Well there wasn’t much exciting to report about.  I have a stomach bug and therefore have barely done anything.  Dave went and got me some ginger ale and that was it for spending.  So I guess that’s good, but I’m bummed that I didn’t get to start my Walgreen’s deals or stock up on produce from Target.  Hopefully this bug will go away and I can go tomorrow.

In other news we did go to Orientation for Shawn’s preschool tonight.  I was feeling better (it was short lived) and it was already scheduled so we went and meet with his teachers and classmates.  We got the whole run down from the lady in charge there and Shawn got to play alittle with his classmates.  He behaved himself and was upset that he didn’t get to play outside or have a snack, the teacher told them what they were going to do everyday once school starts.  So here I am my baby is going to school and I wonder am I normal?  I can’t wait it’s 2 weeks away and I just can’t wait.  I’ve been home with him everyday since he was born and I’m ready for a few hours everyday to do things with no one under foot.  LOL I guess not everyone is meant to cry on the first day of school.

First Stop was my first trip to Walgreens this week.  I’ve been wanting to go but just haven’t found the time yet this week.  I had to do multiple sales to get this stuff.

• 5 Skippy Peanut Butter
• 3 Ragu
• 4 Huggies Wipes
• 4 Vitamin Shampoo
• 2 Reach Toothbrush
• 1 Index Card
• 2 Amp (already drank)

Total OOP $19.08  Total Saved $59.83

Then I stopped at my CVS:

• 1 Vitamin Water
• Blink Tears  $3 money maker
• 4 Sharpie Highlighter 4pks  FREE with MQ
• 6 4pk Muscle Milk  $2.40 each (Dave likes this and it’s really expensive so I bought all of them on clearance)

Total Money Spent: $13.02 (I wanted to pay for the Muscle Milk with real money not extra bucks)  Total Saved: $69.83

A quick unsuccessful trip to Target:

• Transformers Backpack $8.99
• 4 All Small Mighty Trial  FREE with MQ
• 4 2ct+1 Sharpie  FREE with MQ
• Airplane Kite $1.74
• Transformers Kite $.74

Total OOP $12.72  Total Saved  $9 +the 75% off on kites

And a quick stop at Whole Foods:

• 1/4 lb Oat Bran  .45 (I’m going to try this in my muffins soon I’ll let you know how it goes)
• 1 pint Organic Blueberries  $2.99  also for my muffins

Total OOP $3.34  Total Saved $.10 (reusable bag)

Last Trip of the day/week at Walgreens.  Also multiple transactions

• 8 Skippy Peanut Butter
• 10 Jell-O
• 2 Dozen Eggs
• 2 Vitamin Shampoo
• 2 Reach Toothbrush
• 1 MegaBubbles
• 1 Hershey’s Syrup (cheap homemade mochas need chocolate)
• 2 AMP Soft Drinks

Total OOP $0 I used a gift card and RR from previous transactions.  The gift card was bought with my coke points. Total Saved $60.58

I officially seem like I’ve over spent but in my next post I’ll explain the methods behind my madness.

So here’s the explanation of what and why I shopped like I did today.  The post before was getting alittle long so I figured I’d split them up.

First is my Walgreens shopping.  In total I spent $19.08 at Walgreen’s today.  This is more than I normally spend all week at both drug stores, but here’s how it goes:

1. We are all out of peanut butter.  We have 3 jars of Smart Balance peanut butter that Dave won’t eat (luckily Shawn will).  I ended up with 13 jars of peanut butter and since I was going to have to buy a couple of jars this week that would have cost me at least $4 and that would only last a week maybe two at the most (we use lots of peanut butter in this house).
2. The AMP sodas are unfortunate but real.  Dave and I both like them and today we both needed the extra kick so the first 2 were drank right away and would have been bought anyways.  The second 2 would have been bought at some point this week, they cost at least $1.50 each normally.
3. We also really needed the eggs for the muffins and breads that I am planning on baking this week as well as for a night of breakfast for dinner.  At Walmart or Publix they run me about $1.50 a dozen
4. And of course I am all out of chocolate syrup.  I need the syrup to make my Mocha’s at home instead of getting one at Starbucks.  The cost of one of those is about $4 the cost of the syrup is about $2 at other stores.

So I easily would have spent the $20 over the next few weeks on things we would buy anyways.  Plus I still have $15 in RR to spend on my next couple of trips at Walgreens.

Ok on to CVS.  Dave has been wanting to get the Muscle Milk to help in his training for the 5K in October.  At Walmart and Target that stuff is almost $7 a 4pk so I couldn’t pass up the price and I bought all that my store had.  I won’t count this as part of my grocery budget because I’d been putting alittle away so that we could afford at least a 4pk a week until the 5K.  I’ve actually freed up some money now.

The kites from Target will be Birthday presents for my boys.  Both birthdays are in October and I’ll probably give Shawn’s to him on Dave’s birthday so they can go out and play.  The backpack is another one of those things we just needed.  I purchased a laptop bag during the Staples sale thinking bud wouldn’t need a backpack for PreK but it seems like he probably will need one.  So we found one that he loves and it was on sale.

And lastly the blueberries and bran are for my quest to feed Dave and myself quickly in the morning without resorting to the awful fattening PopTarts.  I’m hoping to make muffins and freeze them and then we can grab them when we need and go.  Hopefully they will come out great and maybe I’ll have enough bran leftover for a few more batches.

OK so now you know what I was thinking when I went shopping today and how I justify my purchases.  What do you think?  What would you have done?  And how is your shopping going this week?

Today was another good mail day.  I love when I don’t get any bills.  Today I received

• Martha Stewart Living magazine that I signed up for ages ago and recieve FREE.
• Psst coupons for Fiber One Yogurt  They sent 1 free multipack coupon and 10 $1.35 coupons. 
• The Welcome Kit from Nicole’s Saving Advantage which means my gift card confirmation should arrive shortly.
• and a coupon for $100 when you set up a checking account with Chase bank.  I’ve been considering setting up an account for my coupon savings and rebates.  This might just be the time for it.

So what have you gotten good in the mail this week?  A couple more good mail days like this and I won’t know what to do.

Photo Frame Sample here  You can never have too many frames or this would be great to toss in the gift pile for Christmas.  If you don’t really like the style once it comes check back here for some ways to alter it.

Free Vintage Poster here  You have to sign up for an account and then order it.  This might also be a great gift for the pile.  If you are feeling generous you can use my name as the referral bellemitchell702. 

Free Heiko Age Moisturizer Sample

Scope Outlast Sample here

GoodNights Underwear Sample

OxyClean Sample

Viva Paper Towel Sample

Boca Java 4 Full Size Bags for $9.95

Enfamil LIPIL® Formulas. Free sample

Gevalia - 3 Boxes for $3 + Free Mug + Free Shipping

Nicole’s Saving Advantage Try it today and get a Free $25 Gift Card.  Sign up now and get a BONUS $25 Starbucks Gift Card

Today was a pleasant Mail Day!!!  No Bills!!!!

I got a Bodycology sample from Walmart, a dunkin donuts coffee sample, $5 gift card for Walgreens thru mycokerewards which also came with a coupon for a free Powerade Zero, ReadyMade magazine, Ikea catalog and an Oriental Trading Company catalog.

I love great mail days.  If you request enough samples alot of your mail days can be pretty good.  Check tomorrow for my Freebie Friday update so your mail days can get better.

We’re all looking for ways to cut the budget and save more money right?  I’m going to share with you a few changes I’m going to make this month to see how they help me and then share with you my biggest money saving secrets.

I’ve been using the binder/card holder system for a couple years now to keep my coupons organized but in the past 6 months or so I always seem to find myself swimming in clipped coupons not filed or coupons not yet clipped.  Don’t get me wrong this is a great way to organize coupons if you have the drive to keep it up weekly.  I have 2 binders one food and 1 for everything else all set up alphabetical by brand name.  I just haven’t had the energy to deal with this every week, so I’m going to get a small plastic filing system started and starting this Sunday we’ll try a new way.  I’m going to sit down and type up the list of coupons every week and put that and all the coupons into a file each week.  I want to be able to take the file with me so it’ll have to be portable.  I’ll post more about it as I get it all set up.

The other thing we are going to try starting tonight or tomorrow once I get to the ATM is to start the envelope system.  Each week I’ll put the allotted amount into envelopes.  I’m thinking $40 for groceries, $20 for CVS, Wags, incidentals, $20 gas and the rest to savings.  We’ll see how that works with a once the envelope is empty it’s empty and at the end of the month hopefully there will be some money left in an envelope and that will be added to savings as well.

And drumroll  please!!!!  Here’s my biggest secret to saving money is to STAY HOME!!!!  Yesterday I got the new Wii Sports Resort game courtesy of Swagbucks (use the search engine to earn bucks and turn then into Amazon giftcards) so we have new entertainment for the next few weeks.  Even without the new game I’m sure you have cards, games, books, magazines, toys,etc at home that you spent $$$ on.  Use them!!!! the more time you spend out of the house the more gas you spend, the higher chance that you’ll buy convenient foods or drinks, the more money you’ll spend just by going to the stores.  We have 2 pools in the apartment complex and another pool and playground opening very soon so we have that advantage, but if you don’t find out if there is a cheap/free place you could go to like a park, playground, or pool and pack a cooler with snacks and drinks.  If you want to save money the easiest way to do it is stay home or be more like me and procrastinate until it’s too late to shop. LOL

Do you have any secrets or tips to save money?  Please feel free to share with us.  We can all work together and help everyone save more.