Wow, it's been awhile

I cannot express to you just how busy the last two weeks have been, and now we're gearing up for a trip to New Mexico! Life has had me over several barrels, and I'm just now beginning to dig myself out when it's time to start packing.

The overview is I had my 36th birthday. We celebrated Mother's day with beautiful roses from my wonderful husband. Steve and I celebrated our 13 year anniversary with a wonderful evening out thanks to my mom and sister who babysat.

I've been trying to catalog all my coupons. Remember that coupon box picture I posted. I've outgrown it! Steve and I discussed a possible business venture where I figure out the best buys from the stores each week, create a stockpile list from what I buy and then make a menu from the list. I've been spending all my free time working on that.

My couponing is more than paying off though. While I took no pictures, I have had my best conquest yet. This afternoon, I walked out of Target paying $16.42 for $79 worth of groceries. I got 8 bags of cheese @ $.02 per bag! I got 10 boxes of Quaker True delights for $.49/box. I got 10 Kraft Deluxe Macaroni and Cheese meals for $.64/box. I three Activa yogurts for $1/each, and a Dora 6 pack kids yogurt for $.75 each. I also got 7 trial sized sunscreens for free.

If you have coupons, Schnuck's is having Breyers on sale this week for $2.50 per carton. This last week's paper had $1 off coupon. At Schnuck's, we picked up 9 Breyers, 4 Lipton teas, and 4 mini first aid kits. I paid almost $20 and got a certificate back for $10 on my next grocery purchase.

I made a run to Shop and Save as well and got 14 Cool Whips, 14 Ball Park hotdogs, a free Hunt's ketchup, and 21 jello pudding mixes for $18.

I know these things may sound helter skelter, but for example, I make a fruit salad with 1/2 package of pistachio pudding mix, two tubs of Cool Whip, and two cans of fruit cocktail (which I already have plenty of). I now have the ingredients for a wonderful salad to take to summer picnics. I'll head to Shop and Save again and pick up what I need for the rest of the week, but it'll be less than the other $32 on my gift card (a $50 gift card purchased for $45 with a coupon from the entertainment book).

Anyway, that's a taste of my last two weeks.