Coupon Adventures Week #4

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

As I began my 4^thweek as a ‘Couponer’ (I guess I could be classified as one now, right?) a few things were running through my head. On the positive end, I felt like I had established a routine regarding finding and storing coupons, looking through sale ads, matching coupons to sale items, and creating my shopping list. On the opposite end of positive, (That means negative, in case you weren’t sure.) since I began this journey I have strived to spend less than $100.00 at Meijer. My husband and I have a running joke that spending at least $100.00 is a requirement at Meijer. So far I have yet to reach this goal. I have tried couponing because I want to save money and it doesn’t seem to me that I am saving money. If I look at my receipts I am able to see the‘savings’, but I’m quite seeing the savings that I’m looking for. I have to be honest I was thinking that this may all be a waste, until I completed my transaction at Meijer and saw my total came to $90.90! ~SUCCESS! ~ I spent less than $100.00 at Meijer!

I ran across a few new things this week that I would like to caution you about. First of all, I found it very helpful to have the store ads with me while shopping. It was also helpful to have the items I intended on purchasing circled (I was able to quickly find items when needed) in the ads. Manufacturers use such similar adjectives (Such as Super pack or Mega pack on toilet paper) on their products that it can be confusing to determine which specific product is on sale. The cashier and managers were very friendly and helpful when mistakes were made. I was appreciative and impressed with the customer service at both Target and Marsh. Second, be sure to watch as the cashier scans your items. Just because items are on sale in the ads does not mean that they have been entered in the computer system. I was thankful to have my ad with me so I could quickly and easily show the cashier the advertised price. This situation was handled appropriately and corrected. Lastly, I found it helpful to estimate how much my total bill should be before going to the stores. Knowing the estimate helped to alert me that items rang up incorrectly.

Meijer:

Sale and Coupon items purchased:

Item:	Original Price:	Sale Price:	Coupon:	Savings:
Cereal	$3.99 (I bought 2 = $7.98)	3 for $10.00 ($3.33 each)	$1.00 on 2	$2.32
Hot Pockets	$2.24 (I bought 6 = $13.44)	5 for $10.00 ($2.00 each)	$1.00 on 6	$2.44
Freezer Bags	$2.59 (I bought 2 = $5.18)	2 for $4.00 ($2.00 each)	.75 on 2	$1.93
Sandwich Bags	$2.50 (I bought 2 = $5.00)	2 for $4.00 ($2.00 each)	.50 on 2 (coupon doubled)	$1.50
Deodorant	$4.09	$3.98	$1.00 on 1	$1.11
Smoked Sausage	$3.69	2 for $5.00 ($2.50 each)	.55 on 1	$1.74
Cookies	$2.49 (I bought 2 = $4.98)	2 for $4.00 ($2.00 each)	$1.00 off 2	$1.98
Fruit	$1.45 (I bought 2 = $2.90)	4 for $5.00 ($1.25 each)	.50 on 2 (coupon doubled)	.90
				Total Sale and Coupon items savings: $13.92

Sale Item Purchases:

Item:	Original Price:	Sale Price:	Savings:
Milk	$2.99 (I bought2 = $5.98)	2 for $5.00	.98
Salad	$2.99 (I bought 3 = $8.97)	3 for $5.00	$3.97
Pastry Treats	$1.79 (I bought 3 = $5.37)	3 for $5.00	.37
Apple Sauce	$1.79 (I bought 3 = $5.37)	3 for $5.00	.37
Fruit Cups	$2.00 (I bought 3 = $6.00)	3 for $5.00	$1.00
			Total Sale items savings: $6.69

Total Meijer Savings: $20.61

Marsh:

Sale and Coupon items purchased:

Item:	Original Price:	Sale Price:	Coupon:	Savings:
Bacon	$4.69	$3.69	.75	$1.75
Toaster Strudel	$2.95 (I bought 3 = $8.85)	2 for $4.00 (I bought 3 = $6.00)	.75 on 3	$3.60
Nature Valley Granola Bars	$4.19 (I bought 2 = $8.38)	4 for $10.00 (I bought 2 = $5.00)	.50 on 2	$3.88
Breakfast on the Go	$3.79 (I bought 3 = $11.37)	2 for $5.00 (I bought 3 = $7.50)	$1.00 on 1 $1.50 on 2	$6.37
				Total Sale and Coupon items savings: $15.60

Sale Item Purchases:

Item:	Original Price:	Sale Price:	Savings:
Bread	$3.19 (I bought 3 = $9.57)	Buy 1 get 2 free	$6.38
Chips	$4.29 (I bought 2 = $8.58)	Buy 1 get 1 free	$4.29
Juice Boxes	$2.59 (I bought 2 = $5.18)	$2.19 (I bought 2 = $4.38)	.80
			Total Sale items savings: $11.47

Total Marsh Savings: $27.07

Total Weekend Savings: $47.68

What I learned:

1. Bring the store ads with you. The sale prices do not always ring up correctly.

2. Read the fine print carefully on what specific item is on sale.

3. Have an estimate in mind of what your total bill should be when all is said and done.

DIY Slime

My boys do not have school today. I thought they would enjoy making some slime. I found instructions for it on Pinterest. At first it is super stringy and watery. I do have to admit that it was gooier at first than it was described. I was shocked when both of them took one look at it and said “I’m not touching that gooey stuff Mommy!” After I kneaded it a little it wasn’t as gooey and they both came around to touching it. I had to laugh at them though because after I did knead the slime and placed the bowl back in front of them, they looked at one another and said “You go first. I’m not going first!” They also made a comparison to pumpkin guts (Which they refused to touch as well). I agree, it did look like pumpkin guts at first.
You will need the following items to make the slime:

Borax, water, food coloring (I used the food coloring that is used to color icing. It’s what I had around and it makes richer colors than the liquid kind.), glue, 2 bowls, a spoon to mix with, and a teaspoon.

How to make Slime:

1. In a small bowl mix 1 tsp of Borax and 1 cup of water. Stir the mixture until the Borax is dissolved.

2. In another bowl pour 4oz. (1 bottle) of glue.

3. Add food coloring and ½ cup of water to the bowl with the glue. Stir until the food coloring and water are mixed with the glue. Add food coloring until the mixture is color you desire.

4. Stir the Borax mixture into the glue mixture.

5. Use your hands to knead the mixture together. ~Our mixture was VERY stringy and squishy. Keep kneading the mixture. Kids may need some Mommy help at this point.

6. When the mixture is as ‘together’ as it’s going to be pour off the excess liquid. ~We had quite a bit of excess liquid.

7. Keep kneading the mass. It will eventually become less stringy and wet and become more like slim.

My Review of the process and outcome:

My boys had a lot of fun making this. They enjoyed playing with it after it was made as well. I got out some of the tools that they use with PlayDoh. I wouldn’t recommend using the PlayDoh tools that require the dough to be shoved inside and pressed out. I think the slime is too sticky and may not come out as easily as PlayDoh. The cookie cutters, rollers, and scissors worked well though. While my kids played with the slime I had time to get ½ of my workout in. Then my youngest needed to be fed. I was ½ way through feeding her when the boys were ready to be done with the slime. So they managed to stay occupied with it for at least 45 minutes, not too bad, if I do say so myself!

I will warn you that it is a little messy. I would make sure to wear clothes that can get yucky. The boys did try to pick up their mess when they finished playing. When I came back down stairs I notice that there were ‘drips’ of the slime on the floor and some was stuck to the island where we made it and where they played with it at. Be sure to have an area cleared off so that kids can play with the slime and not get it on something else. My 3 year old thought it would be a good idea to put the whole blob of slime on a dish rag (I’m not sure why, but then again I don’t know why he does a lot of the things he does). I managed to get most of it off of the dish rag, but not all of it. Needless to say looks like I’m out a dish rag, oh well! He had fun and it gave all 3 of us something to do together.

When your kids do finish with the slime it can be stored in an airtight bag or container.