Random Ramblings..

Sorry for being MIA. Baby got sick and then dh and I also did. We are all better now and it's time to get back to life!
I will be doing a little series on Disposing of Disposables. I will be going through what changes we have made in our lives to get rid of the excessive disposable products that are everywhere we look. Hope it can be of some help to others!
I have also recently been motivated to do more about emergency preparedness and self-sufficiency. It has long been a passion of mine, however certain life-moments kinda put it on the back burner for awhile. With the current economic situation, I find it is time to kick into high gear on this issue. Only now I have a 7-month old, and it feels a bit more overwhelming to accomplish and yet more important now than ever. Right now I am reading some books on the topic and doing some planning (between the nursing sessions and diaper changes and laundry and...!) I am hoping to have some posts on this issue and can't wait to hear what others are doing or planning!

Super Savings Saturday!

This weeks CVS finds!

I am not the best at doing "the CVS thing", but I don't do too bad in my opinion. Hopefully ,I get this right. I had a child screaming while I was checking out and my memory is a bit fuzzy as to how this all panned out.

First transaction:

3 Colgate Toothpaste - 2.99 each, used (2)$1 coupons and (1)1.50 coupon. Earned (3)2.99 ECB's. Free plus overage after ecb's!

2 Colgate Toothbrushes - 0.88 each, used (1)1.00 coupon and (1) 0.76 coupon - I don't understand this coupon on my receipt. I know I had another 1.00 coupon. Earned overage after coupons!

1 Clear Care Contact Solution - 7.99, used (1)2.00 coupon. Earned 3 ECB's.

2 Nabisco Cookie pkg (oops! not pictured) - 2/5.00. Earned 2 ECB's.

Then I used a $5/$15 CVS coupon. So I paid $12.43 for $32.39 worth of products. A savings of $19.96!

Second transaction:

1 Palmolive dish soap - 2.50 (part of a 2/$5 deal) Used a 0.40 coupon.

1 Dawn Ultra - 2.50 (part of a 2/$5 deal) Used a 0.50 coupon

1 Irish Spring 3-pk - 0.97. Used a 0.30 coupon.

Birthday card (not pictured - already given away!) - 0.99

Birthday card - 2.59

Birthday card - 3.69

CVS Vaporizer - 13.99

CVS Vapor Steam - 4.29

1 Huggies wipes - 3.49 Used a 1.00 coupon.

Then I used another 5/$15 CVS coupon. I then applied my above earned ECB's to this transaction since it was the costliest. I ended up with a total of 16.47 in CVS coupons to tack onto this. So I paid a total of 12.29 for $39.66 worth of products.

In all I spent 24.72 for $72.05 worth of product! A saving of $47.33!! This makes me happy. I am sure I could've done better, but I am still learning! And I still have a couple of ExtraCare Coupons for online and CVS brand items.

Note: the amount I list as $x.xx worth of products is the amount I would've spent without my CVS card. Get a card, it's worth it!!

What a difference in weather! I was finally able to hang diapers outside yesterday! It was a beautiful day - and guess what, today is cloudy and rainy. It's even supposed to snow tonight and tomorrow. Don't all you midwesterners just love how quickly our weather changes?

Baby has a cold and she is due for her shots. Still debating if I really want to bring her in for those tomorrow. This is the round of vacs that made her not feel good the last time. We use Dr. Sears alternative schedule to vac her. Anybody else do this also? The lady at the health dept. really gives me a hard time over this schedule. But, they only cost $8 there so that's why we go there for them.

This is what we woke up to yesterday. I guess old man winter is still trying to hang on. It did melt away fairly quickly. Today is yucky - windy, cloudy, rainy. Blah!

Little girl had her 6 month checkup today. She is off the charts for her height. Everything looks good for her development. Yay!

Today I am working on chicken. I boiled up a bunch of parts and then seperated the pieces from the stock. After that I refrigerated everything. Yesterday I skimmed the fat off the top of the stock. Then I ladled the jelled stock into containers to freeze. All together I have about 100 ounces of stock in the freezer. So today I will pull all the meat off the bones and bag it and freeze it for future meals. Sounds like alot of work, but I bought the chicken for $0.49/lb and to me that's worth it. It stretches the budget and makes for healthier stock and chicken.

Still waiting for Spring

I am eagerly awaiting for Spring to truly arrive so I can use my outdoor clothesline. There it sits, waiting for that perfect day to dry my laundry. It looks so lonely. The calendar says Spring, but the air does not. Sigh.

This week's menu plan

So far I have spent half of this months grocery budget. I can't believe I have spent that much already. It's quite disappointing. My excuse is that I needed to stock up on some basics. Hopefully that means the rest of the month will easily be within budget. I am making menu plans to help. Here is this weeks plan:
Monday - Beef tator tot casserole
Tuesday - Veggie/beef soup in the crockpot and homemade bread
Wednesday - Hash and apple cobbler
Thursday - left over soup
Friday - homemade pizza
Saturday - marinated/grilled chicken on rice with veggies
Sunday - dh's day to cook!!!
Menu planning helps so much! It helps with budgeting and I never fret over what to make at 5:oopm. I really want to work on more crockpot meals. It is helpful in this season of my life. Baby could need a feeding right when I need to make supper and the crockpot could be cooking for me.

Making a grocery budget

I can't believe it's already November! Where does the time go?! Christmas is next month!!! The weather is finally starting to act seasonal around here. So glad to get rid of the heat, but not looking forward to snow and freezing cold weather.
Anyways, I have been working on budgeting and planning ahead with our finances. I have myself set to a grocery budget of $200 per month to start out. This will includes toiletries and other such supplies. I know I can do it, and if I'm real smart and frugal, I know I can whittle it down to about $140/month (or $35/week). This is my goal anyhow. So right now, I'm working on menues based upon what I have on hand plus sales. For anybody that has a Community Market in their area, they are having some great sales now thru Saturday. They also have Great Scot, Sack 'n' Save and Fulmer listed on their website, so I would think all these places run the same sales. If you have one of these stores nearby, it's worthwhile to go to their websites and sign up for their weekly emails. There is always a coupon in the email. Each week you can vote on which coupon should be in the next weeks email. Sometimes, there are great deals to be had with these coupons. Then again, some weeks I don't print out the coupon because it's an item we don't use. If you can get to one of these stores, make sure you bring your coupons! They are having a super double coupon event. Coupons up to $1 are doubled. Coupons between $1-$2 are worth $2. Then coupons worth $2 and up are face value. Top that with the sales, and you could really make out this week!
I am also working on a price book so that I can quickly compare prices between stores and know if it's a good deal or highway robbery.
So between making menues based on whats in-stock in my home and current store sales, using a price book and using coupons; I believe I can start the month out right and keep within my grocery budget! On top of that, I am trying to learn the CVS extra bucks program. So saving money, here I come!