Rambling for a bit...

So, while working overnight last night, I FINALLY decided on a new name for the blog! (Remember me talking about possible changes, one of them being a new name?)

I ran out of Febreeze while cleaning my living room the other day. I needed it to get the smell out of my couches and chairs. Where did I turn to get a recipe for homemade Febreeze? Where else? Pinterest! Some of the recipes there call for baking soda. It's not something that I have in the house right at this moment, so I had to find an alternate one. My Crazy Blessed Life had one that didn't call for baking soda, and of course I modified it because I don't have the Downy Unstoppables that she has. (I have plain old Downy in my house that I got cheap.) I just did the modification with the regular liquid Downy and put it in my empty Febreeze bottle and went back to cleaning. When I go to make this again, I will have the baking soda.

I also need to get some of that carpet powder for that black rug in my living room. I finally got a small vacuum that works on carpet and floors like hardwood and such for $7.00. (It was a left over Black Friday deal that was marked down. How awesome is that?) I can probably get some really cheap from CVS next time there's a sale on Glade products, and then keep the container to make my own. (Yeah, gonna need baking soda for it too.)

I really need to lay back down. Last night was a little rough because I didn't get that much sleep.

I feel like throwing a tantrum

Yup......really disappointed with the coupon inserts today. Now, I know that coupons are regional and stuff, but usually my area gets diaper coupons. Did I get any in the inserts from the Cullman Times? NO. Not one.

Now, I know that this might be a little dramatic and all, but I really don't care. I have a diaper stockpile that I want to make absolutely glorious and I can't do that now because the inserts I got SUCK.

There was a gum coupon that I wanted. Did I get that? NO. No free gum for me again this time unless I order them from thecouponclippers.com, which is a HUGE possibility this week.

That would be great if Red Plum and Smart Source put out every coupon that I see on sundaycouponpreview.com. That way, I wouldn't be having a fit over not getting coupons that I spent all weekend looking forward to.

Fun Stuff!!!!

Hubby needed a wrist splint this morning so I got up about 6:15 and got going. I also picked up my FREE nail polish and a few other things. I love remembering I have a BOGO free coupon for something that I want too.

There are my 4 free nail polishes, my BOGO gum packs, my $2.97 eye shadow and my $.22 multi-grain Pringles.

Coupons used:

• (1) $.75/1 Multi-grain Pringles (also price matched these to Kroger's price of $.97, down from $1.50)
• (2) BOGO iD Gum, up to 1.28
• (1) $2/1 Almay product
• (4) $1/1 Wet 'n Wild nail polish

Total spent: $5.47 (price not including my associate discount and tax).

I got some "big girl" snack stuff for Miss Bug but that was a different trip. Yay Walmart!

Sept. 11 and more

Today is 9/11. Obviously a day that we will NEVER forget. (If you have forgotten about what happened on this day 11 years ago, shame on you and do some research. If you're too lazy to do that, jump off a bridge. Harsh, I know.)

I was a senior in high school when this happened. The school district I went to school in had these stupid things called half days and that's what that day was. I had a doctor's appointment that morning and because the day was a half day, I was staying home from school then going to work that afternoon.

Wow, I thought I was going to blog about this when I got here tonight, but now, I don't feel like it. Long story short, I remember what I was doing and where I was when these HORRIBLE events happened and my daughter will know about it. I don't care that people have stopped showing the video from this day on TV because they are "too graphic." Piss off, you bunch of babies. We NEED to see this to remember what happened and why America changed.

Never forget

To me the skyline of Manhattan will never be the same........

On to things that make me happy.....saving money and free stuff. I'M GETTING FREE NAIL POLISH THIS WEEK!!! BOOYAH!!!!! How?

Thanks to the $1/1 coupon for Wet 'n Wild nail polish that was in the Sunday paper, all I have to pay is a teeny weeny bit of tax, and nail polish is MINE!!!! Exciting!!! I'm doing a little happy dance over here!!!!

I was going to get new eye shadow over at CVS this week for the ECB offer they have for Almay products. I still might do it, but I'm not sure if I can pass up using my $2/1 Almay product coupon to get my favorite eye shadow for $2.97 at Walmart.

I mean, the ECBs are nice and I plan on using some of the ones that I will be earning to help me get more make up. (Oh, I just remembered I have a $5 Beauty Club Reward too. Maybe I will buy this at CVS....)

I think I might be able to get me some Carmex, but I have to double check my coupon and see which product they have in the $.98 bin.

In case some haven't heard, Walgreens is changing up their reward program. I'm all signed up for it and I'm planning my first purchase with this program.

Updated my app and I'm ready to earn my points!

Yup, that's the screen shot that I took from my phone today. Super excited about this too. Woot woot! I should be saving some good money there soon too.

I'm going to try my hand at shopping at Kroger coming up soon. I think it might be worth the 30 minute drive. *Fingers crossed*

Wags rewards card and other news

Yeah, that's what I said to myself this morning when I looked at iheartwags.com, but then promptly started putting my purchases for that week together after signing up for the program.

Walgreens is calling it Balance Rewards, and you earn points to get money off your purchases. I'm guessing they are doing away with the Register Rewards catalinas. I've never bought anything that gave me the catalina coupons, so I guess I'm not worried about that. I will, however, be participating in this. It seems a LOT like the CVS ExtraCare Bucks that I love so much.

iheartwags.com, werdeals.com

ihearwags.com, werdeals.com

iheartwags.com, werdeals.com

iheartwags.com, werdeals.com

In other news, I'm finally getting a washer and dryer in the apartment. I'm hoping it gets here today because I would LOVE to wash some clothes for work before I go in today. If not, the pair will be here tomorrow and I can get caught up on my laundry then. Squee!!!!!

So.....we meet again......

Blogger was being weird for me yesterday. I don't know why, but now it's working for me! Woot!

Latest couponing trip: WALMART. Yup, where I work.

What did I get? Bic pens and pencils.

How much did I spend? $1.45

How?

• Price matched the pens at the Kmart sale price of $.75. Bought four 10 packs of the Cristal pens.
• Used (2) $1/2 Bic stationary coupons.
• Final Price: $.25 after price match and coupons
• Price matched the pencils at the Staples sale price of $.50. Bought four 5 packs of mechanical pencils.
• Used (2) $1/2 Bic stationary coupons
• Final price: FREE after price match and coupons

Oh yeah! The original cost of everything would have been about $14.00 without the price matching and the coupons. Hubby figured that I saved about 90% yesterday. He also said that I was spending money on pencils when we didn't need them. Well, I didn't spend any money on the pencils (except tax) and the guys ended up using the pencils for a new form of boffer fighting they are creating. (Never know when you're going to need a pencil.)

Update on Miss Bug: she's now starting to say very simple words and get on all fours and rock back and forth. I was woken up to her looking at me from her crib, saying "Ma ma ma." Very pleasant way to wake up this morning.

According to Hubby, she's saying "Ba ba ba ba" and "Fa fa fa fa." She says "Ba ba ba" when she sees a bottle getting ready. She freaked out on Uncle Fatty when he didn't get the bottle to her fast enough, but the point is she knows what a bottle is. LOL

I can't believe Miss Bug is going to be six months old very very soon. Where has that time gone, other than flying by?

Walmart deal!

I had to go to Walmart today for some sodas. The hubby loves coconut rum and Peach Nehi soda, and I needed the Peach Nehi for him and sodas for the rest of the week.

 I FINALLY FOUND MY COUPON NOTEBOOK PAGES!!! Oh it's about time!!!! I was able to get my coupon notebook set up only to realize that I'm going to need a bigger binder (and one with a zipper).

WOOT!!!!

I can't have my coupons falling out!

I was also able to score a Febreeze Car vent clip for $.97 today. I had the $1/1 coupon that came in a P&G  mailer the other day and it was $1.97 before the coupon. Now my van will smell nice. Wooty Woot!!!!

From I Heart the Mart

Lay away is back for the holidays and Walmart is starting it even earlier this year!!!!! Perfect because we want a new TV and it's Miss Bug's first Christmas.

Need more details: http://www.iheartthemart.com/2012/08/21/walmart-layaway-program-for-the-2012-holiday-season/

Frustrating Couponing Trip

After a couple of successful couponing trips to Walgreens and CVS this week, I had a very frustrating one at Walmart. It might have had something to do with the cashier or maybe I did something wrong. I don't know, but it was frustrating and I am super disappointed with the way it turned out.

I wish Kroger and Publix weren't so far away from me, especially Kroger. Kroger has some really good deals, but I think after today's trip, I might make the trip to Hartselle to go shopping at Kroger.

My successful couponing trip at CVS was great! Loved it. Thanks to iheartcvs, I was able to get this little spreadsheet that helped me calculate how much I would be spending and saving. I spent exactly what I thought I would be spending and was able to get a couple of extra items and my ECBs for my next trip, which will be when I get paid again. CVS is having a gas card deal, so I am DEFINITELY hitting that up.(It never hurts to have gas cards laying around!)

My Walgreens trip was also just as successful, but I want to keep that one to myself. Sorry. LOL

I was asked to cook dinner the other night and I had no idea what to make. The guys had no clue what they wanted to eat, so what did I do? Hit up Pinterest, of course. I found this super easy recipe for Taco Pizza, and it turned out awesome! Hubby didn't like the crescent roll crust, but it was just amazing. It's something that will be made again some time in the near future. (I have the supplies for it, with the exception of the refried beans in my refrigerator.)

EDIT:

Hamburger meat with taco seasoning

Refried beans with Green Chilis

SHREDDED CHEESE!!!!!

Crescent roll crust slightly baked

Refried bean "pizza sauce"

Meat and cheese

More cheese on top

Melted cheesy taco goodness

Salsa and sour cream to top it off. YUM!

And here I am again

So I took a short little break away from my blog for the past few days. Sorry. :(

This past weekend was not easy for me. It marked the one year anniversary of when my grandmother left her family to take her place as an angel. I was pretty much in a crummy mood all weekend, and I was so happy that Monday rolled around as quickly as it did. (Yeah, it's weird that someone would look forward to a Monday, but I did.)

I have 100% completely decided that living in a small town that doesn't have my absolute favorite grocery store sucks. Publix occasionally rolls out these coupon books with all of these yummy coupons that I need in order to satisfy my new couponing habit/addiction. Problem is: Cullman (the town that I live in) doesn't have one. It really really sucks. The closest one is in Decatur, which is about 30 minutes away. Yes, our "new" van is a lot more mechanically sound, but we aren't sure if we want to put it to that kind of a test yet and gas isn't cheap. (Please Publix, come to Cullman!!!!!! Other than the coupons, there are several things that I need because I miss them!)

Since I'm talking about saving money, I did awesome yesterday. I walked out of CVS with a pack of Pampers and some Pampers wipes for $5.72! That's a little cheaper than getting some Parent's Choice diapers alone! How did I do it? Here's how:

• The diapers were $8.99 with the Extra Care card.
• I had gotten some coupons from Pampers in the mail. Coupon values were $4, $3, and free wipes with the purchase of diapers. (That coupon allowed me to buy 60-72 count wipes with a price of up to $3.99)
• I used my card, the $4 coupon, and the free wipes coupon and paid $5.72 for all of it.

This week CVS has a deal if you buy $30 worth of P&G products, you get $10 in Extra Care Bucks. Unfortunately, all I needed were the diapers, so I didn't get to earn any of those ECBs. (Pampers is a P&G product).

Here's the edit with the receipt. Ignore the peanut butter. 

Work is going pretty well. I didn't get the full time position in my department, but I was asked to be a sponsor. Sponsors at Walmart are basically department trainers. I know that I don't get paid any extra to be a trainer, but it's okay. It's another little feather in my cap to add to my resume to help me move up. I'm hoping that there is another full time position in my department open that I can apply for. I think the only thing that might be held against me is the fact that I've been with Walmart for less than 6 months. I haven't really been there 3 months yet, and I haven't gotten my discount card yet.

I should try to get a little bit more sleep before Miss Bug wakes up. It is pretty early in the morning still. Oh, and I have to put a bill payment in the mail before I forget and the mail gets here.

COUPONS!!!!

OMG!!!! COUPONS!!!

Yeah, I am really starting to like coupons. Like really starting to like them. My house is in trouble if I manage to figure out the extreme couponing stuff.

Anyway. In my local paper this week, there was a P&G coupon insert. Apparently, these come out maybe once or twice a month. We use P&G products in my house on a regular basis, so these coupons were a must for me to get.

There were so many other coupons from Red Plum and Unilever (again, another company that gets used in my house on a regular basis).

Oh, I was so exited when I saw all of the inserts when I got home and opened up the paper. I actually didn't play any World of Warcraft tonight like I usually do because I couldn't wait to get into my coupon inserts. (Baby Bug was already in bed when I got home.)

Now, from what I understand about couponing is: use them when the items you need are on sale. That's why many extreme couponers spend hours upon hours looking at deals, price matching and doing match ups to get the most for their money. I do a lot of my shopping at Walmart. It's the only super shopping center in town, and I'm pretty much there all the time because I work there. (Still don't have my associate discount card yet, but it's coming!)

Fortunately, Walmart does price matching, as they call it Ad Matching. What helps me with doing this is the fact that the county that I live in sends out a community shopper newspaper in the mail EVERY Wednesday. In that newspaper, the community gets ads for Piggly Wiggly, Warehouse Discount Grocery (WDG), S&S Foods, and Food World. (There's another grocery store in town, but I never see an ad for them in the shopper.)

I remember one week, I had coupons for Hot Pockets. The coupon was for $.95 off any two. One of the grocery stores in town (I don't remember which one) had them on sale for 2 for $4. Walmart sells a box of two Hot Pockets for $2.18 each. Well, Ad Matching saved me $.36 on two boxes plus the coupon brought the total for 2 boxes to $3.05. That's a total savings of $1.31 on 2 boxes of Hot Pockets. That's $1.31 that I was able to use towards the rest of my shopping list! (EPIC!!)

The weeks that I do my grocery shopping I live for my community shopper. I need to remember to look at my favorite websites:

• couponing101.com
• stretchingabuckblog.com

to help me find the best deals and match ups and check grocery store ads that I don't get in my community shopper. I don't get ads for stores like Publix and Kroger because we don't have either one in the county. (Sucks because I LOVE Publix. Growing up in South Florida instilled that in me.)

Walmart also does price matching with some of the drug stores, like Walgreens, CVS, and Rite Aid. (Other ads I need to look at because sometimes they have good deals on things!)

I need to find myself a shopping list that will help me get what I need. I want to be able to edit it so I can add the prices that I already have from previous purchases and match it up with price matching deals and coupons.