part one of a 5 part series

on saving money when you don't have the "good" stores. Read it here

28 cents a gallon for gas

Yep you read that right. We are going to pay 28 cents...possibly less...per gallon next time we fill up. I have almost maxed out our Fuel Rewards card at our local grocery. I got some more cat litter coupons. We use 10-20 lbs a week of cat litter so I took advantage of the coupons and the fact that cat litter is on Fuel rewards until 3/1. I got a few more bags today and our fuel rewards balance is up to $1.56 which at the current price of gas, we will pay 28 cents a gallon up to 15 gallons.

While in line at the store, I freaked out. The lady in front of me had 23 cents off with her purchases and she would not take a fuel rewards card. I told the cashier you can scan mine if you want, I will take the discount. LOL. I know they can't do that but I cannot believe the lady refused it. I mean geez... they were trying to give her $3.45 basically. Wow! I thought maybe she didn't drive but nope I saw her when we were leaving and she got into the driver's seat of a car. hmmmm whatever..but it seemed kinda foolish IMO. I could understand if you had a form to fill out or give them personal info but you do none of that. You get a card, they scan it and when you fill up you put the card into the card reader on the gas pump and it rolls back the price per gallon however much you have on your card. Simply really.

What I can do with $60

I budgeted $60 for the week of 3/8 at Walgreens. Mainly because I wanted to stock up on the diapers but as it turns out, it will work out pretty well. Here is what I plan to get for $57 + tax that week...seems like a lot:

6 packs huggies diapers
3 packs wipes refills
1 colgate toothpaste (only getting because it gives overage after coupons)
1 glade sense and spray (also free)
4 garnier (also free and going into my brother's girlfriend's postpartum care basket)
2 right guard deodorants for R (99 cents each after RR and I need a filler so this will work good)
12 12 packs of diet coke.

How is that for $60?!?!

Preview Sunday's coupons

here

everyone has a point where...

ENOUGH is enough is enough!

I did inventory today. At the advice of our insurance agent I needed to take a monthly inventory of my stockpile items for insurance purpose. Because we have replacement cost on our insurance, should something happen I would be given the cost to replace these items at full value. This could be a bundle of money so I need to keep it up to date otherwise should I add anything I would not be given the value of whatever I added.

our inventory...just the basement. This does not include food or what we are currently using or what I have upstairs for backup (like dish soap and laundry detergent which is 1 or 2 bottles of each)

13 boxes of tampons 10 ct-36 ct
3 bottles contact solution
4 regular pain relief 50 tabs Walgreens brand
6 pm pain relief 50 tabs Walgreens brand
3 pn pain relief 150 tabs Walgreens brand
11 toothbrushes
14 toothpaste
3 4oz ibuprofen for the kids
9 cans oust
16 glade and renuzit fabric sprays
6 toilet tabs
7 carpet powders
6 lysol toilet bowl cleaners
9 various brands dish soap
25 purex laundry detergent
2 drain cleaner
3 snuggle
65 Shampoo and conditioners
4 bodywash for me
5 leave in conditioner
1 style putty
3 mousse
13 deodorant for me (small trial sizes mostly...not full size...trial size was free)
2 hair spray
5 handsoaps
2 oven cleaner sprays

R's shelf
10 shampoo and conditioner
5 Tag body spray
2 Bod body spray
4 deodorant
4 fusion razors
7 body wash
4 packs of 10 disposable razors
2 edge shave gel
1 crest prohealth mouth wash


So with that inventory in mind... I have decided to take a break after the diaper deals on 3/8-3/14. I cannot honestly or in good conscience justify bringing anything more into this house. I would like to build up R's shave gel and deodorant stockpile but it will have be a super amamzing deal...like the Right Guard that I am hoping is Free after coupon & RR the week of 3/8. Other than that I cannot believe there is anything I could possibly need coming in the near future. After talking with R tonight, he says there is no way you are going to quit. I said no, but I am not going to chase the deals so much and just let it be for awhile. I think doing this will help me concentrate on my car more. I have not been sending as much as I should because I have spent time and money chasing the deals. I need to stop and as you can see by my inventory above...I do not need to worry about running out.

my oldest daugther's HUGE heart

My K is such a sweetheart sometimes and other times she can be a giant brat. Today was one of the sweetheart days. First she tells me I am proud you are my mommy. You can always be my mom. Then at the store there was a woman in a wheel chair trying to reach something high up. People were just walking by her. K noticed and said mom see that lady? can we help her? I grabbed the stuff down that she wanted and she said "God bless you and your little girls." K said I hope you have a wonderful day. I love my little girl's heart. I hope O grows up to be as caring about others as K is.

a testament to what I have done

I find myself opening up more and more about my shopping habits. I am very careful about WHO I am open to and WHAT I open about. But lately, I find more and more people who are interested in "my way". It is a blessing that I am able to help people but also a curse because I am always asked "do you know of any deals on ......?" or "can you tell me where is the best place to buy....?". I love that I am able to help but after a while I just want to shout, DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH!!!!

Today at work I was taking with J, a lovely older lady who is widowed. She is old enough to be my Grandma yet sassy enough that I would love to go out for drinks with her sometime and see her in a non-professional environment. I see J all the time and talk to her in passing but I rarely get the chance to have a full on conversation with her. Today I got that opportunity. We were talking about the project at work, which BTW is going on hold again for a couple weeks, and what we were using the money for. J is starting her Christmas shopping early. I told her that I had as well. She asked what I have gotten so far and I rattled off what I could remember of the list and who it was for. She said holy smokes girl! Are you done already? I started laughing and said yeah pretty much. If I see something I know someone would love at a great price, I will pick it up but for the most part yeah I am done. I also told her it covers birthdays and stuff all year too. She was pretty amazed. She asked how much I spent and I told her and she couldn't believe it. She asked how and I told her and she said geez how do I do that. So I gave her the site I get the coupon codes from and I told her about signing up for email from the store she shops to get discount coupons and codes. I also told her that Mid-January seems to be the BEST time to get clothing discounts. I also gave her some other hints. While we were talking another lady asked some questions about how I find out about deals etc, so I shared. I talked about couponing and watching sales and stockpiling as well and I told her how far in debt we were and how much we currently owe and how we have climbed out in just 18 months. I love to talk about it when I have a receptive audience. J was telling a lady on break about my ideas and that lady asked too. J said I should teach a class. That made me laugh. I told her I don't do anything special. She asked If I would be interested in teaching others to do what I do and I said maybe, IDK, it isn't that hard. She said she wanted to talk to her Pastor and see if I could come teach a class about couponing and financial stuff at her church. WOW! Wouldn't that be something? I hear quite often that what I do is amazing or questions on how I do what I do but I never really thought about teaching others or even though my girl Tori tells me often that it is, I don't think it is amazing. So anyway...That was my day. I have an ego the size of the house right now. LOL...not really.

feeling good...feeling great

IDK why but I feel really good tonight. Happy, content, etc.

I came home to a happy husband, clean house and dinner done. Hooray!

IDK...I am just happy!

Good deal...at JCP

See Crystal's blog here for details. I did this just a little bit ago and got a shower curtain and a pair of sleep pants for R for $8 and change including shipping and tax. Nice! If you have looked at shower curtains recently, as I have, they are expensive. R is very sick of the pink abyss that is the Dora shower curtain. With our small bathroom, the shower/tub covers one whole wall so you can probably imagine the shock of walking into to a bright pink giant Dora on the shower curtain. He is pleased!

coupon users...do you ever?

look at the retail price of something and balk? Like at Walmart for instance...

I went tonight to use up some Q's that were expiring for things we need. I got a few things but not even 1/2 of what the coupons I had. I figured I didn't need it that bad and would just go with the generic at Aldi VS using the coupons and paying "too much" They had a bunch of Garnier fructis on clearance for $2.50 and some that the normal price was $2.50....BEFORE I started combining coupons and sales I would have used my coupon and paid the $1.50 now that I know I can get it FREE in a couple weeks at Walgreens I just walk away. There were a few other things. Nothing I can really recall off the top of my head Razors I just left the coupons on the shelf by the razors. I didn't NEED them right now so I thought I would spread the love and to me is was still too expensive. Oh yeah and they had tons and tons of clearance toys and clothes some of which were good deals but nothing that I needed so I didn't buy except a new pair of fleece pj pants for me...originally $9 on clearance for $2.25. R is always complaining that I never buy myself anything so I did even if it was on clearance. They are super comfy too. I put them on as soon as I got home. I have become a price snob.

When R was still working and I was working full time I thought ugh coupons...who has time for that crap? I bought mostly generic everything. Once I started working seasonal and now part-time and actually figured out the couponing/sales/Walgreens thing and have time for it, we actually have more name brand stuff and some better quality things and I am spending a TON less than I used to. And that makes me, R and our checkbook happy ;)

Whew!

The final leg of the move is complete. Moving the gift stockpile from the upstairs closet to downstairs is done! YAY! What did I do with it? I had an underbed storage container that I put a bunch in. I had a box I put more in and then I had some of those zippered bags like bed sets come in (I get them free at work!) and I put the final things in them. They are all stored under my bed. I would like to get one more of the plastic containers for storing the ornaments which I currently have stored upstairs in the hall closet.

our project is done...at least for the downstairs

I am in the process of reorganizing the entire house. It is a job and a half. I put R to work putting up a cabinet in the laundry room and a spice rack in the kitchen. This freed up room for me to use for stockpiling. I will take some pics in a minute or two and post them. The results are amazing and I have a lot more room for stockpiling now. Now if I only had the money to do more. LOL

Walgreens 3/8-3/14 plan

4 bottles of Garnier for free. 99 cents after ESQ and I have 4 $1/1 coupons.

I might do the huggies RR deal Spend $25 get $10 RR. I am waiting to see the deals the following week before I decided though. If there is nothing to spend my RR on then I will probably skip this deal.

Revised plan for 3/8:
I received two home mailers from Huggies last night with diaper and wipes coupons in them. I also found the same coupons stuck on the shelf with the Huggies diapers last night at our local grocery store. Someone had left them so I snagged them. Because O needs "better" diapers at night, I decided to go ahead and do this deal...multiple times, because one of the things my brother has on the baby registry is wipes. I will put in the Walgreens Diapers and 2 of the 3 packs of wipes in with their gift. They are also getting a what to expect the first year book, a baby monitor, and 6 custom designed onesies. I am designing 3 and letting them pick out the graphics for 3.
Transaction #1
$10 huggies diapers
$10 huggies diapers
$ 6 huggies wipes
$ 3.49 colgate total advance
$ 7.99 glade sense and spray kit (mom loves these things)
$ 2.99 garnier fructis conditioner
_____
$40.47
- 1.50 Q huggies diapers
- 1.50 Q huggies diapers
- .50 Q huggies wipes
- 2.50 ESQ on colgate
- 1.50 MFQ on colgate
- 4.00 ESQ glade sense and spray kit
- 4.00 MFQ glade sense and spray kit
- 2.00 ESQ garnier fructis
- 1.00 MFQ garnier fructis
______
$21.97 and get back $10 in RR

Transaction #2 two times
$10 huggies diapers
$10 huggies diapers
$ 6 huggies wipes
$ 2.99 garnier conditioner
_______
$28.99
- 1.50 Q huggies diapers
- 1.50 Q huggies diapers
- .50 Q huggies wipes
- 2.00 ESQ garnier fructis
- 1.00 MFQ garnier fructis
______
$22.49 and get back $10 RR

Transaction 3
$ 2.99 Garnier Fructis
$13.00 4 diet coke 12 packs
______
$15.99
- 2.00 ESQ Garnier
- 1.00 MFQ Garnier
______
$12.99
use $10 RR from Huggies
$2.99 OOP and get $3 back in RR

Transaction 4 (if I have nothing else to use RR on)
$13.00 4 diet coke 12 packs
-10 RR from huggies
______
$3.00 get back $3 in RR


A few other RR deals I might do if they are free after coupons and RR:
Right guard deodorant for R $2.99 get back $2 RR
Irish spring body wash $4.49 get RR for free one after purchase
Crest Prohealth toothpaste $2.49 get $1 RR
Skintimate or Edge Shave gel $1.99 get $1 RR

and if all else fails for using my RR
Axe Shampoo FAR
Walgreens brand Extra Strength pain relief quick gels FAR
use RR to pay for these items and get the money back + 10% on my gift card.

I am anxiously awaiting the next weeks preview ad so I can decide what to do with all the RR.

I will obviously be making multiple Walgreens trips this week. SIGH...set me up a tent in the parking lot. LOL.

Walgreens 3/1-3/7 plan

I plan on getting a couple of the free after RR toothpastes and some of the diapers. This is how I plan to work it.

First transaction: 1 toothpaste/1 pack of diapers
$4.50 for diapers
$3.29 for toothpaste
-1.50 coupon for toothpaste ( I will have to find my coupon though :( )
________
$6.29
-3.29 for RR I will receive
______
$3 + tax

2nd transaction
$9 for diapers
-3.29 for RR
________

$5.71 + tax for 2 packs of diapers



I have heard reports that there is a diaper coupon out when you ask at the pharmacy about the prescription savings club plan. I have not verified this yet and some people have said their pharmacy does not have it. If there is a coupon available then it will take $2 off each pack. Holy smokes! Super cheap diapers that way. I am going to try to get one next week.

I might also do the pepsi deals this week. I am getting low and am not seeing great sales and don't expect any until closer to Memorial day.

Diaper coupon is not valid on "promotional pricing" so using that is a no go.

After much thinking and planning for the following week, here is my revised plan for the week of 3/1:

$8-2 diet pepsi 12 packs get $3 RR
3.29 colgate toothpaste get $3.29 RR
$9-2 packs Walgreens diapers
_____
20.29 each transaction
$6.29 back in RR each time

not sure how many times I will get the toothpaste but free after RR is pretty good especially since I can use the RR next week to save some OOP. I want to get 6 packs of diapers, 4 for us and 2 for my brother's baby shower. The week of 3/8 is a big week for me at Walgreens. I will probably do the toothpaste once or twice and do a third transaction sometime in the week like this:

2 dt pepsi $8
2 diapers $9
______
$17
$-3.29 RR from toothpaste
______
$13.71 get back $3 RR on dt pepsi

This would leave me with $9 RR to use the week of 3/8

and that is the way I shop!

I told R that when we left Walgreens this morning.

I got 2 20ft rolls of aluminum foil normally $1.69 each. They were on sale for .89 cents each and I had 2 $1 off coupons. So -.11 for each.
Also got the kids a clearanced Valentine's candy thing as a filler for .37
20 free prints from the other day $0.00.

My total OOP was 27 cents. Yep 27 cents. We got in the car. I showed R the receipt with how much I saved ($4.92) and I said and that is the way that I shop. He laughed and said...free is good.

what a day!

Coupon preview is here

We moved O upstairs and moved the master bedroom downstairs...Geez. What a Pain! I still have things to move but the necessary items are moved.

I made a great Hamburger Gravy to go over mashed potatoes for dinner. It was wonderful. I browned 1 lb of hamburger and dumped a 16 oz can of cream of mushroom soup over it and added a dash of milk. I seasoned it with pepper. It was delicious and filling. Even K (aka miss finicky as of late) enjoyed it and had seconds and thirds. WOW! it was good if she was asking for more.

We are in the process of decluttering, yet, again, still, always. It is difficult to declutter when you want to garage sale the stuff but can't store it in the garage yet. It is too cold out. So we have a corner of O's new room designated as the "garage sale corner". I hope to get that cleaned out as soon as it is warm enough out to move it to the garage. I need a day without anyone home so I can just crank the stereo and get stuff done. Probably won't happen but oh well. I can work around everyone here. I do a bit at a time and eventually it will get done.

Check it out

The "vent and dent" has a website

quick trip to the "vent and dent"

K calls my favorite store the "vent and dent". LOL it is so cute. Anyway, I got a few things. I was pretty pleased once again. I got everything I went for and a few more things. I spent $22 but came home with a bag and a box of food.

narrowed the search

we are down to 2 companies for our homeowners insurance. I have just a couple questions to ask the agent and I will decide tommorrow. Either way we are sticking with our current vehicle insurance as the agent could not get us a cheaper rate with any company. I did get one cheaper rate with esurance but after reading reviews for many hours, I decided against switching to them. It seems everyone who had a claim had an issue getting a representative, finding a body shop that would deal with esurance, etc. So we will stick with what we know. I know our current company has been good to us. I had a hail damage claim in 2006 and they were here the very day I called to assess my car. They even came to my job and did the assessment there. I was very pleased. The same company we have for auto is one that I am considering for homeowners but their rate is slightly higher than what we currently have but the insurance seems better. I am going to talk the the agent about it tommorrow.

called our agent

and I got her butt in gear about our insurance. she is emailing me the quotes today. Hooray! plenty of time to make a decision