BOA is helping us save our nickels and dimes by giving away general admission to participating museums, zoos, science centers, botanical gardens and more on the first full weekend of each month. Just by presenting any Bank of America Card. Just visit Museums on Us for more details.

We are BOA users, but the closest thing to us is St. Pete. Luckily we will be headed to Miami on the first weekend in March for my Momma’s birthday and hope to take the troops over to the Miami Children’s Museum.

I have a $10 off a purchase of $30 or more at Build a Bear coupon(exp.2/14) and a 20% entire purchase coupon at Gymboree(exp.2/28) that will be mailed out to the first Momma to ask for them. These are two of my favorite places to shop, (which is why they are trying to get me back in the store) but its not in the cards this month. Happy Shopping!

]]> http://triplemartinilunch.com/savings-giveaway/feed/ 1 http://triplemartinilunch.com/the-coupon-fairy/ http://triplemartinilunch.com/the-coupon-fairy/#comments Tue, 29 Dec 2009 19:47:42 +0000 admin http://triplemartinilunch.com/?p=1434 Brian calls me the coupon fairy because if I find a great coupon ($5 or 10 off wine I dont drink or Baby Formula for example) I clip it and leave it next to the item. I figure some good coupon karma can’t hurt. For a long time I didn’t use coupons, I thought the difference between the brand name with the coupon and the house brand I normally buy is usually more than the face of the coupon, so it was cheaper for me to go generic. So NOT true. Its easy enough to shop the sales, stock up on good buy one get one deals or the sale meat, but the real money saving comes in when you combine the coupons with sales. Yesterday I spent $40 at CVS and saved $57 combining coupons with sales. My weekly grocery trip is usually somewhere between $30- $80 in savings, I’m working to make it more. Before you even walk in to the store you have some homework to do.

Each Sunday the paper comes with coupon inserts. I initially only picked the coupons for things I already bought, but now I only clip the coupons for things I regularly buy and date and stack the inserts for future bargain hunting. I compare all the major stores CVS, Walgreens, Target, Wal-Mart and Publix sale prices and pair with the coupons I have. This week I got tons of free stuff including batteries, dish soap, bath soap, and floss and that was just my CVS trip. When you find websites of the products you use most, often times you can find great high-dollar coupons to print. (Balmex always has a $1 off) I am also always abmle to print a Farm Rich (Jason’s french toast), back to nature (Brians cookies) and Huggies (Jason’s night time diaper) just from searching online. Other times you can sign up for e-newsletters. E-newsletters are a great source of coupons that the companies send you monthly. Sign up!

Also when shopping online, I never checkout without searching for coupon codes for the site. 90% of the time can find a free shipping code and more often than not I can find an additional coupon code. This works for everything from Papa Johns to Proflowers.

Here are some great sites that help you find great deals. I just got a free Leap Frog Tag Jr book last week and a free baby einstein DVD months before just for filling out a form. My favorite is the first link.

• Common Sense with Money
• A Few Short Cuts
• I Heart Publix
• A Full Cup
• I Heart Saving Money

Another good idea is to have a plan for the money not spent at the store, for us it goes to Sallie Mae.

Because They are on Sale!

Additional 10% off sale items

December 29, 2009-January 12, 2010

verabradley.com/sales

code:winsale09

They are better for active toddlers anyways…I have been using a Jan Sport  backpack on our outings for some time now, its just easier to run around with Jason while we are out without a bag on my shoulder…or wherever I parked the stroller. Brian was nice enough to put this lovely backpack( In my favorite print Yellow Bird) under the tree for me. Its relatively small and lightweight, but with a lot of storage capacity and different pockets. I can easily fit all Jason’s and my own stuff, and find everything I need in a second. Plus, it’s very comfortable to carry, and best of all hands FREE! I’ve been using this bag on a daily basis and I love it!

He also got me this Cool Keeper in Mediterranean White. When ever I leave for a morning outing, I bring Jason’s lunch. It saves money, but I know he’ll eat it and if he doesn’t eat and falls asleep on the way home then he wants lunch and not a nap.

My student loans have come in for payment, its been six months since I’ve received my Master’ degree from Florida State and they want their money! Well Sallie Mae does, and Nelnet, and the Department of Education. My loans have been sold and privatized. Brian and I went over it last night and its quite confusing, and the numbers just don’t add up. I’m pretty sure we’ve paid for someone else’s education along the way as well. My loans were denied one year because of another Michelle Smith’s drug trafficking charges, perhaps I’ve accumulated her loan balance as well.

So theres some filing to be done. I’ve gathered it all from the office and bedroom closet and placed it nicely on the dining room table. In the mean time I’ve cleaned our bedroom closet. The picture doesnt really do the closet any justice, you would have had to of seen the before picture (I didn’t realize it was blog worthy or I would have snapped it). There was a layer of clothes and shoes on the floor (Jason likes to try on each one of our shoes through out the day) and the shelf that now has things neatly folded, was n pile spread evenly across. Perhaps tonight I wi ll get to the loan paperwork,until then I have some sewing to do before Jason wakes up.

CVS is celebrating the holidays with 30% storewide savings. Check out their Holiday Center for great stocking stuffers and gift ideas for everyone. Enter PROMO CODE friend30 at checkout. Orders over $49 ship for free. I found this link that promises extra online savings (I know my friend Jasmine could pull it off) but haven’t tried it since I’ll do my shopping in the store.

I knew that life was going to be different making the transition from a two income household to a single income household, once I made the decision to stay home with Jason.  Although it was hard to donate my Banana Republic wardrobe that no longer fit, and replace it mostly with the latest Old Navy Trends, I seldom miss things I used to know and love like fashion.  The things I now know and love are when Jason’s face lights up with excitement or scrunches up with confusion, when he throws himself into a fit of contagious laughter spinning around in circles, when he holds his arms out and asks for a hug, the list goes on and on.

This weekend while Brian went to UF’s homecoming game with his Dad, Jason and I went to a local Fall Festival, the festival was free and we had no money in our budget to play with.  It was very busy and chaotic when we first arrived, too chaotic to let him out of the stroller. After a few min of strolling around I found an Aveda Salon and snuck in and got my eyebrows waxed.  Jason sat very nicely in his stroller while he discovered some of the candy we had been given. After that we found a cafe and got a bite to eat.  When we were done, the crowd had died down and we were able to run around and play. On the way out, I saw The Learning Express and knew there was just a bit more fun to be had, Jason played with the train table, and puppet theatre and we found him an adorable Plane watch by Activa.We paid full price and it was worth every penny because it turned out to be such a fun day, but here is a soccer one for $3!:

So, almost $50 was missing out of the budget and the only place with any wiggle room was the grocery shopping. With a little bit of effort, and one hamburger helper night, I was able to save $60 of this weeks shopping budget… including the props for my apple martini photo shoot today. Kraft has an entire Budget Wise section on their website that was very helpful, and even a “1 bag 5 dinners” shopping list that I did except for the pizza.  Instead, I brought home some Campbell’s Tomato Soup (I use milk to make it creamy) and was going to make Grilled Cheese to go with… but since we had turkey and bacon already, I made Turkey Club sandwhiches instead. My usual $15 wine purchase was replaced with the bottle on sale for $6, and in addition to $6 in coupon savings, I was able to save $19 from shopping the store sales. I even managed to replace Jason’s sidewalk chalk for this weekend’s trip to Miami (See you soon Dad!) I did all this with Jason! The race car shopping cart, free ballon and free cookie helped too…Thanks Publix! So before you pass up fun next time, think of where you have some wiggle room…and wiggle wiggle wiggle!