Guest Blogger

I have been asked to be a guest blogger on a coupon blog every Wednesday. How exciting. I will be talking about something new every Wednesday about how to be frugal and stretch your money. There will be all sorts stuff from couponing, food storage, freezing tips, etc. Come check it out every Wednesday and support me! :) I just made my first post. Check it out by clicking the button below. I LOVE this blog, so it is such an honor.

Getting ready

We are moving on Saturday. Very excited about our new place. I have been packing up little by little for about a week now. It is so exciting to actually be ALMOST in our new place. Super excited! 3/4 of the house is already packed. WooHOO!!!!

Talk about WOW!

Subtotal Before Coupons: $126.52

After Coupons: $12.48 + tax

AFTER REBATES & GIFT CARDS:

Final Price: +5.28 Money Maker!!

SAVED: $131.80!!!!

Okay, I did go to 3 different stores, but so worth it. Here is my breakdown of what I did this morning!

Rite Aid
Transaction #1:

1 U Kotex Tampons $3.49 SALE
Use $1/1 MF coupon 4/18 SS
Subtotal: $2.49

5 Hersheys dark chocolate candy bars 4.5 oz $0.99 SALE
Use 5 $1/1 MF coupon 4/18 SS
Subtotal: FREE

4 TGIF snacks $0.99 SALE
Use 4 $1.50/1 IP coupon found HERE
Subtotal: FREE + $2.00 overage!

1 CoverGirl Foundation $6.99
1 CoverGirl TRUblend Pressed Powder $8.49
Instant B1G1 50% sale
Use B1G1 Free MF coupon 4/11 RP
Use $1/1 MF coupon 4/4 PG
Use the $2/1 Rite Aid Wellness coupon HERE
Subtotal: $5.49

Subtotal for entire transaction:
$24.38 Before coupons
$5.89 After coupons
Use $5/$20 purchase from RiteAid Video coupon

Final Price: $0.89 + tax
+ send in for $3.49 SCR online = $2.60 MONEY MAKER!



Walgreens
Transaction #1:
2 Bayer Low Dose $2.99 SALE
Use 1 $3/1 In Ad Coupon
Final Price: Free
+ get $3 Register Rewards


Transaction #2:
2 Bayer Low Dose $2.99 SALE
Use 1 $3/1 In Ad Coupon
Final Price: Free
+ get $3 Register Rewards


Transaction #3:
1 Kotex U Feminine Care $3.49 SALE
Use $1/1 MF coupon 4/18 SS

2 Reusable Bags $0.99
Use 3/$1 In Ad Coupon

Subtotal: $3.15
Use $3 Register Rewards from Transaction #1

Final Price: $0.16 + tax
+ get $2.50 Register Rewards = $2.34 MONEY MAKER!


Transaction #4:
1 Kotex U Feminine Care $3.49 SALE
Use $1/1 MF coupon 4/18 SS

2 Reusable Bags $0.99
Use 3/$1 In Ad Coupon

Subtotal: $3.15
Use $3 Register Rewards from Transaction #2
Final Price: $0.16 + tax
+ get $2.50 Register Rewards = $2.34 MONEY MAKER!



Target
Transaction #1:
2 Scrubbing Bubbles Power Sprayer Starter $7.99 SALE
2 Scrubbing Bubbles Power Sprayer Refill $3.94 SALE
Use 2 $5/1 MF coupons 4/11 SS
Use 2 Free Scrubbing Bubbles Extend-a-clean refill, when you buy starter IP coupons HERE

Use 1 Target Coupon: FREE Target $5 Giftcard wyb 3 Scrubbing Bubbles products
Subtotal: $5.98
+ get $5 Target Gift Card

2 Tide Travel Size $0.97
Use 2 $1/1 Tide, any 4/4 PG
Subtotal: FREE + $0.06 MONEY MAKER

2 AirWick Freshmatic Ultra Starter Kits $13.49
Use Rain Check from previous sale $6.00 each
Use 2 $4/1 IP coupon HERE
Use 2 $2/1 Target Printable Coupon HERE
Subtotal: FREE + $2.00 MONEY MAKER

3 packs 1lb Ground Beef $3.49
On sale $1.50 each
Subtotal: $4.50

1 pack Sirlon Steaks $7.99
On sale $3.18
Use $1.50 off peelie
Subtotal: $1.68

1 pack Sirlon Steaks $7.99
On sale $4.52
Use $2 off peelie
Subtotal: $2.52

Subtotal for entire transaction:
$79.23 Before coupons & sales
$12.10 After coupons
-$0.10 for using my own reusable bag
+ got 1 FREE target bag

Final Price: $12.00 + tax
+ got $5.00 Target GC

+ send in for $5 rebate from J&J

I am lovin' this!

If you haven't read the previous post, please do! I just cashed in my swagbucks today for 2 $5 gift cards to amazon. Woohoo! $10 free towards Christmas. :)

Swagbucks

I have not bothered looking into swagbucks until recently, and I am sure glad I did. Have you ever heard of it? I have a link on the right hand side, do you see it? Under my "Favorite Clicks" section, yes, the very top one! Click it and create an account with them. Then just download their toolbar. Why? Let me tell you!

So we all search the web. Right? If you say no, then I know you are lying. Basically, instead of searching on like the google search engine or which ever one you use, you just use the swagbucks one. Every once in awhile you WIN...and when you win, you win swagbucks. You win but simply just searching on their toolbar. You don't win everytime...but will generally win a few times a day. You then can purchase gift cards with your swagbucks for places like amazon and target and stuff. I have been reading from a lot of people who are using swagbucks, and people are saving up their swagbucks to pay for Christmas. After 10 weeks, one of the blogs I follow already has $115 in amazon gift cards. Wouldn't that be so cool to pay for Christmas, just by searching the web like you all already do? Okay, go click that button and download the toolbar. You will get swagbucks JUST for doing that. Have fun with it, and hopefully I get enough for a free Christmas this year!

Free date night & sponges

Allen and I are going to have a free date night coming up! I am so excited. Right now at Smith's they have this great deal where if you buy 10 Participating items, you get a free movie ticket. Well I scored on some great deals and got us 2 free movie tickets. I just ordered some more of a certain coupon so I can get 2 more free movie tickets. They have a brand of sour cream on sale right now for $1.10, and I have some coupons for $1 off of it (I just ordered 20 more of the coupons!). So basically each one is $0.10 and when I buy 10 of them, I get a free movie ticket. So when those coupons come on Tuesday, I will head to Smith's again and buy 20 sour creams, spend $2, and get 2 free movie tickets. Talk about a deal! :)

I already got 2 of the movie tickets this morning. We still have a gift card also to Cold Stone that Allen's grandparents gave us for Christmas. So, we are going to the movies and to dessert for free. I am excited! :)

WANT FREE SPONGES? Go HERE and print however many sponges you want for free. It is for $1 off and at Walmart, they have singles for $0.84, so you get them for free. Don't you worry, I already got 50 sponges for free. Okay, we are moving, we need sponges for cleaning....and we use them for dishes, so I am not THAT crazy...hahaha.

Yet another move

So since we are starting to move next weekend, I need to start packing. Is it weird that I love packing up stuff? I find it strange. However, I am dreading the cleaning. Today is the day. I am going to start deep cleaning and packing. Now I just need to find some boxes. Hmmm...

Whoever it concerns

Dear cranky Rite Aid cashier,

You really upset me today. You were determined to not let me get good deals. You thought you knew how coupons worked. You obviously dont. Why wouldn't you take my $5 off coupon? You are not cool. Whatever, I took my business elsewhere and still got amazing deals.

Dear Sunday/Walgreen.Target shoppers,

Yesterday, I compiled a list of everything I was going to get. I was sad to hear that you all got there on Sunday and broke the Sabbath to get good deals. You left all of us without those good deals that observed the Sabbath. Don't you worry, I will just call back the stores everyday at open to see if they restocked their shelves.

Dear Target meat dude,

Whoever you are, thank you for marking down your sirlon steaks for really cheap this morning. You are letting my husband and I have a nice dinner tonight for hardly anything. You rock! I hope you mark down more meat next time I am there.

Dear Lauren,

Thank you for texting me and asking to go to lunch with you today. In n Out tasted amazing and I had a lot of fun with you.

Dear Monday April 12th,

Thank you for a wonderful day. You started out iffy with the cranky Rite Aid lady but I still ended up getting about $100 worth of stuff for about $13. Thank you. And now I am going to end today eating Sirlon with Allen and Lauren and watching trauma. Let's see what tomorrow brings!

Are you sick of it yet?

I know I keep posting about all of my coupon shopping trips...but I am just so excited. Here is my one from this morning!


All of this would have cost me $92.60 + tax. I got it all for

$9.63 + tax

Half of that was just for the meat. Here is the break down of what I got:

2.5 pounds Flank Steak (normally $14.98)
4 AirWick i-motion starter kits (normally $13.49/each)
5 Dove Men+Care Body/Face Wash (normally $3.99/each)
2 Floss (normally $0.97/each)
1 (40 count) Band Aid (normally $1.77/each)

Sweet. Talk about some great savings!

I am sorry if you are sick about hearing about my shopping trips. I just am having so much fun and wanting to share them with you all! :) My house is starting to look like a grocery store. Hahahaha....

Does it get any better?

All of this would have cost me $54.67 + tax. I spent

$1.25 + tax

on this all. Hahaha. Does it get any better than this? The cashier told me today that I am going to put them out of business. I am loving this!

Here is the breakdown of what I got:

5 (16-count) packs of Stayfree Ultra Thin pads (normally $3.59/each)
4 St.Ives Facial Scrub/Wash (normally $3.32/each)
3 (14 count) bags Mens Disposable Razors (normally $3.49/each)
1 Dove Shampoo (normally $4.49)
1 Dove Conditioner (normally $4.49)
1 Herbal Essences Conditioner (normally $3.99)

A total of 15 items for $1.25 equals about $0.08/each. Talk about AMAZING!

Called to serve

My brother Brandon has been called to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He has been assigned to labor in the...Paraguay Asuncion Mission!! :) Reporting June 23 and will speak Spanish. Love ya bro!

The call

My brother Brandon just called me. He just picked up his mission call, and is holding it in his hands. I was so happy that he called me right after picking it up. We talked for a while and asked him how he feels. He said that it feels so weird to be holding it. He is opening it at 8 tonight. After we got off the phone, I just lost it. I just sat here and cried. I am just so proud of my little brother. I am so anxious/nervous for tonight. I hope I don't turn into a crying mess in front of all of his friends...

One year ago today...

One year ago, I brought my beautiful baby boy into this world. I loved him from the moment I saw him!

I remember the tough time I had in the hospital after he was born. I remember the pain I felt when they told me I could not hold him. I remember the joy I felt when I was finally able to hold him the following day. I struggled with that fact that Riley wasn't healthy. I really struggled. I remember every emotion I felt as I walked through the door of my house, without him. I was a mess. The first step I took into our home, I just broke down. I thought that we would deliver our baby and come home with him 2 days later. I had not prepared myself for what was happening. I remember the tears I shed as I laid in my bed that night, thinking about how my baby was in the hospital, and I couldn't be. The joy I felt one week later, when I finally brought him to our home was just unbelievable. We did it! We brought our precious baby home!

Riley stood by me everyday this past year as I learned how to be a mother and care for him. This past year has been filled with happiness, tears, joy, breakdowns, laughs, and smiles. Having a child, is not just all fun and games. It is hard. It is a lot of work...but so worth it. As I struggled through really bad post-partum depression, my husband and son stood my me. They loved me. Everyday, Riley still loved me. He didn't know that I couldn't handle life, all he knew is that he loved me so much. He would hug me and give me kisses and smiles all day long.

I love Riley with all my heart. Everyday, this love grows. He brings constant joy into my life. Every night as he sleeps, I miss him. I miss when he is not next to me. He has so much love to give. We love watching him grow everyday, and seeing his personality shine through. He has such a big personality and just loves life.

We love you so much Riley! You will always be my little baby!

I love free stuff!

Do you see all of that stuff? It would have cost me $71 buying it all without sales and coupons. I got ALL of it for

FREE

Yes, you did read that right! Well, I had to pay the tax, but that was it. And, after I send in my rebate, I will actually make $2.50...so I got all of that, and made $2.50 while at it!

SWEET!

Sold you yet?

Have I sold you on couponing yet? If not, check this out!


This was my shopping today. Check out all of this! If I bought this all in the store without sales and coupons, it would have cost me, $125.40 + tax. I only spent

$27.65 + tax

What a deal. Most of that was just on the soup too. If I hadn't bought the soup, all the rest was only $13.49. Hahaha. Isn't that amazing? Here is a break down of what I got:

24 cans Chicken Broth (normally $1.19/each)
4 Soft Scrub Total Care (normally $2.99/each)
5 Fabric Softener (normally $3.75/each)
5 Dawn Dish Soap (normally $1.10/each)
1 Gillette Fusion Razor (normally $8.99)
1 Clean & Clear Face Scrub (normally $4.99)
1 (18 count) Tampons (normally $4.99)
2 Deodorants (normally $3.79/each)
1 Crest toothpaste (normally $3.69)
2 Cover Girl Mascara (normally $8.99/each)
3 Toothbrushes (normally $4.41/each)

I got 49 items for $27.64, which equals out to about $0.56/item. Who doesn't love that?

I love coupons! WooHoo!!!!

My amazing baby

My little Riley is the best. He loves to say hi to people. Every time we pass someone, he waves and says hi. He will keep saying hi to them until they say hi back. He smiles back at them. I love that I get to listen to him saying hi all day long. He now waves and says bye when people leave too! He is just the best baby ever, I love him so much.

What would my life be like without him? I love him!

Release the anger...

Breathe.



Breathe.



Breathe.



SCREAM!!!!!!!!


Breathe...