Monday, June 27, 2011

Monday Madness - Catch Up Time

It's been a busy week and it's time to catch up with all the shopping I've managed to get in. This week looks as if will also get crammed together. I'm so hoping I can keep on top of things better. *fingers crossed*


Sometimes I hate grocery shopping. I love actually going to the store and picking out what I'll be eating. I love being able to choose organic versions of items when possible. (See the Nature's Promise Ketchup?) What I hate is when I get to the checkout. I think I managed to get some good deals (pasta on sale for $1 and a $1/1 coupon = free!), but things add up quickly. For the money I spend I feel as if I don't get a whole lot. I do the best that I can. I could certainly do worse.

Total Price of Merchandise: $43.95
Sales Savings: $6.35
Coupons: $5.50
Coupon Double: $.50
Total Spent: $31.60


Occasionally I'm asked by my parents to pick up some things. I would like more time to go shopping for them, but often I get asked to pick up things only two or three days before I see them. As I only get a chance to visit about every two or three weeks my next visit is when I need to bring the requested items. I didn't do too badly. $47.97 CVS retail price for $25.53 between the sales, my discount & coupons. Not bad for last minute shopping. (This trip was done on June 18th.)


My own CVS shopping was done late this past week. Things just kept slipping my mind. I better not that happen this week. I'm hoping to get in on the Dove deal! (See here.) I also treated myself to the nail polish pictured here. I love the sparkle it has. I got $5 EB Beauty Club reward and wanted to splurge a little. $7.89 for that one bottle! Ah well, I really love the color. Short and simple summary for this trip.

Total Price of Merchandise: $29.76 (Not pictured 3 more Honest Teas)
Sales Savings: $5.90
Coupons: $2.00
Extra Bucks Received: $17.48 (I included the Beauty Rewards even though I actually spent it.)
Net: $4.38, not bad


Last, but not least was a trip to Old Navy. Last year they did a spectacular special on camis for $2. This year it was on tanks. I'm lucky I was able to get in about 15 minutes after they opened. It was busy! I could have gotten 10 total, but only ended up with 9. I actually made a deal with a friend that I would buy 5 for me and 5 for her. She would then go in and do the same if there was anything left. She managed to find me 4 and only one for herself. We swapped tanks and the difference in cash. I love how it turned out, some for me and some for her. ^_^

Monday, June 20, 2011

Monday Madness - Shopping!

I did some shopping yesterday. I wish I had more time other than on the days I have off from both my jobs. I would like just a day to relax, but that's not going to happen any time soon. Maybe in the beginning of August?


A quick stop at Gaint for my newspapers. I would like to just get a Sunday subscription, but it's the same as buying from the news stand. What's the point then? I know that there are a few times a year when there are no coupon inserts. Why waste the money? Unfortunately this usally has me picking up something unexpected. I spotted a 'new' flavor of Greek Yougurt. Yum! Also Hebrew National hotdogs are BOGO this week. I'm keeping my fingers crossed to buy up some extra this week. (Depends on funds.)

Total Price of Merchandise: $16.52 (includes 3 Newspapers, not pictured)
Sales Savings: $4.99
Coupons: None :(
Total Spent: $11.53 (W00T!)


Food Loin has sent out more of the $10 off $20 purchase coupons. I've asked a few of my friends in the area if they aren't interested in them I will gladly take them! It's a big help stretching the budget. Unfortunately I didn't get my receipt from my trip. At least I got my change! (And I have a half decent memory)

Total Price of Merchandise: $??.?? (At least $30!)
Sales Savings: $??.??
Coupons: $15.90
Total Spent: $16.72 (WOW! I love this coupon!)

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

CVS - Two Trips

This past weekend was a busy weekend at CVS. Customers were coming in with 20%, 25% or even 30% coupons. (I think I saw at least one 30%) This generally means the employees get a special discount weekend as well. 30%! So if it's not on sale and I have a coupons to get it free . . . MM! It made for awesome drink trip on Sunday. Normally I don't show my discount, but I wouldn't have got such a great deal without it otherwise.


2 Coke 2L 2 $.79 each = $1.68 (Not advertised. On sale for the next two weeks for $.79 Regional?)
Coke 20oz $1.89
2 Diet Coke 20 oz @ $1.89 each = $3.78
Sprite 20oz $1.89
2 Diet Lipton Tea @ $1.79 = $3.58
Total Before Coupons: $12.72

$3.36 Discount!
$1.69 Free Coke My Coke Rewards (Max value $1.69)
2 $1/1 Diet Coke 16oz or 20oz (IP no longer available)
$1.69 Free Sprite My Coke Rewards (Max value $1.69)
2 $1.79 Free Lipton Tea (Facebook offer)
Total After Coupons: $.40 + $.09 tax (that tax is off, but that's okay)

Received:
$1 EB Green Bag Tag
Net: $.51 profit

I wish there had been more time for me to do my next transaction. I wanted to really roll the EB, but it was so busy! I felt lucky to even get it done. I'm happy I got these first thing in the week, because we ran out of everything except the raisers & eye lashes.


Bayer Advance 20ct $3.00
Hydro 5 Razor $8.00
Hydro 5 Blades 4ct $8.79
2 Motrin PM 20ct @ $4.00 each = $8.00
2 Kiss Eye Lashes @ $3.99 each = $7.98
Zyrtec 5ct $5.99
Total Before Coupons: $31.76

$2/1 Bayer Advance
$2/1 Any Bayer Product CVS coupon machine
$4/1 Hydro Razor
$2/1 Hydro Blades
2 $1/1 Motrin PM
2 $2/1 Kiss Eyelash (IP on manufacture website)
$3/1 Zyrtec (Coupon from a pamphlet)
$3 off $10 purchase First Aid (If it goes in a first aid kit, it counts.)
Total After Coupon: $19.76 + $.31 tax (used $8.50 EB)

Received:
$1 EB Bayer
$4 EB Hydro Razor
$4 EB Hydro Blades
$6 EB Motrin ($3 for each one)
$5 EB Kiss Eyelash
$5.99 EB Zyrtec
Net: $5.92 profit!

Love getting 'paid' to take things. ^_^

Monday, June 13, 2011

Monday Shopping

Actually one of these trips is from last week. I didn't get a chance to post because in the middle of my shopping I got a call from a co-work and she was sick. Really sick. Could I come in and work her 9 hour shift? Uh . . . sure. Just let me get home to change. I found my receipt from that purchase, but I lost the one from today. How did I manage that?

Not pictured Nature's Promise Frozen Blue Berries.


Total Price of Merchandise: $20.53
Sales Savings: $1.20
Coupons: $2.00 (2 $1 off any Laura's Lean product from the manufacture web site)
Total Spent: $17.33



Lost my receipt, but I remember my total was $30.24. That's almost my entire week of grocery money! The meat & milk alone make up almost half. Hopefully I'm stocked on milk for the next two or three weeks. Too bad I forgot to get myself some bread. I'll just have to pick up some latter.

I've been doing more cooking of late. I made up some pasta with the Philadelphia cooking cream I got a while back. It's so good! Just have to watch how much I eat. Also tried to make a blue berry buckle recipe I found some where. It calls for a crumb topping, but I skipped it figuring the last thing I need to add to it was more sugar. Baked oatmeal is another thing I made this weekend after work. I love baked oatmeal. At the moment I'm trying to find good deals on oatmeal so I can keep making it. It's great for a quick breakfast.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Saving Sunday - Mailbox!


Free 20oz coke, body wash sample & Root Awakening samples. ^_^

Friday, June 10, 2011

CVS

I was done with this earlier in the week purchased over two days. (picked up extra hours this week!) It's a good week to stock up on oral care. I actually have plenty, but it makes for a great donation item. I need to go through my stash and trim back again. Also need to grab a box from work so I can pack it up I decide to donate.


Transaction 1:
2 Excedrin Extra Strength 8ct @ $.99 each = $1.98
Honest Tea $1.00
Total Before Coupons: $2.98

$.50/1 Honest Tea
Total After Coupons: $2.48 (used $2 EB)

Received:
$1.98 EB Excedrin
Net: $.50 cost

Transaction 2:
Crest Pro Health Rinse $4.50
Colgate 360 $2.79
Oral-B Pulsar $6.00
Total Before Coupons: $13.29

$2/1 Crest Rinse
$1/1 Colgate 360 (All You, I forget which issue)
$3/1 Oral-B Battery Toothbrush
Total After Coupons: $7.29 (used $6.98 EB)

Received:
$2.50 EB Crest Rinse
$2.00 EB Colgate 360
$3.00 EB Oral-B Pulsar
Net: $.21 profit

Transaction 3:
Crest Pro Health Rinse $4.50
Colgate Max Foam $2.79
Honest Tea $1.00
Oral-B Pulsar $6.00
Total Before Coupons: $14.29

$2/1 Crest Rinse
$1/1 Colgate
$.50/1 Honest Tea
$3/1 Oral-B Battery Toothbrush
Total After Coupons: $7.79 (used $7.50 EB)

Received:
$2.50 EB Crest Rinse
$2.00 EB Colgate Max Foam
$3.00 EB Oral-B Pulsar
Net: $.29 cost

Transaction 4:
3 Honest Tea @ $1.00 each = $3.00 (not pictured)
Seattle's Best Coffee $1.49 (Got it to try. I wasn't lucky enough to get the coupon.)
Total Before Coupons: $4.49

3 $.50/1 Honest Tea (my last ones!)
Total After Coupons: $1.99 (Forgot to use any EB!)

Received:
$2.00 EB wyb 5 selected drinks for $5
Net: $.01 profit

Grand Net: $.50 cost + $.21 profit + $.29 cost + $.01 profit = $.48 cost! Nice!

Monday, June 6, 2011

Rite Aid - The Way I Remember It

**Update: The Full Repair SCR works on shampoo & conditioner!
***06/16 Today I double check my account and they took it away? What the heck!

This week is a good week for Rite Aid. Too bad all my previous +up had to used up by Saturday. I ended up buying a 1/2 inch binder to go into my bag for my loose leaf papers. I've kept a folder in bag to hold onto full sheets of printed coupons, coupon policies, lists of what I was getting, the start of a price list and anything else paper wise that made it into my bag. Folders don't hold up very well. The top was getting torn and I was thinking the paper would be next. Didn't see much of interest that week except maybe the Renpure shampoo? Thanks, but I'll skip it. Too bad I found another $1 +up latter that night that was expiring. *sad face*


This week makes up for the lack luster sales of the past two. I actually had stuff to get excited for. There's a 'hidden' deal on John Fredia (see here) which makes for some free products. I'm happy that I managed to to use up all the +up that were generated this week and put them into SCR.


Transaction 1:
Veet Gel Cream $6.02 (10% discount)
Veet Cream $5.66 (10% discount)
Total Before Coupons: $11.68

2 $3/1 Veet (facebook offer)
$2/1 Veet - in-ad coupon
$1/1 Veet June VV
$1 off purchase June VV
Total After Coupons: $1.68 + $.05 tax

Received:
$5 +up
Net: $3.27 profit

Transaction 2:
Crest 3-D Whitening Toothpaste $2.57
Oral-B Crest 3-D Whitening Toothbrush $2.57
Oral-B Cross Action Power Toothbrush $5.99
Total Before Coupons: $11.13

$1/1 Crest Toothpaste (from a mail sample a long time ago)
$1/1 Oral-B Manual Toothbrush (from a mail sample a long time ago)
$3/1 Oral-B Battery Toothbrush
$1 off purchase June VV
Total After Coupons: $5.13 (used $5 +up)

Received:
$1.60 +up Toothpaste
$1.60 +up Manual Toothbrush
$2.99 +up Battery Toothbrush
Net: $1.06 profit

Transaction 3:
Blink Tears $7.99
John Fredia Full Repair Shampoo $4.99
John Fredia Full Repair Conditioner $4.99
Total Before Coupons: $17.97

$4/1 Blink Tears Peelie (found on the ground about two months ago)
2 $2/1 Any John Fredia item (I didn't get $5 ones in my paper)
Total After Coupons: $9.97 +.09 tax (used $6.19 +up)

Will Receive:
$7.99 SCR Blink
Net: $2.07 cost

Maybe Receive?
$4.99 SCR Full Repair Shampoo*
$4.99 SCR Full Repair Conditioner*
Maybe Net: $7.91 profit

*I'm hoping that the Full Repair SCR goes through. The store (and from other comments other stores) has these two items marked as being part of the SCR. On closer inspection of the June booklet it says 'Full Repair Styling System.' I don't know if shampoo & conditioner count as a styler, but they are part of the 'Full Repair System.' If it doesn't go through I plan on returning them. I would be very disappointed if it was marked incorrectly.

Definite Grand Net: $3.27 profit + $1.06 profit + $2.07 cost = $2.26 profit
Maybe Grand Net: $3.27 profit + $1.06 profit + $7.91 profit = $12.24 profit.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

CVS - Round 2! (3, 4, or more)

There were a couple of good deals that I missed earlier in the week. Luckily because I work at CVS I'm able to pick up deals last minute, no problem. Cheap Revlon powder was exciting, $.64! Also was happy to see the John Fredia deal. I thought about skipping it because I have enough for a year. As it was only $.50/item I thought it would be worth getting and donating. Also went through my P&G mailers to see if I had any coupons I was likely to use. Two $1/1 Oral-B coupons! Free toothbrushes!


Transaction 1:
Revlon Powder $10.49
Total Before Coupons: $10.49

$6.00 Revlon Color (CVS Coupon Machine)
Total After Coupons: $4.49 + $.15 tax

Received:
$4 EB Revlon wyb $10

Net: $.64 cost

Transaction 2:
Honest Tea $1.00
John Fredia Conditioner $4.99
John Fredia Shampoo $4.99
Total Before Coupons: $10.98

$.50/1 Honest Tea (tear pad)
2 $3/1 John Fredia Root Awakening
Total After Coupons: $4.48 +.05 tax (used $4 EB from previous transaction)

Received:
$3 EB John Fredia (also includes Curel)

Net: $1.53 cost

Transaction 3:
2 Oral-B Toothbrushes @ 1.99 each = $3.98
Total Before Coupons: $3.98

2 $1/1 Oral-B Manual Toothbrush (P&G mailer)
Total After Coupons: $1.98 (used $.99 EB)

Received:
$2 EB Oral-B (two offers)
Net: $.02 profit

Grand Net: $.64 cost + $1.53 cost + $.02 profit = $2.15 cost!

I wanted to finish up the buy $30 get a $10 gas card. I knew buying more nuts would have me a few cents shy, but I wasn't sure by how much. I had hoped we would get more of the south beach mix on truck, but no such luck. So I grabbed the individualized serving multi-pac. Not as much bang for you buck, but it will work. I also wanted to finish off the 5/$5 get $2 EB drink deal. (Which is going on until 7/2.)


3 Honest Tea @ $1.00 each = $3.00
Planters South Beach individual $7.49
Planters South Beach individual FREE (BOGO Free)
Total Before Coupons: $10.49

3 $.50/1 Honest Tea
Total After Coupons: $8.99 (used $1 EB)

Received:
$10 gas card (actually rung as a separate transaction, but was my only item.)
$2 EB wyb 5 selected drinks
Net: $7.99 cost

So $29.95 does the trick for the buy $30 get $10 gas card. (Maybe slightly less?) I'm happy that my last $7.49 purchase could get me $10 of gas. I'll be taking that $10 from my gas budget putting it back into my grocery budget. So over all that means $30 worth of nuts for $20! That's a lot of snacking!

Food Loin

I went shopping at Food Loin on Monday. No time until now to get to it though. LOL. It happens to be relatively close to the CVS that I stopped out to pick up a few goodies. (See here. I had another special $10 off $20 coupon. I went in hopping to stay as close to $20 as possible so that it would be like getting everything at half price. I managed to do really well.


Total Price of Merchandise: $27.91
Sales Savings: $7.15
Coupons: $10.00
Total Spent: $10.76 (W00T!)

On closer inspection on my receipt I noticed the sugar rang up for $1.24! I hadn't noticed a sale sign or anything, so I suppose I missed it entirely! I headed back the next day. Turned out it was clearanced! I didn't think I was going to get a better deal for 2lbs of organic sugar. Also heard some pasta was on sale for $1 and there was a $1 off facebook offer. You better believe I grabbed this goodie while I could. ^_^

I can't find my receipt for this one. Paid $2.48!

Friday, June 3, 2011

June Budget & Monthly Climb


I hope everyone had a good holiday weekend. I work everyday for the last eleven days and I'm tired. I was happy to work the holiday as it means time and a half. Finally some time to relax. Hopefully. A co-worker of mine isn't feeling to good and there is a slight chance of me having to go in tomorrow. *fingers crossed*

I'm going to keep this post short today. (Tired!) So just a budget update and then the climbing!

The Budget:


Bills (Electric) $103
Bunnies $30
Car Insurance $36
Car Repair $60
Cellphone $36
Clothing $20
Free Money $40
Gas $140
Groceries $100
Health $20
Rent $310
Student Loans $472

Grand Total: $1367/month (Take home pay.)


*Extra money tallied up at the end of the month. All extra funds are to pay off one of my student loans.


No big changes. My 'extra' categories have gone into the regular budget. Not having to fill up the emergency fund and seeing plenty of extra money at the end of the month gives me confidence I'll be able to handle it. If for some reason it doesn't work out I'll split then out again.

Imagine a new world . . .



Monthly Climb!!!
Grand Total Last Month: $41,825.44
New Grand Total: $41,243.79
Amount Paid Off: $581.65


The extra funds really paid off! I'm hoping that I can actually have another loan finished within two months. Between the holiday this past week and another one next month it should be done! I'm dancing at the thought of it! I can hardly wait!