Thursday, June 30, 2011

I love shopping at the Commissary!!!

So I was supposed to have a cardiologist appointment today at 1:30 but ended up rescheduling after listening to Gavin scream all morning... I finally gave in and took him to the doctor when he started tugging on his ears so hard I thought he was going to rip them off. Poor baby has a really bad ear infection in his left ear *tear*tear* Good news is he had his 9 month check up out of the way. He weighs 16lbs and is 27 1/4 inches now!!! 
Anyways afterwards I decided to haul the kids to the Commissary to get some groceries for the upcoming holiday weekend.

  • tortilla chips $2.39
  • lays bbq chips $2.19
  • pretzel & cheese snacks $1.98
  • miso soup mix $1.99
  • capri sun $1.69 - $1 coupon
  • chex mix $1.09 - $.50 coupon
  • gardetto's snack mix $1.09 - $.50 coupon
  • oceanspray cranberry juice (2) $3.98
  • korean bbq sauce $3.99
  • reynold's wrap $3.99 - $1 coupon
  • salsa $2.49
  • milk $2.94
  • chicken breast 2 packages $6.73
  • bread $1.96
  • lamisil $5.97 - $3 coupon
  • baby oil $2.83 - $1 coupon
  • ground beef 96% lean $3.60
  • 3 packages of steak $7.22 - $3 coupon on top of being half price!!!
  • 8 packages of squeezable fruits $7.12 - $1.78 coupon
  • 2 pears $1.26
  • pint of blueberries FREE after coupon $2.99 value
  • watermelon $2.49
  • glad trash bags $3.14 - $2 coupon
My grand total was $58.35




Also I finally got my usb cord in the mail for my printer!!! Just printed off a couple coupons for baby products!!!

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Just gotta have faith...

To keep myself from going crazy after the doctor's I decided to haul the kids with me to Food Lion, Walgreen's, then to Walmart... 


Food Lion

  • 4 boxes of general mills cereal 2/$5
  • 2 all detergent $2.99 mega 10 event
  • 4 sobe drinks $1
  • 2 pepsi 2 liters $1.25
  • 2 mtn dew 2 liters $1.25
  • 3 rolls of marcal paper towels $1
  • 2 packs of toilet paper $1
  • 2 boxes of baby whole wheat cereal $1.79
Total $35.64 - $4 promotional discount on 4 boxes of cereal - $5 mega 10 event = $26.64
Then I gave the cashier my coupons... 2 $1 off 2 cereals, 2 $1 off all detergent, 5 $1 off marcal products, & $1 coupon off 2 boxes of baby cereal... total comes out to $16.64



Walgreen's

  • 4 dove men body washes 4/$15 but I had 4 $3 coupons so I paid $3.31 after taxes and got $5 in register rewards
2nd transaction

  • 3 dove men 6 bar pack soap 3/$12
  • crayola glow explosions $4.99
  • 2 carefree liners $1.99 
I gave the cashier 3 $4 off coupons on dove men soap, $2 coupon on the crayola, 2 $.50 coupons on the carefree, & $3 walgreen's coupon on 2 carefree products. Left there paying $3.14 after taxes and got $6 in register rewards!!!


Walmart 


  • creative builder lego $5.97
  • kimchi $4.08
  • 7 vitamin waters price matched $.88 = $6.16
  • dove men deodorant price matched $2
  • white cloud baby wipes $1.58
  • 3 nabisco snacks price matched $1.99
  • 2 lemonade 2 liters $.68
  • littlest pet shop $5
  • tampons 3 pack clearanced $3.24
Total was $35.36 then I gave the cashier a $2 dove deodorant coupon, 2 $1 off nabisco snacks coupon, $1 white cloud coupon which made the total $30.36


That makes my grand total spent at all 3 stores is $53.45 plus I got $11 in register rewards to spend at Walgreen's... not too bad I guess right?

Monday, June 27, 2011

Past shopping adventures with GREAT results!

These are my last 4 shopping trips/days that I made in the past couple weeks. I think I did pretty good considering I was on maybe 3 hours of sleep each night, had both kids with me, and didn't have my coupon binder with me since my husband just got it for me.... so no organization!!!


First was Walmart on June 14

  • 6 huggies 64 count wipes
  • 4 crystal light 10 count boxes
  • 2 pure protein bars
  • 1 iron man toy
  • 1 box of tampons
  • 4 gilette aftershave lotions
  • 1 sweet baby rays bbq sauce
  • 7 mentos up2u gum
  • 2 bags of sunflower seeds
  • 6 packs of tic tacs
  • 2 gold bond hand sanitizers
  • 1 pepsi
  • 3 vitamin waters
  • 3 gatorades
  • 2 dial hand lotions
  • 1 dial men's lotion
  • 3 dial body washes
  • 6 bic hybrid razors disposable
  • 2 bayer aspirin
  • 2 snuggle dryer sheets
  • 3 gilette fusion razors
  • 2 red baron pizza singles
  • 3 cascade complete trial sizes
  • 1 loaf of bread
The retail price of all these items came out to $286.48
After all the price matching I did the total dropped down to $125.53
Then I dished out my coupons... $23.21


I decided to make a shopping marathon out of June 17...

Once Upon A Child
  • sold Alex's jeans got $12
  • bought a $60 stroller on clearance
  • bought walk n ride for Gavin & a guitar for Alex
total spent $27

Target
  • formula $20
  • gum FREE
  • pirates booty family size bag of popcorn FREE after coupon
  • 2 sensodyne toothpastes FREE
  • 2 clif builder bars $1.49 after B1G1 FREE coupon
  • construction paper $2
  • 2 big packs of wet ones wipes normally $4 each, after coupons $2 each
total spent $30

PX
  • hair clips FREE after coupon
  • tape $.50
  • 2 sensodyne toothpastes FREE
  • highlighters $1
  • notebook $.50 with coupon
total spent $2

Commissary
  • fruit snacks $.50 after coupon
  • pretzel & cheese snack $.50
  • lara bars $2
  • angel hair pasta $.50 after coupon
  • kix cereal $1.75 after coupon
  • 3 powerades $1 after coupon
  • fruit & nut bar 5 pack FREE after coupon
  • greek olives $2 after coupon
  • 10 capri suns @ $.15 each... after coupon $.05 each = $.50 spent
  • soymilk $2 after coupon
  • 6 cottage doubles $2.25 after coupons
  • turkey lunchmeat $2.50 after coupon
  • 3 pears $2
  • 4 bell peppers $2
  • 1lb of grapes $1
  • 1.5lbs of red skin potatoes FREE after coupon
  • 2 squeezable applesauces $1.50
total spent $22

My total for all 4 stores came out to a whopping $81!!!


I headed over to CVS to take advantage of my ECBs on June 20

  • 2 packs of diapers FREE after ECBs
  • 2 6.4oz colgate toothpastes FREE after coupons ($4 ECBs)
  • 2 13oz pantene pro-v 2 in 1 $1 each after coupons ($2 ECBs)
  • 5 vitamin waters $1 each ($2 ECBs)
  • 1 covergirl concealer $1.39 ($4 ECBs)
  • 1 covergirl lipstick $.74
  • 1 rimmel mascara $2.07 ($2 ECBs)
I then used 2 $1 coupons for the toothpastes, $3 coupon for the shampoos, $5 coupon on the covergirls, and a $1 coupon on the mascara.... and I got $14 in ECBs!!! Basically I made $9 back.... thank you coupons and ECBs!!!


My final trip was at the Commissary.

  • 3 duncan hines premium cake mixes $1.49 after coupon
  • baby cereal $2.15 after coupon
  • 2 pretzel/cheese snacks $.99
  • strawberry preserves $2.39
  • bulk box of fruit snacks $6 after coupon
  • cranberry 100% juice $1.99
  • lara bars $3.09 after coupon
  • seasoned seaweed $3.99
  • 2 miso soup packages $3.98
  • 3 sushi paper $3.36
  • 2 baby rice puff snacks $3
  • 5 vitamin waters $4.40
  • 2 clif builder bars $1.39 after B1G1 coupon
  • 2 ritter sport chocolate w/hazelnut bars $2 after coupon
  • oreo cakesters $1 after coupon
  • 10 capri suns $.50 after coupon
  • 5 cucumbers $1.50
  • 5 scotts naturals flushable wipes FREE after coupons
  • toilet bowl cleaner $1.70
  • silk soymilk $2.39 after coupon
  • 3 crab leg packages $4.05
  • 3 packages of frozen veggies $2.07
  • baby wipes $4 after coupon
  • spicy california rolls $6.09
  • 2 packages of steak $8.38 after coupon
  • 1 package of steak $4.06  coupon
  • green beans $.69
  • 2 avocados $2
  • 4 fruit bites $2.67 after coupon
  • 4 squeezable fruits $2.67 after coupon
My total was $138.54 before coupons. After coupons it went down to $74.54 which means I saved $64 with my coupons. I think I could've done better but with a baby crying, a toddler screaming/running around, and not having my coupons organized, I think it was an okay trip.

Hello

I'm still new to this whole Army life thing since my husband joined a year ago. To give you a little preview into my life...


My husband and I met back in high school through a Christian chorus group back in Michigan. We have 2 boys, Alexander who will be 5 in August & Gavin who will be turning one in September. We've gone through hell and back more than our fair share but here we are years later, our love stronger than ever... fighting to raise a family where everyone is struggling because of a fall in our economy, my family not supporting our relationship, and me fighting for every breath with a extreme heart condition. At least we have the the full support of his family who is cheering us on every step of the way... we can not thank them enough for everything they have done for us. 


Ever since having kids, we've struggled to stay on top of finances and due to that I have turned to coupons as a way of saving money. I may go a little stir crazy with it but it's the only way I know to save as much money as possible without breaking the bank, even if it means buying 5-10 newspapers on Sundays, spending hours on the internet finding printable coupons, making lists of what each store offers for the lowest price, & then organizing my coupons in my coupon binder. I can proudly say that I have gotten hundreds of items for FREE and thousands of others for $1 or less since I went extreme in the last year.