Great Shopping Trip! Spent $1.80

Ok, here's what I got for $1.80 today.

Scrubbing Bubbles Extend A Clean - FREE

2 Warm Delights - $.01

3 Reese's Peanut Butter Cups - $FREE

Bubble Mailer - $1.79

1 Dentek Dental Floss - FREE

That's darn good shopping in my book!

Snuggle Fabric Softner

Did you spot the $3 coupon for Snuggle in your Sunday newspaper circulars? Well, I did and snagged 2 bottles of Snuggle for $.99 each at Walgreens on Saturday. WOW, what a bargain. This is the same deal that they ran just before Christmas. I won't need fabric softner for a few months now. You can get an even better deal (free) at Kmart this week with the same coupon. I don't care for Kmart and try not to shop there. There is just something about them that turns me off!

Great Week for Bargains

If you've thought about starting to follow the sales and coupons this is a great week to begin. There is some great stuff FREE at Walgreens and Cub has some great "stock up" prices this week! $1.96 per pound for cheese is a rock bottom price so I'm stocking up. Did you know that you can freeze cheese? Not in the chunk form, however, grate it up and freeze it. Butter is $.97 per pound. Don't be afraid to stock up on this. It will keep in your frig for 3 months at least - check the expiration date. The last time I bought butter was Christmas so I need to stock up again myself. And the best deal of all for me! Pepsi is $1.98 per 12-pack. I'll be buying 12 to 16 this week which will set me up for quite a while. I'll be making at least 3 trips to Cub this week and grabbing Pepsi, butter, and cheese each time. I also picked up some strawberries for $1.50 a pound. Not a bad price for fresh fruit! There are a whole bunch of other items on stock up prices so GO for it!

Also, I checked out Aldi's over the weekend. The last time I went there was several years ago in Rochester. This time I went to the one in Faribault. I am impressed! The store was spotless and neat. The fresh fruits and vegetables were absolutely beautiful. I bought a pineapple for $1.49 (a rock bottom price) and it's the sweetest ever. I also picked up 3 pounds of oranges for $1.29. I have had better but with the freezes in Florida and elsewhere hurting the harvest I think these were just fine. I will return to Aldi's.

Also, I noticed fresh flower bouquets at Aldi's for $2.98. This is a "rock bottom" price. Something to keep in mind if you need one of those quick gifts or to adorn your table.

I checked out Menards on my way home last Friday and believe it or not the garden hose that I wanted to get was on CLEARANCE. I used my insulation rebate and bought 2 hoses. Oh, happy day, I can now through my clunker hoses away!

I'm Getting There!

We'll I finished reading Digital Fortress and ONLY have 450 pages left to read in Angels & Demons. I'm sure that I won't finish it before March 31st but you never know! I think that's pretty good with keeping up with my reading goal. It might help if I choose a shorter book for my April reading! Ha! We'll see what I come up with over the weekend.

I didn't need much for groceries this week. I'm still fairly stocked up with stuff at home so my only couponing this week was for the bacon at Walgreens - $6.00 - $1.00 in RR - $1.50 coupon - $.75 coupon = $2.75 for 2 pounds of bacon. Not bad!

Am getting anxious to start my spring yard work but it's way too early. I have lots of perennials popping up! We'll get some more cold nights even though they are expecting 70 next week. I'm looking forward to doing some different stuff in the area along side my new fence this spring. I think it will be soooo cute! But I just have to wait a while longer.

My ad in the Bargain Hunters hasn't produced a sale yet but I did get a call from a gal in IOWA! How she found out about my ad, I have no idea. I hope my pans sell over the weekend. I'd like to place another ad next week for my Longaberger stoneware - I just never use the stuff so figure I'll sell it and use the money in some other way!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Bargain Hunter's

Several years ago I sold an item through the Bargain Hunter's section of the Northfield/Faribault/Kenyon/Lonsdale newspapers. It went really well. I'm working on my Spring cleaning at home and have found a few items that I'm going to try and get rid of. Just like several years ago it's a FREE way to advertise items that you would like to sell - NO COST TO RUN AN AD - for items that are to be sold for $500, or less.

Maybe you have something of value just laying there not being used? Bargain Hunter's would be a great, way to sell it locally!

Wish me luck!

Great Freebies This Week!

My shopping list was non-existant this week but I did pick up some stuff that resulted in some great freebies:

Zippered Hooded Sweatshirt - not showing - $5.00

Masterpiece BBQ Sauce - .42

Masterpiece BBQ Sauce - .42

3 Old Spice Bodywash - FREE - donating to next week's All-Staff

Olay Body Wash - FREE - Received in the mail from Walmart

Colgate Tooth Paste - FREE

Bic Highlighter's - FREE

Bic Highlighter's - FREE

Total out of pocket - $5.84

Another good deal that I just discovered is the $10 of a purchase of $20 at Kmart. Haven't had time to study it but I'm hearing in the "blog" world that, after an additional $5.00 rebate and $5.00 coupon for my next purchases at Kmart, I should be able to get 2 Quilted Northern Toilet Papers and 1 Brawny 3-roll pack for .47. Yup, $.47 for all 3 items. That's a fabulous deal that I just can't pass up! How about you?

Found, Unexpected & Rebate Money

Thanks to Judy K. I found an auto salvage dealer who'll come pick up the car - it is undriveable - and pay me $50. Cool! No more worries about junk in my yard and $50 to boot.

So what will I do with this "found or unexpected" $50? It'll go into my little pile of money from rebates and other misc money that has come my way since I started to seriously coupon. I even found over $2.00 in the bomber when I was cleaning it out last night! I'm proud to say that with the addition of this money that "little" pile is over $220 since last November.

I've got one more rebate that I'm waiting to receive for $15.00. After I get that I'll be able to pay off my smallest monthly bill. Yahoo!

I WILL slowly but surely reach FINANCIAL FREEDOM! One small financial step at a time really adds up to something big. That's what all of my efforts are really all about.

The Bomber Has To Go!

The melting snow has made my Bomber, a 1993 Ford Escort Wagon, reappear from under the snow and I've got to do something about it soon. The "Law" in Kenyon will be making its rounds soon and passing out tickets with fines for junk cars or any other debris laying around the homeowner's property. Thankfully, the Bomber's license tabs are good until May. It buys me a little bit of time.

It died its final death just before the snow blew last fall. Not bad - 218,000 miles and paid $11,000. That averages out to be .20 cents per mile (not including oil changes, several pairs of tires, interest, and small repairs - nothing big) to drive that car for 17 years! It was a great little car with a 5-speed transmission so the gas mileage right up until the end was great. It averaged roughly 34 miles a gallon.

It never once failed me and left me stranded on the roadside, either! It provided my daughter and I with 16 years of Fourth of July memories. It was a tradition to put blankets, stuffed animals & snacks in the back end and open up the rear so that we could watch the fireworks from our little nest.

I have never had to dispose of a junk vehicle. I'm assuming that I have to call some junk dealer and have them come and tow it away. Hopefully, it won't cost me any money and that there is some sort of value left in a junk car for parts or whatever. It'll be with a little sadness when I sign the title over to them. An end of an era!

March All-Staff Meeting at LBSA

On the 2nd payday of each month an All-Staff meeting is held on campus. Each month a different group takes on the assignment of supplying food and prizes of some sort. For the month of March the prizes will be baskets of items that I pick up (using funds from the all-staff funds) over the next 2 weeks from my coupons that I'm personally not interested in or don't need. Judy and Bonnie will also be on the committee.

I'm thinking that this will be really fun and a "Not To Miss" All-Staff meeting. You might be surprised at what I come up with and the amount of items you may be able to walk away with - FREE! It helps me because I'm personally fairly stocked up at home and haven't needed alot of the good deals in the last couple of weeks and have felt torn about not going and getting them. Our goal is to encourage smart shopping habits and couponing in this tough economy.

Please plan on attending the March 26th meeting at 9:15 a.m. if you are a staff member at LBSA!

$1.48 Out Of Pocket!

I love these Glade soy candles but they are too expensive for my budget unless I get a good coupon deal and this was the week!

Glade Soy Candle

2 Starburst Jellybeans for Grace's Easter Basket (her favorite)

Needed a "Filler" item-2 Crunch Bars

Paid $1.48 out-of-pocket for all of this! My receipt says I saved $15.10. Yahoo!

Reading More In 2010!

One of my personal goals for 2010 is to read one book per month. While my daughter was growing up there never seemed to be enough "me" time so I hadn't read much for pleasure in several years. I figured that this was a very doable goal since I'm now an empty nester and have a lot more free time. I picked up 2 paperbacks from the Goodwill in Rochester in January. I don't mind paying $1.99 for a good book and they have a huge selection - both hard cover and paperback!

I really like Dan Brown so I read "The Divinci Code" in January and started "Digital Fortress" in late February. I didn't get Digital Fortress finished in February but am working hard at it. His short chapters are an easy read during commercial breaks on tv!

If you have any of Dan Brown's other books or "The Lost City of Z" I sure would like to borrow them from you! What's your favorite book right now?

Fantastic Paint Sale at Menards

If you need to do some basic painting around the house Menards has a fantastic deal this week. A gallon of interior flat paint is FREE after $11.00 mail-in rebate. Satin is $2.00 after the rebate, and Semi-Gloss is $3.00 after rebate. WoW! The colors are limited to white, antique white or ceiling white for the flat but if you've got an area in your house that just needs painting this is a big bargain. Maybe an old piece of furniture needs painting?

On Saturday, I received my rebate coupon for the insulation I purchased at the end of January so it takes about 6 weeks to get your rebate coupon back. I've decided to use my rebate coupon towards a really top quality garden hose. I'm still using the ones I bought 16 years ago and they were the cheap ones that kink all of the time. They are such a hassle so now I'm going to get a good one! Will be keeping my eye out for a sale in the next 2 months. Wish me luck!

There are lots of other FREE items after rebate in the sale circular this week. A lot of my fellow bloggers pick up these items throughout the year and then put them into a basket and give them as graduation presents. This is a great way to start a young guy or gal out with some handy tools for FREE!

Strawberries & Parmesan Cheese

When I was growing up mom and dad had a huge strawberry patch. I can still remember sitting in the garden eating them as fast as I picked them. Today, I still love them and they are considered one of the "extravagances" in my budget. In other words, if I want them, I will pay whatever price they charge, no matter what time of year. We all need those special items.

Happily, this week marks the time for cheap strawberries at Hy Vee. They are $1.38 for a 16 oz. container. Yay! They look beautiful and taste good, too. I bought 2 containers and still had some from my purchase last week so I'll be gorging all week! Yum.

Another of my "extravagances" is real parmesan cheese sold in the chunk. It is spendy but if you've never had it I suggest giving it a try. No shaking it from the Kraft shaker for me. Both Cub and Walmart carry the brand that I like but Walmart sells it for $2.00 less per 8 oz. so I try and always buy it there.

What are your little extravagances?

March starts off great!

I really found myself well supplied with groceries this week because my frig is so well stocked but I did pick up these bargains.

NOT pictured: Fresh Strawberries On sale $2.48

Creamettes $1.49

St. Patrick's Day Card $.99

Easter Card $.99

Bic Lighters $5.99

Revlon Eye Shadow $4.99

Revlon Eye Shadow $4.99

Total: 21.92 minus additional in-store discounts $9.69, minus coupon match ups $5.00 = $7.23 out of pocket! This is a lot of stuff for $7.23.

It all adds up!

Laundry Detergent Experiment

I have always heard that we ALL use way to much laundry detergent to wash our clothes and that the excess detergent slowly damages our washing machines so in early January I thought that I would try to actually get 32 Loads of laundry from a bottle of detergent. (That is what the bottle said it had in it.)

I normally poured in 1/2 of a capful into a load of laundry. For the experiment I poured in 1/2 of that amount or about 1/4 of a capful. Over the next several weeks I noticed that my laundry was coming out just as clean as it always had - no exceptions. I also kept track of the amount of loads of laundry.

Believe it or not I did get 32 loads of laundry by using 1/2 the amount of detergent that I had normally used. Unbelieveable! Think about it, I now am using 50% less detergent per wash so my detergent expense is now 50% less and I am saving wear and tear on my washing machine as well.

It all adds up!

Cooking on Sundays

Many of the blogs that I follow include Freezer Cooking Days at the beginning of the month. The idea is to have one marathon cooking day each month so that you don't have to think about what's for dinner each day the rest of the month. It's a fabulous idea to have these meals on-hand. Some of the gals cook up an entire month's worth iof main courses AND desserts, cookies, muffins, pancakes, etc.

I shoot for almost a week's worth of meals and it seems to be working out quite well. Usually on Sunday, I'll cook up at least 2 different casseroles and portion them out into meals for the week. Some need freezing and some just need refrigeration. They aren't enough for an entire week but on the nights I can't bear to cook they're nice to grab! Sometimes I still forget to bring my lunch but now, most of the time, I bring it to work and have something homemade which is much healthier than fast food. It's easy to warm it in the microwave and much cheaper on the budget. I should really figure out how much cheaper it is to do meals this way.

A few weeks ago I made homemade 6 McMuffin's for breakfasts. It's a great idea but be sure to let everything cool before you put the sandwiches together to freeze. I didn't and they became a gloppy mess with cheese melted all over. They didn't taste the best because of not letting them cool first (I could no longer tell there was cheese on them!) but I'll try making them again sometime soon. I also want to try breakfast burritos.

It all adds up!

Now this is a Good Deal!

Every week there is an opportunity to get some great deals on things and last week was particularly good. This is all stuff that I use.

3 Olay Body Washes with 2 oz lotions $16.50
1 500 count Q-Tip pack with 250 facial pads $1.18
1 Crest Toothpaste $2.79
4 Stouffer's Mac & Cheese $6.00
1 Can of Cashews $1.99
1 Dr. Scholl's Boot Inserts $11.49
1 Trident Gum $.99

Total $39.94 minus coupons of $6.75, minus $5.00 Target Gift Card for buying the Olay Boddy Wash, minus $7.00 Walgreens Register Rewards, minus $15.00 Olay Rebate equals $6.19 out of pocket!

Yes, that's right! I paid $6.19 for all of this stuff. It's remarkable what you can save! Can you tell I love Stouffer's Mac & Cheese? It's a favorite of mine.