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Shared Jun 26, 2013 comment

Gretchen’s CVS Shopping Trip: $58.92 worth of products for $10.76 out of pocket!

Published: by Crystal Paine on June 26, 2013 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

CVS Shopping Trip

Transaction #1

2 Crest 3D White Rinse – $4.99 each
Used $1.10/1 printable(I had 2 coupons, but in looking at my receipt at home, I realized the cashier only took off 1 coupon. I’m wondering if they were stuck together since printable coupons sometimes do that. I’ll try really hard not to let it bother me…)

2 Colgate Max Fresh Toothpaste – $2.99 each
Used $2/2 printable
And used $2/$10 Toothpaste and/or Mouthwash CVS coupon from the in-store coupon machine

1 Venus Razor – $11.49 (I was disappointed that our store was out of the $6.99 razors.)
Used $5/1 coupon from the 6/16 RedPlum insert

Used $6 ECBs from my last shopping trip

Used $5 ECBs from Beauty Club Rewards

And used $5 CVS gift card from Viggle

Paid $2.99 out of pocket (total plus 7.3% tax), Received $8 ECBS (for buying 2 Crest Rinse), $4 ECBs (for buying Venus Razor) and $4 ECBs (buying 2 Colgate Toothpaste) – $16 ECBS total

Transaction #2

3 Huggies Diapers – $9.49 each
Used 3 $3/1 printable here and here

1 Desitin Diaper Cream – $3
Used $1/1 printable

Used $16 ECBs from Transaction #1

Paid $7.77 (total with 7.3% tax) out of pocket, Received $12 ECBS (for buying $30 in participating baby products)

Total before coupons and ECBS: $58.92

Total after coupons and ECBS: $10.76, plus $12 ECBs leftover!

See the full list of deals at CVS this week.

Shared Jun 26, 2013 comment

Ask The Readers: All You magazine subscription?

Published: by Crystal Paine on June 26, 2013 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Today’s question is from Rebecca:

My All You magazine subscription is about to expire. I used to love getting it when it was first published because of the high-dollar coupons. However, now I find that it doesn’t have very many coupons that are relevant to me. I’d like to know if other readers have continued to renew their subscription. Do you think it’s worth it? -Rebecca

Do you have a question you’d like to ask Money Saving Mom® readers? Read the submission guidelines and submit it here.

Shared Jun 25, 2013 comment

Video Interview with Robert D. Smith: How I Manage My Time

Published: by Crystal Paine on June 25, 2013 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

When my husband and I spent the day with Robert D. Smith, he asked if he could interview me on how I manage my time. He has the clip of our interview up on his blog today and I thought I’d pass along the link for those who might be interested.

We talk about my daily schedule, how I juggle homeschooling and blogging, and the importance of goal-setting and living with intention. Head on over to Robert’s blog to watch it.

Note: There was so much that I didn’t have time to say in the interview and Robert played me up to be a lot more amazing than I am in the interview and blog post, so for anyone who watches and feels a little discouraged or thinks that I have it altogether, please go watch this video and take a deep sigh of relief. {Oh and you can also laugh that I have the exact same thing on in both videos. Remember that I kind of have a limited wardrobe? ;)}

Shared Jun 25, 2013 comment

Gretchen’s Target Shopping Trip: $37.72 worth of products for just $6.39 after gift card!

Published: by Crystal Paine on June 25, 2013 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Target Shopping Trip

2 Kandoo Flushable Wipes (50 ct) – $1.79 each (price cut), used 2 $2/1 printable – Free after coupons

4 Reynolds Baking Cups – $0.97 each, used 2 $1/1 coupon from the 6/23 SmartSource insert and 2 $0.55/1 printable – $0.19 each after coupons

1.05 lbs Gala Apples @1.29/lb – $1.35, used $1/1 Target mobile coupon – $0.35 after coupon

1 Vidal Sassooon Hair Styler – $3.99, used $2/1 Target mobile coupon AND $1/1 coupon from the 6/2 P&G insert – $0.99 after coupons (There were $2/1 peelie coupons on almost all the Vidal products, but my store had put plastic over the bottles so you could not peel them off right there in the store and use them.) 🙁

4 Bayer Aspirin (36 ct) – $2.24 each, used 2 $4/2 coupon from the 6/23 RedPlum insert – $0.24 each after coupons

2 Up & Up Paper Towels – $0.99 each, used 2 $0.50/1 Target printable – $0.49 each after coupons

2 Coppertone Oil Free Sunscreen Lotion – $6.99 each, used $5/2 coupon from the 6/23 SmartSource insert AND 2 $1/1 Target printable – $3.49 each after coupons, Received $5 Target gift card for buying 2 (Like paying $0.99 each)

Total before coupons: $37.72

Total with tax (7.3%) after coupons: $11.39 AND received $5 Target gift card (Like paying $6.39)

See the full list of deals at Target this week.

Shared Jun 25, 2013 comment

Gretchen’s Walgreens Shopping Trip

Published: by Crystal Paine on June 25, 2013 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Walgreens Shopping Trip

2 Lever 2000 Bar Soap (2 ct) at $2.79 each – On Sale Buy One Get One Free
Used 1 $1.50/1 printable and 1 $1/1 printable (I wanted to use 2 $1.50/1 printables but the cash register would only take one.)

2 Mitchum Deodorant – $3 each
Used 2 $1/1 coupon from the 6/2 SmartSource insert

1 Go Fish Game – Marked down to $0.25 (filler item)

1 Jolly Rancher – $0.49 (filler item)

Used 2 $2 Register Rewards from last week’s shopping trip

Total before coupons and Register Rewards: $12.32

Total with tax (7.3% pre-coupons) after coupons and Register Rewards: $1.73, Received $4 Register Rewards (for buying 2 Mitchum Deodorants)

See the full list of deals at Walgreens this week.

WANT TO SAVE $100 FAST?!Join the FREE 14-Day Savings Challenge!

Click here to sign up!

Shared Jun 25, 2013 comment

Swagbucks Paid for Our Cloth Diapers

Published: by Crystal Paine on June 25, 2013 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Today’s Swagbucks success story is from Carmen:

I have been an avid user of Swagbucks for the past four years, saving up my points and always cashing them in for Amazon gift cards. This perk came in handy recently as I saved my codes for a couple of months (cashing in enough each month to get the $25 of Amazon gift cards) to purchase a cloth-diaper stash for my now-newborn daughter.

I’d always known that I wanted to cloth-diaper my children, and after doing a lot of research before she was born, I found all the essentials could be found on Amazon.com. I picked out six diaper covers (Thirsties brand) and two dozen high-quality, unbleached prefolds.

On Amazon you can make a baby registry and once your due date draws near, they email you a code to get 10% off any remaining items on your registry. That discount alone made for a great deal, but since I’d saved up my Swagbucks, the deal only got sweeter. I was able to get my daughter’s cloth diapers (and some cloth-diaper friendly laundry detergent, too!) for absolutely nothing out of pocket!

It took a couple of months to save up enough of the codes to cash them all in, but it was worth the wait because now I don’t have the dreaded cost of disposable diapers. (Not to mention my daughter sure looks cute in the cloth diapers!) All it took was simply switching my search engine!

Carmen is a brand-new mom to three-month-old Claire. She blogs about these early days of parenthood (turns out it’s a lot harder than it looks!), her faith, marriage and more at Life Blessons.

Have you saved up and purchased something using your Swagbucks? If so, you could get a $50 gift card just for sharing your Swagbucks success stories with MoneySavingMom.com readers!

Shared Jun 25, 2013 comment

Do It Yourself: Sun Catchers With Crayon Shavings

Published: by Crystal Paine on June 25, 2013 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

BuggyandBuddy.com shows you how to make a homemade sun catcher with crayon shavings.

Do you have a fun and frugal DIY idea to share? I’d love to hear about it! Read the submission guidelines and submit it here.

Shared Jun 25, 2013 comment

10 Fourth of July Crafts & Activities

Published: by Crystal Paine on June 25, 2013 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Jenae from I Can Teach My Child has 10 different Fourth of July Crafts & Activities posted.

We did the Fireworks in a Jar activity last summer and my kids are still talking about it!

Shared Jun 24, 2013 comment

8 Goals For This Week

Published: by Crystal Paine on June 24, 2013 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Goals from two weeks ago (since I skipped posting last week):

Family/Marriage/Mothering Goals

~~1. Read two chapters of The Trumpet of the Swan to the children. Start Number the Stars with Kathrynne, start A Nest for Celeste with Kaitlynn, read a few picture books with Silas.~~

~~2. Write a love note to Jesse.~~

Personal Goals

~~3. Memorize Romans 1:16. Review Romans 1:1-15.~~

~~4. Exercise five times.~~

5. Finish a few books in my current book stack. {I didn’t end up finishing any, but I did make some good headway on a few of them.}

6. Get at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep every night. {I almost did this every night.}

Homemaking Goals

~~7. Start our new summer routine.~~

Business Goals

~~8. Finish the copy edits for my manuscript.~~

This week’s goals:

Family/Marriage/Mothering Goals

1. Read three chapters of The Trumpet of the Swan to the children. Read three chapters of Number the Stars with Kathrynne, read three chapters of A Nest for Celeste with Kaitlynn, read a few picture books with Silas.

2. Write a love note to Jesse.

Personal Goals

3. Review Romans 1:1-16.

4. Exercise six times. Run 12 miles.

5. Finish The Charge, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, The Resolution for Women, Hidden Places, and I Still Believe.

6. Get at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep every night.

Homemaking Goals

7. Work for 30 minutes on my embroidery project.

Business Goals

8. Finish making the edits to the recipes for the new recipes page (I’m hoping to finally finish this project!)

How did you do on last week’s goals? What are your goals for this week? I’d love to have you share your progress on last week’s goals and your goals for this coming week in the comments. Of, if you’ve blogged about it, leave your direct link below. Let’s cheer each other on to live purposeful and productive lives!

You can download a free customizable weekly goal-planning sheet here.

Shared Jun 24, 2013 comment

This Week’s Menu (and 5 new Pinterest recipes I’m trying this week!)

Published: by Crystal Paine on June 24, 2013 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

I’ve missed getting to tinker around in the kitchen these past few weeks as I’ve been working feverishly on finishing up my book, amongst other things. So I’m remedying that this week by trying five different recipes I found on Pinterest.

I’ll post a report each evening on the new recipe I made and let you know how it goes. It should be fun!

Breakfasts

Oatmeal, Cereal, Eggs, and/or Fruit

Lunches

Mac & cheese, fruit
Snack-y lunch
PB&J, carrot sticks, apples
Cheese quesadillas, carrot sticks
Leftovers x 3

Snacks

Fruit/veggies
Popcorn
The Best No-Bake Bars
Boiled eggs

Pinterest Recipes to Try (I’ll report on how these work!)

Homemade Bath Bombs
Chocolate Chip Cookie in a Cup
No Knead Make Ahead Dinner Rolls
The Best No-Bake Bars
No Knead Dinner Rolls

Dinners

Smoothies & mac n’ cheese (yes, it was one of those kinds of Mondays!)
Breakfast for dinner: Pancakes, scrambled eggs, fruit
Steak on the grill, potatoes, veggies, fruit
Meatballs, steamed veggies, grapefruit, No Knead Dinner Rolls
Dinner out
Dinner with extended family x 2

What’s on your menu this week? Tell us in the comments or leave a link to your menu plan post.

OVER-SPENDING EVERY SINGLE MONTH?Grab these FREE Budgeting Sheets!

Click here to download!

Want to cut your grocery bill? Try these 2 simple tips -- they're SO ridiculously easy!

Shared Jun 24, 2013 comment

Two Simple Ways We’re Cutting Our Grocery Bill

Published: by Crystal Paine on June 24, 2013 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Guest post from Amy

My husband and I are saving money to buy a home, so we have been cutting back on our expenses. Right now, we are tackling our grocery budget and trying to make it smaller. Crystal has often mentioned a book called Miserly Moms.

I was curious to check it out, so I ordered a copy for $0.01. It’s been the best cent I’ve spent in years.

I have been implementing two of the book’s principles so far:

1. Make things from scratch.

2. Don’t waste food.

After reading those chapters, I realized we throw away food all the time! My two young children often only eat half of their meals. We save the food in the refrigerator for “later”, but later never comes. So we end up throwing it away. This book suggests that we re-purpose that food for later use by freezing it.

We also buy unnecessary items in order to “make things from scratch”. I make things from scratch all the time, but I buy convenient foods to make those things. We love smoothies and I’ve been buying frozen fruit to make them. As I show in the following example, I could buy in season fruit at a cheaper price and cut it up myself, then freeze it for later.

Based off of these two principles, I would like to share my recent savings.

Make things from scratch:

I love buying organic whenever possible. My warehouse club is currently carrying delicious, sweet organic strawberries at 2lbs for $4.99. Let’s just round it out and say it costs $2.50 a pound. When I buy frozen organic strawberries for smoothies, I spend $4.65 for a pound!

Buying it fresh (and in this case in bulk), and spending 5-10 minutes washing and cutting it myself gives me a savings of $2.15. Imagine the savings if you don’t buy organic!

Don’t waste food:

My children ate strawberries for a snack, and didn’t completely eat any one. So I took those half-eaten strawberries and quickly chopped them up and added them to my frozen strawberries bag. That adds up to a lot of strawberries that would have normally been thrown away!

My daughter always takes the crust off of her toast, and instead of throwing it away as normal, I’ve been putting them in a freezer bag to make bread crumbs, French toast, or for use in casseroles for the future. You would not believe how many bread crumbs I save in only a few days!

Through this book I’ve realized that there is more we can do to save money and stretch our dollars. I hope these principles will be helpful to someone as it was to me.

Amy is a stay-at-home, part-time working mom of two adorable and precocious preschoolers. She loves saving money, gardening, and reading good books.

photo credit

Shared Jun 22, 2013 comment

Where I’ve been the last 10 days (and a little sneak peek of my exciting book project!)

Published: by Crystal Paine on June 22, 2013 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

You may or may not have noticed, but I took the past week and a half “off” from blogging. I still posted deals and shared a few guest posts, but I didn’t write any personal posts or the regular weekly features.

I started the week feeling very much in need of a “brain break”. I usually am very inspired with post ideas, but I just felt creatively tapped out this week.

And I know exactly why.

You see, the last nine months, I’ve been pouring my heart and soul into my book-writing project. I finally got the last of the copy edits turned in on Monday evening, so it’s officially “done” on my end.

By the time I reached the book-writing finish line on Monday, I had nothing left in my creative juices tank. So I decided to followed my own advice to not worry about what the right or wrong way to blog is, and just took an unannounced break from all blog-writing.

Instead of my usual blogging hours, I spent a lot of time offline soaking up the sunshine, reading, hanging out with friends, celebrating our birthday girl, camping out with friends (even a little target practice), and just enjoying more intentional quiet.

It was exactly what my brain and spirit needed and I’m feeling so refreshed and ready to get back into the swing of my usual blogging again. So be prepared for lots of posts coming your way again on Monday. 🙂

Wondering what my new book is about? After years of mulling over this project and months of work, I can finally give you a little sneak peek…

Say Goodbye to Survival Mode is the story of my struggles and journey from living in survival mode to finding margin, passion, and purpose in life. It’s filled with practical strategies and big picture perspective to help exhausted and overwhelmed women climb off the hamster wheel of survival mode and get on the path of living all of life on purpose.

This book is slated to release in January 2014 and will be a hardcover book. And yes, I’m kind of a wee bit excited about it — if you can’t tell. 😉

For more information, you can check out the description on Amazon here. More details and all sorts of fun things coming closer to the launch date.

Thank you so very much for sharing in my excitement. Your support and cheerleading of the past many months of working on this project means the world to me!

Shared Jun 21, 2013 comment

Johanna’s Shopping Trip: 11 items for free at Kroger, Dollar Tree, and Walmart!

Published: by Crystal Paine on June 21, 2013 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

I thought you’d enjoy seeing Johanna’s shopping trip that she emailed into me. Here’s what she wrote:

I just wanted to share with you my shopping trip from tonight. I haven’t been using coupons for a while due to the all of couponing changes in several stores. But this trip, and another shopping trip I had earlier this week, really got me back into couponing 🙂 Thanks for all you do, I really appreciate it!

All of these items were free – only paid tax 🙂

Kroger
Bought 3 Kotex Tampons – $3.99 each
Used $4/1 on Facebook – (no longer available)
4 Huggies wipes – $1.99 each
Save $4.00 when you buy 4 (Kroger Mega Deal) -$4.00
Used 4 $1/1 coupons from Facebook link
FREE

Dollar Tree
2 Colgate toothpastes – $1.00 each
Used $2.00 off 2 Colgate coupon
FREE

Walmart
2 Langers Juices (only one pictured since kids drank part of the 2nd
juice!)
Used 2 FREE Langers coupons that came in the mail
FREE

Have you gotten a great deal thanks to a tip you’ve found here on MoneySavingMom.com? Take a picture of your deal/purchase and write a short post on the deal details and submit it here. If your submission is chosen to be posted, I’ll send you a $25 Amazon gift card! Note: the more creative, unique, and well-written your post, the more chance it will have of being posted.

Shared Jun 20, 2013 comment

Gretchen’s $45 Grocery Shopping Trip and Weekly Menu Plan

Published: by Crystal Paine on June 20, 2013 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Dillons

Items a part of the Buy 4, Get $4 off instantly promotion:

1 Glad Kitchen Bags (80 ct) – $5.99, used $0.50/1 printable (doubled) – $4.99 after coupon and sale

3 Smart Balance Butter – $1.59 each, used 3 $1/1 coupon from the 6/2 SmartSource insert – $0.49 each after coupons and sale

4 Ken’s Salad Dressing – $0.99 each, used 2 $1/2 coupon from the 5/5 SmartSource insert – $0.49 each after coupons and sale

2 Cascadian Farm Cereal – $1.99 each, used 2 $0.85/1 printable (doubled to $1) – $0.99 each after coupons and sale

2 Kraft Shredded Cheese – $1.99 each, used $0.50/2 printable (doubled) – $1.49 each after coupon and sale

2 Gillette Satin Care Shave Gel – $1 each, used 2 $0.55/1 coupon from the 6/2 P&G insert (doubled to $1) – Free after coupons and sale

1 Turkey Hill Natural Ice Cream – $2.49 after sale (We LOVE this new Turkey Hill ice cream with only 5 ingredients in it!)

1 Juicy Juice – $1.88, used $0.50/1 printable (doubled) – $0.88 after coupon and sale

4 Kraft Philadelphia Cream Cheese – $0.99 each, used 4 $0.50/2 printable (doubled) – $0.49 each after coupons and sale

Other items:

1.13 lbs Bananas @ $0.52/lb – $0.59

1.65 lbs Sweet Potatoes @ $1.09/lb – $1.80

1 Snickers Ice Cream Bars – $2.99, used $2/1 printable – $0.99 after coupon

1 Dove Ice Cream Bars – $2.99, used $2/1 printable – $0.99 after coupon

1 Kroger Toilet Paper – $2.95

1 Tostitos Cantina Chips – $3, used Free e-coupon (no longer available) – Free after coupon

1 Romaine Lettuce – $0.99

1 Kroger Potatoes (5 lbs) – $2.29

2 Driscoll’s Strawberries – $1.77 each, used 2 $0.50/1 printable (doubled) – $0.77 each after coupons

1 Kroger Flour – $1.69

1 Nature’s Harvest Bread – $2, used $0.55/1 printable (doubled to $1) – $1 after coupon

2 Brut Deodorant – $1 each, used 2 $1/1 coupon from the 6/9 SmartSource insert – Free after coupon

1.22 lbs Broccoli Crowns @ $0.99/lb – $1.21

1.22 lbs Roma Tomatoes @ $0.99/lb – $1.21

1 Kroger Buns – Marked down to $0.49

1 Kroger Tortillas – $1.59

1.04 lbs Peaches @ $0.99/lb – $1.03

1 Cucumber – $0.59

Total with tax before coupons and sales: $112.96

Total with tax after coupons and sales: $44.37

Menu Plan for this Week

Breakfasts

Cereal, Toast, Healthy Banana Muffins (I need to use up a bag of frozen bananas I found in my freezer.), Oatmeal

Lunches

Cheese Quesadillas, BLT Sandwiches, Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches, Baked Potatoes, Homemade Mac & Cheese

Dinners

Tacos, Strawberries

Pepperoni Rolls, Tossed Salad, Green Beans

Baked Ziti (I’ll be making a few modifications since I can’t eat dairy), 30 Minute Rolls, Steamed Broccoli

Savory Crescent Chicken Squares, Tossed Salad, Fruit

Hamburgers, Homemade French Fries, Green Beans

World’s Best Pancakes, Eggs, Hashbrowns, Bacon

Steak (gift from Crystal), Texas Roadhouse Copycat Rolls (these are SO good!), Tossed Salad

Shared Jun 19, 2013 comment

Gretchen’s Target Shopping Trip: 12 items for $7.49

Published: by Crystal Paine on June 19, 2013 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Target Shopping Trip

Transaction #1

3 Stayfree Pads at $2.89 each – On Sale Buy 3, Get $5 Target gift card – used 3 $1/1 coupon from the 5/5 SmartSource insert and printable – $1.89 each after coupons

Total with tax (7.3%) after coupons: $6.44, Received $5 Target gift card

Transaction #2

2 Campbells Go Soup – $2, used 2 $1/1 Target printable AND used 2 $1/1 printable – Free after coupons

3 Jello Mixes – $0.74 each – used $1/3 printable – $0.41 each after coupon (These are great to have on hand for when we have company at the last minute.) 🙂

4 Jell-O Snack Pudding – $1.52 each, used 2 $1/2 printable – $1.02 each after coupons (My hubby loves these and I thought it would be a fun surprise for him since I rarely find a sale on them.)

Used $5 Target gift card from Transaction #1

Total with tax (7.3%) after coupons and gift card: $1.05

Total with tax for both transactions after coupons and gift card: $7.49

See the full list of deals at Target this week.

2hr Cleaning Checklist

2hr Cleaning Checklist

FREE DOWNLOAD: 2-Hour Cleaning Checklist!

CVS Shopping Trip

Target Shopping Trip

Walgreens Shopping Trip

WANT TO SAVE $100 FAST?!Join the FREE 14-Day Savings Challenge!

Breakfasts

Lunches

Snacks

Pinterest Recipes to Try (I’ll report on how these work!)

Dinners

OVER-SPENDING EVERY SINGLE MONTH?Grab these FREE Budgeting Sheets!

Make things from scratch:

Don’t waste food:

Dillons

Menu Plan for this Week

Breakfasts

Lunches

Dinners

Target Shopping Trip

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