Please help a friend!

I have a good friend, Melanie, who along with her husband run Portraiture by Melanie. They are awesome photographers with a great eye to make the ordinary, well... less ordinary =)

Please take the time to pop over to the Blogger's Choice Awards and vote for them. I've nominated them for Best Photography Blog. I'd love to see something great happen for this wonderful family and, if possible, bring even more business their way. The link to their site is available at the BCA link.

http://bloggerschoiceawards.com/blogs/show/95654

Moblog? Noblog...

I set up this account to accept posts from my cellphone, but for some reason they aren't going through. So you didn't get to see the cute edible Daddies that I made for breakfast a couple days ago. I'll work on it...

Otherwise, we've just been battling the sickies here for a few days. Yesterday my kids were running around in our yard in flip-flops in 60 degree weather. Today we've got snow. No wonder I'm sick.

Then again, I've got kids who touch everything... and a son who then picks his nose. Guess who is usually the first one sick - and the most generous. :/

Good thing he's cute.

I've got an attitude about altitude

One little known fact about me. I used to be terrified of yeast. TERRIFIED. I would have nightmares about dough left to proof getting out of control and taking over my house. There's an episode of Pinky Dinky Doo where everyone in the family keeps adding baking soda to her fluffy buns recipe (because she forgot it once) - and the dough rises so quickly that the whole apartment building goes up to the moon and everyone in the building has to eat fluffy buns to bring it back to earth. Yeah... like that.

I eventually got over my fear of yeast and became a pretty good baker, if I do say so myself. Then, shortly after moving to the Oregon coast, I was diagnosed with celiac disease and had to learn the very different world of gluten-free baking. Oh, I still do "regular" baking for my family, but GF is a whole other ballgame.

Then? Then we moved to Colorado. 6000 feet up. You know those directions on the back of the cake mix that say "High Altitude Directions?" That's me. You have to reduce the yeast and up the flour and sometimes equally up the water, unless you don't. And extend the time. Or is it reduce the time and up the temp? AHHHHHH!!!!

In the interest of saving money, I've taken to baking most everything from scratch. I made up a batch of pizza dough the other day (finally... it was supposed to be on OAMC day). It worked out just fine - but this was the end result of the dough cycle on my gluteny bread machine...



It's not just a nightmare... it's REALITY!!!!

That's better...

My body forced a nap on me. I fell asleep shortly after writing that last post and slept an interrupted 2 hours. I finally woke up when my husband took a call from the moving company that moved us on our two big moves - the last one being just before Christmas. It appears the people whose belongings were in the other half of our truck just opened a mirror box that had some wedding pictures in it - and it's not theirs. I'm sick to my stomach thinking that some of our wedding pictures are missing, but we still can't confirm that it's ours. The company is playing middle man and will call us back (our mover was less than stellar - but the company was/is great!)... and we get to dig through the downstairs bedroom and the garage that are both, just about, wall-to-wall boxes while we await our final (please?) move to our own place. Just another bump in the road.

Now? Back to work!

Looking for some photos?

This isn't necessarily a budget issue, but a friend of mine has an etsy shop where she's selling some of her photography. She's an awesome person, raising a family of 10, and a portion of all sales are going to Haiti relief efforts.

Please check out her shop!

Yeah... it's slow here

So, we moved. It's been crazy. We came here to find housing - then went back to Oregon, packed a house, and drove back here... in 13 days. Then came Christmas, New Years, and trying to get a routine of some sort down. And let's not forget UNpacking. Otherwise all the "fun" of packing would be lost, right?

I was worried about making the transition to new stores, new area for finding bargains. I'm WAY behind on cutting out my coupons - they're all stacked up in a bag. But I've found a few great deals, so I'm encouraged. I was able to get 2 gallons of organic skim milk for $1.09 total (including tax - something I keep forgetting to figure in after living in sales tax-free Oregon). Our local Safeway has one section where they put all the sell-by clearance foods (other than meat) rather than having to hunt them down. I've done some price matching in our local Wal-Mart. And today I hit the 75% off clearance stuff at Target in Parker and got some really great stuff for next winter for the kids - including a winter coat for M (regular $35 - I got it for under $9), a **beautiful** Christmas dress that will fit her for the next 2 years for under $5, and 3 really nice sweaters for R for about $3.50 each. Sweats for $.98 a piece, a long-sleeved turtle neck black shirt for M - there were many more things I could have picked up, but we're trying really hard to watch our budget and pay off some bills. For myself, I used a birthday gift card from G's wonderful sister and got some "fur" lined suede mittens that were 50% off. I'm SO excited!

I've taken a gluten-free tour at our King Soopers (that's Kroger here) and scored a bunch of coupons there. Our natural foods store (Vitamin Cottage) has amazing prices on their bulk supplies, many of which are GF as well, AND they accept coupons (that's where I scored the milk deal!). I've even found some local bloggers to help the process along. We're blessed.

So, while we're not really in that much of a better financial place than when we were in Oregon (G's call is part-time and the search for additional employment hasn't been fruitful), we're going to make it. And it's wonderful to have a happy husband again because he's back doing what he loves... and freeing me up to do my job at home (wife and mom) which I love as well.

I can't promise this blog will be bustling with activity again soon, but I'll be sure to post if something incredible comes up. After sending out our *slightly* late Christmas cards. But hey, they were all free... and we're waiting on our free change of address cards. So it's worth being a little late in my book to save that chunk of change.

Happy 2010!

I'm SO Sorry

I've deleted Google AdSense. I don't come here that often, and when I saw that the banner across the top was an ad for finding the best bikini photos online... that's not something I would EVER allow on my site. I'll be contacting them later as well.

Again, my sincerest apologies!

4 orders and organization

That's how many separate receipts I had at Wags today. The Huggies deal was just TOO good to pass up, and I had to do separate trips for the Garnier, anyway. I don't have my receipts in front of me, so bear with me, please...

I was planning to do 3 size 4 Huggies Natural Fits, but they only had 2 (there have GOT to be a TON of babies in this town that are M's size - no matter what brand of diapers they are, the size 4s are almost always gone on day one of a sale at Walgreens or Rite Aid here!) So I got 2 4's and a pack of pull-ups. Here's the whole order:

Size 4 $10
Size 4 $10
Pull-ups $10
GF Curl shaping spray $2.99
Colgate Total TP $3.49
Dry Idea Unscented Gel Deodorant $1.69
$38.17

Qs
Huggies Naturals -$3.00
HN -$3.00
Pull-ups -$2.00
GF -$1.00
Colgate -$1.50

$27.67 (I'm thinking that I paid $30.67... I'm wondering if one of my HN Qs didn't go through...)

Received
$2 RR for the Dry Idea
$10 RR for Huggies over $25

Did you notice anything? Yeah, I was chatting away with my favorite cashier and we both forgot the ESR IVC coupons. She called the manager over, though, we returned a couple things and added them onto my next order where they took the coupons off... see below.

Huggies Supreme Newborn diapers $10.00
HS size 1 diapers $10.00
HS size 2 diapers $10.00
clearance highlighter (ch) $.10
ch $.10
ch $.10
$30.30

Coupons
HS -$5.00
HS -$5.00
HS -$5.00
Garnier IVC -$2.00
Colgate IVC -$2.50
RR -$2.00
RR -$2.00
RR -$2.00

$4.80

Received
$10 RR for Huggies over $25

I brought those out to the car. Then I went back in and did:

HS Newborn diapers $10.00
HS size 1 diapers $10.00
HS size 2 diapers $10.00
Garnier Hydra-Curls shampoo $2.99
$32.99

Coupons
HS -$5.00
HS -$5.00
HS -$5.00
GF -$1.00
Garnier IVC -$2.00

$14.99

Received:
$10 RR

I fully intended that to be my last trip to Walgreens. I brought my things out to the car and walked over to redbox for free-movie Monday. I already knew what I wanted, and it was a good thing. It was COLD for us today, and I was standing in line behind a guy who must have read every. single. summary. there was in that box. I picked up my movies, punched in the freebie code for the guy behind me... and went back to Walgreens. I know... I know...

HS size 1 diapers $10.00
HS size 2 diapers $10.00
HS size 2 diapers $10.00
Garnier Hydra-Curls shampoo $2.99
$32.99

Coupons
HS -$5.00
HS -$5.00
HS -$5.00
GF -$1.00
Garnier IVC -$2.00

$14.99

Received:
$10 RR

So, I now have $40 is Wags-bucks to spend in the next 2 weeks. That won't be a problem. I have a rain check for M's Wags diapers that will eat up $18 of that. I can also pick up the rest of the FARs for this month... and maybe something fun for the kids. I figure it's REALLY rare to find Huggies for $5 a bag (or even $7 for M's current size), so it was worth it to me.

As far as organization - I decided that we needed to do something to keep track of the free things and great deals we've purchased this year. We have them stored and stashed all over the house, and often my husband will ask where something is and we have to try a few spots to find it - or he'll ask if we have something and I just don't know.

So I put together a workbook of spreadsheets for us. I've divided the worksheets into:
Cosmetics
Toothpaste (and brushes)
Bath, shower & smell good
Family planning & feminine
Medications & pain relief
(I plan to add a kids worksheet and household cleaners worksheet, too)

Then I went though our different storage places, emptied them, sorted them, and put them in the database. I've put it on our family file-share so that my husband and I have the information at our fingertips whenever we need it. I still have to go through our medication shelf and the things in our garage pantry and laundry room cabinets. But the majority of our "stash" has now been taken care of. I'm SUPER excited about this. It will be helpful in preventing us from buying things we already have, as well as being able to locate things we need MUCH quicker than in the past. It is my hope to eventually do this with our food pantry as well - to know at all times what we have on stock and how much - so that we know what we can use for recipes and what needs to be restocked on our next big shopping trip. I think that's totally doable, too.

Do you use Bank of America?

I, personally, don't have Bank of America because I've heard too many of my friends complain about how bad they suck. However, if you do, keep reading... I saw this on Live Journal, today.

Bank of America has settled a class action lawsuit over its dirty overdraft tricks—things like approving transactions that generate overdraft fees, for example, or clearing transactions in high-to-low order to increase the number of overdrafts. If you're a former customer of BoA, Fleet, La Salle Bank or United Trust Company, you can claim your part of the settlement fund.

Qualifying peeps are entitled to a settlement of "up to $78". i was young and irresponsible during the time i was banking there so i, personally, have accumulated way more than my fair share of fees.

here's a link to the article on the consumerist

and here's a link directly to the lawsuit website where you can register

2008 in review

Since I just started this new lifestyle in August, I didn't do as well as I had hoped. My goal was one rent payment... and I fell about $20 short of that. Here's the breakdown that used to be on the side:

Money Back in My Pocket in 2008

* Walgreens (110%) - $391.60
* Rite Aid - $176.15
* Staples - $232.99
* Manufacturer's Rebates - $172.72
* Gift cards (Rx, points, etc) - $91.00
* TOTAL - $1075.42

As stated in the last post, I can't promise that I'll be able to update as much as I'd like. But I'm going to try and keep a running total not only on rebates in 2009, but also on how much I've saved using coupons. I haven't figured out if I'm going to do this on some paper in the coupon box or keep a running text message draft, but we'll see what I can do - and I'll update as time allows. I know that $1075 is impressive - but I also know that I probably saved about 2-3 times that in coupons last year as well. This year, I want to see it in print - something to keep me going when it all gets a bit overwhelming.

Also, speaking of coupons, one source (that I can't recall... looking for it now, actually) said that there could be up to FIVE coupon inserts in this Sunday's paper. That's HUGE! If the coupons appear to be good ones for our family, I may end up buying an extra paper (I always purchase 2 if there are coupons inside, and a family from church gives me theirs as well). What a great way to rebuild the stash (since most expired on 12/31)!

Cheap Fleece, Wags 01/09 and blog "maintenance"

Any sew-ers (unhyphenated just looked funny) reading? As you most likely have gleaned, we're trying to really limit the amount of money leaving our hands lately. I made fleece PJs for the whole family for Christmas, and the pants pattern that I followed ended up looking a lot like sweats rather than pajamas. So while all the 50% off sales were going on an Jo-Ann, I got enough elastic to make a couple more pairs of pants for each of my kids... I was just waiting for a good deal on the fleece. Didn't get elastic at 50% off - no worries, it's pretty cheap anyway, and by the yard is a lot cheaper than a package of it.

This week at Walgreens you can get their fleece blankets for $1.99 each with the coupon on page 9 of their flier. The limit is 4, but I had a hard time deciding on some colors and went ahead and got 5 without issue - there were TONS of them in at least 3 locations in my store. It's not the same high-quality stuff from Jo-Ann's - this wouldn't cut it as outer wear in Chicago or South Dakota right now, I'm afraid. But for where we live, it will make some nice light-weight fleece pants that the kids can wear out and about. The blankets are 50"x60", so I'm almost positive that I can get 2 pairs of pants out of each blanket - if not, I'll make a crazy serged patchwork quilt out of the leftover fleece to keep in the car. And, really, if you're looking for an emergency blanket or two to keep in the car, these are great. We already have one in there that my mom gave us a few years back, and M has one as one of her 7 or 8 blankets on her bed =)

One of this month's rebates at Wags is $1 off select Glade products - up to 4 rebates. One of them is the glass scents things. The Hawaiian breeze scent is on clearance at my Wags for $1.69. I had a $1/1 manufacturer's coupon, bringing my OOP to $.69 (out of last month's rebate money). I'll be getting $1.10 back in 110% gc rebates, for a total of a $.41 cent profit!

As for blog maintenance: When I started this, I had it in mind to keep updating this at least 2-3 times a week with the deals I was finding and how you could do the same. It is my hope that eventually I will get back to that as well. But for the time being, I'm focusing more on getting my health back together, getting our family set financially for what's becoming a much longer dry-spell than anticipated, and just trying to get our house together and weed out a bunch of extra "stuff" that we held onto when we moved and accumulated when my mom died (it was supposed to be used for her when she moved out to a nursing home here - then she died right (13 days) after we moved out here. The computer in general has taken a backseat to real life... a good thing, I know.

So if you're interested in the super bargains when I find them, hand around for infrequent updates. Otherwise, thanks for your interest in the blog!

The beef gets a bit pricier

Okay - if you haven't done the deal yet, you'll notice that your code from Geico rewards now says $25 off $100 or more. So that's not worth it.

If you did it yesterday, you most likely got an email saying something like this:

Dear MRS LASTNAME

Thank you for shopping at Omaha Steaks! We appreciate your business and
are confident you will be delighted with your order.

We do show when placing this order, a special offer for a free item was
combined with the $25 reward card. As stated in all promotions for free
items, offers cannot be combined. Your order will ship without the free
item.

So, still 2.25 pounds of beef for $1.98 - which is still a decent deal ($.88/lb). But not as thrilling as last night's deal. Today has been a bit of a downer for me on deals in general - lots of stores changing policies or raising prices even more than before around here. So this shouldn't surprise me... but it did.

I will say, from reading back in the blogs I learned of this yesterday, it appears that Omaha Steaks changed their rules multiple times after this program started. Again, it doesn't surprise me, as I know of only one person who was really pleased with OS - most had complaints about the company. My only dealings with them was in regards to a second-hand gift certificate I was given by the family I nannied for. They were rude and unhelpful - and I ended up letting that $50 go rather than dealing with them again. Now I know why.

A Moral Issue?

I see a lot of posts in the coupon blogging world about Manufacturers Rebates. There are some that seem legitimate (I have one that I recently printed off and sent in for a new Arm & Hammer cleaner, and I've seen "try me free" peel-offs on boxes of cereal as well). But I just clicked on one that really got me kind of upset, and it seems to be pushed in the coupon world as a great thing to do.

The link was for a "Try Me Free" rebate on the new Duncan Hines Carrot Cake. I had just recently printed out $1/1 coupons, so I thought, GREAT! This is a money maker!

But the "try me free" rebate isn't that at all. It's one of those "satisfaction guaranteed or your money back" rebates. Take a look for yourself. You have to actually select why you weren't satisfied with the product and why you want your money back.

Lets be honest, people. Don't start trying to get your bargains by lying. If you honestly didn't like the cake, then tell them so. But don't be telling others there's a rebate out there before we even try the mix - that's just unkind.

How to help fellow budget bloggers with your mouse

All of us who are in this couponing blog world are in it for one main reason... to save a little money. Maybe we start for extra spending money. Maybe some of you, like me, started doing this to try and keep more money in the family budget during tight times.

I try to make it a habit to click on at least 1-2 links in these blogs whenever I direct visit one of them. By that I mean that if I'm not reading your site through my bloglines subscription but I'm actually on your site, I'll click away as I have time.

I've added Google AdSense to my site awhile ago. I know some of you have been here (I really should get a site counter) as I've made almost $1 this past month. I thank those of you that have visited the ads on my site. If you haven't yet, please click on something that seems interesting to you - and help put a few more pennies in our virtual piggy bank! And go ahead and click on links on the other mama's blogs as well. If we all help each other out each day - what a wonderful (and frugal) world it would be =)

So much to say

Before I forget - the Cheerios coupons I mentioned in this post - Are you a fan of Cherrios? The ones you are sent every week? They are $1/1, and you can print each week's coupon twice!

I've gotten some pretty great deals this week. I need to carve away some time to sit down and publish them all. I've been trying to figure out a plan for this blog. Here's what I have so far...

Saturday - get Sunday paper, review ads and coupons, plan weekly trips
Tuesday - Rite Aid*, Bi-Mart and Walgreens
Wednesday - Walgreens (often, my Walgreens is spending most of Tuesday stocking shelves. If something I'm looking for isn't stocked on Tuesday, it will be Wednesday it they got it), Grocery Outlet (ditto), Safeway (super coupons usually start Wednesday).

After the occasions, I'll take my time to blog my planned hunt and what came home with me. I will continue to update these posts each week with news and in-store deals (or web hints I've found) as they happen. It is my goal to not only use this blog to catalog my finds, but also to help others who want to learn the fine art of couponing succeed along with me.

And if you have tips? PLEASE!!! Leave them in a comment, post a link to your blog, tell me that I'm crazy! Whatever! I want to learn to do the best by my family that I possibly can - so help me out!

* Rite Aid has a new (at least to me) card system - Rite Rewards. 10% off Rite Aid brand products every day and 10% off your entire order, regardless of brand, on Tuesday. All the more reason to shop Rite Aid on Tuesday - making my purchases there as great a deal as my rebates +10% at Walgreens!

Come along on the journey

I'm SO excited to be back in the wonderful world of coupons, rebates, and sales. It's what I jokingly call in our household "Shopping As Sport." It has been a good 5-6 years since I've been couponing to the extent that I am now, so I'm a little rusty. But I've thrown myself full-force into the hunt for the best bargains again - this time with a husband and a couple kids in the mix.

I'll quickly transfer my older posts here, then this is my new home on the web for all things budget bargains! Welcome! I'm happy to share my finds - and my failures - as I go along!