Menu Plan Monday - April 26, 2010

This weekend is the Civil War Event here at the museum, so if you live in the area and know where the Carroll County Farm Museum is, come on out and visit us, I's love to meet you if you do... :-)
Any way, due to all the crazy hub-bub going on around here this week, the menu plan shows it!
Breakfasts: Cereal or Banana Nut Bread
Lunches: PB&J or Left overs & Chicken Salad for the Weekend (Recipe to follow)
Dinners:
Sunday - Salad & Pizza
Monday - McDonald's -- YUMMY!
Tuesday - Tacos with Salad
Wednesday - Garlic Chicken Pasta Bake with Salad
Thursday - Harry's Hot dogs with some re-enactor friends :-)
Friday - Chicken Salad Sandwiches with Chips
Saturday - Not sure yet, but I will be sure to update with pictures, what ever it is, it will be prepared on the open fire!

SCR Rite Aid Trip 04/25/2010

My Rite-Aid Trip was AWESOME this week! Make sure to check the clearance area at your Rite-Aid for the Dove Shampoo with coupons attached to them and do the $3 SCR deal!

Transaction #1:
2 - 60 ct Rite-Aid Cetirizine (allergy Medicine) $22.99 ea - BOGO free Sale - $5/1 Rite-Aid C x 2 = 2/$12.99
1 M&M and Skittle Egg $3.99 - 90% off = $0.39
1 pk Stay-free Pads $3.99 - $2 Sale - $2/1 MC = FREE + $0.01 MM!
1 box OB Tampons $4.99 - $3 Sale - $1/1 MC = $0.99
- $5/25 Rite-Aid C
Total OOP: $9.36, Paid with FREE gift card + Should Earn my $25 Rite-Aid Gift card for this Allergy Purchase (I have made previous purchases as well)

Transaction #2:
1 Raid Bug Spray $8.99 - $2 Sale - $10 my Mommy gave me to buy it for her = FREE + $3.01 MM
4 boxes OB Tampons $4.99 ea - $3 Sale ea - $1/1 MC x 4 = $0.99 ea = 4/$3.96
2 Dove Shine Control Conditioners* $4.99 ea - $2.50 Clearance - $1.50/1 MC x 2 - $3 SCR = 2 FREE + $1.02 MM!
2 - 60 ct boxes Rite-Aid Trash Bags $6.99 ea - BOGO Free Sale = $6.99/2
+ Tax $0.84
- $5/25 Rite-Aid C
- $11 SCR Check
Total OOP: $4.76, paid with FREE gift card + Earned $3 SCR, and $10 Refund from my Mom = MM!
*These Items were Donated

CVS Trip for this Week!

There weren't a lot of great deals this week, so I only took advantage of a few that we could really use. However, I will definitely be going back to grab the free/money-making CVS Sunscreen (Deal Here). Here's what I ended up with...
10 boxes Various Nabisco Cookies and Crackers $1.99 ea - $0.99 ea Sale - $1/2 MC x 5 = 10/$5
1 Schick Quattro Trimmer $10.99 - $2 Sale - $4/1 MC - $4 ECB = $0.99
1 Carroll County Times Newspaper (COUPONS!) $1
1 Twin pk CVS Contact Solution $11.49 - $1.50 Sale - $3 ECB = $6.99
And then we stumbled upon the 90% off clearance section and bought quite a few Christmas presents :-) (And yes we are almost done for Christmas 2010!)
2 Camera Binoculars $29.99 - 90% off = $2.99 ea = 2/$5.98
3 Steamers (1 for me & 2 for Gifts) $14.99 ea - 90% off = $1.49 ea = 3/$4.47
1 Chair Massage Pad $19.99 - 90% off = $1.99
2 Photo Cubes $5.99 ea - 90% off = $0.59 ea = 2/$1.18
2 Watches (1 for Joe and 1 for a gift) $5.99 ea - 90% off = $0.59 ea = 2/$1.18
+ Tax $1.86
- $5/40 CVS C
- $17.77 ECB's used to Pay
Total OOP: $14.87 + Earned $7 ECB's for next week! This week's return wasn't so hot, but to know that we got quite a few more Christmas presents out of the way makes it so... worth it! So if you are going to be near a CVS make sure to stop in and check around the seasonal section for some major clearance deals. The one in Westminster is no where near cleaned out, they still have plenty of the things we bought, along with slider grills, books, clothing, throws and toys! Happy shopping!

Last Week's Spending Totals

This past week's spending was a little higher than I like it to be, but a trip to Aldi for pantry staples and fruits and veggies can tend to do that for some reason. Any way, here's how we did...
Food - $32.87
Health & Beauty - $3.74
Household - $11.91
Total: $48.52

Eating Out: $23.72

Last Week's CVS Trip!

Last week's CVS Trip was short and sweet, my favorite kind of shopping!
2 Thermacare Heat Wraps $2.79 ea - $0.30 ea Sale - $1/1 MC x 2 - $2.49 ECB x 2 = 2 FREE + $2 MM!
1 - 500 ct bottle CVS Ibuprofen $12.79 - $2.80 Sale - $3 ECB = $6.99
3 Gold Emblem 24 ct Bottled H2O (not pictured) $3.99 ea - $1.55 ea Sale = $2.44 ea or 3/$7.32
1 - 50 ct Advil $5.49 - $1.50 Sale - $2/1 MC - $1 ECB = $0.99
1 Colgate Total Toothpaste* $3.89 - $0.90 Sale - $1/1 MC - $2 ECB = FREE
1 Edge Shave Gel $3.29 - $0.50 Sale - $1.80 ECB = $0.99
1 Cover Girl Mascara $7.99 - $2 Sale - $1/1 MC - $4 ECB = $0.99
1 CVS Green Bag Tag $0.99 - $0.99 ECB = FREE
1 CVS Allergy Medicine $6.99 - $3 ECB = $3.99
+ Tax $1.05
- $5/30 CVS C
- $20.49 in ECB's used to Pay
Total OOP: $18.59, paid with FREE gift card & Earned $20.77 in ECB's for next time!
*These Items were Donated

Walgreen's Trip from last week!

My Walgreen's trip was also a small, quick and easy trip! My main need was the Benedryl, so I created two transaction to fit those in. I think it went pretty well, here's what I ended up with... (FYI - make sure to check your Wag's clearance section(s), they are filling them up!)
Transaction #1:
2 Benedryl $5.99 ea - $5/2 MC - $5 RR wyb 2 = 2/$1.98
1 Kotex U Tampons* $3.49 - $1/1 MC - $2.50 RR = FREE
1 Ajax Cleaner $0.89 - $0.39 in-ad C = $0.50
1 '5' Gum $0.99
- $10 RR used to Pay
+ Tax $0.09
Total OOP: $1.09 + Earned $5 & $2.50 RR

Transaction #2:
2 Benedryl $5.99 ea - $5/2 MC - $5 RR wyb 2 = 2/$1.98
1 Ajax Cleaner $0.89 - $0.39 in-ad C = $0.50
1 Swanson Beef Broth $0.69 (Clearance)
1 Baking Powder $0.49 (Clearance)
- $6 RR used to Pay
+ Tax $0.03
Total OOP: $2.69 + Earned $5 RR
*These Items were Donated

Last Week's Martin's Trip

Last week I took it easy on shopping. I was in-charge of cooking lunch for the people taking classes here at the museum all of last week, and while it is always fun, it is also very tiring! My Martin's trip was easy, quick and to the point, here's what I ended up with...
5 - 80 ct boxes Snuggle Dryer Sheets $3.52 ea - $0.53 ea Sale - $3/1 MC x 5, 1 adjusted to $2.99 = All FREE + $0.04 MM!
3 cartons Welch's Fruit Cocktail Juices $2.63 ea - $0.34 ea Sale - $0.75/1 MC doubled to $1.50 x 3 = $0.79 ea or 3/$2.37
2 jars Kraft Mayo $4.39 ea - $1.90 ea Sale - $0.98 Bonus Savings wyb 2 = 2/$4 (- $2 being reimbursed by the museum) = 2/$2
1 box Oscar Mayer Bacon $3.69 - $0.70 Sale - $1.50/1 MC = $1.49
+ Tax $0.90
Total OOP: $38.86 - $30.14 Sales/Coupons = Net OOP: $8.72 -- Savings of 76%!!!

Weekly Spending Totals 04/11-04/17

I must say that I think we did an excellent job this week with keeping our spending down! I hope that next week we continue to have success!
Food: $28.31
Health & Beauty: ZERO!
Household: $2.79
Total Spent: $31.10!!!

Eating Out: $11.66 @ Subway!
How did everyone else do this week?

Cake Mix Cookies -- New Recipe!

I have found the most DELICIOUS Cookie recipe! These cake mix cookies are very frugal, very tasty and extremely easy to make! First pour 1 - 18 oz pkg of cake mix (any flavor) into a mixing bowl. To the mix add 1/2 c of softened butter and 1 egg, if you are using a chocolate cake mix you will also need to add 2 tbsp of water at this point.

Mix the ingredients together until well blended. You can also add mix-in's to your batter at this stage if you would like. I used some FREE Christmas M&M's that were lurking in the freezer, but nuts, marshmallows, oatmeal, morsels, really anything that you like would do beautifully.

Using a cookie scoop or two spoons, place the cookie dough onto the cookie sheet in rounded tablespoons about 2" apart. Bake the cookies at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes depending on your oven. Allow the cookies to cool completely on a wire rack and then place them into an air-tight container as they will dry out VERY quickly if you do not.
1 Batch makes about 2-3 dozen cookies depending on size

My new Easter Dress!

Just thought you might like to see my new Easter dress I got this year! I thought I was super cute and so did all of the ladies at church! YAY!