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CVS diaper deal – $3.49/package

January 13, 2009 by

If you need diapers, check out the CVS diaper deal this week. The CVS brand diapers and training pants are on sale 2/$12.99. If you just buy one package, it will ring up at $6.49 or $6.50. Use the $3 off CVS brand coupon (details are here) and pay $3.49-3.50 for a package of diapers!

If you have never tried their brand of diapers before, it’s worth checking them out at that price and if you figure out that they work for you, this is a good time to stock up. It’s even better if you have a $ off CVS coupon or ECBs that you want to use before they expire!

The following CVS baby care items are also on sale 2/$4, so it’s another great way to use the $3 off coupon: Oil 14 oz, body wash, bath, powder, lotion, shampoo 15 oz, detangler 10 oz or wipes 72-80 ct.

While you’re there also keep an eye out for clearanced Febreze candles. The apple and vanilla scents are ringing up at 75-90% off (so .80-$1.99). There were $2 off coupons in the 12-14 P&G insert and $1 off coupons in the Home Made Simple mailer.

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Making the most of your Swagbucks account

January 13, 2009 by


Search & Win

If you’ve been reading my blog for very long, you know that I use gift cards to pay for a lot of things to help lower my out of pocket expenses. You may be wondering how I earn all of these gift cards. Most of my gift cards that I earn come either from credit card rewards (I’ll post about that another time) and from various online survey or rewards companies.

Last week, I posted here about Swagbucks, which is a site where you earn points that can be exchanged for gift cards or merchandise for searching the web. The cash out amounts are fairly low (you only need 45 points to cash out for a $5 Amazon gift card). I earned enough points for an Amazon card during my first week.

Here are a few tricks I have learned along the way:

*Do a few searches every day until you earn at least one Swagbuck. I have found that I only have to enter 2-5 search strings to win (I enter search strings consecutively until I earn a Swagbuck). Even if you only earn one Swagbuck each day and you search each day, you will have earned 365 points by the end of the year, or enough to cash out for $40 worth of Amazon gift cards. That would help out with Christmas shopping, especially if Amazon has their killer toy sale again like they have in previous years! If you’d rather have gift cards for somewhere else, it would be enough for a $20 Target gift card, a $5 Subway gift card, and a $5 Amazon gift card. Or, you could get a $30 Barnes & Noble gift card. You could also get a $30 iTunes card and a $5 Starbucks card. As you can see, there are tons of possibilities!

*If you have a Facebook account, become a “fan” of Swagbucks on Facebook. Click here to do this. If you check out the wall, there are bonus codes posted once or twice a day that you can add to your account. (To add bonus codes, log into Swagbucks, and then click on the icon that says “You have X Swagbucks.” There will be a box that says this: Have a SwagCode? Just enter it here and receive your SwagBucks instantly! Enter your code and click GIMME!)

*Publish your Swagbucks winnings on Facebook – when you “win” a buck, you now have the option of posting your win on Facebook. It shows up on your profile and it’s another way to promote your Swagbucks account (and get more ‘friends’)

*Read the Swagbucks blog (you can access this from the main page when you log into your Swagbucks account). Bonus codes are posted here, as well.

*Sign up for the Swagbucks newsletter. They send bonus codes embedded in the newsletter, so it’s an easy way to earn extra Swagbucks!

*Download the Swagbucks Toolbar onto your internet browser – Click on the “toolbars” option on the left hand side of the website after you log in and follow the instructions!

*Post the Swidget on your blog or your Facebook page. You can download it here.

*Tell all your friends – When your friends sign up under you, you win when they win for the first 100 Swagbucks (this does not include any Swagcodes that they enter)

If you haven’t signed up yet, you can join here. You will get 3 Swagbucks for joining!

HAPPY SEARCHING! 🙂
Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: ,

Menu Planning Monday: My Menu for the week of 1/11

January 12, 2009 by


I posted a lot of information about my family and how we plan meals in this initial post.

Here is my meal plan for this week:

Sunday: Classic Chicken divan (This is a family favorite that my mom used to always make when we were growing up….I made a double batch of this to serve for our extended family dinner)
Ingredients:
2 bunches fresh broccoli (or 2 10 oz packages frozen broccoli)
1/4 c. margarine
1/4 c. flour
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 c. whipping cream
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 c grated Parmesan cheese
3 chicken breasts, cooked and thinly sliced

Cook broccoli in salted boiling water and then drain. Melt butter and blend in flour. Add chicken broth. Cook and stir until thick. Stir in cream, salt, and a dash of pepper.

Place broccoli crosswise in a 13X9X2 baking dish. Pour half the sauce over broccoli. Top with chicken slices. To remaining sauce, add Parmesan cheese. Pour over chicken. Add bread crumbs to top. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until hot through.

*A few of my variations…I cover the chicken slices with some shredded cheese and then put the bread crumbs on top (I make my bread crumbs from real bread by toasting it and then breaking it up and sprinkling parmesan over the top….it is one of the “favorite parts”

Banana pudding

Monday: Swedish meatballs (in the crockpot)

Tuesday: Cream Cheese Chicken (in the crockpot)

Wednesday: Honey Lime enchiladas – I saw this recipe on Marci’s blog and it looked yummy, so I decided to test it out this week! I usually don’t cook non-crockpot meals during the week, but my plan for this is to cook the chicken in the crockpot the night before and then just put it all together that morning so I just have to throw it in the oven when I get home!

Thursday: Creamy potato soup (in the crockpot)

Friday: pizza – There’s nothing fancy about this. I will use a Pillsbury crust that I got for .25 using a coupon, homemade pizza sauce (.33 for the can of tomato sauce), and then pepperoni ($1 w/ coupon), mushrooms (.44 for store brand), and cheese ($1.50/bag with coupon) as toppings. We will have a salad as a side ($2). My total cost for this meal was $5.52.

Saturday: Sweet and sour pork (another family recipe)

Ingredients:
1 t. soy sauce
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 T cornstarch
dash of salt
1/2 c. pineapple juice or water
3 T cider vinegar
2 T ketchup
Pineapple, onions, green peppers
Chopped ham

Mix ingredients in a pan. Stir constantly over low heat until thickened and translucent. Add pineapple, onion, green pappers, and ham. Serve over rice.

I got my ham free at Target with the $2 off coupon they had awhile back. The green peppers were 2/$1. The canned pineapple was $1.13. I had all of the other ingredients on hand. Total cost for this recipe was around $3.

Filed Under: Menu Planning Monday Tagged With:

Free Rice a Roni!

January 11, 2009 by

There is a new printable coupon for .50/1 package of Rice a Roni. They are $1 at my Kroger store (YMMV), so if your grocery store has them for $1 and doubles coupons, they will be free!

You can print the coupon here. You can print two per computer and I recommend printing them quick before the print limit is reached. If the first link I posted didn’t work for you, try this one here.

If you’re looking for a quickie meal that you can put together using your Rice a Roni, check out this recipe on Marci’s blog. My kids love it!

Filed Under: freebies

Scenario Sunday: CVS scenarios for the week of 1/11/09

January 11, 2009 by

Finding low out of pocket scenarios for “newbies” or those with low ECBs has been a challenge this week! Find the coupon match ups for the week here.
Here’s the best thing I could come up with:
Transaction #1:

Buy 1 Kotex value pack – $4.99

$2/1 Kotex coupon
Spend $2.99, get $2

Transaction #2:
Kleenex tissues with lotion 3 pk – $3.69
.50/3 pk Kleenex coupon
Use $2 ECB
Spend $1.19, get $1

If you’re not all that impressed with the weekly deals, this would be a good week to try to stock up on some of the monthly items. You can find the coupon match ups for the monthly deals here and scenarios for the monthly deals here.

The BOGO free deals don’t earn ECBs, but they are still great deals.

Depending on which Colgate toothpaste you buy, it will be .79 for two with two $1/1 coupons or a moneymaker if you have the $1.50/1 coupons (these were printables that are no longer available).

Some of the Revlon makeup will be free or close to free, especially if you still have some of the $2 off coupons (they expire this week, so hurry!)

Some of the CVS batteries may be free or close to free with the $3 CVS brand coupon.

If you haven’t discovered the $3 off any CVS brand product coupon, read this post here. I seriously love this coupon! If you buy a product that is under $3, the coupon will beep, so you will need a “filler” item (the CVS pocket tissues are a great choice).

Here are a few scenarios using the BOGO free deals this week and the $3 CVS coupon:

Scenario #1:
Buy 2 Colgate Total toothpaste – $2.79 (BOGO free)
Buy 1 package CVS plastic plates (15 ct) – $2.79
Buy 1 package CVS pocket tissues – .50

Use 2 $1 Colgate Total manufacturer’s coupons (from 1/4 inserts)
Use $3 CVS coupon

Spend 1.08 OOP (out of pocket) for $8.87 in merchandise

Scenario #2:
Buy 2 Revlon Creme Shadow – $6.49 (BOGO free)
Buy 1 CVS sunblock – $2.19
Buy 1 CVS chapstick – $.99

Use 2 $2 Revlon coupons
Use $3 CVS coupon

Spend $2.67 OOP (out of pocket) for $16.16 in merchandise

Here are a few things you can get with this coupon for free or close to free: (this list was developed by me….please do not repost it elsewhere without posting a link to my blog giving me credit…Thanks!)

Vitamins (I took advantage of the BOGO free sales last week and we now have a year’s supply of everything we need!): Folic Acid (800 mg) 100 ct – $2.75, Vitamin B-1 (100 mg) 100 ct – $2.97, Vitamin C (250 mg) 100 ct – $2.99, Vitamin D (400 Iu) 100 ct – $2.99, CVS Magnesium (250 mg) 100 ct – $2.99, Vitamin B-6 (50 mg) 100 ct – $3.49, Vitamin C (500 mg) 100 ct – $3.59, Vitamin A (8000 Iu) 100 ct – $3.79, Vitamin B-12 (100 mg) 100 ct – $3.99, Calcium & Magnesium with Zinc 100 ct – $3.99
**these will range in price from free (remember you need a filler if they are under $3) to .99/each

CVS Pro Vitamin shampoo/conditioner (similar to Pantene) – $3.49/each (.49/each after the coupon)

CVS baby products: baby wash, baby lotion, baby shampoo, and baby wipes are priced at $3.29 (.29/each after the coupon)

CVS brand tissues are priced at $1.19 – buy 3 and pay .57 out of pocket

CVS brand chapstick is .99/each – buy 3 (and a filler) and they are free 🙂

CVS brand cotton balls are $1.99, buy 2 and spend .98

CVS Sunblock lotion (2 oz) is $2.19 (add something else small like chapstick or tissues and this is a great deal!)

CVS lotion (10 oz) – $2.99/each

CVS cleansing cream – $3.99/each

CVS cleansing & makeup remover towelettes (15 ct) – $2.99/each (I love these!)

CVS cleaner with bleach – $3.29 (.29 after coupon!)

CVS wet mopping cloths – $3.99/each (.99 after coupon)

CVS fabric softener sheets – $3.99 (.99 after coupon)

CVS dusting wand and refills – $3.79 (.79 after coupon)

CVS plastic plates (15 ct) – $2.79

CVS plastic cups (30 ct) – $2.79

CVS snack or sandwich bags (50 ct) – $2.79

Gold Emblem (CVS brand) Sparkling Water Value Packs $3.97 Get $2 EB (limit 5)

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