It's been madness here this week...

We started out on Sunday with Dillon getting sick in church, followed that with a day of stomach sickness and fever.  I felt awful the whole next day which resulted in my getting nothing done for an entire day and a half.  On Tuesday I had to run errands and grocery shop so I took Dillon with me since he had been stuck inside for 2 days.  We hit up Target, Joanns, Sally Beauty Supply, Office Max, Hobby Lobby, Food 4 Less, Walmart, and then Wendy's and Wing's 'n More for lunch for everyone.  It was  A LONG morning of getting in and out of the heat.  I got home after spending way too much money and made a batch of the freezer burritos, I posted the recipe in my last post.  I decided that I needed to be more frugal and try to not spend so much money and even more to get more out of what I do spend.  I want to do more meals like the burritos so that Jake has different stuff to take for dinners and we have options here when it doesn't seem like we have any food in the house.

I had talked to my little sister Jami last Saturday about couponing, I know she has been doing it for awhile, but I really didn't know too much about it.  I started watching all the Extreme Couponing shows on TLC, actually I watched them all in 2 days!  I decided that maybe this is what I need to try.  I don't want to be an extreme couponer, but I do want to be smarter about what I buy and if I can get the things I need at a discount, then why not?  I am starting small, but this is my coupon haul for this week

 

I have a couple of things that aren't pictured, a 5 pack of Zyrtec and a Velveeta Box dinner.  Here are my totals on what I have here...

• Total Before Savings - $54.47
• What I Actually Paid - $28.84
• What I Saved w/coupons and specials - $25.63
• I saved 47% on things that I would normally pay full price for

Now there are a few things that I bought to try since I had a coupon, but that's when I normally try new things, when I don't have to pay full price!  Here are some of the better deals

• Zyrtec 5 Pack (not pictured) - $0.27 after coupon
• Advil  - $0.82 each after coupon  
• Tums 3 roll pack - $0.99 after coupons
• Pop-tarts - $1.32 a box after coupons
• Shower Curtain - $1.32 after coupon

Our Target will stack a store coupon with a manufacturers coupon, but you have to watch them close to make sure they scan them all.  I learned this yesterday!  She somehow scanned in 2 of the Skintimate gels when I only got one and didn't manage to scan in the $1.50 off coupon because she was too busy making sure to tell me that I need to make sure that the MFG coupons print the barcode so I can actually use them.  I knew that she didn't scan the coupon, but she insisted that she did and I didn't catch the double item until I checked my receipt.  I knew the total was off so I had to take it to the service desk to get the additional item refunded and then she gave me cash for the coupon that the cashier didn't scan.  It was a whole ordeal and I know who to avoid when I use coupons at Target from now on!

This is new territory for me.  I tend to avoid any kind of confrontation with store personnel if at all possible.  I don't like to return things, I don't like to point out mistakes, etc...when I am checking out.  I always let Jake do that.  I guess I am going to have to get over that if I am going to make this work!  I am not looking to stockpile like the extreme couponers do, but I would like to save some money when I can.  My next step is to start getting the Sunday paper and start clipping those coupons.  All I have done so far is use printable ones.

I got all excited and made this Coupon Clutch for myself!  It will have dividers in it as soon as I get them in the mail.  I had to order them since I found them in boxes of 100 for pretty cheap.  I am offering these in several sizes in the store and they will come with 20 dividers, but I can add more if you need them.  I am not to the point of Binder Organization and even if I were I would still prefer something like this to carry with me when I shop!

In other news here at home, I took Bailey to have a consult with an Orthodontist and it looks like she will be getting her top braces put on in a couple of weeks.  She was freaking out the day we went in, but now she is looking forward to getting them.  It's going to cost us a small fortune, but it's not as bad as some!  She has the same impacted eye teeth like I did and I know how awful I felt about mine for so long and I don't want her to have to go through that.  I didn't have mine fixed until I was pregnant with Colton.  My mom didn't have the resources to pay for us to have braces, so it was something that I did when I was older.  I don't want my kids to have to do that and we have dental insurance that will pay part of it so we will be stretched even thinner for a couple years, but we will make it work like we always do!  An even more important reason to coupon!!

Well, I have a TON to get done this morning while Jake has the kids out so I guess I should get to it!  Have a great weekend!