CVS - 3 trips this week

I went to CVS 3 times this week and spent about $18 cash on 3 transactions.

I used some newpaper coupons, some internet coupons, coupons from the CVS scanner and some discounts CVS emailed me.  

***Linking up with Financial Savvy Saturday's at Vickie's Kitchen and Garden***

I learn about the CVS sales from their ads and I learn how to combine coupons with CVS deals from several online sources. 

A YouTube channel called LASavings8 has great match ups. 

There are several Facebook groups with lots of deal match ups too - couponing at CVS seems to be the most active.  

If you are interested in shopping at CVS, first go to a nearby CVS and get an ExtraCare card.  Then scan it in the store for CVS coupons.  Also register that ExtraCare online either at CVS.com or use the CVS app if you have a smart device.  Also sign up for CVS beauty bucks club and if you fill prescriptions there, sign up for those rewards too.  

2.77 for this trip

$12.46 for this trip

$2.96 for this trip. Plus, I have $13 in ExtraCare bucks for my next trip to CVS.

I live just a few miles from CVS and go by it just doing about any errand so getting there is very convenient for me.  

You may notice there is no sales tax on my receipts, my husband is a disabled veteran and our state gives us exemption.  

I've managed to build up some stockpiles with CVS deals.  We have at least a years supply of toilet paper, hair and oral care products, skin care and bath soaps and shower gels, laundry products and make up.  We've got lots of diapers too but it is hard to gauge how long they will last as 2 grands are still in diapers and 2 more will be born soon. 

This does take some time and organization and a little frustration when a deal doesn't work like I expected or the items are out of stock.  Still, I have fun doing it and it really helps our budget. 

Monday list

Hello! Things are kind of getting back to normal after a whirlwind of busy days.

I wrote out this list in a hurry last night and I will probably add to it as the week goes on

Images are made with rubber stamps and colored pencils on old fashioned notebook paper - my redneck version of a fancy ErinCondren or Filofax planner :) 

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Easter decorations 2015

These have all been out for several weeks but I am just now getting around to showing the photos. 

I didn't really feel like decorating this year (I'll explain later ) but the grandchildren have enjoyed all the bunnies and eggs so much, I'm glad I did.  

Nothing new- everything has been used before.  

No pretty list this week......

This is a particularly busy time with some not everyday things going on.

My husband will have rotator cuff surgery this week, he has been very uncomfortable since the injury a few weeks ago so we are glad it has been scheduled.

Also, grandson JJ turns 2 and will celebrate with a party,  and Easter Sunday afternoon will be a family lunch and egg fun. 

On my to do list th last 2-3 weeks was this flag quilt.  I was very happy to finish it and deliver it to the birthday son - his birthday is a few weeks away but I may not see him that actual day.  He saw this quilt online and requested it months ago and was very happy to see it.

My list this week is not a pretty one.  I wrote it up Sunday night in the notes section on my iPad.  Thr things with multiple x's have been done.  

This is a very pared down list- I may get more things done but I may not.  

I'll be back after our family visits and once my husband has recovered,  have a good week everyone! 

Monday to do list

Good morning everyone!

My list is shorter this week,  I did all the laundry and some cleaning last night.  We are waiting to hear when my husband's shoulder surgery will be scheduled so I mainly plan to be flexible and to keep things done up at home as much as possible, 

My main goal is get that flag quilt finished!

Images are rubber stamped and colored with pencils, old fashioned notebook paper on a clipboard.

Have a good week everyone. 

If you do stuff, stuff gets done! 

Special Days

We celebrated St. Patrick's day a few days late with a play day for these 4 sweet cousins and siblings.  My daughter made this rainbow fruit pizza.

It was delicious and was enjoyed by the little ones as well as the adults.

My husband and I celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary. He ordered this beautiful bouquet straight from Hawaii and it arrived a few days early.

I just love them.  We first saw bird of paradise flowers when we were newlyweds and stationed in Southern California and have liked them ever since.

Fancy vegetables

We found these varieties of fresh produce at Sprouts, a chain grocery store sort of like Whole Foods.

One night I cooked some of the fresh green beans with some of the whole tiny potatoes - just delicious!

Another night, I oven roasted some the tiny potatoes with just a little olive oil and coarse salt.  

The rainbow organic carrots are good too, I am not sure they are any tastier than regular orange carrots, but they are pretty.  

I peeled the whole bag and chopped them and some celery.  They are great with a little dip for a snack or side dish.  

A prayer in honor of St. Patrick

Jane Snead sampler stitched by mom around 1970 

Monday list

I am up and at 'em this morning, how about you?

My list is just old fashioned notebook paper on a clipboard. 

Designs were made with rubber stamps and colored pencils. 

Pie for Pi Day, a day late

I had some homemade pie crusts in the freezer so it was easy as pie to put together this dessert.

The peaches were also from the freezer, really good Arkansas peaches that my dad got at a fruit market straight from the orchard.  

Yesterday was the official Pi Day but I seem to running late on most everything these days.  

Pie tastes good though, late or on time, right? 

Monday to do list

I liked my decorated list so much last week that I did this week's list the same way.
You all liked it too, thank you for all the sweet comments.

Use what you have! 

Have you made your list yet?  I hope you all have a pleasant and productive week. 

Baking, CVS, and My Daughter's Home

I did some baking one morning last week.  All the recipes were simple, and cute little Braeden helped me lots.  He poured the measured out ingredients into the mixing bowls,  stirred lots and wanted to taste everything.

Aren't his dimples adorable?

we made 1 recipe of Coconut Macaroons from the recipe on the back of the bag of Angel flake coconut and we topped them with a little melted chocolate.  

hot dog buns from my grandparents bread recipe and 

another loaf of Raisin Nut bread, also from my grandparents recipe

a batch of Golden Raisin Biscuit Bars from  King Arthur Flour 

and my friend Lorita's recipe for 5 Minute Almond Cake

all of these recipes use basic pantry ingredients and are easy to make, even  with lots of help from an almost 3 year old.  

we ate some and put some in the freezer and enjoyed how nice our home smelled after everything baked.

I continue to bargain at shop at CVS.  This was a small trip last week and I got it all for $3.75.

No pictures but I already shopped this week's sale and for $20 in 2 transactions, I got 8 packs of Huggies diapers, 2 mens body wash and 2 gallons of Bordens milk.  And I left with $12 in CVS bucks to spend on the next deal I like.  

This CVS shopping really is worth the organizing it takes, 

I get most of my coupons from the Sunday paper as well as Internet printables, mostly from Coupons.com.

Coupons.com allows 2 prints of each coupon per device and I recently discovered it is very easy to print more copies using the Coupons.com APP on an ipod, or ipad or Iphone and a wireless printer.
That is how I got 8 $2 Huggies coupons I needed for todays deal  

My daughter is expecting their 3 child, a baby boy due in May.  She is continuing to decluttered and organize and decorate their home.  She did the master bedroom a few weeks ago but I can't find the photos.  Then she did their living room.  It is a hard room to arrange because one was is the doorway leading to 2 of the bedrooms.  One corner is a fireplace, then the French doors.  The other wall leads to another bedroom and the last side borders the kitchen.

This is a new furniture arrangement and I think it works best.  

No money spent in this room - just cleaning and reorganizing.

The next room she did tackled was turning this odd little space right off the front door into a toy room/play room.  They have a 3 bedroom home and moving most of the toys to this area means the 2 bedrooms should be fine for the clothes and sleeping areas.

This is a reading nook and a space JJ and Elizabeth are enjoying,

The storage units are new, I think she ordered them and the storage bins from Walmart.  The little table and chairs got a coat of gray paint and I helped her sew the plain white valances for the 2 windows.

I plan to be back tomorrow with another to do list and some replies.  I kind of got sidetracked this week as my husband has injured his shoulder and may need surgery.  I'll explain if it happens.  He will see a specialist soon.  

bye for now!

Back to my list

I've been a list maker all my adult life but It has been 3 weeks since I made my last weekly to do list.

I am feeling good and motivated and ready to get back to my normal.  

Maybe you all know about the vast product line of Erin Condren life planners, I just discovered them, and apparently just writing out a list on whatever paper you have is not enough.  You need a fancy personalized book with Washi tape and stickers and tabs to it all right. 

I think it is a great idea but it sounds like a job in itself to just keep it all up.  I won't be doing Erin Condren. 

I wrote out my list night and thought I could attempt to make it pretty.  My husband is used to me doing lots of crafts and fixing things up but when I told him I was going to decorate my to-do list, he looked at me like I was daffy and said "you're gonna do what?"  

So,  here is my decorated to do list.  I just used some rubber stamped designs on plain ole notebook paper.  

Now it's time to keep working on this list! 

Have a good Monday everyone!

Cooking and playing

We're having winter weather so I have been mostly at home this week.  I spent more time cooking too.

No pictures but I've baked 2 batches of raisin bread.  I use 1/2 of my grandparents Bread recipe as the base for each loaf, then mixed it in the bread machine and baked in the oven.  I double the sugar and add heaping 1/2 cuts of chopped raisins and walnuts and 2 teaspoons cinnamon.  Raisin bread is delicious toasted either for breakfast or dessert.

We had some Texas gulf shrimp in our freezer that our son brought back from vacation.  I don't cook shrimp very often but when I do, I usually boil them and this time I decided to fry it for a change.  I used this Recipe for Crunchy Fried Shrimp from All Recipes.com.  The fried shrimp were perfect and I think this method would work for just about fried anything.
Two grandsons spent the night with us and had this fried shrimp.  This morning when the oldest one woke up, he told me he really liked  last nights supper.  His little brother, though, only ate the crunchy breading and left bare shrimp on his plate.

Grandsons having fun in the snow.  

Our snow is pretty and fluffy and a nuisance for driving.  Thankfully it is not as heavy or last lasting as the snow the north is having. 

Off schedule....

I had a long lasting stomach bug almost 3 weeks ago. I've been better for awhile but I am still off my normal regular daily activities.  Not sure if it is just from being a little weak or if this winter weather is slowing me down or what. 

So that is my explanation for so few blog posts.  

Right now, I am waiting for these cinnamon rolls to cool.  My husband asked me to make them so he could share them at work, but he didn't request them until after supper or I would of started them earlier.

I am not a night owl and am normally asleep by now, but since I've been so off schedule, I am happily baking cinnamon rolls.  I wish you all could smell them- they smell great.  Once they cool off, I'll cover them up for the night and then in the morning, I'll frost them and maybe sprinkle with chopped nuts. 

I made 2 trips to CVS and combined manufacturer coupons and store coupons and sales and extra care bucks, the purchases below cost me 59 cents cash and my other similar purchase but is not photographed was less than $2.  And I have more than $20 in CVS bucks to spend on future purchases. 

If you are wanting to stretch your budget, I really encourage you to pick out a local store and look up their deals online, especially on a Facebook group or YouTube videos, as I've posted about before.  

It does take some research and organization but it really can add up to big savings.  

I shop CVS because there is one in my town and in a close convenient location.  

I see posts about great deals at Target, Rite Aid, Publix, Kroger- and others.  

Getting deals stretches our budget and it's fun! 

I think those rolls might be cool enough to cover up now and I am going to bed.  

I should have very sweet dreams as our home smells like a Cinnabon bakery 

Good night for now

Mid week catch all post

What have I been up to?

I've been sewing on an American flag inspired quilt that a son requested. His birthday is in April and I hope to have it finished for that. 

I also made 1 visit to 1 thrift store. 

I got all these nice Oneida spoons and forks for 25 cents each.

I also got this pile of children's clothes- minus 2 pair of jeans that my daughter was so tickled to see as they were like new and fit long legged and slim Elizabeth perfectly.  This pile was surprising as most of the clothes are for the older grands.  Like I mentioned before, the bigger size children's clothes are harder to come by so this was a good buy. 

This is an odd fabric product- it feels more like a heavy interfacing than fabric - not sure what I will do with it but I really like the kitchen theme design.  It is 1 yard of 60 inch wide and was 50 cents. 

Beside the Valentine family party,  we had another big weekend event.  We went to a gender reveal ultrasound for grand baby #7 who is due late July.  

In this photo, the baby is looking right at the camera and has both arms up beside the head.  We also saw a yawn and a thumb suck.  So sweet! 

Before we went to the ultrasound, we had lunch with the parents, another aunt and the maternal grandparents.  A friend made these pretty cupcakes with pink and blue mini pacifiers so we could predict what the baby might be.  

They were delicious, but most of us were wrong,  we pedicted a boy baby but 

It's a girl! 

And just what big sister Andie requested.  

Happy Valentines Day 2015

We just had a very fun family Valentines party. We celebrated with pizza, snacks and homemade Valentine  boxes.

We started doing this years ago when we homeschooled. The one thing the children missed most about public school was the parties. So we decided to sort of replicate a school party at home with homemade Valentine boxes. 

There were some especially creative boxes this year. 

Gavin used a basketball with a slot cut in it.

Son in law John made a Bat Mobile. 

Daughter in law Sheena made a very cute frog princess. 

The grandchildren really had fun - they like playing with their cousins and glow sticks and of course they like the candy, 

We just fill the boxes with little gifts and treats for each other.

Hope you all had a happy Valentine's Day too!