No, not on vacation yet :-)

Just having a lot of fun with the kids and trying to keep all of us busy and myself sane. Not a ton of shopping or bargains to share lately either. I have been doing more online shopping and haven't been out to the local stores so much lately. OK- enough excuses yet?? LOL
I don't think I am up for the $10 challenge that a lot of the local bloggers are doing. I found myself getting a little overwhelmed or consumed with it and since I know it's suppose to be fun, I just decided to take the pressure off for now. I am getting some good freebies in the mail lately and actually did a whole freebie father's day theme along with a very expensive set of Bose speakers (which I LOVE!). I realize it's a little after the fact but these are the things that I came up with for freebies (or almost free) a free 8x10 collage from Walgreens (online special), STP power steering fluid ($2 IP coupon), Armor All car wash and window cleaner (stacked coupons at Target), photo book (Facebook offer)- I think that's all but I know I could have done even more if I had planned it ahead- it was less than a week before the day that I thought of giving it a try. He sort of got a kick out of it but I know he just thinks I am a little crazy with the coupon thing LOL He was very happy with the speakers though.

Today I got a pedometer (w/ vitamin coupons), and a Special K chewy bar. Yesterday my daughter received her free book of the month from the Dolly Parton program. I also got a Lanacane no chaffing cream trial pack but nothing else real exciting that I can remember right now.

I am thinking of trying my luck at Walmart tomorrow- at the very least I will pick up some 2 l. of pop and will check to see if any of the free or money maker register reward items are still available- I doubt it since it's Saturday but there was nothing that I had to have anyways :-).

I mentioned that I have been doing more and more online shopping and finding some great bargains. I follow Hip2save. com blog and she has tons of offers. I purchased all 4 of the kids Halloween costumes and even got 1 for me for about $35 shipped. Now I just have to keep them someplace that they won't get into them until October- otherwise they will not want to use them because they won't be new and fun :-). I know costumes can be found really cheap after Halloween but the few that I did buy the kids have used for dress-up play and were not really great to start with. My order arrived today I am very pleased with the quality and I will be able to pass the bigger ones down to the smaller kids in the years to come. I also did an order from the Disneystore.com and was overcharged for shipping. I contacted customer service and they were really nice to work with and they gave me a $10 gift card along with an apology.

I went into Anchorage this week while my husband took my 3 older kids to see Toy Story 3 and did some shopping at Kohl's- I found some really good clearance and sale items. I bought 3 pairs of Levi jeans for $8.50 and $6.50 each (marked down from $24, which I would never pay for little boys jeans LOL) and some bathroom items that were 75% off in addition to my 15% coupon- so some pretty good deals on things the family needed and on some things that were just fun to get. Plus I have some Kohl's dollars to go back and spend after the 1st- not a problem!

Happy shopping and good bargain hunting to all of you!

Everyone loves a deal!

I think I have gotten my husband hooked on a good deal. He doesn't do much with coupons and sometimes even frustrates me when he does take it upon himself to pick up a "few items" because invariably he comes home with items that I have coupons for. But today he redeemed himself. We (he) are building a fort/play structure for the kids and while on a trip to Home Depot he came across a stack of siding sheets that were 1/2 off because of some defects... defects in a fort just add character right? LOL So he saved $160! I am so proud of him :-) This is a project that we have been wanting to do for about 3 years and I am really excited to see it come to fruition and am really OK with the fact that it is going to cost some bucks to really do it right but it's also a kids fort and I hate to think of too much money going into it- so this was just a nice plus. We are realizing that when you find a deal like that you have to jump on it immediately- we typically will take some time to think it over and of course it's gone by the time we make up our mind and even today he just went to get a cart and when he came back there was someone else loading the boards up- Yikes- it was no problem- the man took all of the others but we got what we needed and it worked out fine. I can't wait to see this project complete- the kids really need an outlet, even in the winter and I think this will be a lot of fun for them. I finally found my missing camera cord so I can start posting pictures :-)
I made it over to the Wasilla Farmers Market today and purchased some Rhubarb- I am so anxious to get local fruits and veggies that I was willing to buy just about anything they had but it's still really limited. I will be making a custard rhubarb pie tomorrow- something we had when I was a kid and really enjoyed.
I did one quick trip into FM just to buy milk and butter but took another minute to look through the coupon bin. I was excited to find some more Kraft coupons and will probably use these at Carr's with the buy 8 and save $4.
In my mail I received from Walmart a free sample of Secret Clinical Strength deodorant- 1 Dr Scholl's comfort insert ( I thought that was funny that I got 1- I guess I can swap it back and forth throughout the day LOL) and that came with a $2 off coupon. I got some more Huggie coupons too.
I need to get my coupon binder organized- I cleaned it out in the beginning of the month but it seems like I need to do it every week lately and I just haven't taken the time. If I don't have my binder well organized with all of my coupons clipped and in the inserts I find it very frustrating to try and shop or match deals- so it's well worth it to me but it also seems like it is harder and harder to find the time. I do utilize my 5 and 6 yr old in helping me cut out coupons- especially the older one- he has a learning disability that effects has eye hand coordination and cutting use to be very difficult for him but he loves to help me and I can see a big improvement in this skill- so it's a total win win! Now the younger one- well he does his best :-). I make sure he gets the coupons that I am not as concerned with.

Summer Fun

I mentioned a few days ago that we have been having a great summer and most of the things we do are free or very cheap. I have 4 kids and even things that cost just $4 or $5 a person adds up to $25- $30 for us- so I am very thankful that we live in a place the has so much to offer, especially in the summer that just doesn't cost much if anything at all. So these are things we have done and have planned:
Picnics- we love picnics- OK we LOVE to eat or at least I LOVE to eat LOL but picnics are so fun with the kids. We pick different parks and even our own backyard. On rainy days we throw a blanket on the living room floor and have indoor picnics. The kids have a great tent that works well to keep out bugs when outside if needed and fun to make it feel like it's outdoors when we set it up inside. I also pretend to be a short order cook and we make up names for restaurants and then I change hats and become the waitress- lots of fun until they start taking it too far and ordering more and more! :-)
Hikes- there are 1000's of places to go for hikes in AK and we have our favorites. I do worry a little about bears since my husband usually doesn't hike with us and I am more afraid of shooting myself than the bear if need- so I tend to go for the trails that are not known for lots of bears and I do take my bear spray because I realize this is AK and they may not be plentiful in some areas but it doesn't mean they are not there. My kids are so darn loud that I think that helps??
Library day- I have signed all 4 kids up for the summer reading program at the Wasilla library. We love to read and I have to admit that this has been fun for me because I never utilize our library and now I am. So free books, movies, etc... definite bonus.
Festivals- Ti's' the season. It is fun to walk around- take in the sites and smells and just have fun. The kids love the weekend market in Anchorage and it's fun to walk around once or twice a season.
Garage Sale- Every Fri and Sat the kids load up in the van and we go looking for bargains- not always free since I do buy things along the way but definitely cheap since I have found some great bargains. I have to go to about 10 not so good ones for everyone 1 that I find something I am excited about but the kids must be enjoying it because they are disappointed when it rains or I don't plan to go. I can usually find them .10-1.00 items that will make their day too!
Day trips- We enjoy going to Eklutna Lake, Talkeetna, Girdwood and Anchorage. Most of this time we our just site seeing, maybe a little tourist shopping- I love the work of local artist and again hiking and picnic's.
Swimming- local lakes are good but I prefer the high school pool, although not free ($14 for a family at Wasilla High) it is free of leaches LOL!

So that's what we have been doing or are planning thus far. My DH and I are talking about renting an RV and doing a little circle trip- up to Fairbanks and down to Homer. We did this trip a few years ago and really enjoyed it. I have never seen whales in AK and I have never done a train trip- so those are possibilities too. Of course these are not free but well worth the money I am sure.

Yae! I was runner up in the Freebie Challenge

It really is the little things in life that keep us going isn't it? I was thrilled to win the 2nd place in the Freebie Challenge from Life in My Land! I will be getting coupons and a coupon holder- there are few things more precious to a coupon addict than those items LOL!

The new challenge that I will be taking on is the $10 challenge by another local blogger- The Alaskan Bargain Hunter. In this challenge we will be seeing just how much we can purchase or receive for $10 over the next 2 months. This is going to be a little tough but a lot of fun.

In other coupon/savings news I have to admit I am a little disappointed with the shopping this week. I could really use a good shopping trip to do some restocking but I have been to Target and Fred Meyers this week and I am less than thrilled with the deals that I have found. I am going to try FM tomorrow because it has been posted that they have some Huggie diapers on clearance for 50% and paired up with the $3 off mfr coupons I would love to restock my daughters diaper supply. I might also add since I complained about Pampers recently, I did use the coupon for $10 off and bought the new Pampers dry weave- very thin and I love them. There have been complaints that they are causing chemicals burns but we have not had any issues and they are working really well for Katie. But the bottom line is.... I am all about getting my diapers cheap as long as they work!! So off to FM to find those bargain diapers if I can. :-)

My final freebie entry

Well, actually not too much to report. I did do the buy 1 get 3 free Butterfingers deal at Carr's. I received a coupon for a free Gogurt (sp?) or other yogurt item and a free deodorant from Walmart.com. I didn't do a lot of shopping over the weekend but I didn't see too much to go out for either. I ran to Walgreen's in Sun am looking for some more Neutrogena soap but no luck so I purchased 3 containers of Pampers wipes for .50 each and 12pk of pop @3.00. (OK, actually 8 of those but it was Diet! :-)) We really stocked up on food a few weeks ago and have done pretty well without any big grocery store trips, I will probably have to do another big trip in the next few days and will share any great deals that I find.
It was really fun doing the freebie challenge and I know I will continue to look for those freebie deals! I will continue to post and share any deals I find because this is fun and I love reading about other people's finds as well!

Forgot to post my best deal at Carrs yesterday!

I knew I was forgetting an item when I did my report last night... If you are a crystal light fan then this is a great stock up time at Carrs! They are included in the buy 8 and save $4 and are $2 each- that is a great price but then if you use any of the many IP coupons that have been available- most of them for $1 off you can get them for $1! Regular cost is always over $3 and often over $4. The container includes 8 packets that make 1 qt. each. I usually purchase the Walmart Value brand for this item but even that is around $2.60 for the same amount. So that was my big deal that I couldn't remember at 1am LOL!

Last night we ordered pizza at Papa John's and used our B1g1 coupon that came in the mail- so 1 free pizza :-)!! As an added bonus we purchased $50 in gift certificates at 1/2 price from the 100.5 The fox 1/2 price club. So we really got our pizza for about 75% off!

I also wanted to share that I attended a workshop for women at Home Depot last night - the topic was getting started with gardening. The instructor was filling in and really lacked in experience or expertise, however the other attendees were knowledgeable and able to answer my questions. All of the HD Do-it- herself workshops are free and there were only about 6 people there. You get a book, a bottle of water and 20 free coke points for attending too :-)

Safeway/Carrs Trip

I wanted to check out the buy 8 and save $4 to get a feel for what I wanted to get this week so I did a "quick" trip tonight. I found it a little tricky because you have to buy everything in groups of 8- it doesn't matter how many of a specific item but just that you are purchasing 8 in the items that they have included, which is over a 3000 items I think! I kept my non sale items in the front of the cart and then recounted several times to be sure I was coming out with groups of 8 LOL- Here are the items that I thought were good enough to pick up tonight: Sobe water is .99 and now that the B1G1 coupon reset you could purchase 4 towards your 8 items and get them for $.50 each. The 1.00 Pepsi 2 l. is a good deal for up here too- I used it as a "filler" to even out my final 8 items tonight. I thought 2.00 for Capri suns was a good deal too but I can't remember the cost at Costco- might be cheaper there- I still picked some up since my kids grab them for our summer day trips. Pillsbury sweet rolls are included for 1.90 (I will have to dbl check that price) and I had a .95 off IP coupon. I picked up Kellogg's Frosted Flakes and both the small and large sizes are included in the sale for 2.49 and 3.49- I end up paying $3 a box after coupons (1.50/3 any kellogs cereal) for the large box and I know that's not a great price but I did get the Toy Story rewards with them and I can submit for a $5 concession stand certificate- that combined with our 2 free Toy Story 3 tickets, it will actually make for a reasonable summer event when we take the kids in a few weeks. Not included in the sale but still good prices were the Activa and Dannon drinkables- They are marked down to $2.50 and with the 1.00 blinkie coupons and IP print- it thought it made for an OK price at $1.50 a pack. Those drinkable yogurts go so fast in our house that I hesitate to even buy them but I guess it's a fun treat. And finally.... If you haven't used your Free Butterfingers coupon from FB then you may want to use it there- they are B2G2 -so you can get 3 free when you buy one (.99). I looked for the new coupons for the dairy products but they either didn't have it or I was looking in the wrong spot. ???
No fun mail today! Maybe tomorrow.
I feel like I had something exciting to share and I can't remember- I'll check my receipt in the am and see what it was :-). I did save about 50% on my bill but I am not a big Carrs shopper because even with there price decrease a few months back I still feel like their base prices are a bit higher so 50% is good but a little decieving in my opinion. :-)

A few good deals at Walgreens

I have a love hate relationship with Walgreens. When the deals go well then I feel on top of the world but all too often they just don't go as planned. Today's trip was a good one. The U by Kotex pads and liners are on sale for 3.99 with a $2.50 rr - there are several $1.00 off mfr coupons out there like the one from here and when you purchase the pads or liners you get a catalina for a free package of Always liners (up to $5!!). So 2 packages of pads, liners etc. for .50! The other great deal is the Neutrogena Soaps are giving a $10.00 RR when you purchase 3- they cost less than $3.00 a bar- so a very easy way to get free soap that is a nice brand and quality and even have a little money left over! :-) I did take advantage of a few of there other "free" deals (only free after you pay them and they give you an "RR" (register reward) good towards your next purchase. We have a great Walgreens here in Wasilla and they are very nice about allowing me to do several transactions- so I genereally pay out of pocket for my first order and then use the RR's to pay for my other items. Today it cost me around $10 out of pocket for over $40 of items that we needed; 3 bars of Neutrogena soap, 3 diet A&W rootbeers (raincheck from last week for 1.00/bottle), 2 bottles of vitamins (b1g1 sale- they have this every week I think- just rotates through the brands), U by Kotex pads, Always pads, and a toothpaste ( a brand I have never tried but cost a lot! It was one of the "free after RR's" deals). There are some other good deals that I need to go back for because I was short on time and wasn't sure if the Neutrogena deal was going to work or require me returning them, which can be time consuming- so I'll take another run this week and maybe get some more of these items as well as the Aqua Fresh for kids with the coupon in the Walgreen flyer for 1.19 and an IP coupon (no longer available) for $1.00.

I am also looking at the Carrs/Safeway flyer and trying to decide how to work the $4 off of 8 items deals- since it's really just another .50 off of each item I know not all of it is great deals and there are over 3000 items included in the deal which means it will take me some time to really shop, instead of my usual pre-prep of having a list with all of my coupons already pulled. I know there are a few things worth going for including the Pepsi 2 lts for $1 and the Crystal Light for 1.99 and I have lots of $1.00 coupons off- but beyond that I need to do a little more checking- :-)

And finally for my freebie report besides the free Always pads (5.00) I did get a coupon for a free Butterfingers ($1.00) ( I think this came from FB several months ago), a trial size Lever 2000 (Walmart sample) ($1), 4 packs of Lemon and Lime flavor packages ($1) , 3 shampoo and 3 conditoner samples of Pantene (from Costco this weekend) ($6) . I used my free Mayo with Olive oil Kraft coupon.. at Target (3.29). I also got the new Gillette razor (w/ coupons!) ($11.00 - based on price at Target)- so the total for this entry $28- yae!

I will try to add some of my favorite coupon sites, blogs, deal finders etc. over the next few weeks but as long as the weather is so great I can't stay inside with the kids- it's just too nice and since we have to be inside so much of the year it feels extra good to be out and moving around. Loving all the free things to do in Alaska!! Maybe my next blog will be sharing what we have done in the 2 weeks that the kids have been off- almost all of it has been free! :-)