I wish I had taken my camera.

ARGG... Why is it, when I take my camera- there are no good opportunities for shots, and yet when I don't take my camera---- I NEED IT!
Landon scored 2 goals yesterday in his soccer game. Tonight, Nick had a great double (2rbi), right up the middle hit, that was sOOOOOO pretty. Maybe next time.

More than enough.

This little CVS trip cost me 6.00 OOP and I got 11.00 back in Extra care bucks and a free movie ticket. Needless to say, I have MORE THAN ENOUGH of the following:
Toothpaste
Handsoap
Shampoo
Deodorant
Facial Cleanser
Dish soap
Kids bodywash
Tootbrushes- and
Glade scented candles-airfreshners and plug-ins.

My goal now is only to buy these misc products when its either FREE or less than 50cents.



This trip to walgreens cost $26.00 BUT- my out of pocket was ZERO- because my walgreens gift card was refilled with $80.00 in rebates from last month AND- I will be submitting 16.00 of this order back to walgreens for part of April's rebate. I'm a little disapointed with myself- because after I left Walgreens and was talking to a friend about the trip (to compare notes, of course) I realized that I had a $6.00 Register reward coupon I forgot to use! Oh well, I'll just use it next week on the May free products!
This weekend I'm off to bag some CHEAP cereal and fiberone bars from Owen's - I may pick up a couple of Bertolli dinners to keep in the freezer as well-- for $2.49 (after coupon) it's a cheap meal for two!
It's been a busy week for us, with 3 showings, a soccer game, track practice, track meet, music class, baseball practice and tomorrow on the schedule: Baseball game, Soccer game and Doug has quiz bowl. It looks like Sunday, may be a good day to BAG SOME BARGAINS.

TRUE LEMON - try it, free

Ok, being the freebie hunter that I am- I came across an offer for TRUE LEMON samples. I did'nt know what it was, so I let it sit for awhile before I requested my sample. I only requested my sample after I read that for every sample they give out- the donate 10 packs to our Military Men and Women overseas. Let me just say-- YOU"VE GOTTA TRY IT! Add a packet of the lemon to a glass of sprite- yum... I put a packet of the lime in my diet cherry pepsi --double yum-it was like a cherry lime-aid. I haven't tried the orange yet. All of the flavors would be refreshing in a plain bottle of water too!
Here is the link:
http://truelemon.com/sample.html

Every time we get a request for free samples of True Lemon from a new customer, we will donate 10 packets of True Lemon to Operation Gratitude, a non-profit organization providing care packages to U.S. Troops.

It costs you nothing, It means so much to our service members. Make a little True Lemon go a long way. Our deployed troops will thank you for it.

You can also purchase these at Walgreens and I've seen all three flavors at Owens.

FUEGO.

Doug received a firepit this year for Christmas. We finally got the chance to break it out of the box and "fire" it up this past week over spring break. The first night was fun, sitting around, staring into the small flames that Doug and Nick kept fussing over. The second night was fun too - but we realized that when Doug was in boy scouts and they were learning how to make a fire -- DOUG WAS ABSENT THAT DAY!!!
Third day, Doug broke out the ol' Boy Scout handbook and "read" up on how to build the perfect fire. I opted out and stayed inside. 3 nights with stinky clothes and smokey hair was just too much.
Anyway, the fire is going good, the boys are having a good time. they were poking logs with sticks, sitting in their chairs and eventually getting tired. The fire starts to die down, boys come in, everyone starts getting in bed. Alex is so tired and he wants to lay down with me in my bed - that's fine. Doug will sleep on the bottom bunk in Alex and Landon's room. I'm watching a little T.V., listening to the wind outside- because there is a storm coming in... so they say.
Around 11:00 I turn out the lights and T.V. For some reason I can't sleep. I'm tossing- turning... then I look at my window blinds.
I see light flashes. Hmm-that's wierd I think. Someone must have gotten pulled over and the cop car lights are flashing against my blinds. So being the nosy Nelly that I am- I go and look out my bedroom window. I don't see anything. I go back to bed. Hmm--must be lightning in the distance from the storm.....but there is no thunder. So I get up, go into my bathroom and look out the southern window for this poor soul who got pulled over by a sherif's deputy- still nothing. So I proceed to climb into my bathtub and look out the East window - still no cop car. THEN I look down in the grassy area where the fire pit is..... I found my flashes. BUT it's not coming from the fire pit, it's coming from the woodpile on the grass that is 2 ft away from our house siding and wood deck. The wind had re-started a fire of a log that Doug TOOK OFF the fire pit, beause he thought it was "DONE".
I run towards the boy's bedroom, turn on the hallway lights and wake Doug up--- "Doug the grass is on fire, outside our bedroom window"....... Doug being the ball of fire that he is says: "Geez... us", like he's pissed or something. Anyway, he gets up, walks...(yes walks) to the sliding back door. I'm in the kitchen filling up 2 water pitchers to put out the flames. We go out, put out the fire- I tell him to put more water on it just to be safe. We come in and he says......
WHY do you have to be so dramatic!!
HELLOOOOOOO.... when the grass is burnt by the burning logs and there are dried bushes that are inches away- the wind is picking up and our house and deck are right there- I think that calls for a little urgency.
The point to my story is this-- There was a reason my husband did not become a fireman-- because the minute someone were to say:
The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire..........
Doug would say: We don't need no water, ..........
go ahead, you can finish the song.

Look at the head on this kid.

Yes, This is the LONGEST Nick's hair has ever been. Do you think that his dad is chomping at the bit to get the hair clippers out. It's funny, because you take for granted when their hair is so short, it still looks clean-- now that his hair is longer, I can tell when he hasn't washed it.
He's such a handsome guy -- even with "longer" hair.

Walgreens Money Saving coupon Tomorrow

Walgreens has a 5.00 off 20.00 coupon that is good only tomorrow Friday April 11.
http://www.walgreens.com/hotbuys/default.jsp -- that link should take you to the coupon - just print and spend.
This is how I may use this coupon...
Crest Whitestrips 20.00
Candy Bar .50
** Use my 5.00 off 20.00
Use the 5.00 Crest Coupon from Sunday paper
** Total oop 10.50
GET 10.00 back in Register rewards to use at my next trip -- That's 3 free gallons of milk.............So for 10.50 (plus tax) I may get: Crest Whitestrips, a candy bar and 3 gallons of milk.
That's just 1 scenario - I'm sure there are better deals- I heard the Aveeno deal is pretty good too.

It pays to check your receipt.

Ok- I went back to the grocery store. I forgot milk earlier and Doug wanted some Chips-a-hoy cookies for his late night snack. I of course sat at the table and wrote out my list, prices and what coupons I had. To say the least, I was not happy to be spending 2.00 on a bag of cookies I did NOT have a coupon for- but, I managed to find some other coupons to make up for the loss.
With a list, pen and wallet in hand, I made the trip. The store was not crowded and it was so easy to maneuver my cart without kids in tow. I found my gatorades, I found my excederin, I found cheese, paper towels and of course the infamous chips a hoy cookies. I followed my list to the T, without straying once. I get up to pay, total before coupons/owens card $65.00, I hand over my Owens card and coupons..... ONE of my excederin 2.00 coupons will not work-- not enough ink from my printer--argg... oh well. So my total at that point is $26.94. I pay, look at my receipt and look for my percentage saved: 62%. Not bad, I think to myself-- BUT I look a little closer and there are only 2 mega saver discounts! I turn my cart around, head to the customer service desk, I count my items on my receipt making sure I bought 30 and that all 30 were part of the sale. A very nice gentleman looks at me and says..."oh you must be having the same problem as her over there..." I said, " well, I thought that I bought everything per the paper and signs, but it did not give the extra $5.00 discount." He looks, he counts, asks to see my Owens card then proceeds to give me $5.00 cash! THANK YOU!! That extra just bumped up my savings to each item being .69cents. BUT- I forgot milk. And you can't have cookies without milk.
SO, hello Walgreens! I stopped into Walgreens, grabbed a gallon of milk and 4/12packs of Pepsi products. The milk was on sale for 2.89 and the pepsi was on sale 4 for $11.00. My total 14.66 w/tax -- BUT WAIT, shocker here-- I have COUPONS. :)
I have a Pepsi $2.00 coupon from a promo in January and I have a $9.00 register reward coupon from Walgreens that I got from purchasing my laundry detergent! Total after coupons $3.66. Wow, you say -- HANG ON-- I forgot to mention that since I bought 4 12 packs I receied ANOTHER register reward for 3.00 to use on a future purchase-- so it was like buying the milk and pop for .66 -
I hate to say it, but I think I get a coupon high from this stuff --- LOL :)
My wallet is fatter, my pantry is full and Life is so good!

All but 1

knock on wood, but so far I have been the only one not to see the flu bug this week. Alex is still fighting something as he just doesn't have the energy to do much. He only took 2 small bites of his pizza today at lunch and is right now lying down on the bottom bunk. Nick came home on Tuesday after track practice and also fell asleep for quite a while. Landon went back to school yesterday but is still has a cough-- he is going on 2 weeks with the cough. Doug had to cancel the Washington D.A.R.E. graduation on Tuesday as he did not feel well either-- It wasn't fair to those kids if he was sick-- he shakes their hands,give hugs, talks to parents-- if he were to be responsible for someone getting sick on spring break he would feel terrible. So it was in the kids' best interest to reschedule. Doug still does not feel the best and that is evident by him NOT going to the U of M football clinic that started today. He was supposed to leave this morning at 11am for Ann Arbor and return on Saturday afternoon. He still just does not feel well and would be staying with my brother and his family- he did not want those kids to get sick either. Especially Little Joe- his little body has the hardest time fighting off colds,infections and virus' in general.
So with that being said, its time for me to spray OUST yet again to make sure I'm getting all of those lingering germs. I do not want to be home in bed on my spring break, when I could be out and about in warm, balmy Warsaw!!

I went over my budget...

But it was for things that I needed.. like: Tomato Juice, fresh strawberries and an extra package of toilet paper. I did stick to my list (from previous post) and all total with my extras is spent $12.88. The cashier was so proud of me. She looked at my receipt and said, WOW - 80% that's the first time I have seen 80%. Of course, my next trip will not be that good, because I need to get Gatorade,more fresh fruit, fresh vegetables,Cheese, Milk and bread. I have no coupons for those.. ;( I bought 36 items for 12.88 which I believe to come out as .36 a piece.
How well did you do?

My shopping list.

So far, here is my shopping list for Owens (kroger) today...
4 French's mustards
2 Lipton sides
1 (10ct) excederin (great to have in the car)
5 bags of Goldfish crackers
5 boxes Toaster treats (kroger poptarts)
2 bags of Pretzels
1 Betty crocker cake mix
3 boxes of Betty crocker side potatoes
2 pouches of Betty crocker cookies
2 cans of Pillsbury breadsticks
1 can of Pillsbury grand sweet rolls
2 bags of Cheetos
3 pkgs of Cottonelle toilet paper.
My total should be around 38.00
Take off the mega saver discount - 15.00
Take off my coupons and double coupons: -12.40
My grand total or OOP (out of pocket) should be $ 10.60

I'm pretty stocked up on meat and cereal right now, so the only other things I will need to pick up for the week are fresh fruit and some veg's.
I will be making several trips to Owens this week-- I will be stocking the pantry. Plus gatorade is on sale for .50 and with the summer sports schedule coming up-- they will be nice to have. Better to pay .50 at the store than 1.25 at the ball diamonds!!

Tonights the night....

when the Owen's and Marsh ads come out..... :0 :0 ! From what I have read through other blogs (mainly in Michigan) the Owens ad is going to be a great one for stocking up! I've already started to count my coupons and I may have extra's for any takers... I'm sure you all just cannot wait to see my grocery picture LOL!! I will post later on the steals, ah 'em I mean deals, I will be snagging. It is so much fun to walk out of the grocery store knowing that I only paid pennies compared to before walking out thinking, I paid ---- that for only this????????
I never before thought that I would take couponing and finding grocery sales so seriously- I used to think that I did'nt have the time. Now, I make sure I find the time. The money that we save, is the money that we can do EXTRA things with the kids. Plus, it doesnt hurt for them to know how to save a few pennies too.
I will post some of the deals this week - if you see any that I missed, LET ME KNOW! Sharing is good stuff!