Catching Up on Shopping

Well obviously with our cruise we haven't had much time to worry about couponing, and honestly who cares about couponing when you are on vacation!!! Well sadly it is time to get back to everyday life. We went shopping today and here is what we got:

This was Publix today, clearly there was a good deal on cereal:) The Kellogg's cereals are bogo $4.29 and I also had $1/2 coupons. That made each box $1.65 which is a good deal. I tried to get some cocoa krispies at Winn Dixie this week because it is the only cereal that I eat and they also had it on sale, but some insane reason they had regular rice krispies on sale but would not include the cocoa ones, I hate shopping there. Anyway, we also got a box of cinnamon toast crunch for $1 using a store coupon and a manufacturer's coupon. The rice mixes I got for 50 cents each. We got all of this for $38, not too bad!

We also went to Kroger today. This was about the same price as what we paid at Publix. They have a mega sale going on right now- buy 10 products get $5 off. The easy mac is included in that and after sale they are 50 cents each. They are great to take to work as part of lunch. We also got some lunch meat for lunch for $2.79 a pack. The kleenex was free. Sadly the trash bags, mayo and eggs were not on sale, but I needed them, that was about $10 right there.

Lastly we made a stop at CVS this morning. This is my guilty pleasure, but I wait until I can get them for a decent price. They are on sale for $5 per pack and when you spend $15 you get $5 ECB, so that makes this $10 or about $3.33 each. That is pretty good considering these are $5-$6 regular price.

Our Amazing Cruise!

Husband and I just returned from a fabulous cruise about a week ago. If you have never been on a cruise, you are missing out! This was our second, we went on a Norwegian cruise for our honeymoon three years ago. Around the beginning of October I started thinking about what I could get husband for his 30th birthday and also something fun we could do for our three year anniversary. I looked at cruises and found a great deal- a 4 day Carnival cruise and it cost us just a little over $600 total, and that included taxes, gratuities, everything.

This was our room, which I got an amazing deal on. After reading some reviews I found out that I could get a porthole room for the same price as an interior room, which does not have a window. They have fewer porthole rooms, which is why I assume it is cheap. Not only did we get the two portholes that let in a bunch of light, but because of where these rooms are in the boat the room was huge! Probably at least 4-5 feet of room on each side of the bed. On the last day on board we looked at some of the ocean view rooms, which have a small window and were much more expensive, and our room was actually much bigger.

Now we were a little worried about going on a Carnival cruise because we went on Norwegian for our first and most people think of Carnival as the bargain basement cruise. Let me tell you- it was fabulous! The food was much better than Norwegian and oh my goodness there was soooo much of it. Husband and I couldn't even try everything that was on the boat. Also, there was this amazing adults only deck on the back of the boat. Husband and I spent most of our time there reading and relaxing. Our only port on the trip was Cozumel. We have been there before and last time we went snorkeling with Stingrays (highly recommended!) and this time we decided to go scuba diving (not so much recommended). This cost us almost an extra $200, and it was a nice one time experience, but not something I would be interested in making a hobby out of. The tanks were so incredibly heavy and the change in pressure seriously hurt our ears. But it was a cool experience to have. We loved our cruise so much and are hoping to make it an annual event!

Couponing in the New Year

I have been out of town for a while. Since I work at a university we get a huge break in between semesters, so I went home to New Orleans for two weeks. Husband had to stay here and work, so he has been grabbing a couple of random deals, but no great sales over the holidays. This week Publix definitely made up for the lackluster sales they have been having lately.

This was our first trip to Publix this week. This is probably the most expensive Publix trip I have had in a long time. This was about $75. Boneless, skinless chicken breast is on sale for $1.99/lb this week. We can actually get chicken a little bit cheaper, $1.79/lb at Kroger, but this chicken tastes a lot better. So that is over $20 in chicken right there. There is also a great deal on chips and salsa this week. The chips, which is a huge bag, are bogo $4.99, and there were coupons for a get a free jar of salsa when you buy two bags. That means that for $5 I got two big bags of chips and a jar of salsa. It makes a great snack and I also take it to work for lunch. Which is also why we got those lunchables, which were on sale for $1 each. We also got some tomato sauce for 25 cents each. The old el paso kits were bogo $3.29. We also grabbed some tomatoes for salads.

We went back this morning for a second trip to Publix. The chunky soup is a great deal right now. It is bogo $2.49, so about $1.25 per can. That is already a good deal, we price checked it at Walmart today where it is $1.78 per can. On top of that I had some great coupons for $1 off 4 cans, which made them only $1 per can. Husband and I love these for lunch. We also grabbed some lunch meat. It was on sale for $3 per pack, and I had $1 off coupons. It isn't a great deal because it is a small package, but it will work for lunch. The pudding was 70 cents each after sale and coupons. The veggies are a great deal. The ones we got on our first trip were all bell peppers, this trip we got some more peppers and some stir fry veggies. They are a 1 pound bag and they are $2.59, this week they are half off and I had coupons for $1 off three bags. That made them a little less than $1 per bag. We also grabbed some more chicken while we were there.

We also made a stop at Winn Dixie the other day and went back today. The lettuce is bogo $2.99 this week and we found some coupons for 75 cents off each bag, making each bag only 75 cents. This chicken was also a good deal. It is bogo $3.75, these make great lunches.

Lastly, we made a stop at CVS this morning. I had an ECB that was about to expire and I couldn't really find anything I wanted until a deal was posted this morning. The finish gel pack dishwasher detergent is on sale for $3.50 for 20 packs. I had a $2 coupon that I used, so that was a great deal. It is pretty good deal without a coupon, so we went back and got another pack with a 50 cent coupon. The milk was $3.89 and got $1 ECB back. The candy was basically free, it was 75 cents and you get back a 75 cent ECB.