Mom update

Here's a picture of my mom (Phyllis), Lee and Peyton from last summer.

Today seemed to be more promising but when the neurologist did an EEG it showed her brain to be seizing. We couldn't see the seizure they were only happening in her brain. This is just more sign of brain injury due to lack of oxygen. They put her under heavy sedation and 2 other seizure medicines to stop the seizures so we are back to waiting for another EEG to see if her brain continues to do this when not under sedation. The neurologist said that it is "bad and not what we want to see". I am trying to get this out to as many people as I can so she can be lifted up in prayer. A miracle is all we can hope for at this point. I will update again ASAP.

Thanks to Angie at http://www.thriftyfloridamama.net/ for the link on her blog. I hope it will reach more people through her as well. Thank you, too, to all the kind posts I received yesterday. I sincerely appreciate it.
Krissy

Please pray for my mom....

This has NOTHING to do with frugal living. It is a purely selfish post. I posted a while back that my mom had been diagnosed with breast cancer. FFwd- she had a masectomy (sp?) a month ago and she has had to have 2 more surgeries since, both times to clear the drain tube. She is 67 and 3 times of anestesia (again sp?) in a month has taken it's toll. She was in the hospital 2 weeks ago with pneumonia and was released. This morning she was having trouble breathing but sent my step-dad to work as normal. About 30 min. after he left she called him and told him she couldn't breathe. He told her he was on his way. At 8:12am she called 911. The fire dept were first on the scene at 8:17am, and she was in cardiac arrest and not breathing. We know that she had gotten to the front door to unlock it but we think when she went back to her room she collapsed on the floor b/c that's where they found her. She is in ICU now but not responding, and not breathing on her own. Her lungs "look really bad" and are filled with fluid. To make matters worse, she was at the cardiologist yesterday and my step-dad asked him to listen to her lungs and he told him he didn't hear anything abnormal. HELLO?? Even the ER doctor said, the fluid couldn't build up like it is overnight. It had to have been like that for days. The neurologist said that she is showing signs of serious brain damage to her brain stem, which is the worst kind. Basically, IF she wakes up she isn't going to be the same person that we know. I am praying for a miracle but she wouldn't want to live like she is now. If God decides for her to be like she is now I just want him to take her. I don't want my step-dad to have to make any decisions regarding keeping her as incapacitated. I'm hoping she will wake up tomorrow and be okay but I am preparing myself for the worst. Please just keep her in your prayers, as well as my step-dad. He is beside himself and blaming himself for not being there. He loves her so much. If anyone else has been through this and has any encouraging words I would really appreciate hearing the story. Thanks if you got this far..........

My frugal wedding gift.

I used the Linens & Things offer I posted about a couple of weeks ago to buy a wedding gift today. I got them a crockpot and I am putting togetther a collection of crockpot recipes to go with it. I would love to have any of your recipes to include along with mine. I plan on getting an empty binder and adding sheet protectors with my tip of organizing my recipes. I will add recipes for their crockpot. With my 20% off coupon, free shipping, ebates return, and the $20 gift card I will get in a few weeks, the crockpot cost me .79!! That is a cheap gift! I can afford to get a REALLY nice binder for the recipes. =) Post your recipes!

Happy Frugal Easter!

We will be headed to my Hubby's family for a chilly day of eating, fellowship, and eating. I always bring lots of food but this year it was actually economical, thanks to coupons and just plain old paying attention. I am making mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, baked beans (Peyton's favorite!), and deviled eggs. I got a 5-pd. bag of potatoes at Target for $1.79, thanks to my $1 off coupon I got from www.afullcup.com. I got my green beans, pork & beans, and eggs (.99 a dozen) from Aldi. I already had Cream of Mushroom soup, brown sugar, molasses, and the other ingredients I needed. I figure I spent about $10 for all the ingredients I needed to make our Easter dinner contribution. Not bad for 4 dishes.
Our ultimate deal of the day is the free gift we received from our Lord and Savior. What an amazing gift to be forgiven! Now that I have my own children I understand better the idea of giving His only Son. Praise God!
Everyone have a wonderful day free of hustle and bustle to get the best deal and just revel in the gifts that you have. Happy Easter!!

Saving money- my new full time job?

Am I the only one that gets worn out by all the couponing and saving? I am in no way complaining but by the time I check moneysavingmom, thriftyfloridamama, afullcup, herecomesthestork, then moneysavingmom again, then organize my coupons, make my shopping list, and get out the door, it's after noon. And I started at 8am! And today was a slow day. Not a new CVS day. Between Saturday night and Sunday morning CVS planning, I'm a wreck. I WON'T even allow myself to delve into the Walgreens world b/c it seems confusing to me and I really don't want to know how to do it. It would just involve more of my time. By the time Peyton and I hit WalMart (in case they had more nuggets even though I got 9 bags), CVS (In case they got toothpaste. I already have plenty but I NEED more. And I had to get a couple of birthday gifts.), Aldi, and Target (for the grocery items I needed that they had on sale, that I couldn't get cheaper at Aldi) it was 4pm when we got home. 8-4 is a full time job. I only spent about $40 total for all 3 stores and got MUCH more than that in retail value, but my day was gone. I LOVE saving money but as I sit here in an exhausted stuper I wonder if I really save money in comparison to the time I put into it. WHO CARES? It IS fun!! And I might use 5 tubes of toothpaste before CVS puts them on sale again. =)

Free Chicken Nuggets!!

With summer quickly approaching I have been thinking of ways to cheaply entertain my children. I spent some time on http://www.orientaltrading.com/ yesterday finding cheap craft projects because I (thought) I had a code for 15% off and free shipping. Alas, I found out you had to spend $60 to get the deal. I thought of including some neighbors in on the deal, as all the little girls on our street run in a pack from Memorial Day to Labor Day but instead I decided to crash my Dave car into a curb. I am okay but the wheel is not. In case your concerned about the curb, I think it's gonna make it. I distinctly remember Dave-o saying $1000, because most insurance deductibles are $500. I hate it when he's right, which is ALWAYS! At least God has brought us to a place where we can not stress about $500, and focus on getting the free Dave car fixed. Thank goodness my parents (who we got the original Dave car from) were gracious enough to let us borrow another Dave car until the original Dave car is fixed. I promise to stay away from curbs! So needless to say, my focus shifted from funfilled 100 degree days of crafting to anything free. Free food is good, and Sprout online has craft project ideas. Can't get anymore frugal than that. (Thanks to Krystal at http://www.moneysavingmom.com/ and http://www.sensiblecents.com/ for first posting this deal. I had already discovered the frosting during the cupcake weekend.)

Fast Fixin' Dino Bites are on sale 2 for $2.00 at Wal-Mart this week. Go here, http://www.fastfixin.com/fanatics.php?section=4&catid=4,to get your $1.00 off coupons. Just sign up for their Fanatics club, and they will send 5 coupons to your printer. Go back and refresh the page to print 5 more! Then, look around on their site, and there is a place,http://www.fastfixin.com/fanatics.php?coupons=get, to print another coupon. Again, backspace and refresh the page and you'll get yet another. That makes a total of 12 coupons! I just got my 12 free bags today, and we had them for supper tonight. Don't forget to get your $0.33 frosting while you're at Wal-Mart!

Kitchen Tip Tuesday (on Wednesday)

I totally missed Tuesday! After work I came home and slowly but surely got sicker and sicker. I think I have the stomach thing Peyton had- woo. She keeps bringing me "the bucket" and saying "throw up, Mama", and rubbing my arm or back. She is such a sweet baby. Anyway, on to the tip.

I have all my recipes stored in a 3 ring binder with page protectors in order of apps, salads, main dishes, sides, bread, and baking (desserts mostly). When I have a new recipe I add it to the stash, and when I need to get one out I just pop open the binder, and have one page to work with. If it gets splattered I can wipe the page protector with a damp cloth.

Back to bed for me!

Menu Plan Monday

UPDATED W/ RECIPES:

Red & White- Half Alfredo, Half Tomato Meat Sauce, over spaghetti or fettucine noodles. I make a bag of frozen chicken breasts in the crockpot with season salt, garlic powder, onion powder, 1 tsp soy sauce, 1/4 cup of water on high for 4-5 hours. then I put two breasts per ziploc bag and freeze them. I use this for any recipe that calls for cooked chicken. Great for pasta and casseroles. I really hate canned chicken, and rotisserie chickens get expensive.

Lemon Garlic Chicken

1 tsp italian seasoning
1/2 tsp season salt
1/4 tsp pepper
4 frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/4 c. water
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp chicken bouillon
Sprinkle all spices onto chicken breasts Place water, lemon juice, garlic, and bouillon in crockpot. Place chicken on top and cook 4-5 hours in crockpot on high.

I have been really bad about this he last couple of weeks but I need to be better. Dinner is hard at our house b/c hubby works late hours. By the time he gets home it's almost bed time most nights. Anyway, here's the plan!

Monday
Salad, Taco Soup, Corn Bread

Tuesday
Pasta Red and White, Leftover Steamed Broccoli, Garlic Bread
(The alfredo & broccoli is leftover from Sunday's dinner of Chicken and Broccoli Fettucine Alfredo)


Wednesday
Crockpot Lemon Garlic Chicken (Maddy's fave!), Frozen Corn, Chicken flavor Rice, Rolls


Thursday
Leftover Taco Soup and Baked Club Sandwiches

Friday
Homemade Pizza, small side of Spaghetti, Salad

Saturday
Every man for themself! Daddy works late, Mommy does laundry and housework. Sounds like Easy Mac to me! =)

If you would like any of the above recipes just comment and I will include the details.
Have a good week! Enjoy your RedBox movie night. (Code 92X7WF)

CVS- 3/16

All this for $6.70!
(Technically I made $4.30, with my leftover ecb!)

Ok this was my best CVS day yet. Thanks to Crystal at http://www.moneysavingmom.com/! She has links to all the right coupons. Here's what I did today. My store was out of jelly beans, Smart Rinse, Venus and Total toothpaste. So here's how I did my trip today, staring with 11.98 in ecb. *The mouth was shown was bought last Friday but I used ecb and got them for .75. They are not included on any of today's transactions, but the deal is still going on!

Trans 1
Hershey's Pot of Gold x 2 9.98
12 ct Plastic Eggs x 2 1.98
Total 11.96
-11.98 ecb
0.00 oop/ get 11.98 in ecb

Trans 2
Glade x 2 1.98
Dove Body Wash x 3 11.97
Dove Shampoo 5.29
Dove Cond. FREE (B1G1 this week)
Maybelline Superstay Lipgloss 8.99
Milky Way Minis x 2 5.98
Total 34.21
-Glade coupon 1.00
-Milky way coupon 1.00
-6.00 Dove coupons (3 $2)
-2.00 Maybelline coupon
-3.00 CVS beauty coupon
-3.00 Dove hair care coupon (from today's paper)
-5.00 CVS $5 off $15
-9.98 ecb from above
OOP 4.49/ get 16.97 ecb
(In hindsight I should have used the Dove chocolate B1G1 as my filler instead of the milky way and my oop would have been less. I had my game plan including the smart rinse so I had to change some things around and I got all flustered!!)

Trans 3
Glade x4 3.96
Lady Speed Stick 24/7 x 2 3.98
Mens Speed Stick (NOT 24/7) x 2 3.98
Clean & Clear Cleanser x 3 13.47
Clean & Clear Astringent 4.49
Nivea Lotion 5.99
Nivea Face wash 5.99
Total 41.86
- .75 Speed Stick coupon
- .99 Glade B1G1 coupon from today's paper
- 1.00 Glade coupon ($1 off 2)
- 2.00 Lady Speed Stick coupons
- 1.00 ecb
- 1.98 ecb
- 8.00 Clean & Clear coupons
- 4.00 Nivea coupons
- 3.00 off $15 CVS beauty coupon
- 5.00 off $15 CVS coupon
- 5.00 ecb
- 8.99 ecb
OOP 1.46/ get 11 ecb

I saved my ecb this week in hopes that I will find more toothpaste and smart rinse. If not I will use the $11 for the girls Easter baskets, instead of grocery fillers, like milk. Peyton is DYING for a Cinderella battery toothbrush. I'm not sure if a 3 yr old should have a moving toothbrush so she may have to settle for a manual one. I definitely won't have to buy candy, that's for sure! And I have my eggs for the Easter Egg Hunt next Sunday. I love CVS!

CVS Freebies 3/16

I am only posting the freebies for next week. I have a LOT of household chores to get done. These are free after ECB.
.99 plastic eggs limit 2
4.99 Hershey's Pot of Gold (Premium or Nut Asst.) limit 2
8.99 Maybelline Superstay Lipcolor or gloss limit 1
2.99 Listerine Smart Rinse for Kids (Some stores have a tearpad w/ MIR) limit 2
The elusive Venus razor (free w/ $4 off coupon) limit 1
Glade spray .99 (B1G1 coupon in 3/16 paper) B2G$1ecb limit 5 ecb no limit on # of sprays
Happy CVS-ing!

Cupcakes everywhere!!

Being the over achiever mom that I aim to be, I am up to my elbows in cupcakes. Peyton's school carnival is tomorrow and I am in baking H-E-double hockey stick. Did you know one box of cake mix makes 24 cupcakes? Times 6 boxes of cake mix. You do the math. I have cupcakes on every surface of my kitchen. However, I did get a great deal! (Of course!) Homeland had their cake mixes 10 for $10 last week. I had 2 coupons for $1 off 3 boxes. Homeland doubles their coupons up to $1. End result, .33 cakes! I am saying "Thank goodness!" that I only had 2 coupons, otherwise the cupcake debacle could have gotten a whole lot worse. I was originally going to make homemade frosting ( HAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAA!! Nevermind that idea!) I booted the homemade frosting idea and went to WM to get some pre-made frosting and the Betty Crocker frosting is on sale for .88. There are stickies on the yellow cake mix by Betty Crocker for .50 off any frosting. Thus making the frosting .38 a tub! That ladies, is a deal!! And so my pounds keep packing on. At least I am getting rid of this 'sweet' deal (pun intended!).

I may have hit an all time low for my coupon obsession tonight. I have already stooped to stealing coupons from the bagel store on a Sunday afternoon but this is worse. I walked across the street tonight to borrow some cupcake liners from my neighbor. On the way back home I notice my next door neighbors recycle bin has the Sunday paper in it. Oh yea, I did it. I picked up the bin, ran to my porch, dug out the coupons and ran to take back the bin. I was so proud of myself until hubby said, "You know you could probably just ask them if you can have them. I bet they would save them for you." To which I replied, "But then I would be the crazy coupon lady." "Seriously", he says,"you just stole the coupons from their recycle bin. I think you already are the crazy coupon lady." What does he know? There IS a $4 razor coupon in there! And Lord knows I NEED another razor. =)

Kitchen Tip Tuesday

I have seen this phrase on other blogs and I'm not sure if I am supposed to be signed up to share a kitchen tip, but I am sharing anyway! This is a new thing I have recently started doing and it is my FAVORITE time saver yet! When I buy ground beef, I always buy the larger pack b/c it is less per pound for the same meat. Why, I don't understand, but whatever. When I get home, I seperate it by approximately one pound servings and brown it, seperately. Then I drain the fat and rinse the meat in a collander and put it in quart size freezer bags. When I have a meal that includes ground beef I defrost a bag in the microwave and WAH LAH dinner is half way finished! I used to freeze it raw, then defrost, then brown, then cook into whatever sauce or seasoning. Too much time! Plus it's great if hubby is making hamburger helper or spaghetti. All he has to do is grab a bag of meat. What great tips do you have?

Good deal Monday

No terribly exciting deals at CVS this week so we will skip to Monday. On a side note, I have to share b/c hubby just doesn't get my excitement! Peyton's school carnival is this Friday. We are supposed to bring things for the cake walk. Homeland's ad has cake mixes for $1 each. I have 2 coupons for $1 off 3 (red plum 2/3), and Homeland doubles coupons. End result, .33 cakes! Now I just have to make frosting from the pantry. Don't forget your free Red Box Rental for the day, code PL96QA.
In case you want to sign up for free texts of the code on Mondays, here's the link http://www.redbox.com/Help/Signup.aspx.
Another great deal, Jane cosmetics at Walgreen's are B1G1 this week. Copy this coupon http://www.janecosmetics.com/coupons/coupon%20only.pdf to get them free or practically free. This is how I plan on using my register rewards from last week. Also, Sally Hansen nail polish is on sale for $1 this week and some bottles have been spotted with $1 off coupons stickies. I so need a pedi....... =)

Target & Walgreens

Target & Walgreens shopping this week did not go as well as planned. Actually I think I just didn't plan very well. I saved more than 50% at both stores but this brings me to the big question. Would I have bought those things if they weren't a great deal? No. Would I have saved more if I had bought nothing? Yes. CVS is great b/c I can get out of there for a few dollars. I think I will be sticking to it unless I can get something free somewhere else. As Dave Ramsey says it's only saving if you buy things you were already going to buy. On the other hand, I am creating an emergency fund in my pantry. Justification. I know, that won't grow wealth.

Quick cheap recipe

This will be a short post but this is my favorite quick recipe, again from allrecipes.com!

Quick Chick
INGREDIENTS
3 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 (12 ounce) jar turkey gravy (I use 2 cans Campbelss turkey gravy, but we like it saucy!)
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt-free herb seasoning blend (Mrs. Dash)
1 teaspoon soy sauce
READ REVIEWS (56)
DIRECTIONS
Place chicken and gravy into a slow cooker. Season with paprika, seasoning blend and soy sauce. Cook on high for 4 hours or for 6 to 8 hours on medium. Tear chicken into pieces. Serve over rice, noodles or potatoes.

I stockpiled cans of gravy for .25 after Thanksgiving. I only have a couple left. BooHoo! I love this recipe b/c I almost always have all the ingredients on hand. And it's cheap and easy! (Avoid easy joke here.)

For those of you who got LOTS of free peanut butter........... I made a PB Chocolate pie tonight. Frozen pie crust, baked. Spread half a jar of creamy PB in bottom of pie. Mix a pack of instant chocolate pie filling and pour over the top. Chill for an hour. Not low in calories but yummy! Hubby wanted a chocolate pie but I didn't have any cool whip. Frugalness makes you improvise. Unfortunately, good deals make you have BAGS and BAGS of (insert holiday here) candy and jars of peanut butter. I think I've gained 5 lbs in the last month, or maybe 10. Seriously.

CVS Sunday 3/2

Ok so I am going to include how I WOULD have done my CVS trip today if they had had everything in their ad. They, of course, were out of things.However, I met a lady that is seriously a coupon queen. She is even getting her own segment on our local news. Come to find out, there is a lady who shops CVS to stock her convenience store!!!! I was shocked. I guess it's a good idea but I was still shocked. My fave store gets a truck on Friday so hopefully I can get all my good deals then. Hope this helps! I spent like 5 hours on it this morning!

Trans 1
CVS Vitamin C x 5 14.95
(filler) BlowPop .30
MINUS
$3 off $10 CVS items
$5 off $15
$4 ecb from last week
Total OOP 2.95
earn 14.95


Trans 2
Total advanced toothpaste x 5 14.95
Lypsyl 2.99 (I'm using this as a filler.)
MINUS
1.75 Colgate coupons
16.19
14.95 ecb
Total OOP 1.24
earn 14.95

Trans 3
Febreeze noticeables x 2 13.98
Oral B Crossaction Pro toothbrush x 2 9.98
MINUS
6.00 Febreeze coupons
2.00 Oral B coupon
14.95 ecb
Total OOP 1.04
earn 14.98

Trans 4
Venus Razor 9.99
Phenom Razor 9.99
Lypsyl 2.99
MINUS
4.00 Venus Razor
4.00 Phenom Razor
14.98 ecb
Total OOP .00
earn 12.00


Trans 5
Gillette Mach 3 x 2 15.98
Lypsyl 2.99
MINUS
6.00 (2 $3 coupons)
12.00 ecb
Total OOP .97
earn $10

Trans 6
Hershey Reese's eggs $10
Lypsyl 2.99
MINUS
1.50 off 3 Hershey
10.00 ecb
Total OOP 1.49
earn $5

Trans 7
Lypsyl 2.99 (#5)
Dawn Dish Liquid .97
filler 2.00 (Stouffer's frozen meals are 2.50 this week, I think)
MINUS
5.00 ecb
Total OOP .71
earn 14.95

Trans 8
Crest Pro Health Rinse x 2 6.98
Milk gallons x 2 7.40
filler 2.07
MINUS
(2) .75 off Crest rinse
Total OOP 0.00

Trip total 8.40 (plus some tax)

This is my best week yet! How did you do?

CVS coupon

If you sign up for wellness360 you can get a $5/$15 coupon for CVS! (how nice of them to allow us more free stuff!) It's free to enroll and you also get a $30 prescription transfer coupon. Thanks to Candace at http://agardenofblessings.blogspot.com/ for the coupon link. For those of you who live where they actually have grocery store ads, her blog and Angie at www.thriftyfloridamama.net always have great tips on grocery shopping! Happy saving!

https://www.mywellness360.com/enrollWB.aspx?APH100