Freebies

  • Huggies Enjoy the Ride Rewards: 25 Free Points

    Receive 25 FREE Points from Huggies Enjoy the Ride Rewards Program with a new code!

    This code is different from the previous codes I have given.

    Use Code:  BKWHD MMLPC XCPGB

    The code doesn’t have an expiration date listed  so don’t wait to use it just in case!

    You can save up the rewards to purchase gifts!

    For more information about the Huggies Enjoy the Ride Rewards Program and how you can start earning Rewards for your family go to Huggies Enjoy the Ride Rewards!

  • Living on a Budget: Groceries $40 for 4

    Another great week doing Groceries $40 for 4. It was another busy week but I managed to break away this past Saturday morning to go to the Sav Mor Box Sale with the family. If you haven’t been before and you live in the Greenville area it is worth the time to stock up on food items. It felt great saving some of the grocery shopping cash this week while stocking up on some items for our pantry. Below are my grocery shopping adventures for the week!

    Sav-Mor Sidewalk Box Sale - A Table Full for $16!

    We bought 107 items and paid $16.00 total which means we spent less than $0.15 per item!!!  You can often get some excellent deals at Sav Mor’s Box Sale.  I was hoping to stock up on snack items for our family since I will be traveling a little and I wanted to make sure there were plenty of easy snacks to take as well as  meals that could be made quickly for our family.  Our dining table was full once we unpacked the boxes!  We even got some Organic / Whole Wheat food items for the family.  We purchased two boxes at $7.00 each and the case of chips was $2.00 giving us our total of $16.00.

    Sav-Mor Groceries from the Saturday Sidewalk Box Sale:

    • 8 Bags – 18 oz Laura Lynn Restaurant Style Tortilla Chips (they sold these for $2.00 per case, we got 1 case)
    • 4 – 4 packs Vermont Organic Strawberry Banana Applesauce
    • 1 – 25 count Milkshake Straws
    • 1 – 4 oz Kettle Baked Potato Chips – BBQ Flavor
    • 2 – 26.5 oz Hunts Pasta Sauce
    • 1 – 14.5 oz Sliced Potatoes
    • 1 – 64 oz Laura Lynn Fruit Punch Juice
    • 1 – 3.5 oz Quaker Vanilla Creme Brulee Rice Snacks (Whole Wheat)
    • 2 – Annies Organic Alfredo Shells & Cheddar
    • 1 – 4 pack Gerber Yogurt Blends
    • 2 – Roasted Chicken Gravy Packs
    • 1 – Roasted Turkey Gravy Pack
    • 6 – Simply Organic Alfredo Packs
    • 2 – Molly McButter Fat Free Natural Sprinkles
    • 2 – Laura Lynn Woven Wheats
    • 6 – Hamburger Helper Lasagna
    • 6 – Brach’s Candy Hearts
    • 1 – Pasta Roni Chicken
    • 2 – Mrs. Fields Rainbow Chocolate Chip Packages
    • 2 – Mrs. Fields Snickerdoodle Packages
    • 1 – 15.4 oz General Mills Total Cinnamon Crunch
    • 3 – 15.25 oz General Mills Total Blueberry Pomegranate
    • 1 – 16 pack Betty Crocker Fruit Shapes, Gushers, Rollups, By the Foot, Fruit Stickerz
    • 3 – Betty Crocker Fruit Rollups
    • 4 – Betty Crocker Fruit Stackerz
    • 1 – 10.5 oz Kraft Marshmallows (4 flavors)
    • 1 – 8 pack Chi-Chi’s Flour Tortilla’s
    • 8 – Land O’ Lakes Caramel Hot Chocolate Packs
    • 1 – 9 oz Annie’s Natural Organic Dijon Mustard
    • 2 – 10 packs Propel Raspberry Lemonade
    • 13 – 4 packs Starkist Chunk Light Tuna (the sticker on the packages read $4.98 each and they didn’t expire until 2012, so that is a huge savings – it would normally cost us $64.74 to buy them)
    • 4 – 6 packs Quakers Simple Harvest Dark Chocolate Chunk (the sticker on the packages read $3.28 each – it would normally cost us $13.12 to buy them)
    • 5 – 6 packs Quakers Simple Harvest Trail Mix (the sticker on the packages read $3.28 each – it would normally cost us $16.40 to buy them)
    • 1 – Carr’s Whole Wheat Crackers
    • 1 – 8 pack Ocean Spray Oatmeal with Cranberries
    • 2 – Nutritious Living Hi-Lo with Strawberries
    • 3 – 14 oz Captain Crunch Peanut Butter Crunch
    • 1 – 16 oz Captain Crunch

    Sav Mor has been doing their Box Sale for several years now.  They will occasionally offer additional discounts as well.  For example, last Saturday you could get a case of Tortilla Chips for $2.00 which meant you were getting the chips for 25 cents per bag.   There is more information I want to share with you about how the sale works so  I will be going into more details about the Sav-Mor Sidewalk Box Sale in a later post.

    Groceries at CVS

    Groceries from CVS:

    • $2.85 at CVS for Kellogg’s Fruit Loops ($1.16 for the box), Kellogg’s, Rice Krispies ($1.16 for the box), and CVS Honey Wheat Pretzel Twists (of clearance for $0.49 cents)

    Groceries from Bi-Lo (I didn’t have a chance to take a picture this week, but wanted to include our milk purchase):

    • $6.04 at Bi-Lo for 2 gallons of Milk ($2.99 each)

    I am excited to see us doing better on our Groceries $40 for 4 budget.  This week we spent $24.89 on groceries so it was a pretty good week regarding saving extra grocery cash.  We did better this week because I a little extra time and went to the Sidewalk Box Sale at Sav-Mor.  I was able to stock up on a few extra items this week for the pantry.  I am still trying to work out all the details of how to make the budget most effective for our family and I think we need some weeks have been easier than others.  It was nice to share some of the items we picked up this week with some friends too!  Love being able to get a great deal and share with others.  We’ll see how next week goes, it should be interesting because my husband is in charge next week of the $40 grocery budget since I will be traveling!

    It is my goal to give you regular updates on this budget section so you can celebrate the good weeks with me and thump me on the bad weeks!  As always you are welcomed to join the journey with me.  I would love to hear your story and how you are doing too.  The purpose of our family doing this it to watch our grocery spending while allowing us to feed our family, enjoy life, share with others, and yet stay on track with our budget.

    Living on a Budget is a series of ways our family uses a budget to help keep us accountable with our finances.  Life doesn’t always go as planned.  We have used some of the ideas I will be sharing for years while others are ones we are just starting to implement as we continue finding ways to be creative and have fun with what we have been given.  Having a plan in place allows us the freedom to be smart with what we have been given, get more creative when it is a tight (week, month, year or a season) and when necessary live a much more simplified life.  A budget helps us stay on track so we have more opportunities to enjoy the many blessings we have been given as well as share what we have with others.  There is so much more to life than having all the stuff.  We may not have the newest or greatest items in our house, we drive used cars, and wear hand-me-down clothing…..however, if our family is taken care of and have love for each other and others we have more than all the riches in the world.

  • CVS: Spent $0.52 and Got $17 ECB’s Back!

    CVS has a few great deals this week.  I was happy to get some items this week for free with ECB’s  plus I was able to utilize a few of my B1G1F coupons.  I also picked up a couple products for an upcoming event!   This week I was able to get the items for $0.52 plus tax ($3.24) making my out of pocket $3.79 and received $17.73 ECB’s to use on my next CVS purchase.  Here is what I purchased this week.

    • 1 – Biore Nose Strips – $7.50
    • 1 – Biore Blemish Control Face Wash – $7.50
    • 2 – Airwick Freshmatic Kits – $6.00 each
    • 4 – Airwick Freshmatic Refills – $5.00 each
    • 1 – Russell Stovers Chocolate Coconut – $0.74
    • 2 – Lifesavers Mint & Winterfresh – $3.49 (B1G1F)
    • 1 – Super Miracle Bubbles (16 oz) – $1.99
    • 1 – CVS 12 Hour Nasal Relief – 4.89

    Here are the coupons I used on the items.

    • Used $7.50 Biore B1G1F Manufacturer Coupon
    • Used $4.00 Airwick Freshmatic Manufacturer Coupon
    • Used $4.00 Airwick Freshmatic Manufacturer Coupon
    • Used $5.00 Airwick Freshmatic Refill B1G1F Manufacturer Coupon
    • Used $5.00 Airwick Freshmatic Refill B1G1F Manufacturer Coupon
    • Used $30.97 ECB coupons from prior purchases

    I received $17.73 ECB’s back today:

    • $10.00 ECB’s for Airwick Products
    • $5.00 ECB’s for Biore Products
    • $1.99 ECB’s for Super Miracle Bubbles
    • $0.74 ECB’s for Russell Stover

    This week I was able to save over $77 at CVS by purchasing these items and using coupons.

    When you shop the CVS sales regularly and have ECB’s that you can roll over toward future purchases the bonus ECB’s start adding up (Green Bag Tags and Beauty Club).  As you can see from my shopping trip today you don’t have to purchase a lot to save money when shopping at CVS.  Plus you can use the additional ECB’s you receive towards your next purchase.  You can pick and chose what is best for your family.

    I would love to hear your CVS shopping story for this week!  For those of you who shop regularly at CVS please share how you were able to save this week!  Although the weekly ad sales are similar every family and situation is different so you may have found items better suited to your household.  In your comment please feel free to share a link to your blog article showing us how you were able to save shopping at CVS.

  • Pampers Gifts to Grow – 10 Free Points

    Receive 10 free points from Pampers with the a new Gifts to Grow code!

    This code is different from the previous codes I have given.

    Use Code:  WELCOMEGTGPTS10

    The code doesn’t have an expiration date listed  so don’t wait to use it just in case!

    You can save up the rewards to purchase gifts!

    For more information about the Pampers Gift to Grow Program and how you can start earning Pampers “Gifts to Grow” Rewards for your family go to Pampers Gifts to Grow!

  • Swagbucks: Earning A Little Extra

    swagbucks-logo

    Swagbucks…..what is it?  That was my thought initially as well.   A couple friends mentioned it several times so I decided to check it out for myself.  Even though I have only been part of Swagbucks for a few weeks I must say I am impressed.  I have been able over the short period of time accumulated quite a few Swagbucks and earn several gifts, including Gift Cards to places like Amazon, Starbucks, and more.  Are you looking for ways to get a little bit extra, make your budget stretch, money for gifts, special occasions, gift cards, or just for fun?

    I want to give you a little information on Swagbucks and how you can enjoy the perks as well!  Swagbucks is FREE to join and you can earn many gifts you can use for your family or share with others!

    Starting Out – What is Swagbucks?

    • Swagbucks is a search engine that gives you rewards (like Google).  You earn Swagbucks for searching and bonus ones through various searches and tasks you can do online.  Typically you earn between 5 to 20 Swagbucks for searching each day.  There are many ways to earn additional Swagbucks (I discuss those a little later in this post). 

    What Do I Earn With My Swagbucks? (Below are a few of the items categories, they typically have thousands of prizes to choose from every day)  Always make sure to check out their “On Sale” and “Hot Deals” categories first before cashing in your Swagbucks because they may have an item or gift card you want on sale or at a discount!

    • My Favorite is for Gift Cards – Amazon, Starbucks, Restaurant.com, Barnes & Noble, Target, Macy’s, Bass Pro Shops, Lowe’s, and MORE!
    • Cash – PayPal
    • Apparel & Accessories
    • Books & Magazines
    • Consoles & Video Games
    • Electronics
    • Kid Items
    • Gift & Reward Cards
    • Health & Beauty
    • Jewelry
    • Kitchen Items
    • Movies & TV
    • Music
    • School Supplies
    • Sports & Collectibles
    • Trading Cards
    • And MUCH MORE……

    How Do I Get Started?

    • It is free to join!  All you have to do is fill out a form to get started!
    • Only 1 account per household is allowed (they will close all your accounts if you try to do more than one per household).

    Are There Really Any Benefits?

    • YES!  I have been able to cash in on multiple prizes and gift cards even though I have only been using it a few weeks.
    • If you are already online you can easily begin earning gift cards, prizes, and more just by doing things you already do every day.  You can spend your Swagbucks as you earn them or save them up for gifts (birthday, Holidays, weddings, baby showers, Christmas, anniversary, and more).
    • It is possible to earn a gift card (or several) every month!

    How Do I Earn Additional Swagbucks?

    • Install the Swagbucks Toolbar – when you install the Swagbucks toolbar you will earn Swagbucks for searching online.  If you prefer to not install the toolbar and continuing using your current sofware (Google, etc….) you can still get rewards by going to Swagbucks hompage and searching online directly from their site. Swagbucks will often give you a free code in your toolbar as well which will add free bonus points to your account.
    • Print Swagbucks Coupons – every coupon from Swagbucks that you print and use at a local store earns 10 additional Swagbucks.  Get the coupons by going to Swagbucks homepage, click on the “Earn” tab, then select “Coupons” and it will bring you to the current coupons that you can use.  I go through the coupons once a month and print the items that I buy regularly.  Once you have used the coupon 10 Swagbucks will be added to your account within a few weeks (their website says up to 12 weeks, it usually does not take that long).
    • Swagbucks Blog – follow the Swagbucks Blog to get additional free codes.  They typically have at least one free code a day on their blog.  In additional to that you have a current update on their giveaways and any Swagbucks News.
    • Swagbucks Facebook –follow Swagbucks on Facebook and you will find the latest Swagbuck codes.  Members post to the wall, start discussions, or make comments that will help you find the bonus codes.
    • Swagbucks Twitter – follow Swagbucks on Twitter and you can receive Twitter specific codes.  Several times a week they will randomly award their Twitter followers with an additional 100 free Swagbucks which will be added to your account when they use the hashtag #Swagbucks.
    • Daily Poll – every day you have the opportunity to participate in the Swagbucks poll and receive 1 additional Swagbucks.  While this does not seem to be a lot it takes a matter of seconds to complete the poll and the points really do add up over time.
    • Swagbucks TV – this is an easy one to do if you are working on the computer throughout the day.  When you are on Swagbucks homepage, click on the “Earn” tab, select “Swagbucks TV” and chose from a variety of items to watch.  The length of the videos are typically from 30 seconds up to 5 minutes.  Every 10 videos you watch you earn 3 Swagbucks.  The reason why this one is easy to do is you can click on a video and have it running while you continue working, cleaning, or other tasks throughout your day.  Swagbucks will allow you to earn up to 25 three point rewards within a 24-hour period, which means you can get up to 75 additional points by multi-tasking throughout your day.
    • Games – if you enjoy playing various games on your computer this may be a great way to earn additional Swagbucks.  I have tried several games and tend to stick to the ones that I do well at.  Please Note:  There are a lot of free games available to play and earn bonus Swagbucks, however, they do have some you have to pay Swagbucks to play.  I stick to only the free games so I don’t have to use my Swagbucks on games.
    • Special Offers – you can earn an additional Swagbucks when you complete special offers.  Click on the “Earn” tab and select “Special Offers” to see of list of ones you can choose from and complete.  Many of the offers require no credit cards or payment to earn the additional Swagbucks.  Please Note:  You will only receive the specified listed Swagbucks if you complete the special offer, if you stop in the middle or don’t complete it for whatever reason you will not receive any credit for the special offer.  There are some free trials that you can sign up for then cancel later, I would recommend only participating in these offers if you are already considering the product.  If you do cancel make sure to keep track of the information and dates so you will not be charged for it.
    • Groupon Swagbucks – you can earn additional Swagbucks by purchasing a Groupon deal through the Swagbucks website.  Click on the “Earn” tab and select “Daily Deals”.   You can earn an addtional 150 to 450 in Swagbucks by purchasing a Groupon you were already going to get through Swagbucks.  (Note:  450 Swagbucks can earn you hundreds of prizes, including, a $5 Amazon gift Card). If you are already planning on purchasing a Groupon deal consider going through Swagbucks so you can earn a little extra.
    • Bonus Video’s & Offers – on the Swagbucks Homepage you will often find a bonus video or offer than takes on you only moments to watch or complete and you will earn additional points.  Many times 1 video will be worth 2 points or more.
    • Surveys – you can earn additional Swagbucks by taking surveys.  This is a great opportunity to earn bonus Swagbucks if you enjoy filling out surveys especially if you qualify for a bunch of the ones they are offering.  They do pre-qualify the surveys so you’ll have to meet their qualifications to participate in each individual survey.  They give you the amount you will earn as well as the estimated time to complete the survey up front.  You have to finish the pre-qualification and survey prior to receiving the additional Swagbucks.
    • Trade In – You can earn additional Swagbucks by trading in old electronics, books, phones, MP3 players, games, consoles, and more.  If you are not using it or considering donating the items anyway check out how much you can earn in Swagbucks by trading it in.  Go to the “Earn” tab and click on “Trade In”.  You can look up the items you are wanting to get rid of and find out how much you can get for them by searching for that specific item in the Trade In section.  How to do it – Look up the item, print out the pre-paid shipping label, save your receipt, and mail it in.  You will receive the amount in your account once they have processed your item.  Please Note: you must have at least 600 Swagbucks in your account to qualify for free shipping.  It doesn’t take too long to earn those points and by trading in your receive even more Swagbucks.
    • Bookmark Regular Pages – bookmark the websites you visit daily (such as Facebook, Twitter, etc…) and search for them using Swagbucks.  Go directly to the bookmarked page through Swagbucks instead of directly to the site and you will earn a decent number of Swagbucks each week.  Make sure when you are search for the same sites you use a variety of search terms because your account could be flagged if you search the same thing (aka “robotic”) every day.
    • Tasks – under the “Earn” tab if you select “Tasks” you will be able to see a list of variety of different tasks you can do to earn Swagbucks.  Every task is different and you earn a variety of different amounts based on the task you chose.  They do tell you when you start the task how many minutes they anticipate it to take for you to complete.  Please Note:  Although, you can earn more Swagbucks doing these tasks they typically take a little more time.  Make sure you have enough time to complete the task so you receive your additional Swagbucks.
    • No Obligation Special Offers – you can go through the “No Obligation Special Offers” every day and earn additional Swagbucks.  You don’t have to sign up for the offers and can choose to skip through all the ones they show you (unless you prefer to sign up).   You will earn 2 Swagbucks from doing this additional offer.  It typically only takes a few seconds to complete.

    One other quick note I want to make so you will be informed about Swagbucks – you can earn as much or as little as you want to on your account.  However, you are only allowed to purchase 5 of the same item per month.  For example, if you want to purchase $5 Amazon Gift Cards at 450 each (which are stackable when purchasing on Amazon) the maximum amount you can order in a month would be 5 – $5 Amazon Gift Cards (2250 Swagbucks).  If you want more Amazon Gift Cards you will have to purchase a higher amount or wait until the following month to purchase more at $5 increments.  Or you can chose a wide variety of other prizes with your Swagbucks.  It is your choice so pick the ones that best fit your family.

    You can earn many neat prizes by using Swagbucks during you daily tasks online.  I don’t have the time to do every single activity that they offer, but even if I do a few the points add up pretty quickly over the course of a week.  Like I said before I have only been doing this for a few weeks and have already earned gift cards to purchase items for my family.  Pick the handful of activities that work well for you and do them regularly.  You can choose to save your Swagbucks or use them as soon as you can.  I have done it a variety of different ways.  Right now I am choosing to save up my Swagbucks to get something for a gift.

    I would love to learn more about how you earn Swagbucks.  Congratulations if you have earned some great prizes already using Swagbucks!  Please share in the comments below some of the prizes you have purchased using Swagbucks so the readers can see how it has benefited your family!

  • Pampers Gifts to Grow – 10 Free Points

     

    Receive 10 free points from Pampers with the a new Gifts to Grow code!

    This code is different from the previous codes I have given.

    Use Code:  GTGREWARDS4MOMS

    The code doesn’t have an expiration date listed  but typically they expire within a few days!

    You can save up the rewards to purchase gifts!

    For more information about the Pampers Gift to Grow Program and how you can start earning Pampers “Gifts to Grow” Rewards for your family go to Pampers Gifts to Grow!

  • CVS: Spent $5 and Got $31 ECB’s Back!

    CVS has a few great deals this week.  I was happy to get some items this week for free with ECB’s  plus a little overage on a couple products once I used a few coupons.   This week I was able to get a handful of items for $5.55 and received $31.97 ECB’s to use on my next CVS purchase.  Here is what I purchased this week.

    • 1 – Benefiber Citrus Packs (16 count) – $7.49
    • 1 – Benefiber Chewable Tablets (36 count)– $6.89
    • 1 – Gas X Prevent (20 count) – $6.29
    • 1 – Complete Multipurpose Eye Solution plus Free Case – $8.99
    • 2 – Oral B Advantage Toothbrush (plus free scope) – $2.99
    • 1 – Gold Bond Body Wash – $5.88
    • 1 – Crest Pro-Health Complete Rinse – $3.49
    • 1 – Crest Clinical Gum Toothpaste – $3.49

    The total was over $51 with tax before using coupons.  Here are the coupons I used on the items.

    • Used $3.00 Benefiber Manufacturer Coupon
    • Used $3.00 Benefiber Manufacturer Coupon
    • Used $4.00 Gax-X Prevention Manufacturer Coupon
    • Used $1.00 Complete Multipurpose Eye Solution Manufacturer Coupon
    • Used $2.00 Oral-B Manufacturer Coupon
    • Used $2.99 B1G1F Oral-B Manufacturer Coupon
    • Used $2.00 Gold Bond Manufacturer Coupon
    • Used $1.0o Crest Rinse Manufacturer Coupon
    • Used $1.00 Crest Toothpaste Manufacturer Coupon
    • Used $25.49 ECB coupons from prior purchases

    I received $31.97 ECB’s back today:

    • $10.00 ECB’s for Benefiber & Gas-X Products
    • $8.99 ECB’s for Complete Multipurpose Solution
    • $5.00 ECB’s for Crest or Oral-B Pro-Health
    • $3.00 ECB’s for Gold Bond Body Wash
    • $2.00 ECB’s for Winter Spending
    • $1.98 ECB’s for Oral-B Manual Toothbrush
    • $1.00 ECB’s for Green Bag Tags

    When you shop the CVS sales regularly and have ECB’s that you can roll over toward future purchases the bonus ECB’s start adding up (Green Bag Tags and Beauty Club).  As you can see from my shopping trip today you don’t have to purchase a lot to save money when shopping at CVS.  Plus you can use the additional ECB’s you receive towards your next purchase.  You can pick and chose what is best for your family.

    I would love to hear your CVS shopping story for this week!  For those of you who shop regularly at CVS please share how you were able to save this week!  Although the weekly ad sales are similar every family and situation is different so you may have found items better suited to your household.  In your comment please feel free to share a link to your blog article showing us how you were able to save shopping at CVS.

  • Pampers Gifts to Grow – 10 Free Points

    Receive 10 free points from Pampers with the a new Gifts to Grow code!

    This code is different from the previous codes I have given.

    Use Code:  CesarChavez2011

    This code expires on Sunday, April 3, 2011.

    You can save up the rewards to purchase gifts!

    For more information about the Pampers Gift to Grow Program and how you can start earning Pampers “Gifts to Grow” Rewards for your family go to Pampers Gifts to Grow!

  • Free Audio Book: “The Hiding Place” by Corrie Ten Boom

    FREE Audio Book Download:


    For the month of April Christian Audio is offering a free download of their audio book The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom with John & Elizabeth Sherrill.  This audio book is about the real life story of Corrie ten Boom.  She is considered a hero who helped the Jews escape from the Nazis.  Corrie has a remarkable testimony, if you haven’t read it then this is a great opportunity to listen to the book for free when you download it from Christian Audio in April.   Make sure to submit your order by April 30, 2011  to get your free audio book.  Thanks Christian Audio!

  • Living on a Budget: Groceries $40 for 4

    It was my fourth full week of doing my new cash budget system – Groceries $40 for 4. This week I was able to get quite a few items with my $40 budget thanks to clearance items and coupons! Although it has been a learning process the last few weeks this one went pretty well. It is always a learning and growing progress for our family. We are continuing to utilize the food we already have in our pantry and freezer. Below are my grocery shopping adventures for the week!

    RiteAid Groceries

    Grcoeries from RiteAid:

    • $2.16 at RiteAid for Cake Mix (25 cents), Hamburger Dinner (25 cents), Onion Spices, Ground Cinnamon, 2 Tomato Juices (25 cents each), Individual peanut packs, Combos, and two free Easter Candies.  Plus I used an UP Reward towards the purchase.
    FREE Mushrooms at Walgreens!

    Groceries from Walgreens:

    • $0.00 (FREE) at Walgreens for 4 cans of Geisha Mushrooms (used the Walgreens Coupon Insert and Register Reward to pay for the mushrooms! Can’t beat free!
    Groceries from Bi-Lo

    Groceries from Bi-Lo:

    • $36.52 at Bi-Lo for 4 gallons of milk (froze 2 gallons), 1 pack of Cheese Crackers,  2 Slow Cooker Packs, 2 Applesauce Packs, 1 Loaf of Bread, 1 box of Uncle Bens Rice (on closeout), 4 bags of Individually Wrapped Chocolate Covered Raisins (on clearance for 75 cents each), 1 bag of Chickpeas, 2 packs of Pasta, 2 packs of Cheese Sauce Mix, 1 jar Raspberry BBQ Sauce (on closeout), 4 bags shredded cheese, 2 bags sliced cheese, 1 package of fresh Chicken (99 cents / pound).  I used several store and manufacturer’s coupons plus I had a coupon from Bi-Lo for $5 off the entire purchase which helped bring the amount down below $40.

    It was our fourth week of the challenge – Groceries $40 for 4 and we spent $38.68 thankfully we did better this week .  I was able to stock up on some great dairy items this week – Milk (even froze 2 gallons), Cheese (which freezes well too), Chicken (enough for 2 to 3 meals for our family) and snacks for after school!  I am still trying to work out all the details of how to make the budget most effective for our family and I think some weeks have been easier than others.  I used some coupons, bought clearance items, and utilized weekly ad discounts to help save us a little extra on our grocery budget.  I hope to do better next week!  We’ll see how I do!

    It is my goal to give you regular updates on this budget section so you can celebrate the good weeks with me and thump me on the bad weeks!  As always you are welcomed to join the journey with me.  I would love to hear your story and how you are doing too.  The purpose of our family doing this it to watch our grocery spending while allowing us to feed our family, enjoy life, share with others, and yet stay on track with our budget.

    Living on a Budget is a series of ways our family uses a budget to help keep us accountable with our finances.  Life doesn’t always go as planned.  We have used some of the ideas I will be sharing for years while others are ones we are just starting to implement as we continue finding ways to be creative and have fun with what we have been given.  Having a plan in place allows us the freedom to be smart with what we have been given, get more creative when it is a tight (week, month, year or a season) and when necessary live a much more simplified life.  A budget helps us stay on track so we have more opportunities to enjoy the many blessings we have been given as well as share what we have with others.  There is so much more to life than having all the stuff.  We may not have the newest or greatest items in our house, we drive used cars, and wear hand-me-down clothing…..however, if our family is taken care of and have love for each other and others we have more than all the riches in the world.