Easter 2008

What a wonderful Easter.

Did you celebrate our Lord’s resurrection?

Our morning service was wonderful. Husband sang in the choir and it was amazing as usual. After church we went to husband’s parents for a delicious dinner. I made desserts and have way too much left over, so if you want, stop by for a piece of cheesecake, strawberry shortcake, or apple pie.

Both of our sons were with us because yesterday afternoon I could not stand the thought of youngest spending Easter alone in his apartment and going to Easter services alone, so I sent oldest to go pick him up and bring him home. My heart is full because of the meaning of the day, and having my family together.

Tomorrow we dig into our remodeling projects and repairs throughout the house. I took one picture of the bathroom and will post the before and after when it is completed. It might be a while though because I learned yesterday that the shower curtain I ordered is on back order. I will take a picture when it is all finished and decorated.

I have found many bargains since my last post but I am choosing not to post and gloat about each one. Lets just say I have been very successful and am learning the art of CVSing. There are many web sites, which could teach you these tricks much better than I, so I won’t go into all the details.

I will try to keep you updated this week on all the work progress. You might say a prayer that husband, my brother, and I have a peaceful week of what could be quite stressful.

Count Down

Spring break here I come...it is getting very close! Tomorrow is a long day though, parent- teacher conferences all evening and then again Thursday morning, and then I am off! We will be doing pretty intensive remodeling next week, but I will be happy to be off work for a while.
Tonight I have spent the evening doing some much needed organizing of some paperwork, and I am trying to perfect my coupon storage system. I think I am close to having the system I want, and might even post pictures someday soon. I am becoming addicted to this coupon/rebate game and I need to get it under control and in some in some system of organization quickly.
Not much else tonight. I am tired and need to get to bed early. Good night all.

Sunday Savings

I know we are supposed to rest on Sunday, but I think God approves of frugality, so here is hoping I am a little bit pleasing to God. I shopped today.

I decided to use my free $30.00 gift card from CVS and put it to use on today's deals. I still spent some out of pocket, but the total was $123.71 before my gift card, coupons, and B1G1 offers. With all of these I managed to whittle the total down to $37.65. The sweet part is that I received back a total of $ 36.95 in Extra Care Bucks to use on next Sunday's specials. So in reality my out of pocket is as good as ... drum roll please.... just .68 cents for the entire lot!!! I would break down each item and its corresponding deal, but I must try to contain my bragging just a bit, so I will not go into details. If any of you want to know the specifics on any item you see here, I will explain the formula for getting the best price. Thing is, I am still learning. I have just realized the importance of keeping all coupons until their expiration date whether you think they are for an item you really want or not. Sooner or later a deal will come through which would allow you to stack up coupons and offers and get that item that you did not think you wanted for nearly free. I plan on using some of my deals for ministry. I already know of someone that my husband and I plan on putting a gift basket together for. I also realized that by looking at the picture you might think our house must really stink, because there are multiple sprays, and scented thingies for the home. Not to worry, I will share, youngest has an apartment you know...


My Walgreen's deals were not so impressive as far as quantity because I just could not think of any other profitable deals. I did purchase two vitamins and two blushes, each were B1G1 and I had coupons for 3 of the 4 purchases. The original total was about $23.00 and with the combination of deals I spent $7.63, however, I will get an $8.00 rebate on the vitamins so I was money ahead on that one.

That will be all of my shopping until next week when the new flyers come out.. so save your coupons for me, I am working on the title for the heavyweight coupon queen .

Update!!

Tonight I went back to Walgreen's and bought 1, concealer and 1 liquid makeup for a total cost of .08 cents! Let the gloating continue.

More exciting news...

For the last 21 years we have lived without a shower. Just a tub. We did use a hand held shower so that we could spray our hair, but that was the extent of our showering. I know, that is almost as bad as when I was a little girl and had to walk the path to the outhouse. Well, today my very talented brother came to see us and scope out the jobs from my "to do" list that he is helping us with in a few weeks. Thanks to our youngest son, we have come up with a way for this brother to assist us in installing a real, authentic shower in our small bathroom! I am so excited. In just about 2 weeks we will have a shower! He is also helping us with a long list of needed home repairs that are necessary whether we sell or stay. I have watched HGTV enough to know the things that help a house to sell and a shower is pretty high on that list, not to mention all the other jobs. It will be a busy and tiring spring break, but we will be very pleased when it is all done! Now I need to pick out the wall color and a cute shower curtain, rugs, towels, and decorative items...the list goes on. This will be where very talented sister will have to come into the picture to help me. Gee, if you blend all the talents of my family (bargain hunter me, decorator sister, carpenter brother, and the rest of us,) we could open a pretty neat business. Cheap-O-Decorating and Home Repair R US .

I will soon take before pictures of our bathroom, so that I can post them along with after shots. I am so excited!

Pardon me while I boast, gloat, brag, and just down right show off!

I love bargains!

I love it even more that I am getting better and better at obtaining them. I just returned from a very successful shopping trip. Who cares if gas is $3.50 a gallon, I just made up for it in one trip!
You may need at least a master’s degree to keep up with me here, but this has to be my shining moment of shopping-hood.
Walgreen’s: 1st Bargain-- This week Jane Cosmetics are on sale B1G1 free, they also accept the $2.00 off coupons which were found on the internet on each item. This allowed me to purchase $9.48 worth of cosmetics for 99 cents.
2nd Bargain-- Oust was on sale for 2/$5.00 with a rebate on each can for $1.00. It gets better…one can had a $1.00 off coupon, plus I had a B1G1 free coupon (again, from the internet). Walgreen’s lets you use both coupons, so after my coupons and the coming rebate, they will pay me 50 cents to purchase 2 cans of OUST! (I have two boys, we use a lot of OUST)

My next adventure was at CVS-- I again had some nifty internet coupons, one was for a $30.00 gift card when you transfer a prescription. My prescription needed filled anyway and it cost me my usual $25.00. However, they gave me a $30.00 gift card. So, I came out $5.00 ahead on that one. Then on to general merchandise… I had a $5.00 off a $15.00 dollar purchase coupon (internet) and I had a $10.00 off coupon from my Extra Care Card. I also had just received a print out coupon for a free toothbrush from my pharmacy transaction. I then purchased a Garnier shampoo and conditioner, 2 cans of macadamia nuts on clearance, a can of mixed nuts also on clearance, a box of Oreo Cakesters, (clearance) a bag of my favorite candy, my free toothbrush, and something personal. These items cost me a grand total of $1.51! Cool thing is, I also received $4.00 back in Extra Care Bucks due to purchasing the shampoo and conditioner. I would have come out even better if I had any manufacturer’s coupons, but I missed the boat on that one. So I would say this was a very profitable shopping trip!

One might call me a bargain nerd, but if so, I will wear that title proudly. It gives me a type of “high” to successfully nab these bargains and there are worse things to get high on!

I need to send kudos to Queen Mother for linking me to a new site that helps you to find these bargains, although I was already “on to” some of them.
Go to: http://www.moneysavingmom.com/ and check them out.

Okay, gloating over. Have a cheap day!

Cheesecake update

Sorry ya'll...the cheesecake evidently went alright with pizza. There are just 3 pieces left out of 24 when. Let's have a virtual cheesecake party. I will take a bite, and you can imagine how it tastes. Ready......

Count the word "cheesecake"

It is late as I type this, really late when you factor in “spring ahead” into the equation. I am trying to pass some time while cheesecakes are baking and cooling. Tomorrow night we are having our small group Bible study at our house and I got the bright idea to make cheesecakes. That was before I decided to spend all evening shopping out of town with my friend. Not to worry, it will all work out and I will just have some late quiet time while I wait. I am new to the wonderful world of cheesecake. Those of you, who know me, know I love to bake. However, I had not attempted cheesecake until a couple of months ago, and then only after my sister came up to give me a lesson. We are talking REAL cheesecake here. Not that no-bake variety. This is the authentic New York style cream cheesecake. Four packages of cream cheese, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and heavy cream mixed together into a creamy, yummy smooth cheesecake. This is an excellent recipe, straight from Junior’s in Brooklyn. My sister has been making this delicious dessert for a long time, but I was always a bit intimidated by the process. She taught me well, and now I feel it is “a piece of cake”. Pun intended. The very odd thing is, and please do not gag at this…is that I am also making the main course for our small group (we like to eat). We are having homemade pizza before cheesecake. I know, that sounds really strange, but if you think of it as an Italian meal followed by a small sliver of cheesecake it does not sound so bad. I may have a lot left over if it does not go well, so come on over if you want some.