My Homeland trip

I know I posted the deals yesterday but this is the first time I've been owed money at the GROCERY STORE! It has happened at CVS numerous times but this was exciting. Homeland will only double one of the same coupon per transaction. No problem, I will do multiple trasnactions. It's not like I haven't done it before.

Transaction one-

Notebook paper .50
Boneless Pork Ribs 3.99 (reduced for quick sale)
Pickles 1.00
Shred cheese 1.50
Pickles 1.00
Glue Sticks .50 (for Peyton's preschool class)
Sour cream 2.00
Iced tea 1.04
creamer 2.00
Secret 1.00
Pillsbury dinner rolls 1.00
Pillsbury french loaf 1.00
MINUS
1.00 pickles
.60 tea
.44 tea
1.00 creamer
1.00 creamer
1.00 secret
1.00 secret
.35 rolls
.35 rolls
.35 french loaf
.35 french loaf

Total oop 9.03

MQ 4.30
BonusQ 3.14
Homeland card savings 15.83
Total savings 23.27 (74% off)

So then I do transaction 2. I had 3 more creamer coupons and 1 more tea coupon. Here's where planning better would have come in handy. She rings up the tea and 1 creamer. My total after coupons was -1.06!! I just handed her my other two creamers with their coupons. My total oop was 1.28, which is great but if I had thought better I could have used some of the items I didn't have coupons for, like the pork ribs, on the second, third and fourth transaction and had close to 0.00 oop. I'm still okay with it because I am still learning the grocery store coupon game, but I was so frustrated with myself for not paying closer attention.

Homeland Deals 7/29- 8/5

As you know we don't have the AMAZING grocery store deals that some of you have in other parts of the country. We do have Homeland, who doubles their coupons. So when they have decent deals, like they have had the past couple of weeks, it is worth posting about. Especially since Homeland is not included in the Grocery Gathering! Here are the best deals I see so far.

10/$10 Sale
Pillsbury Crescents (-0.35q)=$0.30
Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls (-.30q)=$0.40
Pillsbury bread (French loaf shown) (-0.35q)=$0.30
Hamburger Helper X3 (-$0.75q)=$1.50/3
Hormel Chili/Tamales X2(-0.55/2q)=$0.90/2
Lipton Flavored Teas X2(-0.75q)=$0.50/2
Jello Sugar Free Singles (-0.55q)=FREE
Secret (-0.50)=FREE
Old Spice Deodorant X2(-1.00/2)=FREE
Kraft Jet Puffed Strawberry Mallows (-0.30)=$0.40
Mt Olive Dill Chips (-1.00/2)= FREE

10/$15 Sale
Skintimate Shave Gells (-0.55q)=$0.40
Best Choice Shredded Cheese (no coupon but great price)
Easy Mac (no coupon but great price)

10/$20 Sale
Daisy Sour Cream 24oz. (-.50q)= $1.00
Coffee-Mate Creamer (-1.00q)= FREE
Nature Valley Granola Bars (-.50q)= $1.00

Misc. Sale Items
Taste Escapes lunchmeat $2.19 (-$1q)=$0.19
Pilgrim’s Pride chicken Breast Tenders $2.99lb (-0.55q)
Luzianne Tea $1.25(-0.60q)=$0.05

School Supplies.....for pre-school?!?

So, Miss Peyton is enrolled in pre-school for the fall. 2 days a week for half a day. Today in the mail I get her school supply list. Seriously? I should have been hitting up the 1 cent sales everyone has been running the past few weeks. I have had to take snacks and baby wipes in the past for Mother's Day Out, but this list looks like it's for elementary school. Tell me if I'm over reacting.

1 box wide washable markers
1 bottle white glue
2 large glue sticks
1 pair child size scissors
1 3-ring binder (1 1/2 inch with view front)
2 pkgs page protectors (approx 30)
2 boxes baby wipes
1 roll paper towels
1 box kleenex
1 pkg party favors for treasure chest
1 backpack
1 box band aids (GIRLS)
1 can white shaving cream (BOYS)

I don't even want to know why they need shaving cream. Does that seem like a lot for a 3 year old class, 2 days a week. Not to mention that the price is not exactly cheap, and I already paid a $35 enrollment fee + a $25 enrollment fee for MDO. What are those fees used for? Preschool teachers, enlighten me please!!

Ok, first of all, to you lucky people who have Kroger or any other grocery stores who double coupons along with their awesome sales, this post is not going to impress you. I live in Oklahoma where there are no chain grocery stores except Homeland, and their good deals are few and far between. But this week they had a ton of 10/$10 deals. And they double coupons. And I had LOTS of coupons, thanks to eBay. To make a long story shorter, I got 18 bags of natural Ragu pasta sauce and 30 bags of Knorr Lipton sides for $24.67!! I saved over $65! And I got lots of stuff we will use. The pasta sauce was .50 each after sales and coupons and the sides were .33 after sales and coupons. Before the flaming begins, I did not clear the shelves of either. I am really hoping we like the pasta sauce (it's new). If not my poor college student BIL will have lots of spaghetti!

Menu Plan Monday

Hubby and I don't eat breakfast and the girls are not big breakfast eaters. By the time they get hungry it's close enough to lunch time that we have lunch and a decent size snack later in the day. So, here is our lunch, snack, and dinners plans for the week.

Monday- Lunch- Mac and Cheese, Grapes
Dinner- Lemon Chicken, Rice, Green Beans
Snack- Yogurt

Tuesday- Lunch- Grilled Cheese Sandwich, Chips
Dinner- Chicken Alfredo, Salad
Snack- Juice Bars

Wednesday- Lunch- Spaghetti O's, Grapes
Dinner- Grilled Hot Dogs, Corn, Salad
Snack- Smoothies

Thursday- Lunch- Leftover Hot Dogs, Chips
Dinner- Tacos, Rice, Black Beans
Snack- Grapes

Friday- Lunch- Chicken Noodle Soup, Toast
Dinner- Homemade Pizza, Salad
Snack- Pudding

Saturday- Lunch- Grilled Cheese, Chips
Dinner- Leftovers from the week (Hubby works late and I clean all day!)
Snack- Smoothies

Sunday- Lunch- out after church
Dinner- Sub sandwiches
Snack- Juice Bars

If you are wondering why my children's lunches consist of really quick, somewhat processed foods, let me explain. I work. Not at home. Well, in addition to my outside job I work at home, but not for money! My girls are here with a babysitter most days when it's time to eat lunch. Therefore, I have to have things available that anyone can warm up and that my children will eat when I'm not here to tell them they don't have the choice of not eating.

CVS Sunday

I was so excited to go to CVS today. With a 3 year old usually in tow, it just hasn't been worth it the last couple of weeks. I'm always surprised with my out of pocket b/c I think I know what it will be and then I'll be blessed by the coupon printer. Since I didn't have any extra bucks to start with (GASP!) I scanned both of my cards (Yes, I really do only have 2 cards. Really.) to see what would spit out. Much to my surprise I had 3.50 in extra bucks on one card, from my Spring spending. And I got a $2 off $10!! Here's what I did...... FYI- My CVS didn't have the DVD's. And the Revlon was in the back b/c they "haven't changed their cosmetics yet". This is when it's good to know your cashiers and make nice with them. My cashier said, "Follow me, and you can get what you want out of the box. I'll just tell everyone else that we don't have the makeup."

Transaction 1
Revlon 9.99
- 2.00 m q from 7/20
- 2/10 crt q
- 3.50 ecb
Total OOP 2.84
ecb- 9.99

Transaction 2
Scott towels 4.99
Stayfree 4.50
Stayfree 4.50
Schick Intuition 3.99
Gobstoppers 1.00
- 1.00 scott m q 7/27
- b1g1 stayfree m q 7/20
- 4.00 schick m q 6/29 (? on date)
- 9.99 ecb
Total OOP .31

I sooooooo heart CVS!! When I left CVS I hit Target to check out their shoe clearance. I got 2 pairs of sandals and a pair of fall shoes for Peyton, for next year, and super cute pair of wedge sandals for me, all for $14!!

What great deals have you gotten recently? Post it in comments! You could be helping a fellow frugal friend.

"Buying" Coupons

I have found the wave of the future!! Figure out the sales a few days in advance. Go to ebay and find 20 of the 1 coupon you need to make your deals even better. Click Buy It Now. They come to your mailbox in a few days. I'm in love! Nothing to keep up with and no searching through your box of coupons for half an hour to get one coupon. MUCH less mess too. I don't use a lot of coupons at the grocery store b/c they don't take internet coupons and they don't double coupons so it really isn't worth it unless it's an amazing coupon, like the $1 off powerade. Instead of feverishly running around digging through the neighbors recycle bins (Oh yes I did!) I just ordered them off ebay for $2.50. That's 20 free powerades plus 2 cases of dasani for a positive of .70!! (The powerades at the grocery store are .68, and I got the overage.) That, my friends, is no fuss couponing. In fact, I haven't even opened my Sunday paper from last week!!

Really Stinkin' Hot Summer cleaning...

So I'm guessing by the 100 degree weather that I missed Spring cleaning. Today I cleaned out both of my refrigerators. What an exciting life I lead. However, it was nice to see what I had lurking in the back of the freezer. I found 6 bags of those Dino Bites that everyone got for free a few months ago. Woo Hoo! I knew they were there but I wasn't sure how many were left. I spent the morning cooking and organizing so hopefully it will help on next week's grocery list. When I went to the store yesterday there were quite a few things that I buy regularly that had gone up significantly. (Tortillas up .67, salsa up .44, swiss cheese slices up .50. Again the excitement is unbearable.) Guess this means I will be shopping Aldi even more. Unfortunately, my family can't live on Powerade alone, or electrasol.......