Coupon Explosion/To-Do Lists

I have been leaving my coupons in the inserts to see if I prefer organizing them that way. Up until now, it has worked well because I have been using the coupons in limited quantities. But since I will be hitting up Brookshires this week and Kroger is having their game day mega deal, I cut out all of my grocery coupons and will be sorting them my type.
I will spare you the pictures but let's just say, my coffee table took the brunt of the explosion. ;)
I have today and tomorrow off of work. While I would have rather been working(read: making money), I definitely have some things on my to do list to get done over the next few days.
- Cut Coupons
- Organize Coupons
- Shop (til I drop) at Brookshires - preferably before the shelves get wiped out
- Study for Architectural Design 2 test (Wednesday)
- Study for Elementary Surveying test (Thursday)
- Chapter 1 exercises and questions for Revit (by Thursday)
- Give Lady and Coach a bath for their Trip to Honey's house
- Wash/put away all laundry
- Clean out/vacuum car
- pack for Disney World!!
- Work Thursday 2-10:30pm, T working 12-8am
- Work Friday 2-10:30pm, T working 12-8am
- Work Saturday 1-10:30pm, T working 12-8am
- Sunday - Church, Clegg family lunch, Chi Alpha Practice
- And because I love coming home to a spotless apartment:
     * Mop/Sweep all floors
     * Clean bathrooms
     * Clean kitchen and leave the dishwasher EMPTY (I have no problem loading it, but I hate unloading it for some reason. I always end up leaving the clean dishes in there until I need something specific or I have enough dirty dishes to make it worth re-loading. Just keeping it real!)
     * Take apart our old TV shelf (Thank you whoever put a perfectly great entertainment center out on the side of the road. We got a "new" entertainment center and I got my first "drive by" experience.)
    
I am sure there is more that will added to that but I am so distracted thinking about what needs to be done that I can't concentrate. ;) Ha.
P.S. now that I am back to spending hours a day in front of a computer, give me something to make the hours pass by. If I don't read your blog, let me know! I have plenty of time to hop on over. If I do, give me something lovely to read! ;o)

Pantry Challenge

Somethings have come up and/or changed, so in order for us to make our Disney trip happen in February, I am taking on a challenge.

Through couponing, I have been able to make a very little "stockpile" of sorts in my pantry, freezer, and fridge. I did an inventory of what we have a few nights ago and I came up with 26-28 different meals. Most of these include side of veggies and/or bread and are large enough for leftovers. This does not include 3 "meals for 2" frozen veggie dinners I have, frozen burritos, canned soup or any sandwiches. I excluded these because those are what I consider to be our fall back plans or quick fixes.
I am challenging myself to cook using what we already have, only buying milk, bread and other perishables. I know that this would completely deplete my stash and I don't want to find myself having to do serious grocery shopping at some point in February, so T and I decided on a compromise. I get $100 for the month of January to buy our perishables and then use the rest for couponing and sale shopping only. If it isn't on sale or if I don't have coupons for it, I won't buy it. We will see how we do with this. I was totally shocked once I sat down and looked at all the different meals I could make with what we have on hand. I had NO idea we had that much food stocked up. And T was shocked too. ;) He always says, "Well, what is there to eat?", never saying we don't have anything but certainly making it sound that way. He couldn't believe how many meals I came up with. He asked if I really had the groceries to make all of that on hand. As if I would make something like that up. Ha.
We work on a ridiculously limited budget anyway and I know if we can do this it will save us so much money. Think of how much you would save if you did it? Want to see others who are participating? Check out Money Saving Mom and Life as Mom!

Free Stuff? Even more reason to like Target!

Today I decided to give couponing at Target. I LOVE Target anyway, and good deals ALWAYS make things better. =)
2 Air Wick Freshmatic I-motion Ultras $5.99 each
Used - (2) $6 coupons = FREE
5 Glade Holiday Candle Holders & 5 Glade Holiday Candle Refills
(yes, I know there are only 4 refills - it's somewhere around here haha)
$2.50 each
Used - (1) buy 2 refills, get 1 refill free, (2) $1.50/1, (1)$2/1, (3) $2/2.
Final cost for each varied but approximately $0.96 each.
For every 5 Glade Holiday products that you buy, you get a $5 Gift Card! So I got 2 $5 Gift Cards for those items. =)
Degree Travel Size - $.97
Used - $0.75 coupon = $0.22
2 Arm and Hammer Travel Size toothpastes - $0.97 each
Used - $3/2 coupon = FREE plus overage
All Laundry Detergent Travel Size - $1.02
Used $1 coupon = $0.02
Rimmel Mascara - marked for clearance at $1.48
Used $2 coupon = FREE plus overage

Total OOP: $14.41
Received $10 in gift cards.

I am going to use the gift cards to do the Glade deal again and keep rolling them over.
There are several ways you can get the Glade deal for even less Out of Pocket by using Glade coupons from last year OR if you can find the blinkies for buy a Glade Candle get a Glade refill free, then this would make a GREAT moneymaker. I checked my Brookshires, Walgreens and Kroger and had no luck finding the blinkie. But I still think it is a great deal. I am obsessed with Candles and LOVE holiday scents. =)

Couponing to Disney

I love looking for blogs where I can learn more about saving, couponing, and being frugal. My new favorite: Couponing to Disney.
Of course, anything with Disney in the title automatically catches my attention. I love Disney and I am so homesick for it. Living, working and playing on Disney property was one of the best experiences of my life and our marriage.
This blog is written by a mom of 2. She is paying for another trip through her saving, couponing, rebates, etc.
Check her out! She has lots of great ideas. I think Disney is a great goal worth saving for! ;o)

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P.S. I now have my laptop back. YAY! So I should be able to catch up on my reading and post regularly again. Anyone still out there? Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Ode to Kroger

Kroger, Kroger we adore thee

Coupons, doubles and Mega Deals!

ok.... Just kidding

No pictures this time but I will let you know what I got. :)

10 Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks

5 Nature Valley Granola Bars

5 Boxes of General Mills Cereal

2 Betty Crocker Brownie Mixes

4 Fiber One Granola Bars

3 Old El Paso Shell Kits - 6 hard shells & 6 soft shells

1 Old El Paso Shell Kit - 12 hard shells

1 Betty Crocker Cookie Mix

3 Hamburger Helpers

1 Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamer

2 Betty Crocker Potatoes

2 Pillsbury Cresent Rolls

3 Pillsbury Grands Biscuits

8 Pillsbury Toaster Strudels

Total Spent: $31.42

Total Saved: $116.18

Total % saved: 79%

Catalinas Earned:$3.50

Savings Breakdown

Cellfire savings: $6.50

Shortcuts savings: $4.75

Coupon savings: $32.55

Catalinas spent: $8.50

Mega Deal Savings: $25.00

The rest of the savings just came from "Kroger Plus Card Savings". All in all, a great trip. We won't need breakfast items or snacks for a good long while. =)

Kroger Show and Tell 7/23/2009

Kroger has an amazing Mega Deal going on right now. I think I astounded the people at Kroger, not just because of my savings but because of my age. Most people my age 1) aren't married, 2) don't use coupons, 3) don't look like they are still in high school. My mom stood by and watched as I checked out, along with what felt like 5 Kroger employees and all the poor people in line behind me. :o) It was slightly nerve wracking because some of my coupons had to be entered by hand. Also, they only discounted me $20 (or 4 mega deals) instead of $25 for the 5 mega deals that I purchased. So I got $5 cash back afterward. But it all turned out great!*Note: Coach was checking out a few particular purchases. :)
Purchases:
3 Sunny D smoothies,
5 Smucker's Natural Peanut Butter,
4 Zatarain's mixes,
4 Chex Snack Mixes,
4 Tostitos Chips,
4 Tostitos Dips,
2 Keebler Fudge Shoppe cookies,
1 Kraft 2% Shredded Cheese,
1 Lady Speedstick Deodorant,
1 Softsoap hand soap,
2 Colgate Toothpastes,
6 Kleenex boxes,
7 Playtex Disposable Gloves,
1 Tylenol Extra Strength Rapid Release,
1 Tylenol PM Rapid Release,
4 Purina Dog Food bags,
and stew meat that was on Manager's Special.

The items in bold (also pictured below) were FREE.
Total spent out of pocket: $38.18 ($43.18 before the $5 cash back). Total saved: $117 even.

Today's To-Do List

I actually did pretty well with yesterday's to-do list. I think there were only 2 things I wasn't able to do. I didn't have time to cut out my coupons but I did make a GREAT CVS run. I also never found time for reading. :( But no worries, tonight I will definitely be able to find at least a little bit of time to read.
Today's To-Do List:
~ Ch. 18 questions for CAD
~ Ch. 18 exercises for CAD
~ Ch. 18 drawing problems
~ Ch. 5 (maybe 6) of GIS
~ Vacuum the apartment
~ Complete the guest bathroom
~ Empty at least 3 boxes
~ Organize clothes in Master Bedroom Dresser
~ Take a Bubble bath (this is probably when I will accomplish my reading time)
~ Do some form of workout

I guess I should be getting off of here to get some of the other things on this list done. But first, a recap of my CVS trip. :)

First Transaction:
Febreeze Air Effects $3.29 on sale for $3
Swiffer Sweeper Starter Kit $11.99 on sale for $9

Used $10 in ECBs(that were going to expire at the end of yesterday)
Paid $2.14 OOP
Received $5 ECBs back


Second Transaction:
(2) Dawn Dish Washing Liquid $1.99 each on sale 2/$2
Gillette Fusion Razor $9.99 on sale for $7.99

Used (2)$0.25 coupons on the Dawn
$4 coupon on the razor
$5 ECBs
Paid $0.84 OOP
Received $5 ECBs back

Total paid OOP: $2.94
Total Saved: $26.76