The Thrifty Frugal Mom Moved...

to Parents.com. Come visit my blog there!
For those of you that subscribe via email or a blog reader you will need to resubscribe to the new blog. And remember you can follow me on Twitter and Facebook too.

To learn more about my move to Parents.com read this post.

My Savings in 2011

I was curious just how much I saved by shopping sales and using coupons this year so I went back and looked at my Monthly Spending Summaries and did the math. Here is how much I saved each month with both coupons and sales:

January: $551.47
February: $624.50
March: $554.15
April: $410.34
May: $265.12
June: $405.28
July: $206.80
August: $265.95
September: $461.74
October: $330.18
November: $525.66
December: $209.70

That comes to a total of $4810.89!

Add in the rebates (including Rite Aid Single Check Rebates) that I got and I saved over $5,000. So yes, I'm still sold on couponing, just in case you were wondering!

Monthly Spending Summary (Dec.)

I was very excited to come out ahead in my grocery budget for the year! After being over budget the last couple of months rather badly I was starting to think maybe I wouldn't be able to actually keep my budget for the year. But I really tried to keep my spending minimal for Dec. That coupled with the fact that we were gone for pretty much a whole week really helped.

Now I'm trying to decide if I should try to keep my grocery budget for 2012 at $190 or up it. I know the deals aren't as good as they used to be and yet I enjoy a challenge too. This past year I was able to stay within budget and that was even with buying ahead on diapers for this baby. (I have roughly 30 packs of diapers and several big packs of wipes stocked up.) I also have quite a bit of meat bought up ahead as well. So what do you think? Should I try for $190 again or up it to $210?

Monthly Grocery/Household Budget: $190
Total Spent: $74.56
Total Saved with Coupons/Sales: $209.70

Week 1: $19.43
Week 2: $14.91
Week 3: $39.2
Week 4: $1.00

Credits: $6.95
This was thanks to a Saving Star deposit.

Ending Monthly Balance: $122.39
Balance carried from Jan.-Nov.: -$91.41

Ending Annual Balance: $30.98
- In case you are confused, this is the amount I have left over for the year. So actually, I am under budget by $30.98 for this year.

Sunday Coupon Preview

Want to know what coupons to expect in this Sunday newspaper? Go here.

New Printable Coupons

Food

• $0.50 off Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal
• $1.00 off 2 boxes Cheerios cereal
• $1.00 off TWO Campbell's Slow Kettle Style soup
• $0.40 off three Campbell's Condensed Soups
• $0.40 off three Campbell's Condensed soups
• $3.00 off when you buy ONE (1) GERBER GOOD START
• $0.40 off 2 Pillsbury Sweet Rolls
• $0.50 off 2 Betty Crocker Fruit snacks
• $0.75 off Yoplait Kid Zone yogurt
• $0.50 off Chex Mix or 100 Calorie snacks
• $0.80 off 4 Hamburger, Tuna or Chicken Helper
• $0.50 off Cereal Treat Bars
• $3.00 off 10 Weight Watchers Smart Ones
• $0.40 off SIX CUPS Yoplait Yogurt
• $0.75 off any Muir Glen product
• $1.00 OFF any ONE (1) LIFESAVERS Bottle product
• $5.00 off one Enfamil PREMIUM Newborn large tub

Household

• $1.00 off two Clorox Disinfecting Wipes
• $1.00 off 2 Ziploc Brand Bags
• $1.00 off two Renuzit Pearl Scents

Health & Wellness

• $2.00 off on any Aleve-D product
• $2.00 off On Any Aleve 80ct or larger
• $1.00 Off any One A Day Multivitamin product
• $1.00 off any Flintstones Multivitamin Product
• $1.00 off On ANY Vitamin item in Disney or Marvel
• $1.00 off ANY NEO-SYNEPHRINE PRODUCT
• $2.00 off any RID product
• $1.00 off Sally Hansen Hand Cremes
• $3.00 off ONE Osteo Bi-Flex Caplets Softgel
• $3.00 off on any Flex-a-min product
• $1.00 off one Campho-Phenique Product
• $2.00 off on any Ester-C The Better Vitamin C
• $2.00 off Phillips' Colon Health Product
• $1.00 off On any Schiff Vitamin or Supplement

Pet Food

• Buy two get two free cans of PURINA cat food
• Buy two get two free cans of PURINA dog food
• $3.00 off Purina Pro Plan Dry Cat Food
• $5.00 off one package of Purina Pro Plan

Weekly Spending Summary

I did very little shopping this week. The deals just weren't amazing enough to lure me out and besides we were away most of the week with family too. Other than a small Giant trip that I did I also went to Walmart and got a few things including some grocery items. But I had a gift card that I used for that purchase (I had gotten it with a package of samples etc. for new moms when I purchased something at Motherhood Maternity a while back) so it didn't even count against my grocery budget.

Giant: $1.00
Saved with Coupons: $1.00
Saved with Sales: $1.79

I went to Giant primarily to get some things for the food pantry I shop for. While I was there I decided to buy some WisPride spreadable cheese since it was on sale and I had a coupon.

Happy New Year...and a Few Other Things

I had a busy day yesterday so I'm just now getting around to saying....Happy New Year to all you Thrifty Frugal Mom readers! I hope this year is a great one for each of you and I hope that somehow this blog can play a small part in it being that for you.

I want to give you a little heads up on some changes that will be happening around here in the next couple of weeks. In November Parents.com contacted me about blogging for them on their website. It seemed like a no brainer to say yes to them and so right now they're working hard at getting everything ready for me to switch my blog over to their site in the next couple of weeks. I'm very excited about this opportunity to reach a broader group of people and impact the way they handle their spending.

As for how this will affect you, well really it won't that much. I'm going to be blogging about the same things I already do, only I'll be at Parents.com. Once my blog is moved you will find a redirect link here on this blog that will take you to my new blog location. Other than that the change should be painless for you all. :)
And as always, if you have suggestions on topics you'd like me to blog about, questions about saving money you'd like answered or anything else please feel free to email me or leave a comment on this post. I value your input and it really does help me know what kind of content you all benefit from. Not to mention the fact that it's always fun to know that what I'm doing is helping someone. Comments are like little pats on the back for bloggers. :)

Again, a Happy New Year to each of you!