4 Days To Go

Sorry I haven't posted in forever. I have been crazy busy with work, wedding plans and general life. I am now trying to finish up all the final tasks for the wedding on Saturday.

I am stressing that not everything will get done. Of course my mom doesn't help the stress because she is constantly yelling at me for not doing enough or not doing everything as fast as she thinks it should be done.

I am ready for the day to be here, so that I no longer have to deal with this stress. Not to mention I am also crazy excited to go on our honeymoon to Disneyworld WOOHOO!

Coupons

So, yesterday was Wednesday which is Double Daze at Pick'n'Save. I spent awhile couponing yesterday and then put together a small list of what I needed to get at the store.

While I was couponing I actually used the camera on my laptop to record a video of it that I may use in my space for the Thesis show.

Anyways I didn't have a ton planned for the shopping trip yesterday because I had to go alone while Tim was at work and of course had to walk, so I was limited to what my arms could carry.

In regards to the shopping trip I am so mad at coupons that DO NOT double, I mean why? You would think companies would want their coupons to double so more people would use them and buy their products. Anyways I totally forgot that one of my coupons did not double and apparently another wouldn't double either. So, overall was a little disappointed with the grocery store trip yesterday, but I did get a free pack of UP2U gum and a free gallon of milk.

2/25 Pick'n'Save Trip

Armed with my new binder and coupon sheets I planned a trip to Pick'n'Save.

It has been about two weeks since my last trip to the grocery store. For this trip I had a need to increase the wedding stockpile and also replenish the selection of beverages in our fridge and possibly get some more lunch stuff for myself.

Here is a look at the list I went with:

 

I had some things marked for Wednesday, but unfortunately didn't get all that I had wanted because they were out of things already. I don't know how they can run out of products on the very first day of the sale, but oh well nothing I can do about it.

Another thing unique about this shopping trip was that Tim's brother, Ben, came down from Green Bay for the weekend and was going to witness my couponing firsthand.

Here is a picture of my receipt from the transaction and coupons I received at the register:

I didn't go into this trip with the idea of saving all this money and using all these coupons, but I wish I could've saved more. I did however can some individual good deals and we stocked up a lot of items for the wedding.

I ended up spending $68.71, but I had a savings total of $36.44 and I came away with $3 off a later purchase plus a coupon for a free gallon of milk.

As far as Ben seeing me couponing it was a less than stellar showing, especially since I promised to get him some Wild Berry poptarts as a part of one of the deals I was doing, but unfortunately that was one of the flavors not included.

I hope to do better the next time I go to Pick'n'Save which may be this coming week since it is Spring Break! YAY

Envelope Template

Absolutely love this! The price is a little ridiculous, but I still want to get it. I know I could probably find a template online somewhere for free, but I am terrible at cutting and measuring, so I think this would totally help and I could make my own envelopes as well for the wedding.

What do you think?

Wedding Registry

Today I received an email from The Knot saying there is 8 months till my wedding and that I should start putting together my wedding registry. There was a link to a site called Gift Registry 360, so the list has begun.

Here is the link http://www.giftregistry360.com/registry?refresh=true.

I had recently started making a registry on Amazon, but since I have started making the list on Gift Registry 360 I decided to place all the items I had on Amazon onto Gift Registry.

The best part about Gift Registry 360 is that they have an add-on button for your toolbar, so you can add items from anywhere. A lot of what I was adding is kind of goofy items, but they are things that Tim and I would not only use, but would suit us.

Of course I had to pick out some Nightmare Before Christmas items as well, here is picture of one item I added to my registry.

Coupon Madness

I got my coupon inserts in the mail on Friday and couldn't stop myself from putting coupons in them. Here is what the inserts look like

So I had this whole setup of my Dell laptop and my printer then I clipped coupons from the previous week that I hadn't done yet.

I had planned on spending maybe an hour or two on this, but somehow it turned into close to four hours. I eventually had to stop because I was starving.

Here is the inserts with the binder I will be putting them in for now

After making some food I finished up with the coupons I had out and put as many of them away as I could.

Lastly I have a photo of the stack of coupons I have for my dad because him and I are always exchanging coupons.

Customizables

For the wedding I am making plaster candle holder skulls that will be the place cards for seating and will also be a favor for the guests to take home. To go along with these I figured doing customized matchboxes would only make sense. Here is a look at the matchboxes I am currently looking at as possibilities:

I am debating if I want to have both or do just one kind. I like the idea of having variety, but I guess it doesn't really matter. Tim thinks that it should be his name first then mine, but I am doing it so I am coming first. haha

While I was deciding on matchboxes I also am thinking of doing some simple coasters with are name and date on it.

Here is what they look like:

This is another instance where I am thinking of doing two different colors.

What do you think?

Alice.com

Have you ever heard of Alice.com? I just found out about it through couponcabin.com. It appears to be much like Peapod, where you order groceries online & then they are delivered to you. The only difference I am seeing is that Alice incorporates coupons through the manufacturers.

I am curious as to whether it is a better to buy some things on here instead of at the store with coupons?

Here is another look at the site after I created an account:

I feel terrible...

I feel terrible that I haven't been couponing like I usually do. I haven't bought anything to go into the stockpile this week. How awful is that?

I am really hoping to make it to Pick'n'Save and Walgreens this week, so hopefully I will have something to report & photograph soon. Thank goodness today is Sunday, so I will have coupon inserts to look at tonight!

Well too depressed to keep writing, maybe I'll look online for coupons.

Stockpile Photos

I am having a hard time getting the photo slideshow to work using either Flickr or Photobucket, so I am just going to post the images in a regular blog post.

This is an image of my stockpile before the Pick'n'Save and CVS trip on 2/4. The stockpile started well before getting engaged and planning this wedding. There are always good deals on pasta and there are tons of coupons out there for it as well, so I just started a collection you could say.

Here are images of each of the different categories to my stockpile:

*9 boxes of assorted pasta noodles*

 *4 jars & 2 cans of assorted pasta sauce 5 cans of plain tomato sauce*

*3 bottles of Olive Oil*

We Got It!

I meant to post this yesterday, but was busy doing other homework and eventually just ran out of time.

Anyways the meeting with Joe was a success on Saturday night! We booked the banquet hall for $650, which includes the hall, setup, cleanup, two bartenders, all the serving trays & plates, diningware, a PA system for music and lastly being able to provide our own food. There is no way we could find a better deal.

Below is the contract, I blurred out the name and contact info, but soooo excited to have gotten this sorted out.

Other good news is that my dad just paid it all straight up. Tim and I had planned on putting a $200 deposit down on Saturday and then paying the rest off in installments, but my dad refused to let us pay. It was unexpected, but greatly appreciated.

So, that's one thing off the list only five million more things to do.

Wedding Location

So, we are going to sign a contract and put a deposit on the wedding venue tonight! YAY!

At this undiclosed location we will be able to bring in our own food, use a PA system for music instead of hiring a DJ and it also includes setup, cleanup, bartenders and servers. The price is going to be somewhere between $600 and $700. We had planned on doing a cash bar since there are some family members who will take advantage of a free bar and we just cant afford that, but my dad thinks we should have Miller Lite or something free all night. We may end up buying a keg or 2, but that wouldn't be too bad. As of right now I want to know how much that could potentially cost us before I say yes because I really don't want to pay for people's drinking habits all night long.

If we get the place for say $700, that leaves us $1300 to play with. I want this wedding to cost under 2 grand. My mom and dad have both offered to help, but I just feel bad taking any money from them, especially my dad because he really doesn't have the extra cash to be doing something like that.

Well, I should get back to work so I'll write more tomorrow about our plans & maybe if you're lucky I'll have pictures to upload. : )

Tim's Proposal

Since this is my wedding blog, I realized that I need to tell the story of how Tim proposed.

It was my last day of fall semester and all day I had a feeling Tim was going to propose because he told me he was making a spaghetti dinner (which is my favorite) and that he had a surprise for me. So, I tried to not get too excited while I was at school because I didn't want to get excited and then be let down because he didn't propose.

When I got to the apartment door there was a note waiting for me. Then when I got inside I was welcomed by a million tealight candles and Tim with another note in his hand. (Below are all the notes in the order I got them, he made it into a scavenger hunt of sorts). *Ignore the inappropriae part to one of the notes*

It was such a cute proposal. When I saw him on his knee in the living room all I could say was, "Are you serious?". I was sooooooo excited. Pretty sure I had my hand out for the ring before I even actually said yes.

After he proposed I made several phone calls, updated my facebook relationship status and then we had a fantastic candlelight spaghetti dinner.

Invitations

Before Tim even proposed I had the wedding invitations picked out.

Here is a look at the design:

I found this at a paper store called Papier Mache in New York when I was there about 2 years ago. I bought one because I just knew this would be my wedding inviation if I ever got married.

Since I am trying to save as much money as possible on this wedding as I can, I will be making these invitations myself. They won't look exactly like this one does, but I am going to try and get as close as possible.

I plan on using a letterpress to make them, so hopefully I can recruit some people to help otherwise it will be uber tiring cranking the wheel. I figure we are going to have a guest list of about 150 people, so that's a lot to make.

2/4 Pick'n'Save Trip

This trip was successful and yet a disaster. I had two transactions planned out, but the store was out of a lot of the things I had planned on getting and then there were deals that did not include certain varieties I thought they did. Thankfully I brought back up coupons with me, but I only ended up doing one transaction.

Here is what my grocery list started out as. ( I did not get all of the items on this list).

Since my dad was waiting outside to give Tim and I a ride with our groceries I was trying to rush. My other problem was just having someone else with me. Last time I did a big transaction I worked my way through the store pretty quickly and I didn't forget anything on my list. This time however I completely skipped one section on my list that included Axe shampoo, Caress body wash and Degree deodorant. Just thinking about what products I forgot it's not a big deal because I already have a stockpile of these things at home, but those items were essential to me getting $7 back to use on a future shopping trip. At the register I already had the cashier go through the transaction once because I hadn't gotten my $10 off for purchasing 6 Keebler products, but it was because she had skipped scanning one, so that was easily remedied. Then I had to ask about why I didn't get the $7 back, she directed me to someone else and then that person directed me to another person. This is when I discovered it was my mistake because I forgot some items. (I was so embarassed, then I was upset).

I hate forgetting things and was even more mad that I didn't get all the deals I had planned on. Anyways here is my list from yesterday, highlighted are the items that will be added to the wedding stockpile. the Ragu sauce is all that I know will not leave the stockpile, but if I happen to run out of dressing in the fridge or decide to make some chicken on the stove I may use the homestyle stock, but that pasta sauce is not going anywhere.

Pictured below (in order) is the loot I got from this shopping trip and what I added to my stockpile from this trip.

 

2/4 CVS Trip

So, my trip to CVS ended up not being incredibly fruitful, but I came out with a pretty good deal. I had brought several coupons with me to look at possibly purchasing the product if it wasn't too expensive. Unfortunately most ended up not giving me all that much savings, so I only took advantage of the Ragu pasta sauce deal and the 10/$5.50 Fancy Feast canned cat food deal.

I got 6 jars of Ragu and 10 cans of cat food. I had $4 extrabucks to use, so my total was $11.10 then I also got $3 extrabucks back.

It was a short and sweet transaction, but it helped to add to my wedding stockpile.

Coupons

Since this blog is about me couponing for my wedding I am sure everyone who sees this understands that I am a couponer. So, I'm sure it comes to no surprise that I am really excited for Saturday because #1 it is Double Daze at Pick'n'Save and #2 I am going to stop at CVS and take advantage of their Barilla/Ragu Sauce deal.

*Just as a reminder I am couponing for all the food at my wedding and plan on making all myself. We are doing a pasta buffet, so I have started a stockpile of tomato sauce, noodles and olive oil. There are other things I will be buying via coupons once it gets closer to the wedding, such as salad fixings.*

For Double Daze I will have to have Tim go, so hopefully when I give him a list and an envelope of coupons he will be able to get it right, unlike his trup to Walgreens. Thankfully he has done Double Daze for me before and has never had a problem.

I am making the list tomorrow so I will be sure to post a copy.

Have a great night!

Flowers

Last night I couldn't help but think about what flowers I am going to have at the wedding. Tim and I have talked about what the flower girl will be dropping down the aisle and we are stuck between black rose petals or dead flower petals (since we are going with the whole halloween theme).

Orchids are my favorite flowers, they are also really expensive.  The picture is obviously not of an orchid of I would use for the wedding, but it's just so pretty.

Maid of Honor Dress

We are doing a Nightmare Before Christmas themed wedding and my Maid of Honor is going to be the little shock witch. In the movie she has a plum long sleeve dress and witch hat. What do we think of this dress? She will obviously need a witch hat, but think this is a possibility. Not to mention it's only $69.

This Week at CVS: 1/29-2/4

CVS is great! It is one of those places where I have been basically paid to take items out of the store after all my savings and extrabucks. Extrabucks are CVS's "register rewards" except they come with a lot less restrictions and generally have a longer time before they expire.

So, let's see what kind of deals they have going.

First one to jump out at me is 3/$5 on Ragu & Bertolli pasta sauce,

on top of that they also have if you spend $10 you get $3 extrabucks. This deal works perfectly for my Coupon Wedding. We are doing a pasta dinner and these would be a welcomed edition to my stockpile. I would have to get 6 jars of sauce to qualify for the extrabucks, but if I have six $1 off coupons I could in reality get all 6 jars for $1. That's a spectacular deal. Not to mention I already have $4 in extrabucksto spend there. This deal alone will get me to CVS this week.

Right now my freezer is full of Digiorno pizzas because Target had them for $4 and I had a stack of $2 off coupons, but this week CVS has them on BOGO, so if you have any Digiorno coupons it would be a good time to use them.

They also have Prevacid marked at $25.99 as well and don't forget to use the rebate you got in your coupon insert when you buy two. Since I have register rewards at Walgreens it makes more sense for to buy them there, but this is still a good deal wherever you buy it.

There are various other deals in their weekly ad, but nothing that I necessarily need to buy this week, so be sure to check out the ad for yourself.

This Week at Walgreens: 1/29-2/4

Before I start talking about Walgreens I just want to divulge a story from this past Saturday that explains why I am very upset with them and cannot wait till their is a CVS closer to me, so I don't have to shop at Walgreens anymore.

I had Tim go to Walgreens earlier in the week with a detailed list and an envelope of coupons, but he got confused at the store and purchased incorrect items. So, on Saturday we went to return them and then get the correct items. We returned 2 Tylenol items with no problem, but then the manager told me that when I buy the Prevacid I had in my hands that I could not use their "register rewards" and a manufacturer's coupon together on the Prevacid. I argued that I should be able to use both because the register rewards are specifically through Walgreens and was from buying 2 tubes of Colgate toothpaste not Prevacid. He said because they are both "manufacturer coupons" I cannot use two on one item.

Here is an example of what register rewards look like, do you think they should be considered a manufacturer's coupon?

As you can see I was not happy. I was kind of snotty and said "I guess I am just used to CVS where their ExtraBucks can be used in combination with a coupon because CVS is the one who gives them out'. Now that that is out of my system let's talk deals. 

Something I never really noticed till recently is that Walgreens tends to be a little behind on some sales, like if Pick'n'Save had something on sale last week Walgreens will have it on sale this week. It's not necessarily a bad thing because it gives consumers and extended period of time to get that particular item, but at the same time most people will have already taken advantage of the sale the previous week and therefore not need to get it at Walgreens. In particular I am excited by the Gillette deal they have going. It is $9.99 for the Fusion ProGlide Razor System and then you get $4 register rewards and if you buy a matching cartridge refill you can get an extra $3 in register rewards. If you have coupons for those items, which there just happen to be some in the P&G brandSaver that was in Sunday's paper, it makes the deal even better. Just remember that at Walgreens you can't use a coupon and register rewards on the same item, unless it is a Walgreens coupon. Also if you want to buy more than one of the same item you have to do separate transactions or you won't get register rewards for both. Lastly if you use register rewards from the previous purchase on the same item for the same deal you will NOT get the register rewards from that item again. The only other deal I may partake in is the BOGO on Prevacid (after a mail-in-rebate the second one is free). The deal is for 42 ct Prevacid at $25.99 when you buy two it is $51.98, but I also have to $4 off coupons, so I would pay $43.98 for two and then get back $25.99 via a rebate, which means each was approximately $8.99. Not a bad deal if I do say so myself.

Stressing Out

So, the stress has started to sink in. I can't stop thinking about all I have to do before this semester is over and all that I have to do to plan this wedding.

What's my cure all to get my mind off things? ICE CREAM!

 Not to mention eating ice cream with a goofy spoon helps to stop taking life so seriously.

Eating sweets is probably not the best idea since I am trying to plan a wedding and I definitely don't want to gain any more weight, but it just makes me feel better. Also it is a better solution than drinking my problems away....right?

My First Multiple Transaction Grocery Trip

I am writing this just from memory, but will have images to follow.

On Saturday this past weekend it was Double Daze at Pick'n'Save, so after I got off work I went there with my coupons and shopping lists organized into two separate transactions. Sidenote: For those of you who don't know Pick'n'Save's coupon policy for Double Daze let me enlighten you. On Double Daze you are allowed to double up to 5 coupons as long as you total reaches $25 before said coupons or swiping you savings card. Coupons do not double if the dollar off amount is larger than $1. So the highest possible amount off you can get to by doubling coupons is $2 off. Now that we are all on the same page I will return to the story. I tried to have my list organized in a way that I could start at one end of the store and work my way through it without backtracking. Needless to say my list wasn't perfect, I never backtracked thankfully since I was looking down each aisle I walked by. I managed to spot some items that were out of order on my lists.

So, I'm at my first destination which is Oscar Meyer Hot Dogs 2/$4. Unfortunately I didn't have a coupon, but was thinking about picking up one package. However when I got to freezer with the hot dogs the regular hot dogs were all gone, so I decided to pass up this offer. Onto english muffins.

The offer was Buy Any Thomas English Muffin or Entemenn's snack bites Get One Free. I opted to get regular English Muffins for $3.99 and Entemenn's Brownie Bites for $4.49, so I got the English Muffins for free YAY.

There were numerous items that I bought that I got decent deals on, but I am only going to outline the best deals otherwise this will be a very LOOOOOONG post.

Anyways they had Crave cat treats on special for 10/$10 (you don't have to buy 10, but as long as you have their savings card each bag will be only $1). I also had 2 coupons for BOGO, so I got 4 bags for .50 cents each. Totinos Pizza Rolls and Pizza Stuffers were also apart of the 10/$10 deal, so I picked up 3 pizza rolls boxes and 1 pizza stuffers. On top of that I had a coupon for .60 cents off 3 pizza rolls and $1 off a box of pizza stuffers. Both doubled so I got 1 box of pizza rolls free with .20 cents to spare and the pizza stuffers free with $1 to spare. Unfortunately when it came time to check out I had to self-checkout so I wasn't able to check that everything was scanning correctly, so when I got home I saw that they charged me $3.99 for the pizaa stuffers which means with the coupon I still paid $1.99 for them. : (

One last deal, Lean Cuisines were on sale 5/$10 and I had a $1 off coupon so once that doubled that was one free meal. An added bonus though was that I included these in my first transaction, so after I scanned everything and paid, I got another $1 off coupon from Lean Cuisine to use on ANY future purchase. I then applied that to my second purchase which then doubled to $2 instead of using my .60 cents off coupon as a doubler it just went through as a regular coupon.

Overall I spent a total of $23.50 on the first transaction and $29.62 on the second. My savings for the first was $20.11 and $31.64 for the second.

This is not the shopping trip I am the most proud of, but it definitely ranks Top 5.

Forgetful

I am forgetful as they come. I have this post saved that I wrote all about my first time doing multiple transactions in one shopping trip in order to get the most out of my coupons. Well, I haven't posted it yet because I keep forgetting my receipt, so that I have the amounts for certain deals I received and I also want to put some pics up with it.

For now I will make small talk till I remember the receipts.

I have no followers yet, is anybody even listening? Am I just talking to myself via an internet platform?

Does it really matter though? In reality the blog is about what I am doing and once the wedding has been accomplished I will probably try and keep this up for couponing tips, granted that someone out there actually wants to read it.

Purpose

I am in my last semester of college and I have to do an end of the year Thesis project. Originally I had this idea of doing this total experience using photographs, colored lights and music, but changed my mind as I usually do. Now my thesis will be my documentation via photographs, writing and collaging trying to coupon for my wedding in October.

I started this blog to be another conduit for my project. I am going to try and write as much as possible about this whole situation, or as you could say experience, so hopefully you all enjoy.

I want my wedding to be as cheap as possible, so if you have any recommendations feel free to post them.

Thanks! More to come shortly.