The last birthday party...for awhile.

I'm all birthday'd out.  BUT...
my youngest, Rosie, is turning 5 in March. 

I cannot believe it. 

After much ado, she's decided on a county fair theme.

I've made it as far as the birthday outfit {which Crystal made}, and the invites which I did in Photoshop. 

That's it. 

Let's hope the invite provides some much needed decor/menu inspiration. 

Oh, and the fonts are all from Dafont.com, the clip art is from Just Something I Made, and the tickets were a dollar store find. 

Any ideas...

I have pies, jam, pickles, kettle corn, hot dogs, funnel cakes, chocolate cake, sack race, blue ribbons, blue grass music.  A petting zoo is out of the question, but I may dress the pups up as a cow and a pig.

HELP!

I'm too depressed about my baby turning 5 that I can't get creative.  The invites may be the best thing about the party. 

And, I can't have that, now, can I? 

Still keepin' on.

Okay, so I am still here. 

Barely.

And I've become a crazy coupon lady.

Barely.

With a little help from a friend {Crystal}, I am starting to see the light.

She is the kind of coupon girl I can respect and admire.  No shelf clearing, no binders of coupons {as in more than 1}, no hours upon hours spent researching until your eyeballs bleed, no driving to 29 different stores. 

My first coupon excursion yielded 3 jumbo packs of GoodNights, 2 Right Gaurd deodorants, 2 Axe body washes, 1 Glade scented oil candle with 3 candles, and 1 bottle of Zarbee's children's cough syrup for $38. 

Anyone who buys those darned GoodNights knows what a score that is.  It's almost like paying for the diapers and getting the rest free.  All at one store.  All products we use.  Nothing we didn't need. 

I mean you could argue I didn't need a candle, but my boys and dogs stink sometimes. 

Here's the breakdown:

• joined CVS rewards program which is super easy and free
• printed 2/$2 coupons, and 1/$1.50 coupon for the GoodNights
• printed 1/$1 coupon for the Glade
• printed 1/$2 coupon when you buy 2 Right Gaurd deodorants
• GoodNights were marked down at CVS to $9
• Right Gaurd yielded $2 CVS rewards when you bought 2
• Zarbee's was $6 with $6 in CVS rewards {basically, free}
• Axe body was was marked down to $2 or something fantastic {wish I still had my receipt}
• bought everything but 1 pack of GoodNight
• after the first transaction I had $8 in CVS rewards so I went back in and bought another pack of GoodNights for FREE after my rewards and a coupon

That's it. 

It took about 10 minutes.

Now, I'm mad at myself that I HAD to go the store yesterday, and forgot my coupons.  I felt like I wasn't using free money.  Who doesn't like free money?

I will be documenting my journey more, and hopefully my savings increase. 

So, if you want to play along, and become a non-threatening, not crazy, not shelf clearing, AWESOME coupon lady...I think this may be the place for you. 

I will also sharing any helpful hints that Crystal passes on to me. 

So, this could be fun...or not.  If you get all tingly when you see your final bill, then it will be fun.  If you have tons of money, and don't need to save any, then this could be the pits.  Either way, it could be entertaining.

I also will be having a really cool giveaway coming up from Novica.  If you aren't familiar, you should check them out.  They have some really beautiful stuff!  So, stay tuned!

**POST EDIT**
One binder is okay.  I am too familiar with the need to stay organized, but I have seen woman with THREE!  Is that really necessary?  Are there even that many coupons in the world to fill 3 2+ inch thick binders.  I think not.

I am going out on a limb here and saying that with 3 binders, you are probably buying things you don't really use/need.  Is that fair?