WALGREENS COUPON SHOPPING

Have I told you how much I love Walgreens? I just had to show you all that I got yesterday for $20... I also got $10 in Register Rewards to use as cash next time I shop there. So basically I got all the above for $10. My bill to start off with was $95. Now who in their right mind would pay $95? certainly not me, but I will pay $10 for it:)

I got:

4 BIG bags of Halloween candy

4 Mascaras

1 pack of gum

1 box of peanut brittle

1 box of mints

2 Theraflus

1 body was

2 deodorants

2 cans mandarin oranges

1 24 pack of bottled water

2 cans of baby formula (I couldn't resist for $1.49 a can... they are usually $15 a piece. If we don't get that baby we are hoping to adopt, I can always donate it to someone for that price)

Just thought I would share... no actually I had to share... the older boys keep telling me that I need to post a picture of our coupon shopping... in fact tonight before bed Louis said, "Mom, thanks for being the best mom, and thanks for saving us all of that money." I thought that was pretty humorous. I am surprised they even care really. But really they love to cut the coupons and do the shopping with me. I am thankful for their help.

We head out tomorrow bright and early for Louisiana for the chili cook off that Ryane is having to raise money for Shaohannah's hope... in memory of Samuel. Just the kids and I are going... I will post pictures when we get back... we are so touched that she would do this all in memory of our sweet boy. His life is making a difference in the lives of some orphans... that makes me so happy.

I AM A PENNY PINCHER:)

Ok, this is going to be kind of a random post. Greg got back from the youth mission trip yesterday. Yeah!!! It is so nice to have him home. Please pray for him if you think of it, he is getting an epidural shot in his back tomorrow for a bulging disk. He has been in a lot of pain for the last 2 months. We are praying that this helps him.

So my dad used to always say that my mom could stretch a buck to 2 bucks... but that I could stretch a buck to 5. I always took that as a compliment. Ever since we had Louis, I knew that I wanted to be home with him and I would do anything possible to make that happen. With Greg being a church worker, I have always tried to be frugal and be a good steward of the resources God has blessed us with. My brother-in-law has always said I should somehow make a living off my "cheap living" ways. I kind of thought that was funny. But really I have always thought of it as a kind of fun challenge, living with in our means. I have never thought of it as being a bad or tough thing... as wierd as it may sound, I kind of enjoy it:)

Well, I have never really been a coupon cutter. But I have a bad... or good feeling that is going to change. The picture above is from my first REAL shopping with coupons adventure. I got all of the above, (11 boxes of cereal, 5 cake mixes, 10 weight watcher meals, 2 boxes of veggie burgers, 3 lbs. of strawberries, 4 yogurts, 1 skillet meal, 4 cartons of icecream, and 2 boxes of pop-tarts... that was the treat for the kids after all the craziness with the coupons:) for $32. I thought that was a pretty good deal. Prior to using my coupons the bill was $104. Is that crazy or what? I NEVER would have paid $104 for all of that.

It was really quited educational for the kids. They were all so excited to see the money coming off of the bill. Actually, I rarely buy any convenience foods, I am really a cook from scratch kind of gal. I really try to cook healthy for the kids. I usually put out a plate of fruit and veggies in the morning for the kids to snack on through out the day. If we ever have "sweet cereal" we make the kids mix it with a cereal that isn't sweet. I am a bit of a stickler normally.

I really need to get back to my once a month cooking because most days I have a hard time getting motivated to make something good for us. Ever since Samuel died I have struggled with that. So right now my freezer is full, but not with anything that I could just throw in the oven and have ready. So I am actually thankful for some of the convenience foods that I picked up.

I will keep you posted on my next coupon excusions:) Thanks for the prayers for my honey:)