Oops... I did it again!

I can not believe it's been almost a month since I posted anything on this blog. I am a horrible blogger.

A LOT has been going on.

Chris is home, but leaving in a few days.

My bow business is booming. (I never expected this but am extremely thankful)

I have been feeling incredibly blessed lately.

Lilly knocked Chris's laptop off the coffee table and broke it. We are trying to fix my old desktop so he can take my new laptop with him instead of buying a new laptop. I am too cheap to buy a new laptop.

Back when we paid off our car I mentioned that we are now debt free. What I didn't mention were the collections we had. They have been laying VERY heavy on my heart. As of Monday, every single collection or past due account is completely paid off!

Zip. Zero. Zilch!

No more ANYTHING on our conscience.

I can't tell you what a relief it is for us to have it paid off. Now onto saving as much as possible to be able to buy a house.

Long time coming

I did something today that I have needed to do for quite sometime.

I joined Weight Watchers Online.

Online, because I don't have the nerve yet to go to an actual class AND because with Chris being gone, online will be easier.

I am...

• nervous
• excited
• happy
• overwhelmed

... all wrapped up into a little package.

It's been a long time since I have been on a diet. The last time being in 2004 when I stared the Atkins low-carb diet. I dropped 75 lbs in 6 mths and then met my husband. I gained it all back plus some within a year.

I was so mad at myself. How could I let myself go again like that?

Then I got pregnant. Then I got pregnant AGAIN.

Which brings me to now.

My "baby" is now 3 and I can no longer blame my weight on "having just given birth".

I am anxiously awaiting a new scale that I ordered online from Wal-Mart. Chris went to the store to pick it up tonight and it was about $20 MORE than the price online. What a rip off! I ended up ordering the scale instead with free shipping and it will be here next week.

I officially started my diet tonight. I will officially weigh in next week.

I will take all the prayers I can get with this journey. I NEED to lose weight. I need to lose it for my husband, my children, and my family. But most importantly I need to lose it for myself.

Tell Your Time - Special Black Friday Sale!

Are you looking for an easier way to get things done? I seem to run out of time most days and then end up feeling like I didn't accomplish anything I wanted to.

I am not a perfectionist by any stretch of the means, but there is always that thought in the back of my head that I *could* have done more if I just had the time.

This is where the e-book "Tell You Time" came in to play. I jumped at the chance to download this book right when I heard about it.

This book has helped me come up a schedule and STICK TO IT. (which is always the hard part)

What if you could change your life in less than 30 pages?

Like Amy says in the beginning of her book, this book will help you:

• Identify the most important things in your life
• Set long-term goals for each
• Determine how you can reach those goals
• Manage your time so you can accomplish those goals

It really does.

Starting tonight at 12:01 am she is offering her book to you for half off! Her book currently sells for $12 and let me tell you, it is worth EVERY penny of that, but starting tonight her book will be on sale for only $6.00!!

When: Sale starts Black Friday (Nov. 26) at 12:01am and ends Cyber Monday (Nov. 29) at 11:59pm.
Coupon Code: MONDAYBLACK (this code must be added to your shopping cart at checkout to get the deal)
Sale Price: $6 (that's 50% off!)

Run don't walk... wait... SIT don't stand and order this book starting tonight! You will not be disappointed.

Housing wants/needs

I try to cut costs wherever and whenever I can and one of the biggest cost cutting undertakings has been with our utilities.

When we moved to this place last year, we had a very specific list of things we were looking for.

1. More space (duh)
2. Windows that were not in direct sunlight
3. Tile floors
4. Newer HVAC system
5. Newer appliances

Well we got more space but it was more expensive each month for the rent. No biggie since it only about $50 more a month then what we were paying, BUT water was included in the rent. Score! That completely offset the higher rent.

The way that our building is situated, none of our windows get direct light. This was a huge deciding factor in us getting this unit. Our old place had windows all along the front of the unit which faced west. The sun came through the windows for about 8 hours during the summer. The house never got cool. NEVER.

Tile floors was a must. I absolutely despise vacuuming. It's loud and I don't like the way it smells. I know... it's weird. Anyway, tile floors stay cool in the hot summer months and if our feet are cooler, then our bodies are cooler and we can leave the thermostat at a higher temperature.

The newer HVAC was also a must. Our old place had an ancient HVAC unit. It was so loud we had to turn it off just to be able to watch the TV. Talk about annoying. It was inefficient and expensive to run.

Newer appliances was a want, not a necessity, however I really REALLY wanted newer appliances. We lucked out with this place. This was the model condo for the community so the appliances had never been used. Newer appliances also equals lower utility costs so it was a win-win for us.

Nearly everything on our list was geared toward saving money in the long run. I can honestly say, it has paid off.

When we moved in we replaced all the bulbs with CFL bulbs and plugged all of our electronics into power strips/surge protectors. Every night I turn off the switches (if they have even been turn on). Lights stay off for the majority of the day. We are lucky enough to have 2 big sliding glass doors that let in a LOT of light. Our electricity bill has been slashed in half since moving here.

Also, when we renewed our leased for another year, the manager gave us the option to renew for 14 months. If we chose that option, we would get a discount of nearly $100 a month!! We absolutely jumped on that offer.

Now not everything here is rainbows and unicorns. There is the occasional ogre that pops it ugly head in here. There are definitely new items that we have added to the list that will be for our new place. Land being one of them. Being in a condo community has it's ups and downs. The biggest down for us has been dogs. People love their dogs here but don't like picking up their poo. And the dogs especially LOVE our back yard.

Signed,
Doesn't like dog poo

Are you a canner?

I have only canned once in my life and it was this past spring. I made strawberry jam. It was/is delicious.

Like, the best jam ever. Never mind that it has about 6 cups of sugar and lots and lots of strawberries.

I am pretty sure the reason is was so good was because I made it.
Me.
In my tiny kitchen. 

OK, yes it was the delicious strawberries and sugar that made it good but who cares. Not me. I won't be buying the stuff at the store again.

Homemade jam is so much better. Aaaaand I know what is it in.

Have you ever noticed how hard store brand jams and jellies are to spread? I guess I never noticed until I made my own. They spread without ripping the fresh bread to shreds.

I bought a bunch of green beans at the store over the summer while they were cheap and I had ever intention of canning them.

I ended up throwing them away.

All 10,000 lbs of them.

Actually only about 8 lbs but still... that was like 6 bucks worth of beans that I could had made into food for my family.

The reason I didn't can them was because I don't have a canner. I wanted to purchase one but then realized I would need an expensive one since we have a glass top stove. I can't use those cheap ones on glass top stove.

Who knew? Apparently not me.

I could have improvised with a large stock pot like I did for making the jam, but my pots just weren't tall enough to fit jars and still have them covered with enough water to ensure proper sealing.

Fast-forward to today and low and behold I found a place in our city that will help you can food!

Here is a little exerpt from their website.

... the Canning Center provides an institutional kitchen environment.  All equipment necessary for canning is provided onsite.  Users provide their own ingredients. 

... The client list includes Duval County residents, boaters, various churches, people on restricted diets, non-profit organizations within the city, the 4-H School Enrichment Program and other governmental agencies.

It's not free, but if a large group of people got together to make food for their families to share, it would totally be worth it. Like a co-op type thing.

The canning center provides ALL the equipment to can. All you have to do is bring the ingredients and jars. How easy is that??!!

They also occasionally have workshops that teach people how to can soups.

Depending on whether or not I break down and buy an expensive canner, I may just give this place a try. Our kitchen is small tiny and it was a little cramped while I was canning the jam.

It would be a nice change to actually cook in an industrial sized kitchen!

I may never want to go back to my little tiny kitchen. (when I say tiny, I mean it. I have less than 3 ft of counter-top space.)

Signed,

Hopelessly needs a bigger kitchen and flat bottomed canner

On the lookout

So even though I don't post our weekly grocery budget anymore, I am still pinching pennies. I really am. Probably even more now that Chris has gone back on the road.

• When he is home, we spend more money.
• We make more trips to the grocery store.
• We eat more expensive food.
• I cook more, and by more I mean quantity.
• That boy can eat y'all!

I am always on the lookout for good, frugal recipes. And by good, I mean AWESOME.

It's no secret I am addicted to pizza. It's really a love hate relationship. I love it, but I hate to pay for it.

I have been making my own pizza for as long as I can remember and I have YET to find a crust recipe that I am head over heals in love with. (think Papa John's or Mellow Mushroom crust)

That crispy outside, chewy inside and perfectly un-soggy-when-it's-loaded-with-sauce-and-toppings dough is what I am after.

Where is this elusive pizza dough recipe. Believe me when I tell you this. I have tried no less than 20 dough recipes. They are pretty much all the same and pretty much all disappoint. They are either too think and bready or too thin and crackery.

Bready and crackery. Now those are some words to make you sound REALLY smart. Geez.

Anyway...

I need a recipe. I really GOOD recipe for pizza dough. I just can't bring my penny pinching self to order pizza. I *almost* did it last night. It was gonna cost nearly $25.00!!

I'm sorry but $25.00 for pizza? Really? I can feed 30 people for less than $25.00. Heck I made an entire Thanksgiving spread last year for less than that.

I think I'll take my cry for help hunt to Twitter. I'm sure I'll get some good answers there!

When will just being me be good enough?

Warning : RANT ahead

Do you ever feel inadequate? I mean really inadequate. I’m not even sure that is the right word I am trying to get across.

I have had a job ever since I was 15. That is until I became a stay at home mom almost 4 years ago.

And since then, being a mom doesn’t seem to be a good enough job for some people in my family.

People will ask me when will I go back to school and get an education? When am I going to go get a “real” job? When will I get tired of just sitting around all day doing nothing? When are you going to do something with your life?

So I ask you this, when did being a mother become an inadequate job?

I work my butt off 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and on top of that my husband is away for about 90% of the time. And for what? To be told what I am doing is not good enough?

Um. No.

Remember back in the day when being a mother and being home with your children was expected of you? How did we go from that to where we are today? Why isn’t being a mother considered a successful career?

I have always felt like I couldn’t measure up to certain people in my family. Like whatever I did was never good enough. When will just being me be good enough?

I never knew what I wanted “to be” when I grew up. All I ever wanted to do is be a mom and try to raise happy healthy kids. I am doing exactly what I wanted to do my whole life yet that isn’t good enough for some people.

This is something that my husband and I prayed over, thought a long time about and agreed to. We have made LOTS of sacrifices so I can stay home with the kids. We live VERY modestly just to be able to afford our monthly expenses. We are teased and made fun of because of the way we live. I buy in bulk so I don’t have to go shopping every week. I have a pantry full of food and personal hygiene items but for some reason, that is funny or weird to some people. Maybe they don’t mean it the way it comes across, but it hurts still the same.

So to end this completely random rant, I may or may not go back to school. It’s my decision. I will try not to let others bother me about our way of life. It’s their problem, not ours. At least we are drowning in a sea of debt. We actually have none.

Totally and utterly random

Do you ever just run out of stuff to say? I have sat here looking at this cursor blinking for over an hour.

Thinking of what to say...

I don't know what direction to take with this blog. A lot has changed over the year.

I do still pinch pennies, but it's in a totally different way.

I rarely clip coupons anymore.

I shop once, maybe twice a month, if at all.

I have such a good stockpile of food here, I only need to purchase milk, eggs and cheese.

and you know what... I love it!

With Chris being gone 5 to 6 weeks at a time, I don't get any alone time without the kids. I know that sounds like I am trying to pawn my kids off on someone, but taking kids to the grocery store is NOT my idea of fun.

2 buggies + 3 kids = no fun for mom. ( At least for me)

I am now going against everything I once did. My rules were no shopping on the weekends, don't buy it if I don't have a coupon, only buy if on sale, etc.

I ONLY shop on the weekends now. It's just easier to have Caitlin helping me and since she is in public school now, she isn't free during the week.

I don't even buy Sunday papers anymore. I used to buy at least 5. Too time consuming now for me.

I do still try to buy only if on sale, but I now buy what my kids will eat and if it's not on sale, oh well. Some thing else will get cut from the list.

I need to get back into the habit of menu planning. That really helped me out when I was doing it, especially on the weeks that Chris leaves. My brain turns to mush for about a week after he leaves. Just trying to get back into the swing of things wears me out. I mope around for a few days feeling sorry for myself and crying up a storm. But then I usually snap out of it and realize I have been feeding my children pure junk and I had better get my tail in gear and get with it!

My get with it day was yesterday and today.

Yesterday : Cleaned my kitchen. It was a mess. My hands are now a mess from all the dish washing! Also get meat from the freezer for this week.

Today : Caitlin was sick so she stayed home from school and helped me clean up a little and we started her science fair project. I made crock pot red beans and rice, 2 loaves of buttermilk bread, browned 6 lbs of ground beef, made a pot of tea, went to the bank, CVS to buy milk, swept, cleaned all the dishes from today and am now relaxing.

My neighbors were out walking their dog this afternoon and stopped to chat for a minute. They noticed our garden on the back porch. We live in a condo so there isn't room for an outside garden so we had to improvise.

We have big pots for our veggies this year and I couldn't be more excited!

We planted straight neck squash, cherry tomatoes, green peppers, heirloom tomatoes (in our topsy turvy), yellow tomatoes, basil, cilantro, culantro, and rosemary. I still have to plant the parsley. They couldn't believe we had all that growing on the back porch!

Back porch = screen lanai to y'all city folk. :)

I mentioned that a few weeks ago I bought a flat of strawberries from the farm stand and made strawberry jam. I offered them a jar and they were more than happy to take it. Y'all it's so good! So sweet and yummy! I also gave them a loaf of the buttermilk bread.

Gosh well, this post rambled on about nothing....

Sorry for being so random. My mind is just getting out of the mushy stage 'ya know!

So if you made it to the end.... here is a picture of the little ones pretending to be birds. The magnolia leaves are of course the wings. :)

Saving money at the pump

Do y'all know about this.

Does anyone else even have Winn Dixie around? They must be a southern grocery chain.

Anyway... they have a customer reward card that you scan just like any other store. You get the discounts at the store but get this, you also get a $.05 reduction per gallon of gas for every $50 you buy in groceries.

You need groceries.

You need gas.

You need to reduce the price of gas.

I needed to use up my discount before I lost it. I had 'til the 30th.  (You have to use it or lose it in a certain amount of time)

Wanna know how much I saved at the pump yesterday?

$0.75 per gallon. I know!

And for those not living near here, our gas is $2.73 per gallon. For regular unleaded! Crazy right?

I paid $1.98.

I was actually excited to pay for it. Well sort of...

:)

Check our more money saving ideas at Life as a Mom. She has great money saving tips and ideas!

Getting back into the swing of things

I have been a total slacker in terms of menu planning and organizing my coupons. It all started when Chris quit his job and started attending CDL school. After he finished school, he was home. Every. Single. Day.

Morning, noon and night. And I loved it. Loved every second of it.

BUT... I got lazy. VERY lazy. There were 2 of us here to handle things. I didn't have to worry about stuff as much since he was here.

So I have decided I am gonna make a plan. A good plan. A plan *I* can stick to.

I am also determined to get this blog going again. I should will have free time in the evenings to get it going again.

When we decided Chris would go on the road driving a truck, we also decided that Caitlin, our oldest would go back to public school. I know... I cringed too. We have been homeschooling her for over 2 years and WOW.. what a difference it made. I'm going to toot my own horn, but she blended right in to the class and is not lost at all! She is exactly where she needs to be. I couldn't be happier. She has a great teacher and has already made lots of new friends. She loves it!

I need to get breakfast items made up and put in the freezer so it's easier in the morning for her to have a hot breakfast. I also want my dinners planned so I'm not scrambling in the afternoons trying to figure out what's for dinner.

Y'all should see my stack of coupons! I have about 10 weeks worth of coupons that have not even been sorted!! Oh did I mention we buy at at least 4 papers. So that's 10 weeks worth of coupons times 4 papers. I really have my work cut out for me.

Good thing I have the time now.

Penny Pinching Tip: Save on Spices

So before my blog got lost in cyberspace (read: I deleted it accidentally) I had a post about saving money while buying spices.

I know everyone buys spices and flavorings in those little bottles with the red lids, or the massive bottle from the warehouse clubs, but I have an even better idea!

Look down the ethnic food aisles in your grocery stores!

Go ahead... I'll wait...

Back?

OK, good. Did you see them? You know... the el cheapo spices? Aren't they GREAT?

I will never buy "red lid" bay leaves again!

Check this out. These little babies are about 4 bucks at my store... and for 0.12 ounces. Ouch!

2 aisles over in the ethnic food isle sat this little gem.

Aaaaaand for the whopping price of 69 cents for a .25 ounce baggie! Talk about a great deal!

We use a LOT of bay leaves in our cooking. I love the flavor and until I can get fresh leaves, I will buy the cheaper brand.

I also picked up some sesame seeds while I was there.

These are about 4 bucks at my store as well. This is the 1 ounce container.

Hanging right beside the bay leaves were these.

This bag is a 1.5 ounce bag for... get this.... 59 cents!

Now don't get me wrong, I will still buy the big name spices. But I will ALWAYS use a coupon and try to get to the store that doubles. I have gotten plenty of FREE spices by doing this... and you can too!

I still got it!

We quit getting multiple Sunday papers a while back and boy howdy did it make a difference! I spent more of everything. More time shopping, more money and more headaches. We are back to buying at least 4 papers just for the coupons. We recycle the rest of the paper. I wish I could just buy the coupons. I have tried the coupon clipping services but I am not the organized. I like to have the coupon in hand just in case I need it right then. Who has time to order then wait for the coupon to come??

When we take the papers to the recycle center, there are ALWAYS stacks of coupons that someone dropped off. Why in the world would people just throw away coupons is beyond me. Chris usually tries to get the coupons but sometimes they are already expired. Oh well… every little bit helps!

I have been trying to get to Publix for almost a week now and just now finally got to go last night. My buggy (does anyone still say buggy or is it just me??) was packed! They had some awesome deals! Combine awesome deals with high value coupons and you have a very happy mommy!

Oh and our Publix does NOT double coupons.

Does anyone else’s Publix not do that??

I walked out of there with nearly $200 worth of groceries and paper goods for a little over $80. I was so excited. I got everything on my list plus some.

I was getting a little discouraged lately about my savings… or lack thereof.

Needless to say, I still got it!

I thought I lost it, but it’s been found!

We won’t be getting just one Sunday paper anymore. Been there, done that!

A little bread, some news, and free museums

Yesterday was a busy day! I made 2 batches of bread. Not sure what happened to the first batch, but the bread dried out really quickly. Not that it wasn’t good, just a little dry. Butter to the rescue!

The 2nd batch I made was for yummy pigs in a blanket. We just love them. I made 32 total, kept about 12 in the fridge and froze the others. They don’t stay long in our house so putting them in the freezer really isn’t necessary, just a habit really. Caitlin wanted them for breakfast so I made up some scrambled eggs and we ate pigs in a blanket with them. Perfect breakfast. :)

I made *the* best bread the other day. It’s a honey, oatmeal wheat bread. And it’s delicious! If I can remember later, I’ll post the recipe and a picture.

We got some good news yesterday! Chris was able to go speak with a lady he used to work on a project with. He was asking her about the different projects going on and if any of them were hiring. She told him, anywhere he wants to go, she can send him! Such good news!!

Chris has the weekend off and since this is the first weekend of the month, it’s free for us to get into our local science museum. I have been wanting to go here for years but just never got around to it. It looks like tons of fun and can’t wait to take the girls. They will have a BLAST!

Off to shape my bread and think of what in the world I can fix for dinner. You would think that ground beef would be easy, but I need something NEW!

Coming up for air!

This week has been a busy one. We went to the Salvation Army Thrift store on Saturday. I found a brand new bread machine! Of course I got it. It can make a 2 lb. loaf unlike my other one that can only do a 1 lb loaf. I also found another ice cream maker. This time it’s one of those that uses ice and rock salt. I hope this one won’t quit on us.

Chris took some time off at the beginning of the week for a class he needed to take but the class got canceled at last minute. It all worked out though since I needed to go downtown and really didn’t want to take all the girls with me. Downtown terrifies me. Seriously.

Sunday night, we did a dry run of our route to where we needed to go. It’s a good thing we did because we would have never made it in time without doing that. We got so turned around. We must have gone in circles about 10 times. The homeless people on the side of the road practically knew we were coming by again. (I don’t get why there are so many homeless people here) We had to go to the FDLE (Florida Department of Law Enforcement) and right beside it was a Walgreens with about 10 homeless people on the front sidewalk….. over them read a sign… No Loitering. Ummm… hello??? The FDLE is your neighbor! Call them!

Tuesday we didn’t do much of anything. Chris did move around some furniture that had been sitting in our living room for far too long. We have 2 sections in that room. The living room and the basement. I swear one side of my living room looks like my grandpas basement. Our deep freeze is there, a TV, a shelving unit, boxes we still haven’t unpacked, rubber bins with stuff we still haven’t unpacked….you get the idea.

Yesterday, Chris cleaned out the van when he got home. He also went to our storage unit and got a mattress set out for the girls, 2 tables, his stereo, books and lots and lots of clothes. I made some homemade laundry detergent yesterday too. I’m sure you all know about it. The fels-naptha with washing soda and borax. Well, I hand grated that whole bar of soap. It smells so nice and clean in our kitchen now because of the detergent. It seems to work great so far. I will have to wait and see just how well it does over the long haul with our EXTREMELY hard water.

Today was my unplug from the interwebz day for me. I had enough. I needed to get through this ribbon I am gonna sell and I just needed to unplug. Plus, I really wanted to spend time with these kids. I kinda like them ya know. They make me smile.

Sorry for the long post….. And I thought I didn’t have anything to say. Guess I did. :)

Cutting back... again.

I was looking over the weekly totals recently and thought, “Wow! I spend a LOT!”. I have to tell myself it’s because that is ALL of our spending. Grocery, household products, EVERYTHING. Well, except like gas and clothes.

I just don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea about what we spend. We are on a VERY limited budget, which needs to be re-done by the way, and we use coupons as much as possible. We have had to cut our trips to Harris Teeter where we used to get great deals because the cost of gas has gone up so much recently. Our savings are not as good as they were at the beginning of the year, but that’s fine.

We will adjust.

Is "good" customer service a thing of the past?

There is no easier way to get me fired up than for a customer service rep to talk to me like I am an idiot. Let me tell you this… I am FIRED up!

This started last night with a simple trip to the grocery store. Our destination: Winn Dixie for their Pampers special they have going on. We are enrolled in the Baby Club program there, and it has been nothing but a nightmare! They very rarely calculate the baby points correctly or actually give the reward for earning 200 points at the time they are supposed to.

Case in point. Yesterday I knew I had 185 baby points going in to the store. My goal was to pick up 2 packs of diapers to go over 200 points and then get my $10 reward to either be used on the diapers or the cart full of groceries I had.

I put the diapers up first thing. Nope, no baby points. No rewards. Nothing. Ugh.

When she finishes up my order I look on the receipt. No baby points whatsoever. None. The 185 I had from my last visit have just disappeared. I also noticed that my overall reward card savings have been reset down from around $4200 to $53. OK. No biggie. Maybe she scanned my card wrong. She didn’t. It was the right card number. Just something was screwy.

I went to the customer service center. Great. They can no longer help on the card issues. I have to call the 800# located at the top of the receipt. I thought nothing of it since I have called numerous times before and had no problems with anyone there.

Until…

TODAY!

I tend to be very well prepared when I call a customer service number. I hate calling them but I do try to be very nice when I call CSR’s. I know they get all kinds of crazies calling and I really do want them to remember at least one nice caller for the day. But once she had interrupted me 3 times, the gloves came off.

Note to CSRs… do NOT interrupt the customer. Let me say what I want to say to you even if it doesn’t matter. At least that way we can can say that we did notify you of the problem.

1st time : Interrupted me to tell me that the total saved that it says on the receipt is not the amount saved at my last trip. i.e. I didn’t save $4200 on my last shopping trip. Ya think?? I know I didn’t save that much on my last trip, but I do know that over a couple of years, I HAVE saved that much.

2ns time :  Interrupted me to tell me that my baby must be over the age of 2. Ummm… no. She won’t be 2 until mid-August, thankyouverymuch.

3rd time:  Interrupted me to tell me that she can not give out any information to me since my name is not Christian. Ummm… my hard working husband is at WORK. And what information is soooooo secretive about my grocery store savings card that you can’t tell me over the phone.

LET ME TALK TO YOUR SUPERVISOR

4th and final time : Interrupted me to tell me that the supervisor will tell me the same thing. LET ME TALK TO YOUR SUPERVISOR

Supervisor FINALLY picks up the phone. Proceeds to tell me that the CSR is correct in that she can’t give me any information. Whoa… did he just say the wrong thing.

“I don’t need you to give me any information. I just need you to do a little research and figure out where my baby points went! There is no information that you can give me that I don’t already know about this transaction other than the fact that you guys screwed up! What is so secretive about reward points anyway? I can call a Dr.’s office and get more information from them and that is important personal information. I can give you his SS#, his birth-date, his address, his phone number and even his first borns' name if you want. All you need to do it find out where my baby points went!!! ”

I think he got the point. He will be calling me back today. :)

Week ending 5/30/09

Whooo hooo it was triple coupon week at Harris Teeter and boy did we rack up the deals! We actually got some good deals at Winn Dixie as well so we scored all around.

I got some freezer meals prepared this week as well. Oh but let me just tell you about an awesome deal we got at Winn Dixie. They had Ball Park hot dogs on sale. Buy one get one free. I had several $1.00 off 2  coupons and right beside the hot dogs there was a coupon for a free pack of Sara Lee buns with the purchase of 2 packs of hot dogs. But get this… the buns were also BOGO free. We bought 8 packs of hot dogs, got 8 packs of buns for free. All in all, it cost less than $6 for all that. I couldn’t believe it.

I ended up putting most of the buns in the freezer and made these yummy pigs in a blanket with 2 packs of the hot dogs. I will definately be making these things again. They are a HUGE hit in our house. Plus since you cut each hot dog in half, you really only eat 1 hot dog. Love that!

Total for the week

Shelf Price $689.00
Price Paid $254.00
Amount Saved $435.00

That is a savings of 63%

Week ending 5/23/09

This week wasn’t that great but we did manage to save. That’s what matters to us.

Total for the week

Shelf Price $154.00
Price Paid $99.00
Amount Saved $55.00

That is a savings of 36%

Free float night! I am so there.

We love Sonic. Who doesn’t?? ( Don’t answer that!)

When I was pregnant with both babies, all I wanted was a lime slushie. Actually, I want one now! I am not real big on their food, but the drinks… the drinks I love!

We are gonna head out tonight after dinner and get our FREE root beer float.

http://www.sonicdrivein.com

I am so behind again on my weekly totals. Hopefully I can get those done within the next few days.

Caitlin got her skates in. She LOVES them! I got a picture of her opening them up that I will post shortly. It was priceless. Made me so happy for her.