Abby's At It Again!

Abigail, our 11 year old "Coupon Queen" did it again! We got this at Wal-mart this week. She only spent $9.76 for $27.35 worth of groceries. She found most of the coupons that we used here. Thanks Denise! Great job Abby!

CVS

Another fun week at CVS. This was all purchased in one order! I had a $10 off $50 coupon to use before it expired. We had fun making up this big order! I was relieved to find everything there that we planned to buy. That makes shopping fun and easy! some highlights...

• Two more bottles or laundry detergent, the kind with no perfumes or dyes, we are well stocked on laundry supplies now!


• snacks to share after a ball game


• lots of tea and drinks for all


• peanut butter for pbj's before we run out to a ball game!


• some pretty polish for toe nails this summer!

Total out of pocket...$0.99

Total ECB's for next visit...$37.96 !! Looking forward to the June monthly book!!

***Update*** Our Saturday trip....Two trasactions, totaling $43, spent $19 extra care bucks, $1.12 cash, earned $13 ecb's for a total of $33 ecb's for next visit!

Read more great deals at The Centsible Sawyer and Money Saving Mom.

Rose is Four Months Old

Rose is a very happy baby, as you can see. She smiles a lot and is very talkative. She is friendly with everyone and is not afraid of people she doesn't know. Life is fun with her because she giggles and kicks and squeals! Rose is quite "grabby". She tries to get ahold of anything within her reach especially if you are holding something.

Current Statistics: 15 pounds 11 ounces, 25 inches long, 17 inch noggin' with a little more fuzz than last month, 0 teeth ;)

CVS

This was definitely a "lighter" week for us at CVS. The sales weren't great and there were a few things I wanted to get were out. I was pleased to get 6 toothbrushes, 10 more free prints (with the coupon that prints with the $3 off $15 coupon) and drinks for sharing after Samuel's Wednesday night game. I may make another trip today to get some sort of snack for sharing too. This is another reason I love shopping CVS. It really helps the general grocery budget in so many ways! My CVS managers are SUPER. Their policy is to take any coupon the customer brings in. I have been able to stack multiple coupons and keep my out of pocket totals very low. Not all stores allow this. The manager at my store said his rule came from his boss:0) Thank you CVS!
Transaction one:
4 colgate 360 toothbrushes $3.99 each
$15.96
-2 $1 off manufacturers coupons
-$5 off $15 cvs printable
-5 ecb's
-2 ecb's
-1 ecb's
-1 ecb's
- $.10 out of pocket
earned $15.96 in extra care bucks

Trasaction two:
4- 12 packs of coke $12
1 garnier conditioner 2.99
2 oral b toothbrushes 1.99 each
1 gallon milk 4.19
10 kodak prints 2.90
total 24.07
-2 $1 off oral b
-1 off garnier
- 2.90 for photos
-4 off 20 cvs printable
-5 off 15 cvs printable
4 ecb's
-4.69 ecb's
-$1.87 on gift card
Earned 6 extra care bucks for a total of 35.96 for next time!
Read about more great drug store savings and get links for tons of coupons from Denise, The "Cent"sible Sawyer.

We're Not Promised Tomorrow

Faith

I have had several reminders recently that we are not promised tomorrow. I have a Uncle in a battle for his life against lung and liver cancer. Today I read this devastating story. Steven Curtis Chapman, a christian musician, and his family lost their youngest daughter in a tragic accident. You can read the details here and see a sweet video of Maria here.
I can only begin to imagine what these two families are going through. It does however give me a clearer focus and purpose. My prayer is that I will live each day I'm blessed with serving the Lord and treasuring every precious moment with my family.

Picture borrowed from allposters.com.

CVS

Highlight from this week:

We spent $3.98 for two Hawaiian tropics lip balms and made $10 ECB's!

CVS supreme diapers ($8.99) ARE included in the buy 2 cvs brand products get one free sale, combined with whatever coupons you may have this is a pretty good deal.

30 more free kodak prints (the coupon for 10 free prints comes with the 3 off 15 coupon!

total out of pocket...$2.01

ECB's for next week $27.69

Visit Denise and Crystal to see what others bought and get great shopping scenerios and coupon links galore!!

I've Been Tagged Again!

Tisha has tagged me to share some things about myself. As I made my list I realized how boring I am, but even those that know me well will probably learn something they didn't know!
5 jobs I've had:

1. Golden Coral Steak House
2. Advance Auto Parts
3. A window factory print shop
4. Radford University Library
5. Wife and Mommy- by far the best job and the only one I ever really wanted!

5 Movies I like (disclaimer: IF the children let me pick these are my requests)

1. Mary Poppins
2. Monster's Inc.
3. Winnie The Pooh
4. Time Changers
5. Beverly Hillbillies on DVD

5 TV shows

1. Biggest Loser (mine and Tishas) It's really ridiculous how hooked I get!
2. Wheel of Fortune
3. People's Court
4. Everybody Loves Raymond re-runs
5. the local news, especially the weather

5 Places I've lived

1. Price's Fork, VA
2. Florence, SC
3. Goldsboro, NC
4. Christiansburg, VA
5. Staunton,VA

5 Favorite foods

1. Coffee...cold, hot, frozen...But mostly I just really look forward to my morning cuppa with lots of cream!
2. deserts in general, ice cream, cheese cake, you name it! You know ladies that say "oh, that_____ it's so rich, I can only eat a bite or two." Puleeze, not this girl:0)
3. coconut, the taste and smell!
4. Italian food
5. salads, I love a good salad!

5 Places I'd like to be

1. Home
2. Closer to family, my family and in-laws are all out of state, we miss out on a lot.
3. Hilton Head Island, SC with my family during off season
4. Any quiet beach anywhere with just my family
5. Home, really there's no place like home!

Now I'm tagging Sarah!

Free Chicken At McD's Tomorrow!

Here's What Denise had to say! We may go for breakfast and lunch! McDonald's is only a mile and a half from my house with a park in the middle! Sounds like a fun outing to me! Here's a direct link for details! I've tried the chicken biscuit and it's very good!

Thanks Marie for the head's up:0)

Super Savings Saturday

Highlights from CVS:

at least six months worth of trash bags

baby wipes for at least 6 weeks

bubbles and gum to entertain at ball games

Allergy meds for Anna (cvs brand is working very well for her)

brownies for a cook out at a friend's house

milk for the week

M&M'S for my husband who doesn't like chocolate?!?but is addicted to any variety of M&M's with nuts!

dog food for our pooch who will love me and cvs for some brand name chow! free with coupon here

50 FREE photos, if your not taking advantage of the 10 free photo coupon that prints out with the $3/15 coupon you really should!

coffee for me:0)

Total out of pocket $1.91

Extra Care Bucks for next week $31.94

Read about more at Money Saving Mom and The "Cent"sible Sawyer!!

A Little Cute Therapy...

You Need To Try This

If your family hasn't tried whole grain pasta yet, this is the one to start with. I buy it at Kroger and Wal-mart also sells it. The recipe and directions are on the back of the box, you use the pasta straight out of the box, no need to cook it first! I follow the recipe as it reads except I use cottage cheese in place of the ricotta and ground turkey instead of beef, and add an extra 1/2 cup of water. I add the water because we like our lasagna a little saucier! I double the recipe and make two pans so we can have it a second night or freeze one for later!
Here are the ingredients as listed on the box...
durum whole wheat flour and semolina blend, whole flaxseed mill (adds the heart healthy omega 3's), wheat fiber, thiamin monotrate, niacin, riboflavin, iron, folic acid.
Now go buy some, cook it up and try it, you will like it!

Abigail's Eleven!

In honor of Abby's eleventh birthday, here are eleven words to describe her...

smart

beautiful

feminine

crafty

sensible

helpful

motherly

genuine

sweet

attentive

lastly...she has a heart for the Lord.

Happy Birthday young lady!

love, Mama and Daddy

CVS!

The first two pictures are Abby's deals. Abby (aka the coupon queen) is my eleven year old. Happy Birthday Abby:0) She planned her two transactions using the weekly flyer, our list of what we had left to buy of the April deals, and a list of needs I had made to work into this weeks shopping. She did a great job as you can see. In the second picture you can see a small bag of Hershey's Bliss candy (good stuff). She had to throw one of these on the counter when her total after coupons came to -.02. The candy was on clearance for .25! She really understands how to make CVS work for us and is a huge help to me in many ways. With her help we are able to get in and out of CVS in under 30 minutes, which is about the limit for our little Rose.

Here are the totals...

Total before coupons...around $81, each transaction was just over $20

total out of pocket... 95cents!!

Extra care buck's for next week...$27

Go here to see how to get a $3 off $15 coupon!

Read more deals here... Super Savings Saturday and CVS Superstars!!

Wendy's Four!

Wendy was excited about her birthday for a loooong time. She told everyone, I mean every single person she came in contact with that her birthday was March 31. Her age varied depending on the day, but she always knew March 31, which started out sounding more like March farty-first. We worked quickly to correct that pronunciation:0) This is Wendy at my sister's house in Maryland. We really enjoyed having her party there. Wendy wanted cup cakes with sprinkles and strawberry ice cream! Her gifts included new sand box toys, clothes, play-doh, and pink tye-dye crocs!

Here's Wendy playing dress-up. This dress has been loved and worn for years. I can't believe it is still in one piece. That's a lavender hankerchief with a green scrunchy on the front, her own fashion creation!

Wendy's hair is getting so long. She is learning to brush it and can put it up in a pony tail all by herself.
Wendy loves to play babies and puppies. She would drop any inside fun to go outside and ride her scooter or jump on the trampoline!
Happy Birthday Wendy, we love you!