Boys on a Budget

Soooo behind :)

2009-03-01T15:49:00.002-07:00

Ok, I have like a hundred million things I should have posted on here by now, haha.

Heather-- My doubles trips are gross. Like sick gross way too much to type up gross hahaha. BUT I will try to come up some #s for you... I had gone twice before Saturday and spent a shade over $25 and saved over $600. Saturday I was able to get Anthony to come along and we did 10 transactions at 2 different stores, spent about another $20 but got a ton of stuff. IDK how much lol. He has half the stuff in his car still with some receipts.

I have a few trips to the grocery store that I am not going to type up, but after taking them out of the budget we dropped down to $783.04 left for the year.

I am adding in $30 even that I withdrew from my PayPal account, so back up to $813.04.

KMart doubles are going to knock it down again.

This is such a learning experience for me, haha. Sometimes I look at the $1200 target I set and I think, OMG, I will never be able to hit it! When I set my goal I didn't really think about how much diapers cost, or the fact that I didn't already have a stockpile to draw from. Nevertheless, I think it's do-able, if I can just keep away from K-Mart doubles, haha! I don't think Anthony will let me go back in March though, I don't know, unless I can prove I really need this stuff or I'm gonna give it away. After I clean up my house tonight, I'm going to make some goody boxes for my mom and brother. But only if both of them comment on this post... And if any of my other family members are out there, leave a little hello for me and tell me if you need anything.

A Work In Progress

2009-02-16T09:14:00.003-07:00

It's still white and I am still working on my own header, but I added some linky stuff to the side. Over there.

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There are buttons and you can subscribe to blog entries and comments through a bunch of different feeds.

There is a link to a site called SwagBucks that is very cool. I read about it on Jane4Girl's $800 blog, and signed up and have found that it adds up pretty quickly. They give you 3 SwagBucks (SBs) to start, and you can earn more through web searches and other ways (like referring friends, hmmm). It only takes 45 SBs to cash in for a $5 Amazon Gift card, and they offer GCs to a bunch of other places as well. I already have made it my home page and am earning SBs already. Give it a shot!

Also, a button to link you to AFullCup.com. It's my favorite forum in the world for coupon stuff and everything related, and it's a huge community (100,000+ members now) so they offer a little of everything. Definitely worth checking out. If you join and have any questions, let me know and I will help get you acquainted.

That's it for now. Need to post about Smith's last night. Will do that in a bit, as right now I have babies to round up.

Style Overhaul

2009-02-15T01:11:00.001-07:00

Stark white. So fun.

Redesigning the blog, content remains the same but will have a different look soon, I hope. :)

Can't Sleep

2009-02-03T02:55:00.002-07:00

I think it's because I have been drinking Diet Pepsi again... at night... and I bought the caffeinated stuff @ Wags bc that's all they had. I won't repeat that mistake. I usually buy caffeine-free stuff and this is killing me because I'm tired, but I can't fall asleep!

So here are my thoughts while not sleeping:

- Albertsons is ridic expensive w/o coupons & double coupons. I picked up 16oz blocks of reduced-fat Precious Mozzarella at Smith's for $1.50ea. At Albertsons, the same product was $8.99. What?! Yes, when I got them at Smiths they were on manager's special for $2.50 and I used a $1/1 coupon, but I believe that even regular price they are like $5.99 at Smiths. Kraft Cheese slices made with 2% Milk were $6.99 and I just got them on sale at Smiths for $0.75 a pack after Mega-sale discount and $0.75/1 coupons. This is how savings add up. Shop around, buy on sale, use coupons. If I'd bought that cheese at Albertsons without Qs and not on sale, I would have spent $72.91. ON JUST CHEESE. STOP BUYING THINGS AT REGULAR PRICE, PEOPLE. It cost me $10.50 at Smith's -- an 85% savings.

- Why are some people so grumpy? There's a mean cashier at Albertsons who is just plain miserable all the time. Tonight after she finished ringing my transaction, I politely told her that she missed some coupons. She got all mad and said she didn't, and I backed off bc she was obviously crazy and sour... I told her not to worry, I would just count them all up myself at the end if she wouldn't mind leaving the coupons out of her drawer. She said, "I don't have time to count it all with you. I'm going home." And then she shoved the pile of coupons at me (80 or so of them) and somehow they stayed together and she turned around and yelled to her manager, "SHE'S YOUR PROBLEM NOW!" Oooookay. FWIW, I am not a problematic customer. I'm polite, friendly, and I go out of my way to help the cashiers and speed up my transactions. I bag my own groceries if they're shorthanded (which they always are at night) and I let people in front of me if I am able. So for her to act like I'm some ogress simply because I want to save money... Blah. Then, Miss "I'm outta here" in a hurry to get home... She doesn't leave, she hovers around while I count up my items and coupons and sure enough, she missed 9 of them worth over $9. The manager was super nice and fixed it, but Grumpyface kept walking by insisting I messed up and she scanned them all and I must have given her too many or not enough or blah blah.
I just don't understand, I try to be nice and I have worked retail. I've scanned a bazillion coupons before and I've sorted out CARTFULS of cat food for people who didn't understand that I have to scan each item properly for inventory purposes... so if you just dump 100 cans into your cart, yes, I have to scan each one separately. But it never bothered me! I just did it, because that was my job, and I smiled and chatted up people about their 14 cats and such. If you get a customer who wants to use a million coupons... who cares?! Unless you're getting paid per customer you're ringing, and I doubt you are, it shouldn't matter to you if I take a little longer than the guy in line behind me. Just BE NICE, scan my stuff and let me go. Don't be grouchy and huff and puff and sigh and roll your eyes and act like I'm committing a crime.

- My dad is coming into town this weekend! He called tonight and said he was just going to come out here bc otherwise he won't see us til April or something. He mentioned going to Costco and I was in my garage at the time (about to pull out to go to Albies) and I said, "I don't think we'll need to, Dad." As much as I appreciate it, I looked around my garage and know we don't have room for ANYTHING! And everything we'd pick up at Costco I now can get for much cheaper with coupons... so those days are mostly over, I suspect. Except for if I run out of cheese or something. Their everyday prices on cheese are good. And oh, how I love my big jars of shredded Parmesan Reggiano. Yum yum yum, I could eat it by the spoonful. Anyway, he will be here and we're going to put up some more shelves and plan a little for our backyard (it's still dirt and a hill) and maybe I'll find a neat way to organize my stockpile. Oh, and a FREEZER for the garage! I'm so very hoping we can find one and get it set up. I was looking around my house the other day and realized that I actually do have pretty much everything I need on-hand for whatever. More water wouldn't be a bad thing, if I find the room I'll get more.

God, I am rambling. Going to try to go back to bed now.

Best Albertsons Trip Ever

2009-02-02T23:54:00.003-07:00

Why, oh whyyyy can't they double all the time? I would make out like a bandit. Tomorrow is the end of their 2-week double coupons period, and I'm hoping it gets extended. Pleeeeease. Anyway, tonight was enough fun for me that I took a picture of my haul. My brother alerted me that I was having "too much fun." Anthony was nice enough to assist with the picture setup and taking and even told me that he didn't think I was too dorky or crazy for doing it. I LOVE YOU, HUSBAND!

When I found out I could use $0.25/1 McCormick Qs to get tons of free seasoning, I was sooo happy. If I picked a brand of seasonsing it would be McCormick and there were lots of $10/10 flavors right now. So I ordered 100 coupons off eBay for a cost of $5 (used my GC to pay!) and planned on stocking up... Went into the store tonight and they had dropped the price on many of them to 4/$3 or 3/$2! Can we say overaggggge? I almost did a dance in the aisle. I'm sorry to those of you who know me "in real life" and have to shake your head at how dorky I am.

Anyway. Here's tonight's trip, I will be making one more tomorrow as my last doubles Hoorah.

Albertsons:
5 bags Chex Mix $1ea - used $0.50/1 doubled = FREE
10 boxes Chex Mix Bars raincheck for $1.88ea + $5 off WYB 10 - used 7x $1.50/1, 1x $1/1, 1x $1/2 AND $5 off = $0.13ea
2 jars Smucker's Grape Jelly "manager's special" $1.48ea - used $0.35/1 Tripled = $0.48ea
2 cans Progresso fat-free Chicken Noodle $1ea - used $1.10/1 adjusted down to $1 = FREE
2 bottles Icelandic h2O $1ea - used $0.20/1 Quadrupled = $0.20ea
2 bags Knorr Chicken Fried Rice mix $1.50ea - used $0.50/2 doubled = $1ea
1 McCormick Grinders Garlic Sea Salt $1.50 - used $0.25/1 quadrupled = $0.50
1 McCormick Grill Mates Garlic & Herb Seasoning $1.67 - used $0.25/1 quadrupled = $0.67
1 McCormick Grill Mates Garlic & Onion $1.67- used $0.25/1 quadrupled = $0.67
16 McCormick Hot Taco Seasoning $0.67ea - used $0.25/1 quadrupled =$5.28 overage
1o McCormick Mesquite Marinade $0.75ea - used $0.25/1 quadrupled = $2.50 overage
1o McCormick Southwest Marinade $0.75ea - used $0.25/1 quadrupled = $2.50 overage
1o McCormick Montreal Steak Marinade $0.75ea - used $0.25/1 quadrupled = $2.50 overage
1o McCormick Peppercorn & Garlic Marinade $0.75ea - used $0.25/1 quadrupled = $2.50 overage
1o McCormick Pot Roast Seasoning $1.50ea - used $0.25/1 quadrupled = $0.50ea
1o McCormick Meatloaf Seasoning $1.50ea - used $0.25/1 quadrupled = $0.50ea
3 Pillsbury Grands Jr. $1.50ea - used $0.25/1 quadrupled = $0.50ea
2 bags Hormel pepperoni $2.99ea - used $0.35/1 tripled = $1.99ea

Total OOP = $14.04
Total Savings $205.64

Now for pictures :D

All of it:

Cheap Stuffed-Crust Pizza :)

2009-01-30T01:58:00.002-07:00

I made "stuffed crust" pizza tonight for us... turned out okay IMO despite a couple teeny hitches. Here's about what it cost us Vs. ordering it from somewhere and paying $11.99 + tip + tax + delivery fee...

3 cups Flour $0.33 (based on my find that a 10lb bag of flour has 45 cups of flour in it)
1 packet yeast $0.06 (4 packets for $0.25 during a holiday sale)
1 lb reduced-fat Mozzarella $1.50 (I actually used more like 3/4lb but we'll just round up)
1/3 jar of Ragu $0.05 (Unilever deal, combining Qs + sunsilk to get $10rr made my cost per item $0.15)
Sprinkle of Parmesan cheese in the crust (IDK! I'm sorry! This has been in my fridge since my pre-tracking days, but it would be a marginal cost bc I only used a teeny bit)

Sooooo my pizza cost $1.94... and while I bet it wasn't exactly "health food," it probably was way better for us than the alternative from [Major Pizza Chain] :P

If I elected to make this as a "regular" Pizza the cost would prolly drop to like $1.25 bc I would use much less cheese!

The problems:
a) My dough was too thick... I need to find a recipe that is easier to roll out or toss.
b) Ragu is GROSS. Are you kidding me? If I wanted to put watery ketchup on my pizza, well, I'd put watery ketchup on there. I guess I have gotten spoiled always making my own pizza and spaghetti sauce, and living in the southwest where everything has FLAVOR! It was super sweet and watery and I would imagine that anyone worth their salt and versed in Italian cooking would probably revoke my aspiring chef permit for even thinking about using it. I'm very sad to know that so many people buy this and use it for their Italian food. Thank GOD I only bought a couple jars. I'm going to try to improve it some by adding some herbs and such but IDK... could be a lost cause. Thought I'd give it a try bc it was so cheap and everyone was SO EXCITED and raving about how they were going to get so much Ragu and it was so good... yuck. Somewhere out there Giada De Laurentiis is crying. Sorry to those of you who like it... maybe you can buy my other jar ;)

Hi Mom!

2009-01-28T22:52:00.003-07:00

I feel really cool because my mom is following my blog. She's been so busy lately I wasn't sure she remembered she had a daughter, but then I saw her little bloggy follower icon on my giant 5-person follower list and I was happy. I'm gonna start trying to list what Qs I'm using again & prices so that readers can follow along better.

Albertsons:

Some great Qs this week/month. I just ordered (with my eBay GC, Thank you again Dad & Jane) 100 more $0.25/1 McCormick Qs so this week I will get enough seasoning mixes to last me for a year :D

4 5-packs Kraft Macaroni and Cheese $2.50ea = $10.00
4 Tombstone Frozen Pizzas $2.50ea = $10.00
2 Powerade Zero $1ea = $2.00
1 dozen eggs $1.50 (not a planned buy so not the best price)
6 McCormick Country Sausage Gravy mixes $1ea = $6.00
8 Ro-Tel Tomatoes & Green Chiles $1ea = $8.00

I used:
4 $2.50/1 Tombstone Pizza WYB a 5-pack Kraft Mac n Cheese (peelie attached to box) -$10.00
2 $0.40/1 Powerade Zero (multiplied to $1.00) -$2.00
6 $0.25/1 McCormick Seasoning Blend (multiplied to $1.00) -$6.00
8 $0.30/1 Ro-Tel (multipled to $0.90, idk why) -$5.60

Total OOP: $12.30

Savings: $59.85

Smith's:
3 Hamburger Helper $1ea = $3
10 Huggies Wipes 40ct $1ea = $10
3 2-liter Cokes = $4
1 gallon 2% Milk $2.00
4 loaves Sara Lee Soft n Smooth $2.29ea = $10.16
5 16oz Precious Mozzerella Blocks $2.50ea = $12.50 (Manager's Special, all have 1/30exp)
MegaSale Items Follow- Price Reflects $5 off WYB 10
13 Sobe Lifewater $0.50ea = $6.50
2 36 Oz Heinz Ketchup $1.49ea = $2.98
3 Hormel Turkey Chili w/ Beans $0.50ea = $1.50
4 16-ct Kraft Cheese Slices 2% milk $1.50ea = $6.00
6 Orville Redenbacher Popcorn 4-ct $1.49ea= $5.96
2 Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers $1ea = $2.00

Used:
$0.80/3 Hamburger Helper IP
$0.75/3 Hamburger Helper Shortcuts.com
2 $0.50/1 Green Giant -$1.00
2 $0.50/1 Green Giant Shortcuts.com -$1.00
3 $1/2 Orville Redenbacher Popcorn -$3.00
$1.50/3 Hormel Chili
4 $0.75/1 Kraft Cheese -$3.00
10 $1/1 Huggies Bath & Body Product -$10.00
5 $1/1 Precious Cheese -$5.00 (these were stuck to the cheese!)
Sara Lee was on sale BOGO so -$4.58 for 2 loaves
3 FREE Coke WYB 2 Orville Redenbacher Popcorn -$3.75 (should have been $4, idk why he entered $1.25 for their value)

OOP = $27.28

Savings = $89.04

Walgreens:
5 bottles Garnier Fructis Hairspray $2.99ea (used raincheck to get all these @ $2.99)
2 bottles Garnier Fructis glossy shiny stuff $2.99ea (you know, shiny drops to make my hair shiny)
3 bottles Garnier Fructis Anti-Humidity Milk $2.99ea
15 Garnier Fructis Shampoo & Conditioners $2.99ea (various "flavors")
2 Jumbo Packs Walgreen's Brand diapers $5.99ea
6 boxes Pepcid $2.00ea (good clearance find)
4 Hershey's Milk Chocolate 2/$1.59 = $3.18
4 L'Oreal Preference Dream Blonde $6.19ea
2 500ml Listerine w/ bonus mini bottle $4.50ea
1 VentFresh Air Freshener $4.99

USED:
10 $1/1 Garnier style product
15 $1/1 Garnier shampoo/conditioner
3 $4/2 Pepcid, Maalox, Mylanta, Lactaid or Immodium
2 Hershey's BOGO
4 $2/1 L'Oreal Preference
2 $2/1 Listerine
Wags Qs:
$2/1 Garnier
BOGO Hershey's
$30 Unilever RRs (the ones from the other night that only "cost" a couple dollars to get!)

OOP: $7.97, recieved $4.50 Listerine RR and will submit for FAR air freshener

Savings: $197.03

Budget Remaining for 2009: $894.99

I have a bunch of eBay stuff, trades, auctions & rebates to put back in but I'm waiting until my PayPal links up w/ my ING account before I do that.

I LOVE My Walgreens

2009-01-28T22:25:00.002-07:00

I do. I really, really, really like the store that is closest to me, which is fortunate :) I just wish it could be a 24 hour store instead of one of the ones that closes at ten! There are a lot of nice cashiers in there, 2 girls in particular though are always really nice and seem happy about my deals. That's cool, because no one likes the snotty cashiers who act like you're stealing their firstborn when you end up with a low OOP.

Today my cousin (in-law, do you call people your cousin in law? If you're reading this, Michaela, do I just call you my cousin? Family labels aren't my strong suit) came over and I gave her an awkward miniature coupon seminar. In the world of coupon classes, this probably ranked very much towards the bottom. But I think I might have conveyed a couple of helpful tips for her, like how to stack ManQs and Store Qs. I glanced over Walgreens before she left but I will have to show her how to roll RRs. Couponing 201: Rolling for Advanced Couponers.

I got my money back at Smith's, so that is all sorted out. I'm going to pick up about a million cans of Hormel Chili this week during their MegaSale. FREE! Man, if we could survive on just chili, shampoo and McCormick Seasoning Mixes, my family would be set for years.

Okie, moving on to the boring stuff now. Next post is some more transactions... Lots of savings though. Savings, cheese and shampoo.

Today's Trips:

2009-01-28T01:55:00.003-07:00

Started tonight going to a Walgreens nearby. Hit the Sunsilk jackpot... I returned the 8 bottles I bought the other night and rebought using my $2/2 coupons. The $10RR printed out for me again, which was fantastic :) I also found 12 more bottles, which I split into 2 transactions and used the rest of my $2/2 Qs (I got an eBay GC for xmas from my dad & stepmom and BOY is it coming in handy). So Here's what Walgreens looked like tonight:

Transaction One (RETURN)
Return 8 Sunsilk...
+$10.16

Transaction Two (REBUY)
8 Sunsilk
$1.53 ($10RR generated)

Transaction Three
4 Sunsilk
$0.69 ($2RR generated)

Transaction Four
8 Sunsilk
$0.72 ($10RR generated)

Transaction Five:
2 Greeting Cards
2 Reynolds Foil
$4.60

So, After all those, I am still +$2.62 AND Up $20 in RRs

Then I went to Albertsons:

Albertson's:
9 Totino's Pizza Rolls
5 Huggies Clean Team Hand & Face Wipes
1 Blistex
2 McCormick Sausage Gravy Mixes

OOP: $1.58 (I will have to review this reciept bc for once I paid LESS than I thought I should)
Savings: $31.37

Then I went to another Walgreens to pick up this month's Free After Rebate (FAR) items:
1 Orajel Cold Sore Brush
2 Revlon Matte Collection Eyeshadows (They were B1G1 50% off and I had $2/1 Qs)
Used a $10RR
OOP: $2.90

So ALL that shopping, thanks to the $10.16 refund... and I'm only down $1.86 :) And since that stuff I bought at the 2nd WAGS is all FAR, and I do the GC, I will get $14.82 put on my GC to use next month. Not going to put the Smiths on here until I get it all sorted out tomorrow... I am going to also see if they'll refund me a bit for some stuff I bought that is now $0.50 cheaper per item (for a total of $3.50).

Budget Remaining for the Year: $942.54

Overcharged Again, Such Stress

2009-01-28T01:44:00.002-07:00

Tonight we went out to dinner for Anthony's birthday (it's actually tomorrow but he has work meetings... fun) to TEXAS ROADHOUSE mmmmmm... his parents were kind enough to buy dinner for us! We had to be there by quarter to six tho, and at 4:54pm we were still checking out at Smith's. If you have ever tried to drive home from the store, put the cold stuff in the fridge & Freezer and get 3 kids ready to go to dinner AND drive to the restaurant that's 15-20 mins away... in 45 minutes... you will sympathize with how rushed I was feeling at checkout. PLUS we were having trouble with some items scanning wrong prices and stuff. We noticed some double scanned and I should have been on the lookout. But NO, I didn't check the reciept until just now so now it's 1:45AM and I find he double-scanned for 11 Sobes. I bought 13 but there are 24 on the receipt. UGH. In just a month or so you should know that $11 can get me a ton of stuff... I can't afford to blow that off. So now I have to call the store tomorrow and hopefull talk to someone and get my money back. I'm so nervous they won't believe me. :(

I am telling myself daily that I am in the process of stocking up on things we need right now and my rapid spending will slow... soon... I hope. I think I'm to the point right now tho where I can sit back and just pick up a couple things here or there instead of my big trips. Trying to only buy free or almost free stuff next month for groceries.

I'm excited bc Albertson's monthly ad for February has two AWESOME coupons in it... FREE Sara Lee Soft N Smooth bread and FREE Hilshire Farms Deli Select Lunchmeat. Guess who's gonna be picking a million ads this month? :D They expire on 3/3 I believe, but that gives me plenty of time to pick up enough lunchmeat to last us all year. God bless freezers (and our FoodSaver we got for Christmas)!

2009-01-25T01:51:00.002-07:00

Things have still been so crazy around here I only have a few minutes to document this week's shopping. Have some auctions and rebates on their way to replenish a little :) So don't get too scared for me, yet, haha.

Walgreens:
Tonight I got:
6 Jars Skippy
2 Jars Ragu
9 Fructis Styling Products
11 Fructis Shampoos & Conditioners
12 Biofusion Conditioner
4 Biofusion Shampoo
4 L'Oreal Preference Dream Blonde Haircolor
7 12-packs Pepsi Products
3 Scunci hair Elastics
2 Boxes Flavor-Ice
4 60-ct Flintstone's Gummies
8 Sunsilk Styling Products

Total OOP: $18.71
Total Savings: $293.34

Smiths (my stock up on chips trip):
3 cans Hormel Turkey Chili w/ Beans
2 cans Pillsbury Crescent rolls
2 gallons 2% Milk
4 Johnson's Buddy Bars
23 bags Quaker Quakes
4 bags Lays potato chips
1 bag Chex Mix
2 bags Cheetos

Total OOP: $13.46
Total Savings: $71.44 (84%)

Albertsons (My yay double Qs trip):
16 pouches Betty Crocker instant potatoes
10 Pillsbury Toaster Strudels
12 Albertson's Biscuits (the canisters of dough)
3 Totino's Pizza Rolls
6 McCormick Seasoning Blends
2 Boxes Celestial Seasonings Tea

Total OOP: $18.94
Total Savings: $60.68

So that's that. I feel like I'm shopping A LOT right now, but I think that it's kinda how it goes... a few weeks go by where I need to go a bunch, then we can sit back for a couple of weeks, then I go again, etc.

I'm also planning on running some reverse auctions and so on and "paying" with some of my stockpiled stuff... That will help a bunch.

This is SO MUCH FUN for me though... it's going to be a challenge and NOT simple, and that's what I like about it.

Budget Remaining for 2009: $944.40

YAY

2009-01-20T22:59:00.002-07:00

So I wrote a letter to Albertsons about not having double coupons anymore.

In tomorrow's ad... They are now having double up to $0.50, triple up to $0.33, and quadruple up to $0.25! Yay!!!! So now pretty much any Q I have that is $0.50 or less is now worth much more :) I'm tremendously pleased. This also has done wonders for my letter-writing ego, because I'm now convinced that Albertsons did this solely because of my letter. That they got 2 days ago.

C'mon, humor me.

Such Grocery Shopping

2009-01-19T01:13:00.002-07:00

Okay. Finally went to Smiths and Albertsons, and I'm going to write up my KMart stuff from the other night. I'm really tired tonight and sick, and all three of my kids are sick, and Anthony has to work at six a.m. so he's been in bed since eight (my husband usually works at like 7 PM not AM so this is crazy for us)... all in all, I'm ready for bed!

So I'm gonna make these short n sweet. :)

Albertsons:
Spent $21.40, Saved $39.12

Smiths:
Spent $58.72, Saved $66.44

So $80.12 on groceries tonight. Roughly $30 of that was on meat that was on sale (I got just over 12lbs of beef and 2lbs of pork) that should last us a few months. I am thinking I will go back and get some of the Roast @ Smiths ground up... it's $1.99/lb and it's really nice looking, and we could use some ground beef too. Got some rainchecks at Albertsons for some stuff and if I can find the right coupons, I will actually MAKE money buying Chex Mix bars and Yoplait. :)

Also bought some Dannon Activia bc it has a TMF (Try Me Free) guarantee, up to $12! We'll see how much I get back... I'm hoping it will be $11.94 because that's what my pre-coupon price for the yogurts was, but it could be as low as $0.98 (what I paid for 1 pack of yogurt post-Q).

KMart:
Spent $2.80 in one transaction, $0.11 in the other. Saved $108.65.

Just bc it's so fun to look at all the stuff I got for under $3, here's what I got at KMart (between both transactions):
6x 6.5qt Rubbermaid latch boxes
2x St. Ives Apricot Scrub
3x Clean & Clear Oil Absorbing Sheets
4x ACT Mouthwash
10x Johnson's Buddy Bars
6x Visine
1x Pantene
2x Pledge Dust Wipes
5x Glade Scented Oil Candle refills
2x Juicy Juice 8pk boxes
1x Starburst Gummies <-- this is why you don't shop with kids! These darn things cost me $0.89 and only bought about five minutes of peace...

In Sum: KMart is awful, KMart doubles are awesome.

Oh, and I ADDED to my budget recently through some auctions:
$11 in auction proceeds will be added back in.

I am planning on running auctions for spare Qs and stockpile a lot, so that should help me pad the grocery coffers a bit. If it comes down to it and we run low I'm gonna just suck it up and eat those canned peas we have in the pantry... I don't know why we ever even bought them but they're good forever. I'm convinced this month I have spent a lot because I was stocking up on some things. We'll see-- God willing I won't be broke and eating canned peas in December.

Oh, and Jeremiah is getting put into "big boy underpants" tomorrow. He's GOING to get potty trained somehow... Pull-ups will kill us. If I can return the ones we most recently bought it will throw another $20 back into our budget--- and that's a lot of food!

Budget remaining for 2009: $995.51

hotSACKs Giveaway at Jane4Girls $800 Budget Blog

2009-01-17T16:25:00.002-07:00

My budget blog mentor is running a giveaway this week for some supercute reusable shopping bags!

hotSACKS are environmentally friendly shopping bags that are good-looking as well. They come in a couple of sizes, and there's a produce bag, too, that's really cool. It's all meshy and looks fun. Plus, look at those pears in the picture... Yummmm, don't those look so good?

You can be green AND stylish, two things I should strive to more of all the time. You get an entry for filling out the form on her blog, and you can earn up to 3 extra entries if you meet certain criteria. Check it out!

While you are over there, read up... She's very good at this.

Oops, I made it Ugly

2009-01-17T01:16:00.001-07:00

In an attempt to edit something on my layout, I apparently scrapped half of my previous design and now have this weird mishmash of Ugmoblogginess. :(

I will fix it. Please don't not read me because I am ugly.

2009-01-16T22:26:00.003-07:00

I need to go grocery shopping in the worst way. I'm not sure how I can have SO MUCH FOOD in this house but not have anything to eat. There is a lot I could throw together actually, but I am out of some of the basics like bread & eggs, and I want to pick up some more pork & beef for Crock Pot meals... Lately I'm addicted to the slow cooker. It has made cooking dinner pretty simple and yummy. Yesterday I went to allrecipes and found a bunch more ideas for things to make in it other than just throwing in some meat & veggies. I'm pretty certain Anthony will try them and possibly even like them!

When I shop this week (hopefully tomorrow or Sunday), will be getting a bunch of General Mills products @ Albertson's. They're having a "Crazy Eights" sale and many GM products are $1.88ea. Plus, when you buy 10 participating products, you'll get a gallon of milk, a loaf of bread, and a dozen eggs FREE! The bread is on sale for $0.88/loaf so I will probably do the GM deal twice and still get a couple more loaves to stick in the freezer. Also have to go to Smith's. Hopefully my Quaker $1/1 coupons come quickly (I bought some off eBay with a Christmas Gift Card) and I can pick up a bunch of FREE Quakes. They're sooooo good and 10/$10 this week. Also, going to buy some diapers @ Smith's... Huggies are on sale for $8.99 a pack and I think I can get them for closer to $5/pack.

Here's the math on that:
2 Packs $8.99ea = $17.98
2x $1.50/1 from 1/11 inserts = $14.98
1x $3/2 from cellfire = $11.98
1x $1.50/1 from ShortCuts = $10.48
$10.48/2 = $5.24 per pack... not too bad :)

Plus there's a $0.75 rebate on each pack from Caregivers, so my final cost on those packs will be $4.49. That's assuming all my online coupons come off, I hear that sometimes when you use them they don't come off. But then I just email the company and they put the cash credit on my account. Can only do that deal one time though, because the cellfire & ShortCuts Qs are one-time use. Since I still have 1/2 a giant Costco box of Huggies left, I can put off buying more ATM.

10/$10 sales make it so hard for me to not think about double coupons. I look at all my $0.50/1s and think "Ugh, this could be free!" When Albertson's doubled for a couple months at the end of 2008 it was just enough to get me a taste and now I am missing it sorely. Please take full advantage of your double/triple coupons for me if you can.

I have a couple more KMart Transactions to add (including my new personal low of $0.11 OOP) but I'm going to wait to see if I can get out tomorrow... Cross your fingers and think of piles of Gillette Bodywash being stocked for me... This will be the SECOND TIME I got Qs that I couldn't use on them if I can't find some tomorrow!

KMart Super Doubles!

2009-01-12T23:03:00.002-07:00

I promise when I have some time in between stockpiling I will write a couple of entries that aren't just transactions. :)

K-Mart in my area is currently doing "Super Doubles" where they double manufacturer coupons with a face value of up to $2. There are some limits listed in the ads but they are not enforced at every store, so YMMV with what you can and can't "get away with." I've been to 2 stores in the last 2 days and have done 4 transactions.

We picked up a couple of things for the house that I'm not counting towards the budget. However, here's what I am counting and how much OOP is coming out of the budget. For these I listed how much each cost me after using a doubled coupon. When I can remember (I don't have the items right now and receipts give no sizes) I have listed sizes of the item. Nothing I purchased was a trial size.

K-Mart:
4 cans Endust (10oz) - free
9 bottles Visine - free
4 bottles Johnson's Baby Shampoo - free
3 blocks Velveeta (16oz) - $1.50ea
7 bottles FUZE drink - free
3 6.5Qt Rubbermaid latch containers - $0.19ea
15 L'Oreal Kissable Lipcolor -free
4 bottles ACT mouthwash (18oz) - free
4 bottles ACT mouthwash w/ bonus travel-size bottle (18oz) - free
3 boxes Kleenex with Lotion - $0.54ea
2 boxes Slim-Fast (6pk) - $2.50ea
2 packages Pull-Ups - $5.99ea
5 packages Juicy-Juice boxes (8ct) - $0.50ea
4 packages Juicy-Juice boxes (8ct) - $1.00ea (used 2 different kinds of Qs on these)
1 Coffeemate liquid (15oz) - $0.29
7 AirWick Luminair Starter Kits - -$0.01 (a one cent overage on each)
1 Gillette Bodywash - free
2 Revlon nail clippers - free
1 Revlon tweezers - free
9 bottles American Fare aspirin - free
2 packs Huggies wipes (40ct) - free
2 Aveeno lotions - free

OOP $26.08 (Savings $340.83)

Also had to do some grocery shopping *GASP* WITHOUT COUPONS... but I needed this stuff and couldn't find the Qs. Sigh.

Walmart Neighborhood Market:
Onion Powder
18-ct Eggs
10lb bag flour

OOP $7.26 (do you know how much I could get with $7 and coupons!?)

Albertsons:
21 boxes Quaker Oatmeal - $0.57 ea (used $1/1 Q and $3 instant savings WYB 7, they were 2/$4)
2 Half-Gallons Milk $0.97ea

OOP: $13.97 (savings $96.03)

Budget remaining 2009: $1067.43

More Saturday Night Shopping

2009-01-11T02:08:00.002-07:00

Went to another Walgreens and to Walmart after I came home to drop off the formula. Something went wrong @ Walmart and my total seemed a bit too high for me, but IDK for sure. Will add it up here and figure it out. I also forgot to use my RR at Walgreens... was off my game I guess ;)

Walgreens:
2 Reusable Shopping Bags $0.99 (These were designed to be filler for the overage I didn't end up having)
4 French's Fried Onions $0.49 ea
18 Garnier Fructis Shampoos & Conditioners $2.99 ea
8 Garnier Fructis styling products $2.99 ea

Used:
2x $0.75/1 French's (my $0.50/1 Qs beeped)
18x $1/1 Garnier shampoo
8x $1/1 Garnier styling
$2/1 Garnier ESC

Total after Qs: $5.38, paid with GC

OOP: $0.00 (Savings $101.65)

Walmart:
3 AirWick Luminairs $5.00 ea
16 Johnson's Buddy Bars $1.00 ea
2 Holiday holders for Glade Scented Oil Candles $2.00 ea
1 2lb bag carrots $1.44
1 jar boullion $2.08
1 Better Homes and Gardens Tea Gift set $2.50
18 Let's Grow meals $1.06ea
1 box 100ct Playtex Drop-ins Liners

Used:
3x $5/1 Airwick
2x $3/3 Johnson's
2x $2/2 Johnson's
2x $1/1 Johnsons's
2x $2/1 Glade
18x $1/1 Let's Grow

Total: $13.88 (Savings $49.00)

Ahhhhh it shows the Item # next to the Q on the reciept--- the cashier (she's super nice) missed two of my $2/2 Qs for the Buddy Bars. That's $4 extra there I didn't want to spend. Ah. And she charged me for 24 of the Let's Grow when I only bought 18.

I KNEW something wasn't right! Will be returning some stuff then. I account for the stuff I'm not keeping already in my totals.

Budget Remaining: $1114.74

Great WAGS trip

2009-01-10T22:26:00.003-07:00

When you look at this trip, consider I paid full price for the can of formula... so that makes this a very good one IMO :D

Walgreens:
40 Reeses Whips bars $0.89 ea
1 can Enfamil w/ Lipil 12.9oz $13.99
4 bottles 60-ct Flintstones Gummies $5 ea
4 L'Oreal Lipgloss $2.19 ea
2 L'Oreal Foundations $3.19
1 L'Oreal Concealer Stick $2.59
3 L'Oreal Foundation Sticks $3.59
4 cans Progresso soup $1.25 ea
5 boxes 100-calorie Twix bars $2.50ea
2 Holiday Buckets $0.33

Used:
$1/2 Reeses
$1/1 Flintstones ManQ
$2/1 L'Oreal Lipcolor
$3/1 L'Oreal Makeup
$1.10/1 Progresso IP
$1/1 100-calorie bars ManQ
$1/2 100-calorie IVC
$1/1 Flintstone's Coloring book Q
2x $5 Wyeth RR
1x $10 Wyeth RR

Total $15.83, paid w/ ES GC + recieved $10 RR for vitamins
OOP $0.00 ($205.88)

Budget remains the same :D

GDA Oatmeal @ Albertson's

2009-01-10T01:04:00.002-07:00

Picked up a bunch of Quaker Instant Oatmeal at Albertson's tonight. My 3yo eats this for breakfast almost every day, 2 packets. 10 packets to a box, combined with Anthony and me eating some, too, means that we go through at least a box a week. So I'm NOT crazy buying this up at a good price :D

4 Transactions tonight:

T1:
7 Boxes Quaker Instant Oatmeal $14
5 Bags Iceberg Salad Mix $5
3 1/2 Gallons of Milk $2.91 ($0.97 ea)
2 Bottles French's Worcestershire Sauce $3.58
3 Cans Campbell's Cream of Chicken soup $3.57

Used:
7x $1/1 Quaker Oatmeal IP
2x FREE up to $1.69 French's
1x $0.30/3 Campbell's Cream Soups
$3 Instant Savings WYB 7 Quaker Products

OOP: $15.38 (Savings $44.52)

T2:
7 Boxes Quaker Instant Oatmeal $14

Used:
7x $1/1 Quaker Oatmeal IP
$3 Instant Savings WYB 7 Quaker Products

OOP: $4.00 (Savings $30.93)

I repeated T2 two more times, so total OOP $27.38 :)

Budget Remaining for 2009: $1163.74

No Doubles @ Grocery Stores

2009-01-04T02:54:00.000-07:00

Tiny setback for the budget-- no stores here in Albuquerque are doubling coupons anymore. Ughs. Think happy doubling thoughts for us here in the land of enchantment and hope they start up again soon!

I don't get it :( Every store in Phoenix does, including Albertson's, which is part of the "Southwest" region that I'm in... Why don't we double anymore? Boo.

First 2009 Shopping Trips

2009-01-04T02:16:00.000-07:00

Walmart:
11 AirWick Luminair Candles $4.97ea
16 BeechNut Let's Grow Mini Meals $1.06ea
4 Boxes BeechNut Rice Cereal $1.42ea
1 Package Binder dividers $0.97 (charging this to budget bc it's for my coupon binder)

Used:
11 $5/1 Luminair Starter Kits
16 $1/1 BeechNut Let's Grow Product
4 $1/1 BeechNut Cereal

OOP: $8.88 (savings $75.00)

Walgreens:
4 Boxes Special K Red Berries (my favorite!) $2.50ea
2 Pints Ben and Jerry's $3ea
20 assorted Garnier Fructis styling products (we use a lot of hairspray and anti-frizzy stuff) $2.99ea
18 assorted Garnier Fructis shampoos and conditioners $2.99ea
1 Holiday pencil $0.06

Used:
4 $1/1 Kellogg's cereal
2 $3/1 Ben and Jerry's (making these FREE)
20 $1/1 Garnier Fructis styling product
17 $1/1 Garnier Fructis shampoo or conditioner product (I goofed & miscounted)
Walgreen's EasySaver Coupon: $2/1 Garnier Fructis product (took $2 off 38 times, giving $0.01 overage on each)

Total after Qs and Tax: $6.65
Paid with my EasySaver Gift Card, and because a Register Reward failed to print I was given a $3 Gift Card as well. Yay!

OOP: $0.00 (savings $169.33)

Budget remaining for 2009: $1191.12

Introduction & Guidelines

2009-01-02T19:31:00.000-07:00

I'm Kristen.

Wife to Anthony, mother to Jeremiah (12/05), Jacob (6/08) and Noah (6/08). I'm lucky that I get to stay home with my kids, and part of that job for me means trying to make our one income go as far as it can!

This blog is going to document my attempt to make it through 2009 on a $1200 budget. I was inspired to do this by Erin of JANE4girls $800 Annual Budget. In 2008 she successfully shopped for herself and her 3 daughters on a budget of $800 -- She even had $7 and change left at the end! I am grateful to her example and will be using a similar budget to hers as far as what I am including. My budget is larger mainly to account for the fact that as of 1/2/09 I have two 6-month-olds in diapers and my three year old son is potty training in Pull Ups. I figure the extra $400 should help me cover the extra costs that diapering will incur-- it amounts to an extra $33.33 per month.

My $1200 budget WILL INCLUDE:

All food
All health and beauty items (non-prescription medications, hair care, soap, toothpaste, makeup, etc.)
All cleaning supplies (this includes air fresheners and other scented things like Glade candles)
Eating out
Any money I spend on acquiring coupons: eBay, trading supplies like stamps and envelopes, newspapers and magazine costs
All non-clothing or non-prescription baby needs: diapers, food, bath supplies, if we have to purchase any formula

The budget WILL NOT INCLUDE:

Clothing, gifts, car payments or repairs, mortgage payments, home repairs, monthly bills, gas, or coupons I trade for with Register Rewards or on-hand Gift Cards.

Any money I earn from rebates, surveys, promotions, auctions I run or "stockpile sales" will be added back into the yearly budget, so long as the items are related to the budget. For example, if I purchase a number of razors for cheap (or free!) and auction or sell them at a later date I will add that money back in.

I will be keeping my $1200 budget in a separate savings account. When I spend money on anything in the budget I will transfer money out of this savings account into my checking account to cover it.

My costs will be kept as low as possible through use of coupons, rebates, and store promotions like double coupons or Register Rewards. With some work and dedication I'm sure my family can do this :)