The Drugstore Game

Welcome! If you are here from the Ultimate Blog Party, you can find my party post here!


I haven't posted about drugstore deals in a long time, but here's my haul for this week!

First stop, CVS:

I ended up with two boxes of Crispix cereal, two bottles of Crest Pro Health mouth rinse, two Oral-B tooth brushes (for my Operation Christmas Child stash), a bottle of Complete contact solution, a bottle of got2b flat iron spray, two packages of GUM flossers, a Physician's Formula mascara (on raincheck from last week), six bags of Robin Eggs candy, and two bags of M&Ms. I was pretty excited about all of this - the mouth rinse and flossers are for my kids (they actually USE them!!!), the cereal is for making puppy chow and also for this rebate, and I will be seeing if our pastor's wife wants some of the candy.

After all my coupons and ECBs, I spent a total of $7.95 for $86.28 worth of merchandise! And, I still have $5 of ECB left! On a sad note, I have discovered that there are NO CVS stores in our future hometown! The nearest one is an hour away, in the town my parents live in, ironically! So, I guess I will only be doing CVS deals when I happen to go down there for a visit, probably about once a month. This pains me, because I STRONGLY prefer CVS over Walgreens!

Speaking of Walgreens...:

I got two boxes of Rice Krispies (also for the cereal rebate above), a package of shredded cheese, a bottle of bbq sauce, two bottles of Coke (yes, one is missing), three bottles of Purex laundry soap, three tubes of Luster tooth paste, two packages of Always pads, two tubes of Colgate tooth paste, two packages of Olay bar soap, two bags of Brach's jelly beans, two Wonka chocolate bars, four pads of stickers (not pictured), and three bags of Planters almonds. The cheese and bbq sauce was for dinner. The Colgate and Olay are also going in my Operation Christmas Child stash, and the stickers were for a friend. I got the Cokes and Planters nuts because of a coupon I actually picked up at CVS, but used at Walgreens because the nuts were on sale, and since it was a manufacturer's coupon, I didn't have to use it at CVS. I think I can say that with the candy I've picked up in the past few weeks, along with what I got this week, that my kids will have PLENTY of candy on Easter!

I didn't do as well at Walgreens, as far as what I spent. But, then, I rarely feel like I do as well at Walgreens. My total, after coupons and RRs, was $26.83 for $94.53 worth of goodies. I didn't end up with any RRs left over.

Do you play the "drugstore game"? I get all my deals from two places: Hip2Save (she has a great customizable, printable list), and MoneySavingMom. These two gals save me a LOT of time! You can go there to check out this week's deals. I hope I inspired you to save some money!

Simply... Go-Gurt Review and Giveaway

THE REVIEW:
As a member of MyBlogSpark, I was recently given the opportunity to try new Simply... Go-Gurt from Yoplait. It comes in a convenient tube, like their regular Go-Gurt, however, it does not contain any high-fructose corn syrup or artificial colors or flavors. It comes in strawberry or mixed berry. Wonder Boy and Super Girl devoured them without a second thought, just like I knew they would.

I have to be honest and say that I had already bought Simply... Go-Gurt while at my parents' house. The kids love to have yogurt tubes as a frozen treat, especially when the weather is warm. I just pop the whole box in the freezer. I like that the kids like them, because they are at least getting a little calcium from them. However, I don't like the sugar and all the artificial stuff that's also in them. In the future, I would pay a little extra for the Simply... Go-Gurt tubes, rather than the ones I buy at Aldi. Hopefully I'd be able to find coupons to make up the difference! I also hope they come out with a couple more flavors (hint, hint!).

THE GIVEAWAY:
The first 30 readers who click on the Simply... Go-Gurt widget to the right will be able to print a coupon for their own FREE box! If you're not one of the first 30, you can still print a coupon for $1.10 off. Also...

How would you like to win a "Simplify Your Life" prize pack from MyBlogSpark and Yoplait? It contains a coupon for a free box of Simply... Go-Gurt, a cute mini Etch-a-Sketch, a pretty weekly planner portfolio filled with different note pads, and a seat-back organizer for your vehicle. I have one prize pack to give to a reader of this blog!

In order to enter this giveaway, you need to be a follower through Google Friend or subscribe through a blog reader. Make sure you post a comment letting me know! This is required before earning extra entries.

You may have up to 4 extra entries for doing any of these things (one entry per item):
* Post your child's (or your) favorite healthy snack.
* Post about this giveaway on your blog.
* Tweet about this giveaway.
* Comment about this giveaway on Facebook.

Please make sure to post a separate comment for each entry. The winner will be chosen at random, and the entry period ends at 6 pm CST on Friday, May 7th, 2010. Winner to be announced Saturday, May 8th. Open to US addresses only.

Disclaimer: I received my own "Simplify Your Life" prize pack from Yoplait and MyBlogSpark in return for trying new Simply... Go-Gurt. The giveaway prize pack is also being furnished by Yoplait and MyBlogSpark. Nutritional information is from Yoplait. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. Whew!

Here For The Party!

Have you heard of the Ultimate Blog Party? I've checked it out in the past, but quickly got sidetracked, overwhelmed, what-have-you. Since I am trying to grow my readership and be more productive on my blog, I thought I would really give it a go this year! Woo hoo - a party without the mess!

For those of you checking in via the UBP, welcome! I am Jen. I am a 32 year old wife and mother of 3. There may or may not be more children in the future. I have been homeschooling my children for almost 4 years now. I am interested in all things to do with the home, the more natural the better. I am learning to sew, I like to garden and can, baking and cooking are fun, and I really don't mind cleaning, especially if I can use natural products. My baby usually wears home-made cloth diapers, and I am nursing for the first time. I try to be a good steward of what I have been blessed with by re-using things, and I love buying second-hand. I enjoy the thrill of couponing and walking out of the store having spent very little while getting a lot!

Most importantly, I believe God. I don't just believe IN Him. I believe the promises He's given us in His word, and I am striving to trust in Him more every day. Some days are easy. I love being home with my family. Others are harder. My husband has been unemployed since February 1st. However, I know that in all situations, my Savior loves me, has the best plan for me, and will provide all I need and more. I think patience is the hardest part of the equation!

So, thanks for stopping by, and please let me know you were here! I hope you'll come back soon!

A Handful of Blogs

I have waaaaaay too many blogs on my Google Reader. Especially since I haven't been using the thing for a while! However, I wanted to share a few that I really enjoy.

1. Pioneer Woman. Ree rocks! I want to be her when I grow up, just a little bit. Her posts are always entertaining, and often educational. She covers a variety of subjects - homeschooling, photography, cooking, life on a ranch in general.

2. Hip2Save. Collin is a young, enthusiastic mother of 3 and military wife. She really enjoys the thrill of saving, and always has something awesome to share! She has links to freebies, sales, coupons, etc., and posts weekly coupon/sales match-ups for CVS, Walgreens, and Rite-Aid. Thanks to her blog, I've gotten hundreds of dollars worth of products for free over the past year.

3. Money Saving Mom. Crystal's blog has some things in common with Hip2Save, but she also has posts showing how to cook from your pantry and from scratch. She is a Christian, and I enjoy that she seems to be more about helping her family save money and stretching their budget, rather than focusing on what she can get for free or little money. She is sort of a combination of Pioneer Woman and Hip2Save, with posts about freebies and such, but also about cooking and homeschooling preschoolers.

4. Wardrobe Refashion. This is a blog written by a group of people who have pledged to not buy any new clothing for a certain amount of time, but rather to remake (refashion) second-hand clothing and other pieces of fabric into new clothing for themselves. One member was making a silk wedding dress out of curtains she found at a thrift store! I find this blog very inspirational, and hope to take the pledge in the future.

5. Cake Wrecks. This is solely a guilty pleasure! Jen's readers submit photos of "professionally" decorated cakes-gone-wrong, to which she adds humorous captions. I have often laughed until I cried at some of these creations! Others just leave me wondering, "What on Earth were they thinking?!?!?" This blog is always good for a pick-me-up!

Mail Call!

Yesterday was a pretty good mail day, I think! In addition to couponing, I have been submitting a lot of requests for free samples. They definitely come in handy when traveling. They also often include COUPONS which may not be found elsewhere. Yesterday, all the mail was for ME!, except a piece of junk mail for Mr. Man. Here's what I got:

• Samples of new Aveeno Nourish shampoo and conditioner from CVS (included a $1 coupon)
• Samples of Aveeno Nourish shampoo and conditioner from Walmart (also included a $1 coupon)
• A packet of tomato seeds and a $1 off 5 coupon from Campbells
  
• Another $15 off $50 coupon from Office Max
• My MaxPerks card from Office Max (finally!)
• Summer Savings coupon book from ConAgra foods (over $10 in coupons and one for a free bottle of ketchup)
• A Green Tea Tropical tea bag and $.75 coupon from Mighty Leaf Tea

A few other things I've received in the past few weeks have been: a coupon for a free One Touch Ultra Mini glucose meter, a blackberry sage tea bag from Republic of Tea, Playtex Sport tampons, Kotex overnight pads, Gain laundry soap, Quaker Quakes cheddar rice cakes, Nivea Touch of Happiness body wash, Dove Go Fresh deodorant, John Freida Root Awakenings shampoo and conditioner, Better Than Ears dog treats, and the Huggies Pure and Natural diapers I mentioned before. All but a few of those things included coupons with the sample. Maybe it's a bit sad to admit, but signing up for these goodies has made checking the mail fun again!

Free Huggies Pure & Natural diapers

Huggies has a new diaper line out - Pure & Natural. They are made with organic cotton. You can get two separate free samples here and here. There are 3 diapers in each sample, in addition to a free plastic zip lock storage bag (good for stashing in a diaper bag) and a $3/1 coupon. You can select from 3 sizes: Newborn, 1, or 2. If you want to do more natural disposable diapers for your baby, but can't afford the more expensive ones, this may be a good alternative for you.

There is also a $3/1 coupon for these diapers that you can print out here.


(Thanks, MoneySavingMom and Hip2Save!)