Monday Market

I've revived! I was so busy last week I barely had a chance to realize that I hadn't blogged. I started doing a blog post for my daughter's birthday last week, but just didn't get it finished. Now I'll be able to include the fun memories from her birthday party as well!

Last week there was no Market Monday because we only had $2 left to our names for the rest of the month--due to a bit of miscommunication with our new insurance company and when they were suppose to draft! However, the Lord blessed us with some extra money this past weekend which allowed us to have some grocery money this morning. I feel almost guilty for using some of that money toward Oreos--but they came out as "free" after coupons, so there goes the guilt. :)

$20.55

This past week Winn-Dixie had an online printable coupon for $5/$30, so I wanted to work that to my advantage! I worked together $60 worth of groceries on my list and headed to the store. I used 2 of those coupons, and had vouchers from Nabisco and Lender's due to customer satisfaction issues, so the bagels and one pack of Oreos were free! I have never bought fruit gummies for my kids, and still not sure what I think about it, but with them being BOGO and the $4/4 coupon, I figure it couldn't hurt to have them around as an occasional treat! My husband has the world's biggest sweet tooth, and rarely do I give in to it with candy--which is really his preference over baked goods. So I got him some of the BOGO candy, but will try to keep it hidden til Easter! I picked up some more Kraft dressing to use as marinades for freezing my meats, and love that Bertolli pasta sauce, so couldn't resist that! The french fries were a splurge for my daughter. She loves chicken and french fries, which was always something she would get when she went to eat lunch at work with Daddy. However, she is no longer eats for free at the dining room where he eats, so her lunches with Daddy will become much more infrequent. :(

This week seem to have been more of "splurge" items, but I'm trying to get my wheels out of some ruts. I've overcome the hill of, "I have a coupon so I have to buy it!" And I've even gotten over the hill of, "I don't have a coupon, so we can't buy it!" But I haven't fully gotten past, "It's not on sale, so we can't get it." There are many items and things that we use to eat and enjoy that we haven't had in ages because they never go on sale or if they do the don't have a coupon match up, so I write it off as an unnecessary expense. However, as my husband keeps urging me, if it's something I'll eat, it's not an unnecessary expense. (Although, I'm pretty sure Oreos wasn't what he had in mind when he said that!) But this week I enjoyed relaxing myself a little bit and getting not just necessities, but a few pleasure items--which many worked out to FREE because of using two of the $5/$30 coupons--so it wasn't so bad! The crescent rolls were one of the items my husband was referring to with his statement, so I excitedly grabbed two of those. I LOVE Pillsbury crescent rolls!

So, in summary, I bought 32 items, used 17 coupons, spent $20.55, and saved $71.22!