Saving Money - Stocking Up

What Great Deals we have this week at Fry's!

I decided to buckle down and devote some time to my couponing to stock up on everyday items to save our family LOTS of money!

A few ladies at my work meet once a week and we swap coupons. It is great and I often get what I need and stock up on coupons for multiple purchases.

I made a quick stop at Safeway to get 6 items that I had matching coupons for that gave me a great deal and then I did the bulk at Fry's.

Here's my stash! $187.26 worth of products. I paid $41.11 with a total savings of $146.15.

Most of the items are every day products that we all use and most of these products I can stock up on without them going bad.  Here is what I bought:

• 4 - 12 pk. sodas
• 2 1/2 gallon ice cream
• 4 Colgate Toothbrushes (Free)
• 2 Colgate toothpaste
• 2 Crest Vivid Toothpaste
• 4 L.A Product Hair Gel (Free)
• 3 Febreeze Room Sprays
• 2 Febreeze Air Set and Refresh (Donated to Science teacher for class)
• 2 Dawn dish detergent
• 1 Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing
• 1 A-1 Steak Sauce
• 1 Heinz Ketchup
• 1 Mezzetta Peppercinis
• 10 Gillette Shaving Cremes
• 3 Gillette Men's Body Wash
• 1 Old Spice Body Wash
• 6 Old Spice Deodorants
• 8 Secret Women's Deodorants

Preparing to organize. I am slightly over the top with making things look organized.

Our stockpile of deodorants.

After seeing this picture I decided I really need to make all my labels match. I know I have a problem.

So here's the deal.  Get your Sunday paper every Sunday. Cut all the coupons out even if you are not going to use them this week. You never know when it will go on sale and you might be able to get a great deal before they expire.

If you haven't seen this blog I did on coupons and my binder check it out Here !!

So after I got everything organized last night I took an inventory of what we have on hand.  You might ask what someone would do with all of this stuff? Well, we donate some to the school, soldiers, and we do Christmas Angels at Christmas and make their stockings so we also put goodies in their stockings like I would my own kids.

I LOVE saving money but getting to also give back at the same time.  Take a moment, check with your friends, co-workers, and family to see if anyone would want to do a coupon swap with you!

Also, keep your eye open for peelie coupons, tear pad coupons, and often times different stores will have different booklets that also contain coupons.

I found this coupon book at Fry's yesterday while I was there. I picked up a few and the coupons are manufacturer coupons so you can use them at other stores. PLUS they don't expire until 12/31/12 so I can hold on to them and wait till the best sale to get the most savings!

Couponing can be confusing and it can seem overwhelming but I promise you the more you do it the easier it is to navigate. Give it a try and you will be amazed at how much money you will save your family!



I am Here to Ruin Your Life!

Seriously?  I think my kids really think I am here to just ruin their lives some times!

I know it is constant for most parents and we have only just started the teen years!

I often think about these parents that I think honestly are lazy. They aren't involved, they aren't providing much guidance, the kids are just running around doing whatever they want to do. I wonder if this is nice for the parents?

Seriously, on one hand I know I would be miserable but to just ignore everything and pretend you don't hear things or see them doing things they shouldn't be doing.

Oh well, that isn't me or my hubby.

It does seem to be constant. For instance, my oldest wants to take whatever birthday money he gets to buy a new BMX bike. BECAUSE the one he got less than 2 years ago for Christmas isn't the kind that he wants now. Granted we did get it from a used sports store it is still a nice BMX DK bike.

What's the harm with wanting a new bike you might ask? $450.00 that is the problem. He is looking at bikes to the tune of $450.00! AND by me trying to ruin his life and not let him blow his money (even if he got even close to that amount) I am going to ruin his chances of EVER going pro and getting sponsored! I am a horrible mother apparently!

I totally understand wanting something new or more appropriate for what you want. I told him that regardless of how much money he gets (I wish I even thought I might get $450 for my birthday!) that he had to work within a budget and stay under $250.00 because he will want other things and he needs to have his own money to buy other stuff with.

Come to find out that his DK frame is a bit smaller than what he thought. So now he is on a mission to update his bike with new wheels, tires, and all this other bike stuff that I am clueless about. But one thing I do know is he is under budget on his wish list.

I may be a dream crusher.... but I guess I am doing my job?

But I am sure both my kiddos think I am here to ruin their lives.

Payment for Grades?

Do you pay your kids for their grades?

I use to be very torn on this subject but I had a therapist (yes,I work the field of mental health) tell me that kids are like adults, we are ALL motivated by Money!

After she put it like that I thought that is so true! I love getting a bonus at work (I wish that happened more often) so why wouldn't my kids like to get a bonus for getting good grades?

We do tell them that school is their job right?

I still have slightly mixed feelings about it because it is expected that they will do their best in school and achieve the best grades possible without having any sort of incentive other than not getting grounded  doing their best.

I guess a little external motivation never hurt anyone right?

So normally this time at the end of the school year I find myself calculating how big of a dent it is going to be on my wallet! 

I pay $10 for each A.

$5 for each B.

Nothing for a C

You owe me $5 for any D's

You owe me $10 for any F's and watch out!

Do you pay for grades? If so how much do you pay for an A? B? 

Car? Truck? Spoiled? I need help!

So I am a super lucky woman! I know that I am lucky, fortunate, and very blessed with all the things I have in my life and I am SO the luckiest to have my kids and my man! 

However, sometimes a girl needs wants to have a little something new! My husband and I have been debating getting a new vehicle. Now, we are really striving to keep our financial house in order. We feel like we do pretty good (I won't go all into that now maybe another blog later). But we made one decision that wasn't in our nature but we were stuck in a hard place. So currently I have a 2008 Red Jetta -

OK so this isn't my actual car but looks just like it - you get the picture!

My Jetta is paid down to where we are barely upside down on the loan (remember I said that we got into a spot before that we normally don't - so we are upside down). However, I have been making extra payments whenever I can to try to get it at least even with the market. So my car is 3 years old and I have 75,000 miles! Yes, high miles but up until 6 months ago I was driving 60 miles round trip just to work!

My husband has a 2004 Ford F150

Again - not our exact truck but pretty darn close!

(again - I know we are so lucky to have 2 super nice vehicles - so don't be going and judging me because I want something new lol! - well judge away I guess but still doesn't change I want something new!)

Now his truck is paid off but has about 108,000 miles on it. We have always said we don't want more than 1 car payment and we are actually trying to get to a point where we will not have any payment for a few years since we will have teenagers coming up in the next few years.

He has mentioned a few times about getting me a new vehicle (did I mention from time to time my AC doesn't want to kick in for about 10 minutes and remember I live in Southern AZ - can you say 110degrees in the summer?) So here poses my BIG dilemma!

Do I want to try to get a new vehicle and pay the heck out of it and get it paid off so we can then buy him a new truck? OR do I just try to pay my car off and get him a new truck?

Here are the 2 vehicles I am totally in love with! Now they are VERY different but as a mom I am sure some of you will be able to totally understand my line of thinking!

This is the 2011 Black KIA Sorento! This SUV has a third row option so you can sit 7 people! That is what I am in LOVE with about this vehicle! I think it is a sweet looking mid size SUV and sort of looks like a cross between the Lexus and Infinity SUV but not near the price. I have seen MSRP on the one with the third row for between 25K and up! I am not a girl that needs all the bells and whistles necessarily. But if I am going to get this vehicle I want the third row seating.

Here's a good pic but not in black but you get the idea!

The second vehicle that I LOVE was actually introduced to me by my man! So he is totally at fault for me wanting a new vehicle (well at least partially) I had never seen the Volkswagen CC before he pulled it up on the internet and showed me. This is totally opposite than the KIA Sorento!

Ever seen this car?

Something about the interior just sucks me in!

Depending on the features you want to get with this vehicle the 2011 Volkswagen CC Sport gets started at around 30K maybe could get a little cheaper if I went with the 2010 model, which I do like but the 2009 looks a little different.

So what's a girl to do? I want to hear what you would do? What do you think I should do? FYI - My husband LOVES the CC but he isn't a fan of the Sorento. I love both for different reasons. OR do I just pay the Jetta off and try to drive it till the wheels fall off and get my man a new truck?

Fry's Grocery Deals

Check out this weeks deals at Fry's! Visit and Thank Dashing for Deals! Lots of Freebies!

http://dashingfordeals.com/favorite-frys-grocery-deals-for-04-06

Energy Saving Tips Post 2

This week was super nice! For the most part we were in the 70's during the day so the house stayed comfortable and it was nice and cool at night! My favorite!  Today it started getting warmer and by Friday it is going to be 94! Yikes! April 1st it's gonna be 90? I love hot weather but come on April 1st?

Well here are some more tips we do to try to save energy, resources, and money!

I have talked about doing laundry before, but I wanted to show that for most loads I will use the express wash with cold/cold. If it isn't something that needs a super heavy duty cleaning this cycle gets the job done, we are using cold water (gas bill is lower) and less energy is used because it is a shorter cycle.

Kind of a weird picture but I wanted to show that when we need extra sun light I turn the blinds open. I love lots of light in the house but others in my house not necessarily. But if you open too many blinds then the heat from the outside heats the house up. So normally I will only open the window for the room I am in. It's plenty of light to read, do chores, etc.

Weird picture? Well this is my shower and if you look close enough you can see the reflection of my window in the mirror. Now, I only open the blinds enough to let light in and I make sure they are tilted in a way that the passers by don't get a free peep show! This time of year it is getting lighter and lighter earlier in the morning and I don't need LOTS of light to shower myself (I am pretty sure after 33 years I know where everything is at I need to wash lol).

Well I have unruly hair so to get it sleek and shiny I do need to blow dry it or I walk around with terrible bed head (and not that hot sexy kind the Victoria Secret models can pull off). So when I am blow drying my hair I also keep my lights turned off in the bathroom. I have 6 light bulbs and they put off a lot of heat (makes me need more AC) they use energy, and honestly I can brush and dry my hair without all the extra light. Now putting my make up on is a little different but this normally doesn't take long and I have already kept the lights off for probably 20-30 minutes between the shower and blow drying. For the record I try to not blow dry every morning - cuts down on energy, help save my hair, and helps on time.

More to come! We are working on going as green as possible in our house!!

Fabulous Deals!!!

OK - I was so excited about the deals I got I had to go ahead and blog about it tonight.  The last week  I hadn't been very motivated about getting my coupons together. I am tired... what can I say?

But my neighbor and super mommy friend Dawn had a great deal the other day and posted on her facebook and it really got me motivated again. Yesterday, I posted a link to a blog with some great deals at Fry's grocery (check it out if you haven't already) and got my stuff together last night.

I normally do this while watching TV so I do feel productive but also get to relax. Remember the tricks. You can "stack" coupons at a lot of different stores, just check out their coupon policy. Fry's grocery will let you stack coupons right now and Target always lets  you stack coupons. Stacking is when you use a store coupon with a manufacturer coupon for the same item. Right now Fry's is accepting all competitor coupons and then all manufacture coupons are worth a dollar. Target normally has great coupons you can print off their website.

This is how the madness started last night.

This the result after the grocery store.

OK so if you are trying to count the boxes of pasta just give up! There are 41 boxes of pasta ALL FREE!!!!! This is $230.16 worth of groceries and I only paid $49.14 for all of it!  I normally don't buy bottled water ( I am trying my darndest to go green) but for my Emergency Kit I need to have a stock of water so I ended up getting these 24 pks of bottled water for $1.79 each after my coupons. Another really cool deal I got was purchasing that new Philadelphia Creme Cheese Cooking Creme on sale for $1.49 and I had a coupon for $1.50 off! Plus I had another coupon for $1.50 off any chicken when you bought the Philadelphia Creme Cheese product, so I found a pack of chicken legs on clearance for $1.99 so I got both items for only $.49

I would love to hear about your deals! Come on people I know you can do it too! Let me know how you do!

Fry's Grocery Deals!

Why recreate the wheel when it is already good? Check out this blog about the great deals at Fry's this week! You can also sign up to follow this blog to get the great deals each week! I have signed up so you can always click off my blog but you can sign up too! You can also sign up to follow my blog!

http://dashingfordeals.com/frys-grocery-deals-for-03-16-11

Energy Savings in Arizona! Seems like an Oxymoron!

Well as many of you may know I do live in Arizona! Yesterday was my birthday and it was the first day of 2011 that we hit 90 degrees! Wowzers!

My family loves the winter time out here and so does my bank account! We don't use our heating system very often in the winter because we like our house cold - I mean COLD! We love to sleep in the cold and if we are chilly we will put blankets on us around the house. We do draw the line at about 60-62 degrees and if it is that cold I will kick the heat on to 65 and then it gets turned off. We had a very odd frigid snap back in February and we had the heat on for several days straight but other than that we save LOTS of energy in the winter.

We have lived in AZ for almost 4 years and this past summer was our worst in regards to energy and our utilities! My July electric bill hit $394.00!! Yes that is correct! I decided we needed to do something drastic! I love my washer and dryer and I have all sorts of settings to choose from. But none that says let's save lots of money!

So I bought a clothes drying rack.

These racks are not expensive and the one I have here I paid about $10.00 last summer and I will be picking up a second rack very soon! I actually am using the rack today since we are back in the upper 80's and a nice breeze. These clothes will dry very quickly!  I personally would love to have a clothes line but I have the strictest HOA in the world and I just don't want to deal with it.  The racks have wheels so I can roll it in and out of the house very easily. The first month I used the rack our electric bill dropped $80.00 and we were having the same type of temperatures. I will hang up almost everything except underwear and socks and sometimes a few other items. The towels I will often throw in for a few minute fluff on no heat. My husband's work uniforms also need to be dried. I will put over any underwear and socks and then run another load. I will not start the dryers until I have run at least 2 loads through the washer so I can accumulate enough "dryer" items to run the dryer. I love it because I am saving MONEY but I am also saving energy which is good for the world we live in!

To also save on money we have a programmable thermostat.

During the day we won't let it get above 77 because by the time we get home it takes forever for the house to cool down. As you can see it is currently 70 in our house and it is almost noon. This is from the overnight hours. I will be very honest - we like a COLD house and because the thermostat is upstairs it can be tough to get the temperature to be 70 at night like we like to sleep. A MAJOR part of our electric bill comes from our AC unit. We are trying to get better acclimated but since my husband works outside all day long every day we refuse to be miserable in the house so we have to find other ways to cut down on energy to drop our bill.

We do have a programmable dishwasher as well. From the research I have done using the dishwasher uses less water and sanitizes the dishes as well. Depending on the type of load and how dirty the dishes are etc. will depend on the time of wash I will run. Normally though it is a normal wash with no special heated dry or hot wash etc. If someone is sick in the house I will kick in the hot wash to make sure the water is super hot to kill the germs (may not be true but makes me feel better). Other than that I see no reason in using more hot water.

As you can see in the picture above this isn't quiet a full load. The kids are normally responsible for the dishes and in teaching them responsibilities I also am teaching them to load it correctly so we can make the best of the space we have so we don't have to run as many loads. The dishwasher must be full before we will run a load. This cuts down on water and energy.

I have always said the suns direct rays are so HOT out here in AZ.  For instance it can be 100 degrees at night with the sun down but it is comfortable enough to sit outside on the porch. However, if the sun is out you feel like you are baking in the sun. One area in our house that I notice a lot of heat is the loft upstairs.

For this very large window we have installed thick blinds and then this curtain will close all the way and it is a dark brown curtain and it is very thick. When we put this up it reduced the heat in the loft a lot and this is also where our thermostat is so that helps not having the unit run all the time because this area of the house stays so warm.

These are just a few things we do to help save on energy costs and also in our efforts to start going "green" to help save the resources we have on our planet. Not too mention it helps save some of the green stuff in my bank account! I hope to be sharing more on the ways we work to save money, energy, and our efforts to be going green and natural!

FREE Stuff??

Who doesn't like Free Stuff? I wanted to share some deals that I found at Money Saving Mom for Target!

I thought really Target?? I can get free stuff at Target? Don't get me wrong I love Target, I love the store, I love their stuff, I love Target!

So I decided on my lunch hour I would run down to Target because I needed to pick up some birthday invitations and this is what I got!

I was able to get 3 boxes of granola bars, 2 travel size of Shout Wipes, One box of 24 count Ibuprofen, and One package of dental floss for a grand total of $.09!!!! Seriously people it can't get much closer than free!

Check it out and let me know if you get any great deals!

Savings Savings Savings!!

I was thinking this pay period my grocery shopping may be a little more than what I wanted to spend. Fry's wasn't having any special Mega Ten Deals and no additional coupons but I still set out to do the best I could.

First I went to Safeway (it is only about 2 miles from Fry's so no next extra gas was wasted). They were having specials on the Gusher Fruit Snacks for .99/each when you buy 4. Safeway makes all coupons a dollar and I had 2 coupons for .55/off 2 boxes of Gushers which would be 2.00 off the 4 boxes. So on my first order I had 4 boxes of Gushers for $1.97 except I also had 9 $1.00 off coupons for Vitamin Water. But if I bought 10 I also got 2 additional items for free. When I checked out the Catalina coupons printed off a save $2.00 coupon for your next order AND a save $1.50 on your next 3 Gusher/fruit roll-up purchase. I ended up buying 16 boxes of Gushers, 10 Vitamin Waters, and 2 Smart Waters for only $2.37.

Even with only paying $2.37 I still had 3 $2.00 coupons off my next order and since Fry's is taking competitor coupons I used this $6.00 off my Fry's order.

I always search for coupons where there is XX of one item so that will be $1.00 off the one item and then I always try to pair with a competitor coupon so I can get even more off. I still have one $1.50 off my next 3 boxes of gushers so I might go back to Safeway tomorrow to get another round since they are practically free and normally at best they are $2.50 a box

In total I have $387 in groceries and spent $156!! As you can tell from the pics with this $156 spend I still bought a lot of stuff including 6 bottles of Tide detergent, 3 bags of cat food, 16 bottles of Propel Water, 10 bottles of Vitamin Water, 2 Smart Water, 16 boxes of Gushers, 6 boxes of General Mills cereal. Excedrin Extra Strength,  2 Degiorno Pizzas, 1 California Kitchen Pizzas, 5 packages of hamburger meat, a bag of shrimp and 1 bag of chicken breasts. 2 bottles of Pantene, Charmin toilet paper, and LOTS more!!

SUCCESS!!!!

Are You Running Out of Gas?

Are you running out of Gas? Or maybe just buying gas to put in your car makes you want to run outside and scream! I know that we are all feeling the pinch as the gas prices start to climb. I drive a Jetta and I actually get really good gas mileage around 28-32 mpg.

My husband on the other hand drives a Ford F150 Supercab and as you can imagine he doesn't get such good gas mileage. I honestly haven't even asked him but he has to fill up about once a week and this last time it was over $72.00! So when it takes more money to fill the gas tank something else will have to give. I saw this picture and thought it was great and wanted to share!

I was totally cracking  up when I saw this picture but it really does feel this way sometimes when we are left standing at the pump. I wanted to share some advice I have received over the years and some of this information can be found on many websites if you just google about conserving gas.

1. First make sure you have taken any unnecessary weight out of your car. I used to have all sorts of junk in my trunk (lol) but I then took it out when I realized that it was more weight to drive around and I would burn more gas.
2. Make sure you know where the cheapest gas is sold. There are 2 places right beside where I work and one was selling the lowest grade for $3.39 a gallon and the one across the street was $3.09 a gallon! That can really start to make an impact over time.  Just in one fill up for my husbands 24 gallon take it would be a difference of $7.20 which over the course of a month is a difference of $28.80 which is enough savings to fill up my car once that month. So when you expand over a year that is a lot of savings.
3. Check your air filter. I try to be a responsible car owner but I will admit that is one thing I often count on my husband for. I hadn't changed it in forever and he got on me about it. When I got it replaced my gas mileage increased from about 23 mpg to about 28-32 mpg.
4. I do keep a check on my tire pressure just because you should but I have also been told that this can effect your gas mileage so ladies (and gents) keep an eye on your tire pressure!
5. Combine your shopping trips. I have to do this alot and I will be honest when gas isn't so bad sometimes I don't give as much thought and I should. However, because I live a good distance outside the city I try to think of everything to do at once. And honestly I try to do it while I am already in town at work. I do like to get out on the weekends but I have been trying to cut that down (1) because of gas prices and (2) unnecessary shopping is spending money I should be trying to save. So make a list of all the place you know you need to go to during the week and try to work out a system so there is as little back tracking as possible.
6. Everyone always talks about this but it is TRUE - CARPOOL, if you can of course. It is very difficult for me to carpool because with kids I feel like I need to be ready to leave at a moments notice if they get sick, hurt, etc. However, carpooling can drastically cut down on the expense of gas plus it is better for our environment.  Michael really tries to carpool when he can but lately it hasn't been as feasible but I am keeping my fingers crossed that he will be able to at least once a week because it does add up.

I am sure there are a lot more tips and tricks out there and I encourage you to check into it. It saves your wallet and it saves the environment. I always love hearing your ideas so if you have some good ones please pass them on. If we are paying $3.39 in February can you imagine what June and July will be like?!



TAX Time and Tips

So I am going to start off by saying I am not a CPA, nor do I want to be so always double check with your accountant or the IRS don't just take my word for it!


Ok, now that my little disclaimer is out of the way, let me tell you how much I dread tax season!


I have always done our taxes until the last year.  With it being a good problem to have we had entered into a more complex situation and decided it was in our best interest to have an accountant do our taxes starting last year. It was the best decision we ever made! (well at least one of them).


I had been working the numbers and at best I had us still owing about $1000.00 by the time he got done with our numbers and asked us lots of questions we no longer owed money but actually got some back. We were thrilled no matter the amount just to now owe.


He provided us with some information about things we would want to track especially since my husband is law enforcement there are a lot of things that are tax deductible for us that we had no idea. So I developed or shall I say tweaked the system I already had.

I call this my life! It is my life in a note book. I do not carry a check registry, I keep all the documentation right here in this little notebook.

As you can tell the  notebook has several pocket holders and dividers. The first section I keep important things like bills, receipts, my tracking sheet for paying bills off (which is the sheet that you can see says Feb). I have all our bills listed out with the approximate bill due and the due date and they are split in two by pay days (basically the 1st and the 15th - this started back when my husband was in the military). I check off each bill as I pay it so I can visually see a reminder that bill has been paid.


Behind the first section I then have what some would call a check register. It's just on notebook paper and it is easier for me to track and write down.


There is another divider with tabs and this is where I keep important information like phone numbers, VIN and license numbers for our cars and drivers (I get asked for this more than you would think), mileage rates to common destinations (you will need this a lot for tax purposes).

Here is how I list the places that I frequent enough to list them. For instance as you can see I  have our Dr.'s listed for each of us (and this is not in OCD order but for now it has to get the trick done). I also have places we would purchase work supplies, school donations, and prescriptions. These are common for a lot of people and I track the mileage one-way because I know I can multiply by 2 because we always have a round trip to get the stuff (not sure if this is the best way but it is how I do it.)


As we make purchases or go to the Dr. throughout the year I keep everything! I document on the top of the receipt or paper what it is for so I can track it better. FYI - the receipts they print out now often have all the ink erased by the end of the year so I will circle or bracket the item and then write the total at the top.

I take this information that I have collected and I put it into a spreadsheet at least once a quarter - trust me do not wait until the end of the year or you will want to pull your hair out! There are always last minute things that I have to scramble to get and I was so thankful this year that I had updated my spreadsheet at least quarterly. 


I keep track of all my receipts in my file folder. I have a file folder for each year and they are not expensive at all.

Inside of the file folder I normally section it off in corresponding sections to my spreadsheet.

Although you can see the tab that says medical - in my spreadsheet I will separate the medical out per person in our house to just be very clear on the expenses. I also have all the charity going into one file but I also have to separate this out to actual items or money donated or the value of items such as the totals of when I donate items to Goodwill or Salvation Army. These are entered into the tax worksheet separately and it makes it easier for our accountant. 


Some things we hadn't considered (but glad I kept the receipt) was the insulation we bought for the inside of our garage door. It was Energy Star certified and was a tax deduction we could take under home improvements. It wasn't a huge amount but I figure every little bit counts and I am glad I kept that receipt. 


My spreadsheet broken down:


Medical - each person has a sheet within the spreadsheet workbook.
Charity Items - again cash or donated items (exact cost to buy and donate) and then a separate sheet for the used items donated to places such as Goodwill.
Michael's Work Expenses 
Shanna's Work Expenses


I do go ahead and put the formula in the spreadsheet because it will add my totals and mileage as I go so I don't have to do manually. 


I am so glad I have been doing this because our accountant said this year our tax return figures were a direct result of my hard work all year long tracking expenses.