YOU GOTTA FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT TOOOOO COUUUUUPPPPONN!

I decided I needed to go back to K-Mart yesterday.. however.. fitting into my schedule was another story. I woke up to my cell phone ringing over and over around 7:40am. It was my son's dad telling me I had to go pick our son up from school. He was a very sick baby, wound up having 3 brain surgeries, and now when a headache hits we have to be very cautious. Of course I had already planned my day because I had to take out a neighbors dog then go babysit a friends kids while she went for physical therapy.. well how am I going to do both and not drive back and forth??

Luckily my friend and my son's school are very close to one another which happens to be a 40 minute drive for me. So I took a shower, went to let the neighbor dog out with plans to come back after her physical therapy to let the dog out again at 2pm. So I get up there, go to my mom's.. ohh I forgot to mention my car has been acting up.. I have all sorts of issues with my car but the new one.. My car likes to keep the key hostage in the ignition!! nice.. so between picking up my son and babysitting I had to go figure out how to flip around cars in my family (thank god we have so many extras.. but my extra can't be driven in cold weather it's a 1978 928 Porsche with no heat and Antique plates) so I did that, took my car to the mechanic, drove my mom back home, grabbed lunch for my son/myself, and headed to my friends house. He actually felt good enough to read to one of the kids and helped me some. Then after that I got him back home and then I raced back home to grab the dog.

I got home and realized I had to pay a credit card bill which I pay off every month. We only use it for purchasing on line items and bigger ticket items now that we've paid off all of our debt WOOT! So I went on line, paid it, and then logged on to my bank account to figure out I didn't get my unemployment check.. UGHH run to the mail box sure enough a letter saying it had run out and some other problem had red flagged me (I guess I answered a question wrong on accident) so I had to call unemployment.. thankfully I have a contact person who is very helpful.

In the midst of this my mechanic called along with my sister in law OH and my phone had been almost dead all day! nice huh? So I was waiting for the mechanic to call and had no juice.. I was glad I got home and he hadn't called. I suddenly realized I still had my neighbors dog and it was almost 5pm and she would be home wondering where her dog was! So I called her and let her know, then walked her dog home, and then took my little man for a walk. I come home, my husband was already eating so I made myself some dinner... after that I really wanted to go to K-Mart to work more deals and get my money back from my last trip.

I called my buddy and she was already in route to K-Mart to do the same! lol! I got there and spent about 20 minutes at the service desk with a very nice guy who figured out everything that happened including my one Gillette coupon that did double, my one that never even scanned, and one that scanned but didn't double. (well double making them free so the double should have been $1.50) he gets all done and says "woah this isn't right... it says you are at $20.50" umm I know that can't be right IN FACT I was trying my best to be honest and say things like it doubled here but for the wrong amount so I did get 69 cents of the $1.50 (on the glade spray) but then on another item I got it for free I didn't expect to get for free (the cashier had chosen the wrong glade product) so then add back in 19 cents.. so I figured 60 cents for each glade spray. Anyway.. he figured out that he had doubled something he shouldn't have doubled and my total back was $12.xx that I was happy with!! Yeah customer service guy!! lol!

1 borax sale 3/$9 used $1/1 coupon doubled $1 final price (not bad)
4 Good Bites not sure of actual price coupon gave me $4.99 overage FREEBIE ***
1 zest 3 pack $2.19 used $1/1 coupon doubled 19 cents final price
4 Hershey's Dark Choc bars $1.59 each $1/1 coupon doubled 59 cents FREEBIE
3 Revlon Nail polish $4.19 used $2/1 coupon doubled 19 cents
3 Revlon nail clippers $2.89 used $1/1 doubled 89 cents total
1 Dove Choc bar $2.19? used $1/1 19 cents total
2 tic tac 99 cents each 55 cent coupon doubled 44 cents FREEBIE ***
4 Quaker granola bars $2.59 each? used $1/1 coupons doubled 59 total each
1 Iams cat food used FREEBIE coupon
2 Vaseline mens lotion $2.99 used $1.50 coupon FREEBIE

My total OOP was $5.xx (don't remember) but to get down to that price I had fight with the cashier over almost each coupon.. it was nuts. I gathered that she had gotten in trouble for something coupon related within the last few days because finally after I asked her to call over a manager she made some comment about "not wanting to go back to Mr so and so's office again over coupons". Which is understandable HOWEVER she didn't understand any of their policies, I had to explain them to her AND she was making it out like I was robbing HER personally! It was nuts!

***With the tic tacs she said she couldn't use any more of my coupons because GET THIS "I can not give it to you for free" of course I had just gotten done with the service desk manager who had no issue giving me several items for free with coupons that didn't double or didn't scan, so of course I asked why not. She grabs the sign and points at the tiny print that say "can not exceed the price" UMMMMM 99 CENTS IS THE PRICE IT GAVE ME 99 CENTS THAT IS NOT EXCEEDING. Then she tried the "per purchase" act and I said YES EACH ONE I BUY IS A PURCHASE THIS (opening my arms above my whole cart) IS A TRANSACTION... her response? "that is not what mr so and so told me" umm I have no clue who mr so and so is but obviously either he is misinformed/educated or he didn't explain it to you correctly.

The the Revlon color coupons wouldn't scan, not sure why, and she said point blank "I can't use these" and shoved them back at me "umm why not?" "the computer won't take them I don't know why so they can't be used" yeah call the service manager over.. who of course put them through with no issue. Of course, as soon as he scanned one I realized she had already used one of my Revlon "tool" coupon towards a nail polish because only 2 nail polishes popped up but he made sure that each coupon went through as $2 and doubled at $2 so I'm pretty sure I got the deal I intended.

With all that said/done my coupon buddy did her transaction and we walked out side. As soon as we got outside I looked at my receipt and was laughing my butt off BECAUSE those *** Good Bite dog treats were on sale for under the $4.99 the coupon gave me off! So I guess on those it's okay to exceed huh?

$1.98 for 12 boxes of pasta.. yummy pasta at that!!

Okay 12 boxes is not shown here.. I was at my mom's house when I did my quick Jewel run and gave her some of it too. Anyway.. Pasta was on sale BOGO FREE and the price was $2.29 for the first box. I had $1 coupons which I've been hording for weeks waiting for Jewel to make these 10/$10 as they have in the past.. no dice.. 14.5 cents for each box..?? I'll take it! Thank you!

I'm not happy about this one...

Okay.. a friend wanted to do some double couponing at K-Mart so I spent a few hours sorta going through coupons I haven't clipped and coupons I have clipped sorta figuring out what I might be able to get for free, close to free, or stuff I really wanted/needed for the cheapest possible price. I came up with this huge stack of coupons, all only under $2, all only for one product because the last time I went and tried to use coupons that were $1/2 they didn't double. So I read each coupon carefully, only picking coupons that didn't have any special "notes" to them like NO DOUBLING or whatever.

This is what I got.

4 Zest 3 bar packs $2.19 each used $1 coupons (rounding) 80 cents
3 Gillette Shampoo's $3.50 each (2/$7) used $2 coupons for each only one scanned and doubled at $1.50 so I'm confused on this one
4 lifesavers $1.25 each used $1 coupons doubled at 25 cents FREEBIES
4 Soft & Dri deodorants $2.49 each used 50 cent coupons doubled $1.49 each or $6 total
4 pantyliners $1.29 each used $1 coupons not sure but I think the double on this only gave me 28 cents?
1 KY Jelly $4.49 used $2 coupon did not double??
3 Arm & Hammer TP $2.50 each used $1 coupons I think these doubled correctly
2 kids TP $2.49 each used $1 coupons I think these doubled correctly
4 Glade carpet powder $2.19 each used $1 coupons I think these all doubled correctly
1 Greased Lightening spray $2.99 used $1.50 coupon doubled $1.59 FREEBIE
2 Hershey Dark Choc bars should have been $1.99 each rang up as $2.49 each used $1 coupons
2 Glade sprays $3.79 each used $1.50 coupons cashier entered them wrong and they doubled as 69 cents she chose the wrong Glade item for this
4 Whiskas treats $1.39 each used 2 BOGO coupons and 2 $1 coupons the bogo worked.. not sure about the other regular $1 coupons
1 beggin strips $2.50 used $1 coupon
2 Whiskas milk $1.19 each no coupons

my total after coupons was $26.50 I calculated my total without tax should have been $16 (rounding up here and there like I counted 80 cents as $1).

What do you all think about this transaction???

Weekend shops, sorry no pics

I didn't do that well so I didn't take pics.

I went to Ulta, found a $5/$10 coupon that I had from getting the magazine deal.. which was good because I got the store and asked for a flyer for the coupon and the refused to give me one.. they had one but it was blacked out! whatever! geez. I couldn't find one from my Sunday paper, not sure why I didn't get one.. didn't get one in the mail either. oh well...

I got 6 Bonne Bell Lip Smackers $1.59 each used 3 $1/2 coupons (I just noticed she only scanned 2 of them ughh) and that $5 coupon. My total was $2.74. Not good, could have been less.

I ran to Walgreens just to use that $5/$25 coupon here is what I wound up with

2 bags of socks on clearance for $3.19
1 bag of socks regular price $6
1 KY Intrigue $19.99 used $5 IP and two $5 ESC (oct & nov) $4.99
4/$10 M & M's (figure left overs could be used for Christmas bags) used two $1/2
$5/$25
$8 RR

Total OOP $14.67 got nothing back. I might be able to claim the M&M's on Nov rebates for $5 back? I gotta look it up.

I keep getting TAGGED!

Well thankfully it's for the same thing I keep getting tagged for.. now here is my issues.. I haven't done this because most of the people who I would tag back I've seen this same thing done on their blog in the past so I don't want to retag them... so I'll play along and give you 7 things about me....


1. I'm scared of roller coasters for several reasons #1 my dad made me ride several very big scary rides in the front seat when I was just barely 5 at a family day at Great America (Six Flags). My cousin used to work there and they would shut down the park so family could come and ride without lines. #2 my mom worked for a close hospital and saw wayyy too many accidents that happened at that park. #3 We also know several people that have worked for the park and after hearing about how they rush "repair work" there.. you won't see me getting on a ride.

2. I'm scared of Haunted Houses. When I was 4 my parents took me to a local Haunted House put on by the local Jaycee's. Half way through my dad was carrying me and we came around a corner and some guy dressed as a werewolf was sitting at a desk with his head down. He jumped up, grabbed me and left. My dad thought it was a joke and laughed and couldn't find me. He eventually wound up back at the start and told a worker he couldn't find me. They shut down the entire place, turned on the lights, brought out all the workers, eventually brought the cops in because by my dads description there wasn't anyone who worked there dressed like that. They found me in a closet a half hour later. I have no recollection of what happened between the minute he took me from my dad and days later.

3. I hate concerts. I do not like loud or crowded places. I really hate loud, crowded, smokey places. Thank god for the smoking ban in Illinois.. no more smokey bars, take that stuff outside people! If I get together with friends I really pull for a quiet restaurant or someone's house so I can hear everything that is being said. I hate acting as if I heard what you said in the bar and then a week later having no clue what you told me and realizing it was information I needed to know!

4. The night I was born my moms ob was pulled away from his high school reunion. He was pissed and pulled me out with forceps because the delivery was taking "too long".

5. My son had 3 brain surgeries before he was 8 years old. It didn't register with me that they were brain surgeries until he was around 10 and it was too late to be freaked out about it because they were done and over with. Nobody ever used the words "brain surgery" when discussing his medical issues. I guess being a 17 yo mom had it's benefits.

6. The day of my son's first surgery I had an omen I still believe happened for a reason. It came through as a fawn on the road who decided to stop in the middle of the road and watch us in our car. If you want to read the full story go
here .

7. I can't think of anything else to write so I'll tell you something really funny.. Ted Nugent saw me naked when I was 4! This is my claim to fame. I knew who he was, I knew he was a rock star, but I've known him my entire life at that point. He drove a silver El Camino when he was in town and when my neighbors hunting van was missing I knew they were gone for a long boys weekend. The night they came back they would always hang out on my neighbors porch, listen to music, and drink beers. (Ted Nugent grew up in my area and hunted with my neighbor who was a friend of Ted's dad)

That's all I've got.. and I don't have 7 people to tag! lol! So if anyone that reads my blog hasn't done this CONSIDER yourself tagged and do it! lol!

Even when I was little I was "getting the deals" PROOF!

This is a picture of me when I was either 5 or 6. My sister was always bored at the grocery store so she'd find creative ways to keep herself occupied. So one time they had about 100 of these apple bushels all set up and up on top of the shelves really high. They were having a raffle and all you had to do was fill out a slip of paper. My sister must of filled out 100 of those stupid slips of paper while my mom and I shopped. She filled them out for herself, each of my parents, me, my grandma who lives in the city (Chicago) at the time, neighbors, friends, friends parents.. it went on and on.

We got a call about 3 weeks later that I had won!! It was a great big deal, we have SEVERAL pictures of us picking it up, me standing by the car with it on a cart, me standing by the car with the bushel in the trunk.. then pictures of me like this, pictures of my sister posing like this etc. She decided she was in a Jordache jean commercial which is why I chose this pose! lol!

Anyway.. at the time my mom was in nursing school and working part time at an answering service. My dad was making $100 a week and our mortgage was $260 a month so as you can tell our grocery budget was rather small and we ate many dinners that consisted of mac and cheese and hot dogs or cheap steak and mashed potatoes. This basket of food was like winning the lottery in our house!

Funny thing is, I posted this on my facebook and my cousin commented that even then I was getting the deals! The funnier part is, who set all the stuff up? This is exactly how I would set up the goodies today! lol!

thhhhhhhhpppffffffffff

ughhh I'm an idiot.. but okay.. I'm still labeling this as a rookie mistake even though I don't believe I'm a complete rookie anymore.. but I still messed up.. *sigh* Okay... just look at what I did.. not bad.. but I could have done BETTER *double sigh*

I'm telling you.. this whole unemployment bs has my brain in mush.. seriously.. so a good friend of mine calls and we both forgot to give each other some stuff yesterday when we saw each other (double mush) so we decide to meet up because REDBOX sent out a free code for Walgreens redboxes only. Well of course the only WAGS that has a redbox near me is by her house.. cool.. we can meet up and I can show her how to use the redbox because another girl I told about it got all confused and missed the code screen and had to pay. Okay whatever. So I'm driving to her house and for whatever reason I turn as if I'm driving TO her house and then just keep driving thinking I'm going to the WAGS that is the other direction from her house. All of a sudden I realize I'm in the next town over from her house (in Chicago burbs all the towns are stacked on top of each other) so I pull into that WAGS and decide just to run in really quick and see if they have the LINDT chocolate bars that I've been trying to get a great deal on.. I mean get paid to buy.. so OF COURSE THEY HAVE THEM!

So my dumb arse calls her and says "umm I went to the wrong WAGS I'm a dork" she says she'll come meet me. She's always wanted to shop with me, so cool she can see in action.. so I realize because the Lindt deal PAYS YOU 25 CENTS for each bar that I need to grab other stuff for the overage (if I got it). So I decide to grab the candy deal to use towards Halloween Candy. I couldn't print the $1 coupons because my computer is like FORT KNOX because my computer techie cousin blocks me from everything because I'd crash and burn my computer if I was left to my own devices (I collect viruses because I'm cheap and they are free) {ha ha that was a joke} okay so I grab 4 m&m bags, check the ES catalog to make sure I'm grabbing the correct product for that rebate, go through my coupons and find just one coupon that's $1 off 3.. okay cool.

I get up to the line, hand the cashier my stuff, my stack of coupons and she goes to scan the $1 off 3 coupon and it says "item not found" or something.. I grab the coupon and say out loud "I'm a dumb arse I didn't buy HERSHEY CANDY SORRY" and tuck it back in my organizer.. now she has 18 other coupons to scan for my purchase and ONE WOULD THINK I'D GRAB MY SNACK/CANDY ENVELOPE AND LQQK FOR OTHER COUPONS I COULD USE WHICH I KNEW I HAD BECAUSE I REMEMBER THINKING OOOH I'M GONNA KEEP THESE FOR HALLOWEEN CANDY FOR THE TRICK OR TREATERS buuuuuut noooooooooo I didn't do that.. my total came to $8.72 (or something who is counting anyway?) and I hand her a $8 RR and of course it doesn't go through because I wouldn't be paying for tax or because I used a coupon for almost everything else I bought.. I don't know.. so I grab the RR back and pay with my debit card.

I got home and realized said idiot moronic error, grabbed said snack/candy envelope and found 4 $1/2 m&m fun sized coupons within seconds. I'm a dork. Yes, I am.

But for $8. and whatever cents I got what's in the two top pics.
18 Lindt candy bar which will make nice extras for my Christmas bags ALL FREE PLUS A 25 CENT OVERAGE (did I do that math right?)
4 bags of M&M's which I'll be getting a $4 rebate on.

Not a bad haul but I could have gotten it for $6 OOP and then grabbed something else for say $2.50 and got it all for the price of tax.. yeah huh. drive through.

So here is the best part.. we get out to the parking lot and I tell her I want to go to her Jewel because I wanted to see if they had the Cubs/Bears bags that she told me was in the Jewel sale flyer (which I looked at 3 times myself and even comment to my husband about but didn't but 2 and 2 together because like I've said 40 times my brain is mush.. so until she actually SAID IT TO ME and I grabbed my flyer for the 18th time this week and looked again it didn't click.. ugh) so I ask her is it easier to turn left out of her on the road or should I go out the other exit that take you to a side street with a stop light so I can turn left...

Yeah Carolyn says "YOU WANT TO GO TO JEWEL NEXT, YOU NEED TO GO RIGHT" oh yeah DOH! I just said that like right before I asked if I should turn left out of the parking lot.. it's gonna be a long night friends.. as my cousin Heather says "grab a cup of Joe and a pad"




Okay Jewel.. I walk in and they have an entire display of these bags! woot! so I grab 4 of each (I can't even think long enough to figure out who I need them for I just know I got 10 of the girl ones so 8 should be good, I think, I don't know.. I can buy more later) I didn't touch the Sox ones cuz my grandma would roll over in her grave and hunt me or haunt me or something. She would.

Anyway they were 2/$4 which makes me think they'll go down in price.. but I've been looking for these specifically for so long.. I'm just happy to get them. Then little pimple Johnny cashier is telling me how much he likes them.. and that THEY JUST GOT THEM IN and I said "this is the last day for the sale of the flyer they were in" he said "right, it's been a huge issue all week people looking for them" cool.. glad I got some then since it was such a huge issue.

I grabbed 2 more $1.99 milk for my 14 yo son who drinks a gallon or two a day and that was my Jewel trip!



and finally the grand finale to end all grand finales or whatever.. I made it to the Walgreens I was supposed to be at.. walked around the store twice.. found one of these Lysol things that was on super duper sale that I had $5 coupon for.. my total make to $1.49 with tax.. hmm weird.. I have a ton of these coupons, I'm hoping one store will have one so I can double dip on Friday/Saturday this week and get the rebate for it next month. Anyway.. I got one.. I'm happy.. so I ask where is their RedBox machine.. IT'S OUTSIDE! brrr.. ok

RedBox code is 122WAG for anyone else who didn't get the text. I rented 2 movies.. The Orphanage which is Spanish (I didn't read that it was, but it has English subtitles) and The Hulk which of course I sort of remembered my husband saying he saw.. then I get home and start telling him what I rented.. oh yeah you saw The Hulk didn't you "YUP" .. yup I'm a moron today.. total brain mush! lol!

while I was waiting for my pizza's last night...

I made this quick trip...

3 Airwick Freshmatics $5.99 each used $4 coupons (they were out of the Lysol ones of course)

3 Benefiber 16 count kiwi strawberry $8.49 each (others are reporting them at $7.99 each) used $5 ESC plus $2 manu coupons for each

1 Halloween sounds CD for the trick or treaters next week $1.50

$5 RR from last week

My total came out to $8.90 and I got a $8 RR back for the Benefibers.


in things to watch for I found these coupons inside the Airwick Freshmatics $2 off mini Airwicks. no.. don't adjust your eyes it's my stupid camera that wouldn't focus!

boy, I was seeing RED tonight! ughh ***WARNING*** SEVERE RANT IN THIS POST

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.. YOU CAN'T GO BACK AFTER THIS LINE.. I'M STARTING MY RANT RIGHT..... 3....... 2.........................1..................NOW

ughh!! here goes..

Soooooooo my husband has a round robin poker thing going with our neighbors. Basically the rule is if you host you buy 2 cases of beer and they used to include snacks of some type. They have changed the price of the game and over time it's gone down to $5 for the first game and 2nd game has always been a cash fun game. Anyway.. now the game is back up to $20 for the first game which since I've been unemployed and my husband was down to 32 hours making only $20 a week more than me on unemployment, he's had to bow out and not play for probably months. Well he felt bad because he would play, and go and drink the hosts beer, and could never host due to $$. So one of the last times he played right after he got laid off he told them all "I'll host the first week I get my new job and do pizza and snacks" so one night another guy couldn't host due to a death in his family so Tim offered to host, went and got beer, but of course couldn't do pizza that night. So this week he made a big deal out of hosting, it's not even his turn, but he figures so many of them had to host several weeks in a row because we didn't have the cash, at least he can return the favor on some level.

So last week restaurant.com had a 80% off sale so I bought a $25 certificiate from a local pizza place that we always have bad service at, but I figured if I just ordered pizza's to go that I could get really good pizza for $10-$15. So today I ordered the pizzas at 7:20 they said 25 minutes.. okay.. so I rounded up some coupons and ran to Walgreens while I had some time (I'll post that run later). I leave Wags at 7:45 exactly, the place is less than a mile down the road. I walk in, the girl finds my pizzas, I hand her the certificate and she sorta looks confused.. says just a second, walks back, and comes back with a manager looking type woman who asks me if I had read the certificate. Umm sure.. I read it when I was printing it out last week.. okay why.. She said it's DINE IN ONLY.. ohh geez.

So I was standing there thinking "I'm not paying $40 for pizza.. there is just no way" so I asked if I could sit down and eat some of the pizza and then just take the rest to go and they said NO! Okay.. so the manager hands me the cert back and says "just bring it in another time" like it's no big deal.. So I tell her that I wouldn't ever come to eat there because I have such bad service there in the past and I figured ordering to go was my best option because I do like their food. She starts asking me 20 questions about all my "bad service experiences" which included times I've gone there with good sized groups to the times just my husband and I have eaten there alone.

Finally I shook my head and I said I simply didn't want the pizza's and they said "that's fine" so I left! I get in the car and call my husband and tell him and he acts like no big deal. Okay.. so I get home and I'm feeling bad so I say "why don't you just go grab some from Little Caesars they have $5 ready made pizza's" and he said no. So I had a walking buddy waiting on me so off I went walking. We got back and I still felt bad so I just went to Little Caesars myself and grabbed 3 pizza (2 minutes before they closed) and came home. I walk into my garage and all the guys were super happy BECAUSE NONE OF THEM HAD EATEN BECAUSE MY HUSBAND HAD TEXTED THEM ALL TO SAY "I'M HAVING PIZZA TONIGHT" lol! nice guy huh? he could have told me that before I left to walk! I just would have gone then! or HE could have gone himself like I said! ughhh stupid boys!

So that's not my only rant for the night.... earlier in the night one of our neighbors had stopped by to help my husband set up the poker table. Of course, they were in the garage so *somehow* they got on the subject of my "store" as my husband, the kids, and our neighbors call my stockpile in the garage. So I guess the neighbor grabbed one of my Scrubbing Bubbles Foamers, one of my Scrubbing Bubbles Foamers that I had to wait 3 months to get a good deal on, one of my Scrubbing Bubbles that I only got 3 of, one of my Scrubbing Bubbles that I had to go to 3 stores just to find, one of my Scrubbing Bubbles that I had just finally gotten a week ago and asked a question about it and my husband says "just go ahead and take it, she gets the stuff for FREE" umm no I did not get that for FREE!! I was so mad, I was totally yelling at my husband about it and he's all "I'll get it back from them" omg who does that? seriously.. oh I didn't know my wife had to pay for that! geez. Luckily this is the neighbor that gives me 2 sets of coupons every weekend (they get two papers) so they've probably saved me much more than that Scrubbing Bubbles actually cost me.. but really.. stupid boys!

I did some research.. and maybe answered a few of my questions!!

Wow! What a great bunch of ladies (& gents) out there that have helped me with my questions.. well I did do some research and this is what I've come up with.

As far as the bags go for the boys loot for Christmas I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with the Home Depot bags. ***I wish I had taken pics of everything I looked at**** I went to Steve and Barry's and they had nothing. I went to the dollar store, nothing,.. I went to Ikea and they had a few things. One promising idea was wastepaper baskets. Ikea had small bathroom/bedroom sized ones in white or red that were big enough to probably hold all their loot. I love the bucket idea as well but haven't come across any buckets that would fit that price range however, it's not even November yet so I have plenty of time. Ikea alos had GREAT bags. The big blue ones that are 59 cents. I have one and love it.. but it's almost too big.. the loot would be sloshing around dumping all over the place in those and I don't see one of my boys ever using them in the future. Ikea also had LARGE shopping type reusable bags all in girlie colors and girlie type theme. Bubbles, squiggles, flowers, etc.

So yes, Home Depot has LARGE orange (home depot) color bags that open really wide, stretch, and even have a lock closure. I still don't see any of my boys using them in the future, however, if they need to at least it says HOME DEPOT on the bag. They are 99 cents and luckily Tim has several unused gift cards so I wouldn't have to pay a dime OOP for the 10 I'll probably buy.

Just another point for all the mommas out there. Those Home Depot bags would make KILLER halloween bags for your kids loot! At 99 cents each you can't beat it.. and you could write your kids names on them in sharpie if you have multiple fighting over loot children.

Okay another question I had last week was about storage for your cat/dog dry food! Well my answer came in the form of the MAIL LADY on Saturday.. lol! I got a local Aldi flyer and right on the front cover was a picture of a set of canisters for $5.99.

So I'm a happy camper with this.. I need to run to Aldi anyway.. I'm running out of a few Aldi items I only get there like kidney beans and canned tomatoes. So I started a short Aldi list. All things I can get while running other errands.

My last question about the Scrubbing Bubbles, I went ahead and just bought the refill pack and applied for the ESR at Walgreens. Worst case scenario I'll call and tell them I read the description which says "6 pack" and see if they'll still honor it... it's $1.50 but what the hey.

I'm mad at myself because I've made a few major erros this week that cost me some valuable dollars. I didn't think my CVS transaction through and spent more ECBS than I would have liked. I should have opted for a CVS gift card so that I could use that $13 towards CVS because now I'm left with like $10 in ECB's and I'll have to rebuild. I know at the end of October I should be getting a $10 freebie ECB for doing a survey so I'll be back over my little $20 ECB stash I like to keep myself at.

CVS has this great deal on GUM toothbrushes. I threw out those coupons.. I actually remember looking at them like 4 times thinking "there are soooo many toothbrush/toothpaste deals I'm gonna throw these out, I won't need them" the sucky part is that the kids toothbrushes are part of the deal and I really need them for my gift baskets. I can still get them but I know I won't be getting as good of a deal as I could have gotten. *sigh*

I missed the $5/$25 Wags coupon my less than an hour.. not sure why I didn't log on to my computer right before I left on Thursday to shop.. but that move cost me $5 I would have loved to have saved.

I should have fought the sock issue at Wags last week... I really needed new socks and so does my hubbie for his new job. So with $6 I could have fulfilled both needs easily. (somehow I'm down to maybe 3 pairs of socks and my hubbie needs socks that come over his ankle for his new work boots).

Okay.. so I'm about 5 months into this and I still sit back and let deals fly by.. I walk through CVS and never check deals I've thought about all week.. I get in the car, drive home and remember the next day *darn it*. I realize later I had more coupons or better coupons for deals. For example this week I bought 3 Bertolli dinners at Wags.. I could have printed 2 $2 off coupons plus one of my $1.75 coupons and saved myself another $2.25 but I didn't.. so combined that one trip I could have saved another $7.25... such is life.. but it still bugs me! lol!

My cereal box overfloweth

because I went to CVS and bought out most of their cereal that was on sale! 16 boxes in all.. I printed out the IP coupons and didn't look at what they were all for and they took them all.. so I got 16 boxes! Nice! check it!

16 boxes (yes count them) cereal 2/$4 used $1 IP kelloggs coupon for each
6 Extra gum used 3 BOGO coupons $1.29 each
1 Johnson buddy used $1 coupon no clue how much it was $1.19 maybe?

tried to buy 2 Well Patches however it was the wrong ones so I had to return them.

used $10/$50 coupon
a few hundred ECBS some were almost about to expire which is why I went
I spent $3 OOP then got nooooo ECBS back so I returned the Well Patches and they put the $13 back on my debit card! I would have liked to have a CVS card instead. OH well!

now after this trip check out my stockpile!! I have meant to take pics but haven't. This is just my garage stockpile. this does not include my cabinets in my kitchen that are packed, my freezer that is packed (I'm actually looking into getting a 2nd frige for my garage), and my bedroom walkin closet that I currently can not walk into due to stockpilage!

I know this isn't the definition of photobombing, however, I think it's funny my animals make appearances as often as they possibly can especially when it comes to bringing bags and bags of stuff into the house. they could care less what is being brought in, they just love the bags and the excitment, and bugging mommy of course. Well here we are in the garage, it's an extra room of the house that they never get to hang out in, so it's like a treat for them to come out while I'm organizing.

this is my new CEREAL BOX. I still have probably 8 bags of that $1 cereal left from last week's 10/$10 sale over at my local grocery store.
this was my original "cereal box" it is now cereal, animal crackers, pretzels (my husband is a pretzel hound so I bought him 10 bags at the same 10/$10 sale last week at my local grocery store. WOW our garage floor is really nasty.. I really want to paint the floor like all of our neighbors have.. huge big job we should have done over the summer.. *sigh*
my cats food cabinet. of course she has to go in to inspect. I have 9 of those little bags of food and two of the bigger bags. This on top of the two stuffed to the brim containers inside the house.
ahhh yes, I haven't shown anyone my coupon bin in awhile.. I got this at the dollar store for $1 and at first I had to stuff things behind the envelopes so they would stand up.. now it's so jammed I couldn't get another coupon in there if I tried.. I have about 10 inches of uncut inserts *sigh*. a girls work is never done! lol!

$4.12 OUT OF POCKET FOR ALL OF THIS! WOOT!

TODAY WE ARE GOING TO TALK LIKE 'DIS!!! lol!
Okay I like to play moron here and there.. so check it out!!

Okay I guess for all you double dippers out there who like to say I spent xx on GC and then $4.12 from my purse and then got back a $5 RR so really I made 88 cents.. but I don't look at it like that.. I look at it like my next trip will be $5 less.. so today OOP was $4.12

Two stores..

Walgreens
3 Bertolli dinners used 2 $1.75 Bertolli coupons
9 pizza breads 44 cents each on clearance
2 pizza fries $1.79 on clearance
1 B/B lipsmacker (I had grabbed 2 but somehow only paid for one) used $1 coupon which she let go through.. not sure how it was a $1/2)
1 Scrubbing Bubbles refill $3.79 used $1 coupon and will apply for $1.50 ESR

Total $25.25, $25.18 on GC and 7 cents from my purse. Received $5 RR for the Bertolli dinners and will get back $1.50 ESR.

not bad for 7 cents huh? oh and they wouldn't let me do the no nonsense sock deal with the packs of socks.. they said it was for "singles" only. whatevs!

***OMG I JUST POSTED THIS, WENT ON I ♥ WAGS AND OF COURSE THERE IS A $5/$25 COUPON TOMORROW AND SATURDAY!!! DOH!!*****

Jewel
2 gallons of skim milk $1.99 each

Total OOP with tax $4.05


MY "made from the stockpile" lunch from yesterday/today



2 chicken breasts I got for 99 cents a lb
1 can of kidney beans from Aldi 54 cents
1 can of diced tomatoes from Aldi 54 cents
green/red peppers I got for 99 cents a lb and had chopped and froze
onion I got on clearance for 79 cents for 3lbs
grilled summer squash I had cut up and frozen because I couldn't finish it
red pepper flakes
chili powder
parsley cube


I wanted to make chili but didn't want to use my ground beef.. so I used chicken instead..I HAVE SOO MUCH OF IT!! it came out sooo yummy and filling. It was nice because yesterday was such a cold/rainy day here in Chicago... it was nice to have something warm. I was thinking I could do this same recipe with different beans, seriously anything would work, and no chicken breasts. That way I could have meatless meals with plenty of protein! You could always add a little shredded cheese on top or even a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.. booo yahhh!! yummooooo

whoooo wags is like buttahhhh

Soooo easy! I had gotten both the Lypsl and the Nivea body wash this month and of course by the time I went to enter those receipts the check boxes were gone! I was flustered but then heard that people were still getting them anyway. I checked their website late last night and they added them! Yeahhh!! Good thing too because myson opened that body wash the day after I brought it home, I was going to return it!

a week of questions?

Okay.. I had posted that I had bought some black (Jewel) reusable grocery bags for the ladies of my family. They have the pink breast cancer ribbon on them and I have planned on filling them with toiletries, cleaning products, and other small odds and ends I've found over the course of the months I've been hounding.

So my question today is this... what should I use to give the boys of our families their goodies? I had found $2 clearance laundry bags at Jewel but I figured that no boy is going to use a laundry bag anyway. I would like to go with the same "reusable" something idea for each of them and also something that they would have to actually open and take each product out to find out exactly what was in each bag.

Is there a masculine looking reusable grocery bag anyone has seen? or any other idea of something that would be big enough to hold deodorant, shower gel, and other goodies?

P.S. I only paid 70 cents for each of the girls bags so I was hoping to stay in that same range. Let me know what you come up with. Does Home Depot have bags? hmmmm What about Trader Joe's bags, how much are those? I think the Ikea blue plastic type bags might be too big and what man would reuse that? Where else have you seen any reusable bag that a man would use?

another question

How do you store your cat/dogs dry food? I have two cat food containers that are plastic but with all the cat food I've been getting for free lately both have been filled to the brim all the time. The new dog food I got free doesn't have a little zipper closure like his Royal Canine food does and also is a paper bag vs a more plastic bag so my cat can easily rip through it if she gets in the cabinet. My cat is the master and getting to food and ripping open bags so I'm trying to avoid that. I'm thinking maybe some sort of rubbermaid/tupperware container but those brands are so expensive.. what else is out there I could get relatively cheap and would keep the food fresh?

Scubbing Bubbles scrubber refills?

Okay.. have I missed it? Was there a sale on the refills? I currently have 3 open starter kits and really do not want to open another one. I would much rather buy some refills so I can continue to use the kits I've already opened.. in fact I feel bad about having 3 kits open! lol!

busy weekend

I did do some hounding this weekend.. mostly just trying to grab a few WAGS deals. I wound up having to go to several stores in order to get what I wanted. No pictures either, I was just too busy to get everything put together and now I'm sick and just don't feel like digging everything out.

Okay this is what I wound up with from WAGS this weekend.
Nivea Mens body wash $5.49 used $1 coupon
Lypsl lip $2.99 no coupon
**thought these both were added to the October ESR however I got home and tried to enter them and they are gone! Sure enough checked the sites I had seen them and everyone said they were taken down..?? should I return them?**

Rimmell foundation $7.49 used $1 coupon ESR FREEBIE
A&H Laundry detergent $2.99 used $1 coupon $1 ESR
3 Scrubbing Bubbles shower FOAMER $3.99 used 2 $2 coupons and 1 $1 coupon ESR
L'Oreal Towelettes $7.99 used $1 coupon ESR FREEBIE

I called Walgreens customer service this weekend because I never did get 2 of my ESR's from last month.. the Pert and the Acid controller because the cashier couldn't get my coupons to work so the manager had her do a price modification and instead she took the products off and then put them in as numbered items.. so it looked as if I hadn't even bought those products however I had. So they did credit me the full amounts for those. I was told the first time I called that you can't use coupons on ESR deals?? what? okay I always have and see that everybody does as well... IN FACT my WAGS had those little yellow dots on the L'Oreal towellettes saying if you pay at the cosmetic counter they'll give you a $1 off (coupons they keep over there) that were clearly marked as FREEBIE items....???

Okay last but not least my son got a drum set! I didn't take any pictures of it.. DOH but basically he got a set for $250 off of craigslist. Luckily this set we found happened to be very close to my sons dads house so we took them right over there for him to set up. He's spending the day today banging away! lol!

Texting from Yahoo Instant Message

Okay this is something I just learned to do maybe 4 weeks ago.. I figured I should pass the knowledge along. A friend of mine told me about it because she uses Yahoo IM at work and uses it to text people throughout the day. It's free and really fast.

I just copy/pasted the email with the directions I had sent to someone else today. Sorry no pics.. maybe if I have time later I'll work on that! My sister is taking me to see Jersey Boys for my birthday gift! yeahhh!!

Okay.. do you have Yahoo IM set up already?

Okay at the top of the messenger is 2 little smilie faces in a box next to that box is a little index card looking thing. That is your address book click on that. Then scroll down to the person you want to add their phone number in and do a view/edit contact details. A box will come up and in phone numbers they have a place for "mobile". Type their phone number with area code in that box.

When you want to send them a text click on the little cell phone next to their name (in the address book) and a IM box will open. It will have their phone number/name in the top so you can double check it. Type what you want preferably a long message.

The first time you sent them a text through Yahoo they will get a message and it will ask them to "accept" or verify the message before it will send your message through so let them know.
I know it's hard to explain without sitting next to you and showing you the exact buttons to click but it's fairly simple once you know where to go, it's just a matter of knowing the option was there. A friend taught me how to do it like 4 weeks ago!

I just have to document this here...

Okay.. I had the smallest At&t nationwide cell plan up until yesterday. I was getting 450 minutes per month, 200 texts for $5, and 7pm to 7am nights an extra 2 hours added onto their normal plan for $8.99 per month... that was the plan I made for myself. It worked wonderfully.. I had rollover and if I worked it right I would usually earn at least between 50-100 minutes to add to my rollover. It was nice because there are months where I had to dip into them and didn't have to worry.

I learned to call friends and even my voicemail after 7pm unless it was an important call. I used my phone on weekends to catch up with everyone. I learned how to text from Yahoo Instant Messenger to peoples phones so if someone texted me I could text back from Yahoo and then our texts went back and forth for free for me at least. My 200 texts included incoming and outgoing so even if I texted back just to say "Ok" it cost me a text. I learned which family/friends have At&t and I can talk to for free whenever I want. I learned to be very efficient about my phone and it's minutes and never had to break down and get a house phone which I really didn't want to have to budget into my already REALLY tiny budget being on unemployment.

So this brings me to my less than half cell phone plan that started YESTERDAY. My husbands work paid for his cell phone plan until September so he had to get his number released which took over a month. This finally happened yesterday so he was forced to pick a new plan and a new phone. He hasn't bought a new phone for over 5 years (his work would just give him the freebies or hand me downs from other co-workers who got upgrades) so I understood his want for a nice new phone. He picked a phone he loved, we went to At&t store and they said it was being discountinued and they had none in stock. Tim noticed that the price of the phone was $20 more at the store vs online.. so we went home to order it.

He called their 800 number to change our plan and get his upgrade and somehow everything got messed up.. anyway.. in the end he wound up with the phone he wanted for the price he had originally seen it on line advertised as but with this plan that I was laughing my butt off at. He has us splitting 700 minutes between the two of us.. I was making it with 450 but there were some months I was over.. and he is one of those guys who just sits on the phone with friends just to comment about the Cubs game or the Bears game and then they sit there silent between good/bad plays not saying much.. things will have to change because the guy is nuts if he thinks he's gonna make it on 350 minutes per month.. I know I can do it, but I know he's gonna be in a world of hurt once we get that first bill.. good thing At&t breaks it down so I can say "look here you sat on the phone with your buddy for 97 minutes, what did you talk about?"

ok it's documented. I have witnesses! lol!

Grocery prices up up and away!!

ET at Titus 2:3-5 is asking how much other people spend on groceries. I figured I'd pitch in considering I'm a horrible grocery shopper. I can get any toiletry, cleaning product, candle, OTC meds, etc for either very cheap, free, or get paid to walk out of the store with them. But groceries.. totally different story. I'm getting better but I still have a lot to learn.

Here are my prices. I live in the Chicago Northwest Suburbs.

4L milk (or a gallon) $1.49 was the lowest sale price, normally $2.29 at Aldi
5lbs potatoes $1.99 Aldi
price per lb for fruit -
apples, not sure
oranges, not sure
bananas 39 cents per lb at local family owned produce store
average price for produce -
lettuce, 25 cents a head for iceberg other types depends
cucumber, 2/$1
tomatoes, free been getting them from friends gardens so not sure
carrots 99 cents bag baby carrotts or a bag of regular
price per lb of ground beef, depends on the fat content
chicken, skinless/boneless 99 cents lbs lowest sale price $1.49 sale price $1.99 regular sale price
pork chops $1 each for 1 5oz chop at local Jewel allthough I figured out there are stores with much better deals than that.. I just buy them because they are 10/$10
price per lb/gms of cold cuts like ham or roast beef lowest was Krakus for $3.50 lb or some no label brand for $3 lb
block of cheese (put in size) 3 8oz bricks for $4
lb of butter or margarine not sure don't buy often I think $1.49 - $1.69 for a lb of butter
box of mac and cheese like KD 50 cents at Wal-Mart
pkg of cookies like Oreo not sure don't buy often
can of beans 45 cents at Aldi
can of tomatoes 45 cents at Aldi
pkg of pasta (put in size) go on sale for 10/$10 and I use $1 coupons so free
pkg of frozen veggies like peas or corn (put in size) go on sale for 10/$10 and I used $1 coupons
tin of coffee (put in size) don't drink no clue
12 double roll toilet paper $4.99 was the most I paid

Gas per gallon $3.54

As you can see I'm lucky to have an Aldi close to me.. actually several close to me.. in fact I'll do regular grocery shopping getting name brand items as cheap as possible and anything I know I can get for a better price at Aldi I'll stop on the way home and grab the remaining items.

What do your grocery prices look like near you?

Why is there no deals on Arm & Hammer toothpaste?

I have EVERY toothpaste known to man, every mouthwash including kids stuff, every type of flossing tool, and every toothbrush that every brand has ever sold... why is it so difficult that I fell in LOVE with one brand of toothpaste BASED on a sample and now I can't get a good deal on the stuff to save my life? the stuff is NEVER on sale, there is never rebates, ECB's, or ESC on Arm & Hammer.. never.. did the Arm & Hammer dudes not play nice in the sandbox with the WAGS & CVS?

4th and final stop JEWEL grocery store!

Okay.. they had this awesome deal where they put together several $10 groups. 10/$10, 5/$10, $4/$10, $3/$10. Every time you spend $10 it gives you $3 back. So the things I bought for $1 became 70 cents each! I've been working and reworking this deal all week getting my coupons together ready to go. It was the last day for this sale and I had to hit it. I was just hoping they had everything I needed. I was happy with the result!

♥ 8 Daisy Sour Creams $1 each used 7 35 cent coupons and 1 50 cent coupon
♥2 soft soaps $1 each used two 35 cent coupons
$$$$$3 off making all these 35 cents each or $3.50 for all that!

♥3 v8 splashs 3/$10 used $1/2 coupon $$$$3 off this group

♥12 Motts juices $4/$10 so I did this 3 times. used $1/2 coupons $$$9 off this group so is that $1.25 for each bottle?

♥5 Zone perfect bars part of 10/$10 had various 50 cent or BOGO coupons
♥1 Saralee bread part of the 5$10 group had an expired FREEBIE coupon which I asked CS first if they would take
♥3 Campbells soup part of 10/$10 used these as fillers only had 40cents off 3
$$$$3 off this group

♥10 reusable grocery bags pink ribbon $10/$10 I bought these for the ladies for Christmas. This will be my goodie/gift bag. A gift that keeps on giving.. DOUBLE TIME because for some reason even though they weren't listed I got $3 off that group as well.. so I got 10/$7!! nice. 70 cents each!

♥2 cat treats I found expired coupons for that Jewel said they would take otherwise they were on sale for $1.88 FREEBIE

♥regular jewel white bread $1 not sure why I grabbed this other than we are really low on bread

Total OOP$26.35. The receipt says I saved $68.75!! NOT BAD!

3rd stop CVS to use that $10/$50 coupon

I'm not even sure why this coupon is so appealing to me.. seriously. we have $3/$15 coupons... oh well. Okay this is the deal I put together. I had actually put together many deals to make sure I got the $10 off and make some extra ECBS but you know how those CVS shelves become bare with any monthly ECB deal! Yikes.

OKay I have to apologize to the people who read my blog that I know personally. Most of you will see things from my blog that I either got free or REALLY cheap because these are going to be my Christmas gifts. Sorry I'm unemployed and the amount of stuff I got free will be things you use in your house/daily lives. Also the face value of each "goodie bag" I'm thinking of putting together will probably be around at least $50 each bag. Okay I look at it like this #1 I'm unemployed #2 I had to take the time, effort, and gas to get all the items that will go in your bag #3 the gifts you get you will most likely use at some point.

♥24 Shick Shavers 99 cents each used 11 $2 coupons and 1 she lowered to $1.76 to make it work
♥11 Johnson's buddies $1.19 each (boo I thought these were normally 99 cents but after walking around the store several times I needed the additional $12 plus dollars to make my total over $50 to take advantage of that $10/$50)
♥5 kids anti bacterial spray pens $1.99 each (tried to use a $2/$10 CVS coupon and it wouldn't let me use it.. just figured out if she had forced it down to $1.95 it would have worked, oh well)
♥Always pads$4.98

Used my $10/$50 and a $4 ECB my total OOP was $2.35 and I got back $9.98 in ECBS that is $5.98 more ECBS I walked in with! Woot for me! Right now I have like $32 in ECBs not bad considering like 2 weeks ago I was mad because I had used up half my stash on stupid batteries! WORST OF ALL, I GOT ANOTHER $10/$50 COUPON. I'll be saving that for like the last day it's good 10/18!

YTD spending $875.74 Fall 2008 spending $3.24

2nd stop WAGS and the rest of my ride smelled great

♥6 Glade scented candle refills $1.99 each used B2G1 coupon and will get $4 ESR
♥2 boxes envelopes 99 cents
♥1 carmex $1.59 (had to grab a fast filler I'd use)
♥4 shredded cheese 2/$3

used $5/$20 coupon and my total OOP $12.28

This WAGS I went to I always get amazing customer service which is why going to K-Mart didn't seem like a big deal because if I was just going to the grocery store and CVS there were 3 other WAGS I could have gone to.

I have *REFOUND* K-Mart again! lol!

When I was a kid I loved K-Mart! Then as an adult those K-Marts have become more scarce and now there is one in my sisters town and also one in my mom's town. I just never think about shopping there until they finally came out with the DOUBLE COUPON DAYS! I went the other day and had gotten a $2 CRT off 24pk water bottles.. I figured with double coupon days I could get a case of water for free.. and that I did.. I went to the one in my mom's town yesterday and today I went to the one in my sisters town. (they are both not that far it's just yesterday I actually had to go to my parents house)

Anyway.. I was BUSY tonight.. I stopped at 4 stores. I'll do a separate blog for each just to make it easier for everyone to read.. and for myself to not get mixed up! lol! :) I had so much to bring in the house and take pictures of I decided to just set up a card table in the garage and as I took it out of the car set it up, take the pics, then whatever had to go inside I took in right away. Everything else either went right on the shelves in my garage or upstairs to my closest where Christmas gifts go to die or something like that. Anyway, excuse the pics they aren't the best lately, I know...

I wasn't going to go back to K-Mart because I was upset that some of my coupons didn't double from last time and I spent wayyy too much there. But I had the $2 store coupon I talked about and it was close to a WAGS that I love and I could make CVS on the way back.. this trip went much better than my first.

♥28 pack water $3.50 $2 store coupon doubled $1.50 FREEBIE
♥2 Endust $3.29 each $2 coupons doubled $1.29 FREEBIE
♥4 Busy Bones $3.49 each $1.50 coupons doubled 49 cents each
♥2 Face Wash $4.79 each $2 coupons doubled 79 cents each

Also I had gotten a 75 cents OYNO coupon so I used that. My total OOP was $4.19 and I got more CRTS! not bad.

DOUBLE COUPON LAND (AKA KMART) HERE I COME!

ha ha ha I couldn't resist.. I stayed up until 5am on Thursday night.. I couldn't let go of my birthday and the fact that I had slept almost 13 hours the night before mixed with some caribou coffee.. yeah I was awake with no hope of going back to sleep until of course last night. So I had plenty of time to get all my coupons together so I was armed and ready for my trip to K-Mart the next day. I had other things to do so I couldn't go until the afternoon. I finally got to K-Mart around 2:30pm and every shelf of every good deal was cleared.. picked clean! Luckily I walked around the store, found some other good deals along with end caps that had some extra of some of the deals.. I can't believe other hounders missed these shelves. So I did get in on a few of the freebies. Here is what I came home with.

♥ 9 $1 Crystal Light 14 serving boxes no coupons but too good of a deal to pass
♥ 3 Pledge wipes $2.50 each $1 coupons DOUBLED to $2 each
♥ 3 Beneful dog meals $1.69 each used B2G1 free coupon and the coupon only came off as $1.69 once.. sorta dissappointed, is this how it was suppossed to work?
♥ 6 Purina cat treats $1.29 each used $1.50 off 2 but it only showed up double I think once? hmm
♥ 1 Greased Lightening $2.99 used $1.50 coupon from All You magazine register doubled it to $1.49 so I still got it free.. no overage.
♥5 Trident gums $1.19 each used 5 55 cent coupons doubled so I paid 9 cents for each
♥ 1 bag Pedigree dog treats breath $3.29 had I think a $1 off coupon
♥ 3 Beggin Strips (one not pictured I gave one to my dad) $2.79 each used $1 coupons

I also bought a pair of Capri's for myself which I needed for a dinner last night (nothing fits when you gain 30lbs in like 5 days *sigh*)

My Total OOP was $44 with tax which with the Capri's which were $20 and the Crystal Light which was $9 I only paid $15 for the rest of everything else. So not too bad. I'm still not sure about all the coupons, if you look at my reciept there are more regular scanned coupons and less MULTIPLE lines.. so I think I should have paid less..?? Oh well.. I'm still happy with what I did get!

It's my birthday... ♪ dah dah dah dah dah dah ♪

sooo I awoke this morning and was super groggy.. I spent yesterday most of the day in bed, puking, and generally feeling cruddy. I had to cancel my birthday dinner with my family which I was pretty upset about because we were going to Texas De Brazil one of my favorite restaurants. anyway.. my phone was going bezerk with texts coming in since 6am (I woke up at 8am) and so I finally rolled over and started reading them. The last one was from my neighbor saying to call her ASAP because she had a huge favor to ask me.

I take my dog out and he's barking at what I didn't know. I bring him in, feed him and his sister the cat, go potty myself. I was super dehydrated and thirsty so I decided to make myself some orange juice. There was a rapping on the door like 2 sips into my OJ and my husband says "who could that be right now" so I told him it was probably my neighbor who had texted me only 15 minutes before. I answer the door in my robe and she was standing at the door sobbing and asked me to drive her to the dr. No problem, I'll get showered/dressed be over in a few minutes.

Off to the dr we go then the pharmacy and back home. Long story short, she's been ill for over 2 years now and now on top of what has been going on she got a super bad cold and hasn't slept in days because of her meds mixed with whatever cough medicine she's been taking. The dr gave her new cough medicine, some sleeping pills, and a new prescription for something else. So it was a good day for her, she's just exhausted so I'm hoping she's sleeping right now.

I came back and my husband had a gift for me!! THIIIISSS!


AND FOR ALL YOU FRUGAL FOLKS he got it FREE!! That's right, he saved up points and got it for free! So I like it DOUBLE! lol! It's one of those groovy digital picture frames but it also plays video and music! super cool!

After the dr/pharmacy I walked one of my neighbors dogs and then came home, printed out my Noodles & Co free birthday lunch coupon, put together a small CVS run (thank god for I heart cvs dot com), and off we went.

Had a really great FREE lunch (well we had to pay for my husbands meal, no biggie it was still nice) then walked across the parking lot to CVS! ohhh yeah! First time my husband has seen me in coupon action! lol!


♥2/$5 Colgate TP (one kid, one Total) used one $1.50 coupon from All You
♥Covergirl clean make up $5.49 used $1 coupon from last weekends paper
♥Gillette Fusion power $9.99 used $4 coupon from last weekends paper

$3/$15 and a $10 ECB, total OOP was $1.73 (I thought it would be 73 cents but I miscalculated, but still a great deal!). I earned $5.49 ECB for Covergirl, $5 for the Gillette, $2 for Colgate, $2 from Summer savings.. check out my receipt!


I got a $25 switch your presciption coupon (I don't have any prescriptions right now though..) and a $10/$50 coupon that expires on 10/16. I have $27 in ECBS so I'm going to have to sit down and figure out a deal where I can get at least $25 or more ECBS back. I'm excited. I'll have to work on that next week because I still haven't hit K-Mart to DOUBLE COUPON, no time! lol! Also my neighborhood grocery store is having great 10/$10 deal but also every time you spend $10 you get $3 off! So I gotta work those deals before next week as well!

Okay, next we went to Target to fix my fiasco from last week
I talked about here and they refunded my $9.44!! So I had remembered to use my $5 GC (which I used for cereal anyway) and gotten the correct prices that trip would have been like $25. Wow big difference from $40!

After that my husband wanted to go look at new phones because he hasn't gotten a new phone in over 5 YEARS! yes, no kidding. His work paid for them so he used to get hand me downs from the engineers! lol! I stopped at Caribou Coffee because I'm PMSing and it's my birthday and I wanted dessert! lol!

We got home and I got my mail and more surprises awaited me!! lookie lookie!

♥astroglide sample
♥free carthart hat
♥mints from shoppers but had an advertisement for the Ford Flex
♥mineral make up I ordered paid $3.13 for shipping
again it seems like I got more but I can't remember what else I got! lol!

Okay so all in all, combined with all this, and cyber birthday wishes along with snail mail cards I've had a pretty great birthday!!

I HAVE DIED AND GONE TO COUPON HEAVEN...

the sky opened up...

an angel heard my plea

and KMART answered my prayers with DOUBLE COUPON DAYS IN MY AREA!! Today October 1st through October 5th!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!