Triple Coupons

Oooh, Ooooh, Oooooh! I've gotta try to plan a trip!
Bloom will be tripling coupons Friday Feb. 6th - Sunday Feb 8th
Harris Teeter will be tripling coupons Thursday Feb. 5th - Sunday Feb. 8th

Bilo

I already posted on this trip to Bi-lo but I wanted to post my list as practice...
I had about $19 in coupons, $3.75 would've been the doubled ones had I not missed scanning my card.
Here goes:
(2) 2 liter Pepsis
4 boxes Fruity Cheerios
3 boxes Toaster Strudels
2 Kraft dressings
1 French's Worcestshire (sp) Sauce
Big cannister Maxwell House Coffee
1 Large "Coffeemate" creamer (powder)
2 cans Chef Boyardee Spag & meatballs
1 BBQ sauce
1 24 oz Ketchup
Small Gain laundry detergent & softner sheets
6 double rolls Quilted Northern TP
18# bag Jim Dandy dog food
(2) Blistex chapstick
(2) Yoplus 4-pk yogurts
(2) Bilo brand shredded cheese
Gal. Bilo OJ
18 eggs
Froz. broccoli
Froz green beans
(2) pks gizzards
(1) pkg chicken leg quarters
(1) pkg split chicken breasts
(2) hotdogs
(2) bologna
(2) Carolina Pride cocktail smokies
(2) pkgs Deli cuts Buddig sandwich meats
(2) boxes Armor sausage links
So I think I did pretty good once I got refunded the $45 from Bonus card savings! YAY! $161.08 worth of groceries & OOP was $100!!!

Savings

I had my trip to Bilo all planned, coupons tucked away in an envelope & my coupon divider pouch (just in case). I carefully went thru (but still trying to hurry back home)...I found a couple deals but was still nervous that I would mess up while trying to use the coupons. I made it to a register where I was aquainted with the cashier. I told her to bear with me since I had alot of coupons & was still learning. She was sweet but in the meantime as we were chatting, we both forgot to scan my bonus card...After coupons, I had only saved about $19...I had done my calculating all the way thru the store, expecting to only pay between $90-$100 (allowing some leeway in case I'd forgotten to add something.) My total was $145. I was devastated but I didn't know what I'd done wrong. I didn't think I could think straight enough to figure out what had happened so I paid & left...doubting whether I'd bother with coupons ever again...I looked over my receipt in the car but still couldn't figure out what happened. Long story short & after a mild anxiety attack, I made it home where my dear "sister" Tricia (who's staying with us) said it looked like my bonus card hadn't been scanned. She graciously volunteered to call Bilo & see if the manager could help me. "Jodi" at Bilo was SO helpful! He told her I could bring my bonus card, receipt back to the store & they would refund my money! Praise the LORD! I got $160 worth of groceries for $100!! WOOHOO! Granted I didn't have my coupons doubled but it was only about $3...so getting my $45 back was worth the $3 sacrifice. I don't feel so bad now! I haven't given up on coupons yet!
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I even scanned the discount shelves, picked up a 1/2 price package of coffee & a bag of flour. I'm looking forward to seeing how much more money I can save us. I'm learning!

Coupons

This week I got brave, taking the first step getting back into using coupons. I've been worried about getting the wrong item, all the way into line expecting to pay one thing, ending up paying more, holding up the line, ect. My dear friend Jamie @ Grocery Girls has been helping teach me the in's & out's! Thanks, Jamie! Then my bestest friend, Tricia, who has been an avid couponer found some good deals searching the sales papers & going thru my newly cut coupons! Yay!
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Bear with me until Eddie can fix the "more" link in dividing the posts. He just LOVES searching thru the codes to fix my blog when I change backgrounds! Not!
Anyway, I used 2 coupons this weekend @ Bilo for Velveeta & Nature Valley Granola Bars. I'm trying to gradually get my feet wet using coupons! LOL! On the Velveeta, I ended up spending $4 after using a coupon. I did notice the Bilo brand was that price so if I'd not had a coupon, I could've gotten it for the same, just not the name brand. The granola bars were 2/$5, I had (2) $0.60 coupons that doubled to $1.20 each, totalling $2.40 off. So I spent $2.60 total= $1.30/box vs $2.50/box! I was proud of my "find". I hope to become faster & better @ finding good deals while using coupons.
Last night, Tricia went to Bilo to catch the last day of this sale @ Bilo. She'd sifted thru my newly acquired batch of coupons & managed to find a sweet deal for Dove shampoo & a conditioner, totalling $2.50 vs that PLUS some per bottle! How smart she is! I had missed that completely! I'm learning though! Plus she stocked us up on Poptarts. They were 3/$5 & she found a box with $1 off so 3/$4 was a great deal! Now our guys have some poptarts to last them a day or two! LOL! (They won't last long!)
Anyway, I'm looking forward to the new sales papers & finding more good deals!
P.S. The snow didn't last long...It was sad to see it go. Maybe we'll get more, but I doubt it. I'd love "just snow" without the ice being the initial layer...Me & ice=broken bones...

We got SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!

There's not alot on the ground but it's still pretty. The ice underneath since we got rain first is what scares me. So I was planning to stay home for alittle (atleast, if not staying home all day) while to see how the roads were when I got the call about my sweet patient passing away during the night. So I guess I'm staying home anyway. It's kind of bittersweet to get to see the beautiful snow but kind of sad to know baby Emily is gone.
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In the meantime, my dear friend Tricia & her son, Brayden, are here with us, trying to get settled in. It's good to have them here & I want them to feel at home.

In Loving Memory

Unfortunately I got news this morning that the sweet baby I've been working with passed away last night. She had many health issues in her short life. She was 4 months old & a precious baby. Her name was Emily & her family could use your prayers. They knew it could happen because of her health but she'd been making progress so it wasn't totally expected. The Lord saw fit to bring her home, so she's not sick anymore. She doesn't need the oxygen tubes or other attachments that she had to live with on this earth anymore. Rest in Peace, dear Emily.

Not a New Year's Resolution...

For some reason, I don't like New Year Resolutions...maybe because I don't pick things that I have been able to follow up with...The last several days to a week or so, my blood pressure has been up more than it should be. It started worrying me so I finally made a Dr appt...Now I'm on medicine...My dear parents are both diabetic, dad has high BP...not to mention the extended family's history. So I'm doomed...not really but there are things in my life I'm going to be working on. For one thing, I don't like to be "sick" or feel bad & most importantly, I want to have a full life with my husband & son (& rest of the family). I've just gotta get back on track.
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On another note, I've started working with a precious little baby girl who has been thru alot of challenges & has many more to deal with as she grows up. She's almost 4 months old, weighs 9 pounds. She has a sweet family, who is very involved. Even though she's fragile medically, each day with her seems to be helping me not be so anxious when I work with her. She has heart problems, a sometimes not so great skin color (blue-ish)...So when she turns purple (even though I know she has a tendency to do this), it still freaks me out some. I'm just not used to "blue" being an accepted color for a baby or anybody for that matter.
On yet another note, the company I'm working thru has been good at getting my pay to me. Also, paychecks are weekly which will help get us straightened out (I hope). May God Bless Eddie's heart for taking over the budget & dealing with the stress.
I guess that's all for now. Hopefully we'll have more "flying lesson" news to report in the near future...
Yes, I know I need to change my blog decor but hopefully will be able to get to it when Eddie has time to fix the little parts that I can't. So enjoy the Merry Christmas alittle longer. =)

Happy New Year!

I wish everyone a wonderful 2009! I think we all need to pray for our country as we are facing many changes.
There are changes we are anticipating this year but I'll post on them as they happen.
Happy New Year!

Flying

My dear husband was finally able to fulfill one of his wishes to fly a plane! With weather changes, after rescheduling several times, Sunday afternoon, it finally happened! Even though it was COLD & windy, the instructor was willing if Eddie was and he was!! We met the instructor & after a few minutes of pre-flight checks & instruction, they were off! It was so cool to watch them taxi down the runway. At the time, I didn't know Eddie was at the controls because we both thought the instructor would do the take-off & landings, letting him handle it while in the air. I was so surprised to find out Eddie took off, flew the plane AND landed it!! The instructor had her hands on the controls at times to teach but she was patient & coached Eddie who was learning fast. She even said he did "above average" for his first lesson! I'm so glad he was so elated & I'm so thankful I could give him this for Christmas. I love to see him so excited and have a wish come true!
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We plan to work towards continuing his lessons as we can. He's already started investigating the books he needs to study, etc. Looks like Ebay will come in handy. We are so excited at the possibilities ahead! He's actually considering going back to school (when/if Solutia goes under) for aviation mechanic. I'll support whatever he wants to do. He says if he's going to learn to fly, he wants to know how to work on what he's flying. We feel like this will be a plus on his resume! =)
We'll keep you posted on future flights! Also, I was so excited, I forgot my camera & will have to snap a picture of the plane & Eddie next time.