THEN today on Michelle’s blog: Money Saving Madness, she posted a link to a Scentsy FREE Sample kit!!!

GO NOW and get yours!  I did!!!Recent Comments:

• XXX says A tip to save some cash when enjoying movies it that instead of heading to the movies on a busy [more]
• daphne says I JUST LOVE YOU!!! You always amaze me. You’re wonder womman of another kind!! I know it’s hard to BE [more]
• Jen says We are currently going through a pregnancy possibly affected by VACTERL…having more tests run. Would like to discuss some [more]
• Jen says Hi Amber! It’s lunchablemommy – actually not on A full cup anymore, so I wanted to send you my [more]
• Tracy says Love it! That is something Maggie would do. She loves Disney Princess stuff too. LOL. [more]

• January 5, 2010 -- New Year’s Resolution: ADD Magazines to your list of things NOT to pay for in the new year!
• November 9, 2009 -- HOT DEAL- FREE photo Christmas cards!!!
• November 1, 2009 -- What does 20 cents look like to you??
• August 30, 2009 -- Walgreens Deals 8/30 – 9/5
• August 23, 2009 -- On On U of K.. with FREE Chick-Fil-A

So I have had to reformat my methods of shopping a bit for a few different reasons.

1) we moved and the Meijer that is closest to us (HAMBURG for all you lexingtonians….) is INFESTED with these little flying bug like creatures that hatch from dried goods and get in your whole house.  Its been a problem with that Meijer for as long as I can remember and I refuse to buy ANY dried goods there … that means NO pasta, cereal, hamburger helpers, snack foods.  I will still go for frozen goods and cans but I am not even happy about bringing a Coke pack in the house as these little creatures seem to inhabit anything cardboard!  SOOOOO… I find myself driving to the other side of town.  UGH.  But I invest too much time, money and energy into this stockpile to have it eaten down by WEEVILS!!!!

2) Now that we have full time help with the kids its easier to run out each night to a single store rather than me shopping alone for 4 hours on Saturday or Sunday!  I love that!  I am trying to get into a routine!

3)  Let us just rejoice in the fact that they are building a BRAND NEW CVS at the end of my street!  All the same sweet people are going to work there as the one I go to now but its going to be a HUGE freestanding building with TONS more stock!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I am doing a happy dance!  NEW CVS HERE I COME!

4) We have eaten a great deal of our stockpile and are at critical low on many items.  (meaning less than 5 of each!  That will last less than 2 weeks in our house.)  We shoot for a 6 mo stock of many things because I know the sale cycles don’t come around often… so having that few of an item makes me a little nervous.  I just cannot bring myself to go out and pay $5 for Miracle Whip when I know it will be free or next to free within the next two months!!!!!  See my quandary?

So… today I ventured out across town.  I had to hit Meijer and Boston Road Kroger (the only place in Lex that I have found that has the GOOD paper – Courier Journal in addition to the Herald- so that I can get my good coupons!  At Meijer I scored big on Tuna and the Betty Crocker Deal and at Kroger I hit up the nearly free Country Crock butter, cheap eggs etc.  I still have to do a little more research on a potential Betty Crocker potatoes and Pillsbury canned biscuit deal for this evening because the Catalina promo is over today…

I got the following at Meijer:

9 cans of BC frosting @ $1.29 each = $11.61
9 boxes of cake mix @ $0.99 each= $8.91

TOTAL: $20.52
- (1) Catalina $8 back (when buying $20 or more)
-(2) $0.50 WYB 1 frosting and 1 cake mix (doubled) = -$2 (IP- coupons.com)
-(7) $0.75 WYB 1 and 1 = -$5.25 (3/14 SS2 … I think… or 3/18)
= $4.75 TOTAL or $0.26 each!!!

**granted I have gotten frosting FREE before but my stock was low and $0.26 each is pretty darn good!**

28 cans of Starkist tuna @ 2/$1 ($0.50 each) = $14
- (7) $1/4 Coupon = $7 / 28 cans tuna or $0.25 each!!!!

Ballpark Hot Dogs (Bun Length included) 3/$5= $1.67 each
2 @ $1.67 each = $3.34
-(1) $0.75/2 Ballpark Hotdogs Q = $2.59/2 or $1.30 each

Kraft Parmesan Cheese $2.99 ( needed this to use up my $8 catalina from the BC….)

TOTAL OOP: $16.04

Then I was off to Kroger to retrieve my Courier Journal Coupons and picked up:

(4) Country Crock Butter Spread tubs @ $1 each =$4

-(4) $0.40 /1 IP (doubled to $0.80 each) = -$3.20= $0.80 TOTAL or $0.20 each

(2) Dozen Eggs @ $0.79 each= $1.58 + Coupon for FREE Big Red 2 liter WYB 2 eggs- $1.29 value FREE

TOTAL OOP: $1.78 + papers

Shopping Day total: $17.82.  Not bad for under $20 huh???Recent Comments:

• XXX says A tip to save some cash when enjoying movies it that instead of heading to the movies on a busy [more]
• daphne says I JUST LOVE YOU!!! You always amaze me. You’re wonder womman of another kind!! I know it’s hard to BE [more]
• Jen says We are currently going through a pregnancy possibly affected by VACTERL…having more tests run. Would like to discuss some [more]
• Jen says Hi Amber! It’s lunchablemommy – actually not on A full cup anymore, so I wanted to send you my [more]
• Tracy says Love it! That is something Maggie would do. She loves Disney Princess stuff too. LOL. [more]

• October 31, 2009 -- Carving and Couponing…
• April 11, 2010 -- Coupons… gotta make it back!
• January 13, 2010 -- Hot new printable coupons!
• January 3, 2010 -- January 3, 2010- RUN NOW and buy your coupons!
• December 29, 2009 -- Over the hills we go, stockpiling all the way!

Now that we are moved and have eaten through a sufficient amount of our stockpile, I am truly needing to get back into the couponing routine.  I have been tipping my foot back into it just looking for the right deal to inspire me and I have no takers as of yet but it will come soon enough I am sure!

I was trying to find a new way (that is more compact) to organize my coupons and I found THIS:

I mean really HOW cute is this?  I wish I knew where my sewing machine was because I would totally try and sew one but alas… I do not!  I think maybe the giraffe is my favorite…. or maybe the damask… or the dots… oh who knows!  They are all REALLY cute!

They retail for $30 and can be purchased here:  CouponClutch.comRecent Comments:

• XXX says A tip to save some cash when enjoying movies it that instead of heading to the movies on a busy [more]
• daphne says I JUST LOVE YOU!!! You always amaze me. You’re wonder womman of another kind!! I know it’s hard to BE [more]
• Jen says We are currently going through a pregnancy possibly affected by VACTERL…having more tests run. Would like to discuss some [more]
• Jen says Hi Amber! It’s lunchablemommy – actually not on A full cup anymore, so I wanted to send you my [more]
• Tracy says Love it! That is something Maggie would do. She loves Disney Princess stuff too. LOL. [more]

• April 18, 2010 -- Back atcha! Meijer shopping trip 4/18/10
• November 15, 2009 -- Ten Commandments of Couponing!
• October 31, 2009 -- Carving and Couponing…
• October 27, 2009 -- Recession Payback… LOTS of great Coupons here!
• August 30, 2009 -- Walgreens Deals 8/30 – 9/5

Kohl’s is having a HUGE sale right now ONLINE (and in the store but in the store you cannot get the extra 20% off that I am going to list so they are a little more expensive!).  The infants and toddlers sleepers on a pretty SWEET sale and if you have a child who wears footed PJ’s you can get them for $4 or so a pair with FREE SHIPPING!!!  Last night I got 10 pair for Kyleigh for $50!!!!  And they were even the NICE two piece ones.  So we have her next size of PJ’s under control!  (that is always a huge task).  I was thrilled because even at consignment the fleece button up two piece PJ’s (like the Gap style) run $5-7 used or $7-9 brand new!  So for me to get them for $5 each was HUGE!

Kyleigh got these and one more but I cannot remember which other one…

So… here’s the details:

Kohl’s Sleepwear is located here

USE THE FOLLOWING CODES TO OBTAIN 20% off your order PLUS FREE SHIPPING:

20% off – Extra20

Free Shipping- NOCHARGE

You have to put in your CC number BEFORE you enter any code or gift cards.  AND if you have a store credit or gift card you can use that in ADDITION TO your codes!!!  Most of the footed PJ’s come out to $4.80 + tax and that includes shipping because its FREE!!!  The two piece sets were working out to about $5.50 each but Ky cannot wear the footed style without us modifying them to fit the tube so we splurge for the two pieces!

Happy Shopping!  If you get some post and let me know what you picked up!!!Recent Comments:

• XXX says A tip to save some cash when enjoying movies it that instead of heading to the movies on a busy [more]
• daphne says I JUST LOVE YOU!!! You always amaze me. You’re wonder womman of another kind!! I know it’s hard to BE [more]
• Jen says We are currently going through a pregnancy possibly affected by VACTERL…having more tests run. Would like to discuss some [more]
• Jen says Hi Amber! It’s lunchablemommy – actually not on A full cup anymore, so I wanted to send you my [more]
• Tracy says Love it! That is something Maggie would do. She loves Disney Princess stuff too. LOL. [more]

• January 9, 2010 -- Top 10 Deal Finding / Coupon Sites
• January 5, 2010 -- New Year’s Resolution: ADD Magazines to your list of things NOT to pay for in the new year!
• January 4, 2010 -- Dressing for Less… another tip.. Consignment Store
• December 29, 2009 -- Over the hills we go, stockpiling all the way!
• November 15, 2009 -- Ten Commandments of Couponing!

A few runs that I have achieved in the past months while I have been on hiatus…

Huggies Diaper Deal- last month at Walgreens

$8.99 / pack

- (1) RR $2 = $6.99 pack

- ($1) WAGS Coupon (from activity book)= $5.99

- ($2) Huggies IP = $3.99 or ($3) MFR Q from Huggies Mailer = $2.99 / pack.

$108.50 total- I ended up with 25 packs.  I will also submit this for Caregiver’s Marketplace Rebate and get an extra $18.75 back so  $89.75 TOTAL for that entire wall of diapers!!!!  Not bad eh?  The total without discounts or coupons would have been $312.25 so I saved $222.50!!!!!!

I also hit a major money maker at Meijer in the past few weeks.  Jello!!! Who knew?

Buy 6 Jello at $0.55 each= $3.30

- (2) $1.25 /3 Jello = $0.80 OOP

Receive back $2 CATALINA ONYO = $1.20 money maker… so I turned this around to my soups!

Each set of 4 Campbells Soups came out to $1.20 EXACTLY after my $0.40/4 Q!!!!

So each transaction looked like this:

6 Jello + 4 Campbells Soups

- (2) $1.25/3 Jello MFR Q

- (1) $0.40 / 4 Campbells (doubles to $0.80/4)

- (1) $2 Catalina from previous transaction = FREE – yes the transactions physically came out to ZERO!!!  because the items were NON-taxable grocery!!!  I walked out with everything you see in the photo for $0.80….!!!!!!

THEN I had another first!!!  I actually came up with OVERAGE at Kroger!!!

35 McCormick Gravy packets – 2/$1- had $0.50/2 (doubled to $1 so free!)

30 McCormick Spice Grinders- 10/$10 (had $1/1 ANY McCormick spice so FREE)

Now somehow it came up with $1.49 in overage… meaning my Total was NEGATIVE $1.49 after coupons… I think I had a cellfire Q that I did not account for.  So I literally had to get 2 candy bars or take the CASH back.  They PAID me $1.49 to take this photo worth of stuff home!  (also missing is 16 additional grinders and 10 other packets from a previous trip!) Sweet huh?Recent Comments:

• XXX says A tip to save some cash when enjoying movies it that instead of heading to the movies on a busy [more]
• daphne says I JUST LOVE YOU!!! You always amaze me. You’re wonder womman of another kind!! I know it’s hard to BE [more]
• Jen says We are currently going through a pregnancy possibly affected by VACTERL…having more tests run. Would like to discuss some [more]
• Jen says Hi Amber! It’s lunchablemommy – actually not on A full cup anymore, so I wanted to send you my [more]
• Tracy says Love it! That is something Maggie would do. She loves Disney Princess stuff too. LOL. [more]

• April 18, 2010 -- Back atcha! Meijer shopping trip 4/18/10
• October 31, 2009 -- Carving and Couponing…
• January 9, 2010 -- Top 10 Deal Finding / Coupon Sites
• January 5, 2010 -- New Year’s Resolution: ADD Magazines to your list of things NOT to pay for in the new year!
• December 30, 2009 -- Fabulous deal on Carter’s sleepers at Kohl’s

So here is my “Black Friday 2009 Survival Guide”:

1) Know your rules : What time does each store open?  What is their location?  How MANY of the items you want are “in stock” or “guaranteed”?

2) Make a List : Sit down with your ads and make a list of the items you want and organize them by store.  TAKE THE PAPERS with you!  Sometimes you will have to ask store associates where an item is and its much easier to SHOW them the ad than to have to “ask” about “something in the ad”.  A lot of the BF help is NEW.

3) Map out a plan : Check times and “deals” and make a plan of attack.  It is often good to find yourself in the center hub of shopping which has MOST of your bargains in one place.  Yes there may be more parking issues but there is less travel time!

4) Scope out your stores : we often go the day BEFORE thanksgiving to get a lay of the land, take inventory etc.  Although some of the door busters may not yet be “on the floor” you will often be able to see HOW things are organized.  If you see that there is only ONE Wii system then its a safe assumption that you may want to find an alternative location to try and get a deal!

5) Prioritize:  Will you be wanting a HOT item such as a cheap TV or game system?  Is that item higher on your list than say the $3 fleece blanket?  Make your list according to opening time of the store and priority of the item you want.  This year there is ONE big purchase on our list so no matter WHAT TIME that store opens… we will be at IT regardless of other store’s opening times.

6) Dress to shop: Wear comfortable easy clothing, IN LAYERS!  As the sun comes up the temperature will change and you don’t want to be caught in a store that is 100 degrees with polar fleece from head to toe!  For me my standard uniform is:  yoga pants, t-shirt with a sweatshirt or fleece jacket over top, fleece headband, gloves, coat (for standing in line), pony tail and most of all:  TENNIS SHOES!  Yes those cute little clogs are easy to slip on but they are not good for running 2 miles to your car or supporting your feet for the long shopping day ahead!

7) Be safe : I do NOT take my kids with me.  I am too focused (or distracted however you look at it!) to try and keep my eye on them!  There are too many people and too much commotion.  You should ALSO consider keep your wallet either in your back pocket (for the guys) or in a messenger bag instead of a PURSE (for the ladies).  It is REALLY easy to loose track of your purse in a buggy or crowd.

Consider shopping with a GIFT card or single use debit card:  I try to NOT carry cash (in case its stolen) and NOT my debit card either (for the same reason).  I shop with a debit card that only has XX amount of dollars on it so even if someone gets my card they will only be able to empty a certain amount of money!

9)   Take a BLANKET to put over your purchases in the back of your car.  It may work double duty when you are freezing your butt off in the line!!  LOL  OR if you have a trunk that is not visible, consider also locking the “trunk only” lock that most cars include for valet. (our Honda Accord had a separate lock for the trunk beside the driver seat).  Sad but true, there are MANY thefts that are “crimes of opportunity” from someone having seen an item in the back window of your car.

10) Be AWARE : BF is a thief’s playground.  Watch your carts, purses, cars, etc.  Also be careful walking to and from stores in the pitch black!

11) Take a friend : Seriously, having a shopping partner is critical!  You can split up to get double the deals.  They can watch your back and you theirs.  Troy and I will be shopping one set of stores and my parents another.  We each have OUR lists and THEIR lists.  We will make sure to call each other to check in and check off our lists what the other has been able to acquire!

12) If you are unable to get a shopping cart : GO FOR A LAUNDRY basket.  You don’t have to buy it but at least it is a means to put your stuff in it and drag it around!  Lots of times shopping carts get in the way!  For the stores in which I will only be going for small items like DVD’s, books, games, I will be taking a re-usable boat and tote bag so I don’t even have to STOP at the cart!

13) Check online : So say you want the BIG TV that Target only guarantees to have FIVE in stock… check online!  Many time there will be 50 times the stock online and shipping may cheap or even free!  You may be able to totally avoid the lines by shopping online during the Doorbuster hours!

14) Pack a thermos of coffee or hot chocolate and a snack.  Not only will you waste precious time standing in line at Starbucks but once your mid morning slump hits and you have been awake for 5 hours already – you will not think of the repercussions of your 4th cup of $7 coffee but your BANK account will!!  We usually pack a smaller cooler – 6 or so cans of soda, and a few little snacks.  During a shopping bag drop its easy to chug a coke and granola bar and be on your way to another store!  Time IS money on BF!!!

15) Can’t find something you direly WANT? : Look around the checkouts or down the aisles.  Lots of people do the “grab and run” philosophy and will make their final decisions while waiting in line.  LOTS of items get discarded at the checkouts!

16) Check out ANYWHERE you can : Walmart has checkouts in odd places that will often allow you to check out THERE without waiting in the main lines.  Electronics, seasonal, jewelry and even HUNTING!  (yes I have checked out with TOYS in hunting before!).  Don’t be afraid to ask… all they can say is NO…

17) Last but not least : ENJOY BF in the SPIRIT of Christmas. You will attract more flies with honey!  Make sure to tell your cashiers how much you appreciate their hard work and be KIND to those around you.  I anticipate that this year’s Black Friday will be the largest in a few years due to the economy.  Everyone is stressed to the max and desperate to save money and make the holiday special.  Be understanding with those around you and if for some reason someone gets snippy… just SMILE and say “Happy Holidays” and move on.  You never know what their life circumstances are that lead them to be snippy.Recent Comments:

• XXX says A tip to save some cash when enjoying movies it that instead of heading to the movies on a busy [more]
• daphne says I JUST LOVE YOU!!! You always amaze me. You’re wonder womman of another kind!! I know it’s hard to BE [more]
• Jen says We are currently going through a pregnancy possibly affected by VACTERL…having more tests run. Would like to discuss some [more]
• Jen says Hi Amber! It’s lunchablemommy – actually not on A full cup anymore, so I wanted to send you my [more]
• Tracy says Love it! That is something Maggie would do. She loves Disney Princess stuff too. LOL. [more]

• November 30, 2009 -- We came, we saw, we conquered!
• November 9, 2009 -- 7 weeks Till Christmas
• November 1, 2009 -- What does 20 cents look like to you??
• October 13, 2009 -- 11 weeks and counting (’till Christmas of course!)
• October 12, 2009 -- Preppy Pumpkins

I was reading through some posts on one of my favorite coupon blogs: Bargain Briana and found this list!  It cracked me up and seeing as how its Sunday I thought this list oddly appropriate!

1. Thou Shall Not Used Expired Coupons. Unless it is your stores policy to accept them. Sometimes they will not beep even with expired.
2. Thou Shall Use the Coupon for the Item is intended.
3. Thous Shall understand the requirements & restrictions on the coupon. Read the coupon language carefully. Sometimes there is a certain number you have to purchase or a specific variety is only included on the coupon.
4. Thou Shall Not Decode the Coupon to misuse the coupon.
5. Thou Shall Not Alter Coupons.
6. Thous Shall Not Make Copies of Printable Coupons. Making copies of printable coupons is a big “no no”.
7. Thou Shall Not Clear the Shelves.
8. Thou Shall Question Any FREE coupon items for legitimacy. The old adage, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
9. Thou Shall Not Misuse the Self Checkout System.
10. Thou Shall Use Your Couponing Powers for Good Only!

As seen on Bargain Briana’s 15 days of CouponingRecent Comments:

• XXX says A tip to save some cash when enjoying movies it that instead of heading to the movies on a busy [more]
• daphne says I JUST LOVE YOU!!! You always amaze me. You’re wonder womman of another kind!! I know it’s hard to BE [more]
• Jen says We are currently going through a pregnancy possibly affected by VACTERL…having more tests run. Would like to discuss some [more]
• Jen says Hi Amber! It’s lunchablemommy – actually not on A full cup anymore, so I wanted to send you my [more]
• Tracy says Love it! That is something Maggie would do. She loves Disney Princess stuff too. LOL. [more]

• October 31, 2009 -- Carving and Couponing…
• April 18, 2010 -- Back atcha! Meijer shopping trip 4/18/10
• April 11, 2010 -- Coupons… gotta make it back!
• January 9, 2010 -- Top 10 Deal Finding / Coupon Sites
• October 27, 2009 -- Recession Payback… LOTS of great Coupons here!

I just found this on another money saving blog but I had to share.  I do all of my christmas cards through my pro printer but that is just because I like to design my own.  For anyone who is NOT an anal retentive nut like me and wants to save BIG BUCKS on their holiday cards you should go over and visit Freebies 4 Mom.  The offer is 50 FREE photo greeting cards, FREE envelopes and FREE shipping!!!  That is at LEAST a $30+ value!!!  What a DEAL!!!???  I’d say you can’t beat that with a stick (and then all of my friends NOT from KY will begin to harass me about how “southern” I sound… yeah yeah yeah….)  You can add additional card (over 50) at $0.59 each if you find yourself to have a popularity status of more than 50!  LOL

Hurry on over and get your freebie now!

Freebies4mom FREE Holiday Card giveaway!!

THEN you can hop over to VistaPrint and pick up 140 FREE Address Labels to match your FREE cards!  Its $2.95 to ship these   I have also used these as “TO” – “FROM” labels on pacakages!!!  They have some REALLY cute designs!!!Recent Comments:

• XXX says A tip to save some cash when enjoying movies it that instead of heading to the movies on a busy [more]
• daphne says I JUST LOVE YOU!!! You always amaze me. You’re wonder womman of another kind!! I know it’s hard to BE [more]
• Jen says We are currently going through a pregnancy possibly affected by VACTERL…having more tests run. Would like to discuss some [more]
• Jen says Hi Amber! It’s lunchablemommy – actually not on A full cup anymore, so I wanted to send you my [more]
• Tracy says Love it! That is something Maggie would do. She loves Disney Princess stuff too. LOL. [more]

• November 8, 2009 -- Christmas Card Preview!
• November 9, 2009 -- 7 weeks Till Christmas
• November 7, 2009 -- 8 weeks til Christmas
• October 28, 2009 -- 9 weeks until Christmas…
• November 30, 2009 -- We came, we saw, we conquered!

This is what it looks like to us!  In truth… the Krusteaz company actually PAID us to shop and take home their product.  In total Troy paid (OOP) $0.20.  Then he received back $5 in Catalina rewards.  He used two $1 cats to pay.  All told we profited $2.80 on this trip.  This is a prime example of how to reduce your out of pocket costs on your grocery bill.  Sometimes you need to buy things you DON’T want to GET the things you DO want cheap or free!  Did I need Krusteaz pancake / waffle mix?  Well yeah… the first ten boxes!  But I think, all told, we have something like 55 boxes now.  The overage was used to pay for the saltine crackers (which we go through a TON of with peanut butter and soups in the winter) and chex mix.  This week the catalina’s will buy our produce and milk, further reducing our grocery bill.  In total we SAVED 102% on our grocery bill!  Can’t beat that with a stick right?

This is what we got:

25- Bumblee Tuna, 10 Krusteaz Pancake Mixes, 4 Zesta Saltine Crackers, 2 Chex Mix, 1 can of Hormel Chili

So… how did we do it?  Here’s the scenario:

Buy 2 Krusteaz mixes get $1 Catalina.  (normally these would be a “or more” cat but this week it is NOT… therefore if you buy 10 Krusteaz to make the “Buy 10 get $5 sale” the cat will spit out FIVE $1 Cats instead of one!”).

• Buy 10 Krusteaz @ $1.17 each- $11.70
• Use 10 $0.50/1 Krusteaz (10/11 RP – i think… I know it was 10/11 not sure SS or RP) doubles to $10 off
• OOP $1.17 Receive back $5 in Cats from Krusteaz.  Profit of $3.83!!

Also the Bumblee Tuna Evelopes are producing overage! Here’s how:

• Buy 10 Bumblebee Tuna Envelopes @ $0.49 each
• Use 10 $0.55/1 (does not double) = $0.06 overage on EACH
• or $0.60 profit on the total of 10

Overage was used to pay for the Saltine’s $0.99 each (cheapest I have ever seen this brand!) and the chex mix ($0.49 each).  The hormel chili was FREE with the purchase of 2 zesta saltines (via a tearpad coupon someone sent me in a trade!).

Better yet!  The mega sale at Kroger is STILL ON this week!  Take these scenarios and run with them!  I hope you get tons of great deals!  I may be trading for more Q’s as this is just too good to pass up!  The Ronnie House looks to be getting a LARGE donation of Krusteaz soon!  LOLRecent Comments:

• XXX says A tip to save some cash when enjoying movies it that instead of heading to the movies on a busy [more]
• daphne says I JUST LOVE YOU!!! You always amaze me. You’re wonder womman of another kind!! I know it’s hard to BE [more]
• Jen says We are currently going through a pregnancy possibly affected by VACTERL…having more tests run. Would like to discuss some [more]
• Jen says Hi Amber! It’s lunchablemommy – actually not on A full cup anymore, so I wanted to send you my [more]
• Tracy says Love it! That is something Maggie would do. She loves Disney Princess stuff too. LOL. [more]

• April 21, 2010 -- FREE Scentsy!
• January 12, 2010 -- Coming Home!
• January 5, 2010 -- New Year’s Resolution: ADD Magazines to your list of things NOT to pay for in the new year!
• November 24, 2009 -- Be Still my heart… (er.. nose)
• November 22, 2009 -- Making Peace…

So its Halloween already!  Where on earth did the time go?  Oh that’s right… the past THREE weeks have been eaten by rancid illness that has overtaken our house!  First Owen, then Kyleigh, then Ross, then me… now Troy.  Geez……..

Maybe we will see the light of day soon!  LOL  I am still really weak and “swimmy” in the head.  I managed to loose a few pounds over the past week (maybe like 3-4!!) so I cannot complain but man the nausea from all this drainage sucks!  (TMI.. I know.)

So on to the better stuff! Last night was the annual pumpkin carving.  Troy made my perfected polka dotted pumpkin by drilling holes… easy schmeasy.  Owen carved his OWN creation… and did a DARN good job.  Ross pouted a lot and tried to get into everyone else’s business and Kyleigh was more interested in “cookin up some dem seeds”…  Yes she played in the pumpkin guts and was perfectly happy.  Glad it doesn’t take much to please my kids!

Yes…  every now and then we acquire additional children from over the fence!  LOL

So much whining… (please tell me that the whining stops at 5???)

And THEN… because I am STILL sick, STILL wiped out, on day 3 of my Zithromax and STILL not feeling much better… Troy decided to keep up with the coupon shopping for the week.  It was a big week because of the Mega Sale at Krogers.  Lots of FREES and super cheaps on stuff that we needed to stock up on.  I traded and ordered Q’s online so some of them did not arrive until yesterday.  Tonight we still have one more run to do but we are almost there!

This is Troy and Owen’s booty from Kroger last night:

Shown in the picture:

10 steamfresh veggies (either 25 or 50 cents),

10 Land O Lakes Butters (17 cents each), $0.99 (Mega Sale) -

15 Glade Scented oil candle refill packs (50 cents each… yes I could get them free elsewhere but I would rather pay 50 cents for the refills than to get the entire candle holder and such free because it just seems like such a waste to me…),

20 Bumblee Tuna envelopes (FREE + $0.06 overage), $0.49 each (Mega Sale) – $0.55/1 Coupon = $0.06 overage

20 Krusteaz Pancake mixes (yes we REALLY like this stuff!) $0.17 each,$1.17 (Mega Sale) – $0.50/1 (doubled) = $0.17 each

10 Quaker Chewy Bars $0.99 each,

12 boxes of Cheez-its $0.25 each,

8 boxes of Betty Crocker Potatoes ( a few cents each… I totally honestly couldn’t tell you how much now but they were CHEAP… rest assured!  LOL)

Troy SAVED $192 and spent $44 ($10 of which was mucinex and more sudafed… blas it all this stupid sickness!)  ……….. nice right?Recent Comments:

• XXX says A tip to save some cash when enjoying movies it that instead of heading to the movies on a busy [more]
• daphne says I JUST LOVE YOU!!! You always amaze me. You’re wonder womman of another kind!! I know it’s hard to BE [more]
• Jen says We are currently going through a pregnancy possibly affected by VACTERL…having more tests run. Would like to discuss some [more]
• Jen says Hi Amber! It’s lunchablemommy – actually not on A full cup anymore, so I wanted to send you my [more]
• Tracy says Love it! That is something Maggie would do. She loves Disney Princess stuff too. LOL. [more]

• January 12, 2010 -- Coming Home!
• August 28, 2009 -- Another few faves from Gulf Shores…
• April 18, 2010 -- Back atcha! Meijer shopping trip 4/18/10
• January 6, 2010 -- First SNOW!
• November 15, 2009 -- Ten Commandments of Couponing!