THE POWER IS ON!!!!

It's been a really long week. The freezing rain and sleet started falling Monday night and continued until late Tuesday evening causing us to loose power on Tuesday afternoon. We were so excited to have it come back on last night around 5:45. I consider us blessed. There are still many people with out electricity and cable. We were very fortunate in the fact the the only damage we have is to our fence. There is about half a tree laying on it. We didn't have to buy any groceries this week as we just ate from my stock pile. However, we did have to buy a generator in order to save all the meat, vegetables and stuff we had in our fridge and freezer. My husband called all over to get the best deal and drove over a hour away to buy it. The drive was well worth it as it saved us over $350. They even gave us a discount as we picked up one for us and one for my elderly neighbor who is also a couponer and had a freezer full of food. If you ever need a generator be sure to check with O'Reilly Auto Parts. They were very friendly, helpful, and had the best price. Too bad our local store didn't have any in stock. Have you every cooked supper by a oil lamp? It is possible. We have a gas stove so I was able to use the burners.
It's hard to believe how dark it gets so fast. I think I might actually miss the quit and the dark.

I don't think I have ever mentioned what we do for a living. I am a licensed staff agent for a local insurance agency so you can only imagine how busy we will for the next few weeks. (There may not be many post due to long hours.) My husband works for the cable company and is on mandatory 7 days a week until further notice. He was also one of the chosen ones to take the overnight shift. Makes him extremely tired and grouchy.

Be Careful and Stay Safe!

Well, I tried to let my little four legged friend out for his 8:00 potty break and he just won't go. I'm sure it is because of the freezing rain and sleet falling. The ground is completely white and it isn't snow. Please everyone be safe and stay in.

Busy Weekend

I had alot of things I wanted to get done this weekend. I always have a running list in my head of what I need to do around the house when I'm off work but somehow I never get done with the list. I would rather just be lazy after a hard/long week at work. I'm the world worst to start one thing and drift to something else and never completely get one thing finished. For instance, I was cleaning something up, I don't even remember what and I ended up putting something in the medicine box and cleaning and organizing the medicine box. Yes, that was on my never ending list of things to do but not for this weekend. Does anyone else have this problem? I am the world worst at putting things off but at least I did get some things finished like, sweeping the living room, cleaning the toilet (Yuck! I hate this!), organizing the medicine box, slicing and freezing peppers and onions, clipping coupons, shopping, making a pot of soup, and a couple of loads of laundry. We also went out to eat Friday night with the kids. I went to a wedding shower yesterday and to my grandpa's 81st birthday party today.



Here is a run down of what few things I bought at the store this weekend. We really didn't need anything but I had a few special requests and there were a few good deals I wanted to get.


Fred's

2 Electrasol $2.99 Less $2.50 Manfg coupon
Palmolive Soap $1.00 Less $.50 Manfg coupon doubled

Soft Soap $1.49 Less $.50 Manfg coupon doubled

Suave 24 hour $1.00 Less $.50 Mang coupon doubled

4 Sweet Sue Chicken Chicken Less $.75 coupon

Total before coupons $14.43

Total after coupons $2.57

Edwards:

Knowing that the pizza rolls and the Doritos would be yanked out the grocery bags before I even got through the door, I decided to try and take a photo of my cart. Not the best photo but. . .

4 Pizza Rolls $1.99 (sign said $1.69 so I will have to go back.) Less $.35 Manfg coupon doubled
2 Doritos on sale BOGO $3.99

4 Pimientos $.85 Less $.35 Manfg coupon doubled

Rotel $1.09 Less $.30 Manfg coupon doubled

2 Granny Smith Apples $1.55

5 Green Peppers on sale 5/$1.00

Total before coupons $22.90

Total spent $13.66

I have a list of things I would like to get done this week like organizing shoes in my closet, cleaning off dresser which somehow becomes a catch all, cleaning kids bathroom and step son's room. His idea of clean and mine are two different things. Maybe since I have listed them out I will actually get them done. But, they are calling for ice. If we loose power, nothing will get done.

Walgreen's is my friend again!

I had to go out of town yesterday for work and guess what I looked for on the way there. You guessed it. A Walgreen's. The Walgreen's is my town is not coupon friendly at all. I read about Walgreen's deals all over the net where couponers have no trouble. I passed one that wasn't open yet on my way there. Then to my amazement there was a brand new Walgreen's right across the street from where I was having class. I went to that one while I was on my lunch break. They only had 6 Ragu Sauces and the Free after rebate makeup were colors that no one in my household will use. So I ended up not buying anything. On my way home I stopped at the Walgreen's I saw that morning. I'm so glad I did. They were more than helpful. I found the Revlon free after rebate item right by the front door. I started looking for the other free after rebate items, and an associate came up and asked if I needed any help. I explained what I was looking for and she looked all over the store for items with no luck. Here is a run down of what I got. Sorry no picture. I was too tired form a 8 hour day of classes and a hour and a half drive there and back.

Spring Water $.99 (I forgot to make a cooler before I left.)
8- Ragu sauces $1.99 less 8- $.25 coupons (I used 8 of the same coupons in one transaction!)
Revlon eyeshadow $4.99 less $1 coupon - will send in for $4.99 rebate
Garnier Fructis $3.99 less $2 es coupon and $1 manfg coupon (These are $3.49 at my Walgreen's so I shouldn't have got it but I didn't catch the price difference until I was already out of the store.)
6- Butterball Chicken Broth - sale 2/$1.00 (We needed this and it was a good price.)
used $10 register reward from the Pepsi deal last week
TOTAL
$14.96 and got back $10 register reward and will get $4.99 rebate back.

The checker was so nice and friendly. She said she had just started buying the Sunday paper because alot of the Walgreen's sales were based on them and she tried to always buy when things were on sale. Now that I know how friendly Walgreen's can be, I am even more upset with our unfriendly Walgreen's. I just wish I knew how to make them see that they are loosing business. I had already decided that I wasn't going to shop there this week because I should be able to use as many coupons as I can in a single transaction.

It's funny how shopping for me has changed. I use to look for places near where I was going to be to find a new purse, shoes, clothes or something else that I probably do not really need. This time I restocked my pasta sauce which was running really low.

Open all your Junk Mail!

I have been trying to organize, sort, and cut coupons. In the middle of my mounds of coupons was some junk mail that got mixed in with mess. One of the envelopes from the Nielsen Company. I was just going to toss it but decided to open it since we recycle as much paper as we can. To my amazement 5 crisp one dollar bills fell out of that envelope as a thank you for completing a survey also in the envelope. The survey took less than a minute. WOOHOO!!! I will never toss an unopened envelope again!

Walgreens ?

So I'm wondering if anyone else has problems with their Walgreen's taking more than one coupon for a like item? I have been reading all the great deals that people are planning to buy with several coupons to get items for dirt cheap. I have enough coupons to complete the same transactions. However, my Walgreen's will not take 2 like coupons in one transaction. Even if I am buying 4 or 8 of the same thing. Does anyone else have this problem?

Kraft Sweepstakes

Be sure to check out the post at It's Hip to Save!. I won Coupons on my second try! I love getting things for FREE!

Shopping in Branson

We spent the day shopping in Branson today with my parents. I was looking for some new Sketchers. The pair I have, I have had for 6 or 7 years and I really need some new ones. I can only wear them to work on Fridays so the last a long time. We are trying to walk several times a week and my old broken down shoes just aren't going to make it. I had no luck finding a good deal on shoes. I only paid $26 or $28 for the pair I have had for so long. I will just have to keep looking. My husband needed work jeans and he found a great deal at Belk's. He got jeans for $8.35 each. He started with 5 pairs one for each day of the week but I made him go back for more. Jeans cost more than that at Walmart. He ended up with 8 or 9 pairs. With his job he is really ruff on jeans so hopefully these will last a while. If you have a Belk's near by you should check them out. They had an additional 30% off of the clearance prices and they had clearance racks all over the store.

We then went to Target. They had all their Christmas storage containers on sale. I was so excited to get a wrapping container. I have needed one for years. Too bad I didn't buy any wrapping paper at the after Chrismas sales. Target had a lot of things on clearance. I wish I had my coupon binder with me. Note to self. I need to carry it with me every time I go shopping. I also got packs of gloves that had 2 pairs of gloves in them for $.74. Gloves seam to get lost every year so this was a great find for me. If you haven't been to Target you should go check out all the sales. It is probably a good thing that we don't have a Target in our town. I know I would spend too much money there.

It was a great day. The weather wasn't as cold as it has been and I didn't buy anything that wasn't on sale.

Ever have one of those days?

Ever had one of those days when you shouldn't have supper? Well this is how my dinner went today. It all started with slicing my thumb when cutting the onion. Note to self. New knifes I got for free are really sharp. Don't let kids use them. After cleaning that mess up. I then splashed hot water on my arm while boiling noodles. How I did that I'm not sure. Somehow, I managed to get supper into the oven and out without burning myself. This is shocking since I seam to burn myself on the oven alot. The food tasted really yummy but in the process of hurting myself I dirtied up twice as many dishes as I usually would have. The worse part is, I'm so accident prone stuff like this happens to me more than I like to admit. I now have a thumb bandaged where I can't bend it which makes it hard to type. I had planned on blogging about the deals I got today but this is a much better story. Besides, I am afraid to use my digital camera for fear of breaking it. That is just the kind of day I am having. I only uninstalled my printer 4 times today at work. I'm still clueless as to how that happened.

Hope your having a great Friday evening. Think I will go read my book. Surely, nothing can go wrong while doing that.

I GOT MY FIRST AWARD!

I'm so excited! I got nominated by my first award by
The 50$ Grocery Budget. If you are not familiar with what the Lemonade Award is, the Lemonade Award is given by a previous winner to 10 people who have shown a great attitude or gratitude this week. It’s a great way to show these people that you appreciate them.


My problem is. . . .This award has been passed around several times and I can't remember who has already received it. I am grateful for so many blogs. They have helped me in my journey to save money. So I am going to nominate all of my followers. If you haven't received the award, please consider yourself nominated!

It Worked!

I was a little hesitant to buy 7 twelve packs of Pepsi Products at Walgreen's today. The ad only read get $5 RR when you buy 5. I had read on another blog that if you buy 7 you will get $10 back in register rewards. I decided to give it a shot. It's hard to believe that if it didn't work $3 a twelve pack is not a bad price. Anyway, my total came to $22.xx. The register reward printed just fine. I was expecting 2 $5 RR to print but it printed a single $10.

I also asked the manager about the AutoExpressions air freshener that is in the Easy Saver book. He told me that they sold out of them months ago and they are a discontinued item. That the only thing he could think of was they put them in the book to help them sell out. CRAZY! My Walgreen's does not have any of the Free after rebate items.

Fred's

I usually try not to shop on Saturdays. It's just so busy and crowded. However, today I did so well, I may just have to start. My total for all the items in the picture below was $.84. That's right only 84 cents. . . I did 2 transactions. Here is a run down of what I got.

Electrasol $2.99 less $2.50 coupon =.49
Suave Deodorant $1.00 less $.55 coupon doubled =.10 profit
Suave Lotion $1.00 less $1.00 coupon = Free
Soft Soap $1.00 less $.50 coupon doubled =Free
Dawn Dish Soap $1.00 less $.50 coupon doubled =Free

I did one transaction with the dish soap since I found one more I had not used and another one without it. Both receipts came to $.42
I decided to come home and see if I could find Fred's exact coupon policy. I'm glad I did. I thought I could only use one like coupon per transaction which is not the case. They will only double one like coupon so I could have purchased more Electrasol. If you haven't tried Fred's you might give it a shot.

Below is the information I was able to find about their coupon policy.


FREDS DOUBLE COUPON POLICY



(These rules apply to all company-owned, participating Freds stores.)

Manufacturer Coupon: A manufacturer coupon is a coupon for cents-off or dollars off a product, that the customer obtains from newspapers, magazines, direct mailings, etc. It is valid at any Fred’s store that the specific item featured on the coupon is sold.

A valid coupon will have the product description, cents off amount, expiration date, and an address to send the coupon for redemption.

Fred’s Procedures

1. Fred’s will only accept manufacturer’s coupons that feature items that we carry. (No competitor’s coupons are to be accepted) The item featured on the coupon must be the exact item that we sell, or we do not accept the coupon. The item must be the same brand, style, flavor, scent, size specified by the coupon.

2. Fred’s will not accept Internet coupons, whether they are printed in color or black and white.

3. All valid manufacturer’s coupons are accepted at face value at Fred’s every day.

4. On Saturdays only, Fred’s will double the face value of manufacturer coupons up to $.70; $.70 coupons are doubled. (ONLY 1 coupon per identical item is doubled, per customer, per Saturday)

5. No money will be returned for coupons that exceed the price of the product. If doubling the face value of the coupon would exceed the price of the item, the coupon will be accepted a face value.

6. Tobacco coupons are not doubled regardless of the face value of the coupon.

7. Coupons, which are expired, are not accepted. If the coupon is presented the day it expires, the coupon must be accepted.

8. Coupons, which offer “free” product, and do not require the purchase of additional items, will not be accepted. “Buy one get one free” coupons are accepted.

9. If the price of an item is matched with a competitor, then no coupons will be doubled for that particular item.

For example:
A customer may purchase 4 tubes of Crest toothpaste, however if they have more than one coupon for the toothpaste, the first coupon will be doubled and the additional coupons will be taken at face value. If the customer wishes to purchase more than one flavor of an item and the coupon lists a variety of flavors, only one identical coupon will be doubled and the additional coupons will be taken at face value.

Organizing

I spent most of the evening cleaning out from under my kitchen sink and straightening the shelf in my laundry room. Since I have started stocking up on items that we use every day, I seam to be running out of storage room. Anyone else have this problem? It's amazing how much room you gain by lining up all the products neatly maximizing that space you have available. I have now gained a lot of room under my sink for more chemicals and the laundry shelf now has plenty of room for more. I think I have enough Dawn dish soap for a good 2 years. The best part is I only paid taxes on it! I wish I had that much laundry soap. Due to some sensitive skin the family, we can only use one kind and we only have a bottle we just opened. Hopefully it will go on sale soon. Now if I could just get the rest of my shelves organized. My stack of coupons is by far my worst stockpile. No matter how much I try to organize them I just can't seam to keep up. It's sad how unorganized I can get.

Walgreens

I went into Walgreen's and did this order on my lunch order. Not bad for $3.07 and I will get $1.50 rebate back for the Electrasol. My Walgreen's is not coupon friendly at all. The transaction above I had no problems with the free Fructis. I went after work and they wouldn't let me get it because it would end up with a penny difference. I was told by the manager that it was illegal to put it through and they couldn't over ride the coupon down to .99 or charge me $3 for the product. I had several other things I was buying but no really great deals. I tried to explain that other stores were honoring both coupons and the manager wanted to know which stores so he could contact them and explain that they were wrong. I explained that I didn't want to pay .99 this week when next week I can get the item at full price and use both coupons and it would only cost me .50. He didn't understand what I was saying. They make me so mad and yet I keep going back because I don't have a lot of choices to shop at.

Answering a few questions

I have been asked several questions and thought I would try and answer a few.

1.) What stores do you have available to shop at?

In my small town there are not any of the major chain grocery stores other than Walmart. The stores I have available are Hudson's Grocery, Country Mart, Edwards, Walmart, Walgreen's, Fred's and Dollar General. Hudson's doubles coupons up to .50. They are expensive and I only go in there if they are having a really good sale. Country Mart doubles coupons up to .50 and their prices are reasonable. Edwards says they will double coupons up to .50 but it always seams to not work out and they do not double coupons on sale items. Fred's doubles coupons up to .70 on Saturdays but I try hard not to shop on Saturdays so this doesn't help me much.

2.) What coupons do you use?

I use coupons from the newspaper, magazines, or from the mail. I do not print off coupons. The stores I have available say they will take them but in the end they do not so I don't waste my time finding them and printing them. The only one that I do print is the $5/25 Walgreen's coupon as they do take their own printed coupons.

3.) The coupons I find are for things I would not use. What kinds of coupons do you use?

If you had the choice to buy Green Giant brand for .27 with a coupon or Great Value brand for .69 with out a coupon which would you buy? If you watch sales alot of items that you buy every day will be less with a coupon. Don't get me wrong, I still buy alot of off brand items but it is nice that I have a choice. I compare prices name brand with a coupon vs off brand and see what would be the best price. Try to stock up when you find a rock bottom price. One coupon that I do not cut out is for hair color. I will not use it.

If you have any other questions let me know.