Southern Thrift Diva's Tell All Blog

Where have I been?

2009-11-14T02:26:00.000-08:00

Its been a while since I've had the time to sit down and write in my blog. Things get busy. Life is always busy, especially if you live on a working farm and have a bunch of kids (like I do). Plus there's other people living on our farm. 12 of us total.

My life has went through a period of transition.
I am now divorced and I am loving it.
He wasn't much help anyway, except for financially.
And while I was married, I could afford more things like vacations and nice (albiet gas guzzling) vehicles, none of those things made me truely happy.
Sure, I had a lot more time to spend surfing the net, checking emails and writing in my blog, but it was never because he helped take care of the kids. The truth is, my now ex husband, didn't like the kids very much and was verbally and mentally abusive to them and me.

It took only a few times of him treating the kids badly before he had to go.
It was the best decision I have ever made.
The kids are much happier now.
Free to be themselves without someone telling them they are too loud or are acting "like idiots".

I may not have gave birth to my adopted son (age 2 almost 3) or my four neices (ages 15,10,4,1) but I am so blessed to have them in my life and be their mother figure. I thank God every day for my 5 little blessings.

I'm not online much anymore, but by choice.
I no longer feel the need to escape my life.
I embrace my life and I am loving it.

Food Lion IP coupons for 10/07 - 10/20

2009-10-08T03:29:00.001-07:00

Perfect for using at publix or other places where they accept competitor coupons!

$1.00 off Smart Option Chicken Salad or Pimento Cheese

$1.00 off Any Food Lion Ice Cream

$1.00 off Two (2) packs of Food Lion Bacon

$1.00 off A-1 Steak Sauce 10oz.

http://apps.foodlion.com/web-coupons/coupon0941/fl-2009-1007-06f982.asp

Coupon for Free Oscar Meyer Hot Dogs

2009-05-20T19:56:00.000-07:00

Get a coupon mailed to your home for a free package of Oscar Meyer Beef hotdogs (franks)

http://kraft.promotions.com/ombeeffranks/front.do

comes in 4 to 6 weeks.
Gotta love FREE!!

MIA - Blame it on the vegetables

2009-05-18T18:23:00.000-07:00

A friend asked me a question earlier ... "Why have you stopped blogging but you're still tweeting and I can find you on facebook?"

The truth is - Ever since our veggie patch started producing pickable produce, my online time has become even more limited than before. If only I could telepathically type my random thoughts, whilst sweating my hiney off, in the garden. I have had the most interesting conversations with myself, while on my knees weeding ... the problem is, Once I'm back in the house and I've had a chance to bark out the chore list to the kids, or do the hundred other things that makes my household run ... the moment I sit down at my computer, I'm lucky if I can put 140 "characters" together to make a decent tweet, much less remember the conversations I had with myself out in the garden.

It's just ironic that I've become addicted to the game "Farm Town" on Facebook. My oldest neice Gabby, helps me play that game (on my screen name). Oh how I have laughed to myself, while picking veggies out in our real garden, wishing it was all as easy as the virtual farm I fondly call "MicroChip Farm".

My latest blast on Facebook, seems to shock some friends. HAHAHAHAHA!!!
To help everyone understand ... I had to beg my husband to plant me a garden this year. I asked for half an acre of vegetables, He planted 4 acres. FOUR ACRES!!!!! (if one tomato plant can produce 25+ pounds, how many pounds of tomatoes can 75 plants produce?) and thats not including the 40 acres of DEER CORN that he has abandoned and decided it's too much work to harvest. He knew ahead of time, that he would have to pick it all by hand, since we don't have any major farm equipment, or hire someone to come harvest it for him. It was just easier for him to give up.

That's the difference between us.
While Jake was born with a platinum spoon in his mouth, and has the option of quitting anything he pleases, I was born with a rusty spoon in my mouth and wasting anything is beyond conceivable. Especially with so many extra mouths to feed, including my husband's abandoned obsession of collecting farm animals (which was his reasoning for planting 40 acres of corn that only animals can eat).

I'm always the one getting stuck with his past obsessions, and since I've now got 4 extra kids to raise, I have very little patience for my husbands immaturity. There's actually a lot more I could complain about ... but it all boils down to this ... I'm ready for a divorce. and he can blame it on the vegetables when he's talking to the judge. "well your honor, she asked for a vegetable garden, so I gave her one as big as this courthouse and a football field combined ..."

and what's in "our" garden?
So every day, starting at 7am I can be found outside picking tomatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, cucumbers, squash, bell peppers, & rhubarb. My famously smart husband planted our garden extremely early this year, since we were having warm weather in March. We still have some veggies that have not matured enough to be picked, such as peas, turnip greens, onions, yellow corn & carrots. Oh and did I mention ... I'm still not sure if thats everything that was planted because the Genius labeled nothing? My sis in law claims the back corner has beets. lol I've yet to look. I asked for cabbages and I haven't seen any. *sigh* and wheres my watermelons?!

One thing is for sure ... Next year, My garden will have 2 plants of each and will be small.

Earth Day Freebie - Free Roll of Reynolds Wrap Recycled

2009-04-22T06:43:00.000-07:00

Happy Earth Day!!

Click Here to fill out a customized rebate form to receive a free coupon "rebate" for a free roll of Reynolds Wrap 100% Recycled Aluminum. Good for Today Only.

Gotta love those useful free coupons for free stuff!

Get more Free Stuff on Thrifty Diva Freebies!

$2 IPC Snuggle Creme Fab Softner

2009-04-21T09:53:00.000-07:00

Get a $2 off coupon for Snuggle's newest fragrances "creme's"
IPC (internet printable coupon)

http://www.snuggle.com
On right hand side of page.

Cheap Deals at CVS This Week 4.19 - 4.25

2009-04-21T02:02:00.000-07:00

This week CVS has a few Good deals that have caught my eye.

The Aveeno Deal is Buy $25 Get $10 in ECB's
There's a few Aveeno items that are $2.99 each, such as the Aveeno Skin Bar, Aveeno Moisturizer 2.5 oz - Combine these with the $2/1 IP coupons or the $1/1 coupons found in inserts, will make for a great deal. (Just depends on how many times you can print the IP coupons)

My mom went to CVS and took advantage of this deal yesterday.

4 Aveeno skin relief bars @ $2.99ea ( $11.96)
5 Aveeno (2.5 oz) Daily Moisturizers @ $2.99 ea ($ 14.95)

$26.91 total

she used -

Store $4/$20 (beauty) Q
6 - $2/1 IPC (manf Q) $12.00
3 - $1/1 insert manf coupons $3.00
$19.00 off in coupons
Used $5.00 ECB's
Paid $ 2.71 oop (it was actually a lil over $3.xx including tax)

Plus she got back $10 in ECB's

Now I'm trying to get my coupons clipped to go get the same deal.
LOL.

Here's the links for the $2/1 IPC's
http://www.pharmdaily.com/Aveeno/index.asp
and Click Here for a different $2/1 IPC this one also prints off a $5/2 Q & a $10/3 Q

Here's another $2/1 IPC - Click Here

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Another awesome deal at CVS is the Dove Skin Vitalizer on Sale for $4.00!!
These are reg retail $12.99. Unadvertised price at $4.00 (if you have a card scanner at your store, you can scan these to make sure the price is $4). Use the $3.50 Q (3.15.09 RP) and pay 50 cents oop!!

Here's a $3.50 IPC http://www.doveskinvitalizer.com/
top right side of the page.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Those are the best deals of the week, I have seen so far.

Making Recycled Paper - Our Earth Day Project

2009-04-19T12:35:00.000-07:00

How To Recycle Paper (homemade Letter Paper)

Last week I was searching for a craft project to do with the kids. I decided to delve into the many thick notebooks, my SIL had used to write down every great craft idea, she found from years ago. One was called "Making Paper." Which is basically recycling paper and making new (thicker) sheets of paper from various papers (newspaper, notebook, coupons we didn't use, printed on paper for worksheets). Its a project I remember doing in 4-H (or was it girl scouts?) a long time ago.

The kids had a blast and We are still making paper, to this day. We have made almost 100 sheets of new paper by recycling the old paper. This project has enabled me to find a treasure trove of learning excersizes on the net. Even if your kids are NOT homeschooled, This is a great craft project to do with them.

My neices ages 14 & 9 can do this project by themselves now. I did have to help with the first 10 sheets. LOL We will be using the sheets of paper for various other projects, and maybe even school work. I'll let the Girls decide what they want to use them for, since this project is their labor of love.

I found the video above. We didn't have a mortar & pestle - we just used a bowl and a old wooden thingy ma jig (have no clue what it was really for.) My guess is, you can use anything to mash up paper in a bowl, while adding water to make a paste.

Here's the link to a .pdf file on how to make recycled paper. It includes using items found around your house. Click Here.

Enjoy!!

False Advertisement at Publix - BOGO Sales

2009-04-17T10:23:00.000-07:00

This has been a hot topic around "the water cooler" (different groups and websites), concerning Publix Grocery stores. I just got off the phone with a few district managers, all trying to explain the same thing. Here's the last conversation -

P - Publix
N - Nay

P - "Hi! Is this Mrs. Jacobs?"
N - "Why yes it is."
P - "Mrs. Jacobs, My name is Sandra. I'm with the Atlanta District for Publix Supermarkets. How are you today?"
N - "I'm Just fine, and how are you?"
P - "I'm fine. I understand you contacted our corporate office with a question about coupons."
N - "Yes. I have been told by a few friends that Publix is falsely advertising buy one get one free sales. When they go to publix and use a buy one get one free coupon, they are still made to pay for one item. Sounds fishy to me. Deceptive even. Maybe you can explain your company's concept."
P - " Well Mrs. Jacobs, Lets say you want to buy a can of green beans and it's on sale buy one get one free for $3.00. We split the cost and each can is $1.50 each instead of one can being $3.00 and the 2nd can being free. That way you can just buy one can and not have to buy two. Do you understand?"
N - "Yes, I understand what you are saying but wouldn't that be a half off sale and not a Buy One Get One Free?"
P - "That's just how we do our Buy One Get One Free sales."
N - "OK, So lets say I go into your store and use a Buy One Get One Free Coupon on a Buy One Get One Free Sale, Why am I still required to Pay $1.50 when Publix is getting reimbursed $3.00 on that coupon plus 8 cents? Sounds like Publix is deceiving their customers with false advertisements and shady practices, Do YOU understand?"
P - "Yes but Well ... Uh ... Ma'am, I'm going to Have My Boss at the corporate office in Florida, Call you back on Monday."
N - "I'll be waiting for That call before I take this matter further. Thanks for your time Sandra."

The conversation ended.

You buy the fabled cans of green beans for $3 BOGO
and use a BOGO coupon, should (and does at Kroger) make BOTH Cans Free.
Because the store is getting reimbursed $3.00 from the manufacturer (plus 8 cents)
But PUBLIX is going to charge you $1.50 more????!!!
So they just made $4.50 on their own sale!!!

Its time Publix' deceptive practices end concerning using BOGO coupons on Bogo sales.
And I'm just the loud mouth for the job.
I WILL take this matter further and bust out publix for robbing their own customers.
In Today's economy, the last thing we need is a Grocery chain taking advantage of the people who shop in their stores.
Right is Right and Wrong is WRONG!

Save those receipts people!
I smell a class action lawsuit.

New IPC $1.35 off Fiber One Chocolate Mocha Bars

2009-04-16T13:56:00.000-07:00

Send me a email at southernthriftdiva at yahoo dot com with subject line - COUPON
and I will email you a link where you can print out (2) $1.35/1 coupons for a box of Fiber One Chocolate Mocha Bars. They are just yummy!!

One of my little known hometown grocery stores, recently had these on sale BOGOFree for $2.99. I used 2 coupons and got both boxes for 29 cents oop!!

and the best thing is .. My kids Don't like them!! so they're mine all mine!! LOL ok, my hubby Does like them too, as well as the other grown ups in the house. lol.

Typical Rant

2009-04-07T09:20:00.000-07:00

I mentioned earlier that my kids find it insanely funny when I say "You kids are driving me crazy and people online can tell." The truth is, People offline can tell as well. Sometimes I'm in such a rush to get 5 kids dressed and out the door, I run off forgetting to put on normal sneakers and catch myself wearing my house slippers. LOL. I've only been a sneaker wearing person for the past few months. I almost miss my 4 inch heels. I don't miss chasing a toddler in 4 inch heels tho. That's the reason I quit wearing my heels all the time.

I hear "aunt nay nay" at least a thousand times a day. Its as if they (the children) cannot say anything if they don't put "aunt nay nay" in front of it. AHHHHH!!!

Its been sleeting this morning, a little bit of snow - not much, So the kids are stuck inside. I just fixed lunch, which was veggie soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. Now I'm trying to find all the materials for some craft activity, in hopes of at least keeping the older kids busy. They drive me crazy more than the little ones do!!

I haven't been shopping in 4 weeks!!
I so wanted to go shopping today, but not sure its such a good idea since my "Babysitter" (aka hubby) has found a lot of work to do outside of the house. Normally I could ask my SIL or my other female housemate to babysit, but they found jobs and are currently working at 2 of the stores I want to go shopping at. Taking the kids with me is sooooo not what I want to do. If we didn't have enough food to last another month, I would be shopping, but we do - so I'm not going to inflict any suffering on myself.

I guess we will make some paper today. We haven't done that in a while. Recycle old paper to make new paper. Now I just need to find some lint! You know, that stuff my sanity is hanging by?! LOL.

Lata

Kroger Deals 03.29 - 04.04

2009-03-29T23:43:00.000-07:00

These are just some good deals I found in the Kroger Sales Circular today and then matched up the corresponding coupons. I live in Ga and my Kroger is in the Southeast Region, so My sale may not be your sale if you do not also live in this region.

- Fritos on sale 2/$4 - use $1/2 home mailer coupon that came in the "my magazine" that kroger sends out - Pay $3 for 2 bags - decent price

- Del Monte Fruit Naturals Cups on sale 10/$10 (so $1 ea) - Get 2 - Use $1/2 Printable coupon (below) - Pay $1 for 2 cups (avgs 50 cents each)

- Bertolli Frozen Skillet Meals - On sale for $4.99 - Use $1.25 coupon from 03.15.09 RP -
Pay $3.24

- Land O Lakes Butter - On sale 2/$4 - Use (2) 50c/1 coupons from 03.29.09 SS (they double) - Pay $2/2

- Gortons Fish - On sale $3.99 - Use (1) 40c/1 coupon from 03.01.09 SS (It doubles to 80c/1) - Pay $3.19

- Pillsbury Grands - On sale 4 for $5 - Use (4) 30c/1 coupons from 02.08.09 GM (doubles to 60c/1) - Pay $2.60/4

- Sargento Salad Finishers - On sale 2/$4 - Use (2) $1/1 Coupons from 03.15.09 SS - Pay $2/2

Stuff on sale w/o coupon matchups

- Kroger brand wheat or white bread - 78 cents
- Kroger orange juice - $2.48
- pictsweet veggies/kroger brand veggies 10/$10
- Kroger brand 8ct Hamburger or hot dog buns - $1.19 ea
- 2 Liter Dr Pepper - On sale Buy 4 (for $5) get 2 free - So 6 bottles averages 84 cents each

Printable Coupons for deals above -

- $1/2 Fruit naturals cups http://www.fruitundressed.com/offers/

How to make time for everything

2009-03-23T19:09:00.000-07:00

Personally, I think it's easier to manage all that has to be done, when you have 10 additional people living in your house besides your own family. I'm asked the question "How do you do it all?" quite often. In the beginning it wasn't easy, but is anything in life thats worth doing - easy?

There's 17 people living in our 4 bedroom house. Our living room and dining room no longer exist. Out of necessity (and mainly because we had no furniture in those rooms anyway) we turned them into bedrooms, so technically we now have 6 bedrooms. Our house is 3900 sq feet and I think the utmost hardest "hardship" is that our 3rd bathroom needs a complete plumbing overhaul, so we only have 2 bathrooms and both of them are on the second floor of the house.

If "it all" were housework alone, things would be a breeze. But since we live on a farm, having extra hands is really needed to help us out anyway (especially since we are new to this farming life, its like the blind leading the blind HA!). and now that we have added a garden that needs tending daily, thats even more work.

My point is - It's impossible to make time to do everything every day.

I reason it out like this - Laugh at your own mistakes, try your best at everything you do, the kids always come first but within reason (or my sanity WOULD suffer) and recognize that even GOD couldn't do it all in one day, thats why there are 7 of them in a week.

My bed is calling me .. oh wait, I think its my husband.
He can just suffer. LOL. I need to go shopping tomorrow, so I'm going to bounce over to HTSFF and see what deals can be had with what coupons.

lata!

8 Free Samples & MakeOver at Sephora March 21st Only!!

2009-03-21T00:32:00.000-07:00

This is for In Store only. Go into any Sephora (excludes Sephora inside JC Penneys) with a copy of email (Click Here) and get a Free Beauty MakeOver Plus 8 Free Organic Samples.

Or Use code GONATURAL at sephora.com and get the envelope of freebies with ANY purchase.

Free Thomas Wooden Train @ TRU 03.21 & 03.22.09 Only

2009-03-20T23:26:00.000-07:00

Go grab a free Thomas & pals wooden train from Toys R Us - Today (March 21st) and Sunday (March 22nd, 2009) ONLY.

http://trus.imageg.net/graphics/coupon/927219.pdf?EDID=PQDXT1-NS2PJ-HIEZCF-ZBA6NE-THM6N-v1

Available In Store Only.

What? Where? How? Who Cares!

2009-03-20T13:07:00.000-07:00

Its not always easy to post messages when you have a sick kid at home.
I have one child that I'm raising, who is plagued by a few chronic conditions, some of which can be life threatening and others that are not. This past sunday, one of her chronic conditions almost killed her. This led to a 4 day stay at the hospital and a lot of praying on my part. She had not been feeling well for days before her illness exploded, which left little time for my online hobbies. Especially since "she" is just one of five children in my care ( 6 if I include my hubby who is a big kid himself).

My 2 yr old is still in his potty training phase. I'm almost out of bribes and ideas, and I'm seriously thinking that sending him to school in diapers IS an option. LOL and just think .. he's not the last child who has to be potty trained as I also have a 9 month old who may be starting school in diapers as well one day.

Whose Grand Idea was it to start kids as young as 3 yrs old in this state, in a pre - pre kindergarten class? Whom ever it was must have been CHILDLESS!! or insane. Take your pick. maybe even both.

ahh its just 4:30pm and I am exhausted.
Now its time to go make dinner.
Perhaps I'll get time to catch up on some deals of the week, later.

Organizing Our "Web/eBay" Rooms

2009-03-13T14:44:00.000-07:00

Some could say we were spring cleaning, but the truth is, We are trying to organize our storage rooms better. We have a 3 car garage, thats packed full of items to be put on our website DownSouthThrift or on eBay. and thats not including all the stuff packed in to 2 60x20 storage trailers sitting beside our house. Keep in mind that our 3 car garage has never had a car be parked in it before, shortly after it was built - it was used for a huge storage room. We have even bought Clothes racks just to put INSIDE the garage. LOL.

We recently sold a bunch of items on our BOGO Storefront which made us very happy :)

Last night we started a 3rd sub store called our Early Sales Store - Items found on our new sub store have yet to be placed on our website, Some items may be there for 2 weeks or less, just depending on how much we have to do each day with the farm. There's currently just 2 of us working on the website, which the new webstore will be re-opened Monday March 16th and already has 300+ items listed.

I know people have asked me why I haven't posted on my blog lately, and this is the reason. My shopping has been put on hold because I promised my SIL I would get her website back up and running. Put that on top of everything else I have to do every day and something has to be put on the back burner. It's not like my pantry is bare or anything - It could use a break. LOL. My Huge Pantry/Laundry room is Jam packed FULL. I have vowed not to go shopping again for my family until the end of this month.

I did go shopping Monday Just for my Church's Food Pantry. I Bought $211.32 worth of Groceries and Paid $38.97 oop after coupons. Yay!!

What are we having for dinner?

2009-03-05T15:02:00.000-08:00

I decided to clear out 8 of the free bags of Green Giant Veggies, from my freezer. I got them free by using coupons and combined with a Publix BOGO sale. I had thought about making some stir fry (as its one of the kids favorites) but decided on making a huge pot of veggie soup instead. The tomato paste and cans of tomatoes added into the soup, were also free after coupons and on sale at walgreens (or was it rite aid? I can't remember). I added a little rock salt, to bring out the flavor.

I spent 2 hours this morning, making cheese biscuits. The cheese was my own, just shredded. The milk that went into the biscuits came from our cow (we live on a farm). I might have spent 80 cents on the shortening and $1.20 on the flour (we buy 10LB bags for $4 at a local grocery store "on sale") Just to be safe, I figure the whole meal will cost $3.85 (after the few shakes of the spice jars in the soup and cream of tarter in the biscuits.

Not all of our meals to feed 15 people (2 are infants on formula, so I don't count them) are this cheap. But I love it when they are!!

Super Cheap Diaper Deal Next Week at Wags

2009-03-02T17:03:00.000-08:00

If you're like me, and have 3 children who all wear diapers living in your house, you love the super cheap diaper deals.

Next week starting on Sunday March 8th - Walgreens will be having a new Register Rewards Program. Buy $25 in Huggies products and Get a $10 RR (Register Reward).

Jumbo Packs of Huggies will be on sale for $10.
There's coupons out there, some have been mailed to me from Huggies.
Others you can print at coupons.com
1 coupon is save $5 on any Gentle Care diaper product
1 coupon is save $3 on any Natural fit diaper product
You can print each coupon twice by hitting your back button.

My scenario is to buy 3 packs of diapers
2 Jumbo Gentle care (I've only seen these go up to a size 2) for $10 each - so $20/2
1 Jumbo Natural fit for $10 - so $30 Total
Use 2 $5.00 (gentle care) coupons & 1 $3.00 natural fit for $13.00 off ( $17. total)
Receive $10 RR - So it will be like I paid $7.00 for 3 jumbo packs of huggies (or $2.34 each)

Thats a super deal for premium diapers and I'm running low with 5 packs left from the last super diaper deal at wags. LOL so start stocking up on your coupons now!!

Many Thanks to My Friend Ashli in KS for telling me about this!!
Much love to ya Lady :)

Home Improvement Thrifty Style

2009-03-02T15:54:00.000-08:00

We live in a OLDDDD "Fixer upper" house.
and when I say "Old" it was built back in 1907.
(Yes you read that right, nineteen oh seven)
It's 102 years old and just full of problems.

We have made many improvements on our house since moving in. The first thing we did was add solar panels to the new roof we had put on, and wired the top floor of the house to run mainly on solar power. That took us a few months, because we did most of the laborous work ourselves. The actual wiring was done by a certified electrician at a discounted rate of $35 per hour instead of the normal $50 per hour Rate, because we also gave him a 4wheeler that needed some minor repairs.

Before we could get to re-wiring the bottom half of the house - Tragedy struck our family and our plans got put on the back burner.

This past week we received a phone call from Eddie - the electrician who had done our re-wiring, and he offered us an even bigger discounted rate to finish the rest of the re-wiring for $20 an hour. Needless to say, we jumped at the offer and started getting ready to finish getting our house on total solar power.

Then we hit another road block - As soon as the holes were cut, where we wanted our 3 prongs outlets (since 95% of the main floor outlets were just 2 prongs and maybe one to two outlets per room), we discovered that there was ZERO insulation in our walls!!!! No wonder we have been burning so much wood!!

My husband and I had to think fast, we don't have a lot of money to re-do our entire main floor, but could we really continue to live with no insulation in our walls? A friend of ours sold us 6 rolls of pink insulation she had left over from a project, so she gave us a super cheap deal at $50 for all 4 rolls (retail for $40 each). But that was just enough to do 2 rooms!! My husband went to where a few houses were scheduled to be demolished and talked to the owner of the property, to tell him a little about our dilema. The owner asked my husband how much money he had in his wallet, and my hubby pulled out $50. So For $50 my husband and brother were given full access to take anything out of 2 houses, that we could use in our own home.

Talk about a JOB!!
I helped out some, with taking down paneling and loading it on our truck. I let the guys deal with the pink insulation (because its super itchy if you get it on your skin), they also removed 6 windows (casings and all - I have no idea how they did it).

It took us all week - but its finally done!!
We had to remove the plank wood walls in all 12 rooms.
Put up the pink fiberglass insulation that we have recycled, in all 12 rooms.
Had our super cheap electrician set us up with NEW 3 prong outlets, so now each room has at least 4-5 outlets (we're finally grounded!!).
Instead of replacing the plank wood walls, that looked extremely country or "shabby chic", and deciding we couldn't afford drywall - We recycled the paneling we got from the houses destined for destruction.
Then we bought discounted paint at $3 a can in various neutral colors and painted the paneling.

We painted the last room at 3pm today and now we are done :)
Yay!!
Total cost for the electrician and all the extras $396 - with $260 of the cost being just for the electrician. I feel it was money well spent since our power bill was $315 just last month, and that was JUST for the main floor level of the house.

Where to Find Coupon Inserts For FREE

2009-02-22T09:00:00.000-08:00

When you're just starting this saving money game, It's important that you get the coupons out of the newspapers. Some stores do not accept coupons printed off the internet. It's up to you, to call and ask your local stores if they do accept internet printable coupons (IP/IPC).

I usually buy a lot of newspapers every sunday, just for the coupons inside. Since I can only read one paper, I take the other newspapers to the ER waiting room at our local hospital. The price I pay for the newspapers comes out of my weekly grocery budget. So If I buy 10 newspapers at $2 each, I subtract $20 from my grocery budget of $110. - That leaves me with $90 to buy groceries for 17 people.

Places Where You Can Find Inserts For Free -
- Call and ask your local convenience stores if they will let you get the coupon inserts, before they close on Sunday night. I have more than a few friends who get multiples of inserts from their local convenince stores. I personally don't have any stores near me, who have any papers left over, so I don't get free inserts this way. It doesn't hurt to call and ask tho, all they can say is no.

- Newspaper recycling bins - I've found a lot of inserts at my local trash compactor site, just by snooping threw the newspapers inside the big bins.

- Your neighbors recycling boxes - If you live in a town that offers recycling, they give their customers special designated recycling "boxes". I've jumped out of my car just to pilfer threw many a recycling boxes in the city, when I see them sitting on the curb. LOL and have found a treasure trove of free inserts. My 2 oldest neices love helping me pilfer for free inserts. or you could just ask your neighbors if they are going to use their coupons and if not, could you have them.

- Anywhere there's a sunday newspaper - Coffee houses, Your local library, etc. Just look to see if the inserts are inside the paper and viola - free coupons.

Where there's a will, there's a way.

I also have several family members who give me the coupon inserts that came in their newspapers. Every little bit helps, when you have 17 people living under one roof.

Saturday Morning Survey's

2009-02-21T05:11:00.000-08:00

Every Saturday Morning, after the kids are fed and are doing their saturday morning rituals (watching cartoons while playing for the 2 & 3 yr old, Playing computer games for the 9 & 14 yr olds, The baby is taking her "mid morning" nap since she's up at 4am) - I sit down with a glass of sweet tea and earn myself a little pocket money, by filling out survey's and clicking my "paid to read" emails.

I've had a lot of people ask me if I thought filling out survey's is worth it.
My answer is always the same.
It's worth it to me because every little bit helps in this economy.

I miss working outside of the home. My husband and I cannot see spending over $300 a week in child care for 3 kids ages 3 and under, if I tried to go back to work. It would be like I was working just to pay taxes and child care.

My Saturday morning ritual means I can make anywhere from $10 & up.
Not all of the survey's I answer pays out in cash, some pay out in points that accumulate into gift cards. The way I see it - Money is Money, Honey.
If you're interested in getting set up with filling out survey's for reputable companies, I would LOVE to send you a referral. Just email me at loveydovey36 at gmail dot com
I get a few points for referring people.

Last month I cashed out of one of my survey places for a $50 CVS Gift Card, after accumulating enough points from survey's. Then I received 5 $3.00 checks and a bigger check for $46.00 from another place. That's $61 in cash which averages to be $14.00 a week (Not including the $50 GC because it did take longer than one month to accumulate the points for it).

It takes approximately 3 months to receive a check with the "paid to read email" places.
Back at Christmas, I cashed out at all 3 places and received almost $100 combined. That really helped us with buying christmas toys for 5 kids plus our secret santa fund.
You can click one of the 3 square banners on the left, to sign up. I'm actually involved with 5 places now, that pays me to read their emails. 2 of them do not provide banners for my blog, and I am still accumulating cash in my account before I cash out. All of them require minimal effort.

My ultimate advice BEFORE you sign up for survey's OR "Paid to read" emails is - Create a seperate email account, Just for these activities. They do generate a fair amount of email, and you won't have to worry about receiving too much mail in your personal email account.

Just like Most people Know my yahoo email as being SouthernThriftDiva - That's not the email account associated with my surveys or P2R emails. Keeping things seperate has helped me out a lot.

The picture up top, is actual checks that I have received for filling out survey's. They've been edited to conceal my mailing address and other information I found pertinent to keeping info confidential. They're not recent checks, just some I had taken back before grape jelly found its way smeared all over my lens and camera (Thats what tore up my last digicam)

CVS paid me to shop 02.19.09

2009-02-19T21:29:00.000-08:00

1st Transaction
- 2 Gillette shampoos ($4.99ea)- $9.98
- 3 Suave Body Wash ($2ea) - $6.00
- 2 Neutrogena Facial Bars ($2.99ea) - $5.98
Sub total $21.96
with 7% tax - $23.50

Coupons Used
- 2 Gillette ($2/1) - $4.00
- 1 CRT suave $3/2
- 1 Suave $1.50/3
- 1 $4/$20 CVS coupon
coupon total $12.50
used $10.00 ecb's
paid $ 1.00 oop

ECB's Earned-
$6.00 Gillette
$2.00 Suave
$10.00 Neutrogena
$18.00 total ecb's earned
------------------
2nd Transaction-
- 2 Natural Dentist mouthwash ($9.99ea) - $19.98
- 1 one touch monitor $19.99
- 2 Stayfree pads ($3.99ea) - $7.98
sub total $47.95
w/7% tax $51.31

Coupons Used--
$10/30 CVS Q - $10.00-
2 - $2/1 Natural Dentist Q's - $4.00
- $19.99 one touch monitor
- $3.99 (Bogo Q) Stayfree MQ
- $2.00 CRT Stayfreetotal $39.98
Used $ 8.99 ecb's
Paid $2.35 oop

ECB's Earned --
$ 8.00 Natural Dentist Mouthwash
$4.00 Stayfree
$12.00 total ecb's earned

** Plus there's a $10 Rebate for the natural dentist mouthwash I'll use and it will make both bottles free.
** Here's the pdf link for the $2/1 manf Q for the mouthwash
http://thenaturaldentist.com/site/images/stories/documents/tnd_2off_webcoupon53109.pdf

I plan on going again tomorrow to finish up my limit of some of the deals, plus i still have approx $24 in ecb's to roll before they expire. I spent $3.35 out of pocket (oop) Then rolled $18.99 of my ecb's. Made $30 in ecb's as a profit, so overall it was a pretty good shopping trip. Another one of those "CVS paid me to shop" deals.

Nay :)

I'll trade you some cheese for .. what do you have?

2009-02-19T08:33:00.000-08:00

This may or may not be known amongst the masses, but my husband and I own a fairly nice size piece of property. We live in the "boondocks" in North Georgia and have a few neighbors who practice a homesteading lifestyle. We have a small farm with a couple dozen different animals, and the homesteading lifestyle has woven its way into my veins. I have developed a lot of new practices, that not only save me and my family money, but the environment as well.

One of my newest practices is - I have developed an intense need to make my own cheese, these past few months. Don't be shocked! We have a cow. moooo. But now that I have continually been making my own cheese, we have built up quite the collection. It was a little rocky in the beginning, but after my first few tries, I have gotten much better.

Yesterday I did my first trade and am quite pleased with myself. A neighbor of ours traded us a 20 pound bag of white potatoes and a venison roast for a 6LB hunk of cheese (which was approximately 1/5th of the whole wheel of cheese (as its a fairly big size). My husband wasn't as pleased about our trade, but our family can only eat so much cheese before we are tired of it. The kids aren't even screaming for mac n cheese as much as they did a few months ago. Which is funny since our first real batch of cheese was devoured in one day.

I'm to the point that if I can trade some cheese for some laying hens, veggies, fruit, venison, duck, or basically anything that we can use - I am going to do it. Why? For the simple fact that when you have over 20 wheels of cured cheese, all of which weigh anywhere from 15 - 30 pounds each, (Cured between 60 - 150 days) you have a lot of bartering power. Most of our cheese is considered "mild cheddar". and since I made these free from any dyes or additves (such as hormones) - they are much more healthy. All are a creamy white color (with a smidge of yellow mixed in - not a bright white). But like I said, we can only eat so much cheese.

I still have 9 wheels in the early curing stages. All are different varieties of herb cheeses.
When I get some more time, I'll post some cheese recipes, for those who might want to try their hand at making their own cheese. It's very rewarding and yummy!

(The picture up top is not a picture of my cheese wheels, but is one I borrowed from rock hill cheese.com - click the picture and visit their online store. I'll only be bartering locally and probably just amongst my neighbors who live off the grid. Oh! and we currently cannot afford another digital camera until after our 9yr olds birthday at the end of april. It will be our 6th camera in 2 years. because of little hands.)

Kroger Trip 02.11.09

2009-02-12T14:19:00.000-08:00

The deals just didn't seem that good to me this week at Kroger, So I got very little (or what's little for us. lol could be a lot for someone else.) I actually did the same transaction twice, once for myself and once for my SIL.

Here's what I got yesterday -

8 boxes Honey Nut Cheerios (on sale @ $1.67 ea) - $13.36
6 of the smallish cans of Manwich BBQ (on sale 88c/1) - $5.28
1 Box of Ritz Crackers ( on sale $2.68 ea) - $2.68
3 Cans of Chef Boyardee (on sale 88c ea) - $2.64
18 items Sub Total $23.96

Coupons Used-
8 (50c/1 dbld $1/1) Honey Nut Cheerios SS 01.18.09 - $8.00
3 (50c/2 dbld $1/2) Manwich sauce 01.18.09SS - $3.00
1 ($2.68) Ritz Coupon for Free Item (From Kraft Game) - $2.68
3 (35c/3 doubled 70c/3) Chef boyardee (01.04.09 SS) - $0.70
Coupon total $14.38 plus
Store promotion minus $3.00
Savings/Coupon Total $17.38

Total oop $6.58 plus tax

Ok, we go threw 4 boxes of cereal for just one breakfast, at my house - So I paid 67 cents for each box of honey nut cheerios so it's $5.36 for 8 boxes after coupons (or $2.68 per breakfast for 15 people, 16 including our guest). The Manwich, Ritz & chef boyardee were all part of the buy 10 get $3.00 off promotion, so Thats where the "store promotion" $3.00 comes from. The ritz was a IPC that was sent to me part of the Kraft Game, so a free box of crackers. The manwich ended up being 38 cents a can after the coupon, or 8 cents a can after the 30 cents from the stores promotion came off. The chef boyardee was $1.04 for all 3 cans after the 70 cents on 3 cans coupon & the 30 cents each can (90 cents off 3) came off, that averages out to be 35 cents a can minus 2 pennies. Paying $6.58 oop (out of pocket) was pretty good for 18 items. I was fairly pleased.

My total for 2 transactions was $13.56 including tax (for 36 items)

Free Long Distance Call on V-Day

2009-02-12T05:52:00.000-08:00

1-800-FREE411 is offering a free 10 minute call on Valentines day.
Call the number and choose the free long distnace call on the automatic operator menu that comes on when you first call.

Free Printable Coloring Pages

2009-02-11T02:31:00.000-08:00

The land of Free Printable Coloring Pages!
I've printed a lot of pages, for my little ones to color, from this site.

Color Mountain

Free Games You Can Play Online

2009-02-11T02:07:00.000-08:00

Here's a Game you can play online for free.

Show Dog

ShowDog is a one of a kind online dog game that gives you the chance to manage a kennel of show dogs.
You choose from 180 different breeds; whether it be Great Dane, Beagle, or Poodle, there is a breed for you. Watch and manage them as they grow from a puppy to a national champion!
Choose to enter your dogs in all-breed, specialty shows, or both. Each judge has their own standards and preferences regarding a "true" champion. Do you wish to use a handler to show your dog or handle him or her yourself? Do you want to focus on one breed or numerous breeds? It is all up to you! How well your kennel performs is up to you and the decisions you make.
You are the breeder, owner, handler, trainer, and groomer of your show dogs. You get to manage and budget the rations of food your dogs receive, how you breed your dogs, which shows you enter, and much, much more.
ShowDog.com has something for everyone. Whether you've been showing real dogs for years, have never shown a dog in your life, or even have never owned a real animal, this game is fun, challenging, and a unique experience.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Nay :)

Learn A New Language - Free!

2009-02-11T01:49:00.000-08:00

Have you ever wanted to learn a new language but didn't have the money to do so? Well you're in luck! I stumbled across this website while looking for resources to teach to my 14 & 9 yr olds as a part of their homeschooling elective activities. They both would like to learn our ancestor's language of German.

All Free Resources either come in pdf or MP3 formats.

They offer free courses in Arabic, Chinese, Czech, Dutch, French, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Native American Languages & More

Click Here!

Make Your Own Bath Bombs

2009-02-10T22:18:00.000-08:00

Me and the 2 oldest Girls (ages 9 & 14) made our own Bath Bombs today after following the directions on this video. Enjoy!

Nay :)

Free 1yr Subscription - Body+Soul Magazine

2009-02-09T00:36:00.000-08:00

You have to sign up for/or be a rewardsgold member, to receive this magazine but membership is free.

Click Here if you want to receive a 1year subscription to Body+Soul Magazine

Free Subscription of Plenty the ECO friendly Magazine

2009-02-09T00:26:00.000-08:00

Get a 1yr subscription.

Every issue of Plenty brings you the world in green. From the latest in clean tech, to new advances in sustainable design and cutting edge eco fashions, Plenty will take you inside the modern green revolution.

Here

Why should you Donate Food?

2009-01-24T16:06:00.000-08:00

I know times are tough.
The economy is bad and we are all feeling it.
Prices are going up at the supermarket, the drug stores and I don't even have to mention the gas stations. People are losing their jobs, their homes and everything they own. All of that combined will make a person lose their dignity.

It's a rough life when you lose it all.
What's even more rough, is when the soup kitchen or food pantry has nothing to offer to a hungry American. Don't be one of those people who says "it can't happen to me." because it can.

If you're one of the lucky ones who hasn't lost it all, you can still help those who have, by donating $5.00 of food a week. The food pantry nearest to you, needs your donations.

I donate food every week, and a lot more than $5 worth. I've seen the lines of people waiting around the block to get a hot meal. I know those people. They are my friends, They were my neighbors, They are the people I pray with. Just because they are victims of the bad economy does not make them any less of a human being.

Target - Smartones Deal

2009-01-20T17:37:00.000-08:00

Here in GA - Target Has The weight watchers Smartones meals on sale 4/$7.00

Here's a couple of scenarios to get the best deals.

Scenario #1 -
Buy 4 for $7.00
Use the $2/4 coupons that came out 10.19.08 SS
and pay $5.00 for 4 boxes - averages $1.25 each - Cheap!!

Scenario #2 - (The one I would do. lol) -

Buy 20 @ $7/4 = $35.00
Use 5 of the $2/4 coupons - $10.00
Use 4 of the IPC $1/5 - $5.00
Coupons total to be $15.00 off of $35.00 making them $1.00 each.
So you would pay $20 for 20 meals!! - Super Cheap!!

Without using the $1/5 IP - 20 meals would average $1.25 each - The only reason I did the 2nd scenario was to use the $1/5 IPC

Here's the IP to print
http://offers.eatyourbest.com/Coupon/
You do have to sign up to receive the coupon. I have not done this yet, nor printed any coupons because I have to see if I have room in my freezers for 20 boxes of instameals. Which is not something I normally buy.

hth-
Nay :)

IPC $1 off Over The Moon Milk

2009-01-20T17:34:00.000-08:00

Here's a printable coupon for $1.00 on a half gallon of Over The Moon Milk.

http://www.overthemoonmilk.com/coupons/Default.aspx

hth-

Nay :)

Publix Trip 01.13.09

2009-01-14T01:58:00.000-08:00

I stopped at Publix after my trip to wags.

I got -
- 6 Fiber One Toaster Pastries (Bogof $2.29/2) - $6.87
- 4 Special K Bliss Bars (Bogof $3.19/2) - $6.38
- 6 boxes Special K Cereal (bogof $3.99/2) - $11.97
- 6 boxes Rice a Roni ( Bogof $1.65/2) - $4.95
- 6 boxes Pasta Roni (Bogof $1.65/2) - $4.95
- 10 LBS Pork Chops @ $1.89lb - $18.90
- 6 boxes Nestle Cocoa (bogof $1.99/2) - $5.97
- 4 - 4lb bags florida oranges (2/$4) - $8.00
- 2 - 5lb bags Red Grapefruit (2/$5) - $5.00
- 8 Pillsbury Grands Biscuits (4/$5) - $10.00
- 6 - 16oz Bags of Publix Brand Salad (99c/1) - $5.94
64 items - sub total $88.93

Coupons Used -

- 6 ($1/1) Fiber one toaster Pastries - $6.00
- 2 ($2/2) Special K Bliss - $4.00
- 6 ($1/1) Special K Cereal - $6.00
- 4 ($1/3) Rice or Pasta a Roni - $4.00
- 3 ($1/2) Nestle cocoa - $3.00
- 8 ($1/1) Grands biscuits - $8.00
coupons total $31.00
Total w/o tax $57.93

I can't remember where I got the fiber one coupons, I think it was from samples awhile back, they expire in June of 09 but decided I would go ahead and use them and get 2 boxes for 29 cents times 3 lol (87 cents for all 6 boxes). The special K bliss bar coupons came from the package, my SIL had bought a few boxes last week and all the boxes had the $2/2 coupons inside. On sale bogof getting 2 boxes bliss bars for $1.19 aint bad. The special K Cereal coupon made it around $1 each after the bogofree, we go through a lot of cereal here at 4 boxes for one breakfast. The pasta & rice a roni avgs out to be 49 cents a box after coupons. The cocoa is a good deal at 50 cents a box minus a penny. You should see how big the package of pork chops was, it will be enough for a couple of meals maybe even 3. I have a lot of frozen fruit but just had to splurge and get some citrus. Thats the one fruit that doesn't freeze well for me. I fix a lot of home made biscuits but with the pillsbury grands being on sale 4/$5 and having $1/1 coupons from the pillsbury booklets that I received recently, its just cheaper to buy the grands biscuits at 25 cents a can. w00t!! Great Price. I actually spent less than I had planned on. I sent my SIL to get a list of items sunday and she spent $6 oop and saved $75.xx lol. I got some of the same stuff like the grands and fiber one toaster pastries, but also a lot of stuff that wasn't bought when she shopped. Out of the 64 items I bought each one averages at 91 cents each since I paid $57.93 oop not including tax at publix.

I think I did great overall, to get a lot of items that had no coupons.
woohoo!!

Walgreens Trip 01.13.09

2009-01-14T01:49:00.000-08:00

I had to go into town yesterday to stock up on some more of these deals.

I got -
- 4 boxes Equal (sale 2/$5) - $10.00
- 4 Quaker Oats (Sale bogof $2.79/2) - $5.58
- 6 Oust air sanitizers ( sale Bogof $3.79/2) - $11.37
- 4 Revlon emery boards (sale bogof $1.99/2) - $3.98
- 2 Peter Pan peanut Butter (Bogofree) - $3.49
- 7 - 12pks Diet Pepsi & Sierra Mist ($3ea) - $21.00
27 items - sub total $55.42

Coupons Used-
- 4 ($2.50/1) Equal - $10.00
- 4 (60c/1) Quaker oats - $2.40
- 3 BOGOF Oust coupons - $11.37
- 4 ($1/1) Revlon Tool coupons - $4.00
- 2 ($1/1) Peter Pan PB - $2.00
Coupons total $29.77
Total w/o tax $25.65

If I subtract the $10 RR - its like I paid $15.65

RR's Earned
- $10.00 - Pepsi product 12 packs

The equal sweetener was free, they didn't have many boxes left so I only got 4 instead of getting them all. After getting almost 50 of the round boxes of Quaker Oats free from krogers sale back in November, we're almost out so I spent 80 cents on each this time, since they're BOGOF. I know a hundred ways to fix oatmeal, so this comes in handy. The bogofree oust coupons combined with the bogofree sale means I got all 6 cans of oust air sanitizers free!! The Revlon emery boards are on sale bogofree at $1.99 for 2, so I used 4 coupons at $1 off each and got them all free. The peter pan coupons came to me in a envie of coupons I bought from a seller on HCW. I have 2 more $1/1 of those coupons so I'll probably go back and get more cheap pb. minus $2 off the $3.49 bogo price and that leaves $1.49 - so you may as well say I paid 75 cents for each jar!! The pepsi 12 packs are on sale buy 5 for $15 get back $5 RR in the flyer, But I opted for the month long deal of Buy $20 in pepsi/frito products get back $10 RR - so it's like I paid $1.42 per 12 pack.

Walgreens Deals 01.11.09 - 01.17.09

2009-01-11T02:44:00.000-08:00

I'm sitting here planning on what I'm going to get at Walgreens today.
I've already been to the store to get my Newspapers & Coupons.
There's a few things that work out to be Free & Cheap!!
And those are my 2 favorite words - Free & Cheap!!

- Equal Sweetener is on sale 2/$5.00 with in ad coupon - Last week we got coupons for $2.50 off equal - Use 2 coupons and get 2 boxes FREE!!

- Quaker Oats is on sale BogoFree $2.79/2 with in ad coupon - Use two 60c/1 coupons and pay $1.59 for 2 boxes. Cheap!!

- Oust Air Sanitizer is on sale BogoFree $3.79/2 - Use One BogoFree Coupon and get both for FREE!!

- Hall's cough drops are on sale 99 cents with in ad coupon - use one 50c/1 coupon and get a bag for just 49 cents - Cheap!!

If you can wait a month to get your money back from Walgreens easy saver rebates -

- Oragel Cold Sore medicine is on sale for $8.49 - Use a $1 coupon and get a $8.49 easy saver rebate - You'll get all of your money back making this Free with a $1 MM (money maker)

- Revlon Color Matte Lipstick is on Sale $7.99 - Use a $2 off coupon and Get $7.99 easy saver rebate - This makes it Free plus a $2 MM

Its up in the air as to whether I will get the easy saver rebate deals.
Right now I'm planning on getting 7 items for $1.99 plus tax.
Pretty good deals if you ask me.

Want to find deals like this and more?
Join me on Refund Cents.
http://refundcents.com/index.asp?RefID=FMCB
it's $4 for a 3 month online subscription or
$8 for a 3 month print magazine subscription plus online access.

Be Safe From Coupon Fraud - Check Out The CIC

2009-01-11T01:01:00.000-08:00

This has been a recent topic in a group I'm in (SavingBucks ) regarding a potential fraudulent coupon going around. All we can do to protect ourselves and the stores we shop at, is ask questions and check with The CIC found here. Also known as The Coupon Information Center.

Being frugal and saving money by using coupons is not a crime, unless you knowingly use a bogus coupon. Many manufacturers are refusing to allow their coupons to be printed online because of the problems they have had in the past with coupons being altered and passed around in .pdf forms.

Here's some signs to look for when you come across a coupon in a .pdf
Some of these will help you determine if the coupon is bogus -

- Is the coupon fuzzy and hard to read?
- Is the coupon missing vendor security features?
- Is the wording on the coupon have misspelled words?

Those are just 3 questions you can ask yourself when looking at a coupon you want to print from the internet. If you answered yes to just one question, save your ink. Its a bogus coupon and probably won't scan at the register.

Just remember the old saying " If it looks too good to be true - it probably is."

Using bogus/fraudulent coupons is the same as stealing and you can be arrested for it.
So stay safe and be aware that not every coupon you see online is the real deal.

FREE Vitamins @ CVS

2008-12-30T16:14:00.000-08:00

Use this $2/1 coupon on the Natures Bounty Vitamins that are on sale BOGOF at CVS ($4.39 - $4.99 each) use one coupon for each bottle, the one you are paying for and the one you're getting free. Do this once per transaction and get $3 back in ECB's

https://rewards.naturesbounty.com/cp/signup.aspx?RGD=6b76a81b-3752-41d8-84db-e1bddf3545e2&Path=signup&Step=signup

You can print twice and then go and sign up again using a different email addy. I've printed 24 coupons and got 24 bottles for a $2.01 profit after ecb's on each bogo (sets of 2)

Free Bottle of Suave January 14th

2008-12-30T12:42:00.000-08:00

Suave is giving every woman in america a free bottle of Suave on January 14th!!
Just go to http://www.suave.com/nomics/index.html on January 14th and get your free coupon for a free bottle of Suave!! Whoohooo!!

Coupon - Get $1 off 2 boxes of Uncle Bens Rice

2008-12-30T11:31:00.000-08:00

To get your $1.00/2 coupon - go to http://www.unclebens.com/coupons.aspx You will have to register on uncle bens but sometimes you can find uncle bens on sale BOGOF and using the coupons will make 2 boxes cheap!!
hth-

Nay :)

Chik Fil A Breakfast Giveaway January 1st, 2009

2008-12-30T10:22:00.000-08:00

http://www.chick-fil-a.com/breakfast/

January 1st 2009 - Chik Fil A is having a promotion where if you buy anything between the hours of 10:30am - 6pm - You can get a Free Chicken Biscuit on your next visit. * While Supplies Last.

Offer available only to legal U.S. residents of AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, MO, MS, NC, NH, NJ, NM, OH, OK, PA, SC, TN, TX, UT, VA, WI, WV, and WY. Limit one Offer per person, regardless of location and/or number of visits, while supplies last.

http://www.chick-fil-a.com/breakfast/

Publix Trip 12.28.08

2008-12-29T02:30:00.000-08:00

Since we live so far from town, I often combine my shopping trips to make the most of the gas in my vehicle. I stopped at Publix after my trip to CVS.

Here's what I got -

- 6 Knorr Pasta Sides (Bogof $1.49/2) - $4.47
- 10 Frosted Mini Wheats (Bogof $3.99/2) - $19.95
- 2 - A1 Sauces (Bogof $4.19/2) - $4.19
- 1 Bullseye BBQ - $2.49
- 2 Chex mix (bogofree) - $2.55
- 8 Pace salsa (Bogof $2.79/2) - $11.16
- 2 helluva good dips (sale 2/$3) - $3.00
- 2 Dole Distinctively salads (Bogof) - $3.99
- 1 Publix salad dressing (penny item) $0.01
34 items - sub total $51.81

Coupons Used -
- 2 Knorr Pasta Q's ($1/3) - $2.00
- 10 Frosted Mini Wheats Q ($1/1) - $10.00
- 2 A1 Q's ($1/1) - $2.00
- 1 publix (wyb 2 A1 sauce) Bullseye BBQ - $2.49
- 2 chex mix Q's (50c/1 doubled x's 2) - $2.00
- 8 Pace salsa ($1/1) - $8.00
- 1 helluva good Q - $1.00/2
- 1 cvs $3/$15 Q - $3.00
- 1 Dole distinctively Salad Free Q - $3.99
Coupons Total $34.48

Paid $17.33 plus tax oop

Overall not too bad for 34 items. I'll be going back again tuesday to get more mini wheats cereal (since we can go through 4 boxes for one breakfast, with the 15 non formula drinking people living here). Most of these items were to add to my stock pile.

Nay :)

CVS Shopping Trip - 12.28.08

2008-12-29T02:13:00.000-08:00

I had a few things I wanted to get at CVS this week. The sale on the big bottles of downy and tide were just 2 of the items. All in All, I think I did pretty good.

Here's what I got at CVS-

- 12 (Bogof $1.49/2) Dawn - $8.94
- 2 Colgate Total - ($2.99/1) - $5.98
- 1 Nova Max Monitor - $9.99
- 2 boxes Rice Krispie treats ($1.67/1) - $3.34
- 1 Tide - $5.88
- 1 Downy - $5.88
- 1 Right Guard Professional - $6.00
20 items - Sub Total $46.01

Coupons used -
- 12 Dawn Q's (50c/1) - $6.00
- 2 Colgate Total Q's ($1/1) - $2.00
- 1 Kelloggs Rice Krispie - $1.00/2
- 1 Tide Q - $1.00
- 1 Downy Q - $1.00
- 1 CVS $3/$15 - $3.00
coupons total $ 14.00

Total $32.01
Used $28.99 in ecb's
Paid $3.02 oop
(with tax i think it was almost $4 oop)

ECB's Earned-
- $4.00 ($2/1) Colgate Total
- $9.99 Nova Max Monitor
- $6.00 Right Guard professional (raincheck)
Got back $19.99 in ECB's
So it would have been like paying $12.02 oop after coupons & ecb's earned, not including the ecb's I did use to pay some of my oop. (I hope that's not confusing)

More than likely, I will be going back this week to get more raincheck items and perhaps another nova max monitor or two and possibly more free toothpaste! I donate the monitors to an area free medical clinic, so I usually get as many as I can when I have coupons that make them free, or in this case - ecb's that make them free.

Nay :)

Free Kids Activity Book from Lysol

2008-12-23T08:14:00.000-08:00

I got this in a email from Lysol.
My Kids love freebies as much as I do.
Says it takes 6-8 weeks for delivery.

Click Here

Nay :)

Xmas is almost here!!

2008-12-23T05:54:00.000-08:00

I think I am more excited than the kids about santa coming this Christmas. lol and truthfully, no adults in this house will be getting much from Santa, except to see some bright excited faces of all the children as they open up their presents xmas morning. With 12 children in the house, and all the presents I know Santa will be leaving, I wonder if we will even be able to see the tree xmas morning!!
At least I can say I am done shopping!!
No Last minute runs here and there. DONE!! YAY!!

All I want for Christmas is a Nap!!

$1 Printable Coupon - Arm & Hammer Essentials

2008-12-20T07:58:00.000-08:00

A&H has a $1 IP Coupon off their new Essentials cleaners, that will be free after ECB's tomorrow at CVS. Print 2 coupons off now and save $2 oop - which will make a $2 MM on 2 products after ECB's.

http://www.armandhammeressentials.com/coupons.aspx

hth-
Nay :)

Want to find deals like this and more?
Join me on Refund Cents.
http://refundcents.com/index.asp?RefID=FMCB
it's $4 for a 3 month online subscription or
$8 for a 3 month print magazine subscription plus online access.

Printable $1 Coupon - White Cloud TP

2008-12-20T07:27:00.000-08:00

Get your coupon for $1 off White Cloud Toilet Paper.
http://www.mywhitecloud.com/promotions.csp
You will have to register, but once you print one coupon, hit your back button and print the coupon again!!

This will come in handy when white cloud TP goes on sale. Of course I say print the coupon now, because when a sale does come around, the printable coupon could be gone.

hth-

Nay :)

Want to find deals like this and more?
Join me on Refund Cents.
http://refundcents.com/index.asp?RefID=FMCB
it's $4 for a 3 month online subscription or
$8 for a 3 month print magazine subscription plus online access.

Walmart's Clearence Items Make Thrifty Gifts

2008-12-18T10:02:00.000-08:00

I have been having a Blast Ordering from Walmarts Clearence section. Every day has been something new.

I Have ordered-
12 pairs of striped gloves @ 50c each.
10 Knit cuff beanies @ 50c each.
6 pr womens xmas socks @ $1 each
8 polar fleece scarfs @ 1 each
15 womens turtlenecks in asst colors/sizes @ $1 each
4 plus size tops for my mom @ $3 each

They even have slippers, kids fairy costumes, mens henley shirts, womens nightshirts and more at $3 each. there's way too much to list. LOL over 1400 items!!

Free Printable Xmas Tags

2008-12-18T08:24:00.000-08:00

Here's some free printable xmas tags from Big Pictures Scrapbooking.
These are a perfect thrifty idea to save a little dough for the holidays

Click Here

Getting Started

2008-12-04T18:51:00.000-08:00

Due to the economic down turn, My home has several families living within it's 3900 sq ft walls.
I would say that's what has made me thrifty, but it's not.

I love saving money. Period.
There's always something else we need to spend money on.

So when I come across a good deal, I buy a lot of it. It's what some call "Stockpiling". I keep saying I'm going to start a blog, I'm going to write about our homesteading lifestyle. But the truth is, My blog isn't going to be just about one thing. It's going to be about many.

From my shopping trips, places to find that killer cheap deal, Printable coupons and the ones that come in the mail, to freebies I find - Chances are it will be here.

Hope you enjoy :)