Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Goals
1. Organizing room-by-room (R-B-R)
I got this idea from another blog (as I do almost EVERYTHING :) This week I will post more about the details of this project. I have also gotten MANY ideas from FlyLady.
2. 30 day menu
This idea came from "The Happy Housewife" you can visit her for a detailed description and a very compelling post. I will be posting my 30 day meals on Friday.
3. Planning/coupon/shopping system
I want to develop a system that will help me better organize my coupon collecting/storage/preparation, my planning days, my shopping days, etc. This will take some time and work. I hope to get going on this system by next month.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Menu Plan Monday - January 26
Monday - English Muffin Pizzas
Tuesday - Four Cheese Lasagna
Wednesday - Teriyaki Stir-Fry
Thursday - Black Beans and Rice
Friday - Stromboli
Saturday - Stove-top Chicken Casserole
Sunday - PIZZA and other Superbowl Savorings :)
I will also be posting recipes of our family favorites so I can link them to my menu eventually.
If you would like some menu plan inspiration, be sure to check out tons of menu plans at I'm an Organizing Junkie! And if you haven't already, be sure to check out $5 Dinners for lots of budget friendly recipes and ideas. Click on either of these links to the left.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
My Rite-Aid steal
Thankfully, I am ALMOST out of kids in this stage. But, Alas, not yet.
OK, let me back up and spell it out for you :)
First, I signed up here for the "My Rite-Aid" online service. (I sign up for all kinds of stuff these days that I never took the time to do in the past. I will have to post about that sometime.) This gave me a coupon for $5 off a $25 purchase. Of course, you can only do this once.
$9.99 each pack diapers on sale ($19.98)
$3.49 each wipes ($6.98)
$4.49 Electrasol on sale
$.50 each Reese's Whips (hubby likes these - FREE especially) - 12 total ($6)
$37.45 Total so far
Used $5 off $25 purchase
Used two $1.50/1 Huggies diapers from 1/11 coupon insert
Used $.50/1 Huggies wipes from 1/11 coupon insert
Used $.75/1 Huggies wipes from a P&G mailing (or use another $.50/1)
Used $2.50/1 Electrasol from 1/4 coupon insert
Used six $1/2 Reeses Whips from 1/4 coupon insert
-$17.75
=$19.70
+$2.72 tax
I paid $22.42 OOP (Out Of Pocket)
BUT I used a Gift Card which we receive often from transferring prescriptions-another future post??? I forgot how many tricks I know :)
I registered my receipt here at Rite-Aid online so I will receive my "Single-check" rebate (that just means you shop all month and collect receipts and log them online and they will send you one check at the end of the month for everything.)
My rebate will be for:
$2 back on one pack diapers
$2 back on two wipes
$10 back for purchasing $25 in Kimberly Clark items
$2 back on Electrasol gel packs
So $16 total in a check not store credit or gift card.
Taken from my $22.42
Meaning I just got two packs of diapers and 2 tubs of wipes, detergent and candy for...
$6.42 with tax!!!!!!!!!!
How did I do this? You ask.
Michelle asked the question: How did I do this?
The trick to getting the best deals is to match store sales with coupons.
Now, because I have multiple coupons for each item, I am able to get lots (14 Special K Cereals) for less than $1 each. Now, even if I had only 1 coupon, which I would because I subscribe to the observer and that is where I get 97% of my coupons, I would still get the cereal for less than $1 (plus tax). But I would only have ONE.
Last week, Harris Teeter had Special K cereal on sale BOGO (Buy One Get One FREE). They are normally $3.59 each. Now, IF you only have ONE coupon, you only buy ONE box of cereal. The cereal would ring up 1.80 most of the time*.
* Some stores only offer TRUE BOGO deals, meaning you really only get one free if you buy one at full price. Most products ring up as half price though. You would just have to check before you ring up the item if you only want one.
I used a $1 off 1 coupon from the Red Plum insert from December 14th's newspaper. (I will post my coupon organizing system very soon.)
If you have more than one coupon, (like I had 10) you CAN usually (again, different stores have different policies about this) use one for EACH item you purchase. So I bought 10 cereals for $17.95 (plus tax - I am not adding that in right now for simplicity)
That is $3.59 times 5 BTW :)
I used TEN $1 off 1 coupons which made my total $7.95 for 10 boxes of cereal.
I had a different coupon for the other four boxes. That one was $1 off TWO boxes, so my total for those four boxes was $2.60. But hopefully, you get the idea.
$1 off ONE box of cereal DOES NOT happen very often. So this was an awesome deal indeed. But I would not have been able to stock up so well, if I had not collected so many coupons.
The jelly was a bit different also. They were on sale 5 for $5 (or $1 each). As you can see, I only bought THREE. I only had THREE coupons. My coupons were for $.25 off 1. You probably already know that HT doubles all coupons up to $.99. So the jelly was $3 and I used THREE coupons for $.25 each that doubled to $50 each. So I paid $1.50 for ALL THREE jars. BTW, each of those jars are normally $2.45. So I got THREE for nearly HALF of what ONE usually costs.
Stay tuned for more tips...
Harris Teeter Happiness
6 Blistex chapstick
3 jars Smuckers jelly
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Rite Aid deals 1/11/09
Electrasol $4.49. get $2 SCR when you buy one. Use the $2.50/1 coupon from 1/4 insert and get it free. limit
Excedrin 20ct on sale $1.99. Use the $2/1 coupon from 10/19 inserts to get it free.
Reese Whipps. The Reeses are on sale 2/$1 use the $1 off two coupon from 1/4 inserts and get two bars free!
DEALS
Buy two packs of Huggies diapers $9.99 each
Buy two tubs of Huggies wipes $3.69 each
Use $5/25 when you sign up HERE
Use two $1.50 Huggies diaper coupons from 1/11 inserts
Use $0.50/1 Huggies wipes coupons from 1/11 inserts
Pay $18.36 + tax out of pocket
Submit your receipt for the following Single Check Rebates:
#29 $2 back on 1 Huggies Jumbo, Goodnights or Pull Ups
#30 $2 back on 2 Huggies Wipes
#48 $10 back for purchasing $25 in Kimberly Clark Items
CVS Deals
ECB DEALS
Buy SoyJoy fruit & Soy bars (6pk) for $6
Get $6 ECBs (limit 5)
Free after ECBs
NON-EBC DEALS
Revlon cosmetics on sale BOGO starting at $1.99
Use $2/1 any cosmetic from 1/11 insert
Possible FREE or cheap products after coupons
Atkins Bars 10/$10
Use $1/2 internet printable coupon
Pay $.50 each after coupon