I *heart* free stuff.

So, I went shopping.

Ha.

That tends to conjure up visions of credit cards and great glossy paper shopping bags. Not here. I don't use credit (anymore), and we use cloth bags someone scored for me from the Women's Expo plus the two recycled boat tarp ones I bought at IKEA. (For the record, Em loves some IKEA ... I'll be there tomorrow actually, muahahaha) There have been some particularly wonderous sales and specials lately, and that plus my adoration of coupons can only mean one thing ... FREEBIES! Yay!

You can check out pictures of the glorious bounty, all laid out on the kitchen table if you like. It's one part bragging rights, one part way easier to put things away. I promise I tried to embed them, but PhotoBucket, Blogger, and I are having a wee tiff over sizing and pixel counts (and I'm not winning). Here's the link ... http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p239/NCB123bank/4172008002.jpg.

Are you itching for the nitty gritty details? If you're a coupon fan like me, you probably won't mind. If you think coupons are for old ladies, then you'll likely care less (and you're probably reading the wrong blog, fyi). First, what I bought, since I can't embed my stupid pictures.

2 Market Pantry Sugar Wafer Cookies
3 Market Pantry Vanilla Wafers
1 Giant Box of Wheat Thins (2 20oz bags)
1 box of Nutter Butter Soft Cookies
3 boxes South Beach Diet Woven Crackers
2 boxes of Icee and Freezee pops
6 bottles Dasani flavored water (thank you random display tear pad)
10 bottles Fuze (thank you Vocal Point BOGOs)
9 bags Purina Healthful Cat kitty food (FREE!)
4 boxes Whiskas Purrfectly Fish kitty food
2 bottles Pounce kitty treats
1 Haartz flea shampoo (on clearance at Target for less than 50c)
4 bags Meow Mix kitty Treats
2 bags Whisker Lickins kitty treats
2 bags Natural Temptations kitty treats (FREE!)
1 Beneful wet puppy food (FREE from a home mailer!)
2 rolls Reynolds Wrap
1 roll Target Cling wrap
1 Pur Fridge Pitcher (Reg. $29.99, Meijer price drop to $10.99 - $5 PG Pur q = Yay!)
2 Pur 3 Stage Replacement Filters for my sink mount
1 KY Touch Massage full size with back massager thing (Target clearance, FREE after q)
1 KY Touch Massage mini sampler (Again, free after q)
1 2count Jumbone
1 2count Busy Bone
6 Dry Cleaner's Secret packets (FREE!)
4 O-CelO Scrubber Sponges (FREE! and they rock, FYI)
3 Crest Pro Health toothpaste with FREE mouthwash attached
8 Dr. Scholl's for Her Foot Repair Lotion (pennies after Target clearance plus qs!)
1 Old Spice Clinical Strength with travel size attached (more Target clearance!)
1 Revlon Nail Polish (FAR!)
2 Revlon Nail Clippers
2 Colgate 360 Toothbrushes (FAR!)
2 Nature Made Rx Essentials Vitamins (FREE!)
3 NexCare Extra Large Bandaids (FREE! - found in Walgreens clearance)
4 One Touch Ultra Mini glucometers (FREE!)
5 small Aveeno hand lotions
3 large Aveeno Baby lotions
6 Glade Candles
2 Glade Scented Oil Candles
8 Glade Scented Oil Candle Refills (FAR!)
Plus a bunch of cold stuff and regular grocery or produce-y items that aren't pictured, like 10 packages of cold cuts from Meijer, etc.

Ok, so I spent $182.68. Wow, that seems like a lot of money now that I posted it. Ick. I do have a $400 per month grocery budget (and a family of five) so it isn't so awful in comparison. The money I used is actually left over from last month. I haven't even tapped into this month's cash yet. I never ever spend the whole $400 in *one* month, but shhhhh, that'll be our secret.

On the other hand, I saved ... $539.86, bringing my savings for the month to $1438.91. Yay! Doesn't that make you want to dance out of the grocery store? Ok, well, it would if it was your $1400 being saved. I have to stop myself from skipping more often than I'd like to 'fess up to.

Now, I have to go figure out this Suave Walgreens deal before it ends. A frugal girl's work is never done. Muahaha.


Simply,

Em.