What Can $1 Buy You?

How many times have I said, "Oh, it's just $1..."  I'm kicking myself now!

This is what .90 bought me at Target, Walmart and CVS today:

11 Packages of Pampers Wipes

10 Sobe Lifewaters

3 Old Spice Body Washes with travel size deodorants

and 1 refill pack for an Off! Clip-On

 And while I have you - here is a new picture of our garden:

 As you can see, it's taking over our backyard grown a lot!

Here is some of what we've gotten to pick this week:

There were a few more squash, zucchini and tomatoes, but they were eaten almost immediately.

Going Green = Big Savings

Over the past year we've made some changes in our house that are both environmentally friendly and economical. 

• 
  
  We don't use paper towels.  We use wash cloths and towels.  If I can get a roll for free I will use it occasionally when I'm cooking, but for cleaning, I stick strictly to things I can throw in the wash and re-use.  One roll of paper towels last us 2-3 months.
• 
  
  We don't use paper napkins.  I buy cloth napkins when I can find them on clearance (about 1.50/pack).  Then I just toss them in with our daily load of laundry.  Our girls get excited about using "fancy" napkins too.
• 
  
  We use Tupperware instead of plastic bags whenever we can. 

Just these three things save us tons of money every year.  What are some tips you have that are environmentally and economically friendly?

Why Buying in Bulk Isn't Always Better

Buying in bulk seems to be a pretty popular way to save money.  If you buy the big bag it is generally supposed to be less expensive, right?  Not always.  It's very important to compare the prices per pound, ounce, etc. and to check and see if a coupon can help you save even more money.

Example:  A 20 pound bag of Mahatma Long Grain Rice is on sale at Publix this week for 7.99 a bag (reg. 12.99).

                 A 1 pound bag is priced at 1.19 each.  You definitely save money buying the GIANT bag - if you don't use a coupon.

I had some .50 coupons (which double to 1.00) the each of the one pound bags below, making them .19 ea.

So, I could have bought the big bag for 7.99, making it .40 per pound.

Instead, I bought 1 pound bags and used my coupons making it only .19 per pound and cut the price of the rice in half!

Decorating On A Budget

I adore all things Pottery Barn.  Especially this little Daisy lamp shade that would go perfectly in my girls' room.  I didn't adore the $100 price tag.  Yes.  Each shade - just shade- costs $100.  Gag!

So I had to get creative. 

I got two of these super cute blue lamp bases from Pottery Barn Teen for just $20 each on clearance. 

I had two small lamp shade that I got for $4 at a Lowe's clearance sale last summer that I saved specifically for this project.  They were a little dirty and the colors didn't match.

Then I got some daisy sprays at Michael's on sale with an extra 15% off.

Then me and my trusty glue gun got to work.

I think it turned out adorable!  Not exactly the same as the Pottery Barn one, but still very cute!  And this entire lamp only cost me $31!  That's a big difference from a nearly $200 lamp and shade!

Great Deals and Freezer Cooking Coming Up!

I kind-of disappeared for a while there!  Sorry about that.  We've been pretty busy around here.  I'd like to say things are slowing down a bit, but they're just getting started.  June is crazy busy with all kinds of fun!

It's been a great start to the week already, though.

These are all of the great deals I got at CVS and Publix today!  Would you believe it if I told you I paid under $50.00 for ALL of that?  It's true! 

You're looking at free floss, bleach, toilet paper, batteries, Shedd's Spread, q-tips, snack cheese and more!  I only wish I could have gotten a clearer shot so you could really see everything.

It's the first of the month (well, tomorrow is) and that means it's time for another freezer cooking!  This one is going to be a little different.  Due to an excess of meals from last month still in the freezer (over half of the meals are still in there) and a HUGE lack of good deals on meat, I'm going to primarily be baking this month.

We'll be doing a variety of muffins, biscuits, pancake and bread mixes, hamburger and hot dog buns, and maybe something a few things sweet.

Decorating On A Budget: Use What You Have

Inspired by a post at The Inspired Room, I wanted to try something a little different in our kitchen - I took the doors off of a section of cabinets.  After scrounging around the house for a while, this is what I came up with:

I had bought the jars a year ago for a project that I never got to.  I monogrammed them with B's that I got for free when I ordered a gift from The Simple Stencil and then filled them with chocolate morsels, marshomallows and pecans (great way to make more space in my pantry).

I placed my growing collection of cookbooks neatly on two shelves, used the two tins for hidden storage, put the flowers from my front door in a pretty pitcher and added some pictures of my girls and a few other little things I found around the house and Viola! - Free, instant makeover!

Publix Deals This Week

This picture is from just one of my trips to Publix over the weekend.  I spent $13 and saved over $50!  I got paid to get the Scrubbing Bubble, the popcorn was free, the Dentyne = .14 each, the Ricotta Cheese was just .59, the Parmesan Cheese was .99 and the Smart Taste Pasta was just .25 each!

Unfortunately, I still have not gotten to my Freezer Cooking for the month.  And seeing as how the month is almost over, it doesn't look like it's going to happen.  I was fully prepared to get some meals done over the weekend, but the 10 lbs of ground beef I bought to cook with spoiled over 2 days because the temperature on my meat drawer was set to the vegetable setting.  Very sad moment for me.

On the bright side, I still have enough to cook for the rest of the month with grocery money to spare.  And by May 1st I plan to be ready for a HUGE Cooking/Baking Day!

Home Depot: Saving Money on Groceries

If you haven't already joined, head over HERE and register for the Home Depot Garden Club. They send out some great coupons once or twice a month. So far this month I've received coupons for "Buy One Get One Free Orchids" (I adore orchids) and "Buy One Get One Free House Plants"."

I also received a fabulous coupon for "Buy One Get One Free Glad ForceFlex Trash Bags 100 ct." I went to check out the prices on these HUGE boxes of trash bags expecting them to be outrageous. I ended up scoring these for under $6/box of 100! To put that price into perspective, Glad ForceFlex Trash Bags 38 ct. are on sale at Target this week for $6.

I'll be shopping Home Depot for bulk cleaning items more often! I'll also be checking out Lowes to see if there are deals there!