So now that I am no longer working, I have to plan out my grocery shopping a little better because it has to last us 2 weeks. This week I shopped at Pathmark and made out like a bandit. They have a bunch of promotions going on where if you buy blah, blah, blah you get $$ off coupons that print at the register that are good on your next order. So I matched coupons and planned and plotted and came up with 2 orders.
The first order consisted of 2 different promotions:
1) If you buy 10 items listed you get a $10 coupon on your next order
2) If you buy $20 worth of the listed items you get a $5 coupon on your next order
So here is what I got:
10 boxes of Kelloggs cereals
4 jars of Ragu Pasta Sauce
3 jars of Skippy Peanut Butter
and 10 pouches of Lipton/Knorr Pasta and Rice Side Dishes
Total: $44.38 - $7.50 in coupons = $36.88 and got back $15.00 in coupons on my next order, saved $47.17
Order #2 was LONG, (50 items) the total was $126.36 - $44.53 in coupons = $81.83, saved $132.12
Some highlights were:
14 boxes of cereal (got 4 more in the 2nd order)
2 boxes of Nuvella sweetener clearance priced at $2.50 - $2 coupons = $.50ea
4 boxes of Pillsbury Brownie mix clearance priced at $1.35 ea - $1/2 coupons = $.85ea
1 Betty Crocker Warm Delights Minis clearance priced at $1.35 - $1 coupons = $.35
2 kids plates with animals on them $.99 clearance 50% off = $.50ea
4 Sobe Life Waters $.99 each (2) B1G1 coupons = $.49ea
1/2 price chicken thighs and drumsticks $3.xx ea family pack
So the moral of the story is that I spent $118.71 and saved $179.29
Can't beat that :)
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Home Made Bread
One thing I like to do is to make my own foods rather then buy them. It's cheaper and it is better for you. If you read the ingredient list for a loaf of bread and don't understand half of what is in there then why would you want to eat it?
So today I made a loaf of white bread (that is half gone already) and right now I am waiting on the dough for rolls. I do have a bread machine but I only use it to kneed the dough, If I had to make it from scratch it would never get done. Here is my recipe, it's one I found online and adapted via trial and error.
Bread Maker White Bread
Ingredients
1 cup warm water
2 tablespoons honey
1 (.25 ounce) package bread machine yeast
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon of softened butter
Directions
Place the water, honey and yeast in the pan of the bread machine. Let the yeast dissolve and foam for 10 minutes. Add the oil, flour, salt and butter to the yeast. Select the Dough setting, and press Start.
Take out the dough and put it in a bread pan, split the top length wise with a knife and stuff the bread with pieces of butter (1 tablespoon total). Brush the top of the bread with melted butter and bake in a 375 degree preheated oven with a pan with water on the bottom of the oven for about 30 minutes.
Enjoy and let me know if you try it and how you made out :)
So today I made a loaf of white bread (that is half gone already) and right now I am waiting on the dough for rolls. I do have a bread machine but I only use it to kneed the dough, If I had to make it from scratch it would never get done. Here is my recipe, it's one I found online and adapted via trial and error.
Bread Maker White Bread
Ingredients
1 cup warm water
2 tablespoons honey
1 (.25 ounce) package bread machine yeast
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon of softened butter
Directions
Place the water, honey and yeast in the pan of the bread machine. Let the yeast dissolve and foam for 10 minutes. Add the oil, flour, salt and butter to the yeast. Select the Dough setting, and press Start.
Take out the dough and put it in a bread pan, split the top length wise with a knife and stuff the bread with pieces of butter (1 tablespoon total). Brush the top of the bread with melted butter and bake in a 375 degree preheated oven with a pan with water on the bottom of the oven for about 30 minutes.
Enjoy and let me know if you try it and how you made out :)
Sunday, July 25, 2010
CVS'ing :)
CVS and Target are hands down my favorite places to shop. I made my weekly trip to CVS today and made out pretty good. Here is what I got, the - are the coupons used. I had it rung up in 3 orders and used 2 different CVS cards (mine and hubby's).
(1) Pampers Big Box Baby Dry with 70 in it $21.99 - $4.50 cvs - $1.50 mfg
(1) Pampers Big Box Cruisers with 56 in it $21.99 - $4.50 cvs - $2.00 mfg
(6) single size bags of M&M's $3.00 - $1/3 bags mfg - $1/3 bags mfg
(1) Speed Stick Mens Deodorant $2.50 - $1.50 cvs - $.50 mfg
(1) Speed Stick Women's Deodorant $2.50
(1) Irish Spring Body Wash $3.00 - $1.00 cvs - $.50 mfg
(1) Softsoap Body Wash $3.00 - $1.00 cvs - $1.00 mfg
(1) Irish Spring 3 bar pack soap $2.00
(1) Softsoap hand soap (larger size) $2.00 - $.35 mfg
(1) Nice and Easy Root Touch Up Hair Dye $6.99
(1) U by Kotex $4.99 - $1.00 mfg
(1) Vive Pro Shampoo $2.50 - $1.00 mfg
(1) Palmolive Dish Detergent $.98 - $.25 mfg
(1) Bounty Basics Paper Towels $5.88 - $1.00 mfg
(2) Sobe Lifewaters $.88 ea (for Jimmy who came with)
(1) Optifree Twin Pack Contact Lense Solution $14.99 - $4.00 mfg
(2) CVS Brand Children's Allergy Medicine (Claridin) Clearance $2.32 ea
(1) Reese Big Cup (for Jimmy) $.89
(1) CVS Cashews (for Jimmy, I should just leave him home, it's cheaper lol) $.99
Total Before Coupons and ecb's: $106.59 plus tax
Used a $4/20 CVS coupon
Paid out of Pocket: $44.21
Got back: $35.00 in ecb's
Not too shabby huh? I don't usually spend quite this much because I shop there pretty much weekly but I got such good deals on the diapers that I couldn't resist.
Don't forget to scan your card every time you go to see what coupons pop out, sometimes you get some really good ones :)
(1) Pampers Big Box Baby Dry with 70 in it $21.99 - $4.50 cvs - $1.50 mfg
(1) Pampers Big Box Cruisers with 56 in it $21.99 - $4.50 cvs - $2.00 mfg
(6) single size bags of M&M's $3.00 - $1/3 bags mfg - $1/3 bags mfg
(1) Speed Stick Mens Deodorant $2.50 - $1.50 cvs - $.50 mfg
(1) Speed Stick Women's Deodorant $2.50
(1) Irish Spring Body Wash $3.00 - $1.00 cvs - $.50 mfg
(1) Softsoap Body Wash $3.00 - $1.00 cvs - $1.00 mfg
(1) Irish Spring 3 bar pack soap $2.00
(1) Softsoap hand soap (larger size) $2.00 - $.35 mfg
(1) Nice and Easy Root Touch Up Hair Dye $6.99
(1) U by Kotex $4.99 - $1.00 mfg
(1) Vive Pro Shampoo $2.50 - $1.00 mfg
(1) Palmolive Dish Detergent $.98 - $.25 mfg
(1) Bounty Basics Paper Towels $5.88 - $1.00 mfg
(2) Sobe Lifewaters $.88 ea (for Jimmy who came with)
(1) Optifree Twin Pack Contact Lense Solution $14.99 - $4.00 mfg
(2) CVS Brand Children's Allergy Medicine (Claridin) Clearance $2.32 ea
(1) Reese Big Cup (for Jimmy) $.89
(1) CVS Cashews (for Jimmy, I should just leave him home, it's cheaper lol) $.99
Total Before Coupons and ecb's: $106.59 plus tax
Used a $4/20 CVS coupon
Paid out of Pocket: $44.21
Got back: $35.00 in ecb's
Not too shabby huh? I don't usually spend quite this much because I shop there pretty much weekly but I got such good deals on the diapers that I couldn't resist.
Don't forget to scan your card every time you go to see what coupons pop out, sometimes you get some really good ones :)
Update (finally!)
As of last week, I am blissfully unemployed :) I never in a million years thought that I would quit my job because I really did like it. I was trying to juggle working 45 plus hours a week and being on call 24/7 with family, running a household, going to the gym, going grocery shopping, etc. After years of doing this non-stop, I burnt out and crashed HARD. I started out taking a few "mental" days off and that led into me not going back. I just can't imagine myself back there no matter how much I love it.
Being at home full time worked in my favor this week when Noah got sick. For those of you who don't know, Noah is my 6 year old son who is autistic. He has Asperger's Syndrome. He is high functioning and physically "normal". He can walk and talk and run and jump and play like everyone else. Mentally, he is a little behind. He is not fully potty trained and sometimes has problems verbally conveying his feelings. This week he has been randomly screaming and has on several occasions mentioned his ear hurting. What made me worry was when he said that he "didn't want anymore ice cream in his ear", it was an odd statement even for him. I made an appointment and took him to the doctor. It turned out that he had a double ear infection. Had I not been here to catch the subtle signs, I would not have known he was that sick and it could have been a lot worse. He is now on an antibiotic and doing great.
So, now that I am home full time, what can I do with the kids to help keep them busy? Any suggestions are appreciated, please comment below and let me know what you like to do with your kids to keep them busy. Thanks and I will post again soon! :)
Being at home full time worked in my favor this week when Noah got sick. For those of you who don't know, Noah is my 6 year old son who is autistic. He has Asperger's Syndrome. He is high functioning and physically "normal". He can walk and talk and run and jump and play like everyone else. Mentally, he is a little behind. He is not fully potty trained and sometimes has problems verbally conveying his feelings. This week he has been randomly screaming and has on several occasions mentioned his ear hurting. What made me worry was when he said that he "didn't want anymore ice cream in his ear", it was an odd statement even for him. I made an appointment and took him to the doctor. It turned out that he had a double ear infection. Had I not been here to catch the subtle signs, I would not have known he was that sick and it could have been a lot worse. He is now on an antibiotic and doing great.
So, now that I am home full time, what can I do with the kids to help keep them busy? Any suggestions are appreciated, please comment below and let me know what you like to do with your kids to keep them busy. Thanks and I will post again soon! :)
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