Life has been crazy busy around here lately....the boys both started school, and the deals have been PHENOMENAL. I have been getting a lot of little mail goodies too!
I have a ton of stuff I want to blog about, so hang in there. I am still here just dying to brag about all of my little finds. I am hoping to spit out a few in the next couple days...and hopefully I will have the time because the hubs is on vacay:)
Here are the inserts from today's papers that I have to get to clippin'..there's only 55 to go through...so that should take me no time at all...lol, yeah...right. Let's just hope they all fit in George's Wallet...we may be reaching explosion capacity before the night draws to an end.
It happened. What I feared but always hoped would never occur...it happened. Only a week after I talked about George's Wallet and a possible explosion, my fears came to fruition and I lost my q's right outside of the Meijer on the sidewalk. The only saving grace that kept me from going over the edge was that there was virtually no wind that afternoon, so I was able to rescue all of my little friends and bring them back home. On a side note, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the people that stepped over me (as opposed to offering to help) as I picked up all of my q's, purse and shopping totes....I couldn't have done it without them.
George's Wallet after the fall...could have looked worse, right?
The coupon explosion was just the start of a stinky shopping day at the Meijer. I had coupon issues galore and a whole host of bad looks from my fellow shoppers. The only light at the end of the tunnel was my favorite 10/$10 get the 11th free sale that Meijer rocks every so often. By the time I got home, I was so flustered that I immediately put all of my hard earned goodies away before I could photo them. So you will just have to read the details this time:(
Transaction #1:
2 boxes Pizza Rolls $2.00. Used mPerks .40/2 and printable .40/2 = $1.20
4 Old Orchard Frozen Juice Concentrate $4.00. Used mPerks $1/4 and printable $1/4 = $2.00
5 bags Meijer Brand pretzels & cheese balls $5.00. Used cat for $3/$3+ salty snack purchase that I got from a previous purchase and $1.00 off for the buuiyu 10 get the 11th free = $1.00
Transaction #2:
4 packages of ground beef $11.38. (Fresh ground Angus was on sale for $1.87/lb....a really good price)
1 lb Krakus Deli Meat $4.19
2 lbs red grapes $2.18
1 tub sour cream $1.39
2 rolls Jimmy Dean Sausage $5.38. Used $1.50/2 = $3.88
8 Land O' Lakes Cinnamon & Sugar Spreadable Butter $12.00. Used 8 $0.75/1 = $6.00. (Butter freezes really well, and for this price I stocked up because this is YUMMO on toast, pancakes and waffles)
14 boxes Pizza Rolls $14.00. Used mPerks .40/2 and 7 printables .40/2 = $11.50
2 red bell peppers $2.00. One is an 11th item = $1.00
4 Old Orchard Frozen Juice Concentrate $4.00. Used mPerks $1/4 and printable $1/4 = $2.00
1 Celery $1.00
A little FYI about Meijer's 10/$10 Get the 11th FREE sale...it does matter in what order you ring up the items, this is why I always do self-check on this sale. I want to make sure that the 11th item I am scanning is one that I do not have a coupon for. That is how I got the bread and the pepper for free.
I spent a grand total of $54.96 OOP. I saved $86.88 in q's, store q's and store promos...I am pretty happy with that since I picked up a lot of meat. Now I just need a good chicken breast sale so I can restock that.
I came home and set aside my q's for two days...I just wasn't prepared to tackle the giant mess that I had made of George's Wallet. But yesterday I knew that I would have to tackle the task because there would be a ton of new friends waiting to join them this morning.
I had to resort every q back into the right categories
...And decided to sew the button back on after learning a lesson a hard way
So I am now reorganized and ready to add in all my new little goodies...time to get clipping.
I have finally caught up on clipping all my q's from the past two weeks....just in time for my weekly Sunday installment...and my organizer is starting to look like George's Wallet again. I have already popped off the button used to secure the top, leaving my organizer susceptible to an explosion. I really need to fix that before the worst case scenario happens and I end up in a rubber room...losing all my q's could definitely lead to a major breakdown.
Here is what G.W. looked like when I first got it and loaded it with all of my little friends:
It was full....but I could still wedge my fingers in to pull out my favorite paper dollars. Now, it's getting REALLY tight:
I really gotta sew that button back on...
So my bestie and I are off tomorrow for some sushi and a Lifehouse concert at Ravinia. I am so excited!!! In case you've been on another planet and didn't know, I LOVE LIFEHOUSE. My BFF and I were supposed to go together last November and see them, but unfortunately she missed out. Not this time...we are Lifehouse-bound and are going to enjoy a girlie day together complete with our favorite meal...SUSHI. I will leave you with one...ok, two of my favorite Lifehouse tunes.
Spin (Live)
Broken (Live)
Monday it's back to couponing as usual...have a great weekend!
My new companion-in-couponing finally arrived on Saturday. I knew about its arrival thanks to the wonder of package tracking. I was giddy with excitement as I ran up to the mail box to greet my new love....picture Ralphie in A Christmas Story as he rushes to the mailbox to get his Little Orphan Annie Secret Decoder Pin. I snatched the envelope out of the mailbox and tore it open, adrenaline pulsing through my hands and a huge smile upon my face. I had waited for this moment and it had finally arrived....I could now fit all of my lovely little friends together in one highly organized organizer...life was good.
Here is my new partner in crime brimming with coupons:
Here is what it looks like with the top flap closed:
I found this beauty on Etsy at Glowgirl Fibers. A wonderful lady named Deb designs and makes these little gems and will even customize them if you need her to....and I did, as the standard width for this design was only 4 inches and I needed 6 inches. Make sure to check her out!
I carry two coupon organizers with me. One is a larger one that holds all of my manufacturer grocery coupons and the other is a smaller organizer that is split into stores I shop at regularly with two dividers for other random store q's (never know what you will need so I pretty much save anything that looks remotely appealing).
My smaller organizer is great for stashing the q's I am going to use on my individual shopping trips. I am pretty methodical about making sure my coupons are pulled and coordinated with my list before I walk into a store to snatch up some deals and get my fix. I don't want to have to fumble through George's Wallet at the check-out and risk missing a q because I didn't see it or the kiddos are running a muck. This helps me minimize spending errors (something I HATE) and keeps the shopping moving pretty quick. But sometimes even the best laid plans can fail and a q gets missed or my calculations are off.
This was George's Wallet as you last saw him:
He was on the verge of popping a stitch and exploding everywhere...so I decided to upgrade to a small box...
It looked big enough in the store (it is 4 1/2 inches wide on the bottom)...but when I got it home and loaded it up I couldn't get my fingers in there to pull any of the coupons out...and I still had a stack on my desk to tuck away with all of my other little friends. I hated to admit it...I needed an even bigger organizer.
As anyone else in my situation would do, I took to the streets looking high and low....ok, ok...so I went to goggle and typed in "coupon organizer"...but I still couldn't find anything. Then I came upon Etsy.
I think I may have found my coupon soul mate....hopefully it will be as fabulous as I envision it to be...I found a fellow coupon lover with sewing skills to boot that is making me a custom organizer as I type this. I can only hope that 6" is wide enough (the hubs told me to go 6 1/2...so if it is too small I am gonna hear about this forever).
My mail order companion should be arriving soon...Stay tuned to see how our story unfolds:)
I think Sunday is my favorite day of the week. Not because it is a family day or a day to relax (although those are close to the top), it is the day the coupons come. Yes, I really do get THAT excited! And why wouldn't I? Someone is throwing a couple of hundred dollars at the end of my driveway. That's how I look at coupons. If someone was printing dollar bills in the paper, wouldn't you cut them out too??? It's the same thing. I am also lucky to have several neighbors who help pacify my coupon addiction by giving me their coupon inserts as well. So every week, I get between 7-9 copies of each insert. Sound a little much? Maybe...but I am happy to report that I am nowhere as crazy as those couponers on TLC's "Extreme Couponing". They give us couponers a bad name...but I am sure I will rant about that in a later post:)
So before I can even start clipping this weeks goodies, I need to purge my coupon organizer to make room for all my new little friends. This is what my organizer looks like after the purge and before todays clippings.
If you are a Seinfeld fan, I like to call this "George's Wallet". I can only hope that it doesn't explode on a street corner and spew all my little friends into an oblivion, that could be cause for a mini-meltdown.
Since we are talking about min-meltdowns, my newspaper carrier has failed to deliver my second (yes, that's right...my second) Tribune this morning. I have now called three times and yet no redelivery! I think I may need a drink to calm my nerves...LOL.
Now, back to rounding up my little friends and planning our weekly field trips.
