Tuesday, October 30, 2012

My Shopping Day~ 10/27/2012

The boys were out of school again today- not really sure why.  The school says that is was because of Hurricane Sandy that the boys were out of school for 2 days.  Even though Sandy shifted and all we got was some wind and not the super crazy blow everything all over the place wind and some rain. The boys have gone to school in much worse conditions.  I have driven them to the bus stop, which is at the end of our driveway, in much harder rain than what we got.  Who knows.  Chris and Nathan were not complaining one bit about having 2 days off from  school.  Kevin was not sharing their happiness because he had school- got to love homeschool.  Not a whole lot that cancels homeschool- LOL:)

Due to not knowing what the hurricane was going to do and because Michael had a meeting Monday morning, we decided to do our grocery shopping on Saturday after the Lowes Build and Grow event.  Boy that was fun, everyone was there buying all the milk and bread and batteries.  It was crazy.

Here is our shopping trip for this week:

Walmart
$1.50- Hairball treats for the cat
$0.94- Bananas
$4.24- Maple- yay for Walmart restocking their maple- after making our own syrup, we are not huge fans of store bought syrup
$0.78- Brown rice
$4.00- (4) loaves bread
$11.16- (4) gallons skim milk
$2.00- (4) votives for the pumpkins for Halloween
$25.33- Total after tax

Dollar Tree
$1.00- cute little rake for little Michael to rake leaves with Kevin
$1.00- Gallon zip bags
$1.00- Qtips
$1.00- Tootsie rolls
$1.00- Cinnamon Applesauce
$5.15 after tax

Martins
$0.54- Reduced bread

This shopping trip has been added to our October Monthly Spending post, where I keep track of what we spend for the month of October.  How did we do with our budget- did we come in under budget, just right or did we bust our budget?  Hop on over here and find out:)

Monday, October 29, 2012

Purex with Oxi Review and Giveaway

Purex must have had my family in mind when they created this detergent. I am so happy to inform you that Purex has a new laundry detergent, Purex with Oxi.
With 4 very active boys, you can only imagine the stuff that the boys get on their clothes. The day I got the Purex box from Fed Ex was a perfect day to put the Purex with Oxi to the test. We were all outside enjoying the unseasonal weather. I was playing tag with little Michael. Kevin and Nathan were playing football, at least they were. Kevin got this crazy idea to try and teach Nathan how to tackle. Let's just say that didn't go as well as they had planned.
This is how most of their plays played out:) Did anyone notice the color of Nathan's pants? Yup- nice light tan pants. Nathan stood up and my eyes immediately zoomed right into the knees- sure enough ground in dirt accompanied by lovely green grass stains. Oh joy:)

I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to see how well Purex with Oxi actually worked. The first thing I noticed about Purex with Oxi was the scent. I smell everything:) Purex with Oxi had a nice light scent, not too purfumy or heavy. The next thing I noticed was the low suds when my washing machine was washing, which makes this laundry detergent perfect for HE washing machines.

I was a little too excited as I jumped up the minute the washing machine was done. I dug around until I found the tan pants Nathan was wearing. I went straight to the knees and I must say I am excited- no grass stains- yay:) And I didn't even pretreat. If you feel the need to pretreat, you can do that with this detergent- no need for a separate preatreater required. Just pour a little Purex with Oxi on the stain, rub the stained fabric together, let it sit for 5 minutes an then throw the stained fabric in the washing machine with the rest of your clothes. Super easy:)

If you would like to test this laundry detergent out and see if it is right for you family, then you are in the right place as I will be giving away a coupon good for a FREE full size bottle of Purex with Oxi detergent to 3 lucky readers. To enter, just leave me a comment below.  Coupon giveaway will end on 11/11/2012 and 3 lucky winners will be notified on 11/12/2012.  Don't forget to leave a email address to contact you if you win.

Also, Purex is giving away around $6000 in prizes:

Click here for your chance to win- 1 lucky winner will receive $1000 and 250 lucky winners will receive $25.

Click here to enter for your chance to win $1000 and a 1 year supply of Purex with Oxi in the form of 10 FREE coupons. Sweepstakes ends 11/16/2012

Click here for your chance to win for 1 lucky winner to win a 4.3 cu. ft. Whirlpool Duet® Steam Front Load Washer with Precision Dispense Ultra, a 7.4 cu. ft. Whirlpool Duet® Steam Electric Dryer with Advanced Moisture Sensing and pedestals. Prize includes delivery and set in place only. This is a Facebook promotion and ends 11/09/2012.
 
**Purex provided me with a sample of Purex plus Oxi to review.  However, all opinions expressed here are my own**

Menu plan for the week of 10/29/2012

This was a nice calm, chilly and rainy day. The schools were closed today, so everyone was home enjoying the laziness of today. Michael did have a business meeting this afternoon and did have to drive in this soggy weather. I did get a call from my dad today- it was great talking to him. He got sent home earlier because of the storm that is coming. Plus, Lynn wanted dad to call to make sure I was OK since I had an emotional day at church yesterday- she is so sweet:)

Here is our menu plan for this week:

Breakfast
Baked Oatmeal with Apples x2
Pumpkin spice muffins
Oatmeal with raisins and honey x2
Pancakes
English muffin bread- we are going to attempt to make this:)

Lunch
Sandwich, carrot sticks and popcorn

Dinner
Shredded BBQ chicken with corn
Chicken Stir fry with green beans
Taco beans and rice served with tortilla chips and green beans
Scrambled eggs with toast and fruit
Chicken noodle soup with grilled cheese
Garlic chicken and rice with corn
Baked Pasta with corn and homemade rolls

Hope everyone has a great week and stays safe with hurricane Sandy coming:)

The Clutter Must Go project- Day 29

Hope you had an awesome weekend:) 

Church yesterday was an emotional day for me.  It was All Saints Sunday- where we remember our loved ones who have gone to Heaven before us.  It started out great and as the congregation called out the names f their loved ones, I could feel the tears coming.  It wasn't until we were given the opportunity to take the flowers up and put them in vases to make beautiful bouquets that I lost it- I couldn't hold it in any longer.  The closer I got to the front of the church the more tears streamed down my face.  The hole in my heart from my mother's passing is still there.  I ran out of church and to the bathroom to get my self under control.  Lynn, my dad's girlfriend, found me and we talked- it helped me so much.  I am so blessed that Lynn came into my dad's life as well as ours.  I was fine until they showed the slide show of all those in our church who have passed, the tears came again.  This time I had my husband to hold and comfort me.

After church, we went to my dad's house and Lynn made a huge, delicious lunch.  We had a feast of ham, biscuits, baked beans, applesauce, french fries and 2 different cakes for dessert.  It was great to spend the day and have lunch with my family.  Today was a reminder that tomorrow isn't promised- enjoy the time you have here on this earth.  Enjoy your family:)

Which brings me to this week's declutter challenge~ are you ready??  Surprise, there isn't one.  This week, my hubby is home and I am going to enjoy my family.  Wednesday is Halloween and my mother in law is coming over to spend the night and Thursday we are going to get manicures and pedicures (I have never had either, so this should be quite the experience).  I plan on getting some things done around here, like still going through the bags of clothes we need to sort through~ I finally got all the bags from dad's house here.  I hope to get most of the boxes of sell items sold:)  But most importantly, I am going to have fun and enjoy my family this week.

If you feel you must do something, go ahead and get your sell boxes ready for sale, sell the items in your sell boxes, donate or give away the items in your donate box and get all the trash out of your home.

I am going to pick up with our declutter challenge next Monday- 11/05/2012. 

Those in the path of Hurricane Sandy- please be careful.  We are still waiting to see which direction she decides to turn to see if we will see anything from her or not.  So far this morning, it is just raining:)

Have a blessed and safe week:)

Friday, October 26, 2012

Walgreens deals for the week of 10/28/2012

Things to keep in mind when shopping at Walgreens:
1) You must have as many items as manufactur's coupons
2) Register Receipts (RR) are considered manufactur's coupons
3) You are allowed 1 Manufactur's coupon and 1 store coupon per item
4) Cannot use RR printed from item to pay for same item and get RR's again~
For example- If you were to purchase Colgate for $3 and get $3 RR, if you purchase the Colgate again and use the RR's earned from the 1st Colgate purchase you will not earn the RR's again

Walgreens has rolled out a new program called Balance Rewards. You earn points you can later redeem. Click here to read more about this new program.

Trick or Treat bags- $0.69- 4 Day sale Only- Sun through Wed

Hershey, Mars or Nestle fun size- $2.49 and get $0.50 RR- 4  Day Sale Only- Sun through Wed
$1.50/3 M&M or Hershey fun size cpn- 10/07 RP

General Mills cereal- $1.99
$0.75 General Mills Fiber One cereal cpn- 10/07 GM
$1/3 General Mills cereal cpn- 10/07 GM
$0.50 General Mills Cheerios, regular cpn- 09/23 SS
$0.50 General Mills Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cocoa Puffs, Lucky Charms, Golden Grahams, Chex Mix treats or Milk N Cereal bars cpn- 09/09 SS

Betty Crocker cake or Brownie mix- $0.99 with in ad cpn- Limit 3

Hunt tomato sauce- $1/3 with in ad cpn- Limit 6

Nestle candy- $0.39 with in ad cpn- Limit 6

No Nonsense Essential Basic Knee Highs- $1/3 with in ad cpn- Limit 6

Gillette Fusion ProGlide- $9.99 and get $4 RR
$5 Gillette Fusion ProGlide razor when you buy refill cpn- 10/28 P&G
$ Gillette Fusion ProGlide cpn- 10/07 RP

Colgate Total Advanced toothpaste- $2.99
Use $1 Store cpn
$0.75 Colgate Optic White, Total Advanced or Sensitive Pro Relief cpn- 10/28 SS
$0.75 Colgate Optic White, Total Advanced or Sensitive Pro Relief cpn- 10/14 SS

Clairol Naturals or Nice & Easy non permanent- $5.99 and get 1000 points
$2 Clairol Natural Instincts or Nice & Easy cpn- 10/28 P&G
$3/2 Clairol Natural Instincts or Nice & Easy cpn- 10/14 P&G
$2 Clairol cpn- 09/30 P&G
$2 Clairol Natural Instincts or Nice & Easy cpn- 09/16 SS

Yardley bar soap- $0.79 with in ad cpn- Limit 3

Glucose Quick Strips- $5.99 and get $5.99 Mail in rebate

Advil PM- $1
$1 ADvil Pm cpn- 10/28 RP

Select Crest toothpaste, Scope Outlast or Dual Blast mouthwash- $2.99 and get $1 RR
$0.75 Crest toothpaste cpn- 10/28 P&G
$0.75 Crest rinse cpn- 10/28 P&G
$0.50 Crest toothpaste cpn- 09/30 P&G

Campbells chicken noodle or tomato soup- $0.79

**This is not the entire Walgreens Register Rewards (RR) or Balance Reward Points sale items- these are some of the great deals I spotted in the upcoming Walgreens ad.**

CVS deals for the week of 10/28/2012

Don't forget to....
1) Go to cvs.com/email and sign up for the ExtraCare email and receive a $4/20 cpn
2) Stop by the Red ExtraCare coupon center and get CVS cpns
3) You can use a manufacturer's cpn along with a CVS cpn
4) You can use a B1G1Free cpn along with a B1G1Free sale to get both products for FREE

Snickers fun size, Kit Kat or Reese's snack size- $5/2 and get $1 ECB
$1/3 Hershey Reese's, Hershey, Kit Kat, Twizzlers or Jolly Ranchers snack size cpn- 10/14 SS

Dum Dum, Tootsie Pops or Midgees- $4/2 and get $1 ECB

Puffs- $0.99
$0.25/3 Puffs cpn- 10/28 P&G
$0.25 Puffs cpn- 09/30 P&G

Select General Mills cereal- $1.88
$0.75 General Mills Fiber One cereal cpn- 10/07 GM
$1/3 General Mills cereal cpn- 10/07 GM
$0.50 General Mills Cheerios, regular cpn- 09/23 SS
$0.50 General Mills Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cocoa Puffs, Lucky Charms, Golden Grahams, Chex Mix treats or Milk N Cereal bars cpn- 09/09 SS

Gardettos or Chex Mix- $6/3 and get $2 ECB
$0.50/2 General Mills Bugles, Chex Mix, Pillsbury Baguettes or Gardettos cpn- 09/23 SS

Spend $10 Physicians Formula Cosmetics and get $6 ECB

Suave bodywash or Naturals lotion- $5/2
$2 Suave body lotion cpn- 10/14 RP

Nivea Bodywash or scrub- $3.88
$1 Nivea for Men bodywash cpn- 10/28 RP
$1 Nivea for Women bodywash cpn- 10/28 RP

Olay bodywash, bar or Ultra Moisture lotion- $5.50 and get $1 ECB
$1 Olay hand or body lotion cpn- 10/28 P&G
$1 Olay bar, bodywash, in shower lotion or lotion cpn- 10/28 P&G
$3/2 Olay bodywash or bars cpn- 09/16 SS

Clairol Nice & Easy or Root Touch up- $5.99
$2 Clairol Natural Instincts or Nice & Easy cpn- 10/28 P&G
$3/2 Clairol Natural Instincts or Nice & Easy cpn- 10/14 P&G
$2 Clairol cpn- 09/30 P&G
$2 Clairol Natural Instincts or Nice & Easy cpn- 09/16 SS

Spend $10 Any Colgate Optic White and get $5 ECB- Limit 2
$0.75 Colgate Optic White, Total Advanced or Sensitive Pro Relief cpn- 10/28 SS
$0.75 Colgate Optic White, Total Advanced or Sensitive Pro Relief cpn- 10/14 SS

Stayfree or Carefree- $2.99
$0.50 Stayfree cpn- 10/28 SS
$0.50 Carefree cpn- 10/28 SS

U by Kotex- $3.99
$0.25 U by Kotex cpn- 10/21 RP

Always Radiant or Tampax Pearl- $7.49 and get $2 ECB
$1 Always Radiant pads cpn- 10/28 P&G
$2.50/2 Always Infinity, Radiant Infinity or Radiant liners cpn- 09/30 P&G
$1/2 Always pads or liners cpn- 09/30 P&G

Pepto Bismol- $5.99 and get $1 ECB- Limit 3

Listerine Advanced Total Care, Ultra Clean or Reach floss- $3.99 and get $2 ECB- Limit 2
$0.50 Listerine, Ultra Clean, Total Care, Fluoride or Whitening cpn- 10/28 SS
$1 Listerine Total Care or Fluoride cpn- 07/29 RP
$0.50 Listerine mouthwash or Zero 1L cpn- 07/29 RP

Pantene- $8/2 and get $1 ECB
$1 Pantene cpn- 10/28 P&G
$1/2 Pantene cpn- 09/30 P&G
Buy Pantene shampoo and get free Pantene conditioner or styler FREE cpn- 09/16 SS

Aussie or Herbal Essence- $2.99
$1/2 Aussie or Herbal Essence cpn- 10/07 RP
$1/2 Aussie cpn- 09/16 SS

Dawn- $0.99
$0.75 Dawn hand renewal, power clean, bleach alternative or oxi cpn- 10/28 P&G
$0.50 Dawn cpn- 10/28 P&G

**This is not the entire CVS ECB sale items- these are some of the great deals I spotted in the upcoming CVS ad.**

The Clutter Must Go project~ Day 28

Happy Friday:)  Hope you have a fantastic day today.

The boys are all out of school today, well except Kevin, who is homeschooled, so he does have some school work to do today.  Other than that, all the boys are home and will hopefully help me out today with everything I hope to accomplish today.  Also, Michael comes home today- yay!!  So, we need to make sure the house looks good when he gets home:)

Today's challenge is to start where you left off yesterday going through your sell boxes.  If you are done going through your sell boxes, today I want you to think about where you would like to sell the items you collected in your sell boxes. If you want to hold a yard sale, grab your calendar and pick a date and work towards that. If you have a lot of clothes and toys and want to consign them, your challenge today is to look into consignment shops or sales in your area. I know the consignment sale I sell at is held twice a year~ so if you have an area to store your items until the next sale, then this works well. If you don't have an area to store your for sale items or need money now, then you need to come up with a different plan for your sale items. Look into EBay and Craigslist and see if any of those work for you. If not, check with your local county paper and see how much it would be to advertise in the classified section. I have also noticed a lot of yard sale facebook groups popping up here lately~ you may want to see if there are any in your area.

If you are going to list your items with EBay, Craigslist, yard sale group, etc, then today I would like for you to start taking pictures of the items you are listing for sale.  If you want to go ahead and list them, go for it:) 

Come back this evening and see how we did and to let me know how you did with today's challenge:)

Thursday, October 25, 2012

The Clutter Must Go project- Day 27 Results

How did you do with today's challenge? Did you get through all the boxes you wanted to go through? Have you thought about how and where you want to sell the stuff in the boxes?

I was able to go through a couple of more bags today. We found a good amount of nice winter clothes for little Michael. I wanted to keep going through more bags but had to stop after developing a nasty headache and got nauseous- not a fun feeling.

It was then, I realized why I was feeling the way I was feeling. Both my dad and his girlfriend are smokers. The bags we have gone through this week haven't bothered me at all. Today was a different story.

My mom used to giggle at me:) Both my husband and myself were smokers. After seeing what my dad has gone through with COPD ~ not being able to breathe, all the surgeries my dad has had and everything else my dad has gone through. I made the decision to quit smoking. I might be my father's daughter but I refuse to end up like my father as far as health goes. 5 years ago, my husband and I quit smoking. Unfortunately, I developed a sensitivity to smoke. I get a headache being outside standing next to my dad if he is smoking. I went from smoking to not being able to be around it.

All the clothes that we are keeping are being transferred straight from the bags to the hamper to the washing machine. I hope tomorrow will be a better day for sorting clothes. All the boys will be home tomorrow, so I will have extra hands:)

How did you do today with your challenge? I would love to hear all about how your challenges are going:) Come back tomorrow morning and see what we have planned to do tomorrow as part of our decluttering challenge continues.

21 Days to a more disciplined life ebook by Crystal Paine

I am so excited to announce that Crystal Paine from moneysavingmom.com has released a new ebook. 
 
I cannot wait to read Crystal's new ebook, 21 Days to a more disciplined life.  I have enjoyed everything she has written.  Crystal Paine is such an inspiration to so many.  I was excited to meet her in real life at a homeschool convention earlier this year.  She is so down to earth and was more than happy to talk to me about my concerns to homeschool Kevin.  She gave me some great advice and shared her own experiences with me.  I am so blessed to have gotten the opportunity to meet her.
 
21 Days to a more disciplined life is available through Amazon at the incredible low price of $0.99 for the Kindle edition.  This crazy low price is available through today (10/25/2012) only.  Hop on over to Amazon and get this ebook today for only $0.99 before the price goes up tomorrow.
 
The $0.99 price for this ebook is no longer available.  21 Days to a more disciplined life is now available for $4.99 on Amazon, which is still a great price for a 75 page ebook:)
 
If you don't have a Kindle, don't worry, you can download Kindle for PC, which allows you read any Kindle books bought on Amazon on your computer.

The Clutter Must Go project~ Day 27

Today's challenge is to dive right into where you left off yesterday.  For us, that is diving into that massive pile of clothes that we need to go through.

If you are done going through your sell boxes, today I want you to think about where you would like to sell the items you collected in your sell boxes.  If you want to hold a yard sale, grab your calendar and pick a date and work towards that.  If you have a lot of clothes and toys and want to consign them, your challenge today is to look into consignment shops or sales in your area.  I know the consignment sale I sell at is held twice a year~ so if you have an area to store your items until the next sale, then this works well.  If you don't have an area to store your for sale items or need money now, then you need to come up with a different plan for your sale items.  Look into EBay and Craigslist and see if any of those work for you.  If not, check with your local county paper and see how much it would be to advertise in the classified section.  I have also noticed a lot of yard sale facebook groups popping up here lately~ you may want to see if there are any in your area.  There is none for my area.  I have thought about starting my own yard sale facebook group for my area but right now the timing is just not right- maybe later on- we shall see:)

There is your challenge for today:)  Come back this evening and see if we were able to make it through all the bags of clothes we need to go through.  Plus let me know how you are doing with your challenges~ I would love to hear how things are going:)

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Bean & Rice recipe help:)

The boys are begging me to do another beans and rice month.  The last time we ate beans and rice for dinners for a month, I quickly became bored with what I had planned.  Which is understandable since we had beans and rice, beans and rice with salsa and beans and rice with cheese, etc.  Not much variety.

This time I am looking for different bean and rice recipes that are healthy and easy to fix.

If you know any bean and/or rice recipes, my family would love to hear them so we can possibly work them into our bean and rice month for November:)  Feel free to comment your recipes or leave your blog link to bean and rice recipes, that would be great.

Thanks:)

Lowes Build & Grow Clinic~ 10/27/2012

Lowes will be hosting a Build & Grow Clinic on October 27, 2012 at 10am.

If you are looking for a great free activity that you can do with your kids- you should check out the Lowes Build & Grow Clinics. Little Michael and Nathan love them. They love being able to do hands on projects with our help.

This Saturday, Lowes Build and Grow Clinic will be building a Creepy Keeper~ just in time for Halloween.




To sign up for this Build & Grow Clinic, simply go to the Lowes Build & Grow Clinic website, which they have redone to make it more user friendly. I am loving this new website. You register all your information. Then when you visit the website to sign up for an upcoming clinic, all you have to do is sign in and check which kids you are signing up. Don't forget to print and sign the waiver. And you and your child(ren) are ready for a really cool FREE hands on project.

Once you and your child(ren) complete the project they will receive a neat patch to put on their Lowes Build & Grow apron. If this is your first clinic, your child(ren) will receive a free Lowes Build & Grow apron and goggles:) The more clinics you do, the more patches you get to put on your kids apron and they can show them off with pride:)

The Clutter Must Go project~ Day 26 Results

How did your day go?  Were you able to get your challenge completed?

Me???  Welllllll, um, no.  I hauled out all the bags of clothes and took a picture:
Look at all the clothes we get to go through.  And this is all we could fit in the van- there is more at my dad's house:)  And a handsome little Michael wanted to be in the picture- he is such a cutie:)

Kevin reminded me about his huge first quarter biology test that he needed to study for and needed my help.  Plus making 2 loaves of banana bread.

I was able to get through a couple of bags but not as many as I had hoped to do.  But tomorrow is a new day.

How did you do with your challenge for today?  I would love to hear how you are doing with your declutter challenges.

Come back tomorrow morning and see what we have planned.

The Clutter Must Go project~ Day 26

All of our shopping is done and hubby left last night for the week for work. We are not planning to go anywhere and are anxious to get going with our declutter challenge for today. I can't wait to see what is in some of these bags of clothes my dad's girlfriend gave us for the boys:)

Today's challenge is to continue where you left off yesterday. Go through your sell boxes-make sure everything is clean and in working order. Think about and write down what you would like to sell these items for. Do you want to group them together as a lot or sell them individually? Something to think about.

If you are going through clothes- continue to sort by size and season. Also think about and write down how much you would like to sell them for. Also think about if you want to sell the clothes individually or grouped together by size.

Have fun with this challenge. Don't forget to come back this evening and see how we did and to let me know how you did with today's challenge.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

My Shopping Day~ 10/22/2012

Kevin and I went to the store. We had a blast~ we always have a good time shopping.  I loaded my coupon binder with coupons and used all of them.  It is such a great feeling coming home with an empty coupon binder and saving money.  We spent 5 hours going to 7 stores:)

Here is where we went and what we got:

Walmart
$2.48- Silk egg nog
$2.94- Frozen veggies
$2.00- Shred cheese
$11.16- (4) gallons skim milk
$0.98- Cheese Puffs for Nathan's fall party
$1.00- Bread
$3.12- (4) pkgs of Yakasoba noodles
$2.50- Triscut Garlic
$1.29- Bananas
$1.47- Little notebooks for Michael's handy dandy notebooks:)
$0.98- Vanilla
$4.00- Juice boxes
$2.37- Waggin Train dog treats
$36.29
-1/2 Yakasoba noodles cpn
-1/2 Yakasoba noodles cpn
-2.50- Free Triscut cpn
-2.00- Waggin Train dog treats cpn
$30.79 with tax and after cpns

Sam's Club
$3.99- (2) 18ct eggs
$2.98- (5) lb carrots
$1.78- (2) drinks
$9.01 after tax

Dollar Tree
$2.00- (2) pkgs pudding
$1.00- Honey
$1.00- Dum Dum pops
$1.00- (3)ct pan with lid
$5.15 after tax

Martins
$6.76- (4) bottles Bailey chocolate coffee creamer
$0.54- Reduced bread
$7.30
-1.50 Baileys Coffee Creamer printable cpn
-1.50 Baileys Coffee Creamer printable cpn
-1.69 B1G1Free Bailey's printable cpn
$2.78 after tax and coupons

Office Max
$2.10-Compass Kevin needed for school

Kroger
$2.00- (2) pkgs Gwaltney bologna
$2.00- (2) pkgs Gwaltney chicken hot dogs
$1.00- Fat Free cream cheese
$1.00- Angel Soft toilet paper
$6.00
-0.45 Gwaltney bologna cpn
-0.45 cpn doubled
-0.45 Gwaltney bologna cpn
-0.45 cpn doubled
-0.45 Gwaltney hot dog cpn
-0.45 cpn doubled
-0.45 Gwaltney hot dog cpn
-0.45 cpn doubles
-0.25 Angel Soft cpn
-0.25 cpn doubled
$2.02 after tax and coupons

CVS
$2.49- 4in1 carving tool
$3.00- (3) pkgs Stride ID gum
5.49
-1.57 B1G1Free Stride ID gum cpn- This coupon was only supposed to take $1 off but for some reason it took the regular non sale price off
-4.00 ECB
$-0.08 before tax- yes you see that correct it is -0.08:)
$0.11 Total with tax and got back 8.49 ECB's on a very long receipt- I love long receipts:)

This shopping trip has been added to our October Monthly Spending post, where I keep track of what we spend for the month of October.

The Clutter Must Go project~ Day 25 Results

How did you do with today's challenge?  We hope everyone had a great day.

Today's challenge was to go through all your sell boxes and see what you had.  Make sure everything is clean and in working order.  If you are going through clothes, group my season and size.

We spent this morning getting little Michael's hair cut.  He looks so cute under all that hair:)  Will try to take a picture and post it sometime this week.  After we got home, we decided to start with the clothes my dad's girlfriend gave the boys.  Chris and Kevin excitedly wanted to go through the bag with their names on it.  It was a huge contractor size trash bag- stuffed with clothes.  We spent several hours just going through that bag alone.  Chris went through the bag first and made piles- 1 pile he wanted and the other he didn't want.  From there, Kevin went through what Christopher didn't want and made his own piles of what we wanted and didn't want.  The clothes they don't want or can't wear are going into the sell pile.  Because it was a huge bag that is all we got done today.

How did you do with today's challenge?  I would love to hear how these challenges are working out for you:)

The Clutter Must Go project~ Day 25

Whose ready for today's challenge? I know I am:) I can't wait to get all this stuff out of my house and get my house looking good:)

So, lets get to it:

Yesterday's challenge was to go get rid of the contents in the box you are using to gather things you want to trash. We got that done:)

Today's challenge to is go through your sell box(es) and make sure everything in your sell box, you want to sell. Make sure everything is clean and in good working order. Group all clothes by size and season~ we have a ton of clothes, so this may take several days:) My dad's girlfriend just dropped off 12 trash bags of clothes for my boys that her grandkids can no longer wear. We are very blessed to receive this wonderful gift. Now we have a lot of clothes to go through and see what the boys want and what will fit.

Sometimes, going through your sell pile, you may see something that you know someone in your community has a need for. Instead of selling that item, give it to the person in need. Karma is a wonderful thing:)

Have a great sorting day:)

Come back this evening and see how we did and to let me know how you did with this project.

Monday, October 22, 2012

Menu Plan for the week of 10/22/2012

Kevin & I had a great day today.  We got our grocery shopping done- more details on our shopping trip tomorrow.  We also got a lot of stuff out of here with our declutter project.

Here is our menu plan for this week:

Breakfast
Strawberry Cream muffins X2
Baked Oatmeal with apples X2
Yogurt with oats and raisins
Pancakes
Oatmeal with brown sugar

Lunch
Salad with orange squeezed on top and a banana for me
Sandwich, popcorn and a banana for everyone else

Dinner
Mac & Cheese with tuna and peas
Chicken and rice stir fry
Taco beans and rice served with tortilla chips and corn
Pancakes with fruit
Chicken Noodle Soup
Pasta with spaghetti sauce and green beans
Garlic chicken and rice with peas

Snacks
Baked carrot experiment
Sliced apples
Popcorn
Eggnog cheesecake
Carrot slices

What do you have on your menu plan for this week?

The Clutter Must Go project~ Day 24 results

So, how did you do with today's challenge?

Today's challenge was to get all the junk, broken and trash stuff out of the house from the past 5 weeks of decluttering we have been doing.

We made 2 trips to the dump~ we got so much out of here- so happy:)

How did you do with your challege today? 

Come back tomorrow morning and see what tomorrows challenge is.

The Clutter Must Go project~ Day 24

I hope you had a fabulous weekend. Ready for this week's declutter challenge?

I am up early this morning and ready to go.

This week, we are going to take a break from hard core decluttering and focus on the items we have accumulated. If you have all the items you have in your sell, give away/donate and trash pile all in one location, then this will be easy for you. If you have them scattered around your house, that is OK also. As long as the items you want to get rid of are easy to get to, then you will be fine.

Because today is my shopping day and usually all around busy day, today's challenge is going to be an easy one.

Go through all your boxes and anything that is in the broken/trash box and anything you want to add to it, get that stuff out now. Load it in your vehicle and take it to the dump. Get that out of the way.

Save your trash box, we may need it later on this week:) If it works for you, set your timer or turn on some music, make it fun:)

Ready, set, GO......

Don't forget to come back this evening and see how we did and to let me know how you did with this challenge today:)

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Walgreens deals for the week of 10/21/2012

Things to keep in mind when shopping at Walgreens:
1) You must have as many items as manufactur's coupons
2) Register Receipts (RR) are considered manufactur's coupons
3) You are allowed 1 Manufactur's coupon and 1 store coupon per item
4) Cannot use RR printed from item to pay for same item and get RR's again~
For example- If you were to purchase Colgate for $3 and get $3 RR, if you purchase the Colgate again and use the RR's earned from the 1st Colgate purchase you will not earn the RR's again

Walgreens has rolled out a new program called Balance Rewards. You earn points you can later redeem. Click here to read more about this new program.

Colgate Total toothbrush, Total, Kids, MaxWhtie, Fresh or Clean toothpaste- $2.49 and get $1.50 RR

Nice water- $2.49

Halloween stick pens or pencils with eraser tops- $1/4 with in ad cpn- Limit 8

Halloween votives- $1/4 with in ad cpn- Limit 8

Halloween candy pumpkin or nest- $0.39 with in ad cpn- Limit 6

Halloween gift sack- $1/8 with in ad cpn- Limit 16

Jack Link's Jerky- $3.99
Use $1 Store cpn

Chex mix, Bugles, Gardettos or Combos- $5/3 and get 500 points
$0.50/2 Chex mix cpn- 10/07 GM
$0.50/2 Bugles, Chex mix, Baguette chips or Gardettos cpn- 09/23 SS

Nice cheese- shredded, block or sliced- $3/2

Bowl Appetit or Hamburger Helper- $0.99- Buy 5 and get 1000 points

Celebrity ham- $1.99 with in ad cpn- Limit 3

Capri Sun- $4/2 with in ad cpn- Limit 4

Nice Gelatin- $1/4 with in ad cpn- Limit 4

Wrigleys gum- $0.79 with in ad cpn- Limit 3

Nice OJ or Simply Lemonade- $1.99 with in ad cpn- Limit 3

Campbells Chunk soup or chili- $3/2 with in ad cpn- Limit 4
$0.40/4 Campbells Chunk soup or chili cpn- 10/07 SS
$0.50/3 Campbells Chunk soup, chili or natural microwave bowl cpn- 09/23 SS
$0.50/4 Campbells chunk soup or chili cpn- 09/09 SS

Coffee Mate liquid- $3/2 with in ad cpn- Limit 4

Starkist light tuna- $0.89 with in ad cpn- Limit 3

Butterball Chicken broth- $1/2 with in ad cpn- Limit 4

Nice toilet bowl or Comet- $1/2 with in ad cpn- Limit 4

Gain or Joy- $0.99 with in ad cpn- Limit 2
$0.25 Gain cpn- 10/14 P&G

Domino Sugar- $0.99

Softsoap bodywash- $6/2
Use $2 in store cpn

Nivea lip care- $5/2
$3/2 Nivea lip cpn- 10/21 RP

Sinful color nail color- $0.99

Finesse- $1.99

Revlon Colorsilk- $6/2
$1/2 Revlon hair color cpn- 10/14 SS

Gum toothbrush- $1.99 and get $1 RR
$0.55 Gum Oral Care cpn- 08/05 SS

Tresemme- $7/2
Buy Tresemme Shampoo AND Conditioner and get FREE Styler cpn- 09/30 RP

Pantene, Herbal Essence or Aussie- $5.99
$1/2 Pantene cpn- 09/30 P&G
Buy Pantene Shampoo and get FREE Pantene conditioner or styler cpn- 09/16 SS
$1/2 Aussie or Herbal Essence cpn- 10/07 RP
Buy Herbal Essence Shampoo and get FREE Conditioner or styler cpn- 09/16 SS

Garnier Fructis- $5/2
$1 Garnier Fructis cpn- 10/21 RP

Oral B 3D White Advantage toothbrush, 75pk Glide floss picks, Crest Clinical or 3D Vivid White, 3D White Arctic Fresh mouthwash, Select 3D White or ProHealth Clinical toothpaste- $3.49- Buy 2 and get 2000 points
$0.50 Oral B Pulsar, 3D White, Prohealth or Complete or $0.50/2 Indicator or Cavity Defense toothbrush cpn- 09/30 P&G
$0.50 Glide floss or picks cpn- 09/30 P&G
$1.50 Crest rinse cpn- 09/30 P&G
$0.50 Crest toothpaste cpn- 09/30 P&G

Colgate Total Advanced , Total toothpaste, MaxWhite or Fresh toothbrush- $6/2- Buy 2 and get 1000 points
$0.75 Colgate Optic White, Total Advanced or Sensitive toothpaste cpn- 10/14 SS

Mitchum- $1.99 with in ad cpn- Buy 2 and get 2000 points
$0.75 Mitchum cpn- 10/14 SS
$0.75 Mitchum cpn- 09/16 SS

Halls- $1.39
$1/2 Halls cpn- 09/16 SS

Bounce, Tide Stain Release, Downy or Cascade Action pacs- $3.99
$0.50 Bounce cpn- 09/30 P&G
$1 Downy cpn- 09/30 P&G
$0.50 Cascade Action pacs cpn- 10/14 P&G
$1 Cascade Action Pacs cpn- 09/30 P&G

Quilted Northern, All detergent or Snuggle- $3.99- Buy $15 and get 1500 points
$1 All detergent cpn- 09/30 RP
$0.50 Snuggle cpn- 10/14 RP

Scott Naturals paper towels- $5
Use $1 in store cpn

Bounty paper towels- $4.99
$0.25 Bounty cpn- 10/14 P&G
$0.25 Bounty cpn- 09/30 P&G

Nabisco Belvita, Kelloggs- Select cereal, Fiber Plus, Special K or Nutri grain bars, General Mills Fiber One or Nature Valley bars, brownies or thins- $5/2
$1/2 Kellogg Rice Krispy cereal cpn- 10/07 RP
$0.70 Kellogg Honey Nut cereal cpn- 10/07 RP
$1/3 Kellogg Special K cereal cpn- 10/07 RP
$0.75/3 Nature Valley bar, thin or Fiber One cpn- 10/07 GM
$0.50 Fiber One brownies cpn- 09/16 SS

Tide Pods or gain- $4.99- Buy 2 and get 1000 points
$0.50 Tide Pods cpn- 10/21 RP
$1/2 Tide Pods cpn- 09/16 RP

**This is not the entire Walgreens Register Rewards (RR) or Balance Reward Points sale items- these are some of the great deals I spotted in the upcoming Walgreens ad.**

Friday, October 19, 2012

CVS deals for the week of 10/21/2012

Don't forget to....
1) Go to cvs.com/email and sign up for the ExtraCare email and receive a $4/20 cpn
2) Stop by the Red ExtraCare coupon center and get CVS cpns
3) You can use a manufacturer's cpn along with a CVS cpn
4) You can use a B1G1Free cpn along with a B1G1Free sale to get both products for FREE

M&M's or Hershey assorted- $6/2 amd get $1 ECB
$1/3 Hershey, Reese's, Kit Kat, Jolly Ranchers or Twizzlers cpn- 10/14 SS
$1/2 Hershey chocolate cpn- 09/09 SS

Xtra detergent- $1.47

Pumpkin Masters 4in1 Carving tool- $2.49 and get $2.49 ECB

Fantasy Makers Kit- $5.99 and get $2 ECB

Stride ID or Spark gum- $3/3 and get $1 ECB
B1G1Free Stride ID gum cpn- 09/16 SS

Post Honey Bunches of Oats, Great Grains or Raisin Medley- $9/3 and get $3 ECB- Limit 7
$1/2 Post Honey Bunches of Oats cpn- 10/07 SS

Kellogg's Raisin Bran, Froot Loops or Apple Jacks- $5/2

Progresso- $5/4
$1/4 Progresso cpn- 10/07 GM
$1/4 Progresso cpn- 09/09 SS

Gain dish liquid- $0.99
$0.25 Gain dish cpn- 10/14 P&G

SPend $20 on any Glade items and get $10 ECB
$2 Glade Sense & Spray kit cpn- 10/14 SS
$1/2 Glade Carpet & Room Odor Eliminator or Automatic spray refills cpn- 10/14 SS
$1 Glade Scented Oil twin pack refill or 2 single packs cpn- 10/14 SS
$1 Glade Plug In warmer or starter kit cpn- 10/14 SS
$2/2 Glade fall collection cpn- 09/23 SS
$1 Glade twin refill or $1/2 single refills cpn- 09/23 SS
$1/2 Glade jar candles or scented oil candles cpn- 09/23 SS
$0.55 Glade premium spray cpn- 09/23 SS
Buy Glade jar candle and get FREE Glade Expression difusser kit cpn- 09/16 SS

Spend $15 on the following and get $5 ECB:
Clorox bleach- $4/2
Clorox wipes- $5/2
Clorox bathroom cleaner, Clean Up or Tilex Mildew- $6/2

Carmex cream, lotion or oitment- $2.99 and get $1 ECB
$1 Carmex skin care cpn- 10/21 SS

Softsoap hand soap- $2.99 and get $1 ECB

Spend $20 on Nexxus and get $10 ECB

Spend $20 on John Frieda hair care and get $10 ECB
$2 John Frieda Frizz Ease cpn- 10/07 SS
$1 John Frieda cpn- 10/07 SS
$7/2 John Frieda Foam color cpn- 10/07 SS

Fructis- $5/2
$1 Garnier cpn- 10/21 RP

Speed Stick- $2.99 and get $1 ECB
$1 Speed Stick cpn- 10/21 SS

Cover Girl flipstick duo- $9.00 and get $4 ECB
$3/2 Cover Girl cpn- 09/30 P&G
$5/2 Cover Girl lip cpn- 09/16 RP

Pantene- $8/2 and get $1 ECB
$1/2 Pantene cpn- 09/30 P&G
Buy Pantene Conditioner or Styler and get FREE Pantene shampoo cpn- 09/16 SS

Spend $10 when you buy Select Crest 3D White paste, rinse or brush and get $5 ECB- Limit 2
$1.50 Crest rinse cpn- 09/30 P&G
$0.50 Crest toothpaste cpn- 09/30 P&G

Colgate Plus toothbrush, Cavity, Baking/Peroxide or Sparkling White toothpaste- $3.76/2
Use $1 Extra Care cpn

Dr. Scholl's gel insoles or For Her- $9.99
$3 Dr Scholls massaging gel insoles cpn- 10/14 SS
$3 Dr Scholls for her cpn- 10/14 SS

U by Kotex- $3.99
$0.25 U by Kotex cpn- 10/21 RP

Playtex Glide or Sport- $7.99 and get $4 ECB
$1 Playtex cpn- 10/21 SS

Di-Gel liquid- $5 and get $3 ECB
$2 Di-Gel cpn- 10/21 SS

Zantac- $8.99 and get $2 ECB - Limit 3
$5 Zantac cpn- 09/30 SS

Halls- $1.50
$1/2 Hall cpn- 09/16 SS

St. Joseph aspirin- $5 and get $3 ECB
$2.25 St Joseph purchase of $4.49+ cpn- 10/21 SS
$2 St Josheph, HBP Cough, Cold & Flu cpn- 10/21 SS
$2 St Joseph purchase of $4.49+ cpn- 09/09 SS

Nivea lip care- $5/2
$3/2 Nivea lip care cpn- 10/21 RP

Carmex lip balm- $0.99
$1/2 Carmex lip balm cpn- 10/21 SS

Spend $10 on Revlon cosmetics and get $4 ECB- Limit 6
$1 Revlon color cosmetic cpn- 10/14 SS

Tide Pods- $4.44
$0.50 Tide Pods cpn- 10/21 RP
$1/2 Tide Pods cpn- 09/16 RP

**This is not the entire CVS ECB sale items- these are some of the great deals I spotted in the upcoming CVS ad.**

The Clutter Must Go project~ Day 23 Results

Well, today was a wonderful decluttering day. 

Today's challenge was to declutter along wall #4 in your 3rd bedroom.  For me, that wall consists of 2 bookshelves, which I must say look fantastic:)  With the remainder of the time I had left, I took more old business stuff and moved it on the 2 shelves in Christopher's room, moved the remainder of my Scentsy warmers to the shelves in my room, moved all the boxes of baby clothes to 1 location to sort through later and vacuumed Christopher's room.  Had a busy but great day:)

How did your day go?  How did your declutter project for today turn out?  Ready for the weekend?  I know I am- hubby flies in tomorrow- we can't wait to see him:)

Have a safe and awesome weekend:)

Come back Monday and see what we have in store for our next decluttering journey.

The Clutter Must Go project~ Day 23

It's Friday:)  This week seems to have flown by.  Let's get busy on our declutter project so we can enjoy our weekend:)

For those just joining us and wish to declutter, jump right on in- head over here and read this first and then you will be ready to join our decluttering craziness:)

Yesterday, we left off in our 3rd bedroom decluttering along wall #3. Today, we pick up where we left off and declutter along wall #4 in the room you were working in yesterday. If you don't have a 3rd bedroom, then go back through your house room by room, walk around and make sure everything is in its place and that that you are satisfied with the way everything looks. Maybe do some things you missed the first time around.

Grab your boxes and your trash bags, set your timer or turn on music, whatever works for you~ do that:) Go to the room you are currently working in, locate which wall you would like to call wall #4 today and get decluttering. Remember to get rid of at least 1 thing today- if you have more than 1 thing to get rid of or sell- yay:) If not, 1 thing is better than nothing.

Come back this evening and see how we did with today's challenge and let me know how you did as well:)

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Our 2nd Homeschool field trip:)

Kevin is taking Biology for his Science this year.  We had to go to a lake or pond as part of his Biology experiment.  Instead of just Kevin, little Michael and myself going, we made it a family picnic event and had a blast. 

Nathan and little Michael played on the playground after lunch with daddy while Kevin and I did his Biology experiment and art assignment.  I was watching Kevin doing his work and just had to take a picture.  What a beautiful classroom:

Kevin finished his work and we decided to go for a hike and see if we could find any geocaching boxes.  I had gotten the clues before we left.  The trail was so beautiful.  We had a great time and learned some history about Twin Lakes State Park.
We also found this little guy sneaking across the trail.  I almost stepped on him.  Since it was chilly the day we went, this lizard was moving very slow, which made it easier to get a good picture of him:
To make our trip complete, we had to get a family picture in front of the water:


We had so much fun and look forward to many more homeschool field trips:)

Twilight Marathon Event

I was so excited to hear that Regal theaters will be doing a Twilight Marathon the day before Breaking Dawn Part 2 is scheduled to be released.



Those who know me, know how much I LOVE the twilight series.  I have read all the books and am excited to see how Breaking Dawn Part 2 plays out on the big screen.  Chris and Kevin went with me to see Breaking Dawn Part 1 in the theater and loved it:)


The Twilight Marathon event will take place on November 15, 2012.  The movies are being played as follows:

11:25am-Twilight
2pm-       Twilight: New Moon
4:45pm-  Twilight: Eclipse
7:20pm-  Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1
10pm-     Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2


You will get to see all the movies for only $15 if you are a Regal Crown Club member- its free to sign up to become a member.  You get points for buying movie tickets and concession items.  Use those points to get FREE popcorn, drinks and movie tickets:)   To get the $15 price, you need to buy your tickets at the box office.  Plus with the member price of $15, you get a coupon for a Twilight Saga Combo, which consists of a medium popcorn and a medium drink for ony $5~ again a good deal compared to what they normally charge for popcorn and drinks.

If you are not a member and/or have no desire to become a Regal Crown Club member or want to buy your tickets for this event online, then the price is $20.  Which is still a great deal for 5 movies.

Those attending the marathon will get a lanyard:)

Go here to see if there is a Regal that is participating in your area.

So, whose going to the Twilight Marathon?

I would love to go and got super excited when I heard about the marathon.  But a quick trip to the calendar made it clear that it was not going to be possible to go.  It is on a Thursday and both Chris and Kevin want to go with me.  Chris has school that he cannot miss, so that throws that out.  We are planning to have our own marathon here at home watching all 4 movies and then will head out Saturday afternoon to watch Breaking Dawn Part 2- so excited- can't wait:)

The Clutter Must Go project~ Day 22 Results

How did your day go today?

We had a fantastic day- got a lot done. Today's declutter challenge was to declutter along wall #3 in your 3rd bedroom. How did you do?

Since, I got a lot done yesterday, I didn't have a lot to do today. That and along wall #3 is Michael's work desk. And I refuse to touch that- he has work stuff all over the desk, so he can deal with that and organize so he knows where everything is. I was able to get the 4 tier shelving unit cleared off. I told Chris he could have the bottom 2 shelves so I can use the top 2 shelves to house old business stuff that I need to get together so I can sell. So, they moved from my bedroom to the shelves in Christopher's room temporarily. I am now using the shelves in my bedroom to have a place to store all my Scentsy warmers, bars, scent circles and everything else Scentsy related and not under the living room table and between my bed and dresser:)

So, we did have a good decluttering day:)

How did you do with your declutter challenge for today? I would love to hear how your declutter project is going so far.

Come back tomorrow and see the final declutter challenge for this week:)

The Clutter Must Go project~ Day 22

Sorry for the last post, my Internet has been acting up and being cranky this morning.

So, lets get right down to business. 

For those just joining us and wish to declutter, jump right on in- head over here and read this first and then you will be ready to join our decluttering craziness:)

Yesterday, we left off in our 3rd bedroom decluttering along wall #2.  Today, we pick up where we left off and declutter along wall #3 in the room you were working in yesterday.  If you don't have a 3rd bedroom, then go back to your master bedroom, walk around and make sure everything is in its place and that that you are satisfied with the way your master bedroom looks. Maybe do some things you missed the first time around.

Grab your boxes and your trash bags, set your timer or turn on music, whatever works for you~ do that:) Go to the room you are currently working in, locate which wall you would like to call wall #3 today and get decluttering. Remember to get rid of at least 1 thing today- if you have more than 1 thing to get rid of or sell- yay:) If not, 1 thing is better than nothing.

Come back this evening and see how we did with today's challenge and let me know how you did as well:)

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

The Clutter Must Go project~ Day 21 results

Wow- today was greaaat:)  I feel like Tony the tiger on those Frosted Flake commercials- do they still run that commercial anymore??  LOL:)

Kevin and little Michael worked on a giant floor puzzle and I went and attacked Christopher's bedroom.  Once I got on a roll, I just couldn't stop myself.  I got so much done.  Chris said his room looks great and we are only half way done.

Why is it that teenagers hide clothes all over their room?  I found socks and shirts all over Christopher's room hiding in little spaces.  Now the hamper is over flowing~ I didn't know what was clean and what was dirty, so I decided all the clothes I found in his room were dirty and off to the hamper they went.

I found 4 boxes of baby clothes to go through and put in the sell pile.  I found and got rid of lots of candy wrappers, school papers from last year, 1 lonely shoe (not sure where the other shoe even is) and 2 book bags that were barely holding on.

How did you do with the room you working in today?

Come back tomorrow to see what we have in store for tomorrow's declutter challenge:)

The Clutter Must Go project~ Day 21

Wow- 21 days already:) If you have been with us since day 1, you should definitely notice a huge difference in the way your house is looking. Even if you have been with us for a few weeks, you should also notice a big difference in the rooms you have worked in. If you just started the declutter challenge, don't worry, soon you should start to see a nice wonderful difference in the way your house looks and feels.

For those just joining us and wish to declutter, jump right on in- head over here and read this first and then you will be ready to join our decluttering craziness:)

Are you ready for today's declutter challenge?

Today, you will be working in the same room you worked in yesterday, bedroom #3.   For us, this room is Christopher's room. We will be decluttering along wall #2 today:)   If you don't have a 3rd bedroom, then go back to your kitchen, walk around and make sure everything is in its place and that that you are satisfied with the way your kitchen looks. Maybe do some things you missed the first time around.

Grab your boxes and your trash bags, set your timer or turn on music, whatever works for you~ do that:) Go to the room you are currently working in, locate which wall you would like to call wall #2 today and get decluttering. Remember to get rid of at least 1 thing today- if you have more than 1 thing to get rid of or sell- hooray:) If not, 1 thing is better than nothing.

Come back this evening and see how we did with today's challenge and let me know how you did as well:)

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

My Shopping Day~ 10/15/2012

What a long day of shopping we had yesterday.  Michael was not too thrilled that, as he puts it, drug him to 6 stores with me yesterday.  Normally, he would stay home with little Michael and I would take Kevin to the store with me but since he had to fly to Boston this morning, he was in need of a haircut.  To make the most of our running around, a trip to get his hair cut plus grocery shopping just made better sense:)

Here is what we got and where we went:

Walmart
$11.16- (4) gallons skim milk
$0.98- Frozen peas
$1.98- Stir fry veggies
$1.66- Brocolli
$1.96- Frozen corn
$0.98- Frozen peas
$4.64- Lunchmeat
$2.00- Shred Cheddar cheese
$2.88- Sliced Cheese
$2.48- Silk nog- yummy:)
$1.98- Syrup
$3.12- International Delight coffee creamer
$0.97- Dawn dish liquid
$2.82- Spaghetti sauce
$1.94- Low Sodium soy sauce
$1.48- Tuna fish
$1.18- Crackers
$2.00- Juice boxes
$1.33- Bananas
$47.54
-3.12- FREE International Delight coffee creamer cpn
$45.63- Total after tax

Sam's Club
$7.26- (6)lb Tortilla chips
$5.76- (6) pkgs Rotini pasta
$2.98- (5)lbs Carrots
$16.40- Total after tax

Martins
$8.39- Whole Chicken
$2.18- (2) loaves bread
$10.83- Total after tax

Food Lion
$3.58- (3)lb bag oranges

Dollar Tree
$1.00- (4)pk Applesauce
$1.00- Spray Bottle
$1.00- Sandwich baggies
$3.13- Total after tax

CVS
$3.00- (4) bottles VO5 Shampoo
$2.99- Dentek flossers
$2.99- Dentek flossers
$8.98
-1/4 VO5 cpn
-1.00 ECB
-5.00 ECB
2.43- Total after tax and got $4 ECB and a $3 off $15 purchase cpn

This shopping trip has been added to our October Monthly Spending post, where I keep track of what we spend for the month of October.

The Clutter Must Go project~ Day 20 Results

How did your day go?  How did your decluttering go today? 

We had a fabulous day- full of homeschooling fun, made some homemade yogurt, played with little Michael, went outside to run around (hoping little Michael will go to bed at a decent time tonight), walked 4 miles this morning and 2 miles this evening and so much more.

Our declutter project is in Christopher's room & Michael's office.  I was excited when I walked in and saw that someone had straightened the 2 book shelves in the room:)  We will have to go through the VHS tapes and the books and see what want and what we want to give away or sell. 

I decided on which wall to work on and went to town.  I cleaned under the tv stand, under the tv (found some lost change) and organized the dvd/game shelves. 

Just doing that one wall in his room made a huge difference.  Chris definitely noticed a difference when we got home.  I found Pokemon cards, Naruto cards and more Nerf darts- they seem to be everywhere:)

I got rid of empty Axe cans, broken crayons and little bits of paper.

How did you do with your challenge today?  Comment below and let me know how this declutter challenge is working out for you.

Come back tomorrow to get the next declutter challenge:)  See you in the morning:)

The Clutter Must Go project~ Day 20

With all the business of yesterday, I never got a chance to post our brand new declutter challenge for this week.  So, we are starting today:) 

Ready??

For those just joining us and wish to declutter, jump right on in- head over here and read this first and then you will be ready to join our decluttering craziness:)

New week means new room- yay:)  This week we are going to be working in our 3rd bedroom, which belongs to Christopher, our oldest son- this should be fun.  This room also doubles as Michael's office and I have a lot of old business supplies on shelving units in his room.  I want to clear out as much as I can and give Chris a roomier room.  Until, we find a bigger house and move, he will either have to share a room with Nathan and Kevin or share a room with Michael's office.  He picks Michael's office- don't you just love teenagers:)

Today's challenge is going to declutter along wall #1 in your 3rd bedroom.  Pick a wall, any wall and start there.  If you don't have a 3rd bedroom, then go back to your living room, walk around and make sure everything is in its place and that that you are satisfied with the way your living room looks.  Maybe do some things you missed the first time around.

Grab your boxes and your bags~ set your timer or turn on your music and head to the room you are working on today:)  Remember to get rid of at least 1 item today.

Have fun and don't forget to come back this evening and see how we did and let me know how you did with your decluttering project today:)

Monday, October 15, 2012

Menu Plan for the week of 10/15/2012

Today was a crazy busy day full of getting the boys up, dressed, fed, Chris & Nathan off to school, Kevin started on his homeschool work, grocery shopping, getting hubby's hair cut and making sure he has everything packed and ready to board his flight tomorrow morning.  Things were so busy today, I didn't have an opportunity to post, let along do a declutter challenge for today.  For those following and/or participating in the declutter challenge, we will continue our declutter challenge tomorrow:)

Here is our menu plan for this week:

Breakfast
Banana Bread X2
Oatmeal with brown sugar X2
Homemade Yogurt with oats and honey X2
Pancakes

Lunch
Salad with squeezed orange and banana for me
Sandwich, popcorn and banana for everyone else

Dinner
Broccoli cheese rice dish- trying to recreate a dish we had at our family reunion
Chicken rice bean dish with corn
Taco beans and rice served with corn chips and peas
Homemade waffles
Homemade pizza
Spaghetti with rolls and corn
Grilled Cheese and fruit

Snacks
Giant Breakfast cookies
Carrot sticks
Apple slices
Popcorn

What do you have on your menu plan this week?

Saturday, October 13, 2012

The Clutter Must Go~ Day 19 Results

Friday didn't quite go as planned.  We seemed to be running in all directions.

We did get the 4 tier shelving unit better organized- I found a whole box of composition notebooks we bought last year at the penny sales- love it when we find things we can use that we forgot we had.  We still have quite a bit left over from last year's school shopping trips.

We were able to declutter Kevin and Nathan's room and vacuum the floor without fear that something will get sucked up.  Their room looks 100 times better.  Kevin is so excited with the way his room looks.  Nathan not so much- he is 8 and only is in his room to sleep, so he didn't really care about the way his room looked.  As long as he could get to his bed and get his clothes out, he was good:)

There is still some work to be done in their room but all in all it looks so much better and we got so much stuff out of there.  We were able to fill up a very large trash bag:)

How did you do with your declutter challenges this week in the room you are working in?  Comment below and let me know- I would love to know how the declutter challenges/projects are working out for you:)

Enjoy your weekend and rest up- Monday we start a new room:)  See you then:)

Walgreens deals for the week of 10/14/2012

Things to keep in mind when shopping at Walgreens:
1) You must have as many items as manufactur's coupons
2) Register Receipts (RR) are considered manufactur's coupons
3) You are allowed 1 Manufactur's coupon and 1 store coupon per item
4) Cannot use RR printed from item to pay for same item and get RR's again~
For example- If you were to purchase Colgate for $3 and get $3 RR, if you purchase the Colgate again and use the RR's earned from the 1st Colgate purchase you will not earn the RR's again

Walgreens has rolled out a new program called Balance Rewards. You earn points you can later redeem. Click here to read more about this new program.

Quaker Chewy Granola bars 5pk, 1 min oats, Kellogg's select cereal or Poptarts- $1.99
$1/3 Kellogg's Special K cereal cpn- 10/14 RP

All detergent- $3.99
$2/2 All cpn- 09/30 RP

Charmin- $3.49- Buy 2 and get 1000 pts
$0.25 Charmin cpn- 10/14 P&G
$0.25 Charmin cpn- 09/30 P&G

Nice Seasonings- $0.79

Nice Cream Chicken or Cream mushroom soup- $0.99

Chicken of the Sea sardines or chunk light tuna- $0.79 with in ad cpn- Limit 3

Nice Salt or Baking Soda- $0.59 with in ad cpn- Limit 3

Nice oranges or mushrooms- $0.59 with in ad cpn- Limit 3

Linday olives- $0.99 with in ad cpn- Limit 3

Lysol All purpose, multi purpose, toilet or wipes- $5/2
$0.50/2 Lysol toilet cleaner cpn- 10/14 SS
$0.50/2 Lysol wipes cpn- 10/14 SS

Clorox wipes, toilet, clean up, kitchen or bathroom cleaners- $5/2

Oxi Clean- $6/2 and get 1000 points
$1 Oxi Clean liquid or Max Force power paks cpn- 08/26 SS
$1 Oxi Clean liquid or Max Force power paks cpn- 08/19 SS

Nice trash bags- $2.99

Lysol spray- B1G1Free and get 1000 points
$0.50 Lysol spray cpn- 01/14 SS

Nice liquid bleach- $0.99

Nice dryer sheets- $1.99

Nice bags or plates- $1.79

Nice toilet cleaner or air freshener- $1.29

Nice all purpose cleaner- $1.99

Nice glass cleaner- $2.99

Finish dishwasher gelpacs, tabs or Jetdry- $6/2

Sunny Smile or Real Soft paper towels 6 rolls- $5

Single roll Bounty or Puffs- $5/3 with in ad cpn- Limit 3
$0.25 Bounty cpn- 10/14 P&G
$0.25 Bounty cpn- 09/30 P&G
$0.25 Puffs cpn- 09/30 P&G
Buy Vicks Vapodrops or ZZZquil and get FREE Puffs cpn- 10/14 P&G

Palmolive- $0.99 with in ad cpn- Limit 3

Ziploc- $5/2 with in ad cpn- Limit 4
$1/2 Ziploc cpn- 09/23 SS

Scotch mailers- $0.39 with in ad cpn- Limit 4

Sharpie markers 2pk- $0.99

Mott's apples 2lb bag- $1.99

Hershey candy- $0.59- Buy 3 and get 500 points

Colgate Optic White toothpaste, mouthwash, 360 surround, Optic White or Sensitive toothbrush- $8.97/3
$0.75 Colgate Optic White, Total Advanced, or Sensitive ProRelief toothpaste cpn- 10/14 P&G
$1 Colgate Optic White mouthwash cpn- 09/30 SS
$0.75 Colgate toothpaste cpn- 09/30 SS
$0.40 Colgate adult, kids, Plus or Extra Clean toothbrush cpn- 09/30 SS
$3/3 Colgate Optic White mouthwash, toothpaste or 360 toothbrush Walgreens IVC October store cpn

Wet & Wild lip, eye pencil or nail color- $0.99

Clairol Nice & Easy or Root touch up- $5.99 and get 1000 points
$3/2 Clairol Nice & Easy or Natural Instincts cpn- 10/14 P&G
$2 Clairol Nice & Easy or Natural Instincts cpn- 09/30 P&G
$2 Clairol Nice & Easy or Natural Instincts cpn- 09/15 SS

Arrid or Arm & Hammer deodorant- $0.99 with in ad cpn- Limit 3

Aquafresh Advanced or Extreme Clean toothpaste- $6/2 and get 500 points
$1 Aquafresh Extreme Clean cpn- 10/14 RP

Colgate Total Advanced, 2 in 1 toothpaste or toothbrush- $2.49
$0.75 Colgate Optic White, Total Advanced, or Sensitive ProRelief toothpaste cpn- 10/14 P&G
$0.75 Colgate toothpaste cpn- 09/30 SS
$0.40 Colgate adult, kids, Plus or Extra Clean toothbrush cpn- 09/30 SS

Reach Total Care or kids toothbrush, Whitening or floss- $2.99 and get $1 RR
$1 Reach Toothbrush cpn- 07/29 RP
$1 Reach Total Care floss cpn- 07/29 RP

Studio 35 or Walgreens liquid hand soap- $0.99

Bayer Contour Bext EZ Blood Glucose monitor- $9.99 and get $5 RR

Wal-Flu- $3.99

Advil Congestion Relief- $6
$1 Advil Congestion Relief, Allergy & Congestion, Cold & Sinus or Allergy cpn- 10/14 RP
$6 Mail in rebate in Sunday paper

Ricola- $3/2
$1/2 Ricola cpn- 10/14 RP
$0.75 Ricola Sugar Free Menthol cpn- 10/14 RP

Dove or Caress bar soap- $0.99 with in ad cpn- Limit 3

Campbells soup- $5/5
$0.40/3 Campbells Condensed soup cpn- 10/07 SS
$0.40/4 Campbells Chicken Noodle or Tomato cpn- 10/07 SS
$0.40/4 Campbells Cream Mushroom or Cream Chicken cpn- 09/16 SS
$0.40/3 Campbells Condensed soup cpn- 09/16 SS
$0.40/3 Campbells Condensed soup cpn- 09/09 SS
$0.40/4 Campbells Chicken Noodle or Tomato cpn- 09/09 SS

**This is not the entire Walgreens Register Rewards (RR) or Balance Reward Points sale items- these are some of the great deals I spotted in the upcoming Walgreens ad.**

Friday, October 12, 2012

CVS deals for the week of 10/14/2012

Don't forget to....
1) Go to cvs.com/email and sign up for the ExtraCare email and receive a $4/20 cpn
2) Stop by the Red ExtraCare coupon center and get CVS cpns
3) You can use a manufacturer's cpn along with a CVS cpn
4) You can use a B1G1Free cpn along with a B1G1Free sale to get both products for FREE

Hershey snack size- $10/3 and get $3 ECB
$1/3 Hershey Reese's, Hershey, Kit Kat, Twizzler or Jolly Ranchers snack size cpn- 10/14 SS

VO5- $2.25/3
$1/4 VO5 cpn- 10/14 SS

Colgate Total, MaxFresh, MaxClean or All Colgate manual single pack toothbrush- $2.99 and get $1 ECB - Limit2
$0.75 Colgate toothpaste cpn- 09/30 SS
$0.40 Colgate adult, kids, plus or extra clean toothbrush cpn- 09/30 SS

Equal packets or Maxwell House Instant Coffee- $4.99 and get $1 ECB

Lays Chips or dips- $7/2 and get $2 ECB
$1/2 Frito Lays Lay's Chips AND dip cpn- 09/30 PepsiCo insert
$1/2 Frito Lays Kettle Chips cpn- 09/30 PepsiCo Insert

Aquafina 12pk, Gatorade 4pk or Lipton Tea- $6/2 and get $1 ECB

Kellogg's Rice Krispy Treats, Corn Flakes, Cocoa or Rice Krispy cereal- $1.99

Kellogg's Poptartsor Cars Fruit snacks- $1.99

Cadbury Screme egg or Reese's Pumpkin- $0.69

Hershey snack size 6pk- $5/5

Nestle fun size- $6/2 and get $1 ECB
$1/2 Nestle Halloween fun size cpn- 10/14 RP

Ajax- $0.99

Wisk- $4.99
$1 Wisk cpn- 10/14 RP
$1 Wisk cpn- 09/09 RP

Lysol cleaner or wipes- $2.99
$0.50/2 Lysol toilet cleaners cpn- 10/14 SS
$0.50/2 Lysol wipes cpn- 10/14 SS

Soft Scrub cleanser or Renuzit renew pearls or spray- $5/2
$1 Soft Scrub spray cpn- 10/07 RP
$1 Soft Scrub gel or cream cpn- 10/07 RP

Renuzit adjustables- $0.88

Almay intense i-Color, shadow, liner or mascara- $5.99 and get $3 ECB
$1 Almay color cosmetic cpn- 09/23 SS

Dove bodywash- $12/2 and get $4 ECB
$2 Dove bodywash cpn- 09/30 RP

Softsoap bodywash, hand soap, Irish Spring bodywash or bar soap- $7/2 and get $3 ECB
$0.50 Softsoap bodywash or bar soap cpn- 09/30 SS
$0.35 Softsoap hand soap, pump or refill cpn- 09/30 SS
$0.50 Irish Spring bar soap or bodywash cpn- 09/30 SS

Clairol Nice & Easy foam- $7.99 and get $2 ECB

Clairol Nice & Easy, Natural Instincts, Nice & Easy non permanent or Root Touch up- $5.99
$3/2 Clairol Nice & Easy or Natural Instincts cpn- 10/14 P&G
$2 Clairol Nice & Easy or Natural Instincts cpn- 09/30 P&G
$2 Clairol Nice & Easy or Natural Instincts cpn- 09/15 SS

Revlon Colorsilk- $6/2
$1/2 Revlon hair color cpn- 10/14 SS

Mitchum- $1.99
$1.50/2 Mitchum cpn- 10/14 SS 
$1.50/2 Mitchum cpn- 09/16 SS

Axe shower gel, shampoo, conditioner, body spray or deodorant- $9/2 and get $3 ECB
Buy Axe styling product and get FREE Axe shampoo cpn- 09/30 RP

Poise wash, towelettes or fresheners- $3.99 and get $1.50 ECB- Limit 2
$1 Poise body cooling towelettes, wash or fresheners cpn- 10/14 SS

Oral B Cross Action Power Brush or refill- $5.99 and get $2 ECB- Limit 2
$1 Oral B adult battery toothbrush or 3D White Action rechargeable cpn- 10/14 P&G

Spend $10 on Select Crest 3D White paste, rinse or brush and get $5 ECB-Limit 2
$1.50 Crest rinse cpn- 09/30 P&G
$0.50 Crest toothpaste cpn- 09/30 P&G

Dentek floss picks- $2.99 and get $2 ECB- Limit 2

Always Infinity or Tampax Pearl- $3.75 and get $1 ECB
$2.50/2 Always Infinity cpn- 09/30 P&G
$1/2 Always cpn- 09/30 P&G
$2.50/2 Tampax Pearl or Tampax Radiant cpn- 09/30 P&G
$2 Tampax cpn- 09/30 P&G

Always Radiant or Tampax Radiant- $6.99 and get $2 ECB
$2.50/2 Always Infinity  or Radiant Infinity cpn- 09/30 P&G
$1/2 Always cpn- 09/30 P&G
$2.50/2 Tampax Pearl or Tampax Radiant cpn- 09/30 P&G
$2 Tampax cpn- 09/30 P&G

ZZZquil- $4.99 and get $1 ECB- Limit 2
Buy Vicks Vaporub or ZZZquil and get FREE Puffs cpn- 10/14 P&G
$1 ZZZquil cpn- 09/30 P&G

Pepto Bismol- $5.99 and get $2 ECB-Limit 3

Blistex lip medex, lip balm or sensitive- $0.99

Ricola- $1.99
$1/2 Ricola cpn- 10/14 RP
$0.75 Ricola Sugar Free Menthol cpn- 10/14 RP

Colgate Optic White rinse or toothbrush- $4.99 and get $2 ECB- Limit 2
$1 Colgate Optic White mouthwash cpn- 09/30 SS
$0.40 Colgate adult, kids, plus or extra clean toothbrush cpn- 09/30 SS

Spend $10 on Physicians Formula cosmetics and get $7 ECB

Pantene- $8/2 and get $1 ECB
$1/2 Pantene cpn- 09/30 P&G
Buy Pantene shampoo get FREE Pantene conditioner or styler cpn- 09/16 SS

**This is not the entire CVS ECB sale items- these are some of the great deals I spotted in the upcoming CVS ad.**

The Clutter Must Go project~ Day 19

Happy Friday:)  Yay- it's Friday:)  Can you tell I'm a little happy it is Friday?  LOL:)

Are you ready for the last declutter challenge for this week?

Today's declutter challenge depends on where you are in your own declutter challenge.  If you have followed the challenges and have done everything you wanted to accomplish this week in the room you are working on, yay- good job- you did fantastic.  You challenge today is to clean the window(s), clean marker or crayon off the walls, pick up and vacuum the floor and make the bed(s).  Then kick your feet up and relax or do something fun and rewarding- you deserve it after a job well done:)

If you are like me and have done what you can with the time you have, then use today as your make up day.  Do whatever you wanted to get done but didn't have a chance to do.

We are planning to tackle the one shelving unit we have left to declutter, plus pick up, vacuum the floor, clean the window and make the beds.  Let's see if we can get it all done today:)

Ready??  Grab your boxes and your trash bag.  Set your timer if you find that works for you.  Put on some music if that works.  Have a great declutter day:)

Come back this evening and see how we did and to let me know how you did with your challenge today:)

Thursday, October 11, 2012

The Clutter Must Go project~ Day 18 results

Today was a beautiful chilly day. Little Micheal and I cuddled up on the couch under a blanket and watched Madagascar Escape 2 Africa while Kevin did his homeschool work.

We didn't get a whole lot done today. Someone didn't want to take a nap and by the time he finally got settled down for a nap, we didn't have a whole lot of time left before Nathan and Christopher get off the bus. Nathan always needs help with his homework.

We did go through all the games and puzzles- they all have all the pieces:) And we got between the dressers and between the dresser and the wall. We found some books that definitely don't belong there, some lost socks (we seem to be finding sock hiding all over the house- life with 4 boys- LOL), a few Lego's, some Uno cards and a couple of Nerf darts (the 2nd most common thing "found" in our home). Everything found its home. Kevin found his book bag from last year, when he was in school, so he threw out all the old school papers.

How did you do with your declutter challenge for today? Comment below and let me know how your declutter challenges have been going for you this week.

Tomorrow is Friday:) See you in the morning to see what our next and final declutter project for this week is:)

The Clutter Must Go project~ Day 18

Are you ready for today's declutter challenge?  I know we are.  Nathan and Kevin's room is coming right along and looking so good.  I wish I had taken before pictures.

Today's project is to declutter along wall #4 in the bedroom you have been working in all this week.  We plan to attack the shelving units that are in the boys bedroom.  We are going to go through games and puzzles to make sure that all the pieces are in them, going through dressers, between dressers and organizing school supplies.

Grab your boxes and trash bags.  Set your timer and/or put on some music and lets get decluttering:)  Remember to get rid of at least 1 thing today.

Come back this evening and see how we did with this challenge and to let me know how you did with today's declutter challenge:)