The Loves of My Life

Don't you just love it when you happen upon a great photo opportunity. We bought a regular digital camera before our wedding and used it up until Lincoln's birth. After a few weeks we realized we needed something better and bought the Nikon D40. Hands down, that has been the greatest purchase we've made. It takes incredible pictures and is so user friendly. Some of my favorite shots have just happened. I love these!

The loves of my life! I am such a lucky girl!

Could they be any cuter?!?

Ryan would say coupons are my second greatest love:) Check out what I got tonight at Kroger for a whopping $24. 73. The best part, I saved over $75 for a savings of 75%! Hooray for Tylenol, toothpaste, blackberries and frozen veggies!

Double Coupons

Kroger had double coupons up to $1, so check out what I got for about $15 last Saturday.

60%

After checking out the grocery ads, I decided to do my weekly shopping at Tom Thumb. Nothing grabbed my attention at Kroger. Before store promotions and coupons, my total was $117.81. After discounts, promotions and coupons, my total was $47.73 for a savings total of %60. Even though I've stayed within my grocery budget the last 6-8 weeks, the good deals have been few and far between. I was excited to get a bunch of staples for our pantry. I have plenty of ground sirloin and chicken breast in the freezer, so we'll be set for another week.

Today's haul!

Some of my best deals from today.
Crystal Light - Free
Diet 7up 2 liter - Free
Diet Sunkist 2 liter - Free
4 Boxes of cereal $1.17 each
3 Large Jello pudding $0.16 each (we love parfaits around here)
2 boxes Wheat Thins $1.00 each
Juice boxes $0.50
2 jugs of Bleach $0.49 each

Found another grocery bag...a few more things.

And before you say anything...I don't buy paper towels or paper plates, but I got these today for pennies and I couldn't resist. I did buy 100% recycled foil, so it all balances out, right?

Weekly meal plan:

Wednesday: Spicy shrimp stir fry with veggies

Thursday: Bacon, spinach and Swiss Quiche and fruit salad

Friday: Burgers on the grill and fries

Saturday: probably grab a bite out

Sunday: Chipotle Lime Grilled chicken breast and roasted corn on the cob, watermelon, parfaits

Monday: Whole wheat spaghetti, green beans, bread

Tuesday: Always breakfast for dinner since I work until 8pm:)

$40.12

Here is my shopping picture for the week. Since we celebrated Earth Day at the Dallas Zoo, we postponed shopping until today. Total for the week = $40.12 I had plenty of meat in the freezer, so I mostly got milk, fruit, cheese, lunch meat and yogurt. I was most excited about free rice cakes, yogurt and toilet paper as well as 2lbs of strawberries for $2.77. Bon Appetit!

Weekly Shopping Trip

I did it again. I bought my weekly groceries for less than $40.00 $38.40 to be exact. Here is the list of things I got completely free today.

2 tubs of baby wipes
Deodorant
Body wash
6 pack of kid-friendly yogurt
4 Bottles of grill seasoning
Brownie Mix
2 liter of Dr. Pepper
Smart Balance butter sticks
Reusable shopping bag

Here is part of our weekly meal plan.
*Tonight--honey mustard chicken legs...(didn't have them last week as planned b/c my parents treated us to Cheddars).
*Grilled chicken salads and homemade guacamole
*Mexican Lasagna (new recipe, looks great)
*Steaks on the grill and potatoes
*Pecan crusted salmon, brown rice and veggies
*Breakfast for dinner...(we do this every Tuesday b/c I don't get home from work until 8 those nights)

Some of the ingredients I already had b/c I bought them during previous sales. The rest, I got today. In addition to some boring stuff, I bought fruit, 3 gallons of milk (we all love milk), and some bluebell for Ryan and I.

Online Shopping

Before you make a purchase online, check out this site, Retail Me Not. Just type in the website you are shopping with and it will bring up discount codes to type in at checkout. This is a great way to find free shipping, %off, or $off. I have used this on Shutterfly.com, Snapfish.com, Pedipeds.com, Orientaltrading.com, etc. This is a great resource, check it out if you like to shop online.

Hooray for Target!

In case you can't see in detail there are 6 bags of Pepperidge Farm Goldfish, 7 packs of Mission Tortillas, 2 bags Tostitos, 1 Baked Lays, 2 cans Hunt's Tomatoes, Clorox Bleach, a reusable shopping bag and 9! packages of Thomas' English Muffins! And...we paid $8.38. Not bad. Ahhhh...I love a good deal! The new Super Target in Allen is having some great deals. Check them out.

Target Steals

Here is what I got at Target today.
6 heads of broccoli (Lincoln can't get enough of this stuff)
3 boxes of Kashi granola bars
3 bags of Goldfish crackers
2 cartons of Tropicana OJ

Merchandise Total: $28.51
What I actually paid after coupons: $7.51
Total Savings: $21.00

Can I get a WooHoo!

Here is the link to print your own Target Coupons. You can combine manufacturer's coupons with Target coupons to get the best deal!

Divine Consign

Divine Consign is just around the corner. I went to my first DC sale when Lincoln was just a few weeks old. This is a HUGE baby and kids consignment sale at the Plano Center. Check out their website for dates and times and mark your calendar. You won't want to miss it. First time Mom's get to shop early, so if that's you make sure you sign up for early shopping. Happy Shopping!

Weekly Shopping Trip

Wednesday is my weekly shopping day. After reading Money Saving Mom's blog, I decided to do my shopping at Kroger this week, rather than my usual trip to Super Wal Mart. Here is a picture of what I bought. My total was about $66, but after an in-store rebate and my stack of coupons, I left paying $36. Combined with some staples already in the pantry and some fruit I bought at Sprouts last weekend, this will last us until my shopping trip next Wednesday.

And for the record...the Cap'n Crunch is for Ryan, but I admit the Tollhouse cookie dough is for me:) If you think coupons don't add up, they saved me over $20 this trip.

Score!

If you see me and you notice my moisturized, wrinkle-free skin and super lush lashes, it is because I scored some HUGE freebies today.

To make a long story short, a civil suit against major department stores was settled and part of the ruling required soem major cosmetic companies to dole out 175 million dollars in free merchandise. The freebies had to be full-sized, current items that will not be discontinued anytime soon, among other stipulations. So, check out what I got after a quick trip to Stonebriar Mall's Macy's, Dillard's and Nordstrom this morning.

That's a Clinique Moisture Surge, Lancome Mascara and Lancome Cell Defense Moisturizer. I actually got 2 of those because my sweet husband went to the Neimen's in his building. Hooray for pretty skin!

$16.92

Here is a picture of the deals I've gotten since my last post. Who would have thought that freebies, deals and coupons spark such interest. This is a combo of CVS and Walmart. Hooray for not needing batteries for a long, long time! Hooray for new eye makeup and hooray for moving into size 4 diapers!

$5.35

Friday is usually my grocery shopping day. I went to CVS and Kroger this morning. Take a peak at what I got for $5.35. While you can't see it all, that is 3 boxes of cereal, 3 tubes of toothpaste, 2 cans of evaporated milk and a $10 bottle of Cetaphil, among other things. I was gone about 45 minutes. I will head to Wal Mart for the rest of the things on my list this afternoon. You'd be SHOCKED to see how low our grocery/toiletry bill is per month.