What have YOU been up to?

It's been pretty quite on my end of the blog. A lot of the people I follow haven't updated in a while. Shame, shame! ;)
I know, school is out or almost out and you are gearing up for the summer, right?

I have no real summer plans myself. Except to try not to smother in the heat. Today was the hottest day so far and it's real hard not to hold up here in the computer room with the only source of air conditioning. Alas, I can't sit in here all day! lol

June 1st marks exactly one month since I've seen my dear hubby, Chris. We talk on the phone but only a minute here and there. Neither of us likes talking on the phone and part of his job is practically living on the phone. I guess by the time he gets around to me he's just exhausted. Can't say I blame him.

Does anyone remember when Kmart was giving back $25 on every $50 purchase? Well, I had went and bought a new bed set and got DS Alex a couple games for his birthday. Total was $100. That was back in March. About 3 weeks ago I got the 2- $25 gift cards in the mail. Still haven't decided how I want to spend them. Part of me really wants to use it towards a tent. Why, I don't know. I hate camping. Still, we don't have one and that just doesn't seem right. lol

So my shopping adventures have been most awesome. They'd be so much better if the hubs were here. Sorry. I just miss him. I don't mean to whine about it all the time.
I wish I could make everyone I know independantly wealthy. =)

What a day.

Today, well actually yesterday now. Anyway it was my 6 month Dr. visit for my thyroid blood-work and turns out my blood pressure was high. Too high. 140 over 102.
During my past few visits my Dr. told me it has been borderline high and that if it went any higher I would be put on blood pressure meds. Sigh. That is not something I wanted to hear.

So she writes me a script for the blood pressure meds. I stuck it in my pocket and drove to CVS to have it filled, albeit begrudgingly. I got up to the counter, reached in my pocket and the script was gone! Me and my favorite cashier searched high and low and never did find it. And the thing is, I had checked my pocket right as I stepped out of the car to make sure I still had it. So somewhere between walking in the door and approaching the counter is when it must've fallen out of my pocket. I guess someone picked it up or something. So now I gotta call my Dr. and get that little setback fixed. OY!

So what's new with me? Welcome to the world of high blood pressure. Yay. Just what I always wanted. =(

CVS May 23rd

Tonight's plan wasn't a big one because a lot of this weeks free and money maker items are for Sunday & Monday only, so I couldn't do them tonight (Saturday.)
I saved over $84. Broke even on ECBs spent vs. ECBs gained and paid only 1.92 cash OOP for everything pictured.
The Sobe Lifewater are BOGO this week and I had 4 BOGO coupons, making all 8 free. The OFF Clip Ons I had a BOGO coupon for and also $6 in coupons. My plan actually went into the negative so I had to grab the Palmolive and gum for fillers. lol
CVS finally mailed me a $/$$ coupon to use which helped - a lot!

8 Sobe Lifewaters
2 boxes Trail Mix Crunch cereal
2 ThermaCare heat wraps
2 Speed Stick deo.
2 OFF Clip-On repellents
2 Olay Ribbons body washes
1 Palmolive
1 gum
1 Colgate toothpaste
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All 21 items for 1.92
I'll keep and use everything except the toothpaste and maybe the deodorants, which I'll send to Chris's co=workers. =)
Going to give the Palmolive to my SIL Karen.
Chris wants the OFF for when he takes his boat on the lake and he likes having the ThermaCare wraps on hand.
Olay Ribbons body wash is my personal favorite because it lathers like nobodies business!
I doubt we'll have any of the Sobe's left by this time tomorrow!

Sulking

Am I the only poor sap with no Memorial weekend plans?
I guess I'm feeling sorry for myself again because Chris is stuck working in Phoenix, AZ and I'm stuck here in east TN. The last time I saw Chris was on May 1st. It's been a long month!

I tried to talk the boys into having a cookout or go on a picnic, but they're just not interested in doing anything. A picnic for one doesn't sound like much fun.

Enjoy your cookouts, campfires, and such. I'll still be here when the holiday weekend has passed. Sigh.

Farmers Market

I am determined to make it to the local farmers market in the morning- somehow!
I've been given orders by DH to go get water buffalo from one of the vendors there. Hubs wants to cook it on the grill.

Oh how I hate things that start and end early. Don't they know I've been trying to make it there for the past 3 Saturdays unsuccessfully? lol
Anyone want to come knock me unconscious tonight so I can sleep and get up at say, 7am???

Been shopping & saving again.

Since I am an insomniac by nature I've been doing my Walmart shopping in the wee AM hours. I love shopping during that time for a few reasons:
1.No crowds to fight.
2.Great parking.
3.Cashiers are always calm and in a better mood.
4.Me and my coupons don't hold up the line cause, there isn't one!
5. No lines means no one behind me grumbling and b!tching about me and my coupons. lol

But anyway, back to tonight's great deal. I got everything pictured for 10.21! That's a 90% savings y'all. Total before coupons was $100.70.
I didn't have coupons for the .50 cucumber and the 2.50 imitation crab meat. AND, this was the first time I ever got a cashier that gave me the overage on my coupons at Walmart. YAY!

I got:
20 bottles Kraft salad dressings
17 bags Purina Kitten Chow
12 -12pks. Schick razors
11 Johnson's lotions
1 cucumber
1 crab meat
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62 items total for barely over $10
I now have over 75 bags of the Purina Kitten Chow. Well over 150 packs of the 12 pack Schick razors. So many lotions I have lost count, and an embarrassing amount of salad dressing. But, I am not stingy. I have been and will continue to share with my family and friends as the need arises.
Just a couple days ago my best friend went home with a case of can chicken, 4 salad dressings, 6 Hunts spaghetti sauces, 4 cans corn, 4 cans green beans, one box instant potatoes, one box Velveeta shells & cheese, treats for her dogs and her cats, plus a lot of other things.

Yesterday I went and got a ton of Cottonelle! 122 packs to be exact. Between this pile and what I already had we now have enough tp to last us 2 years. And the "bad" thing is that I have enough of the coupons left to go back and get this much more. I bought the coupons from a seller on ebay that was really, really, REALLY reasonable. A steal IMO.


So, I am all set on TP, razors, BBQ sauces, animal food, treats, and salad dressings for the rest of the year. Now it's time to focus on my trash bag stockpile. And to my surprise there are $2/1 Hefty coupons floating around. Now to couple those with a sale. Anyone know of one?

Family O Bums and Door to Door Salesmen. GRR

Guys and gals, let me tell you about my Monday.
I woke up late this past Monday morning, went outside, and the weather was so beautiful that I decided to leave my front door open to let in the fresh air. I do that a lot because I live on a downhill slop, long driveway, and my house is in the woods. So, I figure I'm ok to leave the door open in the day time. Wrong!
Not five minutes later my older brother came in and was wanting to borrow $300 from me. He is 14 years older than me. No kids, and not married. I think he should be financially set by now. This wasn't the first time he came asking for cash. I had to turn him away because he is making too big of a habit of "sister ATM." Besides the fact that I don't have $300 laying around to give away! I love him but it makes me very uncomfortable to be asked for money like that. Ya know?

After my brother finally left I went to my bedroom to straighten up a bit and get ready for my day. I didn't even have my bra on yet, y'all!!! Then, all of a sudden Faith starts barking up a storm. I go to see what has her in a tizzy. There was a lady standing at my door yelling. This was not even ten minutes after my brother had left.
It was her, and in a van was a man, and two other younger guys come to try and sell me a Kirby vacuum!
With my door wide open I felt so trapped. I explained I wasn't in the market for a new vacuum, but of course they would not take no for an answer! They insisted on doing an in home demo.
So, they vacuumed my hardwood living room floor and polished it. They vacuumed, shampooed, and re-vacuumed my bedroom floor. Then had the nerve to get mad when it came time to haggle the price and I stood firm that I gave them fair warning. I am not buying anything. The older man was extremely forceful with me verbally. I even explained to him that the hubs hasn't been getting as much work as usual with the state of the economy and given the choice of making my car payments or payments on a vacuum, well...which would YOU choose? He wasn't hearing me. Finally I told him it does not matter what sales pitch you throw at me. You aren't going to change my mind, sir. Period. End of discussion. Sheesh! It took me over two HOURS to get those people out of my house!
That'll teach me to try to enjoy beautiful spring weather at my own home!

Kroger let me down!

UPDATE: So I called corporate and he didn't know why the coupons did not double. Long story short, he loaded $5 on to my Kroger card. It will probably be a while before I drive to that store again. I should've called before I left the parking lot! Then I could have went back in and got my other 18 packs! DOH!
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So I finally acquired enough of the .50/1 Angel Soft tp coupons (through trades, friends, and fee-bay) to justify the 80 mile round trip drive to my closest Kroger. It went horribly!

First thing was the price. I read that it was 1.00/pack. Got to the store and it was 1.28/pack. I thought ok, so .28/pack after the coupon is doubled. Still a decent deal.

I put 10 packs in my buggy (cause I was gonna break up the transactions), went through checkout and none of my coupons were doubled. I asked the cashier about it, she asked someone else and all he said was, "It's up to the register to double or not." "If it doesn't do it there's nothing we can do about it."
WTHeck???

So I paid 9.01 (after taxes) for 10 packs of TP that I drove far too far away to get. I am super bummed.

Can anyone tell me why the coupons did not double? I would appreciate all the help I can get. I just want to understand!

After that fiasco I crossed the street to go to Target where I grabbed a ton of the small Johnson's lotions, first aid kits, Buddy Bars, AXE body washes, sunscreens, etc. etc. (Anything I could get for free after coupon) just to try and justify driving all that way!! Totally and utterly pissed, I am.

Current Cheap and Freebie list.

UPDATED on May 20th with further info.

I've been meaning to compile this list for some time. "Problem" is, it keeps growing! lol
This list is good for when you need filler items, wanna stock up on certain items for free, or get items to donate.

Note that prices do vary by region. Depending on different stores in your area, you may be able to do even better. Like one of my friends that got her Kraft BBQ sauce completely free at a store local to her. I do not have that store here, so I am listing according to what I do have locally.

If you know of other deals that are free or really cheap with coupon please let the rest of us know.

mq=manufacturer coupon
WM=WalMart
DG=Dollar General
FD=Family Dollar
Free or cheap

*St. Ives trial size facial product FREE @ CVS. Cost 1.49- 1.50 mq

*AXE trial size body wash FREE @ WM. Cost .97-1.00mq

*Band Aid 30ct. box FREE @ DG. Cost 1.00- 1.00mq

*Band Aid 30ct. box .10 @ FD. Cost 1.10-1.00m

*Johnson's 2 oz. body lotion FREE @ WM. Cost .97 - 1.00 mq

*Johnson's Buddy Bars FREE @ WM. Cost .97 - 1.00mq

*Johnson's trial size first aid kits FREE @ CVS. Cost .99 - 1.00mq

*Angel Soft 4ct. pk. tp FREE @ Kroger. 1.00- .50mq (doubled)

*Cottonelle 4ct. pk. tp @ WM. 1.00pk. X2 packs = 2.00 - .50/on 2 mq= 1.50 for both packs. (OR) - .75/2 mq= 1.25 for both packs, or precisly 62.5 cents per 4 roll pack!

*Eveready flashlights FREE @ DG. Cost 1.00 - 1.00 Energizer battery OR flashlight mq.
(Yes, you read that right. Energizer makes the Eveready flashlights.) I had no idea. Thanks to Lisa for the heads up on this one!

*Febreze Noticables kit .50 @ FD. Cost 4.50 - 4.00mq

*Febreze Noticables kit .75 @ DG. Cost 4.75 - 4.00mq

*Kotex Lightday pantyliners .25/pk @ WM or DG. Cost 1.00- .75mq

*Schick Disposable razors (10ct. + 2 bonus) FREE @ WM. Cost 1.97 - 2.00mq

*Glade Sense & Spray 1.00 @ WM. Cost 5.00 - 4.00mq

*Purina Kitten Chow (small bag) FREE @ WM. Cost 1.87 - free up to 2.19mq

*Glade Lasting Impressions 1.00 @ WM. Cost 5.00 - 4.00mq

*Air Wick I-Motion 1.00 @ WM. Cost 5.00 - 4.00mq

*Kraft salad dressing .08 @ WM. Cost 1.58 - 1.50mq

*Kraft BBQ sauce .23 @ WM. Cost .98 - .75mq

*Evercare lint rollers/refills FREE @ WM. Cost .97 - 1.00 printable mq.
(I found them at my store in the trial bins. 30 sheets to a roll.)

*Bounty single roll paper towels FREE @ WM. Cost $1 - $1 coupon from the P&G promotional home mailer coupon pack attained from purchasing $50 worth of qualifying P&G products.

Free Shick Disposable Razors are back.

Remember a few months back when I blogged about these? They were the ones that have 10 to a pack + 2 bonus razors for $1.97 @ Walmart. The coupon that makes these free is back again! Save $2/1 pack Schick disposable razors, Exp. 6/21/09
They aren't the greatest razor- lets be honest, but for free they work ok if you only use them once or twice. If you are like me and can shave with just about anything then free is a great price to pay.
And remember you can donate these to shelters, and your local Red Cross chapter, as well as dozens of other charities that would love to take them off your hands.

If you want to get your hands on some of these to use or to donate you can get a set of 20 coupons on ebay right now for less than $2 with shipping INCLUDED!

A pinwheel pillow and a pincushion.

I couldn't sleep again last night so I finished this pillow and pincushion that I had started a couple of days ago.
The pillow is overstuffed at the moment. That's because it has a brand new pillow in it. It will flatten out over time, as all pillows do.

The pincushion isn't perfect. I didn't have a pattern and it was my first time trying to make one, but it will still serve its purpose.

Just thought I'd share. Off to get in a nap before my day begins again!

.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*´¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·´¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*´¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·´★*¨¨*¨☆¨★*☆★*¨¨*☆Kristie★*¨☆¨★*☆★*¨¨*☆

New Coupon Storage

Since Ryan posted the question, "How do you store your coupons?" I thought I would share my switch-over to "binder-world".

Until recently I stored my inserts whole in a clear Artbin box. It is nice and deep, has snap closures, and a sturdy handle for carrying around.
However, since I can no longer obtain whole inserts locally the bulk of my coupons have been clipped from friends, trades, and from ebay. That's when I decided it might be time to go ahead with a binder. And that's when I found this beauty!
Other than getting it set up and categorized, I think I am going to like it.
It is nice and deep, zippered, has glorious collapsible handles, a solar calculator, a place for the store cards, pens, scissors, notepad, 3 Ring, and a place for a cell phone. It also has an interior fold out accordion file for current ads and such. It was originally $20 but on clearance for $15, so I grabbed it.

Collapsible handles with pockets on both sides.

Zippered! Otherwise this klutz would spill her coupon loot someday and that would be the end of it. lol

Then I went to MomSaves.com and ordered some fantastic specialty sized coupon binder pages because I found that I was having to fold too many of my coupons in half and in thirds using the regular baseball card pages. I hate folding my coupons. Call me anal! lol

I have the first section set up for my daily coupon plan. It's a single pocket to put in specific coupons and plans that I pulled to use on that specific trip to town for specific stores, and has everything I'll need to take in that store with me.

For example: I went to CVS today to do the cereal deal. So I pulled out my Kellogg's coupons and my ECB "cash", CVS card, along with a jotted plan. I paper clipped everything together and put it in the pocket page. That way, when I get to town I don't need to carry in the whole binder and fumble for the correct ECBs, my store card, coupons, etc. I grab the plan and go. Make sense?

The next section of my binder is dedicated to my rainchecks. Paperclipped to the rainchecks are the appropriate coupons I plan to use with said rainchecks to make the items free, or close to it.

I'm thinking page 3 will be a pocket just for storing my CVS ECBs, and page 4 for my WAGS RRs since I currently carry those in my purse. It's a work in progress I tell ya!

From there we get into the good stuff. The actual coupons, which I plan to list in alphabetical order soon.



My new binder pages should be here in a couple of days and I can hardly wait to put the larger coupons in.

And well, that's how I'm storing my coupons.

Gearing up.

I'm feeling a lot better today. Thank you all SO much for the prayers!!!

Right now I am just getting the "paper work" ready to head out to do my CVS deal tonight. I am looking forward to it because the glucose meters are free after coupon and pay out $5 each, with a limit of two. For me that is a $7 money maker (after taxes) that I can use to get a free bottle of laundry detergent, TP, or...whatever. However I am thinking of using that overage to pay for the new female version of the Schick Quattro Trimmer razor. Those are 8.99, pay out $4 ECBs and I have a $4/1 coupon. So, .99 each and the limit is 5. WOOHOO. I can get the razors completely free and the overage from the meters will even pay the taxes. Plus, my brother and sister can use the meters.
I'm also getting a free bottle of Dawn Hand Renewal because I got a $1/1 coupon in a home mailer today and I still have a raincheck for it for .99 from way back when they were on sale.

Plus, I got my 40 coupons for the nearly free Kraft BBQ sauce so I'll be running over to Walmart to get those tonight as well.

Should be a good night. I just hope they have all the razors!

Coupons are the new CASH! Like my new saying? lol

UPDATE: I'm back. My shopping trip was a big success. I got everything I went after and even had to get a candy bar because I went in the negative. Woohoo. Sorry, no picture this week guys. Just Imagine what 40 bottles of BBQ sauce, 5 Titanium Trimmers, etc. etc. would look like. ;)

Rag Bag

I'm not feeling good and haven't had any real sleep in a couple of days. Nothing contagious. Just very painful. So, to try to take my mind off the pain and not being able to sleep I sat up all night making myself a rag bag. I made it with the scraps of fabric I had left over from the table cloth that I blogged about (a few posts down.)





I didn't have a pattern so I just tried to visualize it in my mind as I went along. I had seen them on etsy too, so that helped.
I cut my leftovers in to 2X2" squares then stitched those 4 patterns together to make 4X4" squares.

It is not 100% finished. It still needs to take a trip through the washer and dryer to reach its full fluff potential. It has the batted padding and tons of X stitches that I'm hoping will be more defined when it comes out of the washer. I also added lace which I think made it look Tre Femme!
It's not perfect but it's strong and sturdy so it should serve its purpose. lol

And a recap on the other things I made with this fabric.

Spike Trasnformed

Hi, I'm Spike!

Do you remember when I posted about this Cecropia silk moth last year? Alex found it on July 18th, 08. We did some reading up about it and decided to name him Spike (for obvious reasons), and keep him to observe his metamorphosis.

Well, he ate a lot and all the time. We used a dropper to put water on leaves for him and he would drink, and drink. He eventually shed one "skin" for another and grew bigger all the time.

Then the day finally came for him to spin his silk cocoon. Once inside he remained there for almost 10 months, with the winter months spent in a container in the bottom drawer of our fridge.
I find it so interesting that he lay completely immobile in his little hard shelled sarcophagus for so long.
Finally yesterday, May 06,09 Spike came out of his pupa stage to make his new debut. We were all so excited! We had watered, fed, and cared for this little life for so long and looked forward to seeing what he would look like when he reappeared.

Here he is sitting on his silk cocoon after making his exit.
And here he is a few minutes later. At this point his wings are still wet and his color dark green like the Persimmon leaves he fed on those long months ago.

Right now he is just hanging out to dry, literally. Once his wings have cured his colors will be more vibrant, deeper scarlet red and black, with pink/purple highlights. Like this one:
It's "just a moth" but it was so awesome to feed him, to watch him change and transform, spin his silk cocoon, and all the phases of his life cycle up to now.

Today he will be released. It is going to be so neat to watch him take flight to go and find his mate to pass on his bloodline for next year.

And that's the shortened story of Spike. =)

A Springy Table Cover

Last night I made this custom cover for my little coffee table. I love these shabby cottage fabric prints and thought they were perfect to help lighten up my living room.

The focal part is done in rag quilt style because I do so love the look of it.

Yellow and pink rose patterns partnered with a green crackle. I even used some lace to trim the edges. What do you think of it?

CVS 5/03/09

Everything here was less than $3 OOP. DS plan even went 1.87 into the negative so he had to grab more fillers!
I rolled $23 in ECBs and got back 22.99!
Now, those boxes of Baid Aids came from Dollar General, not CVS. They are $1/box and the coupons are $1/1 so all were free, except taxes.

The Loot Count:

10 J&J First Aid kits $9.90 worth
8 boxes Band Aids $8 worth
8 J&J Buddy Bars (soaps) $11.90 worth
6 boxes Kellogg's cereals $20.04 worth
5 Adidas deodorants $19.95 worth
4 Colgate toothpastes w/free toothbrushes attached. $11.96 worth
2 packs Zantrex 3 energy shots $9.98 worth
1 king size Reese cups .89
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44 items total $101.88 grand total after taxes, for less than $3 cash!!!

Angel Soft Coupons

I just want to put this out there...

In the 4/19/09 Redplum inserts some locations got a .50/1 four ct. pk.- regular roll or larger on Angel Soft toilet paper.
If you have these and want to give them away, trade, or whatever, please let me know.

I have several $2.50/1 Electrasol coupons that I'd love to trade for these!

Christmas set completed.

Remember when I posted the Christmas quilt that I made? Well, I decided that I wanted it to have a matching pillow. So I sat down last night and made one. I made it in the same fabrics but instead of flat like the blanket I did it in rag quilt style.

I love the look of rag quilting because the edges come out so soft and fluffy. I made the pillowcase to fit standard to oversized pillows. My king size bed pillows fit in nicely.

I'm very happy with how they turned out and I know I made them both well enough to last through several generations. Who knows, maybe one day I'll have a grandchild that will love and cherish my Christmas set. LOL
.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*´¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·´¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*´¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·´★*¨¨*¨☆¨★*☆★*¨¨*☆Kristie★*¨☆¨★*☆★*¨¨*☆

HOT dog!

About 2AM I went in the bedroom, flipped on the bathroom light and saw this. It was 80 degrees, no AC in there, and Faith was belly side up on a folded comforter incline. She never sleeps with her belly exposed. She was trying to cool down. Poor doggy. lol I just thought it was funny, and sad. Faith wants AC in the bedroom. ;)