Monday, February 7, 2011

2/6 Stores Dash

Rite-Aid

Made a great run at Rite-Aid today, although I did lay out a little money. I got back a ton of R.A. cash on the end of my receipt ($40) and I will be getting a $30 check in the mail through their Single Check Rebates program.

2 cereal
3 chestal homeopathic cold/flu relief
2 halls
1 revitalens
1 uncle ben's pouch
2 betty crocker cookie mixes
1 biotrue
1 personal care product

merchandise total = $85.17
- store discounts (sale) $23.26
- coupons & +UP bucks $51.10
= out-of-pocket $10.81 +tax


Giant Eagle

Will not itemize, but bought $171.08 of food at the grocery for $75.10 out-of-pocket.

Monday, January 31, 2011

Shopping Foray 1/30

Did well today! woot!

Rite Aid Transaction #1:
1 Lay's Stax
1 Chex Mix
1 Dreyer's Cookies & Cream ice cream
1 Smucker's Jam
2 JIF peanut butter
1 Dawn
1 Colgate toothpaste
1 Viactiv calcium chews (chocolate)
1 Coricidin Cold med
1 Afrin nasal spray
2 packs Stayfree

Merchandise total: $56.47
-18.09 Rite Aid sale
-17.75 coupons
-16 Rite Aid +UP bucks
= $6.29 out-of-pocket w/ tax
-$30 Rite Aid +UP bucks to use on future purchase

Walgreens
1 Arnicare muscle pain gel
1 Palmolive dish
2 packs Butterfinger Snackerz
1 Ajax powder
2 Reese's King Packs
3 lollipops

Merchandise Total: $20.12
-5.38 Walgs sales
-2.66 Walgs-specific coupons
-11.40 Mfg. coupons
=$0.68 out-of-pocket
-$6 wags bux on receipt


Giant Eagle

1 Taco Dinner Kit
2 6-pack of popcorn
1 box frozen pretzels
1 box frozen corn
1 box frz. cheese pretz. sticks
2 boxes thai noodle dinners
1 red baron pizza
1 newman's own pizza
1 box frozen fish fillets
3 pillsbury biscuits
1 pillsbury sweet-rolls
6 yoplait yogurt
2 Kraft cheeses
4 progresso soups
1 sour cream
4 lg. cans Red-Pack tomato
1 FL natural OJ
2 jars nutella
2 lg. jars Smucker's jam
1 log-cabin syrup
1 cheerios
1 pk. hamburger buns
3 teas 20oz.
2 sinex nasal sprays
1 crest toothpaste
1 bag Nestle hearts
2 42-ct. boxes Prilosec
1 bag chips
1 6-pk Bounty towels

Merchandise total: $200.16
-$48.66 sales/promos
-$43.25 coupons
=$108.25 out-of-pocket
-$16 Giant Eagle credit
-$0.30 off per gallon of gas ($3.30 saved at fill-up)
-$24 mail-in rebate

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Extreme Couponing

Inspired by some information and website addresses shared with me by another mother at our church (thanks Leslie C!), I've forrayed into the world of couponing. There are an array of bogs dedicated to matching store sales, whether grocery or drug stores, to the coupons available in circulars and online.

In only my second trip to CVS since perusing these sites I managed to score:

4 - 12-packs of Coke
4 - vitamin water
2 canisters of emerald nuts
4 packs of Orbit gum
2 jugs of laundry detergent and
2 bottles of Crest Pro-Health mouthwash

My expense? $3.04

Yes, folks... this I could like...

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Fun

Mommy really wanted to splash in the mud puddles too! But she would have taken off her shoes and rolled up her pants first. Silly grown-ups!

Monday, March 9, 2009

Growing Up Fast!

Ok, here's an entire blog about J's "new tricks" - so if you're not into hearing Moms go on about their kids' new skills, read no further ;)

The first skill that he's been honing in the last few months is shapes. He's known what the moon is for a very long time now - it was one of his first words. He recognizes the moon in both crescent and full shapes in life and in books. Stars have also been a favorite for some time (both real and in the stereotypical "star" shape found on toys and in books). To it he's added squares, triangles, circles, and hearts - if asked he can identify which is which when we're coloring together or in his books.

He's also been hard at work on his colors. Once he realized he could say blue (or "booo") he has been using it to ask what color something is. It started with his shirt each day - he'd point to the shirt, ask "boooo"?, and smile when I gave him the appropriate color. As of the end of February (21 mo. old) he could reliably ID blue, red, green, and yellow when given his choice of blocks. In the two weeks since then he's added orange, brown and often purple (sometimes mixes purple with blue) and can select the appropriate crayon or colored area in a book. He can also pretty reliably "say" green, orange, and purple - rather than just using "blue" as a synonym for "color". They are not as clear as they could be, but his speech is getting there.

The skill I'm most excited about is his counting! For a month or so he's play counted - he'd go down the line of snowmen on our couch blanket and intone staccato noises as if he were counting them but the sounds were not recognizable as English. For a few weeks now he'd often say two (doo) and/or three (tee) if we said, "Let's count..." and begin him off with "one...". He's learned the sequence up through five and sometimes seven. I thought he was just learning a little chant, so to speak, that would later lead to him applying the concept of counting. But just this afternoon he was coloring at his little table with 5 crayons. I was otherwise occupied, but looked up when I heard him counting... he counted his five crayons by moving one apart from the rest then adding "doo, teee, or, ive" and separating them into the new pile. Then he picked up all of them and said "ive daaas!" (five crayons), lifting them up above his head in his fist! [He doesn't yet have a "f" or "k" sound in his verbal vocabulary]. I'm so excited that he seems to be understanding that counting is a concept, not just a rhyme!

Friday, February 6, 2009

Miscellany

The stinky thing about bed rest during pregnancy is the guilt. Here you are, perfectly healthy, sitting here letting others do work you could be doing if not for a yet hidden mini-person. They don't even get the joy of cooing at a new baby for their trouble.

J went running to his toy box after perusing one of my Marine Biology books. He drug back a squishy worm-like toy and wanted me to appreciate the similarities between it and a marine worm. Not bad, kid.

I went to check on him in his room - he was being entirely too quiet in there - only to find that he had a big teddy bear laying on his changing pad. He was lifting its rear/legs with one had while wiping its butt with the sock in his other hand. I had to show him how to put a diaper on the bear after a performance like that!

Monday, January 19, 2009

You know...

...that life's priorities are changing when the arrival of long-awaited mail order pillows is the highlight of your day. Sweet sleep!!!