Dillon's 4/16/09 shopping trip

Here's my Dillon's purchases for today:

(Everything below had a coupon)
9 boxes Green Giant frozen veggies (.44 each)
2 bags Bird's Eye frozen veggies (.30 each)
2 bags Quaker Quakes (FREE)
2 Suave deodorant (FREE)
4 Suave Shampoo & Conditioner (.38 each)
4 Brut deodorant (FREE)
2 boxes Pillsbury Brownies (.75 each)
2 McCormick Grill Mates (.49 each)
4 rolls Scott paper towels (.74 each)
2 bottles Soft Soap (FREE)
6 boxes Rice a Roni (.66 each)
2 pkgs Huggies 40ct. wipes (FREE)
1 Betty Crocker frosting (.89)

(The following items did NOT have a coupon)
1 loaf marked down bread for .60 cents
1 gallon milk $2.50
1 bag salad $1.50
1 2 lt. Pepsi $1.38

Total before any discounts = $86.88

Total after Plus Card, E-Coupons and Manufacturer Coupons = $25.11 Out of my pocket ($2.03 of that was tax.)

72% Savings

CVS & Walgreens deals for 4/12/09

CVS Pharmacy



1 18 oz. Softsoap body wash~~4.99 minus .75 Q

2 Colgate 360 toothbrushes~~3.99 each minus two .75 Q's

3 boxes CVS facial tissues~~on sale buy 2 @ 1.29 get 1 free~~minus $1 Q = $1.58 for all 3 boxes!

2 bottles Pantene~~ 2/$7 minus two $1.50 Q's

2 bottles Pantene style product~~ Q for both free w/purchase of the above Pantene

2 bottles Pert Plus~~2/$5~~ minus two $2 Q's = .50 each

Total = $35.84
Total after Q's and ECB's = $15.61
ECB's earned = $ 15.48

Note: My goal is to spend much less than this out of my pocket. However, I really needed shampoo and Pantene is my favorite brand. I really didn't want to miss out on that deal! With $15.48 in ECB's now I hope to roll them to spend less than a few bucks next time I go.


Walgreens

I didn't think that this week's Walgreen's deals were that great. To keep my Register Reward's (RR's) from expiring I decided to buy the following items to "roll" my rewards.

1 20 oz. Mountain Dew~~$1.29 (bought purely for my satisfaction ; > )

1 Chap Stick Naturals~~ $$1.99

1 Skintimate Shave Gel~~$2.49

1 Scunci hair bands~~$2.00

Subtotal = $7.77 minus $7.00 in Register Rewards = .77 plus tax = .82 out of pocket!
I earned another $5 in Register Rewards with this trip!

Dillon's coupon match up's

MC~ manufacturer coupon...remember, these double up to $1...my final price is w/the coupon doubled
CF~ CellFire coupon
BOGO ~ Buy One Get One Free


Eggs .99~ MC Free 2 Lt. Big Red soda w/2 dozen eggs=.99 each plus free soda
I Can't Believe It's Not Butter~ 1.66-.40 MC = .86 each
Pillsbury Sweet Rolls~ 1.77- .30 MC - .50 CellFire= .67
Duncan Hines cake mix~ $1- .35 MC = .30 each
Knorr Sides (noodles, rices mixes) $1 - .75/2 MC = .62 each
Swanson Broth .88 - .40/2 MC = .96/2
Campbell's Cream Soups .88 - .40/4 MC = .68 each (still cheaper @ Aldi)
Kraft Mayo or Miracle Whip 2.77 - $1 MC = $1.77 each
Wishbone Salad Dressing $1.66 - $1 MC = .66 each
Kotex 3.00 - .75 MC - $1 CF = $1
Oral B Advantage toothbrush 1.99 each when you buy 3 - $1 MC = .99 each
Wheat Thins 2/$4 - MC BOGO (only on the Artisan Wheat Thins) = $1 each
C & H Sugar~ 2/$5 - .30 MC = 1.90 each ($2.65 @ Aldi so this is a good deal)

This week's shopping trips

I figured out some of my shopping trip for this coming week's ads. Here's the summary of what I'll be getting and spending. If you read this yesterday you'll notice that I had to change some things. Our CVS didn't carry the one item I really wanted, I added meat to my Dillon's trip and I added Robitussin to my Walgreens trip.

Dillon's: (I really don't need groceries due to being stocked up so I'm just getting the deals this week and a little bit of meat.)

1 Colgate Wisp~ Free w/coupon
8 cans Pillsbury Pizza crust
4 lbs Ground Round
4 lbs Ground Turkey


Total before coupons or Plus Card: $44.89
Total I paid: $18.22 (60% savings)

Walgreens:

1 bottle Palmolive dish soap~ .49
3 cans Oust spray~ $2.97
2 Visine A.C. ~ $1.98
1 Colgate Total Advanced~ $2.74
1 Wags brand Robitussin DM~ $3.99

Total before coupons: $30.46
Total I paid: $13.21
Register Rewards: $6.50
Rebate: $3.00
It's like paying $4.71 after Rebate and Register Rewards

CVS:

2 bags Easter grass~ $1.58/$1.58 ECB
1 Bamboo Easter basket~ $1.99/$1.99 ECB
1 Colgate Max White~ $1.99/$2.00 ECB
2 Lindt Truffles~ $4.00/$2.00 ECB
1 Skintimate shave cream~ $3.49/$3.49 ECB
4 Excedrin~ .99 each
4 cans Pringles~ .38 each

Total before coupons: $48.28
Total I paid: $17.56
ECB's: $8.48
It's like paying $9.08 after ECB's

I paid $48.28 for $123.63 worth of stuff.
After RR's, ECB's and Rebates it's like paying $30.30 for $123.63 worth of stuff.

Next week I can "Roll" my Register Rewards and ECB's on the new add and even do better.

Coupon Class

I'm very excited to finally be able to teach a coupon class tonight to the ladies at my church. I was doing some homework trying to decide what to share and stumbled across a podcast that I just know will be beneficial for those who are wanting to learn the basics of "couponing" so here's the link for that:
http://www.momsloveshopping.com/
Go to the podcast archives tab and under it click on the groceries tab
Scroll down to MLS show #21 and #22

This is an interview with Crystal Paine from http://www.moneysavingmom.com/ where she explains a lot about grocery shopping.
You can also go to her website and on her sidebar she has some useful links for tutorial on shopping at various stores. I've found this to be extrememly helpful.

As I find other links or resources that I like I'll be sure to post about them here on my blog.

Emalee's 2nd Gotcha Day!!!

Today is Emalee's 2nd Gotcha Day! I can't believe that it's been 2 whole years since I was handed a beautiful bundle of Korean baby girl joy to take home! We waited 2 1/2 years to get to that day...it seemed like an eternity!
I was thinking this morning of how our wait seemed like forever. There were so many friends that stood by us encouraging us the whole entire process. There were also many people in our life that just didn't understand why we were adopting a child at all...especially when we had two kids already. They also didn't understand why in the world we'd go to another country to adopt.
There was one particular day when I was feeling somewhat discouraged after some negative remarks that I had heard concerning our adoption. I knew in my heart that the Lord called us to adopt. I knew in my heart where our daughter was. I knew in my heart that this was real, but so many voices kept saying things to the contrary.
It's amazing how in times like these the Enemy comes in trying to "kill, steal, and destroy" God's perfect plan.
As I was driving home that day, I turned the radio on 88.3 The Wind FM. All of the sudden I heard the most beautiful words....

"...and the voice of Truth tells me a different story, and the voice of Truth says do not be afraid, and the voice of Truth says this is for My glory...out of all the voices calling out to me, I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of Truth." ~Mercy Me "The Voice of Truth"

Wow! Just what I needed and just at the right time the Lord spoke reminding me that His voice, His Word, is the Truth. It's the only Voice I'm to listen to and obey. What a comfort to have Him speak Truth over me, confirming in my spirit what He had previously instructed me to do. He's such a good God!

I pray that as Emalee grows up into a young lady that she can look back and see a beautiful tapestry that the Lord has made of her life and I'm so grateful that I get the priviledge of being a part of it!

Some of my March '09 freebies

Just thought I'd post a pic of my most recent freebies. All these were purchased at Walgreens with only two trips. Everthing you see here was free except the napkins which were .25 each (I actually got 3 napkins, but I've already opened a package that's not pictured.) A grand total of .75 cents plus tax! At full price all this would have costs around $100.00.
Here's what's pictured:

8 Glade airfresheners auto-sprayed mentioned in my last post.
1 Listerine
1 Garnier Fructise Shampoo/conditioner
2 Excedrin
1 Suave Lotion
2 Pledge dusting spray
4 Colgate Total Advanced Whitening
1 Crest Pro-Health
3 Vanity Fair Napkins 100 ct.
2 Reach Toothbrushes
2 Soleil Razors
1 box Glucerna Cereal