Bueller??!!??!?!?

Bueller, Bueller…..anyone??!!? It’s been about a month since I blogged last and a lot has happened since.  First my former employer called and offered me a position at the company.  I was completely shocked and I have been slowly adjusting to being a working mom again.  Sully gave me the cold shoulder for a couple of days, and it’s been a little tricky to try and get my runs in.  I enjoyed my time home with Sully, but this is the best decision for my family.  Other than that I’ve just been saving money and keeping up with my running.  I’ve been hitting up CVS lately to use my coupons and have been getting some good deals.  The other day I was reading the circular and I told Mr. O, “Toothpaste is always free!”  I now get toothpaste free or pay under $1 for it now.  In addition to sharing my toothpaste bounty with my parents, we plan to make a big donation around the holidays.  In running news, I ran the Baltimore 10 miler on Saturday.  It was my first official race since having Sully.  I just love the excitement and energy of races.  I did well for my first race back and now that I run with a jogging stroller.  I clocked in with a time of 1:34.  Now my next decision is half-marathon or full-marathon???I’m leaning towards full which means I will be running by myself, but I’ve done it before.   So basically that is the past month in a nutshell.  I promise it won’t be so long next time!

Saving Tips Tuesday

Tuesday is Mr. O's day off and my grocery store day.  This week I planned and was going to go coupon crazy.  My first stop was Giant Eagle where I planned to get Lysol cleaning products and Colgate toothpaste and toothbrushes.  Lysol cleaning products were on sale for 4 for $8, with a $2 instant savings, making it 4 for $6, and on top of that I had coupons for $1 off for two....so I applied two coupons to the four making the grand total on the Lysol products 4 for $4! Are you still with me???? For someone who isn't good at math somehow I am good when it comes to saving money.  Colgate toothpaste was on sale for 10 for $10.  I had a $.75 off coupon that would double, making the toothpaste free.  Also, Colgate toothbrushes were also on sale for 10 for $10 and I had a coupon for $1.00 off two toothbrushes, so one toothbrush was free!  Before my club card and coupons the total was well over $70, and I started to get nervous.  Then I was put to ease after everything went through.  Here are my savings from Giant Eagle.

My next stop was CVS for laundry detergent.  Cheer and Gain laundry detergent was marked down from $8.99 to $4.99.  I applied a $1 off coupon for each container of detergent that I bought making it $3.99.  I only bought 4 bottles of detergent, I contemplated buying more but Mr. O stopped me.  Here are my savings:

And here is a picture of my haul.  It definately pays to shop around.  I know it's not anywhere near the people on Extreme Couponing, but I'm saving my family money and that is the most important part.

Weekend Savings

Hope everyone had a good weekend.  Mr. O and I had a low key weekend.  On Sunday, Sully and I went to my little sister's honor awards for school.  It is great to see her recognized for all of her hard work.  Last week, I had some great savings at the grocery store.  Chobani Greek yogurt for kids was marked down to $2.99, and I had a $1.00 to put on top of that.  Sully loves yogurt, and I definitely stocked up on this!  Gatorades were marked down to 10 for $10, and I had a buy 1 get 1 free coupon.  Oral-B toothbrushes were on sale for 2 for $4, and I had a $1.5o off a toothbrush coupon to use.  The hot ticket item this week was Ball Park hot dogs that were on sale for 3 for $3.98, when I went to the store on Friday they were all out, I had Sully with me and didn't feel like even bothering with a rain check.  It's probably better off that I didn't buy a mass quantity of hot dogs....my booty doesn't need that!  Here are my savings:

 And here is what I bought, yes it does look funny buying 8 packs of yogurt, but items go on sale in cycles and you gotta stock up!

Extreme Couponer in Training

I am completely obsessed with Extreme Couponing on TLC.  I have always been a smart shopper, only buying necessities and what's on sale in the circular.  When I got laid off the first time I started using coupons.  Now after watching Extreme Couponing I now understand how sale cycles work so I can get the lowest price possible.  There is a free newspaper that gets distributed in my part of town.  I waited a day and then Sully and I went on a walk to get the papers that were not picked up.  I think we got 6 newspapers.  After Sully went to bed I poured a Skinnygirl Margarita and started clipping.  The hot coupon was $3.00 off of Nivea bodywash for men and women.  Yesterday, I decided to run a couple of errands (put my coupons to use) while Mr. O was sleeping.  The bodywash was marked down to $3.00 at Wal-Mart, unfortunately there were only three bottles left, looks like I'm not the only one deal hunting.  Sully and I strolled by the clearance rack and I found Meyers Dish Soap marked down to a $1.00..woo hoo!!I scooped up 3 bottles.  Next we went to Giant Eagle, they were advertising the bodywash $1.00 off with club card and I could put the coupon on top of that.  The body wash was originally $4.49, and with my coupon and club card savings...a whopping $.50!!! To recap, I got 3 bottles of bodywash for free, and 11 for $.50!  Have you jumped on the coupon bandwagon??