A site to get deeply discounted stuff!

I haven't purchased from this site yet, but my sister-in-law has it marked as one of her favorites.

MamaBargains.com is a site that sells just one baby or kid item at a time. They get excellent deals from vendors and every item is 50%-80% off the retail price. Each item is very unique (meaning you won't just find it at Walmart). I have seen really cool convertible high chairs, and other baby items for really inexpensive prices. Their site says that they gear items for kids 10 and under.

Check it out every week or so to see if there is a deal waiting for you. This is a great place to get yourself stuff as well as gifts for others.

Pick your own produce

A few Saturday's ago my family and I spent the morning picking our own blueberries! It was a great family activity and the part that made mom really happy was that we got 4.75 pounds of blueberries for just $4!

We went to

Bear Mountain Blueberry Farm
8227 Clayton Cove Road
Springville, Alabama
681-8656

Look for farms in your area. Pickyourown.org is a site that can help you locate farms in your area. It's a great way for the family to get out as well as get a great deal on fresh produce!

What to do with the bags sheets come in

I just bought new sheets at Christmastime (thanks Grandma!) and it killed me to throw out the thick, plastic, zippered cases they came in. So what is a mom to do? Upcycle!

I simply sewed a strap to the top (that's the black thing you see). The strap was a thick piece of ribbon. It's as simple as that.

There are pouches in the front and back where the labels for the sheets went. You can stick a picture, label, or card (as seen here) in those pouches and fill your new bag with whatever you want. I chose to hold my handmade cards in this one. But I thought that yarn would be a great thing for these to hold. You could even punch a large eyelet trough the bag and string the yarn through to keep control of the yarn for a project you are working on!

The value of a penny

If I haven't convinced you to use coupons before maybe this will help...

The total cost of all of the items you see here is 1 penny.

Yes, that's right, that penny that was on the ground that you didn't pick up, was picked up by me and I turned it into all of this!

Using a combination of store sales, coupons, free samples, and CVS's extra care rewards program the total cost of everything ended up being one penny. I bought $40 worth of items that day that
are not pictured here but these were just a penny. Ahhhh.... it feels so good.....

What are you waiting for? Get couponing today!! http://www.moneysavingmom.com/ has helped me learn the tricks of the trade. Let her help you too.

Publix Weekly Penny Item

As if you needed another reason to love Publix here is one more - the Publix penny item!!

Each Sunday and Monday Publix has a mystery item that they price at just one penny! That's right, one penny! You might as well consider it free.

How it works: You must buy $10 worth of groceries (before coupons and the original cost of the penny item is included) and you can only get one item at that price per visit. There is a coupon in the ad in the Sunday paper but many stores do not require it. The Publix on 31 in Vestavia and Hoover, Alabama do not require the coupon. Make sure the checker discounts it though if you don't have the coupon.

Items that have been the penny item recently have been, apple juice, toilet paper, tortilla chips, salad dressing, window cleaner and more.

I save my shopping for Monday and there are two stores close to my house. I will go to one in the morning to get most of my items and get a penny item then. If there were items that the first store had sold out of I will then go to the other store to get the rest of my items and get another penny item.

Don't forget that Publix doubles coupons up to $.50 and you can pair a manufacturers coupon with a store coupon to maximize your savings. Also, don't forget that they also take competitors coupons so all those Bruno's $5 off a $30 purchase (pre-coupon savings) can be used as well.