Deal of the Week: Christmas Eve Jewel Shopping

So I didn't really intend on going to the grocery store on Christmas Eve, but I wanted some champagne for Christmas morning mimosas and I had a few coupons that were expiring on Christmas. The savings/spending numbers below are after my $15 liquor rebate. I love that there are rebates available for buying alcohol in this state! A concept that we would never see in PA or AL! We needed some rum for our eggnog and Tom plans on making hot pepper shots for NYE. Yikes!! Spent $52.48
Saved $46.21
Received $3 coupon to use at next visit

Deal of the Week: I can hardly even believe it Jewel Shopping!

Over the course of this past week I've been to a bunch of different stores for one reason or another, but Jewel was BY FAR the best trip!! I had a bunch of great manufacturer's coupons and a couple of awesome store coupons. Which combined for the best deal ever. (Well, maybe not ever).

Spent $12.82
Saved $56.48
Received $2 coupon to use on next trip and a $1 off apples coupon to use on next trip.

Deal of the Week: Dominicks sans coupons!

I ran into Dominicks real quick this week on the way home from work. Only got a few things, didn't use a single coupon (wooo!), and saved over 50%!

Spent $13
Saved $17

Deal of the Week: CVS, I just. can't. stop!

So thanks to Thursday's awesome CVS trip, I had a lot of "free money" (ECB's) to spend at CVS. At first glance I didn't think they had many great deals this week, but after closer inspection I managed to put together an awesome scenario.

Spent: $21.29

Saved: $92.11

Received: $9.99 in ECB's and a $10 CVS Giftcard

CVS Thankgsiving Deals!!

After last year's awesome Thanksgiving steals at CVS, I decided I would check them out this year too. I'm so glad I did, because I got some amazing deals, and used a giftcard so I didn't spend ANY money OOP!!

Spent $5.59 ($3.14 before tax)

Saved $62.09

Received $33.80 in ECB's!!

Here is how I did it. First, I read this post that already listed out all of the available coupons and where to find them. Next, I gathered my ECB's leftover from this trip. Last week when I scanned my CVS card at the magic coupon machine, it printed out a $5 ECB from hitting $50 in beauty purchases from the same trip (CVS Fun Fact: I barely spent any money at all on that makeup, but the full price counts toward your $50 goal). Finally, I used part of the $10 giftcard that I also received from this trip. I sure hope CVS has some good deals over the next month...I've got a lot of money to spend there ;)

Deal of the Week: Jewel

We spent a lot this week, but we bought a lot too. We're stocked up for Thanksgiving and a little after as well!

Spent $64

Saved $67

Received $5 coupon to use on next visit

I'm also submitting for a $10 rebate for buying Miller Lite and a Butterball turkey. So really we spent $49. Yay :)

Deals of the Week: Dominicks and CVS...again

We did our weekly shopping again this weekend and scored some good deals. We also went to Aldi for some produce, yogurt, and our beloved Key Lime waters (no pic though).

Dominicks

Spent $41.92 and saved $52.51

CVS

Spent $5.50 Saved $22.54 Received $6 in ECB's

Deals of the Week: Dominicks and CVS

Another good week! Didn't buy a whole lot in terms of actual "groceries" but did score some good deals! I've been on the lookout for some glass "tupperware" containers for a while. Dominicks was having a sale on them, and I had a measly $1.50/2 coupon so I figured I would just bite the bullet and buy 2. Well, when I went into the store, each of the containers had coupons inside!! And good coupons too! $3 off for the "big" containers and $1.50 for the "smaller" ones.Spent $27.45

Saved $46.36

And over at CVS (we were out of Pledge!!) Spent $6 (Would have been $16 but I used a $10 giftcard I bought from Savemore for only $5!! So technically I spent $11, still a good deal!)

Saved $40

Received $15 in ECB's!!

Deals of the Week: Back in the swing of things

So we haven't done one of our "regular" grocery shopping trips probably since the end of July. The past few months have been so busy and our weekends have been occupied with other things so we've just been pretty much getting whatever we needed at Aldi. Thanks to small trips here and there and a huge stockpile, we haven't felt like we've been out of food at all.

Today we went to Dominicks, Aldi, and CVS. At Dominicks I only used ***drumroll please *** a total of 4 coupons. Spent $58.61
Saved $59.44
Received a coupon for 2 free movie rentals from Blockbuster Express. (Anyone want to take any bets as to whether we actually use this to rent movies before the coupon expires? It expires December 10, and let me just tell you that the last time we went to the theater to see a movie was to see Star Trek in 2009 and the last time we rented a movie was in the Spring of 2007 when Tom's sister Jackie came to visit us).

We did some damage at Aldi too, spent more than I would have liked but stocked up on a lot of stuff. No pics.

And now for CVS, where I basically got paid to shop there (love when that happens!)

Spent $14.31
Saved $57.14
Received $12 in ECB's and a $10 CVS giftcard. Love it!!!

Deal of the Week: CVS

We're stocked up for all of the Trick-or-Treaters next week!

Spent $11

Saved $22

Received $10 in ECB's

Deal of the Week: $10 Coffeemaker and $10 Blender

There are a small handful of "frugal blogs" that I follow on Google Reader, but to be honest, I miss most of the deals because they post SO MANY times a day that it gets to be overwhelming. I randomly check them at night and sometimes come across a deal that's still good. Last night, I saw Money Saving Mom's post about JCPenny.com's deal on Cook's blender, coffeemaker, and waffle iron.

Click on the link for all of the details and How To's, but basically they are having a sale on the above mentioned products, there is a coupon code for $10 off, there is a $10 rebate (if you purchase online until tomorrow, 10/16), and if you shop through Shop at Home you receive an additional 9% cashback on your purchase. So after all of the rebates and savings (with free ship-to-store), you can get each one of the above for $10!

I ordered the blender (originally $60) for Tom (he likes to use it for his protein shakes) and our blender recently passed away in a crab-bisque explosion. I also bought the coffeemaker (originally $50), because, let's face it, our current one has been used almost daily for the past 5 years and it's not going to last forever. For $10, this one will be an awesome backup and only costs a few dollars more than if we had to go to Starbucks for our morning coffee (should our current one break).

Deal of the Week: Urban Outfitters

So, as I mentioned the other day, the Urban Outfitters by my work was having a HUGE sale. Almost every single thing in the store was marked down to pretty reasonable prices (reasonable for Urban Outfitters at least), and then there was an additional 50% off of the sale prices! I tried on a handful of items, but only came away with 2 that I really liked.

The first top ended up being only $4.99!! Originally $59 (see, ridiculously overpriced)! It's perfect because I've been looking for something longer that I can wear over leggings, but I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a longer top that I would only wear once in a while.



The second top was a little bit more, ringing up at $15, but it was originally $89!! It's big and flowy and will be a nice breezy top to wear during the summer!

Who is Frugal?

Confession: I've kind of taken a break from being completely frugal. I haven't cut or used coupons to go grocery shopping in probably a little over a month! *gasp* I have, however, cut the occasional coupon for a cheap/free drugstore deal on the way to/from work.

So, what have I been doing that's not making me frugal? Well, for starters, there was the iphone. Which, as stated, I don't regret at all, but still, not completely frugal.

Then come the boots. I've been on the search for tall tan boots for the past month. I found a pair that I LOVED, ordered them on a whim, and have yet to return them. In the meantime, I've searched high and low and tried on MANY boots that just don't quite fit the bill. They cost more than I ever imagined I would spend on boots but I LOVE them (and look forward to wearing them when it's no longer 80 degrees in Chicago this fall!)

Then there was the incidental green flip flop purchase from the clearance section at DSW (while I had intended to go there only searching for tall tan boots). Oh well, I have A LOT of green so I've had my eye out for some comfy flip flops with green on them for a while now. Not a bank breaker, but not on SUPER clearance either.

That brings me to today. When I went out after work just to make sure there weren't any tall tan boots in the Chicagoland area that I hadn't tried on. Urban Outfitters was having a ridiculous sale....and I actually scored an awesome deal on 2 tops....so I'll save that for another post, since this post is about paying full price for items and NOT getting good deals. So anyways I went into a store that I've been meaning to check out for a while, and came out with this ridiculously overpriced (but totally awesome) jacket that I already have fallen in love with.

So that almost sums up my out of control spending. If you add about 70 Pumpkin Spice Lattes from Starbucks then I think that completely covers it :)
But hey - the benefit of being frugal 95% of the time? There's plenty of money to cover these little splurges and coupon breaks from time to time :)

Deal of the Week: iPhone 75% off!!!

Well, I did it. I bought another thing on my "Five things we don't mind going without" list. No worries though, because it is very quickly moving it's way onto my "Five purchases I don't regret" list!

Without sounding too much like a complete drama queen, I do have to say that it is changing my life. Okay, not really, however I LOVE it and the organizing/list making side of me (which seems to get more intense as the years go on) LOVES the functionality of all of the different apps!! It is so easy to organize shopping trips, plan meals, keep track of the budget, and just jot things down as they come into my head.

Oh! I got so carried away I almost forgot to tell you how I got it for 75% off! It was originally $200. I had my $50 "upgrade credit" since I haven't bought a new phone in 2 years (which came off instantly...that was nice because in the past you always had to submit for a rebate which came in the form of a giftcard). Because the iphone 5 is coming out soon, Verizon is doing a promotion if you upgrade to a smartphone and trade in your old phone they will give you a $100 giftcard. I can use the giftcard to pay bills, so I will just use the $100 budgeted for next month's bill toward the phone and voila! A $50 iphone!

Deal of the Week: $0.48 Capri pants!

I LOVE Target's coupon website. They often have coupons for various clothing that they carry, and you can often find super cheap items in their clearance section. This is how I got my free jeans, $2 jeans, and now $0.48 khaki capris!

Deal of the Week: Jewel Fun!

I wasn't planning on going grocery shopping today, but we got some Jewel coupon booklets in the mail and I had a few "$1 off your next shopping trip" coupons to use up by Tuesday. I scanned the flyer, gathered my coupons, and spent a few minutes making a list. I'm so glad I went because I scored some awesome deals!!

They had random 6 packs of beer taped together that were on clearance for $3. I probably would have just rushed right by the cart, but the Sam Adams caught my eye...Tom's favorite beer! So for $0.50/beer I couldn't really pass it up!
Spent $23.77
Saved $40.72 (the savings from the beer didn't get added up in the savings area of the receipt, so really I probably saved closer to $52)

Deal of the Week: Jewel Trip and Target Outfit

Ran into Jewel quick before work one day this week to grab a few freebies and cheapies.
Spent $2.25
Saved $11.80
Received $2 coupons to use at next visit!

I went into Target after we got back from vacation to buy a few things we were needing (dog food, new lamps, etc). I have this nasty little habit of always perusing the clearance racks when I'm there...and this time found some really awesome deals! I got the outfit pictured below (minus the shoes) for $17!! The pants are a nice pair of dress pants - light gray, and the shirt is a sleeveless black shirt with tiny ruffles around the neckline and arms.
*Dog not included :)

Deal of the Week

Before we left for vacation last week I ran into Jewel to take advantage of one of their sales. They had Peter Pan peanut butter and Chefboyrdee on sale...two of Tom's favorites! Spent $22.53
Saved $23.55
Received $8 in Jewel coupons to use on next visit!

Deals of the Week: Progresso Deals = Awesome!

This week we had another big trip at Dominick's. Not horrible. Spent $56.45 and saved $78.99.

Also, Jewel was having an awesome sale on Progresso Soup. It was extra awesome for us because the other day I said "Tom, what "snack food" do you want in the house?" His reply? "Soup." :)

Bought: 20 cans of Progresso Soup.

Spent $6.46

Saved $33

Received $5 catalina to use on my next visit!!

Deal of the Week :Entemann's Outlet!!!

So we've driven by the Entemann's outlet that is right around the corner from us several times before, but have never actually gone in to check it out until today. Boy were we missing out!!! All of the bread/snacks/etc are SUPER cheap AND they had a ton of $0.50 clearance items with any purchase!


Hellooo people, bread freezes beautifully!! We bought 1 package of bagel thins, 2 honey wheat english muffins, 1 whole wheat english muffins, and 2 packs of hamburger buns and we spent $4.45!!!! Love it!!

Deals of the Week: Big trip

Remember last week how I said we haven't really done any big shopping trips lately? Well, this week we managed a decent sized trip from Dominicks. Not bad either!

Dominicks

Spent $53.95
Saved $82.61
Received $2 coupon to use on next visit

CVS

Spent $6.19 (On gift card)
Saved $24.59
Received $9.99 in ECB's

Aldi

Spent $15.62

Deals of the Week: Jewel & CVS

I didn't post last week because #1 I had to work all day Saturday and I was exhausted, #2 our internet went out sometime Saturday and wasn't restored until Tuesday night (crazy storms), and #3 to be honest I'm not even sure I scored any good deals! We've been doing a little grocery shopping here and there but haven't had many big trips in the past couple of weeks...which has actually been kind of nice, because in return we haven't been spending much money (and our previous stockpile has allowed us to be just fine and not really need anything except milk and fresh stuff). Anyways, here are our Jewel and CVS trips from this past week.

Jewel

Spent $9.18
Saved $ 11.40
Received $1 coupon to use on next visit

CVS

I cashed in some credit card reward points to get a $50 CVS giftcard. I wonder how long I can stretch it out for!?

Spent $10.35 (On gift card, so $0 OOP)

Saved $26.53

Received $17 in ECB's

My trip for Flour

I decided I wanted to make homemade pizza crust on Saturday. I was excited because I had 1 yeast packet left, so I started making it. Then I checked the flour bin...and it was almost empty! I grabbed my purse (and a few coupons) and darted off to Jewel (on a Saturday afternoon...yikes!).

Spent $16.70
Saved $15.20
Received: 2 Free Milk coupons, $2 coupon on next visit, 1 Dr. Pepper Cherry 2 Liter (they were giving these away for free at the register)

Deal of the Week

Soooo, I think I'm going to start calling my "Weekly Savings" posts "Deal(s) of the Week." It seems more logical since I'm only posting the good deals and not posting every single thing I buy each week.

So for this week's Deal of the Week? $2 Target jeans!! On clearance for $4.98, used $3 off denim coupon from Target.com/coupons, and voila! $2 jeans! Not as good as free jeans, but hey, I'll take it!

Fun but not Frugal Shopping Trips

We didn't really do much shopping last week because my family was in town. I did, however, stop at Trader Joe's and Jewel to pick up a few things I've been craving lately. Of course I had NO coupons for any of it and most of it wasn't on sale...but oh well!

Jewel

Spent $12.32

Saved...are you ready for this? $0.20!! (eeep!)

Bought:

2 bags of Skinny Pop

2 bags of brown rice

1 bag of popcorn kernals

Trader Joe's

Spent $10.78

Bought:
4 bags of edamame

2 bags of Wasabi peas (only one is in the picture because the other one was in the living room being torn into)

Weekly Savings

Wooo wooo! Stopped at Jewel after my birthday dinner because I had some cheese coupons that were expiring that day and there was finally a good sale to match them up with!Spent $5.66
Saved $47.40
Received $7 catalina (coupon) to use at my next visit at Jewel!

Also, here's the rest of our shopping trip from this weekend: Jewel (again), Dominck's and Aldi. I normally don't post everything we buy each week, just the best deal shopping trips (I always leave Aldi out), but today I figured, what the heck? Here's everything!

Jewel Trip #2

Spent $8.73 (used $7 catalina from last trip)

Saved $23.40

Received $12 catalina to use at next visit

Dominick's

Spent $45.74

Saved $60.85

(These numbers will actually end up being a lot better because I'm submitting for a $10 meat rebate and a $5 Gas Gift Card from the cereal. So it will be more like Spent $30.74 Saved $75.85).

Aldi

Spent $23.59

Saved $5ish??? Who knows but everything was pretty cheap!!

So total spent this week $83.72, total saved $136.65, received $12 off next visit to Jewel and will be receiving $10 rebate from ground beef purchase at Dom's and $5 gas gift card from cereal purchase at Dom's.

Weekly Savings

Now, before all of you who know my husband start to freak out, know that I had his approval to buy the Miller Lite...and it was only purchased in anticipation of a few cookouts and some upcoming visitors. Also, the sole reason it was purchased was because if you bought a case of Miller Lite for $12.99, then you got a package of Hillshire Farm sausage, buns, and yellow mustard for $0.01! (For those of you who don't know, Tom doesn't agree with Miller Lite's advertising techniques and statements, it's a long story). Anyways! Just Jewel and Aldi this week. Here's how we did!

Jewel

Spent $23.06
Saved $49.81
(Not bad considering we got a case of beer and a gallon of milk!)

Happy 5 Year Anniversary of.....

....having only 1 car!! Five years ago today we hopped in our friend Anne's jeep (that she was kind enough to lend us since we were carless) and drove to the Saturn dealership and stupidly leased a brand new Saturn Vue. We had just gotten married, returned from our honeymoon, and I had moved across the country. Tom sold his jeep right before he moved to Birmingham and we didn't think my 1996 Ford Contour would survive the drive from Philadelphia. Leasing a car was probably the dumbest financial move we have made as a couple, but fortunately we've learned and grown since then.

Last year we were able to buy our car when the lease was up and thankfully we have not needed to buy another vehicle. I feel like living 5 years with only one car is going to be one of those things that we tell our kids about whenever they complain that they don't have their own car. We've certainly been fortunate in the fact that our work locations and schedules coincide so having only one car is an option. It's a little bit more of a challenge now that I work in the suburbs 2 days a week but thank goodness for public transportation!

Thanks for hanging in there car....here's to another 5 years!!

Weekly Savings-ish

I did a mish-mash of shopping this week because there wasn't really anything we needed. Just hit a few sales and picked up a few essentials, so no pictures. Except for this one from CVS.



Spent $7.32
Saved $31.37
Received $9.99 in ECB's.

Weekly Savings: CVS and Dominick's

Woo! Another awesome week :) I forgot to scan my "Green Bag Tag" at CVS....after every 4 scans you earn $1 in ECB's. Bummer. The Dominick's trip would have been better but the 4 gallons of milk put us over the top. Whatever, milk was cheaper at Dom's this week than Aldi. Also, they charged me $1.99 each for the avocados when they were supposed to only be $1 :( Oh well, you can't win them all ;)

CVS

Spent $6.87($4.69 before tax!)
Saved $45.24
Received $11.50 in ECB's!!

Dominick's

Spent $29.52
Saved $31.46

Weekly Savings: Saved more than we spent even with beer!

Whenever we would buy beer at Publix I would take it out of the equation because it always messed up my savings ratio. However this week at Domick's we still managed to save more than we spent, even with a 6 pack of Sam Adam's and a 6 pack of Hamm's. Of course, the percentage would have been better without the beer, but oh well.

Dominick's

Spent: $37.70
Saved: $48.01

We also went to Aldi to stock up on milk and key lime waters. Not too bad of a week!

Weekly Savings: Jewel and CVS

This week we are finally back in the normal swing of things. We went to Jewel and CVS.

Jewel

Spent $19.43

Saved $25.85 Bought:

2 bottles Ranch dressing

12 Yoplait yogurt

1/2 pound deli cheese

1/2 pound salami

1 loaf wheat bread (this was free with the deli purchase)

1 bottle of soy sauce

1 dozen eggs

Asparagus

Whipping cream

6 Lunchables (these were free with coupons)

CVS

Spent $63.85 ($13.85 if you take away the Old Navy gift cards!)

Saved $16.71

Received $7.99 in ECB's

Bought:
6 four packs of Izze's
2 gallons of milk
2 stride gum
2 $25 Old Navy gift cards (You received $5 in ECB's wyb $50 worth of ON/BR/Gap gift cards)