There is such a thing as going too far…

Hello!  Oh my goodness!  Denny’s Free Grand Slam breakfast promotion was today and the line in front of Denny’s, I noticed when I drove by, was longer than the line in front of  Toys R Us at midnight on Black Friday (which I also wouldn’t have stood in!).  It was 28 degrees and windy outside. I was very tempted to stop  by and let everyone know that eggs and english muffins are on sale for 99 cents at Walgreen’s this week. Some deals are just too expensive!

Toy Deals

Hi!  There are lots of great new toy coupons available at coupons.com that will get you free to nearly free games and toys.  At Wal Mart, Chuck The Dump Truck is $9.96 and there is a $10 coupon, making it better than free.  Monopoly, Scrabble and Pictureka card games are priced at $5.24 and there are $4 and $5 coupons, making them 24 cents to $1.24 each.  My Little Pony singles are priced at $5 and there are buy one get one free coupons, making them $2.50 each.  The Sorry coupons DO NOT work for the Sorry card game, only for the full sized game, so don’t try that one – I had to return 3 of them today, learning the hard way!  Those were my best deals at Wal Mart this week! 

My Full Walgreens deals will be posted tomorrow, but this week, Dove Men’s Body Wash is $5,99, there were $1.25 off coupons in the paper last week and there are $1.75 printable coupons online, plus there is a $5.99 Register Reward, making them better than free.   That was my best Walgreen’s deal this week!

Lorie

This Weeks Big Deals!

Hello!

Left my kiddos home with Daddy today and did my Walgreens-RiteAid-CVS route and also hit WalMart.  Here is how I did at CVS this week (I will add my Walgreens, Walmart and Rite Aid trips tomorrow, as the CVS one is LONG!):

CVS – Spent 70.36, saved $179.72 – What I bought and the correspoding deals - 

2 bags of Nestle Crunch Valentine’s hearts for the kids Valentine’s goodie bags for school – 2 for 5, $1 coupon off 2 from Coupons.com, final price $2 each

Edy’s Max Ice Cream – 2 pints – on sale for $2 each

2 boxes of Ritz crackers, a box of Triscuits, 2 boxes of Wheat Thins – on sale for $2 each, get $3 in ECB when you buy 5, had 2 $1 off Ritz coupons, 2 $1 off Nabisco crackers coupons, final price $3 for 5 boxes of crackers!   Plus, all 5 are eligible for the $20 Kraft Back to School rebate!

1 box Fig Newtons, 1 box Lorna Doone cookies, on sale for $1 each, had $1 off 2 Nabisco cookies or crackers from the Kraft Back To School rebate booklet, final price 50 cents a box!  And eligible for the rebate

Pantene shampoo and conditioner, 2 for $7, less $2 off 2 coupon, Venus Breeze razor, $8.99 less $4 coupon and FREE Oil Of Olay body wash with purchase of razor coupon – $5 Extra Care Bucks with purchase of $15 worth of above, final price for 1 Pantene shampoo, one Pantene conditioner, 1 Venus Razor and 1 Oil of Olay Body wash – $4 after coupons and ECB!!!

Nerds Valentine Kit – $3.50 less $1 coupon from coupons.com

Febreeze Noticables – on sale for $6.49, less $4 coupon, final price $2.49

Gillette Fusion razor – on sale for $8.99 – less $4 coupon and $4 ECB – final cost 99 cents

Gillette Men’s Deoderant – $3.99, less $1 ECB, less $1 coupon and FREE Gilette body wash with purchase of deoderant – final price $1.99 for deoderant and body wash

Listerine Total Care rinse, on sale for $3.99, $2 ECB, 50 cents coupon, final price $1.49

Reach 2 pack toothbrushes – on sale for $3.99, $2 in ECB, $1 coupon from coupons.com, final price 99 cents for 2 toothbrushes

2 Tide, on sale for $5.99, less $1 coupon and FREE Tide Stain Release with purchase of Tide, Charmin 16 Big Roll package, 4 Dawn dish detergent on sale for 99 cents each less 4 $1 off coupons, Herbal Essences shampoo, conditioner and FREE with purchase Herbal Essences hair spray,    with purchase of above FREE Durcall 8 pack AA batteries (also had a $1 off coupon for the batteries), final price for 2 Tide, 1 Tide Stain Release, 1 16 roll pack Charmin, Herbal Essences shampoo, conditioner and hair spray – 8 Duracell 8 pack batteries and 4 Dawn – $26.72

2 packs Trident layers gum – on sale for 99 cents, less 2 75 cents off coupons, final price 48 cents for 2 packs of gum

Colgate Total – $2.79, buy one get one free, less 2 $1 coupons, final price 79 cents for 2 tubes of toothpaste

Maxwell House coffee – buy one at 4.79, get one free

4 Campbells Cream of Mushroom soup, on sale buy one get one free, less 40 cents off of 4 coupon

2 Covergirl pressed powder clean makeup – on sale buy one get one half price, plus I had a buy one get one free coupon, bringing the price for 2 down to $3.34

Nivea lip care, buy one get one free with coupon – $3.99, 2 Nivea men’s bodywash, $4.99 each less 2 $1 coupons, spend $10 on Nivea, get $5 back, 2 ECB rebates received, final price $1.96 for all 4 products

Excedrine Migraine, Excedrine PM, Excedrine Tension Headache – less 2 $2 off coupons and 1 $1 off coupon, get $7 in ECB when you spend $15 on Excedrine, making the final cost for 3 $4.

I had $33  in ECB from last week that I used as well.  Grand total $70.36 spent, $179.72 saved, with Nabisco crackers and cookies towards $20 rebates and got $22 in Extra Care Bucks for next week.

Most of the above coupons were in this Sundays paper, it was a good coupon week this week – 3 coupon inserts in this weeks paper!!

Happy Shopping – and Saving!
Lorie

A Cozy Snowy Day

Hello!  We got 12 inches of snow last night, and I have spent the day baking, baking, baking!  It is so warm and cozy in my home with the yummy smell of freshly baked cookies in the air.  I made oatmeal chocolate chip coconut, chocolate chip with coconut, pumpkin cranberry coconut and sugar cookies with sprinkles.  I had a bag of coconut that needed to be used before it expired, so coconut went into every batch!  After sledding, my son and his friend finished off a plate full, then my hubby came home for lunch and made a dent in the next batch. I packaged up a tin to send home with  Johnathan’s friend, then wrapped several pairs of cookies to freeze for grab and go school snacks.  Homemade is much yummier AND much more economical than those pre packaged snacks!  Now I have a pot of beef and vegetable soup simmering on the stove  for dinner, I took a batch of the base I made and  froze a few weeks ago, added some additional fresh veggies and there you go, a quick, healthy meal.  My freezers are my best  friends these days!

On the bargain shopping front – there weren’t many freebies this week at CVS, Rite Aid or Walgreens,  but there were several very good buys.  At Walgreens, Lipton Tea is on sale for $2.99 and Theraflu for $3.99 – if you buy both, you get a $4 register reward and there is a  $2 Theraflu coupon at coupons.com – bringing your cost for both items, after coupon and RR, to 98 cents.  Rite Aid has a Proctor and Gamble Olympic Gold Visa Gift Card promotion, which offers up to $35 back in a Visa Gift Card Reward for purchase of selected P&G items – there were P&G coupon inserts in this weeks paper as well as a couple weeks back, utitlize coupons to maximize your savings as you earn your rebate.  This rebate runs for the next 4 weeks, so you have plenty of time.  Enter your receipts through the SIngle Check Rebates link on the Rite Aid website – you will need to register for the Single Check Rebates program.  It’s quick and easy and I have earned over $20 cask back every months since I joined.

Walgreens and CVS both have good deal with Register Rewards / Extra Bucks offers and sale prices on Pepsi products – purchase $20 worth of Pepsi Co products at CVS and get $10 back in ECB’s – included are Tostitos, on sale for $3.50, True North Nuts, on sale for $3 (there is a $1 off coupon available at smartsource.com) and Stacy’s Pita and Bagel Chips ($1 off coupons available at CVS.com and the All You website), Lays chips (on sale for $3,50) and Pepsi 12 packs, on sale for 6 for $20.  Limit of 2 $10 rebates per card.  In addition to the sale prices, coupons and Extra Care rebates listed above for these products, there is a $15 Coors Light rebate offer when you spend $30 in any combination of Pepsi products, Tostitos products, Paper Plates, Deli Items, Ice, Condiments or Plastic Cups, and an 18 + pack of Coors Light.  Here is the link:  http://www.coorslight.com/superbowl44/coupon/LGC03105609_101058_LR.pdf   Pepsi products are also on sale at Walgreens for 5 for $15.

Another of my favorite deals at Walgreens this week was Nyquil and Puffs tissues – Nyquil is on sale for $5 and if you buy $20 worth of Vick’s products, including  Nyquil, you get a $10 RR.  There were  $2 off Nyquil coupons in this weeks paper – I bought 4 papers and so had 4 $2 coupons.  A couple of weeks ago (12/27), there were FREE Puff tissues with purchase of Vick’s product coupons in Sundays paper, and I had 2 of those.  So, 4 boxes of Nyquil – $20 – less 4 $2 coupons – $12 – less $10 RR – $2 for 4 boxes of Nyquil and 2 boxes of Puffs Plus tissues!  And I am set for Nyquil for the year!  If anyone else gets sick and needs some Nyquil – give me a call! I have quite a stockpile now!

The last of my favorite sale items of the week – Shaw’s has Rice Works brown rice crisps, which I LOVE, buy one get one free and there were $1 off 1 coupons in the Sunday paper, making them less than 50 cents a bag.  Also, Quaker Quakes were on same for $1 and there was a 75 cents off coupon in last weeks paper, making them FREE! 

Have a great week!
Lorie

This Weeks FREE Items and Ham, Ham, Ham!

Hello! 

Another week of redcorating leftovers into a new meal every night,  this time with Sunday’s ham.  We had friends over for a ham dinner on Sunday evening and I have been working with the leftovers for our dinners this week.  Monday night we had leftover ham with leftover cabbage noodles (just roughly chopped cabbage sauteed in butter til nice and brown, then combined with cooked egg noodles – SO easy and SO yummy, this recipe has been a favorite for at least 4 generations of my family).  Tuesday night I made homemade pizza with ham, feta, chopped brocolli, sweet onions and mozzerella – YUM!!  As good as my favorite pizza from my favorite pizzeria, for about a quarter of the price.  Tonight we had split pea soup, made with the ham bone – another super easy recipe – just throw the ham bone in a pot, add a rinsed bag of split peas, a chopped onion, a few carrots, chopped small, and 8 cups of water – simmer all day.  We leave quite a bit  of ham on the bone and the meat falls off the bone during the cooking and makes it a very hearty soup.  Tomorrow night, we will have ham and cheese pasta bake and that will leave a bit of ham for ham and eggs for breakfast.  I got my ham for 89 cents a pound, making this a very economical week of meals.

CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreens all have several FREE after rebates (money makers if you use coupons) items this week:

Rite Aid  – Theraflu, Contac and GE Soft White lightbulbs are all FREE after Single Check Rebates this week, there are Theraflu $2 off printable coupons on coup0ns.com, smartsource.com and redplum.com.  and a $2 off Contac coupon can be found at https://www.essentialsforlivingwell.com/eflw_couponsmicrosite.promo?sessioncheck=true.  Also, Aveeno hair care and skin care, Clean and Care products, Purpose skin care products and Lubriderm lotion are on sale this week and there are Rite Aid in ad coupons for these items, as well as printable coupons available at coupons.com, making these products a great deal – ADDITIONALLY, there is a Rebate from Johnson and Johnson available when you purchase $30 worth of these products – you can print the rebate form at coupons.com – after rebate and coupons, you can get $30 worth of these products for FREE, and even make a few dollars on the deal!

CVS – Free after Extra Care Bucks this week are 6 pack boxes of Soy Joy protein bars – $6 a box, get $6 back in ECB’s

Walgreens – Free after Register Rewards this week are Thermacare 1 ct Pain Relief Warming Wraps – they are $2.49, you get $2.49 back in RR’s- and there is a $1 off coupon available at https://www.wyethallbrands.com/special_offers.aspx, making them a $1 money maker!

Also, Aveeno, Lubriderm and Clean and Clear products are buy one get one 50% off – use the coupons outlined above and the Johnson and Johnson rebate to get these items FREE after rebate.

Have a great week!
Lorie

Walgreens Deals This Week & Turkey, Turkey, Turkey

Hello! 

Tonight was Day 5 – and the last day this week – of turkey meals from our Saturday night Turkey Dinner.  Sunday, we had the Turkey Purses I already posted the recipe for – Monday was my personal favorite turkey leftover casserole,  just turkey with leftover gravy and leftover stuffing, baked in a casserole dish.  Tuesday night I made homemade turkey stock, froze 2 batches of it and made the 3rd into Turkey Soup - which cured my cold! – and tonight I made 2 Turkey Pot Pies, one for dinner and one to freeze.  That 47 cents a pound $10 turkey went far, and without one complaint of “turkey, again?” from my family!

Here were my Walgreens Deals this week -

First Visit – Spent $3.92 OOP (out of pocket), saved $91.11!  What I bought – 4 boxes Quaker Instant Oatmeal, 4 8 oz cans Hunt Tomato Sauce, Sensodyn Toothpaste, 2 Glade Candles in Cotton Linen scent, 2 Glade The Fragrance Collection soy jar candles, 4 cans Chicken of the Sea Chunk White Tuna, Walgreens Wax Paper, 3 20 feet rolls Reynold’s Alumimum foil, 2 Colgate Clean Toothbrushes, Vanity Fair napkins, ALL detergent, 4 packages of Vanity Fair dinner plates, 2 bottles Palmolive Dish Detergent.  I had $4 in Manufacturers coupons, $20.18 in Walgreens coupons (from their sale circular) and $40 in Walgreens Register Rewards coupons, which brought my total down to $3.92.

Second Visit – $.08 OOP, saved $31.42 – What I bought – Pringles (had my daughter with me on this trip!), Theraflu, 4 boxes of Quaker Instant Oatmeal, 4 8 oz cans Hunts Tomato Sauce, 4 cans Chicken of the Sea Chunk White Tuna.  I had $3.50 in Manufacturer’s coupons, $11.62 in Walgreens coupons and $13 in Register Rewards coupons, bringing my total to 8 cents!  )

I didn’t do QUITE as well at CVS, where I spent $105.12, saved $150.57 and earned $31 in Extra Care Bucks for next week.  I bought Quaker Quick Oats, Glade Sense and Spray refill, Clorox Clean Up Spray, Colgate Max White Toothpate – 2 tubes, 5 toys that were marked down 75% from Christmas, for birthday gifts, Colgate Sonic Power Toothbrush, Starbucks coffee, ALL detergent, Gold Bond Ultimate Lotion, 2 large Pantene bottles of shampoo, 2 large Pantene bottles of conditioner, Colgate manual toothbrush (free after coupon and Extra Care bucks), 2 Energy Smart lightbulbs (these were FREE this week after coupons and Extra Care Bucks), Glade Fabric and Air spray, 2 cans of Oust (these were a money maker after coupons and ECB – I used one BOGO coupon, one $2 off coupon, they were $3.99 each and you got $3 back in ECB for each one, so I made over $4 buying these!), 6 packs of white tissue paper at 75% off (25 cents each!), 3 Softsoap refills, 2 Nivea Body Washes, a pound of butter, 3 Loreal Everpure shampoos, 3 travel size bottles of Visine (another freebie with coupons this week).  I think I am all set for shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste and toothbrushes for awhile!  Be sure to check coupons.com, redplum.com and smartsource.com to print out coupons that supplement the coupons you get in your Sunday paper, they often correspond with CVS and Walgreens specials to make these items free or nearly free!

I have quite a stockpile going now, and not much room to store much more, so for the rest of the month, my goal is to purchase only items that are free or nearly free (less than $1) after coupons and rewards, with the exception of milk, bread, fresh fruit and veggies and orange juice.  I need to focus on using my pantry and freezer items to make a little more space on my shelves and to save a little money for my daughter’s birthday party at the end of the month!

Wish me luck!

Lorie

Happy New Year!

2010….My year to simplify!

We had a wonderful holiday week, with lots of time with family and friends.  All while sticking to our budget – I made it from Thanksgiving through New Years, with all the gifts, all the food, all the hosting and all the celebrations without using my credit card even once!  I don’t think I have managed that since I first got a credit card.  My goal is to continue this trend through 2010 and beyond.

Yesterday, we had my husband’s family over for a belated Christmas and New Year’s celebration dinner and I brined a turkey, AGAIN – it is such an economical way to feed a crowd that never disappoints.  This time, with 2 vegetarians in the crowd, we had quite a bit of turkey leftover so we are headed for a  few nights of creative turkey leftovers.  My turkey carcass has been simmering all day for a big batch of stock, and tonight, I made a recipe that I found on The Frugal Girls! website, swapping out chicken for turkey.  It was a hit, so here is the recipe:

Turkey Purses

8 oz cream cheese

1 c. cooked turkey, diced

1 stalk celery, diced

2 scallions, sliced

1/2 c shredded cheddar cheese

1 roll reduced fat Crescent Rolls

Combine all ingredients other than the crescent rolls.  Seperate Crescent Rolls into triangles and fill each with 2 T filling.  Wrap Crescent Rolls around filling and pinch edges to seal.  Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes til browned.

I served them with barley, sugar snap peas and carrots. 

I have been suffering with a nasty cold for the past couple of days, so today I spent on the couch, coughing, sneezing, blowing my nose and organizing my coupons for the New Year.  I got them all clipped and into my organizer and made my CVS, Wal Greens and Rite Aid lists for the week.  There are lots of great deals this week, so be sure to check your sales circulars.  I will post my favorite deals after my shopping trip tomorrow.

Happy New Year!
Lorie

Another Fun Lowe’s Activity Today

Hello!

The kids and I attended another of the fabulous FREE Build To Grow Workshops at Lowe’s today – we made wooden pet treat boxes, they came out great and the kids had a blast.  Lowe’s really does a great job with this program.  I highly recommend it, if you have a Lowe’s near you, check it out.

I have just finished 2 straight days of baking, mostly for Christmas gifts, and my goodies are all wrapped and ready for giving!  My friend Staci and I got together yesterday for a marathon treat making session – we made more than 400 turtles, more than 250 chocolate dipped pretzel rods, 24 tins of 5  different spice rubs and a batch of Lemocello.  We put the rubs in pretty tins and glass shaker top jars, the turtles in decorative tins and the pretzels in festive goodie bags and viola, gifts for pretty much everyone on my list!

Today, I made my traditional Christmas cookie, which we affectionately call Angel Poop – they are pecan puff cookies rolled in powdered sugar and they are YUMMY!  I made 4 batches, but only have one tin to give as a gift, because my family devoured one batch immediately and insisted on keeping 2 batches for our house.

Today, the kids and I also got together with my friend Karen and her children, who we usually exchange gifts with – because we are all on a tight budget, we decided not to exchange this year and instead to get the 5 kids together to make gingerbread houses.  I got them for a great price at Walgreens last week and have been stocking up on candy for the past few weeks at all the great CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreens sales.  The kids had a fun, MESSY time of it and I think they enjoyed it at least as much as a gift exchange. 

Tonight, we had a yummy and budget friendly beef vegetable soup for dinner, the first time I have made beef based soup with beef bones, water and seasonings instead of packaged beef broth.  It cooked all day and came out great, once I got the seasoning figured out – it needed a lot more salting than I am used to, but probably still had less sodium than canned broth based soup.

Tomorrow will be another marathon cooking session – My dad and step mother are coming over for spaghetti and meatballs, per my daughter’s request, and while I am at it, I have 7 lasagnas to make – 2 for a cookie decorating party on Wednedsay evening, 1 for a Christmas luncheon with my playgroup on Monday, one for a friend and 3 to freeze.  If I am going to make lasagna, I find it easy to make a big pot of sauce and several lasagnas at once and they freeze beautifully. 

And now I am off to check on my daughter, who is sick (AGAIN) and running a high fever.  My poor little girl! 

Lorie

Date Night with Johnathan and Walgreen’s Freebies

Hello!
Just returned from a “date” with my 7 year old son, Johnathan - he had to have his H1N1 shot tonight, we left the other 2 kiddos home with Daddy and followed the visit to the Dr with stops at  Walgreens, CVS, Toys R Us and then Dinner at TGIFridays. 

We got some GREAT deals!  First of all, no co pay on his H1N1 shot!  ;o)

At Walgreens, the following items are FREE after Register Rewards through Saturday -

Neutrogena Men’s Skin Care – 4.99, get 4.99 in Register Rewards, making it FREE

Stayfree Pads – 1.99, get 1.99 in Register Rewards, also, at the Stayfree website you can print out a $1 off coupon, so they pay you to take ‘em out of the store  ;o)

Select Conair Hairbrush OR Select Srunchi Hair Accessories – $2, get $2 back in Register Rewards – they had some DARLING Scrunchi hairclips, a great stocking stuffer for my daughter for FREE

Stim U Dent Plaque Removers – $2, get $2 in Register Rewards

My total out of pocket was just over $8 and I got $11 in Register Rewards, making all of the above, plus 2 Toberlone bars (on sale for 1.50 each,, coupon for $1 off 2 in December Walgreens Coupon Book, which is available in the front of the store) and 2 Green & Black Organic Chocolate Bars – (coupon on Walgreen’s website makes them $1.99 each, then there is a coupon on the Green & Black website for another $1 off) – FREE

Next, we went to CVS and got $50 in iTunes gift cards that I needed for gifts, you get $10 back in Extra Care Bucks with the purchase of $50 in iTunes gift cards through Saturday

On to our big stop for the evening, to Toy’s R Us, to finish up Grammy’s shopping for the kids, with the money she sent – The specials we took advantage of here were:

$10 off Air Hogs Razor Remote Control Helicopter

Buy one, get one 50% off video games

Buy 500 piece Bendaroos, get 100 piece set free

Free Lego Christmas mini set with any Lego set purchase

Crayola Markers Buy One Get One Free

My Little Pony Christmas Set – Buy One, Get One Free, plus coupons.com has a $5 off $20 My Little Pony coup0n

After Toys R Us, we grabbed a quick bite to eat at TGIFridays – I had a coupon from my Entertainment Book for $5 off a $15 purchase, Johnathan had kids pasta and a cherry lime slushie and I had Diet Coke and a cheeseurger with fries – after the coupon, our bill came to $11.40!

A fun and frugal night out with my little man (he wore a suit vest and everything, how cute he was!)

Lorie

Day 2 and 3 of Turkey Leftovers

Hello!  We are still enjoying the last of the turkey dinner from Sunday – today will be the last day!  Last night, I layered the turkey, gravy and stuffing in a casserole dish and baked it at 350 for 20 minutes, then served it with the leftover cranberry sauce.  Yummy.  Tonight, I am using the leftover mashed potatoes to make a Shepard’s Pie.  I just browned some hamburg with an onion, put it in a baking dish, topped with corn and a little of the leftover turkey gravy, just to use it up rather than waste it, and topped with the mashed potatoes.  In the oven for 25 minutes and it’s a quick, yummy dinner that my whole family likes!

There are lots of great deals this week at CVS, including FREE Santa Hats, ornaments and 99 cents shower gel (the free and 99 cents final cost of each is all after CVS Extra Care Bucks). 

Walgreens has Kelloggs cereal for 1.99, use your coupons and get it for around a dollar a box, also they have Chex Mix at 99 cents, there are 50 cents off coupons at coupons.com to print, bringing them down to 49 cents!  Check out your circulars for more great deals and always remember to go to coupons.com and redplum to print out coupons before you go out shopping!

Hope everyone is enjoying the snow!

Lorie