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.

Organization

I found a couple sites tonite that I think I will be visiting quite often - trying to get up the nerve/ guts to actually go thru some of my stuff junk and doing some organizing before my granddaughter arrives on this earth!! I have some hidden areas that are soooo bad - My bathroom cabinets haven't been gone through in ages and they just had a challenge to go thru and organize them. I definitely need to do this. Some of the links are so great! Good ideas and helpful photos. I just wish I had someone to come over and help me do this - it's such a bear to do alone! But it's not a huge task... maybe I could tackle this.

Also I have a walk in bedroom closet - yes, you read that right. In one of our spare bedrooms I've changed it into a walk-in closet because the closet in our master bedroom is set up just so for my DH (he's in a wheelchair). And well, I have a lot of clothes.... Okay I've said it and now it's out there and so now maybe I can do something about it... It's horrible - altho it is set up nice (it's just that it's gotten out of hand - too much stuff). I have 4 bookshelf's in there and my big dresser along with a smaller one. I also have a filing cabinet in there. I have one corner set up with the wire rack system that you usually see inside of a closet. When you open the bedroom door you don't see the wire racks. you see my book shelfs, which are in the middle of the room and the clothes racks are behind them in the corner. It works great but it has now gotten out of hand. I've got tons of books (I love them!!!) and lots of clothes (I've changed sizes a lot in the past few years). And I don't know what files to keep so I've got tons of paperwork just stacked in there all over... like I said horrible! (I think I'd be waaaayyyyy too embarrassed to post a before photo but who knows??? - maybe the bathroom cabinet, that's bad enough!!)

So I've got to start somewhere and I think that the books are the first place for me & possibly the clothes. I did go thru some of them but not all - so that's where I'm at. Where are you?

Oh BTW, here's the links to the ladies who are inspiring me today:
http://controllingmychaos.blogspot.com
http://orgjunkie.com/

Give Away - I still have "Best Of Life" coupons

I still have "Best Of Life" coupons to give away folks!! Does anyone want these? You get 2 months free membership at www.startyourbestlife.com. BOb Green is an exercise physiologist specializing in fitness, metabolism and weight loss. He writes, is a personal trainer and is an associate editor of O, The Oprah Magazine.

I got these in a Cheerios box and I have the two boxes that are needed to enter to get the 2 months free. Comment if you want it!!

Coupon Organization

I am officially entering Keeping the Kingdom First Show and Tell contest :-) Check out her site for great blogging!

She says she's giving away something special and that the contest will close on Friday, August 15th at noon. So head on over!!

Now for my system - I use the filing system. I have a clear tupperware type of box (just got it cas my folder that was in a large carryall bag was toooooo big and bulky). I've got the SS and RP's divided by months since I've started this back in April. But I didn't realize that my small town newspaper didn't have very good coupons til I started seeing some of the other coupon deals that others were getting from bigger city papers - that's when I made the switch to a big city paper and started getting much better coupons!! I usually get 2 of those and I usually get at least 2 to 4 of the local papers from friends around town that have started saving the inserts for me.

I pick up the 2 local stores flyers and go thru them for the sales and what items I might need that week. I also try to pick up an Aldi's flyer too to see what deals they have. I then see what store has the better deal. One of the local stores is usually much higher priced than the other one but it sometimes has much better BOGO deals. So I compare the two lists.

I also double check to make sure that I can't get the item for cheaper at Walmart. I then go to AFullCup.com to see their database of coupons - that's where I match up the dates of the items that I have listed at each store to see what coupons I have and where they are located (what month they are in my box) then I cut out the coupons I'll need, put them into envelopes marked for each store (I use old envelopes from junk mailings - go green!!). I also take an extra envelope that has my "floater" coupons that I know that one of the stores may have. I have two sides of my purse that have outside pockets that have become my "defacto" coupon holders. :-)

So that's my grocery side. Now for my CVS side I usually have the same starting system (checking over the ad for the best deals & finding the coupons in the box) but then I also have that side of my purse jammed with "floating" coupons that I may use at CVS. I go there at least 4 times a week. I've gotten pretty good there but my system definitely needs work on that side!! I use the envelope system for most of my CVS coupons but when I've read of a good deal and the blogs or forums say where the coupon came from I can always check my filing system box for extra coupons - but needless to say just stuffing them in the side of my purse I lose track of what I have!

I do have them usually pushed down inside of the side pocket better I just pulled them up for the picture. I also put all my CVS extra bucks and CRT's here - this causes me to not find them as quickly as I should, so I do need a better system with these coupons, etc.

I know that this isn't the best way cas it feels so unorganized! I love the big folders that some folks have that have the baseball card holders with coupons in them - I'm thinking of doing that for my "floating" coupons.... we'll see but I do love not having to cut any coupons and just do the search in the database of what coupons I need when I need them.

I think that this whole coupon thing is still evolving for me.

Update on Borders Books

Now they have changed their minds on the coupon - it's now just for your total purchase but still if there's a book out there or a DVD that you'd like to get that's inexpensive you can now get it for really cheap!! Don't forget the code is: BR41925

Have fun!

(Oh BTW, it's just a one person one time deal, so if you have a DH or a friend that isn't going to be using it then I suppose you could ask if you can use their name to get more than one deal... ymmv)

PS On Exxon's Earnings

Just one more thing on Exxon's earnings; I heard last night that Exxon's stock actually went down on hearing of the big earnings - yea you think, people are punishing them for making so much money from the average joe BUT no it's because the stock holders were pissed - they thought that they were gonna make MORE!!!! The earnings of $11.68 billion wasn't as much as they were suppose to make!! AGGGHHHH!!!! So the investors were actually the ones that caused the stock to drop which is of course the case but come on $11.68 billion isn't enough???

To read on the earnings: http://www.cnbc.com/id/22947685
To read on the stock drop: http://www.investorguide.com/stock-analysis.cgi?ticker=XOM
or: http://quicktake.morningstar.com/Stocknet/san.aspx?id=247409

I guess I just don't get this - I need to read more about it. I totally understand that the investor could care less about the cost of a gallon of gas - they are interested in how much money their investment is going to make but when did the bottom line become more important then people? People are having to decide between gas for the car (to get to work) and food! This is why I'm so into couponing now cas I know that every dollar counts. I want my dollars to work for me!

Exxon Earnings Insanity & Border Books Savings & Walgreens $5/$20

Did anyone else see the crazy earnings report of Exxon's that CNN had up online today (short-time headline)? $1500 a second? YES, a second!! That's $90,000 a minute!!!!!! And we're paying 3.88 a gallon?!? I just don't understand how they can make this kind of money and still charge such high prices... I've read articles about it and I still don't understand it - the amounts just boggle the mind! Okay, I'll stop venting now.....

So on to fun stuff! I found a great deal over at http://moneysavingmethods.blogspot.com/ about Border Books latest promotion. You get $5 off each book - Yes that's each book you order and if you have a borders near you you just have it shipped to store so that there's no shipping charge. Just pick what books you want - I went to the under $10 section, picked some, and I then picked one book that's over $6.00 because your total has to be over $1.00 at the end. So you'll get some great books for less than a couple bucks or if you want to get more you can get some great deals!! Go to her site for exact details how to do it - it's super easy!!

Have you been checking out my "Mail Call" section? I go to MySavings.com and look for great samples that you can request from all over. They are really good (no selling of your email addy and good samples) at finding a great range of items. Most items that I sign-up for come in about a week and lots of times they come with coupons with the items!

Addition:
Just found out Wags (Walgreens) is having their $5 off of $20 just for today!! http://www.walgreens.com/hotbuys/default.jsp?ec=hn571_getcoupon
to get yours!! I don't do Wags often enough to know what good deals they have but I did see that they have a good deal on photos this week: buy 25 and get 25 free - that'd prolly eat up 10 bucks right there. So you just have to figure out some other items you might need - like school supplies? They have got tons and tons for cheap!!!