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Discount Queens Blog

A friend of mind has started a coupon blog and invited me to be an author on it. She had done a previous blog before that became a HUGE hit, but has since started a new one. Check it out to find some great finds.

http://discountqueens.blogspot.com

I also created one of my own some time ago that may not be as flashy, but it also has some good deals on it.

http://boisedealfinder.blogspot.com

Latest Savings

I went to Albertsons twice and here are my savings for this week:

Total out of pocket - $24.45

Total Savings - $233.78

I could have saved spent $3.50 less out of pocket, but I counted wrong and was two short for something...oh well.

(5) Betty Crocker Warm Delights......$.12 each

(4) Pillsbury Refrigerator Biscuits...........FREE

(2) Pillsbury Crescent Rolls.............$.50 each

(16) Progresso Soup...................Made $2.20

(1) Gatorade 8 pack..........................FREE

(4) Chex Mix Bars............... .......$.30 each

(12) Cheerios............................$1.00 each

(18) Gushers..............................$.05 each

(8) Fruit Snacks.........................$.05 each

(2) Chex Mix..........................Made $1.00

(3) Cheerios Snack Bag.................$.40 each

(6) Cake Mixes...........................$.25 each

I bought a couple extra things in there, but all in all I think it went pretty well!!!  Can't wait to go back for more...if I'm making money on Progresso soup, I've really got to stock up!

Book of Mormon Reader

We've really tried, honestly, to do family scripture study. It just hasn't worked how we had it in our minds. So, Ryan bought the kids a Book of Mormon reader and they have loved it!!! Ryan is good to try and read to them each night and Caden especially is understanding the stories so much more. It is a lot of fun to see the excitement they have for the scriptures and learning from them.

Need a Dentist?

Just thought I'd do a little advertising for my brother-in-law. He's just about ready to open his dental practice, and is now accepting new patients!!! If anyone is looking for a new dentist, or in need of a change...go see him! I've been to him and he is awesome. I needed a little dental work done and he was so careful. Pain Free!!! He's a great guy in addition to being a great dentist and I hope anyone in the area who wants to will give him a try. If anything else, just stop by the office to take a look...it's beautiful!!!

Even Better

So after being thrilled about my savings at Albertsons yesterday, I think I did even better today! I happened upon an auction in the Walmart parking lot in Meridian. Turns out it was a fundraiser for the Special Olympics, and Hubble Homes had donated the furniture/accessories from all their homes. Well, I was in search of a twin mattress set since we are now a family of 3 and I"m ready for Luke to be out of my room and into the crib...thus, Avery needs a bed. We've talked about bunk beds, but we really don't know who to put in what room, who would do best sharing and how to preserve all of our sanity...

Anyway, I'll spare you the boring details and get to the point. I ended up with two complete twin mattress sets (mattress, box spring and frame) for $20 a piece!!! They were never used, only for show purposes. One is a Simmons, the other a Spring Air. I also got a Nautica twin bed set - comforter, bed skirt, 3 pillows with shams and two throw pillows for $30. Finally, I found two curtains to match the bedding at $10 per panel. Crazy that the curtains cost more than the beds! They were negotiating a little here and there, but buy the time I got to the curtains, I felt I got such a good price on the mattresses that I shouldn't bother negotiating. Besides, it was for a good cause. Great bargain day for me!

I set one bed with the bedding up in Caden's room. His bed set is actually the same company, just a different patter. I think they go quite well together.

The bed on the right is the new bed...the one on the left is Caden's.
The new bed and bedding

Krazy Couponing

Guess how much this cost me?
About $45....saved$75


And this?$25...saved $93

I have to say I'm officially addicted to couponing!!! And I love it when someone else does all the work for me! I've added new links to my sidebar for some of my favorite money saving sites. My latest favorite is the Krazy Coupon Lady. It is a group of girls from my area who find great deals and post them. The best part is they will search through ads, find the best deals at grocery stores, and then post what to buy, where to buy it, links to coupons, etc. They save you so much $$$.

For example, last week Albertsons had a crazy sale...you basically could buy 3 packs of Pampers Diapers for $4...not $4 each, but $4 total!!! Looking back, I should have bought way more than I did! The problem was, you couldn't find them on the shelves anywhere in town, and when they were on shelves, people were clearing off the shelves and buying like 50-60 packs of diapers!

Anyway, I spent $177.89 on groceries and saved $261.90! So, I got $439.79 worth of groceries for $177.89.

Here's my list:

Pampers 10 packs
Rice A Roni 8 boxes
Kellogs Protein Water 36 bottles
Hamburger 7 lbs.
Potatoes 10 lbs.
Dasani Water 24 .5 liter bottles
Fiber One Bars 2 boxes
Cascade Dish Soap 2 boxes
Go-gurt 6 boxes
Yoplait Yogurt 20
Chicken 8 lbs.
Eggs 2 dozen
Charmin Bath Tissue 36 rolls
Cereal 11 boxes
(Cheerios, Kix, Chex, Cinnamon Life)
Granola Bars 6 boxes
Oatmeal 4 boxes
Popcorn 1 box
Cheese 4 lbs.
Milk 1 gallon

The Protein Water, Hamburger, Chicken and Cheese really brought my cost up...those 4 things alone were about $65 of the $177. This was my first time really trying to coupon shop and make it work, so I know many have done way better...but it was a lot of fun!

Restaurant.com

Have you ever heard of Restaurant.com? Me neither. But I got a discount code and tried it out, and now I'm hooked! DONT PAY FULL PRICE EVER AGAIN when you go out to eat! So here is the deal:

• Go to Restaurant.com
• Enter your zip code
• Choose the gift certificate amount you wish to buy, click checkout
• Enter the word EXCLUSIVE (good through 1/19/09)
  
• Be amazed

Example: So I clicked on purchasing a $100 gift certificate to the Melting Pot downtown. It regularly would only cost me $40 on this site. Thats pretty dang good. But I entered my coupon word EXCLUSIVE and my cost dropped to $16.00. WHAT? SERIOUSLY! Awesome.

**Note the small print: Each gift certificate is to be used on a minimum amount...so, the $100 Melting Pot certificate is for a $200 purchase. You could buy a $50 value for $20 instead to be used on a $100 purchase ($8 with the discount). That's $100 to the melting pot for $8!

If you're in Meridian, the 83646 zip code doesn't work...try 83642,

You can also view menus and make reservations from the site.

Isn't she beautiful

I just had to post this...isn't she beautiful?

Christmas break in McCall

The day after Christmas, the whole Yorgason family went to my parents cabin in McCall. We usually go twice a year as a family, more if we can, and we always look forward to those times. We weren't sure what the snow would be like up there, but it was perfect the whole time. We usually went out each day and rode snowmobiles, tubed behind the snowmobiles, built snowmen, made sledding hills, played snow football...it is so much fun. Their yard is perfect for all for these things. I think it's the only place on the lake you can snowmobile from...the water drops low enough that there is a huge area to ride out into the lake area. New Years Eve is fun b/c we usually get the kids dressed in their gear and head out around 8 or 9 and spend a few hours out there. It's something we all look forward to each year!

One of the funnest things the kids did was ride from the steps at the cabin on a tube, all the way through the yard down the hill into where the lake was. It was slippery enough they could do that, and then Ryan would pick them up on the snowmobile, he'd carry their tube, and they'd ride behind the snowmobile back to the cabin. They did this for hours and Ryan was so good to drive all the grand kids, and even a few of the "big kids" around.

Avery with her cousin Brooklyn - they are the best of friends
A lot of the gang out enjoying the snow
Avery doing what she does best in the snow - eating it
Avery getting her first haircut from Andrew's wife Kelli


Avery tubing behind the snowmobile with Grandma Yorgason.
View from the cabin
Greg wearing his gag gift from Dave and Lucy...footed pj's
Caden and his best buddy/cousin Gabe
Caden and Avery ready to ride the tube

Avery riding with crazy uncle Greg...it's like he's from Chicago or something wearing those shorts with Sorels
Caden and Max

Christmas Eve

This year we went to my parents for Christmas Eve. Everyone was here, except for Deb and Greg and their 2 boys. I think there were about 30 of us in all. We had a yummy dinner and then the grand kids put on the Nativity. They did such a cute job. Thanks to Lucy for putting that together! Then we watched "The Nativity", a video put out by the church, and my dad finished off by reading the story of Christ's birth out of Luke. It was a special evening being surrounded by family.

My brother Chris has his birthday on Christmas, so we also were able to celebrate with him. He wife Annette brought Cake and ice cream for all of us - YUMMY!!!

Caden was a Wise man, and Avery was an angel
All the grand kids getting ready to start the play
Nicole was the narrator
Caden (Wise man) telling Joseph they'd have to sleep with the animals
Luke was baby Jesus
Angel Avery holding her sheepMy dad reading the Christmas story out of Luke

Chris blowing out birthday candles
Getting ready to open their Christmas Eve jammies - do you think that is what they thought was in there? Caden was a little disappointed it wasn't a toy, until he realized everyone got the same thing.
All the grand kids (minus Cole and Max) wearing their jammies

Avery hiding in the trunk of stuffed animals

Random Pics

Just some random pics of the kids. Luke is getting bigger, still eating and sleeping lots, Caden and Avery are enjoying all the snow we're getting and can't wait until Christmas!

Luke at about 9 weeks
Tired out after sweeping the heavy snow off the tramp so it doesn't break


The kids are trying to get him to love the bunny, just like Caden did. Luke is actually taken a liking to it and will squeeze it and suck on it.

2 months old

Here are the stats from the Dr. visit today.

2 months old
13 lbs 3 oz -90%
25" long - 97%
16" Head - 90%

Yes, we've got a big boy on our hands. Quite different from Avery who weighed just under 12 lbs when she was 7 months old. He is growing great and very happy! He loves his swing, Baby Einstein, his brother and sister, and sleeping!

Bumboo

So I've always heard a lot about these, but never cared to buy one for $40...but after snatching one at a yard sale for $1 I thought I'd give it a try. These are awesome! and I can only imagine I'll love it more as Luke gets older. Around 2 months old I started using it for him to sit it. It had amazing head/neck/back support. He was able to sit up, look around, strengthen his neck muscles...it was so great! I highly recommend for anyone trying to decide!

Christmas Caroling

Caden went to mutual with me tonight. WE went on hay rides and sang Christmas Carols to the neighbors. Caden wasn't too crazy about going with me, but I think he had a good time. I'm sure we were more entertaining for our lack of organization and singing skills than for good music, but it was a lot of fun.