Memorial Day

Yesterday for Memorial Day we decided to go to Dan Nichols Park for the day. It is a great park, with many activities. So we packed a picnic lunch and headed towards the park. But as we got closer to the interstate we noticed the traffic. It was awful. I don't know if everyone was making a day of it or it were the race fans making their way home. Regardless, we decided not to join the mob. John decided he knew a back way... well you can guess where this is going... yes, we got lost. Well not so much lost as just way off track. Somehow we ended up at a State Park, Morrow Mtn. State Park, just outside of Albemarle, NC. We thought, what the heck, maybe it is just where we are meant to be. So we unloaded and found a place to eat. It was a beautiful park. Gorgeous day on the mountain. After lunch we decided to take a hike on one of the trails. It was quite steep and slippery, lots of rock. I wasn't exactly prepared for hiking, wearing my flip flops, and more than one occasion thought I might slip down the mountain. But it was fun. John, being the crazy Daddy he is, made everyone laugh by pretending we were indians hiking through (they were the original settlers on the mountain). There weren't as many things to do at this park as the other one, but we still had fun, just hanging out together.
Afterwards, one the way home we stopped off for some icecream!!! Yum.
It was a good day.

My Trips Today...

I have been holding off on my bargain trips, because I wanted to do them all in one go (gotta' save gas $$). And here's the run down...

First stop Target: Spent $19.68 before coupons and $4.13 after. I bought 4 bags of Cheetos (the big bags that hold 6 singles), 3 zone bars, 3 small bags of Archer Brand coffee, and Kraft Miracle Whip. I paid with rebate $$ that I cashed earlier so I paid nothing oop.

Second stop Walgreens: Quick stop to return a razor, received $10.66 back.

Third stop CVS: Bought (1)Tums Quick Pack 24ct, (4) Sobe Life waters, and (1)Almay mascara. Before coupons, my total was $23.83. After using my coupons and ecb's ($2.79 + $5.00) my total was $.20, which I paid with a gift card that I received from my friends. So again, nothing oop and I received $11.69 in ecb's, plus I will be sending off for a rebate on the Tum's for $4.69, so I will have come out ahead by $8.59.

Last stop Walmart: This one was a bit disappointing. I was really hoping to get a lot of great deals, but this particular store (not my favorite) had none of the items I wanted! So...
1st transaction: (8) Zyrtec 5ct. Before coupons $43.84, after $14.80, which I paid with my insurance card. 2nd transaction: (1) bottle of Juicy Juice, (1) bag of salad mix, (1) bag of pizza rolls (easy dinner, soccer tonight), (1) Rimmel nailpolish (my bribe for Reagan's patience), and (8) packs of post-it notes (its a money maker). Before total=$18.53, after=$4.53. Hey, $4.53 for dinner for 4 isn't bad at all! Paid with the $10.00 I received back from the razor.

Triple Coupons...Again!

Okay, don't laugh, but I am tired. Couponing is so much fun, but it can truly wear you out!! I think I am going to take a week off. This week Harris Teeter was tripling their coupons, so I had to work those deals. And though I didn't do as well as I had hoped, I still did pretty good. In the end after three trips (One for Mom), I bought $261.73 worth of groceries and paid 86.63. I might try and go back once more for the free stuff. But I dunno.
Anyways, I was pleased with my over-all savings this week. Got a lot of goodies in the mail, too. I usually get something everyday now, some type of sample of coupon. And I recently got my emergency car kit, that I ordered through iMommies.com, which was completely free. Check out IMOMMIES.COM for some great moneysaving bargains. I have been able to receive an IPod Shuffle, speakers for my IPod, and the Emergency Tool kit absolutely free thanks to her.

Cinco de Mayo

Monday was Bailey's 9th birthday. It was also Zoo Fieldtrip Day for Peyton's class. So we decided to combine the two and let Bailey skip school and join the fieldtrip. Our entire family was able to go to the zoo for free!! Whoopeee! It was an absolute gorgeous day, perfect weather for the zoo. It was a lot fun, but we were all worn out by the end. Afterwards we went out to dinner to a Mexican Restaurant to celebrate Cinco de Mayo!! So we asked the staff to sing "Happy Birthday", so they brought a huge sombrero along with dessert. After singing they pushed the dessert into her face, she thought it was hilarious! Then, of course we came home to open presents. Lots of fun. The best part is Daddy's gifts. Every year John puts together a special basket of goodies. It is full of kinds of goodies and the girls love it. Very neat, I think. They will remember it forever. All in all it was a great day.

But I just can't believe my little Bailey girl is now 9!! We have truly hit the 'tween' stage. It is amazing how it just kind of kicks in. It is a challenge, and I am really curious how the teen years are going to be. Three girls in the teens together?? God help us.

My quick trips...

I had decided that I wasn't going to make any CVS runs this week, but after reading about a few really good ones I decided to make a quick trip. So today I ran out quickly while the girls were at a friend's house this afternoon. First off, Walgreens. Now, I am fairly new to the whole Walgreens Register Rewards so I was a little wary. But it worked great!! I bought $60.17 worth of stuff (various make-up and razors), paid $3.95 oop and received $20 RR (register rewards) to use towards my next purchase. I am going to try this deal again and buy some necessary cleaning and paper products. Hoping to be able to use my RR to pay and receive more in the end. Will see.

Next I had to hit CVS. Bought $20.80 worth of stuff and paid $.34 oop (out of pocket) and received $14 ECB's. I did have to use $11 of my ECB's but still, in the end, came out ahead by $3.00.

CVS...

This morning my neighbor and I hit CVS first thing to grab the May ECB deals before they are gone (yes, they really do go that quickly). I won't bore you with the details, but before coupons my grand total was $153.00, after it was $2.00. I received $28 ECBs (CVS cash) to use in the future, plus I have two rebates from this purchase to mail off which will give me $18.00. So, I will have made $44.00. WooHoo! Now, what am I going to do with my two boxes of Just For Men Touch of Gray?