This week at CVS

This was one of my most gratifying weeks for CVS shopping. I thoroughly enjoyed it! Here's a photo of the spoils:


4 boxes of Kelloggs Mini Wheats (I eat this for breakfast almost every day. BOGO sale, plus $1 off coupons for each one = $1.10 per box)
3 boxes of tampons (Free with coupons)
Kotex pads (They paid me $1 after coupons)
2L Sierra Mist (Free)
4 12 packs of Pepsi (This was the big expense item. It was $12 plus deposit. I paid with previously earned ECBs. By buying these, I got 4 of the SoBe waters and the 2L of Sierra Mist free, plus 3 more ECB. We rarely drink pop anymore, but it's nice to have something other than water and milk to offer when we have company.)
10 SoBe vitamin enriched water (We discovered this with a previous CVS deal and my kids are hooked! Four were free with the above mentioned deal. The other 6 cost a total of $3 but generated $4 of ECB.)
8 pack snack sized Skittles - not pictured (I needed a $1 filler so I could use my $2 off $10 coupon. It actually saved me money to get these. And it kept J and H happy for a while in the car.)

I spent about $13 out of pocket. $5 of that is deposit for the cans, so we'll get that money back once the pop is gone. That leaves about $8 spent. I'd consider that a pretty good deal just for the things we really needed (the cereal and feminine products). The other things were bonus. Plus I got $11 in Extra Care Bucks to spend next week!

My Frugal Journey

I had a good laugh when I read this post today. I'm sure my husband could have written it. The coupon box, the stockpile, CVSing, the adrenaline rush as you plan and execute your shopping excursion--it's all stuff I can relate to.

I started getting in to the whole "frugal" thing more than a year ago. It was a gradual process that started after H was born. With two children, I desperately wanted to stay home more. I would have quit my job then and there if it weren't for one problem: Going to medical school cost about as much as our first two mortgages combined. And somebody was going to be coming after us pretty quick if we stopped paying that loan back.

There's no going back and saying, "Excuse me, I've decided I don't want to be a doctor after all. I'd like to return this degree. Can I have my money back?" Which is really unfortunate, because I'm pretty good at returns in other situations.

That little problem combined with the fact that hubby was between (paying) jobs at the time made the stay at home mom deal not an option. I hated the fact that decisions about how to care for our children were being dictated by money. I never wanted to be in that position again, so we determined to make debt retirement a priority.

We started out by cutting back on frivolous expenses like eating out and getting Starbucks regularly. I started buying store brand items to save on groceries.

The next step in my frugal evolution came from reading Jeana's blog. I was intrigued by some of her comments about combining coupons with sales to get things free or nearly free. I started asking myself her coupon question: "Would I use this item if I could get it for free?" If so, I clipped the coupon. My stockpile began to grow. I would strike deals here and there, but was far from expert at it. (Jeana's actually evolved past the coupon stage now, but I'm not there yet.)

By saving the coupons until the item was on a super sale, I started to get more brand-name items for less than I'd been spending on the store brand. I signed up for the free trial of the Grocery Game during this phase. It was good training to learn how to scan the sale papers for the best deals to match with my coupons. I started trying to stock up on things when they hit the rock bottom (preferably free) price rather than waiting until we needed something and paying whatever they're asking at the time.

Then, I discovered Money Saving Mom and progressed to a new level of frugality. I took her Supermarket Savings course and read CVS 101. It opened up a whole new world to me! My first big CVS heist, and I was hooked!

I talked B into CVSing with me one night. As we walked in, I assured him he'd have so much fun that he'd be out doing it on his own! We split up the list between the two of us, because, although I'm usually brave enough to ask the cashier to split my things into two orders, I've never been brave enough to do more than that. (With one exception, but she asked for it!) When you've got multiple $2 off $10 coupons, you really don't want to go over $10 per order, you know. I gave B the quick check out tutorial - "Give her the CVS card first, then your items, then the $/$$ couons, then the manufacturer's coupons, and finally pay with the ECBs. Don't let those manufacturer's coupons out of you hand until the $/$$ coupons are scanned or it screws up the whole deal!" He was a good sport about the whole thing. And while my prediction that he'd want it to be his new hobby hasn't come true, he did have at least a smirk on his face when we walked out with 4 bags full of stuff they'd basically paid us to take off their hands.

It's been a fun way to make the most of what God has given us. I view each dollar saved as a little less time away from my precious children. I've been able to stretch our dollars and have plenty left over to share with others. Our church's food pantry got a case of pasta when Meijer was "giving them away." The homeless ministry has gotten high-end toiletries, courtesy of CVS. I've found frugality to be contagious, too. I've got my sister in law hooked, as well as Julie - whose husband even hijacks her blog to brag about her great deals!

I'm still learning and evolving in my management of our family's resources. I'm thankful to the many wise and godly ladies I've "met" and learned from courtesy of the internet. And I'm very much looking forward to November 1, when the fruits of my frugality are starting to pay off and I'm stepping down to part time at work!!

Whatever it takes to get through the store

Warning: If you do not happen to be my son's parent or grandparent, and are therefore not naturally inclined to find everything he does cute, save your time and go do somthing else.

I, however, found these hilarious. J joined me on my weekly trip to Meijer yesterday. I shelled out a dollar to rent a video cart to help keep him amused. The space for groceries in those carts isn't quite as large as in a regular cart, so I put my purse next to him on the seat. He likes to check it out whenever he gets the chance to see if there are any gum or snacks inside. This time, he found my camera instead. He proceeded to document our entire shopping trip. I probably could have saved the buck for the cart if I'd known how entertaining the camera turned out to be.

Here are but a few of the 125 photos of Meijer I found the next time I downloaded my memory stick:


The video inside the video cart. There were about 30 different shots of this. I'll spare you the rest.
The view out the window of the cart
Frozen food aisle

Who even knew there were so many varieties of gummy snacks!


I'm sure this was in my honor (ha! ha!)
I never even noticed there was advertising on the floor tiles before.
A fellow shopper. "Nice pants."

This is where we played the game: "See if you can find a picture with broccoli in it. How about one with corn." I needed a little more time and he was getting antsy.


"Mom, can we get some of these?"

Skid marks on the floor

Hmm. I don't even remember going past this section. I hope that lady never finds my blog.

The fish - always a favorite stop when the kids are along.

Finally checking out!

The artist.

That Was Fun!

I just got back from CVS-ing. I got 2 bags of cat food, foundation, nail files, face powder, and 10 4x6 prints. I spent $1.64 out of pocket and got $10 in Extra Care Bucks back.

I think that's enough to make even Crystal proud.

Cleanup on Aisle 12

Background: Tums are like candy in our house. I can't remember exactly how it started, but somehow J got hooked on them. I figure they're basically just a calcium supplement and harmless enough, so we go along with it. (Not that a kid who goes through several gallons of milk a week really needs a calcium supplement). We did double check with the pediatrician and were assured that a couple a day were fine. And so, J gets "minty treats" from time to time.

I think I must have given him his first one sometime when he had an upset stomach. He developed a bad habit of going into "sick mode" and complaining that his stomach hurts when what he really wants is a minty. I've had numerous heart-to-hearts with him about not telling me he feels bad when he really doesn't. Mommy needs to be able to know when he's really sick. In my attempt to keep from rewarding him when he lies, I give him a minty if he just asks for it, but not if he tells me his tummy hurts. Makes sense, right? I'll give my kid medicine if he's fine, but not if he tells me he feels sick.

The story: Today I needed to do some grocery shopping. I hate to be gone from the kids for a long time during the day, I hate going grocery shopping late at night, and bad things happen when I take the kids by myself. "Wouldn't it be fun if we all went together?," I suggested to B. Good man that he is, he pretended it was a good idea and came along.

While I was getting the groceries, B and the kids were doing all the fun things there are to do at Meijer - playing with the toys, visiting the lobsters/fish/hamsters, riding the purple dinosaur. . .As I was nearing the end of my shopping, they met up with me. J had a bit of a pained look on his face, and said, "Mommy, my tummy hurts from walking and walking." My first thought was that he was angling to get some medicine when we got home. Then I started to say something about people's legs usually hurting from walking. But before I could finish the thought, he let out an enormous burp. Followed by a tidal wave of lunch.

Vomiting upsets J very much. He was crying and reaching out for me. I'd like to tell you how I forgot all about myself and how repulsive and foul-smelling I find vomit, how I scooped him up and comforted him. But that would be a lie. And since my dear husband reads my blog and was there to witness the event, I'll stick to the facts.

I wanted so much to be comforting, but instead I found myself jumping backward trying to get away from the spray. When it seemed it was over, I maneuvered behind him to try to help him without coming in contact with the stuff dripping down his front. The first words of comfort I managed to get out were, "Ew! Don't wipe that on my. . .Uck, too late!"

I could tell by the understanding smile on the face of the lady next to us that she was a mom too.

His mood improved significantly once he'd thrown up, so we completed our errands. All was well until we arrived home. I gave J a special box of treats to carry in the house for me. No sooner was he through the door than he got that look again. Then again with the belch. And again with lunch.

Was I super mom this time? No, I'm afraid this time the first thing I said was, "Don't throw up on the cookies!" So you see my priorities: Never mind the carpet. Never mind the clothes. Not to mention my poor suffering child. Just don't wreck my cookies.

The moral: Never give your children medicine as treats because then you won't be able to tell when you're really about to be thrown up on.

Shopping with Kids is not for Sissies

There are many days when I feel like I'm a pretty good mother. There are certain situations, however, that cause me to seriously doubt my parenting abilities. Shopping with the kids is probably the main one. I generally try to avoid it at all costs.

Against my better judgment, we made two excursions to three stores in the past 24 hours. Yesterday was to Kohl's. Fortunately we had Grandma meeting us there to provide reinforcements (and her senior citizen discount).

It started out a little shaky, and went down from there. I didn't bother to bring a stroller in because Kohl's always has those handy shopping cart/stroller combos parked by all the entrances for your shopping-with-toddler convenience. All the entrances except the one we came in, that is. Or the one we hiked to clear at the other end of the store. I looked through the line of people waiting to check out to see if there was one about to be available, but no luck there either. I spotted a kid who looked to be about 10 pushing an empty one around and briefly considered swiping it from him. But then I spotted his mom nearby and she looked like she could hurt me.

Back to the first entrance, still no carts. It seemed like I remembered seeing one in the parking lot on the way in, so out we went, back into the snow, to retrieve it. Happy Day, it was still there.

So 20 minutes after we arrived at the store we had our cart and were ready to begin shopping.

Almost. . .

"Mommy, I have to go potty!" Why did I ever potty train that kid? Diapers are much more convenient while shopping!

So finally, we had our cart, J had been relieved, and Grandma had joined us. We're off! I had already broken out the m&ms I brought to keep the kids entertained because, even though we had just started shopping, we had been in the store for more than a half hour.

Just past the PJ's, in front of the bedding, I stepped in something wet. "Hmm," I thought, "someone must have spilled their drink." But I look closer, and no, this is slimy and chunky, and clearly was recently inside someone's stomach. Gross! I stepped in vomit! While I was frantically wiping my shoe off on the carpet a sales lady happened by. I told her I thought someone threw up over there. She looked at us with a disgusted look on her face and pulled out her phone to call someone. A minute later Grandma says, "I think I know who threw up." H had it all down her coat, her clothes, and the stroller. I guess the m&ms didn't sit well. I felt very slightly less grossed out knowing that at least it wasn't a stranger's vomit I had on my shoe.

I don't know if the sales lady I talked to had noticed H, but I was so embarrassed just thinking about it. "Yeah, lady, someone threw up over there - it was your kid!"

Today's excursion was no less disturbing. Our first stop was at Kroger and that went fairly well. I mean, J knocked over the whole display of raisins, but who's kid hasn't done that? It was otherwise fairly unremarkable.

The next stop, Meijer, ended with a bang. I was trying to rush, but once again we had to visit the public potty. It's no quick trip when you have to hike back up to the front of the store, get both children out of the cart, go, wash hands, wash hands again because when you're 4 you can't help but touch everything on the way out of the bathroom, get everyone strapped back into the cart, and go back to where you left off.

By the time we were checking out, both kids (no to mention their mother) were feeling pretty fussy. It was getting close to lunch and nap time. Since I was in the lane directly next to the purple dinosaur, I figured it would be ok for J to go over and ride while I checked out. H tried to follow, fell, cried, and I had to abandon the groceries to go retrieve her. The cashier was half way through the next lady's order before I got my bags into the cart (They don't do that kind of thing for you at Meijer anymore. You're lucky if you even can find a human being to ring up your groceries for you. Don't expect any help loading them back into your cart while you're trying to put your receipt and wallet away, balance a toddler on your hip, and keep an eye on your son riding the dinosaur. But I digress. . .)

J had had one ride on the dinosaur, and I told him to skooch back and let H on in front of him for the next ride. I thought I was being pretty generous letting him stay on for her turn at all. He didn't quite see it that way. He's at that annoyingly disagreeable stage where whatever he's told is the opposite of what he wants. He didn't want H in front. He wanted H in back. I wasn't going to argue with a 4 year old, so I plopped him off and put H on to ride all by herself. This of course prompted a throw-yourself-on-the-floor-and-scream fit. Which drew the attention of all the nearby customers and employees just in time to see the grand finale of our show: The part where I looked away for a split second to try to reign in J and H went tumbling off the other side of the dinosaur. Thankfully, it's about 10 degrees outside today and the multiple layers of clothing and puffy coat she was wearing padded her fall.

I'm not sure if I was more horrified at what had just happened to H, angry at J, or humiliated by the whole spectacle. Suffice it to say we'll be staying home the rest of the day.