~May Coupon Schedule~

May 3 — Smart Source & Red Plum
May 10 – Smart Source & Red Plum
May 17 — 2 Smart Source and 1 Red Plum
May 24 — No Inserts scheduled
May 31 — Smart Source & Red Plum

Hope this helps!

Monthly Budgeting

As I prepare for another seminar, I like to ask my peeps the following questions:

Do you set a monthly grocery budget?
Do you stick to it?
What do you spend vs. what you would like to spend?

I am amazed at how many people don't even know what they spend each month. It is impossible to stick to a budget if you have no idea how much is going out. Having a budget is key to financial success...Along with spending less than you make and staying within your budget. Dave Ramsey and Suze Orman would both agree with those statements!
My plan is to set monthly goals and each month try to keep my out-of-pocket spending to a minimum. All while having more food and other products than ever before. I'm hooked and loving it!

Happy budgeting!

~$2.08!~

Yesterday, we made a quick stop at Target before heading to church. We were in a bit of a rush, but still picked up some FREE items. After church we dropped by Wal-mart for a couple more FREE items. I LOVE FREE STUFF! We got all of this for $2.08!!!

Target:
Electrosol
Sale $3.19
-2.50 q
=.69


2 Pringles
$1.59
-.75 Target q
-$1 man. q
= .71 each

3 Axe body wash
.97
-$1 q
=FREE + .09 overage!

Dry Idea
Sale $2(item might be clearance...I was in a rush and didn't read the label)
-$2 q
=FREE!

Wal-mart:
2 Kotex
$1
-$1 q
= FREE!

Hope you all had a blessed weekend and saved some money!

~More Great Kroger Deals Today!~

*Everything in picture was FREE, except the Lawry's Marinade and it was .50 cents per bottle!

*Special Lloyd's Promo*
Buy Lloyd's BBQ $6.99 and get all of the other items for FREE!
-FREE Bag
-FREE Cole Slaw
-FREE Soda
-FREE Chips
-FREE Buns


Not everything I purchased today was on sale, but most items were. Here are a few highlights worth mentioning!

Bananas .39 per lb
2 Chicken .69 per lb
1 Suave shampoo-FREE
2 Suave Deo.-FREE
1 Brut Deo.-FREE
5 Veggies-FREE
6 McCormick Seasonings-FREE
1 Angel Soft toilet paper-FREE
1 Huggies wipes-FREE

RETAIL-90.32
SPENT-$33.01
SAVED-$57.31

~Free Will & Trust Kit!~

I was going through some other websites and found this awesome offer!

This is a great freebie! This kit has a value of $2,500 but you can get the online version for FREE through this Saturday (April 25th) at noon!

Here's what to do:

1) Head over to SuzeOrman.com

2) Click the “Will & Trust Kit” link on the left hand side

3) Click the orange “Gift Code” button on the right

4) Enter the code “Moms Rule“

5) You can activate your kit right away, or save the code activation code for later use.

~Target~

I made a special trip to Target yesterday for their "Earth Day Giveaway", but they had already ran out of the bags and were not giving rain checks :(
I picked up a couple of things anyway.

Johnson's bubble bath
Reg.$3.24
-$2 Man. q
-.75 Target q
= .49 cents

Fruit Snacks
Reg. $1.52
-$1 Target q
=.52 cents

~FREE! FREE! FREE!~

I had so many coupons for FREE things this week at Kroger, I was super excited to go yesterday. Once I got there, they were out of 3 of the items I had gone in to get for FREE. I got rain checks, so you will be seeing those items in the future. This sale ends Tuesday night, be sure and check if you have coupons for these items so you can get them for FREE. Remember, even if you don't use that particular brand, these items are great to donate to charity!
Veggies
Reg. $1.89
Sale .99
-.35 q (tripled)
= FREE!

2 Angel Soft
Reg. $1.29
Sale .99
-.50 q (doubled)
=FREE!

3 Pills. Brownies
Reg. $1.99
Sale .99
-.35 q (tripled)
=FREE!

3 Huggies Wipes
Reg. $1.69
Sale .99
-$1q
=FREE!

McCormick Seasoning
Reg. $2.19
Sale .99
-.50 q (doubled)
=FREE!

SPENT $0.00!!!!
SAVED $17.70!

CVS

Crest Pro-healthr>Sale $2.88
$2 ECB Back
-.75 q
= .13 cents each

*After I left there I realized that I had a $1 q, which would have made them FREE. Oh well. My CVS runs out of things so quickly, I was just glad to get 2 while they still had them.

~April Coupon Schedule~

April
5 — 2 Smart Source & 2 Red Plum & Procter and Gamble
12 — No Inserts
19 — Smart Source & Red Plum
26 — Smart Source & Red Plum


Hope this helps!

~Who am I you ask?~

Some of you have asked who I am. So, here are a few fun facts:
*Grew up in Oklahoma (mostly)
*Lived in 5 states
*Currently live in Texas (love this great state!)
*Mother of 1 little precious miracle
*Wife to a teacher/coach (almost 8 years now)
*Graduate of the University of Oklahoma...Boomer Sooners!
*Kappa Alpha Theta
*Previously a Director of Sales/Marketing for a hotel in OK
*Most recently worked at a high school in the athletic department
*Have a business that I make custom items. Livingdreamsdesigns.blogspot.com
*LOVE to travel with my hubby to beaches. So far we've been to Dominican Republic, Puerto Vallarta, Cancun, Playa Del Carmen, Riviera Maya, Cabo San Lucas and The Bahamas. We love Mexico because of the short flight. Cabo is probably my favorite so far, however each place holds special memories. Can't wait for our next trip!
*Love to dance!
*Love to sing and praise Jesus!
*You can email me at coachoshields@hotmail.com if you have any comments and for some reason can't leave them. If you have any success stories, please email me. I would love to hear how much you all are saving! Also, you may have noticed that I have some coupon ads on the page now. Please take advantage and let me know how you like them.
*I don't post much personal information because this is not a private blog. I hope you all are enjoying reading and are learning. It is fun once you get the hang of it all! To me it is not just about paying for a nice vacation,it is more about being a good steward with God's money. What a blessing!

In His Grace~
S

~Kroger 4/13..more FREE items!~

2 Dannon Yogurt
Reg. $2.99
Sale $2
-$1 q
= $1 each

6 Lipton Noodles
Reg. $1.40
Sale $1
-.75/2
=.63 each

3 Nature Valley Bars
Reg. $3.19
Sale $2.67
-$1q
-.60 cent q
-.60 cent q
=roughly $1.89 per box

2 Suave deo.
Reg. $1.19
Sale .99
-$1 Q
= FREE!

Cake mix
Reg. $1.99
Sale $1
-$1.05 q
= FREE!

Orange Juice
$1.39
-$1.39 q
= FREE!

BC Frosting
Reg. $1.89
Sal $1.50
-$1 q
= .50 cents!

Milk
Reg. $1.99
-PROMO (buy 3 N.V. bars get Milk)
=FREE!!!

Spent $11.95
Saved $21.64

~CVS Today~

Softsoap body wash
$4.99
-$4.99 ECB back
-$1 q
= FREE + made $1!

Softsoap refill
$4.99
-.50 q
-$2.00 ECB back
= $2.49

~.25 cents!~

Target:
Cheetos
$1.25
-$1 Target q
= .25 cents

Vitamin Water
Sale $1
-$1 q
= FREE!

CVS:
Excedrin
Sale $1.99
-$2 Q
= FREE!

~No Coupons this Sunday~

Just wanted to let you all know that there are no coupons scheduled for the Sunday paper on 4/12/09. Hope you all have a wonderful Easter Weekend!

~Kroger Deals-some FREE!~

4 Dole Fruit
Reg. $1.40
Sale $1.00
-.75/2 q's
=.63 cents each

Duncan Hines Cake Mix
Reg. $1.99
Sale $1.00
-$1 q
=FREE!

Diet Dr. Pepper
Reg. $1.50
-$1.50 q
= FREE!

Post Cereal
Reg. $3.59
Sale $2.69
-$1 q
= $1.69

Kellogg's Cereal
Reg. $3.28
Sale $2.19
-$1 q
=$1.19 per box

Dove Deod.
$2.79
-$1.50 q
-$1.25 q
= .04 cents!

Spent $6.63
Saved $15.40

~Excedrin deal @ CVS~

CVS has the Excedrin on sale this week for $1.99.
Reg. $4.99
Sale $1.99
-$1 q
= .99 cents each
I ended up using a $3.00 CVS coupon on top of it all and only had to pay
.96 cents out-of-pocket for 4 bottles.

Today we had to drop by Wal-mart after church to get some garden stuff. While there I picked up a couple of good deals and thought I would share.
Post cereal $2.24 -.55 q = $1.69
Apples sale $1 per lb
Strawberries sale $1.50 each
Kraft dressing $1.58 - $1.50 q = .08 cents each!

~Wal-greens~

Let me first start off by saying that no matter how long you have been couponing and making deals, you will still occasionally get tripped up. Well, today was my day at Wal-greens. I had an awesome game plan and then when I got up the register they would not take one of my q's and it threw me. They ended up voiding the transaction and starting over. By this time I had a very rude woman behind me and I'm not even sure how it all worked out. This is what I do know....
2 Visine Sale $3.99-$3 q= .99 cents (plus I got $3 RR back)
1 Colgate Total $3.49-.75 q = $2.74 ( plus I got back $3.49 RR)
Quatro Sale $6.99-$2 q-$3 q=$1.99
Quatro FREE (with BOGO coupon)
8 Mentos sale 2/$2 (used $1 q's) = FREE!
Excedrin sale $5.99-$2 q = $3.99 (this is what messed me up, I had a Wags q for $2 that they would not take along with a man. q of $2...So I really should have gotten these for $1.99)
TicTacs-sale .25 (had to add another item so that my q's would work)
After all of the confusion, I ended up paying $4.45 out-of-pocket. Still pretty awesome!

~I LOVE Clearance Items!~

I love clearance items because they are always such a nice surprise. Today, I took the Princess on our special monthly Mommy/Daughter Date and it usually includes us doing some shopping at Target. Well, today was no different. I found these Listerine Mouthwashes marked down to $2.48! I had seen them last week marked down to $4.99, I believe they are originally around $6.99 or so. So, getting them for $2.48 is a great deal. Then to sweeten the deal, I used (4) $2 off coupons. Which made them .48 cents each for the large bottles plus the bonus bottle! Now that made momma happy :)

~Sunday Paper~

There will be 5 inserts in your paper this Sunday, 4/05.
(2) Smart Source inserts
(2) Red Plum inserts
(1) Procter & Gamble insert

This would be a great week to purchase a double paper. Happy clipping!

~I would LOVE to hear from you!~

Please let me know what goals you have set and how much you are saving. I would LOVE to hear from you all!

Blessings :)