Friday, October 31, 2008
Free Yogurt!
Thursday, October 30, 2008
The only thing free this week was chocolate milk!
Total Money Spent: $4.63
My First Giveaway!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Wii Wheel, Anyone? Run!!
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Politics are so funny...
What She Said..
The following post is not suitable for children to read as there is some language that I wouldn't want mine to read/hear.
I love reading Undomestic Diva! She's funny and very much to the point, plus she LOVES Starbucks. How could you not like her? :) Her post today is an awesome one, and she said exactly how I feel some days. Here is it:
Life is not the same once you're old and married and have kids.
I remember our Saturdays used to entail nothing more involved than lying in bed, in pajamas, watching episode after episode of Cold Case Files or Forensic Files while arguing the best way to kill a person without getting caught.
Now, weekends are contaminated with household fix-it projects, soccer games and chores. There is no more sleeping in or ordering out for food, no more spontaneous adventures, fulfilling of sudden urges or being lazy for the sake of being lazy.
God, I miss lazy.
I'm not sure when weekends went from hoping we had plans to hoping we don't. At some point we went from buying ourselves nice clothes to bringing home the toilet that promises to flush a bucket of golf balls - with the same excitement.
The television is no longer ours, it's permanently tuned to cartoons and prepubescent tweens and the kids now know how to work a remote control, the DVD player, an iPod and a cell phone better than either of us.
We went from being young, smart and up-and-coming, to being the parents of kids who are young, smart and up-and-coming. Essentially, we went from kicking ass, to wiping ass.
As I look at the golf ball toilet that apparently doesn't fit within our bathroom after all, it's easy to wonder if this is as good as it gets... toilets that don't clog? Surely, this isn't the metaphor for my life, right?
There are lots of these little moments, when you wonder to yourself if this life, the one you're merely stumbling through each day, is what you wanted, had in mind, pictured.
But then life goes to shit, real shit, and you find yourself in a heap of pathetic on your couch, trying to keep it together because, goddamn it, you have no other choice. And in waddles your two year old who it takes three attempts to climb up on the couch next to you, but he finally makes it, cuddling up to you, happily pulling your arm over him and nuzzling up to you and you realize that no, this is what it's all about, right here, right now, living this small little particle of a moment on your couch. It's almost an epiphany, a sudden understanding, knowing that what it all comes down to is not clog-free toilets and excitement, kicking ass or knowing how to kill a man without being caught, but about savoring the unfiltered joy that trickles in between all the crap. ~
Does anyone cloth diaper anymore?
Monday, October 27, 2008
80% off at Restaurant.com!
Enter Discount Code: TREATS
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Trunk or Treat?
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Giveaways, Giveaways!
Coupon Bag Giveaway @ Dani Saves Money
Cosmetics Giveaway @ Perfectly Provident
Formula Giveaway @ Mommy's Got Green
Free Sesame Street Knex Blocks!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Cheap Beef from Omaha Steaks.com!
1) Go to this link to sign up for the Geico website. You do NOT have to have Geico, you do NOT have to switch any of your insurance. It just gives you a username for their website, and they will email you within an hour or so with a link to a gift card code. Check your spam folder if you don't get the email after two hours or so. The gift card number is really long, so double check when you write it down.
2) Go to this link and type in your email address. They will send you an email confirmation right away, and there is a link within the email to start shopping. After you get your gift card code from step one, use that link to order the hamburgers (described below) and it will automatically give you 12 free 4 ounce burgers. The 12 free won't show up in your cart until you check out, so don't panic.(Update: link from step 2 should be fixed now)
3) When you get your gift card code and go to the link through the step two link, you'll be at the Omaha Steaks website. In the left hand sidebar, click on the link for "burgers/brats" etc. Scroll down until you see the option for "eight 5 ounce steak burgers" for 12.99. Add that to your cart, then checkout. (Note: apparently the $12.99 option doesn't work for everyone, if you get through the next step and it doesn't work, go back and get the $14.99 option. It will cost you $2 more out of pocket, but you'll get that much more meat.)
4) At checkout, you enter your address etc and you should see the 12.99 burgers, plus the 12 free burgers you got from doing step 2 above. At the point where they ask for payment, you'll see that they add in about $13 for shipping - don't worry, your gift card code will cover that. Before you enter your credit card (or paypal - one of the payment options is "pay by paypal" if that is easier for you), enter your gift card code and hit "apply" or whatever the button says next to that. That should take your total down to roughly $1.98. Then enter your actual payment method and you will only be charged $1.98 (it may be a few cents more or less depending on your address, it was $1.98 for me)
5) Complete the transaction. In a few days you'll be getting a cooler shipment of 5.5 pounds of Steak burgers, which works out to ONLY 36 CENTS A POUND!That is a rad deal for ground beef. They will come as hamburgers, but you can brown them like regular hamburger to use in other recipes. It's not organic beef, but should be high quality and if nothing else you can use it in meals you take to other people or whatnot.It seems more complicated a process than it is - start to finish it only took me a few minutes to do it.
Many, many thanks to Monica and Thrifty Florida Mama for figuring this deal out!
Monday, October 20, 2008
Exciting Mail Today!
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Fourth (and final) trip to Kmart for Doubles
Total Saved: $54.29(83%)
Friday, October 17, 2008
Third Trip to Kmart for Doubles
Total Saved: $107.68(83%)
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Crazy Coupon NIghtmares - Part 2
What's for Dinner?
My Second Trip to Kmart for Doubles!
Total Money Spent: $27.11
Total Saved: $218.55(89%)
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
More Kmart Doubles!
Total Money Spent: $33.38
Total Saved: $261.02(88.7%)
Friday, October 10, 2008
Why I coupon...
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Pssst....
Crun-chewy-licious!• Experience the Joy of Snacking in Every Bite!• NEW Chex Mix® Bars are a unique combination of ingredients, including corn and wheat Chex cereal pieces, chocolate, peanuts and pretzels.• And with less than 150 calories, they're a delicious snack you can feel good about eating!
Here's an awesome recipe for homemade pizza using the new Pillsbury Thin Crust:
Cheeseburger Pizza
Prep Time: 20 Minutes Start to Finish: 30 Minutes
1 can (11 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated thin pizza crust
1 lb lean (at least 80%) ground beef
1/2 cup thinly sliced onion
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/3 cup pickle relish (not sweet)
3/4 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
4 slices crisply cooked hickory smoked bacon, chopped
1 1/2 cups shredded American cheese (6 oz)
1 cup shredded lettuce
1/2 cup chopped tomato
1. Heat oven to 400°F. Spray or grease 15x10-inch or larger dark or nonstick cookie sheet. Unroll dough on cookie sheet; starting at center, press dough into 15x10-inch rectangle.
2. In 10-inch nonstick skillet, cook beef, onion and pepper over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until cooked thoroughly; drain. Stir in relish, ketchup and mustard. Spoon evenly over dough. Sprinkle with bacon and cheese.
3. Bake 14 to 19 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted. Top with lettuce and tomato.
Serve immediately. 8 servings
High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): Bake 2 to 4 minutes longer.
1 Serving: Calories 350 (Calories from Fat 170); Total Fat 18g (Saturated Fat 8g); Cholesterol 60mg; Sodium 910mg; Potassium 320mg; Total Carbohydrate 26g (Dietary Fiber 1g); Protein 20g% Daily Value: Vitamin A 15%; Vitamin C 6%; Calcium 15%; Iron 15%; Vitamin D 2%; Folic Acid 4%Exchanges: 1 Starch, 1/2 Other Carbohydrate, 2 1/2 Medium-Fat Meat, 1 FatCarbohydrate Choices: 22008
© and ®/™ of General Mills
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Last trip for Kmart doubles!
Total Money Spent: $12.39
Total Saved: $145.87(92.2%)
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Russ scored a HUGE deal...on his own!!!
Russ went out tonight to Schnuck's to "harvest" some tuna coupons for tomorrow's trip to Kmart, and ran across an AWESOME deal! He found these Gillette shave gels on clearnace for .44 EACH!!! No coupon needed! He's very proud of his addition to the stockpile, and I am proud of him as well! Here's the pic and the math:
Total Before Sale Price: $22.68
Total Money Spent: $1.92
Total Saved: $20.76(91.5%)
More Milk!
We raided Target today and managed to find 58 more of the Horizon Organic Milk singles. I actually called ahead and had the dairy person put these aside for me so I would be able to get them when I finally got there. For those that don't know, these are the same milk singles that Starbucks sells for almost $2 EACH. I paid .09 each for the ones I got. Here's the pic and the math:
Total Money Spent: $4.55
Total Saved: $63.57(93.3%)
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Crazy Coupon Nightmares - Part 1
Over the past few months I have grown to accept the fact that I am now sharing my wife with a filing cabinet full of coupons, a freezer full of hot dog sausages and enough Powerade to hydrate the Sahara. It has been an interesting time - the highs of the now famous Target 'Poptart deals', the lows of endless fights with Walmart cashiers and the 'somewhere in-betweens' of having to carry literally dozens of sacks full of Vitamin Water in from the trunk of the car. Trips to the supermarket or shopping malls are no longer recreational activities but precisely planned coupon harvesting events. We are no longer a couple who are shopping, we are a highly trained coupon snatch squad, trained to spot blinkies at a range of 100 yards. I never thought I would see the day where I was boasting of my wife's shampoo stockpile to my co-workers or stacking hundreds of packs of toilet paper into aesthetically pleasing structures for a blog picture.
Now as a mildly OCD individual I can understand my wife's new hobby - although I hope never to need them I can identify with the pleasure of fifty packs of Prep H medicated wipes beautifully arranged on a shelf. Nothing warms the soul quite like a tower of Coca Cola twelve packs stacked by Product Expiry dates. We have saved huge amounts of money in a very short space of time and there is no better form of marital bonding than standing side by side with your wife during a heated 'debate' with Kroger cashiers over the validity of a Cottonelle coupon.
I am however starting to receive signs from my subconscious that the whole couponing thing is starting to take over our lives. This week alone I have had two very alarming 'coupon related' dreams. We are not talking about 'pleasant sort of remember it in the morning' dreams but full on colour and sound dreams that have caused me to wake in a panic and keep Diane awake all night as a result of my talking in my sleep. What do they mean? I am too scared to Google them for the specifics but I have summarised the details below..
Dream 1
Diane and I have just finished shopping in Kroger. Diane is complaining that she has coupons left over and is determined to use them. She is feeding coupons into the Coke machine outside the store and groceries are dropping into the tray at the bottom of the machine. She is putting the groceries into a plastic sack and cursing the store for not having the items she needs. At the end she is standing there like the crazy cat woman in The Simpsons hurling bags of groceries at passing cars and screaming at security guards while I am trying to calm her down.
Dream 2
For some reason I am co-ordinating a marketing campaign that involves giving away free grey colored Porsche cars to people. With each car I am giving away a weird looking computer console that has been customised with three bottles of red Powerade Zero on the top. (No love for the Grape or Berry flavors for some reason!) The bottles rotate like a carousel. People around me are all complaining that it is hopelessly impractical as the motion of the cars causes the bottles to fall off the top of the computer. I am standing there arguing that they look great and they are a fantastic idea...
To be honest...I am worried!
Super Kmart Doubles
Total Money Spent: $37.82
Total Saved: $204.30(84.4%)
Cheap Milk @ Target
Total Money Spent: $1.62
Total Saved: $57.92(97.3%)
This past weekend's deals- Walgreens (Part 3)
Total Money Spent: $6.59
Total Saved: $52.32(88.8%)
Recap of last weekend's deals- Kroger (Part 2)
13 Enfamil Soy Formula
1 Dole Salad Mix
1 Tomato
1 Bag of dog food
2 Gallons of Nursery Water
Total Money Spent: $1.61
Total Saved: $42.80(96.3%)
Recap of last weekend's deals- Kroger (Part 1)
Total Saved: $87.65(68%)