Menu Plan: February 2-8

It's Wednesday, but I still wanted to get my menu plan up. Last week, we stuck to all the main dishes and only had some variance in the side items.

Monday: Swedish Meatballs

Tuesday: Recovering from Stomach bug. As my friend Erin says "HELPY SELFY!"

Wednesday: Church + DH closing=PBJ or Grilled Cheese

Thursday: Sloppy Joes with corn & roasted red potatoes

Friday: Eat out using Restaurant.com certificate (Fernando's Mexican Dining)

Saturday: I'll be in Shreveport. DH will be at home with boys--I'm betting it'll be homemade pizza

Sunday: Fried Chicken with mashed potatoes & broccoli

Did I go too far?

I was just updating my sidebar for my CVS Spending & Saving in January. Good GRACIOUS!! HOW DID I SPEND $47.43?!?!?!

I spent $6.30 OOP for three glucose meters for my father-in-law. That won't be a repeat event.

I spent $17 here to somewhat "start over" after spending all my ECB's on diapers and a few household necessities.

I did get almost $700 worth of stuff for that $47.43, but that's not an amount I want to spend at CVS every month. I'm gonna have to reign it in a bit...

I've already spent $5.89 this month, but I'll make no apologies for that. I have dishwasher detergent for the next year! :D

Reader Q & A

I've had several e-mails lately, and I thought I'd answer a couple in a public forum. I never know who else could be wondering the same things!

I have a question about your couponing technique...How are you able to buy so many of one single item? Do you have that many multiple coupons? If so, where do you get all of those from? Thanks for your help! I would love to meet you in person and pick your brain!!! I am VERY new to couponing, thanks to you. We are on a very limited budget and your blog has really helped!

From Rachel

I do buy several copies of the Sunday papers. Typically 3-4. More on good days, less on the not-so-good. This works great for FREE-after-Rebate items at Walgreens and FREE-after-ECB's items at CVS because there is usully a low limit on those items anyway. It's also great for coupons that I never think I'll use, but end up finding a sale that makes the item FREE or even earns me money. The cheapest price on our local paper is $1.29 at most Wal-Mart's.

But for true stockpiling, I turn to The Coupon Clippers and EBay. The Coupon Clippers has great prices and great service. Unfortunately, they somethimes run out of things quickly. Ebay is a great resource because there are so many different sellers. I lean more towards the "Buy It Now" auctions and those with FREE shipping. Just make sure you do the math and it's really worth the expense. Read more here.

I subscribe to your blog and greatly enjoy it! I am wanting to update my coupon binder and was wondering were you purchased your binder and the pages that hold your coupons. Your help would be greatly appreciated!

From Anna

My original post about my coupon binder got such rave reviews, I posted a followup! Be on the lookout for a third installment.

Walgreens Show & Tell (January 29th)

None of these deals are valid now, so I'm just going to sum it up:

Total OOP: $3.45

Total Saved: $16.27

RR's Earned: $2

Rebates Earned: $7.99 + 10%

There are LOTS of FREE-after-Rebate items in the february EasySaver book!

But I heard a dirty little rumor that the ESR program will phase out after April. Good grief!

6 Stores, 2 Days, A LOT of Dishwashing Detergent

CVS has the Electrasol tabs on sale this week for $2.99. I had 20 coupons that were expiring Sunday that would make them .49 each. I knew finding 20 would be hard, so I started on Saturday evening when most of the stores are already running their next week's sale prices. In the end, I only found 17. But I got other good deals along the way!

Transaction #1

5 Electrasol tabs

$2.99 each sale price

Used (5) $2.50 MQ's

Paid $3.50 OOP

Transaction #2

5 Electrasol tabs
$2.99 each sale price
Used (5) $2.50 MQ's

2 L'Oreal Cleansers

$5.99 each sale price

Used (2) $2 off MQ's

Earns $10 ECB's (LIMIT 2)

Excedrin 10 ct. vial

$2.49

Used $1 CRT

Earns $2.49 ECB's (LIMIT 1)

2 Hershey bars

.50 each

Used $5/$25 CRT

Used $7.58 ECB's

Paid $1.52 OOP

Earned $12.49 ECB's

Transaction #3

2 Huggies diapers

$10 each sale price

Used (2) $1.50 MQ's

L'Oreal Mascara

$2.37

Used $2 MQ

L'Oreal Eye Liner

$2.25

Used $2 MQ

Used $5/$25 CRT

Used $12.49 ECB's

Paid .63 OOP

Earned $5 ECB's

Transaction #4

4 Glade Scented Oil Candle Refills

$2.50 each

Used (2) $2/2 Blinkies

Earns $5 ECB's

2 L'Oreal Cleansers

$5.99 each sale price

Used $2 MQ

Earns $10 ECB's

Used $15 ECB's

Paid $1.19 OOP

Earned $15 ECB's

Transaction #5

7 Electrasol tabs

$2.99 each sale price

Used (7) $2.50 MQ's

3 Gillette Men's Shampoos

$5.99 each

Used (3) $2 MQ's

Earns $3 ECB's each

Used $15 ECB's

Paid $2.07 OOP

Earned $9 ECB's

Transaction #6

4 L'Oreal Hip Lipsticks

$2.49 each clearance price

Used (4) $2 MQ's

CVS Nail Polish remover

$1.99

&

CVS Cottonballs

$1.99

Earns $2 ECB's for both

Extreme Energy Shot 2 pk

$4.99

Earns $4.99 ECB's

Used $9 ECB's

Paid $2.63 OOP

Earned $6.99 ECB's

Mustard & Meatballs & Tissues, OH MY!

The last two weeks offered the well-famed Kroger Mega Event. Buy 10 participating items, get $5 off your total bill.



There was a Catalina associated with the Armour Meatballs: Buy 4, get $2 OYNO. This is now expired. I combined this with the mega event and the .55 MQ that doubled. I paid .90 for each bag, only .40 each after Catalina value.



STILL GOOD TODAY!:



The tissues are on sale for $1.59. I used the .40 MQ that doubled along with the mega event discount to pay just .29 each.


There is a Catalina associated with the French's Mustard: Buy 2, get $1 OYNO. This is still going on through the 22nd, but it won't be as sweet without the sale price and mega event discount.


Here's the breakdown:



$1.69 Sale Price
- .50 MQ
- .50 DOUBLED MQ
- .50 Mega Event Discount (WYB 10 items)
Pay .19 each
Earn $1 for every 2 you buy
Profit of .31 each

Transaction #1

(I started slow to test the waters...)

Total Paid: $7.40

Total Saved: $33.08 or 84%

Earned $4 OYNO

Transaction #2

Total Paid: $7.97
Total Saved: $54.72 or 90%
Earned $8 OYNO

Transaction #3

Total Paid: $0.73

Total Saved: $23.59 or 100%

Earned $1 OYNO

Transaction #4

Total Paid: $0.17

Total Saved: $61.91 or 103%

Earned $8 OYNO

Transaction #5

Total Paid: $5.95

Total Saved: $57.15 or 93%

Earned $8 OYNO

There's another event going on next week that gives you $3 off when you buy 10 participating items. I know that doesn't sound as good right off the top, but some of the items are cheaper and include coupon matches. I just ordered coupons for Manwich, Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks, and Pillsbury GRANDS! biscuits. I'll be getting out my Ragu coupons along with those for Multigrain & Honey Nut Cheerios. You can check out Nickels-N-Dimes post about it here, but she is from a different region and there will probably be some variances.

Time Flies...

My last week has been busy, like most weeks in my life. I made time for shopping, just no time for blogging.

My Bebe Girl's procedure went fine--Thanks so much to those who inquired! She had a VCUG and Renal Ultrasound. It was not fun holding her down while they did it all and she cried, but we got the results we prayed for and there should be no further problems. She was darling in her little bitty hospital gown...

I'll be posting the abbreviated version of my shopping trips, since most of the deals are no longer valid.