Benz says the funniest things---Summer 2009

7/11/09--Benz looked lovingly at me today and said "Mama, I love your earrings. They are New Orleans ones! You are pretty." Sure enough, he recognized the fleur de lis jewelry I was wearing. How sweet and observant of him!

7/21/09--Mama, you are the prettiest Mama in the WHOLE house!

7/22/09--"Mama, I don't wanna go to the poor boys & girls home. I stay and be a good boy today, morrow and westerday!"

7/23/09--We were playing with his Geotrax trains & tracks and Benz had creatively set up a train station and little people were waiting to get on. I told him to be sure to collect the tickets from them and he said "they don't need tickets; they pay with debit cards, ok?"

7/30/09-- "Mama, I'll still love you when you're up in heaven."

8/2/09-- "Mama, are there fairs and cows in heaven?" "Yes, Benz, God has all of the the things you love most waiting for you in heaven." "Oh, so there are coupons up there for you?"

8/4/09--Benz and I were talking about his most favorite thing of all time, cows. He kept telling me when he grows up he wants to be a farmer. So I presented him with a proposition on how to make that happen:

8/5/09-- Benz wanted to make a special birthday card for me this morning. So I set it up like a little project for him to work on. I pulled out some old magazines, a card, some scissors and glue and he was a busy little bee while I caught up on some work in the office. He did a great job of being patient and keeping the surprise from me until my mini birthday celebration the next evening. As I opened it, I noticed all of his wonderful artwork but something else slipped out onto the ground. Much to my surprise it was a COUPON! Benz smiled and said "Do you like it, Mama? I wanted to give you something I know you LOVE!" Ahh, a saver after my own heart. Too bad it was an expired one for $1.00 of any Kraft ranch dressing:)

8/15/09-- After Benz was done playing t-ball I told him to go wash his hands before having a snack. He asked me if I had an "soap-itizer" he could use!!! He was pretty proud when I explained that he just made up a new word by combining soap and sanitizer!

8/31/09-- Benz gave me a hug and kiss yesterday for Matt and I's anniversary. When we were at dinner exchanging gifts he had made us a card and said "Happy wedding birthday, Mama and Babe!"

9/2/09-- I was in the kitchen and I dropped some food on the floor while I was in a rush to get dinner cooked. I screamed out "LORD!" and Benz chimed in, "ALMIGHTY!, right, Mama?" He must have heard that one before:) Ahh, from the mouth of babes!

My best coupon shopping trip EVER!!

I'm back after my usual blog vacation. I've been busy, busy, busy as usual....though this time it's not with crayons up a nose, thank goodness! I'm feeling lately like a chicken running around with my head cut off. It' so hard trying to find a BALANCE between work, kids, my hubby, my friends and family, my hobbies and everything else in between! I'm sure I'm not the only one who struggles with this, and I tend to bring on most of my stress myself. If I weren't busy, I think I'd lose it but when I am a slave to the craziness then I'm anxious and can't rest until it's all done. And guess what, it never is! Because just when one project seems to be closing a new one manages to sneak in. I am about 99% done with our garage/shed/laundry room organization project and I'm sooooo pleased about it! I'll have to post some pics later, if I ever find the time! But now I'm on to my next gigantic undertaking. Over the past year I've become a super shopper and an expert saver. Hi, my name is Melanie and I'm addicted to saving money!

I started thinking that all of the tips I'm using to cut our grocery bill in half could easily apply to many other families in the area. So I'm on a quest to create 2 money-saving manuals, one mostly about saving on groceries and toiletries, entitled: Coupons to Cash: Creative Ways to Cut Your Costs! The other is about eating out, finding entertainment and retail shopping for less, specificially new and used stores in the Clark County/Portland area, and it's called : Discovering Dramatic Deals and Discounts in Clark County. I have written about 100+ pages and have about the same number to write. The part I am most excited about is that I've just put my proposals in with Vancouver Parks & Rec (Marshall Center) and Clark College and my friend Traci and I should be teaching money saving classes to the public in January! I will also be marketing and selling my manuals on eBay.

One of the chapters in my manual includes a fun list that goes something like this: You know you're addicted to coupons and saving money when: you take pictures of your shopping successes and post them on your blog! To give you a taste of what I can do when combining store sales with coupons and rebates on top of it, here are my treasures from my late-night trip to Albertson's; just take a good look at the pics and then scroll down to see what my net price was:

12 jars of Ragu pasta & alfredo sauce

20 Sobe lean 20 oz. drinks

4 Fresh Gourmet croutons

3 Wish Bone Bountifuls dressings

3 large Rasin Bran Crunches

1 jumbo box of Rice Krispies

5 Pop-Tarts

2 cans of Blue Diamond wasabi almonds

Next up we have 5 boxes of Popsicles

5 pounds of bananas

5 pounds of grapes

4 store yogurts

10 Breyers yogurt and crunch

2 Silk chocolate soy milk

2 gallons of skim milk

2 packs of Yo-Plus yogurt

8 packs of Stayfree pads

10 Degree body mists

3 Dove body mists

3 Dove deodorant

11 Degree deodorant

And I almost forgot about the loaf of whole wheat bread I stashed in the freezer!

So with 2 carts full of stuff, after sales, coupons and rebates my final price was...

$1.22!!

Yes, you read that right! And that included tax too! And if I hadn't already sent off for it, I could have gotten a $10 rebate on the Kellogg's cereal and they would have PAID me $8.78 to take all of this home!!! The coolest part of all is that I will donate at least half of it to a local women's shelter. Not bad for a day's work, huh? :)

If Only I Drank...Today Would Be the Day!!

So I JUST posted yesterday about how "boys will be boys." And after today, it makes me wonder if Benz can read unbeknownst to me. He must have seen my blog post and decided to live up to the title because today he created another classic memory. All signs pointed towards a normal day & after yesterday, I needed one! We were eating breakfast and Benz mentioned that he had lots of "blue boogies" today. I shrugged it off and let him know we'd get a Kleenex when we brushed his teeth and get him all cleaned up. And sure enough about 15 minutes later we were in the bathroom and I noticed a blue tint all around his nose. So I took a baby wipe and bravely wiped inside and thick blue goop kept coming out!!! About 4 wipes later I asked him if he had but anything in his nose and he said "You gonna be angry with me." I told him no, but that he had to tell the truth and he admitted to shoving a crayon inside his left nostril YESTERDAY at bible camp! I got a flashlight and sure enough, there it was pretty far back; for a moment I contemplated using tweezers myself to get it out but it was way too lodged up in there. So instead of Bible camp for Benz and a quiet morning for Boston & I, the three of us were off to the doctor's at 8:45am. Three hours, an exhausted one year old, one potent Valium and lots of convincing later, Benz was sedated enough to have the doctor use some super long tweezers to remove the culprit. And out came a 1 1/2 inch piece of crayon! His nose had started to "digest" the crayon and thus the reason for the blue goop. The doctor said it had been a long time since he had had to do such a strange and exciting procedure. When we got home, I put Boston down for a nap and just collapsed. Thank God for my mother-in-law, who was already planning to pick them both up for the afternoon! I pray that there are no more "boys will be boys" incidents until I recover from these recent events and have energy to take on what the future will hold!!! Mojito, anyone?

Boys will be boys!

I am sure that everyone who is reading this has heard the phrase, "boys will be boys," but really, what does that mean???? Well let me clue you in! Benz has had an continual bruise, scrape, cut, lump, burn, or scratch since he started walking over 4 1/2 years ago. And now that Boston is almost at that stage, it's double the trouble! But there have been three times (SO FAR) in my life that I have opened a door and sighed at what was behind it. And it's almost like your life passing in front of your eyes...for a second you are frozen and the amount of work that is ahead of you, as your mind calculates how many hours it will take you to get it back to normal. And after that one second of contemplation, you gather up any energy you have left and begin your work as a mom.

The first happened when Benz was about 2 1/2 and was starting to potty train. He had just moved into his big boy bed. I went to wake him up from a nap one fine afternoon, only to discover that he had taken his diaper off and smeared his "masterpiece" all over his bedroom walls! As the record skipped in my head, I looked up to see a precious face smiling from ear to ear, as if to say, "Look, Mama, aren't you proud of me!"

The second time that I was thrown for a loop was about 2 weeks ago. It was a lazy summer afternoon (or so I thought). I was trying to catch up on one of my many jobs (this time customer service rep for my house) & was on the phone with a company questioning the quality of the new freezer we had bought. Benz marches into the office with a huge strawberry & blueberry cheesecake from Costco that his Grandma B. had sent home. I waved at him, telling him to bring it back to the kitchen. But instead of complying he set it on the very edge of our desk and CRASH! Down went the cheesecake and off the phone I went, only to find the decadent greasiness had landed ALL OVER about 200 interlaced computer cords and wires. And the fruit had found it's resting place on our tan carpet. And there was silence and I took a deep breath and knew at that moment that my afternoon would no longer be lazy! After about 30 minutes of delicately wiping off each wire, I opened the door to find Boston had discovered a can of Pringles I hadn't yet put away and had skillfully opened it and crushed every last one into minute pieces and had rolled over it again and again. And then the familiar theme replayed: I looked up to see a precious face smiling from ear to ear, as if to say, "Look, Mama, aren't you proud of me!" After a few more minutes of vacuuming up the floor and Boston, the carpet was once again chip free and I collapsed from exhaustion!

And the third (and last, so far) incident was today. It was a busy morning but I was looking forward to a relaxed afternoon of getting odds & ends done before having to make a swim schedule tonight. Boston had finished his bath and just gone down for a nap. Benz was getting out of the tub and decided to stay upstairs in our bathroom to take care of "some business" and had requested some privacy. So I went downstairs and called my Mom to ask her a quick question and Benz came running down the stairs screaming, telling me that "water is going everywhere upstairs. Hurry, it's a BIG problem!!" So I hung up the phone, rushed upstairs & discovered my very own wading pool in my bathroom! I rolled up my pants and turned off the water and took that famous second to process it all. I wasn't getting anything done this afternoon besides mopping up poopy water, washing & drying 20+ sopping towels & bath mats, sanitizing the floor, and taking a shower. To comfort myself, I ran the mantra in my head: "it could have been worse, it could have been worse." And then all I could think to do was smile and say, boys will be boys!"

Nothin' But Boys in my House
Author: Erin Jo Kilmer
There are boys in my house - and Spiderman shoes
And 200 papers in various blues.
There's Bob (he's a builder) and Thomas the Train,
There's a fireman coat to wear in the rain.
They have cars on their shirts and frogs on their hats
There's a glove and a ball and a red plastic bat.
There's dirt on a face and a smudge on a nose;
Grass stains on knees and sand between toes.
There's bathtime at night with bodies to scrub,
And when we're all done there is dirt in the tub!
There's bandaids and bruises and curious bumps,
There's smiles and laughter and sometimes there's grumps.
There's odors most icky; there's boogers so green
There's more yucky things than I'll ever get clean.
There's piles of laundry; there's stories at night;
There's bedtime and bathtime and dinnertime fights.
There's cars and there's trains and there's books about trucks
There's Scoop, Lofty, Dizzy, and Travis, and Muck.
Sometimes there are bugs, and sometimes there are frogs;
Sometimes they are lions, or dinos, or dogs.
There are cute little vests and darling neckties
Dragged right through the mud - oh what a surprise!
There's running and climbing and jumping and falling
And laughing and crying and hugging and brawling
And rolling and losing and finding and creeping
And whining and stealing and sometimes there's sleeping.
There's tantrums and time outs and extra loud noise -
There's love in my house shaped like two little boys.

What Are Little Boys Made Of?
By Nikki Blair

Someone once called you
Snips, Snails, Puppy-Dog Tails -
but I know you

and you are
mud-puddle-splashing and
secret-fort-building and
living-room-floor-wrestling and
sometimes even sweet-sibling-hugging

you are
coated with the dust and dirt of
boyhood play -
high-top tennis shoes and falling-down socks
blistered palms from too much free-throw practice
chlorine-damp hair from a splashy cannonball dive into the pool

you are
eating your veggies
only with the promise that they'll make you big and strong

you are
giggling in your pj's at Saturday morning cartoons

you are
letting the cat lick your face and

you are
laughing

you are
scrubbed and tubbed
hair combed (until
it rumples on your pillow
when you settle in to sleep)

and there in your dreams
you are
a cowboy, a fireman,
a dump-truck driver,
an astronaut,
maybe a farmer

but in my dreams
you are
a grown, gentle man with
a lighted smile, shining eyes
you are
in candlelight,
kissing your beautiful new bride
you are
in night-light,
singing soft lullabies to your babies in their beds,
and smoothing their bath-damp hair

for I know you and
that's what my little boy is made of.

Welcome to the world, Sweet Caroline! I'm finally Auntie Melanie!

I am about the proudest Auntie in the entire world as I type this! My brother, Mike, and sister-in-law, Lys, welcomed their first little one into our family on July 2nd! Caroline was about 2 weeks early but still weighed in at 7 pounds, 13 ounces. She is just precious and I've already had several people say she resembles her beautiful aunt:) She has had a few bumps in only the few days she has been with us and continues to have some breathing problems. She is making progress in the ICU and we are hoping she is able to go home any day now but please send up your thoughts and prayers for her quick & painless recovery. Just looking at my brother hold his daughter brings tears to my eyes. He looks like such a proud father and she looks so content in his arms; they have both had such an eventful time with unexpected issues arising yet they remain so steadfast and calm; I am proud of their courage under fire and their determination to have the best medical staff assist her. We have never been super close growing up & certainly had our fair share of growing pains. But as we have matured into young adults, even though we've taken very different paths and live clear across the country from each other, we have grown to appreciate each other's differences and embrace the fact that we are from the same wonderfully loving family & I know we both consider ourselves richly blessed for that. And I think we will now grow closer as we have now experienced the joy of parenthood and will discover the journey of raising children together. They have asked me to be Caroline's godmother and I am honored to help guide her on a spiritual path in God's ways. I am looking forward to September when I can hold her & spoil her in person when I fly down to Atlanta for the Christening!

Boston's Blue Lake Bash!

So not only did this lucky boy have a pinata party in New Orleans and a beach trip on June 24, but we threw him a Brawley Birthday Bash on Blue Lake on June 27, 2009. My in-laws were kind enough to let our family & friends gather for a day of fun in the sun at their house. We had a slip & slide set up, some kids went swimming, used the slide, took a boat ride & got pulled behind on the tube. There were water balloons and the hot tub was open for business and a delicious BBQ dinner. We had 35 people join us on the big day and the best part was I was able to log onto my laptop and have my Mom join us from afar via video conferencing for Boston's Happy Birthday song and while we opened his gifts. [My Dad would have loved to get in on this, but he was in the Azores, Portugal visiting his brother]. It was the next best thing to having her there. And the biggest hit of all was the Mel's sno-ball stand! I set up a stand with our new shaved ice machine (thanks Gma & Gpa M.!) & syrups that I had made (thanks Mom & Traci for helping) and it was just like the sno-balls we enjoy back home! Each of the kids must have had at least 5 of them and I think some of the parents got to sample the heavenly nectar cream flavor topped off with condensed milk! Boston received so many wonderful gifts; everyone was so generous! We were just thankful to have so many people that are important gathered together to celebrate him and happy to send them off with some awesome goody bags:)

Boston's first birthday on the Oregon Coast!

I know I am not the first mom to say this nor will I be the last. Moms all around the world who speak many different languages look at their babies on their first birthdays and wonder where that year has gone....it seems just like yesterday Boston was welcomed into our world with open arms. He has grown into such a joyful & adorable little boy and we are truly thankful to be his caretakers in this life. He has gone from sitting in one place & sleeping almost all day to sitting up then crawling then pulling up on things and now he stands and can hold on to just about anything! The progress a baby makes in only 12 months is truly a miracle, second only to the miracle of sperm and egg forming to create a unique human being. He was so helpless and so reliant on us for his every need and now he is becoming independent and curious about the world around him and is so ready to try out new things. He has 8 teeth and is working on his 2 year molars! In fact when we went in for his one year checkup on Thurs., Dr. Mason said "Congratulations, Boston, you have tripled your birthweight!" He weighed in at over 25 pounds and just 12 months ago he was born weighing 8 pounds, 14 ounces! [Sidenote: people stop me in stores and on the street to tell me just how handsome and precious he is. My repsonse is always, "well I can't argue with you! Thank you!" Dr. Mason just confirmed it when he told me that he sees babies all day long but that Boston truly is striking and if he had a prize for the cutest baby of the month, it would go to him!] He had his first peanut butter sandwich last week and I took him on the antique carousel (AKA flyin' horses) at Jantzen Beach yesterdayz! So as our precious boy grows right before our very eyes, we will be beside him supporting him & cheering him on as he discovers how to walk and to talk and all the other things little boys are made of!

We left early in the morning on June 24 to head out to the Oregon Coast to celebrate Boston's birthday. We met my in-laws for lunch at the famous Mo's restaurant in Lincoln City. Then we all caravaned over to the Newport Aquarium; Benz enjoyed seeing all of the fish & marine life. From there we went to Newport's historic bayfront and braved the chilly, drizzly weather [when you think of the beach in Oregon in the summer, a bikini does not come to mind, more like a fleece hoodie!] & went to Ripley's Believe it or Not museum. From there we drove back to Spirit Mountain Casino [a casino on an Indian Reservation in Grand Ronde, OR & the most visited tourist spot in the state!] where we would stay the night. Now you may be asking why we would take two young kids to spend the night at a casino? Well the answer is because it was free! My hubby enjoys thrifty deals almost as much as me and received an awesome one that came with his Blazer season tickets. We stayed in the Lodge for free for one night with a free continental breakfast the next morning and Matt turned in a certificate he had for $100 and they gave him cash!!! And to top it off, we used the $100 gift certificate to the Legends restaurant for dinner that night. I was able to get a $51 lobster for free!! All we had to pay for was the tip!! That was probably the most expensive meal I've ever had (with the exception of our wedding, maybe) and it was delicious but I certainly wouldn't have splurged on it under normal circumstances but it was quite a nice treat! And we only ended up gambling about $15 so we came out in the green for sure! Benz had a great time playing in the kids arcade center too and he's now very fond of collecting those engraved flattened pennies just about anywhere we go:)

The next day we checked out and just the 4 of us headed to the sandy beach. It was Boston's very first experience with the sand and he must have put at least 4 handfuls in his mouth! Benz loved making a sand castle and flying a kite. We headed towards the cheese factory in Tillamook and on the way we must have seen over 10,000 dairy cows!! Benz is the biggest lover of cows that I know so he was thrilled and kept saying that the cows must have known he was coming because they all gathered outside to say hi to him! The cheese factory was quite fun; we had delicious grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch and freshly churned ice cream cones for dessert and truly enjoyed the self-guided tour of the factory. It's neat to know the process behind where your dairy products come from. While we were in the store checking out our souvenirs, Matt got a text on his phone saying Michael Jackson had passed. What a shocker! We hope the king of pop can finally rest in peace!

So many changes for the Brawley Boys!

Seems like a whirlwind over the last week or so since getting back from New Orleans! First, Boston has had so many accomplishments....his first haircut on , he now has 7 and almost 8 teeth! On 6/9 he climbed up two of our stairs, and on 6/13 he pulled up on one of my pants legs into a standing position! Today he sat up from laying down and then pulled up and stood up for a few minutes while holding on to a chair! Yesterday, he rode front facing in his carseat for the first time on the way to Mass! And before the end of the month, he will have switched over to whole milk from formula! He's crawling like crazy (the Army scoot) and will eat almost ANYTHING in sight; baby food is a thing of the past!

On Fri (6/12) I took the training wheels off of his big boy bike and after only about 5 minutes, Benz was zipping down the street on his own and was a pro! I was so proud of him but best of all, he was proud of himself! But tonight he was overconfident and caught his foot up in a wheel while riding with his new friend (the neighbor boy Jake) and did a total face plant. He has brush burns from his forehead down to his toes and told me tonight he never wants to ride again! Let's just hope he forgets all about it next week!

Blazer's close call...

UPDATE 7/8/09-- About 2 weeks ago, Blazer was rubbing up against one of Boston's toys and pulled out his feeding tube!! We patched it up and brought him in and they sewed up the hole. He was eating regularly at that point, so we all just figured the timing was natural. And he's doing FABULOUS!! He has soooo much energy and is back up to 13 pounds!! He has made a complete turn around and we are just thrilled; especially Matt since he no longer has to worry about crushing pills or doing tube feedings 3 times a day!!

As I posted earlier, our kitty, Pepsi was diagnosed with feline diabetes in March. Since then, we switched him (and therefore both of our kitties) from dry food to canned cat food, since the dry food is so high in carbs and most probably caused the diabetes in the first place. Pepsi took well to it and his blood glucose stabilized to a normal range within a month and a half and we were able to completely wean him off of the insulin! But in the meantime, Blazer was slowly eating less and less dry food which we hadn't noticed until about 3 weeks ago; he was protesting by starving himself. He was losing weight like crazy and was acting super lethargic and vomiting bile. So we finally took him in when he almost on his deathbed and they told us he had a fatty liver which had started to fail. So he spent several days in the vet hospital, had a complicated (& super expensive ultrasound) and then had a feeding tube inserted into his neck. This all happened right as the boys & I were leaving for our 2+ week trip to NOLA. Matt really stepped it up and took charge in order to save Blazer's life. He fed him 4 times a day in the tube, crushing up many different pills and adding water, etc. It is such a complicated procedure and I am very proud of him for taking responsibility for this and committing his time & energy for our 4 legged family member. It was such a strange thing to see Blazer with the tube and a little t-shirt on when we got back home. I was so scared that when I left I may never have seen him again and that I never had a chance to say goodbye. I remember going with Matt to the Oregon Humane Society in Dec of 2000 and picking Blazer out because of his cute little black goatee and his adorable over sized ears. I am thrilled to report that he is making quite a come back, is now eating solid foods willingly, is gaining weight and is purring up a storm! We will have to eventually have to figure out how to get Blazer to either eat canned food or how to separate Pepsi so he is not ingesting the high carb stuff. But that will come, in the meantime, we are just happy to have both of our kitties with us so that Benz & Boston can grow up with them.

New Orleans welcomes us back!

We just returned from another WONDERFUL trip to see my parents & grandparents in New Orleans. Each trip is such a familiar and comfortable experience but different every time. This time around I wasn't nursing and the boys were sleeping reasonably well so I was able to take some time out for me, to get some projects started that I have been waiting to work on. I made over 100 clips and bows for my soon-to-be niece and an adorable bow holder. And I have started writing a e-book (my best gal pal, Traci, will be co-authoring it with me) on how to save LOTS of money with coupons. We will be teaching classes at local community centers and Clark College in the fall; I'm very excited to share my knowledge and lots of research with others to help them save over $500 a month! Plus I've started participating in the "Cut out Hunger" program in which I donate at least ten items to charity each month, including deodorant, formula, diapers, pet food, mac & cheese and much more. And I was able to have some true quality time catching up with my Mom & Grandma which I hold so dear to me. My Grandma even passed on a BEAUTIFUL vintage ring with three diamonds that her mother, my Great-Grandma Trammell, gave to her. I am having it re sized and can't wait to wear it every day!

We spent a lot of time playing on Claiborne Court, went to BooKoo bounce, had a Muffalatta, Benz held a 4 foot alligator at Insta-Gator ranch, ate sushi, met up with Lauren & Brandon, had beignets with Gma & Gpa M., had lots & LOTS of snoballs, Boston sat in a taxi for his FIRST haircut & we even found time to have a 1st birthday party for Boston (with Aunt Tuddie, Aunt Bonnie, Lily & Jack, complete with a pinata too!) I can't thank my Mom & Dad enough for letting me sleep in until 10am some mornings and how glorious is it not to have to do laundry or dishes for over 2 weeks???? "Da Da Da...South Beverly Knoll!!!"

Check out these crazy coupon deals!!

I was born with saving money running through my veins. My mom had me sorting and cutting coupons before I could talk:) So naturally, when I became a wife & mother, I continued the tradition of cutting coupons and looking for great deals. But over the years I have developed what was a casual habit into a crafted trade; my mom is oh so proud! My best gal pal Traci is the self-pronounced Coupon Queen but I think I give her a pretty good run for her money! In fact, I think we are going to compile a how to manual on saving money, using coupons most wisely and getting freebies. Believe me, it is a science. My hope is to get it completed in the next year and then start teaching classes at our local community center on the topic. In this deflated economy, if we can help just a few folks to save their families money each month, then it's worth the effort for sure. And since I stocked up on some of the items below and there's no way our family of 4 will use all of these things, I am making a monthly donation to our local food bank of non-perishables and toiletries. So here are my bargain basements deals that I got last night at Target. After handing the cashier about 100+ coupons, she was glad to get rid of me and I was thrilled at all I got for next to nothing. Ahh, the adrenaline of a good deal...

I bought ALL of these things for under $40!!!

Items from 51 cents to 1.00 each!

Large box of triscuits .75

Quaker true delights granola bars .89

Kraft mayo .75

Ritz bitz box .75

Kellog's mini wheats .99/box

Planter's peanuts .74/can!

Items from 1 cent to 50 cents each!

Velveeta mac & cheese .22/box

Skintimate shave gel .50/can

Pringles .26/can

Target baby wash night .40/bottle

Nabisco 100 calorie Oreo cakesters .04/box!!

Ritz crackers (full box) .20/box

Aquafresh enamellock toothpaste 0.05/tube

Reach toothbrushes .50/each

And the best for last..the FREE items!!

There's nothing better than walking out of a store with free items or some times, they even pay me to take them home!!! And it's all legal with the skillful use of stacking coupons!

Kraft dressings (4)-- FREE!

Kraft BBQ sauce (2)-- FREE!

Hershey's Bliss bars (2)-- FREE!

Quakers granola bites (2) --FREE!

Sargento pretzel dippers --FREE!