Author Archives: Sheila

First Day of Vacation

Posted on by
Reply

Today, was the first full day of our family vacation it was peaceful, relaxing and awesome. I am sincerely glad that we chose this date. Today is also the anniversary of the saddest day in our family history. One year ago today, Amanda had a wreck and baby Remington left this earth. I am more convinced today than ever that God has a plan for us and his plan is ALWAYS better than our plans.

We started off today with an trip to Cracker Barrel. We came back to the hotel, changed and spent the next 6 hours on the beach. We have borrowed a canopy from a friend and it was awesome today. It was very easy to set up. We enjoyed lunch, snacks and naps under it. The ocean was calm and both the little girls LOVED jumping, slapping, and even karate chopping the waves. The temperate was lower today and at one point Lily complained of being cold in the ocean. We came in, eat and decided to go on a shopping trip. We purchased the little kids some new shirts, a new chair to replace the one that broke today. Our plan was to go to the pools this evening but the water were too cool for our likening so after less than half an hour, we came upstairs. The kids were in bed. How did Matt and I spend the next 2 hours of our vacation? working on coupons of course. I plan to explain this in detail in the next post!

Wordless Wednesday- Makeover Editiion

Posted on by
Reply

Matt made Zach a new bed. It matches the floor and looks really cool with new wall color.

No more pink and purple walls for him!
After finishing Zach’s room I wanted to make some changes to the playroom. The shelves were previously in the building holding alot of work items for me. So with a coat of paint they look AWESOME. The baskets, I purchased several years ago to use in the playroom but had never really got them placed.


I am so pleased with the way both the rooms seem larger and more useful. Total cost including paint and the material for Zach’s bed around $75. Otherwise we just used what we had!

June in Review

Posted on by
Reply
Yes, I realize it is July 4th. But Kendall’s birthday occurred on the first and I wanted her to have a day of post all alone!

Blogging: 7 post for the month. This seems to be closed to where I am staying for the year. I am okay with that but want to get more in the swing of things and at least post “Wordless Wednesdays” and Coupon Blessing on a regular basis. I should be ahead of the time this month with 4 post in 4 day, so thankful for the holiday. The goal is 15.

Devotions:This seems to be hit or miss. Our Pastor is currently preaching out of the book of Deuteronomy. He requested that we read the book along with him. I am trying to use that as at least one of my devotions. I am suppose to ready Chapter 5 today. I also need to get ready for next quiz year so that should encourage me as well. Goal: 3 per week.

Couponing/Grocery Budgeting: I did not stay “way under for the month of June” but instead ended up at $879 for the month. Harris Teeter has ran both a Super Doubles and a Triples event in the month so that at least explains the overage. I definitely do have a stockpile now. One thing that should make a nice impact on this year is the fact that Matt and I are making a menu plan for the week. This allows us to know and use the items we already have as well as helps Matt not have to rush around and “figure” out what to fix for dinner. The most exciting development in this area is that yesterday (Sunday) we were able to provide a couple at church with a “blessing” from our stockpile. I estimate the value to be about $100. I have also been able provide toiletries to my parents. It feels so awesome to give stuff away! Our Grocery Budget is set at $800 per month, this includes diapers, cleaning supplies, food and toiletries.


Financially: We were able to pay off one small credit card this month however due to expected income not arriving I did not place any money in savings or the auto fund. July will be a different month as well since we are going to the beach for 5 days. Goals in this area: Emergency fund of $1000, car fund equal to a payment of $300 each month and by January- debt free except for mortgage.

Weight– Have not even stepped on the scale. This will become a propriety in the next couple of months maybe?

Coupon Blessing 7/3

Posted on by
Reply

These items are good deals (free or cheap) that can be used for personal use or donated. This week, the deals require two transactions in order to reduce out of pocket expenses.
CVS Pharmacy

Transaction 1-Oral B Advantage or Cross Action Toothbrush $3
Use $2 off coupon from Proctor & Gamble circular and purchase one. You will pay $1 plus tax out of pocket and earn $1 in ECB for this.

Transaction 2- (2) VO5 Shampoo or Conditioner for $0.82 each
Use the 1 ECB from the first transaction to pay less than $1 for two containers.

You will have spent less than $2.50 on all 3 items.

Another EXCELLENT deal this week is Coke Product for 0.69 each. There is a limit of 5 per transaction/day. These are not tracked on your card but you must present your card to get the price. I am planning on stocking up this week so I will be make a trip each day for 5 bottles!

Kendall’s Birthday Celebration

Posted on by
Reply

Birthday are a big deal around here, thanks to Haley! Kendall is a little different, one of the reason is that there are really no little girls her age at church and so that makes it kinda difficulty to plan a real birthday party. So this year, I wanted to try something different. We actually did have a small party last night with family (pictures to follow). In order to make Kendall’s birthday extra special, we planned a trip to the mall and toy story.

I had to work on Thursday morning but I arrived home around 11 and we headed to Pizza Hut for lunch. Next we went to Hanes Mall. The first stop was the carousel. Kendall actually asked for this the minute we got to the Mall. Next we stopped at the play area for about 20 minutes. Build a bear was the next stop of Kendall’s celebration. Kendall picked out a bear and named her “strawberry.” Zach ended up with a bear called “Chocolate chip” and Lily picked out a Rapezul outfit and shoes to match. Kendall LOVES this Bear and it has become a constant companion. The really cool thing about the bears is they actually are part of an ice cream promotion called “Blizzard Bears”. Both bears hold cups of ice cream and they smell like the flavor! Pictures were scheduled at JCPenny’s. Kendall is usually the most difficult one of the kids to get a good picture of but she did awesome for these. We ended up spending more than planned on pictures but these are the best ever pictures of Kendall so well worth it. After pictures it was off to ToysRus. When asked what she wanted for her birthday, the answer for the past month has been “a scooter.” So of course we had to go and find one. After finding the scooter, we decided to eat at a Chinese Restaurant before heading home.

The fun continues on Friday morning(actual birthday). I was able to spend most of the morning outside with watching the little ones playing with the scooter. The weather was perfect! Friday evening our small party was our family, Amanda’s current boyfriend, Pawpaw, Granny, Sandy and Lucy! Kendall received a crying baby, a barking dog, a hopping ball and all the attention a three year old needs!

Coupon Blessing 6/19/2011

Posted on by
Reply

These items are good deals (free or cheap) that can be used for personal use or donated. This week, the deals require two transactions in order to reduce out of pocket expenses. IF you have Extra Care Bucks (ECB) from last week, it will greatly reduce your out of pocket for the week.

CVS Pharmacy

Transaction 1-Hershey’s Bliss 8.6 oz for $5.99
Use $1 off coupon from May 1st Smart Source and purchase one pack (limit is one). If you have your ECB from last week you will pay $0.99 plus tax. Otherwise your out of pocket in NC is $5.45 and you earn 5.99 in ECBs.

Transaction 2- (2) Pantene Pro-V Shampoo, Conditioner or Styler 5.7- 12.6 pz fpr $3.49 each plus (1) Dep Or LA Looks All gels (20) oz for $2.99 each.
Use $3 off when you buy 2 Pantene products from 6/19 Smart Source plus $1 off L.A. Looks product from the 5/15 Smart Source plus $5.99 ECB from Transaction number 1 to pay tax only. I did this earlier today and my tax was $0.77. You will earn $4 in ECB from this transaction. These items make EXCELLENT Donations!!!

Even if you don’t have ECB from last week you still have spent with tax less than $7 and have 4 ECB to spend next week or on something else you need.

After doing these transactions if you have another $3 off coupon for the Pantene you may also purchase 2 more items, using the 4 ECB from Transaction number 3 pay less than $1 including tax and have additional items to start a stockpile with!

Paid to shop at Harris Teeter

Posted on by
Reply

A couple of weeks ago, Harris Teeter sent me a notice that one of the stores in Winston-Salem was beginning “Express Lane” services. Basically, this is where you place your order online, drive up push a button and they bring the order out to your car. To entice me to try this new service, they gave me a $10 off $50 and are negating the service fee of $4.95. After some investigation into how they would honor coupons, I decided to try it send we were already going to be in Winston anyway. Coupons work this way, when you pick up an order you hand over the coupons, they are held until you order again and then subtracted from that order total. I bought only items that were on sale and I had a coupon for. I ended having almost $18 of coupons. Today as I was starting to prepare for the “Super Doubles” event starting on Wednesday, I realized that there were several items on sale this week and others with coupons are a really good deal, so I decided to place a second “Express Lane” order today. My calculation had my total after subtracting last weeks coupons to under $2. I did receive a call while at the pool, that one of the items I ordered was out of stock and a second she did not realize it was coffee cream and not coffee. I was blown away when she brought our order to the car and handed me $5.59. Yes even my receipt says -$5.59. After checking it out on the way home, my conclusion is that either by choice or mistake, I was not charged for the three items that were initially missing from the order. I am pleased and excited to finally in the same week, save over 90% (CVS on Thursday) and be paid to show!!!

CVS Rocks this week!

Posted on by
Reply

I have been able to make 3 trips to CVS this week and each one leave me wanting to go back again! They have a few really good deals this week.

First was my trip on Sunday, Orbit gum is on buy one get on sale this week, I combined it with a coupon for 1.00/2 and brought home 10 packs of free gum. I was also able to get some free deodorant by combining a regular coupon with a store coupon. My favorite deal of the week is 2 Liter Diet Coke for $0.79! I ended up spending $4.35 and saving 26.83 or 72%.

For my second trip, I took Haley along and was VERY disappointed to find the store out of Diet Coke. We each got rain checks for these. We did purchase the free razor deal and I was able to use a rain check for Allegra.

On Thursday after taking Haley to the Doctor, we decided to check out the Salisbury CVS. I will say the girl behind the counter was rude but it was still an awesome trip. For this trip I combined coupons that I found hanging several weeks ago on Cokes and a regular paper coupon for Pringles. I was also able to use a rain check for the Pro Health Mouth Rinse that I missed 2 weeks ago. We purchased 2 L of Crest Pro Health, 10 2-liter Sodas and 7 cans of Pringles for $5.30 and saved $51.21.

This was an awesome week of shopping at CVS. I may go once more to stock up on the 2-liters if I can find a space to store them!