February's Grocery Budget- How Did We Do?

If you recall, I started at the first of the year working on my grocery budget again. I had let it go over Thanksgiving and Christmas, and was kindly asked by my husband to start back up on it. Our grocery budget before I had quit, was $70 per week for the 6 of us. That included diapers, wipes, toiletries, food and more.

Last month, just starting back, I gave our budget plenty to work with while I tried to get back into "deal shopping". Well, luckily I had no trouble remembering what I was supposed to do. I spent about $70 per week, right back on track. But my goal for February was to bring my total down even more. But slowly!

So, if any of you are also visitors to my other blog, you know how I have been personally working towards making things from scratch. Not buying the mixes but making the mixes myself, not buying the bread but making the bread myself... So, I gave myself the $70 a week budget, but with the goal of working on not buying so much pre-made but making more homemade.

The result? For the month of February, I kept under my budget, and spent about $69. per week. We spent $277. for the month on 193 items. Figured out, that is only a 39% saving with coupons and everything.

This month, I bought more flour, baking soda, baking powder, oil, etc. than I have in previous months. The problem with these items is they rarely go on sale, and when they do they rarely have coupons. So I bought flour on sale, buy there was no coupons for it. So savings total goes up... I'm not complaining though. We kept our budget, AND I have been making more from scratch. So I am happy!

The challenge next month is that I am lowering my monthly budget by $10. It doesn't seem like a lot, but we will see! I am going to continue on the road of making more from scratch, and keep plugging away at finding the sales. I am also going to be working at getting my almost 2 year old to NOT be afraid of the potty! Getting rid of diapers and wipe will be a HUGE savings! (February alone I probably spent around $32. on diapers and wipes! YIKES!)

So, how did YOU do in February? Any new goals? Any new "tricks" you'd like to share?

To see how I work on saving money, go HERE.

January's Grocery Budget- How Did We End Up?

I told you earlier about, how I fell of the wagon for a while with my grocery deals...

And how this month, I was asked by my hubby to start back doing 'the deals' again. I knew it was time. Our grocery budget was normally $70. or less per week for our family of 6. And at the end of this year, we were over $100. and more towards $130. on average weeks. And that was using some coupons, but not really trying hard to find the BEST deals.

Well, working at finding the best deals is worth it! In the end, my average per week for groceries, was $70. Which is where I was when I 'fell off the wagon' before. In the month of January, my first month back to 'deal shopping', I spent $284.71 for 284 items! That is $1 per item! Considering, each week I buy 6-7 gallons of milk ($2.29 ea), 3 gallons of Soy milk ($2.95 ea), and diapers ($8.99 on sale), I think my average is pretty decent!

And in fact, my goal for up coming months, is even LOWER. I had a high goal of $380. for January, which is a little higher than I wanted it to be, but I was getting back into the 'groove'. Heck, I still had over $95. to spend! :)

So, my goal for February is $285. I am hoping to get lower than that. My goal for March (as of right now) is $280. Then when Spring hits and I start being able to produce some garden vegetation, I am going to slowly start to lower my budget again. I am also planning on canning and freezing lots of garden veggies, so this will bring my grocery bill down even more!

On our small farm, we are going to be getting some meat chickens, a cow (for meat), more egg laying chickens, turkeys, and we will have goats for milk. We already have a freezer full of venison from my hubby this last Fall. I am hoping our budget can drop even more than I am planning. I am hoping at the end of the summer, I will only be spending $200. per month. So in August and September (5 shopping weeks) I will only have $40 to spend on my family of 6!

One thing that may help in that equation is that I am planning on having my littlest one potty trained... We shall see how THAT goes! :)

I am excited again, to be working on reducing our grocery budget. I am going lower than we have even gone before, and I am excited about it!

We have some other areas we are looking to apply that $$ to. We are hoping in a year from now to take our kids to Florida and go to Disney. We are of course doing this in the most economical way possible! More on THAT later! We are also starting the process of adoption. We would LOVE to add a little girl to our mostly masculine family. And unfortunately, to place a child in a good and loving home, is very expensive.

But, I think we can do this. So far, God is leading the way. And I pray that we continue to follow in His footsteps.

So, are you on a grocery budget? How did you do this month??? What changes are you planning on making for the future???

Back on Budget for the New Year

Late Fall of last year, I lost my coupon holder that I take tot he stores with me. There was about $45 in ECBs fro CVS, my CVS card, my Kroger card, majorly good coupons, and much more that just couldn't be replaced. I was SICKENED...

SO for the next several months, I didn't do much with coupons. My budget for the 6 of us went from $70 a week, to $110+. I was failing miserably. On top of that, more money was going out in improvements on our barn and fencing, and new animals! So money was quickly escaping our bank account.

At Christmas time, my hubby asked (nicely) when I was going to start couponing again. We were saving so much money, and we needed to try to do that again! So reluctantly (and sadly) I started to regroup and visit some of my old favorite sites for money saving. I also downloaded a spreadsheet to my computer to help track my savings. I gave my self a $380. budget for the month (about $95. per week), just to take it easy on myself.

Well, with a little over a week left in this month (1 shopping trip left), my total for the month has been $206.88 for 198 items ( diapers, soy milk, 6-7 gallons milk per week, etc)! The first week of January, I visited Aldi's which I always hate to do, because you don't use coupons, there are no "sales" and I always spend so much! I can definitely get things cheaper shopping sales/ coupons. So next month, I may shop Aldi's for the milk and maybe VERY FEW other thing, but not like I did this month.

I think I can get the total even lower next month if I really try. And I am going to really try!

If you'd like to see what I do to save money, go HERE. Also visit some of the Money Saving sites that I have listed on the left.

Another thing I am really working at this year is taking our food supply up to the next level AND paying a lot LESS. We are getting more chickens (we don't pay anything for feed, money for selling eggs pays for their food and for tithing). FREE EGGS! We are going to raise meat chickens this year, and turkeys. We are also increasing the size of our garden, with lots of Heirloom plants (which means we can save the seeds from year to year, which also saves us $$$!). The more we are able to produce and possibly sell on the farm, the more we save on our own food budget!

What are you doing to save money this year?

Ho Hum...

Man, being in Florida, I keep wanting to stop at Publix, stop at CVS, SOMEWHERE! I can hardly stand NOT deal shopping! But, along with deal shopping, SOMETIMES you get a little burn out. And I was getting there, a little. So, as MUCH as I want to go DEAL shopping, I also DON'T want to burn out on it.

If you have been deal shopping for a while, and you start to get a little burn out, JUST STOP. Stop for a week, or 2. It DOES help. Plus, if you allow yourself to get burnt out, then are you helping save your family money?

So, instead of getting more burned out, I am going to fight the urge to go shopping (even though I DID bring my coupons with me...). And I am going to work on the thing I need to work on here, and enjoy a little down time with my son...

Help Finding the Good Deals for this Week!

If you are like me, you need help finding the good deals, because well... there just isn't enough time in the day! And any additional help is always welcome! So, here are some shopping resources (with their links) to look at to find the deals this week:

• Daily Essentials and Deals. Posts for Meijer, Kroger, and links for CVS & Walgreen's. Also, posts for Menard's, a great way to do the deal shopping for the MAN in your life!
• Mommy Snacks. This is a site that I have just started exploring, and she also posts many great deals to different stores, including CVS, Walgreen's & Rite-Aid.
• Deal Seeking Mom. This site includes many different stores, like CVS, Walgreen's, Rite-Aid, Meijer, Wal-Mart, Aldi's, Kroger, and more.

The reason I don't just look at ONE site, is because everyone has their own take on the deals that week. So, it is great to be able see several different people's deal scenarios.

If you are just beginning in this little journey many call "Deal Shopping", you can start HERE and see how I do it. I budget $70 per week for our family of 6. This includes diapers to dish soap, cereal to cleaners, veggies, fruits, breads, meats, EVERYTHING.

Try this for about 2 or 3 months before you give it up. I was able to see a difference almost immediately, just shopping the deals and get absolute necessities. But you may need a little more time depending on how much you currently have in your cupboards.

Don't forget to print off your new coupons on our right sidebar. There are NEW coupons up now, so check them out! Also, don't forget to get your Sunday paper, or if your Sunday paper is like mine and a little weak in the coupons, check out this site where you can purchase your coupons. It's great if your like to purchase multiples, and/or go in on it with someone else!

If you have questions, just ask! Have a great shopping week!!!

Vacationing with Family- Check it Out!

On my other blog, I have been posting tips and trick for traveling with family, including those little ones! Check it out, and maybe some of these ideas will be helpful for you as you travel this summer!

Money Saving Monday

Saving money was not always something that I cared that much about. I tried on and off to use coupons, and found it was easier and cheaper to just go to Wal-Mart and Aldi's and buy the off brands.

Boy was I missing out.

If you would like to see how I am able to save my family lots of money using coupons and sales COMBINED, check THIS out.

Do you wonder how people get such good coupons sometimes? Well, besides all of the great regular resources HERE, I also write companies!

My sis in law told me about doing this, and I was unsure at first. But, I have done it, and will continue to do it more!

Basically, you take companies that you love their products and your write them an e-mail. I write the companies, and I tell them how our family loves their product or whatever, and I leave it at that. MOST of the time, the company will send a coupon or two. Sometimes they send you a coupon for free product!

So, that can definitely help on the grocery budget. I wrote a yogurt company about how we love their products and they sent me a coupons for one free and 2 coupons for $.35 off one. Well, it doubled at my Meijer making them free! So I got 3 free yogurts! Not bad, I'd say!

So try it. Look up the companies that you buy from, or would like to buy from. And tell them how much you like their stuff! Don't be dishonest. Don't write them begging for coupons. A positive comment actually helps their company.

Hope this helps! Now, go on. Get started!

Now, do you have any Money Saving Tips to share? Leave a direct link to your entry on Money Saving. Thanks!

$5 Dinners- Tuna Noodle Casserole

First of all, I would not be able to make my family $5 (or less) dinners if it were not for shopping with coupons and sales together, and then stocking up on those great deals. If you would like to read about how I do that, go HERE. And if you have ANY questions feel free to ask!

Second, in making our meals, I MAKE THEM. So, for a super of Chicken and dumplings, I make everything. We don't have a dinner kit or anything. Those are nice if you are on the run, not not as good for you (sodium content is through the roof) and the prices usually aren't that great either. Plus, in making our own, we usually have leftovers! So you can get a bonus meal out of it!

So, I will start with our meal that we had last night, which was Tuna Noodle Casserole. It is a super simple, throw together meal.

Here are the ingredients and the (approx) prices that I paid for them:

1 can tuna ( we like the chunk Albacore tuna, in water. I hate the other stuff. I got this on sale at Walgreen's I think it was 3/$1 and I actually paid nothing for it because I used their RR (Register Rewards) to pay for it.) $0.

2 cans cream of mushroom soup (I have got this on sale several times this winter and spring. I won't pay any more them $.50 for a can because I can get it around that cheap at Aldi's. But I think with coupons and sales I payed around $.30 per can.) $.60

1 bag noodles, cooked. (I think these were about $1.75 for a bag, and I had a coupon that made it about $1.) $1.

All of the above ingredients are mixed together, and we added frozen corn for a side (frozen corn was about $.50 on sale with coupon). $.50

Total for the meal: $2.10!

Feeding our family of 6 for one meal, $2.10!

Now, it's your turn... do you have any meal ideas for under $5??? (Link directly to the $5 meal link)

Money Saving Monday

Is it Monday again already? (Do I ask that every Monday, I think I do...)

Here are a few small ways that I know I can save money for my family each week:

• Use rags instead of paper towels. I know. This sounds a little like nickle and diming, but it does work. I make sure that instead of grabbing a paper towel to clean off the counters or to wipe up a spill, I grab a towel or washcloth. It IS important though, to throw a washcloth or towel in the laundry if you have something like raw meat that you are cleaning up after. You don't want to get your family sick! I wash all of my cleaning rags together in one wash also, in warmer water. I have also noticed I don't need to buy paper towels NEARLY as much, which is saving us money!


• Make your own cleaner. I make a super simple cleaner that I use on my table and counters. It is safe, and I don't worry about it getting on any food. Water and vinegar. That's it. I take a spray bottle and fill it about 3/4 with water, and probably less then 1/4 with vinegar. And YES, it smells like vinegar BUT like I said, I don't worry about it getting on any food! Plus it is VERY cheap!


• Keep all appliances clean. If you keep your stove, oven, microwave, toaster, etc clean, then you are saving yourself loads of money. Stuck on food will actually ruin surfaces and will make your appliance work harder to get it's job done, THUS shortening its life.


• Clean the most "touched" surfaces in your house AT LEAST weekly. Door handles, light switches, sink handles, walls in the hallway or stairway, the top backside of kitchen chairs, etc. This will keep germs from spreading in your house. I make sure I do this several times a week when one of us gets sick or has a cough. And usually the illness runs out of the house pretty quickly. Doctor bills aren't cheap, so prevention is key to saving money at the doctor or pharmacist!

So, how do YOU save money for your family? Either leave a link going directly to a blog entry OR leave a comment on how you save money. Thanks for sharing!

Money Saving Monday

I have been talking to a lot of people lately about saving money. And each and everyday, I find myself trying to save my family money. Not skimping on nessecities, but cutting out or reducing things we don't really need. Or just changing the way we do things!

On problem I had for several years, is that I knew how I had been taught how to do things, then when I got married, we did things a certain way. When you continue to do things ONLY in this way, then you may not be doing yourselves any favors!

For example, 2 years ago, I thought I was saving my family money by shopping Wal-Mart and Aldi's and buying generic. Now I know that I can save my family money in other ways.

Saving Money is a challenge for me. It is my "job". And I DO take it seriously!

So, I thought I would start a Money Saving Monday, where we can come and share our frugal tips each week. Do you make all of your own cleaners, do you shop at certain stores, do you go somewhere special for you coupons, do you by in bulk, do you shop garage sales... Whatever you do, share it with us. We are all looking for ways to "grow" while shrinking our budgets!

Here are some Money Saving Tips that I have learned over the years. Today, I am going to share on CLOTHES:

• We don't wash our clothes after wearing them just once. Did I hear someone say "EEeww!!!" ? I mean like, if we wore good clothes to church, came straight home, we don't throw these clothes into the laundry. We save them for another day. I usually wear a pair of jeans 2-3 times before washing them. And a shirt 1-2 times. If we get something on them, or you were around smokers, or if you went to a restaurant where you smell like the food... wash the clothes. But if not, save 'em for another day!
• We have "Play clothes" or "work clothes" and then we have "good clothes". Do not allow your children to wear good clothes out to play! If you are eating something like spaghetti (or other messy food), have your child take off their good shirt (when at home), and put on a play shirt. So, if they drop something on the shirt, it won't be as big of a deal. If I wear my "work" pants out to the barn, then if the cat snags my jeans, I won't be mad. As soon as my boys get hoem from school, they know they are supposed to put on " play clothes".
• Use cold water as much as you can to wash your clothes. I DO wash with warm or hot water when I am washing a load of underwear, or towels, or bed sheets. Other then that, we use cold!
• Save your clothes from child to child. This seems like a "given", but some people don't do it because they don't want to store the clothes. I have all boys, and I have clothes that I am wearing on boy#4 that I wore on boy #1. I keep each size of clothing in different LABELED totes. Like I just pulled out the 18 month tote for my #4. This has saved us a TON of money!

So, it is your turn. Do you have a Money Saving Tip or tips you would like to share today? Link up! Make sure you give the link that goes directly to your Money Saving Tip(s). And if you would, please leave a link for people to some back here and check out other people's tips!

Product Review & Giveaway- The Complete Laundry System

This Contest has ended. Thank you for your interest, and be sure to enter in our other drawing (Left)!

I recently received this package in the mail:




It is called the Mystic Wonders Complete Laundry System. What I knew about this product before I received it was, supposedly, you should be able to wash your laundry with NO DETERGENT, and dry the laundry with NO FABRIC SOFTENER... It sounded wonderful! But, I of course was a little sceptical of the claims.

So, I got all of the items pictured above in the mail, and was in luck because I had laundry 4 loads deep (as I USUALLY do!). So, I broke out the system and started putting it to work.

Basically, you throw the Laundry Ball in the washer with your laundry, and NO detergent. And run it like you normally do. After the first wash, I pulled the clothes out and I didn't see anything. Well, I mean no dirt, I didn't smell anything, good OR bad. So, I thought we would see how this load did with the Dryer Balls.

With the Dryer Balls there are 2 of these things, and you just throw both of them in your dryer with your clothes, with NO softener, and dry.

I took the clothes out of the dryer, and they looked like normal... Then I smelled them. They truly smelled like they had been hung out in the fresh air. They smelled CLEAN. I mean I LOVE the smell of all of the fancy dryer sheets. But this smelled CLEAN!

And I have continued to use the Laundry System for every load so far (about 10 loads), and I HAVE actually used laundry soap on a load of cleaning rags, that have chemicals and grime in them. And on a load of Undies (which I usually wash separate anyways), I used hot water. But no detergent...

I know, it seems a little scary! What if there are still germs? How do you know you are getting the stuff clean? How would a BALL CLEAN???

The Laundry Ball is about 2 3/4 inches in diameter and made of virgin PVC/Vinyl. There is a liquid inside the laundry ball, these are a "frequency enhanced mineral blend". The minerals move around inside the ball when it is agitating in the washer. And when the minerals hit each other, and energy field is created. It penetrates through the ball housing and takes away the surface tension of each water molecule, making the water thin, or fine. When the water is like that, it can actually travel through the fibers of your clothing much easier.

They also say that the Laundry Ball actually helps clean all old detergent fillers out of the garment. When this is left in the garments, the residue and fillers act as magnets to ATTRACT dirt and stains! So, after 3-4 washings with the Laundry Ball, all of the old residue will be gone, and with it goes much of the old dinginess and stains that were in the fabric. They say not ALL stains will come out, depending on the weave of the fabric. You are also reminded not to overload your washer (which I SO do! But am not going to do again!).

Like I said I have done about 10 load with the Wonder Laundry Ball, and I am impressed. I can't wait to see if I can start to see some our stains disappear!

The Dryer Ball will help keep clothes from clumping together, and not drying as fast. This should also help dry clothing faster then normal. I haven't noticed this myself, because my washer and dryer is in my basement and I have babies and lots of other things to do in a day, and don't keep track of the time. But the dryer ball seemed to work well. In the winter you may have to add a little softener on the wash, to keep the static down, but other then that I think these will be great!

The Wonder Laundry Ball is good for 3+ years or 2000 washes. And the Wonder Dryer Balls are good for a lifetime! Go HERE to order this amazing product. The Complete Laundry System is $49.95. So, 3 years of Laundry for $50!

I would normally probably spend at LEAST that in one year for JUST LAUNDRY. Plus the health benefits are worth it also. Go HERE and read all about the System and testimonials.

And NOW, I am super excited to be able to have a GIVEAWAY for one COMPLETE LAUNDRY SYSTEM!!!

Here is what you have to do:

• Leave me a comment here on why YOU would like to win the Mystic Wonders Complete Laundry System.
• Visit their website HERE and let me know what other product seems interesting or another fact about the product not listed above.
• Blog about this Giveaway, and then come back here and leave a link for me to check it out.
• Twitter about this giveaway, and then come back here and leave your link also.
• Subscribe to the Feed here on my site, or let me know if you already do.
• And last but not least, grab my button, and let me know that you have added it to your site!

6 Ways to WIN!!! (Leave 6 separate Comments, one for each entry above)

Open to US Residents only. Winners will be chosen by Random.org.

So, start entering! Contest Ends- Friday, May 22nd at Midnight!

Thanks for Entering!

Groceries This Week

This week for about $72. I got all of this:

$72 included some vitamin (liquid) I had to get for Koen this week, 2 packs of diapers, a ginormous pack of toilet paper, Tom's of Maine toothpaste (which hubby needs and there is NEVER a coupon for!), among lots of other items!

$70. is my budgeted amount for my family of 6. And the last few weeks I have spent under $70.

This weeks savings was also over $110.! I always like to see that I saved more then I spent! And I had 66 items. That is $1.09 per item. Not bad considering there are 2 packs of diapers, a large pack of TP, Koen's vitamins were $8, etc.

So, how did YOU do this week on groceries??? To see how I figure out the deals and save money each week, go HERE. To see all of the deals and their coupon match-ups, go HERE.

Old Navy Coupon

I don't usually post too many coupons and things on here, but I will when they are really good! And this seems like a really good deal!

You get to "hunt" for your own coupon! Just go through and click on different items and try to find the coupon! Start by clicking on the coupon above. I just won a $5 off of $25! Pretty good. I may have to make a trip into Old Navy. Thanks to Deal Seeking Mom for the heads up!

Organizing My Coupons, Saving Money!

2 years ago, if you would have told me that I would have a binder full of coupons and that I would be buying coupons off the Internet, AND saving my family $130 more a week doing it. I probably would have laughed and told you, I have already tried couponing. And it doesn't work THAT well...

BUT, IT DOES!

I am going to share with you today about my organizational system for couponing. In the past, I would buy one Sunday paper, and I would save all of my coupons in one envelope. At one time, I also had a small accordion type thing that had tabs so I could organize my coupons better. Then one year ago, when my sister-in-law introduced me to deal shopping with coupons. I had to step up my A-game...

I have a family of 6. Including my hubby and myself, and 4 boys ages 8 and under, one being in diapers still. We have a $70. a week food budget. In our food budget, I also get diapers, wipes, shampoo, soap, razors, laundry soap, etc. I have found out, with deal shopping, that I need more then one of the same coupon. So I started to get more papers, order more coupons on-line, etc.

Now, I needed another way to organize all of those coupons! And if you really want to be successful at saving your family money, you HAVE to stay at least MOSTLY organized. I say mostly, because I am never TOTALLY organized. I am a mom, after all, with a lot more priorities then to make a pretty coupon organizational system...

So, I use a binder for my coupons. I have baseball card pages that I can slip the coupons into. A lot of people who do the "coupon thing" also do the "binder thing". I have made tabs for the edges of my pages also, directing me to different sections in my binder. I also have pages in the front, that are for a full page, that I keep my catalinas in from different stores (Meijer, Kroger...). This is a picture of part of my binder:

This binder is a HUGE asset to my deal shopping. Although, I rarely take it with me to the store. I will explain in a second...

First of all, I am going to make a menu for my week (I do this on Sunday, for Monday though Sunday). On this menu, I include only items that I already have in my cupboards and freezer. This makes sure that IF I forget to pick something up at the store, that I am not going to have to make another trip because I have to have it for a meal!

Second, I am going to go through my sale fliers, whether on the Internet or in the Sunday paper. When I go through my fliers, I write down all of the good deals I see that week, and I also write down what items I see that I know I have a coupon for. Then I go through those items I wrote down, and I figure up how much each item would cost me with my coupons. If something is a good deal, I will put it on my grocery list. Here is a pic of this weeks list:

I put the store at the top. I put in (kind of) the order of the store that I shop. I put how many of those items I want to buy and if I have a coupon for that item (MQ is manufacturer's coupon, MB is meal box, C is catalina). Then I make sure I have all of the coupons pulled for all of those items, and I stick them in envelopes like this:

So when I get to Kroger, I just grab my list and my Kroger envelope, and I am ready to shop Kroger! For Kroger, I also keep my Kroger card right inside the envelope, so I don't forget it. I used to keep it in my wallet but it seemed a lot easier to keep it in the envelope.

For CVS, I have 2 cards. I have a card for my husband and a card for myself. When you go to CVS, you get print offs with your receipts and you get Extra Care Bucks (ECBs). SO how do you keep that whole mess organized? I have a CVS envelope but I also have 2 baggies, one for each card, that looks like this:

For my hubby's card, for example, when I get any ECBs or print off coupons, I stick them directly into the baggie. I also make 2 separate lists of what I want to buy with each card. Because my card may only have $12 ECBs and my hubby's may have $20.

So, How do I use this whole crazy system to save money?

Well, Like I said I usually get more then one paper, so I can have more then one coupon, and I order inserts. Like this last week, there was a coupon for Electrasol that was $2.50. This week at Meijer, they had Electrasol for $3 a box. If I just bought one with a coupon, I would pay $.50 BUT in a month from now, I would have to pay regular price ($4.) to get another box. Therefore, not really saving much money! SO~ I get 4 coupons, I go and buy four boxes and spend $2. and then I don't have to buy Electrasol for 4 months (or more) and hopefully before I run out, there will be another great sale & coupon!

This is called stocking up or stock piling. I do this for everything. Laundry detergent, diapers, wipes, soap, toothpaste, lotions, all food items, cereals, meats, etc.

In addition to all of this, I have to keep a shopping list on my refrigerator. If I know that I am running low on something, I add it to the list. If I need it soon, I add a star beside it. Then when I go through the fliers, I am reminded to look for these items and stock up. Like sugar has been on my list for 2 weeks now, and I will keep looking for good deals until I absolutely need it, then I will go somewhere like Aldi's, and buy one to tide me over until hopefully a great sale comes along.

So, hopefully this has helped some of you who have had questions or others maybe this will motivate you! This really isn't hard at all. I take maybe 2 hours a week on this and that's it. I use resources to help me spot deals, and I used them a lot more, before I learned how to do it myself. Some of these resources are on the left side of my blog, under "Moneysaving List!". Through these resources you will also be able to find out how to shop CVS effectively and pay pennies for toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, headache medicines, etc. They also have all of the really great deals layed out for each week. So, check those out.

If there are any more questions, feel free to ask and I will try to explain them for you. Or at least I can direct you to another resource that can.

So, go ahead try this system out. Try it for at least 5 months. I know you will find results almost immediately. Happy shopping!

Groceries This Week!

I went grocery shopping yesterday, in the cold, rain and wind. It was not fun. Thank goodness I don't ever spend any time on my hair, because I might have been mad had I spent all morning doing it up all pretty.


So, tennis shoes and devil make hair, I did my shopping. And did pretty well!


I spent a whopping $50 on the following:

I spent $18. at Kroger, I spent $28. at Meijer, and $2. something at CVS, and less then $2 at Walmart.

I also have to add that I did spend $1.85 at Kmart, and $8.54 at Kroger on Saturday and Sunday. So, this week, even with some extra shopping in there, I spend under $60. And my budgeted amount is $70. for our family of 6! Pretty good, I think!

How did YOU do this week?

KMart Super Double Days!

This evening, my sister-in-laws and mother-in-law went to Kmart. Some of their stores are doubling coupons. Ours doubled up to $2.00. SO that means any coupon up to $2.00 will be doubled ($1. doubled to $2, $2 doubled to $4.).

Here is what I got:

My total was initially over $60. After my coupons, and a $5 off of $50 Kmart coupon, I had a subtotal of $.03! After tax, I paid $1.85!

Check it out, and see if your Kmart is doubling coupons this week. Check on Kmart.com. It would be worth your while!!!

Great Kroger Trip!

Just wanted to put a quick pic up of an extra trip I took to Kroger today. There are some very good sales this week at Kroger, so you may want to check yours out. You can go to Kroger.com to get their weekly ad on-line.





Here is what I got for $8.54:

All of the following were free with my Kroger doubling coupons: Rice Cakes, Suave Deodorant, Bird's Eye Frozen Veggies, and Softsoap. The tomatoes were $2.20. Not on sale but a need for tonight's tacos! The Always Infinity weren't on sale either, but I had a great Catalina coupon I wanted to use. And the milk/cereal deal is awesome! 3 boxes for $6, then when you buy 3, you get 4 half gallons of milk free! (Check to make sure this is the same in your area before you head to the store!) I also saved $33.38! Very nice!

So, check out Kroger this week!!!

This Weeks Shopping Trip

Just a quick over view of this weeks shopping trip. There weren't any really awesome sales this week. But this week is a good example of what you can do if the sales are great. Basically, we got what we needed and I spent the rest on things that really don't go on sale, but I need anyways. Like this week I bought and over $8. bottle of Olive Oil, because I use it for baking & because it is healthy! I also had to get honey. This is also good for you and I bake with it also. That was almost $8.

So, since I had extra money this week because of the lack of good things to buy, I bought somethings I have put off and will need soon anyways.

So here are my groceries:

I spent right at my $70. budget. And $22 of it was milk and $16 was olive oil and honey! So everything else pictured was bought with under half of my budget money!

Kroger's upcoming sales look pretty good, and so does CVS. So stay tuned for next weeks finds! How did you do on YOUR shopping this week?

Groceries This Week

I haven't posted grocery pics in a while, because there has just not been anything exciting! This week was a little better at CVS then most weeks, and I made a trip to Wal-Mart for some free stuff. I also did Kroger and Meijer.



Here's what I got:









From CVS, I got Revlon Mascara, Revlon Eye makeup, 2 cans of Pringles, 1 toothpaste, 1 M&M (not pictured!), 1 gum---> There I spent $.22, that's right 22 pennies...
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From Kroger, I got 2 cake mixes (free), 2 muffin mixes, potatoes, salad, a whole cut-up chicken, 1 vitamin water(free), 1-4pk of butter, 2 tooth pastes(free), 1 pkg of Always Pads, 2- 1/2 gal. Milk, 2 Blistex Chapsticks(free), Bananas, South Beach granola Bars(free)---> I spent $16. there.
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From WalMart, I got 4 pkg of pads(Free), 4 bandaides(.24 ea), 3 salad dressing(.08 ea), 1 mascara(free) ---> And I spent $2.
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From Meijer, I got everything else and spent $32.
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Total spending today---> $50! Everything you see above was $50!!!! That is $20 below my $70. budget! Total Savings: $128!!!
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For help on how to save money on your grocery bill, go HERE!

CVS This Week

Here is my CVS trip this week, and it was a pretty decent week! So if you are looking to start shopping CVS for their deals, go HERE to find out how to start! CVS really is a great place to save lots of money, if you know how!

This week, I took advantage of the diaper deal, where if you buy $25. worth of specified products (including the diapers and wipes) then you get $10 back in ECBs (Extra Care Bucks, which are basically CVS money!). So packages of diapers were $10. each, the large wipes were $5. each. I got everything in the picture for $12. I usually don't like to pay any more then $2. BUT CVS has been having some off weeks, and I was just "using up " my ECBs.

I talk alot about being frugal on my blog, and CVS is one of the ways that I am able to save my family money. I hardly ever have to pay for personal hygiene items, and we even have some extra to be able to give to our local "Project Help". If you are committed, give CVS a try!