Couponing = Weight Loss??

My husband has reported a 23 lb. weight loss since I started couponing 3 months ago. I think it's combination of a few things. First, being able to buy healthier choice such as fresh product and fruit since my grocery bill has dropped drastically, therefore I have room in the budget for those types of items. Second, portion size, I try to make extra food at dinner so that he has lunch to take the next day. Since he knows he needs to save enough for his lunch he's cut back on over indulging at dinner. And lastly, no fast food. We rarely go out to eat anymore and my husband used to eat out for lunch almost everyday, and that's probably the biggest reason. Do you want a healthy way to loose weight?? Try clipping coupons.

Pass The Word Around!

I've add LOTS of new and simply adorable items to my online store:
www.TheBumbleBeeBowtique.com

The New Buzz at The Bumble Bee Bowtique.com

NEW-NEW-NEW-NEW-NEW
That's the word buzzing around at www.TheBumbleBeeBowtique.com All kinds of new adorable girly girl things have been added to the site. Now you can also register for the new mailing list and keep up on all the bizzbuzz, including new additions, news, and special promotions! Register today so you don' t miss a beat. So what else is new? LOTS- the newest additions are the tutu bow organizer and baby wipe cases. Also make sure to check out EASTER and the all new PRINCESS clips!

Special offer for my bloggy friends:
$5 off your purchase of $25 or more!!
Coupon Code: BLOGBUZZ
www.TheBumbleBeeBowtique.com

Walgreens 2/22

Transaction #1:
2x Oust Surface & Air Sanitizer: $2.99 (sale)
- BOGO FREE coupon

Reynolds Foil: $1.69
- Used $.89 coupon from Walgreen ad
-$1.00 coupon

2x Edge Shaving Cream: $3.29
- Used $1.99 coupon from Walgreens Ad
-2x $1.00 coupons

2x Stayfree Pads: $2.00 each (sale)
- BOGO Free coupon

Total: $7.31 (with tax)
Total OOP: $0 - Used a gift card
*Will receive $2.00 MIR from Oust (Like paying $5.31)


Transaction #2:
2x Oust Surface & Air: $2.99 (sale)
-BOGO Free coupon
- $1.00 Walgreens coupon (printed after 1st transaction)

Excedrin: $1.99 (Sale)
-$1.00 coupon
*printed $1 RR

2x Rimmel (eyeliner & brown pencil): $3.49
BOGO Free sale
-2x $1.00 coupons

Total: $5.11
Total OOP: $0 - Used gift card
*Will get $2.00 for the Oust and received $1RR (Like paying: $2.11)


Transaction #3:
Excedrin: $1.99 (sale)
-$1.00 coupon
*printed $1 RR

Total: $1.01 (paid cash)
*With $1.00 RR (like paying $.01)

Grand Total: $13.43
After MIR and RR: $7.43

**TOTAL SAVINGS 73%**

Freebies In My Mailbox!

I got my very first FREE magazine in the mail today, Family Fun. It also says my subscription is good through Feb. 2011!! YAY! Also received these items in my mailbox this week:
ASPCA Kit with magnet and window sticker
3x Ibunex cream
Lancaster Face Cream
2x Kotex
Nicoderm patch (no nicotine on patch)
Aveeno Face Cream & $1.50 coupon
2x Corsamin Dietary Drink Mix $3.00 coupon
Canker Melts

Spring/Summer Fever

So I took down the Valentine's Day decor yesterday and my house was looking pretty dull. After this latest blast of warm weather (now long gone), I have had severe Spring/Summer Fever. I wanted to brighten the place up a bit, or more then a bit. My craft area is full of bright items to keep my creative juices flowing, but I thought they'd better serve the living area for awhile. My first love is interior decorating and I was a Home Interiors consultant for awhile (but let's not go there). So if some of these items look familiar that's why. Excuse the TV cabinet, it has no doors. DD learned to open and close them, while we were watching TV, at a young age so those are gone.

I dressed up a cozy little corner where our "snuggle chair" is. My creative mother made me the "Inspire" art for Christmas (love it) and added a candle and the lamp.

I also dug out some Gerbera flowers from my collection (MY FAVE) to add to the gallery of photo collages I have.





And this is what started it all... my $.12 bunches of flowers I found at Aldi's this past Sunday. They are still going 4 days in! I added a bright pink polka dot bow and some super bright scrapbooking paper to the center of my dining room table and off I went decorating up a storm. So now the count down begins to the first day of spring:

Ladies' Night

This is where I spent my Wednesday evening, at the local YMCA for a Ladies' Night Out. There were lots of great vendors and from what I heard, not as many women this year as last year. I also split a table with a friend (table fee was rather high). We ended up only getting 6' tables not 8' like we expected and therefore each only had 3' to work with, we were VERY smashed in. I wasn't sure how it would go just because of lack of space and I hate my display looking a mess. In the end I didn't do too bad, made what I wanted to make considering. Many people at the show didn't sell one thing. We think because of the $5 admission fee and all the samples people were passing out they were mainly there for the free stuff. I shouldn't be talking since I live for free stuff now. I had fun and made alittle extra money while I was at it. You just never know how these things are going to go these days. Check out my items for sale at: www.TheBumbleBeeBowtique.com

Penn Station

Penn Station is doing a slot machine type game and you could win 3 different prizes. You can enter everyday through February 28th and take 5 pulls on the slot machine per day. I think that the odds are pretty well in your favor. Let me know what you win! Click here to play

Aldi

I'm not new to Aldi's but I am a stanger. It's not a place I frequent only because there isn't one all that close, but we were in the area today and there was an insert in the Sunday paper that showed some great deals. Here's what I got:

Ripple Potato Chips: $1.29
Pretels: $1.29
10 lb bag of potatoes: $1.99
Sweet Onions: $1.49
Egg Noodles: $.99
Salad Dressing: $1.69
Block of Sharp Cheddar: $1.29
Rice Mix: $.59

AND THE BEST DEAL OF ALL FLOWERS! They were marked $.25 for each bunch PLUS were BOGO FREE! They rang up $.12 each bunch!!! WOW! I combined the two bunches to make one big beautiful bouquet. I just love fresh flowers in the house, they make things feel fresh and alive.

Total OOP: $11.25 (with tax)

I'm going to try and make it over there more often now, because I can already tell a lot of the produce and cheeses are much less expensive then at Schnucks. Some things I'm picky about, but there were still a lot of great items I don't mind compromising on.

Target Deals

I looked at a few different stores trying to find the Kid Essentials and read online you could find them at Target. I cashed in that freebie coupon as well as the cascade rinse agent freebie coupon from the Home Made Simple coupon book. The Vaseline lotion was on sale for $2.69 and I had a $1.50 coupon.
Total OOP: $1.23

Total Saved: $15.93
***93% SAVINGS***

Walgreens & CVS 2/15

CVS:
2x Herbal Essences Styler:
- $3.00/2 coupon

2x Colgate Total Toothpaste
- 2x $1.00 coupons

2x Suave Body Washes
-1 FREE coupon
-$1.50/3 coupon

1x Payday Candy Bar (not pictured)

Used: $9.00 ECB's
Total OOP: $.72 (with tax)
Earned: $9.98 ECB's

Total Saved: $26.29
***97% SAVINGS***

Total To Date OOP: $13.34
Total To Date Saved: $210.88

Walgreens

Transaction #1:
3 Frosted Flakes & 1 Fruit Loops: $2.50 each (sale)
-2x $1.50 coupons

Total OOP: $7.10
Earned $3.00 RR

Transaction #2:
2x Mushrooms
- 2/$1.00 Ad coupon

Bic Soleil Razors: $4.99
- $1.00 Easy Saver Coupon
- $2.00 coupon

Russel Stovers Chocolate (filler): $.25
-50% off sale

Used $3.00 RR
Total OOP: $.21

Total OOP for 2 transactions: $7.31

Total Saved: $17.34
*** 70% SAVINGS ***

Freebie In The Mail

What another GREAT week to visit my mailbox! (minus all the bills that came along with the FREE stuff)

-Sun-Maid Cookbook
-Prilosec OTC & $5 coupon
-Orahealth sample
-Soy Joy Bar and $1/4 coupon
-Fruit Rollup & $10 coupon
-Orville Redenbacher & $1 coupon
-Glad Storage Bag
-Sunsilk & 2x $1 coupons
-Astroglide sample
-Crest Advanced Seal & $10 coupon
-Homemade Simple coupon book with FREE Cascade Rinse Agent coupon
-FREE sauve product coupon
-Marie Callender shopping list note pad and $1 coupon
-Assorted Old Orchard Coupons
-Organic coupons in an activity book
*Also would have gotten the FREE Rachael Ray dog food sample but my box was empty/tampered with and it was gone.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope your day with filled with LOVE and family, just like ours was!

I helped a friend deliver Candy Bouquets first thing in the morning and my daughter played the role of "Cupid." She had her white butterfly wings and all. It really was a cute sight to see her passing all the arrangements out.After lunch we had strawberry ice cream with lots of sprinkles YUM!We made cupcakes and I had some batter left so I made a (thin) round cake. We all had fun decorating them with sprinkles.

Valentine's Day Week: Day 5

Heart Shaped French Toast and strawberries for breakfast. I'm glad I saved the edges before my daughter ate her whole plate and then some!

Such a cute and yummy candy necklace! This ended up being her project and her treat in one (the necklace was part of a kit).

Valentine's Week: Day 4

Aren't these little waffles cute?? I had a snack cutter (more for cheeses and such) and there happen to be a heart shape. My daughters LOVED them, anything little that she can dip is always a hit. She also had orange slices.
You guessed it, PB&J! Mixed veggies for her side. I'm getting my money's worth out of this heart cookie cutter this week!
This was our project Thursday, a love bug. I cut out the pieces and she glued it all together. She was pretty proud of it.

**Our treat was Jello Gigglers, but they didn't turn out :-( Instead we had big bowls of jello instead .

FoodSaver

We have owned a FoodSaver for a few years now, but we have been using it like crazy lately. Buying meat in bulk is the cheapest way to go and we want to ensure our food will stay fresh while it sits in the freezer. We get most of our meat from CostCo, they are reasonably prices, but they also have exceptional quality cuts of meat. We also stock up on chicken when it goes $1.89/lb and freeze it using these vaccum sealed bags.
We also have a canister that I use mainly for fresh fruit and it does extend the life of those items.
It's worth the investment and I'm looking into getting more canisters for summer when we buy lots of fuit.
www.foodsaver.com

Valentine's Day Week: Day 3

I thought these pancakes would be cute and easy... not so. They aren't as easy as they look! I think if I had a gas stove then the pan would have been more flat to keep the batter from shifting. Maybe if the batter was thicker that would help to. I guess the important thing is that they were eatable!

Our fun project was these ADORABLE heart guys we made into magnets. Alyssa gave one to her grandma and she put a pin on the back to wear to work. I did end up hot gluing everything after craft gluing them because I just didn't see these things staying together with white glue. But I let my little one assemble them first before I reinforced them.
No time for the cupcakes yesterday so we made our missed treat from the other day, rice krispie treats. We added red food coloring, but they came out more of a dark pink. No complaints from either of us! (We LOVE pink around here)

Post #100

So most people do something fun and exciting for their 100th post... I don't have the energy. After doing a school fundraiser at the school half the day and feeding my daughter a super late lunch I'm just happy to have down time while she naps. I'm celebrating with a bowl of strawberry ice cream.

This blog is a big mish mash of personal life, frugal life, and business life (my bow business). It's sort of like my life, craziness. But I've enjoyed doing it and thanks for reading!

I LOVE Children's Place

I always try to hit the Children's Place after season specials (online). If you hit it just right there will be rock bottom prices and still have most of the items you want in the sizes that you need, plus add an online discount code and you've got yourself some great deals. My daughter hit a huge growth spurt right around Christmas and grew right out of her pants and jeans leaving us with a few hand-me-downs that were nice to wear around the house, but not for going out in public. I went to the resale shop first and got a few things, waiting for Children's Place to run their sale and FINALLY I got her new clothes in the mail yesterday. Everything in the photo is $119.50 worth of clothes and shoes had you bought it at regualr price, for me (before tax and shipping) cost only $35!! (Add $7ish for shipping and tax, still a great deal) Now I just gotta find some deals for the upcoming spring/summer wardbrobe since she probably won't fit into much of what she wore last year.

Valentine's Day Week: Day 2

Blueberry Muffins and yogurt for breakfast. We are making similar heart shaped cupcakes as a treat another day this week. This was a good trial run, here's the directions. Next time I'll put the marbles closer to the top and fill the paper cups less full and maybe the hearts will turn out better.
Lunch was grilled cheese (so many fun ways to use the heart cookie cutter), steamed carrots, and strawberries.
I revised our project schedule a little. Valentine's were supposed to be Friday's project but we needed to get them in the mail so the family will receive them by Valentine's Day. This is my daughter showing off her cards.
She decorated the outside with markers and marker stamps. I traced her hand (in blue) in the sign language "I LOVE YOU" sign and wrote the words on each finger. The inside we glued red and white heart doilies and I helped her sign her name and write Happy Valentine's Day.
I had some tinted chap stick and thought it would be cute to let her SWAK the envelopes. Her little lips are in the middle of the big ring of pink. She had the chap stick everywhere!
The brownies were actually made on Monday (day 1) as our special treat. We didn't have enough time Tuesday to get around to making a treat, but we still had brownies left from the day before that we really didn't need another sweet desert tempting us.

Valentine's Day Week: Day 1

We really enjoyed this breakfast today, Eggs in a Basket! I also buttered the center heart cut out with Strawberry preserves, yum!
Lunch wasn't special, but I really love her plate and fork set given to her by her grandma. It reminded me of Valentine's Day. Fish sticks, peas, and apple sauce!


Here was my 2 year old daughter's Valentine's Day project for the day: a pink mailbox ($1.00 bins at Target). She glues the hearts on it (I wrote her name). I plan to put a cute note in it each day this week just to tell her how sweet and special she is to me and the whole family.

*Side note: the photo in the background is one of my faves from our wedding. We will be celebrating our 5 year anniversary this year! I like to bring it front and center during Valentine's Day to remind us of the good 'ol days.

WalMart Deal

I was at Walmart yesterday (cashing in some of my free item coupons), when I saw a power panel marked $2 with lots of Glade products. I knew I had COUPONS! I went back today and nothing had been touched, guess everyone else missed this hidden treasure.
Here's what I scooped up:

4x Scented Oil Candle Holders (no candles)
2x Gel Warmers with Clean Linens gel pack (rang up $1.92)
Subtotal: $11.84

Used:
2x $2.00 coupon
2x $1.00 coupons
1x BOGO coupon

Total OOP:$3.92

Not sure exactly what my total savings was since the regular price wasn't marked, but I'm sure it was 80-90%

Forgot About this CVS Trip 2/6

Excedrin 10 ct.: $2.49
-$1.00 CVS coupon

4x Glade Scented Oil Candles: $2.50 each
- 2x $1.00 coupons
- 1 BOGO Free coupon

Used $5.00 ECB's
Total OOP: $3.47

Earned: $7.49 ECB's
Total Saved: $17.66
***84% SAVINGS***

Year to date OOP: $12.62
Year to date Savings: $184.59

CVS & Walgreens 2/8

This picture is of CVS and Walgreens together

Walgreens #1:
Gillette Fusion Gamer- $ 8.99
-$4.00 coupon
Total OOP: $5.57
*Earned $6.00 RR

Walgreens #2:
Gillette Fusion Gamer- $8.99
-$4.00 coupon
Total OOP: $5.57
*Earned $6.00 RR

Walgreens #3:
2x Heft Zipper Bags: $3.29 (BOGO sale)
-2x $.55 coupons

Therma Care: $2.49

2x Scrubbing Bubbles Wipes: $2.50 each
-$3.00/2 coupon

Cottonelle Toilet Paper: $6.99 (with ad coupon)
-$1.00 coupon

-$12.00 RR
Total OOP: $1.68
Will earn $2.49 for Therma Care & $2.00 for Scrubbing Bubbles

ALL THREE TRANSACTIONS COMBINE-
Total OOP: $12.82 - $4.49 MIR = $8.33
Total Saved:$43.36
**TOTAL SAVINGS 84%**


CVS:
2x Ritz Crackers: $1.00 each
-$2.00/2 coupon

Gillette Fusion Gamer- $7.99
-$4.00 coupon

Garnier 100% Color: $5.99
-$3.00 coupon

Rolos: $.89

Used $7.49 ECB's
Total OOP: $.83

Earned: $6.00 ECB's
Total Saved: $22.27
**TOTAL SAVINGS 96%**

Freebies From My Mailbox

My Kraft Sweepstakes coupons arrived in the mail! FREE Wheat Thins, Planters Nuts, and Kraft Cheese! Awesome prizes!
*Not pictured: Coupon for free Kid's Essentials Drinks valued up to $14.99!!
- 2x Costco brand daipers
- Clinique Happy Perfume Spray
- Victorias Secret Perfume and Cologne samples
- 4 Samples from DHC beauty book
- Gardener's Idea Book
- Always Infinity Pad & $1.00 coupon
- Sunsilk samples and coupons
- Coupon for one free can of Del Monte Tomatoes
- Gold Bond lotion and $1.00 coupon
- Curamin Pain Reliever
- Coupons for Healthy Foods

Special Breakfasts for Valentine's Week

We usually opt for the easy and quick breakfast method (cereal, waffle, juice, fruit). The week of Valentine's Day there will LOTS of special meals planned and breakfast can't be left out.

Monday: Eggs in a Basket

Tuesday: Heart Shaped Muffins
(follow direction same as cupcakes)

Wednesday: Heart Shaped Pancakes and Strawberries

Thursday: Mini heart shaped cinnamon waffles and Orange Slices
(I have a small heart cookie cutter)

Friday: French Toast (heart shaped of course) and Strawberries

Saturday: BIG breakfast with all the fixin's biscuits and gravy, eggs, bacon, hashbrowns