Last night my husband and I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning working on a Shop Rite trip for today. A lot of the items that we purchased were things that we currently needed (not stockpile items) so that always makes the trip a little bit tougher, since when you need specific items you can only do as good as the store sale/coupons are for that week.
I sent my husband and the 6 year old out to shop tonight and I stayed home with the little guy, he doesn't do well at the store and had a long day so he was already tired. I am so proud of them, they did really well and my husband said that the 6 year old was really helpful.
Here is my trip Summary:
Total Out of Pocket: $60.67
On Sale Savings: $45.07
Coupon Savings: $51.52
Total Savings: $96.59
This is what we got (I think I included everything):
Chicken
Pork
Kielbasa
Squash
Plantains
Pears
Milk
Laudry Detergent
paper plates
paper cups
spray cleaner
garbage bags
3lbs of Onions
SSIPS Juice Boxes
Cereal Container
Deli Ham
Deli Cheese
(1) Maxwell House Coffee
(1) Onion Dip
(2) Boxes of Mac and Cheese
(1) Tutturoso tomatoes
(2) Birdseye Frozen Veg
(2) Poppy's Pierogi
(2) Betty Crocker Cookie Doughs
(2) Betty Crocker Muffin Mix
(1) Bisquick Muffin
(2) Blocks of Cheese
(2) Land O' Lakes Butter
(1) 18 ct Shop Rite Eggs
(2) Carnation evaporated Milk
(2) Lunchables
(4) boxes of kelloggs cereal
(8) Yoplait Yogurts
(1) Shop Rite Cream Cheese
(1) Sorrento Mozzerella
To be able to get Meats, Veggies (frozen and fresh), Deli items, fruit, milk, eggs, butter, cereal and cheese and still be right at $60 makes me happy alone and then add on all the other things that I got and I am one happy person tonight.
Pin It
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Saturday, March 24, 2012
My 6 year old planned his first couponing trip
My 6 year old has been asking me to help him to put together a coupon shopping trip, of course he wanted to buy candy so with Easter Candy Sales combined with coupons this was a perfect time to help him put together a shopping list.
Tomorrow morning we will be heading to CVS for his first couponing trip as a mini couponer.
Here's what he is getting:
(1) Gold Emblem Jely Beans - $0.99
(4) Mars Easter Candy $1/2
(3) Dole Pineapple - $0.88 each
Coupons:
(2) $1/2 Mars Easter Candy
(1) $1/3 Dole Pineapple
Out of Pocket: $2.63
Getting ECB's: $2.99
Net: $0.36 moneymaker
I will update you all on how it turns out tomorrow.
Who else has mini couponers out there?
Pin It
Tomorrow morning we will be heading to CVS for his first couponing trip as a mini couponer.
Here's what he is getting:
(1) Gold Emblem Jely Beans - $0.99
(4) Mars Easter Candy $1/2
(3) Dole Pineapple - $0.88 each
Coupons:
(2) $1/2 Mars Easter Candy
(1) $1/3 Dole Pineapple
Out of Pocket: $2.63
Getting ECB's: $2.99
Net: $0.36 moneymaker
I will update you all on how it turns out tomorrow.
Who else has mini couponers out there?
Pin It
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Catching up on my couponing
I have been traveling for work this week so I haven't even had a chance to see my Sunday papers. My husband just pulled out a big Rubbermaid container of newspapers that he collected on Monday. Have I told you how much I love that my husband has spoken to multiple local gas stations and has them saving unsold newspaper inserts for me.
The rest of my night will be spent picking through my newspapers for my coupon inserts and making my weekend shopping lists. One of my favorite times of the week :)
Pin It
Saturday, March 17, 2012
"Free Play" St. Patrick's Day Goop
I am always looking for things around the house that we can use or incorporate into our activity time and today was no different.
Today I planned a play-dough activity (I was going to make it but decided to just use play-doh that we had around the house) and to make some green "St. Patricks Day" Goop to play with.
My two year old is always questionable when it comes to "messy" play so I try to make sure that I have two activities planned so that if he doesn't want to play with the "messy" items he can still participate.
We started with the play dough and brought out all of out play dough "tools" and some cookie cutters and let both boys play.
While the boys were playing with the play-dough we made the St Patricks Day Goop. If you have never made Goop for you little ones it is super easy and so much fun.
What you need:
1 box of cornstarch (I suggest picking it up at the dollar store or stocking up when there is a good sale)
2 cups of water
Food Coloring (as desired, we used green for St. Patricks Day)
What you do:
Mix the Cornstarch and water making sure to get all of the cornstarch mixed in. It gets hard and clumpy in spots so just scrap the bottom of the bowl to make sure you have incorporated it all. Then mix in food coloring (as desired). Then let you little one go at it.
As I said, the 6 year old LOVES messy play so he went to town with this. He had no problem getting it all over him (and all over the table).
The 2 year old was interested and wanted to try it, especially once it was all over the table, but once he got it on his hands he wasn't so happy. He did end up using some of the play-dough tools to play with it and was fine as long as he didn't have to touch it.
Though I will admit that this activity wasn't completly "free", the play dough was something that we already had in the house and the Goop was only the cost of the cornstarch which you can find for a dollar or less (especially if you check out the dollar store).
I know that it may look really messy to you, but I promise it is really easy to clean up with just some soap and warm water. Slightly more difficult to clean with the food coloring added but still an easy clean up. If you have concerns about damaging your table just use a bigger bowl for the Goop and put it on a place mat or newspaper.
Pin It
Today I planned a play-dough activity (I was going to make it but decided to just use play-doh that we had around the house) and to make some green "St. Patricks Day" Goop to play with.
My two year old is always questionable when it comes to "messy" play so I try to make sure that I have two activities planned so that if he doesn't want to play with the "messy" items he can still participate.
We started with the play dough and brought out all of out play dough "tools" and some cookie cutters and let both boys play.
While the boys were playing with the play-dough we made the St Patricks Day Goop. If you have never made Goop for you little ones it is super easy and so much fun.
What you need:
1 box of cornstarch (I suggest picking it up at the dollar store or stocking up when there is a good sale)
2 cups of water
Food Coloring (as desired, we used green for St. Patricks Day)
What you do:
Mix the Cornstarch and water making sure to get all of the cornstarch mixed in. It gets hard and clumpy in spots so just scrap the bottom of the bowl to make sure you have incorporated it all. Then mix in food coloring (as desired). Then let you little one go at it.
As I said, the 6 year old LOVES messy play so he went to town with this. He had no problem getting it all over him (and all over the table).
The 2 year old was interested and wanted to try it, especially once it was all over the table, but once he got it on his hands he wasn't so happy. He did end up using some of the play-dough tools to play with it and was fine as long as he didn't have to touch it.
Though I will admit that this activity wasn't completly "free", the play dough was something that we already had in the house and the Goop was only the cost of the cornstarch which you can find for a dollar or less (especially if you check out the dollar store).
I know that it may look really messy to you, but I promise it is really easy to clean up with just some soap and warm water. Slightly more difficult to clean with the food coloring added but still an easy clean up. If you have concerns about damaging your table just use a bigger bowl for the Goop and put it on a place mat or newspaper.
Pin It
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Mid-week Shopping Trip: Stop&Shop
I sent my husband to Stop&Shop tonight to get a couple deals that are ending Thursday. We ended up with $33 worth of items for just over $1.
Here is what we got:
18 Yakisoba meals
1 Jif omega 3 peanut butter
1 Breyers ice cream
2lbs of cabbage
1 roll of Viva paper towels
Coupons used:
9 - $0.50/1 Yakisoba coupons
1 - Free Jif (with $15 purchase) Stop&Shop mailer coupon
1 - $0.85/1 Viva paper towel coupon
1 - $3.00 off (with $30 purchse) Stop&Shop coupon
A very random mix of items, but I am happy that we were able to get it all for right around $1.
Pin It
Here is what we got:
18 Yakisoba meals
1 Jif omega 3 peanut butter
1 Breyers ice cream
2lbs of cabbage
1 roll of Viva paper towels
Coupons used:
9 - $0.50/1 Yakisoba coupons
1 - Free Jif (with $15 purchase) Stop&Shop mailer coupon
1 - $0.85/1 Viva paper towel coupon
1 - $3.00 off (with $30 purchse) Stop&Shop coupon
A very random mix of items, but I am happy that we were able to get it all for right around $1.
Pin It
Sight Words/Spelling Word Games: Parking Lot Game
I wish that I could take credit for this idea, but I actually found this on my newest obsession - Pinterest. Here is the original blog post from jugglingwithkids.
I made this for my 6 year old last weekend, what a better way to get your little ones to work on their words than to make it into a game.
I took some cardstock paper and made line for parking spaces. In the parking spaces I wrote some current spelling words, some other words he was working on and some words that he already knew. All we needed was the "game board" and we pulled out our bucket of matchbox (and other small cars) and we were ready to go.
The Game:
We took turns saying a word and the other person had to take a car and drive it into the correct spot. Taking turns made it more like a game and it allowed me to see that he didn't just recognize the words when I said them, but he could read them too.
Modified for the little ones:
Do you have little ones who aren't working on words yet? Try making a parking lot game for them with colors in the parking spaces or draw shapes, numbers or letters in the parking spaces to make this game appropriate for any age from toddler to pre-school to elementary school.
We created a shape game for the two year old. We just used a couple of parking spaces and put basic shapes in them. He had fun but his attention span is much less than the 6 year olds was (which was expected). He needed more guidance on how to "play" the game but his brother stepped in and drove the car into a couple of parking spaces to show him what to do and then he was ready to play.
We loved this idea and this will be something that we continue to use as a learning tool in our house.
What learning games/tools do you use with your little ones?
Pin It
I made this for my 6 year old last weekend, what a better way to get your little ones to work on their words than to make it into a game.
I took some cardstock paper and made line for parking spaces. In the parking spaces I wrote some current spelling words, some other words he was working on and some words that he already knew. All we needed was the "game board" and we pulled out our bucket of matchbox (and other small cars) and we were ready to go.
The Game:
We took turns saying a word and the other person had to take a car and drive it into the correct spot. Taking turns made it more like a game and it allowed me to see that he didn't just recognize the words when I said them, but he could read them too.
Modified for the little ones:
Do you have little ones who aren't working on words yet? Try making a parking lot game for them with colors in the parking spaces or draw shapes, numbers or letters in the parking spaces to make this game appropriate for any age from toddler to pre-school to elementary school.
We created a shape game for the two year old. We just used a couple of parking spaces and put basic shapes in them. He had fun but his attention span is much less than the 6 year olds was (which was expected). He needed more guidance on how to "play" the game but his brother stepped in and drove the car into a couple of parking spaces to show him what to do and then he was ready to play.
We loved this idea and this will be something that we continue to use as a learning tool in our house.
What learning games/tools do you use with your little ones?
Pin It
My favorite coupons this week
We generally only purchase a couple of papers, but we have a few local gas stations that will let us have the unsold paper so that is generally ow I obtain my coupons. We are up to about 4 stores that save them for us now. Here is my haul from Sunday (picked up on Monday).
My favorite coupons that I got this week were from the New York Post (we ended up with inserts from 4 or 5 different local newspapers this week):
The $0.50 off one Yakisoba and $0.85 off one roll of Viva Papaer towels.
The Yakisoba's are on sale 2/$1 at our Stop&Shop this week so for each coupon we are getting 2 free, since they will double up to $1. With the Viva paper towel coupon doubling we will also be getting those for free.
I got 10 of each of the coupons this week so I am happy with that. I love when I can get FREE things!!!
Pin It
The $0.50 off one Yakisoba and $0.85 off one roll of Viva Papaer towels.
The Yakisoba's are on sale 2/$1 at our Stop&Shop this week so for each coupon we are getting 2 free, since they will double up to $1. With the Viva paper towel coupon doubling we will also be getting those for free.
I got 10 of each of the coupons this week so I am happy with that. I love when I can get FREE things!!!
Pin It
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Cooking with Kids - Chocolate Pudding Ice Cream
My boys LOVE cooking with us so we try to let them be a part of our cooking whenever possible. Not I know that this isn't technically cooking but they loved it and it was perfect for both boys even the two year old.
Since we were working with the 2 year old on "A" this week, we let him wear an apron and reinforced that apron begins with "A". I like to let them experiment when we are cooking so we let tehm taste, smell and touch at each step in the process.
What you need:
Two boxes of Instant Chocolate Pudding
Milk
What to do:
Open the Instant pudding packets and let them touch, taste and smell the powder.
Prepare as directed on package (add milk and mix) and let them touch, taste and smell again.
Pour into your ice cream maker we added "dirt" (crushed chocolate chips) which we also let them examine.
Once it is frozen let them taste again. Talk to older children about the changes in the product from start to finish.
It was super easy and a great way to involve the little ones in making dessert.
Pin It
Since we were working with the 2 year old on "A" this week, we let him wear an apron and reinforced that apron begins with "A". I like to let them experiment when we are cooking so we let tehm taste, smell and touch at each step in the process.
What you need:
Two boxes of Instant Chocolate Pudding
Milk
What to do:
Open the Instant pudding packets and let them touch, taste and smell the powder.
Prepare as directed on package (add milk and mix) and let them touch, taste and smell again.
Once it is frozen let them taste again. Talk to older children about the changes in the product from start to finish.
It was super easy and a great way to involve the little ones in making dessert.
Pin It
Letter of the week "A"
My husband is a stay at home dad and I have challenged him to begin working with our 2 year (27 months)old in a more school like format. He has been spending time working with our little man on letters, colors, shapes, etc...but on a less planned format.
We started this week with the letter A and our little man is doing great and is so proud of himself.
Using pictures, activities, play, books and snacks. Our little man now will point out Apple as being an "A" word as well as Alligator (aggagator) and Ant. He will also make the "a" sound if you ask him to.
Part of this is coming from some speach issues that we have been seeing (we are seeing the ENT for evaluations due to failed hearing tests). This is primarily being used as a tool to get him to copy sounds and words.
Next week it is on to "B" while still re-inforcing our "A" words and sounds. As we continue we will see if it is more useful to stay on a letter longer than a week.
Pin It
We started this week with the letter A and our little man is doing great and is so proud of himself.
Using pictures, activities, play, books and snacks. Our little man now will point out Apple as being an "A" word as well as Alligator (aggagator) and Ant. He will also make the "a" sound if you ask him to.
Part of this is coming from some speach issues that we have been seeing (we are seeing the ENT for evaluations due to failed hearing tests). This is primarily being used as a tool to get him to copy sounds and words.
Next week it is on to "B" while still re-inforcing our "A" words and sounds. As we continue we will see if it is more useful to stay on a letter longer than a week.
Pin It
Saturday, March 3, 2012
"Free Play" Playing with Jello
I am always looking for things around the house that we can use or incorporate into our activity time and today was no different. I know that Jello isn't technically free, but it is super cheap so it is a very good item to incorporate into you "Free" play activities.
My boys almost never have Jello and we never keep it in the house, so I sent my husband out this morning to pick some up. Before the 2 year olds nap we made the Jello together. While we were making it they smelled it and the 6 year old guessed the flavor. They both got to pour the packets into the bowl and both got some time to stir. They also both tasted it in it's liquid form before putting it in the fridge to set. The 2 year old said "yucky" so I wasn't sure how step two of our project would go at this point.
After his nap the Jello was set and it was time to play.
I put together a tray of cookie cutters, measuring spoons and measuring cups and some other items. I put this in the middle of the table and gave each of them a plate with Jello on it. I didn't give either of them any direction (except telling the 6 year old to make sure that he didn't take too many of the cookie cutters) we just let go at it.
The little guy took some spoons and started playing. He didn't seem to want to really touch it at first.
Once he saw his big brother eating it, he decided to taste it too.
The older one had fun playing with the medicine dropper.
They played with the Jello for about a half hour and then I brought out a tray with water...Just an inch or so at the bottom. This gave them some more play time and they added bonus of clean heands before they left the table.
I had not idea that they would enjoy the water so much, but our 6 year old brought out some dinosuars and they played for at least another half hour. They would have played longer, but I wanted to get them in the bath before dinner.
I am so glad that we decided to do Jello play with them today (I know my husband was a bit unsure at first), this we be in our list of "Free Play" activities in the future for sure.
Pin It
My boys almost never have Jello and we never keep it in the house, so I sent my husband out this morning to pick some up. Before the 2 year olds nap we made the Jello together. While we were making it they smelled it and the 6 year old guessed the flavor. They both got to pour the packets into the bowl and both got some time to stir. They also both tasted it in it's liquid form before putting it in the fridge to set. The 2 year old said "yucky" so I wasn't sure how step two of our project would go at this point.
After his nap the Jello was set and it was time to play.
I put together a tray of cookie cutters, measuring spoons and measuring cups and some other items. I put this in the middle of the table and gave each of them a plate with Jello on it. I didn't give either of them any direction (except telling the 6 year old to make sure that he didn't take too many of the cookie cutters) we just let go at it.
The little guy took some spoons and started playing. He didn't seem to want to really touch it at first.
I had not idea that they would enjoy the water so much, but our 6 year old brought out some dinosuars and they played for at least another half hour. They would have played longer, but I wanted to get them in the bath before dinner.
Pin It
Friday, March 2, 2012
Teaching Your Toddler - St Patricks Day
March is here and I know that I for one am always looking for ways to incorporate new themes into some of the activities that we do with our boys.
I found this site - Teaching Your Toddler that has put together a St. Patricks day themed lesson plan and I will definately be trying this with my 2 year old. I also plan to modify some of the ideas so that our 6 year old can play/learn with us too.
Some of the ideas are as basic as using "I" as your letter of the week and pointing out all of the things in your house that begin with the letter "I" and having them trace the letter with their finger or in some sand. However, it also incorporates links to songs that you can do with you toddler to fit the St. Patricks day theme as well as links to stories, snacks, activites and Yoga poses.
I am checking out the links now and putting together my favorite ideas. I will post out "lesson plan" and modified "lesson plan" once I have completed it. We will be incorporating Irish Dance as I was brought up learning Irish Dance from my grandmother (my mom now runs the classes) and taught myself while I was in college.
Check out Teaching Your Toddler for the St. Patricks day lesson plan ideas and click on the "Past Themes" link for other fun ideas for teaching you little one.
Pin It
I found this site - Teaching Your Toddler that has put together a St. Patricks day themed lesson plan and I will definately be trying this with my 2 year old. I also plan to modify some of the ideas so that our 6 year old can play/learn with us too.
Some of the ideas are as basic as using "I" as your letter of the week and pointing out all of the things in your house that begin with the letter "I" and having them trace the letter with their finger or in some sand. However, it also incorporates links to songs that you can do with you toddler to fit the St. Patricks day theme as well as links to stories, snacks, activites and Yoga poses.
I am checking out the links now and putting together my favorite ideas. I will post out "lesson plan" and modified "lesson plan" once I have completed it. We will be incorporating Irish Dance as I was brought up learning Irish Dance from my grandmother (my mom now runs the classes) and taught myself while I was in college.
Check out Teaching Your Toddler for the St. Patricks day lesson plan ideas and click on the "Past Themes" link for other fun ideas for teaching you little one.
Pin It
"Free Play" Shaving Cream Fun
I am always looking for things around the house that we can use or incorporate into our activity time and today was no different.
Our latest activity, which was initially designed with the 2 year old in mind was shaving cream play. We pulled out some of our free shaving creams (we almost always get free shaving cream with coupons)and brought out toys to play with (small dinosuars, spoons, cups, etc...). We were preparing everything while the 2 year old was napping and my husband and 6 year old decided to get a head start on the shaving cream play.
At first the 6 year old completly freaked out when he got the shaving cream on him, but within a minute he was covered (really covered) with shaving cream. As were my windows, walls, table and both my husband and myself. This was all while our little guy was napping.
We finished playing and cleaned up a bit so that the little one would be able to play when he got up.
When our little guy got up from his nap we let him have some time to wake up and investigate the table with the play items on it. He looked at it and began playing, but as soon as he got the shaving cream on him he has a complete meltdown and he did not stop crying until he was completely clean.
If you ask him if he wants to play shaving cream again he says "yucky". I think it will be a while until he is ready to try shaving cream play again.
What we learned....that our 6 year old LOVES messy play, however the 2 year old is not a big fan of messy play. The 2 year old's favorite sensory activity has been the bread crumbs by far.
Pin It
Our latest activity, which was initially designed with the 2 year old in mind was shaving cream play. We pulled out some of our free shaving creams (we almost always get free shaving cream with coupons)and brought out toys to play with (small dinosuars, spoons, cups, etc...). We were preparing everything while the 2 year old was napping and my husband and 6 year old decided to get a head start on the shaving cream play.
At first the 6 year old completly freaked out when he got the shaving cream on him, but within a minute he was covered (really covered) with shaving cream. As were my windows, walls, table and both my husband and myself. This was all while our little guy was napping.
We finished playing and cleaned up a bit so that the little one would be able to play when he got up.
When our little guy got up from his nap we let him have some time to wake up and investigate the table with the play items on it. He looked at it and began playing, but as soon as he got the shaving cream on him he has a complete meltdown and he did not stop crying until he was completely clean.
If you ask him if he wants to play shaving cream again he says "yucky". I think it will be a while until he is ready to try shaving cream play again.
What we learned....that our 6 year old LOVES messy play, however the 2 year old is not a big fan of messy play. The 2 year old's favorite sensory activity has been the bread crumbs by far.
Pin It
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
