Money Saving Tips

I never really shopped at drug stores (i.e. CVS, Walgreens) until I had to get something on my way to work a couple years ago and there was no stores between my home and work besides CVS.   So I ventured in and to get the good price on the item I wanted I had to get their ExtraCare card.  It is pretty much like a Kroger Plus card, but on steroids. It tracks your purchases and you get 2% back in the form of ExtraBucks every quarter.  ExtraBucks are basically a coupon for anything in the store.  And every week they have special deals where if you spend so much on a product (or group of products) you get X amount of ExtraBucks to use on your next purchase (you can even use them that day).  This is where you can get great deals (a while ago I got a normal size container of laundry detergent for $.90!)  


I will tell you about a couple of my recent trips to help you maximize your money when shopping here.  I'm using CVS because it is very close to my home, but I know Walgreens has a similar program-Register Rewards-but without the (free) ExtraCare card, if that is closer for you.  To get the best deals, it's good to visit the store weekly, or at least 2-3 times a month if you can.  If you stop going, you stop getting the Extra Bucks.  :)


Purchase 1:


ExtraBucks (or EB) Offer: Purchase $20 in Excedrin products, get $10 EB (you want to look for the offers that have 50% or more in EB.  So the offers for spend $20, get $5 EB are good, but spend $20 get $10 EB are best).


So I paid $21.49 for 3 bottles of Excedrin (and I used my HSA, score!)  There was several types and I figured out how to get the closest to $20 (before tax my total was $20.27, I think I did a good job!)  Usually there is a group of products to choose from so make sure to take a calculator so you can figure out the best combination.  I left that day with enough Excedrin to last me a couple years and $10 EB.


Purchase 2:
I don't remember the exact details, but I got $7 EB and a coupon for $5 off a purchase of $25 or more (*when you have these coupons, get your total to just over $25 and use that coupon first*).  I used my $10 EB (from the Excedrin purchase) to get Physician's Formula mineral powder make up, CoverGirl eyeshadow and 2 candles, all for $10.  It would have cost about $30-35 normally):


Purchase 3 :


I was excited about this weeks deals!  Here's what I bought:  

-Coke products on sale for 3/$11 and if you bought three 12-packs you got $2 EB
-Buy one CoverGirl Makeup item (I got face powder) for $7.99 get $2 EB (normally costs $6.50 @ Target)
-Buy 2 Biore face items, get $5 EB (I got the nose strips & face wash that had a $1 off coupon on it-*look for items that have a coupon on the package, this maximizes your savings!)
I also bought Brett's type of deodorant (on sale for less than Wal-Mart had it), adorable folders on clearance ($.69 a piece and I haven't decided on a use yet, maybe some creative filing/organizing system), and the album to organize my coupons. 
I paid $35.52 for items that would have cost me $60-65.  Whoo hoo!


Purchase 4:


I'm pretty proud of this purchase!  I'm getting better as I do this more. :)

The deals weren't that great this week but I really needed some new chap stick and my hands are becoming severely dry. So I went in with my $5 off purchase of $25 coupon, $12 EB and a coupon I was emailed for $2 off a $10 purchase to see what I could find.
The only EB reward I got was:
-Buy one Pantene, Herbal Essence, Head & Shoulders or Aussie item, get $2 EB.  But I had coupon for $2 off 2 Pantene items so I bought 2 (unfortunately you can only get one reward per card so I only got $2 EB for this).
Then I found the Curel Hand and Cuticle lotion that had a $1 off coupon attached.  Perfect!  And I got my chapstick, 2 kinds to last me a while (I'm interested to see how I like the ChapStick Ultra Shimmer). 
With all my coupons, I paid $8.06 for my items that would have cost me over $30!  Yay!  And I got $2 EB,  a $5 off purchase of $25 coupon, a $2 off $6 bar soap/body wash purchase and $4 off Dr. Scholl's for Her.  


These ExtraBucks deals are a great way to stock up on items for less.  


And at the bottom of my receipt of my last purchase it says my YTD savings is $100.69!!  And I could probably count on both hands the times I've been to CVS this year. I'd say that's a good percent saved per trip! 


Saving money and good deals make my bargain shopper soul happy, I'd love to hear about your good deals & tips!

Organization Ideas

I'm usually a very organized person that doesn't like clutter.  But it can be hard to do at home sometimes, especially in a small space!  So I thought I'd share some ideas that I use to get & stay organized.  Some are my own ideas, some are borrowed from wonderful ladies.  


1.  Coupons


There are numerous ways to organize coupons.  Some work pretty well for some people, but I've never had much luck with them.  I even remember my mom's coupon holder, and dropping it in Kroger and coupons going EVERYWHERE.  (Clumsy me!)  I bought an index card sized expandable plastic file, but it was too big for my purse.  I had a smaller plastic envelope, but I dreaded flipping through every single coupon.  Neither lasted for very long. Lately I stopped using them because I would cut them out and either stuff them in my purse or leave them on the kitchen counter and forget about them until after they expire.  Recently I came across a GREAT idea on my friends blog. She uses one of those flimsy picture albums and puts the coupons in there!  Genius!  They're nicely organized and you can see them with out having to pull them out!  

I got my album at CVS for $2 (actually free with Extra Bucks I had from a previous purchase) and it has 24 picture slots.  Mine is full so I would recommend the 24 or 48 picture albums (but with the 48, it's thicker).  Target or Walmart would probably have a good selection to choose from.  


2.  Recipes 
(especially ones printed off the internet & cut out of magazines)


I had quite a bit of recipes printed from the internet and just stacked on top of my fridge.  I also had a stack of Everyday Food and Martha Stewart Living magazines because there were recipes in them I wanted.  So I had recipes all over the place that I forgot were there and didn't use them....until my friend Lindsey gave me a great idea!  She bought a binder and put the recipes in  page protector sheets and organized them in the binder.  Another genius idea!  So I made a trip to the wonderful Target & picked out some supplies.  Here's what I got:
-1 2 inch binder (preferably a sturdy one you can wipe clean if you need to)
-100 page protector sheets
-Avery Note Tabs (actually from Staples)
-Paper Cutter (you can use scissors but I can't cut a straight line to save my life so it was well worth the $15 at Staples)
-Double sided tape
-White computer paper


1.  First I sorted the recipes I had into categories.  Here are my categories:

• Appetizers/Lunches
• Side Dishes
• Beef
• Chicken/Poultry
• Fish/Seafood
• Desserts
• Breakfast
• Pasta/Pizza

2.  If the recipes were on full sheets of paper I placed those in the sleeve.  If they were torn out of a magazine I trimmed off the excess/rough edges with my paper trimmer and adhered them to computer paper with the double sided tape.  This way you can get multiple recipes on one page, and still have room to write comments if you need to!  The tricky part came when pages from the magazines had recipes I wanted on both sides!  I either stuck them in a sleeve by them self or adhered one edge of the cutout to a piece of paper and positioned it so that it  could be flipped to either side.

3. After I had all the recipes in the sleeves (which did take a while, but its a good TV activity) I used the Avery Note Tabs (they're sticky) to separate & label the categories.  I don't recommend using binder dividers, they're not as wide as the sheet protectors are so they get hidden.

Hope you like this as much as I do!


3.  Craft Supplies


If you do any crafting, then you know that you have a lot of supplies and need somewhere to store them.  And if you're anything like me you don't like using those plastic see through containers because they aren't "cute".  


During wedding planning and crafting, I began to buy photo boxes from Hobby Lobby and storing my craft supplies in there.  The great things about them:

• They're portable - It was so easy to take the wedding project over to my parents or in-laws and get some help!
• You can label them
• They're a great size
• They're cheap ($3.99, sometimes on sale for 2/$5)
• They stack nicely
• They come in different colors & patterns, cute ones! :)

This is a great organization idea if you are like me and limited on space and don't want to spend hundreds of dollars for real furniture but want those craft supplies contained and organized.


I currently have mine stacked on two 'Craft Organization' units from Michael's (purchased this spring for 40-50% off, and they actually have them on sale for 40% off right now).  Or something from Wal-Mart/Target by ClosetMaid would be good if you want more than the boxes.

2 for jewelry, 1 for ribbons, 1 miscellaneous, 1 for cards, 1 for stamps/inks and one for paci clip supplies.

I hope these ideas help you get organized or get you thinking of other ways to be Miss Organized!