My deals of the day

I hit up Harris Teeter today after work for some triple coupon shopping. I was happy with the result. I have to confess though that I found myself getting upset at the people that had shopped before me and cleared the shelves of some of the items that were the best deals. I mean today was the first day of triples, and they were already out of many of the items I wanted. I'll be honest, I'm just a little jealous that I'm not a stay at home mom who could have gone this morning. All is good though! I'll check back when I'm off on Friday to see if they restocked. I walked away paying $27 for $73 worth of groceries. Definitely going to come in under my weekly grocery budget for this week. WOOT, WOOT!

Harris Teeter coupon match ups

If you plan on shopping Harris Teeter for their triple coupon deals, you might want to check out this site. She has a thorough list of items you can get for free, less than $1, or less than $2 with your coupons. Many of them also have the link to print out the coupons. Go here to check it out. Let me know of the deals you find!

From my heart

Am I the only one who sometimes feels overwhelmingly inadequate at being myself? This sounds strange, but it's sometimes hard just to be yourself. I have this ideal Lindsay that I want to be but often I feel a little disappointed that I don't live up to my own expectations. However, God is teaching me to be content, not just with things, but with myself. Let me first say that I'm not saying we shouldn't aspire and work towards self-improvement, but we do need to realize that God created us to be satisfied with who we are in Him. I'm regularly trying to define myself as a person by the things I do. I want to be a "healthy" person so I run (slowly) and choose organic milk to make myself feel better about the cookie that I'm going to eat with it. I want to be a "trendy" person (I said want to be, not that I am) so I read up on fashion magazines and window shop the stores that I can't afford. I want to be a "thrifty" person so I clip coupons, shop deals, and read too many blogs. All of these things are good and fine, but sometimes it's hard for me to truly know who I am and feel content with that. Do you ever put yourself in situations and try to take on a role that you realize is completely not you? Over and over again, I have tried to make myself be a crafty person. After decoupaging disasters, a half-knitted scarf that sat in my closet for 4 yrs, and having my drawings laughed at by the first graders I teach, I am sadly realizing that I am just not a crafty person. Maybe like me, you just haven't found your niche. Be content with that. I don't know if I will ever really feel like I know who I am and what I'm good at. I do know though that God calls us to be content in Him. In Christ we don't have to be something we're not. We just have to be willing to be who He calls us to be and then trust Him to equip us for that role.

But godliness with contentment is great gain. I Timothy 6:6

Triple Coupons This Week!!!

A friend passed along some great information to me. Harris Teeter will be doing triple coupons starting on Wednesday! I haven't confirmed this with the store, but I've seen it mentioned on a few sites that seem to be in the know. Go ahead and get your coupons in order and get set for some savings. I love stocking up on items during triple coupons that way I already have it when it's not on sale. So, if you don't regularly get the Sunday paper, you may want to pick one up tomorrow. You can also check out Coupons.com and print them at home. Remember that even ones that say "do not double or triple" may still be tripled depending on the bar code. Look back at my previous post about this if you want more information.

CVS Trip

I stopped by CVS today for a quick trip to redeem some coupons and match them up with in store deals. I did fairly well. The total without my coupons and ECB's would have been $24, and I only paid $11. It's not a lot of items, but makeup alone can be pricey. I did 2 transactions to roll over ECB's earned. Here's how I broke it down.


First Transaction:
Covergirl Mascara (5.99)
-$1 off coupon

Blush (free)
-Used BOGO coupon for covergirl products

Got $4.00 in ECB

Second Transaction:
1 Kotex U pads (4.99)
-$1 off coupon

Tissues (.99)

Venus double pack razor (7.12)
-$2 off coupon

Used $5 ECB
Got $1 ECB back

$5 Off Merona Handbags at Target

I just ordered a handbag for my mom for Mother's Day (ssh) and used the coupon code TGTMNAAS to get $5 off. They are also offering free shipping right now on many of the handbags. I don't know how long this deal will continue, so you may want to check it out soon if you are interested. I was able to score a bag for $8. They did have some $10 bags, but it appears that most of them are out of stock. They do have bags for $12.99 so you can still get a good deal. Go to Target's website to browse.

I saw this info on passionforsavings.com

Mother's Day Gift Idea

These cute photo books are 50% off plus you can get free shipping when you use the code MOMBOOK at checkout. Below are some of the price details. You can go to See Here to make yours.
* 5x8 Soft Cover with 20 pages $3.49
* Mini Book 24 pages $2.49
* 8x8 Printed Cover Story Book 20 pages $14.99
* and many more!
Expires April 20

Thanks $30 weekly grocery challenge for the info.

Free Cup o' Joe

Take your travel mug to Starbucks this Thursday for your free coffee.

7th Generation Cleaners

Picked up a deal today at Toys R Us/ Babies R Us. They have a selection of their 7th Generation all natural cleaning/laundry products on clearance for $1.98. In addition, they are buy one get one half off. On top of that, there are two $1 off coupons in today's coupon insert in the Sunday paper. I got these two products for $1.81 total! It seems like this clearance deal is pretty widespread at all R Us stores, so maybe you can snag some at a store near you.

Another Walgreens Picture Deal

I'm loving these free and super cheap photo deals Walgreens is offering this week. Today only, you can get 20 prints for 0.20. Just go here to order your prints. When checking out, use coupon code 20prints at checkout. Choose in store pickup and you should only pay .20.

Thanks Money Saving Mom.

Menu planning

One of the best tools that has helped to save money on groceries is weekly menu planning. Especially now that I am a mom, I do not have the time (or energy) to go to the grocery store several times a week. I came across this menu planning document a while back, and I love it. I use the second one pictured on the page. I like having my list and menu all together on one page. It's also nice to have the grocery items separated into categories. Before using this I would shop with a list of items only to find that I forgot to get something in the dairy section clear across the store. I was constantly back tracking. It takes some planning ahead of time, but it's nice knowing what's for dinner each night and not having to come up with something once I come home from work.
The project girl website has some other cute ideas as well.

Free photos

Walgreens is offering a deal that ends today. You can get 20 prints for free. Go here and order your pictures. You can type coupon code PRINTS20 when ordering and you'll get them free. You can order online today and pick them up in your closest store tomorrow and pay nothing. I just ordered my free prints!

Snapfish Deals of the Week

Snapfish is celebrating a 10 year birthday and are offering some good deals to go along with it. Click here to check them out.

One of the deals is 100 prints for $10 plush free shipping. These deals expire in a couple of days.

CVS Deals

After doing some reading about how to navigate my way into CVS shopping, I decided to give it a go yesterday. I looked through their ad, circled items, made a list, organized my coupons, and I was ready to go. My plan was to do one transaction buying the products that I would earn ECB'S (extra care bucks) and then do another transaction using the ECB's to buy things on sale that I had a coupon for. This ended up working out pretty well. I spent $30 out of pocket and bought $22 worth of more stuff using the ECB's I had earned and not having to pay out of pocket. In the end I still have $2 worth of ECB's to use on my next purchase. I got $52 worth of products for $30. I think next time I will do things a little differently though so I can walk out spending less. I did learn a few things from this trip: (1) Having an 11 month old that decides to make his loudest noises while in the store can stress me out and cause me to loose a little focus (2) Double check the size on the product even if the sale tag on the shelf is right below the one you picked up. This will save me time and confusion at the register.

If you are curious about how to maximize on CVS deals and how to start using their extra care bucks (money back coupons at the end of your receipt that can be used on your next purchase) click here.

coupon coding

While at the grocery store the other day I learned some good info that I would like to pass along. The guy checking out my groceries, helped me understand a few things about the coding on the bar code of coupons. Here's a rundown of what he told me. If the first number at the front of the barcode is a 5, it will double or triple even though the coupon may say "do not double or triple." If that number is a 9, it will not. In the picture you can see I have circled the five, so I know this will double. In the second grouping of numbers, if the second number is a 0 you can use it on any variety of the brand listed, not just the stated flavors or size. In the picture I have underlined the number. It is a 3 so it is only good for what is stated on the coupon. Hope this helps you some. I was very thankful to the guy for sharing these tidbits with me.

Stoneyfield yogurt coupons

I'm a big fan of Stoneyfield's organic yogurts, but was kind of sad that I rarely see coupons for them. I however didn't think to look on their web site. Luckily, there are people smarter than I am :) Saw this on Money Saving Mom. You can register on the stoneyfield website and are able to print coupons once per month. However, I noticed that they must be redeemed within 10 days of printing them. While on their website I also found this deal. When you buy 4 specially marked yo-baby products and enter the codes in on the website, you get a free Leap Frog book. So, if you are already buying the products, why not get something free?

Restaurant Deals

If you live in the Raleigh area, there's a good site that offers 1/2 off restaurant certificates. They have many good local restaurants like Bogarts, Michael Dean's, Lucky 32, NOFO, Ruckus pizza, and many more. They have a limited supply of each, and they do sell out quickly. They usually replenish their supply near the start of the month, but I've found, I just have to check frequently. They are usually in quantities of $25 (you pay $13.50) or $50 (you pay $25). It's a great place to check out if you are wanting to try a new place and score some savings while you are at it. They also have other certificates for spas, golf, etc. Check it all out here on zspotlight. If you are not in Raleigh, they also have several other NC locations as well as Myrtle Beach.