This should be 79.38 but I paid 2.72!!!

I love the sound of that title! It's super rewarding to get such great deals.

Yes I will use most of this stuff-what I don't use I donate to charity.

Okay what I got and how I did it. Please note I am not posting my grocery purchases here because I always put those on Shopping Day Adventures. But I will say I have a few cool purchases on there for next week (so far total should have been: 71.79ish (some items were on clearance) but I paid:50.87 plus a $5.00 gift card. So it's like I paid 45.87 or 36% savings-so far) so check back next Monday to see how and what I did.

The Language:
5/15: means you get 5 dollars off a 15 dollar purchase
ECB: are Extra Care Bucks you get when your receipt prints. This is like CVS cash!
Transaction: I use the ECB from my last transaction (#1) to pay for the next one (#2) etc.
OOP: means 'out of pocket'
MFG: manufacturer coupon from Sunday paper
PMFG:Printed manufacturer coupon online

For more on CVS and Walgreens tutorials go to Deal Seeking Mom or "Cents"able momma or "Cents"ible Sawyer

At CVS:



Transaction #1
Revlon Blush 9.99
Revlon Blush 9.99
Total 19.98
-5/15 purchase
-5.98 ecbs
-8.00 ecbs
Total 1.07
paid for with gift card from a prescription fill
Total: FREE + $10.00 ecb



Transaction #2
Theraflu (I love this stuff when I am sick) 6.59
Theraflu 6.59
Total: 13.18
mfg coupon 2.00
-10.00 ecb from last transaction
Total: 1.26
paid for with gift card above
Total: FREE + 5.00 ecb




Transaction #3
Stayfree Max Regular 24 3.99
Stayfree Max w/ 18 3.99
Total: 7.98
-5.00 ecb from last transaction
Total: 2.98
paid for with gift card above and $10 refund card (I paid nothing for it, it was an ecb and coupon refund)
Total: FREE + 4.00 ecb



Transaction #4
Colgate tooth paste 4.89
-1.00 pmfg coupon
-4.00 cvs coupon
Total: FREE + 2.00 ecb



Transaction #5
Suave mens body wash 1.99
Suave mens body wash 1.99
Suave cucumber melon 1.99
Total: 5.97
-1.50 mfg coupon
-2.00 ecb
Total: 2.47
paid for with refund
Total: FREE + 2.00 ecb



Transaction #5
Nature Made Echinacea 6.49 B1G1 Free
Nature Made Echinacea 0.00
Total: 6.49
-1.00 mfg coupon
-1.00 mfg coupon
-2.00 ecb
Total: 2.66
Paid for with refund
Total: FREE




Transaction # 6
Energy drink 4.99
Total 4.99
paid for with refund
Total: 1.56 OOP +4.99 ecb



Transaction # 7
Valentine candy .32 (for my boys)
Valentine candy .32
Shoe Goo 5.39(for my husband)
Total: 6.03
-4.99 ecb
Total: 1.09 OOP

Grand Total: 76.00 (pre-tax) My Total oop: 2.65

I have no more ecb's and no more gift/refund money. So while that stinks, I think I have done pretty well over the last two weeks.

Walgreen's Trip:

Foil 1.69
Foil 1.69
tissue .29
Total: 3.67
-walgreens coupon 1.60
-mfg coupon 2.00
Total: .07 OOP

So between the two I spent 2.72 and saved: 76.66 or 97% savings!

Menu Plan Day and Shopping day Adventures

Don't forget to check out shopping day adventures below (where I show you what I spent with my $50.00 grocery money and $50.00 everything else money) Also to get other great menu plan day posts go to orgjunkie or more grocery shopping day's go to The Grocery Cart Challenge.

Well for me the next two weeks, no more eating good yummy America's Test Kitchen meals. I am going on a 2 week candida diet were I can't have anything except lean meats and low/no sugar fruits and veggies. It's going to be so hard! I am also using this diet cleanse and this fungal detox with my diet...and below is my main meal that I will be eating everyday all day. I actually like this meal so I am happy with it. I just hate giving up sweets! lol!



My candida meal for the week: I will eat this all day including dinner

Lentil and Cabbage Stew (I am substituting the toovar dal with red lentils, not using ground fenugreek or black mustard seeds, and I am using curry powder instead of leaves...I am also doubling the recipe.

I also plan to eat:

Breakfasts:
Strawberry Limeade Smoothies (recipe below)
eggs

Snacks:
Celery and almond butter

Dinner:
along with my stew I will be eating steamed veggies (drenched in butter!)

My Strawberry Limeade Smoothie:
1/2 C frozen strawberries
1/2 C yogurt
2-3 T lime juice (more or less to your liking)
1/4 C water (you can use milk to make it creamer or oj for tartness but I can't have those)
1/4 t stevia
2-3 t Xylitol

add to blender mix and serve! Tastes yummy!

Don't forget I substitute a lot of the ingredients for all natural or organic or healthier ones. Such as sugar I use Xylitol or Honey, for flour I use whole wheat, spelt, or brown rice, for chocolate I use carob powder, etc. Also I use America's Test Kitchen Recipies and not the ones below.

My Families meals for the week:

Breakfast:
eggs and grits
cinnamon vanilla oatmeal
organic cereal

Snacks:
carrots and ranch
organic popcorn
all natural Cheetos
Chocolate banana bread (from really old bananas)

Dinner:
Toasted Turkey Subs, home fries, steamed veggies
Skillet creole chicken fricassee, rice, mashed potatoes, steamed veggies
Shrimp and scallop skewers with hoeisn-ginger sauce, rice, steamed veggies
Grilled chicken with sesame noodles,
Lemon chicken and rice soup
Mexican Chicken soup
Leftovers

How my grocery shopping went:

Well I have to go by memory but I think my husband spent around 13.00 on these items:

foil (err I can get it free at Walgreen's this week-oh well now I will have a lot)
brown sugar
3 3lb pork shoulder
Total: 13.00ish

I spent:

Akin natural food market:

2 Panda licorice for boys 1.30
agave nectar 3.99
3 Soda (stevia) 3.48
Total 9.00

Woods Grocery Store:



Grocery
tomatoes crushed 1.67
Produce
5.97lb grapes 5.26
2lb Mangoes 1.98
4.36lb cabbage 2.57
1 jalapeno pepper .14
6lb apples 4.00
Lettuce 1.19
Dairy
1lb butter 2.39
Frozen
2-1lb Brocolli Normanday 3.00
2-1lb Mediterrainan Veggies 3.00
Total: 26.39

Praire Grove Farm:
Raw Milk 3.50

Grand Total: 51.89ish

If you guys read my blog you know each week we have $50 for groceries and $50 for all other house hold and personal nessesities. Each week I have pretty much stayed right on the money.

First week:
47.73 groceries
60.00 spelling power book
Grand Total: 107.73

Second week:
49.72 groceries
40.00 shoes ( I did not include tax here because I did it on the jackets below since they were bought together)
Grand Total: 89.72

This week:
51.89 groceries
10ish oil and filters for car(husband got...don't remember total)
1.94 Walgreen's
46.30 jackets
Grand Total: 110.13


So it looks like I am over by about $7.58ish (depending on what my husband actually spent, which these totals should be right on the money-ish)

Not bad aye?

So do you have a frugal freak deal you would like to share? If so sign up to my Linky below along with your post of your frugal deal (be sure to only link your current deal post not your blog homepage)

Latte

Total should have been: 305-ish But I paid 88.24

I bet your dieing to know how I saved so much! Well I will tell ya...um mostly because I am just dieing to tell everyone!

NOTE: because of taxes my amounts might seem a touch off, but it should not be too much, if it is let me know...it was a lot of math for this girl to do! lol

Okay I went to CVS and EVERYTHING I purchased there was TOTALLY FREE, plus I have a 10 dollar rebate coming and 27.78 in ECB's left (13.08 of which are on gift cards so they don't expire)

I have to admit, at first this CVS/Walgreens shopping was so overwhelming! However I stuck with it and it is getting so much easier to do. These are the 3 things that kept me going:

1. The desire to save money-no matter my income
2. The time it takes to learn this which at first will take some time but once you do it, it gets much easier-it helps that so many mom's are willing to share
3. The effort to stay organized. I am not organized with a lot of stuff, but you have to be with this. It's just not an option or you will end up losing money.


First I must totally thank these ladies for helping me, if it were not for them I could not have done this. All of them plus many more helped me. note: you can check them out on my left side bar!

http://www.couponing101.com/
http://www.thethriftymama.com/
http://www.cvs-saver.blogspot.com/
http://www.ingoodcents.blogspot.com/
http://www.dealseekingmom.com/
http://www.drugstoredivas.blogspot.com/
http://www.kingdomfirstmom.com/
http://www.thecentsiblesawyer.blogspot.com/
http://www.centsablemomma.com/

Most of these ladies have great tutorial on how to be the best deal getter there is! Here are some of the tutorials I used:

http://www.centsablemomma.com/2008/09/coupons-101.html
http://thecentsiblesawyer.blogspot.com/2009/02/cvs-for-beginners.html

Okay now to explain a little about what I did:

First I went to these girls websites (above) and looked over the way they purchased their items and in what order they did there transactions. In order to get the best deals at CVS you must make multiple orders and then pay for it with your ECB's (extra care bucks that print at the bottom of your receipt-it's like cash that you can only use at CVS and it expires in roughly a month) I think I made 5 transactions (the girls above suggest no more than 4 at a time but the cashier was ever so helpful so I did not get back in line for each of them, she let me do them all in one visit)

Before I went to CVS, I wrote down the best scenario for our family. Then I printed all the coupons that the girls had listed that went with my transactions. I made sure to write this all down next to each transaction. Then I went to my coupon book:

and got out all the coupons that went with each transaction, put them with my printed coupons and separated them out by transaction. Before I left I made sure I knew and listed how much each item should cost, how much ecb's I would spend and how much ecb's I should be getting back. I also made sure to put my CVS ad in my binder with my coupons and list.

Just a note I put my coupons in the binder above in quart sized Ziploc bags (that I hole punched) and labeled according to the item's, mine are:

use this week
body products
face products (shaving cream, razors)
hair products
teeth products
make-up
food
deserts
drinks
cereals
cleaners/smell goods
laundry
bathroom needs (q-tips, toilet paper, etc)
kitchen needs (paper towels, foil, etc)


Then I headed to CVS. I took my time tring to make sure I got the right items (you have to be careful they put the signs in the wrong spot and if you don't get the right size/kind you'll be stuck in line and totally stressed out)This is what my transactions looked like, but keep in mind that I started with a $25.00 gift card for CVS that I got for filling my new prescription last week( I only had $16.46 when I started) , I also had about $25 .00 in ECB's, and a $10.00 gift card from a refund but I did not use that on this visit.

Transaction #1:

1 Colgate tooth paste 2.99
1 Colgate tooth paste 2.99
minus:
mfg coupon 1.00
mfg coupon 1.00
total: 3.98+tax 4.25
paid for with gift card made it:
FREE
plus got $5.98 back in ECB's

Transaction # 2:

Suave men's body wash 2.00
Suave ocean breeze body wash 2.00
Suave Sweet pea body wash 2.00
minus:
mfg coupon 1.50
-ECB 4.00
total: .50+ tax= .53
paid for with gift card made it:
FREE
Plus got back $2.00 in ECB's

Transaction #3

Wheat Thins 2.50
Wheat Thins 2.50
Cotton Swabs 2.50
Stay fresh pantie liners 3.99
Stay fresh pantie liners 3.99
Candy bar I had to get .67
minus:
15.98 ECB
Total .17+tax=.18
Paid for with gift card made it:
FREE
Plus got back $4.00 in ECB's

Transaction #4
Scope mouth wash liter 3.99
Herbal Essence Shampoo 2.99
Herbal Essence Shampoo 2.99
Herbal Essence Shampoo 2.99
Herbal Essence Shampoo 2.99
minus:
coupon .75
coupon 3.00
coupon 3.00
ECB 1.99
ECB 2.00
ECB 4.99
Total 22+ tax=.24
Paid for with gift card making it:
FREE
Plus got back $5.00 in ECB's

Transaction #5 the money maker:
Natural Dentist Mouth wash 9.99
Natural Dentist Mouth wash 9.99
Minus:
mfg coupon 2.00
mfg coupon 2.00
ECB 4.00
ECB 4.00
Total 7.46 with tax
Paid for with gift card making it:
FREE Plus got back 8.00 in ECB's Plus I have a $10.00 rebate mailed off!

To recap; all of this on sale would have cost me: 61.07(pre tax) but because I used coupons I saved $14.25 and because I used my ECB's I saved: 37.96 and the rest I put on the $25.00 gift card I got for my prescription last week. But I still have 13.98 in ECB's $3.08 left on my gift card, and 10.00 on another gift card from a refund. Making my total left to spend: 27.78

So I started with:
38.38 spent NOTHING and now have 27.78 in ECB's and gift cards left to spend, plus a $10.00 rebate!

Tell me who is the WOMAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now for my Walgreen's purchases:

Finesse Shampoo 3.99 B1B1 free
Finesse Shampoo 0.00
Charmin 6 double roll 4.79
Tooth paste (can't have more coupons than items so I had to get this) .99
minus:
mfg coupon .75
mfg coupon .75
mfg coupon .25
walgreens cash register reciept from last week 6.00
total 1.82+tax= 1.94
Paid out of pocket (oop) 1.94

Okay on to my next savings. My husband and I went to sears to get us some shoes that were on sale. While there we saw that jackets were on clearance. We always try and buy our boys jackets the season before so we can get them really cheap. This is what we purchased and our savings: Please note on the jackets we use to get these same jackets in years past for like 10-12 dollars but because of the high starting prices the clearance prices are just not that low any more (we received 50% off plus an additional 30% off of that)



Boys size 14-16 jacket 95.00 we paid 24.00 (Zero Xtreme w/hood and i-pod pocket)
Boys size 5/6 jacket 60.00 we paid 16.79 (Cars The Movie theme w/hood)
Mens Reebok shoe 39.99 we paid 19.99 (Trail wave ultra light -black, grey and red)
Women's Reebok shoe 39.99 we paid 19.99 (Trail wave 3-D ultra light- grey and purple)
Total: 234.98 we paid 86.30 after tax!

So to Recap today I spend around 88 dollars on items that would have cost around 305 dollars!~


Total saving 71%

So tell me, what fugal freak things have you done? If you have posted on it, sign my link down blow and put your blog in it. Make sure you just link to your most recent or favorite frugal freaky savings post. It's helpful but not necessary to link back here in your post.

Latte