Adventures at CVS

Spent: $58.75
Saved $46.19

Used: $4.20 in coupons from Sunday's paper
Earned $ 25.00 in ECBs

What I Got:

2 Tide Detergents
1 Dawn Dishsoap
5 Boxes of Puffs Kleenex
1 12 pack of Charmin toilet paper
1 bottle of Scope Mouthwash
1 bottle of Tide Stain Release liquid
2 bottles of Curel Anti-Itch lotion (expensive but we needed it)
1 bottle of Vaseline Sheer body lotion
3 Hershey bars
1 container of toddler wipes
1 container of toddler wipe refills
2 bottles of Johnson's baby bath
2 Kandoo kids handsoaps

Menu Plan Monday (On Tuesday) 9/29

I truly meant to post my meal plan last night but it didn't happen and life got in the way :)

So I will go ahead and post it today instead.

Sunday - White Bean Chicken Chili with sour cream and cheese; Croissants
Monday - School Fundraiser at Foster's Grille
Tuesday - Chicken Pot Pie
Wednesday - Wahoo! Chili (a Tastefully Simple recipe)
Thursday - T-ball; Moms of Multiples Meeting
Friday - Chicken and Dumplings
Saturday - Leftovers - clean out the fridge :)

With fall settling in I have been in the mood for stews, soups and chili's. Fortunately my husband loves all three and doesn't mind my cravings!

I also headed back to HT last night to double more coupons. My store is also running a promotion that if you spend $75/week in groceries for 16 out of 18 weeks (I think we're in week 7) then you will earn $50 in gift cards around Christmas so I am trying to actually hit that. What surprises me is how often I don't get to $75/week on groceries! This week I just barely hit it and mainly it's because I spent $6.99 on the girl's bath soap - yes, I know - ouch!



I spent: $29.33
And saved: $40.06

I also purchased a huge roast on sale - all the meat I bought this week will be what we eat next week! So, ultimately I spent $75 for at least 2 weeks worth of groceries - not a bad deal.

Harris Teeter Trip 9/27

I think I've said this before but the better weeks at HT are NOT the triple coupon weeks because things are actually there when you go to buy them. There's nothing worse than spending time to clip coupons only to find they are completely out of stock. Sure there are rain checks but on triple coupon weeks the sale won't be as good the following week. Royal pain.

But this week proved to be much better - even got some things free without triple coupons :)



(Not pictured: 2 gallons of milk)

Spent: $47.24
And saved: $111.51

Best deals:

Birds Eye Steamfresh broccoli/potatoes - regular price $1.99
- on sale buy one get one free
- used 8 $0.50/1 coupons from S 9/13
- final price: FREE!!

Starkist Tuna Pouches - regular price $1.59/each
- on sale 3/$4.00
- used 6 $0.75/1 coupons from RP 9/20
- final price: FREE!

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups - regular price $0.95/each
- on sale buy 1 get 1 free
- used 2 $0.55/1 coupons from S 8/23
- final price: FREE!

Even better? I still have copies of all these coupons - I reached my 20 coupon a day limit so I will have to return tomorrow for some more free food :)

For more great deals check out The Grocery Game.

Returning To CVS

It's actually been a while since I've made it to CVS. So much so that I have lost some of my extra care bucks (as in lost them in the house somewhere) - oops! But tonight I actually took the time to match my coupons to the sales and get back in.

Here's what I got:



(Not pictured: 3 more 12-packs of Pepsi)

I spent: $20.77
And saved: $13.46 (I know - not great)
And earned: $8.00 in ECB's

Coupons used:

Crest Pro-Whitening Toothpaste - on sale for $2.99 - earn $2.00 in ECB's back - used 1 $1.00 off coupon from PG 8/30 - final price: FREE!!

Aquafresh ISO Toothpaste - on sale for $3.99 - earn $2.00 in ECB's back - used 1 $1.00 off coupon from RP 9/20 - final price: $0.99

Triple Coupon "Success"?

Given my rough week there's no surprise it took me a while to actually get out to Harris Teeter to shop. And even though I made it last night and again tonight to two different HT stores the shelves were essentially bare. I was still able to find a number of good deals but mostly ended up with a stack of rainchecks. Lesson learned? Check the sales early! Or don't have a family crisis at the beginning of the couponing week :) Kidding!

I did manage to pick up a few things and keep my food bill relatively low for the week.

First trip:



Not pictured: 5 gallons of milk

I spent: $37.89
And saved: $72.99

Second trip:



I spent: $8.48
And saved: $14.21 (I also earned $2.00 off my next shopping order so that's even more savings for next week!)

Not too bad for a week's worth of groceries but I have found that I can often get more and save more on non triple coupon or dollar doubler weeks - mostly because there's actually food left in the store! Looking forward to next week's sales :)

Triple Coupons at Harris Teeter

In case you haven't heard Harris Teeter is running triple coupons this week so get out your low value coupons and get to Harris Teeter to stock up!

Found some great deals? Please post them in a comment - I'd love to hear :)

*** Please note - due to some family circumstances I won't be posting again on this blog until I shop on Sunday - prayers are appreciated! ***

Meal Plan Monday 9/14

Since I am bogged down this week preparing for our moms of multiples yard sale this weekend (of which I am in charge - eek!) I have asked Kristy if she would share her meal plan for the week with us. She doesn't have triplets but 3 under 3 is pretty close so I've let her in the club :)

Kristy's meal plan for the week was inspired by this blog and my own meal planning. Good to know!

Monday--out for gourmet pizza (Corey's day off)

Tuesday--creamy chicken and noodles, veggies (crockpot recipe--double the meat and save half for Thursday)

Wednesday--lasagna toss, bread (make meatballs (freeze) with other half of ground beef for next week)

Thursday--chicken salad sandwiches, fruit, chips

Friday--enchilada bake, applesauce (double and freeze one)

Saturday--leftovers

Sunday--BBQ chicken in crockpot, mac n cheese, peas (double the meat and shred for bbq sandwiches)

Harris Teeter Trip 9/13

I have to say that I have gotten a lot quicker at coupon cutting and shopping in general. A task that used to take the majority of my Sunday now only takes me 2 hours. This is another question I get asked a lot - after all most people don't have a lot of time and everyone wants to know if their coupon clipping is even worth their time.

I assure you that it is! Last week I cut coupons for an hour and it cut $54 off of my bill. Last week only 1 multiplied so that's literally what I saved just for cutting them out - $50/hour is not bad on any scale :) This week I had a few less coupons but still took off over $30 on my bill just for clipping coupons.


Not pictured: 4 gallons of milk

Spent: $74.19 (I know, a lot again but that does include 2 packs of diapers!)
And saved: $122.81

This week I did buy a few things that weren't on sale like yogurt (but I had a coupon) - sometimes I have to buy things and can't wait for a really big sale. It's gonna happen when you have 5 kids eating you through house and home :) Not to mention the fact that the bigger 2 started school 2 weeks ago and that means school lunches.

Some of my best deals this week were the same as last! Sorrento stick cheese was still on sale and after fishing coupons out of the cheese packs (yes, I am that obsessed) I once again was able to get the stick cheese for $0.67 for 2 packs.

But other good deals were:

Pampers Cruisers diapers - regular price $10.99
- sale price $6.99
- used 2 $2.00/1 coupons from PG 8/30
- final price $4.99/ea. - so 2 packs for less than the regular price of 1 :)

Spray 'n Wash stain remover - regular price $3.49
- sale price buy 1 get 1 free
- used 3 $0.50/1 coupons from S 9/13
- final price $0.75 ea.

For more great deals check out The Grocery Game.

Free Betty Crocker Potatoes

If you sign up for Betty Crocker's Dinner Made Easy Newsletter you will get a free sample of their au gratin or mashed potatoes. I LOVE these potatoes so even though I'm already registered I signed my husband up :)

But the newsletter is great! Tons of wonderful recipe ideas and fresh new dinner ideas. I really like it - you can't go wrong signing up.

Meal Planning

I know it isn't Monday but I thought I would list my meal plan for the week anyway. I've been asked whether or not I plan meals around what is on sale. The usual answer is no. I feel that I'm saving so much money buying everything else I want to be able to make for dinner whatever I want.

This doesn't mean I buy expensive meats every week though - I do plan my meals around the meat I have in the freezer and/or the meat that is on sale but I will often pick up the "extras" I need to make the meal that I want. Fortunately because of all the stocking up I do this isn't generally very much. Picking up a can of beans for $0.67 isn't going to break my bank so that doesn't bother me at all and then we can eat what I'm in the mood for :)

This week's menu:

Monday: Hot dogs/hamburgers for Labor Day
Tuesday: Pork Tenderloin with veggies and pasta
Wednesday: Homemade pizza
Thursday: Pork Roast (this was on sale this week and I'm excited to use it)
Friday: Spaghetti
Saturday: Company picnic at Six Flags = free food all day!!

Labor Day HT Trip

While most people are enjoying today off I figured it would be a great day to go grocery shopping! Hey what day isn't? Kidding! Even I feel lazy some days and don't want to go.

But today I decided to bite the bullet and go (this is funnier since the reason I didn't go last night is because I was learning to shoot a handgun - but, no, I didn't bite any bullets then!). The list seemed short this week but for whatever reason I seemed to have a lot of copies of every coupon so I ended up spending more then I usually do.

Here's what I got:


(Not pictured: 5 gallons of milk)

I spent: $127.60
And saved: $184.53

If you couldn't tell there were some great deals on cheese so I stocked way up!

Favorite deal: stick cheese!

Sorrento Stick cheese: regular price $2.67 ea.
- on sale buy 1 get 1 free
- used 7 $1.00/1 coupons from S 8/23
- final price: $0.67 for 2 or $0.33 each!

If you've ever bought stick cheese you know what a deal that is! And I was so excited to have 7 copies of the coupon. I must add that this deal was not on the grocery game - she listed the buy 1 get 1 free sale but not the coupon. So I was thrilled to find this one on my own :)

Other good deals:

A-1 Steak sauce: regular price $4.89
- on sale buy 1 get 1 free
- used 6 $2.00/1 coupons from S 8/2
- final price: $0.45 each

Kraft Cheese slices: regular price $3.99
- on sale 2/$3.00
- used 6 $1.00/2 coupons
- final price: $1.00 each (yes, I got 12 packs!)

For more deals check out the Grocery Game!

Speaking On Coupons

Tonight I had the, um, privilege (?) of speaking to my moms of multiples club on couponing. I am not sure when I became the local coupon queen nor why I volunteer myself for these things but I think it went pretty well :)

Kirk says it went great but he has to say that so his opinion is a little bias and I'm not sure if I trust it. Kidding of course!

I always get a tad nervous before speaking but once I get going there's no stopping me and when I'm talking about coupons well, I could go on forever. At the very least I hope I have inspired a few people to spend less on groceries and use coupons :)

To be fair I did warn them about the addictive nature of coupons. And while I didn't get paid to speak I did earn myself a free meal - so there's another money saving tip - trade what you know/have for what you want!

Trip #3 - Yes, I Went Back

And I should've gone back tonight but I just didn't have the energy so I will have to forego the cheap rice. I know, I know large rice was $0.90 after coupon but since it's not a dollar coupon I can wait till it's on sale again :)

Here's what I got last night:



I spent: $37.22
And saved: $84.54

Funny thing is I left my bread there the night before (my apples and green pepper too - what was I thinking?) but HT was gracious and replaced my bread for free. Maybe because I basically live there!

You can probably tell I stocked up on a number of the same items as the day before but today I added the Clearisil since it was free after coupon :) I can't pass up on free!

Looking forward to next week's deals! Be sure to sign up to be an E-VIC customer if you have a HT nearby. HT will e-mail you every week with the specials that you purchase the most. I love getting my "sneak peak" as to what's on sale in my inbox. I guess that's how you know you are serious about coupons - you look forward to the next sale :) Go to Harris Teeter to sign up.