I'm Back!

Hello!  I FINALLY have my computer back and am ready to get back to blogging!  Obviously I have been out of commission for many, many months.  I apologize that it has taken so long but unfortunately, having a major over-haul on my computer really wasn't in the budget.  I am so surprised to see how many people keep checking in or otherwise I might have quit it all together.  I wish this "debut" post were more exciting but I'm still working on getting all of my pictures downloaded and organized.  Therefore, here is a quick little blurb about an ongoing project I've been working on.  It's no secret that I love a good bargain.  The past two years of shopping with coupons has allowed me to stock my home with everything I use at unbelievable prices.  So much so in fact, that I am kind-of morphing into more of a wholesale type shopper.  I've been tracking all of the items I use in my home for about a year.  I've also tracked at what price I've purchased the item.  This ensures that in the future I really will only buy something at rock bottom prices.  One thing I have grown to love is the bulk food section at WinCo.  When I am planning my weekly shopping trips I like to compare the prices to WinCo and a couple other grocery stores.  Unfortunately, WinCo will not give prices over the phone.  IT DRIVES ME CRAZY!!!  Because of this, they have lost some of my business because I'm not going to make the 25 minute drive if I am not 100% sure it's worth my time.  I created this little spreadsheet to help me out.  I went to the WinCo closest to me and wrote down all of the items I use (not everything, sorry).  I don't know if their prices are the same everywhere, but I figured I would share my findings in case anyone would find this helpful.   Email me at mapleandvine@hotmail.com and I can email you the .pdf.  I'm really glad I did this because Walgreen's has Clabber Girl baking powder on sale this week.  Without a manufacturer's coupon, it would be better to purchase at WinCo.  However, with the mq, I now know I definitely needt to get it at Walgreen's.  Make sense?  Anyway, like I said, not exciting but I love saving as many pennies as I can by shopping smart. 

Cutest Nintendo DS Cases!

Hey there!  This is just a little blurb about a fantastic little find I discovered over the weekend.  My kiddos each have a Nintendo DS.  I was planning on making them some sort of cute little case to put them in but it's really LOW on the priority list.  As I was walking through Hobby Lobby I found, on clearance of course, the most adorable fabric cases.  I was looking at what were labeled "sunglasses holder" and thought they would work perfectly for their DS's instead.  Although, they really would be cute for sunglasses too!  If you have a similar need and a Hobby Lobby nearby go check it out because they're a perfect fit!

Christmas Shopping? Oh Yes I Am!!!

Hey everyone!  Hip2Save had a great deal on Pyrex glassware posted on her website today.  Click HERE to check out the details (60% off and free shipping!).  As soon as I saw this I knew I had to act quickly.  You see, earlier today I went on my weekly K-Mart shopping trip (for my previous thoughts on K-Mart click HERE).  Anyway, they had some great toys on clearance with an additional 50% off!  I was able to snag some LIV dolls and accessories for my girls for their Easter baskets for an amazing price (I think they ended up being $6.00).  I also purchased some odds and ends to have at home for when the kiddos are invited to birthday parties as well as some items for Christmas.  Yes, Christmas.  I have often been asked why I would do this considering that I don't know what my girls will ask for.  That is true.  However, I know my kids, I am their mom after all, so when I see something I know they will like I purchase it throughout the year.  When the season finally arrives I let Santa take the credit for getting them the other items that were just what they wanted.  It always seems to work out great and I've never had any problems with my system.  Now, back to my point of this post.  This shopping trip got me thinking about what I would give out to my co-workers this year.  I had an idea to give some measuring cups filled with Hershey's Kisses and a tag that says 'I hope your holiday season is filled with JOY beyond measure!'  The only problem, I hate cheap measuring cups and the good ones can be quite pricey.  That's why I was so happily surprised by this great deal on nice Pyrex measuring cups.  Is it fate that this was the same day I had been thinking about these gifts?  I think so!  Anyway, I just saved oodles of money acting on this now.  And, when it comes time to finally hand these little babies out I will be able to enjoy the season instead of stressing about what I'm going to give.  Sounds good to me!  Sorry, to my lovely friends who read this blog and will end up receiving these, I hope you'll forgive me!

Walgreen's Report

This week's trip to Walgreen's was rather disappointing.  There were so many other items I wanted to buy that were out of stock.  In fact, the last couple of trips I've made have been a little annoying.  I don't understand why a store that is well aware of the amount of customers who use coupons doesn't order more of their products to sustain a sale.  And, if you're not actually going to enforce a limit on the quantities, then why even waste the time to hang up the tags?  That said, I acknowledge that this is all part of the game and also because I don't shop on Sunday's I don't get first dibs on all of the products.  Alright, I'm off my soapbox.  In the end, I am still saving massive amounts of money and I did purchase some higher priced items.  I got all this for $8.80.

K-Mart Shopping

I'm not a huge fan of Walmart.  Actually, that's putting it lightly.  I detest Walmart.  I literally feel myself get angry for no reason when I walk in the door.  Especially now that coupon shopping is my way of life.  Sometimes I look at the prices and think to myself, "Do people really think these are good prices?"  Unfortunately, there are times when I really do need to go in and grab some things.  I know I am not in the "norm" when it comes to this but I much prefer K-Mart to Walmart and fortunately for me, K-Mart is closer to me anyway.  When I am in the need of some discount items for my home that is usually where I end up.  The store I shop at is very clean and organized but I admit their prices are slightly higher than Walmart.  I get around this by waiting for the items to go on sale and then they are usually cheaper.  Anyway, the point of this post is that they now offer a great rewards program which has sealed the deal in choosing K-Mart over the other.  It is a program where you sign up with your personal information and get a card...just like at some grocery stores.  Every time you shop, you need to swipe your card so you earn points for everything you purchase.  These points add up and can be redeemed like cash.  Also, they periodically have double coupon sales in certain departments.  I didn't realize until yesterday that they were having one of those sales this week.  They will double coupons up to $2.00!!!!  That is a HUGE deal in couponing!  You can only use 5 coupons per day so I was sad that I only discovered this was going on today or I would have made a few trips this week.  After I combined their store sales with my double coupons I got all of this for only $12.36.  I also redeemed my points that were on my rewards card and what do you know?  I had $5.00 worth of points so my total only came to $7.36.  I was listening to an employee tell another customer that she saved all of her points until Christmas last year and had $200.00 in points that she was able to use for gifts.  And I'm sorry, the same toys are sold at K-Mart as anywhere else so why not get them for absolutely free?  I think that is a great idea and I'm going to save mine for the end of the year as well.  And, even better, you also get points for shopping at Sears.  If you want to check out their program click HERE!

Walgreen's Report

I haven't been to Walgreen's for what seems like forever.  I was excited to get back there this week.  I didn't have any register rewards to start with and I also ended up buying a gallon of milk I needed so I ended up spending about $15.00 out of pocket and I have $1.00 in rewards to use next week.   I purchased:  1 bottle olive oil, 4 boxes of Nature Valley granola bars, 2 bottles of gummy vitamins, 2 boxes of mini candy canes, 1 package of Bic razors, 2 boxes of Tylenol Precise pain reliever and a gallon of milk.  I'm excited to be back in the game of adding to my food and home storage for a fraction of the cost and I can't wait to use the little candy canes for some Valentine's cookies I've seen around blog land.

A Cut Above

I was going to hand out different gifts to my co-workers but when I stumbled across these scissors at only $0.25 a piece (woot woot!) I just couldn't pass them up.  It is a little bit of a different idea but everyone was so excited to get them.  You know how it is...you go to use your "good" scissors only to discover your little ones (should that include husbands too?  lol) have used them on something which has ruined them for life?  Yeah, I think we've all been there.  Wrap it in jute (my fav) with a little tag and they are perfect.  So simple and easy.

Here's a close up of the tag in case you want to use the same saying...

Sensational Smiths Trip

I was so excited for my grocery shopping trip this week.  I haven't been for quite some time, almost a couple of months actually.  I haven't even been to Walgreens the past couple of weeks.  I've been really busy with a lot of family activities, getting the house decorated for Christmas and so on and so on.  I was down to my last loaf of bread and gallon of milk and knew I needed to get over there while they were still having their wonderful "round-up to a dollar" coupon event. I ended up spending about double what I like to at the grocery store but considering I've only spent around $100.00 or so over the past couple of months on my shopping trips it's I figured it's okay to splurge every once in a while.  While I was at the store I ended up buying quite a few items that weren't on my list and I didn't have coupons for because I knew they were still a great price and I might as well stock up while I can.  My original total was $150.42.  After coupons and sales my total was 69.34.  Happy couponing!

The Coupon That Keeps On Giving

Alright, so maybe that's a bit of a stretch but I promised I would share great deals as I came across them and this is a phenomenal coupon for Bath and Body Works.  Spend $10.00 and you can get one item free up to a $13.00 value.  I can't share exactly what I got because I am giving everything away as gifts but I ended up purchasing seven items and my total was only $10.58.  Not too shabby!  Plus one item I purchased had another $10.00 off coupon and then I also got another one at the register.  I certainly think I'll end up purchasing a few more gifts at these amazing prices.  The good news is that you can also use the coupon online so if you don't live near a store you can still score a great deal.  Click HERE to print yours! 

Harry Potter Soundtrack!

If you are a Harry Potter fanatic fan like I am then you'll be happy to know I discovered the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 soundtrack on sale at amazon.com for only $4.99.  There are 26 songs so that is definitely an amazing price.  I'm still listening to it as I type this.  No, I'm not obsessed and I have haven't cried that the series is almost over.  Ok, yes, for some reason I am very weepy about this and I'm ok with admitting this for all the world to see.  Anyway, if you're interested, click HERE to head over to Amazon!

Walgreen's Report

Tons and tons of really great stuff is on sale at Walgreen's this week.  I only focused on a few things got this for $2.96 and have $3.00 rr's for next week.

The Free Christmas Challenge

I usually start shopping for Christmas gifts during the summer.  I HATE the craziness in the stores this time of the year.  I know some people love it but to me Christmas should be peaceful, not turn me into a crazed woman with a shopping cart running over little old ladies (alright, I really wouldn't do that but still, it gets insane out there!)  Also, I know that if you keep your eyes open you can find better deals on most products than you can on 'Black Friday'.   Unfortunately, my life seems to be infinitely busier and I've only purchased a couple of items so far.  Christmas is only 7 weeks away (yikes!) and I realized I had better get going on finding those perfect items.  This year I am going to challenge myself to not spend a ton of money but still find those perfect gifts for my loved ones.  I know this is probably something that we think of every year but I'm talking about really challenging myself and buying or making gifts for as close to free as I can.  The reason for my madness is that I was at my local K-Mart this week when I saw a display for various Crayola items that were all priced around $20.00.  On the display were forms to get up to a $23.00 rebate making most if not all (I was in a hurry so I didn't look at everything) of the items free.  The crayon maker I have pictured here was one of the items included in the display.

I know there are going to be some amazing deals if we can just keep our eyes open for them.  I also have some great ideas on some homemade gifts I plan on making for family members and will keep everyone posted on my progress with them.  Let's hope for a super fun holiday season that doesn't break the bank.  If you run across any spectacular deals will you please leave a comment and share your find with others?  Thanks and good luck!

Walgreen's Report

Sorry this post is so late in the week but it almost didn't happen at all.  I've been super sick the past few days and had some car problems so shopping hasn't been high on the priority list.  In fact, it wouldn't have happened at all if I didn't have some register rewards expiring today (and I couldn't just throw "free money" away)!  There were a lot of great deals in this week's ad but I only bought a few things.  All of their Halloween candy is on clearance so I am stocking up on some bags of caramels which will be used for making caramel brownies.  I'm going to experiment with my food saver to see if they will stay soft when they are vacuum sealed.  I sure hope so.  I only spent $1.93 OOP and have $5.00 in RR's.  Yay for two weeks of coming in well under my $10.00 limit!

Free Music, Kid Style!

If you have any little ones that love VeggieTales then I have some great news!  You can download The Incredible Singing Christmas Tree for FREE from amazon.com!  Just click HERE to get your copy!  Thanks Hip2Save!

Taylor Swift!

How exciting that you can even get music for a great deal.  I have no idea how long this will last so act quickly!  You can download Taylor Swift's new album, Speak Now, for only $3.99 on Amazon!  My girls love singing to her songs so I'm excited that I was able to snag this for such an amazing price.  I used money from my Swagbuck gift cards I have loaded on my account so I actually didn't pay anything.   Click HERE to get yours!  Thanks Utah Deal Diva!

Walgreen's Report

At first when I was planning this weeks Walgreen's trip I was a little disappointed by the ad.  However, I quickly realized there were a few phenomenal deals.  Really, I'm not exaggerating.  This week I only spent $1.74!!!!  Yes, this is why I LOVE shopping with coupons.  The reason my total was so low was because there were some great money makers this week.  For example, the Colgate Sensitive Toothpaste was $3.49.  A typical price for that type of toothpaste.  I used a manufacturer coupon for $1.00 off bringing the cost to $2.49.  But then, a $3.50 register reward printed (making me $1.00 profit) which I then used on my next transaction (this is called rolling).  Also, the Contac cold & flu medicine was on sale for $6.00.  I used a $2.00 manufacturer coupon bringing the total to $4.00.  It then printed a $6.00 register reward, making me $2.00.  If you take some time to plan your transactions it is well worth the money you save!  Even better, I still have $6.00 in register rewards to use next week so it's like I made $4.26 just to shop at Walgreen's!

Walgreen's Report (and Walmart-Gasp!)

Howdy!  This week was a great week at Walgreen's.  I realized I was starting to venture a little too far from my goal of only spending $10.00 so I changed up my plan for this week and really focused on some items I was close to running out of.  I only spent $9.91.  Not bad for some Mucinex included since medicine usually ups the total.  I also bought 3 Halloween cups for the girls that weren't really necessary.  It was a good week.  Yay!

I also went to Walmart on Saturday.  Surprised?  Yes, I know, I absolutely detest Walmart but I had to go pick up the invitations I had printed for the Halloween party and figured that while I was there I would grab some some items for super cheap!

These bad boys actually made me some money.  Only $.04, but I'm not complaining.  I've never tried them before but figured that I'd give them a try since they were free.

The tuna pouch was only $.09

and all 3 of these came to just $.75!

This is when it would be nice to get multiple papers (as most coupon shopper do, I just prefer not to do it that way) but I'll take what I can get!

This Weeks' Purchases and a Coupon Class!

Wow!  I am a little surprised that I have officially been asked to teach a coupon class.  I was even offered to be paid for it but I declined.  I'm really not trying to make any kind of money with this, just trying to save money so I am excited to share my views on all the coupon stuff!  I'll be teaching next Thursday, October 14th at 6:00 p.m. in Orem.  If you are interested in attending let me know and I can get the address to you.  I know this blog mostly seems to be about shopping and I promise it's not.  I just don't have as much time to create things as I wish but I do have to buy food so that's how it's working so far.  Anyway, here are the pictures of my shopping trips to Smith's and Walgreen's this week.  I definitely got some great stuff!

Walgreens:

After feeling a little upset after my trip last week I analyzed some of the websites I love and realized that 1) I don't know if they have full time jobs because they often talk about driving to multiple stores which I absolutely do not have time to do and 2) I seem to purchase a broader range of products and don't focus just on the few items that are an amazing deal.  I've guess I would rather buy higher ticket items when they go on sale but they don't the amazing deals associated to them.  For example, one scenario I saw this week had about 3 items listed and purchased them over and over in multiple transactions.  I also bought some of those items but also included 2 of the Pledge Pet Hair Remover because after trying one I was hooked.  I love having our cats but hate cat hair on the couches and these work amazingly well.  So, that said, I've decided I need to change my $10.00 challenge to a $10.00 guideline.  lol.  This week I spent $12.51 and bought:

3 EOS fruit lipglosses
2 Crest toothpastes
2 bottles v8 Fusion (Strawberry/Banana yum!)
2 packages microwave popcorn
2 Pledge Fabric Sweepers
and I still have a $3.00 register reward to start out with next week!

Smith's:

One of the funny things about coupon shopping is that your purchases look so bizarre.  Just remember that over the next few months any time I need to cook anything with cream cheese I got 10 bricks for FREE in October!  They are all marked, rotated and sitting in my freezer for future use.  My total this week was $11.59 and I came home with:

1 head lettuce
6 bags Quaker rice cakes
2 boxes Rice Krispy Treats
2 bags Doritos
10 bricks cream cheese

Super Deals!

Hey everyone!  I wanted to share the word about some great deals available right now.  If you happened to receive any of the SLC newspapers with the $10.00 off a $10.00 purchase you really need to make sure you use them and score some free stuff!  I ended up finding some incredible deals and didn't stick to just a $10.00 purchase.  However, by using those coupons and shopping sales/clearance I was able to save over $130.00 on my $50.00 purchase.

Also, Smith's is having a rare sale on cheese right now.  You can purchase the Kroger brand for $1.50 per item or you can head over here to print 2 of these coupons and purchase Kraft cheese for $1.00 a bag (don't forget you can only print two internet coupons per computer).  I was able to get all of this for $28.42. 

In case you can't tell what I purchased: 

2 bags Cheetos

1 package tortillas

1 carton eggs

2 lbs. apples

1 Danimals yogurt

1 Activia yogurt

5 packages Kraft Singles

5 packages shredded Kraft cheddar cheese

3 jars of peanut butter

3 cans Beef Vegetable soup

2 loaves of bread

and bananas

I love that cheese will freeze well and can be used in so many recipies later on.  Might as well stock up when it's super cheap!

Also, I'm in the prep stages for our annual Halloween party.  I should have some fun crafty things to post soon!

Walgreen's Report

The good news is that I made it to Walgreens today so what I was looking for was in stock.  The bad news is that I am a little disappointed with myself.  I ended up spending $17.91.  Almost double what I'm trying to spend.  However, my consolation is that I did buy quite a few higher end items.  Am I fooling myself here, thinking I'm doing a good job?  I guess as discouraged as I get at times in this quest of mine, I can't deny that I have closets and a pantry that are full and overflowing on less than I had been spending 2 years ago so I am proud of that.  Anyway, here is my picture of this week's Walgreen's purchase.