For Tyler

I had a request to post again, and to include this picture. I have not updated for a while because I have been too busy shopping. The above items (sorry about the poor angle, the other end of the table was full of scattered coupons) cost a total of $35.51. They would have cost $111.16 before tax. I took advantage of coupons, store rebates, Walgreens' Register Rewards and sales. I went to 5 stores in one big outing to save gas by planning my route and doing it all at once. I will not go into detail on what coupon I used and how each deal played out, but I will tell you what that $35.51 actually bought. Of the items on this list, 10 were totally free after good coupons.

4 boxes Liv Active Cereal
4 boxes Nilla Wafers (husband's one addiction)
2 pks. spaghetti
2 one pound pks of bacon
2 one pound pack of sausage links
2 pks Dove Chocolate
2 Act II Popcorn
1 Large J&J cotton swabs
5 Brownie mix
1 Tyson Fajita Kit
1 clear rinse for dishwasher
1 Rubbermaid container
1 Zantac
1 feminine product
1 qt strawberries
1 3 pk Trident
2 jars seedless jam
2 toaster pastries
2 3 1/2 pound peanut butter
1 vegetable oil
1 Bertoli Pasta Sauce pouch
1 Bertoli Pasta Sauce jar
1 6 pk root-beer
1 frozen hash browns
1 bby carrots
2 frozen peas
2 Ortega Taco Seasoning mixes


This does however take a LOT of work. I am finding that to do this well and consistently, I need about 2 hours a night for coupon clipping, organizing, research on the internet to see where the deals are, planning my shopping trips, pulling together necessary coupons, and actually shopping. I am not complaining. This is basically a second job. Many, many people who work in education moonlight on the side. I am moonlighting in my own home and making money by saving money. I can look at the above list and pick out about 10 (or less depending on what I pick out) of the 47 items and my $35.00 would have normally only gone that far. Now I have stretched our money further than i thought possible. I averaged about .74 cents per item, which would basically be a good deal on any one of them.

Today however, my mind must focus on the household . I must catch up on cleaning and organizing. I am behind in my coupon filing, and tomorrow is another day of coupons. The cycle continues.