50 cents or less!

I decided to change my title this week because I didn't get too much for free...just a lot of good 50 cent or less deals. King Soopers has their buy 10 items get $5 off deal this week so I took advantage of that by pairing items with coupons. So here goes...

Loreal kids Shampoo - $1.50 with the sale and I had 2 coupons that doubled to $1 each so .50 on each of those.

Fuze drinks were on sale for .89 a piece. I downloaded a coupon off of King Soopers website that ended up giving me $1.59 off (not sure how that worked out), so I got those 3 for .36 a piece.

Suave deoderant was a part of the buy 10 sale, for $1 and I had a $1 off coupon so it was FREE

Dixie plates, also a part of the buy 10 sale, were $1.50. I had 2 coupons that doubled to $1 each so those were .50 a piece.

The A&W I got FREE because of playing the King Soopers Summer of Savings game. Go to http://www.kingsoopers.com/ to play and maybe you'll win something too!!

The Turkey Hill Pomegranite Lemonade was on sale for $1 and I had a buy 2 get $1 off coupon so those were .50 each (I'd like to thank Ann for hooking me on this beverage)

Palmolive was in the buy 10 sale for $1.50 and I had a $1 off coupon so that was .50

Boulder Chips were also in the buy 10 sale for $1 a piece! I had a buy 2 get $1 off coupon so those were .50 each.

The General Foods International Coffee was in the markdown bin for $1.50. I had a $1 off coupon so I got it for .50.

And lastly the Easy Mac was a part of the buy 10 sale and were .38 each. I didn't have a coupon for them, but I needed 2 more items to get a second $5 off so I picked those. For .38 a piece that's a good deal. Especially when I'm too tired to make lunch for Nora. :)

Did you get some good deals this week??

Free (and near free) for me this week...

Last week wasn't too exciting but I guess I made up for it this week. Let me tell you again how much I LOVE the markdown areas!

The Fast Fixens Chicken Strips were on sale for $1 and I had a $1 off coupon. :)

The Sobe drinks were on sale for .88. I had 2 BOGO coupons so normally you'd think I would get them for .44 each, but no. The cashier just rang the coupons to the max. amount allowed which was $1.69 so I paid .14 for all 4 of them.

The Hunts Ketchup was on sale for $1 and I had a .20 coupon. That's a pretty lame coupon but with doubling it that means I got ketchup for .60. That's ok with me.

The Starkist tuna was on sale for $1. I had a buy 2 get $1 off so I paid .50 a piece for them. Not the best deal, but not bad considering they are normally $1.99 each.

The Dan-o-nino's were in the markdown area for $1.09 a piece. I had 3 coupons, 2 for $1.50 off and one for $1 off!! Doing the math on that means I MADE .73 on them.

The Danimals Coolisions were also in the markdown area for 1.29 each and I had two $1 coupons so I got those for .29 a piece.

So I guess I didn't get that much for free this week, but this is just an example of holding onto coupons and matching them with a sale. Some of those items aren't things I normally buy, but when I can get them for next to nothing then it makes it worth it. Plus they are little extra special treats for Nora and myself. :)

Hitting the nail on the head

This last Avon order I ordered some items for myself both in my regular order and via direct delivery (long story, but it helps with my earnings percentage). There was some of Avon's regular nail polish on sale, which I ordered regularly, and then their Speed Dry Nail polish in the outlet (clearance section), which I ordered in my direct delivery order. When I recieved my orders I realized that I should have paid more attention to the colors I bought...

Do you think I should have bought a little variety?? lol I guess I wanted to get a red, a pink and a really light pink (that's what the far right is...not the nude color it looks like). I thought about returning some of them but I decided I'd keep them. The speed dry will be good for Nora's toes (she's now obsessed with her "pretty toes") and my fingers. Then I can use the regular polish on my toes. Besides they were really inexpensive...I just thought it was a little funny.

(almost) Free for me this week

I did O-K this week with shopping but I was preoccupied with getting my Avon order in to really get out there and find the deals. But it just seemed like there wasn't much too exciting at King Soopers this week. Here's what I ended up with...

The Pull-Ups came from a free coupon that I got when I "hosted" (it's in parentheses because the party didn't officially happen due to lack of interest) a Pull-Ups House Party. The thing with it is that I acutally ended up making money on it. The Pull Ups are on sale this week for $8.99 but when she entered in the coupon value she entered in the regular price of $9.77 so I made .78 on it. :)

We don't usually buy canned cat food but the Iams were in the discount bin for .38 each. I had a BOGO coupon so they ended up being .19 a piece. It will be a nice little treat for the kitties. Speaking of treats, The Goodlife Recipe treats were also in the markdown bin for only .89. I had a dollar off coupon so I made .11 on them!! ALWAYS check the markdown areas, you never know what you'll find!!!

The Ragu was a free coupon that I recieved from King Soopers, in the mail. I LOVE the coupons they send me. It's rare to get a free one, but I am SOOO happy when I do. I made money on that one too. With the buy 10 participating items and get $3 off sale this week, the Ragu was $1.25. They (again) gave me the original price back for the coupon, which was $1.55...giving me .30 back. I love being paid to take items home!

The Sure deoderant was .50. They are on sale for $2 this week and I had a $1.50 coupon. Not free, but not bad either!

Lastly, the Pure Protien bar was on sale for $1 and I had a .50 coupon that doubled to make it free! AND it's peanut butter marshmallow flavor, YUM!!

I'm hoping to hit Albertson's in the next couple days. They have a bunch of coupons in their ad and you can stack manufacturer coupons with those making some good deals (especially when they are doubling and tripling coupons!)

The good in me

I been selling Avon for less than a month and I can already tell a change in my mindset. I won't go into the nervousness and concern I feel about failing, but what I will go into is how I currently feel about me.
 I'm not going to say that I'm a new woman with a new attitude (que music)...that my self-esteem issues are fixed or that I've dropped 15 pounds (although I have lost 5 now) and I'm smokin' hot. But now that I've become an Avon rep. I realize that taking care of myself on the outside has helped me a little on the inside. I think I'm talking in circles so let me explain...

When I go out in public I always have Avon with me. I have some perfume samples and my business cards  in my purse, and I ALWAYS have a few of the current campaign books on me. I'm not one of those people who feels comfortable just walking up to a stranger and asking them about Avon, but if the opportunity arises I want to make sure I'm prepared to hand them a business card and a book. With that said, I want to make sure that my appearance reflects my business. I want someone to look at me and think, "ya, she's stylish and cute, I'd buy Avon from her"...or maybe even, "her makeup is cute, she smells good, I want to be like her." I know that's a stretch, but I can shoot for that, right??

It's made me think about what I wear when I go out in public. Not that I'm dressed up all the time, but if I'm throwing on a t-shirt then it should be a cute fitted one. I make sure my toenail polish isn't chipped and I hope that my hair looks like I tried (hence the haircut tomorrow, but more on that another time). It's made me care more about how I present myself and THAT is a huge step towards believing in myself. It's a good thing!!
I know there are many people who are perfectly happy with throwing on their sweatpants and running to the grocery store, and if they're happy then I don't judge. It's just not me. I've never wanted to become a frumpy mom. I always knew that I was going to get myself down to my pre-pregnancy weight, one way or another, and I'm not a sweatpants and baggy t-shirt person. Yes, I have my comfy pants that I wear around the house, some days, but I don't go out that way. If I don't take the time to take care of myself, then why should anyone else care about me either. I may not be that cutey young mom, but I want to be that cool mom. I firmly believe that Avon is helping me maintain that goal. Now, if I can just get some more customers I'd be even better....  ;)

How do people do it?

I just want to nap.

I've expressed, a few different times, my feelings of inadaquacy when it comes to being a wife and mother. I sit here, on this dreary Monday, feeling just that.

I have piles of things to do and NO motivation to do any of it. I told Jim, last night, that I figured I would feel that way today, after the busy weekend, and I was right. On the good side, I am doing laundry (the last of 4 loads is in the washer right now) and I did clean off some toys that I purchased at garage sales (some of which have been waiting to be cleaned off for a couple weeks now). However, my car is still full of the boxes of garage sale items that I didn't sell over the weekend and I just do NOT have the omph to unload right now. My Avon stuff needs to be organized, as well as the rest of my desk and my kitchen cupboards are starting to explode.

I know I have high standards for myself, my family and my house, so what is messy to me may look just fine to someone else. But there is no denying that there are some really messy spots in this house right now.

I highly admire people who juggle 20 things at once and do them well. Those people that have to be busy all the time and are good at it! I wish I were one of those people. Are those people on some sort of medication? Are they high on coffee and other forms of caffine? I need their secret!! Are you one of those people? Can you please share your motivation? Even if I feel the motivation stirring inside of me, my body is fighting back and winning over my mind. Ugh, I'm tired of being lazy.

Free (or near free) for me Friday

I just got back from the store for the week and had a pretty good trip. I didn't need much, but I had a few things on my list and some kind of "fun" items to pick up. I saved 54% this week so I'm pleased.

All this is from King Soopers. The Sunkist was on sale for $1 and I had two 50 cent coupons, hence they were free since Kings always doubles coupons. The Sobe was not free but was on sale for 88 cents. I had 3 BOGO coupons so I got them for 44 cents a piece. The Lifesavers were also not free, but http://www.coupons.com/ has $1 off of 2 coupon, so those were 50 cents a piece...and I love them. They are perfect for me to have on hand now when I'm talking to people about Avon...you'd buy from me if my breath was minty fresh, wouldn't you? ;)

The Dove was free for me. On sale for $2 and I had two $2 off coupons. The Fiber One yogurts were in the markdown area because they are expiring in 3 days. Marked at 89 cents a piece, I made 11 cents profit on them because I had two 50 cent coupons. AND since I'm trying to lose weight, they will be great snacks.

These were my freebies in the mail this week. The Cascade, Pantene and Iams came from my P&G sampler that I signed up to recieve (Oh, there was a Metamucel packet in there as well, I forgot that in the picture). There were also coupons in there as well. LOVE those! The Secret came from a Walmart freebie (GREAT for traveling) and the Revlon came from a Walgreens promotion. I love getting freebies in the mail.

Ever wonder what to do with free items you recieve (or "buy") and can't use. DONATE THEM! Local food banks and shelters would love your donations...and it didn't cost you a dime. :)