different blog...

for anyone possibly following this blog, or wanting to add it to their blog's roll call i've decided to blog over at
Fun, Frugal, Fabulous

:)

something i love...

often convenience foods are expensive.

same goes for convenience MEALS. they tend to be even more expensive. you pay the price for lack of work in prepping the food. fast food meals easily cost you $6 or $7 a person. pizza delivery sets you back $25-30. So what's a person to do when they are tired and hungry?

pop one of these into your oven!

At Winco and WalMart these will set you back only $3. They create enough food to easily feed two adults dinner and still have leftovers for lunch. Betty Crocker Complete meals have the noodles, the seasoning, the sauce, AND the chicken in them! You can't beat that for the price. (and in no way are they paying me for this plug...i could only be so lucky!)

At first I was really skeptical of eating something that had meat in the box with it but my fears were quickly proven wrong. The meat is cooked and in a can with the sauce. It's so easy to make as well, you just stir it all up and bake it for about 45 minutes and you're set to go.

So next time you're in the grocery store and have a few extra bucks in your budget think about adding one of these to your cart. It will be a life saver on those nights you've forgot to pull out meat to defrost or when you're just tired and in search of something easy.

-M.

free sample of Gold Bond lotion!

**EDIT**: oops! i am sorry, they are 'sold out' of the gold bond lotion!
but don't worry! here is a link for a free sample of Always INFINITY :)

i lovelovelove getting samples and coupons in the mail! it makes your mailbox more than just a place to receive bills from, lol. a great site for samples is walmart's website.

right now they have an offer for a free sample of Gold Bond Ultimate lotion.
here ya go you fabulous frugalites!

samples are perfect to take
camping, traveling, keep in your car, at your desk at work, or just use in those times you happen to run out of something before you can head to the store.

multi-store run!

I start classes tomorrow for spring term...YAY. I am in class from 10:35am-4 then 6-9pm on mondays. It's a really, really long day to say the least. But I have a two hour break to come home, eat dinner, feed the kitty, and head back to school. M. doesn't get off 'till six so i won't even see him until 9pm :( I also am training for a new position at work with better pay and more responsibility. So every week between two full days of classes [mon & wed] and a lab on friday i will be working three tens! uggggh. just gotta power thru!! anyways, this being my last night of 'freedom' I wanted to get the the last few things we needed.

M. and I each 'pay' me $60 every two weeks for groceries, kitty supplies, toiletries, deodorant, make-up, etc. so in essence it's a budget of $60 a week for all that. I have soo many things stock piled that I really think I can get this down every week...I am thinking of stashing 'extra' money away and surprising M. with the savings at the end of the year for Christmas or who knows. Anyways...I am totally rambling...

Here is my damage!

Fred Meyer's
2-storage boxes (organized my freezer!) $1x2= $2
1-loaf of 12 grain bread (M. loves 'chunky' bread lol, it was on sale) $1.67
2.46lb Fuji apples (on sale for 68 cents a lb) =$1.67
1- Reach Dental floss (on sale for$1.50-$1 coupon) =.50
1-Men's speed stick (sale + in-store coupon) = .99
TOTAL OOP= $7.28

Walgreens
2- Oust air sanitizers (bogo sale + bogo coupon) =FREE
2- Aquafresh extreme clean toothpaste (ESR coupon + $1 printable) =FREE
TOTAL OOP= 45 cents (tax)

Safeway
1- 10lb bag of potatoes (on sale) = $1.98
TOTAL OOP $1.98

Winco Foods
2- bags of pretzels = .88 each
1- Totinos mexican pizza
(M is on vacation these next few weeks so i needed snack/lunch items) =$1.12
1- box of Jiffy cornbread mix = .43
.88lb bulk penne pasta =.82
.60lb bulk tri-color corkscrew pasta =.74
2- Pillsbury pizza crusts (1.94-.40coupon x2) = 2.08
1- Pillsbury crescent rolls (2.13 OUCH! -.25 coupon) = 1.88
1- Hormel pepperoni (1.55-1 peelie coupon wyb 2 pills crust) = .55
2- lunch meat packets (.48x2) =.96
1- Heinz ketchup = 1.78
1- can of green beans =.67
1- in-store freshly ground coffee(for M. i hate hate hate coffee) .44lb =$2.63
1- can of chili =.98
1- can of whole kernel corn =.55
1- loaf of raisin bread =$2.02
1- in-store bulk colby cheese =$3.14
1- Kraft cheese (16slices)=2.78
1- bag of tortilla chips =$2.20
1- pot roast (which i split in two making two dinners) =$5.76
TOTAL OOP $32.12

Albertson's
2-dozen eggs (in-ad coupon) .99 each
TOTAL OOP= $1.98

overall OOP= $43.81

I normally would NEVER go to so many stores after working all day but I guess the whole last night before classes thing inspired me :) I didn't use a lot of coupons today but I cherry picked. Now we have what we need for my meal plan for the next week and half or two...long enough to get me through adjusting to my new schedule.

Don't forget!

don't forget that Oust air sanitizer is on sale at Walgreens!

the sale is buy one get one free [bogo] and last sunday's AWESOME paper had BOGO coupons!
you'll get TWO for free!

frugal cleaning tip

a few years ago I worked at a local sporting good's store. one of those places that sold under armour, snowboards, bikes, north face, frisbee golf sets, you name it. well eventually my mom got me a job at her office and i jumped ship from the un-predictable schedule world of retail to the lovely paid holidays office world.

a week ago I was organizing our closests because if I don't organize them on winter break they won't get touched until I am on summer break from classes in May. I came across a box of clothes and random things. I found a few of my old work polo's that still had the store's logo on them. well in a moment of frugality genius, ha, I decided to cut those polo's up and create some more cleaning rags with them. it helps save me money by not using paper towels as often. and it helps elimate waste by not throwing away perfectly good shirts.

so moral of the story: cut up old shirts and make 'em into handy rags!

-M.

great shopping trip!

[side note: I haven't updated this blog in nearly five months, however I've maintained my couponing. I've gotten so much better at it! I read others' blogs religiously and I decided to try and maintain my blog to hopefully help other people out there like I've been helped by reading blogs. seeing people get the good deals is a constant motivator! like we've all heard many times over: you're only good as the company you keep! so keeping 'company' with frugal people naturally motivates and maintains a frugal lifestyle for yourself!]

last night I braved the chill and left the comfort of our town home for a two store hounding trip i had planned. and it went quite well!

Fred Meyer's:
Fresh Express Salad kits
1- Caesar kit (includes romain lettuce, croutons, and dressing) orig. 3.99
1- hearts of romain lettuce orig. 2.99
1- I think it was veggie melody or something along those lines? orig 2.99
all on sale for 1.00
used three (3) 75cents off coupons
=oop 75 cents total!!!

Walgreen's:
6- Reese's Whipped candy bars. on sale .50 each
2- pints of Ben & Jerry's Imagine Whirled Peace ice cream on sale 3.00 each
used three (3) $1/2 Reese's whipped candy bars
used two (2) 3.00 off Ben & Jerry's ice cream
=oop ZERO! wooo!

M. had been wanting some ice cream but I kept telling him to hold out until I could find a good deal(oh how i love him, especially when he waits for something until i find a coupon for it) so he was happy when he got off work and I told him there was a treat waiting for him in the freezing after dinner.

-M.