Weekley Deal Roundup

The very best deals for your week, from the blogosphere and beyond . . .

Grocery Deals:

Laura at Frugal Friends has been getting some great deals that might inspire you to take advantage of some current grocery promotions. Check out her Giant cereal deals (using the Kellogg's Fuel for School rebate) and her Harris Teeter Super Doubles trip. I'm sure there are still lots of good deals to be had, as Harris Teeter Super Doubles runs through today (Tuesday) and the Giant sale runs through Thursday.

Find out here how to get free Scrubbing Bubbles gift pack!

There are some new Arm and Hammer coupons up here. I especially like the one for baking soda. It's so cheap anyway that you can probably get it close to free if the $.50 coupon is doubled. These coupons go fast, so print them now if you want them.

The beginning of a new month means new coupons.com coupons! You can print these from the widget on my sidebar, twice for each coupon per computer. Here are my favorites of the new coupons:
- $.75/1 Welch's jam, jelly, or spread (Get this doubled or tripled for a really good deal. Jelly is expensive!)
- $.40/1 Nature Valley Granola bars
- $.75/1 Cheerios (selected varieties)
- $.40/1 Betty Crocker potatoes (combine with a sale to get them really cheap)
- $1.00/1 Yoplait Delights, $1.00/1 Yoplait Fiber One, and $1.00/1 Yo-Plus yogurt (Combine with a sale to get the packs for around $1.00 each.)
- $.60/3 Yoplait yogurt cups (Wow! If you were able to use this at a triple coupons event, you would definitely get the yogurt free or for a few cents.)
- $.50/1 Chex Mix
- $1.00/1 Cranberry Raisinets (I just want to try these - yum!)

Other Deals:

You can still order this free "Precious Places" DVD from Fisher Price. We ordered this a little while ago, and my girls love it. It's only 15 minutes long, so it's good if I need them to be still for just a few minutes (like when we're getting read to leave for a big outing). It's also pretty sweet and appropriate for very young girls.

The last of the back to school deals are going on now, so be sure you've stocked up on all the schoool supplies you need. Also, be on the lookout for deep end-of-season discounts on summer stuff. Target and CVS should be reaching my bargain threshold of at least 75% soon!

See any other standout deals this week? Please share in the comments section!

CVS Deals 08/30-09/05

Here are the top CVS deals this week. Not too much amazing, but there is a moneymaker on the Glade fragrance collection. I like to get these types of items when they're really cheap and save them for gift baskets.

Ashley has the complete list of CVS deals here.

Clairol Loving Care Haircolor $4.99 (get $2 ECBs) Limit 1
$2 P&G 8/30
= $.99 after ECBs.

Gillette Fusion, Venus Embrace or Spa Breeze Razor $8.99 (get $3 ECBs) Limit 1
$2 Gillette RP 8/16
$2 Venus RP 8/16
Free Gillette Shampoo wyb Fusion Razor P&G 8/2 (expires Monday, 8/31) – which has $1 ECB!!!
Free Gillette Body Wash wyb Fusion Razor P&G 8/2 (expires Monday, 8/31)
= $3.99 ($2.99 plus FREE shampoo if you get Gillette Shampoo).

Bayer Contour Blood Glucose Monitoring System $14.99 (get $5 ECBs) Limit 2 $30
SS 3/22
= $5 MONEYMAKER after ECBs.

Bounce Dryer Bar or Tide Stain Release Liquid $3.99 (get $1 ECB) Limit 1
$.75 Tide P&G 8/30
$1 Tide SS 8/16$1 Bounce P&G 8/30
$1.50 Tide requested Here (no longer available there but you can still get one Here.)
= $1.49 - $2.24 after ECBs.
Dawn Dish Liquid $.97
$.25 P&G 8/30
= $.73.

Glade Fragrance Collection Scented Reed Diffuser $6.99 (get $6.99 ECBs) Limit 1
$3/2 printable
$3/2 SS 8/9
$2 printable
$2 September All You Magazine$3 Collection August All You Magazine
= $1.50 MONEYMAKER - $3 MONEYMAKER

Remember:
SS - stands for Smart Source (one of the coupon inserts in the Sunday paper) .
RP - stands for Red Plum (another newspaper coupon insert).
P&G - stands for Proctor & Gamble coupon insert
The dates refer to the date of the paper that carried that insert.
ECB - stands for Extra Care Bucks.

You can read my introduction to CVS shopping here.

My Life Right Now

I'd like to take a minute today to share why I haven't been posting quite as much as I started out to do. And no, I'm not pregnant. ;-)

The main reason is extremely prosaic, actually - I have a very slow computer! Currently, I use my husband's laptop from college, which he bought used at the time. Let's just say it's getting slower and slower. Obviously, the technology is also outdated, which can make it hard to use. For instance, I actually have to disconnect from the Internet to hook up my camera to upload pictures! Needless to say, writing a blog post can be a little time-consuming.

One of the challenging things about trying to be frugal is that no, you don't just run out and buy an extremely expensive item like a new computer just because yours slows down a bit (or a lot). That being said, my husband and I are trying to work out a solution for me, but I'm not sure quite when we'll get around to resolving it.

I don't consider myself a big technology person, but it is amazing how much I do on the computer in my day to day life. I take care of a lot of my communication with friends and family, work on the budget, work on my blog, look up recipes, keep up with my moms' groups, etc. So having such a slow machine is making me spend a couple of hours just trying to keep up with email and the blog, let alone everything else.

Since I have two toddler girls to take care of, I really can't be spending hour upon on hour on the computer each day. So for now, I may only be posting a few times a week, instead of every day.

I have some big dreams for this blog, including a redesign and better features, that I do hope I'll be able to look into in the next few months. I love sharing my frugal adventures with you all, and I appreciate all of you who read and comment. I'd love to hear any suggestions from my readers of what you like and what direction you'd like to see this blog take.

Thanks for reading Frugally Blonde!

Birthday Cake!

Sorry for the blogging hiatus the past couple of days. Life's been busy!

As promised, I did want to share with you the fun cake I made for a little joint birthday party we had for my girls when my family came for the weekend.

I had a "classic birthday" theme for the party, and when I saw this cake on Wilton.com, I couldn't resist trying it. As you can see, I created my own version of their design.

This cake didn't require a lot of technical skill or talent to make (I've never taken a class or anything in cake decorating), but it did require a lot of steps and several days of preparation!

One of the best decisions I made was to purchase these neat food markers to decorate the cookies! It saved me from having to mix a lot of different icing colors, which always takes time. Once the cookie icing was hardened, the markers worked exactly like regular markers, and I could even draw the balloon and star shapes on the cookie pops!

The markers cost about $8, but I used a 50% off coupon at AC Moore. Plus, they will definitely last for several projects (you store them in the fridge).

This cake was a fun project for me, and I'm sure my girls would have liked a much simpler cake too. However, I did get my reward when, as I finished assembling the cake, my 3 year old exclaimed, "Oh, Mommy, that looks beautiful!"

See more great DIY projects at A Soft Place to Land!

Weekly Deal Roundup

The very best deals for your week, from the blogosphere and beyond . . .

Lots of deals for you today!

Grocery Deals:

If you buy name-brand diapers, there is a great deal on Pampers at Harris Teeter this week (through Tuesday), especially if you have $1.00 or $1.50 manufacturer's coupons.

Laura reports that Harris Teeter Super Double Coupons is coming up again! I am loving Harris Teeter recently!

Target. Baby Deals. That's the word in the blogosphere. I received a baby coupon mailer from Target a few days ago with a bunch of coupons, which of course can be stacked with manufacturer's coupons. Redemption Unlimited had the good tip to wait to use your coupons until the upcoming Target baby sale. There are also some new printable Target baby coupons, one of which can get you a free Gerber bottle.

Other Deals:

Here's a free shipping code for Old Navy with no minimum purchase!

See how to get 3 years of Town and Country magazine free here!

Another good magazine deal: Gina has a great heads-up about how to get a subscription to Southern Living for just $5/year. I remember in college finding out that my good friend from California had never heard of Southern Living! I was shocked. ;-)

Here's a fairly specialized deal, but I couldn't resist sharing it for those who would use it . . . our local Northern Virginia Catholic bookstore, The Catholic Shop in Chantilly, is having a huge clearance sale. Head on over to stock up for the new school year!

Another local deal, for those of you who ever shop at the Leesburg Corner Premium Outlets. The Pottery Barn Outlet is now having weekly specials, starting on Thursdays. They're advertising up to 80% off original retail prices. I have scored some really awesome deals at this outlet, even though regular Pottery Barn is usually way above my touch!

See any other standout deals for this week? Please share in the comments section!

CVS Deals

It looks like a pretty good week at CVS this week! As for the past several weeks, there is a 3-day sale, so I'm going to try to make a trip before the end of the day on Tuesday. Here are the highlights:

3 Day Sale – Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday Only
Caliber or CVS Composition Book - 100 Sheets $.99 (get $.99 ECBs) Limit 2
= FREE after ECBs

Week Long Deals
Accu-Chek Aviva Diabetes Monitoring Kit $10
$10 SS 8/23
= FREE

Carefree Ultra Protection 16 ct $3.79 (get $3.79 ECBs) Limit 4
$.50 printable
$1 printable
= $.50 MONEYMAKER - $1 MONEYMAKER

Poise Liners 10-16 ct. $4/2 (get $2 ECBs wyb 2) Limit 5
$1/2 SS 8/9
$1.50/2 printable
$1.50/2 SS 8/9
$1 printable
$1 July All You Magazine
= $.50 each - FREE

Glade Products including Glade Plugins Refill, Glade Plugins Gel 3 pack, Glade Scented Oil Candle Refills 3 count or Candle Holder $5/2 Glade Sense & Spray or Lasting Impressions $10/2 - see page 5 (get $3 ECBs wyb $10) Limit 1
$1/2 PlugIns Refill SS 7/26
$1 Plugins Refill SS 8/2
$1 Plugins Refill 8/23
$3 Lasting Impressions SS 8/02
$4 Sense & Spray SS 8/23
$4 Sense & Spray July All You Magazine
Free Warmer wyb a Refill SS 8/2
= varies (at least 30% off after ECBs. If you buy the Sense and Spray with the $3 coupons you make $1)

Kraft Mac and Cheese $4/4 (get $2 wyb 2) Limit 1
B3G1 printable
= $.25 each

Ashley at Frugal Coupon Living has a complete list of CVS deals here.

Remember:
SS - stands for Smart Source (one of the coupon inserts in the Sunday paper) .
RP - stands for Red Plum (another newspaper coupon insert).
P&G - stands for Proctor & Gamble coupon insert
The dates refer to the date of the paper that carried that insert.
ECB - stands for Extra Care Bucks.

You can read my introduction to CVS shopping here.

Just a Quick Note to Say . . .

. . . that I won't be blogging any more this weekend. My family is coming into town, and we're having a family party to celebrate our girls' upcoming birthdays. I'm hoping that on Monday I'll have photos to share of a successfully-completed-somewhat-elaborate cake that I've been working on for days!

Have a great weekend!

Wegmans Deals

Find your Wegmans deals for the week here!

Homemade Pickles!

I've mentioned the bounty of cucumbers that we've gotten from our garden (28 at last count), and, besides the few we've given away, I've been trying to use them all. Of course, you can't really cook or freeze cucumbers, so besides eating lots and lots of them raw, we decided to try homemade pickles!

I have never learned how to can, so I knew I wanted a recipe for refrigerator pickles. Also, my husband (and I) are extremely opposed to sweet pickles, so we definitely wanted a sour recipe! As usual, All Recipes came through for me with this recipe for Spicy Refrigerator Dill Pickles.

I have now made the recipe three times, and we are extremely pleased with the results! Homemade pickles taste so fresh and pungent compared to the store-bought shelf-stable kind. Also, this was a great way to use some of our cucumbers that turned out a little bitter - you can't tell at all once they are pickles.

I don't really have "making of" pictures, because the directions are very simple and self-explanatory. You basically just mix everything together, let it all sit for three hours, and put it in the fridge in jars. (I also used Rubbermaid containers in a pinch.) The one recipe note I would make is that if, like us, you don't want your pickles to have even a hint of sweetness, I would advise completely eliminating the sugar, as many of the recipe commenters advise. I have now tried the recipe three times, reducing the sugar each time, and I think we are happiest without it.

The recipe says that these pickles will keep for a month in the refrigerator, but I think we might have trouble keeping them around that long!

See more great ideas for DIY projects at A Soft Place to Land.

WFMW: Stockpiling

I thought you all might enjoy seeing some photos of my stockpile. The first two pics are of my toiletry stockpile in my bathroom closet.

Looking over these two pictures, I can honestly say that the vast majority of these items I got for free or close to free just by shopping the CVS deals each week. The rest of the items I either probably got through another couponing deal or stocked up when they were on sale.

The last photo is of course my cereal stockpile!

The advantages of stockpiling are many. Just what springs to mind for me are that I usually never pay more than $.50 for a toiletry item or $1.00 for a box of cereal. Having a stash tucked away also means that we don't run out if I get busy or if there are no deals on a particular item for a while.

Of course, especially with toiletries (which we use a lot more slowly than cereal!), there are so many deals that the stockpile could really get out of hand. (When I organized my closet recently, I found that I had 13 tubes of toothpaste - they're behind the dish soap in the picture!) Luckily, our church has an ongoing giving tree which often has requests for toiletries for the women's shelter and other charities. I also try to give some away to family members, like my college-aged brothers. It's such a blessing to have extra to share!

Stockpiling definitely Works for Me!

Tuesday Tip

A quick, painless money-saving tip every Tuesday . . .

Don't forget that if your store is out of a sale item, you can ask for a raincheck. (That is, a coupon entitling you to the sale price when you buy the item after they restock.)

I just recently started to ask for rainchecks, and I was pleasantly surprised with how easy it is. You usually just have to go up to the customer service desk and ask for it. You can even tell them how many of the item you would like to buy, and they will make the raincheck for that amount (of course, there is probably a limit).

Just to give a couple of examples of the usefulness of rainchecks: when Harris Teeter was out of their $1.25 blueberries when I went there a couple of weeks ago, I got a raincheck for 4 pints. Now when blueberries are back to $3.99, I'll still be able to get a few more for my berry-loving daughter. Similarly, today when I went to HT for my second triple coupons run, they were out of the BOGO Ziploc sandwich bags and storage containers. With the raincheck that I have now, I can get the deal when they do triple coupons again, when these items might not be such a great deal if not on sale.

Have a quick and easy money saving tip to share? Email me, and I'll credit you if I use your tip.

Weekly Deal Roundup

Sorry this is a little late this week!

The very best deals for your week, from the blogosphere and beyond . . .

Grocery Deals:

Today's the last day of triple coupons at Harrris Teeter. Hurry in if you haven't made a trip yet! If they're out of a sale item, remember that you can always request a raincheck.

I see some good new coupons on coupons.com. (As always, you can print these from my sidebar and can print 2 per computer.) Check these out:
- $5/off $25 purchase at Rite Aid (See Rite Aid deals here.)
- $1.50/1 Huggies diapers
- $3.00/1 Huggies Pure and Natural diapers
- $1.00/1 Pepperidge Farm cookies (yum!)
- $.50/1 Chex Mix (great deal doubled or tripled!)

There have been a few weeks with no amazing Target deals lately, but now the deals are back in full force. Check Money Saving Mom's posts here and here for the best deals. My favorites are almost free apples and bananas, free mini artisan breads (these are really good), and very cheap A-1 sauce. I'll definitely be making several trips to Target this week!

Other Deals:

Hip2Save had a post about an amazing deal on Thomas trains and some other toys. These trains are usually extremely expensive at regular price, so if you know a child that likes them, this deal sounds like it's worth checking out. I would have done it myself, but I scored one these engines for my daughter on a 40% off sale at AC Moore last week. It's worth remembering that Michael's and AC Moore carry the Thomas toys, because both these stores have a 40% off coupon almost every week.

I may have mentioned that I really love Gymboree clothes for my girls. Though they're expensive at regular price, they are very high quality, and discounts and great deals are plentiful if you look. This week I'll be heading over to Gymboree's Circle of Friends promotion for the 30% off your entire order coupon. Redemption Unlimited has a helpful post with some tips on shopping this promotion as well.

Be on the alert all around you for summer clearance. Some places (like a lot of clothing stores) are probably almost out of summer items, but others (like Target or CVS) are just getting to the really good markdowns. My CVS has had all summer items on 40% off for a couple of weeks, so I'm expecting they'll get to 50% and more by the end of the month. Once they get to 75% off, that's when I start stocking up. ;-)

See any other standout deals this week? Please let us know in the comments section!

CVS Deals: 08/16-08/22

Here are your best deals at CVS this week, courtesy of Ashley at Frugal Coupon Living. You can see the complete list of CVS deals here.

(Note: The top 4 deals are part of the 3-day sale and are only good through Tuesday.)

Caliber or CVS Filler Paper - 150 sheets $.99 (get $.99 ECBs) Limit 2
= FREE after ECBs.

Caliber Recycled School Box $1.99 (get $1.99 ECBs) Limit 2
= FREE after ECBs.

Caliber or CVS Mini Composition Notebook – 80 sheets $1.99 (get $1.99 ECBs) Limit 2
= FREE after ECBs.

Philips Earhook Headphones $6.99 (get $6.99 ECBs) Limit 1
= FREE after ECBs.

B1G1 Gatorade or Sobe Thirst Quencher $1.99 Limit 4
B1G1 Sobe printable
= FREE.

AMC Entertainment Card $25 (get $5 ECBs) Limit 2
= $20 (If you frequent AMC theaters, you might as well. It could make a nice gift too)

Remember: SS - stands for Smart Source (one of the coupon inserts in the Sunday paper) .
RP - stands for Red Plum (another newspaper coupon insert).
P&G - stands for Proctor & Gamble coupon insert
The dates refer to the date of the paper that carried that insert.
ECB - stands for Extra Care Bucks.

You can read my introduction to CVS shopping here.

Harris Teeter Triples

I didn't get to chance to post about my trip earlier, but I actually hit up Harris Teeter Triples on Wednesday, the first day of the promotion. That was nice, because they weren't really out of any of the deals. In total I spent $27.43 sand saved $25.75 in VIC savings and $60.40 in coupon savings.

I was quite happy with the trip; I got some free items as well as good discounts on items that I needed.

Here are my free and very cheap items:

Blue Bunny Ice Cream - $.74
Matahama Brown Rice - $.74
Betty Crocker Cookie Mix - $.50 each
Grands Biscuits - $.25 for 2
Betty Crocker Warm Delights - $.17 each
Welch's Grape Jam - FREE
Solo Cups - FREE

Here are the items that I needed but got on a good discount with tripled coupons:

Nature Valley Granola Bars (one box not pictured) - I think this came out to about $.65/box or something, after the sale, coupons, and catalina deal.
Scrubbing Bubbles Shower Cleaner Refill - $1.24
Shout Advanced Gel - $1.84
McCormick Onion Powder - $1.96
Pastrami - $2.50
Cake Mate Icing Decoraters - $1.02-$1.49 (on clearance rack), plus $1.00/2 coupon
Grapes - $.99/lb

What made my deals even better was that there were enough participating items on great deals that I was able to take advantage of the Buy 15 General Mills products, save $5 instantly.

The deals were so good this time that I plan to try to make one more HT triples trip on Tuesday!

Check the list at Frugal in Virginia to get your HT triples coupon matchups. You can also see Dana's and other's shopping trips here.

Check out other great deals from this week at Super Savings Saturday.

New Post on GalTime

My newest article is up on GalTime - Healthy Eating on a Budget. Hope you enjoy!

Wegmans Deals

Sorry I'm reporting a bit late this week, but my Wegmans deals are up on Frugal in Virginia!

Also, in case you didn't hear a few weeks back, the newest Wegmans is open in Fredericksburg, VA!

Making Crystallized Flowers

Today I'm excited to be participating for the first time in Do It Yourself Day at A Soft Place to Land. Be sure to check out all the creative ideas over there!

When we planned our garden this year, I knew that I wanted some flowers. However, we were also trying to get as much produce out of our small area as we could. Thus I decided to try growing nasturtiums, a lovely flower with both edible leaves and blossoms.

Well, they've been a huge success! They germinated and grew quickly, and they've kept a steady stream of red, orange, and yellow flowers for at least a month now. We've also been putting the leaves into salad, and they have a very pleasant, lightly peppery taste.

For my sister's birthday a couple of weeks ago, I decided to try crystallizing the flowers to decorate her birthday cake. I found directions here and here to get me started.

First of all, I was a little worried because nasturtiums are actually pretty delicate flowers. I was especially worried that washing them would make them fall apart. However, I followed the directions and just very gently dipped them a few times in a bowl of cold water and salt. Then I perked them up by dipping them in ice water. That really worked, as you can see below.


They took several hours to dry and be ready to sugar. You can use egg white to make the sugar stick, but I usually have meringue powder around, so I used that. (I prefer not to use raw eggs.) I used a tiny, clean paintbrush (from a new watercolor set that I had bought on a back to school deal), and very carefully coated all the surfaces with the meringue powder. It was pretty thick, so I had to be careful not to overload the delicate flower.


After that, I sprinkled the coated flowers with the sugar. Note here that I used regular sugar (I was kind of doing this at the last minute), but I would strongly recommend the superfine sugar. The regular sugar was definitely heavy for the delicate blossom, and for a little while I was afraid they would just turn out as a mushy, sugary mess.

However, I just tried to sprinkle the sugar as lightly as possible, while still covering all surfaces. After the flowers hardened, they did look really nice. Up close, you could see the imperfections, but altogether on the cake, they were quite impressive.

Also, I didn't realize at first that the crystallized flowers can keep for weeks, so this is a project that you could definitely do ahead of time. It's a simple thing that can really take a dessert or display to a new level!

Tuesday Tip

A quick, painless money saving tip every Tuesday

Can you tell I have birthdays on the brain? Today's Tuesday Tip is sign up for birthday freebies for yourself, your spouse, and your children. A huge number of restaurants of all kinds offer freebies for kids' birthdays or for all birthdays. Check out the extensive list at Freebies 4 Mom.

Some of my favorite birthday freebies are the $3 gift card from ToysRUs and free ice cream at Baskin Robbins and ColdStone Creamery. Also, I was excited to hear from my friend Ashley how she got a free mini cake at Harris Teeter for her son's first birthday, and apparently other grocery stores have similar programs. I'll certainly be checking that out for my little girls 1st birthday coming up in September!

Have a quick and easy money-saving tip to share? Email me, and I'll credit you if I use your tip.

Weekly Deal Roundup

The very best deals for your week, from the blogosphere and beyond . . .


Grocery Deals:

There's another offer for the free Home Made Simple coupon booklet here. This offer comes out regularly, and I always sign up for it. You get a coupon for a free product, plus a bunch of other coupons, mostly for cleaning and laundry products. At the last Harris Teeter super double coupons, I doubled the coupons from this booklet to get two of the more expensive types of Dawn dish soap for free!

There are several coupons out right now for money off your total order at several stores, including:
- $5 off a $50 order at Giant
- $5 off a $25 order at CVS
- 10% off your total order at Rite Aid (see coupons.com widget on my sidebar)

Triple Coupon time again! Jenny at Southern Savers has the scoop on the current triple coupons promotion at Bloom and upcoming triples at Harris Teeter.

Lastly, don't forget about the great Kraft and Kellogg's rebate deals going on right now. Apparantly you can free and very cheap cereal and snacks for back to school.


Other Deals:

Highlights for Children is still having a great clearance sale on their toys, up to 75% off and even more! I saw this vanity table still available, priced at $10.99 down from $59.98!

Restaurant.com is doing their 80% off promotion again! Use code PORTION to get 80% off through August 13.

See any other standout deals this week? Please let us know in the comments section!

One More Deal and All You Challenge Wrap-Up

I just have to share one more couponing deal from the weekend. Late Saturday night, after driving home from helping my sister move, we stopped at Walmart so I could use my $2.50/1 Electrasol Finish dishwasher detergent coupons, which expired on Sunday. I couldn't let such high-value coupons for such a necessary product expire! I also remembered to use the $3.00/2 Pull-Ups wipes coupons, since I knew that Walmart carried a small size for just $1.64, making them $.14 each after the coupon.

On these 7 items, I saved $13.50 in coupons! Sometimes the "coupon savings" on a transaction is not that meaningful if I wouldn't buy the products at regular price anyway, but these are all products that I need and use, coupons or no coupons. The cashier at Walmart was really impressed with my savings. She said that I was inspiring her to get back to couponing. Yay!

Also, yesterday was the last day of the All You Grocery Challenge. Here's what I spent last week:
Giant - $23.02 & $.48 & $3.06 & $4.59 (loving Giant this week!)
Harris Teeter - $3.45 & $16.01
Safeway - $4.06
Bloom - $2.04
Total: $56.71

Here's my spending for the 4 weeks of the contest:
Week 1 - $18.85
Week 2 - $62.92
Week 3 - $57.23
Week 4 - $56.71

(I have to double-check my receipts; there might be one or two missing from these totals. But this is pretty close to my actual spending.)

Overall, I feel good about the challenge. I stayed under budget each week, and it was definitely a good exercise in discipline to strictly keep to the $75/week.

It's true that a lot of it did not involve changing my habits very much, since I have learned so many savings strategies in the last year. There were a few instances, however, where we would have splurged on something but did not because of the challenge. For instance, we had a really busy day on Saturday and ordinarily probably would have gotten fast-food takeout for lunch. But because of the challenge I packed some convenience foods that I had gotten on coupon deals and we waited until we arrived at my sister's to eat a late lunch. It was a good reminder that if we really need to we can spend even less than we do now, and how rare it is that we really "need" to splurge.

Thanks to All You for hosting the contest, and it will be exciting to see who wins!

CVS Deals 08/09-08/15

Ashley at Frugal Coupon Living is taking a week off from doing her CVS deals this week, but she has some highlights and a link to a full list of deals here.

As with the past few weeks, there is a 3-day sale ending on Tuesday that you might want to take advantage of.

Also, make sure to find out here how to get your $5/25 CVS coupon!

Saving on Birthday Parties

Last week I published a great guest post by Laura about how to save money when planning a birthday party. She really had so many great ideas, so be sure to check it out if you missed it.

Right now I am planning both my girls' birthday parties, and I am planning to use many of her ideas, including using some generic paper products, using the girls' toys as decorations, and making my own food and cake. I also thought I would share some additional ideas that I have been using or have used in the past for planning a fun birthday party without spending too much.

- Save for the party - Even a very frugal party usually requires a little extra money, and I do like to make holidays and birthdays special. Therefore I try to plan ahead of time and save up some extra money or otherwise work the party into my budget.

- Buy gifts ahead of time - I have several gifts for my older daughter hidden away in my "present stash" in my closet that I bought when I saw them on clearance. I always have my eye out for presents for the girls, even when their birthdays or Christmas are far off.

- Use the internet - As you know, there are websites and blogs out there for every topic under the sun, and there are so many creative ideas that don't necessarily cost much money. One website I have found useful is http://www.birthdaypartyideas.com/. They have a huge collection of party ideas submitted by readers using every theme you can think of. Also, after your party you can submit your party idea for a chance to win a cash prize!

- Serve simple food - Sometimes the best party foods are the simplest - cake, ice cream, sandwiches, pizza, hot dogs and hamburgers. Kids, especially, usually don't need elaborate food to be happy. Dressing up the food in shapes, with garnishes or sprinkles, or in festive dishes can make ordinary fare seem really special.

- Don't go overboard - My kids are at the age where they really don't need much to make them excited and happy. Balloons? Sprinkles? Candles? Happy. I think that even older kids are often just as happy with less than we think. Try to do the things that are really important to them, and don't worry about the rest.

Check out more frugal tips at Frugal Fridays!

Cheap Cheerios!

I just had to share a photo of the incredibly cheap cereal I've gotten at Giant this week, so that if you haven't taken advantage of this promotion, you still can go this evening. (The sale ends today.)

Total spent on these 8 boxes of cereal: $1.80 ($.22/box!!!)

1st transaction:

4 boxes regular Cheerios at 4 for $6.00

- $1.00/2 General Mills cereal coupon (doubled with dollar doublers)

- $.55/1 Cheerios printable coupon (doubled)

- $.75/1 Cheerios coupon from Pampers mailer (doubled)

Total: $1.40 for four boxes or $.35/box

2nd tranasaction:

2 boxes Kix, 1 Honey Nut Cheerios, 1 Multigrain Cheerios all at 4 for $6.00

- 2 $.75/1 Kix coupons (doubled)

- $.55/1 Honey Nut Cheerios coupon (doubled)

- $.75/1 Multigrain Cheerios coupon (doubled)

Total: $.40 for four boxes or $.10/box

Most of these coupons can be printed from the coupons.com widget on my sidebar, except for the Pampers one I got in the mail. I think also the $.55 off regular Cheerios might no longer be available.

If you're going for this deal today, bring all the coupons you have for the cereals, since the store may be out of some varieties. Also, make sure you get the correct sizes of the cereal (get an ad in the store to reference). It is doubly confusing because some other General Mills are Buy 4, save $6, which of course is not the same things as Buy 4 for $6!

I'm so grateful for this deal, because my girls both love plain Cheerios. This deal makes them way cheaper even than store brand!

Tuesday Tip

Use bibs on your young children. Not only do they save money on laundry detergent and stain remover, but they save a lot of time and trouble trying to get stains out. Also, at least for me, there are always those stains that I can't get out and that ruin and waste clothes.

Personally, I think that all bibs should be both wipeable (so that they can be used for several meals) and machine washable (so that you can get them completely clean). I have been happy with Bumpkins (the investment is worth it), but Ikea also makes a pretty good similar bib.

I know that a lot of parents give up on bibs once the child can pull them off, but there lots of options out there that might stay on better. Bumpkins makes a bib with back ties and sleeves. Or try decorating a large old t-shirt as a special "meal shirt." For my almost three year old, we've moved onto cute kids aprons that I've gotten at the dollar store and Target dollar spot.

Photo by ppreacher.

Weekly Deal Roundup

The very best deals for your week, from the blogosphere and beyond . . .

Grocery Deals:

If you ever shop at Giant, don't miss out on the sweet Cheerios deal this week (all varieties). You can get multiple boxes of Cheerios for anywhere from $1.00 to free! Check out the info at Redemption Unlimited.

There are new coupons up on coupons.com for August. Here are the best ones I see:
- $1.00/1 Special K Blueberry cereal
- $1.00/2 Bic Stationery products (combine with a back-to-school sale)
- $.40/1 Betty Crocker fruit-flavored shapes (Coupons for fruit snacks are usually on at least two boxes, so this is a particularly good coupon.)
- $1.00/2 Big G cereals & $.55/1 Honey Nut Cheerios (use with Cheerios deal above)
- 50% off your entire purchase at Olan Mills
- $.60/3 Yoplait thick and creamy yogurts (This is a high-value coupons, especially doubled or tripled.)
As usual, you can print these coupons from the pink coupon widget on my sidebar and can print them twice per computer.

I don't usually post about the myriad free sample offers out there (I leave that up to the great deal bloggers on my sidebar), but I thought this was a particularly good one: Find out here how to get a free sample and a $1 coupon for Honey Nut Cheerios.

Other Deals:

Target may still have some toys on a clearance up to 75% off! I got a few 75% off toys there over the weekend to give as future gifts. In my experience, the toy clearance at Target has mostly junk with a few hidden gems. That's the thrill of the hunt!

And speaking of toy clearance, Highlights for Children's toy store has a pretty great deals right now, including a $300 dollhouse for less than $100 and a few similar deals.

Finally, this is a little late, but there's a free Redbox code for tonight!

See any other standout deals this week? Please share in the comments section!

Menu Planning Monday

Well, it's the last week of the All You Challenge, and I don't need too much from the grocery store. I'm using up a lot of the meat in our freezer and continuing to try to use plenty of cucumbers and fresh herbs from the garden.

Here are our dinners for the week:

Mon - Old Fashioned Sicilian Succo, garden salad, homemade French bread

Tues - Greek chicken pitas, fruit

Wed - Salisbury steakwith onion sauce, green beans, potatoes

Thurs - Leftover Sicilian Succo (spaghetti and meatballs)

Fri - Black bean soup, corn chips, fruit

Sat - Pizza out (helping my sister move)

Sun - Leftovers, etc.

Get more menu ideas at Menu Planning Mondays!

CVS Deals

Here are the top CVS deals this week. Head over to Frugal Coupon Living to see a complete list of deals. I'm excited about more free school supplies this week, as well as about free high-quality dishwasher detergent!

Back to School 3-Day Sale (Sunday, Monday and Tuesday)
Caliber Academic Compass/Protractor $1.50 (get $1.50 ECBs) Limit 2
= FREE

Caliber Academic 5 Inch Scissors $2.99 (get $2.99 ECBs) Limit 2
= FREE

Buy ANY stationery item, get a writing item for $.01 Limit 1

Softsoap Nutri Serums $4.99 (get $4 ECBs) Limit 1'

= FREE

Weekly Deals

Blink Tears or Gel Tears $7.99 (get $7.99 )Limit 1

$1.50 printable

$3 RP 8/2

= $1 MONEYMAKER - $3 MONEYMAKER

Electrosol Tablets $5/2 (get $10 ECBs wyb $20) Limit 1

$2.50 Electrosol SS 7/12

= FREE after ECBs)

Remember:
SS - stands for Smart Source (one of the coupon inserts in the Sunday paper)
.RP - stands for Red Plum (another newspaper coupon insert).
P&G - stands for Proctor & Gamble coupon insert
The dates refer to the date of the paper that carried that insert.
ECB - stands for Extra Care Bucks.

You can read my introduction to CVS shopping here.