Thursday, August 6, 2009

Publix Shopping 101

I have had a few requests for help on how to save big at Publix, therefore I decided it was time to post my Publix shopping 101 post. First off let me tell you that last week at Publix I spent $10.73 cents and that was a savings of 82% off of the regular prices, many of my items were free or pretty close to free!

Publix shopping rules:
  1. Always shop the circular for your local market that is found online. There is an ad that comes out in the Sunday paper that includes the penny item coupon, but this ad just has a small selection of what is really for sale at Publix that week.
  2. I never purchase items that are not on sale at Publix unless I have a coupon that makes them completely free. Unless an item is on sale at Publix their prices are seemingly higher than the commissary or Wal-mart where I would usually get those items.
  3. In order to fully maximize Publix shopping and get your full savings you must clip/print coupons. Publix has a pretty awesome coupon policy, they double coupons up to 50 cents, you can use a Publix coupon(which can be found in their magazine type papers that are foudn at the front of the store or you can sign up for some of them on their website) along with a manufacturer's coupon, when you buy items that are B1G1 you can use 2 coupons, you can use printable coupons up to $4 and they also take competitor's coupons for other stores you have in your area, in Columbus that would usually be the Target printables.
  4. Use the B1G1 sales to stockpile. The more you stockpile the less you will have to shop for things that are typically on the B1G1 sales such as spaghetti sauce, pasta, cereal, juice,etc.
  5. When you purchase B1G1 items you do not have to purchase 2 of the item if you do not want to, if you purchase just 1 item then you will get that item for half off.
  6. Each Wednesday the new circular comes out there is a great website called Fiddledeedee where she matches all of that weeks B1G1 and sale items with printable coupons and tells you in what coupon fliers in the paper you can find the non printable coupons for the items. Remember when looking at this site, most of the time when you print a coupon you can press the back button and print a coupon again, making it possible for you to have 2 coupons for the B1G1 sales.
  7. Always make sure you try to have a coupon for the item you want to buy, however with that said the majority of the times on a B1G1 sale the items are cheaper than any other store. Publix has the best B1G1 sale around.
With that said allow me to show you last weeks $10.73 shopping trip:

  • 2 Kraft salad dressings: Reg $3.00/each on sale B1G1 for $1.50/each. I used 2 $1.50 off Kraft salad dressing coupons found on the Cooking with Kraft website making these items free!
  • 4 Muir Glen tomato sauce: Reg .89. I used 4 $1.00 of any Muir Glen item coupons found Bettycrocker.com making these items free plus .11 overage for each can.
  • 3 Mueller's Pasta: Reg $1.39/each on sale B1G1 for .70 each. I used a $1.00 off of the purchase of 3 found on pastavalue.com making these items cost .36 each for a total of $1.10.
  • 1 Go-gurt: Reg $2.99/each on sale B1G1 for $1.50. I purchased 1 and used a .40 coupon which was doubled to .80 found here making the Go-gurt .70.
  • 4 Chef-boyardee cans: Reg $1.50 on sale for .85. I used 4 $1.00 off any Chef-boyardee item coupons found on the Simple and Delicious website making these items free plus a .15 overage for each item.
  • 2 Hormel ready to eat entrees: Reg $5.5o/each on sale for $4.00/each. I used 2 $2.00 of Hormel item coupons found here making these items $2.00 each for a total of $4.00.
  • 2 Betty Crocker supreme brownie mix: Reg $2.69 each on sale B1G1 for $1.35 each. I used a .75 off of 2 coupon making these .97 each for a total of $1.94.
  • 2 Kraft Shells-n-Cheese: Reg $2.59 on sale B1G1 for $1.30 each. I used a $1.50/2 coupon found here making these items .55 each for a total of $1.10.
  • Kraft BBQ Sauce: Reg $1.39. I used a coupon that was found on the Shells and Cheese box for a free bottle of BBQ sauce when you purchase 2 Shells and Cheese. Making this item free!
  • Beechnut Mixed Cereal: Reg $1.89. I used a B1G1 coupon from a previous box of cereal to make these items .95 each for a total of $1.80
Overall last week I received 2 bottles of salad dressing(we use them for marinades for chicken), 4 cans of tomato sauce(for homemade spaghetti sauce), 4 cans of Chef-boyardee, and a bottle of Barbecue sauce completely free!! Which makes my free items a value of $13.95 completely free!

I purchased 21 items for $10.73 making that .51 for each item on average. Not too shabby if you ask me!!

Thursday, July 30, 2009

We left a part of us here.......

Five years ago when I graduated from Appalachian State, I could not wait to get down that mountain, I could not wait to have no more snowy winters, I could not wait to get back to the beach. And now five years later....I can not wait to get back to the mountains!!!!

This view....simply amazing and breathtaking. And by breathtaking, it literally was, this is the top of Elk Knob, when we first mounted the trail I thought 1.3 miles that is a breeze. Well not when the last 1/2 mile of the hike was at a complete incline full of loose rock and rated for serious hikers. But alas at the top the view we found was worth it all!

We are truly at peace here, we can not wait to go back, take the boys and perhaps settle down there one day!!!


Look, the Mountaineers are finally ready to play with the big boys!!! 3 National Championships gets you nice things, like this amazing new stadium!!!

Boating Boys!!!

After our fantastic Disney trip we went to Charleston for the weekend. My parents took us on their boat and the boys LOVED it!!!!



We anchored the boat on an island and got out and enjoyed the beach, ocean and STP Dippers for Groucho's Deli!!!



I am so glad my boys are not afraid of the water, I love love love the water and am glad that we are able to share out love of the water!!!

Disney Vacation Wrap-up!

Day Four: The Animal Kingdom

T and Mickey!!!

T danced away with Chip and Dale, he had a blast and is definetly NOT shy!!

T and his new bud Flick

Daddy C and T getting ready for It's Tough to be a Bug!!

Day Five: Epcot and Magic Kingdom Parade
T and Stitch at Epcot, about our only fun part of the experience there.

Baby C getting ready to enjoy the parade!!

This is my favorite part of the evening at the Magic Kingdom, I love the castle!!

Super Hero T and his super sized lollipop

Peace, he's out of here!!!

We had such an amazing time and I am so happy that we were able to spend this time as a family together. The boys were so well behaved, the lines were minimal and the experience was once in a lifetime!!!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Oh Wow....

We're still here I promise! 2 weeks of vacation, then a quick hospital stay for my father, wrapped up with a 2 day moving marathon makes for one tired Gleaton Gaggle.
A new post coming soon, or possibly, just maybe 2 news posts coming soon!!

Monday, July 6, 2009

Hello from Disney!!!!

WOW!!! Exhausted does not even begin to describe how I am currently feeling!!! This makes for T's 3rd trip to the Happiest Place on Earth, but this by far has been the most exciting, fun and exhausting trip!!! He is all over the place and running us ragged, he and his Daddy are down stairs in the Kid's area watching Kung Fu Panda or playing Guitar Hero, not sure which one the mad man wanted to do tonight. While Baby C and I are in the room relaxing, well he is asleep in his crib (snoring) and I am blogging!!!
Day One: Hollywood Studios
We had a blast at Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM Studios), I would highly recommend the new Toy Story Mania ride, super fun!!! But get there at park opening and high tail it for a Fast Pass, we got ours at 9:04, 4 minutes after the gates opened, I ran with a baby strapped on my chest and got fast passes for 10:35, by 11:00 all FP were gone for the day!!! T loved meeting all of his favorite characters...see his star struck.....
On to.......Day Two: The Magic Kingdom
This was by far the BEST Magic Kingdom experience I have EVER had, no lines more than 10 minutes long all day long. However this was due to a tragic accident that occured early in the morning on July 5th at around 2am there was a head on monorail collision, which left the 21 year old driver dead. The monorail has been closed since the accident so the ferry is the only way over to the magic kingdom from the ticket center, therefore a lot of people avoided the area. Our hearts are heavy for that family!!!

Now on to.......
Day Three(current day): Chef Mickey's and Typhoon Lagoon
We had a great day today, starting with the Chef Mickey's character breakfast, $80 later, a full belly, alot of character meeting and autographs we all left happy and headed to the water park for a day of fun!!!! Which leads me now to my current state, exhausted and blogging from the bed!!!

Tomorrow we head to The Animal Kingdom in the morning, then back to the Magic Kingdom for some evening riding and the parade at night. Wednesday is Epcot! Thursday we head to Busch Gardens in Tampa for the day and to spend the evening with Chad's college buddy Lew and Friday we shall relax by the pool with adult beverages before we head out Saturday morning!!!

I hope everyone had a blessed 4th and all of our friends have fun on leave!!!!!

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Bon Voyage!!!!

Tomorrow morning we head to the happiest most magical place on Earth!!!
We will be enjoying some super spectacular and much needed family time at the Mouse's
house for the next week! I may not, or possible may be able to post while we are away, I guess
it depends on how busy T keeps us!!

I hope everyone has a happy and very safe Fourth of July!!!!