I promise this blog won't become a couponing blog... but... I saved a ton!

So, I've been disappointed in the sad number of super double coupon events, and I had promised to boycott the other grocery store for the whole month because of a decision they made so that left me one choice for this month. Buy in bulk at Costco and fill in with my favorite grocery store even though it doesn't always have the best deals.

What would you pay for 4 boxes of cereal, 4 boxes of pop tarts, 12 bags of fun size candy (for Halloween), 3 Yoplait smoothie mixes, 2 microwave personal meals (Healthy Choice, for my lunches), 1 bag pizza rolls, 3 apples, 1 bag grapes, guacamole, sliced apples in individual servings (for lunches)? Retail price tells me I should pay $114.17 for it, after coupons and store promotions, I paid $45.77.

In a second order, I bought milk, 2 frozen pizzas, 3 bags pizza rolls, 3 microwave meals, a small frozen cake, and 3 individual M&Ms packs (I owed Carter). I was supposed to pay $48.62 but only paid $22.26.

I know, everyone always wants to know how, well here it is: Promotion - buy 4 boxes of cereal get an instant $4 off of order PLUS a coupon for free milk to use in the future. Used 2 coupons, 1 for 75¢ off 1 box (which doubled to $1.50 off) and the other coupon was for $1 off of 3 boxes. Buy 5 bags of candy for $10 (instead of $12.50), I did this twice and added 2 extra bags of candy at $2.50 each, making my total $25 for candy. I then used 4 coupons: $1.50 off of 3, $1 off of 3, $1 off of 3, and Buy 2 Get 1 free - I got credited the $2.50 off of one of the extra bags. That's $19/12 = $1.58 each bag instead of regular price at $3.49, yes, it was awesome! In the frozen food section they had several items marked that if you bought ANY 6 items, you would get an instant $5 off your order. My 6 items rung up at $16.50 (those were the sale prices). I used a coupon for every item ($1 off 1, $1 off 1, 75¢ off 1 - doubled to $1.50, 75¢ off - doubled to $1.50, 75¢ off - doubled to $1.50, and 35¢ doubled to .70) This is $16.50 - 5.70 = $10.80 PLUS the instant $5 off = all of that for $5.80!! That makes each item less than that $1. I then had coupons for the guacamole and pop tarts AND the grapes and apples were on sale. I then paid with a $10 off of total order I got from doing a deal last week. This brought my out of pocket order down to $45.77 and I got my coupon for a free milk. Which brings me to the 2nd order.

I got the milk for free, which we technically didn't need but it freezes and it was free. I then got the 2 pizzas, normally $6.85 each, I got them on sale for $5.50 and used 2 coupons for $2 off of each, bringing my total to $7 for those PLUS it printed a coupon for me for $1 off of my next order. I then did the same freezer deal as last time but with 3 bags of pizza rolls and 3 microwave meals. I used 2 coupons totaling $1.50 off and I had another coupon for $1 off but I messed up on the meals and couldn't use the coupon. So that was a little more than it could have been, but it triggered the $5 off. The chocolate cake was on sale and it WAS my birthday last week so I got it, it was only $2.50. Finally, I owed Carter some M&Ms and he was going to share with Spencer so I bought 2 bags and then saw the sign that it was Buy 2 Get 1 free, so I grabbed a third bag because it was free. My out of pocket for this order was $22.26.

Today's totals: $114.17 + $48.62 = $162.79 Original Price, $68.03 Paid out of pocket, $94.76 Total Savings. It just makes me smile!!!

I promise to update on my life and family soon!!

More savings!

On Tuesday, I went to Bloom and a quick trip into Rite Aid.

At Bloom, I had $106 order that I paid $40 for. Also, I walked out of there with 2 coupons for $15 off of future order. So I paid $40 and get $30 worth of free groceries in the future. Not bad.

At Rite Aid, I bought 3 boxes of cereal (each retail at 4.99) and a tube of toothpaste (retails at 3.99). I paid a total of 67¢ for all of it out of pocket. And the store is going to mail me a check for $2.69. That means over all, they are paying me $2.02 to buy cereal and toothpaste. Not a bad deal.

You want to know how, right? Here goes. The cereal was marked down to 2/$5. Which meant that when I bought 3 it was $7.50 total. I then had a coupon for $1 off of 3 boxes. So, I only paid $6.50. The toothpaste was marked down to $2.69 with a rebate check for the full price - $2.69. So I paid for it now, but they're going to mail me the check. I had a coupon for 75¢ off of the toothpaste. Finally, I had 2 in-store coupons. 1 was for $3 off any order of $15 or more (calculated before discounts and coupons) that I got by doing a quick survey at home after many last shopping trip and the other was from their loyalty program where I bought certain products that triggered a coupon of $5 towards a future order. That means that with the 2 store coupons I had $8 off and then I had the 2 manufacturers coupons for totaling $1.75. I paid only .67 for items that would normally cost a total of $19.19 and don't forget that they are sending me that check for $2.69. It does feel awesome!

Measuring the kids...

S is 9 years, 5 months old: 54 inches, 105.4 lbs.

C is 7 years, 2 months old: 47.5 inches, 50.4 lbs.

M is 4 years, 2 months old: 39 inches, 34.8 lbs.

T is 2 years, 3 months old: 33 inches, 25.8 lbs

Note: the weight was done with clothes on, so subtract for jeans, shirts, etc.

Heights were done on carpet and not everyone was perfectly straight.

Couponing trip 6/21

I was pretty nervous about taking all of the kids to the grocery store tonight. It's something that I normally avoid. I had to share how it went, though, and I'm pretty excited about some of the deals I got.

First of all, I had kids in the store with me, so I had to be fast, also we had to be somewhere in an hour, and it was 30 min. away, so we really had to hurry.

Here's what I bought: Colgate toothpaste, 2 Pine-sol, 2 Clorox clean-up spray, 1 Herbal Essences Shampoo, 1 A-1 steak sauce, 4 Kellogg's Pop Tarts, 2 Kellogg's strawberry mini-wheats, 2 Kellogg's fruit snacks, and 1 409.

First, the Colgate. It was on sale for 1.50. I had a coupon for $1 off. Toothpaste for .50 is not bad, but it gets better. Today was super doubles (they will double your bigger coupons up to a coupon worth $1.98), so my coupon doubled to $2 off, it was on sale for $1.5o which means they paid me .50 to buy the item... pretty cool, right?

Then there is a deal running in the store that if you buy any 10 items (from a huge list) you get $5 instantly off your order (it also says if you buy 20 you get $10 off and if you buy 30 you get $15 off). I bought 10 items: 2 pine-sol each for $2.59 and each with a $1 off coupon that doubled to $2 off, so I paid $.59 for each one. 2 Clorox sprays, each on sale for $2.50 and each with a coupon for $1 off which doubled to $2 off of 2.50 making them $.50 each. 1 A-1 steak sauce, cost $3 with a $1 off coupon doubled, so I paid only $1 for it. 1 Herbal Essence Shampoo which was on sale for $3, with my coupon it was only $1 for me. Finally, I bought 4 boxes of pop tarts, normally $2.59 but on sale for $2.29 - not a huge savings, but this is a staple at our house. I paid a total of $13.34 for the 10 items, got my $5 off of the order, bringing that total down to $8.34. Which is not bad (it essentially means that I only paid about $1 for each of the boxes of poptarts!)

Kellogg's - I bought 2 cereal, each at $3, which isn't a great deal, but I needed a change of scenery with my cereal choices so I bought some. So $6 total for that but I had a $1 off of 2 coupon, which doubled brought that down to $4 total. I then got fruit snacks (because the kids were pretty good and they asked nicely) which were on sale but I didn't have a coupon for, I paid $2.29 a box instead of $2.99, so $4.58 total. What I didn't know, is that if you buy 5 Kellogg's products, (which they counted the pop tarts too, but I won't count in my total here because I counted it above) Kellogg's would give you $3 off your order! So, my total in Kellogg's products here was $8.58, minus the $3, and I paid a total of $5.58 for it.

I bought the 409 because I needed it. It cost $2.50. I also donated a $1 to Children's Miracle Network - something I try to do when I feel like I am saving money. My total before savings was: $52.70, with tax and everything, I paid $19.27. I know I could have saved even more money if I'd had a coupon for pop-tarts, fruit snacks, and 409, but overall, I feel like it was a fairly successful trip!

Summer schedule

As today was the last day of school, I thought it was time to work on our daily summer schedule. Here's how I have it so far:

6:00am – Boys get girls breakfast and everyone plays quietly while mommy sleeps

10am – mommy finally wakes up and takes leisurely shower

11am – mom begins preparing lunch while children clean the house

11:30 – lunch

12:00 – girls go down for nap time, boys go out to play, mommy takes nap

4:00pm – mommy and girls wake up

4:30pm – we order dinner, children clean the house

5:30pm – we eat dinner

6:00pm – family scripture study and prayer

6:30pm – pjs and teeth brushing

7:00pm – bed time for all children

Okay, so it might need a LITTLE work, but it was a nice thought, right?!?

And the award goes to...

I had a wonderful week last week with small moments that make me smile. It was a normal everyday week, but there was just something about being able to enjoy small moments.

Proudest Mommy Moment: The professional trainer telling me that Carter is really good at soccer. He said, "Some kids have it and some don't. We call it soccer IQ and Carter's got talent. He needs to try out for travel league. If you lived in Europe, he would have already been recruited." I smiled, thanked him, and then told him that if they didn't play games on Sunday, we'd be there. Carter enjoys being one of the best ones on the team and I'm afraid he'd get too frustrated when everyone else is as good or better. I promised the trainer that I wouldn't let his talent go to waste, but that we'd have to find an appropriate time/place to do it.

Favorite cuddle moment: Sitting in the rocking chair, cuddling my 2 year old. She's usually very wiggly, but for a few minutes, she sat there, smiling at me and giggling. I am afraid that it was one the last times I will ever have one of my babies wrapped in my arms, cuddling and cooing and giggling. It was so out of the ordinary that I don't know that it will happen again anytime soon. It is a moment that I will not soon forget.

Favorite daily activity: Having conversations with Miana. She is fun to talk to. Her insights to life are so simple and innocent. It's wonderful to have a fresh perspective on all of our daily activities. I just love her and I'm grateful for the smiles she brings to me through out the day.

Favorite over all moment: Shooting baskets with my 9 year old. He had pinkeye and was no longer contagious but his eye was still red so I thought I should wait a day before sending him back to school. We were at the scripture study class at the church and I couldn't let him go play with the other kids in the nursery so he was sitting out on the couch reading a book. I had to go to the bathroom and I went to check on him. He was bored and wanted to shoot some baskets. I went in with him for a few minutes and was amazed at how well he handled the ball (I'm quite sure I couldn't even get the ball up to the basket when I was 9, let alone, actually make baskets.) Basketball isn't a sport that we have tried yet, so now I'm convinced that we need to get him started in it. This was my favorite moment of the week because I just enjoyed my time with my son. Neither of us was in a hurry, neither one was thinking about something else, and it was just the 2 of us. This never happens. I have had very little alone time with my oldest since his brother was born! It's something that I definitely want to start making more time to do.

It was an ordinary week with some extraordinary moments. I hope every week is like that!

"You are my fire at night when I'm cold...

You are the only one I want to hold. Baby, I love you..." When we were growing up, my mom had a tape that we used to listen to in the car all the time. I think it was Michael McLean, but maybe one of you could tell me who it was. The words to this song popped into my head today as I walked down the stairs and into the family this afternoon.

So, it's allergy season. I've been hit hard the last couple of days and I am really worn down. I'm tired, I keep coughing, and it hurts to breathe. It took some convincing to get me to go to the doctor, but I went - just to make sure it hadn't moved into my lungs. He basically told me to go home and take some over the counter stuff and wait out the season. Um, thanks? I really needed some rest so I carefully planned everything so I could get some. I set out everything the boys would need for their homework, I got them a snack, and I wrote them 3 notes. The first note went on the door, instructing them to go straight to the kitchen table. The second note said where I was and what I needed them to do - basically, I'm upstairs resting, please do your homework and chores quickly and quietly, everything you need to do is listed on your list. The third note was a list of homework and chores for each child to complete before going out to play. I then went upstairs to rest.

I heard the boys come in. 3-4 minutes later, Spencer was at my bedside.

"Mom, I'm sorry to bother you, but I think you should punish me."

"Punish you, what for?"

"I started a fire."

"At school?!?!?"

"No," (half chuckling at my question) "at home"

"Right now?"

"Yes, but I'm not really a professional, so I got 2 tall cups of water ready just in case."

Sure enough, fire was going in the fire place. He had already used one of the glasses of water to put out part of the log because he heard a strange, crackling noise and it made him nervous. What does this teach me about my children? They are too independent for me to leave them alone, even for 5 minutes. It was cold and the boys were wet from their walk home in the rain and Spencer was just trying to help. Needless to say, we have once again gone over the list of activities that require adult participation. It's amazing that my children are still alive.