Jamie's Picture Game

Is this thing on..........then let me know if you play along. Open the picture file and pull from the fourth folder, the fourth picture (what's the deal with 4 Jamie?) Anywho- I present my Kyan James- only 1 day old....I have alot of pictures on this computer so 4th folder didn't get me very far (try 4 years ago).

Mosaic Game

After seeing Crystal's mosaic last night I decided to stay up and make one last night. It was fun to see what would come up once you searched for the answers to the questions. If you wanna play along then go to Crystal's blog for links and let me know if you make one.

The Questions:

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your blog name. (kid version: favorite animal?)

What happens when you neglect your CVS addiction for 3 weeks?

You can't see to drive home!!!


I know!! I can't believe I was able to survive that long without my "drugs" but with Summer here and trying to do alot with the babies I haven't had a moments breath to even think about transactions and haven't cut a coupon in a month so you can imagine the mess that I have to go through. I had about $70 in ECB's that had expired over my absence and so I had to use them all up in one trip since my fav. manager gave me the ok, which was HARD because I NEVER use that many ECB's in one trip because of coupons and breaking down transactions to use more $4/$20 coupons- let's just say it was tough. I was there almost 2 hours (which is kinda quick for me) and bought $293 worth of merchandise, used $116 in ECB's, and spent $13.90 that went on my prescription transfer gift card.

Obviously, more of my favorite paper towels.....YEA!

Victoria's Secret Freebie

So I finally made it to the mall to pick up my free body scrub (check past posts) this weekend and wanted to let everyone know the freebie is still available.

So I am all about getting something for free with a coupon but feel I am smart enough to know not to get sucked into spending more money just to get something for "free" or just to use a coupon....my mom tends to get sucked into that! (But she's learning) Well I went in to grab the body scrub and knowing (since I worked there) that it is next to impossible to find much at V.S. under $7 I would have to search by the cash registers. Well I ended up grabbing the mints and while I was standing in line thinking how the mints were $2.75 I am realizing that I am pretty much spending $2.75 plus tax on the body scrub cause we all know we could get buckets of mints/ candy for free at CVS. So as I am standing there, I am racking my brain for a better deal and it hits me......buy a gift card for $1 and there is your "any purchase". So I gave them a dollar (NO TAX) and got it back on a gift card to eventually roll over and my got my body wash FOR FREE. I know I sound terribly cheap at this point but it is so fun to figure out the best deal and hey, there's nothing wrong with me trying to save my money for better things....like shoes ;)

FREE Perfume

Ok, so take 20 secs. and make an e-card with Clinique and get a free purse sized Happy perfume.

For Crystal & Dirty V

Here is tonight's run....

I made a trip tonight because I have realized that it is better for me to go on Sunday nights unless there is something that I REALLY want to get before they run out (BUT I'm not sure how often that will be now that I have learned an awesome secret).....patience, we'll get back to that....Sunday nights work perfect for me cause I usually have the store to myself and the cashiers don't mind my many transactions cause they are bored so it works out for everyone. They were out of Charmin but other than that I got everything and MORE that I went in for.

I scored the following Covergirl products
1 AquaSmooth $8.99
2 Outlast Lipcolor $9.99 ea
3 Trublend Concealers $7.49 ea
2 Fragrance Free Pressed Powder $5.49 ea
4 Contouring Blush Sets $5.99 ea
2 Pocket Powder $6.79 ea
1 Bronzer $3.99
1 Advanced Radiance $9.59
2 Smoothers $7.99 ea
1 Lash Blast Mascara $8.49
1 Lash Exact $7.79
1 Eye Enhancer $5.49
1 Eye Shadow $3.39

and

Dish Pan $2.19
Rave Hairspray (holds great for the boys) $2.99
Venus Razor $9.99
Post Its (hoping it would carry over from the $3 I missed from bad figuring last week because they still had the sign up...but it didn't) $4.99
Wahl Trimmer (boys haircuts) $34.99

Total- $218.10
ECB's paid- $14.97 & $5.98
Coupons- ALOT
(I had 8 B1 foundation G1 item free from 3/31 I think & the rest from today's paper)
OOP- $9.87 (gift card)
ECB's Earned- $5
but since I'm taking back the $4.99 Post Its- it's pretty much a wash

It was done in 5 transactions and I had it figured way wrong because during my first transaction I had only handed over 3 coupons and I was already in the negative with 3 more coupons to use so at that point I ran back to makeup and grabbed 4 more random things which brought that total to $3.44. I had to do it with the 2nd AND 3rd transactions too. It's fun to do that though cause it feels like a shopping spree since you just grab and RUN...another reason Sunday nights are good for me because no one has to wait and I'm quite entertaining for the cashiers.

The Big News (if you didn't already know)...
So I had always traveled to my 3 out of 4 different stores to get the freebies throughout the month or if they were really good, during that week. It was fun to go in and see what they had for that trip but discouraging when the shelves had been wiped clean. Well I had always read that you should get a raincheck when they were out of something like the B1G1 deals or sale prices BUT I learned Wednesday night when I went in (knowing they would be out) to get my final Softsoaps.......that you can get rainchecks on items thst spit out ECB's!! I couldn't believe it. I got a raincheck for the Softsoap & the CVS meds- that I never saw once the entire month. Plus they never expire!! I don't know how CVS does it but they just keep getting better and better!

One month anniversary...

Well I started this chaos a month ago this weekend and what a ride it has been. The most upsetting thing is how many deals I had missed before even knowing the game. I made a couple of trips this week to stock up on some items and try a couple different scenarios that I have been reading on my favorite "Super Savers" blogs....(one being The "Cent"sible Sawyer). I bought ALOT of stuff this week for next to nothing and was lucky enough to use up some of the deals my mother in law wasn't going to use up before the month was over PLUS I had coupons. I can officially say my brain HURTS from constantly playing with numbers trying to find the best deal. So obviously, I bought way too much to break it down for you but here is the week in review...

6 CVS Trips (3 different stores)
1 Walgreen's Trip
1 Walmart Trip to price match

Tuesday's Trip

They paid me for this $450 trip


Wednesday's Trip

FINALLY found the gift bags that everyone had been talking about. I really didn't want to buy all of those bags but I figured I better get them while I can, considering the ECB deal is close to being over. There were a couple of things that I needed to get in this trip that weren't on sale or I would have usually waited....like the Adidas deodorant is on sale next week with ECB's in return and since they had the display up I thought I'd try it which didn't matter cause I had a FREE coupon from the paper anyway. I needed a pair of those gloves to help with the dry skin from over washing and I got the hairclips for $0.10- I grabbed them for a filler but they didn't help much.

Thursday's Trip (not pictured)

Friday's Trip

One of my CVS stores had the double packs of Lysol wipes out from the new shipment and they adjusted them for the sale price...BONUS! Here is the list:

80 bottles of Herbal Essence ($3.99- $4.29 ea)
10 jars of Whipped Foundation ($9.49 ea)
6 Twin packs of Lysol Wipes ($2.49 ea)

3 Softsoaps ($5.49 ea)
2 Pledge ($2.99- raincheck)
5 Skin Effects ($6.99 ea)
3 magazines for coupons ($.99 ea)
Fillers...Diet Coke, Sucker, Candy, Beano

Total Before Coupons= $371.81
ECB's Used= $40.97
OOP= $22.88
ECB's Earned $51.47

I had 40 Herbal Essence coupons and it just kept getting better and better.
Look what I found......

The FREE Manicure/ Pedicure bottles!!

Then I headed to Walmart to get next weeks CVS deal on Palmolive price matched. 2 for $1.59 and I used 11 $1/2 coupons which made the soap $0.30 a bottle. I had coupons for everything else.

I have decided that CVS is my new workout routine- nevermind the foot work that is involved in shopping for all of those buys but having to load them into the car and drag it all inside.......Now that is a workout!!

I forgot tonight that I had a reward buck from Walgreen's that would expire after today so since I still had 9 Palmolive coupons left, I decided to make a quick stop on my way back from picking up dinner and grab MORE soap. This one cost me $6 and I will be sending in for the $10 rebate.

If prices keep flying up like peeps are saying one thing is for sure....we may starve to death but we will be CLEAN!!

CVS FREEBIE

Here is a FREE CVS Transaction for you ladies to try. This month if you buy 3 Essence of Beauty Items they will give you $5 in ECB's. Well I'm guessing they were thinking peeps would go buy 3 high dollar items and then in return they would give us our $5 back but those smart women out there in blogville taught me this. Go buy 3 Essence of Beauty items under $1.49 and your total will cost you less than what you get in return...they have told me that you could use a $3/$10 CVS coupon (my coupon scanner prints this coupon off 9 out out of 10 times) because Essence is a CVS brand. Now I handed a cashier this the other day and I hear, "UH MAAAAAAM- seriously it was that long- "this is for a CVS purchase" which I replied isn't Essence a CVS product" to where I got a NO....I wasn't fighting over $3 when they were already giving me free items. Otherwise I would of told her to prove it ;)

Here is what I grabbed for $1.49. There are also Essence of Beauty gift bags which I haven't been able to find since I heard about them and $0.99 toe separators. I didn't care if they were free or not....I didn't want 15 toe separators to house somewhere. There is a limit of 5 so you can get $25 worth of free beauty supplies that won't expire...like the 15 boxes of Excedrin from last week.

So I'm waiting till CVS gets tired of this and puts restrictions or "small print" on all of our great steals but until then I'm swimming in it!!

Let me know what works for you.

2008 5 Things Game...

Here is my 2008 version of the 5 Things Game......

Pantry
(Ignore the tiny fingerprints on the glass...
for some reason it's always more fun to scale a piece of
furniture to get a snack if you are between the ages of 3-5)

11 Pyrex Dishes
9 character cake pans
6 packages of spaghetti
4 boxes of opened cereal that prob. needs to be trashed
&
TONS of Jello mixes (your guess is as good as mine)


TIVO
My favorite "how did I live so long without you" gadget

2 Battlestar Gallactica- don't knock it till you try it
The Two Coreys Episode where they try to stop smoking that
1. will never get deleted
2. made me pee my pants on more than one occasion while I was pregnant
Private Practice that I have yet to watch from DECEMBER
Redneck Wedding so I can hear that old lady say,
"I LOVE Hot Pockets"-
which has become my nickname for Lily cause I love saying it:)
&
Run's House- where they finally get their girl


Lily's Room
I figured since she wasn't here for the last game..only in my dreams...I would do her room even though it isn't CLOSE to being done

HAIRBOWS (Over 100)
12 Pairs of Baby Legs
3 Picture Frames without pictures
Antique Baby Scale
&
Princess Piggy Bank (Target)


Computer Desk
AKA. Catchall- I admit it is like this 90% of the time and about 5 mins after I clean it up...I give up

Empty Walgreen's Printer Ink Refill Bag
Eucerin Calming Itch-Relief lotion...over washing this winter has tore my hands up!
2 Games we played 2 weeks ago- Rummikub & Apples to Apples
At Home with Magnolia Cookbook
&
A To DO List that is 2 pages looooong


My Bedroom
OK, so this picture was taken for the other blog
(2 years ago) so there are some changes
(curtains, nightstands, and those flowers are really dead now :)

Laptop
Gym Class Schedule
Tivo #2
Lily's 2ND Swing
&
My FAVORITE THING RIGHT NOW
My Coupon Book

Doesn't that look like FUN!?!

Sunday's Fun

I made 2 shopping trips today to use up some of my coupons. Sundays are obviously "BIG" days because by day 2 or 3 of sales, things are pretty picked over. I have made one too many trips to CVS over the last couple of weeks....enough they know me when I walk in....so I don't want to have to shop around to different CVS's unless I have to. My first one was to Walmart where I had been saving up some of my coupons till I made my next trip there and here is what I got.

My total before coupons was $84.29 and after coupons was $39.17. I had to take back 2 things that have been sitting around unused/ unneeded for a couple a months so once I used that gift card my out of pocket total was $9. Now given I'm not lucky enough to live in a state that has stores that will double coupons....so not fair, but I don't get awesome deals on food like all of you southern girls (even if they tax your food). So I was pleased with this accomplishment considering it was all for things we needed/ wanted and not just 15 boxes of Excedrin :)

After this I took a shopping break and went to Yoga which was almost pointless considering all I could think about was how I was going to play out my CVS trip. I could see this becoming a problem, anyway....

Here is what I came home with


Now there wasn't anything that I was dying to buy this week considering all my luck last week....in a minute...but I have a hard time passing up free stuff. This is by no means me saying I got the "best" deal out there and there is probably a better way I could of purchased this BUT ya know after awhile I can't stand there and figure anymore- Time is money around here too no matter how much I am trying to save a buck. So here is the scoop in 2 transactions..

#1.
2 packs of CVS Diapers ($8.99 ea)
2 Chewable Benefibers ($6.79 ea)
Diet Coke (Yoga made me thirsty- $1.39)
CVS Travel Wipes for my first aid car kit ($1.99)
Orbit Gum ($1.19)

2 Benefiber $2/1 coupon (today's paper)
$3/$10 CVS purchase printed when I scanned my card today
$4/$20

I used $15 in ECB's and got back $10 in ECB's
I knew the Coke, Wipes, & Gum would take me over my $10 goal but I didn't want to stand there and figure in those items since they were all last min. add ons.

#2.
2 Covergirl Trublend foundation ($8.99 ea)
Tweezers for my first aid kit ($1.49)
Clippers " " " " ($1.49)
Lumene Makeup Wipes ($2.79)

$1/1 Covergirl coupon (last week's)
Buy foundation Get 1 free coupon (last week's)

Total $4.02

So what I should of done is put the coke, gum, and wipes on this transaction so I could of used a $4/ $20 coupon here too but I'll just save it for next time cause I plan on going back to buy 4 more packs of diapers and 4 more makeups since I still have 2 more sets of coupons to make them free or cents over. I'm also taking back the Lumene Wipes cause I only bought them thinking they would bring $2 ECB but they didn't produce so back they go.

Not that I need more diapers or wipes considering what last week supplied but THEY ARE FREE!

Lily's stash so far


My next adventure is to create a CVS rehab cause after reading through a lot of blogs...there are alot of us who could use some :)
(Don't worry ladies you can pay me in ECB's)

Coo Coo for CVS!