Freebie Shopping Spree

And this is why I love coupons!!!

Tonight I was itching to get out of the house to go shopping, but I really didn't want to spend any money so I decided to go on a Freebie Shopping Spree! I wanted to see how many things I could find for free. I spent $2.00 for everything in the picture above (without coupons this would have cost me $33.77)!!! And all of that except for $0.07 was tax. Here's the break down:

Target - $1.71
Hershey Bliss bar (I grabbed this to catch overage, but the cashier adjusted down the coupons)
Vaseline lotion
2 Gillette body wash
Nivea body wash
2 Reach floss
Carefree liners
2 Benadryl Itch Relief
Saved $20.91
Subtotal $0.07
Tax $1.64
Used $0.55 off Hershey Bliss, $3.75 off Vaseline, $1.00 off Target Vaseline, $4.00 off 2 Gillette body wash, $4.00 of Nivea body wash, (2) $1.00 off Reach floss, $1.00 off Carefree liners, $5.00 off 2 Benadryl

Walgreens - $0.21
Puffs Plus
Sure deodorant
Saved $4.89
Subtotal -$0.01
Tax $0.22
Used $1.50 Walgreens Sure coupon, $1.50 off Sure, $0.99 Walgreens Puff Plus coupon and $1.00 off Puffs Plus

CVS - $0.08
Dawn hand soap
2 Fig Newtons
Saved $5.97
Subtotal $0.00
Tax $0.08
Used $1.00 Dawn hand soap and (2) $1.00 off Figs Newtons

A Week of Shopping To Remember

This week I did so well with my shopping I can hardly stand myself! I only spent $39.73 on $190.43 worth of groceries! Here's the run down:


Walgreens - $4.51
Quattro Disposable Razors
Saved $5.00
Used $3.00 Walgreens coupon and $2.00 mfr coupon
*I also received $4.00 back in Registers Rewards

Safeway Transaction #1 - $4.49
2 - 2 liter 7Up
Scrubbing Bubbles Extend-A-Clean Starter
Saved $9.61
Used $5.00 Scrubbing Bubbles coupon and (2) $1.00 7Up coupons
*I also received $3.00 in catalinas back for purchasing the Scrubbing Bubbles

Safeway Transaction #2 - $7.71
2 bags of Lays Kettle chips
4 jars of Classico spaghetti sauce
1 can of formula
Saved $29.22
Used BOGO Lays chips coupon, (2) BOGO Classico spaghetti sauce coupons, $5.00 formula coupon and $3.75 in catalinas

CVS - $2.04
1 gallon of milk
Saved $0.85
Used $0.55 of real CA milk coupon


Walgreens - $2.51
Quattro Disposable Razors
Saved $7.00
Used $3.00 Walgreens coupon and $4.00 mfr coupon
*I received $4.00 in Registers Rewards back

Walgreens - $1.62
9 rolls of Angel Soft toilet paper
Smuckers jelly
Imperial sugar
2 Butterfingers
Saved $10.79
Used $0.50 Imperial sugar coupon and $8.00 in Registers Rewards from razor purchases

Safeway Transaction #3 - $7.49
3 Windex
4 Lunchables
Saved $11.50
Used (3) $1.00 off Windex coupons
*I received $6.00 in catalinas back and will submit for $5 SC Johnson rebate for purchasing the Windex

Safeway Transaction #4 - $14.99
3 - 12 packs of soda
1 bag of Tostitos
4 lbs of ground beef
2 avocados
Saved $33.69
Used $6.00 in catalinas from previous purchases

Raley's - $5.19
1 package taco seasoning
2 mangoes
2 packages of tortillas
2 packages of lunch meat
Saved $15.94
Used free taco seasoning with $10 purchase coupon, (2) $0.75 tortilla coupons and (2) $1.00 lunch meat coupons

And for the grand finale!

Target - $0.17!!!
2 Merona Hobo Bags
1 bag of Hershey Bliss metaways
1 Orbits gum
2 Easy Express meals
Saved $27.10
Used (2) $5.00 off Merona handbags coupons, (2) $2.50 Easy Express coupons and $1.00 Hershey coupon

Six Months Old!

Oh how far we've come...

Can you believe it? I can't! But Blair is six months old today! It seems like yesterday that she was born. She has come so far from the teeny weeny 1 lb 10 oz and 13.5 inches long! To celebrate we are heading to Sutter Memorial Hospital where I will be returning my pump that I have been renting since she was born, donating her preemie clothes to the NICU and taking cookies to the nurses, doctors and staff as a thank you!

And for a current picture ....

More Shopping

Yet again I got some more spectacular deals using coupons! Again I didn't need any meat or veggies. So here is what I got:

Walmart - $5.40
5.5 lbs of apples

CVS - $6.89
6 pack of beer
1 dozen eggs
Saved $5.60
Used $5 ECB from previous purchase

Safeway - $15.19
4 sparkling waters
4 bags of Lay's kettle chips
6 jars of spaghetti sauce
5 cream cheese minis
1 cinnamon rolls
2 crescent rolls
1 lb ground beef
Saved $46.81
Used (2) buy one get one free Lay's chips, (2) buy one get one free spaghetti sauce, (1) buy two spaghetti sauces get $1.50 off meat, (5) 55 cent off cream cheese, and (1) 99 cent rolls
*Also received 75 cent catalina for buying 5 cream cheeses

Total spent: $27.48
Total saved: $52.41

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Other Spectacular Deals

I ordered a box of 216 diapers and 720 wipes from diapers.com and only paid $30!

Also I made a trip to CVS today to get two boxes of Wheat Thins and two boxes of Fig Newtons. My grand total was $0.00!

Upside Down Blair

Blair continues to grow and get bigger as the days go by. She is constantly smiling and kind of has a little laugh in the back of her throat sometimes, but she has not full on laughed yet. She talks to herself, sucks on her fingers and thumb, and entertains herself for quite sometime with her gym. She has also started to sleep through most of the night!

Check out the picture above - this is how I found her early this morning - upside down in her bassinet!

Another Week Another Shopping Trip

(A few items are not pictured)

This week I didn't need a whole lot of chicken/meat or produce so that kept my purchases to a minimum. My total out of pocket was $23.14 and this is what I got:

CVS - $12.35
92 ct package of Pampers Swaddlers
Diapers on sale for $21.99, used $4 off $20 coupon, $1.50 manufacturer coupon and $5.50 ECB from last week.
Saved $13.00
*Also received $5.00 ECB to put towards my next purchase

Walgreens - $1.43
1 pack of Bic Flex4 Razors
Razors on sale for $4.99, used $1 off Walgreen's coupon and $3 off manufacturer coupon
Saved $6.00

Safeway - $1.85
1 package of Maple Sausage
4 snack sized packages of Oreos
Used (2) $1 off 2 Oreos coupons
Saved $2.00

Target - $7.51
2 packages of GummiSavers
1 package of Chips Ahoy cookies
2 packages of Uncrustables (I love these. They make a super easy lunch!)
2 packages of TGIF Cheese Sticks
4 half gallons of Silk Soy or Almond milk
Used $5 gift card from last week, (2) 50 cent off GummiSaver coupons, a free product coupon for the Chips Ahoy cookies, (2) $1 off coupons for the Uncrustables, (2) $1.50 off coupons for the TGIF cheese sticks, (3) 75 cent off coupons for Silk Almond milk and (1) $1.25 off coupon for Silk Soy milk
Saved $17.19
To recap - I spent $23.14 and saved $38.19 or 62%

Busy Week

Sometimes I wonder how I would work if I had to considering all the appointments Blair has. The life of a preemie is one follow up appointment after another. They really like to keep a close eye on these little ones, because in general they are high risk for all sorts of things. Since Blair has been home I can probably count on one hand how many weeks we have gone without an appointment.

Last week we had two very long appointments - one was about 2 hours long and the other about 4 hours. The thing is though, Blair is so good at these appointments they hardly seem like chores and on some level I don't mind going to them, because it allows us to get out of the house. This week I believe we have another Physical Therapy appointment, but I am hoping this is our last one. Blair was wanting to always look over her left shoulder and never her right, but I think with a little work we have gotten that corrected now!

We continue to go to all these appointments and everything seems to be OK with her. I think the doctors are always amazed at how well Blair is doing! I know Brian and I are constantly thankful for how well Blair has done considering she was born so early! At this point she is just a small baby trying to catch up with the growth curve, but she is trying her hardest. She is now about 8 lbs and 19 1/2 inches long - about the size of a full term baby. If she had been born on her due date she would be about 2 1/2 months old now.

Weekend Shopping

So a few months ago my cousin Tara introduced me to the WONDERFUL world of coupons and it has quickly gone from something I thought I would like to do to an obsession!!! I think once you get going and see how much money you save it just makes you want to do it more!

This week, just when I thought I was getting desperate for cereal deals and we were down to our last box, along came the cereal deals! Now mind you, since I have started clipping coupons I have not spent more then $1/box of cereal with the exception of three boxes of Cheerios last week, which I paid about $1.30/box for.

Here are my transactions for the week:

Kmart (they were having double coupons last week) - $6.69
4 boxes of Raisin Bran
2 boxes of Frosted Mini Wheats
1 box of Strawberry Mini Wheats
(For buying 7 boxes of Kelloggs cereal I got catalinas for 3 free gallons of milk)
Saved $15.17

Target Transaction #1 - $7.05
2 lightbulbs
5 boxes of Kelloggs Lowfat Granola cereal
(Received $5 gift card for buying 5 boxes of Kelloggs cereal)
Saved $20.55

Target Transaction #2 - $6.90 - $5 gift card from previous transaction = $1.90
5 boxes of Kelloggs Lowfat Granola cereal
(Received another $5 gift card for buying 5 boxes of Kelloggs cereal)
Saved $14.55 +$5 from gift card = $19.55

CVS - $16.75
4 12-packs of Coke
(Received $3 ECB for Coke purchase, $1 ECB for Green Bag Tag, $1.50 from Winter Spending)

Safeway - $1.50 - $1.00 catalina = $0.50
1 bag of carrot chips

Grand Total Spent - $32.89
That's 17 boxes of cereal, 2 light bulbs, carrots, and 4 12-packs of soda!!!

Plus I have catalinas for 3 free gallons of milk, a $5 gift card to Target and $5.50 towards a future purchase at CVS!!!

I think I did pretty well this week!

Joining the Blogging Bandwagon

Well all, I am joining the blogging bandwagon. Yep, you heard me, I am finally doing it. I am doing it more because ever since we quit the CarePage blog we are constantly getting questions about how our lovely baby girl, Blair, is doing! (And believe me, we love talking about her!) So here goes nothing.

To get it all started here's a picture of Blair on tummy time. I can't believe how strong she is getting!