Online Cooking Class Giveaway!

No, I am not giving a cooking class ( I can picture it now...the blind leading the blind!), however $5 Dinners is! Go take a look and see if you think you may need it....or just check it out and come back and tell ME that I definately need it hahaha!

This seems like a great way for people to learn how to cook and to save money by doing so!

August Grocery Savings!

What what a GREAT month it's been for me and grocery shopping! Thanks to ACME, I was able to keep rolling and rolling and still rolling CATS! I did awesome this month, way above my goal which is a good thing, but I don't think ACME and the other stores can continue on with all their CAT deals...or can they? Here's my numbers:

Number of items: 157
Total before savings: $744.64
Store Savings: $320.51
Coupons: $259.45
Number of Q's: 110
OOP: $174.00
Total Savings: $570.64 or 77%!!!

I think for September I will aim for 64%! I hope I can get some awesome CAT deals again!

2 GREAT Hounding Days: 8/5 at Shop Rite and 8/6 at ACME

This was my Shop Rite trip on Wednesday. I got all the ground beef 50% off the ALREADY sale prices (80% was 1.00 a pound!!!). DH was very happy because as we walked past the meats, he was like 'No ground beef?' I said, 'No, it's on sale, but not rock bottom, maybe next week.' A few minutes later, the guy came on the PA 'Right now in the meat dept, all ground beef is 50% the sales prices' So off we went!
I got a CAT for buying 5 Kimberly Clark items (Viva, Cottonelle) so that was good. The grapes were on sale for .99/lb and they are a great snack item while I busy at work. I got the OJ for FREE because I had a FREE coupon as were the International Delights (printable coupon). The Giants grocery bags were also free from a previous CAT deal and the Aquafresh was .19 each after sale and coupon. All in all, my original total before savings was 110.95 and I paid OOP 33.64 for a savings of 70%!




This was my first transacation at ACME. I was on lunch with two co-workers, so I ran in with them, took my friend's keys, got my stuff, checked out and put it in the truck...came back in to do my 2nd transactions. The two of them hadn't even put an item in their cart yet...I was that quick! These were $1 a piece on sale, and this wa included in the Buty $30 of GM etc get a $15 CAT. So OOP was $12 and I got back $15 in CATS...$3 moneymaker!





This was my second transaction during lunchtime. I did make the boo boo that I should have gotten ONLY the HN Cheerios and the Cinn Toast Crunch as they were the ones on the buy $30 get $15 CAT deal (DH doesn't like Kix). So I got those, some Cookie Crisp, Trix and Strawberry Chex. When I got up to pay, I gave my Qs and my CATS and wound up paying 7.50 OOP and only getting $15 in CATS. When I got back to work and figured out shelf prices, I figured that maybe I can only get $15 in CATS in one transaction...then realized my boo boo by buying the ones NOT in the CAT deal...all well...still got 14 boxes of cereal for only 7.50 and getting $15 in CATS!




Back at work, my one co-worker didn't get her $30 CAT and she did go up to the customer service desk and they weren't really helpful and my co-worker screamed at me 'I'm not going shopping with you no more!' I thought she was serious then she started laughing. PHEW! At work, I realized that some of her items were not on that list and one of them she got the wrong one (she got Stewart's instead of IBC) so she wanted to go back after work....told her not to twist my arm so much :) So, we worked some OT together (so quiet after everyone else leaves!) and we went to ACME after work. This was my 3rd transaction of the day. I got a bunch of misc items that we needed anyways and I made it so it was all included in the CAT deal. All in all for this one, I paid 2.36 OOP and used $10 in cats (total came to $12 and change, didn't want to waste another $5 CAT) so I got to save a $5 CAT for next time, AND got $15 more! YIPPEE!





I went to my car (which I had already filled up my trunk during lunch) and now I had to put the bags in the backseat. I went back in to get more cereal. I got 7 more boxes (21 total for the day) and got ONLY the HN Cheerios and the Cinn Toast Crunch. I only no coupons (darn!) but I did get a CAT for the Skippy PBJ I think for $1. The total came to $13 so I used $10 in CATS, plus a $1 CAT. So I paid $2 OOP and got back $15 more CATS. So...now I have $25 CATS to use! YIPPEE!


I made a joke to DH b/c at SR, he complained about no ground beef, and the gods spoke to us and gave us 50% off. That night, he said we don't have much cereal left, then I stumble across this ACME deal on Hounding with Frugalsuz (she's got some AWESOME deals!). Wonder what DH wants next......

July Grocery Savings

I'm a few days late with my July totals, but here they are...enjoy!!! I aimed for 60% again...did I did it? Did I? Did I? Read on!

Number of items: 173
Total before savings: $540.30
Store Savings: $267.88
Coupons: $97.82
Number of Q's: 70
OOP: $180.93
Total Savings: $359.37 or 67%!!!

Yuppers! I did it! I exceeded my goal, AGAIN! I'm going to up my goal for August to 61%! I had help in July with A & P doing triples...not sure if they're going to do it again, but I sure hope they do! Wish me luck!

Shop Rite 7/29/09

I had a GREAT run with DH to Shop Rite! Eventhough as soon as we pulled into the parking spot, it downpoured.....I still made out like a bandit!!! Check it out!



I got ALL this for 18.99 OOP (out of pocket) and used the sales along with coupons to get out of there so cheap! Before store savings and Qs, the OOP was $106.21! I also got back a $5 CAT OYNO (on your next order) and a $3 CAT. I also got 2 coupons for FREE re-usable bags to be earth friendly! YIPPEE! Can you spot all the deals???

Paw It Foward

Hello, my name is Lucky and I'm Grocery Hound and Poker Chick's daughter. When I first met mommy and daddy, they were so nice to me! They fed me tons of good food every day and always left me water to drink. I figured I'd give them a shot and I adopted them. They think that they control me, but we all know who is the boss around here...ME!

Mommy is too busy to put up the blog, so I figured I'd give this 'blogging' thing a shot. I wanted to give a big THANK YOU to Shelly at The Life I live for the package I got in the mail last month. I haven't yet had my mail changed from outside to inside, so I haven't gotten all my mail....but I did get this!



This was me checking out the box and rubbing it on it.



C'mon mom, I can't get it open by myself!



Hmmmm, this isn't the dead mice I ordered....but it'll do! OH, is that a cat I smell?????



I LOVE my new box!



That's me scoping out the goods.



I know I know....I'm lazy, just like mommy. I need a break after all this excitement!



Nobody is fooling me....these aren't REAL mice!



Ok, now here come's the fun part! Mommy said for me to just copy exactly what Shelly wrote from The Live I Live said so I wouldn't make any mistakes on how to play this game. Now I sure don't want to make a mistake on mom's blog........she'd never let me on the computer again! So here's Shelly!

"This was all a part of Paw it Forward. It is now our turn to have fun pawing it forward to the next cat or dog blogger.

The guide to Paw it Forward is as follows: "The exchange focuses on doing an act of kindness without expecting anything in return other than that the recipient will, in their turn, pass the kindness along and 'pay it forward' in their own way.This is how it works...I am going to agree to send something fun, inspiring or uplifting to the first blog owner who posts a comment on this entry if you agree to paw it forward too. In turn you will then post about this on your blog, link to me, then send something to the first person who signs up to play along through your blog. There are no cost restraints, BUT don't go crazy! The little something you send can be something you made, bought, were given or found. No biggie, just a gift that will make the person smile. Maybe something unique from where you live? And, remember that kindness does not have to involve money; there are untold ways to help others every single day, everywhere you go - just look around". The rules were changed a little bit. We know that times are tough for a lot of people, and in the past the idea was to paw it forward to 3 bloggers. We are going to paw it forward to one and doing this might make it more playable for people. If you want to play with three people, it is your choice, or if you'd like to play with one or two people, that is also your choice. Keep the fun going and let me know if you want to play!"

Snowball: If you want to play, just be the first to leave us a comment saying so! We loved playing so much we already picked out some new toys to paw forward. Thanks for reading!

Happy 2nd Wedding Anniversary to Me (and DH)!

So, Tuesday marked mine and DH's 2nd wedding anniversary! Last year, we took a few days off of work and went down to AC to celebrate. This year, I wanted to keep with the AC theme and go again for a few days. We got engaged in AC, honeymooned in AC, and spent our 1st and 2nd Wedding anniversaries there, so I guess AC holds a special place in our hearts (and our wallets lol).

On Sunday, we went to Brigantine Beach (right over the bridge from AC). We got there around 10 and sunbathed for about two hours. We left around noon and looked around the island, it's beautiful! Some multimillion dollar homes had open houses, but DH was a party pooper so we didn't get to go inside. We went to Borgata and checked into the hotel, then hit the gift shop for the clearance rack (DH's idea! I'm rubbing off on him!). Didn't see anything we liked, so we went to the room to shower up. We met up with some friends at Trump Plaza's beach bar. It was pretty nice there...a lot of 80's music...right up my alley! When we went back to Borgata, we grabbed a bite to eat then hit the poker table for the rest of the night.

We woke up late on Monday since we went to bed late on Sunday night. We went to go to Bread and Butter for breakfast (it's soooo yummy there!) but the line was way too long, so we went to the Metropolitan (diner type). After that, we went up to the room to shower then off to get me on a helicopter! We headed to Taj and went to Steel Pier, but it was closed, opened at 3pm. It was about 2pm, so we hit the 3 card table for an hour....we won some money so that's a plus! We went to the pier, and the helicopter ride wasn't open yet, they said about 45 minutes. We went to Resorts so I can play a slot machine (last time I hadn't been there in awhile and I played a penny slot, 2 weeks later I got TONS of comp rooms, so I figured I'd try that again). We then walked around then headed to the helicopter ride....I LOVED it! I can't believe I got on, but I did...next stop, airplane!


This was us before the ride, with our 'son' Clifford. DH won him for me at the basketball game on the boardwalk :)



DH and I on the helicopter...it was really windy!!!


The view of Brigantine Beach from the helicopter.


Us on the escalator at Taj.



Checkout day:(


We then went to the Shore Mall since DH has been bugging me to get a Blackberry and I gave in....however, no Verizon store in the mall. We went back to the Borgata and ate at Noodles of the World (NOW). It was GREAT! Then we played some cards for awhile and were up in the room around 9:30pm, so it was an early night for us.

I was up early since I conked out early the night before so we um, celebrated our anniversary then laid in bed then got up to shower and check out. I hate check out day. We went to Bread and Butter again, another huge line. We weren't that hungry so that worked. We went to the Let It Ride table and sat with 3 older ladies, they were so fun! I ended up hitting a straight flush in my 3 cards, so that helped! We then played some poker (not a happy ending) then headed home early. We tried to go to a fancy place for dinner, but the kitchen was closed, so we went to the Outback...YUMMY! I got a Wallaby Darned, it was so yummy!


Me and my Wallaby Darned and DH with his strawberry margarita.


In the past two years, my DH has made my life complete. There have been times where he has worked my last nerve, but in the end, it's all worthwhile. I have grown and learned so much from him, and I'm sure he's grown and learned a lot from me. We had a great wedding 2 years ago and now that the newlywed stage is over, it's time hunker down and think about raising a family. It will take some time for that since we have a few vacas planned and he's planning a huge 30th bday blowout for me next year, so we'll see what happens.....