Unexpected Detour

On my way to work this morning I got a message from a friend asking if we could exchange coupons. I ended up shopping at Publix and Office Depot!

The Publix $5/$35 coupon from a while back expires today. I decided I'd use up some rainchecks.

I bought the following:
4 - Nature Valley Organic Bread
14 - Smucker's Low Sugar Jam/Jelly
4 - Stacy's Chips

I spent $12.09. However, My mother is buying half of the Smucker's off me. I will charge her $0.60 a jar. She is also going to buy two loaves of the bread. So, that takes my total down to $2.70.

I also went to Office Depot this morning. I purchased two laptop backpacks. One for DH for school this fall and one for me. I will need mine to take my laptop & papers back and forth from school. I got them both for $13 each and they are NICE!!

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spent today: $2.70
spent so far: $27.78 (w/out dining out $13.83)
amount allotted: $50.00
amount available to spent: $22.22 (w/out dining out $36.17)

Candy, Pads & Clothes?

Yesterday I went to Walgreens and got in on the Hershey Bliss deal. Here is the breakdown:

$14.00 - Hershey Bliss x 4
-$3.50 - Bliss BOGO
-$3.50 - Bliss BOGO
-$1.00 - Bliss $1/1
-$1.00 - Bliss $1/1
-$4.00 - IVC $2/1 x 2
=$1.00
Get back $5.50 (10% bonus) on my rebate!

I decided to go ahead and include this $1 in my monthly spending.

I also went to Target and used up 18 $5/3 coupons! Here is what I got:
10 - Stayfree Pads
6 - Bandaids
6 - Buddies Bars
3 - Buddies Products (body wash, detangler, shampoo)
8 - Carefree Liners ($2.69 packs)
21 - Carefree Liners ($1.04 packs)

I also purchased the following clearance items:
$9.98 - Cardigan Sweater
$9.98 - Cardigan Sweater
$6.98 - Merona Top
$6.98 - Merona Top
$6.98 - Merona Top
$2.24 - Merona Top
= $43.14

How much did I pay?? Approximately $18 and that inlcudes tax!!!


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spent today: $1.00
spent so far: $25.08 (w/out dining out $11.13)
amount allotted: $50.00
amount available to spent: $24.92 (w/out dining out $38.87)

Past Few Days

So, not much has been going on the past few days. Over the weekend we tackled our whole apartment and got a lot of things in order. We also bought a new TV! :)

I've done a lot of school supply shopping. Trying to get things for my classroom and for Andy going back to school. Food-wise, we really haven't bought much.

The only thing we've purchased is pita bread and that was $2.29. Seriously, that is it.

Wait, I did purchase Trident XtraCare Gum last week and Lifesavers this week from CVS. But, those were free. I just had to pay tax.

Over the weekend I also headed to Walgreens and took advantage of the Cutter deal. I used the overage to buy a gift for my niece.

I went to Kroger on Saturday and I picked up some Speedstick and Huggies wipes. I want to go one more time this week to get more Speedstick, Advil and Sargento cheese.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
spent today: $2.29
spent so far: $24.08 (w/out dining out $10.13)
amount allotted: $50.00
amount available to spent: $25.92 (w/out dining out $39.87)

7/23 Publix

I headed to Publix yesterday with my sister. I did two transaction and got a ton of stuff. I only spent $11 (including tax). YAY!

3 - $0.45 AC - Lysol All Purpose Cleaners
2 - FAC - Honey Bunches of Oats Individual Bowls
2 - FAC - Revlon Nail Clippers
2 - FAC - Sundown Vitamins (coupon adjusted down - although incorrectly! I paid $0.50)
16 - $0.67 AC - Hot Pockets
~2lb - $3.22 - Grapes
6 - $1.52 - Bananas
2 - $1.00 - Plums
4 - $3.38 AC - Flatouts
4 - FAC - Bic Mechanical Pencils

I used a 2 - $5/$35 coupon and a $2/$5 produce coupon, so I will deduct them from the amount I spent on food. Also, I will not be including tax.

So, when all is said and done, I spent $7.84 after all the coupons.

I also went out to Arby's because of an unexpected schedule change (our meeting was moved up an hour). I did the 5 for $5.95 deal.

DH also went out to dinner and spent ~$8.00 on chicken at Publix.

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spent today: $21.79 (w/out dining out $7.84)
spent so far: $21.79 (w/out dining out $7.84)
amount allotted: $50.00
amount available to spent: $28.21

7/22 Shopping

I went to Walgreens and I got more back to school supplies and I also did the Reynolds wrap deal. Here is what I got:

3 - $1.12 - Expo Dry Erase Markers BOLD
5 - $0.05 - Mini Composition Books
2 - FAR & Coupon - Pantene Beautiful Lengths
5 - $0.05 - Papermate Mechanical Pencils
11 - FAC - Reynolds Wrap (Free After Coupons)

So, I was at Office Depot last night and noticed they are selling the same school box that Walgreens is selling. But, they are asking $1.99 for it! YIKES! The quality is horrible, even for $0.50!

At Office Depot I purchased:

2 - $0.15 - Filler Paper
10 - $0.01 - Poly Folders

I went to Office Max this morning to get the deals ($0.01 flexible ruler and $0.10 mini sharpies) and they were sold out. They said that they have a truck coming in on Friday. I may or may not check back. We'll see.

Today I'm headed to Publix, so I'll post back later with my haul.

7/21 Walgreens

So, I headed to Walgreens yesterday to pick up some school supplies. Here is what I got:

1 - $1.99 - Expo Dry Erase Markers - Standard Colors
2 - $1.12 - Expo Dry Erase Markers - Bold (they were ringing up cheaper!!)
5 - $0.10 - Poster Board
1 - $0.50 - School Box (the quality isn't great, I may return it)
5 - $0.05 - Papermate Mechanical Pencils
1 - FAR - G2 Pens (red for correcting papers!)
1 - FAR - Crayola 20pk Markers
3 - $0.05 - Highlighters (one of each color)

I paid a little over $8 for everything! :)

I'm planning on going to a different store today to get some more supplies. I also want to get the Reynolds Wrap & use the overage on the school supplies.

Coupon Sharing

I recently shared at my church's Christians Should Be Prosperous: Tips for Saving Money and Practical Living meeting. I talked about the ins and outs of couponing. I made sure to go over where to get coupons, how to match coupons with sales, how to organize coupons, the do's & dont's of coupons and much more.


For a review, check out my sister's blog post.

Also, here is a copy of the pocket size guide that I passed out.

I also had two more handouts, which I have at home. I will add a link later.

Here are the handouts I passed out.

7/16 Shopping Trips

Target went well. I am so happy I had a good cashier!

I purchased the following items:
8 - Stayfree
1 - Carefree
6 - Bandaids
8 - Buddies Bars
1 - Johnson Baby Cotton Swabs
14 - Archer Farms Chips individual size
5 - Archer Farms Chips family size
2 - Renu Travel Contact Solution
40 - Ziploc Bags 25ct
1 - Swim Suit Top - clearance
1 - Swim Suit Bottom - clearance
1 - Shirt - clearance
3 - Dollar Spot items
1 - Worcestershire sauce

I ended up paying about $11 for everything. I didn't have my Stayfree BOGO with me. Just my $2/2. So, I missed out on some overage there. I was planning on doing the Head & Shoulder trial sizes, but I had a brain fart. Long story. So, that was $10 in overage I missed out. But, I'll do it next week.

I'm not counting any of the above as food costs. I used the overage to pay for the food. The Ziploc bags were $10 and the clothes were $15. All of which I was planning on buying even without the overage that I had.

I also headed to Kroger yesterday. Unfortunately none of the P&G deals that I wanted to do were included in the GA sale. I ended up leaving empty handed.

I also stopped into New York & Company to exchange some things. I ended up finding a GREAT pair of jeans for $7.99. YAY!

I'll be out of town until Sunday, so I won't be back to update until Monday. I won't be including our vacation in the challenge because it is something we have already budgeted for.

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spent today: $0.00
spent so far: $0.00
amount allotted: $50.00
amount available to spent: $50.00

$25 Challenge

I've decided to take on the $25 July challenge that many other coupon bloggers are doing. I'm starting in late, so I decided that mine would run 7/15 to 8/15.

I'm going to only include food in the $25 challenge. HBA & household goods won't count towards the total.

My household consists of just DH and I, so only two mouths to feed. I think this challege will be very good for us. I don't currently have a monthly food budget, but it'd be great to keep it under $25 a person. So, I'm going to give myself $50 to spend.

I'm headed to Target today and will be buying a few food items. So, I'll post back tomorrow with some details.

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spent today: $0.00
spent so far: $0.00
amount allotted: $50.00
amount available to spent: $50.00