My First Black Friday

Well I made it though my first ever Black Friday! I didn't get up for the door buster deals, and instead walked casually into Walmart at 9am armed only with a shopping list and everyone else's Black Friday ads.

What can I say about Walmart on Black Friday? Well I haven't been there during the Door Buster hours, but by 9am it was a typical Walmart day. Isles packed with carts but people there just as friendly and helpful as always. Not overly so, but nothing like the horror stories I usually hear about.

The store was only missing two items from my list and as for the rest of them, only three things were actually bought for Walmart's price, the rest I was able to price match from Target, Best Buy and Kmart!

All in all I think I did fairly well for not getting up that early and only spending two hours from the time I left to the time I got home.

Retail Price: $219.97
Price Paid: $130.99

Run run as fast as you can...

Well it's 1am on Black Friday and already I can see how poor planning has cost me. I decided to hit the Kohls "door buster" deals online starting at 11pm MT. I picked out a King down alternative comforter for 24.99 (normally 119.99) and went about my shopping. By the time I got to check out (20 minutes later) my cart was conspicuously lighter and cheaper. Turns out my comforter got removed and rightfully so, since that particular item no longer existed!

Oh well live and learn I guess. In the end I bought 5 things ranging in retail price from 6.99 to 89.99 and after a 15% off coupon followed by a free shipping coupon, my total was only 65.01. Not as good as I'm sure some people will do later on today, but good enough for me sitting on my couch staying up only a little bit later than I normally would.

Now I get to go to bed not do the door buster deals and see how much I can take advantage of Walmart's price match policy (even on black Friday deals) at a reasonable time of day.

Wish me luck!

A Chance to get a free Magic Eraser!

For those of you who remember my obsession with Mr Clean Magic Erasers you can go here to learn about how you can share your stories of using a Magic Eraser in your house and get your very own mini eraser! You can bet I'll be there too!

This story brought to you by MSM

The benefits of a stockpile

In times like these when couponing for me becomes more second nature and I get by with no more than .80 for a box of name brand cereal, I like to remind myself why I work so hard to make that happen. Because let's face it if saving money this way was worth any measure of time and effort everyone would do it. Unlike many of you out there I have yet to have perfected any method for organization. I shop around an insane amount, tracking countless blogs and shopping sites and even *gasp* trying to come up with my own ideas at times. It's a lot of work, more than most sane people would spend and more than most of my fellow couponers will even consider spending.

Things are pretty tight this week and my grocery budget this week has gone from $100 to my personal savings or nothing. Normally I would be freaking out, but I look in my pantry and while I consider my stores to be lower than I like, I have 6 or more boxes of cereal (good because my kids insist on "combo" bowls with 2 or more kinds mixed in). It might seem that my milk stores are diminished but then I remember I have 2 more gallons waiting in the freezer if I can only time it right! And last but not least, I had a brief moment of fear when I saw how little paper towels were left on my counter, but I went into my storage and was overjoyed to see that I still have 2 and a half packages of paper towels and even more toilet paper! I can't even remember the last time I bought those.

Once again I have tangible proof of how good life can be, even when things are rough as long as you keep your stores up!

More Taco Bell Benefits!

Looks like I know what I'm having today! Thanks to Money Saving Mom, I just found out that Taco Bell is giving away one free Taco from 2-6pm today Tues Oct 28th as a result of some base stealing during the World Series. Gotta love their promotions.

A brief stop in the kitchen.

I have been talking with some people about the joy and ease of using crock pots and how to save money when you are providing dinner for your family. Many of us are so frazzled and flustered that the idea of a home cooked meal for your family is somewhat of a fantasy. Especially, in my case with way picky special needs kids, making dinner is not unlike working at a fast food diner.

A short time ago I came across these posts from Money Saving Mom and since they fit into my topic of conversation and suggestions I thought I would pass them along.

Here is a guest post she shared recently from a woman who has dedicated herself to making every dinner for an entire year cost no more than $5! Check it out and then go subscribe to her blog. Having a new idea every day is pretty cool in my book!

Here is a question asked by MSM taking a poll of how many of us use our crock pot. Check out the links she has. One of them is another 365 days of ideas, this time all surrounding the crock pot. Since I have been without a crockpot for so long and finally got a replacement, you can bet I'll be checking it out for ideas.

Another way to help our Military Families

I know many of you send your expired coupons to Military Families, since apparently they are still good for them 6 months after expiration date. How cool is that? Imagine the waste generated from unused coupons from six duplicate copies of the Sunday paper (for example), and now we can send them to be used by someone who can use them, even if we can't!

But let's be honest, there are many of us out there who want to help but never seem to make it happen. Or maybe you have it totally together but wonder, what else can I do?

Well now there is a way to do more for those of you who want to do more, or the rest of us who are still trying to do something. I was scanning through my mountain of blogs and came across this from grocery coupon guide. It's a quiz site where you answer questions about grocery savings and coupon knowledge and for each right answer you get they donate coupons on your behalf!

Here's what the site states:

"About Coupon Quiz
Coupon Quiz is dedicated to giving grocery coupons to military families living overseas. These families have limited access to grocery coupons meaning they can't get discounts we take for granted. By taking the Coupon Quiz, you help provide grocery coupons to these families reducing their food bill."

You get 5 chances every day to answer questions. For each right answer you get .50 in coupons is donated giving you $2.50 to donate every day! And if you aren't sure about the answer you get to ask for a hint which takes you to a page with the information on it!

I've already donated $2.50 today and you can bet I will be back tomorrow!