This week's coupon winner

The winner for this week's coupon contest is This Journey of Mine. I have contacted her and she has until midnight Monday/Tuesday (since it is a holiday weekend) to get in touch with me or I will choose another winner. Thanks for all your participation and check back on Tuesday for a new giveaway!

Update on Kmart Cereal Rebates

You have to mail in the original UPCs from all of the cereals, but you can mail a copy of the receipt for the Kmart Gift Card rebate. So, if you have four more of the same type of cereals at home that you can cut the UPC off to send in, this deal will work. Luckily for me, I did, so I am able to redeem both.
Heads up though, there are only a few cereals included in the deal like Frosted Flakes, Frosted Flakes Gold, Pops, Chocolate Peanut Butter Pops, Froot Loops, Froot Loops Cereal Straws and a few more. I wasn't able to use the $1 coupons I printed, but I was able to use the $1/2 cereals that came in the Kelloggs coupon insert a few weeks ago. Not free at purchase, but very close! Plus I found Raisin Bran Crunch on clearance for $1.50 a box and was able to get six of those to use for the $10 rebate from Kelloggs. I used the $1/2 cereal coupons for this as well.

Total OOP - $13
Total Rebates to Come - $10 cash from Kelloggs and $5 gift card from Kmart

Free Cereal at Kmart

I have seen the ads from Kmart that are advertising 4/$9 with a $5 Kmart MIR back, so I was on the lookout for coupons to use to make this free. I don't know yet what the specific cereals are, but here are some coupons for Kellogg's products.

Rice Krispies with Strawberries here

Smart Start and Frosted Mini Wheats here


Use four of these $1 off coupons and get it for free! Also, if you still have $10 MIR forms from Kellogg's Fuel for School promotion, use this to get $10 back! Just remember that all 10 products have to be on the same receipt!

Menu Planning Monday

This is my first time participating in Menu Planning Monday, but I am hoping it will make my grocery use more efficient. I used to plan out the weeks, but it seemed like something always came up and the meals didn't get made. I am going to try harder this time!

Monday - Crockpot Chicken Fettucine Alfredo, Garlic Bread

Tuesday - Beef Enchiladas, Mexican Rice, Tortilla chips
I like to make up a large skillet of "Mexican Beef" and keep it in the freezer for nights like this one. I just cook ground beef, onions, chili peppers, cumen, chili power and cayenne until it is cooked through. Then I freeze it in two pound batches. For the enchiladas, I heat the beef with corn and black beans and then put it into tortillas with shredded cheese. I put them into a casserole dish and cover them with enchilada sauce and more cheese. I cook them for about 20 minutes or until the cheese is good and bubbly.

Wednesday - Pizza, breadsticks, salad
We love to make homemade pizza, so it will just depend on the ingredients available in the refrigerator as to what ends up on the crust!

Thursday - Beef Stirfry, Rice, Eggrolls
My stirfry is a little different because my husband likes to have a beef broth to put on top of his rice, so make sure you read this one through before you decide if it is for you! We love it though.
To make my stirfry, I heat veggie oil in the bottom of my wok and cook chopped garlic in it until the taste is infused through the oil. Afterward, I add thin slices of beef or deer tenderloin until they are cooked almost through as well.
I remove the beef and then add a little more oil and garlic before I start cooking my chopped veggies. These depend on what I have from the farmer's market on Weds. I usually use broccoli, snow peas, onions, peppers, mushrooms and whatever else hits me.
After these have cooked enough to lose their toughness, I add back the meat and add one can of beef broth. Then I put the top on and let it simmer until the veggies are the consistency we like. I serve it over white or fried rice.

Friday - Chicken Casserole, Rice and Rolls
This chicken casserole is a favorite from when I was little. Bake about 1.5 pounds of chicken, and while it is cooking, add two cans of tiny baby peas to the bottom of a casserole dish. Mix together one cup of Miracle Whip or mayo (I prefer MW) and one can of cream of mushroom soup. Add two tablespoons of curry (or more depending on your taste) and one cup of shredded cheddar cheese. After the chicken is cooked, shred it and add it to the mixture. Pour this over the peas and then cover the top with more cheddar! (Love it!) Bake it for 45 minutes at 350 degrees. This is awesome served over white rice!

Saturday - Empty the fridge day

Sunday - Eat out at Mexican restaurant with whole family

Dessert for any of these meals includes fruit or homemade fruit juice popsicles.

Response from CVS

I posted a couple of weeks ago about the problems I was having at our local CVS using certain coupons, so I emailed CVS and got my response! I am right! Yeah! Here is a copy of the response.

"Thank you for taking the time to contact CVS/pharmacy with your inquiry. I’ve provided our coupon policies. Although; all final decisions are left to the Store Manager’s discretion.
CVS/pharmacy will accept coupons printed from the Internet. They must have a legible barcode that scans at the register. If the coupon does not scan at the register, the cashier should politely inform you that we are unable to accept your coupon. We do not allow manual overrides at the register for coupons printed from the Internet.
Our registers are set to allow 1 CVS coupon and 1 manufacturer coupon per item. However, the staff should be allowing customers to use Extra Bucks in combination with other CVS coupons since these are coupons you have “earned.” In addition, similarly they should be allowing the use of “offer at the register” coupons which would be an open offer of $3 off of $15 or a certain dollar amount off of a specific item. Since our registers are programmed to only accept 2 coupons (1 CVS, 1 manufacturer) per item if the number of coupons exceed the items purchased a member of management will need to assist the cashier in processing the coupons. I apologize in advance for any inconvenience this may cause.
You can use coupons towards a clearance item but the coupon will be adjusted if it is more than the price of the item.
The BOGO coupon allows you to purchase 2 items and get them both for free. With the manufacturer’s coupons you can combine one with one CVS coupon. You will be responsible for any tax due.
If we can be of further assistance please do not hesitate to contact us. Thank you for taking the time to contact CVS/pharmacy."

So, I understand this to mean that as long as the coupons scan, which mine do, they have to accept them.

Now my problem has become having to talk to the manager with the letter because I know he is going to be irritated about the whole situation. I don't want this to become a confrontational thing, but I am afraid it will be. I am not trying to tell him his job, but I know I am right in this case.

So, how would you approach this?

This week's coupon contest

Well, I received so many good questions last week that I will have coupon contests for months to come! :) The question for this week comes from a combination of people. So, what I want to know this week is how much time do you spend in a week for your couponing/bargain shopping? Do you have a certain schedule or so you just fit it in wherever possible?
Leave me a comment and I will pick a random winner on Saturday morning for a whole new envelope of coupons! Thanks and good luck!

Walgreens this week (Baby stuff on clearance)

I had to put everything away already since it is for Christmas for my daughter, but I used the $5/$20 coupon and was able to get a couple of Christmas presents for her. I also found out they have been stocking the baby shelves, so there were shelves of baby items in the clearance aisle!
I bought one Crayola Color Wonder Backyardigans set for $7.99 and one Crayola Go Paint set for $9.99. I had a .50 coupon for the Go Paint set, so I still needed something to fill in $2.52 before I could use the coupon. I looked on the clearance shelves and found a huge pack of Huggies wipes marked down from $7.49 to $3.41!
There were several packs of Huggies diapers and WAGS diapers as well. There were bottle liners, onesie sets, bottles and even a breast pump on the clearance shelves! Go check out your Walgreens!

And the winner is...

The winner of this week's contest is Irene. I have contacted her, and she has until midnight Sunday/Monday to contact me or I will pick a new winner. Thanks for all of your participation, and check back on Monday to see the newest questions!

Answers to your questions....

When I posted this week's contest, I asked for each of you to post a question you would like to have answered. Many of these questions will be used in future coupon giveaways, but there were a few that were directed to me, so I am going to try to answer some of these here.

* What dream am I saving towards?
We are working towards paying off our debts and eventually putting an addition on our home. We would like to add a larger family room and another bedroom. I would love to have more children, but I don't think the seams of my house will hold another!

* Do I have a system for researching my deals each week?
I have a group of websites that I check which you can see on the sidebar of my blog. I also purchase several copies of the newspaper, if they are deals I will use, so I have multiple copies of coupons. I make sure to go through each of the inserts and see what is on sale before I pair them with things already in my stockpile. I also make sure that my coupon box leaves the house anytime I do. I never know when I might have the chance to make a quick pitstop or when something might be on clearance that I have a coupon for!

* Do I make money from home using a legitimate source?
For a few weeks each year, I sell Kelly's Kids clothing. This is a line of boutique-type children's clothing that is sold at home shows. I sell for only a couple of weeks each season and manage to make a good amount of money. I also am working towards making money through blogging through advertising.

All You Subscription

Money Saving Mom is looking for a lower priced subscription to All You Magazine, and I have one through our school's fundraiser that comes out to be $16 for one year or $24 for 18 months. It comes out to be $1.34 per issue which is a few pennies more than the subscription she listed, but 40 percent of it goes to my daughter's Christian school. Please see here if you are interested in subscribing! Thanks!

This week's coupon contest...

Apparently the post I made yesterday never went through, so here is this week's contest for an envelope full of coupons!

I am have been coming up with questions each week for my readers to help myself and other readers, so this week's question is... What would you like me to ask my other readers? What question would you love to see several answers to? It could be a home question, cooking or recipes question, parenting question...whatever you are interested in!

So, leave me a comment for your entry and I will select a winner on Saturday morning. Thanks!

WOW at Kroger!

Today at Kroger was awesome!!!!!
This photo will show you exactly what I came home with, and if you will see my previous post here, you can see how I managed to do this!
I was able to get two cans of formula (remember this is normally $24.99 per can), seven packs of Orbit gum, seven tubes of Chapstick, six boxes of Bagel Bites, five California Pizza Kitchen pizzas, nine double packs of Gerber baby food and three three-liter jugs of Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice.
My total before coupons was $165.48, and I paid $40.18!!!!! Still cheaper than just the two cans of formula! I also got a $5 Catalina for my next purchase since I bought two cans of formula along with $6.50 off my next purchase of three cans, .75 off my next four packages of baby food and $1 off Pampers!
The juice will go to the food bank, the Chapstick to the soldiers in Iraq and the rest to my newly straightened pantry!
Yeah!!!!

Facebook Coupons great at Kroger

If you were one of the lucky people like me who were able to print the high value coupons from Facebook before the values were reduced, Kroger definitely has some great deals right now! I just got back and was able to California Pizza Kitchen pizzas for less than .50 a piece, Bagel Bites for less than .50 a piece and Ocean Spray Cranberry Cocktail for less than $1 each. Vitamin Water coupons doubled to $1 off, so I paid less than .50 for each of those. I also got free Chapstick and free Orbit gum.
The cashier was amazed when my $225 total came down to $115 for all of my groceries today, and a good portion of it was due to that and the Nestle deal going on right now. If you buy $20 in select Nestle products, you receive $5 back. Lucky for me, Nestle makes our formula, baby food and dog food, so I was able to get the limit of $15 back on $60. I love it when a shopping day surprises me with even better deals than I had planned!

All in God's Plan

I am a big believer in God placing us in situations when we need to be there, even if we don't understand it at the time. When I started couponing and CVSing a few months ago, it was just so I could help local organizations and also save some money at the same time.
Our family has always been very blessed and able to have what we need and most of what we want. My husband is a great provider and has always gone out of his way to take care of us. I have worked one day a week for the last five years just to be able to get out of the house and also have some play money for eating out and all of those extra treats.
However, since my Dad will soon start receiving treatments now that his tumor has been removed, I have decided to take a leave of absence from work. I want to be available to my parents and my grandparents whenever they need me. My parents have always kept my girls while I work one day, but I don't want them to have to worry about that.
So, I have a huge stockpile in my freezers and pantry that will allow me to buy only what we have to get each month. I can supplement my stockpile with fresh things and won't have to spend near as much money.
God knew what He was doing when he put it on my heart to start doing this!
Please continue to pray for my Dad and our family as we journey through this new and scary world. Your prayers have been felt and are definitely appreciated!

Just My CVS!

I went to CVS in another town today while I was returning someone to the airport and was able to use all of my coupons! I guess it is just my CVS. I wrote an email to customer care and I hope to have something in print about their policies so I can take it to the manager at our CVS. He doesn't like me anyway, so this is just one more reason for him to frown when I come in!

This week's Drugstore Runs

Walgreens

My Avent Bottle had already been used, along with one of the pacifiers, when this pic was taken, so they are missing!


First Transaction

Two Poptarts on sale at $1.99 each
Two Bic Pens at .50 each
Two Extra Gum at $1.19 each
Glade Fabric Cleaner at $3.49
Walgreens Activity Book at .99
One Pert Plus at $3.79

Coupons Used
$1/2 Poptarts
$1/2 Bic Stationary products
WAG Coupon for Extra to reduce to .59
BOGO Extra Gum at $1.19 (This plus above coupon made them both free)
$1.50 off Glade WAG coupon
$1.50 off Glade manufacturer coupon
$2 off Pert Plus
$5 RR

Total OOP - $1.87

Second Transaction

One Shampoo at $5.99
Two Extra Gum at $1.19 each

Coupons Used
WAG Coupon for Extra to reduce to .59
BOGO Extra Gum at $1.19 (This plus above coupon made them both free)
$5 RR

Total OOP - $1.41

Third Transaction

Four Hershey's Bliss at $3 each
Two Extra Gum at $1.19 each
BIC Soleil Razors at $5.79
Two Bic Pens at .50 each

Coupons Used
WAG Coupon for Extra to reduce to .59
BOGO Extra Gum at $1.19 (This plus above coupon made them both free)
One $1 off Bliss (Cashier would not push the other three because they were one per purchase)
$2 off Razors WAGS Coupon

Total OOP - $10.86

Fourth Transaction

Two Bic Pens at .50 each
Two Extra Gun at $1.19 each
WAGS Light Bulbs at $1.99
One Shampoo at $5.99
Two All Detergents on sale at $4 each
One Avent Bottle at $5.49
One Gerber Pacifier at $4.29

Coupons Used
WAG Coupon for Extra to reduce to .59
BOGO Extra Gum at $1.19 (This plus above coupon made them both free)
$1/2 Bic Stationary Items
$1 and .50 off All Detergents

Total OOP - $25.01
Plus $2 RR earned

Fifth Transaction

Jane Makeup at $6.99
Two Bic Pens at .50 each
Two Extra Gums at $1.19 each

Coupons Used
WAG Coupon for Extra to reduce to .59
BOGO Extra Gum at $1.19 (This plus above coupon made them both free)
$1/2 Bic Stationary Items
$2 RR

Total OOP - $6.80

Total OOP for Trip - $45.95
Total Rebates Earned - $29.75 plus 10% bonus for receiving it on WAGS gift card - $32.73
Actual OOP after Rebates - $13.22

My actual OOP would have been much better but I can't believe I left the house without a bottle and pacifier! My daughter definitely needed those so we could spend the day out and I can always use extras!

Staples



First Transaction
Two Elmer's Glue - Free with purchase!
Three Crayola Markers at .79 each
Five Notebook Papers at .45 each

Total OOP - $2.99

Second Transaction
Same as above

Total OOP for Trip - $5.98

I am putting the markers and glue away to go with Christmas presents! Yeah!

K-Mart


It is hard to see, but that is six powders, four mascaras, two ink pens, one baby toy, one Handi Snacks and two Tridents. I bought more than I usually would because I could only use one set of coupons each transaction, and since they were going to be $1 negative each time, I added a few things I knew we could use.


First Transaction

Cover Girl Makeup - $6.99
Cover Girl Mascara -$6.99
Sassy Baby Toy - $7.99
Bic Pens at .50 each

Coupons Used
$1/2 Bic Stationary Products
BOGO Cover Girl
$1 off Cover Girl

Total OOP - $7.95

Second Transaction

Cover Girl Makeup - $6.99
Cover Girl Mascara -$6.99
Two Bic Pens at .50 each

Coupons Used
$1/2 Bic Stationary Products
BOGO Cover Girl
$1 off Cover Girl

Total OOP - .01

Third Transaction

Cover Girl Makeup - $6.99
Cover Girl Mascara -$6.99
Trident Gum at $1.19

Coupons Used
BOGO Cover Girl
$1 off Cover Girl

Total OOP - .68

Fourth Transaction

Cover Girl Makeup - $6.99
Cover Girl Mascara -$6.99
HandiSnacks at $2.49

Coupons Used

BOGO Cover Girl
$1 off Cover Girl

Total OOP - $2.44


Fifth Transaction

Cover Girl Makeup - $6.99
Cover Girl Mascara -$6.99
Trident Gum at $1.19

Coupons Used

BOGO Cover Girl
$1 off Cover Girl

Total OOP - .68

Total OOP for Trip - $11.78

I also went back to KMart the next day with the three Hershey's Bliss coupons the woman did not use at Walgreens and I bought them on clearance with the coupons for $1 each. Saving those for Christmas too!

This week's coupon winner is...

Anna J. is this week's winner of the coupon contest. I have contacted her and she has until midnight Sunday/Monday to get back with me or I will pick a new winner. Be sure to check back on Monday morning for next week's contest!

No More CVS Internet Coupons! Ugh!

I made a trip to CVS yesterday to buy the deal on baby items by purchasing 10 packs of Playskool Wipes which were on sale for 2/$5. If all had gone well, I would have spent $4 on all of them, but alas that was not meant to be!
I would have used a $2/$10, $4/$20 Playskool CRT and 10 $1 off Playskool Wipes that I printed from verybestbaby.com. However, after everything was rung up and the cashier began to scan coupons, the shift manager told me that they will no longer be accepting any CVS coupons from the Internet except for the ones that are mailed directly to me. She said the ones that are printed elsewhere are illegal copies!
I explained that the $2/$10 came from an online magazine and the $1 off wipes came from a legitimate website, but she was not hearing any of it!
I am going to call the 1-800 number later today and see what they have to say about it, but I am so mad that I had to spend $12 extra on wipes! Still a good deal, but not anything like what I had hoped!
I think my days of good deals at CVS are quickly coming to an end!
Has anyone else had this problem yet?

Coupons in Woman's Day Magazine

I just received my new Sept. Woman's Day magazine, and it had $2.85 in coupons plus BOGO Breakfast Breaks up to $2.49. I receive my free through a giveaway, but it would be worth purchasing if you use these coupons.

BOGO Breakfast Breaks
.40/2 Campbells Soups
.40/2 Campbells SpaghettiOs
$1 off Birds Eye Voila (with mail-in rebate for free children's video)
.50/2 Betty Crocker Fruit Roll-Ups and other Fruit Snacks
.55 off Marzetti Apple Dip

Coupon Winners

I was able to get my hands on several more "Fuel for School" coupon booklets, so I am sending one to each person who participated in the contest. Congratulations!

$5 CVS Challenge

Since I can only put three transactions, and I am not sure about the rules for spending versus ECBs earned, I put this together. Hope I did it right! I hope the $5 is after ECBs earned!

First Transaction

Two packages of Playskool Wipes at $2.50 each
One Alavert at $5.99
One CVS Hand Sanitizer at $1.19

Coupons Used
2 $1 off Playskool Wipes
1 $4 off Alavert
1 $2/$10 purchase
1 $2 off CVS Skin Care

Total OOP - $3.18
ECBs earned - $3 (Alavert)


Second Transaction

Eight packages of Playskool Wipes at $2.50 each
One CVS Skin Sanitizer at $1.19

Coupons Used
8 $1 off Playskool Wipes
One $4/$20 Playskool CRT
One $2/$10 Purchase
One $2 off CVS Skin Care Purchase
$3 ECBs

Total OOP - $2.18
ECBs Earned - $5 ($25 in baby products)

Third Transaction

One Children's Advil at $5.79
9.47
One CVS Hand Lotion at $1.49
Two Colgate Whitening Toothpastes at $2.99 each
One Ice Mountain Water at $4.99

Coupons Used
$1 off Advil
Two $1.50 off Colgate
One $2 off CVS Skin Care Purchase
$2/$10 Purchase
$5 ECB

Total OOP - $2.26
ECBs Earned - $6.79

Total OOP for Trip - $7.62
ECBs Earned - $6.79

Actual OOP - .83

Giveaways

These are just a few of the giveaways I entered tonight. Have fun!




Jen at The Fun House is having a great giveaway. Check it out here.

Motherhood Moment is giving away several packages. Check it out here!

There is a cool Strawberry Shortcake giveaway at Classy Mommy. Love it!

I Won! I Won! I Won!

I am so excited! I won this week's Charity Challenge at BeCentsAble and Coupon Cravings!
I spent $4.04 and was able to donate several things around the community. See here.
Thanks to BeCentsAble and Coupon Cravings!

This week's coupon giveaway

Since my dad's surgery to remove his brain tumor is Monday morning, I am posting this week's contest on Sunday night. For those of you who are praying for us, thank you so much, and please continue to pray as I know the following weeks are going to be hard ones for our family. Your prayers have truly been felt and we appreciate it greatly.
So, on to this week's contest, we have discussed organizing, gift giving and even early morning preparation for school, so this week I want to know what your favorite charity is to support.
Whether it is a national charity or a local one, I want to know who you choose to support and why.
Also, how do you support them? Do you give of your money, your time or your stockpile? :)
If they have a website, please feel free to include it. I want to get the information out for all of my readers about the great organizations that are available to help others.
I will start by saying we support the Christian Food Bank in our town, Pathway of Hope pregnancy care center, St. Vincent De Paul (sort of like Goodwill or Salvation Army for those who don't know), our church and the Toys for Tots drive each holiday.
I also send a few care packages a month overseas to soldiers who are serving our country. My husband is a former member of the US Army, so that is definitely near and dear to my heart. These soldiers don't only give of themselves, they choose to spend time away from their families so that we can remain with ours.
So, what charities are close to your heart? How did you choose those and how do you get your family or community involved in supporting them?
I will choose a random winner Saturday from all of my entries. Good luck and don't forget to check out the other ongoing giveaway I already have for this week here.

This week's winner is....

The winner of this week's coupon giveaway is Hotmomma! I have contacted her and she has until midnight Sunday/Monday to get back with me or I will choose another winner. Please check out my page on Sunday night or Monday morning to see the next week's coupon giveaway! Thanks for all of your great holiday gift suggestions!

Walgreens again!

I made a quick trip to Walgreens yesterday to pick up some more cereal for the food bank and use up the Special K coupons I had from Vocalpoint because I don't like it anyway! I didn't get a chance to take a picture before I went to the food bank, but here is how it went.

First Transaction

Four boxes of Special K Red Berries at $2.50 each

Coupons Used
Four $1 off Special K

Total OOP - $6
Register Rewards Received - $5

Second Transaction

Three boxes of Special K Red Berries at $2.50 each
One box of Froot Loops at $2.50

Coupons Used
Three $1 off Special K

Total OOP - $7
Register Rewards Received - $5

Total OOP for Day - $13
Register Rewards Received - $10
Actual OOP - $3

We will keep the Froot Loops, but all of the other is going to the Christian Food Bank because they said cereal is one of the things they run out of the quickest.

This week at CVS

This table full of goodies took me ten transactions. First off, I also had eight bottles of hand sanitizer for my daughter's school and four bottles of Excedrin that I bought for my dad and left at his house before I took the picture, so those are not included. I also put my Sure Deodorant instead of the Pert Plus in the picture by accident! :)
I normally don't ever do this many transactions at once, but my older daughter was in school and my younger was asleep in the stroller, so I went for it!

First Transaction

Two bottles of Pert Plus BOGO at $3.69
One CVS hand Sanitizer at $1.19
One CVS Construction Paper at $2.99
One CVS Scribble Paper at $2.99
Two CVS Toffee Popcorn at $1.49 each

Coupons Used

$2 off CVS Skin Care
$2/$10 CVS Purchase CRT
$2 off Pert Plus
$2/$10 CVS Purchase
$1 ECB

Total OOP - $5.25
$5 mail-in rebate for school supplies
Real OOP - .25

Second Transaction

One Children's Advil at $5.79
One CVS Hand Sanitizer at $1.19

Total OOP - $4.28
Total ECBs Earned - $5.79

Third Transaction

Two Excedrin PM at $2.50 each
One Pampers Cruiser at $8.88
One CVS Hand Sanitizer at $1.19

Coupons Used
$1.50 off Pampers
$2 off CVS Skin Care
$2.50 off Pain Reliever CRT
$2/$10 CVS Purchase
$5.79 ECB

Total OOP - $1.45

Fourth Transaction

Two Excedrin Migraine at $2.50 each
One Pampers Cruiser at $8.88
One CVS Hand Sanitizer at $1.19

Coupons Used
$1.50 off Pampers
Two $2 off Excedrin
$2 off CVS Skin Care
$2/$10 CVS Purchase
$4 ECB

Total OOP - $1.99


Fifth Transaction

One Crest Whitening at $2.49
Two Colgate Advanced Whitening at $2.99
One Children's Advil at $5.79

Coupons Used
.50 off Crest
Two $1.50 off Colgate
$2/$10

Total OOP - $9.25
Total ECBs received - 11.49

Sixth Transaction
One Pampers at $8.88
Three Dawn at .88 each
One CVS Hand Sanitizer at $1.19

Coupons Used
$1.50 off Pampers
Three .50 off Dawn
$2 off CVS Skin Care
$2/$10
$1.50 ECB
$4 ECB

Total OOP - .40

Seventh Transaction

One Pampers at $8.88
Two Dawn at .88 each
One CVS Hand Sanitizer at $1.19
One Jumbo Push Pop at .99

Coupons Used
Two .50 off Dawn
$1.50 off Pampers
$2 off CVS Skin Care
$2/$10
$5.79 ECB

Total OOP - .71

Eighth Transaction

One Colgate at $2.99
One Children's Advil at $5.79
One CVS Hand Sanitizer at $1.19

Coupons Used
$1 off Colgate
$2 off CVS Skin Care
$2/$10

Total OOP - $5.33
ECBs Earned - $7.49

Ninth Transaction

One Pampers at $8.88
One CVS Hand Sanitizer at $1.19

Coupons Used
$1.50 off Pampers
$2 off CVS Skin Care
$2/$10
$2 ECB

Total OOP - $2.81


Tenth Transaction

One Colgate at $2.99
One Jumbo Push Pop at .99
One CVS Hand Sanitizer at $1.19
Two American Greetings Cards at $2.59 each

Coupons Used
$2 off Colgate CRT
$2 off CVS Skin Care
$2/$10
$2.59 BOGO American Greetings Card

Total OOP - $2.02


Total CRTs for the Day
$2 off Colgate
$4/$20 Playskool purchase
$2/$10 CVS Brand purchase
$4/$20 Playskool purchase
$2.50 off Nuprin

Total OOP for Day - $29.49
Total ECBs Spent - $23.08
Total ECBs Earned - $24.77
Real Total OOP - $26.80

For ten transactions at all of that stuff, I am not unhappy. It is more than I would normally spend, but I got five packs of diapers and that would have been more than $60 normally!
I was also able to get the two packages of art paper for my daughter to hold as a Christmas present and also two Push Pops to hold for weekly incentives in school.
I am really pleased overall.

$5 Charity Challenge

I am taking part in BeCentsable's Charity Challenge this week.
I was able to take 17 boxes of cereal, four bottles of Pert Plus and two bottles of Dawn to the Christian Food Bank yesterday for only $4.04. I was also able to take $10 in art supplies and eight bottles of hand sanitizer to my daughter's school for nothing thanks to rebates.
I was not able to get a picture because I went straight from shopping to the food bank and school, but I can tell you how I did it.
Earlier in the week, I went to Walgreens and purchased four boxes of Special K with coupons and spent $4.76. However, they gave me back a $5 Catalina, so I actually made .24.
I bought the two bottles of Dawn at CVS because they were on sale for .88 each and I had coupons to .50 off each one. Since I stocked up when they were 2/$1 in June, I definitely could stand to give a few away! Since I did ten transactions while I was there, I was able to get eight bottles of CVS hand sanitizer for nothing with my $2 off a CVS Skin Care product coupon.
Then, yesterday I went to Walmart and found Malt-O-Meal cereal on sale for $1 a bag. I have been saving the $1 off coupons for weeks now, so I had 13 of them. Since those of you who have seen my pantry know that I have no need for cereal, I gave those as well.
In this week's coupon inserts, there is a rebate form for $5 in school supplies when you buy two bottles of Pert Plus or Sure deodorant. My mom gave me her rebate form and coupons to use as well.
Pert Plus is $2.88 a bottle at Walmart, so I took four $2 off coupons and bought them for .88 each. Then I bought $10 in school supplies to redeem for rebates. I donated six boxes of 24-count Crayola crayons, one 1000-count craft sticks, a bag of art feathers and a bag of stick-on googly eyes to my daughter's kindergarten class. Her teacher is really big on art projects, so this just gives them more supplies to choose from!

I Was Chosen for a Fisher Price House Party!

Hooray!!!
I was chosen to host a Fisher Price House Party. I am so excited! I am not sure exactly what toys we will be receiving, but from what I have been able to find online, this will be an awesome way to stock up for Christmas!
This is such a hectic time in our family, but I applied before everything started happening, and there is only one weekend to have it, so I think I can handle one afternoon!
I am so excited!

Walgreens Trip for under $1

I picked up a few things yesterday at Walgreens. It took three transactions to use the coupons, but it was worth it!

First Transaction

Four boxes of Special K at $2.50 each

Coupons Used
One BOGO and three $1 off that I received from Vocalpoint

Total OOP - $4.76
Catalina Received - $5 (I plan to use this with the Pert Plus/Sure $5 school supply rebate from this week's coupon inserts)

Second Transaction
One Glade Pet Fresh Spray Cleaner at $2.99
One Carefree Pantiliner at .99

Coupons Used
$1.50 Glade in-store coupon
$1.50 off Glade
.50 off Carefree

Total OOP - .72

Third Transaction
One Carefree Pantiliner at .99

Coupons Used
.50 off Carefree

Total OOP - .55

Kroger Trip and more coupons to giveaway

I was so excited yesterday! All of this only cost me $30.xx, and after I send in my rebate forms from this week's coupon inserts of Kelloggs, it will only be $10! I thought Kroger still had the ongoing deal with buying 10 certain items and getting $5 off your order, but that was over Saturday. If that was the case, this would have all been free!
I got four gallons of Kroger milk, four loaves of Kroger bread, four boxes of Rice Krispies Treats, four boxes of Yogo Bites, eight boxes of Eggo waffles, four boxes of Poptarts, and two bags of Keebler's cookies.
So, how did I do it? I used the insert with the $10 rebate form along with those coupons as well as several from a "Fuel for School" coupon brochure they were giving away. I picked a lot of them up, and I am going to be giving a few away. If you are interested, all you have to do is link back to this posting in your blog and then leave me a message to let me know you did it. If you subscribe to my blog, then you can have a second entry! I will pick winners in one week. Next Wednesday I will choose three winners to have these coupons! Then you can shop for next to nothing too!

Formula and Carowinds Discount winners

I had two people who asked for the formula checks, so I will be giving each one of them a check for $5 off. However, I was able to contact Julie, but I do not have an address for Jennifer. So Jennifer, please get back to me with your address! Thanks!
The Carowinds discounts go to Steph. Hope you have a great time. I love that park!

This week's coupon giveaway

I know it is still technically Sunday, but the little one has me still awake, so I am going to go ahead and post the contest for this week.
More Christmas themed questions, but I guess this could be considered just a gift question as well.
What is your favorite inexpensive present to give? We have done everything from baking and hand-delivering cookies to personalizing gift baskets. What is your best suggestion? And how do you get your children involved?
My older daughter, who is 6, helps me each December to bake for friends and family. "Cookie Day" is a favorite tradition around here. Hand decorated cookies with cards written in kindergarten script are definitely something for everyone.
So, what about you? What do you do?
I will choose a random winner on Saturday afternoon. See you then. Good luck!

It's Been A While

Things have been pretty hectic around here while I have been waiting on my dad's surgery, but I figured blogging would help pass the time today, so here are some deals I have found that I thought you would enjoy!

More Kotex coupons here. These are for $1 off, so you can get the small pack at Walmart for free!
More Malt-O-Meal coupons here. If you take these to Walmart, you can sometimes get them for free also!
More Johnsons Buddies soaps here. Again, free at Walmart! You can also have it mailed to you here.
These South Beach Diet Drinks are free here. These are for $2 off a box, and they are on rollback at Walmart right now for $2 each.

Even if these are not things that you use, I encourage you to pick them up on your next trip and then give them to a local food pantry or send them to soldiers overseas. I keep the soaps for Operation Shoebox at Christmas or for stockings. Bless someone else with your stockpile!

And the winner is...

This week's winner is Mandy. I have contacted her and she has until midnight Sunday/Monday to contact me with her address to claim her coupons. If I don't hear from her by then, I will choose another winner. Thanks for all of your information and interest and please come back Monday afternoon for the next contest!