Oh, friends.
There is just nothing more fun than this.
In three, yes, three I am addicted, transactions this weekend I purchased:
(items not pictured yet because I left the camera at my parents' house)
4 bottles Herbal Essence Shampoo/Conditioner
1 bottle Organix Shampoo
1 12-roll package Cottenell toilet paper
9 Essence of Beauty gift bags
1 Mennon deodorant
2 Glucose Monitors
I spent:
Approximately $12 OOP, however about $7 will come back to me via rebate on the Organix.
I used:
2 $3/2 Herbal Essence coupons
1 Mennon coupon
And about $40 in ECB
I have:
$25 ECB for next time
I gave:
1 glucose monitor to my dad who will donate to someone that needs it at his nursing home
1 glucose monitor to my father-in-law who is diabetic and now loves having a back-up
I know that there are nay-sayers out there, but thing is this: THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE BLAST! I love coming out of CVS with a couple of bags of goodies for myself and others and hardly paying anything. I love the challenge of scoping out the best deal, and I LOVE using the products. I would have never bought Herbal Essence or the Organix, but it's just fun. The other cool thing is that it really curbs my shopping desires. I get my little shopping fix and get some treats for my family and I don't need to go spend a bunch of money anywhere else. And that, friends, is a HUGE savings!!
SO:
If you've never tried it before, this is a great week to get started.
:)
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Super Savings Saturday with SUSE!!
As we all know, I adore my friend Suse. I'm crazy about her for a lot of reasons: she holds me accountable in my walk with Christ, she would support me if I decided to grow out my hair/cut it all off, she's very generous with products that she can't use, she's always willing to talk to me, I can ask her anything, she really thinks before she answers my questions, she just "gets me, she loves shopping at New York & Company, antiquing and the outlet center.................and she introduced me to the fantastic world of couponing/CVS/Walgreens. How could I not love this woman????
Last Saturday she took me to Kroger and showed me how to do this:
That's right, folks, over $60 worth of product for only $13.68.
My dad asked me if I was going to frame the receipt. I told him if I could find one for free, I might.
So, to Suse, and all the other ladies out there who can't keep quite about saving money and helping their families, I send you my love, affection, and adoration. You're the best! I love you!!
Last Saturday she took me to Kroger and showed me how to do this:
That's right, folks, over $60 worth of product for only $13.68. My dad asked me if I was going to frame the receipt. I told him if I could find one for free, I might.
So, to Suse, and all the other ladies out there who can't keep quite about saving money and helping their families, I send you my love, affection, and adoration. You're the best! I love you!!
Thursday, April 10, 2008
How do you do it?
So, I go to CVS the other day, find the "essence of beauty" toe separators, grab 3, and think SCORE! I go to the counter, they ring up for $3-something, I pay with a $2.99 ECB and somehow end up not owing anything. Awesome, right?
Even though I'm positive that I had the right brand of toe separators and I made sure to buy three like the instructions said, the $5 ECB don't print out at the bottom of the receipt. I ask and they aren't coming. There's a line behind me, so I walk out of the store, $3 poorer, with a purse full of toe separators, that upon further inspection, aren't that nice and that I don't need.
Without warning, I think to myself, "I'll take them back. I'll tell the clerk that I'm hosting a bridal shower and that the co-host and I got mixed up and we both bought pedicure supplies, so I'm returning mine. I'll get my money back and everything will be fine" Then I think to myself WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU????? You aren't hosting a shower. Why would I feel the need to lie to the clerk? Why can't I just admit that I tried something and it didn't work and now I'd like to return these perfectly unharmed toe separators ???
The problem that I'm having isn't that I wanted to return a product that I didn't need. It's that my first instinct was to lie to someone that I didn't know to make myself feel better about returning the toe separators. Like that person actually cared why I was returning them. I really need to pray about this.
On a happy note, I did return the toe separators. I had to practically fight myself, but I did not lie. I simply said "I'd like to return these," handed them over, and returned them. And, of course, I was questioned because there was some sort of problem with the receipt. BUT, I did not lie. And tonight, that's something.
Am I the only one out there that feels the need to lie about stuff like this???
Even though I'm positive that I had the right brand of toe separators and I made sure to buy three like the instructions said, the $5 ECB don't print out at the bottom of the receipt. I ask and they aren't coming. There's a line behind me, so I walk out of the store, $3 poorer, with a purse full of toe separators, that upon further inspection, aren't that nice and that I don't need.
Without warning, I think to myself, "I'll take them back. I'll tell the clerk that I'm hosting a bridal shower and that the co-host and I got mixed up and we both bought pedicure supplies, so I'm returning mine. I'll get my money back and everything will be fine" Then I think to myself WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU????? You aren't hosting a shower. Why would I feel the need to lie to the clerk? Why can't I just admit that I tried something and it didn't work and now I'd like to return these perfectly unharmed toe separators ???
The problem that I'm having isn't that I wanted to return a product that I didn't need. It's that my first instinct was to lie to someone that I didn't know to make myself feel better about returning the toe separators. Like that person actually cared why I was returning them. I really need to pray about this.
On a happy note, I did return the toe separators. I had to practically fight myself, but I did not lie. I simply said "I'd like to return these," handed them over, and returned them. And, of course, I was questioned because there was some sort of problem with the receipt. BUT, I did not lie. And tonight, that's something.
Am I the only one out there that feels the need to lie about stuff like this???
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
I figured it out!!
After falling head-over-heels in love with coupons, I was left with one colossal problem: how do I sort them. Okay, two problems: sorting & storing. You see, in my coupon infancy I used this:
And it worked.....sort of. You can see that I labeled the sections, but things like "hygiene" were soon crowded with about 50 coupons. Sifting through all of these was annoying at home and next to impossible while shopping. I try to plan out what I'm going to buy before we leave, but I usually see at least one thing on sale and think, "Oh! I have a coupon for that!" Or my husband says, "Did I mention that I'm out of razors/deodorant/soap?"
So, what's a girl to do??
I looked online and found several good ideas:
The Money Saving Mom had some good ones and
Out of the Over Flow really impressed me, especially because she used a binder. I LOVE binders.
But-I had gotten used to carrying all of my coupons with me all of the time. That way, if I was in the town I work in, I could check out their CVS/Wal-Mart/Kroger as they were usually less "raided" than mine. It also has worked out a couple of times that I had my store coupons with me in my purse (that's how I got my free panty at Victoria's Secret), so I didn't want to lose that.
I'm now in the 'wobbly toddler" phase of couponing. I've been at for about a year now. I remember them when I go to the store every time (it took a while to establish that habit), and I found moneysavingmom.com to help me use them even more effectively. But I, as I started clipping more and more (and USING more and more) I found myself sifting through piles of coupons at the store while trying to entertain my 10-month old, tell my husband what aisle the Excerden is in and talk to my mother on the cell phone. It was time to reevaluate my organizational system.
It took me a couple of weeks and a lot of thinking, but I finally came up with a plan:
What's that, you ask??
$1.99 Photo albums!
How do they work?
I labeled each page with letter stickers I found for $0.99 (I had to get creative when I started running out of letters). I only used one side of each "page" (they have a slot for a picture on each side) because I thought that they would fall out as I flipped through.
I purchased two books--one that I'll keep with me all the time and the other that I'll only keep with me when I know we'll need it. The first one has all of my CVSesque coupons in it. The other has food, restaurants, and specialty stores (Best Buy, New York & Co., etc) that I would be making a special trip for anyway. I am thrilled with this new system. I have 18 slots per photo album, which is enough for me right now. I will reevaluate in a couple of months to see if I need to make any adjustments.
Right now I'm just happy to have something that fits in my purse that is easy to use...and it's pretty!!
And it worked.....sort of. You can see that I labeled the sections, but things like "hygiene" were soon crowded with about 50 coupons. Sifting through all of these was annoying at home and next to impossible while shopping. I try to plan out what I'm going to buy before we leave, but I usually see at least one thing on sale and think, "Oh! I have a coupon for that!" Or my husband says, "Did I mention that I'm out of razors/deodorant/soap?"So, what's a girl to do??
I looked online and found several good ideas:
The Money Saving Mom had some good ones and
Out of the Over Flow really impressed me, especially because she used a binder. I LOVE binders.
But-I had gotten used to carrying all of my coupons with me all of the time. That way, if I was in the town I work in, I could check out their CVS/Wal-Mart/Kroger as they were usually less "raided" than mine. It also has worked out a couple of times that I had my store coupons with me in my purse (that's how I got my free panty at Victoria's Secret), so I didn't want to lose that.
I'm now in the 'wobbly toddler" phase of couponing. I've been at for about a year now. I remember them when I go to the store every time (it took a while to establish that habit), and I found moneysavingmom.com to help me use them even more effectively. But I, as I started clipping more and more (and USING more and more) I found myself sifting through piles of coupons at the store while trying to entertain my 10-month old, tell my husband what aisle the Excerden is in and talk to my mother on the cell phone. It was time to reevaluate my organizational system.
It took me a couple of weeks and a lot of thinking, but I finally came up with a plan:
What's that, you ask??$1.99 Photo albums!
How do they work?
I labeled each page with letter stickers I found for $0.99 (I had to get creative when I started running out of letters). I only used one side of each "page" (they have a slot for a picture on each side) because I thought that they would fall out as I flipped through.
I purchased two books--one that I'll keep with me all the time and the other that I'll only keep with me when I know we'll need it. The first one has all of my CVSesque coupons in it. The other has food, restaurants, and specialty stores (Best Buy, New York & Co., etc) that I would be making a special trip for anyway. I am thrilled with this new system. I have 18 slots per photo album, which is enough for me right now. I will reevaluate in a couple of months to see if I need to make any adjustments.
Right now I'm just happy to have something that fits in my purse that is easy to use...and it's pretty!!
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Spring Break--Woo!
Top 5 Reasons to teach:
1) June
2) July
3) August
4) Christmas Break
5) Spring Break
Seriously, how many professions offer built-in vacations AND sick/personal days. I am so blessed by my job. Sure it's hard to leave my boy every day--he's cared for (read: spoiled all day long by) a family that home schools their girls--it's him and one other baby, and from what I can tell, they just play all day long. He loves them and they love him. And me? I get to go and bless the lives of the 18 children in my homeroom, 21 children in my math class, and 20 more in my science class. That's something like 60 lives that I get to touch, bless, and pray for every day. What an incredible opportunity. Not to mention working in a largely Christian environment with the opportunity to bless and be blessed by my adult co-workers every day. The decision to work outside my home was never really a decision for me. I'm a born teacher. I am passionate about public education.
Regarding bargains, my biggest one this week saved me, oh about $2,000!!! We traded the bedroom suite that Matt hated (that had belonged to my late grandmother) with my cousin. She and her husband had one that they were...over for personal reasons. So, we have a practically brand new headboard, matching side tables, and a dresser with a MIRROR!!! Awesome.
And the free Softsoap at CVS rocks my world!
1) June
2) July
3) August
4) Christmas Break
5) Spring Break
Seriously, how many professions offer built-in vacations AND sick/personal days. I am so blessed by my job. Sure it's hard to leave my boy every day--he's cared for (read: spoiled all day long by) a family that home schools their girls--it's him and one other baby, and from what I can tell, they just play all day long. He loves them and they love him. And me? I get to go and bless the lives of the 18 children in my homeroom, 21 children in my math class, and 20 more in my science class. That's something like 60 lives that I get to touch, bless, and pray for every day. What an incredible opportunity. Not to mention working in a largely Christian environment with the opportunity to bless and be blessed by my adult co-workers every day. The decision to work outside my home was never really a decision for me. I'm a born teacher. I am passionate about public education.
Regarding bargains, my biggest one this week saved me, oh about $2,000!!! We traded the bedroom suite that Matt hated (that had belonged to my late grandmother) with my cousin. She and her husband had one that they were...over for personal reasons. So, we have a practically brand new headboard, matching side tables, and a dresser with a MIRROR!!! Awesome.
And the free Softsoap at CVS rocks my world!
Friday, March 21, 2008
Presents for my boys!!
My beloved cousins, Hayley & Chris came to visit today and we decided to go down to the outlet mall to see what we could find.
I found this:
3 polos for Matt to wear to work from Banana Republic ($30 a piece, originally), 3 sleepers for Jack from Carters ($14 a piece originally), and 3 summer outfits for Jack ($16 a piece originally) for............$48.73!!
2 polos were $3.60
1 polo was $6.80
3 sleepers were $5
2 summer outfits were $6
Would have cost $164 originally! For $48.73! That's a 70% savings!!!
I am totally pumped!
A few months ago at my Bible Study I was given an incredible opportunity. A local clothing store, Cato, had given my leader, Kim a huge number (think a car load) of brand new clothes that had been marked down 3 times, so they gave them to her to give away to people. She calls it "blessing" people. These were mostly adorable shirts for summer--which is coming right up! We were all encouraged to take as much as we wanted, and even though I felt like a glutenous cow, I ended up taking a whole garbage bag full home (we all did). It was such a blessing!!! And every time I get a compliment, I just say, "Thank you, it was a gift from my father." One of my students said to me "Mrs. Dilley, you sure do have a generous dad." I just smiled. I've had so much fun wearing my clothes, but I felt bad for Matt because he didn't have anything new. It gets old wearing the same old thing, day in and day out. This made me particularly excited to bless him with a few new shirts to wear to work.
Also, Matt had been sort of freaking out that we didn't have a lot of clothes for Jack in the next sizes up. He's been so slow in growing that we've always had a "bumper crop" of clothes waiting when he gets to the next size. Well, that was about to run out. We have a few 6 and 9 month pieces (yes, you read that right, my soon-to-be 10 month old wears 3-6 month clothing), but not enough to keep me from doing laundry every few days. My friend, Carrie (yes, I have a friend named Carrie) was given a bag of adorable girl stuff that had a few boy pieces in 6 and 9 month sizes that she gave me last week, and then I struck gold at Carters, my FAVORITE baby store. It was so nice to add really nice, way cute stuff to his clothes--we are so blessed!!!
Also, I got this deal few weeks ago, but then our internet went down and blah, blah, blah, I didn't get it posted so here it is:
OOP: $3 (could have been free if I had remembered my ECB, ugh)
ECB: $5
Not bad, eh?
I found this:
3 polos for Matt to wear to work from Banana Republic ($30 a piece, originally), 3 sleepers for Jack from Carters ($14 a piece originally), and 3 summer outfits for Jack ($16 a piece originally) for............$48.73!!2 polos were $3.60
1 polo was $6.80
3 sleepers were $5
2 summer outfits were $6
Would have cost $164 originally! For $48.73! That's a 70% savings!!!
I am totally pumped!
A few months ago at my Bible Study I was given an incredible opportunity. A local clothing store, Cato, had given my leader, Kim a huge number (think a car load) of brand new clothes that had been marked down 3 times, so they gave them to her to give away to people. She calls it "blessing" people. These were mostly adorable shirts for summer--which is coming right up! We were all encouraged to take as much as we wanted, and even though I felt like a glutenous cow, I ended up taking a whole garbage bag full home (we all did). It was such a blessing!!! And every time I get a compliment, I just say, "Thank you, it was a gift from my father." One of my students said to me "Mrs. Dilley, you sure do have a generous dad." I just smiled. I've had so much fun wearing my clothes, but I felt bad for Matt because he didn't have anything new. It gets old wearing the same old thing, day in and day out. This made me particularly excited to bless him with a few new shirts to wear to work.
Also, Matt had been sort of freaking out that we didn't have a lot of clothes for Jack in the next sizes up. He's been so slow in growing that we've always had a "bumper crop" of clothes waiting when he gets to the next size. Well, that was about to run out. We have a few 6 and 9 month pieces (yes, you read that right, my soon-to-be 10 month old wears 3-6 month clothing), but not enough to keep me from doing laundry every few days. My friend, Carrie (yes, I have a friend named Carrie) was given a bag of adorable girl stuff that had a few boy pieces in 6 and 9 month sizes that she gave me last week, and then I struck gold at Carters, my FAVORITE baby store. It was so nice to add really nice, way cute stuff to his clothes--we are so blessed!!!
Also, I got this deal few weeks ago, but then our internet went down and blah, blah, blah, I didn't get it posted so here it is:
OOP: $3 (could have been free if I had remembered my ECB, ugh)
ECB: $5
Not bad, eh?
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Today's Savings
Today's Savings:
1) CVS--
2) Victoria's Secret--
No photos today for the following reasons:
1) I donated the plastic eggs to church before I could photograph them
2) I love you guys and I think you're all great, but I'm not showing you my underwear on or off my body. Even if they are size medium. For those of you who care about those sort of thing, they are mostly stripped and one pair has cool retro flowers. My husband is pumped ;)
3) Jack's already slobbered all over the lip gloss and it seems like a lot of effort to show one thing :)
Love to you all--
COMMENTS, COMMENTS, COMMENTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1) CVS--
- plastic eggs (no photo, donated to church) $1.98
- Maybelline Lip gloss $8.99
- 25% off coupon (entire purchase)
2) Victoria's Secret--
- 6 pairs low-rise cotton brief SIZE MEDIUM (thank you, elipitical machine) @ $8.50 each
- 5 for $25 sale
- 1 free panty coupon
- $10 off birthday coupon
No photos today for the following reasons:
1) I donated the plastic eggs to church before I could photograph them
2) I love you guys and I think you're all great, but I'm not showing you my underwear on or off my body. Even if they are size medium. For those of you who care about those sort of thing, they are mostly stripped and one pair has cool retro flowers. My husband is pumped ;)
3) Jack's already slobbered all over the lip gloss and it seems like a lot of effort to show one thing :)
Love to you all--
COMMENTS, COMMENTS, COMMENTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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