$2.57 at Publix

A bag full of goodies from Publix for $2.57

I got:

3 Yogos 3x$2.89

4 Near East side dishes 4x$2.49

2 Lawry's marinades 2x$2.85

REGULAR PRICE: $24.33

All items were B1G1 (or half-price). I printed online coupons for each item and coupons were doubled up to $1 (50cents doubles to $1). I think the deal ends today though or I would do it again!

Great Deal $1 Splenda

Splenda is a great product. My husband really likes it. He says that he can't tell the difference when I use it in tea instead of sugar. Even though he likes it I don't buy it as often as I would like because of the price. However, thanks to a tip from my mom, Big Lots has the 5 pack boxes (each pack equals one cup of sugar) for $1!!!! Each individual pack usually cost 89 cents.

Painted and Cleaned Playroom

We finally got around to getting the playroom cleaned. We painted it one day last week (Thursday, I think) but just now got around to finishing putting everything back. The boys went through and pulled out enough stuff to fill a trash bag that they agreed that they didn't really use. One more thing off the list!!!

Update on the back yard

Whew! What a day today. My friend Heather graciously volunteered herself to help me in the backyard. She brought over a chainsaw. The chainsaw clogged after just a few uses because of the wetness of the trees. She tried and tried to get it going again. Then, my weed whacker broke! We resorted to a hacksaw and a pair of hand clippers and got about a third of it done! I can't imagine how much stuff we are gonna have when we are done or how we are possibly going to get rid of it all!

$2.28 at CVS

I haven't been to CVS much lately but I got an
email that was good only today for $5 off $30 so off we went!

I got:
2 All detergent 2x$6.49 but B1G1
2 Sauve body wash 2x$2.49 B1G1 coupon
1 CVS body wash 1x$2.50 $2CVS skincare
6 J&J Bath buddies 6x.99 (3)$2/2 printable
2 SH nail polishes 1@2.59 1@2.79 $3CVS SH
2 V05 shampoo 2x.75
2 travel baby shampoo 2x.99 (2)$1 printable
1 travel size Gold Bond Powder $1 CVS CRT
TOTAL:$36.26
email for $5/$30
coupons and sales savings: $22.98
ECBs used: $6.00
GRAND TOTAL : $2.28

Thanks to CVS, we have enough soap for probably a year, laundry detergent for 6 months and 2-6 months of other personal care items and I haven't even been doing this for two months yet!!!

The playroom

We have gotten the wall below the chair rail painted in the playroom today. It went really really quickly since it was such a small area and I didn't need to keep climbing a ladder! Now, we have to re-organize it. That job will probably take the rest of today and tomorrow! The boys have already gone through it and picked out things that they were willing to get rid of and now it's my turn! Hopefully, we will get pics posted tomorrow when it's done.

Upstairs Hallway

UPDATE: (Thursday)The upstairs hallway is done!! Another thing off the list!

(Tuesday)Let's see how fast I can knock out the upstairs hallway. It's not too big, so, hopefully it will go pretty quickly! I am aiming for an hour and half to have it done before I need to get supper. Here we go!

Another thing off the list!

Afternoon update: We got the stuff out of the middle of the floor and got the pics up on the wall but still need to do some dejunking!

I got the office/media room painted yesterday! It's the same color as the downstairs hallway. Hopefully, later today I can get all the Steelers stuff put up on the wall over the sofa and finish cleaning all the junk out of the floor. My 6YO asked at 7:30, this morning, "What can we paint today?" We'll see!

One more thing off the list!

We got the downstairs hallway done this afternoon. All the dirty handprints gone and now the paint is washable and it's more colorful than the bone color is was before we painted.

As for trying to stick to our $20 budget for food and entertainment this week, we have already spent $16 in two days. Thankfully, we don't have any outing planned for the rest of the week. We went to McDonald's after church today and spent another $11 that brought us to $16. We ought to still stay on track since we are stocked up on fruit and milk and such.

Now to decide what to tackle next!

The Jungle has been banished! My yellow bathroom!

This is pic of the bathroom with no jungle!!! The yellow is a little darker than what I thought that I was getting but I like it.

I still need some storage for the counter and maybe over the toilet but I think it is a big improvement. Not bad for a days work!

Menu Monday

This is the first week that DH is out of town, so what we have for meals will be a little more random and often based on something one of the kids asks to eat. I am hoping to eat mostly from our pretty well-stocked kitchen and spend no more than $20 per week on food and we have already spent $16 on eating out this weekend!

BREAKFAST
eggs, toast, and pineapple and milk
cereal, orange juice and milk
pancakes, peaches and milk

LUNCH
turkey and dumplings, green beans, bananas and milk
sandwiches, chips, pineapple and milk

SNACK
watermelon
bananas and milk
graham crackers and juice

SUPPER
egg and cheese sandwiches, pineapple and milk



more later...............

The Weedy Woods

These are pics of the weedy wooded area in our backyard. My husband hates all the weeds, as much as, I hated the weeds on my bathroom wall! We are going to do our best in the month that he has to be out of town to clear it as much as possible. I don't know that we can do it. This afternoon, we spray the hill and all around the edges of the hill. I figured that we would work our way in from around the edges. We'll see how it goes!

The de-papered bathroom

The boys and I didn't waste any time getting started today. We wished Daddy goodbye and he was on his way before noon. We hopped in the van and headed out for supplies. We had a coupon for free crazy bread with the purchase of a hot and ready pizza from LC. So, on our hopeful budget of $20 for the week we spent $5 on pizza and $3 on a big watermelon. Then, we hit Walmart and picked up three gallons of paint and a ladder.
We were back home with lunch and supplies in no time!

This is a pic, part way through the process. The color is a little bolder than what I thought I had chosen but it's better than the jungle!
We got down the rest of the paper and got things taped and started to paint. We have about a third or maybe a little more done! I hope to get the rest done before bedtime.
We are planning on eating watermelon outside in the back yard after supper and while they play, I will get a little spraying of the weeds behind the house done.

The Jungle bathroom - BEFORE

These are my pics of the master bathroom. I love my house except for this wallpaper. It's awful!! It came with the house and I am just now getting around the changing it five years later!

My Personal Challenge

Starting tomorrow, for the next month, my husband will be away from home. The children and I want to get as many things in the house done/redone, as possible, while he is away. The list is long one and I don't imagine that we can get it all done but it's good to have goals.

1. De-wallpaper and paint the master bathroom
2. Paint and de-junk the master bedroom
3. Paint the hallway upstairs and down
4. Paint the office/media room
5. Paint below the chair rail in the playroom
6. Fix the wall paper in the breakfast room
7. Clean out all the upstairs closets
8. Clean out the master bedroom closet
9. Deep clean and dejunk the upstairs bedroom and make and repairs that are needed
10. Clean the carpets
11. Have gutters installed on house
12. Clear the small wooded aread behind the house
13. Clean the vinyl siding on the house

WHEW!!!!!! If we get half of these things done it will be wonderful! I will have my daughter (almost 16) to help and hopefully my sweet Momma will come over for a day or two to help.

The other part of my goal is to not spend more than $20 per week while he his out of town (with the exception of paint that we need to buy). Our meals usually center around what he prefers to have on a particular day. However, I have a pretty well stocked kitchen and we are going to see how well we can do on what we already have on hand. The extra money will be useful when we drive up to see him half way through his month long trip.

Basically 49 cents for diapers and wipes at Target

I said the last time that I went to Target that I wouldn't go back but then I found this deal. On Target's web site, there are coupons that you can print and use in conjunction with manufacturer's coupons. I printed a coupon for $5.00 off purchase of both Pampers ($9.99) and Pamper's wipes ($5.00) and a $3.00 coupond for the same purchase AND a coupon for a $5.00 gift card when you purchased said combo. I also had $1.50 worth of manufacturer's from the weekly paper. So, if you take into account the $5.00 card, the cost was 49 cents or $5.49 if you save it for a gift!

Menu Monday

Our menus for the week will be a little more than usual because our DH will be going out of town on Saturday for a LONG LONG trip and we want to serve him some of his favorites before he goes.



BREAKFAST

pancakes, fruit and milk

Southwest hashbrowns, eggs, sausage, toast and milk

cereal, fruit and milk

oatmeal, fruit and milk

eggs, bacon, pumpkin muffins



LUNCH

ravoli, bread, milk

pizza, hot wings, fruit, milk

roastbeef rollups, chips, fruit, milk



SUPPER

ravioli, salad, toast, milk

46 cents at CVS today

I went to CVS today with my new $3/$15 in hand excited to do the Olay deal but I couldn't find the right products and they were also out of Bath Buddies (I think I have them all!). So, I had to come up with a new deal on the fly. I didn't earn any ECBs but I only spent 46 cents out of pocket and got some things we really needed now.

Here's what I got:
2 x $1.99 2 Sauve Men's Body Wash - B1G1 coupon from recent insert
2 x $2.50 2 Herbal Essence Shampoo - $3 off 2 coupon from recent insert
1 x $4.99 Air Wick Air Freshner -$4 printed from online
1 x $1.49 CVS lotion - $2 CVS skin care
1 x $0.99bag of jelly beans (lured one of the boys along with the promise of a treat)
and finally - $3 off $15 purchase
I spent $2 ECB

For a grand total of: $0.46 I didn't earn any ECBs but I did get the body wash and shampoo and air freshner that I needed!

CVS paid me $1 to take two bottle of Dawn

CVS has Dawn on sale for $1 per bottle. There were coupons in Sunday's paper that were worth $1 each. That makes them FREE!!! Then when you buy 2, CVS will pay you one ECB!! Too bad I only have 4 coupons and there is a limit of two deals.

Menu Monday

BREAKFAST
cereal, fruit and milk
waffles, fruit and milk
honey biscuits, fruit and milk

LUNCH
leftover (frozen after the 4th) grilled burgers, hotdogs and chicken sandwiches
turkey sandwiches, if needed
pasta salad
chips
all with fruit and milk

SUPPER
boston butt, mashed potatoes, broccoli and rolls
leftover pork sandwiches and chips
enchiladas, rice and beans
beef roast, potatoes, carrots, and rolls
leftover beef and vegetables over rice
spaghetti, salad, and garlic bread

More Dirt Cheap Diapers!!!

Whoo Hoo!!! More basically free diapers!!! I went to Walgreens and did the deal again. Three packs of diapers for $4.47 plus tax with $5.00 back to spend on anything else in Walgreens!!!

I am gonna keep doing this til they run out of diapers, or stop me (then I'll go to another one!), or til I'm buried in diapers!!!

Scroll down about how to do this.