One Great CVS visit!

I have not been feeling well this week so I got through work and that was about all. That is why I have not posted. Today I was feeling better and got to CVS. This is so much fun. It is like winning a small lottery!!! I thought I would post about my trip.
I picked up
4 Reese Whips
1 Tin of York mints (not pictured)
2 Reese's Snack packs
1 Pez type toy
1 floam
3 Palmolive
2 Colgate Max Fresh
1 Fructis Shampoo
1 Excedrin
1 Johnson Buddies
1 Bag York Peppermint patties

Total $45.32 after sales 32.00 (give or take)

I used 5/30 4/20 3/15
I had coupons as follows

2 Colgate coupons 0.75
3 Palmolive coupons .25
1 Johnson Buddie $ .99 (reduced from 1.00 Making this free!)
2 Reese Snack coupon .75
2 Reese Whip coupons Buy 1 get 1 (making these free)
1 Fructis Shampoo Coupon 1.00
1 Excedrin Coupon 2.00
2 york Coupons .55 (I should have only been able to use 1 I am not sure what happened I am only realising it as I type this up.)
My total after all the coupons was 7.90
I used a $7.50 ECB and it took it down to 0.00
I was so excited!
Then I got 10.00 in ECBs (3 from the Palmolive, 4 from Colgate, 1 from Fructis, 1 from Reese's Whips and 1 from Excedrin. I will also get a $5.00 Gift card from the Hershey stuff! I can't believe this it is so great. the toys are for my little treasure box for the kids at work. They were 90% off.
check out http://www.moneysavingmom.com/ for other great deals.

CVS This week

I did the CVS thing yesterday. I stopped quickly with my son. I was able to get the following.

1 Spiderman Paddle ball set
1 spiderman yo-yo
1 package Christmas colored Hershey kisses
1 Breeze 2 monitor

My total was $11.00
I used only the coupon for the Breeze 2 in the diabetic book
and a $1.00 ECB
My Total was $0.35 That was it.
I received $14.99 In ECB's $5.00 For spending and $9.99 for the Breeze 2 Meter which was free.

I also had gone to Target
I bought some after Christmas things to put away for next year. I still past on a ton of things as I am trying to do a "thing" fast (it is hard to pass up 75% off though) But even when I decided to do the stuff fast I knew I had to get a few things for ds I was waiting for coats to go on sale. Well I could not find a great deal so I settled for an okay deal and got him a coat. I was looking at the sale rack for specific things for him. I found a set of 3 piece PJ set (pj's seem to be expensive new) There was a gentleman going along the rack marking items down. I could not find a price on the PJs so I asked him. He ran it through his machine and said they were four dollars. Thats not bad I thought. He then said or I can push the button and they will be $2.14 "oooohhhhh," I said "let's push the button" So he did and I grabbed them while I could. I was very happy with that deal. So I have bought a few things but being conscious of what I am buying is very helpful.
I am saving a ton of money by just staying out of stores. I go if I must and then do my best to go in just what I intended to get. SO those were my deals this week.

Making a budget

We do not have an official budget. We really need one. We have been working at paying off our debt and should be very close to doing this next month. The problem is we spend what we make. Not more than we just spend what we have. Then on months we get our high bills it kills us. We pay all our insurances and our home taxes 2x a year. I want to find a way to set up a budget that allows us to save for these things and put some money in savings.
I am going to make this the year we have a budget. I do not want it to be complicated. I love the envelope idea but I am afraid of keeping all that cash in the house. Yet I feel as if using the debit card all the time just begs for trouble.
Crystal over at Money Saving Mom is doing a challenge and going to walk through making a budget. I am going to take her up on this one and see what I can do. Dh would love to have it all in order if I present it to him it would make his day. I am excited to be able to serve my family in this way. Let's get financially responsible.

The most frugal thing I have done

I have found a really huge frugal thing in my home. I can't believe how much it is saving us. It is so simple. I am keeping my kitchen clean. I mean it was never terrible, but it was so easy to eat out instead of cooking if there are dishes in my sink. I have been home the last couple of weeks and I have really gotten it in shape. It is so easy now to go in and cook a meal. The best thing is breakfast. When we are all home it is so easy to go out and grab breakfast. Well now I have been keeping the sink cleared out dishes washed and put away. So breakfast takes just a few minutes to prepare. I am not overwhelmed try to get it on. We have fixed, eaten, and leaned up in just about the time it would take to get ready to go out. I just run in and do it then quickly clean it up. We are saving a ton of money because the kitchen is ready to go.
I had no idea my delaying cleaning up the kitchen cost us so much. I am so excited about making this small change. Instead of cleaning it once a day and being frustrated and overwhelmed with it I just keep it done. Most people would say DUH you should have figured that one out by now. I just guess it takes a while for me. Now I am going to lay out dinner. I think I am going to make Ritzy Chicken I found on Biblical Womanhood. My Dh loves it and it is so easy.
Does anyone have any tips on cleaning the kitchen quickly?

Some Great Ebooks

Crystal at her site money saving mom is having a great sale check it out! I loved the Supermarket Savings 101. It was a great way to learn about savings. I was surprised at how easy she makes it. I was really able to save after listing to the first few lessons. I also like many of the ebook cookbooks, so did my husband. Who knew you could do so much with so little. Click Here! to find out more!

New Years Resolutions

I am one of those people that always has the big ideas and I get a great start, but I lack the follow through I should have. Now when I really set my mind to something I do it, don't get me wrong. Its just that I have many ideas that I don't get around to. I know that if I set down with a long list of resolutions I will not make it on them. So instead I know there are things in my life God is working on with me. I want to go along with these. God is teaching me to be a better steward of time and money. I have some general areas I am working towards. Spending less around the house, loving my husband and son more and showing it more, and building a quality relationship with my Savior. So instead of resolutions I have prayed and refined these general goals down to 2 actions things that I can right now actually work toward and do. These are the two things I am going to work towards for right now.

1. I will spend time each day with God and seek His face. I do pray to God in my head often, but I have found if I quiet myself he speaks to me. I want to draw on this strength to make me a better wife and mother. The one issue I have is that if you speak to most people they recommend doing this 1st thing in the morning. I would love this but when I have tried in the past to implement this it does not work out for me. What has worked out in the past is doing this right before bed. I am relaxed and do not have a hundred things on my mind. I all ready read the bible each night now I will add some listing and journaling (sp?) time to this. This worked quite well for me in the past till I let comments from others make me feel guilty for doing this in the morning. So I will do what works for me.

2. I am going to do my best in getting the grocery bill down to $65 a week. This should be plenty for our family of three. I know some who do it for a lot less but I am going to start there and see what happens. This would be a big boost for our budget. It may take some time to get to this goal but I think it will be doable for us.
These are the specifics I will work on. I have other goals but these are the ones God is putting on my heart. I can't wait to see what he does.

Savings Now

I am pretty much trying to stay home so I do not have any new saving tips since I am not going out much. We have gone a few places but we are mostly spending time with family and just hanging out at home.
I am reading the book "How to become the woman of his dreams." I have to say this is a great book. What wonderful ideas and outlooks on the way we can be better wives. I am trying to do some of the things I read all ready and I love it and dh seems to as well.
There are many things I like about this book. One is that many men were interviewed for this book. The results are sprinkled through the book. This gives the male perspective in a true way.
Second, she breaks it down into seven different areas. I can handle that. It does not have tons and tons of things to memorize or vague ideas. 7 aspects that will help you become the woman of your man's dreams.
Third, there are many places she gives great lists of tips on implementing these ideas. They are practical and doeable.
The last one for now is the most important it is biblical. It starts with prayer. I love this book and I think that it will help our marriage become even better.
I am excited about this book. I got it from the library but I may have to buy it because I want to mark so many things in it.
Have a blessed New Year
Elizabeth