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.