Time to re-purpose the old blog...

I think I need this space back. It was great for being my deal dumping grounds while I was growing my couponing skills but now that I've got that down I'll leave it to the pros :)

Instead, I've decided to make this blog a little more personal. If you don't like it, feel free to unsubscribe or quit following. I'll probably still post my shopping trips and deals from time to time because I don't intend to become less cheap at any time in the future. I just don't want that to be my focus anymore.

In case you're wondering, current focuses and goals for myself include:

• More crafting- both with and without kiddos. I grew up in a crafty household, and while I'm quick to admit that I'm not artistic by any means I can still pull out a good craft once in a while.
• "Re-fashioning" myself. I have had 3 adorable kiddos in the last 4 years but that's done a number on my body and my wardrobe. One of my personal goals this year is a new style on the cheap. I'm going for modest, late 20's, "I'm a mom and it must be practical but I still want to look cute" and CHEAP.
• Get in shape. Sure, I'd love to lose weight but making that a goal is a surefire way to disappoint myself. Instead I'm going to focus on getting outside more, exercising more, and eating better. I guess that means the real goal overall is a healthier me.
• Continue to hone my shopping skills. I've been at the couponing thing now for 3 years and while I'm good at it, I want to focus more on cutting my OOP and stockpiling the right amounts. I think having a specific goal here will help me continue to improve. I'm currently on a "shopping break" which means nothing but dairy, bread, and produce (and the occasional needed item).
• Sweeping. Not sweeping the floor sweeping, but entering sweepstakes and playing instant wins. I've been fooling around with this for a while and had small wins. In November I won my first major prize (a trip we'll be going on next month, I'll share more details when we get back). December was good to me as well. Of course, I'll be sharing some of those kinds of things here as well.

If you stick around, you can expect updates on all of those kinds of things.

Did you get a Keurig for Christmas?

I did, and I'm thrilled with the ease and convenience- I sure don't feel that way about the crazy prices of some of the K-cups. Maybe you've been looking for a deal too? Have I got one for you- I just bought 101 k cups for $29.57! Want to know how?

First, you'll need to register your machine at Keurig. You should be able to find the machine's code either behind your drip tray or on the back of your machine. They'll email you a personal one-time use code for 2 free boxes when you buy 2 boxes.

Next, you can pick out 4 boxes of k cups in their shop. I added a 5 k cup sampler to my order for an extra $2.97 but you don't need to do that...I just thought it'd be fun to try a little bit of something new and since I was putting in an order now (with free shipping) I might as well try it out, right? This is replacing my Starbucks budget for the next two weeks so a little splurge won't hurt.

Head on over to view your cart. Apply the code you received in your email to make 2 of the boxes free, it will take off the lowest priced of the boxes (don't worry about having a sampler in there- it took off 2 of my 24 count boxes, not the cheaper sampler). Now, apply CHEERS11 for an extra $3 off your total (expires 1/11/11). At this point you can checkout.

Want to see how it worked out in the end? Here's my order:

Unsweetened Black Perfect Iced Tea (24) $11.80
Big Easy Bold Coffee (24) $0.00
Italian Roast X Bold Coffee (24) $0.00
Creme Caramel Coffee (24) $14.80

Chai Tea (5) $2.97
Product Sub-Total: $67.10
Discount: $37.53
*Estimated Taxes: $0.00
Shipping Charge: $0.00
Order Total: $29.57

*Final taxes are calculated upon shipment and will be reflected in your Shipping Confirmation email.

Disney Movie Rewards: do you use this?

I really like this program, it's nice to earn points from something we buy anyways (although a good number of our Disney movies are bought with coupons, received as gifts, or picked up at goodwill). Even if you don't buy the movies, they give out a lot of points for free. I was recently working on updating my own account and came across a good number of codes that are currently available and FREE.

If you haven't been doing this, now is the perfect time to sign up because there are quite a few codes for you. (If you have been doing this, please double check your account before trying these codes. Putting in the same codes too many times can get your account frozen. You can fix this with a phone call but checking before hand will save you the hassle and only take a few extra seconds.)

• Step 1: Register at Disney Movie Rewards
• Complete your profile to earn 25 points, and then enter the following codes
• REX for 25 points (new members only)
• FM39V03SSW for 5 points
• FPSNN83JX9 for 25 points
• 9FTMRYWEK for 50 points
• 9EKSMN38SH for 50 points
• COOL for 50 points
• D11M20R01NY for 50 points
• CHIHUAHUA for 25 points
• then fill out a survey for an additional 100 points

That's a potential 405 points absolutely free! What can you get with 405 points? Nothing super fantastic unless you're looking for 30 free photo prints, Disney mini posters, stickers or something along those lines. I tend to cash out around the 550-750 point range, they have a few older Disney dvds that are kind of fun. Of course, I'm sure there will be more free points released in the future- making it easy to earn enough for something (possibly a Christmas gift you can mark off your list for free this year?). I've got my eyes set on some of the Handy Manny dvd's at 750 points that I know my boys would love.

A HUGE thank you to the wonderful people at SD that keep the DMR thread up to date with the latest codes! While I didn't find all of these codes there, I do frequently check for new codes there and frequently benefit from their hard work :)

QFC

Spent $1.95, saved $67.95 (97%)

...and that's just today's run. I've been having a blast shopping the promo this week at QFC and am excited to see that it'll be continuing into next week (although the prices could/probably will change). Part of what made today so awesome is the new $1.50/3 Campbell's cooking soups printable coupon (with 2 computers- that means all 12 cans were free for me!). Even if you don't have more than one computer, you can print it twice and that takes care of at least 6 of your 10 items.

I'm back with an Albertsons trip!

I'm back! Actually, I've been back to shopping for a while- and couponing like a maniac this week. Hope you've all been taking advantage of the deals at QFC too (because they're too good to pass up- seriously! If you don't know what I'm talking about, visit Heather over at Queen Bee Coupons). I've only got my Albertsons trip for you today though:

Total Spent: $0.12 --- Total Saved: $40.88

I did the same transaction twice: 6 cans Dole Pineapple and 4 cans of green beans. I used two $1/3 Dole coupons (from a recent booklet), one $1/4 Green Giant canned veggies (from the Safeway Thanksgiving coupon book), and three doublers per transaction. Gotta love 10 canned food items for a mere $.06.

The oldest helped me to carry them in and stack them up for a photo. Then he insisted that I take his picture too (and since he usually runs from the camera, I was happy to oblige). I hope to continue getting back on track with my blog now that things are settling down and I'm getting the hang of three.

Meet our new addition!

Those of you who've been following me for a while probably know we've been expecting baby #3. Well, he arrived on the 16th of this month and is keeping us plenty busy. I'm glad to have a well-stocked pantry at the moment because I'm really not up to the deal-seeking and trying to shop with 3 kiddos. Of course, I've been prompted to share some photos, so here he is:

That's baby Preston at 1 day old. Here he is again with big brother Ryan (you'll have to forgive me for the blurry photos below, the majority of which are from either my or my sister's phone...I'm behind on uploading photos from my camera).

And snuggling with big brother Trent (he adores his "wonderful Frestony Freston")

I don't usually share photos of myself, but my sister caught this big baby yawn and it's kind of cute, so here you go. New babies are so much more fun than couponing!

...and a Rite Aid trip!

My money-making Johnson&Johnson trip!

With baby #3 on the way any day now, I had every intention of making my short Albies run this morning the very last of my couponing trips for a while. Then, I got wind of a great moneymaking deal on Johnson and Johnson products at Rite Aid. This was the only thing I had wanted to stock up on and had not seen an awesome deal on...plus it was at a store near my house?! It was just too much for me to resist. Here's how I did it:

• I purchased 8 Johnson and Johnson products (they must be 15oz- other than that all "flavors" of bubble bath, wash, shampoo, and lotion are reportedly working) at $3.99 each
• used a $5 off a $25 purchase RA coupon
• used a $1 Johnson&Johnson Video Values coupon
• used a variety of printable Johnson&Johnson coupons (each equal to $1 off per product, so these took off a total of $8 for me)
• This brought my total down to $19.81 after taxes (I had $3 in +Up rewards at home, but I forgot them)
• I got back one $10 +Up reward for buying over $30 worth of J&J products and eight $2 +Up rewards for a grand total of $26 +Up rewards!

That's more than $6 in profit after taxes on something we use daily, talk about a hard to resist deal! There are a couple of things you'll want to keep in mind if this deal interests you:

• You can only get one $10 +Up reward for buying $30 worth of J&J products so you won't be able to do this more than once per Wellness card.
• If you've been a super awesome RA shopper and already have the 20% discount, your J&J items will ring up slightly less. You can buy a ninth product to get you up over the $30 point or chose another participating item.
• The limit on J&J $2 +Up rewards appears to be 8, so buying 9 will not net you another $2
• Hurry! The word on this deal is getting out now- plus, it's a popular product and easily done with printable coupons. If you have specific items in mind, you probably won't want to wait as the store could run out. My store was well stocked this morning but it only takes a few couponers to put a dent in the store's stock when we're each buying 8 products.

Hope this helps someone out there! For more hot RA deals you'll want to check out For The Mommas (my favorite RA deal blogger).