Thrifty LaRue

Oh My Goodness, An Update! (Mostly Deals)

2010-11-15T22:16:00.000-08:00

Yes, yes, I'm updating! Life has been crazy, but I'm alive and (hopefully) ready to start blogging again. The past couple months have been hectic, including getting custody of 4 kids, and because of that, I completely slacked on my couponing. I had piles and piles of printables/inserts, a binder full of expired coupons, and about 40 magazines that needed to be read and picked through for coupons. Well, I finally caught myself up and I'm happy to report that the deals/money saving/stocking up has resumed! Here are some of my favorite deals from the past couple weeks-

Walgreens 11/1

I spent $20.84 OOP, got back $16 in RR, so it was like paying $4.84 total! Great week at Walgreens!

Office Max 11/2

I received a free $5 gift card through text message, so I got all of this for $3.84 OOP. That was a great score, since the Command Hooks retail for $6.99 each.

Smith's 11/9

This is the most I've EVER saved at Smith's!! I bought 127 items and paid $51.04 OOP!! I saved $185.85. It was seriously an awesome sale.

Walgreens 11/9

I used the $16 RR from my previous Walgreens trip and paid about $6.70 OOP (I lost the receipt).

Walgreens 11/14

I paid $23.24 and saved $81.27! Good day at WAGS.

Rite Aid 11/14

I paid $16.58 OOP and saved $36.42, plus I still have $5 in +UP rewards.

I've also been crafting a little. I made this wreath, and this plethora of flower clips for my step-daughters.

And I've been baking! Mmm, pumpkin spice cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese frosting!

And finally, we had our family pictures done. They turned out so cute!! Here are some of my favorites -

Phew! I hope to post more often (oh, I quit my job, so that's new, too!!). :)

I'm Alive!

2010-07-11T21:47:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I know I haven't posted in a while, but I'm still alive. There's a lot that has been going on, but I promise to post some fabulous frugal finds soon. In the meantime, I've created a family blog. It will eventually go private, so if you want to be added to the privacy list, let me know. I'll keep this blog for my couponing/crafting/repurposing adventures. Here's the link! :o)

Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes

2010-04-18T16:15:00.000-07:00

Well, here's another cupcake recipe I tried. I made orange creamsicle cupcakes, and let me tell you, they taste just like the ice cream pops! I made French vanilla cupcakes, and when they cooled, I poked holes throughout the tops and poured in orange Jell-O. I placed them in the fridge for a few hours so the Jell-O could set up. for the frosting, I added orange extract to some store-bought vanilla icing, and alternated orange icing and marshmallow fluff in a Ziploc bag for piping. I frosted the cupcakes and added some orange wedges for garnishment. These were really yummy! Here's the finished product:

Raspberry Lemonade Cupcakes.....YUM!

2010-04-05T20:44:00.000-07:00

Okay, so here's my second 'cupcake experiment'. Tonight, I made raspberry lemonade cupcakes! It's a moist lemon cake filled with raspberry preserves, then topped with lemonade butter cream and fresh raspberries. They turned out pretty well. I've never made butter cream before, but it turned out to be pretty simple. I definitely need to sift the powdered sugar next time, but for a first-timer, I think it was yummy. Here's some lovely low-light, nighttime pictures;

Next up, orange creamsicle cupcakes! Mmmm.....

Mmmm, Cupcakes!

2010-03-29T14:40:00.000-07:00

Okay, so here's something a little different. I'm posting a recipe! I've been experimenting with different cupcake ideas for my son's upcoming birthday party. I wanted something different, something not yellow or chocolate cake-ish, so I found a recipe over at Tidy Mom for peanut butter brownie cupcakes with peanut butter frosting. Hot damn, they were good! I made them for my step-kids yesterday, and they all loved them, so I think maybe I'll make them for the party. Here's the finished product....

One little tip that Tidy Mom didn't mention....take the wrappers OFF right when they come out of the oven!! If you let them cool all the way, the wrappers will become one with the cupcake and you'll be munching on paper. Here's the recipe:

Brownie Cupcakes

1 prepared box of your favorite brownie mix
1/2 to 1 cup Reeses Peanut Butter chips

•Make brownies according to package directions.
•Add peanut butter chips and mix.
•Pour batter into paper-lined cupcake pan, filling about 3/4 full (I got 15 cupcakes)
•Bake at 350° approximately 20 mins or until a tooth pick comes out clean. Don't over bake.
•Remove from paper wrappers
•Cool completely

Peanut Butter Frosting

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter
4 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
2 cups powdered sugar

•Beat butter and peanut butter in a medium bowl with an electric mixer.
•Gradually add powdered sugar
•Add cream one tablespoon at a time until all of the sugar is mixed in and the frosting is thick.
•Beat for at least 3 minutes until nice and fluffy.

Frost brownie cupcakes with frosting. I added a few peanut butter chips and a strawberry for a garnish, but they're yummy without anything else on them. Enjoy!

Hello, My Name Is Kahra, And I'm A Couponaholic!

2010-03-22T21:32:00.000-07:00

Ugh, it's true. It's so very, very true. But you know what? I love it! I've seriously saved so much money these past 6 months or so, it's amazing. And my stockpile is getting bigger and bigger. My good friend Beckie started this madness in me, and I can't thank her enough.

I talked about getting a coupon binder in the post below, and I finally took the plunge and did it. It was a lot of work, but it seriously is so much easier and convenient when I'm at the store. I also found an awesome bag at Target (a birthday gift from my awesome father-in-law....you can kind of see it in the picture below) that houses my coupons, scissors, paper pads, calculator and pens. It's HUGE, but it's cute, and it looks better than lugging that big binder in everywhere. Collin over at Hip2Save has the same bag, so I'm copying her, but isn't imitation the best form of flattery?

Tonight I hit Walgreens, Rite Aid and Target. There are three different links to score $3 off Huggies coupons, so I had to get in on the awesome diaper deals that are to be had. Below is a picture of all of the items I bought, and I spent about $67! I'm a little bummed with Target; the cashier took 15 minutes and read every, single. coupon. Seriously?! By the time I read my receipt, I realized she didn't use a $3 coupon for deodorant, but I was so tired of the store, I just left. If I would have received the $3 off, I would have only spent $64, which isn't bad at all.

- 9 packs of Huggies
- 2 packs of Little Swimmers
- 5 J&J first aid kits
- 10 J&J Buddies soaps
- 10 Bandaids
- 5 Vick's NyQuil/DayQuil
- 3 Puffs tissues
- 1 Vick's cough drops
- 2 Dial hand soap
- 7 Ocean nasal spray
- 1 AlkaSelzer
- 1 Maybelline concealer
- 1 Samy Istyle mousse
- 3 Planter's trail mix
- 4 boxes chocolates (filler items)
- 4 Degree Girl deodorant
- 4 Suave deodorant
- 4 Degree Men dodorant
- 1 Colgate toothpaste
- 1 Diet Coke (in my belly)

Not bad, eh? If you want to know how I did any of it, let me know and I'll post my scenarios.

I also hit Toys R Us and got the last 4 pre-order's for Toy Story 1 & 2! I was so lucky!! I got 2 for me and 2 for my sister. I paid $10 per 2 for a deposit, and then got $14.99 off any other Disney movie! So, here's the math...

$10.00 - deposit for Toy Story 1 & 2
$19.99 - Snow White
- $14.99 instant discount
= $15.64 for Snow White & a FREE jewelry box! Plus the $10 deposit will go toward the purchase of Toy Story 1 & 2, and they're $16.99 each wyb both. I have 2 $10 off coupons, so I'll end up paying $6.99 for each movie!! I did the same deal for my sister and got G Force for $4.99. Woohoo!!

I'm tired. I should go put my items away, but really, I'll probably let them sit on the floor until tomorrow. Goodnight!

Cut. It. Out.

2010-02-02T13:21:00.000-08:00

So, do you love couponing but DREAD cutting all of them out? Mhm, that's me. I absolutely despise cutting out the 457858906749 pages of coupons I've just printed, and honestly, I just throw them all into a tote bag, and there they sit until their expiration date. When I know I have a coupon in that stack, I'll rummage through the pile until I find the coupons I need, and back into the tote bag they go. I really do miss out on some good deals when I'm at the store, and I see something that wasn't advertised on sale, and I know I have a coupon for it....but it's in the bag! At home! UGH!!

Anyway, in my quest to become more organized, at work and home, I've decided I'm going to change the way I store my coupons. Collin at Hip2Save has an awesome purse/bag that she puts her coupon binder in, and I love it! I'm going to find one similar to use, but what Collin uses is a giant binder with baseball card holders. I've heard lots of people talk about this method, and at first, it didn't appeal to me. But the more that I use coupons, and the more that I miss out on deals, I've decided this is the method for me.

So, that's the easy part. I now come back to the fact that I have 5467098675908 pages of coupons to cut! Well, this is my solution. I'm sure many people thought of this years ago, but I've really never seen anyone talk about it; A PAPER CUTTER! Uh, hello?! Such a blatantly obvious solution to my headache that is clipping coupons. This is the one I use:

Can you tell I'm at work? Can you tell my boss isn't here? Can you tell I have too much time on my hands? Yeah. But still, I got a TON of coupons cut. See??

That's the hard part. Now I just need to sort them into categories and file them away. I can do this while watching American Idol tonight.

I'd bought the paper cutter at Office Max with a coupon, of course, but you can also find them at craft stores, and there are always coupons for JoAnn's, Michael's and Hobby Lobby, so you can get a nice cutter for like 40-50% off. Here's a link to Hobby Lobby's coupon for this week.

Happy couponing!

In My Mailbox Today....

2010-01-19T19:11:00.000-08:00

Woohoo, coupons galore in my mailbox today! I'm really loving Recycle Bank and all the awesome coupons you can earn. I got 3 $2 off Cascadian Farms product, 5 $1 Simply juice coupons and 3 $1 any Coke product coupons. I also got a coupon for a free pint of International Delight creamer, and a fun little freebie that I completely forgot I signed up for; a packet of Glowelle beauty drink that came in a little cosmetic bag! Nice!!

Another Awesome Target Run!

2010-01-08T10:28:00.000-08:00

I ran to Target last night to get some more cereal and Juicy Juice. I left with so much more! They were completely sold out of the juice (booo), but I'll go back later to see if they have some more. I did, however, hit the cereal jackpot, among other things. Here's a picture of what I scored for $20.69 (and the picture doesn't include the four 12 packs of Pepsi that are sitting in my garage)!

I was pretty shocked that they still had Christmas stuff, but the small tubes were $.50, the big bucket was $1.99, the snowflakes were $.10 and the wreath hanger was $.49! Score!!

I bought 10 boxes of cereal, and here's how I did it:

4 Special K Granola @ $2.39 = $9.56

Used one $5/4 MFR coupon here

Used four $1/1 Target coupons here

Final price $.56 or $.14 each!

2 Kashi @ $2.75 = $5.50

Used $3.00/2 peelie

Used 2 $.75/1 Target coupon here

Final cost $1.00 or $.50 each!

2 Kashi @ $2.00 = $4.00

Used $3/2 peelie

Used 2 $.75/2 Target coupon here

Final cost was FREE with $.50 overage!

I found the peelies on the boxes of Kashi. There were two different ones, and they looked like this:

I used the second one. It had 2 coupons, one for $3.00/2 Kashi products and one for $1.00 off any Kashi product. They have a Target logo on them, but they are manufacturer coupons, so you can stack them with the Target Kashi coupons!

2 Cascadian Farms Organic @ $2.50 = $5.00

Used 2 $1/1 coupon here

Used 1 $1/2 Target coupon here

Final cost $2.00 or $1.00 each! Not bad for over a pound of organic granola. :o)

The Pepsi were 4/$12, and I used 4 $1/1 Target coupons here, so that made them $2 each!

The light bulbs were $2.00 and I used 1 $1.50/1 coupon to make it $.50.

The Fiber One bars were $2.54, so 2 @ $5.08. I used a $2/2 Target coupon that was mailed to me and 2 $.40/1 coupons, so the final cost was $2.28 or $1.14 each. Not too bad, considering these are usually pretty pricey.

The Huggies were $8.99 and I used 1 $1.50 coupon found here. Final cost was $7.49.

It was a pretty good trip. The total was $30.69 and I used the 2 $5 GC's I got from the Axe deal, so $20.69 OOP. Woohoo!

Happy savings!

Target & Wal-Mart Trips AND In My Mailbox Today!

2010-01-05T19:59:00.000-08:00

I did pretty well today. Pretty. Well. I spent a total of $16.54 and got ALL of this. Yep. All of it.

That's 12 jars of salsa, 4 boxes or organic mac and cheese, 4 Axe gift sets, 2 boxes of Special K, 2 packs of GE light bulbs, 2 bottles of Juicy Juice, Snuggle dryer sheets and some bananas. All for under $17.00. Woohoo!!

Also, in my mailbox today were the two perfumes I ordered from Pac Sun for about $4.00 each, a sample of Always Infinity with $1.00 coupon and a sample of the new grape flavored Pop Tarts. Everyone should join the Pop Tarts Sprinkles club, you get cool things.

All of my coupons and shopping scenarios were found at My Frugal Adventures. Charlene is awesome and she has a TON of deals every day. Subscribe! NOW!

Happy savings!

DIY Apothecary Jars - Take Two!

2009-12-21T21:39:00.000-08:00

Remember the black apothecary jars I made here? They were inspired by the lovely Shanty sisters. Anyway, I made some new, purdy white ones. I think they look grand, and when my living room is complete, they will match better than the black ones.

I filled each jar with some fake snow, then added a couple ornaments to two of them, and some sparkly snowflakes in the other. What do you think?

I'm linking this up to Kimba's party over at ASPTL...

...and 'Get Your Craft On' at Today's Creative Blog.

Merry Christmas!

Ornament Wreath - FINALLY

2009-12-13T19:54:00.000-08:00

I finished my ornament wreath.....finally. It only took me like 3 weeks, but whatev. It's done. Finished. I think everyone in blogland has made this wreath, the one inspired by the fabulous Eddie Ross. I made the bulk of it last week, but it needed some smaller ornaments glued on. Here it is, but now that I look at it, I'm thinking it might need a bow. There's a gap, and since I'm kinda-sorta ocd, it's going to bug me. What do you think?

Do you think it needs a bow?? Maybe just thicker ribbon, and for it to actually go over the front of the ornaments.....yeah, that might be it.

Anyway, I'm linking this up to Kimba's DIY Day over at ASPTL.

And 'Just Something I Whipped Up' over at The Girl Creative.

And 'Get Your Craft On' at Today's Creative Blog!

DIY Sequined Tree

2009-11-29T20:06:00.000-08:00

I saw this tutorial from Living With Lindsay when she guest blogged over at Centsational Girl's. I fell in L.O.V.E. It looked simple enough, and Lindsay did warn us all that it was a very tedious, time-consuming project, but holy crap, this thing took me forever! Maybe it was because I would only work on it for like an hour a night while I watched tv, but c'mon! I wanted to make two of them, a large and a small, so I started on the small one to see how long it would take me to complete it. Uh, yeah, I'm thinking there's only going to be one sparkly tree this year.

Like I said up there, it's really easy to make. I bought 2 styrofoam cones, some turquoise 8mm sequins, some silver 8mm sequins, size 17 dressmaker pins and some small silver beads (Lindsay used 4mm beads, but they were out, so I bought some smaller ones). It's pretty simple after that. Take a pin, add a silver bead and a sequin, and stick it in. I started at the bottom and worked my way up. I alternated the rows with turquoise and silver, and overlapped the sequins so that the styrofoam was all covered. What do you think?

It took a lot of pins. A. LOT. I probably used 1300....no joke. I bought 3 packs of each color sequins, and I didn't use all of them, but I bought a pack of 500 pins, then had to get more, so I bought 2 packs of 750, and used an entire one, plus like 50 from the second one. Oh well, it's pretty and I wanted to try it. Do I dare make the big one?? Stay tuned!

I'm adding this to DIY Day at ASPTL!

And Get Your Craft On!

Before And After

2009-11-15T19:09:00.000-08:00

I have a small before and after to show today. I bought a wood sign from the DI for $1.00. It had some vinyl lettering on it with a religious quote, and frankly, that just isn't my style. I peeled off the vinyl letters (the picture is mid-peeling when I realized I didn't take a before one), painted it with my Americana Lamp (Ebony) paint, distressed the edges, then stenciled on the word family with Americana White Wash paint. It was the first time I've stenciled, and I suppose it turned out okay. Here's the before and after...

Blah

Ooh La La...

The L is a little crooked, but I like how you can see the red under the black where it's distressed.

I'm linking this up to Metamorphosis Monday!

Well, That's Done!

2009-10-29T13:30:00.000-07:00

I can now check Christmas cards and address labels off of my 'To Do' list! I ordered 100 Christmas cards, 100 envelopes and 100 Christmas return address labels from VistaPrint today, and they were FREE! All I had to do was pay shipping. So for about $13, I'm all set. Granted, now I have to find 100 people to mail them to, but still, I'm done! I usually make my cards by hand, and they seriously take days, but this took me less than 15 minutes to design them both. Look at how stinkin' cute they are:

CUTE! I love them. Go get some of your own. When you click the VistaPrint link, just go down to return address labels or postcards. Happy Holidays!!

DIY Apothecary Jars

2009-10-26T15:50:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I completely stole this idea from the fabulous sisters over here, but I did change it up a bit, so mine are a little different. As usual, I forgot to take pictures while I was in the process, but if you read the tutorial Ashley gives here, you'll know how to make them.

I bought all of my supplies from Hobby Lobby and Michaels. They didn't have the jars that Ashley used, so I used the fatter, shorter ones. Hob Lob has been SOLD OUT of the dang jars for over a month now. Uh, hello? I have crafting that needs to be done. Anyway, I bought 3 unfinished circle bases (I think?), 3 unfinished candlesticks, 3 unfinished finials, 3 jars and some craft paint, Americana Lamp. I had the jute, and the glue I used was my trusty E6000.

I painted all of the wood pieces, distressted them, painted the lids of the jars, added the jute twine to them, glued the finials to the lids, the candlesticks to the bases, and when they were dry, I glued the jars to the candlesticks. I filled two jars with candy corn and one with orange raffia (also purchased at Hob Lob). I bought the letters at Michaels (I wanted 'BOO', but of course, so did everyone else in the state of Utah). I painted them the same Lamp color, distressed, hot glued some black and orange ribbon to the back and hung them around the finials. See, I told you they were different!

As soon a Hob Lob gets their butts in gear, I plan on making the smaller ones, but with white paint. I have the perfect spot for them!

Go visit Kimba at A Soft Place To Land for DIY Day!

UPDATE: Added to Today's Creative Blog's 'Get Your Craft On' day.

DIY Day At ASPTL!

2009-10-13T10:08:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been in a blog rut, but I'm back with a diy day project and a few bna's! Uh, before and after's, that is. Anyway, here is the fall wreath I made yesterday. I first saw the idea for this rectangular wreath on Sarah's, the Thrifty Decor Chick, Facebook here. I also saw another blog that did what I did, but I can't remember where I saw it. If you know, please tell me and I will link back to them. Anyway, I used 2 wire hangers for the frame. I untwisted the hook part, snipped off the curly, wavy ends, and used electrical tape to tape two ends together. I totally forgot to take pictures. I'm terrible at that lately. Anyway, I bought some oak leaves from Hobby Lobby. They were only $3, and I used 2 packages of them. I gathered a stack of leaves and slipped them on to the hanger. I continued until it was full, then taped the last two ends together. I added a nice fall bow and some ribbon and ta da! Here it is in all its glory:

Not too bad, eh? It was super easy and cheap. But beware....the leaves make your hands yellow.

Here's two other projects I finished a while ago. I got one idea here and the other over at the TDC's here. Super easy, let me tell ya. For the framed cherries, I got a used frame from the thrift store, painted it black, distressed it, then I added some scrapbook paper. I cut two cherries in half, glued them on and there you go! So easy. Here's the after:

For the next one, I actually have a before and an after shot. I bought two white plates from the thrift store, spray painted them a glossy black, cut a foam pear in half and glued one side to each plate. So easy! I bought some plate hangers that I saw over at the The Lettered Cottage, and that's all it took! Here are the before and after:

Before - BLAND

After - FAB!

Sorry for the crappy pictures. I can't find the charger for my digital camera, so I've been using my cell phone.

Okay, a few more before and after's, and then I'm off to read about all of your fabulous project for DIY Day!

Before

After

Before

After

Head on over to Kimba's and check out all the great projects!

SAB Giveaway!

2009-09-30T13:55:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite coupon blogs, Stretching A Buck, is having a giveaway here. Go enter! Beck, this means you. It's a gc to Mimi's. We love that place!

Target and Smith's Deals

2009-09-23T12:11:00.000-07:00

I bet you're all sick of my posting about grocery deals, right? Well too bad! I'm kidding...maybe. Anyway, how can I not share all the great deals I find? That would be extremely selfish of me. After all, I think there's only like 1 person that reads this, and she coupons, too. I'll get to my great Target finds from last night in a second, but first, here are the best deals I found at Smith's...

*Extra lean ground beef 85/15 2 lbs. or more $1.69/lb.
*Country style or pork spareribs $1.29/lb. (We LOVE to grill these)
*Smith's fresh chicken super value pack $.99/lb.
*GM cereal or Betty Crocker fruit snacks (select Cheerios, Cookie Crisp, Corn Chex and Total Original & Shapes, Gushers or Fruit By The Foot) $1.77 (lots of coupons for this deal)
*Pepsi 12 packs 3/$12 (receive TWO free Cheetos or Fritos when you buy 3 12 packs)
*Colgate toothpaste, toothbrushes or 2-pack Wisp $.94
*Gallon Milk 3 for $5
*Dozen large eggs $.99
*Kroger cheese 2 lb. bar or shredded $4.97
*John Morrell bacon 2 for $5.00
*Kroger sour cream, cottage cheese or dips 10 for $10.00
*Kroger butter 3 for $5.00
*Sunny D 10 for $10.00 (DEAL!!!)
*Kroger gallon OJ $1.99
*Bartlett pears $.99/lb.
*Cottage bread $1.49
*Tyson chicken thighs or drumsticks $1.19/lb.
*Bar S Franks $.89
*Bar S Bologna 2 for $3.00
*Oscar Mayer hot dogs or bologna 2 for $4.00
*Land O Frost deli meat 10 for $10.00
*Coke 12 packs 4 for $14
*Smith's butter top bread 4 for $5.00
*Wonder Bread 3 for $5.00
*Sara Lee bread 2 for $4.00
*Keebler snacks (Townhouse crackers, Chips Deluxe cookies) 5 for $10.00
*HI-C juice or Minute Maid drinks 3 for $5.00
*Simply Potaotes 4 for $5.00
*Cool Classic ice cream sandwiches $.99
*Suave hair care $1.28
*Softsoap $.86
*Always or Tampax $2.49
*Maybelline Great Lash Mascara $3.47
*Kroger Instant Oatmeal 4 for $5.00
*Fritos corn chips or bean dip $1.59/ea.
*Kroger 10 lb. bag russet potatoes $1.99
*Malt O Meal cereal (Cinnamon Toasters, Tootie Fruities, Frosted mini Spooners) $1.99/ea. WYB 3
*Budget Gourmet Entrees 10 for $6.00

***Receive $5.00 off when you buy 10 participating Nestle or Kraft items***
*Coffeemate or Nesquick $2.49
*Lean Cuisine or Stouffers entrees $1.67
*Arrowhead water $2.99 (LOVE this)
*Hot, Lean or Croissant Pockets $1.49
*Oreo Cookies or Ritz Crackers $1.99
*DiGiorno or California Pizza Kitcehn pizza $3.97
*Nabisco snack crackers $1.70 (this would make for $.70 Wheat Thins with the $1.00 off coupon that's floating around)
*Dreyer's Ice Cream or Skinny Cow treats $1.99 (DEAL!)
*Capri Sun or Kool-Aid Jammers $1.61 (DEAL!)
*Ocean Spray Juice $1.98
*Juicy Juice $1.99
*Planters Peanuts $1.49
*Crystal Lite Drink Mix $2.49
*Kraft Salad Dressing $1.19
*Kraft Shells and Cheese $.99
*Maxwell House, Yuban or Seattle's Best Coffee $4.99
*Beneful Prepared Dog Meals $.99
*Beneful Dog Food $13.99
*Beggin'Strips Dog Treats $2.49

Did I miss anything good??

Last night, I went to my friendly neighborhood Target (Riverdale) and got some pretty good deals. Here are a few highlights:

*Glade Scented Oil Candle Tin $1.66 each. I opened one to smell it, and it had a $1.50 off coupon that fell out, so since I was going to buy it, I used the coupon, so it was $.16! AND, I had a Glade coupon for a FREE refill pack when I bought a holder...SCORE! Glade has a coupon on their website for $3.00 off 2 Fragrance Collection products, so I'm going back tonight to get 4 more tins at $.16 each.
*Airwick, Glade and Lysol home scent products were all on price cut for $4.99 to $5.99, so with the various coupon floating around, they were $.99 to $1.99 each! I stocked up, especially on the Lysol ones....they're normally $12.99.
*Glade Automatic Freshener Starter Kits were on sale for $5.38. There's a $4.00 off coupon on Glade's website, making them $1.38.
*Pop Tarts 8 ct. were $1.46, I used the Target coupon for $.75 off, so I paid $.71. These would be even better stacked with a Pop Tarts coupon, but I used mine for the bigger boxes that were on sale.
*Challenge Spreadable Butter was $1.50, used $.75 off, so $.75/ea.

I need to go back and get the Glade Automatic Freshener kits. I left my coupons in the car....GRRR!! I looked for the Cranium games Charlene saw for $7.00, but they were $9.99, and still no Tag Readers on clearance...boo! BUT, Toys R Us has the Tag Readers for $29.99, so $19.99 after the $10 coupon. Not bad. I'm heading there tonight for the B2G1 free sale. I need to start Christmas shopping now. Oh, and I went to Old Navy last night to get Grayson some clothes while their baby sale was still going on. They have some really cute stuff! I think it ends Saturday, and if so, I need to go back and get some Christmas items.

Man, I post too much.

Rite Aid Diaper Deal

2009-09-22T12:13:00.000-07:00

Well, like I said last night, I went off to Rite Aid for their diaper deal. The Rite Aid in Harrisville didn't have all the sizes I needed, but I'll just exchange them when they get a new shipment in. This is how the deal worked for me:

Huggies Supreme, Overnights & Pure and Natural Diapers 3/$33
I used 1 $5/$20 Rite Aid coupon found here, 3 $2.00 off coupons also found here, 1 $3 off Pure and Natural coupon and 2 $2 off Huggies coupon. The total was $17.26. I'll get a $10.00 rebate here, for a grand total of $7.26 or $2.42 a pack!

Now, not all Rite Aid cashiers will be as nice as mine was, so you may only be able to use 1 $2.00 off AdPerk coupon, but even then, that's only $3.76 a pack. OR, if you don't have or want the Pure and Natural, use another $2.00 off or $1.50 off Huggies Overnights or Supreme Diapers. All in all, this was a great deal!

Now I'm off to do the Nexxus deal that My Frugal Adventures posted here.

My Smith's Shopping Trip

2009-09-21T15:13:00.000-07:00

I scored BIG time at Smith's on Friday night. The sale is still going on until tomorrow, so hurry over and take advantage. The GM cereals were marked UP, so seriously, the GM deal just wasn't worth it to me. As my good friend Beckie says, you should never pay more than $.50 for a box of cereal. Anyway, I did take advantage of the Betty Crocker fruit snacks deal, and got a few other items, too. I forgot to take a picture before I put it all away (it was 1:00 AM, after all). Here's what I got:

8 boxes of Betty Crocker Fruit Rollups, Gushers and fruit snacks
2 bags of Nature Valley Nut Clusters
1 24 oz. bag of Green Giant Steamers
2 boxes of Betty Crocker potatoes

Total OOP: $6.22!

It was the first time I had used the Cellfire and ShortCuts e-coupons, and sure enough, they showed right up on my receipt! My cashier was a little stunned, but hey, so was I.

Harmons also had a really great Quaker deal - 5 for $5.00, including granola bars, Life cereal and oatmeal. So, if you have the $1.00 of 2 boxes of granola bars coupon, then it would only be $3.00 - $4.00, depending on what you buy (as long as you buy 2 granola bars). The Harmons I went to Friday night was out of granola bars, but they gave me a rain check, and I bought 2 cereals and 3 oatmeals, so I was happy. That's still a great deal, even without the coupon.

One last thing - I find shopping at Wal-Mart late at night to be much easier when using coupons. I had a HUGE stack, and I had never used that many coupons at Wal-Mart before so I was a little nervous. After the cashier scanned all my coupons (she was pretty ornery, but she took them all), I saved $69! I was shocked. OH, Utah residents - Wal-Mart had the Glade Sense and Spray for $5.00, so with the Glade coupon, they were $1.00. Same for the Airwick mini i-motions....$1.00! I also used 2 of the $3.00 off any Glade Home Fragrance Collection, and the small soy candle was free and the diffuser was $1.50.

Okay, I'm done for now. New Smith's, Albertsons and Harmons deals should come out tomorrow...yay! I'm seriously addicted to saving money now.

I'm off to Rite Aid for their diaper deal. Wish me luck!

Big Giveaway!

2009-09-21T11:34:00.001-07:00

For The Mommas is having a HUGE giveaway here! Go check it out, and seriously, read her blog at least 5 times a day. I do, and I'm saving a ton!

Smith's Deals

2009-09-18T10:35:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple really good Smith's deals I see for this week. I'm a few days late posting these, but the sale doesn't end until Tuesday, so you have time.

Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks are 8 for $8. You can get these for a screaming deal if you use the following coupons:
$.50 off fruit snacks here (e-coupon)
$.40 off fruit shaped snacks here (e-coupon)
$.50 off 2 fruit snacks here (e-coupon)
$.40 off fruit shaped snacks here (e-coupon)
$1.00 off 2 fruit snacks here (print 2)
$1.00 off 2 fruit shaped snacks here (print 2)

My scenario - buy 4 boxes of fruit snacks and 4 boxes of fruit shaped snacks, use (2) $1.00 off 2 fruit snacks, use (2) $1.00 off 2 fruit shaped snacks, plus, when you scan your Fresh Values card, you'll receive $.50 off fruit snacks, $.40 off fruit shapes, $.50 off of 2 fruit snacks and $.40 off fruit shapes, for a total of $2.20 for 8 boxes, or $.28 each! I hope I did that right, but it should work.

Here's the GM cereal deal:

Use these coupons for this great deal:

$1.00 off 2 Total cereal here

$1.00 off 2 Cheerios cereal here

$.55 off Trix cereal here

$.75 off Kix cereal here
$.75 off Fiber One cereal here
$.55 off Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal here
$.75 off Cocoa Puffs cereal here
$.75 off Cheerios cereal here
$.75 off Cocoa Puffs cereal here (e-coupon)
$.55 off Trix cereal here (e-coupon)
$.55 off Honey Nut Cheerios cereal here (e-coupon)
$.75 off Cocoa Puffs cereal here (e-coupon)
$.75 off Cheerios cereal here (e-coupon)

There are seriously a ton of different scenarios for this deal, plus you'd need to go to Smith's to get an exact price for each box, but if you averaged $3.00 a box, it would look something like this:

Buy 8 boxes at $3.00 each, save $12.00 with your card, use (2) $.75 off Cocoa Puffs, (2) $.55 off Trix, (2) $.75 off Cheerios, (2) $.55 off Cinnamon Toast Crunch, plus, when you scan your Fresh Values card, receive $.75 off Cocoa Puffs, $.55 off Trix, $.75 off Cocoa Puffs and $.75 off Cheerios e-coupons, for a total of $4.00, or $.50 a box!

Man, I hope I did all of that right. What deals do you see at Smith's?

2009-09-16T15:30:00.001-07:00

I'm testing the mobile posting option Blogger has. I hope it works!

Giveaway!

2009-09-15T14:42:00.000-07:00

HomeSpun Threads is having a giveaway over here! Everyone should go enter. :o)

More Target Deals!

2009-09-12T00:01:00.001-07:00

Edit: Here's the picture!

I went to Target tonight and cashed in! ~~I'm posting from my cell, so I can't upload the picture right now ,~~ but I got all of the following for $65!

- 4 boxes of Cocoa Puffs
- 3 boxes of Cheerios
- 2 boxes of Fiber One cereal
- 3 boxes of Fiber One chewy bars (got back a $5 gc)
- 5 Dreyer's ice cream - 3 boxes of Pop Tarts
- 4 boxes of Fiber One yogurt
- 2 boxes of Yo-Plus yogurt
- 2 Go Gurt
- 1 gallon of milk
- 2 Grands biscuits in the tube
- 2 Grands biscuits frozen
- 2 Green Giant Steamers
- 1 Dove deodorant
- 1 Aveeno shave gel
- 1 PM pain reliever
- 1 Colgate Wisp
- 2 Dove soap
- 1 Jet Dry rinse agent
- 1 Swiffer Wet Jet cleaner
- 1 Aquafresh Iso-Active toothpaste
- 1 Artisan mini bread
- 1 Wonka gummies

I saved over $72 and paid $65 with a $5 gc back! Woohoo!! My cashier was awesome, too! So far, so good at my Target. Tomorrow, it's 3 more stores. Wish me luck!

HUGE Discount At Restaurant.com!

2009-09-09T09:56:00.000-07:00

How does 90% off sound? Pretty dang good, right? Head on over to restaurant.com and use the code NINETY to get 90% off your order! I just bought 4 $25 gift certificates, regularly $10 each, for a buck each! Yep, $4 TOTAL! I'm thinking I need to go back and put in the zip codes for family members all over America and buy Christmas presents! Hurry on over, they're going FAST! Thanks, That's So Cuegly!

New Blogger Editor

2009-09-08T12:18:00.000-07:00

Thanks, Nicole, for telling us all about the new Blogger editor. This is my first post using it, and I can already tell a difference. Uploading pictures was ~~a pain in my butt~~ the worst part of posting for me, so hopefully the new editor will make me love blogging even more. Has anyone else besides the fabulous Nicole tried it? Let me know what you think of it.

Update: Swagalicious

2009-09-03T13:48:00.001-07:00

In less than a day. One. Day. I'm liking this Swag thing...

Target Deals!

2009-09-03T10:36:00.000-07:00

I went to Target yesterday, and it was the first time I've tried using Target coupons stacked with manufacturer ones, so I was a tad nervous to take my cart through the check-out lane. But, with luck on my side, I had an awesome cashier and she accepted them all! My bill was $89+ before I handed her my GIANT stack of coupons, and when all was said and done, I ended up paying $49 and some change! I saved over $65 (with Target's sale), but over $40 alone in coupons. Seriously?? Seriously. I was shocked and pleasantly surprised. There were also a ton of things I didn't get, because apparently everyone in Utah coupons and they cleaned Target out of the really good deals. Oh well. I'll just try back tonight or another day. Here's my stash...

It's difficult to see the stuff piled up in the back, but you get the general idea. I had never tried the Special K cereal bars, but I bought a few boxes last night, and boy howdy were the blueberry ones delish! I scored a $5 Target gc with their Special K deal, and I think I'll go back and buy 4 more Special K items, use the gc and get another one! It's the gift that keeps on giving. Target is giving away $5 gc's when you buy 5 Dreyer's Ice Cream, too. They're on sale for $2.50, but there's a $1.00 off coupon here, so $1.50 for ice cream isn't too shabby.

I had hoped to post my memo board project for DIY Day over at Kimba's, but I haven't had time to hang it up yet. I'll get my butt in gear for next week, though!

SwagBucks

2009-09-02T15:01:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I was completely skeptical about this program, but I've been doing some research and it seems SwagBucks is pretty legit. So if you head on over to My Frugal Adventures, she has a code that will give you 5 bonus bucks when you sign up. It all seems pretty easy, and this other frugal gal earned enough bucks to buy a new computer monitor! Seriously!

Smith's Deals!

2009-09-01T14:21:00.000-07:00

I went grocery shopping at 11:00 at night on Friday (the best time to go!) and I got some super great deals at my local Smith's (Kroger) store! I only spent $53 TOTAL for all of this:

You can't see all of it, but there's 10 boxes of cereal, 4 boxes of Toaster Strudel and 4 boxes of YoPlus Yogurt. I think I did pretty well.

I started couponing again. I haven't done it for a while because I somehow got it into my head that it was too much work for only two people, but then the light went off and I realized now that we have a bigger pantry in our new home, I can start stocking up. Besides, I have four step-kids every other weekend, and they go through like 3 boxes a cereal in two days. And have you seen my husband?! He's like a linebacker. Saving money through coupons just makes sense.

Fleur de Chic

2009-08-27T09:37:00.000-07:00

It's DIY Day!

Here's my super-quick, I-took-the-final-picture-with-my-cell-phone-as-I-was-walking-out-the-door-so-that's-why-the-quality-is-crappy diy project for the week.

Before:

The $1.50 clearanced fleur de blah from Hobby Lobby.

After:

It's amazing what some spray paint can do!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-08-26T12:06:00.001-07:00

Giveaway!

2009-08-26T12:03:00.000-07:00

My very good friend, Beckie, is giving away an awesome set of SPOOKY Halloween blocks! She does an amazing job, so you all should go comment and fill her head with well-deserved, flattering remarks!

If You Can't Go Yard Saling...

2009-08-10T14:04:00.000-07:00

...have one of your own! I didn't make it out yard saling this weekend due to the fact that I had way too much crap in my garage. So, since it was National Garage Sale Day (or so I heard), I decided to see if people would buy my stuff. And they did! I made almost $100, way more than I thought I would, considering most of the stuff was going for $.50 - $1.00. After it was over, we donated the rest to a local thrift store, then came home and marveled at how clean the garage looked. If you live in the Northern Utah area, go to the DI in Ogden and you can purchase some of the items you see here...

That's pretty much all the stuff we donated. Happy Garage Sale Day!

Check out all the thrifty finds over at Rhoda's.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-08-05T11:48:00.001-07:00

Distressing Stress Relief!

2009-08-03T09:48:00.000-07:00

Kimba is having a giveaway overe HERE! Check out this awesome paint, Caromal Colours. It seems to take all the stress of distressing your project away. I can't wait to try it on this...

I'm thinking the parchement color would match my living room perfectly.

I Have Projects To Show, I Promise!

2009-07-31T12:32:00.000-07:00

So, I created this blog a few weeks ago, with every intention of posting all the fabulous projects I'm working on, but they're taking longer than I anticipated. We just moved, and I'm trying to organize a garage sale for next weekend, so my garage looks like a tornado hit it. That's the reason why some of my projects have taken a backseat. BUT, I do have a cool one almost complete, and I've done a few small ones here and there. I'll post pictures soon. To hold you over until I do (we all know you're DYING to see what I've done), here are some before pictures of projects I have in the works:

The $30 Coffee Table - Oh, I have big plans for thee...

The $1.99 Consignment Shop Silver Tray

The $1.50 Clearanced (Ugly Gold) Fleur de Lis From Hobby Lobby

The $.50 Thrift Store Silver Tray

Stay tuned for the after pictures.

I just wanted to thank all the fabulous females that blog about their super creative ideas and projects they've done! I've had so many ideas after reading your blogs; you're all such a great inspiration to me. I read a ton more blogs than I have on my linky list, and I really should add the rest of them, but hey, I'm lazy sometimes.