Sunday 3/29 Coupons

Just a quick note regarding todays coupons. I picked up several copies of the LA Times, OC Register, and Press Telegram and was pretty happy about the amount of GOOD coupons today! If you haven't already done so I suggest you go buy at least one copy of all 3 papers if you can! Trust me, with the amount of $1 off and B1/G1 coupons it's worth the $4 you will spend buying the 3 papers. 

If you have a 99 Cent Store near you I recommend buying your LA Times there. It's only $.99!

Also, not sure if this was just a fluke, or if it was only my Starbucks that charges this, but I purchased one LA Times this morning on my way to church and it was only $.75! I'm thinking it might've been a fluke since that's the normal weekly price of the paper. I was in such a hurry, and the line was getting pretty long behind me (full of anxious people waiting for their morning fix) that I didn't want to hold up the line with a bunch of questions, so I didn't ask the girl about the pricing.  BUT with that said, it still might be worth it to try your local Starbucks (as there IS one on just about every corner) in the off chance the pricing was not a fluke! Then you would be able to buy 2 LA Times for the price of 1!!

I'll post more great coupon deals and matchups later. Right now I have one little one waking up from a nap, and the other one with possible Chicken Pox!

-Wish me luck! Because if it IS Chicken Pox than my son will surely give it to his 1 yr old brother, and then because we homeschool and have all the kids home with us all week long our 5 and 7 year old girls will get it as no one has had it yet.... Did I say wish me luck? I mean PRAY for my sanity! =)

Have a Blessed Sunday!!

Family Fun Frugal Fridays

Do something Fun and Frugal with your Family on Friday's! (that was a mouthful!)

No, seriously! 

Need an idea?

-Rent a movie (not from Hollywood Video or Blockbuster though, we're trying to make Family Fun Friday a Frugal event!)

-Make some S'mores Pops (for a fun movie snack twist)

-Turn off the lights and get at least an hour of cuddle time with the Family!

Then afterwards have fun sharing favorite bits of the movie with each other.

**** ******** ****

I don't recommend renting movies from Hollywood Video or Blockbuster. They are TOO expensive for new releases! Almost every town has a neighborhood $1 video rental store. They usually have the new releases just like the big video store chains, and they are only $1!! However, these $1 video stores require you to return the movie by the close of the following business day to avoid any late fees. Check with your individual store as to what their rental, and late fee policies are. 

If you don't have a local $1 video store check your local grocery store, go to RedBox! This is my personal favorite! And I'm seeing RedBox popping up everywhere! My local Albertsons has two! These are convenient too! They are like giant movie vending machines where all movies cost $1. (This is one vending machine you won't mind your kids bugging you about!) RedBox is my favorite because EVERY Monday and Wednesday they put out FREE MOVIE RENTAL CODES! (That's 2 FREE movie rentals per week! 8-10 per month! 104 FREE movie rentals per year!!) 

What makes this so Frugal you wonder since you're buying the video? This is how I look at it:

#1 It's a $1 video rental.

#2 I've already received 2 free rentals, and I'm paying $1.08 (after tax(at least through April 1st-another story)) So essentially you are paying $.36 per video rental! 

That's Frugal in my book!

Kellog's PopTarts Coupon

Go to this link for a $.55/1 Kellog's PopTarts coupon. Make sure to click the back button on your browser to print two coupons. Sorry, maximum of 2 coupons per computer. Unless any of you are lucky enough to have more than one computer at home. =) Is that cheating?

Kellog's is also having a giveaway. 

If you're family is anything like mine, then FREE music is a MUST! $10 worth of iTunes music is enough for most albums!! You can play ONCE per day. The giveaway runs until April 12th. That's 17 tries! 

Have fun, and Good Luck!!

Diaper Sale

I was at Wal Mart today (LB Towne Center off of 605/Carson exit) and they had new Rollback's on Diapers. 

Pampers: $9.72 ($1.00 off normal price) 

-Combine the rollback price with $1.50/any mailed Q and that makes it $8.22. Best price I've found for Pampers all week. I also had a $1.00/1Q so I bought 2 packs. (We had only 1 diaper left...woops!)

Huggies: $9.72 ($1.00 off normal price)

-If you're lucky enough to still have those $5/1 printable Q's around combine the Rollback price and your Q and that makes for $4.72 per package! Definitely a great price for Huggies!

Luvs: $7.97 (normal price)

-I had two $1/1 Q's so I got two packages for $6.97. 

I'm sure I could have saved even more money had I pounced on super savings deals at Wags or CVS, but seeing as we were completely out of diapers, this sale was good enough for me.

My advice? 

Stock up on diapers when they are at super saver prices! Match your coupons with the best deals and then stock, stock, stock! Then you won't be like me. Running out of diapers, and having to run out to the store, and grab whatever sale I can find! 

Still, Wal Mart does have the best sale price compared to Wags, Ralphs, Target, and Vons right now. Wags as Huggies diapers on sale right now for $9.99. Wal Mart is a whole$.27 cheaper! (Hey that adds up!) And my Target had Luvs priced at $8 and some change. 

So if you NEED diapers, go to WalMart!

=)

Rebates 101

I found this great tutorial on how to get the most out of Rebates. An area I'm still trying to figure out to be honest. I hope this little nugget of information helps you as much as it's going to help me! 

Read it here.

Thanks "The Coupon High"!

FREE CHOCOLATE!!

Go here and sign up for your FREE LINDT TRUFFLES SAMPLE!! 

(Can you tell I'm really excited about this one?)

Once you sign up for their newsletter, and give them your mailing address, you can actually CHOOSE which kind of truffle you'd like to sample! They have Hazlenut, Milk/Dark Chocoalte, White Chocolate, and Assorted! Plus, you will receive a DVD with some recipes on it. 

How's that for a Free Sample?

Enjoy your chocolate ladies!

Bolt DVD Coupon!

There is a $5 coupon floating around for Bolt that was released this past Tuesday. I've also found a $4 rebate when you buy the DVD and ONE of the following pasta products;  Ronzoni® Smart Taste™, Ronzoni®, San Giorgio®, Creamette®, American Beauty®, Prince® or Skinner®. That's a total of $9.00 OFF of the DVD! So if you have young kids, (or you're like us and love kids movies) make it a pasta night, and go get the DVD!

I'm going tonight to see if I can't get my hands on the DVD, with my handy $5 coupon, and said rebate! Go here to print the coupon, and then go here to print the rebate. There is also a $10 off coupon on the same page if you buy the Blu-Ray instead, stacked with the $4 rebate makes a total $14 off the Blu Ray version!

 Here's a price list for a few stores in the Long Beach, Ca. area according to their weekly ads.

Target: $15.99 (-$5Q=$10.99!) (-$5Q & $4Rebate=$6.99!) <------BEST DEAL I'VE FOUND!

Ralphs: $19.99 (-$5Q=$15.99!) (-$5Q&$4Rebate=$11.99!)

Best Buy:$16.99 (-$5Q=$11.99!) (-$5Q&$4Rebate=$7.99!)

 Happy Shopping!

Please let me know if you've found an even better deal on this!

A Thrifty Mom Giveaway!

A Thrifty Mom is giving away $800 in coupons to celebrate her TWO MONTH blog anniversary. Why is that such a big deal you wonder?
She started her blog T-W-O M-O-N-T-H-S ago, and it has developed quite a large fan base!

What are you waiting for? Run don't walk your mouse over to her giveaway, and sign up! You have until March 27th to do so! Click here to check it out!!

$800 in coupons!? Count me in!!!

Last Weeks Frugal Adventures

As I’m writing this post, I’m chiding myself for not taking pictures of my shopping adventure at Albertsons, and Vons a few nights ago! O’well, next time. These deals are from the last sale cycle, but I'm still thrilled about the fact that I was able to match up my coupons with sales for stuff we use regularly, and stuff we needed, for very a greatly reduced OOP amount! The 23rd was my biggest day of savings to date! Too good not to share!

ALBERTSONS 3/23/2009:

Dannon yogurt:

Buy 10, Get 10 FREE.

10/$9

-$1.00/10 MFQ.

Final Price=20/$8! (.40/yogurt)

Listerine:

Sale price $4.49

-$3.00 MFQ

Final Price= $1.49

Total OOP for 20 Dannon Yogurts, and a bottle of Listerine= $9.86

Total Savings of=$16.00!

Not to bad for a novice eh?

(If I had a larger stash of coupons, I might’ve been able to save even more money on this sale, but seeing as I only had one coupon, I was still excited about the price. We go through A LOT of yogurt in this house, and Dannon just happens to make my FAVORITE flavor. Key Lime... yum!)

VONS

Instead of listing item by item the purchases made, I’ll just skip to the best part. (Since this won’t be replicated, as it was last weeks sale cycle.)

Number of items sold: 48

Total OOP cost: $48.46

Total Savings: $70.15!!

That’s a savings of 60%

To date, my largest amount of savings at a grocery store!!

Woohoo!

Thank you Moneysavingmom and AThriftymom, couldn’t have done it without you’re great advice and tips!!

Money Saving Tips

For those of you new to coupon clipping, or just plain new to the concept of shopping frugally, I’d like to include different tips, advice, and links to the women and their blogs who’ve helped me tremendously! I was overwhelmed in the beginning of my quest to save more money, reduce our grocery bill, (to under $300/month for a family of 6!) find more ways and opportunities to give and help others in need, and to become a more responsible steward of all that the Lord has blessed us with! I’m still learning the ropes, and everyday finding new ways to lead a more frugal lifestyle, all the while glorifying God in the process. These blogs, and women have been such a blessing with their ministries, and fruits of their labor!


MoneySavingMom

I have found this site to be invaluable! It is full of free deals, almost free deals, and weekly sales/promotions at different stores throughout the country, such as CVS, Walgreens, Target, and Wal Mart! This blog is updated daily, and I’ve found that if I check it in the morning, I find great money saving deals! For example, a few months ago I was alerted to a FREE SUBSCRIPTION to Martha Stewart Living magazine via this blog! In the last week I’ve received 4 different Martha Stewart Living magazines! How cool is that!?

Here are a few links to the tips and advice offered on this blog:

CVS 101- A guide for those new to CVS shopping, or unfamiliar with CVS, and ECB’s.

CVS: Making It Work For You!- A Q&A forum with commonly asked questions, and advice.

Walgreens 101- A guide on how to navigate the Walgreens Rebate and EasySaver program.

She also has some great advice and tips on how to accumulate, and organize your coupon stash!

This is one of my favorite money saving blogs, and I hope you find it as invaluable as I have!


A Thrifty Mom

Another little gem of a blog I stumbled onto recently. Most impressive, is that this blog is only about two months old!! She is from Idaho, and offers up some great freebies, coupon match-ups, advice, and tips to her readers daily!


Keeping the Kingdom First

This site is great on so many levels! It’s a Christian site, with the goal of glorifying God. Read more about this site, and its blogger’s ministry here. This site is full of helpful tips, advice, and offers with the goal of helping you the reader become more frugal, so that in return you are able to have more money to give away, and be used for the Kingdom of God!