Great CVS trip

I had an awesome trip to CVS today (2/28). I spent a total of $25, saved $39 and came home with 4 ECB, a total of 67%! This is my second highest percentage for a trip! I realized after getting in the van that I could have saved an additional $3 had I separated and completed 3 transaction instead of 2 but oops! One of the reasons I missed this is because I ended up using 2 store coupons that I had not plan prior to going to the store! Here is what I did:

Transaction #1
CVS Psoriasis shampoo $7.99 with a $1 store coupon
Gillette men's clinical strength deodorant $8.99 w/$3.00 off manufacturer's coupon and 2ECB earned.
1 Bottle of Colgate Kid's toothpaste $2.50 w/$.75 off manufacturer's coupon and 1 ECB
1 Tube of Colgate Toothpaste $2.50 w/$.75 off manufacturer's coupon and 1 ECB
Softsoap body wash $4.99 w/4 ECB back
Other coupons included 5 off 25 from Rite Aid and 2 ECB

Transaction #2
Box of Huggies Diapers $19.99 with $4.00 store coupon and $2.50 Manufacturer's coupon earned 4ECB
2 bags of Jelly Beans $.88 each with $1.00 off 2 store coupon
2 new Pacifers for Zach
Other coupons included 3 off 15 from Rite Aid and 8ECB

The really cool part of the second transaction is that including the jelly beans and pacifers as free,then diapers were still $.12 each!

This week has been crazy and has also served as a reminder of why I CHOSE to stay at home. My last blog post was on Monday. On Tuesday, Lily and Kendall went to Tumble Tots and I spent the morning in Salisbury. I went to the Harris Teeter there. I am so glad I did. This store was awesome, clean and well stocked. Tuesday was the last day of Super Doubles but there were only two items I could not find. Spent 22.89 and saved $26.26 There is a rumor that a "Triples Week" is coming in the next month and if that is the case then I will be making one or more trips to that store. I also hit CVS where I purchased a container of Tide and a package of Tide Stain Release gel packs; total spent 9.84 saved 12.34. Finally I stopped at Food Lion to grab some more clearance baby food and some paper plates total spent 7.16 saved 18.22. Total saving for the morning $57 or 59 %. Zach and I met Matt for lunch and then went to Lowes to purchase tile for the bathroom. I also went online to buy the glass block. Home Depot had a deal that for spending a certain amount you received free shipping. After ordering the glass block tile I realized that I could pay 41 for shipping or I could spend $41 and get free shipping. Of course I spent :)

Yesterday I ended up working 6 hours with Lily going to Tumble Tots and then home with a friend. Zach and Kendall went to Nana Carol's. I was so tired!!

Today, Matt left at 5am for a meeting and I am trying to get the house straighten, laundry caught up and the girls prepared for Tomorrow. I will be leaving at 5:30am for a class in Raleigh. The class last from 8:30 till 5pm. It is a 2 hour drive. Matt will be at home with the kids. It will be the longest that I have been away from any of the younger kids. Even when I gave birth it was a maximum of 8 hours between times I saw the others. Lily is sick and already clinging. I am trying to prepare her I hope that helps! I am excited about the class because it is the one I need in order to become "handwriting certified." Hopefully I will learn alot!

Not so Manic Monday

Today is exactly what I needed it to be a nice, quiet, routine day at home! This weekend has been so hectic starting with Thursday night and then through yesterday. So since I want to keep this almost as a journal, I am going to try and hit the highlights of the weekend.

Thursday night I made a quick but profitable trip to CVS and Food Lion. At Food Lion, I found stage 2 baby food on closeout for 39 cent a jar. I also had several coupons for $1 off 4 and 6. I ended up buying 14 jars of food for an average cost of 13 cent each. I also picked up 64 ozs of Apple Juice for 50 cent. Diet Cokes were also on sale :)

Friday, Amanda and I went to Winston after I saw a patient at North. We hit Harris Teeter and Costco as well as the Verizon Store where Amanda is going to be getting a new phone. This phone is the 3rd one in 10 months that has broken so she got to chose a different phone to replace this one! I also went to CVS where I had a great transaction spending 32 cent and saving $22. I had a 5/25, a 4/20 facial items and 16 in ECBs. I still brought home 6ECB from my first transactions! Matt's brother Dave and his family arrived from Disney around midnight, I was asleep!

Saturday, Matt stayed at home to visit with the kids. I went to help with Angel Food distribution, came home ate lunch and then went back to church for quizzing. Matt and the babies brought Pizza Hut pizza for dinner!

Sunday was a church day as usual and I got a much needed nap!

Today, I have caught up on laundry, emptied cat litter, caught up on the internet and hopefully will get my coupons cut out from the past 3 weeks that Mom saved for me! I also need to get a new calender for March put together!

The biggest news is that Kendall used a spoon to feed herself Applesauce for lunch !

Kendall's Appointment

We started to notice several weeks ago that Kendall's left eye was starting to cross(turn inward). The more we watched it the more often we saw it turning in. Because of Lily's extremely poor vision we decided to have her checked immediately. So yesterday we both took her to the appointment. I have to say that she was absolutely amazing! She is so cooperative with all the tests they had to do. It was really obvious to the tech that she was far-sighted. Her vision is not as bad as Lily's but she does require glasses. We are in prayer that she will not need surgery. After receiving her glasses, she returns in 3 months to make this decision. Because Zach was with us, they decided to "check" his vision as well. Because he is so young this may change but his eye "look" normal now. One of the main things we were so worried about was finding glasses to fit Kendall. Lily was a year older but around the same size and it took 3 months and multiple visits to different place to find her glasses. So we decided to go ahead and order a pair if we could find some that fit. We did find and order a pair from the doctor's office. they are pink and brown and have the "cable" /wrap around ear pieces. They are not the best but they did look cute on her so we decide to get these as well as keep looking. This office does not accept our vision insurance so this pair is full price. After coming back to Lexington, I took her to the office I use and where our insurance is accepted. I was able to find an adorable blue pair of glass that she LOVES and looks great it. So I ordered this pair as well. I was also able to order myself a new pair of glasses. I will post pictures when both pair come in!

I did make my first trip to Harris Teeter for super doubles yesterday before Kendall's appointment. I am upset with myself, first I have lost my envelope that had my extra coupons to use. These were the ones I had pulled if an item was out of I couldn't find it at the store. I had probably 16 or so coupons in this one. On top of that I lost my receipt. I know that I had over $50 in coupons but no clue how the totals actually are. I am planning a second trip tomorrow hopefully I will do better.
The playhouse arrived and only took Matt about 30 minutes to assemble. I will try and get pics of this as well.
Matt and I are going to build raised garden boxes for our square foot garden this year. I ordered the book today and he is planning on building 2 4x4 boxes for me!

Budgeting

This post is difficult for me to write and is strictly to make myself accountable. I hope that if anyone reads it they can relate or even offer support.

Over the past several weeks in particular, we have been working on getting our budget and more importantly our spending under control. It seems that our checkbook is staying in the red. My first thought is that it is not really in the red because some of the money is "spent" only on paper. But in reality I know that that money has to be spent for what it says it is going too. We decided that when we got the unexpected refund from taxes, that money would go to get us back on track and if there was any extra it would go to finishing the room. We have also said that instead of putting every available penny into finishing the room we would first get the rest of our finances in order. This probably does not sound like a big deal but it would probably take a maximum of 5000 to finish and have inspected the new addition. At that point we could and will re-fiance the house with the addition and lower our overall debit and monthly payments. But with me not working, it is difficult to find even the extra 5000. So we see the end but also are at the point where several things need to be fixed, replace or simply bought for regular use!

Couponing is going a long way to stretch our budget and I really enjoy doing it but I am also trying not to "spend" money in order to save in the long run. This is difficult for me because I see several "awesome" deals and want to take advantage of them but in reality we don't have the cash to do that right now. It is difficult for me to realize this and to stick to...it is not in the budget it can wait. I am not talking about huge expenses but little 10 bucks here and there type things! So yesterday, I read this great deal of pictures, free 75 prints with shipping only to pay. So I decided that I would only do it if I have either the cash or paypal funds to do it. But it is a struggle for me. Grrrrrrrrrr!

Valentine's Day

The most important event of today was Lily playing Hand bells at church this morning. The way they learn to do this is by following colors on a card. Lily does not always play the same colors so she is watching not just going off memory. In fact this morning she told me she was playing yellow bells. Today the entire group (ages 2.5 - 5th grade) played Jesus Loves Me with the bells. They also sang and recited John 3:16. Lily has been practicing on the verse for about a month. I am so proud of her for learning it in KJ with those "long" words! This group meets on Wednesday nights. The "theme" for this year is "Jesus cared for us so we care for others." They are collecting one item a month to make Samaritan purse boxes in November, and collect change to donate once a quarter. I am really excited and glad to see this group focus on others at this young age! A friend sat up front today and got some really good shots of Lily.
Isabella is Lily's favorite friend

Love's Sweet Song

One of the reason that this week has been so busy for us is the preparation for the dinner theater presented at church last night. This is one of the two main fundraisers for the youth's trip to LIFE this summer. LIFE is a national youth conference occurring once every 3 years. It can only be attended by youth going into 9th grade to those just graduating from High School. Love's Sweet Song is the title of the play. Haley plays the main character and was on stage the entire performance. She has been working really hard to learn her lines and especially on slowing down and speaking clearly. Matt has a couple of lines but also enjoyed working on the set design and helping with make- up. Hopefully (depending on the weather) they will present this again tonight. A nursery was provided last night and Lily at the last minute decided to stay in the nursery "to play" instead of watching the play with me! Her statement was "I don't want to watch a dumb play." Below is the "time machine" designed by Matt, what you can't see is the "Bumper stickers" on the front!