Glade for Groceries

I recently found out about a pretty neat Glade promotion at Albertsons. Buy one Glade Scented Oil Warmer (on sale for $4.48) and get a $4 catalina at checkout. Apparently it's been going on for a while because I went to 4 Albies before I found a store with any in-stock! But when I did I used all my coupons up (some try-me-free's, a few bogo's and a few $3 offs) and ordered more on ebay (promotion ends 11/2 I think).

Behold:


I bought 8 Glade warmers that cost me ~$6.xx out of pocket and got back $32 in catalinas good on my next grocery purchase. I'm going to use them to stock my freezer with meat for the winter!

Once A Month Cooking - Potatoes

I got the idea for this HERE, at a woman's blog who occasionally does once-a-month cooking. She did potato skins, twice-baked potatoes, and mashed potatoes. I chose just to do the mashed and the skins.

Five-pound bags of potatoes were on sale for $0.99 last week at Smiths, so I picked up 2 bags. I had shredded cheese in my freezer from a sale last spring (where I got it nearly free), as well as some bacon in my freezer that I got for $0.29 per package in June with a great coupon. Then I also picked up one bunch of green onions ($0.89 at Reams). Total cost for this project is less than $4! If a serving is 2 potato skins, it comes out to about $0.12 per serving.


First I scrubbed the potatoes and poked them with a fork. Then I cooked them for 1 hour at 450 degrees in the convection oven.


After they cooled I cut them in half and scooped out the insides to make mashed potatoes. I mixed the insides with some butter, milk, and salt and pepper.


Then I scooped them into muffin tins and put them in the freezer for an hour to create individual servings.


While those froze, I filled the potato skins with cheese, chopped green onion and bacon pieces (not fully cooked so that when they get cooked later the bacon won't be too crispy).


Voila! I now have a freezer full of potato skins and mashed potatoes to use for lunches or dinners throughout the whole month! Not bad for less than $4 dollars!

Twilight

I've bought my tickets to the opening night showing! Have you?

Ebates

I thought I'd tell you about one of my favorite websites called Ebates. I do a lot of online shopping since I work all day and don't always have time to go to the store. The cool thing about Ebates is that you get cash back on your online purchases just by clicking through their site! They've got pretty much every site you could possibly want to buy from -- Nordstrom, Old Navy, Banana Republic, Target, Walmart, Best Buy, Circuit City, Dell Sephora, Expedia, Netflix, Home Depot, Pottery Barn, Red Envelope, Shutterfly, etc, etc, etc. The list goes on and on. The amount of cashback varies from 1% up to 15% for each store, and sometimes there are additional coupons listed on their site to help save you money.

Here's how it works:
1. Join Ebates by clicking HERE
2. Then simply browse their listing of stores and click on the store link to shop and make your purchase
3. Wait for the cashback to appear in your account
4. Every 3 months they send you a check with all your cashback

You also get a $5 bonus when you make your first purchase after signing up. Pretty simple, and a great way to save some cash on things you were going to buy online anyway!

So the next time you go to buy something online, remember to click through Ebates to save some money!

Hidden Treasures at Kmart

I stopped by Kmart yesterday on my way home to buy some of their Max Factor makeup which is buy-one-get-one this week. I had buy-one-get-one coupons, which made it free -- yay! I don't usually wear Max Factor stuff, but I got a free lipfinity a while back that I liked. It comes with a color and then a clear moisturizing topcoat. I could take or leave the color but the moisturizing topcoat is seriously the bomb. Makes your lips super shiny and luscious. So I bought 2 and I'm gonna keep the topcoat and toss the color!

In my browsings, I happened upon some sweet clearance finds, namely some super-cute Martha Stewart picture frames. They were originally $17, marked down to $3.50. Sa-weet!


I also found some 4-inch pillar candles on clearance down to $2, which was perfect for my new rot-iron candlestick set I bought for my hearth. I also found some Robitussen on clearance for $2.50, which Kmart paid me to take after I used my $3 coupons on them.

All-in-all, some good treasure hunting at Kmart!

Monday Walgreens Escapade

Here are my Walgreens finds for yesterday. I always go on Mondays because the good deals sell out quickly. I even ran into Emily (aka, supermom) with Keidra and Ryder yesterday morning, which was so much fun. Much more fun than shopping by yourself! :)

I got everything pictured below for $17.80 out of pocket (I used last week's register rewards to pay for some of it), plus I got back $70 in register rewards. (This is what I like to call "rolling" your register rewards.) It was a good day!

Cold & Flu Season Supplies

I forgot to post my deals from last week.

All these items were free after rebate last week at Rite Aid. There were actually 30 items free after rebate -- all cold and flu medicines -- but I just bought the ones I thought I'd use or like to try.



I accidentally did something funny to the settings on my camera, and now they're all turning out grainy. ??? Standby while I work through the technical difficulties.

Halloween Party

On Saturday night we had a Spencer family Halloween party at Chris's sister's house so all the nieces and nephews could put on their costumes for us. We ate all sorts of chili's and soups for dinner and then played some Halloween games with the kids. Their costumes were adorable!

Chris and Annalisa

Annalisa and Logan the cowboy

Chris and Preston the cow

How adorable is that!

My man Logan

Hannah, aka Dorothy - complete with Ruby slippers and all

Wade, the jedi master

And later, Preston in his "pimp hat"

Chris and his man Preston

All the kids were so stinkin' cute, we had a great time!

Fall Colors

On Friday Chris and I went for a drive up the canyon. I had stayed home sick that day so it was nice to get out of the house and get some fresh air. Also, no making fun of my "I've been laying on the couch sick all day" hair. Chris surprised me by taking me to "The Tree" that belongs to he and his friends. Long story. Much too long to tell here.

The jist of it is, it's their special tree that's so special that they decided no one can take their wives to see it until they've been married for 7 years (you know, because most marriages fail within the first 7 years). So if you've made it that far, you're trustworthy. Well apparently I passed the trustworthy test because Chris took me to see it and we've only been married for 2 years. What a treat. :)

Behold, The Tree!

The proof that I was actually there.

We stopped at Silverfork Lodge on our way home for a plate of their famous nachos. Yum! It was a fun spontaneous date night.

My, How Time Flies

Last week our family experienced the passing of our grandpa's wife, Louise. We were sad to see her go and will miss her and the good care she took of our grandpa. But we feel some comfort in the fact that she is free from her pain and has been reunited with her husband after so many years apart.

The viewing for Louise was held at the same mortuary where the viewing was held for our dear grandma eight years ago. Sitting on that very same couch brought back a flood of memories, some good, some sad. While we were there, we took the opportunity to re-enact a photo with all of the girl cousins.

In 2000: Emily, Lizzie, Michelle, Kate, Liesel, Annalisa, Amy

I can't believe how much we've all changed! We all seemed to be a bunch of little chubby munchkins eight years ago, and now we're all grown up, beautiful women. What a blessing it is to have such close, wonderful friends as family!

In 2008: Kate, Emily, Lizzie, Liesel, Michelle, Annalisa, Amy

Toothpaste out the Wazoo

Here are the details of my Monday Walgreens runs! After hitting up 4 stores on my way to/from work, I came home with 23 toothpastes, 3 Glade Wisp candles, 2 Glade scented oil candles, 5 Glade scented gel warmers, 1 Loreal moist towelette, and 6 Visines.


I spent $9.71 + tax out of pocket, got $9 in register rewards back, plus I have $14.99 in rebates coming at the end of the month.

All total I saved $130.38 in coupons and store sales.

Girls Night Out

On Saturday night, we had a girls night out while all the men were at Priesthood! We went to Archibald's at Gardner Village for dinner (Fried Green Tomatoes - yum!).

Annalisa and Michelle in the car.

Julie and Amy in the car.

To add to our usual crowd (we miss you, Melissa!) was Fialka (a student from Armenia who's studying at the U of U and happens to be LDS), Haydee (Walter's new bride who's a barrel of laughs), and her friend Sierra from Florida who was in town for Conference. We had such a good time with all these chicas.

Mom, Fialka, Julie, Annalisa, Amy, Haydee, Sierra

After dinner we saw Nights in Rodanthe at Jordan Commons. It wasn't as good as the Notebook or A Walk to Remember (all Nicholas Sparks novels/movies), but it was the perfect type of movie for a girls night out. I would have never been able to drag Chris with me to that show! If you go, remember to bring tissues.

Annalisa, Michelle, Amy

We had such a good time with all the girls and we can't wait for next time!

Norm MacDonald

Last Friday Chris and I and some friends went up to the Wiseguys Comedy Club in Ogden to see one of our favorite comedians - Norm MacDonald. Long before Chris and I ever met, Screwed and Dirty Work were two favorite movies of Chris and his pals. Chris even brought both movies along on our honeymoon and we watched them together to make sure I passed the test. Needless to say, I also love his dry wit and I was so excited to see Norm live!

We drove up there with Kelli, Jeremy, Sam and Bath, and got there early so we were on the front row! Then we ordered dinner and ate while watching the show. By the end of the night our faces hurt from laughing and smiling so hard! It was such a fun night, and a special chance to see someone we admire so much!


After the show Norm came outside the theater to mingle with his fans. People were surrounding him, all trying to get pictures with him. We pushed our way to the front and jumped in to make sure we had a picture of us with Norm as proof of our amazing night! I think the multiple flashes on our camera startled him a little bit, but I wish you could have seen his feet - he was wearing tennis shoes with his suit!

Organizing Your Coupons

People often ask me how I organize my coupons, so I thought I'd share. I use an file box (purchased for $12 at Staples) with a catergorical system, as shown below. The categories are broad, including Health/Beauty, Paper Goods, Medicine, Cleaning Supplies, Refrigerated Foods, Frozen Foods, etc.


However, there's always more than one way to skin a cat. It's best to find a method that makes sense and works for you. Here are some ways other ladies organize their coupons.

Method 1: Box with envelopes

Method 2: Alphabetical accordian file

Method 3: File binder

Method 4: Accordian file according to store location

Method 5: Binder by Category


One of these ladies mentions that writing your name and phone number somewhere discreet on your binder is a great idea, in case you leave it somewhere. It would be a shame to lose all of your hard work!


Also, I came across this great article on how one woman uses cash and an envelope system to stay on budget every month. I personally love the credit card rewards, and don't usually have trouble spending more than I take in. But it was an interesting read and I liked her receipt organization method. I could do better at that.