My Friday Deals...

Here's my deals of the day:

CVS--Spent $8 OOP, Got 11 ECB's back, Saved $8.

Jewel--Transaction #1 Spent $27.72 OOP, Got $5 Inst. Rebate and $20 MIR.
Transaction #2--Spent 37.21 OOP and a $10 MIR.

Total Saved $54.87

Hyvee--Spent $37/ Saved $4.

Target--Spent $24.76 OOP/ Saved $3.28.

SV SuperMarket--$3.69 on a whole chicken (I am going to cook this up to see how many meals I can get from it.)

This trip was a littl frustrating, but I'll work through it. The kids aren't around this week , so most of it was stuff they will use when school starts.

My envelope budgeting is going well. I'm finally on board with what my hubby has been trying to teach me the last 8 1/2 years. Sorry to say, I'm not good with money at all. But now I'm on board with it. Next pay period will be interesting to see how it works. Our big house payment comes out of that check, not leaving much else after it, tithes, and bills. And because my hubby gets paid every two weeks, it shifts when we get that extra pay check every six months or whatever.

But so far, I've only spent $230 on food. Understand that this is a big accomplishment for me. Groceries were never budgeted, so I spent whatever when I went to the store. The last few months before I started doing this, I was spending $600+ on food a month. That included eating out and groceries, and picking stuff up here and there. Now that I have switched to shopping once a week instead of every two weeks, I don't find myself in the store picking up what I ran out of.

We have 1 more pay check in August. And if I do it right, I will have chopped my grocery bill in half!!!! This has been very exciting for me to learn and play with. And there is actually money budgeted to go do other things. :)

So that's how it went this week.....

PS....I think some stores and candy makers are behind a conspiracy to make our children revolt against us. WHO'S BRIGHT IDEA WAS IT....to put all the candy right up underneath the cash register. I have never had a problem with my kids asking for things except at CVS...its right there at THEIR eye level, and a pack of Starbursts (which Mom said no to) about had us headed out to the van for a "battle of the wills" match. And it was only the first stop! But mom got her point across and off we headed to Jewel for stop 2. I think after yesterday, I will try to arrange it to go shopping by myself. 5 or 6 stops with a 3 and 6 year old is just to much for them. It's almost too much for me, BUT it's so worth the savings. :)

Have a great weekend!

Saturday Morning Grocery Trip

Good Morning, or should I say Good Afternoon, guess it depends on where you are from right now. It actually just turned 12:07 here, so I guess it's afternoon. :)

Here is how my shopping trip went today.

Transaction #1--Jewel Osco

Jewel was having a sale on certain items, if you bought $30, you got $15 back toward your next purchase. So here is what I did...

I purchased their $30 worth of items and it actually came to $26.50 after coupons I had. My $15 coupons toward my next purchase automatically printed out, thus I had Transaction #2 ready. And here that is...

Transacation #2--Jewel Osco

Here you see popcorn which was B1G1, a pound of apples (which I actually weighed and wouldn't you know it, I only got 2 apples). There is also cheese, crackers, and butter. Also you see split chicken breast, which was B1G1. I got almost 4lbs of chicken for $7.39 which is what the heavier of the two cost. So I applied my $15 coupons to this transaction and paid $6.42 OOP.

Transaction #3--CVS Pharmacy

At CVS, I had $12 ECB's from my last trip and a coupon for a free lotion. OOP was $2.33. I also got 1 ECB back.

I'm slowly getting the hang of this. It will take some time, but I'll get it! In just the two weeks I have done the coupons, ECB's and etc., I have knocked $80 off my average grocery bill for a two week period!

So, I spent $37.58 OOP, and my receipts total a savings of $59.75. :)

Till next time, HAPPY SAVING!

P.S. I should mention too, that we are able to slaughter a whole beef every winter, we most do ground beef and roasts, so thats why you will hardly see any beef in my posts.

Can we say.....

EXHAUSTED!

LOL...thats me, today. I am hoping there is enough coffee in the world for me today. But coffee is what got me here to begin with.

Yesterday, I ended up taking my 6 and 3 year old school shopping. We got school supplies, picked up some new clothes and shoes. We were gone almost all day. We got home at 4 in time to unload grab a bite to eat and turn around and spin wheels back to town for VBS, which has been 6:30 to 8:30 all week. While the kids were at VBS, I decided to sit at Starbucks with a Venti Frapp and read. OH, some nice quiet time. It was very enjoyable.

My problem started after that. I went to bed about 10:15 and preceeded to toss and turn and toss and turn and...well, you get the picture. So I got out of bed and finally wound down about 2:00. YIKES....wouldn't have been a problem except.....

I volunteered to keep a friends 3 girls for the day. So I have five kids in my house...LOL. Everyone is a little tired, a little cranky, I think I see nap times for everyone. :)

So thats what is is here....tired and exhausted. I still have a grocery list to make, I need to get bread made, and my kitchen tidied up, but there is no motivation.

Oh, and did I mention its cloudy and cool here today, that doesn't help me any. :)

Until next time,

On A Mission ( A Money Saving Mission)

Okay, so here is my mission...I want to save money! How hard could it be? With me, its very difficult.

Here is how I plan to do this. I have started couponing, and I have done an envelope budget system starting with my hubby's paycheck on 8/14.

I am in need of a newer vehicle soon, and my goal, is to pay cash. We don't have a vehicle payment now, and I don't want to start having one.

Before I spent $200 (every two weeks) everytime I went to the grocery store. I really need to cut that back! I started Friday (7/31) with my coupons, register rewards, and help from God. I really want to be a more frugal steward of my husband's (and God's) money. So here I go.

I have already thrown the receipts from Friday away, but I did do really good for my first time out. I think I spent around $85 in groceries for the week and $45 in personal items. I also got 12 ECB's back from CVS to use toward my next purchase.

Please join me on this endeavor and pray that I can reach my goal.

Till next time,

In case your ever in the area...

http://www.lighthousebaptistchurchonline.com

We would love to have you visit!

WOW.....

I can't believe it's been since Feb 19th since I have last been on here. So much has happened! Blogging seemed to have taken a back seat.

Since I last posted on my doings, I have taken a trip, had surgery, and finished up the school year with DD.

On Spring Break we headed to Colorado to see family. The kids and I road the train out and back. It was a great experience. I highly recommend it if your not in a hurry.

A week after returning from Colorado, I had gall bladder surgery. It was scheduled and I thought I was prepared, but as much as we plan, it always turns out different. It was an outpatient surgery, which I wish it hadn't been. I really wasn't ready to come home that afternoon. They said within 3-5 days I would be back to myself. Well, it was day 5 before I even started to feel better. I was so blessed to have the help of a wonderful church family and friends. After I hit day 7, I was a brand new woman. I had the surgery on a Thursday and the following Saturday I was roller skating and the next night playing volleyball.

I didn't realize I had been feeling so bad, because I have been feeling better than I have for a very long time. I am down 10lbs since the surgery and I am now training for a 5K.

God has been so good too! We have seen many friends lose their jobs this spring, and yet God has provided for each of them. Many of them have gotten called back or found new jobs to provide for them and their families.

May proved to be a busy month with piano recitals and graduations. I was so glad when school was out for the summer. I hadn't realized how much I hadn't been home, until I was actually home last week! DD graduated from Kindergarten and will be entering the 1st grade already. I am amazed how blessed I am with her.

Summer is in full swing here. We have already enjoyed a trip to the zoo and a great picnic for Memorial Day with church family. This summer looks to be exciting! Vacation will start in a few weeks and we are so looking forward to the days away with one another.

Till Next Time....

Bag Give-A-Way

I have never done one of these but found it on a friends blog. Such cute bags! Go on over and enter yourself.

http://bagsnrags.blogspot.com/2009/02/grand-opening-purse-give-away.html