My coupon loving friends.....

I found this awesome article on the Parents magazine website.....

The Best Coupon Sites For Mom
Check out the steals and deals we found online
By Parenting.com

Easy Money: Slash Your Food Bill Six steps to a leaner, meaner grocery budget - Parenting.com

Pay Less, Get More on Your Taxes How to get smart with social security cards, fill out the right forms, cash in on tax deductions, and save for college - Parenting.com

Lost Job, Lost Health Insurance: Now What? Find health-care resources that will protect you and your family even when you're out of work - Parenting.com

Take a Break from Holiday Stress How to relax in seconds - Parenting.com
Why wait for the Sunday paper? With an internet connection and a printer, you can get coupons for almost everything your family needs. Here are some of our favorite online steals and deals.

Coupon sites
www.flamingoworld.com
www.couponcabin.com
www.couponmountain.com
www.thecouponclippers.com
www.savingsmania.com
www.retailmenot.com
www.swapbabygoods.com

Diapers
PampersRegister at www.pampers.com for the Parent Pages email newsletters and you'll also receive coupons and info on promotions for Pampers and other Proctor & Gamble products.

HuggiesIf your child is 26 months or younger, you can call customer service at 1-800-544-1847 to get on their mailing list to get news on promotions and smaples sent to you at home.

Food
GerberGo to www.gerber.com or call customer service at 1-800-284-9488 to sign up for the Start Healthy, Stay Healthy program and receive a quarterly magazine and coupons.

SimilacSign up for the Strong Moms program at www.similac.com for news on special promotions.

EnfamilEnroll in Enfamil Family Beginnings at www.enfamil.com to receive newsletters and coupons.

Earth's BestGo to www.earthsbest.com for coupons and news on promotions. Join Earth's Best Family to receive additional coupons.

BeechnutGo to www.beechnut.com

Medicine
Please note: The FDA supports an industry-led change in labeling recommending that cough and cold medicines not be given to children 4 or younger. Many medical groups advise against them until the age of 6.

TriaminicGo to www.triaminic.com and fill out your information to receive a $2 coupon.

WyethCall customer service at 1-800-999-9384 to have coupons for products such as Dimetapp, Robitussin and Advil sent to you in the mail. You will receive two booklets of $1 coupons at a time.

Other
Shopexclusivebaby.com, an online baby boutique with tons of great stuff from eco-friendly feeding tools, to books, toys, and way more, is offering Parenting readers 15% off their purchases. Discount code: parenting
Check out shopexclusivebaby.com

Fisher-PriceCheck www.fisher-price.com regularly to see which Fisher-Price toys are on sale and to cash in on special offers for free stuff.

JC Penney PortraitsVisit www.jcportraits.com to print out coupons.

Carter's children's clothingGo to www.carters.com to sign up for the Celebration Club to receive special offers.

Scott PaperGo to www.scottbrand.com to print a coupon and sign up for more coupons and promotion news.

Twins & Multiples
EvenfloParents of multiples can sign up for the Multiple Birth program to get a gift package. Send a leter with your name, address and phone number and copies of your children's birth certificates to:
EvenfloAttn: Multiple Birth Program1801 Commerce DrivePiqua, OH 45356

The Learning Curve: First YearsParents of multiples can send in copies of their children's birth certificates, crib cards or a news clipping annoucning the birth to receive free gifts for babies.

The First YearsAttn: Multiple Birth Program2019 9th St. SEDyersville, IA 52040

Shopexclusivebaby.com, an online baby boutique with tons of great stuff from eco-friendly feeding tools, to books, toys, and way more, is offering Parenting readers 15% off their purchases. Discount code: parenting
Check out shopexclusivebaby.com

Have a great coupon page to share? Email us at tellus@bonniercorp.com

It's a jungle out there!!!

How stinking adorable is that lion!!!!

We went home to visit last weekend and it was great! Our friends E and M came with us and so did their sweet little girls! When I think I have my hands full I just think about M and E they have a 19 month old and a 5 month old, whew!!!! Anyways on Saturday Piccilo Spoleto kicked off in Marion Square, downtown Charleston, with a children's festival. The kids played on the fun bus, bounced their hearts out in the jump castles, slid on the inflatable slides, made drums and noise makers and T got his face painted! He was then to be referred to as the lion. As we were eating lunch, at Groucho's....my fave, I tried to talk to T and he told me "Shhh, the Lion is eating"! It was classic and hysterical!!!!

We had a blast at home! This weekend is fairly low key around here, T has swim lessons Saturday afternoon, C and I are going to a "work" party Saturday evening (thanks to Allison for undertaking the job of watching our boys, plus her sweet little, but not so little, London) and Sunday C has a soccer game. I can not wait until swim and soccer are over so we can have our weekends again! I want to go the Animal Safari, zoo and a Braves game, but our weekends are always taken up with events for Daddy C and T!

I am off to clean this messy messy house of mine before the hubs gets home from work.

Just like his Momma......

Oh this boy of mine sure does take after his Momma. He loves to lay on the floor and watch FOX news. He rolled completely off of his mat to get a closer look at Gretchen and Steve on Fox and Friends this morning. The rolling took place at 8:00a.m. and it is 8:40 and he is still in the same position talking and eating his hands! A boy after my own heart!

Hi/Lo Thursday

This post is part of "Hi/Lo Thursday" on the Riggs Family Blog. Check out their blog to read everyone else's "Hi/Lo" posts and get your link on their site.

Our Highs:
We are going home to visit this weekend!!!!! I am so excited!!!

Not only are we going home to visit, we are taking some of our very good friends and their two girls also!

I get to have seafood and put my feet in the sand! I get to have my momma and daddy take care of me and the kids for the long weekend! Ahhhh, can you tell I am excited?!?!

Our Lows:
Chase has been extremely fussy this week, I mean extremely! He has really tested my patience, but I have succeeded, no doubt I wouldn't but there were moment that I wanted to say....quit screeming at me, but he is only 4 months old and has no idea!

I have been getting really dizzy lately so I will be going to the Dr next week to see what is perhaps going on!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

He says he is a rocking out pirate! But little does he know he is not giving us the rocking out sign, but he is signing I love you or perhaps he is a Texas Longhorns fan? Not sure really, but he says that is what rocking pirates do and he has to close his eyes when he does this so no one can see him, he does not want people to watch him rocking out! Oh to be 3 again!

For SaleSweet Baby Boy

Ok, well not really for sale that would be ridiculous and really illegal! But this is how the majority of the day in our household has looked. Baby C is something else today, he has not um, had a bowel movement (hey just giving you the facts) in 3 days, the DR said to call at 5 days and they will see what they can do, so he is resorting to this. We are now going on 12 hours of crying, eating, crying sleeping only in mommy's arms, crying, eating, repeating all steps over and over again!!! His bib says Chicks Dig Me and I guess he did not get the memo....Chicks do not like crying for 12 hours straight or at least this Mommy Chick does not.

Hopefully and prayerfully he will feel better tomorrow, hopefully he will get that much needed dirty diaper and I will have my happy rolly polley back tomorrow. I am sad just looking at him so I can not even imagine how he feels!

Hi! My name is...

Cortney! That's me right there, well not really right there but above this writing, that's me! I am the face behind this completely amazing blog that you are reading. I thought I would give you a little look into my life and who I am. You have seen pictures of my boys and plenty of them, you will just have to endure 2 more in this post, but hey at least they are cute! First of all I am a 26 year old.........
Wife to this amazing and totally smoking hot man right here, well you know above this writing! His name for all blog purposes is Daddy C, obviously he is not my Daddy, but you get what I am saying. He is a completely selfless man and a devoted husband and father. He is an Army Ranger and has seen his share of combat deployments, 4 to be exact! Right now he is taking a "break" from the front lines and is a RIP Instructor(don’t know what RIP is,? Click here! ). We have been together for 9 years and this year we just celebrated 5 years of marital bliss. Out of those 5 years I have become the mother to......

This sweet little gangster in his underoos! T is what we shall call him in blog world. He is 3 1/2 years old, full of life and fun and the best snuggler in the world, that is if you can get him to snuggle. He is funny as all get out and literally floors me with some of the stuff he comes up with. He is an amazing big brother to my second born son......
Baby C! He is 4 months old an already a rock star, just check out his skull shoes! He brightens my day with every smile and his little cheeks I could pinch all day (oh yes and night now that he thinks night is play time!). He has his Daddy's looks and my temper, he goes from 0-60 in 1 second flat, just like his Momma, oh I should not be proud of that? Well I am!

Not only am I the lucky wife of the stud you see 3 pictures up and the 2 handsome devils just posted above but I am the proud daughter of.....

The 2 most amazing parents a girl could ask for. I am both a Daddy's girl and Momma's girl all rolled in to one and I love every second of it!!!! They provided me with a wonderful education and loving home, they are responsible for the woman I have become today, the good and the bad! So if you do not like me....blame it on them! These two people are responsible for whom you will meet next.....
My 3 brothers (note, this picture is 5 years old and they are now much older and even cuter)! Respectively in this picture is M, J and A. This is the reason I am so tough, I put up with such torture as a little girl, they claim they were preparing me for my future. Well after all they put me through I could probably be water boarded and not even break (totally kidding, insert sarcasm here, I do not need any angry blog readers). So far, my oldest brother J has given me the great fortune of being an aunt to......
CB and Miss R. CB is a sweet little 4 year old who loves to sing Dave Matthews while rocking out on his guitar and he is the proud big brother to Miss R. Miss R is an aspiring fashion Diva like her mother!

Now I also have some amazing friends.......

Check out the hotness that we dubbed Ranger Cruise 2007! These are some of the most amazing friends a girl could ask for. The men in this photograph (minus the sweet one with the glasses) are my husbands own "Band of Brothers" he survived many a deployment with these men by his side and I thank them for that!!! Now the other hot chick in the picture well......

That's E! One of the best friends a girl could ask for! If I think back at my best memories over the pat 3 years, she is in 90% if them! I am sad she lives so far away now and I can't walk 3 doors down in my PJs and watch our wedding videos and drink martinis out of the box, but hey one day we will again. This time just with a bunch of kids in tow!!!!

So, I hope you now have a little look into my life. I am truly blessed to have such amazing people in my life. All of these people have shaped me into who I am today and I am so proud to call them my family and friends.

****Of course there are other people whom have been influential in my life, but I only had pictures of so many, so no hurt feelings ya'll!!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

• I most certainly did not let my 3 year old play in the rain for an hour on Saturday afternoon. I would never give in to his sweet little pleas and allow him to do such a thing.
  


• Then after not allowing him to play in the rain I did not not make him take a bath! I mean what kind of mother counts playing in the rain as a bath? Not me thats who!!
  


• I did not forget to go and register Chase on post at CYS so he could go to the daycare at the gym. I really did not forget to register him because I am not intimidated in the least bit to start going to the gym again!
  


• I absolutely did not do absolutely nothing this weekend. I did not sleep in until 11:30 Sunday morning and I did not love every second of it!!

Who does God want me to be?

I think about this daily, who does God want me to be? He obviously wanted me to be a daughter, sister, wife, mother and friend. He obviously wanted me to marry the Military man I did, he obviously had my path laid out well before I was even born, well he knows who he wants me to be. But I ask, who does God want me to be?



I know God wants me to be a better Christian, I struggle with that daily. I could and should walk a much closer walk with God and as hard as I try, I all too often fall short of the mark. Just today I read an article and I got it! I really really got it. God wants me to be a Bible based Christian while I am living the life of a cultural Christian. What is a cultural Christian you ask? A cultural Christian is someone who has divided his loyalties between God and the things/events of this world. All to often, I get so involved in life (people, places, things) that my faith takes a back seat and I do not even realize it. There are times when I convince myself that it is OK to miss out on church because I had such a busy weekend or have too much housework to do or errands to run, really in the end it is me I am hurting. I am making myself a stranger to those in my church, I am denying my sons the time in nursery they should have to worship the Lord and learn how great he is. I am not only hurting myself and my sons but also God, I am not giving him the time he so deserves! This is not who God wants me to be, he does not want the world around me to dictate how I serve the Lord, I should let Him show me!



God wants me to be a Bible based Christian, he wants me to cling to his word and serve him as the bible tells me. I am to cling to His word and let Him show me!



In Psalm 1:1-3 it says, "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper."



I need to learn to cling to God and allow him to show me whom he wants me to be. I should not let my surroundings affect the way I show my faith. I should let my faith shape my world around me!

How we became WE

This beautiful life we now live all started 9 years ago when Daddy C and I were Seniors in high school. Who would of thought the Baptist preacher's son would marry the Catholic school girl? Who would of thought these two would go on too see each other good-bye as one went to war (4 times)? Who would of thought these two would put together the sweet little life we live with our amazing two little boys? In 2000 if you asked me any of the above questions I would have told you you were crazy! But there was someone that knew all of the above would come true, that someone of course is God! He knew what he was doing that day our Senior year when he got this journey started! And this is a journey I would never want to stop!
( April 2000 Daddy C and I 1 week before we started "officially" dating, going to his senior prom and this happened to be his 18th birthday as well)

(June 2000 Daddy C's high school graduation day, man I look really skinny)

(July 2000 Graduation trip to NYC, that my parents treated us to, two small town kids in the middle of Time Square, it was amazing)

(September 2002 Sophomore year of college, Chad's bid party)


( March 2003 Delmonico Steak House, New Orleans, LA, PiKA formal dinner, by far the craziest week of my life)


(March 2003 City Market in Savannah, outside of Malone's, which is now Wild Wings, we just got engaged)


(March 2004 Smooch, we are now Mr and Mrs G!

(May 2004 After our spring break wedding we finally graduated college in May 2004)

(January 2005, he graduates Basic/AIT)

(April 2005, he graduates RIP and I am 3 months pregnant)
(June 2005, our first Ranger Ball)
( September 2006, he graduates Ranger School)

(October 2007 Homecoming, ASU Boone, NC)


(November 2008, Charleston, SC 7 months pregnant, picture by Stacy Martinez Photography)

(May 2009, our 4th Ranger Ball, Fort Benning, GA)

Wordless Wednesday...I'm taking it way back!

Well almost wordless! What a difference 7 years makes! This is Chad's bid night party for his fraternity (PiKA) WOW! I remember this night, I had walking pneumonia, was sick as all get out but still managed to look adorably cute and do my hair! Plus this was before 2 kids and about 5o lbs ago! I wanted to take you guys way back as most of you did not know us then!

Tasty Tuesday!!!

Every Tuesday I am going to try to post some of my favorite and very cheap recipes!!!! Since this is the first Tuesday I will give you 3! Ready, set, go!!!!

Chicken Salad
3 Chicken Breasts
Chicken broth (enough to boil the chicken with)
1 tbsp mustard
1/3-1/2 cup mayonnaise (to taste)
Salt and Pepper (to taste)
Dash of sugar
1/2 tsp lemon juice
Minced garlic w/juice (about 1 tsp, I used already minced garlic in the jar)
Pickle (finely chopped)

Boil the chicken breasts in the broth. Chop chicken into small pieces. Mix chicken, mustard, mayonnaise, salt and pepper, sugar, lemon juice, garlic and pickle. Mix well.

Taco Soup
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
280z can diced tomatoes (undrained)
16 oz can kidney beans (undrained)
17oz whole kernel corn (undrained)
8 oz can tomato sauce
1 pkg dry taco seasoning
1-2 cups water or tomato juice
shredded cheese, tortilla chips and sour cream

Brown beef, drain and add onion. Cook until onions are tender. Add all remaining ingredients except cheese, tortilla chips and sour cream. Simmer for 15-20 minutes. Ladle into bowls and top with cheese, tortilla chips and sour cream. Enjoy!!!

Crock Pot Chicken
1 1/2 lbs chicken breast (boneless)
5 minced garlic cloves (I use minced garlic in the jar found in the produce section)
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup chicken broth
1tbsp rosemary
salt
pepper

Place butter and garlic in microwave and melt butter. Roll chicken in the garlic-butter mixture and place in crock pot. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Add broth to the remaining garlic-butter mixture and add to the crock pot. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Sometimes you may have to add a little more broth. After they have cooked they breast will fall apart, I usually serve over rice.

I hope you enjoy and I certainly will not argue if you want to share your recipes as well!!! You can just add them to the comments!

Not me! Monday!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

• I most certainly did not allow my 3 1/2 year old to eat 3 dum dum lollipops, an ice cream cone and some of my Coke at Jason's Deli on Saturday! Hey, I was hot and tired after being at Best Ranger all day!
• I absolutely did not get that delicious Edible Arrangement that I had hinted to my husband about in last weeks Not Me! Monday!
• I did not get secretly get really excited when,we were starving on Saturday after swim lessons and on the way to Best Ranger, my husband offered to eat at Krystal, after all it is the only half-way descent place on Victory Drive. I do not secretly love Krystal but pretend I hate it, because Krystal is just one of those places.
• I did not have my 4 month old out in the 88 degree weather, with grenade smoke, extremely loud simulated mortar and artillery fire and a lot of yelling and screaming this weekend and loved every minute of it! He, the said 4 month old did not sleep through all of the artillery and mortar fire, which was scaring grown adults!

Some great money saving opportunites and free stuff!!!

So I promised to give you guys the latest and greatest money saving opportunities when I had them and I found some great ones today, so on to you they will go!!

Like coffee? Want some for free? Go to Nescafe by Taster's Choice to try a 6 sample pack for free! I know quite a few new moms that would love that!!

I also found 3 great ways to get really high value coupons and free items!!!

• Sign up for the Kraft Foods Community here at the Kraft Foods Community you will get free recipes, coupons and maybe some free products.
• Sign up for the Kraft First Taste Program here you can get the chance to try new products for free, they usually send out coupons for totally free items once every 6 weeks or so.
• And if you sign up for the Vocal Point here then you will get packets of coupons and free products in the mail on a regular basis. The most recent package they sent out had a coupon for a free box of Kashi waffles and a $1.50 coupon off another package of them.

Want free candy? I do, I do!!! Every Friday from now until September the Mars company, you know the one that makes M&M's is giving away free candy to the first 250,000 people each Friday. If you sign up here they will send you a reminder email so you can score your free chocolate!!

Not free, but really cheap...from now until June 29th you can get a Grande iced coffee with milk from Starbucks for $1.95,click here for more details. Mmmmm, now I can't stop thinking about that.

When I find more great deals, steals or finds I will be sure to let you all know! Until then don't hesitate to let me know what you have found this week! I would really like it!!!

Best Ranger 2009-Day 2

Day 2 of the Best Ranger Competition was off to a much later start than expected. Night stakes took a little bit longer than they thought, even though the team that finished first finished the 18 mile night road march in 4 hours and 26 minutes...WOW!

Day stakes were to begin at 0730 but did not kick of until about 1030. When we arrived at Todd field we were saddened to see that RGT had lost 3 teams during the road march, Chad's friend DeLeon (team 36) was one of those to go. However, it was great to see that the RGT teams left were holding strong they were at 5th, 6th, 7th, 10th and 14th. The guy renting our house in Savannah from team 7 was in 6th place. At the beginning of day 2 there were 26 teams remaining. Day stakes started with a stress shoot at Brinson range, then from there they ran to Todd field where they took the Tri-tower Challenge. This was where they climbed a "rock" wall on one side and the rappelled down the other side, then went to two smaller towers that were simulating fast roping. After the tri-tower challenge they made their way to the grenade launch challenge, then to the RFR (ranger first responder) challenge, then on to a mystery event (which we heard was a cultural awareness test) then to the demo challenge, and then another mystery event.

After Day Stakes the competitors moved on to night land navigation. After night land navigation the standings the RGT teams were in 3rd, 6th, 8th, 9th and 14th! Tomorrow is the 3rd and final day, we will not be able to attend tomorrow, but I will be at the awards ceremony Monday and will be back with pictures and the winner!!!!

Until then....RLTW!

Best Ranger Competition 2009-Day 1

Best Ranger Competition 2009 kicked off this morning at 0600 this morning. There were 49 teams competing, 8 of these teams consisted of Regimental teams(those from either 1/75, 2/75, 3/75, 75th RGR RGT or 75th RGR STB) the other 41 teams are those from other Infantry Units that are Ranger qualified.

At 0600 this morning the Rangers took off on their buddy run around Camp Darby (which is where Ranger School activities take place) this run took them through swamps and other nasty conditions. One team was out due to heat exhaustion after the buddy run. The buddy run ended at the Darby Queen, for those that do not know the Darby Queen is the Army's toughest obstacle course. The Darby Queen did it's job and took another 2 teams out of the competition, however after the Darby Queen a RGT team was in the lead, followed in 9th place by another RGT team. The RGT team in 9th place was our friend DeLeon and after their amazing run of 20 minutes at the Darby Queen they should be a lot closer to the top spot. The results are delayed until after the spectator events and then they will be updated later this evening. After the Darby Queen they were supposed to jump into Lee DZ, but the jump was called off due to a low ceiling(it was really foggy) so instead they just helicoptered them in.

(5 teams being helicoptered in to Lee DZ)

After the teams were helicoptered in they grabbed a litter packed with sandbags (to represent and injured comrade) and they had to buddy run that to the finish spot for that event.

(The teams beginning their litter carry)

(DeLeon and partner after the buddy run/litter carry)

From there they ran about 2-3 miles to the ranges, there were 3 different range events. The machine gun range. The second range was the stress shoot, where they ran another 2 miles and then shot the 240, Saw, M4 and pistols. The third range was a moving target range.

(Machine gun range)

(240 range)

After the ranges the men were off to land navigation and a night foot march. Those are not spectator events. Subsequently another team was disqualified sometime between Darby Queen and the ranges. There are now 45 teams left in the challenge. Tomorrow at 0800 the spectator events take place again, those are Day Stakes, Tri-Tower challenge and another stress shoot. We will be out there again tomorrow!!!!

Of course I could not leave you without pictures of the boys at the events!

(Baby C at the ranges with is ear plugs)

(T at the ranges)

(T doing his own stress shoot, while waiting for DeLeon to come through)
Until tomorrow....RLTW!

Hi/Lo Thursday

This post is part of "Hi/Lo Thursday" on the Riggs Family Blog. Check out their blog to read everyone else's "Hi/Lo" posts and get your link on their site.

Our Highs:
We have gotten to spend alot of family time together recently which is great!
Chase is growing like a weed, just like he should, he is 3 months and 3 weeks old today, he weighs 13lbs 7ozs and is 22 3/4 inches long!
We have a healthy and happy family!!!!
And Best Ranger competition is this weekend so we will be going to that!

Our Lows:
I miss my friends from Savannah like crazy! I really wish we could take this job and have it in Savannah, so I can have my friends and my house back!
I miss my family!
My "oldest" little brother is really lost, he needs to realize that life is not about drugs and alcohol and about family instead. Supposedly he is getting help, but we have all heard that before!

How do I feed my family for $60 a week, you ask?

Well ask and you shall receive. Believe me when I tell you saving money at the grocery store is no easy task, it take time and energy. Many people are not willing to do it, I used to be one of those people, until I took my grocery bill from $400-500 per month to $200-250 a month!

First of all you must, must, must clip coupons, print coupons and save coupons. Get the paper on Sunday (this cost about $1.50, but you can save 10x that if you utilize the coupons and sales properly), get coupons from your family and friends (both my husband's parents and mine save the coupons they do not use for us and mail them to us) search other blogs and online for printable coupons at sites such as Coupons.com, Redplum.com and WOW printable coupons. But, never use a coupon just to use a coupon that defeats the purpose. Only buy things that you need that you have a coupon for. If you do not have a coupon, but need the item buy a smaller size and see if a coupon comes out or you can find one later. Do not hesitate to write a company and tell them how much you like/use their product if this is a product you can not find coupons for often ask if they can send you some coupons, I guarantee they will!

Secondly, for my military friends ALWAYS utilize the commissary!!!! I do not care what you say 9 times out of 10 the commissary is ALWAYS cheaper than any other store around. We only have Publix grocery stores here, therefore in this post you will see an exact comparison of everything I bought at the commissary and the prices at Publix.

Do look at the sale papers for your local grocery stores. The only things I ever buy at Publix are the buy-one-get-one free sales that they have every week and occasionally they will have meat on sale for really great prices. The great thing at Publix is you only have to buy one of the item and you will get it for half price, if you do buy two of the item you can use a coupon for each item as well. Also, every Sunday Publix has a penny item, you get the coupon off of their sale ad in the paper, this week it was sweet tea and as a true southern gal their sweet tea is amazing!

Also, make sure you sign up for your local grocery stores loyalty/savings program. Publix does not have a loyalty program, but they do have a baby program and you get amazing coupons from them, I just got one for $5.00 off diapers, which can be combined with a regular Huggies coupon as well, so I had a $1.50 off Huggies coupon combined with my Publix coupon and I got $6.50 off a value box of diapers! Publix also has a Upromise card, you scan that and percentages of certain purchases will go into your child's Upromise account(if you want to know more about Upromise account click here). You can also link your Kroger, CVS and Piggly Wiggly cards to your Upromise account to save! Kroger has a loyalty program and often will send coupons to you to use at their store. Kroger has a Catalina program, if you buy certain $ amounts of products you will get a coupon at the register for $ off your next purchase, you can also use coupons with those deals. Kroger also has many 10 for $10 sales a lot of times on produce, you do not have to buy 10 to get the for $1 each either.

Another suggestion that I have that I strongly recommend you stick to is a menu for the week/month. Now with that said, before you go to the store make a menu of what you will eat for the week and get all items you will need for that week. If the main item that you need is not on sale then you need to change your menu. How I do it is this, I make a menu with 6 meals (we eat out on Sundays) that we would like to have for the week, then I make a sub-menu with 2-3 meals in case the main ingredient, say chicken, is not on sale or I can not find a good cut, etc. Now since you have all of the ingredients you must stick to the menu, you can change the days you have the food, etc but stick to the menu!

Stockpile, Stockpile, Stockpile! When your commissary has a case lot sale, take part in it! When there are items on buy-one-get-one at your local store that you use frequently (Publix often has pasta and spaghetti sauce) buy as many as you are allowed to buy, don't forget to use as many coupons as you can! Once you have a good stockpile built you can shop your own pantry for many of the staple items that you need for the weekly menu and you will not have to spend that money at the store!

Now on to the fun part! Since I only have Publix and the Commissary that will be where all of my shopping takes place, the good part for my blog readers, most of you live in Columbus or Savannah and you have both as well! So onward to this weeks shopping excursion!

Commisary vs. Publix (the first price listed is the commissary the next is publix)



Kraft Shells and Cheese (I bought 2) $1.69 $2.59
$1.50/2
Fruit Chillers Fruit Cup $2.15 $2.49
$1.00/1
Frosted Flakes $1.79 $3.99
$1.00/1
Generic Fruit Loops $1.99 $2.69
Yo-Plus Yogurt $1.59 $2.50
$1.00/1
Oscar Meyer Beef Franks $2.00 $3.99
Tater Tots $2.31 $3.39
Kid Quizines(I bought 3) $1.50 $2.19
Store Brand Hamburger Buns $.79 $1.19
Store Brand Hot dog Buns $.79 $1.19
Northland Apple Berry Juice $1.98 $2.99
Northland Apple Juice $1.50 $2.99
1/2 Gal 2% milk $1.65 $2.29
Heinz Ketchup 36 oz $1.49 $2.79
Del Monte Green Beans 8 pack $5.18 $10.32 ($1.29/can)
Kashi Cereal Bars 18 count box(bought 2) $2.25 $11.67($3.89/per 6 count box)
1.5lbs boneless pork chops $2.50 $6.56
1.25lbs ground beef $2.00 $3.36
1.25lbs ground beef $2.01 $3.38

Total $39.41 $75.15

6% surcharge or 7% sales tax +$2.37 +$5.26

Grand total $41.78 $80.41

minus coupons -$4.50 -$4.50

Final Total $ 37.28 $75.91


The proof is in the pudding! I had a 50% savings by shopping the commissary! For all of my military friends this is why you should shop there!!!!!!

I did however purchase a few items at Publix but they were super good deals!

• Oceanspray Cranberry/Pomegranate Juice B1G1-$3.99 but 1 for $2.00
• Special K with Redberries B1G1-2 for $3.99 but I had these amazing coupons for $1.00/1 use two of those and you get each box for $1.00
• Shredded Cheese Publix Brand $1.67
• Green Leaf Lettuce $1.49
• V8 Fusion Passion Fruit (our commissary does not carry this) $3.99 use this coupon for $2.00/1 and you get it for $1.99
• 1/2 Gallon of sweet tea $1.49, this was the penny item, so after the coupon I got it for 1 cent
• Gerber prune juice $2.59(paid full price, hey I had a baby that needed some help!)
• Breakstone Sour Cream B1G1-$0.99, bought 1 for $.50
• Old El Paso Gordita Kit-B1G1-$2.99, bought 1 for $1.50

The total at regular price would have been $ 28.76

The total after sales and coupons was $14.09 that is a $50% savings!!!

I fed my family for $51.37 this week. The other $8.63 goes straight to the Disney World fund!!!

I used $9.98 in coupons and had $8.98 dollars in B1G1 savings, the rest was just comparison shopping and Great finds!!! By utilizing the coupons and B1G1 I saved $18.61 this week, this is a low week for me though I usually have at least $15 in coupon savings, but we did not need too much this week!

I will be back soon with some more great finds!

Not Me! Monday!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

• I most certaintly did not put a diaper on my 3 year old while being stuck in bumper to bumper traffic on the interstate this weekend after he told me and was crying that he had to use the potty! And to top it all off it was his 3 1/2 month olf brother's diaper.....nope, certaintly Not Me!


• Of course I did not not take my 3 year old to preschool last week one day just because I did not want to get out of bed, I would never do that, my son needs his education! Not Me!


• I did not ask this young guy at Ranger Ball if he could bring us another bottle of wine, then come to find out he is not a waiter at all, but the son of a full-bird Colonel, he was one of the only people there wearing a tux! Oye Vey, How embarrasing, especially for my husband! Not Me!


• I certaintly do not have many other things that I did not do while are Ranger Ball, but I believe that those do nots will have another post of their own one day when I have really high self-esteem and will not me embarrassed by them!


• I most definetly did not go to the Commissary on payday and during the case lot sale and sunsequently have to eat a bag of M&M's while in the store just to keep me happy enough to get through all of the retired old men and their little wives, that walk extremely slow or the families that bring their extended families to by buggies and buggies and buggies full of junk! Nope, Not Me!


• And lastly, I most certaintly, positively did not tell my sweet sweet hubby that I would really appreciate and love an Edible Arrangement for Mother's Day! I hope he gets the not so subtle hint! Nope, Not Me!