Taking a Bloggy Break

Hi everyone.  I’m taking a break from blogging to attend to some other things.  I’m not sure when (or if) I will be back. 

Blogger still doesn’t recognize me, so I’m done blogging over there.  (I still go to Penny-Pinching Mom to check my favorite links.)

It’s been fun!

Groceries Week of Aug. 17

Cheap Food: $32.96

 

CVS: $4.02

Couponing Made Simple

I have simplified my coupon system to the point that it only takes a few minutes each week to keep up with. Here’s what I do:

When I receive coupons, I only clip the ones that I KNOW I will use and  I file them in my nice binder with pockets.

I love the zipper and outside pocket.Pockets for ads, calculator, gift cards, etc.

 

One pocket for toothbrushes, one for toothpaste...

 

Next, I write the date on the front of each insert and place it in a plastic sleeve inside my 1 1/2 inch binder:

Binder for inserts...boxes for sharing.

Sometimes I receive coupons that are already clipped or there are inserts in a local newspaper that are different from the Sunday inserts. If I know that I will use them, they go into my good binder. The others go into my sharing boxes-one for food and one for non-food coupons. Each box (envelope box covered with duck tape) contains labeled envelopes for categories such as toiletries, frozen food, baby & diapers, etc.

When it is time to go shopping, I go to Coupon Mom to see if there are any coupons that match the sales. I simply go to her site, type in what I’m looking for and clip what I need. She doesn’t list my local stores, but she may have yours which simplifies it even more!

Manic Monday: Target 8-17-08

It’s Manic Monday again…the day I run around like a crazy woman trying to get all of my errands done. I didn’t make it this time because I had a meeting in the morning and by the time I ran the errands that were close by, we were too tired to want to do any more. We had a great trip to Target, though. Here’s what we ended up with:

FREE food at Target!

Same stuff...different picture.

I BOUGHT:

1 (large) box of wheat thins (Free with 3 Kraft items)

1 16 oz. bottle of Kraft dressing (Free with 3 Kraft items)

1 12 oz. package of Kraft singles (Free with 3 Kraft items)

1 package of Crystal Light (Free with 3 Kraft items)

1 Oscar Mayer Beef Franks (Free with 3 Kraft items)

15 individual servings of Kraft cheese ($0.32-$0.59 each)

16 Metrx Bars ($1.17 each, 8 coupons for $2 off 2)

2 Johnson baby shampoo samples ($0.99 each, $1 coupons)

4 Clean & Clear samples ($0.97-0.99 each, 2-$3 off 2 coupons)

1 Shout wipes sample ($1.02 – $1.00 coupon)

2 All Mighty laundry samples ($1.00 each – $1 each coupons)

1 Dove deodorant sample ($0.89, $1 coupon)

1 3 ring binder for coupons ($2.99)

Not pictured: 1 prescription ($4), 1 free smoothie, 1 gift card for $10 for prescription transfer, and two of the Protein bars and two cheeses because we ate them before we made it home.

USED all of the coupons listed above, plus a Target $5 off of $25 food purchase coupon.

EARNED a $10 gift card.

I paid $8.24 not counting the medicine or gift card, but there are some mistakes. The cashier charged me for 19 Protein bars instead of 16, so I paid $3.51 too much there.  I thought that the binder was $3.99, but she charged me $2.96 so I owe $1.03 there.

I paid $4.64 for this order, not counting the $4 spent on a prescription or $10 gift card I received for transferring the prescription.

(The FREE Kraft with purchase coupons came from this months ALL YOU magazine, available at Wal-mart for $1.97.)  Wal-mart discounts the magazine to $1.77.  Kool-aid and Jello also work to qualify you for the FREE Kraft items.

CVS Deal 8-16-08

CVS: $1.06

My hubby asked me to pick up a prescription for him at Rite Aid today and I did it gladly because I had a coupon for a $30 gift card.  While I was in the neighborhood, I popped in at CVS to pick up my FREE Ibuprofen before my coupon expired. I also picked up two fleece throws at $2.50 each and paid for them with an expired $3.99 ECB.  I paid $1.06 cash.

For my other transaction this week, look HERE.

See my CVS tab to learn how to work deals at CVS and download my CVS Planning Sheet.

For other great CVS deals, check out The “Cent”sible Sawyer.

Martin’s Grocery Sale

Martin’s sales run from Sunday to Saturday. Here are some of the sales and coupon matches for the week of August 17-23. Coupons are in parenthesis. View the circular HERE.

Buy One, Get One Free Items:

Fresh California Strawberries Save $3.99/2

Giant Split Chicken Breast

Kunzler Meat Franks, 16 oz. package Save $2.89/2

CarryOut Café 18 inch Monster Sub Save $9.99/2

Arm & Hammer 2X Liquid Laundry Detergent

Several Items are 10/$10

Coca-Cola: Free 6-pack when you buy (4) 12 Packs for $12

Kellogg’s Cereals: Buy 4 and get $4 off

COUPON MATCHES:

(Insert Date/S-SmartSource, RP-Red Plum, KL-Kellogg’s/Amt.)

Dannon Light & Fit Plus Yogurt 16 oz. package 2/$4 (7-20 S $1/1)

Jell-o Pudding Snacks 2/$5 (6-1 S $1/1)

Helluva Good Chunk Cheese 2/$4 (6-29S $1/2)

Turkey Hill Iced Tea, 64 fl. oz. 5/$5 (6-22 RP $1/2)

General Mills Honey Nut Cheerios -17 oz, Cheerios-18 oz, Fiber One Cereals-14.25-17.25 oz 3/$6 (07-13 S General Mills Fiber One Original, Fiber One Honey Clusters, Fiber One Raisin Bran Clusters or Fiber One Carmel Delight Cereal $0.70/1) (7-13 S General Mills Cereals , any two listed on coupon $1.00/2) (8-10 GM General Mills Cereals $1.00/3)

Ken’s Salad Dressing 3/$5 (8-03 S Kens Salad Dressings $1/2) (8-03 S Kens 7 oz Lite Accents Salad Dressings Spray 7 oz $1/1)

Mott’s Apple Sauce 6 Pack 3/$5 (8-10 S1 Motts Applesauce Products any $0.55/2)

Chi-Chi’s Salsa 3/$5 16 oz jar (6-29 S Chi Chis Salsa 15 oz or larger any variety $1/2)

Knorr Lipton Sides 5/$6 (5-18 RP $1/3)

4C Iced Tea Mix $3.99 (5-18 S1 4C Totally Light2Go Stix except 4 pack $1/1)

(5-18 S1 4C Totally Light Tubs $1/1)

Ocean Spray Juice Drink 64 oz 2/$5 (5-11 RP $1/1)

Deer Park Water 6 pack (5-18 RP $1/2) (5-18 RP $1/2)

Nabisco Oreo Cookies 17-18 oz $2.99 (7-27 S Kraft Crackers or Nabisco Cookie products $0.75/2)

Nabisco Favorites Lunch Box Tray Pack $4.49 (07-27 S Nabisco Cookie products $0.75/2)

Nabisco Big & Soft Cookies 2/$5 (7-27 S Nabisco Cookie products $0.75/2)

Keebler Vienna Fingers 2/$5 (8-03 KL Keebler Cookies $1/2)

FujiFilm Quicksnap Flash 2/$7 (6-29 S $1/1)

Brawny 8 Roll Paper Towels $6.49 (7-27 RP 2 roll or larger $1/2)

Lysol bathroom cleaners 2/$5 (6-22 S $0.50/1)

Palmolive Ultra Dish Liquid 10/$10 (7-27 S $1/2)

Pedigree Butcher’s Selects Dog Food 13.2 oz can $0.69 (7-27 RP $1/10)

Renuzit Adjustables Air Fresheners 10/$10 (8-10 S1 $0.55/3 or  8-10 S1 $0.55/1)

Kellogg’s Fruit Snacks or Yogos 2/$4 (8-03 KL or 7-13 RP $1/2)

Kellogg’s Pop Tarts Toaster Pastries $1.89 (8-03 KL $1/2)

Coffee-mate Flavored Creamer 2/$4 (6-29 RP $1/2)

Atkins Advantage bars 2/$3 (6-01 S $1/1)

Skintimate or Edge shave gel 2/$4 (7-13 S Skintimate $0.55/1 OR 8-10 S2 Edge $0.75/1)

Colgate Toothpaste 2/$5 (7-27 S Advanced Clean Toothpaste $1/2 OR 7-27 S Adult or Childrens Toothpaste $1/1)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CVS Planning

This is what I use to plan my shopping trips to CVS:

cvs-shopping-plan

I have found that if I plan several different transactions in order to get the best deals, something will usually go wrong. Either the store will be out of an item, I will have the wrong coupon, or the item wasn’t what I thought it would be. With this planning sheet, I can list all of the items that I am planning to purchase, along with the coupons that I am using, and ECBs that I will earn. Now when I am shopping, if the store is out of something, I can easily substitute for something else with similar qualities.

CVS August 11, 2008

$22.43 at CVS

It would have been about $7.00 for all of the stuff pictured above if I had used the “Save $2 on any purchase of $10 or more” coupon that is floating around, but my conscience wouldn’t let me.  I rationalized my way through all the stuff about “copies”, but then came the finale: “One coupon per customer.” No matter how hard I tried, I have to admit that “one” means “one” and no matter how many transactions I divide my purchases into, I am still the same customer.

I have had many exciting shopping trips over the last couple of months at CVS and I have used many “3/15″ coupons in the process in order to get boxes and boxes of free stuff to donate to charities, but nothing compares to the feeling of walking out of the store with a clear conscience. Not only that, I have:

• A new stroller after missing my old one almost daily for several weeks (months?)
• Huggies for less money than I used to spend on cardboard cheepies
• Free candy for the next party
• More stuff to donate
• More time and energy for other things besides planning CVS transactions!

Some Recent Shopping Trips

Check on my CVS tab to see how I get these good deals!

 You can read about these Wal-mart deals HERE:

Grocery Planning Without Menus

Menu Free Grocery Planning

I tried planning menus in an effort to shop more frugally. It didn’t work. I tried planning my grocery list around the weekly ads. That didn’t work either. Here’s what works for me:

I use an 8 1/2 x 11 tablet with a stiff back so that I can easily write things down as I go through the freezer and cabinets to see what I have to work with. My list this month looks something like this:

Things to use up: carrots, zuccini, mozerrella cheese, milk, pie shells, sweet potatoes, Fiber One cereal
Quick meals: sandwiches, chicken tenders, oodles of noodles, bundinos, smoothies
Treats & snacks: ice cream, baked goods in freezer, pudding, cake mix, popcorn
Meat: meatballs-4, chicken breasts-4, pork roast-4, ribs-2, fajitas-2, turkey ham-8, chicken nuggets-lots (no hamburger)
Frozen vegs: large variety
Fruit for smoothies: strawberries, blueberries
Other fruit: watermelon, bananas
Cheese: variety, 2 weeks or more
Bread: hamburger and hot dog rolls, wheat-1, white-1
Other: canned tomatoes
Side dishes: pasta dishes-4, flavored rice-4, spaghetti-4, pasta-4, brown rice-4, barley-lots
Breakfast: smoothies, yogurt-4, waffles-2, bagels-2, plenty: pancakes, cream of wheat

The numbers next to items tell me how many meals I can expect to make out of that item.

As I look over my list, I can see that we have plenty of food to last two weeks or more. Rather than written menus, I have ideas forming. I should make muffins with all that Fiber One cereal next time we have a cooler day. I can use the pie shells, squash, cheese, and tomatoes for some creative dish, but I will be the only one that eats it. Lunches are covered with sandwich items and leftovers. I’ll need bread, fruit, and breakfast items later in the month. I would like to have more quick meal items for busy days and some things the kids can make by themselves. If I buy hamburger, I can cook it and freeze it in smaller packages and that will cover many quick meals and round things out nicely. I can pick that up at Costco when I purchase cleaning supplies for the church.

Next, I check the white board on the refrigerator and see that we are low on butter, margarine, and sweetner. We are out of oatmeal and yeast and the kids want macaroni and cheese.

Now I can look at the sales flyer and purchase only the things I need to fill in the holes. Pizza Rolls are on sale, I have coupons, and the kids can make them by themselves. There are cereals on sale, so I’ll see what coupon matches I can come up with. That’s all I see, so I won’t need to do much shopping this week. I will stock up on loss-leaders if there’s a good sale on something we use regularly.