Couponing Thrill sure can make a rough day better!

I haven't been to Walgreens much since they dropped the Easy Saver Rebate program.
It doesn't help that the Walgreens that works into my regular route, the people are really grouchy and dislike coupons. I just dread going in there. I do try my best to smile and be cheerful, but it is a real downer and decreases the thrill of a deal when you have to work with people who are not pleased to see the stack of coupons.

But in spite of all that I did dare to venture to Walgreens. I needed a prescription 2 days ago and well, it was time to just get it done. I didn't take a picture. I would have had chaos on my hand. My kiddos would have seen all the goodies and begged, pleaded and bugged me for the next couple of days for the treats I bought. But I will do a quick a run down.

I spent out of pocket $94.57! I stocked up on a bunch of allergy medicine and pain reliever, which means I get reimbursed by flexible spending account. That total is $64.92. So in all I spent $30.65.
First I picked up my waiting prescription (more on that later) and the Walgreens coloring book. Lots of good children's products coupons in there. Best part you don't have to surrender these coupons when making the purchase. They are Walgreen's coupons so you can hold onto them till they expire. You can pair them up with manufacturer coupons and sales for some pretty awesome deals. (Right now that includes the children's Listerine rinses and Benadryl).

Like I said I stocked up on allergy medicine.
I have to keep Benadryl on hand in multiple places for my food allergic child.
My daughter will be switching to Zyrtec later when she finishes up the other stuff she has. So that will make two of us taking Zyrtec. Gotta stock up when there are deals. This time around I got $7 Register Rewards for each purchase. Woohoo! Plus I had a Manufacturer Coupon for $4 off. I like to go to this website to look for medicine coupons. There I found $2 off of Zyrtec as well.
I also stocked up on the Tylenol buy one get one free. Paired up with coupons, a good deal there.
I also did the kids Listerine deal. I had a buy one get one free Q plus after the fact I got RR as well.
Dental floss was on sale and if you used the in-ad coupon to make it 99 cents and paired that up with Manufacturer coupon even better. Buy 3 and you get a Register Reward as well.
I gobbled up some of the Rimmel makeup with my coupons from All You magazine. I am finding makeup, nail polish and the like make really good "tween"/early teenager gifts. With Fun Mom being 13 as well as her friends, they are all experimenting with makeup goodies. So when I get them for free or almost free, I get really excited.
I stocked up on the scotch tape deal. Christmas is just around the corner. My kids like to wrap presents and tape is used up real quick. So this was a great time to stock up.
I also snagged a bunch of the scotch envelopes. They are great for various mailings, but I also use them sometimes for stuff I sale on ebay, so this helps keep my shipping costs down.
I also am trying to make good of the Goody Ouchless hair products. These are great for Operation Christmas Child, Christmas stockings and birthday gift fillers. Also helps to replace what my hubby vaccuums up, as he won't pick them up when the girls (rolling my eyes) "unknowningly" drop them on the floor.
I also snagged a bunch of Orbit gum and misc. candy that was clearanced. About now I start thinking ahead to Christmas stockings. Cause the kids behaved while I was gone and showered as well, I grabbed some sweets for my sweets to say thank you. All bought with register rewards. I also picked up a few goodies for Fun Mom's friends, who have birthdays lined up between now and eternity.
So that is what I got for $30.65 after all the coupons and register rewards I spent and my flexible spending account.
What I also didn't mention is I bounce my prescriptions around to whoever is offering the best deal if you transfer your scipt. So I did that this week with Walgreens and they gave me a $25 check to spend in the store. So if I add that into my savings that total is $173.72.
Best part is I still have $11.00 in Register Rewards to spend!!

Ah the thrill. Sure turns a bumpy evening into a little happier place of mind. The day went well, but on Thursdays it seems I have two that must fall apart for 2 hours in the evening. It drives my NUTS! At the end of the two hours they are fine.

Laundry Soap Directions

Hmmm, maybe someone will want to know how.
So here are my dear friend's laundry soap directions !

*1/2 bar of Fels Naptha soap (or 1 whole bar of Ivory soap)
*1 cup Borax
*1 cup Washing Soda
*1 TBS. GlycerinGrate the soap.

Heat on stove in 8 cups of water until melted. Simmer a few minutes to make sure the soap is thoroughly melted. Stir in remaining ingredients until all are dissolved. Add enough cold water to make 2 gallons. (I use a 3 gallon bucket to add the hot and cold mixture and then use a funnel to pour final product into a 2 gallon laundry jug).You will need to shake the jug before each use.

Laundry and more Laundry and Laundry Soap !!

On my summer to-do list, attempt to make my own laundry soap.

Dear friend of mine has been doing so for months.
I wouldn't dare take it on during the school year. Afraid of what I might get myself into it.
It was a PIECE OF CAKE !!
A few bumps and spills along the way, but so easy.
A late night trip to Wal-mart to get supplies, and a desperate phone call to friend..did I mention LATE... But she was sweet and told me where everything was and described the boxes.

Not about to attempt this with all the children around, I tucked them into bed.
Dear husband is not too keen on me doing this.
He was willing to let me try it out as an experiment though.
He thinks I have enough to do. Which I do, but as I discovered this evening. I was able to putz around in the kitchen cleaning. Measure out stuff, talk to daughter all while the pot did its thing on the stove. Doesn't need a whole lot of babysitting. My kind of project.

So I spent roughly $10-12 on supplies. I don't know for sure, cause I picked up a TON of fruit for the family. I can't just buy 7 peaches or 7 apples. That is only one for each of us and then I would be back at the store. Sooo, I have to guesstimate.

I have been saving my detergent bottles since I decided I would try this. I filled up what would have been about 2 months of laundry bottles. I calculated what I spent for each bottle of detergent at the store and that was $25. I am already ahead of the game here. I have enough supplies for 2 more batches. I will only have to buy more Ivory soap ($1/3bars at Wal-mart) to continue making more soap with the remaining ingredients. Oh the savings.

The Fun Mom did some math in her head and was like WOW !! at the savings. She also got excited about the recycling part. That made me want to chuckle. She told me, "you're saving on oil too, cause you are reusing the bottles." What a smart, eco-cookie she is. I am just glad she didn't start calculating how I could spend the savings on more clothes for her, for me to wash.

It didn't take more than half an hour. Clean up took half an hour. That's cause I didn't pay close enough to the instructions. It says STIR in the remaining ingredients. Umm, I dumped.
It foamed. Foamed some more, and I just stood there and watched like a dummy.
Fun Mom was quick to say, "The stove's never been cleaner." She is such a comedian.

She got to clean the pots. Why me? Cause there is dirty dishes in the sink and you can use the soap on the pots to wash them. Hee hee, one more eco-friendly aspect of our adventure. The other reason, cause I had more laundry to do. Have I mentioned, I do a lot of laundry. Flutter Nutter and Daddy's Buddy change clothes 2-3 or more times a day. I find clothes everywhere.
At least 15 loads a week, that doesn't include bed linens. So I am looking forward to the savings on detergent.

Earlier in the year, after my stash of liquid fabric softner ran out, I began using a tip from my sister in law. I use Vinegar now as fabric softner. Works pretty well. A lot cheaper as well. Clothes don't smell like vinegar. Just fresh and clean. I do occassionally need to use a dryer sheet, but not at all like I used to.
Off I go to get another load out of the dryer!!

The Grocery Challenge!!

So dear sweet Dara over at Dara's Deals has asked me join her in her challenge.
Why she couldn't wait a month I don't know... Here are my reasons why this is going to be soo hard.

*Cause my a/c went out and who wants to cook (Please don't remind me the temps dipped and it has been fabulously cool~ These are my excuses...oops I mean reasons..)

*Dear husband had a birthday and well he should get to eat what he wants

*We are going on a trip

*And drumroll here.....I have already spent money!

So we haggled on this deal. At first I was to spend no more than $200. Well, that might be a stretch for my hungry brood. Though I am stocked. We have agreed anything less than the $600-700 we spend is Fabulous. So I will shoot for $200 but be happy with any success. We comprised and also included a food budget of $100 for our trip. A short little sanity breath of fresh air kind of trip. Blink and you won't know we were gone.

So here's for accountability. Dear husband is humoring me, he hasn't said he is on board yet he hasn't said he isn't.

Since it was delightfully cool today. I baked 2 pumpkin pies, 1 birthday cake, 1 batch of happy tummy cupcakes, half a batch of cookies (there's more to cook tomorrow). I skipped the cranberry bread. Maybe tomorrow. Cupcakes are in freezer for when D needs some cake. He ate 2 1/2 without asking. He got another 1 plus the other 1/2 when we cut the birthday cake. So there's for eating out of the cupboards!