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.

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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!