Not the most impressive trip. I am running a little low on coupons. Total here was right around $43.00 after tax. Notable about the picture is that the apples are organic, Evangeline's head is blocking a jar of applesauce, and I forgot to include a half dozen whole wheat bagels.

Instead of a second store this week, my mom picked up the few things that I needed. The rest of the $$$ went to 4 lbs of strawberries and a DiGiorno Cheese pizza. I went slightly over. Perhaps I should rename the blog buyonsaleandGrammywillpickupthedifference.

Blue Light Special

Today was a bargain extravaganza. I picked up two free toothpastes and a free shaving cream at CVS. Then, I hit K-Mart for their super sale. They are offering double coupons on all coupons $.75-$4.00 and triple coupons on all coupons $.74. The bad news is, I got late word on this. They were PICKED OVER. Even still, I ended up only spending $8.00 and change for ALL of this stuff today. That puts each item at under $.70. Not bad.

**Editing to add, I ran across my receipt, and I was actually just barely over $8.00 after tax. That puts me actually at about $.60 per item after tax. Even better than I thought!**

Rumor from my K-Mart checker is that they will be offering this sale again in MAY. AWESOME. I was seriously so peeved I hadn't been cutting ALL coupons. My theory is that even if a coupon is for something I normally wouldn't use, I'll try anything for free once. And, if we don't want it or need it, the food pantry does. So, I'll be hitting the coupons hard and be the first in line at K-Mart next time!

Hopelessly over budget

I just couldn't resist the Smart Ones. It is SO nice to not have to think about what I'm going to take for lunch every day. I went a little over budget because I got 3. It will buy me a few minutes of my evening back a few days this week. Worth every penny.

My total today was $28.78 after taxes. I saved 54% or $31.31. This does not include the rain check I had for the Wheat Thins. So, I really did just a little bit better. I think this is a pretty good figure considering the prepared chicken and cake. Plus, we all know it's hard to get ANY kind of a deal on milk!

The really good steal this week was the PB. They came to $.48 a piece after the sale and coupons. I've been buying PB at Sam's, but this even beat that cost. Also, I rocked the free stuff. The steam in bag veggies, Hawaiian rolls, Noodle Roni, chocolate cake and one bag of Quaker rice cakes were FREE!

Even though I decided taking an extra $50.00 for groceries for a holiday is still completely in integrity, the truth is that I didn't have $50.00 to squeak out of one of our other budgets. So, I'm getting creative. I cashed in my baby rewards at Hy-Vee for a $10.00 gift certificate. I got:

2 Philadelphia cracker cut spreads ($1.52 each)
2 Post Trail Mix Crunch cereals ($1.48 each)
2 Ronzoni Smart Taste spaghettis ($.59 each)
1 Charmin Basic toilet paper ($4.99)

I went slightly over, but the $2.00 gallon of chocolate milk was sold out and my Jimmy Dean Breakfast Skillet coupon was expired, so I had to move on to Plan C.

Tomorrow I'll spend $20.00 at a different store, and that will be it for the week.

Well, husband deleted my picture of my second shopping trip this week. I spent a little more than I intended, but as you will see, I hit the Hannah Montana motherload.

Peeps $1.09
2 Libbys corn $.48
1 Jet puff mini marshmallows $.78
1 Big Red 2 liter free
2 Kraft Zesty Italian dressings $.02 credit a piece
4 boxes of Wheat Thins $1.58
2 Philadelphia cream cheese $.99
2 dozen eggs about $.75 per dozen
1 Kraft cheddar brick $1.48 (I shouldn't have bought cheese on my last purchase. Detail error. : ( )
2 regular sized Kraft singles $1.48
Pillsbury frozen biscuits $1.77
Pillsbury frozen cinnamon rolls $2.50 (I had almost $2.00 in coupons between biscuits and cinn rolls also.)
1 big white onion $.29

AND, all of the Hannah Montana stuff was marked down to $2.00. I also had a bunch of $1.00 of various product coupons. I got 2 of my normal Herbal Essences Drama Clean shampoos with a Hannah Montana label, 4 Secret deoderants and 2 Hannah Montana Oil of Olay body washes. These all came to $1.00 a piece. I was SO GLAD I remembered to check that shelf with all of the "crap" they're trying to unload. I find the best deals there when I remember!

So, the total was $28.85. I saved 62% or $41.56. However, that number does not include the already marked down Hannah Montana items. I think I saved close to an additional $2.00 per item, which alots me about an extra $16.00 in savings. Counting that, I rocked it.

Special tip, there were THREE free after Extra Care bucks in the CVS add. 1 Softsoap scrub (there was a coupon for this in the paper last Sunday,) Colgate (limit 2.) Also, the Softsoap ensenbles has $4.00 cash back if you buy both the regular bottle and a refill. This has also had coupons printed and will be free when paired with a coupon (or close to free.) Buy these items and roll your Extra Care bucks to next week's free items. If these are not items you will use, please donate them to your local food pantry or shelter.

It occurred to me that I should share this frugal, easy recipe.

Key Lime Pie

1 small frozen limeade concentrate (6 oz)
1 can of Eagle Brand Milk
1 regular sized Cool Whip

Mix ingredients with whisk. Pour into pre-made graham cracker pie crust. Refrigerate.

This is a GOOD recipe. Everyone always loves it. The total cost for me came to less than $4.00 a pie.

Easter

I've been struggling with how to deal with Holidays on this $50.00 budget. I REALLY enjoying the cooking and eating part of Holidays, and we're usually having a decent sized get together with anywhere from 20-50 people. Obviously, I need to be able to pull my weight of the food preparation, and we STILL have to eat for the rest of the week. Plus, I usually have to commit to what I'm bringing before I can see the sale ads! Usually I can kind of guess on some good, affordable recipes. For Thanksgiving, I think I allowed an extra $50.00. Can't remember what I did for Christmas, and for Evangeline's birthday, I think I just ended up spending like an extra $30.00. Not bad for 50 guests! I ended up spending just over $50.00 last night at one store. (I had a $3.00 credit from last week, so I was right on track.) BUT, I forgot cream cheese (a necessity,) and I have a few freebies and cheapies I was intending to get somewhere else. I think I'm just going to do $50.00 + whatever small amount I spend on my second trip tonight. I know that's not sticking to any kind of hard fast rule, but this is my project. I make (or bend) the rules as needed, I guess!

And, for the record, my part of the Easter meal is two key lime pies, strawberries with cream cheese dip and broccoli salad with homemade red wine vinegar dressing.

So, I didn't take a picture of my stuff from yesterday. It was TOO MUCH STUFF to organize. Instead, this is a list of what I got...

1 big bag of Twizzlers - $1.00
3 Roberts half gallon OJs - $.99 (except I guess the limit was 2 because one cost $2.25. BOOO!)
1 Birdseye Steamfresh - $.53
2 Cool Whips - $.99 each
1 can of Minute Maid limeade concentrate $1.38
Eagle Brand Milk $2.35
Lays Wavy Rach $1.67
2 cans of generic kidney beans $.77
1 can of generic pinto beans $.68
1 can of generic corn $.50
2 Keebler graham cracker crusts $1.50 each
1 wide mouth jar of Kraft mayo $2.49 (I had a coupon on top of this, but I can't remember how much it was for)
1 big bag of Mama Lupe's tostadas $1.89
1 Glaceau Vitamin water - free
1 box of family sized El Monterrey chimichangas $1.50
2 Oscar Meyer honey ham slices $2.00 each
1 box of State Fair corndogs $2.00
2 bags of Kraft all natural mild cheddar $1.88 each (less a $1.00 coupon)
1 8oz brick of Kraft mild cheddar $1.88
About 3.5 lbs of broccoli $5.00 (wish I could have gotten a better deal on this!)
2.38 lbs of Pink Lady apples$2.36
8 lbs of strawberries $9.02 (Mom and I were just saying we wondered if we would be able to get strawberries at $.99 ever again. I said in-season I bet we could. This came close though!)

Total after taxes was $55.99. Overall, it was an ok trip. The holiday foods like the condensed milk and ghe broccoli were WAY too much, but I'll get over it. ; )

Best Savings Yet...

This is a pretty good picture, so I'm not going to really break everything down. (The only thing that is kind of hiding is a 2 litre of Dr. Pepper.) I spent $20.49 after a 7.5% food tax. The savings was $41.23 before tax, and I will also receive a Upromise credit of $1.00 and some change. Total savings was 70% and a little more with the Upromise savings. I guess I'm raising the standard!

Why buy consignment?

Ok, I understand why people buy consignment. There ARE deals to be found, but I just generally am unimpressed when I browse through a consignment shop. The quality of the clothes was usually sub-par to begin with, then you add some wear and tear in to the mix, and charge a fittingly mediocre price. What's the point? I'd rather have something brand new for basically the same price. That way I know it will hold up long enough for both girls to wear it, and, hopefully, I might even still be able to make some money on the back end selling name brand clothes on Craig's List. (BTW, I've consigned clothes ONCE and thought it was the biggest rip off in history.)

Anyway, this is what I picked up at Gymboree today. I had to split it in two to pictures, but it's a good mix of layerable winter wear, church dresses, nice Spring clothes AND a winter coat. My total was right around $125.00 after tax for 16 pieces. This is just under $8.00 a piece. A total steal per item, if you ask me. I didn't have time to total up the retail value, but I can tell you that a full priced $125.00 purchase would have only bought me the winter coat, red sweater, striped turtleneck and zebra dress. So, virtually everything else was "free."

And, the best part was that I got $50.00 in Gymbucks. So, I'll get to go back and "steal" some more clothes.

Wonder Bread Outlet

I had a coupon for a free box of Hostess 10 count goodies, so I finally checked it out. It was like anything else, you have to pay attention to the prices. A lot of things were just kind of "normal" sale prices, but bread and buns were DEFINITELY priced well. I spent $5.75 (after a 7.5% tax) and got two loaves of Wonder bread 100% whole wheat, 1 box of Knotts Apricot shortbread cookies and 1 box of 12 Vanilla Zingers. My mom got 2 loaves of Sunmaid raisin bread (these were a great deal,) 1 package of sandwich buns and a 12 count box of Ding Dongs for just over $6.00. We decided that it's worth the trip to stock up on bread on a quarterly basis or so -- especially when you can treat yourself to a box of junk!