Saturday Night @ CVS

I ran into CVS tonight after reading on Crystal's blog about the Russell Stover deal that was only good through today. They only had two packages left. I didn't have time to look around for anything else and my lowest ECB was for $7.xx, so I just had to eat the OOP cost on my gift card.

CVS 2/7:
+ 2 Russell Stover Private Reserve Vanilla chocolates
- Coupons (BOGO)
+ Tax
=$2.84 on gift card, $0.00 out of pocket, $4.08 saved, 100% savings Avg. cost per item: $0.00
*Plus I earned back $2.00 in ECBs and 4 coupons (including one for FREE CVS antacids)!

Even More Triples

Harris Teeter Triples Trip #4:
+ 4 Betty Crocker potato pouches
+ 2 Arm & Hammer Baking Soda boxes
+ 1 Wishbone salad dressing spritzer
+ 2 boxes Lipton tea bags
+ 1 Frank's hot sauce
+ 3 Mueller's whole grain spaghetti
+ 2 Carnation evaporated milk cans
+ 1 Hungry Jack pancake syrup
+ 2 Harris Teeter Macaroni & Cheese dinner
+ 2 Suave body wash
+ 1 half dozen Harris Teeter eggs
- Coupons
+ Tax
=$9.67 out of pocket, $24.04 saved, 71% savings
Avg. cost per item: $0.46
*Plus I earned a $1 off 2 Wish-Bone Salad Spritzers catalina coupon.


I was a little disappointed with this next trip. It should have been a little cheaper but I had a $0.75 coupon that would have tripled that didn't get scanned. So this order SHOULD have been $2.25 less. This is what I get for doing self-checkout where you hand the cashier who is standing far away the coupons to scan where you can't see them. :(

Harris Teeter Triples Trip #5:
+ 2 boxes Lipton tea bags
+ 1 box Luzianne tea bags
+ 3 Mueller whole grain spaghetti
+ 2 Craisins 100 calorie multi-packs
+ 3 Suave body wash
+ 4 SunSilk conditioners (marked down to $1.36 each)
+ 1 Downy fabric softener (marked down to $3.67)
+ 2 Coffeemate liquid coffee creamers
+ 1 Simply Orange with pineapple juice
+ 1 Kraft shredded cheese
+ 1 Minute white rice
+ 2 cans Ortega refried beans
+ 1 pouch Betty Crocker potatoes
+ 1 Dinty Moore beef stew (marked down to $1.34)
+ 1 pack Little Swimmers swim diapers (marked down to $4.49)
- Coupons
+ Tax
=$21.87 out of pocket, $35.83 saved, 62% savings
Avg. cost per item: $0.84
*Plus I earned two catalina coupons -- one for $1.00/3 Coffee-Mate creamer and one for $0.75/1 Prego Heart Smart Italian Sauce.

Total left for this month: $393.98

More Triples Trips

Harris Teeter Triples Trip #2:
+ 4 Viva paper towels big rolls
+ 1 box Bisquick mix 40 oz.
+ 4 Minute brown rice
+ 2 Mueller's spaghetti
+ 1 French's yellow mustard
+ 3 French's Worcestershire sauce
+ 1 Frank's hot sauce
+ 4 Mueller's whole grain spaghetti
+ 2 Colgate Whitening toothpastes
- Coupons
+ Tax
=$1.28 on gift card, $5.36 out of pocket, $41.04 saved, 86% savings
Avg. cost per item: $0.24


Harris Teeter Triples Trip #3:
+ 2 Viva paper towels big rolls
+ 3 Frank's hot sauce
+ 4 Mueller's whole grain spaghetti
+ 4 Suave body wash
+ 4 Suave deodorant
+ 2 Smithfield bacon 16 oz.
+ 1 Smithfield bacon (40% lean) 12 oz.
- Coupons
+ Tax
=$6.38 out of pocket, $40.64 saved, 86% savings
Avg. cost per item: $0.32

Total left for this month: $425.52

I heart Harris Teeter!

Harris Teeter is doing triples again, and I was really prepared this time. I ordered some coupons that I knew I could use for good deals from The Coupon Clippers on Tuesday. I headed to HT as soon as the mail arrived today!

I had a coupon for a free can of Del Monte tomatoes, a $4 OYNO catalina from buying $20 worth of Gerber a couple of weeks ago, and a $5 gift card that customer service gave me for free for having to go through a lot of trouble to get my $4 OYNO catalina that didn't print like it was supposed to...in addition to all my coupons that tripled. After all was said and done today, I still have $1.28 left on my FREE gift card!!!

Harris Teeter 2/6:
+ 4 boxes Minute brown rice 14 oz. ea.
+ 1 can Del Monte diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, & oregano (no salt added) 14.5 oz.
+ 4 Viva big rolls paper towels 70 sheets ea.
+ 3 bottles French's classic yellow mustard 8 oz. ea.
+ 2 packs Smithfield bacon (40% less fat) 12 oz. ea.
+ 2 packs Smithfield bacon 16 oz. ea.
+ 4 boxes Mueller's whole grain spaghetti 12 oz. ea.
+ 2 Colgate Whitening toothpaste with oxygen bubbles 6.4 oz. ea.
- Coupons
+ Tax
=$3.72 on GC, $0.00 out of pocket, $55.32 saved, 100% savings
Avg. cost per item: $0

Total left for this month: $437.26

Quick Kroger Run

We were almost out of milk and also needed some meat for our spaghetti dinner tonight, so DH ran out to grab us a few things. He bought everything I had put on the list, but then felt compelled to add on a T-bone steak that ended up being about 50% of the total OOP cost. Without the steak, our total OOP would have been more like $7.42, making each item an average of only $0.62. Oh well.

I did send him with some awesome Kroger store coupons we had just gotten in the mail. We had a $7 store coupon that was our reward from the last points cycle, a $1/$4 fresh fruit coupon, and a $1 OYNO coupon. We also had a $2.50/3 Johnson's products that he used for the Buddies.

Kroger 2/4:
+ 1 gal. Kroger skim milk
+ 1 T-bone steak
+ 2 x 1.3-lb. ground turkey
+ 1 bag Kroger all purpose flour
+ 4 Gala apples
+ 1 bunch bananas
+ 3 Johnson's Buddies soaps
- Coupons
+ Tax
=$13.25 out of pocket, $14.22 saved, 52% savings
Avg. cost per item: $1.02

Total left for this month: $437.26

February 1st Spending!

On the first day of the month, we spent 10% of our whole monthly budget. :( Not such a great start to February. Thankfully it's a short month.

+ $24.75 Food Lion 2/1...saved $6.79 (a DH shopping trip without coupons)
+ $24.74 Lynnwood Grill 2/1 (SuperBowl supper)

Total left for this month: $450.51

Earning Extra Money: $100

As a SAHM, anytime you can earn extra money it really helps out! Some ways I've been trying to bring in extra money is by selling things we no longer need, want, or use on Craigslist (our garage is chock full of STUFF) or by selling cloth diapers we aren't using on diaperswappers (I way overbought in the beginning and now our house is overflowing with diapers!). I don't count cash earned or paypal funds in my monthly budget; instead we use that money to buy things we do need or want. It kind of makes up our "funny money" fund. And sometimes, too, I do deposit it into our bank account, and use it to pay down debt or put into one of our savings accounts.

Recently, I was lucky enough to receive an email about a research focus group to which I replied right away (it was from a reputable source, so I knew it was legitimate, plus my neighbors have been called for these several times). I was chosen to participate and I went last Thursday evening.

I was given a light dinner, then sat in a room with 9 other participants for 2 hours while we had a discussion and answered questions asked by the researcher. When I left, I was given a crisp $100 bill. Can't beat that!!!

February Goals

A Review of my New Year's Resolutions:
1 - Make a monthly budget and stick to it. (see below for Feb.'s goal)
2 - Limit impulse buying by discussing all $20+ purchases with DH first.
3 - Plan monthly goals for improvement. (see below for Jan. & Feb.'s goals)

A Review of my January Goals:
1 - Budget for food/household/eating out: $500 (basically this should cover everything except for routine bills and gas...will start with a high limit this month and try to work down each month of the year)
2 - Read more books to DS.
3 - Convert the dining room to a playroom for DS.

*NEW* February Goals:
1 - Budget for food/household/eating out: $500 (basically this should cover everything except for routine bills and gas)
2 - Finish converting the dining room to a playroom for DS (including painting shelf).
3 - Take DS on more outings -- to friends', the playground, the backyard swingset, on walks, etc.

January Monthly Totals

BUDGET:
$500

GRAND TOTAL:
*Total OOP = $519.71
*Total savings = $415.75
*Percent savings = 44%

REMAINING:
-$19.71

Final January Spending Updates

Ugh! We went over budget, and here's why: DH's razor broke and he went out to buy a new one without telling me about it first. :( Oh well, we came really close to staying within the budget for this month. I'm still proud of us!

+ $3.23 McDonalds 1/25
+ $32.01 Target 1/25
+ $5.39 Subway 1/29

Total left for this month: -$19.71