If you do stuff, stuff gets done.......

If you do stuff, stuff gets done.......

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

CVS last week and this week

Actually, I am so behind in blog updates. These purchase are 2 weeks and 1 week ago. None of these items are currently in the CVS ads and I am showing them as examples. We all have different stores available to us. I think to get good deals on a sort of consistent basis, it is best to pick one store and be familiar with them. 



So, this is my CVS purchases when we took a quick trip to Texas to visit our parents. 
Everything was on sale and had manufacturer coupons, plus I had a CVS scanner coupon for the hair products and 2 CVS ECBs from the previous week. 
The cash total spent was about $9 and that Texas sales tax was a lot lower than it would of been in Oklahoma.  And I got $6 ECBs back. 

Last week, the deals were good but it didn't go quite like I planned. 
My local CVS had a shopping buggy full of assorted Dawn, 4/$1. This was not in the national ad. So, I got 8. Instead of ringing them up at .25 each, he said they scanned 1 for every 4 bought so they actually only cost 4/.99.

I had $2 coupons on all the Colgate products, plus a 25% off any oral care products and last weeks ECBs. 
The wrong part is, I thought I would get back a $10 ECB for buying $20 in Colgate but the twin packs were not included.
Even still, $11 for 6 tubes of toothpaste, 1 big mouthwash and 8 Dawn is a good deal to me. 

I thought about going back and purchasing more of the correct Colgate products to get that $10 ECB but I realized our home was stocked enough. 
I didn't see anything in this weeks CVS that we needed so I won't be going this week. 

That is the benefit of shopping this way- I spend less and we have extras on hand and I don't have to shop every week. 

2 product reviews

We took a quick trip to Texas and we wanted a snack on the drive back. We got this box of Pepperidge Farm cheese crisps at a travel stop. They taste very good but they sure don't look like the picture on the box.


Mess-free fingerpaint by Crayola is something my 4 year old granddaughter brought here. She had a day off from school so we happily spent the day together and did lots of crafty things.
The mess free paint squirts out of the tube as a beige looking substance. Then it gets smeared onto the special paper that goes with the paint. The paper has a hidden design that shows up when the paint touches it.
Elizabeth had a great time with this but I kept expecting the next sheet of paper to have a different  background design. All of her packet had rainbows. Rainbows are one of her favorite things and she likes them but I think the product would be more interesting with multiple design sheets.
After she did all these blob paintings, she started doing her handprints.
The paint really was mess free. It smells like play dough and I did have to help Elizabeth wash her hands as she had done a thorough job of covering her hands. 



2014 fall decorating

I didn't buy or make a single new thing- I just opened up the storage tub from previous years and put out the things that I still like and still look fresh. (Some stuff from the tub went in the trash)
Wreath on the front door
Dining room - oops, there are some the new things. The owl print vinyl tablecloths were purchased this month at Walmart. 

The patchwork pumpkins wall hanging was sewn by my mom. 
This is our first year to own the  hutch_we found it at our favorite thrift store this year and it was fun to decorate. 

I have a really nice Thankful banner made by Debby and will put it on the mantle when it gets closer to Thanksgiving. 

I like to have seasonal things out, I think they make a room look more cheerful. But I am just not going to do anything elaborate, I've decided everything for a holiday needs to be easy to put out and it all needs to store away in a single storage tub. 

Monday, October 6, 2014

CVS deals -last week and this week

No extreme couponing here but I do try to do deals at CVS when I can buy things we need at a very low cost.
The trick to consistent savings at CVS is to do a deal every week or so so that you can use the Extra Care Bucks earned one week on a different deal the next week that will also generate more Extra Care Bucks.

SuperMomOf3plus1 on Youtube


This YouTuber does a good job at CVS. She usually buys different things than I do but she spends very little and gets a lot of good stuff for her family.

Shopping at CVS regularly adds up as they pay quarterly bonuses, I think it is 1% of all your purchases every 3 months.
They also pay beauty bonuses, $5 for every $50 spent on beauty products and that is more that just cosmetics, it is also hair care, skin care and maybe other products that I just don't know. 

Last week 
Our laundry room has several containers of detergent already but I saw how cheap I could get Tide with coupons and an ECB from the previous week, I happily did this deal.
After coupons and sales, the 4 Tide and 3 Dawn were $8.10 and I got $5 ECB.



This week- I had a CVS scanner coupon for $5 off any $15 cosmetic purchase and I had $1 ECB when I filled a prescription last week.  So, I used those and the $5 ECB and 2 coupons on 2 mascaras. 
The 2 mascaras were $3.42 and I got a $5 ECB for next week.


Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Pumpkin Muffin Tops

Hello everyone! September was really a bust with not but the necessities done but I feel good again and am hoping October will be much better.   I have missed you all and plan to now be back blogging and reading your blogs with my pre-crash regularity. 

Here is a recipe I tried and baked the last part of September and they turned out great. 



I had less than a cupful of canned pumpkin in the refrigerator leftover from a pumpkin scone recipe I tried that was not wonderful.  But I saw this Pumpkin muffin recipe and thought it sounded like a good recipe and would use up the leftover.  

I mixed up half a recipe and changed it a bit.  They turned out great and I will be making them again. I think mashed Banana or applesauce could be used instead of the pumpkin.  The muffin tops bake up much faster than a whole loaf. 

My small batch version - I mixed it all up by hand with a fork and spatula

1 egg
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
Stir all these ingredients together until blended
1 cup flour
3/4 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 salt
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t ginger
1/8 t cloves
Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients just until combined and sort of smooth. 
Add 1/2 cup chopped pecans 
Use a large cookie scoop and put batter on a greased or parchment lined baking sheets. They won't spread much but they will rise a little. 
Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven about 16 minutes until done. 

The original recipe has a topping but we liked them plain. 




In the photos, they do look like cookies but they really have a muffin taste and texture.