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...

I was going stir-crazy at home today.  I knew there were some good deals at Dollar General and Family dollar and I just wanted a change of scenery.  I loaded up my girls and we headed out. My first stop today was Dollar General.  I had seen their ad and knew there were a few things that I would like to get.  Well, as I walked into the store I noticed something that I had not paid attention to before--a HUGE clearance table at the front door.  I pulled my buggy aside and began digging in.  I found some AMAZING deals: 2 sharpies for $1.75 vegetable seeds for 10 cents HUGE bottle of herbal essence shampoo on clearance for $2.15 with $1 off coupon (final price $1.15) Cover Girl shadow on clearance for $2.25 with $1 off coupon (final price $1.25) Cover Girl powder on clearance for $3 ($6 regularly) with $1 off coupon (final price $2) Cover Girl foundation on clearance for $1 with $1 off coupon (final price FREE) and finally Glade plug in on clearance for $3 wit...

  So I beat my record save of $107!  My new personal best is $110 total.  I purchased items such as tooth whitening kit, razors, axe body wash, clearasil, qtips, advil PM, tylenol precise cream, flintstone vitamins, contact solution, $30 gas card (HEB is doing 11 cents off per gallon with in store card purchase), chicken breast halves, 16 yoplait yogurts, gogurt, goldfish, fiber one bars, school glue, pencils, crayons, fresh fruit, cereal, juice, weight watchers yogurt, smart ones, corn dogs, chips, dip soda, toaster streudels, bagelfuls, dole fruit crisps, totinos pizzas, pizza bites, herbal essence conditioner, magic erasers, carpet fresh and many, many more.  stocked up!  My total number of items purchased was 146. Some of my favorite deals were:  Free herbal essence product from mail in request Free in store samples of Garnie (sp??) with $1 coupon included Clearasil 255 off in addition to $1 off coupon Whitening tooth strips for $10 after stacking $10...

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...

I actually got to go with  hubs to HEB this week.  Since he was out of town last week we didn't manage to go on our normal day, Friday.  So we chose to go after church on  Sunday.  This 2 weeks take was a pretty good one.  I got 2 Tylenol precise heating pad packs that retails for $6 each (for my arthritis), bird seed,  24 hr allergy meds for my girls, yoplait gogurt, pringles stacks, 5 smart ones meals (we are on weight watcher and while expensive these prepared meals are low points and yummy), 5 smart ones desserts, granola bars, chips, salsa, soda, toothpaste, tons of fresh fruit, lunchables, fruit rolls ups (3 boxes), yoplait yogurts, weight watcher brand yogurts, popcorn, 5 boxes of cereal, 2 gallons of milk, hair accessories for girls (bogo with instore coupon), and tons of other great items. I have been asked recently if I save so much by spending allot.  The answer to that is yes and no.  We have a set monthly grocery budge...

As a couponer it is very important to remember that many things can throw a wrench into your trip.  I planned for hours this week for a coupon trip that I thought would be my new record--over $107.  Well that wasn't the case.  I saved quite a bit--a respectable $77.08 but did not reach the level that I expected.  There were several reasons.  Some items were not available in-store....Jason got a clerk who didn't understand the HEB coupon policy and refused to let him use some of the coupons (Jason was so exhausted he didn't fight the battle) and we failed to communicate the size of some items required for the coupon use.  My rule is always by the smallest item that the coupon will allow for the maximum savings--and I made the assumption that Jason could read my mind and know that as well. So the moral of this story is clear communication, and understanding of coupon policy and the willingness to speak up if a clerk does not clearly understand (ie.  the...

We used our faithful method of shopping and saving sanity with 2 small children.  I made the list--gathered the coupons--and Jason shopped.  We usually save more when I can go with his because I always take my binder with me and he BEGS me to not make him take it...lol.  But  in the end the extra savings we would have earned seem futile when I think about going alone or going together with BOTH kids.  So this is our method. Trip overall: Store brand savings: $4.46 Coupon savings: $63.69 Total: $66.93 There were some especially great savings this week.  I had 3 coupons for regular cheerios.  One for $1 off 2 and 2 for 55cents off one (and they could be combined)  Then in store they had $4 off 4 boxes...That is $6.10 savings on 4 boxes of cheerios with total cost of $10.72.  We paid a tad over a dollar per box---I can live with that. They also had the same deal for fruit roll ups this week.  I had a coupon and they had $4 off 4....

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 ...

So I made the list and I checked it twice! I combined sales, combo locos, meal deals and coupons for a grand savings this time of $70.03. That feels pretty good!!! I took advantage of deals such as $4 off mens razors plus a buy one get one free for the same brand. I also had several coupons for a free 2L soda with purchase of a couple bags of sun chips. I needed some new blush and covergirl had $3 off two plus in store there was a $1.50 off each..super good savings!!! There are some good deals out there right now! The breakdown is as follows! Store brand savings $7.04 on sale savings $3.76 free/coupon savings $59.23 happy couponing!!!

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...