I Want.

Today I was over at I Should Be Folding Laundry and was looking at the absolutely gorgeous pictures she takes. I want a nice camera. I'm so sick of having a crappy camera, I want a nice one that takes stunning photos.

Folding Laundry also had a post about skirts and I happened to love skirts. If I had the choice, I would wear skirts every single day, but right now I only have two. I was planning on sewing a bunch of skirts but frankly I think my talent and my time fall a little short of my ambitions.

So there I was, sitting there thinking about how much I want a camera and how much I want skirts and generally feeling moody and a bit sorry for myself.

We've been on Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover for so long and we've been making soo much progress but right now my bratty inner child is coming out and annoying me with "I wants." Generally I get along well with my inner child but sometimes it can be really, really bratty and then the whole family is caught up in the bad moods that come out as a result.

I can't wait until the day we are debt free, and I can give my bratty inner child a little wiggle room. But for now, she'll have to go to her room and think about all the blessings we do have and be thankful.

Because we have many, many blessings. And I am so, so thankful.

I Want.

Weekly Deals

I found a lot of great deals this week, especially at CVS. In fact, this week was my best CVS'ing trip ever.

First, my CVS trip:

Deals I focused on were: CVS 1 subject notebook, $0.99 with $0.99 ECB reward; PaperMate grip pens, $0.99 with $0.99 ECB reward; CVS 3 subject or 5 subject notebook, $3.99 with $3 ECB reward; Caliber scissors, $2.99 with $2.99 ECB reward; Caliber glue, $0.99 with $0.99 ECB reward; Caliber ruler, $0.99 with $0.99 ECB reward; Brita filter, 3 pack, $14.99 with $5 ECB reward; Gillette Fusion Razor, $7.99 with $4 ECB reward; Tylenol 8hr, $3.99 with $3 ECB reward, Kotex Light Days, 2/$7 with $2 ECB reward; and all Almay cosmetics, BIGIF.

Transaction 1:
2 CVS 3 subject notebook
3 packages of PaperMate pens
1 Gillette Fusion razor
2 boxes of Tylenol 8 hour
2 CVS 1 subject notebooks
2 pairs of Caliber scissors
2 Caliber wooden rulers
2 CVS 5 subject rulers

Used 2 $1/1 tylenol printable coupon
Used 1 $4/1 Gillette Fusion razor from newspaper insert
Used $3 in ECB's that printed out for me at the coupon machine
Used $27 in ECB's from last week.

Total before discounts and coupons: $51.98
Total OOP: $2.98
Total ECB's received: $30

Transaction 2:

2 boxes of Kotex Light Days
1 Brita Filter, 3 pack
2 Almay concealer sticks
1 reese's cup (filler)

Used 2 $1/1 Kotex printable coupons
Used $1/1 Brita filter printable coupon
Used $27.93 in ECB's from transaction #1.

Total value before discounts and coupons: $47.24
Total OOP: $.02
Total ECB's received for next week: $10

Now, for the grocery deals:

Price Chopper:
180z container of blueberries, $2 each, bought 2
Price Chopper tissues, $1 each, bought 2
Total before discounts: $12.76
Total OOP: $6.10
Saved $6.76 plus got $1 off per gallon for gas.

Big Y:
Colonna Pasta Sauce, BI at $2.49 get 2 free; bought 9
Polar Seltzer water, 10/$10, bought 8
Ace of Diamonds Tuna, $0.89, bought 5
Total before discounts: $43.38
Total OOP: $20.32
Saved $23.06

I also stopped at a fruit stand and picked up bananas, plums, and peaches for $4. In total, I stayed under budget for the week by $15!

What good deals did you score this week?

Weekly Deals

Loaded Up With Curriculum

On Saturday, a local homeschooling co-op held their annual used curriculum sale. Those who volunteered for at least three hours to help set up were allowed to shop an hour earlier than everyone else. Since I heard how long the lines get at the sale and how fast the good curriculum goes, I eagerly volunteered on Thursday in order to get in early.

The reason why I wanted to hit this sale was because I had heard that they devote an entire room to free curriculum, which sounds perfect for us and our tight budget! And let me tell you, "room" was an understatement; it was more like an entire floor of free things that you could just take! I ended up having to make five trips just to get all the books into the van, and then I let the girls come in to pick out some books that they wanted to read.

We were exhausted when we finally got home, so the Knight unloaded the van into the living room, where the books sat for a few hours until I labeled and sorted and boxed them up to be used later.

To get an idea of how much free curriculum we got, here are some pics of some of the books (there were more on the floor under the window):

I will definitely volunteer again next year, it was so worth it!

What tips do you have for homeschooling on a tight budget?

Loaded Up With Curriculum

Weekly Deals

I did okay this week, both in CVS'ing and in grocery deals.

First, my trip to CVS:

The deals I focused on were: buy 4 Soy Joy bars at $1 each, get $4 in ECBs; buy Crest twin pack at $5.99, get $3 in ECBs; buy Tylenol at $4.99, get $2 in ECBs. I also wanted to buy a ThermaCare arm wrap for $2.49, get $2.49 in ECBs but had to settle for a rain check. We also needed some garbage bags, at $7.50 each.

Transaction:
Bought 20 Soy Joy bars
Bought 2 boxes of Tylenol (1 PM, 1 extra strength)
Bought 1 Crest twin pack
Bought 2 bags of garbage bags.

Used $10 off coupon that printed out for me at the machine
Used 2 $2 off 10 Soy Joy Bars coupon from newspaper insert
Used 5 BOGOF Soy Joy Bars coupon from newspaper insert
Used 2 $1 off Tylenol coupon
Used $13 in ECB's from last week

Total before discounts and coupons: $57.70
Total OOP: $17.97 (basically just paid for the garbage bags)
Total ECBs received: $27 to use next week!

Now, onto grocery deals. This picture shows just what I got at Price Chopper; Big Y had some great deals, too.

Price Chopper:

Transaction:
Strawberries, on sale for $1 each!! Bought 2.
Gillette Shave Foam, $2.29 on sale BOGO
Price Chopper Cheese Singles, on sale, $1, bought 5
Price Chopper Hydogen Peroxide, $0.99, bought 1 (needed for science experiment)
Bocca meatless chicken patties, on sale for $2.99, bought 4.

Used 2 $1 off 2 Bocca meatless products
Used 2 Dollar Doubler coupons from the Big Y flier

Total before discounts and coupons: $50.86
Total OOP: $23.24, plus I saved $0.30 per gallon on gas.

Big Y:

Big Y Shredded Cheese, $3.39 on sale B2G2Free! Bought 4.
Streamfresh veggies, on sale $1 each, bought 2
Total before discounts: $18.14
Total OOP: $8.78

What deals did you come across this week?

Weekly Deals

Cloth Diapering...Is It Right For You?

Photo by spiral owl creations

Desiree over at So Fawned is doing a great series on cloth diapers; why use them, how to use them, etc.

Anyone who is a regular reader knows that I've been using cloth since the Mermaid was 8 months old. I started out using them to save money, and will continue to use them because I love how environmental friendly they are and I can't stand the chemicals that they put in disposables.

Today I am over at So Fawned as a guest blogger as part of her cloth diapering series. If you are interested in trying cloth diapers but are overwhelmed by all the choices out there, then head on over....I've written a post specifically for you!

Cloth Diapering...Is It Right For You?

Gazelle Intense

During our journey to become debt free, the Knight and I committed to being "gazelle intense" in reaching our goal. This basically means that we always keep this goal in sight, and make the sacrifices necessary to pay off our debt, even if other people think we are crazy.

This is why we drive around in junk cars, why we shop at thrift stores, and don't go out to eat.

It's also why I am now getting up at 3:30 AM every day.

For the past 7 months, the Knight has held two jobs; from 4-6:30 AM he delivered newspapers, then came home to shower and eat before heading out to his normal full-time job. His normal job pays the bills but the newspaper job has really been the key to getting our debt snowball going, as we have already trimmed the budget as much as we could.

However, after 7 months of little sleep, the Knight has been falling asleep at his desk during the day. While his company is so far stable, they have stopped annual bonuses and froze everyone's salaries, so there are signs that they are tightening up in this economy. And in the event that they do decide to lay people off, being known as the guy who sleeps at his desk wouldn't help the Knight's chances.

So, I've taken over his route for the summer. The Knight trained me for a week and this morning was the first morning I went out and did it by myself. At first it was hard adjusting to the new schedule, but as long as I go to bed by 8:30 PM I am not too tired.

It's actually kind of nice, doing the route. I watch the sun come up while I'm driving and I'm getting a lot of exercise. The only sound is the thunk of the papers when I throw them and the birds chirping their morning songs. I actually get to think about things without having to interrupt my thoughts to tend to a child. And I've already gotten a tip, which made my day.

Best of all, each month we are sending in big bucks to our credit card. We just have the credit card and two student loans left, so we are almost done. I can't wait for the day I can yell "WE'RE DEBT FREE!"

For those out there who are also on Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover, or just paying off debt in general: I'm interested in hearing your stories, what you've done and the sacrafices you've made to get your debt paid off. Let's share our ideas on making extra money or saving money in general.

Gazelle Intense

Weekly Deals

I didn't find too many good deals at CVS but I made up for it at the grocery store. Here are my CVS deals:


The deals I focused on were: buy $20 in Aveeno products, get $10 in ECB's; buy 2 Kotex at $7, get $2 in ECB's; and Kellogg's cereal at $1.88. I had $13 in ECB's from last week.

Transaction 1:
1 Aveeno radiance exfoliater, on sale for $7
1 Aveeno shampoo, on sale for $6.50
1 Aveeno conditioner, on sale for $6.50

Used $5 off of $15 coupon that printed out for me at the machine
Used 2 $2 off any Aveeno product printable coupon
Used $11 in ECB's from last week.
Total OOP: $0.00 and got $10 ECB's in return.

Transaction 2:
2 Kotex light days on sale 2/$7
1 box of Kellogg's Raisin Bran (for DH)

Used 1 $1 off Kellogg's Raisin Bran printable coupon
Used 1 $1.50 off 2 Kotex printable coupon
Used $2 in ECB's from last week.
Total OOP: $4.38 and got $2 ECB's in return

Total value for all products: $35.35
Total OOP: $4.38, saved 88%!
Total ECB's for next week: $12!

Now for grocery deals:
First stop, Stop and Shop:

Deals I focused on were Chicken of the Sea Solid White Tuna, 10/$10; Wish Bone dressing, 10/$10; and Francesco Rinauldi's pasta sauce, 10/$10.

Transaction:
6 Chicken of the Sea cans
2 Wish Bone dressings
7 Franceso Rinauldi sauce

Used 2 $0.75 off Wish Bone dressing coupons (making them $0.25 each!)
Used 2 double coupons, $0.50 money maker!

Total value of products: $25.67
Total OOP: $12.00, saved 47%!!

Big Y:

Deals I focused on were: Big Y oats, 10/$10; General Mills Cereal, 3/$6; Scotties facial tissues, 10/$10; Adironack Seltzer water, 10/$10; and International Delight Creamer, 10/$10.

Transaction:
8 International Delight creamers
2 Big Y oats
3 boxes of Honey Nut Cheerios
6 bottles of Adironack seltzer water

Used 1 $1 off 3 boxes of GM cereal
Used 2 $1 off 5 boxes of scotties tissues coupon
Used 2 $1 off 1 International Delight printable coupon
Used 5 Big Y double dollar coupons

Total value of products: $52.13
Total OOP: $22.30, saved 43%!!

Budget: $20 under budget this week, $224 left for June.

What good deals did you get this week?

Weekly Deals

My New Best Friend

Meet my new best friend:
Do you like it?

Once I became official addicted to couponing, I ran into a small problem. While I get a lot of my coupons from the weekly paper inserts, the majority of my coupons are printed offline.

That's a lot of paper, and a lot of ink. I think we all know how much ink costs.

I solved the problem temporarily when my lovely mother offered to let me use her laser printer. Really fast and much less inexpensive when it comes to ink, but I still had to drive to her house every time I wanted to print out coupons or stuff for the girls school. The Knight and I looked into buying our own laser printer but they were around $200, reasonable enough but still a little out of our budget.

Then Rachel over at Surviving the Stores gave her readers a heads up on a great deal on a laser print over at amazon.com: just $59 and free shipping. I had a $20 amazon gift card so it came to $39 with free shipping.

My new best friend was less inexpensive the ink cartridge alone on my regular printer (I just found a receipt which shows I paid $50 a few months ago for color/b&w combo cartridge!). This thing is sooo fast, and my dream come true!

If you are getting started in couponing I would highly recommend investing in a laser printer...the best coupons I use I always find online.

Other deals I scored this week:

~restaurants.com, enter the code DINING at checkout you get 60% off your order (I got $50 in gift certificates to a local seafood restaurant for $8).
~grill for FREE (our IL's bought a new grill and gave us their old one, woot-woot!)

Every time I save money and put it towards the debt snowball I can't help but smile. This month we will be sending in another big fat check to our credit card, yay!

My New Best Friend

Weekly Deals

This week they didn't have too many ECB deals at CVS, but I still got some great deals. The sales I focused on were: Kellogg's Special K Cereal, BIGIF; Always pads, 2/$6 get $2 ECB's back; Gillette Fusion Razor on sale $7.99 get $4 in ECB's back; and purchase two Banana Boat products get $7 in ECB's.

Transaction:
Bought 4 boxes of Special K
Bought 2 Always pads
Bought 1 Gillette Fusion razor
Bought 2 Banana Boat sunscreen products
Bought 1 bag of cotton balls.

Used $5 off of $25 coupon that printed out for me at the machine
Used $1 off 2 Always Pads from this weekend's coupon insert
Used 3 $1 off 1 box of Kellogg's Special K cereal (would have used four if I had four inserts)
Used 1 $4 off 1 Gillette Fusion razor from this weekend's coupon insert
Used 2 $2 off 1 Banana Boat product
Used $23 in ECB's from two weeks ago.

Total value before discounts and coupons: $60.70
Total paid OOP: $4.97
Total Saved: $55.73 with $13 in ECB's to use next week!

Now on to this week's grocery deals:

This week I hit up Price Chopper and Big Y.
Price Chopper:
Bumblbee tuna, 10/$10 (bought 6)
Nutri Grain Granola Bars, 2/$6
Near East Couscous, 10/$10 (bought 3)
Price Chopper Sour Cream, $0.99 (bought 2)
Price Chopper Cheese Ravioli, 10/$10 (bought 2)

Used $1 off 2 Nutri Grain Granola Bars coupon and a Big Y double coupon (PC takes competitor's coupons).

Total value of products before coupons and discounts: $33.55
Total OOP: $16.98
Total saved: $16.57 plus I saved $0.70 per gallon the next time I hit the gas station.

Big Y:
Big Y had a lot of BIGIF and BIG2F deals this week, which I am usually wary about. I bring a calculator with me to figure out the price per unit and see if it's really a deal. Like I suspected, some were still more expensive, but a couple items did work out to be great deals.

Big Y brown eggs, B1G2F (making them $0.73 each! bought three)
Country Time Pink Lemonade, on sale 2/$6 (bought 2)
Freihofer's wheat bread, B1G2F (making them $1.13 each! bought 3)
Harvest Pride Bagels B1G2F (making them $1.26 each! bought 6, 3 plain and 3 wheat)
Grapes, on sale $1.98/lb

Used 1 $1.50 off 2 Country Time Lemonade coupon

Total before discounts and coupons: $53.82
Total Paid OOP: $21.56
Total Saved: $32.26

I was able to stay $6 under budget this week, yay!

What good deals did you find?

Weekly Deals

Yard Sale Finds

This weekend the Knight and I went "yardsaleing" with $10 in our pocket. This is what we got with that $10:

Two board games (Taboo and Scene It?), an etch-a-sketch, a mickey mouse doll, a ladybug costume for the girls' dress up bin, 1 dress for The Guppy, 4 shirts for The Guppy, and 1 pair of overalls and 1 vest for the Mermaid. We also got a weed wacker(!) and a Dan Brown book (not pictured).

Not bad for $10!

Did you go "yard saleing" this weekend? Let me know what awesome deals you found!

Yard Sale Finds

Flip Flops Bring Us Joy

I haven't yet experienced the fun things that come with having a boy, but I am really having a great time with my girls!

Girl clothes are cute. And fun. And the pink bows and ribbons? To die for. I love braiding my girls' hair, or putting it in pigtails. And giving each other "fake" manicures and pedicures (I say fake because I can't bring myself yet to actually put nail polish on their innocent hands and feet...yet).

My girls have a knack for bargain shopping already, mostly because they learned from me, and I will not likely buy anything unless it's on sale.

I'm not a shoe girl, but I want to be. My favorite shoe is the flip flop. It's cooling, cute, flexible, and I kind of like the sound it makes when you walk. Adorable. Old Navy had their flip flops on sale on Saturday for $1 each, so I got up early and headed out to pick some up for me and my girls. I got three pairs for myself: one pink, one black, one white. For the girls, I picked up white ones with purple and butterflies on them. They were so excited to have their first pair of flip flops!

I hope as my girls grow that they will continue to enjoy bargain shopping with me. That little things, like getting a bargain on flip flops, will still bring them joy. A lot of children lose that innocent joy when they grow up; I tend to have mine still, and hope the same will go for them.

Flip Flops Bring Us Joy

Weekly Deals

Not too many grocery deals this week, but some awesome CVS deals!

I had $16 in ECB's left over from last week. These are the deals that I focused on:
Clearasil face wash, $3.99 w/$3.99 ECB reward; Revlon Nail Polish, $3.99 w/$3 ECB reward; Playtex Sport, $3.99 w/$3 ECB reward; Band-aid $2.99 w/$2 ECB reward;
Colgate Total $2.99 w/$2 ECB reward; Speedstick Pro, $3.99 w/$3.99 ECB reward;
Post Trail Mix Crunch Cereal, BIGIF

Transaction:
1 Clearasil face wash at $3.99
1 Revlon Nail Polish at $3.99
1 Playtex Sport at $3.99
2 boxes of Band-aids at $2.99 each
1 tube of Colgate Total at $2.99
2 Speedstick Pro at $3.99 each
2 boxes of Post Trail Mix Cereal at $4.97 for both

Used 1 $5 off $25 coupon that printed out for me at the machine
Used 1 $2 off any Clearasil product coupon from 4/19 SS
Used 1 $1 off any Revlon Color Product coupon from 4/26 SS
Used 1 $1 off Playtex Sport printable coupon
Used 1 $1 off Colgate Total coupon from 5/10 SS
Used 2 $2 off Post Trail Mix printable coupon
Used $16 in ECB's from last week.

Total value of products: $33.89
Total OOP: $3.89
Total ECB's received for next week: $23.97
Saved: 90%!

As for groceries, I was a little disappointed in the lack of sales. However, Stop and Shop had their natural hamburger buns on sale 2/$4, so I picked up some of those, and I also took advantage of their great sale on corn on the cob: 12 fresh picked ears for only $1.99!

My best deal this week came from Big Y. Once again, they offered double coupons in their flyer, and they had Miracle Whip on sale for $2.99 (reg. priced at $4.99). With my $1 off printable coupons that were doubled, I got three jars for only $0.99! They also had their sliced cheese on sale for only $1, so I stocked up on those, since it's the best deal I've seen so far for sliced cheese.

Did you get any great deals this week?

Weekly Deals

Rubbish Free Living

Imagine living a life with no rubbish?

Money Saving Mom recently gave her readers a heads up about a website run by a family who embarked on a challenge of creating no more than one bag of garbage for an entire year. They succeeded.

What I love about their website is that not only does it show that treading lightly is certainly possible, but it shows how. Their website includes a rubbish-free guide and a blog filled with tips and hints.

I'm thinking of coming up with a challenge for our own family.

Did you run across any good links this week that you'd like to share?

Rubbish Free Living

Weekly Deals

My regular grocery bill this week at the Super Walmart was only $52. I also got some great deals at CVS and local grocery stores.

First, my CVS deals:

This week I had $23 in ECB's left over from last week to use. CVS was having a sale on Kashi cereal, 2/$5, and on Orville Popcorn, 2/$5. If you bought $10 worth of popcorn, you got $5 in ECB's. They also had Dry Idea deodorant on sale 2/$5 with a $2 ECB reward, and a $2 ECB reward if you bought Colgate Enamel Protect for $3.99.
Transaction:
4 boxes of Kashi cereal at $2.50 each
4 boxes of Orville popcorn at $2.50 each
2 Dry Idea deodorant at $2.50 each
1 Colgate Enamel Protect at $3.99

Used 1 $5/$30 purchase that printed out for me at the machine
Used 2 $1.50/2 boxes of Kashi Cereal printable coupon
Used 2 $1/2 boxes of Orville popcorn from today's coupon insert
Used 2 $2/1 Dry Idea printable coupon
Used $16 in ECB's from last week (leaving me with $7 in ECB's from last week)
Total value: $30
Total OOP: $0.00
Total ECB's received: $9 (leaving me with $16 total to use next week).

I'm mostly excited about the Kashi cereal because we LOVE Kashi products in our home but don't buy it often because they can be pricey.

I did okay on grocery stores this week:

My biggest deal was the Wheat Thins. Big Y had double coupons in their flyer this week, and the Wheat Thins were on sale 2/$6. I just happened to have 5 $1 off Wheat Thin coupons, which were all doubled, so I got each box for $0.99.
The sliced cheese was on sale for 2/$3, the Romaine Hearts for 2/$5, the Near East couscous and rice 10/$10, the tuna for $0.88 each, and the grapes for $0.98/lb. They also had Philadelphia cream cheese bricks on sale for $0.99 each, and I had 3 $1/2 printable coupons, so I got them for $0.49 each.

Total value for the week: $156.13
Total spent OOP: $75.07
Saved: 58%

Weekly Deals

Weekly Deals

Today I went to CVS and took advantage of some great deals.

I started out with $13 in ECB's from last week. The deals I focused on were: but $10 in Colgate toothbrushes, get $5 in ECBs; buy 1 Schick Quattro on sale for $8.99, get $4 in ECB's; Buy 1 Bayer Aspirin quick release tablet on sale for $2, get $2 in ECB's; and but $15 in Nivea products get $5 in ECB's.

First transaction:

Bought 6 Colgate toothbrushes at $1.99 each

Bought 1 Shick Quattro razor at $8.99

Used $4/$20 that was emailed to me from CVS

Used 6 $1 off any Colgate toothbrush from the 4/26 insert.

Used 1 $4 off any Shick Quattro razor from the 4/26 insert.

Used $5 in ECB's from last week.

Value: $20.93

OOP: $1.93

ECB's received: $9

Second Transaction:

Bought 1 Bayer Aspirin at $2

Bought 2 Schick Quattro at $8.99 each

Bought one Nivea Beautiful Legs Tanning Lotion at $9.99

Bought one Nivea Body Wash on sale for $6.99

Used a $5/$25 coupon that printed out from the machine

Used $1 Bayer Aspirin that I found attached to the display

Used 2 $4 off Schick Quattro razor from 4/26 insert

Used 1 Buy 1 Nivea Tanning Lotion get a FREE Nivea Body Wash coupon from 5/10 insert

Used $8.99 ECB's from last week

Value: $36.96

OOP: $6.98

ECB's received: $15

Transaction 3:

Bought 2 Schick Quattro Trimmers at $8.99 each

Used 2 $4 off Schick Quattro from 4/26 insert

Used $9 in ECB's from transaction 1

Value: $17.98

OOP: $0.98

ECB's received: $8

Total value of all products: $75.87

Total OOP cost: $9.89

Total ECB's received for next week: $23

My memory card is full do I didn't take a picture of my grocery deals, but I stocked up on the following items that were on sale: coffee, bagels, mixed vegetables, juice, polar seltzer, grapes, ravioli, and cheese singles.

Did you have any good deals this week? Enter your post to Mr. Linky and share your deals. Please enter the link to your direct post, and not your homepage.

Weekly Deals

Earn At Gather!

When paying off debt, every little bit helps. Are you a fan of social networking sites? Then join Gather and get rewarded for networking with your friends and family.

Gather rewards you with points for using their site. You can then redeem the points you earn for gift cards to stores such as Macy's CVS, Borders, Dunkin Donuts, and more.

This is a great way to earn a little extra money while doing something you like to do. I've created two groups already, so if you want to earn some points go HERE to join then go HERE and HERE to join my groups (you earn points by joining groups, inviting people, etc.).

See you there!

Earn At Gather!

Linky Love: Living Frugal

Couponing and saving money with shopping takes time and work, but it is so much easier now that I have resources to look at when I'm trying to match up coupons with sales. Here are some of my favorite links:

CouponMom: here you can match up coupons with local store deals, look up coupons that you want to find, and even print coupons off. Plus, her ebook on how to coupon is an absolute must-read.

Frugal RI Mama: A great resource for free items, couponing, etc. I also like that she is more local to me, so the deals that she posts apply to my area as well. This week she has a HOT deal posted about how to get an eco bag and free gift for $0.45.

Making Life Sweet, One Deal At A Time: Another great blog on couponing and deals. She also has a lot of information on how to build up a stockpile.

Money Saving Mom: great for local deals, coupons, and freebies.

Surviving The Stores: has great information on freebies, CVS and Walgreen Deals, and coupons, of course!

Be Cents Able: A great resource for living frugally, matching coupons to store deals, and couponing.

Those are my favorite resources for couponing and learning about deals. Do you have a favorite website that you refer to when living frugally? I'd love to see some links!

Linky Love: Living Frugal

Weekly Deals

This week I spent a little more than the past two weeks, but I got a lot of stuff for my dollars!

CVS:

Three boxes of Special K cereal, on sale 3/$10 with a $5 ECB reward

Two tubes of Colgate Max White, on sale $2.99 with a $2 ECB reward

One two pack of Zantrex, $4.99 with a $4.99 ECB reward

Kleenex tissues, buy one at $2.39 get one free

One bag of sunflower seeds that I used as a filler

I used: one $5 off of $25 coupon that printed out for me at the machine

Three $1 off Kellogs Special K cereal coupons

2 $1 off Colgate Max White toothpaste from newspaper insert

$9 in ECB's left over from last week.

Total cost before coupons and ECB's: $25.07

Total OOP cost: $6.05

Total ECB's received to use next week: $13.99

Grocery deals:

Not too many deals this week. Price Chopper had their garlic on sale, and I also picked up two box of Near East couscous that was on sale to try out. It didn't seem to have any harmful additives and I've been wanting to try couscous for a while. Total spent at PC: $4.50

Big Y had more on sale this week, and they were tripling coupons with a face value up to $0.99. Sadly, most of my coupons are a dollar off or more, but I did have two Heinz Vinegar coupons for $0.50 off, and since I use Vinegar for cleaning and washing laundry, I wanted to stock up. They also had President Feta Cheese on sale for $3.99 (I pay $4.18 at WalMart), 1lb carrots for 2/$1, and Big Y Lite Syrup, BIGIF. Total cost before coupons and discounts: $18.63. Total OOP: $9.66, so I saved about 50%.

This week I wanted to buy a drying rack to cut down on energy costs, and the Knight wanted to make tacos, and so I had to pick up vegetarian hamburger for that (which is expensive!) so I spent $89 total this week, more than the past two weeks but still $11 under budget.

Did you find any great deals this week? Link to your post and share how you've been saving big bucks! You must link to the direct post, and not just your homepage.

Weekly Deals

Weekly Deals and Bits and Pieces

I hope everyone had a great weekend, we had a simply fabulous one! Saturday I hit the stores and then headed up to my IL's house where the girls and the Knight were manning the yard sale. We put out one small table of things and ended up making $42, not bad for selling off random stuff we didn't want, and we got to declutter the house!

The Mermaid was absolutely adorable. I took this opportunity to teach her about recycling, money, and decluttering all at once and asked her to go through her toys and pick out the ones she wanted to sell, and she could keep the money. She picked out so many that at first I didn't think she understood that what "selling" meant, but it turns out she did and was willing to let go of so many toys. In fact, I ended up putting some of my favorites back when she wasn't looking, ones that I would like the next baby to play with! She ended up making around $25, and was very proud of herself.

We spent a lot of time out in the sunshine and the girls were thrilled that they didn't have to wear pants and long sleeves under their dresses (they insist on wearing dresses every day, so I have to put them on over their warmer clothes). All in all, it was a very relaxing weekend and I got some great deals on top of it!!

Grocery Deals:

I made two trips out to grocery stores this week, both to Big Y and Price Chopper. Big Y had double coupons up to $1 in their weekly flyer this week, so I went twice to take advantage of the great deals!

First trip:

Big Y had their Light Silk Soymilk on sale this week, 2/$5. I love this stuff and buy it every week, and I just so happened to three coupons for $1 off one. Double all three coupons and with the sale price, I got all three soymilks for $1.50 (regularly priced at $2.98 each at my local WalMart).

Price Chopper was also doubling coupons this week, but only for coupons from pet manufacturers. I had three coupons for whiskers cat food, $2 off one ten pack of food. Price Chopper happened to have them on sale for $4.99, with the coupons and double coupons it came to $3.12. Those packs will last us three months! I saved 89% with this trip.

My second trip to Price Chopper, they had on sale Special K cereal with strawberries (which I buy every week) and V8 Fusion (which I've recently fallen in love with), both products on sale 2/$5. I had two $1 off one V8 Fusion, so the total came to $8, I saved 50%.

Big Y had lots of great sales this week! I got mushrooms BIGIF, apples BIGIF, Romaine Lettuce BIGIF, Frosted Flakes on sale for $2.89, and Mission wraps one sale for $3. I had a coupon for the Frosted Flakes and the mission wraps, and also for the Cascadian Farms Organic cereal I picked up. After sale prices, coupons, and double coupons, it came to $15.84 (total value before discounts was $37.68

Finally, my trip to CVS:

The Palmolive was on sale for $0.88 each, and the Toms of Maine deodorant was on save for $4.99. The Schick Intuition was on sale for $8.99 and with a $4 ECB reward with purchase. I had a coupon for the razor and the Palmolive. Total value of products came to $15.74, after coupons and $10 in ECB's from last week, I paid $0.78 and got $4 back in ECB's to roll with next week.

My "normal" grocery bill this week came to $52, and after hitting the deals to stock my pantry up some more, the total for the week came to $79.62, so I was $20.38 under budget.

Weekly Deals and Bits and Pieces

Deals of the Week

I got some good deals this week.

Grocery deals:


Stop and Shop had Polar seltzer water on sale, 10/$10. I could live off this stuff. I bought five, saving me $1.25 off what I usually pay.

Price Chopper had Frehofer's wheat bread on sale, buy one get two free, saving me $2.00. They also had a sale on the four pack of 9 Lives cat food, $0.99 each. I bought three packs and saved $2.50 with that deal.
Then, I went CVS'ing. They had a sale on Aveeno products this week, buy $25 worth and get $10 in ECB's. They also had an ECB deal on Edge shaving gel and Act mouth rinse ($2.89 and $2.00, respecitively).

Transaction 1# bought one Edge shave gel at $2.89, got $2.89 back in ECB's. Price after ECB's is FREE.

Transaction #2: bought one ACT Total care mouth rinse at $4.99, used $1 off coupon from the Sunday paper insert, used the $2.89 ECB's from transaction 1, OOP cost: $1.16. Final price after $2 in ECB's that I got back: $0.84 overage.

Transaction #3: bought one ACT TOtal Care mouth rinse at $4.99, used another $1 off coupon from paper insert, used $2 in ECB's from transaction #2: OOP $2. Final price after $2 ECB's that I got back: FREE.

Transaction #4: Bought one Aveeno skin scrub at $7, 1 Aveeno daily moisturizer at $6, and 2 Aveeno body washes at $6 each, for a total cost of $25. I used $4 off of $20 coupon I got from CVS, four of the $2 off any Aveeno product that can print offline, and $2 in ECB's from transaction #3. Final OOP: $11.55, and I got $10 back in ECB's to roll with next week.

Total cost of products purchased: $37.83
Total out of pocket cost: $11.55
Saved: $26.25 with $10 in ECB's to use next week.

This week, my normal grocery bill only came to $62.00. Much better than the $85-$100 that it normally was. After stocking up, final money spent this week was still only $87, so I stayed $13 under budget this week, woot-woot!

Deals of the Week