Weekly Spending Report: 03/02-08/2014

This week I spent a little more oop than I would have liked, but that's how the beginning of the month is.  Everything you've run out of at the end of the previous month needs to be replaced now that you have the money to do so.  I was also able to stock up on some great deals, and earn some gift cards to put towards future purchases.  Here's how the week went down...

• Tuesday's Target Trip: Zero oop - used gift cards to pay, Earned $20 Gift Card
• Tuesday's Walgreen's Trip (no picture, just 3 mailers, 1 pkg Yes to Cucumbers Face Wipes - free with coupon, and 1 Coffee drink for Joe): $3.19 oop
• Wednesday's CVS Trip: $11.06 oop, Earned $25.72 ECB's
• Wednesday's Giant Trip: $25.10
• Wednesday's Pet-Co Trip (no picture, just 2 cans of cat food, used two $1/1 MC): $2.02 oop 
• Thursday's Wal-mart Trip (no picture, just 2-8 lb bags Raw Sugar, 2 pkgs CFL Light Bulbs): $10.55 oop 
• Saturday's Dollar Tree Trip (no picture, just 2 newspapers, and a snickers bar for Joe): $2.96 oop
• Earned $5 Amazon Gift Card from Swag Bucks
• Earned $99.99 from Amazon  
• Earned $10 CVS Gift Card from Mypoints

Total OOP (including $19.56 from Sat. March 1st): $74.44 oop
Total Earned: $160.71
Total Remaining for March: $174.72

Linked to Couponaholic! 

4 Weeks to a More Organized Home: Day 4

Today's challenge involved a quick clean of the bathroom, and cleaning underneath our bed.  Our one cat was none too happy when she figured out that I was vacuuming her domain (under the bed) today, but she got over it without having too much of a spas attack ;)  And even posed for the after picture.  I also washed all of the bedding since it was the week to do it anyway.  Everything is so nice and fresh, love it!

Items decluttered: 1 old jar candle, 2 old towels, a lotion lid, and 3 pieces of scrap paper.

Linked to Money Saving Mom!

4 Weeks to a More Organized Home: Day 3

Today's challenge involved a quick clean of the bedroom, and a freezer clean out.  Today was super simple for me.  I do a quick bedroom pick up every morning when I make the bed, so there wasn't anything extra to do in regards to that.  Then it was onto the freezers, which I have been stocking for after the baby is born in April, so I have been weeding things out on occasion as I get it stocked.  I did wipe down everything I could though, and did some more straightening.  It amazes me how much you can cram into a freezer when it's properly organized.  Now I have more room for post baby meals, which according to my husband should be primarily frozen pizza.  ;)  Here's what our fridge freezer and chest freezer look like now...

 Both are full, but I know what's in them and where, which is really what's most important.

Also, the seven things I got rid of today included 3 items from the freezers that were past their prime, and 4 items from my stockpile that were expired.

Linked to Money Saving Mom!

Wednesday's Giant Trip

Wednesday Joe and I stopped into Giant to pick up a few necessities, and a couple of good deals.  It was weird only using 3 coupons, but sometimes that's just how it works out.  Here's what we ended up with...

3-35 pks Giant Bottle Water (not pictured) $3.99 ea - $1.97/3 Sale = 3/$10
2-100 ct boxes Giant Bagless Tea Bags $1.25 ea - 2/$2.50
1-4 pk Bumble Bee Tuna $7.99 - $4 Sale = $3.99
1-16 ct Giant Fruit and Grain Bars $1.64 (on clearance)
1 box Quaker Oatmeal $3.69 - $0.69 Sale = $3
2 bags Cascadian Farms Frozen Organic Broccoli $2.29 ea - $0.75/1 MC doubled to $1.50 x 2 = 2/$1.58
1 tub Country Crock Mashed Potatoes $3.99 - $0.55/1 MC doubled to $1.10 = $2.89
+ $0.60
- $0.10 Reusable Bag Credit
Total OOP: $36.96 - $11.86 Sales/Coupons = $25.10 oop, Savings of 30%

Wednesday's CVS Trip

Wednesday we also stopped into CVS to roll my ECB's.  I was able to pick up some awesome deals!  I'm definitely set on prenatal vitamins for the rest of the year.  I also finally earned a $5 ECB from the Pharmacy Rewards program, so I had that to spend today as well.  I did two transaction to make the most of my ECB's.  Here's how it went down...

Transaction #1
2 tubes Fixodent $5.29 ea - $0.30 ea Sale - $2.50/1 MC x 2 - $2.49 ECB's x 2 = 2 FREE!
2-100 ct bottles CVS Prenatal Vitamins $11.29 ea - BOGO Free Sale - $2/1 CVS Coupon = 2/$9.29
1-3 ct Schick Quattro Disposable Razors $10.49 ea - $2/1 MC - $1.79 CVS Coupon (20% off) - $4/$10 CVS Razor Coupon - $3 ECB's = FREE + $0.30 Money-maker!
1 Physician's Formula Eye Shadow $12.79 - $1.79 CVS Coupon (20% off) - $2 CVS Beauty Coupon - $7 ECB's = $2
+ $1.26 Tax
- $19 ECB's used to Pay
Total OOP: $8.23, Earned $14.98 ECB's

Transaction #2
4 bags M&M's $4.19 ea - $1.19 ea Sale - $1.50/2 MC x 2 - $4 ECB's = 4/$5
2 bags Hershey's Miniatures $3.79 ea - $1.29 ea Sale - $1/2 MC - $1 ECB wyb 2 = 2/$3
1 Cadbury Mini Eggs $0.99 - $0.25 Sale - $0.74 ECB = FREE!
+ $1.07 Tax
- $11.98 ECB's used to Pay
 Total OOP: $2.83, Earned $5.74 ECB's

Total OOP: $11.06, Earned $25.72 in ECB's (including Pharmacy Reward)

Linked to Simply CVS!

4 Weeks to a More Organized Home: Day 2

Today's challenge involved quick clean of the kitchen, which I just did yesterday as part of my weekly cleaning, so that was already done.  Then it was on to cleaning out the refrigerator.  I hadn't cleaned the refrigerator out really well since before Christmas, so I decided to wipe everything down and out as I went.  It really didn't take long at all, and now everything is crumb-free and sparkly again.  I also found a few things to get rid of while I was cleaning out.  Here's the before and after shots...

Inside fridge before

 Door before

Inside and door after, ah...  Much better!  As for my decluttered items: 7 expired/past prime condiments and food items.  I am always so surprised by the amount of expired condiments in the fridge, it's like they appear and multiple over night. 

And a nice clean kitchen - yeah!

Linked to Money Saving Mom!

ALDI Deals, Starting 03/05/2014

Here are a few of the AWESOME deals this week at ALDI...

• Weds. 03/05 ONLY: Cattlemen's Ranch Fresh USDA Choice Corned Beef Points $1.99/lb
• Weds. 03/05 ONLY: Fresh USDA Choice Filet of Beef Original or Teriyaki 16 oz $5.99 ea 
• Red Potatoes 5 lbs $1.49 ea
• Baby Carrots 16 oz $0.49 ea
• Cabbage $0.99 ea
• Yellow Onions 3 lb bag $0.79 ea
• Anjou Pears 28 oz $1.19 ea
• Pineapple $1.39 ea
• Friendly Farms Veggie Ranch or French Onion Dip 16 oz $1.29 ea
• Bake House Creation Pie Crusts 15 oz $1.49 ea
• Breakfast Best Homestyle Waffles 12.3 oz $1.29 ea
• Burman's Sauce Assorted Varieties (including cocktail and tartar) $0.99 ea
• Sea Queen Wild Caught Salmon 16 oz $3.99 ea
• Sea Queen Value Pk Tilapia Fillets 32 oz $5.99 ea
• Sea Queen Flounder Fillets 16 oz $3.99 ea
• Millville Honey Grahams Cereal  12 oz or Maple Brown Sugar Frosted Shredded Wheat Cereal 16.5 oz $1.99 ea
• Baker's Corner Irish Soda Bread  16 oz $1.49 ea
• Kerry Gold Irish Cheese Dubliner or Blarney Castle 7 oz $3.29 ea
• Simply Potatoes Shredded Hash browns or Diced Potatoes with Onion 20 oz $1.79 ea
• Sealtite 10-piece round Durable Container Set BPA-free $4.99 ea
• Kitchen Living Banana Hanger with Fruit Basket Black or Chrome $9.99 ea
• Kitchen Living Microwave Cookware Assortment BPA-free $4.99 ea
• Kitchen Living 6-piece Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl Set $6.99 ea
• Kitchen Living Stainless Steel Tea Kettle 2.5 Qt also in Red $6.99 ea
• Kitchen Living Kitchen Gadget Assortment $1.69 ea

For more information about shopping at ALDI, visit their Homepage!

Tuesday's Target Trip

Tuesday Joe and I stopped into Target to do our baby registry.  I had a coupon that earned us a $20 gift card just for signing up for a registry.  While we were going around the store scanning, I used a few coupons to pick up some needed items.  Here's what we ended up with...

1-1/2 Gal Organic 2% Milk $3.69 ea - $1/1 Target Coupon = $2.69

1-5 lb bag Unbleached Flour $1.22 (surprise sale, and the last one left)

2-4 pks Natural Scotch Brite Sponges clearanced to $1.53 ea - $0.50/1 MC x 2 = 2/$2.06

2 Up and Up Hand Soap Refills $4.44 ea - $0.50/1 Target Coupon x 2 = $3.94 ea or 2/$7.88

1 Up and Up Witch Hazel $1.77 - $0.50/1 Target Coupon = $1.27

1 Up and Up Rubbing Alcohol $1.97 - $0.50/1 Target Coupon = $1.47 

4 canisters Up and Up Cleaning Wipes $1.97 ea - $2/2 Target Coupon x 2 = 4/$3.88

+ $0.89 Tax

Total OOP: $21.36, used older gift cards to pay, so Zero oop for us.  Plus I have $21.42 in gift cards for next time.

Tempt Your Tummy Tuesday: PB Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Like I've said before, PB + Chocolate = a happy husband for me, and if it's in cookie form, even better.  So these cookies were definitely a win in the Rogers' household, and they even had oatmeal in them, which I love!  These cookies come together quickly, and only need 10 minutes a sheet to bake.  They are also very tasty with a glass of milk, and not too overly sweet.  Here's how you can make them too...

1/2 c (1 stick) unsalted softened Butter

1/2 c Peanut Butter (I use Creamy)

1 c Sugar (I use Raw)

2 Eggs

1 tsp Vanilla

1 1/4 c Flour (I use unbleached)

1 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

2 c Quick Oats

1 c Chocolate Chips (I use Milk)

1.) Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2.) Cream together PB, butter, sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time mixing well after each addition.  

3.) Combine the dry ingredients except the chocolate chips, and add them to the wet mixture.  Mix until well blended.  Stir in chocolate chips.  

4.) Drop tablespoons of dough 1" apart on cookie sheets, and bake 10 minutes.  Do NOT over bake, as they will dry out!

5.) Cool cookies on trays for 2 minutes, and then move to wire racks to cool completely.  Store cookies in an airtight container.  This recipe makes about 3 1/2 dozen cookies, and they do freeze well.

Linked to One Project at a Time, Thrifty Thursday, the Super Saturday Link Party, the Homestead Barn Hop, Homemade Mondays, and the Ginger Jamboree!

4 Weeks to a More Organized Home: Day 1

Today's challenge was a quick pick up of your living spaces, a purse clean out, as well as purging 7 things from your household.  The first was easy since today was my regular tidying and cleaning day.  I decided to stick with my regular chores since the living spaces were going to get picked up anyway before I cleaned.  The later two were very simple, a perfect way to start the week.  My 7 things were all coupon inserts.  Today I got caught up on my clipping, which was about two weeks behind.  I had quite a stack of leftover coupons/paper scraps that got recycled.  My purse was pretty simple too, I try to keep it tidy on a regular basis since it's on the smaller side.  Here's the finished product...

Top pocket is make-up, gum, tide and regular pens, medicine, and tucked below is lotion and a Special K bar. bottom pocket is just my keys.

Outside pocket (top) Germ-X, hankie, and cell phone.  Bottom pocket is just my wallet.

Linked to Money Saving Mom!