In a Given Day

It was so nice to have a weekend. Matt took baby duty for most of Sunday and I felt like a free woman again. We spent time pulling out the horrid ornamental grass from our front landscaping. Matt figured he got in a good workout. And when I wasn't outside enjoying the beautiful day, I was inside tinkering around with my newest hobby: digital scrapbooking. It's got me hooked.

I'm not really into super complex scrapbooking pages, but I certainly appreciate the simple stuff. And it's a good thing, too, because I'm not as creative as I'd like to be. :-) But anyway, I digress.

It was so refreshing and I was more than ready to pack up Morenna and descend upon the great and mighty CVS for our weekly visit. We didn't fair too badly, I might add.


One transaction afforded us:

- (1) mega-pack of Huggies Diapers
- (1) Always Infinity Pads
- (1) Bayer Breeze 2 Glucose Monitor (great donation for a pregnancy care center or just to sell in a garage sale!)
- (4) SoyJoy bars

I used:
- $10 off purchase of $50 CVS coupon
- $1 mnf. coupon for Huggies / $2 CVS coupon for Huggies
- $2 mnf. coupon for Always + $4.99 rain check from two weeks ago for a free box
- $buy-one-get-one for SoyJoy (= $1)
- $30 mnf. coupon for Bayer Monitor (in this week's RedPlum)
- $1.67 ExtraCare buck

I spent: $1.71

In return: I got another $5 in ExtraCare bucks, bringing my current total up to $29. Holy cow. Need anything from CVS?

Ahh, I heart CVS. Not to mention there is also a manufacture mail-in rebate on the monitor box. Should they affort a full price-paid refund, it would be a $30 money-maker! Yeah, I heart CVS.

Individualism vs. Education

Matt and I wrote this post for the BreakPoint "The Point" blog.

Here is the quote we wanted, but couldn't, place at the end:

When an opponent declares, "I will not come over to your side," I calmly say, "Your child belongs to us already... What are you? You will pass on. Your descendants, however, now stand in the new camp. In a short time they will know nothing else but this new community."

~ Adolf Hitler

Touche.

Toys for the Housewife

(Get your mind out of the gutter)

Otherwise Entitled: Ode to My Swiffer Duster

I can't believe I'm actually dedicating precious time and energy to blogging about this, but allow me to say: I love my new Swiffer Duster!

I bought one at random last night as part of a huge (but inexpensive) CVS purchase and I haven't stopped swiffering (is that a word) since I opened the box. Unlike other dusters that simply push the dust around, the Swiffer really does pick up all the little dust particles. It's perfect for any type of dusting job.

But the best part of all is that it's incredibly fluffy and soft. It just begs to be pet between jobs.

Ok. Did I really just say that?

CVS for Newbies

Lately a couple of you have mentioned your interest in bargain shopping at CVS. You go girls!

The deals are amazing, the bargains, endless (well, we wish they were)... and overall, it's really not a complicated way to save hundreds of dollars. I thought about doing a little "how-to" post for getting started CVS-ing, but then I noticed that the frugal blogger, Thrifty Mama, is actually doing a great informative series for beginners. Feel free to follow her along, here.

One thing worth mentioning: as a new shopper, you can either sign up for CVS' extracare program online or in the store. Should you decide to try your hand at the sales this week (following Thrifty Mama's program), you'll definitely need to sign up in the store so that your card is activated immediately.


And not to steal the spotlight from CVS by any means, but RiteAid pharmacy has some incredible deals on over-the-counter medications this week. The October monthly rebate offers line up perfectly with many of the cold/flu items on sale this week.

All of the items in the picture at right, I got for free after rebate. Not only that, but for the Children's Advil and the Excedrin, I was able to use $3 in coupons, plus the Sucrets came with a manufacture $1.50 mail-in-rebate! It's pretty nice to be paid $4.50 to stock up on medication for the winter season! :-) Check out MoneySavingMom for a listing of the 30 items that are free after rebate for this week.

CVS 10/5-10/11

So my CVS posts have been a bit absent of late - my apologies. Here was my run for this week, and what a great week it was!

Transaction One

• Bic Soleil Razor $5.99
  
• Tylenol Gels $6.00
• Vitamin Water $2.29
  
• Always Infinity $4.98
• Colgate Toothpaste $2.99

Total + tax: $22.31

Used:
$2 off Bic, available here
$2 off Tylenol (9/14 Red Plum)
$1 off Colgate Max (9/28 SmartSource) + $1 CVS Register Coupon for Colgate

$14.99 in ExtraCare bucks

Total Out-of-Pocket: $1.32
ECB's Earned: $13.27

---

Transaction Two

• Tylenol PM Gelcaps $6.00
• (2) Children's Tylenol $6.00 each
  
• CVS Kid's Hand Sanitizer $1.99
  

Total: $19.99

Used:
$2 off Tylenol PM (9/7 RedPlum)
$2 off (2) Children's Tylenol (9/14 SmartSource)

$13.27 in ECBs

Total Out-of-Pocket: $2.72
ECBs earned: $11.00

I was pretty pleased with these deals, but my savings could've been better. I bought the kids sanitizer because I thought I needed a filler item (so that my total was enough that I could use all my ECBs earned in the previous transaction), but I didn't need it after all. So if I hadn't bought that, I would've only paid $0.72 for the second transaction, and would have earned $10 in ECBs instead of $11. But as I reminded myself on the trip home, it's still only $4 for all those items. :-)