I must be being punked.

Have you ever had one of those days? If you are a mom, you know what I'm talking about.
Yesterday was one of those days, especially for about 30 minutes in the afternoon.

We had gone out to run a couple errands, but as we were coming down the street towards home, Jeffrey started crying and pushing up on his seat. I knew what that meant.  Bug started hollering for kleenexes.  Uh oh... a bloody nose.  

I got Aly and Jeffrey out of the car, told Jeffrey to go to his bedroom to get cleaned up and Aly to be patient in the living room.  I needed to help Bug get in the house without getting blood everywhere.  Next thing I know, Jeffrey lets Frank (our escape artist puggle-dog) out the front door who takes off down the street.  D takes off after him.

I go in the house to find Jeffrey dripping diarrhea all over my fairly new hardwood floors, Bug dripping blood all over the bathroom, and Aly out back hollering at the other dogs to get away. 

REALLY??  Do I really have kids going 4 directions all needing my help??

And people wonder why moms drink... diet coke.

Today's Shopping Trip

I guess I can't help it. I get such a high from saving money - a LOT of money. I want the world to know that you don't have to be crazy obsessed with it to still stockpile and save a significant amount of money.  As you can tell by how often I blog, couponing and chasing sales is not the #1 priority in my life. But I did quite well today, so I thought I'd share how.

CVS - Started with no ECBs.

Transaction #1

- Purex He (I had a rain check from end of February)$6.59 each, rain check was for $1.99 each. 

      Coupons $1 off, so $0.99 each.

1 - Allegra 5ct - $7.29, on sale for $6.99, Get $6.99 ECBs back

      Coupon $2 off (note money maker!)

Paid $11.61 out of pocket, got $6.99 back in ECBs! 

Saved - $28.80 + ECBs

Transaction #2

3 - 12 packs of Diet Coke - $4.49, on sale for $4.34 (part of buy $15 get $5 ECB back)

2 - 2 Liters of Sprite Zero - $1.99, on sale for $1.00

2 - Tostitos - $3.99, on sale for $3.00

1 - Tostitos Queso - $3.69, on sale for $3.00

Clearance items

1 - CVS Allergy meds - $7.39, on sale for $0.75

1 - Stayfree - $4.19, on sale for $0.99

1 - Homeopathic ointment - $8.99, on sale for $0.99

Used my $5 off $25 purchase

Coupon Buy 2 Tostitos Chips, get Queso FREE (-$3.00)

Paid with $6.99 ECBs from first transaction

Paid $13.88 out of pocket, got $5 back in ECBs!

Saved - $37.95 + ECBs!

Walgreens - Started with no Register Rewards

Transaction #1

1 - Tena - $12.99, on sale for $9.99

Coupon $2.50

Paid $8.37 out of pocket, got $10 back in Register Rewards

Saved $5.50 and got $10 RR back

Transaction #2

1 - Children's Claritin on clearance - $5.59

1 - Children's Allegra on sale - $9.99

2 - Reach Toothbrushes $1.79

Used In ad Coupon for toothbrushes $0.99

Had only 1 coupon for Reach toothbrushes $1 off

$2 off Children's Allegra

$3 off Children's Claritin

Used the $10 in RR from previous transaction

Paid $3.08 out of pocket, got $1 RR back

Saved $25.18 plus $1 RR

Total spent at drugstores: $36.94

Total SAVED: $97.43

Dillons was my big hit!  The Buy 10, save $5 sale plus coupons is what made most of it work so well.

I am not going to layout everything, but there was only 1 item that I didn't have a coupon for - taco seasoning.

Before my Dillon's card, my total was $277.18!!  Holy cow, I about died! But... 

With the sale, e-coupons, and paper coupons, I SAVED: $163.01!!!

Then I had a $50 gift card I bought to raise money for Bug's school, so my out of pocket was $64.17.

Total SPENT today: $101.11

Total SAVED for the day: $260.44  - That is 72% SAVINGS! And still have $5 ECBs for CVS and $1 RR for Walgreens.

Shhhhh..... Then I went and spent WAY TOO MUCH at the Borders that is closing. 

I love books to a fault.

Huggies Diapers VERY cheap!

Make sure you are a member of Amazon Mom! This Amazon deal is great for size 1-2 to get diapers approximately $0.11 a diaper.  (Size 1-2 is 192 diapers for $21.92 plus tax, Size 4 is $23.51 plus tax - $0.17)Make sure you order with Subscribe and Save and you can always unsubscribe once you have received the shipment.

Also, head to Target's coupons and print off the $3 off Huggies diapers coupon (hopefully it is still there) and then print off the Target $2.50 coupon off Huggies diapers - you can stack these together. Do this TWICE. Through tomorrow, Target is running a sale on boxes of Huggies diapers. If you buy 2 boxes, you will get a a $5  gift card in return.  I ran this deal today. Unfortunately, I am buying size 6 diapers, so there are only 60 in a box - this came out to $0.19 cents a diaper which is the best deal I can get for this size.  The deal above on Amazon is $0.23 for size 6. 

This is the season to stock up on diapers really cheap for the year!

NOT Another Coupon Blog

Yeah... I did some grocery and drug store shopping today.

$200.14 worth of groceries (83 items) at Dillon's for $98.54 plus tax, plus $1.50 catalina (coupon) for my next trip.

Then I went to CVS. 7 bottles of Gatorade, 8 bottles of Diet Mountain Dew, 2 bags of Lays chips, 1 tube Crest ProHealth toothpaste, plus 4 of the new peanut butter Snickers (peanut butter addict had to try them!) for just $4.29 plus tax.

If there is enough interest, I can spell out how I did all this. I am by no means a pro. Goodness, if you watched TLC's Extreme Couponing show, you already know that! Plus, there are SO many other coupon guru websites out there, that the last thing the internet needs is this fumbling mom trying to add her half cent (because of course I would never give a full 2 cents).

So please stay tuned. I have more to ramble about than my whole-hearted attempts to look like a coupon pro.

Like the fact that I am trying to blog, while JR continues his attempt to rule the roost and refuses to go to or stay in his bed. How can you be mad at that face?

CVS - Take 2 = SUCCESS!!

6 boxes of Tissue       $1.99 - $11.94    On sale for $0.99 - $5.94
1 Pack of 16 AAA Duracell Batteries $13.99 On sale for -  $9.99
1 Pack of Charmin 16 Double Rolls  $15.29  On sale for -   $9.99
                           Regular Price: $41.29     On sale for - $25.92


Minus Coupons:
1 Coupon for Charmin (-$0.25)
1 Coupon for Puffs Tissue (-$0.25)
1 Coupon for Duracell Batteries (-$1.50)
Total Coupons: (-$2.00)
Balance: $23.92

Minus CVS Coupon (-$4)
Balance: $19.92

Minus Extra Care Bucks from yesterday's transaction (-$15)
Balance: $4.92
Tax: $0.68
Total Out of Pocket: $5.60

Total Extra Care Bucks received back: $10
Total Money Made: $4.40

CVS - Take 2 = SUCCESS!!

6 boxes of Tissue       $1.99 - $11.94    On sale for $0.99 - $5.94
1 Pack of 16 AAA Duracell Batteries $13.99 On sale for -  $9.99
1 Pack of Charmin 16 Double Rolls  $15.29  On sale for -   $9.99
                           Regular Price: $41.29     On sale for - $25.92


Minus Coupons:
1 Coupon for Charmin (-$0.25)
1 Coupon for Puffs Tissue (-$0.25)
1 Coupon for Duracell Batteries (-$1.50)
Total Coupons: (-$2.00)
Balance: $23.92

Minus CVS Coupon (-$4)
Balance: $19.92

Minus Extra Care Bucks from yesterday's transaction (-$15)
Balance: $4.92
Tax: $0.68
Total Out of Pocket: $5.60

Total Extra Care Bucks received back: $10
Total Money Made: $4.40

My So Called Failed Trip to CVS

2 - 18 packs of Cottonelle toilet paper  $13.29 each, $26.58    On sale for $10   -  $20

5 - 32 loads of Wisk laundry detergent  $ 8.99 each,  $44.95   Rain check for $5 -  $25

2 - Listerine Zero Mouthwash               $6.79 each,  $13.58     Rain check for $5 -  $10

3 - Cottonelle flushable wipes refills       $3.69 each,  $11.07     Sale for $2  -           $6

2 - Christmas Gift tags                           $1.99 each, $3.98       Clearanced $0.19 -  $0.38

                     Regular total                $100.07            Sale Total       $61.38

So $61.38 plus tax... pretty good savings already, right?  How about some coupons.

I used 2 - $2 off Listerine Zero Mouthwash  (-$4)

          5 - $2 off Wisk laundry detergent       (-$10)

          1 - $3 off Cottonelle CVS coupon I got at the kiosk (-$3)

                     (don't forget to scan your CVS card for coupons when you come in the door!)

That takes $17 off the total down to $44.38.

Then I had Extra Care Bucks from a previous purchase to use - $23, taking my total down to $21.38.

Now, the key here is that I will be getting BACK Extra Care Bucks - this is rolling them.  The 5 bottles of Wisk will get me back $10 in ECBs. The 2 bottles of Listerine will get me back $5 in ECBs.  The $25 worth of Cottonelle products will get me $10 in ECBs.

In the end with tax, I spent about $25 out of pocket, but I got $25 in ECBs back making everything FREE!! 

So WHY would I call this a FAILED trip to CVS when I got so much for SO little??  

A) I had Cottonelle coupons at home that could have been used

B) I had a CVS $4 off the purchase of $20 coupon IN MY HAND that I never gave the cashier.

I know... cry me a river.