Grocery Store Challenge

What is my challenge? Spend as close to $20 a week at Food Lion over the next 4 weeks while purchasing items we need or to add to the stockpile based on sales. I am also going to give myself $10 a week to spend at CVS to keep rolling ECB. So that is a total of $30 a week for the next 4 weeks to feed our family of 6.

Week One Shopping: Total Spent- $32.01
Week Two Shopping: Total Spent- $84.24
Week Three Shopping: Total Spent- $ 198.84

Week Four Shopping: This week we are definitely back on track. Since I am on vacation, Matt and I hit Harris Teeter for Super Doubles at 7am on Wednesday. We spent $21.64, saved 86.06 or 80%. I also managed to hit CVS this week to stock up on Tide. This remains the one item that I am brand loyal on so to hit a stock up price is awesome. I spent 23.51 saved 39.11 or 62% including enough Tide for 6 to 8 weeks. Total Spent $ 45.15

Reflection: According to the number I was success for 2 of the 4 weeks. But in reality I was able to reduce my normal budget of $800 to $361 or less than half, that makes it a success! I am at least looking at my food budget differently now instead of cool this is a good deal let me stock up or we are going to need this in the next month so I will buy it now, I am now looking at the things in my pantry going unless we are out lets hold off purchasing!

Grocery Store Challenge 8/2/2012

What is my challenge? Spend as close to $20 a week at Food Lion over the next 4 weeks while purchasing items we need or to add to the stockpile based on sales. I am also going to give myself $10 a week to spend at CVS to keep rolling ECB. So that is a total of $30 a week for the next 4 weeks to feed our family of 6.

Week One Shopping: I stopped at Food Lion after work on Wednesday. I purchased Coffee Filters (a need), 2 12 pack rolls of toilet paper, 1 6 pack of paper towels and 3# of ground beef. I used the 5/25 and 2 $0.75 coupons on the toilet paper. Total spent $20.15, saved 12.50. I also got a Catalina coupon for $2 off $10 of the house brand products. My plan is to save this for next week to use to increase my saving.
CVS- After looking at the ad on Thursday and Friday, I decided that their were really only one deal that started on Sunday that I would be interested in. So Friday night, Matt and I headed to CVS to use his card for another Twizzlers deal , free candy and an I-Tunes card. I was surprised to learn that I could not use ECB for the purchase of an I-Tunes card.  I ended up spending $12.01 with a total of 7 ECB for the next couple of weeks!
                                                  Total Spent- $32.01

Week Two- Matt and I went to Food Lion on Wednesday night. I had a list of four items that we were completely out of. So I purchased Olive Oil, Sour Cream, Freezer Bags, Sandwich Bags, 4 2L Sodas and a pack of gum.  Total Spent $19.00. I did receive another Catalina coupon for $1.50 off 10 of the house brands. Fast forward to last Saturday, stops at both CVS and Food Lion. CVS, I scan my card and received a free Children's Gummy Vitamin. So I purchased a total of  4 AMP energy drinks and the vitamins total spent  $1 with 6 ECB earned. You can read the highlights of the Food Lion trip, we spent $64.24. Definitely, failure.
                                                  Total Spent- $84.24

Week 3- This week started off much better. I stopped at CVS on Wednesday to complete the Suave deal. Purchased 2 bottles of Kid's Shampoo and 4 bottles of Body Wash. Total Spent $5.84 with 4 ECB earned.   After looking over the Food Lion ad and realizing that we were completely out of milk and cheese, I decide that this week would also be a fail. We had to have the car serviced in Winston so I planned at stop at Target and Costco. Target was awesome, I purchased a swim top for me, dress for Lily, school supplies and cups and napkins for the party for $43. In the spirit  of the challenge, I only purchased items at Costco that we were out of. I spent $150.00 Part of the rationale for my decision was that if I stuck to the challenge and purchased milk and cheese at Food Lion, I would have spent the $20 this week in addition to another $150 or more in 2 weeks when the challenge is over. In addition, I am on vacation next week so I want to have options to eat at home without the urge to spend money out on meals.

Thoughts?

Saturday Shopping Success = Grocery Challenge Failure

We decided to make a shopping loop through town on Saturday morning, with a stop by my parents to play with their new puppy first. The local Aldi advertised a food dehydrator for $19.99, we actually bought some apples and bananas to try out the dehydrator. Next stop CVS, I scan my card and received a free Children's Gummy Vitamin. So I purchased a total of  4 AMP energy drinks and the vitamins total spent  $1 with 6 ECB earned.  Finally stop was Food Lion, the reason to purchase party supplies for Kendall and Zach's party next Sunday. Matt and I both scanned our MVP cards, which produces some very interesting and useful coupons. Ground Beef is currently on sale for $1.99 a pound, one of the coupons was $5 off $45 Butcher's Beef. Combining sales and coupons we purchased: 4 bags of Cool Ranch Doritos, 10 Food Lion brand Sodas, 3 Pespi Next Soda (sale 0.79 with one coupon 0.55/1 and a second 1.00/2) Gallon of Bleach, 5 cans of veggies  (sale 0.33 each), 2lbs of Ground chuck reduced to $5.09 and 21 pounds of Ground Beef. Our total was 64.24!!!  Total saving was 49% or 60.59. I am so excited because of the amount of meat this trip included.

Now if you have been following the Grocery Store Challenge you realize that is is definitely over my $30 but as I have said before we eat food and so this deal was too good to pass up!

Grocery Shopping Challenge

I love a good challenge. After several years of reading blogs and even writing. I have seen  a lot different various on grocery challenges such as "feeding a family of four for $100 a week." or "Eating from pantry."   This is my own version, the first of which I have attempted and shared from day one! Feel free to leave a comment and join me!

How I decided on this:  I have slowly been adding to the stockpile since the first of the year, currently most of the cabinets are full. I received in the mail last week 4 coupons for $5 off $25 at Food Lion each one good for one week. I have already spent $312 on groceries this month and really need to take a big chunk out of the grocery budget to help pay some auto expenses. School starts in 4 weeks and prior to that I will have to restock on snacks and other lunch items. I definitely want to use the $5/25 coupons from Food Lion especially since I pass 2 on the way to work and historically they don't have a good coupon policy.   I also realize that I could never do an eat out of the pantry challenge something always seems to come up and we need "x". So after thinking and deliberation I decided on the $35 a week Grocery challenge for the next 4 weeks starting today!

What is my challenge? Spend as close to $20 a week at Food Lion over the next 4 weeks while purchasing items we need or to add to the stockpile based on sales. I am also going to give myself $10 a week to spend at CVS to keep rolling ECB. So that is a total of $35 a week for the next 4 weeks to feed our family of 6.
 I am going to make 2 exceptions or  rule bending items up front. First, I will not be counting my final trip to Costco and/or produce stand to purchase last minute items for Kendall and Zach's Birthday Party. I have already purchased most of the paper product but plan to purchase watermelons and sweet items along with Pizza and drinks to serve.  Second, the rumored Harris Teeter Triple event, if this occurs I will use the CVS budget to purchase items is there are too good of deals to pass up!

Week One Shopping: I stopped at Food Lion after work on Wednesday. I purchased Coffee Filters (a need), 2 12 pack rolls of toilet paper, 1 6 pack of paper towels and 3# of ground beef. I used the 5/25 and 2 $0.75 coupons on the toilet paper. Total spent $20.15, saved 12.50. I also got a catalina coupon for $2 off $10 of the house brand products. My plan is to save this for next week to use to increase my saving.  Success so Far!!!!!

CVS Shopping- My Way

Typically, when you read most blogs about the best way to shop CVS, it includes rolling ECBs for each purchase. I don't follow this on most occasions. I use ECB as coupons on things that we need to purchase to lower our overall spending. Today, I ended up make 2 separate trips to CVS but am very pleased with the results.

First trip- Entire family was with me. I purchased 6 boxes of Pop tarts ($2.00 each with 2 $1/3 coupons), 3 boxes of Kellogg's cereal ($2.50 each with $1/3 coupon) and 1 Hershey's candy ($0.67). My thoughts were  that this would trigger my 5 ECB for groceries and the $0.67 ECB for candy. I was pleasantly surprised to receive a coupon for $5 off 15, the only downside it expired on Wednesday. I decided to use this coupon later in the week after I could decide the best use. I spent $17 out of pocket for this trip.

Second Trip- As I was making Rotel to freeze, I realized that I need more freezer bags so I decided to go back to CVS tonight to use my coupon for these.  Haley drove me this trip. I ended up purchasing 1 2L Dr Pepper (Haley's request), 1 bag of twirlers candy (Matt's request), 1 box of Pop tarts, 3 boxes of Kellogg's cereal ($2.50 each with $1/3 coupon) and 2 CVS brand freezer bags ($2.99 for one and $1.49 for second).  Total out of pocket $7.76 and earned another 5 ECB for groceries.

In reality, had I just ran out to a grocery store or Walmart, I would have spent the same $8 on 2 boxes of freezer bags. So by using ECBs as coupons and the extra coupon they gave me I was able to stock up on Pop Tarts and Cereal as well as purchase the freezer bags that I needed tonight. I will hold on to my ECBs to see what is on sale or what we need in the next couple of weeks.

Why I Went to CVS 4 Days in a Row!

 Diet Coke of course!

One of the principles that I use to build and keep a stockpile is that I am not very brand conscience. I will usually try anything well except one thing. I have only been drinking Diet Coke for the past ummm 20 something years. On occasion, I do drink other Diet soda but NEVER diet Pepsi!!! So this week when I saw the deal at CVS for Diet Cokes for 0.79 each, I knew I would be visiting often.  The normal price for these 2L are $1.80, I only purchase when they are $1.00 or less, but I have not seen these less than 0.99 in almost a year. This is the reason that I did make a trip all four days of the sale. My store manager did ask me that I only do one transaction per card per day. I have 2 cards so that was a total of 12 drinks each day.   I now have enough Diet Cokes for probably 2-3 month plus I was nice and purchased some others for Matt and the kids to share. In addition to the 48 bottles of soda, I purchased 4 bottles of Dawn dish detergent, 4 bottles of Tide, 2 bottles of shampoo, 2 make up items and 2 physician formula facial care for dark circles under my eyes. My store offered both American Express and CVS gift cards instead of the gas cards as advertised. I counted  both of these in my total saved because I treated these as ECBs. I am excited to be able to stock up on items that we use by playing the drug store game.

Just the numbers: Spent $45.62 on $215 worth of products for a savings of 79%.

My Harris Teeter Secrets

I had an awesome trip to Harris Teeter on Thursday. Here is what I purchased: 5 12packs Diet Coke, 1 Scotts Bath Tissue, 1 pack of Scott Paper Towels and 6 boxes of Suddenly Salads. Total cost $8.00 plus $2.00 catalina earned.

First some basic information about the way I shop Harris Teeter:

•  Harris Teeter has an online shopping that is called Express Lane. I have been using this service for the past year. I LOVE using it even with the problems that it sometimes has. Basically, you go online and place your order, designate a time to pick up (must be at least 4 hours in advance). 
• The normal charge is $4.95 per order. Often I receive coupons or other special promotions to offset this cost.  Currently all summer long all Express Lane orders are $1.95. In addition, I have received a coupon for basically $10 off $75 plus they waive the fee. I did not use this offer on this order. They also offer unlimited monthly shopping for around $16.00 a month but I have never used this because I usually only pick up at most 3 times a month.
• Sale prices are the same online as they are in store EXCEPT you don't have to buy 5 to take advantage of Buy 2 Get 3 Free, the price for a single item indicates that you are buying the five. In addition BOGO show up at half price as well. Sale prices change around 8pm on Tuesday night for the new sales that start on Wednesday. If I am ordering for a Wednesday, I usually shop on line around 8:30pm.
• Coupons are accepted but in the same way as ECB or RR. The coupons that you turn in today are used on your next order. This sound confusing but really this is how I was able to do the above purchase.
• During Super Doubles or Triple Events, things get interesting.
•  The coupons that are currently on file (from a previous trip) will automatically qualify for the event. Last Wednesday was the first day of Super Doubles so I had prepared an order of items that were excellent deals. I had previous left $9 in coupons, when I picked  up my order they Super Doubled to $20.
• In addition the coupons you are leaving during the event will also qualify even after the event is over. Last Wednesday I left $40 in coupons. I always ask they write on the enevelope the name of the event.
• Because the trip to Harris Teeter is around 60 miles round trip, I usually only shop during a special event such as Super Doubles or Triples. However, if we are planning to be in Winston and I can find some decent deals or coupons that can be used then it is not out of the way. This Thursday,we had an entire day planned so no extra gas was needed.

Now to the transaction I completed. I was running low on Diet Coke, the price on sale was $3.89 a 12 pack. Suddenly Salad was on an awesome sale 10 for $10. I had 2 coupons 0.55 each and 2  (0.50 off 2).   We also needed toliet paper and Paper Towels, neither of these items were on sale but I had $1.00 off coupons for each.  My total online prices was $48.10, with the use of $40 in coupons from last week total out of pocket was $8.00. I left the $2.00 catalina and $6.20 in coupons for my next trip.

Sunday Shopping

My favorite time to shop is on Sunday afternoons during nap time. This usually is the most stress free time for me plus the local CVS ad does not change till Sunday mornings so they usually have most items in stock still. Lily is growing up, in fact she is becoming so grown up that unless we have been our way late (9pm) several nights in a row, she doesn't need a nap during the day.  So I invited her to go along with me today.
Lily said that her favorite part was pushing the buggy at CVS.  My goal at CVS was to purchase 8 boxes of cereal at my stock up price of less than $2.  While reading blogs to plan ahead for my trip, I realized that the CVS ads were very different. I decided to check out mine prior to going. In addition to most of the items I had been reading about VO5 shampoo and conditioners were on sale for $0.66. The red machine gave Lily several coupons and I ended up purchasing 8 boxes of cereal, 3 bottles of shampoo, 2 bottles of conditioner, 2 boxes of eye patches and 2 bottles of body wash for $20, a saving of 73%.  I also obtained a rain check for the shampoo and conditioners since they only had 4 in stock.
Our next stop was Food Lion, a friend had told me of some interesting deals. I usually hate shopping at Food Lion simply because they are not coupon friendly and the prices are usually much higher. I was able to save 50% today using only coupons that were printed from their "red box" I am really pleased.
Overall I spent $41, saved 72 or 73%. The best part of the day was coming home, the little kids were so excited that we had sugary cereal, they all wanted cereal as snack! I even got a huge "thank you" from Zach for cereal! 

National Donut Day!

Today, June 1st, is National Donut Day!  Krispy Kreme is offering a free donut of your choice just for going into the store. If you know me, you realize that these are one of my FAVORITE foods. I have been working long hours this week at work but unexpectedly was finished today a little after 4pm.  Earlier today, we planned a trip to Salisbury which included a meal out, stop at Krispy Kreme and then a quick trip to Harris Teeter.  I initially was not sure that all this would be possible but being able to arrive at the restaurant at 5pm made it so much easier!

Our stop at Krispy Kreme was the highlight of the whole trip, not only did we all get our free donuts, but the original glaze were hot, melt in your mouth, hot, I wish I could eat a whole box, hot!  I had debated on just how many to purchase, the cashier was so nice that after getting our 5 free donuts, a dozen hot glazed and a dozen assorted, she asked if I had a coupon. I didn't but her next response shocked me "that is okay I have some." Laying beside her register were BOGO coupons. So we ended up with 29 donuts for $8.55 or $.20 a donut. This is an 80% saving on my favorite food in the world!  So the only thing better than a free donut is a hot fresh free donut!

The stop at Harris Teeter yielded a saving of 55% but no free donuts. I did manage to stock up on bottled water, eggs and hair products.


Did you claim your free donut?

Random Tuesday Thoughts

• My Mother's Day was fun. Matt and the little ones made me an awesome omelet for breakfast. At lunch, we grilled out with friends. Next came a long nap with the rain. We ended the day at my brothers for dinner. The kids played for hours and I ate way way too much.
• Cheerleading is down to one night a week for the next month. Unfortunately, the practice last 2 and half hours.
• We survived the yard sale!!!Which means our trip to IKEA on Thursday should be even more fun since I have several things in mind, I want to find!
• Today is the last "steady " paycheck for  Matt for at least 3 years.  It is scary and exciting all at the same time.
• We made a short and one of least expensive trips to Costco on Monday. We were able to spend less than an hour in the store. Of course we have already discovered something we forgot.
• Our budget for the month is on track.  I am actually hopefully we will finish ahead of the plan.
• My weight loss for the month is way off tra ck.....UGHHHHHHHHHHHH
• At least, I am managing to pray and read a devotion 5 times a week.
• I will soon be moving this blog to it's own website, the hold up is learning how to use Word Press.
•  Harris Teeter is starting a Triple coupon event tomorrow and I have no plans on going at all.

Monday CVS Trip

This was an unusual trip for me to CVS today.  I checked the ads and Southern Savers but was not at all thrilled. My plan was to stop by one day purchase 5 Diet Cokes and get free toothpaste. The plan made a major changed this morning when I realized that I was using my last deodorant, my last shampoo and was totally out of make up removal cloths. Luckily, I remember that I had a raincheck for Speed Stick and also a BOGO coupon in the coupons on Sunday.  After a little bit of searching I was able to add 2 tubes of Toothpaste, 5 sticks of deodorant, 3 packs of make-up wipes, 4 bottles of shampoo and 5 Diet Cokes for $23. My savings was $61 or 73%. This may not seem like a stellar performance but as I  have talked about before, these were on products that we were running low on or out of . I could have easily purchased just one of each of the items and spent the same amount. In case you are curious, I did use both Matt and my card for 2 transactions each or a total of 4 transactions. I spend less than an hour total between searching, organizing and shopping.

Extreme Couponing Does Not Always Equal Free

Harris Teeter is running it "Super Doubles" Event this week. What this really means is that they will double coupons up to $1.98 in value. I knew this sale was starting but had really decided to just not focus on it instead try to see if we could eliminate shopping until June.  But of course, after we talked about the idea of not grocery shopping for a month or more, made a list of things that we knew we would run out of,purchase the items on our list,  then realize that both the coffee supply and laundry detergent were running low.

Even with no plans for grocery shopping in the next six weeks, I still try to keep reading the coupon sites. I was pleasantly surprised to realize that Starbucks coffee was going to be on sale this week.  After a quick check of my coupons, I decided to put together a list for Matt to pick up today. I use the Harris Teeter Express Lane which basically allows Matt to drive up and pick up the groceries I order on-line. There are 2 draw backs to using Express Lane. First the $4.95 fee involved and second the fact that your coupons do not count toward today's order but a future purchase.

Today, neither of these really affected my totals because he spent $18.44 and saved $59.55 or 76% today. This includes enough whole bean coffee for approximately 6 months, and Tide Laundry Detergent for a month.  In addition, Matt turned in another $20 of coupons for our next order. I am so excited!!! Hopefully we will get back to the no shopping for a while now!

But as the title says, yes most people consider me an "Extreme Couponer" but that does not mean that I always get everything for free or that I have a huge stockpile of Adult Diapers and Preparation H. I would consider today, one of my best trip because we purchased our favorite "name brand " items for a fraction of the cost.

Random Saving Thoughts

I made an excellent trip to CVS on Saturday, spent $4 for a pack of diapers, men's deodorant, Biore pore strips and cleaner.

I am realizing that coupons this year are not as good as they were a year ago. The value on the coupon's are generally less and store sales seem to be running on a different cycle than the coupons.

My stock up trip to ALDI was less than $50 today. I purchased several pantry items that I have not been able to grab on a good sale recently.

The reason this was a stock up trip is that starting today, Matt and I are going to try and limit our grocery shopping to the purchase of bread, milk and eggs until the beginning of June. This will encourage us to use up the food that we have previously purchased including the Zaycon chicken as well as you our usual $800 grocery budget for May to pay for a trip we are planning.

We are going to start picking up our co-op box of produce this week. I am excited to not only see what we get but also to try out some new recipes with the food we are given.

The freezing temperature of last week, mean the demise of the majority of my square food Garden. I am still undecided as to if I want to replant things that were lost or just give up this year.

March in Review

The fact that I am at least 2 days late for posting this should tell you how busy we have been this past week or so. March was not a stellar month on any front but I want to inspire and remind my self of the goals I have set.

Blogging: 8 post for the month. Busy Busy Busy...

Goal: 15 per month



Devotions: 2 months in a row GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL! 
Goal is 3 a week.



Groceries: Wow this should probably be considered an epic failure as we spent $1300 this month. But I used $100 from last month, my plan is also to use some of April's budget to cover as well. We have been stocking up on meat this month. For the first time, we are purchasing Zaycon chicken. Matt will be picking it up on Friday (6th). We purchased 80# but I have not a clue as too how long this will last. I would think 3 month but really am not sure!
Grocery Budget is set at $800 per month, this includes diapers, cleaning supplies, food and toiletries.



Financially: This is an area that is undergoing constant change. I purchased several used books this month regarding finances, one of the major things I learned is to set a budget/plan for all the reoccurring but unbudgeted items. This include such things as clothing and auto expenses. I know that we will not be able to met the items some months but my hope is by having even half of the money saved it will help to keep us on track.  I was able to pay off 2 small medical bills this month, and one credit card.  It was a difficulty but productive month!

Goal: To be Debt free except for mortgage by the end of the year.



Weight-  I am not sure what is up with this goal. I did meet my exercise goal but not the weight lose. I am going to continue to focus on the exercise and hope the weight loss catches up!
Goal to exercise 3x a week and to be down to 150 by December by losing around 4 # a month.

Different Ideas

I enjoy reading several blogs, okay I stalk around 20  right now but who is counting?  One of the reasons that I read these blogs is to find new and better ideas.  I am always looking for new ideas regarding meal and of course budget/money matters. Several of the blogs I regularly read, help me stay up to date with coupons and sales, other simply make me realize that my life is not as crazy or mixed up as it can be.  Today I thought I would share some of the most interesting and useful things I have learned lately.

• The concept of spending 10 minutes a day on projects that seem overwhelming came from The Peaceful Mom. I have been using this concept over the past several weeks to be able to first get and keep my coupons organized as well as stay on top of quizzing and other church responsibilities. My plan is to start trying to organize, delete and combine all the documents and photos that we have saved on the computers in the past 6 years. I am thinking that it will most likely take a month or so to finally get this all done but at least I have a plan for action.
• Also over at The Peaceful Mom, she is sharing about her family's challenge of living on 28000 a year. It is so encouraging to read how they are doing. I am still debating the idea of a second checking account to place money for things like clothing and extra irregular expenses.
• I began to save and use Coke points from Couponing To Disney. One of the awesome new rewards is All magazine. This magazine is only sold at Walmart or via subscription. Currently at Coke Rewards I can earn a one year subscription for 337 points. I need about 30 more points! I have been debating on ordering this for about 6 months now and was waiting for the lowest price of 0.83 an issue again but FREE is so much better.
• Caring with Coupons, is a lady that is most local for me. She also is the first to announce Harris Teeter triples and Super Double events. We just finished a week of Triples and she is suggesting that Super Doubles will occur in 3 weeks.
• Southern Savers, is still my first stop for finding coupons and preparing for any deals.  Recently, we were able to go to Vista Print and get the first round of business cards and decals for Matt's business.
• My favorite place to find new food ideas is Lynn's Kitchen Adventures, and we recently tried egg over rice! Simple, easy and filling.

I guess I should mention that none of these ladies know or request that I recommend their sites but it just seem like a good way to share the new things I am learning!

Highlights

We managed to add to the calender this week to the point where Matt and I actually did not see each other, for longer than 5 minutes on 3 of the 5 nights. Matt is currently serving on the church governing board and the pool board, this month both of the meeting occurred during the same week. I have also been picking up extra hours at work, Lily continues to have 3 nights of cheerleading a week and Haley's birthday was Friday.
Things that I remember from this week:

1. Today (Saturday), church pictures and Haley's birthday lunch. The pictures were really dark and I looked HUGE in them so I was not tempted to purchase any!  We ate at Texas Roadhouse for lunch and managed to finish the leftovers for dinner. The meal was really good and Zach had the only meltdown which occured at the end of the meal, while we were waiting for a check. All 7 of us enjoyed several hours together with no major drama!

2. Zach asked to wear underwear today. He managed to stay dry ALL day long even with us being gone alot!   I actually caught him in the act so he even pooped on the potty as well!!! I am so excited. He did not want to wear a diaper tonight so I am hoping this is the beginning of something big!

3. We have finally gone through all the clothes for the little kids. I am very hopefully that everyone has enough to make it though the spring and summer. Lily will most likely need new clothes for school  next year but I am planning to buy those at the end of the season so they should be less expensive. We have been so blessed in this area with Kendall,  not only have I saved alot of Lily's clothes but we have been given bags and bags of clothes. I was able to totally change out her clothes to the next size today without purchasing anything.  On Thursday, we spent some time shopping for Zach, he needed shorts.  I did not realize he needed these, because several pair from last year are still way to big. I ended up spending around $80 but was able to purchase 4 complete outfits and 2 extra pair of shorts for him.

3. I actually only saw Haley the morning of her birthday! I had to work late, she and Matt have been waiting to see Hunger Games, since last August. They were able to get ticket to the 7:25 show. My parents watched the little kids till I got home from work and I was in bed before they arrived home from the movie.

4. Matt made Haley's birthday cake. I got pictures on my phone and on the camera, if I can get the other computer to work I will try and upload for Wednesday this week. It is actually one of the best cakes he has made and it is almost all gone today.

5. I have gone WAY over budget for groceries for this month. Harris Teeter had a triple coupon event and we have made 2 trips. In addition, we most likely will be purchasing chicken breast from Zaycon this week as well. My plan is to replace this overage in the month of April. I also plan only to purchase necessities we run out of and things on stock up. I would like to spend including the pay back less than 400 in April.  This would place us in an excellent position for the summer.

6. Ruger has settled in some, he is still peeing in the house but it is down to once a day.

7. I transplanted broccoli outside and it appears that 5 of 6 may survive. I am not so sure of my chills, because of hail, we got today I am afraid it may have killed several of the plants. I am planning to plant both cucumbers and squash this week.

8. Finally I am excited about the weather. We have been have alot of unseasonably warm days. In fact, the temperature has been above 80 on several days. Matt and I have really worked at reducing our electric bill so we have yet to turn on the air conditioning. However, tonight it is cooler, suppose to be in the 50s and rainy so I will be sleeping well!

Lots of Thoughts

Zach is going through a rough time at night..he has begun to wake up at night, several times a night and is currently screaming because I will not open his door!

Zach is asking to go potty at least once a day, he still does not EVER poop in the potty but this is an improvement.

Ruger is still peeing in the house, this is the only complaint I have with him. Otherwise he is so well behaved and lovable, I would have 3

With the unseasonable warm weather we are having, I need to make an effort to store all winter coats and go through all of Kendall's clothes. We have already been through Zach's clothes but I am noticing how small most things are looking on Kendall.

I have been work 4 days a week at the hospital so it feels like I never see the kids especially if Matt has a meeting! Please pray that I have more time with the kids....

I actually planted Broccoli in the square foot garden on Sunday. My plan is to plant cucumber and squash this weekend.  This is one of the earliest springs on record for NC.

At the book sale today, I purchased 2 separate book on financial stuff and budgeting. I am hope to get some inspiration! We actually are on track for the month but I want and had planned for some bigger results.

My weight loss is at a stand still, I am going to continue to exercise 4 nights a week and see what happens. I am hoping with it warmer outside I can eat lighter as well.

Haley's Birthday is Friday, we also have church pictures on Saturday. She has agree to go out and celebrate on Saturday after the pictures as a whole family.

On Friday night, Haley and Matt will be going to see the Hunger Games. Matt hopes to finish the third book in the series prior to that.

Harris Teeter is having triples this week. I am planning a trip tomorrow and hope to spend less than $20 but really have no clue what I will spend. I will only be purchasing items that I have coupons for but still don't have a clue.

Saving Money- $0.85 at CVS

Yes, this is what I purchased at CVS today for $0.85. CVS is an excellent place to start couponing because of the fact that it doesn't limit you to only purchasing the items that give you ECBs.   You can instead use the ECBs or gift cards to purchase things you need or want.  This week's ad was not all that impressive and I saw nothing to roll my ECB to. But after my last CVS trip, I was left with 9ECBs. I have been checking out things in the stockpile so I know what I need to stock up on when a good sale comes. We seem to use ALOT of shampoo and conditioner at our house, so this is usually something we need. I did notice that the VO5 was on sale for 0.77 a bottle. We needed the peanuts for dinner today. So after another short day at work, I ran to CVS to cash in some ECBs.   My subtotal was $.61 and the rest was tax.  So now instead of holding on the ECB or letting them expire. I was able to stock up on a product that is used at least daily around here.

For the record

I purchased 8 bottles of shampoo and conditioner, 1 jar of  peanuts and a pack of eye shadow applicators. I used 9 ECB and my out of pocket was $0.85, saving $11.81 or 93%.

Saving Money- CVS trip

Thursday's have turned out to be the day that we end up shopping especially for groceries since we have to travel to Winston (30 minutes) most of the time for the best deals. Today we went to CVS, Harris Teeters (2 orders) and Costco. By far the best trip saving wise was CVS.

Matt noticed this morning that he was out of shaving cream. After a few minutes of thought, I decided to use the 5 ECB I earned for completing a survey on line to buy the shaving creme.  I used Southern savers to find at least one coupon.  I was pleasantly surprised when I scanned my card at the red box and got another 5 ECB for beauty club purchases. Here is what I purchased for $0.36

I used a 0.55 coupon on the edge, the gum was on sale BOGO. I ended up grabbing these at the checkout so I would not waste any of the ECBs.  So I saved 95%, have 9 ECB left for next week and earn 0.25 for using my green bag tag.

Well worth the extra 5 minutes and stop at CVS

Saving Money- Even When It is Not Convenient

Living in a small town makes it difficult to save money most of the time. Add in the fact that most weeks, we don't have alot of extra time to devote to saving money. But I have learned the hard way, sometimes saving money is not the most convenient or easy thing to do.

 Out of the 7 of us, 5 use contacts and/or glasses. I do carry vision insurance at work but coverage is very limited.  Glasses are very expensive, on average a pair has been costing with the insurance an average of $200.  We have tried places in town such as Walmart, however they refuse to place transition lens in Lily's glasses and the "$10" kids glass still cost around $100.  In addition, the customer service is awful, we have waited around 30 minutes each time we go for a fix as well as they charge for each piece that breaks on the glasses, for example nose pieces are $10 each. I also have attempted to order glasses online but this does not work out either mainly due to trying to fit the small face structure of the girls.  I have been reading about Vision Works and decided to check it out. The closest Vision Works is in Winston about 30 minutes away. I stopped in 2 weeks ago, we were able to order 2 pair of glasses for Lily including one with the transitional lens, they also "slimmed down" the lens as well, the final cost $184.00.  I was most impressed with the selection of frames we had to choice from, even staying with the lower $69.95 frames, Lily located several pair she really like in about 10 minutes.  I was able to come home and submit for a part of the cost back from my vision plan. I can only get $90 back as opposed to $150 but the real difference is after reimbursement I will have spent $95.00 for two pair of glasses as opposed to $150 for one.  Yes, using Vision Works took extra time and the cost of gas but the overall saving is well worth it.  Check out Lily's new frames below!  I was so pleased that Kendall will be receiving 2 pair of new glasses this week as well!

Another example of saving money not being easy is couponing in general. It takes time. Time to prepare and shop. An example is today, I knew that if on my way to CVS, I stopped at my parents then I would have a second set of coupons and therefore be able to purchase 2 toothpaste for free instead of one. At this point, I don't need the second tube but it was a small inconvenient for a free item.