Fall has finally arrived!

So after sweating our way through the summer months we are finally being teased by the cooler temps of fall. I for one am ecstatic, it was a miserably HOT summer around here where the kids wouldn't even think of venturing outside during the day unless forced to do so. So with the coolish temps showing up it was my motivation to get the fall decorations out. I started off with my mantel. Remember the hurricane vases I did last year, you can see them here. Well I changed them up just a bit this year by adding just leaves and little pumpkins & squash.  I also put out different pictures, a table runner and a pumpkin candle holder. Which I have to add I scored at Kohl's for only $2.50!! (it was on sale and I had a $10 coupon)

Then I was on to the front porch.  I hit up Michael's to get a hay bale and some other decoration, I finished it off with a Mum I picked up at Lowe's on Sunday for only $5.  I got a new welcome sign at Joann's the other day for just a couple $$'s.  Gotta love sales and coupons :)

 

So bring on the cool temps, bonfires, smores and more we are ready!

If this puts you in the mood to decorate and you need to do it on a budget there are great coupons out there.  Go to Joann's website here and sign up for emails they will send you coupons all the time.  Or if you're in a hurry you can text CRAFT to 56266, they will send you a 20% off total purchase right away and other offers occasionally.  Michael's always has coupons in the Sunday paper, you can also sign up for an account here and they will send you emails about sales and coupons and you can print coupons from their website. You can also go to Hobby Lobby's website here and print a 40% one regular priced item.

Good Deal Alert

Well if you have a preschooler like me it's a good deal alert if not go on about your business and just ignore this post, just scroll on down and see some pictures from WDW!

Thanksgiving has passed and Christmas time is upon us, so that can only mean one thing. LOTS of shopping! I am here to try to help you save the big $$$ this year. Also Sheri at Swaggrabber always has all the great deals listed so be sure to keep an eye on her site in the up coming weeks.

Leap Frog has a great Bundle and Save deal on the Tag Reader System. First pick the reader you want (choose between 3 colors), then pick the books and here is how you save more-pick 1 book save 5%, pick 2 10%, pick 3 save 15% (there are different priced books so look thru them all), then pick your accessory-storage case or headphones.

Use code CSLEAP15 to save an additional 15%. Shipping will be free since you have spent over $50. You should be able to get it all for a little over $56. Abby and I looked at this at ToysRUs on Saturday night during our girls night out and if you purchased this there it would cost you about $99+tax for these 5 items.

Make sure you sign up for Shop At Home to get cash back on this purchase. You will also get a $5 bonus when you sign up. Once you sign up with them go to the Holiday Deals page. Click on Cyber Monday deals. Scroll down and find Leap Frog click it and it will take you to the Leap Frog website and you will get 6% cash back on your purchase.

I love Target Deals

Target this week:

clearance and cheap Bounce bars!


Total spent out of pocket: $22.57
Total saved $25.95

Clearance items
paper $1.11 saved $1.11
folder .68 saved .31
Bath rug that just happens to match the new shower curtain we bought a couple of weeks ago $7.48 saved $7.51
two hand towels to match $5.96 saved $6.02

P&G deal
2 Bounce 6mth dryer bars $15.98 -$2 target coupons, -$4.00 manufacture coupons, also you get a $5 target gift card when you buy 2. So after the coupons and the gift card it was only $4.98 for both bars

I did 2 transactions and bought the dryer bars first to get my gift card then used that $5 towards my next transaction.

What I get with $15

A buggy full of groceries is what I get!


So here's the wrap up:
Doritos BOGO 2pks for 3.99
Tyson frozen chicken 5.99
sour cream 1.15
bananas .96-which ended up being free with an overage since there was a coupon on the OJ 1.00 off produce
Tropicana OJ 2 for $6 minus 2 $1 coupons
Jiffy corn muffin mix .43
pasta .70
Digiorno pizza-$3.19 Free with coupon
Oscar Myer roast beef-$3.69 Free with coupon
Ritz Crackerfuls-$2.69 Free with coupon
Kraft mac and cheese x's 2 each were $2.99 Both Free with coupons
Koolaid fizz-$1.99 Free with coupon
Publix Bread $1.17

$5 off $30 purchase coupon

Total with tax $15.11 amount saved $32.86

I know some of you say you don't have time for coupons but really it is hard to argue the savings you get from taking a few minutes to plan it out. I sign up for lots of programs that send free samples or coupons for a free product, which is how I got all those Kraft things for free. They have a great program call Kraft first taste.

Southern Savers and Swaggrabber are two of my favorite saving sites go check them out and see what you can save.

make sure you see my post from yesterday cause I am on a roll and got in 2 posts in 2 days ;)

Something for nothing

Everybody knows the saying "The Cheaper the Better" but how about "The Cheaper the Better, but Free is Fantastic"

It's no secret I love me a good deal and I seek out good deals all the time. I have become a coupon guru and can't wait to see my savings at the bottom of my Publix receipt.

But I am talking about FREE today, as in you pay nothing, zilch, zero! I love free samples of things and it makes my day to go out to my mailbox and there be something good in there cause lets face it all those bills get old.

here is a pic of just what has come in the past few days!

there is:
Crest white strips (2 of them)
Gold Bond hand sanitizer
lotion
coffee
Nicorete (yep hate to admit it but hubby has a small nicotine habit we r trying to break, and this wasn't the first sample of this he already chewed the other box)
Kashi Heart to Heart cereal
Colgate Pro clinical
Burts toothpaste
Axe shower gel (OMG this stuff smells awesome)
Pantene shampoo-notice this is a FULL size bottle
Olay body wash

when I check the mail and Wyatt sees a box he says "what did you get for free today?" because they come that often.

There are tons of others that I have already used. I got coupons for a free box of Oreo cakesters and a coupon for a free Digiorno 200 calorie pizza. There has also been rolls of toilet paper, and yesterday I printed a couple of coupons for free cheese, and seeing as how Abby usually eats cheese in some form everyday this one is gonna come in handy!

I also got all of my Christmas cards for Free 50 photo cards to be exact


and Abby's birthday invites


Here are a few websites that will get you free things:
Vocal Point
I get free things all the time from them-that Pantene shampoo came from there, and yesterday I signed up for some Puffs tissues

And this one is where I got the Digiorno coupon and the Oreo Cakester coupon. I should have a coupon for Philadelphia cream cheese coming also.
Kraft First Taste

And these are a few of my favorite "frugal" sites, these ladies are the ones who usually clue me into the deals.
Sheri at SwagGrabber-my fav and most frequented
Southern Savers she does alot of grocery deals
4Hats is a girl I chat with some online she just posted today how she got FREE baby furniture! now that is a deal

And have any of you signed up for SwagBucks? it is a great thing you just use them for your search just like you would Google but it will earn you points and those points will earn you things like gift cards to your favorite store. There are lots of other fun ways to earn points this is just the easiest and requires little work. I currently have 3 Amazon cards and am almost to a fourth I am looking to get a laptop bag, which will end up being free using my GC I earned from Swagbucks.

So there ya go, get out there and get some free stuff!

Randomness

Nothing major going on around here just alot of cold.

No snow but it was like 18 here this morning when I HAD to get out and take son to school what is up with that? I hate cold weather! we have gotten an actual big snow this year that my kids got to play in for more than one day so I am ready for warm weather.

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Speaking of warm weather I have been looking long and hard trying to decide on a beach house for this summer's vacation. Yes I know it is only February, but did I mention how cold it is here? I want to be there not here! like now! July is WAY to far away.

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My computer made it back to me, but I still HATE all things EMachines. They did have some sort of customer service guy call the other day to check on it, I told him it was currently working but is still yet to been seen how long that lasts. I told him their customer service department sucks but he didn't really seem to care, he gave me the "I am sorry for your inconvenience" speech. Why do they even bother, why pay someone to do this if they don't really care?

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speaking of my new computer I transferred files from the old computer to this and quickly realized I have TONS of pics on my computer. I really need to get some sort of back up device. Especially with the untrustworthy computer I have sitting in my lap. For now I guess I will just upload them on both computers, but what do you do? Please don't tell me you just keep your fingers crossed that nothing happens. I am proof computers die and you loose stuff! lots of stuff! precious pics of your oh so tiny and cute baby that you took but since you took thousands of them you didn't print them all.

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All those pics need to be printed right?? I have been on a mission since I got this new computer to organize the pictures and make sure and try to get as many pics printed as possible. I have been skipping around the world wide web trying to find cheap prints to print these tons of pics. which brings me to this.

Swaggrabber Sheri who happens to be one of my favs let me onto these:

Snapfish has 50 free prints for new users click here

Kodak also gives 50 free prints for signing up. I did this one and got 50 prints for 1.99 shipping.

Artscow happens to be one of my favorite sites they are constantly giving me free credits for things. Prints, books, mouse pads, key chains etc. Click here and I will get credits for you signing up and you will get 1200 free prints credits & 3 8"x8" photo books & other great photo gifts credits. They do ship out of Hong Kong so sometimes the shipping is a bit slow, so keep this in mind. but who cares when you are getting something free or just paying shipping which isn't that bad.

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Survivor starts tonight and this makes me happy! is that sad? but my kids love this show yes they watch reality tv don't judge! anyways we all watch it together and it makes for some great family QT!

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Baseball starts soon, can you believe this? Abby is SOOOO excited to play this year. Shane will be coaching her 4yr old team so prayers are needed for his sanity:) his assistant coach took over the big boys. Wyatt and his son have been playing together forever, ever since they were wee little 4yr olds. Guess it needs to hurry up and get warmer outside so they can start swinging the bat out back.

told ya it was alot of randomness

Tis the season' to save you some money

He's making his list and soon will be checking it twice; let's face it folks Santa Claus is coming to town!

Yes you are not crazy you did just read my Halloween post but you know how it goes, the day after Halloween all the stuff at the store goes 75%off and they are putting up Christmas stuff. Poor Thanksgiving, it totally gets the shaft. No one really thinks about it unless you are thinking about .40/pd Turkeys on sale at Wallyworld which my dad will be picking up for me for Thanksgiving since I am in charge of cooking the turkey every year but have zero space to store it.

Anyways so I have been on a mission this year to save big $$ every since I found some websites telling me how easy it was. Seriously there are a tons of cheap and free things out there it is just a matter of hunting them down.

Here's a quick example of a great deal thanks to coupons. Last week Publix had a $4 off coupon in their sale paper when you got 4 General Mills products. I got 4 cans of biscuits and after all the coupons I made .44, not really but that amount basically came off something else I had purchased. I also got 2 boxes of cereal and 2 boxes of Nature Valley granola bars and it came to $1.07/pc after all the coupons. Finally I got 2 rolls of sugar cookie dough and two pack of break and bake Pillsbury cookies and after the coupons I made .50 (once again not really it just came off something else)! I mean seriously who doesn't want free and cheap stuff?

Shane and I are usually so bad when it comes to Christmas shopping we have a date night and we eat out and do most all of our shopping in one night. Which generally means we spend WAY to much on our kids. This year I am on a mission to seek out the deals, thanks to a few gals who put in all the hard work hunting down the deals.

First things first Old Navy is having a 50% off outerwear starting today. Go to their weekly website and grab you a coupon and it makes it an even better deal. ON weekly resets every Thursday with awesome coupons the trick is to find them before they're gone, which for the good ones is like seconds:) but hey getting a 25% or 20% off is better than nothing if you already need to go to ON.

Not sure which ones are left right now I do know the good ones $65 off $100 are long gone! If you want a 25% off click on a leaf as it blows behind Wesley's head, 20% off is taking 5 exclamation points and putting them on the bottom after where it says "Michelle's winter must haves" the coupon will pop up and you can email it to yourself.

So go grab you a warm coat, or go on Saturday they will have scarves for only $1!!

On to great deals at Target. This week they sent out their great toy book full of great gifts for the little ones and it included tons of great coupons! If you didn't get one in the mail you can get the coupons at the store or print them here. It should allow you to select just the ones you are interested in printing.

I went the other day and got an amazing deal on Wii games. This week Target has them buy 2 get 1 free. I got 3 of them and then used the $10 off 2 games coupon (it is on page 5 of the coupons). Anyways I got them all for about $21/pc after coupons. If you can manage to only get the cheap ones it comes out to an even better deal.

I also got a Connect 4x4 game for Wyatt it is on sale for $14.99 plus I used this coupon for $5 more off.

Target will price match if you find a better deal anywhere else. There are tons of match ups with coupons and there big holiday toy sale and if you want more details go check out one of my absolute favorite sites.

SwagGrabber is great on not only finding all the sale stuff but she also tells you where to find all the great coupons to combine with the sales and also will let you in on all the freebies that are floating around.

Go here and you can read more about the Target deals.

Great deals and saving money

I have been talking on here some about my money saving trips to the grocery and CVS, I truly love checking out and seeing how much I have saved. Publix will always print on the receipt how much you saved between coupons and buying their sale items. A week ago I saved $40.53 and last weekend it was $59.92!!

My favorite deal from the grocery has to be my razors. Ladies I know you know how freaking expensive those things can be especially in the summer when you actually are shaving your legs on a regular basis and hence going thru alot of them.

So last week they had Schick Quattro razor/trimmer on sale BOGO. It was originally $10.99/pc but I paid $10.99 for two of them, THEN I had $8.00 worth of coupons:) so in the end I paid $2.99 for both of them that was a savings of $18.99!!!

Then onto the razor refills the 4ct box is normally $10.99. They were also on sale $8.99/pc PLUS they were BOGO. I bought 2 last week then got a rain check since they were out and bought 4 more this week! I paid $26.97, THEN I had $20 in coupons:) so in the end I paid $6.97 a savings of $58.97!!

So for $9.96 I got this

and saved a total of $77.96 can you say great deal? and people say Publix is pricey.

I did my run to CVS the other day I wish I still had my receipts but unfortunately I threw them away, but I did get some great stuff and great deals and still have some extra care bucks left over for this week. You really need to look into the whole CVSing thing.

Now onto my deal of the century from Target! Last week I had to run there for something what I don't remember, but the reason really doesn't matter because we all know I LOVE me some Target. I was just cruising the isles with 3 kids in tow who believe it or not were behaving pretty well. We had been on the look out for a deal on a pool and were waiting for the big sale. I have tried the last couple of yrs with no luck. That was until Friday! I see a pool on the endcap and walk up and see that it is marked down 50% $499 down to $249. I start trying to get a hold of Shane but with zero luck. I am too afraid to walk away as I think there is another lady stalking the pool waiting to pounce the moment I walk away:) the baby starts fussing, I am getting fussy since Shane is either busy or ignoring me! Finally I give up on his cell and call his work. He says yea it's a good deal but ask if they can give me a better deal. I hate the idea but agree. I was SOOO lucky that there just happened to be a worker on the next isle and I didn't have to risk the other lady pouncing when I went in search of someone. He comes over I begin my wheeling and dealing he says "well let me scan to make sure the price is marked right" much to my delight it was in fact NOT marked correct.

It was a $499 pool for only $124!! OMG can you believe that deal? I couldn't either and told him immediately I wanted it but it wouldn't fit in the mini could I come later and pick it up and he said sure no problem. Woohoo we now have a pool

So for $124 I got this 16x48 pool with everything but chemicals-it has a cover, skimmer, vacuum, ladder etc!


We can not wait for next summer since it is already late in the year it will not be put up this year unfortunately for my kids who have to look at it in the garage for the next 8mths:)!

So who else is ready to jump on the money saving train, afterall the less you spend on groceries and non fun stuff the more you can spend on fun stuff like SHOES!

CVS greatness

So I know I told you I would report on my love for the CVS deals and try to explain the workings of it to the best of my abilities. So here ya go

So what you need to do first is go to their website here and get an Extra Care card. This will earn you coupons that can be printed in the store and more importantly will earn you Extra Care Bucks. You can also pick one up in your local store.

What are Extra Care Bucks you ask? Well they are basically like cash, cash to be used on you next purchase which could be the same day if you wanted or up until the date they expire which is usually at least a couple of weeks. The Extra Care Bucks will be printed out on the bottom of your receipt when you purchase items that are eligible. Make sure you don't loose them because I am not sure if they can be replaced. I keep mine in the back of my coupon binder.

So here is a few examples of the CVS goodiness:

This is from a few weeks ago.
I bought 2 Clairol hair colors (cause I color my own hair didn't you know this) anyways they were on sale for 5.99 I had a coupon $5 off of 2 and CVS was giving $2 in ECB so basically I got 2 things of hair color for $4.98!

on that same day I bought 11 Hannah Montana guitar suckers @.10/pc, some shaving cream and some gum.

I turned in a $3 ECB from a previous purchase, used the $5 hair color coupon and a $5 coupon I had printed there that day in the store. I got all these items for $3.67 with tax but if you take into consideration the $2 ECB I got at the bottom of my receipt it only cost $1.67!!!!!

So onto last weeks trip:
They had Cokes on sale $3.50/pc but if you bought $20 you got $10 ECB so of course I did this. Plus a coupon I redeemed for a Bogo free, I got 6 12pks of cokes for $7.50 or $1.25/pc. -side note if you drink alot of cokes in your house and buy lots of 12pks save the Coke reward codes and enter them into their website to earn things, my BOGO free coupon cost me 200pts. But I also just redeemed points for a hotel stay this weekend, 157 pts saved us $11. But if you don't want to save them I will gladly take them off your hands:) wyattabbymom at gmail dot com

Colgate toothpaste: $2.99/pc but they were giving 2.99/pc in ECB which made them free BUT I had coupons for $1 off each so basically I was paid $2 to buy Colgate toothpaste.

Suave: If you bought $6 you got $2 ECB and I had 1 coupon so I got 2 body washes and 1 shampoo for $3.50

I ended the shopping trip with $26.98 in ECB to use on future trips.

and for this weeks trip:
This week was a bit of a slow week so if you looked hang in there I promise it does get better. I went anyways cause there were a couple things I had on my list. I got 2 cans of soup (BOGO), box of Triscuits (they were bogo but only had one box so he gave it to me 1/2 price), a dog bed (5.99)-I will be taking the $16.99 one back to Target, mouthwash (free with a CVS coupon I printed in the store), All detergent (4.99). With my coupons and the ECB I turned in I paid .86 out of my pocket

The great thing about this is you can use coupons on items which some of the time will make them free or even better make you money, they will not pay you money but it comes off your total bill that you owe.


Wanna get some more info from the real experts on the subject? Check out these ladies:

http://www.southernsavers.com/
you can thank her for your free Quizno BTW

http://www.swaggrabber.com/

These sites give you all kinds of info on freebies and good deals not just groceries

My Inner Savy Shopper is Coming Out!

So let's face it the economy sucks right now and if your like us and many others out there going to the grocery and dropping over $100 and leaving with not a whole lot to show for it really sucks-right?

So here is my new plan well it's not so new just improved. I have been a coupon clipper for a while now but while watching Good Morning America the other day I saw them talking about these two moms at BeCentsAble who started this website and now host shows at $25/person showing how to save the most money and get the best bang for your buck at the store. So of course I had to jump on the computer and check it out.

While browsing thru their website I found a couple other sites I really liked and they had all kinds of tips and tricks. So of course I love you guys so much I have to share and hopefully help you save a buck or two the next time you are at the grocery. I am still very new so I am sure the more I look into the sites the better I will get at this savings thing.

First I go to Publix.com (I LOVE this store and only shop there or CVS) they have their sale flyer online and you can put a circle around the items you want and it makes a list for you, you can also add to your list on their site and then I print it off.

Then I go to Southern Savers click on the Publix link and she will list all the deals that are in the sale flyer but here's the kicker she also list any coupons that have either been in previous coupon mailers or online ones you can go print for free. After printing any she has listed I go thru my stock of coupons and match them up with what I need. They also list tons more great tips than I could put here so check the website out. Check out the "Getting Started Guides"

If there are things I am getting that weren't on the sale list I then go thru a couple sites and do a quick search for a coupon: hotcoupon, swaggrabber, and afullcup are the main ones I check. Southern Savers list some places to check out also.

Then I make a note beside my items that I have a coupon for.

It also pays to know your stores coupon policy-I found and printed out the Publix one and discovered they take competitor coupons (Kroger,food lion, no drug stores) I knew they doubled coupons already (up to $.50), and I also knew on their BOGO free items they only charge half price for each item so you can use 2 coupons when getting bogo stuff-or if your like me I will usually stock up on this type of stuff so you can match the number of coupons to the number of items.

Here's a tip when printing online coupons-keep the screen up after hitting print then once it has printed hit your "back button" and it will start printing again-Yep more than one for those BOGO items.

Also you don't have to stick to the name brand items store brands are usually just as good-usually. There are some things I am hard core name brand like Cokes but I only buy them when they are on sale and I have a big ol stash in my garage. But for instance at Publix Eggo brand waffles are 2/$4 but the store brand ones are $1.89-cheaper unless you have a Eggo coupon and I looked and there were none to be found, BUT I did have a coupon for Food Lion brand waffles and guess what?? You can use Food Lion brand coupons on Publix brand items! So I got 2 boxes for $2.78-and trust me I have 2 picky kids they taste the same. I also had a Food Lion coupon for a bakery item and I used it on a not so much needed but yummy item-Cranberry Walnut bread.

So yesterday was my first time using my new and improved method of grocery shopping. Here's how I did and I had a receipt 2 feet long to prove it:) not really but it was long:

I bought almost 50 items and only spent $71.80 and that is with that impulse bakery item and a rotisserie chicken for tonight's dinner. Now this doesn't include meat because I don't buy red meat (burger, steaks, roasts) because we eat deer and the freezer is full of it:)

I handed over 22 coupons so yes there were things I didn't have a coupon for-milk, eggs,seasonings but pretty much every items was on sale. My coupons were worth $21.50 The Advertised Special Savings (bogo items, 2for deals, etc) were $48 for a total of $69.50 in savings yesterday-WOOHOOO.

Check back and I will be sharing my Love of CVS at a later time-here are a few words to tied you over til then: Extra Care Bucks = cheap or FREE!