Science Birthday Party ~What a hit!~

Today was the big party day for our oldest son (11). His birthday is just before Christmas. Typically we wait until January to have his party. This year he asked for a science party. A friend of ours, Brian, came over for the afternoon to be the scientist. He was amazing! I had a program on my son's laptop that was supposed to greet each kiddo and welcome them into our laboratory. My son was going to do an eye scan with a glow stick while the program talked. Big glitch! The program would not load. When it finally did....most the kids were already here and they were ready to start eating lunch. We had bologna sandwiches, cucumber & cream cheese sandwiches, jello jigglers, potato chips, and tang (with dry ice in it for a super cool smokey effect).  My husband and I had decorated the garage last night. But, as you know, it rained! Why was that a problem? Well...we just learned that our garage floor is not sealed. So, moisture came up through the floor. Our streamers had been perfectly hung and now they were sagging and looked like they had been soaked in water all night long. Ugh! What's a parent to do? We decided to pull them tighter so that they were no longer hanging from wall, to knee, to rafter level. Trust me...it looked amazing last night and this morning it looked like we hired a toddler to decorate. No offense to the toddlers out there.
Our scientist had so much fun with the boys. I think he was from Germany...or was he related to Schwarzenegger...it was hard to tell. His accent was so unique and the kids loved it! They liked that he counted in German. Their favorite was the number 5...funf (fuenf). I received a glare at one point because I broke one of the rules. I was talking while it was his turn to talk. Lol!
The kids did a lot of experiments. I appreciated that he had them in groups and they talked amongst their group. Why did that happen? What do you think is going on? It was really neat to hear the ideas that the boys had. Their explanations were quite interesting. Here are some of the experiments that they did:
1. Two empty soda cans and a straw. They were using the straw to blow cans across the table. The cans cans were to stay connected as they went across the table. If you accomplished this...it made "music". Hmmm...I thought that "music" was right up there with fingernails on a chalk board or a fork scraping a metal bowl. But the kids loved it. One kid was able to get it right quite often.
2. Next they had a bent straw and a cheese puff. There were a lot of cheese puffs. The kids were challenged to make the cheese puff hover in the air above their straw. We saw a lot of cheese puffs in the air...a few kids were able to get theirs to hover.
3. The kids were each given a piece of aluminum foil. "Al is your pal!" See - I was listening. They made boats and were asked to put them in a bucket of water to see if they would float. The name of our scientists boat was the USS Sinkalot. One of my sons made a flat boat. He called it the USS Laptop. Guess what....it floated. Then they crumpled them up and tested again to see if they would float. Last, they stomped on their aluminum crumpled up boats. Then they tested it again to see what would happen. You want to know...don't you? Too bad...guess you will have to try it yourself and see what happens. : )
4. Two liter bottles were attached at the neck. He had beads and glittery stuff in them. The kids made whirlpools/tornadoes with them. They observed the motion of the beads and glitter. They had a great conversation about air pressure.
5. My son was sent into the house to grab his highest amount bill. He came back with a $10. He handed it over to our scientist who set it on fire. And....it was just fine. But, the price on my son's face was priceless.
6. He asked my son for a $1. They had a deal. He was going to walk through the dollar bill. If he could not walk through the dollar bill...he would give my son $2. If he could was through the dollar bill...then he would just give it back to him. He then proceeded to cut the $1. He tried to walk through it and decided to have my oldest son give it a try. Brody was able to walk through the $1 and he received $2 in the end. He is now the proud owner of a $1 necklace.
7. Two eggs in separate containers of water. One sunk and the other...well...it eventually floated up to the top.
8. Diet coke and mentos! Need I say more? The kids loved it!

My son asked for cupcakes. He wanted neon frosting on the side; so that the kids could decorate their own cupcakes. We also put sprinkles and chopped up cookies into neon colored test tubes. The kids had so much fun. I could not believe how quickly the time flew by. It was "ultra epic cool" according to one of the boys at the party. I'm sure this party will be remembered for years to come.

1-15-2011 Saturday

Today was filled with pricing more items around town. Made my list of prices at Winco for items that I tend to purchase. I keep this in my coupon binder. That way I know when I am getting a good deal. I still want to make a trip out to Cash & Carry in Parkland and price things in their store. It really does save you money when you take the time to price groceries. I don't price everything....only what we use the most of.

Here is an example from my Costco price list:
flour $0.28/lb, 25 lb sack, $7.10
sugar $0.60/lb, 25 lb sack, $14.99
brown sugar $0.813/lb, 4 lb bag, $3.25
dill pickles $3.69/64 oz.
bisquick $0.51/oz, 4.92/6 lbs/96 oz.

The price list that I care the most about is my staples: bread, milk, eggs, flour, sugar, pickles (yes, pickles are a staple in our home), dried beans, rice, tortilla shells, chicken, beef. I don't bother with pricing things that I'd normally not purchase.

Today was chalk full of busy, busy ,busy! The kids raced their cars at the AWANA grand prix. While they were there, I went out to Puyallup to fill my ink cartridges. Then it was off to Winco to work on my price lists. Met a friend at RiteAid and picked up a space heater - borrowing it to heat my garage up for my oldest son's birthday party. Picked up my husband & kids from church. Went home to have lunch. Drove back out to Puyallup to pick up my ink cartridges. Drove back home. Cleaned up the living room. Practiced the piano for a solo at church tonight. Packed up and headed out the door for church. Came home and had dinner. Are you tired yet? Sometimes I wonder how we manage to do so much in 1 day! I'm worn out just typing all of it.

We had dinner after church. Sometimes that is how we have to roll on Saturday's. We had an easy dinner tonight. My kids wanted to make dinner. So, we had corndogs.

Dinner:
corndogs $0.24/each  = $2.64 We had 11 of them (picked up 1 extra kiddo for the night)
we drank water with dinner

Today's totals:
Food purchases: $0.00
Coupon savings on food: $0.00
Dinner costed: $2.64

Tally for January 2011
Food purchases: $57.90
Coupon savings on food: $49.26
Dinner costs: $24.01 (average is $1.60/dinner, $0.32/person)

1-14-2011 Friday

We had company over for dinner tonight. My grandparents came over to partake in some scrumptious turkey with the fixings. I know, you want to know my cost breakdown. We'll get there. As I like to say, "Hold your horses". Normally my kids respond with, "I don't have any horses to hold". To which I think...smartie pants! I'd never say that outloud. But, I do think that! I did go out and run some errands today.
Here is a list of what I picked up when I was out today:
Winco -
pop tarts...they were marked down because the box was slightly damaged...but it had no effect on the pop tarts. $0.50/box. I purchased 2. Spent $1.00
Maruchan beef yakisoba $0.24. I purchased 2. It was on sale and I had 2 mfr coupons. Spent $0.48
Hamburger helper $0.63/box. I only purchased it because the price was low. We'll use these on a busy Wednesday evening. I purchased 3 boxes and used a mfr coupon plus it was on sale. Spent $1.89
Uncle Ben's rice $0.85/each. There are packages inside that provide 4 meals per box. It was on sale and I had a mfr coupon. I purchased 3 boxes. Spent $2.55
Campbells cream of mushroom soup $0.55/each. On sale and I used a mfr coupon. Purchased 3 cans. Spent $1.65
Kens buttermilk ranch dressing (our family favorite!) $0.78/each. On sale and I used 5 mfr coupons. Purchased 5 bottles of dressing. Spent $3.90
Jolly time popcorn $0.28/box. It was on sale and I had mfr coupons. I purchased 5 boxes. Spent: 1.40
Total spent at Winco: 12.87
Amount saved using coupons: 14.65

Next I went to RiteAid and picked up 2 boxes of Motrin PM FREE! Not a bad deal at all. : )

Dinner tonight was turkey, mashed potatoes & gravy, banana bread. My grandparents brought a salad. We did not have dessert. The adults drank water, my kids had milk. I like to cook my turkey in a roaster oven and I season it with salt, pepper, thyme, and rosemary. I put some water into the pan to keep the turkey nice and moist. I cooked it at 325 degrees for 4 1/2 hours. It was amazing! Plus I picked it up last summer when it was on clearance at Safeway. It doesn't get much better than that. The price tag was labeled $0.19/lb and it was a 13.65 pound turkey making it $2.59. I can't even get a whole chicken for that price. Our potatoes were on sale at Summit Trading Post in Puyallup. I picked up 10 lbs for $0.49. I made the gravy with juice from the turkey and 2 TBSP of cornstarch. The banana bread had the bananas in it that I spent $0.10/lb on. Wow! Deals are out there...you just have to keep your eyes open.
By the way, we have more than 1/2 a turkey in leftovers!

Dinner cost breakdown:
turkey: $2.59
mashed potatoes: $0.13
gravy: $0.03
seasonings: $0.12
2 loaves of banana bread: $0.38
3-8oz glasses of milk: $0.19

Totals for today:
Food purchases: $12.87
Coupon savings on food: $14.65
Dinner costed: $3.44 (breakdown $0.49/person - remember...there were 7 at the table tonight)

Tally for January 2011:
Food purchases: $57.90
Coupon savings on food: $49.26
Dinner costs: $21.37 (average is at $1.526 per dinner)

1-13-2011 Thursday

Boy, time has consumed me and I need to catch up on this blog. We have been planning my oldest son's birthday party. It is just around the corner. Between that and pricing food at multiple locations. Gotta make sure that I am getting the best deal and I need to know when a sale is really a "sale".

We used the rest of our taco soup for making dinner. I cooked up rice. We heated up tortilla shells in the microwave. Then I filled them with rice, taco soup, and a dollop of yogurt. We each had an 8-oz glass of milk with dinner.

Our oldest had 3 burritos, middle had 2, youngest had 1 with a side of rice with taco soup on top, my hubby had 2, and I had 1 burrito. We used up all the rice and all of the taco soup.

Cost breakdown:
taco soup $0.00 (leftovers)
tortilla shells $1.08 (0.12 per tortilla shell)
rice $0.21 (bought it on sale at Winco and used a mfr coupon)
milk $0.31 (8oz serving per person)
yogurt (makes a great substitute for sour cream. costs less and can't taste a difference) $0.15

Totals for today:
Food purchases: $0.00
Coupon savings on food: $0.00
Dinner costed: $1.75 (breakdown is $0.35/person)

Tally for January 2011:
Food purchases: $45.03
Coupon savings on food: $34.61
Dinner Costs: $17.93  (average is $0.275/person per dinner)

1-12-2011 Wednesday

What a day! It seemed like there was never a dull moment in my day. From kids' dr appointments, volunteering at school, making dinner, laundry, dishes, filling in at Awana...whew! Somehow I managed to remember that we were borrowing tables from church and the space heater from another church member. Wow! I cannot believe how many things were on my to-do list for the day.
Enough about that. What you really want to know is...what was on the dinner menu for the night. Well, we had taco soup with game hens tonight. We all agreed that taco soup with the game hens was much better. There is enough left over to make burritos out of it for dinner tomorrow. I'm not sure how thrilled my family will be to have taco flavored dinner 3 nights in a row. Guess we will find out.
I did make a trip to the store today, but I didn't buy anything. However, one of my sons bought himself a box of capri sun and 2 lunchables with his own money. He knows that Mom doesn't buy those kinds of things.

Dinner cost breakdown:
navy beans: $0.65
taco seasoning: $0.15
homemade enchilada sauce: $0.20
2 cornish game hens $0.00 FREE from some amazing friends  : )
sour cream: $0.25
We had water to drink with dinner.

Today's totals:
Food purchases: $1.60 (lunch from Fred Meyers: roll, deli meat, apple juice)
Coupon savings on food: $0.00
Dinner costs: $1.25

Tally for January 2011:
Food purchases: $45.03
Coupon savings on food: $34.61
Dinner costs: $16.18

I just took my dinner cost for the month of January ($16.18) and divided that by the number of dinners that have been made (12). My average cost of dinner each night is $1.35 to feed 5 people. That comes out to $0.27 per person. Incredible! I am pleased.

1-11-2011 Tuesday

Is it just me or is it chilly outside? It must be chilly. It started to snow at our house this evening. I knew that I'd picked the right kind of dish to have for dinner. Tonight I made taco soup. I didn't have a recipe to go off of. I just started tossing things together. I had a few bags of opened dry beans and decided that I wanted to do something with them for dinner. So, out came the crock pot. I used dry kidney beans, black beans, and navy beans. I rinsed the beans, then coated the inside of my crock pot with pam.
Here is a useful tip: you don't have to soak beans when you use a crock pot. After the beans are in the pan, add 6 cups of boiling water.
After the beans and boiling water were in the crock pot; I added 1/4 c. taco seasoning, 1 tsp. salt, and about 1 TBSP of pepper. I kept that cooking on high for 4 hours. Then I browned a pound of beef and drained the grease. When I tried the soup, it was good...but it needed something. I quick whipped up a batch of homemade enchilada sauce and added it in. Then I continued to cook everything in the crock pot on high for an additional 2 hours. We had some taco shells that I baked and crushed over the top of the soup. We also put sour cream on top.
My kids & my husband had thirds of taco soup. I was fine with 1 bowl...which is unusual for me to finish. Normally I hand it off to my hubby. But not tonight! I was thankful that we filled my husband's soup thermos before serving dinner. There would have been none left for him to take to work. My kids are requesting to have this for dinner tomorrow night. They want to know what it would taste like with chicken in it. Hmm...I'll think about it.

Breakdown on dinner for tonight:
1 lb of dried beans $0.67
sour cream $0.25 (we used 1/4 of the container)
homemade enchilada sauce $0.20
taco seasoning $0.15
taco shells $0.44

Totals for today:
Food purchases: $0.00
Coupon savings on food: $0.00
Dinner: $1.71

Tally for January Totals:
Food purchases: $43.43
Coupon savings on food: $34.61
Cost of dinner: $14.93

1-10-2011 Monday

Last night I clipped all my coupons and organized my strategies for the week. I was set on getting 4 boxes of free cereal at Rite Aid. The only problem, they were out! Apparently I was not the only one out early to get in on the good buys or should I say...the freebies. That's okay! I was able to get 3 free toothbrushes (without a dental appointment). I also picked up 4 packages of pads and donated them to my kids' school. The sale was so wonderful on them - it was to hard to pass them up. Especially when I knew their school could use it. They really appreciated it.
My friend, Daniele, and her daughter, Brooklyn, came over to have breakfast with me this morning. We had pancakes and yogurt. Brooklyn just turned 1. It is so amazing to watch the transformation from rolling to crawling, crawling to walking. I can't wait to see her run! She is so adorable and has the cutest smile. Today I learned that she likes to get inside of boxes and just sit in them.
Dinner tonight was an easy one. We had plenty of leftovers from the split pea soup. Since we'd eaten up all of the homemade bread, I baked some potatoes to go with dinner.

Totals from today:
Food purchases: $1.08 (3 pkgs of Trident gum)
Coupon savings on food: $2.16
Dinner: $0.21 (potatoes)

Tally for January:
Food purchases: $44.51
Coupon savings on food: $34.61
Dinner costs: $13.43

1-9-2011 Sunday

Sunday is the day that I go out and buy Sunday papers. This week I picked up 4 papers at the store and my Grandma gave me the ads from hers. My daughter has been asking for a mommy/daughter day. Today was our day. She still had some Christmas money, so she was on a mission to save money. Our first stop was Ace Hardware. They had fluorescent tube lighting on sale. This was perfect because we only have 1 set of lights that work in our garage. It will be nice to be able to see our way around out there. I couldn't believe that they were on sale for $2.99/set. Amazing! She took us out for a breakfast jack at Jack in the Box and asked if I could drive to Dollar Tree to get the juice. She did not want to pay more than $1 on orange or apple juice. Smart girl! Next we went to Wal-Mart. She went straight for the clearance isle. It definately worked out in her favor. She found a play tea set that was originally $20 and was marked down. It costed her $5. She was so excited. She also found candy for $0.15, hersheys candies in a candy cane shaped plastic tube. Then it was off to the paper supplies. She had her heart set on a steno pad. She loves them because she can draw cartoons and have "clips" on both sides. Our adventure was based around where she wanted to go to get deals. I was able to see that the deal shopping is starting to make sense to her. There was a dress that she thought was super cute. Her comment was, "I love this dress, but I know it won't always cost $15. They will have to mark it down eventually. And if they don't, I'll find something else."

With it being so chilly outside, I decided to make homemade bread and homemade split pea soup for dinner. I made 15 rolls total (3/person). The costs for tonight will include the total to make all of it. We are having the remaining portion for dinner tomorrow night. As usual, we had water with dinner.

dried split peas $0.65
dried lentils $0.25
ham $0.00 (Christmas dinner leftovers from my Grandma - I had it in the freezer on the bone)
carrots $0.25
rolls: $0.45 (flour, oil, salt, yeast, sugar)

Food purchases: $0.00
Coupon savings on food: $0.00
Dinner: $1.60

Tally for January 2011
Food purchases: $43.43
Coupon savings on food: $32.45
Dinner costs: $13.22

1-8-2011 Sat.

Today I made a trip in to Winco. My husband has had a craving for meatball hoagies. Normally I'd make the meatballs & the rolls, but he suggested that I just do an easy dinner. Here is my breakdown:
stadium rolls (6ct.)  $1.38
armour meatballs    $1.98
del monte spaghetti sauce $1.96
bbq potato chips  $0.75
We had water to drink with dinner.

Food purchases: $17.08
Coupon savings on food: $0.00
Dinner: $6.07

Tally for January 2011:
Food costs: $43.43
Coupon savings on food: $32.45
Dinner costs: $11.62

1-7-2011

I was really busy all day. My oldest son had asked me to make his birthday card invitations. I pulled out the Cricut at 6am and got to work on them. I had 25 invites to make and I needed to get them to the school before 1pm. Let me tell you - that was a project! I cannot believe that I actually finished them. I'll post a picture at the bottom of the post.

Since I was so wrapped up in getting the invites made and delivered to the school; I did not go out and do any grocery shopping or peruse around for sales and clearances.

My wonderful husband made dinner tonight. My oldest was invited to stay the night at a friend's house and go sledding up at the mountain. This meant that I needed to locate some warm clothes for him. He has only 2 pair of shoes, Merrells - they were hand me downs and tennis shoes that are for outdoor play. The Merrells are his favorite all time pair of shoes. I knew that neither of those shoes would work for him in the mountain snow. So, it was off to Fred Meyers to look at boots. I was able to get him a pair of rubber boots on sale and combined it with an instore discount. Next it was off to Target to locate snow pants. We were able to find a pair and they will work for next year too. I sent him with a pair of my winter boots just in case the rubber boots with wool sock didn't work out. Yes, he wears the same size shoe that I wear. But, my feet are small and most kids pass me up on foot size when they are in 4th or 5th grade. Sad! However, kids shoes are usually clearanced much lower than adult shoes. So in the end, it all works out just fine for me. I just have to pull off the occasional bow or peel off the Bratz label. I actually have a pair of light up shoes. They were given to me as a joke - but I like to wear them as a joke at times - to embarrass my kids or my husband. : ) lol!

Since the search for snow attire took longer than anticipated; my husband received a call from me requesting that he make dinner for the night. He was not too thrilled. Let me explain. On the 6th, he wanted to have some chips with dinner and I had mentioned that I figured out the costs for the day and chips were not included on the cost breakdown. I asked him if he would consider being okay with bread instead and that I would use chips in our dinner for the 7th. What do you think was the 1st response from him on the phone? Yup! "I thought you were going to use the chips in our dinner for tonight. What happened to that plan?" As the wheel of life continues to turn, we learn that promising things is not always a smart choice to make. Perhaps I should have recalculated totals on the 6th so that he could have eaten the chips with the chili. Sigh. I can't change the past. But, I should not dwell on it either. He was kind enough to accept the task of making dinner.

Here is the breakdown:
Food purchases: $0.00
Coupon savings on food today: $0.00
Dinner: $1.25 (2 boxes of store brand macaroni & cheese plus cost of milk & margarine) water to drink

Running tally for January 2011:
Food costs: $26.35
Coupon savings on food: $32.45
Dinner costs: $5.55

1-6-2011

Today there was an amazing meat sale at Summit Trading Post. I was able to purchase chicken at $0.49/pound. It is sold frozen as a 10-pound pack of hindquarters. There was no limit. This will provide several meals for my family. What a find!
Here is the link to the deals at Summit Trading Post: http://www.10lbsormore.com/
As their website is 10 lbs. or more, I'm sure you can guess how much you have to buy to take advantage of their killer deals. Yup, 10 pounds. Their produce is on sale on Wednesday's and their meat is on sale on Thursday's. They also have web specials. My suggestion, sign up to be on their mailing list. Their ad is normally emailed to you each Tuesday. If you can't use up the 10 pounds quick enough; find a friend or a family member who can share the cost and the product. You can usually pick up bananas at $0.39/pound if you buy a minimum of 10 pounds.
They also had a sale on Malt-o-meal cereal. It was on sale and I had 2 mfr. coupons for $2 off. I was able to pick up 4 bags of cereal at $0.79/each. I love cereal sales! So does my family. We like to have breakfast for dinner sometimes.
I also used a web coupon for a free can of Starkist tuna.

Dinner tonight was homemade chili. I start with dried black beans in my crockpot. Love the crockpot! I always rinse my beans and then put them in my crockpot. Next, I boil 5 cups of water and add it to the beans. I cook them on high for 4 hours. Then I add in my spices and vegetables and continue to cook it on high for an additional 4 hours. We each had water to drink and a slice of bread.

Food purchased today:
10 lbs. of chicken at Summit Trading Post  $4.90  in store sale
wheat bread at Summit Trading Post $0.69  in store sale
starkist tuna at Summit Trading Post $0.00  FREE  web coupon special - (requires min. purchase of $5.00)
starkist tuna at Summit Trading Post 4/2.76 ($0.69/each)
canned tomatoes with jalapenos at Fred Meyers 6/$3.00 (0.50/each) used store coupon

Food purchases today: $11.35
Coupon savings on food today: $9.71
Dinner: $1.80

Running tally for January 2011:
Food costs: $26.35
Coupon savings on food: 32.45
Dinner costs: $4.30

1-5-2011

On Wednesday, we had leftovers for dinner. As I have mentioned before, Wednesday is our busiest day of the week. I always try to keep dinner very simple on this night.


Non-food purchases today:
breathe right nasal strips  3 boxes  $0.00  FREE with my manufactures coupons
2 tubes of colgate toothpaste at Albertsons $0.25/each  Store sale plus I had a mfr. coupon

Food purchased today:
Milk at Fred Meyers $2.19

Dinner was leftovers. Cost $0.00 We drank water with our dinner.

Total spent on food today: $2.19
Coupon savings on food today: $0.00
Dinner tonight: left overs $0.00

Running tally for Jan. 2011
food cost: $17.19
coupon savings on food: $22.74
dinner costs: $2.50

A few sites that will add up in the savings

Hello everyone! There are going to be 2 posts on here today. This is an extra one for those who want some additional information on how to save some more money. I'll post these from time to time as requested. I'll post the sites that I like and give you a super short summary on it.
Two quick suggestions:
1. To avoid alot of emails that can be time consuming...set up a new email account and use it only for your couponing. This keeps all of them in one spot and away from your personal email box.
2. Set up your couponing sites with the same email/password. It will make your coupon processes a lot faster. **The only ones I would not do that on are ones that you order off of with a credit card.

http://www.pgeverydaysolutions.com/  This is an amazing way to get some extra coupons and free samples for hair care, cleaners, tampons, pads, and more. In fact, I went on this site today and ordered a sampler pack for free. My samples will arrive in about 6 weeks. Here is what I will receive: pantene shampoo, prilosec otc, tampax tampons, head & shoulders shampoo, and a coupon for cheer laundry detergent.

http://www.rougemag.com/  If you log onto their site today....you can get a 1-year subscription for FREE. No credit card is required. Their magazine comes out 4 times per year and has coupons in it.

http://www.target.com/  Scroll down to the bottom of the screen. Under the heading "Target Stores", click on "coupons". Start selecting coupons and print them. You can combine a target coupon with a manufactures coupon. This is called stacking. However, you cannot combine 2 manufactures coupons on 1 product.

http://www.walmart.com/  Okay - this is another place that I get free samples from and printable coupons. To find the coupons: scroll down and watch the black print headings on the left hand side. You are looking for "In Stores Now". Underneath that heading is the link to coupons. Click on "coupons".  To find free samples: Once you are on the coupons page...there is a box on the left hand side that says "Free Samples, Coupons, Tools". Underneath that heading is the link to free samples. Click on "free samples".
Today's free samples at Walmart.com are Prilosec otc and NatureMade vitamins for kids - vitamin D.
Their samples usually arrive in 4-6 weeks. Most the time it comes with coupons as well.

http://www.alice.com/  This site offers you the free shipping on groceries from the manufacturer. You can also select reoccurring delivery on items that you use often. I haven't personally used this site. But, I have a friend who does and she enjoys using it for her diaper delivery.

http://www.groupon.com/r/uu16588681  This is the link to Groupon. It offers differernt local discounts daily. For example, you might find a discount on a local restaurant, spa, or even a dinner cruise. It changes daily.



I have saved the best - my personal opinion - for last. This is where your savings can really add up:

http://www.smartsource.com/  Printable manufactures coupons

http://www.redplum.com/  Printable manufactures coupons

http://www.shortcuts.com/  THIS IS AMAZING! This site offers both printable manufactures coupons AND electronic loading of coupons onto your grocery store cards. That's right! You can load coupons onto you Fred Meyers card, Safeway card, and QFC card. The best part...the coupons come off automatically when you club card/store card is scanned at the register. How awesome is that?!? There is another benefit to this site. Yes - there is more! You can shop at alot of your favorite online stores and get a percentage back on your purchases. They mail you a check quarterly. I wish I'd known about this site before Christmas.

http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=sRwFF6D5aIfC5Rmk2E1IaQ%3D%3D This is my link to EBATES. This site is wonderful. You get a percentage back on online purchases. They mail you check quarterly OR you can have it credited to your paypal account. They also give you free shipping codes that you can pair with the cash back offer.

Enjoy the links. I hope that you are able to make use of some of these.

1-4-2011

This morning I made my rounds at Fred Meyers and Walmart. I found more deals. For starters...both stores currently have all their Christmas merchandise marked down to 75% off. Walmart has toys on clearance in their toy isles. One way that I cut back on our spending is keeping storage bins with new toys/items. My kids "shop" from the bins when they are invited to a party. I typically won't spend more than $5.00 per item for the bin. Another highlight is that Fred Meyers is offering an addition 60% off of most of their already clearanced items. I looked around, but no clothing purchases today.

non-food items:
breathe right nasal strips - picked up 4 boxes and I spent $0.00
2 cans of cat food     spent $0.69

My grocery deals of the day were at Fred Meyers. Here is what I picked up:
bananas $0.10/lb   spent $1.84
fresh ground pork $0.98/lb   spent $2.90
2 2-liters of Sierra Mist   spent $0.00  (I had 2 free coupons)

Dinner tonight was a taco salad. We used up the last of a bag of chips from a few weeks ago. I used the $0.99 package of ground pork. Topped it with cheese, and the free guacamole. We had water to drink.

Total spent on food today: $4.74
Coupon savings on food today: $3.98
Dinner: $2.50


Running tally on January 2011:
food cost: $15.00
coupon savings on food: $ 22.74
dinner cost: $2.50

On a side note...I ended the day with a true blessing. My husband's hours were cut this week. The blessing is that 2 of his supervisors put in requests for him to receive a bonus on his next check because he exceeded expectations at work on 2 different days. The bonus will make up for his cut hours. Thank you God for providing for our family!

1-3-2011

Welcome to my 1st blog ever. I decided to start a blog because several close friends have asked, "How do you keep your food costs down?" For starters, I love to cook. When I say cook, I don't mean freezer meals or grilled cheese sandwiches. Second, I don't buy something unless it is on sale. If it is a food item that we use often, then I will stock up. I also watch meat sales and stock up whenever meat is under a dollar per pound. It is not easy to come by....but when I find it...watch out! We also keep our leftovers. Even if there isn't very much. We have leftover night on Wednesday's - our busiest night of the week. I also have my husband take leftovers to work with him. Before I serve dinner, I set aside a portion for my husband to take to work. Lastly, I have started clipping coupons once again. A good friend of mine recently inspired me to get back into clipping. Thanks Anecia!

I am married and we have 3 kids. There is always at least one child at the table asking for seconds. Sometimes it seems as if they are bottomless pits! I'm sure you can relate. We get the occasional comment of, "I ate more than Dad did." Our kids are 11, 9, and 8. Can you guess who normally asks for seconds?

Aside from raising a family with my husband; I enjoy playing piano, bowling, camping, and coupon clipping.
Our grocery budget is $100.00 per month. This only includes food. I buy cleaners as concentrate and dilute them down, we get laundry detergent & dishwasher liquid at Costco. But, I do not count non-food items in my grocery budget. Why? Because we only purchase what we need. Example: cleaners, dog food, cat food, toilet paper, etc.

I am going to do my best to post daily. I will share what we had for dinner, along with the cost breakdown. If you want a recipe; just let me know and I'd be happy to share it with you. I'll also post my shopping finds and breakdown how I got to the final cost.

Another way that we are able to pinch pennies is handed down clothes. There are 3 families in our church that hand their kids' clothes down to our kids. When our kids have outgrown them; we hand them down to another family. It is truely a blessing for our family.

Without further ado, here is my spending for the day:
Yoplait yogurt at Albertsons 10/$5.00   I used a $1.00 off of 10 coupon and paired it with a double the value coupon. Final cost: $0.30/each
18 count eggs at Albertsons $1.99  I used a coupon from a flyer in The News Tribune ( I purchased 2)
4 boxes of Wholly Guacamole $0.00 FREE! I used a manufactured coupon for $1.00 off and paired it with a double the value coupon (used this method on 2 of them). On the other 2, I printed a coupon from wholly guacamole's website and it was a $2.00 off coupon....therefore making it FREE.
Quaker Oats (42 oz. canister) at Target. I used a Target coupon for $1.00 off and paired it with a manufactured coupon for another $1.00 off. So, I was able to pick up 2 canisters at a cost of $0.14/each.
Special K ceral at Target. I used a Target coupon for $1.00 off and paired it with a manufactured coupon for an additional $1.00 off. Final cost: $1.50/box (I purchased 2)

January food spending total  $10.26   Amount saved by clipping: 18.76 on just food

Dinner tonight: It was free. One of our friends asked us to watch her 2 kids so that they could finish up a house project - a surprise for their 11 year old son. I can't wait to hear about it! They bought our family meals from Burger King. A real treat for us!

January dinner spending total 0.00