Cabin Fun!!

We got to go to Idaho again this weekend to my friend Lynne's cabin. It's fun to get the kids together to play and then us girlies can go chat and eat and then chat some more and eat some more. So fun to relax and get out of town for a couple days. Here are some of the kids adventures.

We fed the fish at the river. There is no fishing or swimming in this particular part of the river and the fish are huge and WAY active. We would throw the food in and the fish would go nuts! Very fun for the kids!

A HUGE butterfly that I found on the front deck! I had to put up a point of reference because there is no way to describe how big it is!

Butterfly catching gear, but I guess that is obvious. :)

Beautiful view of the thundestorm that rolled in on Saturday. Power went out for about an hour. *gasp* No satellite tv!! We were truly roughing it. LOL!!

Excellent Food Storage Website

I found a totally awesome food storage blog: Prepared LDS Family. They have lots of menus, lists, and calculators. Check it out! I hope everyone is still doing their food storage. I have been able to store lots of stuff for my 3 month supply now that I am doing coupons. I need more space! It's so exciting to have FULL shelves of food. I encourage all of you who haven't started storing for your 3 month supply to do so. It's so easy, just one can at a time. You can do it!!

Tumbling Review

Collin had his tumbling review earlier this week. He has really enjoyed doing tumbling this year. He has won several achievement awards and his teacher said he was the best in the class!! Way to go Collin!!! He was so excited to do all his tricks in front of all the parents. What can I say, the kid loves an audience! I am really proud of him. He would work so hard and loved to practice. He got a trophy too (everyone did) and he just thinks he is so cool. Congrats Collin! You are awesome!

Dinosaur Park Field Trip

Collin's preschool had a field trip to a dinosaur park. It was really a lot of fun. Collin has 3 girls in his class who are in love with him. It's so funny! The three girls are Madison, Brooklyn, and Morgan.
Here is the ferocious Collin-

Hannah, Madison, Collin, and Brooklyn -

Brody exploring -

Forced photo-op. You can see he loved it.

The whole group! They had so much fun together. It was a such a nice, stress-free day. This is the only pic I got with Morgan in it, but she is the one with her back to us with her hair down and a striped shirt. Yep, all 3 girlfriends in this pic.

Collin and Brooklyn. She is the funniest little girl. She dishes it out to Collin, and its so good for him because he is usually the aggressor.

Beau, Madison, Brooklyn, Collin, and Hannah. What a fun group!

Frugal Father

Here is my dad's post. He is the self proclaimed "Frugal Father". P.S. He is a weirdo.

$18 of Chicken boneless skinless
5 Barbeque sauce
5 Salad dressings
Foam plates
5 frozen lunches for Angie

Guess the total?????
...............................

..............................

..........................

.........
If you guessed $18---



You were wrong
Oh did I mention they gave me a $2.50 catalina to buy anything from Albertsons
Gum or maybe bread or maybe..................................

Oh my mind just goes a wandering when I get $2.50 back

-------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------

If you guessed $16 you would be right

Not a great bargain for $45 worth of food but yes--That Catalina brings it down to $13.50


Angelica did help a little with my planning-- not much but some

Wednesday Steals!

I always go shopping Wednesday morning. It's the first day of the sale at Albertson's, and if you don't go the first day then everything is gone. They really should stock better, but they don't and I really don't want to miss out. Everything shown here I paid $20.96! That is 6 pounds of the boneless skinless chicken! There were 3 double coupons at the bottom of the weekly ad that I used. I also helped my dad to get a smokin' deal! Hopefully he will email me the picture of what we got him so that I can post it. He spent about $16 and got 3 packs of meat, about 9 pounds! I can't wait to eat the pineapple.

Happy Birthday Lynne!

Happy Birthday Lynne! Isn't she so beautiful? Thanks for being an awesome friend and a crazy couponer. You are turning 25 again, right? You are such a good friend and I am so glad we met on that tiny island. :) Thanks for listening to me complain and whine and for letting me be a lazy bum at your cabin. People always say they could talk to their friends for hours, but we literally did it! All Day! Funny how we never run out of things to say. Probably mostly cuz I can't stop talking. I am just a bag of hot air. We are like two peas in a pod though. You know you have a bond for life when you both had a car named "Bertha". Not to mention our kids were born at the same hospital within days of each other!! I wish we lived closer so I could bug you more. Sorry to embarrass you on my blog here, but don't worry I only have like 2 readers and one of them is you. I hope you have a Happy Birthday! Caleb better do something nice for you!! Mr. BigToughCop doesn't scare me. :) And also happy birthday to Riley, my future daughter in law.

Birthday Wishes From Susan

You always know you are in for a treat when you receive a card in the mail that looks like this:

This is no ordinary birthday card. This is something special from Darrell's Grandma Susan. Enclosed in every card is stickers. This time I got cutesy stars and chickens. Hmmm...

Yes, I said chickens. Not cartoon chickens, but several different actual breeds of chicken.

And there is always something unique in the way that she writes your letter. Collin asked me why I kept turning the card round and round. Silly boy, because the letter is written in a circle. Isn't her handwriting perfect? And don't forget Grandpa Stu. That's his tiny note and signature right in the middle.

Thank you Susan for remembering EVERYBODYS birthday. And thank you for making us all feel special. Keep the cards coming. We love them!

Harvest Time Again

I picked up my produce from the co-op again this week. The new location was WAY close to my house so that made it nice. This is my loot. Does anyone know what kind of fruit those orange things are? Someone mentioned it was a type of mango, but I am just not sure. I have never seen it before. I guess this is a good opportunity to try new things. Yay for cheap produce!!

Cereal Deal

Collin is a picky eater as most of you probably know. He two cereals that he will eat are Life ( a favorite of mine as well) and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. That's about it. SO when General Mills has a sale I gotta stock up on the CTC. I bought 12 boxes and after coupons paid just over $11 with tax. But as an awesome bonus inside select GM cereals there is a prepaid Discover card! I got a $5 card and maybe more! Who couldn't use $5? I have heard of several other gals in my area getting the $10 cards! Buy a $1 box of cereal and get $10! How sweet is that. Chances of winning are 1 in 10. I bought 12 boxes, but I think I only got the one card. Oh well. I will take it. I was going to buy the cereal anyway! All that other misc stuff in the pic is from Walgreens for about $2.50 out of pocket! I had a $1 gift card from the rebate program, but the first month I tried to get that rolling was the last month they did it. Oh well. I guess Walgreens is going to start up another rewards program in the next month or two. We will see.

Mother's Day!

Here is what Darrell got me for Mother's Day! I guess he does love me after all. :) Happy Mother's Day to all you Hot Mamas out there!

How much would you pay for this??

I know I wouldn't pay more than $1.24!!! Albertsons is having their double coupons (limit 3 per transaction) and I used them to sweeten the Kraft promo of buy $10 worth get $3 off instantly.

Here is my transaction:

3 Kraft Bbq sauce $1 each

- 2 $1 off coupons from here (If I had 3 of these coupons it would have been almost free!!)

2 Kraft Easy Mac

-1 $1/2 coupon

2 Kraft Bagelfuls $2.50 each

-2 $1 off coupons (also printed from Kraft link)

Also I got 4 Treetop juices $1 each

-2 $1/2 coupons

-$3 for the Kraft Promo

-$3 for doubling 3 of the $1 coupons

Total is $1.24 including tax!!

Also I helped my dad get a few doubler items so I stole a pack of hotdogs from him! :) I got him 6 packs of hotdogs for .99 including tax!! Plus for the second transaction I got him a box of Raisin bran, a box of Froot Loops, and some Breyer's ice cream for $1.50!! Pretty good deals. Has anyone ever tried those Bagelfuls? We LOVE them around here!

Go White Sox!!

Here are a few pictures of Collin's first t-ball game. He did so great! So funny to watch these little guys play. Thanks for the awesome pics dad!

How Do You Do It?

So over the last few weeks several of you have asked me how I get such great coupon deals. So easy!! So I am going to show you my step by step purchase this week.

I did two transactions at Albertson's

Transaction #1

Kraft Deal buy $10 of various products get $3 off instantly

I bought 2 packs of Bagelfuls @ $2.50 each = $5

5 Kraft BBQ sauce @ $1 each = $5

Total = $10

-$3 for Kraft Deal

-$1.50 for .75 coupon off Bagelfuls x 2

-$3.75 for .75 coupon off BBQ sauce x 5

Total for this promotion = $1.75 BUT I got a $2.50 Catalina (Coupon speak for coupon that prints out at end of transaction) for the BBQ sauce

Buy 4 get $2

Buy 5 get $2.50

Buy 6 get $3

Also in this transaction I got a deal for the medicine products - Buy $30 worth of various products get a coupon for $10 off next transaction. $30 is BEFORE coupons!

Benadryl 3.99 x 2 minus $1 off coupon

Sudafed 3.99 minus $1 coupon

Viactiv calcium 5.99 minus $2 coupon

Bandaids 2.50 x 3 minus $1 off coupon x 3

Baby wash 3.00 minus $1 coupon

Pantyliners 3.00 minus 1.50 coupon

Total before coupons = 31.46 - 8.50 in coupons = $22.96

SO our total from promo #1 + promo #2 = $24.71 Not too bad right?

Well I had a Catalina from last week for $5 off

Plus I am a Mrs. Fancypants who had an exclusive coupon from Pinching Your Pennies for $5 off a $30 purchase.

My total including tax for this transaction was $15.61

Now remember I just got a $10 and a $2.50 coupon printed off for my next transaction.

Transaction #2

Milk 1.89 x 3

2lb Cheese 3.99 x 2 (These don't expire for a long time so stock up when they are this cheap!)

Bread 1.57 x 2

Lg Eggs .99 x 2

Yoplait .49 (when you buy 10) x 10

Coupon for Yoplait .40/6 (not that awesome, but use it if you got it)

PLUS our $12.50 from last transation

Total out of pocket = $11.48 including tax

Both transactions = $27.09 Pretty great considering all the medicine I got. I am going to stock up on medicines and cleaning supplies now.

So that's how I do it ladies! Not that hard. Some people like to save their Catalina coupons until the next week, but generally I use them in a second transaction. I don't want them floating around in my wallet where I could easily lose them. I always shake my head and wonder why I didn't do this sooner. It's easy! And it really does save lots of money!!!

Now if you want to see someone who is truly amazing check out Jane and her $800 ANNUAL budget!! Amazing. She gets like 20+ sets of coupons per week from friends and family plus she has stores in her area that double and triple coupons on a regular basis. She also donates a lot of stuff that she gets for free. She is incredible!!

A Great Blog - Check it Out

I stumbled across a great blog the other day: Seriously So Blessed. It is a great, satirical, mormon mom blog. She is hilarious. She pokes fun at people who blog about how perfect they are or how beautiful their children are. Cracks me up. Right up my alley.
This is part of the review from mormontimes.com:
The author says the blog has received a warm reception from many people who maintain the very blogs she spoofs."Many readers will say things like, 'Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the everything-is-so-gag-me-perfect world of blogging. Thanks for cracking me up and reminding me we don't have to pretend we have perfect kids and are madly in love every second of every day.'
"TAMN definitely tries to live in that perfect world, as she depicts in her post "Happy anniversary to ME! Well, us, but whatever.""Marriage is COMPLETE BLISS and we have had non-stop fun since we married! No, since we met! No, since we were BORN! No, since the PRE-MORTAL EXISTENCE! Couldn’t get any funner," she writes.
Here is the full review of the blog. Check it out for a good laugh.

Aveeno Snob

So Darrell and I are both Aveeno snobs. It's just the best lotion, period. I guess Vaseline is pretty good too, but nothing else works! I was so excited to see an Aveeno sale at Walgreen's this week. Total spent - $1.66!! Don't you love how the price tag is on that gift set? :)

Also for the month of May I am going to keep track of all my household items/grocery expenses. I will take a picture of everything, but I won't necessarily post individually every time. At the end of the month I will post all the pictures and totals. I have a weekly budget that I am staying under, but it would be nice to see everything I am getting for the month since I am not keeping track of the exact amounts! $1.66 so far!

Happy couponing everybody!!

Collin Chatter

I was trying to get Brody all psyched up for church. He still hates nursery even after all this time. I told him he was going to see friends as emphatically as I could. Collin said, "It's just like center time (basically play time) at school. Except at church you don't have any fun."
Gotta love Collin's words of wisdom.

Warning! Your arteries might clog just reading this!

Click HERE to be grossed out!! It's a blog about food that is so fattening and disgusting that it's going to make you want to grab a Slim Fast shake! I am not someone obsessed with weight, especially after having 2 kids. I eat pretty much whatever, but I would never take it this far. A deep fried Cadbury egg!! The Thunderdome? I hope that's for ten people, but I doubt it is.
This is the McSurf N' Turf -
A McDonald’s Fish-O-Filet inside a Quarter Pounder with cheese. Can you imagine?
And this one is called The Slinger -
Hash browns covered with grilled onions with two side-by-side cheeseburgers, topped with a couple of fried eggs, sunny-side up and then covered with chili and garnished with two pieces of toast come on the side. I just have to say it: I think this looks the same way going in as it does coming out. Or maybe this is the "after" picture. Nasty!

I am begging all my friends and family to make healthier food choices! And please, please, please don't eat anything deep fried! Not a deep fried taco or a deep fried grilled cheese, and a deep fried slice of pizza is never a good idea! Who thinks this stuff up?

Bountiful Baskets

As you all know, I have been doing coupons for a few months now. It's been a great blessing to be able to stock up on my food storage as well as save money. One thing that NEVER has a coupon though is produce. Well, now I have a solution for that. I found an awesome co-op! It delivers to my area every other Saturday. Look at how much food I got for $18! Next time I only have to pay $15, but all newbies have to pay a $3 basket fee. It was so easy to pick up too. All the food is already divided up. You just check in, pick up your food, and check out. We were there 5 minutes! We got plums, grapes, tomatoes, blackberries, a tiny watermelon, and the list goes on!! Last time they had pineapple and mangos. Every time will be different. Also they have a new drop site that is about 5 blocks from my house! This week I drove about 10 minutes, still not bad, but it will be nice to have it even closer. The drop off today was 7am, but the one next week is at 7:30 am so that will be nice to not have to wake the kids up. They should be up by then. I am so excited! It's so nice to have fresh produce in the house. If you live in Utah or Arizona check out bountifulbaskets.org or I recommend finding something similar in your area.