Weekly dinner round up...

Smelly brussel sprouts (free & from a box in the frozen food section)... with free pasta and home canned tomato sauce...

Pancakes, bacon (from happy pigs) and eggs from our hens...
I don't know about you...but I like ketchup with my eggs...

After I worked all day in the yard... I came inside and the handsome husband asked... What's for dinner?
This is what I came up with.
Please tell me I'm not the only one who serves french fries, rice, graham crackers with peanut butter, cheese and crackers, 1 quesadilla and fruit and veggies for dinner...

If you've never made homemade tortilla's before...
MAKE THESE...
You will never go back to crappy store bought tortillas...
EVER!

They were sooooo good
that I ate my dinner over the sink next to the blue sponge...
and I NEVER eat over the sink (I think it might be a man thing)
but they were so stinkin good that I could not wait to sit down...

Chicken Curry and asparagus...

Soft taco's... with homemade tortillas...again...
this time I was able to sit down at the table and eat them...
3 of them to be exact...

The truth is revealed... coupon clipping questions answered.

Thyhand asked a bunch of questions in yesterday's monthly food purchase photo update... so I thought I'd answer them in a new post today... just in case you had some of the same questions.

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1) How do you keep everything organized once it's home and in your house?

Cabinet space in our kitchen is limited to 2 large cupboards with food... everything else goes in the "food storage" room... or the "mini mart" as the handsome husband likes to call it. However my free shampoo/ toiletries collection was getting rather large so I had to move the "dry goods" to another closet. I fully expect to be on the show Hoarders by the end of the summer.

2) How do you determine how much of a back supply you will keep for yourself? For example, if you already have a year's supply of laundry detergent, do you stop keeping detergent and just donate the rest?

I DO have a years supply of laundry detergent, so... obviously I can stop collecting free detergent for myself. But I'm working on a years supply for Leopard Girl & Little Miss Lawyer Pants for their Christmas Pallets. When I'm done with their year supply I will be donating the rest to a Woman's shelter.

3) Can you tell I am trying to figure out the workings of your thrifty, thrifty mind?:-)

A penny saved is a penny earned. Not using a coupon is like throwing away money.

.72 cents PLUS 1 Free gallon of milk... Keep what you'll eat... donate the rest!

4) When your garden becomes more demanding, will you be able to back off on the deal-hunting or will you shift things into over-drive?

I don't know what I will do during growing season. I will probably have enough free crapola on hand that I can take it easy during the summer months... but I have no idea... I've only been on coupon crack for 2 months and I'm still figuring it all out.

5) On average, how many hours per day would you say that you spend coupon-hunting/clipping and shopping for all your deals?

Right now... 1-2 hours... but each day it gets less and less. THAT MAY SEEM LIKE A LOT... (and maybe it is) but I'd rather spend 1 -2 hours a day looking/ clipping/ shopping for free food than sitting on my bum watching mindless reality tv or shopping at the mall or getting my nails done or doing something else equally lame. Here's an example... yesterday we went to Albertson's and bought $83 worth of food for $1.30. Would you rather get up, go to work, pay taxes and earn $83 or would you rather take 15 minutes and clip a few coupons and pay only $1.30 for $83 worth of food? Hmmmm

6) This is not a question, but someone should hire you as their personal shopper.

I don't think it would be fun doing this for someone else... I'm weird that way...

Yesterday's Freebies

7) You should win some kind of award (also not a question) or teach some kind of coupon class or start a coupon clipping blog or something to get the word out on your coupon-using-self.

I have offered to teach a few people (friends) about the whole coupon clipping game... but the funny things is...no one seems to have the time... to save money...

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There is ONE QUESTION I was waiting for someone to ask... but no one did...

Did you forget the name of your blog?

No, I have not. When I started this little blog of mine a year ago the goal was to "jump off the processed food chain." And I was doing a pretty good job of it if you ask me... until about 2 months ago... when I discovered THE POWER OF A COUPON...

Where does that leave me?

I have no idea.

But the Farmer's Market opens soon...
and I will be working in the garden for a few hours each day once again...
and I'm just as curious as you ... to see where that leads...
But I do know one thing for sure...
Once you start to use coupons... why would you stop?
Those little pieces of paper = free money
And oddly enough... it's not about the free money... it's about not wasting it.

Why would you pay $3.49 for a bag of Sun Chips...
when you can get them for .19 cents a bag?

Monthly food purchase update...3 of 12

PLEASE NOTE... I/we did not eat all the food shown below... a great majority (cereal & chimichangas & a few other items) of it was traded or given away... okay... now I feel better.

You may proceed.



$4.77 from the Local Produce Stand

$1.35

$3.84 (the cereal is NOT MINE... the store had a deal... if you bought 3 boxes of cereal you got a FREE gallon of milk... so I paired up with my neighbor Girly Girl and she bought the cereal @ .29cents a box and I got the free milk... I still have 2 more coupons left for a free milk)

FREE...

FREE...
Never before in my life have I bought body wash...
But if they are giving it away for free... then sign me up.
Leopard Girl... I found Arm & Hammer toothpaste for you!

Okay... So I know you are asking yourself :
"What's in the bags Mavis"...

Ummmm... just a few FREE Chimichanga's

Okay... so maybe more like 120 FREE (gross) Chimichangas

I don't even EAT FROZEN CHIMICHANGA'S...
But they were free...
and HOLY CATS.... look at this...
I made $4.00 just for taking 120 Free Chimichangas off the freezer shelf...

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But wait... the best part... As I was walking out to put a bunch of chimmies in my car... I saw my neighbor and his son... and TOLD THEM about the FREE chimmies...
and made them pick up 10 free ones too...
Yep... that's what it's all about people...

(feel free to call the hot line 1-800-help-mavis-now)

I spy with my little eye...
2 gallons of milk, organic chicken, organic carrots and 2lbs of snap peas...
$33 buck a roo's
(FYI this was my 1 and only trip to Costco ALL MONTH)

Look... REAL FOOD AGAIN...
from the produce stand...

Every time I have coupon "overage" at Target I pick up these chips...

$7.04
Beer and nuts (after rebate & coupons)

More REAL FOOD....

The handsome husband MADE ME buy my children this crap at intermission at the bagpipe show... BAD HUSBAND... not only that... it was $6

$3.97 for coffee for Mr. Fancy Pants... the napkins and lime were FREE

FREE ...
Safeway had toothpaste on sale for $1 each... and I had $1 off coupons... the ivory & olay faceclothes were free because I took advantage of the p&g esaver coupons from their website.

$2.82 for REAL FOOD...
well... except the crappy tomatoes... those don't count as real food...

Free at Walgreens... plus I made .75 cents

$4.54

.92 cents... and free cabbage leaves from my new boyfriend in the produce department.

Safeway was having a $1 sale on salad dressing...
lucky me... I had $1 off coupons...
the salad mix and veggies were $4.90

I love FREE samples...
Even if it's crappy free samples...

$6.04...
The only thing that I had to pay for was the bread & the half and half...
everything else was FREE
I bet my peeps will be soooo excited to receive Dora The Explorer Band Aids, neosporin and possibly a years supply of gum in their Christmas pallets...

Milk & oranges $2.54

FREE

FREE

FREE

The air freshener and seasoning packet were free...
I don't remember the price on the organic chicken, veggies & milk...
but I do remember that my new boyfriend in the produce section gave me some free cabbage leaves for the chickens...

.58 cents

The handsome husband came home with a box of 10
free instant Starbucks coffee thingamajigs...
I didn't ask questions...

Free

.29 cents for the envelopes... everything else was free

Free Starbucks coffee for the handsome husband ala birthday gift card

$2.10... GASP... It was 2pm and I was hours away from home
and I needed my daily 2pm caffeinated tea fix...
Anyone who knows me in real life knows that about 1:30pm I start to get nervous... and tell whomever will listen to me that I need to get a tea ... quickly... and I will continue to repeat myself until I get some caffeine... We all have our vices... and in the whole big picture of things... mine is not a big one... although there is that other little well known vice called obsessive coupon clipping...
THAT one... might need some serious attention...

More free crap...
And a free Target coupon booklet from Mrs. Hillbilly
(one of my many enablers)...
I gave her some free make-up in trade...

Ohhh lookey here... if I buy Guinness for the handsome husband I get $5 worth of
FREE cheese...

Beer $15.15 and avocados $2.44

Free crap food

Spuds .26 cents

$11.02
(This was my last time around buying the newspaper... I've figured out a way to get me coupons for FREE now...YIPEE)

Free

I don't remember how much this was...
I remember the noodles & the protein bar were free...

$11.17 for happy bacon and a treat for me...

Holy Stinkin Cow... that's a lot of yogurt...
I paid $1.50 for all of it...and a pack of gum.
Have I ever told you how much I like double coupons?

A 2 year suppply of paper towels and a bunch of t.p $10.30

Albertson's double coupons...
They paid me .93 cents to take it home... FREE!

$1.28 after Rite Aid rebates...

Free Tuna

Have I ever told you HOW MUCH I LOVE refried beans?
A 1 week supply of pinto beans $13.99 Hardy har har...

Hey... REAL FOOD...
$14.41 at the local produce market

The handsome husband wanted cardboard pizza and beer to eat while he watched his man sports on t.v.

And I had a coupon... so I bought it for him...
After Rebate: Pizza $4.45 Beer $21.64

I was able to purchase 4 gallons of milk & 4 boxes of honey bunches of oats for $6.56... because I had 4 of these...

And I knew ahead of time that if I purchased 4 boxes the register would spit out a $3 off your next order coupon... and it did :)

Of course had I known that I would be picking up 86 boxes of FREE cereal just 2 weeks later... The 4 boxes of free honey bunches of oats would not have been that exciting...

Free Dayquil and tissues...will it ever end?

Holy Stinkin Cow...
Now... let me explain... see the 27 cans of juice? How much would you pay for a years supply of juice? Just answer that one simple question before you judge me... What if I told you that the total cost for everything in that picture was $15... But you had to buy it ALL... to get it at that price? Hmmm... I mean some people would pay $15 for the 6 tubes of toothpaste in the photo... some people would be happy to pay $15 for 5 quarts & 1 pint of ice cream... but me? I paid $15 for all of it... and FYI... I AM NOT keeping those gross bagel bites... and the 5 boxes of muffin mix? I plan on using those when I have to feed 125 kids again in a few months... I am out of control... and I know it...



Okay... $5.14... Double coupons & free food rule!
Free paper plates...(like 200 of them & nice ones too!) free turkey (via a rebate), free cat food (NO I don't have a cat), free contact lens solution (no I don't have contacts) free shampoo, free chips, free deodorant, free snickers, free aspirin, free gross lunchables, free noodles, free flavored water & free crackers... so basically I only paid for the produce & coffee in the photo...


20lbs of flour $2.27

I've decided to cut my spending by a 1/4 to only $300 a month in April. There is defiantly a science to all this couponing... and I'm getting VERY close to figuring it all out. AND FYI: the Farmer's Market opens next week... So there is HOPE.


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So what have I learned about myself this month?

#1 Clearly... If it is FREE... I will put it in my cart. I don't care if it's free dog food or frozen burritos that taste like dog food... I will find someone else who wants/needs it.

#2 I'm having loads of fun...

#3 Soon I will have a 1 year+ supply of food that would make even a Mormon Housewife jealous. (and that's NOT a put down... but rather a HIGH FIVE... because everyone should have a years supply of food... just in case).

#4 I could open a 24hour mini mart if I wanted too...

#5 If this continues I will be doing a "12 days of Christmas" give away on my blog in December... Giving away a 12 month supply of something everyday for 12 days straight... C'mon... you know you want a years supply of toothpaste and body wash...

#6 If the Christmas pallets get any bigger I may just have to upgrade to shipping crates...

#7 This is what I would call a "constructive hobby"... and OBVIOUSLY it's a FREE HOBBY... no fancy gear, clothing or rules to obey... well except the one that says "Thou shalt not pay full price"...

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Any thoughts? Concerns?

Leave me a comment or send me a post card...
I'm back in room #203 at the coupon clipping treatment center...
I hear jello salad is on the menu for tonight!
I'm pumped!