Gotta love free diapers!

It’s a great time to stock up on Pampers!

Total Value: $40.50

OOP: $0.54

ECB earned: 4.99

There are several Pampers coupons floating around. There were a couple in the P&G insert from 3/2. Also, if you buy Cheerios there is a $1.50 coupon on the back. (Randall’s has an in store coupon for 4/$4 General Mills cereals, so if you use that you can make $2.00 by buying cereal!) If you sign up at Pampers.com they will send you coupons in the mail (probably not in time for this deal, but they are always good to have on hand). Even without coupons, $8.99 for a package of diapers or pullups isn’t bad especially combined with ECBs!

My mall shopping trip

When you have 2 young kids, you hardly ever go to the mall. I brought Taryn in for her 8 month pictures (they’ll be up as soon as I can scan them!) and I did a little shopping for myself while I was there. Here’s what I got.

At Libby Lu, I got a free Hanna Montana CD for my cousin thanks to this coupon. At Bath and Body works, I spent around $3 on some travel body spray for me and used this coupon to get a free gift bag worth $10. At Victoria Secrets, I bought myself some sparkly eye shadow and eye liner on sale for $10 and received a full sized body scrub thanks to this coupon. Have I mentioned that I love coupons?

Absence makes the heart grow fonder…

Oh, how I love CVS. Let me count the ways… Or at least show you my deals for today! I enjoyed my week off, but it was nice to get back to making money for getting free stuff today!

7 Softsoap Spa Bodywashes

1 Cayenne Pepper

(In two transactions- used 3 ($1.00/1 Softsoap from 3/9 SS) and 4 ($1.50/1 Softsoap from 3/30)+ 2(5/15 CVS coupons)

OOP: $0.00

ECB spent: 16.81

ECB Earned: $34.93 MADE $18.12

3rd trip (not shown)

2 Softsoap Spa Bodywashes

2 boxes Cheez-It

used 1 (5/15 CVS coupon)

OOP: $1.99

ECB spent: 8.99

ECB earned: 12.98 MADE $2.00!

This looked interesting

Thanks to iMommies for passing on this deal! I looked up some of the discounts in our area and it definitely seemed worth it. Free passes to the museums and Old McDonald’s Farm (for those of you in the Humble/Kingwood area) and 1/2 price on sporting tickets peaked my interest. Take a look and if you end up buying one, put me as a referral! If you don’t, then you can just hang out with me and mooch off my coupons.

A day without coffee…

Does anyone else ever feel like this? I feel like I’m constantly one (teeny tiny) step from a nervous breakdown all the time. I’m very short on sleep today (thanks to my 7 month old), so I know that colors things, but today started out fairly well. It wasn’t a particularly bad morning for us. Yes, Taryn did scream bloody murder while I tried to take a shower and yes, I had to tackle Tori to get her dressed, but these things are minor. I met one of my best friends for lunch today since she happened to be on my side of town (for those of you who don’t live in Houston, “the other side of the city” is a good hour away if traffic is light). It’s always a challenge to enjoy a lunch with a toddler and a baby, but overall, they did pretty well. Then Tori got sick on the way home and messed up her dress and the car seat and added such a lovely aroma to my car that I spent the rest of the drive fighting my gag reflex. When we got home I stripped her down and sponged her off and got both girls down for a nap and managed to get a little rest myself. That was the best part of my day.

Unfortunately it didn’t last long. When I woke up to Taryn’s screaming (who needs an alarm clock when you have babies?), I had a headache and my mom called to say she was coming over (no, those two aren’t related.) Mom came over and we couldn’t even have a decent conversation because Taryn never stopped screaming and Tori never stopped whining and the whole time, I’m just burning with shame about how disgusting my house is. You have to understand, I don’t have one of those judgmental type moms. She understands what its like when you’ve got two kids and she relates to a lot of what I’m going through, but that doesn’t stop me from looking around and seeing the filth through her eyes. I just wanted to sit down in the middle of the dirty floor and bawl. I never seem to be able to get ahead. In fact, it feels like no matter how much I do, the house gets worse and worse everyday. All I’m doing is spinning my wheels and its wearing me down.

Things are looking slightly better. I let Taryn scream bloody murder while Tori watched Harry Potter so that I could clean my kitchen and sweep and mop. Trey and I straightened some more after the girls were in bed and put the CHRISTMAS boxes in the attic. Yup, that’s right- I said Christmas boxes. It wasn’t enough, but it did make a dent.

Easter Garden

We had a quiet Easter at home today so I used the beautiful weather to work on my garden. Inspired by Frugal Dad and Get Rich Slowly, I’m in embracing the new Square Foot Gardening craze and I hope that it pays off!

Tori and Evie helped!

It’s been fun, CVS, but I think we need a break.

You all know how much I love my CVS, but I think its time to take a well deserved rest. I love that free-stuff rush, but there is a lot of work and time involved. As my husband pointed out the other day, I’m not doing it to feel good anymore, I’m just doing it to feel normal. I think its time to set aside the intoxicating sales packed CVS pipe for a bit. Thankfully, the sales look pretty slim this week, so it will be a good opportunity to recoup and organize the ridiculous amount of stuff I’ve brought home in the last month.

These were my last two trips.

Total Value: $35.01

Total OOP for these two trips: $1.64

Saved: 33.37

My weekly CVS stats:

Total Value of Merchandise: $226.08

Total OOP: $25.57

Saved $200.51 or 86%

Night and Day

There are days where I really wish I didn’t have to get out of bed. Sometimes I feel like I’ve been exhausted my whole life and there is an ever pervasive fatigue that sucks all the life out of my, um, life. When weariness gets the best of me, small threads of insidious self doubt start to take hold.

“Maybe I really shouldn’t be home with the girls; I don’t seem to have the energy for it that other women do.”

“How on earth does everyone else do it? How do they take care of their kids, keep the house clean and still say sane?”

“Maybe this really is the most I can achieve.”

“What is wrong with me?”

“Maybe I’m just lazy.”

“Maybe I’m depressed.”

“Maybe I should see my dr. about antidepressants.”

These thoughts (and many, many others) can weigh on my already worn shoulders and bring me down even further.

And then I have a day like Wednesday!

Due to what I can only assume was an act of God, both of my girls slept through the night and let me sleep until 8:25!!! I’ll admit, I woke up several times and contemplated checking on them since sleeping through the night is so unusual for them, but I restrained myself and enjoyed the gift from God! I can’t begin to tell you what a difference that day made. When I woke up, it was with a smile. The birds were singing and the sun was shining and I felt like a completely different person. I sang to the girls as I got them dressed and we all giggled and acted silly. I happily cooked a decent breakfast for Tori and I. I got the girls and I ready and went to the gym without the slightest hint of internal struggle. I couldn’t wait to get the gym and get moving! The Zumba class felt great and I had a blast! The entire day went like this. I started to realize how everyone else accomplishes everything. If I felt like that everyday, I could take on the world!

I know that not everyone feels rested everyday, but I have long suspected that most people simply have more energy at the starting gate than I do. This one day comforted me in that it helped me realize that I’m not depressed, I’m just tired! Even though its frustrating to know that rest and energy are probably always going to be in short supply for me, at least my one day of calm and clarity showed me that I’m not crazy! So even though I’m bleary eyed and guzzling coffee today, a small voice in my head reminds me that I’m the mother of two small children and I do a lot and one day, hopefully, I will feel rested again.

CVS

Total OOP: $10.03

Received $10 in ECB

Trip #4

3 Dove Shampoos

3 Dove Conditioners

1 Dove Body Wash

The Shampoos & Conditioners are $4.99 and Buy 1 Get 1 Free

Use with 3 $3/2 coupons for Shampoos/Conditioners from 3/16 RP

The Dove Body Wash was $4.99

Use with $1/1 coupon for Body Wash from 3/16 RP

Use with $5/15 CVS coupon

Total: $6.68 (I used 3 ECB and paid 3.68 OOP)

Received $5 ECB for the Dove deal!

Trip #5

3 6-pack Viva Towels @ $6.49 each

1 .35 coupon for Viva from SS 1/6

$5/15 CVS coupons

Total $14.46 (I used 9.98 ECB and paid 4.48 OOP)

Received $1 ECB

(I didn’t realize there was a limit of 1 on the Viva ECB deal or I would have done this differently, but it was still a good price for Viva!)

Trip #6

2 Right Guard Extreme deodorants @2.49 each

Use with 2 (.75/1) coupons from SS 3/16

1 Wisp Flameless Candle @7.99

use with 5.00/1 online coupon from Wisp

1 Nivea Aftershave @ 6.39

1 CVS pen sanitizer @ 1.79

use coupon for free sanitizer (check your email if you are registered with CVS)

$5/$15 CVS coupon

Total: 8.86 ( I used 5.99 ECB and paid $1.87 OOP)

Received 4 ECB

Grocery stats for 3/16

Recipe for a migraine:

Step 1: Let your husband go out of town

Step 2: Stay up way too late organizing coupons and shopping and get up way too early because of the children

Step 3: Attempt 2 CVS trips and 1 HEB trip with a 2 year old and a 7 month old

After you’ve completed these steps, unload the car while the baby screams and the toddler alternates between tripping you and pulling the babies feet and you have successfully created a fully baked migraine!

Taking advantage of sales and coupons takes a lot more commitment when you have to prepare while taking care of two little ones and you have to take them shopping with you!

CVS

 

In 3 separate trips:

4 boxes of Hershey’s Pot of Gold

1 Bic Soleil Razor

2 Bic Soleil Cartridges

1 bag of Easter Eggs

2 Maybelline Lip Glosses

2 12 packs of Coke (not shown)

Total Value: $87.09

Total OOP: $13.09

Total ECB spent: 24.97 Total ECB earned: 48.93!

I spent more Out Of Pocket then I would have preferred, but it allowed me to charge back up my ECB and I also bought some Cokes to bribe my brother in law to stay with the girls so that I could go at midnight last night before all the razors were gone.

 

HEB

Total Value: 125.87

Coupons: 41.28

Total Paid: $86.43

I was a little upset that I spent so much until I remembered that I had bought a $22 ham for my mom. Then I felt a lot better about it!

Total for the day

Value: $212.96

Paid: $100.33

Saved $112.63 or 53%