What's been keeping me away

I can't believe it's been so long since I last wrote. Gilead Ministries, where I volunteer, needed a part time worker and since I know the database pretty well and had been wanting to learn QuickBooks, I went ahead and took the job. It's pretty weird sitting at "Janet's Desk" - she's been gone for almost 2 months now and I still have a hard time thinking that she's gone. I guess I just thought that she'd always be at Gilead's front desk... now it's me. It's strange sometimes when first I come in and don't see her & realize that I'm going to be sitting at "her" desk. She never cared when she was alive but I guess I just want to walk in and see her sitting there....

Well since I was last writing my DH and I went up to the Mayo Clinic up in Minnesota. Boy it's a beautiful place - the Mayo Clinic not necessarily MN (it was still super cold when we went up there! now the weather has finally changed and it's starting to get warm). Although we did have one nice really sunny warm day over the weekend and we went to a neat place called Quarry Hill Park that was an old gravel pit that they city had turned into a park. It had hiking trails, a pond, hills, a cave, and a nature center that was packed with families when we went but still really cool. They had a bunch of stuffed animals (which isn't really my cup of tea but what the heck how does one on a small investment, show kids all different types of animals safely? - stuff the animals). They also had a bird watching room which was super neat - there were all types of birds just outside the room which had tons of windows and it also had speakers so you could hear the birds. I wish I knew my birds better but they had a little cheat sheet to help you figure out what birds you were looking at!

Mayo was beautiful. They had marble everywhere and statues and beautiful glass blown chandlers that were donated by a lady that must be very wealthy! They were gorgeous!! The buildings are 19 stories tall and there are skywalks and underground walkwalks that go for miles - which is great for the wintertime up there since they have bad winters.

Mayo was for my DH who has a couple health issues that we needed to check on and we got great service there - unlike so many places we go. Altho there was one incident that for a hospital/clinic of that size and reputation we thought they were lacking. DH had to have a test where he was going to have to lay on a gurney but since he is in a wheelchair he usually asks that the bed/gurney be lowered to the lowest setting so he can transfer easily on his own but this one's lowest setting was still 2 feet above him. And the woman running the test didn't know what to do... We said if there was one other person to help me (the woman was too old to help), we could easily get DH on the gurney. It took a good ten minutes and then it was finally the doctor that ordered the test that came and helped me get him on the gurney! Silly! Oh well stuff like this happens all the time but we just didn't expect it there - there were tons of people in wheelchairs, but I guess most of them could stand if they had to - DH can't. We also had one doctor that we waited for 45 to 60 min's for and then he was only in the exam room for maybe 10 min's max! I hate that - he rushed everything and couldn't get out of the room fast enough. He was the only disappointing thing about the whole experience.

All in all DH got some great care there and if you ever have a medical problem and need expert knowledge, I'd advise going to the Mayo - it's great! Other than the actual buildings being really beautiful - there's tons of marble everywhere - the people who work there are exceptionally nice. Most places you go to see a doctor the front desk people are just so so, at the Mayo they are SO friendly and SO nice - I was just floored at how helpful they all were. When you first get there they set up all your appointments & tests so that you just have a list that you follow. They are so organized! It's wonderful!

And my last CVS shopping trip was great - my two fav employees were working and the manager even let me use my expired one ECB that I was really bummed that I was going to lose! $10 worth! I got tons of stuff as you see! You gotta try it out - just start buying 2 newspapers or buy one and ask a family member or friend if you can have the inserts from their paper. Save them and then go to IHeartCVS.com and SouthernSavers.com on Saturday evening to see how you should shop for items the next week. They will tell you what coupons to get from what insert and what items are the best deal and SouthernSavers will have it all planned out for you. Go do it now - while you are thinking about it. They have cvs 101 pages that will help you figure it all out! Happy shopping!

Have a Blessed Day,

Great CVS Trips!

So I've done a bunch of CVS trips and we've gotten some great deals this weekend!! There's a secert savings to one of the ECB deals this week. Go to IHeartCVS.com and see what it is (altho you might be able to tell from my pictures!)

Pictures below. This was such a great haul - plus I got the Madagascar 2 DVD. And those Tides aren't as small as they look - their the 32 load bottles, 3 of them. 2 boxes Cereal, 2 packs of Shakes (4 in each), Dove shampoo & conditioner, Dawn, 2 Crests, Nivea Lip stuff, Nivea shaving gel, 2 Wrinkle creams, 6 packs cotton pads, 2 Glades, 4 Blade energy drinks, 2 lotions, 2 quick energy drinks, 2 Ritz packs. This was an Awesome trip!!

This was a pretty good quick trip right after church! $1.00!! Sorry this picture is so blurry (my phone camera) I must have wiggled it when I took the shot! But you get the idea of what I got!

And this is the last deals of the weekend. TP, papertowels, 4 bar soap, more wrinkle cream (what can I say I'm getting older!), 5 bottles of shampoo/conditioner, 2 packs of energy drinks (8 all), 3 toothpastes, 2 mircowave lunches, mouthwash, 2 boxes bandaids w/ cream, and an earrinse. WOW!!
I spent a little more than usual for these trips - maybe $6 or $7 total but I got tons!! And with the last couple of trips being soooo low I didn't mind. I was a little disappointed that CVS is now hanging their tags for brand products & CVS products on the same tag so I thought one of the items that I was buying was $1.39 cheaper than it was. Needless to say I was suprized at the price and even walked back to the item again with the cashier (one of the super nice ones) and she showed me how upper management has decided to trick the eye of the shopper with the two different prices. It looks like the price of the brand product was on sale for the price that was only for the CVS brand. So be on the look out for this new practice. But all in all I'm super happy with all I got!

Have a blessed day!

Latest CVS Trip

So I did pretty good - DD and my cards had gotten the $2 off of $10 CVS purchase CRT's (coupons that CVS price checker scanner prints out if you scan your CVS card) so I've been trying to figure out a way to get the cotton pads for cheap! As you can see by the picture we got good deals and the total cost was only $2.75 for everything!!

The L'Oreal cleanser is usually more than twice that for just one - and we got two. I have a rain check for my card so hopefully I can find another store that has two for my card (got the other two for her card). Got 6 greeting cards for free, crackers for free, razors for free, a candy bar (DH loves them!), Benefiber, Almond Clusters (goodness these are good!!!!), and CVS lotion (it's made by Jergens), and a eye mask - ALL FOR FREE. Okay it was $2.75 but what a deal - steal!!

If you want to learn how to do the CVS game, check out the left side menu and click on the advice and help link and it will take you to a page that has some great links to blogs that taught me how to do this. Buy & stockpile (buy when things are on sale only) or donate to others - I did a few weeks ago to a family that had their house burn down and it was soooo awesome to be able to give them a ton of totally new stuff!!!

Have a blessed day,

Couponing Advice and CVS for Beginners

So many friends and family have asked me how I get all my great deals and let me tell you I get great deals!!! But the real kudos go to Jenny at SouthernSavers, Erica at IHeartCVS, and many others! I just found one blog after another and just started reading up on this phenomenon. I have saved over 50 to 75% on my grocery bill (mostly on cleaning and toiletry supplies, plus some food items, esp. milk!).

Here's a little list of some of my favorite money saving helpful sites:

1. Jenny at SouthernSavers is so helpful. She has lots of good plans on how to grow your Extra Care Bucks at CVS and get lots of free and low cost items. Each week she has a grand plan for CVS that makes going there so easy!

Here's her guides for couponing: http://southernsavers.com/getting-started-guides/

2. And the one that started it all: Erica at: I Heart CVS. Her site will give you all the latest news on CVS and any deals that are upcoming so that you can plan your trips accordingly. Also so you can collect the correct coupons for your shopping trips. Erica also has the latest news on the hard to find CVS coupons like $3 off of $15 purchase, which are so helpful in making a great shopping trip even better!

3. Denise Sawyer, The "Cent"ible Sawyer, has explained how to CVS in a very easy to understand way. Check it out: http://thecentsiblesawyer.blogspot.com/2009/02/cvs-for-beginners.html

http://thecentsiblesawyer.blogspot.com/2009/02/normal-0-microsoftinternetexplorer4.html

She also has deals on Walgreens, Target, WalMart, Aldi's, Kroger, and Meijer's. She's been in the Aug and Sept Woman's Day magazines. And she's one of the 11 Mom's (thru WalMart). She's got a BlogTalkRadio show. She's a real helpful resource.

4. And a new one that I found today: Nickles N Dimes. Becky has lots of stores that she checks on, so go over to her site and see what kind of deals you can get!

Have a blessed day!

Long Time But I'm Still Saving Money!!

Here's the picture from Thanksgiving but I don't think I'll have a picture of all the stuff from the Dec 21 & 22nd shopping! CVS was giving away the store! On the Thanksgiving Day shopping trips I bought all this for under $4 dollars! I got tons of candy for a Christmas gift that I was making for friends and family. The candy bars are for my MIL and there's also a baby's 1st Christmas ornament. A fish aquarium (really cool - I think Rain will love!) Lip stick, razor, Dove facial cleaner, cookies, contact cleaner, and 2 pretty purses with lotions attached. I think I did pretty good that day.

Then today (& yesterday) I bought tons of stuff for pennies on the dollars PLUS they gave me tons of ECB's back. An ECB is CVS money that you can use at CVS just like money, so if they have an item like they did this Sunday & Monday for LOreal make-up for 6.99 with an 6.99 ECB printing and I happen to have a $2 off coupon - it's like they are paying me to take their make-up off their hands!! I say sure, no problem. I got tons of stuff for next to nothing.

I hope you all have been reading up on how to do your deals and steals - workin' the system with either IHeartCVS.com or SouthernSavers.com (or even CouponMom.com). They are all great help in making CVS work for you. Just do a little reading and start out with small items and work your way up.

Normally CVS is an expensive little store but if you know how to shop there you can really make out!!

May you all have a blessed Christmas!

Blog "Friends" & Great Deals

I have been bouncing around the blogs trying to find a "perfect" site that helps me get good deals at my "new" favorite store; CVS. And I think that I have found it: http://southernsavers.com/ She does a great job of setting up exactly what you need to buy in the correct order to maximize your ECB (extra care bucks) and so that you don't spend too much oop (out of pocket) - I did a bunch of trips yesterday (it was the last day of the 3/15 coupon! - boo hoo) and I bought soooo much stuff for just over 5 dollars!!

• 3 boxes Always Infinity pads - been wanting to try them
• 2 Johnson Baby lotions - DD has been wanting these!!
• 2 cvs zip lock box of baggies - I needed them badly!
• 5 Lady Speed Sticks
• 2 Colgate toothpastes - the limit is more than 2 now!
• 1 Mens razor
• 1 Womens cartridge for razor - love these Bic Soliel
• 1 large Vitamin water
• 2 Gillette mens shampoo
• 2 small bags of nuts - DH loves!
• 2 candy bars - Who doesn't love chocolate?!?!
• 2 Gold Peak Ice Teas
• 2 Tylenol PM
• 2 Tylenol Rapid Gels
• 2 Blood monitors - will donate, my friend just got a new one that I didn't know he got

Yes, I did this and you can do it too!! How awesome is this?!?!??!!! How do I do it? Just check out her site and also iheartcvs.com - there you will learn how to do this too!!!

I always thought that buying name brands was too expensive - I always bought the generic brands because I had gotten out of the habit of using coupons but then I found these sites and you will learn how to really go for it!!

Also I have been noticing that some of the folks that I read their blogs have been having some troubles and well I just want to remind people that even tho we all may not know each other personally - we all are in this world together and we all should be praying for each other and doing whatever it is that we can to help support (I don't mean financially necessarily - unless that's your "gift") each other in this thing we call life!! :-)

We need to help each other with words of encouragement and prayers for our families. Lots of people are going thru rough times - heck everyone has got a story to tell - just don't forget that in the midst of your own difficulties we all could use some type of emotional support.

Okay that's my public service annoucement for the day!

Which is cheaper?

So I made a quick trip to CVS (what else is new? lol) cas DH needed a pack of posion cigarettes and I thought that I'd do a couple transactions cause I had a bunch of good coupons. So which do you think cost me more?

So what do you think of this trip? Pretty good one, huh? Amazing that they just about give this stuff away - by just doing some coupon organizing and then you can get some super deals!

And to be honest it really wasn't just one transaction. It was 4 transactions but it works better that way if you have the time.

I would have bought more Dawn but I forgot my coupon box at home and only had 8 Dawn coupons with me in my purse. Also I only had 3 of the 2/10 coupons with me (see IHeartCVS.com) so I just did okay. Actually the cigarettes and the big pile of stuff cost about the same. It's hard to tell cas one of the transactions had the cigarettes in it and I really don't know how to seperate out the tax. So all in all I think I did awesome! About 4.50 for all that stuff!!!

Comment and tell me what you think.

Great Sat Trip at CVS (pictures below)

Hi there everyone. I had a busy week and weekend. I had to finish up a site clean up that was so tedious - took forever!!! I also had a look see appt with my doctor - he says everything looks fine and I was able to talk him into letting me do the first of the 3 treatments right then so only 2 more trips up north!!

And then I got ready for my yard sale on Sat - which turned out really good, although it was soooo humid in the morning while I was doing the last minute setup stuff. Yuck!!! Then I had people stopping in all day. I had gone by Michelle's the night before and picked up a couple bags of clothes and a box or two of stuff that she cleaned out of the house in preparation for the baby (soon now - just 3 months or so now!!) and with both our stuff I did pretty good but the big news of the day was that I took a trip to CVS cas I had gotten the great 5/30 coupon (that was only good on Sat) in my email (they take $5 off a $30 purchase - that's before your coupons folks!!)

So anyways I thought that I'd share the pictures from the trip and the receipt cas no one seems to understand that you can really buy this stuff for next to nothing as long as you have the coupons - so let me say it again: Let Me Have Your Coupons If You're Not Gonna Use Them!!!! Stop me and give them to me - if you live in town, I'll drop by your house and pick them up! and if you don't - Please mail them to me! I'll even tell you how to do this so that you can save yourself some money.

So they say a picture is worth a thousand words (and seeing is believing - at least that's what it took for Tom to believe!! :-) )


Yes, you are seeing correctly - the first trip was 13 items for $1.60!!! and then my 2nd transaction was 17 items for $1.66 and then my 3rd which was not planned so it "cost" more - 2 items for $1.05!! This is the picture of all the stuff - now do you believe???

They are doing it on purpose!!

I had another two cashiers try to "miss" one of my coupons!! For big dollar amounts... I think that the local stores managers must be telling the cashiers to see if they can "accidentally on purpose" forget to put in a coupon or two and see if the customers even see the mistakes!! I don't know if I should call corporate or not - I've made a few calls to complain in the last month or so and I know that they have a list of what your previous calls were about... I don't want to be the one that is always complaining but this is unbelievable that they are doing this!!

On a lighter note, so my blogs aren't always about shopping, I love reading and thought you might enjoy seeing what I've been reading!!

I found a really neat blog today - lots of fun and she's a good writer:
http://suburbanmatron.blogspot.com/ Lots of fun!!

I have a few others that I really enjoy that aren't part of the saving money deal that my blog is starting to go towards.

Here's another one: http://katemcdonald.wordpress.com She hasn't blogged in awhile but she's a great writer (& her husbands a great singer!)

---

Some one else that is having the same "missing" coupons and she has an interesting page! http://twistedlisa.blogspot.com/

Watch the cashiers

I know to watch the cashiers and to make sure that I get credit for each coupon but somehow I didn't get credit for one of my $3 coupons! Boy that makes me mad cas cvs will get that money double - makes me not feel bad for them in the least for the awesome deals I get!! I can't go back and say "Hey you didn't take off my $3 dollar coupon." They won't believe me but I know what coupons I had and as I look back over my receipt (I knew at the time it was costing too much - why didn't I question it then?!?) I found the problem. I wish that their system put the coupons in the receipt better (so you could tell what each coupon was for exactly).

Oh well lesson learned. I'm off today to try to make up for it. Got 4 different transactions planned and hopefully they don't give me grief about the 3/15 coupon and they have all the product that I want and need!!

Got tons of stuff last nite at CVS

Sorry no pix but I got last nite for the end of the July 6th-12th week:
4 Dawn's
3 Olay's
1 Gillette Wash
1 Toothpaste
1 pantyliner
1 suncare aloe
2 Pert shampoos
1 suncare lotion
1 small box Honey Oats bars
1 cleanser wipes
1 Purina beggin strips bag (I think the cashier didn't use my $1 off on this - it was in my bag when I got home but I used the CVS email one for $2 off)

all for 5.03 oop - I should have gotten a $10 Olay ECB but it didn't print out. I've noticed that a lot of people have been commenting around the net that the ECB's and their cards are not matching up! Be on the look out for that! Check your bucks before you leave and call CVS if you didn't get your bucks or you got/ get the wrong persons bucks!! or CRT!

I'll definitely be calling to get my Olay bucks - I did notice that there was a weird dollar amount on my Olay products (that I shouldn't have had) that happened between 9pm and 9:30pm last nite - between two transactions. Hopefully they get their computers figured out!!

Bummed about Oral B stages

I thought that the Oral B stages toothbrushes would be considered an Oral B toothbrush.... seems to me that they are. Well I did call CVS and we'll see if they give me the ecb's! I was bummed that I didn't get the ecb's cas I used a bogo coupon to get the toothbrushes and I hate losing a good coupon to a silly mistake!

Did 2 CVS trips today and 1 Walgreen's trip (for the $10 off $30 coupon just for today). I had wanted to get my printer ink but the cartridges I brought were not good so I had to make up for the $15 short on the fly and I did pretty good.

Then the CVS trip was good - it went as planned and I was able to do 2 transactions. Sometimes they don't like me doing that. I always go at off hours when I'm gonna do that. But the 2 stores that are in my area are constantly out of most things as soon as the flyers are out. The first day most people have picked over everything and it's hard to complete a large dollar amount ECB transaction.

Like the cereal and ragu / helliman's deal was hard to finish! But I got the ragu - love spag!! Plus I had gotten the free wipe email coupon but I didn't know that you could print that out multiple times!! It was also hard to find that - I went to 3 different stores before I found it. (Plus it's pretty small for the price it is - glad I got it for free!!)

So is anyone wondering when they'll get more Divine cookie crt's? DH & I love these cookies!!

CVSing

Doing some great CVSing and making some good deals. I had been off of couponing for quite a while and then someone mentioned CVS - I hated going to our local one cas they are sooo rude there but I try to put on a happy face and it's super easy when you get such great deals as I have been lately!

So now I've been doing it for about 3 weeks and I'll have to take pix and get the deals out there for anyone else that needs or cares to hear about them. But I'm a pretty busy puppy lately... hopefully soon I'll get those deals and pixs up!!