Caroline the Escapee

Recently I caught this video of Caroline "escaping" the gate. We have to have it off the ground some or her brother can reach over & undo it. Apparently this day, it was off the ground a little too much.

YTD Savings

Around March or so, I decided to create a spreadsheet to help me keep track of my coupon & rebate savings. According to my calculations, I have saved a total of $2,991.09 by using coupons, and earned $1,030.32 in rebates, for a total of $4,021.41!

For 2009, I've decided to keep track of how much I spend at each of my store trips, so I can get a better idea of just how much I am saving (or spending).

So, for those who don't use coupons or do rebates, let this be an eye opener for you that you really can save money with them! Of course, I'm still learning, there are folks out there who spend very little, if anything out of pocket for their groceries. One day, hopefully, I will be just like that.

HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!

Week of 12/28/08-1/3/09

WOW! I can't believe that at the end of this week we'll be into 2009! Where has time gone?! Anyways, here are some deals I think are noteworthy for this week:

Walgreens
Glade Scented Oil candle holder $3.99
Use $2.50 coupon from 12/7 insert
$1 Easysaver rebate
= $0.49 out of pocket

Scotch packing tape $1.99
Use $1 coupon from 11/23 insert
=$0.99 out of pocket

Dawn dish soap $0.99
Use $1/2 coupon from 12/14 insert
= $0.98/2 out of pocket

Fusion Razor $8.99
Get $3 register rewards when you buy one
Use $4 coupon from 12/28 insert
Use FREE Gillette bodywash or shampoo coupon from 12/14 insert
like paying $1.99 for razor & bodywash (or shampoo) after register rewards

Dr Scholls Massaging Gel Insoles 2/$20
Get $10 register rewards when you buy two
Use 2 $2 internet printable coupons
like paying $6/2 after register rewards

Auto Expressions Vent Fresh elite auto freshener $4.99
FREE after rebate from Walgreens
Moneymaker when you submit for manufacturer rebate

Rite Aid
Crest ProHealth toothpaste
$2.49- $1 SCR - $1 manuf (11/30 insert)=$0.49

Orajel Antiseptic mouth sore rinse
$5.99 - $5.99 SCR= FREE

Pampers
10.99-$1 manuf= $9.99

JC Penney rewards

When doing some after Christmas shopping today, I noticed a brochure about a new rewards program at JC Penney.

Here are the details:
Earn a JC Penney Card bonus when you shop using your JCP card, you get 25% extra points
Earn 1 point on all regular & sale priced purchases when you shop in store, online or by catalog.
Reach 250 point in a month & you get a $10 JCP rewards certificate.

To sign up, go to www.jcprewards.com, enter promo code 1011 where prompted (from the back of the brochure I picked up, in no way associated with myself), register your credit card(s), start shopping & earning points!

Like Santa?

This morning while laying in the bed cuddling, my (almost) 3 year old son, Lucas, rolled over to me and told me I was just like Santa. When I proceeded to ask him why, his response was: "Because you're big and fat!" Boy, was I sorry I asked.

Sales this week 12/14-12/20/08

Walgreens
99c Progresso soups w/ in ad coupon, use $1.10/1 IP for 11c overage!
Pampers $10.99, use $1.50 manuf = 9.49

Rite Aid
Gift of Savings program still going on, enter all receipt information to earn your extra rebate up to $20

99c Blistex , use 25c off any manuf = 0.74
Select Xmas movies $3.99 FAR
Nicorette (100-110ct), $10 RA coupon, $10 IP = $32.99
Huggies, $2 RA coupon, $1.50 manuf = $8.99 - $1 caregivers marketplace = $7.99
BOGO Halls sugar free cough drops, use 50c manuf = $1.99/2
Mentos gum, use $1/2 manuf, (2) 55c RA = 88c/2

Super Fresh (ends Thursday 12/18)
Pepsi 12 packs 4/$11 WYB $25 additional items (ends Monday 12/15)
Pampers $10.99 - $1.50 manuf = $9.49

P&G Year of Savings
Purchase $50 worth of P&G products (doesn’t have to be on 1 receipt) & receive a booklet of coupons worth $120+, purchases must be made 12/14 or after

Pampers Gift to Grow program
Enter WEAPPRECIATEU08 for 10 points credited to your account.

Fernando Guerrero press conference

Today at 12pm sharp, there was a press conference at Black Diamond Lodge in Fruitland, Maryland with Fernando Guerrero & his trainer/manager, Hal Chernoff. The purpose was to tell his fans the details of his next fight, to be held here in Salisbury on Friday, February 6, and will be televised on ESPN.

I'm super excited about this, even though I'm not a huge boxing fan, but after watching his first fight here in Salisbury, I'm hooked. He's a super great guy, doing everything he can to get the community together, and even giving back to the communities that support him. As an entrance "fee" to the press conference today, you were supposed to bring a canned good and/or a toy for Toys for Tots. When my husband & I left, it looked like they got a pretty decent assortment of gifts, but the canned good collection containers had already been removed.

Fore more details about the fight, you'll have to keep watch here as I'm sure Joe will have some pics & details to post later.

Here are some pics my hubby & I got with the fighter:

FREE Sesame Street book from Earth's Best

Click here for more details.

Teach your child wholesome habits about nutrition, exercise, hygiene, and good sleep with these "Happy Healthy Monsters" books from Sesame Street. These stories feature your child's favorite Sesame Street characters, who make learning fun.

Get your free book by mailing in 2 UPCs from Earth’s Best Sesame Street Products, plus shipping and handling. Then one of these four titles will arrive in the mail.

Sales this week 11/30-12/6/08

RITE AID
The Gift of Savings is still going on, so be sure to enter all your receipt information, even if you didn't purchase rebate items.

Noteables this week, include:
Gillette Fusion men's razor $9-$5 SCR-$4 manuf coupon=FREE
Duracell batteries=B3G2 FREE, great for the buy $20 get $10 SCR, don't forget to use the $1.50 manuf coupons that have been in the inserts recently. Time to stock up for all those batteries you'll need for toys Christmas morning! There is also a $2 coupon in the RA flyer which is good on 12 pack, makeing them &7.49 each. Not sure if the B3G2 free deal works with this or not.
Nicorette gum is on sale for $39.99-$5 SCR-$ manuf coupon (I have several, the highest is a $8 value)
The Gillette Fusion razor gift set is also a nice gift for that hard to buy for man at only $5.99 when you use the $4 manuf coupon on it instead of the single razor.

SUPER FRESH
Has triple coupons again this week, so if you didn't use all your coupons under $1 last week, use them up this week. With 2 weeks of triples in a row, who knows when we'll see them again.

Get $10 worth of Pillsbury coupons by signing up on their website.

WALGREENS
There is a $5/$25 coupon available on the Wags website. They're changing things up again, making it off a larger amount, and also making it valid on Monday & Tuesday. There's only 1 FAR item for this month, so a good time to get it if you haven't already.

What have you done?

Because I'm unoriginal, and don't want to sit & think about what to post today, I stole this from my friend, Erin....Thanks for the idea!

So, here goes (things I've done are in bold):

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to DisneyWorld
8. Held a praying mantis
9. Climbed a mountain
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. seen the Mona Lisa
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp... Dachau, the most depressing place I've ever been.
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby (or two)
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Rebate company files for bankruptcy!

Thanks to my friend Kris for giving me the heads up on this story.

Apparently, there is a rebate company who has filed for bankruptcy. If you go here, you can read the entire story for more details on what companies/rebates have been affected.

Baby, Let's Go Green!

I had a wonderful lady named Debbie String recently send me several packages of her product, called Fresh Sacks, so I'm giving away a box to 1 lucky reader. They are available at Walgreens, and typically cost $8.99 If you go to her website, there is a $5 rebate on there, which ultimately makes them $3.99 for the box! They are available in boxes of 25, 50 or 250. What's even better, is that they're biodegradeable, so they don't harm the environment (hence the title of this post)!

In addition to the box of Fresh Sacks, I will also send the winner a reuseable shopping bag.

To enter, please leave me a comment. If you subscribe to this blog, then you will receive an extra entry, but you must leave a separate comment telling me that you did so. Be sure that I have a way to contact you, either through your blog and/or an email address.

Contest is open until Sunday, November 24th at 6pm (eastern time). At that point, I will choose the winner using a random number generator. Winner will have until Wednesday to contact me with their mailing information. Good luck!

SUPER Diaper Deal!!!

Thanks to my friend, Meliss, for bringing this to my attention!

Go over to Amazon to score some Huggies diapers, size 1-2, for $0.12 per diaper. Hurry though, not sure how long this deal will last! Too bad my daughter is past this size now, or I'd be all over it!

ETA: It gets even better...We're talking $0.05 per diaper if you spend $25 (2 boxes) you can get a $15 rebate (or Cookie magazine subscription if you so choose, but then your diapers aren't $0.05 each)!

Bloggy Winners!

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:
38
57
31
Timestamp: 2008-11-02 22:58:41 UTC

So, winners are:
kathy-mom of many
becca
katie stacey at Savannah Stories

I have left you comments on your blogs or emailed you to let you know. If for some reason the winners above don't contact me by Wednesday, Nov 5, then I will choose another winner in your place. CONGRATS!!!! Thanks for all the entries, I hope that you enjoyed what you read & will continue to visit. I look forward to participating in the spring Bloggy Giveaway Carnival.

A tear in my eye

Our doggy died on Labor Day. We're not sure if he was bitten by a snake (we'd seen a few copperheads around recently), or if he ate something he shouldn't have (ie poison). Well, we explained to Lucas that Scraps was in Heaven. Of course, we got the string of "Why" questions when we told him this. His daddy buried Scraps & made a cross to mark his grave in the back yard. Occassionally, Lucas will peer out the back window & mention it, but not recently.

Well, the past 2 mornings, my poor son has whined while getting into the car because he wants to know where Scraps is. You see, Lucas dumped out the remaining portion of his McDonald's dinner on Monday evening, and it's still sitting in the yard, where if Scraps were still with us, he'd have gobbled it up as Lucas was dumping it.

It breaks my heart to see my little boy want his doggy back so badly. He was just getting to the age where they played together. Maybe for Christmas Santa will bring him a puppy....

Home Depot video contest

The Home Depot wants to know how people are saving energy in their home in its "Save Money. Save Energy. Win Big." video contest. Just shoot a short video to show how you're saving money and helping the environment by making your home more energy efficient.

Anyone can log on to www.homedepot.com/youtube to enter their video between now and November 9, 2008. The contest winner will receive a $5,000 Home Depot gift card and up to $2,000 for installed insulation or radiant barrier products from The Home Depot. The energy savings videos should focus on conserving energy in your home and addressing issues to prevent high energy bills. The videos will be judged on relevance to the energy savings theme, originality and creativity. The second and third place winners will receive a $1,500 and $500 gift card, respectively.

Fall Bloggy Giveaway!!!!

It's that time again: Bloggy Giveaway Carnival. Go here for more information, and for a link list of all the blogs participating.

This time around, I'm offering a few things as well:
1--A potluck envelope of coupons to help you save some $ on your grocery bill.
2--Some scrapbooking supplies that I purchased to use, but haven't yet.
3--A box of random things from my "stockpile" This might be shampoo, hair dye, medicine, cleaning supplies, etc. You never know what you might get.

In order to be entered, please leave me a comment. For each of the following you do, you will receive 1 additional entry: subscribe to my blog & participate in my other promotions I have posted about as well. Don't forget to leave me an additional comment letting me know you've done one (or both) of the above. You may also want to consider visiting my business blog to participate in that giveaway as well.

Winner will be chosen on Sunday, Nov 2 after 5pm (Eastern time), using a random number generator, and posting the information here. If there is no way to contact you via your comment, and you haven't contacted me by mid-week (will have a reminder post up once winners are chosen), then I will choose another winner at random. Open to US addresses only, please.

Thanks a bunch! Happy couponing.

Random assortment

FREE Dr Pepper

Terms & conditions for a FREE Taco Bell taco, thanks to someone stealing a base during the World Series.

$5 off $20 at Walgreens on Fri/Sat, Oct 24 & 25.

$5 off $50 at Super Giant, HURRY, expires Oct 25. During step 3 of registration, check the bpx to receive monthly emails and you will get a coupon for $5 off $50 in the November monthly e-newsletter.

Superfresh FREEBIES!

I walked out of Superfresh without paying a dime for all this (and more that I forgot to put in the pic). Everything I bought was either on sale and/or I had coupons for the item. I definately didn't plan on paying nothing, but it was an instant high!

Here's a complete list of everything I bought:
Kellogg's Froot Loops--on sale
Similac ready to feed formula--club savings + $5 coupon
2 Tylenol PM--$3 store coupon + 2 $1 manuf coupon
Stroehman bread--$0.55 manuf coupon (doubled to $1.10)
2 Earths Best baby food jars--$1/2 manuf coupon
2 Kellogg's Poptarts--on sale, $1/2 manuf coupon
Kleenex--$0.75 store coupon + $0.55 manuf coupon (doubled to $1.10)
Edy's ice cream--on sale, $1 manuf coupon
Breyers 6pk Disney yogurt--$0.50 manuf coupon (doubled to $1) + $0.75 store coupon
White Castle hamburgers 6pk--on sale, $0.50 manuf coupon (doubled to $1)
4 Progresso can soups--on sale, 2 $0.50 manuf coupons (doubled to $1 each) + $0.50 store coupon

Superfresh finds!

Here's what I got at SuperFresh last night:


And, I paid a whopping $2.05 out of pocket (which I actually paid with a gift card), after coupons & Bonus savings card!!!!
I used: Free Pampers coupon (from Pampers rewards program), 55c Stroeman bread coupon-doubled to $1.10, 75c/4 Gerber baby food SF store coupon/catalina, $5 Similac "check" What's even better is I hit the $200 mark for the Baby Club reward, so I also got a $20 coupon for my next purchase. Now I'm just hoping there's a triples promo before it expires.


I went in there again today to fill a prescription, and picked up a copy of the Easy Solutions magazine & their sales flyer. You can find a list of the coupons in the ES book here. Don't forget that you can stack a manufacturer coupon with these coupons for extra savings. Notables in this week's sales flyer (for me) include:
Kellogs cereals (Corn Pops, Foot Loops, Apple Jacks) for $1.49 from Oct 17-23 only! There are several printable coupons for Kellogs cereals to use, however, SuperFresh policy is to NOT accept printables. So, my suggestion is to take the SF sales flyer to WalMart (or store of your choice) and have them price match, so you can use the IPs. Rumor has it that My Points also has these coupons available to print as well. If you're not already a member, please leave a comment with your email address & I am happy to send you an invite.
Progresso classic soups are 10/$10 (with card, 18-19oz). There were coupons in last week inserts that are $0.50/2, which would be doubled to $1, so it would be a BOGO situation.
FREE Crocs when you buy $40 worth of P&G products on 1 receipt. Sounds a little daunting at first, but if you buy a box of Pampers, you're over half way there. Use the P&G insert coupons that come out monthly to help you find items you can purchase using coupons for extra savings.