Great getting started Couponing.

I love jenny at Southern Savers.  In fact, she is the only reason I currently coupon, because she makes it simple and easy for me.  I am always recommending her site to anyone and everyone.  This is a great video.  She breaks it down on how to coupon without being overwhelming.

 

In fact, I am buying the file system today at dollar tree today, and making a commitment to go full throttle couponing with Jenny. 

Here website is:

www.southernsavers.com

~trish

Cooking with dried beans

Cooking Dried Beans in the Slow Cooker

Day 292.
It's day 292. And I finally have cracked the cooking-with-dried vs. cooking-with-canned-beans code.
Why did it take me 292 days?
Sheer laziness. I have no other reason.
1 bag of dried black beans costs $1.89 at the fancy-pants grocery store, and it costs $0.89 at our local produce stand.
1 can of organic black beans at Trader Joe's costs $0.99.
1 dried bag of black beans (16 oz) = 3 cans (15 oz each).
Which means even if you buy over-priced dried black beans you will save some money making them at home yourself.
The Ingredients.

--bag of black beans (or other beans. but remember that kidney beans have that freaky toxin.)
--water
--crockpot (4 quarts and up)
The Directions.
Pour the entire bag of dried beans into a colander and rinse under cold water. If you see any beans that have broken in half, or skin that floats to the surface, get rid of it. Also pick out any beans that look shriveled and gross.
Dump all the beans into your crockpot. Add enough water to cover all the beans and an additional 2 inches.
Cover. Do not turn on. Let the beans soak for at least 6 hours, or overnight. If you live in a very warm area, and the crockpot won't be in a room that is climate-controlled, put the stoneware in the fridge. You don't want bacteria to have the opportunity to grow.
In the morning, dump the water, and rinse your beans. The water will be bean-colored.
Put the beans back into your crockpot and cover with enough fresh water to completely cover the beans with an extra 2-3 inches.
Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.
The beans are done when they are bite-tender. Don't worry if the water hasn't all absorbed. You're going to dump it, anyway.
Drain the beans.
When cool, put 1 2/3 cups of beans into storage containers or freezer bags (you're adding this amount because you aren't adding filler-liquid like the cans have). The beans will store nicely in the refrigerator for 1 week, or in the freezer for 6 months.
Use as you would canned beans in your favorite recipe.
The Verdict.
I like knowing what is in my food. I like the idea that we can save money and reduce consumption by using dried beans.
This takes a while. When I do this again, I'm going to get quite a few bags of beans and do them all at once in a few crockpots. The kids liked picking through the beans to weed out the undesirables, and they will munch on black beans (and garbanzo and pinto and kidney) for a snack, which makes me happy.
I've found a chart that breaks down the energy consumption of kitchen appliances:
(First Energy Corp., Ohio--scroll to page 5)
it states that a crockpot costs 2 cents an hour to run. Which means that even with adding the cooking time/cost to the beans, it's cost-effective to cook your own.

Make It Fast, Cook It Slow

by Stephanie O’Dea

• Amazon
• Borders
• Barnes & Noble
• IndieBound
• Powell's

Posted by Stephanie O'Dea at 7:02 AM

I am featuring post from another blog.  My husband found it, in his effectiveness to prove to me, why my chili is a failure.  So here it is.

DCWV August Design Challenge

Each month DCWV at www.300dpi.com has a challenge that you can win prizes with.  I have won a previous challenge.  The best part about DCWV is that they usually have a free kit to download!

This month, you can download for FREE!

Let’s get digital!

~trish

Bulk Produce

  

I might be guilty of having a love for buying in bulk.  There is just something about buying 100 tomatoes that gets me giddy!

 

So the other day I went to the farmers market.  It is like a whole other world there. You can buy from market stands.

Out of the back of trucks

you can buy in quantities of one thing or 1 box.  So I got excited and went shopping.  A little too much.  Thankfully, I only had one kid, I had to rearrange the seating.

I bought 2 boxes of corn, 5 boxes of tomatoes, 1 box of peppers and 5 watermelons for about $60.  Let me say!  WHAT WAS I THINKING!  Way too much to put away.  I ended up putting up the corn and 1 box of tomatoes.  The rest was handed out and I did buy 2 boxes of it for my MIL and mom and split the peppers.  BUT still, I got 4 kids and one on a ninni!  How did I think that I could put food up.

 

Oh but I loved the smell of those peppers and tomatoes. YUM!  But at the end of the week, it made me realize that I needed to keep things simpler.  SO no clothe diapers, no homemade wipes, no bulk preparation.  I am going as easy as possible and maintaining health.  So SAM’s Club here I come.

~trish

PS I think I am going back, I love the freshness.  Maybe neck week.

When the day just doesn’t start off right.

Enough said!

Yah right, like that is all I would say.  Well, I just might be a little hormonal.  Not too bad, pretty mild for me, but I am FREAKING OUT HERE PEOPLE!  Well, no not that bad.  Lets see, I have already public apologized for being me, see earlier post on Miss Bossy pants.  I have thrown myself to the Homeschool moms forum that I might be inadequate, because I can’t get myself into a routine with my children, even though I have a 4 week old attached.  Miss Type A is trying to take over again, I must STOP her!

 

Well, the blessing in homeschooling year round is that you can take time off.  So seeing that I have a newborn, I am attempting no curriculum progress for another 2 months.  So I believe that would make our unit study start date august 10th. Hmm, that is my wedding anniversary.  Well, I better keep the poppa happy, no rice dinner for him, we might start the following week.  I do want to keep them learning, almost unconstructively, so here is what I plan to mildly work with them on:

1. Monthly Calendar (got all the pieces from the Dollar Tree)
2. Numbers
3. Alphabet
4. Weather
5. Lots of reading (We will be exceeding our limit at the Library this summer)

I plan to do all this with games and nothing too structured.  I might even throw in some file folder games that I already have made up.  I did find a neat blog Confessions of a homeschooler, she has a ton of ideas that I might have to copy from.  I love the use of her workboxes and it makes me want to try them.  But then again it goes into me trying to do too much.  For this summer, I am trying to keep it simple.

Oh, so what better way to keep it simple than to make a few goals for the summer.  I am trying to keep it to a minimum here folks, but I am a task master and if I do not have a list I will never get it done, the traits of a reformed/rehabilitated procrastinator. So here are my plans/goals.

1. Potty Train #3 (I really should say, coheirs my darling husband into training her, like he did for the last one)
2. rebuild my wardrobe by making, thrift, or refashioning.
3. Recover my nasty ashtray chair, so it will be useable.
4. Take the kids to see my sisters
5. See a play with the kids
6. Take the kids to a Museum
7. Start making my Christmas gifts (also meaning I have a list made on the who and what)
8. Work on building a routine (maybe that we just play school between 10-noon), engrain the rules, distribute chores.

I think 8 items for the next 2-3 months is reasonable.  I am so excited, I will have to make a list on sidebar to show them and cross them off as I go.  Sounds like a reasonable, I am not letting the “Type A missy have a mile, but I will give her an inch” thing to do.  I will even try not to add to it, but I can not make any promises.

I am excited, I wrote this last night.  I just found out that you can go to www.kidsbowlfree.com and sign up to 6 kids to bowl 2 free games this summer until the end of August.  For $25 you sign up 4 adults to join in on those free games.  How awesome is that!  So I am happy to be adding a little fun to our summer at little cost to us.

~trish

Keeping the grocery bill LOW?

Scratch, Scratch, Scratch.  No I do not have an itch!  The easiest way to keep the bills low is to only buy the staples and make things from scratch.  This is a picture of my chicken pot pie.  The biscuits are  another round I made from scratch.  I froze the rest, so that they will be convenient later, for biscuits and honey.

Now I love couponing, but after a couple of months I remember, all I am really buying is a bunch of processed food.  Remember those packages of short bread cookies I got for $1 a package, still have half of them.  I do not really even like eating them, but I am in major calorie intake mood with nursing.  So couponing is a luxury, since I spend more and on things I do not NEED.

So I have 2 major fundamentals when it comes to shopping for food: 1. Cook from Scratch and 2. Buy in bulk on the big items.

I am always encouraged when I check out other families who are keeping their grocery bill down.  I read 2 articles this evening that made me want to share this with you, the first at  life in a shoe and the second at frugalhacks.com

I realize there are a lot of other things I do that help.

1. Soda is a luxury item.  When I buy it, it is for the sole enjoyment of my husband and me. So it is generic root beer and a diet soda.  The children will have a treat of root beer, once in a while (like once a month).  Why? Soda is yummy!  You can drink and drink and never be satisfied.  I can gulp water and be satisfied, I can go through 4 cans of soda and still not have my thirst quenched.
2. Buy excessive amounts of meat when it is on sale at an unbelievable price.  Stock up!
3. Control on the snacks.  Now our one outlet on snacks is the little snack cakes and the powder donut bags.  Why? because I can get them on the super cheap at the day old bread store.  Just the other day, our store had buy 10 bags of donuts for $3.  That is unheard of as a price, so I bought 10 and froze them.  I will buy the boxed snack packs for less than a dollar. (I do buy generic oreos, this is my husbands weakness.  And he only eats 3-4 cookies each night with his glass of milk)
4. Milk is costly, never waste great fresh milk to cook with, use dry.
5. Use what you buy!

 

Now one thing that was listed that I have not given much thought about was buying in bulk produce in season.  I buy in bulk to can, but did not think to buy in bulk for fresh consumption.  Mostly because I am wishy washy on what I feel like eating fresh.  Now we are blessed in this part of Florida, because we have a lot of large volume farmers markets.  I mean where they have nothing but a box truck full of green peppers only.  I like the idea of eating what is in season and cheap.  My fear is, it is a 1 1/2 to 2 hour drive to get there and would my small children be able to keep up with the amount of food I would get from a box of each and only having 2 things.

One way I could work around this, would be to get a couple of families to get in as a co-op and make food boxes every 2-3 weeks. Or instead can/ freeze my left-overs. So I will think about this a bit more and figure out how to incorporate it into my life.

 

Good luck saving.  I keep thinking about this couple I met, while I was still fresh in college doing an internship.  Denny and Pat, senior volunteers, who lived by and constantly chatted the same slogan every day, “Waste not, Want not”. Ten plus years later, this slogan resonates in every part of my life. And grows to take over other parts.  Funny is that this seed was planted for ten years before it ever took root.

~trish

FOOD, INC

I heard a little bit about Food, Inc from some friends, but I did not give it much mind.  I happened to catch the show midstream on TV.  I just found a link to the show, so you can watch it from your computer.

http://video.pbs.org/video/1472879887/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=fanpage&utm_campaign=pbs

I will say, after first viewing this.  Our food shopping will take a new focus.  My previous focus was cheap!  After watching, the utmost desire of cheap is what has helped drive our food production to where it is.  I will take less options, but true food.  I am willing to buy less, I already do, and cook from scratch.  This will be a slow process, but I believe we will be converted almost a 100% to decentralized food sources over the next year or two.

After watching, the strong need for this was awaken. My father died from non-hodgkin’s Lymphoma due to environmental exposure that he received earlier in his life.  His cancer first showed up in his early thirties and finally ended 6 months before turning 50.  Environmental factors that can cause his type of cancer is solvents, pesticides and herbicides, and agent orange.

As you watch, you can avoid many of the negative impacts by buying Organic.  Well, I am not about to take on that large investment, especially with this growing family of soon to be 4 children.  I do know, to limit the amount of NON-FOOD ingredients (all those ingredients that you can not pronounce), just cook from scratch.  And I like cooking from scratch, it is cheaper.  I have a great blog that has helped in a lot of bulk shopping/ cooking from scratch.

www.hillbillyhousewife.com

She has some amazing recipes.

Day by day, we will wean ourselves from all the prepackaged altered food and clean out our kitchen.  The first step will be meat.  No more meat buying from the groceries.  I plan to use a local butcher/slaughter house.  By directly from them or buy from a ranch to send there.  I also have a wonderful local seafood wholesale market.  So I know I will still be buying in bulk, on a large scale, if I can not find another family to go in with us.  So I will have to be diligent in tracking my inventory in my freezer.

I wanted to make sure that I could share this with you.  Please leave me a comment if you are having any of these same thoughts or not.

~trish

My pets makes me breakfast!

This is the true reason I have chickens.  Back to being the ultimate cheapo! 

I have a free range hen and she likes to hide her eggs.  But we found her. 

She is a bit of my challenge.  She went free range about 8 months ago.  Since then, she has been laying eggs for my neighbors, frustrating me, since I am feeding her and she is feeding the neighbors!

Well, we found them!  Yeah!  Especially, when eggs can range about $2.40 a dozen, this was sure glee!

I was so excited!  We had them for breakfast already and I must say, yum!  She lays us eggs that are half yoke! So even when you dilute them with milk, the scrambled eggs still are yellower than regular white eggs scrambled.

I am not sure what type of chicken she is and she likes to hide from me.  She has extra toes and has a bit of a fluff style to her. I am not sure if it is her bread that creates these eggs or is it the benefit of good organic free range eggs.  Either way, she is a great pet.

~trish

3/25/10 Winn-Dixie Shopping – spent $50.78

Now I was lured in with the Easter Dinner deal, where you buy a ham and get for FREE: country crock mac and cheese, ice cream, Hawaiian sweet rolls, and 2-liter of coke.  Now there are weeks, I do not go to Winn-Dixie, but when they do the meals I cannot miss out on them! 

So I went in with a plan and my coupons in hand.  Well, things went crazy in there.  I bought things, that I hadn’t planned on, WHY?  Manufacturers coupons on the items that were on SALE!

So I got my free meal as planned with the 10 pound ham.  I got hot dog buns and hamburger buns for our gathering this Sunday at $1 each, this is comparable to Sam’s club prices. 

Super deals!

Sandies! 10 packages!  They were BOGO $3.99 with $2/2 coupon on the package.  I spent $1 each.

Emeralds Peanuts! 5 containers! 1/2 off sale at $1.64 with $1 off coupon on each one.  I spent $ 0.64 each.

Town House Crackers! 6 boxes. BOGO $3.99 with $2/2 coupon on the box.  I spent $1 each

Betty Crocker Icing! 8 tubs.  Sale $0.99.  On these flavors had $0.25 off coupon. I spent $0.74 each.

 

Now on my coupons!  I had a $10 of $50, so my goal was to reach $50.  I spent $50.78 ( No TAX to the TAX MAN!). 

I had $92.75 saved by the sales and $25.40 in coupons, I saved a total of $118.15!

Sweet!

~trish

What a $100 feels like to me!

So I have told you in the past that I spend about $150 a week only and that is to buy everything but gas.  What is more shocking to others is that I typically do not spend more than $100 on groceries.  Of course, it is usually, HOW!, What do you eat? and so on.  So today I did my stock up shopping by buying based on sale adds.  Now this is not my normal spending/shopping week.  I have a LOT of stuff here I normally do not buy!  But when I spend a $100, this is about how much I get for it.  I am missing 1 bag of frozen nuggets, 1 loaf of bread, and 2 cans of generic ravioli that I already gave away.

What you do see is: 3 loaves of bread, 10 packages of 8 oz kraft cheese, 5 bags of frozen chicken nuggets, 4 family stouffer’s dinners, 2 V8 fusions, 4 syrups, 2 bags of flour, 1 sugar, 1 lb sausage, 3 packages of hotdogs, creamer, tea bags, cream cheese, 2 mandarin orange cans, celery, 2 packages of lance crackers, 2 bags of cereal, 4 bags of bagels, and i variety bag of frito lay chips.

The BIG DEALS! in this assortment. 

The chicken nuggets are 1 lb 10oz bags that were BOGO $5.99, I had $1 off coupon on each bag, so each bag was $2.  Compare that to drive thru wendy’s of 5 for $1!  I will add this in for a bento lunch or 2.

Lance crackers.  BOGO $2.89, I had $1 off each one.  So $0.89 for both!

Kraft Cheese. BOGO $3.69.  I had $2 off 2 and 10 of them!  So 10 pounds of cheese for $16.90!

 

So publix $41.60, Walmart $27.90, Winn Dixie $19.51, total $ 89.01

Huge thanks to!

www.southernsavers.com

www.iheartpublix.com

~trish

Spring is here with strawberries!

Ahh!  Strawberries are in!  I got a flat of strawberries for about $13 from my favorite produce man!  My hopes were to jam them for this coming year.  Well, I will have to buy another flat to do that!  My honey and children devoured them at first glance.  So I do not have enough to jam.

Free Food thanks to Southern Savers

I just want to give recognition back to Southernsavers.com for making my life better.  As always, check it out!

Count them, 12 cans of tomato sauce.  Total cost, drum roll please, ZERO dollars.  Yes, I got all 12 for free!  This is thanks to SouthernSavers.com  linking me to a $1/3 coupon that I was able to print 4 times! And Publix for having 6 cans for $2 sale this week.

As always, about Wednesday or Thursday, I go to her website and review the deals for Winn-Dixie and Publix, I then print off my list, thanks to her click it and print grocery list.  From there I hit all the links to the coupons.  How easy is that?

That is 12 cans in my pantry to feed my family for free! Love it, Love it, Love it!

I only shop the deals from those two store, because I know my limits.  I do not have the energy or the time to chase every deal right now.  But if I could, imagine the deals I would have.

Good Day Shopping!

If you haven’t done so, please check out  www.southernsavers.com.  You will see the link on the left hand side.  Thanks to the fabulous work done by this woman, I am able to get great deals without any searching and time.  I was doing all the couponing  earlier, but I spent a ton of time and energy searching and traveling.  So I gave up for a while. Well having dinner with an old friend, reignited my couponing thanks to her reminder of  www.southernsavers.com.

I know use southern savers to buy at Publix and Winn Dixie only.  I do not have it to go to CVS and Walgreens and Target to name a few.  I am also not picking up every Sunday Paper .  So I pick up a Sunday Paper here and there and I cruise southern savers before I go shopping.  I love that she  links the printable coupons and that you can build your shopping list directly from her sight.

So here are my deals:

Publix

Item	Sale	Coupon	Quantity	Total Price Spent
Pillsbury ready to bake cookies	$3.09 BOGO	$1/2	8	$8.72
Bob Evans Hash browns	$2.59 BOGO	$0.50/1	2	$1.59
Betty Crocker Cake Mix	$1.85 BOGO	-	8	$7.40

Total Spent $17.35, Saved $27.35

Winn-Dixie

Item	Sale	Coupon	Quantity	Total Price Spent
Sara Lee Cheesecake	$4.99 BOGO	$1/1	2	$2.99
Birds Eye 1# frozen Vegetables	10/$10		13	$13.00
Betty Crocker Frosting	$1.99 BOGO	$ 0.50/1	2	$0.99
Oscar Myers Bologna	$2.89 BOGO	$1/1	2	$0.89
Kraft Coleslaw Sauce	$3.79		1	$3.79
Beef Round Roast	$4.99/lb BOGO		5 lbs	$11.89

Total Spent $33.55, saved $ 37.78

 

Now I still have shopping at Wal-Mart and Sam’s, which are my typical shopping adventures for the week. The items I got above was just $50 on stocking up on some luxury goods for our home, minus the veggies.  I typically do not buy ready to bake cookies or cheese cake.  I do buy cake mixes when I can get a great deal on them.  Now the coleslaw dressing is out of pure laziness.  Being in my 7th month of pregnancy and having a birthday party this weekend, I do not have energy to spare.  To take some of the burden I just bought the dressing.  I know a cheapo like me probably has the ingredients to whip it together in less than 15 minutes, but I might not get that 15 minutes, so why chance it. 

Talk about a party!  I am going cheaply!  I am making Pulled BBQ Turkey Sandwiches, Coleslaw, Baked Beans with Sweet Tea and Lemon Aid.  Cupcakes and ice cream.  The turkey just got finished cooking, in the morning I will pull it off the bone and shred it.  Then I will put it in a crock pot with BBQ sauce the day of: total expenses $8.50 14# turkey (frozen since thanksgiving sale) and $4.67 Bulk Sonny’s BBQ Sauce from Sam’s, Buns about $4 from Sam’s. BBQ turkey equals $17 to feed 20-30 people this party and the same number in April for the next party, it freezes great.  Next up, Coleslaw.  The coleslaw is $3 for a huge bag at Sam’s and the $3.79 dressing and about $4 for #10 can of baked beans.  Dinner’s total is $$28.  I have everything to make the tea and lemon aid.  I got a girlfriend that brings the cupcakes as the gift.  The ice cream is on hand.  Taa da!  See why I don’t mind the splurge on the coleslaw dressing.  I even picked up the plates at Wal-Mart for $0.75 a pack in the Valentine isle.

I shouldn’t gloat like this, it is just not pretty.  eww, have you noticed that I am posting more regularly?  Well, I just got a free Microsoft program loaded that is  Windows Live Writer that allows me to compose my postings with all the tools like I am writing in Word and then post it directly to my blog.  This makes it a whole lot easier to post tid bits of my world to you.  Enjoy!

Simplicity Patterns on Sale!

So maybe I went a little crazy at JoAnn’s this weekend.  I am at least thankful that I did not need any more patterns, BUT I just couldn’t help myself.  I think its an obsession.  She who has the most patterns, WINS?  The top pattern to the right is one I am working on for both girls.  I did buy fabric, because I need more fabric like a hole in my head.  I just bought enough to do this outfit and I will have a nice fat quarter left for the pile.
I am actually sewing these in order to learn a new machine.  My ol’ New Home Embroidery machine is slowly blacking out.  It is one of the first embroidery machines for the home that came out about 16 years ago.  Ohh, it was sooo super cool!   It had a touch screen LED and had all these embroidery cards.  Well now, in 15 years of use the screen is getting darker and darker.  Well, with 4 pregnancies and each year my eyes get worst.   So I started looking for new machines, but the dollars are just not here yet.  So being the loved cheapo I am, I am hijacking one of my mom’s machines.  Thankfully she has an extra.

Isn’t it pretty!  As I have been working with this wonderful machine, I realize that I was so romanced with the ol’ New Home.  The New Home  Machine was so luxurious compared to my old chainsaw singer I got for my 13th birthday.  I could not imagine a machine being any smoother than that New Home.  Well, well, well.  Let me tell you this little Brothers Machine is the cat’s meow!  I can not believe how smooth and quiet and easy to control.  The features are amazing.  I am loving the thread cutter, how did I live without it.
You may have noticed the space is not cluttered and cramped around the machine, that is because I am not home.  I am finding some solitude in hiding in my mom’s craft room with the playroom next door for the kids.  I am claiming it is the pregnancy, since I am in my third trimester, but I really believe it is the combination of children getting bigger in a small home, well there is work to do at my house, and I do not have to be constrained in order to sew.  So lets see how long it takes me to wear out my welcome.

Grocery deals 8-2-09

I made the rounds tonight, instead of Monday! Met a few couponers (hello, if you made it here! It was nice meeting you). You know, got to talk to anyone who doesn't ask for me to wipe there but and has a vocabulary larger than Sesame Street. Even if they are frantically walking away form me.

So I went to Walmart, CVS, and Publix in that order.
Walmart
Eggo waffles, 1.50 each, $1/2 coupon, qty:2 for a total of $2
Kellog fruit snack, $2 each, $1/2 coupon, 2, total $3
Scrubbing Bubbles $2 each, $.75/1, 1, total $1.25

I am not listing them all but the good ones. I did find the 42 count flushable pull up wipes for $1.68, I used the $3/2 coupon and got 2 for $0.18 each! Yes you heard that right! Props to www.southernsavers.com for that one.

The Swiffer Mop Jet starter kit was advertised as $18, I brought Tagets ad, where it was $17. But the store was selling it for $16.50, I then used a $2 off coupon and it has coupons totaling $5 .

Keebler stripped cookies are $1.99 in Target's ad and there is a $1/2 coupon. I had walmart compare prices from their $2.99 price and used the coupon, so they were $1.50 each.

Totals here were $64.43, out the door. I used $18.50 in coupons and had them price compare $2 off.

CVS
Betty Crocker's Warm delights 2/$3 and I had $.50/1 coupon, got 2 for a $1 each
Milk gallon, $2.79 plus Reward $1
Venus Razor $8.99 and a $2/1 coupon, so $6.99 with Reward $3

Now I am going back in and getting 4 more warm delights with my coupons and I am spending $0! I know, "why in the world would you buy these if you are on a diet?". Well folks, I do not eat them! I save them for care packages for sick friends. I little chocolate love, for whenever they need it.

Publix!
Everything was purchased with a coupon, even the magazine.

Keebler 100 cal packs, BOGO 3.19,$1/2 coupon, $1.10 each
Yoplait trix yogurt packs, BOGO $2.87, $.4/1, $1.03 each
Fantastick Cleaner, BOGO 2.89, $.75/1, $1.25 each
Poptarts, BOGO 2.45, $1/2, $1.23 each
Kellogs Cereal Frosted Flakes, BOGO 3.99, $1/2, $1.50 each
Betty Crocker Brownies, BOGO $2.63, $.75/2, $.85 each

Total out the door $27.59, $12.10 coupons, Sales savings $34.14!

$104.43, more than usual, way more. but I got some real good stuff, treats that I never fill my house with and I probably will not be buying much more of them.

I need to go back to Publix for the BOGO on Nature Valley 24 ct at $5.49.
Winn-Dixie, Special K blueberry, BOGO 4.79, $1/1 coupon, $1.39 each
Dollar General! Kleenex 3 pack, $2.50, $.50/1, $2 each. (this s good, DG boxes are smaller, but the coupon shoud work)

Ouch, I am inching into my extra good stuff $$, I am going to keep it small next Sunday.

Couponing!

All right! I have een loving the coupons. I go to my mom's house with her super dupper printer/copier and print everything I can find and sort later. I love it. Mostly because it is FAST! My printer takes forever. I use www.southernsavers.com to figure out where I can get the deals.

With tha said, in my life I do not have the time to go crazy and do all the mega deals that everyone is doing. I am sure the retailers are thankful. But I spent one day giving it a whirl, I had a babysitter and I went to CVS and Walgreens, Publix, Winn Dixie, and Wal-Mart. Aghhh, I felt like I was beat over with a baseball bat by the time I was done. And I had spent more than I usually would spend. I just can not get into the CVS and Walgreens deals. I admit the people that do, get some incrediable deals, but for the stuff you get and the time it takes, plus brain power, it just doesn't work out as a good deal FOR ME.

This week I kept it to Sam's Club, Target, Staples, Publix, and Winn-Dixie. Ohh, and the dollar tree. This is still a ton of stores. But I could not pass up Staples and target. Sooo! Got myself a sucker, oh I mean babysitter, I took off to:
Staples:
www.coupon.com has $1/2 Bic stationary packs and Staples has 25cent, limit 2 BIC mechanical pencils. So this was a freebie! I picked up a composition book too, I felt bad if the ashier had to give me money back, so all I paid was tax. $0.07
Target:
the target website coupons had $1 off of one smart ones frozen entree up until noon on MOnday. Well, this week they are selling at 5 for $9. So I had 2 coupons and got 2 entrees at $0.80 each. I regret not printing out more earlier. What I did findout is that the coupons are good for about 2 weeks after they are removed from the internet. So if it is something you are interested in, print out as many as you can.
On a side note, I was accused of coping them from the casher. At this part, I informed her that there is not a print limit and I was making separate transactions for each one, just as the coupon instructs.
Sam's Club:
I just stopped in to get my 3 gallons of milk at $2.38 a gallon, my salad mix $2.77, 3# bananas $1.46, and Potatoes 10# $5.36. While there, I was suckered!

The book section does me in all the time. I picked up a Leap Pad Phonics program with 10 books and the catridge for all for $25.46, it was originally $60. The box was all beat up, but everything inside was perfect. There was about 4 left.

Also they are now carrying BOB Books. Bob Books are a collection of easy to read little paper books that you start at book ne and progress. They are usually in a set of 5 boxes with about 9 books in each. The club has 3 special sets that are a condenced version of the 5 boxes. Each set is $10.64. So on my first visit, I picked up Box 1 with 18 books. #1, at almost 5 years old, was able to sound out every word of the story. Haha. They are a nice collection to our home library of our young readers.

Yes, half my bill was books. well, that is te nice part of being on a budget, I knew how to move $$ around to get the cool stuff.

Dollar Tree
I know I bet you are wondering, hmm, what did she get there. I was in a pinch and had no desire to figure out the best deal or subject myself to Wal-mart, so I went there and picked up little kid shampoo, baby wash, and a loaf of bread. Believe it or not I picked up Nature's Own Light Honey Wheat for $1. What a deal, sure it might be day -old bread, but it will be that in my house in a day or two anyway.

Now I did Publix and Winn-Dixie on Tuesday Morning, so I could get in before their sales ended.
Publix:
www.coupons.com again for $0.80/2 Go-gurts and they are BOGO for $2.60. So I picked up 6 boxes of 8 for $0.90 each. I thew them in the freezer for special treats. Also I got th rosted mini wheats BOGO at $4.19 and I had $1.50/2, so I got each box at $1.35 each for 18 ounces. My goal for cereal is to buy at 10 cents per ounce of less. Kraft dressing BOGO at $3.01, I had only one $1/1 coupon so I got 2 dressings at $1 each.

Winn-Dixie
Absolutely nothin. I thought the bacon was on sale at $2 a package, but it was really the cooked bacon with 15 slices inside. NOt my thing.

So my conclusion on couponing, is that I am sticking to Publix, Winn-Dixie, and Walmart. I will adventure out for the really good deals on a deal to deal basis, cause this momma has no time for the little things here and there.

God Bless! Tell me about your shopping deals!

Save Big with Coupons - The Gainesville Sun July 12, 2009

Here is a great article and list of some super awesome websites! Enjoy!

Save big with coupons
In these tough economic times, more people are clipping coupons and saving big
By Lashonda Stinson CurryStaff writer
Published: Sunday, July 12, 2009 at 6:01 a.m. Last Modified: Friday, July 10, 2009 at 9:42 a.m.


A good deal used to be hard to find. Not anymore.
sites
www.coupons.com
www.redplum.com
www.couponwinner.com
www.promotionalcodes.com
www.couponmom.com
www.couponbug.com
www.hotcouponworld.com
www.couponclipper.com
www.smartsource.com
www.retailmenot.com
www.abundantfoodsavings.com
www.moneysavingmom.com
www.fiddledeedee.com
www.freestuffandsamples.com
www.heyitsfree.com
www.ilovefreethings.com
www.freeflys.com

Just ask Amanda Clanton. In the last few months, the Gainesville wife and mother of three has cut her grocery bill in half. Jamy Tan, a nurse at Shands, has spent less than $500 this year on groceries and household items. Ocala resident Marcy Melluci never leaves a store paying full price.

All these women do the same thing to save money: use coupons.

With a sinking economy and soaring unemployment rates, shoppers are clipping and clicking their way to deals and discounts.

Clanton, 28, runs the after-school program at Talbot Elementary School and her husband teaches second grade at Idylwild Elementary School. They are parents to a 4-year-old and 17-month-old twins. She began using coupons seriously in February after she got multiple packs of Juicy Juice boxes for next to nothing.
She spends an hour a week scouring sales ads and coupons and creating her shopping list. Clanton said when the Sunday paper is stuffed with lots of coupons she buys multiple copies. She also gets coupons on the Internet and from store coupon booklets, usually located near the front of the store next to the advertisements. Coupons are also available on Target.com by scrolling to the bottom of the home page and clicking on "Grocery Coupons."

Once a week she shops at Publix with her friends, who are also big coupon users. They turn the routine act of grocery shopping into a competition to see who can save the most money at the register. Two months ago, she got her best deal to date: $40 worth of groceries for $1.27.

Each time she shops, she said, her goal is to save more than she spends.
"I discovered with coupons, coupled with sales, a lot of times you can get free stuff," said Clanton, who uses 60 to 80 coupons on "a good week." "It really helps cut down on the grocery bill. ... When I realized how much money I saved doing it, it became a necessity."

Lenka Keston, senior product manager of CouponWinner.com and Promotionalcodes.com, said the Web sites have experienced a 120 percent spike in traffic in the past year. The sites offers printable grocery coupons, but also discounts for hundreds of stores and Web sites. The stigma or stereotypes associated with the kinds of people who use coupons has disappeared, she said. Keston said the company's demographics has expanded from just moms to students, singles and men and women of all ages.

"They're all looking to save money. People are more aware that coupons are out there and they're easy to use," she said. "People are searching for ways to save and cut expenses out of their budget. Nowadays, it's cool to use coupons."
Keston said shoppers are benefiting from the state of the retail industry, where competition is high in every sector.

"We have also seen more and more retailers starting to offer coupons and promotional codes to give incentive to consumers to come back to their stores and sites," she said. "We're seeing 25 percent and 40 percent, which we didn't see that much before."

Some shoppers, such as Jamy Tan, have turned couponing into a science. On an average grocery store trip, she buys $200 worth of groceries and spends less than $1. Tan, 47, scores the most deals when she shops buy one, get one free [BOGO] sales and combines that with manufacturer coupons and store coupons. As a result, she gets many items for free.

"A lot of people don't understand that you can use store coupons plus use the manufacturer coupons and that some stores take coupons from other grocery store and drug stores," said Tan, who shops mainly at Publix. "I spend a lot of time planning, and that's the important thing. It's amazing how many resources that are available. ... It's free money everywhere and people don't see it!"
Tan, married with a son, has challenged herself to spend just $1,000 in one year on groceries and household items, calling it the "$1,000 Frugal Challenge 2009." She said in the last six months she's spent $330. She also has a blog, http://www.seaykopitiam.com/, where she displays what's on sale at different stores and offers Web sites to find coupons for the sale items.

"For me it's not about saving money, but I kind of feel like I beat the system," she said.

Becoming a coupon user isn't hard, the women said. Tan compares "couponing," to trying to lose weight: You have to change your mentality and change your lifestyle. Dedicate time to it and the reward will be worth it.
Clanton said shoppers should match up the coupons with whatever is on sale and then stock up on the items they use the most. For example, thanks to a buy-one-get-one-free sale and using coupons, she got 20 boxes of pasta for about $2. She also said it's important to stay organized.

She calls her coupon holder the "Holy Grail." Her coupons are sorted and stored inside a large plastic container. A calculator and clipboard are glued to the top of the lid. She never leaves the house without it.

"It makes shopping fun. I hated going grocery shopping after I had my twins because it was such a chore. Now, this has given me an incentive to go grocery shopping," said Clanton, describing herself as a very competitive person. "I always try to save more than I spend."

For Melluci, who works at Maplewood Elementary School in Ocala, it's not about having fun or being competitive, she just wants to save money. It was from her frugal grandmother that she learned the value of discounts and deals. "She always said if it wasn't on sale, then you don't need it," said the single mom. "Anything I can use a coupon for, I use. With today's economy, a dollar only goes so far."

She's been a coupon clipper for more than 10 years and her best coupon source is the Sunday newspaper. She and her son cut coupons together every week. Coupons can also be found in magazines, such as Redbook, Good Housewives and Ladies Home Journal.

Melluci also finds coupons by going to the Web sites of the products she uses the most and the companies that own them, such as Procter and Gamble, Kraft and General Mills. Sometimes, they offer free product samples, too.
Melluci said the more you use coupons, the easier it gets. Last week she paid $41 for almost $100 worth of groceries.

"Everybody is trying to be more frugal, and if they want to save money, coupons are the way to go," she said. "People have to be willing to invest the time to save the money."

Here is the link!
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090712/ARTICLES/907121000

Deal of the Week #1 from Stampin UP!

Every week during the month of July, Stampin' Up! will offer one discounted product as a "Deal of the Week." No limits and no minimum purchase required.

Deadline June 6th, 9 am. Call me to order, 941-916-6557

The first deal of the week is:

Item # 112091 Scallop Edge punch $10.99

This is typically $15.95 and will be at the end of the week.

Planning your shopping trips!

Usually before I take my adventure in grocery shopping, I plan my list and an approximate price for each item. By paying attention to what things cost and writing the cost down on my list every week has given me the ability to do a very good job approximating my total bill.

Well, my goal is to buy the most economical. Economical is the lowest cost for unit with a quantity that is reasonable to store and use within the expiration date. So, I do not want to buy 400 dozen eggs, just because I can get them for $0.50. Or I do not want to buy 25# bag of flour, if I have no reason to use it in 2 months or a reasonable place to store it.

Okay, focus! It is easy to know the price on the advertised adds, but what about the rest? I have stayed clear of Sam's Club for close to a year, because I would either buy everything there and spend $200 or buy nothing from there. I am an all or nothing kind of girl. So I found an alternative. I make my list as usual and then I go to Sam's website to get grocery prices. Believe it or not, Sam's list the true price of each grocery item, even produce. So I go to Wal-mart first and if they can beat the Sam's price then I get it there, otherwise I pick it up at Sam's.

www.samsclub.com

So check out your local warehouse club to see if they list their bulk prices. It may cost you a little more the first 2 weeks, but consider it investing in your pantry. Beware, only bulk up on you staples, not luxury groceries.

Have a great day!
~t

Groceries for the week!

I will admit, I did decide to skip Publix until tomorrow. So my initial grocery trip was first Winn Dixie and then to Walmart.

Winn Dixie
Now this is the first time that I was using the method that I learned from Kim F. about her couponing process. So I took my list and all my coupons (uncut) and went to town searching for my megadeals. It was a bit of a challenge to put it lightly, mostly because of my ungraceful awkwardness with pushing the double decker cart, clipboard, calculator, and pen. After a few isles, I had it somewhat under control. I tore the coupons out as I put the items in the basket and stuck them in my pocket. I added the cost on the calculator with the coupon discount (so I could track what I was spending). So I did my shopping, made a few alterations to my list (adding and subtracting). I got to the end and went to the check out lane. Weww!

Things to keep in mind at Winn-Dixie! Those $10 off a $50 purchase is $50 before coupons! Woo hoo hoo! Check this out, we are going to have some fun! My totals were!

Spent (the money that came out of my pocket!) $32.89
Winn Dixie Savings (Reward Card coupon, sales) $53.94
My printer coupons that I linked in the other post: $20.00
Total money saved!!!! $73.94

So I got a little over $100 in groceries with only $32.89 out of my pocket. Now $6 of that was some crystal light, I bought for my mom. See I didn't need it, but I had the coupons. I needed to get to $50 to use the $10 coupon, so I gave it away (so to speak).

Man, I am looking around. I thought the balloons were going to start fall from the ceiling, some confetti! But really no one gave a hoot that I just won the coupon lottery and got paid for buying BBQ sauce. But the lady behind me was having a look of shock at my the numbers. Whatever, my pantry is being stocked for pennies. And I walked out with another $10 coupon for $50!

On to the next store.

Wal-mart
This was just to pick up what wasn't cost effective at Winn-Dixie. My cash always feel the safest at Walmart, because for the most part, without trying, I will get a better cost on products I need, as long as you do not get sucked into the other departments. If you have no control, never step foot out of Grocer side or go some where else.

I did run into a young family there, that allowed me to share my know-all of being frugal in the isles. Their education experiences shocked me that this little bit of VERY IMPORTANT information might not be known to everyone. So here we go!

Price labels on the shelves.
You know when you are comparing the prices of a couple of different items, you are seeing the big price number $2.99, $3.99 what have yah. Well if you look closely, you see a smaller number. This smaller number is extremely important, the unit price. That smaller number might say 25.4 cents (that is the line through the c)per ounce. Well this tells you how much you are actually paying for the product, so you can compare apples to apples. Here is my example:

Bag of rice. You are debating between 2 sizes and brands.
Brand A (14 oz bag) for $0.99
the unit price (the little number on the tag) 0.07 per ounce

Brand B (18 oz bag) for $1.15
the unit price 0.06 per ounce

So at first look, you might think hey Brand a is under a buck, Good Deal. But the real deal is the Brand B, because for every ounce you get, you are paying less.

Now be careful! BIGGER IS NOT BETTER! Walmart sugar, 5 pound bag is 2, $0.40 a pound. Well if you buy in the next bag up, it is about $ 0.60 a pound!

My friends check the unit cost on the labels!

Back to my bragging session, my blog, about me!

Walmart grocery bill: $32.84

Budgeted splurges! My budget gives me guilt free spending, because I know how much I have to spend, I plan my menus around what is on sale and what is in my pantry and anything left over is mine to do the other things that are needed (i.e., clothes, recreation, fast food, decorating, homeschool, christmas gifts)

My splurge was on:
6 rubber totes at $3 each (68Qt size) on clearance for a total of $18
I am using them to store my children's clothes at a friends house. So I wanted to get nice ones that match and in excellent condition, so I won't clutter or disgrace her surroundings.

8 ft kiddie pool at $20.
I had contiplated having a large above ground pool. I had a nice 18 foot one given to us and it only needs a liner, that is about $100. I then sat back excitedly, telling an uncle about the joy the kids and I are going to have with it. He then began to describe the amount of work and it's cost to maintain, approximately $150 a month. WOOOOO NELLY!!!! SAY WHAT! I AM NOT GIVING UP $35 a week from my $150 spending allowance to a WATER BUCKET! Like I need to spend that much time with a pool, when I have just conquered my laundry for the first time. NO no NO, that is NOT going to happen to this momma! $20 bucks for a dang 8 foot pool that I am going to throw away in October, HECK OF A DEAL! LOL!!

Alphabet place matt and washable crayons $3.97
this one goes under homeschool! It is the lamenated place mats. I then got the washable crayons that have the easy grip triangle shape. This helps #1 grip it the best for her little hands as she learns to identify and write the alphabet. The matt will be used for the kids (excellent resource for a $1). The crayons will be stored separately, so they will not get mixed up in the crayon box. These crayons are the washable, thus costing more. At the begining of the school year is when I pick up a ton of Crayola boxes for $0.20 for 24. Because I love new crayons with perfect tips.

Tonights grocery total: $65.73
Budgeted "resources" (i.e. all others) $44.91

Publix will be approximately $18!

I hope you enjoy. My next shopping list will be out about Thursday or Friday!