Frugal Fanatic

Hey Guys,

I thought I would post pictures of my shopping trips today along with some links to helpful blogs if you are interested in learning to "super" shop with coupons. Be sure to read CVS 101 on the Money Saving Mom site. The first two pictures are from my two transactions at CVS. The other two pictures are from Target. The last picture is from Walgreens. I will give a breakdown of each transaction following the pictures. Be sure to visit these blogs for more information:

http://moneysavingmom.typepad.com/

http://thecentsiblesawyer.blogspot.com/


My first transaction:
Toothpaste x 5 @ $2.99 each
Soy Joy Bars 4 for $4
Aussie shampoo @ $2.99
Rolaids clearance @ $0.75
total = $22.69
minus $4.00 CVS coupon
5 $1.50 coupons for colgate ($7.50)
$5.00 ECB
$3.49 ECB
$2.00 ECB
for a total out of pocket (OOP) of $1.11
I earned $10.00 in ECBs for toothpaste, $4.00 for Soy Joy bars and $2.00 for Aussie. So I have $16 to spend on my next trip.



Second transaction:
Aussie conditioner $2.99
Soy Joy bars $1.00 ea for $4.00
total $6.99
no coupons--paid with a $6.99 ECB so
$0.00 OOP!!!
I earned $2 ECBs for Aussie and $4 for Soy Joy.
So $6 to spend on next trip.







This was my first transaction at Target. I went in for the cereal deal--buy 5 boxes of any Kellogg cereal and get a $5 gift card. I had a couple of coupons and they were running these flavors at a sale of 5 for $11.00
5 boxes of cereal $11.00
5 cans organic tomato sauce @ $1.17 ea=$5.85
2 bxs cake mix clearanced for $0.78 ea= $1.56
1 clearance all purpose flour $1.77
total $20.18
minus 5 $1.00 coupons for tomato sauce
2 $1.00 coupons for cereal
total OOP after coupons $13.64
plus I got the $5 gift card






Second transaction:
17 cans of organic tomatos/sauce@$1.17 ea
total $19.89
1 clearanced flour $1.77
1 box couscous $1.77

subtotal $23.80
minus 17 $1 off coupons for tomatos -$17
$1 coupons for couscous -$1
-$5 gift card
total OOP $0.80!





I almost forgot I did two transactions at Walgreen's for Dr. Pepper.
They had the sodas for $0.89 each. I had $1.00 off two coupons. So I got each two liter for $0.38 each!!








Not to bad for all this on way home from church and only $17.78 OOP!!

Menu Monday

Monday is the day I see lots of blogs posting menu plans for the week. I have planned the following for my family this week.

Monday
Chicken Stew
Rice
Salad

Tuesday
Lazy Lasanga
Homemade Breadsticks
Salad

Wednesday
Chicken Stir-fry
Rice
Watermelon

Thursday
Chuck Steak w/gravy
Mashed Potatoes
Broccoli

Friday
Homemade Pizza


Saturday
Chicken Wings
celery/blue cheese dressing
Busy Days Fruit cobbler

Sunday
Whole wheat penne pasta
Homemade pasta sauce with meat
Salad

Breakfasts will consist of cold cereal. I have recently got lots of cereal for free or nearly free with coupons. Leftovers of these will go for my lunch at work and for hubby and kids who are out of school for summer.

Finally Back!

Well, I am finally getting back to thinking about this blog. Last fall, I got very busy with my embroidery business and I couldn't do anything but work my full-time job and come home to a mountain of items that needed to be embroidered. After Christmas, I decided to cut way back on the business. I am now only doing a few embroidery jobs here and there--mostly for family and friends.

I have decided to expand the subject matter of this blog. I will now journal about various aspects of my family's daily life. I will continue to post about my sewing and embroidery, but I will also be posting about my husband and kids. I will also post about a new obsession of mine--couponing and CVS shopping. Here is a picture of my shopping trip to CVS today. I had six separate transactions and got all of this stuff (plus one more cotton swab package that I gave to my sister) for $8.00 out of pocket (OOP)! To read about CVSing go to this blog and read CVS 101.

http://www.moneysavingmom.com/

I am stocking up on lots of items and plan on making gift baskets at Christmas. Also, I will donate excess items to our church food pantry. I still have a couple more trips to CVS planned this week to finish getting the free, or nearly free, monthly deals. I have approximately $50 in ECB's to spend. I have spent $129.30 of my $150 grocery budget for the next two week, and we have a fully stocked fridge and pantry. (I got some great deals at Wal-mart and Kroger on groceries) I plan to fill in milk and bread purchase at CVS to get me through the month. Produce will probably come from Aldi's. I want to see how long I can go without another full grocery shopping trip. I actually have more $ budgeted later in the month for groceries, but I want to see how far my ECB's and $20 remaining grocery budget will take us.

I plan to post weekly menus on Monday, so check back!