January 2013 - end of month HauL...

Well...at least I think it is the last haul of the month.  I might have a chaser shopping spree  on the 31st to maximize some special deals but I may not - it just depends on how busy I get.  I tell you what...it is very energizing to save money.

One of my favorite things is randomly finding the "clearance basket" in the grocery store - it's the cart the manager throws in all the stuff they are taking out of inventory.  Yesterday, I found not only coupon books...

 ...but I also found a basket of KIWI products marked down to 50 cents as well as some lights and other assorted things.  Very handy to have shoe black and boot laces around and I can also use that waterproofing stuff on canvas for the patio chairs or to proof my own boots.  You certainly can't beat 50 cents right?




I love my nemesis.  She keeps me sharp and alert - I feel so competitive and alive!  I also love that I have a pair of coupon buddies and we trade coupons and deal tips on certain locations so we really are getting a ton of savings because we have a higher coverage area.  Mommy jeans beat me to all the Proctor and Gamble books on Friday - and I will be honest - I previewed the book the Tuesday prior and was not impressed by any of the coupon amounts.  Also, I had already had a good amount of deals from the December coupon book so it wasn't that crucial.  However - I noticed that even though all 3 of my nemesis (PL) get up early on Fridays they do NOT get up early on Sundays.  Too bad for them...coz on Saturday nights I can barely sleep coz I'm so excited to do my "run" on Sunday morning.  The day will come that me and my coupon ladies will harvest 300 books but it will have to be something of value and a lot of freebies to put that kind of efffort in!

I still cannot believe all I paid for 60 cans of progresso light was 30 cents.  Yup you heard me...a quarter and a nickel.  They had a deal this week of 10 for $10 on the "light" variety.  Yesterday afternoon I noticed 100 free papers thrown aside - and each of them had book2 of smart source that had a 25c off any 1 progresso light soup.  At my local Fry's/Kroger's all coupons are worth $1 - so they were FREE!


But of course I had to marry it with another deal:

Last Friday - I had bought Kisses for the shop - just this ONE Fry's had the kisses 10/$10 and I had $1 off 2 coupons which made them 50 cents.  I went back on Sunday after work and they were sold out - so I brought the tag to the service desk and she wrote me a raincheck.  This morning I went back and the price was up to $3.49 each.  I decided to go ahead and cash out that raincheck and use my 22 coupons.  So the kisses were again 50 cents per 12oz bag which makes it about 69.2 cents per pound. I know it may seem ridiculous to have 33lbs of chocolate.  It is NOT.  When you consider that a bag of chocolate morsels costs close to $4 and a lot of candy bars are now $1, having this much chocolate at your disposal is a blessing.  Even though they are individually wrapped - I am just going to put on some nitrile gloves - put on the netflix and just peel them out and put them in a mason jar to vac seal.  The cheaper cost means more labor - but if I'm just watching a movie and peeling chocolate it is not going to kill me!

 This was my first time getting a 100% savings receipt!  I even joked with the cashier, "I don't think I have 15 cents..." She started laughing! and told me for all the effort I put in she'd be glad to pay the 15 cents!

Haha - you gotta love happy people!
 
 

Yesterday was Mr. Man's birthday and we kept it really sedate.  He did not want to barbecue or have a dinner.  He just wanted a pasta dinner, wild greens salad, 3 cheese italian bread - and I made a 7up cake with cream cheese frosting!

Guess Who Came to Dinner?

She was SERIOUS about the cake










Until we started singin' happy birthday then everything was cool...coz even a 14 month old knows what that song means...I like how she sneaked a poke at the frosting when she thought no one was looking - HA!

I must admit all the stress is worth it once you see happy faces!









Here is the video from my end of month Haul!