Biting the bullet

Ok, it's time for me to just bite the bullet and get to work on these receipts of mine!  I WAS going to go through them all and organize them by date...the OCD part of me wants them all to be entered into excel in order by date.  The lazy part of me sees the huge stack and finds that task too daunting.

Of course the lazy part of me is going to win.  I am just going to start to enter them in and then do all my totals after all the receipts are entered.  This will stream line it and take a lot less time to get it done, and then I can just toss all these receipts as I go.

I am anxious to see what my spending and savings for March, April, and May was!  Man am I behind!  I have to make sure I don't drop behind again, because I am really anxious to see how my spending is compared to my savings.  I already know from the last year that I am saving thousands of dollars, now it's time to see what I am spending too!

Cartwheel

Cartwheel is a new 'application' from Target.  It's not an application you can download on your phone, tho you can use it on your phone via your phone's browser.

The way Cartwheel works is you sign up using your Facebook account, then you can browse their deals and add them to your cart.  For example, yesterday I added a save 20% off graduation cards, save 20% on Father's day cards, and save 15% on Suave hair care products to my cart.  Then once you do this, you can either chose to print out the page with the barcode on it to take with you, or you can load this page in your phone's browser.  It gives you 1 barcode for all your items in your 'cart'.  You can use cartwheel on up to 6 items in the same transaction, the 1 bar code will automatically deduct for all the items.  PLUS, you can use cartwheel, with a target coupon and a manufactures coupon on a single item, so you can triple stack it!

Yesterday I used Cartwheel for the first time.  I bought 2 suave shampoos (which I also had manufacture coupons for), 2 father's day cards, and a graduation card (amongst a few other things).  I gave the cashier my phone to scan first, and she scanned the barcode and it took off $3.68!  Then on my receipt it shows in the breakdown what the price was before and after Cartwheel, so it breaks it all down on the receipt for you too!  Cartwheel is free to use and another great way to save money, so what are you waiting for?

Coupon Ethics

Coupons themselves have rules and regulations that guide them....they are printed ON the coupon itself!! Yet day in and day out we see people violate these rules and not care.

"Everyone else is doing it".

"I saw at least 3 other people do it to".

"Other people are posting pictures of their hauls too".

These are common phrases tossed about in a few of my couponing groups.

Guess what people, just because other's do it, it doesn't mean it is right, and it sure as heck doesn't mean that you and everyone else should run out and do it too! 

People mis-using coupons effects everyone who uses them. We are seeing lower coupon amounts, for example $.25 off of charmin...I mean seriously, $.25 off of a big pack of toilet paper? It's one of the worst coupons out there, it's a nice bonus, but I base when I buy my toilet paper based on the sales I find, because the coupon itself doesn't even really help me. P&G coupons use to say 4 like coupons per transaction. That means you could do more then 1 transaction to buy more then 4. I am not a huge fan of multiple transactions, but I have done them before, when needed. Unilever products are all no more then 2 like coupons in a transaction, and let me tell you, THAT limitation stinks! But now P&G has gone and changed their rules again. Now their coupons say no more then 4 like coupons per household, per day. That's right folks, 4 per day, that means no more multiple transactions at the same store to get all your deals at once.

Yet here we are, in some areas there is a great deal on a P&G item, everyone in that area who coupons is running out to buy it. I am seeing pictures of 20 of the item with the title "I did 5 transactions", or 28 in the picture with them saying "I asked the manager and they said I could do more then 1 transaction'. Guess what, you just violated the writing on the coupon and that my friends is coupon fraud. It does NOT matter what anyone else is doing, it does not matter what the manager of the store said. It is wrong, and you are just hurting all of us when you do it.

Maybe if everyone tried to actually follow the rules, the rules wouldn't be getting worse, and the stores wouldn't be so strict against us couponers.

Weekly update, Week 6

Another week has come and gone.  Man it seems time is going by fast!  I didn't spend too much money at the store this last week.  I am stocked up on a lot of stuff, so we are living off our stockpile, which is great because we are buying less and spending less.

For this week I only spent $3.44 ($3.62 after taxes), I saved $34.76, a savings of 90.99%, or 91%!!

As you can see from the picture, it was just a stock up purchase.

Weekly update, Week 5

Not only is the month of January done, but we are done with another week too!  So let's get to it!


I spent $51.65 ($52.93 after tax) and I saved $96.45, a savings of 65.12%

This week is my lowest savings based on % so far this year, but it is also a perfect example that some weeks are better then other's and you won't always have over the top savings.  Like I have said in the past tho, ANY savings is good savings.  I bought stuff that we needed, and I saved almost $100 while doing so, that is $100 I can spend on something else, so I am happy!

*edit* I forgot pictures!  I know it's not much, but I have 1 to add LOL

January Spending/Savings

Wow, January has already come and gone.  Kinda crazy!  It seems this year has started off at a pretty fast pace, just like last year did.  I want to note that last year I tracked ALL my savings, every single time I used a coupon anywhere for anything.  This year, I am just tracking my grocery and drug store spending...basically just the items you would buy with your grocery or personal hygiene budget.  I want to give you a better idea of what I am saving (and spending) on every day items that you and I are both buying to support our families.

Well, here we go...In the month of January I spent a total of $236.05 ($263.70 after tax) and I saved $843.34, a savings of 78.13%!  That's right folks, I spent only $236 for a family of 6.

I will admit, there are a handful of bread and milk runs not included in this total,  but even those wouldn't add too much to my total.  This does however include a shopping trip specifically to buy items for the super bowl party that I went to.

On a side note, this morning my 13 year old son walked up to me before he left for school and told me he needed more deodorant.  I just went out to my garage, grabbed one from the shelf and gave it to him.  No adding it to my shopping list, no having to run out to get it for him today.  The best part?  It was a deodorant I had gotten for free!

Weekly update, Week 4

Week 4!!  To be honest, I would have had nothing at all bought this week, except I had +UPs at Rite Aid that expired tonight, so I had to burn them or lose them!  Between being in Vegas, and then recovering from my trip, I didn't do anything this week.  But that is fine, because we are able to live off our stockpile and not run out to buy stuff all the time!

So, this week I spent $1.49 ($2.27 after tax) and saved $23.47 a savings of 94.03%.

I didn't use any coupons on the Finish....if I'd had extra's to use on them I would have had to find another $3 worth of stuff to buy LOL, so I still think I did pretty darn good!

Weekly Update, Week 3

Sorry this update is late!  I was very, very sick most of that week, and then I headed to Vegas for the weekend with my Mom!  But I am now home, and feeling much better.  So today I sat down and found my few receipts so I could do this post.  I only made 2 shopping trips that week, and 1 of them my hubby did, because I was too sick to go, but my coupons were expiring that day!  Isn't he great?

So, for this week I spent $21.37 ($27.47 with tax) and saved $101.99 a savings of 82.68%!  I stocked up on Pull Ups with a great coupon and a good deal at CVS!

Since I only had 2 trips, I only have a picture of the 1st trip, since I wasn't going to make hubby take a picture of what he bought too LOL.

Weekly update, Week 2

Another week has gone by, time for my update.  I spent more money this week (but also saved more).  I always spend a lot when Harris Teeter has their Super Doubles, but I also stocked up on some different meats, which we sorely needed.  But, that's ok, because I still had over a 70% savings!  That is all money in our pocket for other things.

Here we go, I spent $151.15 ($163.98 after tax), and I saved $401.19, a savings of $72.63%.  Here are a few pictures.

Well, there you have it!  So far I have saved over $700 this month!  Happy Savings!!

Weekly update, Week 1

Sorry I am 2 days late for my first weekly update, but I needed to tweak my excel spreadsheet that my hubby built for me to use.  That's right, my hubby is so amazing he  made an excel spreadsheet with all the breakdowns that I wanted, and even set it up to give me weekly, monthly, and annual totals!!

So, for week 1, I spent $62.04 ($69.98 after tax) and I saved $307.71 an average savings of 83.22%! I didn't take pictures of everything that I bought, but I will share a few pictures with you. (every week I will share some of the pictures with you, but not all.)

*did a small edit to update my numbers, I found some missing receipts that I had to add in.

I love my stockpile

What do dish soap, hand soap, body wash, shampoo, shaving cream, laundry detergent, stain booster, toilet paper, paper towels, mouthwash, and toothpaste all have in common?  They are all items in my stockpile that my family has needed in the last 2 weeks.   Most of the items  are items I got for free at some point too.  My family needed the items and they just grabbed them from the stockpile when they needed them.

2 weeks ago, my oldest daughter had the flu, so she was washing her hands, a LOT!  She came up to me one day and told me she was out of soap, I went out to the garage and grabbed another soap and refilled her dispenser.  My oldest had been told to do his laundry about a week ago.  He said he couldn't because we were out of the stain booster and the laundry packs that him and his sister use for their laundry.  My hubby and I just laughed at him as I had him follow me to the laundry room where I had a  cabinet full of laundry detergent and stain booster.

I love that I don't have to go around and check how everyone is doing with everything (cause we all know kids aren't going to tell you they are low, they are going to come running to you when they are out of it and they need it!).  I don't have to make lists and try to remember to buy stuff.  I already have it all at home ready to go, and it was cheap!  If I had to run out just to buy the laundry detergent and the Tide stain booster I was looking at around $15, no thank you!

Deciding to stockpile was one of the best decisions I have ever made!  Do you coupon and stockpile?

A year of savings

Well, I didn't do all of 2012 like I had planned.  Like I said in my last post I didn't keep track of nov or Dec at all.  BUT, I did do Nov and Dec of 2011.  So I can share my savings from Nov 1, 2011 til Oct 31st, 2012.  August and Sept are missing, due to our move, but I am fine with that.

In 10 months I saved our family:

$9,337.87

How awesome is that?!?!  That is my KNOWN savings, savings that I actually kept track of!  If I add in an estimate for July, August, Nov, and Dec I can confidently say I saved between $11,000 and $12,000 for my family this year (if not a tiny bit more!)!

I am so excited for over his number!  I love couponing and I can't wait to see what I save in the following year!  It's never too late to start!  Every little bit saved is more then you had before, so what is stopping you from saving money?  It's a new year coming up in less then a week, don't be afraid to start saving money!

Drugstore Diva!

Well, I certainly felt like a Drugstore Diva yesterday!  All the new drug store ads come out on Sunday's.  I always try to hit them up on the first day of the ad to make sure I get the deals that I want.  Yesterday was one of my best days ever with the drugstores.  I went to all 3 of them CVS, Rite-Aid, and Walgreens.  I spent a total of $13.61 (plus tax) and saved a total of $189.90, a savings of 93%!!  My most expensive stop was at Rite-Aid, where I stocked up on halloween candy to hand out, and gatorade for the family.


Rite Aid:

I spent $9.29, plus tax, saved $44.92, a savings of 83%  I also walked away with $15 in +Ups, an a$2 rebate.

Walgreens:

I spent $1.98 plus tax, saved $$19.12 a savings of 91%.  I also got a $.50 RR.

CVS:

Here I did 3 different trips....the first CVS I went to doesn't even carry children's vitamins, so I had to go to a second one.  Then after talking with a friend i had to go back to do another deal I had originally decided to pass on.  The first picture is my first 2 trips combined.

Trip 1 I got the 4 aveeno's, 1 nail polish (filler) and the big set of emery boards and 1 box of files.  I paid $.54 plus tax and saved $23.49.

Trip 2 I got the 2 gummy vitamins, 1 nail polish (filler) and the single file and the other box of files.  I paid 0, plus tax, and saved $23.49.

So, for the 2 trips together, I paid $.54, plus tax, saved $46.64, a savings of 99%!!  I also got $15 in ecb's!

Trip 3 to CVS, I spent $1.80 plus tax, saved $79.22, a savings of 98%!  Plus I got back $10 in ECB's and I mailed off a $15 rebate from P&G (yep, it's already in the mail!)

There you have it!  My Drugstore Diva shopping trips!  Here's a list of what I bought for $13.61.

1 Thermacare 

12 Gatorade's

4 bags Starburst

2 bags Jolly Ranchers

4 Advil PM's

4 2 liters of Dr. Pepper

1 bag fun sized Butterfingers

1 bag fun sized Nestle Crunch

4 Aveeno lotions

2 kids gummy vitamins

2 nail polishes

2 packs nail files

1 pack emery boards

1 nail file

4 Herbal Essence shampoos

4 Herbal Essence conditioners

2 Cover Girl lipsticks

8 Cover Girl eye shadows

That's a lot of stuff for so little!  I really do love my coupons!

Have you scored any great deals lately?

Something new!

So, I think I am going to try something new, at least for a month.  I want to show how much I am actually spending, in a month, on food and personal hygiene/household items for our family of 6.  If I have any super great deals/days I will still post those, like I have occasionally in the past.  But for the next month I am going to do a weekly post on Sundays going over what I spent the past week.

So, I am kicking this off with this week.  I started tracking yesterday (which was a phenomenal day at the stores, I will do that blog post next!) and I will do my first weekly post this Sunday, Nov 4th.  I know I am spending, on average $150-$300 a month, when we use to spend $500-$700 a month, which is a HUGE drop.  I am excited to see my actual numbers for a month.

I love Staples!!

Staples, along with many other stores have started their back to school deals.  Between their sales, their savings pass (which I will talk about), and my staples rewards I have gotten some SLAMMING deals this week (I have been to Staples Sun, Mon, and Tues this week HAHA).

First let me talk a bit about the Staples rewards program.  This program is free to join.  You earn 10% back on all Ink, toner, case and ream paper purchases.  You also earn 10% back on copies and printing.  You also earn $2 for every ink cartridge that you recycle with them, up to 10 a month (they will accept more then 10, but will only pay you for 10).  I love that I can get some of my money back!!  I buy all my ink and paper from them, and always recycle my ink with them.  Most of the time when I buy paper, they are running a rebate too, so my paper is very cheap or even free.  For more information on the Staples rewards program you can go HERE.

Next, let me talk about their Savings Pass.  The Savings Pass is something they have right now for back to school shopping.  It costs $10, but you save 15% on school (and office) supplies.  In fact, there's a whole list of everything you can save on...to see the list go HERE.  It's good from June 10th to Sept 15th.  I just bought mine on Sunday and I have already saved $9.29, so it has already almost paid for itself!

Staples need ad started on Sunday, which means their back to school penny deals started!!  They have a 10 pack of bic pens, 24 count rose art crayons, and a bottle of staples school glue, all for a penny piece, limit 2 of each when you spend $5.  They also have several other items on sale too!

This is what I bought on Sunday:

Here's the break down of what I bought (everything was a limit of 4, except for the penny items which were limit 2)

Super Glue ~ $2.99, with a rebate for $2.99, limit 1 per household (FREE after rebate!)

Sharpies ~ $1 each X4

Bic dry erase markers ~ $1 each X4

Glue sticks ~ $1 each X4

Scissors ~ $1 each X2

Erasers ~ $.50 each X 4

Mechanical pencils ~ $.25 each X4

Bic pens ~ $.01 each X2

Rose Art crayons ~ $.01 each X2

Staples school glue ~ $.01 each X2

PLUS I saved 15% on everything too!

I spent $15.35, saved $65.40, a savings of 81%!!

I went back on Monday.  Crazy I know, but they have ream paper on sale for $6.99 with a $6.74 rebate, making them $.25 after rebate (limit 2 per household).  You can also save 15% with the savings pass...meaning after rebate they are paying you $.80 to take it out of the store!!!  I only bought 1, even tho it was limit 2, since I did have 2 reams of paper at home (which is why I didn't buy it the first time, but I decided it was just too good to pass up!)

So, here is what Monday's transaction looked like (btw, Staples is less then 5 mins from my house!):

Here is the break down:

Paper ~ $6.99 with a $6.74 rebate, limit 2 per household (They are paying me $.80 after rebate!)

Mechanical pencils ~ $.25 each X4 (my kids are always asking for mechanical pencils so I stocked up!)

Bic Pens ~ $.01 each X2

Rose Art Crayons ~ $.01 X2

Staples school glue ~ $.01 X2

PLUS I saved 15% on everything too!

I spent $6.85 and saved $21.58 a 76% savings!  (I am getting back a $6.74 rebate too....so technically all that for $.11?  woo too!)

Finally my Tuesday trip!  I went on Tuesday, because I had been checking my Staples rewards to see if they had come in yet, and they were finally available on Tuesday.  The Charmin Basic was on sale for $5.99 (normally $9.99) and I wanted to use my rewards to get some for free.  So when my rewards showed up, I went right over to get my toilet paper.  

Here is my fabulous Tuesday trip!

Here is the break down:

Toilet Paper ~ $5.99 each X6

Bic pens ~ $.01 each X2

Rose art crayons ~ $.01 each X2

Staples school glue ~ $.01 each X2

I figured, since I was already over the $5 may as well grab the penny items again.  I also saved 15% on my toilet paper with my savings pass!!  My Staples rewards was for $30.20.

I spent $.41 and saved $67.01 a savings of 99%!!!

Over all I spent a total of $21.61 and I saved a total of $153.99, a savings of 87%!  I am also getting back $9.73 in rebates, which will put my final out of pocket at $11.88, saving $163.72 a savings of 94%!!

I am super excited about my toilet paper (I only paid $.35 for 96 rolls!!), but I also got great savings on school supplies and supplies for our arts and crafts box!!  This also means, once the school year starts I will be able to donate needed items to the teachers, once I find out what they are looking for.  I can't wait to see what great sales Staples has next week!  I am excited to see what their penny sales will be!

Have you started back to school shopping yet?

May Savings!!

Here we are, another month later.  Let me tell you, I can NOT believe that it is June already?!  Where has the year gone?  It is just flying by, or so it seems.  I had some great savings again in May, so let's get to it!!

$896.87

Yeah baby!  I am loving that number!!  You know what's even better?  I actually saved more money then that!  I have a few items I kept out of that number.  We also saved an additional $158....by booking and paying for our vacations hotel room early, and by ordering our Seaworld tickets early through a program my husband's work offers for discount tickets.  PLUS, I also saved $421.98 by using my gift cards and jing-it debit card to pay for my Samsung galaxy 10.1 tab2.  That was all money I earned from the sites that I do, I paid nothing out of pocket.  If I include those savings, then I actually saved $1,476.85 in the month of May!

I can't wait to see what the month of June will bring me.  I love adding the numbers up at the end of the month and seeing what I saved.

Food 4 Less Trip ~

Hello everyone!  I just wanted to share with you my latest shopping trip to Food 4 Less.  I realized I always share my monthly savings with you, but I never share any of my deals!  So from now on, I will occasionally pick one of my really good deals, and I will share it with you here!

Here it goes, I bought the following....

~ 16 cans Chef Boyardee mini ravioli, beefaroni, and spaghetti normally $1.15 each, on sale for $.78 each.  I had 4 coupons for $1 off 4 cans.  This made my final price $.53 a can.

~ 1 Nutella 13oz spread, Normally $3.58, on sale for $2.50, I used a $1 coupon, making my final price $1.50.

~ 1 Skintamate shave gel.  Normally $2.50, on sale for $1.25, I had a $.55 coupon, making my final price $.70.

~ 6 Farmer John's Rope Sausage.  Normally $3.68 each, on sale for $2.50 each, and I had 6 $2 off coupons, making my final price $.50 each!!!

~ 4 Oceanspray Cranberry blended juices.  Normally $2.95 each, on sale for $1.98, I had 2 BOGO coupons (buy one get one free) making my final price $.99 per juice.


I spent a total of $18.14 and saved a total of $40.77, that's a savings of 69%.

I think Oceanspray Juice for $1 and the Farmer John sausage for $.50 are both super great deals!!

April Savings! (and a 6 month update!)

Wow...I can't believe we are already into May!!  This year seems to be just flying right by.  It's time for me to share my April savings with all of you!  it's also been 6 months since I started tracking my savings, way back in November, so I'll also be giving you a 6 month savings update too!  Here we go with my April savings!!!

$847.23

Some more awesome savings!!  No free kindle books this month.  I have a ton of books I need to read anyways on my kindle LOL.

Now for my 6 month savings! This is from November 1st to April 30th!  I am pretty darn excited about this number!  

$5,729.95

How awesome is that?!?!

March Savings!!

Another month down, and another month of savings to share!  I'm so excited for this month!  We had some phenomenal savings!  Here we go.....

$1,516.17

BAM!!  How awesome is that for savings?!?!  I am lovin it!  We did do some clothes shopping at both Kohl's and The Men's Warehouse for Josh and I, which helped contribute to our huge savings for the month.  Even if we remove those savings from the total, we still saved $852.85.  That means that every month this year we have saved over $800 so far.  That is so awesome, and I can totally live with that!  We also saved $27.98 in free kindle books that isn't in the totals.  I can't wait to see what I save in April!

February Savings!!

Ok, I know I'm a bit late on this one, but we have been super busy around here lately.  This month's number is another good number, just like last month!

$872.47

How fabulous is that?!  Again, I left out some things form this number.  $8.98 I saved on FREE kindle books, plus the $210 I saved on my Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3!

I am so excited about March!  We have already saved over $700 thanks to savings on clothes and suit shopping for the Hubster and I.  March is going to be a rocking month!