December Grocery Totals and Savings Update

I had a total of $215.10 to spend this month($15.10 in rollover from last month $200 as the monthly starting budget). I am happy to say I have a whole $4.64 left over:). I wont be rolling over the left overs into the new year.


Retail value $974.04
spent $210.46
saved $763.58( savings of 78%)
coupon savings $401.62(savings of 41%)

I could have done better had my coupons been organized and my CVS and Walgreens trips been planned out. I am going to get my binder in shape and prepare my drugstore trips starting this weekend(hopefully:P).

Savings update

We added $161 to the savings account this month for a total of $837.21.We only need $162.79 more to reach our goal of $1000 by the end of January. We are saving this for when we move sometime early in the year(to provide a cushion for the new place's deposit and rent, and the moving truck). Once we complete this goal we can start on the new goals for 2009:)

Kroger and Cvs 12-30

Kroger

(pics coming as soon as I find my camera)

6 cans frozen pink lemonade 5.58 (.93 each)
13 cartons of soy egg nog and peppermint chocolate soy milk 14.89(11 @ .99 and 2 at 2.00- these were supposed to be .99 also)
3 jars of peppers 6.57 (2.19 each)
-3 $.50 coupons doubled (blinkies) = 1.19 each
ice cream sandwiches 1.67
chocolate milk 1.20

total was 30.05
saved 19.94, 3.00 in coupons

CVS

(pics coming as soon as I find my camera)

box of hair dye 7.99
-$3 coupon= 4.99
2 natures bounty vitamin D 4.99(bogo)
-2$2 coupons= .99 for 2
2 rolaids plus 5.78 (2.89 each)
-2$1 coupons= 1.89 each

also used 3.99, 4.99 ecb =8.98 ecb

total was 1.40(.62 tax)on gc no oop
saved 24.37, 17.98 in coupons
got back 4.00 ecb for the rolaids, 3 ecb for the vitamins= 7 ecb

Spent 30.05 on groceries with a savings of 44.31, 20.98 in coupons


Total left to spend for the month of December
Grocery $4.64
Misc $31.20
Clothing $7.48
Fun $16.58

Free Item Coupons at Kroger

I went to Kroger today and the catalina machine printed off a ton of coupons. Among them were two coupons for free items. I got one for free danactiv yogurts and one for a free box of kleenex. So if you are headed to Kroger be sure to check you catalinas carefully!

Kroger Catalina Deals

Buy Post Selects cereal (12-16 0z) between 1/02/09 and 1/25/09

buy 2, get $1.00
buy 3, get $2.00
buy 4 or more, get $3.00

choose from any of the following varieties:

post selects blueberry morning
post selects cranberry almond crunch
post selects banana nut crunch
post selects great grains
post selects maple pecan crunch

Buy Kraft salad dressing (16 oz) between 1/09/09 and 2/01/09

buy 3 , get $1.00
buy 4, get $2.00
buy 5 or more, get $3.00

There is also a deal with kroger deluxe pizzas and armour meatballs- buy four get a $2 cat. I am not sure of the start or end date, I saw the sign in the frozen food section. I will post more details after I go back to Kroger tomorrow.

If you know of any other catalina deals leave a comment with the details and I will add them to the list.

Kroger and Meijer

I went to Kroger on Sunday(so a different ad is out now) and Meijer today.

Kroger

Kroger plates 3.00
Pillsbury cake mix .94
tub of ice cream 3.99
2 12packs big k soda 4.58(2.29 each)

total was 12.98(.47 tax)
saved 1.29

Meijer

4 heluva good dip 6.00(1.50 each)
-4$.50 coupons doubled= .50 each
6 Farm rich mozzarella sticks 20.94 (3.49 each, used a rain check)
-6 $1 coupons= 2.49 each
7 various packages of steak 39.84
25 dannon yogurts 8.25(3/$1)
-5 $1 coupons (blinkies I found at Kroger a while ago expires 12/31)= .13 each
4 ragu sauces 5.52(1.38 each)
-2$.50 coupons doubled =.88 each
4 boxes creamette pasta 2.67 (3/$2)
-free when you buy ragu sauce promo (1 free per jar of sauce)= free
2 bags of Snyders Multigrain snacks 5.00 (2.50 each)
-2$.75 coupons doubled to $1= 1.50 each
box of wine 8.99(Fun budget)
bolt lock 1.39(misc. budget)
hook latches 3.98 (1.99 each- misc. budget)

total was 82.89(.90 tax)
saved 61.39, 18.00 in coupons

My rain check for the mozzarella sticks expired Friday so I went to customer service and asked if there was any way I could still use it. The lady called someone else on the phone to make sure she was allowed to rewrite it and obviously she said yes. Meijer has such great customer service:)

If you noticed I spent $40 on steak this week which is very out of character. I decided not to rollover any leftover money from this month to next year(I want a "fresh" start). Instead of just leaving any extra money sit in the account to be "absorbed", we decided to reward ourselves with some nicer cuts of steak(I usually buy steak that is under $2.99/lb, this kind was on sale for $4.99 and some packages were marked down).


DH also bought some alcohol from Jungle Jims(we are having dinner guest on Wednesday-usually he pays for his adult drinks with his allowance)
his total was 13.64 (fun budget)

We spent 109.51 the past 2 days
23.19 on fun
5.71 on misc.
80.61 on groceries with a savings of 62.68, 18.00 in coupons

Total left to spend for the month of December
Grocery $34.69
Misc $31.20
Clothing $7.48
Fun $16.58

Weekly Savings Summary 12/21-12/27

I didn't get a chance to report spending $6.59 on a photos for a Christmas present earlier.

So we spent $39.99 this week

$23.48 on Christmas

$16.51 on groceries with a savings of $210.45, $147.77 in coupons.

Total left to spend for the month of December
Grocery $115.30
Misc $36.91
Clothing $7.48
Fun $39.77

Christmas $16.61

I'm still here...

I will be back to normal sometime tomorrow. Today is my baby's first birthday:) We aren't having a party, just cake and ice cream with a couple of grandmas and cousins. I hope everyone is enjoying their Holiday Break!

Kroger, CVS, and Marsh 12/23

Kroger

3 4packs cottonelle 2.97 (.99 each)
-2$.50 cellfire coupons and 1 $.50 shortcuts coupon
-3 $.50 coupons doubled to .99= free plus $1.50 overage
kroger shredded cheese 1.79
-$.45 shortcuts coupon= 1.34
2 1/2 gallons of eggnog 5.98 (2.99 each)
-2 $1 printables
-2$1 cellfire coupons =.99 each
kroger comforts formula 11.99
-free coupon(thanks mommy managing)= free
2 progesso soups 3.30 (1.65 each)
-2 $1.10 printables
-2 $.50 shortcuts coupons =.05 each
Egg waffles 1.99
-free coupon from kroger= free

total was 2.01(.09 tax)
saved 28.47, 26.10 in coupons


CVS

2 digiorno pizzas 11.00 (5.50 each)
4 J&J first aid kits 3.96
-$1 cvs coupon in diabetes book
-$3/2 coupon from smartsource(link in sidebar)= free plus .04 overage
2 lays potatoe chips 3.99(bogo)
1 GE pretzels with peanut butter 1.49
- free coupon(emailed to me) = free
1 cvs stick of cough drops .99

used 1.69,2.99, 3.99, and 7.29 ecb=15.96 ecb

total was .05(.07 tax, I was negative ) on gc no oop
saved 28.07, 21.45 in coupon

Marsh

2 bags plain bagels 2.78 (1.39 each)
1 bag onion bagels 1.28
3 packages of ground beef 8.13

used $10/$10 coupon

total was 2.19
saved $10 in coupons


DH also picked somethings up from Micheals. Total was 3.22


Spent 3.22 on Christmas

4.20 on groceries with a savings of 66.54, 57.55 in coupons.


Total left to spend for the month of December
Grocery $115.30
Misc $36.91
Clothing $7.48
Fun $39.77

Christmas $23.20

CVS and Meijer 12-21

CVS #1

EAS bar 1.69
Zantac 4.99
-$1 coupon= 3.99
4 J&J first aid to go kits 3.96 (.99 each)
-$3/2 coupon from smartsource(see sidebar for link)
-$1 cvs coupon from the diabetes book= free plus .04 overage
4 right guard professional 24.00 (6.00 each)
-2 $.55 coupons =5.73 each
Excedrin express gels 3.99
-$2 coupon =1.99
2 loreal metallic duos 13.98 (6.99 each)
-2 $2 coupons= 4.99 each
Benefiber stix 7.29
-$2 coupon= 5.29

also used 5.69, 5.98,5.99, 6, 6, and 13.98 ecbs =43.64 ecb

total was 2.56(.40 tax) on gift card no oop
saved 78.36, 57.74 in coupons
got back 3.99, 24.00, 7.29, 13.98, 1.69, 4.99 ecbs=55.94 ecb

profit of $9.74

CVS#2

I was hoping they would have a lot of the things with coupons that the other store was out of, but this is the only thing I found:(

1 listerine 2.99
-$1 from cvs diabetes book

total was 2.12(.13 tax)
saved 4.42 , $1 in coupons
got back 2.99 ecb

profit of $.87


Meijer

12 hersheys dark chocolate bars 8.88(.74 each)
-6 free from meijer b3g3 promo -4.44
- 6 bogo coupons -4.44 = free
13 meijer shopping bags 12.87 (.99 each)
4 green giant steamers 3.56(.89 each- used a raincheck)
-2 $.50 coupons doubled
-2$.60 coupons doubled to $1=free plus .44 overage
4 progresso broths 6.68(1.67 each - used a raincheck)
-2 $1.25 coupons
-2 $.50 coupons doubled =.55 each
2 freshlike veggies 1.58 (.79 each)
-$1/2 coupon(coupons widget on sidebar or go to coupons.com)=.29 each
grapes 1.99
6 boxes ronzoni smart taste pasta 5.94 (.99 each)
-6 $1 coupons adjusted to .99= free
1 heluva good dip 1.19
-$.50 doubled=.19
2 act II popcorn 2.48 (1.24 each)
-2$.40 coupons doubled =.44 each
1 eagle brand condensed milk 1.99
-$.55 coupon doubled to $1 (all you magazine)= .99
3 kashi cereal bars 7.65 (2.55 each)
-3$2 coupons(vocalpoint.com mailer) or printable here= .55 each
2 land o lakes butter 4.00 (2.00 each)
-2$.55 coupons doubled to $1 (smartsource.com link in sidebar)= $1 each
10 bag potatoes 2.29

total was 25.98 (.80 tax)
12.31 on groceries and 13.67 on Christmas(bags)
saved 61.13, 31.48 in coupons

I spent 25.98 today

13.67 on christmas gifts

12.31 on groceries with a savings of 143.91, 90.22 in coupons

Total left to spend for the month of December
Grocery $119.50
Misc $36.91
Clothing $7.48
Fun $39.77

Christmas $26.42

A Few Good Deals at Meijer this Week

I did my Meijer shopping for the week already and wanted to share some of the best deals.

* My Meijer doubles up to .50 coupons . Coupons between .51 to .99 become $1

Kashi TLC cereal bars are $1 off ($2.55 at my store)-$2 coupon from vocalpoint.com =. 55 each

hersheys single candy bars are b3g3, buy 6(special dark chocolate) and use 3 of the bogo coupons out for the special dark chocolate variety = free

Ronzoni Smart taste pasta .99, use $1 coupon(expires 12/31)= free

(I also noticed they have the ronzoni bistro pouches priced at 2/$4 everyday price- there is a$1 coupon out expiring 12/31= $1 each. These are like uncle ben's ready rice pouches and would be great for taking to work)

Freshlike frozen veggies .79, use the $1/2 coupon found in the coupon widget on my sidebar or coupons.com= .29 each

Land o lakes butter quarters are $2 , use the .55 coupon from smartsource.com(link in sidebar) = $1 each

Act II popcorn is 1/2 price (1.24 at my store), use the .40 coupon from last week = .44 each

Heluva Good dips are 1.19, use the .50 coupon from newspaper = .19 each

Grapes are .99lb

potatoes $2.29 for 10 lbs

Weekly Savings Summary 12/14-12/20

We spent $98.78 this week:

$18 on fun
$.61 on Clothing
$37.18 on Misc.
$24.09 on Christmas gifts

$18.90 on groceries with a savings of $66.53, $36.49 in coupons.

Misc. Spending 12/19

We spent $18 at Rally's earlier in the week


I bought my daughter some shoes and a new antenna for the tv at Target. I was hoping to get some of the Airwick flameless candles while I was there but I couldn't find them.


Antenna 34.99
shoes 9.99

- $10 gift card for new prescription

total was $37.79 (2.81 tax)



Total left to spend for the month of December
Grocery $131.81
Misc $36.91
Clothing $7.48
Fun $39.77

Christmas $40.09

Financial Goals For 2009 And Our New Monthly Budget

There are so many things I would like to accomplish in 2009, but it would be very stressful and unproductive to try and take on everything at once. I am selecting a few to start with and if/when these are accomplished or at least going well I will be adding more.

#1. contribute to a HSA - we signed up for this in November for 2009 -COMPLETED 11/15/08
#2. Diversify the 401k (Anyone want to help me? lol)
#3. Save $6,000 in 2009-I'm pretty sure we can do more than this with "windfall" money, but I don't want to count on that until it is in the bank- I will reevaluate this goal every two months.
#4. work on a more detailed budget and set aside money for irregular items monthly(example. car tags, car insurance, car maintenance, birthday parties, Christmas 2009, etc)
#5. keep the grocery bill under $200 a month, even lower if possible


Our New Monthly Budget (compared to our old one)

Old Grocery $200, New $200 - No change here, I may come back and change this in a few months. For now this is challenging enough!

Old Misc. $50, New $50- no change here either, I think this is reasonable.

Old Clothing $50, New $50- I need to lower this soon(when I get more time to shop thrift stores and garage sales), but for now I will leave it be.

Old Fun $100, New $65- I thought the old one was a bit over board when I started, but I wanted to see how things played out at the higher amount. I would have made this only $50 but DH has decided to use his profits from selling soda for funding a ventures account(instead of fun outings for the 2 of us). He has lots of ideas for inventing cool gadgets but no money to make prototypes.


The new monthly amount comes to $365. I only list the budget items I find easy to overspend on.

Frugal Makes Cents- The Road To Early Retirement

This is another series of blog post. Precious over at Frugal Makes Cents wrote this way back in August. It wasn't easy digging these up, lol!

There are seven post all together in The Road to Early Retirement. In them Precious shares how she and her husband where able to retire early and without a mortgage payment hanging over their heads. Thanks again, Precious for sharing you experiences with us!

You can find all the post here - #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, and #7 .

Leveragecard.com

Over the summer I received a bonus mail from Mypoints.com about leveragecard.com. The site looked interesting and I got some points for signing up from mypoints.com. Well, they were still working on the site then and some buttons weren't functioning correctly so I left the page without exploring it too much. I soon forgot about the site.

As I was looking through my ecb/rr/giftcard wallet recently, I couldn't help thinking "I have no idea how much money is left on all of these". I could write their balances on the card each time I use them, but knowing me I would forget to do that. Then I remembered leveragcard.com. It is supposed to keep track of your gift card balances for you. That alone is a pretty cool service.

But the benefits of leveragecard.com don't stop there. You will actually earn 1% on your card balance once it is registered! You can then use the interest to pay for more gift cards through leveragecard.com.

And yet another cool feature of the site is you can swap gift cards you don't like for ones you do free of charge! Just tell leveragecard which retailers you would like to trade for and they will let you know when another member matches up to your swap!

How much is this service? It is completely FREE!

One last perk of leveragecard.com is they will pay you $1 for every person you refer to them! So if you don't mind, use this email address in the referral box - girlphoenix6905 (at) yahoo (dot) com when you sign up - Thanks and enjoy!

Amazon.com 12/16

43.59 (DH always request this)


15.50

-$10 off purchase of $59 or more holiday fragrances promo (FRAGI2O8)

-$25 gift certificate

- free super saver shipping

total was $24.09

I am taking $50 from the fun budget and putting it in the Christmas fund. I was supposed to get $20 in kohls cash emailed to me for my purchase on Black Friday but I never received it. I emailed them over the weekend and they said they would credit my account $20. It isn't showing up yet so I did my shopping at amazon. Hopefully it will be there later this week, I need to get DD a new pair of dress shoes (her's are suddenly too small!) and maybe a Christmas dress.


Total left to spend for the month of December
Grocery $131.81
Misc $74.09
Clothing $8.09
Fun $57.77

Christmas $40.09

Little People Wealth- 10 Reasons Why You Aren't Rich

This is going to be another slow shopping week for me. Instead of leaving you all hang without a post from me I will be sharing some of my favorite blog articles.

The first one is Little People Wealth's series 10 Reason Why You Aren't Rich. This is a 10 parter with 9 of the 10 articles completed.

Kroger and CVS 12-14

Kroger #1

7 newspapers 8.75 (1.25 each)
10 yeast strips 10.00 (1.00 each)
-10 $$.45 coupons doubled = .10 each

also used 7 $.50 cats = $3.50 in cats

total was 6.25
saved 27.40, 12.50 in coupons

I was disappointed my cats didn't double like I have been hearing other people report :(
Oh well, at least I made a little off the yeast.


Kroger #2

2 fresh express bagged salads 4.00 (2.00 each)
-2$.55 coupons doubled =1.00 each
4 tomatoes 1.25
bag of oranges 1.99
bag if apples 1.99
bunch of bananas 1.34
2 boxes of chex mix bars 5.00(2.50)
-2$1.25 coupons
- 1/2 kroger promo buy 4 GM cereals/bars get $4 off ($2) = .25 each
2 boxes fiber one bars 5.00 (2.50 each)
-2$.50 coupons doubled
- 1/2 kroger promo buy 4 GM cereals/bars get $4 off ($2) = .50 each
bag of brown sugar 1.25
bag of coconut .99
kroger formula 11.99
-free item coupon(thanks mommy managing!)= free
1 roll kriger ground beef 1.89
-.75 short cuts coupon =1.14
soy sauce 1.09
apple cider vinegar 1.04
kroger salsa 1.10
-.50 short cuts coupon =.60
bag of onions 1.97

also used 11 $.50 cats = 5.50


total was 12.65
saved 39.13, 23.99 in coupons

I didn't even notice the GM promotion until today:( If DH wasn't sleeping already I would be back up there now. We LOVE the fiber one bars. The chex mix ones are good too. I also found some peelies for chex cereal $3/3 so you could get them for .50 a box today.

CVS

4 bags CVS diapers 28.46 (bog1/2 sale 2 @ 9.49, 2 @ 4.74)
Johnsons soothing naturals balm 2.75
-$1 coupon =1.75
1 candy bar .89 (not pictured ;-} )


also used a $5/$30 coupon
and 7.99 ecb and 17.98 ecb= 25.97

total was .15 (.02 tax)
saved 44.37, 31.97 in coupons

I haven't been to CVS since Thanksgiving weekend(expect the time I went to get an RX filled) and didn't really feel like going today but I needed night time diapers and I had the $5/$30 coupon that was expiring today.


I keep forgetting to deduct $10 that I paid my mom for watching the kids last month. That will be coming out of the fun budget today.


We spent $18.90 on groceries today with a savings of $66.53, $36.49 in coupons.


Total left to spend for the month of December Grocery $131.81 Misc $74.09 Clothing $8.09 Fun $107.77

Christmas $14.18

Weekly Savings Summary 12/07-12/13

We spent $63.65 this week

$20.84 on fun

$42.81 on groceries with a savings of $291.88, $139.77 in coupons

Walgreens, Kroger, and Meijer 12-13

I didn't get to shop all week:( My husband did pick up some treats when he was waiting around at Kroger for his RX to be filled Thursday.

3 kroger novelty icecream bars 5.00 (on sale 3/$5)
1 box kroger icecream sandwiches 1.00
2 half gallons of kroger chocolate milk 2.00 (1.00 each)

total was $8
I don't know how much he saved because he bought work soda on the same receipt(which I still haven't seen yet)

The rest of our shopping was done today(by me).

Kroger #1

This was a crazy trip! I found some awesome markdowns which I also had coupons for. Well, when the cashier scanned my coupons for the marked down items they beeped. She was trying to figure out why and then asked if they where for the clearance items. I said yes they are. She then told me she wasn't sure if she could use the coupons on them because they were already discounted. I amused her and said oh, okay. She scanned the rest of my coupons and then took the ones for the clearance food up to CS to ask if she was allowed to use them. She came back and said she couldn't double them because they were marked down items but she could take the whole price of the item. She then started asking if I knew the price for the 6 items. I told her and she took off the amount on all six items! I have no idea why she was instructed to do this, it doesn't make sense at all. I didn't argue though! Instead of getting cheap food I got FREE food:)

2 8packs danactiv yogurt 2.98(marked to 1.49 each)
-I had 2$1 coupons but she took off the full value for both! -2.98= free
4 daisy sour creams 4.00(1.00 each)
-4 $.50 coupons doubled =free
2 horizon 8 pack tubes of yogurt 2.58(marked down to 1.29 each)
-I had 2 $.55 coupons but she took off the full value of both-2.58=free
7 boxes celestial seasonings tea 7.00 (1.00 each)
-7$.55 coupond doubled to $1=free
2 tasters choice instant coffee stick packs 2.18 (1.09 each)
- 2 free item coupons here = free
4 chiqita apple bites singles 4.00 (1.00 each)
-4$1 coupons=free
2 cans crescent rolls 3.34 (1.67 each)
-2 .50 shortcuts coupons
-2 $1 printables = .17 each
2 cartons of horizon egg nog 2.98 (marked down to 1.49 each)
-I had 2 $.55 coupons but she took off the full value of both -2.98= free


total was .34 !
saved 46.25, 28.72 in coupons

Walgreens #1

3 peroxide 2.67 (.89 each)
- 1.50 in ad coupon = .39 each
1 loreal age prefect 14.99
-$2 coupon = 12.99
2 mead envelops 2.38 (1.19 each)
- 1.20 in ad coupon = .59 each
2 sure deodorants 5.00( 2.50 each)
-3.00 Ivc(1.50 each)
-2 $1 coupons = free

also used a $5 rr

total was 11.42(1.08 tax) on gc no oop
saved 31.12, 14.70 in coupons
got back $5 rr and will get $14.99 esr for the loreal

Walgreens #2


5 reynolds foils 8.45 (1.69 each)
-3.50 in ad coupon
-5$1 coupons = free +.o1 overage
4 3packs peeps 2.76 (.69 each)
-1.11 in ad coupon= .39 each
3 walgreens hand sanitizers 8.97 (2.99 each)
- 6.00 in ad coupon = .99 each
3 walgreens Ibuprophen 11.50 (3.99, 3.01, and 3.50 each- walgreens has funky pricing)
-7.50 in ad coupon = .99 each

also used a $5 rr

total was 2.85 (.37 tax)on gc no oop
saved 30.96, 28.11 in coupons
got back $5 rr


Kroger #2

4 organic ricotta cheese 3.96 (marked down to .99 each)
8 packs yeast strips 8.00 (1.00 each)
-8$.45 coupons doubled= .10 each
8 boxes of tea 8.00 (1.00 each)
-8 $.55 coupons doubled to $1 = free

total was 4.76
saved 43.04, 15.20 in coupons
got back 8 $.50 oyno coupons for the yeast

Meijer



4 reduced green peppers 1.39
8 boxes fruitabu 6.72 (reduced to .84 each)
10 boxes quaker simple harvest bars 15.90 (reduced to 1.59 each- only the honey nut variety)
-10 $1 coupons =.59 each
2 landolkes butter spread 2.00 (1.00 each)
-2$.55 coupons doubled to $1 = free

total was 14.01

saved 50.22, 12 in coupons

We spent 27.11 on groceries with a savings of 201.59, 98.73 in coupons.

Total left to spend for the month of December
Grocery $150.71
Misc $74.09
Clothing $8.09
Fun $117.77

Christmas $14.18

Credit is King in Our House

I know a lot of people swear by the envelop system and only using cash for purchases. There are even studies showing that people do spend less when using cash. I am starting to feel like an odd ball because of this. If I have cash in my pocket I want to get rid of it! I will spend it faster because I am so afraid of losing it or it being stolen from me when I turn away from my purse for 2 seconds to grab an item off the shelf at a store.


When we use credit cards we enjoy many benefits . Here are just a few :


We don't have to handle filthy cash. Do you know where that dollar bill has been? I hate to think about that...

We have a record of all our purchases. Yes, I keep my own written record too. Sometimes it just takes me awhile to sit down, put down all the purchases and categorize everything. Using credit I don't have to worry about losing a receipt and forgetting to add it to the tab.

If I lose or destroy my card some how it can be replaced (my bank does this for free). If I lose a wad of cash I'm out that much.

I get paid to buy. We only use rewards cards or store cards that give you a percent off your purchase(Kohl's). I also pay my mom's monthly bills with my card so I earn extra rewards. We don't have annual fees.

I get to keep my money longer. If I buy something on the 6th of November I don't have to pay for it until December 26th. This is the longest time in between buying and paying for and item. As the month moves on the length of time between buying something and paying for it decreases. We use two cards in rotation to give us the longest amount of time to pay. Why? So our money can sit longer in our savings account earning us interest. You can also find stores offering no payment/interest on big ticket items. If you have the money saved up already(and you actually need the item) you can use it to make your monthly payments and earn interest on the remaining balance until it is paid in full.

They provide an extra safety net. If we fall onto hard times we can go from paying the balance in full every month to only the minimum balances. We can also transfer a balance to get 0% for so many months- there is a fee of 3% to do this. We had to do this when my husband was out of work for 8 months and was only receiving 66% of his normal pay and still had to make biweekly health insurance payments. We should have had an emergency fund for this, but we stupidly bought a used car with it. We weren't expecting him to be off work so soon (or so long) because the whole process had already been dragged out at every step. We thought we had time to rebuild it.
If we had been using cash up until then we would not have had enough left over to pay rent, health insurance, food, gas, or any other extra expenses those eight months.



Many people get in trouble using credit cards because they see credit cards as a loan. They don't take into account if they can pay the full amount at the end of the month. Most cards have an 8.99% to 30% something interest rate. You wouldn't pay that much for a home loan so why would you want to do that for groceries, gas or any other everyday expense?

It is important to have a set budget no matter how you pay for your purchases. On top of having a spending plan, marking each transaction in your check book as you would a debit or check purchase is a great way to keep track of what you can or can not afford to spend.

If you use your credit cards carefully they can make you money, even if it is only a few hundred a year. You do not have to pay any fees on a credit card if you pay the balance in full every month on time. The card company still makes money from merchant fees.

Macy's Friends and Family 20% off Coupon 12-10/12-15

Love Macy's? Here is one more reason to! Starting Wednesday December 10th and ending Monday December 15th you can get an additional 20% off your order. That's right, Macy's thinks of all of us as friends and family and is sharing this wonderful discount with us! Check your list to see what you still need to buy for Christmas and I bet you will find a great bargain on it at Macy's. You may want to do an inventory of your all your own needs(new towels, sheets, shoes, cookware, etc.?) and see if you can also snag a bargain of those too while you are in the store any way.



Simply click on the picture, print, and go shopping! Well, wait until the 10th and then go shopping.

Eating on the Cheap - Chicken and Rice Nachos?

I whipped this up the past two weeks(a little different each time) and we loved it so I thought I would share. You can make this cheaper by omitting some of the toppings and by leaving out the Velveeta(I used it to tone down the chipotle flavored taco seasoning). The first time I made it I used tortilla chips(making it less work, but more expensive).

2 cups quick cooking brown rice (.65)
1 cup of cooked black beans (.13)
2 cups water(free)
1 cup corn kernels(free)
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast cut into strips or shredded(1.77)
1/2 to 1 packet taco seasoning -any flavor (free)
4 ounces Velveeta (1/8 of the package)(.50)
12 corn tortillas(.36)
4 tbsp of cooking oil (.25?)
sour cream(topping)(.13 )
salsa(topping)(.08)
shredded cheese(topping)(.75)

cost 4.62

1 . preheat oven to 425 degrees . heat 2 tbsp of oil in a skillet, add chicken breast and brown both sides
2 . add water, taco seasoning, rice, corn, and black beans. Mix well, bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cover. Stir frequently
3. place tortillas on cookie sheets in a single layer. Brush or spray with remaining cooking oil on both sides of the tortillas. Place in preheated oven for 7-8 minutes, turning once midway through cooking. You want them to be crisp and golden, not burnt.
4. cube the velveeta up and add to the skillet once most of the liquid is absorbed by the rice (10 minutes or so), cook an addition 2 minutes, or until all the cheese is melted and blended with the other ingredients. remove from heat
5. place the tortilla on a plate and layer with the chicken and rice mixture, sour cream, salsa and shredded cheese. enjoy!



You could also make dessert from the tortillas by adding cinnamon sugar to them after you apply the oil.

CVS Is Giving Us Early Christmas Presents!

You can get 37 items free after ECB from CVS December 21st and 22nd only! There are some items with coupons to match up with too(money makers)! See the full list at IHEARTCVS!

Kroger Walgreens 12/07

Walgreens
2 rolls of reynolds foil 3.38 (1.69 each)
-$1.40 in ad coupon
-2 $1 coupons = free + .01 overage
2 3packs 3m gift tape 2.00 (1.00 each)
-$1/6 rolls coupon= .50 each

total was 1.23(.25 tax) on gift card no oop
saved 12.61, 4.40 in coupons
will get $2 ESR for buy 2 3packs of tape


Kroger

3 newspapers 3.75 (1.25 each)
3 4packs of cottonelle 2.97 (.99 each)
-3 $.50 ecoupons (2 from shortcuts, 1 from cellfire)
-4 $.25 coupons doubled ( I only gave him 3 I thought but the receipt is showing he forced a forth through?)= free + .01 overage and a bonus .50
10 loaves of arnold bread 14.95 (2.99 for 2 on sale bogo)
-10 $.55 coupons doubled to $1= 5 @ .49 and 5 @ .50 each
4 packs of tyson boneless chicken breast @ 1.77 lb = 9.57
1 kroger comforts formula 11.99
- free coupon(thanks mommy managing) = free
1 kroger picante sauce 1.00
(I meant to buy salsa , lol)
2 revlon nail clips 1.80 (.90 each)
-2$1 coupons = free + .20 overage
1 betty frosting 1.50
-.55 shortcuts coupon
-.50 coupon doubled = free + .05 overage
1 bunch of bananas 1.24
kroger icecream (chocolate chip oatmeal cookie:D) 1.88
- .65 coupon = 1.23

also used a $4 cat and 2 $.75 cats = $5.50 in cats

total was 15.70 (.24 tax)
saved 73.16, 32.64 in coupons


Walgreens #2
I told my mom I would give her coupons for free foil and cheap tape so I did a trip on the way to get her and one when I took her home.

2 rolls of reynolds foil 3.38 (1.69 each)
-$1.40 in ad coupon
-2 $1 coupons = free + .01 overage
1 250 pack toothpicks .99
- in ad coupon .60 = .39

total was .52(.15 tax) on gift card no oop
saved $4.52, $4 in coupons



We got fast food twice Sunday:( My brother had his daughters birthday party at one of those Mcdonalds with the play tubes thingies were I bought lunch for my mom, daughter and self. Then I had to get my husband something on the way home. He wanted arby's.

Mcdonalds $10.84 (I used a coupon too!)

Arby's $10.00 (I forgot to print my coupons for this because I was trying to figure out why comments were disabled on here:( )


I was going to go to Meijer, Kroger, Marsh, and Target today but things got to hectic. Maybe tomorrow ...


Total spent $36.54

$20.84 on fun

and $15.70 on groceries with a savings of $90.29 , $41.04 in coupons.



Total left to spend for the month of December
Grocery $177.82
Misc $74.09
Clothing $8.09
Fun $117.77

Christmas $14.18

Weekly Savings Summary 11/30-12/06

We spent $188.94 this week

$56.77 on clothing
$35.90 on Misc
$49.98 on Christmas presents
$5 in fun

and $41.29 on groceries with a savings of $225.55, $143.55 just from coupons

$19.71 (savings of 137.82, 104.94in coupons) of the groceries were purchased on Sunday so they have already been counted in the Novembers Grocery Total.

Comments are Working Again

Okay, that was a quick fix! I just changed the comments form embedded on page to there own page and it worked! Thanks Precious for letting me know there was a problem!

Problems With comments

For some reason comments is disabled in this new template. I have tried to fix it using the settings tab on blogger and that hasn't worked. I am thinking it s something in the HTML. I will be working on this off and on today. If you have experienced this and have an idea of what is causing this please email me at savingsmakescents (at) gmail (dot) com .


Thanks!

Breakfast with Santa

My daughter's school sent home a form to have breakfast with Santa at the beginning of November. They had at least a dozen sponsors from around the city so this shindig was pretty nice.

For $5 bucks we got:

Breakfast of a large doughnut, 1/2 banana, a cereal bar, and juice

Face painting

Goody bag which included a shrek toothbrush, roll of stickers, activity book, 8 pack of crayola crayons, travel size first aid kit, and a very large bag clip

a picture with Santa

2 crafts: a clothes pin reindeer ornament and a frame for the picture with Santa(we skipped this one, I was tired)


Not too shabby! There have been times I paid $15 for just the picture with Santa.

Total left to spend for the month of December
Grocery $193.52
Misc $74.09
Clothing $8.09
Fun $138.61

Christmas $14.18

One Last Trip... Walgreens 12/06

I Heart Chocolate!


3 boxes of Private reserve chocolate 14.97 (4.99 each)
-b2g1 coupon 4.99= 3.33 each
3 10lb bags rock salt 9.96 (2.49 each)
-3.96 in ad coupon= 1.50 each
1 jumbo peppermint stick .99
-.32 in ad coupon

also used a $5 rr, $2 rr, and $6 rr= $13 rr

Total was 3.71 (.06 tax)on gift card no oop
saved 28.98 , 17.99 in coupons
got back $ 5 rr for spending $25 before coupons, will get $10 ESR for buying two chocolates= $15 in rr and rebates.

He's always trying to grab the camera from me, lol :)

Spent Nothing on groceries and saved saved 28.98 , 17.99 in coupons


Total left to spend for the month of December
Grocery $193.52
Misc $74.09
Clothing $8.09
Fun $143.61

Christmas $14.18

I am NOT a Coupon Lover!

I know what you are thinking, of course I love coupons, a big part of this blog is about using them. My husband, my daughter (who is only 5), and people I come into contact with on a regular basis seem to think teasing and taunting me with the old "coupon lover" insult is fun and true.

Well guess what, I don't even like my coupons half the time! They are messy, time consuming, and pretty darn boring too. My back aches from bending over my binder sorting them out on weeks when I am playing catch-up. I often procrastinate 2 or 3 weeks before I finally sit down to clip and organize. That is how much I dread the chore.

I find it insulting that anyone would even think I have affection for scraps of paper. You want to hear something else that is "crazy" but true? I don't love money either, which is another thing a few people seem to think. Once a relative even accused me of being willing to die to pick a penny up of the ground (this relative is off his rocker and most of the time I don't even admit to myself that we are related). Since when did saving money and not wasting it on stupid things become such a negative?

So why do I spend hours every week clipping, organizing, and redeeming COUPONS to save MONEY? Because I enjoy the items the coupons allow me to "buy". I also enjoy being able to stay home with my kids and husband on the weekend, instead of having to work a low paying job so we can have money to afford groceries, bills, clothing, medical care, car expenses and still have a little left over to toss in the savings account for unexpected incidences and goals. One more bonus- I am able to give more to my extended family and to my local community.

Coupons and Money are both tools that I try to use wisely to get the most out of life without giving up too much in return. 2-3 hours a week clipping coupons and making shopping list to easily save $1,000 or more a month is a lot better than spending 8 or more hours at a job that I don't really care for and would only earn me $256 a month before taxes (based on 8 hrs a week at $8 an hour pay) while keeping me away from my family. I know a lot of moms make way more than that. That is what I would be making at a job that gave me just enough flexibility to work with my husbands work schedule.

Don't get me wrong, I look forward to getting the Sunday paper and looking through the ads and coupons. I enjoy scoring deals and saving so much! It would just be nice if someone else could clip and organize my coupons for me (for free of course!). Maybe I can convince my daughter to do part of it with me. She is coming around to my side. I took her with me when I bought 12 free chocolate bars. Since then she seems to get that mommy is able to get the little splurges because coupons save so much.

Some Changes....

I finally found a template I can live with until I figure out how to make my own! Unfortunately all of my sidebar info didn't make it through the transition. I will be working on getting everything back up in the next few days. New post will be scarce will I am working on this.

There are plenty of good reads on my bloglist to keep you entertained and help you find good deals while I am away. Thank you for your patience and continuing to read my blog!

Walgreens, Amazon.com , and Gymboree.com 12/03 and 12/04

Walgreens 12/03


4boxes of wal-tin 27.96 (6.99 each)
-24.00 with in ad coupon (6.00 off each)=.99
4 rolls of Walgreens packaging tape 8.00 (buy one get one for .01 , 2 @ 3.99 each and 2 @ .01 each)
2 reach ultra clean toothbrushes 6.00 (3.00 each)
- bogo coupon $3


total was 16.08(1.12 tax)on gift card no oop
saved 55.02 , 27.00 in coupons
got back $6 rr for the toothbrushes, $5 rr for spending $25

amazon.com 12/04 (My two large items shipped already!)


1 melissa and doug doll house 59.99- price went up:(

1 tonka 3 in 1 dump truck 11.99- price went up:(

1 book of 4 fairy stickers 1.50

1 book of 4 unicorn sticker 1.50

1 12 pack of fairy book marks 1.50

1 4 pack of unicorn washable tattoos 1.50

1 tinkerbell movie 15.49

-1.50 for the 4 $1.50 items, they are part of the 4 for 3 promo

also used $30 in amazon certificates I earned with my credit card and by taking surveys


free shipping on all items!


total was 61.97 (I shopped through your link, mommysnacks!)


gymboree.com 12/04 (no pic yet)


It's Ruff Being So Cute Tee Black 6 $10.87

Little Monster Bodysuit Olive Night18-24 mos $6.74

Dino Hoodie Golden Ochr18-24 mos $12.74

Scottie Dog Turtleneck ShiHeathered G6 $6.74

Scottie Dog Legging Heathered G6 $7.87

Owl Tee Sunrise Ora 7 $8.99

Fall Forest Legging Pebble Grey 7 $6.74

Scottie Dog Headband Festive Red $3.39

$25 Gymbucks Coupon
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Subtotal: $64.07
Order Discount: -$12.81
Gymboree VISA Discount: -$0.00
Order Subtotal: $51.26
Shipping: $0.00
Tax: $3.21

Gift Certificate: -$20.00
Order Total: $34.47


Yeah I copy pasted my confirmation email, I am lazy, lol.


I spent $96.44 today

34.47 on clothing

11.99 on misc(the baby's dump truck for his birthday)

and 49.98 on Christmas presents


Total left to spend for the month of December
Grocery $193.52
Misc $74.09
Clothing $8.09
Fun $143.61

Christmas $14.18

Free Shipping at Gymboree.com and 25% off Everything!

That's right, no code needed to get the free shipping or the 25%(this even includes the new lines and already discounted lines)! No minimum purchase to get the free shipping.

Hurry, the fine print says limited time only and gives no end date. This could be over at any minute!


This is great! I was going to do a little shopping there last week but couldn't decide if I wanted to use a free shipping code or a 20% code(you can only use one promotional code at gymboree.com).I decided to just wait until Macy's friends and family event and just go to Gymboree while I was already at the mall so I could have free shipping and an extra 20%(coupon that came in the mail).


If you don't have the home mailer coupon for an extra 20% off check ebay for one.

I got free shipping, 25% off, 20% off, and $25 gymbucks! I spent $34.47 (I used a $20 gift card earned with my visa).

If you have a Gymboree visa you can save an extra 5%!

A Couple of Amazon.com Deals

A few goodies I ran across on amazon.com! If you are shopping at amazon.com you can click through the widget on my left sidebar(You don't have to purchase the items I have listed on there for this to work) and I will get credit for your purchase. I don't believe amazon has any rebates with companies like ebates or mypoints or I would say go through them.

Melissa and Doug Multi-Level Solid Wood Dollhouse



Regular price is 159.99 on sale for 59.99! Free super saver shipping

price raised to 79.99 :(

I want this but already finished DD shopping :-/ I might still get it though.

Playskool Tonka Scoot N Scoop 3 In 1 Ride-On

Regular Price 29.99 on sale for 11.99! Also ships free with super saver shipping

*price raised to 20.99 :(

I'm am definatly getting this. DS has his first birthday 3 days after Christmas.

New Money Making RR at Walgreens- 4 days only!

I had to run to Walgreens again because I forgot packaging tape yesterday(DH used 4 rolls on 1 package last week, GRR). Well they had a 4 day ad out good until Saturday. On the front cover it said spend $25 get a $5 rr back! There is also a in ad coupon for 10ct wal-tin for .99, regular price is 6.99. I found out the $25 is before coupons!

I bought $8 worth of tape and $6 in toothbrushes and then 4 $.99 wal-tins= $17.96

then I also used a $3 man coupon and still got the $5 rr!


To make this a MM, Buy 4 wal-tins at 6.99 before in ad coupon=$27.96

after in ad coupon = $3.96+ tax

Get a $5 rr back!= profit of $1.04 before tax

You can come up with other scenarios too. Checkout the 4 day ad here!

Walgreens, Kellyscloset.com, and Costco 12-02

Kellyscloset.com(no pic yet)

3 pairs babyleg warmers 18.00 (6.00 each)-giraffe, frog, and bee
1 pair babyleg warmers 4.50 -black

free shipping with code "cyber" - offer ends today- no minimum purchase!

total was 22.50


Walgreens

Let me just say, this was an absolute nightmare! No, not the store itself or the employees. My kids were out of control! I had to go with them because DH wasn't going to be home until late and it was the last day to use the $5/$25 coupons. Those two are just rotten in the store together. Normally when I have to go to the store on a day other than Sunday(grandma day!) I do it when DD is in school. This time I didn't get my list and coupons ready until the very last minute and that left no time to go while she was gone. Going with one kid is doable, but when they are together they conspire to drive me batty, lol.




Transaction #1

1 8oz maxwell house instant coffee 7.79
-3.80 in ad coupon=3.99
1 right guard pro 5.99
3 40ct Excedrin express 15.00(5.00)
-3$2 coupons=3.00 each
2 reach ultraclean toothbrushes 6.00 (3.00 each)
-bogo coupon $3=1.50 each
2 bags combos 1.98 (.99 each)
-$1/2 coupons=.49 each
1 holiday pencil .39
-.22 in ad coupon=.17
1 13ct jolly brite candy canes 1.59
-.60 in ad coupon =.99
1 colgate toothpaste 2.99
-$1 coupon

also used $5/$25 coupon

Total was 22.68 (1.57 tax)on giftcard no oop!
saved 58.75 , 20.62 in coupons
got back $2 rr for colgate, $6 rr for reach, $8 rr for excedrin=16 rr
will get back $5 ESR for the right guard


The coffee replaced the rock salt they never got on the truck. I'm going to go back and get more toothbrushes and a rain check if they still don't have any later this week.
Transaction #2

1 lasko heater 39.99
3 holiday pencils 1.17 (.39 each)
-.66 in ad coupon =.17 each

also used $8 rr and $6 rr= $14 rr
and $5/$25 coupon

total was 23.72(2.22 tax)on gift card no oop!
saved 43.38, 19.66 in coupons
will get $10 ESR for the heater

Costco

DH stopped by after work to get more soda to sell. I had him pick up the soy milk and fruit leathers. He took it upon himself to browse the electronics and get the disc.


case of soy milk 11.59
box of fruit leather 9.99
100ct printable sony dvd-r disc 29.49
-7.50 instant coupon = 21.99

total was 45.49(tax 1.92)


Total spent today = $67.99

$22.50 on clothing

$23.91 on Misc. with a savings of 50.88, 26.50 in coupons(heater and disc)

and $21.58 on groceries with a saving of 58.75 , 20.62 in coupons


Total left to spend for the month of December
Grocery $193.52
Misc $86.08
Clothing $42.56
Fun $143.61

Christmas $64.16

December Starting Budget

I rollover any unused money from last months budget to this months.


Grocery $200 a month + $15.10 rollover = $215.10
Misc. $50 a month + $59.99 rollover=$109.99
Clothing $50 a month + $15.06 rollover=$ 65.06
Fun $100 a month + $43.61 rollover =$143.61


Compared to last month this should be easy!

New printables up!

get a $1 off any package of keebler cookies(9.5 oz or larger) and a $1 any one keebler sandies (9.5 oz or larger) here

get $1 of butterball turkey bacon, $.55 off butterball ground turkey, and $1 off butterball deep fried lunch meats here


there are also new printables available through coupons.com (print from my widget on the left side and help support this site!)and smartsource.com. I always print my smartsource coupons through hotcouponworld here.

The print limits on the other printables sites I have listed on the left side should also have reset.

November Grocery Total and Savings Update

I was kind of worried I would go over budget again this month. We started the month with a measly $107.60 because of me going over the past few months. I am happy to say that we had money left over this time! Here are the numbers:

Retail value $1084.13
spent $100.50
saved $983.63( savings of 91%)
coupon savings $626.68(savings of 58%)

I added back in a $8 rebate check that came on Saturday, so I have 15.10 left over! I will roll the surplus into December's grocery budget.

Savings Update

I made a deposit of $600 to our savings account. We only had $76.21 in the account for the past 3 months(I robbed it in July to pay for our bedroom set). We need to save $323.79 more to reach our goal of $1000 by the end of January 2009(see very bottom of page for more of our goals).

Lookie What I Got !

You remember when I did the pet food coupon giveaway? Well, the winner, kris10dale sent me some beautiful handmade toys! She is so generous(her kids are adorable too)!


The baby loves those cookies! He couldn't wait one minute for me to get the picture, lol.


I should have waited to put these in the kids' stocking, but they were so neat I couldn't wait to play with them myself!

Thank you again kris10dale!