A new challenge!

Kelly from Faithful Provisions posted about eating from your pantry challenge. The challenge is to eat from your pantry for the entire month of January. I'm not sure if I can do it for the entire month but I am willing to try it to clean out my pantry of those foods about to expire.

So I am going to do this challenge with a spin to it. I don't have alot of meats in the freezer so I will need to pick up some meat through out the month. I do have lots of side items in the pantry that need to be used.

I pray that I can do this. Also we tend to eat alot of heat and serve foods... chicken nuggets and fish sticks being the kids faves... but my plan is to put a stop to alot of it this month.

Upset with myself

I sat down tonight to sort through what was left of my coupons.... you see, I stopped using coupons for about 6 months.... why you ask.... because I got lazy! And as I was sorting through the coupons that are still good, I find one for the rolls that I bought Sunday. If I had that coupon with me, I could have saved $1 off the rolls that coat me $2.60 a package.

So tonight I am vowing to get back into coupons. I can't imagine how much money I could have saved if I had continued to use coupons.

stock pile eating

I really haven't been buying groceries over the last three months. I have bought the necessities and a few other items, but that is all. I haven't even kept up with what all I have spent.

Beginning July 1, I will start keeping track of my groceries again. I have my coupon binder almost back in order and a stack of coupons to clip this week. I will buy the necessities again this week, and then July 15 I will buy several things that I need for my stock pile.

March... the first 10 days.....

The first 10 days of March have been busy for our family. Kaitlyn is having a birthday party this coming weekend and Don and I went to the mountains this past weekend. My shopping lately has reflected all of this.

I am not going to break my trips down completely, just post where and when and how much. I will work on posting better from now on.

March 1:

Walgreens:
trans #1: Spent $12.10 saved $9.43 plus $2.56 with store discount (thanks to my dear hubby!)
trans #2: spent $42.97 saved $21.07 plus $11.22 store discount
trans #3: spent $38.61 saved $27.98 plus $8.06 store discount.

Total spent $93.68 OUCH! But saved $80.32
Don decided he needed new replacement heads for his razor and those were $25. We also stocked up on Zyrtec since I could get a RR from it. Those three items alone were $58.

March 6:
Walgreens:
returned the replacement heads that Don got earlier because they were the wrong ones.
trans #1: returned razor heads and bought J&J baby products for my (former) step daughter who is expecting.
Spent $0.74 saved $8.75
trans #2: spent $0.62 saved #11.80

Walmart:
Bought food for trip along with snacks for Girl scouts (cupcake cake for Kaitlyn's birthday)
Spent $51.73 No coupons used :(

March 7:
Walgreens:
Spent $15.59 saved $15.30 I forgot my comb and brush so I had to run to the store to get new ones... and then bought flip flops while there.

March 9:
Walmart:
Spent $82.30 No coupons here again... but I bought shoes and clothes for the kids mainly here. Not alot of this was food. I won't be counting this toward my monthly budget.

Walgreens:
Trans #1: spent $22.70 saved $13.97 this is mainly pullups for Will but I did get diapers for Cecilia
Trans #2: spent $15.53 saved $20.47 this was all diapers for Cecilia.

total spent in the first 10 days: $200.59. YIKES! That is almost my entire budget. I realize that this month is not my normal since we did have a trip and birthday. Kaitlyn is having a total of 3 parties... which means spending alot of money on food. I will be making cupcakes for her sleepover and think I will see if my mom will make her a cake for our family party.

February

February was a rough month for me. For some reason, I misplaced several receipts for Feb which means i can not post what I spent for the month. So I am beginning fresh. March here I come.

My month

I was sitting here trying to think of what I have spent this month and then realized that this month is almost over! I was worried that I had gone over my $350 a month because I spent $160 at Walmart last Sat. I still have to blog about my trips this month and I only have just over a week left in the month.

The good news is our income tax refund will be in this week. Bad news is it is almost completely spent before I get it. Dh wants to get a new laptop so we can stop fighting over this one. I want new sheets and we need a new mattress cover. I figure since I haven't bought new sheets in 5 years, I was entitled to some.

So tomorrow I will sit down and blog about my shopping this month to date. I am sure I still have the reciepts in my purse since I never clean it out.

Will's birthday party

Will turns 3 next week! He has been so excited about his birthday for almost a month. This year he first wanted a Mickey Mouse party.... then I showed him the plates that were in my party box. This is a box of party supplies left over from previous parties. Four years ago Kaitlyn had a firetruck party. I found party supplies in a party store on clearance. I paid $25.00 for a box of firetruck party supplies. There were enough plates, cups, hats, and invitations in the box for at least three parties. Kaitlyn got her party 4 years ago. Now it is Will's turn.

So on Sunday, I will put out the firetruck plates, cups, and napkins. I will gather the kids together and let them play with the party hats. I will light candles on a cake made by my mom in a fire fighter cake pan I bought 4 years ago. And the cost of the party will be the cake mix, and the koolaid mixes.... and of course his present from us.

The best thing about the party is that is costing me next to nothing!

Budget checkup

So this is my first month of trying my coupon/budget. I am also working on building a stockpile.

It is Jan 21 and so far I have spent $353.89. That is $153.89 over my attempt at $200. So maybe $200 was a little low for me to start with. I will try to stick to $300 from now on. The good thing is I have pretty much everything I need to get through the end of the month. Next month I will try the envelope method to see if I can stick to my budget.


My savings so far this month is $305.83. So I have cut my budget in half by the look of my savings. Now if only I just had that $300 to put in the bank. ;)

Walgreen's 1/18

Went to Walgreens on Sunday thinking I could stock up on Don's Sierra Mist. but they were still out of it.

So I bought:

1st transaction:
2 Ragu pasta sauce
2 Lipton tea
4 Skippy PB
used 2 .40 coupons
2 .50 coupons
1 .60 coupon
1 .75 coupon
and $5 RR
total 11.16
total savings 18.19
and got $10 RR

2nd transaction:
1 pullups
2 bandaids
candy
used $2/1 pullups
$1/1 pullup IVC from coloring book
$1/1 bandaid IVC from coloing book taking off $2
$10 RR
total OOP 3.52
total savings 18.50
got $3 in RR ( $1 from pullups and $3 from bandaids)

3rd trans:
4 Peeps
1 Pullup
1 candy
1 paper
used Peeps sc
pullups $2/1
pullups IVC $1/1
$4 RR
total OOP 8.44
total savings 9.61
got $1 RR frompullups

last tranacation
1 zyrtec
1 candy
used $4 coupon
$4 off sc
$1 RR
total OOP 13.44
total savings $9.00


total spent $36.56
total savings $55.30

Walmart 1/16

Had to run to Walmart to get Will's soy mikl and had a short shopping list with me. I picked up four frozen meals for us along with some fresh fruit. I also snagged several free things thanks to my coupons.

subtotal before coupons $65.70
subtotal after coupons $ 46.00

Total OOP $51.29
Total savings $19.70

Walmart and Walgreens 1/15

So payday was on the 15th and we were running very short on some things for the kids.

I stopped at Walmart first and bought:
2 boxes of cereal bars 2.08 ea
1 box of poptart 1.86

total OOP spent 6.49

Then ran to Walgreens and got:

1st transaction:
5 pepsi 12pk 5/$15
2 Totsitos 2/ $7
total OOP $23.71
got $10 RR back
Savings $10.93

2nd transaction:
2 packages of Pullups 2/ $20.98
1 1/2 galloon of milk (for my mom) 1.99
used 2 $2/1 coupons
and $10 RR
total OOP $11.06
savings $14.00

total OOp for this day $41.26

total savings $24.93

updating

I have been to Walmart and Walgreens this past week however in my cleaning I have put the reciepts away. I promise to post them tomorrow as soon as I find them.

tracking rebates

I am mailing out for some rebates:

Bayer Special 1/2 Price offer: Flintstones $4 rebate
*PO Box 1057 Grand Rapids, MN 55745-1057
mailed 1/16/09

Theraflu Warming Relief: $2.25 rebate
*PO Box 6843 West Caldwell, N 07007-6843

P&G Year of Savings Rebate: $120 worth of coupons
*PO Box 750289 El Paso, TX 88575-0289
(mailing one for my mom also)

Walmart trip last week

I only went to Walmart once last week and that was to get milk. Daycare called to say that Will was out of his milk, so I stopped on my way to get him.

Not sure where my receipt is but I bought:

1 half gallon of Silk soy milk
1 half gallon of milk

Walgreens trip Jan 4

I went to Walgreens with my mom and hubby with a list and a list of which items to buy in each transaction. I didn't do it just right because I ended up with more OOP than I should have. Also due to the problem of the sale prices not being loaded into the computer, I got really messed up.... then when a manager came over to help I was told I wouldn't be able to use the $1 off coupons on the Garnier Fructis shampoo or the Reynolds Wrap. I still got some good deals and still have $5 in RR to spend later.


I began with $20 in Register Rewards (RR).

I got:
4 Frosted Flakes
4 Triaminic
1 Tennessean paper
2 Ben & Jerry's ice cream
4 Reynold's Wrap
9 Garnier Fructis
2 Quaker Oatmeal
2 Walgreen's candy
4 Flintstones vitamins
1 Cars car (for Will.... dh kept him busy in the toy aisle)
1 Palmolive soap
2 theraflu
3 12pk cokes
2 walgreens Ibu. tablets (b0go)
1 Electrasol tablets



total for all transactions: $36.23

total savings: $112.47

total savings to date: $205.90
total spent to date: $224.78

Walmart trip

I finally found my reciept for Walmart trip last week.

I spent a total of $45.84 and saved $18.75. I got 6 Johnson and Johnson Buddies soaps for free, along with two Luminair candles for free. I had coupons for several things that I bought, however I did not have a coupon for Will's soy milk and $9.00 of it was a toy for Will. This will be the last toy I buy until his birthday.... now to keep that promise.

The price of convience....

I never really knew the true price of the convience of the chicken I was buying. I would buy boneless/ skinless chicken breast for our meals at three breasts for $2.50 a container. Last week I bought two 10 pound bags of chicken quarters with skin on for .39 a lb. That made it 20 lbs for $7.80 + tax. I just put it up for the freezer and was amazed at how much skin I had to cut off. Then add in the cut fingers because I used my new knife. But I will get 8 meals + leftovers out of $7.80 instead of one meal with no leftovers for $2.50.

So maybe it was worth it... even with the cut fingers. Now to just find some crockpot recipes for the chicken.

Visitors...

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Walmart, Piggly Wiggly, and Valu Plus trips

I have forgotten to list my trips to Walmart, Piggly Wiggly and Valu Plus this week. I spent more at Walmart than I meant to (Hubby and son were with me) and I ended up putting back two things that I had (one is snow boots for son that I will get later).


My first stop was Piggly Wiggly where I got two ten pound bags of chicken leg quarters for .39 a lb. That comes out to $3.90 a bag! I also picked up some Luck's beans for .50 a can and a bag of salad mix for .69.


Next stop was Valu Plus where I got hamburger meat for $1.39 a lb. Spent around $10 there and have already browned the meat and have it in smaller bags for meals later on. I will be able to get about 6 meals out of the hamburger meat.

I will list my Walmart trip later... I did manage to score some Johnson Buddies for the kids for free thanks to the coupons I had for them. Hope to get some more soon once I get more coupons!


Will post my totals for all three stores later when I find my reciepts.

My stockpile

I decided that today would be the day I would organize places for my stockpile. I cleaned out the kids bathroom and have places for the kids shampoo and soap and my box of toothbrushes and the kids toothpaste. DH worked on my pantry and I now have a wonderful place for my groceries. And tomorrow I will clean my laundry room so I can store my shampoo and toliet paper.

Dh asked me the other day what I was doing with all that shampoo. He thinks it is strange that I have so much already (especially since one bottle lasts him half a year) He really hasn't seen anything since I will be bringing home more free shampoo on Sunday. But he didn't laugh when I handed him some free toliet paper.