The "corner"

A few blocks north of our house is a location I have now nicknamed "the corner". It includes a Walgreens, a Rite Aid and an Albertson's. Part of my luck in finding good deals is I can get to all three of these stores in one night with less than a 5 minute drive. I consider it a blessing, since overall, these three stores are where I have found the greatest deals.


So, back from my previous post, this random nice woman I talked to gave me some blog Web sites which I have now linked to in the frugal section on my blog. These are blogs I have randomly found or she gave me, or friends started, that can help you find good deals.
Okay, the above original price of all of these items was $67.65 which I got for a little over $15.00. And since this is an old post I meant to post forever ago, alas, I can't remember what else I was going to say. I'm trying to get back on my weekly posting about good deals again... I promise to be better in explaining how I get the deals.

How do I do it?

Okay, many of you have asked me how I find my good deals....well, as I have mentioned on this blog I believe, about 4 months ago, I felt inspired (still do) to see how I could cut our grocery/miscellaneous budget down. Though we are conservative as a family, I just felt impressed to figure out ways to cut this down... thus began my journey. Since then, I have realized MONEY is out there for the taking, and as a coworker and I joke now "suckers pay full price". I will warn you, once you start down this path, it is a little bit addicting, so just beware :)

It started four months ago with me calling a woman I don't even know (her husband worked for my dad) because my dad had heard her husband saying she got their grocery bill down from something like 150.00 to less than 20.00. WHAT????? HOW DID SHE DO THAT? I asked my dad if I could get their number if they would be willing to talk to me. So, about 4 months ago, on a Sunday night I randomly called this woman to see how she did it.

After her kindness and an hour of questioning her, I began on my own. I'll try to explain more of my journey with each posting of good deals on my blog. I began at Walgreens. Keep in mind, 4 months ago, I think I had shopped at Walgreens all of maybe 5 times in my WHOLE life. Now, I go there at least once a week. For those of you thinking, Walgreens? The drug store? The overpriced drugstore? That's exactly what I thought four months ago. Now, I think, I LOVE WAGS! (The nickname for coupony people for that store). I began just by getting every month from the Easy Saver catalog the items free after rebate. My first month I did it, I had no real clue what I was doing, and only got like $10.00 back. Plus, I get my rebate money back in the giftcard back each month and make 10 percent, so I walk away with money each month. Speaking of which, I am EXTREMELY excited because for February, I will be getting back 45.00 at WAGS.... WAHOO!

That's it for now. My free time is limited on Saturdays, so I'll post more later. The picture below is a trip I made to Albertson's, another store I hardly ever shopped at 4 months ago.
I got all of this (keep in mind I got the wrong Sure deodarant so I will be taking that back) by using both store sales, in store coupons, rebates, and manufacturer's coupons for original price of 55.69 for $2.60. 8 boxes of cereal, Sure MAX deodarant, 2 dozen eggs, and three packages of cheese. Not too bad, even for a super good couponer. The overall key, I'll just say this, is I have always tried to shop sales, but there is a WHOLE NEW world out there when you combine sales, in store coupons, rebates and MC coupons together.

Collin's new friend

Yes, I am a bit behind in posting.... I just wanted to post pictures of Collin for my family... this is just him with the "stare down".

As far as the title of this post, that has to do with the next few pictures. For Christmas, Collin got a little penguin thing... it's a bit hard to explain, but when you push it the balls move and music plays. We tried it out over the last couple of weeks.

Collin didn't quite know what to do with said Mr. Penguin when he just sat there... but...

After awhile...

Oh here is a new friend! I want to hug and touch him all over...

He talks back to me...

I guess Mr. Penguin can be my new friend.

And even though I am getting my first tooth, I can still be happy!

The lone tooth

So, no pictures yet, but today, Collin has the firstlings of his first tooth poking through... my little baby is getting so big! I honestly got teary when I heard the news. Since many of you have children, give me some advice on the best thing(s) to do for a teething almost 7 month old. It has come WAY faster than I was thinking! I haven't even been able to find out what I am supposed to be doing, other than giving him lots of loves...

Pillsbury, Progresso and Albies are our "little" friends

Okay, I had to post my greatest deal yet. And Collin came with me to the store....here is what I got... I'll give you a few seconds to guess how much I spent and saved....the picture doesn't do it justice, so I'm also writing it down.

10 Progresso soups
5 boxes of Betty Crocker muffin mixes (the GOOD kinds)
4 FANCY Betty Crocker brownie mixes
2 Pillsbury toaster strudels
9 Betty Crocker cake mixes
4 Pillsbury crescent rolls
2 Pillsbury cinnamon rolls
1 Betty Crocker cookie mix
3 Pillsbury Grands biscuits
1 loaf Albies fresh french bread

Any guesses? The amount without any deals and coupons came to $118.46. The total I paid after coupons and promotions?
$7.40 Yes, seven dollars and 40 cents. INCREIBLE! Go to this sale!

Valentines weekend and Collin's 6 month

Valentines Weekend was a big weekend for us. Collin had his 6 month check up on Friday, he is still only in the 5-10 percentile for weight (14.7 pounds), 50th for length (26.5 inches) and a whopping 90 percent for his head (not sure how big it was)....so apparently, he has big brains. Other than that, he is doing good. We are still working on sitting up lots as you can see from the picture below. But that little smile gets me every time. For the long weekend, I was able to take some time off from work to go to the doctor with Collin and also we went up to my parents house in Idaho and my parents baby-sat Collin while Ryan and I went on a real date, on our own, and dressed up. I don't even think Collin recognized me :) And what is with my hair getting MORE red in every picture?

Up in Idaho, we tried out our first umbrella stroller.

They have such a nice house to stroll around in, that was one of his favorite things, just hanging out in the stroller and grandma strolled him around the house.

Don't tell his daddy, but Collin LOVED to look at this little doll of Sadee and Ava's. I think he thought it was his first girlfriend.

And of course we played with Sadee and Ava. Collin ESPECIALLY loves Sadee. Seriously, his face LITERALLY LIT up when she came around and did all her laughs and jumpy jumps. He had his second laughing fit with her this past weekend.

Auntie Kari of course for Christmas gave Collin this ADORABLE little outfit that he wore to church. It is a cute little Gap onesie with a teddy bear, as well as these ADORABLE plaid pants. The pictures don't do the outfit justice...auntie Kari always keeps us in style.

This was one of my favorite pictures from the weekend. Collin LOVES his daddy. Seriously, over the last couple of weeks, he is always turning to look for his daddy to come into the room, and play with him and do silly faces. He especially likes to touch his face.

We had a great holiday weekend. Hope you did too!

I made money

Yes, I made $3.00 by buying these products at Rite Aid tonight. WAHOO! I LOVE making money on shopping, not working :)

Sitting up practice?

Tonight, as I have been playing with Collin, I was able to capture his dimples in the pic above, even though I cut off his head...

And then in between my hilarious dance sequence, I looked away for five seconds, and this was Collin in the bouncer. Apparently, we need sit up practice time in the bouncer. It was SO funny to see.

Okay, mom, you saw me...I'm going to relax now.

Sunday dinner

Once again, I am realizing how WONDERFUL it is when I don't have to make dinner. We had family in town so I didn't have to make dinner last night, and my husband is making dinner for us tonight. I could get used to this :)

Elementary school memories

Today I have TOTALLY been reminiscing with people about memories from elementary school…. I know hardly anyone that reads this site is familiar with Falls Valley Elementary, but here are some of mine. Maybe they will sound familiar….

1. Read-a-thons. I LOVED these….LOVED them. And come to think of it, I would still love a total read-a-thon day. I could still sit up with comfy clothes, fun snacks and read different books all day and escape the world sometimes. I was such a reading geek back then, and still am, that you could just spend all school day reading, in your pjs, with your snacks and treats and pillows, reading whatever you wanted. It was a 4-5th grade HEAVEN. I never understood why some people didn’t like it.
2. Skating parties. This was the TOTAL rage in 4-5th grade as well. My aunt at the time owned Starlite Skating….. and for your birthday you could have a skating party and invite up to 50 friends I think. Shoot the duck, number game, snowball anyone? I still totally remember the first time Nathan Garn asked me to skate :)
3. Marvin Smith. Enough said. I had THEE biggest crush on him until he moved out of our school. Seriously, I’m sure you all did too, you know who you are. Since elementary school and graduating from high school, I hear from random people that EVERYONE had a crush on him.
4. The BIG BALL….fourth grade, Mr. Marcus. This was a huge big plastic ball that you could try and jump and get on. I swear it was 10 feet tall and I never was able to get on top, but all the “cool” guys in elementary school always did. If I remember right, we got to do it once a month.

Any of you have elementary school memories that seem like these?

I'm feeling better and mommy gets good deals

I have been wanting to share a few good deals I have gotten the last couple of weeks.... and to note that Collin I think is on the mend, even though he still has a little cough and is still congested. The best part about this deal was I got the candybars all FOR FREE! Free candy is WONDERFUL in my book. All of the above I got at Walgreens, after coupons and rebates for $4.00.

With Albertson's doing double coupons this week, I had to go late last night to get a good deal. I got all of the above for $6.00. Two dinners, a lunch, and a box of "exotic" granola bars! WAHOO! Plus, we had one of the Macaroni Grill meals for dinners tonight and it was WONDERFUL! I thought eating Macaroni Grill at home for less than $3.00 a meal, was much better than eating out for $20.00 a meal!

And this is Collin tonight. We just had some sitting up practice time and he did SO good. He sat up all on his own at least for a few seconds. He is getting so big. He will be 6 months on Saturday... I can't even BELIEVE it! Have a great weekend everyone!

Sick

I have decided one of the hardest things as a new mommy (and probably forever as a mommy) is trying to figure out how to help your child when you don't totally know what is wrong. This weekend, Collin has been a little under the weather.... he has this little cough that just breaks my heart, and in 15 minutes he has spit up three times, and had 2 blowouts, and just had a hard time smiling. It has made me realize how grateful I am that he isn't under the weather or this sad all the time, because him being so sad, makes me sad. I just hold him and rock him and give him lots of loves. Any ideas on other help from other mommies out there? I'm just glad it's the weekend and I have been able to be home with him :)