Last day of Harris Teeter Super Doubles, Food Lion and CVS

First trip was CVS.
2 Composition note books sale $.99 each-Free after ECB
1 carmel

total $2.46
Paid with $2 ecb
$.46 OOP and received $1.98 in ECB

Next door was Food Lion. I am frustrated with the fact that a few days ago there were sales signs in the Healthy Accents soap for $.99 and now they are not on sale. Of course I have 2 kids with me to do seperate orders and I can't figure this out until AFTER everyone pays $.62 for each one! I don't pay for soap! I am not sure if I will return it or not. BUT The sale sign said it was on sale until 7/28-it is so wrong when stores do this!

3 Healthy Accents soap ($1 HA flip) reg $1.64
3 Smart Taste Pasta ($1/1+$1 GS Flip) sale $1.39
1 FL apple Juice ($1 GS flip) reg $1.25
1 Muellers Jumbo Shells ($1 gs flip) reg $1.95
4 Bags of chips ($2/2 Q) reg $.99
2 Lays chips reg $.33

Paid $4.33
($17.20$13.00Q)


Went to Harris Teeter and did 2 seperate transactions for rebate reasons.

2 24 packs Deer Park Water ($1 peelies on the packages) sale BOGO $7.49

2 Sorrento Ricotta cheese ($1 WT) reg $2.99

14 Yoplait Yogurts ($.40/2) sale $.50

1 Wholly Salsa ($1/1Q) sale $1.50

2 Cheez Its ($1/2Q) sale BOGO $4.39/2

Total OOP $11.69

($32.67/$15.10Q)

Rebate for the water $5

Rebate for the crackers, cheese, salsa $10

Went back to HT because I had forgotten the coupons from this past weekends paper-I also got rainchecks for the things they were out of to use for the next super doubles.

2 Candy Bars ($1/2Q) reg $.95

20 Yoplait Yogurts ($.40/2Q) sale $.50

2 Muir Glen Tomatoes ($1 IPS) reg $2.19

1 DanActive smoothies ($1/1Q) sale $1.99

1 DanCrush yogurt ($1/1Q) sale $1.99

1 Activa Yogurts ($1/1Q) sale $1.99

Paid $2.69 oop

($26.49/$19.87Q)

Total YTD

Total OOP $1609.76

Total spent buying coupons $141.13(Extra papers + coupons from ebay)

Total saved $5820.83(coupons+gift cards used+ECB used)

CVS ECB -$1.98

Dilworth Coffee $16.89

total $18.87

Camping 7/24-7/26 Always have a backup plan

Kinda spur of the moment we decided to go camping. As in it was mentioned on Wednesday evening decided on Thursday and we left Friday at 4:30.
When we go camping I will not go less than 2 days. It is just a waste of time setting all the stuff up to have to break it down the next day. I also wanted to try out a new public campground (which is how we like to camp). I wanted to go to a place called Carolina Hemlocks Recreation area, that is owned by the US National Forestry. It said it was on the South Toe River and had tubing and the pictures looked like it was a fun place to hang.
It had been decided we would go ahead and take 2 vehicles, the van and the truck to hold the wood. I would have like to have left earlier but we didn't leave until 4:30, then we had to stop and get gas, coffee drinks and stop to use the bathroom. We got to Carolina Hemlocks at about 6:30 only to find that it was FULL. So we decided to go to Black Mountain-they were full too! I remember there being some camping spots on the way out to the Blue Ridge Parkway leaving Black Mountain-they were all full too! We got to the BRP and decided we would head to a place we had been to before, Curtis Creek Campground. This is a more primitive campsites with pit toilets that when we were there last time (2 yrs ago) they smelled REALLY bad. We were left with no choice. Even on the way into this campground most of the free campsites were already full. We got to the campground and we looked at some campsites towards the back that were empty, but this family said they were almost done and we can use their spot. We were desperate. We hadn't eaten dinner yet, it was almost 8:30 at this point and the light was going away quickly. We took that spot and quickly tried to set up with the little light we still had. I made us dinner (hamburgers) and husband got the fire going. We ate dinner at 9:30 and sat by the fire. The pit toilet I used did not smell at all! I was surprised. There was no running water in the bathroom and the campground host was no where to be found while we were there. They have 2 water pumps that we found-glad we have a 5 gallon collapsible jug. Here is some of our camping equipment.


This campground is very nice, it is right next to Curtis Creek and every spot can hear the creek. This campground is mostly tent spots though there are a few back in sites for RVs and Trailers-but absolutely no hook ups of any kind. While we were there there was on RV and 1 travel Trailer, 1 Camping van and one Pop Up-the rest were tent peoples like ourselves.

We didn't do a whole lot while there. I had forgotten/ran out of a few things (butter, salt/pepper) and we needed more Ice since most of mine melted because I had to ice warm items (like the powerade and soda) so we ran into town. They had 2 grocery stores that were ones I had never seen before (and I notice grocery stores)-Old Fort is very small and quaint. We also went to Andrew Geyser. Since I had purchased tubes to go into the river at Carolina Hemlocks my son was determined to go tubing and he made his own little course.

All in all we had fun. We spend a lot of time doing nothing but atleast at this campground we didn't end up far from the interstate and store that we needed to go to. It was a little bit warmer during the day since we ended up at a lower elevation (1900ft instead of 2800ft) and yes it makes a difference-but it was still cooler than here. We will most definately go again to this campground especially since it is only $5 a night!

7/24/2009 Harris Teeter, BiLo and Food Lion

We were going out of town later in the day so I had to do these orders in the morning. I needed a few other things one town over so I decided to just get it all done in one trip.

First stop was BiLo. I went there because last week I saw that the powerade was $.75 each and the sale signs said it ended Sept 2nd. At that time I purposely didn't use all my powerade coupons. I knew they expired 7/31 so I was going to wait. Well, I went back and they had gone up to $1! I was really angry and went to see if maybe this was some sort of error. I went to look in the monthly flyer and what do I find? A coupon for buy 10 get 5 FREE! So I figured I would go ahead and use that along with 5 coupons for the 10 I was buying. Lucky for me the kid working the register decided he would take off $1.39 for each free powerade! So it ended up working out in my favor anyway-not free but still pretty good. I didn't beat myself up too hard because I had missed that coupon when I bought the 20 the weekend before-I stillgot those 20 for free (well I have to pay sales tax).

3 18 pks of Coke Products ($1 peelies) sale $2.97
45 Powerade ($.75/2Q+b10g5F Q) sale $1-not all pictured

Total oop was $6.36-which was mostly tax.
($84.70/$53.74Q)


I had my youngest son with me and we went to a Food Lion with Self Check out. SO we did a total of 4 orders.


1 Deli Popcorn ($1 GS FLIP) sale $1
4 Foil ($1 360 FLip) sale $.99
4 HA Hand soap ($1 Flip) Sale $.99
2 FL Peanut Butter Crackers ($1 GS flip) sale $1.79
2 FL Buns ($1/2 FL Hotdog/hamburger buns flip) reg $.99
Total OOP $4.12
($17.61/$12.00Q)



Last stop was Harris Teeter. Day 3 of super doubles (double coupons up to $1.98)! I didn't even bother with 20 coupons. I honestly was in a hurry and didn't want to spend too long doing it. I still have more days left anyway. I need to get 2 more cases of water too.

2 Cheez Its ($1/2Q) sale BOGO $4.39/2
1 Sorrento Ricotta ($1Q) reg $2.99
10 Yoplait Yogurts ($.40/2Q) sale $.50
2 Sorrento Cheese Sticks ($1peelies) reg $2.69
1 Playtex Gloves ($1Q) sale $1.99
1 Butoni Fresh Pasta ($1Q) sale $2.29
2 Turkey Hill Iced Tea ($1/2) sale $1.25
2 Smart Water ($1/2) sale $1
2 Deer Park Water 24 pk ($1 peelies) sale BOGO $7.49/2-not pictured
1 Butterball Deep Fried Turkey ($1/1Q) reg $3.99

Total OOP 13.65
($43.73/$24.99Q)


Total YTD
Total OOP $1590.57
Total spent buying coupons $141.13(Extra papers + coupons from ebay)
Total saved $5770.86(coupons+gift cards used+ECB used)
CVS ECB -$2
Dilworth Coffee $18.35
total 20.35

Food Lion Flips

I have been asked what Flip stands for and where I get them.



Flip stands for

Food

Lion

Interenet

Printable



If you sign up at Food Lion for their email alerts https://secure2.mywebgrocer.com/UMA/RegisterSignIn.aspx?msg=regNew&__utma=1.1830701591132378300.1248308109.1248308109.1248314760.2&__utmb=111076882&__utmc=111076882&__utmx=-&__utmv=-&__utmk=177124645&cc=1&s=53715236&g=3f08fb47-1406-4948-add1-55702643fccc&uc=7B35461
They will send you ONE set of flips in the mail.
IF you go to some place like Hot Coupon World and go here
http://www.hotcouponworld.com/forums/food-lion/257841-all-one-flip-thread.html
This link will show you all the flips that are available to print. There are different ones for the same week. I am not sure how they decide who gets which ones they say it is buying habits but I don't think that is it. Most of what I buy at Food Lion is flip stuff only, I think it might be more regional.

Went to Food Lion again

I went to Food Lion when I went to pick up my kid from drivers ed (yeah last day!) I had 3 kids with me so I had them each do an order.
4 Foil (360 flip) sale $.99
1 FL Ice cream sandwiches (GS flip) sale $1.99
4 Healthy Accents Hand soap (HA flip) sale $.99
3 Smart Taste Pasta (GS flip+3-$1/1 MQ) sale $1.39
1 Captain Crunch (GS flip) sale $2
1 Muellers Jumbo Shells (GS Flip) reg $1.89

Total OOP $3.38
($21.17/$15Q)

Total YTD
Total OOP $1566.44
Total spent buying coupons $141.13(Extra papers + coupons from ebay)
Total saved $5680.13 (coupons+gift cards used+ECB used)
CVS ECB -$2
Dilworth Coffee $18.35
Total $20.35

Day #2 HT Super Doubles and Food Lion New FLIPS

2 Dawn ($1.50/1Q) reg $2.99
6 bags Tyson Chicken nuggets/tenders ($1/1Q) r/c $4
2 Marble Mix In ($1/1Q) R/c bogo 3.49
3 Playtex gloves ($1/1Q) sale $1.99
8 Yoplait Yogurts ($.40/2Q) sale $.50
2 Skintmate Shave Gels ($1.50/2Q) reg $1.50
1 Mission Tortilla chips ($1/1Q)sale BOGO $4.99
1 Pace Picante ($1/1Q) reg $2.69

Total oop $14.97
total saved $65.59/$37.15 Q

Trip to Food Lion across the street. There are new flips out. AND they have reissued the guiding stars Flip too! That with the buy 6 gallons of milk get one free makes a really good flip. SUPER cheap peaches also they are $.88 lb buy 2.51lbs and use the $2/$5 off produce flip. The hardest part is getting just over 2.5lbs. ALso the Soap is free with the $1/1 Healthy Accents flip so I will be stocking up on that this week.

1 Hand Soap ($1/1flip) sale $.99
2.5lbs Peaches ($2/$5 flip) sale $.88
2 Lemons ($1/1 GS flip) $.69 each
1 Home 360 Foil ($1/1 flip) sale $.99

Total OOP $.65
($8.61/$5Q)

Total YTD
Total OOP $1563.06
Total spent buying coupons $141.13(Extra papers + coupons from ebay)
Total saved $5665.13 (coupons+gift cards used+ECB used)
CVS ECB -$2
Dilworth Coffee $18.35
Total $20.35

Day #1 HT Super Doubles

I don't feel as though I did that great. But my kids are happy I got the Cheez Its. Luckily they qualify for the $10 Fuel For School Rebate along with the Eggos-I feel as though I spent too much money though.

6 Cheez Its ($1/2Q) sale BoGo $4.39/2
1 Nigara Spray Starch ($.25/1Q) sale $1.29
2 Philly Cream Cheese ($1/2) sale $1.50
9 Yoplait Yogurts ($.40/2) sale $.50
1 Sorento Ricotta cheese ($1WT) reg $2.99
1 Borden Cheese ($1.00/1) sale $1.50
4 Eggo ($1 peelie) reg $2.69
2 A+W 2lrs ($1/2 peelie) sale $.99
1 Hefty bags ($1/1) sale bogo $4.39/2
1 Rubbermaid Bottle ($1/1) reg $2.59
1 Rubbermaid Lock top ($1/1) sale $2.44

Total OOP $17.33
($52.84/$22.54Q)


Total YTD
Total OOP $1547.44
Total spent buying coupons $141.13(Extra papers + coupons from ebay)
Total saved $5622.98 (coupons+gift cards used+ECB used)
CVS ECB -$2
Dilworth Coffee $18.35
Total $20.35

Last day of $.99 cherries at Food Lion

Totally loving these flips. I am so glad my friend Janet turned me on to this deal. I would have not known had she not told me!

I did a total of 9 transactions at Food Lion today-and still might go back later today. THe first picture is from my run this morning when I had to drop my kid at drivers ed, I took my younger one with me and he did a transaction (the one with the ice cream sandwiches).

The next picture-I took 3 kids to one FL and 4 to the other (I had to pick up the kid from drivers ed). I am just combining all transactions for blogging purposes.

2 Gallons Smart Option Milk ($1 GS flip) reg $2.69

9.65lbs Cherries ($2/$5 Produce Flip) sale $.99lb

9 DH cake Mixes ($1 DH flip) $1

4 Apple Juice ($1 GS flip) $1.25

1 FL spagetti ($1 gs flip) $.97

2 Ice cream sandwiches ($1 GS flip) sale $1.99

7 Home 360 Foil ($1 360 Flip) sale $.99

1 AH Baking soda reg $.69-I had to have this for baking

3 lbs FL Dark Brown Sugar -$1.09-I was completely out of dark

2 HA Hand Sanatizer ($1 HA Flip) reg $.93

1 Ruffles Chips reg $.33

1 dozen eggs ($1 GS Flip) reg $1.39 -not pictured

Total OOP $3.71

($87.00/$45Q)

Total YTD

Total OOP $1530.11

Total spent buying coupons $141.13(Extra papers + coupons from ebay)

Total saved $5600.74 (coupons+gift cards used+ECB used)

CVS ECB -$2

Dilworth Coffee $18.35

Total $20.35

I am having lots of fun with these most recent flips. Some of them are good until August 25th! I am trying to make sure I am getting the stuff on sale that is free (360 foil wrap) before I get other things I can use that are regularily under $1 (muffin cups). I did 8 transactions today total. I took my son with me to 3 stores so I could do 2 transactoins each and I hit 2 other stores on my way to pick my kid up from Drivers Ed.

8 Home 360 Foil Wrap ($1 flip) sale $.99
8 Duncan Hines Cake Mix ($1 Flip) reg $1
3 FL Tater Chips ($1 flip) sale $2
2 Gallon Smart Option Milk ($1 guiding starts flip) $2.69-not pictured
2 Starbucks Ice Cream ($2 Q) sale $2.50 -not pictured
1 lemon (produce flip $2/$5) $.69
9.81lbs cherries ($2/$5 produce flip) sale $.99lb
2 FL apple Juice ($1 Guiding stars flip) reg $1.25
1 FL Navy Beans ($1 guiding stars flip) reg $1.09
3 Healthy Accents Hand Santizer ($1 flip) reg $.93
2 lbs FL Spagetti ($1 guiding stars flip) sale $.89
4 small bags Cheetos reg $.33-2 got eaten

Total OOp $5.71
($97.82/$50.33Q)

My next trip was BiLo-well actually it wsa TWO CVS and neither one of them had the binders that are free after ECB like they advertise! What angers me is they don't carry them and WON'T carry them! That is wrong to advertise something they don't even carry! Kinda reminds me of a bait and switch!

Anywho, BiLo

2 Delmonte Fruit naturals Cherry Medley ($1/2Q) sale $1
2 Delmonte Fruit natural Pineapple chunks ($1/2Q) sale $1
48 (4 boxes of 12 each) Delmonte Fruit Naturals ($1/2Q) sale $1
20 Powerade ($.75/2Q) sale $.75

Paid $27.58
($100.08/$41.00Q)

I also acquired some coupons off ebay last week for $25.69.

Total YTD
Total OOP $1526.40
Total spent buying coupons $141.13(Extra papers + coupons from ebay)Total saved $5555.74 (coupons+gift cards used+ECB used)
CVS ECB -$2
Dilworth Coffee $18.35
total $20.35

What am I doing with all these cake mixes?

I am not sure what my problem is lately but I have wanted to bake and cook. Everyday I make something. Though I guess I kinda took yesterday off, but not really.

Yesterday we had a community pool party to go to. I volunteered to make cupcakes. Of course that meant 3 different kinds of cupcakes. I have all of these Duncan Hines cake mixes I have been getting for free-though I had run out from the last time they were free (#2 likes confetti cupcakes/batter). I made 6 dozen cup cakes. 2 dozen chocolate, 2 dozen yellow and 2 dozen Banana cupcakes. Yes Banana-simple recipe…make up your cake mix like it says on the box. Take 3 overripe bananas and mash them with 1 teaspoon baking soda. Mix with the already made cake mix and bake as directed on the box. That is it plain and simple. I made the cupcakes the night before and frosted them all the next day. All of the cupcakes got eaten at the pool party too.

I love Allrecipes.com! Well, I love to look at recipes in general. I have about 200 cookbooks in my library some from the 1950’s, some my mom gave me, some I picked up at yardsales and some I just had to pay full price for at the store. Probably my favorite cook book is The Joy of Cooking though I have made a lot of the recipes in The Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook too. Both cookbooks are AWESOME general knowledge cookbooks. I personally like to know the why and those cookbooks go into detail, especially the Joy of Cooking. Now I just think about what I want and then go to Allrecipes.com and put in the ingredients and fine a recipe.

I entered box cake mix (I wonder why?) and up came a recipe I haven’t seen in years. The last time I made it was when we lived in NY and I moved when we were 16- so it is over 20 years ago. The original recipe was out of a magazine my mom found and wanted me to make (I was her baker). I read the reviews (on Allrecipes.com) and people mentioned they would like more filling and I will agree, it is a good filling so I doubled it. After having tried the squares, I could have lightened up on the lemon juice. Next time I will use just one lemon instead of two.

Lemon Bars (adapted from Allrecipes.com-taken from that magazine)
1- 18.25ozYellow Cake Mix (or 2 of the small Duncan Hines cake mixes)
1 lemon pudding mix (not a must, just adds lemon flavor)
OR
1- 18.25 oz Lemon Cake mix (I didn’t have lemon cake mix I used what I had on hand which is the above)
2 Lemons
1 Egg
½ oil
2 -8oz brick cream cheese
2/3 cup sugar

Set oven to 350 degrees-UNLESS you use glass or dark metal pans ALWAYS lower oven 25 degrees if you use those kinds of pans.
Foil and grease 9x13” pan (or don’t I like less mess)
Zest the 2 lemons, mix with cake mix and pudding mix if using. Add egg and oil and mix until crumbly. Reserve about 1 cup of mix and press the rest of the mixture into the bottom of the pan.

Bake for about 15 minutes BUT make sure you keep an eye on it, it will brown quickly.
Juice both lemons, put juice in bowl with sugar and cream cheese. Beat until smooth. Pour over baked crust. Sprinkle reserved crumbs over the top. Bake for additional 20 minutes, you want to catch it just when it starts to brown.

Cool completely and cut into squares. Serve with a tall glass of COLD milk.

School Supplies at CVS and Food Lion

CVS has a 3 day sale on school supplies that are free after ECB. My son's school was nice enough to send home what they need for the 4th grade. And might I say that that is so helpful, rather than getting the list the day school starts and trying to get through the aisles at the drug store or Walmart (which I really hate going there). This way I have been able to buy the items as they go on sale at the store, these sales seem to have started last week. And last week I went to CVS on Tuesday and of course they were out of all the free after ECB items except one. So I got rainchecks. THis week I figured since I needed to use my flips at Food Lion I would go to the CVS next door and since it is the FIRST day they would have them. Well, they had 2 out of the 5 items! I got those 2 items and rainchecks for the other.


When I got to the store they had graham crackers in a cart at the front of the store for $.50 each! My kids absolutely love graham crackers soooo
4 Graham Crackers $.50 each
1 White Cheddar Popcorn $.50
2 Filler paper $2 each ($2.00 ecb earned)
2 Papermate pens $.99 each ($.99 ecb each)
For some reason they have started taxing items even if you pay with your ecbs.
paid with $1.49 ECB
Paid $3.49
have $2 ecb left
($5.47Q)


I then went next door to Food Lion. I still have some great Flips worth free stuff...PLUS the cherries are $.99 regular $4.99 which means if you buy 1.02lbs and use the $2/$5 produce flip, they pay you to take the cherries! However I didn't figure this out until my second trip, plus i needed the lemons and bananas which were not on sale. I did 2 transactions at 2 different stores-you can only use one like flip per transaction.

1 Duncan Hines cake mix ($1 duncan hines flip) reg $1
1lb Navy Beans ($1 Guiding stars flip) reg $1.09
1.31lbs Bananas $.59lb
.82lb Cherries sale $.99lb (they are so hard to weigh using their scales-CALIBRATE!)
2 Lemons ($1/$4 WT+$2/$5 Produce Flip) $.69 each


Paid $1.14 -which sent the manager and cashier into a tizzy because my order was so low. They were trying to figure out how I was cheating the system but didn't want to hold me up (and the lady with a 1.5 qt of ice cream behind me). Also at that store the register wouldn't allow me to use 2 of the flips that didn't meet minimum requirements. That is the first that has happend at this particular store-so I had them remove the items-had they not and it worked my total would have been $.20 lower!


Second Food Lion that I normally shop at-
1 25ft 360 Foil ($1 360 item) sale $.99
1 Gallon Milk ($1 Guiding stars Flip) reg $2.69
1 Food Lion Tater chips ($1 FL tater chips flip) sale $2
1 Duncan Hines cake Mix ($1 DH flip) $1
1 Lemon reg $.69
1.12 lbs cherries ($2/$5 produce flip) sale $.99 lb
1 Hand Sanitizer ( $1 Healthy Accents Flip) reg $.93

No hassle total of $2.55 and the YOUNG MALE cashier complimented me on how well I did.
(19.96/$11.01Q)



Total YTD
Total OOP $1493.11
Total spent buying coupons $115.44 (Extra papers + coupons from ebay)
Total saved $5464.41 (coupons+gift cards used+ECB used)
CVS ECB -$4
Dilworth Coffee $18.35
total $28.35

A Boy With A Truck

Here is a great way to make some extra money or make money in general.

Back story

My son had been trying to get a job for a few months. No one was calling him. He was looking for a job at the worst possible time with the economy the way it is there are a lot of people looking for jobs that have recently lost their jobs. I know where I live there are several houses that are either foreclosed or they are having problems paying their bills (my husband gets a list of those people late on their HOA dues). We decided a few months ago that we would not be paying for my son to attend college. Community College is pretty cheap (about $800 a semester+ books).

My husband came up with a plan for him to start advertising in our subdivision only to mow lawns. Then I came up with the idea that since he has a truck there is a lot of things he could do. This led to the name of his business "A Boy With A Truck" which describes what he can do. My son and I came up with a flier for him to put in peoples paper boxes. He listed on there the jobs he could do things like dog walking/sitting, clean litter boxes, lawn work with his core market being those going on vacation that would only need their lawn mowed once or twice while they are out of town or a person that needed stuff hauled to the dump since we have a small truck (which we don't know how we lived 20 years without one!). I also had him put on his flier that he is just trying to pay for his college (which he is). He put the fliers out the beginning of June and got a few calls. He missed out on a few jobs because we were going out of town for half a month. When we got back from our trip he put the fliers in the paper boxes again and expanded the area to include our entire subdivision. I am surprised how much work he has gotten. Just because he is willing to do jobs that people just don't want to be bothered with. He is not a handyman and does not claim to be, but doesn't mind getting his hands dirty. One job a woman wanted him to do was just trim her bushes- simple enough right? Well he did the job and she proceeded to tell him that she called TWO OTHER PEOPLE and neither one of them showed! Must be nice to pass up work! She ended up paying him $80 for 2 hours worth of work! Can you believe that?

A few days ago my husband was swimming with our kids at our community pool (for our subdivision only) and a neighbor said "I saw your sons truck at someones house, I might have him haul some stuff to the dump for me." Well it dawned on me that more important than business cards (that my husband has been harping on him to get) that advertising on his truck is more important. So I came up with this sign, plus a few others but this one is the one we went with.



How do you like his motto? I felt it was PERFECT! It doesn't mislead people that he is a handyman because he most definitely is not-he is only 18yrs old. I feel it is kinda catchy though and describes the fact he will do the work that others just don't like to do.

I am so proud of my son. I can remember a year ago being so frustrated. He showed no initiative to do ANY work what so ever. We used to have to say "When are you going to mow Pat's yard?" or "Did you check Bryce's yard lately?"-he lives 1/2 mile away now. He works about 30 hours if not more a week. He mows on average 5-6 lawns a week, 4 of them are regulars now (one of which he found on Craig's list and is not in our subdivision). He is a regular HOLE DIGGER for one of our neighbors who according to her husband she just like for him to dig holes to experiment where she wants flowers, bushes and shrubbery, he also takes care of her dogs while they are gone. He has taken large items to the dump for a few others and he helped one lady try and hang some shutters and mowed her yard too because her lawn mower is broken.

In addition to all this money he has made this summer (he gets $8-$10 an hour plus bonuses and about $25 to mow/trim/blow a lawn) when we went to register him for college we found out he got a $1200 scholarship/grant too! His first two semesters he gets $600 applied to each. We had no clue- they must be merit based since we make too much for him to qualify for financial aid. Which is good because I also decided my son has until October 2010 to get a truck/vehicle because that is when his brother will be getting that truck to drive to school.

My son wakes up at 7-8am depending on how much work he has to do and he goes and gets the work done. I don't need to harp on him anymore and he even told me a few days after we went on vacation that he wishes he didn't go because of all the money he could have made.

This is the perfect job for anyone having a problem getting a job. All you need is a lawn mower, trimmer and a willingness to get your hands dirty.

Bi Lo and Food Lions

Ok, I know I haven't posted much. I have been shopping mainly at Food Lion for the near free items and the cheap milk and eggs with the Guiding Stars Flip. I have been so busy this past week in particular and will probably be next week too. I haven't been hunting out the deals much and my friend is the one that alerted me to the Food Lion deal after it had been going on for a week. I have spent so much time this past week running kids to appointments (drivers Ed 4 days a week and Eye Dr and then glasses) and they seem to take longer than they should.

Here are some of the free and cheap items I have gotten over the past week, also another thing I have been buy a lot of is Milk. With the guiding star flip is $1 off making it $1.69 for a gallon of milk. And lately we have been drinking almost a gallon a day! I have been baking a lot too so that is why we are drinking a lot of milk lately (Sweets+Milk= YUM!)

Flips I have been using
$1.50/1 360 baby Wipes
$1/1 Guiding Stars Item -there is a lot of these items around the store basically they are anything this is good for you I have been getting Milk, Pasta and Eggs all things I use a lot of.
$1/1 Healthy Accent items (these are store brand HBA Items)
$1/1 360 Item (these are store brand non food items usually)
$1/1 Duncan Hines Cake Mix
$2/$5 Produce (Bing Cherries are on sale for $1.99lb-buy 1.02lbs and get them for FREE!)
$1/1 Food Lion chips they are on sale for $2
$1/1 FL cereal

There are more but those are the ones that I have been using.


Today we went to Food Lion. I had my 3 kids with me so I was able to do a few orders easily and went to 2 stores since my normal store is out of the cake mix, and hand sanitizer.


6 Tin Foil $.99 ($1/1 360 Item)
6 1lb Skettis $.97 ($1/1 Guiding Star item)
3 Hand Santizer $.93 ($1/1 Healthy Accents item)-I will send these to school with #3
3 Duncan Hines Cake Mixes $1 ($1/1 Duncan Hines cake mix)
3 Small bags of Lays chips (they ate 2)

All for $1.38 total!

Next was BiLo. I had wanted to go to BiLo yesterday but my son dumped out ALL of my coupons and HE had to put them back in the holder...that took him over 1 hour to do this and he also didn't get around to doing it until the after noon even though he did it in the morning at about 9am...I was NOT happy! It totall threw a wrench in my plans.

Anyway, they have a deal if you buy $25 worth of Kohls GC (or Home Depot, Olive Garden, Barnes N Noble, I Tunes) you get a $5 coupon for your next purchase. They also have the Del Monte Peaches on sale for $1 and there were recent coupons (2 weeks ago) for $1/2 and I prepared myself and acquired 80 of these coupons ...Yes 80!

Of course they have ONE Kohls card left! So I grab that card. I have a rebate form for $20 wyb $50 gift card, but now that I read it it has to be a gift card worth $50! So I qualify for the $10 wyb $25 (though I still might go and buy a $50 GC since I am not really out anything). I pay half on my credit card and half out of my grocery money.

I then head over to Produce to start collecting the Del Monte Peach Cups. I grab the 12 on the shelf and the produce manager gets me 2 more cases from the back. I also request he order me 5 more cases. I also find a coupon on the floor for a free small cup of Edy's Ice cream!

I go to check out and I am scanning away. I give the cashier some coupons that won't scan.
The STORE MANAGER walks up to me and asked if I tried to buy some gift cards. He said they showed up as not authorized so he wanted to call and make sure they work. HE takes them and sure enough the BiLo worked but the Kohls did not. So he took that one back and gave me my $25 back. So I get to keep the $5 coupon!

I purchased
8 Yoplait Smooties $.70 each ($.50/1 Store Q+$.40/2 MQ)
36 Delmonte Peaches $1 each ($1/2Q)
2 Suddenly Salad $1 Each ($.40/1 IP)
I used my $5 OYNO Q
I paid $15.86 I was extremely pleased with myself.

He said tomorow they should get in more of the Kohls GC, so I might have to make a run over ther to get them so they don't run out again. Funny thing is I am not even sure they know there is a promo going on and that is why they ran out.


I have not really been keeping track the rest of the month what I have been saving. I decided to give myself this month off, I really needed a break , I have just not been in the mood to do anything-PLUS my desk chair was broken making it difficult to sit her for long periods of time. The chair was replaced a few days ago so I have less of an excuse. I guess I just needed a good shopping day to get me back in the groove.

Anyway, I have decided my grocery budget is going to DECREASE from $250 to $200-and so far I am right on course. I only took out $100 the first half of the month and today I took out another $100. I am just going add $100 to the total and pick up from there. Also I will just start adding in the coupon amounts too and take the loss for my laziness in total saved.

Total YTD
Total OOP $1485.93
Total spent buying coupons $115.44 (Extra papers + coupons from ebay)
Total saved $5447.93 (coupons+gift cards used+ECB used)
CVS ECB -$4
Dilworth Coffee $18.35
total $28.35

LAZY

Yes I have been very lazy since I got back from vacation. I dont know what my problem is. I am just so tired and dont' feel like doing anything. I think part of the problem is my computer chair is broken and I can't sit her for very long because it is uncomfortable.

Anyways, since I haven't posted anything for a few days I will post what I found this morning.
I found 2 good rebates. One is from Kelloggs you can buy ANY kelloggs product (size restrictions apply) which include, Keebler, Eggo, Morningstar Farms, Austin and Sunshine too. http://www2.kelloggs.com/FamilyFocus/contentcta.aspx?id=1320
You have to register and they ask maybe 6 questions that you have to check a box to answer. This expires 9/30/09

I also found a Filtrete rebate for up to $19.99! That is a multipack of filters! You have to upload a picture of your dirty filtrete filter (which I do happen to use that kind) along with the reason you choose Filtrete brand air filters in 100 words or less-and they send you an email with the form you need to send in your UPC and register receipt. This is good from 2/26/2009-7/30/2009. I will go out and buy mine and take a picture of my old filter to send in. I don't think I have purchased any filters since last Fall.
http://www.filtretepromo.com/main/home.aspx

Where have I been?

We have been gone for most of the past 3 weeks. My oldest son graduated from High School on June 13th

and June 14th we left to go to upstate NY. We got to Pulaski on June 15th and set up our tent and stayed at my parents site.

During our stay in Upstate NY-we went to a few places. I am from south of Pulaski (which is on Lake Ontario) from a small town called Pompey. We went to look at our old house that we moved out of over 20 years ago and went to the water falls that I totally didn't appreciate when we lived there. This is Pratts Falls, it is just over 100 ft tall, and was less than 2 miles from my house. I used to ride my bike up there to play in the creek (not near the falls).

Since we were in NY we decided to visit our best friends in CT-only 5.5 hours away. We had a great time with them and I got to go to a new grocery store (yes I have a problem) Stew Leonards. Prices were not as bad as I thought they would be, they were actually cheaper than HT and the regular meat prices were the same as some of HT's SALE prices. Lucky for me I try to only buy the sale items at HT.

On our way back we stopped by my husbands old stomping grounds, Catskill NY. They have this anniversary thing going on and have these most adorable cats decorated up and down the main street.

This one was my favorite.

I actually took about 30 pictues but I won't put them all on my blog. My family has a cat problem and I just thought they were so stinkin cute!

We got back from NY and were home for 3 days then left again for St Louis to visit my sister and go to the Pokemon NATIONALS. Yes, they still do Pokemon. Not my cup of tea (Ok, I make fun of my family that does do it) but since it was in St Louis and my sister lives there we made the trek.

The money for this vacation and all things that went with the vacation actually came from our vacation fund which was almost entirely funded by the rebates I do. We had over $800 in the bank from my rebates-which is good since we ate out on average 1+ times a day. Money was getting tight for the second leg of our trip so we took the camping grill and made burgers and mac n cheese at a rest stop for lunch and went out to dinner. On the way home we made PB+J and had dinner at our house (BLTs with my GARDEN FRESH TOMATOES+LETTUCE!).