Good Old Jello Poke Cake

Made a jello poke cake for Memorial Day and again at the request of my daughter, for her birthday. My kids love it. I hadn't had one in years and was looking for a different dessert for our BBQ. This is such an easy recipe and perfect summer-time cake.

All you have to do is bake a cake as usual and let cool. You can do a sheet cake or two rounds like I did. Once cooled, poke holes all over the cake and dissolve one 3oz. box of jello into 2 cups of boiling water and pour over the cake. Refrigerate at least three hours and place the bottom of the cake pan in warm water before you flip the cake out of the pan. Then frost with whipped cream. I used real whipping cream but you could use Cool Whip if you would prefer. I put sliced strawberries between the layers and garnished with berries on top.

Sunday Favorites

Organizing the Spice Cabinet

A few weeks back I was feeling a little overwhelmed with chasing those deals so I took a week off and spent some time reorganizing a few things. This was a much needed spruce up of my spice cabinet. All those little bottles were always falling all over and spilling so I decided to purge some of the really old stuff and contain all the rest in white plastic bins. I picked up the bins at the 99cents store and got out my label maker which I love to find reasons to use and went to work scrubbing and organizing. I am happy with how it came out and it is working fine so far. Let me know what you think.

Hey I made some money with surveys!

I can't believe it but I actually made $28 in June doing surveys. I wasn't sure if I would actually ever receive my money but I did. I recently joined Pinecone Research and was so surprised to receive my $3 check within days. Now that is fast. The other $25 came from Surveyhead. They take a little longer to pay but it was deposited right into my account using Paypal. While watching TV in the evenings I usually try to do one survey a night. This is all extra money to go into our vacation fund.

Great Giveaway Blog!

I enjoy this blog so much and she always has lots of giveaways. Check her out. I am hoping to win the coffee maker she has featured.  Frugal & Fabulous: Giveaway & Review: $60 Gift Certificate to CSNStores.com!

Cheap summer fun for the kids

In my quest to spend as little as possible but still entertain my kiddos this summer, I have had to be creative with my plans. This past week we went to the beach which was the most costly outing at $15 for parking and the gas to get there but for an entire day of fun for all the kids and with making our own lunch, it was relatively inexpensive. We took rackets and balls and walked to the park for a morning of tennis which was totally free. We have also had the best time using the Wii sports and I have finally beat my daughter at bowling, my favorite. Outside water play for my littlest one and lots of walks and playdough time have kept her busy. I have lots of ages at home from 16-2 so it is not always easy to keep everyone busy. The kids swam at grandma's house on Wed. and judging by how tired everyone was last night, I'd say they all had a good week. Now to keep busy next week. We leave on vacation for a week of camping on July 2nd so one day will be spent washing the trailer. That is always a wet but fun time with the kids.

NEW Swagcode

Check the blog!

CVS freebies- Check your inbox

Check your e-mail. I just recvd a printable coupon for either a free pack of wipes or free shave cream.

Free Sample Purina One

You can choose cat or dog food. http://instoresnow.walmart.com/enhancedrendercontent_ektid88466.aspx?toLoad=4

Christmas in June

Every year I vow to start my Christmas shopping early so that come November I am almost done and hopefully wrapped. We are so busy in December that I'd like to take the shopping/wrapping part and move it earlier in the year. I also like the idea of paying for Christmas early and not having the stress of all that shopping/spending $ at one time of the year. Soooo I started cashing in my Swagbucks every time I could get a $5 Amazon gc. This week I used a bunch of those $5 gc's to buy a Wii Fit for my girls as they have been asking for one and another toy for my little one. Bill prior to giftcards $114 after my total gc's $40. I'd say that was a great savings. Thanks Swagbucks. If you aren't using Swagbucks yet, you ought to be. I am now saving more gc's to buy my youngest a scooter for Xmas.

CVS = SWEET Diaper Deal

Last week I was lucky enough to get the $3 cpn from CVS off a box of Huggies so I saved it for this weeks deal.
Box of Huggies 19.99
minus $3 CRT
minus $3 printable coupon
get 10 ECBs.
I paid with enough ECbs that my oop was a dollar and change and still have the 10 ECBs.
I'd say that was worth the trip to CVS.

Father's Day Code from Swagbucks

Check the blog!

Happy Father's Day!!

The papa in our house constantly proves his love and care for us. Even on this Father's Day my husband took some overtime hours and left our house at 4:00 am to work. I have never had to worry about him providing for us in the 20 years we've been married. He is my best friend and my kids biggest fan. He is such a great dad. We are always thankful for the dad in our house. Love you hunny!!!

Free Sample Starbucks VIA Ready Brew

My husband loves these but they are pricey. Glad to get a free sample. Click on the link and check out the other freebies. Free Samples / Freebies / Free

Swagcode for 10

Check the swidget!

$3 Coupon for Greenworks Laundry Detergent

Click on the link for coupon and see the other freebies for the day. Free Samples / Freebies / Free

You can win Merry Maids for a Year!!

Saw this on "Wild for Wags" (thanks). Who wouldn't want to enter this. You know I entered my name.
http://www.colgate.com/MurphyOilSoap/promotions/your-year-to-shine-sweepstakes

Spent 1.68 to make 8.97

Love the CVS Schick deal this week. I bought:
1 Can of Planter's nuts
2 Soft Soap (a good buy at 12/$10)
1 Schick Hydro razor
spent 1.68 oop and will submit for 8.97 rebate.
so for me all these items and a 7.29 MM. love CVS
and rebates!!!!

Swagcode until 4pm PDT

Check twitter for the code until 4:00 pm PDT

Are there deals to be had at Sam's Club?

I think there are. I have been going back and forth over it is worth it to keep my membership and my husband and I have decided it is. These are the deals I feel are worth  the cost of membership and help me to save.
1)Dairy. Milk alone is a bargain there and as much as my family drinks, it is probably enough to pay for the membership right there. We also use Soymilk and it is the cheapest around unless a good coupon is out. Cheese is another big saving. We seem to have very high prices for cheese here and I find the big blocks are the cheapest way for me to go. I cut them and freeze in sections. This works fine as long as we are shredding it otherwise it gets a little crumbly.
2)Bread and tortillas are a good buy there too. I do find occasional deals at the market but buy most at Sam's.
3)Organic berries and apples, tomatoes and lettuce are always  available  and today I found organic 
     peaches.  Yes!!
4) Olives. We eat a lot of olives so I always buy a big pack.
5) Water softener salt. Cheapest price I've found outside of a good coupon to use at Walmart.
6) Some OTC medications I use regularly. Oh and don't forget eggs!!!
   I am sure there are many others but this is what I usually always pick up when there. I've found lots of things I see people coming out with that I know they can get cheaper shoppin the deals, but hey it's less people clearing the shelves right?

Free Pool Test Kit

Click on the link and check out the other freebies: Free Samples / Freebies / Free

Free Home Depot Coupons & Savings

Click on the link for offer and many others Free Samples / Freebies / Free

Today to save money...

I didn't go anywhere except to take my daughter to a b-day party. All fun was had in the yard with the little one and just hanging out doing chores.
I called DSL to see if they would match an offer I recvd in the mail and they DID. They even bumped me up to faster service.
I submitted claims for our FSA acct. I have been putting this off but I buckled down and sent in $300 in claims.
Ate only leftovers for lunch and dinner as hubby is working out of town.
Wanted to go to Starbucks for an afternoon coffee so badly but just poured a little more water and coffee into the pot and made some at home.
Hung one of my loads of laundry to dry.
Organized and cleaned up my coupon area so I would be better able to find some straggling coupons next time I shop and...
checked websites to see what deals can be had for the new week.

See this is why...

This is why we chase those deals right? I had wanted to keep spending to a minimum this week so I took some of my accumulated ECBs to CVS, used the $5 off of $15 I got the other day and the wonderful machine gave me a $2 ECB when I scanned my card. So here I am already $7 ECBs ahead. So I bought the TP I needed, eggs, some noodles, some wart remover my daughter needed (almost $10-ouch) and some Flipz. The Flipz are all I had a cpn for. Spent some but not all of my ECB's and my oop was only 2.66.

Free Sample Playtex Gentle Glide Tampons

Click on the link for your sample and check out the other free sample. Free Samples / Freebies / Free

Time to Buckle Down

     In the last few weeks our income has been reduced and I am trying to adjust my spending. Thankfully this is temporary but I need to watch what I spend for a couple more weeks. This IS why we stockpile right?  I need to keep shopping to a minimum and make my stockpile work for me. I just went thru my freezer which is low in meat to see what meals can be made so I will need as little as possible from the store. I will make a strata with frozen sausage and bread that has needed to be used and I will have dogs and sausages from all the odds and ends that get put in the freezer. I am glad for my stockpile as it will feed us and diaper my little one and keep us clean with shampoo and soap and all other toiletries well stocked. I do need TP though.
     Tomorrow I plan a trip to CVS and WAGS to use up a lot of bucks and RRs that I need to use and will get milk and eggs and other groceries I might need for the week and  and then to the grocery store to fill in. Stockpiling is such a blessing. It allows us to cut expenses when we need to and I am thankful that I have it.

A few things I've learned

I've learned a few things on my recent couponing journey:

1. Coupons are great. They truly are like money and I take good care of them.
2. Couponing takes time. Time to clip, time to hunt deals, and extra time when you are shopping. At least for me.
3. You must read the coupon/and or tags carefully. I've blown plenty a deal by not buying the right amount or item. And then you've wasted your coupon too.
4. To snag all the deals is impossible for me. Right now I am mainly using CVS, Walgreens, and Target and of course the grocery store, but I don't even go into Rite Aid which is super close to my house because I just don't have enough time.
5. Couponing can be messy. Even though I have a designated space in my closet to store all my cpning stuff, I still seem to have piles on my dining room table. I am coming up with ways to sort of store what I am working on but it is taking time to figure out a good system.
6. UUgghh! Make sure you do separate transactions when you are going to be submitting for rebates. Just yesterday I forgot to do this and will not be able to submit one of my rebates.

I'm still learning but I will never go back to not couponing. I will take breaks which I did last week but it saves so much money. Any comments on how to do any of the above better are greatly appreciated. I am still learning and checking other blogs to see how the pros do it.

Swagcode

Check the swidget!! It's worth five. It's good until 1:15 pm PDT.

CVS Diapers $2.37 a pack

If you are in need of diapers hurry over to CVS as they have their brand of diapers on clearance for 2.37 a package. That is a good price for something that will be peed and pooped in. I stocked up but they still had plenty left on the shelves.

Redeemed

After my so-so day at Target last week and not getting one of my $5 GCs because of my own mistake, I headed back to Target yesterday sans kids. I, being somewhat coupon challenged, must be able to concentrate when I shop. Able to read tags and make sure I am purchasing the right item for whatever deal. Anyway, I wanted to finish up what coupons I had left for the .42 Shout deal. I really needed to stock up on this so was so happy to see this deal last week. I printed as many coupons as I could off our computers and now am good for a while. Target has had some good deals these last few weeks.
I had a good trip and stocked up on some of the candy that was on clearance for the movies this summer, got the free pampers wipes and stocked up on Vitamin waters on sale with a deal right now. It was a good trip. $19 oop but not bad considering I needed to buy a few essentials (bras & undies) for my 12 yr. old. I feel much better now.

Target: Huge Candy Clearance

If you are looking for candy for the movies then head to Target. My Target had two end-caps full of candy on clearance. I picked up 3 of the big 3 Muskateers double bars priced .92 and used 3 .25 cpns making them. .67 a piece. Not bad. My daughter is headed to the movies so she is set. They have eveything on there from Milk Duds to Hersheys to 1000 Grand. Lots of variety but people were snatchin them up so if you are headed today see if your Target is clearancing the candy as well. I picked up 3 of the Almond Joy large sized for less than a dollar a piece but my kids will never see those. Muw-Ha-Ha!

The 1st Swagcode is Up!!

Check the blog as the first swagcode is up!!  Woo-Hoo!!!

Free Grilled Sandwich from Jack in the Box

Click on the link to print a coupon for a free grilled sandwich from Jack in the Box.
Free Samples / Freebies / Free

Aww!!!

I have hardly shopped for deals in the last two weeks and it has been nice. I haven't even been out of the house this weekend (in the car that is). My hubby is leaving for a week tomorrow so I will do some shopping during the week. I am looking forward to getting some of the deals at CVS and Wags and need to use up bucks and RRs. Anyway, I have been trying to watch money very closely as my oldest daughter has her first huge tuition payment due in August. So we have spent a quiet but blissful weekend at home playing in the pool with my kids and working in the yard, taking walks to the park and bbqing. All free except for the price of food for grilling but that is a constant that never goes away. I am bummed at finally having to turn on our AC. It has been the coolest spring in So. Cal. I can ever remember and it has saved us a bunch to not run our air. This weekend has been hot though so on went the air. Off to get dressed finally for the day and think about what we will grill for dinner tonight.