Become a fan on Facebook, get a free bag of Sunchips

I love all of the freebies that you can pick up by being a facebook fan. If you haven't become a fan yet, hop over here and request your free bag before they are all gone! Available to the first 100,000. Thanks Greta!

Pajama Day will pay off big tomorrow!

At participating Bruster's locations, you can stop by tomorrow in your pj's for a free single scoop cone. Yay! I have already checked and the 2 locations in Birmingham are participating. Yay again! Store opens at 11:00.

Okay, by my way of thinking this doesn't count toward eating out (for the kids) because no $ will be spent. I'm doing it for better health as well soooo, no ice cream for me. That's okay, I'm not a big ice cream fan anyway.

Taking a break from eating out. Are you in?

Our family has accepted the challenge that was put out by Kristen over at Couponing to Disney. I didn't officially sign up on her site but we are challenging ourselves and I'm telling you...it's the end of day 3 and we. are. dying! I mean, I want Taco Bell, I am dreaming of Chic-Fil-A, everything that I normally wouldn't think about, I can't get out of my head. It's much worse than starting a diet because instead of moderation it's 31 days of deprivation.
So, who wants to join us? :) I'm sure that I have made this sound so fascinating that you are ready to jump in right now! Though we spend less than $20.00 (more like $15.00 on average) a week on eating out I will post on how much we do spend/save this month by eating at home. BTW, Justin already cracked and ate out for breakfast yesterday. $3.15. Don't worry, we didn't take this lying down! The kids were actually pretty hard on him, lol.

Upcoming Coupon Seminars

I have three more seminars coming up if anyone is interested. These will be the last ones that I offer for a while. As a homeschooling mom I think I get more excited than the kids do about having lazy days to play outside, swim and just have fun! If you want to attend any of these please just leave a comment telling me which you plan to attend and how many will be attending. I like to get a general idea of how many will be coming so that I have plenty of handouts.

North Highlands Baptist Church in Hueytown on March 11th at 6-8:30 pm.
Bethel Baptist Church in Pleasant Grove on May 17th from 6-8:30.

If you have ever considered starting, now is the time! Everyone is saving money with coupons and if you put just a little time into it you can save BIG. I will show you how to organize, make your lists, where to shop and when to shop. All you need to bring is a $5.00 cash donation to go toward the Master's Mission.

I hope to see you there!

February Saving/Spending Totals are in!

I went over my receipts and bank statements today to see what I spent in the stores this month. I didn't get it down to the dollar but I'm pretty close at $178.00 for the month. That includes all money spent on food, toiletries, and donations. We added about $120.00 worth of donations to our buckets this month. I probably spent $20.00 or less on those things. But believe me, it will make a difference in someone's life to have toothpaste, shampoo, deodorant and the basic things that we take for granted*. It was worth it to drive over to CVS to pick up those $0.25 items. It's a small effort that we can all do. Make an goal for your family in March to make giving to others a priority. I guarantee you'll be glad you did! :)

Okay! Now to my favorite part! What we saved/received in February...

1 $4.00 Ronzoni rebate when you purchase "Up" on dvd
1 $2.00 RiteAid rebate
1 $19.98 Proctor & Gamble Quench lotion rebate
$205.00 cash leftover from $100.00 weekly budget

Grand Total $230.98 Yay!

*Matthew 25:40 "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

Publix deal good now through March 3rd

It's finally back! I absolutely love Publix's promotion, "Buy theirs, get ours free." It doesn't happen every week, and this is the fist time they have offered this in a couple of months. This week we have Starbucks coffee, Swiss Miss Cocoa, and Coffee Mate creamer. But any of these (or all) and get their house brand of the same item free! You can combine these deal with coupons for even more savings! Read more about it here. It's the samll box on the right hand side of the weekly ad. Happy Shopping!

Saving on kids clothes

I know many of you have probably shopped at consignment stores before, but the reason I'm telling all of you about this one is because it's only open twice a year (spring and fall), it is enormous, and I can do ALL of my kids shopping in one night! Granted, I am there 6-8 hours but I would rather sacrifice one night to shop kid-free and never have to deal with dragging the little ones through stores shopping for clothes. It probably wouldn't take all of you that long but I shop for 4 and I'm buying everything they will need for the next 6 months except for underclothes. I'm talking about Kids Market, the biggest consignment sale in the southeast and right here in Birmingham!
I have been contributing & working this for 10 years and I basically dress the kids for free. You price your clothes/toys/baby items, drop them off & they take care of the rest. You make 66% of your selling price & if you have the time, you can work the sale and shop before the general public which is a huge plus. I typically earn very close to the same amount that I buy. You can read more about what they offer as well as view the schedule for the spring sale here. If you have any questions, please post & I'll try to answer!