Fabulous Savings at Walgreens

Last night I spent 2 hours planning my Walgreens scenarios.  Walgreens seems to offer $5/$20 or $10/$40 and stuff like that every Friday & Saturday.  The bummer part for me is those are the 2 days I work and when I get off Poy is working.  It seems like a waste to save $5 and then turn around and pay my sitter $8.  Sometimes I try to shop before work, so today I woke up 30 minutes early to shop.  I was very disappointed that I couldn't find what I needed for my first scenario and I lost a lot of time wandering the store.  I did get a return done, but other than that I walked out with nothing.  I was disappointed, but decided to get to Walgreens after work with the kids and try to get some good deals.

Although shopping with my kids is always a bit hectic they did pretty well.  So here's what I got:

**Warning: this has a lot of boring math stuff in it.  If you want you can read the top and the bottom then decide if you want to know all my scenarios :)**

Scenario #1:

3 Boxes of Benefiber Kiwi Strawberry drink mixes   

Regular price: 7.99/box   23.97 for 3

There was a walmart coupon for $5 off each box for a $15 savings

Total= 8.97 (but we're not done with this one)

1 Airwick Fresmatic Ultra Automatic spray

Regular price: 12.99 on sale for 4.99

I used a $4 off coupon

Total=1.99 (we're not done here either)

1 St. Ives Elements Olive Cleanser

Regular price 7.49 on sale 4.99

I used a $2 off coupon

Total=2.99 (not done)

1 Nivea Mens Bodywash

Total=4.99

1 Quilted Northern toilet paper

Regular price: 5.29 on sale for $4

Use a Wgs coupon for $1 and a manufacturers coupon for $1

Total=$2

Total out of pocket for all items: 20.94-$5 off $20 coupon=15.94+tax

I used a gift card for 14.48 from previous rebates and 4.48 out of pocket

At the end of the transaction I received one $8 Register Reward (like cash on next transaction) from the 3 packs of Benefiber (making it .97!!) 

and one $5 Register Reward for the St. Ives making this a money maker of 2.01!

We aren't done yet :)

I will receive a $3 rebate for the Airwick making this a $1.01 money maker!

lastly I will receive a $4.99 rebate for the Nivea bodywash making this free after rebate.

In the end this transaction was a $5.05 moneymaker!

Scenario #2

4 Capri Sun (Nolan has these in his lunch every day)

Regular price 3.79 each on sale 4 for $10

Total=$10

2 Glade Flameless Candle

Regular price 9.99 each

Used a Buy 1 Get 1 coupon

Total=9.99

2 packs of dividers for my coupon book (I just needed these)

Total=1.98

Total for these items: $21.97-$5 off $20 coupon=16.97

I used 2 $5 Register Rewards for a total out of pocket=6.97+tax

I will receive a $2 rebate for the Flameless Candle making it 7.99 for 2

and I received a $3 Register Reward for the Capri Sun making them 4/$7 or 1.75 each

In the end this transaction was $1.97

Scenario #3

1 Loreal Facial Cleanser

Regular price: 6.99

I used a $1 in store coupon

Total=5.99

1 St. Ives Elements Olive Scrub

Regular price 7.49 on sale for 4.99

I used a coupon for $2 & a $2 store coupon

Total=.99

1 Rimmel Foundation

Total= 7.49

1 Post-it notes

Total= .89

1 Pencil Pouch for my coupon binder

Total= 1.99

1 Kid Knex (this was a total splurge for the kids cause they always fight over the knex so I told Sophie I would buy her her own set)

Total= 9.99

Total for these items: 27.34-$5/$20 coupon=22.34

I used the $3 Register Reward from scenario #2 and

the $8 Register Reward from scenario #1 making this a total OOP of 11.34

I received a $5 Register Reward for the St. Ives making this a $4.01 money maker!

I will receive a 6.99 rebate for the Loreal Cleanser making this a $1 money maker

Lastly, I will receive a 7.49 rebate for the Foundation making this item Free

In the end this transaction was an $8.14 money maker

This was by far my best walgreens trip so far.  I bought $121.93 worth of merchandise for a total of 27.39 out of my pocket & I will receive 26.91 on a gift card.  Fabulous!  This totally takes care of any shopping fix I need :)

Pumpkins!!

Yesterday we made a trip to the Vancouver Farmers Market.  We picked up some Honey Crisp apples and Sophie picked out some blueberries.  I told her we had to wash them before she could eat them, but she just wouldn't let me put them in the trunk.  She had to hold them in her lap even if she couldn't eat them.  The kids enjoyed the playground and then we made our way to the Pumpkin Patch on Sauvie Island.  

    

We had a fabulous time in the corn maze. The kids did a fantastic job and had so much fun.  The weather was absolutely perfect.  In the maze they have check points and you read a question to decide which direction to go.  There are lots of different topic cards to choose from with many different skill levels.  Nolan chose to answer the "Halloween" questions, and Sophie did the "Preschool" questions.  

Sophie on the bridge
Nolan & Daddy exploring the maze

Check out that action shot!
Check point 3
Reading the question

Mommy and her kiddos

After the maze we checked out the animals, which weren't too exciting and then made our way to the pumpkin patch.  All of the pumpkins in the patch were really big and most were smashed or broken open. We opted for the pre-picked pumpkins that were smaller and more attractive.  Sophie really wanted a small pumpkin and she was pretty cute carrying it back to the car.

"If you can't carry it, you can't pick it"
"Let me try"
I think we'll take a couple of these instead.

The sign says it all

Tonight we carved pumpkins.  Actually I carved pumpkins.  The kids drew the faces, but both of them thought the insides were disgusting and refused to touch it.  I put Nolan's hand in it, and he literally started gagging!  He is so sensitive. Anyway, the end result were some cute little jack-o-lanterns.

Sophie with her pumpkin before it was cut.

Nolan's pumpkin with his fabulous drawing

Sophie is picking the guts out with a fork!

Sophie watching mommy cut Nolan's pumpkin

The end result!

My latest cleaning project

I've decided that when it comes to cleaning I really prefer a big project.  I like the satisfaction of seeing the end result.  Lately Tuesdays have been a great day for me to conquer a big mess.  This Tuesday I decided to completely reorganize my pantry.  In the 4 years we have lived here I have never done this. It had some (and I mean that loosely) order, but there was a lot of stuff in there that just didn't belong.  I am delighted at how it looks now.  I moved the cereal and snacks to the lower shelves so that the kids can get to them on their own.  My cans are all facing the same direction :).  One funny thing was that a couple months ago I bought a can of corn starch to make the kids flubber.  When I got it home I realized I already had corn starch.  When I cleaned out the pantry I actually found 3 more boxes of corn starch!!  I guess I should google "recipes with corn starch" so I can get rid of the stuff :)  I wish I could have had some before shots, but Poy had the camera.  Here are some of the after pictures.   

Top shelf -- bulk stuff, paper products, cleaning supplies

2nd shelf -- boxed foods, baking in the corner, bottles of oils, vinegars and stuff

mid shelf -- bread and cans

4th shelf -- snacks, cookies

more 4th shelf -- syrup, peanut butter, foil & baggies

bottom shelf -- cereal, drinks, bagged snacks.

The floor is now clear except for cat food and bags.

I feel great when I open my pantry. I'm still not used to it so when I open the door I have this moment where I think it is going to be a disaster and then I'm pleasantly surprised.  I threw away so much stuff that had been unused for so long.  

Although I do have other stuff to blog about, it is late and I'm tired, so I'm gonna have to do those in the next couple of days.

A visit with friends and a step in the right direction.

Sophie and I made a trip out to Beaverton today to visit my friend Andrea and her 2 year old Nora.  Nora and Sophie played so well together today and gave their mommy's plenty of time to chit chat and we even got a little bit of knitting done.

After picking up Nolan from school the kids had swim lessons.  

This was Sophie's first lesson and I was a bit nervous.   Sophie used to love water and pretty much has no fears.  When we went on our cruise in April she changed her tune.  On our first day of the cruise, actually just a couple hours into the trip, we decided to put our suits on and visit the pool.  The kids were thrilled and couldn't wait to play.  We met up with our friends and were sitting on our lounge chairs watching the kids and visiting with each other. This is what the kids area looked like

We were sitting in lounge chairs a little further then the chairs in the lower right corner of the picture.  The kids were playing, the water is only about a foot deep and everything seemed so safe. All of the sudden I noticed I could see Nolan but not Sophie.  It is not in my nature to panic so I was just scanning the area and looking for her.  

I finally spotted her clear across the "pool" about where the H2O Zone sign is. I start to make my way quickly over there and Anne-Elissa books it through the water. When she got there Sophie was soaking wet.  Not like I've been playing in water wet, but I've gone under water wet. It turns out there was a pool 4 or 5 ft deep where she was at.  When Anne-Elissa handed a very upset Sophie to me and her tummy hit my shoulder a ton of water shot out of her mouth.  I will never know what exactly happened that day.  I don't know if she fell in and was pulled out by someone, or if she fell in and happened to be on the ladder and pulled herself out.  I am convinced I could have easily lost my daughter that day and it changed her view of water completely.  The remainder of the trip she wouldn't go in the pool or the ocean at the beach.  She would totally freak out.  

Today was the first time I have been able to get Sophie into a pool and she went willingly and happily. I am so relieved it won't take years for her to get over this incident.  I still feel guilty about that day, and think about what a tragedy it could have been.  I don't like to dwell on things that happened, or could have happened in the past, but that one is a tough one to forget.

I wish I could post some pictures of today, but sadly my camera is now broken :(  I don't know what happened to it, but the screen is cracked and shows nothing but white light.  I can still take photos, but there is no way to know if the photo is good until it is on the computer.  Just another thing to add to my "wants" list.  

I love Naartjie!!

My favorite store for Sophie's clothing is called Naartjie (pronounced Nar-chee) at Washington Square. They were having a sale on dresses on Sunday, so we made our way out there.  I just love how fun the colors and patterns are in their clothes. One reason they are my favorite is that Sophie loves to wear dresses, but that isn't always feasible during the cooler months.  Naartjie has pants that match every dress so she can wear dresses whenever she wants. I just love it!  Here are her 3 new outfits as she modeled them today.

When Sophie first saw a similar outfit in this color, she pointed out that it was for boys.  Once I showed her the dress and she tried it on, she liked it.  It is definitely outside her normal realm of colors.

  

The sleeves and pants are actually striped, and the top portion is knit. 

  

I LOVE the colors of this outfit. The details are great too.