Product review: Lipton Tea & Honey

I got a free sample for Lipton Tea & Honey in the mail. It's flavored iced green tea mix, the flavor I got was Pineapple Mango. It's similar to the Crystal Light packets; you pour it into a 16 oz bottle or stir it into 2 cups of water. It has 5 calories per serving. I loved it! It was very flavorful and not too sweet. My only problem with it was it seemed very hard to get it mixed up well.

Would I buy it again? I probably will, they sent me a coupon and I'm going to look at the store and try it out.

Product Review: Kidco Outlet Cover

Last summer, I had a horrible time with my toddlers unplugging my fan in the living room. It got to the point where I just unplugged at the start of every day and then plugged it back in at night. After the winter, I had hoped maybe they'd outgrown it, but no such luck. I did not want to go through another summer without my fan on during the day, so I started looking for a solution and I found this on Amazon:

It not only shortens the cord, it also keeps the kids from being able to mess around with the plug. I've had it for a couple of months now and it is super! It was very easy to install, just took me a couple of minutes. My only problem with it was that it was almost too hard for me to open at first, but I've managed to get the hang of it now. So, I have no complaints. Now if I can just get them to quit turning the darn thing on and off!!! Geesh!

United sale ad

This week at United:

Kraft BBQ sauce 69 cents a bottle
Cool Whip, 8 oz: 99 cents
United hamburger and hot dog buns: 89 cents

Now through July 10th, you can buy $20 worth of participating products (must be bought in one transaction) and get a $6 mail-in rebate offer

Kingsford charcoal, Heinz ketchup, Vlasic pickles, Hillshire farm smoked sausage, Hidden Valley dressings, KC Masterpiece marinades, American Beauty pasta, Hawaiian Punch, Pringles chips, Glad freezer or storage bags, cling wrap, press n seal, and sandwich bags, Clorox bleach, Quilted Northern bath tissue, Brawny paper towels. And KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce which is on sale for $1 a bottle. There were coupons recently for $1 off two bottles, making the BBQ sauce 50 cents a bottle!

Awesome K-Mart deals last night!

Last night, I went to K-Mart after a meeting I had in Enid. If you don't already know this, Shop Your Way Reward Card members can double coupons up to $1. The conditions are that you have to spend $25 on health/beauty and/or grocery items and they will only double up to 5 of them. I asked last night and you can USE more than 5, but they'll only double the first five. Last night, I got

2 bottles of Tide plus Downy, on sale for $8.97, used $1 coupons to make them $6.97

Purex laundry pods, on sale for $2.50, used 50 cent coupons to make them $1.50.

Alberto V05 shampoos, on sale for 79 cents. I had coupons for $1 off three, making them about 13 cents a bottle! Even without using the double coupon, they would only be 46 cents a bottle with that price and the coupon.

But WAIT! There's more! I also used my points that I had been accumulating, I had $7 worth that I could use, which brought my total to under $10! That made the shampoo and Purex pods basically free and the Tide about $4.50 a bottle before tax.

Have I ever mentioned that I love coupons?

Last Day!

Today is the last day you can enter the contest for a coupon for free Dry Idea deodorant over at According 2 Mandy! Don't wait!!!!!

Hopefully...

Hopefully I will be able to write more this week. I started a new infant in my child care last week. And while things went really well, it still made it a little (actually A LOT!) chaotic and crazy around here. And I was flat worn out by the end of each day.

Praying that each of you have a wonderful week!

United and Jumbo's this week

There are a couple of noteworthy deals available this week.

At United, they have Borden shredded cheeses on sale for $1.74. You can use the 75 cent off coupon from the All You magazine to get them for 99 cents or you can use the 55 cent off coupon from the Sunday paper to get them for $1.19. Good deal, either way!

Also at United, Betty Crocker Suddenly Salad mixes are 10 for $10 and there are 50 cent off two coupons, making them 75 cents a box. There is also Hamburger Helper on sale 10/$10 with 75 cents off 3 coupons making them 75 cents a box.

At Jumbo's, Best Choice 8 oz cans of tomato sauce are 5/$1.

Win a free bottle of Dry Idea Deodorant!

Mandy over at According 2 Mandy is having another great contest. This time, you can enter for a chance to win a bottle of Dry Idea roll-on deodorant. Head on over there to read her review and enter for a chance to win!

Free 8x10 through Saturday at Walgreen's

You can get a free 8x10 enlargement through Saturday, June 18th at Walgreen's. Just use this code: PRINT8X10

Jumbo's Ad: June 13th-19th

There are some good deals at Jumbo's in Enid this week

If you missed the Planter's Peanut Butter at United last week, here's a chance to get it for $1.69 at Jumbo's this week. (I gave two of my jars away to Josh so I'll probably buy more to replace it,LOL)

Hamburger Helpers: 98 cents. Combine that with the 75 cents off 3 coupons and get them for 73 cents a box!

Bulls-Eye Barbecue Sauce: 99 cents each.

Best Choice frozen veggies (select varieties): 89 cents a bag

Best Choice 24 oz ketchup: 79 cents

Manwich sauce (original only) $1

Best Choice dozen large eggs: 89 cents

Does it really cost more to eat healthy?

As I've been talking about in my personal blog: Crockpot Cruise, Tom and I have been making some changes in our lifestyle and working on getting healthier. We're both working out and we are eating healthier. I cannot count the number of times I have heard people say that it costs more to eat healthy and I always thought they were right. But what I'm finding out is that if you follow a good commonsense nutrition plan and watch your portions, it doesn't have to cost more. I have not seen our grocery bill increase at all since we started eating healthier.I know it costs us less when we go out to eat because we're eating smaller amounts or we're bringing home part of our meal to eat at another meal.

One of the first people that I heard actually bust this myth was Jill Cooper of Living on a Dime. She talks about it in one of her books that I reviewed: Penny Pinching Mama. In the book, she talks about how she controlled her family's portions while insuring that they followed a basic healthy eating plan. For an online article by Jill about healthy eating, go here.

Where did this myth start then? Well, I think alot of it is from eating those diet fad foods, like the low fat items from a few years ago, or the Atkin's and other low-carb items from more recently. Those kinds of specialty foods do tend to cost quite a bit more. But choosing healthy, well-balanced foods does not.

Want some help choosing and personalizing your own healthy eating plan? Check out Choose My Plate.

Don't take my word for it! I challenge you to check it out for yourself!

Free buffet coupon from Cici's Pizza

I am a member of Cici's Pizza e-mail club and got a coupon for a free buffet for dads this week (with the purchase of another adult buffet). I don't know if you'll get it if you join now, but it's worth a try. I get some pretty good coupons from them.

Product Review: Propel Zero fitness water

This week, I received a free sample of Propel Zero fitness water in the mail to try. It was the Kiwi-strawberry flavor. Propel fitness water adds Vitamins C, E, and B along with antioxidants and flavoring to water with no added calories and no artificial colors. It's a little packet of powder that you add to a bottle of water or a 16 ox glass of water.

What did I think? I really liked it, especially the kiwi-strawberry flavor. I love drinking water and try to drink lots of it, but every once in a while, it's nice to mix it up and have a little flavor added to it.

I was a little disappointed that they didn't send me a coupon so I could go buy more and try it out. Don't these people realize I need coupons? LOL. I will watch for a good deal on these and try them out. Tom liked them too, so this might be a nice substitution for soft drinks and a change of pace from the Crystal Light Energy stuff we've been drinking, too.

Jumbo's one day sales

Remember to check your Saturday Enid News & Eagle each Saturday morning to see what the one day sales are at Jumbo's for that day. Sometimes there are some really great deals!

Great deal on paper towels at Staples tonight!

I got a super deal on paper towels at Staples tonight. They had 15 packs of Bounty Basic on sale for $9.99. I got three of them and combined it with:
a $5/$25 store coupon
three $1 off Bounty Basic coupons
and a $18 Staples Rewards coupon
to get 45 rolls of paper towels for $4.55!!!!!

Facebook page contest

Remember, I am still having a contest on my Facebook page to give away a free coupon binder when I reach 100 "likes", so if you haven't entered yet, go check out my page.

Great United Deals June 7th

Tom went to United after work for me today and got some great deals. For $19.42 we got:

6 jars of Planter's peanut butter ($1.49 each)
2 packages Kraft American cheese slices ($1.09 after coupon and sale)
2 jars of Kraft mayo ($1.44 after sale and coupon)
4 bottles of Kraft salad dressings (49 cents after sales and coupons)
1 package Kraft natural cheese slices ($1.24 after sale and coupon)
Bananas (just because I needed them, LOL)

The cheese doesn't show up in the picture, guess I didn't arrange it very well:

Have you checked out Gift Hulk yet?

Have you tried out Gift Hulk yet? It's a point earning website where you can earn "Hulk Coins" and get some free stuff. If you use my referral link and then enter the code cruisingwithcoupons at the Fountain of Youth, you'll start out with 75 coins. It only takes 439 coins to get a $5 Amazon Gift Card! Check it out today!

Jumbo's Sale ad: June 6th-12th

This week at Jumbo's:

Kellogg's pop-tarts: 3/$5, there are $1 off three coupons out, making these 3/$4
Coke & Dr. Pepper 20 packs: $4.98

And...yeah, that's the best deals I saw.

United sale ad: June 6th-12th

Starting Wednesday, June 6th at United:

Hiland cottage cheese 24 oz, $1.99
Hiland butter quarters, 16 oz: $1.99
General Mills cereals (select ones): 2/$5, use with $1 off three coupon to get 3 boxes for $6.50
Great sale on buy 5 items, get $5 off. Mix and match these items to save $5 (or $1 off each) Highlights are:
Kraft American cheese singles and Kraft chunk or shredded cheeses: $2.59 ($1.59 if you buy 5 items)
Kraft natural cheese slices: $2.79 ($1.79 if you buy 5 items), there are 55 cent coupons out for these which would bring them to $1.24
32 oz. Kraft Mayo or Miracle Whip, $2.99 ($1.99 when you buy 5 items), there are also 55 cent off coupons for these, making them $1.44)
Kraft pourable salad dressing: $1.99 (99 cents when you buy 5 items). This is the perhaps the best deal, there are $1 off 2 coupons out, you can get Kraft dressing for 49 cents a bottle!!!!!!
Finally, Planter's peanut butter is $2.49 ($1.49 when you buy 5), this is one of the best deals on peanut butter I've seen in a while. If your family eats peanut butter, I suggest you stock up! :)

Do you ever get burned out on using coupons?

Do you ever get burned out on using coupons? I know I do. It makes me wonder how you guys get through it and get back in the groove. Right now I"m not so much burned out as I am kind of out of practice. For the last few months (since before Serenity's wedding/reception), we've been using up our stockpile of stuff and doing very little buying or coupon shopping. So now it's time to get going again.

My ideas:
1. Just do it! I sat down this morning and cut out yesterday's coupons that I wanted. Put the rest in a file folder in case I found a great deal I needed. I'm already looking at this week's ads and picking out what I need. I saw Gain on sale at Family Dollar and I have some coupons for that, and I know Kraft cheese is on sale at United this week (I actually got my ad BEFORE the sale, LOL).

2. If you can, do what we've been doing and just live off your stockpile for a while. Sometimes you need to do that anyway, just so you don't turn into a hoarder.

3. Find some good website or books for inspiration. What are your favorite coupon or money saving sites? Share them in the comment section and I'll review some of them!

According 2 Mandy blog

Head on over to According to Mandy's blog and you'll find links to enter for a chance to win a free year of Ladies Home Journal or a Pretty Little Liars handbag.

Mandy keeps you up-to-date on what's going on with your favorite reality television stars and on your favorite shows, and also has exclusive interviews with stars from some of those same shows.