Chuck E. Cheese Rewards!!!

Looking for a fun way to reward your kids for their accomplishments? Download and print free reward calendars to help your kids develop in areas that are some of the most common challenges of parenting, then head over to Chuck E. Cheese for some play time!

Go here to choose the calendar of your choice. Its a fun way to reward your child and come on...it makes you look like the best Mom in the world! A win, win!!!

Party Favors

Its a great time to not only stock up on school supplies but party favors too! Think about all the birthday parties you'll attend through the school year or party favors you'll need for your own parties. Its a great time to stock up and have some fun items on hand to throw together a gift or favor.

This week I was asked to make party favors for a first grade Sunday School class. Its going to be a big day and the teacher wanted to give each child a special gift.

See what you can make for under $1.75!!

Here is the break down of what we filled each box with.

• Pencil Box.....60
• Crayons.........25
• Juice..............20
• Glue Stick.....12
• 2 Pencils.......08
• 2 Erasers......05
• Ribbon..........35

Total.....$1.65

I'm having a little back to school lunch at my house this week too.

We have the best neighbors so we've invited them to join us!

Its nice having a girl come along so I could purchase something pink!

Here is the care package break down for our party

• Clip Board on Clearance for......$2.00
• Pencil Box......................................$1.00
• Notebook........................................$ .15
• 4-Pencils.........................................$ .15
• 4-Erasers........................................$ .10
• Glue Sticks.....................................$ .25
• Juice................................................$ .20

Total.......$3.85

We're going to have a great time this week at our back to school bash. I've always dreaded the kids going back to school, I guess because its another year closer to them leaving the nest. I know its going to come but I cherish the time with them and try to enjoy every single day. I hope you do too!

Happy School Year 2010-2011

Coffee Filter Ideas

Coffee filters .......Who knew!

1. Cover bowls or dishes when cooking in the microwave. Coffee filters make excellent covers.

2. Clean windows, mirrors, and chrome... Coffee filters are lint-free so they'll leave windows sparkling.

3. Protect China by separating your good dishes with a coffee filter between each dish.

4. Filter broken cork from wine. If you break the cork when opening a wine bottle, filter the wine through a coffee filter.

5. Protect a cast-iron skillet. Place a coffee filter in the skillet to absorb moisture and prevent rust.

6. Apply shoe polish. Ball up a lint-free coffee filter.

7. Recycle frying oil. After frying, strain oil through a sieve lined with a coffee filter.

8. Weigh chopped foods. Place chopped ingredients in a coffee filter on a kitchen scale.

9. Hold tacos. Coffee filters make convenient wrappers for messy foods.

10. Stop the soil from leaking out of a plant pot. Line a plant pot with a coffee filter to prevent the soil from going through drain holes.

11. Prevent a Popsicle from dripping. Poke one or two holes as needed in a coffee filter.

12. Do you think we used expensive strips to wax eyebrows? Use strips of coffee filters..

13. Put a few in a plate and put your fried bacon, French fries, chicken fingers, etc on them. It soaks out all the grease.

14. Keep in the bathroom. They make great "razor nick fixers."

15. As a sewing backing. Use a filter as an easy-to-tear backing for embroidering or appliqueing soft fabrics.

16. Put baking soda into a coffee filter and insert into shoes or a closet to absorb or prevent odors.

17. Use them to strain soup stock and to tie fresh herbs in to put in soups and stews.

18. Use a coffee filter to prevent spilling when you add fluids to your car.

19. Use them as a spoon rest while cooking and clean up small counter spills.

20. Can use to hold dry ingredients when baking or when cutting a piece of fruit or veggies.. Saves on having extra bowls to wash.

21. Use them to wrap Christmas ornaments for storage.

22. Use them to remove fingernail polish when out of cotton balls..

23. Use them to sprout seeds. Simply dampen the coffee filter, place seeds inside, fold it and place it into a plastic baggie until they sprout.

24. Use coffee filters as blotting paper for pressed flowers. Place the flowers between two coffee filters and put the coffee filters in phone book..

25. Use as a disposable "snack bowl" for popcorn, chips, etc.

OH YEAH THEY ARE GREAT TO USE IN YOUR COFFEE MAKERS TOO.

My New Favorite Product!

Can you be in love with a stain remover? Well, if you can then I'm in love! A few months ago I had a coupon (of course) for Zout! When I saw the coupon I thought what is Zout? Soon after getting the coupon I went to the dry cleaners and saw Zout on their prep counter. The lady was spraying Zout on the stains and I thought...If the cleaner is using this I should check it out! Today I was soooo happy I did! Having boys you never know what's going to be found in the laundry. Well, today, when I pulled the clothes out of the dryer, I noticed an itty bitty red crayon made its way into the dryer!!! ahhhhhh!!!!! When I pulled the clothes out my blouse was covered in RED CRAYON!!! Deep breath, deep breath!!!! I think the red crayon found my blouse and began to nest because it was the only thing red! When I saw it I just knew it was ruined so I thought I would try Zout. Guess what....every bit of the red crayon came out!!! I could not believe it! So, now I'm in love with Zout and I'll be looking forward to finding more coupons but even if I don't its worth the $2.79 to keep this product in the house, you know, for those red crayon emergencies!!! What is your favorite cleaning product? I would love to hear from you!

Clearance Sales

Did you know you can go to your favorite online stores and type "clearance" in the search engine and you'll get to see sale items that are tucked away? Try it! Maybe you'll find a great deal today!

One thing I have learned with using coupons is to think out of the box. You don't always have to purchase the item that is pictured. Often there are better deals if you just pay attention to the wording on the coupon. This evening I was at Rite Aid picking up some medication for my honey when I saw these little boxes on sale for $.79 cents. My husband loves these and I knew I had coupons that were getting close to expiring. The coupon had a picture of the large box which was $3.49 and I had to purchase two "boxes"to use the $.70 cent coupon and one "box" to use the $.40 cent coupon. When I noticed these were in a box I decided to try the coupon and I was pleased to get all four boxes for just $1.66. They will be a nice treat added to his lunch this week.

Coupons can be found here for these tasty treats!

More Kmart Deals Today

Ever had one of those nights where you don't sleep a wink? That was my night last night! I didn't even go to bed till after 3 AM because I was not tired, then when I went to bed, I was wide awake. By this time it was to late to take a Melatonin so I thought I will pray, I always fall asleep when I do that. Nope! I must have prayed for everyone in my life 10 times and still no sleep. By this time it was 5:30 AM, my husband woke up quietly trying not to wake me but I was already a wake! Knowing Saturday is now my Monday I got up and got my day going.

Needless to say, after working in the shop all day I was crashing by the

time I went to Kmart and forgot my camera and when I got home I was wiped out!

Today was the last day Kmart would double $2 coupons I decided to go back and finish my shopping. Yesterday I concentrated on health and beauty and household supplies.

Today I wanted to go back and concentrate on the grocery department.

Our 8 year old thought is was so funny that the sales receipt was taller then he was!

Today I spent $236.16
Paid OOP $78.91
Savings $157.25

K-Mart Deal of the Day

I just love saving money and getting things FREE! When I discovered that our K-Mart was participating in the double coupon up to $2 I knew it was going to be a great shopping day and boy was I right. Today my purchases would have cost my family $324.57 but with coupons I walked out of the store paying just $89.22 as savings of $235.35!!!!

Plus I walked out with $11 in gift card money for my next trip!

The following are a few deals I found today.

Its sales like this that keep me using my coupon binder. I just took my binder with me, went to a department and looked for coupons that were $.60 cent or larger (we have other stores in town the double up to $.60 cents so my goal today was coupons $.60 or grater. Since my binder is organized by department it was really easy to spot the coupons, get the items and move on to the next sale. You can click here to see how I organize my coupon binder.



The first deal I found was these Chinet paper plates. They were priced at $3.55 and I had a $2.00 off coupon, doubled means it was FREE!
K-Mart does not give you an overage but FREE is good enough for me!

I have these coupons from the Sunday paper but could never find the gloves. Today I was in luck! Not only did I find them but they were FREE! They were priced at $1.69, I had $1 off coupons being doubles made them FREE! They are going to come in handy at the shop!

Because I purchase 3-4 papers a week I was able to get 4 packages.

Ritz were in sale 2/$5 a price I would not pay anymore but when you match that sale with $2 off coupons getting them $.50 a box makes it a much better deal!

These go into the Christmas food pantry to have with Sweet Pepper Jalapeno Jam found here over cream cheese! YUMMY!!!!

This was my favorite deal of the day. I had 6 coupons which were valued $1.50 off two. I had 12 bottles in my cart that I was getting for $.50 cents each for a total of $6. Then I noticed on an end cap these double packs on sale for $2.67!!! So, back went my single jars and in the cart went the double packs that I now got FREE!!!! Again, this is why I get more then one Sunday paper.

Original Price - $32.04

OOP - FREE

Savings - $32.04

Getting ready to open a business means a lot of cleaning so I was pleased to get this bottle of Multi Surface Windex for just $.29 cents!!!

It seems everyone in my family is plagued with arthritis so getting 5 boxes of Bengay for only .$99 cents each was a great savings.
Original Price - $24.95

OOP - $3.96

Savings - $20.97

So, as you can see it was a good shopping day at Kmart and I did not even make it through every department. I did meet several new friends along the way who were interested in the coupon binder and excited to see how much I would save on this trip. Welcome to the blog ladies it was a pleasure meeting you today. I look forward to seeing you at our open house in October!

This is my new friend Colleen! We had a great time exchanging coupon ideas and

finding some great deals together!


Its the weekend, stock up on your Sunday papers! Check out a few of my favorite coupon sites here and here. Also check out Thrifty Mom here for some great shopping deals!

Happy Shopping!!!!

Kmart Is Doubling Coupons

I am so glad I have children because I learned breathing techniques that are helpful when I come across sales like this! Why I did not know about this already I don't know but this morning I discovered our Kmart is participating in the $2 double coupon offer! They will double coupons up to $2 but they do not take competitors coupons like the Rite Aid coupon or Food Lion coupons. I am so happy I filled my binder last night because I am off to Kmart today! Sale ends Saturday so get going! If you would like to view their add to see if your store is participating just go here and type in your zip code. Hope you find some amazing deal this week!

Make sure to tell us about what you find!

Happy Shopping!!!

A Few Coupon Deals

Looking for a quick and easy breakfast as you are running out the door to school?
Try Bagel-Fuls! They come in a variety of flavors and if you go here you can get a $1 coupon.
I purchase them at Wal-Mart for $1.98 a box and when you use your coupon you will get them for just $.98 cents! Enjoy!

If you are looking for the $5 Rite Aid coupon go here and print one. If you don't see it use zip code 30013. If you spend $25 you will receive $5 off. You can use this at Publix too! I print two and use one at Publix then one at Rite Aid because they always have great clearance items especially when you match with coupons. That is where I found the
$.04 cent shampoo a few months ago.

Happy Shopping!

Its Back!!

Its Back! Harris Teeter is Doubling Coupons up to $1.98 again this week!

View their add here and start planning to save! Its worth the trip!

Make sure to let me know what you saved this week so we can celebrate with you!

Deal of the Day @ Target

Let me first say, I know I have a bad camera, and I do apologize for things being blurry! Its high on the prayer list and one day we will have a great camera but until then, this one at least gives you an idea of what the products are! Blur and all! When I get a new camera we will celebrate together!

I have not been into Target for several weeks but was pleasantly surprised today to find some good deals! This deal of the day total was $25.77 but with sales and coupons I paid $4.97. Another great deal of the day!

This was my favorite deal today! These soft soap ensembles were on clearance for $2.04. I uses a Target coupon for $2.00 off and paid just .04 cents each! Got to love that!

Print your own Target coupons here and keep them on hand for a great sale!

I love the smell of cocoa butter so when I found this body scrub on clearance for $3.00 I just had to smell it! Then I remembered I had a coupon in my binder! I was happy to find 2 coupons for $2 off this product! Got them for $1 each!
This is why it pays to clip and save all your coupons. You may find a product that you would never purchase but when you get it almost free its worth the purchase. I would have never purchased this Olay Body Lotion that you use in the shower, but when I saw it on clearance for $2.98 I thought I would take a look to see if I had any coupons. Again, I had 2 coupons for $2 off so I got them both for just .98 cents each!

Found this on a great deal too! It was on clearance for $1.89 and I had $1 off coupon so got it for just .89 cents!

Deals of the Week

CVS Deal of the Day

This was my best deal of the day! I have been keeping my eye on these because I had $2 off coupons. I did not want to pay the $8.99 a box so I just kept an eye out for a good deal and boy did I find a good deal! This week these are on sale BOGO free at CVS so right there I saved half! Then I uses 2 coupons for $2 off! Now I am down to 2 for $5. A good deal! But I had almost $20 in CVS bucks so I used a $4 CVS buck and got both of these for $1.00! That is now a GREAT deal!

Wal-Mart Deal of the Day
This week I am so excited because my two sisters are coming home! We will have a few family meals at our house so I wanted to make a cake. I was happy to find a deal on this frosting.
It was $1.38 a container and as you can see there is a hole in the wrapper, that's
because there was a .25cent off coupon attached.
Then I had two coupons for .50 cents off so I purchased them for .63 cents each.
Wal-Mart Deal of the Day
You don't always have to buy BIG! I had three coupons for .35 cents off but knew that would not add up to much when a bottle of tide was $8 and up. Since the coupons said, "any size Tide" I decided to use it on these travel size. The were .98 cents each and I paid .63 cents for them. I know, you are wondering why bother right? Well, I like to put these in gift baskets for missionaries or our college kids going away this fall. They add a special touch and I am sure they will be appreciated.

Wal-Mart Deal of the Day

I had coupons for these but I am not a fan of the $9.99 price at the grocery store. I've been keeping my eye on them and have been trying to find a good price. This week in Wal-Mart they have them on a Roll Back price for $6.97 using my $4 off coupons I was able to get all three boxes for $8.91. That was lower then just one box at the grocery store! If you would like to try a FREE sample sign up here. Also look for the tab that says other FREE samples. Just answer three simple questions and they will send you a few other items too and maybe even a few coupons!!!

I would love to hear about your deals this week!

Leave a comment and let's celebrate together!

FREE Food @ Arbys Wednesday!!

Looks like a good day to visit Arbys tomorrow!

Purchase a soft drink and receive a FREE Regular Roast Beef Sandwich! Yummy!!!

CVS Deals This Week!

There are some great sales available this week at CVS! I plan on making a trip in the morning to get some school supplies and other items. This week I have $11 in extra care bucks so I plan to match that up with more items that offer extra care bucks for free items. They have several items in this weeks paper that you can purchase and then receive extra care bucks. Look through the sale add here and get your shopping list ready to save! Come back and post on your deal of the day!
These are a few items I will be picking up this week:

Papermate Grip Pens.................99 cents........99 cent back in extra care bucks
Caliber 5 subject notebook.......$3.99...........$3.00 back in ECB
Caliber Blunt Scissors...........$2.99...........$2.99 back in ECB
Caliber School Glue.................99 cents.........99 back in ECB
Caliber Plastic Ruler...............99 cents.........99 back in ECB

Total........................$9.95
Using ECB from last week...-$10.00

Total out of pocket.........$FREE!!!!!

Total Back In ECB...........$8.96 (great for shopping next time!!!)

ECB are printed out on the bottom of your receipt and can be used as in store cash! I just keep recirculating the ECB for items that offer more ECB! With my $8.96 in ECB I will make another trip to purchase the following:

*Hardcover Photo Book...$7.99...$7.99 back in ECB
Tylenol Arthritis.......$3.99............$3.00 back in ECB also using $2 coupon
Gillette Fusion Razor...$7.99.........$4.00 back in ECB also using $4 coupon

Total.......................$19.97
Using ECB............-$10.01
Coupon..................-$ 6.00

Total out of pocket $3.96!!!

ECB for next trip.....$14.99 -Woo Hoo!!!

Total for this trip should be around $29.91 but we will come home with everything for around $3.96 a savings of $25.95 plus end the trip with another $14.99 in ECB!!!

Looking forward to seeing how you do this week. Make sure to come back and let us know so we can celebrate with you!

*Nicole's Nickles has posted tips here on how to create your own photobook.

Check out her tips before heading out to create your own book.

Deal of the Day @ CVS

Today is the last sale day for this weeks sale falyer at CVS so I wanted to run in and get a few items using my CVS Bucks. This was another fun shopping trip!

I just love getting items FREE!!!!

The total for these items would have been $58.51

With coupons and sale items my total out of pocket was $5.98

Came home with $11 in more CVS Bucks for next trip!

It pays to purchase more then one Sunday paper each week!

Savings of $52.53

For some reason my husband and boys love Fabreze! I rarely buy it because of the cost. When I came home today with four bottles they were excited. This week CVS had it on sale for $5 for the fabric spray and $3 for the air effects. I had two coupons from the Sunday paper for buy one fabric spray get the air effects free. Then I had $1 off coupons for the fabric spray. They were also giving away $5 in CVS Bucks if you spent $10! What a deal! I had $5 Bucks from another purchase last week. I walked away paying $3 for the whole lot! Plus received $5 in bucks for the next trip!.

This was another fun deal! These razors were $5.99 on sale for $2.99 and I had 3 coupons for $3 off so they were as the package says FREE!!! A savings of $17.97!

Thanks again to the Sunday paper I had coupons for BOGO free and CVS was offering $2 in CVS Bucks up to 3 deals. I also had $2 off coupon for the one I did not get free and $3 in CVS Bucks from a previous purchase. So, I ended up paying $2.98 and came home with $6 in CVS Bucks!
A savings of $20.98

Remember to get your Sunday papers this week so

you can find some great deals next week!

BOGO FREE SALE @ BI-LO

Do you like BOGO FREE Sales? Me too! Its a great week to shop Bi-Lo, they are having a huge BOGO Free sale here this week! Match those sales with coupons and save even more! Bi-Lo allows you to use two coupons with a BOGO Free item. For example, I am getting 2-Carolina Pride Smoked Sausage which is on the BOGO Free sale, so I am going to use 2 coupons for $1.50 each! I will get both sausages for $.68 cents! Check back soon for the Deal of the Day post!

Happy Shopping!!! Let me know about your deal of the day!

Deal of the Day @ Food Lion

We wanted to have taco salad for dinner on Thursday (you know using the free Catalina dressing here from a few days ago) evening but I was out of ground beef. I was running errands and decided to go into Food Lion to see if I could get any meat on sale.

The above meat would have cost me $62.15 but I paid $29.64 a savings of $32.51!

I was pleased to find this Tyson chicken on a double mark down plus I had 4/$1.00 off coupons! This chicken would have cost me $22 however, with coupons and double mark down I only paid $6.79 with a savings of $15.21!!! A great deal!!! What are we going to eat using this chicken?

Chicken Alfredo with Broccoli and Tomatoes

Grilled Chicken Strips on a bed of Garden Salad

Grilled Chicken Pita Pockets

I was excited to see the ground beef I needed for Taco Salad on clearance. A few packs that I purchased were a double mark down too! This was would have cost me $26.42 but I only paid $16.13 with a savings of $10.29 and I love it because its the 93% fat free so not a lot of fat to tend with, just meat! How are we going to use this ground beef?

Taco Salad

Meat Loaf

Spaghetti

Hamburgers

I purchased this roast for my Dad who enjoys having a "chunk of meat to nibble on" over the weekend. His Mom and Dad did this when they were older and now he likes to have some too! He cooks it in the crockpot and will "nibble" on it all weekend long! Its a little comfort food and provides him several meals. Enjoy Dad! This was another double mark down.

Its original price was $13.73 marked down to $6.72 a savings of $7.01

What deals have you found this week?

Deal of the Day @ Piggly Wiggly

Although I rarely shop Piggly Wiggly, there was a major accident today on the interstate so instead of fighting traffic I stopped for connivance rather then price. I know, I know, forgive me, we all have our break down moments! Although this is not one of my normal stops, I was elated with a deal I found! This was one of those deals I just could not believe was true! I was in the store getting some chicken for tomorrow and noticed salad dressing on "sale" for 3/$5.00.

I thought to myself, wow, I no longer pay that for dressing. As I was walking away I looked up and noticed a tear pad coupon for $1.50 off! I thought, this can't be true! I read the coupon then thought, do I need to buy like $50 in groceries first? I read the coupon again! It looked true enough! There were only a few coupons left so I took two. I went to the register and sure enough, it was true! Dressing, not for $1.67 a bottle but for .17 cents a bottle! Woo Hoo!!! What am I going to do with it? Well, the Ranch is always used for a dip, my son loves carrots as an afternoon snack and the Catalina, I am going to use for a Taco Salad next week! Yummy!!! Keep your eyes open for coupons in the store as you are shopping. I am seeing them more and more!

What good deals have you found recently?

Deal of the Day @ Bi-Lo

I never thought that shopping would cause laughter! What am I going to tell the cashier when she says, "What are you going to do with all that Mustard??" Its enough to last a year okay maybe two! I have plans for it, my family is getting some and some is going into the Christmas food pantry. The following is a list of items purchase today and you will see why all the Mustard!!!!

8 - Bottles of Mustard - This was the fun deal that made me laugh! Bi-Lo has coupons for buy one name brand items get their item FREE! I keep the coupons until the name brand item goes on sale. This week it was French's Mustard. It was BOGO Free! Okay, so I purchased two French Mustard and got two free, that made 4, so I get 4 store brands FREE! I am only purchasing 2 bottles but getting 6 FREE. Now, the two that I am purchasing cost $1.14 each so that is $2.28. I have 4 French's Mustard so I am using 4 coupons (from the Sunday paper) at .50 cents each. Bi-Lo doubles coupons up to .60 cents so that is $2.00 in coupons! Phew, almost done! So, that means I got all 8 bottles of mustard for .28 cents!!!!!!!!! Potato salad here we come!!! Wonder how much potatoes will be? Sign up for a Bi-Lo card and get access to these coupons!

6 - Packs of 50 count Paper Plates - This was the same deal as the Mustard! No need to go through the whole break down again! I purchased all 6 packs for $1.30!!! That is 300 plates for $1.30!!!! Great for holding that potato salad!!!!

6 - Hamburger Helper - On sale BOGO and had 3/.80 cent coupons. Got all 6 boxes for $4.37. Love the Chicken Alfredo with grilled chicken, fresh steamed broccoli and chopped tomatoes!

So good!!! Internet coupons!

4 - Beef Hot Dog - This was another sale item like the Mustard. I did not have a coupon for the Carolina Pride Beef Hot Dogs but still purchased four packs of beef hot dogs for $1.98! Great with the upcoming potato salad!

3 - Bottles of Ketchup - On sale at Bi-Lo for .99 cents! Had three coupons for .20 cents which were doubled, so purchased all three for $1.77! Man this is going to be good with the hot dogs and the potato salad, served on a paper plate! My little boy was thrilled when he saw the ketchup! He is an addict! Coupon from the Sunday paper!

3 - Luzianne Green Tea Bags - Another family favorite! Love making sweet tea with this! This was on sale 2/$3.00 had a .60 cent coupon which was doubled! So, purchased all three boxes for .90 cents!!!! Woo Hoo, tea with our hot dogs and potato salad!!! Coupon-from the paper!

3 - Del Monte Fruit Chillers - Now for dessert! I don't know about where you are but its been so hot here, my kids would eat Popsicles all day and skip the food if I let them. So to get Popsicles on sale, that makes me happy! These were on sale for $1.88 a package and I had $1.00 coupons! So, purchased all three boxes for $2.64! Soooo coooollllll!!!

2 - Weber Grill Creations - This is a new product for us but we love spices! It looks delicious and it was to good of a deal to pass up. These were on a BOGO free sale! They were $2.49 each, since I purchased 2, I used 2 coupons for .50 cents each, of course they were doubled so I purchased 2 for .49 cents! This will taste good on the grilled chicken for the Hamburger Helper Alfredo!

When checking out the cashier was a little upset with me. She wanted to tell me they did not take the Bi-Lo printed coupons (I know, get off the floor, I wanted to laugh too!). When I pointed out they had the Bi-Lo logo on them she still did not want to accept them. I just said, "I guess you need to call the manager." The manager came over and looked at her and said, "Are you kidding, of course we take these, their our coupons!" He left but she was still upset with me! She looked at me and said, "I would never spend time printing and clipping coupons!" I did not say anything but when my total went from $95.23 to $13.73 I just looked at her and said, "I think it was worth my time!" The ladies behind me all chimed in and asked, how did you do that? It was a good shopping day!

Leave me a comment about your deal of the day!

Oh, anyone need mustard?