Happy New Year!

2008 is over! I can't say that I am sad to see it go. I am hoping and praying 2009 brings a better economy, end to war, and better health to all of us.
Not that this year has been all bad. I am sooo blessed! I have and incredible husband, three adorable healthy little boys, a semi-crazy and insanely generous sister, a great relationship with my mom and dad (wasnt always so), a healthy brother (also wasnt always so), 3 more awesome sisters, and by the grace of God we have managed to pay all of our bills!

I usually don't make resolutions, afraid I will just set myself up for failure, but this year I have a few.

#1 Be a better wife, mother, and friend

#2 Have a healthy baby!
in order to to this I have to commit to a few more:
A. Lose 10% of my weight
I need to lose much more, but this is a start
B. Take vitamins and eat well balanced meals

#3 Save even more money with coupons

#4 Continue to get A's in college

#5 Blog at least 4 days a week

Not so bad right? I think I can handle this.
What are your resolutions?

My Oven Exploded!

Two days before Christmas with a big ol turkey half done inside of it, my kids ran outside and said, "the oven went BOOM and now there is fire." By the time we ran in the "fire" was just smoke. But the heating element in the oven was TOAST. Stinking thing was in lots of pieces. I instantly burst into tears over my turkey! Our neighbor was kind enough to stick it in his oven. Initially we were told it wouldn't be fixed until mid January, but found out today it will be repaired next Tuesday. My dad was nice enough to get me a counter top roaster for Christmas so I was able to bake my ham on Christmas Day.

Merry Christmas!

I hope you and yours had a wonderful Christmas! We had an awesome and eventful one.
Watch for my next post on how our oven EXPLODED!

I really LOVE CVS

A year ago, heck 6 months ago I'd never shopped at CVS. Really, never! I thought it was too expensive, roflol. Now its my favorite place to shop. If you hadn't noticed I love shopping, and CVS lets me do that for FREE! This week is chuck full of freebies! Due to the holidays and the fact that I have to sit on my freezing playroom floor to use my laptop (long story, I did not get to plan things out as well as usual. But did score:

Transaction 1:
1 Complete Multi Purpose Solution sale $8.99
used $1/1
earned $8.99 in ECBS
Paid with $7.99 in ECBS

Transaction 2:
2 Sally Hansen Nail Polish sale $5.99 ea
used $3/2 CVS q from Inventing Beauty Mag
Earned ECBs 5.99 for each
1 Excedrin express sale $3.99
earned 3.99 ECBs
1 Loreal Eye Shadow sale $6.99
used $1/1 q
earned 6.99 ECBs
Also used $4/20 CVS q
and 10.99 in ECBS
$2.48 on Gift Card (I won)

Transaction 3:
1 Sleepinal sale $8.49
Earned 8.49
1 Loreal Eye Shadow sale $6.99
(same as above)
1 trial size First Aid kit .99
used $1/1q
Listerine sale $2.99
used $1/1 CVSq from Diabetes book instore
earned 2.99ECBs
cashews .99
Paid with ECBs from last trans.
.48 on gift card.

Transaction 4,5,6
Sleepinal sale $8.49
Earn 8.49
pay with 8.49 in ECBs
I did this 3 times.
whoo hooo I have lots of sleep aid! Which I actually need!

Simple Holidays

HA! Right?
I am going my darnest to create a stress free peaceful Christmas for our family. Not such an easy feat when your budget is so tight its screaming for air and your family is a little crazy.
I try to be thrifty in every situation I can manage, but I have never been one to bake. That is until recently. If you had told me last Christmas I would be making candy and baking goodies for everyone; I would have check for fever. But alas in my hunt for frugality and better overall living, I have quickly learned the ropes. I make a mean banana muffin and yummy bread.
For my sons' teachers I made candy! Between the three boys there are 6 teachers (Noah has 4). I saved a ton of money, and devouring some of the Buckeyes was mighty relaxing. I also made peppermint bark. I cheated on the both, making them even easier by microwaving the chocolate!
We have been uber crafty around these parts too!
Making dough ornaments, picture cards (which I hand delivered), and homemade cookies.
I shopped on Black Friday and was DONE.
Now less than a week before the big day, I am in relax mode!
The gifts are wrapped, the food is done, the house is festive and I am CALM.
After all nothing is more peaceful, calming or relaxing to me than not breaking the bank to have a wonderful holiday!

How about you? What are you doing to relax and enjoy the holidays? Parent Blogger Network and Families for Depression Awareness want to know.

Christmas Plays Aplenty

This week I was blessed to attend 2 of my boys' first Christmas plays! First was Noah's, he was an elf and had a few short lines. But to me (and his teachers)this was a miracle! They attempted to include him last year, but he could not handle it. This year he has come leaps and bounds especially socially. He was the most adorable elf of the bunch. Not that I am partial, lol.
Later, the same day I went to Isaiah's performance. Can I just tell you 15 three year olds singing Christmas Carols, is cuteness overload!?

Overwhelmed and Under Couponed

Those who read me regularly may have noticed my grocery/CVS deals have need seriously lacking lately. I have been very busy with first finals at school and now holiday prep and gift wrapping. Also the sales at Publix are not for anything I needed and didn't have many coupons to match.
I have been shopping at Albertsons more, this weeks deals are a bakers dream!
5lb Flour $1.69
5lb Sugar $1.69
condensed milk 10/$10
spices 50% off
Another notable deal
boneless skinless chicken breasts buy one get 2 free!
CVS has some great deals for freebies coming this weekend go to Hot Coupon World to check out the preview!

Freebie 8x10 photo

If you go to Walgreens and order an 8x10 photo and enter the code FREEGIFT, it will will be free! No purchase needed and you can have it shipped to your closest location.

Winner!

And the winner of my December giveaway is BEEB(supercoupongirl)! Thank you too all that entered and for all the wonderful ideas for acts of kindness.

MMOOOMMMM!

Hearing your child scream this at the top of their lungs in the middle of the night is enough to make any mom's blood run cold. The other night I woke up to Jordan SCREAMING "MMMOOOOMMM" like there was an ax murderer in our house.
My dh and I flew out of bed and raced down the hall and this is the conversation that followed (after we flipped on the lights and look around frantically).
Dh: What's wrong??
Jordan: Noah is making pig noises and I can't sleep.
Me: PIG NOISES??? (thinking WTF??)
Jordan: Yes pig noises and I cant sleep.
DH: uh ok??
Noah: (popping his head from under blanket)The pig noises are LOUD mommy.
I hear a weird noise and it gets louder (almost pig sounding).
And then our cat runs out from under the boys bunk bed after hoarking up a huge hair ball.
After to explaining to both boys that there was NOT a pig in their room, DH and I crawled back to bed. Only in our house!

Walgreens Deals

I was excited to use some of the .39 coupons from this weeks ad to stock up on gift wrapping supplies. I also used the $4/1 Mayb. Lipsticks from this weeks paper with the bogo sale this week. I was able to get 2 $8 lipsticks for FREE!

CvS Battery Deal

Still reeling from my last few weeks of major deals at CVS I took it easy this week.
I picked up:
Transaction#1:
Complete eye solution sale $8.99
get $8.99 in ECBs
paid with $8.99 in Ecbs from last week.
freeeeee!!

Transaction#2
4 8 packs of Energizer Batteries $5.99ea
used 4 $1/1 peelies
earned $10 ECBs
paid with 20 ecbs
only OOP was tax!

Grocery Shopping without Coupons

GASP!!! Well it wasn't totally coupon free I had 7 coupons. I didnt see anything on Publix bogo sale that we needed and the coupon matchps were not great. Albertsons sale on the other hand was great despite the lack of coupon matchups. This week's flyer had a $5/50q in it too.
I have noticed in the time since I have been at this "frugal" thing, my cooking and shopping habits have changed! Having a pretty good stock pile of cereal, pasta, and side dishes allows me to buy more fresh fruits and veggies and ingredients to bake from scratch more often and still stay within a reasonable budget.
This weeks highlights at Albertsons were:
Whole chickens $1 lb
Chicken Breasts $1 lb
Red Globe grapes $1 lb
ripe bananas .39 lb (used these to make muffins)
food coloring sale $1.49 used $1/1 q
Birdseye frozen veggies $1ea used .35/1 qs
Sara lee bread $1
2 lb bags of powdered sugar $1.09
These were the best deals I picked up all together I spent $49. Over my normal budget, but not near the $80 I used to spend on a tight week.
I also got my brother groceries for the week in this trip.
I am really hoping to get back to the huge deals at Publix soon!

Freebies!!

MoneySavingMom has links to 3 different freebies at Bath & Body Works! Great for Christmas gifts and stockstuffers!

Kmart Super Doubles

Are going on right now! Kmart will double any coupon (no internet printables) up to $2! I will post my trip tommorow.