Jun 11, 2009

Deals, Qtips, and Other Reasons to Ramble

1. Do you remember the Will Smith song, "Summertime?" As you read this, sing that to yourself, because my summer vacation officially begins TODAY!!! I've been singing it in my head all morning long ... "Summer, summer, summertime ..."

2. I know some of you literally roll your eyes every time you see another picture of groceries or see another post about coupons. However, there are so many ladies in my church that are beginning to coupon, it makes me even more excited! Here are some of my recent deals:


CVS trip this week: Spent $5.45 out of pocket. Total savings: $70.60! Even if you hate me for all of these couponing posts, you've gotta be impressed with that! Oh, and I still have $10 Extra Care Bucks for next week!



Bi-Lo this morning: I had a pretty decent trip altogether, but toilet bowl cleaner was my big find. Lysol toilet bowl cleaner was B1G1 for $2.89. I had 8 $0.50 off coupons that doubled to $1 making each bottle $0.45 apeice! That's $3.60 for 8 bottles, which are usually $2.89 each when not on sale! Other notable deals - I got Smart Balance oil for $0.62 after sale and coupon and found a Macaroni Grill box dinner on clearance for $2.39. A $1 off coupon made it $1.39, which is great considering they are usually $4.79. I've been wanting to try one but have never been willing to pay almost $5 for a box meal!


And, finally, Food Lion. I typically don't like to shop here because they don't double coupons, which makes it hard to get a good deal. However, they had Quilted Northern B1G1 for $4.99. With 2 $1 off coupons, I got each package for $1.50. The Chinet plates were on sale 2/$4. I had 4 $2 off coupons from coupon inserts in a previous Sunday paper, so that meant FREE paper plates!



3. On to the great Qtip debate. Here's how the whole discussion came about - one night I was about to give Camryn a bath and commented to Jason that she really needed one. Then, I just randomly threw in there, "Plus, her ears need cleaning." Jason gave me a horrified look and said, "You don't clean her ears every day?" I gave him one of those are-you-crazy-looks and told him no. He then got a double horrified look on his face and said, "You clean yours every day, don't you?" Well, you've probably already figured out by now if I don't clean my child's every day, I don't typically clean mine every day. After that night, I didn't think he was going to get within 10 feet of me ever again.

Judging from your comments when I originally asked the question, you guys are about half and half - like us! Jason cleans his ears every day (sometimes multiple times!), and I clean mine several times a week but not EVERY day. Camryn's get cleaned after each bath during the week. So, there you have it! Now, how many of you are surprised that the germaphobe, clean-freak isn't the one who cleans hers every day! :)

4. Today as I was walking out of Walgreen's, I was so deep in "coupon thought" that I got to the entrance of the store, raised the remote control to my car, and pressed the unlock button for the front doors of the store to open. They opened, by the way.

5. If you think about it next week, say a prayer for a group of our youth who leave for a missions trip to Barbados on Saturday! Pray also for the parents and families who will put their children, husbands, etc. on a plane to fly to a foreign county for a week. This is an incredible group of youth and adults who are going, and I know God is going to use them for His glory while they are there. Their goal is to see 100 salvations while they are there. But, we know God is capable of FAR exceeding that goal!

6. The countdown to Keller is still on! My sister had a great checkup on Tuesday, so we are waiting for any moment now!

7. I am sooooo craving Mexican food right now. But, Jason has had it so much lately, I don't think he wants to see another quesadilla or enchilada for the rest of the summer! Anybody want to go with me? Maybe I should take Lindsay, order the hottest thing on the menu, and see if we can give Keller a little nudge!

8. I'm running into a bit of a storage problem because of all of my coupon shopping. I'm building these stockpiles but have nowhere to put them! My pantry and the cabinets under our sinks are overflowing right now, and somehow I've got to find a home for 8 bottles of Lysol toilet bowl cleaner!

9. Why is it that kids can turn it on and turn it off depending on the day of the week? A couple of months ago, I took Camryn to my office to meet some of the ladies there. She embarrassed me terribly, because she clung to me for dear life, buried her head on my shoulder, on my leg, and anywhere else she could hide, and wouldn't speak a single word to anybody. Yesterday, we had a picnic for our department, and wouldn't you know it, she was the belle of the ball. She smiled and she waved and she sat in laps and she engaged in elaborate discussions about her breakfast and Flinstones vitamins, and basically charmed the pants off of everyone.

10. Are you still singing "Summertime?" Me, too! :)

10 comments:

meetthesmiths said...

1) Yes, I am still singing "Summertime" in my head
2) Do you not know me? This little boy is WELL accustomed to hot, mexican food. I don't think it would phase him one bit. But, just for good measure, I ate at "On The Boarder" for lunch today!
3) Why can't Keller just GET HERE ALREADY?! This is torture!! Every time I feel him move now, I think he's mocking me...haha...

meetthesmiths said...

I can't spell "Border" - I always put an "a". I promise I'm smart...

Melissa said...

I LOVE your coupon stories! I am really impressed! Do you make your own deals or use the websites to help you? I can't seem to get the sales and coupons together at the same time. I am really hoping to work on this this summer!

You made me Laugh literally Out Loud at the Wal-Greens remote story!

Your excitement over Mr. Keller's debut is contagious. I can't wait - and I LOVE the name!

Danielle said...

So understand the whole shy kid thing. Brady is doing that too. Once he has been around someone for about 10 minutes he warms up thought. We have been telling him before we go anywhere he has to say hello to people when they speak to him. He is getting a little better. Hopefully it is just a phase.

The Cassidys said...

i always appreciate your coupon stories and am even a little jealous because of the great deals you've been getting! wow! question - when you bought the pampers at CVS, did you get the $5 ECB??? I went and bought 3 (that was the limit) and didn't get any! I asked the manager about it and she told me to call customer service. I did and they said that was a "typo" on the website and they couldn't honor anyone that bought any after Monday night! I was PO'ed!!! Did you have good luck? I hope so!

The McConnell Clan said...

#1. I missed your whole blog because I started thinking about Will Smith......... yum! JK
#2. Come eat Mexican with me!
#3. You win the best mommy award hands down!

Love ya! Let us know when the new addition arives!

The Burleys said...

Melissa - I rely A LOT on the websites. My favorites are hip2save.blogspot.com and southernsavers.com I use them to find the majority of my deals. I also sit down each week with the store circulars to look for other deals they may not have listed. And, at Bi-Lo, especially, I always make time to walk each aisle during my shopping trip, checking out the sale prices. I find at least one great buy each week that wasn't listed in their circular. Of course, all of this takes TIME, which I know we are all short on!

Amanda: Yes, I did get the $5 ECB's for the Pampers. I took a print out of the deal with me to the store and asked the cashier if they would honor it before she started my transaction. She rang me up and no ECB's printed out. The shift manager was standing right there and called customer service. They told her it was a typo on the internet and that they couldn't help me. I nicely asked if she could manually print my ECB's anyway, and she was so ill at customer service for not trying to make it right that she did! I think I got lucky.

Mary Ann said...

Girl I love the coupnsing post! I think they are so fun... so you better not stop posting about it, because I am always so excited to see what you have done. Great job by the way. I got Ashley from church started and my neighbor is starting too. Its a fade!Lol!

Mary Ann said...

That was suppose to say fad. Ha!

Anonymous said...

Emily Said...
I Love that song... It's stuck in my head now!!!