Closet Under The Stairs

I have a little storage area under the stairs. I have been wanting to clean it out and use it for food storage. So i did this yesterday. I had grocery bags filled with food (canned goods) shoved in random places in my house because I had no where to store them. So i cleaned it out yesterday and started putting my food storage in there. These are extras that i have on hand that i do not have room in my regular pantry for. My husband is going to build me a little shelving unit inside there so that i can organize it and stack things better. In the mean time, i will just shove my food storage items inside the small space and stack them as high as I can. Also, the three buckets to the left of the picture are pretty cool, but expensive. There is enough food in one of the buckets for one person for one full month. You just add water. there are meal bars, oatmeal, soups, powdered eggs, etc. in there. it lasts for twenty years when stored properly. We bought these a few years ago when we had some extra money. They are pricey but very convenient. You can purchase them at Sam's club or Costco for a little less than $100.00 per bucket. Like i said, kind of pricey but very convenient.

Weekly Grocery Shopping: SUPER AWESOME!!!

Today I did my weekly grocery shopping. i had twenty five bucks left over in my budget. i am trying to wrap my head around how much i saved and everything and well... it's a little bit hard to explain, but I'm going to try. Walgreen's gives you rebates which you claim at the end of every month and they give you a gift card to use in the store. if you choose a gift card, they give you an additional 10% back. so technically if you only purchased the stuff that is free after coupons and rebate, they would be giving you the 10% back and they would actually be paying you to shop there! crazy i know.
CVS does what they call easy care bucks. I am currently learning the ins and outs of the ECB's. basically ECB's are like a cash coupon printed on you receipt and certain items in the store qualify for them. for instance.... today, i bought a razor that was on sale for 7.99. i had a coupon for four dollars off so the final price was 3.99 but it was an ecb qualifying item so i got back $4.00 on my receipt to use on my next purchase. it's slightly confusing but once you get the hang of it, it's super fun and you can get so many things for free. so here's my crazy shopping trip this week... I'm going to break it up by store this week and I'm not going to put how much i saved. read all the way to the end for the magic number.......

Walgreen's

1 pkg Excedrin Gel Caps
5 packets of vegetable seeds (like to plant a garden with)
2 boxes sugar free Jell-o
1 box Reynolds wrap foil
1 box of 6 Walgreen's nutritional drinks
8 rolls paper towels
Total spent: $12.49 BUT, i had a gift card from my rebates from Walgreen's' from last month so I actually spent none of my own money out of pocket for this store.

CVS

1 Gillette Fusion Razor
1 EARrinse cleaner

Total spent: 6.78. I used ecb's hat i had earned last week in the amount of 5.98 so my total cash out of pocket was 6.78 BUT, i received 11.99 in ecb's towards my next purchase.

Ralph's

3 Avocados
1.75 lbs top sirloin steak

Total Spent: 4.78

Albertson's

8 Cans Progresso Soup
2 Cans Betty Crocker Frosting

Total spent: 13.00 BUT, I received $10.00 to use on my next purchase.


So, i ended up spending $24.56 in cash out of pocket tonight. BUT, I ended up getting $25.99 to use towards other purchases in the future!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously that's freaking amazing. I had to do the math like fifty seven times to make sure i was not going crazy and had my figures correct. i even used a calculator. so yep.... i spent 24.56 in cash, but got 25.99 to use next time i shop (just like cash, no minimum purchase or whatever). yeah... I'm awesome. Come pat me on the back!

Jack in the Box: Free Tacos!!

Here's a link to a coupon for two free tacos on the 24th from jack in the box. YUM! http://coupon.hangintherejack.com/two-tacos.php

Weekly Grocery Shopping

So last night I did my weekly grocery shopping. I did not have to get anything except pull ups and wipes for the kids so I just bought a few things that were on sale. Here's what I snagged....

1 box Totino's Pizza Rolls (55 cents)
1 Carton Cottage Cheese
1 pkg of 231 baby wipes
1 Jumbo Pack Pull ups
1 Garnier Shampoo - FREE After Rebate
3 Xtra Laundry detergents (32 loads each)- FREE
2 Tubes Colgate Toothpaste- FREE

Original Price= $43.81
Total Saved= $30.32
Total Paid= $13.49/70% Savings

That's it for this week!

Weekly Grocery Shopping

I didn't need much this week and I had to make a run to Sam's club for the ever important diapers so my budget was smaller this week and I just bought some stuff that was on a good sale. Also, I am splurging on Friday and buying some lobster tails so I needed to save my money for that (i will probably go over budget a bit this month because of Valentines day and I'm cooking dinner for my dad and step mom for their birthdays, but I'm going to try to stay under budget!!). My local grocery store is having a one day sale on lobster tails on Friday for people to buy for their sweethearts on Valentines Day so we're going to get a few so we can have a special dinner on Saturday. Fun! Here's my deals for the week.....

1 Pkg Fruit Roll Ups
2 Pkgs of 4 Yo-Plus Yogurt
1 Pkg of 6 Yoplait Kids Yogurt
4.65 lbs of Peaches
2 Pkgs Menthos Gum
1 Pkg Fresh Express Lettuce (I buy this every week, sale or not)
1 Canister Windex Wipes
1 Pkg Pledge Multi-Surface Wipes
1 Canister Scrubbing Bubbles Wipes
1 Bottle Fantastik Cleaner

Original Price= $53.14
Total Saved= $38.97
Total Paid= $14.17/74% Savings

I have been trying to get a collection of cleaners in both of my bathrooms and in the kitchen so I don't have to bring all the cleaners around to each room and up and downstairs fifty times. I just need a few more things and I will have a full set of cleaners in those rooms. Hopefully I will get some good deals again soon on those items!

Weekly Grocery Shopping

Last night I went to the grocery store and to Walgreens. I did pretty darn good if I do say so myself..... My grocery store was having the same sale where if you bought ten participating items, you got $5.00 off your purchase so a lot of the items I bought are repeats of last week. Here's what I purchased...

5 boxes sugar free jello
2 bottles Theraflu warming liquid - FREE after Walgreens Rebate
1 Revelon creme color lip gloss- FREE after Walgreen's Rebate
1 Revelon Age Defying foundation- FREE after Walgreens Rebate
2 Cans Hormel Chili- FREE
10 Cans Hormel Chili (only 50 cents ea.)
1 box Fiber One Granola Bars
4 boxes Kellogs Fruit snacks
2 Pace picante Salsas
1 pkg Chex Mix (only 50 cents)
1 Container Cool Whip Free
1 Windex Wipes
1 Lysol Cleaner
1 Soft Scrub Spray
1 Lysol Toilette bowl cleaner
1 pkg Fresh Express Lettuce
0.92 lb onion
2.58 lbs Red seedless grapes
1 4lb Tri Tip Roast
4 pkgs Johnsonville Sausage or Bartswurst
1 Lady Speed Stick deodorant

Total Purchased= $172.19
Total Spent= $35.90
That's 80% Savings!!!!!! Holy Mamasita! THAT BROKE MY RECORD!!!!! WOOOOO!!!!

Wow! That's all I have to say about that! Wow!!

My Pantry

My pantry is getting to full!! I've got to find other places for my food storage and quick!!