Rue La La: American Girl Items $5.85 (With $20 Credit)

If you signed up for the $20 Rue La La credit, you might be interested in using it to get some American Girl 6 in. mini dolls and accessories for $5.85 shipped.

Thanks For the Mommas!

Famous Footwear: 30% Off Coupon

Yay! I'm excited! There is a coupon for Famous Footwear to save 30% off your entire purchase until 5/1/11. And the 30% off should even be good on sale items.

If you want, you can use it online by putting FRIENDS30 in the coupon code field. If you do shop online don't forget about shopping through Ebates to get 9% cash back. Or you can get 11% cash back through Shopathome.

Are you wondering why I'm excited about this coupon? Famous Footwear carries the kid's brand Buster Brown shoes and we have really liked those for Logan. He is in dire need of some bigger shoes and a pair of sandals and I was really hoping I'd be able to find a good deal since shoes can be so expensive.

JCPenney: $10/$25 Purchase

JCPenney is offering a coupon for $10/$25 purchase- no restrictions- good until 4/30. If you want to use the coupon online you can enter CANTBEAT as your coupon code at checkout.

Remember if you shop online to go through Ebates to earn an extra 6% cash back when you shop at JCPenney. Or go through Shopathome to earn an extra 10% cash back.

Giveaway: 2 FREE Product Purex Detergent Coupons

It's been quite a while since I did a giveaway and so when Purex offered me two FREE product coupons for their new Purex Complete with Zout detergent for a giveaway I was happy to oblige.

I also received a full sized bottle of the detergent and so far have been pretty pleased with it. I never was a big fan of Zout stain remover, but I did use the detergent straight on a strawberry stain on my white tablecloth. It came out pure white so I was happy!

The strawberry stain before using Purex with Zout to treat it.

If you want to give Purex Complete with Zout a try yourself, you can request a free product sample.

So here are the giveaway details. One person will win 2 FREE product coupons for Purex Complete with Zout detergent that expire 12/31/12.

You have four different ways to enter the give away and each thing counts as a separate entry. Please leave your email address with each entry! The giveaway will end 5/4/11 at 12 p.m. (EST) and the winners will be chosen via random.org. I will then notify the winner by email and they will have two days to respond before the next winner is chosen.

MANDATORY ENTRY:

1. What brand of laundry detergent do you typically use?

OTHER ENTRIES (to be done after mandatory entry)

2. Become a follower of this blog (see top left hand corner of blog). If you are already a follower, give yourself an extra entry by posting that in a comment.

3. Subscribe to this blog (see top left hand corner of blog). If you already subscribe, give yourself an extra entry by posting that in a comment.

4. Tell other about the giveaway via Facebook, Twitter, or your blog and leave a link to your post in your comment.

Recyclebank: More Points Available

I had posted earlier about Recyclebank's Green Your Home Challenge. Well, since then all the rooms have been unlocked and you can earn quite a few points (like around 150) by clicking on the various links. You might want to check it out! The Green Your Home Challenge is only going until the end of April, so hurry!

Weekly Spending Summary

A rather normal week. Didn't do just lots of shopping but I got some great deals nonetheless.

Total Spent: $26.86
Total Saved with Coupons: $71.12
Total Saved with Sales: $55.68
Total Saved: $126.80

Rite Aid: $1.97
Saved with Coupons: $17.00
Saved with Sales: $12.00

The coupons are from the $1 that I donated to the Children's Miracle Network. If you donate money to that, Rite Aid will give you these coupons.

Giant: $24.89
Saved with Coupons: $36.70
Saved with Sales: $33.48


What a fun week at Giant! Yes, I spent more than normal, but I also got a bunch of stuff. I am rather puzzled because I am under what I think I should have paid by $7.00. The cashier that was at the self checkouts scanned all my coupons for me (because I had so many and she thought it would be easier). I'm pretty sure she double scanned some of them. I tried to tell her that but she insisted it was all fine.

A similar thing happened when I purchased the Romaine lettuce. I had a rain check and they gave it to me for half the price I should have paid. I tried to tell them but the cashier coach insisted it was correct the way it was. So what could I do? At any rate, I'll enjoy the savings, but I feel bad for "cheating" Giant out of money. What do you do in a case like that? Argue and make the person mad? Or just leave it go and figure you tried?

I had a rain check for the Romaine lettuce and the Philadelphia Cooking Creme. I splurged on the Pepperidge Farms deli flats and good lunch meat because we are traveling this weekend and I'm planning to pack our meals. When I do that I try to buy good stuff to make sandwiches and even though I spend a bit more than I normally would for that kind of thing, it is still way cheaper than if we stopped to eat out.

CVS: $0 (gift card)
Saved with Coupons: $17.42
Saved with Sales: $10.20

Had I not used a gift card to pay for this transaction I would have paid $2.41. I had rain checks for the Folgers, Glide and Oral-B toothbrushes.

Taste of Home $5 Cookbooks + 5% Cash Back

If you have weddings this summer or just want to stock up on a gift item, you might be interested in Taste of Home's current $5 cookbook sale. Hurry if you are interested because the good cookbooks always sell out fast!

And if you shop through Ebates you can earn 5% cash back. And in addition, if you click on the "Coupons" tab and look for the store name Shop Taste of Home there is a coupon expiring 4/26 that is good for $1 per item shipping. You may have to first go through the link for Taste of Home that I listed above and add the items you want to your cart and then do the Ebates deal. It seems if you just go through the coupon for Ebates it is hard to find the $5 cook books.

Cheese Anyone?

This, my friends, is why you are to pay attention to your 2 1/2 year old when he is shopping with you. AND this is why I hate those shopping carts with the cars on the front.

Yes, what you see in the picture above is a package of Kraft Singles cheese that Logan chewed into today when we were shopping. He was getting bored so I gave him that package of cheese to hold, and yes, he was in the car part of the cart where I can not see him very well. I noticed not long after I gave it to him that he had it up to his mouth and sternly informed him that he may not chew on it or put it in his mouth. That generally is all it takes for him to listen when it's something like this.

Well, I had a bunch of stuff to get and I was almost done when I decided to peek down at him since I suddenly realized I hadn't heard anything out of him for a long time. And I was horrified. He had two of the pieces of cheese in his mouth...still in the plastic wrapper mind you. And the rest of the package was laying at his feet. Boy was I not impressed. Let's just say that I took the package from him and I don't think he'll be doing that again anytime soon! :) And I think this mama learned a lesson about getting so involved in shopping that she forgets to check what her little boy is occupied with.

Seriously though, I really don't like those carts with the cars in the front. I think it's a conspiracy against parents. Logan always wants to use them of course and I hate them. They are bulky and hard to maneuver, he's forever wanting to lean out of the thing, nearly banging his head on stuff, and I can't see what he's up to very well. Anyone else share my feelings?

So anyway, if you're hungry, stop by for some cheese. I'll try to give you some of the un-chewed-upon stuff!

Tasty Tuesday: Donut Muffins

I recently discovered this recipe for Donut Muffins and it has become a favorite! These little muffins are easy to make and taste remarkably like a cinnamon sugar cake donut. They've been a hit every time I served them.

Donut Muffins

1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
3/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. baking powder
1 cup flour

Topping:
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Mix sugar, butter and nutmeg in large bowl. Stir in the milk then mix in the baking powder and flour just until combined.

Grease 24 mini-muffin cups. Fill cups about half full of batter. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes (I did less I think) or until tops are lightly golden.

While muffins are baking, place 1/4 c. of melted butter in a bowl. In a separate bowl mix together 1/2 cup sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon. When muffins are baked, dip each muffin in the melted butter then roll in the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Let cool before storing.

Yield: 24 mini-muffins

(There are no eggs in this recipe just in case you were wondering if I mistakenly forgot to list them.)

For other recipe ideas, check out Balancing Beauty and Bedlam's Tasty Tuesday, Blessed with Grace's Tempt my Tummy Tuesday, Fudge Ripple's Tuesday Night Supper Club, 33 Shades of Green's Tasty Tuesday, and All the Small Stuff's Tuesday's at the Table.

Rue La La: $20 Credit

Right now Rue La La, a daily deal site, is offering a $20 credit when you open a new account with them before 4/25/11. The credit will appear in your account within 48 hours and expires 5/25/11.

If you haven't signed up with Rue La La, this is a great offer. I'd at least sign up and even if you don't use the credit, you've lost nothing.

Weekly Spending Summary

Total Spent: $34.78
Total Saved with Coupons: $53.47
Total Saved with Sales: $78.22
Total Saved: $131.69

Rite Aid: $0.77
Saved with Coupons: $39.97
Saved with Sales: $53.06

I had a rain check for the Purex Crystals, Motrin and the Dixie Plates. I got the little coupons that you see in front of the plates for donating money to The Children's Miracle Network. Rite Aid is raising money for them right now.

CVS: $0 (gift card)
Saved with Coupons: $2.50
Saved with Sales: $0.13

I about didn't even go to CVS this week, but decided to because I wanted the bubbles (they were free after Extra Bucks) and thought I'd get a few items I had rain checks for. Well, they still didn't have the rain check items so I ended up not getting much. The bubbles and Russell Stover's were free after Extra Bucks and the tissues were a filler item.

The bubbles have provided lots of fun for Logan. In fact, this trip may have been worth it just fo them!

Giant: $5.50
Saved with Coupons: $11.00
Saved with Sales: $15.66

Can't make out what's in the bag? It's grapes. Actually I got another bag later on in the week too since I ended up using lots of these for a fruit pizza I made.

The great Heluva Good cheese coupon has reset and I was able to get cheese for $2/lb.

Stauffers: $8.51
Saved with Sales: $9.37

I couldn't pass up a sale for $0.88/doz. eggs. And while I was there I got some inexpensive apples too.

Misc.: $20.00
- this is for raw milk that we get at a local farm

Pampers Gifts to Grow: 50 Points (4/14 Only!)

I hope that at least some of you are able to use this code before it expires because it is sure a high value one!

Add this code to your Pampers Gifts to Grow account to get 50 points:

happybdaypamprs

Here is also a 10 pt. code that may be new to some of you:

WELCOMEGTGPTS10

Remember, you don't need to have children in Pampers to participate in the Gifts to Grow program. In fact, you should be able to collect quite a few points just by redeeming codes like this.

Speaking of redeeming points. I recently redeemed Gifts to Grow points for the first time. I was able to get a $20 BJ's gift card. I'm planning to hold onto it until BJ's has one of their free trial membership offers and then use it to go shopping for some groceries. Don't know about you but I like that option better than free photocards from Shutterfly or some of the other options that they offer to redeem points for.

Coupons I've Printed Recently

I just posted about printing coupons from the internet. I thought it might be helpful to show you some of the coupons I've printed recently.

* $0.55/1 Ball Park franks

* $1/1 Ball Park franks
- Grilling season is just around the corner and we should be seeing sales soon for hot dogs. Use the $0.55 coupon at a store that doubles and you should be able to get a great deal!



* $1/1 Kraft Shredded Cheese with a touch of Philadelphia
- Kraft often puts cheese on sale for 2/$4 or 2/$3. If you print this coupon twice, you should be able to get 2 bags of cheese for $2 or less...making it essentially $2/lb.


* $1/1 Oscar Mayer hot dogs


* $0.75/1 Kraft Singles
- I'm not a fan of cheese products. I prefer real cheese. However, with hamburger and hot dog season coming up, I'm sure we'll be having picnics with friends and I know a lot of people love American cheese on their hamburgers. So I often get it to have on hand for those occasions. If you have a store that doubles, like Giant, Kroger, or Weis, this should make for an excellent deal.

Obtaining Coupons: Coupon Websites- Part One

This is part of my Obtaining Coupons series. If you missed the 1st post you can read it here.

One of the more obvious ways to get coupons is by visiting websites that allow you to print them. Some of the most popular websites are:

* Coupons.com
* Smartsource
* Red Plum
* Coupon Network

And then there are sites like Target.com that offer store coupons that you can pair with manufacturer coupons. And occasionally you'll even find manufacturer coupons on Target's coupon site. Of course printable coupons also pop up on Facebook or other random places. These are always great additions and usually tend to be pretty high value.

Some tips for printing coupons:
* You can almost always print internet coupons twice. If you are on one of the above sites, go back to the main page then click the last page on the list of coupons offered. You should see the coupon there. If you've reached the print limit, it will either not be visible or will clearly say "Print Limit Reached". If you are printing a bricks coupon (such as this $1 Kashi one) just hit your browser's back button to print your second coupon.

* Save money and print in black and white- it really doesn't need to be in color.

* Reuse paper. For instance, if you have junk mail that is blank on one side, use that blank side to print coupons. Just make sure there is no personal information on it! I've only done this with white paper. I've been to chicken to try it with colored. Anyone ever done that?

Did I miss any coupon websites that you love?

Mamapedia: National Geographic Little Kids for $5/yr.

Mamapedia has a 1 year subscription to National Geographic Little Kids magazine for only $10 ($23.94 value). However, if you've never ordered through Mamapedia before you can get it for only $5! Here's how:

1. Create or sign into your Mamapedia account
2. Click "Buy Now"
3. On the Payment screen, click "I have a coupon code"
4. Enter coupon code FRIENDS5 to get $5 off your purchase (for 1st time Mamapedia purchases only) or coupon code EASTER10 to get 10% ($1) off your order (for everyone else)
5. This will take your total to $5 (1st time purchases) or $9 (everyone else)

I think these would make excellent gifts for kids...or would be fun to get just for the anyhow. They are recommended especially for kids 3-6 yrs. I'm trying to decide if Logan would enjoy them. I'm guessing he would because he already loves a lot of books that are above his age level.

Book Review: The Treasure Principle

I have to say that this was one of the best books I read about finances. I would say it is the best, but I really feel like in order to follow The Treasure Principle you need to understand how to manage your money to a certain extent.

This book was quite different than what I was expecting, but in a good way. The Treasure Principle is not a book that is so much about managing your money but is about giving generously according to biblical principles and experiencing the joy that comes along with that.

Alcorn's basic premise is that all we have is God's anyway and so instead of amassing wealth, why not give that money to good causes that can further the kingdom of God, which is of eternal value. He gives six principles throughout the book and the last one is this: God prospers me not to raise my standard of living but to raise my standard of giving. Not exactly the American mentality is it? And not exactly most North American Christian's mentality either.

I think though that The Treasure Principle is the perfect compliment to Dave Ramsey's teaching. While I enjoy Ramsey's books, one thing that always bothers me is his amassing wealth mentality. True, he touches on giving but his mantra is "Live like no one else so you can live like no one else". It always strikes me as being rather self-centered, however I like his basic principles. Combine The Treasure Principle with Ramsey and you get what I think is a perfect combo: Ramsey gives you the tips for staying out of debt and Alcorn gives you the principles for joyful giving.

I'll admit, when I began this book I felt like we were giving quite generously; after all, we give more than the typical Christian tithe of 10%. But as I read The Treasure Principle I began to realize that we could and probably should be giving even more. Reading this book challenged me in very good ways!

I thoroughly enjoyed The Treasure Principle and highly recommend this easy-to-read 120 page book. I'd give it a 5 out of 5 stars.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of The Treasure Principle for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review, however all opinions are mine.

Using Ham Broth- Can You Help?

I have a bunch of ham broth in the freezer from a ham I made several weeks ago. It's good rich broth and I know there has to be some good ways to use it but truth be told, I'm not sure how. I spent quite a bit of time looking for recipes on line and really didn't come up with much. So I thought I'd turn to you. What do you do with your leftover ham broth?

Monthly Spending Summary (Mar.)

Here's my spending summary for March. I was surprised to find that I was under budget. I had felt like I was spending a lot and never got around to checking just how I was actually doing. So I was rather relieved to see that I was quite a bit under budget. I'm going to need that extra money when I start buying fruit and veggies to can and freeze!

Monthly Grocery/ Household Budget: $190

Total Spent: $173.15
Total Saved with Coupons/Sales: $554.15

Week 1: $21.99
Week 2: $25.98
Week 3: $48.87
Week 4: $29.05
Week 5: $47.26

Credits: $12.98

Ending Monthly Balance: $160.17
Balance carried from Jan. & Feb.: +$72.02

Ending Annual Balance: +$101.85
- In case you are confused, this is the amount I have left over for the year. This comes from being under budget in some previous months. So basically I am ahead by $101.85 for the year.

Weekly Spending Summary

This was a bigger week of spending due partly to the fact that I bought some chicken. I still got some great deals though!

Total Spent: $53.87
Total Saved with Coupons: $70.54
Total Saved with Sales: $53.61
Total Saved: $124.15

Rite Aid: $2.84 (+ $0.30 change)
Saved with Coupons: $33.48
Saved with Sales: $17.29

All the above was free or a moneymaker after UPRewards and Single Check Rebates. I was rather annoyed when I got home and realized that I had 2 FREE product coupons for the Poligrip! I didn't remember that I had them and if I had used them I would have made about $6! I guess I'm paying for my disorganization. :)


CVS: $0 (gift card)
Saved with Coupons: $12.99
Saved with Sales: $3.77

Had I not used a gift card, I would have paid $0.52. I had a FREE product coupon for the Chef Boyardee.

Giant: $11.00
Saved with Coupons: $22.07
Saved with Sales: $21.78

A fun interesting week at Giant. I had some $1 coupon doublers that I decided to use but in order to use them I needed to spend $15 out of pocket AFTER coupons. I really don't know how my total got down to $11 since I don't think that was supposed to happen, but I wasn't going to complain! :)

I got all 40 packs of Kool-Aid for free. What will I do with 40 packs of Kool-Aid? Give a bunch away and keep some to make homemade pop-sicles this summer.

The cereal bars were part of a deal where I got two $4 coupons to use on my next purchase by purchasing them. The Egg Beaters were free with a coupon. I didn't realize that they have other stuff- think unhealthy stuff- in them otherwise I might not have purchased them. The one orange juice was free and the other 2 I paid either $0.50 or $0.99 for- I can't remember. And I bought the feta cheese as filler to get me to $15. I use it a lot anyway and it has a long expiration so I figured it was a good thing to buy!

Yoder's Country Market: $22.78
Saved with Coupons: $2.00
Saved with Sales: $10.77

I had $1 coupons for the sugar. I've switched to using raw sugar quite a bit so these two bags should last me a long time. Yoder's was also having a meat sale and I was able to get boneless, skinless chicken breast for $1.69/lb. I love cooking it up, shredding it and having it in the freezer to speed up my meal prep!

Aldi: $17.25

Tasty Tuesday: Caramel Pudding

My Dad loves pudding. That combined with the fact that we could get milk inexpensively from a neighbor farmer meant that we ate lots of pudding growing up. And I never minded. Occasionally we had the instant stuff but most times it was the good old homemade kind. I still am a pudding lover and recently made this yummy version and realized again how wonderful it is to enjoy.

Caramel Pudding

2 cups brown sugar
12 tbsp. cornstarch
10 cups milk
4 eggs

Mix brown sugar and cornstarch together; add milk and stir. Beat eggs and add to mixture. Cook and bring just to boiling- or until thickened, stirring constantly.

Strain if needed. Pour into bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Make sure plastic touches and covers the whole top of the pudding, otherwise a thick 'skin' will form.

Chill and serve with crushed Hershey's 5th Avenue bars on top.

Serves: 20

This makes a large recipe, but you can easily scale it back since it is nice even amounts.

For other recipe ideas, check out Balancing Beauty and Bedlam's Tasty Tuesday, Blessed with Grace's Tempt my Tummy Tuesday, Fudge Ripple's Tuesday Night Supper Club, 33 Shades of Green's Tasty Tuesday, and All the Small Stuff's Tuesday's at the Table.

Hobby Lobby: 40% Off Coupon

Use this coupon to save 40% off any regular priced item at Hobby Lobby. Coupon expires 4/16/11.

Thanks Saving with Shellie!

Obtaining Coupons: Contacting Companies

This is the beginning of a series called Obtaining Coupons. I thought it would be helpful to look at the different ways that you can get coupons and also tips to do this well.

One of the ways that I have been able to get some great high-value or FREE product coupons is by contacting the manufacturer directly. Typically what I will do is think of a product I love then call the manufacturer and tell them why I love their product. Then I'll ask if they would have any coupons that they would be willing to send me to help me save on it. Most of the time they are more than willing to do so and often they will send multiple coupons.

I have also emailed companies as well but I don't seem to get as great a response when I do this, so I prefer calling. There have also been times where I didn't even tell them why I liked their product but just simply asked if they would be able to send me any coupons. When I did that I also didn't seem to get as high value coupons, but they usually still sent some.

A few other things...

Sample of what I might say when I contact a company:
"Hi, I was just calling because we love Cracker Barrel cheese but I rarely see coupons for it and I find it to be a bit expensive. Would it be possible for you to send me some coupons?"

Tips for requesting coupons:
* Be honest- don't just make up some reason you like their product.
* If you are loyal to their brand, tell them that. For instance, maybe you only buy Kraft mayo. Let them know that and explain that your family doesn't use anything else.
* Call while you are doing other household tasks. I often call while I am making dinner or folding laundry. That way if I have to hold for a bit, I really am not wasting my time.
* Find the companies contact info on the package or their website.
* Typically a company is willing to send you coupons every 6 mo. to a year. So you might find it helpful to keep track of when you contacted each company and how eager they were to send you coupons and/or what kind of coupons you received.

Here are some of the things that I've received coupons for:
Cracker Barrel cheese; Skintimate shave cream; Scott toilet tissue; Muir Glen products; and Turkey Hill ice cream and tea.

Have you ever requested coupons from a manufacturer? What was your experience like?

JoAnn Fabrics: 40% Off Coupon

Use this coupon to save 40% off any regular priced item at JoAnn Fabrics. Coupon expires 4/23/11.

Thanks For the Mommas!

Snapfish: Free Shipping Plus 11% Off

Snapfish is having a birthday bash right now and as part of the celebration they are offering free shipping on all orders (no minimum) and on top of that you can get an additional 11% off your purchase when you use code 11freeship at checkout. This code is good until 4/10/11.

Actually, if you shop through Ebates you should be able to get an additional 6.5% cash back. Definitely not a bad deal if you are wanting to order some pictures or gifts!

These free shipping deals typically work with print credits meaning that you can get pictures shipped directly to your home for free. If you are new to Snapfish you should get a 20 print credit when you sign up. With the free shipping deal, you could get 20 print shipped to you for totally free.

You Might Enjoy...

* Coupon Lingo
- I know I have several readers that are just getting into the couponing thing and maybe there are some of you that just plain get confused by all the abbreviations you see. This post is a great reference point.

* Want to save the most? Do without!
- An excellent read. I was really challenged with this because this is one of the ways that we have saved a lot, just by simply doing without things. However, as I read this I realized that I've allowed the consumerist mentality to take hold of me more than I realized in the last couple of months. I really want to try to just do without more....it's actually kind of fun if you can see it as a challenge or game. Here's what I mean: The more you do without the more you save, the faster you can pay off your house etc. Hmm. Maybe I should just do a post on this sometime too!

* How to leave a good comment.
- I thought this was a great how-to on leaving good comments on blog posts. For those of you that have blogs, this is a great way to build your own blog. For those of you that don't have blogs, you still can benefit from reading it! And while we are on the subject of comments...I have a rather quiet readership. :) Maybe it's just that you are unsure of how to leave a good comment and so you opt to leave none?

* Robyn O'Brien's testimony of why she switched to whole foods.
- This is one of the best arguments I've heard for eating whole foods. I know this is a touchy subject and the video is a bit long, but if you take the time to watch it, I really think you'll be amazed. I was!

For My Local Readers

I recently discovered a blog, Frugal Lancaster, that my local readers might enjoy. This blog covers local deals including Family Owned Markets coupon match-ups. I had looked for a long time for a local money saving blog so I was pretty excited when I stumbled upon Frugal Lancaster.

Weekly Spending Summary

Total Spent: $47.26
Total Saved with Coupons: $46.24
Total Saved with Sales: $40.29
Total Saved: $86.53

CVS: $0 (gift card)
Saved with Coupons: $8.00
Saved with Sales: $6.89

Had I not used a gift card to buy this stuff I would have paid $0.97 out of pocket. I got the gift card with one of our credit card's rewards programs.

Rite Aid: $0
Saved with Coupons: $7.00
Saved with Sales: $1.40

I had a raincheck to get the Bumble Bee tuna for $0.40, the Irish Springs was bought simply because I had UPRewards that needed to get used up and I had a FREE product coupon for the Excedrin that I used.

Giant: $10.00
Saved with Coupons: $3.00
Saved with Sales: $2.00



Weis: $0 (spare change)
Saved with Coupons: $3.24

I had a coupon for a free gallon of milk from an earlier deal where I got a catalina coupon when I purchased cereal. Anyway, the goofy thing was that the coupon was supposed to be for a free gallon of milk but it only was good for $3.50 which was less than all but one gallon of milk ( and that was store brand skim) actually cost. So i just paid the difference with some spare change I had in my wallet.

Walgreens: $18.92
Saved with Coupons: 15.00
Saved with Sales: $30.00
I had a raincheck for the Pediasure. I had stopped in two other times and both times they STILL didn't have any in stock. So I was happy to finally get it. And I did this deal on the diapers. After the rebate I should only pay $1.78 for each pack of diapers. It would be $2 but I had coupons for the Pediasure that gave me some overage.

Walmart: $0 (gift card)
Saved with Coupons: $10.00


Had I not paid with a gift card that I got for returning some merchandise I would have paid $0.26 for this purchase. I LOVE Walmart's new coupon policy! I hadn't shopped there for such a long time but after getting $1.44 in coupon overage I decided I just might have to go more often.

Oh and that coffee? That was what I got my overage on. I had three $2.00 coupons and the coffee costs $1.64. So I was thinking I was doing pretty good and then when I walked up to the coffee display, what did I see but another coupon stuck in front of some of the coffee. Be still my heart! :) Seriously though, I wanted to hug whoever put it there. Instead I made sure no one else was in the aisle, danced a little jig and happily sighed, "Thank you God!", all while smiling broadly at my little boy who was looking at me oddly!

Aldi: $8.64

Anyone else notice the huge jump in brown sugar prices lately? They've jumped about $0.20/lb. around here. I was excited that Aldi still had 4lb. bags of oranges for $1.79- that's almost as cheap as bananas!

Centerville Bulk Food: $9.70

Upcoming csnstores.com Product Review

I'm just giving you a heads up that I will be doing another review soon for csnstores.com. If you've read this blog for any amount of time, you've heard me talk about the great selection of products csnstores.com has. Just now I was having fun looking through their lighting selection. If you are looking some new light fixtures, you'll find a great selection of wall sconces, chandeliers, and even outdoor lighting options. We have a very small living room with no ceiling light. It is such a challenge to find a way to get it really bright in there without sacrificing lots of space. I was having visions of some of the swing arm lamps that I saw at csnstores, helping us out. At any rate, just browsing gave me some much needed inspiration!

Michael's: 40% Off Coupon

Use this coupon to save 40% off any regular priced item at Michael's. Coupon expires 4/9/11.

Thanks Saving with Shellie!

Tasty Tuesday: Chocolate Crumb Cake

Ready to go in the oven

This is a fast, easy dessert and don't let the fact that it doesn't have icing fool you. The cake part is extremely, the moist brown sugar creates a crunchy topping and the chocolate chips add a little bit of extra yumminess. We enjoy this cake as it is, with ice cream or topped with crushed strawberries.

Chocolate Crumb Cake

1 chocolate cake mix, any kind
1 cup water
1 cup oil
4 eggs
1 small box instant vanilla pudding
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
1/2 cup brown sugar

Mix first five ingredients and spread in a greased 11 x 16 jelly roll pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and brown sugar. Bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

Variations: use 1 yellow cake mix, with butterscotch pudding and 3/4 cup water, 3/4 cup oil and 4 eggs. Top with 1/2 tsp. cinnamon and 1/2 cup brown sugar.

Baked- and yes, I started cutting it before I remembered to take a picture!

For other recipe ideas, check out Balancing Beauty and Bedlam's Tasty Tuesday, Blessed with Grace's Tempt my Tummy Tuesday, Fudge Ripple's Tuesday Night Supper Club, 33 Shades of Green's Tasty Tuesday, and All the Small Stuff's Tuesday's at the Table.

Recyclebank: 70 New Points

Click on the link above to take the quiz and earn 25 points. Then take Recyclebank's Green Your Home Challenge and you'll be able to add 45 points to your Recyclebank account. To do that simply log into your Recyclebank account, click "Earn Points" and you'll see the link for the Green Your Home Challenge.

Recyclebank is an easy way to get a few more coupons. As you earn points you can trade them for lots of different coupons. Recyclebank frequently has specials where you can get coupon for only 5 points. I love Recyclebank and find that it's an easy way to save just a little bit more.