Do you coupon?

(Clip art from Graphics Factory)

I ask because I do!  I don't do it as much as I used to (bad me, bad bad).  This weekend was an exception. 

Last week, I saw on several of my favorite websites (Savings LifeStyle and The New Frugal Mom) that the Kroger Mega Event was going on.  This is usually an event that coupon people love!  It's all about matching up coupons to Mega Event sale items, then getting the Mega Event discount as well!  Trust me, several things are free, really cheap, or just a good stock up price!

So, I planned for about 3 days.  No, I didn't plan exclusively for 3 days, but my coupons were a hot mess!  I also went through my entire pantry, cleaned it out and took inventory.  I took inventory on my freezer too, although that was super easy to do since my "extra" fridge went to fridge heaven recently. 

All that done and I headed out yesterday with A.  She is such a great helper and loves counting and finding the items!  So, what was my reward?  Here's the breakdown of what I spent at both Meijer and Kroger. 

Meijer

Total before coupons: $77.80

Coupon and promotions savings of : $32.87

Grand Total: $44.93!

 

Kroger

Total before coupons: $164.84

Kroger Plus Card and Coupon savings: $71.57 or 43% (I had 3 Mega Event savings totally $15!  woot!)

Grand Total: $93.27

I really wish I had taken pictures of all the food I got!  I really was a lot.  My pantry is now restocked and the freezer is about to explode with yummy things.

If you've never couponed or want to give it a try, I suggest you go to the Strategies to Save post from Andrea at Savings Lifestyle.  I learned everything I know about the CORRECT way to utilize coupons(because, let's be honest, there are loads of people out there who don't "follow coupon etiquette").  I know not every family is the size of ours and that there are different areas with different sales, but once you get the basics down, it's a piece of cake!

Thanks for letting me be super giddy happy!  I love when I plan and shop to get the maximum result!  Also, I want to add that our family eats a lot of stuff "made from scratch".  We don't eat a lot of pre-made, from a box stuff.  I only point that out because the one reason I hear the most for not using coupons is "they only have coupons for boxed stuff".  We don't use a lot of that and my cookbook collection helps with this task. ;-)

Life is unfair, so deal.

I've been at a cross road in blogging lately.  More often than not, I feel like I need to post about things that are happy, will make people smile, are promoting an event and the like.  As readership has grown with our little blog, I've felt like I need to censor myself more and more. 

Why am I feeling this way?  Well, when Andrea and I originally started blogging we did it to chat about our kids, lives and well, to vent in general.  This blog was someplace we could chat about how other people were bothering us and still be anonymous, sort of anyhow.  Fast forward and we have a LOT more readers, yet, I feel compelled to still write about things that bug me in general. 

It's couple time.  Date night.  Spending time together with your spouse or significant other. 

We don't get any.  Zero.  The last time Chuck and I had a night out was when we went to the Dayton Art Institute for an opening last fall.  It's very easy to say you need to schedule time for each other.  It's even easy to say we need to hire a sitter and just go out.  Both are "easy" in theory.  Reality is, it's not THAT easy.

We've tried various things.  The typical "date night" for us is tucking the kids in bed, popping popcorn and watching a movie in the living room.  While this is time well spent, I do still long for a night out.  Of course I'm whining here, it's what I do best ;-) 

While I'm well aware there are those who haven't had a date night with their spouse in several years, I wonder how people who do go out do it so often.  Here's why I'm wondering, and yes, it does come down to numbers.  A "typical" dinner in a nicer restaurant can cost around $50-$75.  Add to that a movie, $30 or so.  Not to mention paying a sitter, the average going rate is $10 per kid per hour and you see why it's hard for us to get out. Even a one hour "date" would cost us $30 off the top.   

So, why the title for this post?  Recently, I was talking to someone and that was their response to my issue.  Life is unfair, so deal.  You chose to have 3 kids, you chose to stay home and cut your yearly salary in half, so stop whining and deal.  I was shocked. I guess what truly bothered me is that they are in a similar situation, but still get date nights on a regular basis.  I was merely asking for advice on how they did it.  I wasn't going for a rude remark on my life.

So, in the spirit of optimism and trying to be positive (two things I've been working hard on for the last couple of years), I'm wondering if you would share your secrets to getting date night with your spouse or significant other.  I'm all ears, err, eyes(since I'll be reading it...haha).  Do you have a different way of doing a "staying in" date night?  Do you have date nights during the week to miss the crowds?  Do you have date afternoons to save a few bucks?