The Pentons

So today I took advantage of a sale at Target. They are running a promo where if you buy 4 Fiber one products, you get a $5 gift certificate. Select Fiber one products are on sale for 2.39. So I bought 4 boxes of cereal at 2.39 and I also had a coupon for .50 off each. So I paid $8 and got $5 back. Then I did a seperate transaction where I bought 2 boxes of granola bars at 2.39 a box and 2 boxes of Fiber one pop tarts at $2 a box for I also had coupons and I paid about $4 (after using the gift card). Then I got a $5 gift card and spent it on whatever I wanted, I had coupons for Mayo, BBQ sauce and Teddy grahams so I got 2 of each of those items and only paid .56 cents for them! How fun!

So lately with the economy being the way it is, and us being on a tight budget, I have gotten interested in using coupons at stores and I've found out how to use coupons to save a lot of money! So I thought I would pass my secrets along. I am an avid follower of various blogs and I look to them to see where the best deals are that I can use my coupons. I've put links for these blogs on the side of my blog page. I also buy at least 2 Sunday newspapers to get coupons every week. I usually buy them at Walmart, they come out on Saturday, so I grab them then. Some of the deals that I have gotten is I usually don't pay more than $1 for cereal. I have gotten up to 3 gallons of milk for free. This last week I only paid $15 in a shopping trip and it was marked on my receipt that I saved $35 (saving more then you spend is a satisfying feeling!). You want to learn more? Look to the blogs that I have posted and shop all the sales with coupons in hand. Stay tuned to my blog and I'll post the hot items for the week :)

Both my sister in laws are having babies this summer and I thought I would give them each a baby quilt. They are having a boy and a girl. I did the girl quilt first. It's called stacked coins and I hand quilted it.

This valentines day, we didn't do too much. Craig made me the sweetest valentine and he also gave me a cute little school bag and a fluffy teddy bear. I gave him (call me a dork) a new shower head. He's a tall guy and didn't fit under our old shower head, so I gave him a shower head that extends up so that he can actually get his whole body wet without crouching.

On Friday the 13th we went to a stake valentine's dance. Can I just say that Mormon's need to learn how to party. 90% of the people who came ate dinner and then left. It was a hopping party. I swear as people get married they get less exciting. But we stayed for a little karaoke, and even considered singing a duet together (didn't happen). Next time I vote for dancing instead of karaoke.

So last night we went and saw Bedtime stories. I loved it! Adam Sandler is a funny guy and he kept it really clean, its a very family friendly movie.

Another movie we saw was Valkyre. It was a good movie that talked about Nazi Germany, it was sad with a depressing ending, but I liked it becuase it let you see how Nazi Germany really operated and how Hitler really was. I've never seen any movies that reveal that much information about the Nazi's. I enjoyed it, probably wouldn't see it again.

Another Christmas has come and gone and we had a great one! It started when we went and picked out our very first Christmas tree. It looked a little like a Charlie Brown tree next to all the big ones but it fit perfectly in our small apartment. I had lots of fun decorating it!

For "Christmas eve" aka December 23 we went to the Miller's house and opened presents. We got lots of fun things including aprons, new kitchen bowls, and more pieces to our nativity set. We had a yummy ham dinner and enjoyed playing the new wii fit with the whole family.

That night when we went home we couldn't wait any longer and we opened our presents to each other. I got a sewing machine, a grill/griddle for the stove, new socks and a belt. Craig got Guitar hero world tour, a new coat and cologne.

Christmas day we went to the Yauney's house where we opened up lots of new DVD's, clothes and DDR for the wii! We had a yummy turkey dinner and also enjoyed playing wii fit with the family.

Thanks for the good memories this holiday season!