Addicted to Savings!

I have to say, I'm really addicted to finding good deals.  I guess I have to find an obsession since I'm no longer a student....so I think I've transferred all of my planning and organizational obsessions to couponing and shopping.  I don't think it's a bad thing, though!

This week, I've been to CVS, Target, Walmart, and Kroger (twice lol).  My first Kroger trip, I spent $32.45 on the basic necessities.  I did get some good deals on Ore-Ida potatoes, Velveeta Mac n Cheese, Mahatma rice packs, canned tomatoes, and Rotel (bought 2 cans for 10 cents each!) as part of the Mega Event promotion (buy 10 participating items, get $5 off).  I was fairly satisfied with my shopping, and then I realized all the other stuff for the Mega Event sale that wasn't listed in the Kroger ad, and I knew I was going to end up going back to get more stuff.  I also went to CVS that day and bought a small jug of Xtra detergent for 56 cents (normally $2.99).  Granted, my coupon was in Spanish, but they still took it (just looked at me kinda funny).

Today, Billy went with me and Ellie to go finish our shopping for the week.  Pictured below is everything we bought today, totaling $26.10.

Our first stop was Target.  There, I got:
- one travel size Tide detergent = FREE (originally 97 cents, used $1 off coupon)
- Breathe Right strips = FREE (free coupon)
- Up and Up liners = 39 cents (originally 89 cents, used 50 cents off Target coupon)
- 2 Old El Paso taco kits = $1.70 each (orig. $2.59 each, on sale $2 each, used 60 cents off coupon)
- 2 bottles of A1 sauce = $1.50 each (on sale $2.99 each, used 2 $1 manufacturer's coupons and $1 Target coupon)


At Walmart, I bought:
- 2 boxes of Shake n Bake = $1.23 each ($1.98 each, used 2 75 cents off coupons)
- Kikkoman soy sauce = 42 cents ($1.42 each, used $1 off coupon)


Finally, my Kroger shopping expedition (everything is part of the Mega Event promotion):
- 10 bottles of Sobe = $5 (orig. $2 each, on sale for 99 cents each) 
- 3 boxes of Kleenex = 85 cents each or $2.57 total (orig. $1.69 each, on sale $1.19 each, used 50 cents off 3 coupon which doubled to $1)
- 5 boxes of Pampers wipes 60 ct. = 49 cents each or $2.50 total (orig. $1.99 each, on sale for $1.49 each, used 5 $1 off coupons)
- 3 cans of Rotel = 17 cents total, or 6 cents each! (89 cents each, on sale 39 cents each, used $1 off 3 coupon)
- 6 cans Del Monte green beans = $3 total (orig. 99 cents each, on sale 49 cents each)
- New York frozen bread = 99 cents (orig $2.49, on sale $1.99, used $1 off coupon)
- Kraft singles = FREE (orig. $1.49, on sale 99 cents, used $1 off coupon)
-Heinz ketchup = $1.49 (orig. $1.99)  

For the entire week, I spent $59.11, which I don't think is too bad considering all of the extras I bought.  According to all of my receipts, I saved $69.79.  This is definitely one of those weeks that I feel like all the time and energy spent is worth it!

Geocaching: The Thrill of the Hunt

So Billy and I went geocaching over the weekend.  Billy found out about it through a blog, but it's basically a treasure hunting game that people participate in all over the world.  They have an official website, Geocaching, where you can read more about the game and how to find caches.  It's a GPS-based activity, so you have to have a good GPS.  Billy bought a nice Garmin after his birthday last year just so we could do this!  

It's pretty simple...you go to the website and pick a location close to you or where you would like to go searching.  They give you the coordinates for the location of the cache, and you just plug it in on your GPS and off you go!  We went to Peaks View Park for our first excursion.  It took us a while to get familiar with the GPS, but we finally figured it out and went searching.  When we finally got to the coordinates, we had to just look around for a good spot where we thought it would be hidden.  I saw a large tree off the trail that had a big opening at the bottom that I thought would be a good spot to hide a cache.  I pointed it out to Billy and he walked down there and looked, and there it was!  The box had some random items that you can trade for (basically take an item and put something in the box in its place), but we just signed the paper saying we found it.  You have to make sure to hide it again, so after we did that we went off to find another one.  

We couldn't find the second one (we read that whoever hid it didn't have very accurate coordinates), so we gave up on that one.  It was 30 degrees outside and we had been there for about an hour, and we were afraid that Ellie would get too cold.  I had her bundled up in her snowsuit which kept her very warm and comfortable, and I think she enjoyed it.  She likes being able to see everything, so I had her in the carrier and she was quite content and didn't fuss at all for the whole trip.  All in all, we had a lot of fun and we look forward to doing it again (maybe when it gets a little warmer!).

Billy and I are the types of people who like to talk about the future...not to try to plan things (because we all know what happens when Kristen and Billy try to plan out their lives...we ignore God's will and focus on our own).  Instead, we like to talk about our plans for raising Ellie and any future children we may have.  We really enjoyed the geocaching experience, and we talked about how this would be a great way to get our children in the outdoors as they get older.  It is so important to us to instill good values in our children...and that includes a love for the outdoors.  When Billy and I were kids, playing outside was the thing to do.  Sure, we still watched TV...but when the weather was nice, we went outside to ride bikes, play on the swingset, jump on the trampoline...whatever.  In our technology-saturated world, it's hard to get kids to go outside and play anymore, because it seems like it's so much more fun to have your imagination handed to you in a convenient toy or movie.  But it's not more fun...it's just easier.  We want our children to have the opportunity to develop an imagination, and part of that is playing outside.  Geocaching seems like a great way to get kids involved in the outdoors, and it's fun because it's all about the exploration.  As a side note, for those of you who are familiar with the national parks, they have these little booklets that are like passports, where kids can get their passports stamped at each national park they visit.  Billy and I have already decided that we are totally doing that with our kids, because the national parks are awesome!

Now that I'm off my soapbox about the outdoors, I'd like to update you on my deals from last week.  I totally meant to write a blog last week about what I had purchased, bu time slipped away from me and I'm just now getting to it.  First, I went shopping at Kroger and got a few cool deals, like a box of Maruchuan Yakisoba noodles for free (plus overage), three boxes of Hamburger Helper for 75 cents each, four cans of Campbell's condensed soups for 75 cents each, and two bags of frozen corn for 50 cents each.  I spent $20 at Kroger on my groceries.  Yay!  

Then I did my other shopping.  I went to Target and got a four pack of lightbulbs for 29 cents, plus two loofahs for 50 cents each (gotta love the little dollar area of Target!).  The lightbulbs were on sale for $1.79, and I had a manufacturer's coupon and a Target store coupon totaling $1.50.  At CVS, I bought two bottles of Dawn Hand Renewal for 25 cents each!  They were on sale for $1 each, so I bought two and used two coupons (one for 50 cents off, one for $1 off--so one was 50 cents, and the other was free!).  Everything pictured below cost about $23.

Later in the week, I went to Sam's Club and bought ground beef, chicken, and paper towels.  I got a 12 pack of paper towels for $12, which I know isn't the best deal but I can never find good deals on paper towels so I just went for the convenience of Sam's Club.  I got 5 pounds of ground beef with the lowest percentage of fat (can't remember what that's called) for $15, and then I got a 6 pound package of chicken breasts for $11 at $1.79 per pound.  I used to think that it wasn't that great of a deal at Sam's, but after I paid attention to the prices, I realized that even on sale, the cheapest I can find it at Kroger is $1.99 per pound, and Sam's has it for 20 cents cheaper.  Plus, I like being able to go ahead and trim my chicken and cut it up as needed for my meal plans, that way I don't have to do it the night I cook it.  So, groceries for the week totaled $47, and now I don't have to buy any more meat for the month!

Last night I made Italian Chicken for dinner.  It was a new recipe, but soooo easy!  You just put 6 chicken breasts in the crockpot, squirt a bottle of Italian salad dressing over them, and cook on high for 4 hours.  I didn't need that much chicken, so I used 2 regular-sized chicken breasts and 2 small ones, and used a little over half of the salad dressing.  I still cooked it for 4 hours, although I don't think they needed that much time.  It was very good!  I liked that it was so easy and didn't require any work from me other than putting it in the crockpot, and the salad dressing also gave the chicken a great flavor.  We used the Kraft Tuscan style Italian dressing because it's our favorite, but any would work. 

I also made homemade rolls this past week (one night last week and again last night).  I finally pulled out the bread machine we got as a wedding gift 4 years ago and tried it out.  The recipe came from Money Saving Mom (I'm obsessed with that blog!).  It's called Bread Machine Buttery Rolls, and they turned out pretty well.  I need to get the hang of making them though.  The first time, they came out very dense.  The second time, they came out fluffier but more like mini loaves of bread than rolls.  Both times they were good, so I'm not complaining.  I just need to experiment more!

On a completely different note, I was reminded yesterday in church about how God knows each one of us in ways we can't understand.  I thought about Psalm 139, and how it talks about God knowing everything about us.  I think about Ellie, and how He created her to be who she is today...He formed her sweet little nose, and gave her hardly any hair (but that's okay, it's still cute) and He knows everything about her.  He loved her before we even knew she existed, and He knows who she'll be when she grows up.  It's amazing to think that we have a Creator who loves us so much, that even after creating us and giving us life, He also sent a Savior, His own son, to give His life to pay the price for our sins, so that we can be holy and blameless before God.  

  O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
    You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
         You understand my thought from afar.
    You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
         And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
    Even before there is a word on my tongue,
         Behold, O LORD, You know it all.
    You have enclosed me behind and before,
         And laid Your hand upon me.
    Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
         It is too high, I cannot attain to it.
    Where can I go from Your Spirit?
         Or where can I flee from Your presence?
    If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
         If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.
    If I take the wings of the dawn,
         If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
    Even there Your hand will lead me,
         And Your right hand will lay hold of me.
    If I say, "Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,
         And the light around me will be night,"
    Even the darkness is not dark to You,
         And the night is as bright as the day
         Darkness and light are alike to You.
    For You formed my inward parts;
         You wove me in my mother's womb.
    I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
         Wonderful are Your works,
         And my soul knows it very well.
    My frame was not hidden from You,
         When I was made in secret,
         And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
    Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
         And in Your book were all written
         The days that were ordained for me,
         When as yet there was not one of them.
    How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
         How vast is the sum of them!
    If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand
         When I awake, I am still with You. 

Psalm 139:1-18

Shopping mistakes.....but a very good dinner!

So this weekend was kinda bleh.  As I mentioned in a previous post, Billy's dad passed away just after Christmas, so the funeral was this past Saturday.  It was a very long day for everyone.  I got up at 5 am, woke Ellie up at 6, and we left home at 7.  We had to be in downtown Roanoke by 8:30, so we wanted to make sure we weren't rushed.  It snowed the night before, just enough to cover the ground a little, and it was a beautiful drive.  We got into downtown, and the roads were a little slick because it had started to snow again, which was an adventure, but we made it just fine.  It was a difficult day, but we were blessed to have a very nice service, and there were many people there to pay their respects.

We got home around 7 pm that evening, totally exhausted.  Billy wasn't feeling well, so he took his temperature and it was a little over 100.  He felt pretty cruddy.  I went to Walgreen's and bought him some NyQuil and DayQuil (for $2.50 each!) and he slept for 15 hours that night.  We had a very lazy day at home yesterday and did absolutely nothing except watch football and movies on Netflix.  I did go to Walgreen's last night, which was a bit of a disaster.  I had a list written out with everything I needed to get, plus the coupons to use, and it ended up being a nightmare.  Lesson learned: just because someone else gets that deal doesn't mean that you will!  

I followed the advice on Money Saving Mom's website about what coupons to use, but the prices must be different here than where she is located, because those deals didn't work for me.  The cashier had scanned all my items and bagged them before realizing that a coupon didn't work, so then they had to cancel the whole thing and start over.  He had already taken my coupons and put them away, so I don't think he used all of my coupons when I started over, so I ended up spending $15 when I was hoping to spend $10-$12.  Oh well.  It happens, and it's a good lesson to me to be more diligent with my shopping and coupon planning at the drug stores.  Kroger is way easier!

I was grateful, though, for Walgreen's last night.  I had about 200 leftover size 1 diapers, and Ellie is getting ready to move up to size 2.  I don't have receipts for the diapers, because they were given as gifts, and Walmart won't let me make any more returns without a receipt because I've maxed out my limit for the year.  I asked if I could just exchange the diapers for a different size at Walgreen's, and it was no problem.  I traded in 3 packs of Huggies diapers (size 1) for 3 packs of size 3 diapers.  Ellie already has a good stash of size 2 diapers, and doesn't have any size 3.  I figured that I might as well get a little stash of size 3 going, that way they're there when I need them.  Plus, I'm not a big fan of Huggies diapers (we've had leakage problems in the past), so I usually put them at the bottom of the pile and won't use them until I have to.  Since we don't have any size 3 yet, I figured at least I would use them that way.  I also went to Kroger and traded in a big box of Pampers diapers (size 1) for a box of size 2.  I love Pampers...they're definitely the best so far.  And Kroger was very accommodating...I didn't even have to sign anything because it was an even exchange, even though I didn't have a receipt.

When I got home, I started making dinner.  I tried a new recipe last night called Farfalle Festival, and it was very good.  I found the recipe online, and if you'd like to try it, you can view it here.  I needed a recipe where I could use alfredo sauce, since I had a jar just sitting in the cabinet.  If you like pasta, alfredo, bacon, and chicken, then you'll like this.  It was an adventure making it, though.  I burned the first batch of bacon and the house was enveloped in smoke (WORST SMELL EVER).  I guess that's what I get trying to multitask.  I was cooking the bacon and chicken at the same time, as well as feeding Ellie.  It was a mess.  After cleaning that up and recovering from the burning eyes, we finally got it together and it turned out great.  I usually tend to make my own modifications to recipes because I'm a slightly picky eater (and I don't want to do extra work!) so I didn't include red onion (just some onion powder).  I also used milk instead of heavy cream, because I hate buying ingredients that I don't use completely.  Same with the Asiago cheese....I just threw in some mozzarella.  Billy puts it at the top of his favorites list, and if it passes Billy's inspection, then it's a keeper!

I have a pretty busy week ahead of me.  Wednesday morning I have a meeting at Liberty about an article I've been collaborating on with some of my past professors, and I have to take Ellie with me (kinda dreading that).  She is such a good baby, but she gets bored easily and wants to play, so it's hard to discuss reading comprehension strategies while holding a restless baby.  Thursday morning I'm going to a mommy get together, which I am so looking forward to.  It's great being able to be around other women and getting to have "adult talk time."  I love being with Ellie everyday, but by the end of the day I'm so ready to have a conversation that doesn't include "Did you do a stinky?" or "Let's go change your outfit AGAIN."  Thursday afternoon I'm getting my hair cut...Billy has been encouraging me to make an appointment to have a little "me time."  He's so sweet!  Plus, I haven't had a haircut since May of last year, and it's definitely time.  I would like to do something different, but I just don't want short hair.  I've thought about dying my hair, or getting different bangs....but I'm too scared.  I'm going to a nice salon this time (Sage Tryall Salon) because I've heard two different people recommend it.  My plan is to just go in, tell her I want to get the dead ends off and keep it long, but that otherwise I would like her opinion.  Maybe I'll end up with something new, or maybe not, but at least I'm getting it done!  Friday morning I have a training session for the envelopes gig, so my dad is coming up to babysit Ellie since he's off work (thank goodness!).  Friday night we're hoping to have date night....can't wait!

Will be working on my grocery list this afternoon....I will post any deals I get after my shopping trip this week!

Blessings...Kristen

January Goal, Plus Some Deals!

I've had a great week so far...very relaxed here at home, and I haven't gone out too much.  I'm trying to learn how to find things to do at home instead of going out all the time just to walk around stores to "get out of the house."  I'm definitely NOT a homebody, but I'm trying to limit my outings due to the cold weather, and I don't want to overtax Ellie.  Therefore, my outings have been more purposeful and accomplished.  I did my grocery shopping on Wednesday and got some pretty good deals, and only spent $43 (saved $20).

I got great deals on pasta and drinks this week.  I bought a bag of Mueller's egg noodles for $1, some Ronzoni whole wheat pasta for $1 each (lasagna and spaghetti), plus some Barilla farfalle pasta for $1.  Barilla was on sale for $1 each, and I had a $1 coupon on two Ronzoni whole wheat pastas, and $1 coupon for any Mueller's pasta.  Plus, I bought 3 boxes of Coke products for $9 (unhealthy, I know, but Billy and I love our soda, so I figured we would only buy it when it's on sale and we can fit it into the budget!).  I also bought 15 32 oz. bottles of low calorie Gatorade for 67 cents each ($10.05 total-normally $1 each).  I did all of my primary grocery shopping first, and then went back and got the Coke and Gatorade once I saw that I could fit the extra $20 into our grocery budget for the week.

Last Friday (the 31st) I used some expiring coupons and also got some good deals at Target.  I bought two Tide travel size detergents (97 cents each) and used two $1 off Tide coupons, so those were free.  I will never use my Tide coupons on a real jug of detergent because it's too expensive, so I figured I would use the coupons and get stuff for free!  Plus, we were completely out of laundry detergent and I told myself that I would make my own detergent this time.  Also, I got 4 rolls of Scott toilet paper for 64 cents (used a $2 manufacturer's coupon and a $1 Target coupon).  This isn't a deal, but I finally bought a new hairbrush (I've been using the same one since I started college....or maybe even back to high school, can't quite remember!).  Anyway, the thing was disgusting and the bristles were falling out, so I finally bought a nice new hairbrush!

Today I went to Babies R Us and bought a 40-count package of Earth's Best diapers, which are normally $10.99.  They're the eco-friendly, chlorine-free kind, which I would normally never buy because they're more expensive than normal diapers.  However, I've used them before so I knew they worked fine, and I had some coupons!  I first used a Babies R Us coupon that made the diapers $5, then a $1.50 manufacturer's coupon, so I ended up paying $3.50 for a whole pack of diapers!  I bought size 2 (the only pack left!), because Ellie still has 300 size 1 diapers left (not exaggerating on the number).  I thought it was time to start stocking up on the next size.


Other than my deal hunting this week, I made my meal calendar for the month of January.  I've made it one of my goals to try new recipes every month to add to my recipe repertoire, so this month we're trying beef stroganoff, homemade lasagna (new recipe without meat), ravioli bake, chicken fettuccine casserole, farfalle festival, stuffed shells, and Italian chicken.  I know almost all of these are pasta-based dishes, but we LOVE pasta (plus, it's cheap!).  I already made a baked ham (first time for me!) and Billy says it was really good.  I ate a little bit of it, but I'm not much of a ham person, so it wasn't a big deal to me.  The only reason I made it was because Apple Ford gave Billy a ham before Christmas.  They also gave him a 12 pound turkey before Thanksgiving, and I made that just before Christmas, which was also a first for me. 


Today, I've been working on my January goal: making a cleaning list.  Even though I can sometimes have a VERY messy house, I really do like things to be clean and organized.  Money Saving Mom posted a blank version of her cleaning list, which you can find here.  I used this template to create my own cleaning list, which includes daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and biannual cleaning tasks.  If you want a sample of a cleaning list, you can see Money Saving Mom's here.  I did refer to hers to give me some ideas of what I need to do around the house, and then I sat down and made a list of everything I want to accomplish in my home.  I am very excited that I finished this little project, as I feel like it will really help me get things done at home and live a more streamlined lifestyle.


This week I've realized just how blessed Billy and I are...we have SO MUCH to be thankful for.  We have a home, and all of our basic needs are met.  Even though we don't have much money, we have very few financial worries (mainly just paying off my and Ellie's medical debt).  Billy is finally in school, and doing something he is truly passionate and excited about.  I have 3 prospective jobs, all of which I can do from home, and will most likely be able to cover our mortgage and basic bills without Billy having to get a part time job.  Our daughter is healthy and she's growing and changing every day.  Even though we've faced some difficult circumstances in the past, God is faithful and He has brought us closer together and closer to Him through everything.  My prayer is that God would continue to work in our lives to bring Him glory, and that He would be the center of our world.

Blessings to you and yours......Kristen

New Beginnings

Today, Billy and I have been working on a fresh start.  We went to church this morning, which has been difficult recently (it is super hard getting a baby to church on time)!  Plus, we've had some difficulties finding a new church.  We left our home church over the summer and started visiting another church.  We went there for about a month and a half, and also attended Sunday school, and then Ellie was born.  We were considering joining the church right before everything happened.  We didn't go back to church until Ellie was 2 months old.  I was afraid of her getting sick, and it is so hard to make yourself go to church when you're sleep deprived and you don't feel your best.  When we went back to the same church, all the college students were back and it was completely different.  No one remembered us.  We felt like we weren't valued at all, so we stopped going.

We've been visiting random churches ever since, but never felt at home anywhere.  And it's hard to be a visitor when you have a baby.  I feel like I shouldn't let Ellie get fussy, because people don't know us and it's not our church.  That's a silly way to think about things, but it's just how I feel.  And I refuse to use the nursery until I'm a member.  I don't know those people, and I don't know their security procedures.  I don't feel comfortable leaving Ellie with people I don't know.  

Anyway, today we went to a church and I think we're going to stay there.  I don't think it's what Billy and I had in mind, but it's a doctrinally sound, biblical church, and that's the most important thing to us.  And I think it's best if we just pick a church and stick with it.  Eventually, we will meet new people and start to feel at home again.

Another fresh start included taking down the Christmas decorations.  We're always a little late on that, so we had to get it done today (our Christmas tree was very crispy lol).  We also cleaned the house and shredded old bills and papers.  We also ate lunch at home, which we never do on Sundays, but now that we're in financial-penny-pinching mode for 2011, it is a must.  

Billy and I made homemade laundry detergent today, which was an adventure.  It was very easy, I just hope it works!  I'm not picky about it being scented or not, since I use dryer sheets and fabric softener anyway.  I saved two old laundry detergent containers and filled those, and we still have some detergent left in the mixing bucket.  It was very sudsy, which always seems promising, and it smelled nice like Ivory soap and Borax.  I was going to add some essential oils to it, but decided that it smelled nice the way it was and thought I would give it a try in its original form first.  I really hope that it works out.  This is the recipe I followed:

1 quart of boiling water
2 cups of grated soap (ended up using 1 and 1/2 bars of Ivory)
2 cups Borax
2 cups washing soda

Mix soap into boiling water and stir until melted.  Pour mixture into large bucket and add Borax and washing soda; stir until well mixed.  Add 2 gallons of water and stir until well blended.  Use 1/4 cup per load.

I already had a box of Borax, but I had to buy the soap and washing soda.  I bought three bars of Ivory soap for 50 cents, and the washing soda was $2.50.  For what I used today, it probably cost $1.50 to make a little over 2 gallons of laundry detergent.  If this works well, it will be a great way for us to save money in the future.  Plus, I guess I'm being a bit more eco-friendly making my own!

I'm really hoping to learn to become more creative with saving money.  I have to say that Money Saving Mom is a great inspiration to me, although most of the time the great deals she relates would be a waste of time and money for me.  However, I have learned so much about couponing and saving money from her blog, as well as others.  I am very thankful to have so many online resources that are not only reliable, but can also be spiritually uplifting!

My goals for later this evening will be to put away about a gazillion photos that I printed a month ago, as well as create my January dinner schedule and create a cleaning schedule, which I plan to share later this week.  

Blessings to you and yours.....Kristen