Helpful Tips for Rookie CVS Shoppers
These easy to follow tips will make shopping at CVS a breeze, even if you are a newbie!
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1379497/helpful_tips_for_rookie_cvs_shoppers.html
Tip of the Day Tuesday: Tips for new CVS shoppers
January 20, 2009 by
My $40 weekly grocery budget
January 20, 2009 by
I typically do my grocery shopping on Saturdays, but that didn’t work out this week because of other things that were going on, so I went today, but even at that didn’t make it everywhere I wanted to go. My kids were totally out of their routine (and super cranky as a result) and my husband had to work late.
Here’s what I got for $29.95 this week:
Randalls – 2 cans chicken & rice soup, 3 jars Prego sauce (I have a huge stockpile of this, but I’ll be making manicotti for my husband’s birthday on Sunday and I don’t have the right kind for that….I basically only make it once a year and so I didn’t even think to buy sauce for it when I was stocking up a few months ago!), 2 boxes Barilla manicotti shells, 2 gallons milk (used $1 off milk when you buy Sara Lee bread coupon), bread, 3 pounds bananas
Paid $3.25 OOP (spent $16.38 on a gift card)
There weren’t really any great deals at Randalls other than the milk. They have several types of Barilla pasta 10/$10, which is why I went there, but of course, they didn’t have what I wanted for that cheap…at least it was on sale. I figured since I was there, I’d pick up a few things and go ahead and use my gift card since I hardly ever shop at Randalls.
Target – lunchmeat (used a .55/1 coupon and there is a MIR, so it will be a total moneymaker for me because I will get the pre-coupon amount back), frozen chicken breasts, bagged salad, canned tomato sauce, Parmesan cheese, kidney beans, Ranch style beans, Vienna sausage (my daughter loves these and it’s one of the few things she will eat at lunch these days), Pepperidge Farm stuffing (other brands would have been cheaper, but I love theirs the most), Pillsbury biscuits (used .75 off coupon), 10 Sobe Life water
Paid $26.70 OOP
If you haven’t done the Sobe Life water deal yet, it goes through 1/24 and the details are here
I still have $10.05 left to spend for the week. I plan on going to Kroger tomorrow to get some of their fruits and veggies that are a part of the 10/$10 sale.
Here are my updated savings totals:
Baby Emergency fund – 698.92 (Goal = $1000)
Gift savings – $132.42 (Goal = $1500)
Rolling entertainment fund – $0 (Goal = $500)
Here’s how much I have saved at individual stores:
Total Target savings – $130.27 to date (44% savings)
Total CVS savings – $187.77 (78% savings…this would probably be higher, but I do buy my stamps there to go toward my quarterly ECB earnings and you can’t use ECBs to pay for those!)
Total Kroger savings – $21.34 (33% savings)
Total Randalls savings – $58.34 (95% savings) – I have paid for most items here with gift cards/coupons so far this year
**If you’re looking for spreadsheets to help you track your savings, there are some good ones here on the Mommy Snacks blog
Free Bath and Body Works!
January 19, 2009 by
Thanks to j_essica on NBBC for sharing this coupon!
Bath and Body Works has a coupon for a free signature collection item with ANY purchase. This means you can purchase a small trial sized item and get a full size item for FREE.
Here’s the fine print: Limit one per customer. While supplies last. Selection may vary by store location. Offer may not be combined with any other offers, coupons, or discounts. Valid in store only through 1/25/09.
Also, just an FYI….these coupons can only be used at regular retail stores. They will not work at outlet stores (some outlet malls have “regular” retail stores…if you have an “outlet” store, the sign will be different and there is a limited selection of items which are usually overstock or with older packaging)
Click here to print this coupon.
Free juice and really cheap snacks at Target
January 19, 2009 by
Yesterday I posted this thread talking about the latest Target printable grocery coupons. Today, I actually had a chance to go to the store to do some price checking. Here are the deals: (YMMV in terms of pricing)
$1 off 46-oz. or larger Ocean Spray juice
$1/1 Ocean Spray Light, Diet, or Grapefruit Product, Any – 01-11-09 SS
$1/1 printable here
Most types were on price cut for $1.99 – FREE with coupons! (be sure you give your Target coupon FIRST) The CranGrape Light was on price cut for $1.61 (so overage with both coupons if your stores give overage)
$1 off Special K snack bars
$1/1 Kellogg’s Special K Protein Products Or All Bran Fiber Drink Mixes Or Bars, Any 4 Ct + – 12-14-08 RP
$3/3 Special K products at Target (this is a manufacturer’s coupon) printable here
These were on price cut for $2.24 at my store, so .24/each with both coupons
*$1 off with purchase of eight 4- or 6-oz. Yoplait individual yogurt cups
$1/4 printable here (print it twice)
These were .59/each at my store, so .21/each with both coupons
*$1 off with purchase of two Pepperidge Farm 100 Calorie Packs
$1/1 Pepperidge Farm Baked Naturals Snacks, Any – 01-18-09 SS
These were $2.54/each at my store, so $1.04/each if you have two of the $1/1 manufacturer’s coupons
*.50/1 Fiber One bars
.50/1 Fiber One Bars, 1-4-09 GM
There are 2 count packages of the bars by the registers in many stores that are priced at .99. When you use the Target coupon and the manufacturer’s coupon, you get free bars!
*Just a reminder that Target’s new IPs say that you can’t use more than one “like” coupon per transaction. So you, can buy yogurt and granola bars and juice, but if you want to buy two bottles of juice, you have to do a separate transaction.
Menu Planning Monday: My menu for the week of 1/18
January 19, 2009 by
One of the things I love about planning a weekly menu is that we sit down and talk about ideas for meals for the upcoming week together. Then, we are eating meals together as a family which gives us more “together” time and we are saving tons of money because we are not eating out! We only have eaten out once so far this month which is a big change from previous months. Having a plan makes it easier to cook each night because I’m not fumbling around trying to figure out what I’m going to cook at a point where everyone in my house is hungry and cranky already.
Here is my menu for the week. I’ll be relying on a lot of stockpile items for several of these meals:
Sunday – spaghetti (nothing special about that, but I was struggling to come up with ideas for dinner and my husband said it sounded good)
Everything for this meal comes from my stockpile. I got the spaghetti noodles for free when there was a .50/1 Barilla coupon and they were 10/$10 at Kroger awhile back. The coupon doubled and the noodles were free. I got the Prego sauce at Target a few months ago using a combination of Target/manufacturer’s coupons. I can’t remember exactly how much I paid, so I went back through old posts and it was .80/jar. Once every few months, I have my mom pick up ground beef for me in bulk at Sams Club. I pay about $20, but then I divide it in half and cook half and put it in small baggies and freeze and then I divide the other half into small baggies (I LOVE MY FOODSAVER!) and freeze! When I need ground beef for a recipe, I just defrost it and add it – it’s quick and easy! I get at least 10 meals out of the $20 of meat, so that is about $2. I had some frozen garlic bread in the freezer that I got for .70 (it was $1.50 at Kroger and I used a .40 coupon that doubled). I also added some green beans that were .40/can. Total cost for this meal was about $3.90 and it doesn’t even come out of my budget for the week! 🙂
Monday – Tuna casserole
Tuna casserole isn’t the most popular thing, even at my house, but this recipe actually is pretty good and I have all of the items to make it in my stockpile.
Ingredients:
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 c. sour cream
3/4 c. milk
1/2 c. mayonnaise
7 oz. can tuna (I will use a tuna pouch)
1 c. grated cheese
2 T parsley
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 T lemon juice
cracker crumbs (Ritz)
3 c. cooked noodles (your choice)
Combine all ingredients and pour into a 2 quart shallow dish. Top with cracker crumbs. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
Notes: The tuna pouches I have were free at Target a few months ago. The cream of mushroom soup was .50. I got the cheese for $1.50/bag at Target (w/ coupon) and it’s already shredded…I’m only using half the bag. The Ritz crackers were free at Walgreens. The noodles were free at Kroger. My total out of pocket cost for this meal is $1.25. I will serve this with a veggie side (free from Kroger), some crescent rolls (also free from Kroger), and some fruit.
Tuesday – Chicken & Stuffing (slow cooker recipe) – this is super easy and everyone in my family loves it! I usually add a veggie and some mashed potatoes as sides.
Wednesday – Slow cooker chili
I serve this with garlic cheese biscuits – they are SOOO good!
Thursday – Chicken Lickin’ Good Porkchops (slow cooker)
Friday – Smothered Steak (in the slow cooker)
Saturday – Chicken pot pie (I dice and add potatoes to the mixture, which the recipe doesn’t call for, but it gives it a little something extra!)
Notes: The veggies in this recipe were .02 after coupon (Thanks Target!), the cream soup was .50, the entire box of Bisquick was $1.50 and I’m not using anywhere near that much, the potatoes were $3.99 after coupon at Target (and I’m only using 2), the chicken was $6.49/bag at Target and I’m not using an entire bag. Total cost for this meal was about $3.77.
If you have a weekly menu blog, feel free to share the link here!
