MENSA here I come...

GRRRRRR! I am so mad at myself I can hardly stand it! For some reason, this whole couponing thing has been driving me crazy. I don't understand why I'm not saving as much money as other people who are shopping at the same stores and buying the same products. I guess it's my competitive streak. I have seriously been thinking about it since yesterday. Then it dawned on me as I was looking at my receipt the other day. When something is Buy One Get One Free, the second item isn't actually free, they just split the cost between the two. So if something is $3.00 and is B1G1 then they are both $1.50. I really thought the second item was free or cost $0, so I couldn't use a coupon on something that was free. So basically, yesterday when I went to the store, I got a TON of B1G1 free items. Almost everything I got was B1G1 free and I had a manufacturer's coupon for almost everything, but I only had one. I actually could have used two manufacturer's coupons for every B1G1 deal because the second item isn't actually free. If I had printed two of every coupon I could have saved myself another $40. Yeah, I'm super smart. I guess I'll know for next time, but I'm telling you, this is going to bother me for at least another week or so. (exasperated sigh)

Still not wowed...

I went to Publix today to do some grocery shopping. I tried to do better this time, but I still wasn't "wowed". I spent $84.58 and saved $40.12. I did learn that Publix takes coupons from Target, Kroger and Wal-Mart. I did not know this! I will make sure and check their coupons next time so I can save even more. Publix had a lot of B1G1 deals this week so I took advantage of those and I had some manufacturer coupons too. The best part is that I stocked up on a lot of things we use often like bread, taco dinner kits, pasta, ketchup and cereal. I'm going to keep at it :) I'm looking forward to the day I save more than I spend!

Coupons!

I spent $93.76 and saved $46.05.

I finally did it! I sat down on Sunday and cut coupons. I also went online and printed some from southernsavers.com and coupons.com. I like southernsavers.com because it tells you about coupons match-ups and weekly deals at grocery stores and CVS. I think that's where you can really save money. Everything in the picture is from CVS and Publix. I got $2 in ECB at CVS, but I'm going to save them for my next trip. Everything I bought had a coupon except the shampoo and conditioner. It was 2/$5.


Best deals today:

1.) Edge Shave Gel shaving cream was 3 for $5 at Publix which made them $1.67 each and then I had a manufacturer's coupon for B1G1 so they were $1.11 each.

2.) Publix had Huggies Little Movers on sale for $19.99 (76 ct.) and I had a $2.50 off coupon from the manufacturer. You also got free Huggies wipes (72 ct.) when you bought the diapers. I also had a coupon for $2 off Huggies wipes (320 ct.) So I got 76 diapers, 392 wipes for about $25.

I'm most proud of the fact that I did all this and had Finley with me. It was not easy because you have to take your time and make sure you're getting the right thing.

I wasn't wowed at how much I saved, but I'm going to stick with it and try to get better deals each week. I'd rather shop at Publix than Wal-Mart because it's so clean and the people are friendly and helpful, but in the back of my mind though I still wonder if I could have spent less at Wal-Mart...

War Eagle!

Last night we went over to a friend's house to watch the Auburn game. Eek! It was a nail biter! Finley wore her orange and blue and even screamed along with her Dada and Todd. She also had fun letting their dog lick the nipple on her bottle. She was giggling harder than I have ever heard her giggle. It was so funny I let her keep doing it :0 I hope everyone had a great weekend!

I could get used to this.

Now that we have a wonderful baby-sitter that we trust, Joey and I are free to have date night as often as we like!!! One of my sister's best friends, Sally, lives here in Huntsville and she has watched Finley twice for us and it has been so great. Sally said Finley was perfect. There was just one little problem...I gave Finley a bath yesterday afternoon so Sally wouldn't have to worry about doing that and I put her in a little cotton dress that I told Sally she could sleep in. At some point during the night, she took her diaper off which she has done before when she wasn't wearing pants. Needless to say, this morning her room reeked of urine and her bed sheet was soaked. Ew! I will not make that mistake again.



Last night we went to dinner at Connor's at Bridge Street Town Center over in Madison. It was wonderful! I had fried green tomatoes with Tasso gravy and cheese grits. Joey got fish and chips and we both devoured our meals. Those cheese grits were HEAVENLY! Then, as if that weren't enough, we shared strawberry shortcake with lemon cake and homemade vanilla ice cream for dessert. We could barely move!



Then we went to see Easy A. It was really cute and funny. It was a little slow during some parts, but overall I liked it. Joey, not so much. I wanted to see Going the Distance, but changed my mind at the last minute. We went to this movie theater called Monaco Pictures. It looked like a movie theater that would be in a city like Chicago or New York..not Huntsville. It was huge and had a restaurant and lounge inside. It has a huge lighted spiral staircase that took you up to private rooms where you can watch the movie and have dinner and drinks at the same time. The theater seats were really cushy and reclined really far back which was nice since Joey and I were so full we could barely stay awake. After the movie, we came home, watched Jersey Shore and collapsed into bed. It was the perfect date night. I could get used to this baby-sitter thing ;)

Words for Wednesday

My Juice Plus website is up!

www.elizabethdambrojuiceplus.com

You can go to my website to find out what Juice Plus is all about. I think I invited most of you to either my Healthy Happy Hour or my Wellness Playdate. If I didn't please let me know and I will send you an invite. At the Healthy Happy Hour we'll have wine, margaritas and healthy snacks and we'll tell you about Juice Plus and what it can do for you and your family. We'll probably show a short video that breaks down how Juice Plus is made and its benefits. After that we'll just mingle :) At the Wellness Playdate we'll give you all the same info. We'll also have healthy snacks and drinks for everyone and we'll let the kids play.

These Wellness events are very low key. My friend Tricia and I are not aggressive. We don't want to be "those girls" ;) We just think Juice Plus is awesome and want to share it. Just come and hang out! You will have fun, I promise!

Wordless Wednesday