It's Friday again, and the first day of February too! It's my oldest daughters 27th birthday today. Frugally, we are baking her cake from a mix :)
I've had more coupon shopping trips. I didn't take pictures of all of them, but here are a 3 of them:
Spent $53.56. Used $79.48 coupons. 72% total savings.
Walmart spent $7.65. Used $8.50 in coupons. Price matched the milk to $1.99 sale at Aldi.
Spent $12.74. Coupons used: $47.96. 86% total savings and I rec'd a $3 catalina for my next shopping trip.
My total coupon savings for January 2013 was $579.70!! Yes, I think I can beat my 2012 total coupon savings of $2, 071.03.
This week's share from the 99 Cent Solutions book are ways to use toothbrushes:
1. Put a toothbrush to grate use. Have trouble getting cheese, or carrot pieces off of your grater? Just use a toothbrush to clean the grater.
2. Tame your brows. If your eyebrows are going every which way, just spray a toothbrush with a light coating of hair spray and brush them down.
3. Get dirt out of the grout. Use an old toothbrush to get in the crevices of your grout. Also around the faucet.
4. Brush before you eat....no, not your teeth, but your fruits and vegetables. Especially brush those mushrooms, asparagus and peppers with a toothbrush before throwing them in the pot. You will get off a lot more of the dirt and such that you normally would miss.
Your turn!
Good Friday morning to all!
I've been busy with my crafts this past week--which by the way are frugal. It's rare that I buy new materials except for orders. I buy at yard sales, thrift stores, or it's even given to me. At the moment I am finishing up a quilt for one of my grandson's. He will be 4 on Nov. 7. I found some material in a tote that I had bough at a yard sale some time ago. I had paid $1 for the material. A lady at church gave me a printed fabric that was intended to be made into one of those fabric books. I decided to cut out the pages and make it a quilt instead. I used one of the fabrics for in between the pages. I used the other fabric for the backing. The blanket that is in the middle I picked up in a bag on freecycle. Even the roll of cotton thread that I am tieing it with was bought at a yard sale for .25.
I did some coupon shopping this past week but didn't get to posting about it. However, I spent just $18.39 out of pocket and saves $38.79 with coupons.
From the 99 Cent Solutions book this week I want to share 3 uses for chewing gum.
1. Make a temporary repair. You can fill a crack in the dog's dish--put it on the outside of the bowl so your pooch won't swallow it down with his food. You can use a couple of wads as window putty if a pane of glass is loose. You can even use a bit to hold together a broken pair of glasses until you can get them repaired. (not out of the book, but we've used it to fish things out of the drain)
2. Settle a sour stomach. Spearmint gum is ideal for settling stomach rumbles and burbles, and the increased flow of saliva from gum chewing can help neutralize stomach acids.
3. Capture a crab. If you live near the docks and piers, all you need is a string, a net and a lure. You can catch plenty of crabs using gum as your bait! They are scavengers and will grab at it. (This one sure is interesting lol)
This week I shopped at Walmart and Dillon's with coupons.
No, I'm not an Extreme Couponer, but I'm always happy to be able to coupon shop.
Walmart:
Purchased:
4-2 ltrs. of Dr. Pepper 10 using 4 free coupons
4 Goldfish (no coupon, just re-filling our tank)
4 Crave Cat treats using 4 free coupons
Idahoan Hashbrown potatoes using free coupon
Multi-Grain Cheerios using free coupon
Cheerios using free coupon
4 cans of Walmart brand cat food. 30 each--no coupon
2 travel size Pert shampoo @.97--used 2-$1 coupons
2 travel size Head & Shoulders shampoo @.97 each--used 2-$1 coupons
Covergirl Mascara @$4.24 and Covergirl concealer @$5.94 used $8/2 coupon
Post Marshmallow Pebbles @ $2.48 used $1.50 coupon
Carnation Instant Breakfast @$4.96 used $1 coupon
Dole Crisp @$1.98 used .75 coupon
4 different types of apples (for a school assignment) @1.28, .64, .79, and .71 (or in other words too much) no coupon used.
2 Up2U gum @1.28--used 2-$1 coupons (not pictured)
Nesquik chocolate milk mix @$1 used .60 coupon
Yoplait yogurt cup--used free coupon
Cookies and Cream yogurt @.58 no coupon used
Rotel Tomato sauce @.58 used .20 coupon
In total I used $34.52 in coupons. I spent $20.66 out of pocket which included $4.19 in sales tax for a savings of 60%
At Dillon's:
4- 2 ltr Dr. Pepper 10--used 4 free coupons
4 Crave cat treats--used 4 free coupons
PlayDoh Halloween pack on sale for $4.99, used $1 coupon
2-Dole Mandarin oranges on sale for $1.25, used .50/2 coupon doubled to $1
4 different types of apples on sale for 3 for $1. (I was very upset to see these after spending so much on the apples at Walmart! I decided to buy 4 more so that after our assignment there would be enough for the 10 of us to have apple slices with supper)
I saved $13.68 with coupons. I spent $8.43 out of pocket which $1.61 was sales tax. I saved a total of 71% between sale prices and coupons.
I'm happy....that I got to shop at all....and that I was able to use so many coupons. It was a friend who sent me the coupons for the Dr. Pepper 10 and the Crave cat treats. She sent 10 for the Dr. Pepper and 20 for the Crave.
Good Friday to all.
I must get myself more in to the frugal mode. I'm still pondering and trying to work on the whole simple living concept.
I purchased binder pages for my coupons. Included in the package was a bonus of 22 past Sunday coupon inserts. I was able to pull coupons out of there that I will be using right away to almost cover the cost of the package. I'm heavily in the process of getting my coupon binder put together. It's going to take some time to get all my coupon organized in it, but it's moving along nicely.
Speaking of coupons, I did a few small coupon trips this past week. The post will be in the linky below. I can't wait to get paid some more paypal from other websites so that I can go do more shopping! I have a whole stack of coupons just waiting for Wal Mart.
I'm also linking up a post about one of my granddaughter's birthday gifts that I made. It's better to make home made gifts anyway. These gifts are what I came up with on the fly when it was birthday time and no money to go out and buy gifts. I have 2 more posts to get in on the 2 other girls' gifts. They are the same things, but different.
Here are the tips to share for today from the 99 Cent Solutions book. We are still on baking soda. Who knew that baking soda had so many useful uses?
1. Clean a glass front fireplace. If the glass in front of your fireplace or woodstove is blackened with soot and smoke, it's time for baking soda. Crumple a sheet of newspaper, wet it in water, and dip it in baking soda. Scrub the glass, the black stuff will come right off. Wipe with a damp cloth. You can use the same technique to get soot off the glazed bricks lining the fireplace.
2. Stop a mosquito bite in its tracks. Pour a tablespoon of baking soda in your palm, wet it with a few drops of water to make a paste, then smear it on the bite area. Let it dry and flake off. If you treat the mark this was as soon as you can, there will be no red welt from the bite, and the itching will subside almost instantly. The same treatment works for bee stings, assuming you have carefully removed any sign of the stinger.
3. Control cradle cap. The flaky scalp on infants knows as cradle cap is harmless and will usually go away on its own, but most moms can't stand to look at it on the baby's head without trying to rub it away. Make a paste in your palm of a couple tablespoons baking soda and a teaspoon of water. Rub gently on the affected area, being careful not to get near the eyes, and then wipe off with a damp washcloth, using no soap or baby shampoo. Repeat for 2 or 3 days until the flakiness lessens. (if the baking soda causes the baby's head to become red, the soda may be too abrasive, so try baby oil instead.)(I wish I had known about this. I would have tried it before the baby oil that is so hard to get washed back out of their hair.)
Until next week, I hope to see lots of inspiration linked up for the week. Remember, the linky remains open for the entire week so you don't have to link up just on Friday.
