Kroger paid me to take my groceries home...

So I went back to Kroger to pick up a couple of things I forgot and see if they got the Reach toothbrushes back in stock. I actually went to a different Kroger today than normal and they did have the toothbrushes so I got 6 for free with coupons and rounded out the buy 10 deal with 4 cans of tomato sauce for 49 cents each. They had yogurt marked down and the way my little boy goes through it I stock up when I can and I had plenty of coupons that I bought off ebay. So I got 4/4 packs of yogurt and they paid me 4 cents after coupons. I also got 2/4 pack of drinkable ones I paid 83 cents total after coupons. Some stores will give you grief for using coupons on markdowns. The Kroger stores here do not since they will get their money either way and like getting rid of stuff before they can't sell it any more. I also got 2/8 packs of dish clothes because mine are about 3 years old and were getting kind of nasty. Also Always products with coupons and two cans of  Nacho soup that was on sale. They took off my credit from the pharmacy then took off the coupons and ended up giving me almost $5 back. Now that is what I call shopping. :)

Then I hit Meijer where I would have done really well if I had stayed away from the books but I ended up buying Scotty a Wonder Pets water color paint book and a Wonder Pets Paper Dolls book for later. He had so much fun painting today and it's a huge book so there will be many more days in our future. Well worth the extra money spent. I got free eggs with my Mperks card. They have been generous lately with the freebies. :) I also bought a couple more packs of drinkable yogurt on sale with coupons for just 89 cents each. And my favorite purchase was new fleece PJ's for me. My last new pair was right before Scotty was born to wear at the hospital and they are pretty worn out. They were half price and are so warm and soft. Made my whole month. LOL How sad that getting something new for me makes me this happy. :)

Good week for deals

I'm sitting here laughing because my husband is talking about how much money he spent before he met me. He shopped the most expensive grocery store because it's convenient and ate out a lot because he was to lazy to cook dinner. :) Wow have times have changed for him. Now he doesn't spend much money at all.

So far I have found some amazing deals this week. The one I was the most excited about was 52 weeks of the Sunday paper delivered for just $52. That's half off the normal paper price plus a few more dollars savings on the delivery. :) Couldn't pass that one up. I know there are at least $1 worth of coupons in the paper each week.

I did make it to Once Upon a Child on Monday and picked up about 10 shirts/sweaters for $12.80. I was very happy. I think we are just about set for next winter. I did not take stuff into sell I didn't have as much as I thought so I will probably wait until a little later in the year. Might try a different store to sell at one of these days.

I also got a gift certificate to use on a website called brighter beginnings that sells great today for just $5 with my Eversave credit. Love credit!

I went to Aldi and picked up a few things I was running low on. Eggs, bananas, apples, taco seasoning. onion soup mix and a few other things for about $13. It would have been less if I had actually bought the right kind of apples that were on sale. Always a bummer to get home and find I spent more money than I needed to.

Kroger is having a great mega sale and I had a ton of coupons that made stuff super cheap. I got 11 cans of diced tomotoes, 10 cans of rotel tomotoes, 12 balance bars, 2 reach flossers, 3 Honest Ade drinks, 4 bags of organic blue tortilla type chips, 5 cans of Hormel chili, and 3 cans of soup. Oh and a loaf of marked down and some cheese sticks for Scotty all for just over $10. The only thing that would have made it better would have been if my $25 credit would have worked so I wouldn't have had to pay that. It's there it just didn't give me the option of using it. :( I have more coupons to use next week. Most are not that good but still some good deals.

The mystery shop company I contract with called and asked me to do a last minute shop for them. It paid $7 for a few minutes of work and I was to spend $1 just to prove I actually went to the store. I saw on one of the blogs I read that I could get a pack of photo paper free with a rebate so I got that instead and got the rebate all sent in so they paid me to buy something I was getting free anyway so more money for me. :) So a few extra dollars to add to the budget.

I also was able to order two photo books for just over $7 each for shipping. They are the great hard back kind. I did one of Scott's birthday party and I sent one to my mom as well. She loves showing off her grandson to all the people who will stop and look. :) She will be so excited when it gets there and surprises her. Can't beat a great surprise for $7.

Today I am going to get a free DVD from redbox and I forgot my coke at Kroger so I am going to see if I can get that credit to actually work for me. Might mean another call to customer service.

Oh and you have to love cable companies that like to mess with you. I got a card in the mail telling me my discounted rate was ending and it would go up just $12 a month. Not happy but decided it would be OK then I got the bill and it went up almost $16. So I call them and they made excuse after excuse for why it was not what they said it would be. Never did get a straight answer on that one but I did find out I could get it knocked down even a little more if they rebundled which apparently they undid last year and I get caller ID and free long distance on my phone so an added bonus. Not happy about the $25 charge but at least it will pay me back over the next few months. Makes me mad though. Wise there with other choices.

Happy Saving everyone and sometimes it's worth a phone call to save some money even if it frustrates you in the process.

Sorry for being gone so long...

I have just had so much going on and every time I turn around it snows again so I try to avoid going out as much as possible. I love this time a year for all the great mark downs though so I have been out snatching them up. I hurried over to Target last week when they marked their toys down to 75% off. I am thankful for all the blogs that keep me up on when things should be marked down or when people have found them marked down. I really scored on some great stuff to use for gifts for all those birthday parties as well as some stuff for Scotty for next year. I got him a Toy Story race track that looks like so much fun  for just $12.49 original price $49.99. I think I spent about $80 for about $320 worth of toys. :) I was even able to use a coupon I had on a tag book.

I also hit Target this morning looking for some more deals on some of the toys that were not marked down that far last time and overheard someone say that they were not going down until the 6th so you know I will be there that day. :) I did however score some clothes markdowns for Scott for next winter. I got a great two piece coat that has fleece all down the sleeves for just $6.75 and two sweaters at $2.50 each and a pair of fleece pants for just $1.75 which is cheaper than consignment store prices for the part and they are brand new.

Monday I am headed back to Once Upon a Child to see if there is anything left since they will go down to 75% off their fall and winter orange and green tagged items. I also have a few more things I dug up that I am going to try and sell them to help cover whatever I find. We are getting closer to having next year covered. Right now I think mostly we need jeans I think. Hard to find in a 4T with knees still in them. I will be watching yard sales all summer. I still need to locate the box in the attic to double check what I already have but it's so cold up there. :(

Today I ran into Meijer for their super Saturday sale and for a few other things that they had on sale. I got 4 packs of Angel soft toilet paper. They were $1.93 each and I was lucky enough to have 2 $1 off coupons so two of them were only 93 cents each. I also got a pound of bacon for $2 and 4 jars of peter pan peanut butter for 99 cents each. I think I might have had a coupon for it but forgot to try and find it so if I find it I will take it back next week. I also picked up drinkable yogurt for my child who sucks it down really fast on sale and for one had a coupon. To bad I didn't have more of those. I should check ebay after tomorrow when the coupon will be in the paper. :)

I also ran into Kroger for a second time this week the first go round I did get some good deals but the best was a bottle of dish detergent for free because it was marked down to $1 and I had a $1 off coupon. :) Today I picked up some cereal for free with a buy 3 items get it free and used coupons and paid $2.72 out of pocket for 3 boxes of Fiber one bars and a box of cereal and got back a $1.50. So just over 30 cents a box if you divide it by 4. I got floss that they paid me to buy. I also got some protein bars for my sister for pretty cheap. Between 50 and 67 cents each. I also picked up free breathe right strips with a coupon.

I also scored big on an Amazon Gift card this week. There was a deal where you could get a $20 card for just $10 and if free friends bought one you got yours free well at least 3 people signed up so I got mine for free. So $20 to spend on Amazon. I also have a little over $12 from doing online surveys I can cash in for more to spend on there. Love it!

I also used my $25 credit on Shutterfly to print all the pictures from Scotty's birthday party and paid just $11 out of pocket for 170 pictures. That is about 6 cents a print which is pretty good. I also printed a bunch on Snapfish with free credits so I am pretty much caught up on picture printing which is good. Now if I could get them scrapbooked I would be good.

Happy saving!

Great savings at Once Upon a Child

I did indeed make it to sell some of Scott's stuff on Monday. However I did not sell as much as I would have liked due to the fact that the sizes I had are the common ones so I came home with more than I would like. I need to check out selling to some of the other ones in town but haven't gotten that far yet. I did make over $50 and found a good portion of Scott's wardrobe for next winter while I was there. I spent another $25 out of pocket which really is not to bad considering what clothes cost full price especially the name brands and a lot of what I got were. I got 8 pairs of pants, 7 shirts, 3 sweaters, 2 hoodies, a winter coat, a pair of shoes, and a book. :)

I also ran into Aldi and got Tortilla chips, 6 cans of chili beans 3 bags of bananas or about 9 lbs, a 2lb bag of dry great northern beans, and a loaf of bread for just under $14. I got the wrong chips so that did up my price a little bit. I need to pay more attention but I was in a hurry and wasn't. We also went to Sam's club where I got an 8 pack of 15oz cans of mandarin oranges, a rotisserie chicken, 3 cans of flavored peanuts, and a big container of grapes for about $25. I love how far I can make one of those chickens go. Scotty and I had sandwiches for lunch and I made enough pot pie filling for two pies which usually means dinner for the family and lunch for my husband the next day. I have enough meat left for at least on more meal and a pot of soup. All for $5.

I still am heading to Meijer and Kroger this week. It's been snowy and cold so we have not left the house in two days. I also want to check Targets toy prices again and possibly head to Gymboree to see if they have any deals worth using my Gymbucks on. We will see how the week rounds out. I hate the cold and hate being out in it even more. :(

Happy Saving

Survived the party and found some great clearance deals

The party went great and even though the roads were bad the morning of the party by party time they were passable and everyone made it safely and had so much fun. It was worth every penny to see how excited my little boy was.

Even with the snow on the ground Saturday morning I decided I really needed to go ahead and run my errands and pick up the last minute things like ice. I probably should have just used the snow in the cooler and saved myself some money. :) I will have to try it next time and see how it works out. Before heading to Meijer for the few things I needed there and that were deals I headed to Target to check the clearance toys and since it was a different one than I went to when things went 90% off I checked what they had left there too. I was excited to find they had the great Toddler Thomas the train wooden sets half off that will make wonderful gifts for Scott's parties he will be going to for just $9.99. LOVE IT I also found another container of building blocks to go with the ones I got for Scott's Christmas/birthday next year marked half off. Now he should have plenty to make whatever he wants. A lot of the stuff has still not gone 50% off and I am confused on how they are doing it this year usually one day they just mark it all down on the same day and it seems they are doing it a few toys at a time and not the same ones as the other stores are doing. Oh well I got some good deals and will keep watching for further mark downs on some other stuff that will make great gifts. That does remind me I need to check the message boards and see what others are saying and maybe post and see if anyone has any thoughts on that. I also picked up a few items from the Christmas stuff. Some pop up tape refills for 20 cents each and some more staples to go with the staple gun I got to hang Christmas lights with (going to see if it what my neighbor was looking for) and some different kinds of tree hooks that looked like fun.

On to Meijer for some free boxes of Green Giant veggies, big containers of yogurt with coupons for Scotty (he eats a ton of this), instant brown rice with a coupon that was expiring (I like to wait for a sale but needed more rice and using the coupon was better than nothing), and a box of free hair color with a coupon they sent me.

I also accidentally found a great deal on pillow pets this past week at Kroger. I stopped in to pick up my little boys prescription and find something to put the cupcakes for his party in. I found big roasting pans with lids for $1 each on clearance. :) My little boy spotted a puppy Pillow Pet and had to have it. He had not show any interest in them before but he was petting it and loving on it. I wasn't happy about spending $20 and was trying to figure out how to leave it behind without a melt down. The lady in the pharmacy assured me that she was pretty sure it was on sale so we took it to the register to find out. It rang up just $6 what an awesome deal! So he got a Pillow pet and I hit another Kroger and got another to use as a gift. I am not sure if they are still on sale or clearance or what. Nobody had them marked or they would have been gone I am sure. I would love to get a couple more if I can find them and they are still on sale. The variety is not good since they are getting rid of them. Everyone else is still selling them for $20. I was in Kroger way to many times but did manage to score a few more deals while I was there. When I went into the other Kroger to look for more pillow pets I wanted to get some hot chocolate with $2 coupons I had and get the extra money since they were on sale for less than that toward the pet. The guy who was checking me out didn't want me to have the extra money and kept trying to put in the info without giving me the extra and it took forever. I tried telling him that Kroger would get the $2 no matter what. He was sure it was not true. I gave up and took my coupons and left the store with just my pillow pet. Stopped at the one by my house because I knew I could scan them myself. Had to find something to use up the overage. I found they had marked down their Christmas cupcake papers to 10 cents each. What a deal and I don't care what kind I used for muffins and such. so I got 10 packs of them and a box of oatmeal marked down to 59 cents for 10 packets. So I got all that plus two boxes of hot chocolate for 63 cents. :) Funny how if the guy would have just scanned them it would not have been a big deal. Coupon nazis are not fun and should not make up their own rules.

Tomorrow I am headed to Once Upon a Child to see about selling some of Scott's clothes and check out their markdowns. They are supposed to go to 50% off certain items (winter with the right color tag). I am hoping to make enough to buy whatever I find for next year. I also need a couple of things from Sam's club and Aldi so we are probably headed there as well.

So much to get ready for a birthday party...

Sorry I have not had time to post recently. This week was my little boys birthday and his party is on Saturday so I have been trying to get ready for that not to mention I have not been feeling all that good. Anyway on to my savings and deals in the last week plus. I have not been buying a lot of groceries I have plenty of staples to keep us going so that I am able to spend the extra on after Christmas bargains and gifts for next year not to mention for birthday parties  that I know Scott will be invited to. So far I have bought a few things for Scott at 50% off at Target as well as cards and wrapping paper and other goodies at 75-90% off at Target. Yesterday I hit Target for 90% off Christmas deals I spent less than $16 and saved over $123 according to my receipt. Not sure if that works out money wise but that was what it said. I am set on cards and wrapping paper for years to come. I got some great silver plastic bowls that I can use for serving or water play or any number of things for just 19 cents each. :)  I also found some bath sets at Meijer the end of last week for $2.49 each and they are not marked for Christmas so will make great birthday gifts as well. I also got some containers of Kleenex for just 49 cents each. I found some coupons for them after I got home so I will take them back when I go this week and get my money back. I will end up paying just 98 cents for 6 oval shaped containers. They are cute with winter patterns and will work great in the bathrooms or under the table in our living room where my two year old can't reach them. I always keep my eyes open for deals like that. :) It really helps when the budget is tight. I don't have to worry about running out of things like that. I also found a fun Thomas shirt for Scott and while not the most amazing bargain he will love it and it was on clearance.

I am still watching the toys at Target. I might make it back on Saturday to see if they have marked more down to 50% off and hopefully by next week I can catch the 75% off deals. Hopefully there will be some great things to use for Birthday presents because I know we have at least 4 more in the next few months for Scotty's little friends. :) I was able to use some stuff I got last year for a party this past weekend. It was the perfect toy and I had gotten a great deal on it. Love when that happens.