First things first: The winner of last week’s E-Mealz giveaway is….
Brandi (No. 14)
”I usually start by seeing what I already have on hand. I have a mass of recipes from various websites plus websites like allrecipes.com will allow you search by ingredient so I use that to see what meals I could make from stuff I have on hand plus one or two more things. I love beans and cornbread for a quick thrifty meal. We almost always have beans and cornbread on hand. Still pretty new to couponing so I would like to build a more varied stock pile and try to find other uses for pasta other than spaghetti and traditional pasta dishes.”
Congratulations Brandi!
And now, on to shopping….
I thought I was being soooo efficient yesterday morning. I printed my CVS and Walgreens shopping lists & gathered my coupons before church, thinking that it would be so much faster to just quick pop in on our way home. I only wanted a few things from each store, and it seemed so pointless to make two separate trips.
When I told Husband my brilliant plan, he was less than enthusiastic. This is the conversation that ensued:
“You always say it’s going to be fast. It’s never fast.” “This time will be really fast. I promise. I only want to get a few things.” “I don’t want to spend 45 minutes waiting in the car while Trouble screams ‘MAMA’ the entire time.” “You won’t. I’ll just bring her in.” “But then Princess will want to come in too and it will be a fiasco.” “No, she’ll want to stay with you. She’s a daddy’s girl, remember? And so what if she does? It will be FINE!”Oh, the Famous Last Words.
I should’ve known it was a bad idea when just the act of wrestling Trouble into the car after church resulted in an complete and utter meltdown. But no, I forged ahead.
And I should’ve known it was a bad idea when Princess insisted on coming in the store too.
And I really should’ve known it was a bad idea when I realized they are now too big (or too selfish) to BOTH fit in the little race car shopping cart together.
The screaming, yelling, crying, pinching, hitting, and kicking was almost instantaneous, and the seatbelt meltdown earlier paled in comparison to the epic meltdown in the store.
20 minutes into my shopping trip I had two screaming children flailing on the floor, zero items in my cart, and felt like I might be on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Thankfully right at that moment Husband had decided to see what was taking so long & was able to help me get a little control back.
But I’m pretty sure I learned my lesson.
We skipped Walgreens, went straight home, and put the little monsters angels to bed.
Here is what I got:
At CVS I spent $8.24 for $31.49 worth of drugstore goods, a savings of 74%
Transaction 1 Get $1 Extra Bucks WYB St. Joseph Enteric Coated Aspirin, 81mg, 35ct (limit 1) @ – $2.00 $1/1 St. Joseph Aspirin, exp. 12/31/11 (SS 09/11/11) or (ALL YOU Aug ’11) or (SS 08/07/11 R) Final price: FREE Get $3.69 Extra Bucks WYB CVS Allergy, 5ct @ – $3.69 Final price: FREE Transaction 2 Total OOP: $4.69; Got back $4.69 ECBs Get $6.79 Extra Bucks WYB RepHresh Tampons, 18ct (limit 1) @ – $6.79 Final price: FREE Used $4.69ECBs; Total OOP: $2.58; Got back $6.79 ECBs Transaction 3 Garnier HerbaShine or Nutrisse Hair Color – $4.99 $3/1 Garnier Herbashine, exp. 9/17/11 (RP 08/07/11) Final price: As low as $1.99 Get $1 Extra Bucks WYB (2) Ziploc Bags (limit 1) @ – $3.00 $1/2 Ziploc Brand Bags (Recyclebank) Final price: As low as $1.88 each wyb 2 Used $6.79ECBs; Total OOP: $0.97; Got back $1.00 ECBs* * *
Don’t forget to head over to the PrintHotCoupons.com Qubie Giveaway Page on Facebook for your next chance to win your very own Qubie Coupon Organization System! If you don’t want to wait to see if you won, you can order one now & if you happen to win, Qubie will refund your purchase price! Use coupon code LWSL5OFF to save $5 off your purchase price (Hurry–code is only valid through 9/15!)
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Kelly September 12, 2011 at 5:34 pm
I convinced my husband to join me in yesterday’s “quick” CVS shopping as well…and he found a$10 Beatles book he HAD to have…grrrr. (I did a quick barcode scan on my Amazon app to price check it, but it wasn’t available anywhere else). It ruined my percentages at checkout, but I was able to use my $5 off $25 coupon! Lesson learned…kinda. =)
(UPDATE: he just walked in, holding the book, while I was typing this and is still a very happy camper!)
Samantha September 12, 2011 at 5:43 pm
I had a similar situation myself except sans screaming and HUSBAND!
I went to 3 stores in 2 hours and both my little “angels” (HA HA) were relatively good for the first 2 stores, but ran and played and tossed toys in the air at the third store
DROVE ME CRAZY!!!
Then the cashier told me I should really fill out the and give her a good score since she was so patient with me! Seriously, I thought at that point I might have to say something like “I AM THE ONLY PERSON IN THE STORE!” But I did refrain, I am ALWAYS nice at the store
I feel your pain RUTH!
Sally September 12, 2011 at 6:50 pm
Hi Ruth. I’m having trouble entering the new Qubie contest. When I enter my email and click submit, nothing happens. It won’t advance to the last step. Is anyone else having trouble?
Ruth September 12, 2011 at 7:43 pm
Hey Sally, this is the first I’ve heard of an issue! I’ll look into it but maybe try it again in a bit?
Sally September 13, 2011 at 3:17 am
Thanks. Worked fine this time.
Rachael September 12, 2011 at 7:35 pm
Well, I feel bad for the trip to the store you had, but I loved reading about it!! Just nice to know I’m not the only one this happens to lol. I always think it’ll be quick, but it takes time to find the right items etc. My husband has offered a couple times to wait for me, but I can tell he’s getting tired of waiting. I do the best I can but it still takes time. Its best if I can go by myself and think but that doesn’t happen often.
Brandy September 12, 2011 at 8:37 pm
Thanks for the win!!! So excited!!! I can’t wait to get home from work and give it a go!!
Claire September 12, 2011 at 11:22 pm
I can picture this so vividly!! My two younger boys always want to ride in the shared cart at Target. Within minutes it’s always a disaster. Never again!!!
shannon September 12, 2011 at 11:58 pm
Oh NO, Ruth! I feel somewhat responsible for this shopping trip of yours, suggesting you take your girls with you! If it makes you feel any better, when I was checking out at Publix today by myself, I had a minute to make small talk to the check out boy (he was so young looking) and he asked me if I was up all night since I seemed a little ‘crazy.’ I guess it doensn’t matter whether the kids are there screaming or not, we mothers are always getting noticed!