Tackling the CVS "game"

Along with better menu planning I've decided to join the bandwagon (again) and try my best at playing the CVS "game". At the beginning of 2008 I tried my hand at CVS'ing and didn't keep up the pace and decided to quit after only one attempt. While reading blogs over the past year I was continually amazed at the many women who were able to score such great deals at CVS and decided I'd try once again and see where it got me. I've been collecting coupon inserts for the past couple of months in anticipation for the new year and a fresh start.

My first attempt of this year has been very time consuming.

I have spent many hours organizing my coupon binder (check back Wednesday for an inside look), researched various websites reading firsthand experiences of how to make CVS work for me, and also searched and searched their weekly ad and multiple blogs for the best deals to make it worth my time and money. Not to mention that I spent well over an hour and a half in the store today.

Here are some of the great sites I used:
Deal Seeking Mom
Money Saving Mom
Couponing 101
Bargain Briana
Centsible Sawyer

Thank you so much for the time and work you put into sharing with us the great deals you find!


With all of that said, I feel really great about the outcome I had today! The store employees were more than helpful and were so patient despite the fact that I accidentally purchased non-sale items instead of the ones I meant to and had to return them. They took the time to look in the back of the store and find what I really needed, they helped me in reading my receipts and were very supportive of my new "hobby". I was nervous that they would be annoyed with my utter confusion and my multiple coupons, but I didn't have that problem at all.

Because I made multiple transactions, had to return some items, and was reimbursed in the form of a CVS giftcard which I used for the remainder of my transactions... I'm slightly confused as I look over my receipts, but I can basically tell you what I accomplished on my first CVS shopping trip of 2009.

Just take a look at the picture and see for yourself.



Retail price of these items before using coupons and ECB's came to a little over $95. After using a number of manufacturer's coupons, store coupons, and rolling over ECB's from one transaction to the next... it seems I spent just around $20 for all of these products. BUT!!! I still have $11 in ECB's to use next week when I go shopping again. So the way I look at it is that I really spent close to $10 for all of this - the cost of one L'Oreal lipstick!

I'd say that's pretty impressive and worth trying for again next week.

For more Tackle it Tuesday inspiration (yes, I know it's only Monday at this point) check out 5 Minutes for Mom.

Once a month cooking

I blogged last week about attending a session at a meal prep store where I prepared about a dozen meals for my husband and I. Actually, since the meals are 4-6 servings a piece it was more like I prepared about two dozen meals that I now have stored nicely away in our deep freezer.

Spending the morning preparing meals got my brain spinning at the possibility of once a month cooking and what that would do for our home. Have all of our meals ready to cook and serve already prepared for the month would be such a time saver... not to mention a money saver, since we wouldn't have to resort to fast food as we do on plenty of occasions now. So I have been working on a menu and diligently working on finding foods that we like that will make for good freezeable meals.

So today I have been grocery shopping and I have purchased just about everything that I need to cook both today and tomorrow in order to fully stock our freezer. Most meals should be good for 2-3 months so I don't feel that this is overkill by any means. I am doubling up on all of the recipes, and many of the casseroles and dishes are already enough for us to eat one meal and then a night of leftovers. So in fact we should have about 4 nights worth of meals for each recipe I am using. Can we say "Hasta La Vista Taco Bell"?

Here is a rundown of the meals I have chosen to prepare:

BEEF RECIPES...
Lasagna Casserole
Cheeseburger Casserole
Pizza Casserole
Taco/Burrito Filling

CHICKEN RECIPES...
Chicken Noodle Casserole
Touch of the Orient Chicken
Cheesy Chicken Casserole
Poppyseed Chicken
South of the Border Chicken Bake

Today I preparing all of the beef recipes and so far things are going smoothly with this process. I may get to start some of the chicken recipes today as well, but if not I will work on them Wednesday and Thursday during nap time. I'm feeling like I've tackled a mountain today!

For more inspiration check out this blog.

Tackle it Tuesday - Clothes Pile

Being an infant, Little Miss goes from one clothing size to the next in the blink of an eye. I am barely able to remain on top of this phenomenon for long before she's done it to me again. Her closet and her wardrobe are constantly needing refreshing and it's not a small task in the least. A couple of weeks ago I decided to begin the purge as she is somewhere between a 9 month and 12 month clothing size, and well, the weather is supposedly going to change soon to.

So, what did this momma do? I started pulling clothes off of their hangers left and right. I pulled clothes out of their storage containers and I bought a seasons worth of clothes all within a matter of a few days. This became one massive pile in her bedroom floor, a pile that is destined for the washer and dryer, but just has not made it quite yet. Laundry is a topic for another post, but while I'm on it... Who was the man (not pointing any fingers here) that thought it would be wise to put a washer and dryer in the middle of a hallway, behind folding closet doors? I'm sure I'm not the only woman who needs her space for sorting and folding, and I feel a little ripped off to not have gotten this space. I vow my next home will have a laundry room, whether that be in the basement or the second floor. Heaven knows I could use the workout of carrying a tub of folded laundry up two flights of stairs!

Okay, back to the here and now. So, this massive pile of clothing, some too big, some too small, grew into a mountain that was not quite conducive to Little Miss playing on her bedroom floor. So this wise momma scooped the whole pile up and threw it into the abyss which is her closet. So that is my Tackle it Tuesday project for this week. I'll be sorting, and washing, and folding, and hanging, and storing away so that my Little Miss will no longer be wearing wrinkled clothes that I've salvaged off of her closet floor.

Embarassing. I know. Check back later today though for my completed project. You'll have never seen anything as Be-U-tiful! For more Tackle it Tuesday posts check out what other's are up to at 5 Minutes for Mom.