A Shout-Out to the Junction

In the midst of trying to keep my sanity today while wading through what seemed to be an endless sea of poo (literally and figuratively), I made a quick stop into Woodman's to pick up a few odds and ends to get me through until some good deals come along.  While there, I ran into a friend who initially gave me the silent treatment for turning my back on this grocery mecca....but he came around and we had a quick catch up where he confessed to me  he was angry about my affairs with the other grocery stores.

I have to admit...I do love Woodman's.  I love their variety and they do have really low prices....on items that you cannot find anywhere else or do not have a q for but are in need of.  When I wasn't couponing so religiously, I did all of my grocery shopping there.  I was still able to save money and use my q's without having to devote my normal 15-20 hours a week to couponing hardcore.  But Woodman's does have some major downsides to a couponer.  They only let you use one printable coupon for each like item and they don't participate in the Catalina programs....these shortcomings are what led to our separation, they just weren't giving me what I needed.

Since this break-up, my visits to Woodman's have become almost non-existent except for the occasional run in for a needed item on the fly or  a stock-up here and there on items I cannot find other places.  Because of all these reasons, my friend and I have lost touch....today I was verbally reprimanded (with a side of the stink-eye) for my lack of commitment to our weekly chats.  This person I am referring to is affectionately referred to in our house as "My Woodman's Boyfriend".  He has met my BFF and the hubs knows all about "the boyfriend" and is good with it too...when we shop together they even have a little chat...lol.

So I decided I would give a little blog love to Woodman's (even though I didn't really get any deals there).  I had to breakdown and overpay for paper towels...something I really hate to do but I ran out of my little stockpile yesterday and was in major need for some.  I NEED paper towels...and I don't like the cheap ones.  I have tried to use them, I really have, but they just stink.  I know paper towels are wasteful and bad for the environment...yada, yada....but I gotta have them.  They are a must for cleaning up after two messy boys and 3 puking, pooping pets.  While I know my couponing has come a long way, I still cannot seem to figure out how to amass basement fulls like all of those nutter-butters on Extreme Couponing.  Maybe one day I will get it...so here is what I picked up at the Woodman's for a total of $22.04 OOP:

• 2 gallons skim milk $4.98
• 2 cans La Preferida Refried Beans $1.78
• 1 Taco Bell Medium Salsa $1.99
• 1 package corn tortillas $1.29
• 4 Viva Paper Towels $7.16.  Used 4 .40/1 = $5.56 (even with the q's this is a bad price...but I had to cave...I was in need)
• 1 Digiorno Frozen Pizza $5.69.  Used FB printable $2/1 = $3.69 (it was a bad day and I needed a quick dinner for the kiddos)
• 4-2 Liters Dr. Pepper 10 $4.36.  Used 4 Get 1 Free q's = FREE

I saved a total of only $7.96 in q's....sad, I know:(  So, there it is...while the milk, refried beans and corn tortillas were a good buy there was nothing phenomenal here....sorry my Woodman's BF, it's sad but true. Your store just cannot give me what I need....but it was good to see you:) 

Random Deals and House Projects

I have been flooded with a sea of coupons to clip over the last two weeks.... especially since last week's paper had 7 inserts each and I had 12 papers...you do the math.  I think I have finally managed to catch up...thank goodness, because Sunday is right around the corner again.  Life has been pretty crazy around here and there seems to be an endless stream of  "to-do's".  We just finished giving our master bath a face lift and the on-going re-do of our master bedroom is almost complete...we just need to find a nice comfy chair for our little reading nook.  Here are some picks of our newly decorated corner of the world.

I would still like to put in some much nicer bath faucets and a new exhaust fan but haven't found anything I love yet so those remain until something strikes me. The bath also needs some more decor, but I haven't come across anything else that has wowed me.  My girly and I are off to the flea market next month, so you never know what I may find there:)

Those are my fabulous lamps on either side of the bed that I scored at Home Goods a couple of months ago...and they are still FABULOUS.

The bathroom face lift all started with this television and my saying, Let's repaint the bedroom.  When we (and I mean me) decided to repaint the bedroom, I wanted the TV mounted on this little wall.  But there was one problem, there was no stud to screw the mount into...so what do I do?  Do I move the TV to a different wall??  If you know me, you already said NO...and you couldn't be more right.  On the other side of this wall was the crappy medicine cabinet I told you that we pulled out and replaced with the hardwired, mounted make-up mirror.  It was the perfect, pre-existing hole to build out with some 2 X 4's to mount the TV to.  And then I figured while the wall already had a big, gaping hole in it we might as well do a little electrical work and that is where the make-up mirror came to fruition...it wasn't too bad (although the hubs may say a little different).  

But then I said, Well, we need medicine cabinets for all of our stuff since now we don't even have a small one....and you just know that under the cabinets is stocked with all of my little coupon goodies so there really is no extra room for the everyday stuff...the medicine cabinets were a must and I have to say they look fabulous and were worth all of the work.  We had to cut two holes in the dry wall after getting the giant 6 foot builder-special mirror off the wall in one piece, cut out parts of the exisitng 2 X 6's that ran straight through both of them and frame in two medicine cabinet openings.  

Then the existing vanity lighting that was there looked weird because there was only one fixture, so I said...You know, we really need to put in another fixture so that each cabinet has it's own fixture over it and it looks balanced.  But then I couldn't decide on fixtures so we (and I mean me) decided that we should put in recessed lighting over the vanity and that would solve that issue...did I mention how much the hubs just loves going into the attic to do projects...lol.  So a little more electircal work and poof....instant bathroom face lift.   That old, sterile giant mirror just screamed "Builder Special"...but we found it a good home a la Freecycle so no waste there....everyone wins:)

Oh....and I almost forgot the little toilet debacle.  While the hubs was on his way to Lowe's to pick up the recessed lights, I said I am going to change the handle on the toilet with a nicer one.  While doing this (what would seem to be a simple task) the toilet cracked...so we needed a new toilet.  The hubs was ecstatic about this one.  He finally got the "throne" he has been wanting...a dual-flush, chair height, elongated bowl.  I have to admit, it is quite nice and looks good too. I don't think he will ever let me "repaint" something again...next on the list is the down stairs powder room....I swear, it's just paint...well, and a new mirror:) 

In between these projects and all of the other things that unfold during a day, I have been couponing like crazy. I haven't had time to photo all of my little grabs...but I did take some snapshots of a few stellar finds at the Doms, Wal-Mart and Target over the last 2 weeks.  Target has been my favorite stomping ground lately as there has been a lot of clearance.

Here was my Doms/Wal-Mart/Target trifecta that I picked up on October 3rd:

My first stop was Doms where they were running a buy 8 save $4 sale:

• 10-2 Liters Cranberry Sierra Mist $14.90.  Saved $5.00 as part of the promo and used1 J4U q $1/2 and 3 $1/2 q's = $5.90
• 3-2 Liters Pepsi Max. Used 2 Buy 2 Cheetos get a Free 2 Liter of Pepsi Max and 1 J4U q for the same thing = $2.02 MONEYMAKER (the computer was handing out overage on this deal and who was I to say no??)
• 6 bags Cheetos snacks $11.94.  Saved $3.00 as part of the promos and used 2 $1/2 q's and a J4U q $1/2 = $5.94
• 2 gallons Skim Milk $3.98.  Used J4U personalized pricing for $1.99/gallon.

Total OOP at the Doms was $15.02 with tax and saved a total of 22.97 in q's and J4U savings.  Next stop was the Wal-Mart for a quick crab of some International Delight Coffee Creamer (I never thought I would run out of that...lol)

• 2 International Delight Creamer $3.76.  Used 2 printables .55/1 = $2.66

Last stop for the day was the Target for a free toy and some other dealios.  

• 1 Jean skirt on clearance for $6.24.  Used Target printable for $3/1 clothing item = $3.24
• 2 Revlon Nail Clippers $3.94.  Used Target Cat for $5/2 and 2 manufacturer q's $1/1 = $2.00 MONEYMAKER (no overage on the Target q, only the manufacturer q's)
• 2 cans Tressemme Hairspray $7.58.  Used q B1G1 = $3.79
• 1 Transformers Dark of the Moon toy $9.99.  Used printable $5/1 and Target mobile q $5/1 = FREE

I also saved $0.05 for using my own bag.  My total OOP was $9.20 and I saved a total of $20.78 in q's.  I went back the next day to pick up another free transformer and some more randomness and have gone back twice since for a grand total of 4 FREE Transformers...that's right, $40.00 worth of free toys thanks to coupons!

The next day I made another stop at the Target and picked up this tiny stash of goodies for a whopping $1.43:)

• 1 Merona t-shirt $3.74.  Used Target printable $3/1 = $0.74
• 2-4 packs Ocean Spray Sparkling Cranberry Juice $3.98.  Used 2 $1.50/1 q's from the MDA book I picked up from the Dom's a few weeks earlier = $0.98
• 1 Revlon Nail Clipper $1.97.  Used Target Cat for $2/1 and manufacturer q $1/1 = $1.00 MONEYMAKER  (no overage on the Target q, only the manufacturer q)
• 1 Transformers Dark of the Moon $9.99.   Used printable $5/1 and Target mobile q $5/1 = FREE

I saved another $0.05 for my reusable bag and my total OOP was only $1.43...$0.77 of which was tax:)  If only every trip was this cheap...I would have a lot more $$$...lol