Another member of our family

We keep our blog to update family and friends on our lives, which mostly includes stories and cute pictures of Grayson. Below is a member of our family that doesn't get blogged about very often. Its not as cute as Grayson, but it sure does save us some money. I present to you, my coupon binder...

The looks and comments, especially from the cashiers, when you carry one of these around is a whole other post in itself. I can't remember exactly when I started all of this, but it did start with the Grocery Game. I do recommend at least trialing it for the $1 deal to get the hang of it, and then you can make the call depending on how much time you have, on doing it yourself or paying for the Game. I stopped the Game because I then found my favorite money saving blog: Money Saving Mom. Who knew we would never have to pay for toothpaste again? Or never pay over $1 for cereal? I had no idea. But she knew. Put her in your Google Reader and check it out.

Then enter Harris Teeter's triple coupons. I know many of you share my love, I mean hate, I mean love, of triple coupon weekend. I did snap a shot of one (of many) triple coupon runs this last weekend below. $20.23 people. That's it. Before coupons was around $60. Now you do have to use the 'stock up' theory where you buy ahead on things that you use frequently when they are on sale. Which is why there is an undisclosed number of cereal boxes in every corner of our kitchen right now. But its worth it.

The other thing I love about all of these money saving blogs is that they post great frugal recipes. Here are some current favorites:

How to freeze bananas and make the best peanut butter banana smoothie (scroll down for the smoothie recipe and follow the link about how to freeze the bananas. Most HT's here in town have bunches of overripe bananas, often organic ones, bagged into discount deals for $1, perfect for freezing)
Banana Crumb Muffins (great to bake a bunch and freeze, I used brown sugar for the sweetener, same amount, crumb topping is optional but yum, and I did follow the 1/2 applesauce tip)
Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins (also good to freeze, sub all applesauce for the oil)
Spinach Rice Casserole (I added a little more cheese, halved the w. sauce, and used brown rice for a little more protein)
Money Saving Mom's Whole Wheat Waffles (Justin loved these, Grayson and I thought they were ok..I think next time I'll add 1/2 whole wheat, 1/2 all purpose flour. MUCH cheaper though to freeze and reheat for our waffle-eating-one-year-old. I also added blueberries to some).

I've got some more recipes but I'm now procrastinating on cleaning the house.

And if you're still hanging with me on this post, please head over here to check out the love at the park today.