Publix trip 4/25

I had a pretty good publix trip this week, not too much on sale that I usually buy but did fine a few good deals.
organic Casdadian Farns frozen fruits $1.99 x3 = 5.97- $2 publix coupon=3.97
B1G1 Dole Salad Blend 3.59 -2/.55 Source coupons =2.49 or 1.25 each

These were the main deals that I was there for along with my weekly shopping so my breakdown is:
$160.80
-27.66 Special price savings
-23.85 vendor and store coupons
---------
109.29  for a savings 47%

A Blessing in disquise

How may of you have tried Craigslist?  I mean for anything to list an item for sale, to buy and item or even list a job or garage sale?  I have listed some items for sale and garage sales and I have searched the sight many times for all different things but on Saturday night Jeremy was on looking for of all things tires.

See we recently are CAR PAYMENT FREE and we are so happy about that but we have put off doing work to our car because of the lack of funds, well now is the car payment to repair payment fund.  Well as Jeremy was looking  for tires he found  some and for a reasonable amount or I should say a little bit more than we could afford but we called anyway.  He called the man and asked a few questions and we told him our situation and Clarence said man I will work with you on the price when do you wanna come take a look at them?  We descided we would go yesterday and the tire were great and Brand new and we were so excited now to the price.  I asked the man would he go lower than what he was asking and he said how much so I gave an amount and he said why not.  So I said to Clarence and my husband this was a blessing that you had not need for them and we needed them really bad but could not afford full price for them so Thank you.

Turns out that I think we were ment to meet and to get those tires yesterday and from such good people.  So thank you to Clarence for what you did for our family and all good deeds come back to you sometimes or other when you least expect it. 

Mommy's busy life...aka weekend

Sorry have been missing for a few days it has just been a little bit crazy here.  I was off work which was a plus but the kids where always wanting to go go and go some more.  Saturday was a great day with family  and friends and taht morning I got talked  into a Fitness camp with my sister and her friend Ashley. 

Let me tell you about Fitness Camp, boy was I in shock, well that is an understatement but my sister says I was a champ!  Good for me but I need a little bit more progress on my own before I try that again because I am way to out of shape for it right now but I am not ruling it out for the future.

After that the weather was still beautiful and we headed out to the pool and had a blast.   Had some dinner with the family and then it was an early night.

There is one thing I have to say is I love my family and that includes my sisters.  We do not always agree on the things that each other do but I still luv her and I thank her for letting us come to her house on the weekends and letting the kids be together so that they can grow up close, Thanks again sis!

Yay I am a Host for a Shutterfly House Party

Has anyone ever heard of House Party?  Well Everyone should check it out here.  This is a great party for thousand of people to share products of leading brands that the companies want to share with others.  I have had a few and now I am hosting the Shutterfly photo book day. 

I am so excited I have make books and had prints made and love the quality of their work.  If you are not a member then you should check it out there are always new and up and coming parties that might intrest you so stay tuned after May 15 for party pictures.

Another baby in the friend circle.

I just wanted to take a min and congradulate our friends Amy and Jim on a brand new healty baby girl Jordyn Grace Jennings born yesterday 4/19/10.  She is doing great and just can't wait to meet her sometime this weekend.

Also by loveable newphew Caleb turned 1 today, hard to beleive that 1 year ago today we wer in the hospital waiting for him to come into this world.  We love him to pieces and we say Happy Birthday to both of them.

Mommy needs an off Day

We had a rocky night and with the little one up early just after 6am that was a rough start this morning and then the oldest off to school. No problems there then after stopping on my way home for coffee I get a phone call from my husband that my 3 year old is throwing a temper tantrum and he just can not handle it and wanted to know when I would be home? Really?  Does a mom get any peace?  I sometimes wonder are moms supposed to do everything?  I mean I know I have "mom duties" but it feels like I am doing everything with and for the kids. 
I get home she has a soaked pull up and sitting on the stairs whinning "mommy" every 5 seconds. Is this really necessary?  Mom needs a day off! I love my kids more than anything but somedays are just plain crazy.  My husband tried to help but for some reason all the kids are attached to me and when I want to go somewhere all the crying starts and I can never get out but that is soon going to change.  Mommy needs mee time and Saturday I am supposed to go to a workout with mysisters and I am going No kids that will give me aleast a little bit of an  hour of ME time.  Every mom needs it.

Not Me Monday with MckMama

  Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week. This week has really been a hard week the kids and everything just feels like the walls are closing in.  We were at my newphews birthday party and it was NOT me that saw the kids helping themselves to the cake and just let me,  nope not me.  Again I have had enought laundry to last a life time so when my mother in law who likes to fold the laundry descided she wanted to fold them and put them away for the kids I had no problems but I surly did NOT let her now did I?My 9 year old and 3years old are always at odds and when my 9 comes to me and says "mommy Ky hit me" I surely did not say to her well I am not your tattle turle and do not want to hear it, Not me. Hope everyone had a great week and we will be back next monday for Not Me Monday!



 

Weekly Publix trip x2

Well yesterday I did my weekly shopping trip to publix and not to bad for the budget .  I have a grocery budget of $450 per month of our family of 5.  Is this good or bad?  I have seen some that have done a little bit less  and many that have done more. 

Lets just say that someone I know can go to the grocery store and spend $ 200 or close to it every week and not think twice and that ends up being around $800 a month for groceries, now who has that kids of money in these times?

I did my weekly publix trip and spent 139.14 and that is including the savings of 50.65 in coupons and advantage buys.  This by far is not the greatest trip but certainly any trip when you can same a  little bit is better than nothing.  I also did my Huggies, sunblock claritan, and benedryl deal again too and that was a must because allergy season has been bad these days especially for Kylie.

I know one that that I have really cut back on these day is meat we at not eating nearly as much chicken, hamburger or even pork like we used to.  We try to have meat maybe 3x a week and the rest is a mixture.  Now my family is not a real big leftovers fan so what I do cook has to be something that I can freeze for later and I am working on that.  So as for grocery shopping this week we should be good for maybe more than a week, or so I hope.

Frankenstein and his mom...

So when we ordered the cake at Publix the other day the looked at us kinda funny
" you want a halloween Frankenstein cake in April?"
Really?

Well I guess you have not met my sister she is the backwards one always trying to do something
out of the box. Can't you tell by her picture of her
"Rock Star" look. You just gotta love her and love her we do.

My Newphew is 1

Now he is 1 or should I say will be 1 on 4/20 but his party was this past friday and he was so cute as a Pirate.

Not so sure about this cake.

Have you ever seen a lil one that did not like cake? He did not eat 1 bit he just played in it and
when he was done he was done but as you can see he had a great time.

Ciera and her cousin Caleb. The oldest and the youngest of all the kids.
Ever had a Halloween party in April well it can be done and his mom is one of those themed
personalities and this is what she wanted to for his party and wait let me post the cake....

Today was the day to volunteer....4 DISNEY

So today was the day, the day that my family did the Give a Day Get a Day for disney tickets and we had a great time.  A little rain in the beginning but all in all we did it for a great cause to clean up the neighborhood and to get a wonderful reward after.  In the beginning it was a little bit rainny, Alyssa was in the stroller covered up and tried to keep her dry why she was just chilling and along for the ride.  Kylie I thought was gonna want to ride the whole way but but I wrong she was all decked out with her sun visor, gloves and trash grabber, I wish I had gotten a picture but I was not gonna take the camera out in the weather but she was ready for the occasion.

We had a great time and we Thank Disney for the wonderful reward.

After we did our volunteering we went to my sisters house for the kids to play and oh did they.  They swam and they played kick ball and swam some more and then we had a great dinner with the family and then the kids were ready for bed.  Ky was having a melt down and it was time to go and when that happens it does down fast.    Thanks everyone for a great day.  How was your saturday did you send it with family and friends or did you do something to help the enviornment?

1st Vacation Deposit

I have the first deposit for our Vacation fund YAY :)  A few weeks ago I had mentioned that I put some of the kids old clothes into the Just Between Friends Sale and I just received my check.  It was not for as much as I would have liked but you know what I donated the remaining items to those in need and I felt good about that.  So our 1st deposit for Vacation is for $29.41.

I also think what I will do  starting on our next trip tothe grocery I will take what we saved in coupons and store coupons and add that to my savings along with keep the change at the end of the month oh and do not forget the rebates that I receive in the mail. 

I have not descied what our goal Amount is but we are figuring 5 days and driving, meals and we will stay with family so we will have to estimate it out.  I am gonna say $800 give or take and this just may be a low ball amount or if I can save more  then the more the merrier!!

2010 Ultimate Blog Party

I came across this Blog Party on my Favorite sight for Ebay is HCTS a little late but who is checking and it introduced me to this Blog party and I thought that I would jump right in feet first.

Let me tell you a little about myself I am a stay at home but work from home mom of 3 wonderful and at some point crazy out of control girls that are 9, 3, and 1.  I love to blog  follow people on facebook and my most favorite is to Coupon and save money any way that I can.  I am also challenging myself to a few things.

I think of this blog as a mommy blog full of deals and trying to love Organicly but still staying on budget.  I also like to try different things to feed the kids and at this point they are a little bit picky and I try to mix veggies into differnt things for them and they never know. 

As for the prizes being given away I would love to win the 3 days 2 night stay at Holiday Inn Maingate in Kississimme, we are planning a trip to Disney after we do our Give a Day Get a Day for Disney tickets this weekend.  That would be a great way for the kids to have a treat.

And if you are not familiar with  with 5 Minutes for Mom's check it out here and join the party

Lets try a Couponing for NC & GA Vacation

I was over reading Couponing to disney on facebook and thought about what she was saying about how she coupons and does rebates and thought I could put my saved money to good use.  My husband wants to take a vacation to see family and I thought what better way to do that then to SAVE more than I am doing now.  I do pretty good about saving when shopping but not real good on the rebates so that is going to be a going of mine to improve on along with Organic eating habits.  I say we set our goal for July vacation just before school and Cheeleading starts and just see how much money we can get between now and then.  I have some rebates that I have sent in for so that will go into our fund and we will just add from there.  We also have keep the change transfer at the bank I can count that as savings and of course Coupons.

Now of course this will not be a glamorous vacation but it will get us away for a little while.  So lets say 5 days in July to North Carolina and Georgia.  That does not give us much time but lets see how far we can get.

THIS IS GOING TO BE A CHALLENGE!!!

One Stop One Store Publix Huggies deal

OFFICIAL KC/HUGGIES ONE STOP ONE STORE PUBLIX GIFT CARD- in store ad
Spend $35 between 3/18/10-4/21/10 on Huggies products such as diapers, wipes, and pull-ups in one trip at publix and send it in for a $10 publix gift. Here is my senerio:

2 Huggies Box diapers @ 19.99 = 39.98 -2/$3 publix coupon and 2/$3 man coupon =$27.98 -$10 gift card =17.98 +tax Not a bad deal don't u think :)

Send your completed form and original receipt to :
KC HUGGIES ONE STOP ONE STORE
Publix gift card offer
streetmarc adv & mktg
PO BOX 2478
Westport CT 06880

Another Huggies Link $3/1

I was surprised when I check out Money Saving Mom and to find another link to a $3/1 Huggies diapers that I had not printed and I was so excited because I had let mine expire and this will work great to link with a publix deal that I have coming soon.

Starbucks Free Coffee

Hey all you Starbucks fans did you hear that on April 15 you can bring a travel mug (up to 20oz) to any Starbucks location and get a FREE cup of brewed coffee.  I know that I will be there because I just can not pass up starbucks coffee weather I brew it a home or spend my hard earned $ at the coffee shop.  Take a look here for details.

Our Organic ways so far

As I have said in prevouis post our family is transission to an organic lifestyle with no processed foods.  I just wanted to update what we have changed and are in the process of changing.  We no longer buy regular milk we not buy Organic Fat Free milk and Soy milk.  There is a reason that I went cold turkey on the milk but I will save that for another post later this week. We buy more Veggies and I disquise them in sauces or whatever I cna for them and we have reduced the amount of meet we eat to maybe 2-3 times a week and I try to stock up on the Organic Chicken when on sale but here in Florida it is hard to find a sale on organic meat but we are managing.  We have switched to all natural peanut butter and buying buying Organic fruits and veggies according to the Dirty Dozen according to Organic.org.

We or I should say I am learning to look more at labels as to what is the food that I do buy that are prepackaged such as bread and the yogart that my daughters love.  I tend to by the Stoneyfield Farms organic yogarts and mix them in smoothies which my kids love and the probiotic vanilla for my youngest.

These are just a few ways we are changing our eating habits and I will going more into the WHY when I post about our transformation to Organic milk later in the week. So check back then.

Floridians with NO Prescription coverage

I wanted to touch on this subject just a little but I could really do a long post on this but I just want to talk about prescription coverage help for Florida Residents.  There are so many families with no insurance and still have to see a doctor and then have to pay full price for the medication that some need to survive.  We were watching out Local news WPEC 12 and saw the advertisement for Florida Discount drug plan here.

I looked up the prescriptions that my husband uses because we are like many americans that do not have insurance becasue we can not afford the high cost of health care, and there was a great discount and when I went to fill the items I was shocked at the discount that we received,  We used to have to pay so much for these and now I can rest a little bit easier knowing that his medication is a little bit more reasonable.

We are lucky enough to have insurance for our kids but for us this is taking half the burdon off our shoulders in this slow economy I suggest that Florida residents check this out and for those in other states check out your states website to see if they offer any help for you.

Quick publix trip

Well after leaving the doctor today with 2 sick kids one that is having an allergic reactions to something where she is having all over itching and eczema and another with a sinus infection, poor baby I needed to get allergy medicine.  I spent a little more that I wanted to coupon wise I did a great job I think for what I got.

@Publix I paid $40.55 after savings of $19.00 in Publix and manufactur coupons.  Here is the brake down.
Pull ups 10.99- $2 coupon
2 Benadryl dye free @6.19 (12.38)- $4 off 2 here and $2 from Publix spring Saver exp 4/23
Claritan Chewables 19.99 - $4 coupon and $4 Publix spring saver
Coppertone Sunblock on sale for $7.99 -$1 printable and $2 Publix spring Saver
2 Publix paper towels @ 1.34 or 4/$4
Puffs w/ Vicks (these are the best if you have not tried them)

I am sure that I could have done a little better but I think this was a great use of coupons.  I also will be doing this deal again before the deals end on April 23rd.

Exxon Mobil Free $20.00 Giftcard w/ speed pass sign up

Here is a great off her for those that use Exxon Mobil for their fuel.  If you do not have a speedpass then you should get one now and a little something extra.  Check it out.
According to an email that I received from Upromise you can get this great offer:  "new Speedpass customers can get a $20 ExxonMobil Gift Card for signing up and activating a new Speedpass account. Just sign up and activate online to receive this great offer. Be sure you use promo code UPM10. Offer expires May 5th, 2010."  All you have to do is click the link for $20 gift card .

No need to be a Upromise member but it is always good to become a member this is a great way to spend and same you can check them out here.

A big descision...

I have made a big descision that is going to effect my life, my family, and free time, whats that?  I have descided to go back to school.  I'm going to be taking online classes through Saint Leo University starting as soon as my financial aid is approved.  So that means either May or July.I am very excited for myself and it is something I have wanted to do for a long time and just finally said I was going to do it.  I have  not been in school since I went to PBCC in 2003, I know it has been a very long time and this is totally different then actually going to class but I need to do this for my family and for myself.  I feel that the job I have not is not going to be a life long career unless it is something that I can turn over and pull something out of it and it be mine.

The class terms are 8 weeks with homework due on Fridays and I am going to start out with 1 class and go from there and they consider 2 classes full time.  I am excioted and scared at the same time but it will be well worth it for sure.  I will keep everyone posted on when I start and how it is going so stay tuned,

GREAT deals from CVS and Walgreens this past week

I did a few deals this past Friday and I know most of you knew about them but I want to show you what I got out of these deals.

First stop Walgreens  1 Lysol hands free dispencer was 14.99-in store coupon $5 and -$5 Manufacture coupon= 5.97  great deal (even though it would have been better if I would have used my $5RR ).  Also at walgreens was anther deal not so good but will be when finished:
1package Huggies swim diapers 6.99
Olay Quench body lotion  9.99 ($1.00 coupon and rebate for 9.99)
and a bottle of bubbles for $1............... paid $16.98 -$5 RR and rebate of 9.99 so it actually only cost me
only $2. 78  NOW THAT IS A BARGAIN!!

CVS was a little bit different I bought:
2 Huggies diapers @ 17.98
1 Mega wipes @ 5.99
3 20oz cokes 1.59
3 reese cups
Coupons worth $15.60
ECb 6.00
paid $11.50 and received 5 ecb for next time................6.50 not bad for 2 packs of diapers and some mommy treats  :)

Happy Easter Pool Party & Hunt!

Ky and Kenzie ready to jump in the pool with out their water wings. WE are so proud of them
they are doing such a great job already this early!

Pre Cheerleading Ciera getting so big so fast.

They are hunting those eggs down, GREAT job girls.

Great job Alyssa carring all your eggs you are such a big girl eventhough you did call on your boo boos again.

They all had a blast with the neighborhood and the egg hunt we had over 300 eggs to be found and you know what there may still be some missing to this day but I am sure they will be found sooner or later. Hope everyone had a great easter and remember what it is all about.

Saturday Easter egg Hunt

Easter breakfast Monkey bread Cups

Easter Morning I told the kids I had a breakfast surprise... Monkey bread but in Muffin cups. They were so excited and I got the idea from Money Saving Mom and her  http://moneysavingmom.com/2010/04/how-to-use-up-12-cans-of-biscuit-dough-in-a-day-and-catch-your-oven-on-fire-too.html  This was a great idea and my kids just ate it up, So thank you bunches.

Trying to Giveback Blog giveaway

Go over to Unexpected bliss and check out a great giveaway for a GREAT canon camera with many changes for entries.  Make sure you check out the blog post about Trying to Giveback.  This would be a great item for all those photo buffs.

Natural Instincts FREE Cream haircolor

For the first 5,000 to register for it here Free Hair color will receive a free box of Natural Instincts hair color.  Starts at 12pm est today so get ready for it.  I know I can use a free box.