Wow, It's Been A While

Lots of changes happening here. My office is closing in the middle of January, and my job ends in the middle of February. So after my severance, we're losing my income. On the bright side, hubby didn't wait to get laid off from his sales job, he quit and accepted a job from a customer of his. The new job pays more and he really likes it. Only thing is, it's in Denver. He has already moved up there and started his new job, and the kids and I will follow when school is over. I think for the last couple of months I'm here, I'll collect unemployment. Hey, it's better than $0, right?

So now we have more money, but for the moment we've also added some pretty serious new expenses: $500 a month rent for his apartment in Denver, cable/internet for him, and his electric bill, plus groceries and gas. My plan is to pile up as much cash as I can while I'm still working, and then at the end of my job I get a retention bonus, which we will most likely use for a deposit on a house in Colorado.

I've been looking at the Colorado board on PYP, and it completely sucks! We are spoiled here in AZ, y'all. I mean, we have so much information on that board for this state, and CO has practically nothing. I'm going to have to become the ninja of all coupon shoppers when I move up there. Hey, maybe I can even help them out on their PYP board. Because seriously, they have links to the ads but no one lists them out by store and matches up coupons the way we do here in AZ. We have some AWESOME board moderators here.

Basha's Super Doubles

I made a list of all the coupons I had in my binder that were between 55 cents and $1 off and took it with me to the store. I found a few good deals, but spent a bit more than I meant to. I can't tell you which inserts the coupons came from, you'd have to look at the database on Pinching Your Pennies or Coupon Mom.

Crest Whitening Mint Toothpaste (my favorite kind!) 6.2 oz tube, 2/$4. Used a .75/1 coupon making those 50 cents each. Most of the Crest toothpastes were 2 for $4.

Ziploc bags were on sale for $2.19. Used a $1/2 coupon making those $1.19 each. Not a great deal, but I was running low.

Glade sprays, 2 for $3. Used a $1/2 coupon, making those 50 cents each.

Here was a great deal: GE Energy Smart Bulbs in a two pack, regularly $6.99, on sale for $2.99. $1 off coupon made those 99 cents each.

18 oz jars of Skippy peanut butter were $1.99. Used a 60 cents off coupon, making those 79 cents each.

Pillsbury brownie mixes are on sale 4 for $5. Used a $1/2 coupon, making those 25 cents each.

Hershey bags of dark chocolate kisses or miniatures are on sale for $2.50. Used a $1 off coupon, making those 50 cents a bag.

Ronzoni Smart Taste pasta on sale for $1.25. There is a $1 coupon out there. I don't know about your Basha's, but at mine, it comes off as the $1 and then the extra .25, so it's free, but no overage.

Glenn Muir diced tomatoes were $2.29 a can. Used a $1 off any Glenn Muir product, making those 29 cents each.

Boxes of Progresso Broth were $2.79. There is a $1 off coupon out for those. I didn't need any, but those are 79 cents with the coupon.

Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers frozen veggies are $2.99 a bag. Used a $1 off coupon to get those for 99 cents each.

I also picked up a dozen eggs for $1.29.

Oh, and I had a coupon that Fry's sent me in the mail, but it was a manufacturer's coupon for $1 off three 2 liter bottles of any Coke product. Since the coupon doubled to $2 and the 2 liters are on sale 2/$3, I picked up three of those for $2.50, or about 83 cents each.

Overall, I spent $22.26 and saved $74.96. $43.35 of that was from coupons.

Hope this helps someone!

I Went to CVS Today!

I haven't been to CVS in a while...I seem to have fallen off the ECB wagon, somehow. But they had a couple of good deals this week, so I thought I'd start building some ECBs back up. It didn't work out that way, but I did get a few things.

First off, went in the store and got a Cover Girl foundation and a Cover girl compact. The foundation was on sale for $5.49, and you get $5.49 back in ECBs when you buy one. Limit is only one, unfortunately.

I also had a mf coupon for Buy one Cover Girl foundation, get any face product free. I also had a $1 off any Cover Girl product. Plus, I had two ECBs from two different times when my daughter had gone to CVS and bought something.

So, my total OOP for the foundation and compact was $3.19, including tax. I got $5.49 in ECBs for the foundation, and $4 in ECBs from the third quarter. Woo.

So then I went to get a Fusion razor for my husband. Middle daughter was with me, and requested a $4 box of hair dye. Ok, fine. The razor was $9.99, and I had a $4 off mf coupon. The Fusion razor also had a $5 ECB.

$5.99 for the razor, after coupon, and $3.99 for the hair dye. I used my $5.49 and $4 ECBs to pay for that transaction, and paid 52 cents OOP. I received a $5 ECB for the razor.

Then my daughter reminded me that we had actually come to CVS so she could get some nail polish. She found two bottles of Sally Hansen (and I know there are Sally Hansen coupons out there, but I didn't have them) nail polish for $2.79 each. Used my $5 in ECBs to pay, and owed something like 63 cents OOP.

So I still have no ECBs, but for less than $5 I got Cover Girl foundation, a compact, a Fusion razor, hair dye, and two bottles of nail polish. Not too shabby.

Almost Free Powerade Zero at Fry's!

Ok, so things still suck, financially-speaking, which makes finding a deal like this all that much sweeter. I'm sure a lot of you already know about this, but...

When you buy six 32oz bottles of Powerade Zero, a catalina spits out for $4 off your next shopping order. Powerade Zeros are on sale for 50 cents a bottle this week at Fry's. (Kroger)

Also, if you buy four bottles, the catalina is for $2, if you buy 5 bottles, it's $3.

So. I had a $2.50 OYNSO coupon from General Mills from Fry's last week. I used that for my first purchase of six bottles. I paid 55 cents OOP. Got a catalina for $4 off my next order.

Then, I did another transaction and bought eight bottles. Used my $4 catalina to pay, and owed SIX CENTS OOP. Then you get another $4 catalina.

So you can see where this is going. Each time you buy six or more bottles, you get another $4 OYNSO coupon. I will be doing this several times a day until this deal is up. The catalina says the Powerade deal is until Sept 28th, but I don't know if they'll be on sale 20/$10 after the 23rd.

I'm so glad my kids love this stuff. Especially the grape flavor. Remember, it won't work for regular Powerade, only Powerade Zero.

Since the catalina prints when you buy six bottles, I think I might start slipping another $1 item in there with the six bottles and get that for free too. 5 more days...woohoo, I love free stuff. Ok, 6 cents worth of stuff.

Frustration

The last two months have not been good. Hubby's commission checks have been small. In a slow economy, businesses slash their budgets, and it seems one of the first things they stop buying is new computer hardware/software, and pretty much anything else husband's company sells. I am watching my "emergency fund" dwindle by a couple hundred dollars each month, just to get us through the month.

On top of that, August seems to be a very bad month for expenses. I swear, the kids need $20 for something for school every time I turn around. The oldest has a job, but because of her limited availability due to school and marching band and dance, she doesn't make a whole lot. She puts gas in her car and pays for her lunches, and that's basically it. Her car is paid for, btw. We paid cash for that.

This week, she needed makeup for color guard. This happens every year. They make the girls buy their own makeup for shows, and they have to have the exact color and brand specified by the instructors. This year, they happened to be Cover Girl products, so I was actually able to use some coupons, which knocked a few dollars off the price. It still ended up being $25.

Then, the band director in the middle school where my middle daughter plays drums sends an email that he's "concerned" that all the students don't have all the books they're supposed to have. All 8th grade students need 2 books, which my daughter has. But then there are two more books that all percussion students need. This is the first I've heard of this. So my daughter actually needs four books for 8th grade band? I've emailed the band director to clarify, but it's a holiday weekend, and I have yet to hear back from him. The cost of two more books? $20, of course.

Oh, also in this same email he said he will be sending home an order form for band shirts. The t-shirts are $5 and the polo shirts are $15, both required. When they have concerts, they have to wear the polo shirts. The cost? Why, another $20, of course.

Then, yesterday I noticed that the front two tires on my van are bald on the sides. Well, I already knew that, but yesterday I saw that the metal wiring was starting to stick out of the bald part. Yeah, that's bad. I started looking around online, and the cheapest tires for my van at Discount Tire were $91 each, and that doesn't include balancing or rotating or whatever else they do. So we're looking at $200+. Wal Mart wasn't much better, their cheapest option was $85 per tire.

Yesterday I drove hubby's car to work. I do this when we're not working at the same time, as his car gets much better gas mileage than my van. Again, trying to save a few bucks. So on my way to work, his car starts acting really weird. It's a manual transmission, and every time I got it into a new gear, the car was jerking and sputtering and just acting weird. I made it to work and called him, and he said he hadn't had any problems with it. He brought my van and came down to my work (therefore negating my efforts to save gas), and drove it around the parking lot and around the neighborhood around my office. He said it didn't do anything weird for him. My mind had immediately leaped to "new transmission", but I guess that's not the case. It was probably a clog in the fuel line or something, because it did sort of feel like it does when you're about to run out of gas, except the tank was half full. Anyway, his car appears to be fine, thank goodness.

As he was driving back home, he happened upon a used tire place that I drive by every single day I work, but I had never noticed. Long story short (too late, right?), he got two used tires for my van, Goodyears in really good shape, for $25 each plus balancing and whatever else they do. The grand total was $74, which was great because I thought it was going to be $200, but bad because there's another $74 I didn't really have.

Yeah, it's great if you budget money for car repairs. It's also great if you budget money for Christmas, car registration, clothes, and any other expenses that might happen to come up. It's great if your budget allows you to do that.

But here's the thing: What if you already clip coupons, shop sales, get your clothes at Savers or other thrift store, never go out to dinner, don't go to the movies, never even rent movies, and feel like you are cutting every corner you can...and you are still struggling? And we both work. That's where I'm at right now. And it feels hopeless.

For the last few months, my husband's parents have asked to borrow $100-$200 from us, because they have no groceries and no gas. They also have a deadbeat younger son (husband's brother) whom they have allowed to suck them dry, financially. We have loaned them the money, and have always gotten it back on their payday, which is fine. It scares me though. I'm scared of ending up like them in 25 years. I'm so afraid that's where we're going to be.

Hubby is interviewing for a new job within his company that would pay more. I'm crossing my fingers. I don't want to put any pressure on him, so I'm trying to just be encouraging. But I really hope he gets this job. Oh, and his car tags expired today, and we don't have the money to renew that, at least until Friday. Hopefully he doesn't get pulled over, but with our luck...well, you know.

I don't need sympathy or solutions or whatever, I just felt like bitching today. Four months until Christmas. Gah.

Grocery Shopping on Monday

Well, at this point I don't feel like we're making any progress toward that whole "getting out of debt" thing. School is about to start, and everyone needs stuff. My oldest wants her hair cut and colored (although she will do the coloring herself), the middle one thinks she needs a new $30 backpack, even though the one she used last year is perfectly fine, and the little one needs new shoes for school.

I guess I shouldn't complain about the oldest, since she has a job I haven't really had to give her any money all summer. Except now, she's been having band practice for the last two weeks, and she hasn't been able to work. So she just got a $20 paycheck, which will go straight into her gas tank. Anyway, enough complaining from me.

I spent my entire $100 grocery budget at Fry's this week. Actually it was $100.16, but my total before VIP card and coupons was about $225, and I saved 55%.

Highlights:

Did the 20 Powerades for 75 cents each, got two free cases of Dasani water. Unfortunately, I didn't have any Powerade coupons to go with this, because I used them all up the week before.

Two packages of Pilgrim's Pride boneless, skinless chicken breasts, used two 55 cent coupons that doubled. The sale price was $1.87/lb.

Two large 64 oz bottles Sunny Delight, $1 each

Two dozen eggs, $1 each

I also bought something I never buy, which was a family pack of bone-in NY strip steaks. There were 4 of them in the package, and the price was $13.xx. The original price of the package not on sale was $34.xx. We will grill those outside this weekend. Yummy.

They also had a special where if you bought four specially marked Keebler crackers, you automatically got $6 back. The boxes were $3 each. I used two $1/2 Keebler cracker coupons, making the final price $1 per box. I got two of the puffy Club Crackers and two pretzel/cracker combo crackers.

Three bottles Hunt's ketchup, 60 cents each with coupons

I had one more $3/2 bottles of Herbal Essence shampoo, so I got one more shampoo and one conditioner, $1 each.

I can't remember what else I got, but I spent $100, so there must have been some other things mixed in there as well.

All I know is that I have a kitchen crammed full of food, and a 13 year-old who complains that there's nothing to eat.

Deals, Deals and More Deals!

Yesterday, hubby and I ran around to three different stores to grocery shop. All three major stores that double coupons here...Fry's (Kroger), Basha's, and Safeway, had great in-store specials. So I spent over $100 this week, but we friggin' cleaned up!

1st stop, Safeway

Safeway had some in-store coupons that were good with a minimum $10 purchase. We got:
2 Kraft Singles, $1.50 each
3 Oscar Meyer Hot Dogs, $1 each. Used $1/2 Oscar Meyer hot dogs mfr cpn.
1 32 oz bottle Heinz ketchup, 99 cents
2 boxes Cheez-It Crackers, first one was $1.47, second one was $2. Used a $1/2 mfr cpn. for Sunshine crackers

Our total at Safeway after store discounts and coupons was $8.62.

Second stop, Basha's

Basha's had some in-store coupons also, but they required a $20 purchase ON TOP of the specials. They also had a deal going where you buy 5 12-packs of Coke for $12 and get a bag of Food Club chips free.

We did two transactions at Basha's, one was me and one was hubby right behind me.

Mine was:
5 12-packs Coke products, $12.
1 bag Food Club chips, free
1 Basha's hot dog buns, 49 cents (store coupon, limit was 1)
3 packages Hefty styrofoam plates. Store coupon was for 99 cents, and you could only get one at that price. I had 50 cent coupons that doubled, so I got one package free. The sale price otherwise was $1.50, so I got two more packages at 50 cents each.
1 Kraft Mayo, 99 cents (store coupon, limit was 1)
1 Oscar Meyer Jumbo Beef Franks, 99 cents (limit was 1)

I got up to $20 by including two packages of chicken leg quarters at 69 cents a lb, and 4 Gatorades at 77 cents each.

My total was $23.43.

Hubby's transaction:
5 12-packs Coke products, $12.
1 free bag food club chips
I also had gotten two coupons in the mail from Basha's that required a $10 purchase. One was free loaf of crusty bread, and the other was a free bag of Dole salad. Since he was buying the $12 worth of soda, he got the free bread and free salad with his order.

His total? $12.18.

After this, we had to go home and unload before we headed to Fry's.

Third stop, Fry's
I'm only going to list the highlights here, but I am dang proud of this particular trip. They had two different promotions going on at the same time. One of them was some 77 cent items when you bought $25 worth of stuff. I knew I was going to spend more than $25, so we grabbed all the 77 cent stuff. The other promotion was $3 off your order when you bought 10 specially labeled Nascar products? You could do that three times, and we did. By the way, if I hold this receipt down touching the floor, it comes up to my waist. Just saying.
So, the highlights:

3 Cattleman's BBQ sauce, 10 for $10. Used $1 mfr cpns making those free.
3 Lawry's Marinades, 10 for $10. Used 75 cent mfr cpns making those free.
4 boxes of Popsicles, 77 cents each (in store deal)
4 cans Bush's baked beans, 77 cents each (in store deal)
4 1/2 gallons Fry's 1% milk, 77 cents each (in store deal)

Oh, I forgot...they were also doing triple coupons up to $1.
My 30 items for the $3 back for 10 items were:
9 Chef Boyardee, used 3 - 35 cent off 3 coupons, tripling to $1
2 Ragu Spaghetti Sauce, used 2 - 25 cent coupons tripling to 75 cents
3 2 liter bottles Diet Coke
7 Banquet frozen dinners
3 Purex laundry soap, on sale for $2.50, used 3 $1 off coupons
6 Betty Crocker fruit snacks, on sale 3 for $5, used 3 $1/2 coupons

We got several other things too, but the gist of it all is that my total was $84.22. I saved $103.36 with my VIP card and another $39.50 with coupons, for a total savings of $142.86. That's a 63% savings, people! I was excited! :)

Our total for the afternoon was $128.45. Over budget yes, but my cupboards and freezer are bursting and I need to quit stockpiling for a while and actually use some of this stuff.

I did, for dinner last night, make use of some of it...we had the chicken leg quarters, baked with some free BBQ sauce, and some 77 cent Bush's baked beans, and some free salad. Woo!

Revisions

I've decided to revise my savings goal for our mini emergency fund down from $2000 to $1500. I don't think I'd be comfortable until we had about $12,000 to fall back on, but that's supposed to be after you get yourself out of debt, that you build that larger emergency fund. I'm breathing a little easier with the $1000 in there. I tend to panic about money, in case you haven't noticed.

New Week June 23rd

Well, I think I spent more than $100 today, but I suppose that will happen occasionally. Especially since last week, I hit the Revlon sale at CVS and got oldest daughter and middle daughter each an eyeliner and a mascara. Had coupons, used ECBs, only spent $1.38, but I totally burned all my ECBs, so I'm starting from scratch again.
Four different trips today:

CVS #1
Wanted to get the Brut deodorant, but I swear every store I go into is out of the ones that are $2.89 with $3 back in ECBs. I have 55 cent coupons too. But out of stock. So what I bought were two of the Oral B toothbrush double packs, and a 20 oz Diet Coke. (I had to, it's hot here!)

Spent $16.48 OOP, got $13.98 back in ECBs.

Bashas
I didn't have any coupons to use here, just went with some sales:
2 loaves Aunt Hatties bread, $1.50 each
2 cans refried beans, 69 cents each
1.92 lbs Red Globe grapes, 88 cents/lb, $1.69
2 packages Kraft singles, $1.99 each (my family really loves their grilled cheese sandwiches)
1 lb bag mini carrots, 88 cents
4 boxes Popsicles, $1 each
20 Powerades, 50 cents each, which came with 2 free cases of Dasani water.

Total here was $25.30

CVS #2
I decided to do the Charmin/Bounty deal, because we were in desperate need of toilet paper AND paper towels. I try to cloth dishtowels as much as I can, but sometimes you just need a paper towel, you know?

I got:
3 packages 12 big rolls Charmin, $5.99 each.
1 package 8 rolls Bounty paper towels, $5.49.

I had two 25 cent coupons for Charmin and 1 for Bounty. Woohoo.

Those $3/$15 coupons never print on my receipts. I have no idea why.

I used my $13.98 in ECBs and my total OOP was $9.47. I received $10 back in ECBs.

Fry's
This is always the big one. Too much to list, but some sales were:

3 Dial hand soap, 10 for $10, used 60 coupons which double, so those were free.
3 Ken's Salad Dressing Sprays, on sale for $1.77, used $1 mf cpns, so 77 cents each.
2 Dole bagged salad, 88 cents each
2 Barilla whole wheat pasta, on sale $1.50, used 50 cent coupons that doubled, 50 cents per box.
2 boxes Kroger 94% fat free popcorn, 88 cents each
3 Pringles, 88 cents each
2.28 lbs green grapes, 77 cents/lb, $1.76

Anyway, the total was $76.31, and according to my receipt I saved $77.23.

I always feel good when I save more than I spend.

Well, grand total for the week is $127.56. Oops. Oh well, we really needed that toilet paper.

I Did ALL My Shopping Yesterday

I usually grocery shop on Mondays, but because of the myriad of things going on today, plus having to be at work at 4pm, I ran around and did everything yesterday. My previous post? It didn't work out that way so much, because my CVS was out of the Brut deodorant. So, here's what I actually did yesterday after I got home from work around 3pm:

CVS #1
1 Schick Quattro razor, $9.49
2 Nivea Shave Gels, $2.79 each
1 Ajax dish soap, 88 cents

Used $3/$15 coupon
$2 off Schick razor
Two $2/1 Nivea shave gel here
Used $6.49 in ECBs and paid 96 cents OOP. Received $5 ECB for the razor.

I had printed out the Nivea coupons at work and stopped at CVS on my way home. When I got home, I printed out the two allowed coupons from my home computer and headed back to CVS.

CVS #2
2 Nivea Shave Gels, $2.79 each.

Used two $2/1 Nivea shave gel

I used $1 ECB and paid 46 cents OOP.

I received $5 in ECBs for purchasing $10 worth of Nivea men products.

Now I had enough ECBs for the Coke deal.

CVS #3
4 12-packs Coke, $11.00
1 Listerine Smart Rinse, $3.49
1 large bag popcorn, 99 cents (Daughter was going to a drive-in movie)

Used $3/$15 coupon, $1 off Listerine coupon

Paid with $10 in ECBs, and paid 71 cents OOP.
Received $3 in ECBs for the Coke, and $3.49 for the Smart Rinse

Whew. I'm down to only $6.49 in ECBs, but I hubby has a new razor and a lot of Nivea shave gel, plus we have two cases of Coke, more Listerine and a couple other things, and I only shelled out $2.13, which was the change rattling around in my pocket.

I also went to Basha's, Safeway and Fry's yesterday, but I think I'll do that post later.

CVS # 1 Week of June 8th

I know I'll be doing at least two, possibly more trips to CVS this week. I'm going to do the Coke deal, (4 for $11, get 3 ECBs back), but I need to build up my ECBs a bit first. Right now I have $9.48 in ECBs.

First transaction today:

1 Schick Quattro razor, $9.49
2 Brut Deodorant, $2.89 each (some sites have these listed at $2.69, but they are $2.89 at my store)
Total $15.27

Using $3/$15 CVS coupon
$2/1 Schick razor, today's Smart Source
2 - 55 cent off 1 Brut deodorant

Total $9.17, will use $8.48 in ECBs and pay less than $1 OOP

Get $5 in ECBs for the razor, and $3 each for the deodorants, upping my ECBs to $11.

CVS Again

I made one more trip to CVS today, because we were out of hairspray and dishwasher soap. I was just going to pick up those three things, and burn some of my ECBs. However, since I still had the $3/$15 that doesn't expire until Friday, I had to try and work a deal. :)

Here's what I ended up getting:

Cascade liquid 75 oz, on sale for $3.99
2 White Rain hairsprays, 99 cents each
2 Dawn dishwashing liquid, $1 each
2 CVS brand band aids, $1.99 each
1 Brut deodorant, $3.29
1 Nerds candy, 79 cents

I had a $6.98 ECB and a $6.99 ECB to pay with. Of course, I was a bit over with my ECBs so I grabbed a Reese's peanut butter cup from under the counter, 79 cents.

After my $3/$15 coupon and those two ECBs, I ended up owing...wait for it... 1 penny. I'm not kidding. I spent 1 cent at CVS today. Hee.

I received a $1 ECB for the Dawn, $3.98 for the CVS band aids, and $3.00 for the Brut.

Bottom line is I spent 1 cent, and reduced my ECBs by $5.99, which was precisely the cost of only the dishwashing soap and the hairspray, which is what I went there for in the first place. Meaning all the other stuff was free.

This cracks me up:




Hmmm...I don't know why that ECB says $6.84. I know it was $6.99, because it was from the Oral B toothbrushes. I wonder if she adjusted it down? In that case, why didn't she just make it $6.85 so I didn't owe her the penny? Huh.

Oh wait, I see. My subtotal was actually $0.00. The penny is tax. I guess in Arizona math, $0.00 x 1.5% = $0.01. Weird.

Fry's and My Weekly Total

I had a feeling I would go over budget this week, and I was right. I spent $55.42 at Fry's today on our needs/wants. I guess I shouldn't be surprised at this, seeing as it's summer and the kids are home all day instead of being at school. Of course I'm going to be spending a bit more on groceries, right? On the other hand, I'm not doling out lunch money, so it's probably a wash.

Anyway, adding what I spent at Fry's, $3.83 at Basha's, and the $34.85 from my two Safeway trips and CVS, makes my total for the week $94.10. Oops. Oh well, I do have a lot of chicken breasts and beef!

Basha's This Morning

After the small fry had her first gymnastics class at the community center this morning, I decided to stop at Basha's, which was on my way home. You know, conserving gas and all that. :)

This was just a side trip, for things that were free or really cheap. I think everything pictured here was on sale 10 for $10. Here's what I got and the coupons I used. Basha's doubles coupons up to $1.00:

3 four-packs Charmin toilet paper, used three 25 cent mf coupons from the 6/1 Proctor & Gamble insert
2 boxes Jolly Time Healthy Pop microwave popcorn, used two $1.00 off coupons here
2 boxes Barilla Piccolini pasta, used 50 cents off 2 mf coupon from the 5/11 Smart Source
2 packages Bar S bologna, used two 25 cent coupons here
1 Challenge Butter, 8oz, used 50 cent coupon found here
1 Challenge Spreadable Butter, used 50 cent coupon also from the above link
1 GUM toothbrush, used 75 cent mf coupon from the 4/20 Red Plum insert

My total after coupons was $3.83. I'll add that to my total for the week after I hit Fry's. I'm kind of doubting I'm going to get under the $75 mark, but I'm sure going to try!

Safeway Again, and CVS

Saturday I decided to go do those Safeway in-ad deals one more time. They were such great deals, I don't think I've ever seen boneless, skinless chicken breasts for $1 a lb!

This time, I got:
1 4 lb bag Manor House chicken breasts, $4.00
1 4 lb clamshell of strawberries, $3.00
1 dozen Lucerne eggs, $1.00
1 package of the Rancher's Reserve bone-in chuck, 99 cents/lb. I think this package was about $5, but it was actually two pieces of meat, just sliced more thinly.
1 2 liter bottle Diet Coke, $1.89. I know that is a horrible price, but I was out and I didn't feel like going to another store. Their deal was actually B2G2, which would have been about 90 cents per bottle, which is a decent deal, but I had cash with me and I didn't have enough. :(

My total for this trip was $15.96

Total so far: $32.28.

Then yesterday I went to CVS. They had sent me a coupon for a free package of Backpack Buddies anti-bacterial wipes that expired yesterday, so I wanted to use that. Also, those $5/$15 coupons expired yesterday.

Here's what I got:

2 bottles Listerine Kids Smart Rinse, $3.49 each.
1 2pack of Oral B toothbrushes, $6.99
1 Phantom Fusion razor, $9.99
1 box CVS brand band aids, $1.99.
1 package Backpack Buddies antibacterial wipes, $1.59

Coupons used:
$5 off $15 purchase
$4 off any Fusion razor
2 - $1 off Listerine Smart Rinse
Free Buddies wipes, $1.59

I used $13 in ECBs and paid $2.57 OOP.

I received $6.98 in ECBs for the Smart Rinse, $6.99 for the toothbrushes, $1.99 for the band aids and $4 for the razor. That's a total of $19.96 in ECBs. If you consider that I used $13 in ECBs and paid $2.57, that's a profit of $3.39, plus all that stuff for free. I love it when they pay me to take stuff out of their store.

Adding the $2.57 I spent at CVS, my total for this week is $34.85. I'm going to Fry's later today, hoping I can stay under my $75 limit!

New Week, New Optimism...Today Anyway. :)

I started off my shopping for this week at Safeway. I've set a $75 budget for groceries this week. Here's what I got at Safeway:

1 4lb bag of Manor frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts, $4. You need the in-ad coupon, limit is 1 with a $10 purchase, or I would have gotten two!

1 dozen Lucerne large eggs, $1, also with an in-ad coupon and minimum $10 purchase. These deals are only good through tomorrow, if you're thinking about taking advantage of them.

2 loaves of Oven Joy white sandwich bread, $1 each

Red seedless grapes @ 88 cents/lb - 2.2 lbs was $1.94.

They also had another deal with a minimum $10 purchase, but you didn't need an in-ad coupon for this one. They had Rancher's Reserve beef chuck 7 bone pot roast for 99 cents a lb. The regular price for these is $4.29 a lb. They had a limit of 2, so I got two. One of them was $3.38 with a regular price of over $14, and the other one is slightly larger at $3.73. These pieces of meat are huge.

I spent $16.32 total and saved $39.48, according to my receipt, for a 71% savings.

Since Precious has been posting about eating cheaply, I thought I'd tell you what we had for dinner tonight, because I think the whole meal was probably under $5. I took one of the 7 bone pot roasts that I just bought ($3.38) and put it in a Lawry's Steak and Chop marinade (free w/ coupon) for a few hours. Hubby then cooked it out on the grill, and it was YUMMY. We also had Pasta Roni parmesan noodles for a side dish (50 cents for the box w/coupon) and a bag of Dole salad (free at Fry's last week w/coupon) The salad dressing is from the Kraft deal at Fry's a few months ago, and the whole bottle was 67 cents, so the amount we used for one meal was pennies.

Anyway, point is we fed five people (two adults, two teens, one small fry) for probably around $5, and we had meat and salad left over. Not too shabby!

Fry's and CVS This Week

I decided to make one quick trip to CVS after work tonight, which means I got there about 15 minutes before midnight for the Memorial Day specials.

I got:
3 Revlon nail polish (for the daughters), $3.99, used $2/1 mf cpn.
4 Sobe Life waters, $1.49 each. I heard a rumor that these were 10 for $10 again, but they rang up $1.49. In any case, I had two BOGO coupons for those.
1 24 ct Excedrin Migraine, $1.99, used $2/1 coupon.
1 2-liter of Pepsi and 1 2-liter of Mountain Dew. These were on sale for BOGO, $1.69, I believe.

I had a $10 ECB that I was going to use, but I always figure this wrong, and I came out to $9.85. Then I added a 50 cent Dove chocolate bar, which I SO do not need, then she tells me I'm still 83 cents short of $10????

So I had her take the candy bar off, and grabbed one of the CVS brand $1.99 sunscreen mini-tubes they had on the counter. I always try to keep some sunscreen in my purse, because in AZ you never know when your small, fair-haired, fair-skinned child will need it.

Anyway, I used my $10 ECB, and ended up paying $1.21 OOP, which I happened to have jingling around in my pocket. I got $3 each back in ECBs for the nail polish, and $2 for the Sobe. So I ended up with $1 more ECB than I started with.


Not much to say about Fry's this week, except that I only spent $59.59, which I thought was pretty good. I did their Coke deal where you get 5 12packs for $12, plus two free boxes of Cheez Its.

Other deals were:
*Farmer John Bacon, $1.50 each
*Two packages Bar S hot dogs,$1.25 each , with a 25 cent coupon for each from their website. Those tripled, so 50 cents each.
* Printed out five more coupons from the Fast Fixin Chicken site. The Fast Fixin stuff was still 10 for $10, so I got 5 free packages of popcorn chicken.
* 2 jars of Ragu, used 25 cent coupons that tripled. I thought I would also get the 50 cents off two jars coupon that I loaded onto my Fry's card, but I checked that Unilever website, and it doesn't say it was redeemed. Hmph.
*2 1lb clamshells of strawberries, $1 each
*2 Popsicles, $1 each
*2 Ice cream sandwiches, $1 each
*1 package split chicken bone-in breasts, 88 cents/lb

I like only spending $60 for the week, but I'm sure I'll have to go back at some point. I didn't get any milk this week because I know we have enough to last until Wednesday. I'm hoping when the sales change, someone will have it on sale!

Anyway, I'm off to bed...hope everyone had a great Shelley's birthday Memorial Day weekend! :)

Hoo Boy!

Well, since my money market account automatically takes $30 from my checking account every month, I guess I'll add that to my ticker. Boy howdy, we're cruising now. I can't wait until tomorrow, when I find out how much of that $630 I'm going to have to take back to make our ends meet for the month. Yeehaw.

Frustrated

Well, it's another week, and my emergency fund is still at a standstill. In fact, I know that April wasn't a really good month for husband, so I'm afraid that the $600 I do have in there may be mostly used to get us through the next month. Sigh.

On a bit brighter note, I guess May is going better for him. It's the little things, right?

This week, I shopped only at Fry's. I didn't really see anything that would make me money at CVS, so I'm holding onto my ECBs for this week, hoping for something good next week.

At Fry's, I spent $81.52. However, I saved over $120 (according to my receipt), and my savings percentage was 62%! That's two weeks in a row of hitting a 60%+ savings, which never happens. Now I'm starting to wonder if the higher prices are making my sales seem bigger, if you know what I mean. Like the "actual" prices are even higher to start with, so when I use the sales and the coupons, it makes my savings percentage looks bigger. This is what I'm starting to think.

Fry's can claim all they want that they're "Pushing Down Prices", but according to the rather reliable price book in my head, that's not really the case. Oh sure, they've lowered the price of some things, but they've jacked up the prices of other things. The Fry's brand split-top bread that I used to pay $1.69 a loaf for is now $2.19. I bought Holsum bread this week because it was $1.99. The can of Kraft parmesan cheese says right on the can that the suggested retail price is $3.49, yet the shelf tag says $5.99.

I bought two whole fryers at 57 cents a lb. Anyone know a good recipe for cooking a whole chicken in the crockpot without it getting mushy? And I already do the thing where I put it up on a small rack or balled-up tin foil, so it's not actually sitting in its own juices. Just wondering.

Those of you who live in Arizona might appreciate this. It was SO beautiful yesterday, that we headed to the zoo. I took a lot of pictures. Look here if you are interested in looking!

Things Are Really Tight This Week...

Therefore, I tried to knock $30 off my grocery budget and $30 off our miscellaneous expenses budget. Of course, that would be the week of the $29 ear infection and $38 worth of thermostat, antifreeze, and temp gauge for my daughter's car. Sigh.

Anyway...

I made two grocery store trips this week. The first one was on Sunday on my way home from work. I stopped at Safeway because they had the $2 gallons of milk this week. Also, only on Sunday they had a 4 lb bag of frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts for $5.96. That's $1.49 a lb! Great deal. So I spent $10.14 there.

Then I went to Fry's on Monday. I was kind of proud of this trip, so I'm still carrying the receipt around in my pocket. I'm kind of a geek that way.

They had a lot of good Cinco De Mayo specials. Here are some highlights from the trip:

3 packages Farmland Bacon, used $2 off coupon, paid 99 cents each
9 packages Mission Tortillas, on sale 10 for $10. I had 3 $1/2 coupons, then 3 $1.00 off coupons that I printed off the computer. So I paid 50 cents each for 6 of the packages, and the other three were free.
1 Tony's Pizza - free. That was a coupon that Fry's sent me in the mail.
1 Red Baron pizza, on sale for $2.50, used a $1 off coupon from that same mailer.
6 two- liter bottles of Coke products, 67 cents each.
3 jars Herdez salsa, on sale 2/$4, used $1 off coupons, paid $1 each.
2 Eggo Waffles - these were BOGO, and I think the normal price was $2.29. I had a coupon from the Fry's mailer again, that was $1/2 Eggo Products, so I paid $1.29 for two boxes, or 65 cents each.
3 Healthy Ones Lunchmeat, on sale 3/$5, used $1 off coupons, paid 67 cents each
1 Daisy sour cream, on sale for $1, used 50 cent coupon - free.
2 28 oz bags Mission Tortilla chips, on sale for $1.88, used $1 off printed coupons, paid 88 cents each.
6 boxes Quaker Chewy Granola Bars, on sale 3/$5, used $1/2 coupons, paid $1.17 each.
2 boxes Jolly Time Healthier Butter popcorn, on sale 2/$4, used two printed $1.50 off coupons, paid 50 cents each.
2 Sunchips Garden Salsa flavor, on sale 2/$4, used $1/2 Sunchips, paid $1.50 each.
1 bag mini peeled Kroger carrots, $1.49, used a 65 cent off coupon from the Fry's mailer.
3 Lawry's marinade, on sale for $1.88, used 50 cent coupons doubled, paid 88 cents each.
There was also $1 off coupon when you spent $3 on fresh fruit. Between bananas and apples, I more than spent $3, so I used that.

All in all, I spent $66.90 and saved (according to my receipt) $104.79! That's a 61% savings! I rarely hit that kind of number, so when I showed my husband the receipt, I said, "Act like you're impressed, even if you're really not." I think he actually was, though.

So my total for this week was $77.04. I went over what I wanted to spend by a few dollars, but I still think I did pretty well.

My Stockpile

Because I am a huge dork, I decided to post a few pictures of my stockpile. This is stuff I stocked up on when it was free or at a huge discount, so I don't have to pay full price later. I love being able to go shopping in my garage or my cabinets.



The first two are some shelves in my garage. Think we have enough cereal and Windex for a while? I stocked up on the Windex because I use it for a lot more than just mirrors. I use it for the countertops in the kitchen and bathroom, wiping down the leather couch, and getting dirty fingerprints off just about anything. It's quite versatile. :)



Ziploc bags and toothpaste, and about 9 bottles of Windex. They're about three deep on the shelf.



This is the cabinet under my bathroom sink. It has a lot of Herbal Essence and Sunsilk shampoo and conditioner, deoderant, body wash and toothpaste. I don't think you can see but all the way to the back in there are the 10 bottles of Softsoap Radiant Spa body wash that I got free at CVS.



More shampoo and conditioner. As I've said before, with three girls plus me in the house, I can never have enough of that. The Herbal Essence was a recent great deal at CVS, two bottles for $1.29, or about 65 cents apiece. I bought a lot. That little white basket towards the back is filled with razors and toothbrushes.

What's in your stockpile?

My Name is Shelley, And I'm a CVS Addict

I might as well just admit it now. But if there's a 12-step program, I don't want any part of it. :)

I went to CVS twice yesterday. I had two $4/$20 coupons, people! I had to figure out how to make use of both of them. They both came in my email, and one was $4/$20 beauty purchase which expires 5/3 (yes, that's today), and the other one just came on Thursday, and it expired tomorrow.

I was actually planning on just using one of them, and letting the other one go. But here's what happened:

Yesterday morning, I got:

2 Adidas deoderants, $4.99 each

2 Aquafresh Extreme Clean toothpaste, $2.99 each

1 Colgate 360 toothbrush, $3.99

This adds up to $19.95. I need a small filler. Guess what they sell at CVS?

Oh yeah, these little bottles are $1.29. Perfect.

I used my $4/$20 Beauty coupon (because guess what? My favorite CVS cashier said it didn't really matter whether they were beauty products or not!)

I also used 2 - $1 off Aquafresh and 1 - $1 off a Colgate 360 toothbrush.

I paid with my $10.97 in ECBs, and owed $3.76, which I put on my gift card. Total OOP = $0!

And, I got $9.98 in ECBs from the Adidas, $5.98 ECBs from the toothpaste, and $3.99 ECBs for the toothbrush for a total of $19.95. I practically doubled my ECBs! Yay!

Seriously, this was all I was planning on doing. I was just going to let the other $4/$20 coupon go. Really, I was.

But then last night, oldest daughter wanted me to take her to Fry's to get some tanning oil. (Please, no lectures about tanning oil. I made her get one with at least a little sunscreen in it, and let's face it, teenagers are going to lie out and tan themselves no matter what we say about skin cancer when they're 60.)

I was aghast at the idea of going to Fry's to get tanning oil, and I of course suggested going to CVS. You see, she was planning on paying for it, and I knew I could get it free. :)

So I quickly conjured up a little scenario in my head, verified that I did have $1 off coupons for Banana Boat products, and off we went.

Here's what we got:

1 Banana Boat tanning oil with SPF 4 (I know!) $8.89 (yikes!)

2 Colgate 360 toothbrushes, $3.99 each

1 Adidas deoderant, $4.99

I used my other $4/$20 coupon, 2 - $1 off Colgate 360 toothbrushes, and $1 off any Banana Boat product.

I went to use my $9.98 and $5.98 in ECBs, but that put me over the total. So I told daughter to grab some mints and added that to the total. I owed $1.07, which went on the gift card. Once again, my total OOP was $0.

I received $4.99 in ECBs for the Adidas, and $7.98 for the toothbrushes, so I still have $16.96 in ECBs.

I'm not going to apologize for being addicted to this!

Quickie at CVS This Morning

Had to run in real quick to check out the May monthly deals.

My plan was:
1 Adidas deoderant, $4.99
2 Colgate Sonic 360 toothbrushes, $3.99 each
1 Aquafresh Extreme, $2.99.

This was my plan, because it came out to about $15.96, and I was going to use one of the $3/$15 coupons. However, my favorite CVS store has decided that those coupons are only valid in Washington (cuz they came from the Washington Post, you know), and I couldn't use it. Luckily, the store 1/2 a mile up the street doesn't seem to have a problem taking them.

So, I revised my order by taking out the Adidas and just getting the two toothbrushes and the toothpaste. I used $1 off Aquafresh and two $1 off Colgate Sonic toothbrushes.

I paid with $8 in ECBs and owed 20 cents OOP. I received $7.98 in ECBs for the toothbrushes and $2.99 in ECBs for the toothpaste. That's $10.97, right? Ok, so not a huge trip, but I ended up with more ECBs than I started with, so that's always a plus.

I received a $4/$20 coupon in my email this morning, but it's only good this weekend. It expires on the 4th, so I definitely need to see what kind of deal I can put together to use that.

CVS and Fry's

Went to CVS again this morning. I wanted to get a couple more of the CVS brand rapid release geltabs, because I discovered yesterday that they work really well! Unfortunately, the store I went to was sold out of them, so I had to come up with a different deal:

1 Bic Solei refill cartridges, $5.99
4 Palmolive dish liquid, $1.59 (BOGO)
1 Essence of Beauty Whipped Walnut lotion, $4.99 (I love this stuff)
1 Essence of Beauty compact refills, $1.99
1 Essence of Beauty package of triangle makeup sponge things, $2.99 (my daughters use these)
1 Suave hairspray, $2.69

The E of B makeup applicators were buy 1, get 1 50% off

I used a $3/$15 coupon, $2 off the Solei cartridges, and three 25 cents off Palmolive coupons.

I used $12.99 in ECBs and reduced my total to $2.49, which I put on my giftcard.

Total OOP = $0!

I got $5 in ECBs for the three Essence of Beauty products and $3 in ECBs for the razor refills.


Then I went to Fry's. I wanted to get my Mission Tortillas.

6 packages Mission Tortillas (soft taco size), $1 each
1 Powerade, 69 cents (For middle child's softball game today)
1 bag frozen peas, $1
1 20 oz bottle Diet Coke

I used three $1/2 coupons for the tortillas, total OOP was $6.19.

I just found out that you can get a printable 55cents/1 Mission Tortillas here. After registering on the website, I was able to print it twice, so when I go shopping next Monday, two packages of tortillas free! Good thing you can freeze them. :)

Total for the week: $95.48. Under the budget, but just barely. Hope we don't need anything else this week. Well, unless it's free at CVS. ;)

Deal On Mission Tortillas, Tomorrow Only!!

Starting tomorrow (Wed, April 30th), Fry's has Mission Tortillas (soft taco size, I think) 10 for $10. There was a coupon out a while back that is $1/2 packages. But it expires tomorrow! So make sure you get to Fry's tomorrow and grab those 50 cent packages of tortillas! I know I'll be getting 6. They freeze really well!

Grocery Shopping!

First of all, I have to say that the deal I worked out for CVS last night worked perfectly. Well, except for the fact that I apparently can't add. Actually, I think I just didn't figure in tax.

First trip to CVS, I bought one Bic Solei razor (it comes with an extra cartridge and a shower hanger too! Sweet!) at $5.99, one Just for Men haircolor for $7.99, and one CVS brand rapid release gel tabls, 24 ct.

My total after coupons was $12.something (can't find the receipt), I used $10.49 in ECBs and ended up paying 83 cents OOP and getting back $14.98 in ECBs.

Since they surprisingly had more of the Bic razors in stock, I went out to my car and got the two other mf coupons I had, went back in and got two more razors. I paid with my $7.99 ECB from the Just for Men, and spent 30 cents OOP. I received $6 back in ECBs for the razors.

So, I started the day with $10.49 in ECBs, and ended up with $12.99 ECBs, and spent a grand total of $1.13.

Then I went to Fry's for my main shopping and spent $80.12. I did the $4 back on General Mills deal again with two Fruit Roll ups and two boxes of Honey Nut Cheerios, all of which I had coupons for.

Just a couple of highlights:
Assorted loin pork chops, 97 cents/lb
chicken leg quarters, 99 cents/lb
3 packages David's sunflower seeds, $1.29 (used 50 mf cpn, making them 29 cents)
3 - 28 oz cans of Muir Glen organic tomatoes, on sale for $1.50 (used $1.00 printed mf cpn, so 50 cents each)
2 bags Garden Salsa Sunchips, 2/$4 (used $1/2 coupon, $1.50 a bag)
Red Grapes, 97 cents/lb
Baby carrots, $1 a bag.

I feel like I got a lot for my $80. According to my receipt, I saved $89.05, so 53%. I'm always happy when it's over 50%.

After I picked up the small one from preschool, I realized that I was going to have husband make hot dogs for the kids for dinner tonight, and we were out of ketchup. I said this while I was on the phone with him, and he also said he was out of mayonnaise. Sigh. I had no coupons for either one of these things! Grrrrrr.

So, back to Fry's (a different one this time, because mine was out of the chocolate/peanut Curves bars)

This trip I got:

1 box Curves granola bars
1 box Chocolate Chex cereal
2 boxes Trix cereal
1 large bottle Kroger brand ketchup which was $1.39
1 jar Best Foods mayo, $2.50 (ouch)
1 donut (for the kid!) 50 cents.

I had 75 cent coupons for the Chex and the granola bars, making them free. Another $1/2 General Mills coupon made the Trix cereal 50 cents a box. My total after the $4 instant rebate was $5.56.

Then the little one had to use the store bathroom. While she was in there I was checking out my General Mills coupons, and noticed that the new ones from yesterday's paper included Cheerios! So, back to the cereal aisle for 4 boxes of Honey Nut Cheerios. Used two $1/2 General Mills cereals, making them 50 cents each. Total for that transaction, $2.12.

So, my grand total for this week, including CVS, is $89.29. I think soon, I'm going to revise my weekly budget down $10 to $90 a week, and see if I can stay under that!

Oh, and if anyone needs cereal, I have a lot. :)

1st CVS Idea April 28th

CVS idea for tomorrow:

1 Just For Men - $7.99
1 Bic Solei razor - $5.99
1 CVS brand rapid release pain reliever - 3.99

Total - $17.97

Use: $3/$15 coupon. Find out how to print it here
$2.00 printable Just For Men here
$2.00 off Bic Solei razor from the 4/13 Smart Source

Total after coupons - $10.97. I have $10.49 in ECBs, so my OOP will be close to zero, or at least under $1.

I'll earn $14.98 in ECBs, so that's a money-makin' trip!

Week of April 27th to May 3rd

A new week of savings (hopefully, lots of savings!)

Fry's (Kroger) is running a deal this week where you get $4 back instantly when you buy four specified General Mills products. There are several coupons out there that will make this an even sweeter deal. Unfortunately, you can only do this once per transaction. So I decided to make my first transaction on my way home from work this afternoon.

I bought 3 boxes of Chocolate Chex cereal and 1 box of Strawberry Chex cereal. They were all $2 each. I had three 75 cents/1 coupons for Chocolate, Strawberry, or Honey Nut Chex. I also had a 75 cent coupon for Strawberry Chex on my VIP card. I got that by signing up here: Shortcuts.

So, after the $4 instant rebate and my coupons, I paid 36 cents for the four boxes of cereal. In case your math isn't so great, that's 9 cents per box. Hee. Who said food prices are going up?

To sign up for Shortcuts, click on the link and follow the instructions. If you don't have an AOL or AIM name (which I didn't), you have to create an account, but it's free. Then you link your VIP card and just select the coupons that you want to put on your card. The cool thing is that they'll work even if you've already used paper coupons for the same product. The only thing is they don't double like the paper coupons do.

Even so, you can't beat 9 cents a box. I have coupons for General Mills cereals too, and Honey Nut Cheerios is another one on the sale. 4 boxes of HNC plus $1 off 2 boxes of cereal makes those 50 cents a box. I'll include that in my main shopping trip tomorrow.

Total so far this week? 36 cents. :)

Had to Get My CVS Fix In Today

Does this mean I'm like, an addict? Hmmmmmmm.

Anyway, I decided to hit a store in a neighboring city, because my friend Jen told me that the store she went to where she lives didn't have the Alavert behind the pharmacy, they had it out in the aisle with the rest of the allergy/cough&cold stuff. No having to show ID and all that nonsense. So on my way to drop off the small one at my parents' house before I went to work, I hit a CVS near their house.

I got:
2 Alavert 12D - $6.99 each
1 Softsoap Radiant Spa 18 oz - $5.49
1 2 liter Diet Coke - 99 cents

I got the soda to put me over $20 so I could use the $4 off $20 coupon. Oh, and also because I totally needed it for work. :)

I used the $4 off $20 coupon, plus two $4 off coupons for the Alavert.

I used $6.00 in ECBs from the Maybelline lipstick deal

OOP was $3.25 which I put on my gift card.

I received $5.49 in ECBs for the body wash and $8 in ECBs for the Alavert.

Oh, and I got my $4 off $20 beauty coupon in my email today! Did you get yours?

***************************************************************

PS. It just occurred to me that I never posted about the Maybelline lipstick. That one went something like this:

Tuesday morning, 6am - Oldest daughter, age 16, informs me that we have to leave for school early (We normally leave around 7am) because she needs to stop at the drugstore and get some bright red lipstick for her dance concert dress rehearsal after school.

Me, being the quick-thinking CVS addict that I am, says "Oh, the CVS at Hoosits and Whatsits is open 24 hours. We have to go THERE!"

Daughter - "Why?"

Me - "Because there's a 2 for $9.99 sale on those Maybelline lipsticks, and I get $6 back in Extra Care Bucks!"

Daughter - Looks at me like I'm nuts, but we go to CVS, she gets her bright red lipstick plus another one of her choice, I pay for it with ECBs and get my $6 ECB back. I paid nothing OOP, she has her lipstick, and all is right with the world.

Amen.

Groceries This Week

So after my big fun at CVS this morning, I went to Basha's. The only things I wanted here were the free Gum toothbrushes and the S&W Beans.

3 Gum toothbrushes - 10 for $10
4 cans S&W kidney beans - 20 for $10
4 cans S&W black beans - 20 for $10
1 20 oz bottle Diet Coke ( I had to, I was dying) - $1.39

Used 3 - 75 cents off any Gum toothbrush, making those FREE.
Used 2 - $1 off 4 cans of S&W beans, making those 25 cents each.

My total OOP was $3.75.

Then I went to Fry's, and managed to only spend $66.36. Yay.

A few highlights:

Last week they had the 32 oz Gatorades for 50 cents a bottle. Well, this week they had the same size Powerade for 69 cents a bottle, BUT if you bought 10, you got a case (24 bottles) of Dasani water FREE! I thought that was a pretty good deal.

3 Brut deoderants, free after coupons

4 packages David's sunflower seeds. These were a request from my softball player. The smaller bags (5.25 oz) were 10 for $10, and I had 50 cent coupons. However, the coupons said they were for 8.5 oz size or larger. I tried them anyway, and they worked, didn't even beep. Free sunflower seeds, yay.

There was really nothing else that I needed or wanted that I had coupons for. So my $66.36 was basically spent on needs: Drinks, some $1.77 per lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cheese, fruit, Doritos, ice cream...you know, necessities. :)

So, between Basha's and Fry's, my total for this week is $70.11. Yeah!

More CVS

This is getting redundant, but I'm having fun. I played with CVS all morning while small one was at preschool.

Trip #1

6 bottles of Herbal Essence shampoo and conditioner - $4.29 each, BOGO
1 Speed Stick 24/7 - $3.99
1 bottle 500 ct of CVS brand Ibuprofen - $13.19. Yikes, that's a lot...but hubby is supposed to start taking 1200 mgs a day to help with tissue swelling in his hands that is resulting from his MS. (Long story, anyway, we needed it)

Coupons used:
$4 off $20 purchase
$1 off Speed stick 24/7
3 - $3 off 2 bottles of Herbal Essence

Used $14.99 in ECBs, paid $1.92 OOP on a prescription transfer gift card.

Received $3.99 in ECBs for the Speed Stick.

After this, I went home to plot my next trip. I wanted to hit a different store. I swear there are about 5 of them within a 3 mile radius of my house. I printed out another $4 off $20 coupon and also printed out a couple of the $4 off Alavert coupons, and off I went.

Trip #2

1 Alavert -D 12 - $10.99. This was supposed to ring up at $6.99, but I didn't realize it was a sale advertised in the circular. For some reason, I thought it was an unadvertised sale. Also, I had to get it from the pharmacy and show ID! You know, so they can keep track of how much I'm buying so I don't make meth out of it. There's a daily limit on how much you can buy. Crazy. Anyway, I didn't say anything about it not ringing up at $6.99, because the pharmacists are usually clueless about sales and coupons anyway, and I had to ring up my stuff at the pharmacy.
I also got 6 more bottles of Herbal Essence - $4.29 each, BOGO and one of the 18oz Softsoap Radiant Spa body wash at $5.49.

I used a $4 off $20 coupon, the $4 off Alavert coupon and 3 of the $3 off 2 Herbal Essence. Surprisingly, the pharmacist had no trouble ringing up any of my coupons. He was really nice about it.

I used a $3.99 ECB and a $3 ECB, and paid $6.79 OOP which I put on the gift card. I was kind of bummed about losing $4 on the Alavert thing, but it was on a gift card so I didn't mind too much.

I received a $4 ECB for the Alavert and a $5.49 ECB for the Softsoap.

Trip #3

Actually, this was at the same store. I saw a big bin of the Softsoap body washes on my way out the front, and I just grabbed one and paid for it with my $5.49 ECB and got another $5.49 ECB. Total OOP, $0. Just for the record, after the pharmacist had been so nice to me, the cashier at the front rolled her eyes at my single free body wash purpose. Whatever, chica.

Trip #4

This was a third store. I got:

1 18 oz Softsoap Radiant Spa body wash - $5.49
1 12 pack Cottenelle Double Rolls TP - $5.99.

Used my $5.49 and $4 in ECBs, paid $2.15 OOP which I put on the gift card.

After this, I called my friend Jen, who has really gotten into this CVS thing with me. I asked her if she had tried the Alavert deal yet, and she said that it worked for her, no problem. I thought that was weird, because I was going to warn her that they didn't seem to be on sale here. She's the one who told me it was in the circular, and that I should take it back.

So after I picked up the small one from preschool, I did just that. I took it into the store closest to me with the receipt, grabbed a circular on my way to the counter, and told the cashier that I had purchased the Alavert and it hadn't rung at the sale price. I pointed the sale price out to her in the circular. She had no problem doing a return for the entire purchase price on a gift card, and then selling it back to me at the sale price, paying for it with that same gift card. So I ended up with another gift card that has $4.31 on it as my refund. Yay! Thanks Jen!

I'll probably be doing that Alavert deal a few more times, now that I know it's a sure money-maker. It looks like there's probably a limit of 5 on the 18oz Softsoaps too. I've purchased 3 so far. Funny thing is, I remember about a week or so ago saying that with me and the three girls in the house, I can never have enough body wash and shampoo and conditioner. Well, at this point, I may just have enough. Now I just need a good deal on lotion!

Score at CVS!

Wow, I'm really happy with The Coupon Master right now. I wanted to get in on that deal for the blood glucose monitor at CVS, where you buy it for $14.99 (with a coupon that makes it free!) and get $14.99 back in ECBs. However, the coupon was from back in the middle of March, before I started saving whole inserts. I placed an order with The Coupon Master on Monday night, and they got here today. Awesome. The Coupon Clippers is a good service too, I've used them before also.

So, I went to CVS and got my Contour blood glucose monitor. The coupon is good for up to $30, btw, and the monitor is on sale for $14.99. I had $12 in ECBs, and I used them like this:

1 12 pack of Essence of Beauty eye makeup applier thingies, $1.99.
1 2 pack E of B eyeliner sharpeners, $1.99.
1 Creamy Walnut (or something like that, it smells awesome) E of B body lotion, $4.99.
2 packages of M&Ms, $3.29 (BOGO)
1 Contour blood glucose monitor, $14.99.

My total after the coupon for the monitor was $13.01. I used my $12 ECB and reduced my total to 26 cents. I'm not sure how that works, but the lady at the store told me that when you use ECBs you don't pay tax?? Anyway, I paid 26 cents OOP.

I got $14.99 in ECBs for the monitor, $3 in ECBs for the M&Ms, and $5 in ECBs for the three Essence of Beauty products. So I started out with $12 ECBs and ended up with $22.99 in ECBs. Woohoo!

Also, I transferred a prescription of hubby's to CVS today and had a coupon for a $25 gift card. So I paid $10 for the script, but I now have a $25 gift card. I'm psyched!

Also, since no one living here needs a blood glucose monitor, I took it over to the assisted living facility that's right across the street from the little one's preschool. They were happy to have it!

Slowly But Surely

Well, today was payday, and I'm squeezing $65 out of the checking account to put towards the emergency fund. It's not much, but at least it's moving in the right direction.

Adidas Deal That Could Have Been...

I just saw on I Heart CVS that the May ECB deals will include one where you buy Adidas deoderant for $4.99, and get $4.99 in ECBs. I was all excited about this, because of the free coupons for the Adidas deo in this past Sunday's paper. Then I realized those free coupons expire on 4/25. BUMMER. I mean, you can still go get your free deo, but I wanted them to pay me $4.99 to take it out of the store! :)

In other news, I'm moving my ticker up $30. We have it set up so that once a month, $30 is automatically transfered from our checking to the money market account. At this rate, I should have that money market account up to $2000 by January of 2013. And that's assuming we never have to use any of it, which is a pretty poor assumption. 4+ years to get through baby step 1. Dave Ramsey would be so proud. Hopefully we get some good commission or bonuses or extra income or something here soon so I can kick this thing into gear! I'm not gettin' any younger...

Week of April 13th - April 19th

Wow, one day and I think I've blown my entire grocery budget for the week.

First I went to Sprouts, and got:

Bag of carrots, 69 cents
Gala apples, 99 cents/lb
1 gold and 1 red bell pepper, 50 cents each
1 green bell pepper, 69 cents
Hot House tomatoes, 99 cents/lb
yellow onions, 25 cents/lb
2 clamshells (1 lb) strawberries, 97 cents each.

Total - $8.71

Went to Fry's for my main shopping, and spent more than I meant to! My total there was $83.57. However, I saved $101.29, according to my receipt, so 55%. I'm not going to list everything I got there, but some highlights were:

20 lbs of ground beef @ 99 cents/lb
1 whole fryer chicken at 88 cents/lb, because tomorrow I'm going to try making this.
6 Herbal Essence shampoos/conditioners. These were on sale 2 for $5, and I used three $3/2 mnfr coupons, so paid $1 each.
2 Purex laundry detergents, on sale for $2.50, used $1 off mnfr coupons

I also did the $5 off 10 items 3 times again, and stocked up on Gatorade, cake mix, mustard, peanut butter, paper towels, and Ziploc freezer bags. I'm going to need those bags for my 20 lbs of ground beef!

Then I went and picked up the little one from preschool, and had to make one more trip to a different Fry's. The Fry's I normally go to was out of oldest daughter's favorite type of Gatorade.
So for the last trip,
10 Gatorade @ 50 cents each
1 package hamburger buns (forgot those before)
1 donut (To keep the kid happy), 50 cents

Total: $6.82

Yikes, my total for the week is $99.10! I guess I'm done shopping. Well, actually I'll probably go to Basha's tomorrow and get a couple of half gallons of milk while they're still $1. Over budget this week....booooo.

CVS, One More Time

I made one last trip to CVS this morning. I got two Cover Girl Tru Blend Whipped foundations, which I'm sure the 16 year-old will love.

They were $9.29 each. I used a "Buy one Cover Girl foundation, get a CG face product free" coupon, and a $1 off any Cover Girl coupon. I went to pay with my $10 ECBs, but I had to throw a tube of Carmex and a candy bar in there as filler. Wish I would have thought of a cheap box of dryer sheets as filler instead, I'm out of those!

I ended up paying $1.08 OOP, and I got $12 back in ECBs. I made money on that one, yay!

CVS Again

Well, I'm looking at my savings ticker up there, and it hasn't moved, because I don't have any extra money to put in there. How depressing. The turtle was definitely the right icon.

That's not why I'm here though. I went to CVS this morning, because I am seriously almost out of foundation and my compact is nearly empty. And my daughter keeps stealing borrowing my makeup from me, even though the foundation and the compact are the only makeup I use, and she seems to have a basket full.

Anyway.

I bought 2 Cover Girl foundations and two Cover Girl compacts. They were all $5.49 each. I used two "Buy One CG Foundation, Get A Free CG Face Product" coupons, and two $1 off any Cover Girl product coupons. I used my $5 in ECBs, and paid $5.30 OOP. I also received $10 back in ECB for the "buy $20 in Cover Girl products, receive $10 ECBs." LIMIT is ONE on this promo, in case anyone is wondering. :)

However, the whipped foundation which gives you $6 in ECBs is not included in that particular promo. So, I think that tomorrow I can go back and get two of those, because they are like $9.49 each, use one of the BOGO coupons and one of the $1 off coupons. Then I can pay for that with my $10 in ECBs, and get the $12 back in ECBs with little or no OOP. Wow, that's making money, and getting free stuff!

(I know, but it still kind of amazes me.)

I think that brings my weekly total up to about $95, and I forgot about the eggs at Basha's yesterday. Hmmm, I think I'm just right at my budget this week. And it's only Wednesday. Looks like I'm done shopping for the week, unless it's free stuff!

More Fry's and CVS

I made two trips to Fry's today and one to CVS. My first trip was to Fry's for my weekly shopping. I did another three $5 off 10 items transactions, but also got our need items as well.

Total: $52.72

Then I went to CVS. I decided to get my feet wet again with their Dove/Sunsilk deal. I bought 3 Sunsilk shampoos and three conditioners at $3.49 each. I used 3 BOGO coupons, and also a $2 CVS register coupon that said $2 off any shampoo or conditioner. Actually, I'm just now looking at my receipt, and the manager, who was the one who rang me up, keyed in the BOGO coupons at $3.99 instead of $3.49. I didn't even notice that.

Anyway, I used $4.99 in ECBs and paid $3.07 OOP. I also got $5 back in ECBs. That's 51 cents per bottle, not bad! I also know that the limit on that deal is just ONE per household, so hopefully I can use those $3.00 Dove coupons somewhere else.

Total at CVS: $3.07

Went to a different Fry's after I picked up the little one from preschool. The other Fry's had been out of the Eggo waffles and the Keebler cookies that were part of the $5 off 10 deal. Luckily, this Fry's was well-stocked.

I got:
3 Eggo Nutrigrain Waffles, used 3/55 cents off Eggo cpns
6 Keebler Fudge Shop cookies, used 3/$1 off 2 Keebler fudge shop cpns
6 Gatorade
5 more Goldfish crackers
1 Kroger frozen chicken nugget meal

Small child wanted a kid's frozen meal for lunch. Luckily, I was able to talk her out of the $2.99 (!) Kid's Cuisine, and convince her that the 89 cent Fry's meal with the chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese was the exact. same. thing. You know, except without the picture of the penguin on the box, which apparently costs $2.10. Those things have always been 2/$4 in the past. I can't believe how much the price of everything is going up.

Total for that trip was $11.27.

Right now my grand total spent this week is $89.40, so I'm still about $10 under my budget, and I think the little one has enough Goldfish to last her until next year. Yay.

A New Week - Fry's Sale!

I made my first trip to Fry's today when I got home from work, just to pick up sale things. I had the funniest experience, because the cashier, who was a guy, was really excited about my savings. In 2+ years of couponing, I've never had a cashier react like that before. He announced, "Now listen to this: You spent $16 and saved $80!" He was more excited than I was.

Anyway, I wanted to take a picture of all my stuff like some other people do, but my whole family was home and they'd think I was nuts if I set out everything I bought on the table and took a picture of it. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow when no one is home. :)
I'll do a list instead:

3 Betty Crocker cookie mix
3 Betty Crocker muffin mix
3 packages Keebler cookies
4 Scott Mega Rolls paper towels
3 Windex Antibacterial
3 Windex w/ Vinegar
1 Shout stain remover
2 Pillsbury pizza dough
2 Mama Bella garlic toast
3 Hot Pockets
1 Goldfish crackers
2 Cheetos

I spent $16.68 after coupons and the three $5 back deals.

When I got home from the store, I found out we were out of milk. Wish someone would have told me that while I was, you know, actually at the store. Also, Shannon wanted to make muffins with the muffin mix I bought, but we were out of the little muffin cups. I talked hubby into going to Safeway, because they have 2 for $4 milk this week. So he got two gallons of milk and those little paper muffin cups.

Total at Safeway, $5.66.

Total so far for the week: $22.34

I Am A Moron

So, even though I've been couponing for over two years now, I'm still new to the CVS thing. And boy, did I make a rookie mistake yesterday.

You see, I had $22.96 in ECBs from the Softsoap deal and the Speedstick deoderant. Well, for some reason, I decided that it would be really cool to go get four more body washes. With three girls and me in the house, you can never have enough shampoo, conditioner, or body wash. I had my $19.96 in ECBs from my first Softsoap purchase, so I'll just use that to pay, then I'll just pay the tax out of pocket, and four more free bodywashes!

Yeah, so I'm sure you know what's coming. Imagine my surprise when instead of another $19.96 back in ECBs, I only got $4.99. I said to the cashier, "Shouldn't there be $4.99 for each bottle?" She said there was a limit of five per customer. DUH. I felt so stupid that I just said "Oh, ok...no problem," and took my bag and left.

So, rookie mistake, and definitely lesson learned: Always know what the limit is.

I didn't pay anything out of pocket, (ok, 13 cents), but I felt like I lost $15, which I pretty much did. I was so mad at myself for that. I'm over being mad, but I still feel like an idiot. I'll get this down eventually.

Yikes!

I spent $70 today. You may ask,

"Wow, Shelley, what'd you get? A week's worth of groceries? A lifetime supply of body wash and Windex?"

No...I bought one. tank. of. gas. That will last me a week, if I'm lucky.

I wish we could bargain shop/coupon our gas. CVS needs to put in gas pumps!

I Knew I Wasn't Done Yet

Had to run to Fry's this morning. Normally we go through about a gallon of milk a week, but since I bought Keebler cookies and chocolate syrup yesterday, my kids went through almost a gallon of milk just yesterday!

So, hopped over to Fry's today to grab another gallon before the prices change tomorrow. I also got another four 2-liter bottles of soda @ 75 cents each, plus a bag of Goldfish crackers that Kylie just had to have to take to the park with us. Taking little kids to the store is really a savings killer.

So....
Gallon of milk, $1.99
4 two-liters Coke, $3.00
Goldfish crackers $1.88 (yikes)

New total for this week: $87.51

On the bright side, it looks like Fry's is going to have a great deal going on starting tomorrow. Buy 10 participating products, get $5 back, and you can do that 3 times per transactions. Check out the Fry's preview thread here: Pinching Your Pennies. I know I have coupons for several things on that list, and I'm going to wait and do my shopping after the new coupons come out on Sunday, so hopefully there will be more. I do see free Betty Crocker cookie mix and 50 cent boxes of Betty Crocker muffins at first glance. Goldfish crackers will be 50 cents in that promotion, and would it be asking too much to get a Pepperidge Farm coupon this week? Please? Grands Biscuits will be next to nothing, and so will Hormel Chili, if that coupon is still good. Looks like Shout and Windex will be 50 cents a bottle with coupons too. Ohhhh, I think this week is gonna be fun. :)

This Week's Total

I spent $71.60 at Fry's this morning on our "needs" and a few stockpile items. My grocery total for the week is now $80.64. That's $20 under budget, not bad! I'm not saying that's it for the week though, because there always seem to be those couple of items that we need to run out and get. I'm happy with things so far though!

I Think I Might Love CVS

Today my friend Jen and I went to CVS so I could get my free body wash. She wants to learn too, so she thought she'd watch me first. :)

Anyway, so this worked beautifully. I didn't get the Colgate, because they didn't have any of the right type on the coupon for $2.99. That's ok, because no one here really likes Colgate, so I would have given it away anyway.

Ok, so...I got:
4 Softsoap Spa Radiant body wash @ $4.99 each,
2 Lady Speed Stick 24/7 @ $2.50 each.

Coupons used:
$4/$20 for signing up for their email thing.
$3/$15 beauty coupon (thanks again, Precious!)
3 - $1/1 Softsoap coupons
2 - $1/1 Lady Speed Stick.

I paid with my ECBs from two weeks ago which totaled $12.97 (my original investment in this CVS shindig). I ended up paying 39 cents OOP, and I got $22.96 back in ECBs. Wow, I love this!

Thought I'd mention also that I was at Target this morning, and in their Dollar Spot they had $1 packs of Ray-O-Vac batteries, 4 AAs, at 75% off, so each pack of 4 batteries was 25 cents. I know they're not Duracells, but at that price, I stocked up. We go through batteries like crazy around here.

I also went to Sprouts this morning for my produce.

I got:
Bananas - 57 cents/lb
Pink Lady Apples - 88 cents/lb
Onions - 33 cents/lb
Strawberries - 88 cents each for 1lb containers. What a great deal that is! I got three of them.

Total: $6.48

Total so far for the week: $9.04. I'm counting the $2.00 + tax I spent on the batteries. I think the only other place I'm going to hit this week is Fry's....I didn't see anything spectacular at Basha's or Safeway.

CVS This Week?

Ok, trying to figure this CVS thing out. I have a $4 off $20 purchase from the email thing.

Is that $20 before coupons, or after? If I give them that one first, then can I use some manuf. Qs after that one?

CVS takes two coupons for BOGO, don't they?

If I get three of the Softsoap Body Washes, they are $4.99 each and you get $4.99 in ECBs.
I have three $1 off coupons for the body wash.

Then, the Colgate Total toothpaste is $2.99 (I think), and there was a $1.50 off coupon in the paper today for that. So can I get two of those and use two coupons?

I just found in the ad also that Lady Speed Stick 24/7 has $3 in ECBs when you buy 2 @ 2/$5.

SO...if anyone could tell me if this will work, I would really appreciate it. I don't want to go in the store and look like an idiot. :)

I buy:
3 Softsoap Spa Radiant body wash at $4.99 each.
2 Colgate Advance toothpaste for $2.99 (BOGO)
2 Lady Speed Stick at $2.50 each.

My total at that point is $22.96.
I use my $4/$20 coupon, making it $18.96.
Use 3 $1 off Softsoap coupons, total is now $15.96.
Use 2 $1.50 off Colgate coupons, total now $12.96
Use 2 $1 off Lady Speed Stick coupons, making my total $10.96, before tax.

I get $4.99 back in ECBs for each Softsoap, and $3 back from the deoderant, so $17.97 in ECBs.

I pay with the $12.97 in ECBs that I have from 2 weeks ago, and I end up with approximately $5 more in ECBs than I started with. I think. Does that sound like it would work?

Basha's One More Time

I saw that the Kellogg's cereal deal is still going on, but now Basha's has the cereal for $1.88, instead of 3/$8 (which is like what, $2.67 each?) So it's a better deal now, and I was tempted, but two things stopped me.

One, I set a budget of $100 a week for groceries, and I'm going to try really hard to stick to it. Two, I already have a decent amount of cereal, and really, my kids don't go through it all that fast.

So I went to Basha's this morning to spend my last two $5 OYNSO coupons on things we needed. Since they were only going to let me use one per transaction, I did two:

#1:
1 six double-roll package of Food Club toilet paper, $3.69.
1 two-liter bottle of Diet Coke, $1.50

Used a $5 OYNSO coupon, my total OOP was 42 cents.

#2
2 two-liter bottles of Diet Coke, $3.00
Gala Apples at $1.25/lb.

Used my last $5 OYNSO coupon, total OOP was 15 cents.

Total for the week: $95.94

Adding to the Emergency Fund

Husband won $100 at work today. He does sales, so he wins stuff sometimes. Sometimes it's actual merchandise, like my awesome (but not as awesome as Jen's!) digital camera. Sometimes it's gift cards, and sometimes cash. Today was $100 cash. I wanted to put it all in the emergency fund, but he said he had to buy oldest daughter some pants for her softball game today, because she can't seem to find hers. Then he said he wanted to do something else with it, and that he wasn't even going to tell me about it at first! Hmmph. Sometimes I feel like I'm on this journey to get us out of debt by myself!

Anyway, I made a deal with him, he's going to give me half of it, so I'm updating my ticker with $50 for the emergency fund.

I Hit Basha's Again Today

Basha's Trip #1

Order #1
My original plan today was to get two orders at Basha's, the first one would have been 5 Lean Gourmet Pizza Rolls, using a $1/5 coupon, and 2 Eggos, using the $1/2 coupon in the ad. (Found it Precious, thanks!) I was going to add another $3.69 6-pack of toilet paper, would have been like $10.04 plus tax, and I was going to pay with the two $5 OYNSO coupons I still had, then get another $5 OYNSO with the frozen food.

However, the cashier decided that I could only use one of the OYNSO coupons. In the fine print, it does say "limit one coupon per transaction", so I guess she wasn't wrong, but it surprised me because yesterday I used a $10 and a $3 OYNSO at the same time. Those were the Kellogg's and General Mills ones though, so maybe those were different.

Anyhoo, I told her in that case I didn't want the toilet paper. I just got the 5 Michelina's and the 2 Eggos. I used one of the $5 OYNSO coupons and paid $1.37 OOP, saved $16.31, and got another $5 OYNSO.

Order #2

6 Michelina's Lean Gourmet Pizza Rolls, used $1/5 coupon.
Paid with a $5 OYNSO coupon, so total OOP was $0.02, saved $13.74, and received another $5 OYNSO.

Trip #2:

On the way to hand off child #3 to husband as he was getting off work so I could go to work, I stopped at a different Basha's, because I think the people at the one near me were getting a little sick of me.

I placed two separate orders, 6 Lean Gourmet Pizza Rolls each, used a $1/5 coupon for each, paid $0.02 OOP for each order, saving $13.74 each time, and got two more $5 OYNSO.

Handed off the two bags of 12 packages of pizza rolls to husband along with child #3, telling him to put them in the freezer when he got home. I think he looked at me weird, but I was like, "Hey, I only paid 4 cents for the 12 of them!"

Adding these to my total for the week:

Total spent: $95.37
Total saved: $190.24
Total savings % = 67%.
And, I still have two $5 OYNSO coupons. I will use those tomorrow to get TP, Diet Coke, and some apples. In two separate transactions, of course.

I think I must have goofed when I figured the percentage yesterday. Oh well, my freezer is crammed with about 40 Michelina's, most of them pizza rolls. Maybe the kids won't eat them all this week!

Week of March 23 - March 29th

For right now, I've given myself a grocery budget of $100 a week. That's including toiletries, paper products, cleaning supplies, etc. Hopefully I can eventually lower that.

I had fun today. See previous post about Basha's. All three of the OYNSO coupons printed, and I was pretty psyched about it.

Trip #1 Basha's:
3 Frosted Flakes
2 Froot Loops
2 Frosted Mini Wheats
2 cartons eggs (free with the cereal)
3 Betty Crocker Cookie Mix ($1.67 each, .67 each after coupons)
4 Pop Secret Popcorn ($1.67 each, $1.17 each after coupons)
6 Michelina's Authenticos ($1.00 each, minus a $1/5 coupon)
I also had a $5 off when you spend $25 or more coupon.

Total OOP was $27.19 with tax. I saved $39.49 and got $3, $5, and $10 in OYNSO coupons.

Basha's #2:
I decided to grab another 6 Michelina's. This time my $1/5 coupon was for the Lean Gourmet. They have pizza rolls! My kids have already eaten 4 boxes of them, I think.

Anyway, used my $1/5 coupon, paid with a $5 OYNSO coupon.

Total OOP was $0.02, saved $13.72, and got another $5 OYNSO.

I didn't have two cents, thank goodness my friend Jen did. She wanted to try this too, and I had fun showing her the deals I was getting. I think she made out pretty good for her first time, with about 6 boxes of cereal, 2 dozen free eggs, and 12 Michelina's. Plus $8 worth of OYNSO coupons. Woohoo!

Fry's:
Ok, something happened at Fry's that kind of put a damper on my money-saving fun. In their ad, they had buy four 12-packs of Coke, get the 5th one free. Plus, with the Coke you got $5 off a Cook's spiral ham, which was already on sale for $1.27 a lb. So with my groceries, I got 5 12-packs of Coke, and waited while the butcher brought me out a nice 7 lb spiral ham, since they didn't have any out front. Well, when I got to the checkout, I found out that the 5 for $12 was only good through Easter, including the $5 off the ham. Poo. So, I put back one of the Cokes, and just got the 4. I almost put the ham back too, but it was a $23 ham, and I paid $10.12 for it. Still a good deal, but not the fantastic deal I was expecting by paying $5.12 for it! I looked at the ad, and sure enough in tiny print next to the $5 off the ham, it said "good thru 3/23." Oh well, live and learn.

Total at Fry's was $66.63, saved $50.85, for a 43% savings.

Basha's #3:
2 Hormel Black Label Bacon, on sale 2$5, used two 50 cent coupons doubled - $3.00
6 Michelina's - $6.00
1 package Food Club toilet paper, 6 double rolls, $3.69.

Total was $12.69+tax. I paid with the $10 and $3 OYNSO coupons.

Total OOP was $0.08, saved $29.22, and got another $5 OYNSO.

Total spent today was $93.94, and I saved $132.71. That's 70% savings! Yeah, I totally messed up on that percentage. It's actually 58%.

I still have $10 worth of OYNSO coupons for Basha's. I see more Michelina's in my future tomorrow! Maybe some more TP too, and some apples.

My Savings Ticker

Ok, I have a ticker up there for savings for my emergency fund. If anyone is familiar with Dave Ramsey's principles, you'll probably be saying "Shelley, you only need $1000 in your emergency fund!"

This is true. However, I consider $1000 an emergency fund, and I need an extra $1000 to compensate for our fluctuating (read: partially commission-based) income. I feel better knowing that we have some protection against a bad month. So this is my first goal: Saving $2000. I should have put a snail up there for the progress thing...I feel like this is going to take a long time.

Trying to Work a Deal at Bashas

I'm at work, trying to figure this out...oy, math hurts my head.

According to what I've found online, mostly at Pinching Your Pennies, I've come up with this:

If I buy 7 Kellogg's cereals at 3 for $8, I get a $10 OYNSO back. That's $18.67 worth of cereal. I wish I still had some Kellogg's coupons to go with this, but I don't. However, I will get two dozen eggs free by buying 3 cereals each.

$3 OYNSO when you buy 6 General Mills products. I will get 3 Betty Crocker cookie mixes, 67 cents each after coupons, and 4 boxes of Pop Secret popcorn (a staple for work!) for $1.17 each after coupons.

$5 OYNSO when you buy 6 participating frozen food products. 6 Michelina's Authenticos minus a $1 coupon I have when you buy 5.

I also have a coupon that I got in the mail for Basha's for $5.00 off when you spend $25.00 or more. I'm assuming that's after coupons. They sent that to me in a "new moms" flyer, along with coupons for diapers, baby food and bananas. Do they know something that I don't?

Anyway, so if my math is right, after coupons ... $18.67 for the cereal, $4.68 for the popcorn, $2.01 for the cookie mixes, $5 for the Michelina's = $30.36 - $5.00/$25.00 coupon = $25.36 OOP, plus I should get $18.00 worth of OYNSO coupons. Plus two free cartons of eggs.

Then I'll go back and get another 6 Michelina's, use the other $1/5 coupon that I have, use the $5 OYNSO to pay for it, and I should get another $5 OYNSO.

I'm thinking I can use the $18 in OYNSO coupons for bacon (Hormel Black Label, which I also have coupons for, will be $1.50 each), and toilet paper, which we need desperately. Maybe some bread or produce too.

Hope this works!