I've been bad at this blogging stuff

I really want to get back into the groove of blocking. Lately I've either had nothing to blog about & time to blog or something to blog about & no time to do so. The kids are keeping me pretty busy... so do the dogs & the house. My goal is to chip out some time that I can take to blog & catch up on my scrap booking that I am VERY behind on.

I can't believe the newest addition is only a few days sigh of 2 months! He's a pretty good baby. He has 2 six hour sleeps mixed in with several shorter naps. One stretch is in the middle of the day & the other is at night. I've been pretty lucky getting him to eat around 11:30pm. Then he sleeps to about 5:30am. Mr I & Princess love their new little brother to pieces.

Speaking of those 2... I signed them up for preschool. That starts at the end of the month. Three days a week for 3 hours to clean & grocery shop with out having to chase mobile children around. It'll be good for them, too. They are partners in crime.

We're gearing up for Mr's 3rd deployment to the sandbox. My philosophy is to hurry up & get it started so it's over sooner. This deployment could end in 3 different ways - they come back early, come back as schedule, or they get extended. I do not like that part being up in the air. Ugh...

We've been working on the house some more. It's never ending. I have a blog to write on that & pictures to post.

My goal this week was to get to bed earlier. Well I've been in bed earlier but have yet been to sleep any earlier. I'm some what of a walking zombie on auto-pilot these days. Must go get some beauty sleep...

CVS Trip(s) 07/13/09

I did some kidless shopping today. 4 CVS trips. I think I did pretty well. :P

1)
2 - 5 subject Caliber notebooks, 3 - Papermate grip 8 count pens, Gallon milk, 2 - 1 subject Caliber notebooks, 2 - 5" Caliber scissors, 2 - 12" wood rulers, & 2 - Caliber clear glue. Used 1 - $5 off $25 CVS coupon.

Total out of pocket: $20.16 + $1.60 (tax) = $21.76
Total saved: $12.80
ECB earned: $21.89

2)
5 - Gatorades, Olay face lotion, Olay body wash, Olay 4 pack soap bars, & Mentos gum. Used $3.55 in manufacture coupons, $5 off $25, & $16.94 in ECB's.

total out of pocket: $1.67 + .35 = $2.02
total saved: $33.14
ECB's earned: $10.00

3)
2 - Kotex Lightdays 64ct, Fusion razor, Huggies 64ct wipes. Used $6.25 in man. coupons, $2 off Huggies wipes CVS coupon & $10 ECB.

Total out of pocket: 0.23 + 0.57 = 0.80
Total saved: $21.63
ECB's earned: $6

4)
Pampers Cruisers 27ct. Used $2 man. coupon & $8.97 in ECB's.

Total out of pocket: $1.02 + 0.44 = $1.46
Total saved: $10.97


***SUMMARY***
Total out of pocket: $26.04
Total saved: $78.54

New addition

Newbie

2 weeks

4 weeks

Born June 11, 2009 at 8:04am. Weighed in at 6lbs 9oz & 18.5" in length.

My new project

I've been looking for ways to save money on our grocery/shopping trips. I have been meaning to post about this for a couple months now. I actually have receipts saved up to share. I think it's working out well. It's like a game/challenge. I am getting better at it as I go along. It's a mix of shopping the sales ads, knowing prices, clipping coupons & a bit of stock piling when the price is right. I have also started creating a monthly menu of meals. We may not follow the menu day by day but I only shop for those meals & they get eaten at some point in time during that month. Or if we have an event to go to any extra meals go to the following month. I chose to do monthly menus because I only make a trip to the commissary (military grocery store) once a month to 6 weeks. I do my ad shopping in between. The stores we have here (in order of preference because of the best deals) are Ralphs, Stater Bros, Fresh & Easy, Albertsons & Vons. I occasionally venture to Walmart (*GASP*), could move into Target & have befriended CVS (LOVE me some ECB's!!!).

Today I went to CVS ( 2 transactions), Target twice (wasn't coupon prepared), the commissary & Fresh & Easy. I find that the only meat I can find cheaper off base is Chicken. I picked up fresh (vs. frozen bag) boneless, skinless chicken breasts (family packs) for $1.99lb, cherries for $1.99/bag (2bs) & shredded parmesan cheese (took 3 stores to find it!!) at Fresh & Easy.

Here are some of the other deals I got today.

1) CVS:
- Pampers Cruisers Jumbo pack, $12.49*
- Pampers Swaddlers Jumbo pack, $12.99*
sale/coupons: -$3.50*, - $4*, - $1 coupon x's 2 (saved $9.50)
oop pre-tax: $15.98
ECB: $5, $5

- Tide Simple Pleasures 40oz., $8.99*
- Softsoap body wash, $5.49
- Softsoap Ensemble refill, $3.99**
- Huggies wipes tub 72ct, $3.49
sale/coupons: -$4*, -0.35 q, -0.75 q, -$1 q, -$1 q, -$1 ECB, $2 CVS q, -$10 ECB (saved $19.10)
oop pre-tax: $1.86
ECB ** I should have received $4 in ECB's, but the refill wasn't registering. You had to by 2 Softsoaps (body wash or ensemble or refill ensemble) or Irish Spring body wash & you get $4ECB's back. There is an issue with the Ensemble collection. I'm printing off the add page to take back to the manager.

2) Target: I went to look for that coffee on clearance. Mine didn't have any left. I never really noticed teh clearance end caps before. It was all the stuff from when they had the bulk isle. I made 2 trips because I did not have my coupons with me, but happened to have a few random ones in my bag. I had a TON of deodorant coupons, but not any for some of the other items. We will not be a stinky family for a very loooooong time. I won't bore you all with the none clearance items I bought, lol (but I did have coupons for those!!).

- 2 boxes of Goldfish, was $5, now $4.24
- Quaker Chewy pb granola bars, was $2.29, now $1.94 (bought 2)
- 2 boxes of Kelloggs Berries cereal, was $5.49, now $4.66
- 3 pack plus bonus purse size Secret deodorant, was $5, now $3.50 (-$1 q)
- 3 pack Old Spice deodorant (x2), was $5, now $3.50 (-$1/2 q)
saved: $6.79 (mark down), $2 q. (total saved: $8.79)

- 2 large & 1 small bottle pack of Palmolive (plus $10 coupon book), was $??, now $4.24 (-0.25 q)
- Pepperidge Farm Baked Wisps, was $5, now $4.25 (-0.75 q)
- 3 pack plus bonus purse size Secret deodorant (x2), was $5, now $3.50 (-$1/2 q)
- 3 pack Old Spice deodorant, was $5, now $3.50 (-$1 q)
- 2 pack Dove Ultimate Go Fresh deodorant (x2), was $5, now $3.50 (-$1.50/2 q)
- Tampax 60ct, was $7.99,now $6.78 (-0.50 q)
- 3 pack Always Infinity Ultra Thin 14ct (x2), was $7.99, now $5.58 (-$1, -$4 - could have sworn it was a $1 q... weiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrd!!)
saved: $14.28+ (mark down), $10 q. (total saved:$24.28)

3) Commissary: Total savings with deals/coupons - $47.08
- 2 pack Mustard 30oz (x2), was $3.49 each, sale 0.49 each (-0.35 q)
- 60 count Electrisol Gel pacs (x2), was $7.99 each, sale 0.99 each (-0.55 q? - I used a coupon just can't remember which one it was.)
- Lysol Cleaner bottle & large refill (x2), was $7.99 each, sale $1.99 each
- 4 pack Suave Kids shampoo, sale $3.99
- Hefty tall kitchen bags 85 ct (x2), $8.35 (-$2 q x2)
- Alpo wet dog food - buy 3 get 1 free (x2)
- Purina wet dog food - BOGO (x4)


OOP - Out of Pocket
ECB - Extra Care Buck (basically free money)
Q - Coupons

If I get a chance I will go through my reciepts & post some of the other great deals I have scored.