Save Time and Get Organized in your Household!

Here's a "Saving Sanity" tip from me; this is how we organize and prioritize our time and around here....

Our good friends Matt and Teri told us about this concept of organization some companies use for their project management..... and they adapted it to household management...brilliant!!

The concept is that if you know what needs to be done, write it down, prioritize it, and break it down by time and resource; then you can get a lot accomplished! And here's the best part; this isn't just for mom's, it's for the whole family. It can help by helping you know what needs to be done.

My hubby and kids want to help; but most of the time they really don't "see" what needs to be done around the house to really know HOW to help....without me nagging anyway. So this is a great way for them to see what needs to be accomplished.

It's a tool to help us ALL know what to do; then we do it; then we feel a great sense of accomplishment by visually seeing what we've done! Lists help, but visually this board is amazing! You manage your time with the cards, colors represent blocks of time.

Here's the setup:
You'll need a large cork board, lots of push pins, different colors of 3x5 note cards, and a place to display so everyone who an read can see it:

You have a "Planned", "In Process" and "Completed" category list.
I have 6 colors of note cards representing how long a task should take: I have: 5, 15, 30 minutes, 1-2 hours, 4 hours, 8 hours.
I write the task on a card, and who should/could complete it;



Example:



Blue Card = 1-2 hours - "Clean Room - Nathan"

Pink Card = 5 minutes "Change load of Laundry" - ALL

Yellow Card = 15 minutes "Empty/fill Dishwasher" - Nathan/Cameron

Green Card = 30 minutes "Make a treat for Church" - Kelley
or "Make Dinner" -Kelley/Kevin

Blue Card = 1-2 hours "Cameron's Well Child Check" - Mom/Kevin/Cameron

Purple Card = 4 hours - "Stain Bedroom Walls" - Kevin/Kelley

White Card = 8 hours - 3 separate cards would represent "Work/School" -Kelley/Kevin/Nathan




Here's our workstation; blank 3X5's, sharpies, a box to store repeatable tasks, upcoming tasks, and other priorities in.
I'm not getting too detailed here because my board is different from my friends'.
That's the nice thing though; every family is different so if you think this will work for you; you'll want to make this your own, make it fit your family!

You move the cards through the work flow as you work on them and complete them...




Feels great when the completed category is crowded!

You can take it a step further; gather at the board at the beginning of the day or week; refer to the board often; and/or meet at the end of the day/week to gather up all the "completed" categories and see how much time you've spent being productive.

When the cards equal your waking hours well; then you manage how much time you actually waste doing "Nothing."
Don't get me wrong, a little of that is good for you, I certianly have some "nothing" time every day. but if you ever wonder why you feel like you can't get anything accomplished, feel disorganized, wonder where the time goes.?...this tool will help!

Other Ideas:
You could make it an incentive board for the family or just for the kids; who can accomplish the most? (We all know probably mom/dad does; but the kids can get into this too and get a prize for closest second :)
The kids really like moving cards along the work flow too! And kids LOVE to help; this lets them know how, and helps them feel important.

Again, use it the way you'd like! My friends have the board represent their week; we do it by day; they calculate up their work hours and keep productive; we use it for daily organization and communication.

If you use this idea; tell me how you've adapted it to fit your needs!

Bulk Cooking

I'm doing some "bulk cooking" with the items I've stocked up on to help save money AND time, which all saves SANITY; come on over to my cooking blog and check it out!

Albertson's

Here's the latest Haul.
I must stay that it was kinda expensive! But as you see I got some high value stuff,

Purex refills regularly $9.99
On sale for $4.49
$1.00 off coupon
$3.49 Each
I got 4 - so that's 100 loads of laundry for $14

Cereal was $1.88 on sale
I got 5 for $1.33 each with .50 off coupons

Hefty Garbage Bags regularly $7.99
On sale for $5.99
$1.00 coupon
Got 2 for $4.99 Each

But the Candy!!
So these big bags regularly $8.99
On sale for $4
$2.00 coupon
$2.00 Each!

The Twizzlers were $4
on sale $2 each






So I spent $84.42 before tax
I had some essentials that I had to get and I did put them on this ticket, apples, reynolds wrap, make up pencil, (gasp!) I know!
Apparently you're not a true couponer if you don't separate the real life stuff from the couponed stuff in your transactions. Ah well. Sue me, but hey, here's the real deal!
I Saved $94.92
Total savings percentage: 53%



And where is all that candy now? I'm not tellin' I also didn't post that I got Hershey's and Dove chocolate for $1 a bag at Target. :) Oh yeah, I stocked up.

The SAT Trip

That would be the Smth's, Albertson's, and Target trips today....

There are some killer promo's out there you can find on KCL. for all three of these stores this week through October 20th. I was looking to keep it simple and just get the stuff we needed using the high value coupons I had....

Smith's

They had an Unadvertised deal on Pillsbury refrigerated items AND Ziploc Bags.
Buy 3 get $2 OYNO
I had $1.00 off coupons for 12 separate Pillsbury items, can we say: Cookie Dough!! and pie crusts, crescent rolls, etc.
So those were $1.85 to $3.49 each original price
with coupons it brought these to $.85 to $2.49 each, then
With $2.00 off 3 promo they came to:
.19 to $1.83 each!

Ah Yeah! Sweet!


Ziplocs bags all gallon/freezer varieties: - $.4.99 each
Minus $1.00 coupons and $2.00 off 3,
That's $1.66 off each one
or $3.33 each.
I know they've been cheaper in the past, but I needed them! I got 6.
I saved $10.02 on these

Other deals w/o coupons:
Apples were .69 a pound
Kroger Cheese was .99 an 8oz bag
Coke was $1 a 2 liter

So I stocked up on those!
I Spent $54.09 and Saved 52.10
That's a 49% Savings
I haven't lost my touch!

Albertson's

Not much going on here this week which is too bad

I went for a couple of items we've been low on

Detergent, dryer sheets, broth, paper towels,

Pasta, margarine, chocolate and soft pretzels,

Hey! I'm the boss!

I spent $37.28 and Saved $16.98

I had coupons for all items and saved 32%

Not great savings %, but they were essentials

Target

I went CRAZY on the Halloween candy folks!

I got all sorts of naughty stuff for $2 a bag or less, most cases $1.25 a bag!

Target has a BIG sale on candy right now....and

I had $1 off coupons for .....

Hershey's Kisses

Nestle Bags

Wonka Bags

Dove!!!

They were $3.00 to $2.50 and $2.25 each originally

$1 off makes them $2.00 (for DOVE!) $1.50, and $1.25 for the rest. Yeah, I stocked up big time, we have enough for Three Halloween's

or one "Nathan's Fantasy Day" according to my 14 year old

Got Skippy PB for $1.04 a jar x 8 jars with $1.00 off coupon

Bumble Bee Tuna pouches for $.27 with $1.00 off coupon

Chef Michael's dog food for $1.58 a four lb bag with $3.00 off coupon

YoPlus/Gogurts/La Creme yogurt all $1.34 each with $1.00 off coupons

This was cool....

Nature Valley Nut Clusters had a buy 3 - get one free special
$2.50 each for the bars or Clusters

I had 4 $1.60 off coupons

B3G1 takes off $2.50

So for $1.10 I got 4 bags of Nut Clusters or $.27 each!
They're really good if you haven't tried them yet!
At Target I spent $77.90 and saved $68.00
That's a 46% savings!!

Ah Yea Peeps!

I'm Baaaaaaaack!

Budget Challenge Accomplished!!

I did it!!

A couple of posts ago I challenged myself to go a month without grocery shopping, and I made it!.

With all of my accumulated food storage from this couponing experience we had PLENTY of supplies in my cupboards, we used Rosehill Dairy for milk, bread, and eggs; and we didn't miss much but the fresh fruit, which was provided by my mom once in while, and CJ (bless you!) when he was here.

Did I save money?? Nah, not really. I had 3 car repairs (didn't I SAY that would happen?!?!?!?) which the money went to instead, and them some....but good thing I hadn't bought groceries so really I saved myself from utter destruction, which would happen without a car. :)

So, yes, it can be done, yes, I can resist the shopping bug, IGNORE the great deals and coupons I'm missing out on, and focus on something else for a month! Whoo Hoo. Now back to shopping!! (Rolling my eyes at myself, only slightly)

The first of the month is when you'll want to print coupons before they're all gone!

Some of the same great coupons that available on SmartSource and Coupons.com

These coupons are also available on the following sites:

Pillsbury site here

Betty Crocker site here.

Box Tops For Education site here

Eat Better America site here

*Note You can print 2 coupons for each product listed.

Credit for Recycling

Target is sending us even more savings with a new reusable shopping bag credit! Receive savings of $0.05 for each bag you use! Bags must be reusable bags (not plastic) but do not need to be Target brand. Wish I could’ve done this the other week when I bough 40 boxes of cereal for $0.38 each! I could’ve saved a bunch more with all the bags I would’ve filled! Thanks MorethanCents!

Budget Challenge!

I've been prepping my pantry and food storage for emergencies, and "emergency" need #1 will be October. Budgets are tight this month.

I am challenging myself to keep a budget of $15 per week for groceries!

Follow me as I see how much $15 can buy when you are a coupon nut!

Some bloggers have done this in the past, and some SAHMom's do this all the time to be able to stay at home with their kids....For me? My reason is my sweet Hubbie is still without a job and at least for this month we have some extra unplanned/planned expenses....

(man I pray our car doesn't break down.)

I'd personally like to see how I do with this goal;

I'm a little nervous to tell you the truth.

So stay tuned. I'm used to spending about $400-$600 a month now,

which is $500-$700 less per month than I used to spend on groceries

(Before couponing and my tale of desperation)

these numbers include dining out and entertainment,

I wrap them all together because they always coincide anyway -

Out with friends? ...Food. Movie? ...Usually

"a dinner and a". The Fair? ....Food!

Everything revolves around food.

At least most of my entertainment does. :)

If you'd like to do this challenge with me or if you do this already I'd love some tips.

I'll be baking with inexpensive items, staying in and not eating out;

entertainment will be home based or free!

I'll also be selling some items from home to help us with bills this month...

I may have to use my food budget for gas KWIM if anything unexpected comes up

....anyone need scrapbook supplies and XBOX stuff?

Like I said before;

I'm an impulse buyer, and that goes for going out to eat too;

I do this about 3-4 times a week or more when I just need to GET OUT!

But I will have to suppress that impulse

and find a more productive outlet for my cabin fever.

If you need to save for Christmas,

or want to jump start your general savings,

or just would like to see if you can do it,

I'll be here with ya!

(This $15 will not include Roshill Dairy for us, I spend about $100 a month on them but will cut that back to $75 if I can; it goes in my regularly scheduled bills)

WISH ME LUCK!

Um...anyone have a coupon for Baking Powder and/or Vanilla?

Dining out deals - Red Robin!

We LOVE Red Robin
Kids eat free on Tuesdays!
This is a deal I sent in to my favorite couponing blog, KCL
and now I'm published. :) KCL! -
"Kelley says,
"I love this deal and do this EVERY time I go to Red Robin....

It's their Dinner and a Movie Deal - Just ask the server,
there's no advertisements for this on their site or in the restaurant.

For $31.99 (with tax)You get:

$20 Red Robin Gift Card

2 Adult Movie Tickets to Cinemark - $16.50 value -
It's not for opening week premiers Night-
but a week after opening night worked fine.

1 free cheese sticks appetizer - $6.99 value

That's a total of $43.50 worth of Items for $32!

Also:Our Hometown Values mailer has a $5 off $20 at Red Robin coupon or something similar every month,
I used that for the bill, along with the gift card that same day.
So Technically I got our entire date night
(Red Robin appetizer, drinks, two meals, and and two movie tickets)
for $31.99! You can use the gift card anytime,
as a gift, or for your visit that day;
you must purchase this deal separately (before you order food)
Other than that there's no restrictions!"

When you sign up for their birthday club, you should get a "$3 off your next bill"
coupon at your email and a free burger on your birthday. Which I just redeemed yesterday!
And of course, againI got the "Dinner and a Movie Deal"

Here's what it looks like:

We saw Harry Potter last night with the movie tickets, it was fun!

Target Redemption!

Target Deals! I tried Target again and boy am I sold!

Here's the Dealio Breakdowns:
General Mills Cocoa Puffs $1.99
(price match Walgreens ad)$1/1 Cocoa Puffs printable)

OR use your .75 off 1 mfgr coupons....

$1/1 General Mills Target printable, exp. 9/13/09

FREE to .25 after coupons!(Thanks, Common Sense With Money!)

Note that Target does their price matching at the customer service after your purchase.

You can get other varieties of General Mills cereal very cheap with the price matching using the same Target coupon and any of the General Mills printables here , here, or here.

Fiber One Cereal, $2.50

Get a $5 Target GC wyb 5

Use (5) $0.75/1 Fiber One Cereal printable

Use (5) $1/1 General Mills Target printable, exp. 9/13/09

Better than FREE after coupons and gift card!

Chef Michael's Dry Dog Food - $4.49/ea

Use $3/1 in 8/23 Red Plum insert

PLUS Use $1.50/1 Target coupon here

Final Price = FREE or overage

Chef Michael's rang up at 2.49 originally!

Nabisco select varieties, buy 5, get a $5 gift card.

I got 10

Used 10 Mfgr $1.00 to .75 off two boxes coupons

Got them for $1.50 to $1.75 each

And TWO $5 gift cards!

Check out the other deals HERE

at Stretching a Buck for next week

Here's the Loot!

And the Breakdown:

10 Nabisco items = $29.99 - minus Mfgr coupons (had 1 BOGO for Ritz)= $11.00 + $10 GC's
3 Wonka items = $4.77 = minus Target coupons = $1.77
2 Chef Michael's = $9.99 = minus Target and Mfgr coupons = better than free!
($4.00 overage because of $2.49 ring up)
5 Trix = $19.99 = minus Target and Mfgr coupons = free!
5 Fiber One = $21.25 each = $1.25 + $5 GC

$14.02
Original price =
All of this came to -$.98 with my Gift Cards!

They paid me $.98 to take this stuff home!!!
(AND I still have 2 $5.00 gift cards - above - from a previous trip)

Albertson's Deal!

Albertsons has a great deal on Campbell's Tomato or Chicken Noodle Soup.

If you buy $15 worth of Campbell's or Pepperidge Farm products from 9/11/09 - 9/26/09, you will earn a $5 Catalina, good for your next order.

I bought 30 cans of soup for $15 and got $5 back, making them 3/$1.

But! Here's the math with the coupons that came out from yesterday, doublers and the Catalina:

Campbell's Chicken Noodle or Tomato Soup $.50 each

Buy 30 Cans, Earn a $5 Catalina

Use (7) Campbell's Condensed Soups $.40/4 coupons from 9/13 insert

Use 3 Albertson's Doublers

Final Price OOP: $11.00

Final Price When factoring $5 Catalina:

$6.00 for 30 cans or $.20 each !

Too much fun!

Had a couple of killer trips these last few days at Walgreens, Albertson's and Target, then Red Robin! I usually don't go to so many stores but I had errands to run and needed things from each store, so I decided to see what I could get as far as deals go as well.....

Here's the Walgreens finds:
I found a TON of candy marked down, bags for 1.19, King Size Hershey for .25, Wrigley’s gum and Rice Krispie treats marked way down. (Which I had coupons for, and Twizzlers too!) I got two bags grocery bags full of candy for fun, some dark chocolate bars for baking; and some lunch snack items for 75% off to free when I added coupons to them:

Big bags of Twizzlers marked down to .70 each

Got 3 bags

Coupon for $1 off 3

They were .37 each

King size Hershey Bars 8 @ .25 each, 2 King Size Symphony Bars @ .50 each

Had 3 "$1.00 off 2" King Size Hershey Bar coupons

Bought $3.00 worth of bars

With coupons got all 10 bars for free!

Wrigley's Gum buy one get one free coupon

Plus got a $1 RR for these

Trident:

2 $1.00 off 2 coupons

.77 per pack store sale

Bought 2 and made .66!

Carefree Ultra Protection Pantyliner $1.99, Earn a $1.99 RR when you buy on

Use $1/1 printable coupon or from 8/30 SS insert

FREE plus $0.99 in overage after coupon and register reward - Monthlong deal!

Ice Cream pints

By $10 get $2.00 off your next order

Bought 4 $3 pints of the sinful stuff which brought me to $12.00 total

Had 4 $2.00-$1.50 off coupons

Took it down tht total down to $4.50

got these for $1.00 to $1.50 each

Plus $2.00 to spend OYNO
That's like getting two for free!

I also got 4 boxes of Cheerios (big boxes!)
$1.99 each store sale, $8 total
4 Coupons for $1.00 - $1.5o off one

$3.50 total
.49-.99 each!

I spent $40.55 (had to get some items not on sale and no coupons Ak! )

I got $5 RR (register rewards) to spend on my next order and saved $79.12!

That's a 66% savings with $6 to spend next time....

If I took out all the stuff I needed with NO coupons and just add up the savings for the sale/couponed items I spent $18.20 and saved $79.12. That's a 82% savings!!

Case Lot SALE!!

I had a great time at Smith's with this sale and recruited Hubby's help with the dual shopping carts for this baby. And now I'm good and stocked up on some items I was worried about. Can you believe I worry about not having enough of something like canned chicken? Seriously who is this person I've become???
Ah, well! Necessity is the mother of invention I suppose.

This is truly food storage at it's best, the Case lot sale at Smith's was EXCELLENT.
Here's the booty.....

4 Cases of 24 12oz bottles of water $10.00
Saved $5.96

Kroger Apple Juice
Case of 8 - 1/2 gallon bottles
$9.99
Saved $4.09

Chunk Chicken
Case of 12
$21.48
Saved $16.48

Case of Honey
12 jars for $27.00
Saved $7.26

Case of Vegetable Oil
9 bottles
$15.90
Saved $5.88

Tillamook Cheese
10lbs for $16.99
Saved $6.00
2/ $1/1 coupons
$14.99
Saved $8 total

Cup of Noodles
2 Cases of 12 each - $6.00
Saved $2.16

The BEST Deals:
40 lbs of butcher block skinless boneless chicken breasts
$1.33/lb or $53.60 total
Saved about $60.00 or more

We divided these humongous chicken breasts into Gallon Ziploc bags

of 5 or 6 breasts per bag.....

when they come this big I'll make 2 meals for the 5 of us

out of each bag, one to eat, one to freeze, or for leftovers etc....

I got 12 bags total (below) out of the 40 lbs.

That's 24 meals for $2.23 each!!!

This really changed my perspective.

Think about it....

See what $2-3 can buy at a grocery store vs dining out???

$2 doesn't even buy one kids meal or one decent burger any more,

but I can feed 5 of us from the grocery store!

This has put the whole couponing thing in perspective

yet again for me.

What am I accomplishing every day

Not just saving money on a few items,

but shifting my whole thought process

on spending money wisely and in ways

that make sence for us now and for ages to come.

I learned a lot from chicken today. Thank you chicken.

Another FAB Deal:

Bumble Bee Light Tuna in Water
Case of 36
$24.00 - That's $.66 per can - Tuna's awesome, one can = one casserole with noodles and cream of chicken soup? Another super cheap yummy meal for less than $3
Saved $33.12 on this case.

$182.96 was the total for everything, I'm stocked up and happy and relaxed!
Whoo hoo!!

I Saved $142.95 on this sale; That’s 43%!!!

Laugh and the World laughs with you...

....nothing in your house has UPC's
....you grab a snack out of the pantry your wife proudly tells you how much it cost. "That granola bar was only 4 cents, honey!"
....you can't remember a single birthday, but you know how much you paid for every item in your pantry.
....you have food stashed under your bed, in your closet, or taking over a room in your house.
....your wife flies out of bed at 4am- jumps into her clothes- throws makeup on & styles her hair- just to run to the store for FREE cereal, but she can't seem to wake up every Sunday @ 9 a.m. to get ready for church on time!
.... your kids come home from the neighbors (another PYP'er) and ask why they have all the same toys and snacks that you do!
....your coupons weigh more than your purse.
....your kids introduce you to their friends using your screen name instead of your real name!
....you ask your daughter what she wants for her birthday and she replies, "I dunno. What ya' got coupons for!"
....you gasp at the shopper in line behind you and exclaim, "You should NEVER pay for gum, EVER!"
....you come home from a shopping trip and lay out your groceries on the table with the reciept and your before/after totals circled, take pictures of it, and post it on your blog
....when nobody has to ask who put 27 full-size tubes of name-brand toothpaste in the church donation bin for the needy.
….it's 6:08 AM and you're on your 2nd transaction at Albertsons.
….you reschedule your wedding because that’s the day the Target markdown is 90%.
….'Penny for your Thoughts' is your only source of information.
....you think the zebra at the zoo looks like a bar code.
.…your husband has ever had to ask you to move the cases of toilet paper so he could take a shower.
….you own more tubes of toothpaste than pairs of underwear.
….the local Disaster Preparedness Class instructor asks permission to hold a field trip in your basement.
.…your idea of a "quiet, romantic evening at home" involves scissors and inserts.
….your kids take a 6 ft register receipt to "Show and Tell."
….Betty Crocker makes your list of most admired people.
....you get an adrenaline rush from reading next week’s printable shopping lists.
….you did all your Christmas shopping online…. in February.
….you’ve ever woken up from a nightmare screaming “I lost my Binder!“
....you know what "Guru math" is
....you feel naked without your binder
....men send their wives up to you in the store asking "how did you do that?"
....you no longer write out your own shopping lists, you just print it off right off the site
....you leave the hospital a day early after giving birth because the Quaker sale starts in the morning.
....your daughter's classroom always wins the pizza party for the most boxtops.
....your cashier has to have a manager over-ride the register because you have so many
coupons.

Compiled by PYP members. Feel free to add yours!


I found this on Coupon Gossip!





Here's what the shirt says....

TOP 10 REASONS NOT TO GET BEHIND ME IN LINE

10)I have OCD: Obsessive Coupon Disorder
9) I'm the crazy coupon lady you've heard about. Really.
8) I saved $59.22 on a $60 order. I'm trying to beat my record.
7) If patience isn't your virtue, change lines.
6) I'm protected under the Right-to-Coupon Act.
5) "Price Check"
4) Five separate receipts should do it.
3) I may be slow, but my groceries are free.
2) I have coupons, and I know how to use them.
1) This hobby is paying for my next cruise!

CLASSIC! ROFL!
Yeah, you know what I mean, if you're like me, you'll laugh and laugh, if you're not a couponer yet, you wont know what the heck we're talking about... Keep reading and you will learn!

This is a T-Shirt from RefundCents.com. It's a website for deals/rebates/and out of control couponers.... Check this link out; I'm not in agreement with hoarding; building up a food storage slowly is great; but I don't think it's fair or nice or in the least bit considerate to buy up everything so you have years and years of supply while other shoppers or couponers don't get a chance. I mean "enough is a feast." I think it's unfair and a lot selfish to take oppurtunities from others.... but I'll get off my podium here; you decide....I don't want to offend; but Geez!!!

I'm not a member, it requires a subscription.... but this shirt in on there was halarious.....anyone else a member? Is there any more info on this site than what we can get for free off blogs everywhere else?

They do have a pretty cool coupon organizer that I'm considering though.....

Smith's Trip

My trip to Smith's, there was a GM/PEPSI promo going on so you'd buy 10 items and get $5 off your order, which I stacked with coupons (of course) and got boxes of GM Cereal for like .50 to $1.00 each
Quaker Granola bars for .75 each
ETC....
So I did this promo and bought 50 items and saved $25 with the promo, I'm all stocked up on fruit snacks, Granola Bars, Cereal (As If I didn't have enough of that!) and Hamburger Helper.

Here's the evidence.....



Here's some of the 50 or so coupons; check out the price on water!



I had a cart full to overflowing this time; I was literally holding items onto the cart as I walked so they wouldn't fall to the floor by the time I was done! I got TONS of stuff; including BOGO on feminine products plus coupons ontop of those, so a 28 ct pack of Always pads was like .82 each for me....so I'm overstocked with those. It's kind of embarrassing when they fall to the floor and bounce and roll all over the place....(WHY didn't I get them first! WHY!?)
I had like 12 packages....
Here's the damage, I spent $98 and saved $155.84 this trip: I saved 62%! The photo of my receipt totally flipped on it's side and now you must just trust me folks.

I post this to show you that can do one GIANT cart load of stuff like 80 items or more versus the wimpy 5-20 items some couponer bloggers do at a time. Ack, that would drive me nuts! 20 tiny transactions per month instead of 3 or 4 big ones....I don't have time for that; I'm trying to save my sanity here!

Like I said, I only like to go shopping two or three times a month. SO,

1. I do take the time to prepare
2. I have over 50-75 coupons to bring with me to use most times
3. I spend a couple of hours shopping - usually my hubby helps
4. And Voila!

I am stocked up on TONS of essentials and have loads of regular food items to last us a good two weeks - or a month if needed.

Remember I use Roshill Dairy delivery service for the dairy/bread/eggs

to avoid going shopping so often..... (and their stuff is AWESOME!)

I do this because I am a closet impulse buyer

(well, not anymore now that my secret is out)

And if I have to go to the store twice a week for a few items,

I used to buy out with WAY more than I planned on.

Especially when I go there hungry.

So, now I don't go shopping unless I take the time to prep to shop.

In fact; I can't go to a store WITHOUT a plan

or I feel uncomfortable and weird without my coupons.

I know, I'm a nut.

I won!

http://krazycouponsisters.blogspot.com/2009/08/winner-of-redplum-inserts.html

Check it out, these gals are just starting up (like me!) and their blog is great! Cute header huh?

They've held a contest that I won! Yea!

Since RedPlum's coupons are sent to our mailbox instead of in the Sunday paper I've only gotten ONE a week, that's tough (I cant bother my neighbors for coupons) but I won some more from these gals!


Thanks ladies!

Target lesson

I decided to try out couponing at Target, I had a lot of fun with the deals below...

But on a side note; I haven't been grocery shopping since my last post, minus a quick trip to the park city grocery store for some cabin essentials....which were free with my $30 catilina's! (see earlier post)

But the point is that I've been stocked up so well that I haven't had to go grocery shopping for 2 and 1/2 weeks. And I needed a coupon break! (Remember I get my milk and eggs and bread home deliver style.) But Kevin and I got our coupon clipping skills re-energized and spent 4 hours or so organizing, clipping, sorting, comparing, preparing and now we're ready to hit 3 stores this week with our lists and coupons at the ready!

And technically I didn't HAVE to go last night, my mom had an errand for me to run at Target so I decided to try the coupon "stacking" there for the first time! Back to business....

Remember Target has their own coupons available online and other places and you can stack manufacturer coupons with those for the same item for double coupon savings.

Here's some deals I found across the blogosphere.....

I think this is going to be a great week at Target.

Target just released their new store coupons.

Here’s the list:

50¢ off Purchase of two Hamburger Helper boxed dinners
Use with $0.75/3 printable coupon

50¢ off Hellmann’s mustard
75¢ off Breyers ice cream
75¢ off Frozen popsicle product
$1 off Purchase of two 10-oz. or larger General Mills cereals
Use with $1/2 printable coupons here and here or from 8/23 inserts

$1 off With purchase of two Market Pantry® cheese products

(In the past this has made single string cheese sticks free)

50¢ off I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter
Use with $0.75/1 printable coupon

75¢ off With purchase of two 14-oz. or larger RAGU sauces
Use with $1/2 coupon from 8/2 RP insert

1.50 off Bertolli frozen pasta meal
Use with $1/1 printable coupon
75¢ off With purchase of two Wishbone salad dressings

$1 off Slim Fast weight-loss product
Use with $1.25/1 coupon from 6/28 RP Insert

Get a $5 Target Gift Card when you buy 5 of the Following:

Get a $5 Target Gift card when you buy 4 Special K items listed below

(11.4 to 13.4 oz cereal, 6ct bars and selected others) $2.39/each

Deal Idea for Cereal

$9.56 when you buy four boxes of special K Blueberry-

$4 Use four $1/1 printable coupons

(you will need two computers to be able to print four coupons)

Pay $5.56 out of pocket and get a $5 Target Gift Card back.

That’s like paying $0.14 per box

Deal Idea for Granola Bars$9.56 when you buy four boxes of Special K Bars (8ct)- $2 when you use two $1/2 printable coupons on Coupons.com or from 8/2 RP inserts and-$2 when you use four $0.50/1 Target Kelloggs Grain Snack printable coupons= $5.56 out of pocket and get a $5 Target Gift Card back. That’s like paying $0.14 per box

Another Deal Idea for Granola Bars

$9.56 when you buy four boxes of Special K Bars Chocolatey Pretzel (8ct)-

$3 when you use four $0.75/1 printable coupons on Coupons.com-

$2 when you use four $0.50/1 Target

Kelloggs Grain Snack printable coupons=

$4.56 out of pocket and get a $5 Target Gift Card back.

That’s FREE!!

14-oz. Häagen-Dazs or 1.5-quart Edy’s ice cream,

4-ct. Nestlé Drumstick treats and selected others.

$12.50 when you buy five Edy’s Ice Cream (1.5 qt) – $2.50/ea

Use five$1/1 coupons in 8/23 Red Plum insert

PLUS Use $1/1 Target printable coupon

Pay $2.50 out of pocket and get a $5 Target GC back!
You can also grab Nestle Drumsticks for fairly cheap with this $1/1 printable coupon.

What’s Very Cheap

Aveeno Baby products $3.50Use $2/1 manufacturer printable coupon

Use $$1/1 Target printable couponPay $0.50 each after coupons

Bananas – $0.56/lb

Use $0.50/1 lb Target printable couponPay $0.06/lb

International Delight $1.15

Use $1/1 printable coupon

Pay $0.15 each after coupon

Hungry Hippos Travel Game $4.99

Use $4/1 printable coupon

Pay $0.99 after coupon (great stocking stuffer!)

Kellogg’s Cinnabon Bars–$1.75-$2 (price varies at some Target stores)

Use $0.50/1 Kellogg’s Grain Snacks Target coupon

Stack with $1/1 printable coupon

Pay $0.25-$0.50 after coupons

Kellogg’s Yogos–$1.75

Use $0.50/1 Target Kellogg’s Fruit Snacks printable coupon

Stack with $0.50/1 manufacturer printable coupon

Pay $0.75 after coupons

A-1 Steak Sauce $2.09

Use $2/1 coupon from the 8/16 SS insert

Pay $0.09 after coupon

Dove Visibly Smooth Deodorant $3.29.

Use $2/1 manufacturer’s printable coupon

Use $1/1 Target coupon here

Pay $0.29 each.

Skittles Crazy Cores--$0.52 (in the checkout lanes)

Use $1/1 Target coupon here

Free plus possible overage

Starkist Tuna Pouches-$1.33

Use $0.50/1 Target coupon here (the pouches are over 11 oz.)

Stack with $0.50/1 manufacturer's coupon here

(You can go to play every day so you should be able to print one coupon per day.)

$0.33 after coupons

Baked Lays Chips--$2.33Use $0.50/1 Target coupon here

Stack with $1/1 manufacturer's coupon here

(Click on the floating dollar sign.)

$0.83 after coupons

Thanks to Discount Queens and Common Sense with Money

for putting together this list of great deals above.

But I definatly spent way more than I wanted to when I went.... and the receipts there are weird for sure. It doesn't seem to minus the target coupons from the original prices to give me my actual saved total so I will re-add some things to be sure it's right/ and update the savings total when I have more time....

Here's some examples of the confusing receipt items....

Here, for Starkist Tuna Packages, I had a mfr coupon for .50 each and a Target coupon for $1 off wyb 3 tuna packs.....

According to my calculations when stacking the .50 coupon and 1/3 of the $1 off (.33) that's .73 off each package....so the tuna should've been .50 each, for a total of $1.50 for three, but here it says it's 2.99 package total??? I don't know what's going on here...

Another example?

Purina Dog food $29.89 original; target coupon $2.00 off, MFR coupon 3.00 off, that looks okay here but see how the original price LOOKS like it was 27.89? When the receipt calculates the total savings, I'm not sure it's including the target $2.00 off coupon.

I actually had 3 $3.50 coupons so the item should have been free! (well, .50 cent overage actually stacked with my $1.50 coupon....but It's only showing one here, so I don't know what happened!

Here's some Dove deodorant, you can see I got these for .29 each.... cool!

Here's the total shopping order; $118.82, with a savings of 82.00. or 41% off; not bad! But my goal is 50-75% off total, but sometimes you have to be okay with mediocre :)

Here's my receipt.....

As I was shopping and mentally calculating I only thought I'd spend about $50 with coupons, so I'm not sure how excited I am about going back to Target again....I'm not the type to go spend another 1/2 hour fighting with the customer service desk over incorrect coupons that the cashier has already put in his coupon drawer.... I really don't like dealing with "Mr Fabulous" at their cs desk, anyone who goes to the Layton target and has dealt with him knows what I mean! :)

So in conclusion..... if coupons and deals don't work like they "should", or if some don't get added in and I have to fight for my rights; I just go to places that DO work for like they should without too much effort on my part. I will give Target another chance, and go when I only need a couple of items; and go without my 4 year old....maybe you have to hand them all the mfgr coupons first, then the Target ones for the deals to work? Hmmmm.....

Have any of you had better luck at Target?

CRAZY Moneymaker!

Alright peeps; I had to keep checking Albies for my Ragu deal and they had some tonight so I ran down at 930: I did the Unilever/General Mills promotion - Vaseline lotion, Dove shampoo, and Q-Tips were the three items that printed out BOTH promo Catilina's at the end of the order so the deal was:
For Participating Unilever products- Spend $30 get $12 OYNO
For Participating General Mills products - Spend $30 get $15 OYNO

Since Vaseline overlapped in both offers I got $30 of lotion here; (the Shampoo and Q-Tips were gone from the shelves!)


These cost $31.95 with tax I saved $17.94 on store sale but geez! Who spends $31.95 on lotion?? Well, I guess I DO!.... because I know I can get $27 of Catilina's to print to spend OYNO. So really I only spent $3 on $50 worth of of lotion :)

OR you can think of it this way:

After this purchase I now have $27 to spend OYNO so I moved on to my Ragu transaction:

Got 18 Jars reg price $3.39 or $61.02 for all
Store sale $1.66 each or $30 for all
I had 9 $1/2 coupons
Bringing price down to $1.16 each or $21 for all
I used $17 in Catilina's (CATS) to bring the price for all to $4.00 or .22 each!
(I couldn't use another $5 cat to make it free because I would have an overage and would have "lost" $1. I should have gotten 19 jars of sauce and spent .16 total, but ah well)
Anyhoo; That's a 94% savings people!



But that's not all folks. The Sauce qualified for the GM Promo AGAIN so I got ANOTHER $15 OYNO!!

Or we could think of it as they paid me $30 to take all this stuff home! Either way you slice it it was an awesome trip.

Count em' folks $30 to spend at ALBIES on my next order!

Technically I could have gone back and done this a few more times and gotten cartloads of free goodies each day of this promotion; (limit 2 per day) but I'm tired and I have a life and there's a pont where I start feeling guilty about getting so much free stuff; so I feel like I got my fair share, went home to blog about it and now I'm going to bed......

I get all these hints and tips from Krazy Coupon Lady and the others listed in my couponing blog roll; so check them out!

Deal Example

Albertson's promo Spend $30 on participating items get $15 OYNO through today only!


So I did! Here's 2 transactions from today:










These items were in the promo that weren't GONE yet!
I wanted 18 jars of Ragu but it was not to be so I am stuck with junk food again:


All items here came to $31 with store savings
Used
6 -.60/1 Chex Bars coupons
Doubled 2 with Doublers
4 - .50/1 Cookie Crisp coupons
2 - .50/2 Gusher's Coupons




$24.09 total Saved 57%
Got a $15 Catalina I rolled over here:



Next Transaction used two doublers, the $15 ONYO Catilina and had $1/1 for each item
except syrup and 3 sauces - Store sale only



Saved 70% on this order. The nice thing here was all of the items were on a store sale. I son't buy Rhodes or Tyson or Barber items unless they're at least reduced $2 off each. They all were, so I added my $1/1 coupons to that and got these items at $3 off the original prices or better with my 2 doublers. Yeah!