Sunday Coupon Preview 8/1

Wow. You do not want to miss getting this Sunday's newspaper.. in fact I might recommend getting two! There are going to 4 coupon inserts in this Sunday's newspaper! I think it might be because it's the "back to school" season. Whatever the reason you do not want to miss out. There will be 2 redplum inserts, 1 smartsource insert, and 1 P&G insert. To see a full list of all the coupons offered click here. Can't wait to get all of these coupons! :)

Note- coupon inserts do vary region by region. To try and guarantee the most amount of inserts buy the newspaper that has the largest circulation. Also, this week might be a good week to see if you can score extra newspapers for free through coffee shops or your local library.

Harris Teeter Savings This Week

I feel like I picked up tons of food this week at Harris Teeter! However, I went a little over my budget (I try to set a goal of $30 a week, down from $40). But I am going to give myself a little grace because I did pick up a few things for a baby shower we are hosting this weekend! :) Here is a list of what I got below:

• 10 cups of Dannon Light and Fit Yogurt: 10/$5 (used a -$1 coupon) $4 for 10
• HT eggs: e-vic special .67
• HT Baked Beans: $1.47
• Turkey Tenderloin: $8.99 (used a -$5 coupon on it because it needed to be sold by the next day) $3.99
• Angus London Broil: $10.21 ( was on sale B1G1 so it ringed up half price, plus used a -$1 beef coupon hanging on a near by bottle of wine) $4.10
• Gallon HT Skim Milk: e-vic special $1.97
• HT Fat Free Half&Half: vic special $1.47
• Krunchers Chips: vic special $2.99 (used a -.75 coupon that doubled) $1.49
• Total Cereal: e-vic special $1.99 (used a -.75 coupon that doubled) .49
• Townhouse Crackers: vic special $2.49 (used a -.75 coupon that doubled) .99
• 4 Healthy Choice Lean Cusines (for Zach while I am out of town): B1G1 special (plus -$1 off 4 coupon) $4.70 for 4
• Rewrapped Bananas: $1.12
• True Lemon drink mix: B1G1 ringed up half price $1.49 (used a -$1 coupon) .49
• HT Coffee: vic special $2.50
• Eggo Waffles: vic special 2/$4 (used a -$1 off 2 coupon) two for $3
• Pretzels: vic special $2.50 ( used a -.75 coupon that doubled) $1

Total Spent: $34.28

Total Saved: $40.45

Not a bad week at all. We had the steak last night and it was awesome! ;) Plus there are leftovers for steak sandwiches this weekend for Zach. How much did you save this week? I would love to hear from you!

It's Mega-Swag bucks day!

It's Friday which means it is Mega-swag bucks day! That means that Swagbucks is rewarding in larger sums of "bucks" today. This morning I have already won 14 "bucks"!

If you have not heard of Swagbucks, it is only the latest tool in helping you to save some money. By simply making Swagbucks your home page and using it as your online search engine, Swagbucks will reward you points or "swagbucks" randomly. After you have accumulated a certain amount of bucks you can trade them in for gifts or gift cards. My favorite is 450 Swagbucks for a $5 Amazon gift card. I collect the gift cards until I have a nice amount to trade in for an awesome gift or a treat for myself...and it costs me nothing! I highly recommend this tool.

If you do not have a Swagbucks account simply click on any of the links above and start enjoying your "bucks"!

Note- by clicking on any of the links above you are a referral of mine and I earn extra "bucks". Sign up and referrer your friends and family to get the same!

Tax-free weekend around the corner!

I love getting feedback from my readers and someone reminded me to mention that North Carolina's tax free weekend is coming up! Aug. 6th-8th there will be certain items that you can get tax free. ( I am sad I will be out of town!) Here are the limits:

• Clothing- $100
• Footwear-$100
• School Supplies - $100
• Sports recreation equipment- $50
• School Instructional Materials- $300
• Computers- $3,500
• Computer supplies- $250

To see more information click here. To find a different states tax free weekend click here

Marriage & Money

Now, Zach and I are pretty new to this thing called marriage but if there is one thing I have learned in a little over a year is that we spend money differently. More than getting used to living together, we found the challenge of budgeting a bit difficult. I think what surprised me more than anything was that talking about money/budgets effected us both differently which in turn effected our marriage. However, it's an area of our marriage we have to talk about continuously.

The first real shock of marriage for me, was being accountable to someone else! I can remember the first time after we got back from our honeymoon that I was going to go spend money apart from Zach. Even though Zach and I had set a spending limit that we each could spend without having to discuss with the other, it was strange to think I was spending some of OUR hard earned money. No longer was it just mine or his, it was ours. I think in this respect it has brought us a lot closer together because we feel like a team. We are working together to achieve certain goals; buying furniture, saving for a house, going on vacations, saving for our retirement, saving to have kids, and everything else in between!

It's so nice that when we did come together to discuss our budget we were on the same page (for the most part. loll!). We agreed with the ratio of 10,10,80. Give 10% to the church, save 10%, and live off of 80%. Not to mention our ambitious goal of only living off of one paycheck and saving the other completely (except for 10% to be given to the church). Last year, money was too tight to really save one entire paycheck, but it is still a goal we are working towards. Which we both find exciting!

I think the reason Zach and I feel a need to set ambitious goals is because we really want to be good stewards of what we have been given. Zach and I have been very blessed to say the least. We were fortunate enough that neither one of us had to take out student loans for our college education, neither one of us has ever had car payments, and neither one of us have any debt! We would like to continue this into our future, one of us perhaps a bit more intense about it then the other. Who could that be? :)

However, just because we share the same goals does not mean that we go about achieving them the same way. Again, we both spend money differently, and that effected the process of our first major purchase in our marriage.....

*To be continued next week*

Note- Every marriage is different and at the end of the day you have to do what works for you. The story above is what works for Zach and I.

Free Sample of Lacoste Perfume

There is an awesome free sample available for Lacoste Perfume. Click here. Simply fill out the information and wait for it to arrive. Note: the check box for question number 3 is under gender. Pick from 4 different scents. I am excited about this free sample.

Thanks The Modern Frugal Family!

Old Navy Coupon

Today (7/29) through Saturday (7/31) you can get $2 Camis at Old Navy. You need to bring in this coupon or simply tell the person ringing you up " CAMI 4 ME". There is a limit of 5. Just thought I would pass this along. Enjoy!

Thanks Chicks dig deals!