Busy, Busy, Busy

I apologize for the lack of blog posts the last few days. Yesterday was our little man's 3rd birthday so we were quite busy getting ready for his party that night. Not to mention that our daughter had soccer pictures and a soccer game yesterday morning. The party went off without a hitch and little man was so excited about his cake and all his fabulous presents. Thanks to my family for coming over for cake and ice cream! Ok on the to the coupon information. :)

Make sure you pick up a Sunday paper today. There are usually 2 coupon inserts in the Sunday paper - RedPlum and SmartSource. But today there are 3 inserts - RedPlum, SmartSource and P&G. I usually buy 2 papers so that I have multiple coupons for stocking up. Take a look here if you are interested in what coupons are in the inserts today. There may be some regional coupon value differences but this will give you a basic list of what coupons to expect. I know for a fact that there is a $1 off Luvs diapers coupon. I am excited about that one since baby boy wears Luvs diapers.:( Still working on the potty training.

Happy Sunday!

Target Trip 9.22.09

Chris and I were able to go out to dinner last night to celebrate our anniversary. Thanks to my in-laws, Maw and Paw for watching the kids! We ate at Dogfish Head Alehouse in Fairfax. Boy was it yummy! I definitely recommend this place if you like unique beers and pub fare. It is also very reasonably priced and we know how frugal I am! Check it out if you are in the vicinity. On our way home from dinner, we stopped at Target. We were almost out of diapers and toilet paper. Two very important items in our house. :) Here's how we did....

What I bought:

1 pack of Luvs Diapers - $7.49 each
1 box of Wheat Thins - $2.04 each
1 Healthy Choice Meal - $1.75 each
1 Healthy Choice Steamers - $2.50 each
2 Breyers Ice Cream - $2.69 each
1 12-pack Toliet Paper - $5.89 each
6 Travel size Kleenex (Clearance) - $0.18 each

Coupons Used:

-$1/1 Wheat Thins MQ (printable)
-$2/1 X 2 Healthy Choice Meals MQ (printable)
-$1/2 Breyers Ice Cream MQ
-.75/1 X 2 Breyers Ice Cream TQ
-$1.50/1 Target Brand Toliet Paper (from Target Home Mailer)
-$2.75 remaining balance from a Target GC received from MyPoints (I'll give everyone background on MyPoints in a future post)

Total Before Coupons and Gift Card: $25.53

Total after coupons and gift card: $15.28

It was a pretty decent run especially since I didn't have a coupon for the diapers. Also you will notice, I used both Target coupons and a Manufacturer coupon on Breyers Ice Cream. Target’s policy allows you to use one Target Coupon AND one Manufacturer coupon on the same item. What a great policy! This is called “stacking.” I try to stack coupons as often as possible and since we needed ice cream for our little boy’s birthday this weekend….it worked out perfectly. Stay tuned for my next post about MyPoints!

Happy 8th Anniversary Baby!

Thank you for always supporting me in everything I do. You are always there when I need you. You are forever my biggest fan. Thank you for 8 wonderful years, 2 beautiful children, and a fabulous life together. We may not be rich but we are rich in love and I couldn’t ask for more. But most of all thank you for listening about my deals and coupons! You know I love doing “deal-catching” but it takes a patient man to listen to me talk about deals all the time. :)

Love you baby! Here is to many, many more happy years together!

I Heart Swagbucks!

One of the ways I make supplementary income is SwagBucks. What is SwagBucks you ask? SwagBucks is a search engine. I use their site to do all my regular searching on the web. You can even download a toolbar to use and easily search. When you search using SwagBucks you are periodically awarded their currency - "SwagBucks." You can then use the SwagBucks to purchase prizes. There are a ton of prizes available on their site i.e. video games, posters, DVDs, books....you name it.

My favorite prizes by far are the gift cards. There are many gift cards available to purchase with your SwagBucks...Starbucks, Target, Barnes and Noble, even Mastercard. My favorite gift card is for Amazon.com. They are only 45 SwagBucks for a $5 gift card. I have cashed in my SwagBucks for $30 worth of Amazon.com gift cards over the last 3 months. The only thing I have to do to earn $30 from Amazon is use SwagBucks as my search engine. That is $30 FREE....I didn't have to do anything extra to earn them. I highly recommend SwagBucks to everyone! If you are interest in joining, there is a link to sign up on the left side of the page. When you sign up, they will automatically start you out with 3 SwagBucks!

HT Triples #2 plus Staples and Target

Chris had to work tonight so I decided to brave it and take the 2 kids out shopping. My goal was to visit Harris Teeter, Target and Staples. I wasn't sure if the kids would be able to behave well enough at night at 3 stores. But they did great! Here is how we made out. :)

Harris Teeter Triples #2


What we bought:

9 Green Giant Frozen Veggies - $0.99 each
2 Giant Boxes (hahaha) of Cinnamon Toast Crunch - $3.00 each
2 Grands Buttermilk Biscuits (BOGO) - $1.09 each
2 2.5 lbs bags of frozen chicken (BOGO) - $4.99 each
1 Betty Crocker cake mix - $1.00 each
1 Betty Crocker frosting - $1.50 each

Coupons Used:

-.50/1 X 2 Green Giant frozen veggies printable (Tripled)
-.50/2 X 3 Green Giant frozen veggies 9/13 SS (Tripled)
-.55/1 X 2 Cinnamon Toast Crunch printable (Tripled)
-.50/1 Betty Crocker Cake Mix and Frosting printable (Tripled)
-$1/1 Grands Buttermilk Biscuits printable
-$5 Instant Savings for purchasing 15 General Mills products

I also received a $3 OYNO (on your next order) for purchasing 5 or more Green Giant Frozen Veggies.

Total after coupons and catalinas - $8.87


Target

What I bought:

2 Glade Fragance Reed Diffusers - $4.49 each
1 Keebler Fudge Sticks Cookies - $1.99 each
1 Keebler Grasshoppers Cookies - $1.99 each
1 box of Koolaid Jammers Juice Bags - $1.88 each
1 bag of Village Harvest Jasmine Rice - $3.59 each
1 Corn Chex - $2.99 each
1 Honey Nut Chex - $2.99 each
1 8-ounce block of Cheddar Cheese - $1.79 each
1 8-ounce block of Colby Jack Cheese - $1.79 each

Coupons Used:

-$3/1 X 2 Glade Fragrance Product printable
-$1/1 X 2 Keebler Fudge Shoppe printable
-.50/1 Village Harvest Rice printable
-$1/2 Market Pantry Cheese Target printable
-$1/2 General Mills Cereal (coupon from the Sunday paper - but I can't remember which one) PLUS -$1/2 General Mills Cereal Target printable
-$5 Target Gift Card from my Kashi Deal last week

Total OOP after coupons and gift card - $12.37

Staples



What I bought:

1 HP02 Cyan Inkjet Cartridge - $10.99 each
1 ream of HP printer paper - $4.99 each

Coupons Used:

-$15 Staples Ink Rewards Certificate

I also received a $3.99 Staples Easy Rebate for the printer paper. My total before rebate was $1.03. After I submit the rebate, I will make a profit of $2.96. WOO HOO!

Total Spent at all stores after rebate and catalina - $18.28

I think this has got to be one of my best trips yet AND we all survived shopping without my hubbie's assistance. We love you and wish you could have come with us honey!

Harris Teeter Triples Trip 9.16.09

Today is the first day of Harris Teeter Triple Coupons. The kids and I headed out to check out the deals. It was a great shopping trip even though they weren't in the mood to be grocery shopping. Thank you Harris Teeter for fruit samples, free cookies and balloons. It got us through the shopping trip.

Here's what I bought:

3 Betty Crocker Frosting - $1.50 each
5 Green Giant Frozen Veggies - $0.99 each
1 Eggo Buttermilk Waffles - $1.97 each
2 PopSecret Kettle Corn - $1.00 each
2 Old El Paso Crunchy Taco Shells - $1.50 each
2 Old El Paso Flour Tortillas - $1.50 each
2 Betty Crocker Cake Mixes - $1.00 each
2 Betty Crocker Warm Delights - $1.33 each
2 Powerades - $1.11 each
2 Grands Buttermilk Biscuits (BOGO) - $1.09 each
1 Cantaloupe - $0.50 each
2 2.5 lbs bags of frozen chicken (BOGO) - $4.99 each
1 box of Eggos Waffles - $1.97 each

Coupons Used:

-.50/1 X 2 Betty Crocker Warm Delights 8/09 SS (Tripled)
-.50/2 Betty Crocker Cake Mix and Frosting printable (Tripled)
-.50/1 X 2 Betty Crocker Frosting 8/09 SS (Tripled)
-.60/2 X 2 Old El Paso products printable (Tripled)
-$1/1 X 2 Pillsbury Grands printable
-.50/2 X 2 Green Giant frozen veggies printable (Tripled)
-.50/1 off any Green Giant product printable (Tripled)
-$1/2 PopSecret Popcorn 8/16 SS
-$1 E-VIC savings for Eggos Frozen Waffles
-$1.11 E-VIC savings for free 32 ounce Powerade
-$5 Instant Savings for purchasing 15 General Mills Products

I found a Wine Tag Rebate for $5 when you purchase chicken, beef or seafood so I will use this receipt to mail away for the rebate. I also received $4 OYNO - $1 for buying 4 Old El Paso Products and $3 for purchasing 5 Green Giant Veggies.

Total Out of Pocket after coupons, rebates, and catalinas - $4.63

I can't wait to do another round of triples and I'm definitely doing the General Mills deal again. :)