what? I was buying pasta 10-12 boxes at a time for less than 50 cents a box or even free some weeks during the summer. I grabbed the last box tonight! I can not believe I've blown through all that pasta. To make matters worse I held onto SEVERAL great coupons for pasta waiting for the next big sale and they expired! *sigh*
anyone got any good pasta deals I could get in on?
Hi everyone.. over on FB (facebook) Trina (also a fellow blogger) asked for cookie recipes after I had announced last night that I was exhausted after my cookie exchange. I have hosted the cookie exchange in my neighborhood for 5 years. It is open to all family/friends of people who live in our neighborhood. We also do an ornament exchange which is fun. My rules for my cookie exchange are seriously fierce. For each person participating you need to make a bag of 6 cookies. They don't have to be Christmas cookies, they can be bars, treats, store bought. Any type, even chocolate chip is taken here. I try to make it cheap and fun.
Here is a list of rules from a website we found a few years ago.. we laugh about it like who would want to be in this one?
RULES OF THE COOKIE EXCHANGE
All cookies must be homemade, baked & main ingredient must be flour.
No "no-bake" cookies, meringues or bars are allowed.
Please bring 6 dozen total cookies. You can split 2 recipes into 3 dozen
each, if you wish. (NOTE! Most asked question: WHY 6 dozen?)
The theme is "Christmas Cookies" - no chocolate chip cookies allowed
- unless they are really different! No "no-bake" cookies.
Arrange cookies in a basket or platter (be creative!) & a large container (i.e., Tupperware) to carry away cookies and a copy of your recipe.
Christmas attire is encouraged!
RSVP as soon as you can and let me know what type of cookies you are planning on baking - no duplicate recipes are allowed.
If you cannot attend but would like to exchange cookies, you may
deliver your cookies the day before the party. I'll exchange them for you.
There's a prize for the best (most outrageous) Christmas outfit.
First, second & third place!!
If you don't have time to bake, or have ruined your recipe, but still want to attend, you must go to a real bakery and buy 6 dozen yummy cookies.
If you can follow all these rules you will be invited again!
anyway.. here is my favorite cookie recipe... for sure.
JOSE CUERVO CHRISTMAS COOKIES
Jose Cuervo Christmas Cookies
1 cup of water
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup of sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup or brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup nuts
2 cups of dried fruit
1 bottle Jose Cuervo Tequila
Sample the Cuervo to check quality. Take a large bowl,
check the Cuervo again, to be sure it is of the highest quality,
pour one level cup and drink.
Turn on the electric mixer. Beat one cup of butter
in a large fluffy bowl.
Add one peastoon of sugar. Beat again. At this point
it's best to make sure the Cuervo is still ok, try another
cup just in case.
Turn off the mixerer thingy.
Break 2 leggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup
of dried fruit.
Pick the frigging fruit off the floor.
Mix on the turner.
If the fried druit gets stuck in the beaters just pry
it loose with a drewscriver.
Sample the Cuervo to check for tonsisticity.
Next, sift two cups of salt, or something. Who geeves
a sheet. Check the Jose Cuervo. Now shift the lemon juice and strain your nuts.
Add one table.
Add a spoon of sugar, or somefink. Whatever you can
find.
Greash the oven.
Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall
over.
Don't forget to beat off the turner.
Finally, throw the bowl through the window, finish the
Cose Juervo and make sure to put the stove in the wishdasher.
Cherry Mistmas !
here is a website that has links to great cookie recipes. Really nice layout.
I usually make a few type cookies every year but each year I make Peanut Butter Balls. I follow a very easy recipe and it always comes out very yummy.
1lb of powder sugar
1lb of peanut butter
1/2 lb of butter
melt butter, mix in powdered sugar and pb. roll into balls. refrigerate for 1 hour. melt 1lb of chocolate (any kind works and I als put a little wax in it) then dip balls. refrigerate another hour and put in tins/bags.
I host the exchange but every year I make PB balls.. this year I only did PB balls. Everyone asks for them so I said forget it.. they all get 6 of those. I should have done a double recipe and given everyone 12 just to make them happy! lol! I wasn't impressed with the way they turned out this year. Oh well.
From time to time we can get my sister to make those Neiman Marcus cookies that the e-mail had been going around about for here.. Here is the SNOPES version of that story with the recipe. They say the story is false.. hmm
Happy baking or not baking everyone!!
Okay this post could go a few ways.. don't ask how I got so much and don't ask how we got on this subject BUT a girlfriend and I somehow got on the topic of how much tea we have in our house. Seriously, how does this happen because the more people I talk to about it the more people flip open their cabinets to reveal just how much tea they have too! lol! So funny! So I decided to gather what tea I have in my house and take a pic.. somehow I decided to add in all the little cold tea packets I have, hot chocolate, coffee (I don't drink coffee but somehow I wound up with some), and juice mixes. Most of this stuff has been hounded so I figured it ties in with my blog! lol!
here goes
50 pack box of singles to go from Walgreens clearance I think I paid $2 for them
9 boxes of Crystal Light Peach tea singles $1 each on clearance at K-Mart during their first double coupon days
Kool Aid packets I bought so I could get other freebies like the Crystal Light tubs!
Miscellaneous teas/spiced ciders/coffee/ singles I have gotten through hounding, samples, gifts.
9 BOXES of Celestial Seasonings teas all FREEBIES at Wags a few weeks ago
9 boxes of Swiss Miss hot chocolate and 2 store brandSoooo yeah I failed miserably at my challenge.. just what 3 days in.. K-Mart was having double coupon days so I had to go. I wound up getting a few things I really needed that they had pretty good deals on. I got a new cat litter box, some pint jars for canning I want to start asap, a tea pot (my husband threw ours out or sold the one we had at our last house, I'm still mad about it) and cheese. The cheese was BOGO at $3.19 so I figured that was a good price for 2 8oz packages. Either way my original total was $115.xx and I walked out of there spending $40.xx so not bad..
Okay, I had so many errands to run the night I got the milk I didn't realize that Dominicks brand milk comes in different colors. I think I *knew* it as I have bought it before, and I *thought* I read the container, however it says LOW FAT.. meaning NOT SKIM which is what we normally drink! oops.. more fat.. great.
Also, I did not check my bank account before leaving the house on those errands. I figured I would get cash back from that transaction versus having to pay ATM fees to go out to dinner last night. So my total came to $24.05.. yeah I had $22 in my account by the time that transaction came through.. so that transaction cost me another $10.. ughh $14.05 for two gallons of milk that I don't even like.. *sigh*
Well of course on day 2 I found out about a couple things going on.. BEST of all KMART IS HAVING DOUBLE COUPON DAYS AGAIN.. BUT THIS TIME THE SUPER KMARTS ARE INVOLVED WHICH MEANS MORE GROCERIES!! Groceries are my hardest thing to hound so I'm actually going to make a day of it driving to another town a little over a half hour from here.
Okay.. so here it is..
♥Breakfast was cereal, bought it for 80 cents per box at Target last week
♥Lunch was soup/bread bought the soup during one of my Jewel raids and my son was home sick so he needed some good ol chicken soup
♥Dinner baked Spaghetti with homemade garlic bread made it from my 14 cent boxes of Smart Taste, Ragu from my Jewel raid last week, tomato paste and diced tomatoes I got from aldi for 45 cents, onion I got for 79cents for 3lbs, green/red pepper I got marked down for less than a quarter each, cheese I got 2/$4. I think that about sums it up.
I didn't take pictures but yesterday I went to Jewel just to get 4 more boxes of the Lipton Tea FREEBIES and a loaf of Italian Bread which I had one of those survey free coupons for FREEBIE. I've never made homemade garlic bread before and actually was happy at how easy it turned out to be. I have so much tea now I'm sure that these will be going in my Christmas bags this year! Last night my son decided he wanted to try some so I let him open 2 boxes. Now I have 4 boxes of open tea, which I know for some {{{ahhhhemmmmother}}}} isn't a lot.. but I normally only have maybe 1 at the most.
Originally we were supposed to be doing Subway for dinner but after announcing my stockpile challenge I decided it would be better to stay at home and eat. The catch was instead of just making dinner for my husband, my son, and myself added to that was my mom and my two nephews. We had to pick up my sister from the airport last night so I wanted to make a meal that was filling enough and easy to make for 6 people. It turned out good (minus my 10 yo nephew who has a gourmet chef for a father and said he didn't like it much and ate 4 bites). We had plenty of leftovers to boot which I just had for lunch YUMMYYYY!
Okay yesterday I spent a whopping 18 cents at Jewel for 4 boxes of tea and loaf of bread for dinner. So this is where I sit at right now, 18 cents.. I'm liking it up here. My excitement will be quickly fading with a CVS trip, a trip to Dominicks to get $1.99 milk x's 2, a Super Kmart run tomorrow along with putting together a deal at Wags to use that awesome $5/$20 good tomorrow and Saturday.
You know.. I should have just explained this in the post.. but the post was getting too long. Mashed Potato bar is great for get togethers, any type.. just a fun little extra. I'm going to copy/paste some comments I answered in my post about it.
Mashed potato bar ~ Learned this from a great neighbor of mine ~ I know it's cheating but it's how I do it.. I make an entire small box of mashed potatoes in my small crock pot (I don't even know the size it's a tall round one, the inside is the circumference of a dollar bill I'd say??) then I put out goodies like bacon I make earlier and crush up, cheese, sour cream, green onions, regular onions, salsa, butter etc.
**when you pour the whole box of potato flakes in the crock pot you are probably going to be standing there thinking "geez there is no way the rest of the milk/water will fit" those potato flakes absorb it up quick so even if those flakes are 1" close to the top, it will probably all fit. Stirring it is never easy either because you have to dig down deep to get down to the bottom.**
I make it about an hour before the party so it has time to heat up. I make them per the regular directions with the same butter, salt, water, milk measurements the box tells you.
Then I put it on warm or low during the party. I try to keep an eye on it because eventually the bottom will start to burn. So mix it up from time to time and I've even turned it off for 20-30 min at a time. At the end of the night whatever is left I throw in little storage containers and freezer for dinners another night.
I think the steam and mash would probably work out in the crock pot.. you could probably steam/mash them and just throw them in the crock pot just minutes before guests arrive. My neighbor actually makes her own mashed potatoes. I would except it's a ton of work to be doing RIGHT before a party start, plus having to clean up a huge pot again right before the start of a party. I guess you could make your own the night before or hours before and just throw them in the crock pot with enough time for them to rewarm through.
Also, for this I usually put out little disposable bowls and separate spoons/forks because for some reason it just seems easier (and more fun) to build a little mashed potato meal for yourself. I wind up having like 3-4 bowls and eating nothing else just because I'm a mashed potato nut! lol!
Okay.. so day 1 down! lol! I've been thinking about doing this challenge for awhile. In fact Mary over at
OWLHAVEN did this in September with her husband and 10 kids!! Yes you read that right 10 kids!! Her day to day blogs were inspiring as she has a huge garden so much canning was going on that month along with many other homemade items. Her goal was to spend under $200, however, she had spent an extra $200 the month before stockpiling items. She felt her pantry was full enough to give it a go, and she pulled it off!! Amazing.
Also over at another one of my favorite blogs Precious at Frugal makes Cents she had talked about the same thing I am here, using up her stockpile. She had some of the same guidelines that I did basically stating that if she could get something for rock bottom price she was going to get it. She is simply going to take the next 6 months to use her stockpile. Easy enough.
I have been banned from shampoo purchase and cleaning product purchase so that does leave me with less to coupon anyway. (I have bought some shampoo/cleaning products but only stuff I could get for free)
My first day at this!!
Yesterday was my first day, I hadn't announced it on my blog yet. I wanted to put some real thought into it. What rules/guidelines I wanted to follow and I still have to work on the budget for this. I've found plenty of milk for $1.99 so I'm confident that the maximum amount of milk will be $6 this month although sometimes my son goes through a ton of milk.. hmmm might be more like $10. still not bad. As far as Mary at Owlhaven goes I would have spent the $200 just in milk if I had 10 kids. I think she had gift cards and did some trades here and there if I remember correctly.. not for just milk but for other supplies as well.
Okay so Day 1 went like this.
Breakfast
Cereal or leftover big breakfast from Sunday
Lunch
leftover dinner from Monday or Onion soup with bread and cookies
Dinner
Shake and Bake Pork Chops, steam broccoli/cheese, cranberry sauce, and potatoes. The potatoes were supper yummy. A neighbor told me how she makes them and it came out really good. Basically she cubes up potatoes, mixes them with EVOO and a packet of onion soup mix. Bake at 350-400 (depends on your time frame) until tender. I decided to start using the stockpile so I scrounged up some salad dressing I had gotten awhile back for free. It's some Jalapeno red pepper ceasar, weird huh? It had some oil in it and some flavor with a kick.
Okay Day 1 done.. 24 to go and already I'm planning a few shopping trips.. one for today, a couple for tomorrow, and actually one for next week.
right around 1:37 minute through 2:20 she is making baby applesauce and putting it in the cabinet.. this was like me last night putting away all my Jewel deals!
This was my lunch after my hounding crawl!! ha ha I don't drink so instead of a pub crawl I do hounding crawls! nice!
Made it from my 99 cent chicken breast I had grilled and frozen and one of those Green Giant Veggies I got! whoo hoo
and now for my feature presentation.....
Target!!
♥5 boxes of Kelloggs Cereal $2.75 used $1 coupons
♥4 Prego $1.67 each used $1/2 IP coupons and $1/3 coupon
$5 GC from a previous Target run
$6.67 OOP and I got back a $5 GC for nex time
2 stores, 2 transactions
first store
♥8 Celestial Seasons Tea the sign said $2/5 but they rang up as $1.50 each??? I read they were suppossed to be free after $1/2 ESC and $1 coupons and that's what I got them for FREEBIES
♥8 packs of gum $1.19 each used BOGO circular coupon and BOGO insert coups
total 29 cents
second store
♥8 packs of gum $1.19 each used BOGO circular coupon and BOGO insert coups
total 8 cents
**had to fight with the cashier on this one.. she tried to give me the "one per purchase" blah blah blah
♥10 Green Giant veggies $1 each used 25 cent coupons or 50 cent/2 coups
♥22 Pure Protein bars $1 each used $1.50/2 coupons
♥4 reusable bags $1 each (decided to do 4 more xmas bags)
♥4 Old Orchard Juices BOGO $3.49 used $1/2 coupons so 4/$5 I had read on another site that this was giving a $5 RR.. I didn't get it..??
♥2 Lipton teas $2.50 each used 60 cent coupons plus $2 ecoupons FREEBIE
♥4 Ranch dip packets $1.29
used $15 RR from last trip, total OOP $13.61 and I got $15 RR for the next trip!!
**this trip has made it impossible for me not to go back this afternoon HOWEVER I don't have the freezer room for all the free veggies I could get *sigh* So I'm going to try to work up just one more deal.. we'll see what I come up with.
because I went to CVS and bought out most of their cereal that was on sale! 16 boxes in all.. I printed out the IP coupons and didn't look at what they were all for and they took them all.. so I got 16 boxes! Nice! check it!
16 boxes (yes count them) cereal 2/$4 used $1 IP kelloggs coupon for each
6 Extra gum used 3 BOGO coupons $1.29 each
1 Johnson buddy used $1 coupon no clue how much it was $1.19 maybe?
tried to buy 2 Well Patches however it was the wrong ones so I had to return them.
used $10/$50 coupon
a few hundred ECBS some were almost about to expire which is why I went
I spent $3 OOP then got nooooo ECBS back so I returned the Well Patches and they put the $13 back on my debit card! I would have liked to have a CVS card instead. OH well!
now after this trip check out my stockpile!! I have meant to take pics but haven't. This is just my garage stockpile. this does not include my cabinets in my kitchen that are packed, my freezer that is packed (I'm actually looking into getting a 2nd frige for my garage), and my bedroom walkin closet that I currently can not walk into due to stockpilage!
I know this isn't the definition of photobombing, however, I think it's funny my animals make appearances as often as they possibly can especially when it comes to bringing bags and bags of stuff into the house. they could care less what is being brought in, they just love the bags and the excitment, and bugging mommy of course. Well here we are in the garage, it's an extra room of the house that they never get to hang out in, so it's like a treat for them to come out while I'm organizing.
this is my new CEREAL BOX. I still have probably 8 bags of that $1 cereal left from last week's 10/$10 sale over at my local grocery store. 
this was my original "cereal box" it is now cereal, animal crackers, pretzels (my husband is a pretzel hound so I bought him 10 bags at the same 10/$10 sale last week at my local grocery store. WOW our garage floor is really nasty.. I really want to paint the floor like all of our neighbors have.. huge big job we should have done over the summer.. *sigh*
my cats food cabinet. of course she has to go in to inspect. I have 9 of those little bags of food and two of the bigger bags. This on top of the two stuffed to the brim containers inside the house.
ahhh yes, I haven't shown anyone my coupon bin in awhile.. I got this at the dollar store for $1 and at first I had to stuff things behind the envelopes so they would stand up.. now it's so jammed I couldn't get another coupon in there if I tried.. I have about 10 inches of uncut inserts *sigh*. a girls work is never done! lol!
TODAY WE ARE GOING TO TALK LIKE 'DIS!!! lol!
Okay I like to play moron here and there.. so check it out!!
Okay I guess for all you double dippers out there who like to say I spent xx on GC and then $4.12 from my purse and then got back a $5 RR so really I made 88 cents.. but I don't look at it like that.. I look at it like my next trip will be $5 less.. so today OOP was $4.12
Two stores..
Walgreens
3 Bertolli dinners used 2 $1.75 Bertolli coupons
9 pizza breads 44 cents each on clearance
2 pizza fries $1.79 on clearance
1 B/B lipsmacker (I had grabbed 2 but somehow only paid for one) used $1 coupon which she let go through.. not sure how it was a $1/2)
1 Scrubbing Bubbles refill $3.79 used $1 coupon and will apply for $1.50 ESR
Total $25.25, $25.18 on GC and 7 cents from my purse. Received $5 RR for the Bertolli dinners and will get back $1.50 ESR.
not bad for 7 cents huh? oh and they wouldn't let me do the no nonsense sock deal with the packs of socks.. they said it was for "singles" only. whatevs!
***OMG I JUST POSTED THIS, WENT ON I ♥ WAGS AND OF COURSE THERE IS A $5/$25 COUPON TOMORROW AND SATURDAY!!! DOH!!*****
Jewel
2 gallons of skim milk $1.99 each
Total OOP with tax $4.05
MY "made from the stockpile" lunch from yesterday/today
2 chicken breasts I got for 99 cents a lb
1 can of kidney beans from Aldi 54 cents
1 can of diced tomatoes from Aldi 54 cents
green/red peppers I got for 99 cents a lb and had chopped and froze
onion I got on clearance for 79 cents for 3lbs
grilled summer squash I had cut up and frozen because I couldn't finish it
red pepper flakes
chili powder
parsley cube
I wanted to make chili but didn't want to use my ground beef.. so I used chicken instead..I HAVE SOO MUCH OF IT!! it came out sooo yummy and filling. It was nice because yesterday was such a cold/rainy day here in Chicago... it was nice to have something warm. I was thinking I could do this same recipe with different beans, seriously anything would work, and no chicken breasts. That way I could have meatless meals with plenty of protein! You could always add a little shredded cheese on top or even a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.. booo yahhh!! yummooooo
Yes.. I doeded it!! I said I was gonna and I dooeded it.. okay.. this whole week has thrown me for a loop.. so just keep your arms and legs inside the ride at all times and enjoy the ride (that is my life)... so.. I said I was going to clear off a couple shelves soon in my stockpile post. Loooookiiieee looookiee here...
BEFORE
AFTER...
YES!! I DID IT! woot! an accomplishment for this month.. amazed, I know I am!! lol! Our neighborhood had a garage sale today and I took a bike ride around and check out what people had (you never know) and this lady wanted $5 for this black book case that is about the same size as the other ones we had already in the garage.. check it out.
sorry I was a little slow on the uptake today (in many things just wait and see what other dumb stuff I did today) and decided to pull out the extra car to get the bookshelf in, but then didn't take the picture of the bookshelf totally empty with the car OUT OF THE GARAGE, so I had to lean over the car to take that pic. you get the idea. So I moved the car stuff to the bottom shelf of the new black shelf which is perfect and I moved what was in that top shelf to the top of the new shelf. So now I have 1 1/2 shelves that need to be filled! CVS time!!
So I headed out to CVS armed as usual of the deals all being there perfect just waiting for me.. each one.. the dawn dish detergent the lip slicks or whatever.. yeah I was going to give them as Christmas gifts.. I'm so bad with that stuff... sounded sorta fun.. but anyway.. I get there and no deals to be had.. so I walked around looking at the clearance and the back to school stuff that was on sale/marked down.. so this is what I wound up with.
table top grill $24 marked down to $6
lunch bag $9 marked down to $6 (I think) I bought it for my husbands non existant job
2 Purex laundry detergents $5.99 on sale for $2.99 used two $.50 coupons plus got $1 ECB back from each
popsicles $3.99 I knew these were not the right ones for the deal that www.iheartcvs.com had outlined but I wanted them to work anyway! lol! they didn't
I had a $4/$20 coupon I had emailed to me.. of course it wouldn't work and I was at the one CVS that will not even attempt to push it through. I gave her a $2/$10 and at that time I should have asked her to take off the popsicles because I owed some astronomical amount.. so I turned in a $11.98 ECB knowing I was only getting $2 ECB back for sure. not good.. so my OOP was $7.70 DOUBLE GASP {{QUE DRAMATIC MUSIC DAHHHA DAHHHDAHHH DDAAHHHH}}} so basically I paid for the portable grill but it's for a Christmas gift for my dad.. so it's all good..
lastly I got samples yesterday in the mail.. pretty good ones.
a free roll of TP (everybody can use that) with a coupon
and a free shaver
***note to self*** CVS YTD savings 728.85 Summer 2008 spending $102.68.
I have a label entitled "made from the stockpile" and lately I've actually been able to use some of the things from the stockpile specifically for meals, I know in the future like birthdays and Christmas especially I will be pulling from my stockpiles around my house to make little baskets/boxes for various family members. Each time I see something on clearance/sale or some deal I can get I try to figure out whom may need this item and if I could give it them as a gift.
I started couponing/hounding on June 29th 2008 that was my first CVS receipt. Before then I had tried and miserably failed when I would come home and realize that I had totally messed up the deal by buying items I really didn't need or used a coupon that the next week would have made much better use in a deal. Those were my rookie mistakes. 2 solid months in I still make them but they are becoming less and less. Just today I made one by buying Robitussin at WAGS, the deal that was described doesn't start until next week! I never read the dates (reading is key here) but I did wind up making an okay deal out of it considering I used a $9 RR from last week.
So today I decided to take some pictures of the various places I stockpile around my house. I moved from a 3,000 square foot 4 floor home with a 4 car garage to a small 1500 no closet space townhouse a little over 5 years ago. I'm still figuring out ways to store different things and this stockpiling is only making things worse for me.
this is where I started.. in my garage. My husband just got these shelves from his work last winter and they were full of other things and to this day I have no clue what.. as you can see I've taken over quite effectively. The 3rd shelf with all the car stuff on it I think I'm going to ask my husband to build an extra shelf specifically for... yeah right.. maybe I'll ask my dad.
the top shelf will be emptied and refilled within the next couple trips I'm thinking..
thank god for this little sliding door at the bottom.. this is actually the place my husband keeps our huge supply of extensions cords we need for the holidays, but I discovered my cat Sidney was begging to go in the garage because she had figured out I had food out there.. and she is a ninja at getting into any food even if it's not hers. Steaks, chicken, cat food, dog food, you name it.. if it smells like food she can get into it.. boxed, bagged, plastic, no difference to her.. she's 15 and has brains. So I threw them down there and really I should at least tape up the one bag she mangled... ughh yes I'll get to that..
and here is the bag that started my Christmas gatherings.. I had brought some gifts home when said persons were sitting in the living room playing xbox so I just shoved them on top of the cat food.. which is where everything has been going if it isn't something someone can see.. all I can say is a ton of stuff has made it's way into this bag and it's not only for persons living inside my home.. it has now grown to my nieces/nephews as well. 
here is the first box I started adding smaller items to. the box got grossly over filled and I bought the box below which is more for travel size small items.
most of my mail goes directly into this box now.. it's shoe box sized plastic tote..
this is my chips/bagged cereal box. I also have stuffing in there.
this is actually 3 cases of pop, you can barely see the pepsi sticking out from behind the Sierra Mist. I got this at WAGS last week and have no place to put it. I gave my son 2 cases to bring home with him.
I try my best but my cabinets always are full of pasta sauce. There is one deal to the next and each week I make pasta at least once trying to use them up but it seems that they sneak up on me too fast and again I'm out there buying another 4-5 jars.
This is actually a coat closet in a small little hallway leading to my garage. It's always been a small storage closet for us instead and now it's a stockpile closet. I have about 15 more $1 coupons for Tidy Cat but for some reason the only type I can find is that dumb red one.. we don't like the red one so I'd like to find any other type and buy them out.. unfortunately the only store I know for FACT that sells all of them sells them for $2.05 each and Target/Wal-Mart have them for $1.77 each.. that quarter is killing me! The TP I bought when I first started hounding which is actually what drove me to hound. I couldn't buy expensive TP without feeling guilty because I'm the one home all day using it up really fast. I was buying some really bad stuff from either Aldi or Wal-Mart.
Okay this is the part that gets me about hounding.. this cabinet was FULL until this weekend. My son and my husband don't look at my stockpiling as we can eat forever, they see it as "let's eat as much as we can as fast as we can" I go through milk now like you wouldn't believe... ughh.
this is in my bedroom closet on the floor. I just started this box so things I needed upstairs would be close.. however it's overflowing.
this is another box of things for Christmas gifts. I just got this box today from BzzAgent with my gaming system.
okay.. this is not a stockpile HOWEVER it shows just how sick I am. I keep buying these scrubbers because I like them and because I don't want to have to buy another "starter kit" if I ruin the handle somehow.. so instead I keep them all.. I know.. there is something wrong with me...
and so you've seen it.. I think that is all of it. where do you keep all your stuff? I need ideas! lol!
So I decided to go to CVS tonight because I have $16 in ECBS that will expire next week. Looking forward to next weeks sales and Septembers deals I'm just not that hyped up. I have enough shampoo (as you read) body wash, soap, wipes, cereal, tampons, pads, feminine products, deoderant, cleaning products, band aids, excederin, gas-x, alavert, I can go on and on but basically enough to last a good year if I wanted it too. (okay maybe not the alavert but I have 2 boxes of the stuff) and I don't wear make-up so I've been buying some just to try different stuff because what I do have is so old I probably shouldn't be using it anyway. I also really love the $2 skincare coupon that ends tomorrow so I wanted to get in a few extra freebies.
So I had this whole plan. I got help from hot coupon world posting what I had too much of, that I had a $10 ECB and a $6 ECB and I try to leave with the same amount of ECBS I spent or more if possible. If they couldn't figure out any deal to get me the same/more than as close as possible. So together we came up with these two deals.
first transaction
okay I've got one.. my sister uses OB exclusively so I could give her these for Christmas.. I swore this weeks ad said limit one.. but oh well. (I saw later it's been changed to 2 and then I saw in the August ECBS that OB was limit 5)
ob tampons $2/9 give $5 ECB
$2/$10 coupon
$2 skin care (buy some skincare item around $2
use two $1.50 coupons I have
$1.49 kotex with $1 coupon gives $1.49 ECB
$6 ECB
not sure about OOP but I'll get back $6.49 ECB
I think my total OOP would be $5.49 without tax (and my stores insist I pay tax) I have a few $1 off CVS pantyliners so I could throw in at least one of those to get above.
Okay so this is how my first transaction ACTUALLY went. I get there and of course they have not one single kotex 16ct left (like the other stores) so I spend the entire time I'm there walking in circles around the store looking for one deal that would only cost a couple dollars and give me at least $1 ECB back.
So folks.. what do you think I wind up with? Well I'll tell you TAMPONS and of course I already have so many pads/tampons in my original 2 deals I wanted to do I wanted to puke. But this deal was $4.99 for a 40 count variety box so I could use my $2/10 and my $2 skincare coupon pay 99cents and get back $2 ECB. Sweet... so here is my deal.. oh yeah you gotta load the pictures on the computer before I can upload them to my blog.. duh!
2 ob tampons 2/$9 used two $1.50 coupons
1 CVS multiple pack $4.99 (did not come with the free pantyliners which I needed so bad wahhh just kidding!) used $2/10 and $2 skin care
1 CVS panty liner 99 cents used $1 off CVS pantyliner from scanner I got last week because the scanner wasn't working today DOUBLE BOO!!
$6 ECB total OOP $1.34 plus got back $5 ECB from OB and $2 ECB from CVS tampons
not bad, but I was (and still am) mad at myself because I had found another deal with red eyes I think the product was $4.99 and I had a $4 coupon at home that I looked at just minutes before I left for CVS did not put it in my coupons, so I didn't have it for this deal once I realized I could have used it.. and now I can't find it!! ughh that was a super long run on sentence (breath)
transaction 2
I had not done the Zipfizz deal yet so it was suggested I use that with a stayfree. I was worried that the stayfree would not work considering I had done it once this week already, but then I saw it had been raised to 2 per CVS account. but then I was worried it wouldn't work because of the first OB transaction.. ughh so I just had to wing it.
2 Stay free 2/$9 used a BOGO coupon
2 Zip fizz $5.99 each
2 CVS hand santizers 5 ct 99 cent each used $2 skin care
$2/$10, $10 ECB, $6 ECB total OOP $1.73 earned $11.98 zip fizz.. DID NOT GET MY $5 STAYFREE ONE!
I had looked at the receipt after doing the OB deal and of course it says This Week's ECB offers Feminine care buy 2 get 5 EB *offer limite reached* with a 4 next to it. So I ask the cashier if my next deal will work and she makes some weird comment like "save your receipt" umm what? not sure. So I see other people coming up to check out so I duck over by a manager who was stocking and show him. He make a comment "this offer was only offered ONCE and you have 4 of course your offer limit is reached" so I calmly show him the August ECB book and *THIS* weeks ad and say I wanted to do the OB deal as my first transaction and the stayfree as the 2nd. So he says for me to call CVS if I don't get the ECBS because there is no way for him to look up my monthly ECBS and figure out what is what. okay.. whatever.
So of course I think they will be open late tonight and tomorrow.. yeah they close at 8pm I got home at 7pm then walked my dog and started making a pasta salad for a bbq tomorrow.. by the time I got upstairs to locate thier phone number.. they were closed.. saying "monday thru saturday 8am-8pm" great.. I gotta wait until Tuesday for that too.. more cell minutes burned up trying to fight for my deals! ughh I think I'm going to be doing the same thing with WAGS because my camera deal didn't go through.. ughh it did for other people not sure why not for me.
So while I was driving to Jewel I started thinking .... I used $19 in ECBS and got back $19 in ECBS but I should have gotten back $24 to make it a money maker. If I don't get the extra $5 in ECBS will I won't be out anything but the $3.07 I spent OOP but I do have all those products to give as gifts.. every girl is getting pantyliners, pads, and tampons for Christmas.. I don't care if you are 6 or 60! lol!
Okay so my next stop was Jewel. I needed a few extra items so I could make this Island style macaroni salad. I already had the pasta, eggs, pickles (to make my own relish), and some mayo but I needed more.
I found some really great deals at Jewel (plus everything else I needed). Here they are!
(sorry the picture is sorta fuzzy huh?)
a little fluffy purse on clearance for $2.50, comes with some make up and hair accessories and a car charger for my phone for $1, I decided to buy 2 considering my sister has the same phone as I do CHRISTMAS GIFTS! WOOT!
Okay so here is the process of me making the salad. I can't find the exact recipe on line so basically here it is.
1 16oz package of elbow macaroni cooked, drained, cooled
4 eggs hard boiled, grated
8oz crab meat
pickle relish
3/4 cup peas
2 green onions
2 stalks celery
salt/pepper to taste
3 cups mayo (I never use that much)
here is the finished product!
now it says to make at least 24 hours before and I know why.. the pasta literally soaks up all the mayo. It's amazing. I did not use 3 cups, I might have used a cup and half but tomorrow I'll probably put in another 1/2 cup just to bring out the creaminess before I serve it at the bbq wer are going to.
I've seen a few websites over the past few days that are taking our great buys and making awesome meals out of them. I haven't really come up with any cleaver ideas except maybe the onion soup packets I've been adding to my casseroles for dinners. Also this morning I took two eggo waffles (strawberry) toasted them and put chocolate Edy's ice cream between the top and bottom. Yummy breakfast ice cream sandwich. To keep the ice cream at the same thickness througout the sandwich I used a melon baller scoop to make little scoops of ice cream and placed 4 little ice cream balls on one waffle and just topped it with the second. you get the idea. Anyway.. even my bff's mom who was a super health nut actually let us have those for sleepover breakfasts.
Here are links to other blogs that have some awesome ideas.. they even have pictures!!
kraft cheese
croutons
free bread and/or cheap sausage
bagged salad
and this great blog actually hosts "from the freezer Thursdays" were she asks other bloggers to post their receipes they have made from their stockpiles. check some of them out! Frugal Homemaker Plus
not just meals, but emergency kits.. take a look at the lists of supplies we should have on hand. Most of these items are items that are on sale at CVS/Walgreens all the time and normally we can get them for pennies on the dollar!!
Disaster supplies
anyway.. I figured this was sorta fun to talk about considering I'm finally starting to see my stockpile grow here and there. My freezer is currently full and I actually took every item out this week and made large post it lists. I have one list of just meat, one of fruits/veggies, and another of misc items. I figured it would help me remember what is in there so certain items get used and not forgotten and also will help me find the items faster. I moved all the meat to the top shelf and everything else underneath and in the door. Finally, some organization in my life!
So can you add any links to recipes you've made or ideas you've come up with for fabulous deals you've gotten and figured out what to do with them all before they expire? Let me know!
Okay so today I was trying to think of ways to use a bunch of bbq chicken I got from a neighbor. They had a huge 40th birthday bash for the both of them over the weekend and instead of cooking they decided to make a bunch of side dishes and then hire a local bbq restaurant to come, bring this gigantic bbq grill and cook for them. They came and made burgers, brats, hot dogs, bbq chicken and some really great ribs. At the end of the night she had so much left that as you left you got a 2 gallon size ziplock bag full of food! I got chicken. I don't eat much dark meat so I've been picking at the white meat pieces (I did have one thigh yesterday) but then tonight I wanted to make something with the chicken. Soo... I took 3 breasts and pulled the meat off the bones (threw away the skin) then mixed it with some frozen green/red chopped peppers I got a Butera a few weeks ago for 49 cents(I got 4 in a clearanced package, they were about to go bad which is why I diced/froze them immediately), then mixed in a half bag of tator tots (1.4x bag), an envelope of onion soup (50 cents), and some cream of celery soup ($1?).
chicken FREE
peppers 25 cents
tator tots 75 cents
onion soup 50 cents
cream of celery soup $1
milk ($1.99/gallon so maybe 4oz?) 10 cents
my entire meal that will make at least 4 helpings cost $2.60 or 65 cents each helping! nice!
