Spring organizing, free stuff, family, a little gardening and CVS

I haven't blogged in 2 weeks because it has just been busy here.

One of my April goals was to organize and clean out a few problem spots.

I'm so happy all the grands clothes have been switched from cold weather to warm weather things.  

Also, the changing table with its mish-mash of storage baskets was bugging me.  I remembered the set of plastic ones in the attic and they fit fine.  

Not Pinterest Worthy but I'm a lot happier with similar storage tubs and it cost no money. 

 The top row holds clothes for the 11 month old and socks for all grands. 

The bottom row is for the two 3 year old grandsons.  

All the other clothes are in the closet.  

The hall linen closet was also a mess.....

Below is the pile of sheets that were on the empty shelf.

Once everything was sorted and folded neatly, it fits and looks much better. 

A few things are being passed on and the toys were put in the toy room closet.  

My husband saw some ground work happening near our home and they were loading up nice dirt to haul off.  He went over and asked about it.  The driver offered to give it to us and dumped a load right outside our back gate.  

We need dirt to fill in some low spots and some can be added to our raised beds.  

Granddaughter Andie thought the dirt pile was a wonderful place to play.  

I'm just glad I had Tide detergent to clean her clothes afterward :) 

I saw on Facebook that a nearby home had their yard sale leftovers up for grabs.  There was a coffee pot and baby toys in the pictures I was interested in but they were already gone when I got there.

But, I must be crazy, because I did bring home this giant heavy mirror.  

I'll let you know if I paint it and keep it, or if I pass it on.  

Did I mention it's heavy and tall? 

We've had plenty of needed rain this spring. 

And you can see some of the low spots that will be filled with dirt soon......

Our little garden is keeping us in leaf lettuce, radishes, onions and a cauliflower so far.  

Granddaughter Elizabeth brought this Sprout House here from kindergarten  and I think it is such a neat idea.  

It is a paper house shape with a zipper sandwich bag taped to the back. 

Inside are some bean seeds and a wet paper napkin.  

I don't know how long they took to grow but you can really see the seed opening up with the roots and leaves.  

Grandpa planted the little sprouts in a raised bed and we all hope they keep growing.  

My main reason for the blog break is our grandchildren have been here the last 2 weeks, almost everyday, in various combinations.  

They are all lots of fun but I don't do much when they are here except play with them and keep them fed with easy meals.  

little boys can throw rocks and sticks into a pond for a long time and be happy the whole time

CVS

I am way behind on blogging about my CVS purchases.  

Below is what I bought last Sunday morning. 

After coupons and CVS coupons and bucks, I think it was about $19

and I got back a lot of CVS extracarebucks. 

Today at CVS,  I planned out my list matching up coupons to the deals I liked and cut out from this weeks sales flyer

after coupons and deals and extracare bucks, the total went from $136 to $17

I did not plan to buy Charmin but Cole, my favorite CVS manager, said it is on clearance and I could buy all I want at $5 a pack.  I only took 5

The Wet and Wild mascara is a very good deal,  there were $1 in the Sunday paper last week.  It sells for $1.87 and is buy one get one free this week. 

I think anyone with access to CVS can learn to do these CVS deals..  Look on Facebook for a CVS deals group.  Look on YouTube for CVS experts and the deals they do.  Also look at I Heart CVS for the CVS flyers and to read comments. 

At CVS,  first get a CVS extracarecard.  Then register it on line for the Beauty Club and for the pharmacy if you fill presciptions there.  Whenever you go to CVS,  scan your card at the red Kiosk multiple times until it quits printing CVS coupons.  Also,  get the CVS app on an Apple or Android device for even more CVS deals. 

Sign up for CVS emails.  They have been sending me $6/$30 coupons almost weekly. 

Look at the ad and match up your coupons to the CVS deals you need. 

I try to buy things that are pretty much free or that offer high value extracarebucks. 

It is a little complicated but it becomes easy once you figure it out. 

It's a good thing we have a toilet paper stockpile because little ones can go through a roll just having a good time.  

Hope you all have a good week ahead!

CVS, fruit and a 2 year old turns 3 and gets a haircut

Hello

I made a second trip to CVS this past week  and again I'm very happy to buy so much for just about $3.00 cash 

3 bags of diapers

2 large sodas

2 Dawn dish soap

Easter egg full of tattoos for next year- 75% off

1 Biore

And 6 bottles of bleach (almost a year's supply) 

Reasons why I use Bleach.  - this article explains it  Living On A Dime

I scanned my CVS card and the red kiosk until it quit giving coupons- kept giving different coupons for 6 tries and then it stopped

I used newspaper coupons, CVS coupons and ExtraCareBucks from previous purchases. 

Total dropped from $66.ish to $3.61. 

The receipt says it was a 95% savings. 

And I got more ExtraCareBucks for my next trip to CVS. 

We had a birthday party to go to tonight and we offered to bring fresh fruit.  My daughter was trying to not use silverware at this party so I thought to put the fruit on skewers.

We got the fruit on sale so this turned out to be a thrifty dish.

My husband helped me skewer the fruit.  It went fast and I was glad all our fruit was firm,  I think squishy fruit might fall off the sticks.  

The skewers were very popular at the party and they were so easy for people to just pick up 1 or 2, much quicker than serving multiple fruits on a tray.  

If you want to see fancy skewers, look on Pinterest. 

Ours were very simple, just grapes bought for 99 cents a pound, strawberries for 1.19 a pound and the pineapple was $1.49.  

A pack of 100 long skewers sells for $.99 at Walmart.  

I serve fresh fruit often and I'll definitely be doing fruit skewers again.  

JJ is our April birthday boy.  Yes,  he did get a major haircut, a miscommunication with the fill-in stylist. It was a bit of a shock but he is still very cute

And hair and little boys both grow very fast.  

To do list, etc;

Below is my to do list for this week and I also put a few projects to work on during April.

No grands here yesterday, and with my husband's help, we had a very productive Monday.  

This is the first harvest from husband's little garden- red and green leaf lettuce and a dab of spinach.  

Fresh eggs- my daughter bought them from a student at her school.  

Even if I had to wash them,  brown and blue eggs are just so much more cheerful than plain white ones.  

Saturday night, I got to thinking about Sunday lunch.  So I went in the kitchen and found the ingredients to make a bowl of tabouli salad.  

I also chopped up some potatoes, onions and carrots and found some beef broth and chopped, leftover roast beef and broth in the freezer.  

Sunday morning, it was very easy to start some vegetable beef soup cooking in the crockpot.  

It was so nice to come home from church and know lunch is ready.  

 We had a very relaxing Sunday afternoon after a busy week.  

Sharing this photo because I think they are just so cute and happy

Have a wonderful week everyone 

Today's CVS purchases and if you want to see my stockpile....here it is

I had my deals and coupons planned out ahead of time so we stopped at CVS on our way to church 

I prefer to go at this time because the weekly ad has just started and sale things are usually in stock.

Also my favorite CVS manager, Cole, is working then.  He is also a couponer and knows exactly how deals are supposed to work.  

The socks and chocolate were both on clearance 75% off and my husband needs socks so this was a good find. 

Everything else was on sale and bought with coupons.  

My receipt says I saved $100,06 which equals 100% and I spent no actual cash- just ExtraCareBucks from previous week's and coupons.  I got back $17 in ExtraCareBucks.  

I blog about my deals and some of you have commented asking where I keep it and what do I do with all of it.  

First, we live in a pretty normal Oklahoma home that has quite a bit of room.

Second, I do share these purchases with my family and with others in need.  

Our hall bathroom has a deep, floor to ceiling linen cabinet.  

On the top shelf is multi packs of toilet tissue.

On the 2 bottom shelves are about a dozen boxes of facial tissue, 15 bags of assorted diapers, 4 extra hand soaps and 5 twin packs of Pantene shampoo and conditioners. 

I didn't photograph the baby wipes, they are on the top shelf of the toy room closet.  

Laundry room 

On the top of the cabinets are 5 multipacks of paper towels.  

I can fit more up there and I think paper towels are a deal next week at CVS. 

Remember- I plan ahead by looking at the  future CVS sales at IHeartCVS.com

The lower cabinet is deep and holds about a dozen bottles of laundry detergent and a few bleach and fabric softener.  

The bottom shelf has a few bags of laundry pods and assorted laundry products.  

The rest of the CVS stockpile is in our big, walk-in master closet.

On one top shelf is more toilet tissue.  

The other items are in containers on this tall shelf in the master closet.

Shoe boxes of dental floss.....

Bar soap.....

Cosmetics.......

Deodorants........

A basket of women's razors and a basket of men's razors and cream 

Toothpastes and brushes 

The bottom shelf is dark so I put a lantern to help light it up for the photo.mm

On the left are shampoo and conditioners, 

In the middle are mouthwashes

On the right are liquid soaps and lotions.  

And I forgot to photograph the tray of face moisturizers and makeup wipes.  

My tips for stockpiles 

 I rarely spend much cash. 

 At CVS, I focus on sale products that give ExtraCareBucks and then use my ExtraCareBucks for future sales.

 I do almost all bargain shopping concentrating on just CVS.  I see great deals on line that people get at Walgreens, Dollar General, Publix, Target, KMart.   Pick one store available to you and focus on it.

 Buy stuff you will use.  

 Join a Facebook group that posts for the store you shop.  

 Be organized. 

And have fun!

 I like that couponing stretches our income but I also consider it a hobby and a game.