Use Coupons at Dollar Tree? Heck yes!!

Here is the follow-up I promised regarding using coupons at Dollar Tree. I go to Dollar Tree about once a week to shop and check out new arrivals. Last time I was there, I noticed they have Kellogg's Crunchy Nut cereal in the 13.4 oz size! Everyone in our family of 5 LOVES cereal and we go through it so fast. On my best couponing day, I can typically get a box of cereal for no less than $1.38 and that is if the match-ups are perfect.

 

 

So I picked up 2 cases of this tasty cereal....24 boxes. When I got home, I checked out www.KrazyCouponLady.com to see if there was a current coupon for Kellogg's or this particular cereal, and guess what? There were a couple! There was a "Save $1 on two Kellogg's cereals" coupon, and a "Save $0.70 on one box of Kellogg's Crunchy Nut cereal." You can print out a max of 2 of each coupon per computer, so I printed 2 of each. Normally, I would grab all of our family's computers and print 2 of each on each of those as well, but I just didn't have the free time for this one.

 

When I went to the Dollar Tree, I was a little nervous about asking whether they would take these coupons. After all, the price is only $1 as it is! But I went up to the person working and asked if they take them. They said yes, but you can only use 2 like coupons per purchase. So I bought 6 boxes and used two $1 off coupons and spend $4 for the six boxes. I could have just bought 4 and spent $2 but I really wanted a couple more : )

 

 

 

 

Later I had to go to Santee and I wanted to check their Dollar Tree for Fiber One Bars in chocolate (by the way, the exact ones were $2.79 on sale at Albertson's) since our store was out, so I went to that one and found more of this cereal. At this one I used my 2 - "$0.70 off 1" coupons. I also bought candy for $1 so you can disregard that, haha! I got 2 boxes of cereal for $0.60 and spent $1 for the candy. I paid with $2 and the receipt shows the $2 and the $0.40 change, but for some reason doesn't show the total. Oh, I almost forgot to add that there was a line forming behind me and they weren't even upset. They were like watching in awe as I used coupons at Dollar Tree. On my way out, a woman sped over to ask me where I got these coupons. I told her about www.KrazyCouponLady.com and she thanked me. I said I would be sharing info on my blog, and she asked if I'd wait until she had a chance to come back and grab some cereal with coupons : )

Have you discovered Restaurant.com ?

 So it's Cyber Monday, and I worked today so I have not done much "cyber shopping." But I did happen upon a great deal for today on Restaurant.com. I have purchased deals on their site before and I love the discounts! As a family we don't dine out very often because of the cost for a family of five. But if you combine the awesomeness of Restaurant.com's regular offers, with another coupon code, you can go shop-happy and not have buyer's remorse. The last one I used was for Sanfilippo's Pizza in La Mesa. I love Italian food so they have become my new favorite for food (not just pizza either) location, and ambiance (if you like small, Italian, and casual).

Here is how it works:

Go to their website and select your city and the mile radius you would consider driving. When the restaurants come up, there will be some you have never heard of, but some may be your favorites! Then just choose the deals you want to purchase, go to your cart and check out your total. Lastly, enter the code CYBER for today and save even more!

BUT there's more : ) After I chose to check out, a pop-up window asked me if I wanted to buy a $50 egift card to Restaurant.com for $8. Of course I clicked yes and added that as well. So my total for today was $14.40 for $40 worth of gift certificates to Sanfilippo's in La Mesa, and the $50 egift card.

I can't wait for date night!

Skinny Jeans...2 pair for under $25!!

Check out this awesome deal I got at PacSun for my teenage daughter! She wasn't with me but I took a chance and grabbed her size from the $14.99 section. When the associate rang them up, they were $14.99 but the second pair was half off! I brought them home and my daughter loved them! They are dark, skinny and fit perfectly! They have a little bit of stretch so they are as comfy as jeggings, but cuter. Oh yeah, I know this because I bought some for myself too : )

Seriously, where can you get perfect fitting, trendy jeans for under $12.50 each? This PacSun is at the Viejas Outlet center in Alpine and they have lots of other deals as well! You better check them out fast because after Friday, they will definitely be gone....and I may go pick up a couple more!

Product Review: NEW Snack Pack Pudding Bakery Shop Banana Cream Pie

I am always looking for a quick and healthy snack for my kids, and for myself. I have never tasted pudding this good! It is light and creamy, and tastes just like banana cream pie! This low calorie snack is good for kids and moms alike. With 30% of the calcium you need for the day, and only 110 calories, I will definitely be buying this one. I hope there are other "Bakery Shop" flavors as well!

 

 

Disclosure: I received samples of this product from in exchange for a review. The opinions stated in this post are my own. Please consult http://www.snackpack.com for more information on product claims.

My new favorite bargain destination!

You may have stepped in one of the many $1 or $.99 stores, only to find that the quantity for that price is super teeny. Well, if you take a little more time, you will find there are many name brands that cost less than the grocery store. Some examples from my latest trips are Sara Lee bread, Del Monte canned spaghetti sauce (a fave at our house), and mini Gatorade bottles 2/$1 (they are $.75 each at Wal-Mart). So if you haven't yet, give your local dollar store a shot and see how much you save on your favorite brands!

Ready, Set, Eat!

  

Have you heard of the ConAgra Foods site called Ready Set Eat? I have been receiving recipe emails from them and just realized something awesome! When you view the recipe, there are little buttons you can click that say "ON SALE" right next to an ingredient. You roll over it, and there is the info telling you where you can buy that item right now, ON SALE!! It can't get much easier than that. Here is the link to a pot roast recipe page that has info on getting the roast on SALE at Vons. Yummm!

http://www.readyseteat.com/recipes-Easy-Slow-Cooker-Pot-Roast-5242.html?utm_campaign=RSE_OCT_11&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_source=SDSMC&fmid=15479471

Couponing Works! ...duh

So my husband decided he wanted to take over the grocery shopping. He was positive that my couponing wasn't saving us much money, and that it wasn't worth the time it was taking to acquire them, clip them, organize them, print them, and finally use them. After a few trips to the grocery store saving about 15% (versus my consistent 50%+) and buying bulk items at Costco (which is a 20 minute drive and has limited hours), he has come to the conclusion that stretching our grocery budget is not as easy as it looks! I already knew that and I tried so hard not to say I told you so, but I couldn't resist. Sorry honey, you gave it your best effort! ;-)

Dollar Tree Takes Coupons?

Dollar Tree recently opened in our small town of 15,000 people. A few years ago, we didn't even have an Albertson's or a Starbucks. Now we have even more places to shop for great deals that stretch our family budget without driving all over the county.

If you have ever shopped at the 99cent store, Dollar Tree, or other dollar stores, you have definitely noticed that the quantity you get for $1 is often small, and therefore, not worth the extra time to go to an additional store for your weekly shopping. However, once you know the prices you normally pay for staple items (after coupons), you can do the math and see which items are a deal at Dollar Tree.

Some of the awesome items we purchase here are party supplies, gift bags, school supplies, some name brand toiletries, cleaning supplies and lots of food items including our favorite brand of canned spaghetti sauce, tostada shells, eggs, stick butter, ketchup, mustard and tons more.

Dollar Tree recently announced they take coupons. That's right! Everything is one dollar and they take coupons as well! I'll post again when I take my couponing skills over there!

Shoguns Restaurant vs Benihana

My friends and I went to Shoguns to say farewell to a friend who is moving out of town. We had heard it was like Benihana but less expensive, so we were anxious to compare for ourselves.

We made a reservation, were seated promptly and had excellent service during the 3 hours we were there. The menu was excellent and my vegetarian friend was so excited to see vegetarian options on the menu.

Our chef was skilled and fun, the food was amazing, especially the onion soup and garlic shrimp. They even broght out a dessert to our friend who is moving, and they sang a "syonara" song for her.

Overall, the prices were slightly lower than Benihana,
but the service, food and fun atmosphere were comparable, so I recommend going to whichever is a closer drive for you :-)

$0.88 Medication? What?

I wonder if you know this secret I found at Wal-Mart, yes Wal-Mart. As you may know, we are living on a teeny tiny budget. Therefore, when I see a sign for 88cents, I do a double-take no matter what section of the store I'm in. Since my dogs are allergic to the entire outdoors (at least it seems that way), they take an allergy medication. We have purchased it on petmeds.com and it was a great quality and price. But when I ran out, I needed some fast and saw this awesome section at Wal-Mart

Amazing right? Medications are so expensive, so we tried the "compare to Benedryl" for our doggies, and honestly, for my allergy issues as well. What do you know, it works just like the expensive stuff. I hope Wal-Mart keeps this section forEVER!

Comparison Shopping!

Do people still comparison shop? Or do they spend the time comparing prices for large purchases only? Well, my husband and I finally bought smart phones and he downloaded this awesome app from Amazon.com where you just scan the barcode of an item while you are shopping, and it tells you how much you can buy it for on Amazon.com

So one of our teenager needed volleyball shoes and they were $87 at the sporting goods store. He used the app and saw they were $67 online. Armed with this info, we knew we could find them cheaper, and we had a coupon for $20 off a $100 purchase at Sports Authority, so we went there to check the price for the Mizuno volleyball shoes.

The price was $70 but had a sign that said $59.99. My daughter also needed some warmup pants and they were 20% off. Here is the coolest part. We went to check out and found out the sale sign on the shoes was placed wrong, but the manager offered to honor that price.

So we ended up. getting $39 off our purchase: 10 off the shoes, 9 off the pants, and 20 off the entire purchase! Don't forget we also saved $7 on the shoes compared to he online price, so that is a savings of $46, all because we decided to shop around and use an in-store coupon. Woohoo!

Yes, We Still Love McDonald's

We just don't supersize it :) Seriously, our family LOVES the value or dollar menu at fast food joints. We know it's better to cook meals at home, but honestly, we are on the road a lot! Our favorites on the dollar menu at McDonald's are the sweet tea (my personal fave), the McChicken sandwich, and the vanilla cone. But hold up! Guess what? Some locations charge more for the dollar cone. We have see it for up to $1.29! Since we live in San Diego east county, there are about 1 billion McDonald's around, and one coming soon to our hometown of Alpine :) So my bargain advice to you is check all the locations near you to make sure you are getting the lowest prices on your favorites!

Since youtube.com is one of my family's favorites as well, we made a video of our 4yr old doing the "Drive Thru Rap" my kids found on youtube.

Sprinkles Cupcakes for FREE?

I bet you don't know this awesome information! If you "like" Sprinkles facebook page, you will get their updates which include a phrase you "whisper" at the store to get a free cupcake !!!

Around Town

Just an ordinary Sunday. My teenage daughter found a great coupon On the internet for Yogurt Mill. It is buy one get one FREE! So before you go out for the day, look online to see if you can find coupons for the places you plan to go! http://www.valpak.com/coupons/display/The-Yogurt-Mill-El-Cajon/El+Cajon/CA/1008789/1007264

Coupons vs Costco

Costco is so appealling as a "one stop shop" since they carry everything under the sun! But have you ever walked out the door spending less than $300? It can be dangerous to your bank account with all the impulse buys surrounding the food aisles. My husband decided to try his hand at doing the grocery shopping, and he started (and ended) at Costco. I checked out what he purchased and compared the prices to the coupon+grocery club prices I have been enjoying. To my surprise, there are actually some things at Costco that are less expensive! For example, cereal looks more expensive than my coupon prices, however, when you divide the price by the quantity sold at the grocery store, you are saving money. Other things that are a true bargain at Costco are tortillas, hot dog and hamburger buns, canned veggies, cases of drinks, frozen skinless boneless chicken breasts, shredded cheese, bathroom tissue, frozen waffles, frozen orange juice, and many other items!

Have you eaten at the snack bar outside? You can buy a hot dog with soda for $1.50, and their pizza slices are yummy! Quick, inexpensive and easy family meal before shopping! AND, the clothing, household, electronics, seasonal, and toy sections have high quality name brand items, offered at a lower cost, with an amazing return policy! Oh, and don't forget the GAS. Costco gas is the lowest price in town!

So, for the things your family consumes every week, compare the prices at Costco to see if it would be worth it to pay the membership fee to join.

Homeward Bound...I'm driving?

Well, after a week of craziness, it's time to return home to our crazy busy life! The breakfast at the Hampton Inn north Phoenix, Happy Valley, had the best free breakfast yet! Not only did they have make your own waffles, but they also had omelets, bacon, apple turnovers and more! Also, it was the least expensive hotel night on our trip: $79 + tax. That makes up for the gas prices rising to the high $3.40's on this last leg. Overall we traveled approximately 1250 miles, at an average gas price of $3.40 and an average of 34mpg. That would total $125 in gas cost for this awesome 7 day family vacation! Thank you Kia Soul! https://www.facebook.com/#!/kiasoul

Kia Soul Roadtrip 2012

Since Rick's shoulder is out of commission, I drove today and everyone was scared. It was super windy, dust devils everywhere, and I got distracted by the sights and swerved a few times, haha! Our final stop was the McDonald's at Gila Bend. Thank you dollar menu and sweet tea! This is a cute town with cool dinosaurs (or maybe Gila monsters?) along the road, and a cool Space Age restaurant.

Gila Bend our last stop for food 

We had no idea how beautiful Arizona could be, and we were pleasantly surprised about how comfy we were in the Kia Soul for a week of driving, stopping, eating, sleeping, playing DS, ipod movies, satellite radio, and lots of family conversations. Yes there was some bickering, but no trip is complete without a 16 year old yelling at a 4 year old, "Stop touching my face! He won't stop touching me!" That is old school, right? ; )

Sand Dunes, photo credit Rick Fortin ;) 

Day 6 - Slide Rock State Park

How can you get lost with so many helpful signs? This is a "right or left turn only" end of the road, veritable cornucopia of signs to help you on your way into, around, and out of Flagstaff, AZ, haha! Okay so did you know that Flagstaff is way up in the mountains? We didn't. Anyway, super fun morning at the Hampton Inn loading up on waffles and fruit ;) On the way out of town, we drove through NAU's campus. Only 2 years until our oldest goes off to college. I'm pretty sure she didn't think this college was "off" enough as she is looking mostly on the east coast.

We haven't stopped for gas more than a few times during this trip. I will have to add up the miles and total fuel cost, but the gas in AZ is averaging about $0.40 cheaper per gallon than CA. Check out the Kia Soul facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/kiasoul?ref=ts

Right after they refused to walk over there because of all the grasshoppers, haha

Our destination today, Slide Rock State Park, Sedona, AZ, along with a bazillion other people, haha! It took forever to get to pay the $20 to enter the park as they were letting one car enter each time one car exited. You can bring chairs, a cooler, towels, etc, but we brought nothing with us and had a blast! Don't spend $19.99 for the towel in the gift shop since you will dry fast. But definitely buy the $3.50 soft serve cone ; ) We were surprised to find out this park was originally a homestead for an apple farmer who really worked to grow the tourism industry. He even built cabins on his property and worked to improve the road to the area.

View from "Slide Rock Market" with the $20 towels we didn't buy and the $3.50 ice cream we did buy :D

My guys <3

Love my little boy <3

It was over 100 degrees so it was necessary to get in the water even if you hadn't planned to do so. The trip was definitely worth it, but the sliding was bumpier and slimier than my kids had anticipated ;) The two teens jumped off the small cliff and then off the higher one near the bridge. Mikey and I watched in awe, as dad got ready to save face and jump off too. Dad unfortunately dislocated his shoulder and had to spend some time pushing it back in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4M6elzhbgc&feature=plcp

At our hotel tonight, a young local firefighter informed us that there have been tons of injuries at those cliffs, and he strongly recommends they don't ever jump again. Hmmmm, guess we lucked out this time?

When we arrived to our hotel in Phoenix tonight, we decided to swim in the warm pool. It was still around 100 outside, the air was still and the sky was beautiful. A perfect ending to our wild and crazy family budget roadtrip. Well, not really the end yet....still have some miles to drive tomorrow and you never know where we may have to stop to check something out!

Day 5 Route 66 & Grand Canyon

Last night we stayed at our favorite hotel chain, Hampton Inn & Suites. It's a Hilton brand which we love, the price is between $79 and $149 per night, and there is a full hot breakfast in the morning including make your own belgian waffles. When you have children, especially 3 of them, it is way too expensive to go out to breakfast during your vacation. Most days we have had 1 or 2 meals plus snacks and save a TON of money. After our yummy breakfast, we checked out and got on Route 66 to find the inspiration for the Cars movies, "Peach Springs."

Power House in Kingman, AZ with a huge elevated railroad track

Come to find out, Peach Springs is no more than an old town with a few homes, and a couple businesses. There was no Cars fun to be found. However, the towns of Hackberry and Stilgeman are full of Americana, and cute references to the Cars movies including look-alike cars with eyes and all.

Mater's Buddy



Hackberry

Hangin' with the locals

"Look! These are chairs!" ~Mikey

Old School Tree Swing

We even passed a motel called the "Cozy Corner" that looked like the Cozy Cone, but it was located closer to Hackberry than Peach Springs. Of course, we never located Lightning MacQueen so Mikey was bummed out. We told him he was probably racing somewhere and coming back to hang out with Mater asap ; )

Tow Mater waiting for his best friend to get back

Americana :)

After an awesome lunch in Stilgeman, we continued our trip to the Grand Canyon. It was breathtaking and the highlight of our roadtrip so far. Just so you know, you don't have to buy any fancy expensive tours to have fun in the Grand Canyon! We had stopped in a gift shop on our way, and the lady told us there are no cars allowed at a certain point and we'd have to get one of the tour packages in the pamphlet she gave us. It was very misleading and would have been unaffordable for our family of 5. Needless to say, we had a phenomenal time and paid only $25, the fee to enter the National Park.

Ranger Books

 The best part of this day was that we not only saw the Grand Canyon for the first time, but we were there at the perfect time to hike for awhile, see an amazing sunset, and enjoy and photograph the views right after sunset.

Buds

 So romantic ;)

So beautiful it looks like a fake background, right?

We had a long drive to our hotel in Flagstaff, and we passed on the gross fast food on the way because it was twice the price of the same chain back home. So after we checked in, we rushed over to the only open fast food place, and got some not so healthy, but inexpensive dinner. This was our longest roadtrip day yet, but so worth it!

Day 4 - Happy American Independence Day!

What a day! We left Las Vegas around noon after stopping by the M&M store for a quick souvenir. Look how happy they are to be leaving Las Vegas, haha! Rick and I didn't gamble one penny, yayy. Also, our gas today was around $3.35 a gallon, and all of our entertainment was free ; ) I love this family!

http://youtu.be/S064fOjDblE

Our bargain lunch took place at Jack-In-The-Box in Henderson where we spent less than $13 on the value menu. We took the 93 South all the way to Route 66 and the drive was beautiful, and had zero traffic! We passed Lake Mead and stopped at a scenic viewing area where we took some awesome pictures and video.

Kingman is a lot bigger than I expected, but you see more businesses than homes when you drive in. It was raining and 30 degrees cooler than Vegas when we got here. The kids first comment was "The elevator is so fast here!" Haha! As soon as we checked in to the hotel, we drove to the small town July 4th Celebration in the Staples parking lot. There was a live band and they were really good! I think they were called "Rattlesnake Junction." I can't get the video to upload :(

There was something on the advertisement about a "burnout contest" but we had no idea what it was. Well now we know. The residents of Kingman, AZ seem pretty into it, and the smoke is cool, but we couldn't help but think about the cost of replacing all the tires ; )

http://youtu.be/6zmM5S8kl60

A car show was part of the entertainment and they had a brand new Corvette with doors like that Delorean in "Back to the Future," but I liked this Chrysler Imperial the best. Check out the grill and headlights:

Oh, my other favorite car was this one. Check out the reflection of our car in this car. It's like they are meant to be friends ; )

Haha! We had Taco Bell for dinner and spent less than $13 again, but we need to make some better food choices tomorrow. Good thing our hotel has FREE breakfast, and not just continental ; )  After mingling with the locals, we drove around looking for Centennial park or the Mohave County Fairgrounds so we could get ready to watch the fireworks. I took a video of the amazing sunset view.
http://youtu.be/0lADGaEuWAA

The firework show was over 30 minutes long! I took video of it in the beginning since Mikey was being hilarious, and the full moon to the left was cool to see at the same time.
http://youtu.be/DBoifZUNzvg

The kids are so excited because tomorrow we are taking Route 66 to Peach Springs which is the town that inspired the Cars movies. However, they are unaware that we will be in the car for a loooooong time before arriving at the Grand Canyon National Park, woohoo!

Last Day in Vegas....Day 3

My family loves to sleep in, especially when there are "blackout" curtains : ) So, today we got up around 10:30, ate protein bars again for breakfast, and the girls made their way to the NYNY Roller Coaster to get the all-day pass for $25. One ride is $14, and nobody wants to ride that roller coaster just once. You have to check it out in the daytime and at night to really experience it. They ended up taking 12-15 rides until it closed at midnight ; )

Since we woke up late again, we skipped lunch and checked out Groupon.com and the many coupon books I'd picked up for dinner options. Overall, we were really unimpressed with the coupon books, Groupon options and family activities in general here in Las Vegas. The one coupon we thought was a great deal had a ton of bad reviews on Yelp so we passed on that one.

There was a time that Vegas was getting more "kid-friendly" but I think with the recent recession, the locals are getting desperate. There are lots on scantily clad "showgirls" that take pics for tips all over the strip, even in front of my fave the Bellagio :( My girls looked at each other and were appalled at what they were/weren't wearing.

Since the coupons were sub-par, we took a vote and decided on In-N-Out Burger for dinner which is across the street from our hotel, NYNY. You can see our rad Kia Soul, our hotel, and our dinner spot in this picture ; ) One of the awesome things about chains like Starbucks, Subway, and In-N-Out is you always know what to expect.

My kids love cruising in this car so we took a drive down the strip to park closer to see the inside of the Paris and Bellagio, and check out my favorite Vegas attraction for the second time, the water show. I was so excited that the one we saw today was "All That Jazz" and last night's was "Luck Be a Lady" two of my faves!

 The Bellagio lobby, garden, and chocolate store are super cool and great photo spots! I can't believe we didn't buy any treats at the chocolate store, but it's hard to eat chocolate when it's soooooo hot! One of our last stops of the day was another penny smasher with some standard Vegas designs, so we bought a couple more.

Because Netflix is such a bargain, Rick and I logged in to watch a movie called "The Way" which was outstanding! I may need to add to my Bucket List now ; ) We have decided that tomorrow morning we are "leaving Las Vegas" to continue our "Kia Soul Roadtrip" and spend American Independence Day in a small town, yayyyy!