Three stop shopping spree

Usually when I have a shopping list that includes many coupons or various store deals I can almost guarantee there will be some type of problem; a difficult cashier, out of stock, refusing coupons, etc.

Today I made three stops; CVS, Walgreens, and Target. Each store went smoothly and without any hitches. Here are my brief summaries;

CVS
2 bottles of sparkling apple juice
2 bags of Russell Stovers' chocolates (Christmas clearance)
2 packages of paper plates
2 Glade scented oil refills (Christmas clearance)
2 spools of wired ribbon (Christmas clearance)
1 box of Nerds (Had to grab something quick to cover my negative balance)

I used a B1G1 coupon for the chocolates, a $3 off $15 purchase, a $2 off $10, and a $4 ECB. The plates were B1 G1 50% off. According to my receipt I saved $39.36, and spent $0.43 out of pocket.

Side note...I can't remember exactly when I got involved with CVS, but sometime in the late summer, since then, my year to date savings is over $1500!! If your not convinced to try CVS yet...you're really missing out!

Walgreens
1 bottle window washer fluid (a must have and Target was out)
1 bottle Vive Pro Shampoo
1 bottle Vive Pro Conditioner
2 Glade Scented Oil Candle holders
3 Glade Scented Oil Candle refills

I used 2 $1 off Vive Pro manu. coupons, $3 off to Vive Pro Products store coupon, B1G1 Glade candle holder coupon, and $3 off 3 candle refills. Also the shampoo was clearanced to 2.59, the conditioner 1.29 (so it was a money maker) and the candles were B1G1 from the store, so they were completely free, and I will bet getting a rebate for $2. So my out of pocket expense was $5.31. Total savings of about $34.00!

Target
3 bags Hershey's candy (Christmas clearance)
2 containers of ornaments (Christmas clearance)
2 boxes of raisins
4 cans of soup
2 single ornaments (Christmas clearance)
1 bag marshmallows
1 bag flour
1 bag brown sugar

All Christmas clearance was 75% off, I got approx. 25 ornaments for less than $5. The candy was $.69 per bag, plus three store coupons for $.50 off each bag. My students never get sweets from me...they might be surprised! The soup had several coupons; a $.40 off 4 manufacturer coupon, and two $.50 off 2, store coupons. The other items were just things we needed for a few recipes I'll be making this week. All in all I spent $13.88 but saved nearly $20.00!!

JCPenny's deal

While George was out working on Friday I piddled around some stores near the hotel. Several clearance Christmas items caught my eye, but I wanted to talk the purchases over with George. He gave me a thumbs up for the next day and the deals ended up being even greater. There was an additional 20% off clearanced merchandise and $10.00 off a $50.00 purchase.

Prior to sale prices I would have spent over $175, but walked alway just spending $45.00.

This platter, which will match perfectly with our china, was originally priced 39.99, and we paid $9.00 for it!

The back side of the platter has a matte-like finish on it.

This is the picture of the entire purchase. 3 Christmas tree centerpieces (orig. $49.99), 3 cute Christmas mugs, perfect for filling with candy and giving as small gifts (orig. $12.00 each), one gold ornament (orig. $7ish?), large red platter, and large red bowl (orig. $39.99 each).

I was thankful to get such wonderful deals, and add to our Christmas decorations for next year.

A quick update

The last few weeks have been very different for us. George left nearly three weeks ago to do some business in Oklahoma. Our original plans for the holidays had been to spend Saturday and Sunday before Christmas with my family, then Sunday evening through Christmas day with George's family. When he was called to Oklahoma, we knew we would have to revise our plans. We had to take the "one day at a time" method, which was a phrase mom frequently used as we were growing up. Anyone who knows me, knows I like to plan things, and "one day at a time" isn't how I typically do it.

Thankfully George was able to leave Oklahoma Saturday before Christmas and drove straight to my parents' home. Ben, Julie, Hannah, Abby, and I had arrived just before George. We had a nice dinner together and exchanged gifts, including our annual gag gift exchange. Sunday morning we all attended services at New Liberty. Unfortunately, Mike wasn't feeling well, so we missed having him there, but it was nice worshiping all together.

We had decided since George had worked 140+ hours over two weeks, to travel to his parents' house would be too much, so we postponed seeing them until later in January. We headed home and had two quiet days by ourselves. George was able to catch up on a little sleep and we had a nice time together again. Wednesday morning he headed back to Oklahoma, and I spent the day with my close friend Kerry. We had a wonderful brunch at Andres' and then did some antiquing and shopping on the Plaza.

Wednesday evening Mom and Fadraon spent the night with me, while Micha and Daniel stayed down the street with Ben and Julie. Micha was scheduled to fly to Dallas the next day, but mom had to head home as Fadraon was fighting off a virus. So after doing some shopping with Micha and taking her to the airport, I headed down to spend some time in Oklahoma with George. Thankfully the amount of claims he was getting had slowed down, so we were able to spend the evenings together and relax.

Thursday he was notified he would not be getting any more claims, so he was free to go home when he was done with his work load. So Sunday morning, at 5am we left Oklahoma to come back to KC, just in time for him to fill an appointment at a local church. He is back at work today, and ready for a day off tomorrow. Thanks to all those who have kept him in your thoughts and prayers while he has been away.

And now for some pictures...

Cailin and Emma showing off their new blankets from Uncle Ben, Aunt Julie, Uncle George, and Aunt E.

Hannah loved carrying around my new purse. Julie said she became quite fond of it prior to her wrapping it. She definitely is coming to appreciate accessories. Thanks again to Ben and Julie for the purse. I love it!

Caitlin and Emma showing off their new hair pieces, which were a part of the gag gift exchange.

An evening with Hannah

Hannah's reaction to the flash. She would laugh, then rub and rub and rub her eyes.

Because all dogs need socks, right?

I never realized how fun it was to "blow" your nose.
Dogs also need to blow their nose. FYI-they don't like it anymore than kids do.

The task of ironing.

Several years ago I loved ironing. I would turn on some music and iron for awhile and really enjoy it. I'm not sure what it was, the success of getting the wrinkles out of the shirts, or just calming, or what? Well, now that I am doing a lot more ironing, it just isn't quite as enjoyable. Let me rephrase that, it isn't that I don't enjoy it, it is more that I can never keep up with it. I'll get a few of George's shirts ironed with the thought I'll get around to the rest in the next couple of days, but instead laundry, or other things come up. While I know ironing is technically an aspect of laundry-I consider my laundry done, even when the ironing is not.

Shortly after George left for his work trip, I made it my goal to get the ironing done. This was one of my "projects". After Crystal hosted Making your Home a Haven, I knew this was something I needed to get done. Afterall, it kind of prevented our bedroom from feeling like a haven. As I fold laundry I toss things to be ironed over a chair. Embarrassing, I know.

The before picture of the ironing pile.

I was visiting with my aunt, who's husband travels a lot, and told her of my plan to get caught up on the ironing and she said she takes the opportunity to pray over her husband as she does the ironing and laundry. For example; praying for a strong back to carry the load, his arms for provisions and comfort, and his neck turning in only in the ways the Lord would direct. I just thought this was the perfect way I could do two things for my husband, iron his shirts and pray for him while he was gone. When it was all said and done I think I ironed 18 shirts and 2 skirts.