Walgreens and My Take on CVS!

I quickly scanned the Walgreens and CVS flyers this morning and there is nothing that I needed, but here are the deals in case someone else can use them:

Walgreens:

Ecotrin Tablets -45 ct- $ 2.00 - Use $ 2.00 Mfrs. Cpn - Get a $ 2.00 RR - Make $ 2.00

Bic Soleil or Comfort 3 Disposable Razors - $ 4.99 - Use $ 3./1 Mfrs Cpn = $ 1.99 - receive a $ 1.00 RR = $ .99

Bayer Breeze 2 or Contour Meters( Limit 1) - Use Free Mfrs. Cpn = Free plus get $ 10. RR( It also advertises $ 10.00 MIR in Box but if you get it Free I am not sure they will honor the rebate)- MONEYMAKER!

CVS: I see no real deals this week! Does anyone else?

Money Saving Challenge - 5/30

I am taking most of the day off today to read and enjoy our pool. So most of my money saving challenge today is about my shopping at Bashas this morning. But there are lessons to be learned on what I bought and why. While I was out I also deposited at the bank, 3 checks from rebates that I received the last few days, and I went to the PO with the mail. I also plan on doing one load of wash in cold water and hanging it to dry so as to not heat up my air conditioned home.

Breakfast this morning was toast made from my homemade cinnamon raisin bread. It was delicious. I plan on making French toast with it tomorrow. Lunch will be roast beef sandwiches. Dinner will be flounder which I am going to coat with my homemade breadcrumbs and use my deep fryer to cook outside on the patio table. We will have a tossed salad with the fish.

But here is my Bashas shop and at the end, I will tell you why I bought what I did.


Bashas:

4 - 2 ltr. bottle of Tonic - $ .69 each

1 Value Pack of Chuck Roasts on sale for $ 1.57 a lb x 4.93 lbs. = $ 7.74

1 pkg. of English Muffins - $ 1.89

1 Crusty Bread - $ 1.49

3 lbs. of Fresh Flounder on sale for $ 3.99 lb = $ 11.97

1.07 lbs. of Bashas Top Round Roast Beef - $ 9.99 lb = $ 10.69

2 International Delight Creamers - $ 1.99 each - Used $ 1./1 IP coupons Dbled = Free


Used $ 5./30. Bashas Cpn

Total OOP was $ 31.54!

Bashas has the cheapest price on Tonic that I have found in the area. It is their Fiesta brand. Tonic is tonic so why pay more. We use it with our lime gin for gin and tonics.

Did anyone notice that the package of meat in the picture was not the chuck roasts that I purchased? That is because I bought the roasts at $ 1.57 a lb and then asked the butcher to grind it for me. There is nothing better than ground chuck for hamburgers. They are so juicy! By buying the roasts when they are on sale, I get to control the amount of fat and the price is so much cheaper than what I can buy ground beef for. With ground beef, I have no idea what part of the cow it is from. By buying the chuck roasts, I know it is ground chuck. I have a meat grinder attachment for my Kitchen Aid mixer but when the butcher is willing to do it for free for me, I let him. Now, after dividing the meat up into portions with my Tilia Foodsaver, we have enough ground chuck for 6 meals which costs us $ 1.29 a meal for meat.

We needed English Muffins and the store brand was the cheapest. The crusty bread and roast beef are a treat since we have not gone out to a restaurant for lunch or dinner in over a month. It was a split second splurge when I saw how rare the roast beef was. We love really rare roast beef. Instead of spending more than $ 12.18 for the 2 of us to go to lunch, this same amount of money will make three lunches.

We, very rarely, can get fresh flounder here in AZ. When I saw the fresh flounder, which we love and saw it at such a great price, I bought enough for 4 meals. We will have one tonight and I froze the rest for other meals.

The creamers were badly needed and they were free after double coupons. Thanks to KC at http://www.desertdealsdiva.blogspot.com/ I had the $ 5.00/30.00 coupon to defray the cost of my splurge! Thanks so much KC!


As usual, please feel free to share with all of us what you did to save money today by leaving a comment!

Money Saving Challenge - 5/29

Today was a semi busy day! After getting up this morning and taking my navy shower, I made oatmeal for breakfast served with our usual juice and coffee.

After breakfast, I decided to make a loaf of cinnamon raisin bread in my breadmaker. The recipe is here:

http://www.eatbetteramerica.com/Recipes/cooking-method/bread-machine/bread-machine-cinnamon-raisin-bread.aspx

This is DH's favorite bread. We will be toasting it for breakfast in the morning. I have broken down my costs here:

1 cup + 2 Tbsp. of water = too minimal to figure the cost

2 Tbsps. of Butter - $ .03 ( purchased a lb. with coupons for $ .50)

3 cups of Bread flour - $ .24 ( I base this on 4 cups of flour in a lb. and I bought a 4 lb bag a long time ago for $ 1.29)

3 Tbsps. of Sugar - $ .02 ( I base this on 2 cups of sugar in a pound and I bought a 4 lb. bag a while ago for $ .99)

1 and 1/2 tsps. of salt - too minimal to figure the cost

2 and 1/2 tsp. of bread machine yeast- $ .25 for approx. 1 packet bought on sale with a coupon

1 tsp. cinnamon - too minimal to figure cost

2/3 cup of raisins( my machine will only add in this amount)-approx. $ .83 based on the size bag I had that cost $2.00. I am sure I could buy these cheaper at the $ .99 store.

But anyhow using my costs, this 1 and 1/2 lb. loaf cost me $ 1.37. Since I would pay at least $ 1.89 for a loaf here at the bread store, I save $ .52. Even if you figure in the minimal salt, water and cinnamon which probably cost no more than a $ .05, it still saves $ .48 and mine is a better loaf free of all the preservatives and other crap that they put in store bought bread. But to be really accurate, I found an energy calculator online and determined that it cost me $ .06 in energy costs so if I subtract that from the $ .48, I still save $ .42 for a few minutes of work! Your costs will vary from mine. I know that I can get the cost down by buying my raisins on sale or at the dollar store. I could also use dried fruit like cranberries from Walgreens for $ 1.00 a box.

The first picture is the finished product cooling. The second is all the ingredients warming to room temperature before I put them in the breadmaker. My house smells so nice right now.

About noontime, I put the crockpot outside on the patio table to cook dinner. We will be having beef stew. I took the ends of the whole beef tenderloin t that I bought the other day and cut them up into stew beef. I threw those into the pot along with some cooked onion slices. Since I didn't have any canned cream soup, I made my own to add to the pot. I put

into a saucepan the following and then stirred it until it boiled:




1 and 1/2 cups of milk



3 Tbsp. of cornstarch



3/4 cup of beef broth and a few sprinkles of powdered beef bouillon



a dash of salt and pepper




I then added this and 1/2 packet of onion soup mix to the crockpot. We will have this served over brown rice with green beans served on the side.




For lunch, we hard boiled some eggs so that DH could make egg salad on crackers.




This afternoon I am continuing some bread recipe research. We also had a nice chat with our grandaughter and DIL using the webcams which made us very, very happy! We also plan on going for a swim in the pool and having our cocktail of choice out there before dinner.




So I again will not be going out spending money or using any gasoline.


We are also continuing to save on energy through the everyday ways.


The mail today brought me the $6.00 refund form for UPS shipping from Lucky! Thanks Lucky! I also received a $ 10.00 check. And I was also able today to order another gift certificate from Swagbucks. I almost forgot to tell you that I got my Free Mars Chocolate today also!

Entertainment tonight will be a DVD - most likely The Bucket List!


As usual, feel free to share what you did to save money today by leaving a comment and sharing with all of us.

Money Saving Challenge - 5/28

Since I never woke up this morning until 10:45 PM, it has been a slow day. DH had his cereal, oj, and coffee for breakfast. I never ate breakfast but waited until lunch. We each had some leftover pizza for lunch.

This afternoon I cleaned up my snack shelf. I consolidated small snack bags, bars, hard candy and granola bars into their own baskets. This makes it easier to just grab what you need especially when we are going out the door to run errands. I always take water since it is so hot here. But I also like to grab a small snack so that I am not tempted to buy one on the road.

I also spent some time cleaning out files of old paperwork and shredding many documents.

Since our federal government is now talking about a 25% National Sales Tax on top of us all paying federal income taxes, I have started to seriously plan and research making most things from scratch again. The people in Washington say oh, we are not seriously planning on instituting this, which tells me, it is a given. The amount may change but I believe it is a given. Since they have spent so many trillions of our tax dollars bailing out companies that I do not want to own and they want to pay for the healthcare of drug addicts who don't get off their lazy butts to work a job, I believe this is the way they are going to pay for it. I have seen alot of politics in my many, many years on this earth, but this is the worst ever. What is wrong with making your own way in life, spending below your means and saving for your future? Our government should be doing the same instead of spending itself into oblivion and harming our childrens' and grandchildrens' futures with taxation. Too many people feel they are entitled to everything and the government should pay for it. Before, anyone gets upset, I am not talking about the people who are unemployed today through no fault of their own but because of this horrible economy. I truly empathize with those people and have no probem with them getting the benefits that are due them. I am talking about the people who feel entitled to everything but don't want to work for it. They are the ones that disgust me and I am truly upset that my government wants to take money away from me to pay for them. This is my opinion and I am entitled to it. Some of you may agree with me, some not, but that is called freedom of speech! I am off my soapbox now!

But because of this I intend on making as many things from scratch as possible since this will reduce the amount of products I have to purchase and the amount of sales tax I will have to pay. So I have started a list and I am researching every possible product that I can make rather than purchase. I will be using as few products as possible! In the meantime, I will be stocking on every free item until this gets passed into law! Hopefully by the time that happens, I will have quite the stockpile. I expect by the end of the year, a decision will be made and I will be ready!

We are still keeping lights off until dark and using most of our electrical appliances outside of the peak hours of 1-8 PM. Our A/C which is a necessity here in the desert is set at 81 during those hours. Most cooking is done on the outoor grill or in the microwave.

Since, we drove nowhere today, no gasoline was used and no money was spent. A lot of the money we save is through the use of not doing things. I don't know if you have been keeping track but we have not been out to dinner at a restaurant in over a month. Nor have we gone to a movie. We try to do as much free entertainment as possible: fancy meals at home cooked at 20% of the cost of a restaurant meal, free DVD rentals, walks, board games, research projects, swimming in our pool, free things to do about town, etc. In other words, we make our own fun!

My mail today brought me a $3.00 check, a sample of Mighty Leaf tea and coupons, a sample of Aveeno Shampoo and Conditioner and coupons, and coupons for Alexia snacks and a rebate form.

Tonight, for dinner, we will be making Chicken Caesar Salads using up the last 2 chicken breasts that DH grilled outside two nights ago. I had some rolls in the freezer that I thawed and we will be having those with it. Dessert, which we rarely have, will be peach cobbler.

After dinner, I will be doing some more recipe research and some reading.

As usual, please feel free to leave a comment and share with us what you did today to save money.

Money Saving Challenge - 5/27

I was so busy doing Super Dollar Doubles at Basha's today that I really didn't do but a few other things to save money. But here they are:


1. Breakfast was cereal, juice and coffee for DH. I just had a granola bar and coffee because I was in a hurry to get shopping.


2. Made 2 trips to Bashas after pulling some coupons and grabbing my coupon binder which I took with me.


3. Washed one load of clothes in cold water on off peak hours using the minimum of laundry detergent that my DIL gave me before they moved. I hung them to dry before I went out.


4. I plan on making bread tomorrow in the bread machine so I put all the dry ingredients in a container so I can do that quickly in the morning.


5. Lunch was cheese and crackers.


6. Did some online research today on how to save money by switching Cable TV and/or internet carriers. I have not decided if I am going to do that yet.


7. Received $20.00 in Rebates in the mail.


8. Dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow cost us $ 1.09! I saw on the Pinching Your Pennies Forums which is here:

http://www.pinchingyourpennies.com/ on the Arizona forum that I could sign up on Papa John's site and if I was one of the first 2500 to do so that I would receive a code in my e-mail to order a Large One Topping Pizza for $ 1.00 plus tax. The deal is only good today. I signed up in time and recieved the code. I ordered online and since Papa John's is only 1 block away, I opted to pick it
up so only paid $ 1.00 plus $ .09 in tax! This was a great deal! I can't make a pizza for that price. So the chicken salad that we were going to have has been pushed off until tomorrow.


9. Tonight, we will be swimming in the pool and afterwards I will be reading for entertainment.

Another Bashas Run!

I made a run to the Bashas that is only a block away. Since they will only double 3 coupons on any item, I did 2 separate orders. But I am consolidating them. This is what I purchased:

Bashas:

6 Mahatma Rice Mixes - $ .69 each - used $ .75/2 Mfrs. Cpns Dbled = Free

6 Ronzoni Smart Taste Pastas - $ 1.69 each - Used $ 1./1 Mfrs. Cpns = Free

3 Whiskas Temptations - $ 1.67 each - Used $ 1./1 Mfrs. Cpns Dbled = Free

Total OOP was $ .00!

Let Me Tell You What Basha's Is Doing!!!!!!!!!!!

Basha's was JACKING PRICES on coupon items right before my eyes this morning. I was there very early this morning and I actually followed the girl that was doing it around the store. I had gone to Bashas yesterday when I picked up my Movie Cube movie and perused the prices so I know they have been JACKED! She was getting telephone calls on her mobile phone and putting prices in while she was on the call. So, so much for great deals with Super Dollar Double coupons. That said, I did get a few things that I had large coupons for that we love but don't buy very often because they are so expensive. I also bought another filet in the bag that the meat manager cut for me into 1 and 1/2 inch filets and put the ends in another package for me because I use them for stew. So my grocery budget for the month has gone out the window and I dont' care because Super Dollar Doubles does not happen very often! This is what I purchased:


Bashas:


1 Whole Beef Tenderloin in the Bag(butcher cut it for me) - on sale for $ 5.87 a lb. = $ 39.33


3 Michael Angelo Entrees - $ 3.99 each - Used $ 1.50/1 Mfr. Cpns Dbled = $ 1.99 each


1 dozen Bashas Extra Large Eggs - $ 1.49 - $ 1.00 Markdown coupon = $ .49


2 Marie Callendars Cobblers - $ 4.99 each - Used $ 1./1 Mfrs. Cpn Dbled = $ 2.99 each


3 Crystal Light - $ 2.50 each - Used $ 1./1 IP Cpns Dbled = $ .50 each


2 cans of Dole Pineapple Chunks - $1.00 - Used $ .50/1 Mfr. Cpns Dbled = Free


3 boxes Smart Food Cranberry Almond Snacks - $ 2.99 each - Used $ 1./1 Mfrs. Cpns Dbled = $ .99 each


3 Grey Poupon Deli Mustard - $ 2.99 - Used $ 1./1 IP Cpns Dbled = $ .99 each


1 Healthy Choice Natural Entree - $ 2.50 - Used $ 1./1 Mfrs. Cpn Dbled = $ .50


6 Jello SF Puddings - $ 1.19 each = $ 7.14 - Used $ 1./3 IP Cpns Dbled = $ 3.14 for all 6


1 Jose Ole Taquitos - $ 3.99 - Used $ 1./1 Mfrs. Cpn Dbled = $ 1.99


2 Land O Lake Seasonings $ 2.99 each - Used $ 1./1 IP Cpns Dbled = $ .99 each


3 bottles of Martinelli Sparkling Cider - $ 3.49 - Used $1./1 Mfrs. Cpns Dbled = $ 1.49 each


3 Nabisco Premium Saltines - $ 2.99 each - Used $ 1./1 IP Cpns Dbled = $ .99 each


3 Ronzoni Smart Taste Pastas - $ 1.69 each - Used $ 1./1 Mfrs. Cpns Dbled = Free


3 lbs. Smart Balance 50/50 Butter Blend - $ 2.99 - Used $ 1./1 Mfrs. Cpns Dbled = $ .99 each


1 Tyson Anytizer Wings - $ 3.33 - Used $ 1./1 Mfrs. Cpn Dbled = $ 1.33


Used $ 5./50. Catalina that I got a couple of weeks ago


Total OOP was $ 73.56
Total Coupon Savings was $ 74.00!

Money Saving Challenge - 5/26

I hope everyone had a fun and relaxing Holiday weekend. It felt really good to take the weekend off. Now it is back to what I do everyday to save money! So here are today's things:








1. Breakfast was from the stockpile: eggs once over easy and ham, juice and coffee.








2. Did a My Points survey; earned swagbucks points; got a swagbucks certificate which I have added to my Amazon account.








3. Started my Super Double Dollar shopping list for Bashas.








4. Rearranged my freezer so that I have more room for sale items this week.








5. Assessed what, in the refrigerator needs to be used up in the next few days before anything goes bad. Throwing food out is a big waste of money.








6. Made the marinade so that my chicken can marinate for a couple of hours before DH grills it.








7. I went to Famous Footwear today and found a pair of walker sneakers that I loved. They were $ 49.99, on sale for $ 29.99 and I used a 20% off coupon that was in their flyer this weekend. I paid with a merchandise credit. I still have almost $7.00 left in merchandise credit. I also made sure to give my rewards card so that I get points.





8. Thanks to KC, whose blog is here: http://desertdealsdiva.blogspot.com/

I was able to sign up for Movie Cube and use a Free Code they gave me to rent Valkyrie for DH and I to watch tonight. While I was at Bashas doing this, I picked up some badly needed OJ for $ 3.49 which I will take off my budget.





9. On the way home, I went to the PO with the mail and to CVS to pick up DH's prescription, so as to run all errands in a circle, trying to save on gas. The prices are really escalating here.





10. DH and I had some Hickory Farms cheese and summer sausage for lunch that I got so cheaply after Christmas.





11. I did a wash load of sheets and hung them to dry. I also ran the dishwasher on off peak hours. I always try to use my appliances during the off peak hours. A/C is 81 on peak and 78 off peak.





12. UPS brought a nice full size sample from Pinecone for me to try and do a survey about. I am very excited about this sample.





13. DH and I went for a swim in the pool.





14. Mail was a $3.00 Rebate Check.







15. DH will be grilling outside for dinner. We are making Tex Mex Chicken. The recipe is here:



http://southernfood.about.com/od/chickenbreastrecipes/r/r70902b.htm?r=et



My son made this for dinner last night and he and his wife loved it; so we decided to give it a try.

I will be making Steamfresh Southwestern Rice in the microwave to go with it along with serving some applesauce.



16. I so love technology! We have been able to see and speak to our grandaughter, son and DIL, 3 of the last 4 days. They just got a new web cam and we had ours, so we are all connected now. I was so afraid that our grandaughter would forget us but she smiles so widely when she sees us on the screen! I miss her so much and miss hugging and kissing her, but this will have to suffice for a while. I also talked to my other son today via the cellphone he sent us. I am just loving it all!



17. Lucky whose blog is here: http://cookingluck.blogspot.com/ is sending me a $6.00 off $30.00 UPS shipping coupon to help defray the cost of shipping my grandaughter's birthday presents. Thanks Lucky!





As usual, feel free to leave a comment and share with all of us what you did to save money today.

Money Saving Challenge- 5/22

These are the things I did today to save money today:

1. Breakfast was Cheerios with bananas, juice, and coffee from the stockpile.

2. The mail today contained a Caregivers Marketplace check for $ 7.00, a Cash4Books.net(which you can find in my right sidebar) check for $ 5.00 for a book sold, my Free Traditional Home and More Magazines, a Free Gillette Shampoo coupon and a bunch of ConAgra coupons including the Hunt's Ketchup Free one.

3. I was able to order another Amazon.com gift certificate in my Swagbucks.com account. These just keep adding up for Christmas money.

4. Was able to sign up for my Free Mars Chocolate Bar today!

5. I went shopping again at Fry's after I pulled my coupons and made my list as shown in my prior post.

6. I picked up a smoothie at Jack in the Box while I was out using a 1/2 off coupon. That was my lunch. DH had tuna fish on crackers.

7. I deposited the two checks that came today in the bank.

8. I stopped into Babies R Us and picked up some baby gifts that were on clearance. I got 6 outfits and some organic mittens( the ones that keep the baby from scratching) for $ 28.

9. I washed 2 loads of clothes and hung them to dry.

10. Dinner tonight will be hot dogs grilled outside.

11. I will be reading tonight.

DH and I are taking the next three days to enjoy the holiday weekend. There will be lots of grilling out and swimming and just doing nothing. So I will not even be turning on the computer until Tuesday. So I will talk to you all then. Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend.

Feel free to leave a comment and tell us what you did to save money today!

A Friday Fry's Trip!

Since I had other errands to run, I decided to stop in Fry's for some more goodies. This is what I purchased:


Fry's:


1 Head of Lettuce - $ 1.17 - Used Free Produce Cpn worth $ 1.00 wyb 2 Kraft Salad Dressing = $ .17


2 Green Onions - $ .50 each - Used Free Produce Cpn as above = Free


3 Kroger Cheese Popcorn - 3 for $5.00(stocking while it is on sale)


2 Oral B Toothbrushes - $ 1.00 each - Used $ .75/1 Mfrs. Cpn Dbled = Free


1 - 32 oz Coffeemate - $ 3.59 (UGH! But I really needed it)


2 bags of David's Sunflower Seeds - $ .99 each - Used $ 1./1 IP Cpns - Made $ .01 on each


4 Canisters of Country Time Lemonade Mix - $ 1.00 each - Used $ 1.50/1 IP Cpns = $ .25 each


4 Kraft Salad Dressings - 3 for $ 5.00 - Used $ 1./1 IP Cpns = $ 2.67


Received $ .10 Cloth Bag Credit


Total OOP was $ 12.40 including $ .09 tax.


My rollover grocery budget was $ 18.15 minus the $ 12.40 I spent today leaves $ 5.75 for the rest of the month!

Fry's Again!

I am just loving Fry's this week. This is what I purchased today:

Fry's:

2 Crab Classic - $ 1.00 each - Used $1./1 IP Cpns = Free

1 Kraft BBQ Sauce - $ 1.00 - Used $ 1./1 IP Cpn = Free

3 Kroger Cheese Popcorn( DH loves this) $ 5.00 for all free - Used $ 3. Cpn OYNO order cpn = $ 2.00

4 Dial Handsoap - $ 1.00 each - Used $ .55/1 IP Cpns Doubled = Free

3 Oral B Toothbrushes - $ 1.00 each - Used $ .75/1 Mfrs. Cpns Doubled = Free

1 Reach Toothbrush - $ 1.00 - Used $ .50/1 Mfrs. Cpn Doubled = Free

2 Green Giants Niblets Corn - $ 1.00 - Used $ .50/1 IP Cpns Doubled & $ .50 Shortcuts Cpn = Made $ .50

1 Maruchan Yokisaba - $ .99 - Used $ .35/1 Tripled = Free

2 Kool Aid Canisters - $ 1.00 each - Used $ 1./2 IP Cpns = $ .50 each

Total OOP was $ 2.81 which included $ .31 tax.

My rollover grocery budget was $ 20.96 minus the $ 2.81 I spent today leaves $ 18.15 for the rest of the month!

Money Saving Challenge- 5/20

I have been so busy shopping today that I am really beat! These are the things I did today to save money:

1. Took my navy shower

2. Had an English muffin for breakfast before I went shopping for the day

3. I drove 16 miles each way to Old Navy to do some great gift shopping. KC, at

www.desertdealsdiva.blogspot.com

gave me a $45.00 off $100.00 coupon that she won. Thanks KC! So I picked up some items for a baby gift and some items for my grandaughter for her birthday and to put away for Christmas. I spent OOP $ 60. for $ 105. worth of clothing.

4. I stopped at SuperTarget, Safeway and Bashas on my 32 mile trip and got the deals that I posted in one of my two prior posts today.

5. I stopped at the Post Office to send the mail on it's way. Abigail's Mommy, I finally got out to send you the coupons and sample.

6. I stopped at the bank and deposited The Unilever Rebate check for $ 11.51.

7. I stopped at CVS to pick up a prescription refill. My co-pay is $30.00 but I had a $25.00 off coupon for a refill so only had to pay $5.00.

8. Then I stopped at Arby's and got lunch to go for DH and I. I got a Bleu Cheese Roastburger for me which gave me the last stamp on my card so I got the All American Roastburger for DH for Free.

9. I chatted with my son in Buffalo for about 45 minutes of his commute on the cellphone he gave me.

10. I made my list for Fry's and pulled coupons and went shopping this afternoon, getting the deals in my prior post. I will be working on another one tonight.

11. The mail today had my McKenzie Book order in it so I will be doing some reading tonight along with watching the finale of Criminal Minds.

12. I made a shrimp dish that I served over noodles for dinner along with some steamed broccoli.

13. I am so tired so I think I will be going to bed earlier than my normal 1 AM.

Please feel free to leave a comment about what you did to save money today!

Fry's: All this for $ .24 Tax!

Fry's is doubling, tripling and quadrupling this week. I got everything in this order for just $ .24 tax. This is what I purchased:

Fry's:

2 Lays Wavy Chips - on sale B1G1F - Used a Free Fry's Cpn = Both Free

6 Kraft BBQ Sauce - $ 1.00 each - Used $ .75/1 Mfrs. Cpns Doubled and $ 1./1 IP cpn = Free and I got a $ 3.00 Coupon good on my next shopping order

1 Maruchan Yakisoba - $ .99 - Used $ .35/1 Mfrs. Cpn Tripled = Free

9 BC Pouch Potatoes - $ 1.00 - Used $ .25/1 Mfrs. Cpn Quadrupled = Free ( their are shortcuts coupons also but I didn't want to go negative so removed them from my card before I went)

9 Weber Grilling Spices - $ 1.00 - Used $ .50/1 Mfrs. Cpn Doubled = Free

9 Dial Hand Soap - $ 1.00 - Used $ .35/1 Mfrs. Cpns Tripled = Free ( I know I said I wouldn't buy any more but we have a built in dispenser in our kitchen sink and I can use these to refill it rather than buy a big refill bottle!)

Total OOP was $ .24 which was all tax and I received a $ 3.00 coupon OYNSO!

My rollover budget was $ 21.20 minus the $ .24 I spent today leaves $ 20.96 for the rest of the month!

SuperTarget, Bashas and Safeway!

I made a 32 mile roundtrip to Old Navy today so I stopped at a few grocery stores on the way home. Here is what I purchased:

SuperTarget:

3 Smart Ones Entrees - $ .98 each on clearance

1 lb. bag of frozen cooked and deveined shrimp - $ 6.99

Total was $ 10.08 including $ .15 tax but nothing OOP because I used my Free Target Giftcard.

Bashas:

7 pkgs. of McCormick Grillmate Marinades - $ .50 each - Used $ .50/1 Mfrs. Cpns = Free

3.13 lbs. of Bananas - $ 1.85 - Used $ 1.oo off 3lbs. Bashas Cpn = $ .85

Total OOP was $ .85

Safeway:

1 pkg. of 93% lean ground beef - on sale for $ 1.77 a lb = $ 7.54

1 pkg. of Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts- on sale for $ 1.77 a lb = $ 5.82

Total OOP was $ 13.36

My rollover grocery budget was $ 35.41 minus the $ 14.21 I spent today leaves me $ 21.20 for the rest of the month!

Money Saving Challenge- 5/19

I have been busy the last few days working on a special project. These are the things I did today to save money:

1. Breakfast was homemade egg, ham and cheese English Muffin sandwiches.

2. DH had his root canal done today. He negotiated a cash price of $ 1068.75 which included a permanent filling. He also brought home a bag of toothpaste, floss and ibuprofen samples.

3. One load of laundry was washed in cold water in off peak hours and hung to dry. I also ran the dishwasher in off peak hours.

4. I started wrapping my grandaughter's birthday presents to get them ready to ship. I ran out of wrapping paper. Since paper is so expensive and she won't even care about the paper, I wrapped the rest in the Sunday comics. I used to do this for my kids presents when they were little.

5. I used my last piece of bread yesterday. So I made a loaf of whole wheat in the breadmaker today.

6. Dinner will be one that DH can eat after his root canal. I made really tender meatballs this morning and I am putting them in jarred sauce over pasta. We will also have homemade garlic bread using the homemade bread.

7. The mail today was a razor and coupon, a sample of Aveeno Shampoo and conditioner and a coupon, Woman's Day Magazine, All You magazine, the Home Made Simple Booklet with all the coupons and a $11.51 Unilever Rebate.

8. I washed the car using the bucket method to conserve on water. I soap up the car using a soapy bucket of water and then rinse with the hose. I used my homemade window cleaner solution to wash all the car windows.

9. I made a minor sewing repair on a shirt so as not to have to throw it out.

10. Made a jug of sun tea.

11. Made up a batch of homemade taco seasoning.

12. I bagged up all the wastebaskets into store grocery bags since garbage day is tomorrow. This lets me save the storebought tall kitchen garbage bags for just the kitchen.

13. I went through all of the books in the bookcase and pulled out some to donate to the library.

14. I didn't eat lunch today. I was to busy to stop what I was doing.

15. We will be watching some of the Season Finales on TV tonight for entertainment.

As usual, please feel free to leave a comment and tell us what you did to save money today.

CVS & Walgreens!

I have a busy day so I just picked up a few things quickly at CVS and Walgreens this morning. This is what I purchased:


Walgreens:


1 Shamrock Farms Milk(not in picture) - $ 1.89

1 Bays English Muffins - $ 1.50 - Used $ 1./1 Mfrs. Cpn = $ .50


Used $ 2.00 Register Reward


Total OOP was $ .39!



CVS:


6 Newspapers - $ 12.00

1 St. Ives Apricot Facial Scrub - $ 1.49 - Used $ 1.50/1 Mfrs. Cpn = Free

2 Hersheys Large Chocolate Bars - on B1G1F - Used $ 1./1 Mfrs. Cpn = Both for $ .99 ( I am adding these to my cookie chocolate stash in the freezer)


Total was $ 13.08 but nothing OOP because it was paid with a Free Prescription Giftcard.


My rollover grocery budget was $ 36.30 minus the $ .39 I spent today leaves $ 35.91 for the rest of the month.

Money Saving Challenge- 5/15

It is a beautiful, hot sunny day here! These are the things that I did today to save money:

1. Breakfast was waffles with maple syrup, coffee and juice.

2.Received $5.00 Swagbucks Gift Certificate which I have added to my Amazon account to up my Christmas fund.

3. I signed onto the Mars site this morning and was able to sign up for my free chocolate.

4. Today was take care of the refrigerator day. I wiped out the inside with vinegar and water that I put in a spray bottle. I used a white rag to wipe it all down. I cleaned the outside also. I like using vinegar on the inside to clean because it also gets rid of any food odors. I also vacuumed the coils so that it will run more efficiently and save me on electricity.

5. I pulled coupons and shopped for good deals on liquor as shown in my previous post.

6. I made out $14.00 in Rebates.

7. My computer has been off most of the day. A/C is at 81 during peak hours and 78 off peak. The pool pump only runs in off peak hours and just for 4 hours.

8. Lunch was cheese and crackers from my stockpile.

9. Dinner is cooking outside on my patio table in my roaster oven as shown in the picture above. This keeps the heat out of my air conditioned house and saves me energy using a small appliance instead of my big oven. I made enough meatloaf for dinner tomorrow night also.

10. I received a sample of Nivea Bodywash and coupons in the mail today.

11. I had some stale bread that I made homemade breadcrumbs out of in the food processor. I used those breadcrumbs, onions, a small can of tomato sauce, parsley, eggs, and worcestshire sauce to make the meatloaf. I topped it with some leftover canned French Fried onion rings that were in my pantry.

12. We went for a swim.

13. Dinner will be the meatloaf, boxed mac and cheese and some green beans.

14. Entertainment tonight will be some reading and we will watch the finale of Numbers.

As usual, please feel free to tell us what you did to save money by leaving a comment.

Bashas and Walmart!

It was a great time to stock the liquor supply for the summer. I also got a start on the Tombstone Utility Rebate. This is what I purchased:

Bashas Order # 1:

4 Sutter Home White Zinfandel - $ 4.99 each - Used $ 1./2 Winetags =$ 17.96 and I will send for a $4.00 Rebate

Total was $ 19.57 including tax and I will send for the $ 4.00 Rebate. Liquor does not come out of my grocery budget.

Bashas Order #2:

2 Seagrams Gin with Lime - $ 17.99 each - Used $6.00/2 Winetag = $ 29.98 and I will send for the $10.00 Rebate

4 Fiesta Tonic - $ .69 each

Total was $ 35.84 and I will send for the $ 10.00 Rebate! I will take $ 2.98 out of my budget for the soda.

SuperWalmart:

1 Thomas English Muffins - $ 1.97 - Used $ .50 Mfrs. Cpn = $ 1.47

2 Tombstone Pizzas - $ 3.33 each - Used $ 1./2 IP Cpn = $ 5.96

Total OOP was $ 7.43!

Money Saving Challenge- 5/14

I was not feeling well yesterday so not much was done around here except we had the Air Conditioning Company come out and do the annual check of our system. Everything is running perfectly. We would not want to have a problem in the hottest part of the summer plus we need to keep our 10 year warranty good by doing the check every year. It is $ 59. worth of insurance.

These are the things I did today to save money:

1. Breakfast was egg and cheese omelets, toast, coffee and juice.

2. I took a large box of toys and miscellaneous to UPS to ship to my son, DIL and grandaughter in New York. I saved $ 2.51 which was 5% of the cost by using my AAA Discount.

3. When I went to check the tire pressure on the van, I found that the digital pressure gauge battery was dead. So I went down to Battery Depot to get a new one and used a 10% off coupon. I came home and checked the tires and they did not need air. I like to keep them where they belong because it saves on fuel costs.

4. I pulled coupons and shopped at SuperTarget as shown in my prior post using my Free Target Giftcard.

5. I put dinner in the crockpot out on the patio table as you can see in the picture above. This keeps my house from heating up and making the A/C work harder.

6. I keep a running list of books that I want to purchase. These are books that I will read over and over again. Every once in a while, I check to see if I can get one of them cheaply buying online. Today I bought 4 of them used for just a little more than I would have spent for 1 at the sister site to Cash4Books.net which is called McKenzieBooks.com. I use Cash4Books.net to sell books because they pay both the postage and the best prices that I can get. I assume I will get just as great service buying books from their sister company.

7. Lunch was egg rolls that I pulled out of the freezer and heated in the microwave.

8. Took a survey for 1000 points today and ordered a $10.00 cash payment.

9. I received my Free Smart Money Magazine in the mail today. I will put it in a pile to sell to Bookmans when I am done with it. KC over at DesertDealsDiva gave me this wonderful tip as another way to make money( credit). Thanks KC!

10. As usual the lights are off until dark. My computer has been turned off most of the day. The A/C is at 81 from 1- 8pm and 78 the other hours.

11. Dinner tonight will be lemon pepper chicken which is cooking in the crockpot. I will serve brown rice and carrots with it.

12. DH and I will go for a swim tonight and then probably watch some TV.

SuperTarget!

I was off to SuperTarget this morning. This is what I purchased:

5 Kashi Go Lean Waffles - $ 1.77 each - Used $ 1.50 Mfrs. Cpns = $ .27 each

1 Gold N Plump Boneless Chicken Breasts - $ 5.49 - Used $ 1./1 Target Cpn and $ 1.50 IP Cpn = $ 1.99

Total OOP was $ 3.34 but nothing OOP because I used the $100. Target Giftcard that I got when I bought the vacuum!

I could have gotten the chicken cheaper but it wasn't worth the $ .22 in gasoline to go to Sprouts which was out of the way and I wanted the chicken for dinner.

Money Saving Challenge- 5/12-A Spendy Day!

Today has been far from a frugal day. Every once in a while we have a day like this. That is why we are so prepared for things that just happen. Here is the day in Precious's household in a nutshell:


We started out fine with cereal, coffee and juice for breakfast. Then I spoke to my son to check on when he is going to be in his marathon in the fall so we could schedule our trip to NY around that. When I hung up, I booked our airline tickets for a cost of $ 518.40 for the both of us. That is a really good price! I was happy to have that done and now I can concentrate on car rentals, boarding for the cat and saving money frugally for other expenses.

Then I looked online at our current electric bill, which was $ 124.89. They just read the meter yesterday. The bill was $50. less than the same sq. footage house with a pool here. However we used 250 KWH more than the same bill last year and I need to spend some time tonight trying to figure out why. It has been warmer this year than last but not that much warmer. Oh well, a mystery to solve!


I did some paperwork for the rest of the morning and we had salsa and chips for lunch. Then it was off to the dentist. We have a wonderful dentist here who knows we have no insurance and who does not rip us off for cleanings, etc. I was due for a cleaning which was $64. and DH had a cleaning, an exam and an X-ray for $107. Then came the bad news. DH has an abcess. He didn't even know it because he had no pain. The dentist gave him a prescription for an antibiotic and a referral to an orthodontist to get a root canal. Of course this is a molar so it will cost us $1100.+ or that is about what our dentist says is the industry standard. DH is making his appt. for a consultation so we will find out soon. UGH! Fortunately this is a tooth with a crown so we won't have to pay for that, just the material to plug it.

So after I came home and dropped DH off, I went out to fill his prescription. I had no coupon but the cost was only $5.00! I just got home. While I have been writing here, DH made the potato salad from the baked potatoes I made the other night. We will have that and ham for dinner.

I didn't even get any good mail today! Hopefully tomorrow will be a more frugal day.


Please feel free to leave a comment and let us all know what you did to save money today!

Money Saving Challenge - 5/10 & 5/11

As I said prior, it was a lazy, relaxing weekend but we did do somethings yesterday:


1. DH cooked filet mignon out on the grill for dinner. I threw 12 baking potatoes in the oven. We had baked potatoes with butter, sour cream and sliced green onion and a bag of Steamfresh green beans with it. If I am going to turn that oven on in the spring or summer(which I rarely do), I am going to make it count. We will have homemade potato salad for tomorrow night and for lunches. I love potato salad made from baked potatoes.


2. I talked to both of my sons and my sister yesterday. PRICELESS!


3. I ordered that purse I liked which was on sale using Ebates so that I would get a $2.00 rebate.


These are the things I have done today:


1. Took my Navy shower.


2. Ran the dishwasher on off peak hours and let them air dry.


3. Did one load of wash and hung it to dry.


4. DH and I went shopping at Hobby Lobby to pick up 7 items that we needed for a craft project that he is making for our grandaughter for her birthday. Two of the items were on sale for 30% off. He also bought a wood and glass frame for the American flag that was his Dad's which will also hold his Dad's Army medals. He has been looking for one for a long time. This one was big enough and we were able to use the 40% off coupon from yesterday's newspaper.


5. Breakfast was egg omelets and toast.


6.Did the last of the ad week shopping as shown in my prior post.


7. I stopped on the way home from running errands and picked up lunch for DH and I. We split mini sirloin burgers(3 of them), a small order of fries and a small Diet Coke from Jack in the Box. I had a coupon that gave us the fries and soda free when you bought the mini sirloin burgers so $ 3.99+ tax for lunch for both of us.


8. The mail only had a Dove Deodorant sample from Costco.

9. I spent a few hours today researching airline prices for tickets for the Fall.

10. I also spent some time researching costs to see if I can reduce our internet and cable without giving up quality of service.

11. Spent some time organizing our Master Bathroom closet and taking inventory. I don't think I have to buy any HBA for a long, long, time.

12. Dinner will be the potstickers DH made on Saturday evening. We will just heat them in the microwave. He made some more dipping sauce for this batch.

13. DH has been painting the craft project for our grandaughter's birthday.

14. Entertainment tonight will be reading and watching CSI- Miami.

15. I just printed out the $50.00 worth of Kraft coupons also. Good only today at their site.

As usual, please feel free to tell us what you did to save money today by leaving a comment. I love learning from all of you!

I Have Been Shopping All Morning!

DH and I went out shopping early this morning and then I went out alone a little later to get the last of the week's bargains. This is what I purchased:

The 99 Cent Store:

16 Dove Vitalizer Refill Packs - $ .9999 each = $ 16.00

3 WestSoy Soymilk - $ .9999 each = $ 3.00

1 Ground Cinnamon - $ .9999 = $ 1.00

1 Neil Simon's "The Goodbye Girl" DVD - $ .9999 = $1.00

Total OOP including $ 1.60 tax was $ 22.60!

SuperWalmart:

2 jugs of Pace Picante Sauce - $ 4.98 each - Used $ 4.00/1 Mfrs. Cpns = $ 1.96

1 Kraft Salad Dressing - $ 1.58 - Used $ 1.50/1 Mfrs. Cpn = $ .08

Total OOP was $ 2.04!

Albertsons:

2 - 3 pack boxes of Jolly Time Popcorn - $ 1.79 - Used $ 1.50/1 IP Cpns = $ .29 each

Total OOP was $ .58!

Basha's Trip #1:

3 - 8oz. Daisy Sour Cream - $ .99 each - Used $ .50/1 Mfrs. Cpns Dbled= Free

2 boxes of Betty Crocker Suddenly Salad - $ .75 - Used $ .40 Dbled = Free

Total OOP was $ .00!

Basha's Trip #2:

3 - 8oz. Daisy Sour Cream - $ .99 each - Used $ .50/1 Cpns Dbled = Free

Total OOP was $ .00!

Superstition Ranch Market:

1 bag of Yellow Onions - $ .69

2 Green Peppers - $ .25 each

2 Orange Peppers - $ .25 for both

10 Limes - $ 1.00

1 Celery - $ .89

Total OOP was $ 3.33!

Analysis:

This was really cheap for the refill packs for the vitalizers that I bought myself and for gifts. The soymilk is shelf stable and I like to have it handy for cereal and baking when I am out of milk. I needed cinnamon and this was a huge bottle for the price. I loved this movie so for $ .99 I splurged! :-)

We eat tons of picante sauce and salsa. Those coupons make it so cheap! I can't make it this cheap. Walmart had the best price on the salad dressing in the area. I need to stock for my pasta salads this summer. The popcorn was so cheap and we love popcorn. The sour cream and salads were Free! I needed produce and this produce market always has the best prices. I have the Free Strawberry coupon for Safeway but I couldn't see spending $10.00 on produce there just to get some free strawberries. Their prices are so much higher than the produce market. Sorry that one of the pictures is blurry! Click on it and enlarge it and it is a little better.

My rollover grocery budget was $ 67.83 minus the $ 28.55 I spent today leaves $ 39.28 for the rest of the month!

Since It's Mothers Day, I Bought Myself a Present!

I just loved this Vera Bradley purse. This is one of those times when I decided to spend some of the money that I have been saving for months on me.

First, I went through Ebates so that I could get an 8% rebate. Then I went to eBags and put Vera Bradley in search and looked for this model which is Sherry. They have 12 different colors. I purchased night owl because it will go with all of my blue clothes. I love the color blue. The bag is $24.99 (48% off retail) plus shipping! I can't wait for it to arrive!

CVS- A Coffee Deal Just In Time!

I said yesterday that I needed a coffee deal! Well, it doesn't get any better for us than this. We LOVE Dunkin Donuts Coffee. For these I did separate orders on two different cards. So this is what I purchased:


CVS Order # 1:


1- Bayer Quick Release Crystals - $ 2.00 - used $ 1.50 Mfrs. Cpn = $ .50 and I got a $ 2.00 ECB


5 Bags of Dunkin Donuts Coffee - $ 5.99 - Used $ 1.50 Mfrs. Cpns = $ 4.49 each


Used $ 5./30 CVS Cpn

Used $ 10.00 in ECB's


Total OOP was $ 7.95 and I received $ 2.00 in ECB's.



CVS Order # 2:


1 Bayer Quick Release Crystals - $ 2.00 - Used $ 1.50 Mfrs. Cpns = $ .50 and I got a $ 2.00 ECB


5 Bags of Dunkin Donuts Coffee - $ 5.99 - Used $ 1.50/1 Mfrs. Cpns = $ 4.49 each


Used $ 5./30 CVS Cpn


Used $ 2.00 in ECB's


Total OOP was $ 15.95 and I received a $ 2.00 ECB.


My rollover grocery budget was $ 91.73 minus the $ 23.90 I spent today leaves $ 67.83 for the rest of the month!

Money Saving Challenge - 5/9

I have pretty much taken this weekend off for Mother's Day. So you won't see a lot of money saving until Monday except for shopping. I did call my sister today since I have free weekends on my cellphone. Plus DH made these wonderful Chinese potstickers for dinner that you see above totally from scratch. We really pigged out on them for dinner because they were so good. DH also has some filling left but ran out of dough and didn't want to make more dough.
It makes a lot less than the recipe says especially since DH likes to make them big. After it taking him 1 and 1/2 hours to make the dough and fill them, I felt bad for him. I will pick up some wrappers for the rest tomorrow. So we will have these potstickers plus the new ones for dinner on Monday night. If anyone is interested, the dough recipe and filling recipe is here: http://chinesefood.about.com/od/potstickers/r/potstickers.htm

The Dipping Sauce Recipe is: http://chinesefood.about.com/od/saucesdipping/r/dumplingdip.htm

These were as good, if not better, than any dumplings we have had. The dipping sauce was incredible!


Happy Mother's Day to All of you Moms out there. Enjoy your day!

Fry's and Fresh & Easy!

DH has decided to cook dinner tonight and tomorrow night as my Mother's Day present. I can't think of anything better that I would rather have as long as he does the dishes. :-)

So I went out this morning to get a few things that he needed to cook tonight. Not all the ingredients are above that he needed. I have alot of them. Can you guess what he is making tonight?

This is what I purchased:

Frys:

Bok Choy at 1.99 a lb. - $ 2.43

Green Onions - $ .50

1- 39 oz. can of Kroger Premium Blend Coffee - $ 6.39

1 lb. Lean Ground Pork on sale for $ 2.99

1 bottle of Kroger Lite Soy Sauce - $ 1.99

Credit for 2 cloth bags - $ .10

Total OOP was $ 14.20!

Fresh & Easy:

4 lbs. of 80/20 ground beef on sale for $ 1.69 a lb. =$ 6.76

1- 18 ct. Large Eggs - $ 1.99

2 lbs. of Fresh Cherries - $ 1.99

1 Fresh & Easy Canvas Bag - $ .99 - used Free Fresh & Easy Coupon = Free

Total OOP was $ 10.79 including $ .06 tax on the bag.

Analysis:

The bok choy, green onions, soy sauce and ground pork were DH's request. I only have a couple of those 2 oz. Archer Farms Free Coffees left so I desperately needed coffee. I am hoping for a good sale before this can is gone. The ground beef was a good price for here. I would have gotten more but I am betting it will go lower by Memorial Day. I needed eggs and this was a decent price. The cherry price was phenomenal. Lastly, I am loving all the Free bag giveaways.

My rollover grocery budget was $ 116.72 minus the $ 24.99 I spent today leaves $ 91.73 for the rest of the month!

Money Saving Challenge- 5/8

Today was another productive day:

1. Breakfast was multigrain cheerios, orange juice and coffee.

2. DH pulled weeds and trimmed bushes today. He keeps up with it a little at a time so that we do not have to hire a landscaper.

3. I did a lot of organizing and pitching of stuff today. Most people who know me would say that I am quite organized and neat. But for some reason, stuff just seems to accumulate around here and it drives me batty. So today was one of the days to just pitch it.

4. I ironed the laundry that I washed yesterday. Always cheaper to use the iron than the dryer.

5. I gave myself a long overdue manicure today. I think I had one done professionally once when DH gave me a day at the spa. Except for that occasion, I can't see paying for a manicure especially with all the cheap and free polish I have here from CVS deals.

6. DH had a chefs salad for lunch. I had leftover ham from yesterday and an egg.

7. I took inventory of my soap and bodywash stash today. I show pictures in my prior post.

8. All lights were off until dark. The A/C is still at 81 and 78. I get my bill tomorrow and can't wait to see how I did this month.

9. I received $ 12.00 in Rebate Checks in the mail today.

10. Fed Ex surprised me with a Mother's Day gift from my son, DIL and grandaughter who just moved to NY. It was my very favorite: a box of Fanny May Milk Chocolate covered cherries. Most places that ship candy won't ship to AZ right now because of the heat. But this candy came in a special cold pack with dry ice. The chocolate cherries were perfect! So I called the kids to thank them and got to chat with my son for a while.

11. Dinner tonight was leftover chicken stir fry. YUM!!

As usual, please feel free to let us know how you saved money today by leaving a comment!

Soap Anyone?

I took inventory of my soap supply today. There are 83 bars of soap, 32 large bottles of bodywash, 16 smaller bottles of bodywash and 4 Softsoap Handsoap. Just unbelievable!

I also have almost full bottles of bodywash in the bathrooms and handsoap in the kitchen and all the bathroom sinks.

There are only 2 of us and it will take us a long, long time to use this. So if I buy anymore soap, will one of you please YELL at me!

Money Saving Challenge- 5/7

It was a very productive day in Precious's household. This is what we did to save money today:

1. We did not go out at all today which saved on gasoline and I spent no money.

2. DH vacuumed all of the furniture in the house today with our new Dyson. I have a long haired cat and it is just amazing how well this took the cat hair off furniture. My kitchen chairs look brand new which is amazing since that is where the cat likes to sleep.

3. Breakfast this morning was ham( from all that Free Target ham I got a few months ago), eggs, toast, coffee and juice.

4. I have always had 2 litter boxes for our cat. Today I decided I only need one. So I cleaned them both with water, bleach and dish soap. But I did not put the one in the laundry room back.

5. I washed the rugs that go under the cat's litter boxes in hot water and soap and hung them to dry.

6. I also did a load of clothes today in cold water with minimal soap and hung them to dry and washed a load of towels in hot water and dried those in the dryer.

7. DH and I decided that we no longer need our big artificial Christmas tree so he cut it up to put in the garbage. This saved us from having to take it to the dump and pay extra. We saved the top two portions which makes a perfect small tabletop tree and that is what we will decorate next year. This will also save us from having to buy a small tree.

8. Lunch was cheese and crackers.

9. I have new address pages for my planner. Since my family moves around so much, I decided it was time to copy the old ones over and add the new addresses and telephone numbers.

10. I filed all the coupons that have come in the mail the past few days. I like to keep my binder filed and up to date so I don't miss any great deals and can easily lay my hands on what I need when I need it.

11. I did some cleaning and organizing in the master bedroom.

12. The A/C is still set at 81 from 1-8pm and 78 the rest of the time. No lights till dark. My computer has been turned off most of the day.

13. I ran the dishwasher on off peak hours.

14. I talked to my son, Sean for an hour today on the cellphone he sent me. He and his wife are going to visit my son, DIL and my grandaughter this weekend. His wife has never met her niece so this should be a fun weekend for all of them. I am so glad that they are all getting together.

15. The mail today had a sample of Caress Body Wash, Vocalpoint coupons for Kashi GoLean Waffles - one of which was a free coupon, and a $3.00 survey check.

16. We spent some time today chatting with our neighborhood friends and catching up on what we are all doing.

17. I still have 2 chicken breasts left from when I cooked 6 the other night. At first I was going to make quick chicken parm for dinner. But I changed my mind. I will be making chicken and veggie stir fry which we will put over rice. We don't have dessert very often but I decided that we will have ice cream tonight.

18. Tonight we will probably watch CSI and then I will do some reading.

As usual, please feel free to tell us what you did to save money today by leaving a comment.

Money Saving Challenge - 5/6

This is what we did today to save money:

1. Breakfast this morning was cereal and bananas again, juice and coffee. I know boring! But we were in a hurry to do some errands this morning, the bananas needed to be eaten and this was easy.


2. We did the walk through with the property management company on the rental house for my DIL and son, who moved to NY, so that they would get their deposit back.


3. I did all of the shopping, making a list, and pulling coupons. The purchases are in the two prior posts.


4. We bought the Dyson Ball vaccum cleaner at SuperTarget that you see pictured above. It was on sale this week. We paid $ 531.12 in cash of which $ 32.12 was sales tax. We got a Free $100. Target Giftcard for making this purchase. Now you know where I got the free Target giftcard for my grocery purchases. Our vacuum cleaners were cheap ones and were 10 and 15 years old. They were not working so well anymore. DH has been looking at all the Dyson Ball vacuum cleaners and researching which would be best for us and prices for months. He has researched online and at QVC and HSN. So when this deal came out in the ad this week, he knew it was a good one. He figures we saved about $ 70. after getting the giftcard. We also will save money on buying bags because this is bagless. Since he does all the vacuuming in the house, he is thrilled. It wasn't long after we got home that he was using his "new toy" on all the carpeting and all the tile floors. Since we have a cat, it was amazing to me how much hair came out of the carpet.


5. Lunch was grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches.


6. I went to Leslie's Pool Supply and picked up a gauge that DH ordered and a new outdoor battery operated clock for our patio area. I paid with coupons that Leslie's gave us for the lousy customer service. Since the coupons are in certain increments, I used a $5.00 one and a $20.00 one and had to pay $ .35 OOP!


7. In the mail today, I got a wonderful envelope of coupons from my sister. Thanks Sis! I also received the coupons you see above from Fry's. Two of them are Free coupons: one for a bag of Ruffles chips and one for a Free Best Foods Mayonaise. The other coupons were all for things I use. I also received a $3.00 Staples Rewards for turning in an inkjet cartridge last quarter. I thought I had turned in 4 but the other 3 were turned in the beginning of April so I will have to wait for that $ 9.00 till the end of this quarter. And lastly, I got a $10.00 check from My Survey!


8. Dinner is going to be chicken, lettuce, cheese, black olive, fresh tomato and sour cream wraps.


9. TV tonight will be Criminal Minds.


10. That is it for today. I am BEAT! I am off to pour a nice glass of White Zinfandel and relax!


As usual. please feel free to post in comments what you did to save money today!

Bashas and Fry's!

The grocery ads were not very inviting as far as deals this morning. So unless I see something else that I didn't notice in my haste, this will be all the shopping until I go to Safeway later in the week. This is what I purchased:


Bashas:


5 lbs bag of store brand white rice - $ 4.99


2 Betty Crocker Suddenly Salad - $ .75 - Used $ .40/2 IP cpns dbled = Free


Total OOP was $ 4.99!



Frys:


1 gallon of Fry's Milk - $ 1.47


1 Oreo Cakesters - $ 2.50 - Used $ 1.50 Mfrs. Cpn wyb milk = $ 1.00


4 cans of Campbells Chicken Broth - on sale 2 for $ 1.00 - Used $ 1./2 IP cpns = Free


5- 2 ltr Diet Pepsi( only 4 in picture- I was so thirsty when I came in I opened one) on sale for B4G1F = $ 4.40 - Used $ 2.00 on any Pepsi purchase Mfrs. cpn = $ 2.40 for all


Senior Discount of 10% = $ .89

Used 4 Cloth Bags - Discount $ .20


Total OOP was $ 3.78!


Analysis:

We have not one kernel of white rice in the house and we use it all the time. Store brand was the best deal. The Betty Crocker salads and the soup were free. Milk was cheap and the cakesters were on sale. The Pepsi was cheap and I had one last coupon from the Pepsi coupon rebate deal to use up. Today was senior discount day so wanted to shop today to take advantage of that!


My rollover grocery budget was $ 125.49 minus the $ 8.77 I spent today leaves $ 116.72 for the rest of the month!

SuperTarget!

We had some errands to run today down past SuperTarget, so DH and I stopped and this is some of what we got. We made a large purchase also but I will detail that later today. But these are groceries we picked up:


1.48 lbs. of Fuji Apples - $ 2.50 - Used $ 1./1 Target Cpn = $ 1.50


5 Hersheys Bliss Candy Bars - $ .99 each = $ 4.95 - Used $ 1./1 Target cpns = made $ .05

4- 12 packs Diet Dr. Pepper - $ 3.00 each = $ 12.00 - Used $ 1./1 Target Cpns = $ 8.00

5 Chex Mix - $ .99 each - Used $ 1./1 Target Cpns = made $ .05


5 boxes of Quaker Granola Bites - $ 2.04 each - Used $ 1./1 Target cpns = $ 1.04 each


Total was $ 14.82 but nothing OOP because I used a Free Target Giftcard!


Analysis:

DH loves these apples so since I had the coupon, I got them for him. The soda is his favorite so I think between these Dr. Pepper and the Coke I bought in prior weeks, he should be set for most of the summer. The candy bars and Chex mix were moneymakers. The granola bites were cheap after coupon and I love to have these in the car in case I get hungry or have a low blood sugar attack while I am out shopping.

Money Saving Challenge - 5/5

These are my money saving things from today:

1. Breakfast was cereal with bananas again and coffee and juice. The bananas are getting ripe so we need to use them up.

2. Did some grocery shopping this morning as frugally as possible. See my prior post.

3. I had enough points from SwagBucks to order another Amazon.com Gift Certificate for my Christmas shopping.

4. Ran all of my errands in an efficient circle to save on gasoline.

5. Deposited the $ 9.00 Rebate check that I received yesterday in our bank account.

6. Lunch was the rest of the steakburgers( grilled outside to save on energy) on buns with pickle and chips.

7. I took my Navy shower this morning as usual. This not only saves on energy but saves a lot of water when you do it faithfully all year long. Water conservation is very important especially in the Southwest.

8. Dinner is in the crockpot out on the patio table. I am cooking 6 chicken breasts in Buffalo Wing Sauce. We will have this with brown rice and a salad. I will use the other 4 breasts in other quick meals this week.

9. Fed Ex delivered my French Cocktail Houseparty Package this morning.

10. The mail brought the Pillsbury Cooking for Two Recipe Booklet! The recipes look easy!

11. Our local paper Easy Valley neighborhood paper had a Red Plum in it. I guess I will have to cut and file coupons again tonight while I watch NCIS!

12. I also want to make my grocery list for tomorrow for Albies and Frys since it is Senior Discount Day if I can find the ads online.

Feel free to let us know what you did to save money today by posting in comments!

CVS, Walgreens, Petsmart!

Here is the shopping I did this morning:


CVS:


1 Tropicana Orange Juice - $ 3.00 - Used $ 1./1 Mfrs. Cpn = $ 2.00


1- 80 ct Hefty Tall Kitchen Garbage Bags - $ 6.99 - Used $ 1./1 Mfrs. Cpn = $ 5.99


Used $ 5.00 in ECB's


Total OOP was $3.12 of which $ .13 was tax.



Walgreens:


2- Pert Shampoo for Men - 2 for $ 5.00 - Used $ 1.50/1 Mfrs. Cpns = $ 2.00


Total was $ 2.40 including $ .40 tax but nothing OOP because I used my Walgreens Rebate Giftcard and I received a $ 2. Register Reward good on my next shopping order.



Petsmart:


3- 30lb. Tidy Cat Scoopable Cat Litter( only one pictured; they are heavy to lift) - $ 8.99 each - Used $1./1 Mfrs. Cpns = $ 7.99 each


Used $ 5./25. Petco IP Cpn


Total OOP was $ 20.74 including $ 1.77 in tax.


Analysis:

We were down to our last couple of glasses of orange juice which DH drinks every morning. I was going to CVS anyhow so got it there since it was on sale. I had two tall kitchen garbage bags left and this 80 ct. box was a good price at CVS this week especially when I could apply ECB's toward the purchase. DH wanted to try the Pert so Free was a great price. I just wish I could find the TMF sticker to send for the rebate. Does anybody have an extra?

I desperately needed cat litter since I emptied the last bucket. This was a good price especially since the containers were bonus size with an extra 3 lbs. each. and I knew they took competitors coupons so I stocked.


My rollover grocery budget was $ 149.35 minus the $ 23.86 I spent today leaves $ 125.49 for the rest of the month!

Money Saving Challenge - 5/4

This is what I did to save money yesterday and today:


1. I made my CVS list and pulled my coupons and ECB's and shopped frugally for the few things we needed. See my prior post.


2. I made all meals from the stockpile yesterday, Breakfast was a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich. Lunch was salsa and chips. Dinner was leftover mac and cheese and broccoli.



3. I cut all of yesterday's insert coupons.


4. Most of yesterday was just a relaxing day. I like to pretty much take Sundays off from doing much.



5. Breakfast this morning was cereal with banana slices, coffee and juice.


6. I filed coupons from yesterday.



7. I made phonecalls to take care of business things so everything is caught up.



8. Lunch was steakburgers on buns with chips and pickles - everything from my stockpile.


9. DH went to Leslies to get a few things for the pool that we needed. He shopped using the $ 75. worth of vouchers that they sent us. So no money OOP!



10. He also returned a pair of shoes for store credit of $32.+ because they cut into his feet after one wearing.

11. In the mail today, I got the $ 9.00 Bud Light Rebate and my Staples Rewards for $ 10.38!

12. Dinner will be the OnCor Lasagna that I got free last week heated in the microwave to save on energy. DH is also going to make homemade garlic mozzarella bread from the free crusty bread I got at Bashas. He will do that in the toaster oven to save on energy.

13. The A/C is at 81 on on peak hours and 78 on off peak. No lights till dark.

14. DH and I are going to watch our favorite programs tonight - 24 and CSI Miami which looks really good tonight.

As usual feel free to post in comments what you did to save money today!