Operation $40K

Copp's Double Coupon Day -- two transactions! Transasction #1 2 loaves white bread ($1.19) for $.50 12 cans Campbell's Tomato soup ($.85) for $.50 2 Kerr Canning Jar Lids @ $1.89 2 packs OM hot dogs ($4.99) $3 Red watermelon for $2.99 Coupons: 2 for FREE hot dogs, 3 for $.50 off two cans of soup (doubled), 2 for $1 off Kerr (doubled), Wags $3 register reward Total: $31.49 for just $3.77 an 88% savings! Transasction #2 2 loaves white bread ($1.19) for $.50 2 Kraft Mac N Cheese ($1.29) for $.66 Kool Aid Fizz $1.99 3 Roma Pizza ($2) for $1.66 2 packs BlueBunny ice cream treats ($4.29) for $3 Pork Fillet for $11.14 Pork Fillet for $10.72 Skim Milk $2.19 Pilsbury Sweet Delights ($2.99) for $2.50 Coupons: A rain check so one roast was free. FREE Kool Aid Fizz, Store coupon for $.21 off the milk, 2 for $1 off the Blue Bunny (doubled), $1 off the Pilsbury (doubled)$.55 off the Mac N Cheese (doubled) and a coupon for $1 off the pork (doubled) Total: $48.57 for just $19.82 an 59% savings...

After a long week of being sick and pretty much on a liquid diet - I am looking forward to a week of real food! Here is how I do my meal planning. 1) I grab the calendar and see where we are for the week and what we are doing so I don't plan a meal for a night we are at a friend's party or working. 2) I grab the freezer list so I know what ** and *** items need to be used. 3) I look at the last 2 weeks so I don't feed my family the same thing, week after week. That's it! Here is my plan of attack: Breakfast is usually the same: French toast, fruit crepes, Breakfast Cookies, cold cereal* or oatmeal* with a piece of fresh fruit (apple, strawberries, grapes or banana) or homemade cereal bars as we have a LOT of cereal right now. Lunch is either: leftovers, peanut butter* & jelly sandwiches, quesidillas, or cold plate with sausage or diced chicken - cheese* - crackers* & fresh fruit or yogurt. Dinner: Monday - Team award dinner, some kind of steak I'd bet! Tuesd...

I usually am the queen of garage sales in the summer - scoring great deals on kids clothing and toys, new books, kitchen gadgets and household treasures. This year I have stayed pretty much out of the game. One thing you don't really do when you are trying to downsize what you have to pack, is bring more stuff home. This also saves money - not a whole lot as I never spent more than $100 a month (over the 5 month season) while bargain hunting, but it all adds up. I MIGHT have spent about $40 this year, a savings of over $450! Today, my tupper mobile automatically pulled over at the sale of all sales: everyone at an apartment complex had stuff out in their joint parking lot! I don't feel too bad about it as it *IS* our town's city wide sale this weekend and it is the only place I stopped... I only spent $6 - but here is what I got: -A fake 3' tall potted plant (my less cluttered living room needed a "fill" for a corner and I wasn't going to pay the $60 I had...

I was sick last week for several days and couldn't really leave the house so He HAD to make the grocery run because I couldn't. -You can make a list - detailed with name brands, quantities and sale prices -You can give him the coupons, all stacked in order -You can make simple so he has only 1 transaction to make He will: -Call you 3 times while he is at the store -Not catch the fact that your total isn't at the minimum so the coupons don't get doubled -Miss the fact that one of your coupons was taken but not scanned -add things that weren't on your list like OREOs and Ice cream To his credit: The reason the total was just under the $25 was the simple fact that the sale roasts were out of stock and he DID get a rain check. He did end up $.40 under the $25 so the $5 in coupons (which was $4 because one didn't get scanned...) didn't double. His total came to $6.58 and it should have been $3ish with the doubling and 2 roasts added to the total. One candy bar to...

Pick N Save and Copp's have another coupon book out -- if you didn't get one in the mail this week, you can always ask for one at the customer service desk. I have don't that on occasion - just to have extra coupons on some hot deals, but I am not really feeling the love on the offers this time. A special thanks to Pocket Your Dollars for typing out this list! Here is a list of deals and coupons advertised in the coupon booklet. These are not all stellar deals, but I wanted to list them all so that you could see everything that was available. Since many coupons in the booklet were for generic brands or store items, there weren’t a lot of matchups, and I didn’t think the ones that there were were the greatest. Still, you should be able to get free toothpaste, a great deal on Cottonelle bath tissue, and other selected items. This list will also be re-posted next week when we post the new list of coupon matchups from the weekly ad for Roundy’s stores. If you find any other cou...

In an age of technology where everyone seems to be so focused on something that either plugs in or requires batteries, it's nice to bring the family back together for some "low tech" fun. Game night is a great way to do that! No TV, no gameboys, no Nintendo, no Wii - just an old fashioned board game and the family around the kitchen table having some face to face fun. Granted, we have a 4 year old so the games are things like Don't Spill the Beans, Candyland or Cootie -- add a few things like Money Bingo (a teacher friend told me math would be easy if they went into First Grade understanding money) or Sight Word Bingo (again, educational fun)...but the old Monopoly and Game of Life are in the closet for the upcoming years with old friends like Operation (Homer Simpson Style). The games are a great investment - figure a $4 game that you play 25 times. That costs you $.16 for the evening of fun - talk about frugal, it's practically free! I don't like to buy them...

It's a church day, a family day and a day of rest. It's hard to accomplish that without a good breakfast - right? Here is a simple, easy recipe that you can do the night before, tuck into the fridge and just bake off in the morning. Use sale sausage, sale milk, sale cheese and you have a dish that cost you virtually pennies per serving! Enjoy- Breakfast Casserole 1 1/2# bulk sausage (I used turkey sausage) 9 Eggs 2 1/2 C milk 1 1/2 t dry mustard 1 t salt 3 slices bread cut into small cubes 1 1/2 C shredded cheddar cheese Cook sausage until brown & crumbly. Drain well. Beat eggs with milk in large bowl, add remaining ingredients and the sausage and mix well. Pour into a greased 9x13x2 casserole dish. Refrigerate covered overnight. Bake, uncovered, at 350 for one hour cut into casserole to make sure it's done (not soupy) serves 8-10 or, in our house it takes care of Andy and leaves a little for me and Sarah :)

We regularly register Ms Sarah for some activities through this program of the parks and recreation department in our town. Every season they send out a publication packed with tons of recreational programs for all ages. From youth craft classes to adult fitness to their ever popular swim lessons! There really is something for everyone. They even list the FREE things that will happen like concerts in the park or Fire Station open houses. How does this save money? It lets you test drive activities at a HUGE savings before you choose to invest in real ones. Example: Ballet. They have a ballet class that runs for a few weeks and is a LOT less expensive than a year at a local dance studio. You can let your kiddo try it out and, if after a few weeks, they don't like it - you haven't got a year long contract that is hundreds of dollars staring you in the face. Sarah LOVED dance last year and is at a real studio now. (Grammie is paying for it!) We picked eight things over the three mo...

Early June, I shared a huge list of things we planned to do this summer. This is my accountability check for what I had on it and what I might have added to it as summer is winding to a close and school is starting soon! So far our list: *swimming (done a bunch so far) *make popsicles (did it a few times!) *library and bookstore reading programs (We are only doing Half Price Books!) *Going to the Dells with our Russian Girl Dasha--thinking Circus World and Devil's lake - (Dasha has come and gone - we never got to this, but the tree of us might go in a week or so) *Going to Branson (had fun!) *Going to the Voss's cabin with my inlaws (Had a nice time and ate WAY too much!) *crafting (making a red white blue 8x8 album for the Dasha to take home)- Album done - she just loved it! *make homemade ice cream (I got a machine free from TW a few years ago and we didn't use it ONCE last summer and found a pretty cool recipe for SnickerDoodle Ice Cream to try!!)We *MIGHT* try the ice c...

My hubby is pretty lucky - the company he works for made a trade agreement (free/reduced cost of commercials) so all of their employees can have a free membership. I decided to join that club a few years ago so we could be work out buddies while our peanut was in the free childcare area. Only one problem occurred: he stopped going! I was going by myself, had worked things out with a personal trainer and was doing pretty well, until I fell on those concrete stairs last summer. It's amazing how broken ribs hurt! A few months off and then, just as I was getting back into the routine of regular workouts, I had that fall on New Year's eve and broke my arm. (yes, it is a good thing that my new house is basically just one level!) The nice thing about the club is the simple fact that you can bring in your doctor note and be credited for the time you couldn't use...while my membership ends officially in September, I will have 12 more months to use it. That means 3 months of this yea...

Today we went to the Madison Children's Museum and had a blast. Four floors of fun for everyone who is 12 or under - a dinosaur bridge, rooftop garden, craft studio, music hut, climbing wall, and so much more! Here is the thing -- it was over $20 for the three of us to go. It just about killed me to pay that since I knew we would only be there for two hours...that is more than I spend at the grocery store a week, LOL! We did check into what an annual membership would cost -- for a family of four it is $85. (even though we are a family of just three, we would have a "bonus" ticket). Membership includes: • A subscription to their electronic newsletter • Two MCM membership cards • Discounts on birthday parties, special programs, and classes • Invitations to members-only special events and exhibit openings • Pre-sale and discounted tickets to local live performances • Discounts at participating restaurants and local businesses - Unlimited free admission for four named people ...

Whew! It's fun to be back to my normal routine, LOL! Here is how I do my meal planning. 1) I grab the calendar and see where we are for the week and what we are doing so I don't plan a meal for a night we are at a friend's party or working. 2) I grab the freezer list so I know what ** and *** items need to be used. 3) I look at the last 2 weeks so I don't feed my family the same thing, week after week. That's it! Here is my plan of attack: Breakfast is usually the same: French toast, fruit crepes, Breakfast Cookies, cold cereal* or oatmeal* with a piece of fresh fruit (apple, strawberries, grapes or banana). Lunch is either leftovers, peanut butter* & jelly sandwiches, quesidillas, or cold plate with sausage or diced chicken - cheese* - crackers* & fresh fruit or yogurt. Dinner: Monday - Fridge Clean out! There is left over Chinese food, etc that better go! Tuesday - Crock Pot Chicken! I have a lot of boneless skinless to use and a bajillion Lawrey's mar...

Sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite! Who hasn't said that to their kiddos one time or another when tucking them in? Bed bugs USED to be a problem in this country until about World War II and the frequent use of DDT...now they are back and with a vengence! The ugly little buggers are small and nocturnal parasites. They come out at night to dine, then can hibernate for many months without feeding. You wake up with red welts on you and wonder what happened, usually on your arms, shoulders or back. They have also become a serious problem in the United States. Many theories as to what brought them back, the influx of citizens from less prosperous countries, fact that people are a lot more mobile than they used to be, etc - who cares!? There are many things you can do to prevent them --> mainly keeping away from where you can get them. The list of places is amazing, and scary! If you are a true tightwad/frugal person than you have few worries as you aren't really in these...