I am so excited to hear about everyone's new goals for this year. I have been inspired by reading other's blogs and have come up with some goals of my own this year.

1. As with most of the country I would like to lose some weight and work on my health. I'm healthy now and I'd like to stay that way so more exercise and hopefully I'll remember to take my vitamins.

2. Get my life Organized. My husband and I are horrible with schedules but this year we are going to get there. Shawn is old enough that everyone will have daily chores that need to be done, we will be eating, sleeping, exercising, and getting baths (for Shawn) on a schedule. Shawn will be starting preschool later in the year and we'll have to start at some point. To prove the need when we got strict about bedtime with him all the nighttime fighting stopped, he rarely stays up past 9 and when he does he is tired.

3. This is the big one. I am going to do my best to hold us to a $300 + budget a month. The + will be the value of any gift cards earned or rebates earned. This budget will include gas, clothes, food and fun. For some of you it may sound crazy and for others it may sound like a big number but it's one I think I'm comfortable with for now. This will be revisited in a couple months to make sure it's doable and see if I can trim anymore. Under this budget we'll have money to put away for an emergency fund and a family vacation at some point (far far down the road).

Since we have so much I will be analyzing all of my purchases (thanks to Frugal makes Cents for the inspiration). I will be really looking at things and if they aren't free then it will be a do we really need this. There will be good deals that I will use to stock my gift shelf and some that I'll use for my semi annual yard sales, but there will be lots of good deals that I will be passing on. No more running to B&BW for a little freebie with purchase, now if it's a good freebie and I'm going that way for something else than I'll be all over it.

Safeway- Slimfast Optima 6-pack is $5.49 this week but on a tiny banner on its picture it says "Buy 2 save $3 limit one per transaction". So if you buy 2:
2 x $5.49 = 10.98 - $3 (instant savings) - $4 (2x$2Q's) = $3.98 for 2 packs. This is a very good price.
http://www.slim-fast.com/offer/default.aspx?utm_source=slimfastpower.com&utm_medium=drtv&utm_campaign=dr-dec-08-20-coupon

there will be 2 new 10/50 coupons in next weeks food section. one for next week and then one for the week after!!

Stop & Shop-Sobe Lifewater 10 for $10 with 50 cent off coupons around the necks of them.
Stop and Shop automatically doubles coupons, so each bottle would be free

Big Y- This month, Big Y has the Ronzoni Smart Taste Pasta on sale for $1 - (from 10/5 SS) $1/1 coupon= FREE (these are on sale til December 31st!)

WinnDixie-Coffe Mate $.66 when you use the $1.00 printable http://www.coffee-mate.com/coupons.aspx

I hope you all have a great holiday and get to spend time with your loved ones. I baked up some goodies for some of our neighbors and the man nice enough to take Dave's shift at work so he could spend Christmas home with Shawn and I. If anyone wants the recipe to anything made just leave a comment and I'll post them.

Now for the serious stuff. This is the time of year you want to think about your budgets and financial goals. With the economy still in the toilet we are all cutting back and nows the time to decide where. Several of the blogs I follow are very inspiring for budgeting. Please share your goals here and once we figure out ours I'll be sharing it as well. Happy Holidays!!!!

Had a pretty good run to Publix this morning after cleaning up at CVS. I got 3 2lb packs of chicken breast, 4 boxes of Betty Crocker potatoes, 4 bags of Fresh Express salad, 2 lb of grapes, 5lb bag of potatoes, 3 hot wheels, 2 altoids and 3 Covergirl Nail Polishes. In total I spent $9.21.

I also picked up a few gifts for DH but I didn't include those in the total. I don't need him reading this and figuring out what he's getting.

There are tons of freebies at CVS today and tomorrow. Some of them have mq's out so they end up being money makers. Here's the freebies:
Listerine Antiseptic 16.9oz $2.99 (mq) Limit 5
ThermaCare neck to arm wrap 1ct. $2.49 (mq) Limit 3
Excedrin Express Gels 20ct $3.99 (mq) Limit 1
Sally Hansen Lacquer Shine Nail Color $5.99 Limit 2
Arm & Hammer Multi Surface Cleaner 32oz $2.99 (mq) Limit 5
Right Guard Pro Strength $6.00 Limit 5
Alteril sleep aid $9.99 Limit 1
L'Oreal Hip Metallic eye shadows $6.99 (mq) Limit 2
Zipfizz $5.99 Limit 1
Halls Naturals 25 ct. $2.59 Limit 1
EAS AdvantEdge bar $1.69 Limit 1
Benefiber drink mix 16ct $7.29 (mq) Limit 1
Zantac 150 8ct $4.99 Limit 1
Iceland Health Joint Relief 60ct $29.99 Limit 1
Slimquick 2 pk 4oz $4.99 Limit 1
EAS AdvantEdge shake 4pk $7.49 Limit 1
Sleepinal 32ct $8.49 Limit 5

Make sure if they are out of stock on anything to get your rainchecks and staple the section of ad to them. The ad has a number that they can type in to make your ECB's print and at my stores they haven't been writing that number on the raincheck. It's always easier to find stuff with the ad anyways.

Today and Tomorrow if you load a photo onto Walgreens.com and order an 8x10 you can get it for free. Just put the word FREEGIFT into the box for codes and select in store pickup. The photo is ready in an hour all you need is a nice cheap frame and you've got another gift.

Just took a quick run to Publix today to check out the clearance Holiday selection. There were some deals to be had today.
Mott's Apple Juice on sale 3 for $6 -$1 mq =$1 each
Duncan Hines Cake $1.95 BOGO -$1 =-.05
Progresso Soups $1.25 -$1.10 printed q =.25 each
Amp $2.59 (this is what I get for taking Dave along)
Santa candles 50% off $1 -$1 PQ =FREE
Ornament Candles 50% off $1.35 -$1PQ =.35 each
Bayer Aspirin $3.29 -$1mq -$5/2 PQ =-.20 each
Uncrustables $2.79 -Free q =FREE
Hotwheels $1 -$1 PQ =FREE

In total I spent $3.65 because I used $7 in catalinas I got at Kmart and convinced the manager that Kmart was a competitor and Publix honors all competitor coupons. Really the Kmart coupons ring up as manufacturer coupons so Publix will end up getting reimbursed for them provided they process them properly.

I got about 30 ham steaks for free at 3 different Targets. Using the $2 coupon I stocked the freezer for about 15 meals for completely FREE.
Here's the rest of my Target purchases. I did a Glade deal at each store and also picked up a few toys with some great coupons from the manufacturers. (It pays to write notes of complaint or compliment.) The RayoVac's are from the $1 section and there is a $1 off coupon from their website. I paid with gift cards from the Glade deal and .19 out of pocket.
This was a quick trip to Publix. Using the college inn coupons from the paper and the store coupon publix paid me to take the college inn. The toys were covered by the $1 off any toy under $29.99 store coupon, the potatoes were BOGO with .40 mq and the Bayer was free with store q and mq. I ended up paying about $7 for the whole lot.
Someone sent me a PetSmart coupon and I went to Petco and used it. We had a $5 off for the Science Diet treats, there was $1 off peelie on the crunchy treats. The rest of the stuff was on sale. I ended up paying about $8 for everything and Belle's stocking will now be stuffed.
Shawn and I each made a purchase using the free Lip stuff with any purchase coupon and bought some clearance kid's stuff. Total at Bath and Body Works less than $3.
It was a good shopping day. Sorry it's taken so long to get this posted, but we've been busy doing Christmas stuff.

Today I got a kid free shopping run and so I hit 3 stores almost peacefully. At Kohl's I got a necklace and a pair of earrings that were on clearance and used a $5 off coupon for signing up for sales alerts on their website. Total was $.21

Then headed to Kmart for a failed attempt at a good shopping trip. I found lots of what I wanted but had a horrible horrible cashier and she didn't scan any of the coupons for the right items and was a witch so I ended up only getting some cards for 0 out of pocket expense.


Last stop was at Target for some Glade and FREE Ham steaks.
The Beggin Stips were $2.24 with a $2 printable coupon on their website. The glade deal I have talked about before this time I got a flameless candle and my bogo coupon for the oil refills took off the price of the flameless candle. The 2 bigger packages of meat had $3 off coupons on them and they need to be used or frozen right away. If you go here you can print out $1 off fresh broccoli coupons and $2 off Archer Farms Ham. With those coupons all the ham steaks were free and so was the small bag of broccoli. I will be hitting them up for more ham steaks since they freeze nicely and are flat so easy to store in the freezer. My total was $12.xx but that included a $2 drink and a $5 Lego stocking stuffer for the little guy.

I added a poll to see where everyone is from so I can tailor my grocery deals to where my readers live. If you select other please leave a comment on here as to where you are from. If there are a few people from your area then I will start posting a weekly update on the grocery deals in your area.

Arby's has a friends and family promotion running for a FREE regular Roast Beef Sandwich with any purchase. Go here to print your coupon then head to Arby's and buy yourself a drink or fries and enjoy your cheap lunch.

Shawn and I had a blast shopping yesterday. We took Dave to work and then headed out to CVS were we picked up 2 Free after ECB's Complete contact solution and a couple of drinks. I came out ahead on ECB's and used alittle on a giftcard we got free.

Next stop was Kmart to hit up the double coupons again.


This time I got
2 Bubble Mailers $1.49 -$1/2 publix book q =,49
1 Playdough 2 pack $1 -$1 compliment q = FREE
4 Olay 4Bar Pack $4 -$2 Insert =FREE
2 Revlon Tweezers $1.99 -$1 Insert =FREE
4 Revlon Emery Boards $1.49 -$1 Insert =FREE
2 No Nonsense pantyhose $3.99 -$2 peeelie =FREE
15 Cards .99 -$2/3 Kmart =FREE
3 Dove Shampoo $3.79 -$2 Insert =FREE
2 Degree Deodorants $2.69 -$2 Blinkie =FREE
4 Oust Surface and Air $3.50 -$1.50 Insert =FREE
2 Mighty Dog canned food .65 -Free Insert =FREE
Total was $3.03

Then we headed to Old Time Pottery and got a couple of sets of cookie bags for the Christmas cookies we'll be making in a couple of weeks. They have the best prices on gift bags, gift boxes, wrapping paper, and cards so if you have one nearby I recommend visiting. Warning though they are huge places so it may take awhile for first timers. I spent less than $2.50 on a 6 pk of cookie tray bags and a 30 pk of cello loot bags.

Next was USA Baby. I signed up a month or so ago on Emomrewards.com and got a $20 gift certificate to USA Baby, we finally got out there to use it yesterday.

Everything was in the 80% off corner and now I'll have a few baby gifts for the gift closet just in case. I spent $3.43 there. Not too bad considering regular price for each blanket was $18.

Across the street to Target. Not a whole lot exciting there.
The Airwick's were on sale $4.95 and there were $4 peelies on them. The 2 games I had a raincheck for making them $4 each and I had $5 peelie coupons for them so they were free. The glade has tons of BOGO coupons and $2 off coupons out and are still giving back a $5 giftcard when you buy 4. I also bought some animal crackers that didn't make it and 2 bras on clearance for 75% off. Spent $7.79 on a GC $6.21 in cash and got back $5 GC.

Then we were off to the mall hit the Old Navy first. My grandma had bought me 2 great shirts when she was down visiting but the first time I wore 1 of them the sequins started on raveling so I returned them for store credit (which gets mailed). I went and got these 5 shirts and 2 pairs of clearance flip flops for Shawn and got back .15


Then as a reward for being such a good boy all morning we went to the Build a Bear store and Shawn picked out this guy.

In one of my free magazines (Good Housekeeping I think) I got a $5 off a $10 or more bear. So we left there for $5.33 and a very happy boy who has named his new friend Teddy. Not to creative but he's only 4.

We spent the rest of the day playing at the Magic Kingdom until Dave was done work. We even waited in line almost an hour to go see Tinkerbell. Only because she's new and we don't already have her autograph and that's the shortest I've seen the line since she started. The plus side was it was a little chilly out and we were inside the whole time.

J. Carrell Originals is having an Apron Giveaway, so head over there and check it out.

I had a great trip at Kmart today. Unfortunately I was still sick on Sunday so I couldn't hit the sale right away and get everything that I had coupons for, but I still did pretty well. I'm not sure exactly what the cashier did but I ended up only spending $4.59. Don't forget to sign up for a $5 coupon on the Kmart website. It's good off a $50 purchase, I used mine last and it actually took off some of the tax.



Lightsaber $7.79 -$2 from coupons.com
4 Gillette Men's Bodywash $3.99 -$2 P&G Insert =FREE
3 Assorted Vaseline products 2.99-3.49 -$1.5 Insert =FREE- .49
1 Kiss Nail Stickers $1.99 -$1 Kmart Book
12 Cards .99 each -$2 wyb 3 cards in the ad rack =FREE
2 Tylenol $4.49 -$2 Insert =.49 each
8 12ct Tums Smoothies $1.89 -$1 Insert =FREE
1 Reynolds Foil $2.99 -$1 Insert =.99
4 Reynolds Wax Paper -$1 Insert =FREE
4 Goodlife Biscuits $3.69 -$1.5 Insert =.69 each
4 Pedigree 3.29 -Free Insert Coupons =FREE
2 Oust $2.89 -$1.5 Insert =FREE
3 Betty Crocker Cookie Mix $1 -.75 bettycrocker.com =FREE
1 3.25oz Turtles $1.79 -$1.50 Insert =FREE

New Redbox code for today is 2mnc92 it's only good till midnight so go enjoy a free movie.

Free Becks Bottle Opener.

Free Tazo Tea Click on the Be Enlightened in the center of the page

Free Organic Valley Kids Activity Flyer

Free Caterpiller Bull Dozer poster

Free Stuff for the Kids

Birthday Card and Vitamin samples

This one takes a little more work but maybe worth it. Write a letter to the address below and request an autographed photo of your favorite disney character and wait and see.

The Walt Disney Company
Attn: Fan Mail Dept.
500 South Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA 91521

For a free Betty Crocker Calender for next year packed with great recipes click here. I have gotten this calender for a few years and it is just great. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Not a whole lot for Extra Bucks from this trip but it was still good. The Colgate, Kleenex, Nail Polish, Spices and the Cranberry stuff was all BOGO Free. With coupon matchups the tissues .69 for 2 boxes and the toothpaste, nailpolish, and mascara were all free. I also got a gallon of milk and 2 candy bars they didn't make it to the picture. My goal with my CVSing is to get milk, bread, soda, and any essentials they sell for free which is why I buy tons of toothpaste when I already have 15 tubes of it. But buying the free toothpaste makes my milk free.

Spent $1.40
Saved $100.92
I broke even on Extra Bucks and ended up with $4.99 on a money card because of a mistake in ringing me up.

Totals so far
Spent $18.63
Saved $194.60

We went to see the Tampa Bay Lightning practice but apparently since they decided to fire their coach they canceled practice. But all was not lost there is a nice mall in Brandon and a Target with friendly cashiers.

Target Trips (2)

Target has a promotion running for buy 4 glade holiday products and you get a $5 GC. Combine with manufacturer coupons and it's a great deal. You can find a coupon for the goody's hair items on their website. A note about the glade deal it is limited to one per transaction so find a nice cashier and ask if you can do 2 different transactions.

Spent $4.28 on GC
Savings $20
Plus $10 in GC recieved.

Bath and Body Works

Shawn and I each used one of the free Scentport/Wallflower coupons I got in my email. He bought the box for $1 and got his scentport free. I bought the 4 foaming soaps (I love these) and got the scentport free and the sleep lotion. I've found that B&BW gives out quite a few coupons and they email you some really good ones too, so make sure you give them your email when you go in.

Spent $11.77
Saved $ 46.23


Totals so far
Spent $17.23
Saved $93.68

There was nothing to great today but I had to get an ad from Publix so I did a small trip. Personally I do much better with a paper ad in my hand than I do online, but I forgot to buy the paper yesterday.

6 Beyer's Yogurt's w/ stir in m&m's .60 each -.50mq
20 Martha White muffin mixes .80 each -.55/2 mq and $5 off wyb 10 publixq
1 2L Pepsi 1.34
1 Amp 1.79

Spent $5.55
Savings $27.45


I could have done better but my hubby needed the soda now for a headache. The muffin mixes are great since they only require a 1/2 cup of milk to be added. Some of them will be donated to the food bank for holiday meals and the rest are going to be put into my stockpile.

This is how I make a tight budget stretch to it's furthest. Feel free to copy what I do and let me know when you save more $$.