Harris Teeter triples - my best deal yet!

For those that have a Harris Teeter nearby, they are doing their triple coupon event today through May 4th. They'll triple any coupon up to .99 - the best coupons I have are for .75, so tripled they are worth $2.25. That equals some awesome savings.... check out below:

I got:
3 - VIVA Big Paper Towel Rolls
2 - Mahatma Rice Seasoning
2 - Morton Season-All Season Salt
10 - Ortega Fajita Seasoning
1 - Franks Hot Sauce
1 - Frenchs Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce
2 - Glade air freshener
4 - Phili mini cream cheese
1 - Birds Eye Veggies

Total retail cost of my order was approx. $47. After VIC savings and triple coupons, I paid....... drum roll ........ 85 cents!!!! Mama if you are reading - you should be happy, a lot of this trip was stuff you wanted :-)

Bonus, I got one of those coupon printouts for $1 off my next order. For those that aren't aware, the printouts are called "catalinas" and they are given out at most national grocery chains. So when you consider the $1 catalina, I actually made 15 cents! What a great shopping trip!

I also stopped at Walgreens (which is conveniently located next door to Harris Teeter). I came away with 12 Hallmark greeting cards and 2 containers of shaving cream for $3.24.


Walgreens is a challenge in the beginning, but I am starting to get the hang of it. The key is to build up a stash of Walgreens "Register Rewards" and use them each week for your purchases. I cannot take all of the credit for these savings - I read TONS of blogs and forums to learn about how to save at Walgreens. If you have a Walgreens near you and want to learn more about how I get these super cheap deals, just let me know! :-)

Our trip home April 20 through April 26

Easton and I made a trip to VA last week to visit family & friends. On Wednesday, we took Easton's 3 month photos with my friend Chrystal (who also did my hair earlier that day - she is multi-talented!) :-) Here's a link to see Easton's photos - there are only a few there right now because Chrystal is still working on editing them, so check back soon. He is such a cute little man, don't you think? (I am possibly a bit biased) ....

http://chrystalsimpson.smugmug.com/Other/Easton-Three-Months/11991053_hjpiK#850167468_yQczU

On Thursday, we spent some time with Easton's GAB ("Great Aunt Bettie") .... we had lunch, shopped at the Nestle Company Store and then hung out at Bettie's house. Below are some photos that Bettie captured during our visit:

On Friday, I met my friend Mandy for a late lunch at San Marcos. Mandy & I were both in town visiting family at the same time, and since we both had boys a few weeks apart (she had Chase a few weeks before Easton arrived) we wanted to get them together. They mostly slept in their carriers while we ate and caught up, so no pictures to show of them together yet. But Mandy and her family are heading down my way for a beach trip in August, so we'll definitely get a lot of photos of Easton & Chase together then.

Throughout the week, my Mom & I did TONS of bargain shopping at Food Lion, CVS and Walgreens. As you know, I am really getting into coupons so my Mom and I found some awesome deals. Our best trip was at Walgreens - here are the details:

2 - Cottonelle TP 12 pk
2 - Cottonelle Wipes
1 - Huggies Wipes
5 - Kotex Tampons/Pads
4 - Nature's Bounty Vitamins
1 - ScotchBrite Sponges
1 - Nursing Pads
1 - Print Cartridge Refill

Retail price of these items was approx $108
We paid $4.42!!!!

Needless to say, I came back with a trunk full of purchases! Enough about shopping, let's get back to Easton :-)

Easton hit a milestone during our trip .... he ate rice cereal for the first time! I know some people may think it's a bit early for that since he's 3 months old - but keep in mind, he's a HUGE kid! He was not satisfied with just breast milk and was wanting to eat every 2 hours (which was wearing me down!) so we mixed some rice cereal with breast milk and he loved it! Check him out - he's actually a pretty neat eater for a first-timer!

Easton looks like "Mom, what are you about to give me?" :-)

The first bite!

I think he likes it!

Not too messy, huh?

Easton's Uncle Jake was in town for the weekend and spend a lot of time hanging out with Easton. Here are a couple of pics of them together ....

Easton likes to sit w/ Uncle Jake

Uncle Jake reading Easton a story

Easton is so fortunate to have so many people that love him and want to spend time with him. We look forward to our next trip home! Let's end things with some adorable photos of Easton's second time eating rice cereal - but this time, he's falling asleep while eating! Enjoy :-)

One of my best deals yet! (Harris Teeter)

I am in disbelief over the great deals I got today @ Harris Teeter - check out the pic below:



I purchased the following:

6 Jumbo Huggies retail $10.99 - $5 VIC - $3 coupon = $2.99 each (x6) = $17.94
2 Jumbo Pampers retail $10.99 - $5 VIC - $2 coupon = $3.99 each (x2) = $7.98
Scotch Brite Cooktop starter kit $5.99 - $1 VIC - $1 coupon = $3.99
Scotch Brite Cooktop refills $1.99 - .99 VIC - $1 coupon = FREE!
A1 Marinade retail $3.29 - $2.30 eVIC = 99 cents
Airwick Aqua Mist $3.29 - .79 VIC - $1.50 eVIC - $1 coupon = FREE!

Retail Cost = $118.40
I paid = $30.90!!!! That is a 74% savings!!!

For those that shop at Harris Teeter, have you signed up for their eVIC program? If not, do so ASAP ... they send weekly deals to your email based on your shopping preferences. If you couple a coupon with the eVIC special you can sometimes get the item for free as I did with the air freshener above. What a great day of shopping :-)

Walgreens Savings on 4/16/10

I picked up the items pictured above at Walgreens today, which included 2 V8 Fusions, 4 Campbells Chunky soup, 2 Soft Batch chocolate chip cookies & 1 Spray & Wash.

Retail Cost was approximately $33

I paid $8.65 with tax!

How was this accomplished?

Spray & Wash costs $4.39. There was a Walgreens coupon in the weekly sales flyer that reduced the price to $1.99. Couple that with a $1 off manufacturer's coupon, & final cost was only 99 cents!

Soft Batch Cookies retail for $3.29 per bag, but were on sale this week for 2 for $5. There was also a $2 off 2 Keebler product coupon in the Walgreens ad - this makes the final cost $1.50 per bag!

V8 Fusion is regular $4.49; there was a Walgreens coupon that made them $2.50 each. I also had $1 off manufacturer coupons .... final price, $1.50 each!

Campbells Chunky Soup regular price is $3.29 per can but were on sale 2 for $5. I also had 4 dollar off coupons - final cost was $1 per can!

I also had a few "Register Rewards" which are basically like cash to use on any Walgreens purchase. The key is to couple sale items with coupons - and if you can find a store AND manufacturer coupon, even better!

Easton's had a busy April so far....

Happy Tax Day! (just kidding....) :-) We've had a busy first few weeks in April. Jason left for Communications School on April 5th - his flight flew out of Raleigh, so we decided to spend a few days with my friends Kim & Chris & their daughter Maddy. We went to the park, had lunch @ Firehouse Subs (one of my favs) and Kim introduced me to a consignment store called "Kid to Kid" in Apex. Kim & I also had a chance to just hang out, talk and catch up which was really nice - it's been AGES since we were able to do that!

. Jason tried to pack up Easton and take him to his training :-)

Easton's first trip to the park - there was a lot of pollen, so his little eyes look a bit red!

One of the outfits we got at the consignment store, it's baseball-themed of course :-)

After our visit with Kim, we headed to Danville to see family & friends. Gammy & Pappy greeted Easton with some Easter treats that were in his crib (yes, Gammy has set up Easton his own special place @ her house) :-) We visited tons of people, including Easton's new cousin Koy. Unfortunately, Easton was asleep during the whole visit so we didn't get any pictures - maybe next time!

Easton's Easter surprise from Gammy & Pappy (the candy was for "Easton's Mama") :-)

We headed back to our house on Friday Apr 9th and my Mom & Dad came along with us - Mama had not seen our house since it's been completed/furnished, so she was anxious to check it out and see the beach. They spent the weekend with us and we did some eating out, shopping and a few projects around the house. On Tuesday, uncle Bryce came to visit Easton - Bryce kept Easton while I went to a doctor's appointment and he really loved seeing how sweet and smiley Easton is in the mornings. It's definitely his favorite time of day, and makes getting up early so worth it!

I've started my training to become an online instructor, so that's been keeping me busy as well. If all goes as planned I should begin teaching sometime this summer. I am really hoping it works out because I am enjoying being able to spend so much time with Easton. I am quickly learning that he is growing up SO fast - he'll be 3 months old on Monday!!! - so I want to spend as much time as I can with him.

Here are a few cute videos of Easton - notice that he sneezes in both of them ....recall the pollen I mentioned, I think it is the cause of all of the sneezes. Regardless, it's still cute :-)

Some recent pics of Easton - 2 1/2 months old

Here are a few photos of Easton from the week - he's now 2 1/2 months old!

3/31/10 Trying to dress like Dad by wearing a striped polo shirt :-)

4/1/10 Relaxing on the floor after his 1st time rolling over!

4/2/10 Heading out to run errands in his GREASE shirt - thanks "aunt" Steph!

The deals keep on comin' - this time from CVS!

How much do you think all of these items (plus 4 jugs of Pedialyte, not pictured) would cost if you paid retail price? $80??? $100??? More? How about $117.91 - does that sound accurate? (hint..... it is accurate) :-)

Tonight at CVS I paid $41.64 for all of this, plus the 4 Pedialytes that are not in the photo! Just the diapers and Claritin alone would usually cost about $50 .... I am quickly learning that pairing sale prices with coupons can save HUGE amounts of cash. Also, CVS offers Extra Care Bucks (ECB) for purchases - for example, CVS is running a special this week where if you buy $25 worth of qualifying baby products, you get $10 in ECBs. Here's what I did:

4 Pedialytes (usually $5.99, on sale for $4.99) = $19.96

2 Johnson&Johnson Lotions (usually $4.99, on sale for $.299) = $5.98

Total baby products = $25.94 (qualifies for $10 ECB)

Minus the following coupons:

2 Buy one, get one free Pedialyte = - $11.98

2 $1.50 off Pedialyte = - $3.00

2 $1 off J&J products = -$2.00

Total out of pocket: $8.96

If you subtract the $10 in ECB that I can use like cash to my next purchase, it's a $1.04 money maker!

For anyone with babies/toddlers, here are a few coupons you may like (act fast, some of these expire in mid-April):

$3 off Huggies, any size: http://bricks.coupons.com/Start.asp?bt=vi&tqnm=zcspbeu30728534&o=62585&c=FB&p=pSh2QOBN

$1 off Johnson&Johnson products: http://bricks.coupons.com/Start.asp?bt=vi&tqnm=zavqbib62194249&o=9996&c=JB&p=W4cVv9iE

$1.50 off Pedialyte: http://bricks.coupons.com/Start.asp?tqnm=zc5sfgz39908436&bt=vi&o=62280&pt=&lang=&ws=&ct=&ci=&cl=&cp=&eb=1&c=PL&p=80389&z=&r=&pc=&tc

Buy One, Get One Free Pedialyte: http://bricks.coupons.com/Start.asp?tqnm=zdcadvj2234267&bt=vi&o=61762&pt=&lang=&ws=&ct=&ci=&cl=&cp=&eb=1&c=PL&p=81158&z=&r=&pc=&tc==

Another great deal - it's game time!

I got an awesome deal at Target today that I have to share ... last week the Target website had printable coupons for $3 off various Hasbro games. Hasbro has a website called "Play Saver" where you can print off manufacturer coupons for their games. You can find it here:
http://www.hasbro.com/discover/Play-Saver.cfm

Target is running a special this week on Connect4, Battleship & Bop-It games - the games are discounted to $14, plus you get a free Monopoly card game with purchase. Here's how the deal worked out for me:

Bop-It game (originally $19.99, on sale for $14.00)
Monopoly card game $5.24
Target special, buy Bop-It get Monopoly card game free -$5.24
Target coupon - $3.00
manufacturer coupon for Bop-It - $5.00
manufacturer coupon for Monopoly - $5.00

Total amount paid = $1 plus tax!!! That's two games for a $1, and retail savings of almost $25!!!

The reason this worked out is because Target allows you to use a Target coupon AND a manufacturer's coupon on one item. This, combined with the games' sale price and the "Buy one, get one free" promotion with the cards made it an awesome deal!!!

Easton rolled over - and this is no April Fool's!!! :-)

You may be wondering why I am making a post at 3:30am .... Easton woke up about an hour ago and wanted to eat. I fed him and then he, Jason and I laid on the bed together. We put Easton on his tummy for some "tummy time" which usually gets out any "stuck burps" and also helps him use up and excess energy so he can go back to sleep.

Almost immediately after laying on his stomach, Easton started to lean towards the left. He was somewhat twisted, but definitely making progress towards rolling over. We did several things to encourage him - lay on his left side, squeak toys, make noises, etc. We got his favorite toy, a red bird that hangs on his car seat/carrier, that makes a "tweet" noise. Easton loves to look at the bird and followed his gaze to his left side and then ROLLED OVER! We were so excited and proud, and he seemed quite pleased with himself too. We put him on his stomach again & he instantly rolled over for a second time, without any encouragement from us at all!

We took him to our room (where there is no furniture quite yet - still waiting on the delivery!) and laid him in the floor where he'd have plenty of space to move .... & this time we grabbed the video camera. Easton did not dissappoint - below you can see him roll over for the 3rd time!!!