What I've Learned (Time Savers)

Well it's been a month since I started so I think it's time for another installment of "What I have Learned". I have been using the techniques and methods used on the various sites intended to help all us frugally inept people learn to save. A few of the ones I visit more often are:Money Saving Mom, BeCentsAble , The New Frugal Mom, and Be Thrifty Like Us. Sometimes I am proud of myself, sometimes, not to much. After a 2 day shopping spree (see my Grocery challenge). I emerged with a great haul, but feeling like I wasted a lot of time, so I have decide to write about some things that have cost me quite a bit of time and money.

1. Never go someplace just for the FREE item, unless you are willing to buy it at full price or with just the coupon discount.

I went to Target for the Free Butt Paste travel pack (after $1 coupon), after 30 minutes wandering the store on both the "grocery" side (we have no Super Targets in CA) and the baby side, I was still unable to find them and ended up leaving the store empty handed. I went to Walmart in search for the Free Honey Bunches of Oats (after $2 coupon), after checking all the end caps and the cereal isle backwards and forwards, I was only able to find Regular Honey Bunches of Oats (the coupon was for chocolate) and at $2.96, so not free and not available at that. Fortunately, this time around I actually had a purpose to be there so it wasn't a complete waste of a trip. Not so with two trips to CVS and a couple more to Target. My Target trips included, but not limited to the Free Lipton To Go packets (after $1 coupon), that particular venture took me to two Targets before I found one that would do the deal. I did get $19 worth in the end and a $5 gift card from corporate for my troubles at the first Target, so it wasn't a complete waste of time. Most of the time, however those trips ended up being a waste of gas and time. Which leads me to the next thing I have learned...

2. Call Ahead.

If the deal is too good to pass up and there is only one item you are looking for. Call the store and confirm the availability and or price. When I ran into a dead end with the first Target store I made sure to call the other store to confirm that the coupon was indeed accepted, and I even called corporate to make sure that I wasn't running into a running trend. Now I doubt that phone calls to that extent are necessary, but every one of those wasted trips could have been avoided had I taken the few minutes to call ahead. Of course that brings me to the next thing I have learned.

3. Write it all down.

The need for organization keeps popping up. Every day I scan my RSS feeds for my various sites and I get a list of places to visit and deals to keep in mind. I star the priority posts and I make a mental note of the things I should pay attention to and plan to return later. I clip my coupons and set them aside to make sure I have them when I go on my trips. Notice a running theme here? No matter how well I think I have it all planned out, I don't make notes as I am reading and so inevitably I miss something. If I wrote things down ahead of time (not just right before running out the door) I would be better prepared and not waste so much time running all over for that elusive bargain. I would have all my coupons carefully laid out and I would never get to the register (or in some cases the store) without having the particular coupons I needed ready and available! I can recall almost every trip has been afflicted with some hassle that could have been avoided. The next thing I have learned is a result of some of those problems that arose.

4. Always check the receipt.

This goes beyond the obvious checking of the price at the end, though that is, of course always very good advice. I have also discovered that during a complicated order, by which I mean request that involves the use of coupons or anything "made to order", not only should you check the receipt but you should also confirm that your order went through as expected. After filling an order incorrectly in the Albertsons deli, the person behind the counter fixed it by providing me with an item twice the price of the one I ordered. Had this exchange not taken so long, I would have double checked the slip on the deli meat and caught this mistake before getting home. If I had confirmed after a 3 times failed exchange at CVS that the cashier had re-scanned my card, I wouldn't have been short changed my ECBs for my 2 SoBes. AND had my husband checked the carry-out pizza order he would have noticed the lack of bread sticks (which were later delivered to us). Fortunately each of these events, after a phone call has been or will be rectified. The only one I have fully lost out on (as a result of my lack of organization) is the CVS ECBs because, as I mentioned above, I arrived at the store without the receipt and with the price of gas going home and coming back was in no way worth the single ECB.

So what am I going to do from now on?

• I'm going to keep a notepad and pen by my computer at all times and write down any deals I see or ideas I come up with based on information I see on my various blogs.
• I'm going to use that notepad to write down the # of the stores I plan to visit and highlight the items that are my main reason for going so I can call about the special items I am looking for (no more than 2 items per store for the call...I don't need to waste their time either).
• I'm going to see just how long it takes to get to each of the stores on my list and determine if the deals I am looking for are worth the cost in time and gas.
  
• I'm going to get one of those coupon accordion folders, or if I don't have one of those I will at least put each store's coupons in a sandwich baggie, it really doesn't matter as long as when I get to the counter I am not digging for them. People really hate that.
• If I can save time getting my coupons ready for the cashier, maybe I can afford the time to check the items being scanned and ensure that I never get short changed on my receipt or an item I didn't ask for. Well I can try to limit the amount of times that happens.

Tune in next time as I discover more things along the way.

Grocery Challenge 5/28 part 2

Well I am finished with my Grocery Challenge! I wasn't able to take just one picture as I was using my phone, so I will break it down into 3 pictures and detail each one.


From left to right:
Pavillions:

• Tostitos Crispy Rounds $1.88
• Safeway French Bread $1.49
• Wheat Bread (3 at .99 each) $2.97
• Safeway Hot Dog Buns (2 at .99 each) $1.98
• Safeway Hamburger Buns .99 cents
• Baby Carrots 1 lb bag (2 at $1) $2.00

No coupons to use here, total spent = $11.31
Total saved= $6.69

CVS: 2 transactions

Transaction 1:

• 1 CVS Kids Plaque Detector $3.99 earned 1 ECB
• 1 CVS Dandruff 2in1 Shampoo $3.99
• 1 CVS Potty Time flushable wipes $3.49
• 1 Absolutely Divine Chocolate Chip Cookies $1.99
• 2 Dark Peanut M&Ms (for filler) $1.00

I used

• 1 $3/$10 coupon
• 1 $1/1 Absolutely Divine Cookies
• 10 ECBs

Total Cost = .46
Total saved = $15.78

Transaction 2

• 1 Nexxus Comb Through Style $9.99
• 1 Nexxus VersaStyle $10.99

Together they earned 10 ECBs
I used a $25 gift card earned for transferring a prescription

Total Cost = 22.61
I have 2.39 left on the card




Stater Bros:

• 2 SB Yogurt (at 1.99) $3.98
• 4 VitaminWater (revive at .99 each) $4.16 w/CRV tax
• 6 Nectarines $4.22
  

No coupons here either, total spent = $12.36
Total saved = $2.20

Ralphs:

• 2 Ben & Jerrys Ice Cream (2/$5) after $1/2 coupon doubled $3
• 1 Ralphs Eggs (18 ct) $1.99
• 1 Red Grapes $1.67
• 6 Bananas (value priced at .29 lb) .78 cents

Total cost after coupons (doubled) = $7.44
Total saved = $12.14


Albertsons (8 hour sale):

• Honey Nut Scooters (2 at 2/$5) $5.00
  
• Lipton sides (5 at 5/$5) after $1/3 coupon total $4.00
• Croissant 1 at $1.99
• Keebler Fudge Shoppe (4 at 2/$3) $6.00
• Roast beef (at $3.99 lb) $3.55
• Sara Lee Ham (at $7.50 lb) $7.30
• Honey Ham (at $3.99 lb) $3.19
• Slimfast Optima Bars (1 at $2/$7) after $1.25/1 coupon $2.25
• Pepsi/Diet Pepsi 24-pk Cube (2 at $3.99 each +CRV)) $10.38
• Gallon of Whole Milk (1 at $3.99) after WYB deal FREE
• 1 12 -pk medium eggs (1 $2.50) after WYB deal FREE

Total cost after coupons and deals = $48.45
Total saved = $39.75

CVS:

• 2 SoBe Life Water bottles (2 at $1.49 + CRV) after BOGO coupon $2.00
• 1 Viactiv Glide 60 ct (at $8.99) after $4/1 emailed coupon and $2/1 coupon $2.99
• 1 CVS Backpack (at $1.59) after emailed free coupon FREE

I earned 2 ECBs and 3 ECBs
I used one of the THREE $25 when you fill/transfer gift cards I've gotten this week!
Total spent= $6.38
I have $18.62 left
Total saved = $7.77

I also got 3 loaves of bread (can you tell we like the stuff?) at Walmart for .98 each = $2.94

All in Total Spent:$80.01 not including the $28.99 used on gift cards. I didn't quite succeed in my challenge but I am still proud of the job I did, and until the 8 hour sale I was well under my $49 budget. With the extra $75 I made I've still come out on top :)

Oh well there's always next week.

Albertsons deals week of 5/28-6/3

Wow what a week for deals at the So Cal Albertsons! We've got FREE items WYB others, Deals WYB $10 worth, and even an 8 HOUR SALE! Not bad for a post holiday week. So let's get right to it.

Friday May 30th from 1pm until 9pm Albertsons is having another one of their wonderful 8 hour sales. If you don't believe how great you can make out check out my score on the last 8 Hour Sale.


Fresh Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts 5 lbs or more $1.69/lb If less than 5 lbs, $1.89/lb

Charlie's Pride Roast Beef or Hormel Black Forest, Honey Roasted, Brown Sugar Ham sliced to order $3.99/lb

Homelife Awesome Paper Towels 8-rolls or Bath Tissue 2/$9

Keebler Chips Deluxe Cookies, Fudge Shoppe, Cracker Sandwiches 2/$3
Use the coupon in the flyer and when you buy 4 of the Fudge Shoppe, you get a FREE MILK outside of the 8 Hour Sale these are 2/$6.

Aquafresh Direct Toothbrush 2-ct, Toothpaste, Kids Bubblemint Pump 10/$10

Fresh Cantaloupe Large 4 lbs/$1

Albertsons Chunk Cheese 2/$3

Pepsi, Diet Pepsi or Sierra Mist 24-pk 12oz cans $3.99 (limit 2)

Heritage Vodka 1.75 Liter, Yellow Tail Wines 1.5 Liter, or Bacardi Rum 750 ml $7.99

FREE MILK when you buy any 4 of the following Kellogg's, Keebler or Famous Amos products
-Keebler Fudge Shoppe Cookies (see 8 hour sale)
-Keebler Sandies Cookies
-Keebler Townhouse Crackers
-Famous Amos Cookies
-Kellogg's Cereal (select varieties)

FREE EGGS when you buy any 5 Lipton Sides in a single transaction they are on sale at 5/$5
use the coupon in the weekly flyer
and use the $1/3 coupon found in the 5/18 newspaper insert. Instead of $1 each they are now .67!


The following are available deals with a minimum purchase of $10

Farmer John Sliced Cooked Ham 2/$5
use the coupon found in the weekly flyer

Fresh Express Salad Blends .99 each (limit 2)
use the coupon found in the weekly flyer

Red Barron Pizza 2/$5 (limit 2)
use the coupon found in the weekly flyer

Sunshine Cheez-It Crackers 2/$3 (limit 4)
use the coupon found in the weekly flyer

Pampers Baby Wipes Refill $4.99 (limit 4)
use the coupon found in the weekly flyer

Kraft Mac & Cheese Deluxe Dinner are $1.50 each when you buy 2
use the $1/2 coupon found in the weekly flyer

Heineken, Pacifico Beer, or Mike's Hard Lemonade $9.99 (limit 1 each)
use the coupon found in the weekly flyer

Uncle Ben's Ready Rice is 2/$4 or $2 each (buy 3)
use the $1/3 coupon found in the 4/20 newspaper insert

Kotex Maxi Pads, Pantiliners are 2/$10
use $1/2 coupon (pantiliners) found in the 4/20 newspaper
or use $1/1 coupon (pads) found in the 4/20 newspaper and only buy 1 pack

Colgate Total Toothpaste 2/$5
it may be possible to use a printable $1.50/1 here I'm just not sure.

Bertolli Pasta Sauce 26oz Jars and Pouches are 2/$6
use $1/1 (pouch) found in the 5/4 newspaper insert
or use $1.50/2 (any) found in the 5/4 newspaper insert

General Mills Cereals $1.99 each
use the $1/2 found in the 5/4 newspaper insert

Stouffers (and especially Lean Cuisine) are once again down at the rock bottom price of $1.99 each.
use $1/2 printable coupon found here

Coke, Diet Coke or Dasani Water 12 pk are 5/$12 when you buy all 5

Grocery Challenge for the Week of May 25th

So I'm not really sure where to post this link back since there was no challenge for this week so I am posting the url for the search for grocery challenge over at BeCentsAble.

As I have mentioned on occasion, I am very new to this, blogging, saving, coupons you name it. I haven't been able to do a grocery challenge post before now, but this week, as a result of my Budget Buster I find myself in the difficult position of putting my savings knowledge to the test.

Let's see if I can make it through the rest of the week on 49 dollars and 10 ECBs. Considering that I normally have to struggle to keep it under $100 a week, this should be an excellent field test. Can this family of 5 make it through the week on mostly the items they've stocked up on during the course of the month, with just a few things here and there?

Stay Tuned to find out!

WFMW The Snooze Button!

Wow it seems like everything that WFM lately is all about time and sleeping, need to fix that. Oh well, it is how it is and for now, What Works For Me is my snooze routine. That's right I have a routine based around it. I believe there are two kinds of people in this world, those who need to sleep longer and those who need to sleep in, the latter being the ones, like me, who need to have an alarm go off that they can snooze so they feel like they got to sleep "Just 5 more minutes mom". It's worth mentioning that there is a third type of person who rises at the same time every day without the use of an alarm or any kind, but in today's day of 16 hour work days and over scheduled kids, who really gets the amount of sleep they are supposed to, which would allow your natural body clock to wake you when you've been rested.

I don't know about anyone else, but for me the term "rested" is nothing more than a fleeting fancy, like "vacation time" it would be great to be able to have it, but let's be honest, it's not gonna happen, not in our household. So I cope the best way I can. My son's school is a 20 minute drive away and I make it a point to always be on time or earlier (another WFMW for another time). School starts at 7:45am so I try to leave at 7am or on a really late day 7:15am. In order to get out of the house (and back in one piece see, VitaminWater) I really need to sleep in until the last possible second!

I set my cel phone alarm clock to go off 15 min before 5:45. It goes off at 5:30am and I snooze it every 5 minutes until 6am when I sit bolt upright and get out of bed, no slowly making my way out from under the covers (like my dear husband aka DH who is always late). I get up and march straight to my boys' room so make sure they are up and dressed (typically they are not) and then down to get out my eldest son's lunch and put breakfast on the table. Back upstairs and in the shower by 7:13 (or 7:15 if I am running late) and out again by 7:20. Ten minutes to get dressed and ready and then my second alarm goes off, this one set for 15 minutes before 6:45am. The boys get brushed and it's time for them to "Make sure they are ready to walk out the door". By 6:45am (the alarm vibrating in my pocket to remind me of the time in 5 min intervals) I wake up my toddler and get her changed and dressed, some days she even lets me do her hair. Give her her morning bottle of milk and we're out the door by 7am at the latest!

Most people don't understand my need to schedule every event down to 30 minutes extra time, but I find that I will get distracted and lose track of time if I am not constantly reminded. The other day my son brought me my phone having cleared the snooze and I had to work very hard not to be late that morning ;)

Want to see more WFMW, check out RocksInMyDryer

Was it Worth Buying? Magic Eraser

Every Sunday (or in this case it being a holiday I took a day extra to post) I will try to evaluate a recent purchase I have made and determine if it was worth the money I spent on it. Today I am taking at look at Mr Clean Magic Eraser Duo.



It retails in a 2-pk for around $3.34 and I'd pay 3 times that, if I had to. I have had one of these in my house as the required staple, just like paper towels and toilet paper. Yep it's that important!

The ad states that you can:

• Use Mr. Clean Magic Eraser to erase scuff marks left on your floor.
• Keep your home's interior doors, trim, and baseboard looking like new by using Mr. Clean Magic Eraser to remove scuff marks and dirt.
• The writing is on the wall. Crayon marks? No problem. Just erase them with the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.
• Make over your ride by using it to shine up your car's hubcaps and the interior console and dashboard.
• Use Mr. Clean Magic Eraser to remove scuff marks on your patio furniture.
• Use Mr. Clean Magic Eraser as part of The Cure for a Messy Medicine Cabinet.

I have never used it on my car, but let me tell you, using it on my house has been a complete dream! I have had to, on occasion, use this product to clean up any number of things which include but by no means are limited to: Black Sharpie, Pencil on the table, walls, crayon both washable and not washable off treated and unfinished wood (bed rails), Crayola marker off hard wood floors, mirrors, painted walls, and my personal favorite...Red dry erase marker off a white wall. Of all of those the only thing my magic eraser failed to clean was the dry erase marker, and to be honest the areas I scrubbed really hard came clean, it was just a lot of markings and after a number of hours I gave up...right around the time my arms gave out. I usually get a 2-pk and tear or cut each one in half that way they last longer. My jobs are usually very labor intensive and I bring out the Magic Eraser only after all other cleaning methods have failed. I personally don't understand the need for the sponge side, because I can't see that it cleans any better than a regular sponge, however since with a really heavy duty exhaustive job, the eraser tends to disintegrate over time, I do find it's nice to be able to have something else to hold on to that allows me to get the use of every tiny little fragment.
Absolutely! Until a better product comes along that does the job I will be keeping one of these in my house at all times!

Albertsons week of 5/21-5/27

Here are the 10/$10 deals

Fresh King of the Grill Beef Patties 80% Lean
Farmer John Fresh Sausage Links
Mamma Bella Garlic Bread
Albertsons Waffles
Albertsons Whipped Topping
Vlasic Relish or Albertsons Ketchup
French's Yellow or Spicy Brown Squeeze Mustard
Crystal Geyser Alpine Spring Water
7-Up, Diet 7-Up or Sunkist 2 Liters
Bumble Bee Solid White Albacore Tuna in Water
Max Velocity Energy Drink
Jell-O Gelatin or Pudding
Kraft Jet-Puffed Marshmallows or Creme
Del Monte Canned Pineapple
Albertsons or HomeLife Whisper Soft Facial Tissue
Zone Perfect Nutrition Bars
Hershey's King Size Candy
Renuzit Solid Air Freshener
Purina Alpo Cut or Slices Canned Dog Food

These deals use coupons found in the flyer

Knudsen Sour Cream 16 oz $1.39
use .40/1 coupon in weekly flyer

Kens 16 oz Salad Dressing, Kens 7 oz Lite or Sweet Baby Rays BBQ Sauce 18 oz
use $1/3 coupon in weekly flyer to make price 3/$4

Kraft Salad Dressing 16 oz
use $2/3 coupon in weekly flyer to make price 3/$3

Now for the regular deals.

Ben & Jerrys Ice Cream Pint 2/$5
use $1/2 printable coupon here
or the $1/2 coupon found in the 5/4 newspaper insert.

Bushs Grillin Beans 22 oz are $1.50
use the .50 off coupon found in the 4/20 newspaper insert

Dial Complete Hand Wash $1.50
use the .60 off coupon found in the 5/18 newspaper insert

Dreyers Ice Cream 2/$6
no coupons found but I always try to wait until these are no more than $3 each :)

Hefty Foam Plates 24-50 ct $2 each
use the .50 off coupon found in the 5/18 newspaper insert

Huggies Baby Wipes Refill pack $5.99
use the .50 off coupon found in the 5/18 newspaper insert

Huggies Diapers Jumbo Pack $9.99
use the $1 off coupon found in the 5/18 newspaper insert

Listerine Mouthwash $4.49
use .50 off coupon found in 4/27 newspaper insert

Listerine Smart Rinse $3.99
use $1 off coupon found in 4/27 newspaper insert

Purell Hand Sanitizer $2.49
use the $1 off coupon found in 4/27 newspaper insert

Viactiv Calcium or Multi Vitamin Soft Chew or Glides $6.99
use $2 off coupon found in 5/11 newspaper insert

Visine Eye Drops $3.99
use $2 off coupon found in 5/11 newspaper insert

Boost Nutritional Energy Drink $6.99
use the $2 off found in the 4/27 newspaper insert

Lawrys Marinade 2/$1.25
use $1/2 coupon found in the 5/18 newspaper insert

McCormick Grill Mates Seasoning $1.25
use the .25 off coupon found in the 4/20 newspaper insert

Mission Tortilla Chips 28 oz $3
use the .75 off coupon found in the 4/20 newspaper insert

Quilted Northern Bath Tissue 24 Regular Rolls or 12 Double Rolls $6
use the $1 off coupon found in the 4/20 newspaper insert

Reynolds Aluminum Foil $3
use the .75 off coupon found in the 5/18 newspaper insert

Suave Body Wash $2
use the $1 off coupon found in the 5/18 newspaper insert

Tropicana Premium Orange Juice 64 oz $3
use the $1 off coupon found in the 5/4 newspaper insert


Happy Shopping Everyone! See you Next Week :)

WFMW My Timer

My timer is my lifeline! With all of the not quite settled, moving related chaos, recent school battles, a 4 year old who is really pushing all the boundaries he can get his hands on, and raising this baby blog through the infancy stages, it is very easy to get sidetracked or get in a slump, so much to do so little time and all that. That's where my timer comes in. I find when I am drowning in all the unfinished work that I will just have a 15 minute day. I set my timer and I work on one thing for 15 minutes, when it goes off I stop what I am doing and switch to something else and so on. I am usually pleasantly surprised when I see that my sink full of dishes that I cringe at the thought of going near takes me less than 15 minutes most days. I am a very competitive person and I enjoy seeing if I can beat the timer and even when it goes off I see how much more I can get done during the 30 second beeping session.

But credit where credit is due. I am a going on 9 year fluttering flybaby. I have tried the shining of my sink and I had it down for quite some time, until our house became filled with people of all different schedules and it's virtually impossible to keep that sink clear when people are eating while you (or in this case me) are sleeping. Still I get up every morning, put my indoor shoes on and with the help of my timer I can still usually keep the kitchen under control. There have been times when my kids have claimed my timer and it vanished for a day or two and those were dark days! Without my timer I am completely lost.

This was my first ever WFMW posting, want to see more from other people? Check out RocksinMyDryer

The $5.00 CVS Challenge!

I am proud to participate in the $5 CVS Challenge over at The New Frugal Mom.

I am a fairly new CVSer myself, having only been at the game for a month, so there won't always be pictures and I may not be able to find good deals like the rest of the Pros around here, but I was able to get pretty close (with the help of some leftover ECBs).

1 KY Yours & Mine 19.99
use $3/10 CVS coupon (or $3/15, I use $3/$10 because that's what my machine spits out)
$5 off printable found here thanks BeThriftyLikeUs!
I also used a $10 ECB that I got from last week's Hawaiian Tropic deal I wrote about here (scroll down)

Total cost including tax I spent 2.53 OOP and got $10 ECB back!

I would have used it to turn it into other ECBs but I already did most of the deals listed in previous weeks.

I can't wait to try this again next week!

Was it Worth Buying? VitaminWater

With all the research that I end up doing before a big purchase and how many times I regret having bought something that I don't research because it was a little purchase, I thought I might throw in some opinions or recommendations for products that I have enjoyed or really hated.

For my first review I thought I would address the problem of sleep deprivation. We all have it, some of us have more severe cases than others. For me, it's a daily battle just to keep my eyes open. We recently moved from out of state and for some reason I have spent every day falling asleep. With 3 kids, a dog and a house to take care of every day, this isn't exactly something that I can keep doing.

I have tried drinking soda, not a lot just a can or two a day. After the birth of my 3rd child I was put on a caffeine regiment to curtail my constant debilitating headaches that happen every day since she was born. Unfortunately, caffeine has never really woken me up done. I won't drink hard core energy drinks, for a number of reasons, not the least of which is, until recently I was nursing and I don't want to pump my child full of large amounts of stimulants. I also, honestly never really liked the taste of RedBull, Monster, Rockstar and the like. I tried a fruity drink in the spirit of Powerade and Gatorade called Torq, it promised energy with no caffeine and instead claimed to be all natural. The taste was alright, but the energy was fleeting if in existence at all. I tried the fully natural approach and just drank cold water in the mornings, ate apples things with a completely natural energy boost, but alas those didn't work either.

I was beginning to accept the fact that I might just never find something that will help wake me up or keep me awake for any length of time, when the weekly Ralphs flyer came. I am always on the look out to stock up on flavored drinks, water, Gatorade type drinks, and of course soda, so I was excited about the 10/$10 VitaminWater deal (ending tomorrow). The regular retail price seems to be around $1.49, but they appear to be on sale at one store or another fairly often. One of the things I hate about product information is that they are not always clear what you would buy this product for. Not so with the VitaminWater line. Not only are they incredibly detailed with their label but they are also very creative and entertaining. What more could you want from a product?

How about flavors? Well with 15 different types I won't list them all here but here you can see a list of all the different perfectly tailored options that are sure to assist you in whatever you need. For me it was the need to wake up, so Revive was the one for me. With a Fruit Punch flavor (not one of those strange made up names) I was eagerly awaiting an opportunity to try the "Hype". I found my chance the next morning as I struggled through my routines. The flavor is great and doesn't taste watered down as so many so called flavored waters often are. I drank it on the way to school and to my surprise and amazement IT WORKS! I spent the entire day not dragging myself home after dropping my kiddo off at school, not falling asleep as I sat down to check my savings blogs, not dragging myself back to school later that afternoon and not taking a nap (or struggling not to) when I got everyone home safe and sound! I happily passed the secret onto my husband to replace his daily Redbull fix. It worked wonderfully for him as well, but it didn't last as long for him, maybe he needs 2. Not everything works for everyone the same way, but for me I have since found that every time I have a Vitamin B (3,5,6 and 12) C and potassium packed fruit punch in the morning I know my day is going to go smoothly. Or at least if it doesn't, I know it won't be due to lack of energy!
Absolutely!

The Death of my Budget

Well at least for this week. Next week is another chance to try to succeed in my grocery challenge of spending less than $100 a week. I know so many of you are doing so much better on $40 a week or even less, but for me, baby steps.

This week Ralphs and Stater Bros broke my budget over the course of 2 days. Right now milk is 3.99 a gallon for the cheapest stuff you can find. They have 2/$5.79 deals but you have to buy 2 of the same kind, and with a toddler I am forced to buy 1 of the 1% or 2% and one of the Whole milk, both at full price. As milk is something my family goes through rapidly, you can imagine how overjoyed I was when Ralphs came out with their 2/$3 half gallon sale. All milk types, NO LIMIT! I bought 4 half gallons of 1% and since they were out of the Whole milk, I got a rain check to use later, with again NO LIMIT! Then I went and bought some VitaminWater 10/$10, and cherries 41.99/lb. Then I went to Stater Bros and bought 2 Pepsi/Diet Pepsi cubes for 7.99 after a $2 instore coupon and 12 packages of Oscar Mayer Weiners for .99 each!

The deals were so good that my husband and I decided it was worth it to go back, so I did. The next day I went back to Stater Bros and bought 8 more hot dogs, 2 hot dog buns at $1.49 and 2 loaves of bread at $1.29 each, then back to Ralphs. At Ralphs I did my best to get the Huggies deal listed here bought 4 more 1% half gallons and (since they had restocked) I bought 4 Whole half gallons of milk, and I still have that rain check for when the sales end! I also bought 20 more of the VitaminWaters, mostly the Revive flavor because as I have spent every day for the past month falling asleep all day long, I tried it and spent the ENTIRE day not falling asleep ONCE!

Add to that the CVS 2 Hawaiian Tropic = $10 ECB bucks. After wandering each and every isle I was finally able to find a cashier that had the only two chap sticks in the store, allowing me to get the 2 items at $1.99 each giving me $5.71 profit. I also took advantage of the Target Glade Flameless candle deal here. All in all I am hoping that my stocking up over the last few weeks will make up the difference for next week's budget, but for now I am really getting back to having a fully stocked house.

The Perfect Thing for a Newbie

Apparently this week was MommyFest 2008. I wish I would have known about it sooner, but I am going to take advantage of it for the rest of the day ;) Hope to get to know all of you and I look forward to getting to see some other blogs.

Albertsons Week of 5/14-5/20

Wow a LOT of package deals this week.

Here are the deals I found.

First the special package deals:

#1
Kraft Shredded Cheese
Oscar Mayer Sliced Bacon
Oscar Mayer Smoked or Honey Ham

$3.50 each when you buy $10 worth

#2
Oscar Mayer or Louis Rich Lunchmeat
Claussen Pickles or Sauerkraut
Kraft Deli Sliced Natural Cheese Slices
Oscar Mayer Deli Shaved Lunchmeat
Oscar Mayer Beef Bologna

$2.33 each when you buy $10 worth

#3
Oscar Mayer Deli Fresh Singles
Kraft Chunk or Cracker Cuts Cheese
Oscar Mayer Beef Franks, Cheese Dogs or Fast Franks
Oscar Mayer Fun Pack Lunchables
Oscar Mayer Deli Creations

$1.75 each when you buy $10 worth

#4
Hunt's BBQ Sauce or Ketchup
Hunt's Pasta Sauce
Hunt's Tomato Paste or Diced Tomatoes
Gulden's Brown Mustard Squeeze
Crunch 'n Munch Snack Mix
Hunt's Manwich Sloppy Joe Sauce
Ro-Tel Diced Tomatoes
Chef Boyardee Canned Pasta
Banquet Meal
Hunt's Snack Pack Pudding or Gel

.75 each when you buy $20 worth

#5
Kid Cuisine Dinner
Orville Redenbacker's Microwave Popcorn
Knott's Berry Farm Jam or Preserves
Peter Pan Peanut Butter
Reddi wip Topping

$1.50 each when you buy $20 worth

#6
Marie Callender's Complete Dinner
Healthy Choice Dinner or Entree
Pam Cooking Spray
Hebrew National Franks or Knockwurst
Egg Beaters Egg Substitute

$1.88 each when you buy $20 worth


The following are the $10/10 deals

Rice A Roni or Pasta Roni
Geisha Mandarin Oranges
Kraft Sugar Free Handi-Snacks Pudding
Celeste Pizza
Swanson Classics Meal
Cool Whip Topping
Haagen Dazs
Balance Nutrition or Energy Bar
Aquafresh Direct Toothbrush 2-ct, Toothpaste, or Kids Bubblemint Pump
Tropicana Punch
Max Velocity Energy Drink
7-up, Diet 7-up or Sunkist 2 liter bottles
Glaceau vitaminwater or smartwater
Storck Werther's, Riesen or Milkfuls candy
Hershey's, Nestle or Mars Candy
Albertsons Candies
Sun Maid Raisins

Carefree Pantiliners 2/$5
use the $1/1 coupon in 4-27 newspaper insert

Johnson's Baby Care Products 2/$6
use the $1/1 in the 4-27 newspaper insert
or the $1/1 printable found here thanks MSM

Viactiv Calcium or Multi Vitamin Soft Chew or Glides
use the $2/1 coupon in 5-11 newspaper insert
or the $1/1 printable found here

Zyrtec Allergy Relief 30-ct 18.99
use the $4/1 coupon in the 3-30 newspaper insert
or printable $5/1 and $2/1

Pepsi, Diet Pepsi or Sierra Mist 5/$11

Kellogg's Cereal
Frosted Flakes
Frosted Mini-Wheats
Raisin Bran Crunch
$1.88 each

Cherries $2.99/lb

Fresh Seedless Watermelon .39/lb

That's it for this week!

CVS Superstars!

Over the course of the week I got the below items.




2 bags of Purina One Dog Food 3.99
3 Aquafresh Extreme Clean Toothpaste $2.99
1 Dial Dish Soap .88
2 Adidas Deodorant 4.99
2 Skin Effects Continuous Spray Sun Screen 12.99
2 Colgate 360 Toothbrush 2.99

Coupons used:

2 $4/1 Purina Dog Food
2 $1/1 Aquafresh toothpaste printables
1 $1/1 Aquafresh toothpaste from 4/20 newspaper insert
2 Free Adidas Deodorant from All You magazine
2 $1/1 Colgate 360 Toothbrush printable coupon

ECB bucks used $29.44
Total OOP -$7.15
ECB Earned in the end $5

I am also waiting for the $5 ECB earned for the 2 Kiss/Broadway nails products
After using a 3.99 ECB there was actually a 1 cent overage (which of course I just zeroed out)

update: after emailing about the missing ECB I recieved the following response from them.

"I see the wrong product was purchased. The promotion was for all Kiss Broadway Artificial nails. You purchased the Kiss Glue. I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused and thank you for your understanding in this matter."

I see that many of you purchased the Kiss glue...was I the only one who ran into this issue?


During my shopping trips I discovered that some CVS stores are happier to dispense with the ECB than others. There are two CVS stores within 5 minutes of my house so I decided to try out the second one this week. What a pleasant surprise! They had the scanner so many of you have mentioned and low and behold with my first scan I got a $3/$10 coupon. I bought 2 kiss nail glues and am currently waiting for the ECB I am owed. Unfortunately since I can't find the ad everyone is referring to that mentions the kiss/Broadway nails earns $5 ECB I will have to wait until Monday to find out if I will get them or not. I also bought two 3.99 bags of Purina dog food and used two $4 off coupons making them both free! Not a bad trip to the store.

This time, however I went to my normal CVS store and ran into no end of trouble. First they refused to zero out the Adidas for which I had used the All You free coupons. They kept trying to charge me the sales tax on nothing. I spoke to the manager and he informed me that all the other stores (including the previously mentioned CVS) were doing something wrong and that you add the coupons AFTER the tax is calculated. I am not sure if I would have gotten the items fully zeroed out if I had added another item for the store to tax, but in the end I forked over the 39 cents...twice and got my $4.99 ECB times 2. Each time one of the 4.99 coupons printed out the cashier gave me an exasperated look, that I would fight so hard to pay nothing and get 5 bucks back! It took 3 transactions, 2 Adidas purchased separately and the $20 skin effects purchase. I got my 2x 4.99 and 5 ECB bucks and I doubt I will go back again. I guess I should have realized that it would be a hard sell when the manager informed me that that store does not DO the card scanning anywhere else in the store besides the register, oh well live and learn I guess.

I seem to be learning lots about the pitfalls of the couponing approach, at least I know where not to go. For another coupon misadventure check this out.

Albertsons deals week of 5/7-5/13

Here I am with week two of Hosting the Albertsons Southern California Deals



There are a few Promotional Deals I see this week. Most of them give away free water ;)

I can't seem to access an image of this deal but it goes like this:

Purchase $30 of Nestle Products and receive 2 24-pk cases of Arrowhead water.

Some of these items include; Purina Dog Chow, Nesquik, Lean Cuisine, Nestle Toll House Cookie Dough, among others. The ones I listed here all have deals attached to them below.

The deal I would use (because you just can't beat $2 for a $5 lean cuisine) would be as follows:

1 Purina Dog Chow $1.50/1 or if you have no intention of doing the CVS deal thanks to MSM.
10 Lean Cuisines at 5/$10
2 Nestle Toll House Cookie Dough 2/$6
that should get you to the $30 mark.

Purina Dog Chow $9.99
use the $1.50/1 from the 4-20 newspaper insert or the $4/1 printable here thanks to MSM for the link.

Lean Cuisine meals are 5/$10

Nestle Toll House Cookie Dough 2/$6

Juicy Juice 2/$5

Nesquik $3.99

If that's not enough water for you:

Purchase 2 Kellog's Special K Protein Items, Plus any 1 One A Day Adult Multi-Vitamin and get 1 Albertsons Natural Spring Water 24-pk

The final Promotion is for Angel's Tickets:

Purchase any of the following products and you will be entered into a contest for a number of prizes. (Anyone who is interested in the specific prizes please post a question or email me and I will be happy to list them.)

Kleenex Viva Paper Towels 2/$12

Scott Bath Tissue 2/$14
use $1/1 printable coupon found here

Scott Paper Towels 2/$12
I'm not sure if there is a limit to what kind of paper towels you can buy for the deal but if there is no limit you can use the .50/2 coupon found in 4-20 newspaper insert.

Kleenex Facial Tissue 2/$3

That's it for the promotions

These are the 10/$10 deals:

Jones Frozen Sausage Links or Patties 10/$10
Albertsons BBQ Sauce 10/$10
Albertsons Condiments (Ketchup, Sweet Pickle Relish, Spicy or Dijon squeeze Mustard
Max Velocity Energy Drink 10/$10
Nabisco Snak-Saks 8oz 10/$10
Crystal Geyser Alpine Spring Water 10/$10
Gatorade Propel or Invigorating Water 10/$10
Hormel Chili with Beans, Valley Fresh Chunk Chicken 10/$10
Lay's Stax 10/$10
Arid XX or Arm & Hammer Deodorant or Antiperspirant 10/$10
Glade Aerosol 10/$10
Scotch-Brite 10/$10
Gerber 2nd Stage Baby Food 10/$10
Yoplait Yogurt 20/$10

Hershey's Bliss Chocolate 2/$5
use the B1G1 coupon from the 5-4 newspaper insert

Betty Crocker Warm Delights $1.79
use .40/1 here

Tropicana Pure Valencia Orange Juice or Pure Fruit Juice 2/$8
use the $1/1 coupon from the 4-20 newspaper insert

Tropicana Premium Orange Juice 2/$5
use the $1/2 coupon from the 5-4 newspaper insert

Those are the ones that stand out to me so far, if I happen upon any others I will be sure to add them. Happy Shopping all :)

Albertsons 8 Hour sale!

Well I went to the 8 Hour sale at our local store this afternoon after school and joined the throngs of people there at the beginning. I had no idea this was so popular! The item of the day? The Crystal Geyser Water 32-pk at $2.99. Every one I walked by was either on their way to that section or walking away with their max of 2 boxes in tow, including me :)

I forgot to take a picture of the trip, but I'll try to paint a picture instead.

1 Renuzit air freshener
2 Crystal Geyser Water 32-pk
2 Oscar Meyer real Bacon crumbles
1 Bullfrog Sunblock
4 lbs Ground Beef
1 Block of Swiss cheese
2 Blocks 1 each of Sharp Cheddar and Mozzarella Cheese
8 oz of Honey Ham sliced thickly
1.5 lbs of Turkey sliced thickly
1 18 ct Albertsons Bakery chocolate chip cookies

total OOP 44.05
savings 34.64!

and this without any additional coupons!

I can't wait to build up a larger stockpile of coupons and save even more.

Did anyone else hit this sale? Post your savings!