Only 92 Cents!!

Would you believe I came home with all this for 92 cents?  Well, I did!  I went to Rite Aid today, armed with my sale paper and coupons.  The Right Guard Deodorant is normally $4.49 each.  They were on sale buy one get one free.  I also had (2) coupons for $3 off 2 Right Guards.  I also had (1) coupon for $1 off Right Guard.  The Finish Dishwasher Kit is normally $10.99 each, on sale buy one get one free, so they ring up at 1/2 price.  Then I had a $3 off coupon for that.  I also had a coupon for $4 off a $20 purchase.  Using all this, I paid just 92 cents, plus I got $2 UP Rewards good toward my next purchase.  So really, I got paid $1.08 to buy all this stuff.  Isn't that great!?

My New, Old Hope Chest

My mom gave me this hope chest when I got married.  It was hers before she got married.  It is great for extra storage, but as you can see, it was needing a facelift.

The top was the worst, you can see the finish is so worn.  At one point a couple years ago, one of my kids (I don't remember which one) had gotten a green marker and traced their handprint on the top.  Of course when I first saw it, I was upset, but I never washed it off, thinking that one day I would see it and remember how small the kids once were.  Sadly, it has worn away and no longer there.  So now I was free to paint or recover it without regret of that little memory.

First I called my mom to make sure she would not be upset it I painted her hope chest.  She said of course not, it was not hers anyway.  So I got down to business.  First I picked up some fabric I loved, and found some paint to match.  I took off the top and all the hardware.  This was my first attempt at upholstering anything, and I must say it really was easy and I love the way it turned out.  Then I primed and painted the whole thing and gave the hardware a coat of Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint.  That stuff is beautiful!

It is black, but has specks of metallic in it, almost like a hammered look.  It looks better in real life.  And please forgive the quality of these photos.  They were taken with my phone, because I couldn't find any batteries for my camera.

Isn't that a huge difference?  I love the way it turned out.  It is now sitting at the foot of my bed.  It was supposed to function as a bench for putting on shoes or whatever, but mostly it just holds laundry baskets full of clothes waiting to be put away.  But at least it looks pretty while doing it!

I have some of this fabric left over, so I'm thinking about making some pillows with it and freshening up my room a bit.  If I ever get around to that I'll let you know.  And if I ever get batteries I'll take some real pictures so you can see what it really looks like. 

My next post is going to be my new Fall Wreath I made.  I'm in love with it.  But first I need batteries.  Thanks for stopping by!

Linking up to Transformation Thusdays @ The Shabby Chic Cottage and Miss Mustard Seed's Featured Furniture Friday.

Coupons, coupons and more coupons!

So lately I have become slightly obssessed with coupons.  At any given time you might walk into my kitchen to find the table top covered with clipped coupons, sale papers and shopping lists for individual stores.  I scour the sale papers for all the local drug stores, compare my coupons to the sales going on and then hop from store to store.  With all the reward programs going on and the coupons and sales combined, it's really quite amazing how much money you can save!

I've started keeping a list of where I went shopping, how much I saved on sales and coupons and how much I actually spent.  Now I wouldn't have necessarily bought all the things I did if they weren't on sale combined with the coupons, but when I do need that particular product, I already have it, and won't have to go pay full price! 

 For example, yesterday I went to Publix.  Did you know they take competitor coupons?  And, you can "stack" coupons, meaning you can have on manufacturer and one store coupon for the same item.  So back to my shopping trip.  I only bought what was on sale and for 95% of those items I also had coupons.  My total trip would have cost $128.28 but with the regular sales I saved $47.58 then my coupons saved me another $33.79 for a total of $81.37 saved!  I only paid $46.91 for $128.28 worth of groceries!

I also went to Rite Aid the other day.  The regular sales saved me $6, the coupons saved me $26.10 for a total of $32.10 in savings.  I spent $19.65 on what would have cost $51.71!

I only wish I had discovered this sooner.  There is a coupon class in Savannah they hold about once a month and I'm going to go to it so I can learn even more ways to save money.  Do you coupon?  I don't think I can ever shop the same way again!