Frys Shop 3/26 and 3/27

I had to break my shop into 2 days this week because in the wonderful way that I can be, I managed to take a flying lesson in the middle of Safeway's parking lot. Some bozo had an oil leak in their vehicle and walking to get a cart to go in, one foot into oil that I didn't see meant I was on the floor quicker than you can sneeze.

Minor physical injuries, of course I did the look around and 'who saw me' panic followed so more embarrassment than any thing else.


What we got:

12 Shredded Wheat - Reg 4.99, sale 1.99, after coupon 99c
16 Vitamin water - reg $1, sale 50c
9 Mustard - reg $2.39, sale 99c, after coupon FREE
4 Cases Water - reg $2.97, sale $2.50
3 Cadbury Mini Eggs - Reg $3.99, Sale $2.69 After coupon $2
6 2ltr soda - reg $1.47, sale 97c
8 Fresh Take Kraft - reg $3.29, sale $1.99, after coupon 3 Free and the rest 99c
36 Capri Sun Juice boxes, reg $2.39, sale 1.39 used buy 3 get one free 79c each (got full coupon credit automatically at register)
2 large arrowhead water - reg $1.39, sale 49c
5 country crock spreads - reg $2.99, sale 99c, after coupon FREE
6 Philedelphia cooking spreads - reg$3.29, sale $1.99, after coupon 99c
9 colgate toothpastes - reg 1.87, sale $1.00, after coupon FREE

Also used visa cards from rebates for $50 (these are cards I received from sending in rebate forms)
2 $2 off your next purchase
3 $1 off you next purchase.

Should have cost $296.72
Actually cost $25.08

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1940 Census is coming!

1940 Census

So if you know me in real life, you know a couple of things about me.

1 - I am a Latter Day Saint...aka Mormon
2 - I love researching family history

Right now I have a tree of over 7500 people listed and we have some doozy stories. like the cross dresser that had to be referred to as his female name for people to know he had died, the murder scandals, the ancestors who helped build Massachusetts, the body guard to Joseph Smith. The royalty...my husband totally has a King Ralph thing going on, only they would have to have over 3000 people die for him to get the throne.

My family on the other hand is having me hit my head against a brick wall, I have relatives that after 1930 I have no clue, I am hoping that this census will unlock some clues for me.

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How I make extra money - Swagbucks!

So this is a really easy program to make some extra cash...its free, there is no contract and it really is up to you. I have been a member for about 1 year and I spend an average of 5 minutes a day on the site. Some days I do spend more because I take surveys but more often than not I am just using the tool bar to do my 'google' searches.

I have made $95 in free Amazon gift cards this way...very helpful at Christmas!

What I do - download the tool bar...visit to do poll and NOSO and just use the search functions. Searches get you anywhere between 5-35 swagbucks randomly. YOU WILL NOT EARN EVERY SINGLE TIME. You also can look up codes on widgets and promo codes that they put our for fun.

Just one of the ways I make extra being at home!

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Menu Planning OOOPS

So for the last few weeks, it has gone out of the window. I meant that the last menu we wrote we maybe hit 3 out of 7 and for a couple of weeks we have had Taco Bell, McDonalds, Papa Johns and more junk than I would care to admit.

In our defense we have had sick kids, a lot on our mind and a start to the construction but enough is enough. When our construction is done 95% of our food stores will be in the pantry and the plan is to use that room like a grocery store so we have to get good at menu planning. Upto now we have just been planning the main part of the meal, no sides, no deserts, no lunch, no snacks and no breakfast. That will have to change!!!! I am hoping that by increasing our planning I will have a better relationship with both the budget and the scale. Yep all this junk has resulted in a minor 2lb gain, but when you are trying to lose it....not so much fun.

Sunday - Pork chops with creamed corn and mashed potatoes. Followed by homemade apple crumble.

Monday - Lasagna roll ups with a squash and onion saute. Followed by milkshakes

Tuesday - Squash and potato frittata...with a corn side and followed by frozen lemonade

Wednesday - Homemade turkey burgers with eggplant 'fries' with a pinch of salt and drizzled with honey. Followed by Baskin Robbins Ice Cream (free scoop coupons)

Thursday - MY BIRTHDAY - Depending on funds we will either go out and have curry or make butter chicken curry with sweet and spicy cucumber salad. Followed by Fry's Mint Chocolate cake (I love this stuff)

Friday - Stroganoff with lots of mushrooms followed by jello!

Saturday - Philly Cheese steaks with onions and peppers, roasted sweet potatoes followed by fresh white choc chip macadamia cookies.


I added sweets for after dinners so instead of pigging out on them during the day I can salivate for them at the end of the day. Yes sweets are my weakness....

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How I file my inserts

So after eight months of filing my coupons by insert, I have changed my system. I was inspired by two things; First on Extreme Coupons, Joanie had a system in her binder that I really liked and second I found that I had broke the cardinal rule of coupons when I went through to purge the 12/31 expiration's. I had missed valuable deals and to be honest it made me feel sick to my stomach in a way I never expected. These were things that I had been shopping and getting for free; butter, toilet paper, batteries, pasta, noodles...my list went on.

So that was it, it took me 3 days to organize and purge my coupons and I have already seen the bonus.

First I chose to have 2 zippered binders, one for food and one for non food products. Then I have 5 smaller wallets for separating store trips so that I am only using my binders in store for extra special deals. I also use the wallets to store Rainchecks, complete with matching coupons so I am not searching for the rainchecks

My binders are separated in to sections. My wallets are labeled for ease in the store such as freezer, fridge, cans, meat, household etc. in each section I am using baseball card holders and have separated each section. Ie Dental, has a sleeve for toothbrushes, toothpaste, mouthwash, floss. Each folder has ended up being more than 4 inches thick and have already had success in Walgreens where I got over $200 for about $26 (plus came away with $6 in rewards). I love my new system as when I see a deal in the store I can easily see if I have a coupon to make it a better deal.

I also have scissors on hand if I need to trim coupons from ads on the go

 

My Food list:

• Fresh Fruit and Vegetables
• Salad Dressings, Marinades and Dips
• Milk, Cream, Sour Cream and Eggs
• Cheese and Yogurt
• Refrigerated Dough
• Bread and Bakery
• Baking, Sugar, Flour and Oil
• Pasta, Noodles and Sauce
• Canned Fruit and Veg, Dry Grocery Items
• Peanut Butter and Jelly
• Breakfast Items
• Condiments
• Canned Fish and Meats (deli Meats)
• Fresh and Frozen Meat and Fish
• Candy
• Beverages
• Frozen Veg
• Frozen Dessert
• Frozen Meals
• Frozen Snacks
• Baby Food items
• Diet

 

Non Food Binder:

• Baby
• Pet
• Dish and Laundry
• Paper
• Cleaning
• Maintenance
• Hair
• Makeup
• Dental
• Soaps, shower gels
• Razors and moisturizers
• Personal Hygeine
• Cold and Pain Medication
• Other Medicine
• Stationary and Toys
• Miscellaneous

Pros - 

• Its easy to see what coupons you have at a glance
• You can capitalize on closeout and unadvertised specials
• You do not tend to forget your coupons
• You have a place to file your non-insert coupons

Cons - 

• It takes time to keep up to date
• the Binders can get heavy
• You are seen as a couponer as soon as you get in the store

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Frys Shop 03/19/2012

8 Capri Sun drinks reg $2.29 on sale for $1.79 on mega used 2 buy3 get 1 free and got $2.29 credit for both.
7 pepsi 2 ltrs re $1.47. 97c on Mega
4 vitamin waters reg $1, 50c on mega
3 Sunny D reg $1.49 on sale 99c Mega used $1/3 to make 66c
2 Suave Shampoo, $1.46 reg on sale 96c with mega used 50c/1 doubled to FREE
5 Mustard reg $1.49 on sale 99c with Mega used 75c/1 doubled to FREE
1 Kens Dressing Reg $2.39 on sale $1 used $1/1 FREE
1 Dial hand soap reg $1.60 on sale $1 used 35c/1 doubled to FREE
3 creme eggs 89c each on b2g1f sale. YUMMY
3 Noodles reg $1.79 on mega sale $1.29 used 40c/1 doubled to make 29c
2 Krave reg $4.79 on sale $1.99 with Mega use 70c/1 for 99c
11 Philidelphia Cooking Cremes reg $3.29 on sale $1.99 with Mega used 2 $1.50 off 1 so 49c and 55c off1 doubled for 99c
6 cottage cheese reg $3.29 on sale for $1.69 with Mega used 30c/1 double to make 69c
2 crock country spread reg $2.99 on sale for 99c with Mega used $1/1 for FREE

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Safeway Shop 3/19/2012

12 Yoplait Yogurts reg 99c used 30/1 which Safeway made to 99c so FREE
12 Stayfree products reg $1.29 on sale for 99c used $1/1 so FREE
156 cans of Mighty dog reg 80c on sale 65c used $3/12 so 40c a can (For inlaws)
36 Nissin Noodles reg .79 on sale 2/$1 used $1/3 so 17c each
Cabbage reg 69clb on sale 25clb
2 Silk on sale $1.25 used 55c/1 which double to $1 so 25c each
4 Kraft Fresh take reg $3.99 had a raincheck from the B1G1F but they rang it up on that at this weeks sale price of $2.99 which saved me an extra $2 when I asked I was told that was policy. used 2 $1/1 and $4 off your next order so FREE

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Albertsons 3/19/2010

We only needed 2 things and to be honest if we weren't driving past, I wouldn't have bothered.

2 malt o meal cereals normally $2.29 on sale $1 had a $1/2 coupon so 50c each.

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Do - lally land

I haven't posted in a while but we have had sick kids...you know the kind, hubby brings the 'sniffles' home from work...has his bout of man flu, next thing you know your 2 year old is miserable because he has little man flu. Then Momma gets it and whines about it for a day (I heal quick) and then little miss gets it and doesn't heal so quick. Trip to the Doctors and find out she has bronchitis. Medicine that she hates and the fights that go with convincing a 7month old that they want to feel better, this leads to one tired Momma that feels like she has lived in Do-lally land for the last 2 weeks.

It also led to some serious chaos in the home as we didn't menu plan, I have Mount Laundry to climb and just to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, our pool turned green!

In good news, the plans are made for the extension, the mountain has the summit in sight and the windows have been bought for the extension as well as our pool is on the mend.

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Fry's Shop 3/1/2012

So our little girl is sick :(, after the trip to the Doctors we had two prescriptions to pick up. Combine with not wanting to come back out after dropping her scripts off and having 14 coupons expiring today that I wanted to use, I thought, well she is sleeping and happy right now, I have an hour to waste, hubby with me and coupon binders still in the car. HMMMMMM....Coupon Shop!!!!

We are also in the process of getting rid of Diapers for our 2 year old, but with Alyssa being sick, I felt that this wasnt the week so I grabbed a pack of diapers. On top of that when hubby told me how much his shop was, I about dropped through the floor and as he put his hand in his pocket he realized he had not used a single one of his coupons. Luckily we were still at the cash register and the cashier just rang them up without even missing a beat. We also added a fair chunk of meat again to our shop and seeing as Xavier had behaved so well he got a hot wheel car which he proceeded to 'drive' along the cash register including 'beep beeping' the workers.

Before Sales and Coupons $170.74
After Sales and Coupons $54.32

This included

2 packages of stuffed chicken $4.99 each
2 packages of tofu 'chicken' strips $1.49 each
Beef Bones $1.89 (Special Treat for our doggies)
2 Packages of bacon wrapped turkey Kabobs $3.49 each
1 bag of pretzels $1.63
1 bag of huggies $9.85 used $2 off coupon
28 muffin mixes at 10/$10, used 55c/2 which doubled to $1
5 Colgate $1 used 75c/1 doubled to $1 so FREE
14 Pizza Rolls at 10/$10 used 35c/1 doubled to $1 so FREE
2 Cottage cheese
1 manicotti,2.79
10 betty crocke potatoes 1.19 used 50/2 doubled to $1/2 (these are great for last minute fixes)
2 packs of mushrooms $3
5 large white onions 1.55
2 cheese sticks .33 each
2 fiber one brownies (we really had to try them)used 50/2 doubled to $1
5 treats was $2.49 used 55c/1 doubled to $1
1 mint chocolate cocoa 69c
Kroger Medicine 3.63
tortillas

Throw in a couple of cats and there you have our shop...

Now to put it all away and I swear its very overwhelming tonight especially on the 2 hours of sleep the kids gave us last night. I need my pantry finished...hopefully soon!

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100 Years From Now!

"One hundred years from now, it will not matter what my bank account was, how big my house was, or what kind of car I drove. But the world may be a little better, because I was important in the life of a child."

I love this quote...in fact it is framed in the living room! In fact yesterday I was reading this blog post over on Mormon Mommies and it hit me like a ton of bricks.

How many of you, live to try and keep up with the world? How many of you answer, I'm fine when asked how you are, even if you are not? How many of you worry about making ends meet? How many of you think social perception is the most important aspect?

So where on earth am I going with this? I also realized I haven't been taking as many pictures of the kids and been bogged down in projects and housework. We all suffer from varying degrees of "Stepfordism', we just dont admit it!

How are you afflicted?

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