CVS–$50.57 for $1.35

Now, that certainly doesn’t look like $50 worth of product, does it?  Well, you know drug stores mark up their products more than a little bit.  Of course, it would probably only be $35-40 at Target or Walmart and you could always buy generic.  But I promise you wouldn’t get all of those items for $1.35 unless you know a thing or two about couponing.

Thanks to 13 coupons and $18.42 in ECBs, and less than $2 left on a CVS gift card, I was able to purchase all of this stuff for $1.35.  And that’s not all.  I walked away with $5 in ECBs to spend next shopping trip.  If my stores would have had Band-aid 8 count packs in stock I would have 10 packs of band-aids and another $5 in ECBs for $3.90 more.

This makes two CVS shopping trips in a row where I was essentially paid to go in to their store and take products home to try.  (Last week I bought four cans of Pledge for a a total of four dollars after coupons, used ECB to pay and received $4 in ECB.)

Garden 2011-Phase II

About a week ago I took these pictures of my veggies and realized that it was time for Phase Two of the garden:

This part of the garden adventure requires the most work.  I began the work on Thursday and today my whole body is protesting any energy output.  My hands are sore and a bit dry.  My back is painful.  And I’m not finished yet.  When I am done I will hold my breath and begin the waiting.  Will these plants grow or will they stay the same size they were the day I planted them and eventually wither away?  Some will.  Some will grow amazingly well.

In the ground I have corn, butterhead lettuce, mesclun, carrots, cucumbers, broccoli, summer squash and butternut squash.

The squashes are going to have to work hard this year. I started to dig an area for my squash garden (’cause these puppies need their own area to sprawl or they will take over everything else in the garden.  Lesson learned.) but my back was not cooperating and I had to stop.   I threw some garden soil on top of the grass and planted away.  So, they may have some weeds to contend with this summer.  Not that it’s a problem for them. Ever.  In fact,  in the winter of 2009 I tossed butternut squash remains over the backyard fence for the birds.  In the summer of 2010 I had the most beautiful squash plants growing among the weeds, right there on my fence line.  In fact, it was so thick I had trouble finding the squash and, since this area of our yard tends to get a lot of run-off water and mud, most of them rotted before I could harvest them.  (It also took me a while before I noticed what I had growing there!)  I have no doubt my little squashes will grow well despite my lack of ground prep before planting them.

So far I have two separate garden beds.  One for squash and one for everything else.  Eventually I will add a third for pumpkins and watermelons.  Here is garden number two:

And some of the plants:

Strawberries

carrots

herbs, eggplant, watermelon, and a pumpkin or two . . . still growing slowly

precious peppers, hanging in there, waiting for warmer weather

more watermelon

My experiment this year.  Will the lettuce and mesclun grow better in the ground or in containers?

container lettuce

container tomatoes

Ds5’s radishes from preschool.  They are doing very well.

Breakfast Menus

I admit it.  I hate cooking breakfast.  Not because I hate cooking.  It’s because in the morning I hate doing anything other than drinking coffee, playing the latest Zynga “Ville” game and growling at anyone who dares to talk to me.  My children love when I cook breakfast.  Every Saturday I do just that.  Bacon, eggs and oatmeal are a Saturday staple in this house and have been for years.  If we have to be somewhere on a Saturday morning and I won’t have time to cook, I make bacon, eggs and oatmeal for Friday night dinner.  It’s just what we do.  And now, in attempt to be a better mother I am vowing to cook breakfast for my little family every most mornings.

The breakfast menu will cycle.  I know what my family likes and I know the children enjoy the predictability.

So, without further rambling here are the breakfast menus:

Sunday: Biscuits and Gravy
There are other whole wheat biscuit recipes to be found if you google.  I’ve never had much luck with straight whole wheat flour biscuits, so I sacrifice some healthiness in this recipe for nice texture.  The gravy is . . . well . . . gravy.  No healthy eating here, folks.

Monday:  Scrambled Eggs and Grits
I have six containers of Philadelphia Cooking Creme to use by July so I added some to the scrambled eggs and it was very nice. Creamier and tangier than when I use plain cream.  Yum! Another yum is adding garlic (or garlic powder) to the eggs.  The hubby protests that, so I don’t do it often.  As for the grits . . .  there are a hundred different ways to prepare grits.  My personal favorite is a lovely, rich, delicious grits casserole.

Tuesday:  Belgian Waffles
Currently I use a Krusteaz Belgian Waffle Mix that I stock piled during a sale.  It’s not as healthy, but it is quick and yummy.  Btw, Log Cabin brand syrup does not contain HFCS.

Wednesday:  Oatmeal
Plenty of recipes for this one!  My tried and true recipe is as follows:
I cup of Old Fashioned Oats (if you’ve never tried Irish or Steel Cut Oats, you should.  Amazing!  Unfortunately, they are also expensive, never go on sale–so it seems–and don’t offer coupons.)

1 cup of whole milk (it’s fine to use Almond, coconut, etc milk here)

1 cup of cream (if you don’t have cream, simply double the milk)

3 Tbs of brown sugar

1/4 stick of butter

2 tsp of cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice (my personal fav)

1/4 tsp of salt

I usually microwave the oatmeal in a glass dish because it’s faster, but you can cook it on the stove top as well.  I’m giving the microwave instructions.

Place oats in a microwave-safe dish.  Add milk and cream.  Stir slightly.  Microwave for 5 minutes.
Add butter, sugar, cinnamon, and salt.  Stir.  Microwave for 2-3 more minutes.  Stir.  Serve.

You might also add fruit jelly or whole bits of fruit to this.  Yum!  If you add jelly, use less brown sugar.

Thursday:  Eggs and Sausage
Yeah, this is pretty much it.  Eggs to order and a box of sausage links.  Sometimes just eggs and toast if I’m not stocked on sausage.

Friday:  Pancakes
There are some lovely for-real-whole wheat pancake recipes out there.  My family prefers for me to sneak in the whole wheat when it comes to pancakes and biscuits, though. *shrug*  I do use unbleached all-purpose flour if that earns me any brownie points with the health police.

Saturday:  Bacon, Eggs and Oatmeal
Scrambled eggs, bacon on the griddle and my oatmeal recipe.  It’s a tradition.

I’ll be posting my dinner menus when I can find time.  It’s taken me most of the afternoon so far just to do one blog post.  Five minutes here, three minutes there . . . if you have children, you get it.  Completely.

 

Shopping in my pantry and freezer

This is going to seem like a copycat post if you’re a Southern Savers reader but I promise I was thinking about this before I read her post!

I am going to shop my own pantry and freezer for the next six weeks and budget only $40 out of pocket per week at grocery stores and no more than $20 out of pocket at drug stores.  It will be difficult to pass up deals but the truth is that I’m running out of space.

I have enough meat, chicken and fish in my freezer to last at least six weeks.  We eat meat only about 2-3 times per week.  I have plenty of sides such as brown rice, cous cous, quinoa, whole wheat pasta, etc.  There are lots of frozen veggies in my freezer.  We have snack foods like cereal, crackers, cookies, yogurt, cheese and dessert ingredients.  We have more cleaning supplies, paper products, and toiletries than we have space to store them.  It’s time to take a break from stockpiling.

So for the next six weeks (from 3/27-5/1) I will not be spending more than $60 per week on necessities (fresh produce, milk, bread, etc) and sale items.

The first step is to make menus for the next six weeks.  When I get around to that I’ll be sure to post.  😉

Life Our Way Blog Rules

If you are reading my blog for the first time there are a few rules of which you should be aware.

1.  This is, for the most part, a public blog.  That means anyone who can access the internet can read my blog.  I do publicize posts from time to time in order to generate more traffic.  Because I can never be sure who is reading my blog I do not use my name or the names of my family and friends and I do not give identifying details about my location.

—  When I mention my husband I use the internet-speak abbreviation of “dh” which stands for “dear husband”.  Well, at least most of the time it does.
—  When I mention my children I refer to them as “ds” followed by their ages.  For instance, at the time I am creating this post my oldest son is 9 and is referred to in the blog as “ds9”.
—  I do not publicly post pictures of my or my family’s faces or identifying locations.
—  From time to time I may make password protected posts containing my or my family’s real names, pictures and identifying locations.  If you are related to me by blood or marriage, if you are a Facebook friend of mine or my husband, or if you are a member of Gentle Christian Mothers community I will gladly share the password with you.  Please do not share the password with anyone.
—  If I have never met you–even if you are a friend of a relative–you may not have access to my private posts.  If I meet you someday and like you (<– that’s how I do jokes.  If you’re not looking for them you’ll miss them.) then you may have access as well.
—  If you are my client  you will not fit any of the above password requirements.  You are welcome to view the public portions of my blog but not the private ones.

2.   If you would like to post a comment on my blog I ask that you respect my decision for  anonymity by not using my name or the names of my family and friends.

—  All comments posted to my blog must first go through moderation meaning that I must approve them before they will show publicly.
—  If a comment mentions my name, the names of my family members or friends, or identifying details about my location I will change or delete that part of the comment before it is approved to post publicly.
—  If I edit a comment before approving it I will make a note on the comment that I edited it and give the reason for the edit.

3.  At times I may share my opinions about controversial subjects.  While I welcome comments stating viewpoints which differ from my own, I will not approve comments which attack my spiritual beliefs, parenting, education or lifestyle.

—  I welcome your curiosity about, different points of view on and especially new information relating to my views.
—  I will not approve comments stating your concern for me or my children because of my views or values. Those concerns should be addressed in a private message or email.
—  I will not approve comments in which my views and values or in which the views and values of other commenters are belittled.
—  I will not approve comments that contain name-calling either of myself or of others who have posted comments.
—  I will not approve comments that allude to or clearly state one’s involvement with illegal or unethical activities.

4.  Although I am a Marriage and Family Therapy Intern and am working on my Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy and although I will be making psycho-educational posts and posting about issues in psychology and therapy, etc I write this blog with my private-citizen hat firmly in place.

—  I do not write this blog as part of my practice of or training in Marriage and Family Therapy.
—  Any psycho-educational material I add this blog is not a replacement for therapy with a professional and should not be taken as such.

5.  I reserve the right to add to this list of rules at any time.

Coupon Organization

One of the most proactive ways to save is to organize your coupons.  If you don’t know which coupons you have or if you can’t get to them quickly then couponing is likely to become a huge waste of time.

There is no one correct way to organize your coupons.  I am going to tell you how I do it but I suggest you visit here to observe all of the options and find out what works for you.

I use hanging files to organize my whole coupon inserts.  I specifically use hanging files instead of an accordion file system because I want to be able to pull the folder out from time to time or rearrange the folders without having to redo the tabs.

(My mother gave me this after she retired from teaching.  You can find a hanging file box at office supply stores or Target, etc)

For the tabs to label the date of the insert, I use post-its.  For each month of inserts I use a different color post-it although eventually the colors will repeat.

 

For printable coupons I use a plastic box with a lid.  I found this on clearance at Target about a year ago.  You could use any box or basket with the length and width to fit a sheet of paper.

 

Let’s talk about binders.  I use a binder as well as a small accordion file.  These two come with me when I do my shopping.

In the front pocket of the binder I put receipts for easy access when I come home and post my savings.  In the accordion file part of the binder I put blinkie coupons, Catalina’s, etc, flyers, and coupon booklets that I pick up while shopping.

In the small accordion file I put Extra Care Bucks and Register Rewards, gift cards and store specific coupons that contain a dollar amount off a certain purchase amount.

The binder also serves as a place for my loose, already clipped coupons.  I purchased plastic business card holders and created tabs for various items such as cereal, dairy, drinks, canned/boxed foods, cleaning supplies, pharmacy, etc.

I have a small plastic basket for magazines, coupon booklets, flyers, etc.

And lastly, my dirty little secret . . .

This basket is filled with loose coupons, flyers, Catalinas, etc that live here until I have a chance to put them where they belong.

Coupon Savings

I did very well at CVS, mostly because of the ECB deals I did last week.  Walgreens was okay.  In the last transaction there I was able to purchase two boxes of Glad Trash Bags and a couple of filler items for around $4.  The Publix trip was only average.  I was mostly there to stock up on a few items (peanut butter!) and didn’t need a lot of basics this week.  I’ll go back to Publix tomorrow for their Saturday and Sunday sale to stock up on 1/2 off quick oats and get another packages of paper towels.  I inquired about competitor coupons today and found that my store accepts Earth Fare, Kroger and Winn-Dixie store coupons.  Nice!

 

CVS
Spent:  $6.75  Saved:  $55.41

Walgreens
Spent:   $28.31  Saved:  $45.80

Publix
Spent:   $50.14  Saved:  38.91

Garden–3-22-11

Peppers! They finally sprouted!

My sweet little baby veggies are doing so well.  I’m quite proud of them.  It’s funny how maternal I feel toward my plants.  I think it gives me an outlet for my ever-present ‘baby fever’.  I enjoy pregnancy (after the first trimester) and love babies (and dislike the ages of 2-5 just as much as I love 0-2!) but I am all done with that stage of life.  Watching my garden grow feeds the need to nurture tiny growing things.  🙂

Watermelon, corn, cucumbers, lettuce, mesclun, tomatoes, peppers, butternut and summer squash and probably something else I've forgotten

Herbs and pumpkins (which are being eaten by birds, I believe.)

The seed that won't let go. (Cucumber)

CVS Coupon Savings

This morning I opened my email and realized that I had a $5 off $25 coupon for CVS which would expire today.  Quickly I checked out the new ad (which began today) to see if there was anything I could use this coupon for.  Of course, there was!

I decided that would not buy anything today which did not have and Extra Care Bucks deal attached to it.

I cannot get my picture to upload, but I’ll try again later.  For now, here is a list of what I purchased:
(8) Clorox 35 count Disinfecting Wipes
(1) Pantene Restoratives Beautiful Lengths Smoothing Balm
(1) Allegra 5ct
(2) Crest Pro-Health Complete Rinse

Total Spent:  $23.26  Total Saved:  $39.62

But the best part?  I received $19.50 in ECBs.  Yes, that means that the next time I’m in CVS I can purchase $19.50 worth of products (excluding prescriptions, alcohol, gift cards, lottery, money orders, stamps, pre-paid cards and tobacco) and only pay the tax.  Wow.  And, in addition to that, the Extra Care Bucks/coupon machine printed a $5 ECB coupon for me today.  Nice!

Now, if you’re like me, I had no faith in ECB in the beginning.  I know that drug stores ramp up prices like crazy.  I would never pay full price for something at a drug store.  Never!  Not when Walmart will have it for less, right?  Well, the thing is that Walmart products are generally one low price.  Even the sales don’t take the price down by much.  The sales at drug stores drop the prices quite a bit and when the drug stores are giving you money (ECBs, Register Rewards, etc) to spend, you can’t beat it.

Because I had time to do this today I compared the prices of what I bought to what I would have paid if I had bought these products at Walmart.

Pantene Restoratives Beautiful Lengths Smoothing Balm
I paid $4.99 , Walmart = $4.84

Clorox Wipes
I paid $2.00, Walmart = $1.93

Allegra 5ct
I paid $6.99, Walmart = 5.94

Crest ProHealth Complete Rinse
I paid $3.49, Walmart = $3.97

At Walmart I would have paid $17.16 (this includes my manufacturers coupons) before tax.  Because I had the $5 off coupon (they aren’t as rare as you might think.  I’ve had at least two this year so far) as well as my coupons I paid $20.96.

So, yeah, Walmart would have been over $3.00 less.  But–and this a big one!–I received those ECBs to spend the next time.  That $17 spent at Walmart would have only gotten me the items I purchased today.  The $20 spent at CVS will get me another $20 worth of products.

Coupon Savings

Pretty good week this week.  Again, not stellar, but good enough to share.  Eventually I would like to do a no-shop week.  I could have done that this week because I have enough stock-piled and we don’t need anything.  However, I’m completely addicted to the savings.

CVS
Total Spent:  $ 42.97  Total Saved:  $101.64

CVS

 

Publix
Total Spent:  $26.99  Total Saved:  $40.45

Publix

 

Kroger:
Total Spent: $66.12   Total Saved:  $83.59

Kroger

 

That’s $361.76 worth of grocery, toiletry, and household items for $136.08.