Quaker and the Beach

Jackson had a birthday party to go to a coupon of Saturdays ago, so I took the other kids to the grocery store to stock up on Quaker products. There was a store coupon for $3 off 5 products. I bought more than five and used coupons on everything except the Life cereal.
Life: $2-$0.37 ($3 off 8)=$1.63
Syrup: $2.50-$0.50 coupon-$0.37=$1.63
Quaker oats: $2.50-$0.62 ($1.25/2 coupon)-$0.37)=$1.51
Granola bars: $2 each-$0.75/2 coupon-$0.38=$1.25 each
Instant oatmeal: $2.50-$0.63 ($1.25/2 coupon)-$0.38=$1.49
Pancake mix: $2-$0.50-$0.38=$1.12
Simple Harvest instant oatmeal: $2.50-$1 coupon-$0.38=$1.12

We went to the beach after the grocery store. Yes, the kids got their pants wet and rode home in their undies/diaper:

Only a Few Grocery Deals

It wasn't a great week for grocery shopping last week, but it had been almost 3 weeks since I had done a major grocery shop. I saved 28%, or $62.66.
I got more Fisher sunflower seeds for $1.29-$1 coupon=$0.29
Tone's garlic powder: $0.99-$1 coupon (adjusted down to $0.99)= FREE
Propel water: 5 free when you buy 10 Gatorade. Since Barry quit drinking pop, he needs something to replace it
Nestle chocolate chips: 2/$3, used $1/2 coupon=$1 each
Old Dutch pretzel sticks: $2.69, buy 1 get 1 free store coupon=$1.35 each
Ortega taco seasoning: $0.75 each-$0.75/2=$0.37 each
Ortega green chiles: $1 each-$0.75/2=$0.62 each
Land O Frost deli meat: $2 each-$0.55 coupon=$1.45 each
I bought a lot of produce, which cut down on the amount saved:
Grape tomatoes
Red onion
Salad mix
Butternut squash
4 pack of baby bell peppers
Celery
Avocados
Pears
Oranges
Cucumber
Apples
Bananas
Yukon Gold potatoes

School Papers

Kids come home with so many papers from school, especially in the younger elementary grades, that if I don't take care of them right away they end up in piles everywhere. Here's what I do to try to stay on top of them:
I have a folder for Raina's school work. I look through the papers and then put them in the folder. I put one month on one side and the next month on the other side. When the third month comes around, I empty out month 1 and recycle the papers (or keep a few if they're "special").
Weekly newsletters, notices from school about upcoming events or papers that need to be signed go on the fridge. I have a clip for each kid and go through these once a week. I also put the lunch menu here. Papers I no longer need either get recycled (if they are printed on both sides) or used as scratch paper (if the back is blank).

Nine Months

My, how time flies! Ollie is nine months old today. He's become quite the little explorer, crawling to all parts of the house to see what he can find. His top two teeth are just starting to poke through. Soon there will be no more gummy smile :( He's a very happy boy most of the time, and a lot of fun.

New Look

I gave my blog a new look last night. I'm not sure if I like all the color combinations yet, but now that I know how easy it is, I'll probably be changing it more often.

Morning Walk

After I get Jackson and Raina off to school in the morning, I load up the little boys in the double stroller for our morning walk. Remy always likes to take stuff with him, like a football or baseball to hold on to, and he wears his Boston Red Sox hat and safety glasses. Ollie just sits quietly.

Kashi, Candles and Candy

We took a quick trip to Duluth/Superior earlier this week and stopped at Target.

This week you get a $5 Target gift card when you buy five Kashi products. Cereal is $2.88 and crackers are $2.54 each, so without coupons you'd pay $1.88 for each box of cereal and $1.54 for the crackers. Regular price for the cereal at the grocery store is over $3. I used 5-$1 coupons, bringing the price down to $0.88/$0.54 each.

Glade candle tins are $1.66. There are $1.50 coupons inside the tins, making them $0.16 each. I also had coupons for a free refill when you buy any holder. The refills are regularly $2.50.

I bought seven Reese's peanut butter cups, used five $0.55 coupons and one buy 1 get 1 free coupon. Regular price is $0.64, so I paid $1.09 for all, or $0.16 each.

I also bought two packs of Schick razors, regular price $5.99, used $1 Target coupon and $3 manufacturer coupon, paid $1.99 each.

Then and Now

Look how the kids have changed in only a year!

First Day of School

Jackson and Raina both started school today. Both of them were excited and only a little bit nervous.

Jackson, 5th grade

Raina, Kindergarten

Ready for school

Made it to the bus stop

Waiting for the bus

Getting on the bus

More Garden Produce

We ate some peas from our garden. The kids love them plain/raw. The purple beans, we were surprised to find out, turn dark green when cooked.

This Week's Groceries and Deals

On our exciting Labor Day, we did some grocery shopping. I saved 38%, or $96.49, shopping sales and using coupons. Some highlights:

Lipton tea bags: FREE with coupon
Earthbound Farms celery: $0.88, used $1 coupon=FREE plus $0.12 overage

Del Monte ketchup: $0.88-$0.50 coupon=$0.38
Fraceso Rinaldi pasta sauce: $0.97 each

Special K cereal: 4/$12, used two $1/2 coupons, got free gallon of milk with store coupon. We would have bought the milk anyway, so it's like the cereal was 4/$6.80, or $1.70 each

Wacky Mac pasta: $1.29, used buy 1 get 1 free coupon=$0.65 each
Gerber jarred baby food: 2/$1, used $0.75/4 coupon=$0.31 each
Fisher sunflower seeds: $1.29-$1 coupon=$0.29
Ragu Organic pasta sauce: $3.39, used buy 1 get 1 free store coupon and $1/2 manufacturer coupon=$1.20 each

Pamida has double coupons this week, so I got these three things for only $1:
Degree was free, Suave was free, Extra was $1 after the double coupons.


Barry also found an electric pump on clearance for $9.99. Great for pumping up air mattresses and pool toys without worrying about stocking batteries.

Recent Mail

I've been getting some interesting samples in the mail lately. Fiber One sent cereal and a Fiber One bar (that was eaten before the picture was taken) along with coupons. Pop Tarts sent a sample of the new Blueberry Muffin flavor and two $0.55 coupons. Metameucil sent samples of the Clear variety and the Pink Lemonade flavor and a coupon for the pink lemonade. I also got a sheet of coupons for Farmland products--2 for $1, 2 for $0.75 and 2 for $0.50.

Garden Harvest

We finally picked some veggies from our garden: a handful of green and purple beans and two carrots.

Walgreens and Target

Walgreens has several great Register Reward deals this week. I paid in five transactions to maximize the RR's.

Transaction 1:
Rembrandt toothpaste--$5, get $5 RR

Transaction 2:
Two bags of M & M's for $5, used $5 RR from #1, paid $0.37 tax, got $1 RR

Transaction 3:
Scunci elastic hair bands, $0.99
Carefree pantiliners, $1.99, used $1 coupon, got $2 RR
Men's Zone razor, $3.99, got $4 RR
Used $1 RR from #2, paid $5.34

Transaction 4:
Colgate toothbrush, $2.99, used $0.40 coupon, got $3 RR
Box of 100 envelopes, $0.59
Used $2 RR from #3, paid $1.44

Transaction 5:
Walgreens lip balm, $0.99
One caramel, $0.35
Huggies, $8.99, used $1.50 coupon
Used $4 RR from #3 and $3 RR from #4, paid $1.93

Total paid: $13.91 for $45.18 retail price, a 69% savings.

Target:Has Schick razors on sale for $6.99. Use a $4 Target coupon from this weeks coupon insert and a $4 manufacturer's coupon from last week's coupon insert, and get about $1 overage on these. Some stores don't give overage, but they should adjust the coupon making the razors free.

Last Week's Groceries

Super One didn't have great sales last week, but I did find a few good deals. I saved 37%, or $86.24 with sales and coupons and stocked up on some school snacks.
Kemp's Singles ice cream: 10/$10, used two buy 1 get 1 free coupons=$0.50 each


Jack's Links Flamin' Buffalo chicken nuggets: FREE coupon (I looked for these in the freezer section, didn't find them, then happened to see them in the checkout lane, as they're dried like jerky, not frozen)


Cottonelle 4 packs: 10/$10, bought 6, used 2 $1/2 coupons and 1 $0.50/2 coupon=6/$3.50 or about $0.15 per roll. (A 24 pack or double 12 pack on sale for $6 would be $0.25/roll)


Dairy: All $0.97 each; Dean's sour cream, shredded cheese and block cheese