Good bye 2008!!

Can you believe another year is gone? This year has flown by, for the most part it was a pretty good year- we had baby #5, hubby still has a job, still cancer free, all my family is healthy. The only bad thing was dear daughter #2 breaking her arm two weeks before we had the baby.

2008 has proven to be a turning point for me in many ways. As a family we have always had to work hard to stretch our money, many months we wondered how we were going to pay our bills, then in July I happened upon a web site www.thegrocerygame.com and nothing has been the same since. I have tried to be frugal and a smart shopper but it was always hard for me to stay in a budget for groceries and household supplies. I was tired of spending so much and not getting very much to show for it. I started using coupons and playing the cvs game in July. I had used coupons before but never correctly.

Before I started using Cvs and coupons the correct way I was spending $700 a month on groceries plus an extra $150 for household supplies. I now spend $565 for groceries and maybe $25 a month on household supplies and really now I could go a month or so without having to buy anything but diapers. I'm finding it harder and harder to spend money, which is nothing short of a miracle for me! We are not feeling the economic pinch to hard right now and if I can keep my goals for 2009 I hope that feeling will continue.

My goals for January 2009 are to continue to reduce our grocery budget, to stop buying household stuff just because it's a good deal, no eating out unless we use a gift card, and a utility challenge to lower our electric bill and gas bill. What about you? Are you making any life changes? I'm planning on a spending freeze here in the near future. If you are interested in joining the challenge, leave a comment and we can all support each other and pinch our pennies!

God bless you and your family in 2009!! I wish you all peace, health, happiness, and faithfulness in 2009!!

Coupons 1-4-09

It looks like a great week for coupons- there should be 5 sets of inserts. If you are new to stockpiling a good rule of thumb is to buy 1 paper per family member. I will definitely be buying multiple papers this week. Check out www.taylortownpreview.com for a preview of the coupons coming out this Sunday.

Ben & Jerry Ice Cream Coupon

For all you Ben & Jerry fans there is a $3 off any 1 pint of Ice cream coupon. Check out www.moneysavingmom.com for the link. I was able to print it twice by hitting the back button.

Kmart Super Double event Jan.4

Kmart is having another super double coupon week starting Jan.4. The bad news is this time they are only doubling up to $1 and only 25 coupon per person per trip. I will likely sit this one out unless there is a really awesome deal. Make sure you research prices before buying to make sure you're getting the best price.

Kroger hot tip!

Snapple is on sale for $1.50 if you use your $.75 off coupon in SS 12/14 insert you get free tea!!

Menu Plan Monday

Here is our weekly menu:
Monday- bacon, eggs, pancakes
Tuesday- homemade pizza
Wednesday- meatballs, chicken fingers
Thursday- should be illegal bbq ribs, baked potato
Friday- chicken noodle soup, homemade bread
Saturday- sloppy joes, vegetable tray, chips
Sunday-Sticky Roast Chicken, mashed potato, vegetable, rolls

Coupons in paper 12/28

There will only be only a Procter and Gamble section in the paper this week.

Kroger Deals 12/29-1/4

This week has just a few deals again.
Meat:
whole boneless pork loin 1.88lb
baby back ribs 2.99 lb
kroger chicken breast, cutlets, tenders, wings, thighs 2.5lb-4lb $5.98 a bag

Milk
half gallon kroger milk 10 for $10
Private selection organic half gallon $2.99

There is also a Procter & Gamble promotion going on spend $25 or more on select P&G items and get $5 off your purchase...read the fine print the $5 doesn't apply to the P&G items so nake sure you're buying something else too.

Super Savings Saturday Continued

Sorry about that, the three year old hit a button and I couldn't figure out how to get back into my post!!

CVS continued...
1 box excederin
2 bags cough drops
2 bottles nail polish
3 candy bars
Total spent: $.78

The only thing I had to get was diapers because I miscalculated how many Reagan would use between CVS sales.
Walmart:
pampers
3 rolls wrapping paper
1 pack tissue paper
shoe organizer
total spent: $25.00

Super Savings Saturday

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! Ours was very nice even though our two youngest had pretty bad colds.

This was a good savings week since there weren't too many deals in any of the stores. I was also done shopping for Christmas and didn't have to buy any wrapping paper or anything else for wrapping. Here is how I did this week...

Meijer: 10lbs chicken, 4lbs bacon, 4 gallon water, 3 24 pack water, 3 cans sweetened condensed milk, 24 candy bars, and 4 boxes of pasta. Total spent - $26.00

Kroger: 2.5lbs grapes, 3 cucumbers, 1 1lb bag of baby carrots, 1 rotisseri chicken, and 1 half gallon organice chocolate milk, and 3 johnson baby bath soap. Total spent- $8.45

CVS- 5 arm and hammer cleaners, 2 listerines, 1 box complete contact solution, 2 boxes bandaids,

The Ghost of Christmas Guilt

Every year I get a visit from the Ghost of Christmas Guilt, this year it came yesterday. I was wrapping Christmas presents for my kids, feeling great about staying in my budget, when I heard it... a small whisper..."is that ALL you're giving them this year?" "They'll be so disappointed on Christmas morning!" " You know, there's still money in the checking account to make a trip to Walmart!"

It's so hard to not give my kids everything they want for Christmas! Especially when I know we have money left to spend!! Christmas is my favorite time of the year. I like seeing huge piles of presents under the tree. I like seeing their faces light up at the perfect gift.

As each of our children have grown I've realized we must keep our budget in check or we'll go broke buying everything they want!! I pray that this year we will be blessed by a much more simple Christmas, not only in giving gifts but a more simple Christmas day as well.

God bless and Merry Christmas!

Great Meijer Trip

The kids and I made an unexpected trip to Meijer on Tuesday due to my five year old having a double ear infection and pink eye again! The good news was I scored at the store. Last week I received a $7 off a $35 meijer purchase coupon, I could use it on anything except milk, bread, and chips. I bought 10 lbs of chicken breasts, 4 lbs of bacon, 3 24 packs of water, 4 gallons of water, 3 cans sweetened condensed milk, 24 candy bars ( these are for my husband so he can have a quick snack on his 15 minute break), and 4 boxes of pasta for a total of $26.00!!! That's the best I have ever done on so much meat!! I plan on boiling those 10 lbs of chicken and then freezing them in meal size portions. I should get about ten meals out of that.

My CVS Run

The kids and I went to CVS bright and early this morning to get all the deals I wanted...here's how it worked out.
I bought
5 bottles of the Arm & Hammer cleaning solution $2.99- $1 coupon
1 bottle of Complete Contact Solution $8.99
1 bottle of excederin $3.99- $2 coupon
2 boxes of bandaids $.99 - $.50 coupon
2 bottles of Sally Hansen nail polish $5.99- $3/2 coupon
1 candybar
2 buckeye candy bar
2 bags of Halls Natural Cough Drops $2.59- buy one get one coupon
2 bottles of Listerene

Total before coupons...$63.99 Total after coupons and ecbs...$.78 and still have lots of ecbs to use!!

Kroger deals

The sales seem to be repeating over and over at Krogers. The only thing I was excited about was $.99lb grapes!!
Check your ad for any "need" items...not a good week to stockpile!

The best bet for deals this week is to scout out the managers specials, I go on Mondays and it seems like they are always marking milk, yogurt, meat, and vegetables down. I also have had luck lately just browsing around every isle and finding things on closeout...if you're lucky enough to have your coupons with you, there are some awesome deals to be found in the baby section. I found Huggies shampoo, soap, wash clothes, and others on close out for $1.62 and $1.67

Meijer deals 12/21

I don't see a lot of deals this week. Here are the best ones I see...
Ronzoni Pastas $.99 use $1 off coupon in past insert FREE after coupon
Meijer bone in chicken breast $.99 lb
Kraft Salad dressing 3/$6 use $1/2 coupon in SS 12/7 plus get a $2 on your next order catalina!
Hershey candy bars are buy 3 get 3 free...use coupon from recent insert for buy 1 hershey bar get one dark bar free use two coupons and buy 2 get 4 free!!
ACT popcorn 1/2 off use $.40 coupon in recent insert

Those are the best deals I see...

CVS super sale...Sunday and Monday only!

Starting tomorrow morning CVS is having another super sale with tons of free after ecb purchases! This is a really great way to roll your ecbs or to start gaining your ecbs. Here are some of the deals with coupon matches...
The following are FREE or moneymakers after coupons!!

Sally Hansen Lacquer shine nail color $5.99 limit two use $3/2 coupon found in CVS beauty book pay $8.98 earn $11.98 ecb

Arm & Hammer essentials multi-surface cleaner starter kit $2.99 limit 5 use $1 coupon found in SS 12/14

Therma Care neck to arm heatwrap 1 ct. $2.49 limit 3 use $1 coupon in Procter and Gamble 11/30

Halls natural cough drops $2.59 limit 1

Listerine 16.9 oz $2.99 limit 5

Excedrin $3.99 use $2 coupon in recent insert

Benefiber drink mix 16ct. $7.29 use $2 coupon in SS 12/14 limit 1

Again those are all Free after ecbs and if you have the coupons they are money makers! Check your ad for all the freebies as I only mention the ones I think we will use! I'll update tomorrow and let you know how I do.

Christmas Ornaments

I found a really easy and cheap Christmas ornament for the kids to make. I bought a box of nonbreakable ornaments for $5 for 24 at Walmart. I also found some sparkling red glitter star stickers for $1.96. We also used some scrapbook stickers that I had already around the house to make some customized ornaments. The only thing you need to do is stick your stickers on the ornaments and tie some string to hang them. These are very simple to make and have little to no clean up. My three year old made 4 of this with little frustration!!

Frugal Friday

This week was a great savings week. Here's how I saved this week...

Mejier...
8 bags of chocolate peanut butter cookie mix
2 cake mixes
2 brownie mix
4 muffin mix
12 8oz shredded cheeses
6 bags lays potato chips
3 boxes ritz crackers
2 joy of cooking frozen mashed potatoes
2 cresent rolls
2 cinnamon rolls
2 boxes frosted flakes
4 french's fried onions
american cheese slices
10 bags green giant steamers vegetables
4 gallons water
2 2liter pop
1/2 gallon organic milk
1 32oz yogurt
3 bags frozen tyson chicken nuggets
4 cans cream of chicken soup
total: $73.86
total saved: $101.00

Kroger...
4 bottles kid shampoo
2 bottles juice
4 12 packs coke
3 boxes townhouse crackers
1 dairy free/gluten free icecream
10 2pk jar babyfood
2 bags frozen biscuits
total: 19.45
saved 67%

We gave out three gift baskets made from our stockpile cost: free!! Also bought the mailman a $5 gift card with change from my purse and we made ornaments to give out. We also ordered pizza last night 2 large 1 topping for $13.98 and paid with change found around the house. I didn't use any money this week from our checking account!!

9 Days till Christmas

I can't believe Christmas is almost here!! It still doesn't feel like Christmas to me yet. I think that's because I haven't done a lot of shopping in department stores this year, I haven't really felt the hustle and bustle that comes with this time of year. With that being said, are you prepared for the final week before Christmas? My to do list isn't too long- thankfully!!

Here's what we have left to do:
bake bread for neighbors
make cookies and gift mixes
put together gift baskets for teachers,quiz leaders, family
wrap the kids presents
get mailman gift and gift for my favorite cashier who saves me the leftover Sunday papers!!

It's supposed to snow tonight and I'm hoping it does- it makes everything feel like Christmas!

Stocking Up

One of the ways I have found to cut our grocery bill by more than half is by stockpiling. I have always bought an extra couple rolls of toilet paper and before I had Reagan I stocked up on lots of household items so I wouldn't have to take all five kids to the stores but I never used stockpiling to the fullest.

I first heard of stockpiling from a website www.thegrocerygame.com, when I started reading the message board I couldn't believe how little these moms were paying for groceries!! I stayed up way too late into the night reading and looking at their stockpile pictures. It was official, I had to try this!! I started using coupons in July of 2008. It took me awhile but my savings are now well over 50% each month and as of November I am officially "cherry picking" which means I only buy the best deals each week so my budget is getting even lower.

It takes a couple months to see a big savings. It can also be time consuming to track grocery prices to ensure that you stock up only when things are at the lowest price. It is helpful to buy as many papers as you have family members when you begin stockpiling so you have plenty of coupons. You can stockpile with just one paper but it does take much longer. Make sure you only buy things that your family will use!! You aren't saving money if you end up throwing your bargains away. You should aim at buying enough to last 12 weeks since that is usually how long a sales cycle is.

Here is an example from my weekly shopping trip. Meijer has Tyson chicken nuggets on sale for $4.50 and I have about 10 $1 off coupons. We have "fast food" night at our home at least once a week. I have never seen this chicken at such a low price so I'll buy as many as I have coupons for. Now I'm stocked up and won't have to pay full price for more in a couple weeks.

How could stockpiling save you money? What could you do with the extra time you'd have if you didn't need to grocery shop for a few weeks?

Meijer deals

Meijer has a few good deals running this week. Check your ad for other deals that you might need...this is only what I think is the best

Green giant vegetable steamers $.79 Free after .50 in 12/14 SS or overage if you have any $1 coupons left from recent insert

Kraft shredded cheese is 50% off $1.69 for 2 cups

Betty Crocker cookie mix $1.65 - .40 in 12/14 SS or go to www.coupons.com print off .75 coupon final price .85 or .15 after coupons

betty crocker muffin mix $1.65- .40 in 12/14 SS = .85 a box

Lays potato chips $1.99 a bag

Betty Crocker cake mix $1... look for $1 off 2 peelie coupon on cookie mix = .50 for two

Pillsbury crescent rolls or cinnamon rolls $1.25 - .35 in recent insert or .25 in 12/14 SS = .55 or .75

French's fried onions $2.50 - .75 in 12/14 SS = $1

Bob Evans side dishes 2- .35 in recent insert = $1.30

Tyson bagged chicken nuggets $4.50 - $1 recent insert = $3.50

Various apples on sale .97 lb

My Walgreens score

My mom and I took the kids to see Santa today and we stopped at Walgreens on the way. I had two plans for my coupons in case they were out of anything. Luckily they had everything in stock!!
Here's what I got....
6 Bic Soliel razors
2 Schick intuition razors
1 schick titanium razor
7 bags cough drops
2 bottles of Arm & Hammer laundry detergent
2 coloring books
4 candy bars
total oop $8.94 and earned $5rr= $3.94
saves $103!!!!

Feeding your family on a budget

Many people think that if you use coupons you only eat "junk" food. I want to prove that isn't true. In our family one of my daughters cannot have dairy, soy, or gluten. Another one of my daughters is sensitive and we have to avoid artificial dyes and flavors. Yet I still manage to feed my family on a relatively small budget!! Coupons are a major way I have found to stretch our money. You can find coupons for almost everything you need. I have emailed companies to compliment their products and to ask for coupons. You can receive many organic product coupons this way!! www.coupons.com is another great place to find healthy coupons. Internet coupons are a land mine of bargains!!
We are a homeschooling family and my husband works next door to our house so he's home for all meals too. Planning three meals a day for 6 people ( the baby can't eat yet!) that doesn't cost an arm and a leg takes some work! Here's what works for me. At the beginning of every month I look at our calendar and plan out our meals breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I try to keep it simple by assigning certain foods to certain days, for example Monday night is chicken night, Tuesday is soup night, etc. For lunch we try to use leftovers, but I also have a lunch plans for the days we don't have leftovers. Breakfast is also planned, if one of the kids don't like what's planned they eat cereal.
Another way I feed us on a budget is eating from our stockpile. When I find something we like at a rock bottom price I stock up!! I buy enough to last us 12 weeks or more if it doesn't go on sale often. My goal is to never pay full price for our food!! It takes a little while to get stocked but once you are the savings are amazing!! I am hoping to get a full six months to a years worth of food and household needs. Once you have a stockpile you can then decide how much you're willing to pay for things. An example is I won't buy shampoo,toothpaste, deodorant, razors, and body wash. The only way those come home with me is if it's free!! I also won't pay more than $.50 for frozen vegetables, $1 for 5lb of sugar, free yeast, or $.99 for pasta sauce. It's a great feeling to know you don't have to shop if you don't want too.

Walmart deals

Here are some deals I found at Walmart last night. Remember Walmart does Not double coupons!!
Poptarts- I found $1 peelie coupons on the new whole grain variety $1.98-$1=.98
Green Giant Vegetable Steamers $1.09-$1 coupon in Smartsource 11/16 or 11/9 can't remember which one= .09
Cascadian farm organic granola bars $2.88-$1 in recent insert= $1.88
Glade candles $2-$1 coupon in smartsource 12/7= $1

I don't have many deals for Walmart because I don't find their prices to be the lowest priced all the time. I usually only grocery shop there if I'm price matching. If you find a great deal here let me know!!
Thanks Kathleen for the reminder about the Green Giant steamers!!

Huge deals at amazon.com!!

If you still have Christmas shopping to do...hurry over to www.amazon.com they are having some awesome sales... here are a few I found...
Chou Chou mommy make me feel better doll original price $36.99 on sale for $11.99 ships free with $25 purchase
- some of the rose petal cottage add ons are on sale
-Hasbro candy land castle game original price $19.99 on sale $8.99 ships free with $25 purchase
- New Cadoo cranium game on sale for $6.99 ships free with $25 purchase.
You could get the baby doll and both games for $27.97!! Hurry though because Amazon will change it's prices whenever it feels like it!!!
Happy shopping!!

Walgreens deal alert!

Walgreens is having another four day sale. Spend $25 on most things in the store and earn a $5 register reward. I've read that this will print when you hit the $25 mark so it's before coupons NOT after which is really awesome and has the potential to be a huge money maker!! I haven't tried it yet this way but am planning on it on Friday. Check out www.walgreens.com to see the ad or check out www.commonsensewithmoney.com for a list of scenerios.

Major CVS deals coming up!!

If you had a ball doing the Thanksgiving free deals then get ready to play another round of free after ECBs!! Coming Dec.21-Dec.22 there are some major money makers coming!!! So hold onto all those ecbs you earned during Thanksgiving! Check out www.iheartcvs.com for a detailed list of the coming deals and start planning your attack and collecting your coupons!!

Kroger money maker!!

This week at Krogers Fleishmanns yeast is on sale for 10/10 and in the 12/7 smart source there is a $.65 coupon doubled equals free plus you get a $.50 off your next order coupon for every pack of yeast you buy.... perfect time to stock up!! And remember to get a raincheck if they're out... I believe the $.50 off your next order coupon is good until the end of the year...if I'm wrong please let me know!!

king Arthur flour hot tip!

Today only Dec.9 free shipping on any order at www.kingarthurflour.com - great way to save money on your holiday baking!

16 Days till Christmas!

I am done Christmas shopping!! This year I did almost all my shopping from www.amazon.com! They've had some awesome deals!! Everything has arrived except one package, now I just need to wrap them. So did I stay in my budget? Let's break it down:
T- $60
M- $60
R- $40
K- $58
R-$13
total- $231
How did you do?

Christmas Challenge Day 5

Christmas is getting closer!! Are you ready? Today let's talk about decorating our homes and our tree. I love to decorate for Christmas. My husband has come home from work before Thanksgiving and found me hanging up Christmas decorations before! It is very easy for me to get carried away buying new things to decorate with. I like to add a new piece each year but it was really starting to take a bite out of the budget. A year ago I was at a yard sale and it had a ton of Christmas decorations for $.25-.75 a piece. I bought most of them, some of them still had tags on them!! I also check out thrift stores all year round hunting for a new treasure. Thrift stores are usually more expensive than yard sales so be sure to know your prices before you start buying all you find!

Another good way to get cheap decorations is the day after Christmas. I buy each of the kids a hallmark ornament every year and we all go the day after Christmas to pick one out for 50% off! You can usually find a ton of great things to add to your collection at Walmart and CVS.

My family still uses a real tree at Christmas. I know it's not very frugal but I enjoy watching the kids help pick out the tree and everybody taking a turn to cut it down. If you are thinking about switching from a real tree to a fake one, the days after Christmas are the best time to find them or check Goodwill.

Hot deal!!

Right now on www.amazon.com you can purchase the Playskool Rose Petal Cottage for only $29.99 and free shipping! The retail value is $79.99. I bought one for one of my girls ( but I think all of them will want to play with it), it looks really neat. The older girls wanted one when this first came out but I wasn't going to pay $80.00 for a play house!! But for this price I'm willing to check it out. This toy also had very good reviews for the most part.

24 Days till Christmas!!

Only 24 days till Christmas!! Are you ready?? Here's the Christmas challenge day 4...
Have you finished your shopping? If so quit looking at the ads or surfing the web..you'll only be tempted to buy all those great deals! I have most of my shopping done except for a few items and I'm still in my budget!! I should make it and stay in my budget IF I don't get caught up in all the great deals. I almost fell today already when I got an email from American Girl advertising their cyber Monday sale...60% off select items!! I , of course, hurried over to check out the deals and actually put many in my cart when I remembered...I'm done with this child who is into American girl stuff...she needs no more presents!! Oh but how easy it is to keep buying!! I want to buy every good deal that comes along, but that defeats the purpose of a frugal Christmas!! So your challenge is to put on your blinders and stay focused, kids don't need all the latest and greatest toys, they need us!
God bless!

Kmart super double coupon event

Kmart is having a super double coupon event AGAIN!! Coupons up to $2 will double, so if you have a $2 coupon it's worth $4!! Gather up all your high dollar coupons and make the trip to lots of goodies for free or cheap!! Some deals I found:
Dove shampoo free if you have $2 coupon or .79 after $1.50 coupon
Cheap or free cat and dog treats!
Betty Crocker cookie mix .20 after .40 coupon doubled
Betty crocker icing .50 after .50 coupon doubled
Kelloggs cereals ( select varities) .50 after $1 coupon doubled
many free/ cheap shampoos or body wash
cheap medicines if you have high dollar coupons
free pledge wipes with $1.50 coupon doubled
free endust with $2 coupon doubled
Many other items cheap or free...just grab your coupons and start wandering the store or check out www.hotcouponworld.com for a list of good deals. go to the forum and look for national grocery stores ( department stores) look for kmart price book and make your list. This is a great time to start stocking up for gift basket items or just starting your own stockpile of shampoos and other things. Buy extra now so you don't have to pay full price later!!

Menu Plan Monday

Here is our weekly menu!!
Monday- meatloaf/mashed potato/peas/rolls
Tuesday- turkey rice soup in crockpot
Wednesday- oven fried chicken/potato/veg./rolls
Thursday- pasta/salad/garlic bread
Friday- homemade pizza
Saturday- chili
Sunday- should be illegal bbq ribs/baked potato