Boobie Babble

OH. MY. GOODNESS.  Ok, so this trip was made under some unusual conditions that I hope to never-again repeat.   Reese's 2nd day of school was today.  Raeleigh and I had out first day of Parent's Day Out at Journey and we were ALL e-x-h-a-u-s-t-e-d!! So that is strike one in the coupoing chaos trifecta. We made the trip together as a family--not our usual Jason-only trip.  Strike two in the trifecta... And three?  What is three you ask?  We went to HEB to coupon and deal shop on the last day of the ad cycle.  Meaning, all the deals listed in the current ad end are changing at closing tonight.  Never, ever, ever, never, ever do this!  At least not if you plan to budget and coupon shop.  I will tell you why: HEB was completely out of many of their combo locos and meal deals.  When I say out--I mean OUT.  In some instances there were no yellow in-store coupons remaining, if you could locate the items, and in other c...

So the kids were CRAZY and I needed dishwasher detergent and a BREAK so I grabbed my coupon binder and headed to the local Dollar general in China Spring. I found some pretty good deals. Check em out! Cocoa puffs on sale for $2 a box.  With 75 cent off coupon I paid $1.25 for the box!  WHOO HOO! Hamburger helper on sale for $1 a box and I had a coupon for 80 cents off 4 boxes. I bought 4 and paid a final price of 80 cents for each box. Pretty good! They also had their speedstick deodorant on sale for $2 both men's and women's (regular $2.25) plus a smaller speedstick at regular price for $1.75. I had 50 cent off coupons for all 3. I paid $1.50 for 2 and $1.25 for the other. Not the best deal in the world but still happy with it. Another good find was that they have their clearasil produts on sale for $1 off the normal $4.50 plus there is a mfg coupon for $1 off. I paid $2.50 for some skin care! Liked that deal quite a bit. Oh, and OF COURSE 25 cent colgate. And last but n...

Most couponers know the importance of keeping plenty of coupons.  Alot of couponers even realize the value in having your coupons stored in an organized manner...some newby couponers, however, are not aware of the work and time it take to achieve and maintain this goal. Just as it is important to clip and store coupons it is also important to purge.  Depending on how you shop:  be it once a week, twice a month or once a month, your purging scheduel will vary.  I shop twice a month--once every two weeks.  The day of, or the day before I make my list, I sit down with my coupon binder and the sole task of getting rid of expired coupons.  I look only at expiration dates and get rid of those that have passed or will pass before my next trip.  It is important to get these expired coupons out of your stash before you make your newest shopping plan.  They can very easily become distractions and even mess up a shopping trip.  If they are in...

So I decided to try my hand at CVS today.  I have couponed for a while now but just hadn't wanted to add another store to my stops.  But the deals just seemed great.  Here is what I did. I separated my order into 2 purchases. My first purchase I bought my items that earned the ecb's (extra care bucks).  ECBs are printed at the register after your purchase and are same as cash for future purchases.  I bought Zyrtec for 5.99 and used a $4 off coupon.  I paid $1.99 for it and earned $5 ECBs (they paid me to bring it home). I also bought 2 covergirl natureluxe lipstick for $7 each and used a $5 off 2 coupon...making them $4.50 each.  I also bouth other cover girl items totaling $15 before mfg coupons and that earned me $5 ecbs.  I them took advantage of another ecb earning sale in which i bought $10 worth of crest and oral b products.  I had mfg coupons for these items as well lowering what I paid from $10 to about $5 but still earned the ecbs...

Just got back from our twice monthly HEB trip and I managed to top my own coupon savings record!  WhooHOOOOO!  Here goes the break down! Store brand savings: $9.99 On Sale Savings:  $7.72 COUPON SAVINGS: $89.65 TOTAL:  $107.36 What a rush that was! Before savings the total was staggering...$384.55.  We definitely did not have that type of money to spend.  We are usually pleased with a total bill of $300 or less for a 2 week period.  That is $150 a week for all of our consumer goods.  We don't 'shop'.  We get what we need on our grocery trip and no other shopping in between.  So that averages $150 per week for a family of four.  With the economy like it is, I am not pleased with that but it is a reality. Well today we paid $297 for nearly $400 worth of items.  We doubled up on body washes and shampoos with great coupon and sale deals so we wont need them the next 2 trips.  There were also quite ...

Decided to not only make the list and compile the coupons for my hubs this week but to also go to the store along with him. Usually he goes directly after work, without us. It seems easier for one of us to go than both of us with 2 kids in tow. We bravely trod where many-a-parent is required to go and drug the 2 girls out with us this evening. Our family shops once every two weeks with a detailed list to minimize impulse buys and unnecessary purchases. We have been averaging around $320 a trip for all the groceries, personals, cleaners and household items we need each two weeks. THIS WAS NOT OK WITH ME! INSANITY! I realize that prices have gone up across the board but just last year we were averaging $200 per 2 week trip. A $120 increased seemed NUTS! So, I have decided to break back out the coupon divaness and dust off the ole coupon binder. I have worked hard these last 2 weeks finding coupons, organizing my book and planning our meals. It seemed to help. I love to go to...

There is a new show on TLC, EXTREME COUPONING! I have had some luck in the past with my coupon methods but these ladies (and gentlemen) truly inspire me. They can go into a store fill 3-4 grocery carts with about $600 worth of food and the spend $6-10 on average. I AM NOT THAT GOOD! However, I want to learn. I am planning on spending the next two weeks researching online how these people do this. There have to be tricks. There is one gentleman on the show that hasnt paid for toilet paper or deodorant in years--he gets it 100% free. I don't know how but I intend to find out. I have used a method in the past that I witnessed at Walmart. Another mom had a 3 ring binder full of baseball card protectors and each protector held a coupon (nine per page). The coupons were sorted by category. I use categories such as cleaning, medication, food, personal care, misc, etc. The SUnday paper is a great place to start to get coupons but with one income and a shoe string budget I dont even s...