Saved 64% at Publix- Dairy & Carbs!

I finally made it to Publix today to shop the new weekly ad. Since we are really focusing on eating down our stockpile, I mostly grabbed fresh items and a few of the really good deals. I also grabbed King Hawaiian Hot Dog Buns for a special treat for Justin since we grilled out tonight : ) 

I have been a couponing machine lately and it has been nice to do smaller trips more frequently than trying to cram everything all into one trip. As I have mentioned before, my neighborhood is located near a couponer's paradise of an intersection with a Publix, Target, CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, Sam's, and more located on its four corners. This allows me to hit up the stores more frequently since I don't have to burn any gas to do so.

Breakdown of today's Publix trip:

Total retail value:  $58.52

Total spent: $21.24

Total saved: $37.28

Percent saved: 64%

What I got with sale/coupon match ups:

• 3 twelve packs of Coke products, retails for $5.49 each, on sale B2G1 free
• Used two coupons for FREE products ($4.99 max value each) from My Coke Rewards
• Made them .33 cents each
•  2 bags of Finagle A Bagels, retails for $3.00 each, on sale BOGO ($1.50) each
• Used two .50 cents off coupons from All You
• Made them $1 a bag
• 2 Philadelphia Cream Cheeses, retails for $2.69
• Used two $2 off WYB Finagle a Bagels and Philly Cream Cheese Publix coupons
• Made them .69 cents each
•  1 half gallon of Silk Almond Milk, retails for $3.35
• Used a .55 cents blinkie from the store
• Made it $2.80
•  1 bag of matchstick carrots, retails for $1.89, on sale for $1.69
• 2 large tubs of Athenos Feta Cheese, retails for $4.89, on sale BOGO, $2.44 each
• 3 Voskos Green Yogurts, retails for $1.25 each
• Used a $1/3 Publix coupon
• Stacked with a .30/2 from the 3/3 SS
• Made them .81 cents each
•  1 bag of Publix baby spinach, retails for $2.49, on sale for $2.29
• 1 package of Publix Reduced Fat String Cheese, retails for $4.19, on sale for $3.50
• 1 package of King Hawaiian Hot Dog Buns, $2.99

Mealtime Monday Recipe Link Up & Features {#45}- Easter Edition

  

Hello party people! Are you enjoying the time change? While I am loving that it is light out right now I am not loving the idea of waking up tomorrow in the pitch black, dark.

As we roll towards Easter I am doing a few fun round up posts. I invite you to link up your Easter recipes both old and new this week along with your usual recipe posts. I am also adding an extra link up on the bottom for any Easter crafts or DIY projects that you have to possible add to my round up. Please make sure you like only recipes in the first linky and then EASTER themed crafts/DIY projects on the second one.

Check out this week's features!

Carrot Cake Magic Bars from Inside BruCrew Life

 

Bacon & Asparagus Breakfast Pizza from Hot Eats and Cool Reads

White Chocolate Cheesecake Popcorn from Clarks Condensed

Puff Pastry Sausage Bites from Crumbs & Chaos


Apple Pie Pancakes from Back For Seconds

You can also check out my Pinterest board for Mealtime Monday Features where I will be pinning the original links to the items featured here each week as well as my Facebook page which will have even more features too!

If you were featured you can feel free to grab a button from my sidebar.

As I teacher, I enforce rules all day so I am going to call these my suggestions.

I would love it if:

• You would link back to this post/blog. You can do so by grabbing my button (upper right hand corner), linking back to this post in your post, or by adding this blog to your list of places you link up to/party at on your Link Parties page. The more people who link up the better it is for all of us : )
• Please follow this blog through GFC, Linky Friends or Blog Lovin.
• As an added bonus you can become our Facebook friend too!
• Please only post directly to your recipe link. No giveaways, etsy shops or anything not family friendly.
• Please do not link up to posts you have already linked up to before. Also, the recipe needs to be something you made with photos of your own and should give credit where credit is due : )
• Pretty please visit at least two new blogs and show them some love.
• By linking up you give me permision to use these photos (with proper link backs) in my features and on my Facebook page
• Come back next Monday and link up!

Ready, set, make me hungry!
 



Easter Crafts & DIYs:
 

Weekly Shopping Totals Link Up: Saved 98% At Target

Only paid .92 cents!

 After a few weeks off from Target, I finally went today. I had planned to go to Publix but I really don't need anything after my two trips earlier this week and I want to wait for the new advantage flyers to start in a few days before I head back.

All I really needed in the grocery department was a specific kind of cake mix for a recipe I am trying out this weekend. Since I wanted to check out a few deals at Target I decided to go there instead of Publix. I really went in for the Dial and the toothbrush gift card deal but I stumbled upon an amazing deal on Glade Expressions Fragrance Mist.

I had received an amazing coupon book full of Glade coupons as a member of Bzz Agent and although I had given most of my $2 coupons away to family and friends I had a few left. I also had printed a few of the high value $2 coupons from this link on a few different computers so I had eight of them in various forms with me in my coupon folder today. 

I my typical souring of the clearance racks I was able to find TONS of the fragrance mists on clearance. They were marked down to $2.48 but rang up $1.48 making them free plus a .50 per bottle money maker. Since Justin was with me I was able to have him buy four and I bought four so we could stay within Target's coupon policy. He was able to also apply his overage to the Dials and me to apply mine to the toothbrushes and cake mix making our whole trip next to nothing after coupons, overage and a $5 earned gift card.

I also had a completely free Publix trip on Tuesday and a $27 Publix trip on Monday. That means I am way under budget for the week which is perfect since we are planning on spending about $15 at the farmers' market on Saturday and hoping to put some extra grocery cash away towards some savings goals too. 

We have been doing a really good job eating out of our freezer and stockpile and we are going to challenge ourselves to continue to do that until Easter. It has been nice to spend less at the store on basics while still getting to shop the super deals and stock up on household items while we aren't purchasing as much in the grocery department.  I am really finding that it works for me to focus on things in cycles spending a few months stocking our pantry and freezers while not buying household items and then flip flopping it every so often.

Breakdown of today's Target trip:
Total retail value: $43.01
Total spent after coupons and earned gc: .92 cents
Total saved:$42.09
Percent saved: 98%

What I got with sale/coupon match ups:

• 6 bottles of Dial Complete Hand Soap, retails for $1.47 each
• Used a $3/6 Target coupon
• Stacked with three $1/2 coupons from Dial's Facebook page
• Made them .47 cents each
•  2 Oral B Manual Indicator Toothbrushes, retails for $1.99 and 2 Oral B Complete Toothbrushes, retails for $2.50 each, on sale for $1.74 and $2.25 each
• Used two $1/2 coupons from the 3/3 P&G insert
• Earned a $5 Target Gift Card WYB four
• Made them .24 cents each after coupons and earned gift card
•  8 bottles of Glade Expressions Fragrance Mists, retails for $2.99 each, on clearance for $1.48 each
• Used eight (in two transactions) $2 off coupons from both a Bzz Agent booklet and this printable coupon
• Made them all FREE plus a $4.16 total money maker!
•  1 box of Betty Crocker Cake Mix, $1.29

How did you do this week? Inspire me (and everyone else) with your amazing savings and deals this week. Please link up directly to your specific post. Do not link up to your blog's home page, giveaways, or etsy shops please. You can also "like" Couponing & Cooking on Facebook too! I would love it if you would link back to this post or grab my button from the sidebar : )

Click below to link up your posts!
 

Saved 102% at Publix- Thanks To Trial Sized White Strips On Clearance!

 

I am obsessed with checking clearance sections anywhere I shop. Justin is always making fun of me for it. But as annoying as it may be, I usually score some pretty great deals on things on clearance at both Publix and Target. One of my favorite things about clearance items is that many times you can use coupons to make them even cheaper than their already slashed prices.

You may remember a shopping trip I had last year where I was able to find ten trial sized Crest White Strips packages marked down to $2.99 each and was able to use my $10 off (no size restriction) coupons to earn serious overage and buy  ten pounds of meat and lots of other groceries for less than $2 total.

Those packages came with $7 off (no size restriction) coupons which I always keep handy in case I run across this deal again. Except for on Monday. On Monday I was doing my usual perusal of the clearance section and I stumbled upon a few of my favorite clearance items. I had just cleaned out my coupon folder and had accidentally left those coupons on the kitchen table.

So I resisted my crazy couponer urge to return to the store minutes after I got home from my shopping trip and decided to go on my way home from work the next day. As fate would have it, when I returned yesterday the whole clearance section had redone and there were only two boxes left.

I used two of my $7 off coupons to get $4 of overage per box and I also used a $5/$30 Winn Dixie coupon which means that after all my coupons, Publix actually owed me .63 cents. Not too bad considering I was able to grab six jars of peanut butter and some of our favorite rice chips too. I usually use overage to get meat and produce but since we aren't really buying meat while we clean out the freezers and we had plenty of produce in the fridge I just grabbed something we always use and has a long shelf life.

Breakdown of Tuesday's Publix trip:
Total retail value:  $38.92
Total spent: -.63 cents
Total saved: $39.55
Percent saved: 102%

What I got with sale/coupon match ups:

•    2 packages of trial sized Crest White Strips, retails for $5.99 each, on sale for $2.99 each
• Used two $7 (no size restrictions) off coupons from previously purchased packages
•  Made them both FREE plus a total of $8 in overage
•    6 jars of Planters Peanut Butter various varieties, retails for $3.29-$3.59
• Used three B1G1 coupons from the Publix Make It Italian Advantage Flyer
• Stacked with two .75 cents off coupons  
•  Made them $1.39 each
•   2 bags of Riceworks Rice Chips, retails for $2.89 each, on sale for $1.44 each
• Also used a $5/$30 Winn Dixie coupon

 Make sure you come back tomorrow for my normal Thursday Publix trip and weekly totals link up! 

Quick Publix Trip: Saved Almost 60%

 After a fabulous long weekend out of town celebrating friends' wedding, I made a quick Publix trip to grab some basics like milk and salad. We really been doing well at our quest to eat out of the freezer/stockpile lately so we haven't need much in the grocery department.

We have made our way through a few pounds of chicken, a couple pounds of small pork tenderloins, a tupperware of frozen homemade soup, some frozen bread, veggies and a whole lot more the last week or so.  It was nice to save last week's grocery cash for eating out while we were out of town.

I was very excited to take advantage of the Grocery Advantage flyer coupon for $1 off Publix meat WYB any College Inn Broth. With them being BOGO this week, it was a great time to use the coupon. I got even more excited when I randomly found some $1 off man. coupons from Facebook (don't think they are still available, think I printed them awhile ago) to make the deal even better.

Our clearance section was also full of great deals so I was able to grab two bags of pecan chips for $1.40 each! I was well past $30 before coupons so I used one $5/$30 Winn Dixie coupon too.

Breakdown of Monday's Publix trip:
Total retail value: $64.88
Total spent: $27.01
Total saved: $37.88
Percent saved: 58%

What I got with coupon/sale matchup:

• 4 cartons of College Inn Broth, retails for $2.59 each, on sale BOGO ($1.30 each)
• Used four $1 off Facebook coupons (not available any more)
• Made them .30 cents each
•  1 package of Publix Italian Sausage, retails for $5.54
• Used four $1 off Publix meat WYB any College Inn Broth
• Made them $1.54 for the package
•  Publix Greenwise Coffee Creamer, $3.09
• 1 half gallon of Silk Almond Milk, retails for $3.35
• Used a .55 cents off blinkie coupon
• Made it $2.80
•  2 bags of Lays Baked Products, retails for $3.99 each
• 1 bag of Rold Gold Pretzels, retails for $3.29
• Used a coupon for a FREE product WYB two bags of Baked Lays Chips from the in store Make It Italian Publix flyer
• Made it FREE
•  2 Royal Galad Apples, retails for $1.99, on sale for $1.23
• 4 Chobani Greek Yogurts, retails for $1.25 each, on sale for $1 each
• Used four .30 cents off coupons 
• Made them .70 cents each
•  2 Russet Potatoes, retails for $1.52, on sale for a total of .70 cents
• 1 bag of Crunch Pak Apple Slices, retails for $3.29, on sale for $2.50
• 1 tub of Fresh Attitudes Baby Spinach, retails for $3.09, on sale for $2.00
• 2 bags of Diamond Pecan Chips, retails for $3.99 each on clearance for $1.40 each

Mealtime Monday Recipe Link Party & Features {#44}

  

Happy March! I am so excited for a month with St. Patrick's Day, Easter, my Spring Break and the weddings of two different sets of friends. We actually spend the last three days in St. Pete Beach across the state for a wedding and I actually spent the entire time completely unplugged.

It was so nice to take a little break but I am happy to be back and featuring some of your amazing recipes. I have been thinking alot about the effectiveness of link parties and how I can make this one better for you and to help your recipes get more exposure. I have decided to try a little something different.

This is still going to be a link party in the traditional sense but I have a challenge for you as linkers and fellow bloggers. I invite you to not just visit other blogs but to share a recipe or two from another blog in this party to facebook or Pinterest. If you do this and tag me (Couponing & Cooking on Facebook and kctobin on Pinterest), I will share one of your linked up recipes the same way as well. I will do this for up to five linked up recipes per person that you choose to share from this party. Or you can simply share someone else's recipe on Facebook or pin it and then put the link in the comments so I know you did it.

I have no idea how much work this will actually be (and I may regret it later!) but I really want to try and make my link party generate more exposure for all of you who take the time to link up. I feel like we have so much potential to pay it forward to our fellow bloggers and maybe this new party trick can help us do that.

Here are this week's features!

Easter Marshmallow Bark from Butter With A Side Of Bread

 

Dutch Oven Peasant Bread from Plaid & Paisley Kitchen

 

Irish Potato Candy from Semi Homemade Mom

 

Phyllo (Fill-O) My Cup Snack Bar from Jazzy Gourmet 

 

Chocolate Pretzel Caramel Brownies from Sweet Twist of Blogging

You can also check out my Pinterest board for Mealtime Monday Features where I will be pinning the original links to the items featured here each week as well as my Facebook page which will have even more features too!

If you were featured you can feel free to grab a button from my sidebar.

As I teacher, I enforce rules all day so I am going to call these my suggestions.

I would love it if:

• You would link back to this post/blog. You can do so by grabbing my button (upper right hand corner), linking back to this post in your post, or by adding this blog to your list of places you link up to/party at on your Link Parties page. The more people who link up the better it is for all of us : )
• Please follow this blog through GFC, Linky Friends or Blog Lovin.
• As an added bonus you can become our Facebook friend too!
• Please only post directly to your recipe link. No giveaways, etsy shops or anything not family friendly.
• Please do not link up to posts you have already linked up to before. Also, the recipe needs to be something you made with photos of your own and should give credit where credit is due : )
• Pretty please visit at least two new blogs and show them some love.
• By linking up you give me permision to use these photos (with proper link backs) in my features and on my Facebook page
• Come back next Monday and link up!

Ready, set, make me hungry!
 

12 Perfect St. Patrick's Day Desserts

                                                                            

Happy March! I can't believe it is already March 1st! If you're anything like me, you might be thinking ahead to celebrating St. Patrick's Day in a few weeks. I am St. Patrick's Day OBSESSED and since we usually celebrate Justin's birthday on St. Patrick's Day weekend you can bet that I will be making more than one themed dessert.

Here are some of my favorite St. Patrick's Day desserts from both Couponing & Cooking and my Online Blog Con bloggy friends! If you would like to pin an individual recipe, please make sure you click through to the creator's original post and pin from there : )

Leprechaun Bark

Dark Chocolate Mint Shamrocks

Bailey's Irish Cream Chocolate Chip Muffins

 Make Shamrock Sugar Cookies (using this recipe)

Dark Chocolate Guinness Rice Krispies

Pistachio Chocolate Coconut Cupcakes

Thin Mint Fudge Brownies

Irish Cream Magic Bars

Thin Mint Puppy Chow

Rainbow Jello Cubes

Pot of Gold Cookies

Guinness Fun Da Middles Cupcakes