Thursday, October 9, 2008

DIY Time


So school and cakes have totally swamped me and I've been MIA.  I have barely had time to go buy my newspapers and much less to actually do any couponing! I have done a few really good deals, but haven't posted due to time constraints and camera issues that discouraged me!  I've really been wanting to post some of my DIY projects.  I helped my cousin decorate her new apartment with little money to work from.  I think we made some pretty cute stuff.  One of my favorites is the large artwork project.  We kept seeing all of the cute art where they hung several square pictures in rows to form a large square.  It was way to much money to buy all of that, but then I saw this in the Michaels book.  Super cute, easy, and cheap!

You need 3 of the long sheets of styrofoam (about 12x36), 9 sheets of 12x12 scrapbook paper of your choice, matching ribbon of about the same width as the depth of your styrofoam, hot glue gun, scissors, ruler, fishing line (or something else to make the hook for hanging it up).  If you want to get a styrofoam cutter, it would be easier, but I just couldn't bring myself to buy one.  I just used a utility knife.

So simple!  Measure and cut styrofoam into 12x12 pieces.  Hot glue scrapbook paper over them.  Hot glue ribbon around the edges.  Hot glue fishing line to the back as a hanger.  DONE!  I even used t-pins stuck in the wall to hang them because they are so light.  Great for apartments where you don't want to leave holes in the walls!  You would be amazed at what those little pins will hold up.  Several of my regular pictures in my house are hung with these also!

Hope this project helps you!  Let me know what you think!





Saturday, August 23, 2008

Kroger Deals

Last week I was really sick with strep (yes, one week teaching and I get strep), but I had to go to Kroger to get my prescription filled and I had some coupons I was dying to use.  I also had gotten some Kroger coupons in the mail that were awesome, including a $20 in free groceries for a new prescription, which I can use up to 3 times!  That's $60 in groceries!  I ended up spending about $35 oop for $115 worth of groceries + the $25 prescription (which I had to have any way).  I was so excited.  I figured I probably wouldn't be able to repeat that, but I decided to try again this week.

I had to get another prescription, so I did another $20 off groceries coupon.  My prescription was only $6 this time, so I profited $14 by getting my prescription filled!

Here's what I got:

3 Kroger Spaghetti Noodles
Kroger Onion Soup Mix
Tortillas
Pace Pico de Gallo
2 Hunt's Snack Pack
Kroger Black Beans
Kroger Kidney Beans
Knorr Mexican Rice
Knorr Parmesan Noodles
3 Jello Pudding
Crystal Light
6 Kool-Aid
Wax Paper
Kraft Ranch Salad Dressing
Tide to Go Pen
Kroger Sugar
2 Suddenly Salad
Ozark Water
Kroger Cheddar Cheese
Kroger Parmesan Cheese
2 Nestle Cookies
Nerds Rope
100 Grand
Kroger Milk
Grapes
10 Lean Cuisine
5 Hot Pockets 
Mighty Dog Can Dog Food
Wheat Thins
Doritos
Santitas Tortilla Chips
Land O'Frost Turkey
4 Ball Park Franks
2 Sara Lee Hot Dog Buns
Sara Lee Bread

Total before Plus Card and Coupons was over $150 (can't remember with tax, etc.)
 Used:
$5 off $75 from entertainment book
$20 from prescription
$5 off for $20 Nestle Products
$5 off for $20 Nestle Products

Coupons: (my Kroger doubles)
$1 Pace (found on the salsa)
$.60/2 Hunt's Snack Pack
$.35/2 Knorr 
$.50/2 Suddenly Salad
2 $1 Nestle Cookies
$.55 Land O' Frost
2 $1 Ball Park Franks
$.50 Wax Paper
$.50 Tide to Go Pen
Free Crystal Light
Free Wheat Thins
Free Kraft Dressing
Free Sara Lee Buns
Free Sara Lee Bread
Free Can Mighty Dog Food

Total after:  $59.29
That's over $90 savings!!!

And between this and the meat from last week, we are set for at least 3 weeks including our lunches for school!!!  I'm so excited!

I'm gonna go try to make it to Walgreens to use my $5 off $20 purchase that expires today!!


Friday, August 22, 2008

Worst Day of My Life!

I don't even know where to start this...at 26 (27 in a few days!) I have officially had what I hope to be the worst experience of my life.  I can't imagine living with any worse guilt than I now have. To all you pet lovers out there, let me stop and say, this is gonna be terrible so be prepared!

Seven years ago, (while we were still dating) my husband feel in love with my grandfather's dog, a Jack Russell named Petunia (she was about 2 when we got her).  He would go out and see her before he even went in my grandparents house to see them.  He absolutely adored her.  He use to always tell me if Pa ever wanted to get rid of her, he wanted her.  One day he randomly told this to my grandfather, and Pa said you can have her.  So that was the beginning of the rein of queen Petunia.  

She went from living outside in the country to inside an apartment in the city.  House training her was a breeze and she was so smart, Matt taught her every trick you could imagine.  He took her everywhere, which was absolutely hilarious to see because he was an enormous lineman for a college football team and there he was at his fraternity flag football games with this tiny Jack Russell.  Everyone adored her, like no animal I have ever seen!

Long story, much, much shorter.  She has moved everywhere with us and been the most incredible dog you could ever imagine.  Honestly, I am not really even an animal person.  I would never wish harm on any animal and never let strays starve, etc., but I'm just not all lovey dovey to every animal in the world.  (no offense, i applaud people who are! i was just always scared of animals when i was little, etc.) Anyway, I LOVE MY PETUNIA!  Over the years, we have grown to love her like she is our child (since we don't have any).

About a year ago, she got pregnant and we were so excited to have more Petunias.  Unfortunately, she got extremely ill.  We lost all of her puppies, and were very close to losing her.  The vet recommended getting her fixed and said if she had puppies again, she would probably die.  Everyone, including ourselves, were just devastated to know that they would not be able to have a little Petunia of their own.  

Well, before we could afford to get her fixed, she decided to prove that vet wrong!  She had two more sets of puppies with absolutely zero problems.  All healthy and perfect!  We were so extremely grateful that God allowed her to bless our lives and so many other families with her babies!  We kept one puppy and carefully selected families for the other 7 boys (every puppy she ever had was a boy)!

Anyway, fast forward (approximately 10 months since the first surviving puppies were born) to this past Tuesday.   I'm out the door on the way to work, Petunia and Nitro (puppy) were on the porch and as I'm pulling out of the driveway I catch a glimpse of him and hit the brakes.  I felt the slightest bump.  My first thought was I had hit a milk jug or one of the many things he drags into our yard, then I thought, "oh my god, I have hit Nitro!"  I jumped out of my car, looked underneath, and no dog.  Thank you, God!!!  Then I heard a whelp, and went around the back and saw him running around just fine so I thought thank you, thank you he is ok.  Then I saw her, just laying there so still.  It had never occurred to me that I had hit her.  I started to scoop her up and fly to the vet, but after seeing her more closely, I knew there was no way she would make the 30 minute drive there.  She had almost no signs of being hit, but her little eyes said it all.  I dropped to my knees and screamed hysterically and held her while she died (only took about 2 minutes or so).  I told her how much we loved her and what an amazing dog she was. All the while begging her and God not to let her die.  I called my mom because I didn't know what else to do.  My husband was already at school and in class (they start much earlier than we do).  After many attempts at calling my husband, I finally had to call the office and have them tell him to call me.  So, I had to tell him over the phone that I had hit her and she had died.  The hardest words I have ever had to say.  To sum it up, he came home and my mom and step-dad came over to help bury her.  

I have never felt so badly for anything I have ever done in my entire life, and I hope I never do anything worse than this, because I don't think I could live with the guilt.  My husband (who NEVER cries over anything!) has cried every night this week and it kills me!  As if it's not hard enough to know that I killed her, I also see how much pain I have caused him and it is so hard to bare!  And then there's Nitro, he just cries and howls and whines for his mommy.  He has never been alone in his entire life and doesn't know what to do.  It absolutely breaks my heart.  He has to stay outside because I have a cake business and I cannot have an inside dog due to obvious health code reasons.

I know this is getting long, but I just needed to get this all out.  I don't know what to do!  Everyone keeps telling me not to feel bad because it wasn't my fault, it was an accident.  I know this in my head, but I can't get it through to my heart.  It just destroys me to know that the most incredible dog you could ever dream of died through me and that I have caused a horrible pain not only for myself, but for the man I love.  

Anyone got any advice on how to deal with this or lived through it???  I would greatly appreciate it.  Only nice things please, because I don't think I could handle anything negative!  Thanks!

I'm back!

Shortly after my last post (about loving couponing and the great experience I had), I had a terrible experience at the exact same store.  They were extremely rude and didn't want to let me use my coupons that were completely legit (from the paper, not internet) and were the exact same coupons I had used earlier that week.  I don't know what happened, but it left a sour taste in my mouth.  I have continued to coupon, I'm just not as pumped to go back to CVS.  I have returned a couple of times and it was completely normal, no fuss, easy, smooth transactions.  I don't know what happened before.  I have been doing a lot more couponing on my groceries since then and that is working out great for us.  I have started back to school (teaching) so my time spent on deal seeking is limited.  This is such a busy time of year!  Anyway, I hope to get back to some DIY stuff I had wanted to start posting.  I've done a few cute projects, but haven't had time to post them.  Hopefully, you will see them soon!

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Comedy in Couponing

Well...I've just started using coupons and already I've had my fair share of HORRIBLE experiences.  I actually try not to post too many bad experiences because I am an optimist at heart and don't want to discourage anyone from couponing because I love it.  It is super fun and helps my family (the best of both worlds).  My friends all make fun of me for being the crazy coupon lady who takes her binder of coupons in the store with her.  (But they don't seem to mind to much when I whip out a coupon for what they are about to buy or bring them free goodies!)  

Anyway, this week I actually had a lot of fun shopping at CVS.  Not only did my favorite cashier help me score some awesome deals (see it here), but I found a new cashier who I love.  This is great news because my cashier is leaving for college shortly! :(  

Well this story starts by me going in and looking at the candy isle (for my B1G1 Lifesavers).  I am quietly shopping, when out of no where this head pops up over the top of the shelves and says can I help you find anything?  She scared me half to death!!  She was really tall and really peppy, so something about her popping up suddenly just startled me so bad (and I honestly don't scare that easily).  We were both laughing so hard at how high I jumped.  I was so embarrassed for jumping and she was so embarrassed for scaring me!

So we finally stopped laughing and I got busy shopping.  When I got ready to check-out, I couldn't find my favorite cashier. Boo-hoo!  I go to my new friend, but I definitely have the "new check-out girl" jitters.  I start out with my "I am sorry, I have a couple of transactions and a lot of coupons" story.  And believe it or not, she was actually extremely excited that I had coupons! She goes into this spill of how she just started using coupons and how much she loves it!  Yeah!! I had a coupon for a One Touch that made it free and she could not get it to go through.  She tried and tried every way she could. I told her it was ok, I didn't have to have it.  I was just getting a back up for my grandfather.  Long story short, she took my coupon and the meter and told me she would have the manager make it work and I could just come by and pick it up later. How sweet is that?  

So I came back later to get it and of course had to do more deals.  While I was making my DVD (which my favorite cashier gave me a $5 off coupon for!) my new cashier comes up to do some deals herself.  After everything rings up, she digs in her pocket and pulls out this huge wad (and I do mean wad, like sweaty, crumbled up mess) of coupons.  I almost died!  (I mean seriously, how dare you disrespect those coupons!  Ha! Ha!)  I just had to help her!  I went to my car to get my binder that I just put together (yes, I actually left it in the car this time)!  I was so proud to show off my new baby! (Oh my gosh, I am such a dork!)  Anyway, I hope she got some good ideas to get herself organized and give those coupons the good home they deserve!

Before I left, she decided that I needed to start a local club and teach people how to do this.  I am no where good enough for that, but I thought it was funny!

(I got home and was telling my husband all of this and he knocked some stuff off of the table including a dime.  He just shrugged like "oops!"  I picked up the dime and said, "Are you just going to leave this here, I mean, this is highly valuable!  Do you know what all I can get at CVS with this dime?  At least 2 shampoos & conditioners, 3 sure deo, makeup, facewipes, toilet paper, soap, and some toothpaste!!) 

Want to read more fun couponing stories?  Check out the Tuesday Tee-hee at Moms Need to Know.  Add your own funny story for a chance to win a Coupon Companion.  

Hidden CVS Deal! Small Money Maker!

I have personally confirmed that this deal!  The ad states you must buy mascara and expensive eye roller and earn $10 ECB.  I heard the rumor that you could buy two mascaras (5.99 each) and the $10 ECB's would print.  Use 2 $2/1 coupons and it's a money maker!  Well, I was really nervous about this deal and didn't want to do it if it wouldn't work because I would be wasting my ECB's to pay for it and I still have mascaras from a couple weeks ago.  As I was debating if I was going to try, in walks my favorite cashier, who loves me and my couponing self.  I asked her if she thought it would work and she said let's try it and if it doesn't I'll refund you your money!  Yeah! I love her!  So I did it, and out pops my $10 ECB!!  So excited!  

Not only did she do this, she also gave me a huge handful of $5 off Kodak DVD coupons!!! Enough for me and everyone in my family!  I wish I would have gotten them earlier in the week because I could have shared them with all of you, but there is no way they would get there in time now!  Sorry!  Isn't it great to have a cashier who loves when we do this?  Too bad she's leaving for college soon!  I take her treats every once in a while and I told her she definitely earned some treats!!  

I'll list all of the deals she helped me do in a bit!

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

DIY Wednesday

I have decided to start doing a DIY Wednesday post weekly (I hope!).  I definitely believe in making anything you can instead of buying it.  A lot of things you see in the store can be made at home and usually pretty simply.  I love buying things at thrift stores and repainting them to make them new again.  I hope to show you some ideas of things you can create on your own at very cheap prices.  I would also love for you to share any DIY ideas you have or anything that you would like to create and are not sure how.  I will try to help you figure out how to do it.  I would also love any suggestions of what to write about each week.  Here are some things I have made myself and plan to share:  headboard, furniture, pergola, artwork, mosaic table, etc.