Couponing

"Couponing" seems to be a hot hobby these days. It takes time, planning, and a little extra effort, but I have definitely cut my grocery bill in half. I can't quite keep my grocery bill at $30 or less yet like Shannon of Bargain Buggy, or the Eastern Shore Mom, but I'm close. It's usually formula and/or diapers that put my average weekly spending closer to $74/week. (That's an average-- because if I stock up on diapers & formula that are on sale one week, I might only spend $30-$40 on groceries the next week.) But, that is still less than half of what I was spending, and not too bad counting diapers and formula. We are also saving money because I am cooking meals daily. We hardly ever eat out anymore. Because I "stock up" on sale items (that I also have coupons for), we have plenty of snacks and meal ingredients at home.

For those of you newer to couponing than I am, here are some great places to start: Coupons.com, Smart Source, & Red Plum. Here are some bonus coupon websites: Target coupons & Publix/Kraft Manufacturer Coupons. Also, be sure to get the paper-- at least Wednesday's & Sunday's editions. That seems to be when the most sale ads and coupons are available. I'm just starting to really get the hang of this, but I actually am having fun with it.

Be sure to know your store's couponing policy. For example, Publix will let you "stack" coupons by combining a store coupon (they do accept competitor's coupons) with a manufacturer coupon. (This means that Publix will take coupons like those $10 off a $50 purchase coupons that you often get at the register at Winn-Dixie.)

I personally love shopping at Publix because it is so clean, the produce selection is excellent, I love their store brand items, and it prevents me from having to go to Wal-Mart...ever! I am going to try to be better about posting my weekly receipts and coupon links. But here is my most recent Publix trip (11/5)

Legend
The GREEN price, is the final price I paid for that item.
RED denotes any discounts.
Q stands for coupon.
MQ stands for manufacturer coupon
BOGO means Buy One Get One for free.

Publix Purified Bottle Water $3.99

Angel Soft Toilet-Paper 12 Double-Roll Pack on sale $5.49

Purina Beneful Dog Food on sale $12.99

Pampers Cruisers (88 count) diapers on sale $29.99 -$3.00 Publix Q -1.50 MQ = $25.49

(2) Nestle Toll House Semi-Sweet Morsels (12 oz.) BOGO - $0.50 MQ = $1.00/ea.

Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough BOGO* -$1.00MQ = $0.75

Baby Carrots on sale = $1.99

(2) Gerber DHA/ Organic Baby Food on sale $1.34 - $0.50 MQ = $1.09/ea.

(1 each) Aunt Jemima French Toast & Aunt Jemima Pancakes BOGO – $1.00 MQ**= $0.38/ea.

(2) Betty Crocker Brownie Mix BOGO = $1.32/ea.

Maxwell House Coffee on sale $3.00 - $1.00 MQ= $2.00

(2) Kraft Salad Dressing (Ranch & Italian) BOGO = $1.64/ea.

(2) Betty Crocker Boxed Potatoes (3-cheese & Scalloped) BOGO – (2) $0.40 MQ= $0.49/ea

(2) Welch’s Grape Juice on sale $2.99 -$1.00 MQ= $1.99/ea

(2) Campbells Healthy Harvest Soups (tomato bisque & Italian wedding) BOGO = $1.23/ea. (There was actually a MQ for $1.00 off each. If I had known this before my trip, they would have only been $0.23/ea.)

I also used a Rite Aid $5 off of a $25 purchase coupon. Publix accepts competitor’s coupons.

*You don’t have to buy 2 items to get the sale price on Publix’s BOGO items. If you only buy one item, then you get that item at half price.

Including tax, I spent a total of $73.76. For those of you without a child in diapers, the same bill minus diapers would come to $46.23. And for those of you who also do not have pets, the total would be $32.24 without the dog food and diapers.

I stock up on sale items. I try to ONLY buy items that are on sale and I have a coupon(s) for. When formula and/or diapers go on sale, I stock up so that I don’t even have to buy those items every week. I make my weekly dinner menu based on the previous week’s sale items. I guess we will be having lots of desserts and potatoes next week! (Last week, I stocked up on pasta and pasta sauce, so we’ll have lots of Italian meals too!)

Plugs for Products that I LOVE!

I wanted to share some awesome companies and products with all of you modern mommies out there.

Custom Baby Bedding. There are two custom baby-bedding companies that are located close to me that will ship anywhere nationally. I love Javis Davis because of their wide selection of fabrics, and their website lets you design and preview a custom crib set. It's awesome! I love Polka Tot Designs' funky, modern take on classic crib bedding. They also have amazing personalized rugs! I have already picked out everything for the nursery for #2-- should he or she ever decide to bless my husband and I with his or her presence. :)

Accessories for Baby & Home. A very good friend of mine, Jenna Beckerich, recently launched her own, new, very cute & creative business. I have posted pictures of the things that she has made for me here. You can check out the rest of her merchandise at polkadotpavilion.com! She has some really cute ideas and products for Christmas and will customize your order! She ships nationwide! You MUST check this out!
Here are two of the Polka Dot Pavilion pieces that I currently have (I've already placed my Christmas order!):

Other Plugs:

If you have a little girl, you MUST check out Kaiya Eve. Their line of "pettiskirts" and other products are adorable and a must have for every little girl's dress-up and photography wardrobe!

Also, Gulf Coast locals-- you need to make sure that you add Eastern Shore Mom and Kidz Kloset to your list of websites that you check out on a regular basis. ESM is full of money saving shopping and coupon tips. Kidz Kloset is host to the regions largest consignment sale and new clothing sale.

Ruining Our Children

It occured to me in the aftermath of an almost tragic accident yesterday that our children are born perfect. I mean, really perfect. And WE, parents, ruin them! What a scary thought!

The almost tragic accident:

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday. I had been holding LB in the waiting area when we were called back. I quickly put him in his stroller and walked back to the exam room. No, I didn't strap him in the stroller because (#1) I didn't want the nurse to have to wait on me, and (#2) the straps don't fit around my chunky child and I still can't figure out how to adjust them. And in case you didn't know this... I am SUPER clumsy. I mean, a really big klutz. So, when we got to the exam room, I, of course, rolled into the door, and because LB wasn't strapped in, he went tumbling out of the stroller and landed face-first on the tile! OMG! I was horrified. For a split second I thought I had killed him! It was the worst feeling the world. I swooped him up and hugged him very tightly and started kissing him (what a hero I am in a crisis--hmh!). The nurse, who saw the whole thing, checked him out and assured me that he was fine. It wasn't until after I picked him up that he actually started crying. I felt (and still feel) AWFUL!

I mean will we really ever know how much damage this caused him? Will we? WILL WE? REALLY? What if he can't do Algebra in the 8th grade? What if the teacher says, "Bobby, you act like your mother dropped you on your head." He will have to say, "well, actually, she did, and that could be the cause of my failure in your class."

I am supposed to be the one who protects him and kisses his boo-boos, not the one who dumps him on his head! What a horrific feeling! I am always getting on to my husband when he forgets to buckle him in his swing, or reminding everyone not to leave him on a raised surface, "he could roll off, you know," and yet, I am the one who allowed him to fall on his head because I didn't take the time to figure out how his stroller straps work! And BTW, stroller companies, you should really make "big boy" sized adjustments possible in all of your seats and straps. I have been having such difficulty lately getting the child to fit into his safety restraint devices.

He seems fine now... I guess time will tell! And I think I am going to start making him wear a helmet, ALL OF THE TIME!

The Art of Flipping a Pancake

I love pancakes, but it took me years to perfect the art of flipping them in such a manner that would yield the perfectly circular image that pops into my head when I think "pancake." Perhaps for some pancake-flippers, it's a natural gift. I'm sure there are some people out there who can effortlessly make the perfect pancake with very little practice. But, for my clumsy self nothing is a natural gift. Anything that I am good at I've had to work at. I love pancakes. Homemade blueberry and butter pecan happen to be my specialties. My husband and I have pancakes every Sunday morning. After all of my pancake practice, I can now make a scrumptious and virtually flawless pancakes.

What on earth do pancake-flipping skills have to do with being a modern mommy? I discovered today, in my very own Oprah "ah-ha" moment, that putting the baby down for his naptime is very much like flipping a pancake. In the beginning, it's all luck. Occasionally a "flip" will end with a successful result, but because those results are based on luck instead of skill, they are inconsistent. Obviously the successful result that I am aiming for when it comes to putting my son down for a nap is that he will stay asleep-- preferably for at least an hour. That outcome seems to require some secret mommy-skills of which I am not yet aware.

The baby in this comparison is like the pancake, and the parent is the spatula. Laying an infant down for a nap in his crib is like flipping a pancake. I've tried the slow approach: bend over the crib slowly, gently; lay the child down and very slowly, cautiously, slide out the spatula (your hands) while holding your breath and hoping that he won't wake up. I've tried the fast approach: count to 3, then flip and run out of the room; wait in the hallway huffing and puffing, cringing and listening for a sound of a stirring baby. I've tried sort of rolling him off my arms into his crib-- nothing works. He will inevitably open his eyes and giggle at me as soon as I start to back away from the crib.

If I hold him throughout naptime and "po-po" him (what my family calls holding him in a frog-like position and patting him on the back) then he will sleep for a couple hours, but I am stuck and unable to get anything done. If I try my pancake-spatula approach to putting him in his crib, I'll have 30 minutes TOPS to run around my house getting things done before he wakes up.

I'm sorta superstitious about it too. I just "know" that if I go in there and check on him, he will be awake and staring back at me, but if I stay out of the room, he seems to stay asleep.

There are parents who say, "you need to put him down while he is still awake." To which I respond with, "Bahahahahaha!" My child is NOT a 15-minute, cry-it-out kind of guy. In fact, the one time that I did try this approach, he was only warming up after 15-minutes, and anyone who can listen to that gut-wrenching, red-faced sob, and see the tears and snot it produces and walk away has a heart made out of stone. That approach may very well work for some children, but not mine.

So alas, I am stuck practicing my pancake flipping, I mean, baby laying-down skills and tip-toeing through my house, hoping that I don't step on a creaky bored and that I am magically able to get the laundry done, bathrooms cleaned, floors mopped, and other work take care of during his 30-minute nap.

Maybe there are some super-moms out there who are naturally gifted at putting a child down for a nap, but for most of us it is an acquired skill that comes with years of practice. If you have naptime tips or secrets, please share! I'm just hoping I figure it out before LB turns 30 and I no longer need those skills!

Modern Mommies Know...

How to change an exploded, poopy diaper on the side of the road.

Stupid Hollywood moms and your trainers and nutritionists!

I wore maternity pants today. My baby is almost 6 months old, and my maternity jeans are the most comfortable thing that I own. It's a sad... sad... day.

Things Modern Mommies Know

So, each week I am going to post some tips or tidbits that I have learned. You more experienced mommies probably already know these things, but I'm just sharing what I've learned. :)

1. Pampers work best. Period. Pampers coupons are hard to come by, but there is a Pampers perk. You can join the Pampers Village to get mailers and enter the Gifts to Grow program which rewards you with items for yourself or baby as you buy more and more Pampers products. Also, I usually buy the largest bulk box at Babies-R-Us with their $5 off coupon. It is the cheapest way to buy Pampers.
2. Layer your crib. There are currently 3 crib sheets on LB's crib with a waterproof lap pad between each layer (sheet, pad, sheet, pad, sheet). That way, if he has an accident in the middle of the night, or spits up during naptime, I can just rip off the top sheet and not have to change the whole bed. Presto, chango!
3. Modern mothers take the time to pamper themselves. Exhausted, stressed-out mothers can't give the best of themselves to their children or their husbands. Take time out for you.
4. When buying a big-boy (or girl) carseat, spring the big $$ and get the Britax!
5. Use coupons! Publix will take more than one discount coupon per visit! (I.e. I had a $5 off a $20 purchase coupon from CVS that Publix would honor, and the checkout lady told me that because I spent so much $, I could have used two of them!) (I'm still learning how to do this in the most effective way possible. Details of this week's Publix trip are below.)

Publix 10/10/09

Colgate Toothpaste on sale for $1.50 -$1.00 coupon = $0.50

Ruffles Potato Chips BOGO = 2/$3.99

Fiber One Yogurt BOGO - (2) $1.00 coupons = 2/$0.50

Fresh Express Salad on sale for $1.85

Hunts canned tomatoes BOGO = 2/$1.39

Ronzoni Pasta (I bought spaghetti & rotini) BOGO -$1.00 coupon= 2/$0.45

Classico Sauce BOGO = 2/$2.67

Betty Crocker Boxed Potatoes BOGO - (2)$0.40 coupons= 2/$0.99

Bertolli Skillet Dinner on sale for $4.99 -$1.00 coupon= $3.99

Knorr Sides BOGO -(2)$0.45 coupons = 2/$0.63

Welches White Grape Juice on sale for $3.00 -$1.00 coupon = $2.00

Special K Protein Shakes $6.99- $1.00 coupon= $5.99

Nutra-Grain Bars & Special K Bars - $2.00 peel off coupon= $4.78 (for both)

Gallon of Publix brand Milk= FREE (with the purchase of 3 Kellogs products listed directly above)

FREE Re-usable Shopping Bag

I paid full price for Publix brand bottled water ($4.49), Milkbones ($3.79), Oscar Mayer Ham ($3.89) and 2 Gerber baby food products ($0.97/each).

Subtotal =$43.84 -$5.00 CVS coupon (I could have used 2, and next time I will) + tax = $42.34

I felt pretty good about that total. Looks like we will be eating a lot of Italian meals this week! I still have ground beef, and chicken frozen to cook*, along with most of the food that I bought during my last Publix trip. So, we are good to go for awhile! I'll post my menu for the week later. Now, that grocery total did not include the formula, wipes, and diapers that I bought later at Babies-R-Us. I bought the HUGE value boxes of wipes and diapers (with my $5 off coupon), so I spent $50 there. But, the diapers and wipes should last about 3 weeks (or more). Each week I am learning how to trim a little bit more off my grocery budget! It's getting better!

*Winn-Dixie runs BOGO offers on their chicken breasts quite frequently, but I have learned that $1.99/lb chicken is actually a much better deal. So, whenever I see $1.99/lb chicken I stock up. I separate the breasts and freeze them in ziploc bags (2 breasts per bag because that is all I cook at one time, because that is all my husband and I can eat-- it cuts down on leftovers, which we don't like). One pack of chicken usually has 6-7 breasts in it, so I can get 6 or more dinners out of 2 packs of chicken. I do the same thing when I can get a good deal on a family pack of ground beef (it is sometimes cheaper to buy the larger pack)-- I'll go home and divide it into pounds myself, wrap it and freeze it. So, I am currently very well stocked on ground beef and chicken.