Easter 2009

Shopping With Coupons

My Kroger Deals

Before sales and coupons~60.63
After sales and coupons~3.70

Here is how.
Everything I got was on sale. I had a coupon for most of the things.
Krogers was running a deal mix and match 10 things get 5.00 off. I got 20 of those things taking 10.00 off my bill.
I had 5.00 coupons off any Huggies gentle care product. The wipes were on sale for 2.50 giving me an overage of 2.50 per coupon. I had 4 of these coupons so I got the wipes for free and an additional 10.00 overage off my bill.
The toothbrushes, toothpaste, butter and suave deodorant were also free after coupons.
I was bummed because I forgot 2.00 coupon I had. I could have got it all for 1.70!
Krogers doubles coupons up to 1.00. So if it is a.35 coupon it doubles to .70, a .50 coupon is doubled to 1.00 and a .75 coupon it is still "doubled" to 1.00
I did not buy meat this trip which always makes my bill more since there are very few coupons for meat.

My Walgreen's Deals.

Before sales and coupons ~99.12
After sales and coupons ~23.32

The shampoo was an sale for .99 cents. I had 1.00 coupons getting them for free. Everything else was on clearance some of which I had coupons for. The crest pro-health is normally 5.00-6.00 but was on clearance for .95 I had a 1.00 coupon and two .50 coupons. which means I paid a total of .90 for all three.
The cookies were.32, the Karo syrup was .49, pizzas were 1.09, and the napkins were .75
I also got a good deal on Huggies diapers at Walgreen's. If you bought 25.oo you got 10.00 back in Register Rewards.(a "coupon" on your receipt for 10.00 off of your next purchase) The diapers were on sale for 10.00 a pack and I had some good coupons. There was a mix up on the order and I did not get my Register rewards, so the manager gave me 10.00 cash. So I got three packs of diapers for a little over 3.00!!

Some tips for shopping with coupons

• Always try to match coupons with sales. Hang on to the coupon until the item goes on sale.
• If it is a good deal, stock up enough to last until the next sale. It is cheaper to buy it on sale and to have it on hand than to need it and have to pay full price for it.
• Don't be Brand Loyal. If you are willing to try a different brand you can get some good deals. I hardly ever pay much for Cereal, Shampoo, Toothpaste, deodorant, Air fresheners,etc.
• Just because you have a coupon does not mean you need to buy it. Sometimes it still is not a good deal, or may not be something you will use. If it is not going to be used it is a waist of money
• Get multiple coupons if you can. I buy the Sunday paper at the main office when I go into Cincinnati on Tuesdays (I usually buy tw0), and a dear friend gives me her extras. If a great deal comes along it is nice to have extra coupons for that item.When I first got started I posted an ad on Craiglist asking for coupons people did not use. I had 2 people respond and sent me coupons for several months.
• Get online coupons. Coupons.com and smartsource.com are two good sights.
• Keep your coupons organized. It is frustrating to miss a good deal because you can't find a coupon. I used to keep mine organized by category in a recipe box. It was easy to file them away but frustrating to look through them to find what I needed. Now I use this:

It is more time consuming when you cut them out and put them away but is much quicker to find a coupon when you need it. Any 3 ring binder will work. I use baseball card holders to put the coupons in. It will hold 9 per page.

• Let others do the hard work for you. There are many web sites and blogs that look at the sales and match up the coupons for you. Here are some of my favorites moneysavingmom.com, becentsable.net and cincinnaticents.blogspot.com. You can also do a google search to find some that do stores for your specific area. But most of them cover the biggies like Kroger Meijer CVS and Walgreen's. Becentable.com has something called the grocery gathering where many people post deals found at many different stores. I also have links on the right side of my blog to more coupon sites and frugal blogs.
• Load your store cards with coupons. shortcuts.com and cellfire.com are two sites that do this. You put in you storecard number and then when it is scanned at the store the coupons come off your total.
• Always take your coupon book/box with you. Some people just pull the coupons for the items they are going to buy. I have found that when I do this I come across something an clearence or a sale I did not know about. I even take mine into Wal-mart even if I am not shopping for groceries. I once found Halls cough drops on clearence at Wal-mart and I did not have my coupons with me. I made a trip back later and got the Halls for .25 a bag. I would have saved myself a trip if I would have had my coupons with me.
• Don't expect your bill to always be a couple of dollars. That happens sometimes, but I usually save 40-60% off my bill. Every little bit helps.

If you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment. I am by no means an expert, these are just some of the things that I have learned that have helped me save some money for my family.

My Nurse

Tim is starting his clinicals in school so he is starting to look the part. He does not like the all white scrubs but he does not get a choice. He is doing really well with his studies and grades and I am SO proud of him.

I always thought that the men in white suits would come get him someday but instead he IS the man in a white suit....:-}

Olivia

We have been able to see Olivia a couple of times lately. We got to go to her adoption in December.(can't find the card with the pictures right now) And we got to see her last week to celebrate her 2nd birthday. She is growing up so fast and has an unbelievable vocabulary. She puts thoughts and sentences together like much older kid. She recognizes us when she sees us and comes right up to give us a hug.~Makes ya feel good~But you can tell that she is very bonded with her new family and is happy ~Which makes us happy.

Olivia's Baby sister Kylee

Chris making her laugh

She loved holding Nathan ~ She said "He likes me"

When it was time to go She sat down on the bench and said "NO"

These are pictures of a rainbow that I took from our deck yesterday. If you look close you can see that it is a double rainbow.

This end of the rainbow looked very close

Caribbean Cruise

I am so sorry that I have not posted and you have had to look at Christmas for so long. Tim and I have just gotten back from a three week Caribbean Cruise so that is why I have not been able to post. (I Wish)
Actually we had a great Christmas I just have not gotten the pictures gone through and posted. We had all of my family (25)here for a few days over New Years and had a wonderful time together.
Here is a new picture to help you dream of warmer days to come!!!

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Pictures

I usually try to take the kids Christmas pictures myself, but this year it just did not seem to be working. So since it had been a while since I had had professional pictures taken I decide to have some done. These were taken at Portrait Innovations.

Whew! I survived the weekend. Friday we had our church Christmas dinner which I was in charge of. Saturday was Christmas program practice. Sunday was the Christmas program and Brittany's birthday. Monday I had a birthday party for Brittany. I think I can relax now and enjoy the Christmas season. I still have some more shopping to do and have not started any Christmas baking~but that is the fun stuff:-}
Thanks to everyone that left a message for Brittany on her blog. She was very surprised and is already thinking like a blogger. Last night she had to take pictures of all her gifts so she could put them on her blog. She has also learned that she can use her blog to blackmail her brother into being nice to her.
Since I hate posting without pictures here are a few from Saturday night when we went downtown.

Nathan with Santa Clause.

Brittany, Walter, Charlie and Cris with Santa Clause.

(This picture was taken under great protest from Walter.)

I need your help

Brittany turns 13 tomorrow. She has been asking for a blog for a long time, so I am surprising her with a blog for her birthday. I would like for her to have a lot of comments on her blog when I show it to her tomorrow. The blog is still a work in progress but you can still leave a comment, so head over there and leave her a birthday greeting.
Thanks for your help!
http://teengirlbcs95.blogspot.com/