Queen of Walgreens :)

Made a Walgreens run tonight.  R wanted ice cream and I had RR to use. 

I got
bar soap      .79
bar soap      .79
ice cream $3.29
tylenol      $4.99
tylenol      $4.99
in ad Q       -.91 for soap
tylenol Q -$2.00 printed from tylenol.com
tylenol Q -$2.00 same
RRs (3)   -$6.00
                $3.94 total + tax got back $5 RR.

saved $15.91 total


~Jess~

dinner tonight

homemade hot pockets

pizza dough from my bread maker
tomato sauce seasoned with garlic powder and italian seasoning
browned ground beef seasoned with italian seasoning
sliced black olives
sliced mushrooms
diced onion
diced green pepper
shredded italian cheese blend (mozzarella and some other cheeses)

roll out dough, spread a thin layer of sauce, add some seasoning, sprinkle on ground beef, add veggies, add cheese, dab on a bit more sauce.  Fold and bake on cookie sheet at 350* for 15 minutes.  Yum!

~Jess~

not so thrifty Saturday

$42 for an oil change for the jeep (and O got a sucker and stickers because she flirted with the lube tech)
$34 gas for the jeep (and the girls got free cookies for being cute)
$12 beer for R
$5 ice cream cones for me and O (ordered O a junior cone with a 1/2 scoop.  She got a junior cone with 2 scoops for the price of a single junior cone because the older guy working there thought she was just the cutest thing ever)
$29 air filters for the jeep and my car
$13 gas for my car
$2 milk and bread

Thank god next week is a slow grocery week again.  Looking like there is not much we will be needing or wanting so I plan to try out some new recipes and maybe turn some of my frozen strawberries into some homemade jam from the bread machine.  Just need pectin for that :)


~Jess~

hacking a recipe again or still...whatever.

I am still trying to hack the garlic knots recipe from a local restaurant.  I have had some pretty tasty replicas but nothing as close to the orginal as I would like.  Today I tried something new and I think this just might be it.  If it is I will be posting it.  I am making the dough in my bread machine but it is a basic white bread dough.  Probably pretty easily replicated by hand if you are so inclined.  Stay tuned...if it works I will be posting the recipe. 


~Jess~

500th post and homemade butter day

this is my 500th post.  Wow!

The girls and I made homemade butter today.  It was easy but time consuming and I bit pricey for the amount we got but it was a good experience for the kids.  They liked it alot!  some pics of the butter process.  I didn't take any pics while we were mixing it because we used the electric mixer instead of shaking it and I helped the kids hold the mixer.  It is not exactly cost effective because the whipping cream is pretty pricey BUT it was fun and if I can get the cream cheap it will make for some cheap delicious butter.

whipping cream

becomes

butter!

~Jess~

feeling better today

I got quite a bit of sleep yesterday and I feel better today.

R's check was about $50 short from missing hours last week.  Thankfully I put some money away for just this type of situation, however, I am going to try to be super cheap from today until next Friday.  We need milk, heavy cream for a project and maybe some bread but otherwise I don't know that we need anything right now so maybe I can get away really cheap this week on groceries.  I am giving myself $25 for the week.  We'll see how that works out.  If I need to I can dip into the savings for it but hopefully I won't need to.

We also have a project planned for the kids.  We are going to make some homemade butter but it really doesn't need anything special other than heavy cream.  In a couple weeks I want to make some homemade yogurt with the kids.  They love yogurt so this could be fun!


~Jess~

no shopping no trips today

no nothing today...I haven't even gotten out of my pjs.  My last check was direct deposited today and I planned to go get out the cash but I don't want to be that far away from the bathroom.  I feel ill.  K was ill a couple days ago and now I have it.  K loves taking care of mommy though and is insisting that I go back and lay on the couch so I am off.  R will be home in 45 minutes and he is doing dinner tonight because this mom is going to bed.  Good night :)


~Jess~

Happy Birthday to ....

my polar opposite...my brother.  Yes we are completely opposite but we learn from each other and that is how we grow.  He frustrates me to no end sometimes and I just want to smack him upside his head and knock some sense into him but I love him dearly and would protect him as much as I can while kicking his behind all the way to the end of the Earth and back.  Yep..I love my brother and he is 28 today so happy birthday little Bro!  Enjoy your day and just remember you are getting closer and closer to the big 30 ;)


~Jess~

just because I can

I went to Walgreens tonight for another of the Excedrin Menstrual (anyone notice a pattern in how often I am at Walgreens? No wonder they know me by name...which may or may not be a good thing. Makes it harder to get the limited deals sometimes)  I had 2 hunts tomato sauces in mind as a filler but R wanted some cashews, which are on sale this week.  No biggie.  A little more OOP than I like to normally spend but I can deal.

Excedrin $2.50
Cashews$1.99
-$1 excedrin coupon
-$2 RR from elastics
$1.49 and tax OOP got back $2 RR from excedrin. 
Total savings $7.79

I have $6 in RR to roll into next week.  Not sure what the plan is yet for them.  Probably going to sit down tommorrow and figure it out.  They expire on 3/10 so I have a little while to use them.  I don't necessarily have to use them next week.  I want to keep my RR rolling at least until the end of March when, rumor has it, Walgreens will be having a stellar deal on coke products.  I LOVE diet coke..


~Jess~

got the free stuffed chicken today

~Jess~

How to get free excedrin

First, go here.  Then answer the question selecting anything BUT excedrin.  Fill out the form and they will mail you a coupon for a free bottle of excedrin.  It took me less than a week to get the coupon.  If you select excedrin they will only send you a $2 coupon.

NOW how to get paid to "buy" excedrin...  use that coupon at Walgreens by 2/27 on Excedrin Menstrual only and get a $2 RR.  OR if you won't get the coupon in time you can print off the $1 excedrin menstrual coupons following that same link above.  Buy the smaller bottle of excedrin menstrual at Walgreens by 2/27.  It is on sale for $2.50.  You pay $1.50 after coupon and get $2 RR back.  Sweet right?  It is only working for excedrin menstrual as far as I know but if you look at the ingredients they are identical to normal excedrin only with a larger amount of caffeine in them. 



~Jess~

simple and tasty garlic and herb chicken

2 bone in chicken breasts with skin still on them (or more if you have a bigger family...2 of the bigger breasts are great for the 4 of us)
2 tablespoons or so of butter
italian seasoning
garlic powder

stick some of the butter up under the skin of each chicken breast (really not as gross as it sounds). sprinkle italian seasoning and garlic powder on top of chicken.  Cover baking dish with aluminum foil.  Bake at 350* for 35-50 minutes flipping chicken over halfway through.  I use a meat thermometer to tell when the chicken is done.  170* is done.  Ours was still partially frozen so it took about 55 minutes.  If it is completely defrosted, it takes about 35 minutes usually.  I start with the bone side down and flip it halfway through so the juices soak into both sides of the chicken.  Covering it while baking is important so the chicken retains the moisture.  Delicious easy chicken that R says is the best chicken ever.  I hate chicken skin so before I eat mine I pull it off but I do cook with it on so it retains the moisture.  The only thing worse to me than chicken skin is dry chicken.  YUCK!


~Jess~

Walgreens and groceries

did a quick run tonight.  First up Walgreens

ponytails $2.99
excedrin menstrual $2.50
peeps (filler) 79 cents
-$2.50 free excedrin coupon (got this in the mail for taking a short survey.  yeah I know I said I was gonna get the huge bottle but I decided that getting paid to get excedrin was a better deal)
-$1 RR from folgers
-$1 RR from 3 musketeers
$2.12 oop and got back $2 RR from ponytails and $2 RR from excedrin

grocery store
got 2 liter of cherry 7 up...we have a couple upset tummies in the house and they haven't kept down water or pedialyte but are keeping down 7 up.  IDK why but whatever works.
3 sirloin steaks that are big enough for R and I to share 1
1 sirloin roast that will make 3 meals
bag of popcorn for the air popper 50 cents...reduced because the bag was torn
2 betty crocker brownie mixes 50 cents each...reduced because they expire at the end of the month...they will get used up before then though.

total I spent tonight was $22 and I have enough meat for 6 meals and other stuff.  Hooray for frugal shopping and coupons!

~Jess~

What I do now that I stay home with the kids

A friend last night asked me what I do all day now that I stay home with the kids.  Everything, I do everything.  He called me a slacker...obviously he does not have children...or a wife.  LOL Stay at home moms, or any mom for that matter, are not slackers.  Far from it.  My day doesn't start when I punch a time clock and my day does not end at 5 pm.  My day starts about 7 and ends about 10 pm.  I do not get a lunch break or breaks throughout the day.  I constantly work.  A look into my day, yesterday.

7 am get up, let dog out, get kids up and make breakfast, change diaper, kids eat breakfast, quick breakfast, for me while I check email, start laundry, do dishes, finish up batch of homemade laundry detergent I started yesterday, help kids clean their rooms, answer phone, scrub bathroom, Switch laundry and start new load, pick up living room, make lunch, change diaper, kids nap time, make brownies, shovel sidewalk while brownies bake, bring up garbage cans and recycling bin, get mail, pay bills, check grocery ads and compare coupons to ad, switch laundry again, get kids up from nap, change diaper, figure out what to make for dinner, fold and put away laundry, start dinner, eat dinner, do dishes, kids' baths, change diaper, play with kids, change diaper, put kids to bed, take a couple hours after kid's bedtime to finish up odds and end housework, search for R's missing razor, find missing razor in fridge (don't you keep razor's in the fridge?!?!  Apparently we do now.  No clue how it got there but I am guessing one of the kids), check on kids, start to head to bed and realize I forgot to do this, that and the other, do that stuff, head to bed, realize that I never even left the house today except to shovel and get mail.  Not to mention that I also break up 1000 little fights, give hugs and kisses, play with the kids, dance crazy in the living room, and just enjoy my life a whole lot more.

Today is shaping up to be the same way except for a sick kid.  K is complaining of a stomach ache...


~Jess~

pretty awesome Walgreens trip

It didn't go according to my plan in the previous posts, because the price at my store was slightly higher than what was listed online for a price.

$3.39 deodorant
$0.00 deodorant
$2.50 excedrin
$2.50 excedrin
$2.99 elastics
$1.59 lighter
$1.41 lighter
$0.69 candy bar
$0.69 candy bar
$0.62 candy bar
______
$16.38
-$2.00 deodorant coupon
-$2.00 excedrin coupon
-$2.00 excedrin coupon
-$3.00 register reward
-$3.00 register reward
______
$4.38 + tax got back $2 for elastics and $1 for the candy bars.  I saved $22.76.  The cashier talked me into the candy bars because they were giving a register reward and we needed the lighters for the grill because the switch burnt out on it.  So still not a bad deal and I am already done with Walgreens for the week :)



~Jess~

slow grocery week next week for me

I have nothing that I need besides milk and bread.  The sale ads are lackluster at best.  I do have a Walgreens run to do and here is that list

Right Guard deodorant $2.99 BOGO sale
Excedrin $2.50 sale

I have 2 $2 off any excedrin product coupons and 2 $2 off 2 right guard deodorant coupons.  So the excedrin will be 50 cents each and the deodorant will be 99 cents for 2.  I also have $7 in RR to use.  I will need a filler item to be able to use them and I like to try and "roll" them so my target for filler items will be Goody Ouchless elastics.  They are on sale for $2.99 and you get a $2RR.  We can never have enough ponytail holders in this house so I will use them as my filler item.  My transactions will look like this.

transaction #1
Right guard $2.99
Right guard $0.00
Excedrin     $2.50
Excedrin     $2.50
elastics       $2.99
subtotal     $10.98
coupon     -$2.00 for right guard
coupon     -$2.00 excedrin
coupon     -$2.00 excedrin
new total    $4.98
RR           -$3.00 from huggies deal a couple weeks ago
total I pay  $1.98 + tax and get $2 RR for buying elastics

transaction #2
Right guard $2.99
Right guard $0.00
elastics       $2.99
subtotal      $5.98
coupon     -$2.00 (right guard)
new total    $3.98
RR           -$3.00 from huggies
total I pay  $0.98 + tax and get $2RR for buying elastics

Transaction #3
elastics      $2.99
subtotal     $2.99
RR          -$1.00 (from folgers coffee this week)
total I pay $1.99+ tax and get $2RR for elastics. 

I don't know yet if I will do the 3rd transaction.  It is a bit more than I normally like to pay out of my pocket BUT I do need to use up the $1 RR before it expires.  If I do this I will wait until the end of next week so I can see a preview ad for the following weeks to figure out if I should just save it and try to roll it or use it up.  We can never have enough pony tail holders in this house so I just might use it.

~Jess~

contacting companies...replies so far

email from heinz, del monte and hunts.  All promising coupons
snail mail from Henkel (makers of right guard and dial products) with $2 worth of coupons
snail mail from heinz $5 worth of coupons

not too shabby so far for 5 minutes worth of "work"

The original post is here
~Jess~

$3.18

K  has been opening her window and throwing random toys and other stuff out. Not a huge deal but I do not want her to fall out and the screens are easily lifted and have actually fallen out once when the cats were sitting in the windows. Not safe at all. So I went to the hardware store and the guy that was "helping" me said they don't make a window lock like I was talking about. So I thanked him for his help but kept looking anyway. I KNOW they did because I looked up online before I went there. So yeah. He walked away and I kept looking and I found them. $1.49 for a set of 2. I got 4 locks total and they are TIGHT. I don't think she will be able to get them undone or knock them off the window. It is pretty tough. I couldn't move it, even trying my hardest to shove the window up. HA! Now wanna take bets on how long until she outsmarts these locks?  I plan to buy 4 more and put them on the other side of the windows so they are doubly locked.  I am hoping to maybe find a more permanent, but less expensive solution.  So far so good though.  She tried her hardest, with me watching, to get that lock of the window and it wouldn't budge.

This is what they look like installed.  Nevermind the dirty window...spring window cleaning is right around the corner :)

~Jess~

my first day as a SAHM...yep I quit work

I decided to take some money from my paycheck and get a few things on sale. I have one more check next week and plan to put that all to savings, if I can, after I pay the sitter but I wanted to get a few things this week and I put $20 away for later.


Anyway so here is what I got
5 NY strip steaks
1 ribeye steak (the ribeyes looked really fatty so I picked through and found one that wasn't covered in fat. IK the fat is supposed to be there but YUCK!)
2 donuts for the kids (snack for while we were at the laundromat washing my huge blankets that won't fit in my washer at home)
bottle of OJ
2 bottles of juice to go with the kids donuts
1 2 lb box of thick slice hormel bacon
1 loaf of bread
Total $21 and change

After my blankets were done we went to the grocery store on the other side of town and got Angel soft TP on sale and had a $1 off coupon. Also got chicken breasts on sale and had $1 off coupon. Total was $9.

Then after R got home I showed him the bacon and he said how much was it. I told him $2.99 for the box. He told me to go get a couple more so I went back and got 2 more boxes..so $6 for 4 more lbs of bacon. Then I went to Walgreens tonight and spent $1.34 on 2 containers of coffee, a cadbury creme egg, gum for him, and 2 cups. I had a RR to use up and he had enough coffee stockpiled but might as well roll the RR into something useful. LOL.

so for $38 today I got
6 steaks
1 pack of 7 chicken breasts
6 lbs of bacon
1 big pack of TP
2 containers of coffee
2 cups
1 pack of gum
1 treat for me
OJ
bread
2 juices for the kids
2 donuts for the kids

not too bad. I was pretty happy. I had $70 I could spend. I saved $20 and used the last $12 from the $50 I planned on spending to put gas in my car. I am now set. The gas in my car should last 2-3 weeks since I am full now and don't drive a whole lot. We have plenty of chicken and bacon and are pretty good on steaks (we cook on the grill 4-5 nights a week in the summer so we eat a lot of chicken, steaks, bratwurst, burgers, shishkabobs, etc). I would like to get a few more steaks because when we make shishkabobs one steak is enough for all of us because I use a lot of veggies on them. mmmm I am hungry for them NOW!

I spent most of my first day home running errands, cleaning and worrying about DH.  He is sick.  I made him go to the doctor tonight and he found out he has a nasty sinus infection, which I diagnosed him as having on Monday when he came home early from work and told him to go to the doctor but NOOOOOO can't do that.  So yesterday he calls me and says he is really sick.  I told him to go to the doctor for the 50th time since Monday and he said...will you make me an appointment.  Fine, Whatever.  So I made the appointment and he went and the doctor asked why he didn't come in sooner since he has had a headache since Saturday that not even my migraine prescription, imitrex pills, would kill.  Should listen to the wife more, LOL, but he now has a couple prescriptions and will hopefully be on the mend soon!  Next week his paycheck will be a bit short because he missed 4 1/2 hours this week but I will get my last check so if we need it I can use that to make up the difference, even though I prefer to save it. 

~Jess~

Want a "free" stuffed chicken?

You can get the smaller chicken free for just 2 UPC codes and a receipt showing your purchase of gold'n plump chicken.  You can print off the form from their site, goldnplump.com. They also have $1 off coupons for the purchase of their chicken.  It is on sale this week at my local store so for $7.98, I got 14 chicken breasts and will recieve this stuffed chicken.  I normally do not send away for offers like this but K saw the chicken and wanted it so I am sending away for it.  It will take 6-8 weeks so by the time we get it K will have forgotten about it and it just might end up in an Easter Basket if it gets here in time :)

~Jess~