CVS Shopping 6/3/08

This week I am away visiting my family and will be watching my oldest nephew graduate from high school. I did however, stop at CVS yesterday to pick up the Pampers diaper deal. I also got a few of the monthly items. My OOP was $7.60. Which is a little higher than normal because I did not have my computer to print coupons - if I did I would have purchased a few things differently to lower my OOP. All things considered, I am happy with these deals and bought around $86 for $7.60, which is less than the cost of 1 package of diapers!
I started today with 8.69 in ECBs from last week.

See the photo in the previous post for a picture of this week's shopping items.

Transaction #1-------------------------
1 Dawn (1.00)
1 Gillette Fusion (9.99)
2 Listerine Smart Rinse (3.49 ea)

Coupons
3/15
.20 off Dawn
2/ 1.00 off Smart Rinse
4.00 off Gillette Fusion

8.69 ECB
.08 Cash
Receive 12.98 in ECBs (4 & 6.98)

Transaction #2-------------------------
2 Pampers Wipes (2.99 ea)
2 CVS Band-Aids (1.99 ea)
2 CVS Cotton Swabs (3.19 ea)

Coupons
3/15
3/10 CVS Brand
2.00 off 2 Pampers wipes

6.98 ECBs (from last transaction)
1.36 Cash
Receive 7.98 in ECBs (3.98 & 4)

Transaction #3---------------------------------
1 Pampers Diaper (7.99)
1 Glade
1 Oral B 2 pack

Coupons
3/15
1.00 off Glade
1.00 off Pampers

7.98 in ECB
2.88 Cash
Receive 6.99 in ECB

Transaction #4---------------------------------------
1 Dawn
1 Pampers Diaper
1 Oral B 2-pk
1 Huggies Baby Wash

Coupons
3/15
1.00 off Pampers
.20 off Dawn
1.00 off Glade

12.99 in ECB’s
3.28 cash

(Note: if I had my computer and printer I could have done 2 bags of Chex Mix instead of the Huggies wash and reduce my OOP to around 1.00 on this transaction)
Receive 14.99 in ECB for next week (5, 6.99, 1 & 2)

The Savings Swap - Saving Instead of Spending Workshop

A big thanks to everyone who came to the "Savings Swap - Saving Instead of Spending - Workshop". It was fun being able to share what I've learned about frugal shopping. If you'd like to learn more about "Becoming a Thrifty Shopper" read my posts here.

Thanks also to the Village Library and to their Librarian Andrea Berstler (she is standing in the second photo) for asking me to speak.

If you attended the workshop session and have any comments or questions I would love to hear from you. Please post below or email me at TheSavingsSwap@sbcglobal.net

Also, I will be posting my CVS deals pictured above in a day or so!

This Week!

I may not be posting too much the beginning of this week because I am preparing to hold "The Savings Swap - Saving Instead of Spending - Workshop" on Tuesday. I will do my best to resume regular posting later this week. And will try to include an update on how the workshop goes!

If you have any deals that you'd like to share feel free to post below.

$5.00 Lysol Reward

It's great to get money back for something you are going to do anyway. If your child has/had a doctors visit between 1/1/08 & 3/31/09 and you've bought/buy 2 Lysol products, here's $5 for you!

Have you gotten your Lysol Reward Yet? Here's how:

1. Purchase any TWO (2) different LYSOL® Products between 1/01/08 and 3/31/09.

2. Take your child to a doctor’s office for a check-up between 1/01/08 and 3/31/09.

3. Complete the LYSOL® Pediatrician $5 Reward Offer Form.

4. Mail in the Offer Form along with original receipts from your LYSOL® products’ purchase and a copy of your doctor’s office visit receipt or bill.

You can get the all the details and the form to fill out here.

Walgreen $10 off $30 Coupon for Friday 5/30/08

Walgreen's has just sent out another coupon. It is for $10 off $30. The coupon is good for Friday 5/30/08.

Last time there was a coupon out a friend of mine was told her Walgreen's did not accept printed coupons. She emailed Walgreen's about the situation and received both an apology from the store manager and a $10 gift card.

Stores should be accepting these coupons. It does seem that you will only be able to use one per store. Does anyone know if the new rebate books will be out tomorrow? That would be great if we had an overlap of last month's book, next month's book and the coupon.

If you have any great deals let us know!

And The Winner Is..........ME!

Thank you to Amy from Goo Goo Buy Buy for choosing me as the winner of this absolutely beautiful charm bracelet. I can't wait to wear it!

You can check Amy's blog out here.

Make sure you watch the video of her little boy dancing to "Snacktime"! here

Also, there is a great link to "100 Books Every Child Should Hear Before Kindergarten". Little Z and I will be checking out that list this Summer!

What's For Dinner Wednesday?

I will not be cooking for the next 2 Wednesdays because I will be away to see my nephew graduate from high school. I will still be blogging as much as possible but I would love to give you the opportunity to "Cook up the Deals" on our "What's For Dinner Wednesday" post.

Just email me with your recipe or post it on your blog this week and send me a link. I will be looking for 2 great frugal and easy recipes. If I pick you, I will put your recipe in next week's Wednesday post and your blog will get some free publicity !

My Email Address is: TheSavingsSwap@sbcglobal.net

What's For Dinner Wednesday?

Today is going to be a busy day for us so I'm going to throw something in the crock-pot before we go out for the day. I've found the crock-pot to be a great time and money saver. If I take just 5 minutes before running out on a busy day I come home to a cooked dinner. I know on a day like this the temptation will be to pick-up take out or run to the drive-through because I just won't want to cook tonight!

Baked Chicken and Potatoes

6 med or large potatoes washed and poked with a fork (use enough potatoes to cover the bottom of the crock pot)

Use your choice of: 1 whole chicken, several chicken legs & thighs or 1 or 2 whole split chicken breasts - bone in. (I usually use frozen and just put the pieces in still frozen)

Salt
Pepper
Garlic Salt
Paprika
Onion Powder

I put the potatoes on the bottom. Lay the chicken on top of the potatoes. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic salt, paprika, and onion powder - or whatever spices you like.

I cook on low for 6-8 hours. Time varies by crock pot and fresh chicken will take less time than frozen. If I only have around 4 hours (Sunday Mornings) I set it to high.

The chicken gets very tender and falls off the bone easily, so remove carefully from pot! I take the skin off before serving it.

This is one of our favorites!

CVS Shopping 5/26/08

Here is my weekly CVS Shopping. This was a fairly good week at CVS, but that was due to the coupons and the $3 off $15 coupon.


Here are the transactions that I made. I started the night with 8.69 in ECBs.

Transaction #1------------------------
2 Sobe Waters (1.00 ea.)
2 Revlon Nail Polish (3.99 ea)
1 Playskool Diapers (10.99)

Coupons
$3 off $15
$3 off $10 CVS Brand Purchase (from in store scanner)
$2.00 off Playskool Diapers
B1G1 Sobe (1.00)
$1.00 off Revlon
$2.00 off Revlon

8.69 ECBs
.58 Cash

Receive 7.00 ECB (6 & 1)


Transaction #2------------------
2 Sobe Waters (1.00 ea)
1 Milk (2.79)
1 Playskool Diapers (10.99)

Coupons
$3.00 off $15
$3.00 Off $10 CVS Brand Purchase
$2.00 off Playskool Diapers
B1G1 Sobe (1.00)

6 ECBs
.78 Cash

Should Receive 6.00 EBCs (6 & 1) (Note: My 5.00 ECB did not print so they just gave me the $5.00 of my next transaction)

Transaction #3--------------
1 Lipton Tea Bags (3.00)
1 Hellman's Mayo (3.00)
1 Skippy PB (1.50)
2 Ragu (1.50 ea.)
(The above 4 items earn a 3.00 ECB)
2 Sierra Mist (B1G1)
2 Pepsi (B1G1)
1 Revlon Nail Polish

Coupons
.40 off Hellman's
.50 off 2 Ragu
.60 off Lipton Tea Bags
1.00 off Revlon
2 B1G1 Sierra Mist
$3 off $15

7.00 ECB
1.99 Cash

Receive 6 ECB (3 & 3)


My Total OOP for the night was $3.35 for $80.75 in items, including 2 Mega Pack of Diapers! I have a good stockpile of diapers now and can get them when I get these great deals, instead of having to buy at full price because I'm out of them!

Memorial Day Weekend - Staying at Home

We decided to stay at home this weekend. We have spent the last several Memorial Days camping (or trying to camp- but that's a long story!)

This year with gas prices at 3.99 we decided to just stay home. Instead of going out of town, we made this little fire ring in our back yard.

It is made out of 20 curved landscape bricks we bought at Lowe's. I used the $10.00 off $25.00 purchase that you can sign-up for here. (You have to use a Visa with the coupon - I used my Visa debt.)

The bricks were 1.29 each, so the total was just a little over $27 including tax. With the coupon it was right around $17.00. Much cheaper than a weekend away. I think that Little Z has decided that he and daddy will camp out soon in the back yard for fun!

We put that scalloped piece of brick on top while Little Z was roasting his hot dog so he could lean the stick on it. (But that's not really part of the fire ring.)

Saturday morning Little Z and Daddy went to the park with his little wagon and picked up all kinds of stick off the ground. Little Z thought this was great fun - he's really into sticks!

We will need to get a few more things to complete our back yard hangout. We've decided that it will be worth getting real roasting poles for the dogs and marshmallows after the stick we were using caught on fire! Also I plan to go to Kroger and stock up on hot dogs for the freezer while they are on sale this week for .69 a pack.

We have had a great time already! Have you changed your usual Summer plans because of gas prices? If you have any good ideas for vacationing at home of fun things to do at home please make a comment or post it on your blog and leave us a link in the comments!