CVS Trip - all this for $0.20!!!

When I first learned about the art of couponing, I tried my hand at some Walgreen's shopping a bit but never tried CVS.  The main reason was that CVS required a membership card, and Walgreen's didn't.  A couple of weeks ago hubby needed something from the drug store so we ran into CVS while out running other errands.  While there I noticed the area where you could sign up for a new card and decided it was time to bite the bullet. 

Flash forward to this past week while I was grocery shopping.  I needed peanuts for a garnish on the Thai chicken I was going to make, but they were at least $3/jar at Target and Walmart.  I stopped at CVS to look for broth (I had seen that it was on sale for $.49/can, but it turned out they only had chicken and I needed beef) and noticed that they had peanuts on sale for $2.50/jar.  I was pretty excited and even more so when I checked out and noticed that my receipt printed with a coupon for $5 off my next purchase of $15 or more.  The only problem was the coupon expired just a few days later.

After some careful planning, I think I managed to come up with a pretty successful trip. 

Here's how I did it:

Stayfree Maxi Pads:               $3.69 x 2= $7.38

Power Bar Energy Gel blasts:   $1.50 x 2= $3.00 (sale price, orig. $1.69 each)

Excedrin:                             $2.50 x 2= $5.00 (sale price, orig. $5.39 each)

Total before coupons                           $15.38

$5/$15 CVS coupon                              (5.00)

$1 off Stayfree coupon                          (1.00)

BOGO free Stayfree coupon                    (3.69)

$1 off Power Bar coupon                        (1.00)

$2 off Excedrin coupon                          (2.00)

Free Excedrin coupon                            (2.50)

Total after coupons                               $0.19

Tax                                                        .01 (in my state tax is charged on the after coupon price)

Total OOP                                            $0.20!!!

Total Savings= $21.35 or 99%!!!

Also, I earned $4 "Extra Care Bucks" for the Stayfree purchase and $1.50 ECBs for the Power Bar purchase, so I was basically paid $4.30 to shop!

I needed my total to be above $15 so I grabbed 2 of the Power Bar pouches thinking I would get ECBs for both, but found out later that there was a limit of one per household.  If I had known this I would have looked for another filler to make my total even less!

Friday Follow

Although I was very aware that today is Friday, I totally forgot about Friday Follow this morning.  Good thing I get the email feed from Midday Escapades and I was reminded when I saw her daily update! 

This is my fourth week participating in FF.  Last week's effort was not quite as successful as the previous two, but I also didn't have as much opportunity to go out and actively follow other blogs so it's partially my fault.  I can't believe that over 700 blogs are participating now! 

Random pondering for the day - do you think that the high volume will harm or hurt the concept in the long run?  I think it's great that so many blogs are involved but worry that it might be getting a little too big.  It seems like it could go either way - more participants means more people with the chance of clicking on your link, but it also means there are a lot more choices out there for them to visit instead of yours.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Friday!

Dinner Tonight: Beef Stroganoff

Tonight we had beef stroganoff, mostly based on this recipe from my buddy Rachael Ray.  I think I veered enough away from her recipe this time that I will go ahead and post my version instead of just recapping the changes I made.

My camera battery died so I had to take this picture with my cell phone.  I promise that it didn't really look that green in real life.  Actually, this meal is very yummy and comforting, kind of reminiscent of my beef and noodles from a few weeks ago but with a more interesting sauce.  My friend says her mom used to make something called "Poor Man's Stroganoff" which used ground beef in place of the tenderloin.  I used sirloin, so I guess mine is more of a "Middle Class Stroganoff". 

Seriously, who takes a tenderloin and serves it drenched in sauce?  I don't get it.  That's just not necessary to do to a ridiculously expensive piece of beef that can stand on its own.

Beef Stroganoff

1 lb sirloin, sliced thin and cut into bite-sized pieces

Salt, pepper & garlic powder

1/2 small onion, sliced thin

2 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp flour

1.5-2 cups beef stock

1 heaping tsp dijon mustard

1/4 cup sour cream

1 Tbsp red currant jelly (serves the same sweet/sour purpose as RR's cornichons, but with less weird bits of pickle)

1/2 lb egg noodles

Boil water for noodles (I forgot to do this at first so I just used really hot water to shorten the process).  Rachael Ray thinks you should make the sauce first and set it aside while you make the meat.  I don't believe in dirtying that many pans, especially if you have a nifty & pricey Rachael Ray pan like this.

Add olive oil and 1 Tbsp butter to large, deep skillet or saute pan.  Season meat with salt, pepper and garlic powder (because when don't I do this?), add to pan with onion.  Brown meat and remove from pan.  Check your water - is it boiling yet?  If so, add noodles and cook according to package directions.

Add remaining tablespoon of butter to skillet, make sure it is melted then add flour.  Whisk well and cook for about one minute.  Add 1.5 cups beef stock, whisk vigorously to eliminate lumps.  Bring to a boil and simmer until desired thickness is reached.  Add mustard, sour cream and jelly.  Again, whisk well to incorporate (the sour cream can look a little curdled, just keep whisking).  Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper if necessary.  You can also add more beef stock, but mine ended up being a little thin with 2 cups of stock so I had to thicken it with some corn starch.  Add meat back into pan and coat with sauce.  Drain pasta, serve with sauce mixture.  Rachael Ray suggests adding some parsley for garnish, which isn't a terrible idea but I refused to pay $.80 for a bunch of parsley just to use a couple of tablespoons.  She also suggests pumpernickel bread, which I suppose could be traditional but we went with a nice crusty sourdough loaf (now that was worth the $.80 Target charged me for it).

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Estimated cost of meal

Beef: $2

Butter: $.10

Olive oil: $.10

Onion: $.10

Spices: $.05

Flour: $.05

Stock: $1

Mustard: $.05

Sour cream: $.15

Jelly: $.10

Noodles: $.50

Bread: $.80

Total: $5.00

Former life total: Dinner @ Mimi's: $34

Leaner Life Savings: $29 or 85%!!

Wordless Wednesday: Channeling Teddy Roosevelt, "Speak softly and..."

Menu Plan Monday

Basketball is finally over so we should be getting back to a normal schedule.  Key words being "should be" since it looks like this week that probably won't happen.  Or next week for that matter.  My birthday is next week and that means this week I will start receiving all of my restaurant email list freebies which we will be taking advantage of over the next couple of weeks. 


Here's the plan, subject to change drastically since I'm making it up as I type:

• Monday: Dinner w/my grandma (probably leftover chili)
• Tuesday: Dinner out w/a friend
• Wednesday: Beef stroganoff
• Thursday: Dinner out (free birthday meal #1)
• Friday: Breakfast for dinner (scrambled eggs, bacon, hasbrowns, toast)
• Saturday: Slow cooker Thai chicken, rice
• Sunday: Dinner out (free birthday meal #2)

For hundreds of other menu planning ideas, go to orgjunkie.com!

Mailbox Monday

Happy Mailbox Monday!  Here is all of the free stuff I got in the mail this week, quality over quantity this time:

• 
  
  Kashi cereal sample plus a coupon for a free box and some high $ coupons to share, from Vocalpoint
• 
  
  Dove men's body wash, for a review for All You Reality Checker program
• 
  
  Hard water test kit from Diamond salt
• 
  
  Moisturizer samples (can't remember where I got these)
• 
  
  Red Zone sample (again, not sure where this came from or even what it is - probably back when I was signing up for everything I could before I realized I needed to edit my freebie requests)
• 
  
  Coupon for free bottle of Excedrin
• 
  
  Lee jeans from Facebook promo (finally!  I was wondering if these would ever come)
• 
  
  $50 Godiva gift card from Shop at Home, won in a giveaway from Frugal Fritzie

If you want to see what others got for free this week, visit A Frugal Friend!

Dinner Tonight: Chili

Our menu plan got switched around a bit this week when I got a flat tire.  I had to go get it fixed on Friday while hubby was at basketball practice, so I had dinner with my mom and grandma and pushed Friday's dinner to tonight.

I'm sure I have said this before, but one of my favorite things about making chili is how quick and easy it is.  This time I just made my regular chili recipe, which is basically just using a packet of Lawry's chili seasoning, a can of tomatoes and a can of beans.  It's simple, tasty and hubby loves it.  It would be much cheaper to use my own seasonings, but the Lawry's mix is so good that we deem it to be worth the "splurge."

One tip I suggest is using fire-roasted tomatoes instead of just regular ones.  They have more depth of flavor.  Also, for hubby's sake I puree them in the food processor and it makes the chili really smooth, except of course for the chunks of beans and meat.

We always serve chili with cornbread, made from the Jiffy muffin mix box.  My mom and grandma were saying that they used to make their own cornbread but have come to the conclusion that the Jiffy mix is just as good and probably not much more expensive than the raw ingredients you would need to bake from scratch.

Here's my chili recipe, even though I've basically detailed it above:

Chili

1 lb lean ground beef or turkey

1 package Lawry's chili seasoning (I feel it's the best and that no other packaged mix can compare)

1 can diced fire-roasted tomatoes, pureed until smooth

1 can dark red kidney beans

Brown meat in skillet, drain or pat dry if necessary.  Add seasoning, then beans and tomatoes.  Stir until combined.  Bring to a boil then lower heat and simmer about 10 minutes.

See told you it was crazy easy!

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Estimated cost of meal

Beef: $1.50

Seasoning: $.89

Tomatoes: $.61 ($.86/can at Walmart, less $1/4 coupon)

Beans: $.92 (couldn't find on sale, usually can get for around $.75/can)

Corn bread mix: $.43

Egg: $.11

Milk: $.16

Cheese: $.15

Total: $4.77

Former life total: Dinner at Sonic: $14

Leaner Life Savings: $9.23 or 65%!!!