Hot Coupon world

Do any of you ladies know about http://www.hotcouponworld.com/forums/index.php?

This is a forum that has lists of all kind of grocery stores and drug stores. They tell you what is on sale and how to get a coupon or if there is a coupon for it. I love this site. You can find out what the deals are weeks in advance to you can purchase coupons for those items or print them off the internet. Please avoid some of the banter that goes on back and for and concentrate on how to get "the best bang for your buck."

Good luck and happy coupon hunting.

Expired Coupons

Thanks to the Happy housewife:

Do you clip coupons and don't know what to do with all of the expired ones? Coupons for Troops is a group that gives you a list of military bases you can send your coupons to.
Military Px's let solders and their families use expired coupons.If you would like to donate your expired coupons click on the link to find out more info.




http://www.ocpnet.org/

Round 1: Bicycle 1, Michael 0

Michael participates in the local playground summer program. Which is just down the hill from where we live. We live on a pretty steep hill. This year we decided Mike was old enough to ride his bike down the hill by himself. This morning we get a call from the park program saying that Mike was in an accident and he was being taken to the hospital. Which right beside the park. Thank Goodness.
He was going to fast and lost control of the bike and went over the handle bars. He crashed right beside where an ambulance was parked. Again Praise God.
So I jumped in the car and ran down to the hospital.Thank God nothing was broken. Just sever road rash. I mean severe.
I think there will be no more riding to the park this summer.
After we got home someone from the hospital called and said that they heard Mike was in a bike accident and he didn't have a helmet. I guess they have a program that provide free helmets and they wanted to give Mike a new bike helmet. So back to the Er we went for a bike helmet. So now we are back home to stay for awhile. Mike is watching a movie and resting. Hopefully this will be last of the excitement for the summer.

Uploading a video Question

O.K today I thought I would upload a video. It seems to be taking forever. How long should it take? Am I doing it the right way?
I click on the add video button. I chose the video off of my computer then I clicked on approve terms and conditions. After all of that I get the screen that says it is uploading.
I don't think it should be taking this long.
If any of you have any other suggestions. Please leave me a comment. Tell me what I am doing wrong.
Tata for now.

Are you all freezing?

Ok I thought this was suppose to be summer. It is so cold here. I remember last year I had my shorts out and was enjoying being outside. Not here! Not now! I took a shower, got out, then I stuck a pair of flannel PJ bottoms on with a long sleeve shirt. My fingers are ice cold.

Just thought I would update everyone on things that are going on around here now.
Yesterday I went to the ER. I was having severe pain in my lower back. Turns out I have a severe kidney infection. Antibiotics for me. YIPPIE :( Not really.

Mike is staying at his dad's this week. He is attending Boro Kids Wrestling Camp. It is a wrestling camp that is put on by Edinboro University wrestlers. He went last year and had a great time. Mike usually wrestles all year round. But with car problems he has slowed down a little. That is a good thing for mom. I kinda get burned out.

We just finished started with filling out papers for an Angle Flight for Andrea and I. We have an appointment to see Dr. Bober and Dr. Mackenzie at the Alfred Dupont center in August.
We are hoping that we get a definable diagnosis at that time. Although I am not getting my hopes up. I guess I am just use to the doctors saying they don't know.

Well that is all that is going on here. I hope that everyone is doing o.k. where you are.
Ta ta for now,

Barnes and Noble Free Book

Barnes and Nobles is giving away a free book to children that read 8 books between May 29 - September 2,2008.
Kids fill out a summer reading journal and tell their favorite part of the book.A parent then signs it when it is completed.
Then take it to your local Barnes and Noble store to get your FREE BOOK!
Go here to get your journal and to read all about it. http://www.barnesandnoble.com/summerreading/

You Child could be on the Cover of Parents Magazine

Thanks to Denise over at The"Cent"-sible Sawyer for this little info.

How it works:

Upload a recent photo of your child before June 24 and your kid could be chosen as one of five finalists, flown to New York City with a guardian and professionally photographed. The most gorgeous child of all will appear on the Parents November 2008 Cover.

Remember - Entries must be in by June 24th!!

Go HERE to get started or to read the official rules.

This and That

Just a reminder to get the Sunday paper tomorrow. There are some great deals going on at CVS this week. If you would like to see what is on sale so you can organize your shopping trip.Click on the shiny penny.Which will take you to Denise's blog. She has lists everything on sale and can tell you where to get a coupon for it.

A little update on the baby birds in the nest above my porch light. They have left the nest. I was quite bummed that I didn't notice them sooner. It would have been nice to enjoy them a little longer.Maybe they will be back next year.

Have any of you started a vegetable garden? We really don't have room for a big garden. But, I did manage to plant a few tomato and green pepper plants. My first batch of plants didn't take. They were quite dead when I bought them. I was hoping that they would come alive.Needles to say they didn't. So hubby stopped at a nursery and we bought.Two more tomato plants and three green pepper plants. They were already started. I had to stake up the tomatoes. That is how advanced they were. I am hoping they will produce veggies around the 4th of July. I will keep you posted on that.

That is all for tonight. Ta ta for now.

Look what we have!

About a month ago I noticed a robin had built a nest above my front porch light.Every time I looked there was no bird in it. So I thought I would take it down for Mike to take to school. So I unstuck it from it's spot. Well there were 4 eggs in it.When I took it down I kept hearing the momma bird chirping at me in the tree. I then carefully stuck the nest back where I found it. About 3 days ago hubby comes in and says," I think the eggs have hatched, I see 2 beaks in the nest."
Last night I tried to take a picture of them but, when I went to step down out of the door onto the step my ankle twisted and I fell on my face. It was not a pretty site. I laid there crying for a moment. Just as I fell a group of people were walking by my house. Do you think that they stopped to see if I was o.k. Nope! They just kept on walking. What is this world coming to? Where people don't check to see if you are hurt. I made it back into the house. laid on the couch for the rest of the evening. So, I had dear hubby take the pictures for me this morning. There were 4 eggs but I think only 3 of them have hatched.
Hope you have a great day and if you see someone hurt please stop and see if they are o.k.

New Look

I hope that everyone enjoys the new look. It took me some time to figure out how to do all of this. But I was looking at some of your blogs and they were so pretty. I was feeling a little bit jealous. I wanted mine to look pretty too. So when everyone went off to dream land. I decided to stick around and play for a little bit.

The dragonfly layout reminds me of summer. I hope everyone is trying to stay cool in this heat.
I hope that you all like the layout as much as I do. Ta-Ta for now.

It's Summer Time

I am home from a little trip. I went to see my family down in Emporium, Pa.It was just me that went. It was a little mommy get away. I so needed it . I was feeling a little burned out.
I went with my Aunt to a scrap booking crop. This was the first time that I have ever been to something like that.
I use to scrapbook a long time ago. I didn't have a digital camera and I would always forget to buy one of those disposable ones. So, needless to say I had very little pictures of my kids. Well for Mother's day hubby bought me a really nice camera. I love it. Now I have all of these pictures and I can start scrap booking again.

Has it been hot where you are? It is extreely warm here. 88 degrees. It isn't the hot that gets me it is the humidity. I can't seem to breath when it is like this. I want to turn the air on but DH thinks that I have to suffer. He doesn't quite want to give in and pay Mr. Electric Company. So I am sitting here dying not really but it feels like it. I was even feeling sorry for Andrea and put her swim suit on. Then I filled up the bathtub with cool water. She had the best time just swimming in there.
Mike was at the park. They have a summer program from 9-3. It only cost $5 for the whole summer. Lunch is included in the price. He has a good time going there instead of being home and bored.
What do you all do to beat the heat? I could use some cheap ideas.

Dont Forget!

Thanks to Denise at The"Cents"-sible Sawyer

Free Krispy Kreme Donuts Tomorrow!

Well, my southern sisters, Krispy Kreme is indeed continuing the tradition of Free Donut Day! There's finally something up on the website. Head to Krispy Kreme tomorrow, June 6, for a free donut of your choice. The kids will enjoy seeing the donuts being made. Yummm! Hot sugar and fat!

And: Join here and get a coupon for a free glazed.

What do you want to read?

I am sitting here thinking what you would like to read about? Do you want to read more about saving money, my family, tips on parenting, recipes, or free samples?
It would be nice to know what you all are looking for. Also I would like to know about how many of you actually read my posts. Just leave a comment below.

CVS Trip

Tonight I went to CVS to pick up some great deals that started this week. I will try to walk you through what I did to help my family save money.
Here is a picture of everything that I got.


I got all of this in 2 transactions.

My First Transaction:

The sale was buy 4 Charmin 9 packs or 4 Bounty
8 packs. Price was $4.69 Then get $10 extra care bucks.
I bought 3 Charmin and 1 Bounty.
I had 1/$1 off coupon for Charmin
and 1/$1.00 for Bounty. Plus I had $5 off $15
So it was

$4.96
$4.96
$4.96
+ $4.69
___________
$19.84
- $5.00 /$15
__________
$14.84
- $2.00 coupons
_________________
$12.84
- $10.00 in ECB I had from last time I shopped
_____________
Out of pocket I spent $2.84 Plus I got $10 in ECB To spend
for my next transaction.

TRANSACTION 2:

I found Head and Shoulders shampoo on the clearance rack for 58 cents.
I had buy 1G1 free coupons. They also had Pampers on sale buy $20 worth
and get $5 in ECB I had $2 off 2. Also, M&M's for $1.77 Here is how it broke
down.
3 Pampers Easy Ups $7.99 x 3 = $23.97
2 M&M's $1.77 x 2 = $3.54
5 H&S shampoo $ .58 x 5 = $2.90
Total:_____________
$30.41
- $5.00 $5/$15
Total ___________
$25.41
- $2.00 Pampers coupons
_______________
$23. 41 - $1.16 H&S coupons
- $1.16
____________
$22.25 - $10 ECB
OOP $12.20 Plus Get $5 in ECb Back

That is not bad for Diapers that will last me for 3 months. Because Andrea is Potty Trained during the day. She only wears 1 every night. I hope that I have given you some idea on how I save money. Now you go out and try to get some good deals for your family!

-

Menu Planning and Shopping.

Today is payday and that means in my house it is the day that I plan my menu for the next 2 weeks. I get my coupons together, and we go shopping. We only have 3 grocery stores in my town. We have a smaller scale super Wal-Mart, a Quality, and a Save-A-Lot. We call Save- a-Lot Save-a-Little in our house.
We save more money at Wal-Mart then we do a Save-a-Lot. Only because I cut coupons and Hubby gets a 10% employee discount. The only thing that we buy at Save-a-Lot is bread. It is only 89cents there and at Wal-Mart it is $1.27.
So here our menu for the next 2 weeks. For breakfast we always do cereal,Pop Tarts, or Oatmeal.You can have your choice of any of those. I don't usually make breakfast unless it is for something special. Lunches we either have leftovers from supper or we make sandwiches. Nothing fancy.
Then I sit down and I fold a piece of paper and make 14 blocks. I number each block 1-14. I try to make up 14 different dinner meals. If I get stumped which often time I do. I pass my sheet to hubby and he adds his two cents.

Here are our 14 choices of this week:
1.Stir Fry
2. Chicken nuggets, tater tots, and broccoli
3.breakfast for dinner. mom's choice (this was dad's idea)
4.beef roast, carrots, potatoes
5.sloppy joes, oven potato wedges, green beans
6.Taco night
7 pork chops,pork fried rice,and a veggie
8.chicken alfrado, vermicelli,broccoli
9.homemade chicken fingers baked, fries, and a veggie
10.spaghetti ,salad
11.Baked whole chicken, baked potato,veggie
12 bubble up pizza
13.Tuna noodle casserole
14 hamburgers,baked beans, macaroni salad

You do not have to make them in this order. But you have to make them all. No going out to dinner. This alone will save you money.
So off we go to the store where I go to the register and check out.
My total comes to are you ready $153.01 this is before coupons and discount.
After coupons and discount it comes to $131.19
That is a savings of $21.82
I have to admit that I cheated this time because I bought Andrea a Little Einstiens Movie. I just couldn't resist. So $14.95 was the movie. So if I subtract that from the $131.19. That comes to $116.24.
I take that total and divide it by 2 and that comes to $58.12.
So I am feeding a family of 4 for $ 58.12 a week. That is not bad my friend.
Remember next time you go shopping to think ahead make a list and don't forget your coupons. In the long run you can save tons of money.

No Coupons Today

Just a reminder.... There will be no coupons in todays paper. It is a holiday weekend. So Save your $1.50. You could spend it somewhere else.

Andrea's Field Trip to Pizza Hut

We have a Pizza Hut in our town. Andrea's class comes here every spring for a field trip. They get to take a tour of the back of the restaurant. Then they get to make their own personal pan pizzas.This field trip for Andrea ranks right up there with the zoo. We go to Pizza Hut every payday. She always yells pizza! Whenever we drive past Pizza Hut.

After Pizza Hut they walked over to the playground. This playground is new and was built just for the K4-K5 students. Everything is on a much smaller scale. Andrea loved it! She could climb on everything. Most playgrounds are really tall. Even though she is a dare devil and goes for things like that. I have to say that my heart always skips a little when I see her high up. I swear this child has no fear!



Here she is on the way to the Pizza hut. With her Dora sunglasses. So movie star like.



Here she is making her pizza.
Light on the sauce please.










Don't forget the pepperoni !







Waiting ever so patiently for my pizza to cook. Is it done yet?







Oh boy its done! Don't forget about saying grace.







The best part is eating it! YUMMY!










Then it was off to the the park to run and play.













Just another day with my friends. Now we are back home just relaxing and watching Wonder Pets. You just have to love Ling Ling, Tuck, and Lenny.

Free Samples and Coupons

Thanks to Denise at The "Cents"ible Sawyer for these free samples. You can get to her blog just by clicking on the shiny penny.


Free sample of Crystal Light on the Go HERE


Free sample of L.A.M.B. - Gwen Stephani's New fragrance HERE


Several COUPONS at Airwick HERE
Click on "money saving coupons" tab at the bottom
There are 5 pages of coupons on different types of items
Thanks to Jen for this tip!


Free ICED COFFEE at Dunkin' Donuts
Jennifer at Tavita's Purse said:
Every Thursday between May 15 and June 12, hop into Dunkin' Donuts for your free iced coffee! Don't forget to add a flavor. I'm not sure if this is working in all areas, so call first.

Steps 1 and 2 Coupon Clipping

Step 1: Of course will be faithfully getting the Sunday newspaper. If you miss it one week trust me you will miss out. Do remember that the Sunday that has holidays there are no coupons in the paper that week. Two weeks ago I didn't get the Sunday paper and now I regret it. It was the one with the P&G insert in it. That week there was huge sales at CVS for those items. To bad for me.

Step 2. You need to get yourself a something that you can organize your coupons in. I have tried many things. I tried one of those accordion folder things. I would stand in the isle forever flipping through it. Knowing that I had a coupon for something but couldn't find it. I would just give up and keep on walking.
A friend of mine bought a very fancy coupon organizer off of E-bay. I wanted one so bad. It was a 3 ring binder with pockets and it zipped up. Well I am not an E-bay person. So I invented one just like it. YOU CAN DO IT TOO!
Just go to the dollar store and buy a regular 3 ring binder. Then I bought the plastic baseball card protector sheets. You get 10 for a dollar at Wall-Mart. Then I bought some sticky labels. I put the pages in the binder. Then I made categories that I wanted to put my coupons in. Example:Breakfast,Frozen,Canned, Toiletries,Cleaning,Baby,and Candy/ Snacks. Then I just started putting the coupons in it.
I LOVE IT! I can see all of the coupons that I have. I am not wasting time flipping through that foldy thing. So now I am saving my time and money. Here is a picture of what mine looks like.















If you have notice the Cents-able Sawyer button at the top of the page. Just click on it and it will take you another blog. This Blog is awesome! She has great things to help you save money.Free samples and how to get the best deal at CVS.

Field Trip to Erie Zoo

Today we went on a field trip with Andrea's class to the Erie Zoo.
Here Andrea is waiting to leave the school parking lot. Anxiously waiting I should say . It is a hour long bus ride to the Zoo.







First we have to take a 1 mile train ride around the zoo with our class. Then we get to split up with our families and explore the Zoo.


















Here are a few pictures of our favorite animals.

Mr. Lion was very lazy today.
Every time we saw him
he was snoozing away. It took two tries to see the rhino. The first time they were inside their house. After lunch we went back to see if they came out. Sure enough they did.
It is to cold for some of the animals to be outside. Rosy the Gorilla was one of them. She looked so sad just sitting there picking her face.Because she was inside we saw her twice.Due to thecold outside Andrea's hands were red. So after we saw the rhinos one last time. We spent about 10 minutes inside with the Rosy and several other animals. It gave us a much needed reprieve from the cold.Those pictures didn't turn out.It was kinda dark inside.
The Kangaroo and Wallaby exhibit was so cool. You could walk through it and the Kangaroos and Wallabies were free to roam. Of course you couldn't pet them. But, it was neat to be up close to them. Only this rope was keeping them on one side and us on the other. There was a brick path that we walked on. They would jump across right out in front of you.

They also have a petting zoo. Unlike traditional petting zoos where you can feed the animals food. Erie has a bucket of brushes for the children. The goats really love this. This white one was adorable. I don't think he wanted us to leave him.
As the trip was ending we stopped in at the gift shop. Were Andrea picked out a baby giraffe. Back to the bus we went for the hour long drive home.