Trick or Treat!

It's trick or treat time - Digichick style! The designers and creative team members have put together this little blog hop so that you grownups can do some of your own trick or treating. Here is my contribution using the fantastic Monsters in the Closet kit by Mari Koegelenberg.

You can download my quick page by CLICKING HERE - and the rest of the blog stops are below the image! Hope you find lots of treats and no tricks! :)
Tiffany - http://ascrapaway.blogspot.com/
LuAnn - http://livelaughcreate-luann.blogspot.com/
Cheryl - http://cherylisadomesticgoddess.blogspot.com/
Mel - www.littlepaperhouse.com
Kelley - http://www.kelleymickusdesigns.blogspot.com/
Sinead - http://www.slaphappyandscrappy.blogspot.com
Tracy - http://tracykosofsky.blogspot.com <--- YOU ARE HERE
Pam - www.pameladonnis.com
Elise - http://elisespiecesdesigns.blogspot.com
Jill - http://scrappingprincess.com/blog
Jacinda- http://www.digikiwichick.blogspot.com/
Jenn - http://jennamy82.blogspot.com
Kara - www.karaperrien.blogspot.com
Heather - http://bowenyard.blogspot.com
Juli - http://julifreshfish.blogspot.com/
Mari - http://mydigitalartstudio.com/
Julie - http://mycrazylifeasamomandawife.blogspot.com/
Linda - http://www.yamstamps.com/weblog/treat.html
Dani - http://www.danielleengebretson.com/
Cheryl - http://cherylisadomesticgoddess.blogspot.com/
Kelleigh - http://kelleighratzlaff.com/
ViVa - http://vivaartistry.blogspot.com/
The Hybrid Chick - http://www.thehybridchick.com/

Layouts!

Can you believe it? It's not a coupon post - it's a layout post! Here are some of my favorites from the last couple weeks - credits under each

Credits: papers/elements from Elise Hansen's Cowboy Cool, based on a template from Crystal Livesay's Jumpers 13-16

Credits: papers/elements from Happy by Rosey Posey Studio, based on a template from Crystal Livesay's Jumpers 29-32

Credits: Bennett’s Hammock, Messy Imperfect Stitches, and Painted & Stitched Alpha by Roben-Marie Designs

Credits: Papers/elements from rawr-o-saurus rex by Michelle Batton and based on a template from Jumpers 29-32 by Crystal Livesay

Credits: alpha from Every Life Has a Story - Chapter 1 by The Digichick Designers; date tag from Create a Date by Dawn Inskip; paper and flowers from Quirky Park by Roben-Marie Designs

Hope you enjoy!

Layouts?

I know. I promised layouts. And they're coming later today!

But really. I went to Publix today and spent $12.42 on retail $91.81, for a savings of $79.39 or 86%. That's a whopping 35 cents per item purchased. Want to know how I did it? The transaction details are under the photo! Before you get worried that my kids aren't getting any veggies - I have a freezer full of frozen veggies from an earlier trip! And....it's farmer's market time here in South Florida, so we're getting the majority of our produce direct from the growers :).Before I explain how I did it, I need to tell you that Publix does not have a national coupon policy. Every store is different. My Publix is very coupon friendly and does 2 key things that really maximize savings - they accept competitor store coupons, and they allow coupon overages to apply to the rest of your purchase. I used both policies to my advantage today! Remember that all IP (internet-printable) coupons can be found in the database at Krazy Coupon Lady.

So here it is -

Quaker Chewy Granola Bars sale BOGO (buy 1 get 1 free) 2.99
Used 3 - $1 off 2 IP coupons
Used 6 - 50 cents off Target coupons (these are also printable at afullcup.com)
Bought 6
Final cost: 50 cents per box

Mott's Applesauce 6 packs sale BOGO 2.39
No coupons
Bought 2
Final cost: $1.19 per pack

Honey Nut Cheerios BOGO 4.99
Used 4-55 cents off IP coupons
Used 2 - $1/2 General Mills cereal Target coupons (printable at afullcup.com)
Bought 4
Final cost: $1.45 per box

Post Honey Bunches of Oats cereal BOGO 3.99
Used 2-$2/1 IP coupons
Bought 2
Final cost: 1 cent credit

Kraft Mac and Cheese BOGO 1.29
No coupons
Bought 4
Final cost: 60 cents per box

Mount Olive pickles BOGO 2.19
Used 2-50 cent off IP coupons
Bought 2
Final cost: 60 cents per jar

Pillsbury Savorings Bread Bowl Bites BOGO 3.99
Used 2-55 cent IP coupons
Bought 2
Final cost: $1.35 per box (so worth it because I love these things)

Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers 4/$10
Used 1-$1/1 coupon
Bought 1
Final cost $1.50 per box (not bad for a lunch)

Campbells Chunky Soup 2/$3
used $1/2 Walgreens Catalina coupon (these print at the register when you buy certain things)
Bought 2
Final cost: $1 per can

Theraflu 2/$7
Used 1-$2 IP coupon (no longer available)
Used 1-$2 Walgreens coupon from Healthy Savings book found in stores
Bought 1
Final cost: 50 cent credit

Ore Ida Easy Fries regular price $1.09
Used 1-$1/2 IP coupon
Bought 2
Final cost: 59 cents per box

Bought 3 tomatoes at a cost of 1.39 total

AND HERE'S A BIG KEY:
Knox Gelatin (found by the Jello) regular price 1.39
Used 4-$4/1 IP coupons (HELLO!!!)
Bought 4
Final cost: $2.61 CREDIT PER BOX - This $10.44 in total overage really subsidized my purchases without coupons!

A little shopping update

And some layouts coming tomorrow!! :)

I spent most of the day today running around town shopping. I went to ToysRUs, Walgreens, CVS, Target and Publix. In about 3 hours, I spent $72.77 on a total retail cost of $213.56 - I saved $140.79 or 66%!!!!!

Some of my favorite deals:

ToysRUs has buy 2 Trio sets, get 1 free. There are 3 sets priced at $14.98 each. I bought 3 and used 3-$5 coupons to get 3 for $14.98 - the regular cost of 1! More ToysRUs deals and a link to the coupon can be found here. I'm really psyched about this because Alexa has a million birthday parties to go to - these are a really nice gift (and I got them really cheap!!).

AirWick Compact iMotion - retails for $7.99, I got it FREE at Walgreens! More info about this deal is here.

Glade Sense and Spray starter kit - retails for $9.99, I got it for $1 at CVS, plus it qualifies for the current SC Johnson rebate so it ends up being a moneymaker. I have one of these in my master bath now and I just love it. More info on this deal is here.

Chex Mix FREE at Target by price matching our local Walgreens - advertised at 2/$3, and using both manufacturer's and Target coupons (gotta love that stack).

Fast Fixin' Popcorn Chicken at Publix - these are usually $5.99 and my kids go nuts over them. They're BOGO at Publix this week, plus I had $1 off coupons, so I got 6 bags for $2 each. Such a deal.

CoffeeMate liquid creamer at Publix - oh.....yummmm because all are included, INCLUDING Pumpkin Spice.....they're on sale at Publix this week 4/$6, plus I had $1.50/2 coupons from here, so I got 4 for 75 cents each....

Kelleigh is right when she says this is a sickness. I already have my Publix trip planned for the weekend and I'm going to be swinging by Albertsons for some great produce deals, too. YIPPEE!

Want to know what $7.52 will buy you at Walgreens?

$14 in Register Rewards from last week + $7.52 out of pocket = all this stuff + $29 in Register Rewards to use next week. WOOO HOOOO!! In case you can't see what's in the photo, for the cost of 4 cups of coffee I got 2 Pert shampoos, 2 Lysol toilet bowl cleaners, 2 Glade soy candles, 3 Theraflu, 2 cans of olives, 3 Triaminic, 1-24 count Zantac, 1 Chapstick and 1 Vaseline Sheer Infusion lotion (I now have way too many of these but I make $1.50 every time I buy one, so I can't stop!), plus three filler items (cotton balls, tweezers and baby sized nail clippers - all of which I needed).

There are three primary sites I use to get information about coupon matchups, coupon availability and deal scenarios - Hip2Save, Krazy Coupon Lady, and Saving Your Cents (for Publix deals). Krazy Coupon Lady has a coupon database that allows you to find all the printable web coupons. I DO NOT get the Sunday paper - so all of my coupons come from online sources and in-store fliers. I have 4 computers in the house, which means I can usually print 8 of each coupon (you can usually print 2 per computer).

Let me know if you find any great deals this week!

My Old Navy, Yankee Candle and Target Savings!

Oh, I so love couponing! We picked Alexa up from school today and we all headed to the mall.

Did you know that Old Navy has an additional 50% off women's clearance items? That makes for some serious deals, especially if you factor in that I had a 25% off entire purchase coupon from Old Navy Weekly. So, for a grand total of $77.41, we picked up:
For Adam: three polo shirts and two pairs of cargo shorts
For Alexa: a dress, a top, a skirt, and a really cute hoodie
For me: three shirts and one pair of pants
That's a total of 13 pieces of clothing, for $5.95 per piece (although I do feel compelled to say that MY portion of the total cost was less than $10 - but Adam really needed some new clothes and I just can't resist cute little girl things).

We also went to Yankee Candle and I got 4 full sized jar candles that retail for $24.99 each for a total of $52.47. I did a buy one get one half off promotion (it applies to Pumpkin Spice, Autumn Wreath and I think Spiced Apple scents), bought a full price Vanilla Cupcake, and spent enough to get the anniversary limited edition Macintosh for $5. Then I had a $15 off a $45 purchase. Since I am a huge Yankee Candle fan, this was a great deal for me, although they're certainly not necessities. In case you're keeping track, I saved 48% - or just about got 2 of the 4 candles for free.

After some kiddie ride nonsense, we headed to our local Super Target. Of all the grocery stores I coupon for and shop at, I seem to have the best luck overall at Target for most of what I need. This week was no exception. My pre-coupon total was $129.72. After coupons - $70.62. Yep, I saved $59.10 or 46%. My best deals - 2 Neosporin lip healths for 34 cents each (these babies generally retail for $4+), 3 tuna pouches for 27 cents each, 6 cereals (4 GM, 2 Kashi) for $1.25-1.33 each, 4 Nature Valley Nut Clusters for $1.13 each (I absolutely love these things), and 2 big bags of Chex Mix for 76 cents each. Plus lots of other great deals!

It's really become an addiction for me. I can't wait until Sunday to see what kind of great new deals I can get!!

The Walmart Score - $11.60, including tax

Unbelievable, really.
2 bags Wacky Mac pasta
2 Klondike ChocoTacos (free)
1 Zantac 150 (8ct) (free)
2 half gallons Over the Moon Milk
1 Betty Crocker Pouch Potatoes
2 boxes Success Rice
2 boxes Kraft Bagel-fuls
2 Old El Paso Seasoning packets
2 bags Nature Valley Granola Clusters

Ready for another gigantic score?

Check out my Walgreens score from today (sorry about the bad photo - everything is put away and I'm not retaking it!) – total cash outlay = $18.78 including the two jumbo packs of Huggies diapers – AND….here’s the best part – I have $19 in register rewards to use on next week’s shopping! I kind of feel like I made money, but really my cash outlay this week was reduced by $22 by using the register rewards I had from last week, so I can't double count register rewards earned previously and used, and those earned on this trip.

FWIW, the Huggies diapers were on sale at 2 for $18. If I had been paying attention to the sale (not a given) but not couponing or making the most of the weekly and monthly register rewards deals, I would have paid for the diapers what I did for this entire haul:

• 2 jumbo packs of Huggies diapers
• 1 Vaseline Sheer Infusion lotion (I now have 3 of these that were essentially free)
• 2 Campbell’s cream of mushroom soups
• 6 bottles of Ragu sauce
• 2 jars of Hellman’s mayonnaise
• 4 boxes of Quaker chewy granola bars
• 3 cans of Progresso soup
• 1 Walgreens Peroxide
  

(BTW, I also had a minor CVS score today that was $0 out of pocket for 2 Renuzit air fresheners and 2 boxes of Mother’s Natural oatmeal. If I had paid for them (I had extra credit bucks so I didn’t!) they would have been – ready? - $1.38 TOTAL.)

And make sure you check back later for my Walmart score - cuz it's really jaw dropping!

New releases....

Can you believe it's Thursday again already and it's new release day at The Digichick? I've been busy this week working with store goodies and I have five layouts using new products!

This first layout is my favorite and uses Considering Ruby by Roben-Marie Designs and Jumpers 21-24 by Crystal Livesay (although I'm not sure that the layout turned out much like the Jumper):
And here are a couple fun photos of our Disney trip using Mari Koegelenberg's super kit Monsters in the Closet - and don't worry, I will fix the title typo before I print it!
I love scrapping old travel photos of all of our trips, and this kit - Wanderlust by Quirky Twerp - was perfect for this one. I also used the Tag You're It alpha by Michelle Batton:
Elise teamed up with Madame Wing this week to create this gorgeous kit - Autumn Spice. I love the sentiment in this photo but I really wish it was technically better - I fixed it as best I could:

And finally, more Disney fun using Spookalicious Papers and Spookalicious Elements by Angela Woo:
Hope you enjoy!!

My tough guy

He really is, so I had to do a layout about it! I used A Man's Worth by Dani Alencar and Bianca Argolla:

A truly gigantic score

Wanna know what you can (and I did) get at Target for a grand total of $10.66?? (Just for the record, that is $0.44 per item!!):

* 4 boxes of Quaker Chewy Granola Bars (yeah, that's 40 bars!)
* 2 Healthy Choice entrees
* 4 Travel size Pond's Towelettes (20 awesome makeup removers that ended up being free!)
* 4 bags of Chex Mix (not the little snacky size, either)
* 1 box of Cookie Crisp cereal
* 1 box of Honey Nut Cheerios
* 1 box of Honey Bunches of Oats Pecan Bunches
* 4 boxes of Ronzoni Healthy Harvest Pasta
* 2 All Small & Mighty 2-load trial size bottles (perfect to take for our week in Orlando at the Marriott Vacation Club) that also were free

So, clearly I'm getting over my visual space issues. I need to rearrange my pantry to make more room.

Check out my awesome score

Remember my frustrated "why I can't be a Krazy Coupon Lady" post? Well, we scored big at Walgreens today. I got all this stuff (yes, that's a full sized body wash, 2 full sized shampoos, conditioners, deoderants and 3 full sized body lotions you see over there on the right), PLUS 2 Coffee Mate liquid creamers (full size) and 2 cans of Campbell's Tomato Soup - for - wait for it - $34.17. Unreal. I also sent Adam to Walmart and CVS and picked up a few things for very little. Target is the big shopping trip - that'll be tomorrow.

The downside? I still am not very organized and it took me like 2 hours just to get purchases planned and all the coupons printed. A not-so-bad thing to do while watching football!! :)

Are you telling your story?

One of the things I love most about scrapbooking is that it forces me to slow down and think about what's happening in our lives so I can journal about those things on my layouts. Journaling seems to be one of the things that many people struggle with - The Digichick to the rescue! Join us for this fantastic workshop:

And because I can't wait to share this layout - here's one I did today using It's My Day - for Boys by JM Designs (available at The Digichick):

Some Disney layouts and big news

First, the news: those of you who have been reading my blog for a while know how much I rave about Feeling Scrappy's Sketchapalooza classes. I always get so much scrapping done during the class and I really just adore the great group of women who participate in the class regularly.

Sketchapalooza 5 is coming up from October 26th to November 23rd, and I'm guest designing for this class as I did for #4. I'll also be creating digital templates for all the sketches, so digi scrappers out there will get over 20 templates to use! You can find out more about the class over at Feeling Scrappy.

Now for some Disney layouts! I have a few more that I turned into samples for Sketchapalooza so I won't be able to post them until after the class - but what I can share will give you a good idea of the fun we had (there's also one more layout of the Halloween party down a couple posts). Credits under each photo and all items are available at The Digichick.

Credits: all items from the October TDC designer collab, Every Life Has a Story - Chapters 1 (available in the store), 2 (available as part of this month's journaling workshop) and 3 (part of this month's Digi Files)

Credits: The Living Seas by Dawn Inskip and a Jumper by Crystal Livesay

Credits: Tickle My Fancy by Gypsy Couture

Credits: all items from the October TDC designer collab, Every Life Has a Story - Chapters 1 (available in the store), 2 (available as part of this month's journaling workshop) and 3 (part of this month's Digi Files) - done for the TDC Speed Scrap on 10/2

:)

Do the Bloggy Hop....Hop Hop Hop

Welcome back! It's time for another Kelleigh Ratzlaff Designs Blog Hop - and Kelleigh's giving away her new Pumpkin Template to one lucky winner - make sure you check out her blog for all the details! I am so excited this week that I created TWO projects for you. The first uses Kelleigh's brand new Jewelry Box Template - the box looks really fancy but is super easy - here are photos of it open and closed. I am going to be making lots and lots of these to hold little Christmas gifts this year.

When assembling, the important thing is that the inner box gets made first - and the very first thing to do with the inner box is to fold down the side tabs that end up running along the top, inside of the box. Then just fold the "wrapper" up and it fits together nicely and securely on the top - no closure needed! I used Golden Day by Elise Hansen (I ran it through my printer twice so that the inside of my box and wrapper is this pretty gold color) and some flowers from my stash to finish this box off:


My second project uses Kelleigh's Top Heavy Bag Template and the digi kit Cazbah by ViVa designs. Another super duper easy project that looks fantastic when done! My neighbor did something really nice for us and I'm going to give this to her with a gift card inside.


Here are the rest of your hop stops!
Kelleigh
Tracy <-- You are here Julee
Julie
Juli
Christy
Dana
Sunghee
Laura
LuAnn

Enjoy the hop and good luck in the drawing!

Today is Thursday

and of course, it's new release day at The Digichick!!! I am just so excited to be part of the fantastic creative team there - getting to play with all the goodies is so inspiring. First up, though, is a layout I did with one of last week's new releases - All Aboard by Ellie Lash and Pamela Donnis:


Next is a little thank you bag I did using Kelleigh's new Top Heavy Bag Template and ViVa Artistry's Cazbah:


Mari released an awesome Recipe Box Template this week (and I finished it off with her older but still available kit Moroccan Sunset):


This layout uses Beginnings by Kelley Mickus and another fantastic Jumper from Crystal Livesay's Set of 17-20:


And last - some Disney photos!! I love this fun, colorful Toil and Trouble kit by Danielle Engebretson:
Ok, it's time to go shop!!!