HotCouponWorld - Blogs - My life in savings by lifeskills13

My son turns ONE!

lifeskills13 — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 17:02:09 GMT

wooohooo :BigHand: :BigHand::BigHand:

Yes on the Friday the 13th this year lol
we are celebrating it tomorrow w/ family lol not so good karma on today :hysterical:

I haven't been posting much latly because i've been soooo busy. got an extra two year old..my niece for two weeks. (my DD has a playmate :) she is goin to miss the day she doesn't wake up to find her :(

Plan on buying sauce from a hotdog shop and using those packages of hotdogs i have stacked in my freezer lol with buns from samsclub. Tostitos chips &nacho cheese also from sams club.
now all we need is pop which we AREN"T getting at samsclub lol

i got ALOT of the nacho cheese lol and wow the chips! two 3lb bags..that will do for the party :)

...now back to keeping these kids happy while convincing them i need to clean so playing with 20things at once is a no go today :)

Here is a recent picture i edited of them :)

ooops lol now ya can comment

lifeskills13 — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 15:14:03 GMT

i was fooling around with my blog settings the other day and somehow i selected no comments to be posted.:hysterical:
so if anyone tried and couldn't, me so sorry! lol
i fixed it now!:BigHand:

GE deals Spent: $19.15 Saved $130.76

lifeskills13 — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 20:38:06 GMT

I believe this was done 1/18/09

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3094/...18b3cbcd_b.jpg <----Larger view

My store had the same deal with the Quaker oats the second week so i ordered more coupons.
I used to buy the generic kind so i can have some every once in a while. because of this deal im able to eat it every morning and my DS too :) my DD spits it out..but she won't with the no-bakes im goin to make!

Plus im able to use oats for bread making!!

I paid full price for the bread (mistake on my part) and the chicken was bogo so i paid $12 for two roasting chickens. the milk was 3.38 *gasp*..not as bad though then last nite. cornerstore 3.69!! thats after they accepted my .35cents off man. coupon lol
My bad on that too..two different stores and i forgot to pick it up each time!

The deal with the powerades at Giant eagle was. buy 10 get 5 free. I used 9 free coupons i got from cokerewards ended up paying 1.00 for 15bottles!:BigHand:

tyson was 1.50each after coupon..not the best price but we needed those things..plus the overage on the oats kinda made it better :biggrin:

Disclaimer: if anyone is wondering i sold out the store..thing is the first two stores were sold out before i got any! the third one..had cases and cases! of it. my amount didn't even make a dent.

Free after coupons/sales saved: $96.66

lifeskills13 — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 20:27:42 GMT

I believe this was done 1/13/09

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3110/3244781082_99d2250eda_o.jpg <---Larger view

The deal with the quaker oats at my store was Buy four canisters of Quaker oats and get 2.00 off instantly.
the oats were 1.50 a peice..i used .60/1 couipons which doubled.
.30cents x4=1.20 then minus the 2.00off instantly. They paid me.20cents for each Quaker oats i got :)

I used that overage (i was able to get more then 4in one transaction) to pay for the rest of the stuff. I used coupons for each.

The mayo/lipton sides deal was spend 10 get back 3catalina coupon.
my store was working on shelf price so all i had to do was get two jars of mayo and two packages of lipton sides. after coupons i paid 4.80. Out popped out a 3 AND a 2 OYNO coupons.

the 2onyo came from buying two jars of mayo..different deal that the Catalina company was doin.

I got more stuff then this that day..but for my family. I have been only taking pictures of what i didn't pay for.

The crest weekly clean (great product!) was free because i had a free coupon from vocalpoint

Thinking about suing a company...

lifeskills13 — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 07:37:31 GMT

This is what you get for a "full" bag of chips. :rolleyes24:I just now opened them! it amazes me that im STILL fooled by the airbloated bags.
One of those things that just ticks me off lol

Don't you wish you can put a stop to this nonsense?!

with DH its the double wrapped bread... "I already unwrapped the bread, i don't need one more thing between me and the bread!"

Thinking of making my own bread..

lifeskills13 — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 07:00:35 GMT

:giggle2:i know i have been thinking a lot lately
well trying to find another way to lower my food budget. Like milk and bread, which we buy more times weekly then i can count lol one of the things we can't go without.

I have a bread machine that i bought early last year..only used it maybe three times since then :(
There are some really good recipes out there for the bread machine, but i hate the look of my bread when its made in there. Great for cornbread and things like that though. so im goin to just use my bread bans in my good oven.
I was looking at the cost of Sam's club bread flour, for 25lbs its 8something plus their yeast is a very good price too.
yea i know large amounts..but here is what im thinking, if i make myself buy milk ONLY at Sam's (unless i find it cheaper then 2.66around me which is rare) and make my own bread and try not to buy it at the store..i wonder how much ill save.

I can't even calucate how much it would be if i did it on my own. We buy bread up to three times a week (blame my DH has to have at least three slices for every meal, and my DS loves gumming on it, my DD also likes a slice w/ her meal.)
Sometimes I get it on sale w/coupon (which if i make my own i will still get the cheap priced bread) but 90percent of the time i pay 2dollars or even more (cornerstore :(

I basicly give or take spend $260 on bread a year.
Think i can lower the budget of bread a year if i make my own?

(if your wondering why we even pay 2.00 a loaf thats because im VERY picky on choice of bread. I want whole wheat ..i hate cotton bread lol i call it fake bread:giggle2:
so making my own will open a lot more choices for me

ETA: i was browsing on the net for more info, and found a great site, talking about homemade bread vrs. store bought.
The Simple Dollar � Homemade Bread: Cheap, Delicious, Healthy, and Easier Than You Think

Thinking of becoming a Sam's club member

lifeskills13 — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 19:19:28 GMT

I have been a couponer for two years now, excessive couponer for one year lol here is my problem.
I can only shop at a few stores because i don't drive so i have to go on someone else's schedule mainly my DH who works 70hour weeks.
I shop at My store gianteagle..yes there are some really good bottom rock sale prices...but where they get you is they rank up the prices for the other things.
My rule is i don't get something unless i have a coupon and unless that item is price 50percent off or more.
Well in my state you don't have no produce coupons or meat coupons, unless you catch the day the butcher marks it down. Like i said i don't get to the store very much.

I pay 3.38a gallon of milk almost 3times a week, (i send my DH to pick it up most times) and *gasp* i pay 3.73 at the cornerstore which is where my DH loves to go for the milk.

Now I found a cheaper store to go to like marcs..cheaper produce/meat prices..but like anything else some of the items i can get cheaper at GE lol

So now my list for stores is marcs, and Gianteagles. Easy for someone who can pack up the kids and go at anytime during the day but not me. I just got done looking at Sam's club prices and yes they aren't good for somethings i get free at CVS or toothpaste..ect.

But im thinking when i need something that NEVER/RARLy has a sale..i don't get a coupon for it. Why not get it at Sams?

Price of membership yes thats a biggy lol so i called my MIL and she will go half with me. she doesn't use coupons so it works for her.
so 20dollars a year hmmm. will that benifit me?
If i buy milk at GE for 3.38 2x a week. Thats $351.52 a year *gasp* didn't know i was paying that much lol
If i don't "Shop around" for the best prices all the time. Get two gallons a week at sams for $276.64 a year..ill save 74.88..more then pays for my membership.

Nacho cheese 6.62lbs for $5.63 i think that will last us a whole year lol (i saw that you can freeze lil bits and when you need it..unthaw) My DH goes to the store and pays 4dollars for the cheesedip thats like 8oz!!! (trust me i don't let him pay that much..but because i don't buy it and so he buys it without me knowing lol)

Pure peanut oil..thats a biggy. I have a family christmas party at my house each year. We have decided to fry our turkey :) my sister paid for it last year for 16dollars a gallon. we need 3 1/2gallons for the turkey.
My stores have it for 21dollars a gallon lol

Sams club sells it by 4 1/2 gallon (35lbs) for 52dollars. BIG savings right there!.
also my sister and i reuse the oil in our home deepfryers so to get most value out of it :)

this conclusion came after finding out we know NO one that has a sams club membership so we can't go as their quest lol and if my SIL needs a cheap price for laundry detergent that she goes thru like water. i can pick her up some.

What do you think i should do?

My kids arn't very good behaved models lol

lifeskills13 — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 04:21:29 GMT

Ok, taking pictures with my two kids isn't as easy as it looks lol
it took all day with a nap in between because the first session didn't go so well w/ baby crying and older one wanting to do it HER way or the highway.
I finally after 10or so hours past by (lol a lot of breaks) i got three good photos out of it.
Photos taken in backyard w/ sheet on the ground and curtains in the back teehee.

My daughter 18months..two secs and she was five feet away lol

My son 7months. he had to have the froggy or i had acranky man on my hands lol

lol i had to show you guys this one...i swear he is goin to hate me when he grows up.

3pics deals: spent $153.07 for $504.14 worth

lifeskills13 — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 19:26:09 GMT

I also have 22dollars worth of storecoupons i can use on my next trip. (Catalina coupons are used at the end of your order like cash)

I wouldn't like goin back to the old way...spending 100dollars on something that will last only two days..or even less w/ us lol

this week alone i saved a total more then $560 (not including the last uploaded pic)...i dont know about you...but i don't have that kind of money :)

Im a lil over my budget but still good because i havn't shopped for grocerys in so long that if you think about it..im under budget..i just try to spend only 100for each paycheck.
also the dvd isn't apart of the budget lol

In this picture i spent 73.45 saved 169.67

I went over the 10,000mark! w/ added up savings(cvs included)plus a lil of my rebates.
I saved 10,000 this year! how in the world was i paying that before?!

In this picture i spent 72.70 saved 181.43

and doll on top of the crackers was actually given to my DD by someone who worked at GE lol she carried it around in the buggy w/ her for the rest of the trip :)

the meat was a great price! savings plus storecoupons on top of that! I was so nice to the meat manager that he gave me a 2dollar coupon to use on the steak teehee...
so excited about it because everytime i look i don't see any good deals at GE for meat...im paying more attention now! also try to talk w/ the meat manager more ;)

yea my DH wanted the ironman dvd lol
also DD doesn't drink kool-aid yet..all the kool-aid you see in pics are all for my DH :)

In this picture from Walmart i spent 6.92 and saved 49.82
not bad for being walmart :)

I airtight seal my meats right after i buy them to allow longer storagelife. then i put them in the deep freezer...must have for stockingup, i love that freezer..maybe next year ill see about getting another one :)

Day of Jcpenny shopping (augest14ish)

lifeskills13 — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 03:06:20 GMT

I havn't went shopping for clothes for myself since Emilie was born and i needed to go..so that day i tried to get the best deals.

Spent $65.96 for $468.04 worth!

oh yea the last one was emilie tennis shoes lol nike pink ones..i spend little on me but am able to spend that on a pair of shoes *Sigh*
of course its not like i do this more then once a year.

the price of the black dress pants...i paid only $7.25 :biggrin:

GE deals: Spent $53.69 for $302.61 worth

lifeskills13 — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 03:02:25 GMT

Sorry i haven't been posting latly but im still savings. THis is my giant eagle savings..next ill post cvs savings after i take one more trip tomorrow :)

missing from the photo two packages of lunchmeat.

getting excited about deals doesn't get old :)

I got the coke for 1.00each after coupon and sale.

the smelly stuff was on clearance and was dirt cheap after coupon :)

I pretty much used up a lot of almost expired coupons..so the rest of the stuff wasn't even on sale.

oh yea got the printer paper for 2something a piece woohoo..more paper means for IP's lol

Latest pic of my handsome boy7/20

lifeskills13 — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 03:48:35 GMT

I took this picture w/ my old camera which isn't the greatest because last week my good camera broke after two years of owning it :frown:lol i killed it. So now im waiting for my nikon d60 to arrive:smile: until then i have to fix up pictures i take now a lot just to look ok.

taken last sunday 7/20 5monthsold

Responce to HCW Stockpile pic contest

lifeskills13 — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:44:35 GMT

ok lol i don't have an entry yet but not sure if im that creative..actually i could be just my 16month old grabs t
he items im trying to take pics of now so imagine what it will be if i use my stockpile lol

but i took this picture a couple of years ago..and once i saw the first entry to the contest which jeepmom did great on! i decided to post this pic in a blog

As you can see i was bored :hectic1::giggle2:

Happy birthday to me :)

lifeskills13 — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:54:46 GMT

hehe im soooo strong *Wink* im turning the big 22year lol

i know its a crappy photo but it was very very sunny outside i had my iso all the way down plus the exposure at -2..and it still turn out bright :( i spent like ten mins on the photo which is the fastest i ever did lol

disclaimer: no kids were harmed in the making of this photo...it was photoshopped lol

Cvs deals: spent 10.64 for $184.62worth

lifeskills13 — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:15:16 GMT

I got some odds and ends that wasn't in the ad but still saved a lot.
the water i got for 1.99 each for a 24pck

the picture frames were on clearance. i picked up one that was marked down to 4.99 its a musical fathersday frames...when i went up the register it rang .99cents! i told him to wait and got the rest lol
.47cents for the other two frames.