Christmas Week

Wow! What a week! Can you believe that it is finally over? I cannot believe all of the Christmas gifts that we gave and received! My house is chock full of everything including toys. I cannot wait to start purging all of the stuff that we don't need anymore. I plan on giving some stuff to the faith house. In January they always ask for linens, from blankets and sheets to towels, so that will be a good place to start. Other than that I will be bringing all of the kids old toys and clothes to Baby Basics and pretty much everything else to Goodwill. I just started using Baby Basics and I really like it. It is not consignment, they pay you up front for the things that they want. I find that she pays really well.

I am so excited about my Christmas gifts. My mom gave me a refrigerator! Yes, a stainless steal double door refrigerator! I love it. And the best part is that she got it on Black Friday for 50% off. I taught her well! I also got a bread maker from my husband, which is something I have always wanted. I find that bread is very expensive in the stores, so he got it for me. I made my first loaf of wheat bread today and it probably cost me less than $1. And, it was so good! I can make almost anything with it, including jam! I love it. He also gave me a mixer, and oh, did I mention he also got everything on Black Friday? He was able to get me so much cool stuff that I have been wanting forever. He even got me a laptop backpack which was perfect because I am always on the go with my computer. Anyway, Christmas was awesome!

The baby did get sick however. He contracted RSV, so we had to cut our visiting short and come home to the emergency room with 105 fever. Yep, that will cost me a pretty penny. It's funny because I was trying to call around on the way back from Mississippi to find out which hospital would be cheaper! I know, it's ingrained in me. We finally ended up at LGMC. I hope it was worth it! I will know when I get the bill! Ha Ha.

When I came back I did try to hit some of the after Christmas sales, but there was nothing really exciting left over. I had waited too long. I wish that I had shopped when I was in New Orleans or Mississippi because there were still plenty of things left when I was there. OH, I almost forgot, I did get a few things at Sam's the day after Christmas. My MIL had a business card for Sam's so we got in earlier than the general public and I was able to get enough Christmas paper, ribbon, and gift cards for next year. I love Sam's because the quality of their products is always good, so I know that it was worth it. And, this paper will last me 3 to 4 years! It was just one huge roll. I also got a few nice things at World Market like a Christmas tablecloth, napkins, and crackers. So, I actually did get a few things, just not as exciting as I thought it would be. I really wanted a Christmas serving set, a tree with built in lights, and presents for next year. But, when I went out it was all gone. Next year I know better! There are still a few deals available online, but again, nothing really exciting.

This week I am excited about the grocery deals. Albertson's is having a huge buy 1 get 1 free sale, so I am planning on stocking up on a few things. I really don't need anything for this week at all, but I want to stockpile since the deals are so great. I just hope that I can get out of the house sometime soon. I have been stuck in the house for days because the baby is so sick. So, hopefully my hubby will let me out soon!

This Week in My World

This week was amazing because of all of the phenomenal steals and deals that are happening for the holidays. We are reaping the benefits of holiday deals and a bad economy. Here in Louisiana many of us are oblivious to the pain that many of our neighboring states are enduring this holiday season. Layoffs have been terrible nationwide and stores are trying their best to make up for the dip in spending. Stores are offering deals like they never have before and employees are hard to find. Even though we have yet to be hard hit by the economic downturn here in Louisiana, we are reaping the same benefits that everyone else is. The only bad aspect is the lack of help in the stores. The prices may be low, but you are on your own! Please keep all of these laid-off employees in your prayers this holiday season and help them as much as you can.

This week I was able to get quite a few steals that I was really happy about. At Kohl's I got a diamond necklace for $21.99 down from $90. I also got 2 shirts there for my grandpa for $5 a peice. They were marked down on the clearance rack, but when I got to the register they took an additional 20% off. Old Navy had some pretty great sales, almost everything was 60% off and clearance was an additional 50% off. I was able to get a whole new wardrobe for a needy child for $40. The next day I had to go back because the coats were on sale for 60% off. When I walked in the door I lucked out because they were handing out $10 off and $5 off coupons to the first 200 customers. So, I was able to get my daughter's coat for only$12, originally $42.50. (I got a $5 off coupon). My grocery bill wasn't bad either. I only bought about $35 of groceries this week. I was able to get those free because I returned a couple of coats that I realized I didn't need. And CVS had some deals this week!!! There must have been close to 30 items that were free with Extra Care Bucks, plus I used my CVS gift cards that I earned from my prescriptions, so I got 3 bags of stuff for FREE! I know that there is more that I probably did this week, but these are all of the deals that I can remember right now.

I hope these help you to find the rest of the presents on your list and MERRY CHRISTMAS! I will be thinking about all of you this week. I hope that you got everything you needed under budget and without going into debt. Please e-mail me if you have any last minute Christmas questions. I would be more than happy to help. Take care.

Watch Your Cashier

I was going over my receipt from Wal-Mart this week and realized that the cashier did not correctly price match a few of my items. Instead of .88 per lb she put .98 per lb. I realize that it doesn't appear to be much, but it adds up when you're stockpiling. So, my bill should have been about $5 less!! I normally try to keep track of exactly what they are putting in, but I couldn't see it on the screen. I really don't think she meant to, but if I would have caught it I could have saved myself some money! Lesson for the day: watch your cashier (or the screen)!

Simple Sunday

Yesterday I had the pleasure of having coffee with a magnificent group of older men. I went to CC's to do my regular work and ended up having a range of conversations with them. They were great! We talked about money, the economy, greening our houses and so much more. Each one of them shared with me how cheap their electricity bill was. One of them even said that if it weren't for surcharges his bill would only be $6! Talk about frugal! These men know what it's like to have to survive a depression. Well, our time is coming, so I want to learn as much as I can from them! I even had a chance to teach them a few of my tricks and they were amazed at what I was doing too. One of them said that he doesn't run the heat at night. Another said that he only eats when he goes to work because the business pays for it. It seems as though none of them run their electricity when they aren't home. We can learn a lot from their generation. My challenge for you today is to talk to your older relatives and friends about hard times and how they survived. If you hear a great idea please post it so that we can all learn!

After I met with them I went to CVS to take advantage of all of their free deals this week. I got a Nova blood monitoring system, saline nose spray, SleepMD, Pantene Shampoo (coupon in Sunday paper!), and 12 Christmas mugs. It was all free because of Extra Care Bucks and gift cards from prescriptions. Oh, and I took advantage of the deodorant deal as well. The Soft and Dry has a coupon on the bottle that you can peel off and use it in addition to the extra care bucks. Happy, happy, joy, joy!

Happy Saving!

Back on Track

After a week of a higher than normal grocery bill I am finally back on track. As you all know, I hadn't been to the grocery store in 3 weeks so I was rightfully up to a $95 grocery bill because we were behind on everything! But, my cupboards are no longer bare! This week I spent a total of $56.76 all at Wal-Mart. I was able to get all of my groceries for the entire week plus stockpile pork steaks, ribs, and oranges (I can always juice the oranges if I need to). I have enough for at least 4 extra meals. I didn't use any coupons but I did do a lot of price matching. I price matched the oranges from Albertson's (buy one get one free), pork steak from Adrien's (.98 per lb.), and ribs from Piggly Wiggly (.88 per lb). Everything else was mostly the store brand. The dinners from my menu plan are spaghetti, pork steaks with rice and gravy, red beans and rice, smothered chicken, home made chicken noodle soup, ribs, and chili. I also had to get some things to make lots of cookies for a few Christmas parties! I hope this helps! Happy Holidays!

Amazing Deals from the Today Show

With the economy in trouble retailers are getting creative to bring people into their stores. Here a few of the deals that were talked about this morning!:

Resorts are offering all sorts of deals in exchange for their services such as trading stocks for vacations! They are offering the equivalent of the value of what your stocks were in July of this year! If you haven't heard of any sales or deals don't be afraid to call people up and ask to make a deal.

Carnival Cruise is offering a 7 day 7 night cruise for $299! Seriously! What a Christmas present!!

Brookshire stores are offering 15% off to anyone who brings in a gift card from any store, for any amount, and from any year! What a trade off! I love it!

Gap is offering a 30-40% off employee discount to anyone!

AND Layaway is back. It was just taken away last year at Wal-Mart and it is back!! Wal-Mart, K-Mart, TJ Maxx and Sears!!


Did everyone get their $10 gift certificate from JC Penny? I did!! I got a gift for Secret Santa for FREE! It was a $20 item on sale for $10, and I used my coupon so it was FREE!!

Happy Holidays!

Drug Store Deals

This week was a great week at Walgreens! Although I love CVS, their deals just weren't very exciting for me this week. Walgreen's was my best friend! First of all they had a coupon on the back of their weekly sales ad for Angel Soft toilet paper - 12 rolls for $2.99. I stocked up on TP so that I won't have to buy any for a while. This will help bring down my grocery bill. Then there were all kinds of little Christmas goodies for .39 with their coupon. I got snow globes, puzzles, salt and pepper shakers, even Jiffy corn bread mix which I will use at a potluck dinner this weekend. I also got Christmas pencils with toppers for .25 a piece for all of the kids in my daughter's class. Hallmark money holder Christmas cards were .69! I got a few of those for my teen nieces and nephews who want nothing but money this Christmas. All in all I was very happy with Walgreen's!

There were a few good deals at CVS. I know that the 32 oz. Powerade was free with ECB. I keep using my $30 gift card coupon every time I have a prescription filled. I now have $90 in gift cards from CVS. Pair that with ECB and it could be worth $900! So, I will be set for the year with all of these free gift cards! I won't have to pay for a thing!!

I haven't been to Rite Aid yet this week. They always have a good chunk of items that are free with mail-in rebate. I just got my check from my last rebate this week, so I can cash it and go get more items that are free with a mail in rebate. I just stockpile all of it until I need it. If I won't ever use it I can always exchange it for something that I do need. I love drug stores!!

Today is Tabloid Tuesday! Don't forget to check your mail, sit back and circle all of the good deals from the sales ads! Check out the Big Lots sales ad too. They have been having some super deals, like Guitar Hero for the WII only $48.88! You can't beat that!! I hope all of you are enjoying your Christmas shopping! If there is something that you are looking for you can e-mail me directly for the best deals!

Happy Saving!

Done with Christmas!

This week was pretty crazy, but great at the same time. For the first time in a long time I spent $95 at the grocery store! I'll explain. First of all, there is a reason why I truly, truly recommend leaving your kids at home when you grocery shop! You will always buy something that you didn't intend to buy. Even if it's just one little thing, it throws off your whole plan. Plus, just the fact that they are with you makes is more difficult to concentrate on making your deals. They make me crazy with "I'm thirsty" and "I'm hungry" and all of their legitimate demands. It's just hard to do so many things at once. So, you are truly trying to rush through the store as fast as you can. Well, this week, because of time constraints, I had to bring my kids to the store. Now, I am not blaming them entirely for my spending. I did have 2 weeks of shopping to make up for, which means replenishing all of the necessities like toilet paper, paper towels, etc. I also did some stockpiling because my fridge, pantry and freezer were really empty. AND lastly, I was stocking up on cleaning supplies because I started doing flylady.com! Are there any FLY LADIES out there? If so, you know what I'm talking about. If not, you are missing out on a wonderful program. If you like my site, you will love hers too. Her site tells you how to clean your house! She tells you what you need to clean each day and breaks it up into a little each day. I love it. I have finally regained my sanity! So, the $95 grocery bill wasn't all my kid's fault. I caved, which I never do, for some $2 a piece Lunchables. I even tried to explain how they would get more if we would buy the crackers, meat, and cheese separately. They wouldn't have it. Lunchables are cool. I am a sucker....what the heck it's Christmas.

Ok, so here's what I bought this week:
-All of my weekly groceries, which was a lot because I was out of everything!
- Stockpiling:
-2 of the 10lb bags of chicken from Adrien's for $2.90 a bag
-6 boxes of Honeycombs that were on sale for 2 for $3 at Super 1
-Several heads of lettuce that were .88 at Adrien's
(of course I price matched at Wal-Mart)
-toilet paper - I used the White Cloud coupons from All You magazine the paper was $2.00 and the coupon was $1. Total cost $1 each for 3 packs of toilet paper.
- 4 bags sugar free chocolates with buy 1 get 1 free coupons
-Extra cleaning supplies: dish brush, Comet, 2 pack of anti-bacterial wipes, paper towels, dryer sheets (the static is driving me crazy so I caved on these - you can cut them in half and they work the same)
-I know I used another coupon, but I can't remember.

I bought so much stuff that my basket was overflowing, so $95 is not bad I guess. I just have a hard time swallowing that number, but I was still under budget, so yeah.

My Christmas shopping is complete! Aside from the few things that I plan on making myself, I have everything and am done with shopping. I even brought some clothes and baby items to Baby Basics on Ridge Rd to make some extra Christmas money. She will call me Tuesday, so I may get ONE more thing for my husband, but I am done!! Happy Dance!! Now I just need to focus on putting together the Christmas mugs that I am making for the teachers. I'm not sure if I wrote about it before but this is what I have:

Christmas mugs - free from CVS with $30 gift card from prescription coupon
Coffee - .06 a bag from target with the printable $1 off Archer farm coffee coupon
Chocolate - .63 total for all of them. My mom gave me her $5 Foodie Bucks from Fresh Market
so I was able to get $5 in free chocolates. So they are .07 a piece.
Candy Canes - .88 per pack. CVS sale
Lip gloss - free from my mom who is getting out of Mary Kay and wanted to help.

I am going to put all of these together in a clear bag with a ribbon and they will be beautiful! So $1.03 per gift! I love it.

My lemon tree is ripe so I gave all of my neighbors lemons today as a Christmas gift. (FREE)

Just a reminder - It's time to send out Christmas cards! I just realized this. I have Christmas cards that I got on clearance after Christmas at Target last year for .30 a pack and a 3 roll pack of wrapping paper that I got for .50 there. So, look forward to the after Christmas clearances this year!

Errand Day

Today is the day to go shopping! Yesterday I made my menu plan, grocery list, got my coupons ready, and cleaned out my fridge! I hope you did too. I am on a mission today because I have a long grocery list and a just a little money, so wish me luck!

Yesterday I was able to do a little more holiday shopping. I went to Toys-R-Us because I had a $10 gift card from a few weeks ago when they had the coupon in the paper. So, I was able to get one item for my youngest son. It was $20, and I had the $10 gift card, so I only paid $10. Next, I went to Ross Dress for Less and I was able to get 2 complete jogging suits (really nice one's not the cheesy ones made out of parachute material) for $12.99 each, plus some Carter's pajamas for a friend of mine for $6.99. Then on to Wal-Mart where I bought the Elmo Live for my son who is completely in love with it. Normally I don't buy trendy toys like this because they play with them for one day and then they are done. However, Liam loves this thing, so I caved. But, I am still within my Christmas budget, so no worries. I have been finding items cheaper than I estimated by being creative, using coupons, and hitting sales, so I have more $$ to spend! Wal-Mart was the cheapest on the Elmo Live, plus they are the only one's who have it in stock right now. I will probably do the rest of my Christmas shopping online because things will be easier to find online this late in the season. I hope all of you are having good luck too.

Tomorrow is Friday, which is date night! I am going to be spending enough today on groceries, so we will just stay in tomorrow. I will probably cook a nice dinner, put the kids to bed, and rent movies from the red box! It's so cold I could even light a fire and candles for some extra ambiance! I'm sure there are some things in the paper that we could do, but I didn't ask my mom to babysit, so I hate to ask her so last minute. I'll check the Times to see if there is anything free, just in case! Have a great day!

Tabloid Tuesday

Today is the day to check your mail, get out your Sharpie marker, and circle all of the deals in the sales papers! I finally got my sales ads after a week of nothing. I found a few good deals that I was happy with: Adrien's had 10lb bags of chicken for .29 per lb, they also had heads of lettuce for .88 per lb, Super One Foods has certain Post cereal 3 for $1.50 (I will try to find a coupon), and Piggly Wiggly has a bunch of meats for only .99 per lb! Of course I will be price matching at Wal-Mart so that I only have to make one trip.

This week is going to be a big shopping trip because I haven't gone to the grocery store in 2 weeks! The first week we were on vacation for 5 days and when I came back I never received a sales ad in the mail. I had enough food in my fridge, pantry and freezer to last the whole 2 weeks so I never went shopping. But, now my cupboards are bare! So this week will be a real challenge to keep the bill low. Plus, I really need to do some stockpiling! I will definitely be taking advantage of the 10lb chicken deal this week. Tomorrow I will be putting together my menu plan for the week, my grocery list, and my coupons. I know that I can stay within budget, we just won't be doing much of anything else this week!

A few people were asking how we were able to go to California. Well, to be honest, most of the trip was a Christmas present from my family, not to say that we didn't have the money saved. I am very disciplined in my spending, so anything extra is put in the savings account and constantly builds in case of an emergency or necessary expenses. SO, I could have paid for the trip, but we got lucky. When it comes to Christmas gifts I usually ask for practical things. A vacation was something we really wanted and needed, so that's what I asked for this year. Other than that, I did take out $500 of my savings for expenses. We ended up spending about $100 before we even left to get some extra clothes and shoes for the trip. I was happy with this because we needed them! Then we spend $70 on surfing lessons and surf board and wet suit rental. The rest was spent on random things like food and souvenirs in Disney. AND I still came back with grocery money! We stayed with my grandfather, so we were able to eat and sleep there to save money! It was a fabulous trip. The majority of the expenses were in the flights, car rental, and Disney tickets which were covered by my family as my Christmas present. So, I probably spent $300 while we were there. I am uploading photos as we speak, so they will be on the blog soon.

My Christmas shopping is getting closer to done. I need to go through my receipts to get my total number because I did do a little Christmas shopping in Cali. They have IKEA which I am a complete freak for, so I did get some gifts there. I didn't buy much, no more than $30 in gifts, but they are soooo cheap! I love IKEA, I wish they shipped more items because I would buy everything there. I didn't buy much on Black Friday and Cyber Monday because I couldn't really find anything on my list. I was able to get a fantastic deal on jackets and pajamas at Wal-Mart, which we really needed! My husband shopped the Saturday after Thanksgiving because he heard me talking about all of the deals. He bought all of my Christmas presents in one day! He was dying to tell me what he bought because of all of the great deals he found. I was able to get a red 4 quart Crock Pot from Target for $15! I have been using it and I love it. My husband ran to get it for me and when he got there the shelf was empty, so he started asking and was able to find more on top of the shelves! So, I got my Crock Pot! Happy Dance!

I haven't done any other spending this week because the deals haven't been that great. I didn't even see anything very exciting at CVS, but I did get my coupons on Sunday. If anyone is ever in River Ranch on Sunday I'm always at the CC's next to CVS. Sunday is the day that I normally work on the site, so I am usually there from about 11am until 4 or 5.

Tomorrow is Menu Planning Day, so get out your sales ads, print out your menu plan, check your fridge, pantry and freezer, and make a menu. Make a grocery list for the few items you need and whatever you plan on stockpiling and organize your coupons. Post your menu plan tomorrow. Happy Tuesday!