A Success Story

My friend Angie, posted this on my facebook today. She used to be my neighbor when we were both living in Virginia. She is a fabulous Mom of six kids, her husband just recently retired from the Navy. I am so glad that she has found inspiration from my postings. It makes me want to do A LOT more. Thanks Angie! (:

"Marie, I just wanted to say thanks for you postings recently about coupons. You've encouraged me to go and look for deals again this week. Albertsons have been doing a kelloggs deal this week. Buy 10 boxes of cereal/pop tarts etc, get $10 off at checkout and then get a $10 catalina. So 10 boxes of whatever for $1 a pie...ce! Then we found a coupon that said free gallon of milk for every 5 boxes of kelloggs cereal you buy and it gave overage. Hillshire farm deal of buy 4 sausage for $10 and get $3 off instantly at checkout. So we've made a few trips, but tonight Mike got 10 boxes of cereal, 2 gallons of milk and 4 kielbasa sausage for $16 and we got another $10 catalina back! Keep posting about your deals! Its really encouraging."

Go Angie!

My friend Jessica also shared a success story with me also.I will post that one next time!

Free Post it Notes& batteries

(image taken from Targets website)



Do you like free items?



Do you like Target?

Well, right now if you like Rayovac on Facebook, you can print off a coupon for $1/1! A 4 pk of batteries in their dollar spot is...a dollar! Gotta love free!

Also, Target has Post It notes on sale for $1. Right now you can print off a $1/1 coupon which makes them free!

You can click on this link to print the Post It coupon. BTW- this coupon doesn't have a print limit. Some do, some don't. Technically you can print off as many as you want, but try to save some for others! (:

Product Review-Mott's Medleys

(picture taken from Mott's website)

One of the things that I love about coupons, is the ability to try new products for cheap or even free. When companies are trying to get the word out on a new product, the best way to do it, is through promotions. So normally a high value coupon, or a refund...maybe both! It is a great way to try new things.

I would like to start sharing some product reviews with you. These are all soley my opinion.

Recently, there was a .50/1 coupon for the new Mott's Medleys' juices. Vons had them on sale for $1.50. That price, with coupon doubled, made it .50. I had 5 coupons so I used them all. 5 juice jugs for $2.50!

While I am not a big juice drinker, my kids are. So I was kind of shocked when upon trying this, I found half full cups of juice on the counter. More of this juice was dumped down the drain than drunk.

This juice is a combination of fruits and vegi's, with little sugar added. "It provides 2 fruit/vegi servings in each glass. There are 3 different flavors, Tropical, Grape and Apple." For health reasons, this is obviously a GOOD thing. But when it comes to being a juice that KIDS will drink? Well it didn't fit the bill. Their claim is that the juice makes it easier for your kids to get more servings of vegi's. The lack of sugar made it just TOO strong. Even watered down my kids didn't enjoy it.

I realize that this makes me sound like I want my kids to drink more sugar! LOL

I still have three jugs in my pantry. I am glad I didn't pay full price. In the end, I would give it 2.5/5 stars. Why? For the health benefits.

Have you tried it? What did you/your kids think?

coupon q&a

Since there will be some great coupons in this Sunday's paper, I wanted to start off telling you where I get my coupons...

1. The Sunday paper. For those of you on Guam, I know you don't get these. Trust me I suffered through that while living there! For everyone else though, these are the best for getting the latest coupons. **Tip** Never buy just one paper. At the least get two. That way if you find a BOGO sale (buy one get one free/half off). That way you have more than one to use.
This is also how you can build up a stockpile.

Example: a small tub of Gold & Soft butter was on sale at Vons/Safeway for .99. I had a .50/1 coupon that was doubled, making it free. BUT I had 4 of those coupons. Sooo...instead of one free tub of butter, I now have 4!

2) You can print coupons online! (Yep even on Guam!!) This is great because you are able to pick and choose what you want. You have to install a program to print them off but it is quick and easy. I have never had any problems with this.I have also never had a problem with a store taking them! You can go to:

Smart Source

Red Plum

Coupons.Com

All You Magazine

3)product packaging. Keep whatever you think you can use! Companies want your repeat business (ecspecially in this economy). So cut those coupons off of your cereal boxes, frozen dinners or soup cans. If you find one inside, keep it. Usually these are a higher value than you may find somewhere else.

Example: Goldfish went on sale but there wasn't a recent manufacturer coupon out at the time. But I had a coupon that I had found in a bag from a past purchase. I was able to get a better deal!

4. We all LOVE Facebook, right? Well guess what? When you like your favorite prodcuts pages, often times they will have coupons. I have recieved many free or bogo coupons from them.

Example: The first Monday of every month, Nabisco puts out a coupon for buy one bag of cookies and a gallon of milk, get another pkg of cookies for free. So here is what I did. I had 2 coupon for $1/1 pkg of Nabisco cookies. They were regularly priced for $1.98. I bought two pkgs. of cookies for $1.98 and a gallon of milk. However, I got the full price OFF of the cookies. Bringing the cost of the milk way down.

5. All You magazine. This magazine is found at the checkstands at Wal Mart. You can also get a subscription. (And yes they will ship it to Guam!) This magazine is filled with awesome coupons. It is $2.50 for the magazine and totally worth the price. Although just like the Sunday paper, I would recommend getting two. Trust me it is worth it.

Start saving all your coupons and have family members save for you. The next time I will be talking about the different ways that you can organize them!

coupons & stockpiles & a GIVEAWAY

(the black hole...I mean my freezer!)


(freezer door, we love ice cream and Breyers was $1.89 with .50/1 coupons doubled. Breyers for .89?! yeah I had to get it!)

(extra shelves that are now being used for food)

(second set of pantry shelves)

(one set of pantry shelves)


(the freezer on our side by side)

(full fridge!)

(the whole HBA shelf!)

(my basket of deodarant. Ben has his own of men's brands. Soon I will have to get some for my boys too!)


(my body wash and shampoo & conditioner shelf)

(this big bucket is FILLED with feminine hygeine products and free samples)

(on the top of my closet, I have 4 of these baskets. One with toothpaste , one with first aid items, one with razors and the other has toothbrushes)


(Mason's closet, up here he has 4 pkgs of diapers and 3 pkgs of wipes, with 3 more packages of diapers downstairs!)


**Note that these pictures do not include the pantry in my kitchen, the laundry room stockpiles or all or our school supply stockpiles!)

It is no secret that I LOVE using coupons. One of my main reasons is the ability to stock up (stockpiling) and doing it at cheap prices.

On Tuesday, my sweet husband will be leaving for over 3 weeks on a military field exercise. ): Leaving me with all 5 kids. Grocery shopping with kids is NOT my favorite thing to do. (Shocker I know!)

Right now, our house is overflowing with food and health and beauty items. I am at a point where I don't "need" to shop, except for a few items that we seem to go through fast.

That is the beauty of stockpiling, being able to shop at your own home.

I know that there are a lot of people who don't feel like coupons just aren't for them...for a variety of reasons. But I can tell you one thing, they are for me!

Last Tuesday I did my weekly trips. Two out of my three stores double coupons up to a dollar. The other one doesn't normally double but they put in their ad, 5 coupons that would double. My first trip, the total was $256 dollars before savings card and coupons. After $91. The second store (where I also bought 3 pkgs of diapers and 1 container of wipes....$365 before coupons and savings and after it was $160.

Along with freezer cooking, I am going to start talking about couponing. Hopefully it will get people interested.

One of my favorite books on couponing is written by the Coupon Mom

I am going to give away this book! It is filled with up to date information on getting the most out of your coupons! Plus I will add free samples and fun items from my stockpiles to the box.

So if you are interested in winning my copy of this book, you need to
1) Leave a comment telling me why you want this book
2)Leave a second comment with questions/comments that you have about coupons
3) for a 3rd entry, post about the giveaway on your blog/facebook page. For every person that signs up because of you (make sure they tell me who sent them) you will get an additional entry

Service Project

(My husband took this picture when he was serving in 2006. The weather is so hot and they wear so many clothes and gear. I can't imagine how hot it is.)



One of the blogs that I love to read, is The American Homemaker. Right now, she is looking for people who are willing to send care packages to a unit who is serving in Afghanistan.

While Ben was serving in Afghanistan, I sent him a huge care package every month. He also recieved pkgs, letters, emails and cards while there. Not just from me but from friends and family. While he may have had times where he felt lonely, he knew he was loved. With another deployment coming up way to fast, my heart and thoughts are with those who are overseas.

I know that there are many soldiers who are serving overseas who have no family support. It makes me so sad for them!

So, let's show them support! Stop by Angie's blog, and get all the info. These men and women can really use your support.

My family will be putting one together to get it sent out. It is a great way to teach our kids service.

**She also has an option to pay pal her and she can get a pkg out for you!

You can find all the info at The American Homemaker

Smiley face lunches

(Harmony decided to make a mad face instead!)

(pretzel eyelashes, pizza eyes, cherry nose and a banana smile!)

(food photographer I am not!)


(a cute little helper)

(the basic supplies)

The other day my son wanted his favorite lunch. Written in his 8 yr. old
handwriting, I found on my shopping list:
baguls
peporoni
and sauce

Bagel pizzas are a great item to have in the freezer for lunches. I will buy "Bagel Bites" brand with sale and coupon but otherwise I use these. Plus, the kids love helping to make these!

Bagel pizzas:
Seperate bagels and lay on baking sheet
top with sauce
add desired toppings

Bake at 325 for 10-12 minutes

I let the kids eat as much as they want for lunch and then...

leaving them on the cookie sheet, place them in the freezer (this is called flash freezing)
let them freeze for about 2 hours
Take them out and place in a freezer bag
**tip** I always label my bags BEFORE putting food in. I don't want to tell you how many times I have tried to write on top of food :)

Make sure to label your bag. Even if you can tell what the food is, you should always write the date and any reheating instructions.

My kiddo's always like to make smiley faces with their food. I think it just tastes better that way!