Thrifty Thursday, AKA, "I'm not late--I meant to do that!"

I think I may be setting myself up for failure with these alliterative tittles.  In case you didn't notice, Funny Friday didn't get up until Sunday and Money Monday is now so late, that it's Thrifty Thursday (which works, too...). 
I finally got to CVS on Tuesday and got a few deals and picked up rainchecks for the rest of the stuff.  I was able to do everything in one transaction because I've been saving up my ECBs to redeem a raincheck for some $30 toothbrush heads.  Hopefully, I'll be getting those this weekend with my quarterly extrabucks, which start printing tomorrow.  Good news for you: if you bought ANYTHING at CVS since March, you'll have ExtraBucks waiting for you tomorrow (or the next time you go)--they round up to a whole buck. 

Here's what I got:
(5) Honest Tea $1 ea.
-(5) $1/1 Honest product (recyclebank coupon)
(1) bag Twizzlers pull'n'peel $2
-$1/1 Twizzlers CVS coupon (there is also a $0.75 manu. q in Smart Source 6/26, but I forgot about it)
(l) Lady Speed Stick $1.99
-$1/1 Lady Speed Stick deodorant CVS coupon (from the coupon sheet at the front of the store or in the Reinventing Beauty Magazine)

Used: 2 ECBs from last week ($0.22 tax)
Got back: 3 ECBs (2 for Honest Tea, 1 for Speed Stick)

So I got $15+ worth of stuff for $1 profit!!

FYI, there are some 900 coupons that expire today, so it's about time to clean out your coupon binders (don't feel bad about tossing them--there will be other coupons for these same items very soon).

Be sure to check out Southern Savers later today for next week's coupon match-ups.  I'm thinking it'll be fun!

On another note, I FINALLY saved 51% at the grocery store Monday.  I was SOO proud of myself!  I've been couponing for 10 months now and I've never really been able to do that!  Yay!!  I took advantage of some awesome sales Weis was running on meat and coke.  If you get a chance to get out, check out For The Mommas for coupon matches for grocery stores in the area.

My lunch: Steak-adilla with ranch dip

Steak-adillas

Last night we had steak (super sale at Weis--this is the life!).  Since they were huge, we had leftovers.  Since everything's better with cheese, I made steak-adillas with it for lunch.  Delicious!  But needed more hot sauce.

Ingredients:

1/2 c. steak, chopped (pretty small--unless you want to pull it all out with the first bite)

2 taco-sized tortillas

6-12 drops of Hot sauce (I like Cholula with the wooden cap)

1/4 c. Colby-Jack cheese

2 t. veg. oil

Make it:

Heat saute pan with veg. oil on medium heat. "Dip" one tortilla (big bubble side down) in the oil and "swoosh" around.  Set it aside.

Toss steak with hot sauce and microwave 15 seconds.

Place non-oiled tortilla in pan and "swoosh" around.  Add half the cheese, followed by the warm steak, and the other half of the cheese (you want the cheese "glue" on both sides).  It'll want to fall out b/c it's too much filling, but that's what makes it good. 

Top the stack with the oiled tortilla (oil side up). "Smoosh" down the whole thing with your spatula (you're basically making a grilled cheese sandwich here).

Cook ~ 1 min. (I really don't know how long it is, but just check every 30 seconds or so for golden-brown deliciousness).

Flip (easier said than done, but put your hand on the cool side to try to keep the filling in).  Cook on second side until golden-brown (this always takes less time than the first side and usually less than I was expecting).

Remove to plate and slice. 

I ate it with ranch dip (made with sour cram and the dip packet).  Yummm!!

Funny Friday--Sunday edition

I didn't get to cartoon this week, so here's your dose of (in)sanity before you start your next crazy week:

Money Monday

I skated into CVS yesterday 40 minutes before they closed and managed to get $36 worth of stuff for $0.63 in tax.  I used 10 ECBs and got $15.48 (including my green bag tag) back!!

Here's what I got:

5 Honest Tea/Ade
$5-(5) $1 off Honest drink coupon (from recyclebank: take quizzes, redeem points!)
1 Lipton Natural Green tea
$1.25-(1) FREE Lipton tea (from Facebook)
1 pkg. of Cottonelle fresh wipes
$1.99-(1) FREE Cottonelle wipe (mailed)
2 Colgate toothpaste
$5.08 (total)-(2) $1/1 colgate CVS coupon (from a coupon sheet next to the flyers), -(1) $1/1 colgate manufacturer coupon (SS 6/05, 6/12)
1 Powerbar protein Bites
$2.49
2 Scotch tape dispensers
$2.27 (BOGO)-(2) $1/1 Scotch tape (printable)
1 Hershey's Bliss bag of chocolates
$5.99- $1/1 Hershey's bliss coupon (SS 5/01)
-10 ECBs from last week

Subtotal: -$0.06

Total: $0.63

ECBs: 1 (Green bag), 2 (Honest Tea), 4 (Colgate), 2.49 (powerbar), 5.99 (Bliss)

Both the powerbar bites and the Hershey's Bliss are free after extra bucks this week, so go get some Chocolate (or energy bars if you're more inclined)!  You can now print lost ECBs on CVS.com, so you have no excuse for not spending your CVS play money!

You can find more CVS matchups and a lot of great info at: Southern Savers

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It's movie Monday at Blockbuster Express.  Use this code TODAY ONLY: GOODSTART
There are a number of codes available on coupon dad that you can use for a free movie night.  You can also reserve your movie online to make sure they have the one you want and to make sure the code works for you.

Funny Friday

Timothy got TWO teeth!

You know what that means...

Crafty Cathy

If you know me, you know I LOVE crafting.  Beading is an old flame that I've been with since elementary school when I "grew apart" from papercraft.  I haven't done anything since my sister-in-law's baby shower, when I made her a breastfeeding bracelet (I stole the idea from my old pastor's wife).  My sister-in-law asked me if I'd make her a plain black bracelet that she could use to tell which side was next.  Black?  I don't know if I've ever bought black beads...well, I don't usually buy beads anyway, I usually harvest them from a broken necklace.  Oh!  Mom, thanks for the broken necklace, this will do perfectly!

But the bead pattern is a little too necklace-y.  Let's try taking out the small black beads. 

Big...silver...medium...silver...teardrop...silver...medium...silver...big...

Good good.  Now test it out for size.

Gah!  Too small...and another set only makes it too long...

aww...Bug-a-boo!

Hiya! 

My little guy wants me to know that it's been 3 hours since he ate and he's not inclined to wait any longer...brb...

Okay, now that Timothy's in a milk-coma, back to my pattern/size issue.  Okay, I'll substitute little black beads for the teardrops.
Big...silver...medium...silver...little...silver...medium...silver...big...

Weeellllll, that just looks stupid...  How about forget that part all together?

Big...silver...medium...silver...big...  ....silver...big?  Big?? Gah!!  Not enough big black beads...okay, fine, how about...

Big...silver...medium...silver...medium...silver...big...?

Yay!!  It works!  And, I like that better, anyway... What's that Bob Ross says?  "Happy Accidents!"

Perfect!  It fits and Timothy is still asleep!

So I take my beads off the dental floss and string some stretchy cord through a crimp bead (my new favorite toy and the ONLY good way to finish a stretch bracelet that I've found).

Both ends go through the next bead.  Big...silver...medium...silver...medium...silver...big... and back through the crimp bead.  Now the fun part:

Crimping!  And the not-so-fun part, finishing...

Aww, Timothy woke up.

Hi, Timothy!!

Perfect!  Bracelet down, now I've got to get to work on a pair of replacement earrings from two Christmases ago...

This is one of my favorite designs and I came up with it while I was working at That-place-we-do-not-speak-of...  It's kind of an art deco-y tear drop. 

I pull tiger-tail through a crimp bead, around a earring bail and back again to make a loop with a single bead at the bottom.

Then, I crimp (yay!) the crimp bead and cut off the excess wire.

And I try to make a matching one that actually matches...

Perfect!

Ha ha!  It kinda looks like a surprised face!

Well, Timothy's asking for his afternoon snack and I must oblige!

Money Monday

Last fall, my sister introduced me to a site, Southern Savers,  that matches sales with coupons to save some crazy amounts of money!  So, I started "tactical couponing" at CVS/Pharmacy.  Just about every Sunday, I go to CVS with my coupons and plan in tow.  This Sunday, however, I forgot my handy clip with my coupons and ExtraCare Bucks (ECBs), so I had to wing it.  Here's what I got:

(1) Schick Hydro 3 Razor $8.00
-$4/1 (save $4 on one) Schick Hydro Razor (Smart Source [SS] 6/12)
Total Due: $4.48
ECBs received: 4

I went again today WITH my plan and got:

Transaction #1
1 Zyrtec 5 ct. $5.99
2 Orbit Gum $1.49 BOGO (buy one get one free)
-$4/1 Zyrtec (Red Plum [RP] 4/10)
-$1/2 (save $1 on two) Orbit Gum
-2 ECBs from last week
Total Due: $0.58
ECBs received: $5.99 (for Zyrtec), $1 (for using my green bag tag 4 times)

I got a $3 off $10 first aid purchase from the red coupon machine on Sunday and asked if I could use it for Motrin and they said I could, so I did this transaction:

Transaction #2:
3 Motrin PM $12 (total)
-(2) $1/1 Motrin PM (RP 6/12)
-$3 when you buy (wyb) 10 in First aid (CVS coupon)
-6.99 in ECBs (from above)
Total Due: $0.01 (yay!!!)
ECBs received: $9

All total that product would have cost $40 retail price, but I actually made 6 ExtraCare Bucks (2 ECBs to start, spent $5, 13 ECBs to finish) on the deal!!  Woohoo!!

I know it's late, but if you're still headed out for gas (at Sheetz) or something, you can pick up a free movie today only at Blockbuster Express using this code: SWEETMONDAY
Thanks, Shannon @ For The Mommas

Funday Friday