Summer is Finally Here...

And we are loving it! Today we joined the Melonie Park South swimming pool and the kids were in Heaven. Here is Averi jumping off the diving board:)

Deal of the Week...

Some of y'all brought up the idea of a coupon party! I think that would be fun!

I got the items pictured below at CVS this morning.

The total before coupons was approx. $16.00.

I had a $3 off a $15 purchase coupon which you can print here

I also had $2 in Extra Care Bucks (ECB) from a previous visit and coupons for everything except the gum.

After coupons my out-of-pocket total was $5.75!

In addition I also received a total of $10.99 in Extra Care Bucks for my next CVS purchase.


Colgate Total Advanced $2.99 get $2 ECBs (limit 1)
$1/1 Colgate printable
Better than FREE after coupons and ECBs!


Band-Aids, $2.99Get $2 ECBs (limit 2)
$0.50/1 coupon
$0.49 after coupons and ECBs!


Clearasil StayClear Face Wash, $3.99Get $3.99 ECBs (limit 1)
$1/1 Clearasil, exp. 7-12-09 (SmartSource 4/19/09)
Better than FREE after coupons and ECBs!


Playtex Gentle Glide 18 ct. or Sport 16 ct. $3.99 get $3 ECBs (limit 1)
$1/1 Playtex printable
FREE after coupon and ECBs!


$1.29 (I had to buy this to bump my total up to $15 in order to use my $3/$15 coupon)

If you don't shop at CVS you should! And use your ExtraCare Card. Check out iheartcvs for
great tips!


The order in which to present your coupons (important):

1. Give your ExtraCare Card to the cashier
2. He/She will scan your items
3. $3/$15 or $5/$30 (CVS coupon)
4. Manufacturer coupons
5. Extra Care Bucks
6. The balance will be what you pay out-of-pocket
   

Really???

Old Navy put their flip flops on sale for $1 so Stacy and I thought it would be fun to meet up and do a little cheap shopping. We were not prepared for the madness that would ensue...my first clue was the fact that I had to park by Rockfish.

Do you see the workers on ladders? People (including us) were calling out the color and size they wanted! It was BINGO at Old Navy! "PINK 8"

This is where the line started. We were in the kid section.


Stacy got a lot more than me because she was there when the doors opened...with all the other crazies:)

The swarms of people...and their flip flops.

The lady in the red dress had her cell phone safely tucked between her boobs! I had to get a picture:) And she also reminded me of Sonya from Operacion Repo:)

We had a blast watching everyone and the insane amount of flip flops they were buying. One girl had a trash bag full of them. Another girl was pushing a huge cardboard box across the floor filled only with white flip flops. Really??? You need 50 pairs of white flip flops???

We left Old Navy over an hour later with our bag of $1 flip flops and our heads held high!

Addicted...

To couponing!! Thanks to Stacy I have learned how to save some major mulah:) My latest bargain is pictured below. I got:

• one Glad Sense and Spray,
• two Glade spray bottles
• two bottles of Excedrin

for a total of...drumroll please...$4.97!! One bottle of Excedrin by itself is $4.79!! With the purchase of the Glade Sense and Spray I also received $1.50 in Register Rewards that will be good for my next purchase at Walgreens!

I have several links to great money-saving websites underneath my blog list. These ladies have couponing down to an art. CVS, Walgreens, Wal-Mart, and Target always have great deals!

This is my notebook. I basically organized mine the same way Stacy did. I keep a zipper pocket handy with scissors. I also use it to hold my coupons as I shop.

I use baseball card pocket pages to hold gift cards and coupons.

I have a section for Target, Wal-Mart, CVS, and Walgreens weekly ads. The highlight of my week is the Sunday paper. So many great coupons!

The notebook is divided into sections such as: Baby Items, Deodorant, Groceries, etc.

My Little Gradu-Ate...

That's how Averi says it: "I'm a gradu-ate!" So my baby girl is out of preschool and headed for Kindergarten! I was gushing over her and telling her I couldn't believe how fast she's growing up, and she said to me: "I'm still your little girl, mom":) Aww...I love her!


My Mini-Me


Proud Big Sister!


Diploma Time


Class of 2022!


Granna and Gramps


Dondi and Poppi


Wonderful Teachers: Mrs. Kristin and Mrs. Laura


My Girl:)


The Gradu-Ate!!


What can I say?? He loves all things that sparkle and shine:)

Cousins...

Last night we attempted to get pictures of all the cousins. This posed a great challenge for the fabulous Denae:) But she got some wonderful shots! These photos will be in Steve and Donna's parade home this June in Vintage.

I love that our kids get to grow up together!

Big Boy Bed...

On a whim yesterday we decided to turn Connor's crib into the toddler bed. I was all excited...until bedtime. I totally forgot the challenges that come with this switch.

Connor was fine in his new bed as long as I was laying down with him. When I would start to get up he would tell me: "ay down, mama!" So I would, but no matter how heavy his eyes got he would not give in to sleep.

When I finally decided to get up it was to no avail. Not two minutes later the little munchkin was at our bedroom door. I'm not sure how many times we had to walk him back to bed before he gave it up and conked out.

The whole night Connor, Chad and I were restless. I was worried about him falling off so I kept getting up to check on him (which, I was informed, kept Chad up). Connor couldn't seem to get comfortable in his new surroundings, but as far as I know never crashed to the floor. Tonight was much easier (thank you, Lord!!) He didn't get up one time:)

Coupon Kick...

We were hanging out with our friends Seth and Stacy last night when she started telling me about her new "hobby" and asked if we wanted to see all the stuff she has been getting for free. We followed her to a closet where there was an entire shelf full of toothpaste, deodorant, toilet paper, razors, shaving gel, etc...and she got it all for FREE.

She said that back in March she started using coupons as well as researching different companies and their coupon policies and special offers (CVS, Target, Wal-Mart). She knows all of these tricks and secrets on how to get a lot for very little. She brought out a three ring binder full of coupons that she has organized, and began to tell me all of these amazing stories of how she spends little to no money and gets sacks full of stuff.

She said on one at occasion at CVS after using her CVS bucks and other coupons, the store ended up owing her money. And you know the baby wipe refill packs? One is around $6.99. Well Stacy, the coupon genius, got 6 of those for 59 cents. Oh, she also got a gallon of milk for 2 cents! Seriously, people!

I told her to blog about it and share the wealth with the rest of us (hopefully she will)! So check her blog to see what advice she has. I am off to save money!!