Smiths's Mega sale

I couldn't help but post the great deals I got at Smith's last night. It was so much fun to get back to couponing and saving money.

Here are some of the highlights:
2 boxes of Finish dishwashing detergent --$0.49 each
3 boxes Kleenex -- $0.88 each
2 8oz kraft cheese $0.99 each
2 packages of plate and 1 bowl -$0.49 each
3 cans Ro-tel tomatoes -$0.12 each
1 box Raisin Bran --Free
1 bar soap -Free
3 cartons Dryers ice cream - $1.49 each

The grand total before all discounts-- $101.38
The grand total before coupons was $ 54 ish (including fresh values discount)
The total after coupons ---$$35.60 for a total of 66% savings

I also got a $0.05 off gas and $8.85 towards a beer rebate. YIPEE!! I love couponing.

Finished?

Well, we made it to Jan 31st and didn't die. It actually was fun and challenging. In fact, I need to keep going just to clean out my pantry some more. I am short on quite a few things, so we might have a fairly expensive bill at sam's later today. I am excited because now I can go shopping at Smith's Mega sale and not feel guilty.

I wasn't feeling well on Saturday night, so I had to send Nate to the store for milk. He spent $6.58 on 3 gallons of milk and 1 dozen eggs. We probably could have made it on 2 gallons, but I just didn't care at that moment. We went over the $100, but just barely.

Grand totals

Days without spending money: 16
Total money spent: $102.66


Anyway, I hope I can keep it up. I learned that it wasn't that hard and not that different than we normally live. Now I need to figure out a new challenge. Any suggestions?

Amazing Friends

I am almost finished. In my last post, I talked about not being sure if I could make it the last few days without going over my budget because we needed milk. The next day after writing the post, I was talking to a friend about it and how I could try powdered milk. A few minutes later, she showed up at my house with 3 gallons of milk and CHOCOLATE! She totally made my day.

As a result, I was able to go 4 days this week without spending money. I did spend money on Monday, but that was only to send a package to my sister so it didn't count as groceries.

This week, I also baked a lot. I made 2 batches of wheat bread, brownies and zucchini chocolate chip cookies, and sugar cookies (from a bag.) We still ate from our food storage. We are running low on a few basics for lunches, but I still have quite a bit of food that needs to be used. We still have tons of potatoes and sweet potatoes, but made a big dent. Next month, I think I will continue cooking from my food storage, but will stock up on a few things. The goal is to not spend double next month.

Only 2 days left, wish us luck!

Days without spending money: 15
Grand total: $96.08

Almost there

We are starting on our last week of the challenge and things are moving on. I won't write what we have been eating for days 18-21 mainly because I don't remember. I did have to get milk, eggs, yogurt, cheese and hot dogs which cost $17.35, but I did use coupons. Oh ya, I had a type-o last entry and my total was supposed to be $78.73 not $88.73.

This is what I have learned so far:

• I love/hate living in a city where there are so many options for shopping. I am able to get great deals by going to different stores that are all really close to each other, but that also tempts me to spend more money.

• Cooking out of our food storage is easy and not different from what I normally do since we almost never go out to eat.
  

• The biggest problem I have is the little money I spend here and there. I am not sure if I am going to make it under the $100, we are probably going to go over by a little bit.

• I am still spending quite a bit on diapers and other household stuff. Next month, I may try to work on this goal. I could be saved if the twins would just get potty trained!!!!!
  

Grand total so far: $96.08 -we are going to need milk before next week--ahh
Days without spending money: 11

Day 15-17

I am still going strong, but not as good as blogging about it. Anyway, here are the details.

Day 15:
Breakfast: cereal
Lunch: Misc
Dinner: Taco salad using lots of veggies from the co-op
No money spent.

Day 16:
Breakfast: Cereal
Lunch: Misc
Dinner: Chicken fried rice
I spent $5.38 on 3 gallons of milk and even abstained from buying anything else!!


Day 17
Breakfast: Cereal
Lunch: Misc
Dinner: I fell and got the kids $1 items at burger king. We were running to get haircuts after the Treehouse Museum. We only spent $4.26 and Nate and I ate leftovers at home. I probably am cheating and counted this as entertainment money.

Grand total spent: $88.73
Days without money spent: 8

Day 12- 14

I really am having a hard time staying on budget. I think I may go over. I really am trying, but there always seems to be a sale on something that is a great price that we really use. I am doing fine on the cooking, but the budget thing may be my downfall.

Day 12

Breakfast: Cereal
Lunch: Misc stuff for everyone
Dinner: Leftovers- good thing Nate will eat them

We did go to Sam's and spent too much--$25.00

Day 13
We went ice fishing this afternoon and I was really tempted to get a $5 pizza, but we were good and stayed on plan.
Breakfast: Pancake mountain with eggs from my mom's and fresh ground wheat flour
Lunch: Misc for everyone
Dinner: Leftovers again-- but at least we used them
Dick's had a sale.I did get 5 boxes for a$1 each and $0.25 yogurt for a total of $7.58

Day 14
Breakfast: Cereal
Lunch: Misc.
Dinner: Ham and potato soup- using leftover ham and garden potatoes- the kids ate yogurt.

Grand total: $73.85
Days without spending money: 7


This week I have to do better!!! We have plenty of food. We just may need milk and cheese, but luckily the kids have really slowed down drinking milk, so we may just pull this off.

Day 9 - 11

It has been a pretty good week so far. Here are the updates:

Day 8 -Tues
Breakfast: Cereal
Lunch: I don't remember
Dinner: Leftover rice and salad- free from my mom

I did so to Smith's to get milk. I did falter and buy a bag of cookies and chocolate milk. Total spend $8.82

Day9 :
Breakfast: Cereal
Lunch: The kids ate the whole package of hot dogs I bought last night for $0.89.
Dinner: Ham Slice with Roasted Garden Veggies

I didn't spend any money on groceries, but we did take the kids to Krispy Kreme and spent $2, but I am not counting that towards groceries.

Day 10:
Breakfast: Cereal
Lunch: Fish sticks
Dinner: Beef Tomato Mac- made with the hamburger I fried up earlier in the week
I spent $5 on clearance potty prizes for the twins, but again this is not grocery money.

Grand total: $41.27
Days with out spending money:6