You kow you shop/coupon too much when…

March 31, 2011 By 2 Comments

This is an old story I never told.Back during Christmas time I was going into a certain drug store daily. I know that's not really a revelation or anything, but it matters to the story {promise}.On one such daily trip I had the baby with me. I am very protective {read paranoid} about my kids. It seemed like everywhere I looked a certain man was there. I could not decide if I was imagining this or if it was really happening so I decided to meander over to the tampon isle and see if he followed. Certainly he wouldn't be shopping there. As I approached the tampons I was relieved to see he was nowhere in sight, till I looked up and saw that he was peaking over the isle at me from behind the tampon display.I walked {ran} to the closest employee {who happened to be an assistant manager}. Thankfully she had gotten to know me from my daily trips and quickly pulled me into a side room.Before I could even get the words out she started giggling and then introduced me to "Hugh" {not his real … [Read more...]

Filed Under: random

What do you do if you can’t go home?

March 30, 2011 By 1 Comment

{Okay, that sounded worse than it was.} You go shopping.Today our community streets were sealed. Normally when a street is sealed they do one side at a time. Unfortunately the powers above decided to just do it all at once in our half. Living in a community where each property has about 4 acres makes it hard to park on the other side of the community and than walk through other peoples front yards, especially when most of them are fenced. Not to mention doing all of this while walking up a really steep hill carrying a one year old. So now you all see why I had to spend the whole day shopping, right? Here's a recap of my couponing adventures today.First thing, breakfast. Einstein Brothers. Used a coupon to get a bagel and smear for $1. Next, thirsty. Chick Fil E. Used a coupon from the holiday calender for a free lemonade. I wanted something that I could sip for the day. Now I was ready to shop.Staples: 2 Hammermill reams of paper @ $5.99= $11.98 {will submit rebate for $9.98} {1 … [Read more...]

Filed Under: coupons

Rainbow Cupcakes and a day at the mall!

March 28, 2011 By 5 Comments

Remember how I told you I can't cook? Well it was a totally truthful statement. I can't cook and I don't like to either... but I love to bake. I've seen these pretty little puppies {no idea why I used that term} popping up everywhere and I knew I had to make them. Rainbow Cupcakes!!!! I used the instructions from Life {Sweet} Life . I started reading her blog when she was going to adopt and now I keep reading it because of all the pretty things she posts about. Anyhow, I've been waiting for the perfect time to make these and I finally found it. On Sunday I helped throw a "sprinkle" for my little sister. Her favorite toy when she was little was Care Bears so we threw her a Care Bear party to celebrate the upcoming birth of my niece. Care Bears= rainbows, Right? So here they are. The only problem I had was with the comments I received. They varied from "how rasta of you" to "is this a gay rights statement"? Don't people remember the Care Bears sliding down rainbows? Hello, they lived on … [Read more...]

Filed Under: freebie, random

Have you ever noticed?

March 25, 2011 By 7 Comments

...How everyone is "frugal" in their own way?I was talking to a friend who reminded me that I am not frugal. "Not at all" she says... and she's right!When I think of frugal I think of buying a used car and driving it till it dies. Isn't that funny that this is what I think of when I think of being frugal? What do you think of?Anyways, she pointed out that I always buy a new car. Never used. More examples...1. I don't have a set budget (the horror)2. I buy new clothes3. I eat out all-the-time4. My house is too big for my family5. I don't do my own nailsHere are my thoughts on this:1. I don't have a budget because I think of every purchase and every expense before I spend money. I don't say to myself, I have $500 budgeted for food so I'll go spend $500. I think through each food item and think "do we need this" and "is this a good price". I have found that I spend less this way. This is not to say that I have an open ended amount of money to spend on groceries. I know my bank accounts … [Read more...]

Filed Under: random

New Rite Aid Ad Shopping Trip {Buying What We Want}

March 22, 2011 By 4 Comments

I still have a bunch of +Up's to use {think over $100, down from a lot more} and I decided to spend them on stuff we want. Not stuff we need, not stuff that will make money, just good 'ole stuff we want. I have some new goals to stock up on emergency items again {bottled water}. Every year I re-evaluate what I have and add too it. I also want to enjoy what deals I get and I think my family deserves some favorites too. They have been known to drive me around to do my shopping on Sundays so I guess I owe them!This was done in 3 separate transactions.3 cases of arrowhead water @$3.99= $11.972 Reach toothbrushes @ $2.99 = $5.9824 Mars easter candies @ $.50= $122 Gerber oatmeal cereals $3.881 cowtail $.206 Lipton teas @ $.89 (including crv)= $5.3417 Izze's @ $.89 (including crv)= $15.13total $54.50Coupons used2 $1/2 reach ip's12 $1/2 mars coupons2 $3/15 survey coupons$36 in +up'sTotal Paid $2.25 Got back $7 +up's { 3 $1 arrowhead, 2 $2 reach) … [Read more...]

Filed Under: plus up, rite aid

Rite Aid: Must Read, New Coupon Rule

March 22, 2011 By 3 Comments

I did a quick trip to one of my favorite Rite Aids yesterday. I thought it would be a quick, boring trip as I was only getting things we "wanted" not needed and I was going to blow through a bunch of +up's.Once I started to pay I ran into trouble.I was using more than 4 like coupons {$1/2 Mars Easter Candy in case you were wondering}. Now I love this store and all of the cashiers are great... but I was informed that they received a memo Saturday that said that they can only take 4 like coupons per transaction.Here are the details as I remember them when I glanced at the memo. The memo stated that the manufacturers are not reimbursing Rite Aid for mass, machine cut coupons. The coupons are used by professionals that do slash and grab to a stores inventory.The cashiers were told that all coupons have a 4 coupon limit written on the coupon. I explained that it is only on PG coupons, but I'm okay with this rule regardless.Why am I okay? After my last post I laid it out how couponing has … [Read more...]

Filed Under: rite aid

Daily Money Saving Tidbit: Energy Edition

March 20, 2011 By 7 Comments

This is a repost from almost a year ago... seems fitting since gas is so expensive! I'll have an update on our utility costs soon! As if being in a drought and an energy crisis wasn’t enough, fuel still costs a fortune! I decided to do a family challenge to save energy. I am showing my children our actual energy bills so they can see in numbers how much it costs. I don’t remember my parents ever doing this, probably because they didn’t want us to worry about the cost of anything, and I’m not doing this to worry my children… instead I’m hoping to give them a number to come under for next months bill. I hate walking into an empty room and seeing lights on and the TV on. It’s an absolute waste of money and energy, both of which should not be wasted. The same goes for extra long showers and leaving the water running when you are brushing your teeth. I feel really old saying this but when I was younger they actually taught us at school to conserve water. We were told … [Read more...]

Filed Under: daily money saving tidbit

I’m BACK! {still not the right title}

March 19, 2011 By 8 Comments

Hi Coupon Friends!Every day I start another post about a coupon deal or my latest shopping trip, but I'm either stuck on the words or something inside my head stops me from finishing. I was talking to my husband about it and his response was the typical male analysis of the situation. His theory is that I just don't want to blog anymore and since this blog makes zero money and takes time away from a job that actually makes money I should take a break, or better yet, quite blogging all together.He normally "gets" me before I get me... but not this time. I knew this wasn't it. I really like to blog and I love my coupon friends so I knew I didn't want to stop.I'm not shopping like I was before either. This past month has just been hard. Is it okay to say that February and March was/is just tough?All the pieces started to create a picture to me today.Here are 2 more examples pieces of my puzzle.Yahoo has an article HERE about a family in Nevada that is having really hard times. They've … [Read more...]

Filed Under: random

For Japan With Love!

March 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Sad. Need I say more?I'm participating in "For Japan With Love". Today I'll be thinking about Japan {as I have for days} and remembering how lucky I am. How will you spend today? … [Read more...]

Filed Under: love

Loving Overage At Walmart… So much for free!

March 8, 2011 By 1 Comment

Wow! Can you say fun? I can. It sounds like W-A-L-M-A-R-T. I tested out the new coupon policy that says that you can use a coupon that is more than the cost of the item and the overage can be applied to the rest of your purchases. Actually it says that "change can be given" or applied to "basket purchase". I did a quick trip on Sunday. All of my coupons went through super easy. Each coupon does prompt the cashier to verify that the coupon is the amount the computer thinks it is, but that's it. Nice and easy! I chose to buy enough stuff to use up the overage. I wouldn't feel good getting actual cash back. I'm trying to keep my transaction smooth. I hope that Walmart doesn't change their mind... and I can see it happening really quick if Walmart is giving actual cash back instead of it just being used to pay for the rest of your items. Just my 2cents.I also made sure I followed some other "rules" that our outlined in the coupon policy. I made sure that the coupon value was less than $50 … [Read more...]

Filed Under: overage, walmart
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