About Me

I'm a Utah mom, just trying to make ends meet. Several years ago, I was introduced to a new way of couponing. I've been addicted ever since. I have a hard time paying full price for anything anymore.

I love couponing so much, I decided to become a teacher for Grocery Smarts.

I teach free classes and show you how to get everything you need at the grocery store and still leave $$$ in your pocket. I'll also teach you the best ways to get and organize your coupons. The best part of the class is when I show you how to match your current coupons up with the current local sales - getting the most bang for your buck!


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November 30, 2008

Kmart is doubling coupons/Shopko's daily surprises

So, everything I'm reading is saying that Kmart is now currently doubling coupons from 11/30/08 to 12/6/08. Go through your coupons and shop, shop, shop!!!! There are some restrictions listed below - so go prepared. This sale really paid off for me last time!!! Even though Kmart doesn't sell a lot of food items, this is a great way to stock up on medicine, shampoo/conditioner, paper products, makeup etc.....
Super Double Manufacturer Coupons up to & Including $2 Value.

Amount of Credit from doubling a coupon cannot exceed the retail price of an item. No cash or in-store purchase credit will be awarded for any amount exceeding the retail price of the item. Limit 1 coupon for each item purchased. Only 1 coupon will be doubled per item. You may only purchase 4 of the same items using double coupons. Coupons do not apply to sales tax. Limit 75 coupons per customer per day. Internet coupons or copies of manufacturer instant coupons are not valid.

Offer excludes products prohibited by law, including but not limited to alcohol, tobacco, and prescription medication. Not valid on Non-merchandise, federal or state regulated items, prior purchases, Lands End. Sears merchandise run on Sears registers within Kmart and Kmart.com. In the event of a return, coupon savings may be deducted from refund. Sears Holdings(Kmart) reserves the right to modify or cancel this program at any time.

Available at participating Kmart and Super Kmart locations. (Thanks PYP, blog).
I also got an email from Shopko today announcing a daily surprise. You need to go to their website everyday to see the announced sale. If you don't have one of their "My Extra Saving's cards," stop by and apply for one (they are similar to Smith's or Albertson's cards). I believe you have to have one of these cards in order to get the deal at the advertised price.

November 28, 2008

The ups and downs of Black Friday

It is no secret - I love to shop and find a good deal. So I actually started shopping on Thursday at Kmart's Thanksgiving sale. I found the one big item I was after - I picked up the last one on the shelf - lucky me. I was very happy on Turkey Day.

Friday (Black Friday) was a bit more tricky. Even though I did not do as well, I did come away with some successes.

My youngest son was having trouble getting to sleep last night (night terrors) so between me and my husband we were up most of the night. I had set my alarm for 4:15 and I was going to hit Walmart first. Well I happened to roll over and look at my clock only to see it was 5:05 am. What, where am I, what's going on - how come my alarm didn't go off????? I raced out of bed threw on my clothes and ran out the door. I set my clock for PM not AM - DUUUUHHHHHH!!!!! Not so good. Well if any of you tried to shop at Walmart it was crazy!!!! I had great luck last year and totally failed at Walmart this year. I walked in - elbowed my way around and decided to leave.

I headed to Target next. When I got there they ushered me into line. I kept walking and walking and walking. Yes, the line went all the way around the store. I was in line by some nice people and we patiently waited for the line to move. I didn't think I would get anything considering my place in line. Surprise, Surprise - I got most of the stuff on my list. This definately put a smile on my face.

I then proceeded to Shopko. I didn't really find a lot of stuff there, but I found a few movies and some stocking stuffers. Because my birthday was this month, Shopko sent me a birthday discount, so I got an additional 10% off my purchase. Yea!!!!! This also made me happy.

I was getting really hungry about this time and decided to go through the Krispy Kreme drive through. When I got to the window the lady handed me my donuts and chocolate milk and would not let me pay for them. Wow!!!! Could this really be???? My day was certainly improving.

I decided to try the mall and went into JC Penney and found a bunch of clothes for the family. I then went to Lane Bryant to check out their selection and to spend my gift certificate I got for my birthday. It was fun - I got some Spanx (have wanted to try them for some time) and some pants.

I rounded out the day with a long afternoon nap. A well deserved nap....I had a good day even without Walmart!

One thing I did notice at most stores is the nice help of so many of the employees. Not only did most of the stores have a full staff checking people out, they also had employees throughout the store helping to locate items, pull things off of upper shelves, shagging carts etc... And to that I was very thankful.

So did any of you go shopping on Black Friday? Anyone want to share their successes or failures? You can celebrate or vent if you'd like.

November 26, 2008

Did you know that Grocery Smarts is in Vegas too?

We're branching out.... If any of you are in the Vegas area - you're in luck. We are now able to teach classes in your area. Check out this video link to a news station in Vegas that did a spotlight on Grocery Smarts. If this kind of savings interests you and you want to schedule a class, contact me at callmestacy@yahoo.com and I can arrange a free class for you. And yes, you really do save that much on your shopping trips!!! Check out some of my older blogs to see.

I'm currently booking for January - these dates fill up fast, so I hope to hear from you soon.

More things I'm thankful for

This list a bit more sillier (is that a word????) than the last - but still I'm greatful!

1- I'm thankful for Black Friday. I am not one of those women who will be racing down the aisle to beat everyone else, nor will I be involved in any crash up derby with my cart. I'm there for a few items and off to the next sale. Wahoo!!!! The anticipation and excitement is building.

2 - I'm thankful that I got assigned 2 pies and a Jello salad this Thanksgiving. Boy, am I glad that someone at Sam's club knows how to make pies - because this is not one of my best talents. I'm just winging it with the Jello salad (can you really ruin one of these???)

3 - I'm glad that we're only traveling an hour each direction for Thanksgiving, rather than the normal 2 1/2 hrs each way.

4 - I'm thankful that my husband has a few days off. Hopefully we'll something fun as a family this weekend.

5 - I'm thankful for Redbox and that the rentals are only $1.00. Gotta love vegging and watching a good movie from time to time.

6 - I love to drive around on Thanksgiving night or the night after and see everyone's handiwork at putting up lights. It's fun to see how your neighborhood transforms overnight.

7 - I'm thankful that my sister finally said yes, to going with me on Black Friday! She loves her sleep.

8 - I'm greatful to have the time to read my friends and family's blogs. They are so fun and it's a great way to keep up with everyone's lives.

9 - I'm greatful for Grocery Smarts and how easy it is to find my grocery list and gather my coupons.

10 - Lastly, I'm greatful for Christmas music. I have to admit, I've been listening to it since the first part of November.

What are you thankful for????

November 25, 2008

Dogwood End of Season Sale



You can go to Dogwood's website for more information. They only sell boys clothes (which are really fun). They are located at 3855 South 500 West Suite F. Salt Lake City, UT 84115.

November 24, 2008

Deseret Book Friends and Family

Check out the Light Refreshments Served blog (A little something for my friends - is the blog title) for a coupon good through 11/30/08. The coupons are good for online purchases as well.

November 23, 2008

My latest shopping trip

It seems like forever since I've posted a shopping trip. What's wrong with me???? So I went to Smiths yesterday and did pretty well. I had a bunch of coupons and an additional coupon for $10 off my next shopping trip from Smiths for buying so many baby products over time.

Here's what I ended up with:

5 (large boxes) Cinnamon Toast crunch

4 (large boxes) Honey Nut Cherrios

2 boxes Wheat Thins

1 box Triscuits

2 boxes of Oven bags

5 jars Gerber baby food

8 (large cans) Dole Mandarin Oranges

1 bag of Kroger hashbrowns

1 bunch of bananas

1 bag of Dole salad mix

1 bag of Sweets candy (I love chocolate covered cinnamon bears)

1 box of Reynolds Parchment

1 Hen turkey (we're going away for Thanksgiving so we don't get any leftovers - I'll cook this bird at a later date)

There was also some chicken and potato wedges (my dinner) that aren't pictured

Total I spent $54.97 and saved $56.01. I purchased 38 items and spent on average $1.45 per item. Smiths is running a promotion that if you spend $25 in their store you can purchase a hen (private selection) turkey for $6, a tom (private selection) for $8 and a Butterball tom for $12. I paid $6 for my turkey - this is definately something to be thankful for.

Wow - what a cute blog - if I do say so myself

Tracie - one of my bestest friends, surprised me today with the cutest blog paper. I love it - it's so fun and festive and just in time for Christmas. Anyone wanting to get into some fun digi scrapping needs to check out her blog at this link. She is so talented! Thanks Tracie!!!!

And What to my Wondering Eyes Should Appear...

But a newly decorated blog, just in time for the Christmas season. Merry Christmas Stacy! I hope you like it!

November 22, 2008

Free Home Made Simple Procter & Gamble coupon book

Follow this link to sign up. They have products like Cascade, Dawn, Swiffer etc.... Savings worth $27.

November 20, 2008

I am thankful for.....

Since this is the time of year we ought to be thankful - I thought I'd post a few things that make me thankful and put a smile on my face.

1 - I think my biggest smile this year comes from finally getting my 3 year old son potty trained (during the day at least). Oh, those agonizing months of trying and trying and trying :(

2 - I am truly thankful for my full food storage and even more thankful as me and my huband loaded several boxes full to take to the food shelter a few days ago.

3 - This list wouldn't be complete if I wasn't thankful for sales and coupons!!!!

4 - I am thankful that I feel rich - not so much from money (we live frugally), but rich with the love of my family (this is very fulfilling).

5 - It's wonderful to be a stay at home mom (SAHM) and I couldn't do it without a wonderful, loving and supporting husband out there working to keep me here.

6 - I love that I live in a free country where I have privileges that others don't.

7 - I am thankful for all those men and women that sacrifice daily for my freedoms.

8 - I love, love, love that the price of gas is starting to go down! Now let's hope to see food prices do the same thing.

9 - I smile the first time it snows enough that we have to shovel. Can't wait for that day this year.

10 - I am thankful for this time of year. I love the food, family, friends, my savior and the magic this season brings.

These are just a few of the things I'm thankful for. If you'd like to add to the list - I would love to hear from you. I'll probably post some more in the coming days.

November 19, 2008

Warning on Christmas gift cards

I've received this email several times and am not sure how to confirm this information other than to offer a fair warning to anyone looking to purchase gift cards as Christmas gifts this year.

As much as I love to give and get gift cards, I'm a little reluctant to do much of that this year. Considering our economic status, many well known stores are having to close their doors or scale back just to survive.

This is a list that I received through an email. Good luck and if you currently have any of these cards it may be worth using them now rather than waiting.....

Mervyns should close their doors at the end of the year.

Linens & Things which is under liquidation and closing all stores by year end.

Ann Taylor closing 117 stores nationwide A company spokeswoman said The company hasn't revealed which stores will be shuttered.. It will let the Stores that will close this fiscal year know over the next month.

Eddie Bauer to close more stores. Eddie Bauer has already Closed 27 shops in the first quarter and plans to close up To two more outlet stores by the end of the year.

Cache closing stores. Women's retailer Cache announced that it is closing 20 to 23 stores This year.

Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug, Catherines closing 150 stores nationwide The owner Of retailers Lane Bry ant , Fashion Bug , Catherines Plus Sizes will close About 150 underperforming stores this year. The company hasn't Provided a list of specific store closures and can't say when it will offer That info, spokeswoman Brooke Perry said today.

Talbots, J. Jill closing stores. About a month ago, Talbots announced that it will be shuttering all 78 of its kids and men's stores. Now the company says it will close Another 22 underperforming stores. The 22 stores will be a mix of Talbots women's and J. Jill , another chain it owns. The closures will occur this Fiscal year, according to a company press release.

Gap Inc. Closing 85 stores. In addition to its namesake chain, Gap also owns Old Navy and Banana Republic. The company said the closures - all planned For fiscal 2008 - will be weighted toward the Gap brand.

Foot Locker to close 140 stores. In the company press release and during its Conference call with analysts today, it did not specify where the future store Closures - all planned in fiscal 2008 - will be. The company could not be Immediately reached for comment.

Wickes Furniture is going out of busines s and closing all of its stores. Wickes, a 37-year-old retailer that targets middle-income customers, filed for bankruptcy Protection last month.

Goodbye Levitz / BOMBAY - closed already. The furniture retailer, which is going out Of business. Levitz first announced it was going out of business and closing all 76 of Its stores in December. The retailer dates back to 1910 when Richard Levitz opened his First furniture store in Lebanon , PA. In the 1960s, the warehouse/showroom concept brought Levitz to The forefront of the furniture industry. The local Levitz closures will follow the shutdown of Bombay .


Zales, Piercing Pagoda closing stores. The owner of Zales and Piercing Pagoda previously Said it plans to close 82 stores by July 31. Today, it announced that it is closing Another 23 underperforming stores. The company said it's not providing a list of specific Store closures. Of the 105 locations planned for closure, 50 are kiosks and 55 are Stores.

Disney Store owner has the right to close 98 stores The Walt Disney Company Announced it acquired about 220 Disney Stores from subsidiaries of The Children's Place Retail Stores. The exact number of stores acquired Will depend on negotiations with landlords. Those subsidiaries of Children's Place filed for bankruptcy protection in late March. Walt Disney In the news release said it has also obtained the right to close about 98 Disney Stores in the U.S. . The press release didn't list those stores.

Home Depot store closings (E. Brunswick, Rt 18 just put up their closing sign) ATLANTA - Nearly 7+ months after its chief executive said there were no plans To cut the number of its core retail stores, The Home Depot Inc. announced Thursday that it is shuttering 15 of them amid a slumping U.S. economy and Housing market. The move will affect 1,300 employees. It is the first time The world's largest home improvement store chain has ever closed a flagship Store for performance reasons. Its shares rose almost 5 percent. The Atlanta-based company said the underperforming U.S. stores Being closed represent less than 1 percent of its existing stores. They Will be shuttered within the next two months.

CompUSA (CLOSED) clarifies details on store Closings Any extended warranties purchased for products through CompUSA will be honored by a third-party provider, Assurant Solutions. Gift cards, rain checks, and rebates purchased prior to December 12 can be Redeemed at any time during the final sale. For those who have a gadget Currently in for service with CompUSA, the repair will be completed and the gadget will be returned to owners.

Macy's - 9 stores

Movie Gallery and Hollywood Video- 160 stores as part of reorganization plan to exit bankruptcy. The video rental company plans to close 400 of 3,500 Movie Gallery and Hollywood Video stores in addition to the 520 locations the video rental chain closed last fall.
UPDATE: Since I am not familiar with these stores, please take note of the comments left.

Sprint Nextel - 125 retail locations New Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse appears to have inherited a company bleeding subscribers by the thousands, and will now officially be dropping the ax on 4,000 employees and 125 retail locations. Amid the loss of 639,000 postpaid customers in the fourth quarter, Sprint will be cutting a total of 6.7% of its work force (following the 5,000 layoffs last year) and 8% of company-owned brick-and-mortar stores, while remaining mute on other rumors that it will consolidate its headqu arters in Kansas . Sprint Nextel shares are down $2.89, or nearly 25%, at the time of this writing.

J. C. Penney, Lowe's and Office Depot are scaling back

Ethan Allen Interiors: The company announced plans to close 12 of 300+stores in an effort to cut costs.

Wilsons the Leather Experts - 158 stores

Pacific Sunwear will close its 154 Demo stores after a review of strategic alternatives for the urban-apparel brand. Seventy-four & nbsp; underperforming Demo stores closed last May.
Sharper Image: The company recently filed for bankruptcy protection and announced that 90 of its 184 stores are closing. The retailer will still operate 94 stores to pay off debts, but 90 of these stores have performed poorly and also may close.

KB Toys posted a list of 356 stores that it is closing around the United States as part of its bankruptcy reorganization. To see the list of store closings, go to the KB Toys Information web site, and click on Press Information

Dillard's to Close More Stores. Dillard's Inc. said it will continue to focus on closing under-performing stores, reducing expenses and improving its merchandise in 2008. At the company's annual shareholder meeting, CEO William Dillard II said the company will close another six underperforming stores this year.

November 18, 2008

Grocery ABC's

I find it rather interesting as I pass a fellow shopper in the store to peer into their cart to see what they're buying. Doesn't it always make you wonder why they have some of the things they do in there? Hmmm...maybe those things are part of a really good recipe or I question - are they really going to eat 3, 1/2 gallons of ice cream????

Anywho.... I thought it would be fun to play a little Grocery Store ABC game. These are the things I frequent the store for in ABC form. Some of them were pretty tricky and some of them, I could have written a book on. So here goes>>>>

Apples, Anti-persperiant

Broccoli, bananas, bandaids, butter

Cereal, chicken, chicken nuggets, Coke, Campbell's soup, chips, candy, cream cheese, cheese

Detergent

Eggs

Fruit snacks, fruit

Grandma Sycamore bread, gum, grapes, goldfish

Huggies, hashbrowns

Instant Breakfast

Juice (oj)

Ketchup

Liquid Soap, lightbulbs

Mt. Dew, milk, M&M's

Newspapers (always looking for a few extra coupons!)

Olive oil, Oxy Clean

Popsicles, potatoes, pasta, paper towels

Quaker Oats

Ranch dressing, Ramen Noodles

Skippy peanut butter, scrubbing bubbles, sunflower seeds, Snuggle fabric softner

Tuna, toilet paper, tomatoes

U ????????

Vanilla, veggies

Water (bottled), wipes

X ????????

Yogurt

Ziploc baggies


I'm sure there are many that I missed, but you get the jist. So if you're game and want to play along - come up with the most frequent things you go to the store for. Tag! You're it....

November 13, 2008

Question of the day

Occasionally, I get questions asked that I'd like to address. Today's question is: "I go shopping on Wednesday and by the time I get there, the store is out of the items I wanted. What do you suggest?"

This is actually a good question. I will make several recommendations.

1 - If the sale is a really popular sale (like a General Mills, Campbells Soup, Quaker etc...), my suggestion is to know the dates of your sale (ex: the date the sale starts vs. ends). If you want the best selection you need to be to that store when it opens on the first day of the sale, to get the best selection. With the number of savvy shoppers out there, many people are looking over their ads and shopping for the same great buys you're after.

2 - Knowing that #1 is not possible for everyone the next thing I would suggest is knowing when the store you shop at gets their shipments in. If you know this information, you can try picking up these items after they have re-stocked their shelves.

3 - You can also pick up a raincheck for any missing items you may have wanted and could not pick up. If you have coupons that are associated with the purchase you need to make sure you buy these items with the raincheck and prior to your coupons expiring - otherwise you will only get the store deal and not the discount with the added coupons.

4 - You may also want to check at a 2nd store to see if you can pick up the items at a different location.

5 - Lastly - if you plan to buy a lot of a specific item, you can go to the customer service desk and inquire about ordering the number of items you'd like. This secures that you get these sale items and the number you want. *** Most stores will do a special order for you, but not all will.***

If you have specific questions that you'd like to ask - I'd love to hear them. Many people have good questions and this is a great way to address them. Feel free to email me at callmestacy@yahoo.com or leave a comment with a question.

This steal of a deal will be gone quickly...

Walmart has a couple of girls pajama's sets for $.97 a piece. Sizes are limited (I'm sure quantities are too).

Check out these links: Pink and Green (UPDATE: It looks like these are all gone - these kinds of deals go quickly)

I bought 2 pair for less than $2.00. I chose to have them shipped to my local Walmart, so there was no shipping fee.

These would make great gifts, sub-for-santa items or just to stock up. This was a deal that I just couldn't pass up! Get em quick before they're gone!

November 11, 2008

Ooey Gooey Easy Chocolate Chippers

I don't know what it is about this time of year, but I just want to bake. I guess it's that nostalgia of being at home when I was young and playing outside in the cool weather and then coming in to the smell of something yummy coming from the kitchen. Oh....the memories.

As promised I am posting my recipe for Easy Chocolate Chippers. I got a great deal on chocolate chips on a few weeks ago and decided today was the day for this yummy treat.

Remember these tasty morsels???


Easy Chocolate Chippers

2 1/2 C quick oats (or 2 3/4 old fashioned oats)

1 1/4 C flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp soda

In a bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together

1 C butter or margarine

3/4 C brown sugar

1/2 C sugar

1 egg

3 Tbsp water

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 bag of chocolate chips (I like a lot of chocolate chips - so I add the whole bag)

In a seperate bowl - cream together all the wet ingredients. Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix well. Add the chocolate chips last, and stir with a spoon or spatula. Spoon cookie dough onto a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 13-15 minutes. Makes 3 1/2 - 4 dozen.

They seem to stay moist and chewy longer when I use oatmeal. These are also good with different flavored chips (mint chips are another favorite). A yummy treat anytime. I hope you enjoy them as much as my family does.

November 5, 2008

Spent $91.31, Saved $296.22, bought 113 items

This is my all time best savings ever!!! I didn't even know how much I had spent/saved until I got home. My husband was floored with the savings. This was a great sale at Albertsons. I did 8 different transactions of $30 (give or take) each. I had to take two different pictures in order for you to see it all.


18 boxes of Chex Cereal (my hubby's favorite - I'm dedicating this shopping trip to his favorite cereal)

10 Knorr pasta/rice sides

7 boxes of Progresso Chicken broth

16 jars of Skippy Peanut Butter

15 boxes of Hamburger/Chicken Helper (some of them are pictured below)

5 bottles of Suave Kids 2 in 1 shampoo/conditioner

1 bunch of bananas

1 bag of Breezers cough drops




12 bottles of Wish Bone dressing (Italian & Ranch)

5 boxes of Betty Crocker cake mix

10 Warm Delights

13 boxes of Macaroni Grill boxed dinners


All of this boils down to 113 items - paid $91.31, saved $296.22, each item was an average of $.81 - can't beat that.

I would not normally have bought this much, but my husband's office is competing with another company to donate the most food to the food bank. I think a lot of this and a lot of what is in storage will be donated.

For those of you who are wondering - yes - I did roll out of bed, no - I did not comb my hair or brush my teeth (wish I had though), yes - I'm crazy to do this, but I LOVE IT!!!!!

If you want to learn how I did this - contact me at callmestacy@yahoo.com

November 4, 2008

Did you see the Smith's ad this week?

It looks like both Smith's and Albertson's will be competing for shoppers this week. The Smiths ad is also loaded with lots of products and sales. It will be hard not to shop both of these sales.

Did you know that you can go to Smith's website and load P&G coupons onto your Fresh Values card? This works great because once you've loaded these coupons onto your card you can shop at Smith with or without coupons. If you have a paper coupon for the same item(s) that you've already loaded onto your Fresh Value's card you get double the savings at the register.

You can also visit this link to load more Kroger coupons onto your card for even more savings.

Here's to some great sales this week! Check in and let me know how you did at the grocery store this week.

November 3, 2008

Sizzling Albertsons sale - (probably the best sale of the year)

Well this is the week of the best sale Albertson's will probably have this year. If any of you have any 5% off coupons that you've earned, this may be a good sale to use it on. So here goes....this is a General Mills/Unilever sale starting 11/5/08. Me, along with many of you will be there in our pajamas to get the best selection and deals.

This may be a little confusing so I'll try to make it as simple as I can. The deal is when you buy $30 worth of GM/Unilever products you get a $15 catalina (coupon that prints at the register) off your next purchase. So if you have a cart full of stuff, buy $30 at a time so you will get multiple catalina's. If you buy your whole cart in one transaction - you will only get one $15 catalina. So if you break up your shopping trip you can use the first $15 catalina towards your next purchase and so on and so forth.....make sense?

I've had a sneak peak at the grocery list for this upcoming sale (most of you will get your ad's in tomorrow's mail), but there are quite a few 5 star items (almost every GM/Unilever product is a 5 star item).

Here are a few of the things you can expect to see:

All Laundry Detergent
Betty Crocker (brownie mix, cookie mix, frosting, hamburger helper, muffin mix, potatoes)
Bisquick
Chex Mix
Country Crock (spreads, side dish)
Degree deodorant
Dove (lotion, deodorant, shampoo/conditioner, soap)
General Mills cereal (Trix, Golden Grahams, Cheerios, Total Whole Grain, Chex)
Gold Medal Flour
Green Gian boxed veggies
Klondike
Knorr sides
Lipton (tea, rice/pasta sides, dry soup mix)
Pillsbury (toaster strudel, biscuits, cookies)
Pop Secret popcorn
Progresso (soup, broth)
Qtips
Ragu pasta sauce
Ramano's Macaroni Grill boxed meals
Skippy peanut butter
Slim Fast Optima bars
Suave (deodorant, lotion, shampoo/conditioner)
Totino's pizza rolls
Vaseline intensive care lotion
Wish-bone dressings
Yoplait (gogurt, kids multipack, trix)

Trust me - this is a sale you won't want to miss! You may want to start clipping your coupons tonight!!!! See you there on Wednesday morning - early!

November 2, 2008

Quick and easy nasal saline solution recipe

Hopefully you aren't suffering from the same crud that we have at my house. Now that there are no cold medications for our little ones (4 and under) to take, we're left with toughing in out. Last night we were supposed to gain an hour of sleep (through daylight savings). I think between my three kids - I was up every hour with one or the other of them. There was no extra hour of sleep for me!!! :(

I wanted to post a quick saline solution recipe to help relieve some of the stuffiness that kids get. My littlest hates it when I spray this up his nose, but it sure does clear him up for a little while. Enough that he can get to sleep.

I got this earlier this year when I went to an all night clinic thinking my littlest had an ear infection. I love the idea that it's homemade and it really saves $$ so I don't have to buy it from the store. The doctor gave us this jar and a really small syringe. I really didn't think it would work, but it clears my baby up.

Here's what the label says:

Nasal Saline

.2 (or .3) ml/cc in each nostril every hour as needed while awake. (The amounts .2 or .3 were for when my baby was about 4-6 months old. I still use this same amount - he's now 14 months. It seems to work pretty good. If you have an older child you may want to up the amounts slightly).

Mixture:

1/4 tsp salt in 6 oz of warm water.

Here's to the first cold of the season. Did I mention - I love this time of year, except when my kids get sick?

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