Can you say “pizza crust mix”?

You know your family has been changed by couponing when your husband opens the Fareway flyer in the newspaper and gets excited that pizza crust mixes are finally on sale for 50 cents!

A year ago we were ordering pizza most Friday nights, spending $30 or more each time. Now we try to make our own pizzas, but even that can add up. I’ve been picking up the $5 one-topping pizzas at Little Caesar’s and the take-n-bake pizzas from Papa Murphy’s, but it’ll be nice now for my hubby to be able to make dinner!

When I put these up on the counter the cashier asked if I realized I had 22 and I said, “Yep!” So excited to get these! I left plenty more behind, too.

$10 Gift Card from Target

 

Go here to print a coupon for  $10.00 gift card with a $50.00 purchase at Target.

 

Old Navy Groupon

If you’re an Old Navy shopper and haven’t purchased a Groupon yet, this would be a good one to get started with! The Groupon is worth $20 on an in-store purchase, but only costs $10. Be sure to read the fine print. I only purchased one, as a person can only redeem one, but can buy an additional Groupon as a gift.

Free Samples!

I just scored samples from Dove and Woolite. Go here to score yours. I love trying new products for free and they’re usually a travel friendly size.

Thinking outside of the box

 

What a great little coupon. One that I’ve taken advantage of many times.

 

We keep our cat treats under the kitchen sink, along with dish soap, dish sponges, trash bags, etc.

It was getting a little messy under the sink.

I knew I had a decent stock pile, but didn’t know exactly how many bottles I had of dish soap or cat treats. (Target recently had a coupon for 75 cents off a Target brand cleaning item, which took dish soap from $1.97 to $1.28, which is cheaper than Aldi’s price. Needless to say, I stocked up. I hope I’m wrong, but I’m guessing I’ll always dirty dishes to wash!)

So, what did I do? First I emptied the majority of the items, grouped everything and then reassembled the cupboard contents.

When I initially saw the coupon on the Target website I assumed “cleaning item” meant window cleaner, carpet cleaner, and so forth. At some point my wheels started spinning and I decided dish soap was a cleaning item. As you can see, the coupon worked just fine. I always do everything I can to make sure I’m being an honest shopper, but I still try to think outside of the box and get the most for my buck.

Just a cardboard box?

I started shopping at Aldi’s this earlier this year, thanks to a smart friend of mine. During my shopping trips I would often see empty cardboard boxes on the counter, where you bag your groceries up.

I always try to bring my reusable bags with me, wherever I shop, as it’s easier to bring everything into the house and I’m usually paid a nickel for every bag I use. Well, the other day I impulsively picked up a salad box while shopping at Aldi’s. Why, you ask?
This is why.

Since I’ve started couponing I’ve accumulated quite a stock pile, so now I have to figure out a way to organize everything. Hmm… go to Target and buy cute, expensive baskets and tubs or go to Aldi’s for groceries and take home a free box? I like free!
Here’s how it turned out.

I took everything off this shelf, sorted by type & size, took a few kitchen items to the basement (things we rarely use) and then put the box to work.

Organizing helped me realize that the next time I print a “food storage” coupon from Target's website, I should use it on Saran Wrap, as I only have one.
So there you go. Free organizing!

Organizing Coupons

This is how I organize my coupons. I have a few different categories and file them in order of how expiration date. I’ve seen other couponers (is that really a word?) walking around Target with their binders full of coupons, but this is the system that has worked for me, so far.
I like this little organizer (from the Dollar Spot at Target, I think!) because it fits into my purse.
Speaking of coupons…

I took a look at the Target ad for this week to see if anything was on sale that I happened to have a coupon for.

I saw flour was on sale, so I circled it, as I was pretty sure I had a coupon for it. I flipped through my “food” coupons and found what I was looking for, but then realized even after saving 50 cents I’d still be paying more than I would at Aldi’s, without a coupon. A deal isn’t always a deal. Using a coupon doesn’t always save you money.

I was delighted to come across the sale price of orange juice and I knew I had a few more Target juice coupons left. I printed them here.

Kraft cheese is also on “sale” at Target this week. Not that great of a sale, as I can get shredded cheese for a dollar per cup at Aldi’s, but I was able to combine my Target coupon with a manufacturer's, making it .58 per cup.

Be on the lookout!

I picked up a Papa Murphy's pizza for my family this past weekend and look what I found!

I went on-line and completed the super quick survey, so now I have another coupon to use!
 I managed to miss this on the previous pizza I had picked up. The coupons in the newspaper are the
 easiest to come by, but others are out there. Be sure to have your eyes open for peelies and other in-store coupons. 

What was my password???

If you're like me, you have that terrible tendancy to not write down a username/password for something, thinking you'll remember it later. Um, yeah. It doesn't usually work for me either. I made a simple Word document to jot down all of my couponing usernames/passwords on. Go here to download it and tweak it to meet your needs.

Also, here's another one for general usernames/passwords.

Managing coupon related e-mails

One of my first big coupon hauls.

I've had a personal e-mail account for over a decade now. During this time I've always had more than one account, be it a student account, work, or now, an account for couponing. If you haven't started a separate account for coupons, I highly recommend it. I receive so many coupon related e-mails on a daily basis, so it's nice to have that separate from the rest of my world.

Holiday Food Planning

Yum! Ginger Crinkles! Have you started planning for the holidays?

This past week the Thanksgiving and Christmas items came out in full force at my local stores. Decorations were on one side of the Target seasonal store space and Halloween clearance on the other. I picked up cookie dough, Ziplock bags and plastic containers, and a few food items with my coupons.

After I came home and took a look at my pantry I decided I better start my holiday food planning, so I don't buy more than I need. I have a holiday food planning form to share with you here. It's a Word document that you can download and tweak to meet your needs. I'm hoping the holidays will be more enjoyable and less expensive if I plan out the food needs for the season. No more running into Hy Vee at the last minute to buy an overpriced fruit tray for this girl!

Also, go here to snag some Ziplock coupons. (You'll have to set up a username/password, but it's an easy one!)

What can I do with...

Leftover bread machine bread?

Cut it up, add a few seasonings (or not!) and store it in the freezer.

Here's a great recipe to use stuffing in. It's quick, easy, and delicious!

How can I volunteer with two little ones?

I've had the itch to volunteer/help out in some way since one Sunday this past spring. At the time I was teaching 4th grade and being a mom before and after school hours. At the time the easiest way to help was to open up my check book.

My volunteer efforts.

 Now that I'm staying home with my boys and we're living off of one income, the last thing I want to do is write out a check! I haven't found a way to take my boys with me to volunteer, so I needed to find something that I could do at home and I came up with baking. Our church has a cookie & coffee time between the two services each Sunday morning and goes through a lot of cookies.



I signed up to bring five dozen cookies and made a batch of Ginger Crinkles and Snickerdoodles earlier this week. Then I spotted the above cookie dough mix at Target. Of course, I had a coupon for $1 off of 2 bags and each bag was priced $1.79. So for $2.58, plus two eggs and two sticks of butter, I was able to make almost four dozen cookies.



I'll be experiementing with volunteering outside of the home with my boys on Friday, December 2nd. We'll be ringing a bell at one of our local Hy Vee grocery stores on the behalf of  The Salvation Army and the local food pantry our church supports. At least 60 families in my community are fed at this pantry every single day. This statistic opened my eyes and my heart to look at the little red kettle a in a different way. I never thought I'd be volunteering with The Salvation Army, especially not with a 4 1/2 year old and a 2 1/2 year old. It should be interesting!

I had 80 cookies and then my sweet boy asked for one. How could I resist?

Free shipping from Amazon!

Have you taken advantage of the "Amazon Mom" program at Amazon.com? A dear friend told me about this program earlier this year and I'm so glad she did. If you typically purchase items like diapers, wipes, vitamins, and such from Amazon, you can enroll in the "Amazon Mom" program and for every $25 you spend on qualifying items, you can earn free shipping for a month. This has been really helpful when I've needed a birthday present or other item and didn't want to have to pay shipping. Go here to read more. Please be sure to read the fine print!

When in doubt, always ask!

I recently ordered this coat from Land's End. I stepped out of my comfort zone and ordered "Berry" instead of "Black". Well, it came in the mail and unfortunately it just didn't work. So I had to decide whether to pay for shipping it back or go to the nearest store, which is about an hour from where I live.

Can you guess which I chose?

An opportunity came up for me to have most of a day to myself, so I opted to return it at the store and I'm so glad I did. My oldest just happened to need a new winter coat, so that was part of why I was able to rationalize spending the gas money to drive that far. Plus, how often does a mama get a day to herself to shop on her own???

Henry loves his new coat!

Monday must have been my lucky day because not only did the kind sales clerk at the Sears Land End store exchange my coat for the same price (40% off!), I also spotted signs for 30% off outerwear. Henry's coat rang up at full price and I asked if it was supposed to be on sale. Guess what? It was. Yay for saving money!

During my transaction I also noticed hanging signs for "$20 off a $75 purchase". Well, I had more than two coats in my pile. Three long-sleeved t's, a turtle neck, a hat, gloves, a fleece pullover and a vest made into my arms, so yes, I was past the $75.

I asked the sales clerk about this deal and she was more than happy to tell me it was $20 off every $75 I spent. Woot woot!! So next time you're out and about shopping, make sure to ask when you aren't sure about a sale. It never hurts!

Organizing school papers on the fridge

Halloween is over, but if you'd like a good scare, just take a look at the outside of my fridge.

It's covered, head to toe, with Henry's preschool papers, pictures and magnets.

The bulletian board isn't looking much better.

So what's a mama to do with all of the preschool papers and artwork?

 Well, I took out my handy dandy teacher stamp and stamped each item with the month & year.

Then I sorted everything into three piles; Henry, Jack and other. My piles will go upstairs to the containters I save papers in.

Now the fridge and bulletian board are ready for November's papers.

Halloween sale!

I love Halloween, but I think I look forward to the day-after-Halloween-sale even more! Jack and I made it to our local Target around 9:00 this morning and the parking lot was already hopping.

I had my coupons all ready to go.

I was happy to find the Halloween merchandise marked down 30 to 50%. The soap was half off and I just happened to have a coupon, too! Woo hoo! I love when that happens!

Next, I found some non-Halloween Pez dispensers. Great little stocking stuffers and less than a dollar a piece!

I know a certain 4 1/2 year-old who would love to find this in his stocking this Christmas!

$2.49 for next year's Halloween frame! I'll just add a 2012 sticker and no one will ever know!

The Halloween/fall books and Play Doh were a splurge, but how could I resist when they were all half off?

Yep, I had fun this morning!!

One of my best finds was a 30 pack supply of mini pretzels, great for throwing in my purse for when the boys or I need a snack. Yep, 30 individually packaged treats for $2.49. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Leftover Halloween Treats

My little ones had a great time trick-or-treating, but now Halloween is over and we have a bunch of sweets in our house. What to do, what to do? I usually just keep the treats for a few days and then pitch them when they aren't as fresh. Hmm.... What about the freezer? I have more room now...

My mom made cupcakes.

My mother-in-law made sugar cookies.

I bagged the cookies up and decided to put them in the freezer.

The cupcakes went into smaller containers.

All the goodies are in my freezer, so we can enjoy just a few at a time!