Lowe's Foods Trip

Lowe's Foods 5/21:
+ 10 Kraft shredded cheese (8 oz. bags -- various flavors) -- on sale Buy 2, Get 3 FREE
+ 1 Banderita whole wheat tortillas -- on sale for $1.79
+ 1 Lowe's Foods frozen blackberries -- on sale 2/$4
+ 5 Kraft BBQ sauce (variety of flavors) -- on sale Buy 2, Get 3 FREE
+ 2 AI Marinade sauces (variety of flavors) -- on sale BOGO
+ 1 Ritz Crackers -- on sale 2/$5
+ 2 Wheat Thins whole wheat -- on sale BOGO
+ 3 Jello mixes (variety of flavors) -- on sale for $0.85/ea
+ 3 Valley Fresh white meat canned chicken -- on sale BOGO
+1 Hormel white meat canned chicken
- Coupons ($8.80)
+ Tax
=$32.33 out of pocket, $50.05 saved, 61% savings
Avg. cost per item: $1.11
*Plus I earned back a $2.50 OYNO catalina for buying 5 Kraft BBQ sauces.

...but I goofed and somehow bought a Hormel canned chicken instead of a 4th Valley Fresh canned chicken....so when I exchange that for the Valley Fresh, my new totals should be:

=$30.91 out of pocket, $51.88 saved, 63% savings
Avg. cost per item: $1.07

...and they were also out of some Carolina Pride sausages that I was going to get a good deal on. I thought about getting a rain check, but since today was just day 1 of the sale, I think I'll just check back later this week when I return the can of Hormel chicken. :)

A couple of the good deals I got were (after all savings calculated in):

• Kraft shredded cheese 8 oz. bags: $1.26/ea
• A1 Marinades: $0.57/ea
• Wheat Thins: $0.74/ea
• Jello: $0.52/ea

And the best deal was...

• Kraft BBQ sauce: I actually earned 20 cents towards my other items for buying the 5 bottles, plus I earned $2.50 off of my next order! So, in essence, I was paid $2.70 to buy 5 bottles of Kraft BBQ sauce!!!

Over a month with no post...

...and I must say I haven't been as good without posting here to hold me accountable. I am definitely better than I used to be about spending, but still--the accountability really keeps me in check!

Hope to be getting back on track now! :)

If you should have a catalina issue or question...

you can contact Catalina Marketing at:

http://www.catalinamarketing.com/contact/

or

(888) 322-3814

Harris Teeter Triples Summary

Here's a breakdown of our trips to HT during triples week!

# of trips: 7
# of items bought: 144
# of items returned due to coupons not working right: 9
$ spent OOP (minus a return of $9.61): $103.84
$ saved: $250.77
% savings: 71%
earnings:
So far we have earned 5 x $10 mail-in rebate catalinas and 15 FREE milk catalinas (well, 14 since we missed out on one, but I hope to get it by calling the catalina company!)

I don't like to count my chickens before they hatch, but if you included the $50 in rebate cards we will earn as soon as I send them in, and if you assumed we would buy the milk anyway at $3/gallon (a total of $45), then you could pretty much say that everything we bought during triples was free since our OOP spending was about $100 and these earnings would add up to about $95!

Crazy, huh?

The Last of the Harris Teeter Triples!

Trip #5:
+ 2 Gerber teething biscuits (marked down to $1.05/ea)
+ 4 Lysol toilet bowl cleaners
+ 1 Nestle butterscotch morsels
+ 3 Quaker old fashioned oats canisters
+ 8 Frosted Mini Wheats (various kinds/flavors)
+ 2 Quaker instant oatmeal multi-pack boxes
+ 3 Wet Ones antibacterial wipes
- Coupons
+ Tax
=$19.41 out of pocket, $50.12 saved, 72% savings
Avg. cost per item: $0.84
*Plus I earned another $10 mail-in rebate for buying 8 Kellogg's products and earned 3 free milk coupons for buying 7 Kellogg's products!


Trip #6:
+ 4 Lysol toilet bowl cleaners
+ 1 Quaker Old-Fashioned Oats canisters
+ 8 Kellogg's Mini Wheats (various kinds/flavors)
+ 6 Lipton Tea Bags boxes (16 bags ea)
+ 1 Harris Teeter bleach (needed it)
+ 1 Smucker's Uncrustables
+ 2 bags frozen Veg-All vegetables
+ 1 Tyson's pre-cooked chicken strips
+ 2 Blistik lip balms
- Coupons
+ Tax
=$20.11 out of pocket, $44.02 saved, 69% savings
Avg. cost per item: $0.77
*Plus we earned another $10 mail-in rebate and 2 free milk coupons (should have been 3, but DH only was handed two of them). :( I plan to call the catalina number to see if we can still get the third one.

Trip #7:
+ 8 Kellogg's Frosted Mini Wheats (various kinds/flavors)
+ 1 Texas croutons
+ 1 Wishbone dressing
+ 1 Mission tortillas
- Coupons
+ Tax
=$12.36 out of pocket, $23.05 saved, 65% savings
Avg. cost per item: $1.12
*Plus I earned another $10 mail-in rebate for buying 8 Kellogg's products and earned 3 free milk coupons for buying 7 Kellogg's products!

Another Triples Trip

DH made this Harris Teeter run.

Harris Teeter:
+ 2 Betty Crocker cookie mix pouches
+ 1 Betty Crocker frosting
+ 2 Mahatma rice mixes
+ 2 Mahatma brown rice bags
+ 6 Kellogg's Frosted Mini Wheats (BOGO)
+ 2 Kellogg's Mini Wheats Little Bites (BOGO)
+ 1 can Sweet Sue chicken
+ 2 5-lb. bags Domino sugar
+ 2 Sargento shredded cheese
+ 1 HT skim milk
+ 2 Mueller's spaghetti
- Coupons ($23.94: FREE milk catalina, 2 x $0.40/1 BC cookie pouch tripled, 1 x $0.50/1 BC frosting tripled, 1 x $0.75/2 Mahatma rice mix which took off the extra $x.xx to make the rice mixes free, 4 x $1.00/1 Kellogg's cereal blinkies, $0.50/2 Domino sugar tripled, 2 x $0.50/1 Mahatma rice tripled, 2 x $0.40/1 Sargento shredded cheese tripled, $0.75/1 Sweet Sue chicken tripled, $0.55/2 Mueller's spaghetti tripled)
+ Tax
=$17.36 on rebate card, $5.00 out of pocket, $42.02 saved, 68% savings
Avg. cost per item: $0.97
*Plus we earned another $10 mail-in rewards card catalina and 3 more FREE milk tickets--so if you factor this in, our OOP spending was $10.36, $42.02 saved, 80% savings, average cost per item $0.45 and we still earned the 3 FREE milks!

Free cereal and milk at HT!

Harris Teeter has some amazing catalina deals running right now! Deal #1 and Deal #2 can be combined for awesome results!

Deal #1: (3/20 - 4/12)
Buy Kellogg's cereal 12 oz. +
...buy 3, get 1 free milk
...buy 5, get 2 free milks
...buy 7, get 3 free milks

The free milks print as catalina coupons good for one free gallon of milk up to $4.69, any brand, any flavor. If you get multiple milk coupons, the expiration dates are staggered by one week apart so you don't have to buy it all at once.

Deal #2: (3/18 - 4/14)
Get a $10 rewards card wyb ANY 8 Kellogg's, Sunshine, Keebler, or Eggo products.

This prints as a catalina that you fill out and mail in. Your receipt is *not* needed for this rebate. There is *not* a household limit to this offer.

Deal #3: (3/27 - 4/19)
Buy Post Cereal...
...buy 3, and get $2 on your next order.
...buy 4, get $3 oyno.
...buy 5 or more, get $5 oyno.

This prints as a $ off catalina for you to use on a future HT purchase.
_______________________________________

This was my first attempt at trying out Deal #1 and Deal #2 in combo. This week, my HT is also doing triple coupons and Kellogg's Frosted Mini Wheats are BOGO.

Harris Teeter 3/27:
+ 7 boxes of Frosted Mini Wheats
+ 1 box of Frosted Mini Wheats "Little Bites"
- Coupons ($5.10: 3 x $1.00/1 Kellogg's cereal blinkie Qs found right in front of the boxes of cereal and 1 x $0.70/1 Kellogg's Little Bites coupon tripled to $2.10)
+ Tax
=$8.70 out of pocket, $18.66 saved, 68% savings
Avg. cost per item: $1.08
*Plus I earned the catalina for a $10 mail-in rewards card and 3 FREE milk catalinas--so in reality, after I receive the rewards card, I will have been *paid* $1.30 to buy 8 boxes of cereal and 3 gallons of milk!!!

Harris Teeter Triples Again!

...and I make a royal mess of it! This time they only triple up to 20 coupons (isn't it normally 25?!?!?)...and of course I used 25 my first trip, so I missed out on $9.75 in savings because those coupons didn't triple. I may return those items; I can't decide. My second trip went much better, except that the Lysol toilet bowl cleaner is BOGO and I only bought one thinking it would be marked 1/2 price--but you actually have to buy 2 to get the sale price I guess because I didn't get it for 1/2 off. So that may be going back also. :(

Harris Teeter Trip #1:
+ 4 Betty Crocker cookie mixes
+ 8 Mahatma rice mixes
+ 2 Lysol toilet bowl cleaners
+ 2 Mr. Clean eraser packs
+ 8 Lipton tea bags
+ 1 Sweet Sue Chicken & Dumplings
+ 1 Sweet Sue canned chicken
+ 1 French's onions
+ 1 large Pace Salsa
+ 2 5-lb. Domino sugars
+ 4 Suave body wash
- Coupons
+ Tax
=$22.67 out of pocket, $45.41 saved, 67% savings
Avg. cost per item: $0.66
*If I hadn't goofed, the total OOP *would* have been $12.92, $55.16 saved, 81% savings, $0.38 avg. cost per item.

Harris Teeter Trip #2:
+ 4 Betty Crocker cookie mixes
+ 4 Mahatma rice mixes
+ 1 Lysol toilet bowl cleaner
+ 4 Lipton tea bags
+ 4 Suave body wash
+ 2 Mr. Clean spray
- Coupons
+ Tax
=$7.84 out of pocket, $27.49 saved, 78% savings
Avg. cost per item: $0.41
*If I hadn't goofed, the total OOP *would* have been $7.84, $30.28 saved, 79% savings, $0.39 avg. cost per item.

Quick Trips

We ran out to pick up a Craigslist item tonight (2 really cool Pottery Barn clear-view book shelves), so we ran a few errands, too.

I finally found the Cascade Crystal Clear Rinse Agent (for dishwashers) at Target. They had a bunch, so DH and I unloaded our FREE coupons. We got 6 bottles and all we had to pay was the tax! Yipee!

Target #1 (my checkout):
+ 3 - 8.45 oz Cascade Crystal Clear Rinse Agent ($3.14/ea)
- Coupons (3 FREE Cascade q's)
+ Tax
=$0.64 out of pocket, $9.42 saved, 94% savings
Avg. cost per item: $0.21

Target #2 (DH's checkout):
+ 3 - 8.45 oz Cascade Crystal Clear Rinse Agent ($3.14/ea)
+ 1 4-lb. bag Market Pantry sugar ($1.97)
+ 1 Archer Farms Artisan Petite Harvest Grain loaf ($0.99)
- Coupons (3 FREE Cascade q's + $1.00 off Archer Farms Artisan bread Target Q printed from gift registry kiosk)
+ Tax
=$2.64 on rebate card, $0.00 out of pocket, $9.42 saved, 78% savings
Avg. cost per item: $0.53
(The rebate card is a prepaid American Express card that we got for buying a pressure cooker at JC Penney's on Black Friday.)

CVS:
+ 1 toddler fleece clogs (like crocs) marked down 90%
+ 2 Campbell's cream of mushroom soup (BOGO)
+ 2 Campbell's Tomato soup (BOGO)
+ 1 Maola whole milk
- Coupons (2 x $1.00/2 Campbell's cooking soups printable q)
- ECBs ($5.50)
+ Tax
=$0.10 on gift card, $0.00 out of pocket, $19.68 saved, 100% savings
Avg. cost per item: $0.00

Where can I buy Cascade?

...specifically 8.45 oz Cascade Crystal Clear Rinse Agent???

I have several FREE coupons to try it, but I can't find it anywhere!!!

Where have you found it?

BzzReport: My review of Afrin PureSea

I am a BzzAgent. Check out the website here to find out more about becoming an agent. It is a marketing network that relies on word of mouth referrals. That means, as an agent, you get samples of products or coupons for products to try out in hopes that you will like them and spread the word. See more of my BzzReports here.

I posted yesterday about receiving my 3rd BzzKit (and don't forget, there are still giveaways left!). I have to admit that even though I was excited about it, I was a little apprehensive, too. I have never tried a nasal rinse before. It is different than a nasal spray--which I have tried-- in that you hold your head tilted over a sink, press the applicator on the Afrin PureSea bottle, and let the fluid flow through the upper nostril and out the lower. Then repeat with the other side.

I will admit it did make me cough for a second and I could taste the salty water in my throat, but after the intial shock of it, I have to say that I really liked it. My nose feels fresh and clean. This is something I think I will really like because during winter and pregnancy, my nose gets SO dry and it bleeds all the time because of it. I think this rinse is just what I need because it is hydrating! I love that it is just natural sea water, too, so I don't have to worry about harming my unborn baby with chemicals or drugs when I use it.

Have YOU tried Afrin PureSea yet? What was your experience?

New BzzCampaign: Afrin PureSea!

I am a BzzAgent. Check out the website here to find out more about becoming an agent. It is a marketing network that relies on word of mouth referrals. That means, as an agent, you get samples of products or coupons for products to try out in hopes that you will like them and spread the word. See more of my BzzReports here.

I received my 3rd BzzCampaign materials in my mailbox yesterday. This one is for Afrin PureSea hydrating nasal rinse. I'm excited to try it because it is completely natural--made from 100% purified sea water and nothing else.
Stay posted for my upcoming review of the product!

In the meantime, I have some $3.00/1 coupons to give away for you to try this product. I also have 3 Palmolive Pure + Clear samples + $1.00/1 coupons left to give away.

If you are interested in either or both, just post a comment along with your email address. I'll send you my address so you can send me a SASE (or you can paypal me $$0.74--the cost of a stamp plus pp fees). As soon as I receive your envelope or your pp, your sample and coupon will be on their way to you!

Updating March Totals

Luckily I made lots of extra money this month with my 2 days of unexpected babysitting and all of my DS and CL sales. Unfortunately, I don't count that money in my budget so I am going to have to look at this ugly red number until the end of the month! :(

Eating Out:
+ $14.49 K&W Cafeteria 3/1
+ $15.62 Schlotzsky's Deli 3/1
+ $22.87 Cracker Barrel 3/4
+ $7.84 Wendy's 3/4
+ $5.66 Bojangles 3/4
+ $8.84 ColdStone Creamery 3/5
+ $14.64 Little Caesar's Pizza 3/5
+ $12.52 Salsa Fresh 3/9
+ $18.31 Bojangles 3/10
+ $3.65 Burger King 3/12
+ $4.73 McDonald's 3/14
+ $13.73 Cosmic Cantina 3/16
+ $4.69 Cook Out 3/17
+ $14.48 Salsa Fresh 3/18
+ $7.53 Baja Burrito 3/19
+ $24.08 Red Robin 3/20
+ $7.94 Bruegger's Bagels 3/23
Total as of 3/23: $201.62

Services:
+ $1.17 USPS 3/3
+ $5.72 USPS 3/4
+ $7.07 USPS 3/7
+ $28.56 USPS 3/10
Total as of 3/23: $42.52 (shipping costs for things sold on DS)

Groceries:
+ $5.70 Harris Teeter 3/2, saved $5.59, 50% savings
+ $5.75 Food Lion 3/3
+ $10.49 Great Harvest Bread Company 3/9
+ $48.06 Kroger 3/10, saved $15.36, 24% savings
+ $17.42 Food Lion 3/11
+ $1.01 Harris Teeter 3/11, saved $4.00, 80% savings
+ $12.24 Harris Teeter 3/11, saved $12.60, 51% savings
+ $0.00 Rite Aid 3/11, earned a $25 gift card
+ $40.40 Kroger 3/15, saved $17.31, 30% savings
+ $0.00 Rite Aid 3/16, saved $6.02, 100% savings
+ $0.00 CVS 3/16, saved $12.84, 100% savings
+ $1.16 Harris Teeter 3/17
+ $23.45 Papa Spud's Organics 3/20 (home delivery)
+ $13.33 Harris Teeter 3/20
+ $10.31 Kroger 3/21, saved $7.80, 43% savings
+ $12.17 Kroger 3/21, saved $20.80, 63% savings
+ $0.00 CVS 3/21, saved $45.40, 100% savings
+ $26.84 Food Lion 3/22, saved $1.58, 6% savings
+ $24.90 Earth Fare 3/23, saved $0.85, 3% savings
Total as of 3/23: $253.23, saved $150.15, 37% savings

Merchandise:
+ $32.00 Target 3/1 (wedding shower gift + 2 $1.00 dog collars)
+ $5.33 Ollie's Bargain Outlet 3/5 (Super Hero straw cup for DS)
+ $57.09 Gap Credit Card 3/10
+ $124.76 Michaels 3/22 (photo frames for all our new photos of DS), saved $12.99 with 10% coupon + sale savings of $109.87 for total savings of $122.86
- $21.34 Michaels 3/22 (they charged us for one too many frames)
Total as of 3/24: $197.84, saved $122.86, 38% savings

Grand Total as of 3/24: $695.21
Saved as of 3/24: $273.01 (28% savings)

Total left for March: $-195.21 (ouch!)

Earth Fare shopping trip

A few weeks ago, I posted about a super healthy breakfast you can make for your infant or toddler from the Super Baby Food Book. We needed some more grains and legumes for variety, so we headed to the bulk bins at Earth Fare last night.

Earth Fare 3/23:
+ 1 bottle .5-oz. Sweet Orange essential oil
+ 0.67 lb. organic pearled Barley
+ 0.77 lb organic Adzuki beans
+ 0.62 lb. organic raw Buckwheat
+ 0.23 lb. organic dark chocolate chips (okay, okay...these were for me!)
+ 0.54 lb. organic whole wheat French couscous
+ 1.05 lb. Supernatural granola (this was, too!)
+ 0.49 lb. organic Peruvian Quinoa
+ 0.84 lb. organic whole rye berries
+ 0.30 lb. nutritional yeast flakes
+ 1 large container whole milk plain yogurt (for DS and for starter)
+ 0.09 lb. organic kelp powder
+ 1.75 lb. organic Red Delicious apples (quantity: 4)
+ Tax
=$24.90 out of pocket, $0.85 saved, 0% savings

Recent Craigslist Buys/Sells

Here are some recent buys/sells I've done on Craigslist. This money is not included in my monthly totals, but rather used to buy things we want/need.

Buys:
+ lot of 300+ Duplo/Legos $15
+ blue bilibo toy $13
+ 2 clear-view Pottery Barn book shelves $50
Total: $78

Sells:
+ 55 Euro premium prefolds + 18 Toddler prefolds $180
+ women's clothes lot $56
+ doghouse $15.25
Total: $251.25

Trades (mine FOR theirs):
+ 2 ring slings FOR 3 Fisher Price Little People Nativity Sets
+ pair of crankypants FOR a lot of maternity clothes + $50
Total: $50

Grand Total: $223.25
(updated 3/25)

DIY Diaper Pail Powder

I am so excited! Of late, our cloth diaper pail has not been the freshest smelling thing to say the least. We use a dry pail and although we dunk, swish, and flush away all solids, the pail still smells a little, well...poopy. I had been using some tea tree essential oil on the cloth attached to the pail liner, but it just wasn't enough. I know you can buy pail powders online, but I really wanted something thrifty.

So I posted on Diaperswappers a few days ago about finding a do-it-yourself recipe for diaper pail powder and some mamas hooked me up with tons of good ideas.

Here's one I tried last night:
*8 oz. box of baking soda
*25-30 drops of essential oil of your choice

I had a small box of baking soda that I had gotten for free or nearly free with coupons awhile back and I picked up a .5-oz bottle of Sweet Orange EO at Earth Fare last night for only $3.14. I just went down their price list and picked the cheapest one that smelled good to me. You can use whatever scent you want though. After making this once, you can't even tell I used any of the EO, so it will really last a LONG time!

Directions:

• Dump the baking soda into a bowl.
• Add 25-30 drops of EO.
• Mash with a fork.
• Let sit for about 30 minutes.
• Sift.
• Let sit for another 30 minutes.
• Sift again.
• Put into a shaker container. (I had a restaurant-style glass parmesean shaker, but a recycled plastic one would work fine, too!)
• Sprinkle into diaper pail as needed!

I have only begun using this today, so I don't know how it's going to work for us, but I will definitely post an update soon.

And just as a note, you can also just use plain baking soda to do the same trick. It will be even more thrifty, it just won't smell as fresh and nice without the EO added! :)

Prince Lionheart ROCKS!!!

We received a Prince Lionheart wipes warmer as a baby shower gift from my sister before my son was born. Let me just say we loved that thing! It really was awesome! We used it for cloth wipes since we cloth diaper and it helped us save so much money since I also make my own wipes solution, while at the same time it gave us the comfort of warm wipes (which is not a thing to underestimate in the winter especially).
Well, sadly, our Prince Lionheart died one week before my son's first birthday. My husband looked at it, but it was unfixable--something about the electrical connection. So, we sucked it up and had cold wipes for awhile. My son and I were both miserable. And with a newborn on the way soon, I just wanted to go ahead and get a new one.

This past week we were near a Babies R Us, so DH ran in and bought a new one with a gift card. It cost $32.xx after tax. I was shocked because our old one was $19.99 when it was new, but this new one was specifically for cloth wipes, yada, yada, yada.
I opened it up, and while really nice, I just really liked the lid on our old one.

So, I got up some courage and emailed the company just for kicks. I told them how much we loved the wipes warmer, but that it had died. I told them I didn't have the box anymore and I didn't have a receipt because it had been a shower gift. To make a long story short, they requested photos of the wipes warmer and told me they'd be happy to replace mine!!! I nearly fell out!

I emailed the requested photos on Friday afternoon, and guess what showed up at my door this morning via Fed-Ex???? You guessed it! A brand-spanking new wipes warmer, just like my old one! I couldn't be happier!

So, I just want to say, if you are considering buying a wipes warmer or other baby product, and Prince Lionheart is one of the brands you're considering, do not hesitate to buy it! They have great products and absolutely amazing customer service!!! I can't say enough about them! And in this day and age, what they offer is truly rare! You will not find many companies that stand behind their product and respect their customers as much as Prince Lionheart!

Prince Lionheart ROCKS!!!

(And, on a thrifty note, I just saved us $32.xx because now we can return the unused wipes warmer we just bought! Yay!)

Earning Extra Money: Babysitting

This wasn't a planned way to earn some extra money, but my neighbor (who is a very good friend of mine) called me the other night because her babysitter's daughter was sick and so she needed someone to watch HER daughter for 2 days while she was at work.

I agreed to watch her; my son got a playmate for 2 days, and I got $70 in unexpected cash--can't beat that!!!!

I <3 Baking Soda

I do. It's great stuff and you can use it for so many things! Not to mention, you can save money by using it to replace some products you would normally buy.

Some of my personal favorite uses for it include:
*adding it to my infant son's bath -- it takes care of any diaper area redness like a charm
*using it in the fridge and freezer to eat up yucky odors
*sprinkling it on the carpet, then vacumming to help with pet odors
*mixing it with essential oils and then adding it to the diaper pail as needed

I was just flipping through a recent issue of All You magazine and clipping coupons when I can across this little article, "20 Uses for Baking Soda." So, I thought I'd share a few more uses that I found interesting!

1. Make a fluffier omelet by adding 1/2 tsp baking soda for every three eggs.
2. Fight dandruff by tabling the shampoo for a few weeks and massaging your wet scalp with a handful of baking soda instead.
3. Gargle with baking soda, or use it as mouthwash.
4. Use baking soda to brush your pet's teeth.
5. To clean a toilet, add 1/4 cup baking soda to the bowl, swirl, then scrub.

How do YOU use baking soda???

4 Giveaways Left!

I still have Palmolive Pure + Clear samples & $1.00 off coupons to give away! Hurry! Only 4 spots left!

Read the post here!