose for good program, I am having a Weight Watcher giveaway! I love Weight Watcher products, but I will not buy them unless I have a coupon. So, one lucky winner will win the following coupons!

Weight Watcher Coupon Giveaway!
3- $0.75 cent off any 2 WW cheese or cream cheese products ex:9/30/08
1- $1.50 off any 3 WW cheese or cream cheese products ex:11/30/08
2- $0.55 cents any 5 WW 6 oz yogurt cups ex: 10/31/08
1- $0.55 cents off 1 WW Frozen Novelty ex: 10/31/08
2- Buy 2 Get 1 Free WW Whitman's bagged candies ex: 12/31/08
2-$0.55 cents off WW Whitman's Bagged Candies ex: 9/30/08
2- $0.50 cents off 4 WW Smart Ones Frozen Entrees and desserts ex: 12/31/08
2- $0.50 cents off 1 WW Cookies
2- $0.75 cents off 4 WW Smart Ones frozen desserts ex: 4/30/09
3- $1.00 off 6 WW Smart Ones Frozen Entrees or desserts ex: 4/30/09

To enter,

1. Write a post about this giveaway on your blog linking back to mine and post your link in the Mr. Linky provided. That's it!

Contest ends September 10th. Must have at least 10 people for giveaway. so go tell a friend!

Update: Since I do not have enough people yet, I am extending the contest until September 12th!
Update 2: I will give everyone through the weekend to get their friends over here and then I hope we have 10 people. This contest is only for people with blogs because I am trying to promote my new blog, sorry.
Note: You must link to a post on your blog that you wrote about the contest to be considered.

Kashi Coupons Giveaway!

2008-09-10T11:15:00.000-07:00

April from I Think I Can, is having a giveaway for 5/$1 off Kashi Coupons. Go check it out here! I love Kashi Go Lean cereal!

Menu Plan Monday September 8-14

2008-09-08T14:40:00.000-07:00

This week, I am going to start something new. I am going to have a soup and sandwiches night and a breakfast dinner every week. These are two really cheap meals to help keep the cost down. So, I am going to be trying some new soups! Come back for the recipes as I make them and post them throughout the week. I am still doing Weight Watchers Flex plan! I also saved over $20 using coupons on my grocery bill this week!
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Dinners
Spaghetti Casserole Bake, salad
Soup (Cheesy Vegetable) and Sandwiches, Yum Yum Muffins
Corn Dog Casserole, salad, Chips Ahoy Dessert
Breakfast Dinner, fruit
Pizza Cups, salad, Quick Zucchini Bread
Crockpot Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti, salad, Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies
Stovetop Meatloaf Muffins, green beans, mashed potatoes, rolls, Fat Free Rice Krispie Treats

Breakfast
Waffles, fruit, yogurt
Baked Sugar Doughnuts, fruit
Chocolate Chip Pancakes, fruit
Omelets, fruit
Eggs, Biscuits, sausage links
Cereal, yogurt, fruit
Waffles, fruit

Lunch
BLT Sandwiches, fruit
Leftover Pasta Bake, salad
Broccoli Soup
Sandwich and fruit
BLT Sandwich, fruit
Find What You can (hopefully leftovers)
FF Hot Dogs, tater tots, corn
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Go here to see more plans.

I Got Paid To Take This Home!

2008-09-08T13:55:00.000-07:00

Rite Aid September 8
6 Mead Composition Books (Rain Check) 3/$.99
2 Bic Round Pins $.99
15 Rite Aid Filler Paper 3/$.99
13 Rite Aid Notebook 3/ $.99
3 Elmer's Glue $.99
4 Colgate Total Advance Toothpaste $3.99 each
2 Revlon Eye Shadow $4.29 B1G1 free
Total Before Coupons and B1G1 free: $40.71
Coupons Used:
4/ $1.50 off Colgate Total Advance from Sept All You Magazine
4/ $1.00 off Rite Aid Coupons for Colgate Total Advance from Keep Your Smile Under Any Conditions!(Found at the Pharmacy)
5/ $1 off Rite Aid Filler paper
5/ $1 off 70 ct Notebook
2/ $2.00 off Revlon Cosmetics
2/ $.75 off Bic Pens
2/ $1.50 off Mead Composition Books
Total after coupons and B1G1 Free- $6.06!!!!!
Rebate Due $10.00 for 4 Colgate Toothpaste
Total After Rebate: +$3.94 I made $3.94!!!!

Note: I am stocking up on school supplies stuff while they are cheap and I plan to put in some Christmas boxes for needy children at the holidays.

Rite Aid Deals!

2008-09-05T08:34:00.000-07:00

Rite Aid
1 Pantene Flexible Hold Hair Spray- $3.50 Free after coupon
1 Luvs Mega pack- $9.99
1 Pantene Shampoo- $4.99
1 Pantene Conditioner- $4.99
1 Crest $2.49
12 Mead Compisition Books- 3/$.99
12 papermate pens- 2/ $1.00
1 Electrosol Dishwash powder $3.99
Total before coupons and rebates: $35.91
Coupons used:
$.75 off Crest
2/ $2.00 off Pantene
2 /$1.00 off Pantene Rite Aid Coupons
Buy 1 Pantene shampoo and get a free styling product
4/ $1.50 off Mead Composition Book Rite Aid Coupon
$1.00 off Luvs
3/ $1.00 off pens Rite Aid Coupon
Total $19.72 after coupons
Rebates: $7.73
Total after rebates $11.99

Dollar General Store Freebies

2008-09-05T06:56:00.000-07:00

Dollar General Store
6 Glad Scented Oil Plug-ins- $4.00 each(Free with coupon!)
1 Flocked clearance book marker $.01!
used 6 $4.00 off Glade Plug in coupons
Total $25.44
Total OOP: $1.45 (tax and cost of bookmark)
Total saving: $23.99!!!

All You Magazine Contest

2008-09-05T05:52:00.000-07:00

One Frugal Mama is having a giveaway for her birthday. She is giving away a one year subscription to the All You magazine. I just love that magazine and it is always full of coupons! Go here to sign up!

FREE Bread Coupons Contest

2008-09-04T04:41:00.000-07:00

Frugal in Virginia is giving away 5 coupons for free bread to one lucky reader! Go check it out HERE!!!

CVS Shopping

2008-08-31T16:11:00.001-07:00

I had several $.50 off coupons left and Rite Aid was out of the $.97 Chex. I also had a $1.00 off Internet coupon which Rite Aid does not take. So, I decided to go ask if CVS would honor the Rite Aid Ad and guess what? They did! So, with that $1.00 off coupon it made it a real deal. I want to get the Kotex Pantyliner money making deal with coupon making this an even better deal, but I went three times and could never find them. If anyone knows about rain checks and ECB's how does it work? Leave me a comment if you have ever done that.

CVS
1 Cinnamon Toast Malt-o-Meal $1.00 used $1.00 off coupon FREE!
2 Colgate 360 toothbrushes B1G1 Free at $3.99 used $1.00 off coupon paid $2.99 for two toothbrushes
2 Colgate Max fresh toothpaste B1G1 FREE at $3.29 for both
4 Chex mix @ $.97 each Used 3/$.50 and 1/$1.00 off making total $1.38 (they were 2.99 regular price for 1!
1 Reinventing Magazine $.99 was suppose to be full of coupons but they all expired that day and I did not notice until I got home. Kind of made me mad thought about taking it back!
Total before coupons and B1G1 Free $19.44
Total after coupons and B1G1 FREE $6.15

Rite Aid Shopping

2008-08-31T15:59:00.000-07:00

Rite Aid
1 Pert Shampoo $2.99 used $2.00 off coupon paid $.99(Rebate $2.00)
2 Chex Mix $.97 used 2/$.50 off coupons paid $.94
2 Pledge Duster and refills $2.00 each used 2/ $1.00 off coupons paid $2.00 and get rebate for $2.00 so these will be FREE.
Total before coupons $8.93
Total after coupons $3.93
Rebate Due $4.00
So actually I made money on this deal!
See more Becentsable Savings Stories and Struggles here

Walmart Trip

2008-08-31T14:16:00.000-07:00

I had $100 to go do our biweekly shopping. I was determined to get it under $100! Here's how I did.

Walmart

2 Huggies Cleanteam $1.64 each used $3/2 coupon paid $.28

2 Schick Disposable Razors $1.97 each used $2.00 off 2 made =$.06

3 Kotex Mini Pads $1.00 each used 3 ($1.00 off coupons) paid $.00! Free!

Bandaids paid $1.97

Parent's Choice Diapers paid $5.74

2 Huggies Pull-ups $10.24 used $2.00 off coupon and will turn into Caregiver's Marketplace for $2.00 rebate! OOP $8.24 each. $7.24 each after rebate

Sun Detergent $3.98

Shout $2.00 used $.75 coupon paid $1.25

Pamolive Pure and Clear $2.37 used $.75 coupon paid $1.62

GV Dish Powder $6.64

GV Paper Towels $1.64

Reynolds Wrap $2.62

Angel soft Toliet Paper $5.97 used $.50 coupon paid $5.47

Ruffies Trash Bags $1.74 used $.50 coupon paid $1.24

Head of Lettuce $.98

Toliet Paper Roll Holder $.94

AA Batteries 4 pk $2.58

Cheerioes $1.98 used $1.00 coupon paid $.98

All You Magazine $1.77

Weight Watchers Magazine $3.95

Zout $2.84 used $.55 coupon oop $2.29 and will get full rebate for this item!

Diet Coke $1.38

Total before coupons $81.39

Total After coupons $67.69!!!

Total Rebates: $3.84

I went back because they were stocking and I wanted the 4/$10 Mr. Clean. They had plenty the next day!

Walmart #2

4 Mr. Clean @ $2.50 each minus 4/$.50 coupons

Total $8.60

Total Before Coupons: $91.99

Total After Coupons: $76.29

Total after rebates:$72.45

Total Savings 21%

See more Becentsable Savings Stories and Struggles here.

Huggies Wipes FREE!

2008-08-29T00:49:00.000-07:00

To get a free 64 count pack of Huggies Wipes go here!

September All You Magazine Coupons!

2008-08-27T06:35:00.000-07:00

I just love the All You magazine! I bought 4 copies last month! It had some great money saving and FREE coupons that more than bought the book! I could not wait to get this new issue. The recipes and articles are great and the coupons are better than any magazine I have seen. And the best part, it only cost $1.77! Right now you can only buy the magazine at Walmart. My son is doing a fundraiser for school and they are selling different things including some magazines. They are offering a 1 year subscription for $20.00. So, that would be about $1.66 a month. So, I think I am going to buy one. They send you a coupon and you send off for it and you also get a free gift! You can also get 2 free trial issues right now by going here! Something else to note is that they have two different covers this month, so yours may look slightly different than the one pictured above, but it has the same great stuff inside! Here is an example of my savings from using coupons from last month's All You magazine and a few others. I think All You is totally worth the cost! Here's a list of all of the coupons and offers from the September All You.

All You September Coupons
page 12
$1.00 off any Kelloggs Smart Start cereal
page 24
$1.00 off any Jergens Naturals, Moisturizer, or Natural Glow Moisturizer
page 29
$2.00 off Rimmel's New Glam Eyes Mascara
page 32
$1.00 off any John Frieda Collection product
page 38
$1.00 off any Pure & Natural bodywash, liquid hand soap or bar soap
page 41
$2.00 off any Jane Be Pure Mineral item
page 51
$.35 off any 20ct or larger bag of Halls
Insert
$.50 off any one Peter Pan peanut butter
Insert
$.75 off any two Snack Packs
page 59
$1.50 off any Colgate Total Advance Whitening, Clean or Fresh toothpaste
page 63
$2.00 off Whole Body Cleanse or Ultra Liver Cleanse
page 65
FREE Contour Meter when you present a prescription for a blood glucose monitoring system.
page 78
$3.00 off the Made of Honor movie
page 83
$1.00 off any Birds Eye Voila! varieties
page 87
$1.00 off any BRUT product
page 94
$1.00 off any Kotex product
page 96
Buy 2 Get 1 Free when you buy two Starkist Gourmet Choice Tuna
page 100
$1.00 off any two of The Family Table Items
page 103
$1.00 off any bag of Tyson's Any'tizers
page 107
$1.00 off any three Bird's Eye vegetables
page 111
$.55 off any one Marzetti Apple Dip 12oz or above
page 123
$.50 off any Underwood product
page 138
$.50 off any White Cloud Green Earth bathroom tissue
page 147
$.75 off any Palmolive Pure + Clear liquid dish soap
page 155
$.75 on Windex Antibacterial Multi-Surface Cleaner or Wipes Canister
page 158
$1.00 off any Sani-Hands or Sani-Hands for Kids instant hand sanitizing wipes.
page 161
$1.00 off any Colgate Max Fresh toothpaste
page 161
$1.00 off any Colgate manual or 360 Sonic Power toothbrush
page 166
$2.00 off any package of Purina Fit & Trim brand adult dog food, any size
page 168
$.75 off Little Debbie Family Pack Muffins
page 171
$1.00 off any Flexitol product
page 175
$2.00 off any 3.6lb or larger bag of Kibbles 'n Bits

There is also a SPECIAL OFFER on page 109. The offer is limited to one per household. BUY one package of any Orville Redenbacher's 100 Calorie Popcorn cakes. SEND in one UPC from any box, the original taste guarantee certificate, and the original or photocopied cash register receipt (must be dated between 09-01-08 and 12-31-08). RECEIVE $5.00 in coupons or if you didn't like the popcorn cakes, a cash refund.

Thanks to Shynea for the list of coupons and All You Magazine Cover! While you are over there check out her blog, its great!

For more Works For Me Wednesday ideas go here!

Menu Plan Monday August 25-31

2008-08-25T04:40:00.000-07:00

Here is my menu for this week. I am still doing Weight Watchers Flex! Come back during the week for recipes I try and on Wednesday for Watchin' What We Eat Wednesday at my Honey I Shrank Myself! blog, where people share healthier recipes!

Dinners
Monday-Bubble-up Pizza, salad, Chips Ahoy Dessert
Tuesday-Fat Free Hot Dogs, fries
Wednesday-Crockpot Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti, salad, Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies
Thursday-Soup and sandwiches, Butterscotch Bars
Friday-Breakfast night! Scrambled eggs, biscuits, hashbrowns, "fried" apples
Saturday- Fish Fry at church I'm bringing Honey Bun Cake
Sunday-Chili, Cornbread

Breakfast
Monday-Cinnamon French Toast, fruit
Tuesday-Eat at Transition Headstart day with twins (Dh will eat Apple Struesel Muffins)
Wednesday-Baked Sugar Doughnuts, fruit
Thursday- Low fat waffles and fruit
Friday-Cereal, fruit, yogurt
Saturday-Cereal, fruit
Sunday-Cereal, fruit, yogurt
(I've gotten a lot of cereal for practically FREE lately so we are going to be eating that up!)

Lunch
Monday-Leftovers, apple
Tuesday- Eat at Transition day at Headstart with twins
Wednesday-BLT Sandwich, apple
Thursday-Light Bologna sandwich, baked chips, apple
Friday-Cheesy Veggie Soup
Saturday-whatever we can find!!lol
Sunday- Hot Dogs, fries

Snacks (DS is in school and needs snacks to take, it is so much cheaper to make my own!)Wendy's No Bake Peanut Butter Bars
Chex Party Mix
Fat Free Rice Krispie Treats
Butterscotch Bars
Low-Cal Chocolate Chip Granola Bars
~
Go here to see more plans.

Walmart and CVS Trips

2008-08-23T16:36:00.000-07:00

Walmart
Pert 2 in 1 Shampoo $2.88 ($3.00/1 coupon)Got this for free!
All You Magazine Sept- $1.77
Scott Bath Tissue 4 pk $2.68 ($1.00/1 coupon) Got for $1.68
2.04 lbs Bananas $.98
Tootie Fruities $1.00 (had a $1.00/1 coupon) Got this free!
3 Kraft American Singles @ 1/$2.98 2/$3.48 Got different kinds (Got this free with buy 3 Kool Aid pack coupon)
Malt-o-Meal Corn Flakes $1.00 ($1.00/1 coupon) Got this Free!
2 Johnson Buddies EZ Grip Soaps @ $.97 each (had $2.00 off 2 coupon) Got this Free!
6 Kotex Panty liners @ $1.00 each (had 6/ $1.00 off 1 coupons) Got all Free!
2 biscuits @ $.86 each
Juicy Juice on sale for $2.08 (had a $1.00/1 coupon) Got for $1/08
French's Mustard $.92 (had $.50/1 coupon) Got for $.42
10 Huggies Clean Team Wipes $1.64 (had $3.00/2 coupons) paid $.28 each! (I got two potty training!`
2 Nestle Water 24 packs @ $3.88 each (had $1.50/2 coupon)(not shown in picture)
2 Capri Sun $1.75 each (had $1.00/2 coupon) Got for $2.50
33 pack Kool-aid @ $.20 each
Natures Own White Wheat Loaf $1.97
Nature's Own Hot Dog Buns $1.68
2 Oscar Myer 98% Fat Free @ $2.50 each (Got free after buying 3 Kool Aid packets per item)
2 Family Size Reduced Fat Wheat Thins @ $2.98 each (Got Free w/ KoolAid Coupon)
2 Crystal Light $2.98 each (Free with Kraft coupon!)
2 Kraft Dressings @ $1.58 each (Free with Kraft coupon!)

Total before coupons: $92.90
Total after coupons: $29.90!!!!

A 68% savings! Pretty good if I say so!

CVS Trip

5 Diet Dr. Pepper Buy 4 get 1 free paid $2.75

2 Glade Air Freshener @ $.88 each (Had B1G1 Free coupon)

Total before coupons and savings $26.35

Total after coupons and savings $11.88 before tax

A 55% savings!

For more Centsable Show and Tell go to BeCentsable.

These were my great coupon deals, to get really cool info on coupons and deals of your own...visit The Coupon Coup. She is also having a great giveaway, go check it out!

Expired Coupons??

2008-08-22T09:47:00.001-07:00

What do you do with all your expired coupons? Throw them away? Cherie from A Wondering Peanut collects expired coupons. Here's what she says she does with them:
"Each month I send all my expired coupons to the Army base at Ansbach Germany. They are then distributed to families who need them. They accept manufacturer's coupons - including printables! - that are up to 2 months past their expiration date. I sort them into food and non-food items, total the face value, and mail them off to the base.
I would love it if you would help by sending me your expired coupons also! I'll even do the sorting and adding, and even clipping if necessary and give you credit and a link (if you have one). If you're interested, please either leave me a comment, or email me at wanderingpeanut@gmail.com for more information."

That is my big pile I plan to send her. I totaled all of the coupons and it came out to $260.18 for all of my expired coupons. Several came from boxes that I share coupons with others and pick some up for myself!

Consider sending Cherie your expired coupons.

What do I do with all of that Kool-Aid?!?!

2008-08-22T09:28:00.000-07:00

This month, I bought 4 copies of the All You Magazine. Some of the coupons in there are for free food items when you buy 3 Kraft/Nabisco/Oscar Meyer products. See this post for more information. Buying 3 packets of Kool-Aid is the cheapest way to go, but what do you do with all of the Kool-Aid if you are not going to drink it? I went researching and here a a few ideas I am going to use.

Kool-Aid Finger Paint
2 cups flour
2 packs unsweented kool-aid
1/2 cup salt
3 cups boiling water
3T. oil
Mix wet into dry. The kids love the color change. Then finger paint away.

Kool-aid Playdough
1 Cup Flour
1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil
1 Packet Unsweetened Kool-Aid
1/4 Cup Salt2 Tablespoons Cream of Tartar
1 Cup Water
Mix flour, salt, cream of tartar and Kool-Aid in a medium pot.Add water and oil.Stir over medium heat 3 to 5 minutes.When mixture forms a ball in pot, remove.Knead until smooth.Put in a plastic bag and refrigerate.

Kool-aid Sand Art
Inexpensive glass bottle with cork; found at craft stores or any bottle with lid
Several different and colorful flavors of Kool-Aid (8 quart presweetened) or other brands
Dry pudding mix or cocoa, if desired for brown color
Ice tea spoon
Small funnel or frosting decorating tips
Hot glue gun and glue sticks

Kool-Aid Scratch & Sniff Watercolors Recipe
1 Tablespoon Unsweetened Kool-Aid
1 Tablespoon Warm Water* I recommend using several flavors of Kool-Aid for an assortment of colors and scents.
Mix water and drink mix in small containers. (small muffin tins work great)
Paint your picture the way you would with any watercolor paint. Let dry overnight before scratching and sniffing.

Fruity Scented Kool-Aid Bath Salts Recipe
1 Quart Epsom Salt
1 Packet Unsweetened Kool-Aid
Mix the Kool-Aid and Epsom salt in a bowl.Pour into a pretty container.
TIP: Make several batches of this recipe in different flavors and scents and layer the different colors.

Kool-Aid Hair Dye Recipe
Plan ahead, this takes several hours to get vibrant results!
2 or 3 Packets of Kool-Aid (Unsweetened)
1/4 Cup Hair Conditioner
Mix the hair conditioner and Kool-Aid in a bowl.Use plastic gloves to apply the mixture to your damp hair and leave it on as long as possible...several hours or overnight. You can cover your head with plastic wrap to avoid contact with clothes and skin.Rinse it out in a sink being careful not to stain clothes or exposed skin, counter tops, etc. Do not shampoo right away, just rinse. This will allow the color to set.*For darker or longer hair you will want to use more than 3 packets of Kool-Aid in order to get vibrant colors.

Kool-Aid Tie-Dye T-Shirt Recipe
T-shirt
Several Packets of Unsweetened Kool-Aid
Vinegar
Small Plastic Bowls
Plastic Gloves
Rubber Bands
Use an assortment of Kool-Aid colors!For each color of Kool-Aid, put 1 packet of Kool-Aid and 1 ounce of vinegar into individual plastic bowls. Mix until dissolved.Pull and twist your t-shirt into different shapes and use the rubber bands to hold in place. Dip rubber-banded ends in bowls.Heat set with an iron on medium-high setting using an ironing cloth between shirt and iron. Do not wash for at least 24 hours. Wash separately from other clothes the first wash in case some color is released into the water.
TIPS: Kool-Aid stains your skin so be sure to wear rubber gloves when tye-dying your shirt.Do not use a shirt that has been prewashed or dried with fabric softener because the colors will not set.

This is one I would love to make if I had the packets!
http://www.craftbits.com/viewProject.do?projectID=812

Some of these I will probably never try, but some I will, just thought I would share some ideas I found to get rid of some of those Kool-Aid packets!

My Coupon Organizer Made Frugal!

2008-08-22T08:38:00.001-07:00

Well I just started this couponing adventure and already I know I have to get organized. I don't have a lot of money to go out and buy something so here is what I put together with what I already had on hand at home. I really like it. I would someday like to buy a notebook that is zippered and has a handle on it, but for now this will do!

This is an old notebook that was holding something that I did not need anymore.

This is the inside. My folder has two pockets. In the bottom one, I keep two envelopes marked Giveaway and Expired Coupons. I have two places that I place coupons that I do not plan to use and trade for some others I want in the boxes. I also send expired coupons to Cherie, who collects them for military families who can use them up to two months after they expire! Also, in the front is a pencil holder which I keep some scissors, pencil, pen and a small calculator. The second pocket has an envelope for each of the stores I shop at. Inside I keep coupons I plan to use at that store. I also have an empty unmarked envelope to put coupons I plan to use while at the store, so I make sure I do not forget anything. We had a big old box of envelopes so that was pretty cheap too.

I then used tabs. We got several of these last year before school started at our local library who was giving away several school supplies items. Each of my kids got one. This is the end of them though! I labeled my tabs with the following: food, personal care, baby stuff, cleaning supplies, household stuff, medicine, other, receipts, and rebates.

I then used some plastic sleeves that I already had on hand and put one behind each tab, then I put all of the food coupons all in one spot.

This is a plastic sleeve that I keep my receipts in. I read somewhere to keep all of your receipts because if you find a rebate, you may have already bought it and you can easily find your receipt. Also, the CVS ones have some information about your Extra Care Card.

This is a plastic sleeve that I keep my rebate forms in that I have not met all the requirements to mail off.

There are also two pockets in the back of the notebook that I keep my ads and other store related stuff like the Extra Care Bucks book for the month.

So, that's the book I created without spending any extra money on it. I like it but I know as I get more into this couponing, I may need to change a few things. It really did not take a long time to create either.

The Caregiver's Marketplace

2008-08-22T08:11:00.000-07:00

Do you take care of someone who is sick, elderly, or even a child under 5? We'll I have 3 children under 5 that I take care of and they are in pull-ups and diapers. So, when I learned that The Caregivers Marketplace will reimburse some of your money for diapers/pull-ups I decided to give it a try. I have always bought generic diapers and thought I was saving money. Last week I got some great deals on diapers and pull-ups from CVS with my coupons and the sale. I bought 4 jumbo packs of pull-ups and 1 pack jumbo diapers that I planned to get a $5 rebate back from The Caregivers Marketplace, making my deal even better! Here's how it works go to The Caregivers Marketplace web page and sign up online. You will then get a savings number. You need to remember this number. Then you print off the reimbursement form and put your savings number on it. You then must buy 5 qualifying products for reimbursement. Huggies and Huggies Pull-ups are the only ones on there. You mark the ones you bought and add up your reimbursement amount due. You get $1 for each pack of diapers/ pull-ups. Then you circle the products on your original receipt and put this with the form and then put a stamp on and mail. It's that easy! you get a check back within 4-6 weeks. It really is easy. So, if you find a great deal on Huggies, you might want to consider this rebate. From my understanding, you can do this as many times as you buy the $5 products at least. I mailed mine off the other day so I will have to let you know about how soon I get it back. Hope this helps you out.

Here is an example of the savings from last week at CVS:

CVS Huggies Pull-ups $8.99 -$2.00 coupon and -$1.00 Marketplace rebate =$5.99 total for jumbo pack pull-ups. I also used the $2/$10 coupon 4 times so they were actually a little less than that. Not too bad when trying to save money on diapers/ pullups

My Walmart Grocery Shopping Trip

2008-08-20T19:43:00.000-07:00

I went to Walmart today. I thought I did really good for my first big grocery experience with coupons. I had two sets of the coupons from the All You magazine for free food so I decided to do this in two orders because those are confusing for cashiers. So, here's what I got.

1st Transaction
3 EZ Grip Johnson Buddies soaps-$.97 (after coupons I got these FREE)
5.57 lbs Bananas-$2.67
4 Yoplait light yogurts- $.58 each and I had a $1.00 off 4 coupon
Bread- $1.97
2 Gogurt-$2.43 each and used $1.00 off 2 coupon
2 Malt o Meal Cereal- $1.00 each and I used two $1.00 off coupons so both boxes were free.
2 Hormel Turkey Chili- $1.52 each and I used $.55 off two coupon (from a Family Circle Issue)
1 pint blueberries- $2.88
4/6pks Sunny D- $2.00 each and I used two $.55 off 2 coupons(from Aug All You Mag)
Just Bunches Cereal-$2.50 and I used $2.00 off coupon, so I paid $.50 for this!
Kashi Go Lean Crunch-$2.98 and I used a $2.00 off coupon, so I paid $.98 for this!
2 Juicy Juice 8 packs-$2.50 each and I used a $1.00 off two coupon
2 packages Bic Pens- $.88 each and I used a $1.00 off two coupon
All You Magazine- $1.77 Yes I bought another one because the free food coupons pay for this!
2 Eggo Waffles-$1.50 each and I used $1.00 off 2 from Sunday Paper coupons

Total before coupons: $47.60
Total after coupons: $33.40
Total savings: $14.20

2nd transaction
2/98% Fat Free Oscar Meyer Hot Dogs- $2.50 each (FREE with coupon)Aug All You Mag
2 Family Size Reduced Fat Wheat Thins-$2.98 each (FREE with coupon) Aug All You Mag
2 Kraft American Singles- $2.98 each (FREE with coupon) Aug All You Mag
2 Crystal Lite- $2.98 each (FREE with coupon) Aug All You Mag
2 Kraft Fat Free Italian Dressings- $1.98 (Free with coupon) Aug All You Mag
30 packages Kool-Aid- $6.00
12 pack Diet Dr. Pepper- $2.50
1 Checkout Diet Dr. Pepper- $1.25
2 Spaghetti jars(Great Value brand)- $1.25 each
Aug All You Mag- $1.77 (Yes, I bought another one!)

Total before coupons $40.17
Total after coupons $14.13
Total savings: $26.04

So, I spent $47.53 and saved $40.24!!!!! Wow!!!! That's about a 48% savings!
Actually some things were on rollback so I saved even more!

RE: Richmond Parenting Magazine CVS $2/$10 Coupon

2008-08-20T02:06:00.000-07:00

I posted some scenerioes about using the CVS $2/$10 coupon found in the online version of the Richmond Parent's Magazine last week. Here is some information I got from The Homemaker's Resource.

Ok, fellow CVS shoppers, it is my sad duty to pass along a bit of information that came my way via Hot Coupon World (Click to see original text).

"CVS has LEGALLY requested that online printable coupons no longer be posted anywhere on the interent. CVS has contacted several of the larger websites, not just HCW. It is their position that the only valid printable coupons will be sent to you directly through their email system.

As to the online magazines and newspapers. Their online version is simply a convenience service. It's not meant to be printed out and replace their paper magazines and newspapers, otherwise they'd lose their income from their product. Same goes with the coupons in those situations, they are not meant to be printed out and replace the paper ones. My guess is CVS doesn't have the time to police every single newspaper or magazine's online source to make sure that their coupons are blacked out or made unprintable.

In the end, we at HCW are intent on following the parameters stated on the legal notice that we received. And that is that the only valid internet coupons will come directly to you in your email and that any other sources of internet coupons are not legitimate, not approved by CVS and will not be allowed to be posted on HCW."

Suffice it to say, going forward that Richmond Parent's Magazine $2/$10 coupon should only be used if you picked up a hard copy of the magazine and are using a clipped version.

This was a really good coupon. I guess the saying if something is too good to be true, it probably is goes here. So, I will not be using that coupon again. I want to be an honest couponer!

2 GREAT $25 CVS Giftcard Giveaways!

2008-08-20T00:36:00.000-07:00

The Newlyweds blog is giving away a $25 CVS gift card! Go visit her blog to read all the details. You can do a lot of damage at CVS with $25!

AND

The Savin Maven is also giving away a $25 CVS gift card. Go check it out as well!

Scott Freebie

2008-08-19T13:54:00.000-07:00

Click here for a Free full sized roll of Scott Extra Soft Toilet Paper from Walmart. While Supplies last so better hurry!!

Yoplait Light New Cake Flavors

2008-08-19T06:29:00.000-07:00

As some of you know who read my other blog, Honey I Shrank Myself! ,I am trying to lose 100 pounds this year. Recently, I read on the Hungry Girl Web page about the new Yoplait Light New Cake Flavors. They come in Pineapple Upside Down Cake, Raspberry Cheesecake, and Strawberry Shortcake. I am pleased to say I tried everyone of them and I loved all of them and at 2 Weight Watchers Points each what's not to love! I noticed when I was buying them that the shelves were pretty bare, so get them while you can! HERE is your $1/4 Yoplait coupon! That means you could get 4 of these delicious yogurts for only $0.25/ea when they are on sale for $0.50/ea (which they almost always are at my local store)! Enjoy!
BTW, I also tried the Apple Turnover and it was just as good!!

Free Food

2008-08-18T06:40:00.000-07:00

I love getting the All You magazine from the Walmart check-out! It cost $1.97 and Walmart discounts it to $1.77. I love reading all the articles and getting some great coupons as well. There are 5 coupons on page 159. You have to buy 3 KRAFT, Nabisco, or Oscar Mayer products and you get a free product listed on each coupon. When I first saw these, I thought I would never use those, until I started seeing how people were using them on other blogs. So, I decided to go try it for myself. Other bloggers recommend using 3 packets of Kool-Aid to get each product. The Kool-Aid was $.20 a packet at my Walmart. These do count because they are a KRAFT product and they are not a single serve. Kool-Aid packets make 2 quarts and serve 8-10 people. I also looked very carefully at how much I could spend on each item and the cost was pretty good. I was able to get lower fat and bigger boxes on most of the products. The cashier said she had to get approval because she did not think I was right, but after 4 customer service managers agreed I was in the right, I got my free food! Here's how it worked!

15 packets of Kool-Aid-$3.00
98% Fat Free Oscar Mayer Bun Size Hot Dogs $2.50
24 oz. Kraft Singles- $3.48
16 oz. Kraft Light Catalina Dressing- $1.58
Wheat Thins Crackers Reduced Fat Family Size- $3.48
Crystal Lite Lemonade-$2.98

Total: $17.02
Total OOP- $3.00!!!
Total Savings- $14.02!!!
It's worth the cost of that deal for the $1.77 magazine!
I also realized when I was writing this up, that I got a 24 ounce package of cheese and the coupon said 12 oz. This was my mistake because I was looking at the total price that could be spent on each item. I had my cashier and 4 customer service managers not find my mistake or I would have gotten the right size. It was an oversight on my part and there's, I guess.

See all of the coupons in the All You August magazine here!

August All You Magazine Coupons

2008-08-18T06:17:00.000-07:00

Want to get some great coupons and have some great reading get the All You magazine. You can only get it at Walmart at the checkout. It retails for $1.97 but Walmart discounts it to $1.77. Here is a list of all of the great coupons in the August magazine. It has fabric covered recipe box on front. I have used many copouns already. But the free food on page 159 is one of the best deals yet. It is worth the cost of the magazine for those coupons alone. In fact I bought 2 more. All You magazine is one of my favorite magazines to read, but the coupons make it even better. See this post for the result of using the free food coupons.

Here is a complete list of all of the coupons in the August Magazine!

$1 off 1 All small and mighty 3x - 09/26/08/10)

$1 off Two Tyson Frozen Breaded Boxed or one Bagged item. - 10/31/08/12)

$0.75 off 1 Jiff to go - 11/30/08/27)

$1 off any Kotex product. - 09/30/08/29)

$1 off and ban product 1.5 fl oz or larger. - 09/15/08/31)

$0.75 off any single pack or multipack Trident Xtra Care gum - 10/31/08/39)

$2 off any one Abaya or Hydrolage hair care product - 10/31/08/47)

$3 off any 2 Neutrogena Cosmetics Products - 09/12/08/53)

$1 off any Orville Redenbackers Popcorn Cakes - 08/28/08/57)

$3 off any Visine product 1/2 FL OZ or larger - 12/31/08/65)

$1 off any Emerald Breakfast on the Go! 6 pouch carton. - 11/01/0871)

$1 off any Nature Made Liqued Softgel - 10/31/08/83)

BOGO 1.8oz single Wonka Giant Chewy Nerds (up to $0.79) - 09/12/08/84)

$1 off any size Peter Pan Peanut Butter. (coupon is on insert) - 08/29/08/84) $1 off any two Kid Cuisine (coupon is on insert) - 08/29/08/89)

$1 off Splenda No Calorie Sweetener Minis - 12/31/08108)

$0.75 off any 1 package of Dole Fruit Parfaits. - 10/31/08/111)

$0.50 off package of 6 White Castle (Cheese)Burgers - 10/31/08/115)

$1 off one package of Kellogs Frosted Mini Wheats Blueberry Muffin Cereal (16 oz or larger) - 10/31/08/119)

$1 off any 1 Farm Rich Product - 12/31/08/122)

$0.55 off 1 box of Smuckers Uncrustables Sandwiches - 12/31/08122)
$0.55 off any two SunnyD Chilled Products - 11/30/08/122)

$1 off any two varieties Del Monte Fruit Chillers - 09/27/08/128)

$1 off any 1 T.G.I.F. Complete skillet meals - 09/30/08/128)

$1 off any 2 T.G.I.F. frozen snacks. - 09/30/08129)

$1 off any 4 Boston Market frozen entrees. - 09/30/08/129)

$1 off any 2 Ore-Ida frozen potatoes (20 oz or larger) - 09/30/08/130)

Purchase 5 Weight Watcher Smart One products get free dessert - 09/30/08/132)

$2.50 off any size BIZ product. - 12/31/08/136)

$1 off any 1 Spot Shot Instant Carpet Stain and Odor eliminator - 10/31/08/143)

One day pass to Sam's Club - 08/31/08/149)

$1 off any one Glade Fabric & Air Odor eliminator. - 11/30/08/151)

$1 off any 2000 Flushes Automatic Toilet Bowl Cleaners - 11/30/08/155)

Link to print "Try me free" rebate (1 per household) for 22oz Zout Laundry Stain Remover (up to $4) - 10/31/08/159)

Buy any 3 Kraft, Nabisco, or Oscar Mayer products and get Free Nabisco Wheat thin Crackers (up to $4.50) - 09/30/08/159)

Buy any 3 Kraft, Nabisco, or Oscar Mayer products and get Free 16 oz Kraft Dressing (up to $3.20) - 09/30/08/159)

Buy any 3 Kraft, Nabisco, or Oscar Mayer products and get Free Oscar Mayer Hot Dogs (up to $4.51) - 09/30/08/159)

Buy any 3 Kraft, Nabisco, or Oscar Mayer products and get Free Crystal Light (up to $4.50) - 09/30/08/159)

Buy any 3 Kraft, Nabisco, or Oscar Mayer products and get Free Kraft Singles (12 oz) (up to $4.00) - 09/30/08/165)

$2 off any MiraLAX product - 10/31/08/174)

$2 off on Whole Body Cleanse - 11/30/08/181)

$0.50 off any 1 BUNdinos 7oz or larger - 09/30/08/183)

$1.50 on any 32 oz Greased Lightning cleaning product - 10/31/08

Dollar General Store Penny Deal!!!

2008-08-18T06:07:00.000-07:00

I went to the Dollar General Store last Tuesday to pick up some medicine and I as I was in line, the customer in front of me was trying to buy an ice cream scoop. The cashier asked them if they would not care if it was a metal one instead of plastic because they had some for a penny. I heard this and wanted to find out more about this penny sale! I got an ice cream scoop for a penny and then the cashier told me that the store marks items they are discontinuing to a penny, but the employees never know something is marked down until a customer checks out. Well she also told me there were some girl's shoes marked down to a penny and being a mother of a girl I had to check it out. There were two different kinds, but all of them were too big, but hey she will grow into them!
Total OOP $.o3!
Total Cost $16.00
Total Saved $15.97
WOW! What a deal!

CVS Report from Week of Aug 10

2008-08-18T04:52:00.000-07:00

Well here is my report from my CVS spending last week:

Friday:

Transaction #1:
1 pack of Huggies Diapers $8.99
1 Playskool Wipes $2.50
1 Childrens Advil $5.79

Coupons Used:

$2 off $10 purchase (go to iheartcvs.com)
$1.50/1 Huggies diapers (huggies mailer)
$1/1 Playskool wipes
$1/1 children's advil

ECB's Used-0
Total OOP: $11.78 ($12.64 with tax)
ECB's Received: $5.79 for the advil

Transaction #2:

1 pack Pull-ups $8.99

1 pack Pull-ups $8.99
1 Playskool wipes $2.50

2 Colgate Toothpaste B1G1free- $2.79

Coupons Used:

$2 off $10 purchase (go to iheartcvs.com)

$2.00 off Pull-Ups from mailer$1/1 Playskool wipes

$1.50 toothpaste

ECB's Used-0
Total OOP: $13.27 ($14.49 with tax)
ECB's Received: $5.00 for baby products and coupon for free CVS Toothbrush

Transaction #3:(Toothbrush not pictured)

Dum Dums suckers(potty treats) $5.00

4 pks gum $4.00

1 Ban Deodorant $1.99

1 Spree Chewy $.50

1 CVS Toothbrush $.99

1 OB Tampoon $7.49

Coupons Used:

$2 off $10 purchase (go to iheartcvs.com)
$1.00 0ff Ban Deodorant from All You Aug Magazine

$1.50 off OB Tampoons

$1.99 CVS coupon for Toothbrush I think?

ECB's Used-0
Total OOP: $13.48 ($14.44 after tax)
ECB's Received: $5.00 for candy

Transaction #4:

1 package Huggies wipes $2.50

Dove Shampoo $3.99

Dove Conditioner $ 3.99

1 pack of Huggies Diapers $8.99

1 pack of OB Tampoons

Coupons Used:

$2 off $10 purchase (go to iheartcvs.com)

$1.50/1 Huggies diapers (huggies mailer)

$.50/1 Huggies Wipes

$1.50/1 Dove Shampoo

$1.50/1 Dove Conditioner

ECB's Used-15.79
Total OOP: $2.17 ($2.72 with tax)
ECB's Received: $5.00 for OB Tampoons

Saturday: I went back on Saturday because I had realized that I could spend my $5 EBC on some more diapers since I found some more coupons and dh told me he needed some 3 ring binders since college starts on Monday and I remembered that CVS had a good deal. I wish I would have printed some more $5/off 10 CVS coupons but I did not find the razor coupon until I went to the library. So this deal probably could have been better, but oh well. I also did not take any pictures of these deals, sorry!

Transaction 1:

1 pack Pull-ups $8.99

2/B1G1 Free Colgate Spongebob Toothbrush $2.99

2 Colgate Toothpaste B1G1 Free $2.79

1 Giant Chewy Nerd $.79

Coupons Used:

$2 off $10 purchase (go to iheartcvs.com)

$.79/Buy1 G1 Free Nerd From August All you Magazine

$1.50 toothpaste

$2.00 off Pull-Ups from mailer

ECB's Used-$5.00
Total OOP: $3.56 ($4.12 with tax)
ECB's Received: 0

Transaction 2:

1 BIC Soleil Razor $4.99 on sale

1 Storage Basket $1.50

Coupons Used:

$2.00 Soleil Razor form Sunday paper insert

ECB's Used-0
Total OOP: $4.49 ($4.88 after tax)
ECB's Received: 0

Transaction 3:

B1G1 Free Economy 3 ring binders $3.79

ECB's Used-0
Total OOP: $6.58 ($6.97 after tax)
ECB's Received: 0 used

So total OOP for this sale add was $60.26 with tax and I got $122.00 worth of stuff before taxes. I think that is pretty good! This was my first big CVS spending. I know I could have done better though. I got all my diapers and pull-ups for 2 weeks and other household stuff that I usually spend $100 every two weeks on mostly generic stuff, so I feel pretty good about reducing our spending!

CVS Plan for Friday

2008-08-15T10:26:00.000-07:00

Well, I am going to CVS today for my first big shopping experience at CVS. I need to do 4 transactions to get the deals I want to get. So, here is my plan.

Transaction #1:

1 pack of Huggies Diapers $8.99

1 Playskool Wipes $2.50

1 Childrens Advil $5.79

Coupons Used:

$2 off $10 purchase (go to iheartcvs.com)

$1.50/1 Huggies diapers (huggies mailer)

$1/1 Playskool wipes

$1/1 children's advil

ECB's Used-0

Total OOP: $11.78

ECB's Received: $5.79 for the advil

Transaction #2:
1 pack Pull-ups $8.99
1 pack Pull-ups $8.99
1 Playskool wipes $2.50
2 Colgate Toothpaste B1G1free- $2.79

Coupons Used:
$2 off $10 purchase (go to iheartcvs.com)
$2.00 off Pull-Ups from mailer
$1/1 Playskool wipes
$1.50 toothpaste
$1.50 toothpaste

ECB's Used-0

Total OOP: $15.27

ECB's Received: $5.00 for baby products

Transaction #3:
Dum Dums suckers(potty treats) $5.00
4 pks gum $4.00
1 Ban Deodorant $1.99
(would like to get ob tampons don’t know the price) have $1.50 coupon and will get $5EBC)

Coupons Used:
$2 off $10 purchase (go to iheartcvs.com)
$1.00 0ff Ban Deodorant

ECB's Used-0

Total OOP: $10.99

ECB's Received: $5.00 for candy

Transaction #4:
1 package Huggies wipes $2.50
Dove Shampoo $3.99
Dove Conditioner $ 3.99
2 Spongebob toothbrushes: $1.99
1 pack of Huggies Diapers $8.99
1 pack of playschool wipes $2.50

Coupons Used:
$2 off $10 purchase (go to iheartcvs.com)
$1.50/1 Huggies diapers (huggies mailer)
.50/1 Huggies Wipes
$1.50/ 1 Dove Shampoo
$1.50/1 Dove Conditioner
$1/1 Playskool wipes

ECB's Used-15.79

Total OOP: $1.17

ECB's Received: 0

So total out of our pocket will be $39.21 and we get two pull-ups and 2 packs of diapers for my baby and lots of wipes! That's less than Walmart for diapers and wipes)ever for us and we get all of that other stuff too! This is before tax. Also in transaction 3 I do not know how much the ob tampons are, so it will be about $6.00- $8.00 more if we get those and we will have another $5 ebc to use, if we want. I found some more toothpaste coupons so I am getting two more of those, hey they are FREE! So, do you think I have done good for the first time? It is some work and we have to do more than one transaction to get the best deals because of the $2 off a $10 order and then getting enough EBC to get some things free, like in transaction 4 we basically get a pack of diapers for free. It's worth it for me for those alone! I really hope they have all of the stuff we want, so this will work but we will see.... We have been spending about $80-$100 for household products and diapers,pull ups/wipes for kids every two weeks. That is buying generic, we get name brand here! So, I am hoping I can get that down at least a little by doing this!

Ziplock Gift Set

2008-08-14T04:57:00.000-07:00

Each month, Right@Home™ brings you exclusive offers, gift packs and coupons for members only. It's easy to sign up, just go here.

The first 10,000 people who join Right@Home™ get a Ziploc® Gift Pack that includes:
free Ziploc® samples
$3 off Glade® Scented Oil Candles
$2 off two Glade® Jar Candles
$1 off Pledge®
$1 off Ziploc® Bags/Containers

I use a lot of that stuff anyways, so I went right over and signed up!

Potty Training Freebies

2008-08-14T04:25:00.000-07:00

This week we have been doing Potty Training again! This time it seems to be clicking! I found this great FREE resource too! Only problem I have is that I am training twins and they only let you have one per household :(

Go here for this Potty Training freebie!

Here's what it includes:

A free sample of Easy Ups Trainers
High-value coupons
Fun stickers & coloring pages
Step-by-step potty training tips
Potty Progress Chart
Dora or Diego training trophy

Free Magazines!!!

2008-08-13T13:39:00.000-07:00

I just got a free year suscription to Family Fun! I love that magazine! Here are some links for some other free magazine subscriptions!

FREE Magazines!
Free subscription to Field and Stream HERE
Free subscription to Family Fun Magazine HERE
Free subscription to Waterski Magazine HERE
Free subscription to Pink magazine HERE
Free gift from CoffeeShop apparel HERE

CVS Deal

2008-08-13T12:48:00.000-07:00

Well for awhile now I have sit back and read blogs about people saving money at CVS and other places. Today was the first time I have went to CVS and thanks to all of the bloggers out there, I was able to find my first STEAL! Yes, you read that right a steal. I was so excited to get my CVS rewards card. This week with my coupons and the deals I will be able to get my diapers and pullups and wipes for cheaper than Walmart. So, I am going to give it a try. Today I went, but I had three kids with and shopping and looking for deals really was not going to happen and they were out of a lot of the stuff I needed. So, I will go back on payday! Here is my first steal. Pretty good for a 1st time visit!

Colgate Toothpaste is on sale B1G1--Buy 2 and use 2 $1.50/1 coupons from the May, June, and July All You magazine or this printable here. Get both free.

I got 2 Colgate toothpaste for $2.79 since one was free and I used (2) $1.50 coupons and I had to buy something else because they were going to owe me money, so I bought a package of Skittles for the kids. My OOP was .79 for the Skittles!!! I got the toothpaste for FREE! A STEAL! Nothing like FREE toothpaste! My total savings was $5.79.

Mommy's Gone

2008-08-13T12:46:00.000-07:00

Where is she gone? To look for a deal or better yet a steal! This blog is all about my deals at places like CVS etc. Come join me on my journey and we'll both get great deals!!!