Smith's Shopping Trip 5/13/11 & This Week In Review

Went to Smith's today to grab a few things for the weekend. We are going to the Zoo for my daughters birthday, as well as celebrating my sister's birthday. Lots to do, and I needed things for the day trip. I also grabbed a few other things as well that we needed, and other wants :)

$60.61 worth of stuff
I paid only $21.78
That's a 66% savings!!!

Not bad at all for lunch meat, hair color, and stylers, not to mention everything else on there! By the way, I finally got my free boulder canyon potato chips! YAY FOR FREE!


Also, this week I got my Procter & Gamble sampler pack! I got a $1/1 Cheer product as well as a bunch of different samples of things too! I love free, and even though these are just samples, they are things I use, so it adds up!



A while ago, Suave was having a promotion on there site for their professionals line. I finally got my coupons from them this week for my free product! I was very excited to get those from the store today. Can't wait to see how they actually work now!

Chicken Enchilada Recipe - Another Origional From My Kitchen

I made these for Cinco de Mayo this month, and was planning on posting the recipe the next day, but spaced it. These were super easy to make and amazingly tasty! I'm planning on making them again this weekend sometime! I hope you enjoy them as much as my family did, I pulled this recipe from my own little brain as I went, and it turned out wicked awesome! So here it is, another of my originals!
Pardon the picture I forgot to take a picture when they were fresh, so this is actually a pic of the leftovers the next day, and I added a little extra cheese to it before I microwaved it. I'm a cheese addict... and I'm OK with that :)



5-6 Corn Tortillas
2 Chicken Breasts Boiled and shredded
1 Medium Sized Onion Chopped
1 Chili Pepper Seeded and Chopped
1-2 tablespoons olive oil or butter
1 Can Campbell's Cream of Chicken Soup
1 Can Campbell's Fiesta Nacho Cheese Soup
1 Cup Sour Cream
1/2 Cup Cream Cheese (softened)
Pepper Jack Cheese & Cheddar Cheese, Grated (as much as you like, I used a little more than 1 cup of each)

Boil the chicken until cooked through, remove from water and let cool before shredding it to avoid burns. You can prepare the chicken well before hand and refrigerate it until you are ready to use it.

Chop the onion and the pepper; saute in oil or butter until tender.

Combine soups, sour cream and cream cheese. Mix until well blended. Set aside about 1 1/2 cups of soup mixture, then stir in the onions, peppers and chicken into the larger portion of the soup mix.

Heat a corn tortilla in a frying pan to soften it, then put a generous amount of the chicken mix on it. Sprinkle a line of cheddar and a line of pepper jack cheese in top of the chicken mix, then roll the tortilla, and place it in a greased 9x9 baking pan. Repeat until chicken mix is gone and pan is filled.

Spread the remaining soup mixture evenly over the top of the enchiladas. Then sprinkle the rest of the cheeses on top. You can use as much or as little cheese as you want.

Bake for about 20 minutes (or until heated through and cheese is all melted) at 350 degrees.

Serves 5-6

Cloth Diapering - T-Shirt Diapers

I mentioned before that I was going to do a post on my cloth diapering attempt, so here it is! If you don't want to cloth diaper I still suggest you read how to do this. It's great to know just in case there is a natural disaster or even if you don't have another option down the road. It's good knowledge to have.

OK, this is my third... or fourth... attempt at cloth diapering and I think I've finally figured it out. Now I know there are a LOT of different ways to cloth diaper from what you use to how you do it, but this is what we finally figured out works for us! I'll admit that a LOT (if not most) of these ideas cam from Cloth Diapers by Cotton Babies If I'm remembering right, the only original idea I use is the fleece insert.

Here is what you will need:

• A T-Shirt (Medium is fine for smaller babies, but for toddlers or really big babies, I'd suggest large)
• A piece of fleece (no sewing needed, just cut a rectangle that will fit inside the diaper)
• Safety Pins OR a Snappi
• A waterproof diaper cover (I'm using the cheap ones you can find Wal-Mart until my Bummis come in the mail)
• Wet Wipes
• Optional: Non-Chlorine bleach.

Below is what the Snappi looks like.
They are SO easy to use, I will never mess with pins again!

Your fleece can be any color, it doesn't matter. Just whatever scraps you have laying around. BUT, if you stay away from brow or green colors, it is a LOT easier to tell if your child is poopy before you open up the diaper for a change.

The first thing you'll need to do is take your t-shirt and lay it out flat as shown below, smoothing it out as best you can. Make sure you do it on a flat hard surface, it will save you time rather than trying to keep it flat and smooth on the couch or bed or even the carpet.

Once you have it flattened, hold the top and bottom of the shirt about one third of the way over, (about at the edge of the collar and straight across to the bottom edge) and fold it into thirds. It should look something like this when you are done:

Then take the top and fold it down so the sleeve folds in half. If your t-shirt's sleeves arent straight across (like mine aren't) they wont be exactly in half. That's OK, you can just fold the top shoulder seam down to meet the arm-pit seam.

Then fold the bottom of the t-shirt up to meet the collar:

If your child is bigger, you don't have to fold the bottom all the way up, it just depends on how big your baby is. You may need to play with the finished length a bit your first time to see where is best for you.

This is that part that is ingenious (if I do say so myself). Take your fleece scrap and lay it flat in the diaper. Fleece isn't really a really absorbent fabric, so it allows wet to pass through and be absorbed by the t-shirt diaper while pulling a lot of the moisture away from baby, but the best part is that it also catch solids so all you need to rinse out in the toilet is that little piece of fabric, not the whole t-shirt! I'm so SMART! :) The best part about this, is the fleece doesn't fray so you don't have to sew the edges.

Once you've done all that, simply fold the bottom of the diaper up to meet the top, and fold te sleeves over like so:

I fold all my diapers fresh as soon as they come out of the dryer. So I just have a stack of ready-to-use diapers:

When you are ready to use the diaper, just grab one and open it like you would a store bought diaper, and lay it under your child:

Wrap the bottom up and over, then hold

Pull the sleeves up and around your child's waist like so:

The you are ready to pin the sleeves in place, or just stretch your snappi like this! Once you've done that, you just need to put the diaper cover on your little one and they are ready to go!

MY favorite thing about the t-shirt diapers is that they get so much cleaner in the wash than other diapers I've used or seen because they open up completely! Also, because they are pretty much in the shape of a diaper already, they keep their shape once on the child much better, and they are a lot easier to fold in the first place. Not to mention you can use just about any t-shirt you want. If you have a bunch of old t-shirts just laying around, you've already got what you need! If not, just go to the yard sales around pick up a bunch for wicked cheap. You can always wash them a few times before you put them on your baby's bum. These are great for emergencies, as well as the fact that they really take so little skill and time to use!

Happy diapering!

Past Posts you might find interesting:
It's OK to be Lazy... Just Plan For It
Rewards vs. Value
Discovering Self Reliance - Part 1
Menu Planning & Planning "Alternative"
Smith's Shopping Trip 5/4/11

Discovering Self Reliance - Part 3: Realizing Your Talents

So, at church in my ward I am one of the teachers in Relief Society. I teach only once a month (the third Sunday) which means that I am teaching this coming Sunday! Can anyone guess what my lesson is? Anyone? Talents you say? Exactly right! As such, I've got talents on the brain and, in my opinion, it takes a lot of that to become Self Reliant.

When you truly can get to the point where you are self reliant, self sufficient and self sustaining, you are no longer relying on anyone else other than yourself. You meet all of your basic needs with what you have and what you can get on your own. You have an income from a job of some sort (whether self employed, or employed by someone else). But being self reliant doesn't mean your income has to be 6 figures. When you are truly self reliant, it is because you can live within your means, spending less than you are making and that will be different for everyone.

Getting to that point, especially if you make a minimal amount of money, can be very challenging. When I see the word challenge, I just see a synonym for creativity, or a reason to get creative. Whenever you see something that you need, it may cost money. You may have the money to spend, or you may not. Even if you do have the money on hand, it may be better spent in your savings account rather than on the need at hand. So you can look at your (here comes the T word) talents and see how you can meet that need while spending the least amount of money.

When you think of the word talent, you might think of the things that most often come to mind:

Singing
Dancing
Sports
Acting
Sewing
Painting
Photography
other Arts and Crafts

This list can go on and on (and it does) But you have to remember that there are other talents out there as well, things that are just as important and even more so than the list "obvious" talents listed above. These talents may not even be recognized as talents. But I can assure you that they are:

Patience
Being good with Kids
Creativity
"Looking Outside the Box"
Communication Skills
Entertaining Others (besides artistically)
Being a Good Friend
Good Listener

God has given every single one of us talents. Some may have many, others may just have 1 or 2. But they were given to us to help better ourselves and others. Our families and our personal lives can be greatly enriched when we can search for these talents and learn to exercise them and use them to enrich our lives and others.

So when it comes to being self reliant, you might wonder how your talents can help achieve that. Here is an example.
When I was growing My mother would sew things from patterns and one time she made all of us kids brand new swimming suits! that was so cool, that I wanted to learn how to sew. She tried to teach me but I just couldn't get it. Later, my Aunt tried to teach me, and I still couldn't figure it out. I got the basics of how to use the sewing machine and got pretty good at working it, but following a pattern to actually make something? Forget it, I couldn't do it to save my life. Later on, when we were expecting our first baby, I realized we were in serious need of crib sheets. We went to the store to get some, but they were so expensive that I just couldn't see spending $8 or more per sheet when we needed other things so much more. I collected a bunch of old Queen sized Flat sheets from my mother-in-law who was cleaning out her storage room and with some experimenting, and a few mistakes, I was able to successfully make half a dozen crib sheets for just the cost of thread and elastic. I spent about $3 and saved at least $40. I still can't follow a pattern for the life of me. But I can figure out simple patterns on my own.

If you have a talent for cooking, or figuring gout your own recipes you can save a lot money by not having to buy as many pre-made ingredients or frozen foods. If you are not great at cooking, you can always practice and learn that new skill.

Being good with kids can be an incredible asset. If you are a stay at home parent, and your family needs a little extra income but you really want to stay home with your kids, that talent of being great with kids could make a few extra bucks a month. You could look into getting licensed to run a day-care out of your home, or even just check the local laws and see what you can legally charge for without a license at all. you may be able to charge a small fee to just watch a couple of the neighbor kids a few times a week.

The talent of being entertained easily, or even entertaining others as well as being social (believe it or not is a skill and talent not everyone has) can come in handy when you want to save a few bucks each month. Rather than having a date night out, you can host a monthly game night with friends. Have everyone bring a snack and their favorite game, and all you have to do is play host/hostess, helping you save at least $30 a month.

Get creative in filling the needs of your family by using your talents, or learning new ones, and you'll be surprised at how far that can take you on your path to self reliance!


Discovering Self Reliance - Part 1
Discovering Self Reliance - Part 2: Living on Welfare
Discovering Self Reliance - Part 3: Realizing Your Talents
Discovering Self Reliance - Part 4: Emergencies & Really Being Ready For Them
Discovering Self Reliance - Part 5: Learning New Skills - Maintaining Your Vehicle

Smith's Shopping Trip 5/5/11 & Smith's Rewrds Golden Envelope!

Yesterday, after I came home from Smith's mega event shopping trip, I saw this in my mail! It was my very first golden envelope from Smith's Rewards program! I got a $13.00 coupon from my rewards plus a bunch of other amazing coupons! Note the .50 off coupon on the far left hand... it is for Cheese from their dairy department. That's important!!! :)


I also forgot that in Smith's ad (which I got a day late in my mail) had a few coupons in there as well, I used the Cheese coupon and the Chicken coupon that was in there.


Pairing the Smith's coupons I got as well as manufacturers' coupons I had, I only ended up spending $18.63 for all of the stuff below! (that's after the $3.00 Catalina that I got from getting 2 Pizzas)

I got $76.74 worth of stuff
I only spent $18.63
That's a 75% savings!

Not bad at all considering I have Cheese, chicken, and toilet paper in there! Here is the best part... The Cheese coupon from the ad said $3.99 for a 2 pound block of cheese, I also used that .50 off coupon I got from my golden envelope, and I printed off 2 $1/1 American Made Cheese coupons. In the end, I only ended up spending $2.74 for each brick of cheese, or just $1.37 per pound!!! I was stoked!

Rewards vs. Value

One of the "gimmicks" or promotions companies will have is to offer rewards of some kind as an incentive for customer and clients to bring their business to them.

Dentists all over are offering "Free" teeth whitening for life to new patients.
Tire companies offer vacation packages with the purchase of a full set.
Even Car dealerships offer Cruises with the purchase of a new car.
Furniture and Electronics stores frequently have days when they will offer free hot dogs or pizza and drinks to anyone who come into their store during a specified day and time.
Them Parks even have promotions to lure you into coming.

Companies do this because they know these promotions boost sales. Especially to someone who may not have purchased anything otherwise.

Almost any company worth anything will do it at least once a year, because it is a great marketing tool. If they don't do it, they loose out on business. Grocery stores do it too.

Target offers store gift cards with different promotional sales.
Wal-Mart price matches for your convenience.
Other grocery stores will offer unique items that you can't find anywhere else so you'll come in, they know you will hardly ever come in and just purchase that one thing.
Smith's gives you Rewards Points for every transaction that you can accumulate over time and earn up to $1.00 off per gallon at the gas pump up to 35 gallons.
Rite Aid has their Up Rewards and Video Values
Walgreens has Register Rewards

With all these different deals you can get, there is one thing that you need to keep in mind; does the reward equal value? Not always.

If you are in the market for a new car, take into account what you really need and how much you want what you are looking for. If you really want a brand spankin' new vehicle and are un-willing to bend on that fact alone, then by all means go to the company that offers the best vacation package that you like. If, however, all you really need is a new-to-you vehicle, a dealership with a vacation package will make you spend a lot more than you really want to pay. You can often go to used-car lots and find something GREAT! Check out your local classified ads and shop around. You can find a great price on something that will suit your needs, it will just take a little more effort on your part than just going to a dealership.

Tires often come with a Disneyland Package. If that is the case, make sure what is included in the package, what taxes you will have to pay and also consider how much more you will have to pay to go on the vacation itself; gas, food, extras or even a flight! Also, if you don't really need four new tires, this is usually not a good deal to get. Unless you are planning a Disneyland Vacation anyway, then you can crunch the numbers and see if it will save you any money in the long run. Also, make sure you know exactly which tires you need to buy to get the vacation. they are usually the really high-end high-price tires.

Target will often offer a gift card, usually between $5-$10, for the purchase of two or three boxes of Diapers. If you never use coupons, and you buy diapers all the time, this is actually a pretty good deal most of the time. However, if you are a coupon-er, you can usually pay a LOT less for diapers by waiting for a sale and stocking up then.

Wal-Mart offers their price matching because it works. You still get a great price on everything you were going to buy anyway, PLUS you can get everything in one place! So the convenience alone is worth it, but you have to be careful when you price match. Make sure you know each store's specific "house rules" when it comes to the price match policy. You usually don't need the ad with you, but some stores require you to have the ad because that specific store has had a lot of problem with price-match fraud and policy abuse in the past. Another thing to watch out for, is to make sure you are sticking to your list. If you are grocery shopping and then happen to stop by the DVD section, you can easily walk out of the store with a great price on all of your groceries as well as $75.00 worth of $5 DVDs.

Smith's, Rite Aid and Walgreens all have the same thing in common. When things are not on sale, they are usually over-priced. Some people don't care when it comes to Smith's because they figure the rewards pints more than make up for the cost. Same with Rite Aid and Walgreens. But the truth of the matter is, those rewards barely dent the end out-of-pocket cost. When these store have their sales, pay attention to their ads or better yet, go to GrocerySmart.com to see all the best deals at each store for that week. GrocerSmarts tells you if it a good deal or not so you don't have to sit there wondering if it is.

In short, when it comes to finding the best deals and saving money we can't rely on the "promotion" someone is offering alone. You need to weigh the pros and cons of each deal you find for yourself. Take the time to really think about it and crunch numbers on your own.

The only real VALUE anything thing has is what it is worth to you! So keep that in mind next time you are shopping for... anything! Trust your own instincts and just get yourself to the point where it is OK to make a mistake or two as long as you learn from it the first time.

Happy Saving!

Smith's Shopping Trip 5/4/11

How Many times have you come home from the store mad because you just spent $50.00 on 2 bags of groceries? I used to do that all the time! but not anymore...

This is a lot more than 2 bags...

10 bags of groceries!

$124.02 worth of groceries. that equals almost $12.40 per bag!

Shopping List:
2 Sour Creams
4 Chick Quattro Razors for Women
16 boxes of Pasta
6 Kraft BBQ Sauce
2 Old Spice Body Wash
2 Philadelphia Cream Cheese
8 Bottles Propel Water
2 Jars Ragu Sauce
20 Michelina's Entrees

These are my lazy day meals!!!

$124.02 before sale and coupons (what the average shopper would pay)
$35.73 is what I paid!
That's a 72% savings!

Yay, I got my coupon high for a little while! To see how you can get the same great deal, and to see what coupons to use to do it (as well as see the whole list for Smith's this week) Go here to GrocerySmarts.com. This sale is valid through May 10th.

If you need help with, or are new to GrocerySmarts, it can be overwhelming. But have no fear, I am here! (hehehehe) I can teach a Free Coupon Class for you, your family and friends and show you all exactly how to get the most out of your money.