Here are the deals that I have found so far for this week. These aren’t all of them, of course, just the deals I thought were worth mentioning.

Food Basics:
Spalding Bacon (500g) @ .99
Dole Classic Salad (454g) @ .99
Crest Toothpaste (75mL) @ 2/$1

Real Canadian Superstore / Fortinos:
Maple Leaf Hot Dogs (450g) @ 3/$5
Extra Lean Ground Beef (Club Pack) @ $6.59/kg
Sunlight Laundry Detergent (26-34 loads) @ $5.99 *$1.00 coupon here
Mr. Clean Wipes (27/35’s) @ $1.99 *$1.00 coupon here
Herbal Essences Hair Colour @ $5.99 *$5.00 coupon here
Crest Whitestrips (56’s) + BONUS FREE Scope Mouthwash (473mL) @ $19.99 *$5.00 coupon here

Dominion:
Maple Leaf Hot Dogs (450g) @ 3/$5
Buy and 2 12×355mL Sprite or Fanta, get 20 Bonus Airmiles!

Price Chopper:
Cashmere Bathroom Tissue (24 single roll) @ $4.00
Doritos @ $2.00

Luckily, there is not much on sale this week which works for me because we don’t have much to spend, seeing as how last week we went over by almost double. We will pick up some of the items above as well as some other things such as dish towels and cat supplies.

I have the most perfect view right now. I am sitting in my office and right beside me is a window and I can see all the fireworks going off. They look beautiful and I’m glad I get to see them! Happy Canada Day everyone! =)

Since it’s Canada Day I wanted to post a link for all my Canadian readers. I’m sure most of you have heard of this great website by now, but if not - here it is:

Save.ca is a fantastic website and is where I get the majority of my coupons. On the main page you can choose up to 20 coupons to be mailed to you. The site updates every few weeks by adding and/or removing a coupon. There are also other Save.ca coupons that are not listed on the main page. They are secret, but I guess I will share them with you all

http://www.save.ca/fancyfeast_en/prod_page.php - free cat food tin, $3.00 busy bone, $7.50 purina pro plan selects
http://www.save.ca/quakerricecakes/prod_page.php - .75 Quaker rice cakes
http://www.save.ca/gillettefusion_en - $10 Gillette fusion razor, $1.00 Gillette fusion shave gel
http://www.save.ca/febreze1_en/prod_page.php - $3 Febreze candle, $5 febreze noticables, $1 febreze air effects, $3 febreze fabric refresher
http://www.save.ca/albertoeuropean2_en/prod_page.php - $2.00 Alberto hair care
http://www.save.ca/lorealparis_en/ - over $25 in L’oreal Paris products
http://www.save.ca/hecolour/prod_page.php - $5 Herbal Essences hair colour
http://www.save.ca/cetaphil_en - Cetaphil coupons
http://www.save.ca/delissioultimate_en/ - $3 Delissio Ultimate

We booked our honeymoon today! I am so excited! DH made an extra $600 from selling an old guitar and also had extra money lying around from bills that were less than expected. Our entire 7 day honeymoon is costing us $1676 total - and that’s all inclusive (3 meals per day, plus snacks, round trip flights and hotel stay). We are going to Varadero, Cuba. Here are some photos:

Doesn’t it look so pretty! I have been waiting for what seems like forever to lay out in the sun and to go swimming. I think I may be more excited for the honeymoon than I am the wedding! Just kidding!

Anyway, on a money side of things, we were under budget by just over $300 which is awesome! I’m glad that is done with, that was the largest part of our budget, next is the food so that is what we are saving for next. Although, we will have to make some other payments before that, such as final payment to the minister. I’m just so happy that we found a nice place and at a nice price.

I got a great coupon today that I wanted to pass on. Click the photo and it will open in a new window and you can print it. I have already printed mine and picked up the yogurt tonight. I’m gonna try it for breakfast tomorrow. Yum!

I really want to thank my friends at SC for this great freebie! For my Canadian readers, I highly suggest you sign up to SmartCanucks. Even if you don’t plan to post, signing up is a great idea because you get access to more pages. The site updates multiple times per day with new deals, coupons and freebies! It’s a great little community and I am so happy to have found it and be a part of it. So sign up!

Seeing as how I, personally, don’t make much money ($1100 per month on average), I am constantly trying to find ways to boost my income to help us pay down our debts faster. Here are ways that I make money on the side:

• Selling cupcakes - My cupcake business (www.queenofsweets.com) doesn’t make a huge amount of money, but occassionally, I will get an email from someone saying they want to order a few dozen - a few hundred cupcakes. These are rather cheap to make, so I can make a good amount of money, if the order is large enough.
• Selling items on Craigslist and Kijiji - I did this alot before we moved a few months ago, so we don’t really have much left to sell. However, I despise clutter and unused junk, so I am always on the lookout for things I can get rid of (and can almost always find at least 1 thing! Even the plasma tv mount that was sitting in the basement).
• Photography - Every now and again I will find a model that suits my clients needs and when I pass that content on over to him, I usually earn a very decent lump sum of cash. The hard part is finding the right model, so this is probably the hardest way for me to earn extra income.
• Paid Blogging - I currently only use one site right now (link on the right) because there are always offers available and they always pay on time. I average about $100 a month right now. I’m looking for some other programs right now, so if you know of any, please let me know!

Like I said, I am always trying to find new ways to make some extra cash, so if I start doing anything else, I will post about it and let you all know.

For July, I have decided to make a list of all my “bonus money” that comes in and how I got it. That way I can see which avenue is making me the most cash and stick to doing that! Today’s plan is to go through the house and find more items to sell, because I haven’t done that since I moved in.

I’m so happy that it’s finally warm out! I don’t even mind the hot, muggy weather too much - I’m just so excited that the snow is gone for a few months! Erica and I went out again today to do a few things. First we went to Shoppers and I got (sorry, no photos):
- 5 Gillette Fusion Shave Gel @ .99 each = $4.95 - 5/$1.00 coupons (rung in as FREE coupons) = FREE! (saved including coupons = $27.45)
- 1 Gillete Satin Care Shave Gel @ .99 - .75 coupon = .24 (saved including coupon = $3.75)
Tax = .13
Total was .37 and I saved $31.20 and we are stocked up for YEARS on shave gel! Needless to say, I will be giving most of them away.

Then we went to the mall just to look around and I went to Kernels Popcorn and got 2 big bags of popcorn for free because I had a giftcard from my birthday. Yummy!

After that we took Buddy to his appointment at the vet for some bloodwork and I bought his flea/heartworm medication with bonus money I got so it was free thankfully (because I forgot I had to get it).

Then we went to get a marriage licence (I went with her because DH couldn’t get out of work before the office closed) which was super exciting. That’s one thing we can cross off our list!

I bet you think I’m done now right? Nope! We did more. =) We took the dogs to the dog park which was funny because Maggie finally got her ass kicked, which she needs to have happen every now and again so she knows she’s not so tough (she’s a huge bully) and then we went to Shoppers again because DH came home from work with 2 more $10 coupons for the razors and today is the last day of the $9.69 deal so I got 2 of those for free (no tax even!) and then we went to Loblaws because I wanted ice cream that was on sale for $2.99 and I had a $3.00 coupon so I got that for free. I also got some orange juice and hamburger buns because they were on sale and we were out (or running low, I forget).

Now we are going to go and watch one of the movies that I got from the library (A Perfect Murder). I hope it’s good! I hope everyone has a great weekend!

PS. These Delta faucets look so nice - makes me wanna buy a house just so I can buy one!

Erica came over today and we went to a few stores to find some deals. Here’s how I did (I paid .96 for this stuff - 96 CENTS!):

- 3 Mr. Clean Wipes @ .99 each = $2.97 - 3/$1.00 coupons = +.03 (saved = $3.00)
- 2 Toblerone @ .98 each = $1.96 - 2/$1.00 coupons = +.04 (saved = $2.00)
- 2 Pillsbury Ready To Bake Cookies @ $3.49 each = $6.98 - 2/FREE coupons = FREE! (saved = $6.98)
- 5 Cottonelle Wipes @ .97 each = $4.85 - 5/$1.00 coupons = +.15 (saved = $5.00)
- 20 4×6 Photos @ FREE = FREE! (saved = approx. $5.00)
- 1 Satin Care Shave Gel @ .99 - .75 coupon = .24 (saved including coupon = approx. $3.75)
- 1 Gillette Fusion Razor @ $9.69 - $10.00 coupon (rung in as FREE coupon) = FREE! (saved including coupon = $13.99)
- 1 Gillette Fusion Shave Gel @ .99 - $1.00 coupon (rung in as FREE coupon) = FREE! (saved including coupon $5.49)
- 1 Febreeze To Go @ $1.87 - $2.00 coupon = .13 (saved = $2.00)
Tax @ $1.07

Total Saved = $47.21

Not Pictured:
- Package of lean ground beef @ $4.51
- Jug of cooking oil @ $5.39
- 10kg Flour @ $10.99
- Bag of milk @ $4.59
- Bag of potatoes @ $2.99 - $1.00 coupon = $1.99
Tax = .39
Total = $27.88 - $30 Gift Card = + $2.12 (total saved = $30.00)

Grand Total Saved = $77.21

We did it! We paid off my Visa card today! I am so very happy and excited. It would have been paid sooner, but I had to put a few wedding things on there that I couldn’t wait to pay for (minister, dress payment, etc.). I’m just so glad it is done with! Now we can focus on the next debt - the wedding! We currently still owe approximately $5372.24 which includes centerpieces, the tux, favours, minister (paid half already), food, the honeymoon, etc. Most of it doesn’t have to be paid until a week or 2 before the wedding date so we have a bit of time to get things together. I have $600 of bonus money that I just got and DH is selling one of his old guitars to a guy at work for about $600 so that’s awesome! I also have some more extra money that I am expecting and I’m hoping to have a yard sale in July to make some more money there. Every little bit helps, right?

We are trying to find a good place to go for our honeymoon. We really only have 3 requests - that’s it’s tropical, all inclusive and under $2000 (total for us both). I haven’t had much luck so far, unfortunetely. Well, that’s not true. I found one place that was like $1500 for the 2 of us, but it only has certain flight dates and the one closest to our wedding date was a week or 2 later and we don’t want to wait that long. We want to have the wedding, honeymoon and then DH start a new job. We may have to compromise though, if we can’t find anything. So the search is on!

Alright, here we go. I told some people I would post our monthly spending plan and at first I was hesitant, because that is pretty personal stuff. However, I know I can’t help people completely if I am not honest about how we do things.

Income:
DH: $3600
Moi: $1100 (I have a bunch of side jobs and none are consistant so this number is an average)
Total Income: $4700

Fixed Expenses:
Rent: $1675 (WAY TOO MUCH DAMN MONEY)
Train Pass for DH (work): $171
DH Dry Cleaning (work clothes): $18
Bank Account Fee: $13
Host (for this website!): $60
Cable, Phone, Internet: $135
DH Car Payment: $300
My Car Payment: $288
DH Car Insurance: $121
My Car Insurance: $149
House Gas: $30
DH Cell Phone: $37

Variable Expenses:
Groceries: $160
Hydro: $70
DH Car Gas: $75
My Car Gas: $40
DH Food @ Work: $20
Entertainment & Misc.: $40

Total Monthly Spending: $3402.00
Money Remaining @ End of Month: $1298.00

Currently, that $1298 is being saved for our wedding expenses. After the wedding, it is most likely going toward my car (since for his, he has to pay his dad back, not a bank, so there is no interest!).

So, there you have it. How do you spend your money every month?

PS. Anyone need corporate performance management?

I’m sorry, I just can’t stop. I just can’t do it! I only spent $4.96 on all of this stuff, which was all tax.

- 30 Cottonelle Wipe Packs @ .98 each = $29.40 - 30/$1.00 coupons = +.60 (saved = $30.00)
- 4 Gillette Fusion Razors @ $9.69 each = $38.76 - 4/$10.00 coupons (rung in as FREE coupons) = FREE! (saved including coupons = $59.96)
- 1 Vlasic Pickles @ $1.79 - $1.00 coupon = .79 (saved including coupon = $2.90)
- 2 3pk Always Pads @ $1.09 each = $2.18 - 2/$1.00 coupons = .18 (saved including coupons = $2.80)
- 5 Toblerone @ .97 each = $4.85 - 5/$1.00 coupons = +.15 (saved = $5.00)
- 2 Toothbrushes @ $1.77 each = $3.54 - 2/$2.00 coupons = +.46 (saved = $4.00)

Total saved was $104.66!!!