A little bit of everything!

Happy July 4th, 2018!

I had a little time today with being off work, so I wanted to do a little update.  I want to start blogging regularly again.  I miss it when I'm not blogging and am constantly thinking of ideas.  So here are a few things that have been going on with me lately.

Walking!  I have really increased the amount of exercise I get.  I tend to be pretty sedentary with having a desk job.  My sister gave me a Fit Bit for my birthday in February and it has really opened my eyes to what I should be doing.  The goal for steps each day is 10,000.  I have reached that goal only twice, but I've improved a lot!  Most days I try to shoot for at least 8,000.    I love my Fit Bit!  It sincs with my phone and gives me so much information on my health, such as sleep, steps, miles, heart rate, minutes of active exercise, and more.  It says I am in excellent health, which may or may not be true, but I like hearing that.

How do I do get my steps in?  Lately its too hot outside most of the time, but I have found if I walk in the shade for 10 minutes at the time, its doable.  Also doing inside walking works good for me.  You can find all the videos you could possibly be able to do on You Tube.  I can do a 2 mile walk in about 30 minutes.  Lots of mornings I fit in 1 mile before going to work.

I can also meet my hourly goal of at least 250 steps by walking inside.  From one end of my house to the other is about 40 steps.  So Walking back and forth a few times while listening to music, or You Tube Videos works too.  Here's my Fit Bit:

I've been couponing at CVS, Dollar General and Food Lion.  I made a small purchase at CVS this week.  3 containers of laundry detergent, and 2 boxes of cereal for $3.69 out of pocket isn't too bad.  I also received $2.50 extra bucks for my next order.  There were lots of deals I could have taken advantage of , but I'm trying to keep things simple.  Its gets very complicated some times when you get to the cash register with a hand full of coupons and I figure I should not buy stuff I don't really need or even like just because its a good deal, or even free after coupons.

There is a P&G deal this week, where you spend $30.00 on certain P & G products and you get back $10.00 Extra Bucks for your next order.  I just didn't need or use most of the products, but you might want to check into it.  If you have coupons to apply toward the items, you could get some great deals.

I've been working on a reversible quilt for one of my grandsons.  One side will be dinosaurs and the other side will be John Deere tractors.

My vision is for him to use the quilt on the floor as a play mat when he is playing with dinosaurs or tractors, or what ever.  Then he can also use it on his bed, since he is bigger now and has outgrown his baby quilts.

I'm still working on the double Irish chain quilt, as I can, doing leaders and enders, or just sewing on it as the main project occasionally.  Here's a stack of blocks and some samples of different colors.  Oh yeah, its going to be in rainbow colors.

My current coffee cup.  Its not that pretty, but its solid and I love to drink coffee in a solid feeling coffee cup.  This one came from Cracker Barrel a few years ago.

Coffee center:  That's Pyure Stevia in the glass jar with the chicken lid.  I use half and half and stevia in my coffee.  Sometimes I'll put a scoop of collagen in it, which is what's in that plastic jar with the lid at the back.  Drinking K cups is much more expensive than regular drip coffee, but we love the convenience and the taste.  A few ways we save money on them:  We always buy them on sale.  We always buy the store brand.  We often buy them at Dollar General on Saturdays and use the $5.00 off $25 coupon that is usually available.  One trick is that you can make the large size cup with the K Cup the first time and then change the setting to the small cup size with the same K Cup which will make another "about" a half of cup, which isn't bad if you combine it with the first cup.   (by itself its a tad weak)   I often combine it all together for the coffee I take with me in an insulated travel mug on the way to work.

We are expecting a new granddaughter any minute!  Her due date is today, the fourth of July!  But her Mama is still waiting and is so ready for little Victoria to arrive.  So, I'll post about her as soon as she arrives.

A Tiny Frugal Tip# 5 - Play The Games

There are so many stores out there and ALL of them want your money!  There are all kinds of gimmicks that they use to achieve their goal to get you into their store and to spend your money there.  But you have to be smarter than they are!

One of my best frugal tips is to decide on a select few stores, learn their "deal games" and then play the games well.  Just focus on a few.  For me, I have chosen CVS, Dollar General, and Food Lion, as far as brick and mortar stores.  These three stores are convenient for me.  I also love Amazon Subscribe and Save.

I know their prices.  I know how to play their games.  I have their MVP card, Extra Care card, and and have signed up for their digital coupons.  When I go to CVS, if it isn't on sale, or I don't have a coupon, I don't buy it!  At Dollar General, I know what is a good price and I leave the other stuff there.  

A price book is a great tool to help you play the games well.  I like to bring the price of an item down so low, using a combination of sale prices and coupons, that there's no doubt that the price is the best I can find.

My "old lady" brain can't keep up with too many stores at one time.  Sure, there are some great deals at Rite Aid, Walgreens, and Walmart.  I'll visit these stores from time to time, but they just aren't my "deal stores".

There's only such much time to spend on getting the best deal.

So that's my tiny frugal tip for today.  Play the Games ...... and play them well!

Oh Yeah... laundry detergent for almost two years!

I ventured over to CVS at lunch yesterday to check on the Purex laundry detergent deal I told you about yesterday.

They did have plenty of the 100 load bottles at $5.99.  Here's my cart with my deal.

I used $4.00 in coupons and this also qualifies for a $4.00 cash back through Savings Star!

So the bottom line for these three huge bottles was $9.97.  My estimate is that 300 loads of laundry detergent will last me 1 and 3/4ths years.

The way I find coupons on line is to check the coupon data base at Southern Savers HERE.   The $3.00 coupon is HERE.  The $1.00 coupon is HERE. 

If you decide to do this deal, don't forget to sign up for the $4.00 cash back deal at Savings Star HERE.  You need to register your CVS card with them and then click on the "I Want This" link underneath the Purex deal.  You have to spend $15.00 on Purex and this is good until December 9th.

I also have to tell you my experience at CVS.  I printed out two $3.00 off 2 coupons and three $1.00 off 1 coupons, just in case I decided to buy more of the detergent.  So I gave the cashier one of the $3.00 coupons and one of the $1.00 coupons.  At least that's what I thought!  Evidently I accidentally gave her two of the $3.00 coupons and one of the $1.00 coupons.  They were stuck together.  She scanned then all and they all worked.  I tried to tell the cashier what happened and that she should void one of the $3.00 coupons, but she insisted that if they scanned it was no problem.

 I am always honest when using coupons and felt bad about it.  Then I remembered all the times when my coupons and deals didn't work when I got to the cash register, when they were supposed to.  Or the cashier didn't scan them right, etc.  This has happened to me a lot!  So I think I was probably owed more than the $3.00 any way. 

After deducting another $3.00 from the total, the cost of the bottles comes down to $6.97.

Laundry at our house....

Laundry is not such a big deal at our house any more since we have an empty nest and I only do about three to four loads a week. The household hint that says do a load a day doesn't work for me.  That's too much trouble!  Its just easier for me to wait until Saturday morning and do my laundry while I'm doing other things. 

But, I still like to save money where I can, so I buy my laundry detergent and fabric softener sheets on sale and use coupons.  I cut my fabric softener sheets in half and they work just fine that way. 

I spent a little time this week searching Amazon's subscribe and save program to figure out the best deal on laundry detergent, since I am getting a little low.  I was on a mission to find the cheapest "per load" price.  The cheapest I found was 12 1/2 cents per load and figured that was a pretty good price.  But, I wasn't sure, so I didn't place my order. 

I am not brand loyal and our clothes don't get very dirty, so most any brand is fine with me. I can always use a more expensive brand if I have a load of dirtier than usual clothes.

Then I looked through my weekly CVS sales paper and saw that the 100 load bottles of Purex are on sale for $5.99.  I do believe that would be a pretty good deal at 6 cents per load!  A little coupon search yielded $1.00 coupons.  Also on Savingstar there is an e-coupon of $4.00 if you buy $15.00 of Purex.  But, I'd have to buy 3 bottles to get that e-coupon.  Let's see:  300 loads divided by 3 per week would be 100 weeks, which is about 2 years.... hmmm...

The problem would be if CVS has them in stock?  I can get a rain check!

My Zero Cost CVS Deals This Week

I received a $3.00 bonus Extra Bucks coupon from CVS by email yesterday, which was only good for a couple of days.  If you want to play the drug store game at CVS, you really need to sign up for their emails. 

I found a great 75% off clearance on CVS brand Cold and Flu medicine that my hubby takes for allergies.  The ingredients in this one do not cause one's blood pressure to go up. 

There's a 79 cents off Just the Basics paper towels, that prints at the coupon center, which makes the paper towels free for everybody..... unless they run out.  Its not worth a special trip, but I was there anyway.

Here's the break down:

4 packs of CVS Cold and Flu HBP medicine $5.76 (total)
1 bottle of Wisk Laundry Detergent 4.99
1 roll of JTB paper towels .79

Less coupons and extra bucks

$2.00 off Wisk
$1.00 off CVS allergy medicine (printed at the coupon center)
$3.00 bonus extra bucks
.79 off the paper towels (printed at the coupon center)
$4.75 extra bucks

Notes:

1.  CVS has wonderful clearance sales if you can find them.  The CVS allergy medicine was only marked 50% off on the tag, but when I got to the cash register, they came up 75% off.  I ran back and grabbed 2 more at that price.  It would be a good idea to scan items at the coupon center to check prices.  I love to find a clearance item for which I also have a coupon.

2.  We don't use many paper towels at our house, since we have converted to cloth napkins, dish cloths and dish towels.  But, I'll take them anytime they are free!  I have 3 rolls in my stash right now that were all free with coupons.

3.  You can scan your CVS card at the coupon center more than once.  I always scan twice and save the coupons for when the items are on sale.  Lots of times, a week or 2 later, I will be able to combine these CVS coupons with other coupons and sales to get an unbelievable deal.


4.  I did what is known as "burning extra bucks" in this transaction.  This means that I used extra bucks coupons on items that did not generate more extra bucks.  In other words I didn't "roll" them.  Sometimes I just want to start over from scratch when I see some good deals.  I'll get more extra bucks, soon enough!

$5.00 CVS Challenge

I love the idea of seeing how much value you can get for $5.00 at CVS and Walgreens. Alyssa of Kingdom First Mom hosts these challenges every Sunday. Here's what I got at CVS for close to $5.00 his week:



I started with $2.00 extra bucks and did not include tax.

Transaction #1:

Kotex U pads or Tampons $4.99, less $1.00 printable coupon, Extra Bucks earned $4.99
Dove 2 pack soap, $3.00, Extra Bucks earned $2.00

$6.99, less the $2.00 EBs I had on hand means I spent $4.99 out of pocket and earned $6.99 extra bucks.

Transaction #2:

Maxwell House Coffee(I buy the 1/2 caffeine), buy one get one free. ($5.19). Paid with the $4.99 extra buck from transaction #1, for 20 cents out of pocket. They had this same deal last week and I bought 2 cans of coffee for the price of one and also used a $1.00 coupon.

I still have $2.00 extra bucks for next week!

Unbelievable Deal on Newborn Diapers at CVS

Yesterday I saw on the 30 dollar weekly grocery challenge blog that Pampers Swaddlers were on clearance at CVS for $2.99, AT SOME STORES. I decided it was worth a trip, since I was near the CVS.

I know from experience that CVS puts items on clearance when the packaging of a product, or the product itself, is being updated. So I looked for any older looking packaging first of all. With the advent of the scanner at the front of the store, its easy to check prices before buying. I took 4 or 5 packages of Pampers Swaddlers to the scanner and sure enough, the Pampers Swaddlers "Sensitive" in the NB size ONLY were on clearance for $2.99.

I had just received some high dollar Pampers coupons in the mail from Vocal Point: $3.00, and 3 or 4 for $1.50. I also had a $2.00 one in my coupon organizer. So after using the coupons and a $1.00 extra buck coupon, my total out of pocket was about $4.00. IN ADDITION, through today you get a $1.00 extra buck as a result of buying Pampers.

So I got basically about $40.00 worth of pampers for $3.00!

Now, you may be wondering why a grandmother of an almost 3 year old is buying newborn diapers. Number one, they make great baby shower gifts and at the moment I know of at least 2 expecting mothers that could use them; and Number Two, you never know when a new grandbaby will come on the scene. :o)

So, my advice is IF YOU ARE NEAR A CVS OR PLANNING TO GO TO CVS, check to see if your store has these diapers on clearance. I would not make a special trip, because at my store there were only 4 packages available. Just look next time you are there.

While you are there you might be able to get some almost free Pantene shampoo that is on clearance too if you have any Pantene coupons.

Update on CVS and Walgreens

WALGREENS:

Thanks to the note on my computer screen, I realized I had a $7.50 Register Reward that expires on Monday! I'm off work Monday and won't be coming back to the town that has a Walgreens, so I made a quick trip over there on my lunch break today.

For $7.50 I bought:

2 boxes of Rice Krispies Treats (used 2 $1.00 off coupons)
2 bottles of Dawn Dish Detergent
A 3 pack of recordable DVDs (to make my own picture movies!!!)
1 chapstick (needed a filler)

I received a $2.00 Register Reward as a result of purchasing the Rice Krispies Treats. This made them 50 cents each after coupons and register rewards. Hubby will appreciate them as a lunch box treat next week!

Register Rewards on hand: $5.00



CVS

Since I was right next door (our CVS and Walgreens are beside each other!) I went back into CVS and bought another one of the Pantene Shampoos on clearance, less a $1.50 coupon; and 1 more Energy Bar for 99 cents. I paid for all of this with extra bucks and coupons, for no money out of pocket as well as received a 99 cents extra buck.

Extra bucks on hand: $10.98.

My Store Deals of the Week

Good Friday Morning! I am super excited that I will have a four (yes I said 4!) day weekend. As Elizabeth said in a comment this week, there will be lots of sewing going on! In fact I started last night. Pictures will be coming soon to a blog near you!

This week's deals:

CVS:

I was very interested in the Picture Movie DVD Extra Bucks offer that CVS has going on this week through Saturday. The DVD is on sale for $9.99 and you get $9.99 extra bucks. On Tuesday, since I am not an extremely technical person, I went into the store to inquire as to how it works. I was hoping it could be done online, but it turned out that you come into the store and insert the little disc from your camera, or a memory stick, etc. into the Kodak machine and make your own picture movie.

I decided to come back later in the week when I was more prepared and had time to make the movie. While there I scanned my CVS card and got a $2.00 off Pantene Shampoo coupon. Right beside the machine on the end of the aisle were Pantene Shampoos on clearance for 50% off. These Pantene Shampoos were on sale because the bottle design has been changed recently and these were the old design. That's the only reason they were on sale. So after the coupon the price of the shampoo was only 49 cents.

I remembered to bring in my reusable shopping bag with the CVS green tag on it and what do you know? It was the 4th time in a row that I had used it so I got a $1.00 extra buck. After extra bucks, I made 51 cents on this trip.

Then I went back yesterday to make my movie. I was limited to what was on the camera disc that hadn't been deleted, since I don't have a memory stick. I plan to get one, but didn't have one at the time. Luckily, I leave old pictures on the camera disc, especially if they are pictures I like. So I proceeded to make my picture movie DVD with no real plan, just using what was there.

I LOVE IT!!!!! You get to choose your background music and I chose Pacobel Canon D. I named it 2010 Magical Memories. The 60 pictures I was able to use on the DVD are from the last few weeks spent at my old home and pictures taken at the farmhouse. I could look at this for hours. It is wonderful and I would highly recommend that you take advantage of this deal.

I scanned my card before paying and got a bonus $1.00 extra buck! I already had enough extra bucks to roll so I only paid the sales tax and still got the $9.99 extra bucks coupon for my next deal.

In addition, if you look at the bottom of your receipt it will tell you if you have reached the limit of each deal. I saw that the Energy Bars are still on sale for 99 cents and are generating 99 cents extra bucks. So I spent $10.98, plus tax, paid with extra bucks, except for the tax and got back $10.98 in extra bucks.

As a side note my laptop has the movie maker feature on it and for the cost of a DVD I can make my own movie dvds with music and everything. Just gotta figure out how to do it!

Walgreens:

There were some free after Register Rewards deals at Walgreens this week, but I was late in going over there and my store was sold out of some of them.

I was able to get the pair of Aloe Infused socks for $3.00, which generated $3.00 in Register Rewards. These will go in my gift closet for a stocking stuffer!!! Of course, I paid for them with the Register Rewards from last week.

Food Lion:

Don't forget to scan your MVP card before shopping. You never know what deal you might get. I love to get a coupon for something that's already on sale. It happens!

I haven't made my trip to Food Lion yet this week, but these are some things I'm thinking about buying:

Boneless Chicken Breasts on sale for $1.77 per pound

Capri Sun 10 pack (for grandson) on sale for $2.07. Use the Food Lion $2.00 off coupon found Here. Final cost 7 cents.

Breyer's Ice Cream on sale for $2.50 with 75 cents off coupon

Scottie's Tissues on sale for 94 cents each with a 50 cents off 3 coupon. Remember that Buy One Get One free items at Food Lion ring up half price, so you can buy just one if you want to. With this deal I can buy 3 and use the coupon and each one will ring up half price.

Sweet Deals Promo - Buy 5 items and get $5.00 instantly. 5 Cool Whip = $5.00, so would be free. BUT, do I really need 5 cool whips? Probably not! But there are other items you might be able to use.

Kraft Promo: Buy 5 bags of shredded cheese at $2.50 each, earn $5.00 off instantly. Cheese has a long fridge shelf life or it can be frozen, so this would be something I could use. I need to crunch numbers to see if its really that good of a deal and also to see if there are any coupons.

But there are many other Kraft items included in this deal that you might find useful in this promotion and would be worth checking into.

For a GREAT list of the Food Lion deals with coupon matches go HERE.

I will carefully make my grocery list so that the items I buy will complement what I've got in the pantry. Many of the items in the pantry are only good for using in recipes, so I need to figure out what else might be needed to make a special dish!

Drug Store Deal Runs For The Week

Ok, the following shopping scenarios are getting kind of complicated for me to keep up with, but I'm excited to try! I won't be able to keep up this pace of going to two stores and doing two transactions at each one. However, this week there are some good deals at both places and since I'm on a roll, this is the plan:

CVS:I already have $11.00 in Extra Bucks to spend.

Transaction Number 1:

Purchase:

2 Colgate Total Advance Toothpaste at $2.99 each (There is a $1.00 coupon for this, but I've already used mine), EBs earned $4.00

2 Power Bars at $.99 each, EBs earned $1.98

1 CVS brand Ibuprophen at $3.99 each, EBs earned $3.00.

Total cost before EBs = $11.95. I will pay for this with the $11.00 EBs I have from last week, so I will pay $.95 out of pocket.

Total EBs earned $8.98

Transaction Number 2:

Purchase 1 BIG box of Huggies for $19.99, using a $1.50 off coupon.

Use the $8.98 EBs from the first transaction towards this. I'll pay out of pocket $9.51.

EBs earned $10.00.

So I will have $10.00 to use next time.

WALGREENS:

I have $6.00 in Register Rewards to spend.

Transaction Number 1:

Purchase:

1 Old Spice or Gillette Body wash for $4.49, earn $4.49 Register Rewards
1 Aussie or Herbal Essence shampoo or conditioner for $2.99, earn $2.00 Register Rewards.

Total - $7.48. Apply the $6.00 Register Rewards and spend out of pocket $1.48.

Total Register Rewards earned: $6.49

Transaction Number 2:

Purchase:

1 Renu Contact Lens Solution at $7.49, earn $7.49 Register Rewards

Apply the $6.49 Register Rewards from the first transaction, so I'll spend out of pocket $1.00.

Total Register Rewards for next time - $7.49.

**All of these coupon plans depend on whether or not my stores have these items in stock. My situation prevents me from going shopping until I am on my lunch break on Monday. Lots of times the best deals are gone!

***There are coupons available for lots of these items that would further sweeten these deals, but unfortunately I don't have them. I haven't been keeping up with my coupons very well, but am starting all over with organizing them.... on a very SMALL scale.

Frugal and Earth Friendly

Here are some ideas for saving money at CVS this week.

CVS is offering the little green leaf shaped tag that you can see attached to the reusable shopping bag above. The tag costs 99 cents initially. Then every time you shop at CVS, bring your reusable bag and have the cashier scan the tag. Every four scans will earn you a $1.00 extra buck.

I think this is a great idea because after only four scans you will have earned back your investment, while being a good steward of the Earth at the same time. The tag can be attached to ANY reusable bag, not just the CVS ones. The bag I am using above was a freebie from our local telephone company. I will keep this bag in my car so when I make my CVS trips, it will be handy.

Now for the best deal at CVS this week, which is also an earth friendly product:

Buy 1 GE Energy Smart spiral fluorescent bulb for $2.99, receive $2.00 in extra bucks. I printed a $1.00 off coupon for this HERE. I rolled $2.00 in extra bucks from last week's trip, making this absolutely free. Now I have $2.00 more in extra bucks to roll for other CVS deals.

Also there is a scanning machine located near the front of the store. Scan your CVS card and if you are like me, a $2.00 off any $10.00 CVS purchase will print out. This has happened two weeks in a row, so it may be printing out for everyone. I always try this because you never know what coupons you will get. I think the coupons will print out for you at the cash register anyway, but this way you can have them before checking out and possibly make better use of them without having to make an extra trip.

There are 2 ways to use this coupon this week that might work out to be good deals:

1. CVS brands are on sale buy one, get one for 50% off. Combining this sale with the $2.00 off coupon might get you some needed items for good prices.

2. There are several two-packs of CVS brand items that are generating extrabucks. The extra buck deals are shown on the front of the packages and these packages are grouped together on the isle near the seasonal items in my store. Check to see if you can earn some extra bucks on items you need, as well as make use of the $2.00 off coupon.

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, Christmas items are now marked down to 75% off, so if you will be needing Christmas paper, etc., check this out. I bought 4 rolls of paper and 2 stuffed snoopy dogs to go in my Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes next Christmas. The dogs are small enough to fit in the boxes and only cost $1.25 each. I didn't find any Christmas cards, so I will need to look at some other stores, even though I only plan to shop at CVS and Food Lion most of the time.

I hope this is helpful to you!