You Can Now Find Me At Aldi's...

Oh. my. GOODNESS.   Have you been to Aldi's?  I'm sure a bunch of you have, and are laughing at me, that I'm just now discovering it, but I am indeed, very thrilled.

This morning, the kids and I took our first trip to Aldi's.  Normally I shop at Meijer and Kroger, all the time, every time.  But I saw an Aldi ad, and noticed their produce was insanely low.  I decided to make a list of general grocery items that we needed (snack crackers, waffles, fruit snacks, bread, etc.) as well as a list of produce.  Let me tell you- not only was this store (our Jackson location) incredibly clean and well stocked, but it was the PERFECT size.  It wasn't overwhelming at all- Maeve walked beside the cart and I wasn't freaking out every two seconds that she was lost.  It was such a nice grocery shopping experience.  I ended up picking up more than was on my list, because the prices were so awesome. 

At the end of our trip, Maeve had so much fun loading the groceries into boxes and bags on the little table at the front of the store.  And I had quite the high from my very low receipt :)...

Here's a quick rundown of items I got:  1 cucumber, 2 avocados, milk, cheese, 2 packs of crackers (cheese its), 2 packs of animal cookies, veggie straws, 2 packs of waffles, bag of onions, 2 mangos, cantaloupe, 2 boxes of fruit snacks, 3 hand soaps, 1 ice cream, 1 pack of ice cream cones, 4 boxes of cereal, 2 frozen concentrated lemonades, 1 pack of yogurt, bananas, hot dog buns and chips for- 35 bucks (35.87 to be exact).   Then me, being the dork that I am, decided to divide that number to see on average, how much I spent per item-  $1.02!    Notice, I didn't get any meat- I do still have to go to meijer and get my meats, but otherwise, we are stocked up and ready to roll for the week- on 35 bucks.  I am way too excited about this :)

And because I'm an even bigger dork, I came home and (after fixing my kids a nice lunch of cucumbers, bananas, cheese and turkey) I looked up the prices of some of the items I got at Meijers- just for comparison... here's what I came out with, best buy wise:

• Hot dog buns- on sale at meijers for 99 cents, regularly priced at Aldi for 79 cents!
• mangoes- 99 cents at meijers,  50 cents at Aldi (50% off!)
• chips (like lays) 2.00 on sale at Meijer, 1.39 at Aldi
• frozen juice concentrate- on sale at Meijer for 99 cents, Aldi- 69 cents
• Waffles- 2.50 at Meijer, 1.99 at Aldi
• I'm not sure how much avocados are at Meijer because they weren't in the ad, but Aldi's had them for 84 cents this week...  Usually at other stores, I find them 3/5.00 or sometimes if its a great sale 5/5. 
• Cantaloupe was a buck and the cucumber was 70 cents. 
• veggie straws- at Meijers they're 2.99, today at Aldi, they were 1.49!!!  (these are eaten like crazy in this house... so it was a good find for me!)

Oh and here's my favorite part about the store- the milk and produce ALL come from Michigan and are hormone free. 

Also- did you know that Aldi's is owned by the same company that runs Trader Joe's? 

I am so excited to start shopping regularly here... definitely for produce!  

And that's what made my day today :)

Happy Tuesday ;)

couponing....sigh. :)

A lot of you have asked about my couponing/grocery shopping. I got started in couponing with the help of my friend Shelby. She is the coupon QUEEN! And so I, in a much needed effort to save money started learning. It's tricky. It takes time. It takes energy. BUT- you save money, become more organized and get freebies! I had blogged awhile back that Sunday's were my day to do all the couponing stuff. It still is- I just haven't blogged about it in awhile.

Recently, I joined "Menu Plan Mondays"- it's a great site that holds you accountable to your grocery list and menu plan. Like I said, I've been doing the couponing for awhile now, but just started planning my meals a month ago. Today marks that 1 month of menu planning- and I must say, I am pretty proud of myself for sticking to it! This past week was the one week we strayed from the menu- I ruined my Mexican Hotdish and we ended up getting Applebees. Rest assured, I am going to CONQUER that pesky hotdish this week! :) I HIGHLY suggest checking out THIS SITE if you're interested in menu planning. It's such a great resource! On top of planning out our meals, I then go through ALL the different grocery store ads and figure out where the deals are. By running all over town (Kroger, Meijer, Walmart) I've been able to keep our grocery bill around 50 bucks per week- this is with using coupons and getting the in store specials/savings. Yes, its a lot of busy work but I actually enjoy Sunday nights- going through my ads, figuring out dinners- it makes me feel like we've got a PLAN and a destination for the week. No more flying by the seat of our pants! :) Here is our menu plan for this week and here are my coupon/grocery store match-ups (and lucky for me- ALL my "deals" are at ONE store this week!!!) ...Meijer -oh and here is some coupon lingo for you- MM= Meijer Mealbox coupons located HERE Q= coupon!:

Monday-
Mexican Chicken Hotdish w/ yellow rice
-SNOW POPS will also be made (these are awesome little treats that are great for Maeve to snack on through the week... not the healthiest but she loves them)


Tuesday-
Chicken Parm. in the crockpot w/ salad

Wednesday-
Broccoli Casserole with chicken

Thursday-
Chicken Tortilla soup

Friday- PIZZA!

(can you tell there is a great deal on Chicken this week??? :)

And here is what my grocery list looks like along with matchups:
-CHICKEN, CHICKEN, CHICKEN! (3 packs) Tyson on special 1.99/lb. @ Meijer
-Dole Salad- using (1) 1.00 MM Q
-white chocolate (for my snowpops)
-cream cheese
-powdered sugar
-butter
-yellow rice
-2 cans diced tomatoes -using (2) 25 cent MM Q's
-2 onions
-1 can chicken broth
-5 cans corn (delmonte)-using (1) $1.00/5 MM Q AND combining w/ (1) $1.00/4 printable coupon found HERE
-2 cans beans
-velveeta cheese -using (1) 55 cent printable Q found HERE
-4 frozen broccoli (birdseye) -using (1) $1.00/4 printable Q found HERE
-brown rice (Minute) -using (1) $1.00 Printable Q found HERE
-milk
-goldfish (as many as I can get!) -using (????maybe 25????) MM q's for 1.00 off. GOLDFISH ARE ON SALE THIS WEEK FOR $1.00- making these FREEEEEEEEE!
-3 boxes of cake mix (Duncan Hines)- using (1) $1.00/3 Q from newspaper(10/11)
-2 tubs of oats (Quaker) -using (1) 1.00 off Quaker oats MM coupon
-4 boxes of cereal (Kelloggs) -using (2) 1.00 off Q's from newspapers
-4 cans cream of chicken/mushroom soup (Campbells) -using (1) $1.00/4 Q found HERE

Well... that's my list! Since having Henry, my grocery trips have to be QUICK and condensed! I usually make my list up, print/clip my coupons on Sunday night and highlight each item on my list that I have coupons for. That way, I am sure to use all my coupons. I'm not sure the total of this grocery bill- I will post a pic and all that info tomorrow.

***EDITING NOTE!***** Thanks to my fellow coupoining cousin MAL :) she corrected me with the goldfish deal :( Sorry to say but the coupon is for a larger size than the ones on sale... boooooo- no free fishies this week! THANKS FOR LETTING ME KNOW MAL!

Couponing...

It's been awhile since I've posted about my couponing- in part because I really haven't gotten out and done it for awhile. It DOES take a lot of time clipping, planning and actually scanning in the coupons. Today though, I decided it was time to get back into it!

Meijers is having a great 10 for 10 sale and there are some AWESOME coupon match ups. Without breaking it done too much here's what's in the pic:

4 boxes of fruit roll ups
8 Halls cough drops
6 tubes of Grands biscuits
6 bags of Chex mix (Maeve loves to snack on this)
3 bags of Quaker rice cakes
5 tubs of Betty Crocker frosting (no clue what to do with this... but it was free.)
5 Betty Crocker Warm Delights
3 packs of Lance crackers
4 Green Giant frozen veggies
2 packs Angel soft toilet paper

Grand total: $10.l1! :) WAHOOOOO! I forgot how much I love the thrill of getting some good deals!

Here's a pic of my savings:


And here's a pic of ALL the coupons I used (on the receipt):

Meijers in a Nutshell.

Arrived at approx. 11:30 AM. Loaded up Maeve, Henry, my coffee and my coupon book into the cart and raced through the blizzard that decided to hit Jackson County this morning, and into Meijers. Henry was screaming and Maeve was trying to climb out by the time I reached the produce section. Great. Racing around like a complete madwoman, I somehow accomplished most of my shopping. But not without having to pull out two packs of fruit snacks and a huge, sticky grape sucker. Unfortunately, none of those items were what she wanted. What she REALLY desired was a NUK- which I had completely forgot to grab from the car. Off to the baby section we went- I opened a pack of nuks, gave her one- only to hear her say to me, "TWO NUKS." Sigh.... Off we went to shopping for groceries again... in between grabbing things off the shelf and out of the cart and opening said items, Maeve also enjoyed taking Henry's nuk (even though she had 2 brand new nuks herself) or pinching his cheeks, poking his eyeballs, really anything to tick him off. After what seemed like 3 days of standing in line, it was finally out turn to check out. As I'm loading things onto the belt, Maeve snatched the container of bread crumbs, opened the lid and DUMPED them onto the ground. Give me a break. I apologized to the cashier and asked if there was anyway someone could grab me another container. Yea for great Meijer employees- I got my bread crumbs without having to venture back out into the store. Not TWO seconds after the poor maintenance woman swept up the bread crumbs did I turn around to the sound of Maeve's GIANT purple sucker shattering on the floor. HOLY COW KID. Once again, apologized to the cashier, who then called the maintenance woman back over to clean up our mess. FINALLY after my stack of coupons had been scanned and groceries were loaded up we made our way out of the store. Of course we had to stop and ride the dang pony- because Maeve was so well behaved, right?

We made it back to the car and all I wanted to do was high tail it home. Unfortunately I high-tailed it a little too much and ended up taking out our neighbor's mailbox.

What a day.

A Fabulous Friday.

Fridays are always great :) But today I got a call from my doc saying ALL is GOOD and WELL with my blood work! PHEW what a relief! Thinking all of those scary thoughts for the past few nights has definitely kept me up. Hopefully I can rest good tonight. ONE more week until I have my membranes stripped... TWO more weeks until I start begging for an induction! haha :)

On a totally different note, Kohls is having a power sale (or something like that...) and I started some early Christmas shopping this morning. How exciting! :) They have an extra 20% ALL of their toys! Combined with my $5.00 email coupons, I got some awesome deals! I bought the baby a few rattles, teethers/shaker type things & one of those Playskool baseball toys (its for 6 months & up BUT I couldn't let Maeve have EVERYTHING under the tree!) Maeve's loot this morning included a Sleeping Beauty Barbie, one of those "Fur-real" duckling things (she is OBSESSED with this thing- she plays with it in every store we go to- she loves giving it its bottle..cute) a Melissa & Doug Alphabet puzzle and a Disney Princess Aquadoodle that hangs on her wall.

I think I've talked before about my crazy goal of shopping the day after Thanksgiving (I STILL have that goal in mind!!! I'm really, truly planning on going!) but if for some reason I'm in the hospital ON that day, I figured I better get SOME shopping done before baby comes. My mom thinks I'm completely crazy but she said she'll come over early morning and watch the kiddo(s) if I am seriously going to shop at 5 AM. Yes mom, I am. :)

A Wagon Is Worth The Wait!

We did it people- we woke up at 4:30 AM, woke Maeve up (sounds cruel I know- but in reality the kid wakes up at 5 anyways!) drove to Starbucks, got armed up with coffee and donuts and drove around for about 20 minutes trying to find a parking spot. I was freaking out- I needed to be IN toys R Us by 5 AM because I was looking for these amazing door busters- a Fisher Price "Go & Grow" giraffe (normally 29.99, marked down to 12.99, and a Fisher Price "Little Mommy" doll, normally 29.99, marked down to 14.99) I was beginning to think this whole idea was a bad one, when around 5:30 we were STILL in the car, driving in circles around the parking lot trying to get a spot. But alas, we found one (and a CLOSE one at that!) and I hustled my way into the chaos. Good thing I did though- it was so exciting! They had all the "doorbuster" deals right in the front and I went through and scooped up anything I thought Maeve would like- that included any and all baby dolls, anything Disney and yes, I found the "Go & Grow Giraffe." YEA! SUCCESS! Then like the seasoned Black Friday shopper I am, (haha just kidding) I told Ryan to stand in line at TRU while I went to Target. FOR SOME REASON, I volunteered to take Maeve- BAD IDEA. She was perfectly content in the stroller at TRU, sipping her bottle and eating her donut, but I decided to be the braver parent and take her with me.
Off we (Maeve & I) went while daddy was stuck in line at TRU. We made our way to the Target wing, and I was surprised to find it nearly empty... I thought for SURE there would be a line to Africa waiting to get in. But nope, there were a few stragglers, waiting to get in, but that was it. So we waited, and waited. I checked the time and it was 6:10- "Hmm... funny- Target was supposed to open at 6-" Well, well, well, come to find out, the MALL entrance wasn't opening till 6:30!!! I started to panic- my dreams of the forty dollar wagon for two was slipping away!!! So I bundled Maeve up (which was the catalyst to Maeves meltdown) and ran (YES RAN- totally could have been one of those crazies on the news) outside- the line to GET INTO Target, was wrapped completely around the building... quickly I made the decision that it was either get in within the next 10 minutes or so (and wait in the freezing cold) or get in, in about 25 minutes and risk the wagons being gone. Sooooo OFF I ran to the end of the line- BTW, you'd think these people would have some sympathy for a lone mom and her child, but heck no. It was like the freaking Serengeti- it was vicious. There was no sympathy for Maeve and I- we were shuffled to the very end of that line. We did get in relatively quickly- about 10 minutes or so... but the entire wait was quite painful- for one, Maeve was screaming bloody murder (probably because of the cold), I was trying to organize my wad of Black Friday ads which had blown out of the bottom of my stroller, and in all the chaos, we lost a blanket and her socks- lovely huh? This was probably the most stressful part of the morning- I was by myself with a screaming banshee (aka my child), I was actually sweating (even though it was 10 degrees out) and my head was swirling from crowds of people. I was also really worried I might never find Ryan again.

Well, we finally made it in- and once in, I was faced with a new challenge: finding a cart. There was a lady with a cart who was trying to handle all her purchases... I went up to her and was said "Are you done with your cart?" And she said "Umm.... I don't know if I can get all this to the car by hand." And I actually said, "Could you try? Because I desperately need this cart- I am trying to get a wagon and I can't carry it- I need a cart!" HAHA I am not sure what had come over me... anyhow, the woman said yes, I could use her cart. I was thrilled- I had a cart in one hand and a stroller in the other- and I was wheeling my way through Target- I am pretty sure I took out some small children on my way back to the bike department, but hey you gotta do what you gotta do. Anyways, I got back there and they had probably 6 or 7 wagons left- I snatched one of those things up like it was GOLDDDDDDDD! I was beaming :) I had this giant wagon in my cart, which I was pulling, and I had a stroller that I was pushing. I felt like super mom. haha :) I scooped up the Target doorbusters as well- the "Little People" princess ride on car (originally 29.99- TEN BUCKS!) the talking parrot, "McGraw" for 25, an Elmo laptop for 20, the laugh and learn mower, puppy dog and tool bench (yup got her a tool bench- it was SO COOL! and on sale...)-each laugh and learn thing was on sale for 17.
I do have to say Target was very well stocked and organized. The line moved super quick and everyone was so helpful- there was a situation where I was trying to make my way over to those "Little People" ride on things, and I was STUCK- meaning between me, my stroller and my cart, I couldn't budge through the crowd of people- and one employee came up and asked if I needed help- I told her I was trying to get to the ride on toys and she went and got the princess one for me, put it in my cart and helped push my cart into line. I thought it was really nice of her :)
After I checked out at Target, we regrouped, meaning met up with Ryan, and he brought all of our purchases out to the car.
Then it was off to Kohls- which I was a bit hesitant about as well- I mean the place opened up at FOUR AM!!! What kind of crazies would be lurking in there???? Well, to my pleasant surprise, again, things were well organized and the lines moved fast. I also think I got the deal of the day at Kohls- they had the laugh and learn pony (the one you hook up to your TV) originally 79.99 marked down to 49.99- which is a deal in itself **I had been keeping an eye on the ponies to see if I could find a decently priced one, but they were all over 80 bucks... so I saw it on sale for 49.99 and was thrilled- I snatched it up and headed to the check out- I had a $5.00 coupon (for turning in my email addy a few weeks back) so my total came to be 45 and some change, BUT since I had spent over 50 bucks (I had also bought some presents for my sissys that I can't mention on here because they read this blog...) I got ten dollars in Kohls cash back- so really, the pony that was originally 80 bucks, that was then marked down to 50, was bought for a mere, 35 buckaroos :) (Pony:49.99-10.00 kohls cash=39.99- 5.00 g.card=$35.00) WHAT A DEAL!!!! And the pony is supposed to be some awesome toy that "grows" with them- meaning, it has 3 levels of play- 12 months, 18 months and 24 months. What a good find! :)

Our last stop was Gymboree- yeah somebody just needs to stop me with that- but listen to THIS- everything, EVERYTHING in the store was 30 percent off until noon... I also had a 30% off coupon- I thought this combo deal was too good to be true (60% off???) so I confirmed that I could use my coupon and they said absolutely! :) HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORAY!!! I got Maeve 3 winter outfits (from that adorable, I MEAN ADORABLE, ballerina kitty line), a Christmas dress and a few hair accessories for fifty bucks and some change. I also got a gymbuck- yippppeeee!!! :)

After Gymboree, it was breakfast and bedtime- we were a bit concerned that she wouldn't go to sleep... but after a cinnamon bun, some milk and a bath, she zonked right out. In fact, she slept from around 9 to 1!!! AWESOME huh????


What an amazing morning of good deals and fun :) We will most definitely be attenders of future black Fridays- its ridiculous the money you can save by sacrificing a few hours of crowds and lines.

And just for the record, our Christmas shopping is OFFICIALLY DONE!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOO!!!! WOOOOOOO!!

Another side note- we are in no way financially in a position to spend loads of money on toys- all the toys except for the pony from Kohls were bought with gift cards- My grandma gave us a gift card for Maeves birthday that we specifically saved for Black Friday, and ya'll know my deal with the glade candle/gift card deal at Target. So... good stuff :) Only 90 bucks was spent out of pocket (40 at Kohls and
50 at gymboree...)

Ditched For Golf...

The story of my life. Yup its a Saturday and unfortunately Ryan chose to go golfing... so our normal "family" day was kinda out. Whats a girl to do? SHOP! :)

I decided to take Maeve up to Lansing because they have this really nice play area for babies. It is totally designed for Maeve- everything is foamed and soft- no bumps or bruises for Maeve! She was AWESOME the whole day today- such a cool kid. I was a bit nervous that I'd have a screaming babe on my hands for the 45 minute drive, but she was so content listening to Ben Harper and chewing on toys.

When we got there she was SO excited to play!!! It was so much fun seeing her in her element! She ruled that little play land! She was climbing on everything pushing big kids out of her way so she could see what was going on... it was really cute :) She even snatched a lollipop out of this little girls hand (which was really, really gross) but funny.

Then I took her to eat at McCallisters- no biggie, except that it was my FIRST time ever eating completely alone with her! I was nervous because normally its this huge ordeal to order, get a table, get her situated, feed her, etc. But it went really great and it made me look forward to when she is a bit older and we have mom/daughter outings more often :)

Anyways, it turned out to be a good day for Maeve and I. I love bonding with that chick... :) When we got home I gave her a bath to wash off the billion germs that she picked up while playing and she smacked her head into the side of the tub. Yup. She can't go a day without getting a goose egg, I swear! I guess its the age, but I always feel like the worst mom ever when it happens... it wasn't too bad of a bump though and by the time I laid her down for her nap it was just a little red mark. I am crossing my fingers she'll calm down a bit because I am SO not the person that can handle broken limbs and stitches and all that junk... but I have a feeling shes gonna be my kid with the longest list of hospital visits :(

Oh and if you're curious what bargains I found at the mall, here's my list:
I stocked up for NEXT summer... everything is for Maeve! :)
3 bathing suits from Old Navy all priced at 6.99 :)
1 dress from O.N. $6.99
1 pair of shoes from O.N. $2.99
I had a friends and family coupon so I got 25% off of all that- it came to be around 20 bucks.

GAP: I found a LOAD of adorable, cheap dresses for next summer- I have yet to go through and count them, but I think its around 6??? They were all 12.99. My total there came to like 60 something with that 25% off coupon.

Good deals, good fun, good day :)