Triple Coupons

I know many of you will not be able to take advantage of this triple coupon event at SummerFresh, however, I'm sure you have a grocery store near you that has an event such as this every once in awhile.  This is only the second time I have taken advantage of this wonderful event and I'm glad I did.  Our store generally doubles coupons up to and including $.50, but this week they are tripling those coupons.  This made for some really good deals that I just had to share with you.  Sure it's not like those stories you hear on the Today Show how their total came to $117.49 before coupons and they only paid $.73 after coupons, but for a small town grocery store I think I did fairly well.  Below is a picture of what I bought.  Before coupons, my total came to $45.72.  And after....

Only $14.17!!!  Here is how I did it (Remember all of my coupons $.50 and below were tripled):

Mt. Olive Pickles $1.99 - $.50 coupon = $.49
Skippy Peanut Butter $2.66 - $.50 coupon = $.49
8 Cans of Campbell's soups $.99 each - 4 $.50/2 coupon = $2.00 ($.25 each)
2 Texas Toast Croutons $1.89 each - 2 $.50 coupon = $.78 ($.39 each)
Wacky Mac Pasta $1.69 - $.50 coupon = $.19
2 Lysol Toilet Bowl Cleaners $2.00 each - $.50 coupon = $1.00 ($.50 each)
Lysol Kitchen Cleaner $2.00 - $.50 coupon = $.50
Era Detergent $2.98 -$1.00 coupon = $1.98
Finish Dish washing Detergent $3.49 - $.50 coupon = $1.99
4 Totino's pizzas $.99 each - 2 $.50/2 coupon = $1.00 ($.25 each)
Colgate Toothbrush $1.65 - $.40 coupon = $.45
Crest Toothpaste $1.50 - $.50 coupon = FREE
Grapes on sale for $.99/lb = $2.78

The only thing I bought without a coupon was the grapes, but they were still a great price.  I didn't buy anything that I won't use, so if you have that mindset that coupons are only for things that you would never buy...it's not true!  The awesome thing is that even if you don't subscribe to the newspaper, you can still benefit from coupons through A Full Cup.  Every week when the grocery ad comes out, I look through my coupons and search on this website for more.  A little time stretches the dollar a long ways.  And, if you are like me you will become addicted to the savings!  Happy couponing everyone.

Grape Salad & Crazy Love

I thought I would share with you a delicious grape salad recipe...it's a little on the sweet and rich side, so beware.  I think it's a perfect cool summertime dessert and if you choose you can make it with fat free ingredients and Splenda to make it a less guilty pleasure!  If you search grape salad on the Internet you will find about 20 different variations of this recipe, so I have combined a few to come up with my favorite.

Grape Salad

6- 8 cups seedless red or green grapes (or combination)

8 oz sour cream

8 oz cream cheese

8 oz Cool Whip

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup brown sugar

Mix together sour cream, cream cheese, Cool Whip, vanilla, and sugar in a bowl.  Layer grapes in a serving bowl, then the sour cream mixture.  Keep alternating layers and end up with a sour cream layer on top.  Top the dish with the brown sugar and pecans mixed together.  Best if chilled overnight.

*My alteration of this recipe is that I mix the brown sugar in with the sour cream mixture and omit the pecans, but if you like pecans it's good the other way too. *

I also wanted to share with you the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan. 

If you haven't read it, I would highly recommend it.  Our small group is going through it right now and I am only 2 chapters into it and have gotten so much out of it.  For those of you unfamiliar with it, it's not about love in marriage like I thought the title implied.  It's about God's crazy, relentless, and all-powerful love.  It has reinforced for me how amazing God's love for us really is.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Long Lost Friends

We were blessed with the Lambert family's presence at our house this past weekend.  I only refer to them as long lost friends because we only get to see them a couple times a year.  This is that family that makes me feel old because their oldest son Caleb is 9 years old now and I can still vividly remember Brandon and I babysitting him when he was just a baby!  Their kids are so sweet and Landry had a blast playing with them.  We went fishing, swimming, and to Incredible Pizza.  I did manage to get a few pictures of our fun. 

My one attempt at a group picture of all 6 children (including mine).  Caleb (9), Aly (7), Jacob (4), Anna (3), Landry (2), Brynely (6 months).

 Three beautiful girls

 Beautiful Aly and Brynley

Anna and Landry

Jacob, Anna, and Landry

Caleb managed to elude my camera most of the time.  I can't believe he is 9!

We can't wait to see them again.  We are so thankful that God has blessed us with such amazing friends.

Swagbucks

I thought I would share with you my favorite search engine.  Swagbucks is a search engine that randomly rewards you with "Swagbucks."  I started using Swagbucks about a year ago and have earned around $200 in Amazon gift cards just for searching.  To get started, all you have to do is go to Swagbucks to register.

I would highly recommend downloading the Swagbucks toolbar and use it to search for everything.  When I check my email or facebook, I simply type in hotmail or facebook into the Swagbucks toolbar (instead of using google or your favorites) and almost daily receive "bucks" for this.  You can read all about it on the Swagbucks website.  There are many gift card options, but my favorite is the $5 Amazon gift cards.  I recently bought Landry's birthday present with my accumulated gift cards.  This sand/water table was $49...but I got it absolutely free with my Swagbucks.

It makes me so happy to redeem these "bucks" because it's so simple.  There's nothing like getting rewarded for such little effort.  It does take awhile to accumulate "Swagbucks," but if you can get your friends to sign up under you, you start earning "bucks" every time they do.  I consistently earn enough "bucks" to redeem for a $5 gift card per month without any referrals under me...so you guys could really help me out!  With Christmas just around the corner, you could start accumulating some gift cards to pay for some of those gifts!  I don't mean to sound like a salesman or anything, but Swagbucks is one of my favorite ways to earn a little extra money along the way.  Happy "swagging" everyone. 

Happenings at our House

First of all, I cannot believe that it is already August.  However, with this miserable heat wave I am ready for it to be December!  The kids and I have been staying inside for the most part since Brynley is still not quite old enough to enjoy the water for long.  I did take the kids to the park last week.  Landry loves going down the slides and climbing everything.  Brynley had her first "diaper swing" experience.  She is such a little peanut!

Brandon and I managed to have a date day for the first time since Brynley was born.  It was so nice to have a whole afternoon and evening of quiet and adult conversation.  We spent our time shopping at the outlet malls and riding the roller coasters at Silver Dollar City.  I forgot how much I enjoy shopping when it is just Brandon and I.  He is a really great shopper!  I did learn a few things after going to Silver Dollar City...you do get WET on Fire in the Hole (I swear they have added more water to that ride)...Thunderation is not as much fun as I remember it being when I was younger (it about beats you to death)...but overall it is still a great place!

In other news...I have officially became a MOM!  The newest addition to our family is...

                                

We finally decided that the two door vehicle was not family friendly and the most economical decision was to get a mini van.  For some reason, this move did not phase me one bit.  As we pulled it into the garage last night and pushed the button to open the back sliding doors, I just smiled at Brandon.  No more squeezing to get the carseat out while trying not to bang the door against the other car!  I have a feeling that this is just one of the few things of many that I will love about it.  I'm sure as the kids get older I will want to move on to a suv, but for now I am ok with being a mini van mom!