Deals of the week 10/5/08-10/11/08

There were some good deals out there this week. Here's the round-up.

CVS
Purchased:
1 Always Infinity $4.98
1 Clean & Clear Acne Control Astringent $5.49
3 Johnson's Buddies Soaps $3.57
Qs Used:
$1 off any Clean & Clear product
$3/3 Johnson's Buddies
$9 ECBs
Total OOP: $1.34
Earned: $4.98 ECBs

I thought I'd share some other totals using my Grocery Game Lists.
My Walgreen's Totals were helped out with a special $3 off $10 Q to celebrate a new store opening locally. My first trip I had a total OOP of $2.08 for $10.97. The second trip I had a total OOP of
$2.53 for $15.75.

Walgreens weekly totals: $4.61 for $26.72 worth of products.

My Kroger total was $39.52 OOP for $58.37 in groceries.

Weekly Total OOP:$45.47
Shelf Price:$99.13
For a savings percentage of 54%

For more savings be sure to check out Money Saving Mom's Super Savings Saturday and The "Cent"sible Sawyer's CVS Superstars.

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Frugal Fall Decor

I love Fall! I love the colors and the cool, crisp weather. And I love to decorate my home at this time of year almost as much as I do at Christmas. While at the local farmer's market this past Saturday, I stumbled upon a lady selling all of her veggies 6 for $1. Along with yummy fresh tomatoes and bell peppers she had two bins of fall veggies just perfect for decorating. As I was picking what I wanted, she kindly told me to go ahead and get 7 of each item. So, I got 7 tomatoes, 7 bell peppers and 7 various fall veggies for $3. Six of the fall veggies/gourds? now reside in a hand-carved wooden bowl on our sofa table while 1 little pumpkin sits upon my mantle with some fall items I already had. Fall decor for $1. That's my kind of decorating.

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Menu Plan Monday 10/5/08-10/11/08

I never got around to planning it all out last week but we did well with planning a couple of days in advance through the week. Not how I like to do it but sometimes that happens and you just have to deal Here is what I have for this week. A super busy week so we're going for fast and easy most days.

Monday: Sandwiches & Chips/Crackers*update* we added veggie soup

Tuesday: Meat Loaf, Mashed Potatoes & Salad

Wednesday: Chicken Quesadillas with fixins

Thursday: Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, AppleSauce & Raw Veggies

Friday: Souvlaki with pita bread and some sort of rice

Saturday: Grilled Steaks, Salad and some sort of veggie(still working on this one as well)

Sunday: Leftovers

For more menu planning ideas, check out I'm an Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday.

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CVS Deals of the Week 9/28/08-10/4/08

Just one trip to CVS for me this week. I wasn't sure I was going to go but I just couldn't pass up a deal on my kids' favorite toothpaste and the razor for my dear husband.



What I bought:

2 Colgate Kids Toothpaste $5
1 Gillette Fusion Power Razor $9.99
3 Johnson's Buddies Soap $3.57


Qs Used:
2 75 cents off Colgate Toothpaste
1$3/3 Johnson's Buddies
1 $4 off any Gilette Fusion Razor
$7 ECBs


Total OOP: $3.75
Earned: $9.50 ECBs which includes my Summer quarterly earnings.


For more great savings be sure to check out Money Saving Mom's Super Savings Saturday and The "Cents"ible Sawyer's CVS Superstars.

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Deals of the Week 9/21/08-9/27/08

I love when there are great deals on things I really need. I was down to my last couple of rolls of paper towels. I'm good for months now.

CVS Trip #1

1 12 pack Cottonelle TP $6.49

2 8 packs Viva Paper Towels $12.98

1 Kotex Pads $6

1 Twix bars 88 cents

1 Adidas Deodorant $4.99

Qs Used:

1 50 cents off Cottonelle

2 50 cents off Viva

1 $1 off Kotex

1 $1 off Adidas product

$5 0ff $30 purchase

$11.28 ECBs

Total OOP: $12.41

Earned: $14 ECBs

CVS Trip #2(getting ready for the Trick or Treaters edition)

2 bags Hershey Kisses $5
1 Twix bars .88
1 Mars Chocolate Mix bag $9.99

Qs Used:
$1 off 2 bags of Hershey Kisses
$10 ECBs

Total OOP: $5.17
Earned $7 ECBs

I'm adding one more shop even though I don't have pictures to share. We had a new Crazy 8 store open nearby this week. I received an email with a $10 off $30 promotion. They also had graphic tees advertised for $5 and jeans for $10. When I got to the store they were givng away 20% off entire purchase coupons that could be combined with a $10 off $30 Crazy Cash that they were handing out. I was able to get my girls a total of 5 shirts and 1 pair of jeans for a total of $25.85 with tax or $4.30 per item. I was very pleased. That's a great price for cute, new clothing.

For more great deals be sure to check out The "Cent"sible Sawyer's CVS Superstars.

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Tuesday Tip

It's always nice to have a cushion in your checking account, especially if your budget is tight. An unfortunate subtraction/addition error on your part can lead to very unwanted insufficient fund fees. Having a cushion can keep you from bouncing a check if you've made a mistake and think there is more money in your account than there actually is. But where do you come up with the money for a cushion when there is little to nothing left over at the end of the month? I do it by rounding. Whenever I write a check or use my debit card, I round up the amount I deduct from my checking balance. For example, if I spend $41.25 at the grocery store and use my debit card to pay, instead of subtracting $41.25 from my checking account I subtract $42. That adds 75 cents to my checking account cushion. And when I make a deposit I round down. So instead of saying the deposit was $259.71 I'll enter it as $259. Over time this really adds up. You can track this however you like. If you want to be aware of every single penny, write the amount down in a separate column and add it up at the end of the week/month when you balance your checkbook. I don't pay too much attention to mine. I just know when I balance my checkbook I always have more than what I should have. Earlier this year when we were having a really tight month, I balanced the account and was able to use some of the extra money for something we needed while still keeping a couple of hundred dollars in the account as a cushion. Decide on how much cushion you'd like to leave in the account and you can periodically transfer any excess to your savings account.

Some banks offer accounts that use this same basic principle but they transfer all the money into a savings account. I prefer my method since it helps build up the cushion in your checking account and the excess can still be used for savings. Do you keep a cushion in your checking account? If so, share your ideas for building/keeping a nice cushion in your account.

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Menu Plan Monday 9/22/08-9/28/08

On the menu this week:

Monday: Sandwiches, chips, fruit

Tuesday: Grilled pork chops, wild rice, salad

Wednesday: French Bread Pizza

Thursday: Baked Tilapia, sweet potatoes, salad

Friday: Pork & Veggie stir fry, brown rice

Saturday: Grilled steak, baked potatoes, salad

Sunday: Leftovers

Our family favorite isn't on the menu this week but you can see our recipe for Black Bean Burritos HERE.

For more menu planning ideas, check out I'm an Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday.

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Deals of the week 9/7/08-913/08

TARGET:


We love Kashi products so I had to take advantage of Target's Kashi promo this week.
4 Kashi products for $11
-1 Go Lean Crunch cereal
-3 Kashi Cereal Bars
Qs Used: $2 off Kashi Go Lean Crunch
Total OOP: $9
Earned $5 Target Gift Card




CVS

There were a few deals that drew me in this week.

1 Lawn Chair $1.99(90% off summer clearance)
4 Chex Mix $4($1 each)
1 Loreal Skin Genesis Cleansing Towelettes $5.99
Qs Used
$1/2 Chex Mix
$1/2 Chex Mix
$1 off Loreal Product
$7.99 ECBs
Total OOP: $1.11
Earned $5.99 ECBs

For more great deals be able to check out Money Saving Mom and The Centsible Sawyer's CVS Superstars.

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Fast & Frugal Meal

I thought I would share my favorite frugal meal. It is everything I love in a meal: simple to cook, ready in a hurry, inexpensive and most importantly, very tasty. This originally started as a soup and one day I decided the ingredients would be great wrapped up in a tortilla. I always have these ingredients on hand so it's a great "go to" meal when you're pressed for time.

Black Bean Burritos
1 can black beans(rinsed and drained)
1 can corn niblets(drained)
1 can diced tomatoes with jalepenos
1 package whole wheat tortillas
Cumin to taste
Optional: shredded cheese, sour cream/plain yogurt, salsa

Just dump the first 3 ingredients into a skillet. Sprinkle with cumin and heat through. Serve wrapped in warmed tortillas. You can add the optional ingredients if you have them on hand but I find this meal perfectly satisfying without them. This makes plenty of food for a family of 2 adults and 2 children. We always have enough leftovers for a couple of lunches.

Alternate recipe:
Add 2 cans of chicken stock to the beans, corn & tomatoes and heat through in a large pot and you have yourself a filling and delicious soup.

Enjoy!

For more Frugal Tips be sure to check out Frugal Friday at Biblical Womanhood.

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Menu Plan Monday

Here's what's going to be served up this week.

Monday-Turkey Tacos & Mexican Rice

Tuesday-Baked Salmon, Brown Rice, Salad

Wednesday-Linguine with Red Clam Sauce, Salad

Thursday-Homemade Pizza

Friday-Breakfast for Dinner-Scrambled Eggs, Sausage, Biscuits, Cantaloupe

Saturday-Grilled Burgers & Hot Dogs, Baked Fries, Fresh Fruit, Brownies

Sunday-Leftovers

Be sure to check out more menu ideas at I'm an Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday.

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