What's the Deal??

I was spending some time taking pictures of a busload of things that I'm selling on ebay when all of a sudden, little miss Em decided she wanted a piece of the action. Usually, I do this sort of thing when she's napping so I'm not interrupted and she's not tempted to grab the items from the backdrop. It worked out fine because I had just gotten my last shot. Thankfully, my listing pictures are more clear than this photo of Emily. I wasn't actually trying to shoot a good photograph here. This was a 100% "snapshot", which you can tell if you view it full size. lol. terrible. Oh well.
Then the older children had to get in on the action. However, there's was purposely GOOFY. Caleb and I are the process of setting up a blog for him. I've been curious about how other blog services worked compared to Blogger, so we decided to give one a try and use it for Caleb. It's not up and running yet, so I won't give you the address just yet. Soon though. I'm painfully trying to create some backgrounds and stuff for him (and mostly failing), but hopefully I'll be done soon.


I can't remember if I've posted about one of my favorite blogs. It's called Money Saving Mom and let me tell you, it's great!! It's been on my sidebar for quite a while, but I don't think I've ever explained the real reason I put it there. I've learned so much from that blog and several others. Just recently, due to all of my new found wisdom, I was able to save $ 52.98 at the grocery store, using coupons and in store specials! It was awesome! I actually walked out having gotten several items for free, and even received an overage for one item that I had a coupon for and was already on sale. Also, at a drug store we have called CVS, I was able to get some great deals because of their "Extra Care Bucks" program. With that program they give you a certain dollar amount back when you purchase certain items that they feature in their ad. This week I was able to get ...
1 Super Mega Pack Huggies Supreme Diapers (72 ct)
1 Garnier Fructis All Day hold Hair spray
1 Garnier Fructis Touchable Hold Hairspray
1 Listerine Agent Cool Blue Brushing Tint
1 Palmolive Dish Detergent 12 oz.
1 Crest Pro Health Toothpaste
After using coupons for the diapers, toothpaste and detergent,
I paid $ 23.50 out of pocket and got $ 13.98 back in Extra Care Bucks. Which means that in future weeks I will have to spend less out of pocket to purchase things that we need. My favorite part of this is when I get to use ECB (extra care bucks) to pay for items plus coupons and end up getting even more ECB's than when I started because of the items that I purchase are on sale! It probably sounds confusing, and it is at first, but it is wellll worth it to figure it out. I also found out that Long's Drugs, which I know they have in Washington is being bought by CVS, so maybe soon you WA-ites can have a go at this too!
It has become a real challenge to see just how much I can squeeze out of my grocery budget when I go shopping. I know that Money Saving Mom's website is regional so it won't apply to many of you, but I hope that you can find something similar and get some killer deals for your family. If you're interested, check out Hot Coupon World and I'm sure you can find some links to money saving blogs in your area!! Have fun and let me know if you get some good deals!!