Total merchandise before sales & coupons: $68.76

Total Amount Paid: $12.25

Transaction # 1

(1) Bag CVS Cough Drops @ 1.19

(1) Children’s Throat Coolers* @ 4.99, Earn 4.99 ECBs

Coupon: Free CVS cough drops

Paid: $4.99 ECBs & zero cash

Transaction # 2

(1) NeilMed NasoGel @ 7.99, Earn 7.99 ECBs

Paid $4.99 ECBs & $3.00 cash

Transaction # 3

(1) Gillette Fusion Gamer razor @ 9.99, sale 7.99, earn 4.00 ECBs

Paid $7.99 ECB & zero cash

{I did not have the $4 coupon that made this a better deal}

Transaction # 4

(6) Bags of Stacy’s Pita / Bagel Chips @ 3.29, sale 3.00

(1) Pepsi 8-pk @ 2.99, sale 2.25

{Spend $20 on Pepsi products, earn $10 ECBs}

Coupons: (6) Stacy’s @ $1.50 ea = $9.00

Paid $4.00 ECBs & $7.25 cash

Transaction # 5

(3) Boxes of Advil Cold & Sinus @ 7.29, sale 5.00

{Spend $15 on Advil/Robitussin, earn $5 ECBs}

Coupons: (3) $1.00 = $3.00

Paid: $10.00 ECBs & $2.00 cash

* Children’s Throat Coolers – These are like mini Popsicles, but have vitamin c and honey. They are found in the children’s meds section, even though they are non-medicated).

{More chips to add to all the snacky stuff from the Winn-Dixie deal}

Huge thx to Tara at Deal Seeking Mom for the CVS deals & coupon match-ups. A huge time saver for me. Tara posts deals for many stores & other freebies and frugal goodies all the time, so you simply MUST stop by there. You’ll thank me. Also, you can get lots of links to help you do your frugal shopping each week in the Frugal Deals Roundup.

{Prices are per item, before sales & coupons}

(4) Boxes Milford Farms Chicken Strips / Nuggets @ 5.29

(2) Bags Maizetos Corn Chips @ 1.79

(2) Bags Farm Rich Mozzarella Bites @ 8.29

(4) Bags Kraft Jet Puffed Strawberry Marshmallows @ 1.49

(2) Boxes Nabisco Wheat Thins @ 3.49

(2) Pkgs Fresh Strawberries @ 3.99

(2) Boxes O.R. Popcorn @ 3.29

(1) Box of Cheerios @ 3.99

(1) Box of Double Chocolate Cookie Crisp @ 3.99

(2) Jars Pace Salso @ 3.79

(2) Bags Chex Mix @ 2.69

(3) 1 Lb Freshpet Dog Food @ 2.99

(2) Kraft Mayo {Olive Oil} @ 4.99

Subtotal: Approx $116

Reward Card Savings: $43.58

Manuf. Coupon Savings: $28.31

Tax: $0.91

Paid: $36.53

Items I got completely free after sales & coupons:

(4) Bags Marshmallows

(1) Cheerios

(1) Cookie Crisp

(3) Freshpet dog food

I have to confess that I haven’t been doing my savvy shopping lately, so it feels great to score this deal!  I am going to have to start building up my grocery stockpile again. Cannot wait to get the deep freezer to help with that!

I know it may seem funny that these items are the result of my grocery trip, but I work the deals and stockpile shop on what I get the best bargains on. Next week will be completely different items, but I won’t need to buy mayo, cereal (I already had several boxes, lol), marshmallows, etc for quite sometime – unless it is truly another too good to pass up deal {or free!!}.

By the way, anyone notice the obvious Super Bowl sale? Yeah – tons of snacky items, LOL!  There’s a similar theme in my CVS deal. Can’t wait for post Super Bowl deals, LOL!

Thx to Homeschooling Four’s Winn-Dixie coupon match-ups for this week.  It helped me tons! You can get lots of links to help you do your frugal shopping each week in the Frugal Deals Roundup. 

I was tagged for this lil piece of fun by LaDonna at Just Our Thoughts and this is how it goes:

Find your 5^th photo file folder; then the 5^th photo in that file folder.  Post that picture on your blog.  Tag 5 others to do the same.

So… I went searching… and came up with this adorable pic of my son, taken in August of 2007.  He was 13 months old and “helping” Mommy make the bed. And by helping, I mean playing and preventing me from making said bed, LOL!

And by tag 5 people, I’m thinking that if you are reading this & have a blog, you should consider yourself tagged.

Become a virtual sports pro at your favorite games with this cool new combo pack for the Nintendo Wii. Enjoy the realism added to your gaming experience and make it simple to switch according to the multitude of games with this “must have” item for your Wii collection. These accessories will demonstrate why you bought a Wii in the first place. Don’t feel like your just playing a video game anymore, but a real sport instead!

Nintendo Wii Sports Combo Kit $33

Check out this great deal {today only!} on these beautiful pleated throw pillows by Tag ® available in brown, cream, or green. Pillows are a great, inexpensive way to freshen up your décor.

MORE INFO:

Give your living room, family room, or bedroom an elegant look with this chic Pleated Pillow in Brown by tag®. It coordinates with tag’s® Green and Cream Pleated Pillows so you can mix and match any combination you like for your home décor.These pillows are great for adding color and flair to your living room sofa, chaise, or divan, and make a wonderful addition to your bedroom accessories. The hidden zipper closure makes removing the filled pillow insert easy when you need to wash. The pillow cover is 100% cotton and is machine washable.Features:
• Chic pleated pillow
• Hidden zipper closure
• Filled pillow insert
• 100% cotton
• Machine wash cold separately; line dry
• Color: Brown

Size: 16”square

Pleated Throw Pillows $10

5 pounds of pens….. what will they come up with next? Ok, here’s the deal. You use pens almost everyday of your life. Your parents used pens and even your computer age children still use pens. Yes, it’s lovely to have a $200.00 Cross or Monte Blanc handy, but reality is that most of us riffle through our kitchen drawers looking for something to write with. Well, now’s your chance to fill those drawers up on the cheap.

Here’s the scoop on this deal. Each pen is a brand new click pen. Most pens would sell for $0.40 or more each if you bought them in bulk blank. but these aren’t blank. They have logos, addresses, phone numbers and more from various businesses. They’re misprints and overruns from companies looking to promote themselves. Do we care….NO! because they’re brand new working pens just like we need at home, at the office or at school.

Get 5 lbs. of pens (approx 265 pens in all)

Each pen is a click pen (none of those crappy pen caps like in the hotels rooms)

Pens will range in color and size (see picture)

Get them HERE.

26″ HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor:

The K-2626mdhwb 26-inch wide format LCD display is capable of 1920 x 1200 resolution, has internal speakers and can receive content from your PC via the VGA connection and a DVD player or set top box via the DVI or HDMI HDCP connection. The K-2626mdhwb is housed in a stylish black case with integrated internal power supply.

More deets HERE.

{Limited time deal, so hurry over if you are interested!}

So, that ginormous scorpion I was telling you about? Yeah, not a scorpion, ginormous or otherwise.  I’ll be the first to tell you that I don’t know much about these things, nor have I ever had desire to learn about them, so I’m feeling quite blissful in my ignorance. 

However, I did want to correct the record.  I didn’t examine it too closely, though when I glanced at the claw things it seemed to me like some water critter, but of course I. Am. In. The. Woods. There is so body of water anywhere near me. (Yes, we have the Atlantic Ocean, yes there is the Gulf of Mexico, albeit even further away, and yes, there are lots of lakes, rivers, and such – just not THAT near us. Not in these woods.

So, I obviously thought it couldn’t be a water critter.  Til the husband came home and I showed him the thing.  Oh, that’s a craw daddy, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world (which it probably was to everyone but me).  He took the jar (with the lid still on – that thing did not DIE) and took it out to the woods and set it free. Sure, so when it rains like mad again it can just come back. {shudders}

OK, so a craw daddy isn’t the vicious thing I thought it was when I mistakenly thought it was a scorpion, but still. NOT what I want to stumble across in the middle of the floor. Late at night. Uninvited. 

Free Acuue sample

Free Quaker Dark Chocolate Raspberry Almond True Delights {Yum!}

Free $10 coupon booklet

75 Free 4×6 Prints (or 225 for $15)

Free subscription to Body & Soul magazine

Get a FREE issue of Cooking Pleasures magazine plus a free gift from the Cooking Club of America.

FREE issue of Handy magazine – great for DIY project ideas, etc.

FREE issue of  Gardening How-To magazine plus FREE shears!

 FREE issue of North American Fisherman magazine.

 Free membership, FREE issue of North America Hunting magazine. Cool – as a member you can test {and keep!} hunting gear! 

Click HERE & check the right sidebar for more freebies!

I casually walked into the kitchen in search of a little snack.  Out of the corner of my eye, in the doorway between the kitchen and the laundry room, was this… umm… thing.

I know that since we live “in the woods” there are things out there.  And sometimes those things come inside.  Mostly, it is a spider or a moth or a present from the cat. {shudders}  Sometimes even a scorpion. You know, a small, very small, scorpion. 

This thing is not small by any means and did a superb job of Freaking. Me. Out.  Especially when I attempted to scoop it onto a piece of paper to throw away – and IT MOVED. Oh my heck.

I very bravely found a jar, washed it out, and bravely (did I mention the bravely part?) got it into the jar. Once the lid was screwed on, I felt much more safe, but no less freaked out.  I took pictures for ya, but you get what you get. The labels are still on the jar (I tried lying it on the side and taking pics form the bottom of the jar, then from the top - not so happy about having to take the top off for a pic mind you), and there are still water droplets from me washing the jar. 

 Now, I’m just waiting for the thing to DIE.

 {shudders}

Update on the thing scorpion craw daddy.

When Lil’ Roo was still a baby (as opposed to the much older toddler he is now, lol), and I was paying about the same amount as our mortgage each month on diapers and formula (or so it felt like), I came across an article in our local paper about a lady who used the Grocery Game. I checked it out & joined. I was also doing some looking around online and came across A Full Cup, a wonderful forum filled with a collaboration of deals, tips, printable coupons, store sales + coupon matchups, etc.  As I continued searching, I found enough info available free that I cancelled my GG membership and shortly after created a blog of my own.  A Full Cup was a great help to me as I was getting started on my frugal journey, and I still check them out for great deals, coupons, and info. 

A Full Cup {their tag line is “savings by the cup full”} is completely free, very organized, has coupons you can print directly from their site, and is made up of some great peeps.  Go check them out!  J

The day finally started winding down to a close and it was time to put Lil Roo to bed.  We started doing our nightly, before bed, cleanup routine.  Incidentally, that was also the moment I got an impulse to rearrange his room.  It started with just picking up the toys, then I figured I’d go ahead and do a quick vacuum. Then… well, next thing I know I’m moving just about everything around. The only things that didn’t get moved was the bed and the dresser, and trust me, I was considering that also.  I have a variety of small / medium containers I use to corral the toys, in addition to the closet shelves, and there are also large toy vehicles and ride-ons that just sit out. 

I have been trying different methods of organizing his toys, books, and misc stuff, but I haven’t found a system that works exactly like I want it to.  I’ve had my eye on a large bookshelf type deal, with cubes instead of straight across shelves.  I saw something like this on an old episode of Jon & Kate quite awhile ago and have been thinking about it since.  I found this at IKEA, which is basically what I have in mind:

Keep in mind, that I removed unearthly amounts of toys leading up to Christmas, in the hopes that I would be able to have better control over the toys. Uh, wrong.

Step one: Sign up at Kodak Gallery and score 75 free prints! This offer has been extended through Feb 13, 2009.

Step two: Order an additional 150 prints for 10 cents each.

These two steps will score you a total of 225 4×6 prints for only $15, which comes out to about 6 cents per print.  This is a fabulous deal, so if you have Christmas, New Years, Holiday, or other pictures you need to have printed, now is a great time!

Also:

Calendar Sale: Buy 1 Calendar, get 1 FREE with coupon code FREECAL09. Expires 2/2/09.

Save 20% on photo gifts using code LOVE20. Photo gifts would be great for Valentines Day!

 You may also be able to get an additional 20 free prints.  I haven’t tried this one yet, so let me know if it works for you. 

Today only, you can pick up the Dirt Devil Kone handheld vacuum in pink or blue for over 40% off!  This would be great for the nursery or kids’ room (out of reach of course) – it looks great sitting out and beats dragging out the vacuum for a little mess.  Great for other rooms, too.

The regular price of the Dirt Devil Kone is $40, but the special today has it marked down to $30. Using code PROMO09 you can get an additional 5% off, making it $28.50. If you scored one of the Free $10 gift cards, your total would be $18.50!

Whenever you have a coupon for a FREE item, watch for BOGO (buy one get one free) sales, which will net you TWO free items. 

Free product coupons are also great to use when you need to get your “before coupons” total up to a certain amount for a promotion or to use a $/$$ coupon (such as $5 off a $25 purchase, etc).