Worth the drive

I went out to TRU last night for their "members only" sale. I bought 6 movies, 2 hot wheel cars and I got 2 Tinkerbell photo albums and a Tinkerbell lantern for free. I paid $65 for all of it. The total before coupons was $230.xx. The cashier had to call a supervisor over and it took 3 people to get all of coupons to be accepted. I actually forgot to use my free candy coupon when you buy Monsters verses Aliens. That's ok, because we really won't be home to hand it out on Halloween. Their Aunt is going to pay for two of the movies, so I really only paid $35 for everything.

The sales at Publix look a lot better this week. I have 2 $5/$30 coupons that I need to use before Saturday. I will make that happen.

I amazed myself today.

I went shopping at Publix this morning while the kids were at TT. I bought 4 bonus size bottles of Snuggle fabric softener, 6 soy candles, 2 8 packs of Gatorade, 2 bags of coffee, 2 big bags of Nestle coffee, 2 packages of Bic comfort 3 razors. My total was $55.xx and I only paid $4.71. I was so excited about my savings. Even the cashier was amazed. After TT we went to Walmart with my Mom for $1.99 happy meals. Then we went to Bath and Body works so I could buy some more of the fold up bags. They are so cute.



We went to the Pumpkin Patch with friends(10/21). We get together every year to take pictures and let the kids play. We had a lot of Halloween festivities over the weekend. We went to see Tinkerbell on the big screen thanks to a friend that gave us free tickets. I used a coupon that I printed for a free large popcorn with a large drink purchase. I asked the cashier for water cups and the kids and their friends all had popcorn. We refilled the popcorn and the drink once. My friend offered to buy the next "round" but I told her it was free, she said "of course it is Carrie, I should have known with you it would be free." We both laughed! After the movies we had a 50th Anniversary party to attend. It was set up so nicely by J's Aunt. After the party, we had a neighborhood party to go to. I had baked cookies that morning, so we stopped in the house to get the cookies and off we went for our long walk (3 houses down). Sunday I went shopping for a green shirt for M to wear in our Holiday pictures. It was so hard to find something that wasn't Christmas green. I am going to check a few more places today. Then we went to the pumpkin carving party down the street. It was a lot of fun. The kids helped carve a little bit, but C didn't want to get his hands slimy and M wanted to play with the little doll house. She hardly left that table. I think it was a polly pocket house? Maybe I can find one on sale somewhere. I am going to buy Monsters Vs Aliens on Wed. night. I was invited to a special shopping event. I have my parade magazine coupon for a free bag of candy (up to $3.50) if I buy that movie plus it will be on sale for $10.

Sunny Days...

The kids had their big debut this morning on the Daytime show. They looked so cute on TV. The cameras even got a quick shot of me too. M kept asking me to rewind and play it over and over. C wanted to watch the Disney Halloween show. J came home during his lunch break to watch the kids on TV. I was so proud of them.

We walked around the neighborhood and "Booed" all of their friends. C kept on saying he couldn't wait to tell his friends that we left surprises in their mailboxes. I told him we had to keep it a secret. I put Halloween play dough, stickers, chex mix, and Johnson buddy bars in each of their boxes. I hope they were happy when they saw their surprises.

Tonight I went to a MNO with MNM. We had such a nice time. They bought us appetizers and dessert. I asked the manager for a discount since I forgot my discount card at home. He said yes without hesitation. I saved the club almost $23. They could not believe it. Sometimes all you have to do is ask. Before dinner I went to Bath and Body works with my coupons. I bought a foldable bag for $2 and got a travel size body spray for free (worth $5). I also bought a Holiday nail file for $1 and got a lotion for free, also worth $5. I emailed the link to my club. Tomorrow I am planning on buying a few more of the bags. I have been looking for a bag that will fold up small enough that I can put it in my purse.

Free kidsfest today.

Our day was packed full of fun today! I woke up early to go grocery shopping at Publix. I spent $30.60 and bought 5 bottles of Snuggle, 4 boxes of fiber one yogurt, 6 boxes of french bread pizza, 2 tubes of arm and hammer toothpaste, 8 1lb packages of ground beef, 5 bottles of Dove body wash, 1 box of coffee sticks, 1 container of Breakstone cottage cheese, pears, and 2 bags of cauliflower and broccoli. My total savings was $105.xx. I did all of my shopping in a little over an hour.

When I got home, the family was ready to go to the festival. We got there as soon as it opened. Each of the kids got a free bag of popcorn, then they went to make planters with whatever plant they wanted to put in them. C chose a cool looking plant and M chose a plant with a pink flower on top...who would have guessed she would pick something with pink in it. Then we went over to the ceramic booth. They each painted a ghost holding a pumpkin. After that, J took C to look at the huge train track setup on the tennis court. M painted a pumpkin. C and J came over to paint a "mean looking, baseball player" pumpkin. While those were drying we went over to the police motorcycle and bug. They were giving out free bicycle helmets! What?? Then we went over to the bounce house, where M could have stayed all day. We couldn't pass up the chance to get our free snow cones. After the snow cones, the kids played a few games and won some candy and a necklace. They played in the park for a little bit and then it was time to head over to Chuck E Cheese for A's birthday party. The kids had some much fun at the party. They played a lot of games and got all hyped up on pop and cake. The last stop for the day was back to Publix so the kids could make a goody bag and Publix filled it up with goodies. They put some noise makers, a pumpkin hat, candy, coloring pages, and a bracelet in it. The kids were so tired, they didn't even want to get their face painted. We did not trick or treat around the store either. When we got home the kids took a nap and I sorted out my coupons. J is going to set up the scarecrows while the kids play outside.

Things are coming along.

I am very happy about a phone call I received after we got home from a wonderful day, yesterday. The representative from the JCC called me to setup a coupon class. She said her Mom is a huge fan of coupons and she would like to learn some tips and tricks from me. The rep also emailed me their logo and asked me to make a flyer incorporating their logo. I am happy to do that. They will do all of the advertising for me.

I just got off the phone with the Y rep and they love the class concept, but they don't know how to pay me. They do not have any contractors, so that idea is out. The rep is not ready to give up yet. She has a meeting once a month with their district manager. She promised to ask him if he has a different payment avenue.

I also heard back from the library coordinator. She emailed me a copy of the ad that all of the branches can choose from. It looked great! She is also going to send out a reminder to see if anyone is interested.

Last thing, at my meeting last night one of my friends asked me how my "little coupon business" was going? I started to update her when one of the new members asked me what I was talking about (I don't really promote myself outside of my clubs, as much as I should). She told me how much I motivated her and she would love to take one of my classes. Another new member, a "higher up" at HCC, told me she could get me in contact with someone at HCC that would pay me to do my classes there. Talk about being at the right place at the right time. I will follow up with her next week.

Fun with Elmo and Grover.

Today was better than I could have imagined. We had our own personal concert with Elmo and Grover. We got to the station early, so we were sent to the green room to wait. Well, in walks Elmo and Grover!! The kids jumped out of their seats. M wouldn't leave my side, but C walked right up to them. Grover came over and gave M a high five. They went into the dressing room for a little break. A few adult fans came in to take pictures, but they didn't get to because the characters had to be back on the set. Then while we were in the bathroom, Elmo and Grover snuck into the dressing room again. We were sitting on the couch and out pops the characters again. They played with the kids for about 15 minutes and that is how we got so many great pictures. My camera was not even fast enough! M was a little more shy than C, but they both sat on Elmo and Grover's lap. They played peek-a-boo or "a-boo" as M used to call it. They danced around a little bit and then were called back onto the set. Then the camera guy came in to get us. The kids did not let go of my shirt. Then they saw "their friends" and left me behind lol. I took a few more pictures of them on the set right before they started taping. The kids are not going to be on TV for long, but the whole experience was great. The kids got to watch Elmo and Grover sing "Sunny Days" and we got to spend some more time with them after the taping. We were there for an hour and most of the time was fun filled with M and C's "new friends."

Guess who is meeting Elmo and Grover?

The producer of the Daytime show asked me if M and C would like to meet Elmo and Grover? I said I was honored that she asked us and we would love to come to the station. I am going to dress the kids really cute for their big debut. I am sure they are going to love meeting Elmo and Grover.

The kids and I have been on the go since TT started last week. We went to the Fireman's open house on Sat. The kids did a lot of crafts, got an animal balloon, an icee, and I made them each get a kid id. J and I went away for a night while his Mom watched the kids. She made monkey bread and bracelets with them. They also put window clings on the back door and windows.

I haven't gotten any great grocery deals this week. Probably because I haven't been shopping. We did get a great deal on J's Rockport dress shoes and Izod pants at Penney's. We paid $24.99 for the shoes and $12.49 for each pair of pants. I could not believe the deals they had that day. Friday night we are planning on dropping the kids off at the Y for a few hours while we go out to dinner. It is only $5 per child for 3 hours! I think they give them pizza and snacks too.

Westchase Garage Sale

I had a great time at the sale last weekend. The heat was almost unbearable though. I sold a lot of items from my pantry. I sold some household and kids' items too. I made $350!! I would say $250 of that was from overstock and the rest was from other things. The dog food was a huge hit. I sold all of the cans except chef michaels. I sold most of the cat food and some of the dry dog food. I gave some of the leftovers to my Moms' neighbors and the rest we are going to donate to the animal shelters. I can't wait to take the kids to the cat shelter next week because they love playing with the kittens. I am also going to donate some cleaning supplies and free rubber gloves. My friend already has a Holiday donation box set up at her work, so I am going to give her a bag of food items to take. I have some instant potatoes, rice, mustard, pasta, tomato paste, cereal, peanut butter, among other things that I will donate.

The other night I got the best deal on ground beef and hamburger helper. The hamburger helper was on sale bogo, the meat was on sale for $1.99lb. Well, I had the butcher make me 6 one pound packages because I had Publix coupons for $1 off of meat if I buy any hamburger helper. I also had 6 coupons for free recyclable bags if I buy 2 general mills products (3 were publix coupons and 3 were manufacturer's coupons). The last set of coupons I had were for hamburger helper. So, I bought all of these items for under $10. I spent $27 because I bought nestle cookie dough, cottage cheese, smart fresh veggies, pot roast, 4 publix hamburgers, and I can't remember what else.

I am still waiting to hear back from the rep at the Y. I have left numerous messages, so I hope to hear from her soon. I am also waiting to hear from the coordinator at the Library because I have emailed and called her to see if I set my price too high or to see what I can do to make my classes more attractive to the branches.

We went to the park with 2 other families for our annual birthday celebration. My friend made cupcakes and placed them on a cookie sheet in the shape of a 4. We took pictures and the kids played. It was a really nice day. I had to leave a little early because I was making a roast and I had to get it in the oven. Tomorrow I have plans to go to the annual fire station open house. I have heard it is a lot of fun for the kids and there are a lot of free items to be had. I have my camera ready for this one. J is not going with us, he is staying home to pressure wash the house and do some work in the yard.