2 Toaster Strudel 6ct $1.24
- $1.00 off printable (no longer available) .49
- $0.55/2 off printable
2 Kelloggs cereal 11.2-16.5 oz $1.99
- $1.00/2 Frosted Mini Wheats printable 2.99
2 Ronzoni Healthy Harvest Pasta $0.89
- $1.00/2 off printable .79
Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers $1.19
-$0.40/1 off SS 3/28 .39
3 Windex 26oz $1.69
- $1.00/2 store coupon in the “Value in the Family” booklet
- $1.00/1 SS 4/11, 3/21 or printable 1.08
________
Total: 5.74
*Then submit for a SC Johnson $5 rebate for buying the Windex.
You essentially paid $0.74/ plus tax. (If you had all coupons that were available.)
Here are two scenarios that you can try. The first one uses a printable coupon. The second transaction uses a coupon that is supposed to be in the coupon insert this Sunday, April 25. (Remember: You do not always get all the coupons that are reported to be in the newspaper inserts. Each region. Sometimes each paper receive different coupons.)
Buy 1 Softsoap Body Wash 2.99
-$0.75 off Softsoap Nutri Serum Body Wash printable
Total OOP: 2.24
Get back $2 ECB (extra care bucks)
Feeling brave….
Transaction #2:
Buy 1 Intuition Razor OR Schick Quattro for Women Razor $8.99
-$4.00 off Schick Intution Razor or Refill SS 4/25
OR -$4.00 off Schick Quattro for Women Razor or Refill SS 4/25 $4.99
AND -$2 ECB from Transaction #1
Total OOP: $2.99
Get back $4 ECB to use for next week.
Recent Trip to PublixStep 1:
First off, these are not unexpected expenses, so I plan for them. I have Gifts as a line item in my budget. Also, I have a line item for Christmas Savings. I actually keep the Christmas savings in two different places. Most of it goes into a savings account that holds the money for my short term savings (such as Christmas and Car Insurance/Tags etc.) But then a smaller amount gets put into an envelop in my wallet for times when I find good deals while I am out shopping.
Step 2:
Make a List. Check it Twice. Write down all the people you buy birthday/anniversary/other gifts for each year. Make another list for your Christmas shopping needs. Budget for each person's gift. Be realistic here. You don't want to under estimate and then not have the cash in your budget. Don't forget Mother's and Father's Day. Don't forget Easter/Valentine's Day/etc if you tend to get these presents for people. Add the amounts up and divide by 12. You should be saving MORE than this amount each month in your Gift/Christmas savings. Why more? Because we haven't even added in those more "unexpected" gifts. Such as baby showers, weddings, bat mitzvah, and if you have children the dreaded kid birthday parties. (We had two such parties on Saturday.) You can estimate. You can plan ahead. But there still needs to be some cushion in your Gifts budget.
Step 3:
Designate an area in your house for gifts. Whether it be a Gift Closet, Gift Shelf, Gift Area of Your Attic, or a Under Your Bed Gift Area. Designate it and use it to stash all the gifts that you are pre-buying. This is important. You want to be able to find the gifts you have bought and not have to run out and buy another gift at the last minute.
Step 4:
You are now armed. You have money. You have a list. Start shopping NOW. You heard me. Shop NOW. Why? Because it will save you time, money, and stress. If you find a great sale on something your mother would love? Buy it. Make sure you pay attention to your budget. Do not find a $200 purse on sale for $50 for your mom when the gift budget for her is $25. (Unless you can pull the $$ away for another gift. Just make sure you are not spending above your budget without a plan.)
Now, you may be skeptical of this way of shopping. You may be saying to me. "I don't want to get cheap gifts for my friends and family." "I don't want them to know I am skimping on their gift." "Cheap gifts will look ugly or will be shoddy." These statements are just not true. You are shopping smart and most importantly within your means. Let me show you an example.
Right now at JCPenney, you can get $10 off of a $10 purchase. To get the $10 off use the promo code TEN4YOU . There are lots of great things on clearance or at the outlet. You do have to pay shipping, so you won't get anything for free but tons of things will work out to be good deals.
I searched with several people in mind. I started out in the toys and didn't find much there that I was interested in. Then I checked the housewares. Finally, I looked at the jewelry. There are several people on my lists that would love jewelry, so I looked at the items thinking of them. I found a necklace and a bracelet that I thought would be perfect for one or two on my list. The necklace was marked down to $9.99 from $22. The bracelet was marked down to $6.99 from $18. This present is worth $40 regular retail, but with the sale and the coupon I paid less than $14 for both. These will make a great birthday present for a friend or for my sister-in-law. (Both of their birthdays are in August.)
Step 5:
Use the cash back websites. These days you can have your choice of different cash back sites. Ebates and Cashbaq are two of them. I recommend you choosing one to be your main one and then using another as a back up for stores that aren't on your main one. I use Ebates. I really like them. I have never had a problem getting my money. I have been using them for over 8 months and have been paid twice. My total cash back is almost $40 just for clicking through using the ebates site. There are minimum pay outs so check them to see which cash back site you want to use as your main one.
There are a variety of different way you can handle the money you get back. You can just add that money right back into your gift budget. OR You can have a savings envelop for that free money to save for a specific item for the family. OR You can use it to do something bigger like paying down your debt. OR You could put give it to your church or a special charity that is close to your heart. Whatever you do with it, it is always better to specify a place before it comes or you will find that it disappears before your eyes.
* Please note that the links to the Ebates and Cashbaq sites are referral links. If you sign up using these links, I will be given a referral credit.
Grandpa Playing Wii...it isn't just for the kids!If you are in need of a Wii, check out this giveaway. If you aren't, check out her website. She posts great deals on natural items.
I had coupons for all but one item in my cart. Some were printable. Some were from the Sunday paper. I am looking forward to learning more about how to get the best deals at Publix.
Here are a couple of cute videos of my boys singing from Summer 2008. We were on our way home from Huntsville Int'l Airport's Airshow. We are actually watching the Blue Angels perform as we are driving out of the airport. The boys thought we needed music to go with the planes. I love how they try to harmonize.
(In these videos, Bitty is just over 2 years old. The Boy is just a tad over 5 years old.)
Enjoy.
PS. If you are not related to them, these might not be as good. :) But I am, and I crack up every time I watch them.
(Sorry for the spacing issues. I am having trouble getting Blogger to do what I command.)
Have you joined mycokerewards.com yet?
You can collect points on different Coke products. A 20 oz bottle of Diet Coke is worth 3 points. A 12 pack of Sprite is worth 10 points. You get the drift.
Well, we have been collecting points for awhile. This week, I cashed in most of our points on two purchases. I never had to leave my house! Both will be delivered to my door in a week or less.
Here are the deals:
1) Free 8X11 Photobooks with leather cover from Snapfish.
Photobook Credit = 285 pts
4 Photobook Credits = 1140 pts
Snapfish was having a free shipping sale during the week of Labor Day. I began working on my photobooks. I did not finish even one by the end of the original sale. Luckily, Snapfish extended the offer for three days. I was able to complete two photobooks. My credits were for 20-page books. My books were 30-pages each. Here are the totals.
2 20-page photobooks | $49.98 |
2 Extra 10-pages | $19.90 |
Shipping/Handling | $ 9.98 |
Free Shipping | -$ 9.98 |
Photobook Credits | -$49.98 |
Total | $20.70 ($10.35/each) |
I will keep the other two credits in my account for the next free shipping offer. Although, I think I will go ahead and make the other two photobooks now, so all I have to do is order them when the next free shipping code is released. I predict one will be released before Thanksgiving in preparation for Holiday shopping.
2) Nike Gift Codes
$50 Gift Code = 2000 pts
$25 Gift Code = 1000 pts
Totaling:
$75 Gift Codes = 3000 pts
I love my Nikes. I needed new running shoes. This seemed like a no-brainer for me.
Nike+ running shoes | $67.99 |
Nike socks (1 pair) | $ 6.99 |
Shipping | $8.00 |
Free Shipping* | -$8.00 |
Gift Codes | -$75.00 |
Tax | $9.00 |
Total l | $8.98 |
Nine bucks. For a great pair of Nike running shoes and socks! (Note: The shoes were $1.15, but I decided I saved enough on the shoes that I could afford to splurge on my favorite socks.)
*As with many other sites, you can register with Nike.com to have them remember your information or you can complete guest checkout. I registered mainly because I wanted my shopping cart saved just in case something prevented me from completing the process. Afterwards, I was thanked for my registering by an offer of free shipping on my next purchase.
This afternoon I decided to do a quick trip to CVS because one of my coupons was expiring on Monday and I wanted to take advantage of the deal before it expired. Also, I should point out that I have a CVS card and so does my husband. We got two cards accidentally, but I have consulted several respectable bloggers and they say that the rule is one per person. So, I shop on both cards. The ECBs that print are specific to the card that earned them. Meaning...if my card earns an ECB, my card has to be the one to redeem the ECB.
* Buy Renu Multipurpose Contact Solution Get $3 ECB. (Or you can buy a twin pack of the rewetting drops.)
* Buy Clairol Loving Care Hair Color Get $2 ECB Limit 1
* Buy Glade Fragrance Collection candles or reed diffusers Get $6.99 ECB (These are free after ECB) Limit 1
Here are the Transactions:
1 Clairol Loving Care Natural Instincts hair color $4.99
1 Renu Multipurpose Contact Solution $7.99
1 Glade Fragrance Collection reed diffuser $6.99
Total: 19.97
Coupons:
- $4.00 off Clairol Natural Instincts hair color (found in the P&G newspaper insert on 8/2 EXPIRES 8/31)
-$2.00 Glade Fragrance Collection candles or reed diffusers
Total After Coupons: 13.97
- $10 ECB from Aveeno Deal I did on Friday
-$4 ECB (The cashier adjusted the ECB down to $3.97 because I forgot to put a filler item in my cart to make up the difference. Some cashiers do this and some do not.)
Total OOP: $0.00 plus tax. (I put the $1.28 in tax on the gift card that I have from transferring a prescription.)
Got $11.99 ECB ($6.99 ECB, $3 ECB, $2 ECB)
1 Clairol Loving Care Natural Instincts hair color $4.99
1 Glade Fragrance Collection soy candle (10 oz) $6.99
1 Warhead Sour Spray candy $1.19 (The Boy has been begging to try this spray candy.)
Total: $13.17
Coupons:
-$4 Clairol Natural Instincts coupon from above
-$2 Glade Fragrance Collection coupon from above
Total After coupons: $7.17
-$6.99 ECB
Total OOP: $0.18 plus tax ( I put the $1.23 on the gift card. I still have $7.54 left on the gift card and I have had it since the beginning of the summer.)
Got $8.99 ECB ($6.99 ECB, $2 ECB)
Grand Totals for the Trip:
OOP: $2.51 on a gift card
ECB Spent: $20.99
ECB Received: $20.98
Lost a penny in ECBs. I don't think I am going to cry over it.
Do you shop at CVS? Do you love it? Do you hate it? Or does it just make your head hurt to think about?
2 boxes Kellogg's Fruit Loops
5 boxes Kellogg's Rice Krispies and Cocoa Krispies
1 box Kellogg's Rice Krispies (largest box available on the Buy 4, Save$4 event)
4 boxes of Eggo Nutragrain Low Fat waffles
1 gallon of milk
1 small bag of Purina Dog Food (on sale $2.99)
1 bar Bounce 4month Fabric Softener bar
Now for the totals:
Total After Sales and Coupons: 17.16
Total Saved: 39.09 (69%)
How I did it? I had a Free Box of Rice Krispies coupon, so I wanted to get the most bang for my coupon and chose to get one of the big boxes. I had some other cereal coupons so I used those on the smaller boxes. I had a coupon for Purina dog food for $3.50. Kroger gives overage so that gave me $.51 to help pay for my milk.I don't use the Rice Krispies for cereal. I use them to make Rice Krispies Treats for when I have to take a quick snack to Sunday School, a playdate, or other social activity. I like to use half Cocoa Krispies and half regular Rice Krispies. They look pretty and taste super yummy.
Now for the totals.
Total Before Sales and Coupons: $98.70
Total After Sales and Coupons: $26.12
Total Savings: 72.58 (74%)
I spent less than $30 (including tax) and am well set with my cereal and yogurt needs for the foreseeable future. Plus, every item that I bought carries at least one Box Tops for Education on it. I counted my box tops and from just this one shopping trip my son's school will earn over $5.00 from the Box Tops program.
How did I do it? I used coupons for the items on the Mega Event sale. I did not buy a single item that did not have a coupon for it. I also did not buy anything that was not on the Mega Event. I bought 40 items, so $20 was taken off of my total at the end of the transaction. Kroger allows you to use paper coupons, internet printable coupons, and e-coupons. My Kroger also doubles all coupons $.50 and less. (Some areas double up to $.99. So check your local store!)
Last November, I started couponing. I saved our family about $40 - 50/month with just coupons. I thought I was something. :) Then I found many sites and blogs that helped me and that frankly made me nervous. Could I ever reach the point where I was paying nearly nothing for items my family needed? Beginning in January, I decided to really focus on figuring out how to manage all the different stores programs and reward systems. I started with CVS. After a few months, I realized...it is true, I may never pay for shampoo again.
Right now, I regularly shop at CVS, Walgreens, Kroger, and at times Target. I love shopping for the best deal. It takes time and space (to put everything until you need it), but it has saved us so much money.
I am going to post the best of my deals here so you can see how they work and how you too can never have to pay for shampoo again.
From The Boy's student teacher. The class decorated their white lunch bags for Valentine's Day yesterday.
Ms. Teacher to Be: What are you drawing?
The Boy: A machine.
Ms. Teacher to Be: What does the machine do?
The Boy: It sucks all the bad up. So everything is good. This is a robot. But he is a good robot cause everything is good now.
My son, the inventor. I pray that this will be his addition to our world. To suck all the bad away, so everything will be good. Out of the mouths of babes.
Today is my birthday. I am 33 years old. I love it. I had trouble turning 30, but every year after that hasn't been hard at all. I love the way my boys get excited when my birthday comes along. I may even make myself cupcakes to have at dinner. The Boy never understands not having cake on your birthday.
This morning the boys greeted me with the own versions of birthday greetings.
The Boy: After his daddy reminded him that it was my birthday, he said, "Oh, Mommy! Do you want to go to Jack's for your birthday? It is your birthday so they are open." (We live in a small town without a great variety of restaurants. Jack's has been the only thing on The Boy's brain since it began construction. He loves their chicken tenders and fries. Last week, the marquee informed us of the opening date--my birthday. He continued, "It is your birthday. So, you can choose where you want to eat. McDonald's. Burger King. JACK'S. Pick one. Anywhere you want."
Will it crush him if I tell him that I want to go to the equally new, but much more exciting Japanese restaurant that has opened its doors for us this month?
Bitty: I told him that today was my birthday. I said, "Give Mommy a birthday kiss." He did. "Give Mommy a Birthday Hug." He did. "Now say, 'Happy Birthday Mommy'" He said, "Now it is my Blue Power Ranger party!" His birthday is the next birthday in our family...but it isn't until April.
I love my life. I have the greatest husband ever. I have the best boys. They keep me on my toes all the time, but they also keep me laughing. Those two are the funniest children ever. I thank God that I have been blessed with so much.
