9-21-10

7:30-8:00AM

Ya know beggar's can't be choosers
when it comes to food, especially when free.
I offered someone some cereal
from my stockpile.
Ohh no we want Frosted Mini Wheats,
don't want the Cheerios or Raisin Bran.
So out to the store they go to buy some
because they are tired of eating
those kinds!
You could always jazz it up like I do.
Or even add some fresh fruit to it
with a little sprinkin' of Splenda or sugar.

Think about it, do you really think
if I had a choice I would buy a gazzilion
boxes of Hamburger Helpers
and all this other crap with coupons?
NO, but ya know it's cheap and free
and it's food in our bellies.

If it's free I'll take it and not complain
and be thankful someone offered it to me!

Well I'm off here to get the kids to the bus stop
then head to Meijers.
Will let you know how that trip turns out.

_______________________

Back from Meijer at 12:00PM
I thought I did an excellent shopping trip today!!
Haven't done one like this in awhile.
WOWZER!! CHECK THIS OUT!!

TOTAL VALUE: $173.77

TOTAL I PAID: $38.19

TOTAL SAVED WITH COUPONS & SALES: $133.00

And this price above does not reflect
my savings I got on the bags of oranges,
broccoli and celery.
I will find out tomorrow what
they usually cost because I did not
write it down. Then recalculate it.

I did find two mistake so far on
my receipt. I was supposed to of had
20% off 1 pet food item.
That bag of food cost $6.99
so I should have saved $1.40 off that bag.
For some reason they took 20%
off of $2.99 (.60 cents off) instead of $6.99.
I did not buy any other pet food items!!
I also had a Meijer Catalina coupon
for free Idahoan potatoes but do
not see where they took it off!
So they owe me $1.98 cents!!
So I adjusted that above to reflect that
so you will not see that on the reciept.
It will be taken care of tomorrow
as mom wants to go back to Meijers again
which is fine by me because I have another list
for Meijers and Walgreens.
I have shown those lists in the pics below
and what I will be paying on those trips!

I love to mention others customers
remarks about my shopping.
While standing in line this guy in front
of me notices all my groceries and vegetables
I had on the conveyor belt.
He says are you a vegetarian?
I say no, hope not, and point
to all the hamburger still in my cart I hadn't
put up on the conveyor yet.
He then says, you must have a large family.
I say no, not really, only 4 of us.
Then he says, do you run a restaurant?
I say no, I just have a lot of coupons
and the cashier probably won't be too happy
with me by the time it's all said and done.
He just laughed and went on his way.

I read about all these deals people
get at the grocery store with pictures
of all the food and stuff. I very rarely
see their receipts. Well I have the receipts
along with pictures of what I got
to back up what I did and will show you here.

....Below is 12 head of broccoli for .10 cents each!
And 2 bags of oranges for $1.00 each!.All this hamburger for only $1.20!!.Ramen Noodles .10 cents each..Dressing .50 cents each
Ketchup $1.00 each
Tobasco Sauce- FREE
Bag of celery .31 cents
.Ziploc containers $1.00 each.
Ziploc 120 count sandwich bags $1.50 each..Ronzoni Spaghetti .11 cents each
Nivea Lip Care- FREE
Nestle Tollhouse Cookie Dough $2.00 for 3.Old Orchard Juice .67 cents each
Skippy Peanut Butter .67 cents each
Grape Jelly- FREE
Chi Chi's Salsa .58 cents each.McCormick Gravy Mixes .40 cents each.Best Life Butter- FREE
4 Armour Pepperoni $1.00 each.Yoplus Yogurt .67 cents each.
Idahoan Potatoes- FREE
M&M's-FREE
Applesauce $1.59
.Cereal .49 cents
Cream of Wheat .50 cents each.Phili Cream Cheese .25 cents each.Milk $2.00
Pop $1.39
Bread .78 cents each
2 dozen eggs $2.81
(I priced eggs by the dozen and they were $1.49 each
so to buy this 2 dozen package at $2.81 was cheaper!).Dog Food $4.59..
And here are two more shopping lists for tomorrow.
Total should be around $4.75 for

4 Butterfinger candy bars
1 Quaker Oatmeal
4 Right Guard Deodorants
Dr. Scholl's Shoe Insoles
10 Philadelphia Cream Cheese
4 Nivea Lip Care
3 Chi Chi Salsas

MEIJER
.WALGREENS

.

.
Like I said, I should totally be stocked
to the hilt in my pantry and freezers
for quite awhile!
Only shopping I will do til this dwindles down
some is for freebies, .50 cents or less
or something we need like bread, milk or eggs or tp.

9-20-10

I noticed that when I was cutting
out printable coupons and stacking them
together that they seemed to stick to one another.
It's about like a cashier handing you new
dollar bills and they are hard to get apart
without first wetting your fingers.

That got me thinking, because what if
I hand the cashier my coupons and and she misses
scanning some
because they were stuck together.

So here was my idea to solve that problem.
When stacking the coupons, criss cross them like this
and hand them to the cashier like that.
.

10:47AM

Just got done going through my coupons
and started getting a rough draft
of a grocery list together.

This is what I am hoping it will look like
$26.53 for all the below.
I will work this evening on
getting the actual grocery list together
for tomorrow and see if everything is correct
because my head is spinning at the moment!
I still might add a couple things like
eggs and bread. Won't be able to freeze
any bread at the moment so will have
to buy it as I need it due to freezer space.
See why my head has been spinning?
Let's see you make heads or tails
of this, LOL!
..


Post Marshmallow Pebbles Cereal
1 Gallon Milk
9.5 pounds Ground Beef From Chuck
4 pkgs Armour Pepperoni
2 pkgs Ballpark Franks
4 Nestle Tollhouse Cookie Dough
1 Idahoan Mashed Potatoes
6 Chi Chi Salsas
2 Hidden Valley Dressings
2 Ideal Sugar Free Sweeteners
20 Ramen Noodles
2 Skippy Peanut Butters
1 Grape Jam
2 Tabasco Sauces
5 McCormick Gravy Mixes
2 Spaghetti
20 Kraft Philadelphia Cream Cheese
2- 4pks Yoplait Yogurt
2 Old Orchard 100% Juice
4 Best Life Butters
4 Nivea Lip Care
1 Bag Dog Food
2-6 count pkgs Zip Loc Containers
2- 100 ct Zip Loc Baggies

12:00PM

Just got all the chicken I made up in the crock pot
yesterday divided up into 3 gallon sized freezer bags.
..
I also removed the broth from the fridge
and scraped off the fat.
This is now fat-free broth to use in soups.
When refrigerated it turns to a
jello like consistency but will
"melt" down once heated and turn
back into a liquid.

How much is a can of broth?
And how many cans could you get from
this crock pot (both crocks combined) for FREE??
LOTS!
...
Just a couple chicken noodle recipes
I found to get ideas of how to make mine for supper tonight.
Grandma's Chicken Noodle Soup

Quick & Easy Chicken Noodle Soup

-------------------

Since I am making homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
I thought I would throw in this interesting fact.
CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP FOR COLDS-
DOES IT REALLY WORK?


___________________

Supper tonight.

Ok here's how I made
Sherry's Chicken Noodle Soup

2 boxes Chicken Helper Creamy & Noodles $1.00
About 8 cups chicken broth-FREE
1 cup (1 pound) chopped up chicken-.11 cents
1/2 cup chopped celery- .10 cents
3 carrots sliced -.05 cents
pinch of Oregano-FREE
pinch of Basil-FREE
Dash of Garlic Powder-FREE
About 1/8 cup dehydrated onions-.10 cents

Boil broth. Add in both packets of seasoning
from Helper boxes. Add in other seasonings,
celery and onions. Bring to a boil then add in
both pasta packages. Boil until pasta become tender.
Reduce heat and stir in carrots & chicken.
I boiled my carrots in another pan
ahead of time.

The sauce mixes from the Helpers
will help thicken the broth some so no
need to add any corn starch or flour!

Who says you have to make
the Helpers according to the box directions.

TOTAL COST TO MAKE: $1.36
..
________________

GROCERY SMARTS PRINTABLE COUPONS
A VERY large list of coupons!!

__________________

Ok I've got to explain this story to you
to see if you can figure it out because I sure
as heck can't.

Today I got my mortgage payment statement.
Along with that bill they included a letter
stating I could sign up for free $10,000 disability
for the next year, then after that would cost $9.95
for $200,000 worth of disability insurance.
No doctor's exams required.
Sounded good to me as it was something
I have been wanting for Tony with him
having the house in his name and being
sole provider.

So anyway I get to reading this paper
and all the fine print.
Get this, for you to be qualified as
being disabled and to claim benefits
you have to have :
paralysis (total loss of muscle function in
an area of your body BUT cannot be brought
on by exclusions listed below!),
Double Dismemberment
(you have to lose both legs or arms,
not just one!).

It does not cover anyone that has had:
a stroke,
a heart attack,
diabetes,
mental sickness,
suicide or attempt,
other sickness,
disease,
bodily infirmity
(weakness brought on by old age),
infections of any kind regardless of how contacted,
any act of war injuries,
full time duty in military injuries,
riding on any transportation that requires a fair,
being under the influence of drugs or alcohol,
malpractice,
racing at a track,
any accidents outside US.

So what are our chances of losing
both limbs to qualify for this?
Because that sounds like the only
thing this disability will cover!!
I mean what else is there???

This is the most assinine
disability insurance coverage I have ever heard of!!
It just makes my head spin!!
And so many people out there will
sign up for complete crap like this
because they don't read the fine print!!

---------------------

And if you think that my head is
spinning from that you
try to figure out my step-dad.
I try to help them so much with saving
money. Especially now with him
being retired and their income
dropping. But my step-dad is one
who still wants to do everything
even if they don't have the money.
Doesn't want to cut back or do without!

I am sure there are many families
out there where people don't want to
cut back and keep spending even though
it is over the amount you make each month.
I just don't understand these people
and probably never will and it bothers
the crap outta me!!

Anyway here is what I am dealing
with at the moment!

Every now and then when starting mom's truck
there is a squeal that lasts for about 5 seconds.
Nothing major.
Doesn't do it all the time.
Before having the truck even looked at!,
my step-dad went out and bought 2 belts!!
It's only one belt possibly squealing for pete's sake!
If anything why didn't we try the cheaper
route and get some belt dressing to see
if that worked first?????
I am female and know you don't need 2 belts
for this, and it could be other things and not even a belt!!
Which to me it doesn't sound like a belt!
It could be one of these other things but he won't listen
to a female about working on cars!!
,
a loose belt that needs tightened,
a too tight of a belt that needs loosened,
it could be a pully or tensioner making the noise
and not even a belt!!
It could be a compressor kicking on squealing,
maybe even the alternator bearings causing the noise,
water pump bearing,
harmonic balancer,
air conditioner compressor,
or could even be a leak getting on the belts.

My ears hear something other than
squealing and I'm thinking bearings,
pulley/tensioner.

So I am so flustered at the moment with him!!

And get this, because I am still banging
my head on wall because of it-

Someone told him you need to replace
your belts yearly!

And someone told him that because
anti-freeze got on the belt it would
cause it to dry rot and need replaced!

I AM GOING TO SCREAM BECAUSE
I HAVE NEVER EVER HEARD SUCH
ASSININE CRAP IN MY LIFE!!!!!!!!!!

WHY DO PEOPLE LISTEN TO
EVERYTHING THEY ARE TOLD???

THAT IS WHAT IS SO WRONG WITH AMERICA.
PEOPLE BELIEVE WHAT THEY ARE TOLD
AND CANNOT THINK FOR THEMSELVES!!!!

Now, he hasn't had someone replace the belts
yet, so I am curious to see when he does
if it fixes the problem or if I AM RIGHT!!
I SUSPECT THE BELTS DO NOT NEED REPLACED!
So here is my statement ahead of time
to see who is right.
Because he trusts his friend's word
over mine.

And NO, Tony is not here to tell
me all the stuff above!
He is working overtime.
I tired of being made out to look
like a dumb ass most of the time by others
because I am female and should not
know about cars!

Yes, the extra dose of hormones are
kicking in at the moment.
You figure that out also, HA HA!

Ya know what, a hot bath sounds good
right about now!

__________________

9:10PM

Just got done with my finalized grocery list.
I will be using 59 coupons.
My after total should be around $29.58.
And if there are any problems with coupons
I signed my name on the back
of each and every one of them.
Should coupons not get scanned or something
I can have the service desk people yank
that cashiers bag and find each and every one
of my coupons with no problem!

Plus 5 bags of chicken I got
the other day which was $11.25
(mom bought 2 bags)
TOTAL FOR WEEK SO FAR: $40.83

9-19-2010

Got up around 8:30PM.
Tony went down to Speedway to get a coffee.
He came home and told me about the Speedway sign
that displayed the gas prices. All the prices said $6.66.
I'm guessing someone probably hacked their computer
to get that to come across.
Anyway I guess people were jokingly going into
Speedway saying, I see gas prices took up jump!!
I had Tony take me down the street to get
a picture of it!
Never seen anything like it before and will
probably never see it again.
Heck people are even figuring out how to change
those digital highway construction signs
now a days to say rude things to drivers.
..

10:30AM

Busy day today.

8:30-10:30am- I did up my shopping list for this week.
I don't have totals on it yet as I still have to
price things in the store on some items.
I still need to make a grocery list and round
up coupons for a Walgreen's trip.

10:30am- breakfast of egg sandwiches.

And here's what the rest of the day looks like:

Get out 2 crock pots.
Skin 3 family packs of chicken leg quarters.
Put in crock and let cook most of the day on low.

Then later on today after chicken has cooled
start packing it up in freezer bags and put in freezer.

Thinking about a chicken noodle soup for supper
using a box or two of Betty Crockers
Creamy Chicken Noodle Helper.
Maybe throw in a box of Green Giant carrots.

1 pound Chicken .11 cents
(remember I got 3 family packs for $1.29
which was about .11 cents a pound!)
2 betty crocker chicken helpers $1.00
box of green giant carrots .59 cents

don't know serving amount yet as I have yet to make it.
But anyway the total to make it is:
$1.70


Mop kitchen floor.
I may need to do this the old
fashioned way, on my hands and knees!

Carpet clean dining and living room.

Wash laundry, hang on line to dry, hang up and put away.
Set out clothes for everyone for the week.

Does anyone know where I can find some
CHEAP hangers? I'd even settle for
some metal ones at the moment!!

Pack up everyone's lunch for tomorrow.

Give dog a bath!

And on top of all the chores Tony
has the pager which could go off
at any given moment!

THIS is where I found my Meijer
coupon and sales matchups.

______________________

2:40PM

Got the kitchen swept and actually got down
on my hands and knees with a scrub brush
and scrubbed each tile!!
Should've had a before picture
but it was too disgusting with kids running
in and out all the time along with the dog
and of course the dog deciding to pee everywhere!
I did have a large round braided rug in there
that the dog peed a big spot on.
I just rolled it up and tossed it out the back door
for the moment.

Living room floor looked so disgusting
with dog pee spots everywhere from
the last couple of day!!!
I think it took me about 2 hours
to carpet clean our carpet
because I wanted it thoroughly cleaned.
Now that I got a before and after pictures of.
Just so you know the hard work I have put into
my house cleaning today!!
And yes the dog was put outside yesterday
morning and has been out there since!
She will not be allowed back in until I see
her desire to pee constantly has subsided.
Ain't no way she's coming back in here right
now after do some hard core cleaning
because of her!!!

I used Lysol Pourable cleaner in my
carpet cleaner if anyone is wondering.
My favorite to use is Mr. Clean.
But Lysol I can get for .50 cents a bottle
on sale with coupons!

I think at tax time we are seriously thinking about ripping
up the carpet in dining, living room, half hallway
and possibly taking out kitchen tile
and putting in vinyl flooring that looks
like hardwood floors.
I can't take all this work cleaning carpet
at the moment. Can you imagine all the dirt
and grim still left in the carpet, padding
and underneath it. That can't be healthy for you.
If we are lucky, there will be half way
decent hard wood floors underneath
the carpet. But it worries me if there is
all the dog spots that could have leaked through to it!
Vinyl floors like this:
..
BEFORE AND AFTER CARPET PICS

.......

2:55PM

Break time is over.
Now I need to head to kitchen and skin
some chicken for the crock pot.
Good thing about these newer crock pots
is they cook things in like 3-4 hours time
compared to the old ones that took 6-8 hours!

Still got laundry to take down off line and put away.
Lay clothes out for week.
Lunches to pack.
Supper to make.
And reorganize my shopping list.
I printed out even more coupons
I found for Meijer's sales!

4:00PM

Got all the chicken skinned and put into crock pots.

Out of 14.29 pounds of chicken
5 pounds of that was fat/skin.
Will figure out bone weight once
I de-bone all chicken when done.
I just want to know out of 14.29 pounds
how much of it is eatable that we are paying for!
..


I put all the chicken in 2 crocks
and added a couple glasses of water
to each one. Then I added in some bullion.
I ended up putting the crocks on high
considering the time of day.
Once chicken is done I can then strain off
the broth, allow it to cool, then put in fridge
over night. Tomorrow all the fat will have
hardened to the top of the bowl.
Remove fat and then you have chicken broth
to freeze for soups or whatever.
..
Don't put things in your fridge that are hot.
It makes the refrigerator work harder
to cool off things. Allow to come to room
temperature first.
The harder your fridge or freezer works
the more your electric bill goes up!

Whew, starting to wear out!
Time to go out and get the clothes of the line
and hang up any remaining clothes.
.Then might head to Kroger to get some pop.

This evening I still have to cut coupons
and go through my grocery list
and make adjustments to it.
Still have these to cut out!!
..
____________________________

Just got this in my email.
$2.00 coupon for Cream of Wheat Cinnabon!
Be patient while coupon is sent to
your printer!
It could take a minute or two before it
prints out.
Make sure to print 2 coupons!
You can also request a FREE sample!
Will have to price this at Meijers
or even check to see if they carry this flavor.

---------------------------------

My tip/hint for today-
Saving paper.

I save all the large scrap paper
when printing coupons.
I can either use it for scratch paper
or reuse it on more single coupons
to print out.
Even if there was something printed
on one side of the paper I will
turn it over and print on the
other side. Stores don't care
what's on the backside of your printable coupons.

..
5:30-7:40PM

Went to Kroger and got pop.
I remembered to take along
my free coupon for Kroger cereal.
..
When walking by the meat section
I always scan that area for any bright orange
tags, clearance tags.
I found 10 pound bags of chicken legs quarters
marked down to $2.25!!!!!!
THAT'S .22 CENTS A POUND!!!!!
I bought all 7 bags marked down!!!!
That's 70 pounds of chicken!!!!!
Now add that to the 14.29 pounds of chicken
I bought earlier this week and have in crock pots
at the moment along with another 10 pounds
Kendra gave me last week.
I HAVE 94.29 POUNDS OF CHICKEN!!!
TOTAL COST FOR ALL OF IT
$17.04!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And this week I plan to get
about 1o pounds of hamburger FREE!!!!
..

Oh yeah I want to add that I saw
in Kroger's sales ad they will
have cans of tuna for .38!!!

I don't plan to go to Meijers
until Tuesday this week.
Thank goodness because I am still
working on my grocery list.
After this trip to the store
I am stocked to the hilt!!
I could live off of what we have
for a good 4-6 months!!!!
So no more large grocery trips for awhile.
It better be free, .50 cents or less
or something we really need.

I never imagined getting stocked
up this fast. I just got back into
couponing since the kids started back
to school less than a month ago!

Got clothes off the line and hung up
anther load.
Got everyone's clothes laid out for the week,
socks, undies, shirts and shorts.
Makes life so much more easier in
the mornings when I do this.
..

I got a batch of Cheerio cereal bars made
so I can put them in the kids' lunches
this week.
..

Now time to start making up some
peanut butter and jelly sandwiches,
slicing up some carrot sticks,
put some ranch dressing in lil bowls
to dip carrots in,
put cereal bars in containers.
They will also have some yogurt
and Jonathan a container of mixed fruit
and Christopher some applesauce
along with fruit juice pouches.

Just turned off crock pots
so after I get the lunches done
I will start on getting the chicken
de-boned and ready for the freezer.
I didn't get my chicken noodle soup
made today but will do tomorrow.
Then I have the broth to strain
and put in fridge.

It's 8:00PM
and my work day is still not done yet
after I do all the above.
I still have one more kid to get in the shower
and Tony's hair to cut!!!

So whoever out there thinks that
a stay at home mom's/housewive's job is easy
can kiss my you know what!!
Do you know they say if a stay at home
mom or dad was to get paid for what he or she
does, they'd make at least $100,00+ a year!

__________________

FREE SAMPLE OF GOURMET COFFEE
I always put in a bogus phone number
when it asks for one!
Says it should take 1 week to get!

_________________

If you LIKE Miracle Whip
on Facebook you can get
$1.00 printable coupon.
Look for coupon tab at top of page
after you click like!

____________________

9:15PM

Ahhhh, boy does it feel good to
sit down with nothing else to do for today!

The only thing I didn't get done
was dog a bath, because she is still outside.
And Tony's hair cut.
I'll try to do it tomorrow.

Kids lunches are packed.
.


Got the chicken and bones separated.
I weighed the bones.
They were about 2 pounds.
Total meat out of 14.29 pounds
minus skin, fat (don't have total for fat because
it went into the broth) and bones
was about 9 pounds.
...
Got some homemade cinnamon
rolls out of the freezer for breakfast tomorrow.
Trying to conserve about a quarter gallon
of milk that we have by having cinnamon
rolls instead of cereal. I also needed the
space in my freezer for the chicken.
Won't get more milk (2 gallons)
til Tuesday's shopping trip.

Tony went to Speedway to get gas
for his buggy for work tomorrow.
They've had the $6.66 prices on the sign
all day long. This evening they finally
just shut the whole sign off
I think he said gas was $2.69
or less.

----------------------------

Well this evening has not wound too well.
9:30PM the pager went off.
Someone's apartment got broken into
which means Tony has to go repair a front
door or patio door to secure it.
This is not something new
as it's been happening quite
a bit in the past year.
Ya know it doesn't matter where you live,
there's always going to be a break in.
This is in the Upper Arlington area.

So much for heading to bed soon.
Tony thinks he'll be gone a couple hours
to take care of this.
I can't sleep until he's home.
That's just me.
So we're probably looking
at close to midnight.

_________________

10:30PM

Killing time til Tony gets home
so here's coupons or deals I found
for Meijer:

Print a $2/2 Nivea Lip Care coupon. They're on PRICE DROP at Meijer 9/13-10/10 for .99 making these absolutely FREE wyb 2!

..Best Life Buttery Spread $0.99 (Price drop thru 10/2)
-$1/1 Coupon HERE (from the 8/29 and 7/11 RP)
.=FREE..

.Philadelphia Cream Cheese $1.25
-$5/5 Coupon HERE
=$0.25 each.
=FREE..

FREE COUPON ALERT
.Free coupon alerts wants you to save more on your weekly grocery trips by giving you a alerts of when new coupons are available..

Don't know if this will work
but HERE is a coupon for $1.00 of Quaker Oats.
Remember they are $1.50 this week at Walgreens.

________________

11:40PM

Nigh nigh y'all.
Gotta get a good night's sleep.
I got ALLOT of coupons
to go through tomorrow!
This grocery list for Meijer will be a
fun one to figure out.
It's like a puzzle.
I got all the pieces and
now have to figure out how to
put it all together.

Oh, one more thing,
tonight in Kroger I found those
Butterfinger coupons
for $1.00 off 2.
Look near the candy in the Halloween isle.
If you go to my Krogers on Morse
then if you are facing the Halloween isle
it is located on the left hand side in front.
Look hard, as I almost missed it
heading to checkout!
I was nice enough to leave some for others, LOL!
Walgreens has them for .50 cents with their coupon
stack with this other coupon for a couple
FREE candy bars.
Or you could hold off and wait
til Kroger has them go on sale for .50 cents.

9-19-2010

9-18-10

Ya know what, screw the grocery list I had for today.
I deleted it all.
I have waaaayy to many things to do around
here than to worry about finding time
to run to the store!
Priorities come first no matter
how good the shopping trip may have sounded.
I will still have a really good grocery list
for next week and will deal with what
coupons I have at the moment.

________________________

The kids have been in and outside playing.
They were metal detecting and
when digging up up something metal
found this REALLY COOL
glass bottle in our back yard.
It actually has a date on it of:
Aug. 21, 1906.
Now the question is how did it
get there and why was it there?
Our house was built in 1958
and this used to be fields before that.
This bottle dates 52 years before the house
was even built!!
The bottle says:
Milk Of Magnesia
Rec'd in US patent office
Aug. 21 1906
The Chas. H. Phillips
Chemical Company
Glenbrook, GO NN.
Bottom K926 USA
.

Just taking some notes of a few more
sites to find printable coupons
and other sites to find deals,
coupon matchups and freebies.
These are websites I use
that are very helpful.

Hip2Save

A Full Cup

Bargain Briana

Cincinnati Cents

Stockpiling Moms

When you stockpile food you usually
have to make meal menus according
to what you have and not what you
run out and buy.
Here is a website where you type
in the ingredients you have on hand
and it will try to find a recipe for those items.

Super Cook

Remember Meijers will accept competitor coupons
like Kroger, Target or Walgreens and so on.

Here are a bunch of Target printable coupons.

_______________________

KELLOGG'S COUPONS

CHI CHI SALSA

SHORTCUTS PRINTABLE COUPONS


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9:55PM

I got my sales ads today, finally!
So I've been sitting here this evening going
through the Meijer sales ads and printing
off a bunch of coupons.

I got a good idea of what I want to
get now need to get it all written out.
On my written grocery list I take to the store
I will list each item, sales price, coupons on that
item and final price.
I even go as far as writing down the
regular price of each item before the sales price.
Should I have a problem in the end I know
exactly where it is!

It helps to know how much your
groceries are when going to the checkout.
If my bill is off by more than $1.00 or two
that's when I start checking my receipt for screw ups.
I have saved quite a bit of money
by catching many things that stores
have overcharged me for!

9-17-10

This morning me and mom looked for yard sales.
Only found 2 and I bought
1 thing, a plastic drawer tote for $2.00.
I got this for the dining room area to put
my coupon fliers, coupon binder and bills in.
..
After yard sales I took her over to Kmart.
Last night we were at Kmart getting
the kids shoes and I saw they had
racks and racks and racks of clothes
marked down to $3.99.
We didn't buy anything.
I also want to tell you that our Kmart
has a Little Caesers in it and normally
one topping large pepperoni pizzas are $5.00.
But Monday through Wednesday they
are running a deal where it is only $3.99.

Next we went to Meijer on Sawmill Rd.
Between me and mom we got 36 boxes
of Betty Crocker Helpers.
Between the both of us we went through
the checkouts 6 times!!
Plus the 18 boxes I got yesterday.
I still have 4 more coupons which
will mean another 2 more trips through
the checkout tomorrow for a total of
66 boxes!!
6 more than I originally thought
because mom had 2 extra coupons she gave me
on top of the 20 I had.

11 trips through checkout
x's $2.94 each time is $32.34.
Plus I will have gotten a total of
$33.00 worth of free meat coupons.
I used $9.00 of those so far this week
so will have $24 left over in free meat to apply to next week.

Here are the 6 coupons I got today.
Will get another 2 tomorrow.
.I also got these bonus box top coupons
to turn into the school.
I should have a total of 200 box top points with these
plus 66 more points of the boxes of Helpers
along with any others I have been saving.
Schools also take Campbell soup labels.
..

I had wanted to get some marshmallows
and make marshmallow cheerio bars
for the boys lunches.
I was too stingy to pay $1.24 for them at Meijer.
So when we left Meijer I had to go by Aldi
and stopped in there.
I bought 3 packs there .89 cents x's 3 is $2.67
I saved $1.05 by going to Aldi instead for them.
While in there me and mom noticed they
had canned pumpkin for .89 cents x's 2 is $1.98.

I don't know if anyone has noticed in the
past year or so you could NOT buy canned pumpkin
anywhere!!! Reason being is that there was
a pumpkin shortage.
Anyway I splurged and bought 2 cans
and mom bought 4.
And just in case I can't find them any more after today
I plan to store them in the pantry and use
during the holidays this year for some either
pumpkin bread or cake and pumpkin cheesecake.
I can't afford to buy several cans at once to make pies
with it so by adding it to breads and cream cheese is
a way I can stretch it out.

Oh I did get my chicken breast back from yesterday
after it went to Marengo and back.
It was stored in a fridge when Don visited there
and returned it back home when done.
LOL, the things I do to save a buck for a lunch.

And that's about it for the things going on today.

This weekend I have plans to clean house.
Hey Kendra did you talk to your friend about
seeing if they had those bars that I could use for hanging
clothes? I would really, really love to get
something hung up in the basement this weekend
so I can walk around here without tripping
over clothes in baskets.

I also want to get out both my crock pots
and cook all 3 packages (14 pounds) of chicken up
I got the other day.
My thinking is by doing that I will save on
freezer space and it will save me time
later on with cooking meals by having
meat cooked ahead of time.

I am patiently waiting for my sales
ads to arrive. You never know if they are coming
Friday, Saturday or Sunday.

I already got a sneak peak at Walgreens
ads for next week.
Just by briefly looking at the ad is
I see these deals:
FREE Butterfinger candy bars.
I found a bunch of Butterfinger coupons
in a convenience store last week for
$1.00 off 2. Walgreens will
have them for .50 cents each with
a Walgreens coupon!!

Walgreens will also have a $3.00 off Dr. Scholls
coupon in their flier. You can stack (that means to use with)
that coupon with THIS printable coupon worth $2.00
for a total of $5.00 off insoles!

And Walgreens will have a coupon
for Quaker Oats 2 for $3.00.
There is a $1.00 manufacture coupon
to make them only .50 cents each!!

You've got to see this! LOL
These are just my Catalina coupons
(minus 2 I plan to get tomorrow)
that I plan to use on next week's shopping trip.
This does NOT even include any
manufacture coupons I will have!!
See I told you I should have a really
good shopping trip next week!
Oh the cashier is so gonna love me!!
This is bad that I had to stand in
a chair to take a picture of them all!
These coupons ALONE
not including any free items coupons
or 20% off dog food coupons
total up to $41.00!!!!
There is a $5.00 one in there
covered up
and I included two more $3.00
I will get tomorrow.
..
Today also while in Meijer I found coupons
on Hellmans jars worth $1.10 off.
Snatched up a bunch hoping for them to go on sale.
Sometimes they could go on sale for around $2 to $2.50.

I know I sound so confusing about coupons
and saving money with them.
I even have mom lost with how I am doing
it at the moment. Once you have a system
it's not too hard, for me at least.
Lots of thinking, calculating and planning ahead!
And I am so happy to have gotten another printer.
Because that means I can now print the internet
coupons for even more savings!!

My step-dad asked me yesterday if I was really planning
on eating 66 boxes of Helper.
I said yes of course why else would I have
gotten so many with a great deal.
My hint for stockpiling is try to stockpile things
that won't go out of date if you plan on keeping them awhile.
Rice, dehydrated potatoes, and pasta
should keep for years!
What's to go bad in those boxes???

And the thing about it is,
if I ran into a situation and had to stop
shopping for many months, I have enough
food to last that long.
That's the whole idea to stockpiling.
Not only stocking up on the deals
but having an emergency cushion.
It about like having money in a savings
account to fall back upon.
With groceries it's the same way.
You never know what situation may arise
in the future and you ALWAYS want to plan ahead!


Oh goodie, while organizing coupons and stuff,
getting them put away in my new drawers I got
today, I found yet another Fruity Pebbles coupon.
So I can get 1 more box of cereal for .74 cents.
Cereals are stupid money.
Go for about $3 to $6 regular price.
I try to buy them for $1.25 or less each!

__________________

6:45PM

YES-YES-YES!!

I FINALLY got my points needed from
a survey site I do to be able to get
four $25 gift cards for Gamestop.
Hell Yeah! $100 free shopping trip
for Christmas stuff for the boys.
Tony got a free XBOX 360 from work
and I can use this card to get them some
games, memory cards and what not!!
WOO HOO!
I literally got up and did a happy
dance after completing the survey
just now that put me to enough points to get it!!

___________________

7:30PM

Supper:
Lasagna
Cheesy Garlic Bread
Salad
Cottage Cheese

With an upcoming abundance of meat
to put in the freezer I have decided
to use up some freezer leftovers
to make more space.
I know I had lasagna twice this week.
One was Oncore and the other homemade.
No one is complaining so it's all good!

Remember most leftovers were are already
tallied up expense wise for other meals
so when I use them they are freebies.

leftover Lasagna- FREE
leftover 1/2 loaf Sweet Italian Bread-FREE
1/2 package lettuce mix- .50 cents
1 package shredded cheddar cheese- $1.00
1 tomato from garden- FREE
1/2 cup homemade croutons- FREE
1/4 cup salad dressing- .10 cents
(salad for mom & dad)
1/2 container cottage cheese .50 cents
leftover pineapple ring from Jonathan's lunch- FREE
(cottage cheese for kids)
garlic powder, salt & pepper

TOTAL COST FOR MEAL: $2.10
Serves 4 @ .52 cents a serving

...
Those black trays I used for supper
were from single serve entrees.
I saved the plastic tray and use those
for smaller meals instead of getting out
the good dishes.
They are washable and are
able to be put in the dishwasher.
And to not get too many dishes dirty
I just reused the plastic bowls the lasagna
was froze in to put the kids some cottage cheese in.
_________________

8:40PM

Woo Hoo.
Did another survey for another
survey site.
Now up to $30.20!

_________________

After supper I spent time getting
my plastic drawer thing organized
and got my printer set up.
Got it all sitting next to my
chair at the table for convenience.
Now everything is all in one spot
and easier to find as I labeled all the
drawers.
..
I also worked on tidying the kitchen up some.
Got my Helpers taken down to the pantry
and put away.
And got the laundry rounded up and thrown
down to the basement.
Dishes will get done tomorrow as I usually
wait til I have a full load to run the dishwasher.
It's a start to the weekend!

9:05PM

Just did yet another survey.
They send you checks for $3.00
for their surveys.
Once this arrive I will
have 4 checks totaling $12
to put in the bank!

______________

9:15PM

Now working on more surveys
through a site called Zoom Panel.
With these surveys you accumulate
points then turn them in for prizes.
I am at 415 points.
They start at 1,000 points for prizes.
For the 1,000 point range prizes include
song downloads, cds, dvds, magazines & books.
If you ever get up into the 10,000 range
these are some prizes:
blackberry curve, dishware, tools, grills,
jewelry, cordless phones, razr, tents & backpacks.
They do have other prize ranges in between.

________________________

Banging head on wall at moment!
AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
Kids just yelled to me to say there
was a nice wet spot on the carpet!
This damn dog has started once again
using our freaking carpet as a bathroom.
I let her out earlier for awhile.
Then let her back in and only allowed
her a half bowl of water.
Then was going to let her back out
again before bed and no more water
for the night.
She actually got up from where she
was at in the kitchen, left a piss trail from
kitchen across
the living room and went over and
peed a big ole spot in front of the chair!
This is like the 3rd time in the past
couple of days.
Now on top of everything else
I need to do I have to once again clean carpets.
I'm am pissed, no punt intended!!!!!!!!!!!!!

_______________________

Here's a thrifty hint/tip to end the day with.

Many retailers sell expensive vacuum beads that you add to your vacuum
bags to leave a fresh smelling aroma all over your house.

I have seen these beads sold for a pretty penny (like around $15 at
many places) and love the idea of having fragrance in your vacuum
bags. so, instead, just soak a cotton ball (or a few) with vanilla
extract (nearly everyone has this in their kitchen pantry already) for
a very lovely subtle fragrance each time you vacuum. This thrifty tip
will cost you a fraction of a penny and infinitely cheaper than the
beads.


__________________

11:30PM

Sitting here tinkering with coupons
and trying out my printer.

I found another Meijer catalina
coupon good for $1.00 off Shaving Needs of $5.00 or more.
I also found a coupon for buy 1 get 1 free
Edge Shave Gel up to $2.75
So if they cost $2.75 x's 2 is $5.50
which qualifies for catalina coupon.
buy 1 get 1 would be $2.75
minus $1.00 coupon
makes it $1.75 for them both
or .87 cents each!

I know I'm having way too much fun
with my printer tonight printing coupons!

I was reading on a coupon web site
that if you buy 3 Green Giant frozen veggies
at Meijers
you get a $2.00 coupon on your next
shopping trip.

WELL!

Me and Tony will each go through
the checkout tomorrow with one
of THESE coupons in our hand
for Green Giant.
Green Giant .99 cents each
x's 3 is $2.97
minus $1.20 coupon makes it $1.77 for 3
or .59 cents each.
$2.00 catalina coupon would be like
getting all 3 for FREE plus .23 cents!!

I will go through with one of these
coupons first to see if it actually works.

I found a list on Meijer's web site of where it
tells you what you can buy and what
catalina coupons you can get.
go here:
MEIJER MEALBOX
in the blue box on the right
click on SPECIALS then CUSTOM COUPONS
to see the list!

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BAR S Hot Dog/bologna coupons

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CAMPBELL SOUP COUPONS

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SMARTSOURCE COUPONS

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Buy $15 or more of Kraft cheese
and get $5.00 off your next shopping trip.
Print 2 of these coupons worth
$5.00 each for a total of $10 off!

I just saw on Mejer's web site they
are having a 2 day sale!

So here's the scenario
to use those 2 $5.00 coupons above.
Buy 10 packages Kraft cheese slices
on sale for $1.67 each.
x's 10 is $16.70
(qualifies for the $5.00 catalina coupon!)
minus 2 $5.00 off coupons, $10 total
makes it $6.70 for 10 pkgs or .67 cents each
plus $5.00 catalina on your next shopping trip!

I'm gonna try to hook up my printer to another
computer and get another 2 of those $5.00 off coupons.

Then I printed off an additional 2 more Helper
coupons.

So let me rack the ole brain a minute
to count up how much all these catalinas
would be worth that I could use next
week if I bought everything on here also.
(jeopardy song playing)

Ok time's up!

The total off my grocery bill next week
would be...
drum roll please....
$59.00!!!

Why do I suddenly envision
the Meijer manager coming to
my checkout lane???!!!
Feeling sudden eye twitch!

Oh my gosh,
If I get a cashier like I had today I would cry.
I bought ONLY 6 hamburger helpers
and handed her 2 hamburger helper coupons
and do you know she had to recheck everything
in my bag to make sure I bought them! DUH!!!
AHHHHHHHHH!!!

Yeah my grocery budget will run over to $51-$53
for this week but will SOOOO make up
for it next week with $59 in free groceries!!
So you see why it is worth going over budget.

1:10AM

Yeah that's right I am up early, late,
however you want to put it.
got..to..get..away..from..coupons!

I was trying to get coupons printed
from different computers
and it was trying to fight me,
but I won that battle and now
have 4 of those $5.00 coupons above.
Yeah me!
I'm gonna go collapse and pass out now!
So very tired!

How bad have you got it
when it comes to couponing and saving money?
This is my work area at the moment!

At least I will sleep better knowing
4 of those $5.00 coupons
will be setting on the table tomorrow
morning ready to go!

..

9-16-10

7:00-7:30AM

Got 3 lunches packed up, breakfast made
and Tony off to work, back home again because
he forgot the pager, then off to work again, lol.

What to do?
Ever have one of those mornings?
That's this morning!
It's been trying to rain outside,
I can only find one umbrella,
the truck's on empty to drive to bus stop
and Christopher's shoe has a blow
out on the bottom. Hasn't even had these
new shoes a month!!
I don't even
think I could repair it with hot glue.
He refuses to wear his sandals to school
which is the only other pair of shoes
at the moment.
AHHHHH!

I think this morning me and mom will
head to Meijer then I will see if she
will take me to Wally World to
try and find another pair of shoes
for Christopher.
Then maybe to Big Lots
to see if they still have their pool covers
on sale for about $2.50.

Well I am off here. It's 8:00AM.
Got Christopher to wear sandals today,
WHEW!

8:10AM

Gets to grandma's house, which is right
by the bus stop. We go in grandmas
and Jonathan is tinkering with his book bag
making sure he has his homework
and stuff.
He did have his homework
and was putting it into some kind
of folder. He was holding it up
when I realized there was a backside
to the homework that didn't
get done. We didn't know last
night it continued on the back.
So minutes before the bus shows
up he's rushing to get the rest
of his homework done!

---------------------------------

12:00pm

Went to Meijer.
I got 6 boxes of Helper &
a box of Marshmallow Pebbles Cereal,
went through
checkout and out to car.
Got my $3.00 Catalina coupon.
Paid $3.73

Mom got a few groceries
and another 6 boxes of Helper.
I had her go in front of me at the checkout.
She passed back the $3.00 coupon she got.
Total for Helpers $2.94

I was up next checking out again.
I put up 6 boxes of Helper
then a divider bar
then 3 family packs of chicken.
The cashier rang up my Helpers
and I got my third $3.00 coupon
for meat.
Paid $2.94

Then she rang up my 3 packages of
chicken (14.29 pounds worth)
I handed the cashier three of the
$3.00 catalinas and another
$1.00 off $10 of meat catalina.
It all came to $11.29
then minus my 4 coupons
made 3 family packs of chicken $1.29!!
If you average that out it is only .09 cents a pound!!

TOTAL VALUE OF EVERYTHING I GOT
TODAY:
18 Helpers $2.00 x's 18 is $36.00
Post cereal: $2.29
3 family packs of chicken quarters $11.29
TOTAL: $49.58

I PAID: 18 Helpers $8.82
Post Cereal .74 cents
3 family packs of chicken quarters $1.29
TOTAL: $10.85

I SAVED: $38.73

And here is one receipt to show
you I did get the chicken for ONLY $1.29!!
.Here's everything I got for $10.85

..This shows the size of chicken
packages in my fridge.
Almost the width of my fridge shelf.
....And I ain't done shopping for the week!
Still have 42 more boxes of Helper to get!
Along with those purchases I should get
$21.00 towards FREE meat
that I will use next week.

My total so far for groceries this week:
$17.04
plus I plan to spend $20.58
in another 42 Helpers
and another $2.00 for a gallon of milk
A total of $39.62
$5.38 UNDER my budget of $45 a week!

______________________

1:00PM

Almost nap time and I so deserve it today!
Want to know about other mishaps that happened this morning?
And why my legs are hurting like crazy?
Well let's see...
During one of my checkouts with Helpers
I realized I picked up 8 instead of 6
so had to give the extra 2 to the cashier
and tell her I didn't want them.
Another checkout incident I realized
I picked up a package of chicken thighs
instead of quarters, which are .10 cents
cheaper per pound. Made a run from
the checkout to the back of the store
to get the correct package and back
to the checkout again.

Went to Walmart this morning to
see about getting Christopher
another pair of shoes.
Their boys tennis shoe selection sucked,
worse than sucked as they really didn't have
any at all. I thought it would be a wasted
trip but decided to head over to the computer
area to check out printers.
I found a printer for $29!
I can't wait for the staple rewards thing
to happen to be able to get free printer ink
because I need coupons NOW to save money with!
Anyway printer ink would have cost
$35 for color and black
while the whole darn printer WITH ink
cost $29!!

Ok carrying on...
Stopped in Big Lots to see if they
had pool covers.
Remember mom bought
a $100 pool for the kids for Christmas
for $25.
Well Big Lots has the pool covers
marked down 75% off.
We get to the checkout and I thought
the price of the cover was $10
before mark down.
It rang up as $18 before mark down.
So I go sprinting once again to
the back of the store to double
check the price.
By now my legs are on fire
from all the running I have done today!!
The $10 price was for a smaller cover.
So it was $18 marked down to $4.50.
These covers are like a rubberized
material and will help to keep
bugs, leaves and whatever out of the pool.

Ok from Big Lots we pick up my step-dad
to go out to lunch at Popeyes.
I see the Popeyes sign out front
and pull in and we all get out
and go inside.
That's when we realized we
were in Tim Hortons!
LMAO!
So back into the car and go
next door to Popeyes for lunch.
I ate only one piece of chicken
and saved a chicken breast
to put in one of Tony's lunches
for another day.

From Popeyes I want to stop
in the thrift store right behind there.
I say I will only be a minute to run inside.
I've been going to this thrift store 20+ years
and I walk in today and they COMPLETELY
rearranged the store. I was walking blind
through that store trying to find the shoes.
I didn't find a pair of shoes for Christopher.

Back out to the car. Mom suggests
I go to the other thrift store across the street.
The place is packed.
I find a pair of 6.5 sized shoes
then drop my wallet and of course
had change and dollar bills going all
over the floor. Scooped all that up
as quickly as possible.
It was embarrassing!

From there we head to my house
to unload groceries.
Mom & step-dad went home.

I get the groceries put away
and then take out those shoes
I got for Christopher.
His shoe now says size 6
and this pair I got today says 6.5.
I compared them side by side,
sole to sole and see that these
shoes look much smaller
than the ones he has!
I know they are not going to fit
him even though they say a half size bigger!
GRRRRR.

Tony calls and I tell him of the
great deals I got today.
Then was telling him about
that chicken breast I saved for him.
That's when I realized I forgot to get
the chicken out of Don's car.

So I quickly called mom to tell her
to get my chicken out of the car.
Too late!
Don had left to go visit his dad
in Marengo, Ohio.
Won't be back for another 4-5 hours.
So much for saving that chicken!!
It's now tagging along with Don
to Marengo!

Then I find out yesterday my Uncle
was out walking their little dog
when a Pitbull tried to attack them!
Then today I learned that my brother's
doberman was attacked by their
neighbor's Mastiff and tore
a chunk out of his side
and had to had staples put in.

And that is how my day has gone so
far and it's only half over with!!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

______________________

4:00PM

Got boys off the bus.
Everything seems to be going smoothly, lol.

I got to thinking about wanting
to hang all my extra clothes
on bars in the basement.
Now I REALLY will need a dehumidifier!
So if anyone sees a good deal on
one out there anywhere like a yard sale
or something let me know!
A good deal to me is like $5-$15
An ok deal is $16 to $20.

Tonight's supper:

6 Breaded Pork Chops- $2.12
Bread Crumbs-Free
Honey Glazed Carrots .60 cents
Seasoned Hash Browns- .50 cents
3 slices cheese for tops of potatoes- .15 cents
TOTAL: $3.37

Serves 6 @ .56 cents a serving
Will make up Tony 2 lunches,
one for tomorrow and one to put back in freezer
for another day.
..
____________________________

Oh yeah the day hasn't gotten any better!
..

5:30PM

The storm has passed and it
has beautiful sunny and partly cloudy blue skies!
It hardly hit here!
Once a storm passes and gets sunny
out I always tell the kids to watch
the backside of the storm clouds
for a rainbow.
Sure enough there was one
that we saw just seconds after the
sun came back out but
only lasted just seconds though.
By the time I told mom it was gone.
.

_________________________________________



I DON'T FEEL LIKE TALKING AT THE MOMENT!