Thursday, December 31, 2009

A couple quick trips... Walmart (for a price match) and Marsh 'cause I love it.

I loaded the dishwasher the other day and gasped when I realized we were o.u.t. of dishwasher detergent.  I broke out in a cold sweat thinking I was going to have to pay full price for dishwasher soap.  But I didn't and that is why I love Marsh.  I remembered that I saw some boxed powdered detergent (Cascade none-the-less!) marked down 50% at Marsh the other day.  I went in hoping and praying that it was still there and it was!  And then the eggrolls I bought were on sale 5/$5 and the boxes had a $.75 coupon in them.  When Brian and I bought some the other day, we cut the coupon out of it and since I was going back, I went ahead and took that coupon with me to buy one more box while they were still on sale.

Marsh:
Cascade was $5.59 for $2.79
Asian Sensation eggrolls (4ct box) was $3.59 for $.25 (yes, only a quarter!)

My total before card and coupon (for the eggrolls) was $9.38.  After my card (which saved me the 50% on the Cascade) and my $.75 coupon for the eggrolls the total was $3.24, saving me 67%.

I bought two items and the price per item was $1.62.

And so I lied the other day - this was my last trip to Marsh for the year.  2009 savings was 2760.83.  That's a LOT of money saved (and a lot of money spent as Brian would say).


After Marsh I went to Walmart for a price matching deal on Gillette deodorant (that Brian doesn't use) and Gillette shower wash (that Brian does use).

3 Gillette deodorants should have been $13.41 (4.47 each) and I price matched to $3.49 @ Meijer and had three $1.00 coupons which made the three deodorants $7.47.  THEN I had a buy a deodorant get a shower wash for free coupon (actually I had three).

So the three deodorants and washes should have cost me $23.40 and I paid $8.90 for all six items - making them only $1.48 each.  Not bad for shower wash that is normally $3.50 or more.  I saved about 60% on that trip to Walmart. 

Sunday coupon preview - for January 3, 2010

There are some HIGH DOLLAR coupons rollin' out in this coming weekends inserts!  I've read that there should be five inserts - two Smart Source (SS), two Red Plum (RP) and one General Mills (GM).  And there was a Proctor and Gamble (P&G) in this past weekend's paper.

Anyways, the high dollor coupons this weekend include:
Red Plum
Centrum $3.00/1
Nivea Body Lotion 13.5 fl oz $2.00/1

Nivea Body Lotions 13.5 oz $5.00/1
Nivea Body Wash for Women 16.9 oz $2.00/1
Nivea Lip Care 0.17 oz BOGO
Nivea My Silhouette 7oz $3.00/1

Smart Source
Crystal light drink mix product and Nabisco 100 calorie packs $2/2
Softsoap liquid soap 8.5 oz $0.35/1 (not high dollar but can make for $.30 soap!)
Oust surface disinfectant & air sanitizer B1G1 free up to $3.99
Aleve product 40 ct or larger $2/1



And if you'd like to see what else is included, just follow to the links below to Hot Coupon World (I think they work for non-members).  If you find they don't, let me know and I can get you whole lists.

RP Inserts at Hot Coupon World

SS Inserts at Hot Coupon World

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Marsh ad highlights - 12/31/09 to 1/6/10

It's a New Year!  It looks like Marsh is trying to bring the New Year in right with a 10 for $10 sale and a 4-day (Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday) New Years sale too.  The highlights for me include:

4-day Sale
Fresh ground chuck - $1.48/lb (still) (save $1.71/lb - more than 50% off)
Western style ribs - $.98/lb (save $1.41/lb - more than 50% off)

10 for $10 Sale (runs all week)
Aunt Millie's bread or buns
Knorr or Lipton side dishes
2-liter Coke, Pepsi, 7-up
Chef Boyardee
Barilla pasta sauce

The rest of the ad (runs all week):
Perdue boneless, skinless chicken breasts - $1.77/lb (save $2.22/lb - more than 50% off)
Edy's ice cream - 2/$5 (save $5.76 - must buy two to get this price...more than 50% off)
Doritos - 2/$4 (save $3.98 on two, almost 50% off)
Sara Lee deli meats - $5.99/lb (save $1.40/lb)

And that's it on the list for me.  I'm so thankful I have shelves in the basement with other food on it that should get us through the week until another sale comes along. 

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

A blog to follow that has nothing to do with saving money...

This girl is HILARIOUS though.  I'm not even sure where I found this blog (I think from a mommy board I used to chat on) but I love her.  Most of her posts have me in stitches from laughing so hard.

She can use some not so nice language, so be forewarned.  But Barefoot Foodie is really, really good!

Monday, December 28, 2009

Weekly shopping - we went over budget!

We did awesome great okay not so hot on our grocery trip this week.  Both Brian and I are home all week (yay vacation!) and sat down together today to make a menu of items for lunches and dinners for the full week.  And we bought that much food too.  Needless to say, we went over budget.  We had $27 left from recent weeks and still didn't have enough.  Brian pulled $9 in cash from his pocket and we STILL didn't have enough.  So the $75 (for the week) and $27 (leftover) and the $9 (from Brian's pocket) will be deposited to the account tomorrow because we had to use our debit card.  *gasp*

So what did we get?

2 Kraft shredded cheese was $6.58 for $2.38
2 Kraft Velveeta was $8.98 for $5.98
2 Breyers ice cream was $11.38 for $3.50
2 Creamette spaghetti was $3.38 for $1.69 (B1G1 free)
Western BBQ ribs was $8.53 for $3.50
appx. 10 lbs ground chuck was $29.92 for $13.88

Along with cottage cheese, yogurt, sliced cheese, lunch meat, bread, milk, pasta sauce, taco shells and many other small'ish things.

The two items that totally threw us over budget?  A delicious bottle of Reggae White from Easley Winery ($6.59) and a 12pk of Blue Moon ($12.99).

So the total before coupons and card was $183.30.  And after coupons and card our total was $113.14, saving a small 39%.  If we had paid for the alcohol seperately, our savings would have been closer to 45%. 

Our total items purchased was 63, making the price per item $1.79.  Ouch!  Once again...the alcohol creamed us!  Oh well - we are preparing for the New Year's celebration and since all food is already purchased, we figured we might as well get the alcohol now. 

So for the year at Marsh we have saved $2754.69 and I'd guess we averaged between 40% - 50% on most trips.  Meaning what could have cost us closer to $5000 didn't.  No more shopping trips in the year 2009 - there's no money left to do it with!

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Sunday coupon preview - one insert for 12/27

If you've read any coupon preview posts prior to this you'll know that I said there weren't going to be any inserts in the papers until 1/3/10.  Well...  I just found a preview of the P&G (that'd be Proctor and Gamble) insert that will be in tomorrow's paper.  I don't think I'm going to buy a paper just for coupons tomorrow (not enough in it) but you might want to check it out and see what might be good for you.

Taylortown Preview has the coupons for tomorrow's insert all listed out with the amount of the coupon and when they expire.  The one coupon I'll be looking for in the inserts my granny gives me from her paper?  The $3 off two Pantene products.  My stockpile is getting slim! 

Happy couponing!

Marsh ad highlights - 12/26 to 12/30 (shorter week this week!)

Because of the Christmas holiday, the shopping week at Marsh got shortened but the deals were not!  There are still lots of deals to be had this week...

Fresh ground chuck - $1.48/lb (save $1.71/lb - more than 50% off)
Breyers Ice cream - 2/$5 (save $6.38 on two - more than 50% off)
Jack's or Tony's Pizzas - 5/$10 (only $2 per pizza)
Fresh Grade 'A' Perdue chicken - 40% off (not the best prices...but better than full price!)
Lay's Potato Chips - $1.98 (save $2.01 - more than 50% off)
Marsh milk - $1.98
6-pack 7-up - Buy 2 get 3 free (save $11.97 on five)
Kraft Velveeta - $3.99 (only saving $.50 but this rarely goes on sale - good with coupons that were out recently)
Creamette pasta - B1G1 free (50% off)
18ct Marsh large eggs - $.179
Cheez-Its - $1.89 (for the big box!)

So...see all those items that are at least 50% off, those will be the ones I purchase and depending on the space I have (on the shelves and in the freezer) I'll be buying multiples...enough to hopefully last me until the next time the item goes on sale.  Will I NEED four blocks of Kraft Velveeta?  No way but it keeps for a while and we use it quite a bit, so why not buy it when it is on sale and I have a $1 coupon for it?  Same with the ground chuck - we'll buy 10lbs (the limit).  We won't use it all right away but why wait?  No reason to pay $3.19/lb for it when I can get it for only $1.48, right?

If you think Marsh is too expensive you're probably right - if you're just going in there and buying whatever floats your boat.  If you go in with a list and a plan and buy the things on sale then you're going to find you'll get better deals than other places (without coupons even).  If you're a couponer on top of a bargain hunter then your savings at Marsh will be even better. 

Day-after-Christmas 50% off sale...

This is the one and only time you will EVER hear me say this...but I love Walmart.  I know other stores probably do this as well but I always head to Walmart the day after Christmas and they never disappoint me.  There is no other time of the year that I even like Walmart so consider this miraculous.

Anyways, here's what I got today:

4 100ct Christmas lights (multi color) - $1.19 each
22 small tin buckets w/ lids (used for my ball treats) - $.50 each
1 18ct Princess gift tags (for a certain little girl) - $1.00
2 70sq ft wrapping paper (also Princess) - $1.50 each
2 boxes Christmas cards - $2.50 each
4 Christmas throws (I don't know how to explain them but they are delicious...even though Brian says you can't apply to word delicious to things you can't eat...) - $2.50 each
4 HUGE bags of red and green M&Ms - $4.00 each (priced $4.50 but had coupons)
1 Princess stocking (also for a certain girl who thinks she needs a pink stocking) - $6.25 (my most expensive purchase!)

All said and done - before the discounts my price (pre-tax) should have been $119.02 and I paid $61.68 (including tax).  Because everything was half off and I had two $1 coupons (for the M&Ms) I saved just over 50%.  Not too bad on items that I might have paid full price for just the day before yesterday. 

It pays to plan ahead and buy for next year...  Do you know that you need more lights for the tree (or a new tree!?) next year?  Go buy it now...it'll save until next year!

Don't forget to check out the plates, towels, cups, tableclothes, etc that are Christmas-y too - those were all on sale as well.  My aunt bought a 4pc plate set for only $6.  And there were some Rubbermaid 4ct bowls (kinda sparkly with red or green lids) that were "Christmas" and only $1. 

And if you really want to save (but this leads to very slim pickin's) - Walmart will soon (a couple weeks maybe?) have their Christmas items marked down 75%. I can't wait that long though - I might not get what I want!

Friday, December 25, 2009

Week of 11/20 through Week of 12/11 grocery budget

Remember this post?  Yeah...here it is fixed.


11/22 Marsh - 55.49, saved 62.90 (54%)
11/24 Marsh - 6.94, saved 11.19 (62%)
11/25 Walgreens - 2.91, saved 11.72
11/27 Marsh - 30.19, saved .50 (2%) - bought for veggie tray for Thanksgiving gathering
11/28 Marsh - 43.59, saved 67.42 (67%) - triples! And I had some mispriced items.
11/29 Walmart - 12.74, saved 0.00
11/30 Marsh - 14.57, saved 16.47 (53%)
12/3 Marsh - 1.98, saved .61 (24%)
12/5 Marsh - 55.92, saved 56.26 (50%)
12/5 Burger King - 8.97, saved 0.00 (no eating out money but it was food so we opted to eat at BK)
12/9 Marsh - 9.99, saved 10.56 (52%)
12/12 Marsh - 4.99, saved .93 (16%)
12/14 Marsh - 53.07, saved 41.91 (44%)
12/15 Marsh - 11.97, saved 9.00 (43%)

Budget = 300.00

313.38 spent
289.47 saved
602.85 total

appx. 48% savings

I spent $43.59 during triples at Marsh and that was JUST stockpiling...  I'm not trying to make excuses here...just reporting what I spent because I also spent that $30.19 on the veggie tray for Turkey Day and that would have dropped us under the $300 level. Also, compared to last month I had 14 trips to the store (and only 12 last month).

Thankfully Brian and I can afford to put a bit from savings to build the stockpile and cover those small trips that I don't plan so well. Here's to next month and sticking STRAIGHT to the budget!

Mid-week shopping - trips I haven't shared

So sometimes in the middle of the week I run to the store because I need something or something is on sale and I decided to go ahead and get it...  Here's three trips that are just that.

Trip #1 - butter for baking (will go to the freezer!):
6 Borden salted butter quarters was $20.94 for $11.94 (no coupons)
     saved 43%

Trip #2 (taco night!):
I bought tomatoes, black beans, sour cream and cilantro - was $5.92 for $4.99
     saved a whopping 16%

Trip #3:
2 10lb Russet potatoes was $7.98 for $3.99 (B1G1 free)
heavy cream
milk
     Total was $15.56 before card and $10.81 after card (no coupons), saved 31%

So not my best trips (obviously) but when you forget something on your weekly trip or stop in after work to pick up "just one thing" it adds up and the savings aren't nearly as good because it isn't all planend out.  But I just say oh well and go on knowing that it will probably happen again because I'm forgetful and no where near perfect!

Weekly shopping - the middle of baking...oops I ran out of something...edition

Last Saturday I was in the middle of working on baking some cakes (for cake balls) and mixing the ingredients for peanut butter balls (aka buckeyes) when I realized I was out of eggs to make more cakes.  Since chocolate, carrot and red velvet are part of my standart ball-making repetoire, I knew I needed to hit the store.  I also remembered that Marsh had a great ad for other non-baking items and sat down to make my list and gather my coupons before I left.  Here's what I got:

6 Oscar Mayer sliced bacon was $32.94 for $11.97 (B1G1 free plus 6 $.75 off coupons)
Perdue split chicken breatsts was $10.67 for $3.50
18 ct Marsh eggs (the only thing I really NEEDED) for $1.79
6 Kraft 8oz block cheese was $19.74 for $6.87 (just over $1 a block!)
6 Kraft Philly cream cheese was $11.94 for $4.50 (less than $1 per block!)
4 Reynolds foil was $19.56 for $5.96
9 Betty Crocker cheesy potatoes (boxed) was $17.01 for $2.70 (that's $.30 per box)
4 Chex cereal (yes more to match what I bought a few weeks ago) was $12.16 for $4.96 (not quite as cheap as last time...$1.24 this time per box and only $1.00 per box last time)

Along with some other odds and ends...my total before card and coupons was $166.50.  After cards and coupons my total was $65.44, saving 61%.

Total items purchased was 55 making the price per item only $1.18.

Savings to date at Marsh is 2679.78 and I've got ONE MORE TRIP (tomorrow!) before the end of the year. 

And take a few days off, I did!

It's been a week!  A week since I last posted!  But the deals are still happening...  I just haven't posted about them.  This past weekend was crazy hours spent in the kitchen making sweets and treats to share with family and friends.  Monday I shopped, Tuesday I celebrated with friends, Wednesday I rang bell for Salvation Army and Thursday we celebrated Christ's birthday at church and opened some presents (and that was all after working full days at work too). 

So I've got some deals to post and some previews of Marsh's ad too.  Today will be spent with family and friends and while Brian is cooking breakfast, I'm working on my posts.

Merry Christmas everyone...  May the New Year bring you many spectacular savings!

Friday, December 18, 2009

The coupon gods must be out to get me...no inserts in Sunday's paper!

I always knew that the Sunday after a holiday was usually a couponless paper.  I didn't realize the last two Sundays of the year are couponless as well.  Bummer.  I guess I better go through the 15 or so inserts I haven't gotten through in the last few weeks. 

So - no coupon preview from me next Thursday either.  It's the holidays - I might just have to take a few days off. 

The next inserts will be in the January 3, 2010 papers!

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Sunday coupon preview...nothing posted yet!

So, I'm not sure if there are no inserts or if just no one has posted it yet.  I've checked both The Coupon Clippers and Taylortown Preview and nada.  I know that the weekend after the holiday there are no inserts but there should be something in this weekends.  I'll keep checking and post what I find...

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Marsh ad highlights - 12/17 to 12/24. That's eight days of savings!

Need some ham? Any type of ham? Well then you better head to Marsh. Again this week they have hams on sale:


Indiana Kitchen Spiral Sliced Ham - $1.68/lb (save $1.31/lb - almost half price)
Cumberland Gap or Cook's Half Semi-Boneless Ham - $1.49/lb (save $1/lb)
Cumberland Gap or Cook's Whole Semi-Boneless Ham - $1.17/lb (save $1.22/lb - more than half)
Sugardale Prestige Whole Ham - $.97/lb (save $1.02/lb - more than half)
Sugardale Prestige Fully Cooked Ham - $.67/lb (save $1.12/lb - more than half)

And if turkey is what you prefer - there are coupons in the ad for fresh or frozen Norbest or Butterball Turkeys or Marsh Honey Gold Spiral Sliced Ham ($14 or $8 off depending on the size).

Already got your meat for the holiday? Stick around - there are more awesome deals this week at Marsh!

Perdue Split Chicken Breasts - $.98/lb (save $2.01/lb - approximately 66% savings)
Tennessee Pride roll sausge - 2/$4 (save $3.38 on two - almost half)
Center Cut Whole Boneless Pork Loin - $1.68/lb (save $2.31/lb - more than half)
Kraft cheese - 1/2 price
Lay's potato chips - B1G1 free (half price)
10lb bag Idaho Russet potatoes - B1G1 free (half price)
Marsh bread - 5/$5 (save $2.50 on five or $.50 each)
Marsh milk - $1.98/gallon
12-pack 7-Up, Pepsi or Coke - 4/$10 (save $7.56 or more on four) Limit 1 offer
Oscar Mayer sliced bacon - B1G1 free
Buddig thin sliced meats (great for cheeseballs and pickle wraps!) - 2/$1 (save $.98 on two - almost half)
Post Cereals - $1.49/box (when you buy two) - save $1 instantly
Dole canned fruit - 5/$5
Domino sugar - B1G1 free (half price)
Betty Crocker boxed potatoes - 10/$10 (paired with current coupons you can get a box for as little as $.30)
Chex cereals - $1.49/box (when you buy three) - save $3 instantly
Thomas' english muffins - B1G1 free (half price)
Pop Secret popcorn - B1G1 free (half price)
Sara Lee pies - 50% off
Marsh large eggs - $1.79
Keebler Cheez-Its or Chips Deluxe - $1.89 (saves $2 on Cheez-Its, not sure on cookies)
Scotch Magic Tape - $.99 (save $.70 - almost half) - get it now for next year's Christmas!

So for those of you out there who don't coupon...this is a GREAT way to stock up on some items at 50% off. There are several items in the ad that are at least half off (or pretty darn close) and some that are more than half off. If you've got the space for one, do you have space for the other (all the B1G1 free things)? Think creatively if needed...store them under your bed or in some unused space in a closet. Dry goods will keep for a long time...the expiration date is just guideline. And the Kraft cheese? FREEZE IT!  If you don't have the space?  Get the B1G1 free items and give the extra to someone who needs it (Salvation Army?  church pantry?) or go in with a friend and split the price in half and you both get one whole item. 

And for your other items? If they are priced too high at Marsh - go back to your normal shopping spot. If you think you don't have time to shop two stores...make a list for Marsh, know exactly what you are buying and get only those items - you'll be out in no time. Good luck!

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Need a blog to follow?

How about Bargain Briana?  She's an Indiana girl (central Indiana even!) who blogs about great deals and bargains including stores like Kroger, Meijer and Kmart.  She updates frequently and always has good stuff.  So go check her out...she's worth it!

Monday, December 14, 2009

Weekly shopping - the husband edition

If I've never said it here before - I love my husband.  Love.him.  Seriously.  Not only is he my best friend and my favoritist hubby, he's a wonderful dad and he takes really, really, really good care of us.  So this weekend was super busy for us...I didn't make it to the grocery store.  We usually make it a family outing and it just didn't happen.

So Brian and I glanced through the ads last night, I told him what coupons I thought I had for what we wanted and he said he'd go today.  And he did.  And he did AWESOME!
He got:

Center cut pork chops was $6.06 for $2.36
frozen food - not sure what but it was a rain check and whatever it was was at least 1/2 off the normal price!
two Sargento cheese was $8.38 for $4.19 (B1G1 free)
10 Hidden Valley Ranch dry ranch packets was $16.90 for $10.00
butter quarters was $3.49 for $1.99 (yes!)

Plus some canned goods, fresh fruit and the basics - milk and bread. 

The total for all groceries before card and coupons was $94.98.  After card and coupons and the SECOND AWESOME $7 off $50 coupon in the ad (woot again!) the total was $53.07, saving 44%.

Considering he only used five coupons (including the $7 off $50) - I am WAY impressed with his shopping!  EVERYTHING he bought (minus some of the fresh fruit) was either on sale or he had a coupon or both.  I love my husband!

Total items purchased was 37, making it $1.43 per item.

Savings to date at Marsh is $2569.72 and there are only TWO shopping weekends left in 2009! 

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Week of 11/20 through Week of 12/11 grocery budget

11/15  Speedway - 4.99, saved .99
11/16  Marsh - 70.40, saved 62.55 (47%) - had some rainchecks, savings not quite right
11/18  Marsh - 26.53, saved 44.54 (63%)
11/18  Marsh - 8.61, saved 15.41 (64%)
11/18  Walmart - 14.60, saved 6.40 - plus whatever the price difference was for price-matching
11/22  Marsh - 55.49, saved 62.90 (54%)
11/24  Marsh - 6.94, saved 11.19 (62%)
11/25  Walgreens - 2.91, saved 11.72
11/27  Marsh - 30.19, saved .50 (2%) - bought for veggie tray for Thanksgiving gathering
11/28  Marsh - 43.59, saved 67.42 (67%) - triples!  And I had some mispriced items.
11/29  Walmart - 12.74, saved 0.00
11/30  Marsh - 14.57, saved 16.47 (53%)
12/3  Marsh - 1.98, saved .61 (24%)
12/5  Marsh - 55.92, saved 56.26 (50%)
12/5  Burger King - 8.97, saved 0.00 (no eating out money but it was food so we opted to eat at BK)
12/9  Marsh - 9.99, saved 10.56 (52%)


Budget = 300.00

368.42 spent
367.52 saved
735.94 total

appx. 50% savings


I did the three trips in one day (Marsh, Walmart, Marsh) to stock up on cereal (this was in the budget though).  And the $43.59 I spent during triples at Marsh was JUST stockpiling...so that takes my total closer to $325 which is STILL over budget.  And I'm not trying to make excuses here...just reporting what I spent because I also spent that $30.19 on the veggie tray for Turkey Day and that would have dropped us under the $300 level.  Also, compared to last month I had 16 trips to the store (and only 12 last month).

Thankfully Brian and I can afford to put a bit from savings to build the stockpile and cover those small trips that I don't plan so well.  Here's to next month and sticking STRAIGHT to the budget!



AND I just realized this is all wrong.  Darn it!  Those top few lines that are highlighted should have been with the last months grocery budget (which means I blew it out of the water) and that I've still got a week to go on this one.  I'm leaving it now and will add to it next week.  Ugh!

Dave Ramsey $10 book special...

Do you know Dave Ramsey?  If you don't...I wish you did!  He and his teaching have totally changed the way Brian and I look at our money and how we talk about it.  Brian and I have never been fighters/arguers but talking about money just made me ill.  There was never enough, he wanted to know where it was and I had no answers.  We both got tired of our money running out before the end of the month.  We now tell our money (every stinkin' single red cent of it!) where to go every month.

Anyways...  Right now at Dave Ramsey's website he has a special going on where if you buy any 10 of his $10 items (which is most of his books) you get five copies of Total Money Makeover for FREE (yeah - did you see the lights in my eyes at that one!?).

So one of the girls that did FPU with me (that I also work with) and I decided to go together and get 10 books (plus the five free) and split them.

What should have cost us $311.82 (plus shipping) was only $100 (including shipping!  If you spend over $65 then shipping is free right now too.).  Ohmygosh!  That is MASSIVE savings!  We saved like 66% on these books.  What a great deal.  And the best thing?  I'm going to soon be blessing four friends (and/or family members) with a copy of TMMO and the workbook that goes with it.  I hope it changes them like it changed us.

Toys R Us shopping trip

So...tonight at almost 9:00 my mom and I decided we needed to go to Toys R Us...  NOW.  So we did.  And I'm glad we did!  We went for the B1G1 card game and B1G2 Crayola markers/crayons/pencils deals.  Here's what I got:

Crayola markers/crayons/pencils...buy one, get two free (!!!)
6 - 8pk Crayola crayons (was $2.99 each) for $5.98 ($.99 each)
3 - 8pk Crayola classic colormarkers (was $2.99 each) for $2.99 (.99 each)
3 - 24ct Crayola colored pencils (was $4.69 each) for $4.69 ($1.56 each)

Decks of cards...buy one, get one free
3 - Phase 10 (was $5.99 each)

1 - Pictureka (was $4.19)

1 - Scrabble Slam (was $5.99)
1 - Monopoly Deal (was $5.99)
2 - Uno (was $6.99 each)
     all for $24.06 ($3.00 each)

5 "educational" books - alphabet, numbers, erase/reuse, hidden picture, etc for $18.05 (50% off)

3 - Melissa and Doug pieces...buy two, get the third free
     2 - magnetic dress up (was $12.99 each)
     1 - pattern blocks and boards (was $17.99)
     all for $30.98 ($10.33 each)

1 - Whac-a-Mole (was $24.98) for $9.98

All of these items are gifts (for my niece and nephew for Christmas, LeeAnn's best friend for her birthday coming up in a couple weeks, for LeeAnn (maybe saving for another holiday) and for the little girls our Girl Scout troop is supporting this Christmas). 

All said - I spent $103.61 (and I about fell over because I was like HOLY CRAP I spent a ton of money!) but I saved $74.07 (and actually, I saved about $10 more than that because the Whac-A-Mole was marked down to $14.98 so it only shows a $5 savings on it on my receipt).  So I saved about 60% on my purchases...  Not too shabby in my opinion.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Sunday coupon preview...two inserts! A Valassis and Smart Source...

Check it out at The Coupon Clippers

I'm not even going to buy a paper Sunday...  I have enough friends and family who love me to get me what I want and after saying I was going to buy one last week (and NOT!) I decided why even say I am...I'm just not. 

Happy shopping to those of you who do!

Ultimate Recipe Swap - Buffalo Chicken

So I've just recently started linking from my blog to others (actually, as of right now - I've done it once) but I want to get out there more and share more so I'm linking in to Life As Mom's Ultimate Recipe Swap.  This is a Thursday standard for her and I thought today is as good a day as any to get in on the fun.

Her recipes for today are quick, easy, meals that fill you and warm you in winter.  One of my favorite go to recipes (that I just had tonight!) is Buffalo Chicken.  Neither my husband or I measure anything in the kitchen...we just throw it in until it looks good.  So here's what I use for this recipe:

  • some cooked chicken breasts (either boneless/skinless or split breasts with the meat pulled from the bone) diced and/or shredded (if it is warm, I shred it...if it is cold I dice it)
  • Frank's Hot Sauce
  • cream cheese - one block (8oz maybe?)
  • ranch or bleu cheese dressing (sometimes a ranch dressing dry packet)
    • Sometimes I cook the chicken ahead (like I did tonight) and will have it in the fridge for a couple days or will put it in a baggie and freeze it (already diced/shredded)
    • I put the cream cheese into a pan (this can also be done in a crockpot - the longer it cooks, the hotter it gets!) along with some Frank's (enough to look good) and the ranch (liquid or powder - I prefer the powder so it isn't as runny) and let it get melty and hot.
    • I add the chicken into it, let it all heat through and serve with tortilla chips.  We've also tried it with a flour tortilla shell, a big green leaf lettuce and some veggies (onion and jalapeno).  We like it hot!
And this recipe is never the same.  Tonight I didn't have a regular ranch dry packet - all I had was Fiesta Ranch so that is what I put in.  Sometimes it is hotter than others...more Franks versus not so much Franks.  In any way - it is quick, easy and warms you right up!

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Marsh ad highlights - 12/10 to 12/16

Marsh is lookin' good for this next week! As I'm putting together my list this week and next, I'm looking ahead to the party we are hosting on New Years Eve this year... Planning ahead makes for a budget friendly party.

On to the sale items for the week:
Sugardale Prestige Fully Cooked Ham - $.67/lb (save $.97/lb) ... There are a lot of different types of ham on sale this week - this one is just the cheapest!
Tiger Bay Cooked Cocktail Shrimp - B1G1 free (save $19.98 on two) - possibly making an appearance at our party
Sargento bag cheese - B1G1 free (save $3.19 or more on two) - match with recent coupons ($.55 off two) and you'll be getting two bags of cheese for $2.64 ($1.32/bag) which is a great price!
Kellogg's cereals (select brands) - $1.69
Marsh milk - $1.98/gallon
Tyson bacon - 2/$5 (save $4.98 on two - basically half price)
Hillshire Farms Lil' Cocktail Franks - $2.99 (save $1.00 - not the best price but wrap these in cheap bacon from above and throw into the crock pot for a nice little appetizer...I'm adding these to our list for NYE too!)
Barilla pasta sauce - $1.98
Hidden Valley dressing packets - 5/$5 (adding these to the party list too!)
Snuggle fabric softener - 2/$7 (and with the $2 off one in the last insert that'll make for $1.50 fabric softener...not at good as the $3 off but better than nothing)
Cheez-its - $1.89
Del Monte Gold whole pineapples - $2.99 (save $1)

AND to top it all off - another $7 off $50 coupon in the ad! BONUS!

Monday, December 7, 2009

Do you use batteries like crazy?

Check out LifeAsMom and her Energizer battery give-away! Leave a comment on the post and have a chance to win some rechargeable batteries and charger. Good luck!

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Weekly Shopping

I almost completely forgot about the excellent freezer deals at Marsh on Saturday...so much so that it was almost 10pm before I even step foot into the store. Needless to say - the items I wanted to get were out and we had to get rain checks.

What we did get includes:

2 Jack's Pizzas was $8.38 for $3.54
4 Cheezits was $15.96 for $4.56
2 Purdue boneless/skinless breasts was $21.06 for $8.93

We also got 2-liters of Coke products for New Years, Banquet meals for Brian for work, some fresh fruit, Red Baron french bread pizzas, Velveeta, Spaghettios, bread, milk, pickles (yum!), pork chops...

My total for all groceries was $112.36 before card and coupons. After card, coupons and the AWESOME $7 off of $50 in the ad (woot!) my total was $55.92, saving 50%.

39 items purchased, $1.43 per item.

Savings at Marsh for the year - $2516.32 and only three weeks to go!

So, this is it. Our last FPU class tonight.

I sat down last night to compare the balances on our outstanding loans as of yesterday versus what they were mid-July (when we started this, our class didn't start until mid-September though)...

In 4 1/2 months we have paid $6198.05 in bills! There are two payments completely gone! Those are the Kohls card (which started appx. $250) and a bill from Clarian Arnett from when LeeAnn broke her arm (which started appx. $500). AND we've got another one that only has $240 to go...and it'll be paid off too!

If I've calculated correctly - that one will be gone at the end of this month (since Brian is going back to work and we'll have that money in savings to use for paying things off instead of bringing his short term disability check up to his "normal" pay amount).

According to the debt snowball - it'll be a few months before the next item is paid off but we are slowly getting there!

AND to top it all off...we've paid for all of LeeAnn's dance for the full year (up front!). We've pulled from savings three times for some grocery stockpiling. We've continued to both put 5% into our 401Ks and still have our BS1 ($1000 in savings) and many of our cash envelopes with money in them to use as needed (car repairs, clothes, medical/dental).

Not only all of that - at the beginning of August (maybe September) Chase decided to raise the minimum payment amounts on credit cards from 2 1/2% to 5% and that SERIOUSLY raised the amount of the minimum payments on both cards and we've been able to pay that too. And I just remembered...there was at least one month, maybe two where we paid the payments for my school loan that my parents pay (as part of our agreement from me going to college). So that was another $440 that we wouldn't have normally paid out.

It was REALLY hard in the beginning...to sit down and face the mess we'd gotten ourselves into. I think we both really wished that we had done this sooner - I wish I'd gone to college with the mindset I have now because I wouldn't have ever even been where I'm at today. But I didn't and we haven't so now we are trying to get to a better place and I think we are doing very well at it.

Talking about money with Brian used to be so hard... I'd cry. I was the bill payer and while he knew we struggled...I don't think he realized sometimes how bad it was. And sadly, even when I knew we were struggling, I'd agree to new toys or eating out or whatever it was that he and I wanted because I felt we deserved it because we both work so hard (him especially!). But I realize now that that isn't the best way to work it and that you have to wait to get what you want.

So here's to our last class of FPU tonight. We did it!

Friday, December 4, 2009

Almost thought about NOT buying Sunday's paper

until I saw the coupon for Kraft singles! I was scrolling through and thought - great, another week of not buying any papers and then I found some coupons that got me excited... So here's what I think are great coupons that will be in this Sunday's paper (12/6):

Kraft Singles on ONE pkg, 10.7 or larger $.50
Post Cereals on any TWO, 10 oz or larger, $1.00
Red Baron Fire Baked SINGLES PIZZA on any ONE, $1.00
Ronzoni Smart Taste pasta on ONE, $.75
Tornadoes on any 8.4 oz box, $1.00
Snuggle Liquid Fabric Softener or dryer sheets on ONE, $2.00 (can make for some fairly cheap softener...has been on sale recently as low as $2.99 - can't beat $.99 softener!)

And so it looks like I AM buying some papers on Sunday. Maybe even three or four!

Thursday, December 3, 2009

PartyLite items for sale!

Tealights
2005 price - $6.95/dozen
2009 price - $9.50
Casie's price - $2.40 for 12 (or $.20 each)

These are all individual tealights - I only have the one full box of Mojito tealights.

1 Powdered Sugar
10 Tiramisu
2 Mojito
12 Mojito (boxed)
6 Lively
8 Rosewater
13 Moondance
2 Sheer Luxury
1 Calla Lily


Votives
2005 price - $10.90/dozen
2009 price - $6.75/6 pack
Casie's price - $3.40/dozen (or $.30 each)

2 Ocean Mist
2 Blueberry
6 Homespun Memories
3 Hydrangea (square)


Aroma Melts
2005 price - $7.95/4pack
2009 price - $9.95/4pack
Casie's price - $2.50/4pack (or $.60 each)
3 1/2 Ocean Mist (one has been partially used during a show - if you take any of them, it's included)


Other Candles

1 Lively (3" ball)
2005 price $15.95/pair, 2009 price $17.95/pair, Casie's price $2.25 (only have the one)
6 White 10" Tapers
2005 price $9.95, 2009 price $12.95, Casie's price $3.25
1 Lively Pillar 3x5
1 Zen Pillar 3x6
2005 price $9.95, 2009 price $11.95, Casie's price $3.00
1 Petite 3-wick (6" x 5")
2005 price $34.95, 2009 price $37.95, Casie's price $9.50
3 Votive sampler sets (in plastic container - passed around during shows and has samples of all scents)
2005 price - no price, part of hostess kit, Casie's price $10.00 each (includes case - can be reused for something else after candles are out of it!)


Holders *used during shows*

1 Antique Brass Aroma Melts Warmer
2005 price $27.95, 2009 price $29.95, Casie's price $7.50

The following items are no longer sold...my price is based on 2005 prices.
1 Chatham Snuffer
2005 price $16.95, Casie's price $4.25
1 Crystal Castle
2005 price $49.95, Casie's price $12.50
1 Quad Prism Small Pedestal
2005 price $34.95, Casie's price $8.75
1 Garden Lites Taper/Ball Holder
2005 price $19.95, Casie's price $5.00
1 Garden Lites Hanging Candle Holder
2005 price $29.95, Casie's price $7.50
1 Mirrored Coaster Set (7" and 8 1/2" square)
2005 price $17.95/set of 2, Casie's price $4.50
1 Spring Water Pillar Holder
2005 price $39.95, Casie's price $10.00
1 Modern Silver Double Tealight Holder
2005 price $39.95, Casie's price $10.00
1 Clean Lines Votive Holder
2005 price $19.95, Casie's price $5.00
1 Stratus Pillar Holder
2005 price $49.95, Casie's price $12.50
1 Retro Style votive cups
2005 price $14.95/pair, Casie's price $3.75
1 Penguin candle holder
2005 price $39.95, Casie's price $10.00
1 Zen Ikebana/Tealight tray
2005 price $24.95, Casie's price $6.25


1 True Passion lotion
2005 price $11.95, price $3.00



Please keep in mind - these are mostly items I used for display in shows so they might not be perfect (smudges, finger prints) but these prices are rock bottom and none of the pieces are broken/cracked/etc. I am just ready to get these items out of my basement!

If you're interested, leave me a comment here or get ahold of me on Facebook. Thanks.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Marsh ad highlights - 12/3 to 12/9

Marsh is having another huge Saturday only sale! It looks like all four items advertised on the front page of the ad are more than 50% off the normal price - make sure you check it out!

What I might buy includes:

Saturday Only Items
Jack's Pizza - $1.67 (limit 10)
New York Texas Toast - $1.77 (limit 10)
Marsh large eggs - $1.79


Edy's ice cream - $2.88
Green Giant Steamers - 5/$5
Cheez-Its - $1.89
Blistex Fruit Smoothies lip stuff - 10/$10 (save $19.90!)...if you feel you need to give something this year but don't have a lot to spend - these are four count lip balms in fruity flavors that some little girl would probably LOVE to find in her stocking - you can spend $10 and make 10 little girls happy and save yourself a nice chunk of money too.

And to help make it even easier to save money - there is a $7 off your grocery purchase of $50 or more. Can't beat that with a stick!

Good luck!

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Need a blog to follow?

Need some bargain inspirations? Check out Mom to Monkeys - she ALWAYS inspires to me to find the deals and bargains. She posts what she saved (which is always like 90%+). It amazes me what she saves! So - go check her out!

Monday, November 30, 2009

Weekly Shopping

After stockpile trip and stockpile trip and stockpile trip - our grocery trip this time was small. I still did very well though.

I only bought five different items:

Perdue split chicken breasts was $10.46 for $3.43.
Ground chuck was $16.08 for $7.46.
Marsh 1% (no 2% in the store!) gallon of milk for $1.98.
LeeAnn's favorite Yoplait yogurt $.68.
LeeAnn's favorite pasta salad from the deli - approx. 1/2lb for 1.02.

My total for all groceries was $31.04 before card and coupons.
After card (no coupons!) my total was $14.57, saving 53%!

9 items purchased, $1.618 per item (no bad when including ground chuck!).

Savings at Marsh for the year is up to $2459.45 - only four weeks to go!

Sunday, November 29, 2009

FPU - only one more week to go!

Tonight was the 12th week of our 13 week FPU class. We are almost done! I can't believe the difference Brian and I have made in our lives as a result of this class. Our instructor asked us tonight to gather up the amount we have saved in the past 12 weeks and what we've paid off. I was thinking about it in class - it isn't going to look like much but to us, it has made all the difference.

I can't wait to continue with our debt snowball and get all of that gone... Once we have our three to six months expenses saved up we'll be on a roll for getting our mortgage GONE!

As I gather our savings and such for the last 12 weeks I'll be sure to get it on here, I'm sure it'd be good for me to see in black and white.

Marsh's Triple Coupon event - another stockpile opportunity!

I hit Marsh on Saturday, right after work (I couldn't make myself go first thing in the morning and was afraid to wait until after our family dinner so I scrambled and made it in in the early afternoon) and I am so glad I did!

I bought quite a bit of stuff...those items include Reames noodles, frozen veggies, Eckrich smoked sausage, Land of Lakes butter spread, Mentos gum, Totinos, Betty Crocker cookie mixes, Blistex, Starkist Tuna pouch, Kleenex and Bertolli pasta sauce.

Total before Marsh card and coupons? $111.01
Total after Marsh card and coupons? $43.59 - that's 61% savings (saved $67.42).

My best deals?
Reames noodles $2.65 - $.15 (sale price) - $.55(x3) = $.85/bag
Mentos gum $1.59 - $.55(x3) = $0 (actually -$.06 but they don't do overages)
Betty Crocker cookie mixes $2.49 - $.83 (sale price) - $.40(x3) = $.46/bag
Texas Toast croutons $1.99 - $.55(x3) = $.34

And once again - as I go through my receipt - I've found something that didn't ring the correct price. The Eckrich sausage had a tag that listed them at 2/$5 but I paid $3.99 each. Boo. And I bought five of them! I think I'm taking my receipt back to Marsh to get this one fixed - that's a pretty big difference in my opinion.

As it stands right now though my number of items purchased is 48 making the price per item just .908 - not bad when factoring in my mis-priced sausage and everything I bought.

Friday, November 27, 2009

There are no SOME coupons in this Sunday's paper.

I lied! Oh my, I lied! There IS one insert in today's paper - the P&G insert. I truly thought it would be in next Sunday's paper (usually the first Sunday of the month) especially since today is the Sunday after the holiday. So - if you need some P&G coupons, go pick up a paper!


I repeat.

There are no coupons in this Sunday's paper.

Did you get that? No coupons... None. Zero. Zilch. Nada.

The Sunday after a holiday is always coupon-less. So take this Sunday off and let your scissors have a rest.

Hope y'all had a great Thanksgiving.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Marsh ad highlights - 11/27 (Friday) - 12/2 (Wednesday)

Once again - Marsh is AMAZING!!! I was so disappointed that their ad wasn't up yesterday and then when I realized the days of the new sale (Friday start day instead of Thursday) it all made sense. And of course if I had looked at the old ad (that ran through today...) I would have realized this.

ANYWAYS... Why is Marsh amazing!? They are doing TRIPLE COUPONS on Saturday only. Ohmygosh. Are you serious!?!? Ahhhhhhhhhhh! Saturday 11/28 from 6:00am to 12:00midnight you can go into Marsh and a $.50 coupon will be worth $1.50! Wowza! They are doing triple coupons up to $.60 so your $.60 coupons will be worth $1.80. I can't wait for Saturday!

Okay, enough rambling - on to the bargains!

Fresh ground chuck $1.48/lb (save $1.71/lb - limit 10lbs)
Doritos B1G1 free
Marsh milk $1.98/gallon
Breyers ice cream 2/$5
Aunt Millie's bread $.99
Ortega items 25% off

And that's it really! The ad is only a four-page ad (versus the normal eight-page) but you know what - I am so stoked about the triple coupons that I could care less about the length of the ad! Check back here on Monday (I hope!) to see how my Saturday shopping trip went. Good luck!

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Marsh ad highlights

I was SO excited to get on here early and get the highlights of next week's Marsh ad posted only to find out that it isn't on their website yet. Bummer! So I'm gonna go snuggle with my baby girl and check back in later...

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Need a blog to follow?

Check out Life as Mom - she doesn't blog the deals so much as she blogs life. She is a great writer and always has fantastic ideas on saving time and money. If you have a minute and haven't found her yet - go look...it'll be worth the time.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Weekly Shopping

I was able to keep my weekly Sunday appointment with Marsh this weekend and I'm so glad I did. I knew there wasn't a lot we needed but there was stuff I wanted and since I was able to go alone (gasp!) I got everything I wanted.

My highlights?

Chinet bowls (3) and plates (3) and Wish Bone Western dressing (3) for $7.52 (Holy cow!)
Unfortunately, I realized after I got home that two of my coupons mis-rang... I had three coupons that should have taken $7.50 off and instead two were rang for $7.48. I was going to go back to have it fixed until I realized it was a $.02 difference and didn't want to mess with it (I thought all three rang at 3.74).

Here's the math for how it rang:

Regular price 3.74+3.74+3.74+3.74+3.74+3.74+2.99+2.99+2.99=31.41
Marsh sale price 2.50+2.50+2.50+2.50+2.50+2.50+1.99+1.99+1.99=20.97
20.97-1.99-1.99-1.99-3.74-3.74=7.52

Here's the math for how it should have rang:

Regular price 3.74+3.74+3.74+3.74+3.74+3.74+2.99+2.99+2.99=31.41
Marsh sale price 2.50+2.50+2.50+2.50+2.50+2.50+1.99+1.99+1.99=20.97
20.97-1.99-1.99-1.99-2.50-2.50-2.50=7.50

Also I got:
Lays $1.99/bag
200 ct. Dixie napkins $1.29
8lbs. powdered sugar for $3.56 (stocking up for peanut butter balls)
Dial soap for $.30
12pk. Quilted Northern 4.99

So my total for all groceries was $55.49 and I saved $62.90 - 54% savings.
Total items 43, price per item $1.29

Savings at Marsh for the year 2363.87 with five weeks to go.

And the best part? I went in with a list and a plan. I love it when it all works out like I want it to!

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Week of 10/23 through Week of 11/13 grocery budget

10/26 Marsh - 49.11, saved 33.28 (40%)
10/26 Walmart - 4.55, saved 4.20
10/27 CVS - 1.55, saved 2.61 (63%)
10/28 Marsh - 36.23, saved 25.15 (41%)
10/28 Kroger - 6.89, saved 5.25 (43%)
10/31 Walmart - 29.59, saved 3.00(price matched body wash (saved $.47 each) and Coke)
10/31 Marsh - 50.46, saved 28.76 (37%)
10/31 Marsh - 15.94, saved 6.72 (30%) This was a sale on chips - 33% off Lays.
11/8 Marsh - 64.43, saved 27.16 (30%)

These transactions we pulled $100 from savings to help stockpile:
11/11 Kroger - 4.00, saved 7.30 (64%)
11/11 Kroger - 4.00, saved 7.30 (64%)
11/11 Kroger - 86.54, saved 109.36 (55%)


Budget = 300.00
353.29 spent
260.09 saved
613.38 total
appx. 42% - 43% savings

If we take out the Kroger stockpile trip then these are the numbers:
353.29 - 94.54 (Kroger stockpile trip) = 258.75
260.09 - 123.96 (Kroger stockpile trip savings) = 136.13
394.88 total (Kroger stockpile trip excluded)
appx. 34% - 35% savings for the month (minus the stockpile trip to Kroger)

And that is what happens when you don't make a list and menu plan! My Kroger trip I looked and made a list and went through coupons and went in with a very specific plan (which I had to alter in the store of course due to some items not being available) but the point is when I use a list and make sure I've got my ducks (aka coupons) all in a row, my savings are much better.

Need a gift to give (or maybe buy for yourself)?

I've mentioned before our Financial Peace University (FPU) class and that we are working to become debt free. I noticed today on Dave Ramsey's website (daveramsey.com) that he has all of his books/audio/children's books on sale for $10. AND if you purchase over $65 in items shipping is free.

Do you want to give yourself the gift of financial peace? Or maybe you have and want to give it to someone you know? I know I'll be taking advantage of this offer and stocking up on some extra books (to give of course) and the FPU Jr. books for LeeAnn (when she's just a bit older). A $10 investment to give to a friend or family member is well worth it in my opinion!

I just noticed this sale so I'm not sure how long it will last - you might want to jump on it!

Thursday, November 19, 2009

I checked out the coupons for Sunday's insert...

And I'm not impressed!

There will be only one insert in this Sunday's paper (that'd be the 22nd). It is a Smart Source insert and about the only coupons that I would even clip are:

Betty Crocker Box or Pouch Potatoes, excludes Potato Buds .35 (1/16/10)
Chinet Classic White or Casuals Plates, any $1 (1/31/10)
Chinet Comfort Cups or Chinet Napkins, any $1 (1/31/10)
Chinet Salad/Side Dishes, any $2 (1/31/10)
Duck Packaging Tape, any $1 (1/31/10)
Fisher Nut Product, any 4oz+ $1 (5/31/10)
Floridas Natural Brand Premium Not from concentrate Fruit Juice, any 59oz+ $1 (12/31/09)
Kraft or Cracker Barrel Natural Cheese, shreds or chunks, any $1 on 2 (12/31/09)
Pillsbury Crescent Dinner Rolls, any .25 (2/13/10)
Scott Extra Soft Tissue, any 8 rolls+ $1 (1/2/10)

And to me, it just isn't worth buying a paper for that few coupons. I might see if I can scrounge up some extras from people I work with or family members but I won't be hitting the gas station for any papers this coming Sunday.

Want to see everything included? Check out thecouponclippers.com for a detailed list.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

My Wednesday Marsh/Walmart/Marsh trip...

Yes...I went to all three and in that order. I had a deal at Marsh that I wanted to get but wasn't sure how many times I could do it in one trip so I did it twice, went to Walmart to price match a few things and then went back to Marsh to finish up my trip.

At Marsh I bought six Chex cereals, five Betty Crocker cake mixes and six icings, four Blistex, four Green Giant steamers, three gallons of apple cider (gotta love rain checks!), one box of Tyson nuggets (easy for Brian to fix while he heals from surgery) and one 32 load Snuggle fabric softener.

Total before Marsh card and coupons? $71.07
Total after Marsh card and coupons? $26.53 - that's 63% savings (saved $44.54) and doesn't factor in the fact that I saved $3/gallon on the cider. So I actually saved more like $53 and the percentage should be higher.

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I left Marsh and headed to Walmart. There I bought six Skippy peanut butters and eight boxes of Honey Nut Cheerios.

Total before price matching? $38.40
Total after price matching and coupons? $14.60 - that's also around 64% savings.

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And then back to Marsh. This trip got me a loaf of Aunt Millie's bread, a gallon of Marsh milk and another six boxes of Chex cereal.

Total before Marsh card and coupons? $24.02
Total after Marsh card and coupons? $8.61 - that's 64% savings

Total before sales/coupons/price matching: $133.49
Total after all of those: $49.74
Total items 52, price per item is $.956 - which is all a bit skewed due to the apple cider. Darn stuff!

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Normally Brian and I set a $75 per week grocery budget. Here in the last two weeks though there have been some exceptional items that we use/need/want on sale that combined with coupons really become cheap and stockpile well. If you go back and read through all of that again you'll notice I bought 20 boxes of cereal tonight. Yes 20 boxes. The Chex doesn't go on sale often enough, they don't expire until 10/10 and Brian can have his favorite cereal for months to come at only $1/box (my goal price for cereal). Do I normally buy that much cereal at once? Nope. Would my weekly budget allow for it? Nope. But we sat down together and decided that pulling $40 from savings this week to cover this trip (I had $10 leftover from this week still) was well worth it to us to get these items stockpiled.

Do I recommend this for everyone? Of course not... You have to have the space, time and want to be able to do it and make it work. Does it work for us? Yes! That is why we do it! I now have probably 30 boxes of cereal in my basement. Would I buy more next week if I could get it down to $1/box? You better betcha.

What's on when...

Monday - weekend shopping trip details
Tuesday - blogs and websites I visit - and ones you might want to too!
Wednesday - preview of Marsh ad highlights
Thursday - coupon preview for Sunday's inserts
Friday -
Saturday -
Sunday - FPU/budget updates

This is it for now...just for my own self to remember!

Marsh ad highlights 11/19 - 11/25

Ahhhhh...Marsh. You are my hero! The deals for this next week include:

Jennie-O frozen turkey - $.57/lb (excellent price! - save $.97/lb - more than half price) This is the second week on this price! Get it before it's gone for Thanksgiving.

Center Cut Whole Boneless Pork Loin - $1.68/lb (save $2.31/lb)
USDA Choice Boneless Chuck Roast - $2.18/lb (save $2.01/lb)
Tiger Bay Shrimp 33% off - not the best price but rarely do you find shrimp on sale
Bob Evans roll sausage - 2/$4 (watch for blinkies in the store - save $3.98 on two)
Stokely's canned veggies - 2/$1 (save $.98 on two)
Lays - still B1G1 free
10lb. bag Idaho potatoes - B1G1 free
Kraft cheese - 4/$6 (need to buy four for this deal - includes sliced, shredded, etc)
6pk., 20oz. bottles Coke/Pepsi/7-Up - 4/$8.88 (cheap!!!)
Chinet dinnerware - 2/$5 (look for coupons right there for free plates)
Dial liquid hand soap - 10/$10 (coupons out there for $.35 off which doubles to $.70 making each soap only $.30)

Tuesday's post...

Is not there!? Where did it go? Oh yeah... I didn't one. Again. Ugh. I'm a slacker. Yesterday was Brian's eye surgery and I just didn't really sit down in front of the computer all day. I've got a couple other posts for tonight though so that should make up for it, right?

Monday, November 16, 2009

Weekly Shopping

So our weekly shopping trip got bumped from the weekend (usually Saturday or Sunday) to Monday this week. Saturday I battled some nasty 24-hour bug thing...I was in bed from noon until 9pm with very little movement or awake-time. And then yesterday was my birthday (and I'm 30 AGAIN, thank you very much) so my day was a little different than a normal Sunday.

Since Brian is still off of work because of surgery (scheduled tomorrow at 12:45), he was home this evening and we decided to hit Marsh as soon as I was done working. And once again, the bad thing? We went in list-less. Ugh. Shopping without a list and a meal plan in mind is a BAD thing. Seriously. Don't do it. I don't know why I've done it so often in the last month or so! I wouldn't recommend it for your wallet.

Now, on to my savings.

The total spent was $70.40 (less than our budget for the week - WOOT!). So we saved $62.55 on our order today...that was 47% savings. That also doesn't factor in the savings on a ham (another one of those rain checks from their sale a few weeks ago!).

Our year to date savings at Marsh is: $2239.63 and we've still got a month and a half to go.


Sunday, November 15, 2009

Marsh ad highlights 11/12 - 11/18

Going to Marsh for groceries? Check out their bargains!

Jennie-O frozen turkey - $.57/lb (excellent price! - save $.97/lb - more than half price)
Center Cut Pork Chops - $1.98/lb (save $2.01/lb - half price)
Perdue Boneless/Skinless chicken breasts - $1.77/lb (save $2.22/lb - more than half price)
Food Club (Marsh brand) powdered sugar - $1.28 (save $.71)
Domino cane sugar - $1.98 (save $1.21)
Lays - B1G1 free (half price)
Del Monte Gold pineapple - $2.99 (save $2)
Sargento cheese - 3/$5 (save $6.99 - awesome price for Sargento cheese...includes their holiday shapes, great for a cheese tray and there were coupons in the 11/15 inserts)
Fresh pork tenderloin - B1G1 free
Freshlike/Food Club/Green Giant frozen veggies - 5/$5 (this doesn't mean you have to buy 5 bags to get that price! You can buy one bag and it'll be $1. Also, there are Steamers coupons out there for $.40 off per bag, which would double to $.80 making a bag of frozen veggies only $.21!, more coupons in the 11/15 inserts)
Creamette pasta - B1G1 free
Emerald Nuts - B1G1 free
Chex cereals - $1.49 (when you buy four, coupons in 11/15 inserts)
Pop Secret popcorn - B1G1 free (good deal, combine with coupons - even better!)
Cottonelle 12pk toilet paper - $4.99 (there are coupons out there for $.50 off, doubles to $1)

Kroger Deals 11/12 - 11/18

Been to Kroger lately? I sometimes work just yards from a Kroger and will scan their ad to get the best deals out there. This week? There's some stuff that caught my eye!
General Mills cereal - $1.50/box (when you buy four), I've seen some coupons for $1/2 for GM cereals lately...that's $1 box for cereal - my target price.
Coke/Pepsi/7up products - 6pk, 24oz bottles or 12pk, 24oz cans - 4/$10
Kroger milk - $1.98/gallon
Kroger eggs - 10/$10
Philadelphia Cream Cheese - $.99
Hormel sliced bacon - B1G1 free
Jimmy Dean roll sausage - $1.99
Lysol products - 33% off (and with recent coupons, this could get you some cheap cleaning products!)


As always, these are just items that catch my eye as a good price or when combined with available coupons, a good price. Happy Shopping!

My Wednesday night Kroger trip:

I spent most of Wednesday at a friend's house. She has an 11 week old at home and just had back surgery Monday. Due to restrictions, she couldn't lift Miss A and her mom had to return home before her husband got home from work/school so I volunteered to hang out and help. Let me tell you, snuggling that baby girl was easy! She is a good baby and seeing my friend was nice...we got to chat and coupon and just relax and vegetate. Wednesday is the end of the sale week for our Kroger and after looking through the ad and the coupons (what I had and what we clipped) I realized I could get some good bargains.

$94.54 later I walked out of Kroger with a bazillion bags of groceries (and that might be a small exaggeration). I saved $123.96 - that's like 56%! Yes I spent a ton of money (money that I didn't even have in the grocery envelope) but Brian and I decided to pull from savings to give us some stocking power and stocking we did!

My best deals? I got 15 boxes of Stove Top stuffing for $12 - that's $.80 per box. Normal price? $2.26.

Also I got:
Bounty paper towels $4.99/six pack
Kraft cheese items (24pk slices and 12pk string) $2.49 (excellent price for the string!)
Betty Crocker boxed cheesy potatoes $.29/box (normally $1.97)
Franks Hot Sauce $.49/bottle
Del Monte canned veggies $.50/can
French's Fried Onions $1.49/can
Bob Evans roll sausage $1.44/roll
Snuggle softner -$.49 (they paid me to buy it!!!)

Total items 77, price per item $1.22 which isn't too bad considering the starting price on some of those items.

Okay...

So I'm so far behind it isn't even funny. But I'm blaming it on my husband! Hahaha... Brian's due for eye surgery Tuesday and was actually pulled from work this past Monday. So when my evenings are usually LeeAnn and I time (and me time after I put Little Miss to bed) I haven't had my me time because Brian's been home.

BUT I did work on some blog posts on Friday while at work so I'm going to post them all now. And because it was my birthday today (30 again, thank you very much) our normal grocery trip didn't happen. I'll be posting that (I hope!) tomorrow. And if I don't get on here in the next few days, I'll be taking care of my oh-so-fantastic hubby.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Need a blog to follow?

Have you ever checked out Money Saving Mom She is a blogger that I check on DAILY. She has great deals and ideas and also some greats posts about Once a Month Cooking and general saving money type ideas.

Check her out, you won't be disappointed!

Monday, November 9, 2009

Looking for cheap Christmas gifts?

I saw a report on the local news channel at noon today about a deal at Toys R Us.

Here is the link to that report on WTHR Channel 13: http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?S=11469548. This link shows the link to both the Hasbro rebate and the games at TRU.

If you buy $25 in Hasbro games at Toys R Us you get a $10 gift card from TRU. Then there is a rebate available from Hasbro for $2 - $3 per game (for certain games). So you spend $28 on games (seven games @ $3.99 each), get a $10 gift card plus get $2 back for each game ($14). $28 - $10 - $14 = $4 for seven games.

It looks like you'll have to get to Toys R Us by 11/14 (this Saturday) to take advantage of the $10 gift card. But the Hasbro rebate is good through 1/31/10 - so even then you can still get some games for decent prices!

Happy shopping!

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Weekly Shopping

We hit Marsh tonight... The savings on the receipt doesn't LOOK that good but it really is! The bad thing? We went in list-less. Ugh. Shopping without a list and a meal plan in mind is a BAD thing. Seriously.

Okay, so we took advantage of the Jennie-O turkey breasts on sale. The two breasts were 14.37 and 14.69 and we saved 17.38 on both of those - more than 50%!

Also we bought some Purnell Sausage 2/$4 - which saved us $3.78, so almost half.

The BEST deal...we were finally able to use the rain check from their SUPER AMAZING meat sale a few Saturdays ago.

We got two pork loins (marked between $22 and $25 each) and paid $16.38 for BOTH of them. How awesome is that?

So we saved $27.16 on our order today...that was 30% savings. Definitely not our best...better than nothing at all though! And that also doesn't factor in the savings on the pork loin (because of the way it is rang up - it actually skews the numbers some).

Our year to date savings at Marsh is: $2177.08 and we've still got almost two full months to go.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Sunday is Coupon Day!

This is the day that most of the coupons that are in newspapers are available (sometimes I'll find inserts in the Frankfort Times and the Lafayette J&C). I'm never sure ahead of time if I want to purchase a newspaper or not though (a lot of friends know I coupon and keep their inserts for me!).

So every week (usually on Thursday night) I venture over to couponclippers.com and check to see what might be in the upcoming Sunday paper.

If you click on their tracker link it takes it you to a calendar and on the Sunday dates are links to the Red Plum, Smart Source and P&G (first Sunday of the month usually). Click on those links and you can see what coupons will be in the inserts. Keep in mind that they do vary by region (here...Indy Star has better inserts than the J&C from Lafayette).

Also, coupons aren't in the papers on the Sunday after a holiday. So keep your money in your pocket!

I'm off to check out the inserts on The Coupon Clippers now. Good luck finding some good coupons!

Friday, November 6, 2009

Old Navy - need a new coat?

So I *thought* I heard a commercial mention that Saturday, November 7th all coats would be 50% off at Old Navy. AND that scarves would be $1 each.

SWEET.

I got home and decided to check this out online...

And it's TRUE!

But the sale (for the coats at least) is a week long and ends 11/12 - so you have a few more days (and online it says UP TO 50% off - which means the coat I want isn't 50% off, it's only $20 off...bummer). As for the scarves? I haven't found anymore info on the scarves. Best bet? If you're going to be in an Old Navy tomorrow, check it out!

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Happy Birthday Ma!

Happy happy happy birthday. Happy happy happy birthday. Happy happy happy birthday. To you to you to you. Ole!

Hope it's a great day.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Marsh ad highlights

So, Marsh is awesome. If you didn't know that, you know now. One of my favorite things about Marsh? They post their next weeks ad on their website the day prior to the sale start day (so on Wednesday they post the ad that starts the next day, on Thursday). So I can get online on Wednesday and check to see if there is anything that's on sale today (the end of one ad) before the sale changes.

Starting 11/5/09 (which is my mom's birthday - Happy Early Birthday Ma!) the "good deals" to me are:

4-Day Only Sale (Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday)
Jennie-O Turkey Breast - $.88/lb (save $1.31/lb - more than 50% off)
Indiana Kitchen Spiral Sliced Ham w/ Glaze packet - $1.69/lb (save $1.30/lb)
24 oz plastic bottles of Coke products - 4/$10 (save $9.56 per four, must buy four in one deal to get this price - excellent deal!)
B1G1 (Buy one, get one) Whole Button Mushrooms (save $2.49 on two)
Purnell's Roll Sausage - 2/$4 (save $3.78 on two - almost 50% off)
Pillsbury Cake Mix - $.88 each
40% off all Fresh Grade 'A' Perdue Chicken
B1G1 4lb bag California Naval Oranges
Apples (several types) $.97/lb
Aunt Millie's Family-Style Butter Top Bread - $.99 (and there are some $.35 coupons out there for Aunt Millie's - would double to $.70 - that's $.29 per loaf of bread!)
B1G1 Hostess Snacks
McCormick Spices - 25% off (and there are McCormick Spices $1 off any coupons out there - could make for some cheap spices, food coloring, etc)
General Mills cereal - final price is $1.49/box (not sure of the details on this...probably buy four boxes for $10 and get $4 off instantly at check-out - not the best price for cereal but there have been some $1/2 Cheerios coupons out there which would make it my ideal price $1/box)
Looks like the Fiber One toaster pastries are a part of this too - final price is $.99...be sure to read the details in the ad!
B1G1 Progresso soup (and there have been some Progresso coupons out there - not sure on amounts)
Gardetto's and Chex Mix 2/$3
Pillsbury Brownie or Cookies 5/$5
Pillsbury Frosting 4/$5
Cottonelle toilet paper $4.99 (and there have been some $.50 coupons out there - would double to $1 making it $3.99 for a six-pack of TP...$.66 per roll)
Snuggle or All 2/$7 (and there were $3 off Snuggle coupons from a few weeks back - would make for $.50 laundry softener!)
Blistex 10/$10 (SWEET! Save $5.90 on 10)

Please keep in mind, these are the items that jumped out at me. You might not like any of these items. Or there might be other deals out there for things you like that I overlooked. And what about the B1G1 things? Don't expect to use the other? Go ahead and pick it up (it's FREE!) and take it directly to Salvation Army...they can use any type of food donation like that. Or share with a friend who might also use the item.

Any questions about anything? Let me know! Happy Shopping!

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Dee

So I have this baby cousin. Her name is Dee. Well, not really but that's what I call her.

Dee is amazing. She is my rock. She is my sounding board. She keeps me sane when I'm not. She is my insanity when I'm sane. She holds me when I cry and cries from laughing when I snort. When I call her and say "Dee" in just that tone of voice she KNOWS what it is that I need from her. She always laughs when I say "don't you hate it when" and remembers the first time we uttered those words together. She knows my secrets. She knows my dreams. She knows ME and she is STILL my best friend.

So, today we talk and I knew instantly that something was up. But you know what? She's FINE. She's more than fine. She's amazing. She just doesn't realize it yet. She will though. She'll be fine and look back one day and say "Thank you God for making me do that, I appreciate what it taught me." She might think I'm crazy now (which maybe I am a bit) but she'll get to that point eventually.

For now though - I'm looking forward to seeing her this weekend...talking and laughing and being together. It doesn't happen often enough and I love every minute we have together.

VistaPrint labels

Are you in need of return address labels? Go to http://www.moneysavingmom.com/money_saving_mom/2009/11/140-custom-holiday-address-labels-for-3-shipped.html to find all the details on how to purchase 140 address labels for only the cost of shipping!

Already broke my own rules...

I told myself that I'd do this daily - whether it was a quick update or a deal that couldn't be beat and you know what? Yesterday was my second day and I missed it!

My reasoning is good though - or at least I think it is. I was in bed at 8:00 last night! LeeAnn and I got home from seeing my mom and grandma (so glad they were able to go to Kentucky, so glad to have them home though!) and picking up some medicine at CVS..and she was so tired! So we just went straight upstairs and got ready for bed and crashed. I'm sure I dozed off before 9:00 but when Brian called on lunch, he woke me. I called my mom back too but I'm sure I was asleep again by 9:30.

Ahhhhhhhh...what nine hours of sleep will do for one!

So, I know no one is reading this yet but here's my apology! I'll do better next time.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

FPU

FPU. Do you know it? Financial Peace University. It's a class on gaining financial peace. It's been an amazing trip so far for us...yes, us. Brian and I are taking this classes together - as husband and wife (teammates!). It was a 13 week and $95 commitment that we made back in September.

It all started when Roscoe lent us his Total Money Makeover (TMM) and Financial Peace Revisited books. Actually, it began before then - I've watched Dave Ramsey on TV and knew some others couples who have been through FPU. But reading TMM was what jump-started me into wanting to take the FPU class.

I began in July to work on a budget. *gasp* A budget!? YES! Put a pen on paper budget (okay, so I put keyboard to Excel spreadsheet but same concept) and followed it. The first month was rough... We messed up. We over spent. We had to pull money from savings to cover our tails. Messy, messy, messy. But we did it. And we re-did that same budget in August and tried again.

And then in September, we did it again. That is when our FPU classes started too. The first few weeks were review for us (having read TMM which is the same basis as FPU) and I thought for sure Brian might quit on me but we both stuck it out.

Now we are more than halfway through our course. We had our $1000 Baby Step 1 (BS1) within the first few weeks of doing this (by mid-August I'm sure...I can't remember the actual date). Brian selling his beloved Suzuki Boulevard M109R greatly helped pad that BS1 and get us caught up on bills though. His selling that was a huge sacrifice for him...he told me he loved us (the family) more than his bike though and that was something he was willing to give up. A few weeks later when I was paying bills and told him for the first time in a long time paying bills didn't make me want to puke - he said selling his bike was completely worth it then.

And now we're in BS2 - our Debt Snowball. Right now we're still facing $26K+ (yes...that's $26,000 PLUS) in debt (not including our house). But if we work our snowball right, that will all be gone by April 2011. That's like 18 months away! Do you know how awesome it will feel to have that all gone? Credit cards...college loans...car loans...medical bills...gone! I dream of the day! And do I really truly believe that we will eliminate all of our debt? YES! We are intense! We are determined to get rid of this debt! It is tying us down and holding us back.

And as of today...we've actually paid off some of our debt! A Kohl's card that had just over $160 balance and a medical bill from when LeeAnn broke her arm (about $500 when we started) are both GONE. Those payments? They've been "snowballed" into paying off the next debt...a school loan from when I was at Franklin (almost 10 years ago!). It'll be paid off by the end of the month and then that payment plus the payments for the other two items (Kohl's and Clarian Arnett) will be "snowballed" into the next debt - another school loan from Franklin! Ahhhhh... And then slowly but surely that snowball will grow and it'll be all gone!

Interested? Want to know more? Let me know - I'd be glad to hook you up with some information. It'll be a life changing decision for you!

A beginning...

It's November 1st. November 1st! Where has the time gone? 2009 is quickly coming to an end and I'm not anywhere near ready.

It's the beginning of my favorite time of year...
It's the beginning of the month...
It's the beginning of me blogging...
It's the beginning of me sharing my life and my savings...

It's a new beginning!

Follow me on this journey as I share myself and my family, my growth in living and loving and some bargains I've found and can't wait to share.

I hope that I give you something to think about, learn and want to experience as well.

It's the beginning and I'm nervous and excited! Join me!