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.