Monday, April 30, 2018

Our Menu Plan for the week of 04/30/2018

I cannot believe that tomorrow it will be May already.  Why does it feel like this year is just flying by so fast?  We had an amazing weekend.  We went camping and had a wonderful time.  We created so many awesome memories.  I took my camera with me so I could take some amazing pictures and share them with you.  We got to the camp site to discover I forgot to charge both my camera batteries :(  I did take a couple of pictures with my phone but seem to be having issues with getting them from my phone to my computer:(

Here is our menu plan for this week:

Breakfast
Muffins with scrambled eggs and fruit X2
Banana Pancakes with fruit X2
Waffles with fruit X2
Bagels with fruit

Lunch
Egg Avocado salad on bread and fruit for me
Sandwich with carrots, apple slices, blueberries and grapes for everyone else or leftovers

Dinner
Zoodles with spaghetti sauce, salad and corn
Taco Tuesday with green beans and salad
Nuggets, French fries, carrots and salad
Chicken Parm over noodles with peas and salad
Turkey, stuffing, broccoli and salad
Pizza and Movie Night :)
Leftovers

Snacks and Desserts
Apples
Grapes
Bananas
Strawberries
Carrots
Popcorn
Pretzels
Tortilla Chips with salsa
Chocolate PB Nice Cream
Rice Cakes with PB
Celery with PB and raisin

Friday, April 27, 2018

Walgreens Deals for the week of 04/29/2018

Things to keep in mind when shopping at Walgreens:
1) You must have as many items as manufacture's coupon
2) Register Rewards (RR) are considered manufacture's coupons
3) You are allowed 1 manufacture's coupon and 1 store coupon per item
4) When redeeming a Register Rewards against the same offer will not receive another RR


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

Trolli or Black Forest- $1.50 and get $1.50 RR

Beggin Strips- $3.49
Buy 1 Beggin Strips Get 1 Free cpn- 04/29 SS

Gain- $4.99
Use $2 Walgreens Clip to Card MFR cpn

Aleve- $9.99
$1 Aleve Walgreens Monthly Savings book cpn
$4 Aleve cpn- 04/29 SS

Thermacare or Advil- $6.49
$1 Advil Walgreens Monthly Savings book cpn
$1 Advil cpn- 04/29 RMN

Spend $10 on Colgate toothpaste, toothbrush or mouthwash and get 5000 points

Spend $10 on Crest, Oral b toothbrush, toothpaste, mouthwash or floss and get $5 RR
$1 Crest mouthwash cpn- 04/29 P&G
$1 Crest toothpaste cpn- 04/29 P&G
$1 Oral b toothbrush cpn- 04/29 P&G

Schick disposable razors- $5.94
Use $4 Walgreens Clip to Card MFR cpn

M&M- $5/2
Use $1/2 M&M Walgreens Monthly Savings book cpn
$1 M&M cpn- 04/22 RMN
Buy M&M 8oz+ and get 3.27 oz Free cpn- 04/08 RMN

Tide- $4.99
Use $1 Walgreens Clip to Card MFR cpn

Dawn or Puffs- $0.99
$0.25 Dawn Ultra cpn- 04/29 P&G
$0.25 Puffs cpn- 04/29 P&G

CVS deals for the week of 04/29/2018

Don't forget to....
1) Go to cvs.com/email and sign up for the ExtraCare email
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 Kisses, Reeses or minis bonus- $6/2
Use $2/2 CVS Coupon Center cpn
$1 Hershey Gold pretzel and peanuts bag cpn- 04/08 SS

Spend $9 on Rimmel and get $4 ECB
$1 Rimmel eye, lip or face cpn- 03/18 SS
$1 Rimmel eye cpn- 03/18 SS

Spend $12 on Almay and get $4 ECB
$3/2 Almay make up remover cpn- 04/08 SS
$1 Almay make up remover cpn- 04/08 SS
$4 Almay face cosmetic cpn- 04/08 SS
$3 Almay eye shadow cpn- 04/08 SS
$2 Almay mascara, eye liner or brow cpn- 04/08 SS

Spend $12 on Loreal cosmetics and get $4 ECB
$2 Loreal Voluminous lash paradise mascara cpn- 04/08 RMN
$2 Loreal face cosmetic cpn- 04/08 RMN
$1 Loreal lip cpn- 04/08 RMN
$1 Loreal eye liner, shadow or brow cpn- 04/08 RMN
$2 Loreal Infallible Pro Matte liquid lipstick cpn- 04/08 RMN

Spend $10 on Kiss nails and get $3 ECB

Benadryl- $4.99
$1 CVS App MFR cpn
$1 Benadryl cpn- 04/08 SS

Fructis- $7/2
$3/2 Fructis cpn- 04/29 RMN

Softsoap hand soap or Irish Spring bar- $4/2 and get $2 ECB- Limit 4

Garnier Nutrisse- $14/2 and get $4 ECB
$4/2 Garnier Nutrisse cpn- 04/22 RMN
$2 Garnier Nutrisse cpn- 04/22 RMN

Clairol Nice N Easy, Root Touch Up or Natural Instincts- $6.99
$3 Clariol hair color cpn- 04/29 SS

Garnier Whole Blends- $7/2 and get $2 ECB
$2 Garnier Whole Blends cpn- 04/29 RMN

Caress body wash, bar or Axe shower gel- $10/2 and get $2 ECB

Coppertone sunscreen- $9.99 and get $2 ECB

Speed Stick- $5.50/2 and get $2.50 ECB- Limit 2
$0.50 Speed Stick cpn- 04/29 SS

Schick disposable- $5.99
Use $4 CVS App MFR cpn

Crest 3D White, ProHealth mouthwash or Scope- $4.99 and get $2 ECB- Limit 2
$1 Crest mouthwash cpn- 04/29 P&G

Colgate Total, 360 toothbrush, toothpaste or mouthwash- $3.99 and get $2 ECB- Limit 2

Visine- $4.99
$1.50 CVS App MFR cpn
$1.50 Visine cpn- 04/08 SS

Zaditor eye itch relief- $12.99 and get $2 ECB
$3 Zaditor cpn- 04/08 RMN

Clear Care, Opti Free pure mist, Renu or Bio True- $16.99 and get $3 ECB
$3 Clear care cpn- 04/08 RMN
$3 Opti Free Pure Mist cpn- 04/08 RMN
$2 Renu or Bio True cpn- 04/29 SS

Pepsi, Hawaiian Punch, 7Up, A&W or Canada Dry- $10/3
Use $2 CVS App Only cpn

Gain- $5.94
Use $2 CVS App MFR cpn

May 2018 Monthly Spending

Here is where I will keep track of all we spend during the month of May.  I did a quick inventory of our freezer and panty to see what we had that we could use.  We did pretty well with our budget last month and decided to keep it the way it is.  Our monthly budget looks like this: $200 for groceries, $20 for household, $20 for newspapers and couponing deals and $30 for animal food.  Let's see how we do this month :)

04/25/2018
$0.67- CVS and got $2 ECB
$7.36- Dollar Tree
$9.25- Walmart
$49.09- Aldi

05/02/2018
$1.42- CVS and got $2 ECB
$1.59- Walgreens and got $1.50 RR
$13.99- Walmart
$33.60- Aldi

05/09/2018
$2.00- Winn Dixie
$2.48- Sam's Club
$6.46- Walmart
$25.09- Aldi
$3.24- CVS and got $8.75 in ECBs
$24.37- PetSmart

05/16/2018
$2.13- Walgreens
$2.48- Sam's Club
$7.26- Walmart
$28.27- Aldi

05/23/2018
$32.30- Aldi
$6.86- Walmart
$2.48- Sam's Club
$2.12- Dollar Tree
$3.57- CVS and got $4.99 in ECBs
$1.23- Walgreens

$204.72 out of $200 for groceries
$19.77 out of $20 for household items
$19.85 out of $20 for newspapers and couponing
$24.37 out of $30 for animal needs

Our Shopping Trip~ 04/25/2018

Nathan lost his voice and decided not to go to Youth Group.  Little Michael and I ventured out for our shopping trip adventure after school work was done.  I was reminded of why I prefer grocery shopping in the evening.  The stores were so busy :(

Here are our shopping trip details:

CVS
$2.99- Colgate Max toothpaste
-2 Colgate Coupon Center cpn from last week
-0.50 Colgate toothpaste cpn
$0.67- Total and got $2 ECB :)

Dollar Tree
$1.00- Parchment Paper
$1.00- Cooking Spray
$1.00- Face Wash
$1.00- Loofah
$3.00- Dishwasher tabs X3
$7.36- Total

Walmart
$1.67- Shredded Carrots
$1.88- Onion Bagels
$1.78- Tortillas
$1.00- WW Pasta
$1.17- Coconut Flakes
$1.75- Bananas
$9.25- Total

Aldi
$2.38- Broccoli X2
$1.99- Almond Coffee Creamer
$1.19- Garlic Powder
$1.19- Chili Powder
$1.19- Cinnamon
$1.49- Mushrooms
$0.84- Butter
$2.19- Pepperoni
$1.89- Kettle Chips
$2.55- Bread X3
$1.59- Tortilla Chips
$1.49- Pretzels
$4.99- Cashew Walnut Macadamia Nut Mix
$1.99- Strawberries
$2.79- Blueberries
$1.89- Sandwich zip bags
$2.29- Quart zip bags
$1.49- Celery
$1.29- Zucchini
$0.98- Avocados X2
$2.29- Almond Milk
$2.38- Carrots X2
$2.99- Red Apples
$3.49- Gold Apples 
$49.09- Total

This trip will be included in our May Spending Post.  Our May Monthly Spending Post is where we document what we spend for the month.

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Couponing Deals for the week of 04/22/2018

Couponing can be overwhelming and/or time consuming~ I was there.  Completely overwhelmed with the amount of coupons and deals.  It doesn't have to be.  My advice to new couponers is to take it slow.  Start by picking up a Sunday paper and focusing on 1 deal for the week and adding on as you feel more confident and comfortable.  Soon you will be couponing like a pro :)

If have ECB's and/or Register Rewards, go ahead and apply them to this week's deals to lower your out of pocket expense :)

To keep things super simple, here are my top couponing deals that are $10 and under:

CVS 
Deal #1
$4.94- Tide Pods or Gain Flings
Use $3 CVS App MFR cpn OR
Use $3 Tide Pods or Gain Flings cpn from 04/01 P&G
Pay $1.94

Deal #2
$7.99- Cover Girl Peacock mascara
Use $2 Cover Girl eye cpn from 04/15 SS
Pay $5.99 and get $3 ECB

Deal #3
$2.99- Mitchum
Use $1 Mitchum cpn from 04/22 SS
Pay $1.99

Deal #4
$2.99- Colgate Max or 2in1 toothpaste
Use $0.50 Colgate toothpaste cpn from 04/15 SS
Pay $2.49 and get $2 ECB

Deal #5
$0.99- Dawn
Use $0.25 CVS App MFR cpn
Pay $0.74

Walgreens
Deal #1
$1.99- All
Use $1 All cpn from 04/22 RMN
Pay $0.99

Deal #2
$2.99- Mitchum
Use $1 Mitchum cpn from 04/22 SS
Pay $1.99 and get $1 RR

Deal #3
$2.99- Tide Simply, Downy or Bounce
Use $1 Walgreens Clip to Card MFR cpn OR
Use $1 Tide Simply, Downy or Bounce cpn from 04/22 SS
Pay $1.99

Deal #4
$5/2- M&M
Use $1/2 M&M Walgreens Monthly Savings book cpn AND
Use (2) $1 M&M cpn from 04/22 RMN
Pay $2

These are only a few of the amazing deals CVS and Walgreens have to offer.  To see more deals and matchups, click here for CVS and click here for Walgreens :)