Earth Day 2008

Today started out like most days...

Get out of bed
Feed the kids breakfast
Do the dishes
Get laundry started
Wake up.

That's right. Wake up is last on that list. I am not a morning person. Never have been. Never will be. If you want me to be up at a certain time you either have to come in and physically wake me or pray that the morning Gods can work their magic because without an alarm clock, Janey does NOT wake up on her own.

Today was Tuesday...Madeline has Mom's Day Out/preschool/gymnastics on Tuesdays. At 9am. No alarm clock (Madeline is FREAKED out by them for some reason - she calls them chicka-boom-boom) + me being super-dee-duper tired from playing tennis Monday night = Mom oversleeping.

Yes, I overslept. I believe the hour hand on my watch said something to the tune of 10 o'clock (give or take 15 or 20 minutes by the time I could actually read it). This is NOT a good start to the day.

But it's Earth Day, right? So, I figure I won't take Madeline to "school" and instead I'll take her and Tandy to do some sort of "earthly" activity and/or field trip. AHA! A light bulb goes off in my head! I'll take them to the dump (landfill...you know, where they take all the trash?) and then to the city recycling center. Great idea, huh? It was just that. An idea. I could not for the life of me find out where the dump is. Now I know there's a landfill waaaaaaaay down south but it's Earth Day and the point I'm trying to make to the kids is how much we waste. Driving 45 miles to the only dump I know of when there's got to be one closer isn't exactly conveying the message of conservation, is it?

Today wasn't a great day for me. I won't bore you with all the details but I did find some Earth Day things for the kids to do and then when I went to the grocery store tonight I caved in and paid for those re-useable bags. I have to admit, getting one for free when you turn in 5 plastic bags was quite an incentive but boy are these bags nice compared to those horrible plastic things! Their smell is rather noxious but I figure a run through the washer can fix that.

So there you have it. For Earth Day I decided to "conserve" by not going to the dump and then buying re-useable bags.

But a day wouldn't be a day without a trip to CVS so I managed to make 2 CVS runs without driving out of the way...

Trip #1, Transaction #1
2 Zooth Hello Kitty Toothbrushes $2.99 each
2 Alavert 12ct $6.99 each
1 Clearance solar powered calculator $.37 (hey, this counts as an Earth Day purchase, right?)
Total $21 something
-$4/$20 CVS
-$8 (2 $4 off 12ct or more Alavert)
-$2.99 Zooth B1G1 free
-$5 ECB
Total OOP $.33 (I happened to have 35 cents in my pocket)
Earned $4 ECB (Zooth) and $8 ECB ($4 for each Alavert)
I gained $7 in ECB's but paid $.33 OOP so net "gain" of $6.67

Transaction #2
1 Freestyle monitor $10
Total $10.83 (they actually tax these things??)
Cashier wouldn't let me use the $2/$10 I had and this is a first for me. I was in a hurry so I basically rolled a $10 ECB I had from something else. Darn!

Trip #2
5 CVS Brand Rapid Release pain reliever $3.99 each
1 Loaf of bread
Total $22 something
-$2/$10
-$3/$10
-$15.97 ECB
Total OOP $.98 (whipped out a gift card) not too bad
Earned $19.95 ECB ($3.99 for each pain reliever)
So I gained $3.98 in ECB's for a net "gain" of $3.00 in ECB's

Last I checked I had over $200 in ECB's for this month. Had I been able to find some Contour monitors last week I could've easily had another $75 or so that would've cost me nothing since I have coupons for the monitors.

Oh well, tomorrow is another day.

Happy Earth Day everyone!

Get a FREE 12-Color Oil Pastel Set

Sorry guys...looks like the link no longer works. I'm going to assume that Pentel reached their limit on this promotion already. Not surprising though considering how viral these freebies can get!

Yes, FREE! Go to this site and use promo code SA2008.

Hurry!

CVS runs for this week

In my blog giveaway most of you are leaving comments that you'd like to know how to get the "free" deals at CVS so today I will share with you the runs I've been doing this week.

Items bought:
1 Freestyle diabetes monitor $10
1 Speed Stick 24/7 $3.99
1 Gallon of milk $3.99
3 12pk of Sprites 3/$10
2 Covergirl Whipped foundations $9.49 each
Total $49 something with tax before coupons

Coupons used:
-$4//$20 CVS
-$2/$10 CVS
-$3/$10 CVS CRT that printed at that machine thingy (finally a store that has one that works!)
-$1 Speed Stick
-$9.49 Cover Girl B1G1F
-$19.99 ECB
-$6 ECB

Total OOP (out-of-pocket) $.98 (yes, 98 CENTS!). Normally I use a gift card earned from a new or transferred prescription but I whipped out a dollar instead.

But here's the kicker kids, I got back a $12 ECB (2 x $6 each for the foundations), a $10 ECB (the meter) and a $3.99 ECB (Speed Stick) so a total of $25.99 back in ECB's...basically what I call "breaking even" on my ECB's.

So, let's do the math, shall we? 98 cents for a gallon of milk and 3 12pk's of Sprite (hubby wanted these). Tell me where you can get just a gallon of milk for 98 cents!

I had a total of 3 of the CoverGirl coupons so I rinsed and repeated 2 more times on other cards. Now I'm trying to come up with a scenario to use the 3 B1G1F Zooth toothbrush coupons I have...

How many in the US have your name?

I thought this was pretty neato! You can type in your first and last name to see how many other people in the United States have your first and/or last name. Thanks for the idea, Paige!

I guess I'm a one-of-a-kind!

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 0 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

I'm rubbing off on my husband

Last night I was hungry. I was really tired and didn't want to go out anywhere so my loving husband said he'd go pick something up for all of us. His question...what do you want?

Have you ever been so hungry you're beyond knowing what exactly it is that you want? Chuy's sounded good. Pizza sounded good. Cheesecake sounded great. Anything I saw on TV was appetizing and I was driving everyone crazy by making them watch the food commercials instead of fast-forwarding through them.

My husband got his fill of my indecisiveness and said he was going out and he'd just surprise me. Hmmm...okay but if you go here I want this or if you go there I want this. Yeah, that didn't work because he just ignored me.

Anyway, he and Madeline left to go get food. She said she wanted spaghetti so I assumed he was going someplace like Fazoli's or a pizza place. He called me and said "hey, don't ask any questions but I get a baked potato with this, what do you want on it?" Um, okay...so now I'm thinking they're at Saltgrass across the street and my mouth starts watering for a yummy salad and a baked potato.

Shortly after his call he came home. In he walks with this big (and I mean HUGE) Barnes & Noble bag so I'm scratching my head thinking maybe they didn't get food and just went to get books.

Nope, they didn't get books. They went to the Starbucks cafe inside of B&N and got yummy chocolate cake, chocolate cupcakes and (best of all) carrot cake cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory! YUM-O!

He went back out to the car and came in with 2 pizza boxes from the local pizza place.

So you ask why the title says I'm rubbing off on him? Well, when he was at B&N he had ordered a piece of the chocolate cake, a cupcake and a piece of the cheesecake when the barista mentions that all of their desserts are buy 5 get 1 free. So, being married to the deal-meister my husband decides if he buys 2 more items he'll get 1 free and that'll make me even happier.

Yes, he's learning well. :)

It never hurts to ask!

Don't think I'm snobby when I say this but I was impressed with myself and how cheap I am today.

I bit the bullet and bought the tile saw today. After all the research I did I picked the one I thought would best do the job so back to the tool store I went. I figured I'd ask if they ever had % off coupons like Bed, Bath & Beyond and Linens-N-Things do. What could it hurt to ask, right? Well, it's a good thing I asked! Just for asking I got another 15% off of the sale price!

Retail price of saw $299.99
Sale price of saw $189.99
Janey's price $161.50

Do you see that? That's almost half of the retail price! WOOHOO!

I probably wasted $30 in gas driving back and forth to the store getting it but the "high" I got from getting such a great deal is what matters, right?

The box definitely wouldn't fit in my little car so I called my husband and switched cars with him. I guess he forgot that the HUGE antique wicker baby stroller (for photography props) was in the back of the Jeep so I drove all the way back over to the store not knowing this . I have to drive back home and by this time it's almost 4pm. It's Friday. Most people leave work early on Friday. Anyone see where I'm going with this?

Madeline and I get back to the house right before 5. Like the 500,000 other people on the road, my loving husband decided to leave work early today to come get the kids and take them swimming so I could go back to get the saw alone. Yes, all by my lonesome! There's a catch to going alone though. I have to stop and get a birthday present at Target for one of the parties we're going to tomorrow. Hmmm...getting the saw and a trip to Target...ALONE! I think I can handle that. ;)

I got the saw and decided to check out Big Lots next door thinking maybe they have something "cheap" for the present. I was wrong on that thought but, I did pick up Hooked on Handwriting for Madeline for less than half of retail!

It's Target-time now baby! Now let me tell you, when your husband tells you to pick up a present but goes so far as to mentioning that the parents requested that gifts be truck-related AND educational, well, that's where things get a little tricky. Luckily I was able to cover both of those stipulations AND save $5 while doing it (there's a $5/$25 toy purchase Target coupon good through October 2008!!). Ahhh...saved almost 50% on the saw, over 50% on the HOH and now 20% on the gift. Things are looking good for the day, right?

Well, I suppose so. I decided since I was at the Target next to our gym I'd just pick up a new top (reg $8.99 on sale for $6) and a pack of undies (6 for $5.99) and take a shower at the gym...use their water and save mine. ;) So after taking my shower I notice there's an extra pair of my husband's underwear in the swim bag. Hmm...how cheap AM I???

Yep, you guessed it. Instead of breaking open that new pack of undies I just paid $5.99 (plus tax) for I decide to put that pair of his (clean, of course LOL) whitey tighties on instead.

Yes, I am indeed CHEAP!

I'm your daughter

I went out shopping today for a tile/wet saw to use to cut the travertine tile we purchased for our bathrooms last weekend. I thought this would be an easy task but I'm even more confused than I was before.

I know I need a minimum of 1.5hp but goodness gracious it's much more complicated than just how much horsepower does this slicing machine have! Some of these things only cut up to 12" diagonally. We have 18"x18" tiles. Oy!

While I was out looking for a saw I decided to hit a couple of CVS stores hoping to score a (better than) free monitor or two. I striked out but I did manage to get a rain check at one store. That store was chock-full of the Softsoap that's free after ECB's this month but I didn't feel like messing with them. Can you believe that?!?!

Oh and I almost forgot! Yesterday, I was sitting on the sofa with Madeline after she got out of the bathtub. She was talking about her upcoming birthday (in July but she's a planner like her daddy LOL) and she was very detailed about it all...

M: I'm going to be one, two, three FOUR (counting out on her fingers) years old, Mom.
Me: Yes you are! You're getting to be such a big girl!
M: Kira, Aria, Samantha, Megan and Sophie are going to come to my party!
Me: Okay.
M: When I was 3 I had a Care Bear cake. I think I'll have Hello Kitty when I'm 4.
Me: Okay. So you want mommy to make a Hello Kitty cake this year?
M: Yes, and Hello Kitty plates, napkins, hats, balloons and Hello Kitty everything.
Me: Okay, we can do that. I love you so much my little snuggle bunny.
M: I'm not your snuggle bunny. I'm your daughter.

I literally had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing when she said this. It was so funny at the time but reflecting on it now it saddens me because I realize how much my baby is growing up. :( My little girl is blossoming into this beautiful person who is intelligent, thoughtful, caring, passionate and wondefully affectionate. I am truly amazed that I created this human being!

The call that started it all

My husband called laughing hysterically this afternoon. He said they were talking about me on the radio. The "DJ" was talking about being in line at Target behind a woman who had a cartful of items and with coupons wound up paying only a few dollars. She asked the woman how she did this and the woman mentioned The Grocery Game and told her about printing coupons from the kiosks at the front of the store. My husband insisted that this woman must have been me. His reasoning...it was at Target (alright, I so do shop there a LOT) and the conversation revolved around getting things for next to nothing (okay, so I frequently come home with bags full of items I got for "free."). I swore up and down it wasn't me.

It wasn't. Really. However, I can't say that I haven't had a cartful of stuff at Target (or anywhere else for that matter) and not walked out paying pennies on the dollar. I'll admit it, I'm a bargain-shopping addict. I get enjoyment out of walking out of a store with bags full of loot that cost me next to nothing.

So my husband keeps insisting that I need to start a blog. I think to myself "what on EARTH would I write about that people would actually want to read???" His answer? All of my couponing trips spiced up with my "everday life." In his words "who wouldn't want to read about that?"

While I am still trying to grasp the concept of complete strangers being even remotely interested in MY muslings my husband has somehow convinced me that I have nothing to lose. So, here goes a whole new world to me...blogging.

I hope to provide you with information about all sorts of things from what's free at CVS this week (here you go, Christina...I heart you!) to the house projects I'm doing to what's going on with the kids...and everything in between. Please feel free to drop me a comment if you have any suggestions for topics!

So, stay tuned...