Grocery Smart

So a few months ago I went to a grocery shopping class to learn how to save money. The class was about clipping coupons and stocking up while things are on sale. There is a web site (www.grocerysmarts.com utah password g84cjh) that will tell you what is on sale at each store and what coupns to use to make the sale even better and they also rate each item to let you know how good the sale really is. Along with this I have subscribed to the Sunday paper and each Sunday morning if you drive by my house you will see a pile of 5 papers sitting on the driveway. If you are buying the paper for the coupons the newspapers will give you bulk deals (I think we pay somewhere around $12/month for the paper). I used to be horrible with grocery money, I just bought what I needed when I needed it. Now I buy things that are on sale and I stock up, that way I have them when I need them. So far in the few months that I've been doing this I have saved about $200/month and I still have tons to learn in the coupon world.
Yesterday I went to the store to get my groceries for the week. The total came to $55.39 and this is what I got for that:

1 Bottle of Murphy's Oil Soap

2 Cans of Pam Cooking Spray

3 Boxes of Kellogs Raisin Bran

3 Boxes of Kellogs Frosted Flakes

2 Loaves of Bread

1 Bag of Hamburger Buns

1 case of Bottled Water

10 cans of Manwich

10 boxes of Pillsbury Brownie Mix

1 gallon of Milk

3 Dozen eggs

5 packs of Danimals yogurt

4 Angus Beef Steaks

3+ LBS of Bananas

2 LBS of Red potatoes

2+ LBS of Granny Smith Apples

1 Onion

1 bag of baby carrots

Not only was all of that only $55, I also have $10 coupon to spend on my next shopping trip.

After looking at the list you may wonder why I didn't buy any "real" food, well I have already stocked up on my chicken, roast, lunch meat, cheese, etc. It may be a little time consuming, but it is very exciting, this girl likes a challenge, and it is fun to see how cheap I can get things for.

Sneaky Kids

Pretty often my kids will get "sneaky" and hide and typically be doing something they know they should not be doing. The other day I caught them being sneaky.

I would by them all the books they could read, if this is what "sneaky" typically means.

We Love the Carnival

Every year we look forward to the local carnival. On opening night they always have dollar day. It is one dollar for a ticket and one ticket to ride each ride. This year we were pleasently suprised to find out it was actually 50 cent day. That meant we could save some money for some yummy funnel cake. What is a carnival without funnel cake???

Here are some photos of all the fun:

Noah liked the little roller coaster so much, he wanted to go again.

Not Much Going On

Really we have not had much going on, which really is okay for now...

Tanner and Isaac have started swim lessons. We are only 2 days in. This year I decided to do private lessons at 7-Peaks. They raised their prices on normal lessons, so this was not that much more and it is totally worth it. One on one attention, that is just what they need. The only problem is it is a little chilly at 10:30 am and they have ZERO body fat (I wish I had their problems) so they shiver the whole time.

Tanner is doing pretty good. He is starting to learn different swimming techniques and he has shown good progress already. I feel like if he fell in a pool he is at a point where he could save his life and swim to the edge.

Isaac on the other hand has digressed and it is like we are starting all over again. He is working on learning to float, AGAIN. Hopefully by the end of the 2 weeks he will be to a point where he could save his own life if he fell in.
Noah and Sydney have been really well behaved so far, this sure makes it nice.

Noah is going through a phase, some call it the terrible two's. When he does not get his way, he will run up to his room and slam the door shut. If I follow him up there he will climb into his dresser and shut the doors. Today I decided to take some pictures, by the end of it he forgot he was mad and came down for breakfast.

So in my last blog post I said I was going to be better about taking more pictures of Sydney and I have been (look at me reaching my goals). Here are a bunch of them.