Welcome new readers!

Hi everyone! If you saw me in the newspaper today...Welcome! I am just your average mom trying to save a few bucks on groceries that I have to buy anyways. Stop back and browse around. I try to include tips and sale alerts for stores that are local to Portage. If you ever have any comments or questions, please feel free to leave me a comment on this website.

I have received a couple questions already today that I would like to address.

1. Where do you get your coupons? I get the weekend newspapers for the bulk of my coupons. My neighbor, a friend and my dad also save their inserts for me too. I also print coupons online. Look to the section on this site that lists the websites I follow. That is where I find most of the links to print coupons online. I also just started getting the "All You" magazine which contains many coupons in each issue.

2. Can you use more than one coupon per item? Typically no, you can only use one coupon per item purchased. There are a couple exceptions to the rule. If the store has their own "in store" coupon, you can usually 'stack' it with a manufacture coupon to maximize savings. For example: if you buy Ritz crackers at Pierce's and use a $1 manufacture coupon (MQ), plus you have a 25 cent Pierce's coupon from a previous visit to the store you can use them both.

That is all the questions I've had so far and I hope I've answered them for you. I am open to suggestions to make this a website/blog for all to use and benefit from. If you have any ideas, or would like a certain area covered, let me know and I'll do my best! I will warn you that there will be typos and mistakes, after all I am human and a busy human at that.

Welcome aboard!

Pay It Forward Update

I want to thank everyone that voted for me in the Pay it Forward Challenge sponsored by Summit Credit Union. (click here to see my video)

Unfortunately, I did not win. Either way, it was a great experience and I was blown away by the amount of groceries and toiletries that I was able to donate to the Portage Food Pantry. I was so proud of my kids for their understanding and helping me get everything collected and organized. The most important part of completing this challenge was being able to help others in my community.

I'd like to encourage all of you to find a way to give back to your community. Buy one extra food item to donate each shopping trip, help a neighbor, or volunteer for an organization. It can be different for each person, but we make the world a better place when we get involved.

Have a great day everyone!

My Walgreen's deals for the week

Wow, that's a lot of food for a Walgreen's run. There were good deals to be had so here is the breakdown:

• 12 boxes Velveeta shells/cheese 3/$5, used 6 $1.50/2 IP (got a $5 RR for buying these which made the per item cost $0.50 each!)
• 2 Pringles sale 0.99 each, $1/2 MQ
• Ritz crackers $2, used MQ to get 1 box Wheat thins free when you buy ritz
• 2 Folgers coffee $4.49 with ad coupon, 0.25 MQ each
• 3 Kellogg's cereal $1.99 each, $1 MQ for each.
• Popcorn 0.39 (filler item)

My 'before' total was $49 and change. After coupons and register rewards I paid $20.54 and got a $5 register rewards back! My coupon savings was $55.92. Sorry the picture isn't so good. I'm still trying to find the best place to take these pictures!

Kmart doubles?

Hey all! I read on a blog yesterday that Kmart will be starting double coupons on Sunday. I don't have confirmation yet if the Portage Kmart is included, but I'll let you know as soon as I find out! Start thinking about it!

Weekend shopping

I made two separate trips this week to take advantage of some deals, and use a few expiring coupons. The above trip is from Walmart. Here's the breakdown:

• 2 Mini Wheat cereal $2.33, $1 MQ each
• 2 Quaker granola bars $2 each, $1 MQ
• 1 Stuffing mix $1
• 2 box Fruit bars $1.98 each
• 2 Knorr Rice sides $1.18 each, 0.75 MQ
• Apples $3.21, $2 MQ when you buy 2 Kelloggs cereal
• 1 doz eggs $1
• Country Crock butter $1.62, 0.50 MQ
• 2 8th continent soymilk $2.38, $2 IP each
• 2 Juicy juice bottles $2.38 each, $1/2 IP
• pair of swimming goggles $2

My subtotal was $37.01, but after coupons I paid $25.62. That is a savings of $11.39. I know the swimming goggles don't count as food, but we were in need of another pair around here

Here is my trip to Pierce's, where I was not real impressed with their sale this week. I was able to find a few things to buy.

• 2 Old Orchard juice $1.50 each, $1/2 IP
• 2 Surefine baked beans $0.88
• Frosted Flakes $2.58 each, $1 MQ on each
• 2 Hefty trash bags $2.83 each, $1 MQ each
• Bananas 0.97
• peaches 1.48/lb $2.86, $2 off produce MQ when you buy 2 Kellogg's
• Tomato 1.29/lb $2.12
• 2 bags Dole Lettuce 0.99 each
• 3 packs of Hormel pork chops $1.50, $2.86, $3.21; $1 MQ on each
• 3 Bagels Forever $1.15 each
• Sour cream $1.50
• Milk gallon $1.68

My total out of pocket was $27.94 with a coupon/sale savings of $32.43! Once again, I save more than I spent. Yippee!

I did make one more run to Kwik Trip to buy some more bread before the sale ends. Each loaf of bread and/or bag of buns is only 0.79! I bought 5 more for a total of $3.85

My overall grocery spending for the week stands at $57.41, well below my budget of $70 for the week. We got a refund check in the mail for our cable so we decided to also go strawberry picking yesterday. Our total there was $17 for approx 12 pounds of berries. They are all cut up and in the freezer to enjoy all winter long!

On a personal note, we had a glimpse today of what feeding 3 boys might look like when they are bigger. Hubby made french toast for dinner tonight (his specialty) and here was the breakdown:

1. Sam: 4 pieces
2. Andrew: 5 pieces
3. Nathan: 4 pieces

Keep in mind these kids are all age 5 and under! They usually are pretty light eaters, but again this was a glimpse at the teenage years to come!

Second run to Pierce's

Just call me the Koolaid queen I guess. Did you all see the coupon this past weekend? Buy 10 packs of Koolaid and get $2 off any sugar? Yeah, I found a few of those.

• 170 packs of Koolaid 9/0.99 (a very good sale price)
• 17 bags of sugar $1.68 each, free after MQ
• 3 Fisher cheese curls $0.98 each, $1 MQ
• 1 Fisher Fusions $2.19, $1 MQ
• 1 M &M 0.73, free after MQ
• 1 Cascade rinse agent $3.23, free after coupon from mailer

My total out of pocket was only $15.70 after all the coupons. My total savings of coupons and sales was $79.36. I even got the 'overage' on the sugar applied to my total of the groceries. And yes, we won't need Koolaid or sugar for a very long time. Since we went to a 'soda free' house about 4 months ago, the hubby likes to drink koolaid instead. This way, I'll have plenty on hand!

Walmart 6-23-09

I haven't been to Walmart in quite awhile, so I thought I'd head over to see what they had. Then I remembered that I needed printer ink soon.

• Peanuts $1.38
• 2 Fibercon $2.12 each, $2 MQ that I found at Walgreen's today
• Printer ink $15.97

Total was $18.70, bt saved $4 at least. It's something! Wishing I had bought a laser printer......