An Unusual Journey To Christmas

This was a very unique year for us. We've had our share of ups and downs but the last three months really shook up our plans for Christmas. One big problem we faced was when our van broke down in September; the repairs were costly. The transmission usually is one of those things you never want to repair. That sort of job takes the BIG bucks. Steve knew this repair would require more than we could muster up on a whim. He prayed for direction and it was amazing how God showed Steve the way to pull our funds together so we could repair the van. It was truly a plan we would never have come up with on our own. Before long our van was repaired and our bill was paid in full - no credit either! Thank you very much! We used to (about 4 or 5 years ago) approach the unexpected times like this with plastic in hand. We've learned a lesson or two since then and we now prefer cash.

Earlier this year I participated in a small group that taught me how to save money at the grocery store. We covered many topics, the main one being that God wants to provide for us. He wants to be in our lives more than we realize and more than we often allow. We are often so busy trying to 'fix' the things that pop up in life that we forget that God can still provide miracles for us today. Well, I found out my friend (who led the shopping small group) was moving and I wanted a second dose of her teaching. I knew there were things I could use refreshing on. I never expected anything more than dotting those I's and crossing those T's. God was smiling as He watched me open every surprise along the way.

We were at the point of the class where we barter and I thought with Christmas being so close that I didn't want to join in on bartering (crazy thought right). I intended to sit back and watch - to take notes really. The last meeting before bartering we were talking about what to bring and such when one of girls mentioned she may bring a key thing I was in need of. In fact it was something I put on my barter list last time and thought it was too much to ask. She mentioned having that very item and I knew that was the Holy Spirit nudging me to join the fun. Although that barter did not work out in the end, I spoke up and did mention a few other wants. Why not - I wanted to see what else God had in store for me this semester.

I hesitantly mentioned we wanted to get our kids bikes for Christmas - I thought 'who would want to let go of a bike at Christmas time?! Really!' So I mentioned that we were looking for a girl and a boy bike. Someone had a boy bike. Gulp. Then they also mentioned an outdoor play house. We've always wanted to get one of those for the kids but it's not been a high priority so.... we've waited with the hope that we would one day buy one before they outgrew the fun of a play house. I was beginning to think HE had a plan in action. He KNOWS what we have need of before we ask! (Where have I heard that a million times before?) Wow! That's a GREAT God! So.... I listened on as request was made and request was found. This was getting to me. This was a beautiful thing! What one person needed another person wanted to let go of - amazing.

I prepared for barter night while fighting the inner urge to shop and handle our Christmas gifts myself. Would they REALLY want to release their bike? Really? Still I needed a bike for HC. She even asked the big guy for a bike - this was a must have now! I didn't feel I should buy her bike yet and then that Tues (we bartered on a Friday night) I was prompted to look at one of the many emails Toys R Us was sending daily. This email had a $30 off coupon for the very bike we wanted for HC. We bought her brand new bike at $39!!!! I had deleted many an ad from Toys R Us over the weeks leading up to Christmas and felt the urge to open that single email. That's a miracle! So we bought our HC's bike for $39 and I will share what else I left with (that finished off our blessed Christmas)! Here's a glimpse of our tree Christmas Eve. View 2
Here was the play house - it is a little small for them (they cannot stand while inside) but I think for now they are thrilled! :)
Here was our set up to keep the kids from seeing the goodies 'Santa' brought in the night.
The second barrier between them and the goods. This gate worked wonders last year but not this year! We forgot to give the play by play of what they should do in the AM and sadly JB woke first. He climbed over the gate, crawled below the fabric barrier and tip-toed into our room. We woke to his sweet face at our bedside saying "I think I saw something! I think I saw my Spider Man bike!!!!" Steve responded "No, you didn't see anything." and he swiftly put JB behind our barrier for a drink of milk. We woke HC and the giggling began!
Beneath the tree.
Free to see the joys of Christmas unfold!
So the bike. HC's bike was a super deal and JB's bike was via barter. The friend who bartered this bike with me had 2 bikes for her son who is the same age as JB. She got bedding that she needed and the girl who gave the bedding received a window pane and my Sit and Spin. So I ultimately traded my Sit and Spin for her bike when it was all said and done. On paper that doesn't seem right but.... the purpose is for all parties involved to be satisfied and we were all pleased so... barter was done. The ultimate goal is to be fair and to bless one another. We all left that night feeling unjustly blessed.
Here is HC posing with her Daddy. She chose his Christmas gift and would not be swayed away. She picked a GREAT gift for him!
We didn't know of all the goodies hiding in the bottom pouch. Since Daddy travels on the airplane more these days - this was a perfect gift. The 3 ounce bottles and all!!! :)
I know this is a blurry shot but it captures the first free moments of JB on his bike!! THRILLED! Oh... and I bartered for the bike helmets too! A totally different barter.
Here's HC concentrating! We had to fill the bike tires with the right pressure - this was a trial run. We tightened the straps on the helmets too!!
Back to the goodies of Christmas. Scarf, hat and gloves came in HC's stocking. The boy baby came from Mom and Dad. All her babies were girls and they needed a brother (according to HC). This was a $5 baby from Wal-Mart. And HC made it ABUNDANTLY clear that she HAD to have this $10 stroller - so JB bought it for her.
Here they are finding the playhouse. JB didn't make it out of the door in time to be in the picture.
Peek a boo - I see you!
Official bike ride around the block.
That's what I call a HAPPY face!
Strong legs.... go... go.... goooooo. Slight incline here.
Rounding the corner first is HC
with JB pulling up the rear. Still on an incline here.
I have no idea what provoked this expression but it was blog worthy! :) Yes - I wore that out of the house and around the block twice. hee hee
Taking a break in the driveway.
OK so.... we bought HC a robe and PJ's, JB gave her the princess alarm clock but I bartered for ALL the dresses. HC asked for clothes from the mall. She loves the things I make for her too (direct quote by the way) but she likes mall clothes too. :) She was tired by this point. Counting the dress she was wearing that would be 9 summer dresses.
JB LOVES puzzles. You may have guessed - I bartered for ALL the puzzles! HC bought him the tire and a few cars. Plus he made it SUPER DUPER clear that he wanted a dancing car. She bought him that too. I bought the books earlier in the year and I bought the Zingo from a friend.
Here I am with JB. He chose this blanket (wrapped around me) and was DETERMINED that Mommy MUST have THIS very blanket. Steve could not convince him to change colors or anything. Not that I am opposed to this color - I just bet Steve saw a color he knew I would prefer. But how can I NOT adore this very blanket? JB asked "Mommy, is that the bestest comfy-est blanket ever?!" It is super soft and YES JB... it IS the BESTEST COMFY-EST blanket ever!

So... all the details of what was bought/bartered wasn't meant to brag or show off. Well, that's not true. I am bragging on how God did much with our little. With all of the goods I bartered I was free to buy for nieces/nephews and a few small things the kids asked for. HC and JB didn't ask for much really but boy were we able to do abundantly more than we would have ever done had we paid for the items we bartered for. Truly a provision to our family. I know many families who bartered with us can say the same but... God showed me that it isn't about running to chase down the best deal! Trust HIM and HE will guide even the tiniest details of our lives. Even our Christmas buying can be more than enough while spending FAR less. I found it hard to wait to shop and trust that this would all work out, but man was it worth it. I think this was the least stressful Christmas season of our lives (after I endured waiting to buy). We had more than enough, without spending. We were able to give like we enjoy giving - to family and to our kids. We had time to sit back and enjoy the beauty of Christmas this year without all of the bustling about. It was truly the BEST Christmas I've had. What made it even better was hearing both HC and JB saying 'This was the BEST day Mom. The BEST Christmas day!" throughout the day. Who could ask for anything more? God is STILL in the details - just in case you have forgotten! I hope your Christmas was as blessed and precious as ours was!

WARNING - Saving $ May Have Side Effects!

Is it wrong that I literally come home with a buzz after saving money???? I mean - I need an hour or two after unloading and putting away to dare try to sleep!! Last night I bought a few deals at CVS. They began their new rebates and I spent about $14 actual dollars for items that were then giving me Extra CVS bucks. I left having saved over $20 AND I left with about $23 Extra Bucks too! I love it!

Then I went to the grocery store; our local store made a printing error in their ad this week. They printed a sale of buy name brand products and they will give you our same product for free (a different twist to the BOGO). I am already evaluating where I can make the most of that opportunity! I am counting down till Wednesday (when the sale begins!!)! In the past, when stores have offered this deal - I've thought - "EW - not some store brand!" (I used to be SO brand loyal!) But NOW - I am trying to evaluate my best options for making the most from my savings!!

In our last Strategic Shopping small group class we discussed how difficult it is to NOT buy the products we will get full rebates on - the product is basically free! Why would we pass up these items (even when we do not need them- because of our growing surplus of these items)? It just seems foolish! Then we thought of something! Our local church is starting up a Dream Center for those in need. We now see how the shopping wisdom we now have can begin to bless beyond us! It feels foolish to continue buying toothpaste when you have about 10 in your cabinet - but if it is free or less than 50 cents it is MORE foolish to NOT buy them! How great of God to bless us with this tool to save - even better that our overflow of savings can continue to enrich the lives of others! Talk about multiplication!! That IS what this is all about! The buzz we get from following God's lead is way more incredible than any lame substitution! His buzz never leaves you with a hang-over!! :)

Yum (and then some)!

Not too long ago, Ginger shared a family favorite for Sunday lunch! It sounded yum, but the before photo left a less than yum feel for the viewer (no matter how hard you try - raw chicken is not visually appealing!)! :) She later posted the recipe and I finally tried it for the first time!! It smelled DIVINE!! It looked DIVINE!! It was GREAT!!!! I think we needed to season it a little differently than we normally do. Now we know better for next time - but we will definitely be adding this meal to our Sunday rotation!! Thanks for sharing this yummy meal with us Ginger!! We really loved it!
On another note, I wanted to share a little specific example of savings with you! When I went to CVS the other day they had this razor on sale and I will share the deal I could not pass up! This razor was regularly priced at $11.99 but was on sale for $9.99. Then they were offering $3.oo Extra Bucks after purchase AND I had a $4.00 off coupon. So I paid $2.99 for this razor!! WOOHOO!!
Did I really need a new razor?? "No!" Then why did I buy it? "I am so glad you asked!!" {smile,wink} Since I have TONS of coupons for Venus razor blades and zero for the razor I normally use - now I can follow the deals a little better. If my razor has blades on sale and/or coupons - I will use that one. When the Venus is giving deals/coupons on their blades - I will use theirs! That is why it is good to be flexible on name brands!

CVS Savings

My first trip to CVS was a pretty good adventure! There were a few deals I could not pass and so I finally landed at CVS! I've been wanting to add their monthly bargains to my routine, but my errands rarely took me past a CVS. Finally, I planned my trip. It has been tough for me to find my husband's shaving gel on sale. They had a great price on his - it is normally around $4.50 - $4.99 and this week it was 1.88! Woohoo!! I had a few coupons that really gave me other really great deals and I left CVS spending $20.29, saved $17.60 and I also have $7.00 in Extra Bucks for my next trip!!

The grocer sales this week really left my pantry stocked fully! I think we are truly at the point where shopping is SUPER DUPER optional! I only need to find my husband's deodorant of choice on sale and we will be stocked for a good while! The weekly trips for milk, yogurt and produce will take me out; but I can really go without shopping for several weeks.

As I put the groceries away it became evident that my shampoo and conditioner deals have left me with enough goods to last for the rest of the year. I keep getting toothpaste for free! It is hard to pass up free goods - but I could pass a few within the next month or so. It is so hard to leave free goods on the table! I must at least purchase the freebies! How can I not!?!

All the canned goods, toiletries, the freezer - stocked stocked stocked! It is so exciting! To look in the pantry/cabinets and they are full. They are not just full, they are fuller than ever before and for half the price! To know I bought 10 cans of tamales for $10 - you can imagine we can go for about 5 or more months without that on our grocery list! It is so exciting to see the goods and know the cost was minimal! I could not have done this before! This is still exciting to me!!

Coupon Talk

Yesterday I began the day sewing... but quickly changed gears! I needed to take a break from it and gather my thoughts! I pulled out my stack of newspapers, that piled up while we were sick, and I began to clip coupons! I tossed the expired ones and added the new. It felt good to be able to finish something! I feel like my life is getting back on track. Finally.

I am now realizing that I need to keep a mini coupon holder in the van. There have been countless times we've decided to go to a restaurant (or... when we went to Chuck E Cheese) and I did not have my coupons with me. They were sitting at home because.. I didn't expect that I would need coupons that day. Our Zoo day did not include plans for Chuck E's- but we were living on the edge people!! :) You can not stop us! You never know when we will go out of the house for fun! :)

So, we walked in Chuck E's place and as we entered the door hubby asked: "Do you have those coupons with you?" Me: "No." (feeling much regret and wondering what we would pay). Before I knew it .... the lady who worked the door.... she.gave.me.a.COUPON!!!!!!!!!!!!! We had our deal anyway!!! I was so thankful! Our splurge didn't turn into a big ticket item! I do not know the cost we would have paid but I know God does show up in the most peculiar places!!

Grocery Shopping CAN Be Optional!

I just wanted to encourage my friends who've been saving to keep it up!! I haven't posted much about my shopping wins because I've not shopped much lately. We are pretty stocked up with groceries. I do need to go get my Walgreen's rebates and deals, but it has been a new experience to not need to go grocery shopping. We still need the weekly run for milk, yogurt, produce and snacks.. but that is it!

It is so freeing to not need to shop. If life gets hectic - and that can happen at anytime - then it is such a relief knowing your family isn't in a bind if you do not add the grocery store to your to do list!!

By the way, I am too proud of my latest sewing accomplishment to not announce it for all to see!!! Sew.... take a look at my accomplishment here! I really think I took this last class during a crazy busy time of my life, but I still had fun in spite of the challenge of it all!

My First Barter

Last Friday night, my Strategic Shopping group met for a night of Bartering. I brought samples of things I could sew, a gift certificate we would not use and 4 large zip lock bags filled with homemade Jambalaya. I came home with all that you see below in exchange for a few outfits I will sew, my gift certificate and ALL my Jambalaya - plus a few extra orders of Jambalaya.... I came home with a mini-van filled to the rim with:
A rocking horse for JB.
Trim, patterns and extras - upholstery fabric.
Bolts of fabric
And more bolts of fabric (with more to follow)
And 3 really great dresses
And several cute casual dresses for HC to wear whenever she wants - without restriction! (Most of her dresses I save for when we go to church or on when we are running errands.) But these are great for wearing to the park, or whenever HC wants!I didn't photograph my 3 Southern Living trivets, Southern Living Cookbook, 2 coffee table books, Photo tray, a few bowls, a few books and gifts for the kids, 2 pictures for HC's room, 2 pillows for her bed, 2 decorative plates and I believe that is it. Oh, I almost forgot... I am making the wraps for some one's wedding in exchange for an antique window with scriptures painted on the panes. I will be sewing several things but I really feel like I was blessed beyond measure! I still cannot believe this! (I almost had to have someone follow me home to drop some of my stuff off for me.) I think this is what the scripture means when it mentions "they went from house to house and no one lacked." What an unbelievably AWESOME experience!!! I am still amazed!

Coupon Suggestion

After speaking to my sweet friend Hope the other day, I realized I left out a great bit of advice on coupons. If you do buy multiple papers - layer your coupons so you are cutting each page of coupons once. So if you have two papers - layer two pages of each coupon on top of one another so you are not cutting coupons ALL THE LIVE LONG DAY! One week I bought 4 papers because the coupons were good and I cut coupons for hours! If you put all the page 1's together and all the page 2's, etc then you will only be cutting once on every coupon. I hope this makes sense! :) Happy cutting and even happier saving!

My Hubby Caught the Savings Fever

I wasn't interested in getting out of the house last night but I had a few coupons that expired and if we were going to use them... that meant I had to go. One specific coupon was $10 reward bucks from Walgreens. That one alone motivated Hubby to go for me. I gave him his list and I showed him what he was going to buy and I gave him his coupons. He went without much enthusiasm. He brought the products on our list to the register, and he also found a coupon stuck to the tapes. The lady scanned his products, he handed her his coupons and he said he almost busted out laughing when she told him what he owed. He was smiling from ear to ear in amazement as he looked for a dollar. He spent seventy cents.

NOW he has experienced the fun of savings! It is so exhilarating!!!! He's been bitten by the bug for himself now. He is still amazed at his accomplishment! :) YAY Hubby! See the receipt below: Saved $27.04 and spent 70 cents. His total, before tax, was negative 10 cents. haha

Big Savings is Contagious

Friday evening I checked for comments on my blog and found the following comment:

"Anonymous said...
Dear MorningSong,Thank you! Thank you!! Thank you!!! I used your grocery shopping tips, planned, prepared, prayed, and took a deep breath and ventured to Walgreens today. My daughters went with me and we had so much fun! I'm not on your level yet, but I hope to be one of these days. I just had to share what God did for me today. Armed with my coupons and flyers, I filled a cart full of things that I needed. I spent $ 51.37 and saved $27.71 and they gave me a coupon for $3 to use the next time. I was praising Jesus all the way to the car. The elderly couple seemed a bit impatient with all of my purchases and coupons but seemed surprised by the savings too. With a little confidence and cheers from my husband and our daughters, we ventured to Albertsons. I spent $63.27 and saved $30.80 and they gave me more coupons! Incredible! I may never meet you this side of glory but I just wanted to thank you for your generosity in sharing the gifts and knowledge God has blessed you with. I'm worn out so I'm going to tackle HEB tomorrow.

Joyfully,
Kristi

P.S. I'm having trouble wrapping my mind around the easy saver catalog at Walgreens. Do you always buy the free items even if you don't need them?"

WOOHOO!!!!!!!! YAY Kristi! I know the feeling of wanting to save but not sure if it would work. Is it worth the effort?! What if I can't use the coupon or what if I forget something!? I am so glad to hear your story! It is so exciting to hear how you are applying this life giving skill!

I felt this comment may encourage some of you too, so I decided to share her savings with you! I hope you will begin to save on your purchases and when you do - let us celebrate with you! It is amazing. The more you pay attention to what you are buying and have your coupons handy... things begin to make more sense... and savings begins to happen! I have found that the Holy Spirit never fails! When I put my hand to something and give it my all - He ALWAYS fills in the blanks. If you do not fully understand all of this but you want to - just try it. Put your hand to it and let the Holy Spirit make sense of what is unclear!

My response to Kristi's question -"Do you always buy the free items even if you don't need them?" My answer is yes and no. I do buy things like lotion, deodorant, cleaners, toothpaste, etc if it is free after rebate. It may be a different brand than I am accustomed to using but at the price of free I can try another brand. I do not purchase things I have no real use for. Such as this month they are offering a Men's Hair color for free after rebate. My hubby does have a few brushes of grey in his temple area - but I like it so... we are not buying this product.

We also buy things on the rebate list if we will not use them but we could give them as a gift. (You can not get away with 'giving' hair color as a gift.) So if there were baby products or something else unique like that for free - I could give the baby product at the next baby shower I attend. Think in terms of how you can bless someone else with what you do not use. That is the ultimate goal after we get our savings in order. Prepare your gift giving stash. Once the pantry is stocked, the cleaners/bathroom items/freezer/fridge are all stocked with more than enough - then you can build your gift giving items.

This is so fun! I love hearing from you! There are several others of you who are preparing for your next trip to the grocery store! I hope you will keep these stories coming! How fun is it to encourage one another!?! I love this!

Savings Correction

I need to correct this post. I made a savings mistake. I used my 50 cent off coupons on the Lysol wipes that were BOGO and I also used the $1 off coupon that was on the product. I asked my shopping mentor about that incident. I didn't understand why I was able to use 2 manufacture coupons on one item. It is okay to use the two 50 cent off coupons OR the $1 off coupon for buying 2 products but the computer should not have let me use both.

Since this is a mistake I shared with you as a win - I needed to let you know it was a mistake. I wondered if I could use the 2 coupons or not and when it did I didn't know why it worked. I found out that it was a computer glitch. The goal of savings is to maintain your integrity and NOT to try to take advantage. So please make note of the error I shared and do not take my example on that one incident.

I do not have any savings stories to share this week. I am currently awaiting the arrival of my Walgreens giftcard. I do not want to overspend my budget to save on things I can really wait to purchase later. Saving money can easily become addictive and so I have remained out of the stores this week - in an effort to not go savings crazy. I have my list and my coupons ready in hopes that my gift card will arrive soon.

Coupon Storage

I know - this is really crazy but I thought if y'all are like me - you had zero coupons to start with, which means you do not have a filing plan. There are many ways to get organized but this is what works for me. I first started out with this expandable coupon file folder. I quickly had more coupons than would fit the folder. This photo box was my next step but I still haven't grown into this size yet. Can I tell you that my small group leader has a photo box JAM packed full of coupons!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am NOT kidding! I've been struggling to figure out where I would put my coupons during the in between phase and then I had a great idea!
I put my file folder in my box and bought another file folder. This keeps my different types of coupons separated and orderly. I bought another one so that I could spread out certain sections. My health and beauty was growing quickly and it was hard to find the shampoos vs. the body wash coupons and so on... So now, I use the larger colored index cards to label my coupons into smaller sections.
Ta-dah!!!! The finished product! My daughter had fun watching me organize my coupons. "Coupon" has become a common word around our house!

Saving Tips 101

Several of you have asked for more information or for a resource. My only suggestion is for you to go to Coupon Mom and print out her e-book. Her e-book is fantastic. You will need to answer a ton of ad questions but it is worth getting to the e-book. There are many other websites that offer coupons you can print from your home computer. Some stores gladly accept these while others do not. You will need to find out by asking customer service at your local grocery.

The best plan is to buy multiple Sunday papers so you get several coupons for one item. I usually buy an even number of papers so that if the item goes BOGO I can maximize my savings. In my neck of the woods, we find the best place to purchase Sunday papers is Walgreens. They sell them here for $1.00. Check your local stores for the best price on Sunday papers and buy several!

Here is something I bought yesterday. Since I bought 2 papers the week before, I had 2 coupons for the item I purchased:
I bought 2 Lysol disinfectant wipes, they were BOGO and I had two 50 cent off manufacture coupons. So the Lysol (80 sheets) was originally $4.99 each. Being BOGO meant they rang up as $2.50 and $2.49 when purchased. I was then able to use my two 50 cents off coupons. This made the prices $1.50 and $1.49, since my store doubles coupons up to 50 cents. When I picked up my Lysol wipes, there were other Lysol cleaners with $1.00 off coupon - when I purchased 2 Lysol products. These coupons were not on my containers but the coupons were still good to use for my purchase. So I took it off the item and brought this coupon too. Since it was something you peel off and use on the purchase today I then took off another $1.00 off of my purchase. So now, my total for the two Lysol's were $1.00 and 99 cents. I bought 2 Lysol disinfectant wipes for $1.99, my final price. That is a real life example of how you not only buy sales, you look around at other products to see how you can save beyond what you have in your hands!

I think the best way to describe it is by being AWAKE while you shop. This means no kids with you - this takes concentration. You are constantly looking for deals and trying to remain alert to any unexpected deals (like the additional coupons that I found on the Lysol)! Stay awake while you shop!

I am SOOOO excited!

Check out what I bought this morning! I bought two 24 packs of bottled water at $2.99 each. Three boxes of Oatmeal at $1.99 each. Three softsoaps at 99 cents each. A dove shampoo and conditioner were BOGO, leaving a cost of $4.99 for one. I paid $1.41 for my purchase!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! $1.41 came out of my wallet!!!!!! I had $12 in reward bucks and the rest were coupons! I AM AMAZED! Great deal huh!?! I just had to share! I saved $34.12 and spent $1.41. These deals were all purchased at Walgreens! Some of the prices and coupons end today!

My Monday Savings!!

I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I did it!! I saved big without any help!! I was so afraid I would be back in the $30 savings bracket! It thrills me beyond words that I was able to put my learning into action AND I saw results!

Here are my bottom line #'s:
Local grocery A - spent $85.93, saved $53.12, rebate 11.99 (I also bought an additional 10 lbs of boneless/skinless chicken breast at 1.99 per lb. and I bought 3 chuck roasts at 1.99 a lb) These savings are not a counted portion of my savings since they rang up the discounted price. So that is why my ticket was in the $80's. The value was worth it. In addition, (this was indicated in my savings) the coffee my husband drinks is normally $5.99 a pound. Although we stocked up about 3 lbs. on my last shopping trip I bought 7 more last night. This is where you begin shopping the store and NOT from your list. The agenda of savings is to have a stocked pantry and freezer. Then all you do is shop the ads. If the item is on sale AND you have a great coupon THEN you buy it. So - the deal. His coffee was on sale for $4.99 a lb AND the coffee had $2 off coupons ON the coffee. I paid $2.99 a lb for his coffee. We probably do not need coffee again this year. We will store the coffee in the freezer to keep it from spoiling. (Does coffee even spoil?)

Ok, store #2 is another local grocer. I spent $56.93 and saved $27.88, rebates of $3.69. The reason I went to this store, and the other one, is because they offer different deals. Store #2 offers a penny item on Monday nights and it was worthwhile to WALK through the store for their bargains of BOGO's and to see if they had anything special marked down. One thing I've learned by taking the shopping class is that some stores (not all of them so watch your prices next time to see how your stores do this) ring up a BOGO item as 2 items rather than one. So, here's an example. Say the store has BOGO coffee (from above example) and that would mean I would get 2 coffee's for $5.99. This store, and store #1 by the way, ring up the coffee like this: coffee 1 would be $3 and coffee 2 would be $2.99. Because it rings up this way if I had a few coupons I could use them on both items. So say I had 2 fifty cents off coupons. I give the cashier my 2 coupons and then that brings my coffee prices down to: coffee 1 = $2 and coffee 2 = $1.99. They double coupons up to 5o cents so I get my BOGO at $3.99 instead of $5.99. Does that make sense?? (If you had only one coupon and didn't really NEED the item on BOGO, since they ring up both items at the split price you could buy one and use the coupon and pay half the price you would by buying both. I hope this makes sense because it is really a helpful tool!)

I ended at Walgreens to purchase all my rebates for this month. They have free items every month. Go to Walgreens and pick up a booklet for the items offered. Buy them and then turn in your rebates and you have these items for free! So I spent $67.11, saved $61.49 AND I will get $23.95 in rebates PLUS I got $4 in store bucks for my next visit! Cha-ching! :)

Today I went to Wal-Mart for my can goods that were not on sale. You never know if you will find a deal! I walked in and saw they had 2 packs of steam fresh veggies for $2 and I had a $1 off coupon for buying 2 steam fresh = I bought 4 sf veggies for $2. :) I only saved $4 at Wal-Mart and spent $38.78. See the LACK of savings potential at Wal-Mart! Although, without sales and without coupons - their straight up price is often cheaper! You just have to pick and choose what you buy there! Ad matches or must haves only!

Grand total #'s:
Total spent = $248.75
Total saved = $146.49
Total rebate= $ 39.63

savings and rebates = 186.12

I was so relieved! I did it! I did save! I look forward to my next chance to improve my skills further! There were a few mistakes I made. For a quick example: Walgreens had a coupon for softsoap being 99 cents a piece with a limit of 3. I had two 35 cents off coupons. I stupidly bought my soap at Walgreens and this was my deal = 2 soaps for 1.28. I could have taken the coupon from Walgreens to store #2 and used the 99 cent coupon with my 35 cent coupon (which store 2 doubles) and spent 58 cents for the 2 products. These are the kind of mistakes you have to make so you will do better next time! Store #2 lets you use a competitor coupon and a manufacture coupon = this is called coupon stacking! So, I lost the opportunity to save another 70 cents. No big deal but it would have been worth the effort to save! If you have questions - let me know! Your questions may help me too!

Shopping with a purpose!

I've been attending a shopping class over the last few months! It has been enlightening, to say the least! I've carefully taken my notes. Sat on the edge of my seat listening. absorbing.. drinking in the wisdom of a mother of 7! YES a Mother of 7 who spends $400 a month on her groceries! So she shops for a grand total of 9, plus she finds gifts, plus all cleaning supplies for her budget of $400 per month while I was spending the same (and often going over) for my family of 4! I'm guessing I've got your attention now! :)

I thought I was getting it! I was concentrating on every word. My first shopping trip AFTER taking the classes I really thought I was ready to save! There was a big sale on chicken at 1.99 a pound and we did stock up on the chicken at this price.. but that wasn't my problem. My $200 budget for this grocery trip was blown without that investment being considered. OK. So, after applying ALL I learned... I spent nearly $280 with a savings of $27.00. I felt like I just didn't get it!

The next meeting I was proud of my chicken bargain and my $27 savings - but I also felt like I failed BIG time! Then our teacher offered the unthinkable! She offered to take us shopping one by one! I took the next Saturday. That was our next grocery trip and I KNEW I needed the assistance! I cut up coupons, I studied the paper. Friday was all about my list, the ads and coupons! I wanted to be ready to save and learn on Saturday morning!

We met at 7 AM at our nearest Walgreens. (She wanted to show us her method for scoping 3 specific stores - normally you don't need to go to ALL of these stores to get the results we did.) We opened Walgreens by the way! We slowly walked down each aisle as she explained how and what to look for - the bargains that is! We left Walgreens - after MUCH learning and time - with my spending $50 and saving $47 and with a rebate earning of $24 and a $1 coupon (like money) to spend on my next trip! I was overwhelmed with all I learned and I really didn't GET what all we did - I just obeyed my teacher. :) I've always been a good student! I will tell you that I ended up walking out with 5 bags of cough drops (and many other things we didn't "need") and they ended up paying me to buy them!

Our next stop was Publix. My peanut butter crackers that I ate for breakfast were a distant memory. We again walked the aisles but with a different method. I really thought I got the principles she shared. I thought 'OK, I have my coupons and the item is on sale - boom! that = a deal!' I quickly learned that I had MUCH to learn. We walked the aisles and I cannot remember the number of times she saw coupons or deals and tried to see if I saw it and I NEVER DID!! I felt like every question was another opportunity to show my lack of understanding. But I pressed on! I need to learn this! We ate the little meal they cooked in the store as an appetizer - bought bargain after bargain. I even bought stuff just because she was (because if SHE was buying it - that meant it was a deal) and she was giving me coupons. She at one point asked me if I had pie filling, I said no. She said then how will you make the dump cake? I said - "I don't plan on making the dump cake." She said "then why did you buy the mix?" Ok I said. I need pie filling! We laughed! Ok, so after spending around $70 I saved $80!!!! I was amazed!

We went to Wal-Mart - only out of absolute need. Wal-Mart is not the place for bargain shopping unless you need something badly and there are no coupons or sales! Then Wal-Mart is worth the trip. Another good use for Wal-Mart is for ad matching. If you have an ad from a store you don't frequent bring in their ad to Wal-Mart and you can still get the deal. So we used our ad matching for coffee, grapes, tomatoes, and several other deals. I will tell you a specific incident that occurred. We were getting grapes and I just picked up the pre-packaged grapes from the pile. She said "No, no, no. That is NOT how we buy grapes!" I dropped those grapes like a child caught by their mommy! I then asked... "How do we shop for grapes?" She opened the pre-packaged grapes.. we took out the big bunch that were attached to the vine still and left the little pieces that had fallen behind. Great tip huh??!! So we didn't buy the mushy little icky grapes! Not much savings at Wal-Mart. We are talking maybe $10 or so of savings.

Then on we went to another local chain. We scoped the stores and learned how they mark their products down. We bought several sale items and the remaining products on my list.... we ended the day with my spending $78 and saving $54. My ticket was a little high here because I bought a lot of ground meat at $1.99 a pound. I was stocking my freezer.

I arrived home at 4:30! Yes I shopped from 7 am - 4:30 pm and spent about $230 and saved over $180 and had $24 rebates coming my way! I still went over but this time I can tell you that my meat stocking did take me over budget. Not to mention that I brought home DOUBLE the groceries I usually bought. I felt like I had been through a marathon and I also felt like I won! We grocery shop twice a month and so I am now due for my next shopping trip after that one - alone. I am a little excited yet afraid I will blow it!

I know I do not look at the grocery store the same way as I did before my adventure! It was truly a life-changing experience. The principles she shared stuck this time. When she would say she never spent over $1 on certain items - I thought "Wow! Maybe one day I will find a deal like that." I thought it was a chance thing. I cannot tell you how many things we spent LESS THAN .50 cents on! There is a science to it! I will share more after my next trip. This savings work gets into your blood before you know it! It becomes a badge of honor! I hope I save tons like I did before! It took me weeks to process this experience so that I could put it into words. I am still overwhelmed by it all! We shopped on March 15th and I am still trying to understand how we bought so much for so little! By the way, she spent $80 and saved $120! I want to keep my savings UP!! It is addicting! I feel like I am awake now in the grocery store - rather than shopping from my list!

I didn't share dollar amounts to reveal anything private, but to show you a before and after example. If you have questions for me - ask! I would love to help you save too! I am still trying to process my experience! I will be shopping tonight! I hope I have great savings to share with you! My goal is to save as much as I spend, at the least!! Ask away! This could be fun!