I went out shopping yesterday, trying to find some good deals on food and other items. I don't know how some of you can get so much for so little money...I keep trying to cut the amount that I spend each week, but I can't get it under a certain amount. I'm going to keep working at it though.

Here is a partial list of what I was able to get yesterday:

CVS:
I did all of the deals for the school supplies with the ECB's that made them free. My CVS didn't have the binder, so I wasn't able to get that. I got 2 packs of pencils, 2 small notebooks, 2 packs of paper and 2 packs of pens. I used ECB's that I had from last week and paid $1.08 out of pocket. I got almost $12 in ECB's back, so that will be good for next week.

Walmart:
I was able to do really well on toilet paper and paper towels especially with coupons I used from the ALL YOU magazine. I needed to get a few things that my family calls necessities (which might be the reason why I can't get the amount down) like flavored water for my husband, ovaltine, and cereal bars.

I was able to get some rolls and croissants that were on the discounted rack, so they were a good deal.

Target:
They are starting to do the clearance now. They were marking things down yesterday. The prices weren't that great yet, though. I did pick up a couple of things that I wanted since I wasn't sure if they would be there later. Plus, I got my daughter a pair of sneakers for $4.24, so I was definitely not waiting for those.

I also got a few food items that were on clearance and a few that I had coupons for. I did find out that if you are using a Target coupon, the item you buy has to be more than the cost of the item. They can't do them like a manufacturer coupon. I was really bummed about that....

They also started their school supply sale yesterday. They had all of the bins and items set up, which was totally different from Walmart. Walmart was advertising school supplies, but they have nothing set up and no stock of anything at my store. I was really disappointed with that!

Petsmart:
Can I say how thrilled I am with this store! Everyone was very friendly and helpful, they take coupons and I even got an email with a $5 off of $25 from them. They also have certain items on sale each week with their card.

I was able to get 2 bags of Purina One cat food, which they had for $4.99 each, and I had 2 coupons for $3.00 off, which made each one only $1.99. I bought a lot of can food , since my kitty likes this at dinnertime and I bought some catmilk (even though it wasn't on sale), since my kitty has this every morning at 4:30 when Kyle gets up for work.

I also got a 40 lb bag of kitty litter for $6. I'm thinking I should have picked up another one, though.

I'll try to get the numbers for you on how much I spent and how much I saved with the sale prices and coupons. It might take me a day or two, but hopefully it will be soon. I want to try to have everything caught up before I leave for vacation with the kids. That means also having stuff for my husband to eat while I'm gone.

Plus, I have to kitty and hamster sit for my friend this week. I'm not worried about the kitty, it's the hamsters that concern me. To me, they are little critters and I'm weary about them.

We have all been so busy here and the blog has not been the first priority, but I'm going to try to do better! I have finally gotten all of my emails cleared out and it is so nice to say that! I'll be going on vacation with the kids to see family the first week in August, so there will not be any posts that week. I will be doing some grocery shopping at my favorite store of all times, WEGMANS. I can't wait to have all of my coupons doubled and get my favorite Wegmans brands. Everyone things I'm crazy to drive 4 hours to do my shopping, but I love it. And since I'm visiting family, it's not like I'm just driving for food.

I ended up getting a couple of great deals this week from Ocean State Job Lots. They had jeans and pants from Chicos for $10 a pair. I think I ended up buying 7 pairs in all! The best part other than the price is that I can say that I fit into a size 0! I love how they do their sizes. I think other companies should follow their lead. Maybe we would all feel better about ourselves.

You should all check out the magazine ALL YOU. It is only sold at Walmart, but you can get a subscription as well. It is filled with coupons and they now have their own website. You can print coupons off of the website and they have money saving ideas on there as well. It is a great resource. I am so thrilled that I found it!

Here are some websites that you should all check out:
money saving mom
bargain jargon
a thrifty mom
freebies 4 moms
deal seeking mom

They should be able to give you some great ideas for freebies, coupons, money saving ideas, etc...

I will be trying to post great savings for my area (CVS, Hannaford, Price Chopper) and I'm sure that I will improve as time goes on! (I hope to anyway!!!)

Also, keep an eye out at Target, they should be having their toy clearance starting soon. I'll let you know when I hear anything.

This past week has just flown by and I can't believe that I haven't updated this site! I've been following all of my favorite blogs from other people and trying to catch up with emails, but there doesn't seem to be enough time in a day. I haven't been out to the stores at all this week, so I don't have any great sales to post. I have been printing coupons off of the web, so I have plenty of those to use! Check out the sites that I posted last week, you'll save a lot of money.

One of the things that my husband and I did this week that was crazy: We bought into a timeshare! Never thought I would actually do this, but we did! It should be a great investment since we both want to travel to Ireland and we will be able to buy extra weeks really cheap. If you all get a chance, go visit Oak n Spruce Resorts over in Massachusetts. They are all really nice and they'll help you thru this whole process.

I wanted to tell all of you that I received an email from CVS yesterday apologizing for the way I was treated earlier in the week. They are putting a $5 gift card coupon on my receipt for the next time that I go into the store. I don't like to complain about people in a store but when they don't follow the rules of couponing, you have to do something! The district manager was alerted and was going to speak to the manager and the employees at the store. Hopefully, this will make my couponing experiences there a little better. This was my first time with a problem at this store and I was quite surprised when it happened.

School is almost out here. Only 2 more weeks to go and the kids will be home for the summer. I signed them up for a summer program for the first three weeks, 2 hours a day, and my oldest will take tennis lessons. I just want to keep them active! I think I'll be taking them to the store with me as well, so we can find some good bargains. Six more eyes will help and it will teach them to buy things when they are cheap!

They are loving my pantry and closet right now, because I have so many things stocked up and they get so many choices!

Make sure you are checking out all of the coupon sites online:

coupons.com
mypoints.com
smartsource.com

I hope everyone is enjoying their spring! Have a great weekend!

I was in CVS yesterday buying the bargains for the week and I ran into something I have never heard of before. I was buying the bags of M&M's that they had on sale for 2 for $6. They had it where if you bought $15 worth, you would get $5 in ECB's with your card. I had 2 coupons off of 2 bags of M&M's each. They wouldn't take the coupons because the items were on sale. Apparently because the coupons said that the manufacturer didn't want them accepted with any other offer, I couldn't use them. I even spoke to the manager and he said there was nothing they could do if the computer wouldn't take the coupon, they couldn't take them. I have an email into CVS to see if they can explain this too me, because I thought that store sales and coupons had nothing to do with each other. The store would be reimbursed the amount of the coupon by the manufacturer and if the store had the item on sale, that was fine. Has anyone else had an experience like this? I would love to hear if you have or what anyone else has to say about this.

Welcome to my new blog! I am a mom to three wonderful kids ages 9, 7, and 5. They keep me very busy and I am finally going back to my old ways of super coupon shopping, finding great deals and trying to stretch every penny to the max! With all of the activities that kids can join in these days, it can all get to be pricey and we're so lucky to be living in a place where there are reasonable priced options. Thru a wonderful organization called BARC, we get to have the kids play different sports thruout the year for $15 per sport per child with a cap of $30 per family each time. I plan on sharing many different things on this blog and I hope that you will all enjoy reading it and helping me out while I'm learning the process! Any info you can all share with me would be great!