The Crazies, Bowling, and more ....

Hey everyone! Sorry I have been MIA, but I have been one busy mama lately! I have lots and lots of updates and fun things for you! We have been busy with birthdays, doctor appts., etc. But that's summer, right? Whatever happened to the lazy days of summer? I think those went out the window 7 years ago for me! Since then I've been filling my summer days with Andy's boys and eventually our girls. Love my babies!

Our neighborhood garage sale went well! I sold alot of big items and made a great profit! Aside from one angry neighbor who told me I wasn't doing my job because she opened up on Friday and got NO business! Funny, our neighborhood sale wasn't until SATURDAY. Gotta love crazy people.

Speaking of crazy people, it feels great to purge them from your life, too. Ahhhhhh.

I'd like to take a minute and talk about the 100 Day Challenge on facebook that I am participating in. It was started by an old friend, Amber Hecht Huber, and she has gotten alot of us involved! It's not only a weight loss challenge, but a life challenge. Making your life better in areas where it's lacking. It's great to have the support of former classmates and alot of my current friends! If you'd like to join, "friend" her on FB!

Here's another fun tidbit from my Contributing Research Team in Chicago, aka my BFF, Nicole Voges. : ) She forwarded me a link from her phone to a site where you can sign your kids up to bowl all summer long for FREE! It's called: http://www.kidsbowlfree.com/ . Once you sign up, they will email you coupons for the upcoming week. I've yet to take my kiddos, but I plan on it once Lilly and Izzy get over these nasty colds. Who doesn't love to bowl?! Thanks again, Nicole!

As for some deals I've scored lately, I found a Dora the Explorer papasan chair at Goodwill for $3 with the original tags! Lilly sits in in constantly, as you will see in the pic above. Another great find was an Exersaucer for Isobel. This I got for FREE at a garage sale! Yay!

Target, again, is great for clearance. I found a lampshade for $3, jeans for the boys for $6.48, and lots of summer tanks for me in the $2 - $4 price range!

This weekend is a good weekend for deals, too! Goodwill will be having their 50% off sale. I headed over there last night to scope out possible purchases. There will also be a TON of sales going on at all the stores. Now is the time to stock up on food for grilling out, etc. We're having Jack's birthday party on the 9th, but I will be buying all the food for it this weekend so I can score the good deals.

Those are my updates for now. I know there are more, so I will update them as I come across them!

...And Tara is married off! Congrats to my lovely sister and her husband!

Now I can go back to being thrifty, as a wedding is anything but! With that said, I did score a pretty good deal off the clearance rack at Target. I bought my rehearsal dinner dress for 75% off, costing me just $6.24! I paired it with my trusty black peeptoes and my larger black COACH bag. Now, even just uttering the word "COACH" on a thrifty blog is probably making some of you confused. But, I don't hold back when it comes to a good handbag. And let me put it this way and maybe it will give you something to consider. I consider these bags an investment. I have a few different styles, colors, and sizes. It saves me more money to purchase a $300.00 bag than it would be to purchase several Target bags/purses over five years. COACH bags are sturdy and timeless. You can use them for years and years!

Anyway, check out my cheap dress find! Garage saling is back on this week, too. Can't wait! : )

FREE Krispy Creme on Friday!!!!

FREE doughnut tomorrow at Krispy Creme for National Doughnut Day! Google it! I don't have time to post a link -- haha. Little sister's wedding this weekend! BUT, I had to let you guys know about this! : )

Target/Meijer trips, tips from a friend, and more ...

I found alot of good deals this weekend at Target and Meijer. I decided to take my leftover coupons from the Marsh Triple Event and see if I could use any of them at Meijer or Target. Let's just say Meijer will forever be the cheapest place around. My total was almost $80 and I paid $33. I got a bunch of stuff I needed for the kids' summer lunches, etc. I stocked up on tortillas, taco sauce, and taco/fajita seasoning, which were basically FREE. I actually MADE money on the seasonings. All the Taco Bell brand stuff was already 50% off and I have a bunch of coupons for them. Yay! Taco Night is a big deal in our house, so these deals are always the best for me!
As for Target, I got a great deal on shampoo, conditioner, and hair spray -- all Pantene products! Target was running a sale for Buy 2 Pantene shampoos/conditioners and receive a styling product for FREE! I also had a $3 off Pantene Target coupon! I believe I got all three products for around $4.60! My best friend, Nicole, also pointed out to me to check out the End of Season clearance at Target. She found a great deal on a doggie sweater for $3! Now her little doggie doesn't have to face the harsh winds of Chicago next fall/winter! This is a great time to stock up on winter coats, etc. from ANY store. You can usually find kids' coats for under $5 at places like Target, Meijer, and Walmart. I bought my girls two NFL Colts hoodies (originally $24.99) for $2.14 a piece! And they had the right sizes for next football season!
Always check your end caps, too. These are the shelves at the end of each aisle. I make it a point to go up and down each main aisle before I start my shopping. Sometimes you can find what you are looking for in those and it is WAAAAY cheaper.
Hopefully, I will have more posts this week, but with my sister's wedding on the 4th, I'm not sure how much time I'll have! Maybe I'll find some great deals in St. Louis while I'm there!

FREE books for a year!

The website Mighty Book Jr. is offering a FREE one year subscription! After you sign up, click on a book and it will actually READ the book to your child. This is a great tool if you need a minute to yourself to get something done and your kid won't leave you alone! It's better than plopping them down in front of the TV. I would never take away from reading "real" books to your children, though. Use this in an emergency or to help younger school age kids with their reading! It highlights the words as they read!

Click on this link and enter the code: learntoread

http://www.mightybookjr.com/members/signup.php

NO COUPONS TODAY!

REMINDER:

There will be NO coupons in today's Sunday paper!!

Picture Results!

The Results of the Triple Couponing Event are in!!

So I attended the Marsh triple couponing event last night! This was my first "semi-extreme" experience. I took Jonah with me for a couple reasons. One, I had a ton of coupons for BBQ sauces, marinades, hot sauce, etc. and he loves all things sauce. I figured I would let him pick out all his faves. Two, I needed an extra person with an extra cart, specifically someone who could read well and do math quickly! Sorry, Jack. : ( Anyway, the trip was positive, but I do have a few complaints and this will probably be a once a year thing for me in regards to Marsh.

First of all, I am a price memorizer. I pretty much buy all the same items from the grocery store every time I go. I do all of my main grocery shopping at Meijer, so of course, I compared prices constantly last night at Marsh. They mark things up like crazy! I can't ever imagine shopping there for my groceries. They are also a MUCH smaller store than Meijer. The aisles are smaller, the choices are limited, and the quantities are less. But with that said, the store was clean, the cashiers were friendly, and we waited in line less than 5 minutes.

Jonah and I started in Healthcare/Beauty and after about 2 coupons, he had caught on. Success! He was a great help. It really helps to have someone go with you. I would work the coupons and he would find the items on the shelf and then we would figure out the price and decide if it was worth it or not. My rule is to not buy things we don't need. People who do the "extreme" couponing are a bit much and those people had hit the store before we got there. There were alot of items that I needed and had coupons for, but the shelves had already been cleared. Selfish people, I swear. Also, my rule is to only purchase 2 -4 items of the same kind, depending on how much you can save. It's rude to take everything and leave nothing on the shelf for the next person.

It was crazy. We saw people with binders, people with 3 to 4 carts, and people yelling at their husbands for not getting the right items. Insanity. I ended up spending right around $200 before coupons and my Marsh loyalty card. After we scanned the card and coupons, I paid just over $60 for everything! I was so excited. Our cashier even celebrated for us and made a small deal out of it. I stocked up on things for the kids mostly, since summer vacation has started and I have 3 mouths to feed (Isobel is still taking bottles!). We got alot of items for FREE or nearly free, too. I also bought a few things that weren't on my coupon list like Andy's gourmet hot dogs, which ended up making my total a bit higher.

All in all, it was fun for what it was. How often does a store triple your coupons? My conclusion is to continue shopping at Meijer. The prices are extremely low and they double all coupons with a value up to $0.50 for a total savings of up to $1.00. In my normal shopping trips, I get alot of my items at 50 - 75% off just by doing all the Meijer deals. They also have online coupons that you can clip and they are loaded to your phone number, which you enter at checkout, for extra savings.

Some of my best deals at Marsh with coupons were:

-Oscar Mayer hot dogs (10 pack) - $0.48 each and we bought 6 packages
-Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks (Dora, etc.) - $1.10 each and we bought 6 boxes
- General Mills Cereal (Cocoa Puffs & Lucky Charms) - $0.99 a box and we bought 3 boxes
- Old Spice Deodorant - $0.60 each and we bought 4
- Most BBQ sauces, marinades, Kraft dressing, Ketchup, Mustard, etc. ran around $0.12 - $0.49 each

The deal ends on Monday, so try and hit your Marsh this weekend before it's over ... and before the shelves are cleared! : )

This Just In!

Marsh grocery stores will TRIPLE your coupon values of up to $1.00, which means you can save $3.00 on each items! This excludes liquor, beer, cigarettes, etc. The sale starts today, May 27th and expires May 31st. I can't wait for Andy to get home so I can head down there! I'm basically going to get all my groceries for FREE this month! Woot!

Today I am pumped. Memorial Day sales are popping up all around us! I'm forgoing my weekly garage saling this week due to the holiday weekend and crummy weather. Everyone is out of town, so the garage sales just aren't there during this time. I'm secretly wishing I lived in Speedway this weekend since The Indy 500 is going on. I'm not a race fan whatsoever, but I would love to charge people to park in my yard for the race. Some houses make over $1000.00 for the whole weekend!

As for the sales, I'm still checking most of them out online, but Babies R Us is having a great one if you've got a little one. They have the Similac 2oz Ready Feed Bottles on sale for $5 this weekend! These are usually $6.99 at Target, so I can only assume BRU marks them up like they do everything else. So this is a great deal for them! Plus, if you've got those $5 Similac coupons that come in the mail (or from a great friend if you're lucky like me) then you can get up to three cases (8 per case) for FREE! I love these for on the go emergency feedings. Personally, they are great for us because we live in a two story home and who wants to stumble down the stairs at 5am to make a bottle? I keep these at my bedside if Isobel wakes up hungry overnight. Lifesavers! TIP: Where there's a Babies R Us, there is a Toys R Us. Go next door and get three MORE cases at the sale price for a total of 6 FREE CASES!

Another great sale this weekend is at Meijer. Especially if you're having a cookout. Some of the items that stood out to me were: $0.98 Ball Park Hot dogs (I will be getting these for $0.48 a piece after I use my $0.50 off 2 coupon AND Meijer will double this coupon to $1.00!). They also have two get one free on Meijer brand hot dog and hamburger buns. some of things I will be getting FREE from Meijer this weekend are: ChiChi's Salsa, which is on sale for $0.99 and I have a coupon for $0.50 off, which Meijer will double! Another is Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce or marinades. They are on sale for $1.00 and with my $0.50 doubled coupon, they are also FREE!

While I'm on this Meijer kick and all, please try out their new and improved diapers! I thought I was Pampers for life until I had another baby and now have TWO babies in diapers. It's so hard to find an off brand that prevents leaks, fits well, and does not fall apart. Well, people, Meijer brand diapers are your answer! And they are only $5.99 for a package of size 1's, which is 50 diapers! Dare I say these might even be better than Pampers?? Andy chimed in on his own about them and he thinks they work super well. Plus, they have longer tabs for those babies with bigger bellies! We've had NO leaks and Lilly is the queen of soaking through her diaper overnight. I'm totally pleased!

Jonah, who is Andy's oldest boy (11) needed dress pants for his last day of school today. They are having an awards ceremony and they asked the kids to dress up. If you know Jonah, then you know he didn't tell us about this until the night before. The kid is growing like a weed and it's becoming impossible to keep him clothed. I had to run to Meijer last night to purchase a Thank You card for Jack's bus driver. The parents in our neighborhood pooled together and got him a nice gift card to The Cheesecake Factory. Anyway, off the subject. So, I was at Meijer buying the card and I checked out the boys' clothing section. I actually found decent khaki dressy cargo pants for Jonah! And they were only $7.99! To me, this is a great deal for a kid who will grow out of them by the time the next school year starts. My first choice would have obviously been Goodwill, but I was rushed last night. I paired them with a Shaun White for Target brown and black collared shirt I found for him at Goodwill last month for $1.99. He looked great!

This weekend I'm purging my house for my garage sale on June 10th. I'm organizing the neighborhood garage sale and I can't wait! I have so much to get rid of. And anything that doesn't sell, I am donating to Goodwill! Andy printed off 75 flyers and instead of wasting gas driving around the neighborhood, I'm having Jonah ride his bike and put one in each mailbox this afternoon.

Happy Memorial Day everyone! It's our 1 year anniversary of being engaged. So exciting! And Tara's wedding (my sister) is next weekend, so it's love all around!