Double Coupon Days at KMart=Great Score

I paid $12.56 for everything above! Yea double coupon days!

7 boxes special K cereal, various kinds

4 boxes Wheat Thins

2 Dove Ultimate Deodorants

4 cans crescent rolls

2 6 pack boxes raisinets

3 boxes special k bars

2 boxes Crystal Light to go

4 cans cream of mushroom soup

1 bag of doves chocolates with caramels

1 box of 2 Magic Erasers

Paid To Shop

Today Safeway paid me 2 cents for buying the items above. Yep, that's right. I paid nothing. They gave me back 2 pennies. Now that's couponing! If you want to get started go to http://beingfrugalisfabulous.com/ and look at her getting started advice and tutorials. Start small.

p.s. Earlier this week I paid 15 cents for 2 granola/nut clusters and 2 boxes of Cocoa Puffs. I also got several AirWick Motion Fresheners for 50 cents - $1.00 each, free Triaminic for children at Walgreens, free string cheese at Target, and free Crystal Light at Target.

Don't Be Fooled

DO NOT BE FOOLED BY THIS SWEET APPEARANCE. Beneath this sweet smile lies a sassy girl that can best the most experienced of grandmas. Here are some guidelines should you come across this wild creature:
1. NEVER let her out of the house to walk to the car. A cat and mouse game of capturing Rylee will take place around the car as you try and get her. I'm sure it is amusing to the neighbors.
2. ALWAYS grab her as soon as you unbuckle her from her carseat or she will run to the back of the van. You then run to the back and she runs to the front. This can go on for some time. Again to the amusement of the neighbors.
3. NEVER take your eyes off her for a minute. She might put a pen in the gallon of milk, take off her diapers full of poop (sorry to be so graphic), or unpack your suitcase.
4. DO NOT leave her in the house or in a room that locks while you go outside or in another room. She will lock the door and you will have to beg her to open it for you.
5. DO all your toileting, showering when she has gone to sleep or you will need to do it with her in the room due to #3. If you must do it during normal hours prepare to have her get into your makeup, toiletries, etc. Be prepared to beg her NOT to spill out your Bare Minerals makeup that she is holding.
6. DO NOT leave keys or cell phones around. They will end up in some random place such as her purse or the water bucket in the backyard. You may not see them again.
7. DO NOT park a grocery cart too close to anything reachable. It will end up in your cart. Parking the cart 3 feet from the checkout counter, even if it looks crazy, is advisable.
8. DO NOT plan on sleeping past 6:30 am. She wakes up early and comes in to wake up visitors and her brothers. From then on she is on the run, literally, until naptime. And again after naptime, until bedtime. NO exaggeration.
9. DO NOT think you can get anything past her. This morning I told her at 6:15 she had to go back to sleep (as she crawled in with me and Cohen) and she said, "Go to sleep Cohen!"
Cohen said it best a few minutes ago when he told her, "You're the worst nightmare of my wife (life)!" I about died laughing. She isn't the worst nightmare but she certainly has bested this grandma and is keeping me on my toes. Continually. Can I really ever leave Kelly???? Do you think I could lose weight with this??? Will I survive or will the vixen do me in??? Stay tuned.
P.S. She is still adorable.

Tate

Tate Lawrence Edmondson joined our family on Saturday, September 12. He is #12 in the grandchild lineup and just as cute as the rest. He is also proving to be a very good baby already! Note the adorable cleft in his chin. Ammon loves holding him, Rylee loves kissing him and Cohen gave him his first nickname when he said family prayer the first night and said, "Bless Tater Tot that he will love us." He is perfect.

Help Abused/Neglected Children

Pam Iorg's Fundraising Page

Event: CASA Kid Walk
Event Starts: Oct 10th 2009
Making a difference one child at a time
About my nonprofit: Court Appointed Special Advocate of Humboldt
Description: CASA provides services to and for abused and neglected children who are at risk of being placed in foster care. CASA volunteers offer children trust and advocacy during complex legal...
Description: CASA provides services to and for abused and neglected children who are at risk of being placed in foster care. CASA volunteers offer children trust and advocacy during complex legal proceedings. Mission: CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) speaks for children in court because all children have a right to live in a safe, healthy, and secure environment.placed into safe, loving homes where they can thrive.

My personal message:
The Kid Walk is an annual event put on by CASA. Teams compete to see who can raise the most money between now and the Kid Walk on October 10th. My goal is to raise $200 dollars--or more!
CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) recruits, trains, and supports community volunteers who are advocating for abused and neglected children. When children are removed from their homes by Child Welfare Services due to abuse or neglect, they become part of an overburdened system. Lawyers, social workers, and foster parents have serveral cases and kids competing for their time and attention. A CASA gets to focus on just one child.
If you don't have the time to be a CASA, the second best thing you can do is donate. Make it possible for others to become CASAs. Only 2 in 4 children who need a CASA get a CASA. Help expand the training schedule, grow the advocate support system, and increase the volunteer advocate pool. Donating through this website is simple, fast and totally secure. No bake sales, no candle orders, no raffle tickets. It is the most efficient way to support my fundraising efforts. Donate at: http://www.firstgiving.com/pamiorg1.

If you don't feel comfortable donating online, you can send a check with "Pam Iorg" in the memo to :CASA of Humboldt2356 Myrtle Ave.Eureka, CA 95501

Many thanks for your support -- and don't forget to forward this to anyone who you think might want to donate too!
Pam

Obsessive Compulsive

CVS shopping: Total $40 but this includes 2 boxes of my touch up hair color which was $10 of it.
So $30 after extra bucks bought:
2 Glade reed diffusers (ended up free)
15 snack boxes of cookies-chips ahoy, lorna doone, oreos (1/2 size of reg. boxes)
Duracell 8 pack batteries
windes
2 Aquafresh iso toothpaste (new)
2 gallons milk
2 welch's grape jams
2 Colgate toothpastes
2 mens Fusion Razors
Gillete deodorant
Gillete shave gel
2 Dawn dish detergent
Tootsie roll pops
2 six packs apple sauce
4 snack packs candy (10 in pack)

Walgreen's (I did this on 2 trips)

$17 after coupons and register rewards bought:

4 large packs of lifesavers in bags

Poppycock

2 Carefree pantyliners

Hand sanitizer

2 Oral B toothbrushes

2 Rembrandt toothpastes

2 Warming Theraflu

Men's zone Razor

2 pkgs Kleenex with aloe

6 scunci products worth about $3-$4 each

Nasal strips for snorers-think it will help me?

Target deal #2 $21 after coupons, &Target cards (2) for $5 each

3 Dreyers ice cream

2 Dreyers fruit popscicles

4 bags starbursts

Poptarts

Nutrigrain bars

1 gallon milk

4 glade candle tins

2 bags Tostitos

1 jar Tostito salsa

2 pkg Special K crackers

2 pkg special K fruit bars

Target deal #1 Cost $15 but I got a $5 Target card so it was really $10

Johnson's baby bottle-free after 1 Target coupon

Johnson's baby wash-free after 2 coupons, 1 Target, 1 mfg

2 glade candles in tins -cost 1.64 each but had 1.50 coupons in each so I can get 2 more for .14 each

2 big pack starbursts $1 each after target coupons

4 Sobe drinks - had b1g1 coupon so paid $3

Quattro razor-free after target and manf. coupons

2 packs Ziploc containers $3 after manf coupons

2 packs special K crackers, 2 packs special k fruit bars

these were 2.39 each. I had $1 off coupons for each and 50c Target coupons off each
Got $5 gift card for these so they were better than free!

Have you ever noted that obsessive compulsive trait about me? I tend to latch on to one activity and do it to oblivion. First it was tole painting and folk wood crafts (lots of Americana as my kids hated), rubber stamping complete with online card and stamp exchanges (this one cost me a LOT of money-thanks Toni ), then it was scrapbooking (more money and I still have a lot of stuff I need to sell on E-Bay-again thanks Toni) and now it is couponing. At least I am saving money now. I am obsessed with reading the couponing blogs, signing up for anything I can get for free, scanning the ads for local stores (repeatedly) and clipping coupons. The key is to buy a few big city papers each Sunday. They are the ones with the best coupons and there are also many online you can print out. Then it is shopping, shopping and more shopping. My pantry is full and so is a hall closet. I only buy when I can save about 70% and will go get the free things at each store 2-3 times. It's the funnest game in town. I know, I'm pathetic.

Here are pictures of this weeks deals. Mind you, I put 10-15 hours in these deals. I could work more and just buy the stuff but I have better satisfaction this way. If my stores were in my town it would cut down on time. Sorry pictures are on top-I can't figure how to bring them down. How do you do it??? I won't bore you with all my pictures on future trips but just wanted to show that couponing is amazing. You could just go for the almost free products and spend less but I get things I want too.