Sudden Realizations

So, even though I've been reading money saving/couponing blogs for a few weeks now, I only just realized the value of cooking based on the sales, as opposed to making a menu, and buying everything on it, even if it isn't on sale. My husband and I have really been having nothing but hamburger or chicken for the last year and a half, because as the general rule, those are the 2 cheapest meats. Well, as I was headed to buy my chicken for the week (as it was chicken's turn based on my rotation), I noticed the price of the pork. I had been excited to buy the chicken tenders, because they were only $1.99 a pound, which was a really good deal. Well, the pork which "is too fancy, so we don't really get to eat it because of the cost" was $1.49 a pound. Let's just say I didn't buy the chicken. I bought the same amount of meat, but I saved $2 from what I was planning on spending. So my sudden realization was that I need make a menu based on those sales, (unless I'm completely out of something) and shop from THAT menu.
So, aside from saving on the meat, and having that epiphany, here is how my shopping day went.

Not everything here was on sale, or had a coupon, but those that didn't , I needed.
-3 jumbo packages of coupons
-2 32oz All Laundry detergent
-2 500 sheet pkgs of Hammermill paper
-Special K cereal
-Special K granola
-4 Lean Cuisine meals
-2 French's yellow mustard (8 oz)
-Diaper Genie II refill
-4pk bow headbands for daughter
-2.5 lbs red seedless grapes
-2 30pk Pond's face wipes
-All You magazine
-4 lbs pork chops
-2 3pks Chap-Aid chapstick
-2 4pks Bic Comfort 3 Advance
-not pictured, 30 oz Mayonnaise
I did not get as many screamin' good deals as I have before, but for everything here I paid $80.66. That is more than I was hoping, but not by tons. The savings is where the cool number always is though. I saved $51.13 (not including the $2 from buying different meat). Aside from that I got a $5 Target gift card for buying 3 pkgs of diapers instead of my normal 2,  I will be sending in for an $8 rebate for the paper, and I will be sending in for a free rolling cooler (rebate from the razors) All in all, it wasn't too bad of a day.

My first REAL couponing excursion

Well, I recently had my first REAL "extreme couponing" excursion.This past Saturday was my day to go grocery shopping, so regular groceries were included, not just the things I could get screamin' good deals on. I went to 6 different stores, and while some would say that the gas, and the time weren't worth it, I couldn't find those deals at my regular stores, so yes, I thought it was worth it. So. I spent a few hours, more that I would personally have liked, but as I said... worth it. So first of all, my total that I spent was $91 and change. The amount I saved was $59 and change. So $150 worth of groceries for $90. Not too shabby. Not nearly so good as $4 a week for groceries, but hey, I need to build up a stockpile first. So, here are the stores I went to, and the deals I got there.

Walgreens:
-Coglate Max Fresh Toothpaste (pd $2.25)
$0.75 Mfr coupon
got a $2 register reward (RR) 

-3 boxes of Kleenex (pd $0.05)
$0.50/3 Mfr coupon
$2 RR
ended up spending a total of  $2.30 on all 4 of those

Maceys:
-2 Yoplait Smoothies (pd $1 ea)
$1/2 In ad coupon
2 $1 Mfr coupon

-12 Western Family Yogurt (pd $0.75 total)
sale for $0.25 ea
3 $0.75/4 Mfr coupons

-2 lb shredded mozzarella cheese (pd $4.99)
$1 mfr coupon
-5 Quaker Life Cereal (pd $1 ea)
sale, 5/$8
In ad coupon $3/5
-Carl Budding honey ham tub (pd $1.99)
$1 Mfr coupon

Harmons:
-2 quilted northern 12pk toilet paper (pd $4.48 ea)
sale $5.48 ea
2 $1 mfr coupons

Albertson:
-2 lb Tillamook cheddar cheese (pd $2.99)
$3 in ad coupon
$1 mfr coupon
-2 Hot pockets (pd $1.39 ea)
2 $0.49 preferred customer savings

Target:
-Wonka Gummies (pd $0.59)
$1 mfr coupon
-Daisy sour cream (pd $1.39)
$0.50 mfr coupon
-2 Yoplait fiber 1 (pd $0.50 ea)
2 $1 mfr coupon
-softsoap ensembles refill (pd $1.49)
$1 mfr coupon
-Garnier Conditioner (pd $1.99)
$1 mfr coupon
-Aussie Shampoo (pd $1.99)
$1 mfr coupon
-2 cascadian farms cereal (pd $1 ea)
$1 mfr coupon
$1/2 target coupon
-2 Special K bars, 1 Special K crisps (pd $0.92 ea)
sale, buy 2 bars, get crisps free
2 $1 target coupons

Walmart:
-2 Bar S hot dogs (pd $0.33 ea)
$1/2 mfr coupon
-Post-It notes (free)
$1 mfr coupon
-Chef Requested Bacon Wrapped Steaks (pd $0.68)
$3 mfr coupon
-weight watchers cream cheese (pd $0.84)
$1 mfr coupon
-Huggies diapers (pd $5.97)
$3 mfr coupon

So yeah. Lots of coupons, lots of time. Not all of them were almost free or anything like that, but those that weren't were more likely to be things I needed. However, while it wasn't as good as I will get once my stockpile is built up, it was enough to give me $30 to work with this week, though I will probably spend some of that to get a Sunday paper so that I can get more coupons. Hopefully next time I go full on grocery shopping, I'll also be able to do it with fewer stores, and less time.

Everything $1 (and under)

Hey everyone. Just thought I'd let you know about one of my favorite things. One of the blogs I follow, (www.couponingtodisney.com) posts lists of deals at various stores that are $1 or less. She has Walmart, Walgreens, Target, and Publix. She may do more, but those are available within the past 2 days. Go have fun!

Getting Started

So, a couple days ago, my husband showed me a video about a woman who feeds her family on $4 a week for food.
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Parenting/mom-feeds-family-week/story?id=8463295

Well, I decided that I wanted to try this for myself. This blog is the record of those attempts. Hopefully I will eventually be able to match what she does. I will also post good deals that I find.
So, my first experience in this actually worked out really well. I was reading a blog "Couponing to Disney" (link at the right) and I found a list of free/almost free products, when coupons were applied properly. As soon as my husband got home, I sent him out to see if we could get it to work for us. Well, it did. We got 2 10 oz. boxes of Wheat Thins and a 10 pack of Schick dispoasable razors for free! Well, we did have to pay the tax. Unfortunately I don't have the receipt, so I cannot give you the exact amount that it started and ended at, but I thought it was really cool. Things like this will really be helpful in building up my stockpile so that I can eventually get the weeks groceries for very cheap, if not free.