Double Coupons at Family Fare

It's back!

Double coupons at Family Fare!

I was able to find out about this just in time thanks to my friend Charity...thanks Charity!

It goes only until tomorrow, November 3.

What I do on Double/Triple Coupon Days is I gather up all my top dollar amount coupons. In this case, they would double up to $1.00, so I only brought my $1.00 coupons on ONLY the things I knew we used and needed.

I did really good.

I had a very friendly cashier.

And all went smooth.

This was an awesome trip for me.

Here were my tallies:

Spent: $47.25

Saved: $80.89

That's $128.14 worth of groceries! YES!!!

Can we say WOOHOO!!!

Oh the joys of shoping at Target with coupons...

Ya know...I "thought" they were getting better.

My last several trips had been good.

I had cashiers who actually KNEW their coupon policy and didn't question or screw things up.

But eventually, you go in, and STILL run in to a cashier who is completely unfriendly and inept at her job.

I first off must say, that when I go in using coupons anywhere, I try to be super friendly, chatty, and appreciative of my cashier hoping to put them at ease and let them know I'm not there to be a big problem case for them.

Well today at Target...I had a cashier I had never seen before. And as her luck would have it...I had a coupon for every item I was purchasing. Let me first say, every coupon was legit (as they always are...I am NOT a scammer!) and NONE of them were difficult.

I really don't understand WHY she had such problems.

She first tried to tell me I couldn't use a Tide coupon on a travel size. SOME coupons DO say this...but this coupon said "good on ANY SIZE Tide product". This product was priced at 97 cents and as Target policy states, they will give you up to the dollar amount charged.

Her: "You can't use this coupon"

Me: "Oh? Why is that?"

Her: "It's a travel size"

Me: "Oh really, I believe it says ANY SIZE Tide product ma'am"

Her: "NO, I KNOW it says somewhere on here NO TRAVEL SIZE, I had one of these the other day"

Me: "Maybe we can read it and check or ask the manager"

Her: (she asks the cashier next to her)

Other cashier: "You can use it on travel size items Tammy, you just give up to the dollar amount charged for the item"

Her: "Hmph!"

LOL...it was pretty funny.

Well she made it clear from then on out she was going to give me a rough time with every item.

And I made it clear I was going to be as friendly and helpful to her as possible and I think she hated that even more! LOL!

In the end, I got some really great deals, including...

Tide travel size...priced at 97 cents...used a $1.00 coupon...FREE.

Dove travel size deoderant...priced at 97 cents...used a $1.00 coupon...FREE.

Bumble Bee Tuna pouches...priced at $1.37...used a $1.00 coupon...37 cents.

Degree deoderant and body spray...$3.29 each ($6.58 total)...used a $1.50 man. coupon for each...plus a $3.00 off Target coupon...making them 29 cents each.

Glade Scented Oil Candle Tins...priced at $2.64 ($5.28 for both)...used a $2.00 off two coupon making them $1.64 a piece...PLUS...I had two coupons "Receive a FREE refill pack when you buy a candle tin"...those are priced at $2.99 each...so in the end...I got two candle tins and two refill packs which normally would have totalled $11.64...all for $3.28!

My tally was:

Spent $6.22

Saved $17.25

Woohoo!

My son...the "Survivor"...

Well, tonight was church. The boys are both involved in Royal Rangers. And I have to say that we have one of the best programs out there. We have such dedicated leaders with such a passion for our kids. I am just in awe of all my boys have learned and how much they've grown spiritually, mentally, emotionally, physically over the years they've spent in Rangers.

Evan is in the Expedition Rangers...the oldest group and he is doing so many neat things. They have been working on a backpacking merit and survival skills. Tonight they built survival shelters out in the woods back behind the church and then talked about survival kits.

They later had a "trivia" game of sorts to see how much they remembered from what they were learning and awarding prizes for each question answered correctly. As it turns out...Evan joked that they had to "cut him off", LOL, because he kept getting all the correct answers. LOL! I told him, "Gee Ev, if only you could remember as much in Algebra as you do in Rangers!" LOL! Anywho...he came home with an armfull of prizes. He earned three neat survival items that he can take to their next campout...a canteen, hand-warmers, and an emergency blanket.

We were pretty proud of him!!! Good job Ev!!!

Evan's creation...pumpkin carving cont.

Well, Evan came home from school today and finished up his jack-o-lantern. I forgot to tell the story last night while we were all scooping the "guts" out of the pumpkin how we kept misplacing one of our tools. We'd reach down, look for one of the picks, scoops, or saws...and they'd be GONE! They kept disappearing one by one! We thought "what in the world"?!?! Well turns out...as with most activities in our house..."cat" is usually right in the middle of whatever we're doing. As you can see in the picture above he had his head poked RIGHT in Evan's pumpkin! But anyway...as it turns out...we look up and away cat walks. We look closer, and he has something in his mouth. Sure enough, we follow him...and he's carrying off our carving tools and taking them under the kitchen table! He had his stash and was playing with them batting them around and chewing on them. Thankfully he didn't carry off anything sharp. Silly cat! Mystery solved. So we gather all our tools back from cat and finish up. LOL!

Evan did a really nice job. He designed his own pumpkin face this year and didn't go with one of the pre-designed patterns that came with the kit. He did great. Hopefully it won't get too warm and we won't have any rotting pumpkins before Saturday! Happy Halloween!

Great recipe for roasted pumpkin seeds!

Several people have been asking us what recipe we use when we roast our pumpkin seeds each year. Well, I came across this recipe years ago in an old cookbook and it is our tried and true favorite "go-to" recipe year after year.

2 c. seeds, washed/dried
1 1/2 tbsp. butter, melted
1/2 tsp. worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. salt

Pour in a thin baking sheet and bake at 250 for two hours or until golden brown.
Yummy!

Pumpkin guts, pumpkin guts, lots and lots of slime!

Tonight was pumpkin carving night at our house! Both of the boys actually picked their own pumpkin FROM the patch this year. We usually go to the farmer's market or something, but it was fun to actually get them from the patch this year. Here's Nate getting ready to design his pumpkin. You can see all seeds off to the side. We love to dry and roast them with butter, salt, and worchestershire sauce.

It was neat because both of the boys chose totally different types of pumpkins. Nate's is a brighter orange and completely round and squatty. Evan's is a deeper orange and taller and thinner. We have lots of patterns for jack-o-lanterns, but Ev decided to design his own pumpkin face this year.

Nate surprised me this year...he's really come a long way in his pumpkin carving skills! He cleaned out that pumpkin great! There weren't any guts left at all! I usually have to do more for him. He did all the "poking" for his design too. I offered to help him and he matter of factly told me, "I'm a big boy, you don't have to do that anymore". LOL!

I did help Nate with the actual carving. Those little "saws" that come with the carving kits are quite sharp and I'm not quite ready to let him loose with one of those. He chose a "Gobster"...I'm guessing it's a cross between a "goblin" and a "monster", LOL! It was a cute little pattern.

And here is Nate's finished product. A cute little gobster if I do say so myself! Great job Natee! We had so much going tonight between homework and such that Evan didn't quite finish his. I'll have pictures of his tomorrow night. We concluded our night with pizza and "It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown". It was a fun night. Halloween is my second favorite season to Christmas. I'm just like a little kid. More Halloween pics coming! Until then...Happy Haunting!

I am hoping I jinxed the flu away from my family! LOL!

So I went and did my usual couponing at Walgreens this week. They had lots of cold, flu, and pain meds on sale this week. And even though everyone around us is or has been sick...we have remained relatively healthy. So I figured I'd stock up on all these cold, flu, and pain meds, thinking maybe since I'm so stocked up and PREPARED for it...maybe, just maybe it will pass us right on by! LOL!

I also got some great deals on haircare for myself.
Dove haircare products were on sale Buy 1, Get 1 FREE. So at $4.99 a piece, which I would NEVER pay for one bottle...that get's it down to approx. $2.50 a bottle with the BOGO...which is STILL a bit high in this frugal momma's mind. Well, I added a $1.00 off coupon on each item and a $1.50 off on one of them...getting them all down to $1.50 and one for $1.00. Not too bad for Dove products! I ended up getting two shampoos, two conditioners, and two hair sprays.

I also got a great deal on some ColorSilk hair color...got three at $1.99 each.

And with the cold/flu season upon us, I took the opportunity to stock up on antibacterial soap which was on sale...regular $6.29...on sale for $3.99. I got two 64 oz. tubs of those!

My tally for this trip was:
Spent: $41.07
Saved: $45.65

Oh yeah...SAVED more than I spent!!!
Love it!

He is not me...

I have come to realize...that one of the things that sets me off the most about being the parent of a teenager...is something I cannot change.

And that is...

My child is NOT ME.

We may have similar looks or characteristics...

But he is NOT ME.

I am trying REALLY hard to learn this and make peace with this.

It becomes very frustrating when things such as academics come up.

I was always a VERY organized, schedule oriented, stay on task, set goals type of person.

My son...simply...is not.

He is a very laid back...take it as it comes...wait till the last minute..."Oh by the way"...type of person.

And I have to be perfectly honest...it drives me insane.

When I had homework, I came home and did it.

When I knew I had a test, I would panic, study my brains out, and worry till it was over.

When I had a paper due, I planned, researched, wrote notes, rough drafts, typed it, re-typed it...until it was PERFECT.

My child...not so much.

This drives me batty.

As much as we are alike in so many ways...

We are COMPLETE and TOTAL OPPOSITES in this area.

What is a mother to do...

Pray.

And pray alot.

And...

Learn and TRY to take one day at a time.

Because if I have to think of it in terms of four and a half more years of this...

I am going to send myself to the nut-house. :)

So...my bright honor roll son...dad and I are here to coach, encourage, and help you stay organized...whether you like it...or think you need it. We love you more than anyone else in the world!

Pinchin' more pennies!

I did really well grocery shopping this week. Not so much because there were TONS of bargains to be had, but the ones that were there, I nabbed and I stuck to my plan of ONLY buying what I need to stock up on and not just spending to spend.

Some of my best deals...

Mandwich...regular $1.00 a can...on sale for 89 cents a can...used a Buy 2, Get 1 Free coupon...paid only 59 cents a can!

Men's Sure deoderant...regular $1.89...on sale for $1.84...used a $1.50 coupon...got it for 34 cents.

Lean Pockets...regular $2.19...on sale for $1.89...used a $1.00/5 Meijer MealBox...used a $1.00/5 man. coupon...another 75 cent coupon...and a 50 cent coupon...got them for $1.36 each.

Tyson Chicken Nuggets...regular $5.99...on sale for $3.99...used a $1.00 Meijer MealBox coupon...and a $1.00 man. coupon...paid $1.99.

Deans icecream...regular $2.75...on sale for $2.49...used a $1.00 off two Meijer MealBox...making it $1.99.

Those were the best of the best this week!

My tally was:

Spent: $29.15

Saved: $28.32

Walgreens bargains this week...

I got some decent deals this week at Walgreens.

My favorite was my contact solution. It happens to be a brand that is fairly expensive and NEVER puts out coupons. (Clear Care) Well, Walgreens had the double pack of it for $14.79 on sale for $5.00 off...so I got it for $9.79 (for 2 bottles!). I also got a catalina coupon for $1.50 off my next purchase so I may go back and get another double pack for $8.29! I pay $7.99 for ONE bottle normally!

They also had Starbucks Frappuccinos regular $1.99 w/ a Walgreen's coupon for $1.29...used a $1.00 coupon and got them for 29 cents! Nabbed two of those!

Those were the best of the best.

My finally tally was:

Spent $23.73

Saved: $21.67

Not bad!!!