Harris Teeter Super Doubles Baby!!!!!

Ok so today I planned on going and waking up at 6 to be in the store by 630 I just didn't get up I looked at the clock and thought those coupon ladies will leave some stuff on the shelves FOR SURE! HELLO what was I thinking banging my head against the empty Smart Balance Milk Door!!!!

So last night I met a fearless couponer named Nancy. She doesn't use a binder yes you read that correct she DOES NOT use a binder. I am amazed but she does use a check filing system file that is plastic so it won't come apart and she shops with her coupons in a envelope with her fabulous list on top. Nancy saves 75% on her shopping trips all the time so I thought if it works for Nancy I want to do it like her. As I am typing this it reminds me of Fancy Nancy I have to tell her next time that is my new nickname for her...it so fits her she is a riot! So I got all my coupons out of my binder and got over my fear of what if they are out of stock of the item on my list. She said just go to your next day and pull something from that list. (she keeps all her HT shopping trip coupons in this envelope for the week)

So here is my list
1 Smart Balance Milk with a 1.50Q making it free
3 Smart Balance Milk with a 1.00Q making it .50 cents each
3 Minute Rice Steamers 1.00! making it free
3 Kotex 1.00Q making it free
3 Reach Floss 1.00Q making it free
3 Baily Creamers 1.00Q making it 19 cents
3 Hefty Paper Plates 1.25 on 2 Q which I thought would make it .69
1 Band Aid with neosporin 1.50Q making it 29 cents

Here is where it goes downhill and fast! Smart Balance Milk is OUT!
Kotex ummm hello what pricing was I looking at? It was on a national site so no idea what pricing but I learned from a new coupon friend in the HT that I met last night that I can check thes store here by store because they have different prices and I would have seen the kotex are not that price in the Holly Springs store I was in.
Bailey's Creamer damn coupon printer thing I printed my coupons yesterday well it said I printed my 2 already....ummm no I didn't so I only had 1 to use.
Band Aids again these were 3.99 I am sorry I don't need bandaids for 99 cents....that sounds funny seriously before I would have bought them for that and stocked up thinking 99 cents is a deal....so not the case anymore.
Hefty Paper plates were 3.79 a package so I was so not going to pay 7 and some change to get 2.50 off I can get a better deal elsewhere.
I saw a clearance area with 3 buggies full of stuff. I got 3 Glade Oil Candles in the tin for 2.12 I had a 1.00Q so I only paid 36 cents for 3 of them in total....I love smelly stuff for my house LOL

Ok so the good news I hadn't planned on doing the Homestyle Mac and Cheese yet that was for day 3 but I had the coupons so I got 3 of them for 50 cents. I got Birdeye steamers they were 1.00 each I had a 1 off 3 so it was really 2.00 off 3 with the doubled coupon so I paid 33 cents a bag. I liked that deal so I used 2 coupons and got 6 bags for 2.00 SCORE!
Minute Rice Steamers....OK I AM STEAMING MAD!!!! Ladies and Gents if you are not buying it don't take the peely off of it. I got 3 steamers for FREE but my peelies were gone. Ughhh I just don't get that it isn't yours and you are stealing someone elses coupon. Grrrrr
I did get 1 Bailey's Creamer for 19 cents I am happy with that. I don't really drink coffee I just like the creamers LOL. I put about half a cup of coffee and half a cup of creamer hehe!
I got my 3 reach floss they were 1.65 and I got paid .35 a piece for these...I will get to that at the end how I got paid for these things and HT doesn't pay you for overage.
I got 3 6 packs of Deer Park Water they were 1.00 I had a 1Q so it doubled to 2 so I was paid 3.00 to take these from the store.
2 Cheese Nips they were 1.00 each I had a 1.00 off Q that does not double so I got them for 1.00 for 2 50 cents a box is a deal to me SCORE!
Hidden Valley Salad kit was 2.00 I had a 1 Q doubled to make it free....I was hunting the store to get another free item.

So I go to self checkout with my helper shopper Jalen....I love shopping with him he gets a kick out of the coupon printers in the aisles and he loves to drive the carts but today he decided to take a kids cart and shop. So I am checking out and I think it is a new cashier because she keeps calling a girl over when a beep goes on the register when a guy was checking out. I think oh good god I hope this goes ok. So I ring all my stuff up. I hit the coupons button and hand her my coupons to scan. I am watching and counting because I know it is 20 coupons. I see the total only came down 20.00 and I had already scanned my debit card so I couldn't stop the transaction. I let the receipt print and I go to the customer service desk. Ummm excuse me the cashier only scanned 10 of my coupons not the entire 20. The cashier comes over and says oh something must have not beeped and I just kept scanning and they weren't working! UMMM OMG!
So the customer service clerk and me go and grab all 20 of my coupons she doesn't ask to see the items and she just takes out the last 10 coupons....THANK GOD!
I got the water and reach in that part so I was paid 3.00 for water and 1.05 for 3 dental floss.
My total before VIC discounts and coupons was 58.93 Out of Pocket (OOP) was 1.82 I saved 57.11!!!!!!!!!!!

All in all it was a great shopping day. I got a raincheck on the 4 smart balance milks. Tomorrow my plan is
3 Smart Balance (going to another HT)
3 Rice Steamers
1 Reach Floss
3 Kraft Mac and Cheese
3 Salad Kits
After that I am not sure I will check the stores prices to see what else I can get for free. I love couponing and can't wait to go back tomorrow!!!!

I am back from Vacay!!

Well I have to admit vacation was so much fun and I ate like a diet was the last thing on my mind. I have a few things to admit....
1. When the exercise room is in my building but I have to walk across the parking lot to the main building to get a room key it was just to far. Working out went out the window. Damn I am lazy!
2. Friendly's was just one block away....growing up with one in my town was great my kids needed to experience it 2 nights in a row they just had to right?
3. I never made it to Bi-Lo I brought my binder and was so ready to shop but I just never found the time the beach and pools were calling.
4. Soda replaced water but it was always diet...I never strayed from that BUT the ice cream really didn't help.
5. I didn't just get any ice cream I got the Reese's Pieces Sunday!

6. All the beating up in the world on myself coming home was so not worth it....I ONLY GAINED 1 LB on vacation!!!! I got it off and a extra one the very next day in the gym. I think my body needed that break and I enjoyed it.

So I added up my coupons savings tonight and I am pleased to say I saved 623.90 this month in groceries. I am going to adjust totals once a month in the ticker I have going. I am sure I will beat the 10K goal I have for myself....the losing 100 lbs well not so sure on that buy hey a girl can try!

Tonight I went to a coupon swap my first official one. I was walking up thinking what am I doing I don't know these people and I am doing this alone. But I so needed to get out of my shell and do this because it was fun. I was amazed how many coupons we had passing around. It was crazy all the money in that room! I got some great coupons and figured out how to do a swap. They meet monthly so if you are in the local area and want to come I can fill you in on where to go. I am very excited about tomorrow....Harris Teeter Super Doubles!!!! I will update tomorrow with pics what I get. I am taking 10.00 with me let's see if I can get everything within my 4.16 goal pre tax for the items.

Beach in 9 days anyone?

We are going to the beach in 9 days and I am so excited. I went to Myrtle Beach 2 years ago for a moms weekend. It was so nice and a seemed like a great place to take the kids. So we are going and I can't wait!!!

We are staying in a condo with a workout facility so I plan on working out daily. Plus walking on the beach and hell I might even try running while the sun is rising so no one is around to see me jiggle jiggle LMAO. But I plan on staying on point with weight watchers except for one cheat day. We got the condo so we can have more room and cook our own meals. It is so expensive to eat out for every meal with a family of 6 so I have been stockpiling vacation foods.

This past weekend I was shopping and got lots of goodies. I stocked up on cases of capri sun, diet coke with lime, coke zero, chips for the kids and the hubby, pretzels for me, pop tarts for the kids, diapers, wipes, and I think that was pretty much it so far. But this weekend we had a sleepover party for my daughter and I needed to get items for that.

I didn't take pics because we were running around and at our last stop my daughter informed me her finger hurt. I looked and it was purple. We were at the dr. on Wednesday for this same finger and he gave us a antibiotic we aren't sure what happened to her finger. But I had to drop the freezer and cold items off and run back out car full of groceries to the dr. I wasn't about to take it all out to take pics.

Some big scores
Kroger
1.49 sit and stand refreshners I got 8 of them for .49 cents I had a 1.00 off coupon. I got the display stand as well because I bought almost a whole box the girl said yea take it. I like getting the display fixture it is easier to stockpile.
Lowes Foods
I am a hot dog snob...I admit it but I really don't like hot dogs anywhere but the ball park. But I will eat a Nathan's hotdog. So they were on sale for 3.99 reg 5.98 at Lowes. So I got 7 packages LOL. I figure we can use them on the grill all summer and they are easy to cook for lunch on the indoor grill for the kids.
My daughter is starting TBall and our vacation coming up I like to have gatorade on hand. They had 8 packs for 3.99 reg 6.98 as a Lowes Rewards Customer I could get 2 so I got 2!
Food Lion
Sunny D was on sale for 1.00 I got 5 my kids love them and have gone thru 3 of them already in 2 days.
I also got a free Capri Sun case using the coupon printing machine when you walk in the door. LOVED that!

So far for the month I have gone over budget...God Love the income tax check LOL but we also had 2 parties I stocked up for, vacation, and stockpiling.
Stockpiled
12 Taco kits
10 Mac and Cheese
10 WW meals
4 packages of waffles
4 boxes of waffle mix
16 bags of shredded cheese
10 boxes of rice a roni
12 packages of potatoes
40 cans of veggies
6 garlic bread
5 pepperidge farms cakes

So we are good for the next month and this month on sides and meats. I have been buying quite a large bit of produce too almost every other day I am picking up some kind of produce. This weekend alone we ate 4 packages of strawberries.
Next month the goal is to stay under 200 for food budget for the month. I get a budget of 500 a month from the hubby but I have been trying to teach myself to put that towards another bill or savings so we shall see how that goes....it is just so much fun to stockpile. But I am running out of room to tell you the truth and I refuse to have my stuff all over the house! But I am also keeping in the back of my mind the money I save could go towards a freezer. I want a freezer so bad for the garage and soon. Meat is going to be going on sale for Memorial Day I am sure. I want to load up on London Broil and I am sure Ham to for Easter.

So this month
Retail 1157.58
Coupons 458.45
I Paid 699.13
Saved 40% total so far....I would be dead if I spent almost 1200 a month on groceries. My husband loves me but not that much LOL to spend that much. But it just goes to show what coupons can do for your budget.

On the bottom of my Kroger receipt I see extra rewards

Pull Ups 6.99 limit 2 I have 2 off coupons so 4.99 for pull ups!
Pork chops in a package for 4.00 SCORE
Crisco Veg Oil 48oz for 1.99 and I have a coupon YAY~

So I will be going to Kroger today as it expires tomorrow. Always check the bottom of your receipts for deals! I haven't hit up the pharmacies in the past 2 weekends. I have so much health and beauty stuff. Even if it is free I don't want to bring it in the house it will be free again. I am going to look for Easter Basket stuff though sometime this week.

I will post pics from the beach and my trip to Bi-Lo....I can't wait to try out that store!!!!

TLC Extreme Couponing/Weight Loss

So I joke I want to be on the show....joke well somewhat I mean who wouldn't want to be on tv? Well good tv not bad news tv. LOL But seriously I think that this show is INSANE not Extreme.
I looked up the definition of Extreme
ex·treme (k-strm)
adj.
1. Most remote in any direction; outermost or farthest: the extreme edge of the field.
2. Being in or attaining the greatest or highest degree; very intense: extreme pleasure; extreme pain.
3. Extending far beyond the norm: an extreme conservative. See Synonyms at excessive.
4. Of the greatest severity; drastic: took extreme measures to conserve fuel.

My favorite is number 3 Extending fa beyond the norm.....Seriously 35 bottles of antacid? What was that lady feeding everyone at her BBQ was she putting the antacid in candy dishes at the table? I would be very afraid to eat anything she was serving with that type of antacid around.

Ok so the pretty lady J'aime who has to look her best when going into the store. How many kids did she have 3? I have 4 what will that one push me over the edge the feelign the need to be all made up. Please sometimes I do my trips after the gym but most times I do it in a pair of jeans or leggings and a tee. I am definetly not wearing those knee high high heeled boots to shop in. Although she does have her stores down by aisle and she has a meticulous plan so maybe that saves her some walking. Lord knows I walk around my store numerous times.

I feel no ill will towards these women they each did her own thing. I just hope and pray that this show doesn't ruin couponing for those of us just starting out. Kroger is already testing no longer doubling coupons. Rumor around the street here is that Kroger purchased Harris Teeter or is in the process of it so does that mean HT won't either? I also know that this was heavily edited and planned out for the show. I also don't think it is right to go on these women's FB pages, blogs and blast them for being a fraud. Trust me TLC is not going to let anyone do time for coupon fraud and the marketing execs were at the stores for these shows I am sure.

With that being said I am planning a stockpile trip LMAO I want to do it once just once and see a huge bill go down to almost nothing. I am not going to do mustard of cereal or any other condiments. I need to find some good coupon deals and work my magic HEHE

Ok so onto the next topic...can TLC come out with a show like The Style Network has Ruby? Maybe a Michelle Show? I swear I have no motivation to go to the gym. I don't want to go and was seriously thinking yesterday what a waste of money this month I have barely gone. I am not going to lie and say oh yea I am going to go because you know what I probably won't go again until Monday. Tomorrow I will be hopefully scoring some great seats to the Taylor Swift Concert in the am. Kids have half a day so I can't go after they get out the daycare is closed. Saturday one of the girls is having a sleepover here so in the am I am getting ready for the event and they are all coming here after the practice...6 more girls in the house....I will be filling them up on deals I got couponing LOL. Sunday they will all leave around noon and I plan on having a day with the family.....maybe I will try to get them to go for a walk with me or something.

I do have some goals here in the weight loss dept. I want to do the Diva Dash Triathalon this September. So I need to get over my fear of swimming in anything but a pool. I want to go to White Lake and check it out maybe we will do that on Sunday if it is really warm. I am confident in my swimming, biking, and running that short of a distance so it is just the swim that scares me with the fish. But I also want to start training for the Princess Half Marathon that I am doing with my girls in February. I want to have a kick butt time. I figure I have a lot of months to train for this but this NC Brutal heat will have me training indoors on the treadmill for the summer but that is ok. I will do what I have to do.

I am eating right have been sticking to my WW points I just need to get more activity in my day. Wish me luck!

Tally so far

I will add pics in the am but here is where I stand with this weeks shopping. I am pretty much done with this month and half of next month's shopping and some goodies for our week beach trip. So I pretty happy with my totals.
Store Out of Pocket Saved %
Kroger 110.47 37.48 25%
Harris Teeter 89.86 92.68 53%
Harris Teeter 3.79 13.66 80%
Aldi 42.99 0 0
Food Lion 18.69 2.99 14%
Food Lion 34.18 3.20 8%
Food Lion 14.86 27.00 64%
Lowes 69.56 71.28 51%
Walmart 5.98 0 0
Target 45.39 18.00 28%
Total 435.77 266.29 38%

So I got groceries that didn't have coupons and I also went clothes shopping at Target with Mikayla. I had clothing coupons and a coupon on a toy that Zoe got. I have 65 more left for the budget this month so let's see what I can turn that into! LOL

Ok So I had a plan.....

My family are creatures of habit I guess you can say. Our menu is not often varied we have a few staples that we have weekly.
Tacos-I never had them until I met Erik. We weren't big Mexican dish family being the Polish Irish American's growing up it was really meat and potatoes. When I had them I thought wow what have I been missing? So every week we have Taco night and we LOVE it!
Spaghetti, Garlic Bread and Meat Sauce or Alfredo Sauce for the kids. This is a nod to my Grandma I suppose. Every Friday Lent or no Lent no meat was eaten in her house on Friday. They ate plan marinara sauce no meat. We didn't have garlic bread but my Grandpa loves his brown beans with his spaghetti. I haven't tried that with my family Erik might think I am crazy.
Pork Chops-So I don't know how this came to be but we do serve this once a week in our house as well either with rice and green beans or mac and cheese and green beans. The kids believe it is chicken so they eat it. A few times I have slipped and said Pork Chops and they refuse to eat it....really you ate it last week no problem! Zoe has taken to eating Ketchup with a side of Pork Chops LOL. But hey if it gets her to eat it we will do it.
Chicken-Either baked, nuggets, breasts, legs or whatever else we do this once a week too. Nuggets if it is crazy night and we just don't have time I like to pop them into the microwave and made a side dish and veggie. Most times though I make chicken breast with cream of chicken and put it in the oven. Erik loves it like this. I make a rice dish and a veggie.

So this was my plan We know we are going to need a veggie with each meal, mac and cheese, rice, garlic bread, pasta, prego sauce (our fav), taco kits, and the meat for tacos and pasta sauce in advance for 6 months to a year in advance. I wanted to stockpile these items when they went on sale BUT SOMETHING HAPPENED.

Today I cleaned out the pantries, my master closet stockpile of bath items, and the closet of cleaning and laundry items. I am in shock at how much stuff I bought in these 3 months. Seriously I think that when you coupon and find good deals you need to take inventory once a month. I never did a inventory of everything. So let me just put it this way we don't need for another year:
Deodorant, Razors for Erik, Shaving Cream for me or Erik, Shampoo, Conditioner, Body Wash, Fabric Softener, Stain removers for clothes, red hot sauce, mustard, hamburger helper (I got these for almost free so I got a lot find out my family doesn't like them....these are being donated but I am just hesitant because they will need to purchase the meat for them), dish soap, dishwasher tablets I am good for the next 2-3 years LOL
I am good for the next 6 months on:
Toothpaste, Laundry Detergent, and toothbrushes

My plan will be downsized. I am going to try to work in 3 month time frames. That way I have the space for everything and I can go ahead and plan a menu and watch for items going on sale. I also don't want anything to go bad so I need to pay attention to expiration dates.

The main reason too for doing this is it will lower our monthly food budget. I plan on being able to get the grocery bill down to 200 a month or less for my family of 6. This stockpile will allow me to do this. I will have put out money up front with this but I feel the lower monthly payment will be better for my family. I think of this as a jump start.
Here are some pics!

A photo slideshow by Smilebox

Day 1 Has Arrived

Ok so today the day after I announced to the world wide web that I was going to lose 100 lbs and save $10,000.00 in one year......WHAT WAS I THINKING? I don't even think we spend that much in groceries a year without coupons??????? What am I planning on buying? WOW but the even bigger fear is losing 100 pounds. What is that about and hello I told you all that is my goal.....if you see me out eating or drinking something bad you have every right to correct me. I guess since I am putting this all out on the line you have every right to share in my journey and I hope that sometimes my blog makes you laugh so to repay me for the light happy moments in your day feel free to tell me if I am falling off the wagon. (note to my teacher friends and well everyone else reading this I like run on sentences and please don't judge my blog by my writing....I write like I talk I have been told-Thanks Maribel)

So of course today I had some deals to score. I knew from 3-8 Kroger was giving away FREE Chips yes people FREE chips a bag of them. I thought ok SCORE....I always text my couponing buddy Candace SCORE when I find a good deal. We have a joke when we get Money Makers (when a store is actually paying us to take the product out of the store and this happens quite often) that we will use a blow horn and blow it and scream MONEY MAKER! LOL yea we take couponing seriously! ;-)
So I also knew at Food Lion where I don't like to shop because they don't double coupons but they had a deal on Pampers Pull Ups. WE HATE HUGGIES pull ups in this house because Jalen can undo the velcro side easily and hello accidents! They were on sale for 7.99 and I had 2.00 off coupons so I got them for 5.99 I picked up the last 3 they had. It is a 3 day sale so I plan on going back and using the rest of the 2.00 off coupons and stocking up on some pull ups. (tried potty training last weekend that lasted a day when your son tells you I don't want to be a big boy I guess he knows what he wants!)

So the photo below shows my deals at Food Lion today.
Big time scores I am proud of from this trip-Gallon of milk for 1.68 used a coupon that they printed out from the coupon machine. You walk in the store scan your card it prints out coupons for you. So I got a 1.00 off 2 pillsbury ready to bake cookies-----so not helping the diet------but they were also running a special buy 2 of those same cookies and get 2.00 off a gallon of milk.
Pancakes were buy 1 get one 1 would have been a better deal if I had a coupon but I didn't grrr.
Diapers 7.99 minus my 2.00 off SCORE!
FREE Lays Chips

Total was 68.32
SAVED 27.03
Total Out Of Pocket 41.29
Balance left to save....$9972.97 for the year!

Ok so I know you are probably saying so Michelle you shopped a little today what did you do towards working out and losing weight? Well I didn't do much in that department. I didn't make it to the gym the kids were off and getting out of bed just wasn't in the cards right away. It was a lazy type of day. But tomorrow I have to be at a Tball Meeting for Zoe at 9am and drop Mya at Gymnastics at 845 so I will be up early. I am going to work out tomorrow doing some cardio for 2 hours.  1 of those hours I will be working out with Mikayla walking and trying to get her running at the track. Mikayla told me tonight she wants to lose some weight. She is not overweight but not a rail either. So I told her ok we can work out together a few times during the week and weekends. She can't get mad at me when I tell her no she can't eat something and when I make her plate that is it. She said ok. I guess being overweight as a teenager I don't want that for her so her taking the necessary steps to make sure that doesn't happen to her I applaud her. She won't be like me thinking about losing weight she will do something so her weight isn't a issue like mine is.

My game plan for saving money this weekend is simple. I am going shopping with Erik for summer clothes for Mikayla and we will shop the sale racks and clearance. I am not counting the clothing shopping into the total for 10K that will only be groceries. Last month I stocked up on paper towels and toilet paper. This month I am stocking up on side dishes and a few months worth of canned veggies. Veggies go on the lowest priced sales during Oct Nov Dec (holiday time) meats go on sale during the summer BBQ season. June July so I plan on saving some extra money to stockpile meats. Oh and I am looking for a freezer for the garage if anyone sees any good deals or knows of someone trying to get rid of one. Our freezer fridge that I got in February from saving money on groceries is just to small for our freezer stockpile needs. LOL

I am going to bed I hope you have a great shopping  weekend. Don't forget pharmacies have the best deals on paper and cleaning products check them out first when you are doing your shopping.
CVS Deals starting Sunday
http://www.weusecoupons.com/upload/cvs/133924-cvs-free-cheap-gda-week-4-3-4-9-a.html
Rite Aid Match ups starting Sunday
http://www.weusecoupons.com/upload/rite-aid-ad-previews/136056-rite-aid-matchups-4-3-4-9-a.html
Walgreens Deals
http://www.weusecoupons.com/upload/walgreens-ad-previews/132397-walgreens-4-3-4-9-deals.html

Happy Shopping I will update tomorrow after my work outs!
Nighty Night