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.....