Double double toil and trouble

So. I started responding to the question about coupons below, and my response got really long, so I decided to write a post about it.

I started off the morning by dropping by my newspaper guy. I got 6 papers and could have received more, but thought I should leave it for their other lady. I usually get the Press Tribune, and she gets all the statesmans. But there were only statesmans left. But there were so many left that the nice newspaper man split the pile and let me have 6 of hers and offered me 2 more if I wanted them! I like my newspaper man.

And I'm glad I didn't get any more than 6. I was really struggling with what to spend my Albertsons doubles on.

So after the newspaper guy, I went to Kmart. I went immediately to the cleaning isle because that was where the hot deals were. Cleaning products for 50 cents with coupon!! they were out of most everything, but I grabbed some lysol disenfectant 2/$9 and used my $2 off coupon on them (50cents!) and some lysol kitchen cleaner.

Btw, I will list coupons if I remember them. kmart doesn't put coupon details on the receipt.

Oh, and I don't want to forget, but the best way to determine if you should bother to stop by at all is to call ahead. Find out when the next truck will be coming and when the shelves will be restocked. If you are looking for specific items, ask about them.

Anyway, I stopped by the body care area and restocked on bandaids (paid a little over $1 per box) and found some great deals on deoderant and body wash, and other stuff.

Went and got some cereal where I discovered that they were running a General Mills promo. Buy $5, get $1 back, there was some other number and you got $3 back and finally, buy $20 and get $5 back.

I ran up to the front and confirmed that my store was taking internet printables and would double them. I would suggest confirming this before you fill your cart because sometimes a store will not follow corporate policy.

Here are my totals.

I ran my cereal first because the money back comes in the form of a coupon that prints after you pay (for use on your next sales order).

I spent $14.46 on 11 boxes of cereal and got a $5 coupon. so it was like spending 9.46 and less than $1 per box. Now these are the small boxes and if your kids eat a box in one sitting, it probably wouldn't be worth it to buy cereal.

Here is what else I bought - Remember, from memory, so I might get some things wrong (band aids, thought I paid more? can't remember the coupons...) because kmart doesnt have coupon specifics on their receipt, but I'll do my best.

olay body wash on clearance 2 @ 1/$2.99 (paid .99 ea)
Gillette combo shampoo/body wash for men - 2@ 1/$4.49 (paid .49 ea)
ponds face wash - 2 @ 1/$3.14 (I paid $1.14 ea)this was a splurge item for me.
Secret Deoderant - 3 @ 1/2.49 (paid .49 ea)
Gillette shampoo - 4 @ 1/$4.99 (paid .99 ea)
Degree deoderant - 3 @ 1/ $2.59 (paid .59 ea)
Suave shampoo & conditioner - 3 @ 1.79 (paid .62 ea) hmm cheaper at Freddies. whoops
Band aids - 2 @ 1/$2.79 (I think I paid .79)
flex band aids - 2 @ 1/$3.29 (I paid 1.29) they were Barbie :)
band aids - 1 @ 1/$2.59 (I paid .59)
band aids - 1 @ 1/$2.79 (I paid .79)
Lysol w/ bleach 4/1 kitchen cleaner - 3 @ 2/$5 (paid .50)
Lysol disinfectant spray - 3 @ 2/$9 (paid .50)

Paid $25.32. I challenge you to add this up and tell me if I remembered what I paid :)

Just don't forget that I have to pay tax on the whole amount before coupons.

Next I ran over to the Albertsons on 12th.
they made me run each 4 items as seperate transactions. Annoying, yes, but they could have stuck to the 4 coupon doublers per household per day rule and I would have had to sneak in several times to use up all 24 of my coupon doublers.

Here is what I got -

Finish powerball dish detergent. 3 @ $3 (paid $1.49ea)
Treetop 100% juice - 2 @ $1.99 ea (paid $1ea)

total was $ 7.10

next receipt
scotts bath tissue 1@ $2.15 (paid .15) was a 4 regular roll pack
Breyers ice cream 6 @ 2.50 ea (paid $1.50 ea)

total was $9.94

next receipt

Darigold chocolate milk 2 @ 1.25 (paid .50 ea)

total was $ .59

Next I ran over to the Albertsons over at Greenhurst. I could have stayed at the other store, but wanted to sit for a little (Tired by this time) and a change of scenery and get a bit closer to home since it was around 11am by this time.

this store was limiting you to 8 coupon doublers, and this cashier was making you run them seperately.

Here is what I got.

4 boxes playtex tampons 4 @ $3.50 (paid $1.50 ea)

total was 6.60

next receipt

Pringles - 2 @ 1.09 (paid .09 ea)
Kelloggs frosted flakes - 2 @ $ 2.50 ea (paid $1.50 ea)
playtex tampons - 2 @ $3.50 ea (paid $.50 ea)

total was $6.79

At this point I was tired and went home and cut my coupons out of the newspapers.

I was on a roll though, and wanted to get all my doublers done.

So I went back to the store with my last 7 doublers.

This time I got a cashier with an override key who let me run it all 7 as one transaction. YES!

Here's what I got -

Ritz bits - 2 @ $2.50 (paid $1.50ea)
Bliss easter eggs - 4 @ $3ea (paid $1 ea)
playtex tampons - 2 @ 3.50 ea (paid $1.50 ea)

total was $ 11.02

Then I went home and folded laundry for a few hours :)

My total spent today was $ 81.82

Considering that most days I spend nearly that much on groceries for a week, I think I did ok. I tried to stick with what we use, and only strayed to the dark side a couple of times (pringles and bliss candy). The things I spent a little more on like the ritz bits were for snacks at kindergarten, I felt ok about value for money.

$140.75 was the total I saved. So I should have spent roughly 222. I spend $81.72

Not a bad couponing day.

btw I'm tired of typing and reading and the kids are hungry so I'm not proofreading this. sorry :)

the worm

So tonight I went and dropped off some eggs at my sister AR's house. I also made arrangements with her to go to the KMART super coupon day tomorrow!!!

I'm just hoping there will still be stuff on the shelves.

Anyway, on the way home I saw a turtle sandbox that has been open all winter collecting snow that became water that became yucky yucky water (that I think is what made A sick BTW).

Anyway, I went and poured all the water out of it and leaned it against the pasture fence as a reminder that I need to disinfect it.

Well, underneath it was a big fat juicy worm. I couldn't just leave that chicken ambrosia there.

So I picked it up.

Worms are so slimy!! I dropped it 2-3 times and then finally cupped it in my hands. It was also very squirmy. It nearly squirmed out of my hands when I had to use a hand to undo the pasture fence.

Anyway it was so gross and slimy that I ran over to the chicken coup and dropped it in. Those chickens thought I had brought dessert. They fought over that thing like it was gold.

Pretty funny to watch. Almost worth the nearly throwing up that I experienced when handling the darn thing.

spring break

Is it wrong that the reason I'm looking forward to spring break is that I won't have to rush anyone off to the bus or go to preschool or anything!!! We're free!!

Oh, and Kmart is doing double coupons again and so is Albertsons!

Could this week get any better?

Oh yeah! No scouts!

I'm free!

We'll probably go to the library and maybe the park if the weather cooperates.

Hubby is home off on Monday so I'll probably do my couponing then. I won't have to take the kids and they won't get bored at the store. Besides, I can concentrate more when I don't have to placate them.

A couple of good coupon blogs I read.

athriftymom.com

krazycouponlady.blogspot.com

I'm still learning about coupons, so these blogs help me quite a bit.

I'm still not comfortable in Walgreens, and we don't have a Rite Aid anywhere near us, But you've got to start somewhere.

Charlie and the girls are doing well. Charlie has finally stopped the relentless scratching. At least, it seems like it since the bare spots where he rubbed his wool off on his back are growing back again, and no new ones have appeared. Crossing my fingers. I'm aiming for a late April, early May shearing.

I finally went through those last 2 fleeces. I haven't had any training in skirting the wool, so my attempts were poor. When going through the wool, I pull it apart so that when it is washed the water easily gets to everything. You see, a sheep's wool has lots and lots of greasy lanolin in it that has to be washed. Sometimes this lanolin is concentrated on the tips of the wool. It takes a lot of time to dissolve like that. So by pulling it apart and also getting rid of the worst bits of it, I'm able to wash it without going crazy and wanting to pull my hair out.

So now I have grocery bags full of stinky wool that needs washing. I guess I should do that this week as well....we'll see.

A was feeling yucky last night. She had a fever and a bad headache. I'm hoping that she'll feel better this morning. We've all had colds this past week, our fourth this winter. C and I take turns bringing them home from kindergarten and preschool.

Please!!!! Please!!!! teach your child to sneeze/cough/whatever into his elbow before they go to preschool and kindergarten. I've gotten 2 colds from kindergarten boys coughing in my face. You can only back so far away from them(The first was the Skylar cold, the 2nd was the Ernesto cold) and A has gotten 1 from Anderson in Kindergarten. I don't know where she picked up this last one.

Maybe we should go the Michael Jackson route and start wearing those face masks. :)

Speaking of Kindergarten, C is reading so well!!! I'm so impressed. Of course it helps that her preschool teacher had her reading. Starting out at the top of the class has really given her an advantage. And her teacher has been so helpful by continuing to challenge her.

Please! make sure your kids are solid on their letters and sounds before they start kindergarten. It will help them out so much!!! There are a surprising number of kids in C's class who are really struggling with identifying letters. I feel really bad for them because they are smart, but have had to start behind all the other kids.

The school is really good at working with them though. They have several teachers that give them one on one help. One in particular is specifically assigned the kindergarten.

I'm excited by this year's garden. Hubby has started to clear it out and we've started seeds inside. Now if only they would grow!! I don't think they are getting watered enough. But I don't want to water them to much.

The ward helped us get Mom and Dad's trees pruned. I'm so excited by the prospect of fresh fruit!!! Nothing makes me happier than a tree ripened peach or nectarine.

YUMMY!!!

And no goats to get out and eat the garden this year!!!!! YAY

Here we go again

so I haven't felt like posting lately due to the feeling of having way to many blogs to maintain.

One post for the personal blog, another post for the family blog. I was just feeling overwhelmed and not motivated.

So I am going to try for the easy solution. I'll post to the personal blog and then I'll edit it for the family blog.

I was going to make the family blog all sappy sweet and braggy. But I just can't do that. I'll figure it out. We'll see.

Well, I'm pretty sure that Charlie doesn't have scrapie. He is still alive and well and this has been bugging him for at least2 months. He is showing no other signs of scrapie.

So I'm thinking its a burrowing mite or something. But I can't treat it very well due to not being able to get the medicine through his wool onto his skin. Its called synergistic delice. Just had to say that. Synergistic.

Anyway, with all the warm weather, I'm considering having him sheared early just so I can save part of his fleece and treat him.

In the meantime I've got to to worm all the sheep and they all need a hoof trim. I'm just not sure how I'm going to get hold of half wild sheep. Charlie won't be a problem. I picked him up by his front hooves just the other day. It was kind of funny. He was taller than I would have supposed. I've just got to figure out how to get him on his tush.

I gave away 4 of my older chickens to a couple who just like chickens. They wanted them to raise chicks and play with their rooster. Seemed like nice people. Easier to give them away then kill them for the stewpot.

The cows are getting nice and fat. One more than the other. Though both are steer, one has horns and the other doesn't. I think it has to do with when they were fixed.

With the weather getting so warm, it has me thinking about yard work, pruning fruit trees, planting new trees, and lots of stuff like that.

I've asked the high priest group for help with pruning mom and dad's orchard. I'm glad they are willing. It will take a lot of weight off of the family. I'm going to have a hard time getting them out here to help with rearranging the sheds and cleaning them although they are all helping to mess them up and take things out without replacing it.

I feel a little like the little red hen. If you can't help take care of it, you can't have any. Is that bad?

I'm doing another powdered milk order. This time its much less stressful. The price is better and people who ordered before either didn't order enough, or liked it so much they told all of their friends and family about it, and they are ordering too.

So, after years of thinking about it, we finally broke down and purchased a flat screen tv. Hubby wanted a 42 inch, I said, maybe a 38 inch and after comparing prices and shopping around, we ended up getting a 32 inch from Costco.

We had to renew our Costco membership but for the warranty, we thought it was worth it. and it will be fun to have the membership for another year.

Hubby was thrilled and has proceeded to hook it up to the computer and now we can watch tv online. Its pretty cool.

I'm working on my 3rd pair of knitted socks. My first pair was a little short. They are ok to wear, but I would like a pair that fit well. So after making a pair for hubby (as requested) I'm now working on another pair for myself.

I've still got 2 fleece to clean from last year. I've got to get them at least processed before its time for this years shearing. I don't want to get to far behind. Also, I've heard that with time, lanolin hardens and is harder to clean from a fleece. Don't want to deal with that. Plus it kind of smells. :)