Dollar General

Sometimes I forget how awesome Dollar General is. When I walked in their doors today they had their own in-store coupons ad, so combine those with some manufacturer coupons, and you could save alot!

Pudge and I were really only looking for paintbrushes when we walked in. And I usually get my free Kotex pads there, so here's what we walked out with.

There are always coupons in the Sunday paper for $1 off any package of Kotex pads, and I usually save those for the dollar store, because these packages are $1 there, so basically they're free!

The cake mixes were $1.15, and I had two $0.75 coupons, making each package $0.40!!

Walgreens Run

I love to go to Walgreens when I can get those Starbucks Frappuccinos for real cheap! This week get 2 (13.7 oz.) for $4 with the in-ad coupon, and then combine the in-store coupon with 2 manufacturer coupons, and you've got two bottle for $2!

The Turtle Chex Mix is on sale for 2/$3. Use this $0.50 off coupon and get them for $1 a bag.

The Goldfish are also on sale for 2/$3, use this $0.75 off coupon to get them for $0.75 a bag.

Total spent for the above was $6.

Burt's Bees Toothpaste Sample

I had no idea that Burt's Bees even made toothpaste! Maybe that's why there's a sample out there for you to try it. Click on this link to have a sample sent straight to you. (The link is located at the bottom right side of their website.)

Thanks, The Frugal Girls.

Ash Wednesday for kids

Today I'm trying to find way to teach my kids about Ash Wednesday and the meaning to the Lenten season. I also need to remind myself that our kids are 3 and 2, and it might be a little difficult to teach them how to fast and what it means to give up food.

Here's my family before we had our second child:

And a year later:

So maybe we'll start small and say that we'll give up candy or something along that lines. I know for a fact that both my kids love fruit snacks, so maybe we'll go that route.

I also was to take on something new with both my kids, and I think that I've decided to make chore charts for both of them. It would be a good habit to start, and I need to remember that there are other bodies in the house that can help clean. I like the idea that Sutton Grace has on her blog about chores.

As I was researching how to teach your kids about Ash Wednesday, I stumbled upon this link where there are coloring pages that you can print out for your kids. Check that out here.

Do you have any ideas on how to teach your kids the meaning of Lent?

Free Lemonhead sample

For those of you who have a sweet tooth, Lemonheads is offering a free sample! Click on this link and fill out your info. Thanks, Money Saving Mom.

Grocery shopping this week

After Pudge and I dropped off Zman at school, we headed to IGA to grab some groceries for the week. It's nothing impressive, just a little bit of stocking up to do in our pantry and freezer.

I love to buy bananas that are turning brown, just to use them to bake with and to freeze for smoothies.

I love Lentil soup, and that was on sale for $1 a can. And I threw the pork roast in the crock pot to make shredded pork for dinner. Hope it turns out okay!

Total spent = $39.49.

My New Curtains

I've noticed that I haven't posted any projects that I've been working on in our home lately. So I've decided to share these photos of my winter project: 4 sets of curtains. I ordered the fabric a long time ago with the intention to redo the curtains in our family room, and slowly but surely they are coming together. I have one set left to do and then I'm all finished.

Here is a look at the old curtains:

Sorry there's so much of a glare, with all the snow outside my camera wasn't taking a clear photo:

And here are the new ones that I made:

And here is a side view, with my handy dandy sewing machine in the photo. The machine was given to me by a friend in Rockford, and it's been going strong ever since. Good ol' Singer!

Free Bottle of Excedrin

I thought this freebie was also worth mentioning. If you fill out this survey for Excedrin, you could qualify for a free bottle of Excedrin. (Hint: You might want to click on Advil to get your free coupon in the mail).

Thanks, Money Saving Mom.

Happy Birthday Silas!

We celebrated my Pudge's 2nd birthday here on Valentines day! And I just wanted to brag about him to you all and post some fun pictures and videos we had on his special day.

(Great Grandma Jo, Pudge, Mommy)

(Z-man, Pudge, cousin Makena)

(This is the awesome art table that my husband and I got at a Goodwill in Ohio for $10!!)

(Great Grandma Jo and Pudge)

Happy Birthday little man! We love you!

Free Admission to the Shedd Aquarium

Now this is something worth sharing about! The Shedd Aquarium in Chicago is having their community discount week - this week! The dates are for February 15th-19th. What does this mean to you? This means FREE admission to the Shedd! How awesome is that? If you don't have plans this week, you might want to check this out. For more information, click here.

Thanks to Cyndie from Mothers and More for the heads up on this one.

Dockers: Free Kakhi Pants

Tomorrow's the Super Bowl! If you're not really into watching the game, then commercials are the way to go! And an even better deal is finding a specific commercial to get yourself a free pair of Docker's pants! When the commercial for Dockers airs tomorrow during the Super Bowl, head over to this link and be one of the first 2010 people to register for a FREE pair of Dockers pants!

Free Pretzel Day

Mark your calendars!! Auntie Anne's is having a free pretzel day on Saturday, February 20th from 10am-3pm! You can only choose between an original or cinnamon sugar pretzel, and one per person.

Goodwill Findings total $17.70

I'm always a sucker for pants at Goodwill, especially when they're name brand. I got these 3 pairs, one is GAP, the other two are Merona (from Target), where I love their pants!

Z-man is outgrowing alot of his dress clothes, so I'm trying to buy some in advance. Here is a nice vest I found there.

I always keep an eye out for sweaters for my boys. This one is from Children's Place and it's 18 months. I got it for Pudge. (even though he's turning 2 next week, this sweater fits him just fine).

Another sweatshirt for Pudge. This one is 2T.

And these are some travel containers for the kids, so cute!! Only $1.25.

Grocery Shopping

Pictured below is our shopping trip from Schnucks, total spent was $10.96. I had a free coupon for that DiGiorno pizza. Yummy, can't wait to try it. And I picked up the chips because my husband LOVES them!

Picture below is our trip to County Market. They had a bunch of in-store coupons, so I tried to match up manufacturer coupons to get the best deal. Total spent was $37.68.

Pictured below is from Walgreens. I actually thought I was getting some boxes of cereal for free, so I might return them later this week. Total spent was $5.08.

Overall spent: $53.64.

Valentines Day Ideas

As many of you know, Valentines day is coming up quick! Are you in need of some cute and crafty ideas for this holiday? I love the thought of handing out treats to little kids in my son's class! And they're making their own Valentines Boxes out of shoe boxes. It's going to be so much fun!

Here are some Valentine ideas from Martha Stewart that I thought were all adorable! Check them out here. Also there is a blog that is through Martha's website that I follow, and that's The Crafts Dept. They have some fun ideas on their blog as well.

Also, I highly recommend checking out Family Fun's Magazine at your library. They have some awesome ideas in there as well. Or you can check them out online here.

Jello Jigglers

So, I've never attempted to make or have the desire to make Jello Jigglers, but today was the day. Over the summer I had picked up an unopened package of Alphabet Jello cut-outs at an estate sale. We have used them before on cookie dough, but never for their actual purpose.

While surviving on our Eat from our Pantry month, I found some boxes of Jello that I had never opened. I thought that the boys would like this fun treat. I actually made the Jello yesterday, and tonight for dessert, I cut the boys names out with the Alphabet cut-outs. I think they liked them.

At least 'Pudge' had a couple of them, while Z-man only licked one and then just smashed the rest of them.

Granted, these are not the prettiest Jello Jigglers I've seen, but I wanted you to see how they turned out.

SeeHere: Free Photo Cards

I'm excited to tell you about another deal that SeeHere is promoting. If you create 29 photo cards, and type in the word newbaby at the checkout, you will get those cards for free, and the shipping is free too! This is a great deal, especially with Valentines Day coming up. So I suggest you make yours now before the deal ends.

Snapfish: Free 100 prints

Have pictures taking up space in your computer? I know I do! This is a pretty sweet deal!

Click on this link and get 100 free prints with any purchase, just use the code PRINTSNEW at checkout. When they say “any purchase” they mean it, you could buy one 9 cent print and use the code to get 100 more free. All you need to do is pay for shipping. This code expires tomorrow 1/26 though. Thanks, commonsensewithmoney!

Eating from our Pantry: Week 4

This is our last grocery trip to the store for the month of January, also know as Eat from your Pantry month. We only went to Aldi's and Walgreens. We went a little over, totaling $28.56.

I heard from my friend that the Pineapple's at Aldi's were only $1 this week!! So that is the main reason we stopped at Aldi's. We also needed some extra snacks around the house, so we picked some up as well.

Here are the items we got at Walgreens:

The rice cakes were on sale for $0.99, and we had 3, $0.75 off coupons, total was $0.75 for all 3!! The peanuts were on sale for $1.99, and with an in store coupon and a manufacturer coupon, they totaled $0.50 for both!! And the peanuts were part of a rebate, so we'll be getting that money back in the mail. Check out moneysavingmom for more details on the Walgreens items.

Can you say Free?

I have found a new place to pick up free toys/items, and it's a place that I never would've thought would have free stuff laying around. It's at my son's preschool! There is a secret shelf that had toys that the preschool is getting rid of, and these items are practically new! Here's what I found this week on that shelf:

Cranium's Super Fort, price online says it's for $45!

I also found a kid's indoor tent on that shelf this week as well! My youngest loves it!

So I've concluded that a way that I can offset costs for my son's tuition is to sell these items! Isn't that genius??