WHATTAWEEKEND!!!

I am on a money-saving high, don't mind me.
Technically, this should be split into 2 posts.  Maybe I will, maybe I won't.  I'm kinda lazy that way.....
On Saturday I went to RiteAid. As you know, Saturday is the end day for most sales (as far as I know, everywhere except Acme) and on Sunday morning I went to ShopRite.  I do have a picture of my RiteAid booty, but of course it's on my SD card still in my camera at home, and I'm here working hard at my place of employment.  Maybe I'll come back and insert it later;  read that thing about lazy up there...
So here's what I bought:

2 Colgate Sensitive (the big 6.0!)  $3.50 ea.
2 Finish Quantumatic starters BOGO, $10.99 (they were supposed to be $3.99)
1 Almay concealer (love these!) 40% off = $4.79
2 Bags dark chocolate Chex mix 2/ $3.00
1 Lays Stax $1.50
2 Stayfree maxi-pads BOGO, $3.99
1 50ct. Excedrin $4.99
1 80 + 20 ct. Advil $10.99
1 Uncle Ben's ready rice $2.29
2 Snickers PB2 .88 ea.
2 Palmolive dish liquid BOGO, $3.39

Used:
2 Colgate coupons (.35 each)
2 Finish coupons (3.00, 1.00)
Almay (2.00)
Chex (.50/2 +.50VV)
Stayfree (BOGO, 1.00)
Exedrin (Free, in mail)
Advil (1.00 in ad, 1.00)
Uncle Ben's (1.00 + .30VV)
Snickers (BOGO)
Palmolive ($1.00, .50)

I can't remember if there were any specific VV coupons besides the ones I mentioned, but I did use my $4 off $20, a $2 VV and my $13 +UP from my last RiteAid excursion.
I probably wouldn't have bought the Advil if there had been a price sticker on the shelf.  I'd rather have my stuff for closer to free.  But it's something we use a lot of, so I took the chance.  Also a splurge was the Lays, since I didn't have a coupon. (I did, however have an 8 year old boy tagging along-bad for the budget.)  I was slightly perturbed that the Finish rang up at $10.99, since the shelf price said it was on sale for $3.99 (which would have utimately had me purchasing 2 for .99) but I decided to let it go, as I had the poor cashier boy all discombobulated with my coupons.

I saved $41.86 with coupons and R/A coupons.  My OOP was 14.82 + tax.  I got back $16  in +UP's, and the most exciting part is that I hit my $100 Winter Savings, so I got my $20 reward.  Woo-Hoo----I wasn't even going for that because I didn't think it was possible for me to do with my low-key spending.  But, not only did I get it, I only actually spent less than $40 OOP to get there.

It may not be possible to spend $20 at RiteAid in one trip.

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A Brief Summary of ShopRite:
I don't have my receipt with me, but this is close to what I got:

18 boxes of Ronzoni pasta @ .74 each
4 jars Ragu pasta sauce @ 3/4.00
16 cans Progresso soups @ 1.00 each
1 Kashi cereal @ 2.69
2 Kashi cookies @ 2/5.00
2 Kashi crackers @ 2.500
1 box Golden Grahams @ 2.49
2 Chex Mix @ 2/4.00
1 Vlasic pickles @ 2.00 each
1 lb. Keller butter @ 2.99?
2 Eggland's best eggs @ 2.69? each
2 jugs Clorox @ 2/3.00
2 Horizon single serve choc. milk @ 1.00 each
3 blocks cheddar cheese (Macadam) @ 1.69? each
1 pkg. Borden swiss cheese @ 1.99 ea.
1 pkg. Borden provolone cheese @ 1.99ea.
2 Mama Rosie's ravioli @ 1.49 ea.
2 Boca burgers @ 3.59 ea.
2 Green Giant Valley Steamers broccoli @ 2/4.00
1 loaf Arnold double fiber bread @ 2.99 ea,
celery @ 2.99 ea.
strawberries @ 2.49 ea.
2 mangos (is it mangoes?) @ .99 ea,

I had one or two $1 coupons for the pasta, making those free, and a the rest were .48 for two after the 1.00/2 coupons.  I had 1.00/2 Ragu coupons. $1 Mama Rosie's coupons, $1 Vlasic, $1 Horizon (making them both free) $1 Clorox, $1 Eggland's Best, $1 Golden Grahams, $1/2 Chex mix, 4 @ $2 off any Kashi, $3 Kashi cereal, 4 @ 1.00/4 Progresso soup, and $1 off Green Giant vegs. Also, I had a $5 off any order over $40, and a ShopRite coupon for a free lb. of Keller's butter.

My total after savings card but before coupons was $104, and OOP I paid $62.00.  My cashier was more excited for me than I was.  I feel good about this trip--I bought the bread, cheeses and produce with no coupons at all.  AND I got $24 in Catalinas.

Since I only just recently started posting my shopping trips, there are a couple of things I should point out:
We are mostly vegetarian.  (I am completely, and my husband isn't compelled to eat meat.)
We have a lot of food in the freezer.  Our freezer is very small, but there are only 3 of us.
While I don't have a strict grocery budget, I try to keep it under $100/wk.
My husband is a salesman, and is usually not home for dinner :-(
Our church has a food pantry, and we donate regularly.
My son (8y.o.) doesn't eat much, but we stock up on things that he will eat, and to that end, I have enough Tyson's frozen chicken and Perdue fun shapes to last him quite awhile, all purchased with coupons at an awesome sale price.
For a long, long time I was a single mother with 5 kids and no child support.  Using coupons combined with sales was not a hobby, it was the only way I could feed my family. My husband's ex-wife wouldn't be caught dead using a coupon, so he is particularly pleased with my dedication to conserving family funds.

How About A Post Every 2 Months?...................

Seems like that's how it's turning out, anyhow. 

Money I've spent/saved so far this week:

Walgreen's

Purchased 4 Arm & Hammer deodorant for 3.96 + tax.  I did NOT use RR's because there was a limit of 4 (Wags coupon) and I have one RR worth $6.  I had run into Wags on my lunch hour to grab a sale flyer, and saw that these were on sale.  This is the only deodorant that my husband will use, so I took this rare opportunity to get 'em cheap.  I will have to spend my RR by Monday, so will look to see if I can roll it, and maybe get even more deodorant.

CVS:

Started the week with $8 in ECB's from last week, which I had rolled a couple of times.  All I did this week was purchase 2 Colgate Sensitive toothpaste for $7.98.  Since I had a coupon for $1, and one for .35 I needed a filler.  I bought a bag of 1/2 price Valentine candy to share at work.  OOP was .63 and I got my $7.98 back.

I will go to Rite Aid tomorrow or Saturday.  And then ShopRite, but only if I can save big-time, as we have plenty of food, and only need milk and bread.

The Rules of Christmas (according to Cathie)

This will be my 52nd Christmas, and therefore I am proclaiming myself qualified to lay down some laws:

1.  Stocking stuffers must be small, and inexpensive.  And by inexpensive, I mean less than $10 optimally.  No fair blowing the whole wad on a stocking stuffer-the "big" stuff goes under the tree.  And by "big" I mean meaningful.  Diamond earrings?  Under the tree.  Cap gun?  In the stocking.

2.  Do NOT, under any circumstance, fill the stocking with groceries.  And by groceries I mean deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap, etc.  That is a cop-out.  You may, however, purchase a nicer-than-usual body wash or fancy chapstick.  Along these same lines, no Oreos, but you can do Walker's shortbread.  Unless you are of a class of people that ALWAYS has scottish shortbread laying around, then you're on your own as far as cookies go.

3.  If you have multiple children, the number of presents per child must be the same.  When your children are older, and you buy an ipad for one of them, and 5 presents for the rest of them that add up to the ipad, they MAY let you slide on the number of gifts, but that is doubtful. Save yourself the heartache.

4.  If your kids say they believe in Santa, keep the dream alive by buying and keeping hidden the Santa paper.  If you and Santa wrap your presents in the same paper, you'll have some 'splainin' to do, and it will probably not be the same 'splainin' as their friends' parents.  In this same fashion, alter your handwriting when you sign the Santa tags.  Kids are precocious.

5.  Let the kids decorate the tree.  This was the hardest thing for me, but better to let go of a little perfectionism than to kill my sweet boy's spirit.  And anyway, he did an awesome job!

6.  Don't mortgage the farm to make an impression on Christmas morning.  'Nuff said.

7.  Christmas morning is for opening presents.  Not Christmas eve.  Although to take the edge off, I've been known to get everyone new jammies and let them open that.  It's still fun.  I wouldn't trade anything for the excitement of Christmas morning.

8.  The sad truth is that Santa can't always make it to the poor side of town.  Do whatever you can to help.  You will get the greater gift, and that my friends is the magic of Christmas.

9. Relax. Enjoy.


Here is how I've planned our Christmas:

First, to keep costs down, I keep my eyes open all year long for sales.  Amazon rocks.  I purchased Club Penguin DS pack for a measley $10 about 5 months ago.  I purchased most of my Christmas gifts this way.  After Christmas I will buy wrapping paper, but only if I absolutely LOVE it.  I still have enough paper for another Christmas or two, and it's all what I consider beautiful (and dirt-cheap!)  I will also buy cards for next year. (Nice ones, cheap!)  One of my favorite out-of-season places to shop is Hallmark.  Check out their clearance racks.  I purchased Keepsake ornaments for 75% off this year.

Have a couple of generic gifts ready.  Last year my generic gift was the Cranberry candle from Bath & Body Works, coupled with one of my giant peanut butter cup cookies.  (If anyone reads this and requests the recipe I will happily post it; they are crazy-delicious!)  This way, my den leader assistant felt remembered and appreciated, and I didn't put a lot of time and money into wondering what an ideal gift would be for her (something I'm notoriously obsessive about normally.)  For the widower at church, I packaged a couple of easy yet yummy soup mixes from Harry & David, for the widows those same cranberry candles with a small box of chocolates. 

We will have a family "party" on Christmas Eve.  This has evolved over the years from what was originally just an impromptu light dinner and cookie event into a hors d'oevres, cookie, and punch by candlelight get-together with family and friends.  It's very casual, and the only occasion where my kids insist on punch.  I try to have a balance of healthy finger foods as well as buttery cookies and chocolates.  This is a huge hit, and probably the tradition that my kids will continue with their families.  I have always wanted to have an open house on Christmas Eve, but my house may never be that together.  We will read about Jesus' birth in Luke.  We will pray and thank God for the gift of salvation available through his death.

Then it's early to bed.  (wink wink)  Hopefully at this point the kid(s) are exhausted and sleep soundly, and hopefully it's not a long haul from the stash to the tree.  This year, I took advantage of my son's sleep-over at Grandma's to wrap everything and relocate it from the attic to the back of the deep (under the stairs) coat closet.

Christmas morning, child that I am at heart, I have traditionally been the first one up.  Yeah, even when my kids were young.  Mommy would wake them up at 5 a.m. to tell them that Santa came.  We open presents, everyone is happy (or at least gracious,) and we drink coffee.  I make pancakes, and we have a relaxing day with an easy yet special meal in the middle of it.  This is normally spiral honey ham, macaroni & cheese (home-made) baked beans and Hawaiian rolls.  Sweet potato pie and a cake of some sort for dessert.

That is our Christmas.  Tell me about yours.  Have a merry!

Wow.

Has it really been almost 3 months since I last posted here????  SO MUCH has happened!  I guess soon after that last post, my husband was hired by a national company as a salesman.  He loves it.  Well, he at least likes it a lot. He's great at it, people love him and want to buy from him.  So he got to quit that blasted courier job.  We are still doing a couple of paper routes, but only until the end of the year, and then hopefully we can be a more normal family.
And......we moved!  Into a much nicer home.  It's actually older than the house we moved out of, but has had much more TLC put into it.  Although it's 100 yrs old, we have drywall!  Yay for smooth walls.  There is a sweet little dip in the dining room floor, but other than that and a little uneven-ness above the kitchen cabinets, I absolutely LOVE it.  We are now located on the quaint little main street of our quaint little village.  It's where I've wanted to live for awhile.
All things work together for good........

Nothing to see here, folks

My life at the moment:
Deliver newspapers 5a.m.-7a.m.
Work at day job 8:30-5:30
Home with son from 6 on
Husband @ courier job every evening from 6-1:30 M-F
Husband gets up at 3 a.m to deliver papers to first route, brings me mine
Weekends try to make up for lack of housework during week.
daily loads of laundry and dishes
Run to VA for daughter's baby shower and grandson's birthday
Anticipate run to VA for birth of baby
Shop at lunch hour
Lather Rinse Repeat

charleston style - Its like that - Run DMC

charleston style