Archive for November 22nd, 2009

Today I took my 14 year old daughter along with me to CVS & Walgreens because she needed some make up and she didn’t think I could choose the appropriate color for her.  It was fun for her to tag a long anyway since I want both of my girls to get a taste of frugality in it’s finest form!  Our trip to CVS was fairly simple.  We picked up the following items

(1) Arm & Hammer Spinbrush 1ct. – $6.99 get $2.00 ECBs back
used -$1 off Arm & Hammer Spinbrush Powered Toothbrush 10/18/09 SS

(1) Complete Contact Solution $8.99 – get $8.99 ECBs back
used -$1 off Complete Multipurpose Solution, 12oz   10/25/09 RP

(2) Air Wick Freshmatic Starter Kit – $5.99 (Regularly $12.00)
used 2 -$5 Air Wick Freshmatic Starter Kit, any SS 11/15/09

1 Newspaper – $3.00

I had a $5.00 off $30.00 in my email and it expired today so I used it.

My total before coupons was $30.96  and after $13.96.  I handed the cashier $14.00 in ECBs from last weeks shopping trip (I thought I handed him a $10 and a $3 but I realized while typing this I handed him the $4.) and my total was $0.00 and after tax (don’t ask me…haha) I paid a whopping $.03 cents out of pocket and I earned $10.99 in ECBs.  That was when my daughter looked at me and said my husband was right…I was a thief…lol.    I loved it!

I knew that my trip to Walgreens was going to cost me since I had to buy some bigger ticket items and didn’t have any RRs to spare so I was happy to walk out of CVS for pennies!

My Walgreens trip went something like this –

Transaction #1:

2 Theraflu – 2/$10.00 get $3 RRs back
I used the following coupons – $3.00  off any 2 Theraflu 10/18/09 SS  and $2.00 off Theraflu from the Healthy Savings coupon booklet at the cash register for a total of $7.00 off.

2 Triaminic – 2/$10.00 get $5 RRs back
I used the following coupons – $3.00 off any 2 Triaminic 10/18/09 SS and $2.00 off Triaminic from the Healthy Savings coupon booklet at the cash register for a total of $7.00 off

1 Rimmel Pressed Powder make up – $5.49 – $1.00 off any Rimmel Cosmetic 09/13/09 RP

My total OOP – $10.61 RRs earned – $8.00 (like getting all that stuff for $2.61!)

Transaction #2:

2 Carefree Panty Shields 22ct – 41.49 each (.99 with coupon from Walgreens November Savings book)
1 gallon Schepps milk – $2.29
Werthers Coffee hard Candies – B1G1 -$2.29
Riesen Chocolates – free
Jolly Rancher Doubles – $2.39
Revlon 1875 Watt Hair Dryer – $9.99
Kitchen Gourmet Single Burner – $9.99 (w/ coupon in WAGs ad $6.99)

I used 2 $1.00 coupons from Carefree samples & the $8.00 RRs from 1st transaction for a total OOP of $17.06!  Not too bad considering the Burner & Dryer would have been more than that!

So all in all, today wasn’t too terrible even having to purchase a few things I wouldn’t normally have had to purchase.  My total OOP was $27.70 for $88.67 (really more if I wouldn’t have used the sale prices to figure my total) worth of merchandise!!

Now, if you want to get even more detailed since I got back $12.99 in ECBs it only cost me $14.71!  Now that’s the kind of shopping that I love!!

I had never been much of a coffee drinker until my oldest daughter’s friends took her to Starbucks.  She begged me for weeks after that to take her.  Our Target has a Starbucks inside of the store so one afternoon I decided I would give in and try it out. That was all it took and now I am a coffee addict!  Well, almost.  I love flavored coffee more than plain coffee so when it comes to coffee I have to brew at home, I am a little picky.  I started out buying the tiny sample sized bag of Millstone’s Breakfast Blend coffee from my grocery store and from that point on, that has become the only brand I will buy!  Most recently they have come out with the Pumpkin Spice for the season (whole beans) and for the first time ever, I used the grinding machine at the store and ground my own coffee!!  Millstone Coffee comes in a large variety of flavors like Hazelnut Cream, Chocolate Velvet, Caramel Truffle,  Holiday Peppermint (seasonal) and Pumpkin Spice (seasonal) as well as their Breakfast Blend, Hawaiian Blend & Colombian Supremo.  Each one has it’s own distinct flavor for even the pickiest of coffee lovers!

Right now Walmart has samples of Millstone Coffee so stop by and request yours before they are gone!

I want to first say that I am so very sorry that I have been absent for these last 9 days but things have been a little hectic with work, kids & home that by the time I had a few minutes to post something, I was asleep.  I am on vacation for the next 7 days so I hope to make up on some of the things I have missed out on!

My husband is still out of work – 3 months now…so yes, we are still doing the frugal thing but luckily, not having to shop quite as much.  We are still nowhere near the “cherry picking” stage but it feels nice occasionally to be able to say that I did not have to grocery shop this week.  (That was two weeks ago though!)  With Thanksgiving quickly approaching I had no choice in the matter.  My daughters are looking forward to the food and I can truthfully say, so am I!  So much for losing the 35lbs that I have gained since finding out about my Cancer.  It’s been a rough year for the weight.  I am working on changing my eating habits and believe it or not, yes, you can lose weight over the holidays!  Maybe not at my house but I am certainly gonna give it a shot cutting back on some of the high calorie foods without telling my family.  I bet they won’t even notice!  I will post a few of the recipes I am going to try out in another post this evening.

Oh, and I was able to snag my 4th Amazon gift card in exactly 1 month from Swagbucks! At first, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with them but now I know.  My husband wants a Mapsco for Christmas.  Not one, but two…for the Dallas & Ft. Worth area.  For the type of work he does, knowing the area is very important so I guess he is not wanting to fall behind with the way the cities are changing while he is still looking for a job.  Well, anyone that knows about these things knows they are not cheap!  I went on the Mapsco website this morning and for just two of them the total was $75.00 not including the shipping!!  I found that I can buy them through Amazon.com and I was thrilled!  The are cheaper & I have gift certificates to make it that much better!  I know a Mapsco doesn’t sound too exciting but hey, it makes my man happy and that is all that counts!

On to what makes me happy…SAVING MONEY!!  I went to CVS & Walgreens today and took my youngest daughter with me.  She confirmed what my hubby keeps saying…”mom, you played them.  Dad is right, you are a thief!”  What?  I didn’t play them…I played SMART!  I will post in a bit about that as well.  Right now I have to go check on dinner.  Chicken Spaghetti…our family favorite!

Be back soon!!