Faux Jack Rogers

I was ordering my bridesmaid shoes for Lori's wedding and was excited to see that target.com has the faux Jack Rogers back in stock.  I tried to get them a while back and their was nada.  I ordered them in gold to get free shipping on my other shoes and...uh...'cuz I ain't about to use the equivalant of my monthly gas allowance on a pair of sandals.  Maybe a purse, but not sandals.  Use code: MT9ZC7RW at checkout to save 10%! I love an exciting deal!  (Maybe I shouldn't be telling people my shoes are fake?)

The Change Vase

I dunno. Two years ago? I started a jar of change.

I hate change. I don't like to dig for it. I don't like how it makes your fingers smell. I don't like holding up the line trying to find two pennies. And, it's heavy.

I don't spend it. I put it in a jar.

In October, I started doing the Dave Ramsey thing by using cash only and I collected more change because I don't spend it. The jar got full so I moved it to a vase. Every night, I empty my change into the jar, um vase.

Since I decided to move a few of weeks ago, that change vase has been looming there, knowing that I ain't gonna move that and egging my on to cash it in.

Tonight was the night. First, we had a fail on the way to the Harris Teeter Coin Star.


That was fun.

I also felt like a goober walking past college kids at the redbox on a Friday night at the Cameron Village Harris Teeter with my vase of change. And, I did draw a bit of attention with all the noise the machine was making.

But, it was worth it! May I forever be a goober! Cuz' guess how much money has been sittin' up in my house!?!?

$221.00 (and some change hehehehe)

Coin Star charges you a 10% fee so I only took home $199.79 which was a bit of a bummer.

And, before you start telling me what I shoulda done (and I know you will), let me say:
-Bank of America does not have a Coin Starish machine
-I called Coastal Federal Union and they do not have a Coin Starish machine
-I've been told State Credit Union has a Coin Starish machine so in hindsight, perhaps I should have gotten someone to take it there for me and maybe we have a lesson learned for next time, but that involves a bit of coordination and logistics and time
-I thought there was only $50ish in the jar so I was like yea, I'll give you $5 to count this for me and once your $221 is in the green machine, there's not much you can do about it
-You can get gift cards without a fee, but what am I gonna do with $221 to Starbucks?

So, I'm not going to sulk about what I shoulda done. Next time, I'll be hollerin' at one of you teachers to ride with me to the bank so I can cash in my piggy. But, for now, I'm going to be excited about my $199 that I didn't have this morning!

I'll let you know what I buy. It will most definately be for my new digs.

Super Doubles Recap

Super Doubles at Harris Teeter ended today.

I made four trips during the week.

Here’s the breakdown:

Date: 2/17
Retail: $47.92
VIC Savings: $1.94
Coupons: $30.87
Paid: $15.11
% Savings: 68%

Date: 2/18
Retail: $61.31
VIC Savings: $8.95
Coupons: $29.94
Paid: $32.21
% Savings: 53%

Date: 2/21
Retail: $23.05
VIC Savings: $0.18
Coupons: $12.18
Paid: $11.53
% Savings: 50%

Date: 2/23
Retail: $28.61
VIC Savings: $4.59
Coupons: $16.47
Paid: $13.17
% Savings: 46%

This week alone, I've saved $89.46 by using coupons!

Trip #1 is documented here.

I missed pics of trip #2 and trip #4 because I was on my cell phone when I got home and just went to unpacking without thinking of you and your pictorial needs, Dear Reader.

I did get Trip #3 though. That should be worth something.



Additional trip highlights include:
-more free wholly guacamole
-more free greek yogurt
-more cheap Yoplait Smoothies (which are an awesome quick alternative to making your own smoothie)
-FREE PREVACID! This one was an awesome score. I signed up for their email list a while back and received a $10 off coupon. The 14 day pack was on sale for $9.99. So excited about that one because while acid reflux is no fun, acid reflux meds prices are no fun either.

Well, that’s it. Down and dirty recap.

Next goal is to start keeping a price book. I hope to start that this week.

High on the Hog: Hickory Smoked Tuna Quesadilla

On Saturday, Shelly, The Blanchards and I went to Sue Stock's couponing class. It was great! We learned more than I think we could imagine. And, we didn't leave empty handed! Shelly won a bag of rice and The Blanchards won a $50 gift card to Lowe's Foods. I expect they'll invite me over to enjoy their winnings once they cook with them - hint, hint. :)

Faye Prosser of smartspendingresources.com was the other speaker at the class and she did a bit on menu planning using your stockpile from couponing. A stockpile is literally an inventory of non-perishables that you create by buying multiples of items when they are at their rock bottom price. Faye and other couponers say that you should look to your pantry for something to cook rather than picking a recipe first. So, I decided to give that a try tonight. Here is what I had (puh-leeze don't even ask me if that's my picture cuz you know it's not).


I had a pouch of StarKist Tuna Creations Hickory Smoked flavor that I had gotten for free during Harris Teeter triple coupons. There was a recipe on the back for a quesadilla that looked pretty good. I actually had the ingredients on hand - cream cheese, roasted red peppers, cheese, and cream cheese so I tried it out.

Now, I had not tried this Tuna Creation bit yet and the quesadilla was actually pretty good. The hard part was getting over the hickory smoked tuna smell. I thought I was going to vomit when I first opened the package.

My goal is to continue to grow my stockpile and hopefully be able to update you with my menus more often! But, I don't think you're going to see the tuna quesadilla again.

High on the Hog: Wii Deal!

Check out this Wii deal on amazon.com.

I've put off getting my Wii for a year now and I think it's now time to do it!

Total $289
Wii
Wii Fit Plus with Balance Board
Wii Play with Remote (I’m going to buy that with the $50 gift card)

Thanks Couponing to Disney!

High on the Hog: Writing to Companies

Kristin over at Couponing to Disney has a series called 5 A Day. The idea behind 5 A Day is that you can write to companies and receive coupons/free product just for providing feedback. She explains in more detail of how to do this here.

At first, I was like this is a little whack, time consuming and simply crazy lady, but then I got to thinking about my friends at the Starbucks near church. I thought someone really needs to tell Starbucks corporate how awesome they really are. Thus, I decided to play 5 A Day (which is really one a day for me). So far, I've only sent notes into Caribou Coffee, Starbucks and Scrubbing Bubbles. Yes, Scrubbing Bubbles is random, but I'm almost out of it.

Starbucks has not responded. Caribou simply said thanks. Scrubbing Bubbles (aka SC Johnson) on the other hand, is sending me a coupon booklet and the customer service rep filled me in on which products are safe for my refurbished tub! So helpful! I hope my booklet arrives before I need to buy a new bottle of product.

And, yes, I am fully aware that I am now officially crazy.

High on the Hog: Target $1.50

Since I'm new to this couponing business, I thought I would start a series called High on the Hog.

High on the Hog is how I hope to be livin', eatin' and just plain bein' while using coupons to save on my out of pocket cost. So, sit back, relax and enjoy the excitement of scoring some cheap stuff!

So, without further ado.....da da dum....my first High on the Hog post!

On Monday, I had to stop by Target to pick up a few items for my coupon organization binder (post forthcoming) and decided to attempt some couponing (I'm doing baby steps to start off with).

Total: $1.50 (+ tax)

Keebler Chips Deluxe

Retail: $2.00

Sale: buy 2 get 1 free

used a manufactor's printable coupon for $1.50/2 and a Target printable for $1/2

WOW-ZA!