FREE Burt's Bees!!

Update: This link isn't working yet, I'll keep you posted on when it does!

Dont forget to head on over to
Burt's Bees to get your free sample!!

Saturday Savings Report

First and foremost... I did GREAT on groceries this week! It was one of the few weeks that all I bought was veggies, fruits and meats, milk and bread, and my one exception, a can of beans! I only spent $58.17 for a weeks worth of groceries! I did this at my usual three stores (Trader Joe's, Ralphs and Vons). I used only a handful of coupons at Vons and only used coupons for freebies:
-Starbucks icecream (pint) - Free Coupon from Facebook promo.
-Starbucks icecream (single serve) - these were on sale $10/10 so I used the $1/1 from the 6/21 SuperSaver insert.
-PopTarts - Vons had a coupon in their weekly ad that marked them down to $0.99 and I used this printable MC which doubled to make this item free.

Target wasn't as exciting this week. My particular store didn't have a lot of items that I could get for cheap or free. Regardless, I didn't leave empty handed! That would've been terrible!! I bought some Irish Spring Bodywash and a can of Venom, Black Mamba Energy Drink.

Total spent at Target = $0.14!

Most of my deals are coming from Rite Aid this weekend. Check out Coupon Cravings Blog to see some of the deals I'm planning on taking advantage of!!

Freebie Friday!!

Freebie Land was a bit stingy on us this week. This is what I have so far, but check back later for any updates! I promise, I'm going to go to the ends of the earth to find more freebie goodness! No, freebie greatness!!

-Burt's Bees, ON MONDAY!!
-Nutland Crunch
-Honey Nut Cheerios, sample and coupon!
-Chiquita Bites, single
-Pregnancy Planner
-Passport to Your Health Organizer
-Sarah Jessica Parker Perfume
-Vita-Spelt Pasta, free 4 oz. sample from Purity Foods when you call 1-800-997-7358, ext. 210. It's an automated call and you'll just need to leave your name and address.
-Scope Outlast Sample Kit
-Carefree
-Kotex Overnight
-Glade, Fall Into Fragrance Gift Pack

Free After Coupon:
-Use this coupon to score Sharpie Accent Highlighters for free at Target or CVS (they are on sale for $0.99).
-Everyone's talking about it! Target has Pepperidge Farm cookies in the Dollar Spot. Use this coupon to enjoy free cookies! You should be able to print two!

What I've Been Up To.

I have been a busy, busy momma bee... let me tell you! This week I have had so much motivation and energy, I don't know what's gotten into me! You'd think I was in my 2nd trimester! (...and I'm NOT EVEN PREGNANT!!) ...or am I? Just kidding... definitely not! My sweet almost 7-month baby girl is enough to keep me entertained for years!

So what HAVE I been doing, you ask??

Remember I mentioned that I wanted to start making baby food with any leftover produce that I had in my fridge?? Well, I followed through with last week's produce leftovers and made carrots, bananas and mangoes. I was SO excited at how easy it was, I decided to incorporate fresh veggies and fruits in my grocery list. (Speaking of groceries... I did AWESOME this week! ...WAY under-budget, but I'll talk more about that in my Saturday Savings Report). I've been making baby food ALL week!! Well, at least one fruit or veggie everyday. I don't have enough baby food jars to make everything at one time. Any ideas on where to get some baby food jars? I've made squash, carrots, pears and peaches and I have sweet potatoes sitting on my counter for later this week. I've been referring to Wholesome Baby Food (dot) com for basic purees... and they have some fancier recipes too!

Second, I've been creating my own coupon database. There are some really great databases out there, such as Coupon Mom and the Krazy Coupon Lady, but there's nothing like your own database, right?? With my own DB, I can input any mailer coupons I receive or any local store ads or local business coupons. This will be helpful for any of you Southern California couponers out there... anyone?

Third... been chasing around my sweet baby girl! Phew!

One final project I'm in the process of is organizing Baby Girl's clothes! She has a whole lot of clothes that she has outgrown!! :o( I need to finish organizing that... store what I want to keep, and giveaway what I don't want, etc. etc. etc.

That's what I've been up to... how about you?

Did you know... ??

Recently I discovered that you could cut a green onion down to the bulb and if placed and kept in water, the greens would regrow!! Over and over again!! I tried it and have had green onions since! I am especially excited about this because green onions are like herbs... you buy a bunch at one time and always use just a little bit, throwing away most of what you bought! Never buy green onions again!! Grow your own!!

Light My Fire Fragrance Oils & Warmer

Nicole's Nickels is giving away to one lucky winner three fragrance oils of their choice!! I'm in!! To enter, you MUST go to the Light My Fire Candles website and leave a comment on Nicole's Nickels blog telling her which three (3) fragrance oils you'd choose (from the over 160 scents available!) if you won. Make sure to leave your email address!! Good luck!!

Deal Alert!!

-Living As Mom posted... Free eBook!! Download Colum McCann's new novel, Let the Great World Spin. This opportunity is only available until 10:59 a.m. ET Wednesday, August 5, 2009!!

-$0.01 Sharpie pens at Office Max!!
Only through August 8!! 3 per customer.
Print coupon here.

-Read this article from All You Magazine (written by one of my favorite bloggers, Coupon Cravings!!) to find out how you can score a ton of free school supplies. Hurry!! Some deals are only good through TODAY!!

Menu Monday

Today is the first day implementing my Envelope System budget! I actually only allotted myself $90/week for the month. That's $10 short of my previous budget. I can usually make it on $80/week, but then again, don't usually include any baby food in that number. I think I should be right on Target.

My menu last week was amazing!! Everything was scrumptious!! My favorite dinner being the Skillet Lasagna! Delish! I didn't make the Veggie Fajitas because I had so much leftover chicken from the Sticky Chicken, that I decided to go ahead and make the fantastic Fajita Soup that Makes and Takes recommended. I even fried my own tortilla strips! Thanks again Makes and Takes!

Here is my menu for this week:
Veggie Fajitas. Beautiful Red, Yellow, Orange and Green Peppers that I bought last week. I cut them into strips already and stored them in the freezer. Makes for a quick fix! I'll also throw in some onions, garlic and pinto beans.

Pan Roasted Chicken. This is a recipe that I got from Martha Stewart. It is one of my favorite chicken recipes! I tried to find it on Martha's site but to no avail. It's basically grape tomatoes, capers and olives cooked in olive oil in a large skillet and later roasted in the oven. The way these flavors unite is amazing!! If you'd like details on the recipe, feel free to shoot me an email!

Cheddar-Topped Shepherd's Pie. Another great recipe from Martha Stewart!

BLT's. Yep, I said it. Good old fashioned Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Sandwiches. Scrumptious!

Mini Pizza's. I have plenty of leftover ingredients from last week, making these PLUS they are so fast and easy to make after grocery shopping. Yes, this will do!

Off to the grocery store! Bon Appetit!!

August Goals!

Now for my August Goals:

First and foremost, the thing I'm most excited about is The Envelope System. This system really makes sense to me. I'm gonna give it a shot for my grocery/toiletries/eating out budget. I'll start with this budget.

• $360 - groceries (including food for Macy)
• $50 - toiletries (including diapers)
• $50 - eating out (splitting meals and drinking water really makes eating out affordable for us!)

Start my herb garden already!! Herbs are so expensive and I rarely ever use them all when I buy them. Not only is growing your own herb garden economical, it's pretty too!

Baby food. Be consistent in using any produce I'm not going to use to make baby food.

Finish my crafts! I have several crafts laying around the house that I started and never finished!! I have some new things that I want to make, but I want to finish what I've started before starting on something new!

Wake up earlier. I am blessed to have a 6-month that likes to sleep in just as much as me. But these 10AM sleep-ins are such a waste of time! With my sweet baby girl sleeping, I could get so much more done in the mornings!! Early to bed, early to rise!!

Saturday Savings Report!

I did most of my bargain shopping exclusively at Target this week! And am pleased with my results. This is what I got.
Again, two transactions this week so I could immediately use my gift card that I received for the Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Shower Cleaner.

Transaction #1: $6.65
The Scrubbing Bubbles Cleaner was regular price at $12.99. I used this $7.00 OFF coupon paired with a Target $5.00 Gift Card reward (for the purchase of this item) coupon found in July 26 Smart Source insert.

Transaction #2: For everything else, I paid a total of $8.11!!
-The Cranium games were on Clearance for $7.22 and I used 3 Hasbro Target coupons for $5.00 off each game.
-Most single serve cereals are regularly priced at $1.00, so if you find a $1/1 coupon, you can get these for free. Here's a $1/1 Target coupon for Kashi cereal. Hurry! This coupon expires August 8th.
-PopTarts are priced at $1.52/box. I used two $0.75/1 Target coupons paired with two $0.55/1 coupons and got both boxes for $0.22/ea. Please note that the manufacturer's coupon is specifically for the Blueberry Muffin variety.
-I took advantage of the free Aquafresh sample that I mentioned on my Freebie Friday! post. I actually made money on this one. It was priced at $1.07 and the coupon took off $1.25... sweet!!
-For the Kotex Pantiliners I stacked a $2/1 Target coupon (July 26 SmartSource insert) with a $1/1 coupon (June 14 Sunday coupon insert) or printable coupon here.

Total for everything: $14.76!! Not bad...