Stockpile & Coupnoning Part 1

One of my favorite things in the world besides my loved ones---is saving money!
So today I'm going to talk about how Ive gotten my stockpile, the benefits of having one and how to organize and prepare a shopping trip to start building your own stockpile!

My stockpile!


I started my stockpile a little over a year ago, i was working at target and really getting into price matching and couponing and understanding how amazing it is to save money. I started small just saving money on things we were out of around the house, paper products, hygiene products, food and cleaning supplies. After i got the feel of everything i started couponing and pricematching on a stockpile level saving upwards of $500 in a single shopping trip.

My method of saving money may not work for you or make sense to you--find a way that works for you- it doesn't have to be a full time job, or take up all your free time- for me its about an hour or two per week and maybe more if I'm making a bigger trip! And different stores vary they all have different policies so be sure to check your local store for more details.

Target----
At target saving money was easy for me- i was there 35 hours a week working and did a majority of my grocery and other household shopping there. With a 10% employee discount and 5% using the red card i was already saving without any work- to save even more i started going to the target website and printing the web coupons (you can also subscribe on your cell phone for coupons from target). Then i figured out the holy grail of saving money combining coupons at target you can combine target coupons and manufacture coupons for tons of savings!(you can find manufacture coupons in the Sunday paper and online) Example for paper towels there may be a coupon for them in your Sunday paper for 50 cents off, and target one (for the identical product) for $1.00 off which gives you  a savings of $1.50! Any money you save is money in your pocket! For price matching at target is a bit more difficult but lucky for you i was guest service the 4 years i worked there so i know all the details! For price matching it has to be identical products in a valid ad for a competitor in the area. They will not price match BOGO specials, misprints, clearance, early bird specials, gift card deals, loyalty card deals, in store coupon deals, or special daily deals like black Friday or other major sale days.And you must have the ad with you for the price match! Any more questions message me and ask me- look at the policy online or go into your local store and im sure they will be more than happy to help!

Walmart----
At walmart there price matching is super easy (at least at my local store) You don't have to have the ad with you, and it is done right at the register- just tell them your price and they will change it! I go thru my local competitors ad's and circle the items that are good deals, besides this blog i have a couponing and price matching page for my area where i post deals of the week! Anywho  after i go thru and circle all my deals i go online and look for coupons that match up for even more savings. I write down my deals and my grocery list and try hard to keep it all separate in my cart while shopping. I get to the register and tell them all the deals and impress the people around me!

photos--

So to wrap up this part of my blog any money saved is money in your pocket! So save money and be happy everyone!


Stay tuned for more on this topic!!

Thanks for reading

Clarissa!

Couponing & Money Saving

Today at my local Wal-mart i price matched and coupon-ed and saved a total of $30.97!

I'll give you a break down of my purchase where i saved the most and where i got my information for my trip!

I purchased 10 smart ones frozen meals normally $1.98 each
I price matched them for $1.25 each and then had a $3.00 off 10 coupon
Making 10 frozen meals $9.50.

I bought 2 Hormel always tender pork tenderloins normally $6.48 each,
I priced matched them for $1.79 each, then had 2 $1.00 off coupons for each one
Making them 79 cents each!

Those were my 2 best deals other items included were 2 packages of slim fast shakes, 1 pkg frozen stuffed chicken breasts, 1 package butter, milk, Velveeta, diced and crushed tomatoes, chili seasoning packet, Comet brand cleaner, windshield washer fluid, 2 packages scotch cleaning wipes, sandwich baggies, and an adorable st patricks day bandana for my pooch to wear!

I spent $45.54 but saved a total of $30.97!
Today i feel like a super saver!
If you live in the atchison area like the couponing/ price matching page on facebook!
All my price matches were from local stores and are listed on that facebook page, and all coupons were collected from various websites including coupons.com and couponmom.com, and a few were obtained from allyou magazine

Thanks for reading!!
Clarissa

Upgraded photo studio!

 The start of the studio *above* PVC pipe at good ol' Menards!
And below are some photos of my hubby measuring out and cutting the pipe!
Its a really sweet setup for little cash- He put 1/2 inch pipe inside 1 inch pipe and we drilled holes every foot in the pipe so you can insert a screw to adjust the height- it starts out at about 5 feet and can be up to 8 feet tall!

This last photo is it set up at it's smallest 5 feet- i doesn't look real pretty because i just threw my backdrops up so they wouldn't get dirty on the floor! But yay its better than my old set up which was a shower curtain rod and shower curtains lol. I'm also going to include a photo of my first photo shoot since having it! It was awesome easy set up & and easy to take with me, and since it was a newborn session it was awesome being able to go right to there home!

Beautiful family with there newest addition Sydney!

Upclycing

 It's always fun and exciting to up-cylce some items! I took this old shoe box i had lying around, and made it into a awesome organizer!

 First i cut the lid off

 Then i covered it with this awesome contact paper i bought at the dollar tree! Who can beat $1!!

 Then i cut toliet paper & paper towel rolls and covered them in paper.

 Then you're done! Place different things in ( scissors, pens, paint brushes, pencils, markers, highlighters, xacto knife, sharpies...etc)

Now i have a maching set! And all basically free items =)

Thanks for reading!

Map of our love story project!

 So for our 1st wedding anniversary i decided since the tradition gift is paper to make a paper project for my husband for his gift! Besides I've had a lot of extra time lately (being unemployed) so projects are a nice way to fill my time!

Supplies

5 hole picture frame (walmart around $15)
Old Maps (couple bucks from a thrift store or antique place)
Scrapbook paper ( scraps and whatnot)
4 by 6 print 
Scissors
Glue
Stencils
Tape
Notebook paper
Rubber stamps and ink pad
Patience... lots of that

 All my supplies laid out on the table (love being a bigger house more room to stretch out and do my projects!)

 So then i made a stencil for my "hearts" for my maps

 Then i cut out on the appropriate places for our special places!

Laying it all out making sure its fitting so far!

 Cut out my 4 by 6 spots to have a background on my map portions of the frame!

 

  Used my stencil and cut all these guys out *then realized i didn't measure and it took me forever to get it all placed out*

 

My computer hadn't been working for a while so when it randomly decided to work i kissed it!

 Then my computer decided it didn't want to print 4 by 6 prints correctly!

 lovely right?

 So then i started putting it all together!

 Close up of our important spots on the map!

 I even put little hearts with a pen around the actual city =)

 Close up of the middle all done!

Finished!
I most likely enjoyed this more than Kenny...but whatever!

Some of our 1st anniversary photos my mom took!
We had a great day remembering our wedding day, and enjoying each other! We did try our cake 1 year later...wasn't bad Kenny enjoyed it with some ice cream! I'm one lucky lady!

What i've been up to!

I haven't updated in a while but i have been busy working on projects, getting my house ready for Christmas, and wrapping all those gifts! Plus my husband has been gone on business trips so Ive been working my tail off doing projects to fill my time!

So here is one of my projects- Took a basic frame with matte in it- and wrote out our first dance song lyrics and placed a picture of us dancing in it! I think it turned out pretty good, and its another thing marked off on my pinterest to do list!

Pintrest FAIL Melt away cookie

So i tried to find the original post but failed on that as well--oh well they're gross anyways!

The top photo is of all the ingredients Cornstartch, sugar, milk i think?

 

Then it said to smash with a glass which was a fail because it just stuck (even with flour)

Even the dough wasn't tasty =( and that's one of my favorite parts about cooking making)

 

Here they're baking.

 

Then i made orange-ish cream cheese frosting (it was close to Halloween) Even it wasn't very good.

 

This is how they turned out? GROSS!

Waste of time and ingredients. 

Like my husband has always said--Pintrest is a web of lies....oh my i will try something new!

Thanks for reading

Clarissa