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Friday, October 31, 2008

haven't written in awhile

I put us on a spending freeze. I did not spend any unnecessary money for the last 3 weeks. It has been rough. No building my stockpile, not a single unnecessary purchase due to some circumstances beyond my control. It has been resolved now and I hope in the next couple of days to be able to start posting my upcoming walgreens scenarios.

Monday, October 20, 2008

My double coupon deals today

It is double coupon week at my local overpriced grocery store. I got a few things that were deals. Mostly junk food or quick meal stuff but that is sometimes a necessity.


My first trip today (for a pizza for dinner) resulted in savings of $13.80. I got

2 Toaster Strudels $1 coupon ($2 double)
Pizzeria dip'n stix 40 cent coupon
2 jack's pizzas on sale for $2.50 had 2 75 cent coupons so I paid $1 a pizza
2 boxes of pizza rolls on sale for $1.50 had 1 $1/2 coupon so I paid $1 for 2 boxes
Digornio for one pizza ($1 off coupon on sale for $2.75...OOP 75 cents)
1 gallon of milk (no coupon but on sale for $2.89)
1 bag of tidy cats cat litter (95 cents after doubled coupon)
1 bag purina cat food ($3.89 after doubled coupon)


Trip after the kids were in bed so I could actually take the time to compare prices on other stuff:
3 boxes of pizza rolls (1.80 total after coupons)
2 banquet tv dinners (.50 total after coupons. I hate these but Hubby likes them for a quick lunch when I am not here)
another bag of cat food and cat litter
1 jacks pizza ($1 after coupon)
2 boxes toaster strudel
2 cans disney soup (1 Dora 1 princesses 40 cent coupon that was doubled. I normally don't buy this but whatever it takes to get K to eat for hubby when I am at work)
My total after coupons was $14.32 I saved $13.

My favorite deal of the day comes from walgreens though...
I got a covergirl tru blend foundation, a new mascara and some makeup wedges for $2.14 OOP. I had 1 B1G1F coupon, 1 $1/1 coupon and $9.91 in rebate money on my rebate gift card. Sweet!

Saturday, October 18, 2008

super thrifty day

The kids and I visited an old friend and played with his dog for a bit. Then we went shopping with my parents who would not let me pay for a thing and gave me gas money to boot. I got 3 cans of "Dora" corn for the kids for 25 cents each, a package of kotex thin overnight maxis $2, 2 boxes of playtex beyond tampons $2 each and a covergirl lip slide lipstick for $1.25.. I paid for nothing because my parents refused to let me pay.

At walmart I got ODD a pair of pants for her Halloween costume on clearance for $3, and got gloves and hats for the kids for winter and myself some gloves, and got a couple other things...mom and dad paid. We went to lunch at McDonalds and they paid. And then when we got back to their house they gave me $10 for gas. I told them not too but they did anyway.

After we left my parents, I took the kids to a friend's farm and we petted a newborn calf. The kids loved that.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

60% off toyrus instore only

Toysrus sale instore only. I am not close to a store but thought I would share for those that are. Got this in an email today

a favorite treat of Oldest Daughter

Crunchy cherries. It is easy, quick and pretty cheap.

1/2 can cherry pie filling (I use lite version)
some butter or margarine
quick oats
Brown sugar

melt the butter in a pan, add in brown sugar to melted butter and stir until dissolved. Add in some quick oats and spoon mixture on a bowl of cherry pie filling. Serve warm or cold for a tasty kid approved treat! Or you can stir the mixture in with the filling as well.

Interest article and what are you thoughts for the holiday season shopping?

Here


I am sooo interested in seeing what the after Thanksgiving deals will be this year. We have been discussing buying a HDTV for some time now and if they are low enough we just might. Hubby of course wants a giant screen but IDK what his plans are for sure. We have Christmas done for friends and family (we never buy each other gifts however) so we are thinking of getting ourselves a new TV for Christmas but have yet to decide.

Updated stockpile pics and why I should take a break

Here are some update pics and I think I am taking a couple month hiatus from couponing and stockpiling. Reasons:

  1. Winter is almost upon us and I have lots of yard work to do.
  2. I have soooo much stuff already.
  3. I want to be able to switch up my stockpile to spring and summer stockpiling items as winter comes to a close and at the present time I would have NO room for more.
  4. I am afraid that some of what we have would go bad if I continue and forget to rotate.
  5. I need a break


And the most recent stockpile pics...taken about 1 hour ago.



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My feminine product and toothpaste stockpile

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My razors...great deal on these with B1G1F coupons.

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soup-some of this is for FIL as well

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Diapers. 4 more packs on top of the freezer. They are on sale at walgreens this week and I had a bunch of RRs to use making them $3.32/pack including tax.

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my gift stockpiles
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extra random gifts

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for my MIL...less than $5 total!!

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for our nephew-less than $9 total

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for our niece-less than $5 total

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For ODD for her birthday...less than $8 total. The barbie in the package was only $3 on clearance at Walgreens and was FREE with RR!!

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for a close friend. $5 total!

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2 extra gifts for ODD or another child. The pots and pans were clearanced for $2 and the potato head was $1.59 on clearance!

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For my brother and his GF. I am also going to throw in some toothpaste and other stuff from my stockpile.

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for my parents..Not sure what else I am going to add from my stockpile yet. Dad wants a pair of PJ pants yet and then they are DONE.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Purex on sale

at my local store 4/$10. Not a bad deal if you have coupons. I had $1/2. I bought 5 bottles but not for me. For my mom. She asked me to pick some up for her and I gifted my brother on of my coupons so he could take advantage of the deal as well.

23 cent Green Giant Valley Fresh steamers

If you have the $1/1 coupons...the green giant valley fresh steamers frozen veggies are only 23 cents after coupon at Walmart. SWEET deal. We got 4 bags of Broccoli today. They have other varities as well. Some are more expensive. We looked at the baby red potatoes with green beans and rosemary, they would have been 87 cents after coupon. Not a bad deal at all. We didn't get too much at walmart today. My total came to $38.XX before coupons and $25 after. I did get one of the new Ziploc vacuum sealers and that thing is sooo much better than the Reynold Handi-vac sealer that I previously had. It was $3.97 before coupon and just $2.97 after coupons. I need a vacuum sealing apparatis for jerky making season. I make a lot of jerky during the winter and freeze it for eating year round and the vacuum sealer comes in real handy for packaging. We got some of the generic great stuff foam to fill in some cracks in the foundation of the house and some tube mortar for the smaller cracks. That is about all I have done today. Got some more coupons from a friend. Thanks Tori!!

Walgreen 10/26-11/1

HERE. Thanks to HCW

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Bad Walgreens trip....but could have been worse

I went to Walgreens this morning to get some diapers, the renuzit spray, 2 scented oil refills, and my photo processing.

I grabbed 3 packs of diapers, 1 training pants, 10 renuzit spray (I was going to break that into a couple transactions over the week but they had a lot on the shelf so I decided to do it all today), and the other stuff and went to get my photos. The Store Manager was there and she said I will just check out everything for you. CRAP! I hate when the manager checks me out.
First off she said, Geez did you clean us out. I said nope I don't do that because I have had shelves cleared on me and I hate coming in and not finding what I came here for. She looked at the bottles of renuzit and asked what I used it for. I told her that I donate some and I use some in my carpet cleaner and on my couch, etc. Finally, she started ringing me up. She wasn't rude with the questions at all just amazed that I bought so much I guess, IDK.

My B1G1F on the refills went through fine but my renuzit coupons said not found. She told me that I could only use 5 because I couldn't use a coupon on a free product, the computer wouldn't let me. I told her that I have done it before on the lysol and it had worked fine. So she hand entered my coupons and said I doubt this is going to work for all 10. I said it should because I have one coupon per item. I told her if it didn't work I would just put them all back. No problem (I figured that since we are going to the inlaws today I would just try it at their walgreens instead). So of course it worked and she was amazed. She laughingly said I shouldn't have gotten out of there so cheap. WHAT?!?! I told her that they get reimbursed for the coupon so they aren't out anything and infact they just made 80 extra cents off me. She look confused so I showed her on the coupon where they get the face value plus 8 cents back on each coupon. She said oh so really...you using coupons is making my store more money. UH...yeah! So hopefully there is not issue next time but now she knows my name from my photo processing

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Walgreens photo coupon code

Vaild through 10/12 use fall4all and get 50 prints for $5. I ordered 64 and still only paid 10 cents each! Cheap enough for me. We send a 4X6 with our Christmas cards each year so I ordered our family pic taken last weekend for our Christmas cards. YAY! another thing checked off my list!

Thrifty fun entertainment

Here are some pics from our practically free family day. We spent a total of $7, ate lunch and got some quality family time in. We ate lunch for free with a gift card dad gave me. The $7 was what I spent in gas.

The bluff was beautiful. The kids loved the ferry ride. We also stopped at my old elementary school on the way home and let the kids play for a bit.

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Thursday, October 9, 2008

what to do with $12 of Register Rewards?

hmmm. I am thinking maybe 2 free packs of diapers or 1 diapers and 1 pullups. The renuzit spray is going to be on sale and I have coupons making it just under 50 cents a bottle but my 10 bottles I plan to get won't take up the whole $12. There is nothing I want that is having register rewards so no rolling for me. I am guessing I will end up using 1 of the $3 ones on my renuzit spray so my OOP with tax will be around $3. Then maybe I will use the other $9 for diapers and pullups and just pay $4 ish OOP with tax...hmmm decisions decisions..

a couple interesting articles

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/10/09/coupons/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/09/eichengreen.depression/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

Thrifty (FREE) fun entertainment

This Saturday we are going on a hike and a ferry ride. The only expense will be gas, unless we choose to not pack a lunch and grab a bite to eat somewhere. The hike is going to be amazing. It is up a bluff that overlooks a river. It is fall in my location and the trees are turning some awesome colors. I am hoping for some beautiful shots of my kids and the hubby....well me too. The ferry ride is more for the kids because I have been there a billion times but the kids have never gone. You drive your vehicle right onto it and it takes you across the lake/river. It is about 10 minutes one way. Oldest daughter is soooo excited about it, but doesn't get the concept of driving your car onto a boat. We'll see if she freaks out or not.

The bluff and surrounding area are jointly owned by the Nature Conservancy and the DNR so that is free and the ferry is also free. I love free family days.

new tips and a good bargain today

Where to begin?!?

Well we will start with the bargain today...
I went to our more expensive local store for some sale items...got 12 cans of chicken noodle soup and 8 boxes of mac and cheese. 50 cents a box for Kraft Mac and Cheese...not my fav but hubby and the kids love it and it included all kinds so my oldest daughter was in heaven. She got SCooby doo, Pokemon and spiderman mac and cheese. Momma doesn't usually let her get the shaped stuff because it is so much more expensive. 39 cents a can for IGA brand chicken noodle soup..

Then we went to the other local store to get my generic soda. This is the only store in the area that carries it. We got 4 12 packs, a giant pumpkin for $1, a bag of chips for hubby's lunch for $2.25 and my favorite deal of the day...supreme lean ground chuck at $1.39/lb. I checked the regular price and it is a whooping $2.99/lb. Awesome. I bought 24 lbs. They only had 27 lbs available at the price so I bought what I had the $$ for. The savings percent on my receipt only shows 7% but I KNOW it was more than that...more like 57% ...but the meat doesn't ring up showing the savings from the regular price. It computes the price on the package as the regular price. Anyway, I was stoked as we haven't been seeing as many meat deals lately and I haven't been buying so we are getting low...


If you happened to buy the glade wisp candles this week at Walgreens check inside the package..I read on HCW that they were finding coupons for $3 off a Wisp inside and sure enough the 2 I already bought had them in so off I went to Walgreens again and got another 2. Unfortunately these two did not have the coupons in. I has hoping to get 2 more coupons, buy 2 more, get 2 more coupons...etc etc but I am grateful for the 2 more freebie candles for gifts. LOL.

If you happened to buy the Pert Plus deal at Walgreens, I read on HCW another use for it...Shower cleaner. I added 4 squirts to a spray bottle, watered it down with hot water, shook it really well and made myself a nicer than most (it is not the best smell in the world) smelling shower cleaner and it works pretty well. Doesn't take off the bathtub crayons from the wall but it does get the soap scum off.

And a Hubby funny...He calls me on his lunch today and says I am out of deodorant...uh no you're not, you have 6 more in the stockpile. he says " I figured...I never run out of anything anymore." It was almost in a whine voice...not like he is made about the stockpiling but just almost like it would be nice to run out of things. LOL...dork.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Sundays coupon preview is up

taylortownpreview.com

Walgreens 10/19-10/25

View ad preview here. Thank you Hotcouponworld.

As of right now I see nothing that interests me other than the lysol toilet bowl cleaner b1g1f but that only interests me if the right coupons are out. The one I currently have expires before this sale.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

added more walgreens scenarios for this week

http://ttbdf.blogspot.com/2008/10/my-walgreens-plan-for-next-week-105.html