Free Starbucks Ice Cream

I haven't had Starbucks new ice cream flavors yet but they look absolutely delicious. It's easy to get a free coupon for a free pint of ice cream. Log in to your Facebook account and go here. It says that you can share it with a friend, but also says that no one will judge you if you want to send it to yourself - hee hee! The coupons are given out every hour and I found that the best way to catch one is to click the "Share Now" button as close to the top of the hour as possible. This will be such a cool summer treat - enjoy!

Grocery Budget Update

Things have not eased up one bit at work. I am busier than ever. Which is a good thing in a tough economy where not many people feel like their jobs are secure. I am not complaining. But I haven't been writing, let alone blogging at all and I really want to! I do! So I am reorganizing and reprioritizing some things to make that possible...starting NOW!

My budget update is actually pretty good. I have a monthly budget of $83.62. April was a great month where I came in with $32.08 to spare. In May, I spent $71.86 (wow - that seems like a lot but I wasn't couponing hardly at all that month so I guess that really demonstrates the power of the coupon, doesn't it?). In June, I did better, spending only $50.57. So the grand totals are as follows:

May: $83.62 + $32.08 (April leftover) = $115.70 - $71.86 = $43.84
June: $83.62 + $43.84(May leftover) = $127.46 - $50.57 = $76.89

I am debating about whether I should even carry the leftovers into the next month since I seems like I really don't need to. Although the minute I don't, I'll have a non-coupon or something else come up month and need it, so I'll keep it for now. I am taking a serious look though for next year's budget and wondering, will I even need that much?

Now that we've gone 6 months into this year, how are you doing?

Grocery Budget Update

I thought I would ease my way back into the blogosphere with a Grocery Budget Update!

If you recall, my monthly grocery budget is $83.62 per month ($1,003.44 for the year). I was already ahead in February thanks to the Albertson's Grands Biscuit extravaganza - I came in $14.90 under budget.

In March, I spent only $70.47 total, not even needing the $14.90 cushion and having another $13.15 to spare!

I just added up this month's receipts and because of the Safeway Living Well promotion (that you can read about here on HCW) I'm at $79.59 for April. Now, this total actually includes the diapers that I bought at Safeway as part of that promotion. I usually don't include diapers in my budget totals because I don't usually buy diapers at the grocery store unless they are a part of some great deal, which this is! I spent $62.82 at Safeway and got a $20 gift card to spend on my next purchase (it was supposed to be a OYNO Catalina but they did not print for some reason).

According to my calculations, $83.62 + $14.90 + $13.15 = $111.67 - $79.59 = $32.08 - I have the $20 gift card and plenty of budget room to do another round at Safeway and get another $10 OYNO Catalina!

How are you doing on your budget so far this year?

Blog Update

I know it's been a month since I posted and thanks to everyone who has emailed or called me about my absence! It's nice to know that I actually have been missed.

The dire economic situation has made my work very, very busy. I just simply have not had the time to even shop, let alone clip coupons and be on top of all of the great deals that are out there. I've not even had time to read some of my favorite blogs. I work, spend time with my babies and that has been about it for the last month.

I don't know when or if it will slow down and as much as I love shopping and writing about and sharing my great deals, my paycheck does have to take priority! I hope that I will at least be able to get back to menu planning and recipe sharing next week.

Thank you again for your loyalty and support!