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Shopping trips again... Sorry so boring

hyacinthgirl — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 09:17:02 GMT

Things have still been so crazy around here I only have a few minutes to document this week's shopping. Have some auctions and rebates on their way to replenish a little :) So don't get too scared for me, yet, haha.

Walgreens:
Tonight I got:
6 Jars Skippy
2 Jars Ragu
9 Fructis Styling Products
11 Fructis Shampoos & Conditioners
12 Biofusion Conditioner
4 Biofusion Shampoo
4 L'Oreal Preference Dream Blonde Haircolor
7 12-packs Pepsi Products
3 Scunci hair Elastics
2 Boxes Flavor-Ice
4 60-ct Flintstone's Gummies
8 Sunsilk Styling Products

Total OOP: $18.71
Total Savings: $293.34

Smiths (my stock up on chips trip):
3 cans Hormel Turkey Chili w/ Beans
2 cans Pillsbury Crescent rolls
2 gallons 2% Milk
4 Johnson's Buddy Bars
23 bags Quaker Quakes
4 bags Lays potato chips
1 bag Chex Mix
2 bags Cheetos

Total OOP: $13.46
Total Savings: $71.44 (84%)

Albertsons (My yay double Qs trip):
16 pouches Betty Crocker instant potatoes
10 Pillsbury Toaster Strudels
12 Albertson's Biscuits (the canisters of dough)
3 Totino's Pizza Rolls
6 McCormick Seasoning Blends
2 Boxes Celestial Seasonings Tea

Total OOP: $18.94
Total Savings: $60.68

So that's that. I feel like I'm shopping A LOT right now, but I think that it's kinda how it goes... a few weeks go by where I need to go a bunch, then we can sit back for a couple of weeks, then I go again, etc.

I'm also planning on running some reverse auctions and so on and "paying" with some of my stockpiled stuff... That will help a bunch.

This is SO MUCH FUN for me though... it's going to be a challenge and NOT simple, and that's what I like about it.

Budget Remaining for 2009: $944.40

Such Grocery Shopping

hyacinthgirl — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 08:49:52 GMT

(Cross-posted @ http://boysonabudget.blogspot.com/ )

Okay. Finally went to Smiths and Albertsons, and I'm going to write up my KMart stuff from the other night. I'm really tired tonight and sick, and all three of my kids are sick, and Anthony has to work at six a.m. so he's been in bed since eight (my husband usually works at like 7 PM not AM so this is crazy for us)... all in all, I'm ready for bed!

So I'm gonna make these short n sweet. :)

Albertsons:
Spent $21.40, Saved $39.12

Smiths:
Spent $58.72, Saved $66.44

So $80.12 on groceries tonight. Roughly $30 of that was on meat that was on sale (I got just over 12lbs of beef and 2lbs of pork) that should last us a few months. I am thinking I will go back and get some of the Roast @ Smiths ground up... it's $1.99/lb and it's really nice looking, and we could use some ground beef too. Got some rainchecks at Albertsons for some stuff and if I can find the right coupons, I will actually MAKE money buying Chex Mix bars and Yoplait. :)

Also bought some Dannon Activia bc it has a TMF (Try Me Free) guarantee, up to $12! We'll see how much I get back... I'm hoping it will be $11.94 because that's what my pre-coupon price for the yogurts was, but it could be as low as $0.98 (what I paid for 1 pack of yogurt post-Q).

KMart:
Spent $2.80 in one transaction, $0.11 in the other. Saved $108.65.

Just bc it's so fun to look at all the stuff I got for under $3, here's what I got at KMart (between both transactions):
6x 6.5qt Rubbermaid latch boxes
2x St. Ives Apricot Scrub
3x Clean & Clear Oil Absorbing Sheets
4x ACT Mouthwash
10x Johnson's Buddy Bars
6x Visine
1x Pantene
2x Pledge Dust Wipes
5x Glade Scented Oil Candle refills
2x Juicy Juice 8pk boxes
1x Starburst Gummies <-- this is why you don't shop with kids! These darn things cost me $0.89 and only bought about five minutes of peace...

In Sum: KMart is awful, KMart doubles are awesome.

Oh, and I ADDED to my budget recently through some auctions:
$11 in auction proceeds will be added back in.

I am planning on running auctions for spare Qs and stockpile a lot, so that should help me pad the grocery coffers a bit. If it comes down to it and we run low I'm gonna just suck it up and eat those canned peas we have in the pantry... I don't know why we ever even bought them but they're good forever. I'm convinced this month I have spent a lot because I was stocking up on some things. We'll see-- God willing I won't be broke and eating canned peas in December.

Oh, and Jeremiah is getting put into "big boy underpants" tomorrow. He's GOING to get potty trained somehow... Pull-ups will kill us. If I can return the ones we most recently bought it will throw another $20 back into our budget--- and that's a lot of food!

Budget remaining for 2009: $995.51

Groceries Et Cetera

hyacinthgirl — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 06:44:12 GMT

(Cross-posted at http://boysonabudget.blogspot.com/ )

I need to go grocery shopping in the worst way. I'm not sure how I can have SO MUCH FOOD in this house but not have anything to eat. There is a lot I could throw together actually, but I am out of some of the basics like bread & eggs, and I want to pick up some more pork & beef for Crock Pot meals... Lately I'm addicted to the slow cooker. It has made cooking dinner pretty simple and yummy. Yesterday I went to allrecipes and found a bunch more ideas for things to make in it other than just throwing in some meat & veggies. I'm pretty certain Anthony will try them and possibly even like them!

When I shop this week (hopefully tomorrow or Sunday), will be getting a bunch of General Mills products @ Albertson's. They're having a "Crazy Eights" sale and many GM products are $1.88ea. Plus, when you buy 10 participating products, you'll get a gallon of milk, a loaf of bread, and a dozen eggs FREE! The bread is on sale for $0.88/loaf so I will probably do the GM deal twice and still get a couple more loaves to stick in the freezer. Also have to go to Smith's. Hopefully my Quaker $1/1 coupons come quickly (I bought some off eBay with a Christmas Gift Card) and I can pick up a bunch of FREE Quakes. They're sooooo good and 10/$10 this week. Also, going to buy some diapers @ Smith's... Huggies are on sale for $8.99 a pack and I think I can get them for closer to $5/pack.

Here's the math on that:
2 Packs $8.99ea = $17.98
2x $1.50/1 from 1/11 inserts = $14.98
1x $3/2 from cellfire = $11.98
1x $1.50/1 from ShortCuts = $10.48
$10.48/2 = $5.24 per pack... not too bad :)

Plus there's a $0.75 rebate on each pack from Caregivers, so my final cost on those packs will be $4.49. That's assuming all my online coupons come off, I hear that sometimes when you use them they don't come off. But then I just email the company and they put the cash credit on my account. Can only do that deal one time though, because the cellfire & ShortCuts Qs are one-time use. Since I still have 1/2 a giant Costco box of Huggies left, I can put off buying more ATM.

10/$10 sales make it so hard for me to not think about double coupons. I look at all my $0.50/1s and think "Ugh, this could be free!" When Albertson's doubled for a couple months at the end of 2008 it was just enough to get me a taste and now I am missing it sorely. Please take full advantage of your double/triple coupons for me if you can.

I have a couple more KMart Transactions to add (including my new personal low of $0.11 OOP) but I'm going to wait to see if I can get out tomorrow... Cross your fingers and think of piles of Gillette Bodywash being stocked for me... This will be the SECOND TIME I got Qs that I couldn't use on them if I can't find some tomorrow!

KMart Super Doubles

hyacinthgirl — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 06:59:14 GMT

(Cross-posted @ http://boysonabudget.blogspot.com/ )

I promise when I have some time in between stockpiling I will write a couple of entries that aren't just transactions. :)

K-Mart in my area is currently doing "Super Doubles" where they double manufacturer coupons with a face value of up to $2. There are some limits listed in the ads but they are not enforced at every store, so YMMV with what you can and can't "get away with." I've been to 2 stores in the last 2 days and have done 4 transactions.

We picked up a couple of things for the house that I'm not counting towards the budget. However, here's what I am counting and how much OOP is coming out of the budget. For these I listed how much each cost me after using a doubled coupon. When I can remember (I don't have the items right now and receipts give no sizes) I have listed sizes of the item. Nothing I purchased was a trial size.

K-Mart:
4 cans Endust (10oz) - free
9 bottles Visine - free
4 bottles Johnson's Baby Shampoo - free
3 blocks Velveeta (16oz) - $1.50ea
7 bottles FUZE drink - free
3 6.5Qt Rubbermaid latch containers - $0.19ea
15 L'Oreal Kissable Lipcolor -free
4 bottles ACT mouthwash (18oz) - free
4 bottles ACT mouthwash w/ bonus travel-size bottle (18oz) - free
3 boxes Kleenex with Lotion - $0.54ea
2 boxes Slim-Fast (6pk) - $2.50ea
2 packages Pull-Ups - $5.99ea
5 packages Juicy-Juice boxes (8ct) - $0.50ea
4 packages Juicy-Juice boxes (8ct) - $1.00ea (used 2 different kinds of Qs on these)
1 Coffeemate liquid (15oz) - $0.29
7 AirWick Luminair Starter Kits - -$0.01 (a one cent overage on each)
1 Gillette Bodywash - free
2 Revlon nail clippers - free
1 Revlon tweezers - free
9 bottles American Fare aspirin - free
2 packs Huggies wipes (40ct) - free
2 Aveeno lotions - free

OOP $26.08 (Savings $340.83)

Also had to do some grocery shopping *GASP* WITHOUT COUPONS... but I needed this stuff and couldn't find the Qs. Sigh.

Walmart Neighborhood Market:
Onion Powder
18-ct Eggs
10lb bag flour

OOP $7.26 (do you know how much I could get with $7 and coupons!?)

Albertsons:
21 boxes Quaker Oatmeal - $0.57 ea (used $1/1 Q and $3 instant savings WYB 7, they were 2/$4)
2 Half-Gallons Milk $0.97ea

OOP: $13.97 (savings $96.03)

Budget remaining 2009: $1067.43

Great WAGS trip, $200+ savings and "free" after paying w/ GC

hyacinthgirl — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 05:33:31 GMT

(Cross-posted @ http://boysonabudget.blogspot.com/ )

When you look at this trip, consider I paid full price for the can of formula... so that makes this a very good one IMO :D

Walgreens:
40 Reeses Whips bars $0.89 ea
1 can Enfamil w/ Lipil 12.9oz $13.99
4 bottles 60-ct Flintstones Gummies $5 ea
4 L'Oreal Lipgloss $2.19 ea
2 L'Oreal Foundations $3.19
1 L'Oreal Concealer Stick $2.59
3 L'Oreal Foundation Sticks $3.59
4 cans Progresso soup $1.25 ea
5 boxes 100-calorie Twix bars $2.50ea
2 Holiday Buckets $0.33

Used:
$1/2 Reeses
$1/1 Flintstones ManQ
$2/1 L'Oreal Lipcolor
$3/1 L'Oreal Makeup
$1.10/1 Progresso IP
$1/1 100-calorie bars ManQ
$1/2 100-calorie IVC
$1/1 Flintstone's Coloring book Q
2x $5 Wyeth RR
1x $10 Wyeth RR

Total $15.83, paid w/ ES GC + recieved $10 RR for vitamins
OOP $0.00 ($205.88)

Budget remains the same :D

GDA Oatmeal @ Albertsons

hyacinthgirl — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 08:24:08 GMT

(Cross-posted @ http://boysonabudget.blogspot.com/ )

Picked up a bunch of Quaker Instant Oatmeal at Albertson's tonight. My 3yo eats this for breakfast almost every day, 2 packets. 10 packets to a box, combined with Anthony and me eating some, too, means that we go through at least a box a week. So I'm NOT crazy buying this up at a good price :D

4 Transactions tonight:

T1:
7 Boxes Quaker Instant Oatmeal $14
5 Bags Iceberg Salad Mix $5
3 1/2 Gallons of Milk $2.91 ($0.97 ea)
2 Bottles French's Worcestershire Sauce $3.58
3 Cans Campbell's Cream of Chicken soup $3.57

Used:
7x $1/1 Quaker Oatmeal IP
2x FREE up to $1.69 French's
1x $0.30/3 Campbell's Cream Soups
$3 Instant Savings WYB 7 Quaker Products

OOP: $15.38 (Savings $44.52)

T2:
7 Boxes Quaker Instant Oatmeal $14

Used:
7x $1/1 Quaker Oatmeal IP
$3 Instant Savings WYB 7 Quaker Products

OOP: $4.00 (Savings $30.93)

I repeated T2 two more times, so total OOP $27.38 :)

Budget Remaining for 2009: $1163.74

No Doubles @ Grocery Store

hyacinthgirl — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:43:00 GMT

(Originally Posted 1/4/09 at: http://boysonabudget.blogspot.com/ )

Tiny setback for the budget-- no stores here in Albuquerque are doubling coupons anymore. Ughs. Think happy doubling thoughts for us here in the land of enchantment and hope they start up again soon!

I don't get it :( Every store in Phoenix does, including Albertson's, which is part of the "Southwest" region that I'm in... Why don't we double anymore? Boo.

First Shopping Trips 2009

hyacinthgirl — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:30:25 GMT

(Originally Posted 1/4/09 at: http://boysonabudget.blogspot.com/)

Walmart:
11 AirWick Luminair Candles $4.97ea
16 BeechNut Let's Grow Mini Meals $1.06ea
4 Boxes BeechNut Rice Cereal $1.42ea
1 Package Binder dividers $0.97 (charging this to budget bc it's for my coupon binder)

Used:
11 $5/1 Luminair Starter Kits
16 $1/1 BeechNut Let's Grow Product
4 $1/1 BeechNut Cereal

OOP: $8.88 (savings $75.00)

Walgreens:
4 Boxes Special K Red Berries (my favorite!) $2.50ea
2 Pints Ben and Jerry's $3ea
20 assorted Garnier Fructis styling products (we use a lot of hairspray and anti-frizzy stuff) $2.99ea
18 assorted Garnier Fructis shampoos and conditioners $2.99ea
1 Holiday pencil $0.06

Used:
4 $1/1 Kellogg's cereal
2 $3/1 Ben and Jerry's (making these FREE)
20 $1/1 Garnier Fructis styling product
17 $1/1 Garnier Fructis shampoo or conditioner product (I goofed & miscounted)
Walgreen's EasySaver Coupon: $2/1 Garnier Fructis product (took $2 off 38 times, giving $0.01 overage on each)

Total after Qs and Tax: $6.65
Paid with my EasySaver Gift Card, and because a Register Reward failed to print I was given a $3 Gift Card as well. Yay!

OOP: $0.00 (savings $169.33)

Budget remaining for 2009: $1191.12

Introduction and Guidelines

hyacinthgirl — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:28:40 GMT

I'm Kristen.

Wife to Anthony, mother to Jeremiah (12/05), Jacob (6/08) and Noah (6/08). I'm lucky that I get to stay home with my kids, and part of that job for me means trying to make our one income go as far as it can!

This blog is going to document my attempt to make it through 2009 on a $1200 budget. I was inspired to do this by Erin of JANE4girls $800 Annual Budget. In 2008 she successfully shopped for herself and her 3 daughters on a budget of $800 -- She even had $7 and change left at the end! I am grateful to her example and will be using a similar budget to hers as far as what I am including. My budget is larger mainly to account for the fact that as of 1/2/09 I have two 6-month-olds in diapers and my three year old son is potty training in Pull Ups. I figure the extra $400 should help me cover the extra costs that diapering will incur-- it amounts to an extra $33.33 per month.

There is a more detailed savings breakdown at http://boysonabudget.blogspot.com/ and that blog will also feature pictures and more updates.

My $1200 budget WILL INCLUDE:

* All food
* All health and beauty items (non-prescription medications, hair care, soap, toothpaste, makeup, etc.)
* All cleaning supplies (this includes air fresheners and other scented things like Glade candles)
* Eating out
* Any money I spend on acquiring coupons: eBay, trading supplies like stamps and envelopes, newspapers and magazine costs
* All non-clothing or non-prescription baby needs: diapers, food, bath supplies, if we have to purchase any formula

The budget WILL NOT INCLUDE:

* Clothing, gifts, car payments or repairs, mortgage payments, home repairs, monthly bills, gas, or coupons I trade for with Register Rewards or on-hand Gift Cards.

Any money I earn from rebates, surveys, promotions, auctions I run or "stockpile sales" will be added back into the yearly budget, so long as the items are related to the budget. For example, if I purchase a number of razors for cheap (or free!) and auction or sell them at a later date I will add that money back in.

I will be keeping my $1200 budget in a separate savings account. When I spend money on anything in the budget I will transfer money out of this savings account into my checking account to cover it.

My costs will be kept as low as possible through use of coupons, rebates, and store promotions like double coupons or Register Rewards. With some work and dedication I'm sure my family can do this :)