Frugal Friday with Marsha --Basic Grocery List

What is your basic grocery list?  The food you like to always have on hand no matter what?

Here is my list:
Eggs
Cheese
Bread
Crackers
Milk
Sugar
Flour
Chicken
Ground Beef
Ground Turkey
Vegetable Soup
Tomato Soup
Cream of Mushroom Soup
Tuna
Margarine
Powdered Sugar (this to make myself a bit of frosting if I am having a sugar attack)
Peanut Butter
Jelly

With these things I can always come up with a meal.

Things I like to always have in the house are:
Chocolate!
Cheez-Its
Carnation Breakfast Drink
Honey Wheat Puffs cereal
Dr. Pepper!!!
Microwave popcorn
Fresh fruits and veggies

I actually did my grocery shopping yesterday instead of today, paid for with Walmart gift cards earned from Swagbucks and PerkTV.
I bought: cantaloupe, gallon of milk, Hamburger Helper, Ragu pasta sauce, 4-2 ltrs of Dr. Pepper, a a dozen eggs.
I paid $13.91 and got back $2.85 from ibotta.  I am so thankful for all of the any brand, regular grocery foods, that ibotta has with rebates!  I got money back from ibotta on everything that I bought.

Not bad, but not much food.  Thankfully my mom gave us some ground beef and other beef, plus cans of beef stew, some soups, and some canned vegetables.  These will help us get through this week along with what we still had left on hand for meats.

An InLinkz Link-up

Frugal Friday with Marsha 2/13/15

Good thing I'm not suspicious on this Frugal Friday the 13th!  :)

This has been a busier than usual week.
Hubby and I got our state income tax refund in.  This means we took our yearly 'stock up' grocery shopping trip to Aldi.  Yes, it's the ONE time a year that we spend more than our normal $40 a week for groceries (and that's if we are lucky).  We generally spend about $250 on our stock up trip, but this year were only able to spend $168 due to some past due bills.
It's still nice to not have an empty deep freeze.

We did some menu planning before leaving.  Menu plans for having family over for meals. 
Looking back, some of what we did buy, I could have gotten for less money with sales and coupons at other stores.  I can honestly say that I wish I would have had the extra time needed for that planning.

Gasoline is up to $2.19 a gallon here now.  It's not that I can complain compared to gas prices we've seen over the past several years, but under $2 a gallon was extra nice. 
A couple times this week I have had to catch rides with church members to save on the gas in my big van.  Yay for those who are willing to do so!  (funerals at church)

I'm still working on my husband to get bills paid ON TIME to avoid the wasted money of late fees.  It's a battle, but I am standing my ground on it.  I downloaded Dave Ramsey's Guide to Budgeting and I am going to send the file over to his computer.  I'm thankful to the person who share that it was a free download!  Click HERE to download it free.

I'm going to leave you this week with some cute Frugal merchandise that I found over on zazzle.
Use the code BUYNSAVEDEAL to save with the President's Day Sale.
I also recently found out that zazzle offers a deal for free shipping. For $9.95 a year you can get Unlimited FREE Standard Shipping on all orders for qualifying products and access to exclusive sales and discounts. They even allow you a 30 day free trial. Free shipping adds up to big savings!

Frugal Chick Coffee Mugs by chicktees
Browse Frugal Mugs online at Zazzle.com

Countess of Clearance Keychain by bubblegumdesigns
Browse more Countess Keychains at Zazzle

"FRUGAL is the New Black" Bumper Sticker by cowboyannie
Browse Economy Bumper Stickers

Looking forward to what you share this week!

An InLinkz Link-up

Frugal Friday with Marsha 5/16/14

This week has been spending a lot of time in the garage attempting to prepare for a garage sale that starts tonight then goes tomorrow.
A task that I should have been working on for a month!
I have had 2 aunts die in the last year and we put my mother-in-law into a home. This means that I brought stuff home from both my Aunt Donna's and my Aunt Thersea's and hubby has busily been bringing stuff home from his mom's house since her house is now sold.
What a mess!!

I really feel the need to put an ad in the newspaper to advertise our sale. I don't feel the need to pay the $26.25 that they want to only say Multi-family garage sale, our address and the day and time! That is highway robbery, as my mom says.
We don't have high ticket items to sell and usually I would be lucky to make $20 at a sale, if even that!

I've put the ad on craigslist. I've posted it to my status in facebook as well as to the local garage sale group. We also have a local buy, sell and trade facebook group. They co-own a website called BST Exchange. I've put the ad on the exchange and then posted the ad to that group too.
My mom is calling in to the local radio talk show this morning to advertise.
We then have a few signs made up to hang on some corners. Will it be enough? I can only hope and pray that it will.

Garage sales are so much work for such little turn over, at least for us they are.
I need to look through what is left of my couponing stash....I know I have some toothpaste and shave gel in excess and that generally will sell.


Last week I bought groceries at Walmart and spent $40 ($39.19 to be exact) on what seems like so little.
I bought:
16 lb bag of cat food
bagels
whipped cream cheese
8 pack of frozen burritos
sour cream
bag of salad
taco sauce
2 cup bag of shredded cheese
Carnation Instant Breakfast
.98 box of mini chewy sweetarts
gallon of milk

I've found myself wishing I had shopped at Aldi instead. In fact, when I get $40 again to spend I'm going to go to Aldi and experiment.
I know I can't get the sweetarts, but I can find some other sort of candy. They also don't sell my breakfast drink so I will have to know to take off $5 for that. I will be sure to post my results once I do.

Groceries are horribly priced these days! I'm working towards catching up with cutting and sorting my coupons once again. It's a must that I start paying attention to what is on sale and price matching and matching coupons as well. $40 a week for groceries is about my limit on what I can spend. As you can see from my list that $40 only really covered 1 meal and breakfasts, plus feeding the cats.
I could only do that last week because of the meats I got on markdown the week before.
It all works out in the end, but I'm missing my bargain coupon shopping.

How has your frugal week been?

An InLinkz Link-up

Frugal Friday with Marsha--Linky Party

I hope this week has found you saving money, being frugal, accomplishing whatever your goals are!

Here are my shopping trips since last Friday:

Only 55% saved on this trip, but fish for a month and a few more cans of chili in our stockpile.  Spent $13.87, saved $6.40 with coupons and I rec'd a $5 catalina towards my next trip for buying the fish!

 Using the $5 catalina and an addition $2.50 in coupons, I saved 94% on these 5 items, spending just .80!

 The total for this order was $8.98, but I spent nothing out of pocket because I used part of a $10 gift card that was sent to me by bzzagent.com and Kroger to try the Kroger Yogurts.
I used $12.05 in coupons for a savings of 65%

We were stocked up enough that this was the only shopping for the entire week.


Other news this weeks is me cleaning out and reorganizing my craft room.  I am just in amazement (more like appalled) at how many items I have allowed to get into my craft room that don't belong in there.  I won't post the before photos here, but if you would like to see them, you can click over to my gather post: (will open in a new window) Craft Room Before Pictures
I've been wanting my fabric and such organized into cubbies since seeing a photo of a room on pinterest using them.  I've bought myself a couple of small cubby organizers, but hubby bought me a 12 hole unit with part of our state income tax refund.  Not exactly frugal, but will be good for my peace of mind and simple living once my supplies are organized.  If you check out the pictures in my post above, you will know why I haven't had much motivation to get into my craft room and get any real work done.

Your turn to share!
 

Frugal Friday With Marsha--Linky Included

    Another week has seemed to have flown by.
We had a bit of excitement last Friday for my daughter's 27th birthday.  She was in an auto accident and her van was totaled.   Thankfully she didn't have the children with her and she is ok.  Right now she's having a blast driving a nice rental car, courtesy of the other guys insurance.

I did grocery shopping Friday and Saturday too......haven't been back to store the whole rest of the week!    

 I spent $43.18 total for everything in all 3 photos.   
That figure sounds high to me!  But, there are hot dogs, tuna, Salad Additions, canned chili, Healthy Choice and 4 bags of meatballs for meats.  There are chips, crackers, rice cakes and dips for snacks.  There's fruit cocktail, Craisins, lettuce, spaghetti sauce and pickles for fruits and veggies. 

I saved a total of $104.68 in coupons for everything pictured. Savings of 81% total including sales and coupons. That makes what I paid sound so much better. :)

I also want to say that in January my coupon savings for the entire month were $579.70!! whew! Wish I could do that every month.

I do have to say that my husband went to the store to buy 10  2 ltrs of Dr. Pepper for us on the sale----he came home with 20 2 ltrs!  Also ribs, chicken breasts, chicken legs, a bag of apples, a bunch of bananas, and a bag of oranges.  Admittedly I was happy to see more fresh fruit and some different meats......I was disappointed that he spent $77!! ($35 of that was for the ribs)    I guess though after all the scrimping and attempting to only eat what I could buy with coupons, we deserved a treat.


I'm going to start doing a separate blog post from the 99 Cent Solutions book.  Watch for those posts throughout the week  :)   Then I will link them here each week as well.

Your turn to share!
 

Check out KitchenMonki.com!

Tools to help you combat the soaring price of groceries

If you head-up the grocery shopping effort for your family, you’ve probably noticed the soaring price of food – especially perishables. Even though your grocery list isn’t getting longer, it seems like you’re spending enough to feed the entire block. Well, you’re not imagining things. It’s a fact that we’re paying almost 70 percent more over the past two years for common kitchen staples, like eggs, bread, milk and chicken – and prices are expected to continue their upward trend.

Unwilling and unable to scrimp on quality foods needed for creating healthy family meals, many parents are turning to the web to help off-set their grocery costs. One popular strategy is pilfering online coupon sites like Coupons.com, SmartSource.com and ValPak.com. Online coupon use is skyrocketing and companies are issuing twice as many as they did just three years ago – so you’ll likely find a larger variety of savings on the web than in your newspaper insert. And make no mistake – you can certainly save big if you’re willing to put in the time to hunt. Another emerging strategy is using the web to help build a smarter grocery list. 

Recent studies show that in-store marketing can drive up to 50% of the total grocery purchase – so you could save significant money simply by being more organized.

Lastly, there are also a handful of mobile apps that can help you scan bar codes and compare prices on the same product at various stores. Check out apps like Frugal, RedLaser and Grocery iQ to name just a few. Comparing prices at several different stores and figuring out where to buy what can be a lot of work – but these technologies aim to eliminate that headache – and the savings are well worth it.

With escalating food prices, it’s smart to put technology to work for you. Yes, you may have your own tried-and-true methods for capturing grocery savings – but adding these high-tech strategies into the fold may be a nice compliment to your current efforts and help reveal additional savings that you might not know about otherwise.

In an effort to help busy home cooks get more out of the monthly food budget, they can now turn to KitchenMonki.com, a website that allows shoppers to organize their recipes in an iTunes-like fashion and have an e-grocery list delivered to their mobile phone via text message or email. But here’s the cool part: Kitchen Monki’s grocery lists are broken down aisle-by-aisle. When it comes time to shop and you’ve got a detailed “plan of attack”, you’re more apt to bypass the lure of in-store marketing (and in turn, spend less money). Peripheral items and junk foods are specifically engineered to capitalize on unorganized shoppers who browse each aisle for meal and snack ideas as they go. (Recent research shows that in-store marketing can drive up to 50% of the total grocery purchase.)  Kitchen Monki also scales your recipes, which can help frugal shoppers ensure that they’re not purchasing more than they need of pertinent ingredients.

Again, groceries are a capital expense in most households, but using tools like Kitchen Monki can help you save in areas that may otherwise go ignored. Plus, it's an excellent complement to the art of "couponing". 

With so many using apps on their cell phones now, I think this sounds like such a great thing to add!   The best part is that it's 100% FREE and takes only seconds!

Walgreen's and Wal Mart Shopping 5/16/11

At Walgreen's:

Sure deoderant--on sale with Walgreen's coupon for $1.50--used $1 coupon making it .50
Dove for Men Deoderant, on sale for $3.99--used $1 coupon  making it $2.99 and got $3 back in RR's making it a 1 cent money maker.
Finish Gel Tabs--on sale for $3.49, used .75 coupon making it $2.74 and got back $1.50 in RR's.

I spent $6.95 and saved $4.24 with coupons, plus have $4.50 in RR's for my next trip.

I had intended to make this a 2 transaction trip, however, I had planned Duncan Hines brownie mix on sale for $1 and to use a .50 coupon, and the Dole Fruit Crisps on sale for $1 and use a .75 coupon.  Oh, go figure, my Walgreen's doesn't carry either of those products.   I'm thinking it's time to write a letter to Walgreen's corporate.  I'm going to complain about this as well as complain about them always being out of the sale items that are the best deals!


I then had a thought!  Hey, I'm heading to Wal Mart, so I will take my 2 coupons and the Walgreen's ad and get Wal Mart to price match those 2 items.  Great plan until I realized as we were pulling in to Wal Mart that I left the ad at home!  GGRRRRR  go me....I'm so good at messing my shopping up.

Anyway, here is what I ended up with at Wal-Mart:

Carnation Instant Breakfast, $4.58, used $1 coupon making it $3.58
2-Wilkinson 4 pack razors for ..97 each.  I used 2-$1 coupons making them free.
2-Spic and Span spray cleaner for .97 each, used $1/2 coupon making them just .47 each.
3 pack of Ivory Soap for .97, used $1 coupon making it free.

I spent $5.19 and saved $5 with coupons.  I'm pretty impressed on this one.  I do like how as of yet, the cashier just checks the coupon when the register tells her too and even though the item was .97, still takes off the $1.  I'm enjoying looking for the good deals at Wal-Mart online now.
Not to mention....I printed 4 of the coupons from Inboxdollars so will get .10 each into my account.

Thanks for reading!

 

Dillon's (Kroger) Shopping 5/16/11--52% Savings

I can't seem to get much over just 50% savings on my shopping, but I'm working on it.  It's pretty easy to do a huge % savings when you are ONLY buying the good things with coupons.  However, there are things we need that there aren't coupons for (for the most part).

Dillon's is having the Mega Buy 10 Items get $5 off your order sale.  I bought 20 items getting $10 off total.  Pricing includes the .50 additional off each item.  My store doubles coupons, not to exceed $1 off.

Mega Event items:

4-Kraft BBQ sauce at .49 each (no coupons)
Ronzoli Smart Taste Pasta $1.49, used $1 coupon--.49
Puffs $1.48, used .50 coupon--.48
Uncle Ben's Ready Rice--$1.25, used .75 coupon--.25
Ragu Pasta Sauce  $1.17 (no coupon)
Dole Salad $1.99 (no coupon)
American Beauty Pasta .49 (no coupon)
Jello Refirdgerated Pudding, $1.99, used .60 coupon--.99
2-Cap'n Crunch cereal at $1.99 each, used 2-.50 coupons--.99 each
2-Gillette Shave Gel at $1.49 each, used 2-.55 coupons--.49 each
Philadelphia Cooking Creme--$2.29, used $1.50 coupon--.79
Freschetta Pizza--$4.99, used $2 coupon--$2.99
1 Gillette Body Wash and 1 Gillette deoderant--Body was was $2.99, used $2 coupon--.99-----I then used a Buy the Body Wash, get the Deoderant free coupon---taking off $3.90 (deoderant was $3.40 after .50 off with Mega Event savings, so I ended up with both items for just .49 each)


(Here is where I messed up--somehow miscounted on how many items and ended up paying the .99 each for 2 more  bottles of the BBQ sauce---this really ticks me off when I do things like this--$1.98 plus sales tax that I did not need to spend)


Other good deals:
Pantene shampoo on sale for $3.33, used $2 coupon--$1.33
gallon milk on sale for $2.99
Potatoes and strawberries were to total cost of $5.28, I used a $1 off coupon so both together cost me $4.28
Mentos--sale $1, used .35 coupon--.30
Kraft 2% cheese slices on sale for $1.79, used $1 coupon--.79
Kroger Ice Cream (my indulgent item), on sale for $2.50, used store coupon for .40 off--$2.10


In total, with sales tax I paid $49.16 for the items in the photo (notice that my daughter ate the Lunchable on the way home from the store)
I saved 52% including sales and coupons.   Including the $10 extra as coupons, I saved a total of $32.10 with coupons.


As much as I would like to get my % of savings higher, I am still very pleased with what I did get for the money.  Tonights supper---Freschetta pizza, Dole salad, and strawberries--yum! yum!  and at a total cost of $6.47 plus tax not including the milk we will drink.  Not bad at all!!

Frugal Friday With Marsha Blog Hop

I am so glad to see Blogger working again!

What have you done this past week that was frugal, or represents living the simple life?  Did you post frugal recipes, your savings shopping trip?  Did you post about your garden?  Any savings related posts you've done, I hope you will share in the weekly linky.  Inspire us!

This past week...hhmmm
I hung laundry on the line all week.  I can't talk my daughter in to hanging her loads on the clothesline though.  I'm trying to get her to understand the basic concept of saving on the electric bill.  Especially since the central air is on....we do have it set way up on 82, only turning it no lower than 80 when we have a lot of company over.

Our garden is progressing I suppose.  The tomatoes are coming back to life....that is is this cold front doesn't warp them again.  This weather is cruel!  90's for 2 days, then a couple of days in the 70's then today it's only going to get in the 50's.

I did some grocery shopping.  I wish I could say I did some fantastic job, but it had been a long day away from home.  Once home there wasn't anything just quick and easy to fix for supper and I was tired.  I went to the store without a list really, and hungry.  I told my daughter and my husband to just pick out something they wanted for supper.  Hubby went and chose a package of bacon that costs $5.89!  OMG!  Yes, I was tired, I didn't even think to go check the price of what he chose, or so tell him he had to get some that was cheaper. (and if I had my coupon box with me I'm sure I have a $1 off coupon for the brand he chose)  I chose a quiche, which was on sale for $2.95 and my daughter chose a package of Hot Pockets for $2.19.   In other words, there's around $11 on needless spending!  Let this be my lesson to you---do not shop without planning, no matter what!

I did get some good deals:
*10 packages of Kool-Aid--on sale 6 for $1 and I used 2-.50 coupons doubled giving me .33 overage.
*I used my free Suave Professionals coupon for a free product
*I used my free Kraft shredded cheese with a touch of Philadelphia from Kraft First Taste.  Since the cheese was on sale for just $1.99 I chose to use the $1 off coupon as well getting the second bag for just .99
*I then went for the special of buying the 10 different products and getting an additional $5 off your order:
7 bottles of Kraft BBQ sauce for just .49 each after the deal (they say there are coupons out but I don't have any), 1 jar of Miracle Whip and 1 jar of Kraft Mayo--$2.49 each after the deal (I'm sure I probably had a $1 off 2 coupon if I would have had my box with me) and lastly Uncle Ben's Ready Rice $1.25 after the special, but I used my free coupon and the register took off the $1.75, so I ended up with .50 overage there.
*Small container of cole slaw and small container of macaroni salad--on sale for just $1 (normally $2.19)

In all I spent $23.49 for what you see in the photo below.  I did save 52% between sales and coupons so not a total loss.  $14.73 in coupons including the additional $5 off for buying the 10 items.

New!! Frugal Friday's With Marsha Blog Hop

I've decided to start something new for Friday here on my blog. I hope many will hop along and inspire us all to be as frugal as we can be.

Each week I will share some of the things I've done to be frugal.

Let me start with my grocery shopping this past week. The first trip wasn't as frugal as it should have been, or could have been. I had gone through the Dillon's sales ad and pulled out matching coupons. Steve gave me $40 to spend. I ended up going over that, spending $50.49. I used a total of $27.69 in coupons and my receipt tells me that I saved 55% with sales and coupons. Anything over 50% is pretty good, but I want to strive for more than that.
I won't bore you with the whole list, but here are some of the really good deals:
Keep in mind that my store does double coupons.
*Half gallons of milk were on sale for $1 each, I bought 2.
*Butterfinger Crisp candy bars on close out for .53 each, I bought 2 and used a .50/2 coupon so just .03 each.
*Tostito Chips on sale for $2.99, used $1 coupon so $1.99
*Tostitos Spinach Dip on sale for $2.99, used $1 coupon, so $1.99
*Pepsi Max 2 ltr was free using a coupon buy 2 Tostitos products get it free. The cashier took off $1.25 although it was on sale for .74 so that meant extra off the total bill.
*1 Gatorade, 1 Gatorade G2, and 1 Gatorade Prime--Gatorade on sale for .79, other 2 on sale $1 each. I used a coupon to buy the latter 2, get the Gatorade free. he cashier took off $1.69 instead of the .79 for the free Gatorade, making each one just .30.
*2 Ortego Taco Seasoning on sale for $1 each, used $1/2 coupon making them .50 each.
*3 Crest Toothpaste on sale for $1 each, used 2-$1 coupons and 1-.50 coupon making them all free.
*2 Schick disposable razors, on sale buy 1 get one free making them $3.19 each. I used 2-$2 coupons making them just $1.19 each.
*2 California Kitchen Pizza's on sale for $5 each, used 2-$1.25 coupons bringing them down to $3.75 and I got back a $1 catalina.

The following day I went back to the store for just a few items:
*2 Splenda 80 ct packet boxes on sale for $4.29. I used 2-$3 coupons making them $1.29 each plus I got back a $3 Catalina.
*3 Hershey's chocolate bars on sale buy 2 get 1 free (.89 each) In combination with the sale, I used a buy 1 get 1 free coupon, so I paid .89 for all three.
I also used my $1 catalina from the previous day.
I paid $3.34 with tax, saving 77% with coupons and sales--much more like it.

The following day I made one more trip on this sale.
*4 Tony's smaller pizzas, on sale for $1 each. I used 1-$1/2 coupon and 1-.50/2 coupon bringing them down to .50 each.
*2 Delmonte Fruit cups on sale for $1 each, used $1/2 coupon making them .50 each.
* 1 Yoplait Whips, used free coupon
*2 Butterfinger Crisp candy bars on close out for .53 each, used .50/2 coupon making them .03 each.
*2 half gallons of milk on sale for $1 each.
I also used the $3 catalina coupon from the day before.
I paid $2.76, saving 87% with sales and coupons (this is how I would love it to be each and every shopping trip.)

In other shopping I made 2 transactions at Walgreen's. No super super savings here either, but I still would like to share.
Transaction #1--
*Bic Soleil razors, $5.99, used $3 coupon and got back $3 in RR.
*Noxema razors, $3.99, used $1 coupon and got back $2 RR.
I paid $6.78 and took my $5 in RR's to my--

Transaction #2--
*Wine Out stain remover, on clearance for .75
*Mints, .79 (these 2 my fillers to use the previous RR's)
*Tylenol Precise Heat, $7.99, used $5 coupon in combination with $3 Walgreen's coupon for a 1 cent money maker.
*2 Covergirl Nature Luxe foundation, $12.99, on sale buy 1 get 1 half price, I used 2-$2 coupons, bring the total with sale to $7.74 each.
I then used my $5 in RR's from the first transaction.
I paid $14.35. This was after a total of $17 in coupons. This still means that I saved over 50% No, I'm not really proud of this, but this make-up is the bomb and after using it as a bzzagent I wanted more, and one for my daughter too!

Another thing that I am doing in our new house to save money is hanging the laundry on the line to dry whenever the weather has been permissable. I'm thankful that I should be able to the rest of the season and summer now. I fell in love with this house first for having a clothesline in the back yard!

Please add my button to your blog roll if you can, or to your post if you plan on doing this with us regularly on Friday's. Thanks!!

Dillon's (Kroger) Shopping--70% Savings!!

Another week where my store is offering where you buy 10 of the certain items and you get an additional $5 off your order.  Woo Hoo!  You all know how I love these sales.
I purchased 30 items for a total of $15.00 off my total order.  The prices I put behind the item reflects the price after the .50 is taken off each one.  Also, remember that my store doubles coupons up to $1 total taken off.
Special items:
5-Green Giant Steamers--on sale for $1.39, used 1-$1/2 coupon, 2-.50/2 coupons as well as .50/2 from each cellfire and shortcuts-- each .69.
3-Honest Tea--on sale for .75--used 3-.50 coupons--profit of .25 on each
4-Carnation Evaporated Milk--on sale for .49 each--used 2-.50/2--profit of .01 on each
3 Heinz Turkey Gravy--on sale for .79 each--used $1/3 coupon --.46/.47 each
5 Swanson Broth--on sale for .49 each, use $1/5 coupon--.28/.29 each
1-Temptations for cats--on sale for $1.09, used .55 coupon--.09
4- Pringles--on sale for .99 each, used $3/1 coupon and a free coupon--each one .65/.66 each
1-Red Baron Pizza--on sale for $2.99--used $1 coupon--$1.99
1- Advil--sale $3--used free coupon and register took off reg.  of $4.35
1-Miracle Whip--sale $2.49--used free coupon and register took off $2.99
1-Colgate toothbrush--on sale for $1--used $1 coupon--free
1-Chunky Soup--$1.15--used .50 coupon--.15

Other items bought:
Idahoan potatoes pouch--on sale for $1--used .40 coupon--.20
Carnation Instant Breakfast--$5.99--used $1 coupon--$4.99
Gallon of milk--$3.08
2 jars of Dole fruit--on sale for $1 each, used $.50/2 coupon--.50 each
Cottonelle Wipes--$2.95--used free coupon
2-Kroger 12 pack soda--$2 each, used $1.2 coupon--$1.50 each
9-Lives dry cat food--on sale for $3.99--used $1 coupon--$2.99
3 cans of store brand wet cat food--$3 for 1
Green Giant Steamers--(this was a mistake, meant to get the smaller size)  It's all good since I saved so much, but this bag was $3.34 , so after .50 on one of the coupons used above $2.84.

So.....I used $33.59 in coupons, plus the extra $15 for a total of $48.59.
I paid $29.39.....woo hoo!!
My receipt shows that I saved 70%, but that takes in the sale prices as well as coupons.
Here is a photo, but I did forget to take the pizza back out of the freezer, or the milk out of the fridge, so they are not in the photo.

Shopping and More Shopping 5/3/10

I got my check from church for cleaning in April so I did some shopping.....$50 sure doesn't go far!
At the grocery store I got:
2- Maruchan noodles, on sale for $1 each, used $1/2 coupon making them .50 each.
Kroger Milk Chocolate breakfast drink 5 pack, $2.50  ( this is my breakfast)
Country Crock, on sale for $1, used .40 coupon doubled, making it .20.
3- Mentos Gum, on sale for $1, used 3- .55 coupons doubled to $1, making them free.
4-Big K 2 ltrs of soda on sale for .59  (I'm even trying Dr. K in place of my Dr. Pepper, which I might say, is quite the sacrifice for me!)
3-Green Giant frozen boxed veggies, on sale for $1 each, used $1/3 coupon making them .67 each.
Red Baron Pizza Slices, on sale for $3.99, used $1 coupon (mailing in for $3.99 refund)
Pam Grilling Spray, on sale for $2.50, used $1 coupon making it $1.50.
Pillsbury Crescent Rolls, not on sale for $1.79, but used .70 coupon doubled to $1, making them just .79.
I spent $14.76....saved $8.80 with coupons....total savings including sale pricing was 53%.

The Mentos gum is thrown into my gift tote for later use for part of gifts to the kids.

Another of my shopping trips was to Walgreen's.  I had $13 in register rewards to use from the week before, so that sure helped!
I got:
2-Kellogg's Rice Krispies cereal, on sale  2 for $5, used $1.50/2 coupon making them $1.75 per box and I got $2 in register rewards.
box of envelopes, .69 with Walgreen's coupon.
2-Stouffer's Meatloaf frozen meals, on sale 2/$5  (used $3 and $2 rr's towards these) and got $1 in rr's.
Twix minis and Milky Way Minis, on sale 2 for $5 (used $3 and $2 rr's on these), got back $1 in rr's.
Soft Soap body wash, on sale for $2.99  (used $3 rr with 1 cent overage I guess off the envelopes), got back $2 in rr's
Sure deoderant, on sale for $1.50 with Walgreen's coupon and used manufacturers coupon for $1.50 off making it free.
Veet gel, $6.99, used $3 Walgreen's coupon and $3 manufacturers coupon making it just .99
Pert Plus shampoo, on sale for $1.99, used $1.50 coupon making it just .49.

I paid $7.72 of which $2.06 of that was sales tax.  I got back a total of $6 in register rewards.  I'm a little disappointed to have spent more than I got back in rr's this week.
I saved $25.39 in coupons including the rr's so that is great!

P.S.  My other shopping was at Wal mart where I didn't use any coupons.  I needed to get card stock, page protectors, and printer paper and Kansas postcards towards Jasmine's project and a lapbook she is making.  I did pick up the latest All You magazine while there too.  Spent $17.13.
I also went to Pet Co to get the Science Diet dog food for my bzz campaign, paying .77 for the sales tax with the free coupon they sent me.  The dog food was $10.99 for the bag.
I also added a few dollars into my gas tank to go with gas money my mom gave me to run her around.
Hence, my $50 didn't last long, but I had fun, and I got things I needed.

Grocery Shopping 5/1/10

I was given $30 to spend at the store.  We were going to get taco fixings for supper and soda.
I hurried and looking around at pinchingpennies.com at what was on sale and threw together some coupons.

It wasn't a spectacular trip, but it seems forever since I've done grocery shopping with many coupons, with the exception of my Walgreens shopping, but that's not generally food.

You can see all that I bought in the photo below.

Here are the highlights:
2 packages of flour tortilla's on sale for $2 each (reg price $3.25)
2 dozen eggs on sale for $.98 (reg prize $1.32)
1 - 20 oz Sprite and 3- 20 oz Coke--I used my 4 free coupons from mycokerewards.
2-Fast Fixins Chicken Nuggets on sale for $1 each and I used 2 $1 coupons  (regular price $2.19 each)
2 Mentos gum on sale for $1, used 2- .55 coupons (doubled to $1) (reg price $1.49)
2- Country Crock on sale for $1, used 1- .30 coupon and 1- .40 coupon (doubled to .60 and .80)  (reg price $1.58)
Pam cooking spray on sale for $2.50, used .35 coupon (doubled to .70) (regular price $3.39) (sale and coupon made it cheaper than the store brand)

I overspent the $30 by $6.75 so good thing I had some money in my paypal.
In total I used $12.46 in coupons and including sale prices I saved 41%.

Walgreen's Shopping 3/28/10

I shopped and got a few things at Walgreen's today:

Dove Mousse-on sale for $4, used $1.50 coupon and got back $4 in RR (register rewards)

Walgreen's 100 ct. Women's multivitamins--on sale for $3 and got back $3 in RR

Dentek Floss 55 yard--on sale for $2 and got back $2 in RR.

2-Corner Office Legal pads--used Walgreen's coupon so paid .34 and .33.

I also used 4-RR's from last week totaling $5.

I paid $3.85, of which .68 of this was sales tax. I used the remaining $2.11 on my Walgreen's card from gsn and paid $1.74 out of pocket. I got back a total of $9 in RR's to use next time.


Notes: I read that there is a $1 Dentek coupon out expiring 3/31, but I sure don't have it in my files. This always seem to happen!

The 2 legal pads were my "fillers". A filler is something cheap to add to the cart to ensure you have items without coupons to use with the register rewards. I had 4 RR's so they were used on the Dentek, legal pads and the Walgreen's vitamins that I didn't have coupons for. Had I found the Dentek coupon I would have then gotten a 3rd legal pad. (I use the legal pads to keep track of my monthly earnings etc)

Saturday August 15

What happened?? I have not found the time to post for just over a week now. It's been such a busy, crazy, hectic week!!

My mom had extra dr. appts, Avon to deliver etc. My son left his girlfriend so I had to go help him get his stuff. Ariel turned 5. Willo is 2 today.
Heather got into the dentist again. We bowled again on Sunday. I had my grandson come stay over a couple of nights. We tried to stay up and watch the meteor shower. My daughter, Heather, has been over a lot. I had sewing club at church.
I'm just hoping that I get to stay home today!! Ok, I know I don't as my 12 yr old, Jasmine, is begging to go to the store for blueberry Pop Tarts. If I go to the store then I will want to shop. Yesterday I shopped just for the items on the Nabisco $20 rebate.

I have tried to keep busy with both squidoo and gather.
I was invited to join Rocketmoms at squidoo, so I'm excited about that. Otherwise.... I got the Our Unschooling Journey 4 lens started. I updated My First Quilt lens. I updated Our Unschooling Journey 2 lens, I updated the Dora the Explorer lens, Gather--The Best in Social Networking to add the latest I've gotten. Whew! I did more than I thought!

On gather I added 3 videos this week....I put in 5 photos, including my new icon I posted 14 posts this past week including Raving About Covergirl Outlast Lipstain! Mail Call! Week of August 2
Ritz Crackerfuls Review

So, I was busy off the computer, but also on the computer, just didn't get the blog written due to a lot of the things had me leaving in the AM when I usually post it.

I am off for now, and hopefully it won't be another week before I get a chance to blog again :)
Marsha

Saturday June 27

Good Late afternoon.
I couldn't get this to open for me all morning. I wouldn't normally post this late in the day but I know I won't be posting tomorrow as we are Leaving for Family Camp Tomorrow. I'm not sure if I will be allowed to get online at camp or not.

Today was the $1.10 sale day at the Goodwill store on all donated clothes. We shopped..I am happy as I was able to get some things for myself for a change. I just need my mom to add up how much I owe her.

I just posted my Mail Call! Week of June 21 on gather. I sure didn't get much in this past week. I have been sending for things again. I'm still waiting on a prize pack from gather too.

Well, back to sorting and packing for camp...and to get supper too! Have a great remainder of the weekend. If you don't hear from me for awhile it's because of no internet access at camp.
Marsha

Friday June 12

Good Morning! Thank God It's Friday...and I mean that because I get to go pick Jasmine up from Bible camp this evening. I've missed her and I'm anxious to know how her week's been with all the rain we've had this week.

I've been up early today, grabbed a bath, delivered some Avon for my mom and then did some grocery shopping. It's 10:20 am and I am just now getting on the computer.
I'm about to get the download done for the homescan scanner here on the laptop. My computer just isn't right.

I got a couple more videos put in to gather last night. Today I will go ahead and put in my shopping trip even though I only used $3 in coupons. I still did get some good deals.

I could wish for no phone calls for someone needing rides today but I'm sure it won't happen. My mom has her first night of her class reunion this evening. She's nervous about going. Then, they have another night of the reunion tomorrow. Guess I better get busy getting what I can done before someone does call for me.

Here's to a great start to your weekend! (It's still supposed to rain all weekend here and we are having the church yard sale tomorrow.)

Marsha

Friday May 29

Good Morning!
What a long run run, and run some more day I had yesterday. I won't repeat it all here, but if you want to read about it, check out my gather post What a Whirlwind of a Day!!
You can also check out my weekly shopping post if you would like Grocery Shopping 5/28/09

Today I planned to go nowhere! I have clothes mending to do, lots of things on the computer, house cleaning, Jasmine needs to finish her frog lapbook, and we need to finish getting her packed for camp. But, no, my mom has already called down here needing to go to the clinic to pick up some medicine and wants to go back to her chiropractor. (sigh) There is a downfall to having my own transportation agan. I am leaving to do that running as soon as I get this typed up.

I'm almost done with my 1st bottle of water for the day and will fill another on the way out the door. This is for an 8 day challenge on gather to drink 8 glasses of water over 8 days. Today is day 4. If I can make myself keep this up it will not only be beneficial for my health but also my pocketbook not buying so much Dr. Pepper.

I better get a move on, get mom her places and get back home and get serious about what needs to be done around here. Here's to a great start to your weekend!
Marsha

Thursday May 14

I got involved in cleaning the house and some other things so it's almost noon when I am typing this today. The weather is back to cloudy again today. It was nice for the most part yesterday...when I can go out with out a jacket it's just right for me. By 4 pm it clouded up and started getting cool.

No plans outside the house today. IF by chance they would get the wiring figured out on that car and bring it to me I would take my mom to the dr. this afternoon. That's wishful thinking. I'm sure they are as frustrated as I am...and do these so called mechanics at his shop really know what they are doing? I'm at a loss, but do need a vehicle of my own.

I'm pretty ashamed of my shopping yesterday. I bought around 80% of more of junk food. I stocked up on the store brand soda while it's so cheap at just $1.67 a 12 pack. It's all under my bed and I am making the kids ask for it. I told them I bought enough to last over a month and won't buy anymore. I also bought a lot of boxes of Nerds and Gobstoppers while they are on sale for .88 a box. I stashed most of them in my gift stash tote. I did ok on the Oscar Mayer bologna but was only able to print out 3 coupons for $1/2. On sale for .88 a package I then only paid .38 for each of the 6. Then, I bought the $25+ of products (Hunts, Peter Pan, Orville Redenbacher, etc) to send for the $43 in coupons offer that was in the All You Magazine this past month. I need to get that put together and sent off.

No other news so I will stop boring you now. Have a great Thursday!
Marsha

Tuesday May 12

Good Morning! It's still rainy outside..I think it's safe that after days and days of rainy weather I can say rain rain go away, come again another day(or another month LOL)

I went to my doctor appt this morning, that went fine. Right after that I had my daughter take me to the grocery store for some last minute shopping on the last day of the sales. I printed all coupons that I used this morning from coupons.com. They have LOADS of great coupons to print right now. If you don't print them from somewhere else, please do click on the coupons.com link here on my blog to print them. Here is the post with photo that I just put up on gather. More Grocery Shopping 5/12/09 I wish I could save this much each trip or even better...it's what I am working towards.

The guy was just here with the Thunderbird but when I got out there he was driving away. I asked the guy following him what was up and he said he noticed the brake lights weren't working on the way here. So, he's taken it back to the shop to fix that. Let's pray it's just the bulbs and nothing electrical or I won't be able to get the car. It had lots of electrical problems but the motor and under carriage are in great shape. I really want my own transportation again. It's harder now for my daughter to get us to appts since she is now a taxi driver and gets calls all the time to go out in the taxi.

Bill collector on the phone...this same place calls 3 times a week, different person each time. They just don't understand..I am not paying on something from 10 years ago! I am worried about today!

Better run and get some things done, it's almost noon. Have a great day!
Marsha