Another Round of Deals

James and I shopped for 5 hours today. 6 grocery stores and a few other stops. Crazy right?

1st: Sams club (no special deals)

2nd: Sunflower only got three things, but the artichokes were $0.97, good deal.

3rd: Frys (this could potentially be a long story, but I'll spare you) Strawberries $0.88, and a few other things

4th: Safeway (and the deals begin....)
-Delimex Taquitos (Safeway coupon - manufacture coupon=$3.99, originally$9.99)
-buy 5 kraft cheese products get $5 off...so I bought 5 of the new cream cheese mini's and used 5 $0.55 blinky coupons so Safeway actually owed be $0.30 for that purchase
-4 Windex bottles for FREE. Buy 4 at $1.99 each, had a $1.00 of coupon for each, received $4 in Catalina (the coupons that print out by the register for me to use on the next purchase)
-Also got grapes $0.99
-lunch meat (on sale-coupon)
-2 bags of salad $0.99each

So in the end I paid $13.20 for all this then I got the $4 to use next purchase. I saved 76%!!!

--bored yet?--

5th: Albertsons
-Lays potato chip ($2.88 each - B1G1 coupon)
-4 boxes of mini wheats (2/$6, coupon on box for $1 off, plus manufacture coupons for $1 and $1.50 0ff. They ended up being less than $1 a box!)
-Albertson's 10items for $10 on everything else you see in the picture below but let me tell you about that simply lemonade. The 10 for 10 was on Simply OJ, but they were all out so I asked some random stocking guy if they are going to stock anymore and he said no they are all out. So I asked, "does Albertson's trade similar products for ones that are out" and the man responded "yeah I can do that for you. If they give you any problems tell them Rob said it was okay." (Rob ended up checking us out anyways, but I sure asked the right person. AND the lemonade was more expensive than the OJ, woop woop!)
-Then the Sara Lee pound cake I wouldn't have gotten, but that too is a long story.
#6: Walgreens
-wax paper and foil for $0.88 each
-gummy bears $0.12 each ($0.39each-coupon)
-Men's razors ($3.99-$3.00 coupon)
-Kotex U tampons ($3.49-$3.00 coupon+ Register Rewards)
I used a previous $2.50 register rewards on this order hoping for another one to print out, but it didn't. The lady wasn't sure if it could be fixed so I asked to speak to a manager (hehe) he did what managers do and I got my register reward for $2.50. On my second order I got tampons that were on sale for $1 for 18ct (I usually spend $4 on that many!!) and a few other things then used my RR that was just printed.

PHEW I seriously have a migraine. I don't know if I'll blog about my deals anymore, but they do many me excited so hope you enjoy reading about all the savings. Some of these deals are still going on so take advantage of them!

The Little Things

My internet failed so my browser closed and this is what I saw...

What a surprise. I love knowing he thinks of me and wants to do little things to make me happy.

I LOVE YOU JAMES!!!

I'm a grown up

Our backyard has seen a lot of green lately -with the rain a few months ago- it was nice to see green even if it was rotten sun sucking weeds.We even had a roses blooming from the rose bush that was here when we moved it, and we didn't do a single thing to help it along. I cut the big rose and put it in a vase to enjoy inside.
Well...this afternoon I PULLED those WEEDS. I was sweating like a hog and filled three bags full of weeds and raked needles. I even had to cut one of the tallest weeds down with a butcher knife.

I felt like such a grown up out there making our yard look nice.

While I was out there I met the person moving in next door. He is deaf and I talked to him for a bit. I'm excited!

Yummy Food

I try to make something for dinner every night. It is not always easy, but I love to make new recipes that are quick, easy, inexpensive and provide left overs.

I have been wanting to make something with penne pasta lately. I had tons of broccoli and our favorite chicken sausage (from sunflower market) in the fridge so I started googleing and found a few recipes that I used to make my own recipe.

{this happens a lot because I never have all the ingredients for just one recipe}

The dinner turned out so well and was so flavorful, cheap, and easy I wanted to share with you all!

Chicken Sausage, Broccoli, Penne Pasta

Ingredients

• Salt
• 1 large bundle of broccoli, trimmed and cut into 3 inch pieces
• 1 pound penne or whole wheat penne
• 2 tablespoons EVOO - Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 pound bulk Italian hot sausage, squeezed from casing
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon freshly chopped thyme
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 cup Parmesan cheese
• Crushed red pepper flakes, to pass at table

Preparation

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add salt then the broccoli. Cook 3 minutes. Remove to an ice water bath with slotted spoon or spider and reserve. Bring water back to a boil. Cook pasta, reserving 1 cup of starchy cooking liquid just before draining.

Meanwhile, heat EVOO in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausage and brown, about 5-6 minutes.

Add garlic to sausage and cook 1 minute. Add broccoli. Season with salt, pepper and thyme, and heat through. When pasta is done, add reserved cooking liquid to the sauce before draining. Add tomato sauce.

Add drained pasta back to the pot along with the butter and cheese. Toss to coat then add to the rest of the stuff and stir to combine. Serve immediately.

Bridal shower gift

I made this cute clipboard for my friend Katie's bridal shower. It was a simple gift, but something fun that came from the heart. It can hang on the wall and she and her husband can leave love notes for each other.

and what you all have been waiting for...

I scored some great deals this past week and have been so excited to share with you all.

First-I finally ordered the Sunday paper so I could accumulate the coupons in there.

Second- I check on-line a few times a week to see which coupons I could use and I print them out. www.coupons.com is a good one

Third- I check thekrazycouponlady.com often!!!

The paper and the Olay lotion were FREE! Both required a rebate, but taking that little time to turn in a rebate vs. a free item is WELL WORTH IT!

All this stuff below (minus the plates) were a little over 2 dollars at Walgreens.
I learned you can combine manufacture coupons with store coupons which I did for the
Dawn dish soap. $0.34
Corn Starch- $0.20
Green Olives- $0.89
2 razors by one get one 1/2 off plus a $4 off coupons made them...get this.... $0.80!!!

We've been needing more plastic plates and I got the last two sets at Target (2 in a set) for 50% off which made 4 of them for $2.70. Not bad. Then I went to a different Target later on in the week and found more for 75% off. I took all of them and let my friend have some of the plates so she could partake in the great deal. A set of plates were $0.62!!! COME ON!!!

I also bought a dress on clearance at Old Navy last week for a hefty $25.00 I was going to wait for the price to be marked down more then do a price adjustment! Well, while looking at one of my regular bloggers one morning she shared that at her Old Navy all the clearance was an extra 50% off. I called two Old Navy's close to where I live and one was having that sale. I went that night. I got my price adjustment and 2 pairs of shoes and 4 shirts for $30. It was a really good deal!!!


(Couldn't find pictures of the dress or shoes, but you get the idea)

Last but DEFINITELY not least was what I scored at DI. You'll have to wait for that one though. Okay, I'll give you a hint. A part of it is in two of the previous pictures.

camera strap

I hate sewing. I hate it. With a passion. I wish I liked it because I could make all sorts of cool things. Sewing a straight line gives me gray hairs. However, because I do want to make cool things every now and then, I suck it up. I made this camera strap cover the other day.
This was taken with a point and shoot. So ignore the quality :)