Loot from the Kmart doubles event.....

This was my favorite Kmart doubles event ever!! First I have to say not once did I got to Kmart, it was my sweet sweet husband every single time. He works right by a Kmart and would stop on his lunch or after work ( sometimes both ) and get the allowed 5 items for me. Every night before bed I would get his little stacks of coupons ready ( extras just in case they were out of something, gotta get all 5 items lol ) and tuck them in the pocket of the pants he would wear to work. He must love me, right? Anyway everything pictured cost under $10, before tax 7 something. He did 5 different trips, 5 items each trip with the exception of the snuggle as those coupons were to high to double.

Here's the breakdown.....

4 Crest Pro-Health toothpastes....FREE
3 All Detergents.....FREE
2 Dove, 1 Shampoo and 1 Conditioner.....39 each
2 St. Ives Apricot Scrubs.....FREE
Bic Soleil Razors.....$1.89 ( I LOVE these and needed some so this was imo a great price )
1 Clean and Clear face wash....49
1 Mens Pert Plus.....FREE
1 Mens Gilette Bodywash......49
3 Soft Scrub Total Cleaners.....FREE ( LOVE this stuff! )
4 packs of Stayfree......FREE ( this is my brand, very excited to get them free )
2 Large Pert Plus 2 in 1 Shampoos.....89 each
1 Pack of Bic Razors.....FREE ( these were on clearance for 2.99 woohoo )
2 Snuggle Fabric Softeners.....99 each

I don't think the Pantene was bought at Kmart, I realized that after the picture, I believe that was free from a CVS deal last week.

Awesome, right? This time I was organized, had my coupons planned out, knew the prices ahead of time, so it was easy for my husband and he was in and out. I wanted to go again today but plans changed.

Now for CVS this week. I had $6 in ECBs from another transaction. I never take them off the total, as I always count the savings on my next trip when I actually use them. These were from the Huggies deal CVS had last week, I got 2 packs of huggies for $4 and something ( I am on the CVS advisory panel, they send out surveys every once in awhile and pay you in ECBs for doing them, I got one last week for $10, woohoo, it went perfectly with the diaper deal! ) out of pocket and got $6 back ( $1 from something else ). Anyway I took those and got the Pantene deal this week.

4 Pantenes at 2.99 Each = $11.96
2 Reese Dark Choc. Cups = .50each
1 Gallon of Milk ( not pictured ) = $2.89 ( we desperately needed it )

I paid $3.75 out of pocket after coupons and got back $3 in ECBs for next week!!! I never used to shop at the drugstores but now CVS is my absolute favorite!!!

I didn't take a picture but I also scored 8 boxes of Post Cereal at Krogers for $2.00!!!!

Anyone hit the Kmart doubles? How did you do? I so hope they do this again soon :) Come back Monday, I'm going to show you a great way to use some of these freebies!!!

Good Deals.....

I haven't posted in awhile, we have all been sick. Cameron was sick and missed 7 days of school, that's a lot. Gabers was sooooo sick as well, it was absolutely awful. I have never seen either one so sick, Cameron cried and cried and slept almost the entire time. Then of course O and I ended up with it but not nearly as bad as the kiddos. We are all better for the most part but now I am battling a horrible sinus cold but today has been better :)

Anywho I know you just love seeing pictures of the groceries I buy so here goes....

First I hit Cvs as I was meeting my aunt who is getting more and more excited about couponing. I paid $3.34 for everything pictured ( the little ones candy he had to have is not pictured ) I would have only paid tax but he had to have the rocket balloons. The herbal essence is $2.99 this week but you get $1 in extracare bucks back so I bought a conditioner and a gel and used a buy a shampoo get the styler free coupon making them $1 each. The Kashi cereal and granola bars were each $1, the warm delights .50 each, the simply asia .50. 

I got $1 back in ECBs for my next purchase. Honestly I was completely unprepared. I have been working on getting my coupons organized the last few days and didn't have my scenarios planned or I could have done better so that I walked away with more ECBs but I am going back tomorrow as there are some deals to be had this week.

Next up I hit Kroger, have I mentioned how much I love this place? Well I do. If you shop the sales and match it with coupons it's the best place to shop around here. 

I got the Johnson Buddy Bars for .09 each, normally you can get these free with coupon at Walmart but my Walmart NEVER has them so .09 is Awesome. The cake mixes and 4 tubs of frosting were .50 each after ecoupons and paper ones. The pilsbury cookie dough was $1.00 each after coupons.

My favorite deal is the Pampers wipes, I got 3 tubs tonight at $1 each but last week I bought 7 ( in 2 different trips, I don't like to clear the shelves, always save some for the next person ) tubs at $1 each. That is an Awesome price for wipes and it's one of my favorite things to be stocked on. The sugar cookie mix was .40, the Dawn dish soaps were $1 each, usually I wait to get the dish soap free as you almost always can but these are the big bottles so I think it was a good deal. The fiber one yogurt was free as it was $2 and I had a paper coupon for $1 off and an Ecoupon for $1 off, yeah! 

These steamers after coupons were .28 each, these are so nice for a quick side to go with dinner!! 

The bag of tide stain booster things were $2.88 ( large bag ), 5 cans of progresso at .80 a can, lunchable was free, the pilsbury pizza crusts were about .85 a can which is great for these as they are normally $3 each and I love making pizzas with them. The nature valley nut clusters were .29, the chex mix were .25 each, 2 boxes of fruit snacks for 1.04 each, 2 boxes ( equals 4 boxes as they are twin packs ) of betty crocker potatoes .44 each and these are another quick dinner side. Also 3 boxes ( 6 boxes as they are twin packs as well ) of hamburger helper .50 each. I am not a fan of hh but it's nice for a night you want something easy and my husband and kids actually love it. Also you can't see them but I got 2 big bottles of pantene shampoo for 1.47 each which normally I can get my shampoos for about $1 each but that's half off for pantene and still a great price. That's most of it, I also got milk, dr. pepper, a case of water. I spent 47 and some change after coupons, before coupons it was a little over $100. 

This week I have been slowly working on cleaning out the hall closet that housed pure junk before and am moving all of the things I am stocking up on in it like wipes, shampoos, deoderents, tp, etc. I will show you that hopefully the end of this week!!

If you have a little one in diapers go here and check out the deal on pampers next week!! You can score them for $3.97 a pack!! Now sadly I will be back tomorrow with more grocery posts as yes I will be going to kroger again however I will spend little out of pocket and get a lot of great deals, the new ad starts and it's going to be an Awesome one!! I have lots of catching up to do around the house now that everyone is better and back to school, etc. I am in the midst of rearranging and it's not lookin so hot around here right now.

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Couponing advice...

People often ask me if when couponing the items I get either free or really cheap, if those are things I actually need and use. Most of the time yes. If it's something free or only costs pennies after coupon and we don't use that product it makes for a great donation to someone who does need it. Take for instance there has been hot deals on Sudafed at Walgreens the past few weeks making them free, now sure it's always nice to have a box or two of them for us in our medicine cabinet but do I need 4 boxes? No. But things like that make for a great donation to a local charity or shelter that needs them or will give them to someone in need.

What I have been trying to do for my family is stock up on things like shampoos, soaps, toothpastes, canned goods, crackers, snack food items, laundry detergents, cleaning products, diapers, etc. Things we use a lot of. I don't want to run out, and I absolutely hate running out when that item isn't on sale or I don't have a coupon for it, so I stock up when I do. Right now we are fully stocked on laundry soap, diapers, shampoos, toothpastes, crackers, snacks, cleaning products, etc. and let me tell you it feels nice. My favorite to be stocked on is diapers and laundry soap, we go through so much of both and knowing that I have a stockpile of both that cost so little feels great. We probably have enough diapers to get us to potty training stage!

In our Sunday papers we don't get all the good coupon inserts some do, we are lucky to get one let alone 3 as some areas do. I recently found a website that you can order all the good coupons from, at first I thought pay for coupons? No way! But this site is totally worth it and your only paying pennies for them, they are charging for clipping them. If you are seriously into couponing, know your ads, know what you want to stock up on than this site is really great. They are so inexpensive and all clipped coupons ship for free. For example, My kroger has 50 oz bottles of All Detergent this week for $3.49, there is a $2 off coupon from on of the paper inserts back at the beginning of Feb. and of course I didn't have it, so I ordered it, .11 each, I ordered 10, so $1.10 will bank me $20 in savings. So I can score 10 bottles of All for $14.90 plus tax. That is Awesome! I have ordered from them twice now and love it. The site is Coupon Clipping Crew. Also with every order you earn rewards and 20 of them earn you $1 off your purchase.

Another thing with couponing, the more and more you do it the more you will learn as with anything else in life. You will learn as you go what is a good price and a deal as to what's not. Like for me I have learned that I can get huggies for about $4 to $5 a pack with a coupon matched with a sale, so I try not to go any higher than that. With toothpastes I can almost always score that free or for pennies. Shampoos ( for brands like Herbal Essence or Dove and Pantene ) I have learned I can either get them free or under a dollar which is a great price for those brands. With laundry soap, the $1.49 is my best price so far. I myself don't often get laundry soap for such a great deal and this is why when I find it I like to stock up. Cleaning products, soaps, etc. mostly free but I will pay anywhere under $1 with coupon for the good brands. Once you start shopping and ad matching with coupons and scoring better and better deals you will find your prices that you are willing to pay that work for you. For me once I get that item free or really really cheap, it's hard for me to pay anymore than that for it again.

One more thing before I go. Rebates. I have never been good about following through with rebates but am trying to do better as they are pretty Awesome! There are so many rebates out there from companies and why not take advantage of them? Especially if it's a product your buying and using anyway. For example, I recently bought a Venus Razor and an Olay Bodywash, and used a buy a razor get a free bodywash coupon. So for $5.99 I got a nice venus razor and a huge bottle of Olay with Ribbons Bodywash, then I bought some awesome Olay facial cleanser for $4.99 after coupon ( I am usually cheap when it comes to this kind of stuff but my sis was here, had it, I tried it and it's well worth that price ),  so now I need one more Olay product which I am going to buy another of the facial cleansers as I have another coupon for it and I gave the one I bought for myself to my little sis cause I'm lovely like that, haha. Anyway Olay has a rebate out right now buy any 3 Olay products and get $15 back by mail, so I spend $15.99 on 4 normally expensive products and get $15 back by mail making 3 olay products and the razor cost me only .97, so are you rethinking those rebates now? I have about 4 other rebates to mail in as well!!!

Last night I did one of my weekly trips to CVS and got 1 gallon of milk, newspaper ( no coupons, boo! ), 2 bottles of Excedrin, Three 2 liters of Pepsi, 2 Colgate Toothpastes, 1 Milano Cookies ( shhhh no coupon but they were on sale and these are my FAVORITE ), Gain detergent, Softsoap Bodywash, and 4 packs of planters peanuts, Before coupons my total was 34 and some change, after $18.45 but I received $9 in extra care bucks back for my next trip. CVS is absolutely my favorite drugstore to get the deals. It's easy to learn and every week they have Great deals! Now I will use my extra care bucks and come up with an even greater deal and roll them so that I get more back on things we use!

I could go on forever but I'm going to spare you ( anyone out there? ) and quit. Any questions? What confuses you the most about couponing? Anything?

A little bit of everything....

Last night my Awesome husband was kind enough to run to CVS for me with coupons and 2 lists in hand. He must love me, right? I gave him very specific instructions and even had to talk to him on the phone a few times while he was shopping. He did Awesome!! He got all of the above for ....Here's how......


First Transaction:

2 Canisters of Wet Ones wipes 2/$4 ( used two $1.50 coupons )
2 Bottles of Neutrogena Shampoo $6.29 each ( used two $2.00 coupons got back $5 in ECBs )
2 Glade Sense and Sprays $6 each ( used two $3.00 off coupons got back $4 in ECBs )
1 Bottle of Aussie Gel ( used one $1 off coupon and got back $2 in ECBs )

Total after coupons was 17.57 before tax, he used $4 in ECBs that I had, bringing it to $13.57 and he got back $11 in ECBs.

Second transaction:

This one is a little tricky, I went over his receipts and the lady gave him credit for one to many coupons.

He bought 5 bottles of Soft Scrub Cleanser at 2.00 each ( he used one $1 off coupons and 2 Buy one Get one Free coupons )

Total before coupons was 10.00, and after coupons $5 ( plus tax ) This is where she messed up ( she also overcharged for the shampoo so it kind of evened out ), she gave me the buy one get one coupon 3 times instead of 2, so instead of using $5 in ECBs to pay for it he used $2 and paid .35 out of pocket. ( he bought himself a frappuchino lol )

It's confusing with the mistakes but Awesome no less. So now we have $9 in ECBs to spend and roll on other deals. So technically everything pictured above cost 2.57 before tax and counting what I have in ECBs. I will most likely use the ECBs and do another glade deal and get back another $4 and throw in some fillers like wipes or laundry soap. Normally I spend my ECBs to get a good deal on diapers but we are fully stocked on diapers for the next couple of months. Now about the diapers....

photo from www.diapers.com

I placed my first order from Diapers.com and hello loveeeeeeee them! I ordered Monday and got them Tuesday. If it's your first time you can use code GabeyBoo1 and receive $10 off your first order of $49 or more and free shipping. This is what I did...

I bought a HUGE box of Luvs at 35.98 and a jumbo pack of Luvs at 7.99, plus for fillers Gabers needed his own cute silverware so I got him 2 little sets of the einstein silverware at 3.99 each. Bringing my total to $51.95, then enter the code and I got $10 off bringing my total to $41.95. So out of pocket I paid $41.95 BUT there is a rebate you can submit,  if you choose to decline a free subscription to parenting magazine and they will send you $14.97 back in a rebate. So that makes my total for 207 diapers and 2 sets of silverware $26.98 which is only .09 a diaper ( i subtracted the cost for the silverware ), that is Cheap, Plus I never left the house!!! Woohooo! Also if you don't need or want diapers, they have baby clothes, toys, baby gear, everything baby. You can get anything and use the code for $10 off and free shipping as long as you add one pack of diapers to your order. This is great if you need a baby gift!!

 

Had to share a couple of giveaways I won. I won this last week over at My Frugal adventures, love love love her blog and she herself is AWESOMEly sweet! It's what got me started in couponing. I won this cute set of goodies. Plus a $25 target gift card, and a coupon for a Free Wanchai Ferry dinner kit, yummm! We LOVE Target!!! Cameron can't wait to have the fortune cookies :)

Back in uh October I won a gift card to Organize.com http://www.organize.com/ in the Gal to Gal walk ( a great organization that has a virtual online walk to fight cancer ) twitter party. I just now spent it as there was sooooo many things to choose from. Their website has EVERYTHING imaginable for your home. I was taking my time as I wanted to get organization stuff I knew we needed. It was hard as they have so many neat decorative things as well. I got a set of snapware for cereals and snack mixes and stuff, I got some little dino sandwich cutters for the kiddos, I got a purse organizer for the closet door, a collapsible collander ( love love love this ), 2 plastic bins for storing the dog and cat food, I got a coupon organizer, a plate rack which won't be used for plates :)

 

and I got this thing....We have no big fabulous pantry and are trying to make do with the space we have so this was perfect! Off our kitchen is a side door/landing to the basement and a second door to our bedroom that is never used as it's blocked,there is no room with the 3 doors at the landing for any type of cabinet to sit so this will hang perfectly on the bedroom door we don't use to store canned goods and things. This will help a lot as we have almost no cabinet space.

Wowsers!!! I could keep going but I won't :) Little man is up from his morning nap so it's time to get busy!!

More Couponing....

I made a couple more small trips to Krogers for the last of the Mega event.

Everything is pictured above minus the bread, milk, and 2 dozen eggs.

2 1/2 gallons of milk ( $1.25 each at Krogers )
2 Dozens of eggs ( used buy one get one free from Facebook promo )
2 Jugs of water
Bread
4 bags of Kraft Shredded Cheese ( used to two $1.00 off two bags from coupons.com )
2 Edy's Ice Creams ( coupon from a mailer I received for $2.00 off two )
Cheerio Snack Mix ( coupon from coupons.com )
2 boxes of Savorings ( used $1.00 off from smartsource.com & $1.00 from loading my card at shortcuts.com )
One 2lb package of Velveeta ( coupon from the Kraft Foods website )

Total after coupons and before taxes was $16.84, Woohoo! Saved over $13 with coupons plus got $5 off for the mega event as I had 10 participating items, plus my kroger card savings with a total of $37.11 in savings! I have to say we are completely stocked on shredded cheese, velveeta, eggs, and snacks altogether but it's nice having plenty with little spent.

Second Kroger Trip....

This was an Awesome trip, and my sweet sweet husband was kind enough to pick this all up for me after a long day of work, overtime, and appointments. He did really well, he's getting better with the coupons and is totally on board with doing it.

Prices listed are after my coupons and the .50 off for each item in the mega event.

1 Bag of Cheerio Snack Mix was 1.99 he paid .89
3 Valley Fresh Steamers 1.99 he paid .49 a bag!!!! ( I had .50 off coupons and they doubled them )
4 Philadelphia Cream Cheeses 1.49 each he paid .74 each
3 Cans of Rotel .92 a can, he paid .26 TOTAL for all 3!!!!
4 Sobe Lifewaters .99 each, he paid .25 each
2 Bags of Goldfish crackers 1.38 each, he paid .13 each!!!!
4 Boxes of Velveeta Shells and Cheese 1.61 each, he paid .61 each!!
1 Velveeta Shells and Cheese cup he paid .49 ( needed a mega event filler item to make 30 items )
4 Boxes of Toaster Strudels 2.27 each he paid 1.13 each
1 Box ( 2lb ) of Velveeta 4.29 he paid 2.79
Not Pictured Claussen Pickles 2.99 he paid 1.49
Not Pictured 2 two liters of Pepsi 1.29 he paid .79 each

The chocolate chips weren't on sale, the bread was for 1.99 and had a peelie for .55 off. Also not pictured was 2 jugs of water.

Total out of pocket was 23.54!!!!  I think that's Awesome!

Total mfg coupons was 15.73,  plus kroger plus savings 29.86 for a total savings of 47.09

If you are near a Walgreens ( we have one on every corner  ) they have an Awesome deal on Huggies this week. They are priced at $8.99 use the $2 off coupon if you were able to print it offline plus get a $3 register reward back for $3.00 off your next purchase making them only $3.99!! Then you could turn around and use the $3 for a gallon of milk or on another deal walgreens has with register rewards. Also I hear tomorrow that there will be a 15% off coupon available to use at Walgreens Friday only making the deal even better!


 Tomorrow starts a new sale at Kroger, this one will be purchase 10 participating items and receive $3 off at checkout ( unlimited ), I have already made my lists with coupon matchups and there will be some more pretty sweet deals!

Cam is out of school the rest of the week for Parent Teacher Conferences ( we had ours tonight ) and Lincoln's Birthday, tomorrow him and I are making Cupcake Pops and Valentines. Well I am off to bed, I just took some awful cough syrup and am hoping for some much needed sleep tonight!

Muffin Tin fun....

 Ok so I didn't use a muffin tin but cupcake liners, all the same. I do want to get some silicone cupcake thingys to use. I found this blog here a month or so ago and she does a bloggy party every Monday where they have Muffin Tin Monday which is where you link up a post showing what you did for Muffin Tin Monday. I didn't actually link up this week as I am just now getting it posted but will definitely do so next week. They also do different themes on and off where you come up with creative ways to use their foods. I thought this would be fun for Gabe, he may be a little young for it yet but it's a great way to offer him a variety of foods at lunch while making it fun.

First isn't he precious? Love this little man. So much cuteness.

 

Gabers had gold fish pretzels and cheesy ones, cut up bologna, cheese crumbles, pineapple pieces, and come sweet and sour chicken. The sweet sour chicken was what I picked out of mine ( I pick out the chicken from mine cause I'm cool like that, I don't like cut up pieces of chicken or meat of any kind in stuff, I know cool weird ) as I just knew he would like it. Nope. He had a little of everything, he's never had bologna and really liked it, the chicken was immediately spit out as I don't think he liked the sauce, cheese he always loves :)

  

Here he is putting the chicken back, haha.

 

Checkin out all his good eats. The food totally didn't last long in the cupcake liners, they were on the floor pretty quick, longer than I expected though.

If you want to read more about Muffin Tin Mondays check out Michelle's blog here, there is a lot of fun things for you and your kiddos on her blog.

Super Easy and Delicious Shepards Pie Recipe....

This is one of my new favorite things to make. I first made it a few weeks back and Everyone loves it, especially my husband. This is so easy to make and inexpensive. I love recipes that require few ingredients and even better things you already probably have in your cabinets.

A few things about this recipe..This was a recipe I found offline and changed alot to work for us. Normally with shepards pie you would just make mashed potatoes or used boxed but I like it this way much better, it's easier and tastes just as good if not better. I add more veggies as we I like it with more, 3 cans might be a little much for some. Also This makes a bit larger than a normal batch which is why I use a bigger pan. You may do a little tweaking to get it more to your liking, I only use 1 pound of ground beef as 2 seems to much and I like less beef, however with 1 pound it still has plenty of beef ( has to for the Mr. ). This feeds our family of 4 plus we have plenty of leftovers for lunch the next day and it's just as good.

Shepards Pie

1 Pound of Ground Beef
1 Can of Mixed Veggies ( frozen veggies work as well )
1 Can of Corn
1 Can of green beans 
2 jars of beef gravy
7 to 10 potatoes depending on size
1 package of cream cheese ( cut into cubes )
1 bag of Shredded Cheddar Cheese
3/4 stick of butter ( cut up into pieces )
Chopped onion or Bell Pepper Optional


1. Brown your ground beef in a skillet, I usually chop up and onion and cook it with the beef. I brown mine on med. low and start preparing the other ingredients.


2. Poke holes in your potatoes and cook them in the microwave. When they are done mash them up in a big bowl, add the butter, the cream cheese, a handful of your shredded, and  I usually add a splash of milk but you don't have to, it just helps to make it a little more mash potatoey. Also if you prefer you can peel your potatoes, I do sometimes but either way is just as good. Mash everything together and set aside.


Take a good sized cake pan, drain your ground beef and add to your pan, mix in the veggies and gravy and spread evenly. Now with your nice clean hands mash the potato mix into patties and spread over the top of your beef mixture. Then top with the rest of your shredded cheese and bake at 350 until the cheese gets light brown and bubbly. 


Yummm!!! Seriously good stuff! Enjoy!! I will add a picture this week, I made it again tonight but sadly forgot to take a before picture, we were hungry.

Awesome programs for Saving Money and Getting High Value Coupons....

Today I want to share a few things that I started doing in 2009 and have really helped us a lot. This will be lengthy but if your interested in saving money, or getting full sized products or high value coupons this is a must read.

1. Have you heard of swagbucks? Swagbucks is a search and earn program. You search the web through them and earn swagbucks. The swagbucks can then be used to either purchase merchandise, enter sweepstakes, or buy gift cards. I highly recommend the gift cards. This helped us A LOT this last Christmas. I have turned my swagbucks in everytime for gift cards to amazon ( I will talk more about amazon in a moment ). You can get a $5 amazon card for only 45 swagbucks, you can also get higher amounts and gift cards to lots of other places. They are so easy to earn. I have been a member of swagbucks for about 4 months and have earned around $40 in amazon gift cards. To learn more about it or sign up go here.

2. Another favorite of mine is Alice.com, love love love it! On alice.com you can buy household items such as cleaning supplies, snacks for the pantry, diapers, beauty products, etc. I don't buy a ton from alice as I shop the local sales and use my paper coupons, but on alice they have coupons as well on certain items that will automatically come off the item. Plus when you order from alice shipping is always free and you get your order in 1 to 2 days. I shop the deals on alice ( that's actually a category on the website ), I have gotten luvs diapers cheap, bounty paper towels, toilet paper, cleaning supplies ( my fave scrubbing bubbles ), and a few other deals from there. It's nice when you have already made your trips to the store and forgot a few things, order from alice and have it in a couple of days tops. Your first order you can order as little as 1 item, but any order after that they require at least 6 items which is no big deal and easy to achieve. Also if you sign up through this link once you have spent $50 which can be over a long period of time you get a $10 credit which you can use for anything on the site. Hello free diapers! I just got my $10 credit and will definitely be using it for diapers. I have ordered 3 or 4 times over the last 4 months and love it. My last order I got a bag of samples in with my order which they do randomly. To learn more about alice or sign up you can go here.

3. I don't sign up for a ton of samples, I used to but they can be time consuming. I sign usually only sign up when it's a product I use, or know I would use and most likely it will come with a coupon. Or if it's something new, it's always fun trying out new products. Last year I discovered a great program Bzz Agent. I love this program. I signed up around August? I believe and have received so many great products to try out. Not only do they send you products but usually a stack of coupons to pass along to friends and spread the Bzzz. I have gotten to try products such as Childrens Zyrtec, Softsoaps bodywash, and Aveeno Baby products. The Zyrtec and the Aveeno I received full sized products to try and with the aveeno I got several samples and high value coupons to pass out ( I still have some if anyone wants them ), and with the Zyrtec I received a book of very high value coupons with it. With the softsoaps I received about 7 trial sized bottles of the bodywash along with high value coupons to give out. I was excited about them all but the Aveeno was definitely my favorite as the littlest guy has very sensitive skin and can only use aveeno and it was great to try a new product of theirs. The sign up process is a bit lengthy as you do need to fill out a survey so they can send you Bzz Ops that suit you. You can go here to learn more or sign up.

4. Another Awesome program is Vocalpoint. This is definitely a favorite of mine. This one is soo super easy to join, and there is not a lot of participation required. I have been a member since last April and have received so many coupons for either free products or full size products free to try. Recently I have gotten a coupon for free tuna, a full sized Tide Swash to try, a full sized jar of Olay Pro x plus tons of $10 off coupons to give out, I have gotten lots of coupons for a variety of different cereals, they sent coupons for free ones as well as high value ones to give away. All you do in return besides telling your friends or family is take a seriously quick and simple survey after trying the product. It is one of the easiest programs in my opinion and the coupons are awesome. You can go here to read more or join.

5. Another is Kraft First Taste. Sign up is super easy and again you get offers to try a product and take a quick survey after doing so. Recently I received a coupon for a new DiGiorni pizza to try free as well as a high value one, I have received others for free velveeta shells and cheese cups, wheat thins, and deli creations sandwiches. You can go here to learn more or sign up.

Another great way to score some high value coupons is emailing the company, search for their website ( through swagbucks of course ) and almost all companies have a contact form on their site to write them. I have done this with several companies who make products that I love and gotten tons of coupons for free products in the mail. I even scored $45 in free diaper coupons from one. I did have a small complaint with the diapers but was mostly telling them I loved them. Don't make up complaints be honest :) most companies love positive feedback and will mail you coupons in return for taking the time to share your feedback on their products.

Let's talk a little about online shopping. I almost never buy from a website if they aren't offering free shipping, otherwise I can drive my big hiney to the store and pick out what I want there, I do not like to pay for shipping. One of my most favorite places to shop online is Amazon. I did probably 70% of my Christmas shopping for the kiddos and distant relatives off of Amazon. They are almost always offering free prime memberships and I highly recommend it, I have even contemplated paying the yearly fee to keep it as it is so completely worth it in my opinion. With a prime membership you get free 2 day shipping on almost anything that ships from amazon ( not outside sellers ) and you can even get One day shipping for $3.99 which is so great for a last minute birthday or Christmas present that you either couldn't find at the store or to send straight to someone who lives far away. Also double up the free shipping with those amazon gift cards you earn with your swagbucks and you will be amazed at the savings. I got SO MANY deals on the kiddos toys this last Christmas, I couldn't believe it, hubby couldn't believe it. Way cheaper than walmart. To name a few I got my littlest a $60 fisher price toy for $19 and some change plus free 2 day shipping. At walmart I believe they were $45. I saved more then 50% shopping amazon at Christmas. They always have daily deals, and especially have the toy deals during the shopping season. There also great for printer ink. Earn those swagbucks, turn them in for amazon cards and get free or cheap printer ink to make up for printing all those coupons off :) Oh and one more thing, with amazon even if you don't sign up for prime you can still get free shipping on tons of stuff by spending $25. The prime is just better though as there is no minimum purchase. The other day they had a great deal on sippy cups so I spent like $5 and got free 2 day shipping with my prime membership. It's nice for when you see a good deal.

One last thing, my most favorite blog to read is My Frugal Adventures, she is Awesome and the first person to turn me into a couponer. She posts several times a day the store lists, the deals, and matchups with coupons, she is constantly posting a gazillion online deals, if there is a free coupon, sample, whatever she knows. Check her blog out here. She gets worried if she doesn't hear from me everyday, haha! She has helped me get many many deals. My favorite is my flip video camera, I wanted one for my Birthday but wasn't going to spend the small fortune ( i'm cheap ) and she found me a deal on one!! I had to stay up the day after Christmas til about 4 in the morning until the deal went live to get it but it was totaly worth it, I got mine for about $50 when they retail everywhere for $120 to $200. I definitely recommend subscribing to her blog and remember you absolutely do not have to have a blog to comment or subscribe.

Okie Dokie that's all I got today!! Any questions or help you can always email me!!

Couponing at Krogers....

Tonight we went to Kroger as they are having the Mega Event which is my most favorite time to shop there. I so love Kroger. The Mega event if you don't know is where you buy 10 participating items and get $5 off your total and at our store you can do that as many times as you want in one transaction. At the end of mine I got $30 off as I had 60 participating items and then came the coupons....I handed the sweet young and patient guy about 35 coupons and apologized, lol. He was so nice though and him and the young guy bagging were entertaining Cameron and telling him that the sweeper thing transforms at night into a transformer and hello you had him at Transformer.

 

Anyways, I spent a little more than I planned but I got A LOT of stuff and stocked up on snack foods and things for the kids that are normally so high. I got 4 boxes of wheat thins and triscuits for a little over $1.00 a box as I had $1.00 off coupons, The nature valley nut clusters were each about .30 cents a bag after my paper coupons, and e coupons from shortcuts.com ( I so love being able to use both on one item, this I just learned not to long ago ) The ritz were 1.00 a box after coupons, the fruit cups we got 2 free. You can't see it but the deli creations hot sandwiches were $1.00 each. All the goldfish I had no coupons for but with the mega event they were only .88 cents a bag and I love these the kiddos love these. The boxes of 100 calorie count snacks were a little over $1.00 a box after coupons.

We got 4 boxes of capri suns for less than $1.00 a box after coupons. Some other deals I got with coupons were French's Mustard, Franks Hot Sauce, French's Honey Mustard, French's Dipping Sauce and each were only .19 cents. Awesome! I got guacamole for $1.00, oh and my favorite deal was the Kraft Cheeses, each was only .99 and I got 6! That's awesome for Kraft cheese in my opinion. I got 2 Tombstone pizzas for around $1.50 each. I got 4 boxes of Velveeta Shells and Cheese for .61 a box. A huge thing of velveeta for 2.79. They also had good whole grain bread for $3.89 a loaf but it was buy one get one free plus there was a .55 off coupon on each load that I used making them 1.39 a loaf for my favorite bread.

I also got several boxes of fiber one granola bars for  about .60 a box as I had paper coupons that were doubled plus ecoupons. Not even close to everything is pictured, I stocked up on hamburger for the week, plus they had big bags of salmon, tilapia, and catfish for 9.99 and I got tilapia. We also got cereal, milk, eggs, juice, water, those kinds of things. Oh I also got 2 sets of ziploc storage containers, nice big casserole sized ones for 1.25 each set.

Ok I think that's enough....Wanna know my savings??? I saved $85.32 with my krogers card, 2.25 bonus coupons?, and with mfg coupons...........$33.67!!! A total of 121.24!!! Woohoo!! Seriously though once I see the total saved just from the coupons it makes it all worth it! Every little but helps, and even though $33 is not a ton of money it sure will add up to the end of the year.

So that's my weekly couponing. Do you bother? How's yours going if you do?

Family Christmas Video....

A little late but I have been playing around with videos I took Christmas. Enjoy!

Coupon Highs....

Something I want to try and do this year is post more on my family blog. I want to of course share what's going on at home with the kiddos as well as share some of my couponing. I just started couponing about 7 months ago and  am not great at it yet but getting better. I slacked off for the last 2 months or so and am getting back into it. It's something that REALLY helps us save money and we definitely need that. It's a lot of work but completely worth it.

Tonight we headed to CVS as I had $11.50 in extra care bucks to spend from the pepsi deal they had. Yesterday we bought Six 12 packs of pepsi and paid $16 and some change and got $10 back. Plus I had $1.50 from my quarterly earnings.

So ( counting the soda ) we got....

Six 12 packs of pepsi
Bag of Stacys Pita chips ( free bag coupon I got from facebook )
Conditioner
8 Rolls of Bounty Paper Towels
1 Airwick Freshmatic starter kit ( join here if you want these coupons )
1 Box of Hersheys Granola Bars
12 pack of thread ( for sewing practice )
Shoelaces ( cam needed new ones )
2 Tubs of Clorox Wipes
A new Sippy Cup for little man ( $5 geesh )

I paid about $28 ( again that is counting yesterdays soda purchase )

I had $16.50 in ExtraCare bucks, ( $5 of which came from a survey I did as I am on the CVS advisory panel and $10 from the soda, and $1.50 I had from my fall earnings )and $8 in coupons plus I got $1 back for my next visit.

Now I could have done it so that I would have earned more extracare bucks back to spend next time but I stuck with getting things we needed.

We also went to Krogers tonight and I used 16 coupons, my total before coupons was a little over $100 and after coupons we spent around $60. That's good for me. Again I am still learning.....A few deals I got...

 5 Healthy Choice Dinners *FREE
12 double rolls of Cottonelle for $3.88
Cheerios ( big box ) for $1
2 full size AirWick Freshmatic automatic starter kit .49 each
1 Airwick freshmatic Compact Starter kit .49
2 cans of pilsbury grands biscuits free
2 rolls of pilsbury chocolate chip cookie dough .89 each
3 cans of Starkist Tuna *Free
1 DelMonte fruit cup *Free
2 big boxes of ritz crackers $1.00 each
2 Boxes of Hostess 100 count Calorie cupcakes packs ( YUM ) $1.50

Those are some of the deals I got with coupons. I could do better and I know the ritz deal and hostess are incredible but still a good deal. I remember when walmart was the only place we shopped and now Krogers is pretty much it. You can do very good there if you shop the sales. Plus you can load coupons on your card and use paper coupons ( check your store )with them as well.

For my coupons I load my card here, you can also go here for printable coupons, and anytime you want a coupon for a specific product definitely visit the companies website, they almost always have coupons available on their site for their products. I have also written companies ( whom have products I love ) on several occasions telling them I loved their products and they mailed me high value coupons.

Also a few blogs that are AWESOME with couponing and sharing deals are My Frugal Adventures, go here to visit her blog. Also Engineer a Debt Free Life here. There are tons I will list more later as well.