Saving and Homemaking 5/13

Happy Mother’s Day to the terrific Moms, Aunties, and Grandmothers out there.  Our week was a little crazy.  My husband and I were both sick, and the week was jam-packed with school events.  We got through, but it was one of those weeks where you are just making do until you can do better.

Saving

• At my daughter’s band concert I had an opportunity to reclaim unused school supplies from her locker.  I returned them to my plastic storage container for school supplies.  On another school visit, I took back the massive stock of glue sticks.  How many glue sticks does a middle schooler need?!
• I went to CVS with a 2.00 ECB they mailed me in a Mother’s Day promotion which expired 5/13.  Used it just in time.  Bought the 3 L’Oreal Shampoo in last weeks’ advertisement plus 1 Colgate 360 toothbrush and paid 4.77 and got 3.00 in ECB.
• Used a free Starbucks birthday drink coupon (DH birthday) and we brought home a Venti and split it.
• Used a coupon for a free Papa Murphy’s pizza (Teacher Appreciation) and it was very appreciated on a ballet night!
• DH went to a discount grocer and checked their online ad before leaving.  He scored a BIC grill lighter for .49 after coupon.  I always need one of those for the summer.  Other good prices were had there as well.
• Used a Walgreens’ photo 30% off coupon to make a photo collage for DH’s birthday with pictures of fun things we have done the past 6 mo or so.  It turned out nice and he will enjoy that in his office.

Minimizing

• I returned 2 kitchen towels to Sur la Table that were attached to a Teacher Appreciation Gift.  They were very cute but I knew I wouldn’t have a use for this type of towel.  I exchanged them for items I can “use up” — pretty cake sprinkles and pre-cut parchment circles for cakes.  I will be grateful to have those every time I bake because my cake circles are always a sorry affair.

Cooking

• Humble fare this week due to illnesses and school events.  Pumpkin pancakes, hot dogs and pea soup, etc.  I will make a pumpkin bread for the freezer with the leftover canned pumpkin.
• DD made a gorgeous chocolate malted birthday cake.  It turned out a tad dry as chocolate cakes can be when they have melted chocolate instead of cocoa powder in them.  We found it much tastier with a teaspoon of coffee drizzled on top of the cake slices.  Many bakeries do soak cakes to keep them moist.

Cleaning

• got the hats and mittens stored away and washed daughter’s winter coat.  Hopefully we can put that away?
• hoping with better health this week I can get to the bathroom blinds and some detailed dusting.

What’s new in your home and garden? Any great coupon deals this past week?

 

 

 

 

 

Saving at CVS Today

I had a great little CVS trip today.  I am on the lookout for water and soda on sale because we need to provide these for a large family reunion this summer.

• I bought three 12 packs of Coke products for 9.00
• Two packs of mini cans for 5.98 and
• One 1.25 litre for .99
• Total = 15.97
• Less $5.00 off a $ 15.00 purchase coupon which was in my CVS app
• Received $ 5.00 Extra Cash Back WYB 15.00 of Coke products for a net cost of $ 5.97

I also stumbled onto a deal on TIDE pods

• Fourteen count bag was 5.49
• Less 25% off everything except sale items coupon mailed to my home (-1.37)
• Less $2.00 off Tide Pod Coupon in CVS app
• Less $2.00 off Tide Pod manufacturer coupon Exp 5/31
• Final cost .12 cents

Back in the Saddle at CVS

I like to save 77%!

When I switched jobs in October, one thing that fell by the wayside was reading the CVS & Walgreens ads on Sunday.  My favorite place to check the CVS ad is at the iheartcvs website.  Granted, I made more money in my new job than I lost by missing deals at CVS, but with summer on the horizon and the end to paychecks until September, it’s time to get back in the habit again.

I won’t go to CVS just to get a 2 litre of soda for .69 cents, but some weeks the forces of nature and marketing come together to have several deals worth a trip.  I look for things that we can use within a few months; I can’t deal with stockpiling toothpaste under my bed.  Recent finds were things like:

• Easter M&Ms, 75% off (1.05/bag for the big bag) PLUS I had a coupon for $1.00 off two bags of M&M/Mars products, so that makes two full size bags at about .50 each
• Kleenex – 1.34 each plus CVS coupon for $1.00 off two = .84 ea
• Listerine deal last week, 2/10.00, plus 5.00 back, plus stacked CVS and Manufacturer coupons brought a very low price.

CVS now has an app for Apple users.  You can view your offers on the app instead of on those L-O-N-G sheets of coupons that print at the scanning machine.  I also like being able to have the cashier scan my card from the iPhone rather than searching for my house keyring.  Now through August when you download the CVS app you get $ 3.00 in ExtraBucks.  Nice!

Do you partake of CVS or Walgreen’s deals?  Walgreens drives me nuts because things are never in stock and their coupon policies are never completely clear to me.

 

A Frugal Week By Chance, Not Choice

Well, this week is shaping up to be very frugal because we have been home with a sick kid.  I’m feeling grateful that this virus is not visiting us a week from now on the eve of Thanksgiving!

Meals have been pretty simple around the house this week.  Tonight we will have some leftover turkey in gravy from the freezer, potatoes and fresh green beans.  No trip to the grocery store required!

Making a CVS List, and Checking it Twice…

While my daughter lounges on the couch binging on “Geronimo Stilton” books, I have been getting ready for Black Friday at CVS, which actually starts this Sunday.   You can preview the Sunday CVS ad at iheartcvs.  This is one sale I hit every year, and it doesn’t involve camping out overnight or shopping on a holiday.  If you are new to CVS-ing, you will need their Extra Care store loyalty card.  When you use this card, it will give you access to the ExtraCash deals.  For example, starting Sunday when you buy a box of Kraft Mac and Cheese for .99 cents, you get a .99 ExtraCash back coupon on your receipt which you can use at a later date on any products you want, except things like stamps and alcohol. (Um, you have to remember to get back to CVS to use the ExtraCash!)

Deals I particularly like this year include free after ExtraCash:

• Starbucks Double Shot or Refreshers
• Advil
• Theatre Box candy
• Gum
• Pantyliners
• Sparkle Paper Towel
• GUM toothbrushes
• Hershey candy bar

There are many more deals to be had.  I have visions of stocking stuffers dancing in my head.  You can also use manufacturer coupons! Let me know if you are a CVS-er too.

What I Did This Week to Save Money 9/21

Multi-Hued Zinnias from Our Garden

One of the benefits to having a written budget is that at the end of the week when think you didn’t spend a lot of money, you can quantify that inkling.  This week it seemed like we would have unspent money, and indeed we did.  This week we:

• Ate meals at home mainly using ingredients that we had on hand.
• Had one nice meal out using a birthday coupon.  Glad we took advantage of that because we are still homebound with a sick child this weekend.
• Husband took lunches to work and got creative when we ran out of prepared frozen meals – he took a hot dog and bun from the freezer one day, and loved it!
• I received $ 3.00 from CVS Drugstore to use on anything and I used it to buy dishwasher detergent when I ran out.
• I won an anniversary contest at our local non-chain sub shop and now have a $ 50.00 gift card!  Dinner’s on me this week.
• Ran a report on grocery spending this month… we are averaging $ 80.00 per week, which is low for us.   I am planning meals based on what is on sale and stocking up when I see lowest prices based on the info I put into ValueTracker.   When I say “stock up” I don’t mean Campbell’s soup underneath the bed and pasta in the linen closet, I just mean buying a product to replace the current one I have.  Canola oil was one such purchase this week.
• Asked our neighbor if they would mind passing their Sunday coupons on to me.  They really weren’t aware there were even coupons in the Sunday paper.  I regularly share our Wall Street Journal weekend sections with them so there was a precedent to my asking.
• Free entertainment this week consisted of Daddy/Daughter on the couch watching old Leave it to Beaver episodes (“It’s so weird they let their kids roam around town like that, Dad”), library books, and a good deal of football on TV.

Some of the surplus budget money this week will be set aside for haircuts next week (school pictures are right around the corner).  We also put some money towards winter weather gear for child, and savings.