Walgreens, Target, CVS

I went to the store today to take advantage of some sales/coupons that I had. Now, I understand that my "partner" Maggie doesn't think you can buy anything at all healthy with coupons, but I found some good things today! I didn't have the energy to take out my camera, so I don't have pictures, sorry. Here's the breakdowns:

CVS

1 box cookies (cvs brand)

4 Life waters

1 Vivactiv glides

1 Dove candy bar (filler)
Total before coupons $16.42
Minus coupons

$3/$15 purchase

$1 off cookies

$4off Viactiv-emailed to me from CVS

$2off Viactive (mfg)

2 BOGO on the Life Waters $2 off total
I didn't have any ECB to start, so OOP was $3.57 I also earned ECB of $3(Viactiv) and $2(life water)

TARGET

6 bags of Lays Cracker Crips

5 All detergents

1 Kool-Aid singles box
Total before coupons $22.43
Minus coupons

6 $1/1 Lays Cracker Crisps (mfg)

6 $1/1 Lays Cracker Crisps (Target web)

5 $1/1 All (mfg)

$.50/1 Kool-Aid
Total OOP was $4.53

WALGREENS

2 bags Chex Mix

1 package Ramen Soup

3 Excedrine medicine

1 Walgreens chap stick (clearance $.50 and filler)

1 gallon milk

2 bottles vitamins
Total before coupons $32.71
Minus coupons

$10/$30 Walgreens purchase

2 $1/1 Chex Mix

3 $2/1 Excedrine medicine

2 $2/1 vitamins
Total OOP was $9.01 I put that on my gift card, so really OOP was $0.00

Ok, so I did get some chips, and Chex Mix, which aren't "healthy", but they do make great park/picnic snacks. They were cheap, and will be easy to tote along! I did get vitamins, which I needed, and headache medicine, which will come in handy with all the kids coming over for the summer, now that school's out. So, all in all, coupons saved me $42.50.

Summer Fun....

Aren't they just adorable? Thanks, Vern for taking these pictures of my angels!!!

Coupons??? Are you SERIOUS????

Hi ya'll! Money Bags Maggie here today. I am going to let you know the real story behind coupons. Some of you may have been deceived. You think that spending time clipping, sorting, and using the little magic pieces of paper are the way to go...but you are soo wrong! Why, I have to tell you just what this is costing the American people!

When you buy a newspaper, you are requiring a tree to be cut down, ruining the national parks. Some little fuzzy raccoon has lost his home because you had to save $1. Then, you are cutting the little coupons that all the major manufacturers put out there. Don't you know that it's just a ploy to get you to buy all the high fat, processed food that you can become addicted to? What ARE you coupon clipping people feeding the youth of America?

Next, you go in line at the store. Well, this is long after you have spent hours and hours that you could've been at the gym, or riding your bike, or helping to save the hairless mole rat of South Africa. You smile as you place your items on the belt, then the poor cashiers have to ring up your coupons as we have to stand behind you waiting. I get really mad when I am behind a coupon clipper at the store. I just get into the "Weekly News" as you are finishing, and I have to buy the paper for myself...

Then, this poor cashier has to count all the coupons with her drawer at the end of her shift. She could've eaten some whole grain bread with unprocessed butter instead, but NO...you had to save $1! Then, you go home, and with your selfish ways, you spend valuable electricity on taking pictures of your groceries and putting it on your blog. You call this "helping others"! If you really wanted to help others, you wouldn't use the durn coupons in the first place. My local store has raised their prices almost 50% to make up for the loss that they have with all the coupons you use!

Let me tell you how I shop at the stores! First, the word "SALE" is not in my vocabulary! If I find an item on sale, I will purposely buy the other brand. I refuse to cut the stores profit down for my own gain. I only buy the highest priced items out there, and believe me, it's getting easier to find. I will only buy shampoo when it's full price, and toothpaste is only as good as what you pay for it. It's just not the same if you didn't spend $5 a tube.


I won't waste time checking prices, nor will I go to multiple stores. Those of you who shop at more that one store, do you realize what you are doing to the environment? All the fumes that you are creating! And the gas! Although I am not protesting prices, because someone has to make a profit.

I would like to know why you feel that saving a lousy dollar is worth this....

Meet My New Co-Author

In the bloggosphere of saving money, there are many, many different opinions on topics such as coupons, drugstore shopping, and living frugally. While "Dime Savin' Diva" has always focused on such things as saving money this way, I have come to the realization that not everyone agrees with me. While that is fine, to each their own, I have decided to bring someone on board with me that has the opposite opinon of mine in regards to finances.

Please meet Money Bags Maggie. She is an outspoken woman who is a strong supporter of all things spendthrift. She will be posting on a regular basis, and you, the readers, get the opportunity to see both sides with out bias.

Her first posting will be tomorrow...so be sure to check back and see what she has to say about shopping with coupons, CVS, Walgreens, and other hot topics!

Coupon Myths Debunked

To see the top 9 coupon myths and how they just aren't true...come with me to Money Saving Mom and see her guest post, Joy Connelly.

What To Do With Those Leftovers

So, now you have been shopping with coupons, and checking sale prices. You may have even gone so far as to make an inventory list for your pantry and freezer. Your children are enjoying selecting items for dinner and maybe even trying new things. Now, comes the test...you have a fridge full of leftovers. What do you do with them??? Never fear, dear heart, I have some answers.
There is always reheating what you had and reserving it just like it was. Now, that is simple, easy, cut and dried, if you will. But, really, where is the imagination? You are a homeschooling parent. You have made unit studies out of watching a balloon sail by, have created math worksheets at the grocery store, have called running after your three year old P.E. class. You have style, you have flair...no reheated leftovers for you! Besides, that meatloaf isn't going to feed your whole family again.

So, now, what do you do? Well, you COULD scrap the leftovers, and go out to eat. You enjoy the atmosphere, the being able to decide to have something other that what your 3 year old craves. You love the idea of everyone's palate being appeased, since your 8 year old refuses to eat the yellow rice and black beans again. But, alas! Your budget for eating out this month has been reserved for another time, or you just don't have it right now. What to do???

Well, if you have a very artistic 10 year old like mine, you can "assign" them to do their art project for the week on Saturday. My crafty daughter goes through all the leftovers on Saturday afternoons, and designs menus for "Chez-Mom". She then writes each leftover item on the menu and designs a cover. Every family member gets a menu and can choose their own meal from the items listed. We make sure that we bring out the candles, and good china for that night. My great-grandmother would enjoy the fact that we use the china more often than Christmas, anyway. :) As each person chooses their meal, we heat it up and serve it.
This has been a fun thing for the kids to do, and each one takes a turn playing "waiter". We have used up all our leftovers, and still had the going out to eat mentality. Now, if I could just get them to "play dishwasher"....

....and they are growing still

And here are some more pictures of our adorable additions. Please pick the one you want, and let me know when I can send it to you. :)

Cinnamon

Isn't she adorable? No, Mikayla is NOT keeping her!!!

My CVS trip today

Ok, so I didn't go a whole month...but I wanted to get some of the holiday weekend deals for our family BBQ. So, without further ado, here's what I got

4 bottles of Sierra Mist-B1G1

2 bags of chips B1G1

1 bottle of mustard- $.66

1 bottle of BBQ sauce $.66

I used 2 B1G1 coupons with the Sierra Mist, which made them all free, a $.50/1 coupon for the mustard and $1 ECB, which was all I had left. If I had been on top of things, I would have remembered to use a $3/$15CVS coupon, but I didn't remember them. So, OOP was $3.61. Not to bad, though, for stuff that I wanted for this weekend.

....and they are growing

Ya'll remember our little babies?
Well, they aren't so little anymore. They are getting so cute! It's almost hard to believe that they will be three weeks old on Tuesday. They have been named

Soda Pop

Frisky, Jr.

Cinnamon

Tiger

Bubbles

Squeak
I couldn't really tell you which one was which, but my children could in a second.
This one was Soda Pop from what Mikayla said. She has been the most tenacious of the group, and the most daring so far.




I'll try and get more pictures of the others posted soon!

Freebies!

Get your free sample of Excedrin




And your sample of Viva Paper Towels

How Can You Resist???

Ooooh...Hollywood is so NOT ready for this one!

Check out number 1 and 2 here.

Day Two....

Daughter has had some issues with planning the grocery shopping. I have given her a $60 budget to work with, $20 more than I would usually spend! And she has learned that she can't buy crab legs at the "great price" of $8.99/lb. and still eat more than beans and rice the rest of the week. Finally!!! Getting somewhere!! We'll keep plodding away. After all, we do have 3 more days before we really need to go to the store...

On the flip side, my kitchen is looking rather nice:





I could soooo get used to this!!!!

Menu Plan Monday

Since my daughter has planned this week, we had to specify which meals she would make on which days. It just made it easier on her...lucky break,eh?

SUNDAY

eggs, toast and bacon

PBJ's, raisins, goldfish crackers

fish fillets, mac n cheese, veggies
MONDAY

bagels and cream cheese

chicken wings, bread and butter, broccoli

BBQ chicken pizza
TUESDAY

egg pita pockets

hamburger helper, peaches

cold cereal (that's my girl!)
WEDNESDAY

whole-grain waffles, blueberries

mac n cheese, fried apples,

spaghetti, bread and butter

That will basically wipe our pantry out, since we are not going to the grocery store until late next week. But, that's fine...it'll give me more time to plan with my children how to shop under budget. It's one thing for them to see me do it, it may be quite another for them to have to do it.

Crazy things happen when you don't unload your camera

Ok...so I am behind on posting pics of my angels....here they are in one full swoop! This montage is from mid-March when we got the trampoline to Nick's birthday. Plus, there are pictures of our kitties and the new park that was built a block away (sweet!)

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Most Adorable Boy Picture

Or maybe I am just a little prejudiced?