So in my new 2009 quest to save more and spend less, I’m holding off on buying a Wii Fit. We bought a Wii weeks ago at Wal-Mart for a mere $250 for Christmas. The kids were so surprised on Christmas morning – I really set the stage before the holidays by telling them repeatedly that one gaming system in the house was enough! A friend at work let me borrow her Jillian Michaels game for the Wii even though I don’t have the Wii Fit balance board – just so I could try it out. I was hooked, and I can only imagine how much more fun it would be WITH the balance board. Problem is, the Wii Fit and all of the toys that go with a Wii aren’t exactly on clearance right now, nor are they on sale. I’m going to hold off until I can find a deal or the Wii Fit comes down just a bit in price…OR until I have gift cards to fund my purchase.

I’m being frugal ’til it hurts.

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I went off to Publix this afternoon armed with a list, coupons, AND an eleven year old willing to go grab items on distant aisles for me. I ONLY bought items that were:

1. On sale
or
2. That I had a coupon for

In some cases, I bought things that I had a coupon for that were also on sale, making my savings quite awesome. How about buy one get one free Keebler cookies, plus my 2 coupons for $1 off each package? Same thing for the buy one get one free A1 steak sauce I snagged. In the end, I had $34 (!!!!) in coupon savings and another $50 in savings on items that were on sale. I spent $93 out of pocket but I SAVED $86 with buying on sale and using my coupons. By stockpiling on things we frequently buy (yogurt, cereal, condiments, and snacks) I’ve guaranteed that our grocery bills for the next few weeks will be much smaller. We’ll only need to buy the things we NEED (milk, bread, fresh fruits and veggies, meat) for a month or so!

Special thanks to TheGroceryGame.com and Fiddledeedee for the coupon help and inspiration!

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Coupon for a FREE Bath & Body Works Signature Item w/ any purchase! (Click to print, and yes, you can print MULTIPLE COUPONS!)

I’m a new reader of the Thrifty Florida Mama blog, but she’s lured me in with her deals. This Bath & Body Works deal is no exception! I stumbled across the deal on Angie’s blog during my morning blog rounds and quickly printed out my own copies of the coupon and emailed the link to 73 of my closest friends. Since I don’t have emails for all of you, I decided to share it here and publicly thank Angie for sharing it first.

I stopped at Bath & Body Works this afternoon (my first of many trips this week) and the reason for the super duper coupon deal? New packaging on all of their signature products. The “old” packaging is on a deep clearance, and I found lotion that normal retails for $14.50 marked down to $5. I chose that as my “free” item and then snagged a sample size of the same set that was priced at $1 as my “paid” item. (The sample size previously retailed for $3.50!) Out of pocket? $1.06 with tax, and I have a sample size lotion (perfect for a purse) and a full sized lotion too! Before the sale, I would have spent over $18 for those two items, and that doesn’t include the tax!

I’ll definitely be making several more trips back this week, coupon in hand (you can print multiples!) to snag more – they’re perfect items to put in my gift closet!

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This is just what I needed to start off my weekend…I’m almost crying from laughing so hard. This guy spent Black Friday at WalMart answering phones in the store and “helping” customers. If they made a weekly sitcom out of this, I’d DVR it religiously!

“Can you tell me if you have any of the Wii fits?”

“Why, are you fat?”

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Today is the 13th of January, which makes tomorrow the 14th, which means that tomorrow is free Suave day! To celebrate the Suave line of low cost (but quality) hair products, everyone who visits the SUAVENOMICS website tomorrow (January 15th 2009) will be able to claim a FREE bottle of Suave!

On a related freebie note, my sister informed me that for the rest of the month, on Wednesdays, Chick-Fil-A will give customers visiting during breakfast hours a free sandwich. Tomorrow is Wednesday, so be sure to claim your free sammich and your free Suave!

*Special thanks to my friend Ang for turning me on to the Suave deal!

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Today I’m taking a page out of my sister’s book and doing thrifty things. I’ve added a few frugal blogs to my Google reader and in doing so, discovered some fabulous deals. I went to Wal-Greens on my lunch break to scoop up one such deal. The store has Aquafresh toothpaste on sale for $.99 as long as you grab one of the $2 off coupons in their rebate book at the front of the store. AND…as long as you present the Wal-Greens coupon first, you can also use a manufacturer’s coupon as well, and it just so happens I had TWENTY I printed online, each for $1 off.

So to recap, $2.99 toothpaste, $2 Wal-Greens coupon, $1 store coupon…hey, they owe ME money now! (Not quite that good you see…I had to pay tax!)

Tonight on my way home I stopped by Publix. Again, coupons in hand, this time for $1 off a box of Pepperidge Farm Texas Toast and $1 off packages of Barber stuffed chicken breasts. The Texas toast was on sale and rang up at .35 a box after the coupons. The chicken was Buy One Get One Free at $4.99, and since Publix allows you to use one coupon on each item purchased (regardless if it is “free” or not) I was able to use a $1 off coupon on each box. $4.99 for two boxes – $2 in coupons = $2.99 for two boxes = $1.50 or so per box. Phew!

I set a New Years Resolution to really try to save money at the grocery store this year and I think I’m on my way!

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I’m laying in bed last night, enjoying a last hour of TV before shutting it all down and closing my eyes for the next 9 hours. I came across Confessions of a Teen Idol on VH1 (thank you, Brighthouse, for not completing screwing me by getting rid of all Viacom programming!) and I was instantly hooked. For those of you who didn’t catch the 1st episode, here’s a quick synopsis:

The eight-part series features former teen idols who have been brought together by Scott Baio to analyze where it all went wrong. Each hour-long episode provides a rare, never-before-seen look at fame and its consequences as the guys live together, forming a unique and exclusive support group.

I seriously didn’t recognize half of the men on the show, from whatshisname who was on TJ Hooker (before my time) to the dudes from BayWatch (never watched it). I did take notice of Jamie Walters who played Ray Pruitt on Beverly Hills 90210…who could forget Donna Martin’s abusive ex-boyfriend? I couldn’t help but state at the shaggy haired surfer boy who kept a hat on for most of the scenes I saw him in…and finally the producers displayed his name…

ERIC NIES?

Eric Nies of the first Real World in New York City? Eric Nies of The Grind? Eric Nies the model?

What the heck happened to Eric? Why does he look like a down and out Bill Ray Cyrus? (He’s the 3rd from the right in the picture above – the one who looks like an aging hippie.) I’ve got to keep watching, if only to find out how the golden boy of the 90’s got this tarnished image.

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Much like my sister, I entered 2009 on a decluttering binge. I don’t expect mine to last as long as hers, but my bathroom is done. To echo Cheryl, I don’t think it’s been this organized since we moved in! My bathroom is pretty big, and I’m lucky enough to have two good sized and relatively deep closets IN the bathroom. One is used for towels and sheets and the other is for odds n’ ends. Both were organized and cleaned out, and I ended up with two big garbage bags full of things to toss. I tend to be a packrat, so I told myself if I had something more than 6 months old that was used once or less, it went into the trash. I did the same thing with my dresser the other night, and I have a whole garbage bag of clothes to donate to the local Goodwill.

I need to see if I can keep up with the decluttering for the next few weekends – after that, it’s back to school, so my free time on Saturday and Sunday will once again be severely limited.

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