June Week 1 Continued

Wal-Mart: 1 shaker bottle for protein shakes (not pictured) = $2.62

Target:
Glade Candles (to be used as gifts): $1.67 each, had $1.50 coupon in them = $.17 each!
Kashi Waffles: $2.54, $1.50 manq = $1.04
Degree Deodorant: $2.34, $1.50 Target q, $1 manq = -$.16 each!!
Morningstar: $3 each, $2/2 Target q, $1 manq x2 = $1 each
Total: $4.53

Jewel:
Cream Cheese: $.99 raincheck, $1/2 q x2 = 4/$1.96
Over the Moon Milk:" $2.50, $1.50 manq = $1.00
Used two $.50 cats from previous milk purchase
Total: $2.11, Earned $.50 cat on milk

Spent today: $9.26 Week 1
TOTALS:
Week 1 Remain: $13.28
Extra Remain: $19.46

CVS: (not grocery bill because I have not paid ANY cah since I started in April 2008, but can help me get groceries!)
Softsoap $7.99 for pump, $3.99 for refill, $2.50 manq x2, earn $4 ECB
Spent $4 ECB and $3.62 on GC. We have a lot of refills, and just used up or large bottle of Target soap (took two years in the bathroom!) This way I can use the refills in kitchen and bath, and buy a new large bottle to refill my 'real' holders once these refills run out.

Jewel is a pain. She had to study my RC to see if I was under the 30 day mark, study my coupons because they were $1 and the item was $.99, I had to point out it was off 2, and so on and so forth. That's why I *always* use self check, but didn't want to with my RC. Ugh!

So, with 3 days to go in week 1, we have $13 left. Saturday is newspaper day, which is at least $2. Need to make sure we always save that much.

June Grocery Game

So we really need to reign in our grocery spending. We currently budget $250 per month, and that seems like a lot for two people, but we're in the land of no doubles, and a higher cost of living, etc. But really, we shouldn't be going over that. So I'm going with $50/week plus $50 for the extras that come up such as Brita filters and things of that nature.

We're going to keep a running total where we can see it so we can not go over and really decide if we need to buy certain things.

Here's today's spending (haha! It's a big amount...but we'll deal!)





Sam's Club
Matt works late Mondays, so he runs some errands and does sweet things like empty the dishwasher :)
Blackberries: $4.54
Whey Protein Powder: $30.54 (extra)

Joe Caputo
Raspberries: $3.83
Strawberries: $1.28
Mushrooms: $3.18
Eggplant: $.78
Zucchini: $1.38

Ultra
Eggs: $2.36
Hunt's Ketchup: $1.19, free q = $.03
Purina Kitten Food: $1.89, free qx3 = $.47
Marcal TP: $.69, free qx8 = $.46
Hamburger Buns: $1.70
M&Ms: $.79, BOGO qx3 = $2.46
Save $.05 for each bag you bring in to use
$.50 cat x2 from the milk

Dominick's
Milk: $1.72
Brie: $4.60
Paid with a GC, the Brie is for a rebate $4.49 back, which will be added to grocery budget when arrives)

Spent today: $27.46 Week 1, $30.54 Extra
TOTALS:
Week 1 Remain: $22.54
Extra Remain: $19.46

I only bought the M&Ms because you never know how free qs work at Ultra. The TP is reg. $.85 and qs have taken off $.85 or $1 and you have no idea what. This week they were on sale for $.69 and that's what it took off. Otherwise I would have had overage. Oh well! And yes, there is just the two of us and we have purchased 2 gallons of milk and 8 doz. eggs in 4 days.

Shopping Spree :)

Walgreens was easy.
7 packs of Trident gum. Reg. $1.29, sale 3/$2. Used 6 - $.75 manqs
14 packs of Extra gum. Reg. $1.29, used 7 BOGO qs, then sale for 3/$2
These are great because the 'sale price' is with an in-ad coupon, so if they are unaware of the 'sale' they give you full value of your man q's.
So 21 packs of gum were $.72 of my gift card. I haven't been to Walgreens since April 16th! haha. Thanks, Walgreens.

CVS had GREAT clearance finds! If you read abour something online, or even if it has a clearance tag, scan it!!
Reynolds Foil, 75sq ft, clearance tag said $2.50 but it scanned $1.25! I had 6 $1 coupons.
Ziploc twist n' lock containers, clearance tag said $1.58, but scanned $.92. Bought all 6 from the shelf, with 3 $1.50/2 coupons
One Glad candle, sale $4.99 used $4 q.
Spent 4.82 on GC :)

TARGET IS A PAIN. For pete's sake, they DO NOT understand coupons. They would not let me use a store and manq on one item. My Kashi coupons that say 1 per purchase he said was the same as one per transaction and he kept calling me ma'am and was firm but polite, but REALLY you have the rules wrong, buddy!! So I left everything there and called corporate and she told me I was definitely right. We'll see what good that does. So I went back after choir practice and picked up the same items. This time the cashier didn't like that the Target smartfood coupon said "item not found" and was wary of two coupons for one item. the Pupperoni also said item not found. Hey, I can't help it if yor registers are bad!!
Waffles: $2.54 and $2.28, used 2 $1.50 coupons
Pupperoni: $2.39 each, used 2 $2 q
Smartfood: $3 sale, $1 store and $1 manq
$4.06 cash. Almost not worth it, except I have like 4 more waffle coupons, and two more sets of popcorn ones. ARGH!!!!!!

At least I finally got the 3 $1.50 coupons for the milk! It was a rebate deal. That milk is SO GOOD.

Quick Stop and Coupon Fraud

hey hey! Jewel gave me a small gem today. All those Kraft printables have come in handy. Buy 4 Kraft BBQ and get $2 OYNO! yay!




So, BBQ on sale for $.89 = $3.56/4, used 4-$1 q's
Sour Cream on sale for $.97 = $1.94, used $1/2
Total: $.62 (.50 + tax) PLUS a $2 OYNO catalina, for when I need more milk :) love it!
I wanted Philly Cream Cheese, but they were out of the Neufatchel, so got a raincheck for 6 @ $.99 so when they restock I can use my $1/2 q's. The only stinky thing is RCs expire in 30 days. Sometimes they just plain don't have it in stock in 30 days, but this item they 'should.'

Also at Super Target yesterday I picked up two Kraft Deli Selects lunch meats on sale for $2.99 each. Used two $.75/1 manqs and a $1/2 Target coupon. $3.50 for two AND I can send in for a free Kraft tote bag. Sweet!

Now, for coupon 'fraud'....one of the blogs I sub to had a post about buying the 4-pack of Kraft Easy Mac single serve cups at Wal-Mart for $3 on Rollback (sale of sorts). They said to use 2 of the $1/2 printables to make it $1 for the pack because you are buying "four" cups. Sorry? I left a polite comment saying that a multi-pack with a unique UPC is one item and not four! Maybe other people commented because they later removed the post. I said that we shouldn't mislead people like this who truly believe you can use a coupon in that way, because then it makes all couponers look bad.

Sometimes I use a BOGO and a cents off q, but it still seems odd to me. However, Walgreens accepts it most times. To me the BOGO q applies to two items, much like a $1 off 2 coupon applies to two items. People take a lot of liberty with the wording on coupons, which makes shopping difficult as cashiers struggle to follow the rules so they aren't disciplined by thier managers. However, some wording just isn't understood by cashiers and no matter how politely we explain it we still can't use coupons!! ugh.

Lesson: Use coupons and deals in the correct manner!!

Living Healthy

I've been reading a lot of books lately, and thought I would share some thoughts on some good ones I had:


"The Skinny" taught me about calorie density and eating things that will fill you up, not out. You can only eat so many calories per day, and some calories will leave you wanting more while others will satisfy you. No one wants to be hungry all the time, so learning what to eat to stave off hunger for longer really helped me out! I eat 4 egg whites for breakfast maybe every other day. Other times I have 2 Kashi Waffles and a strawberry smoothie. I cut out sugar from the smoothie and added honey instead. Use less for less calories but same amount of sweetness. It's great!


"The World is Fat" shared much of the same thoughts, but also followed "case studies" of families from India, the US and Mexico, which was really interesting. It showed how basically our innovations in technology and food production have led to less activity and more calories consumed, which is definitely true if you look around, even at your parents' generation.


I bought this at the used book store for $5, which is great! (used a gift card) It speaks of flavors and how we can use our nose and just enjoy the first couple bites and after that, we don't enjoy a single food as much. If we all just ate less, we could still enjoy the richer things in life because we'd eat less and feel satisfied.

I'll share more thoughts on healthy eating later, but these books are what gave me a jump-start.

Going Green!

I've been wanting to write about this for a couple months now, but haven't gotten around to it! I always want to find more links but still don't have them all. So here's a run down of some of my favorite tips for now:

• Go to the library! I borrow 10 books at a time, and take in a reusable tote to carry them home in. They also have CDs and movies if we want


• Use reusable bags: I am SO good about bringing these in to the grocery stores. However, many of the times I run in to CVS or Walgreens I forget my bags in the car. I need to keep them on the seat, or front floor, rather than the trunk. That way I can grab them. However, I still get plastic bags for my fresh meat, for sanitation purposes.


• Walk when you can. We live within walking distance of several grocery stores and parks, so we walk when it is nice out. If I am feeling adventerous, the library and train station are 2 miles away, and doable.


• Buy containers for leftovers and your lunches. Oftentimes I will still freeze items in plastic wrap or bags (mainly fresh meat) as it fits better. However, I generally leave things like bread in their original wrapper and then put that in a ziploc. This means the bag is not dirty and I reuse it over again. I also make pudding and jello and pour into serving-size containers, and buy large containers of applesauce and yogurt to divide up.


• Make your own cleaning supplies. I picked up spray bottles from the dollar store and picked up vinegar, baking soda, borax and washing soda. I made an AP cleaner, window cleaner, and you can use straight up (or water diluted) vinegar for SO many things. Buying bulk means less packaging as well, and we bought a glass jar to keep a convenient amount of baking soda out for cleaning (to sprinkle) and baking. This means no more annoying boxes when you need a teaspoon for your cookie dough!


• Shop local/small stores. This saves gas, and also saves money becuase they are generally cheaper. While one of my local stores sometimes doesn't have the best quality, the prices are right and they often have markdowns of still-decent produce.


• Grow your own! I love gardening. We had a large one in the backyard growing up. Last year we had a lonely jalapeno plant, which didn't produce much. But this year we are going to try bell peppers and tomatoes, exciting! This is great fun and can be done cheaply if you are careful not to go overboard


• Compost...this is something I want to look into. We have plenty of coffee grounds, eggshells and carrot peels on a weekly basis, and it'd be great for the plants. Nitrogen, calcium...return the earth back to the Earth!

I also wrote this to plug a blog I have been reading for several years now. I think I got to Allison's blog from Laurie's blog. (Laurie also gardens, and she's started on a crazy adventure for this summer!) I admire all that Allison has gone through and wish her the best. So when I saw she had made reusable mesh produce bags, and is selling them on Etsy, I had to go buy some. I try to cut down on plastic produce bags, and when I buy apples or tomoatoes or bulky items, I don't use them, which surely the cashiers don't appreciate. But when you buy grapes or green beans you need a bag of some sorts. Her mesh bags come in a cute carrying case, and I'm pushing you to go get some! I did read yesterday about making your own, but I think tulle would tear easily. Plus, I guess you could consider me a little lazy to not want to pull out my sewing machine. But this seemed like a great option ;) So I finally signed up on Etsy, and maybe some day I will sell my own stuff. However, I hope I am not first going to be enabled into buying knitterly things!!!

Enjoy :)

When a Deal is Not a Deal

So, I have quickly learned that not every 'steal' you find is indeed good for you. Especially when you run out of storage room, and have some brown bags of groceries stashed under the kitchen table *ahem*

Anyway, when Jewel first had the Kellogg's deal (read online before it was in their ad) about getting free milk with cereal, Matt and I went, but the ones on sale were not the ones we would eat. So even though we could have paid $5 for 10 boxes of cereal and 3 gallons of milk, it isn't worth it. Sure, even if we had given away all of the cereal to friends who would eat it, it would be $5 for 3 gallons of milk, which isn't even great, and I would have 'wasted' coupons in the process.

We waited until Special K turned up on sale, which is something we love, and had coupons for. We did the deal twice for a total of 3 free milk and 8 boxes of cereal. Our cereal shelf is now full, and we are happy.

Also, my work had a free pizza lunch today. I did end up having a little bit, but at first I wasn't going to. Matt was like "but it's FREE. Save your leftovers for another day." However, I have enough leftovers to last me all week, so I needn't do that. I am also working on healthy eating and don't always WANT something that's 'bad' for me. But I did have a few pieces, because it was actually pretty good once I sopped up the grease. I also can 'guess' the calories fairly accurately, based on other pizza I have had recently.

Basically, just because something is free, doesn't mean you should buy it. But if you can make it work for you, go for it! If you have the means to buy things for pennies on the dollar and donate to shelters and share with friends, then by all means go for it!! Just be sure you aren't out growing your storage space (or your familiy's patience)

A Dominick's Primer

Here are some tips for shopping at Dominick's!

-Sales run Thursday-Wednesday. Watch for the Sunday ad, as it may have different coupons and new sale items to coincide with the 2nd half of the period of Thursday's ad.

Ads oftentimes contain "Super Coupons." These generally require a $10 purchase to use, but the prices are amazing. They are store coupons, so you may combine your manq's with them. Always offer the store coupons last. Remember to cut them out, as they keep them after they scan them.

The 'regular' price of these super coupon items do NOT count towards your $10 total. You must still spend $10 on other items. However, the regular price counts toward any $x/$xx coupons you may have, so base your math on that.

One fun thing of note for this store is a promotion from Proctor and Gamble called "E-Saver." These are coupons that you 'load' onto your store savings card from this website. I have redeemed these before, and the first time I used it, I thought it didn't work, but now I figured it out after looking at my receipt.

We had $1.50 off any Crest toothpaste with my e-saver. I also had a store coupon for $1 and a manq for $1.50. The shelf price was $2.49. SWEET! It would be more than free since I had $4 in coupons. Indeed, it worked! This means their registers are not picky when you have a coupon worth more than the item. I checked my receipt, and the e-saver comes off as part of the card-sale-price. It said $3 card savings, and scanned at $.99. I then used my $1 and $1.50 coupons.

E-saver coupons can be used once, they do expire (about every 2 months?) but new ones pop up. You only need to load them on your card once, and you can then print a sheet of what is loaded. Combine this with manqs and store sales for some amazing deals!

Dominick's is also great with allowing you to use a new/transfered GC coupon from any other store. They love to get your business, and the pharmacsists we have dealt with at all locations have been nothing but super-nice.

I didn't use to shop at Dominick's, because I thought they were SO expensive. And they are, because the newspaper recently ran an article saying how Jewel and Dominick's are 30% higher than your smaller stores, and Whole Foods is about 15% higher than even those. Ouch! However, if you know how to play the deals, it will work well for you! Use those GCs!

A note about Internet printed coupons: Their policy strictly states only ONE will be accepted at a time, meaning even though you can print two, only one per transaction is allowed. No FREE items, but BOGO are okay. If you e-mail them, they will write you back with their policy so you can take it with you.

I don't have much experience using their self-checkouts yet, as the one I shop at most often is old and small and doesn't have them. If you have anything to add about them, please jump in in the comments section!

Where do I find coupons?

Here are some general things to know about coupons:

I frequently abbreviate a manufacturer's coupon as manq to save on typing. This also allows differentiation from a store coupon.

Coupons can be found in various sources:

Inserts come in the Sunday paper (most likely). The Chicago Tribune is where I get mine, and they publish the early edition on Saturday which allows time to prep for Sunday deals. Starting early also allows time to return to the store for more if there is an amazing deal. I buy mine at the dollar store (Dollar Tree, to be specific) because the regular price is $1.99. So I can buy 2 for $2 and get twice as many coupons! This helps out for BOGO (buy one, get one) deals. The various inserts are "Red Plum" (used to be Valassis), "Smart Source" and "P&G" (Proctor & Gamble). Every so often there may also be a General Mills-specific insert.

Each week should have at least a Smart Source (SS) and a Red Plum (RP). P&G is generally published the first Sunday of the month. It depends on what day of the week the month begins as to when they will add the insert.

Tearpads are found in stores. These are those pads of coupons generally found on drink coolers or stuck to shelves in front of the products. These are normally not store-specific.

Peelies are coupons stuck to products, and are generally meant to be used on purchasing that item at that moment. It's up to you, but I personally don't take extras of those as they are on that certain bottle for someone to pick up.

Blinkies are those red machines in the aisles or on freezer doors that spit out coupons. They are manufactured by Smart Source.

a Catalina is the machine at a cash register that prints coupons. At many stores these are white with red borders. Other stores have upgraded to full-color printing on white tape. Catalina sponsors the machines, and the coupons are now known as that. These generally print the store logo on them. While the wording usually says "redeemable AT" and NOT "redeemable ONLY at" xyz store, most stores will only take their own Catalinas...your mileage may vary (YMMV). Oftentimes when you see a sign or ad that says you get $x off your next order when you buy (WYB) it is a Catalina for "$x off your next order" (OYNO).