Well it’s the New Year and I’ve been shopping for two days now! It’s looking like a great year!

Yesterday my entire side of the family (minus my brother, his wife and daughter) went to Bass Pro Shop in Spanish Fort. We had a blast…and gift cards!! This store is so much fun, even if you aren’t the hunter/fishing type. Which, none of us are. (Well, my oldest daughter, believe it or not, has done a fair bit of fishing.)

My kiddos racked up on the goodies and my husband and I saved ours for another day. (Did you know it’s hard to shop when there are six kids running around? Even if there are five adults watching them…) We’re contemplating using our gift cards to get some camping goodies.

Anyway, the kiddos got a stuffed snake and an animal caller (Shiloh), a BB gun (Landon), and a pink pistol and a bluebird that sings (Rebekah). They are thrilled with their booty. And my son is quite beside himself waiting for Dad to get home and help him with his gun today. He’s made a homemade target to tape to a tree or post in the backyard.

When we arrived home yesterday, my sister and mother asked if I wanted to run to CVS with them. Since I always want to go to CVS I went, even though I’d already been twice this week.

January 1 Transaction:

1 Listerine Agent Blue Mouthwash $3.99
2 Children’s Throat Cooler $4.99 each
2 Dawn dishwashing liquid $1.99 (BOGO)

Subtotal: $15.96

Used:
$3/$15
(1) $1.00 Listerine Agent Blue MQ ( These are no longer available!)
BOGO Children’s Throat Cooler MQ
(2) $.25 Dawn coupons (from an insert) (needed a $2.00 filler)
4.00 ECB
2.00 ECB

New total: $.47
ECB’s earned: 12.98

Then I was in the neighborhood today and thought I’d stop by at a different store. Here’s the deals:

January 2 Transaction #1:

1 Glucoma shakes $10.49
1 Nutra-trim gum $3.99
2 Nature Bounty Vitamin D $4.99 (BOGO)
2 Children’s Throat Coolers $4.99 each
1 Nasogel gel spray $7.99
6 bags of Gold Emblem gummy bears $.99 each (BOGO50%)

Subtotal: $41.91

I used:
$3/$15
$10.00 off any Glucoma (check out how to get this coupon here.)
(2) $1.00 Nature Bounty MQ(didn’t have any more of the $2.00 printables with me!)
BOGO Children’s Throat Coolers MQ
$2.00 Nasogel MQ
$1.00 off any 2 Gold Emblem candy CVS
20.00 ECB (adjusted)

New total: $.14 on a GC
ECB’s earned: 24.96

January 2 Transaction #2:

1 Glucoma shakes $10.49
1 Nutra-trim gum $3.99
2 Nature Bounty Vitamin D $4.99 (BOGO)
2 Children’s Throat Coolers $4.99 each
1 Nasogel gel spray $7.99
4 bags of Gold Emblem gummy bears $.99 each (BOGO50%) (I needed these for my classroom)
2 bags of Gold Emblem choc. covered peanuts $.99 each (BOGO50%)

Subtotal: $41.91

I used:
$3/$15
$10.00 off any Glucoma (check out how to get this coupon here.)
(2) $1.00 Nature Bounty MQ(didn’t have any more of the $2.00 printables with me!)
BOGO Children’s Throat Coolers MQ
$2.00 Nasogel MQ
$1.00 off any 2 Gold Emblem nuts CVS
9.99 ECB
9.99 ECB

New total:$0 (payed $.16 in tax)
ECB’s earned: 29.96

And I stopped by the other CVS on the way home to see if they had any more Throat Coolers but they were out.(It looks like the limit on this is at least five…I’ve done four and my receipt says I can do one more. And the Nutratrim is at least a limit of three.)

January 2 Transaction #3

2 Nasogel $7.99 each

Subtotal: $15.98

Used:
(2) $2.00 Nasogel MQ’s
9.98 ECB
2.00 ECB

New total: $0 ( I payed $.24 in tax)
ECB earned: 15.98

Summary:
Product value: $130.76
Total OOP: $1.01
Total ECB spent: $57.96
Total ECB earned: $83.88

So…have you done any shopping?

I have a friend I’ll be helping with CVSing this week. I thought I’d post some newbie deals…starting with no ECB’s and just coupons from the internet or yesterdays Sunday paper. Then I figure I’ll show what I’ll be getting so you can see how you will be able to work deals as you get better CVS coupons, a larger stash of MQ’s, and grow those ECB’s!

Newbie Transaction #1

2 Nature Bounty Vitamin D 4.49 (BOGO) (earns 3 ECBs)
2 Colgate Total 5.98 (earns 4 ECB’s)
2 Pantene shampoo, conditioner, or styler 7.00 (earns 2 ECBs)

Subtotal: $17.47

Use:
$3/$15 CVS coupon
2 $2.00 Nature Bounty coupons(must register)
2 $1.50 Colgate coupons
2 $3.00 off two Pantene products (P&G 12/28/08)

New Subtotal: $4.47 + tax
ECB’s earned: 9.00

Newbie Transaction #2 (this only works if you have a nice friend, like me, who will give you coupons from her stash! Or if you can find a December All You magazine still lurking about at Walmart)

1 Schick Quattro razor 8.99 (earns 5 ECBs)
2 Pantene shampoo or conditioner 7.00 (earns 2 ECBs)

Subtotal: $15.99

Use:
$3/$15 CVS coupon (ymmv, some managers will only let you use one of these a day. You could do this transaction at another time this week if that’s the case. My managers will let me use these two or three times in a row.)
$4.00 Schick Quattro from December All You Magazine
$3.00 Pantene (P&G 12/28/08)
4.00 ECBs from Transaction #1
2.00 ECBs from Transaction #1 (adjusted down to 1.99)

New subtotal: $0 (you will have to pay tax)
ECB’s earned: 7.00

Summary of two transactions:
Total OOP: $4.47
ECB’s to roll:10.00

Now, here’s a dealio where you can see how things may change after collecting those coupons for awhile, taking advantage of the coupons printed on CRT’s and from the scanner machine at CVS and a fairly decent supply of ECB’s already. I’m starting with $24.55 in ECB’s (I blew quite a few buying last minute gifts at CVS. Next year, I hope to be better prepared and not have to do that. I had $80.00 in ECBs! Yikes!)

I plan on doing one transaction because I have a $10/$50 coupon and think this is a pretty good time to use it, since there are several moneymaker deals this week.

Transaction #1

2 Colgate Total 5.98 (4 ECBs earned)
1 Schick Quattro 8.99 (5 ECBs earned)
2 Blade energy drinks
2 Nature’s Bounty Vitamin D 4.49 (BOGO) (3 ECBs earned)
2 Pantene shampoo/conditioner 7.00 (2 ECBs earned)
2 Thermacare patches 13.98 (4 ECBs earned)
2 Oil of Olay face wipes 11.24 (BOGO50%)

Subtotal: $53.68

Coupons to use:
$10/50 CVS coupon (CRT)
2 $1.50 Colgate MQ
1 $4.00 Schick Quattro MQ (December All You Magazine)
1 $2.00 any Blade (CVS coupon)
2 $2.00 Nature’s Bounty MQ
1 $3.00/2 Pantene MQ (P&G 12/28/08)
1 $1.00 /1 Pantene MQ (P&G 11/30/08)(ymmv-my CVS allows this)
2 $1.50 Thermacare MQ (P&G 11/30/08)
1 $2.50/$10 Pain Relief CVS coupon (will work with Thermacare)
1 $5.00 Oil of Olay MQ (P&G 12/14/08)
6.00 ECB (from last week)
4.00 ECB (from last week)
5.98 ECB (from last week)

New Total:$.20 (I’ll be using a gift card for this.)
ECB’s earned: $18.00
Rebate: $15 Oil of Olay

Total value of products: $61.92
Total OOP: $.20 + tax
Total ECB’s earned: $18.00
Total rebates: $15.00

Click below to see others spend only $5.00 at CVS this week!

I love me some Bath and Body Works. As a teenager, my friends and I would spend most of the money we earned in this store and I obviously haven’t gotten much better…except now I know how to get more for the tons of money I seem to be willing to dole out!

Anyway, here’s what I got: (I did two transactions, but I’m putting it all together here.)

(Sorry for the fuzzy picture. I’m so ready to get a good camera. Maybe in February…that’s the current plan.)

2 black Little Lambies (coupon here) $8.00 each
1 boxed set of six lotions $20.00
4 pair of lounge socks $3.75 each (on sale 50% off)
2 cosmetic bags $10.00 each
1 Lambie gift set with mask, pillow mist, and aromatherapy roll on $10.00 (on sale 50% off)
1 Lambie sleep mask $5.00 (on sale 50% off)
8 various sample lotions and scrubs 4/$10

Subtotal: $106
Used 2 Free lambie with any purchase (they only had two left in the store and they were black…I really wanted a white and gray one as well…sigh)

Got free lotion sampler for spending $40
Got a free cosmetic case for buying the 4/$10 samples (did this twice)

Total spent: $50 + tax

And took care of lots of Christmas! And got some socks I’ve been dying for! WooHoo!

I also scored some coupons for my next visit! $10 off $30! Which means, I’ll be back!

I’m turning into a huge freebie junkie! I’ve learned that some of the best coupons come from free samples in the mail, so I often sign up for every freebie I can find. It makes mail time so much fun. I’m often getting tubes of toothpaste, feminine products, razors, and granola in the mail. Not to mention great coupons.

Today was a fun freebie day though. I got a $10 CVS gift card, a $15 off a purchase at ftd.com (both from My Points, which, if you don’t do you should. Please email me if you are interested.), a $10 off Victoria Secrets reward, and a free mini loaf pan from Easy Bake Ware (I did pay $1 shipping)!

Woo hoo!

If you count all the free things I got at KMart and CVS this morning I’ve really racked up today!

I love free stuff!

Isn’t it disappointing to wake up from really, really great dreams?

Like dreams where you own a dress that will magically make you look like Audrey Hepburn?

Then you wake up and realize that nothing you ever own could make you look like Audrey Hepburn? And it’s cold and you’re running late for work.

Kinda makes you want to go back to bed.

Ah well!

I have weird dreams…

But good dreams…while they last.

So, going green is all the rave and I’m in. I think it’s important that we are good stewards of our planet and not needlessly use up, waste or otherwise destroy resources.

The thing is, I’m very, very forgetful. And not that practiced in green living.

I’ve collected a rather impressive stash of reusable shopping bags. It took me several weeks to remember to bring them on my shopping trips. When I finally remembered to bring them on the trip, twice I left them in the van while I was in the store. Then I finally remember to bring in my shopping bags…yay! But I forget to tell the cashier I have them! Ugh! I didn’t remember until she had me all bagged and loaded into my cart.

I pulled out my shopping bags and said, “Oh, I forgot I had these…” and the look on her face told me I had not better request she take my bags back to be reused!

Yesterday, on my mega Black Friday shopping extravaganza, I forgot the bags…again. I did mostly request not to have bags when it seemed easier…like for my appliances I purchased.

Does anyone else out there do this? Have great green intentions but goof it up all the time?

Well, to help me redeem myself a bit, I also:
*have a clothesline
*am careful about lights being on (yesterday I was home alone and made sure I only had the light on in the room I was in…)
*have an energy efficient dryer
*plan on purchasing an energy efficient washer in the somewhat near future (Feb. or March)
*am changing light bulbs over to the energy efficient ones
*reuse, reuse, reuse (you know, all those plastic bags I have, and wipe containers, and frosting containers, and store bought cookie containers….)

What are you doing to be green? And any tips on how to freaking remember my reusable shopping bags?

Before this week, I had only ventured out once on Black Friday. The year I got married, the weekend after Thanksgiving, I tentatively left my cozy, warm home because I still didn’t have an outfit to wear away from my wedding. Although I was beating myself up a bit for waiting til the last minute, I was hoping to snag a great deal on something cute to wear. I went to Belk.

I must admit I was shocked at how few people were out and about (it was the Thanksgiving following Hurricane Katrina and many store were still bits of rubble…) so it didn’t seem such a big deal.

In general, my rule has been a good deal is not worth getting out early and fighting crowds during my Thanksgiving break. I preferred sleeping in and eating leftovers, and hanging out at home and staying away from crazy, psycho shoppers!

But, alas, I’m a deal seeking convert, and there were some to be had yesterday. Enough to get me out of bed at 5:00 a.m.! I don’t get up that early for work!

We scored a laptop from Circuit City. I wandered around Shoe Carnival for a bit but didn’t really want to spend the money needed for a “deal” on their shoes. Earlier this week I got a much better deal on shoes.com for two pair of designer shoes and it made their deals look a bit bland.

Then I hit CVS! My favorite store!

Check out my plunder (and please forgive the quality of this photo…I’m waiting on a great deal for a new camera!).

I’m not going to list every transaction I made…that would take awhile, but I will list what’s in the picture, in case you cannot see.

3 Playtex sport tampons
6 G2 Gatorade
1 Bic Soliel razor
1 Schick Quattro razor
4 L’Oreal lip glosses
4 3pk of Coast soap
1 3pk of Dial soap
4 Colgate Total Advance toothpaste
1 Crest Spinbrush
1 2pk 5 Hour Energy shots
2 Maybelline Mineral Foundations (didn’t get the ECB’s for. I didn’t catch it until later.)
2 Sarah Peyton Spa sets
2 Sarah Peyton Memory Foam Pillows
1 Garnier Facial wipes
1 Garnier moisturizer
2 Covergirl smoothers powder
2 Covergirl smoothers foundation
2 Johnson and Johnson lotions
3 Sarah Hansen nail polish
1 Aussie shampoo
2 Aussie conditioner
1 Aussie leave in conditioner
2 Hershey’s Cookies and Cream King sized bars (not pictured…the kids and I ate em up!)
2 ipod headphones
2 crockpots
1 electric griddle
1 3 in 1 grill

Total OOP spent:$45.96
Total value of products: $291.59 (I think…typing in all those receipts were a pain!)
Total ECB’s to roll: $33.00

Did I mention that I love CVS?

I also shopped at Barnes and Noble and Victoria Secret through Ebates, to take advantage of the double earnings at Ebates. I had coupon codes for both stores.

At Barnes and Noble I ordered three books for my oldest daughter…all hardbacks, for $29.77.

At Victoria Secrets, I ordered 1 sweater, 1 scarf, 1 pair of panties, and 1 bra for $25.24.

(Not to mention I’ll earn back 16% at BandN and 8% at Victoria Secrets! Ebates rocks! Sign up now if you haven’t! They pay you to shop!)

It ended up being a rather expensive day, but I got some great deals. And my Christmas shopping is so close to being done I can smell it! I’m waiting on two more CVS deals two weeks from now to tie it all up!

So, did you shop on Black Friday, or sleep, or what? I’d love to know.

I’ve been a Mrs!

Happy Anniversary Joshua!

I don’t often enter online giveaways but liked the looks of this one for some reason. Probably the yummy Chex mix bars which are my new favorite snack! I really didn’t expect to win…most giveaways have so many people in them…I remember learning about probability in math class.

But I won!

And this is what came in the mail for me yesterday! Isn’t it cool?

Now, do I keep it myself or give it as a Christmas present? I really want it but it would make a lovely gift for one of my gazillion sister-in-laws!

(Hey if any of you sister-in-laws read this, then assume that it’s not for you! )

Today I went CVSing with my cousin (teaching her the ropes!) I ended up doing quite well, since I bought two of the MP3 players they had as EBC deals this week. My oldest two children are getting MP3 players for Christmas. This makes a pretty inexpensive Christmas present if you need something for someone. My OOP was higher than usual because of the MP3 players and a lack of coupons

Here’s the deal-

Transaction #1
1 Crest Spinbrush $5.29
1 Complete Multi-Purpose Solution $8.99
1 Maybelline Mineral Foundation $8.99
1 Blade Howl Body Spray $1.99
1 Craig 2G MP3 player $24.99

Subtotal - $50.25

Coupons used:

$5/$20 CVS coupon
$2 off any Blade CVS coupon
$2 off Crest Spin Brush MQ
20 ECB’s from last week

New total: $16.25 + $1.28 tax = $17.53

EBS’s earned:
8.99 for Maybelline
8.99 for Complete Multi-Purpose Solution
2.00 for Crest
5.00 for Craig MP3 player

Total ECB’s: $24.98

Profit of $7.45

Transaction #2:

1 Blade Scorpio body spray $1.99

Used 1 $2.00 off any Blade CVS coupon (adjusted to $1.99)

Total: $0.00

Transaction #3

1 Craig 2G MP3 player $24.99

Used:
$24.98 ECB’s

Total: $.01

Earned 5 ECB’s

Transaction #4

1 Maybelline Mineral Foundation $8.99

Used: $5 ECB’s

Total: $3.99 + $.28 tax= $4.27

Todays totals:

Total OOP = $21.81
Total product value: $86.22
EBC’s to roll: $8.99

I had been eyeing the Wal-Mart Black Friday deal on the same MP3 player, but CVS not only had it cheaper, but offered EB’s back on it! Woo hoo! Paying with EB’s made it even sweeter! I had planned on spending $60 OOP to get my kids those MP3 players! Taking that into consideration, I did really well!