winner winner, chicken dinner!!

Thanks to my darling assistant, we have a winner for the book, "Pick Another Checkout Lane, Honey" by the Krazy Coupon Lady!!

Congrats to Lisa!! I will get the book out to you soon! Actually Amazon will but whatever (:

cheap eats

(the lonnnng line to get in!!)

Eating out is expensive. 

Yes we can use coupons. We can eat off the dollar menu , and only get water.

But not only is it expensive, to much of it is not healthy for you.

Whenever our family eats out, we think times 5.

5 kids can eat!!

So we stick to the dollar menu. We use coupons. But choices have to be made. And one of those is...

NO DESSERT :(

I know poor kiddos. They really do suffer.

So when 31 cent scoop night at Baskin & Robbins comes around my kids are in HEAVEN!! Not only do they get a dessert, but they get 3 scoops!

Less than $5 for all 4 of the older kids and myself  to get a bowl. Mason had to share but I don't think he minded!

It was a fun and cheap night!

I encourage you to look around your area and see what local discounts are offered! There are a lot out there, so take advantage!!

speechless at Ralphs

With Ralphs having strawberries for .88 a pint, I have been going in and getting lots!

They are HUGE, sweet and ADDICTING!

So while I was there I had a few other things I wanted to grab....

One item was free Crest toothpaste. Crest was on sale 10/$10. I had 9 coupons that were .50/1 that were doubled to a dollar. Nice right? Well while I was perusing my choices, an elderly lady walked down the aisle. She stopped in front of the toothpaste. I offered her one of my coupons and she politely declined. And then...she bought a tube of toothpaste that was ON SALE for $4.49!!! But you know what? She grabbed TWO!! Ugh, it made my stomach churn.

I can handle someone not accepting a coupon but paying that much for toothpaste? My Easter ham didn't even cost that much!!! I hope she has a good retirement fund. Whew!

As for me, all those groceries you see above? $29. Nine of those dollars was for the ham!! Which was normally $20 something.

4 bags of Lays potato chips
9 tubes of Crest
2 bottles of Tropicana oj
3 pouches of Idahoan potatoes
2 containers of sour cream
4 pints of strawberries
1 bunch of bananas
1 bag of seedless purple grapes
2 Propel zeros
8 boxes of Pasta Roni
and that big ol' ham!!

back fire

(totally DS'ed out!!)

When my kids became interested   obsessed... ADDICTED to video games, I decided to implement a rule. They hate it. Oh boy do they hate it!!

No video games on school nights. So Sunday-Thursdays are video game free at our house. Friday, when the kids get home from school, it's "hi Mom!!" run and put their backpacks away, video games go on and I don't see them again until bedtime.

They say no to offers to play outside with their friends, they eat dinner as fast as they can...they just become little zombies. Saturdays are basically a wash, rinse repeat of the previous day.

While I enjoy the quiet time it brings...it is just too much for one weekend. They beg and plead to be allowed to play during the week. So I am changing it up....

When morning chores are done ( bed made, dirty clothes picked up etc) they earn 15 minutes. If they don't do their morning jobs, there isn't a penalty, just no reward. Does that make sense?

Afternoon chores would equal another 15 minutes. Lunch bags put away, along with back packs, shoes put away...Again, no penalty if it isn't done, but no reward if it isn't.

If homework is completed by 4:30, they earn an extra 15. I have certain kids who like to do it 5 seconds before school starts :(, so this is extra incentive to get that homework done!!

Evening chores, earn another 15 minutes to be used the following day. If everything has been done, it gives them an hour a day to play. With the days being longer, this still gives them plenty of time to play out in the sunshine!

Saturdays' are our big chore days. No work = no video games. This day is not an optional day. You do your work with a smile. However instead of playing all day...they are only allowed to play during Mason's nap time. This does double duty.
1) they aren't upstairs being really loud not allowing Mason to sleep
2) when all kids are preoccupied, I can take a nap, or clip coupons...or whatever I want (:

What about you? Do you have rules about video games? I would love to hear how other people deal with this issue!! Rules or a free for all?

Game on!

Ever since Harmony was a little girl, every time the holiday ads would come out, she would look through them for hours. She would take a stack of them everywhere she went. By the time I was able to throw them out, they were in sad shape.

And now, years later, all my kids are doing it. They love that I get more than one Sunday paper so that they can each have their own copy!

Well I look at a lot of ads and can I just tell you, I don't remember Easter baskets being that big of a deal. Is that just me? From what I remember, we got a new Sunday outfit and a basket of candy.

Now it's crazy how much stuff they have!

This is a long story short but, my whole point is, I loved getting toy coupons in the paper the other day!! Coupons with a great sale is the perfect score right?

Target had a variety of different games on sale that matched up.

My other favorite was the coupon for $5/1 Littlest Pet Shop Blythe doll. These were $10 minus the coupon. Netting a $5 LPS. Even though my daughter is almost 12 she still loves 'em.

Happy Earth Day

(My cute kiddos hanging out on nice GREEN grass)

(reusable lunch containers)

I am not very green. I try. But I have been known to not recycle my pop cans, forget my reusable bags (in the car no less) leave my a/c running...OK maybe I don't try very hard. *gulp*

However, it is amazing how being frugal/saving money is very similar to the ideas given for being green. We have all heard the 3 R's right? Reduce, Reuse, Recyle. So here we go...

How do we save money on our bills? Reduce our usage right? Turn your lights off when not in use. Don't leave your water running....or your a/c or heat if not needed. Save money and be green!

Next...reuse. My Sunday papers come in plastic bags. So instead of just tossing them, I reuse them for Mason's poopy diapers. Reuse water bottles. Use containers for lunches instead of plastic bags. Just because you get them cheap with coupons doesn't mean you need to use a box in a day right? Use your reusable bags at the grocery store.

And of course, recycle. If you can't find something to do with that leftover pizza box, put it in the recycling instead of the trash. Recycle your pop cans (get the money back and use it towards your groceries).

Are you GREEN? What do you do to save money but also helps the planet?

****If you are looking for some FABULOUS reusable products, you can check out my Tupperware page here****

spring break

Having all 5 kids home during the day has really been cramping my couponing style!!

 When it is just Mason and I, if I find a great deal that I want to cash in on, I just grab him and go.

Bringing all 5 kids to the store just to grab a free dental floss is not my idea of a good time. It is my idea of insanity!!! Know what I am sayin'? And of course I don't have a husband home in the evenings so I can go then. Poor me. **sniff, sniff**

The good thing is, my binder is almost completely organized. That is what I do while they are video gaming.

I have had some more requests to see my binder and so without further ado, I introduce you to my 6th child....



Still working on it!



still working...

the inside

DONE! Honestly I should name and weigh this baby!!

This pouch holds all my free item coupons, scissors (2 pairs), a calculator, pens

The purple file is just for my Target store coupons. They take a Target coupon on top of a manufacturer, so it is a good way to score great deals! The pink one if for my store coupons, catalinas and any other sort of register rewards I have (: