Want a chance to win a Flip Video Camera?

Head on over to Deal Seeking Mom an enter for your chance to win. I love this website. It's full of money saving tips and a whole lot more. You can also subscribe and get updates in your reader or email. I'm sure you'll find something of interest no matter who you are.

Run to your local Walgreen's

Axe is doing a promotion with Walgreen's and emoviecash.com You can get up to to FREE movie tickets per transaction. Check if you have a qualifying theater here. Get all the details of the deal here. I've already done this twice.

CVS is a Gold Mine

I got back from my mom's on Sunday evening. I was so tired, but there was a deal I just couldn't pass up at CVS. I always buy 4 papers on the first Sunday of the month, because it always has great coupons including the P&G Brandsaver insert. This was no exception. On to my deal:

1 Covergirl Aquasmoothe Compact Foundation 9.99
1 Covergirl Trublend Foundation 8.99
1 Covergirl Trublend Foundation 8.99
1 Covergirl Advanced Radiance Foundation 10.99
1 Covergirl Trublend Mineral Blush 7.99
1 Covergirl Trublend Mineral Blush 7.99
1 Covergirl Trublend Translucent Powder 7.99
1 Covergirl Trublend Translucent Powder 7.99

Total: 70.92

How much did I ACTUALLY pay?

0.00

That's right. Got it all for FREE!!

Well, I paid tax, but that was just a few cents. Not bad for all that makeup.

How did I do it? CVS has there CG products on sale B1G1 Free. There was a B1G1 Free coupon in the Sunday paper for CG products. They neutralize both items to being free. Let me explain...CVS's B1G1, they are basically taking a 50% loss on there part, the coupon eats the other 50% of the cost, but the manufacturer reimburses CVS for that part. So, each of them only take a 50% loss and you're not Stealing from the store as I've been accused. LOL!

Got questions? Just ask!

My Most Recent Walgreen's Savings

I really hit it up at Walgreen's recently. Here's how it went down:

Wags had a deal going on through the month of July, buy 3 of certain baby items and get a 5.00 Register Reward (like cash to use on your next visit). They had diapers and training pants on sale for 5.99 a couple of weeks out of the month so I decided to go with the training pants. To sweeten the deal, there was a coupon in the Easy Saver Catalog for 2.50 off each pack of diapers. To sweeten it further, there is a coupon booklet you can get at the pharmacy counter by asking and it had a 2.00 off each pack coupon. (you can stack Wag's store coupons) I bought about 9 packs of training pants @ 1.49 per pack and got 3 $5.00 RR's to use later. I thought that was awesome until I found out a way to reach ultimate sweetness. There are usually a couple of days at the end of each month when they release the next month's Easy Saver Catalog while the current month's Easy Saver is still active. Guess what? You can stack (use both coupons) those and get some extreme savings (even more if you add a manufacturer's coupon). Some people were able to use both Easy Saver's and the Pharmacy Q to get overage, but my Wag's doesn't give overage, so I chose to use the 2 Easy Saver Q's for a total of $5.00 off each pack. I got 9 more packs of diapers for .99 each and 3 more $5.00 RR's for a total of 30.00 free money to use at Walgreen's.

If you want to see the big non-sugar coated picture:

I got 18 packs of training pants for free w/ a bonus of $7.68 free money to spend at Walgreen's. They Paid Me To Buy Their Diapers!!

On a smaller scale

2 packs of 4ooct. printer paper
2 tubes hydrocortizone cream

total: .39cents

Want to know how to save at Walgreen's? Just ask.

My Most Recent CVS Savings

I'm visiting my parents this weekend, so I won't be back home until Sunday. You know what that means...I HAD to make my CVS stop before we left town. I was there for an hour with my 3 kids (who were amazingly well behaved), but it was so worth it. Here's what I bought:

3 Kodak Picture DVD's (Christmas Gifts) 9.99 each
4 Maybelline Definalash Mascara's 5.99 each
1 Schick Intuition Razor 3.99
3 Tic Tacs (The kids were so good) .79 each

Total Before Tax: 60.29
Total Spent After coupons and ECB's: Under 5.00
**Keep in mind $2.37 was for the Tic Tacs**


I received 10.00 free ECB's for completing a CVS survey about a month ago so I started with those.

I ended up with 19.99 ECB's for future use! That's the most I've ever had. I am so thankful for that survey!

Interested in saving money like me? Just ask?

I'm BAAAACK!

I know I basically fell of the blogosphere, but here I am, so come on back and join me. Mostly what I'll be writing about on this blog is my life as a homeschooling homemaker. I will also be writing about my favorite hobby which is saving money! I'm obsessed with couponing and will be sharing a lot about that as well. Great to be back!

Please Help Some Great People!

We used to be youth pastors and along the way met some great kids. Well, most of those kids are now adults and a few of them have a band called The Weeping Gate. It's a Christian band! They are entered in a Battle of the Bands competition. Could my readers please do me a favor and take a few literally SECONDS to vote for them here. All you have to do is select their band and click VOTE. That simple. Please help them be a success in this competition.

CVS Scenario Week of 5/11/2008

My husband kidnapped my computer this weekend so I've been undergoing blog withdrawals!

I went to CVS last night and here's what I did (remember I'm new):

TRANSACTION 1
--------------------------------
Oral B Pulsar $4.99
Crest Pro Health Rinse x 2 $7.98
Crest Pro Health Paste $3.99
Crest Glide Floss x 2 $5.00

Total 21.96 (before tax)

**MINUS**
Oral B 1.00
Crest 0.75
Crest 0.50
Crest 1.00
CVS 3/15 coupon
CVS ECB's 10.98

= $4.73 + .55 tax

Grand Total= $5.28 Out of Pocket AND received $10.00 ECB's and another 3/15 coupon.

TRANSACTION 2
---------------------------------------------------

Kellog Smart Start Cereal x 2 $5.00
Colgate Total Advanced x 3 $8.97
Colgate 360 toothbrush $3.99
Glade Spray x 2 $1.94
M&M's x 3 (for kiddos) $2.37

The subtotal did not print, but appx: 22.27 (before tax)

**MINUS**

Glade .97
Colgate 1.00
Colgate1.00
Colgate 1.00
Colgate 1.50
Smart Start 3.00
CVS 3/15 coupon
CVS ECB's 10.00 (from prior transaction)

Grand total after tax = $1.21 plus received $9.99 ECB's back.


Thanks for looking everyone. Please let me know if you think I'm on track. I'm only shopping for things I use and have coupons to stack with ECB's mostly.

Check out more scenarios @ Money Saving Mom

Check Please...Rebate Check That Is!

Here is the link for the IRS rebate info page (the schedule of payments page).

Hope this helps.

According to the guidelines, we should be getting our rebate check by May 9. Well, it's May 8th and it's not there yet, so I suppose they are waiting to the last minute, of course. Is anyone else as excited as I am to get that check? Well, I'll be waiting....

Heather

Mother's Day--Time to help the kids make my gifts again!

I know this will change in the future, but right now, Mother's Day is kind of lame. My kids are 5, 4 and 2 years old. They don't have money and I'm not sure they even are that concerned about the holiday. Dad is sweet and always buys me something nice...(last year a video camera), but the kids want to make something too. So I end up making my own gifts. I guess it's sweet spending the time with them, and that is really my gift I suppose. I just hope when they get older, they treat me like a queen on Mother's Day. They will clean house, cook my meals etc. Ok. Who am I kidding? Wouldn't that be nice though?

Seriously, I don't really find the holiday necessary, but a novel idea.


Heather

Weird things you might want to know about me...

This is not a meme! I do not participate in them. It's just me, keepin' it rell!

*I do not eat condiments! Not even ketchup! I'm pretty sick right now just thinking about them. They look, taste and smell disgusting. While I'm at it. Pickles! Those nasty green things floating in a jar of juice. I cannot even stand the smell of pickles. I will not kiss my husband if he has eaten pickles and when my kids were little, if they ate them, he had to clean them up.



*While we're on the topic, I have a phobia of touching the items on the table when we eat out. You know...the salt shaker, ketchup, napkin holders menus, etc. It's so disgusting. I hold them with napkins if I must touch them. Hundreds of people touch those things every day and the best that ever happens is they get wiped with a rag pulled from dirty soap water. I totally flip out if my kids touch them. I don't recommend it!





*I always put my left shoe on first. I did not realize this until my husband pointed it out after we were married. I seriously can't put my right on first or I feel off balance. I told you...WEIRD!









*I cannot do the dishes without thick, yellow latex gloves. It's not the hot water. It's the disgusting water-bloated, soggy food particles that are floating on the dishes, because certain people just stick there dishes right in the sink without scraping and rinsing. Ahhhh! If it touches me, I vomit. End of story.







Ok. That's enough weirdness for now. I'm sure I'll think of more weird things some other time and I'll make a "more weird things" post. Until then...

Heather

Reverse Works For Me Wednesday

We have a really large opening adjoining our two living areas so I bought an special 100.00 baby gate. It was broken after two months and now only a remnant remains.






So I concocted a plan....I combined several pieces of furniture and an extra gate to make a NEW gate system.
(Just noticed those gross spots...who knows what it is?)






It still does not work since my children are all MONKIES! They just climb over the furniture that is holding the gates together!








Baby gates may work for some, but I'm not sure they have EVER worked for me. They never keep my kids from where they want to go, they only slow them a little. I've tried pressure mount(not enough pressure in the world can keep three kids out), I've tried screw mount, (failed), added anchors (failed and ripped the drywall), I've tried gates with no door (athleticism required), gates with doors and "child proof" latches (you know what child proof means). I've just pretty much given up unless my husband wants to try prison bars bolted to the floor, but I don't think it would match the decor! Well, that's what hasn't worked for me. See ya next WFMW.

Heather

I tackled Coinstar!

I know, I know...you like to see pictures. Unfortunately, I have not yet instilled in my brain the mechanism that remembers to take pictures of stuff BEFORE I do it. I'm a new blogger!

So for my Tackle It Tuesday, here's what I did:

My father gave my son a very large amount of pennies and nickels to add to his savings. I have had it sitting in a big Tupperware bucket for about a year (seriously). Isn't that sad. Well today I loaded 5 kids and my bucket 'o money into my van and drove to my local Price Cutter to become acquainted with the beautiful green Coinstar machine. It was a little embarrassing because I had so much change. All the clerks kept staring and it was SO LOUD! Towards the end there were clerks that had gathered around to see the grand total of 79.00. It was like a little party! It would have been more, but Coinstar keeps 8.9cents on the dollar, but it was worth it not having to go to the bank or count the money myself. So now my kitchen counter is one item less cluttered and my son is 79.00 richer. Two birds with one stone I guess you could say.

I'll take pictures next time. I promise!

My husband was right **this time**!

When I first started my blog, I thought "What am I going to blog about?", so I decided I would make up some special daily blogs. My husband said, "I think you might feel a little overwhelmed making sure you post EVERY day." No way! Not me. I have nothing better to do than blog.

Alright, He was spot on!

I do have more of a life than I thought!

So I am discontinuing my good, yet cumbersome daily blogs. I will still be participating in Works for me Wednesday, Tackle It Tuesday, and Saturday Super Savings.

I will still try to keep my blog interesting though and I hope you will keep checking regularly!

Heather

My first CVS Savings experience!

Ok. I've been collecting coupons and reading up on how to be a CVS super saver. I'm happy to say I experienced the gratification of that today. I now get to join the Super Savings Saturday link! My first purchase was small, but I refuse to by stuff I don't need or normally use. Here's what I bought:

Venus razor 9.99 (4.00 off)
Aquafresh Advanced 2.99 x2 (2-1.00 off)
Tic Tac .79
3/15 c
My total was 8.?? (oops, don't have my receipt handy) OOP

I received 10.98 ECB plus got another 3/15 coupon.

It was so exciting. I can't wait to do this some more!

A few of my other purchases that I'm proud of this week (as a novice) are ground sirloin (97% fat free) for 2.00/lb. I found in a secret clearance section (it was fresh too!) and I bought my daughter a pair of pajamas from Toys R Us on clearance for 3.60!

I did however basically blow all my savings by going to watch Baby Mama with my husband last night. 17.50/ 2 tickets. YIKES! We don't get out much, so I was Super Shocked!

Hoping I have more savings to share next week...

Heather

Go ahead, Call my bluff

It's Works for me Wednesday again!

Parenting is NOT easy, but if you are a parent you already know that. I'm certainly not a parenting expert. I mess up all the time. However, I love my kids with all my heart as I'm sure you do. I try my best and sometimes it works. So, from time to time in my blog I will share failures as well as success stories.

Today I have a success tip for you. It's called Follow Through !! Kids learn right away how to push your buttons and manipulate you. I have found that consistency is one of the only things that works with kids. It takes a lot of work and effort in the beginning, but saves you so much in the end. For example: Tonight I decided it would be really fun to bake and frost sugar cookies with my 5 and 4 year olds. We were having a great time, pouring mixing etc. When I took the first batch out of the oven I put them on a cooling rack. I instructed my children (always making them look at me so I know they are listening which prevents excuses later) that if they touched the cookies at all they would not get to finish frosting them and they would not get to eat any tonight. I informed them...that was their warning and there would be no extra chances. My kids know that if I say it, I mean it. But wouldn't you know, my 5 yo daughter still had to test me. It was a simple act (she touched one of the cookies to see if it was cooled down), but a disobedient one just the same. (we give them rules for a reason...she could have been burned) It made me so sad. I was really looking forward to frosting the cookies with both of them. I wanted so badly to say "I'll give you one more chance", but I knew if I did, she would continue to call my bluff and not feel obligated to obey. So, after making her own up to her bad choice and own responsibility for her consequence, I asked her to leave the table.

It is so hard to be a follow through parent. One day though, when the choices are more important than cookies (drugs, alcohol, sex) my children will be well practiced on the reality of life and it's consequences. It's so important to train them young to make responsible decisions!

I hope maybe this will challenge you to be a follow through parent in your home. Give it a try. If your kids don't listen. You will find that once given enough time to see your consistency, your kids will know you mean what you say and will have to think harder before they make decisions. You will see a definite increase in good choices!

If you do give it a try, let me know how it works out for you.

Green Cleaning

I'm not exactly on the "Go Green" bandwagon yet, but due to my sons allergies I have been encouraged to hop on board. The most recent thing I have started doing is utilizing distilled white vinegar for almost all my cleaning. I know...It smells horrible, but the smell dissipates very quickly! Vinegar kills molds, bacteria and other nasty germs because of it's acidity, yet it is gentle enough to put in your laundry. You don't have to be afraid to breath it, as long as you don't mix it with bleach (see here). You don't have to be worried your kids will die from it and if you are like me, you don't have to worry about getting bleach spots all over your clothes because you lean against a wet spot on the counter. I found a site that has some tips on using vinegar here. One of my favorite uses is adding 1/4 to 1/2 cup to my rinse cycle. My clothes come out extremely clean with no residue and SO soft. I would not have believed it before I tried it. You can also add baking soda or salt with vinegar to make a paste for things that need an abrasive. I think it's awesome and I'm a born skeptic, so give it a try and let me know how it goes for you.

Secret Vengeance

Do toy makers have a grudge against parents? I think the answer is simple to see when you open a new cabbage patch doll for your two year old. Just to open the box alone, you have to slice through 6 sections of super duty, won't break no matter how hard you pull it tape. Once opened (after a few finger slices) you must pull and squeeze at the proper ratio to remove the inner package from the outer package. At this point your thinking "Almost there", but you are mistaken! Not only do you have to untwist all the twist ties, but you have to remove the same super duty tape from the twist ties first. After twisting, twisting and more twisting, you can now pull th doll free...OH NO...there's more tape! You fight your way through the tape only to find you forgot to snip 8 sections of thread (that are super thin, yet somehow indestructible) that are stitched to the box. Once finished, you wipe your brow and breathe in a paper bag for a minute or so. You hand the doll over to your child who joyfully receives it. That smile on her face makes it all worth it...then five minutes later, she throws it down and it's history.

At this point, you MUST remember! You made it...you are a survivor, a victor! Your hands may be sore and covered in band aids, but You conquered the box! You will live to see yet another birthday in which you can test your skills by hacking through the ever increasingly difficult toy packaging!

I survived the Zoo!

Saturday was Marcie's birthday. She is 2!!!! They had a free day at our local zoo and we decide to make that her birthday outing. Everyone had so much fun. We got there early, so it wasn't crowded and the weather was perfect. Everybody was happy the entire time with absolutely NO whining (which may be attributed to all kids having a stroller). When we got back home, my mom and dad were there and we all had ice cream cake from Cold Stone Creamery (cookie dough dream) yumm! It was a simple yet really enjoyable day! Here is our day in pictures:

I told the kids this was Franklin! (they rolled their eyes)

What a life!

Marcie feeding the giraffe.

Show off!

She blew out her own candles!

They handed out free sunglasses. (the kids took them Very seriously)

Marcie dancing!

Mark's first tattoo.

Maylie's butterfly tattoo. (It cost 50 cents)

It had to happen eventually...

Mark received his very first set of stitches on Tuesday. He decided it would be a great idea to stand on the bathroom counter and look at his handsome face in the mirror! He figured out it was actually a bad idea as he fell off and busted his chin open on the floor. It was a pretty bad gash. Dad took him to urgent care and he came home with four stitches. I got the bum deal, however, because my new job is to keep him from busting it back open for the next couple of weeks. (yeah, right. The boy who was standing on the counter!) Well, it took me a while to get these pics up, but here they are in all their gruesome glory!

I laughed so hard I cried!

I watched this video at A Day in the Life of a MaMa.

Kids At Play

We bought the kids some "new" play equipment off Craigslist for 50.00. I put it together by myself today! Woohoo! They played on it for about 45 minutes until everyone got too hot (very humid here). This is the first outside play stuff they've had. It was fun to see them playing on my BARGAIN!

All Toothbrushes Are NOT Created Equal

Part of my Tackle It Tuesday was to sanitize my children's toothbrushes that they keep throwing in the floor. That is just so disgusting! So I got bright idea #1888 and decided to boil the toothbrushes...well, that's what you do with bottles! It actually worked for some of the toothbrushes (the ones that cost $1 for a 6pk...Go figure)but for a couple of poor tooth decay soldiers it was the end of the road. They served us well. May they RIP.

How NOT to mop the floor!

Ok. So it's Tackle It Tuesday and I decide since I haven't tackled anything I feel worthy of posting I would tackle my bathroom this morning. I have recently switched to cleaning with vinegar as a step to have a healthier home and to support my son who has allergies/asthma. However, today, I thought I would mop the bathroom one last time with bleach. Every thing was going ok, until I bent over the bucket to wring out the mop and inhaled a fume that made me choke and felt like it burned my airway. What could it be? Did I use too much bleach? NO...I forgot I had been mopping with vinegar and had not thoroughly rinsed out the mop before sticking it in the bleach. So, my first thought was of the kids in the house. I covered my face and ran the bucket outside to be disposed of later, then ran back in the house and kicked on the attic fan. I think all the fumes are gone, but my nose smells like bleach. So, I guess what I tackled this Tuesday was staying alive! I will however post my before and after bathroom pics, even though at this point I'm thinking I should have just left it alone. See cleaning is just not healthy! Ha Ha! Vegging out on the couch is much safer!


No, we haven't been using this ??Bathroom??



Ahhhh....the demon mop bucket!

Great Website for Teaching Kids to Read

I found an awesome website that my kids actually LOVE to use. They think they are "playing", but they are actually learning phonics. Starfall.com has different levels depending on how far along your child is. My 3 year old (almost 4) uses it, but I wouldn't go younger than that. It is very interactive and keeps their attention. I have to make them get off! Just thought I'd share. It Works For Me.

Heather

Saturday Super Kids

The weather here in Missouri is so unpredictable. It is spring weather one day and literally the next day it snows! However, Today was a beautiful day. TJ told the kids he would pay them each 10.00 to pick up all the sticks out of the yard. After I picked my jaw up off the floor (I was thinking more like 1.00), I grabbed my camera and took some pictures of the kids hard at work.

Savings at Kohl's

I decided to participate in Super Savings Saturday from Money Saving Mom. I am so new to this that I haven't started doing my CVS deals or anything awesome like that, but I did come across some cool clearance items at Kohls. I got my kids t-shirts, skirts, and shorts for 2.50/piece (Jumping Beans). That is equal to consignment prices,so I couldn't pass it up. Hopefully I will have even more saving to show for soon!

Markers and Crayons Have Babies!

I have come to the conclusion that markers and crayons are asexual. You know that you can scour the entire house top to bottom. Take every crayon and marker, throw them in the trash, take directly to the dumpster and the next day you find your two year old has found a marker and has colored your couch, walls, herself. I'm telling you...these things reproduce. Anyone who has children knows this is fact. It's probably some secret government conspiracy like Area 51 or something. Join me on my mission to wipe out this disastrous race of Art products! Ok...well, I guess the kids need crayons, but the markers MUST go!

Hoping this post finds you Marker free!

Heather

Let's Try This Again...

I somehow screwed up my first blog after putting some hard work into it. So I'm trying again here with round 2. I will be organizing today and putting a new post up later tonight.